Lady Mary Wortley Montague | Page 9

indispensable the duty. Each joint was carried up in
its turn, to be operated upon by her, and her alone; since the peers and
knights on either hand were so far from being bound to offer their
assistance, that the very master of the house, posted opposite her, might
not act as her croupier, his department was to push the bottle after
dinner. As for the crowd of guests, the most inconsiderable among
them--the curate, or subaltern, or squire's younger brother--if suffered
through her neglect to help himself to a slice of the mutton placed
before him, would have chewed it in bitterness and gone home an
affronted man, half inclined to give a wrong vote at the next election.
There were then professed carving-masters, who taught young ladies
the art scientifically; from one of whom Lady Mary said she took
lessons three times a week that she might be perfect on her father's
public days, when, in order to perform her functions without
interruption, she was forced to eat her own dinner alone an hour or two
beforehand."

CHAPTER II
GIRLHOOD (1703-1710)
Lady Mary makes the acquaintance of Edward Wortley
Montagu--Montagu attracted by her looks and her literary gifts--Assists
her in her studies--Montagu a friend of the leading men of letters of the
day--Addison, Steele, Congreve, Vanbrugh, and others--The second
volume of the Tatler dedicated to him by Steele--Montagu a staunch
Whig--His paternal interest for Lady Mary does not endure--He
becomes a suitor for her hand--Lady Mary's devotion and respect for
him--Her flirtations--She and Montagu correspond through the medium
of his sister, Anne--Lady Mary's mordant humour--Her delight in
retailing society scandal--The death of Anne Wortley--Lady Mary and
Montagu henceforth communicate direct--Her first letter to him.
At the age of fourteen the precocious Lady Mary, when on a visit to
Wharncliffe Lodge, some thirty miles from Thoresby, made a conquest
that was vastly to influence her life. The conquest was no less a person
than Edward Wortley Montagu, son of Sidney Wortley Montagu, who
was the second son of Edward, first Earl of Sandwich, the famous
Admiral of Charles II. Sidney had taken the name of Wortley on his
marriage to Anne, daughter of Sir Francis Wortley. To Sidney Wortley
Montagu, of whom there is to-day little known, is an interesting
reference in a letter from the Earl of Danby to his wife, dated from
Kiveton, September 6, 1684: "I have had Mr. Montague with me--my
Lord Sandwich his son--who lives at Wortley, and calls himself by that
name, and is really a very fine gentleman and told me he was sorry that
any of his relations--much more of his name--should have carried
themselves so unjustly towards me, and he hoped I would not have the
worse opinion of him for their ill-behaviour."
Edward Wortley Montagu, who was then twenty-five, was already a
person of some distinction. He was a good classical scholar, acquainted
with modern languages, and versed in what his grand-daughter, Lady
Louisa Stuart, styled "polite literature." He was interested in the pretty,
clever girl, and encouraged her to talk to him of her reading and writing.

"When I was very young," she said, as is recorded in the Anecdotes of
the Rev. Joseph Spence, "I was a great admirer of Ovid's
'Metamorphosis,' and that was one of the reasons that set me upon the
thoughts of stealing the Latin language. Mr. Wortley was the only
person to whom I communicated my design, and he encouraged me in
it. I used to study five or six hours a day for two years in my father's
library, and so got that language whilst everybody else thought I was
reading nothing but novels and romances."
Montagu affected the company of men of letters. He was intimate with
Addison, a close friend of Steele, and on terms with Congreve,
Vanbrugh, and Garth, the author of The Dispensary. Steele, in fact,
dedicated the second volume of the Tatler to him.
"SIR,
"When I send you this Volume, I am rather to make a Request than a
Dedication. I must desire, that if you think fit to throw away any
Moments on it, you would not do it after reading those excellent Pieces
with which you are usually conversant. The Images which you will
meet with here, will be very feint, after the Perusal of the Greeks and
Romans, who are your ordinary Companions. I must confess I am
obliged to you for the Taste of many of their Excellencies, which I had
not observed till you pointed them to me. I am very proud that there are
some things in these Papers which I know you pardon, and it is no
small Pleasure to have one's Labours suffered by the Judgment of a
Man who so well understands the true Charms of Eloquence and