[337] Lady Pomfret, widow of the 1st Earl Pomfret, had in 1755 presented the University of Oxford with a portion of the Arundel marbles which had been purchased by her husband’s father. She was the daughter of the second and last Baron Jeffreys, of Wem. She had been Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Caroline.
DR. EDWARD YOUNG.
DR. YOUNG
Mrs. Montagu quitted Tunbridge Wells on August 30. On September 2 she wrote to Mrs. Carter—
“I found on my table a poem on ‘Resignation’[338] by Dr. Young; he sent me a copy for you which I will send by the Deal coach.... You will be pleased I think with what he says of Voltaire, you know we exhorted him to attack a character whose authority is so pernicious. In vain do Moralists attack the shadowy forms of Vice while the living Temples of it are revered and admired.”
[338] “Resignation” was written with a view of consolation for Mrs. Boscawen on her husband’s death.
Dr. Young writes on September 2—
“Dear Madam,
“I was in too much haste and ordered a thing to be sent to you (which I suppose you have received) before I had read it myself. On reading it, I find my distance from the Press has occasioned many errors; so that in some parts I have had the impudence to present you with perfect nonsense.