M O N 



659 



M O N 



, himself upon hii bed, an I, clasping bis hands together, 

 expired m that pious attitude. He had almost com- 

 pleted hu sixtieth year. 



The character of Montaigne is amply delineated in 

 his Essays. On contemplating this picture, we are 

 surprised to find the principles of a stoic incongruously 

 mingled with the practice of an epicure; and the 

 mil/out of doubt, upon which during the flow of health 

 he professed to repose, exchanged in sickness for the 

 opiates of superstition. But notwithstanding these in- 

 consistencies, it is impossible to avoid admiring the con- 

 tinued benignity and pensive gaiety which distinguish- 

 ed his temper. The amiableness of his private life is 

 attested by the fact, that under the five monarchs who, 

 during his time, successively swayed the sceptre of a 

 kingdom torn with fanatical divisions, his person and 

 property were always respected by both parties ; and 

 few, at an advanced age, can say like him, that they 

 are yet untainted with a quarrel or a law-suit. 



His essays have been abridged, translated and given 

 to the world in various shapes. The most valued edi- 

 tion is that of London, 17J , in which the original ex- 



s are scrupulously retained, and ably illustrated 

 note* of M. Coste. (T. c.) 

 W 



pressions 

 by the no 



'MONTAGU, (LADY MARY WORTHY) the eldest 

 daughter of Evelyn Pierrepont, Earl, and afterwards 

 Duke, of Kingston, was born at Thorseby, in Notting- 

 hamshire, about the year 1690. Though four years 

 afterwards she lost her mother, the Lady Mary Field- 

 ing, daughter of William, Earl of Denbigh, her educa- 

 tion was conducted with all the care which so promising 

 genius seemed to deserve. In addition to the usual 

 accomplishments, ahe easily gained from the preceptors 

 of her brother, Viscount Newark, considerable know. 

 ledge of the Greek and Latin languages, to which she 

 ooo added French and Italian. The famous Gilbert 

 Burnet, Kiabop of Salisbury, is said to have guided and 

 encouraged her more advanced studies ; a manuscript 

 translation of Epictetus which she executed during a 

 week in the summer of 1710, yet bean the corrections 

 of that distinguished prelate. 



Whilst nuking acquisitions, at that period so rare 

 tone person* other sex am) rank, the young lady con- 

 tinued principally at Thorseby, or at Acton, near Lon- 

 don. In these narrow circles her liveliness and spi- 

 rits were already no leu remarkable than her learning. 

 Mn., or a* we should now say, Miss Ann \Vortley, 

 daughter of the Honourable Sidney Montagu, seems to 

 have been tier most intimate associate ; and this early 

 friendship gave rise to her acquaintance with a son of 

 the same nobleman, Edward Wortley Montagu, to 

 whom, after two yean, she was privately married, on 

 the lth of August, 17 U. The valuable, though not 

 brilliant, qualifications of this gentleman, were long 

 exercised in Parliament, where his graceful manner and 

 knowledge of business secured him considerable influ- 

 ence. At the period of his marriage, the fathers ef 

 both parties being alive, he could not offer his wife such 

 an establishment as to permit her accompanying him 

 to London during his political engagements : for the 

 first three years of their union she lived chiefly at 

 Wamdiffc-lodfe, near Sheffield. But, after the death 

 of Queen Anne in 1714, when f'liarles Montagu, who 

 conveyed the intelligence of that event to George I. 

 bad been raised from the dignity of baron, to that of 

 eail, Halifax, and farther created fir-t lord of the trea- 

 sury, that nobleman did not overlook the services of 

 bis cou'in Mr. Wortley, wboioon obtained llie appoint- 

 ment of commiuiuaer iu ;Le tame department. The 



nature of his office placed him in connection with the Montague. 

 court ; and the appearance of Lady Mary, who now '"Y"^^ 

 first visited that scene, attracted universal admiration. 

 Her beauty and genius were praised, her conversation 

 was coveted by the highest ranks of the nobility, and a 

 more honourable tribute was paid to her talents in the 

 esteem which she obtained from Pope and Addison. 



The short-lived pleasures of such a scene had scarce- 

 ly yet found time to lose their novelty, when Lady 

 Mary was called to visit objects of a far more diversi- 

 fied and striking nature. In the summer of 1716, Mr. 

 Wortley resigned his situation at the Treasury-Board, in 

 consequence ot'an appointment to occupy the place of Sir 

 Robert Sutton, Ambassador at Constantinople, who had 

 been removed to Vienna, and directed toco-operate with 

 his successor, in endeavouring to terminate the war be- 

 tween the Austrians and Turks, which at that time 

 raged with extreme violence. In the month of August 

 Mr. Wortley left England, and his lady did not hesi- 

 tate to accompany htm in a journey which, though te- 

 dious, and not without hazard, promised to offer such a 

 field for observation and enjoyment, as great skill in 

 modern languages, and considerable acquaintance with 

 classical antiquities, rendered her well qualified to pro- 

 fit by. After leavfng Holland and Germany, the em- 

 bassy continued two months at Adrianople. Sultan 

 Achmed III., whom they found here, is said to have 

 shewn a more frank disposition, and less solicitude 

 about the Koran than usually happens with a Turkish 

 prince. To this circumstance it is generally ascribed, 

 that Lady Mary was enabled to augment her acquaint- 

 ance with eastern manners, by an examination of the 

 Haram, never before or since permitted to any Euro- 

 pean. 



The knowledge which she gathered respecting the 

 habits and character of this people was minute, her 

 mode of communicating it lively and entertaining. But 

 Europe, in general, owes to her residence in Turkey a 

 much more solid advantage than any such entertain- 

 ment. Whilst passing the summer months at Belgrade, 

 not far from the shore of the Bosphorus, Lady Mary 

 had occasion to observe a custom practised by the pea- 

 sants, which was said to guard them from the effects of 

 small-pox, a dreadful, and at that time, cureless mala- 

 dy. She examined the process of ingrafting, or inocu- 

 lation, as it was afterwards called, became convinced of 

 its efficacy, and with a courage for which humanity is 

 deeply indebted, she consented to have the operation 

 tried upon her son, at that time about three years old. 

 Edward Wortley Montagu, afterwards so celebrated for 

 his rambling eccentric character, sustained the experi- 

 ment without hurt, in the month of March 1718. The 

 event encouraged his mother to form the hope of esta- 

 blishing a practice so salutary in her own country. It 

 is well known that, after a lapse of some years, the 

 zealous support which she bestowed on the attempts of 

 Mr. Mnitlan.l, her physician, to introduce inoculation, 

 on his return to England, was at length crowned with 

 success. In 1721, government allowed five criminals 

 to avoid the sentence of death by submitting to this 

 process ; the successful experiment was sanctioned by 

 the College of Physicians ; inoculation obtained the pa- 

 tronage of the Royal Family, and had finally triumphed 

 over all opposition, when, eighty years afterwards, the 

 more precious discovery of Jenner promised entirely to 

 extirpate the disorder. 



Lady Mary was not long detained from the society 

 of her friends in England. Mr. Wortley "s conduct was 

 approved of both by the Courts of St. James's and Vien- 



