Page:A cyclopaedia of female biography.djvu/581

 her into the sick room, to prove her security from infection.

The present age, which has benefited so widely by this art and its improvements, can form but a faint estimate of the ravages of that fearful scourge, before the introduction of inoculation, when either a loathsome disease, a painful death, or disfigured features, awaited nearly every being born. This may account, in some measure, for the absence of that active gratitude which services such as hers should have called forth. Had Lady Mary Wortley lived in the days of heathen Greece or Rome, her name would have been enrolled among the deities who have benefited mankind. But in Christian England, her native land, on which she bestowed so dear a blessing, and through it, to all the nations of the earth, what has been her recompense? We read of colossal endowments by the British government, upon great generals; of titles conferred and pensions granted, through several generations, to those who have served their country; of monuments erected by the British people to statesmen, and warriors, and even to weak and vicious princes; but where is the monument to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu? Where is recorded the pension, the dignity, bestowed upon her line, as a sign to future generations that she was a benefactor to the human race, and that her country acknowledged it? In the page of history, and in the annals of medicine, her name must find its place; but there alone is the deed recorded, which beneath every roof in Christendom, from the palace to the pauper's hut, has carried a blessing!

On her return to England, Lady Mary Wortley took up her residence, at the solicitation of Pope, at Twickenham; but their friendship did not continue long after. Pope, it is asserted, made a violent declaration of love to her, which she treating with ridicule, so offended him that he never forgave her. A paper war ensued between them, little creditable to either party. Lady Mary continued to exercise considerable influence in society till 1739, when her health declining, she resolved to pass the remainder of her days in the milder climate of Italy. She was not accompanied by her husband, which has given rise to many surmises; but as be always corresponded, with her, and gave repeated proofs of his confidence in her, there is no ground for believing that there was any objectionable reason for her conduct. Lady Mary's correspondence during this period of her life, is marked by the same wit, vivacity, and talents, as that of her earlier years, and is published with her collected writings.

This once brilliant court beauty was now become so indifferent to her personal appearance, that, speaking of her looks, she says, "I know nothing of the matter, as it is now eleven years since I have seen my figure in a glass, and the last reflection I saw there was so disagreeable, that I resolved to spare myself the mortification for the future."

After an absence of twenty-two years, Lady Mary returned to England, but she did not long survive the removal; she died in less than a year after, at the age of seventy-two. Of her two children, both of whom survived her, one was the eccentric and profligate Edward Wortley Montagu, who was a source of continual unhappiness to her through life; the other became the wife of the Marquis of Bute, a distinguished nobleman, and was the mother of a large family.