“... I shall be much obliged to you if you will bring to London Thou’s History, which I lent to your caro sposo five years ago. I suppose he has long done with it, and I want to read it.”
“London, December ye 4th, 1781. ... At this time of ye year, the great city is solitary, silent, and quiet. Its present state makes a good preface to the succeeding months of crowd, noise, and bustle.... One always finds some friends in town; a few agreable people may at any time be gathered together; and, for my own part, I think one seldom passes the whole of one’s time more agreably than before the meeting of parliament in January; and this never appeared more strongly to me than this year, when so excellent a house was ready to receive me.
“... As age is apt to bring with it a certain degree of melancholy and discontent, I endeavour to prevent its having that effect, by sympathising in the joy of my young friends and of improving the objects about me.... As fast as time wrinkles my forehead, I smooth the grounds about Sandleford, or embellish my town habitation. In a little while, I shall never see anything belonging to me that is not pretty, except when I behold myself in the looking-glass.... At Sandleford, I can assure you, Mr. Brown has not neglected any of its capabilities. He is forming it into a lovely pastoral—a sweet Arcadian scene. In not attempting more, he adapts his scheme to the character of the place and my purse. We shall not erect temples to heathen gods, build proud bridges over humble rivulets, or do any of the marvellous things suggested by caprice, and indulged by the wantonness of wealth. The noble rooms which Mr. Wyatt was building when you were at Sandleford are now finishing with the greatest simplicity.
“... To-morrow is look’d to with anxious expectation, as it will in some measure declare on what terms peace may be obtain’d. I believe all the belligerent powers are tir’d of the war. But what difficulties the cunning of statesmen, the pride of kings, or the caprice of the people may put in the way, one cannot tell. The Spaniards are proud, the French are petulant, the Dutch are avaricious, and the English are a happy compound of all these things.
“... My steward (from Northumberland), who made his annual visit to me in November, told me that north of my estates there were many fields of oats and barley lying under the snow. I have been very busy with him, settling our year’s accounts, for these ten days past.
“Lord Edward Bentinck is going to be married to Miss Cumberland. The Bishop of St. Asaph’s eldest daughter to the learned and ingenious Mr. Jones.”
“Portman Square, January ye 17th, 1782. ... Montagu,” she writes to her sister-in-law, “returns to me only at Christmas and the long vacation. The last is spent entirely at Sandleford; for I think the worst thing one can do by young persons is to give them a habit of restlessness, which is now so prevalent in the fine world, that all domestick duties, even the tender parental attentions, are neglected for it....
“I think you did wisely, as well as kindly, in letting my neice partake of the pleasures of your neighbourhood. To be within the sound of a ball, and not allow’d to go to it, must seem a hardship to a young person.... Life never knows the return of spring, and I am always an advocate for their gathering the primroses of their time. A young person not allow’d to please himself, sometimes will lose any desire to please others.
“I think it would be very desirable for my brother to be a prebend of Canterbury. There is a local dignity in it, and a clergyman in the neighbourhood of Canterbury ought to have a stall in the cathedral, in which he can take a nap with decorum. I should think from the kind disposition the primate has shown for the family, he will lend a favorable ear to my brother’s application.... So great is his respect and tenderness for his brother, Sir William, that perhaps the request, supported by him, would have additional force.
“... I am glad my good friend, Mr. Brown, is employed by so rich a person as Lord Bristol. Such an income as his lordship’s cannot be annually expended on domestick expenses without foolish prodigality and waste.... I am very glad Mr. Brown likes me as a correspondent; for I am obliged to make a very paltry figure to him as an employer. He is narrowly circumscrib’d, both in space and expense; but he really gives the poor widow and her paltry plans as great attention as he could bestow on an unlimited commission and an unbounded space. He has made a plan to make my grounds, in prospect of the house and new rooms, very pleasing, and will execute as much of it every year as I choose, the expense being agreed upon, which will keep pace with the improvements. The only way to cheat old Time is, while it robs us of some enjoyments and pleasures, to be providing new ones. I am a great deal younger, I think, since I came into my new House, from its cheerfulness; and, from its admirable conveniences and comforts, less afraid of growing old. My friends and acquaintances are much pleased with it, ... and I am not afraid to confess the pleasure I take in their finding it agreable and commodious for company. But the great satisfaction I feel, as its inhabitant, I dare confess to few; for few would hear it without envy. People are not very envious at any advantages they see another possess, if they do not perceive those advantages add to the happiness of the possessor. Many a wrinkled old virgin makes it a necessary article of merit in a blooming girl, that she should not know she is handsome.