The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-08-19

IN any Of her ietters penned previously 10
| the marriage. except that one Of her broth.
| era chafYs her about converting . Mr..
NJ TO dancing which may have referred
10 him. he was,' We learn, Q profound
mathematician, the friend Of william Emer-
son and other learned men Of that day.
What was Of moro import 10 her happiness,
bis character was amiable. equabie, just
and Of the highest integrity. a. 10 shown
by his letters and by his political conduct
a. Q msmber OF Parliament IN an age mo-
toriousiy corrupt. He already owned .
good estate at Allerthorpe and another
lear Rokeby, aIso q house In Dover street,
London. Il was this house which hin young
wife was TO transform into Q kind Of
terpart TO the Hotel do Rsmbouillet.
III.
Eizabeth MontaSu had been uoarried
about two years when In l7h Alexander
Pope died. We hear Q good deal about
the great Mr.. Pope In this correspondence.
Attic ago OF 10, although she shares tho cur.
rent admiration Of him, Elizsbsth predicts
that his fame viii prove ephemeral. Writ
ing 10 the Duchess Of Portland In lz9o, she
opines that mankind can't support above
two dead languages at q time % % 10 have
any tolerable knowledge or use Of them;
therefore, In all probability, Shakespeare.
Milton, Dryden. Prior and Pope arc but
short lived In comparison with those Me-
thusalehs, tho Classicks!" In 17ss abe tells
the Duchess: I'VE got Mr.. Pope's new
'Dunciad' Just printed, but I think 1t differs
little from the old one: the new Hero Cooley
Cibberl Is certainly worthy TO have the
presidency over all foolish Poets. like
Of follies than tho FIRST did, which was
merely upon bad poets and bed oriticks.
I am always glad when I zee those tops,
who have translated their manners and
language into French foppery, well ridi-
ouled for the absurd metamorphoeis. To
ridioule wrong placed pride Ia Of great
service, for, II it was not done, this land
would be overrun with o~onoeit, for here
people are proud Of their vices and follies
and lniquities, and, as long a. pride arises
from such Stocks, We shall never wan an
increase OF it, In the same letter she
wrote that In own the British vice of
gluttony 10 openly professed 90 much n
can hardly dine at q fashionable table
where eating IL not the subject Of discourse
the whole time, and treated Of a. an affair
Of the utmost consequence In 17ll she
had been reading Swift's and Pope's letters.
Il like them much she wrote, and find
great marks Of friendship. goodness and
affection between these people, whom the
world 10 apt to think too wise to DO honest
and too witty to be afYectionate. but vioe Is
the child Of folly rather han Of wisdom;
and, for insensfbllity of heart, like that Of
the head, II belongeth unto fools. Lord
B~olingbroke's letters shine much tn the
collection" In 17<7 she visited Mount
q oorresp ondent that SIN Q DON on this
Mount, Pope used to write, and ] imagine
he wrote his Universal Prayer there. for
the unbounded prospect leads the mind TO
the Great Author OF all things, and to think
of Him Whose Temple Is ell space, etc.
There la q little recess in the wood who're
he used to study, and here, perhaps. he
meditated his ~satires, for We arc most apt
to blame the crowd when w ourselves ere
out Of tho Tumult.'
III.
At tho age Of twenty Elizabeth has the
courage to say Of james Thomson, author
Of tho Seasons: Il never knew anything
OF. Thomson's that. seemed TO be wrote.
or could be read, without great labor Of the
BRAIN OF his -Tancred and SigismundE,
she says later: As to Mr.. Thomson, We
know the pitch Of his muse, and With what
dignity his buskins tread tho stage To
DR.. Edward Young, author OF Might
Thouzhts,' We find many illusions. When
We first hear Of him In this correspondence
that once celebrated work had not been
written, but various other poems. sahres
and tragedies had made him famous. As
we scarcely need say, It had not hurt him
socially to have married Lady Betty Lea,
daughter Of the Earl Of Iichfeld. In l74o
Elisabeth tells her sister: 'Dr. Young Is
coming soon. We wish for his coming, for
I hear be Is agreeable, and, indeed, his
private character 10 excellent. He sends
his commitments to me when he writes 10
the Duchess, and says he is perfectly 40
auainted with me, but all that 10 the vision
Of o poet, for ! never saw him In my life.
though he IL 30 kim a. to commend me
and all my works in all places Writing
In the following year TO Mrs. Donnellan,
o great friend Of hers, who had been ordered
to drink the waters at Tunbridge Wells, and
who hoped to sec Or, Young there, she says:
Il believe you will find his thoughts little
confined to the place; he will entertain you
with conversation much above what n
generally finds there, where they talk Of
little but water. bread, butter and scandal
Writing back from Tunbrdge. Mrs. Dom
nellan says: Il oonversed much with DR..
Young, but I bad not enough to satisfy me
We ran through many subjects, and I find
Nhis conversation much to my taste. He
enters into human nature, and both his
thoughts and expressions are now Later
In tho year Elizabeth gives Mrs. Donnellan
this description OF DR.. Young, with whom
she had lately talked: We have lost u
Divines, whose company We regret; there
Is great pleasure In oonversing with people
Of such a turn as DR.. Young and DR.. Clarke
Ianother clergyman and writerl; for the
frst there 10 nothing Of speculation. either
in the Terra Nrma Of Reason or the vision-
AIRY province Of fancy, into which be does
not Lead the imagination. In his CONVEX
cation be examines everything, determines
hardly anything but leaves ones judg-
ment at liberty"
There seems to have been q pathetic
reason for the gloom ~pervading the Might
T~houehts.' DR.. Young had lost his beloved