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Bell's

COURT AND FASHIONABLE

MAGAZINE,

For DECEMBER, 1898.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

OF

ILLUSTRIOUS LADIES.

The Thirty-ninth Number.

THE MOST NOBLE THE MARCHIONESS OF EXETER.

THE Marchioness of Exeter, whose portrait embellishes this Number of the Belle Assemblec, is a daughter of the late Sir Peter Burrel, sister to the Duchess of Northumberland and to Lord Gwydir. Her ladyship, at that time Miss Elizabeth Burrel, was induced to bestow her hand on the late Duke of Hamilton; but the low tastes and vicious habits by which her consort degraded himself, led to a separation.

Diamond Duchess that she found herself under the necessity of relinquishing her theatrical engagements.

Till the death of the Duke of Hamilton, which took place in 1799, the Duchess remained in the condition of a widowed wife. Her person, her accomplishments, and her exemplary conduct had attracted the notice of a nobleman who was worthy of her hand, and in August, 1800, she was married to the late Marquis of Exeter.

Our readers will forgive us if we here enter into a little digression, and relate some circumstances in the life of the Marquis of Exeter which deserve commemoration.

A circumstance which occurred in public about this period will probably be recollected by many of our readers. The Duke of Hamilton having taking Mrs. Esten under his protection, was weak enough to allow her to appear on the stage in the jewels of his family, and which are In his youth, while Mr. Cecil (his uncle said to have been handed down in it from being then Earl of Exeter), he married a the original possessor, Mary Queen of lady ofvery large fortune. In a few years, Scots. The Duchess was present on the baving suffered two of the deepest wounds occasion, and no sooner did she behold the which the severity of fortune can inflict, unworthy use to which these valuable or- the loss of his property by gaming, and of naments were applied, than she swooned his wife by divorce, he determined to away in her box. The vanity of the actres abandon the fashionable world, and rewas, however, severely punched. She was tired, under the name of Jones, to a village attacked with such asperity in the periodi- in Shropshire. There he at first occupied cal prints, under the appellation of the la lodging, but soon built a small cottage;

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uncle was no more. To Burleigh they were conveyed in a chaise; and, as they proceeded through the park, Mr. Cecil (now Earl of Exeter) repeatedly asked his fair companion, how she liked the grounds, and the situation of the mansion; he then propos

and continued for some years in such profound obscurity, that hardly a trace of him could be discovered by his friends; while the inhabitants of the village formed the wildest conjectures concerning the solitary stranger. His agreeable manners, however, soon rendered him an acceptable neigh-ed, that they should "see the house;" and, bour. One evening, at the table of the while the cottager was gazing with astonishrector of the parish, he displayed so much ment at the novel scene of so much magniknowledge of the world; and such a degree ficence, told her that these objects of her of classical information, that his host told admiration, together with many which he him, his education and manners were too would afterwards shew her, were her own, conspicuously superior to those of the cha- and that she was the Countess of Exeter. racter which he assumed (viz. that of a ser- The sudden communication of this unexvant who had gained a small independence pected grandeur was too powerful for her in the family of a nobleman,) not to excite to sustain, and she was carried motionless considerable doubts, both of the name into her apartment. which he bore, and the account which he gave of himself. This remark induced Mr. Cecil, after the strictest injunction of secrecy, to disclose his real history.

Amongst the farmers, whom he occasionally visited, was one of the name of Hoggins. This person had a daughter about eighteen years of age, so beautiful and amiable, that Mr. Cecil made her an offer of his hand. She referred him to her father; who, on account of the mystery involving his character, objected to the match. To this he replied, that the offer was much more advantageous than either the father or the daughter could reasonably expect. The father then consulted the clergyman, who told him he was not at liberty to give him the desired information; but he probably expressed himself upon the occasion so as to convince the inquirer, that he ought not to withhold his consent;, for the marriage was soon after solemnized (in the year 1791) and Mr. and Mrs. Jones retired to their cottage.

The remark, however, that great and sudden elevations seldom contribute much to happiness, was here fully exemplified. Admired for her beauty and early attainment of elegant manners, beloved for her humility and amiable conduct, amidst those scenes of splendour Lady Exeter appeared unhappy. Her perpetual solicitude to acquire those accomplishments. which she thought requisite for her new station, probably preyed upon her spirits and accelerated her death. She died in the bloom of life (at the age of twenty four) in January, 1797, leaving two sons and a daughter, the present Marquis, Lord Thomas, and Lady Sophia Cecil.

The Marchioness of Exeter was not, however, destined long to enjoy happiness in the conjugal state. In 1804, the Marquis was removed from her by the hand of death, at the age of fifty.

It only remains for us to add, that the rank, the connections, and the accomplishments of her ladyship reflect much less honour upon her than that uniform adherence to the precepts of the most rigid virtue which she has exhibited, and that

Lord Exeter being at the point of death, the steward was dispatched in search of the heir, whom he found at Bolas, with a wife and two children. Mr. Cecil, having con-exemplary character and conduct which trived still to remain unknown, proposed render her one of the brightest ornaments to his lady a journey to Stamford in the of the fashionable world. stage coach. Before their arrival, the

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