BC_1769_EMONTAGU_FB

Download as TXT Download as XML

<Q A 1769? TC FB EMONTAGU>
<X ELIZABETH MONTAGU>
 [}ELIZABETH MONTAGU TO FRANCES BOSCAWEN. OCT 12 1769? SANDLEFORD. MO 578.}]
<P1>
Sandleford y=e= 12=th= of Oct My Dear Madam
   Too tender sympathy with my Dear Dear Friend has made me unable & afraid to write to her. I flatter myself we think alike upon many subjects, I am sure we did upon one. Except poor Lady Marg=t= Macdonalds I confess I know not y=e= single loss like yours; but tho your tender & generous mind w=d= take pleasure [\only/] in the felicities of others, yet it will take patience in considering & comparing y=r= lot with ye shocks which flesh is Heir to, & have befallen many. My Friend M=rs= Ord brought two blooming daughters to dine with me ye end of april, before ye end of july they were dead of consumptions, in like manner two years before she lost ye loveliest & most beautiful girl about 20 years old that I almost ever beheld. Nor is the past affliction ye worst, the disorder being an internal decay, she lives in daily apprehension to see her other branches wither in their Spring. You know how unfortunate Lady Charlotte Finch has [\already/] been. Her only Son, just now possess_d of Estate, title, every thing her ambition could
<P2>
desire for him, or her virtue & goodness desire in him, now in the very bloom of all this happiness she must hasten to Nice in [\poor & scanty/] hopes to save him from his Sisters fate. Miss Harriot Finch seems continualy threatend by a consumption, & Miss Sophia is not pass_d ye dangerous age for that distemper What has happend my Dear Friend cannot alarm you for your other Children, which is a grievous aggravation as in the Cases I have mention_d. Yet there is a case even worse than all this, Which is that of having a worthless Child. We know a very good Man who has ye Vices & follies of an only Son to weep over & blush for every day, for every day it is a new affliction, being renewd in some fresh instance. This World is a Vale of tears, but we are only travellers through it; In that to which we advance; & in which we are to abide, all tears shall be wiped [\for ever/] from all eyes. There we shall find what we have lost, we shall join that from which we have been seperated, so let us not sorrow as those who have no hope! I am glad you are going to London. I hope you will let your friends come & sit with you for an hour or two on an evening. I am most truly rejoyced that ye amiable Duchess
<P3>
is going home so happily recoverd. I sent M=rs= Carter back in better health than I had ever seen her, & the waters of Sunning seemd to have given her more than usual spirits but a visit she made to M=rs= & Miss Talbot at Richmond w=d= I fear damp those spirits, for poor Miss Talbot seems declining very fast. M=rs= Carter happily flatters herself that ye case is not so bad as I must own it appears to me. [\To/] Miss Talbot death will be a consummation devoutly to be wishd, as she will then receive the reward of an excellent & exemplary life, but poor M=rs= Talbot who [\TEAR\] [{at{] 4score will lose ye prop & staff of declining age & will be left without connections is much an obje[ct SEAL] of pity. M=rs= Carter in her letter yesterday complains of some head ach. We pass_d our time very agreably at Sunning. & I think I have great reason to be thankfull for their effect on my health as I am now perfectly well. M=r= Montagu is (\rajeuni\) . I dont expect to grow young again for that is a privilege which seems reserved for the Men. They are like Trees which at any age seem to put out fresh leaves female bloom
<P4>
[\IN MARGIN\] is a sort of flower, delicate in its nature & short in its existence. I must conclude my letter or shall lose the post. I beg my best & most affect=te= comp=ts= to Dear & amiable Miss Boscawen. I am my Dear Madam
   Ever most truly y=rs=
   EM
[\ADDRESS\] To / The H=ble= M=rs= Boscawen