MISCELLANEOUS ANECDOTES. 



37 



all a sort of a codicil in her own 

 hand (disposing of four or five other 

 particulars), dated in her own 

 words, " Le Matin de ma Mort." 

 (Rev. J. Church to Dr. Z. Grey, 

 1736.) 



ORIGIN OF THE NAME BLUE 

 , STOCKINGS. 



It is well known that Mrs. Mon- 

 tagu's house was at that time (1771) 

 the chosen resort of many of those 

 of both sexes most distinguished 

 for rank, as well as classical taste 

 and literary talent, in London. This 

 society of eminent friends consisted, 

 originally, of Mrs. Montagu, Mrs. 

 "Vesey, Miss Boscawen, and Mrs. 

 Carter, Lord Lyttelton, Mr. Pul- 

 teney, Horace Walpole, and Mr. 

 Stillingfleet. To the latter gentle- 

 man, a man of great piety and 

 worth, and author of some works in 

 natural history, &c., this constella- 

 tion of talents owed that whimsical 

 appellation of "Bas Bleu." Mr. 

 Stiliingfleet being somewhat of an 

 humorist in his habits and man- 

 ners, and a little negligent in his 

 dress, literally wore gray stockings ; 

 1Vi.ni which circumstance Admiral 

 Boscawen used,by way of pleasantry, 

 to call them " The Blue Stocking 

 Society," as if to intimate that when 

 these brilliant friends met, it was 

 not for the purpose of forming a 

 dressed assembly. A foreigner of 

 distinction hearing the expression, 

 translated it literally " Bas Bleu," 

 by which these meetings came to be 

 afterwards distinguished. (For- 

 bes' Life of Beattie.) 



A FAVOURITE AUTHOR. 



A predilection for some great 

 author, among the vast number 

 which must transiently occupy our 

 attention, seems to be the happiest 

 preservative for our taste. Ac- 

 customed to that excellent author 

 whom we have chosen for our fa- 

 vourite, we may possibly resemble 

 him in this intimacy. It is to be 



feared that if we do not form such 

 a permanent attachment, we may 

 be acquiring knowledge while our 

 enervated taste becomes less and less 

 lively. Taste embalms the know- 

 ledge which otherwise cannot pre- 

 serve itself. He who has long been 

 intimate with one great author, will 

 always be found to be a formidable 

 antagonist; he has saturated his 

 mind with the excellencies of geni- 

 us ; he has shaped his faculties, in- 

 sensibly to himself, by his model ; 

 and he is like a man who ever sleeps 

 in armour, ready at a moment ! 

 The old Latin proverb reminds us 

 of this fact, Cave ab homine unius 

 libri be cautious of the man of one 

 book. (D' Israeli in Curiosities of 

 Literature.) 



LADY M. w. MONTAGU'S LETTERS 



FROM THE LEVANT. 



The publication of these letters- 

 will be an immortal monument to 

 the memory of Lady Mary Wort- 

 ley Montagu, and will show, as 

 long as the English language en- 

 dures, the sprightliness of her wit, 

 the solidity of her judgment, the 

 elegance of her taste, and the excel- 

 lence of her real character. These 

 letters are so bewitchingly enter- 

 taining, that we defy the most phleg- 

 matic man on earth to read one 

 without going through them, or, 

 after finishing the third volume, not 

 to wish there were twenty more of 

 them. (Dr. Smollett.) 



HANDEL'S MESSIAH. 

 When Handel's Messiah was first 

 performed, the audience were ex- 

 ceedingly struck and affected by the 

 music in general ;'but when that 

 chorus struck up, "For the Lord 

 God omnipotent reigneth," they 

 were so transported, that they all, 

 together with the kiug (who hap- 

 pened to be present), started up, and 

 remained standing till the chorus 

 ended: and hence it became the 

 fzishion in England for the audience 



