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MISCELLANIES.

ITALIAN MEMOIR BY LADY MARY
WORTLEY MONTAGU.

1757.

HORACE WALPOLE says in a letter to Sir Horace Mann, dated August 31, 1751: "Pray tell me if you know anything of Lady Mary Wortley; we have an obscure history here of her being in durance in the Brescian or the Bergamasco." He goes on to state in broad language that this was only the sequel of a love affair, "and her lover," he adds, "has taken it into his head to keep her close prisoner, not permitting her to write or receive any letters but what he sees." In a subsequent letter to Sir Horace (November 22 in the same year) Walpole further observes: "It seems uncertain by your accounts whether Lady Mary Wortley is in voluntary or constrained durance."

When, in 1837, the first Lord Wharncliffe was editing the Works of Lady Mary Wortley, his great grandmother, these statements drew from him some unexpected information. At vol. iii., p. 431, of his edition, he tells us :

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Among Lady Mary's papers there is a long paper written in Italian, not by herself, giving an account of her having been detained for some time against her will in a country house belonging to an Italian Count, and inhabited by him and his mother. This paper seems to be drawn up either as a case to be submitted to a lawyer for his opinion, or to be produced in a Court of Law. There is nothing else to be found in Lady Mary's papers referring in the least degree to this circumstance." Lord Wharncliffe then proceeds to say that this detention was, "probably, for some pecuniary or interested object;" and he points out, that at the time of this alleged love adventure, Lady Mary was sixtyone years old.

The following correspondence ensued.

Lord Wharncliffe to Lord Mahon.

MY DEAR LORD MAHON,

Curzon Street, Wed., March 22, 1837.

You suggested to me the other day at the Carlton, that I had better publish the Italian manuscript to which I allude in my Appendix to Lady Mary. This has led me to look farther into it than I had done before, not being a very handy Italian scholar, and it appears to me, upon doing so, to be a narrative extending over ten years of her life, during which she lived near Brescia, at Gotolengo, and Louvere, from whence her letters, from 1746 to 1756, are dated; and of the

circumstances attending her acquaintance with a certain Count Palazzo and his family, by whom she was duped, cheated, and robbed in a most extraordinary manner. If you will turn to those letters you will see that they are full of complaints of the loss of her letters and of her daughter's not having written to her. These complaints are repeated in some other letters, which merely relate to family affairs, and have therefore not been published. There can be no doubt, therefore, that her letters were intercepted by these people for their own purposes, and at last they prevented, or tried to prevent, her getting out of their hands, by all sorts of pretences.

Upon the whole, I have determined to send you the manuscript for your private and exclusive perusal, and you would very much oblige me by giving your opinion, whether, referring to Horace Walpole's accusation on this matter, it will be wise to print either the original, or a translation in the new edition.

Ever

yours truly, WHARNCLIFFE.

Lord Mahon to Lord Wharncliffe.

MY DEAR LORD,

Grosvenor Place,
March 23, 1837.

The Memoir, though not in Lady Mary's handwriting, is evidently, as it purports to be, composed by her; and though in a foreign language, is marked by

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her usual clearness and elegance of narrative. authenticity and accuracy of this narrative are very remarkably confirmed by a comparison with the printed correspondence of similar dates. In her letter to Mr. Wortley, of August 25, 1746, Lady Mary relates her journey from Avignon, with Count Palazzo as her escort, (naming him) in nearly the same terms as the Memoir. In another, of November 24, 1746, she praises the kindness with which she had been attended in illness at the house of his mother, the Countess Palazzo, near Brescia, as the Memoir now fully explains. From this time forward, the dates of her letters of Brescia and Venice do not correspond so well with those in the narrative, but the reason is shown by herself when she writes to Mr. Wortley, July 17, 1748. "I have been in the country this year and a half, though I continued to date from Brescia, as the place to which I would have directed, being, though not the nearest, the safest, post town." It is very necessary to bear this explanation in mind, especially for her letters during 1756 and 1757, when the dates of them hop strangely from Louvere to Venice and from Venice to Louvere, whereas it appears from the Memoir that she had not been to Venice between 1746 and 1757, and at the latter period departed finally from Louvere and Gotolengo. There is one intervening letter which could not be explained in this manner; it is dated May 13, 1754, speaks of her life at Venice, and complains of the incivility of Mr. Murray, the British Resident. But now it is evident that you or Mr. Dallaway have put a wrong date of year, for the letter goes

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on to desire that a remonstrance on the subject may made to Mr. Pitt, as Secretary of State, whereas Mr. Pitt did not become Secretary of State till December, 1756, and again in June, 1757. With these explanations, the order of dates for these years becomes consistent and clear.

There are several other points in which the letters throw light upon the Memoir. One of the tricks of Count Palazzo, she says in the latter, was concealing from her the name of the merchant whom he had empowered to receive for her Lady Oxford's legacy, intending, no doubt, to keep the money for his own use. Accordingly Lady Mary writes to her daughter (April 3, 1758), though without giving her reason: "I desire to know the name of the merchant to whom the Duke of Portland consigned the legacy left me by Lady Oxford." During the several years in which her stolen jewels were withheld from her, she does not mention them in her letters; but just at the period when she seems to have recovered them (September 5, 1757), takes an opportunity of alluding to them. In the same letter she speaks of some late "mortifications," but adds, "'tis a long tiresome story." A ring sent to her granddaughter, Lady Anne, is mentioned both in the Memoir and in her correspondence, November 2, 1751. The Count Martinenghi of the Memoir appears in the letter of October 25, 1749.

The transactions which the Memoir details thus extend over nearly ten years. It does not appear that Lady Mary ever was in actual confinement, that is, no force was used to detain her; but a system of

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