[Footnote 1: George Montagu, Esq., of Roel, in the county of Gloucester,
son of Brigadier-General Edward Montagu, and long M.P. for Northampton.
He was the grandnephew of the first Earl of Halifax of the Montagu
family, the statesman and poet, and was the contemporary at Eton of
Walpole and Gray. When his cousin, the Earl of Halifax, was
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, he was his secretary; and when Lord North
was Chancellor of the Exchequer, he occupied the same position with him.
He died May 10, 1780, leaving the bulk of his fortune to Lord North.
Walpole's letters to him, 272 in number, and dating between 1736 and
1770, were first published in 1818, "from the Originals in the
possession of the Editor." There was a coolness between Walpole and
Montagu several years before the latter's death, the correspondence
dropping very abruptly. The cause is explained by Walpole in a letter to
Cole, dated May 11, 1780. Mr. Montagu's brother, Edward, was killed at
Fontenoy. His sister, Arabella, was married to a Mr. Wetenhall--a
relation of the Wetenhall mentioned in De Grammont. "Of Mr. Montagu, it
is only remembered that he was a gentleman-like body of the _vieille
cour_, and that he was usually attended by his brother John (the Little
John of Walpole's correspondence), who was a midshipman at the age of
sixty, and found his chief occupation in carrying about his brother's
snuff-box" (_Quarterly Rev._ for _April_, 1818, p. 131).]
KING'S COLLEGE, _May_ 2, 1736.
Dear Sir,--Unless I were to be married myself, I should despair ever
being able to describe a wedding so well as you have done: had I known
your talent before, I would have desired an epithalamium. I believe the
Princess[1] will have more beauties bestowed on her by the occasional
poets, than even a painter would afford her. They will cook up a new
Pandora, and in the bottom of the box enclose Hope, that all they have
said is true. A great many, out of excess of good breeding, having heard
it was rude to talk Latin before women, propose complimenting her in
English; which she will be much the better for. I doubt most of them,
instead of fearing their compositions should not be understood, should
fear they should: they write they don't know what, to be read by they
don't know who. You have made me a very unreasonable request, which I
will answer with another as extraordinary: you desire I would burn your
letters: I desire you would keep mine. I know but of one way of making
what I send you useful, which is, by sending you a blank sheet: sure
you would not grudge threepence for a halfpenny sheet, when you give as
much for one not worth a farthing. You drew this last paragraph on you
by your exordium, as you call it, and conclusion. I hope, for the
future, our correspondence will run a little more glibly, with dear
George, and dear Harry [Conway]; not as formally as if we were playing a
game at chess in Spain and Portugal; and Don Horatio was to have the
honour of specifying to Don Georgio, by an epistle, whither he would
move. In one point I would have our correspondence like a game at chess;
it should last all our lives--but I hear you cry check; adieu!
Dear George, yours ever.
[Footnote 1: Augusta, younger daughter of Frederic II., Duke of
Saxe-Gotha, married (27th April, 1736) to Frederick, Prince of Wales,
father of George III.
In 1736, I wrote a copy of Latin verses, published in the "Gratulatio
Acad. Cantab.," on the marriage of Frederick, Prince of
Wales.--_Walpole_ (_Short Notes_).]
_FONDNESS FOR OLD STORIES--REMINISCENCES OF ETON, ETC._