CHAPTER I.

Birth and Parentage of Mrs. Montagu—Long Tom Robinson—Dr. Conyers Middleton—Early Training of Mrs. Montagu—Funeral at York Cathedral—Mrs. Makin—Her System of Female Education—School at Tottenham High Cross—Early Habits of Mrs. Montagu—The Duchess of Portland—Mary-le-Bone Gardens—“La Petite Fidget” at Bath, at Tunbridge Wells—Lord Noel Somerset—Bath Life in 1740—Lord Lyttelton—Scarlet Beaux and Country Polyphemuses—Modern Marriages—Garrick’s Richard the Third—Offers of Marriage to Miss Robinson 1