Letter from Elizabeth Montagu to Messenger Monsey, undated, before 1766

By: Michelle Levy

Introduction

This undated letter is addressed to an unidentified "Sir." In the letter, Montagu suggests that the letter's receipient visit her any day later this week to show her the pictures, or paintings, of Sir P. Matthews, or Matheson. She indicates that Mr Montagu will be available to view the pictures on the Saturday. She says she prefers a "solo" visit on "Wednesday next," "for I take greater delight in originals than paintings." It seems that the receipient of the letter may be Dr. Messenger Monsey, who is named and described in letter as "an original, from his wit & spirit I am afraid he is inimitable."

Description

There is no envelope for the letter included, and so it appears that it was a hand-delivered note. A note would have been a usual mode of correspondence when both parties were in town, in this case London, during the winter season. The letter is written on a single sheet and appears to have been folded in half, once, along the shorter side. The hand is even and neat, written with a consistent dark brown ink. There is a dark shadow of the transfer from the engraving that is mounted in the album opposite the recto side of the letter. The transfer bleeds through to the verso side of the letter, as well.

Notable features

The letter contains at least one error, in the repetition of "to see to see" in the fourth line. Montagu also repeats the "obliged" and "obliging" in the first sentence.

Analysis

Messenger Monsey died in 1788, Edward Montagu in 1766, so the letter had to be written before 1766, as both are alive at the time the letter is written. 

The ostensible purpose of the letter is to arrange a visit to view paintings. There is also a discussion of a charitable undertaking. Montagu hopes that Monsey will contribute to that cause, and disagrees his censure of visitors to Montagu's home on Friday. He criticises these unnamed individuals; the exact nature of his (her recipient's) complaint isn't clear, but Montagu praises them for having engaged for possessing that "genuine spirit of charity which does its alms in secret." The letter blends social observation with tact, as Montagu encourages the visit in order to support the unspecified. charitable undertaking. It is not clear whether the pictures they are planning to view are related in some way to the charity. I have not been able to identify the collection of paintings, or the charity, being discussed.

According to his Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry, "For many years he and the earl of Bath were rivals for the affections of the literary hostess Mrs Elizabeth Montagu, with whom Monsey was reported to be in love." Messenger Monsey was, by all accounts, a character, especially later in life. The ODNB states that he was "noted for his 'disgusting language', 'unseemly deportment,' and 'vitiated taste'; Frances Burney described him as a "a strange gross man" (Early Journals of Fanny Burney, 385).

Diplomatic Transcription

Sir,

I am much obliged to you for your

obliging offer of shewing me

Sr P. [Matthews?] pictures, which I shall

be glad to see to see any day the end

of this week. I think you are very severe

on your friends for their private

traffick in a commerce carried on at

their expense, I rather consider their

visit on friday as an instance of

that genuine spirit of charity

which does its alms in secret, &

if (as I hope) you have the same

noble disposition, I desire you to make

me a solo visit on Wednesday

next, that being the first day I am 

disengaged. If Saturday morning

will suit you for the pictures Mr

Montagu will then be of the party.

I flatter my self more with the prospect

of Wednesday than Saturday morning,

for I take greater delight in originals

than paintings, & I really believe

[page break]

that no one will dispute that Doctor

Monsey is an original, from his wit

& spirit I am afraid he is inimit-

-able, if he adds the virtue of charity

to his other social talents, & will call 

here on Wednesday or Thursday morning.

I shall always be his

                            most Obedt

                            and Obliged Nble Servt

                            E Montagu

Engraved Portrait

This engraved portrait of Montagu features her in profile, set within a unique octagonal frame. The engraving was published by IWH Payne in September 1815.