FINIS.

Your most affectionateAUNT.

FOOTNOTES:[1]'I am at present engaged with a most admirable young lady of little more than twenty, Miss Mulso, on the subject of Filial Obedience and Paternal Authority, &c. Miss Mulso is a charming writer, &c. Your ladyship will be charmed with her part of the subject.'Richardson to Lady Bradshaigh, 1751.'I have been engaged in a kind of amicable controversy with my honoured friend Mr. Richardson, which has occasioned letters of so immoderate a length between us, that I have been quite tired of pen and ink, and inexcusably negligent of all my other correspondents. Does it not sound strange, my dear Miss Carter, that a girl like me should have dared to engage in a dispute with such a man? Indeed I have often wondered at my own assurance; but the pleasure and improvement I expected from his letters were motives too strong to be resisted, and the kind encouragement he gave me got the better of my fear of exposing myself.'Miss Mulso to Miss Carter, March 1750.This correspondence is dated from October 1750, to January 1751.[2]'I shall still find in her (Miss Mulso is writingtoandofMiss Carter) that amiable condescension, and unreserved benevolence, which endears her conversation, and enhances the value of her understanding; which teaches her how to improve her companions without appearing to instruct them, to correct without seeming to reprove, and even to reprove without offending.'Miss Mulso to Miss Carter, September 11, 1749.'It is impossible not to be better, as well as happier, for an intimate acquaintance withMiss Carter; take her for all in all, I think, I may venture to pronounce herthe first of women!'Miss Mulso to Mr. Richardson, July 24, 1752.[3]'I think I read the 'Rambler' with great attention, yet I cannot entirely acquit him of the charge of severity in his satires on mankind. I believe him a worthy humane man; but I think I see a little of the asperity of disappointment in his writings.'Miss Mulso to Miss Carter, October 1752.'I am very unwilling to believe those that fright us with shocking pictures of human nature, and could almost quarrel with my very great favourite, 'The Rambler,' for his too-general censures on mankind; and for speaking of envy and malice as universal passions.'Ibid.[4]'I thank God, (Canterbury, August 29, 1757,) my best soul has now the upper hand, by the assistance of medicine and cool weather, much more than of reason; and perhaps by the hope of two or three days of fancied good, in the presence of afancied essential(Mr. Chapone) to my happiness, who has promised to come down and see me some time before the middle of next month.'——'I shall now tell you something of myself, who live here (Salisbury, John, the second brother to her, being then its Prebendary) uncorrupted by grandeur, &c. &c. &c. who could prefera little attorney(Chapone) even to my Lord Feversham; had he offered to me, instead of the fair young lady he has so happily won.'Miss Mulso to Miss Carter.[5]'Nothing can ever make me amends for that luxurious ease and security, in the kindness of all around me, which enables me to wrangle, abuse, and dispute, till I am black in the face,' &c. &c.Mrs. Chapone to Mr. Burrows, 1773.[6]'It has always been one of my prayers, that I might never be the wife of an overgrown scholar.'Miss Mulso to Miss Carter, 1754.[7]Letters on the Improvement of the Mind, edit. 1801, pages 93, 94.[8]'I have been very near death; and, at the time he threatened me most, it was the most earnest wish of my heart to meet and embrace him. But, I bless God, I am restored not only to life, but to a sense of the great mercy indulged me in the grant of a longer tern of trial.'—'You are so obligingly solicitous about my circumstances, that I would willingly inform you of the state of them, if I had any certainty about them. But my dear Mr. Chapone's affairs were left in great confusion and perplexity by his sudden death; which happened just at the time of year in which he should have settled his accounts, and made out his bills. As these are very considerable, his estate must suffer a great loss from this circumstance. At present, things are in a very melancholy state, and my own prospects such as would probably have appeared very dreadful to me at any other time.'Mrs. Chapone to Miss Carter, December 6, 1761.[9]King George III. and Queen Charlotte; his present Majesty, then Prince of Wales, and sixteen years old; Prince Frederic, Duke of York, then fifteen years old; Prince William, Duke of Clarence, then thirteen years old; Princess Royal, now Queen of Wirtemberg, then about fourteen years old, and Princess Augusta, then about ten years old.[10]Addressed by Mrs. Chapone to her friend Mrs. Carter.[11]'Letters on the Improvement of the Mind.' They had been published five years then.[12]This young lady, of whom the reader must wish to know more, was the eldest daughter of Mrs. Chapone's second brother, John, who was Prebendary of the cathedrals of Winchester and Salisbury. She became attached to this niece in 1766, while on a visit at her home; wrote the Letters, to her, in 1772; and, stimulated by her literary friends, published them in 1773.—'I had great satisfaction,' writes Mrs. Chapone to Miss Carter, November 1797, 'in seeing my darling niece established in the happiest manner, at Winchester, with husband (Rev. Benjamin Jeffreys) who seems in every respect calculated to make her happy.' Mrs. Chapone passed the autumns 1797 and 1798 at the Deanery at Winchester. Here she awaited the approaching accouchement of her dearest niece, which was destined to terminate one or her fondest hopes. This last joy of her life, this child of her heart, was now torn from her, after the birth of a dead infant, in March 1799.[13]Of the family of the Burrows's, who were her tried friends, 'I am glad,' writes Mrs. Chapone to Miss Carter, July 31, 1761, 'that you love my Burrows's, who are, indeed, some of the most valuable persons I have ever known.——Poor Miss Amy (who was her last prop!) is still complaining, and consequently her sisters are anxious and unhappy.——I wish you were to hear Mr. Burrows preach. There is a simplicity and an earnestness in his manner more affecting than any thing I ever heard from the pulpit.' Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Elizabeth Burrows, two of the sisters mentioned in this place, together with Mr. and Mrs. Burrows, died before Mrs. Chapone's final retreat to Hadley; so that 'out of that amiable and happy circle with whom she delighted to associate, and on whom she relied as the sources of the most refined enjoyments, only one sister, the present Mrs. Amy Burrows, remained to bestow on her that heartfelt consolation which this inestimable friend never failed to administer.' The houses of Mr. Burrows, with his wife and two younger sisters, and of his eldest sister, wife of Sir Culling Smith, Bart. were long her favourite asylums, and the hours spent by her in them were among the most happy of her life.[14]Edward Mulso. 'Since you went,' (Miss Carter had just left the then Miss Mulso,) 'I have done nothing,' writes Mrs. C., 'but sing Metastasio's song. I am distracted for a tune that will go to the Translation, that I might sing that, from morning to night. I have madeNeddywalk with me to the tree, by SirEdwardHale's park; and intend often to reconnoitre the spot where you sat by me there.'—'Your friendEdwardis with us; and we make a pretty little concert at home, pretty often,' &c. &c.[15]The following compliment to the vocal powers of Mrs. C., though high, appears to be ingenuous. Dr. Kennicott, relating the University Festival, at Oxford, in a letter to Richardson, dated Exeter College, June 9, 1754, observes—"The first clap of applause was uponForasi'staking her place in the orchestra;Signioraseemed a little too sensible of the honour, &c. But I forgive her; for indeedshesings—I cannot saymostdelightfully—for have I not heard MissMulso?"[16]Deut. chap. ii.[17]Ibid. chap. xx.[18]Deut. chap. ix. ver. 24.[19]Lord Lyttelton.[20]Matt. v.[21]Ecclus. v.[22]Ibid. vi.[23]Ecclus. xxii. 20.[24]Ecclus. xxvii. 16.[25]Ecclus. xix. 13.[26]Ecclus. xx. 16.[27]Ecclus. xviii.[28]There has been lately published a work particularly adapted to the use of young ladies, entitled, "A Dictionary of Polite Literature, or Fabulous History of Heathen Gods and Illustrious Heroes.Two Vols. with Plates."Editor.[29]That is, in the 365th year of the city.[30]Dr. Goldsmith's Histories of Greece and Romeare generally considered as most useful to young persons.Editor.[31]Russel's History of Ancient Europewill give all the information requisite.Editor.[32]This work was first printed in 1773.[33]The History of Modern Europemay be read with particular advantage.Editor.[34]This work has not been published for some years;Guthrie's Geographical and Historical Grammaris the best work of the kind, at present.Editor.

[1]'I am at present engaged with a most admirable young lady of little more than twenty, Miss Mulso, on the subject of Filial Obedience and Paternal Authority, &c. Miss Mulso is a charming writer, &c. Your ladyship will be charmed with her part of the subject.'Richardson to Lady Bradshaigh, 1751.'I have been engaged in a kind of amicable controversy with my honoured friend Mr. Richardson, which has occasioned letters of so immoderate a length between us, that I have been quite tired of pen and ink, and inexcusably negligent of all my other correspondents. Does it not sound strange, my dear Miss Carter, that a girl like me should have dared to engage in a dispute with such a man? Indeed I have often wondered at my own assurance; but the pleasure and improvement I expected from his letters were motives too strong to be resisted, and the kind encouragement he gave me got the better of my fear of exposing myself.'Miss Mulso to Miss Carter, March 1750.This correspondence is dated from October 1750, to January 1751.

'I have been engaged in a kind of amicable controversy with my honoured friend Mr. Richardson, which has occasioned letters of so immoderate a length between us, that I have been quite tired of pen and ink, and inexcusably negligent of all my other correspondents. Does it not sound strange, my dear Miss Carter, that a girl like me should have dared to engage in a dispute with such a man? Indeed I have often wondered at my own assurance; but the pleasure and improvement I expected from his letters were motives too strong to be resisted, and the kind encouragement he gave me got the better of my fear of exposing myself.'Miss Mulso to Miss Carter, March 1750.

This correspondence is dated from October 1750, to January 1751.

[2]'I shall still find in her (Miss Mulso is writingtoandofMiss Carter) that amiable condescension, and unreserved benevolence, which endears her conversation, and enhances the value of her understanding; which teaches her how to improve her companions without appearing to instruct them, to correct without seeming to reprove, and even to reprove without offending.'Miss Mulso to Miss Carter, September 11, 1749.'It is impossible not to be better, as well as happier, for an intimate acquaintance withMiss Carter; take her for all in all, I think, I may venture to pronounce herthe first of women!'Miss Mulso to Mr. Richardson, July 24, 1752.

'It is impossible not to be better, as well as happier, for an intimate acquaintance withMiss Carter; take her for all in all, I think, I may venture to pronounce herthe first of women!'Miss Mulso to Mr. Richardson, July 24, 1752.

[3]'I think I read the 'Rambler' with great attention, yet I cannot entirely acquit him of the charge of severity in his satires on mankind. I believe him a worthy humane man; but I think I see a little of the asperity of disappointment in his writings.'Miss Mulso to Miss Carter, October 1752.'I am very unwilling to believe those that fright us with shocking pictures of human nature, and could almost quarrel with my very great favourite, 'The Rambler,' for his too-general censures on mankind; and for speaking of envy and malice as universal passions.'Ibid.

'I am very unwilling to believe those that fright us with shocking pictures of human nature, and could almost quarrel with my very great favourite, 'The Rambler,' for his too-general censures on mankind; and for speaking of envy and malice as universal passions.'Ibid.

[4]'I thank God, (Canterbury, August 29, 1757,) my best soul has now the upper hand, by the assistance of medicine and cool weather, much more than of reason; and perhaps by the hope of two or three days of fancied good, in the presence of afancied essential(Mr. Chapone) to my happiness, who has promised to come down and see me some time before the middle of next month.'——'I shall now tell you something of myself, who live here (Salisbury, John, the second brother to her, being then its Prebendary) uncorrupted by grandeur, &c. &c. &c. who could prefera little attorney(Chapone) even to my Lord Feversham; had he offered to me, instead of the fair young lady he has so happily won.'Miss Mulso to Miss Carter.

[5]'Nothing can ever make me amends for that luxurious ease and security, in the kindness of all around me, which enables me to wrangle, abuse, and dispute, till I am black in the face,' &c. &c.Mrs. Chapone to Mr. Burrows, 1773.

[6]'It has always been one of my prayers, that I might never be the wife of an overgrown scholar.'Miss Mulso to Miss Carter, 1754.

[7]Letters on the Improvement of the Mind, edit. 1801, pages 93, 94.

[8]'I have been very near death; and, at the time he threatened me most, it was the most earnest wish of my heart to meet and embrace him. But, I bless God, I am restored not only to life, but to a sense of the great mercy indulged me in the grant of a longer tern of trial.'—'You are so obligingly solicitous about my circumstances, that I would willingly inform you of the state of them, if I had any certainty about them. But my dear Mr. Chapone's affairs were left in great confusion and perplexity by his sudden death; which happened just at the time of year in which he should have settled his accounts, and made out his bills. As these are very considerable, his estate must suffer a great loss from this circumstance. At present, things are in a very melancholy state, and my own prospects such as would probably have appeared very dreadful to me at any other time.'Mrs. Chapone to Miss Carter, December 6, 1761.

[9]King George III. and Queen Charlotte; his present Majesty, then Prince of Wales, and sixteen years old; Prince Frederic, Duke of York, then fifteen years old; Prince William, Duke of Clarence, then thirteen years old; Princess Royal, now Queen of Wirtemberg, then about fourteen years old, and Princess Augusta, then about ten years old.

[10]Addressed by Mrs. Chapone to her friend Mrs. Carter.

[11]'Letters on the Improvement of the Mind.' They had been published five years then.

[12]This young lady, of whom the reader must wish to know more, was the eldest daughter of Mrs. Chapone's second brother, John, who was Prebendary of the cathedrals of Winchester and Salisbury. She became attached to this niece in 1766, while on a visit at her home; wrote the Letters, to her, in 1772; and, stimulated by her literary friends, published them in 1773.—'I had great satisfaction,' writes Mrs. Chapone to Miss Carter, November 1797, 'in seeing my darling niece established in the happiest manner, at Winchester, with husband (Rev. Benjamin Jeffreys) who seems in every respect calculated to make her happy.' Mrs. Chapone passed the autumns 1797 and 1798 at the Deanery at Winchester. Here she awaited the approaching accouchement of her dearest niece, which was destined to terminate one or her fondest hopes. This last joy of her life, this child of her heart, was now torn from her, after the birth of a dead infant, in March 1799.

[13]Of the family of the Burrows's, who were her tried friends, 'I am glad,' writes Mrs. Chapone to Miss Carter, July 31, 1761, 'that you love my Burrows's, who are, indeed, some of the most valuable persons I have ever known.——Poor Miss Amy (who was her last prop!) is still complaining, and consequently her sisters are anxious and unhappy.——I wish you were to hear Mr. Burrows preach. There is a simplicity and an earnestness in his manner more affecting than any thing I ever heard from the pulpit.' Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Elizabeth Burrows, two of the sisters mentioned in this place, together with Mr. and Mrs. Burrows, died before Mrs. Chapone's final retreat to Hadley; so that 'out of that amiable and happy circle with whom she delighted to associate, and on whom she relied as the sources of the most refined enjoyments, only one sister, the present Mrs. Amy Burrows, remained to bestow on her that heartfelt consolation which this inestimable friend never failed to administer.' The houses of Mr. Burrows, with his wife and two younger sisters, and of his eldest sister, wife of Sir Culling Smith, Bart. were long her favourite asylums, and the hours spent by her in them were among the most happy of her life.

[14]Edward Mulso. 'Since you went,' (Miss Carter had just left the then Miss Mulso,) 'I have done nothing,' writes Mrs. C., 'but sing Metastasio's song. I am distracted for a tune that will go to the Translation, that I might sing that, from morning to night. I have madeNeddywalk with me to the tree, by SirEdwardHale's park; and intend often to reconnoitre the spot where you sat by me there.'—'Your friendEdwardis with us; and we make a pretty little concert at home, pretty often,' &c. &c.

[15]The following compliment to the vocal powers of Mrs. C., though high, appears to be ingenuous. Dr. Kennicott, relating the University Festival, at Oxford, in a letter to Richardson, dated Exeter College, June 9, 1754, observes—"The first clap of applause was uponForasi'staking her place in the orchestra;Signioraseemed a little too sensible of the honour, &c. But I forgive her; for indeedshesings—I cannot saymostdelightfully—for have I not heard MissMulso?"

[16]Deut. chap. ii.

[17]Ibid. chap. xx.

[18]Deut. chap. ix. ver. 24.

[19]Lord Lyttelton.

[20]Matt. v.

[21]Ecclus. v.

[22]Ibid. vi.

[23]Ecclus. xxii. 20.

[24]Ecclus. xxvii. 16.

[25]Ecclus. xix. 13.

[26]Ecclus. xx. 16.

[27]Ecclus. xviii.

[28]There has been lately published a work particularly adapted to the use of young ladies, entitled, "A Dictionary of Polite Literature, or Fabulous History of Heathen Gods and Illustrious Heroes.Two Vols. with Plates."Editor.

Editor.

[29]That is, in the 365th year of the city.

[30]Dr. Goldsmith's Histories of Greece and Romeare generally considered as most useful to young persons.Editor.

[30]Dr. Goldsmith's Histories of Greece and Romeare generally considered as most useful to young persons.

Editor.

[31]Russel's History of Ancient Europewill give all the information requisite.Editor.

[31]Russel's History of Ancient Europewill give all the information requisite.

Editor.

[32]This work was first printed in 1773.

[33]The History of Modern Europemay be read with particular advantage.Editor.

[33]The History of Modern Europemay be read with particular advantage.

Editor.

[34]This work has not been published for some years;Guthrie's Geographical and Historical Grammaris the best work of the kind, at present.Editor.

[34]This work has not been published for some years;Guthrie's Geographical and Historical Grammaris the best work of the kind, at present.

Editor.

Obvious misspellings and punctuation errors repaired. Otherwise, unusual spellings retained when used consistently in original.

Hyphenated/nonhyphenated retained when occurring evenly.

Thought break on P.209 added, corresponds to "Conclusion" in Contents.

P.205, list: Second occurrences of "Vertot's Revolutions" and "Voltaire's" added in place of "repeat" dashes.

"Ecclus" = Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus.

P.xxxii, "whole tenour of the Gospel" to "whole tenor of the Gospel"

P.26 "himself was govenor" to "himself was governor"

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