718 M O N 
Another traveller who faw Mr. Montague at Venice was 
the ingenious Dr. Moore, who, in his View of Society, de- 
fcribes his oriental manners in terms correfponding with 
the preceding quotations. He fpeaks of him as extremely 
acute, communicative, and entertaining; and blending in 
his difcourfe and manners the vivacity of a Frenchman 
with the gravity of a Turk. This extraordinary perfon 
difplayed his Angularity of conduCt to the laft. After the 
death of his lawful wife, who left him no iffue, being- 
aware that in defeCt of male heirs a large eftate would 
defcend to the family of lord Bute, who had married his 
After, and with whom he was upon bad terms, he com- 
miftioned a friend in England to advertife for a decent 
young woman, already pregnant, who would be willing 
to marry him. One of feveral applicants was chofen ; 
and he was upon his return from Venice to form the al¬ 
liance, when he was carried off by iilnefs in 1776, aged 
Axty-two. Annual Rcgifler. 
MONTAGUE (Elizabeth), a lady of literary diftinc- 
tion, born in 1721, was the daughter of Matthew Robin- 
fon, efq. of Horton, in Kent, two of whofe fons were 
afterwards lord Rokeby, and the primate of Ireland. She 
received a liberal education, under the direction of the 
celebrated Dr. Conyers Middleton, who was related to 
her by marriage ; and fhe diftinguifhed herfelf from child¬ 
hood by her fuccefsful application to letters. In 1742 
fhe married Edward Montague, fon of Charles, ftfth Aon 
of Edward the ftrft earl of Sandwich. By him {he had a 
fon, who died when he was about two years old. She 
became a widow in early life, and was left with an ample 
fortune and honourable connections. In 1769 fhe pub- 
lifhed “An Effay on the Writings and Genius of Shake- 
fpeare,” which obtained for her a conftderable degree of 
reputation. She formed a literary fociety, which, for fome 
years, was the topic of much converfation under the 
nick-name of the “ Blue-Stocking Club." We have 
heard many accounts of the origin of the title, but believe 
it arol'e from the circumftance of a perfon excufing him- 
felf from going to one of its very early meetings, on ac¬ 
count of his being in a defhabille, to which it was replied, 
“ No particular regard to a refs is neceffary in an affembly 
devoted to the cultivation of the mind ; fo little atten¬ 
tion, indeed, is paid to the drefs of the parties, that a 
gentleman would not be thought very outre who ftiould 
appear in blue Jlockings .” This lady was, for many years, 
noticed for the benevolent peculiarity of giving an annual 
dinner on May-day to all the little climbing-boys, appren¬ 
tices to the chimney-fweepers of the metropolis. Perhaps 
her attention to thefe too-frequently-diftreffed children, 
led to thole humane regulations, which, through the ex¬ 
ertions of Mr. Jonas Hanway, were determined on by par¬ 
liament ; and we now begin to hope that climbing-boys 
may be entirely fuperleded by the machines for fweeping 
chimneys that have been lately invented, and patronifed 
by a fociety for that purpofe. Lord Lyttelton was a warm 
admirer of Mrs. Montague, and was aAilted by her in the 
•compofttion of his “ Dialogues of the Dead.” She died 
in Auguft 1800, at the age of feventy-nfne. After her 
-death there were publilhed two volumes 8vo. of her Fa¬ 
miliar Letters, in 1809 ; which were fo well received 
by the public, that they were followed by two other 
volumes in 1813. The ftrain of the earlieft letters is 
remarkably fprightly ; the latter are replete with 
found lenfe and extenftve knowledge. Gent, and Europ. 
■Mag. 
MONTA'JA. a fmall ifland on the eaft Ade of the Gulf 
•of Bothnia. Lat.65. 39. N. Ion. 24.44. E. 
MONTAI'GNE (Michael de), a celebrated effayift, 
born in 1533, was the fon of Peter Eyquem, lord of 
Montaigne in Perigord, and mayor of Bourdeaux in 1553. 
llis forward parts were cultivated with great care by his 
father, who from his infancy placed about him a German, 
with whom he converted in Latin alone, fo that this lan¬ 
guage was perfectly familiar to'him at the age of Ax. He 
afterwards learned Greek by way of diverfion; and it was 
MON 
a principle adopted in his education to cheat him into 
every kind of ftudy under the femblance of amufement. 
By this method he was brought fo forward, that at the 
age of thirteen he had completed his courfe at the college 
of Bourdeaux, where among his matters were the two 
eminent fcholars Muret and Buchanan. He afterwards 
probably attended fome fchool of law, Ance he was def- 
tined to that profeflion ; and, upon his marriage with the 
daughter of a counfellor of the parliament of Bourdeaux, 
he occupied for fome time a Amilar poll. He quitted, 
however, the legal profeflion with difguft, .and devoted 
himfelf to the ftudy of men and books. After the 
death of his intimate friend Etienne de la Boetie, who 
left him his library and manuferipts, he publilhed the 
remains of that friend in profe and verfe. In 1569 he 
printed a tranflation of the Natural Theology of Raymond 
de Sebonde, a learned Spaniard. The death of his father 
fome time after gave him pofleflion of the eftate and feat 
of Montaigne ; and in that retreat he began to colleCt 
materials for his Eflays. In order to enlarge the fphere 
of his obfervation, he travelled through France, and vi~ 
Ated Germany, Swifferland, and Italy. At Rome he was 
honoured with the right of citizenlhip. During his ab- 
fence, in 1581, he was chofen mayor of Bourdeaux; he 
held this office during four years, and in the courfe of 
it was delegated by his fellow-citizens on fome public 
buAnefs at the court. He was alfo prefent at the Hates 
of Blois-in 1588. By Charles IX. he w-as decorated with 
the order of St. Michael. During one of his reftdences 
at Paris for the purpofe of printing his Eflays, he con¬ 
tracted that intimate friendihip with mademoifelle de 
Gournai which continued as long as he lived. (See vol. 
viii. p. 752.) Though he interfered little in the divifions 
which difturbed France in the reign of Charles IX. he 
underwent fome temporary dangers from the military par¬ 
ties which roamed about uncontrouled, pillaging friend 
and foe alike. In his advanced years he was afflicted with 
nephritic complaints, for which he refufed all afliftance 
from the faculty, being a conflrmed fceptic in the powers 
of medicine, or rather in the knowledge of its profeffors. 
He died ofaquinfey in 1592, leaving an only daughter, 
who was well married. 
With a conftderable ftiare of vanity and other foibles, 
Montaigne poffeffed a fund of philofophy which enabled 
him to pafs through life with credit and tranquillity. He 
loved eafe and independence, and was an enemy to con- 
ftraint of every kind. He was moderate in his pleafures, 
frank and ingenuous in his manners, fond of inflruCtive 
converftttion, and prone to debate and difeuflion, but 
without morofenefs or ill-humour; liberal and indulgent 
in his opinions, and remote from bigotry and fuperftition. 
His literary reputation is founded on his “ Eflays,” which 
were long the mod popular book in the French language, 
and are ltill read with pleafure. They embrace a great 
variety of topics, which are touched in a lively and en¬ 
tertaining manner, but without much accuracy or pro¬ 
fundity. They are full of fentences and anecdotes from 
the ancients, interfperfed at random, with his own re¬ 
marks and opinions, and with ftories of himfelf in a 
pleafant ftrain of egotifm. Their ftyle is neither pure nor 
correCl; bu.t Ample-, bold, lively, and energetic. The 
character of the author and his performance has been ex¬ 
cellently drawn by M. de la IJarpe in his Cours de Lite¬ 
rature : “Montaigne (fays he) had read much; but his 
erudition w'as founded on his philofophy. As a writer, 
he has impreffed on our language an energy which it did 
not before poffefs, and which has not become antiquated, 
becaufe it is that of fentiments and ideas, and is beftdes 
not alien from the nature of our idiom. As a philofopher, 
he has painted man as he is: he praifes without compli¬ 
ment, and blames without mifanthropy. He often fpeaks 
of himfelf; but fo as to appear neither vain, hypocritical, 
nor tirefome. He is never dry 5 his heart or his-charac¬ 
ter is in every part.” The Englifh reader may perule 
a different character of Montaigne in the Adventurer, 
N° 
