The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-09 00:00:00

'HE LATE VISCOUNTESS KEITH.

We announced, a few days, since, the demise, at
her residence in Piccadilly,. of Hestber Maria, Vis-
countess Keith, inher 95th year. This remarkable
lady was the last remaining link between the pre-
sent generation and that brilliant literary circle
which congregated around Johnson at "the club"
—which thronged the hospitable mansion of Mrs.
Thrale at Streatham. Viscountess Keith was the
eldest .daughter of Henry Thrale, the friend of
Johnson, and the husband of Hesther Salusbury,
better known to the world by the name of her
second husband, as "Mrs. Piozzi." As the child
of his most valued friend, Heather Maria enjoyed
a large share of the attention of Johnson, who was
her early instructor, and in whose memoirs her
name frequently • occurs as " Queeny," a term of
endearment conferred upon her by the great philo-
sopher. During her girlhood she was surrounded
by Reynolds, Garrick, Burke, Gibbon, Boswell,
Beauclerk, Langton, Siddons, Burney, and Mon-
tague. Johnson was her early tutor, and Baretti
her Italian master. From her mother she learnt
to cultivate intellectual pursuits, and from ber
father she derived those sterling qualities which
belong more especially to•the high-toned English.
character. On the death of the latter, and the mar-
riage of her mother to Signor Piozzi (with whom she
spent many years in foreign travel), Miss Thrale
was deprived of her home. Being a minor, and re-
stricted to a small allowance, she retired to a de-
serted house of her father's at Brighton, with no
other companion- than an old and faithful house-,
keeper. Here she applied herself to severe courses of
study, and to the acquisition of many branches of .
knowledge, rare in a woman at all times, and eve:.
cially so in the less cultivated days of the last cen-
tury. When the time arrived appointed by her,
father for her majority, she established herself in a
handsome house in London with her younger
sisters, who were many years her juniors. But be-
fore this period she had lost her guardian and
valued preceptor, the illustrious Johnson, whose
deathbed she assiduously attended. She frequently
dwelt upon that solemn scene in after years. The
sage/0A their last interview said, "My dear child,
we part for ever in this world, let us part as Chris.
tians should ; let us pray together. He then
uttered a prayer of fervent piety and deep affec-
tion, invoking the blessings of Heaven upon his
pupil. When Mrs. Piozzi returned from her long
marriage tour her daughters received her dutifully,
and though her second marriage had been a severe
mortification to them, they continued from the
period of her return to England to that of her
death, many years after, to show her great kind-
ness. In the year 1808 Miss Thrale became the
wife of George Keith Elphinstone, Viscount Keith;
one of the most distinguished of those commanders
by whom the naval honours of Great Britain were
so greatly exalted during the revolutionary war.
As this nobleman was the personal friend of the
Royal family his wife was soon introdiiced into
the highest circles. Viscountess Keith, who was
in Scotland when she received tidings of
her mother's illness, instantly repaired to Bath
to attend her deathbed. Mrs. Piozzi. was
by birth the heiress of the ancient Welsh fantily of
the Salusbury, but she disinherited her daughter
in favour of Signor Piozzi's nephew, a youth from
Brescia, whom she adopted, and who was knighted
as Sir John Piozzi Salusbury of Brimbella, in the
Vale of Clwyd. Viscountess Keith resided for
many years on her husband's property of Tulli-
allan, in Clackmannanshire, where she was the
generous and unwearied benefactress of the poor.
In 1823 she became a widow ; and in 1831 her only
child, the Hon. Georgiana Augusta Elphinstone„
was married to the Hon. John Augustus Villiers,
second son of the Earl of Jersey. By a former wife
Viscount Keith had a daughter, Margaret, now
Baroness Keith and. Nairne, the wife of the dis-
tinguished French diplomatist, Count de Flahault.
During many years Viscountess Keith held a dis-
tinguished position in the highest circle of the
fashionable world ; but, for the latter part of her
life, she retired altogether from society, and limited
her intercourse to a few old and intimate friends.
Her time was divided between her religious duties
and works of unostentatious and active benevolence.
Few ever did so much for the good of others, or
sought so little for their praise. Whilst her
strength permitted she used to visit the objects of
her bounty at their own homes, and the poor and
suffering relieved by her ladyship seldom guessed
that the quiet lady muffled up in a cloak, who*
sympathised in their sorrows, and administered
so liberally to their necessities, was one of the
original foundresses of Almack's, the pupil
of one of England's greatest philosophers, and
the widow of one of her greatest admirals.
Thus she lived for many years, studying. the ad-
vantage of every one but herself—the most devoted
mother, the most generous friend, and the most com-
passionate benefactress. Until within a few days
of her death she enjoyed as much health' as the in-
firmities of her great age allowed. She was attended
by her affectionate daughter with the most watch-
ful care ; and, when the time came for her removal
from this world, her last moments were calm and
tranquil.
_

Besides ber daughter already mentioned (the
Hon. Mrs. Villiers) Viscountess Keith is survived
by two sisters—Miss Thrale, of Ashgrove, near
Sevenoaks, and Mrs. Mostyn, resident in Brighton.