MISS EPICTETUS, OR, THE LEARNED ELIZA: A LITERARY BIOGRAPHY OF ELIZABETH CARTER Brigitte Roxane Sprenger – Holtkamp Thesis submitted for the degree of Ph.D. Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza ABSTRACT OF THESIS This thesis presents the life of Elizabeth Carter (1717-1806), letter-writer, poet, translator, scholar and bluestocking. The major developments, events and phases, such as her short but intensive period on the Gentleman's Magazine alongside Samuel Johnson, or her major if submerged contribution to the early bas-bleu circle, are covered. A final chapter examines Carter's work and person thematically, focusing especially on her previously largely ignored literary contribution as epistolary author and on her fundamental feminist bias and influence. Based on her massive private correspondence, contemporary journals and letters as well as the rather jaundiced Memoirs written by Carter's nephew, this biography aims to set Carter in a social, historical and literary context in a factual manner. While not ignoring those aspects which gained her such respect and renown in her own day (her extraordinary scholarly proficiency gained without institutional help, her competent translation of the entire extant work of Epictetus, her rather romantic- pious poetry), this thesis also examines more topical matters. Considering recent re-appreciation of letterwriting as art, Carter's correspondence is shown to be diverse and entertaining. A fertile interaction between her conscientious, domestic duty pitted against her literary, scholarly urge is demonstrated. Equally, recent recognition of a less radical feminist tradition in the eighteenth century, supports this thesis' proposition that Carter in fact contributed significantly to the evolution of a female right to education and independent literature. By carefully guarding a moral reputation and insisting on self-effacing modesty, Carter in fact undermined prejudice and resistance to female literature from within the patriarchal bastions. 2 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract of Thesis p. 2 Table of Contents p. 3 Introduction p. 4 Abbreviations p. 13 Chapter One: Chapter Two: Chapter Three: Chapter Four: Chapter Five: Chapter Six: Chapter Seven: A Prodigious Start p. 15 Notes p. 33 A London Career p. 39 Notes p. 66 An Epistolary Friendship p. 76 Notes p. 108 A Stoic Task p. 118 Notes p. 146 Ever Widening Circles p. 155 Notes p. 190 Bluestockings and Bereavements p. 200 Notes p. 229 "I cannot tell you how I was revived, charmed, transported at your letter…" p. 238 Notes p.284 Bibliography p. 298 Appendix I Elizabeth Carter Poems closely referred to p.311 Appendix II: Illustrations p.325 Acknowledgements Brigitte Sprenger p.332 3 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza INTRODUCTION Two questions were repeatedly posed during the course of this research: The first, quite simply, was: Who is Elizabeth Carter? Though repetitive, it remains a legitimate question as Carter, though highly respected and renowned in her own day, is known only to some eighteenth-century specialists and feminist critics today. Indeed, were it not for two facets, Carter might well have suffered the obscure fate of other country parson's daughters in her own time. Her unconventional, recalcitrant father Nicolas, who believed in equal education for all his children, regardless of gender, was the one liberating factor. The other, equally crucial, was Carter's dogged determination, innate willpower and fierce, submerged ambition. Thus she chewed green tea leaves, pressed a wet towel to the pit of her stomach and had night-watchmen mercilessly wake her before dawn to enable a slow, Stoic yet permanent digestion of the "gentleman's education" her father allowed her access to. Her subsequent competence, even excellence, alone ensured permanent, contemporary notice. This attention was not unequivocally welcome. Permeated by the social and church thinking of her time, Carter fully realised the unfavourable associations clinging to wise or learned or literary women. As her later acquaintance John Duncombe only too clearly set out in his Feminead: or, Female Genius, A Poem, there were some good virtuous learned women, but in the public mind, female learning was predominantly associated with the non-virtuous – the Aphra Behns, Delariviere Manleys, the Susanna Centlivres. Before Carter's maturity, it was the latter reputation which coagulated in the public mind. As both Ruth Perry and Jane Spencer have clearly documented, to be a wellread, educated, literary women was analogous to being promiscuous or immoral or (in the style of Phoebe Clinker) ludicrous1. Consequently Carter's early publications were highly moral poems richly specked with classical and scientific allusions and associations. She tracked the orbit of the stars to reach out to the Christian God in "While clear the night.." or meditated on moral beauty through imagining the two Venuses in "To the Same (Occasioned by an Ode written by Mrs Philips)". In those early days at the Gentleman's Magazine, Carter exhibited a most modest and moral face both publicly and in the social, literary circles which were not so very private. This is not to deny an inherent natural shyness and piety. But Carter was always acutely aware of the immense handicap women 4 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza suffered when embarking on a career outside domesticity. To achieve any chance at independent effort, at a right to literature, two courses lay open to her: open defiance like Behn before and Mary Wollstonecraft after her or the more subtle, subversive way where she chipped away at the barriers from the inside. Carter opted for the latter alternative as most suited to her natural character. The subtle and submerged nature of this approach encumbers an analysis of its effectiveness. Nonetheless, contemporary evidence from younger literary and academic women shows Carter functioned as model, as ice-breaker, as shining paragon. A century later, Leslie Stephen, in illustrating the early promise of George Elliott, stated that, as ultimate ambition, Elliott might even aspire to become a second Mrs Carter. George Elliott, of course, achieved a far broader and deeper realisation of her talent and determination – yet the connection is indisputable. Elizabeth Carter, with her academic poetry, with her not-to-be- underestimated learned and competent translation of Epictetus and with her social contribution as an early Bluestocking, was instrumental in kneading public opinion to accept that women could be learned and yet moral. After her, a succession of parsons' daughters (Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Elizabeth Gaskell, Mary Ann Evans) encountered considerably less resistance to enable fuller concentration on development of their active literary talents. Carter was an essential link in a feminist tradition only recently recovered. Whereas previous feminist historians presumed a pause between Mary Astell and Mary Wollstonecraft, Marilyn Williams has clearly established a parallel development of two feminist lines of descent – those descending from Aphra Behn and those from Katherine Philips. Carter very clearly linked up in the latter line 2. The second question I repeatedly faced was (though often packaged more courteously): Why bother writing about Elizabeth Carter? My answer is only partially tied to the above. Carter's poetry, with a few if notable exceptions, was not truly ‘inspired’ and was often too occasional in character to have much contemporary relevance. Her translation of Epictetus, though still respected, was replaced early this century by W.A. Oldfather's as standard. Her contribution as Bluestocking, or as ice-breaker, would relegate her merely to the realms of socio- literary history and to feminist history especially. This is not to underestimate any of Carter's work which remains significant and admirable. Nor does it underestimate the need to recover all the links in feminist tradition. As Gerda Lerner so Brigitte Sprenger 5 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza convincingly postulated, modern feminist consciousness can grow only when a feminist tradition is established and documented, thus eliminating the necessity until now for each generation of women to begin from scratch3. (See below) The main reason, however, I should like Carter again to bathe in some public attention lies elsewhere. Most readers of literature meet with Carter in either of two literary texts: In the full bulk of Boswell's Life of Johnson, or in Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own. Boswell mentions Carter on five occasions, but the most famous comment made by Johnson (on Carter's ability as baker and translator) was actually recorded not by Boswell, but by Johnson's first biographer and contemporary, Sir John Hawkins. According to Hawkins, Johnson reacted to some praise of a learned woman by remarking: A man is in general better pleased when he has a good dinner upon his table than when his wife talks Greek. My old friend Mrs Carter could make a pudding as well as translate Epictetus from the Greek, and work a handkerchief as well as compose a poem 4. Virginia Woolf in her powerful lecture, uses Carter as illustrative of how women throughout history built a collective but successive base from which to develop further: For masterpieces are not single and solitary births; they are the outcome of many years of thinking in common, of thinking by the body of the people, so that the experience of the mass is behind the single voice. Jane Austen should have laid a wreath upon the grave of Fanny Burney, and George Eliot done homage to the robust shade of Eliza Carter – the valiant old woman who tied a bell to her bedstead in order that she might wake early and learn Greek5. These decisive first encounters with Carter's name are both very misleading and hardly point the way to her real contribution, her real talents. Johnson's comment undermines any sense of professionalism. While Carter was undoubtedly a product of her biblical upbringing and conscientiously fulfilled domestic duties, she clearly approached her literary life with devotion, seriousness and professionalism. She grumbled that any ‘sons of her' would need to learn how to make their own shirts and boasted that, while she might not be able to give her children (her brothers and sisters) much solid food, she had much to give of spiritual, academic food. She took notes on her reading, read conscientiously each day in every language of which she was master and even her reading of the bible was critical in a literary sense. (She objected to the sexist translation). She personally supervised the publishing and printing of her early work; she researched people and 6 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza events featured in works she translated so as to provide her reader with sufficient background information. There was little sense, if any, of Carter approaching her literature as an afterthought between supper and embroidering a lace handkerchief. Woolf's comment is equally misleading. Carter's major contribution to literature was achieved during youth and middle age and her major learning was well grounded before adulthood. When elderly, she was content to read novels, enjoyed playing quadrille and functioned, at Bluestocking gatherings, as a wise, learned yet very mild and pleasant model. Equally, Carter did more than pound obscure classics into her brain – she actually used her knowledge, published a book and thereby attained financial independence. Both Johnson's and Woolf's comments, however, harbour interesting truths. Woolf asserts Carter was, along with other more famous names, an essential link in a developing and growing female literary tradition. While not denying much truth in Gerda Lerner's assertion that each generation of women have had to virtually build up any rights and skills anew due to a lack of written record of female achievement and tradition, in the literary line at least some continuity, some development can be traced. This has been most effectively done by many in recent years – and a feminist tradition including Carter has been effectively established by Marilyn L Williamson6. Carter is firmly anchored in a tradition she herself was only slightly aware of: she greatly admired Elizabeth Singer Rowe and selected her as a muse. Yet she also wrote an ode to Katherine Philips. Of her contemporaries, engaged in the same striving for a right to education and to literature she was acutely aware and very supportive. Arguably, she was also aware of the example she set to the generation after her, modestly yet distinctly voicing her opinion on the requirements of literature, the merits of women, the necessity of education. Contemporary propriety insisted on literary modesty and reluctance to publish and to this she loyally adhered. Yet paradoxically, while enjoining her nephew not to publish her letters, she kept them all, sorted them, edited them and left a letter from a friend on top which encouraged Carter to publish. Carter, and many women like her, deserve to take their rightful place within the tradition, to become part of a rich and various and powerful base upon which feminist consciousness can ripen. Brigitte Sprenger 7 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Admittedly, throughout life, Carter fulfilled her domestic duties. She learnt to knit, she (to the frustration of her literary encouragers) executed furlongs of plain sewing, she baked puddings (with brandy, to save milk), she went on parochial visits. Next to that, she studied, wrote poetry, translated. And she wrote thousands of letters where she conjoined these elements in her life. Here, she plied and kneaded the raw material of her own daily existence (in reality, in her mind, in her ambulatory escapes) into highly enjoyable, substantive, often humorous epistles. For one correspondent, she moulded her own self with the comic domestic failure this friend presumed any studious woman must be. For another, she discussed man's general political insensitivity or compared the merits of Shakespeare's and Euripides' portrayal of human suffering. To another correspondent again, she scribbled minor moral Rambler-type essays, meandering through a woman's moral domestic world of thought. These letters could be serious, philosophic. They were often interesting, both intrinsically in the subjects covered, though more often in Carter's treatment of the events and persons in her restricted life. One of their distinguishing features was the intelligent, quiet wit pervading accounts of coach journeys or mock-heroic confessions of taste. Her humour is never satiric, but for all its surface gentleness, could be deceptively sharp. Most importantly, in these letters Carter could merge her two battling selves. Born with such inner conviction, intelligence, determination into a world and age requiring passivity, inferiority and plasticity inevitably catalysed grave inner conflict. Carter suffered from severe migraines from the moment she asserted her professional self in London as a young woman; these debilitating, crippling headaches tied her to her bed for two or three days a week for nearly seventy years. At least once, Carter acknowledged the relationship between the headaches and her domestic imprisonment, confirming to Catherine Talbot that unaccompanied walks in the wide open spaces surrounding Deal were prophylactic – yet unfortunately local concern at her roaming too often resigned her to a corner in the sitting room with a subsequent bout of migraine. In her poetry too, Carter repeatedly treats the dilemma of body and mind battling each other in an aim to achieve their separate, conflicting ends. In the delightful "A Dialogue", Carter even subscribed the female sex to the Mind, complaining of being fettered to the house. 8 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza In her correspondence, though, the schizophrenic halves fertilised each other and arguably enabled Carter fuller development of herself and of her epistolary art. Her professional, literary, feminist side was nurtured by the conversations and contacts each London season brought – it infused her with new impulses and ensured constant literary encouragement. Yet Bluestocking circles and London seasons did not promote digestion of or meditation on such new matter. The long nine months in Deal, visiting, walking, reading, sewing, baking, teaching – these were the times when Carter found time and opportunity to collect her thoughts and transfer them onto paper. Professional development alone is limited and not reflective of the female world. Carter, like Mrs Paston and Mrs Gaskell and Fay Weldon, was and is one of thousands of women through the ages who have juggled domestic tasks and crying children to steal in patches time to read, to write, to think. Literary, academic achievement need not be achieved despite domesticity: it can be done in tandem, each half complementing the other, catalysing the other. Personal experience confirms that concentrated physical domestic activity in alternation with static intellectual industry is positively stimulating. Carter's invigorating, witty, diverse letters do more than match up to Bruce Redford's criteria of correspondence literature – they merge into a brave tradition of an “own" feminist, domestic epistolary tradition. Carter, like Mrs Paston, like Mary Chudleigh, did not deny or belittle or abandon her woman's world, but actively incorporated and merged two halves considered (even today) so misallianced. The private correspondence, no matter how copious, no matter how historic, no matter if penned by ever so clever or famous a figure, is not – automatically of value or interest. Thus, many correspondents, many letters have deservedly sunk into obscurity, dug out only during the course of historic research. Elizabeth Carter's letters are historic, are copious, are written by someone who was very famous and have also sunk into the sort of obscurity where only scholars researching other persons, other topics find her letters a treasure trove of information. But the obscurity of her letters, I feel, is not deserved. Her epistles fulfill standard literary criteria and offer more besides. Her letters are a valuable link in feminist literary development. Personally, I came across Carter via neither Johnson nor Woolf- though I must have read both comments. While attending a seminar on Johnson and his Circle at the University of Brigitte Sprenger 9 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Zürich many years ago, I worked on a paper on the epistolary tradition of the period and repeatedly came across the so-called Bluestockings. Every reference to this group of (predominantly) women was derogatory, patronising. There seemed to be no foundation for this attitude and Sylvia Myers has very clearly plotted the disrepute into which the word, and with it the women, gradually sank7. Curiosity lead then to Carter and soon established that none of the women of the circle, excepting Fanny Burney, had received any close, academic in-depth attention for two centuries. Elizabeth Montagu, the supposed "Queen of the Blues" and Elizabeth Carter had both been the subject of a few works, but these hardly meet with the contemporary criterion of precision. Catherine Talbot, Elizabeth Vesey and Hester Mulso-Chapone had never been the subject of any lengthy study. Two biographies of Carter have been published. The first, still a source for much information, was the Memoirs written by Carter's heir and nephew, Montagu Pennington. Pennington was a middle-aged cleric, recalling fondly, if biasedly, his aged aunt and the picture is limited accordingly. He was easily and greatly impressed by the prominence of those his aunt had associated with – Queen Charlotte had once called personally at Carter's house in Deal when nephew Pennington was present. His awe is palpable. As Pennington relied mostly on the masses of letters he had inherited and oral accounts provided by Carter herself, his biography is patchy especially on Carter's early life and her feminist bias and tends to be overly occupied with Carter's pious remarks and eminent associations. The other biography, hardly worth the title, is A Woman of Wit and Wisdom by Alice C. C. Gaussen, which is more a thematic consideration of major episodes and elements in Carter's life. Clearly, a straightforward, chronological, critical account of Carter's life, without familial prejudice, tracing her development and assessing her contribution from a distance, was desirable. Inevitably, such an approach has disadvantages. There are many aspects, events, people which require, or profit from, additional information, wider association, indepth examination. People need introductions, friendships develop over very long stretches of time, poems written have echoes elsewhere, patterns emerge. Doing justice to all such aspects involves constant interruption to the narrative flow. As a compromise, not always equally expedient, I have chosen to restrict the first six chapters mainly to telling Carter's life with as few detours as I could justify. In Chapter 7, last but certainly not 10 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza least, the many threads are picked up and Carter's ideas, the themes in her work, her achievements, attitudes, the associations of ideas and events, are picked up again and examined. Information on Carter was drawn from three main sources which unfortunately all passed through Montagu Pennington's censorious hands and, as far as could be established, are no longer extant in manuscript: These were Pennington's aforementioned Memoirs of the Life of Mrs Elizabeth Carter (1807) (referred to in this thesis under the short title of Memoirs) and two sets of published correspondence. The first, published in 1809, was A Series of Letters between Mrs Elizabeth Carter and Miss Catherine Talbot from the Year 1741 to 1770 to which are added Letters from Mrs Elizabeth Carter to Mrs Vesey between the Years 1763 and 1787, and the other collection, Letters from Mrs Elizabeth Carter to Mrs Montagu between the Years 1755 and 1800 appeared in 1817. Reference to letters from these two epistolary series is by quoting the correspondent's initials and the date, when known, of the letter. The tragically few extant manuscript letters, or letters from other sources and publication, are credited separately. To compensate for the scarcity of principal sources, there was a wealth of secondary sources. Elizabeth Montagu's replies to Carter's letters, and indeed Montagu's entire correspondence, have not been as fully published as Carter's. In 1810, Montagu's nephew and heir, Matthew, published four volumes of earlier correspondence written by his aunt, but these unfortunately only merge with the first five years of the Carter-Montagu correspondence. Emily J Climenson and Reginald Blunt published a four-volume mixture of letters and biographical narrative between 1906 and 1922, but unfortunately the references are often not clear, the correspondences are far from complete with mostly short excerpts only. Some 6,923 manuscript letters and items penned by Elizabeth Montagu or closely relating to her are owned by the Huntington Library in California. I have drawn on photocopies of Montagu's letters to Carter during key years. Similarly, the correspondence between Carter and Hester Mulso also lacked the completeness of the Carter-Talbot series. Mulso's relatives presumably destroyed Carter's side of the correspondence, yet published Hester Mulso's epistles to Carter in The Posthumous Works of Mrs Chapone in 1807. A number of other collections of letters or journals, especially the painfully exact and almost tedious daily entries of Thomas Birch during his courtship of Carter, supplemented and gave depth Brigitte Sprenger 11 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza to the basic biographic outlines. The original spelling and punctuation have been retained in direct quotations. Of equal importance, of course, were Carter's literary productions. Her poems are mostly found in the 1737-1740 runs of the Gentleman's Magazine, in her two modest collections – Poems upon Particular Occasions (1738) and Poems upon Several Occasions (1762) – and appendixed to Pennington's Memoirs. Manuscript copies of a few poems exist in the massive collection of Birch papers in the British Library, a few poems were printed in a number of miscellanies. Carter's translations, from the French into English of Jean Pierre de Crousaz' An Examination of Mr Pope's Essay on Man (1739), from the Italian into English with many notes of Algarotti's, Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophy Explain'd for the Use of the Ladies, in six Dialogues on Light and Colours (1739) and, most importantly, from the ancient Greek into English, All the Works of Epictetus (1758) – could be found in the British Library, although her Epictetus was easily available in an Everyman edition up to the middle of this century. The limited availability of her work occasionally hampers its discussion. I have therefore quoted liberally on many occasions to convey not only a point or primary information, but also to enable a gradual sense of her style, her thoughts and her character to emerge. A number of her poems which are discussed in depth in Chapter 5, I have put into an appendix. (Addendum 2015: Citation adheres to MLA style of 1988.) Despite the scarcity and unavailability of Carter's work, interest in her has never totally disappeared and has indeed risen over the past few decades. She became one of the most important elements in Myers' aforementioned The Bluestocking Circle, which examined the literary friendships of the early bas-bleu. Three of Carter's poems were included in Roger Lonsdale's Eighteenth Century Women Poets (OUP 1990). Romantic implications in her friendship with Talbot were touched upon by both Lillian Faderman and Elizabeth Mavor in 1973 and 1981 respectively8. In innumerable feminist articles, studies and books, she is mentioned in passing. A literary biography can provide more coherent and full information on this interesting and influential figure. What Carter really deserves, however, is renewed recognition of her talents. While not underestimating her other contributions, it is her letters which have received the least critical attention and yet they 12 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza deserve it most. Through all these years of reading Carter's epistles over and again, I have never found them tedious or repetitive, but increasingly enjoyable, entertaining and interesting. A reprinting of at least some of her correspondence would allow others to discover the same. A Note on Abbreviations For purposes of brevity, certain names, publications and collections appear in abbreviated form in the chapter notes. EC Elizabeth Carter CT Catherine Talbot EM Elizabeth Montagu EV Elizabeth Vesey NC Nicolas Carter HMC Hester Mulso Chapone SJ Samuel Johnson SR Samuel Richardson MH Mary Hamilton MM Monthly Magazine GM Gentleman's Magazine Memoirs The Memoirs of Mrs Elizabeth Carter, by Montagu Pennington, London 1807 BL British Library Ponting The collection of typescripts of letters from Nicolas Carter to Elizabeth Carter inherited by Mrs P. Ponting, Kent. It is not known if the original manuscripts are still extant. Huntington Henry E. Huntington Library, San Remo, California Stebbing A collection of loose papers, miscellaneous Elizabeth Carter material and early Elizabeth Carter editions donated by former Deal mayor William Stebbing to Deal County Library. Brigitte Sprenger 13 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza NOTES 1. John Duncombe, The Feminead: or. Female Genius, A Poem, London 1754, 2nd ed. 1757; Ruth Perry Women, Letters and the Novel, 1980; Jane Spencer The Rise of the Woman Novelist: From Aphra Behn to Jane Austen, 1986 2. Marilyn L Williams, Raising their Voices, 21 3. Gerda Lerner, Lecture in Zürich, 2 November 1993 4. Sir John Hawkins Works of Samuel Johnson as quoted in Johnsonian Miscellanies, ed. George Birbeck Hill, Constable & Company, London 1966 (reprint Clarendon Press 1897) Vol 2:11 5. Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own, ed. Morag Shiach, Oxford OUP, 1992:85 6. Gerda Lerner; Marilyn L Williamson Raising their Voices: British Women Writers 1650-1750, Detroit, Wayne State University Press 1990 7. Sylvia Hardstarck Myers The Bluestocking Circle: Women, Friendship and the Life of the Mind in Eighteenth Century England, Oxford, 1990;290ff 8. Lillian Faderman, Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love between Women from the Renaissance to the Present. New York, 1981, Elizabeth Maver, The Ladies of Llangollen, Penguin, 1973 14 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Chapter One: A Prodigious Start Thy Hand my infant Mind to Science form'd, And gently led it thro' the thorny Road: With Love of Wisdom, and of Virtue warm'd, And turn'd from idle Toys to real Good. ……………………………………………. The treasur'd Stores of each enlighten'd Age My studious Search to thy Direction ow'd. Elizabeth Carter, "To-", ode to her father. Poems on Several Occasions, 1762. "……in whatever period, from whatever point of view, Miss Carter presents us with a career almost unexampled in the annals of learned ladies…… Few girls, even today, could have greater freedom in the determination of their own hours, occupations and pleasures……." Myra Reynolds The Learned Lady in England 1650 – 1760, Boston, 1920: 256. In the tradition of pre-Johnsonian biography, a life began well before the subject's actual birth, and so then must Elizabeth Carter's. Most directly and most influentially, her roots lay in Nicolas Carter, an unconventional, disputatious, polemic cleric. He insisted on the unconventional spelling for his baptismal name, presumably for utilitarian phonetic reasons. This unorthodoxy is characteristic of the father and laid formative foundations for the daughter 1. Nicolas Carter, of moderately wealthy landed family, could trace his genealogy back to a certain Thomas Carter of Higham in Bedford whose arms, during the reign of Edward IV, were an azure talbot between three round, gold buckles. William, a descendant of Thomas, lies buried in Kempston under a tombstone marked with brass plates, informing Brigitte Sprenger 15 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza us of his fertility in the form of seven sons and ten daughters. One of these seven sons was a Nicholas (with an 'h' who married Alice Brydone in Dinston Church on May 1, 1609. Their eldest son, born a year later, was christened Nicholas with an 'h' and was Elizabeth's great-grandfather. He may have served in the Parliamentary army under Colonel Steevens and he died in 1679 leaving an only son, James. James Carter settled at Aston Abbots and married twice. He had two sons from his first marriage – James and Nicolas, without an 'h'. (He had a daughter, Dorcas, by his second wife)2. Elder brother James married Mary, daughter of the London merchant John Vere and went into business with his father-in-law, earning a considerable fortune. The couple remained childless, which proved most fortunate for Nicolas and his many children. Younger brother Nicolas was, according to his grandson Montagu Pennington, originally destined to take over the family's farming and grazing business once James had settled on a career in London3. Yet he chose instead the traditional second-son role of entering the church. Quite likely this indicates both a dedication to the church and an academic disposition, for farming and holding property promised considerably more prosperity than the church did. It was a period when the church was overcrowded with ministers and stood in low esteem generally4. Nicolas commenced his studies at age nineteen and entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1707. He graduated with an MA in 1714 and would attain his DD fourteen years later5. Within his own family, and probably without, he was always highly respected as a scholar; testimonies to this are his children's considerable academic successes despite financial handicaps. They were all well-educated by Carter himself, two attended Oxford one son became a county chairman, another a minister, and Elizabeth became, according to Samuel Johnson, one of the best Greek scholars in her day6. Young Nicolas' situation and prospects upon graduation were bright enough to attract Margaret Swayne of Bere (Dorset). The daughter and co-heir of Richard Swayne and of a woman who could trace her lineage back to Edward l's daughter Princess Elizabeth, Margaret brought "several thousand pounds" into the marriage7. The newly-weds optimistically expecting increased demands, invested it in the South Sea Company. 16 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Their first child, Elizabeth, was born in the middle of winter on the 16th of December in 1717 – the year Robert Walpole and William Pulteney (the latter to become Carter's friend) resigned in protest against the Triple Alliance and the year the Spaniards seized Sardinia, which event led to the war with Spain. Elizabeth Carter's life was throughout, as at her birth, set against a background of war or threatened war with Continental neighbours. Four children rapidly followed – John, Nicolas, James and Margaret. Soon after ordination, on March 26, 1718, Nicolas had obtained the perpetual curacy at St George's, the newly built chapel in Deal, which gave him £100 per annum. This chapel, under the parish church of St Leonard's in Upper Deal, had been constructed in 1716 to cater for the increasing population now living in Lower Deal, close to the beach and the variety of trade this brought. The chapel had initially been given to a William Squire who, however, resigned it after about a year. Nicolas held his perpetual curacy till his death in 1774. A year after Elizabeth's birth, he was also given the small living of Sutton at £24 p.a.. In 1716, Carter obtained the living at Tilmanstone which probably brought in a small, nominal amount8. At the beginning of the century, more than half the total livings in England, some 5500 in all, were worth less than £50 a year and this meagre income encouraged the sort of pluralism Carter indulged in9. (He later also became one of the six preachers of Canterbury Cathedral). All these parochial duties inevitably led to occasional work overload'. On one occasion Carter, not able to fulfil all his ministerial duties, wrote urgently home: I must desire Mr Pennington or Harry or both together to take my horse and go to Sandwich and apply to Mr Nunns or anybody else to preach at Ham next Sunday in the fore noon, and at Tilmanstone in the After Noon. If he can not, get a supply for both or let them be omitted. But this Harry must Mr Curling know it. I had rather they were both supplied by any Body that Mr Pennington can pick up at half a Guinea a Piece, let it be Mr Davis or Mr Mudd or any stray Parson whatever…"10. The precise location of where the family lived at this time is not known – a modern local speculates it was a house behind the present corner of Park and Lower Street, off Stanhope Road11. Eiizabeth Carter once referred to living in her "vinegar bottle", which possibly indicates an unusual shape of house. In any case, the family frequently shifted and possibly lived in a great number of the cottages along the old Deal shore12. Brigitte Sprenger 17 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Deal, the town where Julius Caesar is rumoured to have landed on his first aborted attempt to capture Britain (Carter occasionally quipped nothing much had happened in the town since that event), had, by the eighteenth century come a long way from the small fishing and sea town of Addelem mentioned in the Domesday Book. King Henry VIII had built one of his three Tudor Rose-shaped castles here (the others were at Walmer and Sandown) and Deal was one of the strategically important Cinque Ports. By the time of Carter's birth it had grown significantly to a population of about 4000 inhabitants13 Deal was at this time one of the three busiest ports in England. Its prosperity depended nearly entirely on its coastal location: Over the centuries it offered a rendezvous location and shelter for ships awaiting fair winds and tides between the treacherous Goodwin Sands and the shingle beach. Deal's boatmen developed their own method of supplying ships sheltering in the Downs, which was known as "hovelling" and entailed the use of long boats. In the fertile surrounding countryside, the fresh supplies of fruit and vegetables for the sailors were grown. Deal was also famous for its boat builders and for its smugglers. Throughout this century, nearly everyone in Deal (excepting, by all the evidence extant, the Carters) was involved in the contraband trade. The proximity to France, the crippling English taxes, the aristocratic demand for luxuries all combined to encourage Deal boatmen to use their speedy galley-punts to land vast quantities of silk, satin, Dutch gin, brandy, tobacco, and starch, salt. And because everyone was involved, it was virtually impossible to find a Magistrate or a Jury to convict any boatmen who had been caught or charged. Such universal participation is understandable when considering the daily farm labourer earned 7 shillings per week, while one night of contraband work brought in 10 shillings14. Elizabeth Carter strongly disapproved of smuggling on several counts but especially because of the violence it created amongst the various gangs and with the Customs men. She blamed, however, not so much the local families who were involved in the trade, understanding their need to make a living, as the wealthy who virtually ordered specific items. She vented her disgust at all parties when conflict raged again in 1783: We had a most extraordinary advertisement lately by the commander of a revenue sloop in the Downs that if any of the smugglers fired at his boats, he would make no scruple of immediately cannonading the town. If I was a man of any consequence, instead of being only a private gentlewoman, this man should be called to defend his menaces… The insolence of the smugglers is no doubt very great, and certainly will be so while their trade is encouraged and supported by so very many of those people who make the laws 18 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza against them; it really hurts me to see the carriages of people of the first rank in this kingdom leave this place fully loaded with smuggled goods…15 The smuggling trade was probably a universal sport in Deal, most houses along High and Middle Street had tunnels leading directly to the beach: even Carter's own house seems to have had one – well concealed and undoubtedly not used by its mistress. In 1748 a reduction in duties and a successful series of trials led to a temporary reduction in smuggling, but the American war put it back into boom service, reaching a peak in 1780, when Carter was an elderly spinster. Her acquaintance William Pitt then effectively killed the trade by reducing the duty on tea from 129 % to 12.5 % in 1784 and by sending in numerous troops to seize contraband items16. The town of Deal also, throughout this century, felt great civic pride at being, since 1698, a corporation independent of Sandwich. (It remained so until 1835 when the charter was annulled and a town council established). Because of natural, geological conditions, Deal was by then of great importance in several fields. Over the ages a great shingle bank had built up, producing a natural barrier between the sea and the marshlands which were subsequently drained. The shingle bank, along the line of the present High Street, allowed the establishment not only of new settlement (Lower Deal) but also of a very strategic harbour. Between Dover, being a difficult harbour, and Sandwich, which was gradually silting up, it offered the necessary shelter for ships from the treacherous Goodwin Sands. These notorious flats which even Shakespeare respected, (The Merchant of Venice, Act Ill, Sc.i: "A very dangerous flat, and fatal, where the carcasses of many tall ships be buried"), lay some three miles off Deal and Walmer. The local inhabitants soon made a trade of helping stranded ships. (Deal was no port, its steep pebble beach forced its fishermen to use greased poles to launch their ships and simply to beach on a strong wave.) In Carter's youth, Deal was also a station for the Royal Navy and the King's Naval Yard housed a cooper's shop, a fresh water well, sawpits, a smith's shop, a sail loft, a seasoning house, a brew house and a bakery making ships' biscuits. The influx of sailors and officers ensured good use was made of its own Assembly Rooms at the corner of Duke and High Streets – and of the mass of public houses and brothels. Another feature of the town was its many windmills; a most logical development in view of the town's exposure to the strong cold winds which made Admiral Horatio Nelson once proclaim he supposed Deal was "the coldest place on earth". Brigitte Sprenger 19 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza The small town where Elizabeth Carter grew up was, therefore, a collection of several hundred, mostly modest houses, set along a few main, muddy streets lit only by flares. Maps of the mid-century show Lower Deal, where the Carters lived and worked, to be a nearly separate township, attached to the small Upper Deal by the long Middle Deal Road. Lower Deal then consisted of four roads, about eight residential blocks in length, running parallel to the sea. Deal Castle still stood isolated to the south of the township and directly on the seafront. Lower Deal had a number of small businesses such as clay pipe manufacturers, candle makers and slaughter houses. It also had, inevitably, a great number of public houses and brothels17. The Carters, big fish in' the small sea, would have been fairly isolated as a family in Deal. Their backgrounds and education were equalled by few; yet many stood above them financially. They were befriended however by the Underdowns (John Underdown was a prosperous trader and landowner), and by the local squire, Sir George Oxenden. Some other landed gentry in the immediate environs, like the family of Sir Thomas D'Aeth at nearby Wingham, also associated with the Carters on an at least intellectually equal level. These few contacts were instrumental in encouraging Elizabeth Carter to display in public her great learning and modest literary talent. Generally, however, the local attitude to the Carters was ambivalent. Nicolas, as we shall see, did not make himself particularly popular with his congregation and occasionally embarrassed his eldest daughter. (On several occasions, Nicolas quarreled publicly and stubbornly with the Deal Corporation, thereby alienating exactly those people with whom he associated socially. See further, Chapter 3). Towards Elizabeth herself the locals were respectful yet superstitious. They appreciated her modesty, the lack of airs and graces, and were proud of all her later success in high society and the great literary world. But she was a learned, wise, unmarried women and suffered the common fate of the species. She was soon attributed with supernatural abilities. A verger's wife commented once it would be a dreadful winter with great corn scarcity, "for the famous Miss Carter has foretold it", and another time Carter wrote her friend Catherine Talbot she had to be very cautious for she already passed "for more than half a witch." Local rumour had it Carter had foretold a bad summer with a dreadful storm: 20 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza From my foretelling a storm, it will be a mighty easy and natural transition to my raising it; so upon the whole it seems to be well for me, that the repeal of the Witch Act will suffer me to do it with impunity. There was just such a ridiculous story two years ago about my foretelling the high tide18. **************************************************************************************************** Nicolas Carter educated all his children himself, both the sons and the daughters, and in this too he was unconventional for his age. Ministers naturally educated their sons, and often, like Jane Austen's father George, took in a few pupils besides to boost meagre incomes. Educating daughters, however, was unusual. Those fathers who did often produced the eminent women of the age. Elizabeth Singer Rowe, a later inspiration for Carter, was educated at home by her father, as were Jane Brereton, poet Mehetabel Wright (taught alongside her brothers John and Charles Wesley), Laetitia Pilkington, Hannah More. Both Anna Barbauld and Maria Edgeworth were even taught the classics by their fathers19. On the whole, educating women was still considered a superfluous investment. Lawrence Stone in The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1 800 does note the general changing trend from the late seventeenth century when John Locke's Some Thoughts upon Education and Two Treatises of Government (1689) effected more pressure to educate women, if only to provide better companions for their husbands. Locke, by questioning the divine authority of the king, opened the floodgate to questioning other 'divine' authorities. Thus Mary Chudleigh complained: "Passive Obedience you've transferred to us/…./That antiquated doctrine you disown./Tis now your scorn, and fit for us alone"20. And so, although in 1670 Anne Barrett-Lennard was considered highly educated because she had been taught singing, could speak and read French and Italian, the end of the eighteenth century considered such mere accomplishments a meagre basic for any gentlewoman. Yet academic learning was still frowned upon. Dr Gregory, in his well-meant Legacy to his Daughters - of which he sent a complimentary copy to Carter – advised women to keep any learning as a profound secret from men, "who generally look with a jealous and malignant eye on a woman of great parts and a cultivated understanding"21. This advice reflects Lady Mary Wortley Montagu to a word, when she advised her daughter Lady Bute to recommend her granddaughter "conceal whatever learning she attains, with as much solicitude as she would hide crookedness or loneliness." Learning, Lady Mary argued, was to provide amusement in solitude, to Brigitte Sprenger 21 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza moderate passions, and to enable contentment with a small expanse. Even Mary Wollstonecraft, as late as 1787, warned women against expressing their own educated opinion22. A little learning was becoming acceptable to ensure better companions, but women must not display any possible superiority. This trend is reflected in statistics of schools. In 1704 there were 54 charity schools in London which by 1727 were educating 22,024 boys and 5,830 girls aged 7.-12. These children were taught the 3R's – though for the girls often only two, arithmetic being replaced by sewing. The grammar schools had significantly fewer girls – Christ's Hospital School, considered very progressive, had 1000 boys and 65 girls on its roll in 1727 and three other known schools had small girlcontingents. Another option for girls was the private boarding schools such as Mrs Whitney's Boarding School for Young Ladies at Buckingham, which for 12 guineas per annum offered board, lodging, washing, reading, plain and fine needlework. For an extra thirteen guineas it also taught English, arithmetic (for housekeeping purposes), drawing, dancing, a little French and occasionally Italian. Even the royal princesses hardly enjoyed much education. Frederick, Prince of Wales, was considered a highly cultured man who brought up his nine children carefully. Yet the princesses were taught dancing and on Sundays had one and a half hours of 'principles of religion' taught them by Dr Ayscough and this sufficed. The next Prince of Wales, George, changed tutors, choosing Bishop Hayter, who was learned but hardly an ideal tutor for children23. On at least three occasions Carter was frightened by rumours she would be offered a post at court to teach the princesses. She argued once that the girls would hardly have need of her as a governess, for since the halcyon days of Elizabeth, princesses were deemed to have no need of the classics24. (A charity school was established in Deal in May, 1792 and one of the original subscribers was Mrs. E. Carter, whose contribution was one guinea. It stood in Middle Street – down the road from Carter's house, was renamed National School and demolished in 1871. It had 50 pupils, exactly divided between the sexes25). In comparison to the education offered at boarding schools, or even grammar schools, Elizabeth Carter's was sound, thorough, and of great depth. Nicolas taught his daughter Latin and Greek, presumably after she had mastered her native tongue. Before she was twelve, Nicolas was proudly showing her letters to his patron, Sir George Oxenden, basking in the astonished compliment that "one of your Age cd spell so exactly & choose 22 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza such proper Expressions"26. Father and daughter corresponded in Latin, frequently inserting the Julian date. Nicolas, in replying, would criticise her style and execution in detail ("Carelessness, I think, has made you put gaudium instead of gaudio. Or it would have been more elegant to say Quae res"27.) After Latin and Greek, Nicolas taught his daughter Hebrew. When she was probably about fifteen, she went to board with a Hugenot emigrant family, the LeSoeurs in Canterbury, to learn and perfect French. At this time presumably, she also was taught (or taught herself) modern Italian which she had mastered well enough by the age of 21 to undertake a major professional translation. Although several people testify to Carter's excellent French, she never developed a great love for this language, whereas Italian, especially the poetry of Carlo Maggi, she regarded with enough affection and affinity to attempt writing poetry in it herself. Carter read these and the other languages she learned every day of her life to keep her knowledge fresh. She learned the languages mostly by simply reading, without the aid of grammars, believing that the grasping of grammar should be a consequence of thoroughly understanding the language itself. (In this she shared Locke's antipathy – as expressed in Thoughts on Education- to learning by rote or learning language through its grammar.) She read through the books and manuscripts in the foreign language, using dictionaries. Of these three classic tongues, her preference was always for Greek and she consequently became very proficient in it. Within her own family, the otherwise extremely modest Carter, would proudly relate that, during a discussion about a famous scholar, Samuel Johnson remarked this scholar understood Greek better than anyone he had ever known – except Elizabeth Carter28. Learning, however, did not come easy to Elizabeth. Nephew Montagu Pennington later reported she was so slow even her father wearied and "entreated her to give up all thoughts of becoming a scholar"29. She refused and doubled her efforts and determination to learn. She developed a habit of taking snuff to keep herself awake to study at her slow plodding pace during the small hours, for daytime saw her fulfilling her household duties – such as plain sewing (Carter was still sewing shirts for her brothers at forty years of age) Brigitte Sprenger 23 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza and kitchen supervision. To study, then, Carter had to rise at 4 a.m.. As she was a sound sleeper, she devised her own alarm-bell. There is a bell placed at the head of my bed, and to this is fastened a packthread and a piece of lead, which, when I am not lulled by soft zephyrs through the broken pane, is conveyed through a crevasse of my window into a garden below, pertaining to the Sexton, who gets up between four and five, and pulls the said packthread with as much heart and good-will as if he was ringing my knell30. James Boswell reports another alarm-system Carter used. The learned Mrs Carter, at that period when she was eager in study, did not awake as early as she wished, and she therefore had a contrivance, that, at a certain hour, her chamber-light should burn a string to which a heavy weight was suspended, which then fell with a strong sudden noise: this roused her from sleep and then she had no difficulty in getting up31. For a while she also indulged in studying till late at night, but this she soon abandoned, making a resolution to be in bed by midnight and later she became, despite her century's general habit of keeping late hours, a severe critic of persons and parties preventing retirement by ten o'clock. Carter chastised herself throughout life for a lack of concentration which resulted in a constant need for variety of activity: "I find it impossible to apply myself a single hour without growing stupid, and feeling all manners of distemper" 32. Nevertheless, as an adolescent she awarded herself a mere four hours' sleep in an ambitious desire to excel academically and, as already mentioned, took to snuff to support such physical and intellectual demands. Her father strongly disapproved of this habit and in this he was not alone. Richard Steele in Spectator 344 prints a letter from "T", who complains of many "fine women" who had lately adopted this "impertinent" habit. To oblige her father, Elizabeth attempted to give it up, but apparently so suffered under this restraint, that Nicolas reluctantly gave his permission for her to recommence the habit. Another aid to keeping awake during study was to "bind a wet towel round her head, put a wet cloth to the pit of her stomach, and chew green tea and coffee"33. The picture commands respect: Elizabeth Carter, a mere fifteen years of age, submitting to self-imposed, Stoic regimes to cudgel her mind into academic excellence. It indicates not only Elizabeth's stubborn will-power and determined ambition (which contrasts starkly to the demure 24 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza extant portraits and posterity's view of her), but also the unusual family situation with its individualistic father. The eighteenth-century family was, according to Lawrence Stone, undergoing several new developments: there was more affective bonding of the nuclear core, individual autonomy, a weakening of the association between sex and sin, and a growing desire for physical intimacy. By 1750, middle- and upper-class families were more or less conforming to such a pattern34. Nicolas Carter was, however, applying even more radical standards earlier in the century. Not only did he educate all his daughters, he showed considerable respect for them as individuals and held their decisions in honour. He entrusted Elizabeth with the buying of household supplies when she was in London at 19 years of age, and sought her opinion on such momentous matters as whether to send her brother Jack to Oxford. He trusted her with important information relating to a secret, private mission he went on for his patron, and completely left the organisation and supervision of the printing of his sermons to her35. He also respected, however much it went against his own inclination, her decisions concerning suitors, repeatedly reiterating he could only give her his opinion, but trusted he had instilled the right principles of religion and knew she could best decide for herself. (Cf. Chapter 2). Nicolas' relationship with Elizabeth, his first-born, was undoubtedly unusual and formed the basis for her career. Their relationship was greatly affected by the death of his wife. In 1720, the South Sea "bubble" burst and the Carters, along with many others, lost their modest fortune. Family tradition held that Margaret died of "a decline" caused or at least aided by this stroke of misfortune. The years of intensive child-bearing undoubtedly abetted the process. She died when Elizabeth was ten years old and left her husband a widower with five small children and very limited financial means. There is no indication that Margaret's respectable and wealthy family ever offered Nicolas and his children any assistance, nor for that matter is there any reference to Carter's own family and their property. The family probably had an income of about £130 annually, sufficient for modest survival in rented accommodation. They would hardly have been "comfortably off" and Elizabeth Carter's lifelong modest expenditure undoubtedly had its roots in her frugal childhood. Nicolas had few options for improving his family's lot. Livings were hard to obtain and he already held three. A better alternative was marriage to a woman of fortune, but Nicolas would hardly Brigitte Sprenger 25 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza have been considered a desirable catch. He was certainly handsome and probably charismatic, but he was not rich and was burdened with five children. In the event, however, Carter did marry, very soon and very practically. Within a year of his wife's death, he was wedded to Mary Bean, a local woman of whom little is known, except that she was often ill. The new Mrs Carter soon produced more children: of the four recorded by a local historian, only two survived early childhood – Henry and Mary (known as Polly)36. Mary Bean's main attraction was arguably her readiness to take over the household. She did, according to her step-daughter's testimony, do this very adequately and earned her new family's appreciation. · When Mary Carter died many decades later, Elizabeth was genuinely upset: …she was no otherwise related to me than by marrying my father, but her great merit, in a very uncommon care of his family, rendered her a most valuable blessing to us all and the particular regard and affection which she always discovered for me makes me feel her loss with the tenderest sensibility. Her heart was good and her life highly useful in that station which Providence had placed her. After a long and laborious discharge of the cares of a large family, I hope she would have enjoyed the latter years of her life in a comfortable state of relaxation and ease; and I pleased myself with the prospect that by my care and attentions, I should contribute to her happiness.." 37. It is tempting to speculate that the eldest daughter, seeing her mother (and, in a way, herself) so soon replaced by another, never developed an envious or critical opinion of her stepmother because there was in effect little to be envious of. Although Mary Bean undoubtedly took over the reins in household matters and became Nicolas' new sexual partner, in other matters it was Elizabeth herself who seems to have become her father's companion. The most vivid picture of their companionability, was provided by Carter to her friend Catherine Talbot when describing her daily routine. By then she was into her twenties – the anecdote, however, implies she is relating no isolated incident, but a longestablished tradition. Carter wrote that tea was, together with breakfast, the most sociable and delightful time of the day when the family sat together: …we have a great variety of topics, in which everybody bears a part, till we get insensibly upon books; and whenever we go beyond Latin and French, my sister and the rest walk off, and leave my father and me to finish the discourse, and the tea-kettle by ourselves, which we should infallibly do, if it held as much as Solomon's molton sea…38. The general tone of Dr Carter's letters to his "dear Bet", is companionable and even extremely frank. From Bath, he once described his feelings upon being confronted by 26 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza naked (bathing) women. On another occasion he described the colic attack one of the maids had suffered at 2 a.m., waking the whole household. A doctor had been sent for, curing her by "plentiful evacuation both ways." And another maid, he reported, "is fixed to go & live (in hopes, I suppose to lie) with Jeffers" 39. His letters to her (hers to him are not extant) are lengthy with many small domestic details, political events or literary theory. He frequently stated his pleasure at hearing from her and his assumption at her joy when he is well. When Elizabeth once complained he was not writing often enough, he commented dryly she had not written to him a full fortnight which had "occasioned Jim many fruitless journeys to ye Post-House; And me some Disappointments"40. Dr Carter maintained a keen interest in all Elizabeth's projects, gathering subscriptions to her Epictetus or gleaning information from newspapers to speculate whether topical controversies might catalyse improved sales. Elizabeth, in turn, was highly appreciative of her father. Formally she addressed a poem to him ("Thou by whose Fondness, and paternal Care…", which appeared in her Poems upon Several Occasions, cf. the first epigraph to this chapter) praising his guidance and education of her. Thy Hand my infant Mind to Science form'd, And gently led it thro the thorny Road…. Never did thy Voice assume a Master's Pow'r, Nor force Assent to what thy Precepts taught; But bid my independent Spirit soar, In all the Freedom of unfetter'd Thought… Another confirmation of Nicolas' patient, non-authoritarian pedagogic style came in a letter recalling an incident from childhood: I perfectly remember.that I was exceedingly frightened at a storm of thunder; but as it was not much my fashion to express what I felt, I watched my father's looks; and the carelessness and unconcern which I discovered there, quieted my terrors more effectively than a thousand arguments could have done, and I do not recollect ever suffering any alarms again of the same sort41. Carter's relationship with her father reminds one exceedingly of another: Winifrid Gerin, in her biography of Charlotte Bronte, reports that Patrick Bronte considered his eldest daughter Mary (his wife had also died when the children were still very young) an equal Brigitte Sprenger 27 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza intellectual companion. "Aflame with educational ardour, both for himself and his children, he was concerned with them primarily as intellects in need of nurture" 42· Gerin notes Bronte gave his children enormous mental freedoms, hardly ever enjoyed by girls of that period. Elizabeth Carter predated Bronte by a whole century. All this is not to say Elizabeth was uncritically devoted to her father, possibly even intimidated by him. Although she was financially dependent on him for many years and he had clearly taught her her duty as a Christian daughter, Carter had given her "freedom of thought." She could also be, and express herself to be, critical of him, as we shall see in Chapter 4. Between mid-childhood and the age of 19 when she went to London, Carter laid in the major stock of her polymathic learning. Besides the languages, she also studied mathematics and astronomy with the help of Thomas Wright (1711-86), a leading astronomer of the day and author of such works as An original Theory or new Hvpothesis of the Universe founded upon the Laws of Nature (London, 1750). As a young adult, Carter began to study German when her father passed on advice from Oxenden to study "SaxoGoth" in order to "visit Saxo-Goth lands amidst wolves and bears" which could lead to "the Prince's Palace"43. Oxenden was the first of many who had aspirations of attaining a court position for Elizabeth with the Hannoverians considering this a respectable career for a woman of no means. Carter also studied geography, mostly, however, of the ancient world, enjoying the careful examination of ancient maps against classic texts44. History she read as a matter of course during her classical studies and her general reading. Later in life she applied herself to Arabic and Portuguese. Evidently her education rivalled and even surpassed the average university education of her day, when standards were still widely diverse, standard examinations non-existent, and many "Gentleman/Fellow Commoners", led full-time social lives at university to be rewarded by complimentary degrees 45. The opening of the universities to women was still over 150 years off, but at least one contemporary of Carter's noted that such learning and dignity as Carter's better suited the title of doctor than did many of the (male) title-holders46. Women of learning, women of literature, were still apt in the eighteenth century to be branded as immoral, promiscuous47. Around Elizabeth Carter there grew up a careful image of modest intellectualism. 28 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Montagu Pennington, Carter's nephew and biographer, is most careful to insist immediately, after listing all her academic achievements, on her housewifely and religious education. Carter herself once talked of a need to "wear off the scandal of my Greek." It is, in this context, hardly surprising that Carter has for two hundred years been remembered mostly by the almost condemnatory words of Johnson that she could make a pudding as well as translate Epictetus (cf. Chapters 2 and 7). The comment is and was misleading. Johnson would hardly ever have tasted any of Carter's puddings. His point was more that, despite her learning, she still fulfilled society's expectations of femininity. One could be learned but still a "proper" woman. Despite this image, Carter's housewifely ability and dedication, though not her religiosity, were questionable. Her housewifery was a matter of duty, not of calling or pleasure. She learned to knit. She produced brandy puddings. She learned to play the spinet and the German flute. She spent hours fulfilling social duties. She watered the plants in the house. She sewed her full quota of shirts and handkerchiefs and linen. "I have been working my eyes out in making shirts for my brother," she wrote Talbot, "I want mightily to reform the world in this particular, and therefore…when I am blessed with a family of boys, they shall all learn to make their own shirts"48. Whenever Carter, in her letters, discussed housewifery, it was usually a mockheroic demontage of her own self and the descriptions form a most interesting, quietly rebellious strain in her epistles as shall be fully explored in Chapter 7. Carter also disliked the compulsory local visits, bemoaning the restrictions and the small hot rooms. She seemed once almost glad to have been ill for this excused her from at least some of the annual rounds of visits she was obliged to accompany her stepmother on – they lasted from three in the afternoon till sunset – in the summer time!49. She virtually reputed Johnson's statement (made of course much later) with the following splendid account of a domestic debacle: I don't know what you mean by suspecting my good housewifery…if you could see me with uncommon contrivance joining nineteen heterogeneous pieces together to make a cap to say nothing of my labouring on in the beaten track through whole dozens of shirts and shifts. As to the article of puddings, I wish I could send you one piping hot to Cuddesden as a specimen of my abilities in the science of puddings. One would think you had a mind to insult me upon a misfortune that happened to me some fifteen years ago, when I produced a pudding of a new invention, so overcharged with pepper, and brandy that it put the whole family in flame. The children all set up their little throats against Greek and Latin and I found this unlucky event was to prove my everlasting disgrace, for they made a perfect aera of it and every remarkable thing that was quoted Brigitte Sprenger 29 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza for a month after, was always sure to happen on the same day 'my sister made the brandy pudding'. So to stop their clamour, I happily applied myself to the forming a so special good sweet cake, with such success, that the former mishap was forgot and I was employed to make every christening cake ever after….I hope you will not infer from my story that I am fond of brandy, for I put it in out of pure good management to save milk50 Although Carter disliked the more superficial social life, she certainly from an early age built up strong, intimate friendships which nearly always lasted unto death. Deal, though predominantly a port, did have its few families of better background with whom Carter could associate on an equal level. As already mentioned, Elizabeth formed friendships with the Oxenden family, with the Underdowns and the d'Aeths. John and Hannah Underdown befriended Elizabeth when she was still a child. They were a fairly wealthy local family, owning a considerable amount of property in and around Deal. Their only daughter Frances later married Elizabeth's brother John (see Chapter 4). The ties between these two families always remained close; Elizabeth spent a few hours virtually every evening with them when she was in Deal. Similarly, Elizabeth spent many hours, if not daily then weekly, with her friend Bethia d'Aeth, only daughter of Sir Thomas (Cf Chapter 6). There were, of course, other friends · in Deal and in Canterbury, where Carter stayed so long to learn French and where her father regularly went professionally as one of the six preachers at Canterbury Cathedral. Elizabeth was especially close to the dean of Canterbury, Dr Lynch, his brother the physician and their families. Elizabeth's unique learning and knowledge made her into a much sought prodigy among these and other prominent families, and her acquaintance was sought out by Mrs Rooke, sister of Viscount Dudley, and the Ward family of St Laurence51. It seems likely that by these people, themselves educated, Elizabeth was positively encouraged in her course to attain knowledge and to write poetry. One of the few memories Carter had retained of her mother, was her encouragement of modesty and it is, therefore, unlikely that Elizabeth sought publication on her own initiative. It is unfortunately not known when Carter began writing poetry – certainly she must have been very young to have attained enough proficiency to have poems circulated in manuscript among her friends by the time she was in her mid-teens. Mrs Rooke, the Oxendens, the D'Aeths and the Lynches were undoubtedly impressed and probably encouraged her or, more likely, her father to seek public acknowledgment of such talent. This seems a likely background to her appearing in print in the Gentlemen's Magazine at seventeen years of age. Pennington claims 30 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Nicolas Carter was acquainted with Edward Cave, publisher of the newly launched Gentlemen's Magazine, though it is not clear where these two men, so different, could have met52. Cave (1692 -1754) was brought up and schooled in Rugby and later worked in London and Norwich – none of these were places where Nicolas Carter had connections. A more likely explanation is that Carter's friends encouraged her to enter Cave’s poetry competitions. Cave had started the Gentlemen's Magazine in 1731 when marriage to a widow and a position in the Post Office had brought him in enough money to buy the premises and the printing press at St John's Gate. With his thorough apprenticeship in printing, publishing and distribution, Cave immediately concocted a perfect recipe for success. By publishing on a monthly basis he avoided the crippling newspaper tax and so could offer 48 pages at sixpence. These 48 pages were filled with current events, exchange rates, bankrupts, church and state appointments, a hatchedmatched-dispatched column and the London bills of mortality in part one and in part two were book lists, poems, reviews and background articles on all manner of topics. Cave claimed he printed 300 copies a month (Johnson's Rambler averaged 500 copies), which excluded the constant reprints and yearly editions. From the start, Cave actively encouraged people to contribute, and ran several competitions especially to attract poetical contributions, offering a "grand prize" of £50 for the winner. Samuel Johnson, at that time an impoverished schoolmaster up in Lichfield, with a wife to support, approached Cave rather tactlessly, pointing out that such a sum would never encourage great poetry53. Johnson did later contribute his first poem, "London", to Cave and received a meagre £10. (It is not known what, if anything, Elizabeth Carter received for her first contribution54.) Whether in reaction to another such competition or not, in November 1734, the not yet 17year old Elizabeth Carter published "A Riddle". The little poem, unsigned, was tucked away on page 623. Coeval with the world, I lay conceal'd 'Till my existence prying man reveal'd, Sometimes in caves and mountains make my bed, And oft beneath the waves in embryo hid, Nor ought I to deny the aid of strife, By means of which I struggled into life; Like animals I still subsist by breath, Yet often from its force receive my death. What sage Pythagoras of old maintain'd, That souls departed still new bodies gain'd, So I by change of habitation live. Brigitte Sprenger 31 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza And Transmigrating a new force receive, Thro' me blest saints a certain passage find To those immortal joys by heav'n assign'd; All men me court, and all alike me shun; I'm good to all, yet many have undone; Now flourish, now decay, now die, now live, Now pleasure, and now pain, by turns I give. Substance and form in me are but a name, For neither of the two I rightly claim; A spirit less, and yet such force enjoy, As all material beings shall destroy55. Yet this hidden contribution did attract at least one public reaction. A 'Sylvius', who had in the same issue as Carter's debut published a long poem on the solar system, was impressed. Six months later he addressed Miss Cart-r, Author of Riddle in Nov 34, as "an ingenious nymph, in mystic numbers skill'd" and correctly guessed the solution to be Fire56. Sylvius was the pen name of John Duick, a man competent to write about solar systems and contribute the accompanying sketches, and someone who must have known not only of Carter's abilities in mathematics but that she had contributed that poem. Sylvius's praise effected two things. Firstly, it made Carter's name public – a matter she herself always remained hesitant to forward. Secondly, it lifted her reputation above the bulk of poetry which appeared in the GM by comparing her favourably to Fidelia (Fidy) and Melissa – two other female contributors from rural regions whose contributions were certainly above average. For a few months Sylvius encouraged a poetical "war" between these three women who, however, refused to demean their muses. Fidelia at last wrote in September 1735 (551): You bid me and Melissa was give o'er Precept will much, but your example more. Oh night I chuse a subject for your ·Jays, You then should celebrate Camilla's praise; That matchless fair with every charm replete, Whose great good nature's equal to be wit. In a footnote, Camilla was identified as "the Lady who signs E. C—r". The respected Fidelia had resigned and accorded the 18-year-old Carter all poetic and moral laurels57. Carter reacted, in almost embarrassed modesty, in a 20-line poem, claiming she was unequal to such company and announced her retirement from the front. Her first public exposure seems to have completely overwhelmed her. But not for long. Her retirement would not last out twelve months58. 32 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza NOTES 1 NC to EC 14 Jul 38 2 Robert Brudenell Carter, in Alice Gaussen, A Woman of Wit and Wisdom (London 1906) 257-263 3 Montagu Pennington, Memoirs, 180:5. 4 Gerald R.Cragg, The Pelican History of the Church – 4: The Church and the Age of Reason 1648-1789, (Penguin 1960) 125-6. Archbishop Thomas Secker, cf. Chapter 3, believed the "distinguishing mark of the present age was an open and professed disregard of religion" and "Christianity is now railed at and ridiculed with very little reserve, and its teachers without any at all." ibid 127, 129 5 A Woman of Wit and Wisdom. Ibid; 260 6 Memoirs; I: 13 7 Memoirs; I: 8 8 Memoirs; 1:435 and Stebbing collection, loose papers, Deal County Library and John Laker: History of Deal. (Deal, 1921, 256, 268, 269) 9 The Church and the Age of Reason, ibid; 126. Interestingly, upon becoming Archbishop, Thomas Secker decreed that clergy henceforth reside in the areas of their livings, thus ending absentee pluralism. The World of Thomas Secker, Preface, Beilby Porteus and George Stinton, Vol. 1, Dublin 1775. 10 4 Sep 1737. Loose Stebbing papers, Deal County Library. William Stebbing, one time mayor of Deal, and local historian bequeathed his papers to DCL. An unpublished, incomplete MS is amongst these, in a separate drawer, in which he refers to some 136 letters NC to EC. Mrs P. Ponting, who was given it by her colleague, Miss B. Rutherford, former headmistress of the Elizabeth Carter School in Deal, has copies of some 73 letters only. I have found at least six quotations in Stebbing MS which are in the Ponting collection. The whereabouts of the originals I Brigitte Sprenger 33 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza have not discovered, though have heard rumours of four folios of letters and memoranda enclosed in large covers with a bad binding, cf. letter Will Honey May to Warren Mild, May 1978 in Deal Maritime & Local History Museum. These manuscripts are now rumoured to have been bought by an academe living near Oxford.cf also Chapter 7 11 Deller, Julie. Personal communication 1991 12 Memoirs; ibid; I, 50 13 The figure is an estimate based on the 608 households registered in 1751 in the Church Assessment in the Parish of Deal. (Thanks to Shirley Lead, nee Pittock who researched the St Leonards Church Parish Registers in Deal). Although there might have been some households with only two or three members, the great majority would have consisted of considerably more, considering the live-in servants, apprentices, the much higher birth rates and the common practice of letting spare rooms to boost finances. The original Cinque Ports were Hastings, Romney, Hythe, Dover and Sandwich. To these, other subordinate places were attached; Deal and Walmer were attached to Sandwich 14 Mary Waugh, Smuggling in Kent & Sussex, (Countryside Books 1985; 13) 15 EC to EM 8 Oct 1783. Cf. also EC to EM 20 Oct 1772. EC to CT 1 Jan 1750 and Chapter 5 16 Smuggling in Kent & Sussex, ibid. p. 16, 76 17 Most of this information has been provided by Miss Julie Deller, local historian and other details have been gleaned from History of Deal, ibid, 256, Beryl Foley-Fischer: Bygone Deal and Walmer, (Sussex, 1989) Introduction and Smuggling in Kent and Sussex. ibid. 18 EC to CT, Memoirs; I: 246 19 Eighteenth-Century Women Poets, ed. Roger Lonsdale (Oxford, 1990) and Katherine M. Rogers: Feminism in Eighteenth-Century England. (Brighton; 34 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Harvester Press 1982) 243. Other eminent women were occasionally completely self-educated (like Elizabeth Thomas and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu) or had gleaned from cooperative brothers, such as Elizabeth Montagu and Hester Mulso. 20 Mary Chudleigh, The Ladies Defense, (1701) 21 Lawrence Stone: The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1 800, abridged, (Penguin: London, 1990) 164, 229. Gregory, Legacy to his Daughters (1774) 31. 22 "Education, Schools and Universities", Sir Charles Mallet. in Johnson’s England, ed Turberville; (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1933) 225; Selected Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, ed. Robert Halsband, Penguin 1970, 237; Gregory, Legacy to his Daughters,(1774) 31; Mary Wollstonecraft. Thoughts on the Education of Daughters with Reflections on Female Conduct in the More Important Duties of Life, (1787) 63 23 "Education, Schools and Universities", in Johnson's England ibid; 211, 214, 224 5; Mary Cuthcart Borer: Willlingly to School: A History of Women's Education, (London 1976) 150, 174 24 EC to CT, 16 Apr 1754. Cf. Chapter 4 25 Record Office, Canterbury Cathedral and Julie Dellar 26 NC to EC, 8 October 1729, Ponting Collection. George Oxenden (1694-1775) was MP for Sandwich for many years and Lord of the Admiralty and of the Treasury – during his long career. He always took an intense interest in Elizabeth, as in all of Dr Carter's family, and obviously considered the family as friends. The two families frequently dined together, the Carter children were invited to stay and Oxenden, at least once, employed Carter on a delicate private mission. The National Dictionary of Biography calls Oxenden an "extremely handsome man notorious for his profligacy." – a point presumably ignored by the Carters. Nicolas Carter was in keeping with his age and profession in having a patron. See History of the Church, ibid., 120. Brigitte Sprenger 35 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 27 NC to EC, 3 Dec 1736, Ponting collection. In later years, other men also savoured this novelty: one of Carter's suitors, Thomas Birch, corresponded in Latin with her and even copied some of her letters to her brothers and sister, which were also in Latin. BL Add. Ms 4478.c.folio 59. Lord Bath wrote Carter Greek notes. Sylvia Hardstarck Myers: The Bluestocking Circle, (Oxford, 1990) 246 28 Memoirs; 1:13. Carter once remarked she had a strong antipathy to Latin, though possibly she meant non-classical Latin here only. EC to EM 8 Oct 1775 29 Memoirs; 1:9 30 Memoirs; 1:133, EC to CT, 5 Jul 1746. 31 James Boswell, Life of Johnson ,(Oxford OUP: ed. R.W. Chapman, 1980) 850 32 Memoirs; 1:22, EC to CT 29 Oct 1747. See also Chapter 3 33 Memoirs; 1:22. In 1754 Catherine Talbot recommends EC add lily-of-the-valley to her snuff as this soothes headaches, so obviously EC continued the habit. CT to EC 10 Jun 1754 34 The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800 ibid; 22 35 NC to EC 27 Mar 17.38, NC to EC 14 May 1738, NC to EC 14 Jul 1738, The Bluestocking Circle, ibid; 47, NC to EC 3-14 Sep 1748, NC to EC 29 Oct 1748, NC to EC 17 Dec 1748. On EC's supervision of the printing, see also Chapter 2 36 Stebbing loose papers, Deal County Library 37 EC to EM 13 Sep 1759 38 EC to CT 7.1746, Memoirs 1:132ff 39 NC to EC 6 Mar 1738; NC to EC 5 Dec 1751 40 NC to EC 15 Jan1739 36 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 41 Pennington reports that his own mother, Carter's sister Margaret, recalled that when young she had been frightened at a ball of fire nearby and had run into Dr Carter's study exclaiming "O Sir! the day of judgment is come." "Well child," replied Carter calmly, "and when could it come at a better time for you?" Footnoted to above letter. Carter's poem to her father confirms that Nicolas quietly but convincingly instilled Christian precepts into his children 42 Winifred Gerin Charlotte Bronte: The Evolution of Genius, (Oxford, OUP; 1967) 5 43 NC to EC, 1 Nov 1737 44 Memoirs, 17 45 Education, Schools and Universities, ibid; 226 46 "On the Propriety of Bestowing Academical Honours on the Ladies" in The Westminster Magazine, July 1773 47 Jane Spencer The Rise of the Woman Novelist, (Oxford, OUP; 1986) Ruth Perry, Women, Letters and the Novel, (New York, AMS; 1980) 71, Christine Salmon, "Representations of the Female Self" (unpublished thesis), 1991; 12 48 EC to CT 25 Jan 1747, EC to CT 15 May 1776 49 EC to CT, 20 Jun 1749 50 EC to CT, 25 Sep 1747 51 Memoirs; 10-11 52 Nicolas Carter had published sermons in 1715, 1716, 1721 and 1722 for J. Payne, Churchill and W. Taylor, but prior to Elizabeth's contribution to the GM, not for Cave. Any prior acquaintance then between the two men can be questioned. 53 John Wain: Samuel Johnson: A Biography, ((New York, Viking Press: 1974) 72, 82. Brigitte Sprenger 37 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 54 The Best of Gentleman's Magazine 1731- 1754, ed E.A.Reitan, Studies in British History, Volume 4, (Edwin Meilen Press Lewiston /Queenston 1987) which includes Samuel Johnson's biographical memoir of Cave published February, 1754; 55-58. 55 "A Riddle", GM , November 1734; 623 56 GM , June 735; 321 57 GM, Sep 1735; 551 58 Carter felt herself "unskilled in numbers and poetic flight", unequal to "Fidelio's moving accents" and unequal to the great poetic subjects. She therefore resigned to Fidelio. GM, July 1735; 379. 38 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Chapter 2: A London Career Then thou, dear maid, that bless my sight Again with mutual Love delight; Then when the grateful Winter brings The little Loves shall clap their purple wings, And joy shall sound on thy Philander's strings. from "To Miss E – C" by 'Philander'1 Fixed on my soul shall thy example grow, And be my genius and my guide below: To this I'll paint my first, my noblest views, Thy spotless verse shall regulate my Muse. Elizabeth Carter, "On the Death of Mrs Rowe" 2 In A Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolf claims that during the eighteenth century writing became in women not merely a "sign of folly and a distracted mind", but gained increasing practical importance. Thus women could either add to their pin money or, as was progressively the case even within Carter's own circle, support their families when husbands died or absconded or became unbearable. Although women authors came from many various backgrounds, it was, as Turner observed in her recent study, "families of poorer clergy were potential seedbanks of literary professionalism, combining the probability of education with the possibility of an insufficient income". The key features of the rise in women's professional authorship, were its source of income without hindering respectability and the general "ascendancy of middle-class women"3. Thus the ground was fertile for such a woman as Elizabeth Carter. Carter's later friend Elizabeth Montagu had an only sister, Sarah Scott, who supported herself and her children by writing novels after she had left a cruel husband. Anna Williams (1706-1783) supported herself at first by her needle and later depended on the charity of Samuel Johnson and on her pen. (Johnson and Carter both helped her with subscriptions4.) The professional women writers, of whom there were ever more as the century progressed, mostly wrote fiction, Brigitte Sprenger 39 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza which, given their level of education and the social restrictions imposed on them, was a logical choice. Few, if any, attempted journal ism – a profession enjoying a boom early in the century. Pat Rogers does not mention women writers. Turner mentions only a few women, such as Elizabeth Rowe and Delariviere Manley. There were, of course, several authors of pamphlets and newspaper-essays in the style of The Spectator. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu had great success with her The Nonsense of Common-Sense in 1737 and for over two years between 1744 and 1746. Eliza Haywood published The Female Spectator, producing most of the essays herself though assisted by an editorial team 5. Yet these were exceptions and, while journalism would seem a most viable profession for women, few followed its course. Following The Spectator's phenomenal success (selling up to 4000 copies daily), newsletters, newspapers and magazines increased in number and circulation and were "always in need of material” as John Feather writes: "…these writers, contributing essays, reviews, epitomes, news reports and the like, were able to support themselves by their periodical writing…"6. Journalism was, in fact, the branch of writing which could fully support writers financially, whereas the writing of books, plays, and poems could support only a few such as Dryden and Pope7. This aroused Carter's ire at one stage when she heard "that Churchill (Charles, 1731-64, a remote cousin of hers) within two years has got £3,500 by his ribald scribbling. Happy age of virtue and of genius in which Wilkes is a Patriot and Churchill a Poet"8. Interestingly, some of the most outstanding incomes were to be made by the production of household non-fiction. Goldsmith earned 800 guineas with his History of Animated Nature. Histories, biographies and scientific works were popular and profitable9. To support one's self by the Gentlemen's Magazine, even if it was, so to speak, the best address in Grub Street, was difficult but possible. Samuel Johnson began his employment there in March 1738 having approached proprietor Edward Cave with a proposal to translate Father Paul Sarpi's History of the Council of Trent, for which he piecemeal received £49/7 shillings. (He was paid 3 pence a line for translations)10. His second magazine contribution, the majestic 'London’ earned him a mere £10; The Vanity of Human Wishes, earned £15/5 shillings. As a staff writer, Johnson received £100 p.a.11. Johnson told Boswell many years later that one could live on £30 per annum in London without being contemptible, though it entailed living in a garret at eighteen pence a week12. 40 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Johnson, by contributing the extremely lengthy parliamentary debates could hope at least for such a non-contemptible existence even though Cave was (in Johnson's words) "a penurious paymaster; he would contract for lines by the hundred, and expect the long hundred"13 Living by the pen, then, meant limited financial reward, but it was not impossible: Not even for a woman who did not need to live in a garret, but could stay in comfort with an uncle. Elizabeth Carter went to London in 1737, probably in the late summer14. Her real purpose in coming to London at the age of less than 20 is never discussed in correspondence. Nicolas repeatedly mentioned her studies yet these seem never to have amounted to much more than engaging a German master and continuing to indulge in her passion for astronomy. She was, possibly, escaping a not very suitable lover15. Nineteen was of course, also a suitable age for "coming out". Then there was the matter of publishing Nicolas' sermons to protect his clerical reputation against a sharp attack by the evangelist George Whitefield (See below and Chapter 4). Quite possibly the purpose of Elizabeth's visit was a combination of all these several matters. Yet considering her intelligence, her independence and her basic feminist bias against the practical background of painfully limited financial means, it is arguable that Elizabeth Carter set out for London privately determined to write, and to earn money doing so. She had often, in the past, been charitably invited to visit affluent friends like the Underdowns, and when Nicolas' brother welcomed Elizabeth into his respectable Bishopsgate home in Devonshire Street, she may well have decided the moment propitious and ripe. She was young, enthusiastic, energetic. She had a liberal father who allowed her considerable independence and, following the publication of a few poems, she had gained entry into the most popular and respectable magazine of her day. It was also a magazine supportive of and even keen to promote women. Jean E. Hunter notes that only about one-quarter of the articles on women seem to support traditional ideas. The Gentleman's Magazine seems to be saying that there was a considerable awareness of the woman-problem….(which) was perceived in a fourfold manner: lack of educational opportunities, lack of career opportunities for unmarried gentlewomen, the inequities of marriage, and finally, the whole question of sexual equality. None of this is all that surprising. What is surprising is that the articles in the Gentleman's Magazine seem to indicate that there was a great deal of sympathy with non-traditional, non-ideal views of womanhood. If three out of four writers who touched on the woman question bemoaned the plight of women, and suggested concrete reform measures, perhaps the traditional, conservative ideal of woman had less widespread support and more opposition in the eighteenth century than has been thought 16. Brigitte Sprenger 41 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Hunter concludes that the century has had a bad press from those believing Victorian trivialisation of women had its roots in this period, and that in fact during this century painful and slow first steps were being taken towards female autonomy. (See also Chapter 7.) The four sectors Hunter mentions closely and personally affected Elizabeth Carter. In 1737, although she was better educated than many men, intelligent, of reasonable physical appearance and health, of respectable family and with many useful personal connections, her options were severely limited. In fact, there was only one: to marry. Her father was not rich and according to some miscellaneous Stabbing papers, gave her only 12 guineas per annum. Nephew Montagu claims it was always Nicolas' wish she marry as he had not enough wealth to support her after his own death17. While for many fathers educating a daughter severely limited her market value, this was not Nicolas' viewpoint. It is therefore even possible that Elizabeth shared her literary ambitions with her father: Nicolas always proved highly supportive of her writing. Yet most likely Nicolas considered his brother's London address an advantageous spot for his talented daughter to meet a man worthy of her talents. That his motives would not have been entirely selfless is forgivable. He had by then seven children who would, as we shall see, find the road to independence troublesome and difficult. Elizabeth's love for the countryside and for Deal is testified to in innumerable romantic and evocative passages in her voluminous correspondence. But she also loved London. Later, when finances allowed, she spent each winter season in the metropolis, even that last one when she knew death was approaching fast. What Elizabeth loved about London was the variety of society it offered and, later, the presence of friends on an equal intellectual level. When she first arrived in London in 1737, she seems initially to have bathed in the pure novelty of metropolitan social life and, especially, the meeting of the famous men of her day: she boasted of meeting Richard Savage ("Cave told Savage he saw me to a disadvantage because I had not my little Straw Hat on") and of visiting the philosopher Dr John Theophilus Desaguliers whose home she considered "very much like the abode of a Wizard"18. Despite diversion, she settled down to work. Her modest retirement from the public poetic front had lasted just over a year before she contributed a translation of "Anacreon's Ode 42 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza XXX" to the September 1735 issue of The Gentleman's Magazine and, in April 1737, the first and shorter version of "On the Death of Mrs Rowe" appeared. Elizabeth Singer Rowe's death had occasioned many articles and commemorative poems before Carter's. Rowe was, as is evident from this chapter's second epigraph, the closest Carter ever came to a specific role model. In Rowe's mostly devout poetry, Carter recognised especially the desire to present women with "nobler" subjects. Thy better purpose was, with lenient art, To charm the fancy, and amend the heart; From trifling follies to withdraw the mind, To relish pleasures of a nobler kind19. Nicolas Carter, however, undoubtedly still smarting from the attack by Methodist preacher G. Whitefield, found both Rowe's and his daughter's "enthusiasm" disconcerting: "I think your verses on Mrs Rowe very good. You seem extremely fond of her writings. I have seen some that have in them a tincture of enthusiasm. Tis proper to caution you not to read them with too much pleasure. Enthusiasm grows upon us insensibly. Take care to guard against it”20. This poem on Rowe's death and the two previously published contributions, were all received with enough praise to lead Cave to include her in the editorial team at St John's Gate in the same year as Samuel Johnson. The two new writers joined such poets as Moses Browne and Richard Savage, the political writer William Guthrie and the historian and biographer Thomas Birch. Carter's first contribution as a resident was the translation of Horace's Ode 10 from the second book, beginning "Would you, Licinius, chuse the surest way"21. The image of an exuberant girl enjoying London's horizons made way now for an extremely hard-working, confident young woman. Over the next year she contributed poems nearly monthly and applied herself to the grind of translating two lengthier topical works under pressure of time. After celebrating her twentieth birthday and Christmas, Carter contributed a second riddle – a striding, forceful 44-lined poem in couplets. I view each Country of the spacious Earth Nay visit Realms that never yet had birth; Can trace the pathless Regions of the air, And fly with ease beyond the Starry Sphere…22 Brigitte Sprenger 43 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza The riddle elicited a lively response from readers not only guessing the answer but also praising the author in enthusiastic terms. Her old fan "Sylvius" contributed a poem as long again as the original, describing how, while reading Eliza's Riddle, he fell asleep, seeing Carter's "magic pencil dream".; “But what of all other visions far excell'd/ ELIZA's form my mental eye beheld"23. One "Gamble" also offered an answer to the "ingenious Riddle in your last". And a month later a certain "Symen" contributed "A Riddle, proposed to Eliza" which finished with the challenge: "Then speak, fair nymph, if e'er I was thine own/ And make thy name to wandr'ing mortals known"24. The reaction that probably pleased Carter most was from her new colleague Johnson. Writing to their mutual employer, he stated: "I have composed a Greek epigram to Eliza, and think she ought to be celebrated in as many different languages as Lewis Le Grand" 25. The epigram appeared in April and Carter replied to it, in Greek and in Latin, in May 1738. In these, she returned Johnson's compliment, thereby penning what are thought to have been the first verses publicly addressed to Samuel Johnson26. The admiration and respect expressed was mutual and laid the foundations of a life-long friendship. With him she shared a love of the classics, and both were polyglots and polymaths. They shared a serious, sober, religious devoutness. Their prose style also shared common features – both preferring the general above the specific, and stately, complex sentences. Yet Carter had humour and a liveliness as well; when Johnson was producing his Ramblers, Carter twice contributed numbers as friends urged her to bring some lightness into this excellent paper27. Elizabeth was quick to extol Johnson's virtues to her father, who was, however, dubious: "You mention Johnson but it is a Name with which I am utterly unacquainted. Neither his scholastic, critical or poetical character ever reached my Ears. I a little suspect his Judgment, if he is very fond of Martial"28. Samuel Johnson in his turn, burdened Carter and posterity with his famous remark, undoubtedly meant as the highest compliment (cf Chapter 1): "My old friend Mrs Carter could make a pudding as well as translate Epictetus from the Greek, and work a handkerchief as well as compose a poem." The context of Johnson's words is interesting, as reported by biographer John Hawkins: Johnson was reacting to some praise voiced about a learned woman: "A man is in general better pleased when he has a good dinner upon his table, than when his wife talks Greek." 44 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Johnson was in fact praising Carter's cooking abilities more than her learning. Interestingly enough, he ended this topic by remarking that she was too modest and reserved, choosing often to be silent on subjects she was eminently able to converse upon 29. When Johnson spoke these words, he was already the Johnson Boswell painted: the grand old man of salons and dinners – and by then the friendship and contact between Carter and Johnson was comfortable and regular, restricted to meeting at small, intimate gatherings with such friends as Hannah More and Mrs David Garrick. But when they first met, Johnson was a hungry young man, enjoying no patronage, physically unattractive and not yet known in the London literary world. His wife Tetty was still in Lichfield and Johnson roamed the streets with the disreputable Richard Savage. It was then that Carter and Johnson met and shared two seasons professionally and privately which have caused some speculations. As we shall see later in this chapter, Carter was involved romantically with another man, and the role played by Johnson during this period has caused at least three scholars in the past to wonder whether Johnson himself ever harboured romantic aspirations towards Carter30. Back in the early months of 1738, though, Johnson and Carter were both starting out as newcomers and regular contributors to the GM. Johnson was soon fully occupied with the GM contributing the very lengthy parliamentary debates: Carter's contribution was far more modest yet none the less regular. She published an imitation of Horace's 22nd Ode (book 4) in the GM of March 1738, an imitation of Quevedo in the April number, a lengthy lyric about Fortune ("Whate'er we think on it") in May and the equally lyric "While clear the night" in June. They were all competent, regular philosophical verses, steeped in classical allusion. Yet these poems represented only part of Elizabeth Carter's work during this early stage of her professional career in London, for she was undertaking two publications as well. By early March, Carter was in the midst of a project to publish her father's sermons. She had taken a number of them with her and had approached Cave. Dr Carter's motives in publishing were at least two-fold. He had had a conflict with the enthusiastic Methodist preacher Dr George Whitefield who had visited Deal to preach. In his journal s Whitefield then insinuated that the congregation of Deal needed him as their own minister (Carter) did not preach the gospel of Christ. According to Montagu Pennington, these insinuations Brigitte Sprenger 45 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza (which foreshadowed a much greater conflict) spurred Nicolas into action. It is indeed not likely that Nicolas was aiming to add to his income, even though some clerics could claim handsome fees. Yet published sermons could help clerical careers in other ways: they made respectable gifts to present to patrons or clerical superiors and Dr Carter did, whatever his initial purpose, in the end use the publication to this end. He undoubtedly paid for the printing of the 100 copies himself, and those not used for professional and diplomatic purposes were sold at 4/6 per copy31. The slim volume eventually published (Seventeen Sermons on the Following Subjects, viz…., by Nicolas Carter, D.D., Curate of St George's Chapel in Deal) contained sermons on such topics as Reliance on Salvation, Walking after Flesh, Witchcraft, Righteous Death, the Moral Character of God and Temporal Sufferings, written in a style which his nephew rightly calls "plain but nervous" with no attempt at "elegance of diction". The volume was prefixed with Dr Carter's summary of his conflict with Whitefield, including the printing of letters he had addressed to the enthusiastic preacher. The sermons received a few positive mentions: In the Gentleman's Magazine of March 1738, some "Verses From a Mother to her Daughter, with Dr Carter's Sermons "were contributed by a "Melissa" who praised the sermons' method, doctrine, sense and style and the fact that they contained no "enthusiasm": Reason's Pow'r is seen in clearest light And Gospel's Truth appears divinely bright32 Polite comments were forthcoming from some of the eminent churchmen Dr Carter sent copies to, and more genuine praise came from Lady Hertford (Frances, later Duchess of Somerset) to whom Elizabeth had given a copy. Presenting complimentary copies was only one of the tasks Elizabeth undertook: Dr Carter entrusted his 20-year old daughter entirely with this proiect. "If Mr Cave persist," Nicolas wrote Elizabeth in March 1738, "in his Advice of having them printed for myself, enquire of him how many he thinks proper to be printed & what the Expense will be & then I will give Orders according as I judge most convenient." A fortnight later, though, he wrote: "I leave you to judge whether they should be printed or not. If you conclude in the affirmative, let them be done as soon as possible…..consult Mr Cave directly and let me have your answer…"33. Carter then negotiated the publication for her father, presumably even proofread the galleys, supervised shipment to Deal and coped with related problems ("There were but 96 46 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza sermons in the parcel you sent to Deal. You must take Care yt I have my proper Number") as well as presenting special copies34. She also advertised the sermons: "It is enough if they be advertised once in ye Canterbury papers. Rivington… I see, has advertised them with ye addition of Vicar of Tilmanstone & has stupidly put a needless h in Nicolas…What does he think they will sell ye better for being wrote by one who is possessed by more churches than one?"35. While Carter was not the first woman to negotiate publishing projects alone, it remains an interesting reversal of roles, occurring half a century before such women as Fanny Burney and Jane Austen relied on brothers to represent them in the business-side of publication. While overseeing publication of her father's sermons, Elizabeth was also supervising the publication of a slim volume of her own poems, upon the recommendation of her father ("My Opinion is, that you ought to print some few of your Verses, with that [a poem upon Queen Charlotte's birthday], and make a present of a Dozen Copies to your Patron. I would not print them to sell, but only about twice that Number, only to give away"36.) Carter's Poems upon Particular Occasions appeared by August as a slim 24-page volume which boasts no author's name37. It featured large and occasionally ornate print and a romantic etching on the title page. The volume contained only nine poems, many of which had previously appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine: "In Diem Natalem"; "Integer Vitae…. (Horace Lb 2 Ode 22 imitated)"; "Anacreon"; "A Translation of Horace Lib. 4 Ode 7";"A Riddle (Dream)"; "Whate'er we think on't, Fortune's but a Toy"; "On the Death of her Sacred Majesty Queen Caroline"; "To Mr Duck, occasioned by a Present of his Poems". Except for two, these poems were never reprinted, probably because Carter felt them (when she came to publishing her second, larger volume) to be juvenile. There is at least one poem, the long address to Queen Caroline's autodidactic gardener-poet Stephen Duck ("Accept, 0 Duck, the Muse's grateful Lay/ Who awns a Favour which she can't repay..")) of which Carter grew to be acutely embarrassed, considering it the worst poem she had ever penned38. Apart from this work, and her continued studies, Carter still indulged in a busy social life. It is to be presumed she had various social and domestic duties within her uncle's family. Mr Carter had no children of his own, yet his business as silk merchant partner of Mr de Brigitte Sprenger 47 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Vere was flourishing and undoubtedly required that Elizabeth and her aunt perform the obligatory visits. According to references by nephew Montagu, backed by the flattering evidence found in the pages of the Gentleman's Magazine, it is also reasonable to presume that Elizabeth was courted increasingly by various people wishing to be acquainted with this female prodigy. And then there were her social contacts with her colleagues. In the summer, Carter and several others went on an excursion to Richmond and Twickenham, stopping on the way to visit Alexander Pope's magnificent gardens which included such 'wonders' as a grotto. Elizabeth was thoroughly diverted by the visit, and by the gardens, appreciating especially their irregularity: …As Mr Pope was so sensible of the false Taste in this dull unnatural Uniformity, he has taken Care to avoid it in his own Garden which if not so unbounded as his Genius has as much variety in it39. (Carter was never intimately acquainted with Alexander Pope himself – and Nicolas once advised her to not correspond with him as previous ladies had suffered from such a contact. Yet professionally and indirectly, Carter was repeatedly associated with Pope40.) Her companions that day must have been as charmed with the garden as with Carter for they produced three epigrams to mark the occasion. One of these epigrams was written by Stephen Duck, one by a certain "Alexis", and the Latin "Ad Elisam Popi Horto Lauros carpentem" is generally attributed to Samuel Johnson. Nicolas Carter was pleased not only with the occasion but also with Johnson's Epigram, which Elizabeth's younger sister Peggy (Margaret) had sent on to him as he was journeying with Sir George Oxenden to Scarborough. The famous laurel seems to have inspired Elizabeth too, for her Latin and English answer to Johnson are flowering and compact and inspired. In vain Eliza's daring hand Usurp'd the laurel bough; Remov'd from Pope's the wreath must fade On ev'ry meaner brow. Thus gay exotics when transferr'd To climates not their own, Lose all their lively bloom, and droop Beneath a paler sun41 Yet, privately, Elizabeth considered herself hardly flattered by such prominent praise in the country's leading magazine. She found it: 48 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza …an improper Compliment. However, I am under no Apprehensions of growing vain upon it. Flattery operates on me as Laudanum does upon other People; If given in a moderate dose tis ten to one but the poison mightn't take, but administered in too large a proportion entirely loses its dangerous Effect42 Suddenly, after that summer and the Twickenham excursion, Carter's name ceased to appear in the Gentleman's Magazine for half a year. One reason was the advice of her father: Sir George Oxenden had again seen fit to consider Elizabeth's career and felt she was cheapening her market value by appearing so often in print. Nicolas subscribed to this opinion and advised his daughter to pause. "For as you are now sufficiently known it will be better to forbear, yt your works may be ye better published by being rare. Sr George showed me some verses wrote to you (on Account of Yours in Imitation of Quevedo) in ye St James Evening Post. 'these are bitter bad cines & do you no honour"43. There was, however, another very good reason why Carter published no more poems for a while and it related very indirectly to Pope. She was hard at work translating Crousaz's answer to Pope's Essay on Man. The latter's philosophical, epistolary poem (1732-4) had prompted widespread reactions including a highly critical essay from Jean Pierre de Crousaz, professor of mathematics and philosophy at the University of Lausanne. Upon whose initiative the translation of Crousaz was undertaken is unknown: it could have been Cave or Johnson, (who later occasionally suggested projects for Carter) or Carter herself. What is known is that, during the autumn and winter of 1738-9, Carter worked nearly exclusively and under considerable pressure of time on the project. The translation, appearing without Carter's name, was for many years attributed to Samuel Johnson and has even been referred to as a joint project in recent scholarship44. Probably this was in part due to Johnson's indisputable interest in the translation from an early date onwards. He wrote to Cave on November 1, 1738: And I think the Examen should be pushed forward with the utmost expedition. Thus 'This day, &c, An Examen of Mr Pope's Essay &c, containing a succinct Account of the Philosophy of Mr Leibnitz on the System, of the Fatalists…… It will, above all, be necessary to take notice that it is a thing distinct from the Commentary45. Johnson presumably also read proofs and saw it through the press for Nicolas Carter congratulated his daughter on the brisk progress of the translation and on the fact that "Johnson has given it his Suffrage free from Bias"46. Possibly, too, its accreditation to a male author foreshadowed what was to occur two Brigitte Sprenger 49 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza decades later when Carter's Epictetus translation appeared: incredulous that a woman could complete such a project, many (men) ascribed it to Carter's close (male) friends. (See further Chapter 4.) Carter, whose French was fluent and impeccable after her long stay with the Le Soeurs, needed no help of this kind. In more peripheral matters, however, she was glad of some aid and not only of the kind provided by the encouragement and proofreading of Johnson. Another colleague, Thomas Birch (1705 – 1766), historian, prolific contributor and editor of the General Dictionary possessed a brain full of information most useful to a young translator who did not particularly specialise in anything more modern than Horace. "Tom Birch is as brisk as a bee in conversation; but no sooner does he take a pen in his hand, than it becomes a torpedo to him and benumbs all his faculties," Johnson remarked to Boswell47. It is indicative of Carter's thoroughness and exactitude that she contented herself not with merely translating, but added some twenty notes which mostly explained Crousaz's references and occasionally quoted from Pope's original in amplification. Some other notes such as those identifying philosophers required odd pieces of biographical information. Judging by later events, it is likely that she gleaned this information from Birch. Thomas Birch, son of a Quaker coffee-mill maker in Clerkenwell, was given a patchy, but severe classical education: mostly Latin, a very basic Greek, mathematics, measuring, geometry, a gentleman's education which was not at all equal in depth to Carter's. His Latin has been described by Ruhe as "crude", "careless" as well as "delightfully and perhaps intentionally ambiguous" in comparison with Carter's which was "impeccable" 48. Birch did not follow in his father's footsteps, but continued his own education while teaching. He also distanced himself from the Quaker movement, first by marrying a daughter of the Revd Cox of St Botolph's in Billingsgate in 1728, and two years later by being ordained and formally baptised. On July 17, 1729, his son Joseph was born. Within two weeks, both son and wife were dead. The depth of his grief may be inferred from his poem "On the Death of a Beloved Wife” which he wrote on 3 August 1729 "over her coffin" and which was published on November 15 in the Whitehall Evening Post49. Birch was given various smaller livings, but his real interest continued to be academic, and he cultivated useful connections. This led, in 1732, to his being elected one of three editors of an updated and expanded English translation of the Dictionnaire historique et 50 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza critique (1697-1706). Twenty printer's sheets (equaling 60 folio pages) had to be produced each month at £1/ 5 per sheet (an annual income of about £96). At completion, ten volumes made up of 3,000 biographies were produced, the majority of which (some 618) had been written by Birch, leaving his colleagues to do the bulk of the translating work. From 1735 onwards, Birch had intermittently contributed to the Gentleman's Magazine and made himself especially useful to Cave by providing facts and background information on persons mentioned in articles, such as in Johnson's parliamentary debates 50. When Birch met young Elizabeth Carter he was 32 years old and had been a widower for nearly eight years. Judging by contemporary portraits he was a not unattractive man of medium proportions, with large, dark intelligent eyes and a straight nose. The overwhelming impression is of pleasantness, inoffensiveness, friendliness. He was now financially secure if not quite affluent enough to keep a wife in any great style, had been elected Fellow of the prestigious Royal Society two years earlier and was establishing a name in all the right places. Elizabeth Carter presumably caused a palpable ripple in his set, patterned life. She was 20 and, according to her nephew, a not unattractive young woman; although she was short and had "not a good figure", she possessed very expressive features, with lovely curled hair and very white teeth. Judging by extant portraits of her, the hair was not only curled but full and thick, her forehead was high and her complexion was fair. Although her portrait painters were careful to portray her always with demure, down-cast eyes, the slightly hooked nose and the determined chin indicate resolution and conviction. Beneath this attractive appearance, there was a woman who was modest, moral and very well educated- better than Birch himself. Such education did not repulse all men, as Nicolas Carter had rightly judged; Carter had at least six proposals or overtures to proposals of marriage. One of these undoubtedly came from Thomas Birch. According to Birch's journals, Carter and Birch did not officially meet at the St John's Gate printing presses, but at the Edge ware house of the Duke of Chandos (James Brydges, 1663-1744). The information available about this winter episode comes almost exclusively from Birch's journals, possessed in their voluminous entirety but not yet sorted or indexed completely by the British Library 51. In 1958 Edward Ruhe was the first to chart the course of the episode and in 1984 Gunther advances a similar interpretation. Sylvia Myers Brigitte Sprenger 51 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza disputes the reliability of Birch's journal, believing Birch, in egotistical myopia, to have concentrated so fully on the object of his interest (Carter) that the journal gives an impression of much more intimacy than is likely to have occurred 52. The minuteness with which Birch daily listed every person he breakfasted or dined with over years suggests that his diary is, however, only slightly misleading in this sense. As Gunther notes, the diary (begun in 1735) totals 425 folios and records nearly every single day. The majority of these (mostly single entries) do little more than list the names of those he came into contact with: thus about 28,000 names appear in all, representing 950 different people. Birch is most minute, exact and disinterested – noting merely their presence at a dinner or the theatre, but not things said or felt or seen. Especially once he became social adviser and secretary to Phillip Yorke, second Earl of Hardwicke (1720-1790), Birch would record who was at breakfast and how seated, and then at dinner; even if the same people attended he would again list, including full titles, all those present. If he attended tea and supper the performance would be fully repeated53. A week after Birch and Carter had met at Edgeware, they were both of a party which also included Richard Savage and James Thomson in an expedition to Claremont and Richmond54. Carter gave Birch a copy of the slim volume of poems she had only just published. The recipient was quick and warm in his reply: I read your poems, of which you considered me worthy, more than ten times over, sweetest maid, with so much pleasure that I can not restrain myself from bearing witness of a most grateful mind with this letter. I am perhaps unwise to expose my inelegant Latin to your most refined judgment. For when I consider you and your writing – as I do daily and almost hourly – I am indeed shamed and annoyed….Happy the man to whose lot your friendship falls; thrice-happy, he to whom an unbreakable bond and indissoluble love will unite you as Life's companion.55 The Latin epistle contained a crowning, marginal glory; an invitation to come and visit the Museum of the Royal Society with him: he was "burning " to see her (nam vehementi tecum colloquendi desiderio flagro). Carter gave herself three days to digest. Her reply, in Latin, was dignified, and indicated a mixture of "deep embarrassment" but also some pleasure. She felt that little of the talent Birch attributed to her was to her· credit: she modestly but genuinely attributed much to God and to her father, though appreciating what value praise from such a man as Birch was. 52 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Nevertheless I feel the need for caution lest through gaining your approval for my trifles I grow conceited; for I realise how great an honour it is to be praised by such a man as you – a man remarkable for all the gifts of learning…56 Her letter finished on a note of regret that he is soon off to Ireland and would be missed. Birch had been introduced to the Bishop of Derry (Dr. Thomas Rundle, D.D.) in November 1736 and presumably kept in touch with him as the Bishop circulated in London for several months each year. A suggestion of a church living in Ireland for the remarkable sum of £300 (Birch received £35 for his curacy) was undoubtedly very tempting, but Birch, like Johnson, could not be happy outside London57. Birch cancelled his Irish plans in January – by which time his relationship with Carter was also reaching culmination and may have had an effect on his decision. By the end of August (Birch had dined with Carter and Johnson and gone to the Royal Society Museum with them on the 25th and had apparently dined alone with Carter on the 29th) Birch was already writing, probably boasting of his relationship with the season's prodigy to his friends. On August 27 his friend William Warburton replied that the "phenomenon of the Young Lady under twenty" was indeed extraordinary, but that Birch had omitted a detail more important than all her Greek and Latin and "that is whether she be handsome"58. Another friend, Joseph Welby wrote: The copy of that letter & those Poems of Mrs Carter you were so good to give me, has not only given me all the pleasure such an elegant composition is capable of affording, but has had the same effect on all, to whom I have shown them. I could, me thinks, be not a little pleas'd to find a nearer relation between two persons of such similar tastes & inclinations as She & You seem to have59. Birch, then, was not only circulating copies of Carter's poems and her letters (which Carter would hardly have appreciated as she had a great dislike of her letters being shown to people outside the immediate circle of the addressee) but was not at all displeased with speculations about matchmaking as his keeping of these letters indicate60. On September 5 Birch took Carter and Nicolas Carter (who had been on a long journey with Oxenden since the beginning of July) to Greenwich. Birch enjoyed, of course, via the Royal society, but also as treasurer to the Society for the Encouragement of Learning, very many interesting connections61. Nicolas Carter returned to Deal a good week later and soon after was addressing his daughter on account of a suitor. But this was not Birch. Brigitte Sprenger 53 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza There is no information about "Mr G" apart from what Dr Carter's letter mentions. Mr G had apparently been writing to Elizabeth and the latter must have forwarded at least one letter to her father. Nicolas was not at all impressed ("He calls himself a friend of great Genius. But he is his Servant – Every hibernian valet de chambre (out of Livery) will brag that he is favoured with intimate Acquaintance with my Lord such a one – his Master.") Mrs Carter was apparently quite frightened by Mr G's epistle. They therefore burnt it62. The doctor went on to mention another candidate: Mr D. is someone with whom correspondence would be preferable in comparison although, even with this gentleman, Dr Carter finds plenty of faults: It would be one of the greatest Pleasures of my Life, to see you married to a Virtuous Man, able to keep you in a decent Manner & of a Temper suitable to your own…You should be civil to ALL but not too Intimate with any, and very reserved with some. Preserve the Character of an inoffensive & prudent Woman & your other very extraordinary qualifications will in Time, I doubt not, produce something desirable…63 Till now, none of Elizabeth's suitors had been very desirable in Nicolas' eyes. There had been the Mr Oliver just before she had gone up to London, of whom Dean Lynch had not approved64. And obviously neither Mr G nor Mr D were worthy. Within days, however, Nicolas was confronted with a new contender- a Mr B. This, undoubtedly, is Thomas Birch. True to character Elizabeth had forwarded Birch's Latin epistle (possibly the one Birch notes in his diary for 26 September) straight on to Deal. This time, Nicolas did not make any disparaging remarks about the man's character but advised her merely that she need not reply in Latin. "English is full as well," he wrote soberingly65. He left her at her own liberty to write according to her inclinations. She may mention him, or not, as she wishes. Presumably therefore, she might include in her letter Nicolas' greetings to the man he had met earlier that month, which would give encouragement. He sent his letter off. Within days he returned to the subject. He is at a loss, he wrote, how to answer her "letters" (plural): "There are very few Women have prudence enough to manage such a Conversation (as is sued for) without Prejudice to themselves, but yet I must do you the justice to say that I think you are an Exception"66. Birch had obviously applied to Elizabeth for more intimate contact than party expeditions and dinner in small company. Elizabeth replied as soon as she received her father's advice (Birch's journals record receiving a letter on 30 September67). Judging by the events noted in Birch's journal, she 54 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza was probably mildly encouraging but would not yet allow him such intimacy. During October, Birch visited Carter about once a week, and wrote her about every three days. In the middle of the month they visited Kew together, presumably in a party. On 3 November then, came the first of a number of journal entries which give the impression he dined alone with the young poet. The terse note of "coenatus sum cum Eliza Cartera" appeared regularly. When Johnson, or someone else, was of the party, Birch noted it. The intimacy had obviously increased quite dramatically. From this date on, Birch's journal notes hardly a day without either epistolary contact or lunch or dinner or a visit – sometimes in company, sometimes alone. There was one excellent reason on the surface, why such daily contact was maintained. The budding romance had undoubtedly been more of a diversion for Carter who was fully occupied with translating a new work (though unfortunately this aspect of her career is hardly documented in contrast to Birch's copious annotations of the romantic development). October had seen the publication of Carter's Crousaz translation and Birch, in his journal on November 27, roundly praised it in a Latin oozing admiration: "I have now perused your translation of Crousaz's Examination and admire the perfection, the elegance, and the correctness of style in a most difficult task"68. He was not the only admirer, though. Samuel Johnson felt Carter had done an excellent job and was very quick to suggest to their mutual patron, Cave, a suitable next project. She should translate Boethius for "it has poetry and prose to put her name to" 69. Cave, who throughout this episode seems quietly to have supported Birch's suit, quickly relayed this suggestion to Birch. For whatever reason – the sense of rivalry which Ruhe suggests, the personal friendship he had with Algarotti or a genuine sense of the topical mingled with his own personal interests in Carter both professionally and emotionally – Birch discarded this idea and offered another. Signor Francesco Algarotti, the flamboyant Italian who led Lady Mary Wortley Montagu into midlife passion and continental exile, had translated Newton's theories into Italian in his Newtonianismo per le Dame. Considering the constant topicality of women's education in the pages of the Gentleman's Magazine, a translation of this work must have seemed most apt in many ways. In his preface, Algarotti voiced the hope his book would provide alternative "amusement" to the ladies and he saw himself as a traveller, an importer of wit who here imported "..a new Mode of Cultivating the Mind, Brigitte Sprenger 55 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza rather than the present momentary Fashion of adjusting her Head-dress and placing her curls". Lady Hertford saw the connection: When thanking Carter for her "clear & elegant" translation, she remarked that Algarotti "will be pleased to find a book he wrote for one lady's improvement, receive such an advantage from the language of another"70. By December the 13th, Cave was advertising Carter's forthcoming translation, and Elizabeth was buckling down to work, which included dinners with Birch. On 14 December they dined together, as they did again two days later, when Carter celebrated her 21st birthday. Birch, usually limiting himself to the mere fact of dining, this time at least noted that they discussed Algarotti. Carter would hardly have discussed literal translating difficulties – although she had taught herself Italian unaided, she had an excellent grasp of the language and even wrote poetry in Italian. But in Algarotti's work there appeared even more historical and philosophical references than in Crousaz and here Birch undoubtedly proved himself helpful. The Algarotti-translation contains not only more footnotes than the twenty found in Crousaz, but also notes of considerable depth. Many of these render biographical information about people mentioned in the text or, occasionally, explain philosophical theories. For the first, she was definitely indebted to Birch. On December 26, for instance, he sent her several sheets of information on Galileo. On page 28, Volume I, of her translation, Carter included a long note on Galileo echoing much of the information Birch had supplied. She gave her source officially in a footnote as being the General Dictionary. In the final proof-correcting stages, Carter still worked with great exactitude even under deadline pressure. While awaiting sheets for the second correction, she still pondered the best rendering of some specialist painting terms, or painstakingly sought out still clearer translations. In later life, Carter was reluctant ever to mention her two translations – perhaps it was not merely because these translations from modern languages were not at all as prestigious as her later translation from ancient Greek. Possibly they also reflected her realisation that these works were hardly to her own credit – they posed no great challenge to her abilities, and included considerable contributions from a man towards whom she would afterwards not feel charitable 71. Before Christmas, though, there was a new development. Another bookseller (John Johnson) also advertised a forthcoming translation of Algarotti's Newtonianismo. This put Carter under considerable pressure to finish work as speedily as possible. Early in 56 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza January, Birch wrote asking after her failing health and Nicolas referred to headaches – the first mention of the affliction which would plague her a lifetime: "I have been told that you are much afflicted with ye Head-Ach wch gives me much concern. Do not let your Application to Letters be such as prejudices your Health". She also attempted, possibly at Birch's advice, to enlist Frances Hertford as patron by initially dedicating her poem to Endymion to her. In April Birch would, on her behalf, ask the Countess' secretary to get the dedication accepted. The Countess, promptly but politely and with a valid excuse of never patronising anyone, declined72. A correspondence was, however, begun, and in time they were to become friends. Pressures also mounted in other quarters. Nicolas Carter now had seven children alive, and five of these were adults or approaching adulthood. Particularly worrying were the three boys (Nicolas did, after all, expect his daughters simply to marry and thus be provided for). Jack, the eldest of the boys, was ready to go to college. Nicolas had written to Elizabeth in September asking her advice about a vacancy for a Kentish scholar at Corpus Christi in Oxford: "If Mr Birch be an Oxford Man, I wish you would ask him if he knows ye Colledge… I do not like Oxford; Unless there be a Prospect of Something very good…Send me your Opinion speedily"73. Another brother, probably James, was also causing some worry. Both James and Nicolas entered the navy, yet their careers did not go smoothly. In 1740, Nicolas once wrote to Elizabeth that James was "in despair", presumably without a commission and Dr Carter could only hope that a certain patron, Sir Charles, would come to the rescue. At this earlier stage in 1739, it seems that James was without employment and Elizabeth functioned as mediator between father and son: "As to your Request of your Brother, it is what I can not well comply with. I am really so pressed by want of Money, ye I hardly know which way to turn myself," Nicolas wrote early in January74. Nicolas Jr. was also posing financial problems – he was in France and causing considerable expense. "I wish it were in my Power to oblige him & all of you much more than I can; but as a Family increases in years it requires more to supply them and I have no Increase of Income to answer it." It would be spring 1741 before Nicolas would finally have one child securely settled (Jack would then enter Trinity Hall at Cambridge and receive the princely income of £5 per annum), and it is therefore likely that Dr Carter was not at all averse to Birch's overtures to Brigitte Sprenger 57 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Elizabeth. It is indicative of his respect for his daughter, that he so freely allowed her to determine the course of the relationship. While the pressure mounted on all fronts, Elizabeth Carter continued work. She published a new version of "On the Death of Mrs Rowe" in the March Gentleman's Magazine. In January, Carter had sent a revised and lengthened version of the elegy to The. Rowe, Mrs Rowe's brother-in-law, who was preparing an edition of Singer Rowe's works. Amidst the many tributes Elizabeth Singer Rowe's death had inspired (the Gentleman's Magazine contained at least one poem to her every single month for more than a year following her decease), Mr Rowe found Carter's the most admirable and sought her permission to prefix it to his posthumous edition. He also asked permission to publish it not under her penname of Eliza, but her full name. Carter gave her permission, would later send him a copy of the Algarotti, and also published the revised poem under her own full name, in the Gentleman's Magazine of March. In this version, also in rhyming couplets, Carter added 12 lines to her 1737- rendering and altered the phrasing in five lines. Both earlier versions address first the "much honoured", later an "illustrious" shade of Rowe, establishing the loss as not merely private, but general. In her first version, Carter praised Rowe for applying sense and chastity to her literature, thus raising the reputation of women authors. "Long did romance o'er female wits prevail/ th' intriguing novel and the wanton tale". Rowe selected nobler, more virtuous topics which Carter trusts will outlast Rowe's death and the continual coming and going of "meaner" themes. Carter's second version forcefully expanded on this theme of female literary reputation. Indignantly, she complains of "intrigue" who attempts to ruin female reputation by taking "Lawless freedoms". Thus the female muse is "for vices not her own accus'd". Interestingly, Carter does not specify her accusation. Her wording avoids chiding members of her own sex. Rather, she seems to consider presumably male intrigue as having plotted and contrived that the intrinsically noble art of letters has in female hands acquired a dubious reputation. While others, as John Duncombe, blame the Aphra Behns and Delariviere Manleys for immoral literary reputation, Carter at least leaves open the possibility that men, by their scandal-mongering, belittling and active discouragement 58 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza have intrigued equally. However, to regain both virtuous female literature and virtuous female reputation, was Rowe's task: a task Carter inherited (see this Chapter's second epitaph). Carter's first two versions of the ode to Elizabeth Rowe contained no commitment to emulation. But the final, lengthiest version bravely stated her intention to contribute actively to establishing women authors and female literature as legitimate, noble, honourable and virtuous. This commitment was possibly not fully formed in the GM period though its buds were clearly evident. Certainly Carter remained true to this course her entire life, as we shall see in Chapters 5 and 7. Carter's third version omits the initial dedication, thereby launching directly into the accusations of intrigue already present in the second version. The middle section, movingly though similar in spirit in its description and analysis of Rowe's virtuous writing, shares not a single line with the earlier odes. Carter's style is less direct, more polished with some regrettably pretentious and what her father would have called "enthusiastic" phrasing. The poem ends though, movingly, with the eight-line commitment which works refreshingly direct and modest. (A very neat, italic manuscript copy of the second ode is among Birch's papers in the British Library. Dated January 16, 1738/9, the poem is signed by Elizabeth Carter and was presumably a gift to Birch. The versions differ with two words and some punctuation from the published second version75.) Carter continued her studies. She was studying German and possibly keeping up her French, as well as presumably continuing her favourite pursuit of astronomy under Thomas Wright's guidance76. But principally, it was the Algarotti translation, and with that the almost daily contact with Thomas Birch, which was occupying most of her time. By mid-February a new development occurred in the intimacy between the two. Birch records (on February 16, March 15, and April 17) accompanying Carter to the theatre. And Edward Cave, revealing himself as matchmaker, wrote Birch a hasty note on 30 March: "Miss was here last night & is charitably disposed to go to Mrs Nugent's Benefit if Mrs Cave & I will go. I'll venture it possibly if you are so disposed, it will be time enough about noon to settle it"77. Brigitte Sprenger 59 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Fittingly, in the spring month of May all the threads of the various romantic and professional plots came together. The month began auspiciously with the Gentleman's Magazine publishing half a dozen of what would today be called fan letters to Carter despite her relative silence the previous months. She had obviously not cheapened herself, but, to the contrary, her reputation had grown. Treading firmly in Rowe's footsteps, regularly contributing highly polished work which revealed a high standard of knowledge and intellect as well as the moral rectitude so vital in her time, she had opened up totally new horizons, or, as Roger Lonsdale phrased it, suggested “new possibilities and triumphs for later generations." 78. A little over a week after the appearance of the May issue, her Algarotti translation appeared to universal praise. Carter had published anonymously yet the true author was nevertheless known to many at the time, due in part to the reviews the work received from both Dr J Swan in the Gentleman's Magazine and Birch's article in the History of the Works of the Learned79. Swan addressed his critical poem to Miss Carter and praised especially, as Frances Hertford had, the clarity of the translation, concluding that it was no use hiding the author, for every "polish'd page" betrayed Eliza's "well-known softness, warmth, and ease". He held Carter up as a shining example to other women, encouraging other women to "boldly tread" after. Birch's long article was on the contrary, despite its fulsome praise, a retrograde step from an emancipatory viewpoint. His article, interestingly yet possibly characteristically for the period, did not mention Elizabeth's name as such, but referred to her as a young lady, daughter of Dr Nicolas Carter of Deal. Birch not only praised the translation, but also Carter's poetical work and ranked her with the Cornelia's and Sulpicia's of the ancient world. He furthermore praised her father's published sermons and the daughter's genius and learning. That the review was written (as Birch's journal records) on June 6 seems almost ironic – for by then, not all his flattery of father or daughter could aid him. Early in May, Elizabeth had requested her father's permission for an expedition with Birch to Oxford. Her health had obviously been deteriorating and an anxious Nicolas wondered whether her uneasiness was caused, in part at least, by Birch. He reiterated his consent for her to act as she judged best: he could not bear the thought of her going with him to Ireland, but if that scheme was now definitely cancelled, he had no further objections. She could invite him to Deal, or she could go with him to Oxford, or she could stay in London, 60 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza though he saw little purpose in the last80. Carter opted for Oxford and on the 14th of May, she set out with Birch in a coach. The real purpose of the visit is nowhere recorded, but it could ostensibly have been to visit Birch's friend, the poet Walter Harte of St Mary's Hall in Oxford whom Carter had met earlier (Harte had dined with her and Birch early in May)81. Possibly, too, Nicolas had asked his daughter to examine more closely possibilities for Jack in Oxford and in this Birch undoubtedly would be helpful (even if he was not an Oxford man). It is, however, tempting to speculate, that Birch had by now some definite marital ambitions and was hoping, by having Carter's company out of London away from the many other social and work pressures, to attain more encouragement. Carter and Birch deserved a holiday: she had at last completed a lengthy translation under considerable pressure, and Birch's own contribution of many years to the General Dictionary was also nearing completion. Birch and Carter spent two days with Harte, and then went on to Woodstock. They spent the night of the 18th in Reading and the next day visited Windsor Castle. On May 20, they were back in London. Many years later, Carter, in writing to her friend Elizabeth Montagu, referred to what could only have been this particular journey. She recalled being very little improved or amused by either Oxford or Blenheim because she had not had a companion with critical taste or a glowing imagination: I went with a set of very well meaning folks, but some of whom were dull, some were peevish, and some were in love; and most of them even in their natural state would have considered a consular statue of Cicero and a waxen image of Queen Anne, in pretty much the same light, as merely something to look at. In short, as I had neither the aid of society, nor the freedom of my own solitary thoughts, I scarcely recollect anything of the expedition, but that it made me heartily weary82. Judging by this, Birch had probably defeated his own purpose by exposing himself too much to Carter. The "dull" was possibly Harte and the "in love" was presumably Birch. It seems likely that overexposure to the extremely talkative Birch, allowing her no privacy or solitude to indulge her lifelong hankering after the sublime, was a basic difficulty. To Catherine Talbot, also many years later, she possibly revealed some antipathy she had built up towards Birch on this count. Talbot once travelled a great distance in Birch's company and was nearly "talked into a consumption" by him. Carter imagined the trip was dominated: Brigitte Sprenger 61 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza …. for forty miles by a throat of brass and adamantine lungs. You had no other chance to escape this persecution but a danger of the coach being overturned, the only situation in which I ever remember the hero in question to have been silent, and then for four hours he never spoke a word, and he quietly composed himself to sleep. Seriously however, I agree with you in all you say to his advantage, and wish him well settled in the world, if he chuses it, with some good kind of deaf and dumb gentle woman83. That Carter did not consider herself the suitable 'deaf and dumb ' partner seems obvious, as does the fact that her references refer to the Oxford trip of May 1739. Johnson and Carter both testified to Birch's talkativeness, and Horace Walpole confirmed his lack of critical approach, by remarking once that he was like a young dog in quest of anything old or new without using any taste or judgment84. For a few months Carter had found Birch's company at least interesting and useful. Some of the bitter taste evident in these later communications was not present during their shared days on the Gentleman's Magazine. Undoubtedly the Oxford trip determined them both – in totally opposite directions. When they returned to London, Carter prepared herself for a return to Deal. She had, after all, not seen most of her family for over a year and the London season was, in any case, reaching its conclusion. Failing health was another good reason to depart for healthy sea breezes and long walks. She set about packing and finishing off some last business, which included sending off complimentary copies of the Algarotti. Last minute visits were made and a frequent visitor to her uncle's house was an increasingly ardent Birch. He visited on the 21st, wrote her a letter the next day and visited her later in the day. On the 25th, he lunched with her. On the 27th, he visited her and on the 30th again, accompanied this time by his friend John Dalton who, ironically, years later was to be Carter's next serious suitor. On the 31st of May he visited her one last time and it seems most likely that he finally plucked up courage on this day, to make an official proposal, knowing she was departing the next day. Just before leaving London, Carter sent a parcel, with a note, to Cave: I have sent you by the Bearer of this Note 2 lots of Algarotti. One I desire you to give Mr Birch with my Compliments, the other is for Signore Algarotti himself & when I can get some more bound I shall have a sett at Mr Johnson's service85. Birch's copy of Algarotti, now in the British Library, is inscribed: "Tho. Birch/ Maii 31 1739/ Ex dona lnterpretis/Doctorfinice & elegantifrince/ Elizab. Carter"86. And then she left. On June 4 she wrote to Birch from Dover. Birch never replied. Yet exactly a year later, there 62 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza was an exchange of correspondence again after an initial letter from Carter to Birch on July 1. Judging by a letter from Nicolas Carter it is likely that Birch had given Carter a year to make her final decision on his proposal. Nicolas had written to Elizabeth late in April about a possible marriage87. Unfortunately the transcriber of this letter did not see fit to include particulars, but the coincidence of dates is notable. Birch replied to Carter's letter on July 3, and on July 7 received another letter from her. The next day she wrote her a final letter and the two never corresponded again. Contacts henceforth were conducted via Cave, and were rare (see Chapter 3)88. Carter's return to Deal was not a clean break with Birch or with London or with the Gentleman's Magazine. With Cave she remained in regular contact and she had taken a new translating project back home. She also continued to help editorially (reading submitted work for Cave and passing on her opinion) for many months. This cold weather wonderfully cramps my Genius. Translating goes on very slow. I do not know Sir I may at last go through the work Mr [Bevis- Birch?] proposed, but do not mention it to any one…..lt is really not want of Inclination but downright Dullness & Incapacity that will not suffer me to contribute to your Collection 89. I have laid aside all thoughts of translating Maurocordati since I find it is in very great Esteem. When you write to Oxford I beg the favour of you to inquire of Mr Harte whether he has disposed of the two proposal papers he took of me…90 Her letters to Cave gave no immediate indication of an envisaged end to her journalistictranslating career. On the contrary, she is for all of that year bright and lively and still extremely interested in events in town and in new publications. She asked with great interest about the pamphlet Woman not inferior to Man (cf Chapter 7), and when Mr Browne's works would be published. She discussed possible projects. In November 1739 she even submitted another poem. (The accompanying letter to Cave was copied by Birch): I have enclosed a Copy of Verses which if your November Magazine is not already filled, are at your Service, but upon this express Condition, that you print them without my name & will never tell any person whatsoever that they are mine….They have never been seen only by one person. Neither my papa or my friends in London know anything of the matter…91 The poem thus submitted was the "Ode to Melancholy" published in the November GM 1739, 599, printed, as requested by Carter, without title or author's name. The poem is of Brigitte Sprenger 63 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza a true graveyard nature, contemplating life's temporary nature and regarding death as peaceful and restive. Its imagery is of "midnight horrors", calls tombs "My future peaceful Bed". Primarily Carter is concerned with rejecting "The dazzling Colours, falsely bright" and the rude pomp of life. She questions ambition and wealth and looks forward to retirement from such: Subdu'd at length beneath laborious Life, With Passion struggling, and by Care deprest, In peaceful Age, that ends the various Strife, The harrass'd Virtues gladly sink to Rest…… How blest, who thus by added Years improv'd, With cautious Steps their lengthen'd Journey treat: And, from the Task of sultry Life remov'd, Converse with Wisdom in it's Ev'ning Shade. The impression is that Carter felt tired after her year and a half of professional London life. Although undoubtedly infected by reading such poems as "Pleasures of Melancholy" and "Melancholy", Carter's depression resulted from exhaustion after such an intense period (see Appendix I). Her retreat from public literary life was probably a merging of several aspects; her poor health after prolonged intense hard work, her difficulty in coping with public exposure no matter how generally laudatory and her family's mixed reaction to this and probably a desire to avoid Birch. Not only did she require time to consider the proposal but the relationship had possibly caused a dissonance between her two closest colleagues – Birch and Johnson. Throughout the ten months, Johnson had on the whole been "third wheel" present at many intimate lunches and suppers and on several excursions. Gunther concludes: "There is no reason to suppose that the relations between two men of such awareness would not have been marked by the reserve both would feel after so unusual an encounter"92. The two men were very different both in character and social standing though both came from similar humble backgrounds. Yet Birch had been quickly established with patronage and connections while Johnson would have to wait many years yet for any financial recognition. During those ten months the men were in close social contact and the connector was Carter. After May 1739, there is no mention of Johnson in Birch's journal for the next twenty-five years. (When they did have contact again, it was with mutual respect: Johnson asked Birch to read final proofs of his Preface to Shakespeare and Birch 64 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza was most impressed with Johnson's Dictionary.) The frequent social contact during Carter's stay in London and its complete cessation after her departure is however the only tangible proof for the already mentioned speculations of a possible romantic rivalry between Birch and Johnson. Carter had played a key role not only in the lives of these two men during her London years, but also in the establishment of women as acceptable literary figures. She had shown that women could not only be professional literary contributors (which others before her had proved already), but that they could be intelligent, respectable and morally upright as well. She was the first woman, with enormous willpower and with a passionate need for freedom and independence, who through sheer hard work earned the full acceptance and respect of society without even a breath of the social taint which had hitherto undermined such writers as Aphra Behn, Eliza Haywood or Delariviere Manley. Furthermore, she won this respect for her learning and not only her morality. As her two versions of "On the death of Mrs Rowe" amply illustrate, Carter was greatly occupied with women's literary reputation and wished to follow Rowe's example in setting high, moral standards. That she herself quickly became an ideal example is evident in Swan's poem praising her Algarotti translation. Jane Spencer in The Rise of the Woman Novelist from Aphra Behn to Jane Austen argues that women writers only began to be respected for combining emotion and morality, for a basis of "femininity" from mid-century onwards93. Carter's contribution came before such a development and probably helped to form a climate for acceptance of writing women. The literary world was still a very small world then, and though by today's standards her contributions of half a dozen poems and two translations might be considered very modest, the impact in 1739 was considerable. She demonstrated a new type of female professionalism, independent of patrons and enjoyed considerable praise from colleagues on both her own magazine and others. She thereby contributed towards altering the public image of learned women, hitherto typified by, Pope's Phoebe Clinket in Three Hours after Marriage, who is shown as bookish, scatterbrained and ludicrous. Considering this pioneering significance, it is the more disappointing that she so quickly ended her journalistic career as a result of slowly compounding circumstances such as ill health and the "downright dullness" she complains of after having settled down again into provincial life. Once back in the familiar pattern of Brigitte Sprenger 65 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza daily familial routine, and with the memory of physically and psychologically extremely wearing work still fresh, lethargy set in and the months passed. Years later, she wrote to Talbot, she felt like a shellfish stuck on a rock and had nearly forgotten how to fly. She should perhaps move about more and widen her horizons, but felt quite content on her rock: A natural indolence which was once checked in some degree over-ruled by the conversation of the world, now that it is set free from all restraint, seems to have got the entire possession of me, and the way of life I am in, appears to be the very way in which I am most likely to be happy"94. Talbot replied that people with such talent to write, to read and to think as she, Carter, had, should not grow indolent. Talbot had a very valid point which Carter unfortunately never quite grasped. It would take a number of years and some very determined efforts on the parts of friends, before Elizabeth Carter overcame this lethargy and set out on yet another pioneering project. NOTES 1 Gentleman's Magazine, May 1739; 268, from "To Miss E-C-" by 'Philander' 2 "On the Death of Mrs Rowe", GM March 1739; 152-3 (and also in Poems on Several Occasions 1762) 3 Virginia Woolf A Room of One's Own, ed Morag Shiach, (Oxford:OUP 1992)83: C. Turner, Living by the Pen: Women writers in the Eighteenth Century, (Routledge, 1992) p.63,65. 4 Throughout life, Carter supported and praised women who had to support themselves by writing, and she would only voice disapproval if she considered the writing or the person immoral. She came personally into contact with several professional women authors, such as Elizabeth Montagu's sister Sarah Scott, author of Millenium Hall, who, after leaving a cruel husband and being cast out by her father, had to support herself and her children. Another was Anna Williams, the poet resident in Samuel Johnson's house, for whose edition of Poems Carter put in considerable effort gathering subscribers. See also Chapter 7. 66 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 5 Robert Halsband, The Selected Letters of Lady Mary_Wortley Montagu. (Penguin, 1970) 4; Jean E. Hunter, "The Ladies Magazine and The Study of Englishwomen in the Eighteenth Century", Newsletters to Newspapers: Eighteenth Century Journalism, (West Virginia University 1977) 103, 105, 106. Myra Reynolds in The Learned Lady in England 1650-1760, (Houghton Mifflin, New York, 19201216, publishes an evocative contemporary etching of Eliza Haywood and three female colleagues at work on The Female Spectator. Pat Rogers Hacks and Ounces: Pope, Swift and Grub Street (Methuen, 1972), A.S. Collins Authorship in the Days of Johnson: Being a study of the Relation between Author, Patron, Published and Public, 1726-1780 (London: Holden & Co,1927). Turner, Living by the Pen, ibid, 116. 6 John Feather, A History of British Publishing, (London:Routledge 1988) 111. 7 Juergen Enkelmann, Journalismus und Literatur: Zurn Verhaeltnis van Zeitungswesen, Literatur und Entwicklung neuerlichers Oeffentlichkeit in England im 17. und 18..Jahrhundert. (Tuebingen:Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1983) 180. 8 Montagu Pennington, Memoirs, (London, 1807) I, 385. 9 A. S. Collins, Authorship in the Days of Johnson: Being a study of the Relation between Author, Patron, Publisher and Public (London, 1927)30. 10 John Wain, Samuel Johnson: A Biography, (New York, Viking Press, 1974)102. 11 J.D. Fleeman, "The Revenue of a writer: Samuel Johnson's literary earnings" in Studies in the Book Trade (Oxford Bibliographical Society, 1975) 212. 12 James Boswell, Life of Johnson (Oxford University Press, revised edition, editor Pat Rogers 1970) 98. James Boswell, London Journal 1762-1763, Yale edition, ed. Frederick A Pottle, (Heinemann 1950)305. 13 Boswell, Life of Johnson, ibid; 1386. Judging by such figures and presuming equal pay, Carter probably earned about £70 during her two-year London career: £16 for eight poems, £15 for Crousaz and £40 for Algarotti. The Poems upon Particular Occasions were presumably printed at her own costs. Brigitte Sprenger 67 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 14 Nicolas Carter wrote to her twice in September: NC to EC 4 Sep 1737, Ponting collection, and excerpt from the loose papers Stebbing Collection, Deal County Library. 15 NC to EC, 12 Mar 1738, Ponting collection. 16 Jean E Hunter, "The 18th-Century Englishwoman: According to the Gentleman's Magazine" in Woman in the Eighteenth Century & other Essays, eds Paul Fritz & Richard Morton, (Toronto & Sarasota MacMaster University Association 1976) 77. 17 Loose Stebbing papers, Deal County Library: "In 1759, when Elizabeth was 42, he was allowing her three guineas a quarter…": Memoirs, 1,28 18 Loose Stebbing papers, EC to NC 23 Jun 1738; EC to ?, Hampshire Collection, quoted by Sylvia Harcstark Myers, The Bluestocking Circle: Women, Friendship, and the Life of the Mind in Eighteenth-Century England, OUP, 1990;48. Carter refers to Desaguliers and Wright in her poem "While clear the night", published in the Gentleman's Magazine, June 1738, which, after propounding the importance of joining Science to good nature, ends: "All view to happy talents with delight/ That form a Desaguliers and a Wright". 19 Carter, "On the Death of Mrs Rowe", Gentleman's Magazine, April 1737; 247. Mrs Rowe's death occasioned many articles and commemorative poems. Sylvia Harcstark Myers in The Bluestocking Circle: Women, Friendship, and the Life of the Mind in Eighteenth-Century England, (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1990)48, correctly surmises that Elizabeth Singer Rowe was the closest to a specific role model EC ever came. 20 Memoirs, I, 65. 21 Gentleman's Magazine, November 1737;692. 22 "A Riddle", Gentleman's Magazine, February 1738;99. 23 Gentleman's Magazine, March 1738; 155. 68 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 24 ibid, April 1738 25 Samuel Johnson to Edward Cave (undated) in Boswell's Life, 90. 26 The epigram was published in Greek and Latin in the GM of April 1738; 210; EC's reply in Greek and Latin appeared in May 1738. According to the editors of the Yale edition of the Works of Samuel Johnson, ibid;44, these were the first verses addressed to SJ. 27 Carter contributed two Ramblers (Nrs 44 and 100) and only three others ever contributed a number each (Hester Mulso Chapone, Catherine Talbot and Samuel Richardson). See further Chapter 4. 28 NC to EC, Ponting Collection 12, 25 June 1738 29 Johnsonian Miscellanies (which in turn is quoting from Sir John Hawkins' Works of Samuel Johnson), Ed. George Birbeck Hill, (London: Constable & Company, 1966 (reprint of the Clarendon Press 1897 edition), Vol 2;11. 30 John Wain in Samuel Johnson: A Biography ibid;169; Edward Ruhe in his article "Birch, Johnson and Elizabeth Carter: An Episode of 1738-39" in PMLA Vol. LXXlll, Number 5, Part 1 (1958) and A. E. Gunther, An Introduction to the Life of the Rev. Thomas Birch D.D., F.R.S. 1705-17666, Leading Editor of the General Dictionary of the Royal Society and trustee of the British Museum, (Suffolk: Halesworth Press, 1984) 31 NC to EC, 6 Mar 1738. Nicolas Carter's sermons appeared under the title, Seventeen Sermons on the Following Subjects,viz…. by Nicolas Carter, D.D., Curate of St George's Chapel in Deal, printed by E. Cave, MDCCXXXVIII. Whitefield was sent by the Countess of Huntington. When she sent another preacher, a Mr Aldridge, Nicolas Carter wrote her a harsh letter. John Laker History of Deal, (Deal: Dain and Sons 1917) 32 "Verses From a Mother to her Daughter, with Dr Carter's Sermons", signed by 'Melissa', appeared in GM, March 1738 Brigitte Sprenger 69 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 33 NC to EC, 12 and 27 Mar 1738, Ponting collection. 34 NC to EC, 14 Jul 1738, Ponting collection. 35 NC to EC 14 Jul 1738, Ponting collection. 36 NC to EC 27 Mar 1738, Ponting collection. 37 The British Library copy of this slim volume has the words "by Elizabeth Carter" on its title page, in very neat handwriting, possibly Carter's own, and it could therefore be Carter's own copy. Carter's own copy of her other edition of Poems, the Poems on Several Occasions (1762), is privately owned by P. Billings in Kent. 38 Stephen Duck, 1705-1756, known as the thresher-poet, was patronised by Queen Caroline and was in his own time best known for The Thresher's Labour (1736). He later took holy orders. In Memoirs, Montagu Pennington footnotes under the reprint of this poem that EC thought this the worst poem she had ever written. 39 EC to Mrs Underdown, July 1737, quoted by Gwen Hampshire "Johnson, Elizabeth Carter and Pope's Garden" in Notes and Queries 1972, Vol 19 pp- 221-2. NC to EC, Ponting Nr 16 of August 16, 1738: "I am glad you have been so diverted at Richmond & Twickenham; But suppose Mr Pope to have been more inaccessible than his Gardens". 40 Montagu Pennington in Memoirs, 1,44, relates that there was never much acquaintance, and no intimacy, between EC and Pope and quotes from a letter from NC to EC wherein the father advises her not to correspond with him, as ladies who had done so in the past had ended up abused in print. NC was undoubtedly referring to such correspondents as Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. 41 Gentleman's Magazine, Aug 1738; 272. EC's Latin version runs: "En Marcet Laurus, nee quicquam juvit Elisam/ Furtim sacrilega diripuisse manu:/ Illa petit sedem magis aptam,.tempora Popi;/ Et florere negat pauperiore solo." NC to EC 13 Aug 1738 mentions that the GM had not yet reached Scarborough, where Dr Carter and Oxenden were staying, but that "Peggy sent me Johnson's Epigram which is very 70 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza pretty & is so esteemed here." Johnson's original in Latin, (GM, April 1738) runs: Elysios Popi dum ludit per hortos/ En avida lauros carpit Eliza manu/ Nil opus est furto; lauros tibi, dulcis Elisa./ Si neget optatas Popus, Apollo dabit. The English translation, which appeared in GM, July 1738, 372 ran: As learn'd Eliza, sister of the Muse,/surveys with new contemplative delight/Pope's hallowed glades, and never tiring views,/Her conscious hand his laurel leaves invite./Cease, lovely thief, my tender limbs to wound,/(Cry'd Daphne whisp'ring in the yielding tree;)/ were Pope once void of wonted candour found./ Just Phoebus would devote his plant to thee. 42 EC to Mrs Underdown, (quoted by Hampshire "Johnson, Elizabeth Carter and Pope's Garden" 221) 43 NC to EC, 12 Jul 1738, Ponting collection. Unfortunately, I have not succeeded in tracking down the verses referred to. 44 Boswell, Life of Johnson, ibid; 100. John Wain in Samuel Johnson: A Biography ibid; 115 was probably misled by Johnson's original plans and involvement and concludes that Johnson and Carter "shared the task" of translation. 45 Boswell, Life of Johnson, ibid:100. 46 NC to EC, 26 Sep 1738, Ponting collection. 47 Boswell, Life of Johnson, ibid:116. 48 The opinion of the merits of Birch's and Carter's Latin is Ruhe's in his article "Birch, Johnson and Elizabeth Carter…". Most of the facts relating to Birch's life, come from A.E. Gunther An Introduction to the Life of the Rev. Thomas Birch…, ibid. 49 A copy of this Whitehall Evening Post is among Birch's papers. The 150-line poem, in rhyming couplets, is conventionally romantic and pathetic. A MS copy of the poem is also among Birch's papers. Brit. Lib. Add 4456, fols 38, 26. 50 Gunther, An Introduction….. ibid: 155. Brigitte Sprenger 71 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 51 Brit. Lib. Add 4101 – 4478: the private papers cover MSs 4268-4272 and ff 34-43 relate to the EC-period. 52 Myers, The Bluestocking Circle, ibid:56. 53 Gunther, An Introduction…, ibid:37. 54 Richard Savage, d. 1743, claimed to be the bastard son of Earl Rivers and was especially famed in his own day for The Wanderer (1729) and The Bastard (1728). He was also a contributor to the GM where he met SJ and the latter, in his Life of Savage, movingly recounts the period where he and Savage, for want of money, would roam the streets all night 55 Brit Lib Add MS 4302.fol 69: I have adopted Ruhe's (see above) translation, 493. 56 BL Add MS 4202 fol 71, translation Ruhe's. Birch copied out many of Carter's letters addressed not only to him, but also to Cave and Carter's family 57 Gunther, An Introduction…, ibid:28. 58 BL Add MS 4320 fol 131. 59 BL Add MS 4321 fol 128. 60 See also Chapter 7. 61 Halley is already mentioned in the journals by 1736. Gunther, An Introduction, ibid:28. 62 NC to EC, 21 Sep 1738, Ponting collection. 63 ibid. 64 NC to EC, 27 Mar 1738, Ponting collection.: "The Dean spoke of you & said he heard you was going to be married to Mr Oliver which he was sorry for. I soon removed his concern & told him you was in London to improve your self, but named no Particulars." 72 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 65 NC to EC, 26 Sep 1738, Ponting collection. 66 NC to EC, 29 Sep 1738, Ponting collection. 67 BL Add MS 4302 fol 72. 68 BL Add MS 4302 fol 102. 69 Boswell, Life of Johnson, ibid; 102. Anicus Boethius (ca. 470 – 525 ADJ. author of De Consolatione Philosophia while imprisoned, had already been translated by such eminents as King Alfred, Geoffrey Chaucer and Elizabeth I. 70 Pennington, Memoirs, 53, records the initial letters written by Frances Hertford to EC. The original Algarotti translation, translated anonymously, was entitled Sir Isaac Newton's philosophy explain'd 2 vols, London 1739 and, as mentioned, Birch's own copy, is in the BL (535.b.10,11). The quote from Algarotti's preface comes from this edition. The Countess of Hertford wrote: "I feel too sincere a regard for you, both from your character and writings, to omit any opportunity of assuring you of my esteem. Judge then if I do not sacrifice a real foundation of vanity, when I find myself under the necessity of declining a mark of your good opinion, which I can only deserve by the value I know so well how to set upon it……I have so much pleasure from the few Poems I have seen of yours…." She explains that she had also turned down similar requests from her friends Dr Watts and Mr Rowe that same year and furthermore requests EC send some more of her poems. dated 15 Apr 1739. From Pennington's Memoirs ibid; 51ff. 71 Pennington, Memoirs, 1:47 72 NC to EC, 2 Jan 1738, Ponting collection. See also note 70 73 NC to EC, 29 Sep 1738, Ponting collection. 74 NC to EC, 2 Jan 1739, Ponting collection. 75 GM March 1739; 152-3. Brit. Lib MS Add 4456, fol.60 Brigitte Sprenger 73 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 76 Pennington, Memoirs, 65 ff. NC to EC, 12 Mar 1738: "I wish you success in the German Language. Which of the two Masters have you chose? Can he likewise speak French; for yt would be of service to keep up your Remembrance of that Tongue." 77 Cave to Birch, BL Add MS 4302 f 75. Cave regularly referred to EC as "Miss" not only when addressing Birch, but also when addressing NC. See NC to EC 20 Nov 1746, Ponting collection. 78 Eighteenth-Century Women Poets, Ed. Roger Lonsdale, (Oxford: University Press, 1990). Introduction also by Lonsdale, p. xxx 79 GM June 1739; 322. "But we perhaps, these treasures ne'er had known,/Had not their worth, confest, to Carter shone;/No pen cou'd better all their charms impart/Her judgment equal to her happy art…". A certain Mr Bruckner complimented Carter on her Algarotti translation in Dutch Latin as well. See CT to EC 29 Jul 1757. 80 NC to EC 3 May 1739, Hampshire collection as quoted in Myers, The Bluestocking Circle, ibid:106. 81 Add Ms 4302 fol 43, BL. 82 EC to EM, 8 Jul 1762. 83 EC to CT, 2 Nov 1751. Talbot had been to stay at Wrest with Lady Grey and Mr Yorke and was travelling in their company. Birch was also an intimate at Wrest at that stage. He is, in the letter by Catherine, not referred to by name (Pennington has substituted a dash), but is referred to in a teasing manner here and is named when CT wrote up the trip in her diary. BL Add 46690, f.29. 84 Horace Walpole, Correspondence, Ed. W.S. Lewis et al, (Yale University Press 1937-1983) Vol 2; 186 85 The note is pasted on into the inside cover of Birch's copy of the Algarotti in the BL collection (see note 70). 74 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 86 MS Add 535.b.10, 11, Brit Lib. 87 NC to EC 24 Apr 1740, Ponting collection. 88 MS Add 4478.c, Brit Lib. 89 MS Stowe 748, fol 172, Brit Lib. 90 MS Stowe 748 fol 175, ibid. 91 EC to Cave, MS Add 4297 fol 49, Brit Lib. 92 Gunther, An Introduction, ibid; 55 93 Jane Spencer, The Rise of the Woman Novelist from Aphra Behn to Jane Austen, (Oxford: Blackwell, 1986) 75-100. 94 EC to CT 2 Apr 1751. Brigitte Sprenger 75 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Chapter 3: An Epistolary Friendship …the distance of those we esteem and love will always give (the heart) pain. This pain however, might be greatly alleviated, if distant friends would consider each other however separated by place, yet united by the same general blessing, and the same general duties…..pursuing the same common interest, and by the different roads that are marked out to them, travelling under the same guidance, to the same common home…. Carter to Elizabeth Vesey 1 June 1763 From envy, hurry, noise and strife The dull impertinence of life, In thy retreat I rest: Pursue thee to the peaceful groves, Where Plato's sacred spirit roves, In all thy graces dressed. Elizabeth Carter, "Ode to Wisdom" (1747) Elizabeth Carter spent the summer after her retreat from London, considering new translating projects but dismissing these ideas almost immediately, entertaining company from Canterbury and complaining about Cave's publishing of a "wretched epigram"1. She talked of translating the "Maurocordate" but abandoned the project before well started2. The Deal "season" which followed the recuperative summer offered not only a sharp contrast in company and occupation but also in temperature. The winter of 1739-40 was so cold that the Thames froze over and supported a frost fair. Hackney coaches in London required four horses to get through the snow. The rest of England suffered similar severe weather conditions and icy winds blew across the Kent coast3. Whether these were in part responsible for the further deterioration of Carter's health, a deterioration begun during those hard months of translating a year before is not known, neither is the exact nature of her complaint. By March 1741 she was in Canterbury consulting Dr Lynch (brother to Dean 76 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Lynch) and apparently not making good progress4. The necessity of having to make the momentous decision concerning marriage to Birch would undoubtedly have worsened her mental condition. That decision made, and several months of seaside summer must be presumed to have effected some recovery and next season she was back in London where, on 25 January 1741, she attended a social gathering at the home of her acquaintance, Mrs Rooke. Among the company was her astronomy tutor Thomas Wright who, to Carter's extreme satisfaction, introduced her to yet another of his erstwhile pupils, the 20-year-old Miss Catherine Talbot. Carter had seen the fragile young woman at St James' Church on several occasions and been strongly impressed5. The rector of St James, Thomas Secker, was Talbot's 'Ersatz' father: he would become Archbishop of Canterbury in little more than a decade. Talbot, moving in slightly higher social circles than Carter, had a small reputation as an unpublished authoress of essays and poems which Carter had possibly heard about. This introductory meeting on January 25, proved the beginning of a lifelong intense and intimate friendship which deeply affected the lives of both women. On the anniversary of their meeting six years later, Carter wrote that this day had given "birth to such a set of ideas as have formed some of the most agreeable moments I have ever met with from that time to this"6. The young women, so alike and yet so different, felt an immediate kinship for each other. They shared primarily a love of literature and a devout piety. Both were authors of serious and respectable works- Carter in print though Talbot, with only the exception of a Rambler and an Adventurer for Johnson, would remain unpublished till after her death. The heads of both families were Anglican professionals; Catherine had lost her father, Elizabeth her mother. Both had received a good classical grounding under the encouragement of their (foster-) fathers, both studied astronomy with Wright, both enjoyed walking. There the similarities ended. The differences between them were as many – and none more noticeable than their basic characters. Talbot, an only child, moving in restricted aristocratic circles, spent a lifetime fulfilling her duty and always thinking first of others and only with guilt of herself. Carter, by basic disposition and upbringing, spent her life torn between this sacrificial sense of duty and a bridled yearning to experience the sublime, to taste total liberty, to follow her own moods. She also, from the beginning of their friendship, brought the comic touch fully into play Brigitte Sprenger 77 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza which the so serious-minded, heavy-hearted Catherine usually welcomed as a breath of fresh sea breeze into her life of burdensome duties as the foster daughter of one of England's pre-eminent ministers. "People here are not in the least danger of losing their wits about you," joked Carter in her very first letter to Catherine, "but proceed as quietly and as regularly in their affairs as if there was no such person in being." She continued: Nobody has been observed to lose their way, run against a door, or sit silent and staring into a room full of company in thinking upon you, except my solitary self who (as you may perceive in the description) have the advantage of looking half mad when I do not see you and (as you know by many ocular proofs) extremely silly when I do7. Talbot was at first occasionally unsure of how to interpret this droll correspondent. Their acquaintance in that first winter of '41 could not have stretched to more than a few meetings, probably in company, and it would be four years before they could move onto a much more satisfying and deeper plane of relating where a greater intimacy rarely led to misunderstandings, misinterpretations and uncertainty. Those first few years, however, they struggled along in semi-formal acquaintanceship. Lillian Faderman in Surpassing the Love of Men, believes Carter and Talbot enjoyed a so-called "romantic friendship" which involved an initial "falling in love". The infrequency of their letters hardly supports this, though elements of romanticism were certainly present. (For a full discussion of this, see below). Talbot would have known not much more about Carter than her public reputation – had in all likelihood read at least some of her poems, if not the Algarotti translation as well. Carter in turn would hardly have known much more than whatever information common friends such as Mrs Rooke had divulged about Talbot. Catherine's father. Edward Talbot, had died of smallpox five months before her birth, upon which her mother Mary was offered help from her friend Catherine Benson. Talbot's high-ranking and genteel family seemingly had not (as neither had Elizabeth's mother's family) offered any aid. The friends stayed together and when young Thomas Secker, a friend of her brother Martin Benson, married Catherine in 1725 he offered the widow and her child his "house and duty". Catherine Talbot proved a weak, sickly child, yet Secker, too, was a man who encouraged a woman's education and so she gained a reputation, minor in comparison to Carter's, as a learned, clever girl. As the Seckers remained childless, Catherine became a substitute daughter. "The affection we all have for one another is united in you…You are our growing hopes", Secker wrote her8. Catherine Talbot's life as a member of Secker's 78 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza household was severely restricted. Her only outings without her family were to her friends Lady Mary Grey and Jemima Campbell (later Marchioness Grey) at Wrest Park. Mostly she moved within the confines of the residences in London and Cuddesdon (Secker, as Bishop of Oxford, spent eight months of the year in residence there), fulfilling a myriad of social and household duties. She often felt her days glided away in futility and occasionally found courage to confide in Carter: "Tis a note to this body, a message to that, an errand to one end of the house, and a whim that sends me to the other, a robin to be fed at this window, and a tom-tit to be attended to at another, cats or chickens, or spinsters or ague patients"9. Many years later she would especially envy Carter's tutoring of her younger brother Henry and others as a meaningful vocation, as evidence of real utility. Talbot felt her own serviceability was negligible and complained of: …many little important avocations that call me oft from every employment I could be fond of…I have but three creatures in the world over whom I have a right to exercise any government, a foolish dog, a restive horse, and a perverse gardener. In this my small dominion I meet with as many difficulties as ever indolent monarch did. The dog uncontrolled is for ever running after sheep, or jumping upon me with dirty paws; the horse will by no possible persuasion go over the same ground twice; and the gardener is demolishing my beds of flowers, which I meant to have had enlarged10. Carter's reaction to Talbot's complaint, part comic, part serious, reflected a basic insecurity that still existed within the relationship. In fact, the first few years of their correspondence had a tentative quality, and Carter instinctively adopted just the playful, comic, lighthearted tone suited to assure her that Talbot's reception and replies would be more than just polite. This tone was the easier for Carter to adopt, as the first decade of her friendship with Talbot was a relatively peaceful one despite a number of afflictions. Carter's brother Nicolas was lost at sea in 1741 and she digested this blow by writing poetry and walking along the sea-shore: "The season now confines my exercise to a solitary moonlight walk along the sea shore…it helps to indulge the melancholy turn….by a view of the element which has separated me for ever from a brother extremely dear to me"11. Carter wrote two poems, in 1742, which undoubtedly refer to her brother Nicolas and are evidence of the depth of her mourning. In "To the Memory of -. Obit Oct 13, 1742" (presumably the anniversary of Nicolas' death) she mourns the loss of talents though indicating his "drooping genius" was not likely to have fared better had he survived. In "On the Same", Brigitte Sprenger 79 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Carter interestingly charts the course of the departed soul beyond Death's gates, peering through the mists to where his "peaceful ashes sleep", wondering if he ever "still surveys/With some regard the object once so clear". Wistfully, Carter again concludes he had never had much joy in life, stringing together heavy images of "toilsome…years", "thorny way", "doom" and "vale of tears". While hardly original, and depressing in its clichéd imagery, both poems testify to Carter's morbidity during periods of bereavement – another recurrent phenomena throughout her life12. Carter also lost one friend to smallpox and another married and shifted far afield (see below). Additionally, her own health, especially the crippling migraines, often left her staggering. Yet it was during this period, that Carter retreated into the circle of people she felt at home among, to compensate consciously for a lost youth. She reported to Talbot of being very busy with the trifles of working a pair of ruffles and growing fond of dancing: "It seems to be looked upon as a very odd thing that a person who thought of little but books at fifteen, should at five and twenty run mad after balls and assemblies. However, I am too inconstant in my follies to apprehend being long under the power of any one…"13. Pennington also reports that as a young woman, Carter was not only lively but "gay", loved dancing and was "somewhat..of a romp"; she subscribed to assemblies and at least once acted in a play with friends and brothers and sisters14 Analogous to recapturing her youth, she adopted some playful new hobbies – in 1745 she exchanged the German flute for the spinet: My present reigning scheme is music. Having for some time past made a composition of noises between the hissing of a snake and the lowing of a cow upon a German flute, I am now set down to a spinet, which unfortunately stood in my way and before I can play three bars in one tune, I am trying at a dozen by which means I shall never finish any. I have often lamented this restless dissipation of thought that still sends me rambling after some new pursuit, but… I content myself with thinking it is a superficial world one lives in, and superficial understandings suit it best, so vive la bagatelle, I'll e'en trifle on and be contented15 Carter also took up knitting, doing fancy needlework, and painting16. These occupations provided much amusement for the serious young Catherine who during London seasons was forced to submit to amusements she could find no heart for: This town….makes one so perfectly idle, the very air of it is infected…I am sure one lives to no purpose of a rational being all those hours that are spent at the modern assemblies: yet to these all conversation is sacrificed.."17. Thus Carter's letters provided a necessary diversity for her captive correspondent. Carter, agilely adapting to Talbot's needs and moods, developed 80 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza a quiet, droll narrative style, frequently restricting herself to a small number of staple elements: she encouraged her readers (for she knew Talbot read her letters aloud) to laugh at her as an inadequate, absent-minded housekeeper or alternately be quite shocked at her peripatetic Amazonianism. (For a full discussion, see Chapter 7). In the summer of 1744 Carter reported a new scheme of rising at 4 am, reading for an hour, and then setting out with three others who soon could not keep up with her "impetuous rapidity.” My sister has desired to be excused going with me any more till she has learnt to fly and another of our troop sent me word she could not possibly venture as at our last walk had absolutely dislocated all her bones so I have nobody to depend on now but my youngest sister who is as strong as a little Welsh horse, so she trudges after me with great alacrity and promises never to forsake me if I should walk to the North Pole…18. Carter's ambulatory outings were an integral part of her strong drive towards independency and freedom. As we shall see in Chapter 7, Carter strove throughout life to break the bonds of her captivity – whether they were the social visits it was her duty to accompany her step-mother on, the confines of a carriage or even the barriers of her own house19. Any restrictions met with in these favourite walks was fiercely resented. On one occasion she complained to Talbot of "a set of rakish fellows from some ship" who prevented her rambling about by herself: So I dare not walk now without a companion of true Amazonian bravery who fears nothing but apparitions and frogs from which I have promised to secure her, if she will defend me from what I am most afraid of, May-bugs and men so by the strength of this alliance, we proceed in great safety20. Her reaction was similar when, many years later, history repeated itself and some rioting robbers prevented Carter and her friend Elizabeth Montagu from enjoying the walks around the Belgian health resort of Spa21. Talbot undoubtedly recognised this element in Carter and thoroughly sympathised and supported it – despite her own constant submission to her duties and the subsequent self-obliteration. Talbot frequently encouraged Carter to develop and strengthen any tendency towards such liberating, independent wandering almost in exact parallel as she denied the same right to herself. Talbot became a major force behind many of Carter's literary productions, notably Epictetus, but also the Rambler essays, some poems, and the later contributions to Richardson's Sir Charles Grandison. In 1755, Talbot repeatedly encouraged her friend to write more poetry22. Yet Carter's attempts to seduce Talbot into publication had comparatively minuscule results – Talbot Brigitte Sprenger 81 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza published one Rambler and one Adventurer essay only. She contributed significantly to Samuel Richardson's Sir Charles Grandison but this entailed no public performance or profiling – her contribution remained unknown and uncredited23. Talbot's writings tended to remain personal and inward – she wrote diaries, kept journals and her poems and essays and prayers stayed in manuscript form. Not until after her death did she appear in print, solely due to Carter's efforts. Catherine Talbot wrote in a so-called Green Book which she kept in a drawer to which Carter frequently referred in her efforts to encourage Talbot to publish. When Talbot died in 1770, Carter published these. (For a fuller discussion, see Chapter 6). After those first few meetings in the winter of '41, then, the epistolary friendship was very slow to warm. They voiced high regard for each other, even to the point of flattery, yet the letters were short, and were few and far between. Gaps of several months were the norm and so, for instance, in 1742 Carter wrote her friend only three letters and received no more in return. The year after saw an increase to five letters. To Catherine it was clear that a step towards further intimacy which both quietly sought could only be achieved by further meetings and she repeatedly encouraged Carter to visit London for a season. Carter passed such remarks off lightly at first with rather whimsical excuses 24. She did visit London briefly in the early summer of 43, en route to spending the rest of the summer with her aunt and uncle in Enfield but, judging by the correspondence, the two women did not meet – Talbot was presumably already in Oxfordshire. Carter did not visit London for a season until 1747 and in the interim years went mostly to Canterbury: "You would not find more pleasure than I do in a place and set of acquaintance where I always spend the most agreeable hours of my life." She talked of leading a "very agreeable, idle sort of life" in Canterbury25. Not unexpectedly then, the period of the great Jacobean scares of 1745, also found her in Canterbury26. The daily threat of invasion hardly affected Carter. Like her father, she remained almost disturbingly calm during natural disasters. Her maxim was, according to nephew Pennington, the verse from Matthew 6:34: "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Yet once, during these scares, Carter confessed to being "never so terrified in my life". Characteristically however, she manipulated even this event into a 82 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza mock-heroic account for her correspondent. The incident, an invasion scare in Deal, had apparently begun with an alarm of a French invasion which soon had soldiers and sailors up in arms: "Never was such a scene of uproar and confusion. Women and children squeaking through the streets, drums beating, bells ringing, signals flashing…" The clamour continued for about two hours during which time Deal residents expected the "cannibals" to enter the town every minute – but none came: The ground of all this alarm was two idle young fellows who had got into Walmer Castle (which, to the honour of several officers who have standing salaries, is guarded by two old women) and making a strange noise with their sticks, frightened them and their fears supplied the rest, they ran into the village, declaring the French had got possession of the castle, and that they had seen 200 (supposed to be cows quietly grazing on the common). Upon this the men took to their arms, the women ran away, and (a) messenger was sent to Deal. To be sure the man thought he was doing something to his immortal glory by the manner in which I am told he proclaimed himself through Deal streets – "I am John Redman of Walmer come to tell you the French are landed"27. The incident provided much local amusement for years and Carter's younger sister even composed a song about it which proved exceedingly popular within the family. Dr Carter, however, was not amused, criticising the languor of the local mayor in reacting to reports and messages from nearby military officers. His criticism of the Deal Corporation was constant and not restricted to clerical matters28. By now, Carter and Talbot had exchanged enough information, especially on literary matters, to have solidly confirmed their initial liking for each other. As the years passed, they also began to confide at least some more intimate feelings and this provided added depth. In May 1744, for instance, Carter felt obliged to give an explanation for yet another long silence. Her initial tone is self-mocking, yet soon the mask slipped to reveal insecurity, frustration and fear: The splenetic fit of which you inquire the cause was occasioned by some apprehensions that a person for whom I have a great love was going to be married and as I have read in a book, that people when they marry are dead and buried to all former attachments, I could not think of resigning the friendship which constitutes some of the brightest intervals of my life without a very severe uneasiness; for to converse with her in the dull, formal indifferent way of a common acquaintance, was a change I could not think of with any degree of temper29 . Carter examined her feelings a level deeper by analysing that she could have set herself at ease directly by informing her friend of her fears- but "a certain vile obstinacy" prevented this and so unless her friend had enough penetration to discover Carter's feelings, her Brigitte Sprenger 83 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza fears would remain. With a certain flippancy she asked Talbot's advice. Catherine's advice reflected a caring concern, despite a few feeble and awkward attempts at lightheartedness, and thus the two women reached a new level of intimacy30. Carter's more direct, warm emotions overwhelm Talbot in this exchange, a factor continually present in their relations. Talbot was never truly at ease with the emotive in her friend's make-up. Carter confessed her pain at the loss of a friend, the anxiety, the lack of selfconfidence and strange pride which prevented her talking directly to the friend and confessed the weakness. The words she employs are vivid, emotive – "wrought", "vile obstinacy", "very severe uneasiness". Talbot's in reply, is soothing, often couched in general terms of "let people in such a situation" and avoids any emotional symbiosis. Talbot does offer sober reality: if Carter wishes to keep all her friends around her, she should enter a catholic convent! This exchange on a matter of the heart was typical of many to follow – Carter's impetuosity often made her react strongly in emotional dilemmas and Talbot, though sympathetic, repeatedly offered the cooling, logical douse Carter needed to gain new perspective and relativity. It was emotional revelations as these which marked a shift towards greater intimacy in their correspondence. The frequency in letters markedly increased from the end of 1744 and confidence and trust grew as they mutually allowed glimpses of their inner lives. By September 1745, Carter felt secure enough to confess a period of depression to Talbot which she was hiding from her relations and friends: I am very much obliged to you my dear Miss Talbot for your very pretty rose; it has, I assure you, bloomed and made a very beautiful appearance in the desert I have been travelling over…I must visit you in sackcloth and ashes, as the habit best suited to the now disposition of my mind. Indeed, one would not imagine it, from the lively colours in which I appear to everybody else; but this is an uneasy restraint and I must presume upon your good-nature, and the confession you have sometime made me of being in the same dolorous way, to indulge myself for one half hour in the throwing it off….I do not know I was ever so perfectly out of humour with the world and all in it, as I am at present…Everything now looks joyless and uncomfortable. There is neither light in the sun, nor verdure in the fields nor cheerfulness in any human face. I am sick of people of sense, and of myself for being so absurd as to trouble my head about them. A little while ago I was mightily disposed to be pleased with all I met with, and now, from the same principle, I am pleased with nothing. 'Tis surely a fatal error to give one's self up to certain enchantments that lead the mind into fairy regions of dreams and shadows, where it is amused and fixed on imaginary forms of happiness and perfection, which vanish with the fickle cause that gave them being, and one is left in the midst of a wild perplexed solitude, astonished and utterly at a loss what road to take or where to meet with any object to divert it31 . 84 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Talbot responded immediately and from the heart with just that mixture of empathy and straightforward serious honesty which always appealed to Carter's sober side: Is it then really any thing new to you, that people of sense should act with prudence? I do not pity you for having experienced this truth, because the homeliest truth is better worth having than the most blooming error; and I believe those live happiest who take the world as they find it, and see it as it is, than those who make a fine fairyworld of their own all of Dresden china, and peopled with sylphs 32 . Talbot assured Carter she believed people were not all noble or all wretched, and, as she would repeatedly in their relationship, advocated moderation. Talbot, strangely, here puts her finger exactly on Carter's dilemma, yet without being conscious, how astutely she had perceived it. But our minds, most evidently made for a state of mediocrity, are strangely apt to run into extremes. You will meet with a thousand people who have no notion of any intermediate step between imagining all excellence in a character, and an absolute annihilation of it upon the first fault. This occasions perpetually that strange contradictory way in which characters of remarkable people are bandied about the world33. Carter, torn as she was between stoic reason and poetic passion, must have felt reassured at her friend's cognisance and acceptance of such extremes of character. In her "Ode to Melancholy", Carter talked of being: " Subdu'd at length beneath laborious Life,/ With Passion struggling, and by Care deprest,…". And in Carter's highly entertaining "A Dialogue", wherein Body and Mind engage in a power struggle over the female poet, imagination also struggles to free herself from biological fetters. (Cf Chapters 5 and 7). Carter's reaction indicates that Talbot was offering no new insights – she had long analysed her own schizophrenic disposition. What it did confirm was that Talbot approved of holding extremes on a very tight rein, of aiming for constant, human sobriety. "Your observations," Carter responded, "on the judgments we ought to form of others are perfectly natural, and I entirely agree to them. I am pretty well cured of the fit of extravagance I was in…we certainly ought to be particularly cautious not to let disappointments get the better of that habitual calmness of mind, which I believe to be one of the most essential part of religion"34. Carter usually succeeded in harnessing her passions, if at the cost of her own health and, arguably, her literary contribution. What disappointments Carter earlier referred to can only be guessed at. It is very tempting however, to attribute her unease (exterior circumstances being wanting) to a frustration at Brigitte Sprenger 85 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza the relative aimlessness of her life. Although she was still writing some poetry, she had not published for years. Following her departure from London, she had only given Cave her "Ode to Melancholy" which had appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine of November 173935. This graveyard poem, full of melancholy reflections on "death's soft slumber" and life's struggle, wherein Carter gives the impression of being wrinkled and wizened much beyond her actual age of 22, was published unsigned at Carter's own instruction. Since then, no work by her hand had appeared publicly, only in the semi-public world of manuscript circulation among friends and friends of friends. She had occasionally toyed with thoughts of doing more translating work (cf Chapter 2) and would continue to do this for years to come, yet no serious attempts were made36. Not surprisingly, therefore, Cave wrote to Nicolas in frustration towards the end of 1746. Dr Carter reported: "I had a Letter from Mr Cave last night where he says I can not persuade Miss to undertake any thing & the world wants to know what she is about"37. Six years after her last public appearance, Carter's name was obviously still well known. Talbot reported with horror of meeting a young man who, when asked if he knew of Elizabeth Carter, replied, "O yes, I know her very well, she is a wit and writes verses"38. Well aware of the nature of public reputations, Carter remarked she had: …always found that endeavouring to acquire a tolerable degree of common sense has amply repaid me for anything I may have suffered in the article of learning or wit, and thus have borne with great tranquillity the scandle [sic] of absurdities I never committed and of nonsense I never wrote39. For whatever reason, whether because of the discouragement from Sir George Oxenden supported by her father or because it was considered simply unladylike to publish, Carter actively avoided the literary limelight. She possibly felt, like Damaris, Lady Masham, that "the best Fate which a Lady thus knowing, and singular, could expect, would be that hardly escaping Calumny, she should be in Town the Jest of the Would-Be-Witts, the wonder of Fools, and a Scarecrow to keep from her House many honest People"40. She presumably also did not seek fulfilment in a husband. After the episode with Birch, there were no further serious suitors though in 1747 Carter quietly and with great good humour reported an unexpected, whirlwind proposal from a "character, whose wig is always in an uproar, his clothes hung upon every lock and bolt by the extreme trepidation of his pace, and who runs over every body he meets in his way" who sent his servant knocking at 10 pm to have an answer immediately41. There is nothing in Carter's correspondence which indicates she sought 86 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza marriage. To the contrary – when "an old gentleman" in 1750 put forward several proposals which were not disadvantageous, she had no compunction about turning them down: To give up one's ease and liberty, for the sake of wearing a finer gown, eating a greater variety of dishes or seeing more company and fewer friends, appears to me a very strange scheme…People who have neither ambition nor avarice are little troubled with unreal wants and nothing else is a temptation to voluntary dependence42. By 1746, at 29 years of age, Carter had resigned to her younger sister all schemes of marriage, content instead to "sit quietly down with my books, and half a dozen friends"43. To Carter, the need for liberty was intense and she fully realised that marriage under eighteenth-century law was likely to transfer her as a piece of property out of the hands of a father who respected her freedom to a husband who probably would not. Yet the remaining options were severely restricted. She indicated, at various stages in her life, an interest in convents which was, following Mary Astell's A serious Proposal to the Ladies (1694) not unusual. Many other educated women of limited or no financial independence faced Carter's dilemma and a convent must have appealed to studious natures. When visiting the Continent with Elizabeth Montagu 1n 1763, she repeatedly visited convents and, fascinated, talked to the inhabitants. She was, however, too dedicated to the high Church of England, too critical of Rome, "too volatile" and too fond of liberty to seriously consider entering a convent44. Neither was there any pressure on her at this stage to seek or accept paid employment. Sir George Oxenden's early proposals for a position at court had not been mentioned for many years and there is no evidence Nicolas Carter ever suggested she seek work as a governess or companion – the only professions open to educated women. No longer contributing to the Gentlemen's Magazine, not courted by a potential husband, Carter’s status was simply that of a member of a parson’s household. At Talbot’s request, she gave a detailed account of her daily routine in 1746: There is a bell placed at the head of my bed, and to this is fastened a packthread and a piece of lead, which, when I am not lulled by soft zephyrs through the broken pane, is conveyed through a crevasse of my window, into a garden below, pertaining to the Sexton, who gets up between four and five, and pulls the said packthread with as much heart and good-will as if he was ringing my knell. By this most curious invention I make a shift to get up, which, I am too stuipid to do without calling. Some evil-minded people of my acquaintance have most wickedly threatened to cut my bell-rope, which would be the utter undoing of me; for I should infallibly sleep out the whole summer. And now I am up…I sit down to my several lessons as regular as a school-boy, and lay in a stock of learning to make a figure with at breakfast; but for this I am not ready. My general practice about six is to take up my stick and walk, sometimes alone, and Brigitte Sprenger 87 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza at others with a companion….(sometimes during those walks) some civil swains pull of their hats, and I hear them signifying to one another, with a note of admiration, that I am Parson Carter’s daughter. I had much rather be accosted with “good morrow, sweet-heart “ or “are you walking for a wager”. When I have made myself fit to appear among human creatures we go to breakfast, and are…extremely chatty, and this and tea in the afternoon, are the most sociable and delightful parts of the day….We have a great variety of topics, in which every body bears a part, till we get insensibly upon books, and whenever we go beyond Latin and French, my sister and the rest walk off, and leave my father and me to finish the discourse, and the tea-kettle by ourselves, which we should infallibly do, if it held as much as Solomon’s molten sea….After breakfast every one follows their several employments. My fist care is to water the pinks and roses, which are stuck in about twenty parts of my room; and when this task is finished, I sit down to a spinet….After deafening myself for about half an hour with all manner of noises, I proceed to some other amusement, that employs me about the same time, for longer I seldom apply to any thing; and thus between reading, working, writing, twirling the globes, and running up and down stairs an hundred time to see where every body is, and how they do, which furnishes me with little intervals of talk, I seldom want either business or entertainment. Of an afternoon I sometimes go out….About eight o’clock I visit a very agreeable family (John and Hannah Underdown and their daughter Frances), where I have spent every evening for these fourteen years. I always return precisely at ten, beyond which hour I do not desire to see the face of any living wight….45 Catherine Talbot, noting the liberty and liveliness and variety of Carter’s large family, was as delighted with the picture as she had anticipated when asking to be “carried to Deal” to be introduced to the family. ("For..we poor animaux that live a mere domestic life, what have we to talk of, but our domestique..")46. Talbot considered Carter's life more wise and more happy than her own and wished she could be transported to Deal: "I should do you no harm, for I am a mighty quiet silent body, and I am sure they must be clever sensible people that you have spent your evening hours with for so many years" 47. These daily routines, for all their various duties and obligations, did however allow a full indulgence of one favourite, common pastime – reading. Both Talbot and Carter were not only avid private readers, but were daily exposed to public and semi-public readings. Talbot mentions the evening family gatherings, when a suitable book would be read aloud, mornings spent reading alone and afterwards being read to by a friend48. Such reading aloud was also part of Deal social life; Carter mentioned attending readings from a book entitled Directions for the Employment of Time at a friend's house49. The result was that both women, when they met, already possessed an immense store of common interest, and would mutually add to this store, stimulating each other into ever- widening excursions. Throughout her extant correspondence Carter mentions some 300 authors, but this would be only a fraction of what she actually read in her lifetime. This exchange of opinion, criticism, information and recommendation was the main stay of the Carter-Talbot correspondence. Carter obviously had the advantage in Greek and 88 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Latin learning. On this point Talbot was both envious and frustrated: "lndeed…if you will persist in quoting Latin to me, I must insist upon it that you write your Letters in a larger hand; for as I am obliged to apply to the Bishop of Oxford before I can understand them, it is highly necessary they should be in some degree visible"50. Concurrently, however, Talbot planned to put Carter's advantage to use. As far back as 1743, she voiced her frustration at the difficulty women without classical education regularly encountered when wishing to be further acquainted with the commonly discussed philosophies in mixed company: I seldom rise later than seven and those hours are spent in reading; Dr Clarke is one of my morning authors, another very favourite one is Epictetus and I am infinitely provoked that there is no translation of that part of his precepts which Arrian has preserved and which I am vastly curious to read…51. There remained, however, enough classical authors who had been translated for the women to discuss and Carter was always eager to learn of Talbot what new books had been published and what the magazines were saying. About a third of their correspondence comprised discussions on what they had read. They enthused to each other about Young's Night Thoughts, about Mme de Sévigne's letters, about Marcus Antonius, Elizabeth Rowe and even confessed mutually to enjoying Colley Cibber (though Carter hoped Talbot would not proclaim this in public!). They had disputes about Fielding and Pascal, Carter defending the former, Talbot the latter. When Talbot, excitedly, told of discovering Pliny in translation, Carter enthused in return he had always been one of her favourites. Both indulged, often and at length, their literary predilections which they undoubtedly were reluctant to do in their home environments. Outside her own direct family, Carter would have had few peers to discuss literature with and Talbot, surrounded by well-educated clerics, probably had little opportunity, or felt little compulsion, to offer her modest opinions. (See further, Chapter 7). Both women kept well abreast of contemporary publication. In July 1744 Carter informed Talbot she had just finished George Berkeley's Sirus: A chain of Philosophical Reflections and Inquiries concerning the Virtue of Tar-Water. The book had been published a mere three months earlier but had caused instant furore – not so much for the philosophy it contained (which Carter frankly admitted to not totally understanding) but because of its avocation of tar-water as a universal medicine. Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, had been to Brigitte Sprenger 89 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza the American colonies, where he had embraced this home-made concoction as a miraculous panacea. The populace, ever fearful of a whole scala of diseases but especially small-pox, broke out in tar-water fever, which caused immediate protests from the medical establishment. Dr Thomas Reeve, later president of the Physicians' Society, published a pamphlet A Cure for the Epidemical Madness of Drinking Tar-Water within months of the appearance of Berkeley's book52. Carter herself would wait two years before using the remedy herself and though it performed no wonders, she resorted to it repeatedly and recommended it to friends. "Do, pray," she wrote Elizabeth Montagu who had severe toothache in 1760, "wash your mouth several times in a day, with tar-water. I never have had any considerable degree of this teasing pain, since I tried this method"53. By 1746 then, the rapport between Carter and Talbot had significantly gained in depth despite no further personal meetings since 1741. Yet there were areas where they remained reticent. Talbot complained of hearing only via others of Elizabeth's sister Margaret (Peggy) suffering a serious injury which caused Elizabeth great concern 54. Towards the end of the year, Carter herself had a "long anxious confinement" of a not further specified nature, after which she was again sent to Canterbury. Indicative of recovered health and spirits is an account of a coach journey – one of the most amusing in a series of many revealing, similar adventures. Just how deeply Carter's urge for unconventional independence could affront patriarchic conventions is graphically illustrated. On this occasion, Carter had decided to start walking when hearing a fat man was to be picked up as passenger: I made my escape and left my name with every passenger I met on the road for the information of the coachman that I had not deserted him entirely and he had besides sometimes the satisfaction of discovering a glimpse of me, dancing before him like a spirit which he was not very likely to overtake. He seemed to bear it tolerably well at first, but at the end of nine or ten miles he lost all patience and using his utmost efforts to come up with me, scolded very heartily. Bless me how the man did storm! He said did I take his horses for negroes, that I used them like dogs and it was a shame people should be treated so, for I had done them more harm than forty passengers and he was obliged to drive like old scratch to come up with me. To be sure I was all one comme bewitched. I need not, he thought, make such oughts of his coach for as good gentlewomen as ever were hatched had rode in it before me. I was frightened into the conviction that all Jehu's arguments were just and so humbly begging his pardon of him and his horses, I climbed into the coach…55. At Christmas, Nicolas sent his daughter, who was staying at the Palace in Canterbury with the Halls, three shirts to make for her brother John who was off as a convoy to Holland, 90 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza and also reported his growing uneasiness about James who had, like many others still not found a secure naval position. Dr Carter had put considerable effort into gaining Admiral Bing's favour for James and now wished "the admiral were gone & James with him"56. However, England was still at war and needed about 80 000 men in service, including about 400 lieutenants, the rank James aspired to57. Carter sat down to work and reported to Talbot that besides: "all my other important engagements I have been working my eyes out in making shirts for my brother. I want mightily to reform the world in this particular, and therefore, am resolved when I come into your neighbourhood, and am blessed with a family of boys, they shall all learn to make their own shirts" 58. Into this quiet domestic routine of shirt-making and Canterbury visits, a minor literary bomb exploded. As mentioned above, Carter, though publicly passive, had nonetheless continued writing and some of her poems circulated in manuscript. Hester Mulso once requested a copy of an ode she had heard read aloud one evening and Carter herself had sent Talbot a copy of the "Ode to Wisdom"59. The "Ode to Wisdom" reaped considerable praise as it circulated. This lyric ode in sixteen sixain stanzas, praises and seeks the "gift" of Wisdom (see Appendix I). It is addressed, initially, to the mythical "fav'rite of Pallas", the owl, but soon shifts to Pallas herself. Pallas, the goddess of wisdom, the arts, the trades and of war, Carter also associates with Athena ("lunar ray"), thus strengthening the imagery of meditative darkness which throughout the ode is contrasted with the glitter and "gay Parade" of a superficially bright world. The "Beauty bright" of Pallas, which Carter praises, is not exterior, but one that "captivates the inner sight" and therefore is "unspotted" and "modest". The connection is important. A woman seeking wisdom, attaining wisdom, must be associated with modesty and chastity which contrasted quite emphatically with the contemporary vision of learned women being promiscuous and wanton 60. Carter then defies the world's transient "glittering, envy'd Toys". In balanced antithesis and ironic juxtaposition, she rejects "Fortune's gem" and "Av'rice" or "Ambition's Plume" and "Vanity" for the "Wealth" of "studious Thought", the "Pow'r" of contented smiles and the "Empire o'er my Mind". Fortune and Pleasure are "transient Roses", whose "Bloom" is of Brigitte Sprenger 91 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza a fading, decaying nature and this in turn is associated by the poet with Cytherea, a beautiful youth but of mortal beauty only. Carter seeks another beauty. Having rejected the hurry and noise of a transient world, having sought Pallas' "better gifts", the poet now seeks a retreat to enjoy her wisdom and so turns to the "sacred Spirit" of Plato who is dressed in Pallas' graces. It was Plato, the poet argues, who conveyed Pallas' philosophy to the ancient Athenians and thereby "reclaim'd her wild licentious Youth" to Truth, "Controul" and sense. The thread of Cytherea's fading bloom and Athens' wayward youth is thereby given its antithesis in the retreat of Plato's groves. There are Retirement's silent Joys, And all the sweet enduring Ties of still, domestic Life. (The credit for the worthy attainments of ancient Greece's poets, patriots and heroes is awarded to Pallas. Carter's laudatory description of the "Hero's gen'rous Strife" however, jars strangely with her frequent censure of heroes. Cf Chapter 7). After the owl and Pallas, the poet now addresses the Christian God, although the transfer is not conclusive. She finds herself "no more to fabled Names confin'd" and directs her thoughts to "Thee" with a capital T, a "Supreme, all-perfect Mind" which does, of course, also have Platonic associations. Such ambivalence in whether pagan or Christian gods are being addressed is characteristic in Carter as it was in Chaucer, and shall be further examined in the next chapter. However, the poet then talks of "intellectual Light" and Wisdom being the gift sought and footnotes two biblical references; James i:5 wherein all those seeking wisdom should ask God who will give liberally, and James i:17 wherein "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Light…", thus clearly establishing the addressee of this one stanza. The associations reach back to the seventh stanza, where the poet requested "To me thy better Gifts impart.." The final two stanzas, wherein Carter has transferred back to Pallas as representative of Wisdom are a prayer: 92 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza ..send her sure, her steady Ray To regulate my doubtful Way Thro' Life's perplexing Road. Wisdom is here sought no longer for its own sake but as a guiding light, a basic religious principle to aid the poet throughout life. The final stanza summarises Wisdom's ability to see through "Folly's painted Show" to a real Virtue, as well as allowing the poem to come full circle with its imagery of "visionary shadows fly" which reminds of the opening owl, flying through "pale Shades ". Carter's "Ode to Wisdom" is a remarkably coherent whole, its imagery is connective and permeating, through which the poet progresses logically forward in a balanced flow of ideas. It is certainly one of Carter's best poems, in a class above the majority of occasional pieces, and its popularity as it circulated in manuscript is not surprising. Edward Cave, when visiting Deal, had asked Carter for a copy of the Ode. She had obliged but extracted a promise he would not publish without her explicit permission61. But there was yet another printer, and author, who was equally keen to publish the ode: Samuel Richardson. Richardson, after the extremely popular success of Pamela, had begun writing the major epistolary novel Clarissa and in the second volume his melancholy heroine sees an owl which reminds her of the "Ode to Wisdom, which does honour to our sex, as it was written by one of it….." Clarissa, behind the harpsichord, then sets the ode to music. Unbeknown to Richardson, the poem was Carter's. Richardson had been shown the ode by his relative Elizabeth Long, who had seen several copies circulated without restriction and had given one to Richardson. Richardson was deeply impressed and, despite having several other respectable poems at his disposal for this scene, was quite adamant in his wish to insert the "Ode to Wisdom". He attempted to discover the author, but was meanwhile faced with deadlines and so impetuously decided to print62. Samuel Richardson was not completely unknown to Carter; she had read his Pamela with mixed but not enthusiastic feelings and was not among the first to obtain a copy of the new novel63. But friends in London had and one of these promptly informed her of the inclusion of the ode. Carter seethed. Hurriedly she wrote to Cave for advice and Cave in turn approached Birch: Brigitte Sprenger 93 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza …Miss Carter is very much vexed at the publication of her ode in Clarissa, whether she thought is unfinished, or what may be her reason she does not say but wanted me to inform her how she should properly express her dislike of it. This is an affair that I wanted to consult you about before I write, when I called last night – which I did, as I was not to miss that Post & to this effect – that I would conceive no other method, but to let me publish it in mag or she should correct it, with an Introduction of it being wrong printed without her leave…..64 Carter took Cave's advice but also wrote Richardson a "twinkation". (Carter seems to have invented this word herself as the Oxford Dictionary lists only two quotes to indicate usage, both of which come from her) "To print an thing without the consent of the person who wrote it, is a proceeding so very ungenerous and unworthy a man of reputation, that, from the character I have heard of you, I am utterly at a loss how to account for it" 65. Richardson's reply five days later was polite and apologetic. Having explained how he had obtained the poem and tried to discover its author, he mentioned neither he nor his protagonist put· claim to authorship and he only did it honour by setting it to music, engraving and distinguishing it, which had caused him much expense. "Upon the whole, give me leave to say, that I was not in this re-acknowledged trespass governed by any low or selfish principle. I should have been the last to forgive myself for such if I had, and the rather, as this is the first charge of the kind that ever was made against me." Richardson enclosed two volumes in half-binding of Clarissa so Carter could herself see how the ode was introduced. He intended this not as expiation as: "That satisfaction or atonement shall be whatever you are pleased to require; for I think I would sooner be thought unjust or ungenerous by any lady in the world than by the author of the Ode upon Wisdom [sic]"66. Carter was appeased. She wrote to Talbot, who had heard of the matter: O but concerning my poor labouring owl, which has flown post through the kingdom upon a hackney newspaper. I knew nothing of its being printed in Clarissa, till I had notice of it, to my great surprise, from a friend in London. I immediately wrote a twinkation to Mr Richardson about it, to which I received so civil an answer that I knew not how to be angry with him, and indeed I have more reason to resent (the person who gave away copies of it); it is some consolation to me it was published without my permission, and that it appeared in a book beyond all sufferance. 'Tis well for me that the farthing post is suppressed, or to be sure it would cut a figure there too. I have met with some teasing treatment about this sort of trifles, but nothing provokes me so much as a thing I have just heard, that there are several copies in the hands of a frightful man, to whose look I have taken an utter aversion, and whose character…has vexed me still more… Only think of the puzzles I am in about these foolish affairs 67. 94 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza As Carter had indicated to Talbot, Richardson's letter was atonement enough, but she did sill go ahead with plans to publish in the Gentlemen's Magazine – although in milder than Cave had suggested. She wrote Richardson that the introduction "shall cast no reflection upon you; though I think there should be great· caution used in publishing any thing where there is not the highest reason to believe it would not be disagreeable to the author"68. The "Ode to Wisdom" appeared in the December 1747 Gentlemen's _Magazine which stated: "We have had the following beautiful ODE above a year, under an injunction, which was general on all the copies given out, not to print it; but as it has appeared in Clarissa with several faults, we think ourselves at liberty to give our readers so agreeable an entertainment, from a correcter copy"69. In the second edition of Clarissa in 1749, Richardson mentioned the authoress of the ode had complained and he therefore published only the last three stanzas. Catherine Talbot, ever defensive of Richardson, chided Carter for "perversely robbing Clarissa of her owl"70. When a third edition was being planned, Richardson approached a mutual friend, Susanna Highmore, to ask Carter's consent for full insertion 71.This was presumably attained as the third edition in 1751 contains the entire poem. Richardson and Carter did not then continue their correspondence, yet in this biography it is convenient to trace the further development of their friendship at this stage, though it cuts across events examined in the following two chapters. Samuel Johnson had begun publishing his Rambler in 1750, and although he wrote the vast majority of these moral essays himself, a small number were contributed by friends, including two papers by Carter and one by Richardson. (cf Chapter 4). Carter's contributions on the advisability of enjoying life and on superficial entertainment were Rambler's 44 and 100, which thereby sandwiched Richardson's Rambler 97 on the behaviour of women. Richardson asserted that in the past a true woman had been modest, gentle, meek and seen publicly only at church where a prospective husband would be suitably impressed first by her piety and, upon inquiry, her "domestick excellence". "That a young lady should be in love, and the love of the young gentleman undeclared, is an heterodoxy which prudence, and even policy, must not allow"72. Carter's opinion of Richardson worsened considerably on this occasion. She wrote Talbot: " Will you be angry with me for not liking it at all? I cannot see how some of his doctrines can Brigitte Sprenger 95 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza be founded on any other supposition than that Providence designed one half of the population for idiots and slaves. One would think the man was, in this respect, a Mahometan"73. This considerably galled Talbot, an ardent defender and soon to become friend and collaborator of Richardson's. Talbot heatedly argued that Clarissa's author obviously had a very high idea of women's potential and insisted Carter read the essay again. In her reply, Carter stated she had possibly been influenced by the opinion of some who had read it before her as well as previous notions of Richardson's she had read. This had possibly prejudiced her. The tone strikes one as being an appeasement of Talbot rather than a convinced change of opinion74. During the well-known exchange of very lengthy letters on parental authority between Richardson and Mulso, Carter also sided against Richardson, which paradoxically again reaped criticism75. Hester Mulso defended Richardson just as fervently as Talbot had done and so, in time, Carter had no choice but to revise her opinion of him yet by no means to the extent the two women desired. In 1752 Talbot and Mulso finally met each other, having thus far only heard of each other through mutual friends. Both women had by then become involved in the writing of Sir Charles Grandison. Grandison was Richardson's last major completed novel and was, in some aspects, an almost communal effort as the author solicited opinions and reactions, reading aloud to his mostly female coterie as the novel progressed76. Even Carter, via Talbot and Mulso, had been approached and had proffered some advice on the 'ideal man': Carter felt this paragon had to be absolutely superior "to false glory and false shame, the great snare of virtue" – words which Richardson incorporated verbatim77. When Grandison finally appeared, Talbot enthused: "….do you know that you and I are two Pigmalionesses? Did not Mr Richardson ask us for some traits of his good man's character? And has not he gone and put these and his own charming ideas into a book and formed a Sir Charles Grandison?" 78. But Carter long remained critical of Richardson, remarking once to Talbot that he was Mulso's friend "and your friend, and I am sorry I have no pretensions to say my friend, though we are upon mighty civil terms, and write very handsome postscripts about each other"79. Only in 1753, when finally in London again, did Carter meet Richardson. The author, presumably charmed with Carter, issued an invitation to Talbot for her and Carter to spend a few days 96 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza at his North End residence. Talbot, fully aware of Carter's reluctance to uproot herself and stay at unknown houses, accepted. In the event, Talbot's health required her to be out of town. Carter probably attempted to cancel the engagement but was visited in person by Richardson who "heartily abused and perplexed" her for this. And so, feeling morally obliged and recognising his honest and good intentions, she went alone, very reluctantly and feeling like a puppet. ("When I come back from North End I shall be ready for another excursion, only if you should have made a promise for me to spend a few days with any of your friends in the calmly air of the Orkneys, be so good as to give me timely notice to discharge it…”80.) Carter afterwards confessed she had been rather graceless but this had sprung merely from being extremely upset at not having Talbot with her. However: …when I was once got there I was as sociable and good-humoured as even you could wish me. I have a strange stubborn constitutional disposition to be pleased, which I do not always find it possible totally to subdue either by the refinement of my imagination or the perverseness of my will. Upon the whole, I spent those two days very agreeably, and am much obliged to you for making an engagement for me to good Mr Richardson, which I never should have had spirits enough to make myselt81. During this short stay and presumably in the few visits which still followed that season, Carter had been made better acquainted with Sir Charles Grandison and from then on much of the correspondence between her and Talbot discussed the novel, its characters and especially the moral questions it posed. It has been asserted that Carter was responsible for Grandison's highly honourable refusal to duel over Harriet82. Carter's opinion on duelling was firm and vehement and seems to be echoed in Grandison. A more direct contribution of Carter's was the speech Mrs Shirley made in Letter LV on the duties of women and men83. Mrs Shirley asserts that each have their own sphere and neither sex should intrude upon the other. Yet apart from this, in common conversation, she feels sex should be forgotten. "Why must women always be addressed in appropriated language; and not treated on the common footing of reasonable creatures..?" Carter objected that men often despised women for their lack of education, which was unjust as their superiority was not founded on a natural difference of capacity. Women should not be doubly punished firstly by lacking the education and then by being prevented from improving their knowledge through hearing intelligent conversation. The sentiments Carter put into the mouth of Mrs Shirley are the clearest we have of Carter's attitude to women and education. (See also Chapter 7). The sentiment Mrs Shirley voices Brigitte Sprenger 97 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza is repeated elsewhere in the novel, for instance, when Harriet asks whether women have not souls as men do, capable of the same noble attainments as men (i:19); this confirms the respect Richardson had for these opinions of Carter's. His respect is further indicated by the character of Mrs Shirley herself, often reminiscent of Carter: Mrs Shirley is always talked of as "venerable", "wise"· and she "surpasses all the men I ever knew in wisdom" (247). Yet Richardson was also probably referring to Carter when Harriet remarked: "Who, I, a woman, know any thing of Latin and Greek! I know but one Lady who is mistress of both; and she finds herself so much an owl among the birds, that she wants of all things to be thought to have unlearned them." (i:49). The reference is puzzling however, for although the "owl" is an obvious reference to the "Ode to Widsom", it is highly unlikely Carter ever uttered a wish to be rid of her learning. Her deep gratitude throughout life to her father for the gift of knowledge and her lifetime's dedication to maintaining and extending that knowledge completely contradict such an assertion. Following the May 1753 visit, the correspondence between Carter and Richardson resumed for five months. Richardson was mostly highly complimentary and respectful, wondering at his privilege of being written to although he's not a woman; Carter in return was gently mocking, playful. ("Do not be frightened, my good Mr Richardson, I am set down with no vixen disposition, but you shall have a letter as gentle and quiet as heart can wish" 84. On a later occasion she refers to herself as a witch about to fly through a window – presumably they shared some private joke on this count85. Their topics of conversation included politics (the Jew Bill, the Marriage Act), their mutual friends, (Richardson wished Carter, Mulso and Talbot all lived next door to each other and at once stage gave a delightful description of the protocol of a visit to Talbot at the deanery), and two dilemmas they had in common: shyness and being published without permission86. Carter confessed: …my only expedient was always returning to a window and rolling myself up in the curtain, where I have often sat many a hour after I have been heartily tired of the company (and the company has perhaps forgot me) rather than develop my figure and walk out of the room before it grew dark. After all, we sheepish folks are mighty foolish and unreasonable, but it is to be feared both you and I are too old to mend…87. Richardson gently chastised her for such habits, feeling she at least was hardly too old to mend. Carter in turn, was sympathetic and solicitous upon hearing rumours that Grandison had been pirated in Ireland, fearing the affair would delay publication in England88. 98 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza After the North End visit, Talbot could no longer bemoan Carter’s lack of interest in Grandison and her liking for Richardson. Talbot remained always the more ecstatic in her praise, but Carter was prepared to concede the book was really "charming" and was quite prepared to discuss whether Harriet was vain in discussing her lovers, or the relative merits of Clementina and Harriet89. Yet Carter felt Mulso and Talbot were "arrant enthusiasts" who both considered her an "enemy": If I am not in raptures, you threaten me with libel. However, upon the whole. I am charmed almost as much with it as you can be, though we may differ in particulars. Shall I venture to tell you what I have yet told nobody else….that in general I like Clarissa best. Perhaps the reason may be, that one's attention is more kept awake by a quick succession of very interesting events than by mere conversations, however, improving they may be90. Like Samuel Johnson, Carter felt mere morality did not constitute good writing, it had to be interesting ("That book is good in vain which the reader throws away", Johnson) and her critical judgment here has generally been confirmed by posterity91. Carter also felt Richardson's work lacked a sense of reality and true human nature. Richardson has no doubt a very good hand at painting excellence but there is an awkwardness and extravagance in his vicious characters. To be sure, poor man, he read in a book, or heard some one say, there was such a thing in the world as wickedness, but being totally ignorant in what manner the said wickedness operates upon the human heart, and what checks and restraints it meets with to prevent it ever being perfectly uniform and consistent in one character, he has drawn such a monster, as I hope never existed in mortal shape, for to the honour of human nature and the gracious Author of it, be it spoken Clarissa is an infinitely more imitable character, than Lovelace, or the Harlowes92 . Talbot reluctantly admitted Clarissa was a work of higher genius93. Clarissa is of course also the more feminist novel with its intelligent heroine oppressed and violated yet winning a moral battle. Interestingly, Elizabeth Montagu discerned great resemblance of character between Clarissa and Carter: "I am sure Mr Richardson knew you when you was a child. I believe at thirteen you was exactly Clarissa Harlowe"94. Richardson had sent Carter four volumes of Grandison in September. Carter, though not ungrateful or unappreciative, did indicate that her main affection for the book lay in Talbot's contributions: Catherine had read and corrected the work, had given it "the advantageous difference of the language". (Carter once complained Richardson should not use such oldfashioned expressions as "kinswoman". To another correspondent she intimated that she Brigitte Sprenger 99 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza considered Richardson "too prolix" and found the conclusion of Grandison not "judicious"95.) After Richardson's present, the correspondence again petered out. Early in January 1755, Carter wrote to Talbot she had twice written Richardson but had not received a reply. As Richardson had much business and she had little leisure, she continued, she had though it best to let the correspondence cease. And so it did96. It would not, however, be the last of their contacts. Richardson printed Carter's Epictetus for her in 1758, which probably reflects a mutual compliment. But there are no indications of further epistles or other intimacy before Richardson's death in 1761. The cooling of the friendship possibly even had a parallel in the cooled friendship between Birch and Samuel Johnson. Frances Reynolds once remarked that Johnson felt envious and resentful towards Richardson for "having engross'd the attention and affectionate assiduities of several very ingenius literary ladies, whom he used to call his adopted daughters (particularly for two of them, Miss Carter and Miss Mulso,…..and he thought himself neglected by them on his account"97. The episode, if true, is reminiscent of the one with Birch, (cf Chapter 2). Carter's relationship with Richardson indicates her reticence in associating with contemporary (male) authors. Apart from her colleagues at the Gentleman's Magazine and regular members of the Bluestocking evenings she frequented, Carter avoided her colleagues. She met some contemporary authors such as Young and Sterne by chance rather than design and never sought deeper acquaintance. Presumably this can be attributed to a mixture of her social reluctance, her female bias and on occasion, moral grounds. As her circle, however, included contact with several women authors and men like Samuel Johnson, George Lyttelton and Horace Walpole, Carter undoubtedly lacked no authorial fellowship (See also, Chapter 7). Back in 1749, the shirts were finished, vexation over the ode had subsided and Carter finally went to London again, possibly upon hearing that Mrs Secker had died after many years of illness. Six years after their last meeting, seven years since being acquainted, Talbot and Carter were at last able to enjoy daily, domestic contact with each other. Carter probably lodged very near the deanery, as she was to do in following years, spending most of her days with the Talbots. This, added to the circumstance of Mrs Secker's death, undoubtedly facilitated a rapid and dramatic increase in intimacy and depth in the friendship. Talbot was deeply affected and Carter worried and empathised and 100 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza encouraged: "It grieves me every hour to see Miss Talbot with such talents, and such virtues, worn down by so many little teasing affections, to objects which seem so far below the powers of her mind". Back in Kent, Carter's first letter reflected the new sisterly intimacy. Indeed, from now on, they applied familial labels: "Adieu, dear sister…your mama sends her blessing", wrote Talbot and Carter replied to "my good mama" as "her daughter Betty"98. Carter felt Talbot should abandon her unrelenting mourning – though in this, Carter probably projected her own fears and feelings. Her emotional advice is indicative of the new, mature stage the friendship had entered upon; criticism could be given and accepted, inner emotions were more fully discussed and Talbot would soon allow Carter to read the journals she had written prior to their acquaintance99. I was most sincerely affected…when I reflected on the distress I knew you would undergo…you will feel it too long, and the mournful set of images in which you indulge yourself, will I am afraid fall in too naturally with the general disposition of your mind, for you to endeavour effectually to throw them off. You will be inclined to think that reason and religion are the only proper methods of relief. but to beings such as we are, these are no more to be depended on of themselves for removing the painful sensations of the heart, than for the cure of a fever…Neither religion nor reason can alter the constitution of human nature, which however patiently it may suffer, will not be argued out of feeling…100 At the Secker residence Carter met a great variety of new people over the years. Among them during this first visit in 1748, were William Duncombe and his son John. Duncombe was impressed with Carter and, like Catherine Talbot and George Oxenden and Thomas Birch, repeatedly came forward with professional proposals which she nearly all refused101There was one project, however, on which she did assist anonymously. For a great many years Duncombe had been collecting all manner of translations of Horatian odes (except the "indecent" ones!) and had embarked on a project of obtaining translations of other Horatian works. His son John, who was later to marry Susanna Highmore and to praise Carter in his long poem the Feminead (1754), had translated the Epodes for him and he persuaded Carter to deliver a translation of the fifteenth ode of the first Book102. Carter's translation of the ode is inserted anonymously "by a lady", as Carter felt it "by no means well done". The ode was however included posthumously by nephew Pennington in later editions of her Poems upon Several Occasions. This was Carter's only translation for the Duncombe work, but she also did a great amount of critical reading of other translations Duncombe sent her and when the work was ready for publication, it was Brigitte Sprenger 101 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Carter who made the final corrections103. Carter similarly obliged Hawkins Browne, who also requested her critical reading and opinion of his translation of "Immortality of the Soul", a 40-page Latin poem104. There have been speculations that Carter also wrote the final "Aenian Maid" section of John Duncombe's aforementioned Feminead. In the Manuscript this section is in another hand, and the close acquaintance and professional association during this period tend to support such a view. However, like Sylvia Myers, I find the style unlike Carter's. The lexis used in the monologue is very like Carter's, but the sentiments (such as the call to "In their favourite studies reveal men") are too forthright and direct to indicate Carter's authorship105. John Duncombe was not the only person Carter met that season at Secker's. There was also Dr John Dalton, Secker's assistant preacher at St James. When Elizabeth met him, he was 39 years old and, it seems, a pleasant, intelligent man. After an Oxford education, he became tutor to Lord Beauchamp, the Duchess of Somerset's son and while in service successfully adapted Milton's Camus for the stage. It was published in 1738 and often acted106. Carter had already met Dalton a few times during this earlier period, as Thomas Birch had introduced them while attempting to gain Frances Hertford's patronage for Carter107. Ill-health prevented Dalton from accompanying Lord Beauchamp on the grand European tour in 1744, which was fortunate for him as the young man died during his travels. He then became Secker's assistant and in the year when he met Carter again was appointed canon at Worcester Cathedral and rector of St Mary-at-Hill in London. Dalton could now entertain thoughts of marriage. On the surface, he seemed an ideal candidate for Carter's hand. He was perhaps not in excellent health, but he was. attractive, was financially secure now, well educated, a pious cleric, who had not only an excellent knowledge of Greek but also a strong interest in literature108. Dr Carter, consulted as usual by Elizabeth, continued to respect his daughter's autonomy in such decisions, but did react encouragingly: "The character you give is agreeable. The Prospects seem advantageous. The Judgment of ye World, of which you do not express any favourable Opinion is not to be slighted, when there appears no wrong Biass to warp it"109. A few days later, on February 6, it seems Dalton wanted to see Dr Carter and the latter wrote to his daughter that he was prepared to meet the suitor. From the tone of Talbot's and 102 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Carter's letters, it seems likely that the Secker household generally encouraged the courtship, and all this promotion of the suit caused Carter much distress. Her father wrote: I do not see a sufficient Reason for your putting your Self in such Perplexity & Distress. You ought certainly to consider this Matter very well, and it ought not so much to affect you, merely because you are advised to do so. I will leave you to your one Liberty and not condemn you, if you can not bring your self to like ye Person. So do not make yourself uneasy but look upon all sides of ye Affair, and do ye which you believe will prove best 110. It seems that one major hurdle to a marriage was a rumour circulating that Dalton had had a love affair with Lady Luxborough (Mrs Henrietta Knight). Walpole noted the gossip in his copy of her Letters to Shenstone (1775) including that Lady Luxborough had possibly even borne Dalton a daughter. The only concrete indication of any truth in this matter are some light verses Dalton had once written to Lady Luxborough. (These were copied by Lady Hertford into her commonplace book). Sylvia Myers speculates Elizabeth Carter felt morally outraged at the thought of marrying a man who had had such an affair, yet this to an extent ·totally contradicts her usual tolerance of human fallibility111. It is more in character that her final decision was also strongly influenced by her basic disinclination for the marital institution. Evidence for such a conclusion is manifold, including such matters as the dispute her father had with his congregation (see Chapter 4) when she reflected how a wife may not even be able to voice her own opinions; Hester Mulso's pronouncement upon her own marriage that if Carter could bring herself to like any man, then she trusted it be her new spouse; and interestingly a few years later, when discussing Clarissa with Talbot, Carter's recall of some childhood memories which indicate a very early antipathy to marriage: …I can perfectly well remember that when I was about ten years old, I looked upon having a sweetheart with as much horror as if it had been one of the seven deadly sins; and when I had heard that my favourite playfellow was actually guilty of it, in consequence of a most profound and wise lecture, she had not flatly denied the charge, I know not whether we had ever romped together again…112. By 6 March the episode with John Dalton was over. For all his respect for his daughter's "one Liberty", Dr Carter was bitterly disappointed and his reaction, which reflects his increasing concern about all his children, was on this one occasion quite vehement: You say Mr D. is now gone & ye there is an End of ye Affair. Since 'tis an End I may now say your refusing such an advantageous Offer will very probably be a great Disadvantage to your Self, & to all your Family. If you never intend to marry, as you think Brigitte Sprenger 103 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza plainly intimate in one of your Letters, then you certainly ought to have retired, and not appear in ye World with an Expence, which is reasonable, upon ye Expectation of getting an Husband; But not otherwise. The situation of my three, and ye Misfortune of ye Forth of my eldest Children afford me no comfortable Prospect. And I am too old to expect to see ye Settlement of ye others113. Elizabeth, undoubtedly deeply hurt, returned to Deal and did indeed "retire". Dr Carter's understandable worries never materialized – he lived to see all his surviving children settled: Margaret and Polly married well as did John. Henry and John both had successful careers and Elizabeth achieved financial independence (James and Nicolas died in naval service). The whole topic of Dalton was never again mentioned by Dr Carter – but it was by Catherine Talbot, who was of course, a witness to the whole. When encouraging her friend finally to visit London again after an absence (retirement!) of four years, she wrote: I have let you alone for several years, because I thought you had reasons which in some degree excused you, but they no longer exist. Your Strephon has found a Delia long ago, and in her you would only find an agreeable friend full of respect and regard, who always expresses a strong sense of your obliging and handsome behaviour to him during that stormy February. No other stormy February can come. For it is impossible, were the world full of Strephons, that those friends to whom you have more and more endeared yourself by all your conduct since, can ever think of trying you with new difficulties, when they reflect how ready you are to sacrifice every other wish of your heart, may you but be indulged in that one, for which you have the most general and noble notions of not being obliged to give a hand without a heart114. This indicates not only that Talbot forwarded the suit initially, but also that she now realised Elizabeth's basic disinclination, assuring her she would not promote a similar suit. Henceforth her ambitions for Carter sought new territory. Elizabeth replied: "If there be ever a Strephon in the world, it is only sending him a command to die and get out of the way, or if the man be so obstinate to persist in living, as you know loves have sometimes very comfortable stomachs, I am determined at least to banish him the realm…"115. She had found her sense of humour again – which on the whole she henceforth preserved when the remaining few proposals came her way. She only lost it once more: "As I have been convinced that one is not perfectly secure on this side of an hundred it will be quite prudent in me, by way of precaution, to learn to swim having run away from matrimonial schemes as far as dry land goes, my next step must be the sea"116. John Dalton, undoubtedly the Strephon (though there seems to have been little of the pastoral shepherd about him), married the daughter of London alderman Sir Frances Gosting and by 1762 was an invalid. Contacts between him and Carter afterwards were 104 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza probably distant but amicable. Talbot apologised for not immediately forwarding his published Poems in 1754 as they were too heavy for the mail, yet she thinks this "really abominable, when I know that your approbation will give the good man more true pleasure than the applause of half his friends besides117. Dalton was not to be the last of Carter's proposers and suitors; much to her chagrin (cf Chapter 5). There is, however, a romantic theory propounded in our own century which is relevant here. Carter, as we have seen, used occasionally the sort of language in writing to Talbot that we would in our age expect to find in passionate heterosexual love letters only: "She is absolutely my passion" or confessions of competition to meet the loved one118. Such expressions can however be easily misinterpreted out of their historic context. When Lillian Faderman in her detailed and often convincing Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love between Women from the Renaissance to the Present, labels Carter and Talbot as "romantic friends", she is aware of this. The age in which such qualities as loyalty, sensibility and personal intimacy in women were encouraged and required, was also the age which allowed little contact between the sexes prior to official betrothal. We have already seen how Richardson condemned a woman for even admitting interest prior to a declaration from the man. Friendships between those of the same sex were thereby a logical progression, allowing women especially to nurture, practise and develop exactly those emotions society prized. It is in any case natural to assume that romantic passion, especially during puberty and early adulthood, has always been a constant human phenomenon and if not expressed in fan letters to pop stars or crushes on teachers, has found an outlet elsewhere; for instance, intimate correspondence with same -sex friends. Such relationships, as Fadermann stresses, were non-genital and our age completely misinterprets the label of "romantic friendship" if it translates it to lesbian practises which today have strong sexual connotations. From such a historic context, Fadermann's branding of the Carter-Talbot relationship is justified. But examined upon its entire course of nearly thirty years, it is more a same-sex friendship with initially strong romantic undertones. It is in the early stages, which Fadermann terms "love at first sight", that (especially) Carter uses romantic terms. Talbot, as we have seen, always felt ill at ease with Carter's more direct, emotional effusions. It is Talbot who, for instance, felt awkward about fulfilling a promise of a lock of hair which Carter twice Brigitte Sprenger 105 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza requested. Talbot talked of sending the "trash" in a popish crystal heart case with a protestant essay against relics, but even the cheapest trinket was expensive when " so many children wanted gingerbread" and so she decided on an embroidered case for the lock119. Carter, in her comic vein, claimed she would not use the hair against toothache: "But I must be allowed to look on it with delight, as the gift of a person to whom I owe the highest obligation, that of having endeavoured to render me wiser and better". The hair was, at most, an "innocent folly"120. While a desire for a lock of hair can certainly have romantic aspects, it must be remembered however that the eighteenth century had not the benefit of photography, and such mementos partially fulfilled the function photographs do for us today. There are also some romantic undertones in the occasional minor outbursts of jealousy Talbot indulged in when Carter was spending a great deal of time with Elizabeth Montagu years later121. Yet the romanticism does not, I feel, stretch as far as Fadermann or Elizabeth Mavor in her The Ladies of Llangollen take it. Mavor feels Carter was "something of a flirt" in maintaining romantic friendships with Vesey and Montagu as well122. While the correspondence with Montagu certainly reveals romantic tendencies, of a deeper nature perhaps than even with Talbot (see Chapter 5), there is no such element in Carter's relationship with Vesey. That friendship was clearly spiritually supportive, with Carter developing a maternal, spiritual confessor role To accuse Carter of flirting, with its implied unfaithfulness, is completely alien to the nature of solidarity and open mutual support so characteristic of these early Bluestocking friendships (cf Chapter 7). Similarly, Fadermann speculates why Talbot and Carter did not, in the manner of Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby attempt to live together123. No breath of such an ambition is to be discovered anywhere in the correspondence and the speculation foists 20th-century values onto the eighteenth. A scheme of living together, or rather of retiring together, was only briefly mentioned by Carter and Montagu. Montagu envisaged a pleasant life with Carter following a pattern of morning walks, fireside conversation and literary and biblical study124. Such a life was realised by them during their many lengthy visits. These plans were not purely romantic; Carter with her aged father and Montagu with her aged husband realised they were likely to be women alone in the foreseeable future. Yet in the end both women continued to live independently as suitable to their strong individual characters 106 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza and their different situations: A mutual household would hardly have been long or seriously considered. More common were the arrangements of live-in women companions. Carter in later life spent months living with the young Miss Sharpe, as Elizabeth Montagu had Miss Cooper to live in with her. Mrs Vesey was inseparable from her companion, Mrs Handcock. Carter was however positive about women setting up house together to their mutual benefit. Montagu's sister Sarah Scott, authoress of Millennium Hall, which precisely describes such a situation, joined such a "society" at Hitcham. When the household broke up, Carter was genuinely disappointed: …My informant makes grievous lamentation for the scandal which she supposes this event will reflect on female friendship. Possibly it may, but the true state of the case seems to me, that people do not disagree either because they are men, or because they are women, but because they are human creatures. Indeed, it ought to raise no disadvantageous ideas of these ladies, that they did not find themselves so happy as they had expected to be in their scheme of living together125 Meanwhile, in 1749, when Carter returned home from her long stay with Talbot, she took home with her something which she undoubtedly did not realise at that stage would become almost as much a part of her daily life for years to come as any husband would have been. Talbot had undoubtedly again brought up the subject of the lack of translations of many important Greek authors, as she had already mentioned several years previously. Women like Talbot, educated and perhaps even knowing Latin, were thereby barred from gaining an insight into a major part of their civilisation and culture. To be so excluded frustrated Talbot. It is also clear that Talbot had ambitions for her friend. She had attempted forwarding marital suits in general and in particular, would almost beg Carter to consider accepting a court position (see Chapter 4) and in desperation once suggested her friend should become a tutor at Oxford126. Talbot quite clearly intimated her ambition in her journals. Meditating on Catherine Trotter Cockburn's work, she noted that persons recognising such talents should not allow them to remain buried in obscurity: "E.C. is her superior – Alas will she not live & die perhaps as obscurely & What Alas can I do to prevent it"127. Talbot found a way, which she was wise enough not yet to disclose having had plenteous experience of Carter's modesty, reluctance and stubbornness. Talbot appealed instead to her friend's benevolent nature. When Carter returned by stagecoach to Deal in the summer of 1749, she had promised Talbot to translate the entire extant works of Epictetus. Brigitte Sprenger 107 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza NOTES 1 BL Stowe 748, folio 173, dated 11.11.39. I am unsure as to which "wretched epigram" Carter refers – there is none which eludes to an Eliza, but there is, in the GM of October 1739 p. 547 an extremely rude epigram upon ·a pipe-smoking wench called Silvester which may well have shocked Carter. By a far stretch of the imagination, she could feel accosted because she was a snuff-consumer herself. 2 Possibly Alexandros Maurokordatos' Pneumaticum instrumentum circulandi sanquinis of 1664 as Sylvia Myers speculates in her The Bluestocking Circle, (Oxford: Clarendon Press) 1990: 57 3 GM Jan 1740; 31 4 NC to EC 16 Mar 1740; NC to EC 4 Apr 1740 5 Memoirs 13 and EC to CT 25 Feb 1742 6 EC to CT 25 Jan 1747 7 EC to CT 5 Nov 1741 8 Montagu Pennington, ed, The Works of the Late Miss Catherine Talbot, 7th edition (London 1809), provides biographical background, as does Myers, ibid, 63ff and for general details about Secker see the short biography by editors Beilby Porteus and George Stinton prefaced to Vol I Works of Thomas Secker, (Dublin, 1775), 340 9 CT to EC 14 Nov 1746 10 CT to EC 26 Oct 1747 11 EC to CT 5 Nov 1741. The Commissioned Sea Officers of the Royal Navy 16601815, Vol 1 A-F, lists Nicholas [sic] Carter as attaining his lieutenancy on July 4, 1741, but unfortunately does not record his death. As the names of the ships either Nicolas jr or James served on are not mentioned in extant correspondence, so have the Naval Lists unfortunately also proved useless, in further establishing dates of 108 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza death for the brothers. James survived Nicolas by a good many years – cf Chapter 4. 12 Both these poems were published posthumously by Pennington in Vol 2 of the Memoirs . 13 EC to CT 1 Jan 1743 14 Memoirs.19 15 EC to CT 1 Aug 1745 16 EC to CT 26 Apr 1745 17 CT to EC 2 Mar 1745 18 EC to CT 24 May 1744 19 EC to CT 20 Jun 1749. Carter described accompanying her stepmother on a round of annual visits, starting at 3 pm and ending at sunset. 20 EC to CT 13 Jul 1743 21 Memoirs, 307 22 CT to EC 7 Feb 1755 23 T.C. Duncan Eaves and Ben D. Kimpel in Samuel Richardson: A Biography, (Oxford: Clarendon Press) 1971,357 chart Talbot's contribution to Sir Charles Grandison in great detail. The contributions were not only in the form of passing on ideas and suggestions, but also correcting and revising several volumes when still in manuscript 24 EC to CT 16 Apr 1743 25 EC to CT 1 Aug 1745; EC to CT 25 Jan 1742 Brigitte Sprenger 109 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 26 Montagu Pennington in the Memoirs places her in London. But Nicolas' letters to her, clearly indicate by naming acquaintances to greet, that Carter was in Canterbury 27 EC to CT 5 Dec 1744 28 NC to EC 15 Dec 1745; EC to CT in much calmer tones 29 Dec 1745. Nicolas Carter's dramatic conflict with the Deal Mayor and Corporation is discussed in Chapter 4. 29 EC to CT 24 May 1744 30 CT to EC 20 Jul 1744 31 EC to CT 20 Sep 1745 32 CT to EC undated, Memoirs, 115-120 33 as above 34 EC to CT 5 Nov 174 35 GM, 1739; 599 36 On 30 Mar 1751 EC asked CT whether she knew if L'Enfant's Preface to the New Testament had ever been translated into English. While possibly she was asking on behalf of a third party, it seems quite possible she viewed this as a potential project – she herself would have had no need of a translation. 37 NC to EC 20 Nov 1746, Ponting Collection 38 CT to EC 24 Dec 1745 39 EC to CT 25 Jan 1747 40 Masham, Occasional Thoughts in Reference to a Vertuous or Christian Life, (1705) quoted by Christine Mary Salmon, "Representations of the Female Self" (London: unpublished thesis) 1991. 110 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 41 EC to CT 30 Mar 1747 42 EC to CT 28 Apr 1750 43 EC to CT 5 Jul 1746 44 EC to CT 20 Jul 1744 45 EC to CT 5 Jul 1746 in Memoirs, 132ff 46 CT to EC 21 Jun 1746 47 CT to EC 12 Aug 1746 48 CT to EC 11 Nov 1743 49 EC to CT 14 Feb 1751 50 CT to EC, 15 Nov 1744. Carter's handwriting was indeed never very legible and due to her far-sightedness she not only preferred small print, but also herself wrote very small. Edward Cave and Dr Carter repeatedly complained of her handwriting 51 CT to EC 11 Nov 1743. Obviously, this first mention planted the seeds for the translation project. 52 "Bishop Berkeley and Tar-Water" by Marjorie Nicolson & G.S. Rousseau in The Augustan Milieu, ed Henry Knight Miller et al, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970) 53 EC to EM 31 Oct 1760; EC to CT 1 Nov 1746. Catherine Talbot was closely associated with the Berkeleys: When the Bishop of Cloyne returned to England, he settled in Oxford and thereby became a neighbour of Secker's. A close friendship ensued between the two families so that, when George senior died, his daughter and his son, George junior, became for a while almost part of the Secker household. Catherine talked of "her beloved brother." (BL Add 46690). George studied at Oxford and just before completing his MA in the winter of 1758-9, he proposed to the 12years-older Catherine. Although her love for George was deep and strong, as her diary testifies, she was aware of the practical difficulties (the lack of dowry, the Brigitte Sprenger 111 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza difference in age, the small possibility of children, society's disapproval) and presumably under parental pressure renounced. For a full discussion of the episode, see Sylvia Myers, The Bluestocking Circle 112-116 54 NC to EC 24 Dec 1746 and EC to CT 30 May 1746 and Memoirs 106: "My sister's illness did indeed affect me beyond anything I ever met with in my whole life…" 55 EC to CT 8 Dec 1746. Stagecoaches cost 2-3 pence a mile with tips at the end for guard and coachman. Before mid-century they were heavy, springless wagons drawn by two to four horses and could travel at only four miles per hour. It was therefore quite possible for Carter to keep well ahead of a stagecoach. Her not riding in the coach would have reduced her fare. See Richard B Schwartz, Daily Life in Johnson's London (University of Wisconsin Press, 1983) 122 56 NC to EC 24 Dec 1746; EC to SR 13 Dec 1747 57 cf "The Navy" by Admiral Sir Herbert Richmond in Johnson's England: An Account of the Life & Manners of his Age, ed A.S. Turberville, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1933) Vol.I, 59 58 EC to CT 25 Jan 1747 59 HMC to EC 10 Jan 1750, Posthumous Works of Mrs Chapone; (London, 1807) EC to CT 20 Mar 1747 60 Ruth Perry, Women, Letters and the Novel, (New York: AMP Press, 1980): 71; Jane Spencer The Rise of the Woman Novelist, Oxford. Blackwell, 1986. 61 Cave to Birch, 1 Dec 1747, BL Add MS 4302 62 T.C. Duncan Eaves & Ben D. Kimpel, Samuel Richardson: A Biography (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1971) 215. Samuel Richardson Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady….., (London, 1759) Vol 2,50. 63 EC to CT 4 Sep 1742 64 Cave to Birch dd Sat morning 12 Dec 1747 BL Add MS 4302 112 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 65 EC to SR 13 Dec 1747, Monthly Magazine, 1812, 533. The editor of the MM possessed what seems to be the complete series of correspondence between Carter and Richardson conducted during the two periods of their closer contact – in 1747 over the "Ode to Wisdom", and a fairly regular correspondence during the last six months of 1753, during the publication of Sir Charles Grandison with which Carter was also connected and which is discussed below. These 15 letters, not in the published Richardson correspondence, were printed in full if in non-chronological order in the MM, 533-543 66 SR to EC 18 Dec 1747 in Memoirs, 103 67 EC to CT 29 Oct 1747 68 EC to SR 31 Dec 1747, MM; Duncan & Eaves, Samuel Richardson: A Biography, ibid, 215. Though never receiving any payment for the inclusion of the ode in Clarissa, Carter presumably did accept payment for its appearance in the GM 69 GM XVII Dec 1747, 585 70 CT to EC 22 Apr 1752 71 Duncan & Eaves, Samuel Richardson: A Biography, ibid, 216 72 Works of Samuel Johnson, Vol IV, The Rambler, eds. W.J. Bate & Albrecht B. Strauss, (York University Press 1969) 153ff 73 EC to CT 4 Mar 1750 74 CT to EC 16 Mar 1751; EC to CT 24 Mar 1751. Richardson's opinion of Carter however, seems to have remained at a constant high mark. He included her in his list of 36 "superior women", cf Samuel Richardson: A Biography, ibid, 345 75 HMC to EC 25 Mar 1750 Posthumous Works, ibid 76 Samuel Richardson: A Biography, 365 ff) 77 Samuel Richardson: A Biography 355; Grandison Vol 1, 246-7 Brigitte Sprenger 113 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 78 CT to EC 23 Dec 1751 79 EC to CT 12 Aug 1752 80 EC to CT 13 May 1753 81 EC to CT 17 May 1753 82 Footnote Montagu Pennington to CT to EC 20 May 1753: Sir Charles Grandison refuses a duel challenge, The History of Sir Charles Grandison, Bart (1765); Vol.I, Letter 4. 83 Sir Charles Grandison, Vol VI OUP 1972, 243 and footnote 182 84 SR to EC 12 Jun 1753, MM, 536; EC to SR 9 Jun 1753 MM, 535 85 EC to SR 3 Aug 1753 MM, 536 86 SR to EC 2 Oct 1753, MM, 536 87 EC to SR 22 Jun 1753, MM, 536 88 SR to EC 4 Jul 1753; EC to SR 29 Sep 1753, MM, 536 89 EC to CT 10 Dec 1753 90 EC to CT 18 Mar 1754 91 The Achievement of Samuel Johnson, W Jackson Bate, (Oxford: OUP, 1955) 185 92 EC to CT 20 Jun 1749. More than 25 years later, Carter reiterated her view that Richardson's depiction of expression and manners was defective. EC to EM 12 Jul 1775 93 CT to EC 4 Apr 1754 94 Reginald Blunt, Mrs Montagu, Queen of the Blues….., (London, 1923) 1,150. 114 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 95 EC to CT 21 Sep 1753; EC to CT 14 Feb 1754. EC to Susanna Highmore 13 April 1754, in Mercury 23 Sep 1876 96 EC to CT 11 May 1755 97 "Recollections of Dr Johnson", Johnsonian Miscellanies, ed. George Birbeck Hill, Oxford 1897 Vol II 251-2 98 EC to EM 24 May 1766; CT to EC 23 Jul 53; EC to CT 10 Dec 1753 99 EC to CT 16 Jun 1758 100 EC to CT 20 Jun 1748 101 Memoirs, 141. It is not known what concrete forms these proposals had 102 Duncombe published The Works of Horace in English verse in 1757; John Duncombe, The Feminead. A Poem appeared in 1754 (Cf. Chapter 7). Over a decade later he earned EC's displeasure by publishing "An Evening Contemplation in a College being a perody on the Elegy in a Country Churchyard". (1768) 103 Memoirs, 145, 147,151 104 Memoirs, 149 ff; William Hay The Immortality of the Soul. A Poem, translated from Latin by Isaac Hawkins Browne (London, 1754) 105 Myers, The Bluestocking Circle, ibid, 129; John Duncombe, The Feminead. A Poem (London, 1754)29-31 106 Montagu Pennington claims Dalton grew to be heartily ashamed of this. Footnote to letter CT to EC 27 Dec 1754 107 Edward Ruhe,"Birch, Johnson and Elizabeth Carter: An Episode of 1738-39", PMLA Vol LXXlll, no. 5, part I, 496. See in full, Chapter 2 108 National Dictionary of Biography: Dalton, apart from the Camus-adaptation also published several sermons which interestingly enough were published and Brigitte Sprenger 115 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza consequently reviewed concurrently with Carter's Epictetus translation, cf Critical Review July 1758 and· Monthly Review June 1758. He also published poems and epistles. Dalton had a minor academic dispute with Secker in the pages of the Monthly Review years later over some fine points of Greek pronunciation 109 NC to EC 5 Feb 1749, Hampshire collection, quoted by Myers, The Bluestocking Circle , ibid; 109-10. 110 NC to EC 9 Feb 1749 111 The Bluestocking Circle, ibid, 109 112 EC to CT 3 Nov 1753 113 NC to EC 6 Mar 1749 114 CT to EC 13 Nov 1752 115 EC to CT 22 Nov 1752 116 EC to CT 5 May 1749 117 CT to EC 9 Oct 1762 and CT to EC 27 Dec 1754. For EC's droll reply, see Chapter 7 118 EC to Thomas Wright 28 Jan 1741; EC to CT 4 Aug 1742 119 CT to EC 8 Jun 1751 120 EC to CT 25 May 1751 121 CT to EC 27 Sep 1763; CT to EC 20-27 Nov 1765, implying it would be nice to have Carter to herself sometimes. 122 Elizabeth Mavor, The Ladies of Llangollen, (London: Penguin, 1973) 82 116 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 123 Lilian Fadermann, Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love between Women from the Renaissance to the Present, (New York: Morran, 1981) 129 124 EM to EC 15 May 1762, Huntington MS 125 EC to EM 4 Dec 1768. Carter went on to expound her theory that such households need to be firmly united in principle such as is naturally the case in families 126 CT to EC 30 Oct 1754 127 Talbot's journals, MS Add 46690 fo.7, BL Brigitte Sprenger 117 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Chapter 4: A Stoic Task Whoever that somebody or other is who is to write the Life of Epictetus, seeing I have a dozen shirts to make, I do opine, dear Miss Talbot, it cannot be I. Carter to Talbot 5 Mar 1755 …(Epictetus' philosophy constitutes) one of the most valuable remains of antiquity; and that they who consult them with any degree of attention, can scarcely fail of receiving improvement. Carter as quoted by her friend Miss Sharpe in Sketch of the Character of Mrs Elizabeth Carter London 1806 Ever since Victorian literary-textbook authors searched for epithets, the eighteenth century has too often been denoted as the Augustan Age – thereby accentuating the age's predilection for classic literature. Modern criticism has moved away from this restrictive view and indeed, such an "Augustan" author as Johnson was more innovative than conservative. It was Carter's friend from the Gentleman's Magazine days who innovated a style of biography where life and criticism fused and who encouraged departure from classic standards of criticism in his Preface to Shakespeare. It is tempting, at first glance, to apply the epithet to Carter herself. She received from her father a solid grounding in the classics and could, throughout her adult life, enthusiastically fill pages discussing Homer, Virgil, Plato, Tacitus and Euripides. Yet this would be crassly to ignore the equally powerful literary predilection she had for what she termed the sublime". Edward Young's Night Thoughts (1742-5), with its macabre, melodramatic personalism, remained a favourite her entire life. Yet as the German visitor Friedrich August Wendeborn noted; "That good and manly taste which distinguishes so many English writers, is greatly owing to the esteem in which the old Greek and Roman classics are held…They serve as models for a good style and a proper manner of writing…"1. Often the ideal of such "gentlemanly" classic attributes were far removed from attainable reality. Grammar schools in England taught 118 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza nearly exclusively Latin, a little Greek and even less Hebrew with modern languages and mathematics remaining largely ignored. Students spent long hours reading and translating classics, producing very little actively writing. The lack of standardisation and uniform examinations led to great discrepancy in standards and many fellows/commoners spent more time on dress than on learning2. Whether it was this shortcoming in the gentlemen's own education or rising general interest, the early eighteenth century saw a marked increase of interest in English translations of the classics and by the end of the century Wendeborn reported that especially Greek was highly esteemed: The study of the Greek fathers, in religious controversies, and ecclesiastical history, has been in all probability one of the principal causes why the Greek has obtained so great a repute in England, and has been so cultivated. We owe some very good editions of Greek classics to British scholars…3 Translations of the classics were therefore not only highly respectable but also very lucrative. Alexander Pope's translations of the Iliad (1717-20) and the Odyssey (1725-6) earned him about £ 5000 a piece4. The popularity and profitability is also illustrated by men like Thomas Brown (1663-1704), a gentleman turned prosperous hack writer who translated whole volumes of letters written by Pliny, Cicero and Aristaenetus5. This body of classic authors provided the base and reference point for many aspects of cultural life. As mentioned above, it was Plato's standards which were applied in dramatic criticism until Johnson questioned them6. Similarly, Sir Joshua Reynolds, in his Discourses (17691790) recommended that the ancient and Renaissance art serve as models in painting. One of the century's main preoccupations, philosophy, was also often based on (precepts and concepts the ancient Greek and Latin writers had developed. Yet while the ancients served as a base from which to explore and debate, many aspects of life in the eighteenth century had taken developmental leaps from the classic texts. During Carter's lifetime such milestones as Joseph Butler's Analogy of Religion (1736), Berkeley's Alciphron (1732), and the works of Hume and Rousseau rejuvenated philosophic thought. The development in part had led on from John Locke whose Essays concerning Human Understanding, Thoughts concerning Education and Treatises of Government straddled the closing phase of medieval hierarchical thinking and the burgeoning struggle for Brigitte Sprenger 119 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza modern democracy. Locke's questioning of a king's divine rights inevitably questioned all "divine rights", including patriarchic dominance7. Carter confessed, when sixty years of age, that she had read Locke in her young formative years and he had had no small influence on her – a fact confirmed by her poetry (cf. Chapter 5). Defending Locke against Elizabeth Montagu's criticism, she wrote: Consider what must have been the force and splendour of that genius which could break through the cloud of long established error; which freed the human mind from the fetters of artificial reasoning, and cleared the way for its return to universal principles of common sense which had so long been lost beneath the rubbish of scholastic sophistry. Under so many difficulties as he had to encounter, it is much more wonderful that he could go so far, than that he went no further. But I am getting strangely out of my depth in the vindication of an author whom I have never looked into since I was almost a child. However, beside the general idea I have remaining in my memory, I feel so much gratitude to him for one particular point of instruction, which has been of use to me through my whole life, that I cannot help, though very imperfectly, discovering some zeal for his honour. Upon the whole, whatever mistakes he may have fallen into upon a subject rendered so extremely difficult by the perplexities in which he found it involved, the greatness of his understanding, the integrity of his character, and his exemplary piety, entitle him to so high a degree of respect, that it appears a kind of sacrilege to treat him with ridicule8. What this point of instruction was that Carter at 60 still felt so grateful for remains a teasing mystery: There were a great many of Locke's ideas which Carter obviously supported, such as reliance on individual intelligence and curiosity in education, such as following the more original spirit of Christianity and believing in revelation, such as accepting the limitation of human reasoning. Echoes of such sentiments are to be found repeatedly throughout Carter's poems and correspondence (cf also Chapter 1). There were other philosophers to whom she owed a smaller or larger debt – first and foremost Plato, but also Epictetus and other classic thinkers. She was on more than just nodding terms with many of the contemporary philosophers, and undoubtedly personally acquainted with some. Though she probably never met Berkeley senior whose discourse on tar-water had so impressed her, she undoubtedly met his son George via Catherine Talbot. Via Talbot also, Carter was befriended by Bishop Joseph Butler. Secker, Benson and Butler, the three friends tied via Edward Talbot and their personal beliefs, were "the salt of the English church" and Carter moved in their personal circles9. Nicolas Carter had attended Cambridge University when it was still permeated by a spirit of rebellion against Deism. The Cambridge Platonists considered 'the use of reason' and 'the exercise of virtue' as " the twin spheres in which we enjoy God"10. They believed Christianity placed serious 120 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza responsibilities upon each individual, that reason reinforced truth and therefore they felt particularly disinclined towards any type of " enthusiasm". Such concepts are to be found repeatedly in both Nicolas' and Elizabeth's writings and probably constitute a just reflection of their basic attitude. Elizabeth held that the Bible "graciously teaches" Reason which it confirms "by such Evidences of its Authority, as Reason must admit" and that "Christian Morality is agreeable to Reason and Nature11. Between 1720 and 1740 the Deist controversy was at its peak with the publication of Matthew Tindal's Christianity as Old as the Creation (1730) stating the basic precepts that natural religion sufficed ·and that God perfectly revealed himself in nature. In 1736 Butler's Analogy of Religion, set out powerful, if confusing, counter-arguments against the deists and confidently established that the" first and foremost philosophy" relied on the "revelation" of the Bible. Painfully and fully, Butler argued that the inherent ordering of Nature and Nature's laws were analogous to God's ordering and laws. To discover God's purpose and will, one need only examine Nature12. Revelation, and whether it required the Bible as medium, was a key point with Elizabeth Carter too: An assiduous Bible-reader and -believer, she considered it a main source of information while avoiding on the whole, reading Bible commentaries. Yet equally, a belief that God's nature and purpose and especially his power permeated the proximate environment is evident. Repeatedly, Carter felt awed by God's hand in climatic storms, dark skies. She regarded Nature as more a signature of its Creator's presence and power than immediate confirmation of Christian law. Her attitude is therefore clearer than Butler's, who, by affirming the authority of religion through nature, potentially undermined a position that the Bible was required. Carter felt that: Universal experience felt the insufficiency of the soul to its own virtue, and to its own happiness, and under all the various modes of religious worship one principal object was a search after some external signification of the divine will, and some superior assistance 13. This assistance was clearly to be found in the Bible14. With Butler, however, Carter rejected pure Deist thought and adopted the orthodox Anglican position against, not the enemy Methodists, Catholics and Quakers, but the deists within their own ranks. (Butler, like Locke, established some basic precepts favourable to feminist thinking, propagating self-love as moral guidance, which in turn encouraged universal autonomy and assertion also for women15) In her Introduction to Epictetus, Carter levelled criticism at Brigitte Sprenger 121 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza contemporary movements which preferred "the Guesses of human Sagacity before the unerring Declarations of God". Similarly, various poems admonished friends to submit to the Voice and Guidance of God revealing itself: Mrs Honeywood was exhorted to be led by God's "unerring Guidance" and another friend was advised: "One faithful Guide the living Way supply: To his Direction let the Soul submit…"16. The Deist call to "Follow Nature" was a motto dating back to the days of the Delphic Oracle and particularly propagated by the Stoics. Carter enjoyed classic philosophy, and enjoyed and admired Epictetus, the Stoic who most closely approximated ideas of Christian divinity. When once defending her criticism of Erasmus, Carter wrote: Poor Epictetus with mistaken opinions led an unblemished life, and did his utmost to prevail on others to follow his example. With the rightest and noblest principles, and so much greater a degree of illumination, the morals of Erasmus were much less irreproachable. Now which of these two was the more respectable character, the honester man, and one is almost tempted to add, the better Christian?17 Carter's judgment, also in literary matters, always rested very much on personal, practical behaviour rather than professed theory. She lived, in some aspects, a Stoic life herself: She chose simply to accept her crippling headaches and never put much trust or effort into finding cures or treatment, she rarely complained or communicated personal worries, she lived, if not frugally, extremely modestly and never sought to improve her own financial situation. Certainly she supported a view that much suffering could be self-inflicted and that Reason was required to avoid many fears or worries: "By Reason taught to scorn those Fears / That vulgar Minds molest". But Stoicism was never her personal religion. When her translation of Epictetus appeared, years later, she wrote her friend Elizabeth Montagu that her greatest pleasure in its success was that people approved her "wellmeant endeavour to promote the case of Christianity"18. Indeed I should never think of finding consolation from the writings of the Stoics under any important trouble, though I think them admirable against little teasing vexations. But though they might effectively cure one from fretting at the loss of a pipkin, they will extend their influence no farther, except on such hearts as can be convinced that friends and pipkins are a kind of meubles of precisely equal value19 It is not unlikely that Carter, who though quite able to live without luxury could nevertheless enjoy her cups of tea and her lace caps with limitless delight, would have agreed with Jonathan Swift that "the stoical method of supplying our want by lopping off our desires is 122 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza like cutting off our feet when we want shoes"20. Carter did feel however, that some desires needed to be trimmed a little; both pleasure and pain were often of people's own making: Could Mortals learn to limit their Desires, Little supplies what Nature's want requires; Content affords an inexhaustible Store, And void of that a Monarch's wealth is poor21. Her Leibspruch being the biblical "Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof" (Matthew vi.23; cf. Chapter 5), inclined her to criticise those philosophers who preached constant preparation for trials and tribulations:… I am inclined to think that real misfortunes when they do come to pass, are not rendered at all the lighter from people having tormented themselves by thinking on them a considerable time beforehand…22 Such behaviour disallowed enjoying present blessings. A person living under "habitual dependence upon Providence" and maintaining a "proper sense of the duty of submission and resignation in general" was sufficiently prepared23. Carter's first Rambler is in effect a powerful warning against such prevalent anticipatory pessimism. Repeatedly, Carter stated that on the whole there was more pleasure in life than pain and that though life passed in "an alternation of private and of social suffering… upon the whole, we suffer only just enough to reconcile us to the limits of our present duration, and to extend our views to futurity" 24. For all his shortcomings, Epictetus was enjoying a certain popularity during the eighteenth century and not only because his simplistic lifestyle superficially supported Deist thought. While condemning some of his "unchristian" precepts, Carter on the whole recognised his deeper humanity. As did Bertrand Russell: "In some respects, for instance in recognising the brotherhood of man and in teaching equality of slaves, it (Epictetus' philosophy) is superior to anything to be found in Plato or Aristotle or any philosopher whose thought is inspired by the City State"25. **************************************************************************************************** Elizabeth Carter returned to Deal in May 1749 to face two major tasks. One was the translation of the extant works of Epictetus, as promised to Catherine Talbot. The teachings of the Greek Stoic, Epictetus (born ca. AD 60) were recorded by one of his pupils, Arrian, in Discourses (of which only four books remain extant) and the Enchiridion - a condensed manual to his main doctrines. There were, at that time, no full English Brigitte Sprenger 123 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza translations; although the Enchiridion had been frequently translated, (including an unpublished version by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. 'Wortley Montagu had set herself this Stoic task in 1710)26. There was a French translation, executed some 150 years earlier27. Translating the quarto volume of Epictetus' discourses was a task Carter undoubtedly approached with mixed feelings. She was doing it for her closest friend and not for a publisher – and was therefore not subject to the type of deadline stresses she had faced when translating Crousaz and Algarotti. It was, furthermore, a translation from the Greek – a language she was unusually competent in and which she preferred to Latin and French. Epictetus was a much larger challenge than any she had faced yet, in size, in learning and in subject. It was, from her side, primarily envisaged as a private project and she therefore initially left out certain chapters she deemed would not interest Talbot. She also excluded the Enchiridion which was available in English28. It is equally certain that Talbot and Secker had eventual publication in mind from the start. Talbot, as mentioned in the previous chapter, had over the years invested much thought and effort on furthering Carter's career. She quite clearly did not wish her friend's talents to remain buried in Deal. Thus, when Carter remitted the first parcel of translations to Talbot, albeit with very strong reservations about its merit, Talbot (supported by Secker) was determined to set high professional standards. Though careful to encourage and praise, Talbot included both laudatory and critical words from Secker, who objected to Carter's "too smooth and too ornamental a style"29. Thomas Secker was a highly-respected scholar (especially of Hebrew) who was often consulted by translators30. There are some intimations that Secker greatly enjoyed classical disputes with Carter. She corresponded with Secker at least once about the translating of classical passages (discounting the Epictetus-translation)31. On one significant occasion Carter complained to Secker of the translation of a Greek verb ( ΓΕΛ Ι) in Corinthians I,7:12,13 in the King James Bible. It had been translated as put away for men (Let him not put her away) and leave (let her not leave him) for women. Secker disputed the discrepancy and the two indulged in some argument until Secker invited her to accompany him into his study to "be confuted". Carter's complaint proved just and Secker good-humouredly stated, "No, Madam Carter, 'tis I that must be confuted, and you are in the right"32.With such mutual respect, it was inevitable that Seeker's 124 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza criticism of her style weighed heavily on Carter, deflating and confusing her. Talbot anxiously tried to dispel her fears, with Secker adding a postscript, asking her to defend her style if she could. This challenge Carter accepted, acknowledging the plain common sense of the Enchiridion, but feeling Arrian's commentary was less simple and needed close attention due to its abrupt and unconnected style: With regard to style, one certainly ought not to introduce tropes and figures which the author himself never dreamed on, but if the sense is preserved, is it not lawful to endeavour to make him speak such a language as will make him appear natural and easy to those with whom he is taught to converse, rather than to retain any peculiar modes of his own country which, to those who do not understand them, may appear uncouth and untoward…33. Secker disagreed. On September 13, 1749, he wrote "Good Miss Carter" that he felt Arrian was not so much a commentator as a reporter of Epictetus' very conversations and discourses "and a translator should present him in our tongue such as he appears in his own". Secker felt this especially important with such as this Stoic, whose "homely garb" was essential to his sentiments. I am fully persuaded, that plain and home exhortations and reproofs, without studied periods and regular connections…will be more attended to and felt, and consequently give more pleasure, as well as do – more good, than anything superior that can be substituted in their room 34 Secker rightly judged that, in effect, he and Carter were not as opposed in their views as this exchange of views indicated and he "offered to divide the difference". Carter had, on the whole, little patience with ornamental writing herself and chose to translate fairly literally afterwards. In her Introduction she wrote: The Reader, I hope, will pardon, if not approve, the Uncouthness in many Places, of a Translation pretty strictly literal: as it seemed necessary, upon the whole, to preserve the original Spirit, the peculiar Turn and characteristic Roughness of the Author. For else, taking greater Liberties would have spared me no small Pains35. Ironically, there would be one reviewer who amidst avid praise complained Carter had so little embellished the plain style of Arrian (see below). Hester Mulso's brother John also considered the translation too literal. Writing to naturalist Gilbert White after Epictetus was published, he commented: Brigitte Sprenger 125 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza If you chance to see this work and think the language at all stiff by the translations being too literal, I give you notice that you should spare the lady who was compelled into so narrow a form; and indeed it is not the lady's fault to be oversparing of words; witness Madam Oacier in her translations36. By December of 1749, Carter had made a fresh commitment to her project, regretting however that Secker chose henceforth no longer to interfere. He seemed content to have set Carter out on the proper path at this stage yet Carter felt somewhat abandoned: It is not to be told, dear Miss Talbot, how miserably I looked upon Epictetus, and how miserably Epictetus looked upon me, at the news that my Lord had so inhumanly given us up to our own devices; however, in consequence of our philosophy, we are determined to go peaceably blundering on; he in being translated till I cannot understand him, and I in translating till nobody can understand me37. Carter translated Epictetus at a leisurely pace, working on it in her usual fragmented fashion, and sending sheets of translations irregularly up to Talbot who would copy these out and send them back to Carter, sometimes with the odd correction made by Secker. This leisurely pace was mostly due to the other major and equally Stoic task Carter had taken upon herself. Dr Carter, just as he had educated all the children by his first wife, had also begun instructing the two surviving children from his second marriage, Henry and Polly (Mary). But Dr Carter was by now nearly 60 years of age and his health and spirits were around this time severely depressed. Elizabeth offered to take over the education and this was gladly accepted38. (Pennington only mentions the education of Henry; Carter herself, however, in her correspondence over the next few years, repeatedly talks of "her children", and it is therefore reasonable to maintain that she was also educating Polly, if not up to University level39). Henry was destined for the church, and preparing him for University was to take exactly as long as the translation of Epictetus. Catherine Talbot envied her friend's useful and important occupations: Your employments are indeed of a much higher class than mine. You are giving excellent instructions and forming minds that are naturally good and ingenious and at your leisure minutes you can transmit to your learned friends the admirable sentiments of Epictetus; but happy as my life is, it is really most vexatiously insignificant..I read little, write less and think least of all to any purpose40. 126 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza When Henry went up to Cambridge in 1757 (the fact that he had been educated by a woman caused great surprise and was notable enough to receive mention in her obituary nearly fifty years later), Carter's other project also left her hands41. Before then, however, there was a lot of hard work, and a considerable amount of family anxiety, to be lived through. Indeed, the next decade or so, would see not only Carter's major successes, but also her major tragic set-backs. Among the first of the latter were continuing difficulties with brother James. It had seemed for a short while, that James was to be made a lieutenant – though his family heard of this only indirectly42. Yet by March 1749 these hopes were dashed and Dr Carter again despaired of ever seeing any of his children financially off his hands and happily and securely settled. He wrote to Elizabeth when she was still in London, peevishly quibbling about James' handwriting and lack of courage: "…it appears yt he has not recd his Money yet & that now all his Hopes of being made a Lieutenant are vanished…he talks of leaving London & striving to get some Employ; but, as usual, desires Jack to prevail upon his Friends to assist him therein. For my Part, I cannot assist him…"43. In the event, Dr Carter did write on James' behalf to both Lord Anson and Mr Cleveland and it is probably that James received a commission in the end. His name is never again mentioned in any extant correspondence, and James, probably in 1753, attained both the coveted lieutenancy and an "honourable death" in the service of his country. By the end of the year both Elizabeth and her father were in bad health and the former, as usual when health failed, went to Canterbury. As well as meeting up with old friends and enjoying more coach adventures, she met a young lady called Hester Mulso who regularly visited an aunt there. Hester, ten years Elizabeth's junior, had basically educated herself, spurred on by the company of three brothers. She nurtured an interest especially in literature, the more so when her brother John became acquainted with and corresponded with Gilbert White. She soon began to submit her poetry to White for comment and later to Carter. Mulso also functions as a barometer of Carter's reputation at this stage. Her first letter to Carter, though in her usual open-hearted style, indicated awe and a sense of privilege at being allowed to correspond; she had "long honoured and esteemed" Carter whom she had previously known only as a public figure44. Thus, to the new generation of educated, literary women Carter was, ten years after her days at the Brigitte Sprenger 127 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Gentleman's Magazine and ten years before the publication of Epictetus, a well-known, well-respected figure. The two women's correspondence quickly developed into intellectual intimacy, the mainstay being discussions, not infrequently honest disagreements, on such subjects as the "proof of Christianity", Fielding, Johnson, the relationship between mind and body, Edward Young and, especially, Samuel Richardson. Hester and two of her brothers (Thomas and Edward) were members of the small coterie Richardson had gathered about him to read his work in progress (cf. previous chapter). In her early relationship with Mulso we glimpse Carter in the role of guiding, literary light she played again in her later bluestocking period, respected and almost adored by a younger generation of women who were to convert Carter's impulses and thoughts into more public and radical actions. Mulso deeply respected both Carter's ability as a writer and her beliefs in the intellectual and social potential of women. Yet Mulso also voiced her frustration that Carter never evolved either talent more fully, more publicly. She scolded Carter for not employing her pen on original work, wasting her talents on mere translating. (See below). Around this time, Carter contributed twice to Johnson's Rambler. The Rambler never attained the popularity of such regular papers as The Spectator, its circulation being a modest 550, except for the week when Richardson's contribution appeared. The criticism most often levelled against The Rambler, and one which Carter found most unfair, was of its moral seriousness and subsequent lack of humour. She frequently defended The Rambler, even "fought for him", though not always successfully45. Her own contributions, however, Nrs 44 (A Vision) and 100 aimed precisely at presenting equally serious moral themes in a lighter, more digestible manner and were to an extent an active defence of Johnson's paper. ("I extremely honour your defence of the Rambler, and heartily wish it was in my power to give him any assistance, but you have much too high an opinion of my capacity, as you will be convinced by the nonsensical thing I enclose…"46). The earlier essay is a letter recounting a dream in the style of Bunyan, whom Carter had always read with pleasure and whose allegorical manner she occasionally employed in her own letters. The dreamer, while enjoying bright conversation in lively company, is summoned away by a woman resembling Death who leads her through desolate scenes to deliver a lecture: "Man was born to mourn and be wretched" and should therefore fly from all enjoyment47. By calling the world "deceitful", the assertion seems acceptable to 128 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza the dreamer who, deflated, throws "herself beneath a blasted Yew where the Winds blew cold and dismal round my Head, and the dreadful Apprehensions chilled my Heart." She can therefore do no more than wish for death and is about to plunge into a "deep muddy River", when a figure in total contrast to the previous one appears. This one is sweet, gentle, charming and the grass, which before had withered, is now turned lush again. This second figure announces herself to be Religion, offspring of Truth, parent of Benevolence, Hope and Joy and explains her predecessor was Superstition, child of Discontent who "thus different as we are, she has often the insolence to assume my Name and Character, and seduces unhappy Mortals to think us the same…" The message is quite clear, though Carter is not that simplistic in its statement. The figure of Religion asks the dreamer to observe all the beauty of the God-created world which would be Virtue and Obedience. Yet the dreamer doubts this truth, wondering where all the pains and restraints and difficulties and labours which seem so inherent in religion, are hidden: "Does the whole of Human Duty consist in the cheerful Enjoyment of a beautiful World…?" Religion explains the difference between the "moderate Enjoyment and grateful Alacrity" of "reasonable beings" and the "thoughtless Gaiety of a useless Life". Interestingly, Carter chose to play down the worth of heroics, of martyrdom, instead emphasising that "Society is the Sphere of Human Virtue", thereby directly focusing on the female world. The difficulties and restraints of this world are real and difficult. True religion is not confined to "Cells and Closets" nor to heroic saints. About to thank the figure for such pearls of wisdom, the Dreamer is woken by church bells and sunbeams. The essay makes enjoyable reading, mostly due to its lively prose and its variegated approach. The language is direct and vivid with its allegorical yet plain lexis. Set in a straightforward simple past narrative, Carter employs short, almost breathless clauses, each with its separately packaged message, to lend directness and pace. "As soon as she came near, with a Frown, and a Voice that chilled my very Blood, she bade me follow her: I obeyed…." Interest is maintained through a constant progress of events and, in the long final sermon-like segment, by a frequent shift in the argument. Thus the dream is vivid, in its presentation, in its imagery, but also in its very direct and welcome message. Carter's other Rambler is in a very contrasting style; she assumes the personality of a socialite who feels Mr Rambler should compensate the "unhappy Languishers in Brigitte Sprenger 129 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza obscurity" (that is country folk) by providing lengthy accounts of polite life. The tone is therefore highly ornate and ironic, although the irony is not always equally convincing or successful. Carter's theme is related to her previous Rambler, but the approach is from another angle; the "useless gaiety" warned against by Religion, is here examined separately, developed and derided. The assumed author feels the "Summit of human Excellence" is to "flutter, sport and shine". The irony, as mentioned, is occasionally too awkward, and the wording too obtuse (polite society never needs that which "formal Animals are pleased to call useful or necessary"). Yet occasionally, the irony is delightfully poignant: It is Time enough surely to think of Consequences when they come: and as for the antiquated Notions of Duty, they are not to be met with in any French Novel, or any Book one ever looks into, but derived almost wholly from the Writings of Authors who lived a vast many Ages ago and who, as they were totally without any Idea of those Accomplishments which now characterise People of Distinction, have been for some Time sinking apace into utter contempt. It does not appear that even their most zealous Admirers, for some Partisans of his own sort every Writer will have, can pretend to say they were ever at one Masquerade. The passage is doubly delectable when remembering Carter's own task as "Partisan" at that period. (The passage could also have been ancestor to Elizabeth Montagu's Mrs Modish in one of her contributions to Lyttelton's Dialogues of the Dead. cf Chapter 5). Having disposed of the need for such homely virtues as honesty and hard work in favour of the "Triumph of Precedence" and "polite Dissimulation" the author next encourages Mr Rambler to point out the benefits of card-playing on Sundays. The section works heavily, the irony strains when asserting servants would otherwise learn "primitive notions" of obedience and diligence at church services. However, Carter concludes brightly that the life recommended happily suppresses all sorts of worries and cares, especially the "perplexing Apprehension" of the hereafter, which is "groundless…as it is so very clear..that no Body ever dies."! Both manuscripts had initially been sent to Catherine Talbot for her opinion, who did not simply read them privately, but en famille, with the result that not only Secker, but also any visiting bishops, felt obliged to praise and criticise. When Carter, in May 1750, sent the first Rambler, "The Vision", to Talbot, the Bishop of Gloucester, Martin Benson, brother of Mrs Secker, was visiting. Benson opined that though admirable, this gentle satire might 130 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza mislead certain light-hearted persons. Talbot dutifully wrote to Carter with the recommendation that "something should be mentioned of proper restraint and duty" adding that "The poem on Melancholy, with a Greek motto, is also wished to be sent to the Rambler"48. This poem had, however, already appeared long before in the Gentleman's Magazine. It had been published anonymously at Carter's express wish (cf Chapter 5). Talbot, always concerned at what she probably felt was the insecurity of Carter's future, discussed her friend's prospects with Benson, and they concluded that a position at court would be most suitable. Of this advice Carter took little notice, yet unfortunately, she was never as adamant about defending her own texts. In this Rambler, as in the Introduction to Epictetus, she allowed Talbot's extreme piety, her fearful carefulness lest any word might lead a sinner to sin more, to impinge upon her own intuition that she was usually preaching to the converted and Carter's own more relaxed morality. Carter felt that on the whole, books tended to be read by "the converted", tending to "make the good better, but seldom or never reform the bad." Those whom you justly characterise by the title of "unfeeling scoffers", are as impenetrable to example as they are to reason; and though, as you say, they may be silenced, they will not be convinced: for conviction is not an operation of the head but of the heart49. When Carter submitted her second Rambler to the scrutiny at Lambeth, the bishop of Norwich, Dr Hayter, was visiting and he, via Talbot, sent his compliments and wished she would "enliven" The Rambler more and more50. But Carter never did. – She did, at least on one occasion, write another essay but deemed it not suitable and worthy51. There are also some cryptic references to an Adventurer essay marked "Y" by an unknown author, which Talbot seemed to think was contributed by Carter and about which Carter is ambiguous52. Evidently, Carter's contributions were largely upon the initiative and encouragement of Talbot, for she wrote to her friend that her own opinion of them was indifferent – she was merely glad that Talbot liked them. Her only comments on the essays were that she liked her essay better than Richardson's, and that she was upset at some small cuts Johnson had made in Rambler 10053. Talbot had by then, in any case, almost assumed the role of literary agent and general patron insisting that Carter confer with her first on all important decisions54. Brigitte Sprenger 131 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Talbot's next aspiration for Carter was again a position at court. Duncombe had launched the initiative in 1750 and was promptly supported by the Bishop of Gloucester and Talbot 55. This renewed enterprise horrified Carter: As contented, however, as I may be with my manner of life, other people do not seem to think it a life to· be contented with….To give up one's ease and liberty, and be under perpetual restraint, for the sake of wearing a finer gown, eating a greater variety of dishes, or seeing more company and fewer friends, appears to me a very strange scheme56. Carter dutifully informed her father of the scheme, who as usual left her free to decide and so, with a sigh of relief and despite Talbot's encouragement, she quickly declined the proposal. Four years later Carter was to be frightened by the very same proposition for a third and last time. Both Talbot and another correspondent had heard rumours of her being offered a post teaching Princess Amelia's children and Talbot entreated Carter not to refuse immediately. Carter reiterated her "utter dislike" for such a way of life and would take it only if her father insisted57. To Carter this renewed scheme was the literal and figurative recurrence of a nightmare. And now my dream's out, for I was a-dreamed – Not that I saw a huge rat, but really and truly did I dream the day before I received your letter, dear Miss Talbot, that for the greater convenience of curling my hair. I had cut off my head. Now whether this dream was the consequence of pretty violent pain, or the presage of the scheme you mention, I leave you to guess; but surely it was marvellously applicable to the last, for what is going to court, but setting one's cap handsomely at the expense of one's head?58. Carter pleaded utter unfitness for such a position, pointing out her social awkwardness, her poor health and her not being fit for normal teaching. "Of Latin and Greek indeed I might perhaps be able to give them some notion; but this surely cannot be the scheme; for since the days of Queen Elizabeth and Lady Jane Grey, who ever thought of teaching princesses Latin and Greek?"59. The scheme gave her a considerable fright but fortunately Carter's father was not a Charles Burney, and the court offer possibly never even materialized. Fortunately, 1750 also had its pleasant sides. In July there was a delightful outing to the Isle of Thanet with several friends, which ended in a minor adventure when they were caught by the tide60. An even more delightful expedition had occurred earlier in the year when Secker, now promoted to the Archbishopric of Canterbury, had impetuously decided 132 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza to visit the south-west coast. Carter met her friends at the King's Head in Canterbury on May 7th and travelled with the Secker party to Dover the next day and the day after, the party went on to Deal where Elizabeth had taken care that not everyone knew of the visit so as to avoid excessive local clamour. Elizabeth and her brother saw the party off at Canterbury. By then, the excitement and bustle had ensured Elizabeth was stricken with migraine. Both Catherine Talbot and Elizabeth were ecstatic about the visit, the former recalling nostalgically eight months later how they had gathered seaweed below Dover cliff and the latter writing: "You can have no idea of the kind of happiness I have felt at seeing you at a place where I imagined myself out of reach of every friend and acquaintance I had in the world…."61. Quite possibly, Seeker's whirlwind visit to Deal was at least partially triggered by a conflict brewing between Dr Carter and his congregation. Nicolas Carter objected to the Athanasian Creed. He was not alone in his opinion: The Gentleman's Magazine had already carried a long article covering the dispute when Elizabeth first appeared in print in 1737). The Athanasian Creed derived its name from the Alexandrian saint and bishop, Athanasius the Great (ca. 298-371AD), the father of Greek orthodoxy, who managed to find a compromise between warring factions by developing the basis of the idea of the Trinity. This led, many centuries later, to an Athanasian Creed which was incorporated (together with the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed) by the Church of England into the liturgy. The Athanasian Creed held that all three members of the Trinity were equal and to this assertion, Dr Carter objected violently, calling upon John XIV,28 where Jesus said "My Father is greater than I". Carter therefore refused to read it, which in turn upset at least some of his congregation. By April 1751, the dispute had escalated to the extent where the Corporation of Deal installed a Church clerk, Dennet Pilcher, without consulting either Carter or his superiors. Carter disputed the appointment and his complaint was upheld by the minister. Carter organised a third party to read the creed in his place, yet the dissonance continued62. Whether for merely personal reasons or clerical, Archbishop Secker invited Dr Carter and his children John and Margaret to dinner on April 27, and inquired into the situation. Nicolas Carter reported being well received by Secker, who even asked whether there was anything he could do for the curate. Nicolas asked for another post, away from Deal63. Brigitte Sprenger 133 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Elizabeth Carter seems to have suffered considerably under the enormous social discomfort. Deal was, after all, a personal, provincial town. From her correspondence with Talbot it is clear she did not fully support her father, yet this was probably a judgment of his method rather than the principle. An anonymously published letter to the Deal Corporation in any case recommended parishioners avoid contact with Carter's "most ingenious and amiable daughter" as she is "infected" with her father's "pestilential principles". Elizabeth Carter quite clearly, in some religious meditations about the Trinity, elevated God above Christ and the Holy Spirit64. It undoubtedly resulted in many social embarrassments and she took the entire controversy much to heart as the, for her, unusually strong language indicates: (I am) harassed almost to death with various disputes and turmoils, that have much disturbed the peace of this otherwise agreeable society. How difficult is it for a temper weak and untoward as mine is, to conduct itself with innocence! When one is affected in so many various ways, the safest method seems to be absolute silence. This too has its inconveniences and yet to talk is, without the utmost caution, to do wrong65. Writing to Talbot in the midst of the controversy, she added however, she did not regret choosing this life, presumably over marriage or a position at court: …ever since I have been made unhappy by these commotions, it has been a great subject of consolation to me that I was never tempted by any voluntary connection to engage myself in the interests, passions and tumults of the world. If I have suffered from the troubles of others, who have more sense, more understanding and more virtues than I might reasonably have expected to find, what might I not have suffered from a husband! perhaps be needlessly thwarted and contradicted in every enjoyment of life: involved in all his schemes right or wrong and perhaps not allowed the liberty of even silently seeming to disapprove them! (ibid). Talbot lamely replied that every state had its difficulties so she would continue to encourage her friend to marry. But Carter clearly felt she had a "family" already, and so what need of a husband? I am sorry I cannot tell you my situation…is mended, but the life I lead does not leave me much time uneasy reflections. The whole morning, from seven till one is spent with my children and my afternoons are spent in visiting or walking. There are indeed some subjects that will intrude and cast a gloom over the finest prospects and sadden the most lively conversation, but I do all I can to be easy and cheerful66. Two months later her situation was still the same as was her mood. In strident prose, evoking vivid images and with a touch of irony, she described: 134 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza …these regions of discord, where the sun rises and sets in a quarrel and where the still gloom of the night is haunted and disturbed by the spectres of contention. Mighty poetical all this to be sure, but in more serious prose, we are in a mighty commotion….To this limit of the habitable earth I fled for repose, for the sober pleasure of studiousness and the cheerful unembarrassed indulgence of friendly social affections; and now, by a strange concurrence of events, I am hurried into the midst of tumult and uproar and all those social affections are embittered and disconcerted…lt is impossible to describe to you the various vexations by which I am surrounded…67 The sentiments here reflect those in her Ode to Melancholy and Ode to Wisdom where Carter admits retiring from "the busy Croud", retreating from "Envy, Hurry, Noise, and Strife.'' Ever willing, however, in a mixture of Stoic and Christian spirit, to accept and learn, she mused she could learn more from observing the errors on both sides of this Deal dispute than from the best formal moral treatise. With a mock-envious sigh, she recounted a visit to a nearby village where they had not even heard the clerk of Deal chapel was dead and where they had a parson whose moral recipe for disputes was to set them all fighting!68 It would be a whole year more before the dispute was finally settled, following a most dramatic climax. In 1752 Dr Carter was presented for omission by the church warden John May and this was no light matter, for, as Nicolas Carter himself said, such a step could lead to prosecution, which would lead to losing his curacy, and be his effectual ruin. Dr Carter went into the offensive with the best weapon he had: On August 9th, 1752 he delivered a most emotional, dramatic sermon in front of the Mayor and Corporation. He stated his objections to the Athanasian Creed, introduced by "the popish Roman church" and without which the church had survived very happily before then. As a minister he had vowed to use the Common Prayer and followed common practice. This should then logically mean he should also be presented for baptising Mr May's children at home (common practice, not specified in Book of Common Prayer) and not just for substituting the perfectly good Apostles Creed for the Athanasian. Ministers should teach Scripture, first and foremost. His grand climax he saved, naturally, for the end: That a minister for so long a time should have assiduously applied himself to preach the pure Gospel of the son of God…that he should have testified the most evident as well as sincere regard to their eternal welfare by laying before them himself the means of attaining it, with a constancy seldom equalled and not trusting others of unknown character to do it for him, that he should have done all this and that at last a contrivance should secretly be carried on, and a public attempt be made to ruin him, for omitting to read the Athanasian Creed, 'Hear, o heavens, and give ear o earth'…69. Brigitte Sprenger 135 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Deal chapel, Nicolas proudly reported, was "tenderly affected" (presumably dissolved in tears) by the end of the homily and officially the matter ended with the printing of the sermon including a lengthy preface comprising the exchange of letters between Carter and May. Carter had, once again, not shied away from controversy, obstinately defending, as he had done many years earlier against the accusations of George Whitehead, his own personal beliefs (cf Chapter 2). His daughter Elizabeth quite possibly respected the beliefs per se, but she clearly found his lack of tact, his reluctance to compromise both embarrassing and unfortunate. The controversy's very last echoes can be heard in Hester Mulso's attempt to console Carter who had reported being a witness that year to "some astonishing instances of fraud, ingratitude and malice". Hester was pleased to note, though, that it had not altered Carter's opinion that the world was no worse nor more corrupt than in the past70. Undoubtedly thinking her friend could well do with a break after all this upheaval, Catherine Talbot now put considerable pressure on Carter to come to London. Talbot considered that Carter had had excellent reasons for avoiding London up till then following the episode with John Dalton. But this "Strephon" was now married to a wife kindly disposed towards Carter and any personal contact would therefore be devoid of awkwardness71. Carter gladly complied. Her father, himself in London during this period, sought out some lodgings for her near St Paul's where, after fulfilling some last familial duties towards visitors of her father's, she gladly abandoned the myopic scene of controversy for one where she was welcomed and respected72. It was during this season that she spent those two days with Richardson at North End (see Chapter 3) and it was presumably this season, too, when Talbot unfolded her complete plans of publishing Epictetus. Carter had translated all she had initially meant to translate by December 175273. But in the face of this new project, to which Carter warmed only slowly, there was a considerable amount of other work still outstanding. Carter had originally worried that someone in Scotland was engaged on the same project, but this proved unfounded74. Faced with official publication, Carter next felt some academic insecurity, and Secker arranged that James Harris, MP and scholar, would answer some queries upon a few difficult passages. Secker also conveyed a number of massive volumes to provide related information75. By 136 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza September Talbot was returning the translation together with Secker's and Harris' remarks to Carter, with a covering letter again encouraging her friend to publish soon: "It will do the world a great deal of good and you a great deal of credit." She hoped Carter had "conjured up no lions and bears in the way to fright" herself and proceeded to present her next idea. Carter should write an introduction which would mark "the false, wild and defective" points in Epictetus and compare these with "the only true philosophy, the Christian"76. Carter replied she was "determined most heroically" to knock all lions and bears on the head, yet the demons of her own health and her father's, made progress very slow indeed 77. She spent, much time at Canterbury due to her bad health, a sprained ankle and low spirits in 1753/5478. Much time was spent on tutoring Harry and much on worrying again about rumours of a position at court (see above). In 1755 Carter appeared, without her consent, in Dodsley's two volume miscellany, Poems by Eminent Ladies which included a short description of each lady and some poems. Talbot had forwarded the proposals Dodsley had issued earlier in the year and had encouraged Carter to publish in it, submitting poems "by a lady": "I do not press this as an air of consequence, but…for the honour of poetry, of the nation, of the sex"79. Carter however, always annoyed whenever she was published without her permission, without controlling its publication herself, had not responded very eagerly to the idea and talked of "mortifications" she had already suffered at seeing her name used in miscellanies: "What can one do with these miscellany mongers, magazine mongers, and rogue mongers of all kinds? What they have stolen, or to what they have chose to affix my name, I have always been too much out of humour to enquire..", she complained, though allowing that in comparison to life's real evils, such matters were "foolish trifles"80. She felt she would prefer publishing her poems herself yet conceded that if she must be published in a miscellany, she would wish it to be a "Miscellany of Ladies": "One may venture to say this with regard to the lady writers of the present age, though it would not have been much to one's credit perhaps in the last"81. Carter had obviously noted the increasing respectability of women authors, to which she herself was such a contributing factor. Possibly Dodsley came to hear of Carter's attitude, for she duly appeared in his miscellany in the "honourable" company of women like Catherine Trotter Cockburn, Anne Winchelsea and Elizabeth Rowe and the less reputable such as Aphra Behn. Only Carter's "Ode to Brigitte Sprenger 137 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Wisdom" and "To a Gentleman on his intending to cut down a Grove" appeared. Dodsley refers to her as Miss Eliza Carter, known for her knowledge of languages and philosophy and, "no less famous for her refined taste and excellent talent in poetry". Her modesty prevented her publishing more, is the final assertion. Dodsley thereby confirms Carter's eminent reputation prior to the Epictetus translation. Throughout these years, Carter determinedly plodded on translating Epictetus. By January 1755, Carter had finished translating the segments of Epictetus previously omitted, completed corrections (presumably her own and those pointed out by Harris and Secker) and had embarked on producing an introduction. She immersed herself in volumes of Stoic philosophy the Bishop of Norwich had, via Secker, lent for this purpose82. A month later, Talbot already approached Carter with a new thought – the introduction should include a biography of Epictetus. Carter's wry, and often quoted reply, as in the first epigraph to this chapter, indicates she felt occasionally overwhelmed by the entire project, and especially by the Introduction and the 'demands' her friends made upon it83. A crucial point of disagreement was Carter's generally more relaxed and tolerant view of the ancient "heathens", whereas Talbot was "offended" by paganism. Carter felt that pre-Christian era philosophers were clear in their conceptions and more pleasurable to read than those following (including Epictetus) where the intermingling of the new notions caused less clarity. She found the Stoics the "clearest and most zealous Assertors of a particular Providence" and for this they deserved high respect84. Talbot, however, was often scathing of the ancient precepts forcing Carter increasingly into a defensive position: I find myself obliged sometimes to undertake the case of the poor heathen against you, upon whom, I think, you are in general too severe…ln general I believe it is scarcely ever of any use, and perhaps very seldom right, to depreciate the heathen morality. Wise and good men in all ages, who sincerely applied their hearts to the discovery of their duty, cannot, I think, be supposed in any very material instances to have failed, though they had neither a proper authority, nor could promise sufficient encouragements to qualify them for effectual instructors of the multitude for mankind85. And when Talbot still persisted, Carter, in a foul mood because of the declaration of war just published, fumed: "So you do not allow my poor heathens to have known either humility or charity. Was Socrates destitute of the first?", and quoted the ancient philosopher's "Be not proud of wisdom, strength, or riches/God alone is wise, powerful, and also supremely rich"'. Talbot resigned and never returned to the matter86. In her 138 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Introduction, Carter re-affirmed this opinion, asserting that the "just and becoming Manner" in which the Stoics spoke of God demands favourable judgment and those representing them "as little better than Atheists" are guilty of "great Injustice". What worried Carter considerably, however, was whether Epictetus was actually acquainted with Scripture and the painful thought that, if he was, he had not been converted. The thought caused pain in Carter, but anger in Talbot 87. Carter eventually concluded, that despite the many "Sentiments and Expressions of Christianity", Epictetus was not likely acquainted with the Christian doctrine. She believed him to be prejudiced against Christians, as many of his contemporaries were who considered them akin to Jews. He had probably assimilated some general ideas of the religion, however, via other writers without being aware of the source88. Her conclusion proved, nearly two centuries later, to be quite correct. W.A. Oldfather, whose translation of Epictetus in 1926-28 replaced Carter's as the definitive English version, refers to conclusive research by Bonhoeffer in 1911 and his own studies, that Epictetus did indeed share the common prejudices but was not actively acquainted with Christianity89. Oldfather praises Carter's translation as "a very respectable performance under any conditions, but for her sex and period truly remarkable". Carter's translation remained standard till Oldfather, despite numerous nineteenth century translations by men like T.W. Higginson (1897) and T.W. Rolleston (1891). There were three other matters in Stoic philosophy Carter found deeply disturbing for which, however, she could find no excuse or reason: their "Idolatry of human Nature", their condonation of suicide, and their doctrine that human souls "are literally Parts of the Deity". This latter especially she found shocking and hurtful on the premise that man's wickedness and misery thereby debased deity. All these aspects she roundly criticised in her lntroduction90. By mid-year Carter sent her Introduction, a collection of mostly explanatory notes, to Talbot and Secker, who, though approving, again felt the shortcomings of Stoicism compared to Christianity, should be mentioned. Carter believed, however, there was no danger in presenting Epictetus unexpurgated as probably "none but very good Christians" would read it anyway91. Secker disagreed, which in turn frightened Carter. If Epictetus could do such mischief as Secker intimated, should it not remain buried in Greek? "Indeed Brigitte Sprenger 139 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza I was always of the opinion that the book would be of no use, but to those who the least needed its assistance; but it never entered into my imagination that it would do any body any hurt. God forbid it should!"92. It probably required all of Seeker's diplomacy and political genius to walk the narrow line between convincing her both of its potential moral danger and potential public good! To Secker the point was important, holding, as he did, that the church had never been held in more contempt than in his age: "Christianity is now railed at and ridiculed with very little reserve, and its teachers without any at all"93. Persuade her he did, and when she submitted her re-written draft it incorporated in notes 24 to 38 many of the points raised by Secker and Talbot while remaining admirably loyal to her basic belief that Epictetus was a good, wise philosopher. While disagreeing especially with the Stoic view of earthly life being its own reward, feeling many a virtuous person has to suffer from the folly of others or pain and illness, she believed much could be learned from the Stoics: Even now, their Compositions may be read with great Advantage, as containing excellent Rules of Self-Government, and of social Behaviour: of a noble Reliance on the Aid and Protection of Heaven, and of a perfect Resignation and Submission to the divine Will…94. Upon its completion, the manuscript was despatched to Secker who, plagued by gout, shut himself up with the translation for nearly a month, going out only for an hour's ride in the morning and afternoon95. Carter next had to translate the Enchiridion which originally, as many other translations were extant, she had felt superfluous. But a careful reading of them, persuaded her the 1694 G. Stanhope translation was not very lucid, and so by spring 1756 that task was also completed96. · Having dispatched the translation to Secker and Harry to Cambridge, Carter was her own woman again at last. She spent it rambling, on local expeditions, on being plagued by headaches97. Her major enjoyment, however, came during the winter. Talbot engaged rooms for her friend with Mr Willis, cabinetmaker, opposite the south door of St Paul's Churchyard and therefore within close reach of the deanery. The relationship between the women deepened further. "..(As) I see you more, in consequence I love and esteem you more”, Talbot wrote Carter thankfully after her stay, and Carter replied in kind, mourning all the days when she had done her coffee duty at the deanery with a knife and the nutmeg, had received her daily nosegay, and been referred to as "daughter Betty"98. There were 140 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza of course also contacts outside the deanery to maintain, and her social circle expanded even more due to the private circulation of the Epictetus manuscript. This resulted in her being visited at Deal by Lord Lyttelton and in being suavely courted by the intelligent and wealthy Elizabeth Montagu, as we shall see in the next chapter99. It had been decided to publish by subscription and, probably while Carter was on the spot, a proposal was written and circulated. Secker here again played a foundational role, as did Nicolas whose pride and pleasure is evident: … I take it for granted that your name is expressed; for that will be the greatest inducement to subscribers…I desire you will send the proposals down to me; for I choose to give you all the assistance I possibly can. It is just that you should have some profit for your labour, and I shall not think I am begging an alms for you when I promote subscription…100. In a later letter, Dr Carter reports being busy soliciting subscriptions and writing to potential subscribers101. Bishop Hayter and George Oxenden also promoted subscriptions and, on Carter's passing through Canterbury on her way back to Deal, connections there brought in an additional list of names. The subscribers were offered, for one guinea (half to be paid upon subscription, the remainder upon delivery) a quarto volume of 505 pages with the 34-page Introduction. The list of 1031 subscribers' names in this edition is impressive. It is headed by the Prince and Princess of Wales and then encompasses aristocrats like Marchioness Grey, the earls of Kent, Bath and Argyll, dozens of bishops, literary figures like Samuel Johnson and Samuel Richardson, prominent members of high society who were soon to become eminent bluestockings such as Mrs Delaney, Elizabeth Montagu and Mrs Boscawen. The master of Eton, Dr Barnard, subscribed for seven copies and many Oxbridge colleges also subscribed for more than one copy, as did· Secker (he put his name down for 12 copies), Dr Hayter (seven copies) and the Oxenden family (10 copies). Scattered among all the eminent names, were also the more homely ones: Carter's friends from Deal and Canterbury such as Miss Blamer, the Knight family and Miss Knatchbull loyally paid their guineas. Printing began in June 1757 and was finished only in April the following year. The printing was done by Richardson, whose bill to Carter came to £ 67/7 shillings. As he printed only 1018 copies, less than the number of subscribers (a number of whom had subscribed for two or more copies, though by way of compliment, not claiming all), a second edition of Brigitte Sprenger 141 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 250 copies was printed in July 1758. After paying her bill and paying for the binding of a number of complimentary copies (to which Dr Carter strenuously objected, feeling the subscribers had had her profit in mind, not theirs) Carter had earned nearly a £1000102. This profit compares very respectably indeed with other contemporary productions: Oliver Goldsmith earned £ 250 for his Grecian History, Henry Fielding netted £ 600 for the classic Tom Jones and Samuel Johnson earned £125 with Rasselas103. Carter's profit is therefore frequently cited in literary texts as indicative of the authorial independence attainable during the transition from patronage to modern publisher. In 1759, 1766, 1807, 1899 and 1910 more editions, in two octavo volumes, would be printed. In 1766 a duodecimo edition appeared and parts of Carter's translation appeared in 1818, 1822, 1835 and 1865. The translation would eventually be included in the popular Everyman Library and be available until the middle of this century. It kept its value. Several years after publication, Secker, presumably in mock complaint, showed Carter a booksellers' catalogue. "Here, Madam Carter., see how ill I am used by the world: here are my Sermons selling at half price, while your Epictetus truly is not to be had under eighteen shillings, only three shillings less than the original subscription"104. The manner of proofreading had been circuitous. Richardson sent the printed sheets directly to Carter who, after correcting, forwarded them to Secker. It seems that Carter, meticulous in her translation and experienced in dealing with printers and printing processes, for some reason took less care than usual, for the bishop wrote her upon receipt of the first batch of sheets: Do, dear Madam Carter, get yourself whipt. Indeed it is quite necessary for you. I know you meant to be careful; but you cannot do this without help. Everything else has been tried and proves ineffectual. Here are some sheets come down, I have this moment opened them; and the first thing I have cast my eyes upon is Epictetus for Epicurus, p.73. I will look over the whole in a day or two; but one need go no farther to see what prescription your case indicates105. Quite possibly, Carter's carelessness was due to her worry over Harry, who had become very ill which affected Carter's spirits greatly, as did the family gatherings during his illness and afterwards. She loved having the house filled to the brim with her relatives, and the table crowded with up to twenty people; but it did result in a deterioration of health106. 142 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza When Epictetus eventually appeared (probably in May 1758) it was met with universal praise and wonder…and disbelief. Hester Mulso reported: …I was told it had thrown the whole world into the utmost astonishment and that they could no otherwise account for the thing, or comfort themselves under it, but by attributing its excellence to the archbishop's assistance. This last part of the story provokes me, but some how or other they would fain strip the honour from our sex, and deck their own with it. I question whether there will be an act of Parliament next sessions to banish you this realm, as invader of privileges and honours of the lords of creation, and an occasion of stumbling to women, 1n the article of acknowledging their superiority107. Pennington also reports a sceptical reception in some circles where the work was attributed to Secker108.. The situation so exactly echoes that powerfully worded premise in Dale Spender's Women of Ideas and What Men have done to them that it is worth quoting in full: Before women's writing is even published or performed, the male experts declare that women are incapable of literary feats (and have established an education system which they hope facilitates this end). When the writing is published or performed its value is denied, its merit mocked; and because the edict is that only men can achieve success, then a woman's work that sells must 'logically' be the work of a man or else there is something wrong with the woman, for the possibility that women are intellectually competent and have their own literary resources cannot be admitted 109. That this translation was the work of a woman was, as it was indeed an almost unique phenomenon, a matter obviously preoccupying the reviewers, too. The Critical Review, amidst its praise, commented on the extraordinariness of a "woman mistress of the Greek language…capable of giving a faithful and elegant translation of one of the most difficult authors of antiquity" while most ladies of the age were busy with romances, plays and circulating libraries110. Almost seamlessly continuing the strands of thought, The Monthly Review, commented that it proved other women, if educated liberally and exposed to study and learned conversation, could achieve "any intellectual attainment". The reviewer, the highly respectable Owen Ruffhead (1723-1769), a barrister and Pope's editor, supposed it would be "…no small mortification to the vanity of those men, who presume that the fair sex are unequal to the laborious pursuit of philosophic speculations…this work does honour to her sex, and to her country." Ruffhead dedicated nine pages to the translation, quoting at considerable length especially from the Introduction and praising Carter's learning reflection, judgment and zeal for religion. The translation itself is praised for its adherence to the original without losing the sense and spirit of the original, though Brigitte Sprenger 143 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza commenting that in a few places it "is rather languid, for want of using a liberty which the writer seems well qualified to manage discreetly.". The only criticism voiced is Carter's strictness on Seneca in her Introduction and the generality of some of the remarks111. Her friends and acquaintances were also laudatory. Lyttelton wrote to his friend Mrs Montagu that he had, when reading Carter's Introduction a second time admired it more and more112. Elizabeth Montagu found the Introduction "a piece of perfect good writing, the doctrine, the style, the order is admirable. The preference given to the Gospel morality above the philosopher's is done with the greatest justice and an animated zeal"113. And the originator and promoter of the entire project undoubtedly felt both proud of her friend's achievement and satisfied she had prevented Carter's talents diffusing into obscurity: "I never can think," wrote Talbot, "of the immense task you have undertaken without great gratitude to you for so cheerfully going through it, originally, I think, at my request, and rather contrary to your own inclination"114. Throughout the years Talbot had repeatedly praised and encouraged (as well as criticised): "I admire Epictetus more and more every day…There is a nobleness in its simplicity…A superiority of thought, and shortness of expression.."115. Carter had originally hoped to dedicate the work to Talbot, but Talbot considered her friend's undertaking and completion of the task more than enough, and declined the honour. Epictetus appeared without a dedication116. The only one slightly less enthusiastic was Hester Mulso, who much earlier had frequently bemoaned Carter being "wasted" on translations. "You ought to be an original writer, and let your works be translated by those who can only help the world to words, but not to new ideas or new knowledge." Epictetus took far too much of Carter's time, she felt, and constrained her fancy117. Mulso's analysis was astute. While Carter's contemporary reputation would rest on her poetry and the Epictetus- translation, critics this century are increasingly recognising Carter's greater creative talent. Christine Salmon and Isobel Grundy recognise Carter's correspondence as deeply interesting, witty and meritorious. The Feminist Companion to Literature in England calls Carter a "superlative letter writer"118. While not demeaning her professional translating competence, confirmed as we have seen by W. A. Oldfather, it is undoubtedly Carter's creative prose which deserves more recognition. (For a full discussion. see Chapter 7). Hester Mulso's regret at Carter's neglect of this talent can only be sustained. 144 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza The Epictetus translation on the whole, however, secured Carter's reputation during her own lifetime and beyond. Despite the circulating doubts of her authorship, her reputation henceforth was highly academic, moral and respectable and her name was synonymous with pious intellectuality. Contemporary newspapers and magazines henceforth accorded her moral and literary laurels, used her name as exemplary of the proper sort of female education and literacy, and dubbed her Miss Epictetus119. The financial and critical triumph was not to be enjoyed long, for family matters were again about to affect her spirits crucially. After the deaths of James and Nicolas Jr, and the settling of the Athanasian controversy, life with the Carter family had been peaceful and even prosperous for a while. Henry had begun at Cambridge and John had married the daughter of Elizabeth's closest friend, Hannah Underdown. The Underdowns, with whom Carter had spent all those evenings in the past, were a wealthy family and when John Underdown had died, his wife and young daughter, Frances, had inherited a considerable amount of property. John Carter, who had attained a lieutenancy in the Foot Regiment under General Wolfe, became betrothed to Frances on 2 June 1755, and married her soon after she came of age on 17 June 1756. He thereby, as was usual under the contemporary marital laws, became the owner of Frances' property which included "12 messuages, 8 barns, 8 stables, 1 millhouse, 4 lofts. 4 curtillages, 12 gardens, 6 orchards, 110 acres of land, 20 acres meadow, 20 acres pasture, 20 acres marsh all in Deal, Sholden and St Mary". By April 1758, Frances was pregnant, yet possibly attempted to miscarry. Dr Carter wrote Elizabeth on 17 April 1758 that they were having some problems with a neighbouring Quaker who had seen Frances jumping up and down in the garden and who was now publicly accusing her of harming the unborn child120. The matter is not referred to again in extant correspondence. But three months later, Frances was dead. The event was tragic for all the family, including Elizabeth. "My own loss by this event is not merely that of a sister-in-law. She was the only child of my most intimate friend in this place, and I have had a constant connection with her, ever since she was born"121. Elizabeth spent most of her days now consoling her brother and Mrs Underdown and soon became extremely depressed. Various friends suggested various schemes, such as attending the annual Canterbury races, but Carter could find no heart for it. Where grief was concerned, she was no Stoic: Brigitte Sprenger 145 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza To indulge the long continuance of a useless grief is certainly wrong and inconsistent with the duties of life; but on the other hand to hurry off every tender sentiment for those who are removed from us, to style every good impression which sorrow naturally raises in the mind in the racket of the world, and thus to frustrate the gracious intention of Providence in all afflictions, seems to be a practice strangely inhuman and unchristian122. Five months later Carter still felt the consequences of Frances' death: “.. my health and spirits have been much more affected than I have ever discovered,” she confessed to Elizabeth Montagu123. Carter's deep and long mourning was to be merely an apprenticeship for the next few years. NOTES 1 Fred. Aug. Wendeborn A View of England towards the Close of the Eighteenth Century)'. 2 Vols, (London: Robinson, 1791) 36 2 "Education, Schools and Universities" by Sir Charles Mullet in Johnson's England, ed. A.S. Turberville, (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1933) 211, 226 3 Wendeborn, ibid; 49 4 Pat Rogers “Books, Readers and Patrons" in The New Pelican Guide to English Literature, Vol 4, (Penguin 1982) 225 5 Ruth Perry Women, Letters and the Novel, (New York: AMS Press Inc, 1980) 67 6 Samuel Johnson, Preface to Shakespeare, (London, 1765) XXV-XXVlll 7 K. M. Rogers Feminism in Eighteenth Century England, (Brighton: Harvester Press1982) 53 8 EC to EM 20 Jul 1777 9 Montagu Pennington Memoirs, (1807) I,126; Ronald Bayne, introduction to Butler's Analogy of Religion, (Everyman, 1906) xi (The British Library possesses a manuscript "Note of Mrs Epictetus Carter for my Dear Son G.M.B. Esquire" wherein Carter thanks Mrs Berkeley for some extracts from Mrs Berkeley's Letters and apologises for causing Mr Berkeley trouble in acquiring it for her. The note is dated 146 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 15 June 1787 and therefore presumably addresses Talbot's lover's son (cf. Chapter 3). Carter does close the note with asking Mrs Berkeley to present respects to Doctor Berkeley. MS Add. E.g. 2186, folio 153). 10 Gerald R. Cragg History of the Church, Vol 4, Pelican, (1960/ 1970) 68 ff 11 Elizabeth Carter, Introduction to Epictetus; (1758)xi, xxx 12 Cragg, History of the Church, ibid; 163 ff and Butler, Analogy of Religion; 119-1 99 13 Miscellaneous writings by Carter in Memoirs, ibid, II 375, 380. 14 Memoirs, II, 179. 15 Margaret Kirkham, Jane Austen, Feminism and Fiction, (Brighton: Harvester Press) 23 16 Introduction to Epictetus, p. xxix; "To Mrs -", and "To -", Poems on Several Occasions (1762) 68, 73. 17 EC to CT 4 Oct 1763 in Memoirs, 381. 18 "Written at Midnight in a Thunder Storm", Poems upon Several Occasions, 36; EC to EM 13 Jul 1758 19 EC to EM 3 Sep 1774, when her father was dying 20 Hesther Mulso quoted this with delight at Carter on 29 Aug 1757, Posthumous_ Works of Mrs Chapone (London 1807) 21 "Whatever we think on't", Poems Upon Particular Occasions, (1738) 15 22 EC to CT 26 Oct 1750 23 Ibid 163 24 EC to EV 10 Sep 1770 Brigitte Sprenger 147 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 25 Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy and its Connection with Political and Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the Present Day (Routledge, 1961 ed) 270 26 Myra Reynolds, The Learned Lady in England__1650-.1760, (New York: Houghton Mifflin 1920) 197 27 EC's Introduction to Epictetus, Note 42 28 Memoirs, I; 159 29 EC to CT 20 Jun 1749; Memoirs, I; 163;CT to EC, Memoirs, I; 165. 30 Porteus, Preface to Secker's Sermons on Several Sub jects 1795) 31 Memoirs, II; 123-126; I; 179,165. 32 Memoirs, I; 161-2 33 EC to Secker, Memoirs, I; 165 ff 34 Secker to EC, Memoirs, I; 166ff 35 Introduction to Epictetus, Note 42 36 Rev. John Mulso The Letters to Gilbert White of Selborne from his intimate Friend and Contemporary the Rev. John Mulso, ed. Rashleigh Holt White. (London: R.H. Porter n.d.) 37 EC to CT, Memoirs, I; 173ff. Pennington prints a fairly full correspondence between Carter and Secker on translating styles in his Memoirs, I; 163-170 38 Memoirs, I; 157 39 For instance, in EC to CT 5 May 1749, she mentions the "little brother and sister under my care" 148 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 40 CT to EC 27 Sep 1751. Five years later Talbot was still admiringly envious, "How important your task, to form the mind that is hereafter to instruct so many", CT to EC 24 Feb 1756 41 Henry was accepted by Benedict College and was after graduation given the living at Little Wittenham in Berkshire, then in the gift of the Oxenden family, who awarded it to Henry. Henry married, had four sons and a daughter whom he named Elizabeth for his sister. This little namesake lived for a while with EC and was also educated in part by her aunt. Memoirs I; 157; EC to EV 20 Nov 1779. 42 NC to EC 11 Jul 1748. This would have increased James' pay from 49 shillings a month to between 4-5 shillings per day and given added job security. The war had increased the number of lieutenants in the English navy to about 640 by 1748, Admiral Sir Herbert Richmond, "The Navy" in Johnson's England: An Account of the Life and Manners of his Age, ed. A. S. Turberville, (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1933) Vol 1; 58,59 43 NC to EC 9 Mar 1749 44 HMC to EC 11 Sep 1749, Posthumous Works, ibid 45 EC to CT 9 May 1752 -and 14 Feb 1751 where EC is sorry Johnson incurred censure with his Rambler on Milton 46 EC to CT 28 Dec 1750 47 Quotes from Ramblers 44 and 100 were here taken from their appendixed appearance at the end of Poems on Several Occasions. 1762. These Ramblers are also published in the Yale edition of Works of Samuel Johnson, eds. W.J. Bate and Albrecht B. Strauss, (1969) 48 CT to EC 28 May 1750 49 EC to EV 25 Sep 1773 50 CT to EC 19 Jan 51 Brigitte Sprenger 149 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 51 EC to CT 4 Mar 1751 52 CT to EC 10 Jun 1754 and EC to CT 10 Jul 1754: Adventurer, 4 Vols, (1793).(I found no Adventurer signed "Y" in the time-span – mid 1754 – Carter referred to. There is, however, an Adventurer on deficient education and guidance for women, signed by "Y", which appeared in two parts on 31 Jul 1753 and 4 Aug 1753. A woman, educated as a Deist by her father, is led by wrong principles into seduction. While Carter could undoubtedly have written this as far as knowledge of the subject matter is concerned, the style is unlike hers and she never elsewhere expressed herself as openly on sexual matters as "Y" does). 53 EC to CT 4 Mar 1750 54 CT to EC 10 Jun 1754 55 CT to EC 28.5.50, see also above 56 EC to CT 28 Apr 1750 57 CT to EC 4 Apr 1754 and EC to CT 16 Apr 1754. Pennington dated EC's letter erroneously in 1752 58 EC to CT, Memoirs, I; 182 ff 59 Memoirs, I; 184 60 EC to Susanna Highmore 9 Jul 1750, published in the Mercury, 23 Sep 1876 and EC to CT 13 Jul 1750. See also Chapter 7 61 EC to CT 21 May 1750, also CT to EC 28 Apr 1750 and CT to EC 29 Feb 1751 62 Laker, History of Deal, 2nd edition, (Deal: Dain & Sonsl921) 269; The Answer from the Corporation of Deal to the Rev. Dr. Carter, (Deal, 31 Jul 1751) 2. It was the curate's right to nominate a clerk yet, probably because of Nicolas' arrogance, and his carrying out of the dispute in public, the Corporation strongly protested and resented their curate. They advised him to "not look with Coolness and Disdain" upon others and not to think "that Heat, Passion, and an overbearing Behaviour will 150 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza ever convince or reform…….. when you rebuke, do it with Gentleness, Moderation. and Good-nature; and not to gratify Ill-Will, Malice, or Resentment…." (ibid; 14). The Corporation's published answer to Carter, also incorporated letters by six leading Deal citizens including Carter's personal friend John Underdown. Underdown resented Carter publishing a "private confidence" over a glass of wine (ibid; 22): The entire published dispute gives an excellent indication of Nicolas Carter's strong personality and of how very uncomfortable the entire affair must have been for Elizabeth Carter. 63 NC to EC 27 Apr 1751, Ponting collection. The background concerning the Athanasian Creed is mostly gleaned from Dr Carter's published sermon on the subject (see below) and the Encyclopedia Britanica for the information about Athanasius. Unfortunately, several church histories, including Cragg's History of the Church make no mention of the controversy, its origins, extent or further development 64 A Letter to the Mayor and Corporation of Deal in Kent. In relation to their Opinion about the Trinity. (London, 1752) 32. Memoirs, I; 365- 368. 65 EC to CT 21 May 1751 66 EC to CT 26 Jun 1751 67 EC to CT 12 Aug 1751 68 EC to CT 12 Aug 1751 69 Nicolas Carter, A Sermon preached at Deale in Kent before the Mayor and Corporation, August 9 1752 (London, 1752) 70 HMC to EC 29 Nov 1752 71 CT to EC 13 Nov 1752; cf previous chapter 72 Memoirs, I; 173 and EC to CT 20 Dec 1752 73 EC to CT 5 Dec 1752 Brigitte Sprenger 151 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 74 CT to EC 8 Jun 1751 75 CT to EC 8 Sep 1753 76 CT to EC 8 Sep 1753 77 EC to CT 21 Sep 1753 78 EC to CT 3 Nov 1753 and 14 Feb 1754 and 14 Sep 1754 79 CT to EC 7 Feb 1755 80 EC to CT 22 Dec 1755 81 EC to CT 5 Mar 1755 82 EC to CT 11 Jan 1755 83 Carter's initial rejection of a proposal to write with the excuse of having to sew shirts unfortunately led historians Anderson and Zinsser to an erroneous conclusion that Carter "had run out of funds and was forced to support herself by sewing". A further incorrect conclusion is that Montagu heard of this plight and organised the subscription to Epictetus. Bonnie S. Anderson and Judith P. Zinsser, A History of their Own: Women in Europe from Prehistory to the Present, (London: Penguin, 1990), Vol. II, 112. 84 Introduction to Epictetus. Ibid; xiv 85 EC to CT 3 May 1756 86 EC to CT 26 May 1756 87 Introduction to Epictetus, ibid;. xii: Memoirs, I; 174-5 88 Introduction, Epictetus, ibid; xxxviii 89 W.A. Oldfather: Introduction to Epictetus, (Wm Heinemann 1925) xxvi 90 Introduction to Epictetus, ibid; xxiii,xxv, xxviii 152 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 91 EC to CT July 1755, Memoirs 1;188 92 Memoirs I; 190 93 Cragg, History of the Church,ibid;127 94 Introduction to Epictetus, ibid;xxxiii 95 CT to EC 9 Jul 1755 96 Memoirs, I; 204 97 CT to EC 7 May 1756 and Memoirs I; 214, EC to CT 14 Aug 1756 and HC to EC 1 Jan 1757 98 CT to EC 8 Jun 1757; EC to CT 6 Jun 1757. Cf Chapter 3 99 EC to CT 3 May 1756 100 Memoirs I; 209 101 NC to EC 26 Feb 1758, Ponting collection 102 NC to EC 17 Apr 1758 103 A.S. Collins, Authorship in the Days of Johnson: Being a Study of the Relation between Author, Patron, Publisher and Public. 1726-1780, (London 1927) 30, 32. Carter's earnings are mentioned on p. 39 104 Memoirs I; 208 105 Memoirs I; 205 106 EC to CT 12 Aug 1757 and 27 Aug 1757 107 HMC to EC, undated, Posthumous Works, ibid 108 Memoirs. I; 212 Brigitte Sprenger 153 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 109 Dale Spender, Women of Ideas and what _ Men_ have done to them. (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul 1982) 69 110 The Critical Review, August 1758, Nr 149 111 The Monthly Review, June 1758; Index, Benjamin Christie Nangle, (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1934) 112 EM to EC, 29 Oct 1762, Huntington; Memoirs, I; 212 113 EM to her sister Sarah Scott, 3 May (1756), printed in Letters of Mrs Elizabeth Montagu, (London 1810-13) 114 CT to EC, Memoirs I;193 115 CT to EC 4 Nov 1749 116 Memoirs, I; 206, CT to EC 8 Jan 1757 117 HMC to EC 11 Jan 1755 118 Christine Salmon Representations of the Female Self, (unpubl thesis, 1991) 262271, 191; Isobel Grundy, adviser's report, October 1989 "Carter seems to me a delightful letter-writer, and I find it a mystery that others have thought her stiff and formal". The Feminist Companion to Literature in England, eds Virginia Blain, Patricia Clements and lsobel Grundy (London: B.T. Batsford, 1990). 119 Sylvia Myers The Bluestocking Circle ibid;271-289 120 NC to EC 17 Apr 1758 121 EC to EM 13 Jul 1758 122 EC to CT 18 Aug 1758 123 EO to EM 13 Jan 1759 154 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Chapter Five: Ever Widening Circles Do not forget to take Virgil to Tunbridge. How we shall enjoy ourselves! the very thought of it does me good… Carter to Montagu 27 June 1761 Mrs Carter is a surprising woman, mistress of most languages, and of a noble vein in poetry, her attempts that way being wonderfully classic, correct and masculine. John Chapone to Gilbert White1 O still be ours to each improvement giv'n, Which Friendship's doubly to the heart endears: Those hours, when banish'd hence, shall fly to Heav'n, And claim the promise of eternal years. Elizabeth Carter, "To (Mrs Montagu)"2 Posterity's opinion of Elizabeth Montagu has been less favourable than her distant cousin, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. While the latter's views on female education, her poems, her Turkish letters, her Female Spectators and her general correspondence bask in general reappreciation, Baugh's literary history dismisses the former as a "charming hostess" who exaggerated her own influence as literary patron and wrote an "exasperating" defence of Shakespeare3. Other histories mention her not at all, or perhaps only as the sharp-nosed woman who had a conflict with Johnson over the latter's treatment of Lord Lyttelton in his Lives of the Poets. Occasionally she can be found as the 'Queen of the Blues', or as the patron (with Hannah More) of the Milkwoman Poet, Ann Yearsley. While arguably her Essay on the Writings and Genius of Shakespeare (1769), written as a defence against Voltaire's vicious attacks on the bard, makes unrewarding reading in our times, her three Dialogues of the Dead (1760), added to Lyttelton's, are meritorious and highly entertaining as is, even more so, the voluminous correspondence lying mostly unedited in various library collections4. Brigitte Sprenger 155 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Montagu, like Talbot, would seem at first a most unlikely friend for the parson's daughter from Deal. She was, through marriage, possibly the wealthiest woman in England during her lifetime. Born on 2 October 1720 in York, she was the fourth child but first daughter of Matthew and Elizabeth Robinson, both of whom were property owners. The couple christened her Elizabeth, but she was usually called Fidget because of her sprightliness. Due mostly to having six obliging and encouraging brothers as well as the family's friendship with a Fellow at Trinity College in Cambridge, "Fidget" received a fairly sound, if not regular, education. When twelve years old she was befriended by the eight years older Lady Margaret Harley; this relationship grew intimate and was crucial to Elizabeth's development. The friendship brought her among wealthy, cultured people in whose lives she participated as an equal for long months on end. Yet she was above all a realist, comprehending she was a woman who would not be educated for a profession or inherit property and so must marry, and marry without a large portion. She found a suitable compromise and opportunity in the person of Edward Monta.gu, grandson of the Earl of Sandwich, wealthy, secure and fifty-one years of age when she, at 22, married him. Many years later she confided in Carter: "You and I have never been in love" 5. Before the first wedding anniversary a son, John, had been born, and before another year was out he had died, the death attributed to teething trouble. Elizabeth Montagu was devastated and never had another child. Instead she began to develop a social life in London and a literary interest in the country, the combination of which would eventually lead to the Bluestocking Circle. The London seasons were relatively short, and so Elizabeth Montagu spent most of her earlier married life at a country residence at Sandleford or in Humberside where her husband's collieries were. During these long periods she wrote letters, thousands of letters, to Margaret (who had become the Duchess of Portland by marriage), to Anne Donnellan and to her only sister, Sarah. Especially with the latter, who was to become the authoress Mrs Scott when she had deserted her husband and had to provide for her children, literature was a fond topic and the women were always interested in female authors6. It was to her sister that Montagu first mentioned Elizabeth Carter whose manuscript of Epictetus she must somehow have procured as early as 1756. Montagu offered to lend it to her sister: "The introduction appears to me a piece of perfect good writing, the doctrine, the style, the order is admirable. The preference given to the Gospel 156 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza morality above the philosophies is done with the greatest justice and an animated zeal" 7. Montagu subscribed for two copies. In the same letter she mentioned that Miss Carter was due to dine with her tomorrow. Montagu found Carter "a most amiable, modest gentle creature, not herisse'e de Grec nor blown up with self-opinion." The statement is interesting on two counts: It indicates that Carter's reputation, two years before Epictetus had even been published, was such that London's wealthiest socialite sought her acquaintance, but also implies that even such a sober, well-educated woman as Montagu expected an academic, literary woman to be a dislikeable phenomenon. The admiration evident here of Carter's scholarship, her piety and person, became in fact the foundation stone upon which the ensuing friendship was built. Montagu, at 36 three years Carter's junior, stood fully in awe of the older woman's polymathic knowledge but even more of her religious and moral being. "I assure you none of the authors you mention ever said what edified me so much as your resignation to sickness, to ordinary avocations and the demands of courtesy; to these you can patiently give up the hours in which you could acquire knowledge and extend your fame," Montagu wrote only two years later8. After the initial few meetings in 1756, there was no great development in the friendship either by correspondence or personal meetings and there is only one letter extant for the two years after their meeting9. The two women probably met again a few times during the 1757 season, when Carter, possibly in compensation for all the years of abstention, remained in the capital for nearly six months. She took lodgings with a Mr Willis, cabinetmaker, whose house was opposite the south door of St Paul's, giving close proximity to Catherine Talbot and participation in daily family routine such as doing her duty at coffee time with a knife and nutmeg10. Thus, while the intimacy with the Secker household grew, there was no such growth with the Montagu's. Its cause lay with Carter's reticence as an early letter of Montagu's indicates: I can perfectly understand why you were afraid of me last year….you had heard I set up for a wit and people of real merit and sense hate to converse with witlings… I am happy you have found out I am not to be feared; I am afraid I must improve myself much before you will find I am to be loved. I shall get it from you, and even if you won't part with it without other good qualities, I hope to get them of you if you will continue to me the happiness and advantage of your conversation 11. Brigitte Sprenger 157 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza The courting was this time not done by Carter, but by Montagu, who painfully embarrassed Carter with exorbitant flattery: "You would give ballast to an imagination that carries too much sail and your judgment like a skillful pilot, would direct its course…I only sport like the butterfly; you are the honey-bee and extract the precious essence…"12. Such was the barrage of praise Carter received in Deal. She warded it off sometimes with wry humour, sometimes by ignoring it. By early 1759, Carter finally trusted herself to emerge from behind the semi-formal epistolary convention and frankly voice her "real mortification" and fear that: …it is to the too advantageous idea you have formed of me and not to what I really am, that I am indebted for a happiness to which I have no pretence from any such excellence as you kindly suppose me to be possessed of…lf I have any qualifications that entitle me to a share in your esteem and affection….! owe them entirely to my being a Christian; some of the least evils perhaps that you have discovered… was I anything else… that I should have been a stoic, a metaphysician, a bear and a wit. Do not be frighted; I am no such beast at present; and I do not disavow your favourable opinion so much from any great harm in me as that I am not half so wise and good as you suppose me and as I heartily wish to be. Then why do not you set about it, fool, Epictetus would say – very true, and I will see what can be done….I am vexed and ashamed of saying so much upon a subject so insignificant as myself but I cannot bear you should be deceived and think more highly of me than I deserve. I am unreasonable enough to wish you to be convinced of my faults and follies, and yet to continue to love me in spite of them all13. The death of her sister-in-law mid-1758 so upset Carter (see previous chapter) that despite pleas from both her old and her new friends, she felt unable to face a London season or even a visit to Lambeth where the Talbots, since Secker's promotion to the post of Archbishop of Canterbury, had now shifted14. By the middle of January 1759 she felt she was recuperating but other developments then prevented full enjoyment of her improved health. Catherine Talbot's health was precarious: She was possibly already suffering from the cancer which would send her to her grave early in 1770, within a year of Secker's death (see Chapter 6}. The nature of Catherine's illness was known some years in advance at least, probably to Secker and Carter only, and not to Mrs Talbot. A correspondence between Secker and Carter in 1759 referred to by Pennington possibly indicates the diagnosis had been made already15. The prognosis in 1759 prompted Carter, without telling Talbot, to go to London to be with her friend ("God grant I may find her health in a better state, than I have at present reason 158 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza to apprehend") and enlisted Elizabeth Montagu to find her some lodgings. The latter, enthusiastically, offered her own home. But Elizabeth Carter valued her independence more than luxury and tactfully but honestly explained: …the thought of your being perplexed every day to think of a dinner for me, frightens me out of my wits. Besides, whenever I dine by myself, I revel in cake and tea, a kind of independent luxury in which one needs very little apparatus, and no attendants; and is mightily consistent with loitering over a book. But though I renounce all manner of dishes and covers, which would really be only an encumbrance and puzzle to me; I will very gladly be indebted to you for a more important entertainment, whenever you are so good as to give me an opportunity to converse with you, which will make me as happy as I am capable of being, in my present situation16. Some lodgings were found by Montagu's housekeeper (possibly in Hill Street), and Montagu kindly put her coach at Carter's disposal to aid commuting between Lambeth and Montagu's residence and the lodgings. By the middle of February Carter arrived to find Catherine Talbot still in poor health but not without hope for recovery. In fact, according to Talbot, it was very much Carter's presence, and nursing, that helped her defy an illness which was feared mortal. ("Indeed there is no expressing all the comfort and good you have been to us this last summer, and who in the world but you would have attempted giving it with such a melancholy prospect before you as we had at setting out six months ago"17.) It was soon decided that the best remedy for the invalid was the Bristol waters and on about the 11th of March 1759, Carter set out with Mrs and Miss Talbot for the West. They travelled very slowly, stopping at places like Reading and Marlborough, reaching their destination after nearly five days, with Miss Talbot weak in health and weak in spirits. The party spent nearly five months in Bristol, during which time Talbot's health slowly improved and Carter, to keep up with the company, also drank the waters, feeling neither better nor worse for it. There is something in this strange frippery way of squandering one's hours which, in one view, appears vexatiously trifling and unprofitable, yet taken in the true light, it is certainly, upon proper occasions, as much a part of life, as more serious and important-looking employment..! believe it is much oftener our pride than our virtue, which is hurt, by a submission to what we are apt to deem trifles. We are led to form much too magnificent ideas of our own powers of action…..lt is not in the study of sublime speculations…that the heart grows wiser, or the temper more correct. It is in the daily occurrences of mere common life, with all its mixture of folly and impertinence, that the proper exercise of virtue lies…18. Brigitte Sprenger 159 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza And so Carter spent her days reading to Talbot, accompanying her to drink the waters, and fulfilling social obligations. That these did not come at all easily to her is beautifully illustrated by the circumstance of her meeting Mrs Pitt, wife of the late John Pitt and mother of Morton Pitt, MP for Dorsetshire. Mrs Pitt was a friend of Elizabeth Montagu's who, when hearing the former was going to Bristol, told her Carter was there too and "I told her you would tremble and hesitate and blush and look as simple as ever you would for your life when you introduced yourself"19. Montagu urged Carter to introduce herself which the latter then did: In compliance with your commands, I stuck myself into a window. close to the elbow of Mrs Pitt and there belike I might have remained stuck till this time, if it had been necessary for me to begin the conversation; but she was so good to release me from this difficulty, and speak first. For the first day or two, she did not seem to take cordially to me, but, at length, she very obligingly reproached me, that notwithstanding your recommendation, I had not been to see her. In answer to this accusation, I uttered sundry inarticulate excuses, which ended in an appointment… The visit, which I had taken into my head was so very formidable, I found to be, in reality, extremely agreeable; my mortal terrors were all dissipated, and, except hanging my ruffle upon the lock, and running my nose· against the door (probably due to her near-sightedness), I walked out of the room with a very gracious intrepidity20. Yet while Carter was with her physical being helping one friend, another part of her occasionally hankered after another. The mere fortnight in London must have been of such intimate and regular contact with Montagu that the two women had attained a deeper level of intimacy reflected repeatedly in the letters which followed. When barely a week away, Carter already wistfully moaned: O dear! instead of conversing at the distance of a hundred miles, you and I should have been sitting tete-a-tete, and we should have been the quietest, prettiest, properest company for each other imaginable, …and I value myself upon thinking that you have not a friend in the world who…could so perfectly have suited your disposition21. And: …longed for you extremely the other night at Reading, to ramble by moonlight amongst the ruins of an old abbey: you will be sensible this wish expresses more than a thousand speeches if you consider how few people one would chose for companions in such a scene and therefore I deferred my expedition till the next morning, when I knew I should be less delicate in the choice of my company. There are many very good sort of folks whom one may tolerate and even be mighty well pleased with in broad sunshine who would be quite insufferable by moonlight22. 160 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza The correspondence at this stage attained regularity and forthrightness with Carter becoming uncharacteristically flippant at times. In flighty accounts of Bristol's spa-society, Carter emulated a prototype of Mrs Modish. Montagu's reaction to one such witty epistle was swift: "Send me a better letter..do you think I care for your wit and wisdom when you won't tell me how you do..?", calling her Miss Betsy Carter in an obvious sideward glance at Eliza Haywood's Miss Betsy Thoughtless, so popular then23. Carter replied gently that she remained as wise and sober and dull as if she were dwelling in a hermitage: "Well, my dear Mrs Montagu, is this a better letter and does it do you any good to be informed that I am two days in the week, and sometimes three, in bed with the head-ache…"24. Quite possibly the precariousness of Talbot's health determined Carter to seek her emotional confidante elsewhere at this stage, reluctant to burden Catherine, whose recovery was neither swift nor lasting, with her own physical or emotional worries. On the journey back from Bristol in August, Carter learnt of the death of her step-mother and the blow, coming only a year after the loss of Frances Underdown, struck deep. Although she chided with herself for so indulging a "wrong turn of thinking", she fully vented her grief to Montagu: …My father's loss in this sad event, strikes me more deeply than even what I suffer from it myself, though very sensibly shall I feel the want of her in that melancholy family to which I now dread to return…How shall I miss her kind indulgences of many little inclinations, her tender concern for my health, and her constant watchful care of me, whenever I needed any particular assistance, which, as she was never from home, she was always ready, and always willing to afford me! But these are childish and selfish considerations..25 Carter found in Montagu an empathetic friend, who by dint of having similarly experienced the death of a mother, could offer both personal and religious comfort. "My dear Mrs Carter," Montagu replied, "need not make any apology for telling me her griefs; it is only to the sympathising heart one has a consolation in relating them and whatever expresses your confidence in my affection, does me justice, does me honour"26. Of all Carter's intimate female correspondents, Montagu showed most interest in the family and allied herself most closely to them. She encouraged Carter's brothers and sisters to visit her, very frequently greeted them in her letters, and in 1762, when Margaret Pennington-Carter gave birth to another boy, Montagu offered to stand godmother to the child and, being accepted with great gratitude, determined his name should be Montagu. This Montagu Brigitte Sprenger 161 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Pennington, Carter's nephew, became the biographer and the editor/publisher of the correspondence between the women. Pennington undoubtedly profited from having such a wealthy and interested godmother, not least by being taken on a European Tour by her in 1776. Carter's family and presumably the Talbots, recognising her sensitivity and the potential illness and depression it threatened, insisted Carter stay away from home a little longer. Carter's extreme sensibility during mourning is palpable behind her proffered consolation to Talbot upon the latter losing her friend Lady Ansell nearly a year later. Carter felt the "force of duty, which restrains all the extravagances of grief…can no more…prevent its painful feelings and their fatal effects..there is an indolence that renders one averse to every change." Talbot replied that Carter should not judge by her own quick and tender feelings27. Carter returned early in the new year to her melancholy family, which had now been reduced to the widowed John, her widowed father and her youngest sister Polly. Margaret was married, Nicolas and James were dead, Henry was still at college. Polly would soon marry Dr Archibald Douglas. Carter's friendship with Montagu however, and the whirl of events this precipitated, prevented any isolation or desolation. Despite her long absence from Deal during '59, Carter still spent the next season in London again, albeit a short one from mid-February to mid-April only. Early in 1760, a literary project to which Montagu contributed was published: Lord Lyttelton's Dialogues of the Dead included at the end three dialogues by Montagu. One of these, which involved as Mrs Modish the frivolous, superficial type of society woman both Carter and Montagu abhorred, was especially popular and even today makes enjoyable reading. Montagu published anonymously but Carter had long known of her friend's contribution and was pleased when at last the world in general knew the true author. As she herself had been encouraged to put her name to her work and always to embark on new literary ventures, Carter now in turn adopted a similar patron role towards Montagu: "I heartily wish you to be engaged in some work of this kind", she wrote, suggesting Montagu embark on a comparable project28. Such encouragement did indeed spur. Montagu on to attempt more serious authorship, though, in keeping with society's mores, modestly aspiring only to 162 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza doing " any thing towards clearing society of their lowest and meanest follies" rather than attaining permanent universality29. Montagu's ambition settled on refuting Voltaire's attack on the inferiority of William Shakespeare by comparing the English bard to the classic and French dramatists. To this project (eventually to be published in 1769 as An Essay on the Writings and Genius of Shakespeare..:.:.:.) Carter contributed considerably with critical guidance and information. During the years Montagu was writing, the correspondence between the two women frequently featured very long discussions on dramatic art. Carter's major contribution lay in providing the classical Greek analogues and bases which Montagu herself lacked. In 1764, Carter provided Montagu with a clear but lengthy summary of Plato's philosophy, especially on criticism. Montagu saw no merit in tempering human passions in tragedy, though Carter staunchly defended Plato's philosophy of moderation 30. Similarly, Montagu at length sounded Carter on Euripides. Montagu could not read Greek and was therefore acquainted with many classics via translation only. Her reliance on Carter's more directly personal knowledge is frequently evident31. Carter ranged Euripides with Shakespeare in distilling genuine human nature for his characters, even though she felt that generally, the classics (especially when portraying their gods) could be absurd in characterisation. Thus, Carter felt Euripides' delineation of Hecuba's character, especially in his natural depiction of her preoccupation with bodily aches, was exquisite. Shakespeare, she argued, could not be called for comparison here. Hamlet only hinted at bodily evils; the nurse in Romeo and Juliet was hardly comparable in situation – the only possible comparison could be with Lear, yet he was still too spirited and passionate to attend to his bodily sufferings 31. Montagu referred to Euripides on several occasions in her essay, reflecting Carter's opinions and she frankly confessed to plagiarism:' Pray communicate all your remarks on Euripides that I may steal them the confession is honest whatever ye act may be.." 32. Montagu used Carter continually as a sounding board to ripen and sharpen her own critical premises, occasionally producing eight-page epistles of literary thought. To Montagu, Carter was "my guide philosopher & friend"33. On occasion, she asked Carter to translate some Greek texts pertaining to her subject34. It was Carter who encouraged Montagu to ignore Aristotelian rules of criticism: Brigitte Sprenger 163 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Aristotle is, no doubt, very respectable from an amazing depth and precision of understanding; but it was unenlivened by single ray of poetic genius, and utterly destitute of the colouring of the imagination. Indeed, he seems to have been such a mere scientific being as to discover very little symptom of any affections of the heart; and if, according to Mr Locke's question, one could suppose, that to an iron poker could be superadded a faculty of thinking, that iron poker would be neither more nor less than an Aristotle. I am undone if you ever repeat this flippancy before any devotee of the Stagyrite35. Montagu happily abandons classical standards, promoting, like Carter, Samuel Johnson's initiative to 'obviate' the need for unities. Montagu sent major segments of her work to Carter for "vigorous criticism" as the essay progressed. Carter in general strongly supported Montagu's premise that Shakespeare could hardly be blamed for occasional evidence in his plays of living in a more barbaric age, though the two women were not always in agreement on interpretations of ancient philosophy and drama. Carter provided Montagu with a great many annotations, most of which were adopted by Montagu36. The essay, published anonymously, was on the whole favourably received despite Johnson's criticism and some grumbled opinion that it could hardly be the work of a woman37. Yet the roles soon reversed and it was Montagu who proved to be the determined agent behind Carter's last major literary production. Throughout the summer the two women's intimacy grew, so that even a break in correspondence of a few weeks deeply upset them. Carter found herself: …extremely sulky from the apprehension that I was defrauded of my apartment in your heart and that somebody or other had gone and hired it over my head. This, I could not help thinking a very hard case, as I had been a very peaceable and orderly tenant, had done no damage, nor made any racket…was contented with my own situation, and never raised any disturbance by encroaching upon the rights of my neighbours; and moreover, had always duly and truly paid my rent, value to you one peppercorn…38. The sentiment reflected no need for sole possession, Carter repeatedly voiced appreciation of the claims of others – friends, family – but modestly asserted her need for a little corner: "The affection of my friends is my treasure and I should think it very ill exchanged for the riches and honours and pleasures which engage the heads and hearts of the folks of this world"39. 164 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza With Montagu, even more than with Talbot, Carter could indulge her literary interests. Montagu inclined more to the Roman classics than the Greek, and the pair thrived on an occasional literary squabble. More often they shared predilections and enthusiastically discussed dramas, poems, essays and philosophical works for weeks on end. Such literary discussions went far beyond a mere regurgitation of texts or exchange of superficial reactions to the latest publications. Carter's mind roamed as freely among authors as her body did over the fields behind Deal. She could meander from Petrarch to the Celts to Milton, discussing throughout the influence of druidical and classic mythology, before introducing Shakespeare, Plato, Cicero, Longinus and Aristoteles into the discussion40. The two women could also be extremely precise and detailed and set themselves specific analytical tasks. On one occasion Carter requested Montagu study and give her opinion on a passage in the Harris translation of Aristotle's Three Treatises in the light of Stoical prejudices41. Especially in the middle stages of their correspondence (mid-sixties to end 70's), literary criticism (mostly of classic authors) would form the bulk of closely-written four- to six-page letters42. Often the debate circled around the "light and delicate turn of the Grecian genius", which Carter preferred, and the "cool correctness of the Roman writers" which Carter's phrasing already reveals to be not her, but Montagu's, favourites43. Despite both women's predilection for the classics, Carter was emphatic in her preference for Shakespeare and Gothic authors who were able to attain sublimity and "awe the imagination". Even Homer, despite impetuosity and fire, did not have this: He is certainly sometimes sublime, but I do not recollect that he is ever so in his descriptions of the divinity. The reason for this is indeed very evident. Nothing is sublime in mere weak, passionate, inconstant man; and Homer's divinities are scarcely anything better. Even the celebrated description of Jupiter's ambrosial locks, his sable brows, and tremendous nod… I must confess does not give me any impression of the sublime44. Montagu agreed with Carter on the superiority of the English classics, delighting especially in praising and exemplifying the ability of Milton and Spenser and Shakespeare to refashion both classic and Celtic mythology45. Carter wrote: "As I have as much of the Goth as of the Athenian in my composition, I find, at least, as much pleasure in reading over… "uncoutments" of our untutored ancestors as..accurate productions of polished Greece"46. (See also Chapter 7 on the nature of this literary correspondence). Brigitte Sprenger 165 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Interspersed with this epistolary life, were little outings. Throughout 1760 Carter visited and was visited by old friends. In May she went to Canterbury where the family's old friend, Dean Lynch, was lying on his deathbed and afterwards she visited Mrs Hawkins Browne, for whose husband she had once revised poems (cf Chapter 4). In July she forfeited the Canterbury races in favour of an excursion with friends to the impressive, imposing little St Margaret's Bay (between Deal and Dover)47. Throughout September it was Carter's turn to stay at home and receive visitors; Mrs Honeywood, Hester Mulso, the misses Hall and Prescott from Canterbury. The next month she accompanied the rest of the family to a longer stay with the Oxenden family. These local friends were the more important to her for, as she herself said, In my situation here, where I spend the greater part of my time, and where I have but very few intimate acquaintance, the loss of any one is really a serious point…My quiet, unimportant life, is so little engaged in the passions and interests, the business or the pleasures which employ the bustling people of this world, that I am left at full leisure to feel every affectionate weakness and every tender regret48. Carter's regret was here at the imminent departure of Bethia D'Aeth who, as daughter of Sir Thomas D'Aeth, had for the past 13 years lived at Wingham House, close to Deal, and who was about to marry a Colonal Cosnan and move away. Memories of years of cultivated discourse and intelligent company, as well as many hours rambling around the countryside, gathering "the first violets of spring" with Bethia kindled precursory mourning. Carter wrote a lengthy poem, beginning "Say, dear Bethia, can thy gentle Mind", intertwining her memories of their years together, with brave hopes of a heavenly future. By recalling the tentative and transient nature of present pleasure she struggles to accept the imminent parting: Ah! dear Bethia, how perverse the Fate That drives thee far from this congenial State. Why were these once transporting Pleasures known, Or why, alas! irreparably Flown! Thus the vain Impotence of reasoning Pride Arraigns the present, blind to all beside49. Bethia Cosnan and Carter maintained contact after the former's marriage, usually when the latter made her annual pilgrimage to London. 166 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza And to London she went again, in February, settling this time at 20 Clarges Street which was to be her permanent address in London until the landlady, a Mrs Norman, died. Carter then lodged for a year in Mayfair, but afterwards found lodging in Clarges Street again, at Nr 21, which was where she· died in 1806. A delightful account of this Mrs Norman and her opinion of Carter was preserved by Montagu in an account her housekeeper, Mrs Whalley, gave after visiting the landlady. Mrs Whalley had asked if the lodgings would soon be ready: Ready, lack a day ready, dear Good Lady, ready,..sure enough my lodgings are always ready for [Carter]. Why she is the best creature in the world…she is the quietest soul in the world & so kind hearted why, she says every morning how do you Mrs Norman. It was a lucky day for me when she came to my lodgings, bless my heart…50. During the 1761 season, Carter met and befriended Elizabeth Vesey. Carter sought an introduction at a salon but was as usual too shy and diffident to address Vesey, and instead "tagged after (her) like a tame kitten from one chair to another"51. Elizabeth Vesey, a well-educated bishop's daughter was first married to William Hancock whose sister, after the husband's death, remained as companion for life. She then married Agmondisham Vesey, an MP and later Accountant General of Ireland, who proved a wealthy but unfeeling husband. Vesey and Montagu had met in Tunbridge Wells. After the success of her salons in London (cf Chapter 6), Vesey set up a similar club in Ireland. Her etheric nature earned her the nickname Sylph. A graphic example of Vesey's character is reported by Carter when, for the sake of a guest who had broken a leg and who could only use the crutches on the gravel paths, Vesey called the gardener to gravel the upstairs drawing-room52. Vesey and Carter commenced their correspondence late in 1761 and it lasted virtually until the former's death. Its nature differed greatly from the epistolary relations Carter upheld with Talbot, Montagu and Mulso. (Cf Chapter 7). Intuiting Vesey's lability, Carter assumed a stable, maternal role willing to share ethereal excursions of the imagination, but mostly proffering spiritual and moral guidance. Carter's epistles to Vesey frequently resemble minor moral Ramblers. Carter returned to Deal in May just after the death of her young nephew, a bereavement which again exacted a high emotional and physical price. Indeed her health had by now slowly deteriorated to a point where she spent up to half each week in bed with debilitating headaches and had given up all hope of ever finding relief, let alone a cure. Carter's Brigitte Sprenger 167 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza headaches, which began during her journalistic days in London (cf Chapter 2), were undoubtedly migraines. Repeatedly, she recorded spending two or three days in bed with them, requiring mere quiet and rest. They were sometimes catalysed by the weather, often by her being confined in noisy, stuffy rooms. When younger she had a phase of many years where she determinedly consulted various physicians and ventured upon various methods of cure. But she in time discovered the "fallacy" of such hopes and methods, decided that perfect health was not in her power and aimed to take satisfaction from her many days of good health and submit to the other days53. The only "treatment" Carter meticulously followed was a determination to take as much exercise and fresh air as possible. Unfortunately, in this independent, socially unacceptable course, she was often thwarted; a connection between her headaches and the restraints seems likely (cf Chapter 7). Modern medical research and practice has not much advanced on attitudes or treatment of migraines and it remains an incurable ailment. One leading modern neurologist, Oliver Sacks, believes migraine can be functional, enforcing vital rest and solitude for people unable to attain this independently. Considering Carter's personal schizophrenia, torn between fulfilling duty, justifying her prodigal status and the yearning for liberal solitude, indicates Sacks' hypothesis applied to her situation54. Carter's friends however, lacked her resignation and Montagu especially attempted to find cures. When Carter accompanied Talbot to Bristol, Montagu was adamant she undergo treatment herself. "Drinking the waters" did not bring much relief to Carter, but Montagu was unwilling to capitulate. In June 1761 she began a campaign to entice Carter to Tunbridge Wells with her. Montagu mentioned the scheme to all and sundry and then sent off a first invitation which brought in grateful thanks but the predictable refusal. Her youngest sister had an extremely bad cough and must to Bristol, and she cannot possibly leave her father alone and so cannot even bring herself to suggest it55. The young sister however, took up Montagu's case and presented it to Nicolas Carter who as always considered his daughter free to follow whichever course. Elizabeth Carter's restrictions tended to be self-imposed: Notwithstanding all my resolutions to quarrel with you. I am in too much good humour from the hopes of coming to you at Tunbridge to heartily set about it…perhaps the change of air will do my head good; I am sure the sight of you will do my heart good…Do not forget to take Virgil to Tunbridge. How we shall enjoy ourselves! the very thought of it does me good…56. 168 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza And so, with Virgil in her bag, and her portmanteau and her writing-desk, she went in Montagu's equipage to Tunbridge on the 13th of July to spend two months in a highly fashionable resort as part of one of the most fashionable cliques there. A stay at Tunbridge did not mean hours of solitude, closeted with Virgil, but mostly social encounters drinking the waters, or taking the air along the Pantiles or airings in the carriage and visits to stately homes. Carter wrote of "two public breakfasts, two days excursions into Sussex, one fit and a half of the head-ache, the making up of four dozen franks, and then falling violently in love with the man who signed them" as having prevented her answering Talbot's letter, and indeed these employments indicate the nature of the stay57. It also reflects Carter's mood; throughout her Tunbridge stay, her letters exude light-hearted wit, frequently evocative of a teasing, flighty miss, rather than a by now stately, plump 45-year old matron. Further evidence is gleaned from a letter written by Dowager Countess Gower: "Mrs Montagu, Mrs Carter, Mr Dunbar etc, etc, and Lord Lyttelton are at Sunning Wells, and sport sentiment from morn till noon, from noon till dewy eve…"58. The intimate Tunbridge clique comprised, beside Montagu and Carter, Lord Lyttelton, Lord Bath and Dr Messenger Monsey. George Lyttelton, earlier Chancellor of the Exchequer and supporter of the Great Commoner early in the century, had gathered fame as author and poet as well. At this stage he had retired from politics, having been raised to the peerage in 1756. Lord Bath, Sir William Pulteney (1684-1764), was a fellow Whig also raised into the peerage but under different circumstances. Bath had long been the embittered opponent of Walpole and in 1746, having held a cabinet post for just over 48 hours, was manoeuvred into retiring and accepting the peerage. These two ageing statesmen and the two eminent literary ladies inevitably drew public attention. Sarah Scott wrote her brother: "lord Bath and Lord Lyttelton were both at Tunbridge, and Miss Carter was with my sister (EM); so… imagine, the place was agreeable, and wit flowed more copiously than the spring"59. The scrutiny was not based on any literary interest – it rather focused on potential romantic developments. The public had ever expected such entanglements from its literary women and was occasionally gratified by people like Mary Wortley Montagu and Hester Thrale. Romantic involvement was of course, not openly sought by any of the Tunbridge clique: Montagu was (unhappily) married and remained exaggeratedly scrupulous for years about Brigitte Sprenger 169 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza separate suites and entourages. Carter had long thought the days of romance and marriage proposals over. Yet rumours of potential marital attachments were not. Once, in frustration, Carter said: "…I have been convinced that one is not perfectly sure on this side an hundred, it will be quite prudent in me, by way of precaution, to learn to swim; having run away from matrimonial schemes as far as dry land goes my next step must be the sea"60. During her stay in Tunbridge Wells, the press apparently thought to discern Cupid's arrows between Carter and Bath especially, prompting Secker to tease and goad Carter. Interestingly, it touched a raw nerve in Carter and her reaction was vehement. One newspaper had reported that Lady Abercorn was receiving attentions from Bath, and Secker nettled Carter with mock commiseration on being jilted: In answer to his Grace's most malicious message of condolence, to myself in particular, I will ask a few plain questions. Did my Lord B ever take the very nosegay from his button-hole, and deliver it into the hand of my Lady A? Did my Lord Bath ever go to a toy-shop, and purchase a knotting-shuttle, painted all over with Cupids and cages, and fishes on a hook, and present it to my Lady A?…..When one fine gentleman said to another fine gentleman upon the Pantiles, "She talks Greek faster than any woman in England", pray was this meant of my Lady A? Or, when the market-folks in the side-walk left their pigs and their fowls to squall their ears out, while they told each other, Certainly she is the greatest Scholar in the world; was the person they started at and directed their sticks to my Lady A? Absit invidia! It is dangerous, no doubt, to allege such instances of illustricity as these: but in an age when people are not allowed to call their Greek their own, it would provoke the most dove-like patience to speak61. The spirited counter-attack is the only instance extant of Carter defending, even vaunting her own reputation, however couched in her characteristic self-parody. It seems unlikely there was ever any serious romantic relationship between the elderly statesman and the middle-aged woman, but that they were attracted to each other, respected each other and perhaps flirted with each other is tenable. Bath's own ambivalence towards Carter is reflected in his disclosure to Mrs Montagu; he believed Carter's studies were responsible for her headaches and her health would surely improve if she gave up studying and acquired a gentleman friend. Yet he also wrote Montagu his health was such he was "inclined to romp a little with Mrs Carter" and would send his coach for her to take them "I hope not to matrimony without our leave and the Bishop's licence"62! As the Tunbridge season continued Bath became not only a regarded companion but also the promoter and godparent of a project to publish another collection of Carter's poetry. There are unfortunately no letters extant which the two exchanged. Bath, these few years before he died, proved a very encouraging and generous friend to Carter. Not only did he encourage 170 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza her to publish her poems (see below), he also proved financially supportive. There are at least two instances, in the autumn of this and the next year, that he gave her £5063. Having let Montagu inform him of her financial situation (£100 p.a. which meant enough only to keep her in clothes, according to Montagu)64, and tactfully realising her disposition, Bath left it to Montagu to arrange both his contributions. Bath's original letters are missing, but Montagu's reflect his wish that Carter come to town and the money was to facilitate this. Carter chose to see the first gift more as a contribution towards printing costs of the manuscript, fearing the volume would never sell the 1000 copies printed 65. Interestingly, it was on account of Bath's parsimoniousness, for which he was generally criticised, that Carter suffered a most painful public dilemma. Bath died in the summer of 1764 and left all his property (a reported £2,400,000), there being no surviving children, to his brother Lieutenant General Pulteney. The general was rather embarrassed by so much wealth but in any case lived to enjoy it for only three years, dying in the autumn of 1767. He in turn left this fortune to Frances, wife of William Johnstone, his nearest relative – and the couple took on the family name in consequence. This Mr and Mrs Pulteneny, apparently still in reaction to public expectations at the time of Bath's death, settled a £100 annuity on Carter almost immediately. Carter promptly denied that she had any rights or expectations herself: You mention my having had the strongest reason to expect from what Lord Bath had said, that I should be named in his will…Whatever expectations the world might infer in my favour from the friendship with which I was honoured by my Lord Bath, he never said any thing to myself, nor, so far as I know, to any other person, that could lead me to think he designed me an annuity, or any other legacy in his will66. Mr and Mrs Pulteney quite straightforwardly replied that Lord Bath "ought to" have given her an annuity and so they will. Indeed, the Pulteneys had their own obligations to Carter for she, together with Montagu, had interceded on their behalf with Bath67. The Pulteneys' daughter, the Countess of Bath, became very fond of Carter, corresponded with her, and asked her to accompany herself with her father on a trip to Paris in 1782. Miss Pulteney, feeling her education had lacked discipline, entered herself in a convent in Paris. Carter, at the cost of much physical discomfort, performed the maternal duty. In about 1802 Miss Pulteney increased Carter's annuity to £15068. Carter's feelings for Bath himself were of considerable depth as her reaction to his death in 1764 attests. Brigitte Sprenger 171 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza None of his friends, I believe, will remember him longer, and very few with equal affection…I know you will forgive me for saying so much on the subject of a friend for whose memory I shall always retain so high a degree of gratitude and affection…69 Similarly, in an earlier letter to Talbot on 26 September 1761: I do upon a general account esteem and love him (Bath) His great politeness, his sensibility, his constant cheerfulness, and the many instances one hears of his kind, and generous, and friendly disposition, render him a very amiable character… Carter, disinclined to publicly exposing her emotions for any man, except her father, had, however, felt unable to voice any such emotion during Bath's lifetime. She had soon felt herself obliged to dedicate a poem to Bath in the collection of poems he had so promoted. Yet the verses were so little complimentary in the traditional style, that Secker teasingly remarked, "Why, Madam Carter, you have not been tolerably civil to the man" 70. "To the Earl of Bath" exudes little warmth in any aspect, listing Bath's various excellent characteristics and meditating that the reward for long laborious years of state service must be sought in inner ripeness rather than public recognition. "Subdu'd at length beneath laborious Life,/ With Passion struggling, and by Care deprest./ In peaceful Age, that ends the various Strife, /The Harrass'd Virtues gladly sink to Rest", is the sum of her obligatory exercise. Montagu also teased Carter occasionally and gently about Bath: she passed on a message from him that he threatened to be the " most ardent, importunate, dangerous Lover" if she did not come to town, but a sincere friend if she did. At other times she referred to Bath as "our Love"71. Publicly, it seems clear the relationship between Carter and Bath was considered potentially romantic enough to warrant obligations. There is no private evidence of this; rather that a courteous friendship existed for a few short years. Back in 1761, however, all members of the party were enjoying excellent health and Carter's spirited letter to Talbot and Secker accurately reflects the mood and occupations of that summer. One of the outings Carter and Montagu undertook was a visit to the poet Edward Young who was staying nearby. Carter had long been an admirer of Young, especially of his morbid “Night Thoughts” which gravely influenced some of her own poetry, especially the "Ode to Melancholy". She admired Young's style and his piety but in the course of this visit probably was not impressed with him as a person or with his 172 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza conversation72. Yet as authors they admired each other. Of her Epictetus translation, Young wrote: "Miss Carter has my high esteem for showing us in so masterly a· manner that Christianity has (a) foil in one of the brightest jewels in Pagan Wisdom, a jewel which you will allow she has set in gold"73. Following the encounter, Young wrote Resignation, a 72-page meditation wherein Carter and Montagu are mentioned. The topic had been discussed by the party, ignited by the writings of Voltaire, who so offended the two women for many years (and sparked Montagu's Essay on Shakespeare). Two copies of Young's poem arrived at Tunbridge when Carter had already left, so Montagu wrote: "You know we exhorted him to attach a character whose authority is so pernicious. In vain do moralists attack the shadowy forms of Vice while the living temples of it are revived and admired"74. Carter's copy was promptly lent out by Montagu to Lady Pomfret and it took some time, while Carter undoubtedly waited in helpless frustration, for it to be returned and finally forwarded to its rightful owner75. Young affirms Montagu insisted he write a poem on resignation "Learning and Genius were grown/To female Bosom fly/…./But as those (Mrs M, Mrs C) Ladies works I read/They darted such a Ray/The latent sense burst out at once/ And share in Open Day" and in asserting that knowledge has flown for new states76. Tunbridge had two other major repercussions, apart from providing Carter with much improved health and spirits. It brought Montagu and Carter to a stage of extreme intimacy and mutual affection where they would occasionally live only through imagining the other as participant. One of Carter's most delightfully lyric and emotional letters dates from this period, when she had just left Tunbridge: I am sure you feel it, how much I longed for you to share with me in every view that pleased me; but there was one of such striking beauty that I was half wild with impatience at your being so many miles distant. To be sure the wise people, and the gay people, and the silly people of this work-day world, and for the matter of that all the people but you and I, would laugh to hear that this object I was so undone at your not seeing, was no other than a single honey-suckle. It grew in a shady lane, and was surrounded by the deepest verdure, while its own figure and colouring, which were quite perfect, were illuminated by a ray of sunshine. There are some common objects, sometimes placed in such a situation, viewed in such a light, and attended by such accompaniments as to be seen but once in a whole life, and to give one a pleasure infinitely new; and this was one of them, and I firmly believe there was no such honey-suckle ever existing in the world before. Do pray think how vexatious it must have been to me, to enjoy it without you…77. And in the same letter: Brigitte Sprenger 173 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza I want words my dear friend, to express my sense of what I owe. first to Heaven, and then to you, for so much happiness as I have enjoyed for these last delightful seven weeks…I need not, I am sure, tell you what a strange vacancy I have found in every day, since we parted; but perhaps such a happiness as I have lately enjoyed ought not to last very long78. The sentiments were mutual: Montagu wrote Lyttelton: "There is great pleasure in travelling about with a friend of Mrs Carter's learning and tast' [sic]. The beautiful scenes of nature she tastes with the divine enthusiasm of a Poet, and the venerable remains of antiquity with the information of a scholar". Letters expressing such warmth, and such mutual affection and interest continued for the next five years especially. They contrast with the witty flirtatious period evident in the early correspondence with Talbot, and, on Montagu's part, with Carter, and denote the achievement of a deeper affection, a marriage of minds: "Your spirit enlivens my indolence, my quiet should temper your vivacity," Carter wrote79. The intense daily intercourse had cemented confidence and trust and established primal intuition of the fundamental essence they injected into each other's lives. The friendship superseded in personal emotion, if not in social obligation, the bonds of family and marriage80. Montagu and Carter never adopted any serious scheme to spend their lives together either then or in the future when both were released from the weighty duties to a husband and father. Each had, as she grew older, young women as companions. Yet the friends offered each other nursing services, offering to come and minister to each other when ill and they did, just occasionally, fantasise about spending their lives together81. Once, in disgust at political developments, Montagu wrote: I think I should hate mankind if I did not despise them, & despise them if I did not hate them, but a certain thing call'd indifference becalms my mind, & I only wish you & I were in some sweet valley in Italy enjoying bright sunshine & retirement…82. The other effect of the Tunbridge visit, was the publication of Carter's mature poetry. The initiative came from Lord Bath, readily supported by both Lyttelton and Montagu 83. As early as 1755, Lyttelton had recommended Carter publish her poetry and during this spirited, happy summer then, Lyttelton renewed his proposals, ably abetted by Bath and Montagu84. Bath offered to let Carter dedicate it to him and write the dedication himself, knowing how awkward such lines could be to produce. Carter obliged her patron with an ode in the collection (see above). Originally, Carter seems to have wished to dedicate the 174 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza poems to Montagu, but her friend declined “for fear of envy"85. It was deemed most suitable to dedicate it then to the initiator of the volume and on the subject Bath wrote to Montagu: "I beg you to apprise Miss Carter that I can never think my name more honoured than when it is prefixed to a public testimony of my esteem for her writings86. George Lyttelton introduced the volume with some lines in blank verse, praising Carter and alluding to Montagu. Carter had not published any poetry since the "Ode to Wisdom" (cf Chapter 3), but had continued to write all manner of fairly short, mostly occasional, poetry. There were poems to friends, philosophical pieces, admonitions not to cut down trees, meditative verses, a few translations, some pieces written in Italian. These had been circulated in manuscript, usually guardedly since her experience with the "Ode to Wisdom". Carter's initial reaction to the proposal was not enthusiastic, but typically she could hardly find it in herself to turn the project down on her own account. She had "scruples" about publishing, disliking the idea of giving herself such a public profile again, yet was hesitant to disoblige her friends in Tunbridge. It is presumably for this reason, more than any feelings of real obligation to former patrons that, once back in Deal, she wrote to Talbot and Secker at Lambeth explaining the proposal and allowing her friends there to veto the project87. The answer could hardly have satisfied Carter fully, either by its tone, or with its permission: My commission is to tell you, that what Lord Bath, Lord Lyttelton, and Mrs Montagu so earnestly desire, cannot possibly have any objection made to it from here88. The phrasing was obviously Secker's. Talbot's own contribution was more teasing: "What you say of the size indeed is mortifying; and I could see that it was thought no small degradation from a quarto of Greek philosophy, to dwindle into an eighteen penny pamphlet of English verse." Talbot suggested Carter write a few lampoons on her, Talbot, to fatten the volume out. After this neither serious nor enthusiastic reaction, Carter also approached her father, who predictably voiced no objection. She now embarked on the project with a nervousness and insecurity which belied her long experience and contrasts greatly with the independent sovereignty with which she had handled the publication of her earlier volume and her father's sermons nearly thirty years before. Her letters, no Brigitte Sprenger 175 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza longer stately or meditative, became for the next few months chaotic, questioning, and nervous. She approached Montagu for advice on every conceivable minor detail: "Shall it be printed octavo? Shall I send the manuscript to you as soon as I have transcribed it?" 89. "Do you think what I have enclosed will do for the dedication? Do you rather chose I should put my name to it? Pray tell me all about this and every thing else that you think necessary; and be so good not to forget to furnish me with a title, about which I am utterly at a loss" 90. Typically, as with Epictetus, she passed on final responsibility to the initiant: "I am now determined to consider this publication. no longer as an affair of mine, but as entirely belonging to you and the two noble Lords, so if the world thinks me absurd and vain, you are all obliged to maintain my quarrel"91. Montagu provided the necessary firmness and decisiveness: I am sorry for your tremors and trepidations but they are mere nervous disorders and the manuscript must be printed; so my dear Urania, away with your lamentations, sit down, revise, correct, augment, print and publish. I am sure you will have a pleasure in communicating the pious, virtuous sentiments that breathe in all your verses. My inferior soul will feel a joy in your producing proofs of genius to the world. Let it see that all your advantages are not derived from study. The envious may say you brought your wisdom from Athens, your wit is your own…The very best of your poetical productions have never been published. They may indeed have been seen by a few in manuscript, but the finest things in sheets are soon lost… print them and bind them fast, I beg you92. Carter, via Mr Rivington, approached Samuel Richardson's widow, to print the small volume which contained 38 poems – including a number which had been published earlier such as the "Ode to Wisdom", “Ode to "Melancholy" and "On the Death of Mrs Rowe". The volume therefore took a surprisingly short time to collate and publish. By the tenth of November 1761, she wrote to Montagu: "I have so little to do at present to conclude the manuscript.. I should have wished to have written one or two more Odes, but my head is so often incapable of the least application, and I can never write without a good deal, that I can attempt nothing farther……" A fortnight later, she was already reading through the first proofs93. In all, there are only just over 60 poems of Carter's extant: Nine in the early Poems upon Particular Occasions (1738, cf Chapter 2), 38 in the Poems on Several Occasions. Pennington published another 14 poems in later editions of the Memoirs which had not appeared in either collection. He selected these from "among several others". Carter had crossed out a number of the poems she left behind and these Pennington felt he could 176 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza not publish. The impression is, however, that Carter's nephew did not have a huge selection from her unpublished papers to choose from, a fact the more surprising when considering that Carter's own preference was always for writing poetry and she did so from adolescence into old age. (Pennington included a poem to Viscountess Cremorne, written in 1795 when Carter was 73.) This relatively small oeuvre does indicate Carter was not a poetic genius of the variety innately compelled to write. Each word she ever wrote, she said on more than one occasion, was weighed very carefully to avoid especially moral or personal harm to the reader94. Her strongest condemnations of other ·authors such as Chesterfield or Rousseau were on moral ground. (cf Chapter 7). Her poetry is on the whole modest, serious, competent without reflecting the quiet wit she wielded in her letters or the deep philosophical insight displayed in her Introduction to Epictetus. Carter restricted herself to short occasional verse on the whole, insisting on metrical regularity, strict rhyme patterns and enjambment. But as much of her poetry has the theme of the soul's stormy path, this regularity weakens the impact. With restless Agitations tost, And low immers'd in woes, When shall my wild distemper'd Thoughts Regain their lost Repose?95. Despite this ambition towards regularity in her rhythms and cadence and rhymes, and in the inner movement of her poems, Carter frequently proved inconsistent and irregular, a matter which at least one contemporary critic also noted (see below). While clear the night is one of Carter's early philosophical productions in heroic couplets celebrating both the science and religious sublimity of Space (See Appendix I)96. Carter, in a steady outward movement, eulogises the view of the heavens from earth to taking up a position out in space from whence she meditates on earth itself. Concurrently, the poem moves steadily from the human viewpoint to God's, judging "stupid atheists" who call the "atomic dance " the "work of chance", and comparing them to the "nobler minds, from sense and passion free" who "survey the footsteps of a ruling god/Sole Lord of nature's universal fame". The poems ends, unusually but not ineffectively, with the dedication and the argumentum ad homini, complimenting the contemporary mathematicians and Brigitte Sprenger 177 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza astronomers Desaguliers and Wright as persons who combine scientific talents and understanding of God's "supreme, eternal case". Carter is, throughout, quite consistent in her imagery; a preoccupation with images of light ("blaze of splendours of the northern crown") contrasted against darkness, of wisdom and enlightenment pitted against atheism and dullness ("slow revolving cold Saturn"), and there is a steady weaving in of astronomical lexis set off against the mythical, classical allusion. Yet in the shifts of person, in the aim of the work, Carter is repeatedly inconsistent. The opening is a general exhortation, yet she soon shifts to a dialogue with the reader ("while we our station prize"), then to a dialogue with "you beauteous worlds" to arrive in the second section at a direct dedication and apostrophe to Endymion (although at another stage she talks with him) who possibly functions as generic for Desaguliers and Wright but at other times represents God. There is further inconsistency when the poet, having spent four-fifths of the poem in praising Endymion in whichever form, arrives at a stage of sublime contemplation of "the wonders of almighty power" which are "the effect of nature's constant laws" and "the first. supreme eternal cause" suddenly announces she'll resign "to some nobler pen" who "must speak thy fame". The poem also displays syntactical inconsistencies; "bright beams" (plural) and "near approaching ray" (singular) must share the same verb "gilds" (singular), or confusing punctuation which leaves the reader occasionally searching for the subject of a verb (for instance, of "deduce" in the final section"). The entire poem, then, as is frequently the case with Carter, leaves initially a positive impression of good movement, sound process of philosophical thought, consistent imagery, astute background knowledge, yet upon closer analysis proves frustratingly confused and disjointed in parts. "While clear the night" can be categorised with the type of poem she wrote best. Less impressive are the great many playful verses addressed to her friends such as "To Dr Walwyn on his design of cutting down a shady walk " or "To Miss – on a Watch"97. These frequently deal in stock sentiments of friendship and affection and of encouragement in hard times. Another type of poem Carter frequently indulged in was the intense melancholic meditation, the graveyard poems, such as "Written Extempore on the SeaShore" or the "Ode to Melancholy". 178 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza When Carter on occasion managed to restrain herself from travelling too far in either direction (playful or meditative) she came up with an exquisite balance such as in the "Ode to Wisdom" (cf Chapter 3) or the "Dialogue between Body and Mind". The latter is, arguably, her most interesting and enjoyable poem by far. It is certainly her most outspoken, addressing not only the philosophical question of the conflict of interests between the human body and mind (a recurrent theme for Carter, found also in "Ode to Wisdom", "To the Same Occasioned by an Ode written by Mrs Philips", and "Say, dear Bethia") but also of female and male qualities. The poem reflects the scientific mood of an age which compartmentalised intellect and feeling, yet Carter avoids stark differentiation and paints a universal conflict in a very humane manner98. "A Dialogue" (see Appendix I) sets out to establish that body and mind can never agree: But lead a most wrangling strange Sort of Life As great Plagues to each other as Husband and Wife. and soon establishes, with all the servants being out on "your Ladyship's Errand " (line 15) and the pronoun 'her' (line 20), that the Mind is the female, the wife. Once this is rooted, the poem gains a strong feminist emphasis. The husband complains the wife has taken the best room in his large house and "poor mind" listens "with extreme moderation" before making the point she is "crampt and confin'd like a Slave in a Chain". Mind complains that when she went to visit the stars, she was forcibly seized halfway and imprisoned in dark corners to which Body replies it was her just dessert as "While you rambl'd Abroad, I at Home was half starved." The oral battle is won by Mind who claims a Friend (Time? Death?) who " tho' slow, is yet sure/ And will rid me at last, of your insolent Power" so that when Body lies in dust, decaying, "I shall snap off my Chains, and fly freely away ". Carter's poem is an interesting counterpoint to Anne Bradstreet's (1612-1672) poetic dialogue "The Flesh and the Spirit". This much lengthier debate is between two sisters and considerably more aggressive, introducing religious associations in relating Flesh to Adam but spirit to "a dear Father". It is unlikely Carter ever saw the colonist's poem; certainly there is no similarity excepting the main idea99. Brigitte Sprenger 179 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Nicolas Carter conveyed objections of "spleen and discontent" made by some people who had read the poem in manuscript, in a letter to his daughter in 1749. Carter vigorously disallowed the criticism: I cannot, even by the help of my spectacles, discern anything in the Dialogue, injurious to the orthodoxy either of reason or religion…I like the verses very well and think the objections gainst mud walls improperly made. 'T was the business of each litigant to run down its opponent…the moral (or if you please, the design) of it was to teach us that the mind is the better part, and ought to be carefully cultivated by us…ln a word, I think them very pretty, and am not at all changed in any sentiments by the criticisms against them.100 Carter here puts the aesthetic conflict uppermost and possibly it was so in her mind, yet the undercurrent of feminist rebellion is indisputably there. The restriction is to only body and mind (animalism versus intellect-wisdom) but leaves the role of the heart, of emotion, untouched. Much later in life, Carter stated the mind should keep "the strictest guard" on the heart101. The conflict between body and mind, between following a studious path and participating in the physical world is, as mentioned, a recurrent theme in Carter's poetry and correspondence. In "To – On a Watch" she examines the temporal nature of Beauty, Fortune, Fair which all become "The Sport of Time, and Victims of the Tomb", whereas the "Virtue of the Mind" is the only "Grace" not destroyed. This virtue naturally rested not only in academic pursuits, but in a study of Christianity and religion. ("To fairer Views let thy Ambition tend,/Our Nature's Glory, and our Being's End;"). Yet there is often a confusion of the issue on this score as we have already seen in "While clear the night", where Endymion and the Christian God almost interfuse. In her Religious Trends in English Poetry, H. N. Fairchild contends that the eighteenth century saw a development from Protestantism via Latitudiarism to non-Christian sentimentalism right through to the Romanticism at the end of the age102. While accepting the limitation of labels, she categorises Carter (together with men like James Scott ·and Percival Stockdale) as "sentimental Christians" rather than "Christian sentimentalists" such as Gilbert West, James Beattie and Rev Wm Dodd103. The distinction is, I feel, justified. While indirect references and allusions to the Christian God are often found in Carter, there is no sign in her poetry (as there is in her letters) of deep commitment. Reference to God is usually an afterthought. 180 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Carter's dedication to Plato and even Stoicism is far more palpable, clear-cut and committed. It is, primarily, to be found in the reiteration of the rationalised reason conquering worldly passion "Inform my Judgment, regulate my Will,/My Reason strengthen, and my Passions still.", Carter appeals to God in "' In Diem Natalem104. Carter rarely appeals to God, but often to Reason as a semi-deity, as we saw in "While clear the night". She devotes herself to "calm Reflexion" and talks of "thy gracious Spirits' Care". In "While Night in Solemn Shade invests the Pole..", she invokes the "gentle Sway" of Reason to "teach my rebel Passion to obey". Her lexis abounds in words as "Justice", "Reason", "Mind", "calmer Thoughts" and hardly ever, in her oeuvre, in such as "Father", "Son", "Saviour", "God," "Lord", "sacred", "Word" or "Thy" with a capital T. The allusion is to awakening after Death "to the Splendours of eternal Day" or "everlasting Day" ("Walk at Midnight in a Thunderstorm"), but it is all rather vague. As Fairchild rightly comments: A much more significant influence, though almost too closely related to the history of Christian thought to be regarded as an external one, is the type of Platonism which descends from the Timaeus to the Neoplatonists, thence to the Cambridge Platonists, and finally to Shaftesbury, in whom to be sure it is blended with sentimentalised Stoicism and sentimentalised Epicureanism. Though only Bladcock and Elizabeth Carter openly avow their indebtedness, a greatly diluted Platonic tradition js at work in the cult of an aesthetic-ethical harmony of truth, goodness, and beauty which has been created by a benignly fecund God105. Considering Carter's background, the fusion is hardly surprising. Carter's imagery definitely supports such a view: It is rarely original and abounds in poetical clichés of "mortal clues", "lush verdure", "silver ray" and, with a touch of Spencer, "downy Bed of Sloth". It calls mostly upon classical mythology and shows a predilection for abstract nouns associated with intellectuality and morality. Carter's Christianity and religiosity is not questioned, but the evidence for it lies in her correspondence, her Ramblers and the Introduction to Epictetus: Her poetry reflects other strains: The one of intellectual Platonism as just described, the other the heavily melancholic romanticism as epitomised by Edward Young. Carter had immense respect for Young and he was, throughout her life, one of her favourite poets (See above). In Carter's poetry the Youngian penchant for melancholy is so undeniable that a diagnosis of the writer's depression is inevitable. In "Written at an Oratorio", Carter feels no desire to hear "harmony", but feels drawn to "unfrequented Wastes", " plaintive Numbers" and the "wailing Bird of Night". Brigitte Sprenger 181 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza To me how tasteless ev'ry Scene of Joy, The vacant Hart by happy Impulse feels: While mine, which Thoughts of genuine Grief employ, From cheerful Crowds to drear Retirement steals. There, hapless Coward in the doubtful Strife My fainting Pow'rs each active Function leave, I droop beneath the dull Fatigue of Life, And wish the peaceful Refuge of the Grave. In the final verse, almost in horrified reaction at her own emotions, she morally chastises herself for such impatience and ingratitude, reminding herself that heaven rewards "transient Pain". Yet the impression is, the stanza is a guilty afterthought. Carter's strongest emotions, like Young's, were divulged in the melancholic strain. (See also, "Ode" (1739) with its more direct language still of "with restless agitations tost,/ And low immers'd in woes,/when shall my wild distemper'd thoughts/ Regain their lost repose?". The appeal is to "Hope", who is a "her".) Carter's main inspirations, apart from the generally philosophical, were occasionally prompted by events in the lives of her friends. She was never tempted to write satire, a strain which though developed to perfection during her lifetime, she disapproved of extremely. For this reason she disliked most of Pope and Churchill and even classic Latin satire. Once, when dragged in unwillingly to listen to poet Paul Whitehead read his latest satire, she voiced extreme frustration that a poet should use fine strokes of genius to exalt some, abuse others without a "colour of truth or justice"106. Carter herself never criticized persons in public; indeed the poems to her friends are all laudatory in varying degrees. This, of course, allows criticism that she was too indiscriminate in her writing. The Bluestockings were all, as we shall see in Chapter 7, highly supportive encomiasts of each other. Yet possibly they could not afford to be otherwise. As Hester Chapone once remarked to Carter, women had "not many patrons amongst the men" and anything said in the Bluestockings' favour should be heard as "we are pretty sure to hear of their abuses"107. And so, the poems addressed to friends offer warmth, praise, friendship, comfort. In the Poems upon Several Occasions there are verses addressed to Mrs Honeywood (To Mrs Honeywood, p. 420) and her sister (To Miss Margaret Carter) offering comfort upon bereavements. The long correspondence Carter maintained with Elizabeth Vesey upon 182 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza religion (cf Chapter 7) finds an echo in "To Mrs Vesey" (1766), where the former in evangelical tone claims real friendship goes beyond the grave108. Carter is upset when her friend of long standing, Bethia D'Aeth, marries and shifts out of the county ("Say, dear Bethia", see above). To her closest friends, Elizabeth Montagu and Catherine Talbot, the poems confirm the dominating tendency of the relationships. To Montagu she is almost passionate and highly lyric ("How smil'd each object, when by Friendship led, /Thro' flow'ry paths we wander'd unconfin'd;/ Enjoyed each airy hill, or solemn shade, IAnd left the bustling empty world behind."). The tone to Talbot remains controlled although it, too, anticipates quiet after worldly havoc. Montagu was invited into the woods, Talbot to the cool evening seaside: The sighing gale, whose murmurs call to rest The busy tumult of declining day, To sympathetic quiet sooths the breast, And evr'y wild emotion dies away The poems to her friends constitute the bulk of her oeuvre, though they are not representative of her best achievement. The predominating theme in most of her poems to friends is the stony path of life where the only real and lasting comfort is that they will meet and unite in heaven. ("Then quit the transient Winter of the Tomb/ To rise and flourish in immortal Bloom."). The sentiment becomes repetitive in time and the melancholic imagery becomes cumulatively depressing. It is the other poems which remain even today most rewarding, sometimes for their philosophic thought, occasionally on account of their emotional, personal insight. The poem to her father underscores her feelings of deep obligation and gratitude; the "Ode to Melancholy" reflects her innate desire to retire from any struggle to assert herself publicly as a learned woman; several poems reveal the lifelong struggle between intellect and the material world. There are touches of deep sentiment in some verses, especially those mourning her brother (Cf Chapter 3). Carter once criticised Père Rapin's poetry for, despite an “industrious head to measure by scale and compass the ichnography of a poem", he lacked” poetic genius to judge of the beauties of the elevation"109. To an extent, this criticism can be levelled at herself. Despite Brigitte Sprenger 183 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza an excellent knowledge and understanding of classical poetry and its mechanics, her urge to attain sublimity seems forced and academic only. In her own day, the reception of Carter's poems was laudatory, and sometimes even ecstatic as already seen in the discussion of her early GM contributions (cf Chapter 2). The Monthly Review was glowing in its praise of Carter's: … same attic wit, the same chaste philosophic fancy and the same harmony of numbers which distinguished the long admired Ode to Wisdom110 The reviewer too, noted "that fine sensibility, serene dignity and lofty imagination which characterise (Plato)". The style itself he considered "elegantly polished and harmoniously easy" yet criticised her non-conformant rhyming. So pleased was Carter with this review that she copied it out in toto in a, by her standards, extremely neat, small, regular handwriting, onto the cover pages of her own copy of the Poems111. For good measure, Carter also copied out the Monthly Review's review of her Epictetus. The criticism of her careless treatment of rhyme is justified; we have already seen she could be careless in other technical matters as well. She seems never to have quite found the mechanics which served her best: She variously experimented with a great variety of forms and metres with differing rhythms and rhyming schemes. Modern critics have on the whole, rightly, not found the bulk of Carter's poems as impressive as contemporaries did. Partially this can be ascribed to the outdated themes and attitudes reflected. Much of the contemporary praise however, might also be accounted for by the mere novelty of an educated and moral female poet. Such a new phenomenon tended to be approached uncritically. As K.M. Rogers asserts: "Unexceptionable morality overshadowed literary quality in a woman author, especially since she was not expected to meet the same standards as a man"112. The verdict on Carter's poetry, two centuries later is one of competence, slight irregularity, occasional inspiration but too often of a mundane and pedestrian style. Her philosophical poems are often too steeped in contemporary thought to be easily accessible, her melancholia too clichéd and general. There are, however, a number of poems which remain highly enjoyable and interesting. These are usually where Carter selected a shorter metre and 184 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza more direct language such as "A Dialogue" (Body to Mind), the "Ode" (1739). "On a watch" and, of course, the "Ode to Wisdom". Despite Carter's fears that the poems would hardly sell (she originally suggested printing only 250 copies), they proved moderately popular. The original 1000-copy run was sold and a second edition appeared in 1766. Five editions of the poems would appear before her death113. In 1817, when Pennington published the Memoirs, he printed the poems, and others, again (see above and Appendix I). In 1796 a French Count de Bede translated 12 of the poems, which were published and well received across the Channel. He dedicated the edition to Elizabeth Carter, by then an old lady of nearly 80 114. As late as 1802, a poem of Carter's appeared in a popular collection, yet after that her verses, except for the "Ode to Wisdom" in Clarissa, never again appeared 115. Not even, notably, in the very many academic collections of eighteenth-century verse published this century. Poems by women were generally ignored until the last decade or so. The omission has been partially rectified by Lonsdale's Eighteenth Century Women Poets (1989) where Carter is represented with three poems. Germaine Greer however, feels the work is incomplete and in part misleading116. Undoubtedly, much restorative work remains to be done. Carter never published anything after the Poems on Several Occasions although she continued to write occasionally and was at other times encouraged by her friends to undertake new projects. Although repeatedly encouraged and admonished to write more poetry (Montagu even offered to take over Carter's plain sewing work to enable this), Carter never penned sufficient verse after 1762 to make up another collection117. In October 1762, Bath and Montagu exerted pressure on Carter to translate Longinus; yet Carter could never again be persuaded. Any conventional motivation to publish – money, fame, inner drive, moral conviction – were seemingly lacking. The few months in Deal, between her Tunbridge stay and next London visit, Carter was also able to help Montagu in two domestic matters. The first concerned the recruiting of a Mrs Talbot ((not Catherine Talbot's mother) for a post in Montagu's household, possibly as housekeeper118. Mrs Talbot was probably a local woman, possibly a widow who had little means of self-support. The other domestic matter was a more dramatic affair, though Brigitte Sprenger 185 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza common enough. One of Elizabeth Montagu's favourite servants, a Mistress Susan, had become involved · with a "dangerous lover” and presumably become pregnant. Montagu felt obliged to retire the young woman from her service, and probably from advantageous promotion, yet decided to provide for her. She turned to Carter who proved supportive and found a local family willing to take Susan in, presumably until her "Iying-in". Susan's case caused much discussion between the two women, mostly of an unconsciously patronising yet sincerely charitable nature. They could forgive the carnal error but not the blind emotional passion for the child's father: I took poor Sukey out with me yesterday to show her the ships..and she seemed much delighted..lndeed she behaves very prettily, and seems to be of such a disposition, that any little notice that is taken of her will do her good, and help to confirm her in a future right conduct. I feel great compassion for the sad state into which she has been betrayed, by an artless, weak nature; but am as much provoked as you can be, by what you justly call the servile nonsense of a much higher understanding… How vexatious it is to see a mind, capable of such noble improvements, so sunk and debased by this vile idolatry…119. This was a weakness neither could understand for, as Montagu had written earlier, neither she nor Carter had ever been in love120. It was, arguably, the inability (or semi-conscious vow against it) to lose themselves in passionate, sexual love, which enabled the Bluestockings to attain their literary respectability and independence. Katherine M Rogers postulates that these women "tacitly sacrificed emotional to intellectual emancipation" and of necessity suppressed sexuality in order to rise above sexual nature – and presumably the increased exposure to criticism this incorporated121. However, both women supported Susan in her predicament and any moral, religious and social judgment is notably lacking at some eighty years' distance from the considerable furore that Elizabeth Gaskell's Ruth caused. The correspondence never refers to the birth of a baby and it seems possible Susan worked for Montagu again, for over the years, Montagu informed Carter of Susan's marriage and her death in 1797, indicating a continued contact and interest122. These fertile autumn and winter months of 1762 contained one more major, vital project on Carter's part. The publication of Epictetus had brought her approximately £1000 and though Carter's circumstances were now not particularly rich, she was no longer dependent on her father. Provided she lived modestly (she lived almost frugally, her only luxuries being the annual pilgrimages to London and her books), she was financially easy. 186 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza By now only Elizabeth, Polly and Harry remained at home with their aging father – home being a succession of houses. Pennington euphemistically states the family had to shift frequently due to a variety of circumstances: perpetual curacies stipulated a freehold interest in lands and buildings belonging to the curacy which usually included private accommodation, so the situation is puzzling. However, Nicolas' tight finances and his controversial spirit possibly provide an answer. Elizabeth now set out to find a house to buy, and soon found a suitable object, consisting of several adjoining tenements on the corner of South and Middle Street, which at that time lay at the edge of Deal and on the sea front. The tenements, of which Carter bought four, belonged to the diocese of Canterbury; certainly Secker helped her to obtain the property, by lending her £150.123 The transaction did not at first go smoothly for each tenement was held under a different lease and one leaseholder proved stubborn. Yet by Christmas all was settled 124. Soon after Carter's return from the London season in 1763, the small family shifted into what is today known as Carter House. In those days, the house stood at the southernmost edge of Lower Deal and in the first row of houses behind the beach. Before Carter died, it would, however, have neighbours both to the south (the famous Time-ball Tower) and east (the notorious Middle Street, the red light district of Deal). The house right in front of Carter House was a prosperous brothel in the nineteenth century, with the madam's cubicle under the stairs remaining intact). The house, by its nature as four tenements, has a charmingly chaotic character, with a largish kitchen in the middle of the house – presumably the spot where Carter and her father emptied the bottomless pots of tea. It also has a most sheltered, tiny inner courtyard where Carter undoubtedly watered and guarded over some of her many pinks and roses. The others would have been in the square yard in front of the house, where she also planted "her majesties [sic] most southern oak”. The house boasted a great many impressive fireplaces, winding, low staircases, crooked corridors. It was, of course, very easily divided into separate apartments for herself and her father. Carter's own room was undoubtedly the one on the first floor, in the south-eastern corner of the house. It consisted in her day of two apartments. The main room had a large fireplace and two windows, one facing inland, towards the village and hills, the other, the one she sat at most to stare out at the tempestuous waves, in the beach-front facade. Brigitte Sprenger 187 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza This latter has at some stage in the past been plastered over but is still clearly discernible. Her later friend and companion, Miss Sharpe, recorded Carter's favourite pastime: "From her east window, where she constantly sat, she could see ships passing and the sun rising"125. Carter was deeply attached to her "airy abode, round which all the elements play with the most uninterrupted liberty, it standing quite open on three sides" 126. Such an exposed house was manna to a woman inclined to gothic sublimity127! After Carter's return from Europe that autumn (see below), she asked Secker to put all the leases into one lease, with which Secker willingly complied, praising her business sense. Yet he could not resist another snipe at her relationship with Bath: "Under so able a master as you have had for some months past, I do not doubt but you will come on apace. And who knows how much a few instances of guide economy may contribute to bring about a certain great event that hath been long pending"128. Secker refused to accept repayment: When he died, Carter was greatly concerned to pay it back for it was not mentioned in the will – but his executors found a note amongst his papers wherein Secker noted the loan and that he never intended to ask for it back129. (Carter made Montagu Pennington her heir: He lived there with his wife until his own death in 1849. The house was then inherited by Theodora Louisa Sparrow, a widow of Ongar in Essex who, judging by a reference by John Laker in his History of Deal - Dain & Son, Deal. 1921; 271 – was probably related to the Carters. Upon this lady's death, however, all family connection with Carter House ceased and the house subsequently changed hands fairly frequently – even serving as a hotel for a period.) Nicolas Carter, as proud and independent as his daughter, hired his apartments from Elizabeth until his death – both father and daughter had separate libraries and apartments, meeting often only at meals. Henry and Polly lived with them for a while but Polly married the local physician, Dr Douglas, a year after the move and Henry also married and acquired a living in Wittenham130. A few renovations were undertaken before and during the move, and Carter's health stood under severe nervous strain for a number of weeks. Not only had there been the duress and uncertainty of the validity of the sale contract, and the predictable stress of any move, but the whole was happening under time pressure. For Carter was about to embark on her first European trip. A final outcome of that summer 188 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza in Tunbridge was the plan for the whole group to go to Belgian Spa for their health, combined with a minor European tour. Lyttelton and Monsey did not join the party; but on June 3 1763 Elizabeth Carter joined Lord Bath, Elizabeth and Edward Montagu in Dover. The journey across the Channel made her violently sick and proved ominous for the rest of the trip – Carter's health probably suffered more than it benefited. The journey lasted nearly four months and the party travelled through Belgium, Germany and Holland, spending over two months at the fashionable Belgian health resort of Spa. They arrived there mid-June, after a harrowing coach trip, to find the season had not properly started. Yet in time famous personages such as Prince Ferdinand of Prussia, the Prince Bishop of Augsburg, Prince Clement of Saxony, Princess Amelia and a host of other princesses and princes arrived which, as far as Carter was concerned, merely involved an inconvenient amount of bowing and curtseying131. When Prince and Princess Ferdinand arrived, Carter avoided the dilemma of visiting them by virtue of not possessing a hoop132. Among all the counts and countesses, princes and barons, she made one lasting friend, however; with Madame de Blum, wife of an officer in the service of the Duke of Brunswick, Carter spent long, quiet hours and corresponded till the former's death. During this lengthy tour, during which her health hardly improved, Carter showed limited interest in the foreign places and customs generally (she did not think highly of Belgium, positively disliked The Netherlands and was only pleased with the short detour into Germany), proving herself repeatedly overtlypatriotic133. Yet what always enticed her were the churches and cathedrals and especially the convents, of which she visited a few during the tour. Catholicism repulsed her, the idols, the gold, yet she seemed drawn repeatedly to the women who lived in religious, studious seclusion.134. (For a further discussion of Carter's inclination to cloisters, see Chapters 1 and 7). Carter was an excellent companion, but an abominable traveller. Not only was she prone to severe seasickness, travelling in carriages made her, as has been amply demonstrated, both ill and rebellious, and she had a determinedly English stomach and mind. In some ways, she was the ultimate patriot. While not blind to natural beauty generally, she could rarely consider a spot superior to Deal, or to Kent, or, at the very least, to England. Nor could she appreciate foreign (with foreign occasionally meaning anything or anywhere or anyone outside Deal) food, people, customs, languages, roads. For such a linguist, she Brigitte Sprenger 189 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza was surprisingly vicious about French "as she was spoke" by the French, or Belgians. Germany impressed her considerably more (in part probably because it was the home of the Hannoverian kings), yet for The Netherlands she could hardly find a single positive adjective. It was with a great sigh of relief that she undertook the tormentuous final Channel crossing and landed safely again at Dover. But she was not the only one pleased at her return. Catherine Talbot voiced not only relief but just a touch of jealousy: Welcome again, my dear Miss Carter, to your native land. Most sincerely I rejoice in your safe return, and shall disinterestedly enjoy the thoughts of your reposing at home, after so many fatigues, till January; though I dare say Mrs Montagu, who has had you with her all this while, cannot help being unconscionable enough to grumble at not bringing you on directly with her135. A long and very eventful year had come to a close. With it came the effective end of Carter's active literary life. Henceforth her contribution lay in more subtle regions. NOTES 1 Walter S Scott, The Bluestocking Ladies, 1947; 52 2 Memoirs; ibid, 1:425 3 Albert C. Baugh A Literary History of England Part Ill (1967); 1072 4 The Huntington in California owns the bulk of this correspondence, some mindboggling 6,923 Mss, but the British Library and Bodleian also possess Mss. Many of Montagu's earlier letters, up to 1760, were published by her adopted heir Matthew Montagu in 1817 and early this century the four-volume biography by Emily J Climenson and Reginald Blunt drew on the huge correspondence without, however, aiming to reproduce all the letters extant. An academic, in-depth examination and appreciation of EM as a letter-writer has yet to be undertaken. 5 EM to EC 23 Jun 1761 6 Sylvia Myers The Bluestocking Circle, 1990; 42 7 EM to Scott, May 3, no year, but dated 1756 by the editor from internal evidence 190 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 8 EM to EC 13 Jul 1758 9 EC to EM, a reply in a discussion concerning Tacitus' representation of Augustus, Tiberius and Caligula and mentioning an excursion EC made, 14 Aug 1756 10 Memoirs, ibid, 1:205 and EC to CT 6 Jun 1757 11 EM to EC 6 Jun 1758 12 EM to EC 20 Oct 1758 13 EC to EM13 Jan 1759 14 Carter was staying with the Talbots when Archbishop Hutton died. Secker was offered the see of Canterbury but refused. Only upon a second offer did he accept. Carter accompanied the Talbots for a quick early tour of Lambeth that season. Memoirs, ibid; 214ff; EC to CT 30 May 1758 15 Footnote MP to CT to EC 23 Sep 1759. By confiding in Carter, Secker could thus ensure he was reliably informed when the former accompanied Catherine and Mrs Talbot to Bristol 16 EC to EM 31 Jan 1759 17 CT to EC 23 Sep 1759 18 EC to EM 23 Apr 1759 19 EM to EC, undated 20 EC to EM 4 Jun 1759: Mrs Pitt and other members of the Pitt family were to remain friends with Carter for life 21 EC to EM 31 Mar 1759 22 ibid 23 EM to EC 7 Jun 1759 Brigitte Sprenger 191 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 24 EC to EM 20 Jun 1759 25 EC to EM 13 September 1759. Cf also Chapter One 26 EM to EC 15 Sept 1759 27 EC to CT 5 Jun 1760 and CT to EC 6 June 1760 28 EC to EM 23 May 1760 29 EM to EC, MO 3034, Huntington Ms211 30 EC to EM 9 Oct 1764, cf. EM's Essay, p.37 17 Oct 1764, 25 Oct 1764, and EM to EC 10 Oct 1764, 23 Oct 1764, MO – Huntington MS 31 EC to EM 10 Aug 1768, see also EC to EM 19 Jul 1768 and 10 Aug 1768 32 EM to EC 31 Dec 1765, MO- Huntington MS 33 EM to EC not dated (1760-1762). Huntington Ms. 34 EM to EC 3 Oct 1762 35 EC to EM 17 Jun 1769 36 Elizabeth Montagu, Essay on Shakespeare, 1769; 14. EM to EC 13 Aug 1767, 19 Jul 1768, MO Huntington MS 37 For an excellent discussion of the work's reception and merits, see Myers, ibid; 199206 38 EC to EM 31 Oct 1760 39 ibid 40 EC to EM 3 Sept 1774 and EM to EC, 1763, Huntington MS 41 EC to EM 17 Jun 1769 192 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 42 For example, EC to EM 2 Jul 1771, discussing EC's dislike of Aristotle’s Ethics for its lack of guiding principle and feeling, and her aversion to Augustus as presented by Tacitus. 43 EC to EM 14.6.75, but cu Chapter 7, where a case is presented for dating this letter in 1762 and therefore part of the long interchange of ideas during the composition of EM's Essay on Shakespeare. 44 EC to EM, ibid 45 EC to EM, ibid 46 EC to EM 30 Sep 1767 47 This bay had "a spring which rises among the pebbles on the shore (which)..is constantly overflowed and covered by the tide, but when that retreats it does not retain the least mixture of salt, but on the contrary, is the pleasantest water I ever tasted…" EC to EM 29 Jul 1760 48 EC to EM 12 Feb 1761 49 Carter, Poems upon Several Occasions 50 EM to EC December 1762, Huntington MS 51 EC to EV 7 Feb 1772. Carter repeatedly used the imagery of both cats and birds to describe herself. The cat imagery is commonly used to emphasise her feeling of being unnoticed, whereas the bird imagery functions to personify her need for freedom. Cf also Chapter 7 52 EC to EM 28 Nov 1772. cf Walter S Scott, The Bluestocking Ladies, John Green & Co, London, 1947, Chapter 9 53 cf for instance EC to EM 31 Mar 1759 54 Oliver Sacks, Migraine, London; Picador, 1993 Brigitte Sprenger 193 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 55 EC to EM 22 Jun 1761 56 EC to EM 27 Jun 1761 57 EC to CT, Memoirs, ibid; I: 221-232 58 The Bluestocking Ladies, ibid; 58. The countess must have considered EC a rather gallivanting lady, commenting years later that Carter "trots" off to Paris with Sir Wm Pulteney and his daughter and is "heard of, now in one part of England, now in another, in the company of her friend Miss Sharpe." ibid 59 John Dolan A Lady of the Last Century (Ms Elizabeth Montagu) London, 1873; 101. 60 EC to CT 5 May 1749 61 EC to CT 8 Aug 1761 62 Reginald Blunt, Mrs Montagu Queen of the Blues. 1923; I, 103; The Bluestocking Circle. ibid; 246, MO 4246 10Jan 1762 Huntington Ms. 63 EM to EC 29 Sep 1762, Huntington MS 64 MO 6410 11 Dec 1763. The Bluestocking Circle, ibid; 170 65 EC to EM 26 Nov 1761 and also EM to EC Sep 1761 Huntington MS. The whole passage relating to the gift has been crossed out on the MS, presumably by Matthew Montagu. Cf also, EM to EC 23 Sep 1762, where Montagu mentions receiving a letter from Bath with a £50 banknote for Carter, again to induce her to come to London. Climenson also mentions a gift of two £20 notes to Carter, again forwarded via Montagu, which Bath directed was to enable Carter to "make her fine when she comes to Tunbridge". Emily J. Climenson, Mrs Montagu, Queen of the Blues Vol II; 235 and also R Huchon, Mrs Montagu 1720 – 1800: An Essay, J. Murray, London, 1907; 62. Montagu Pennington mistakenly interpreted references to these financial gifts as relating to a possible annuity. 66 194 EC to William Pulteney 31 Oct 1767, Memoirs, ibid; I, 390 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 67 Memoirs, ibid, 391. EM had written Lyttelton she also felt Bath should have awarded EC an annuity in recognition of "such intimacy". Blunt, Mrs Montagu, Queen of the Blues, ibid; I, 114. 68 Memoirs. ibid; 387-394 and EC to EV 18 Oct 1782. The friendship with the Pulteneys continued till death – The Huntington Library owns a long, chatty letter Carter wrote to Mrs Pulteney on 27 June 1788. 69 EC to (unknown), 14 Aug 1764 in Memoirs, ibid; 239 70 Memoirs, ibid; I, 238? 71 EM to EC, Oct 1761 and 7 Jul 1761 72 MP footnote to EC to CT 20 Jul 1744. cf also later in this chapter and Chapter 7 73 Edward Young, Correspondence ed. H. Pettit, Young to EM 9.4.1761; 526 74 EM to EC August 1761, Huntington MS 75 EM to EC as above and EM to EC 5 Sep 1761, Huntingdon MS 76 Edward Young Resignation, Dublin 1762. 07,31. The poem is addressed to Mrs B (Boscawen) whose husband the admiral had just died. Young also refers to Samuel Richardson's death; 15 77 EC to EM 1 Sep 1761 78 ibid 79 Blunt, Mrs Montagu, Queen of the Blues, ibid; I, 111; EC to EM 31 Dec 1775 80 Cf The Bluestocking Circle, ibid; 120 81 EC to EM 7 Nov 1767. Carter did indeed nurse Montagu on several occasions. 82 EM to EC, 26 Nov 1872, Huntington MS 83 Memoirs, ibid; I, 237; EC to CT undated by Pennington Brigitte Sprenger 195 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 84 In 1755, Mrs Donellan had heard one of Carter's poems read aloud and, via Lyttelton, requested a copy, upon which Lyttelton made his recommendation via Talbot. CT to EC 7 Feb 1755 85 EM to EC 23 (no month given) 1761, Huntington MS 86 ibid 87 EC to CT 26.9.61 88 CT to EC, undated, Memoirs, ibid; I, 233 89 EC to EM 8 Oct 1761 90 EC to EM 10 Oct 1761 91 EC to EM 14 Oct 1761 92 EM to EC, undated, Letters of Mrs Montagu…, ed Matthew Montagu, Vol. 111;345 93 EC to EM 26 Nov 1871 94 Memoirs, ibid; I, 236 95 "Ode", Poems upon Several Occasions: 34/35 96 GM June 1738; 315-6 & Poems upon Several Occasions 34/35 97 Carter sent the former poem to Talbot on 8 Aug 1745 reporting she had been staying in Dr Walwyn's house in Canterbury and the doctor wished to fell the trees for they prevented the fruit ripening. The trees were cut down, despite the poetic plea. 98 C. J. Horne, "Literature and Science", The New Pelican Guide to English Literature, Vol 4; 135 99 Anne Bradstreet Poems of Mrs Anne Bradstreet 1612-1672, Duodecimal, Massachusetts, 1895-97; 259 100 EC to NC 1949 in Memoirs, ibid; I, 382 196 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 101 EC to EV 16 Aug 1772 102 Hoxie Neale Fairchild Religious Trends in English Poetry: Vol II 1740-1780: Religious Sentimentalism in the Age of Johnson, New York, Columbia University Press 1942; 191 103 ibid; 232 104 Poems upon Several Occasions; 1 105 Fairchild, Religious Trends, ibid; 282 106 Memoirs, ibid; I, 122 107 HC to EC 31 Jul 1750, Posthumous Works of Mrs Chapone 108 1766 Memoirs, ibid; I, 433 109 EC to EM 20 Oct 1772 110 Monthly Review, February 1762 111 Carter's own copy of the poems is in the possession of Miss P. Billings; a photocopy of these pages was made by Julie Deller who kindly gave me a further copy 112 K.M. Rogers, Feminism in Eighteenth Century England; 23 113 EC to EM 21 Dec 1761. Three octavo editions appeared in all, in 1762, 1766 and 1776. In 1777 a duodecimo edition appeared which was reprinted in 1789. 114 Censura Literaria of July 1807 containing an excellent review of them; "Doux poemes extraits d'une Collection…." London, 1796, 80 115 "Evening Walk" published in the tract Religious on 2 Aug. 1802 116 Germaine Greer, "No laments for dead birds", review in Weekend Telegraph, 21 Oct 1989 117 EM to EC 14 Nov 1767, Huntington MS Brigitte Sprenger 197 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 118 EC to EM 14 Oct 1761 119 EC to EM 26 Oct 1761 120 EM to EC 23 Jun 1761 121 Feminism in Eighteenth-Century England, ibid; 215. Rogers states the Bluestockings gained intellectual freedom by sacrificing their emotional lives, 231 122 The Bluestocking Circle ibid; 136. Mrs Montagu was not always so kind to her servants. Katherine G Hornbeak in "New Light on Mrs Montagu", Essays presented to Chauncey Brewster Tinker in The Age of Johnson ed. Frederick N Hilles, Yale University Press 1949; 349-361, mentions the publication of The Life and Lucubrations of Crispinus Scriblerus in 1896 by James Woodhouse, who for many years was EM's bailiff and steward. Woodhouse was originally a shoemaker, who wrote poetry and Montagu was initially as enraptured by him as by Ann Yearsley, the poet milkwoman she and Hannah More patronised. Under EM's patronage, Woodhouse (1735 -1820), published Poems on Sundry Occasions in 1764. But Montagu soon became highly critical of Woodhouse's wife, the way they were bringing up their children and of Woodhouse's careless bookkeeping (though she was long pleased with his other abilities). Woodhouse bitterly complained of how Montagu dictated every little detail in his family's lives; how they dressed, ate, slept. In his two-volume poem, Woodhouse viciously attacks Montagu's "thirst for Pomp, and lust for Fame" and claims her charity was only with a view to gaining entry into heaven and she was in fact a penny-pincher. On 17 Oct 1767, EC thanked EM for forwarding a copy of "Mr Wodehouse's pretty ode". 123 Memoirs, I; 383 124 EC to EM 29 Dec 1762 125 Sharpe, Sketch of the Character of Mrs Elizabeth Carter, 1806 126 EC to EV 4 Dec 1777 198 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 127 The house is currently the property of Susan and Stewart Shanks, who very kindly allowed me to view it (1992) 128 Secker to EC 1 Oct 1763, in Memoirs, ibid; 383 129 Memoirs, I; 402 130 EC to CT 30 May 1764: EC to EM 27 May 1773 131 Memoirs, I; 283 132 ibid 133 Memoirs, I: 270, 280, 344, 359 134 Memoirs, I, 264, 329 135 CT to EC 22 Sep 1763 Brigitte Sprenger 199 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Chapter 6: Bluestockings and Bereavements After Tea our circle was encreased by the arrival of Mrs Carter – on her being announced you may suppose my whole attention was turn'd to the door….She seems about sixty. She is rather fat and not very striking in her appearance, dressed in a scarlet gown and petticoat, a plain undress cap and perfectly flat head – a small work bag under her arm, out of which she drew some knotting as soon as she was seated – but no fuss or airs about her. She entered into the conversation with that ease which a person has who has both their thoughts and words at command, but no toss of the head – no sneer – no emphatical look – in short no affected consequence of any kind… Betsy Sheridan in her Journal, 17851. Many sought her out, often initially to do themselves honour, but usually it was continued in affection and veneration by the charms of her mild manners, steady principles, and winning modesty. Miss Sharpe about Elizabeth Carter in Sketch of Character of Mrs Carter 18062. Just returned from spending one of the most agreeable days of my life with the female Maecenas of Hill Street.. Hannah More, Journals3. On September 19 1763, after a seven-hour sea journey from Calais to Dover which made her, as usual, weak and badly seasick, Carter set foot on English soil again4. While the rest of the party travelled on to London; Carter wrote immediately a note to Talbot, recuperated a night, and went home to Deal. There her house, now fully repaired and altered, felt inhabited and cosy and she settled in happily to remain till death. She especially enjoyed the tiny little courtyard garden where she planted and watered innumerable pinks and roses. Not only was she now comfortably and permanently settled 200 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza in her own property, but financially she was to profit considerably over the next few years. In 1765 her uncle, with whom she had so often lived and stayed, especially in her youth, died and, as always promised, left about £14,000 to his brother's family. The sum was equally shared and Carter invested her £1500 in South-Sea annuities in which she presumably fared much better than her own mother had done so very many years ago 5. Lord Bath had died a year earlier and by 1767 the annuity of £100 was settled on her by the Pulteneys (see Chapter 5). And in 1775, when Edward Montagu died, his wife felt free to spread the massive fortune now under her sole power, and also settled an annuity of £100 on her friend in Deal6. Elizabeth Carter therefore, at a ripe 50 years old, was at last comfortably off. The frugal habits of the past died hard, however, and her nephew repeatedly (obviously to strengthen his picture of the pious aunt) stressed her modesty in dress, habit, food, furniture and the fact that she supported charities. One of the charities in which Carter was very closely involved was the Ladies Charitable Society. It was set up at the initiation of Mrs John Pitt, and designed to support financially, usually temporarily, any needy citizens of five London parishes. Each applicant for charity was very carefully examined by contributors to the society, which included Carter. Work for the society took up considerable time and energy and on at least two occasions decisions rejecting applications for charity ignited considerable controversy. Elizabeth Montagu talks of Carter's "passion to relieve distress", stating her friend "has children in every poor Court and Alley", acting as "mother of above a hundred illegitimate infants"7. The picture thereby transmitted of a very modest, frugal woman who gave anything extra to charity is, however, not quite correct. Notwithstanding her genuine charity and modest living, Carter could take great pleasure in some little luxuries. One of these was obviously tea, but in matters of dress she could occasionally display an almost child-like delight. Carter thanked Vesey profusely for the gift of a workbag ("I thank you for comprehending what a delightful prize to an old maid is a bit of pink ribbon that may be worn with impunity") or the description in the epigraph by Betsy Sheridan, reflecting a touch of vanity in wearing a scarlet gown, and not the standard black silk8. The years following the eventful period of overseas travel and publishing her poems were a quiet contrast. Immediately after the trip to Europe, Carter went as usual to London for Brigitte Sprenger 201 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza the season, enjoying each year an ever increasing circle of new acquaintances as well as maintaining contact with old friends as Talbots, Secker, Montagu, Vesey and Hester Mulso-Chapone9. Among Carter's new London acquaintance were the entire Pitt family, the Dunbars, Hannah More, Horace Walpole, Lady Robert Herries, Mrs John Hunter, Elizabeth Boscawen. Carter had also still kept in touch with her very old friend Samuel Johnson, now, like her, in a more comfortable financial position, resting on laurels, enjoying a life of intellectual social intercourse, but producing and publishing very little work. Johnson retained his respect for Carter to the last, as she did for him. Posterity has delivered a few brief accounts of social gatherings at which both Johnson and Carter were present. The accounts leave an impression of a most comfortable, almost domestic rapport between the two. In 1781 David Garrick's widow collected her husband's friends around her: Johnson, Carter, Hannah More, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Dr Burney, Mrs Boscawen and James Boswell. Boswell remembers it as "one of the happiest days….of my life", recalling little conversation but the comfortable, happy atmosphere. What snippets he did record, however, included Carter and Johnson discussing the enthusiastic Whig, Thomas Hollis. Carter criticised his uncharitable talk, upon which Johnson (one can almost visualize him stretching his legs comfortably after dinner and folding his arms over a full stomach): "Poh! poh! Madam; who is the worse for being talked of uncharitably? Besides, he was a dull poor creature..". Carter, still fretting, suggested he was probably an atheist to boot. Johnson: "I don't know that. He might perhaps have become one, if he had had time to ripen. (smiling). He might have exuberated into an Atheist"10. From Boswell's account, it seems probable that Carter and Johnson last met on May 14, 1784, just over half a year before the latter's death. On that occasion, Johnson dined with Carter, Fanny Burney and Hannah More. Johnson told Boswell the following day: "Three such women are not to be found: I know not where I could find a fourth, except Mrs Lennox who is superior to them all"11. The century was, as has often been remarked, characterised by its "club" nature. Coffee and chocolate houses were established all over London and both homogenous and heterogeneous clubs sprang up at these addresses, cultivating conversation. These clubs, literary and otherwise, did, however exclude women whose development and education had led naturally towards a plateau where they, too, strove to achieve similar 202 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza club conversation. Thus, towards the middle of the century, the literary salon developed and for a few decades positively flourished. A. R. Humphries puts it thus: The ladies eventually counterpoised this male monopoly, though on a restricted scale, with salons where they could prove (as enlightened minds were ready to admit) that Nature shared her intellectual gifts fairly between the sexes. Under the encouragements of Mrs Montagu, Mrs Boscawen, Mrs Vesey and others, society achieved an integration it had lacked – the collaboration of masculine and feminine tastes in cultural matters – and a necessary strand was woven into the fabric of London's life…12 Literary salons had long been a feature of European culture: evolving naturally from the cultivated, social intercourse during the Italian and French Renaissance, the salon established itself, especially in France, early in the eighteenth century as Bureaux d'esprit where women such as mesdames Geoffrin, de Tencin, de Lespinasse and, much later, de Stael distinguished themselves as powerful, spiritual, aesthetic authorities, pivotal points, hosting on a regular basis very sizeable gatherings of writers, politicians, academicians and philosophers. Their drawing-rooms were the "stages for a dress rehearsal for female emancipation"13. Although these salons were not uniform – their hostesses' various personalities and interests ensured great variety in style, method and character and the French Revolution inevitably had its effects – they generally aimed at cultivating on an unstructured basis, free-flowing conversation on literary and philosophical topics among educated, mostly liberal thinkers of both sexes. Their character remained constant until well into the nineteenth century, when they adopted a more political character. Before then, however, the salon phenomenon spread across Europe into especially Berlin, the. Austrian Empire and even St Petersburg. The salon also managed to bridge the English Channel, but its nature there was to an extent quite distinct from the European counterpart and, unfortunately, much shorter-lived. The reason for this, undoubtedly, is as Von der HeydenRynsch suggests: the parallel existence of a long tradition of freemasonry which nourished a male club mentality, could not quickly or for long be channeled into a socio-philosophical basis shared with women. The English salons were rooted, not in Renaissance "Geselligkeit" in mixed company in a domestic environment, but in male clubs and coffeehouse evenings at neutral addresses14. Although the English salons were throughout their short lives also patronised by men, these were always in a minority, and never abandoned their male clubs or attempted to assimilate the two streams. Brigitte Sprenger 203 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Prior to the mushrooming of the new literary salons in England, social intercourse between the sexes was mainly limited to public and private assemblies where dancing and cardplaying (with some lively and high gambling stakes) were indulged, in dinners and suppers or the short formal visits. The first literary salons were in part a rebellion against the loud dancing and dedicated card-playing which obstructed any decent conversation. ("Long was Society o'er-run by Whist, that desolating Hun!" wrote Hannah More in her poem "The Bas Bleu, or Conversation".) On many occasions, Carter, too, complained of the noise, mindlessness and empty show of such assembles: I was once drawn in at a --, what shall I call it? a drum, a rout, a racket, a hurricane, an uproar, a something in short, that was the utter confusion of all sense and meaning, where every charm in conversation was drove away by that foe to human society, whist; in a word, where I was kept muzzing and half dead with sleep and vexation till one in the morning, and from that time made a resolution, in whatever company I met a pack of cards, to fly from it as from the face of a serpent15. Yet undoubtedly, parallel to the dislike of card-playing, ran the desire to emulate the 'male clubs, to enjoy also lively, witty, learned conversation, exchanging views with sharp, educated minds enabling the women to exercise their newly-gained education and reading. Reading literature, or even writing literature, was not enough. They needed to develop critical abilities and to do this, an exchange of opinion, conflict even with others who had read the same works, was vital. The British salons were quite soon christened Bluestocking or bas-bleu circles. The precise origins of the name have caused much speculation – a favourite explanation being that, to emphasize its informal and unfashionable nature (as distinct from the card-playing assemblies), Elizabeth Vesey had told Benjamin Stillingfleet not to worry if he couldn't come in his white silk – stockings his blue (worsted wool) stockings would not offend. Interestingly, if unfortunately, the name Bluestocking became in time a derogatory term. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Literature defines the term as "A woman having or affecting literary tastes….". As Sylvia Myers has fully documented in her The Bluestocking Circle: Women, Friendship, and the Life of the Mind in Eighteenth-Century England, Bluestockings were originally both men and women who attended these regular literary salons, but the word was soon used for women only and then evolved into a synonym for affectation and pretensions to literary knowledge. Even into modern times, the word was soon used mostly in a derogatory sense, and Myers pleads for its abolition. Most literary histories either ignore the 204 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Bluestockings or deride the phenomenon. Typical is Chauncey Brewster Tinker's The Salon and English Letters: Chapters in the Interrelations of Literature and Society in the Age of Johnson (1915). Tinker concludes the conversations were "stiff and solemn" because Boswell never recorded them – without analysing either the Bluestocking's characteristics or influence; ten pages are dedicated to the word's etymology and as many again to items of gossip such as Vesey's flirtation with Sterne16. Yet, as Myers herself has shown, these Bluestockings and their gatherings contributed concretely to not merely social history, but to literary history and especially to the growth in stature of women as intelligent readers and writers. While this first generation of Bluestockings (Montagu, Carter, Vesey, Ord, Delaney, Talbot) produced comparatively few works, the next generation of very productive authors like Fanny Burney, Hannah More, Hester ThralePiozzi were in fact nurtured and inspired by their elders17. The Bluestocking Circle was by no means an organised, structured society and their gatherings were overtly neither structured nor organised. They could, at most, boast a certain regularity; Mrs Vesey held her evenings generally on Thursdays, Lady Robert Herries and Mrs John Hunter had their regular evenings as well18. Obviously the evenings were held during the Season only. It does not seem that such evenings were by strict invitation only or that some form of membership was required. Occasionally, Bluestocking parties assumed an unusual Gestaltung: Lady Clement once invited 300 guests to walk, have tea and discuss literature in St. James Park. Elizabeth Montagu indulged in three main varieties of entertainment. Frequently, and irregularly, she collected a very small, elect circle of three of four people for serious, deep literary discussion. Then there were the proper Bluestocking evenings as described below, where a few dozen regulars and guests seated themselves in a semi-circle around her fireplace for a serious, structured discussion. Lastly, there were the very public, magnificent entertainments, such as the breakfast in her new palace at Portman Square, described by Burney, where conversation, though not hampered by card-playing, took on a more secondary role. Evidently, and inevitably in such a small society, the friends knew each other and came or not according to their availability, health, desire. There were certain circles who tended to patronise each other: Mrs Montagu and Mrs Vesey visited each other's evenings, yet Mrs Delaney's evenings, for instance, were not as a rule attended by the Montagu-VeseyBrigitte Sprenger 205 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Carter circle. (Mrs Delaney belonged to upper aristocratic circles with royal connections and did not wish to be "known" to lower circles frequented by such as Johnson and Thrale.) But on the whole, they did mix. When Dr Johnson settled in at Streatham, Mrs Thrale set up her own separate circle in emulation of the town "blues" and at least some of her evenings were visited by Montagu. (I have found no record of Carter ever visiting Johnson at Streatham: she tended to meet him either at Mrs Garrick's or his own lodgings). Elizabeth Carter tended to patronize Montagu and Vesey. These two hostesses had a contrasting Gestaltung for their evenings. Mrs Montagu, who generally has been seen as a character who liked to shine, seated her guests in one large round circle; when she had built the extravagant "palace " (as Carter called Montagu House) in Portman Square, the guests sat in their circle in the magnificent salon, which with its marble columns, gilded fireplace, parquet floor and ornate plaster ceiling hardly invited informality19. Mrs Montagu placed her most prominent guests on each side of herself, and probably steered the conversation, which would concentrate on mostly literary, but also philosophical, religious, political matters. Fanny Burney called these evenings, "splendid": At Mrs Montagu's, the semi-circle that faced the fire retained during the whole evening its unbroken form with a precision that it seemed described by a Brobdignagian compass. The lady of the castle commonly placed herself at the upper end of the room, near the commencement of the curve, so as to be courteously visible to all her guests…20. Montagu was, however, not totally inflexible in her more formal semi-circles, for Hannah More reports at least one occasion when the former adopted the smaller groupings too: There were nineteen persons assembled at dinner, but after the repast, she has a method of dividing her guests or rather letting them assort themselves into little groups of five or six each, I spend my time in going from one to the other of these little societies, as I happened to like more or less the subjects they were discussing. Mrs Scott, Mrs Montagu's sister, a very good writer, Mrs Carter, Mrs Barbauld, and a man of letters whose name I have forgotten, made up one of these little parties. When we had canvassed two or three subjects, I stole off, and joined in with the next group, which was composed of Mrs Montagu, Dr Johnson, the Provost of Dublin and two other ingenius men. In this Party there was a diversity of opinions, which produced a great deal of Good argument and reasoning…21. Mrs Vesey on the other hand, in the "blue room" so beloved by Carter, seated her guests in tiny little groups to stimulate more intimate conversation and give each guest a better chance to mingle, and participate. She purposely placed chairs with their backs to each other to encourage such informality. According to Burney, Vesey's horror of a circle was 206 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza so great that she pushed sofas and chairs "pell-mell" about the apartments “so as not to leave even a zig-zag path of communication free from impediments and her greatest delight was to place the seats back to back…"22. Elizabeth Carter quite obviously, for all her regard for Montagu, preferred Vesey's "heterogeneous assemblies": One means by which she preserves so many naturally jarring characters, as compose her motley crowd, from quarreling with each other, is by contriving to put them all into perfect good humour with themselves; and wherever this is the case, all external war is at an end. As, upon these occasions, our Sylph has not a grain of vanity, nor the least degree of merely personal feelings; she has an infinite deal of attention to bestow, in adapting herself to the feelings of others…she accomplishes the point of making each of the individuals with whom her blue room is crowded, consider itself as a principal and distinguished object…23. Occasionally these informal evenings could become formal, as when Samuel Johnson attended, causing a circle of four deep to stand attentively around his chair. Frances Burney, however, remarked that the real difference between these Bluestocking evenings was not one of grandeur or simplicity or seating plans, but the characters of the hostesses which permeated the conversation24. Other contemporaries confirm such assertions. Lady Louisa Stuart, for instance, describes how, at a Montagu evening: ….(we) took our places in a vast half-moon, consisting of about twenty-five women, where, placed between two grave faces unknown to me, I sate hiding yawns with my fan…..(until the men arrived)…… (such a circle) may be the best for a brilliant interchange of – I had nearly said snip-snap – of pointed sentences and happy repartees. Every flash being visible, every joke distinctly heard from one and to the other, the consequent applause may act like a dram upon bodily combatants, invigorating wit and provoking fresh sallies…25 Lady Stuart went on to point out however, that when people "who loved to hear themselves talk" were present, these evenings could turn from being lively and witty, into long, dull affairs. Montagu Pennington, Carter's nephew, must have accompanied his aunt on a number of occasions for he gives a general description of Mrs Vesey's evenings especially, considering them the most agreeable and instructive. "Here was no formal circle to petrify an unfortunate stranger on his entrance; no rules of conversation to observe; no holding forth of one to his own distress, and the stupefying of his audience; no reading of his works by the author"26. This implies, of course, that a number of the other Bluestocking parties Brigitte Sprenger 207 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza had exactly such contrasting atmospheres. Pennington noted that the talk was both merry and serious. While Dr Johnson held forth on moral duties in one corner, Horace Walpole might be wittily amusing a little group with intelligent conversation in another, and in yet another corner some young people of fashion might be discussing fashions or the opera. The groups were left to talk, be silent, or walk about as they pleased: Mrs Vesey would occasionally call the company's attention to some new subject, but generally her art of hostessing was of a subtle, non-intrusive kind. Guests at Elizabeth Vesey's came to talk themselves and hers were considered the most enjoyable parties: guests went to Elizabeth Montagu's and Hester Thrale's, to hear the hostesses talk 27. Montagu clearly reveled in intellectual conversation: What a divine things is conversation when it is the interchange of thought, the communication of knowledge, the incitement to virtue, the improvement of piety, when it is with my Dear Mrs Carter. How dull, how insipid when it is the news of the day, the description of a wedding, the history of a general! 28. Possibly also much to Carter's inclination, were the very small and serious parties given by Admiral Boscawen's wife. Hannah More recorded one such small, exclusive evening where only she herself, her hostess Elizabeth Montagu, Hester Chapone and Elizabeth Carter were present: "We spent the time not as wits, but as reasonable creatures; better characters I trow. The conversation was sprightly but serious…. There was much sterling sense29. There are several glimpses of the elder Carter provided by Mary Hamilton, who was a court favourite during George Ill's reign and later married John Dickenson. Hamilton presumably met Carter via Lord and Lady Dartrey who once took her to meet the "celebrated and amiable Mrs Carter" on their way to France30. On January 23 in 1784, for instance, Hamilton went to Carter's for breakfast before 9 o'clock, then spent the morning with her working and talking mostly about religion. "I feel," Hamilton wrote to her friend Miss Gunnings, "great comfort from every serious conversation I have with this dear friend, who is an honor to her sex & Country & I also feel highly gratified by her attachment…(and)….maternal interest"31. In the evening she dined at Vesey's where they were later joined by Hannah More, Walpole, DD Warton, Carter, Lady Herries, Or and Fanny Burney, Sir Wm Hamilton, the Misses Gunnings and their father, Sir Joshua Reynolds and his niece Miss Palmer32. A month later, Hamilton and Carter dined with Mrs 208 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Delaney and were later joined by the Duchess of Portland. The two elder women then proceeded to entertain the two younger ones (Hamilton and Carter) with anecdotes of the past33. Unfortunately, Hamilton gave few or no details of the conversation or characters she met. She noted, like Thomas Birch, the long list of prominent people present at a basbleu party but would fail to add details. She attended, for instance, a Bluestocking evening at Mrs Ord's on 12 April 1784 where Carter, Elizabeth Montagu, Horace Walpole, William Pepys and his wife, Lady Rothes, Mrs Garrick, Hannah More, Charles and Fanny Burney, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Miss Palmer and Lord Monboddo were present and mentioned no more than that the chief discussion was a dispute over Dryden 34. The only time Hamilton could become more detailed – and she is no exception – is when Johnson was of the party. On May 14,1784, Hamilton and Carter went to the Adelphi to dine with Mrs Garrick and there met Charles and Fanny Burney, Dr and Miss Cadogan, Hannah More and a weak but lively 75- year-old Johnson. They began on "sincere Christians” (it was the occasion when Carter testified to knowing Johnson to be one which so gratified the Cham). Carter then remarked she was "much provoked at the encouragement given to People for the sake of their talents, who were known to be unbelievers", instancing Abbe Reynal. Johnson gave Rousseau as an example. Carter furthered the argument by stating such unbelievers should be forbidden to "propagate their pernicious doctrines". Johnson went one further by stating such writers should be banished from Christian society, from Christian kingdoms…35. The impression is one where two respected, established literary figures and friends indulge in mutual concord. The game continued as Johnson proceeded to air unfavourable opinions of Goldsmith, already dead, in which he found himself seconded by Carter (she thought him "a very vulgar man and vastly conceited") and Mrs Garrick. The picture drawn on this occasion by Hamilton is hardly flattering to either Johnson or Carter by modern, more liberal and secular standards, and the conversation hardly strikes one as particularly sophisticated, astute or interesting. (However, Hamilton was surrounded on this occasion mostly by elderly, very moral cultural "heavyweights" with only the publicly shy Fanny Burney of approximately her own age.) The journals and correspondence of Hannah More, whom Carter had met at Bristol and greatly liked, also afford some glimpses. Brigitte Sprenger 209 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Mrs Carter, Mr Walpole and I have had little regular assignations about once a week (at Mrs Vesey's) and when we have been so happy as to escape an irruption of fine ladies, have enjoyed ourselves prodigiously. We had a parting dinner there just before I left town, but our dear hostess in one of her delightful blunders, forgetting whom she had invited, asked so many others, that it became too large and spoiled our little project, and then, as usual, instead of enjoying what she had, the dear soul wasted her day in regret for what she fancied she had lost36. In More's already cited poem "The Bas Bleu", the salon-phenomena and its characters are described in more formal terms: Here sober Duchesses are seen, Chaste Wits, and Critics void of Speel! Physicians fraught with real science, And Whigs and Tories in alliance, Poets fulfilling Christian duties Just Lawyers, reasonable Beauties! While undoubtedly eulogizing, the poem reflects the original character of a truly mixed company delighting purely in conversation (and lemonade, biscuits and tea). Carter is described as one who "taught the female train,/The deeply wise are never vain;". It is indeed greatly unfortunate that Burney with her sharp, observant eye and pen to match it, never gave similar accounts of the original Bluestocking parties at Vesey's and Montagu's as she has happily bequeathed of the Streatham society. Burney possibly never attended any of Mrs Vesey's more intimate literary evenings. She certainly attended at least Montagu's public breakfast in Portman Square and gave a detailed and interesting account of this37. Yet possibly again she never attended the bas-bleu evenings there. Burney met Carter in Bath in 1780 when the former was there with the Thrales and Carter with Montagu and Sharpe (see below). Burney thought Carter "really a noble-looking woman; I never saw age so graceful in the female sex yet; her whole face seems to beam with goodness, piety, and philanthropy." Fanny was soon to meet Mrs Delaney which led to her ill-fated attendance at court; Burney was not so fortunate in her father as Carter had been in hers. Moreover, the dispute between Montagu and Johnson over the latter's treatment of Lord Lyttelton in his Lives of the Poets drew the hitherto very large circle into partisanship and further prevented Burney's closer association with the Carter-MontaguVesey segment. Frances ' father, Dr Charles Burney, did, however, regularly attend the same parties as Carter, and then happily conveyed Carter to and from her home. According to Frances, her father "always enjoyed those opportunities in comparing notes 210 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza with her on such topics as were not light enough for the large or mixed companies". Though the topics were serious, the conversations were simple for Carter, though studious, was "free from pedantry". A final comment upon Carter, which probably reflects Frances' opinion and respect as well as her father's: By temperance of life and conduct, activity of body and equanimity of mind, she really reached her 90th year in….. health and strength…. And with all her modest humility upon her personal acquirements, she had a dignified pride of independence that invested her with good sense to feel rather exalted than ashamed at owing her powers of going forth to her own unaided self-exertion38. The judgment aptly applies not only to Carter's ambulatory achievements but also her academic career. Odd snapshots posterity has given us of Carter during this latter period of her life tend to be contented pictures. Carter, plump, demure with her work-bag, was respected to the point of veneration especially by the younger women as the first epigraph well indicates. A contemporary, William Pepys, asserts like Burney, Carter was a "really noble-looking woman" whose "talk was all upon books; life and manners she was ignorant of as a nun"39. Another snap is delivered by Mrs Hartley who wrote appreciatively of a Hebrew passage which several learned men had not been able to decipher. Carter and Mrs Kennicott (a woman who spent ten years helping her husband collect manuscripts to write a twovolume Hebrew Bible) did interpret it and in such a manner which put no noses out of joint: "Neither of these ladies has any pedantry accompanying their knowledge..."40 Such evenings, as well as the far more intimate conversation between two or three friends, were the staple diet of Carter's London visits. Her social life in London was of a character more suited to her than the obligatory nature social life had in Deal: "It is true that I have a very laudable affection for conversation, but then it is equally true, that I mortally hate talking, and consequently have no natural talents for a visit"41. In London she could indulge her active, independent mind, exchange thoughts and opinions and not hide her learning or intelligence. Carter was, according to her nephew, a lively, interesting and sometimes humorous conversationalist, never dull or prosy42. Lady Louisa Stuart emphasized Carter's ability to listen: Upon her the sound scholarship of a learned man sate, as it does upon a man, easily and quietly…. But the very humility and plainness of her character made it avail nothing Brigitte Sprenger 211 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza towards simplifying the general tone of her society, for she loved listening far better than talking; and as she had no quick perception of other people's feelings and absurdities, much less any disposition to oppose them, she sate still, honestly admiring what a livelier (though perhaps shallower) person would have criticised or ridiculed 43. From other accounts, too, a clear picture emerges of Carter as an active and respected participant. Her conversation tended to prefer moral and religious topics in a manner which greatly impressed her listeners. There is a singular accord in Carter's listeners who felt they understood a moral principle better afterwards, felt "improved" – there was never a frustrated whisper of "being preached at". Arguably, Carter felt less at ease in Montagu's large, formal semi-circle and was probably more serious, pious and bookish on those occasions; but in the small groups at Vesey's, or in private closets and at small dinners, she undoubtedly could be an excellent conversationalist, as interesting and witty as Johnson and especially the letters she penned amply testify to. (cf Chapter 7). Carter had been fortunate in always finding small hamlets where intimate, intelligent conversation was possible: with her father and brothers and sisters at home or with Bethia d'Aeth-Cosnan close by, with Secker and the Talbots, with Birch and Johnson. The slow and reluctant evolution accepting women as capable of intelligent and learned conversation (while still being moral) is indicated by the sprouting up of less segregated intellectual activity, such as the salon evenings, the assemblies in provincial towns and the founding of the first mixed sex private club, the Almack's Club in 176544. Inevitably, the mental picture of the actual Montagu -Vesey- Carter Bluestocking society with such piecemeal and less lively accounts, remains unsatisfying. The impression is, and this is strengthened by Myers' excellent examination of this early circle, that it was not so much the evenings themselves which mooted a special, new spirit, but the private friendships and correspondences which emerged. The soirees were public confirmation of inner changes and developments and also, as noted above, changed patriarchal attitudes from within. Women could be intelligent, educated and moral, privately and publicly. Myers has traced a great number of public references to the Bluestockings ranging from articles in the Westminster Magazine discussing whether women should not now also be eligible for honorary degrees (citing a Doctor Elizabeth Carter as example and which was read by Carter) to satiric poems and large-scale paintings45. Such contemporary material sufficiently support Myers' conclusions that "the concept of the 212 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza intellectual woman had attained an independent existence, and the idea of the 'bluestocking' stimulated or continued to bother the imaginations of many" 46. The Bluestockings, due to inhibition and social pressures, had not found their way to committed professional literary life, but had established a "female right to literature"47. Their influence on society as a whole was possibly even deeper and more political than can ever be fully proved. Because the Bluestocking evenings, in contrast to the clubs and guilds, were relatively public, they served as accessible platforms where new ideas, attitudes and thought could be launched. As Hannah More's poem indicated, politicians, academicians, professionals, clergy and women could here indulge freely in the exchange of ideas and undoubtedly influence fundamental attitudes48. The Bluestockings seem to have felt little affinity with a feminist tradition, but like Mary Astell, they campaigned for better educational and social opportunities for women. Their social and literary projects and support were of a modest and private character, never assuming the overt political impulses later necessary to achieve legislative progress49. That these circles were a short-lived phenomenon probably has two causes. For a while at least, it seems that by the end of the eighteenth century, social gatherings where both sexes were present became more Bluestocking in nature anyway – that is, next to the card playing and gossiping of old, there was generally more place for intelligent conversation. The need for specific Bluestocking evenings was thereby diminished. In Europe, generally, the various salons existed considerably longer, but their character changed in the nineteenth century. Instead of mostly women gathering supportively around a few male figures from whom they could learn, the women themselves became the focus of interest. An English parallel would be the few occasions when Charlotte Bronte visited London in George Smith's charge and found herself the "star" of what were in effect Bluestocking evenings50. Parallel to this continental development was the shift to political accents. Evenings where men and women gathered to converse, were less prompted by literary than by political interest51. A final phenomenon reminiscent of Bluestocking-heyday, was that of the Bloomsbury gatherings early this century. Their character, however, tended to be exclusive and bohemian – two characteristics the original Bluestockings were at pains to avoid. Brigitte Sprenger 213 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Another possible reason for the Bluestocking demise is less felicitous from a feminist viewpoint – generally speaking the importance of the woman diminished to an "angel in the house" status in the nineteenth century. The Englishwoman lost some independence and individuality and she was moulded socially and morally (as well as legally) into a demure, self-sacrificing, pale domestic. She was educated, but mostly in superficial subjects only. She socialized, but mostly within her generally oversized family only. Bluestocking circles were, in such a climate, completely superfluous52. But this first circle of women, for whom as Myers points out, learning, virtue and friendship were inextricably linked, reached such fame that by the end of the century the second generation of well-educated women was emulating the social and literary activities of Montagu, Carter and others53. The literary productions of these women, in summary, did not amount to nearly as much as they could potentially have produced and the second generation of Burneys and Mores had a significantly higher output. Yet Carter's Epictetus and Poems. Montagu's Essay on Shakespeare and Dialogues of the Dead, Talbot's Reflections on the Seven Days of the Week and Essay on Various Subjects and Chapone's Miscellanies and Letters on the Improvement of the Mind did affect public opinion of women," virtuous", respectable women, who wrote and published. Even respectable journals and newspapers like the Westminster Magazine and the Monthly Review frequently referred to the Bluestockings, often positively, discussing seriously such issues as education for women, even according them, doctorates54. There were, in any case, only two possibilities open to educated, intelligent women who objected to the straight-jacket patriarchal society imposed (as, to some extent in some societies, is even now the case). They could embark on open protest and defiance as did Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Astell and, anonymously, 'Sophia'. This road usually led, unfortunately, to castigation and exclusion. The alternative, less heroic but demanding patience and long-term determination, was chiseling away from within the confines. Women were excluded from politics, law, education and employment. Their only resources were themselves, 'private study' and perhaps, like Elizabeth Montagu, some money. The Bluestocking circle created a forum where these women could at least discuss at near peer level with the men who held power. Even these male associates had to be handled 214 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza carefully; Lord Lyttelton himself felt the occasional need to remind the women of their limits: Make not too dangerous wit a vain pretence, But wisely rest content with modest sense; For wit like wine intoxicates the brain, Too strong for feeble women to sustain55. Dale Spender forwards the persuasive thesis that, like Emily Davies' insistence on the students at the first women's college in Cambridge conforming rigidly to male expectations in behaviour precisely because they were challenging it, the Bluestockings "succumbed to similar pressures and asserted that they did not wish to challenge men or the limits of a woman's sphere – while they proceeded to do so"56. By behaving impeccably morally, demurely and modestly, and seeming not even to have taken up the axe to battle with, the Bluestockings logically manoeuvred the patriarchs into an off guard, friendly associative position. From such an inside advantage of course, it required significantly less effort to modify patriarchal attitudes towards literary and educational rights for women. That such attitudes did indeed show signs of change is evident in the increasing numbers of women educated in the following century and the increasing number of women authors. They may frequently have camouflaged themselves behind pseudonyms and anonyms, yet their presence was palpable and afterwards represented respectable female antecedents. That Victorian literary gentleman in person, Leslie Stephen, when writing his biography of George Eliot, reported that when she was young, society in general was so impressed by young Mary Evans' abilities that "they may possibly have dared to hope that she might develop into a Mrs Chapone or Miss Carter – capable of writing letters "upon the improvement of the human mind" or possibly, in time, of translating Epictetus" 57. Such a prospect is presented as highly respectable, almost an epitome of female achievement. Elizabeth Carter lived on into the nineteenth century, but benefitted to the end of her days from the first and second generation of Bluestocking society. And increasingly so. For apart from the annual season in London, society at Deal in the summer regularly took on wordly proportions. Deal was one of the Cinque Ports and often hosted the Lord Warden. For many years this post was held by Lord Holdernesse and subsequently he and his wife spent many summers first at Walmer Castle and, after Lord Holdernesse's death, his wife spent most summers at Deal Castle. The two women speedily established a good rapport, Brigitte Sprenger 215 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza based not only on mutual intellectual respect, but also a love of the surrounding countryside. Carter once related an entertaining walk the two women undertook in the company of Lady Mary Coke, when they met a country girl lugging a cow uphill by the horns. Lady Mary offered to assist her and in ladylike fashion helped drive the cow uphill much to everyone's enjoyment58. There were many other friends visiting Deal besides – some who came to visit Lady Holdernesse, some Carter. The Pitts and the Dunbars, who regularly holidayed in Margate, occasionally came down the coast for a short stay at Deal. Others, like Miss Finch and Isabella Sutton, came to Deal in poor health and were nursed by their friend59. Carter was even visited by royalty in her seaside abode: in about 1803, the Princess of Wales was staying in the Isle of Thanet and sent a message she would come to drink tea with Mrs Carter at her usual hour. She did so, bringing two ladies with her, staying for two hours, talking mostly about literature60. Thus the Deal company became often more than just "the set of good-humoured, obstreperous fat gentlewomen, at a table of two-penny commerce"61. According to her friend Miss Sharpe, no-one in Deal (apart from her own family) was her equal in knowledge, education or manners yet she was never proud or condescending to the obstreperous women62. Inevitably so many social contacts precipitated a copious correspondence. With most of those mentioned in this chapter so far, Carter maintained epistolary contact, and with many others besides (cf Chapter 7). The most regular correspondents remained of course Montagu, Talbot, Vesey and Mulso. The European Tour had not seemingly added more depth and intimacy to Carter's friendship with Montagu though it had awakened odd flickers of jealousy on the part of Catherine Talbot (cf. Chapter 3). On the surface however, all three parties remained on friendly terms – Montagu visited Lambeth regularly and Talbot repeatedly acted as messenger between Carter and Montagu. With Montagu, Carter maintained the more intellectual, more literary correspondence; with Talbot, after more than twenty years, the correspondence had a more familial and still frequently philosophical and religious nature. (A full discussion of the nature of Carter's correspondence follows in the next chapter). The years passed. Carter went up and down to London, visited Montagu at Sandleford Priory – Montagu's gothic country house in Berkshire – to comfort her after Bath's death in 1764, helped organise the wedding breakfast for her brother Harry in 1764, wrote 216 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza occasional bits of poetry, read, sat for hours on the beach alone, wrote letters, suffered one bout of headache after another alternated with slow fevers and attacks of rheumatism, visited her sister's family at Tunstal (where Seeker's interest had acquired Margaret's husband an excellent living). In the summer of 1769, while visiting her friend Bethia Cosnan at the latter's house at Wingham, Carter heard rumours of Secker being extremely ill. The archbishop was now 75 years old and had long suffered from the gout. Talbot, at Secker's request, had written to Carter to put her at ease – a most significant gesture on the part of a man who had so often goaded and teased his foster-daughter's friend63. Secker suffered extreme stomach pains one evening and then broke his thigh bone, which caused initial fears of imminent death. He died peacefully two days later. A post-mortem revealed a gangrous thigh bone and a number of other ailments testifying he had been in great pain for a long time64. A few days later Talbot gratefully accepted Carter's immediate offer to come to console and organise65. The situation at Lambeth, when Carter arrived, was far from comforting. The two women, so long members of the intimate family, were not blood relatives and their situation was at first more vulnerable as Seeker's will could not be found. Mrs Talbot had a small private income, but by no means enough to support herself and her daughter at anything approaching genteel levels. Secker, though, had provided sufficiently – when the will was found, it gave £13.000 at 3 percent interest (about £400 p.a.) to the Talbots during their lifetime. Initially the two women went to stay with Catherine's uncle near Dorking, but afterwards they rented a comfortable house in Grosvenor Street, London 66. Emotionally of course, matters were not as easily settled. Carter found them bearing up well yet she feared Talbot's "weakest health and the quickest sensibility of her loss" would undermine her constitution67. Before Carter's arrival, Talbot had apprised her of a sealed letter Secker had addressed to Elizabeth which Catherine wished to hand to her friend personally. Presumably the letter had been written some time before his death, for Secker's end came relatively quickly and in such pain that he could hardly have penned it in his dying hours. The letter has never been found. Pennington, when he inherited his aunt's massive collection of papers, found several letters between Carter and Secker, but this particular one was not among them 68. Brigitte Sprenger 217 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza There are many speculations as to what the contents may have been. One possibility would have been Secker's referring to the financial debt Carter had with him, yet this can be ruled out for soon after Seeker's decease, Carter insisted on repaying the £ 150. The archbishop's executors later found a note in Seeker's hand stating he had lent this money to Carter and did not intend to ask it back. The sealed letter could have had a sentimental nature: there had been marital rumours in the past, Secker's quite vicious teasing about Lord Bath could be construed as jealousy and he had once joked with Bishop Hayter that as the world claimed one of them was to marry Carter, he resigned her to him 69. Secker's final letter could have asked Carter to destroy their correspondence – yet in the event she kept some letters for Pennington read at least some. Most likely is that the letter related to Catherine Talbot's illness. Catherine Talbot had never enjoyed particularly good health, lacking Carter's robust disposition to compensate for the many languid days. Following Seeker's death, of course, those people who had been closest to him, suffered not only psychologically, but, as a result, physically. Talbot declined to a stage where her hair was falling out in bunches by the summer and where she was confined to a wheelchair. Carter's own health also suffered considerably. She was ill throughout the season she spent in London following her long stay to help and comfort the Talbots, and was even more ill when she returned to Deal70. Presumably to help her friend, Montagu repeatedly invited Carter to come and spend some time at Sandleford with her that summer, but Carter, feeling forever obliged to her family, rejected all overtures. Her youngest sister was pregnant, her father was approaching 80 and, on top of that, an aunt who had for some time been living in Carter's house, had died in June71. Montagu made an impulsive decision, based on a premise of the mountain going to Mahomet, and suddenly appeared on Carter's doorstep in Deal. Without mentioning a word to Carter, who had to take to her bed for two days following the whirlwind visit, she plotted with the rest of Carter's family and arranged that Elizabeth would come to stay at Sandleford72. On her way to and from Sandleford, Carter, at Talbot's request, stopped in at Richmond to visit and was shocked at the extreme weakness and fragility of her friend: "She is alas! at best in so helpless and suffering a state as deeply affected me; and yet I cannot but hope, she will struggle through it…"73. 218 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza By October, the physicians were called in and Mrs Berkeley (wife of Catherine's beloved George) and later Miss Jeffreys nursed the declining Talbot. The expectation was she would not last many more days74. Talbot clung on tenaciously, taking opiates to see her through the night, and hoping ever it was of a passing nature. "I wish you would write Mrs Carter," she told Miss Jeffreys. "I should be happy for some faithful friend to tell I have been ill and confined to my bed for some days, she will wonder she has not heard from me" and added she soon expected to write herself75. But Berkeley and Jeffreys had privately informed Carter she was not to expect Talbot to survive more than a few days: "….by the next post, I am in the most painful expectation of hearing that all hope is absolutely over. To herself this event will be a blessed change… but to her friends… the loss will be inconceivably great76. But instead of news of Talbot's death, came news she had rallied and seemed to be recovering: It is a very great comfort to me to hear that my dear Miss Talbot is at present in a state of tolerable ease. For this I am heartily thankful and to Almighty God I resign myself for the rest, without suffering my mind to wander beyond the present favourable appearances; at least, I will strive to put all the check on it in my power, and, by that means, the weight on my spirits will be greatly lightened by this temporary relief, if, alas! it should prove no more77. To Vesey the tone was despairing: Judge of my situation and of my feelings with which I watch every return of the Post. In this state of miserable suspence [sic] I find it impossible to fix any thing; my mind is all confusion and hurries me from one painful subject to another without ceasing78. It had only been in October that Catherine's mother had been officially informed her daughter had cancer and was not to expect a cure 79. But Secker, Talbot's physician Dr Govers, and (later) Carter had known of her illness for the past three years. Montagu Pennington footnotes that Carter had "long been acquainted" with this fact – a piece of information he presumably had from Carter herself. It seems not unlikely that the mysterious sealed letter Secker left for Carter related to this matter. Either Carter had already been acquainted with the nature of Talbot's illness and Secker wished to swear Carter to continued secrecy and special watchfulness, or otherwise, it is possible that he in this letter informed Carter of the illness. Quite likely he wished that at least one person other than the doctor, who cared for Talbot and belonged almost to the family and was not of an hysterical nature, was fully informed and aware of Talbot's cancer. Brigitte Sprenger 219 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza By November Talbot was apparently on the mend again. She had been moved to London, was now occasionally sitting up and was even capable of writing to Carter in her own hand that her friend need not come sooner but that she looked forward to seeing her as usual in town80. Carter, understandably, felt torn between hope and resignation and confessed even to Talbot she had been shocked and depressed at the danger of "losing one of the dearest and most distinguished blessings of my life" 81. Carter's doubts of recovery lingered: If I hear that there is a probability that my dear friend's illness is likely to linger on, I will propose going to her. The trial will be dreadful to my weak mind; but it is the last sad duty I can pay to a friend, to whom my obligations as well as my affection are inexpressible. When all is over, I trust I shall be able to compose my thoughts to that peaceful resignation, with which I desire always to submit to the Divine will. But it is impossible for my mind to repose, while this sad suspence [sic] continues. and I know her to be in a state of suffering…82 On the third of January, Carter travelled to London to be with Talbot and attend the normal Bluestocking season. Initially, Carter was pleasantly surprised – she found Talbot in relatively good health. Carter's hopes were buoyed and she voiced hope now, hope that if Talbot could only regain strength, she might "have a few years yet"83. A few days later, Talbot contracted a cold and was bled, which seemed to restore her – but the phlegm remained oppressive and worsened on the 9th of January. Talbot appeared "heavy and sleepy", but this was attributed to the opium of the night before. Carter stayed with her the whole day, until the invalid went to bed. Afterwards, Carter went to visit her but was told she was asleep. An hour after Carter had left (presumably to her own lodgings) Talbot awoke and died after a short struggle: I am tolerably well, and my spirits, though low, are very composed. With the deepest feeling of my own unspeakable loss of one of the dearest and most invaluable blessings of my life, I am to the highest degree thankful to the Divine goodness for removing her from the multiplied and aggravated sufferings which, in a longer struggle with such a distemper, must probably have been unavoidable. The calm and peaceful sorrow of tenderness and affection, sweetly alleviated by the joyful assurance of her happiness, is a delightful sentiment compared with what I have endured for the last two or three months84. This serene acceptance did not last: Carter's health was poor the next few months, she found the season "tiresome" and her spirits were not "up to large gatherings anyway"85. She spent more days in bed than out and the only constructive result of the London stay this time was the recruitment of two new servants. The training of these servants and 220 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza resolutions to read and exercise were the two main preoccupations of the summer that followed. Yet the impression is that Carter felt drained and aimless for a long time following Talbot's death: "I do like any one who every day feels increasing symptoms of the depredations of time on a shattered machine; and I endeavour to think such thoughts as befit such a discovery," is indicative of her melancholy86. Yet there were, apart from the presence of her family, two major projects which kept her at least periodically active and her mind engaged. Soon after Catherine's death, Mrs Talbot had forwarded to Carter all her own letters to Talbot and the latter's manuscript papers, which included the commonplace books known as the "green books" in which Talbot had for years written essays, prayers and poems87. Carter had long before attempted to get some of these items published and in 1752 had extracted a promise that Talbot would organise her green book with view to publication. A year later, Talbot had, however, confessed she had made a few attempts at doing so, but nothing had come of it88. Apart from the one Rambler and the one Adventurer essay, nothing more ever did come of it and so, when Carter inherited Talbot's "considering drawer", she immediately published a pamphlet entitled Reflections on the Seven Days of the Week from its contents. The reflections, following a popular mode, examine a different philosophic subject on each week-day: Talbot meditates on such themes as "Practical Inferences for the Omnipresence of God" or "The Duty of Constant Employment". The pamphlet proved extremely popular, going into a third edition before the first anniversary of Talbot's death. Meanwhile Carter laboured on the longer Works. These two duodecimo volumes included Talbot's eight poems, 26 Rambler-like essays on subjects as True Politeness, Moral Uses of Geography, On True Friendship and On Literary Composition, five dialogues on various moral topics, three prose pastorals, a fairy tale on education, two allegories and a series of letters on a future state in the character of a guardian angel. The essays closely reflect the opinions and philosophies evident in Talbot's correspondence with Carter. "The only unshaken basis of friendship," she wrote in one essay, "is religion. True friendship is a union of interests, inclinations, sentiments." Or on literary composition she wrote that the "plainest and least ornamented style is the most agreeable to general taste" and that so-called metaphor and wit are not commendable – thus strongly echoing Carter's opinion89. The works proved very popular, going into Brigitte Sprenger 221 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza several editions. Carter published Talbot's works on her own account, but according to Pennington made "not inconsiderable" profit from it. On the topic, Carter wrote Mrs Talbot: "I do not believe I shall be the loser; and I have a better opinion both of the sense and virtue of the world, than to think it in the least degree probable, but that such a work will meet with the approbation it justly deserves"90. By the end of the year, Carter's spirits had obviously been buoyed by her project. "What a comfort it is to think on the diffusive· good which that dear angel has communicated to the world, of which she is now enjoying the reward! What a blessed change to herself from the suffering state of the last sad year"91. Obviously, too, it was a reward for a lifetime spent hiding talents and abilities in drawers and to Carter the satisfaction, having so often attempted to draw her friend into the literary limelight, must have been great. The other occupation of the long summer following Talbot's death was the nursing of her old friend Miss Finch, who came to Deal for all of August and September to regain health 92. Inevitably, being over fifty years of age, in a period where the general life expectancy was less than that, Carter's life was now doomed to a succession of losing friends and relatives, nursing others and being nursed herself 93. The correspondence between Carter and Montagu especially tended after 1780 to degenerate into accounts of ailments, concern at each other's ill-health, reports of which acquaintance had died. Until the end, that is up until a few years before Montagu's death in 1800, they could still thoroughly enjoy discussing literary texts and philosophical questions, yet it bears poor comparison with the fertile decades which came before94. Elizabeth Montagu, after being widowed in 1776, spent the last decades of her life growing even richer. (Carter remarked: "provided you always retain the virtues of a good Christian, I shall always be mighty glad to hear of your being as rich as a Jew"95). She built a most imposing, magnificent house in Portman Square, which still stands, and entertained lavishly' on occasion. Towards the end of the century, however, she began to lose her sight and her health became precarious. She died in 1800. Her nephew and heir, Matthew Montagu, formally informed Carter, who replied: "It was with more grief than surprise that I received your Account of the Loss of my dear and excellent Friend…may our long Friendship be renewed in that joyful state, where there will be no dread of any further separation"96. Carter returned the hundreds of letters Montagu had written her the previous half century. The earlier letters were 222 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza published by Matthew Montagu, the bulk remain in manuscript in the Huntington Library. (See Bibliography. Carter's letters to Montagu were also returned to their owner.) Carter's correspondence with Elizabeth Vesey retained its usual warm character up to the end, which came quite soon. Vesey, too, outlived her husband, but the politic Agmondisham Vesey had not been as kind to his wife as Edward Montagu had been to his, making full use of the legal inequality of the age. Carter had long been reserved in her opinion of him: "I am inclined to think he is not vicious so much from inclination, as from the example of the world. If it was a fashionable thing for wits and scholars, and lord lieutenants…to be true to their wives, probably our friend would not have found him an unfaithful husband"97. When he died in early in June 1785, he left the bulk of his property to other relatives, allotting Vesey a modest allowance. Carter seethed and agonized how to write Vesey having " heard of this execrable will, I know not how to express myself for fear of hurting her…lt is to be hoped, this treatment may help to lessen her grief for so unworthy a man"98. Vesey's fear of insanity proved grounded as did her fear of deafness. The last years of her life she was both deaf and severely unbalanced often not recognizing friends like Carter, who visited her loyally and daily until Vesey’s death in 179199. Carter returned all the letters Elizabeth Vesey had written her and their whereabouts are now unknown. Vesey, while still in a stable condition, had gathered all Carter's letters to herself, written a note of farewell, and had placed this on top: Accept my dear Mrs Carter, my last thanks for the benefit and delight of your friendship and conversation. Perhaps at the time you open this box, I shall have still more reason to be grateful. I leave you Mrs Dunbar's picture, and the inestimable treasure of your own Letters, wishing you would give them for the improvement of future minds. – You will still be doing that good you loved upon earth, when you are removed to those happy regions where I wish I could deserve to meet you100. Another loss Carter had to cope with, and relatively soon after Talbot's death was that of her father. In 1771 Nicolas had celebrated his 84th birthday and his entire family gathered about him and gave a great gala as was their yearly tradition 101. Dr Carter remained in excellent health, mentally and physically, untiringly coping with lengthy walks in tempestuous Deal. Yet Nicolas' health had been far from good and Carter had spent most of that year confined to the house either due to her own bad health or due to nursing her Brigitte Sprenger 223 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza father102. Amazingly, Nicolas recuperated, enjoying better health than he had in years, and Carter felt well enough to depart for London, where she spent much of the season in smallpox quarantine103! Dr Carter's healthy spell lasted over two years – in the summer of 1774, however, he fell seriously ill again. His constitution' was strong and he held on for four months while Elizabeth hardly strayed from his bedside, reading, watching. He died early in October 1774: I have an inexpressible loss: but I have great reason to be thankful to the divine goodness which extended the enjoyment of such a blessing as my father's life was to all his family, to so long a date. He retained his understanding and senses to the last…104 Nicolas Carter did not die a rich man, although due to his rich brother and the relative affluence of his eldest son and daughter, he had been able to spend the last two decades in financial stability. He had even been able to help financially a grandson, Thomas Carter, with a £ 360 loan. His will cancelled this debt, which was most of his capital (he then still had £50 in South Sea annuities as well). His will stated: I give to my Daughter Elizabeth Carter Spinster all the Goods and Furniture…except my Plate, Books and Manuscripts I give to my said Daughter Elizabeth Carter and to my Daughter Margaret Pennington and to my Son John Carter105. Carter's spirits were inevitably "unusually low" but she was "determined to exert myself as the only means of growing better" and found her friends rallied around her to support and aid her in this. It was at this time that Montagu settled her £100 annuity on Carter and then Montagu and Vesey persuaded her to come and join them at Tunbridge. It was to be the last time these three women enjoyed a Tunbridge season together. However, one of Carter's enormous strengths was her ability not only to maintain friendships over many years, but always to be prepared to form new, intimate bonds. In 1780 Carter met Hannah More at Bath and though the two never became greatly intimate they respected and enjoyed each other, especially at the fairly frequent small dinners, either at Mrs Vesey's or Mrs Richardson's, where, together with Horace Walpole, they formed a small, elite group. Carter also became acquainted with young Mary Hamilton, waiting woman to the queen. The younger woman greatly admired and respected Carter and her somewhat awed diary entries probably reflect the image many younger woman had of the eminent, learned Miss Carter (see above). After the death of her father, one 224 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza new young friend in particular, Miss Sharpe, became a strong focus for Carter. I have not been able to discover the exact identity of Miss Sharpe – nor her full name. Pennington, usually very helpful in providing pedigrees, gives no details, presumably because he disliked Miss Sharpe, stating only she was a "single lady of large fortune". He does, however, mention Miss Sharpe translated The helpful Professor Gellet. This translation, from the French, was executed by a Mrs M. Douglas in 1805. Miss Sharpe married Dr. A. Douglas in 1805, and with her husband published Notes of a Journey from Bern to England through France in 1796 and a private account describing a few years' Continental stay undertaken on account of Mrs Douglas' health. The British Library owns a copy of this book which contains a bookplate in the name of Thomas Pennington. Sharpe and Carter seem to have met around the time Nicolas Carter died, for during those months of intense nursing and worry, Miss Sharpe, then 22 years old, visited Carter at breakfast and tea, the only two breaks she awarded herself, to read to the older woman 106. For years, Sharpe was a regular companion to Carter and indeed the two considered each other as mother and daughter107. Carter regretted Miss Sharpe's unhappy, confined education, but found her understanding penetrating and lively. Elizabeth Carter, no longer educating nieces and nephews, possibly adopted her as her next project 108. In 1778, Miss Sharpe bought an estate at Mill-Hill and for most of the year Sharpe visited Carter or Carter Sharpe and in between they variously went on trips to places such as Raby Castle or Pomfret or Bath. Yet during a stay at Bath, Miss Sharpe's acquaintance with the widowed Rev. Osmund Beauvoir became intimate and they married. Presumably Carter felt deeply upset about this marriage, for the relationship between her and Sharpe broke down completely and Carter used, by her standards, some extremely strong terms ("..multiplied strokes..inflicted..undeservedly")109. The break lasted only a few years though inevitably their relationship never attained its former intimacy. Sharpe herself wrote about it: The writer of these sheets had at one period of thirty years of attachment, the misfortune to be estranged from Mrs Carter for a season. Some circumstances of a very peculiar nature, painfully forced her to act contrary to what she conceived in conscience to be her duty, or contrary to the wishes of her respected friend. She felt herself forced to chuse the latter distressing alternative; but, after a sufficient space of time had elapsed to calm the painful feelings..the two women were again perfectly reconciled 110. The Rev. Mr Beauvoir pre-deceased Sharpe and she later married Dr Douglas, a prominent London physician, previously mentioned. The mother-daughter relationship Brigitte Sprenger 225 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza presumably matured to a sisterly bond in riper years. When Carter died, Sharpe wrote a eulogistic Sketch about 'her dear friend", praising her piety and modesty above all 111. Towards the end of her life, friends increasingly replaced in her heart the space previously reserved for relations and landscape: In the gay independance of high health and youthful spirits, perhaps a lively imagination might find sufficient amusement in the most retired solitude. In such circumstances the stormy ocean, and the dashing torrent, the hanging precipice and the howling wilderness, the gentle rivulet, the whispering grove, and the flowery vale, all that is sublime, and all that is beautiful in the scenery of the world, affords a constant and a sufficient entertainment, But the inactivity of ill health, and the languor of declining years, require to be soothed in the bosom of social love112. Nephew Pennington states that in about 1797 Carter suffered an attack of so-called St Anthony's fire (Erysipelas – a serious streptococcic skin infection) which so drained her strength she was believed to be dying. She survived, however, though never fully recovered. Yet for all this she was relatively fit in mind and body: she could no longer take long walks, and became rather deaf, yet never needed glasses till the very last. She still went to London each year and her memory and intellect remained intact. Four years after the first attack of Erysipelas, she had another which left her a partial invalid, confined mostly indoors and subject to "frequent and alarming faintings". Pennington reports she spent several hours each day dozing and rarely went to bed later than eight. And so, in somnolent grace, Carter bided her time. In 1805, after a summer in ill-health she insisted on seeing her friends a last time and travelled up to London shortly after her 89th birthday. She settled in at Clarges Street for Christmas, dined with her friends and saw in the New Year. By mid-January she was so weak she could not leave her rooms, and a few days later she could no longer leave her bed. But still she lingered on, very weak, hardly able or willing to talk. When one of her maids asked about a money matter during this time, she quietly replied she could not attend to such matters any more, the maid must settle it with her nephew. On the evening of 18 February, her friend Mrs Nugent, called in and finding Carter on her death-bed, decided to stay. Elizabeth Carter died in the early hours of 19 February 1806113. Carter was buried at Grosvenor Chapel in South Audley Street, sharing the graveyard with the politician and reformer John Wilkes and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. The 226 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Gentleman's Magazine of which many pages had once been filled by or about her, took no very great interest in her death. Unlike William Pitt, who was honoured with a very lengthy separate obituary in the same number, Carter was incorporated into the long chronological bulky death list. It began by giving the date and place of her death and then listing in detail the career of her father. Its continuance was written by "a lady" of Carter's acquaintance, who knew no better but that Henry Carter was her only brother. This lady listed Carter's achievements as educating Henry, translating Epictetus, which work "may with safety be pronounced to do honour to her sex and to her country", writing two Ramblers, publishing poems of sublime simplicity and as having amiable morals: [She was] a lady who has for a long time enjoyed a very distinguished pre-eminence in the literary world……She possessed a masculine understanding; while she was invested with such innate modesty, that her superior acquirements never intruded into company114. Carter's reputation enjoyed an upsurge in interest when her nephew Pennington first published his Memoirs of her life in 1807 – a project he had long planned and which needed little time in the execution. Its popular success made him reconsider his decision not to publish her letters. In 1809 the four volumes of correspondence between Carter, Talbot and Vesey were published and Matthew Montagu and Pennington in tandem soon published the greater bulk of the correspondence between Carter and Montagu. (See Bibliography). A revised edition of the Memoirs was soon considered desirable and this time some previously unpublished poems and prose pieces were included. Judging by Leslie Stephen's compliment to her (see above), Carter obviously remained a renowned and respected figure at least amongst the educated for another half century. A poem of hers was still included in an anthology published in 1802115. In her own home town, Carter's fame remains severely limited. At the start of this century there was an Elizabeth Carter School, but it closed down a few decades ago. The large oil Susanna Highmore painted of Carter hangs in the Deal Town Hall, and the Deal Library possesses a very modest collection indeed of an original edition of the Epictetus, the Memoirs and the Carter-Talbot correspondence, as well as an unsorted drawer of miscellaneous papers on the subject collected by W. A. Stebbing, former mayor of Deal. Stebbing, together with two former Carter School teachers (Mrs P. Ponting and Miss Gwen Hampshire). Col. Tom Barrett and another former mayor, Albert Cavell, contributed Brigitte Sprenger 227 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza considerably in their several ways to increasing local knowledge of Carter and working towards a collection of Carter material. Thus Col. Barrett bought Carter's old home, began its restoration and also succeeded in buying the oil painting of Carter as Minerva early in the 1960s, and later approached Kent County Council with a proposal of a Carter Museum. The proposal was rejected and the only remaining testimony is a park-bench along Deal's esplanade honouring Barrett and his Carter enthusiasm. Stebbing set about writing a history of Deal and seems to have had access to transcipts, if not the MSs, of Nicolas Carter's letters to his daughter. The project was never concluded, but Stebbing left the drafts and other materials to form the basis of the present Deal County Library collection. Unfortunately, all these efforts were not concerted and each of these personages collected separate items which remain separate private property. Even today, there are still some few people seeking the establishment of a local Carter Museum although hope of actual realisation is minimal. Early this century, Alice C. C. Gaussen, having written about and edited the letters of her relative Sir William Pepys, also wrote a biography of Carter, entitled A Woman of Wit and Wisdom. The biography is episodic and mostly based on Pennington's Memoirs, furthering the pious image set up therein. Gaussen did, fortunately, track down some distant relatives who could provide background information on the family and a family tree. For many decades afterwards, Carter's name was hardly heard or printed. The past two decades, however, as inherent in the general excavation of women's literary history, have seen continued interest in Carter. Roger Lonsdale included three of her poems in his Eighteenth Century Women Poets, Lillian Fadermann examined Carter's friendship with Talbot in her Surpassing the Love of Men, Sylvia Myers in The Bluestocking Circle discusses Carter's role and significance within the early literary salons. Christine Salmon in her thesis Representations of the Female Self (1991) analyses Carter's epistolary style. A number of articles and books refer to Carter as an example of early female academism. By a few critics, Carter is finally being recognized as not only a most competent translator and competent poet, but as a talented and worthy writer of letters. Carter's letters are not generally available: The only current edition in print is the very expensive hardback AMS reprint series and the original publications are not available in all libraries. Thus, a more universal recognition of Carter's letters as witty, interesting, substantive literature is 228 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza hampered by unavailability and her reputation tends to be restricted to small hamlets. Her growing reputation proceeds on a mostly oral basis. NOTES 1 Betsy Sheridan's Journal. Letters from Sheridan's sister 1784-1786 and 1788- 1790. William LeFanu, ed. (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode 1960) 40 (between 28 February and 3 March 1785) 2 Sketch of the Character of Mrs Elizabeth Carter, (London 1806) 3 Hannah More, as quoted by Walter S Scott, The Bluestocking Ladies, (London, John Greene & Co, 1947) 206 4 EC to ? 20 Sept 1763, in Memoirs, 369 5 Memoirs, 394. Cf Chapter 1 6 EC to EM 30 Jun 1775 and EC to EM 12 Jul 1775. Upon EM's death, the annuity was changed by her will, into a legacy. Some friends of EC's, possibly the Pulteneys and Gregorys were alarmed at rumours after EM's death, that EC would no longer receive the annual amount and someone, anonymously, offered financial help. Carter thanked them gratefully, but pointed out their apprehensions were mistaken – she would continue to receive the money until her own death. See EC to (illegible) and Mrs Pulteney and Mr Gregory, not dated, and EC to Matthew Montagu 28 Aug 1800, MS MO 703 Huntington Library. Carter also received a legacy of £ 50 in 1780 when her friend Mrs Trevor died. EC to EM 30 Mar 1780 7 EC to EV 20 Apr 1781 and EC to EV 25 Jan 1774. Carter supported many other public and private charities with practical or financial means; there was an Irish woman, claiming to know Elizabeth Vesey, whom she each year supplied with a fresh nightgown; she looked after Montagu's maid Susan (cf Chapter 5), she subscribed especially to the literary, self-supporting efforts by women such as Anna Williams (cf Chapter 7), or picked up a "poor girl" in Deal and had Talbot arrange the girl's admission to St George's Hospital in London, probably at her own cost. EC to CT 1 Brigitte Sprenger 229 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Oct 1769: EM to EV 26 Jul 1775, Blunt, Elizabeth Montagu, Queen of the Blues, (1923) 1,303. 8 EC to EV 17 Jul 1772. 9 Hester Mulso had married John Chapone in 1761, but he died suddenly nine months later, leaving Hester in a precarious mental, physical and financial position. She was helped by friends, living quietly the rest of her life, writing and publishing her Letters on the Improvement of the Mind in 1768, Miscellanies in Prose and Verse and Fidelia in 1775. (The latter had initially been published in The Adventurer in 1753). For these efforts, to compare with Carter, she received in total £ 300. Mulso-Chapone died in 1801. See The Bluestocking Ladies, ibid; 89/ 90 10 Boswell, Life of Johnson, (OUP 1980 reprint) 1141. 11 Boswell, ibid, 1278 12 A. R. Humphries, The Augustan World: Life and Letters in Eighteenth-Century England, (Methuen, 1954) 19 13 Wilhelmy as quoted by Verena van der Heyden-Rynsch in Europaeische Salons: Hoehepuenkte einer versunkenen weibli chen Kultur, (Artemis & Winkler, Munich, 1992) 11 14 Europaeische Salons, ibid; 111 15 EC to CT 29 Jul 1745. However, Carter abandoned this resolution a few decades later and happily played whist, especially with the Deal "ladies" 16 Myers, The Bluestocking Circle, (Clarendon Oxford, 1990)29303. Chauncey Brewster Tinker The Salon and English Letters: Chapters in the Interrelations of Literature and Society in the Age of Johnson, (New York: Macmillan 1915) 125,126, 148. 17 230 Myers, ibid; 11 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 18 The Bluestocking Ladies, ibid; 38. EV for a while held her evenings on Tuesdays to coincide with The Club meetings. Thus Club-members would gather in her BlueRoom after their dinner. Blunt, Elizabeth Montagu. Queen of the Blues, ibid 19 William Pepys A Later Pepys: The Correspondence of Sir William Pepys, (1904) contains photographs of the house and some of its interiors 20 Frances Burney in her Memoirs of Dr Burney..., (1832) II, 270. 21 The Bluestocking Ladies, ibid; 206-207 22 Memoirs of Or. Burney, ibid, II, 264. 23 EC to EM 20 Dec 1772. In More's "The Bas Bleu, or Conversation", she describes Vesey as an "enchantress" whose: "potent wand" broke the circle so that "The social Spirits hover round,/And bless the liberated ground." 24 The Bluestocking Ladies. ibid; 204 25 Louisa Stuart quoted in Edith Wheeler Famous Bluestockings, (London: Methuen, 1910) 183 26 Memoirs, I, 466 27 Famous Bluestockings, 149 28 EM to EC 9 Sep 1762, Huntington MS MO 3082 29 The Bluestocking Ladies, ibid; 207 30 MH to her mother Mary Hamilton…at court and at home. Letters and Diaries, 1925; 34 31 Hamilton, ibid; 180 32 ibid; 162 33 ibid; 164 Brigitte Sprenger 231 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 34 ibid; 174 35 ibid; 18181 36 Hannah More to Mary Dickinson 3. Jun 1786, Horace Walpole's Correspondence, ed. W.S. Lewis (OUP, 1980). 37 Journals and Letters of Fanny Burney (Madame D'Arblay), Vol 1, 1791-1792, ed. Joyce Hemlow, (Oxford: Clarendon Press,1972)159ff. Burney's last play The Wittings, A comedy by a sister… was long perceived to be a persiflage of the Bluestockings. Yet the play, recently discovered in the cellars of the New York Public Library, revealed it merely to be about a Mrs Voluble and her Split Party which hardly resembles the Bluestocking School. Charles Burney and Dudley Crisp vetoed publication for fear Montagu and her circle would be offended. Margaret Doody, however, feels that Mrs V. only resembles Montagu in her ambition to keep a reputation as a wit 38 Frances Burney, Memoirs of Dr Burney…, (London 1832)111; 341-2. 39 Alice Gaussen, A Later Pepys. lbid 152. 40 Mrs Hartley to Pepys 19 Aug 1880, in A Later Pepys, ibid; 41 EC to EM 20 Jun 1772 42 Memoirs, ibid; I 152 43 Ethel Rolt Wheeler, Famous Bluestockings, London, Methuen, 1910:267. 44 Lawrence Stone The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800, 252; Westminster Magazine, July 1773 45 The Bluestocking Circle, ibid; 271-289 46 ibid; 289 47 ibid; 288 232 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 48 Europaeische Salons, ibid; 60 49 cf also, The Bluestocking Circle, ibid; 121 50 Winifred Gerin, Charlotte Bronte: The Evolution of Genius, 1967: 431-422 51 Europaeische Salons, ibid; 180, 190 52 The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500 -1800, ibid; 423; Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own, 96; Jean E Hunter "The Eighteenth-Century Englishwoman: According to the Gentleman's Magazine", in Woman in the Eighteenth Century and other Essays, eds Paul Fritz, Richard Morton, 87-88 53 The Bluestocking Circle, ibid; 11. 54 Westminster Magazine, July 1773, wonders whether Montagu and Carter were not as worthy of being called doctor as some of the contemporary title holders were. For a full discussion of the Bluestockings in print, see Myers; 271-290 55 Lyttelton's verse as quoted by Scott, ibid; 14 56 Dale Spender, Women of Ideas and What Men have done to Them, 1982; 81 57 Leslie Stephen, George Eliot (MacMillan, London) 1907; 14 58 Memoirs, ibid; I 400 59 EC to EV 10 Sep 1770 60 Memoirs, ibid; I 475 Carter had various other, if not momentous, contacts with members of the royal family; she was once visited by the Duke of Cumberland in her own house and was introduced to the Queen by Lady Charlotte. Finch in 1791; she was also regularly in contact with some of the princesses when visiting friends at the palace. The Queen occasionally lent Carter German books. 61 EC to CT 23 Jan 1755 62 Sketch of the Character of Mrs Carter, 1806 Brigitte Sprenger 233 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 63 EC to CT 26 Jul 1768 64 eds B Porteus and G.Stinton, Preface to Secker's Sermons on Several Subjects (Rivington, London) 1769 65 CT to EC 6 Aug 1768 66 Montagu Pennington, preface to The Works of the Late Miss Catherine Talbot, (7th edition, Rivington, London) 1809 67 EC to EV 2 Sep 1768 68 Memoirs, I 403.The other letters from Secker to Carter and from Carter to Secker are no longer extant. Presumably they were destroyed by Pennington. The letters from Secker to Carter about the translating of Epictetus were in part published in the Memoirs. Secker also corresponded with Carter when the latter accompanied Talbot to Bath in 1759 during Catherine's grave illness. Footnote to CT to EC 22 Sep 1759. It was, however, Seeker's usual habit to either dictate a message to Carter for Talbot to include in her letter, or to include a short note in one of Talbot's letter. 69 Memoirs, 1:99. 70 EC to EM 10 Oct 1769: EC to EM 12 Apr 1768 71 EC to EV 20 Jun 1769. Presumably, this is a local relative of Nicolas' second wife, Mary Bean, for the widowed wife of Nicolas' brother was still alive judging by a letter EC wrote EV 26 Jul 1769 72 EC to EV 28 Jul 1769 73 EC to EM 1 Oct 1769 74 Berkeley to EC 24 Oct 1769 75 Jeffreys to EC 26 Oct 1769 76 EC to EM 1 Nov 1769 234 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 77 ibid 78 EC to EV 13 Nov 1769 79 Berkeley to EC 28 Oct 1769 80 Jeffreys to EC 3 Nov 1769 and CT to EC 12 Nov 1769 81 EC to CT 13 Nov 1769 82 EC to EV, in Memoirs, I: 407 83 EC to EV 3 Jan 1770 84 EC to EV 15 Jan 1770 85 EC to EV 25 Feb 1770 and 31 Mar 1770 86 EC to EV 21 Jul 1770 87 Memoirs, I: 411ff. 88 CT to EC 12 Nov 1753 89 The Works of the late Catherine Talbot (first published by Elizabeth Carter, 7th edition with additional papers, notes and illustrations, edited by Montagu Pennington, Rivington) London 1809 90 Memoirs, I: 413 91 EC to Mrs Talbot, Memoirs, I: 413 92 EC to EV 10 Aug 1770 93 Stone, The Family, Sex and Marriage 1500-1800, ibid; 50, 58, 66 94 Much of the correspondence of these latter years is not extant for Pennington abridged and censored even more furiously – undoubtedly in the interest of the reader – and printed only small segments of Carter's letters. See Pennington's Brigitte Sprenger 235 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Foreword to Letters from Mrs Elizabeth Carter to Mrs Montagu Between the Years 1755 and 1800... 95 EC to EM 8 Jul 1771 96 EC to Matthew Montagu 28 Aug 1800, Huntington MS MO 703 97 EC to EM 1 Dec 1774 98 EC to EM 24 Jun 1785 99 Pennington's footnote to EC to EM 14 Jul 1771 100 EV to EC, dated Lucan, 22 Nov 1774 and appended as "advertisement" to EC-EV section A Series of Letters between Mrs Elizabeth Carter and Miss Catherine Talbot…, 1809 101 EC to EM 14 Nov 1771 102 EC to EV 10 Oct 1771 and EC to EN 17 Oct 1717 and EC to EM 2 Nov 1771 103 EC to EV 17 Apr 1772 104 EC to Mrs Talbot, in Memoirs, I: 434. See also, EC to EM 26 Oct 1779 and EC to EV 5 Nov 1779 105 From the Last Will and Testament of Nicolas Carter, dated 26 November 1774 and proved at London 106 EC to EV 20 Sep 1774. The National Dictionary of Biography mentions a Gregory Sharpe (1713-1771), theologian and scholar. Yet Miss Sharpe is not likely to have been his daughter; internal evidence suggests she was a singularly wealthy, orphaned young woman 107 EC to EV 7 Jan 1777, including Pennington's footnote 108 EC to EV 15 Jul 1770 236 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 109 EC to EV 8 Jul 1782 to describe her hurt 110 Sketch of the Character of Mrs Elizabeth Carter (anon – but attributed to Miss Sharpe by Montagu Pennington), London 1806 111 Sketch, ibid 112 EC to EV 29 Jun 1781 113 Memoirs, I: 487-497. Another account claims Lady Cremorne, a very close friend in later years, nursed Carter the final weeks in London and was present at Carter's death. Walter S Scott, The Bluestocking Ladies, 59 114 GM Feb 19 1806 115 "An Evening Walk" in the tract Religious, London: 2 Aug 1802. Brigitte Sprenger 237 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Chapter Seven: "I cannot tell you how I was revived, charmed, transported at your letter."1 But why do I talk about autumnal moons and unruffled skies to you whose attentions are fixed on the terrestrial lustre of an assembly room, and who can have no idea of the refined pleasures of being draggled to the neck by wandering with elves and fairies over the dewy green. Elizabeth Carter to Catherine Talbot, 21 Sep 1753 This faint & distant conversation by letter keeps up an intercourse & I fancy I am not quite separated from my Dear Friend while I am thus corresponding with her. Elizabeth Montagu to Elizabeth Carter, 18 May 1761, Huntington MS The status of personal letters at the beginning of the eighteenth century has been frequently examined and requires no full re-statement here. The radically improved postal services, the rise in literacy (especially among women) and the general human interest all contributed towards a tremendous elevation in quantity, quality and status of written personal communication2. This development traversed, as has been observed by many before, a parallel course to the cultivation of oral communication. Thus the century brought forward the salons, clubs, soirees. It delivered to posterity the recorded conversations of especially the elder Samuel Johnson, or the extremely popular novels of Richardson and Sterne where the bulk of the text consisted of dialogue. One need merely read a number of other journals (Fanny Burney, Hester Piozzi, Thomas Campbell, John Wesley, Edward Gibbon, John, Lord Hervey and of course, James Boswell) to confirm that recording conversation – and not only Johnson's quips – was widespread and representative. The entire European salon- 238 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza phenomena was integrally accompanied by a parallel development in epistles, journals and memoirs3. Those who could not always enjoy brilliant conversation, depended on correspondents to satisfy a craving for the intelligent discourse enjoyed during London seasons. Elizabeth Carter needed and relied on her correspondence to avoid spiritual and intellectual isolation. Deal, while not without an intelligent conversationalist (Carter had erudite relatives and each summer brought a small spate of cultured aristocrats), was nonetheless an isolated coastal village offering no equivalent to a Catherine Talbot, Hester Mulso or Elizabeth Montagu with whom intimate, literary talk was possible. Although Carter enjoyed the Bluestocking salons with its larger numbers and bright intelligent conversation, she far more desired the quiet hours in her friends' closets or the small informal dinners. Writing letters, then, was a most natural progression, a most approximate simulation of informal intimacy. It was indeed, as Montagu asserted in this chapter's second epigraph, a "faint & distant conversation" which upheld the thread of association. Carter's commitment to letter-writing was quintessential. Like William Cowper, she was content in her isolated, small rural world. Yet Carter was also fully alive to a need for communication with those outside. The lack of "things" in her life of leisure made her friends and their epistles a "serious point" for her4. She repeatedly chided Montagu who was reluctant to write too often for fear the recipient postal charge would strain Carter's purse: ".I love you better than I do half a dozen pieces of copper"5. Her dedication to epistolarity is proved by its mere voluminosity. There were days when she wrote at least a dozen letters in between all her domestic tasks. The many nighttime hours previously invested in acquiring an excellent education, were now devoted to the art of letter-writing. Although the letters of eighteenth century writers tended to be published posthumously only, many of these writers wrote consciously for a readership wider than merely the addressee. Pope edited and published his own letters, though he resorted to deceptions to hide his initiative, and this is indicative of the interest and profitability of epistles 6. Generally letters, being still such expensive novelties, were meant to be shared by the recipient with family, friends or even (one remembers Miss Bates) with formal callers. Frances Burney's letters were read aloud at family gatherings, and read more than once. Brigitte Sprenger 239 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Burney was well aware of this. One of Carter's letters once arrived when Talbot was staying in the country; the letter was first read with much pleasure by Secker, then by Mrs Talbot before being forwarded to Catherine7. Carter displayed an ambivalent attitude towards such habits. She once chided Talbot severely for showing to others, letters written while she toured Europe, protesting the letters had been personally addressed; yet on another occasion had no objection when Vesey wished to show Carter's letters to the Duchess of Leinster8. (Carter and Talbot did occasionally circumvent the situation by writing each other under cover of a servant. After the death of Mrs Secker, Talbot was reluctant to burden her family with her ensuing depression. She asked Carter to write her separately, give the letter to Carter's servant Mrs Jenny who was to enclose it in a letter to Talbot's servant Jane. Carter followed this device; the letter she wrote was far more emotional and direct than previously missives had been. 9. Letters were precious items, kept, bundled, tied together with bows and ribbons and only returned upon death. During long dark evenings a packet of old letters would be fondly taken out of the drawer and read again with interest and pleasure, as much so, as if they were a favourite novel or collection of essays. Talbot spoke with pleasure, during a bout of illness, of re-reading all Carter's old letters10. The transition therefore, from letters circulating, as it were, in manuscript, and kept and often even copied, to printed publication was not great, and public interest in them was well founded and nurtured. Carter did not originally, when penning the thousands of epistles, envisage eventual publication, though she too was aware that there was often a wider readership than the mere addressee. Yet a stigma remained attached to such publication no matter how moral and well-intentioned. As mentioned in Chapter 1, female value was protected by limiting public exposure; female chastity was virtually synonymous with female public silence11. Pennington noted that Carter had apparently scratched out in a much darker ink several passages throughout her letters which he interpreted as indicating his aunt well foresaw eventual publication12. In his Preface to the Carter-Talbot letters, Pennington stated Carter was against "injudicious" publication of confidential letters, where living personages might be affected or the letters were improper. Carter had made Pennington promise to dispose of the letters according to the labels on them, which Pennington did, returning some to the writers, burning others. This left however a great bulk of epistles from which Pennington 240 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza quoted in the Memoirs. The positive, laudatory response to these was such as Pennington believed his aunt would have respected and therefore he soon published most of the correspondence between Carter and Talbot, Montagu and Vesey. To support his decision he added that "the Correspondence between (EC) and Miss Talbot was found regularly arranged and bound up in volumes, with all such names carefully erased by herself as she did not chuse should appear in them." The letters to Vesey were also bound up with, on top, Vesey's letter earnestly entreating Carter to publish13. "Nothing," Pennington wrote in his Preface, "has been added to any of the letters, but a good deal has been left out of trifling chit-chat and confidential communications." The later correspondence he especially pruned of aches-and-pains exchanges. He probably made only minor alterations to the text itself. As was common practice, Carter usually wrote & for and, ye or yt for the and that - such and similar abbreviations Pennington changed into the fuller formal words. Carter's spelling and grammar were on the whole error-free, so little editing would have been required. Judging from the extant manuscripts, it is only Carter's handwriting which might have posed Pennington difficulties as her hand is very small, rather scratchy and occasionally indecipherable. Both her father and Edward Cave complained of its illegibility. More deflecting than such minor alterations and cuts however, is the elderly clerical nephew's vision of his aunt. He quite clearly states, for instance, that she disapproved of Mary Wollstonecraft – yet considering Carter's enormous interest in Sophia's pamphlet Woman not Inferior to Man (1739) and her defence of authors like Fielding and Swift whom society found immoral to an extent, makes such a presumption debatable. The question arises, whether Pennington pruned his aunt's writings of more than just repetitive health reports and occasional references to persons still living. However, unless miraculously the original manuscripts appear, it is the edited letters of Carter we have and are limited to. Letters have, especially the past few decades, risen in literary estimation to the extent where they are subjected to formal analysis. In 1966, Howard Anderson and Irvin Ehrenpreis collected together essays on the major literary letter-writers of the century and considered the characteristic hallmarks of letter-writing as high art, and the substantive nature of the letter14. Bruce Redford continued the development, recognising letters as literature by providing a solid framework for their analysis. He adopted as foundation Brigitte Sprenger 241 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza stones the criteria of autonomy, fertility and versatility which will be implemented to discuss Carter's art15. More recently, Christine Salmon has explored the contributions made to the genre by women, characterising such matters as the domestic substantiveness and imagery which to an extent can be traced in Carter16. Carter, when putting paper to pen, would of course have been very aware of the literary models. Epistles had a long heritage with main influences coming via the classic formal Latin models of Pliny, Cicero and Seneca, the artful and artificial French models (such as greatly admired by Talbot and Carter in Mme de Sevigne) and more directly the stream of the intimate, impulsive, informal style popularised in the seventeenth century in such works as The Post-Boy Rob'd of his Mail: or, the Pacguet Broke Open (1692) by Charles Gildon or Nicholas Breton's A Poste with a Packet of Madde Letters. There is not much evidence that Carter followed classical examples of masking. Undoubtedly she would have been aware of Ovidian or Herodian examples of male authors adopting female masks to enable a more fluid and capricious style in contrast to the male ideals of “unity, fixity and consistency" as Linda S. Kaufmann asserts17. An inclination to mask or masquerade as recent critical research has so frequently identified in the female literature of the period is in limited evidence in Carter (but see below). The male essay of the early century is a more palpable influence in many of her epistles which inclined towards a utilitarian modernity in its substantiveness, sobriety and studied informality. Carter's early correspondence, and its general character, have already been discussed in Chapter 3. As Carter was usually aware of addressing not only Talbot (above her in social rank), but also Secker and any prominent visitors, some formality and reticence is often evident. Yet this awareness prompted Carter to ensure her letters were entertaining and interesting enough to warrant acceptance and approval of a highly critical and educated audience. Entertaining incidents did not often occur in Carter's world – the few that did she developed: Once on an errand in London, she decided to take a short-cut via Newgate: On going up Snow Hill I observed a pretty many people, assembled, but did not much regard them, till, as I advanced, I found the crowd thicken, and by the time I was got into the midst of them I heard the dreadful toll of St. Sepulchre's bell and found I was attending an execution….Only think of me in the midst of such heat and suffocation, with the danger of having my arms broke, to say nothing of the company by which I was surrounded, with nearly £I 00 in my pocket.18 242 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza In the narration of such small adventures, nearly always to Talbot, Carter highlighted mostly the humour and little ironies of both her situation and her person. This is evident in the many coach-adventures she entertained Lambeth with, or the narration of a narrow escape from a runaway horse19. Yet the adventures were not underestimated or belittled: the direct, unembroidered skeleton heightened the drama. She projected an image of herself as naïve countrywoman and pitted this character against the sophisticated, dangerous world which however she subtly undermined. The purpose was obviously to entertain. (See below). Awareness of her wide and eminent audience prevented Carter discussing politics, literature and philosophy with the same confidence, interest and abandon she exercised in her letters to Montagu and Vesey. Stationed as she was at Deal, she was for long periods geographically impacted by two major political events – the danger of French invasion and the rampant smuggling. When these ·events had a domestic character Carter could incorporate this into her correspondence (cf Chapter 3, the "invasions" by cows), but generally she resented, as did many of her female contemporaries, the intrusion of male, war-mongering, political events into her domestic, philosophic, social routine. Politics belonged to a masculine world Carter observed and criticised keenly but felt hardly personally affected by. She felt herself above politics and often tried merely to ignore events. The private domestic world always took precedence – if invasion threatened she was little concerned for herself, only perhaps for exposed members of family20. Wars only produced much feeling of commiseration for families losing sons and husbands. She abhorred the practice of dueling as we have seen in Chapter 3, and felt histories on the whole tended to glorify the ancient battles of the Greeks and Romans which were mostly mere “tyrannical quarrels among people no better than scalping Indians21. Even the battles in 'Christian' interest did not blind her: There are few passages in history she found more shocking than the description of the taking of Jerusalem by the Crusaders who waded "sword in hand through the blood of twenty thousand of their fellow creatures, to prostrate themselves at the sepulchre of the "prince of Peace""22. She had no respect at all for heroes: I am in no sort of danger of falling in love with heroes and conquerors which are characters with so little reverence, that I think many an old woman who cries hot dumplings, a much greater ornament to human nature than a Caesar or an Alexander; Brigitte Sprenger 243 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza and indeed the old woman would suffer highly by comparison with such wretches whom one should look upon with the same horror as one does pestilence and inundations or other severe scourges of Providence. No hero I met with in history who sets out on some ambitious schemes of conquest…but goes attended with my hearty ill wishes…23 The only circumstance under which she allowed fighting to make a hero, was in defence against "brutal invaders". She meditated on "our Saxon Kings" Ethelred and Alfred who "with such noble though unsuccessful valour" defended their country. This was "the only instance in which I am willing to allow that fighting makes a hero"24. Carter was a patriot to her very core. When England declared war on France in 1756, Carter reported this not as news, but as distasteful interruption to her domestic routine when "some sad riotous people (had) come and forced me out of my quiet closet to see the proclamation of war, a sad ceremony, for which I had not the least curiosity"25. Carter similarly lacked respect for England's conquering spirit. She remained singularly unenthusiastic about both the war with the American colonies and with James Cook's "discovery" of new colonies. "What future benefit may arise to the poor inhabitants of these newly-discovered countries…will be determined by time; at present, alas! they seem to have little reason to think themselves the better for our intercourse with them," Carter sighed. And similarly: The loss of the colonies will probably occasion great distress and convulsions for the present. In the next age perhaps the nation may be the happier for being rid of them. They may be useful and comfortable allies, though they are got to a maturity that would prevent their ever being again tractable subjects. There may be in states as well as in regard to individuals a proper season for emancipation…26 Political isolation gave Carter, and other women correspondents, a neutral observer status, which resulted in a disengagement and rejection of (patriarchic) political values. She believed she was far more attentive because she was not involved. Though I am very little a party in the said world, few people I believe are more attentive to it as a spectator or receive more amusement from the shifting scenes. People whose interests and passions are engaged in the bustle have very little leisure to attend to the spectacle which affords such an entertainment to quiet uninterrupted observers, who content themselves with seeing the drama without any wish for plumes and tinsel…27 Carter did however recognize the peculiar danger such distant, bemused observing encapsulated: "To be sure people in a closet are apt to form strange odd ideas, which as soon as they put their heads out of doors they find to be utterly inconsistent with that something or other that regulates or rather confounds the actions of mankind"28. The lack 244 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza of respect is palpable. The attitude Carter had is plainly that each person had a religious, moral task in life, equally significant, be it knitting or ruling kingdoms, and the greatness lay in the principle.29 This unfeminine, disrespectful attitude she chose on the whole not to display to Talbot, although she was capable, when necessary, of defending her own, even unorthodox, opinions to Secker (Cf Chapter 4). As Carter did not feel free to offer politics and philosophy and could not often offer "news" from her relatively dull isolation, she needed to gain Talbot's continued interest by other means. Appreciating Talbot's feelings of restriction and confinement, Carter proffered a sense of freedom. She shared images of unison with wide, open, limitless nature, with God's creation. Such sharing, the "gesture of intimacy" as Salmon calls it, was a common technique used by contemporary women writers. They often brought the actual furniture of their closets, their external intimacy, into letters to convey internal intimacy. Carter rarely did this, despite occasional graphic glimpses of her sitting, near-sightedly, in her room and not realizing the identity of a visitor coming up the long stairs or staring at the rose on her desk (cf Chapter 3). It was a technique employed far more often by Talbot. Carter chose instead to share the intimacy far more substantial to her – and of greater interest to her correspondent – the liberation, the sublimity, the lonely intimacy of the sea and the expanse of fields surrounding her home. Carter conveyed a sense of spaciousness, of wildness, of unfettered passions of storms and high seas, which never failed to captivate her reader: I was rambling about the fields, so had the advantage of observing the whole progress of (a thunderstorm) through all the varieties of the sky; from the first faint cloud rising out of the sea, to the deep gloom which at last shaded the horizon on one side, and by the opposition of some remaining beams from the setting sun on the other…30 To Talbot such passages must have conveyed unattainable liberty outside the domestic home. Carter's statement that she often secretly exulted "in the privileges that attend one's being suffered to go in and out of a room with as much silence, and as little ceremony as a cat" conveyed a parallel freedom inside the house 31. Talbot could fully appreciate, and even envy, such liberty, though she treated Carter's accompanying need for passion and sublimity with gentle humour, wryly recommending a certain room for her stay at Lambeth as a storm had "sounded twice as nobly" in that room as in any other32. Montagu fully shared such feelings with Carter however and Vesey was a kindred spirit. Carter often imagined Vesey to be beside her, sharing the spirit of adulation of the sublime. Her Brigitte Sprenger 245 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza descriptions are mostly vivid and dramatic. When describing a ramble to " an old church sinking into venerable ruins" she creates successive images of wide open spaces giving way to narrow lanes where the "shade grew closer" until she found herself among " mouldering arches" and "thick-strewn graves" and could then of course not resist a short contemplation of death and the hereafter33. The greatest sense of individual liberty was conveyed in Carter's accounts of her many journeys and rambles. Carter was rarely accompanied, or at most by a dog, which was highly unorthodox. Even men rarely walked, and if so, were armed and frequently considered to be either "footpads" or paupers34. Such walks were not without their dangers. In town, women could be set upon by pickpockets or by groups of Mohocks whose sport included turning old women upside down – in the days before knickers had been invented35. In the countryside there were disorderly soldiers or robbers, and of course the unpredictable weather, to beware of. Consequently Carter was frequently saddled with a chaperone by well-meaning friends. This, however, she could hardly abide. Once, having walked two miles in thunder and rain to visit friends, her hosts insisted on providing "a guard" for the return journey which "disconcerted" her as "I could not help considering the poor “man who was obliged to trudge after me, in the same uncomfortable light, as I always look upon a lock, or a bolt, as a most severe satire upon mankind". She preferred walking within confines but then at least alone, to venturing further afield with a guard36. Friends in Canterbury frequently implored with her to take a coach to Deal, but she rarely did and would in almost childlike defiance, write mock-heroic accounts of her ambulatory adventures37. On one occasion, having written delightfully of walking the sixteen miles from Canterbury to Deal with a country lad (see below), she noted that the enjoyable excursion had thrown her friend Miss Hall into such alarm that she needed to send reiterated accounts assuring her that she was alive38. This dilemma between seeking a "sublime" liberty in the open and obliging genuinely concerned friends, was one she never resolved: To reject the advice of those who profess to love one and to have a regard for one's happiness, has such an appearance of perverseness and ingratitude, that it requires some degree of fortitude to persevere in a resolution taken up on ever such reasonable grounds, when they oppose it so strongly. There are several well meaning folks in the world apt to pronounce one quite mad for acting contrary to certain maxims which they have laid down,…I have had the complaisance out of attention to the opinions of others, to be less constant in my walking…and the consequence is, I have never been free from a head ach and a slow fever.39 246 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza The conclusions are evident. Carter struggled between her own desires and society's restrictions and frequently capitulated. The result was psychosomatic illness, and the fact that headaches accompanied her a lifetime, invites speculation that she compromised too often. Yet she sought escape as often as she could, and relished each ramble. Salmon aptly calls these wonderful accounts "dramas of escape… which were no more than long and energetic walks in mostly familiar countryside"40. As has already been noted, these walks were not completely unhazardous, as human and natural elements posed some danger. Notable however, is Carter's complete lack of fear for herself. In the face of earthquakes, tempests and hanging mobs she remained serene. And in confrontations with the elements at their most unbridled, there is a palpable delight 41. In this dual preoccupation with liberty and sublimity, she frequently used the imagery of birds, or transformed herself into a bird. This is not only the owl in her "Ode to Wisdom", but also such birds as the lark or the buzzard: I am extremely delighted with a buzzard, whom I have watched all this winter, and who seems to be of the same taste with myself. Whenever it looks clear and shining the creature sits mighty snug and stupid upon his perch, but the moment the sky begins to lour, he descends, claps his wings, and wanders about the garden with a most complete enjoyment of the tempest. I should certainly have pursued the method of this my fellow creature in rambling up and down the face of this earth in the last blowing snowy weather, but on my talking one evening something about walking out, there was as much astonishment and outcry in the family as if I had seriously told them I was going to hang myself and so to avoid the scandal of having absolutely lost my senses I was obliged to content myself with quietly setting by the fire-side and listening to the storm at a distance.42 Carter undoubtedly, at such moments, felt captive and harnessed. Her identification with birds therefore extended beyond the urge to fly, to fear of imprisonment: "I am so real a friend to universal liberty that I make a scruple of keeping birds in a cage and did but last week refuse the offer of a very musical linnet"43. Alternately, she could adopt a feline identity: She appreciated the freedom to slink unnoticed in and out of rooms as a cat does or talked apprehensively of an invasion of company after having the house to herself so long: "I shall feel frightened, and run into holes and comers like a wild kitten"44. She felt "these visits truly have cost me many a disconcerted trial. I never could divest myself of my idiot look and having been for some Brigitte Sprenger 247 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza time disused to forms and ceremonies 't is rather worse and I appear like a wild thing just caught"45 . Throughout the American War of Independence, her sympathies were clearly with those seeking liberation, for all her basic patriotism and personal interest in many of those fighting in England's interest. She felt "parent countries" would be wise to "submit with good grace" when it was time for independence46. England should restrict its kingdom to encompass only itself and Ireland – though again, she was critical of English oppression especially by austere taxation schemes, of the Irish47. In her political ideas, a basic respect for individual liberty permeates. Negro slavery in the southern states of the USA inevitably appalled her and she roundly approved William Pitt's declaration in favour of abolition in 1788: The putting an End to this dreadful Cruelty & Oppression will do Honour to our Age, to our Country & our Religion. There is something very noble, in not suffering any little particular commercial Interest, to outweigh the Importance of a measure founded on the Eternal & Universal Laws of Justice & Mercy…48 Many women writers, as Mary A. Favret noted in her recent study of the politics and fiction of letters by women, were extremely adept at radical political letters. Mary Wollstonecraft's Letters from Sweden or Manon de Roland used the epistolary form to openly criticise politcal figures or events49. In style, and in that the criticism was not personally rooted but rather "communal and cultural", Carter's political criticism is part of this tradition. Her letters remained of course unpublished for a few years and were never openly addressed to the general public or an influential politician. Yet Carter was conscious of her extended and influential circle of readers; a political criticism voiced to Talbot would reach Secker and any houseguests he may have had. As she aged, Carter's timidity decreased and her political criticism gained volume. While various topics such as smuggling and taxes were also discussed, her main political lance was aimed at any restriction of personal freedom which undoubtedly reflected her own, most basic requirement. Carter attained significant personal freedom for her age, especially compared to her correspondents who suffered the fetters of social duties and obligations to husbands. Thus Myra Reynolds observes almost enviously early this century: 248 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza ..in whatever period, from whatever point of view, Miss Carter presents us with a career almost unexampled in the annals of learned ladies…Few girls, even today, could have greater freedom in the determination of their own hours, occupations and pleasures…by middle life she had achieved independence, money and fame.50 Carter gave contemporary women glimpses of liberties they could not attain themselvesthough it was Carter's gift to create virtually no envy on this account. As Reynolds observed, her "sound sweet, sensible, modest nature….disarmed criticism" and she retained a vital sense of humour51. While enjoying her own freedom, she tactfully accepted the duties and limitations husbands and fathers set on her friends. If Elizabeth Montagu was obliged to accompany her husband on lengthy business trips to his cold. northern coal mines, Carter might at most express a wish her friend need not remain long – she would not gloat on her own independence in warmer climes. She not only never boasted of her own exalted powers, but turned many compliments favourably back upon her friends. Whenever her name appeared publicly, she would enjoy being coupled together in print with Talbot or Montagu rather than feel flattered by the mere mention. Next to this ability to praise her friends, to offering them enjoyable glimpses of wide rural expanse, Carter proffered a learned, open, well-read and critical mind upon which Talbot, and especially Montagu, could test their own critical growth. "I will tell you," Montagu wrote Carter, "what I think on the subject, and then you shall tell me whether I judge rightly….I do not pronounce my opinion right till you have decided that it is so."52.We have seen already, in Chapters 3 and 5, how these women mutually encouraged each other to write and even publish, though all, perhaps with the exception of Montagu, were paradoxically hesitant to publish themselves. Talbot and Montagu put more pressure on Carter, and with considerably more success, than vice versa. Yet Carter did encourage Talbot to submit essays, revise her "Green Book" and contributed in no small way towards the writing and publication of Montagu's Essay on Shakespeare. When Talbot tried to persuade Carter to contribute to the World, the latter merely recommended Talbot take some of the works out of her "considering drawer" and send those53. More effective however, was their mutual encouragement to passive literature. These women took their reading very seriously; they arranged to read books simultaneously and compare notes, they argued over words and phrases and interpretations, they compared and analysed. Carter, for instance, took notes on literary points made by critics and her Brigitte Sprenger 249 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza own reactions when reading Shakespeare and read Hume's History of Great Britain in tandem with Montagu54. Moreover, they took great pride in their reading and in their literary knowledge, as far as their general modesty allowed, basking in their recall in letters or astounding the outer world. Montagu joyfully reported an account of the party of Spa visitors requesting some Greek manuscripts at the Jesuit College at St Omer's, "for the amusement of Mrs Carter, to the great amazement of the Librarian, who imagined her to be possess'd, & would fain have exorcised her" 55. The exercising of critical faculties was not however merely serious or scholarly, but permeated with pure and simple joy. "I have read Mr Gray's installation ode, but we will talk it over de vive voix as well as Mr Harris and Aristotle, and a hundred other subjects. I could sing for joy at the thought of seeing you"56. Carter and Talbot especially shared a love of Italian literature – both enjoying the passionate emotions of a personal and religious nature, which they found difficult to express in their native tongue. Talbot introduced Carter to Carlo Maria Maggi and Carter returned the favour by sending Metastasio sonnets. (Carter included her translations of two Metastasio sonnets in her Poems on Several Occasions). They rejoiced in the "touching, elegant, simple, the language of the heart" of these authors 57. A number of women younger than Carter, who considered her a literary example and guide, led Carter into literary discussions. Hester Mulso was an early example, yet unfortunately only Mulso's replies are extant – as we saw in Chapter 3. A much later example is Mary Hamilton whom Carter met during her later Bluestocking period (see Chapter 6). Carter's style to Hamilton is witty- almost too refinedly witty, as she fell into a role of literary elder dowager: And so, my dear Miss Hamilton, I am to tell you why I dislike La Metaphysique; Indeed this is very unreasonable. Suppose I had innocently said, I disliked Lambs' wool, or hard Dumpling, must I be obliged to show Cause Why? Perhaps I might say it was because they disagreed with my Stomach: would you not allow that to be a very sufficient Answer? & is it not just as sufficient a cause for my disliking La Metaphysique, because it disagrees with my Head? To speak a little less flippantly: I have a strong Objection to every mode of Reasoning, & perplexed Speculation which has any Tendency to weaken the Authority of the simple & natural dictates of Common Sense. It appears to me that the human Understanding is formed to walk soberly on, in a straight path upon Solid Ground, & not to dance upon Ropes in the Air. 250 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Well, say you, but is there no such Faculty in our Composition as Imagination? Yes, certainly: & a most delightful play Fellow it is, graciously allotted to enliven & relax us amidst the Duties of our Serious Task of Life. But let it not assume a professor's Cap & Gown, call itself la metaphysique, & exalt its sportive Reveries into a Standard of Truth…58 The tone is bright and confident and possibly reflective of Carter's style of conversation, although Johnson did comment once that Mrs Carter was too reticent in conversation (cf Chapter 2). Certainly however, Carter voices no clearer general literary opinions than in the few excerpts included in Hamilton's diary. That Carter judged literature very much by its moral content, as can occasionally be inferred in the odd critical remark made to her main correspondents. She condemned especially the French authors Voltaire and Rousseau for the moral damage their works did. She was so offended and shocked at Rousseau's Lettres de la Montagne that she threw it into a comer and Eloise she considered, though finely written, "one of the most dangerous and wicked books…ever…published". By rejecting all human and divine reasoning, his mind had been reduced to chaos, and the danger lay in the mixture of wrong pinciples and false reasoning which were so greatly and strikingly presented. Carter refused to read Voltaire because he attempted to destroy hope of God59. She would admit French authors generally had a better understanding of human nature than the English but that was because they were a less philosophical race. "The English love reasoning better than they do fact, and are usually more accurate judges of what human creatures ought to be, than of what they are"60. She once wrote Susanna Highmore she had "no great fondness either for (French) language or manner of writing", the exception being Rollin – and, judging by the long laudatory exchange Carter had with Talbot, Mme de Sevigne61. (Carter was in any case very patriotic in her taste and, though widely read in especially French, German but also Spanish and Italian literature, seemed almost to apply higher standards when judging European works. She roundly condemned Voltaire after he had written that the English had no genius for poetry62) To Hamilton she forwarded her opinion on the need for morality quite clearly and forcefully, following the usual disclaimer preceding the lecture ("..you appoint me to write Criticisms upon Books, which I often find difficult even to read"): The first point by which the Merit of every Writing ought to be Estimated, is its moral Tendency. No force of Genius, no Elegance of Diction, ought ever to seduce the Brigitte Sprenger 251 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Approbation of a Reader., where this first & most Sacred Obligation is, in any degree violated…….The writers of Novels & Tales, have treated the passion of Love as something so sublime & superior to all common Rules of Actions, that it is supposed to dignify every Extravagance, & so authorize every Breach of Duty. The young & the Thoughtless, who have not sufficiently considered the Tendency of such pernicious Representations, must be reminded…that the Man who hangs or shoots himself because he cannot get his neighbour's Wife, is as much a Rebel to God, & an offender against Society, as if he was to hang or shoot himself because he could not get his neighbour's House & Gardens, or his Service of Plate…63 Such, undoubtedly, was Carter's strong belief in the need for the constant moral duty every author, as every individual, had in life. Yet moral pedagogy did not suffice and undoubtedly she would have agreed with Johnson's statement that all writing should "instruct by pleasing". Even her favourite classic authors (who notably did not have the benefit of a Christian upbringing) she insisted were to be readable. She could not appreciate Homer, finding him tedious in what she considered unnecessary domestic detail64. She particularly appreciated Henry Fielding, feeling thoroughly entertained and instructed by Joseph Andrews especially: It contains such a surprising variety of nature, wit, morality and good sense as is scarcely to be met with in any one composition and there is such a spirit of benevolence runs through the whole as I think renders it peculiarly charming…..It must surely be a marvellous wrongheadedness and perplexity of understanding that can make any one consider this complete satire as a very immoral thing and of the most dangerous tendency…65 Good writing had therefore to be both moral and readable. Carter felt Fielding had protested against certain kinds of "inhumanity" by using his highly entertaining style and found this admirable. She preferred Colly Cibber to Terence as he was the more moral and more entertaining66. Her Ramblers were probably the two closest attempts she ever came to realising her own standards, and arguably, her letters frequently and innately met her personal literary criteria. But morality in isolation she found of little worth. When Talbot once used up nearly a whole letter to paraphrase some writings of the Archbishop of Cambrai, she wrote back in frustration, she'd have preferred Talbot's own opinions as being more pertinent to actual daily life: I could never find any great conviction in the arguments of those retired writers who shut themselves up in a study, where they live in a state of perfect apathy, and frame fine eloquent directions to cure people of vexations which they themselves never felt.67 252 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza The emphasis on morality is however a relatively elastic concept for Carter, certainly in comparison to many of her contemporaries. Jonathan Swift, for instance, frequently and viciously attacked especially on moral and political grounds, found a strong defendant in Carter: Indeed, I have always considered Swift as a character of more real worth, than most of the contemporary writers with whom he corresponded. The extravagance of his wit, and the strange improprieties into which it too often hurried him, seem to have been absolute distemper; and the concluding years of his life, which in any other view, form so deplorable a part of the history of such a genius, appear in a comfortable light, when they are considered as merely being proofs that his aberrations from decency, and his neglect of, or want of attention to religion, did not proceed from a corrupted heart, or from scepticism; but from physical infirmity, which at last ended in complete imbecility of mind.68 And on another occasion, much earlier still: I have never read Swift's last published Letters, but am glad to find they will help justify me in always having had a more favourable idea of his character than most people seemed to think he deserved. There always appeared a rectitude and sincerity in him, much superior to the greater number of his contemporary geniuses – His wit, I cannot help thinking, was mere distemper, and for many instances of shocking impropriety and levity into which it hurried him, he was perhaps as little accountable as for the delirium of a fever.69 Carter felt his final insanity and death were surely not a "judgment" as many moralists had opined, but rather a conclusion of a lengthy illness. Possibly Carter's sympathy was also in part due to Swift's attitude to women. Both the Lilliputians and the Houyhnhnms educated women and men equally and Swift believed women could not be reasonable companions unless they were educated70. Swift also objected to women retiring after dinner as though “Incapable of conversation", which closely reflects Carter's own sentiments on one occasion at a social evening: As if the two sexes had been in a state of war, the gentlemen ranged themselves on one side of the room where they talked their own talk, and left us poor ladies to twirl our shuttles, and amuse each other by conversing as we could. By what little I could overhear, our opposites were discoursing on the old English poets, and this subject did not seem so much beyond a female capacity, but that we might have been included with a share in it.71 Yet it was not enough to produce moral writing: the author too must have a moral reputation. Carter, as we have seen, had a different, more liberal concept of morality than many of her acquaintance, yet nonetheless professed clear limitations. Laurence Sterne Brigitte Sprenger 253 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza fell quite clearly and unpardonably outside these. She refused to read his A Sentimental Journey not only because his writing was "shocking", but mostly because his reputation for benevolence was no real benevolence at all: Merely to be struck by a sudden impulse of compassion at the view of an object of distress, is no more benevolence than it is a fit of the gout….Real benevolence would never suffer a husband and a father to neglect and injure those whom the ties of nature, the order of Providence, and the general sense of mankind have entitled to his first regards. Yet this unhappy man, by his carelessness and extravagance, has left a wife and child to starve or to subsist on the precarious bounty of others. Nor would real benevolence lead a clergyman to ramble about the world with whom he has no particular connexion, when he might exercise the noblest duties of a benevolent heart in a regular discharge of his proper function, instead of neglecting and disgracing it by indecent and buffoon writings.72 Carter stuck to her moral guns to Sterne's face too. Montagu reported that at a dinner party at Sir Joshua Reynolds' (who was painting the dying Sterne), Carter attacked Sterne for his "free conversation" with such force, the man did not recover from the rebuke that evening73. Despite such occasional moral clouds, Carter repeatedly proved a sober critic prepared to pierce through to the core of a text uninfluenced by either public opinion or fashion. Her opinion of Swift, as we have seen, went against the grain of the narrow moralists in her circle as did her opinion of Fielding. Replying to Talbot, who'd been horrified at Carter's good opinion of the latter: ..he is no doubt an imperfect, but not a detestable character, with all that honesty, good nature and generosity of temper. Though nobody can admire Clarissa more than I do, yet with all our partiality, I am afraid, it must be confessed that Fielding's book is the most natural representation of what passes in the world, and of the bizzarreries which arise from a mixture of good and bad, which makes up the composition of most folks. 74 Carter similarly invested some effort into converting Hester Chapone-Mulso to her good opinion of Fielding's Amelia. And of his Joseph Andrews she wrote: "It contains such a surprizing variety of nature, wit, morality, and good sense, as is scarcely to be met with in any one composition, and there is such a spirit of benevolence runs through the whole, as I think renders it peculiarly charming."75 Unfortunately, Carter's criticism of especially contemporary authors is usually extremely brief and too general. As in the quotation on Jospeh Andrews, Carter in the space of fifty words summarised her opinion and reaction without ever giving a sound base or concrete 254 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza examples. She stated that Fielding had hit upon an excellent expedient of criticising "some particular instances of inhumanity" – yet never enlarges to inform her reader what this specific expedient is (though we can well guess) and which particular instances she was thinking of. In nearly every letter, she noted up to six titles of books she was currently reading or interested in – about half of these tended to be Greek and Latin classics and some others were in foreign languages, read in part to maintain her proficiency in those tongues. Evidently she read copiously, and kept abreast of what her contemporaries were writing. She read a number of magazines and newspapers, and tended otherwise to be especially interested in newly published poetry and works of philosophy. (Pennington reported she also liked works of fantasy and imagination with true good humour, though she couldn't abide ribaldry or broad farce.76). Unfortunately, however, she rarely actually discussed the works of contemporaries in detail nor offered her correspondents specific analyses of the merits or flaws she found in her reading. She was more than capable of forming critical judgments: the lengthy discussions and analyses of classical authors throughout her letters testify to this. Quite possibly, however, Carter did write more detailed criticism of contemporary work but chose to censor this herself or instructed her nephew accordingly, for some of these authors were still living or had relatives still living when Carter's correspondence appeared. Thus, only a few, short, comments survived. Carter admired Young's poetry, especially his “Night Thoughts”, regretting there were not more nights in a week. In 1748 she joyfully read the entire poem aloud to an aunt. She disliked his conversation, however, finding it light, trifling and full of puns. Young's influence is evident in her own poetry (cf Chapter 5) and she was highly displeased with a parody on Night Thoughts which appeared in 1747 for this turned "a noble and serious performance into ridicule"77. Yet she felt, despite her evident partiality to his verse, that Young was on the whole too melancholy giving "too gloomy a picture of life in all his works"78. Despite the indisputable predilection in her own life and poetry towards a certain seriousness and melancholy, she was quick to react to an overdose, both in Young and in Johnson. James Thomson (1700-48) enjoyed Carter's esteem, especially for his morality. For this reason she was pained at finding herself very critical of his Tancred, finding the characters unnatural and inconsistent. "Was there ever an instance of a man of common sense, who Brigitte Sprenger 255 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza from sincere thoughtful love of virtue, could so shockingly break through all its plainest and most important obligations?"79. Carter also praised Cowley, though found his love verses "insufferable" and Montagu, in reply to this criticism, agreed that the two of them could describe the emotion better despite never having experienced the feeling 80. In her respect for Johnson and her recognition of both his profound, unique mind and his writing skills, Carter predated most of her contemporaries. She called him "my favorite author" and staunchly defended him, his Ramblers and his other writings throughout her life (cu Chapters 2 and 3)81. When Hester Molson strongly criticized Rasselas as being "ill-contrived, unfinished, unnatural and uninstructive", Carter jumped to her old colleague's defense which Molson allowed to be just, and hoped a second volume would be produced to provide an antidote to such unhappy views of people and life82. The censure of Johnson's serious, too melancholy a vision, echoes the criticisms levelled at his Ramblers, which, as we saw in Chapter 3, Carter actively and passively combatted. The only controversy on which Carter remained conspicuously quiet was the one involving Johnson and Montagu. Montagu was highly offended at Johnson's disparaging criticism of Littleton in his Lives of the Poets which caused some lively public words and actions83. The whole episode would undoubtedly have pained Carter as she was a friend of both Littleton and Johnson. (Carter did on one occasion profess to admiring Littleton’s writing: the peer personally gave her a copy of his History of Life and Reign of King Henry II which she decreed was nobly written.84 On Johnson's pioneering Dictionary, there is no comment of Carter's extant, except the cryptic remark that she had seen part of the Preface to it and had found it "was like himself"85. Johnson's Shakespeare edition however, and his notes on the plays, she admired greatly and repeatedly, writing some of his comments into her own copies of the bard's plays. The Prefaces she found, in point of composition, highly admirable, and certainly considered him highly superior to his critics: ".. since I came home, I had read [sic] all the Prefaces to Johnson's Shakespeare, and that, with all the abuse against him, not one of them appeared to me, in point of composition, in any degree equal to his own." 86 And years later: 256 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza I have lately been reading his notes on Shakespeare. I will not undertake his defence as a commentator: but the work is valuable for many strokes of his own great, and refined, and delicate way of thinking. But pray did you never observe, that with all his enconiums on our Bishop (Warburton), he sometimes in the most polite and elegant language treats him more severely than his most open and professional enemies…..but the pen of Dr. Johnson, like the ethereal stroke of lightning, without any external mark of violence, has penetrated to his vitals.87 There was however, in Carter's reticence about Johnson as a Shakespeare commentator, a certain conflict of loyalties. Elizabeth Montagu had, by the time of Johnson's publication, embarked upon a new Shakespeare project (which would however not come to fruition). Evidently wishing to do both friends justice, Carter compromised by both praising Johnson's efforts, yet allowing some gaps and errors in her "favourite": "I do not, by any means…think he is always right in what he says of his author. In this article, he, like the rest of the commentators, appears to be very defective, and consequently, "res integra tibi reservatur", if you pursue your scheme."88 Similar, yet slighter, conflicts of friendship and literature were inevitable in the small literary world in which Carter moved for a long lifetime. Although she happily belonged to the intimate group surrounding Hannah More and Mrs Garrick which included Horace Walpole, she was singularly unimpressed with the latter's Royal and Noble Authors (1758), considering it a "peevish and flippant" work. Carter felt Walpole should henceforth concentrate on writing nothing but Castles of Otranto instead of jeering at subjects other's held sacred89. Undoubtedly, Carter was also at least superficially acquainted with Oliver Goldsmith: she both liked and disliked the Vicar of Wakefield, considering it possessed admirable things next to provoking absurdities. The character of Burchell she found "entirely unnatural".90 Thomas Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard she admired91. Addison also earned Carter's praise: She had read the Spectators when very young and had always preferred Addison to Richard Steele: Never surely did age or country produce a finer critic, a more polite scholar, or a purer and more amiable moralist. Had he been born on the banks of Illyssus, he would have been a disciple of Socrates. I know not whether his genius might have reached all the sublime or the spirit of Plato, but he would have possessed all the gentle virtues and elegant graces of Xenophon, with the advantage of a more vivid imagination…92 Brigitte Sprenger 257 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza There were other contemporaries, or near contemporaries, about whom Carter voiced harsh words of criticism – most notably Chesterfield: "Lord Chesterfield's Letters are, I think, the most complete system of French immorality that ever disgraced the English language."93 Carter objected to "a system founded neither on principle of virtue, nor sentiments of heart" but pure selfish motives and hoped readers of the letters would discern between "mere rouge and enamel of artificial good breeding" and genuine graces springing from principle94. Her criticism was, as noted previously, mostly on moral grounds. The same applied to Shaftesbury, whose language and imagination greatly impressed her yet whose "levity" in morality shocked95. Notable throughout Carter's long life was her very distinct interest in and bias towards writers of her own sex. Carter's feminism, and the word in its true sense of advocating women's rights is not at all inappropriate, is of an ingrained, underlying, mostly silent conviction. Rita Felski defined feminist literature as “texts that reveal a critical awareness of women's subordinate position and of gender as a problematic category, however this is expressed."96 Carter chose never to avow her opinions openly in print, although the poem “A Dialogue" (where the male Body argues with the female Mind) and the passive acquiescence to posthumous publication of her letters constitute at least a minor public declaration of her stance. If the premise voiced in the previous chapter holds, Elizabeth Carter preferred to work towards improved conditions for women from within a privileged circle. This quieter, subterranean approach does not however negate her feminism or feminist ideas which can be found in various echoes – in Hester Mulso's replies to Carter, in Carter's poetry, in some scattered remains of contemporary report and of course, in Carter's career. Mulso wrote that Carter was the most biased towards her own sex of anyone she knew and: "…you carry your partiality to your own sex much farther than I do."97. On another occasion Mulso wrote that if Carter ever could love a man, she hoped it would be her new husband. "Your opinion of the Lordly Sex is not a very high one but yet I will one day or other make you confess that a man may be capable of all the delicacy, purity and tenderness which distinguish our sex, joined with all the best qualities that dignify his own."98 Such evidence indicates Carter at least expressed her feminism in private conversation. It is quite possible that Carter's nephew Montagu Pennington censored his aunt's letters on such points though it must in all fairness be allowed that he 258 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza showed a certain pride in his aunt's defence of women writers. That he found the point an uncomfortable one, is shown by his remark that his aunt, despite having a "masculine mind" had a "character truly feminine" for she never courted fame and, equally uncomfortably in the face of the suicide controversy, in his Memoirs he states quite decisively that Carter "detested the principles displayed in Mrs Wollstonecraft's wild theory".99 Katherine M Rogers in Feminism in Eighteenth-Century England states all the Bluestockings rejected Mary Wollstonecraft for fear of harming their "irreproachable propriety" otherwise. Her point ties in with my own interpretation that to maintain their privileged and tactical position "inside" they could not possibly afford to taint their morality. And as Julia Epstein and others have shown, it was a common-place in the eighteenth century and indication of the discomfort towards learned women, to praise such a woman's “manly understanding"100. Pennington's assertion is in any case almost impossible to reconcile with Carter's lifelong attitude. In 1739 a pamphlet appeared which in tone and content was as strong in terms and demands as Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Women over half a century later. This pamphlet, Woman not Inferior to Man: A short and modest Vindication of the natural Right of the Fair Sex to a perfect Equality of Power, Dignity, and Esteem with Men aroused intense interest in Carter. She wrote so urgently to Cave about it, and repeatedly, requesting information as to the identification of the author that Cave even approached Birch quite hurriedly in order to satisfy "Miss"101. Cave could not, and no-one in posterity has yet conclusively been able to, identify the author. On the title-page, she is referred to as "Sophia, a person of Quality" (the use of "person" is interesting) and in recent years a case has been presented that Lady Mary Wortley Montagu is concealed behind the pseudonym102. The 62-page pamphlet which aroused considerable interest and several (mostly outraged patriarchal) pamphlets in reply, has unfortunately and undeservedly sunk into obscurity. Carter's interest in it was two-fold. "Sophia", towards the end of a discourse which has listed the gender inequalities and discredited the basis for their existence, goes on to discuss the various abilities of women. Having contended that women are superior rulers and eminently suited to teaching, medicine, rhetoric, and religious ministry, she proceeds to prove what excellent writers they can be. Brigitte Sprenger 259 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza If I chose to unite the several excellencies of all these illustrious names in one, I might quote Eliza not more to be envied, for the towerring superiority of her genius and judgment, than honour'd for the use she makes of them. Her early advances in ancient and modem learning in general, having raised her above the imitation of the Men, as the many excellent Virtues added to her extensive knowledge, have secured her the esteem of the Women; it is no wonder that, while the former are forced to admire her in spite of prejudice, we are at liberty to do justice to her merit without fearing the suspicion of partiality towards her. However, as her own excellence has extorted her just praise from the mouth of prejudice itself, I shall forbear to characterise her; content to see the work already done to my hand by that sex itself; and therefore refer my readers for a farther account of this true woman to what the Reverend Mr Birch says of her in the History of the Works of the Learned: which is so much the more to be relied on as it comes from a Man…103 Carter's reaction to this paragraph was probably mixed, disliking as she did superlative praise, especially when it came from Birch (cf Chapter 2), yet she could hardly but have appreciated personally serving as evidence in an cause she herself strongly supported 104. Judging by the almost breathless phrasing of her inquiry to Cave, her interest was as much for the general premise and argument as personal. Had she wished to refute or confute the argument and serving as a guiding example in it, she would not have hesitated to inform Cave and seek his advice. In the first letter seeking Sophia's identity, she fumed about her “Riddle" being printed without her knowledge or approbation in The Lady's Almanac105. “’Sophia"'s pamphlet argues for education for women (among other things) and most notably argues from a female base, refusing to accept male premises ("It must be observed, that so bold a tenet (that women should pass their lives in subordination to men) ought to have better proofs to support it, than the bare word of persons who advance it," It can hardly be supposed Carter did not support ‘Sophia’’s argument. Throughout her life Carter actively, if privately, supported women's right to education. First and foremost of course by availing herself of the proffered education (and spending a lifetime being grateful to her father for this precious gift). She also passed her knowledge on and not only to her brother Henry or two nephews Pennington. Carter educated her young stepsister Polly (cf Chapter 3), her niece and namesake Elizabeth (daughter of Henry) and possibly other nieces as well: "They are not indeed fed with my own plumb-pudding, because I have not any to give them; but as far as they have any appetite for the slender diet of learning, all I have in the world is much at their service"106. There is evidence of only one school to which she donated money (cf Chapter 1), yet the testimony of Pennington and Miss Sharpe that Carter was economical to a fault in order to contribute to charities does not preclude the possibility that there were other charity schools to which 260 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza she contributed. Indeed, as her two friends Elizabeth Montagu and Hannah More both actively financed charity and Sunday school projects, it would be unlikely Carter did not. Generally, Carter felt women were often doubly punished by not being educated and then being belittled for their ignorance. Carter voiced this opinion publicly via the words of Mrs Shirley in Richardson's Sir Charles Grandison, as we saw in Chapter 3107. Apart from supporting education for women, she also actively and passively supported women authors. Carter generally seems to have preferred reading women authors; she once mentioned she "took the pains of reading through" the full philosophic system of Madame de Chatelet "for no other reason than because it was wrote by a lady.”108 Pennington noted Carter had a "decided bias in favour of female writers, and always read their works with a mind to be pleased, if the principles contained in them were good, and the personal characters of the authors amiable"109. Carter nearly always defended women authors rigorously against less favourable opinions of her friends. When Elizabeth Montagu criticised Catherine Macaulay (1731 -1791), Carter retaliated: Poor Mrs Macaulay! so you will not read her book, I cannot help it; I will, as I have a much higher opinion of her talents than you have, I am but very little acquainted with her, but in a tête-à-tête conversation of between two and three hours that we once had; she appeared to me to have a very considerable share of both sense and knowledge.110 Carter appreciated Macaulay's delineation of character which she found executed with "judgment and spirit". Unfortunately, Carter's reaction to Macaulay's later feminist Letters on Education (1789), which in tum inspired Wollstonecraft, is not known, though the assertion there that women be educated equally and thereby “understanding the principles of true religion and morality, will regard chastity and truth as indispensable qualities in virtuous characters of any sex" would have received Carter's whole-hearted approval. Macaulay, privately educated and supported in her intellectual pursuits by her physician husband, advocated co-education, condemned discriminatory treatment of women and castigated slavery, as did Carter111. In other women authors Carter rather appreciated the entertainment value, such as in Montagu's sister, Sarah Scott. At one stage, Carter even persuaded her father – no friend to novels – to read Scott's D'Aubigne and proudly reported his pleasure with it to Montagu112. In later life, Carter especially enjoyed the novels of Ann Radcliffe, Jane West Brigitte Sprenger 261 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza and Frances Burney. Exemplary of her prejudice is Pennington's anecdote about a collection of plays published anonymously which Carter had read with enjoyment and respect. When it became known, the author was Joanna Baillie, Carter "felt a triumph, which those who know her partiality to her own sex will easily believe" 113. To an extent, Carter was occasionally guilty of judging women writers by lesser criteria, being naturally more inclined to read and praise anything written by her own sex. In this she was partially a product of her age: women were not expected to meet the same literary standards as men (it being considered noteworthy, to paraphrase Johnson, that they could write at all) but were subjected to moral standards114. When Carter did, however reluctantly, criticise another woman's work it was exclusively on moral grounds. Were it not objectionable ethically, she tended to praise uncritically: she enthused about a volume of essays by Miss Aiken, simply because they were "very pretty" or Mrs Gambier's memoirs of Anne of Austria for being readable115. The generally supportive attitude did not preclude a critical astuteness: While admiring Sarah Fielding's work she found this author had too great a "refining spirit" which always reminded her of Tacitus, not one of her favourites116. Anna William's Fairy Tales provide a further example. Williams (1706-83), the blind poet inmate of Samuel Johnson's quarrelsome household, was much in need of finance and Johnson undertook to help her. He solicited several friends to help launch a subscription for a collection of versified fairy tales. Carter not only subscribed herself, but actively sought subscribers – something she had not done on her own behalf. Yet even Carter was not aware that Johnson's aid had extended to major authorial contributions – a fact revealed only years later. When, with great interest, Carter at last received her own copy, she reported to Talbot she had found the tales very beautiful but unsatisfactory and melancholy117. To Montagu, however, a few days later, she proved she had been carefully considering the work: I have had great amusement in reading Mrs Williams's work. The poetry is beyond the common style of rhyming and the Fairy Tale enchantingly beautiful. But the conclusion is faulty, and leaves too melancholy an impression on one's mind……(the) conclusion is liable to the same objection as Mr Johnson's Rasselas.118 It was entertainment and morality which Carter sought in her women authors as well as the men. As we have seen in Chapter 2, Carter was deeply impressed by Elizabeth Rowe's religious poetry. She was of course, similarly pleased and impressed with the 262 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza pious Hannah More, both in person and on paper. She felt "deeply pleased" Hannah More's Sacred Dramas had been universally and justly admired and particularly liked the poem on sensibility at the end of that volume119. While paradoxically herself avoiding publication, Carter welcomed at the publicly acknowledged success of any woman author, feeling probably like Talbot, that such praise reflected on the entire sex. She rejoiced at the success of Sarah Scott's Sir G Ellison and Anna Laetitia Barbauld's Hymns and especially at the fame and great popularity of Frances Burney120. Together with Elizabeth Montagu and Catherine Talbot, she read and publicly praised Jane Collier's translation of Mort d'Abel, a work; published to support Collier’s seven children121. (Unfortunately, Carter's letters contain no reference to Collier's The Art of Ingeniously Tormenting (1757) in which Carter is at one point referred to in the argument for educating women. See below.) Conversely of course, she could feel highly frustrated that Charlotte Lennox, whose poetry she found so "uncommonly correct", could put her genius to "such idle unprofitable purposes" or that Charlotte Smith's novels were genial but immoral122. On Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Carter's judgment was that her letters had "wit, knowledge and observation: but there is such a defect of delicacy and of sentiment, that one would never wish (her for) a companion or a friend"123. Sometimes her support and interest in other learned women authors, involved seeking their acquaintance or correspondence, or merely mentioning to her friends their names and publications. Her letters display a greater knowledge and range of reading women authors than is representative for the period124. Carter once sought the correspondence of Mrs Jones, author of miscellanies such as Letters to a Physician. Mrs Jones was a decent woman, but Talbot objected to the false wit and hyperbole in her work and in the end persuaded Carter to not seek contact125. Carter was often compared in her learning and knowledge of an ancient language to Elizabeth Elstob (1683-1756). Elstob, who accompanied her brother to Oxford and there studied languages, became the leading Anglo-Saxon scholar and wrote An English-Saxon Homily on the birth-day of St Gregory (1709) and The Rudiments of Grammar for the English-Saxon Tongue (1715). Like Carter, Elstob was widely read in the classics and cites Plato in her Preface to the Homily as despising no kind of learning and therefore Brigitte Sprenger 263 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza women should not be prevented from learning as it is a “Benefit and Pleasure…which is both…innocent and improving."126 Interestingly, there is no extant mention of the now more famous feminist milestones: Carter never mentioned either Mary Astell or Mary Wollstonecraft, Anne Winchelsea or Aphra Behn. Although any single influence in Carter is difficult to trace, there is the evidence of the poem she dedicated to Mrs Rowe stating she considered the author a guiding light, the evidence of her being impressed by the “Sophia" pamphlet, and the massive collection of evidence of interest in women writers, to indicate Carter was deeply and lastingly impressed and influenced by a rising yet still anonymous feminist consciousness and that she in turn, contributed to this development and influenced a new generation of women. Marilyn L Williamson has convincingly established in her Raising their Voices: British Women Writers 1650-1750, that despite previous assertions, there was indeed a continual female tradition. Feminist heritage did not hibernate between Astell and Wollstonecraft. Williamson has divided the literary carriers into two main groups: the less virtuous daughters of Aphra Behn, and the virtuous counterparts descending from Katherine Philips (1640-1689), writing under the name of Orinda. Williamson's analysis stops in 1750, at Elizabeth Singer Rowe in the latter tradition, yet quite clearly, Carter continued in that branch of the tradition. This line, Williamson states, was conservative, sexually reticent, wrote mostly poetry, not for money, hesitant to publish. Their feminism "is concentrated on changes in women's attitudes and choices in the marriage relationship and in women's opportunities for better education".127 The question of transmission within the feminist tradition is problematic as Linda R Williams, Carol Watts and others have argued. A unified, mono-dimensional tradition in feminist consciousness precludes the fluid, spontaneous and intuitive character often distinctive in women's writing. Yet an assertion of “masculine consciousness as a distantiated, autonomous ego and a posited feminine stress on an intersubjective model of identity" ignores many women writers who, inevitably carrying patriarchic baggage, employed the detached, the impersonal as did Carter128. As Williams clearly surmises, a strict transmission, of being influenced by one's mother only, and being in tum the mother to the daughters, is limiting: 264 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Thus with the idea of communication through transmission – a channel open to distortion and inequalities – rather than through osmotic absorption or exchange, the terrain of exchange shifts and warps under the problems of power. If we were to read women's communication or literary history as a process of transmission we would have to impose this master-slave relationship on to our idealized model of mothers and daughters, the mother being the 'authorized source' and the daughter being the 'passive recipient'.129 Thus, when identifying similarities and strains of interactive thought, adopted styles or ideas, with other women writers before or contemporary with Carter, it must be considered against this wider background. Carter had her own ideas and philosophies, was influenced by women, men, novelists, newspapers, the climate, ancient Greeks and Deal fishermen, her father and Catherine Talbot, by the absence of her mother, by political events, by her headaches and the seaside. The osmotic process, forwards, backwards and sidewards, can be traced only sketchily and provisionally. In the abrupt clear style of poetic complaint, for instance, Carter's “A Dialogue" echoes Mary Lee, Lady Chudleigh's poem “To the Ladies": Wife and servant are the same, But only differ in the name: Though Carter never called directly to rebellion as Chudleigh did (”Then shun, oh! shun that wretched state,/ And all the fawning flatt'rers hate:/Value yourselves, and Men despise:/You must be proud, if you'll be wise"), both women enjoyed extolling Friendship and bestowing classical names upon particular friends in odes to them. Chudleigh's poetry, like Carter's, reflects a certain melancholy Anglicanism, steeped in religious, scientific and philosophical speculations130. Kinship in the pain at parting from a friend is evident between Carter's “Say, dear Bethia, can thy gentle mind" and Katherine Philips' “To Mrs M.A. at parting". Seeking comfort in the prospect of spiritual reunion despite worldly separation, Philips however adds an extra dimension is portraying such female friendship as exemplary: Thus our twin-souls in one shall grow, And teach the World New Love, Redeem the Age and Sex, and shew A Flame Fate dares not move: And evoking Death to be our friend, Our Lives together too shall end.131 Brigitte Sprenger 265 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Philips' style tended to be simpler though occasionally as irregular in rhythm as Carter's (”Though friendship greatest service dares,/ I: life consists in little cares,/These frequent tendernesses which/ Make a concerned heart so rich"132), but in her almost painful, playful apology for “scribbling", Carter's disparaging of the poetic art is reflected: The truth is, I have an incorrigble inclination to that folly of rhyming, and intending the effects of that humor only for my own amusement in a retired life, I did not so much resist it as a wiser woman would have done.133 Such echoes of 'modesty' were of course common in women writers who often were too aware of their inferior education and more emotional brand of poetry. Here, of course, Carter's more diffuse influences, especially the patriarchic distancing, separates her from women like Philips and Chudleigh and Anne Finch, Countess of Winchelsea. While classical references were not totally absent in the poetry of other women, it was rarer so that a male correspondent to the Lady's Magazine wrote that despite women of rank and fortune having more extensive education and writing plays and romances “none I ever heard of wrote in more studious and elaborate literature". To which the editor sharply replied he had obviously forgotten Madame Dacier and Miss Carter134. Apart from Carter's more outward displays of solidarity with women, there is repeated evidence of her inner feminist conviction. Her considering an old dumpling woman more reverent than society's acknowledged heroes or a lifetime's disparaging remarks about the male politicians of whichever party, amply testify to this. Like 'Sophia', she wished not to adapt to or be accepted by patriarchic institutions and receive an honorary doctorate; she wished merely to be in the company of her female friends. Carter's feminism is perhaps, as Katherine M Rogers asserts of all Bluestockings, not of a contemporary nature, but certainly existent in that it was "challenging the inherited assumptions of her patriarchal society".135 Richardson had felt highly privileged in being written to by Carter as he believed she corresponded only with women – an assumption which underscores the public reputation of female bias she had136. Richardson's presumption was, of course, untrue, for Carter did exchange letters with Johnson, Cave, Birch, Walpole, Savage and Barratier. Yet her truly intimate and literary epistles were only for women. The correspondence between these women was, on one level, an extension of the Bluestocking salons. As they could 266 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza luxuriate in the freedom of intellectual, literary, learned discussion when scrambled about Elizabeth Vesey's room or in Montagu's more formal circle, these discussions could continue for the other seven months of the year thanks to the improved postal services. The letters, by force of nature, took on extra dimensions – they were private missives and contained more intimate personal details and questions than would have been expressed in the wider circle. Yet literary and moral discussions could be continued, and often were, with the advantage of more deliberate thought and expression to compensate for the lack of direct response and reaction. Immediately after Carter's London stay of 1762, Carter and Montagu continued a discussion of the Mort d'Abel, which widened out over the next weeks to a rewarding and full discussion of the "usurped authority" of the classics 136. And after the 1776 season, the two women continued discussing Cicero which probably referred back to some passages they read together when in London137. In fact, the tandem reading was, so Montagu said, undertaken " so as to always have a subject to correspond upon". Reading Tacitus at the same time, Montagu reported she and Carter were " quarrelling prodigiously upon the subject of Augustus who she will not let me admire because he was not a good Christian; but neither was her favourite Plato…"138. It was hardly likely the friends would actually run out of written conversation, yet undoubtedly the extended literary debate was lively and mutually enjoyed. Notable as well in these Bluestocking letters, is the solidarity. Compared to other homogenous literary circles such as Bloomsbury or the stable of authors in Smith, Elder & Co, the lack of criticism, back-biting, and plain malevolent bitching is notable. It is not merely a reflection of the manners of the age, for Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's letters show well enough that malicious gossip about friends and acquaintances was acceptable in private correspondence. The epistles shuttled back and forth among Swift, Arbuthnot and Pope confirm this. Montagu, Vesey, Mulso, Carter and, on the outskirts, Talbot, were singularly supportive of and sympathetic towards each other. They were concerned about each other's health and well-being. They supported and forwarded each other's literary schemes and productions. They praised each other's letters, reporting the pleasure given and requesting another letter soon. They would provide long catalogues for absent friends mentioning all the events of the season, how each friend's health was, commiserating on their worries and empathising with joys139. They praised their friends to their other friends Brigitte Sprenger 267 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza and only very, very occasionally would allow themselves, usually kindly indulgent, the odd small comment. "Pray direct your Letters to myself; for if you enclose them to our dear careless friend (Montagu), they sometimes lie for several days quietly in her dressingroom, before she thinks of giving them to me," was about the severest Carter ever voiced herself to Vesey on Montagu's scattiness140. Matters which might supposedly have led to disputes between the friends were edited out of the correspondence or were never allowed ventilation between them: There is never, as mentioned above, any reaction by Carter to Montagu's famous dispute with Johnson over the Lyttelton criticism. Neither is there a whisper on the matter of smuggling: Carter blamed not so much the smugglers themselves as the rich who bought and demanded the goods and there is evidence that Montagu was precisely such a receiver141. On the matter of extreme wealth, Carter's conscience proved very elastic, denying herself luxuries yet congratulating Montagu on inheritances and attending the truly extravagant Montagu parties. Carter stated that as long as Montagu remained a Christian she had no objection to her having the wealth of a Jew142. In all of Carter's long life of a great many close friendships, there were only two instances of severe crises with friends. There was the break with Miss Sharpe over the latter's marriage (cf Chapter 6) and an incident involving a comical Pindaric ode portraying Carter as a "word-catcher" and formidable critic written and read aloud by Vesey which Carter heard about via Miss Sharpe. Carter felt this to be a cruel breach of friendship though in the end, when she had read the poem herself and received full apologies, was soon placated143. Undoubtedly Carter's friendships were cemented by the correspondence. Her contributions to epistolary literature abound in literary, moral and philosophical astuteness, a determined plea for liberty and feminism which was convincingly clear, sober and disarming. Most importantly, Carter often encased all these matters with a wry humour. Her anecdotes could be droll: When Talbot wrote she'd have liked to send a poem of Dalton's but it was too heavy to mail, Carter replied: I will forgive your detaining Dr Dalton's Poem till you are perfectly convinced in your conscience, that the removing it from your table will not require the aid and assistance of the whole family, and endanger the fall of the house. In the mean time, I will be so just to the Doctor as not absolutely to conclude from the difficulty of the removal that his poem is composed of lead.144 268 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza The smooth, elegant lines gracefully and misleadingly meander along in standard, elegant circuitous prose to culminate unexpectedly in a four-letter punch. The mockery is gentle yet none the less conveys a delightful joke at the expense of a man she had nearly married a few years earlier. She employs unexpected inversion of ideas and language, seen often when she embarks on a piece of parody. One suspects that she is quietly enjoying the joke long before it comes. "Notwithstanding all the fine things you say to the advantage of perpetual sufferings, vexations, disappointments and a sick room, you must forgive me if I am so unfriendly as to wish you may be as much deprived of those blessings, and in their stead be exercised with the trials and temptations of health, ease, prosperity and success." 145 Her intelligence, successfully camouflaged behind the respectable, plump, old maidappearance in unfashionably large caps, allowed her to observe astutely yet report without malice that two squires in a coach to Canterbury spent the entire trip discussing only horses and dogs "except now and then a word upon the weather, the dust, and the heat, in pure condescension, I believe, to my capacity, and to give me the opportunity of sometimes sharing in their conversation…"146. Carter's readers undoubtedly delighted as much in the private joke as we do today, imagining the consternation the squires would have suffered had they known their dull companion was the "learned Eliza". Equally though, Carter could (and often did) tum the mockery upon her own self for the especial delight of her readers. Talbot seems to have imagined Carter to be an incompetent in household matters, and Carter protested meekly, mock-huffily. She made a habit of reporting every domestic failure, from her attempts at knitting ("I grew somewhat vain on ye proficiency in finishing a round in somewhat less than an hour"147) to the famous accounts already mentioned of her playing a spinnet or baking a pudding: I don't know what you mean by suspecting my good housewifery, when I think myself so notable a person, as you must certainly acknowledge, if you could see me with uncommon contrivance joining nineteen heterogenous pieces together to make a cap, to say nothing of my labouring on in the beaten track through whole dozens of shirts and shifts.148 Such images, of the learned Miss Carter, short-sighted and absent-mindedly considering the philosophy of Epictetus as she tackled mundane sewing tasks, would undoubtedly have highly entertained the Secker household again and again (cf Chapter 3). Carter's Brigitte Sprenger 269 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza (real or supposed) domestic inadequacy remained standard comic fare in the relationship. When Seeker's ego was once dented at discovering his published sermons reduced in price whereas Epictetus retained its original value, Talbot gleefully commented: "I suppose, indeed, you may have asked it as a particular boon of Minerva, that as you never raised a pye, your works should never help to bake one."149 In a minor way, Carter employs the masquerading device which Terry Castle has analyzed in many novels of the period. By presenting herself as the absent-minded, helplessly undomestic old maid, she parodies the Phoebe Clinker-image society had of learned women. Her readers were fully acquainted with her domestic and social competence and thereby almost subversively confronted with the uncomfortable reality of a clever, learned, competent 'housewife' who could write. Such a “masquerade" would indeed threaten patriarchic thought and structure150. Equally though, Carter masqueraded behind the image of modesty. She struggled, as so many of her age, against the public image of the immoral, slatternly wits. Burney dreaded appearing as an “authoress", Thrale repeatedly swayed between wishing to publish her writing and wishing to destroy it151. Carter's contemporary, Jane Collier, referred directly to Carter, very sharply to this prejudice: …all wits are slatterns: – that no girl ever delighted in reading, that was not a slut – that well might men say they would not for the world marry a wit; that they had rather have a woman who could make a pudden, then [sic] one who could make a poem; – and that it was the ruin of all girls who had not independent fortunes, to have learnt either to read or write.152 Carter remained destined to struggle behind a mask where her ability as a pudding-maker had to be of equal importance as her literary genius. A more effective device of belittling female knowledge, talent and ability in the field of literature and learning is hardly imaginable. As Felicity Nussbaum surmised, women were urged to have character yet by being restricted to the private sphere, they could experiment (mostly in diaries and letters only) with a “gendered self '. They were often forced to make themselves “their own object" and therefore created selves existing beyond the social paradigms153. Thus Carter and Montagu and Frances Boscawen and others developed, lacking “things" to write about, various faces and masks, projecting and magnifying images of themselves and frequently using a mock-humour to make the quietly subversive ideas palatable. It is difficult to trace any direct tradition or transmission of style, yet there are surprising 270 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza similarities. Although Carter knew Frances Boscawen personally and possibly corresponded with her, there is no indication the contact was intimate enough to enable more than polite, formal exchanges. Yet in both Carter and Boscawen there is the quick succession of thoughts, a liveliness when listing domestic events (as also in Talbot) or local events. Carter's letters to Talbot on the local controversy about her father's dispute with his congregation parallel Boscawen: It would be something, however, cou'd I execute your commission: but of that too I am incapable, for my poor wench has not had the Small Pox, neither is there a lass in my parish nor in the next (for I have inquir'd of a large body of haymakers) that has had it. Our Parson preached against Innoculation so I do not suppose that benefit will ever be felt among them.154 Each in their separate closets, these women wrote with feeling and humour and intelligence and an admirable imagination moving within the very narrow spectrum of a life allowed them. The humour employed is characteristically mild and modest. Jane Austen used it in her novels. It is rarely hurtful to persons on purpose, often gently mocking, even self-mocking, delighting in the small, domestic follies of people. "Poor Miss Munro," Carter remarked to Montagu, "to think of marrying for little other purpose than to alter the inscription on her coffin!"155. She achieves such humour often by adopting comic language. When confined to home to train her two new servants, she speaks of "my two new damsels, who, poor souls, must have run their noses against every door in this little intricate tenement.."156. On another occasion she borrows from the pastoral, painting a graphic and comic picture of a walk from Canterbury to Deal when the coach was overfull: ..so I procured an honest country lad to accompany me, and performed the sixteen miles with great alacrity only now and then reposing on a green bank, and under a shady tree where I treated myself and my swain with plumb cake.157 Another favourite technique incorporated mock-heroism: some walking companions complained of her "impetuous rapidity, though I protest I do not know of any harm I have done, except pulling up a few trees by the roots, carrying off the sails of a windmills and over- setting half a dozen straggling cottages that stood in my way."158 Like Austen, Carter employs for her effect impeccable rhythm and a fine feeling for the right tum of phrase, purloined especially from the master essayists.159 Brigitte Sprenger 271 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Adopting this comic style, Carter could achieve two things: it underlined her ability to remain modest, to refrain from taking herself too seriously. And this, in tum, enabled her very astutely to forward both her unconventional, unfeminine and even subversive character and actions. Carter, by adopting priorities and rights mostly hogged by men, potentially affronted society. She studied fields from which men mostly excluded women, she preferred reading and writing to housekeeping and socialising, she walked wild and solitary in fields instead of pacing the pier in good weather only. Such unconventional behaviour commonly calls down society's censure. She prevented such reaction by an outward modesty and piety and, in private circles, by this ability to mock herself160. As Redford's basic categories indicate, a good correspondent showed different facets of herself, always adjusting to the reader's interest161.While certain aspects of Carter, especially her religiosity, were omnipresent in each letter, she chose to highlight certain interests and aspects to each different recipient. With Talbot, as we have seen in this chapter and in Chapter 3, she shared her melancholy moods and her need for space and liberty. Talbot was always concerned to comfortably establish Carter as an individual agent and the latter often indulged, and thereby gratified, her friend. She not only did write some Ramblers and translate Epictetus, but she also encouraged an image of domestic helplessness which was hardly accurate. With Elizabeth Montagu there was no shared melancholy. Montagu, the "Fidget" of early days, was more inclined to bright spirits and excessive passion. Carter catered to this with a shift in emphasis in her letters to precisely such passion: "I have still got the nosegay you gave me at parting, and I contented myself with kissing the roses and myrtles because they had belonged to you…..Where are you now? and what are you about? pray write soon, and let me know all about you, for I am very anxious"162. Similar words to Talbot would have received, at best, a sobering word on popery or enthusiasm and Carter would never have so exhorted a reply. Towards Talbot, always in precarious health, a more caring and careful spirit prevailed. The point is graphically illustrated in the passage preceding the above quote. Carter had left Montagu after a few weeks at Sunning Hill to join an invalid Talbot. Leaving: I wished to tum back again every step of the way I went, but I felt that my path laid straight forward, and that I must pursue it: my heart was divided between the friend I had left, and the dear sufferer I was going to see, and to whom I hoped my presence might bring some comfort…163 272 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Montagu, as especially evident in the early stages of their correspondence (cf Chapter 5) had a vigorous need to emulate Carter's literary productivity, and concur on feminist and moral matters. When discussing Eve and the apple with Carter, Montagu is addressing a kindred spirit: "We are not so perfectly the rib of men as women ought to be; we can think ourselves and also act for ourselves”164. The women exchanged political opinions and discussed the benefits of introducing seats in Parliament for spinsters165. It was with Montagu especially, that Carter would continually defend women as authors and women in general. When Montagu considered that the usurpation of traditional female trades of sewing and weaving by men in factories was a disgrace to the female sex, Carter immediately overturned this stand by considering men should work at things proportionate to their strength: Besides all combinations are of mischievous tendency, and the great numbers of idle men whom sedentary manufactures collect into towns, are perpetually disturbing the public peace by riots and insurrections. No such evil would arise from the natural successors of Minerva, who content themselves to evaporate their ill humours, merely by an exertion of their eloquence.166 Carter and Montagu could especially indulge their imagination and predilection for history. "Fly as far as you will, my dear friend, into the regions of imagination, and I will engage to meet you half way," wrote Carter encouragingly or picturing, with almost childlike glee, how in imagination she sees them both "running wild together in Windsor Forest, and in transporting ourselves back to the scenes of other times."167. There is, generally, a less harnessed, more childlike Carter to be enjoyed in the letters to Montagu than palpable elsewhere; forthright and direct in her emotions, unbridled. To Vesey Carter was apt to take on a maternal and spiritual role feeling Vesey's transient spirit to be greatly in need of some stability and regularity. There is little humour to be found in these letters, but a great deal of philosophy, often forthright, honest and concerned. The letters to Vesey are the minor Ramblers which were never printed. (See below). A description of an autumn rose or a swelling storm was often developed by Carter into a discursive essay ranging over life after death, friendship, social obligation or the temporary nature of human life. Vesey was for some time unresolved in her own religious belief and over a period of years, Carter was greatly concerned to illumine the gospel and entice Vesey back into the fold168. Carter's letters reflect genuine concern and a tender Brigitte Sprenger 273 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza affection. Vesey possibly never resolved her dilemma yet Carter never became dogmatic or allowed the matter to escalate. A spiritual affinity was constant and Carter never abandoned her faith: Amongst the inhabitants of a world like this, destined to various situations and to various duties, those who are most nearly united by choice and affection must often be distant in place. But the connation remains with uninterrupted force, and preserves it’s most valuable advantages, while through the several roads of life each is animated by one common purpose and follows one common guide whose conduct all the travelers will at last be sure to meet in the same common and eternal abode.169 To Mulso also, Carter adopted a pedagogic role, if more of a literary, secular and feminist nature. Molson frequently sent her own poems to Carter for critical analysis and to this young, intelligent woman, Carter was able to express some of her strongest feminist opinions. Unfortunately however, we have only Mulso's replies to indicate Carter's original content. While Carter maintained a great number of simultaneous correspondences, she rarely regurgitated the same information for different correspondents. The wealth of her inner life provided abundant inner variety, never necessitating repetition despite the mundane, modest and unspectacular exterior. While supporting an assertion of the extreme variety in Carter's correspondence, this does hamper an analysis of her narrative technique. During her European trip with Montagu, she sent back lengthy accounts to at least Catherine Talbot, her sister Margaret Pennington and, undoubtedly, to a number of other correspondents as well. In his selection from this correspondence however, Pennington in his Memoirs fails to provide the details of dates and addressees thus thwarting accurate analysis. Only a very few opportunities to inspect Carter's narrative re-shaping or adjustment to her correspondents remain. In 1750 a habit developed of forming a party in the afternoon and setting out on a local expedition. The group presumably included mostly local associates. A chariot accompanied the party in which a fat, lazy and good-natured Mr Burton always sat while the rest mostly walked. Early in July, the party settled on an expedition to the Isle of Thanet which began pleasantly enough but developed into a minor adventure. Carter reported the incident both to Talbot and to Susanna Highmore. Both letters recount the main outlines of an expedition mostly on foot, partly by coach until the crossing of the sea to the isle, the getting caught there by wind and water and Carter's decision to forego a seat in the crowded coach and walk back along the cliff tops thus 274 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza discovering a wide countryside which she felt hardly comparted to Deal environs. To Talbot, though, Carter greatly enlarges with small, delectable details on the nature of the party and the description of the open countryside. To Highmore, Carter's junior by many years and member of a fashionable, literary set of people, Carter chose brevity, impressive lexis and the odd intelligent quip. Thus she reported, giving her actors super-natural abilities and toying with the subsequent ambiguity, that "very good reasons were found to drive us into the wide ocean….but some of the company raised so high a wind as made the most sanguine judge it not prudent to return by water." In the account to Talbot, however, human detail, warmth and opinion are added. Instead of merely reporting she had been enticed to go by boat which she hated as much as a coach, she talked of " a way of travelling to which it would have been difficult to seduce Mrs Burton or me, if we had not been flattered with the promise of rowing close by the shore", adding, with a touch of humour, that the sailors urged many reasons for going out further to seas "to the dejection of our hearts, if not of our faces". The short comment that she actually preferred the more “sociable" country around Deal is enlarged to Talbot to "..there is nothing of the riant, good-humoured sociable air that strikes one along the road from Deal to Canterbury; there was no appearance of a village, and one scarcely sees even a cottage."170 The brevity of the sections precludes full analysis. Clearly Carter did adjust her style and content to her reader, confirming the impression of variety and flexibility throughout her correspondence. The overlap in years during which Carter concurrently wrote to Montagu, Vesey and Talbot are never mere regurgitation of events or thoughts. Carter's letters are, in compliance with all Redford's criteria, versatile, autonomous and fertile. To a modem reader the classical references occasionally have an alienating effect as do, in our secular society, the repeated discussions of meeting friends in heaven. Yet Carter's classical and religious allusions are never pretentious and never insincere. Her style, like Johnson's, has a sense of majesty, of a writer fully in control of her tools and her aim. The ideas are sharply profiled in her mind and she mastered the appropriate vocabulary. Better, she could adapt her style to convey not only meaning, but mood. To invite her reader to share sublime moods, her vocabulary becomes permeated with romantic Brigitte Sprenger 275 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza imagery; her sentences become long with several clauses strung together to slow the pace; her use of language prefers abstract nouns with soft, rounded consonants. I read your Letter last night, my dear Mrs Vesey, by the soft melancholy light of this fair autumnal moon, as I was sitting on the seashore, soothed by the lulling murmur of the ebbing waves. The stillness of the unruffled ocean and the solemn scenery formed by a shadowy illumination, had composed my mind into that pensive kind of tranquility which has such an inexplicable union with the tenderest feelings of the heart.171 Yet equally, Carter could adjust when her aim was to package opinions or messages she tended to wrap these into small digestible parcels within the entire. Then she also preferred to seek a balance among these clauses, weighing them against each other in contrast or in amplification. As for Aristotle, I have more than once attempted, but never yet could get through him; his Greek is very crabbed; his manner so very dry and inelegant, and his criticisms so unentertaining that if l was a Papist his works would be enjoined me for a penance. I could no more judge of the beauties of an author from any of Aristotle's criticisms, than I could of the beauty of Helen, from hearing a surgeon read a very learned and elaborate lecture upon her skeleton.172 In relating life's experiences, Carter tended to Johnsonian generality, preferring often (to the great frustration of a more modern reader) to censor out particulars and details in order to convey the universal human vision of life. Her readers were not often invited to witness Carter's uniqueness, her exclusivity. Individual experience was so presented as to relate it directly to common experience; a matter of what W. Jackson Bate calls “concentrating experience into manageable generalization."173. Thus Carter, instead of dwelling on her own loss at Secker's death discussed the practical arrangements of shifting. And even when confessing personal mourning at the loss of her sister-in-law Frances Underdown, there is no personal glimpse of a woman in tears, at a loss, tired, overtaxed in comforting her nearest friend and her brother. That such were her feelings, is only logical deduction. Such generality is unfortunate in that it offers little personal, individual insight into the details of Carter's private, inner life. Her readers presume she felt awkward about her public reputation, but she herself never reveals an incident where a gushing admirer embarrassed her at a Bas-Bleu evening. Readers conclude she must have felt some pride at her translation of Epictetus for she herself ensured the anecdote of its continued high price circulated, yet never does she report compliments received and her modest pleasure 276 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza in it. It might be assumed she was equally proud of her knowledge and pitching it against the most learned men of her age, yet rarely does she herself provide such evidence. Neither do Carter's letters document any inner creative process and rarely express any impulsive mood or feeling. Regrettably, she did not employ “writing to the moment" as Catherine Talbot was able to do. The former's letters are mostly carefully constructed and events are re-constructed (often with their comic narrator manipulating the reader) with meticulous phrasing and construction. The occasional au moment glimpse Carter does give is not usually utilized for any purpose of creating intimacy but an expression of immediate, strong feeling, as in a midnight epistle regretting her friends' absence or a note of relief when her smallpox quarantine is suddenly lifted174. There are of course the odd exceptions- when writing to Vesey on 21 October 1778, Carter suddenly interrupted herself to report a dramatic scene she was witnessing outside her window while writing of a double rainbow, a dark cloud, a setting sun and white sails. And to Catherine Talbot: What are you doing, dear Miss Talbot, amidst this uproar of the elements? perhaps enjoying the perfect calm over some favourite author, while I sit listening to the howlings of a storm that echoes through the ruins of the venerable old buildings in my neighbourhood…175 The lack of personal, intimate detail, does have its positive elements. Like all the great correspondents of the age, and even of classic literature, she found a happy compromise between formality and informality. As Anderson and Ehrenpreis note, the modem letter has tended to an informality and insubstantiveness which makes it of interest to only the recipient, thus concentrating myopically on the writer's daily minutae of events and emotions176. Carter rarely noted daily routine or activity, or if she did, only because it incorporated something of interest to her reader. For all her intimacy with Talbot or Montagu, Carter remained always respectful and considerate, never reducing her reader to a meaningless exchange of private jokes or intimate allusion. The letters are private enough to encourage a reader's identification, yet formal enough to ensure the subject and its treatment are of general interest and understanding. They are usually well worth re-reading, for only upon a second examination does her full meaning materialize, or the meaning underneath the message. The majestic, grand, long sentences can dull the reader's interest to subtlety. Brigitte Sprenger 277 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza There is however, another aspect to Carter's style. As Jeslyn Medoff concluded, women writers in the early eighteenth century were overtly aware of Aphra Behn's reputation and her consequent fate. Awareness of the problem of combining “femaleness and fame" led many to adopt more male styles of writing using rhetorical questions, lengthy conditional clauses, argumentation and reason177. With such knowledge, such command of language, and such a wonderful sense of humour, it remains regrettable that Carter never allowed herself full development of her talents. She never wrote anything of great length of original nature, was obviously most adept at the shorter pieces – poems, letters and essays. She would have been a good essay writer – as the two Ramblers indicated- her touch lighter than Johnson's- and had she had the confidence to make public her private style (which was not so private after all) she may well have developed the essay from beyond Addison and Steele, incorporating their versatility and basic domesticity with literary leanings, adopting Johnson's moral influences and taken it closer towards Hazlitt precision. Like Hazlitt, Carter could introduce a theme through a minor thought or incident, then develop and follow the thought into deep philosophical waters. Many of her letters to Vesey employ precisely such a technique. In 1772, Carter discussed the end of the London season, mourning the general exodus and the rush of others in the process of leaving. From here she moved to an abstract consideration of partings in general, developing it to a consideration of mortal and eternal nature of parting178. A year earlier, an epistle reporting the inconvenience she felt from dust while travelling and a consideration of its inconvenience in preventing her appreciation of the passing countryside leads her to acknowledge human arrogance in considering all things great and small should contribute to personal amusement179. She frequently apologized for such "lecturing", once explaining that the "lesson" was for herself "I am mightily apt to instruct myself at the patience of my friends180. She was able, especially in such letters, to use excellent linking devices – Carter rarely skips from one subject into another without providing the reader with a linking word or thought. Frequently, she employs fairly intricate linking thoughts, but if not, will not leave her reader stranded at the previous subject, incorporating the usual linking devices. In a letter to Montagu, Carter once within a short paragraph connected thoughts about a spell of rain, through warm weather, bumper 278 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza harvests, and mad extravagance through to smuggling181. The transferrals are smooth and logical. To Talbot, on another occasion, she smoothly transferred from discussing her recent reading of Thucydides, to mentioning how further ambitious reading schemes proved inadequate in the face of "the fickle powers of mechanism". The topic ends with a meditation on how a "mad pursuit after knowledge" will make people run out of breath and achieve nothing182. Carter also had the ability, when discoursing at length in abstract philosophical vein, to recapture any wandering attention by illustrating with concrete examples, frequently resorting to parables reminiscent of the gospels. When discussing society's different estimation and treatment of human failings she introduced, at just that point where the mind is barely grasping the abstract idea, she employs a simple parallel of two people wandering off from the chosen path – one to run a nose into a furze bush, the other to pursue a pretty flower. It makes no difference, Carter wrote, that one is seduced by the prettier object, as both equally wandered from the appointed path183. Such technique, and such surefooted awareness of her reader, made Carter ideally suited for the essay form. She would have given the essay a gentle humour. That she chose not to develop her talent further and not to display her talents publicly more than she already did, lay in her character and in society's restrictions. The problem of reputation, as we have repeatedly seen, was crippling. It required a great many women, a great many years, a great many pious publications and a great many exaggeratedly modest and moral reputations to shift society's attitude towards learned women who wrote. Women had to tread fearfully and slowly, and with each step forward possibly face a barrage of personal criticism. As Medoff noted: When the works of (Elizabeth Singer) Rowe and her female contemporaries were criticized, in their own time and later, moral considerations, intertwined with issues of gender and genre, were always at the forefront…..no matter how intense a woman's 'poetic fire', how warm her fancy, how strong her ambition, how harmonious her numbers, how genuine her wit, if her work and her personal reputation did not measure up to current standards of morality and feminine behaviour, she could not be deemed a praiseworthy poet. Creating or reinforcing the image of the respectable woman author meant not only emphasizing the irreproachable nature of her behaviour and her work, but representing her as a woman who never actively sought fame.184 Carter was aware of these expectations and often overawed by the task, as were many of her contemporaries. To regret, or even criticise Carter, for this reluctance, to scorn her because she did not publicly and provocatively voice her criticism of the patriarchic binds Brigitte Sprenger 279 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza ignores both Carter's nature and the nature of natural development. Carter was, like most educated women, helped and aided into the privileged position by a man. She was, like Frances Burney, like Hannah More, like Maria Edgeworth and many, many others strongly male-identified. Elizabeth Kowaleski-Wallace has shown how these women often loved their fathers, and the patriarchy they represented, uncritically and therefore adopted many of the precepts of the paternal system (which did after all offer them a great deal) unquestioningly. Edgeworth did not, for instance, recognize her own complicity and helped implement “ideals of a domestic ideology" without recognizing the “profound implications for gender relations in the future"185. In her gratitude for her father allowing her to learn and write, Carter gave him a lifetime of housekeeping services, veto-rights over everything in her life. When Nicolas Carter felt she should publish less because her name was appearing too often in public, she obeyed. After attaining financial independence, she opted to remain in Deal and keep house for her father which effectively filled out her time with domesticity and, to Montagu’s and Mulso’s chagrin, left little time for literary pursuits. Nicolas Carter rarely actively restricted his daughter's literary activity, yet paradoxically of course, this was precisely why Carter restricted herself Allowed so much more freedom than most of her contemporaries, her gratitude enforced her to pay the precious price of not extending her freedoms even further. Undoubtedly, Carter was hampered personally and professionally by the ambiguous conditions inbred in society and her own self. Waves of ambition to write, to learn, to exchange academic and philosophic thought broke against a solid desire for domestic, Christian contentment among her family at deal. This schizophrenia is evident throughout her life, her work and her letters. The battles were constant, the visitors relieve each other. The Mind obviously won in her evocative "A Dialogue" and in each season's sojourn in London. But whenever a relative was ill or alone, or the metropolitan social whirl grew too violent, she retreated equally happily back into obscurity. I now seem entirely accommodated to a state of inactivity and repose, and grow faster and faster to my rock….there are more general reasons that should make one chuse to mix a little now and then in the hurry of society of mankind; to enlarge and vary one's ideas…186 Resigned acceptance of such apathy was usually accompanied with frequent bouts of unhappiness. Carter's migraines were provoked by her inner conflict, even if she herself 280 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza never consciously realised the psychosomatic nature. Her letter to Talbot however, clearly indicated she realized the female duties of visiting and a domestic interior life brought on the headaches: the medicine, she equally clearly realized, was to break free into the open air. Yet these battling halves also balanced her life. A yen to write, to converse grew periodically irresistible enough to precipitate escape from stifling domesticity and result in professional productivity and Bluestocking activity. Conversely, a yearning for stability and solitude arguably allowed Carter to escape a small myopic, metropolitan society enabling her to forge deeper into private thought. Such meditation and mental meandering certainly enriched her correspondence. Her letters from London, on the whole, were mere newsletters reflecting a busy active life where there was no time or opportunity for reflection or digestion. From Deal, however, her letters convey the wit, wisdom, variety and depth we have examined. It was her correspondence which provided Carter with the connecting tissue for her two selves. She could write of her private, solitary life to those associated with her other public persona. She could merge details of her dull, domestic life into her web of literary and philosophic thought. In her letters the clever, literary persona could relax and though never abandoning a thoughtful, learned style, she could wink at masculine habits and politics from behind her plain sewing. In this heterodoxy, Carter was not alone: Vesey, Montagu and even Talbot were all intelligent, dynamic and possibly even ambitious women who needed to wear domestic social masks. Carter and her friends all won social respect and acceptance and were "rewarded" with permission to indulge in limited literary, intellectual activity. Equally clear is however, especially with Carter, that the constant social adjustment and conformity, caused considerable inner conflict. The battle between mind and body is constant in Carter's poetry. Carter called herself "rather more of a poet than a philosopher” yet in our modern eyes her talents lay in neither of these separate fields; rather her appeal lies in her philosophical poetical epistles187. Early periodicals exploited the epistolary form pioneered by John Dunton in the Athenian Mercury in 1691 and continued by Steele and even Johnson. Had social circumstances been different, public stigmas relating to female authors publishing been absent, Carter may well have found her talents provided with an acceptable channel and reward. There were indeed a few women, usually forced by financial circumstances, who wrote for Brigitte Sprenger 281 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza magazines – Mary Manley, Stacy Sowle, Elizabeth Powell, Sarah Popping and Eliza Haywood all earned their living through magazine writing. But it was mostly hack journalism. There were also, as Alison Adburgham found, a “remarkable…number of talented women who, despite the general assumption that women were born with lesser intellects…and the very severe social prejudice against women who published work under their own names, did manage to employ their gifts to some purpose and left behind a legend of learning."188. Carter was one of the few women who moved in both these terrains, magazines and academic publications, and managed successfully, yet very modestly, to bring these extremes closer together. To have attempted more may have overstepped the delicate boundary of public acceptance. The patriarchal elucidation of Christianity would have interpreted any ambition to further profile the female self as antiChristian. Talbot, Montagu and Carter all, albeit occasionally reluctantly, accepted biblical precepts that women were designed by God to serve men, to be handmaidens. To seek one's own path in life, fulfill one's own ambition and seek individual self-fulfillment was nearly always contrary to male interest and therefore interpreted as un-Christian. A sense of self, Benkovitz claims, could only be arrived at either by passionate emotions or by education189. It was in mostly in her own mind, in private education that Carter sought herself, asserted her individuality, her rights. In 1779, the master of Tonbridge school, Vicesimus Knox, published Essays Moral and Literary which dealt with questions of female education. “Essay 33" is in the form of a letter written by a young lady. The lady describes being educated by her clergyman father in Latin and Greek, and learning French, Italian, history and a little science. She was also taught music and dancing. She is modest, unprepossessing and would make an excellent wife, or teacher or even housekeeper. That learning belongs not to the female character, and that the female mind is not capable of improvement equal to that of the other sex, are narrow and unphilosophical prejudices. The present times exhibit most honourable instances of female learning and genius in a Montagu, a Chapone and a Carter.190 It was, finally, a case of the times not being ripe for Carter and later, of Carter not being ripe for the times. Her unconventional, quarrelsome father had encouraged and enabled an unusual education which opened completely new doors to a woman at a time when society had not yet adjusted to intelligent, literate women. And though Carter's ability to 282 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza reason, her intellect and observing powers inevitably led her to conclude women could be as capable and able as men, she was also steeped in the Bible and its patriarchal structures were such as she could not question. To think and feel as she did was rebellion enough to publish either her opinions or even to infringe upon traditional male territory by seeking independence was simply impossible for her191. Apart from the early days when, arguably, financial need was a motivation, she needed to be prodded, virtually forced to publish. The stigma attached to women publishing was too inhibiting. It was her example which removed some of this repressive aura and allowed a future generation (Burney, Austen, Bronte) to be just slightly less fearsome. She became, in Jane Spencer's words, "the representative of a virtuous woman of letters" for her own generation192. As Hester Mulso aptly commented to Montagu: “…of all human creatures I believe (Carter) is the nearest to perfection….it is always a great pleasure to me to find those sentiments really existing in the authors which charm one so much with their writings, as I have sometimes been much disappointed in the 'Men that make Books'…". Such was Carter's contribution to literary history, to feminist history. Her contribution to literature needs new definition and fresh appreciation. For too long has Elizabeth Carter been categorized as learned translator and pious poet. Carter's letters, in the past, did not rate highly with (male) critics. William Henry Irving found her mind pedantic and commonplace resulting in “insufferably dull" letters. Chauncey Brewster Tinker asserts the Bluestocking conversations were “stiff and solemn" as was proved by their letters193. Yet, as this century progressed, and women critics re-read Carter's letters, a slow rehabilitation has set in. Ethel Rolt Wheeler recognizes Carter's wit and humour, finding “her letters, her affections spur the mind to tender images and gentle fancies". The editors of the Feminist Companion of Literature in English define Carter as a “superlative letterwriter who dreaded print."194. As already mentioned, Christine Salmon examined the epistolary art of Carter and others and was positively impressed. Carter's letters deserve excavation. Carter once recalled a woman who would have sudden immediate urges to write, even in company, and commented she herself never felt such needs. "Almost the only motive of my ever taking a pen into my hand, is the hope of preserving a place in the remembrance of some dear friends…"195. She is hardly being honest with herself here. She wrote poetry, Brigitte Sprenger 283 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza voluntarily, during a long life and in her early Gentleman's Magazine- days was never forced to contribute. Yet the statement accurately reflects where her real inclination and her greatest talent lay – in epistles to friends. NOTES 1 EM to EC 30 Jun 1761, Huntington MS 2 See, for instance, Howard Anderson, Philip B Daghlian and Irvin Ehrenpreis (eds) The Familiar Letter in the Eighteenth Century, (University Press of Kansas, 1969) 269ff; Bruce Redford, The Converse of the Pen: Acts of Intimacy in the EighteenthCentury Familiar Letter (University of Chicago Press, London/Chicago,1986) 10; Christine Salmon “Representations of the Female Self ', unpublished thesis, University of London, 1991, 6-9; Ruth Perry Women. Letters and the Novel (AMS Press, New York, 1980) 3 Von der Heyden-Rynsch, Verena Europaische Salons: Hohepunkte einer versunkenen weiblichen Kultur, (Artemis & Winkler, München, 1992) 88: Herbert Davis “The Conversation of the Augustans" in Richard Foster Jones et al The Seventeenth Century, (Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1951) 4 EC to EV 10 Aug 1772 5 EC to EM 13 Sep 1773 6 Baugh, Albert C (ed) Literary History of England Vol III (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 2nd edition, 1967) 930: J A Wain A Window in the Bosom: The Letters of Alexander Pope (Archon Books, New Haven, 1977) 7 CT to EC 24 Oct 1751 8 EC to CT 15 Oct 1763; EC to EV 18 Oct 1772 9 CT to EC 8 Jun 1748; EC to CT 20 Jun 1748 10 CT to EC 29 Jan 1753 284 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 11 Salmon “Representations of the Female Self ', ibid, 12: Perry Women. Letters and the Novel, ibid, 71; Jane Spencer The Rise of the Woman Novelist (Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1986) 12 MP footnote to EC to EV 25 Jul 1780 13 A Series of Letters between Mrs Elizabeth Carter and Miss Catherine Talbot, Preface M Pennington, Vol III (London, 1809) EV to EC 22 Nov 1774. The letter is quoted in Chapter 6. 14 Anderson et al The Familiar Letter in the Eighteenth Century, ibid, 276 15 Redford, The Converse of the Pen, ibid, 10ff. 16 EC to CT 9 Aug 1769. EC asked for assistance and a man took her by the hand, safely conducting her through the crowd and parting from her very gallantly. The adventure was indeed potentially dangerous for a hanging crowd was often in an aggressive and violent mood. Her readers, usually terrified at her accounts of lone walks in the countryside, were probably petrified. 17 Salmon, “Representations of the Female Self ', ibid, 37ff 18 Linda S Kauffman Discourses of Desire: Gender. Genre. and Epistolary Fictions (Cornell University Press, Ithaca/London, 1986) 21 19 EC to CT 29 Oct 1747 20 EC to EM 4 Jun 1759 21 EC to EM 20 Aug 1774; EC to EV 11 Jun 1786 22 EC to EM 3 Jun 1775 23 EC to CT 29 Oct 1747 24 EC to EV 15 Jul 1776 Brigitte Sprenger 285 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 25 EC to CT 26 May 1756. For an excellent discussion of male political intrusion into the domestic world, see Salmon “Representations of the Female Self ', ibid, 37ff 26 EC to EM 20 Sept 1773 and EC to EV 23 Aug 1778. Carter was an avid reader of Captain James Cook's journals, though she found his style inelegant 27 EC to EV 7 Jun 1776 28 EC to CT 30 Mar 1751 29 EC to CT n.d. Vol. I, 286 and EC to EM 14 May 1776 30 EC to CT 14 Sep 1754 31 EC to CT 16 Jul 1754 32 CT to EC 14 Feb 1760 33 EC to EV 15 Jul 1770 34 Richard B Schwarz Daily Life in Johnson's London (University of Wisconsin Press, 1983),118 35 Ibid, 61 36 EC to CT 30 Aug 1753 37 EC to (CT?) 28 Jun 1763 in Memoirs I, 279 38 EC to CT 5 May 1749 39 EC to CT 5 Jul 1746 40 Salmon “Representations of the Female Self", ibid, 262 41 Cf for instance EC to EV 25 Oct 1775 42 EC to CT 20 Mar 1747 286 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 43 EC to CT 20 Jul 1744 44 EC to CT 5 Aug 1748 and EC to CT 16 Jul 1767 45 EC to CT 28 Apr 1750 46 EC to EV 23 Mar 1778 47 EC to EV 22 Mar 1782 and EC to EV 3 Jun 1773 48 EC to Mrs Pulteney 27 Jun 1788, Huntington MS HM 17024 49 Mary A Favret Romantic Correspondence: Women, politics and the fiction of letters (CUP, Cambridge, 1993) 114-5 50 Myra Reynolds The Learned Lady in England 1650-1760 (Houghton Miffin Company, Boston/New York, 1920) 256-7 51 Ibid, 257 52 EM to EC, circa 1761, Huntington MS 53 EC to CT 10 Jul 1754 54 EC to EM 22 Nov 1775: EC to EM 20 Aug 1775 55 EM to EV 1763 Huntington MS MO 6370 56 EC to EM 6 Jul 1767. Cf also EC to EM 27 Jun 1761 where Carter is similarly ecstatic at the thought of discussing literature with Montagu 57 CT to EC 19 Aug 1759 58 EC to Mary Hamilton in Mary Hamilton…Letters and Diaries 1756 to 1816 (John Murray, London, 1925) 110 59 Memoirs II, 156, 157. EC to CT 4 May 1774 60 EC to EM 12 Jul 1775 Brigitte Sprenger 287 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 61 EC to Highmore 7 May 1756 in the Mercury 23 Aug 1876 62 EC to CT 6 Dec 1749 63 EC to Mary Hamilton 17 Apr 1780 in Hamilton's Letters and Diaries, ibid, 111 64 EC to CT 5 Sep 1746 65 EC to CT 1 Jan 1743 66 EC to CT 5 Nov 1745 67 Ibid 68 EC to EM 12 Jun 1773 69 EC to CT 28 Aug 1766 70 Swift's Satires and Personal Writings (ed) William A Eddy (OUP, Oxford, 1932) 66ff 71 EC to EM 10 May 1778; Swift's Satires and Personal Writings, ibid, 69-71 72 EC to EV 19 Apr 1768 73 Reginald Blunt Mrs Montagu. Queen of the Blues: Her Letters and Friendships from 1762 to 1800 (London, 1923) Vol I, 193. Montagu and Mrs Sterne were related (Blunt, 185) and Chauncey Brewster Tinker claims Vesey and Sterne had a “flirtation" (Tinker, The Salon and English Letters: Chapters on the Interrelations of Literature and Society in the Age of Johnson (MacMillan, New York, 1915) 148). Carter was probably none too pleased about either of these “connections"; her letters contain no personal mention of Sterne although any derogatory references may well have been edited out 74 EC to CT 20 Jun 1749 75 HCM to EC 27 May 1751, Posthumous Works of Mrs Chapone, (London, 1807); EC to CT 1 Jan 1743 288 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 76 Memoirs I, 152 77 EC to CT 14 Jun 1748 and EC to CT 29 Oct 1747, also EC to CT 9 Oct 1744 and Pennington footnote to CT to EC 7 Sep 1744 78 EC to CT 9 Oct 1744 79 EC to CT 26 Apr 1745 80 EM to EC 23 Jun 1761, Huntington MS 81 EC to EM 30 Nov 1770 82 HC to EC 28 Apr 1759 and 15 Jul 1759, Posthumous Works of Mrs Chapone, ibid. Carter's defence of Rasselas is of course, not extant, as with all her letters to Mulso 83 James Boswell Life of Johnson (OUP, Oxford, 1980) 114; Hester Lynch Piozzi Anecdotes of Samuel Johnson (Alan Sutton reprint of 1786 edition) 65 84 EC to EM 7 Nov 1767 and EC to EV 18 Jan 1768 85 EC to CT 13 Jun 1755 86 EC to EM 12 Jul 1766 87 EC to EM 30 Nov 1770 88 EC to EM 12 Jul 1766 89 EC to EV 18 Mar 1768 90 EC to EV 6 Aug 1766 91 EC to CT 14 Feb 1751 92 EC to EM 30 Jun 1775. Carter agreed with Montagu in finding Steele “obscure" EC to EM 12 Jul 1775 93 EC to EV 29 Jul 1774 Brigitte Sprenger 289 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 94 Ibid 95 EC to CT 11 May 1755 96 Rita Felski Beyond Feminist Aesthetics: Feminist Literature and Social Change (Hutchinson Radius, London, 1989), 14 97 HCM to EC 11 Oct 1752; HCM to EC 13 Aug 1754 98 HCM to EC 4 Feb 1761; HCM to EC 13 Aug l 754 99 Memoirs I, 152, 448. Pennington asserts that Carter never wished to interfere with the “privileges and occupations" of men, but objected to the too arbitrary power they had over women. 100 Katherine M Rogers Feminism in Eighteenth-Century England (University of Illinois Press, 1982), 213. Julia Epstein, The Iron Pen: Frances Burney and the Politics of Women's Writing (University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, 1989), 217 101 EC to Cave 1 Dec 1739: “I beg the favor of you to inquire who is said to be the Author of a pamphlet lately published entitled Woman not Inferior to Man & let me know as soon as you conveniently can. I have some particular Reason for my Curiosity in the point & I cannot myself form the least probable Conjecture to satisfy it…" BL Stowe 748 fl75. A week later, EC to Cave (7 Dec 1739, Stowe 748 fl77) she adds the postscript that “my Letters shall plague you with as much Constancy as a Indolent Agnes(?) till you give me some Information about the Author of the Pamphlet I mentioned…" This prompted Cave to write to Birch on 14 Dec 1739 BL Add. 4302 102 Sherry 0'Donnell, 1981, referred to by Dale Spender in Women of Ideas and What Men have done to them (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1982) 56 103 Woman not Inferior to Man, ibid, 47 104 Pennington states that Carter felt that men considered women far too inferior, Memoirs I, 448 105 EC to Cave 1 Dec 1739, BL Stowe 748 fl75 290 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 106 EC to CT n.d. Letters of Mrs Elizabeth Carter to Miss Catherine Talbot... Vol I, 224 107 Samuel Richardson Sir Charles Grandison (OUP, Oxford, 1972) Vol VI, 243 108 EC to CT 15 Sep 1747 109 Memoirs I, 447-8 110 EC to EM 3 Jun 1775. Carter had, however, met Macaulay nearly two decades earlier. She wrote to Talbot in 1757, “to be sure, I should have been mighty cautious of holding any such (learned) conversation in such a place with such a professed philosopher and scholar, but as it was a fine, fashionable, well-dressed lady, whose train was longer than anybody's train, I had no sort of scruple." Lucy Martin Donnelly “The Celebrated Mrs Macaulay" in The William and Mary Quarterly 3rd series Vol VI Nr 2, Apr 1949, 179 111 First Feminists: British Women Writers 1578-1799 (Ed) Moira Ferguson (Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1985), 398-9, 410 112 EC to EM 18 Aug 1772 113 Memoirs I, 443 114 See Katherine M Rogers Feminism in Eighteenth-Century England, ibid, 23-4. Carter herself suffered the sort of “Indiscriminate" praise Rogers notes, cf the discussion of her poetry in Chapter 5 115 EC to EV 4 May 1774 and EC to CT 16 Jun 1758 116 EC to CT 14 Sep 1754 117 EC to CT 28 Jun 1766 118 EC to EM 30 Jun 1775 119 EC to EV 22 Mar 1782 120 EC to EM 29 Jun 1766; EC to EV 25 Jul 1779 Brigitte Sprenger 291 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 121 EM to EC n.d. Huntington MS 122 EC to CT 1 Dec 1750; Memoirs I, 441 123 EC to EM 28 Oct 1775 124 Among the other women authors Carter mentions are Mme de Sévigne and Coulange: She found the former “delightful company" and “charming", though Carter found her excessive at times probably due to not meeting “with any restraint from a regular education". EC to CT 3 Sep 1744; EC to CT 9 Oct 1744; EC to CT 5 Dec 1744. 125 CT to EC n.d. 1751, Letters of Mrs Elizabeth Carter to Miss Catherine Talbot, ibid, Vol II, 84 126 First Feminists: British Women Writers 1578-1799, ibid, 241 127 Marilyn L Williamson Raising their Voices: British Women Writers 1650-1750 (Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1990) 15,2 128 Linda R Williams “Happy Families? Feminist reproduction and matrilineal thought" in New Feminist Discourses: Critical Essays on Theories and Texts (ed) Isobel Armstrong (Routledge, London/New York, 1992) 48-63; Carol Watts “Releasing possibility into form: Cultural choice and the woman writer" also in New Feminist Discourses, 89,91 129 Linda R Williams “Happy Families?…", ibid, 55 130 Mary Lee, Lady Chudleigh Poems on Several Occasions…Paraphras'd; First Feminists: British Women Writers 1578-1799, ibid, 212 131 First Feminists, ibid, 110. 132 Katherine Philips “To Rosania and Lucasia, Articles of Friendship", Huntington MS HM 183 Nr 17a, unpublished, printed in The Female Spectator: English Women Writers before 1800 (eds) Mary R Mahl, Helene Koon (Indiana University Press, Bloomington/London, 1977), 158 292 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 133 The Female Spectator, ibid, 161 134 Alison Adburgham Women in Print: Writing Women and Women's Magazines From the Restoration to the Accession of Victoria (George Allen and Unwin Ltd, London, 1972), 134 135 Katherine M Rogers Feminism in Eighteenth-Century England, ibid, 213 136 SR to EC 12 Jun 1753 in Monthly Magazine 1812, 533-43 137 There is a discrepancy here in dates. Pennington has placed Carter's letters in May and June 1775, yet the manuscript letters of Montagu's replies which clearly refer to the same volume of the Mort d'Abel (which Montagu had given to Carter) bear the date of 1762. See EM to EC 3 May 1762, Huntington MS. Carter's letters were undoubtedly difficult to date- Pennington inherited such a mass of them with the contents very frequently containing little reference to exterior matter. I have found a handful of letters which are erroneously dated by him. 138 EC to EM 15 May 1776 139 Reginald Blunt Mrs Montagu: Queen of the Blues, ibid, Vol I, 124 140 See, for instance, EC to EV 7 Feb 1772 141 EC to EV 25 Feb 1770. Carter had more frustrations of this nature, such as Montagu's lending out of Young's poem for Carter, cf Chapter 5 142 Katherine G Hornbeak “New Light on Mrs Montagu" in The Age of Johnson (ed) Frederick W Hilles (Yale University Press, 1949), 359. In 1777, Montagu wrote her sister Sarah Scott, requesting she buy some contraband tea for her at Margate. See also Reginald Blunt, Mrs Montagu: Queen of the Blues, ibid, Vol II, 31. Frances Burney described, in great detail, a public breakfast given by EM on 15 May 1792 which was attended by 400-500 people who were served “very splendid" food and drink, see The Journals and Letters of Fanny Burney (Madame D'Arblay) (ed) Joyce Hemlow (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1972) Vol I, 159ff Brigitte Sprenger 293 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 143 EC to EV 22 Oct 1779; EC to EV 20 Nov 1779 144 EC to CT 11 Jan 1755 145 EC to CT 30 Mar 1751 146 EC to CT 2 Jun 1753 147 EC to CT 21 Oct 1751 148 EC to CT 15 Sep 1747 149 CT to EC 6 Aug 1761 150 Terry Castle Masquerade and Civilisation: The Carnivalesgue in Eighteenth Century English Culture and Fiction (Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1986), 125. See also, Catherine Craft-Fairchild Masquerade and Gender: Disguise and Female Identity in Eighteenth-Century Fiction by Women (Pennsylvania State University Press, Pennsylvania, 1993). 151 Julia Epstein, The Iron Pen, ibid, 24. Felicity Nussbaum, The Autobiographical Subject: Gender and Ideology in Eighteenth Century England (John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore/London, 1989), 218. 152 Jane Collier The Art of lngeniousl Tormenting with Proper Rules for the Exercise of that Pleasant Art, (intro) Judith Hawley (Thoemmes Press 1994, reprint of 1757 edition), 60 153 Nussbaum, The Autobiographical Subject, ibid, 203 154 The Female Spectator: English Women Writers before 1800, ibid, 241-5 (letter of 13 Jul 1756) 155 EC to EM 20 Oct 1772 156 EC to EM 7 Jul 1770 157 EC to CT 5 May 1749 294 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 158 EC to CT 24 May 1744 159 On this technique, cf Mary Lascelles Jane Austen and her Art (OUP, Oxford, 1939)107 160 For an excellent discussion of this see also Christine Salmon “Representations of the Female Self ', ibid, 60ff 161 Bruce Redford, The Converse of the Pen, ibid, 10-11 162 EC to EM 1 Oct 1769 163 Ibid 164 EM to EC in Blunt Elizabeth Montagµ: Queen of the Blues, ibid, Vol II, 119 165 EC to EM 10 May 1778 166 EC to EM 1 Dec 1769 167 EC to EM 12 Oct 1769 and EC to EM 26 Jul 1769 168 Chauncey Brewster Tinker in The Salon and English Letters, ibid, 151, claims Vesey turned to French agnosticism in the style of Abbe Raynal but the source for this assertion is not clear. 169 EC to EV 28 May 1772 170 EC to CT 13 Jul 1750; EC to Susanna Highmore 9 Jul 1750 in Mercury 23 Sep 1876 171 EC to EV 20 Aug 1771 172 EC to EM 3 Sep 1774 173 W Jackson Bate, The Achievement of Samuel Johnson (University of Chicago Press, 1955), 29 174 EC to EV 17 Apr 1772 Brigitte Sprenger 295 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 175 EC to CT 20 Nov 1747 176 Anderson et al, The Familiar Letter, ibid, 275-6 177 Jeslyn Medoff, “The daughters of Behn and the problem of reputation" in Women. Writing. History 1640-1740, (eds) Isobel Grundy, Susan Wiseman (University of Georgia Press, Athens, 1992),35. 178 EC to EV 28 Apr 1772 179 EC to EV 29 May 1771 180 EC to EV 17 Jul 1772. See also EC to EM 18 Aug 1772 where she interrupted herself midway through a discussion of exact observance of moral duties as opposed to real virtue to dress for dinner “so you are delivered from my preaching for the moment". 181 EC to EM 20 Oct 1772 182 EC to CT 5 Dec 1744. Elizabeth Montagu' s epistles offer the better examples of elegant linking. Sir William Windham noted this early, commenting in his diary on 5 Dec 1809, shortly after EM's correspondence was published, that “Nothing can be more easy and natural than the manner in which the thoughts rise, one out of the other, even where the thoughts may appear rather forced….the flow of her style is not less natural, because it is fully charged with shining particles, and sparkles as it flows…" In Walter S Scott's The Bluestocking Ladies, ibid, 68 183 EC to EV 7 Oct 1776 184 Medoff, “The daughters of Behn…", ibid, 53 185 Elizabeth Kowalski-Wallace Their Fathers' Daughters: Hannah More, Maria Edgeworth and Patriarchal Complicity (OUP, Oxford, 1991) Preface viii, 196 186 EC to CT 12 Apr 1751 187 EC to EM 17 Jun 1769 296 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza 188 Alison Adburgham, Women in Print: Writing Women and Women's Magazine Fiction From the Restoration to the Accession of Victoria (George Allen and Unwin Ltd, London, 1972),40 189 Mirian J Benkovitz, “Some Observations on Woman's Concept of Self in the 18th Century" in Women in the Eighteenth Century, (eds) Paul Fritz, Richard Morton (University of Toronto Press, Toronto/Sarasota, 1976) 190 As in text, 1779, quoted by Myers The Bluestocking Circle, ibid, 284 191 See Jane Spencer The Rise of the Woman Novelist: From Aphra Behn to Jane Austen, ibid, 75; Williamson in Raising their Voices, ibid, 313, refers to society as being “hostile" to Carter as a writer 192 Ibid, 85. 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Reprint Robert Brown, Guernsey: Alan Sutton Publishing, 1984. Poems by Eminent Ladies. London, 1755. Redford, Bruce. 312 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza The Converse of the Pen: Acts of Intimacy in the Eighteenth-Century Familiar Letter. University of Chicago Press, London/Chicago, 1986. Reitan, E.A. The Best of Gentlemen’s Magazine 1731-1754. Vol. 4 in Studies in British History. Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston/Queenston, 1987. Religious, (tract with Carter’s poem "Evening Walk"), 2 Aug 1802. Reynolds, Myra. The Learned Lady in England 1650-1760.Boston Massachusettes, 1920. Richardson, Samuel. Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady … Rivington, London, 1747. —, The History of Sir Charles Grandison. OUP, Oxford, 1972. —, letters to Eliz. Carter, Monthly Magazine, 1812: 533- 43. Richmond, Admiral Sir Herbert. "The Navy", Johnson's England and Manners of his Age. Turberville. Clarendon Press, Rogers, Katherine M. An Account of the Life Vol. 1. (ed.) A.S. Oxford, 1933. Feminism in Eighteenth-Century England. Press, Brighton, 1982. Rogers, Pat. Literature and Popular Culture in Eighteenth Century England. Harvester Press, Brighton, 1985 —, The Augustan Vision. Methuen, London 1985. —, Hacks and Dunces: Pope, Swift and Grub Street. Methuen, London, 1980. Ruhe, Edward. "Birch, Johnson and Elizabeth Carter: An Episode of 1738-39", PMLA, Vol. LXXIII, Nr. 5, Part 1:491-500. Russell, Bertrand. History of Western Philosophy and its Connection with Political and Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. (1946) Routledge, London, 1961. Brigitte Sprenger 313 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Salmon, Christine Mary. Representations of the Female Self. unpubl.thesis. University of London, 1991. Sambrook, James. The Eighteenth Century: the Intellectual and Cultural Context 1700-1789. Longman, London, 1986. Schwartz, Richard B. Daily Life in Johnson's London. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, Wisconsin/London, 1983. Shevelow, Kathryn. Women and Print Culture: The Construction of femininity in the early periodical. Routledge, London, 1989. Scott, Walter Sydney. The Bluestocking Ladies. John Green & Co, London, 1947. Secker, Thomas. Lectures on the Catechism of the Church of England with a Discourse on Confirmation. London, 1769. —, The Works of Thomas Secker, with Porteus and George Stinton, 3rd ed. Preface 6 Vols. Beilby Dublin, 1775. Sena, John F. Notes and Queries, Sermons to Young Women. London, 1766. Sharpe, (no initials). Sketch of the Character of Mrs Elizabeth Carter. London, 1806. Sheridan, Betsy. Betsy Sheridan’s Journal: Letters from Sheridan' s Sister 1784-1786 and 1788-1790. (ed.) William LeFanu. Eyre & Spottiswoode,London, 1960. Smith, E. The Compleat Housewife: or, Accomplish' d Gentlewoman’s Companion. London, 1753. 314 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza "Sophia, a person of Quality". 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Satires and Personal Writings. (ed.) William A. Eddy. OUP, Oxford, 1932. Brigitte Sprenger 315 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Talbot, Catherine. Journals. MS. Add. 46688, 46690. Brit. Lib. —, A Series of Letters between Mrs Elizabeth Carter and Miss Catherine Talbot. From the Year 1741 to 1770 to which are added Letters from Miss Elizabeth Carter to Mrs Vesey between the years 1763 and 1787 published from the Original Manuscripts in the possession of the Rev. Montagu Pennington, M.A. Vicar of Northbourn in Kent, her nephew and executor. 4 Vols. London, 1809. —, The Works of the late Miss Catherine Talbot. 7th ed. London, 1809. Tinker, Chauncey Brewster. The Salon and English Letters: Chapters on the Interrelations of Literature and Society in the Age of Johnson. Macmillan, New York, 1915. Todd, Janet. Women’s Friendship in Literature. Guildford: Columbia University Press, 1980. Turberville, A.S. (ed.) Johnson's England: An Account of the Life and Manners of his Age. 2 Vols. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1933. Turner, C. Living by the Pen: Women writers in the Eighteenth Century. Routledge, London, 1992. Wain, John. Samuel Johnson: A Biography. Viking Press, New York, 1974. —, A Window in. the Bosom: The Letters of Alexander Pope. New Haven: Archon Books, 1977. Walpole, Horace. Correspondence of Horace Walpole. (ed.) W.S. Lewis. 44 Vols. OUP, Oxford, 1980. Watts, Carol. "Releasing possibility into form: Cultural choice and the woman writer" in New Feminist Discourses: Critical Essays on Theories and Texts, (ed) Isobel Armstrong. Routledge, London/New York, 1992. 316 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Waugh, Mary. Smuggling in Kent and Sussex 1700-1840. n.p. Countryside Books, 1985. Weekend Telegraph, 21 October 1989. (see, Germaine Greer). Wendeborn, Frederich August. A View of England towards the Close of the Eighteenth Century. 2 Vols. London, 1791. Wheeler, Ethel Rolt. Famous Blue-Stockings. London, 1910. Williamson, Marilyn L. "Who's Afraid of Mrs Barbauld? The Bluestockings and Feminism", International Journal of Women' s Studies, Nr. 3. Jan-Feb 1980:89-102. —, Raising their Voices: British Women Writers 1650-1750. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1990. Wollstonecraft, Mary. Thoughts on the Education of Daughters: with Reflections on Female Conduct in the More Important Duties of Life. London, 1787. Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One’s Own. (Ed.) Morag Shiach. OUP, Oxford, 1992. Wright, Thomas. An Original Theory or new Hypo thesis of the Universe founded upon the Laws of Nature… London 1750. Young, Edward. Correspondence. (Ed.) H. Pettit. OUP, Oxford, 1971. Brigitte Sprenger 317 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza APPENDIX I Elizabeth Carter Poems closely referred to Ode to Wisdom (Poems upon Several Occasions, 1762) The solitary Bird of Night Thro' the pale Shades now wings his Flight, And quits the Time-shook Tow'r: Where, shelter'd from the Blaze of Day, In philosophic Gloom he lay, Beneath his Ivy Bow'r. With Joy I hear the solemn Sound, Which Midnight Echoes waft around, And fighting Gales repeat: Fav'rite of Pallas! I attend, And faithful to thy Summons bend, At Wisdoms awful Seat. She loves the cool, the silent Eve, Where no false Shows of Life deceive Beneath the lunar Ray: Here Folly drops each vain Disguise, Nor sport her gayly-colou'd Dyes, As in the Glare of Day. 0 Pallas! Queen of ev'ry Art "That glads the Sense, or mends the Heart," Blest Source of purer Joys: In ev'ry Fern of Beauty bright, That captivates the mental Sight With Pleasure and Surprize! To thy unspotted Shrine I bow, Assist thy modest Suppliant's Vow, That breathes no wild Desires: But taught by thy unerring Rules, To shun the fruitless Wish of Fools, To nobler Views aspires. Not Fortune's Gem, Ambition's Plume, Nor Cytherea's fading Bloom, Be Objects of my Pray'r: Let Av'rice, Vanity, and Pride, 318 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza These glitt'ring envy'd Toys divide The dull Rewards of Care. To me thy better Gifts impart, Each moral Beauty of the Heart By studious Thought refin'd: For Wealth, the Smiles of glad Content, For Pow'r, it's amplest, best Extent, An Empire o'er my Mind. When Fortune drops her gay Parade, When Pleasure's transient Roses fade, And wither'd in the Tomb: Unchang'd is thy immortal Prize, Thy ever-verdant Lawrels rise In undecaying Bloom. By thee protected, I defy The Coxcomb's Sneer, the stupid Lie Of Ignorance and Spite: Alike contemn the leaden Fool, And all the pointed Ridicule Of undiscerning Wit. From Envy, Hurry, Noise, and Strife, The dull Impertinence of Life, In thy Retreat I rest: Pursue thee to the peaceful Groves, Where Plato's sacred Spirit roves In all thy Graces drest. He bid llyssus' tuneful Stream Convey thy philosophic Theme Of Perfect, Fair, and Good: Attentive Athens caught the Sound, And all her list'ning Sons around, In awful Silence stood. Reclaim'd her wild licentious Youth, Confest the potent Voice of Truth, And felt it's just Controul: The Passions ceas'd their loud Alarms, And Virtue's soft persuasive Charms O'er all their Senses stole. Thy Breath inspires the Poet's Song, The Patriot's free unbias'd Tongue, The Hero's gen'rous Strife: Thine are Retirement's silent Joys, Brigitte Sprenger 319 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza And all the sweet endearing Ties Of still, domestic Life. No more to fabled Names confin'd, To Thee! Supreme, all-perfect Mind, My Thoughts direct their Flight: Wisdom's thy Gift, and all her Force From Thee deriv'd, unchanging Source Of intellectual Light! 0 send her sure, her steady Ray To regulate my doubtful Way, Thro' Life's perplexing Road: The Mists of Error to controul, And thro' its Gloom direct my Soul To Happiness and Good. Beneath her clear discerning Eye The visionary Shadows fly Of Folly's painted Show: She sees, thro' ev'ry fair Disguise, That all, but Virtue's solid Joys, Is Vanity and Woe. A Dialogue (Poems upon Several Occasions, 1762.) Says Body to Mind, 'Tis amazing to see, We're so nearly related yet never- agree, But lead a most wrangling strange Sort of a Life, As great Plagues to each other as Husband and Wife. The Fault is all your's, who with flagrant Oppression. Encroach ev'ry Day on my lawful Possession. The best Room in my House you have seiz'd for your own, And turn'd the whole Tenemente quite upside down, While you hourly call in a disorderly Crew Of vagabond Rogues, who have nothing to do But to run in and out, hurry scurry, and keep Such a horrible Uproar, I can't get to sleep. There's my Kitchen sometimes is as empty as Sound, I call for my Servants, not one's to be found: They all are sent out on your Ladyship's Errand, To fetch some more riotous Guests in, I warrant! 320 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza And since Things are growing, I see, worse and worse, I'm determin'd to force you to alter your Course. Poor Mind, who heard all with extreme Moderation, Thought it now Time to speak, and make her Allegation, 'Tis I, that, methinks, have more Cause to complain, Who am crampt and confin'd like a Slave in a Chain. I did but step out, on some weighty Affairs, To visit, last Night, my good Friends in the Stars, When, before I was got half as high as the Moon, You dispatch'd Pain and Languor to hurry me down; Vi & Armis they seiz'd me, in Midst of my Flight, And shut me in Caverns as dark as the Night. 'Twas no more, reply'd Body, than what you deserv'd, While you rambl'd Abroad, I at Home was half starv'd: And, unless I had closely confin'd you in Hold, You had left me to perish with Hunger and Cold. I've a Friend, answers Mind, who, tho' slow is yet sure, And will rid me, at last, of your insolent Power: Will knock down your Mud Walls, the whole Fabric demolish, And at once your strong Holds and my Slav'ry abolish: And while in the Oust your dull Ruins decay, I shall snap off my Chains, and fly freely away. On the Death of Mrs Rowe (Poems upon Several Occasions, 1762.- third version-) Oft' did Intrigue it's guilty Arts unite, To blacken the Records of female Wit: The tuneful Song lost ev'ry modest Grace, And lawless Freedoms triumph'd in their Place: The Muse, for Vices not her own accus'd, With Blushes view'd her sacred Gifts abus'd; Those Gifts for nobler Purposes assign'd, To raise the Thoughts, and moralize the Mind; The chaste delights of Virtue to inspire, And warm the Bosom with seraphic Fire; Sublime the Passions, lend Devotion Wings, And celebrate the first great CAUSE of Things, These glorious Tasks were Philomela's Part, Who charms the Fancy, and who mends the Heart, In her was ev'ry bright Distinction join'd, Whate'er adorns, or dignifies the Mind: Hers ev'ry happy Elegance of Thought, Refin'd by Virtue, as by Genius wrought. Each low-born Care her pow'rful Strains controul, Brigitte Sprenger 321 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza And wake the nobler Motions of the Soul. When to the vocal Wood or winding Stream, She hymn'd th'Almighty AUTHOR of its Frame, Transported Echoes bore the Sounds along, And all Creation listen'd to the Song: Full, as when captur'd Seraphs strike the Lyre, Chaste, as the Vestal's consecrated Fire; Soft as the balmy Airs, that gently play In the calm Sun-set of a vernal Day; Sublime as Virtue; elegant as Wit; As Fancy various; and as Beauty sweet. Applauding Angels with Attention hung, To learn the heav'nly Accents from her Tongue: They, in the midnight Hour, beheld her rise Beyond the Verge of sublunary Skies; Where, rap'd in Joys to mortal Sense unknown, She felt a Flame extatic as their own. O while distinguish'd in the Realms above, The blest Abode of Harmony and Love, Thy happy Spirit joins the heavn'ly Throng; Glows with their Transports, and partakes their Song, Fixt on my Soul shall thy Example grow, And be my Genius and my Guide below; To this I'll point my first, my noblest Views, Thy spotless Verse shall regulate my Muse. And 0 forgive, tho' faint the Transcript be, That copies an Original like thee: My justest Pride, my best Attempt for Fame, That joins my own to Philomela's Name. Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas! Virg. (Gentleman's Magazine, June 1738;315-6. Slightly altered version in Poems upon Several Occasions, 1762) While clear the night, and ev'ry thought serene, Let fancy wonder o'er the solemn scene, And, wing'd by active contemplation rise Amidst the radiant wonders of the skies. Here Cassiopeia fills a lucid throne, There blaze the spendors of the northern crown; While the slow car the cold Triones roll O'er the pale countries of the frozen sole. Throughout the Galaxy's extended line Unnumber'd orbs in great confusion shine; 322 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Where ev'ry star that cheers the gloom of night With the faint tremblings of a distant light, Perhaps illumes some system of its own With the strong influence of a radiant sun. Plac'd on the verge, which Phoebus' realm confines; The slow-revolving orb of Saturn shines, When the bright beam, whose near approaching ray Gilds and gay climates with the blaze of day, On those dark regions glimmers from afar, With the pale lustre of a twinkling star. And yet, perhaps, while we our stations prize Blest with the warmth of more indulgent skies, Some cold Saturnian, when the lefted tube Shows to his wand'ring eye our pensile globe, Pities our thirsty soil, and sultry air, And thanks the friendly pow'r that fix'd him there. Let stupid atheists boast th'atomic dance, And call you beauteous worlds the work of chance, But nobler minds, from sense and poison free, Where truth unclouded dats her heav'nly ray, Or in the earth, or in th'etherial road, Survey the footsteps of a ruling God, Sole lord of nature's universal frame, Thro endless years unchangeably the same; Whose presence, unconfin'd by time or place, Fills all the vast immensity of space. He saw, while matter yet a chaos lay, The shapeless chaos own'd his potent sway. His single fiat form'd th'amazing whole, And brought the new-born planets where to roll, With wise direction curv'd their steady course, Imprest the central and projectile force; Lest in one mass their orbs confus'd should run, Drawn by the' attractive virtue of the sun; Or quit the harmonious round, and wildly stray Beyond the limits of his genial ray. To thee, Endymion, I devote my song; To minds like thine, these subjects best belong: Whose roving thoughts with boundless freedom soar And trace the wonders of almighty pow'r; From each effect of nature's constant laws Deduce the first, supreme, eternal cause. For this some nobler pen must speak thy fame, But let the Muse indulge a softer theme; While pleas'd she tells thy more ingaging part, Thy social temper, and diffusive heart. Without this charm its gentle aid bestow. Science turns pride, and wit's a common foe, Brigitte Sprenger 323 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza But where good nature to these gifts is join'd, They claim the praise and wonder of mankind; All view the happy talents with delight, That form a Desaguliers and a Wright. 324 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza APPENDIX II Illustrations Portrait of Elizabeth Carter by Joseph Highmore, in Deal Town Hall and property of deal Town Council Brigitte Sprenger 325 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Portrait Elizabeth Carter in old age (unknown) 326 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Portrait Elizabeth Carter by Catherine Read, c.1765, in Johnson's House, Gough Square, London. Brigitte Sprenger 327 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Detail from Nine Living Muses of Great Britain by Richard Samuel, c.1779. Carter is on the far left. (National Portrait Gallery, London) 328 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Historical Sketch of Carter House in Deal. Brigitte Sprenger 329 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Modern-day Carter House as seen from South Street. Elizabeth Carter’s room was on the first floor in the wing on the right-hand side of the photo. A large window in the façade, from which she would have had views of the beach (and now faces the Time-ball Tower which was only constructed in the mid-nineteenth century) was bricked up. A commemorative black plaque can be seen on the main façade. (“Mrs Elizabeth Carter 1717-1806 The celebrated Scholar and Authoress livedin this house from 1762 until her death….”) 330 Brigitte Sprenger Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza Drawing of Deal beach front last century by E. Pritchett. Brigitte Sprenger 331 Miss Epictetus, or, the learned Eliza ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my adviser, Dr Tom Keymer, for his constant encouragement and for the diverse and fertile impulses he gave throughout. Of inspiration too, was the initial advice given by Dr Isobel Grundy. Sincere and deepest thanks are due to Margaret Kirkham, Julie Deller, Ros Allen, Patricia Poffet, Barbara Locher and most especially to Kate Napier for the many invaluable academic discussions, tips, hints, criticisms and for the reading of chapters in draft form. Helpful too, over the years, were staff at the Huntington Library, the Englischen Seminar at the University of Zurich, the Deal County Library, the British Library and the Zentralbibliothek in Zurich. For the final typing I am greatly indebted to a team on the other side of the globe, headed by my mother, Lea Holtkamp. A great many people helped with filling in details, checking up references, locating errant pieces – but the greatest support of all were the friends and relatives who enabled me, by taking over the less thankful, monotonous domestic tasks and chores, to work on this thesis under the unfavourable conditions of four children and the Swiss school system. Thank you, therefore, from the bottom of my heart, to Walter, Eveline, Adriana, Fides, Kathi, Babs, Rosita, Violaine, Lilli, Fred, René, Ditie, David, Tess, Tim and Jenny. Addendum 2015: This electronic version was created based on a scan of the printed, bound original (unpublished thesis, available from the University of London, 1996) as the original floppy discs had been lost. Thus certain formatting errors may still be present. The citation style (MLA 1988) was not updated. The contents were also not updated. My heartfelt thanks to Stéphanie Rieder who conquered the numerous formatting challenges. 332 Brigitte Sprenger