BC_1767_EMONTAGU_EV

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<Q A 1767 TC EV EMONTAGU>
<X ELIZABETH MONTAGU>
[}ELIZABETH MONTAGU TO ELIZABETH VESEY.1767 SEPT 10. MO 6392?}]
<P1>
Denton Sept y=e= 10=th= 1767 Dear Madam
   My expedition hither having been by various things retarded, my dear M=rs= Veseys letter lay sometime in expectation of my arrival, & so much business crouded in upon me, that this is the first leisure moment I have had to answer it. I imagine that you will soon be leaving the watery element, therefore I shall reserve till I hear you have landed on some stable shore, an account of what I have been doing since I set my face northward; [\UNCLEAR\] [\lacks\] my description of M=r= Aislabies Hackfall, the magnificence [\TEAR\] [\of\] Alnwick Castle & its Environs &c. When I know my letter will certainly find you, it shall be full of a thousand little details, interesting to a friend, but which [\w=d=/] only tire the Post master of Scarborough, who very probably may be the sole proprietor of what I am now writing. I find you never received [\a\] [\letter/] I wrote to you [\directed/] to Lady Primrose. Pray my dear friend why did you run such hazard of becoming a Mermaid. It has been long established, that you are the most amiable Woman upon Earth, but I much doubt whether
<P2>
you would obtain any great consideration in the vast Ocean. If the Porpusses ask'd you to a feast, they would think you made a poor figure amongst them. The Stationary nation of Oysters, would [\behold\] with horror, a being that cannot rest 2 minutes in a place. All the species of flat fish are, I dare say, a very dull set of people. When the Seas [\rare\] high, the Collision with the Testaceous & Crustaceous inhabitants of the Deep, w=d= certainly be more unpleasant than being squeezed amongst hoops & Swords at a rout. Sea Calves must be more uncouth than even the young Squires of England or Ireland, & in short, I see no resource for you but in the Gentle Nations of Dolphins: some descendant of him, who for his musicks sake, carried Arion on his back to shore, in consideration of the dulcet & harmonious sounds, & still sweeter meaning of apt discourse, would have wafted you to Land. But to be serious, the representation of your danger made me shudder. I beg of you, to let me know, where I may throw my letters at you, for I long to be able to direct my words [\to\]
<P3>
the person to whom my thoughts are so continually pointed. I have been wonderfully harried since my arrival hither by receiving & paying visits, & giving the necessary attention to business. I have the pleasure to find every thing going on with great regularity & prosperity in the Colliery, & enjoy, to a high degree, the famous S=r= Gilbert Heathcotes first beatitude, (^settling an account with the balance in ones favour.^) I am not so fam'd by nature as S=r= Gilbert to taste this felicity, however I relish the pleasure of success [\COMMA\] in a point of importance & hope wealth has pleasures for those who
[\yet\] delight in the metal. At Alnwick Castle [\we\]
met with the M=r= Percy who publishd the relique of ancient poetry; as there is, you know, a [\po\] -establish'd harmony between me & all poe[{t{] shewd me great attentions, & was my Cicerone in visiting an old abbey, the first in England dedicated to the Carmelite Order. M=r= Percy is a very agreable Wellbred man, & will make a good addition to our Sect of blue stocking Philosophers I wish you would ramble into Northumberland
<P4>
[\IN UPPER MARGIN\] York Cathedral is well worth your seeing. from thence to Durham is but a days journey, there I w=d= meet you, or wherever you pleased, & be your guide & Damsel Errant to Denton, & from then whence [\IN LOWER MARGIN\] your vagrant genius w=d= prompt you. My comp=ts= attend M=rs= Hancock. I hope you have at last found benefit by your marine regimen. I am D=r= Madam ever y=rs= EMontagu
[\ADDRESS\] To / M=rs= Vesey / at Scarborough / in / Yorkshire