really abandoned her Theseus, ‘society’ received her to its arms as
readily as Lady Petersham. The example of both was followed by one
individual. A certain naval officer, named Falconer, made an honest
woman of the Pollard Ashe; and with this marriage ends our interest in
one of the many ‘wives’ of the English Gil Blas.
If some surprise was raised by the judgment given in favour of Montagu
and Taafe, none need exist at present. The two gentlemen who were such
useful friends at the pharaoh tables of Madame de Mirepoix, the French
ambassadress in England, and one of whom supplied Madame de Pompadour,
the French King’s mistress, with turtle and pineapples, could dispense
with the good offices of Louis the Fifteenth, or perhaps obtained them
through the mistress and the ambassadress. But Abraham Payba, _alias_
James Roberts, possessed as influential friends as Taafe and Montagu.
Payba appealed against the judgment, his appeal was successful, and
the two English members of Parliament stood very much in danger of the
galleys. In their turn, however, they appealed against the legality of
quashing the judgment given in their favour. The question came once or
twice before the courts, and then it ceased to be argued. It would seem
as if powerful friends on both sides had interfered. Each party could
claim a decision in its favour and could boast of honour being saved,
but the public feeling was that they were all rogues alike.
After the lapse of a few years, Wortley Montagu came into the
possession of a fixed income by the death of his father in 1755. He had
sold a reversion of 800_l._ a-year. His father now left him an annuity
of 1,000_l._ The disgrace of the Paris adventure was not altogether
forgotten, but Taafe was in favour at Versailles (by what lucky chance
nobody could tell), and Montagu, after a few years of pleasure, took to
better ways than of old. There seems to have come over the half-outcast
a determination to show the better side of his nature and his ability.
In 1759, he published his ‘Reflections on the Rise and Fall of the
Ancient Republics; adapted to the present State of Great Britain.’ In
this work--an able and spirited review of the republics of Greece,
Rome, and Carthage--the author probably stated his own idea of religion
in the words, ‘To search out and adore the Creator in all his works is
our primary duty, and claims the first place in every rational mind.’
Two years subsequent to the publication of this most creditable work,
certain Cornish men thought that Edward Wortley would be their most
fitting representative. In 1761, he was elected member for the borough
of Bossiney. But he was weary of England and the legislature, and he
resolved to leave both for ever.
Before Mr. Montagu left England ‘for good’ in 1762, he made necessary
preparations for at least a long residence abroad. Among those
preparations the most curious may be said to be indicated in the
following copy of a bill of articles purchased at an optician’s.
Moses’s gross of green spectacles sinks into insignificance by the side
of the assortment of spectacles, reading-glasses, pocket telescopes,
&c., with which Mr. Montagu provided himself to meet the exigencies of
foreign travel. The bill is now in the possession of Lord Wharncliffe,
as are some of the articles enumerated. I am greatly indebted to
his lordship for a sight of both, and to the prompt courtesy of his
permission to copy and reproduce this very singular bill.
‘EDWD. WORTLEY MONTAGU, Esq. _Dr._ to G. ADAMS.
1761 £ _s._ _d._
_Dec. 23_ Six Ellis’s Microscopes at £2, in the Box
marked A 12 1 0
-- 12 Reading Glasses, in horn boxes, at 4_s._
each, in the Box marked B. 2 8 0
-- 24 Reading Glasses, Ruff Shell and Silver,
at 18/_s._ in the Box C 22 16 0?
-- The large Reading glass in Ruff Shell and Silver,
in the Box C 2 2 0
-- 12 Concave glasses in Ruff Shell and Silver,
at 9/_s._ in the Box C 5 8 0
-- A Silver case inlaid with pearl 2 2 0
With a pair of Silver Temple Spectacles, in
the Box C 0 13 0
-- 12 Pockett Tellescopes, Nurse Cases, 4
glasses mounted in Brass, at 16/_s._, in the
Box D 9 12 0
-- 24 Dozen of Concaves in horn boxes, at 18/_s._
per Dozn, in the Box E 21 12 0
-- 10 Dozn of Steel Temple Spectacles, at 2/_s._
each, in the Box F 12 0 0
-- 10 Dozn of paper cases to Do, at 4/_s._ per
Doz., in the Box G 2 0 0
-- 6 pair of the Best Steel Temple Spectacles,
in Black Fish Cases, at 7/_s._, in the Box H 2 2 0
-- 6 pair Do, in Nurse Cases, at 7/13 = 20/_s._,
in the Box H 6 0 0
-- Six pair of Silver Temple Spectacles, in best
Nurse Cases, at 13/16 = 29/_s._, in the Box
marked H 8 16 0
-- Six pair Steel Temple Spec., at 2/_s._ 0 12 0
-- Six paper cases to Do, Box H 0 2 0
-- 12 Camp Tellescopes, at 16/_s._ in the Box
marked K 9 12 0
-- 6 Two foot Achromatic Tellescopes, at £2,
in the Box L 12 0 0
-- 12 Ring Dials, at 10/6, in the Box M 6 6 0
-- 2 12-inch Reflecting Tellescopes 9 9 0
-- Six metallic Cones, with Six Setts of
Deformed pictures, at £2 2 0, in the Box N 12 12 0
-- Six pair of goglars, Box 1 10 0
-- 12 Reading glasses, in Mahogany frames
with handles, in the Box marked,
at 14/_s._ 8 8 0
-- 12 Leather purses to Do 0 4 0
6 Treble Magnifiers, in Ruff Shell and
Silver, at 25/s., in the Box marked H 7 10 0
-- 24 Black Skin prospects, at 1/6 1 16 0
-- 24 Do, at 2/_s._ 2 8 0
-- Two thermometers to Boiling Water 3 0 0
-- Two Brass Box Steering Compasses, with
Muscovy Tale Cards, 11 Inch. 1 10 0
-- One Do, 10 Inches 0 13 6
--------------
187 1 6
-- 14 Small Deal Boxes 0 12 0
-- 2 Strong Packing Cases 0 14 0
--------------
188 7 6
‘_Dec. 30, 1761._ Recd of Edwd Wortley Montagu, Esq., the full
contents of this Bill and all Demands.
J. GEO. ADAMS & CO.’
The bill being duly discharged, Edward Wortley took, as it proved, a
final farewell of England. But his friends there soon heard of his
whereabout. He proved that he was not a mere ignorant traveller, by
addressing to the Earl of Macclesfield two letters on an ancient bust
at Turin, the quality of which is warranted by the fact that they were
thought of sufficient importance to be read before the Royal Society.
Wortley Montagu was in a fair way to be a votary of science, but he
might have said with Southwell,
Tho’ Wisdom woo me to the saint,
Yet Sense would win me to the shrine.
He had some reason, perhaps, to feel careless and embittered, for in
this year, 1762, his mother died, showing her cruel contempt for him
by leaving him a guinea, which he gave to Mr. Davison, a friend and
companion in his wayfaring. It was from his mother, said Mrs. Piozzi,
that the ‘learned’ and accomplished Edward Wortley Montagu inherited
all his ‘tastes and talents for sensual delights.’
In the same year, 1762, the English consul at Alexandria was a
Scandinavian, a native either of Denmark or Sweden, named Feroe. His
wife was a beautiful young woman, born at Leghorn in 1741. Her father
(sometimes said to be an innkeeper) was English, or of English descent.
His name was Dormer, the name of a family that had once given a duchess
to one of the Italian states, and that has given a line of barons to
the English peerage since the year 1615 to the present day. The mother
of the lady in question was an Italian; her maiden name was Maria
Sciale. There were several children of this marriage, but we have only
to notice the beautiful Caroline Dormer, who married Consul Feroe, of
Alexandria. This Caroline is said to have been as much distinguished
for her virtue as for her beauty. The Dormer family record (in Lord
Wharncliffe’s possession), in which this double distinction is
chronicled, perhaps, ‘doth protest too much’ with respect to the
virtue, as that quality would now be understood; but of this the reader
may judge for himself.
The consul and his wife were happily settled at Alexandria, when
Wortley Montagu was sojourning in that city. Her beauty, as the
Scripture phrase expresses it, took his mind prisoner. The object
he had in view--that of carrying her off from her husband--seemed
unattainable; but Montagu did not allow himself to be deterred by
difficulties, and he found a way to surmount them. It was the way of
a very unscrupulous man, but he had few scruples in compassing any
end. He appeared as the friend of the family. He made no advances
to the lady, but he manifested great interest in the welfare of her
husband. Egypt was too dull a place for a man of such abilities.
Montagu succeeded in inducing Feroe to leave it for a while on some
pretended mission to Europe, which was to prove very lucrative to
the poor consul, who took men and things for what they seemed to
be. After Feroe’s departure there came news of his sudden illness.
A little additional time elapsed, and then came intelligence of his
death. The decease of the consul in Holland was officially attested,
and in 1763 Montagu presented the mournful document to the beautiful
young widow. After she had made herself mistress of its contents,
and saw herself left alone in a strange land, he took pity on her
exquisite grief, made love to her at once, and proposed a remedy for
her loneliness by her taking him for husband. The fair young widow was
not hard to woo. She did not indeed yield at once. She suggested some
becoming objections. She, a Roman Catholic, had erred, she thought, in
marrying Mr. Feroe, who was a Protestant. She could not bring herself
to repeat the error, but she intimated that she might be won if her
handsome lover would turn from his heretical ways and become a true
son of the true church. As nothing more than this trifle stood as an
obstacle to his success, Montagu resolved to become Roman Catholic.
Perhaps he reflected long enough on the matter to persuade himself
that he had a true call to that church. At all events, he professed
to be somewhat divinely driven. He repaired to Jerusalem, and made
his profession at the fountain-head of Christianity. In October 1764
Montagu presented himself in the Holy City to Father Paul, prefect of
the missions in Egypt and Cyprus. The traveller said that he had come
to Jerusalem rather out of curiosity than devotion, but that the hand
of God had fallen upon him. From his youth up, he stated (truly enough)
that he had been the dupe of the devil. He made the statement with
manifestations of grief, especially as he had obstinately resisted the
impulses of the Holy Spirit, for which he now expressed penitence and
humbly sought pardon. Father Paul gave heed to the repentant sinner’s
statement, and finding him cleansed from all heretical depravity,
freed him from all pains and penalties decreed by the church against
heretics, gave him plenary absolution, and received him into communion
with Rome. Father Paul thought much of his convert, whom he styles, in
the official certificate of Montagu’s conversion, ‘Dominus Comes de
Montagu’ (as every Englishman abroad in those days used to be called
‘mi lord,’) and the good father bids all the faithful to refrain from
snubbing the convert, but on the contrary, to rejoice and be merry over
him, as they would be over the unexpected finding of a treasure. A copy
of the original document, which still sparkles with the silver dust
showered over the finely written Italian letters, was printed in ‘Notes
and Queries,’ January 4, 1873.
There is no reason to doubt that soon after this act was accomplished
Mr. Wortley Montagu and Madame Feroe _née_ Dormer, were duly married.
Their conjugal felicity, however, was slightly disturbed by the
reappearance of the consul Feroe, who very naturally expressed the
greatest surprise at the household arrangements which had taken place
in his absence, and he laid claim to his beautiful wife. The Catholic
lady was persuaded that her first marriage with the Protestant consul
was null and void, the validity of such a union not being recognised
by her church. At the same time she looked with some doubt, or she
affected so to look, on the contract with her second husband. Appeal
was made to the law tribunals of Tuscany, and pending the appeal,
the wife of two husbands retired to a religious house at Antoura,
in Syria. Montagu solaced himself with travel: he possibly knew that
Italian judges were tardy in coming to conclusions. Whither he wended
is quite easy to tell, for in 1765 Mr. Montagu was encountered at
Venice. Mr. Sharp, in his Letters from Italy, has one dated Venice,
September 1765, in which he gives the following account:
One of the most curious sights we saw among these curiosities,
was the famous Mr. Montagu, who was performing quarantine at
the Lazaretto. All the English made a point of paying him their
compliments in that place, and he seemed not a little pleased with
their attention. It may be supposed that visitors are not suffered
to approach the person of any who is performing quarantine. They
are divided by a passage of about seven or eight feet wide.
Mr. Montagu was just arrived from the East; he had travelled
through the Holy Land, Egypt, Armenia, &c., with the Old and New
Testaments in his hands for his direction, which, he told us,
had proved unerring guides. He had particularly taken the road
of the Israelites through the Wilderness, and had observed that
part of the Red Sea which they had passed through. He had visited
Mount Sinai, and flattered himself he had been on the very part
of the rock where Moses spake face to face with God Almighty. His
beard reached down to his breast, being of two years and a half
growth; and the dress of his head was Armenian. He was in the most
enthusiastic raptures with Arabia and the Arabs. Like theirs,
his bed was the ground, his food rice, his beverage, water, his
luxury, a pipe and coffee. His purpose was to return once more
among that virtuous people, whose morals and hospitality, he
said, were such, that were you to drop your cloak in the highway,
you would find it there six months afterwards, an Arab being too
honest a man to pick up what he knows belongs to another; and,
were you to offer money for the provision you meet with, he would
ask you, with concern, why you had so mean an opinion of his
benevolence, to suppose him capable of accepting a gratification.
‘Therefore, money,’ said he, ‘in that country, is of very little
use, as it is only necessary for the purchase of garments, which,
in so warm a climate, are very few and of very little value.’ He
distinguishes, however, between the wild and the civilised Arab,
and proposes to publish an account of all that I have written.
In 1765, Wortley Montagu (while sojourning at Pisa), wrote his
well-known account of his journey to ‘The Written Mountains’ in the
East. It is a clever and modest record; his conclusion being that
the rock inscriptions were undecipherable, and probably would not,
if interpreted, be worth the outlay of means. This account was read
before the Royal Society. In March 1766 he was still at Pisa, whence
he wrote to M. Varsy, a merchant from Marseilles, established at
Rosetta, and married to a sister of Mrs. Feroe, or Mrs. Montagu, as
the Tuscan judges might decide. The letter in French (now, with others
quoted below, in Lord Wharncliffe’s possession,) contains the following
personal matter:--
... On my way back I shall go through Alexandria and Rosetta to
see you, and also to see whether I cannot establish myself at
Rosetta rather than in Syria. As my father-in-law sets out for
Syria next week, I shall not be obliged to take the shortest road;
my wife will be at ease, and I shall have at least time to assure
you how charmed I shall be to find opportunities of testifying to
you my gratitude, and of renewing our old and dear friendship--a
friendship which will always be dear to me, and with which I shall
never cease to be, &c., &c.
D. MONTAIGU.
I have before me the original ‘dispensation,’ to enable him to
neglect keeping Lent in the usual abstinent way. That he should take
the trouble to procure such a power would seem to be warrant for a
sincerity for which we can hardly credit him. It is dated ‘March 6,
1767,’ and he is styled ‘Excellentissimus Dominus Eduardus de Comitibus
Montagu.’ Meanwhile the question of the marriage was still undecided.
The ecclesiastical and civil judges were perhaps not long in forming,
but they were very slow in delivering judgment. Mrs. Montagu, however,
or ‘the Countess,’ as she was sometimes called, seems to have formed a
judgment of her own; or, at all events, to have accepted that of her
second husband. They lived together at Smyrna, where for two years both
applied themselves to the study of Turkish, in which language, as in
others of the East, Montagu became a proficient scholar. On New Year’s
day, 1769, he addressed a joyous letter to his brother-in-law Varsy.
The Tuscan and the Roman tribunals had at length pronounced on the
great question. The rich and orthodox second husband was declared to
be the legal possessor of the lady, and her previous marriage with the
poor heretical consul was decreed to be no marriage at all.
You cannot imagine, thus runs the letter, the great joy I feel at
being able to tell you that Mr. Feroe has the final decree of the
Court of the Nuncio at Florence. Accordingly, as Madame is already
here (Smyrna), we reckon on being as soon as possible at Rosetta.
But prudence requires that we should first write to you to beg you
to find us a suitable house. That in which we were before would
be good enough, but I think and fear that the consul may have it.
Without the servants, there are myself, my wife, and her father
(_monsieur son père_). We live more in the Turkish fashion than
ever. Accordingly, the women’s apartments must be comfortable
and convenient for the _salamlike_ (_sic_), and there must be a
chamber for my father-in-law. You know what is necessary. The
quarter in which we live must be free from disturbance, from
plague, and from robbers. Have the kindness to inform me if
the country is tranquil, and if you believe that there is no
danger from the government; for here no end of stories is being
circulated. Write by the first ship. Be convinced of the constant
friendship with which I am, my very dear friend, entirely yours,
D. MONTAIGU.
There seems to have been some obstruction to impede the desired
settlement in Egypt. In a letter, dated ‘Antoura’ (Syria), ‘January,
1771,’ there is the following passage:--
Many accidents have prevented me from following my design and my
inclination for Rosetta; and indeed it seems more prudent to wait
till the government (in Egypt) is authorised (_affirmé_) by the
consent of the Ottoman Porte, before we establish ourselves in
Egypt. However, here I am nearer to you, and I shall not fail to
follow my first plan as soon as circumstances will allow. Madame
thanks you for your _souvenir_, and sends many compliments. Keep
yourself well, continue to love me, and be assured of the constant
and perfect friendship of your very humble servant,
CHEV. DE MONTAIGU.
It may be mentioned by the way, that Wortley Montagu reckoned among
his friends men not at all likely to entertain respect for worthless
individuals. ‘My learned friend, the Bishop of Ossory,’ is a phrase
which bears one of these indications. It was written at Cairo.
Meanwhile, here is another characteristic note from Cyprus. The writer
speaks of his wife, as if the laundress of old no longer existed.
À. M. JOSEPH VARSY, négociant français, à Rosette.
Chipre, 24 juin 1771.
MONSIEUR,--Enfin, mon très-cher ami, je touche au moment de vous
embrasser. Cette lettre vous sera envoyée d’Alexandrie par ma
femme, qui va à Rosette avec M. son père et Mademoiselle sa sœur.
Je vous supplie de leur procurer ou une maison commode, ou un
appartement suffisant dans l’oquel (?), où ils attendront jusqu’à
ce que je leur écrive du Caire, où je vais par voie de Damiette.
CHEV. DE MONTAIGU.
In July, he writes thus from Damietta:--
À M. JOSEPH VARSY, négociant français, à Rosette.
Damiette, 14 juillet 1771.
Me voici, mon tres-chèr ami, arrivé proche de vous; aussi je me
flatte que dans peu j’aurai l’honneur de vous embrasser. Ma femme
doit être arrivée à Alexandrie, et elle m’attendra à Rosette. Ayez
la bonté de lui faire avoir un appartement, ou deux, s’il le faut,
et de l’assister en ce dont elle aura besoin pour la maison. Je
crois être assez assuré de votre amitié pour être persuadé que
vous ne me refuserez pas ce service. Je vous écrirai du Caire le
moment que j’arriverai. En attendant soyez assuré que je serai
toujours, comme vous m’avez toujours connu,
Votre très-humble serviteur et véritable ami,
CHEV. DE MONTAIGU.
Five days later, he acknowledges, from Alexandria, the arrival of
a box of pipes, from Constantinople. Soon after, the Egyptian home
was established. It was on a thoroughly Eastern footing, and the two
chief inmates seem to have devoted themselves to the study of Eastern
languages and literature. But in August 1772 the home seems to have
been abandoned by Montagu. There was a report that he had embraced
Mohammedanism, in order to visit Mecca in safety, and that his wife
having refused to follow his example, or to recognise a negro boy who
was with him as his heir, he separated from her. The following note
shows that he was again roaming, but also that he was careful for his
wife’s comforts and on friendly terms with her family.
(À VARSY.)
Alexandrette, août 4, 1772.
Nous voici, mon très-cher ami, après une heureuse navigation de
trois jours, arrivés à Alexandrette. C’est un village précisément
comme Tor. Nous y avons trouvé des chevaux et un domestique de M.
Belleville. Ainsi, nous partons ce soir pour Aleppe, sans attendre
l’escorte. Les gens que l’on dit obsèdent le chemin ne sont que
cinq ou six; et nous sommes trois, bien armés, sans compter M.
Belleville: ainsi nous n’avons rien à craindre. Il n’y a pas
de peste, ni rien de semblable. Le Pacha est à Aleppe et non à
Damas; assez loin de votre maison. Je vous prie d’avoir toutes les
attentions que vous pouvez pour ma femme. Mes complemens à ce que
vous avez de plus cher. M. Raymond vous enverra ... une pellisse
neuve; il vous en dira aussi le prix; si ma femme la trouve belle
et le prix honnête elle la prendra, et M. Raymond vous la passera
avec compte; si non, vous en disposerez selon les ordres de M. R.
Adieu. Je monte à cheval.
Similar notes tell of his progress, of certain inconveniences from
being too long in the saddle, exposed to the sun; and in the autumn, of
his approaching return home. In September he writes to Varsy:
I am well persuaded of the care you take of our house, and I
beg you to hurry on the workmen, and that everything be done
absolutely in accordance with my wife’s inclinations. Let the men
put up the paper as she orders it, but let no one touch my room
below, unless he can paint it perfectly in the Arab fashion.
After expressing surprise that Mohammed Kiaja, a supposed friend, is
intriguing against him, and stating that if his return to Rosetta
should create any difficulties or perils, it would be better to have
them smoothed away while he is at a distance, he writes:
... J’ai dépensé ici 800 piastres; il est vrai que je les ai
dépensés en des choses qui valent plus chez nous, et quand les
dames auront pris ce qui les accommode, nous ferons faire de
l’argent du reste; mais en attendant cela vous incommode; il faut
en ce cas-là prendre de l’argent à intérêt pour mon compte, et
disant que c’est pour moi pour ne pas prodiguer mon nom. Quand la
cuisine est finie, il faut blanchir toute l’ancienne cuisine et
autres endroits qui sont sur son niveau....
In a letter from Latackia, October 1, 1772, he speaks of projects
promising great results; ‘broad rivers’ (he says) ‘are the sum of
narrow streams.’ In a still later letter the project seems to refer to
pearls and rich stuffs. The letter concludes thus:
Je vous prie de me faire faire, par Schieck Ali, un catalogue de
tous mes livres arabes, turcs, et persans, qui sont manuscrits, et
qu’il mette vis-à-vis de chacun le prix suivant qu’il les estime.
This indicates an approaching break up. The cause of it does not
appear, except as far as can be made out in a letter from
Alexandrie, 13 oct. 1772.