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Untitled Article
been hinted , that the Duchess , when young , was fond of money , and that when she was an actress at sea-ports , she did not scruple to bustle about among the officers , in behalf of the tickets for her benefit-nights . But she had been left with a
mother to support ; and even if she had gone somewhat far for that purpose , no hearty lover of the filial virtues would be quick to condemn her for it . The consideration of a mother
to support is itself a delicacy , which may reasonably swallow up fifty others . Perhaps this was one of the very things that Coutts liked her for . He may have been disgusted with the doubtful virtues and real
shabbiness of so many rich people , that the sight of one hearty nature might have been a priceless refreshment to him ; and when lie found combined with it a face to match , and a pleasant conversation , he might , for aught we know , have realized for the first time a dream of his
youth . To be sure , it is triumphantly alleged against him , that his first wife had been a maid-servant . That does not look , certainly , as if he had been accustomed to seek for a partner in the circles of fashion :
but then the circumstance , as far as it goes , tells against the experience he had had of them ; and a maid-servant may be a
gentlewoman at heart . Be this as it may ( for we know nothing whatsoever of him , or his connexions , except Sir Francis Burdett , whom all the world knows ) the will of the Duchesa
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seems to show , that he was in one striking respect worthy of her regard , and she of his ; for she has left the bulk of his property to his favourite relation , and in so doing , most
likely acted up to a principle which he had justly reckoned upon . It is true , she has thus given riches to one that does not seem to have needed them , and who will probably be not a whit the happier for the
superabundance ; but such considerations are not to be expected of people who live in what is called the world . The Duke , at the same time , has not been forgotten , nor poorly treated
her body has been gathered into the family vault ; and she has left the reputation of a woman not contemptuous of her origin , nay , willing to encourage and be conversant with her former
profession , and charitable to the poor . We thus infer that her conduct has been held reasonable and honourable by all parties . The Duchess of St Albans
had a more refined look in her younger days , at least in her favourite characters , than was observable in her countenance latterly . There was never any genius in her acting , nor much sustainment of character in any respect ; she seemed never to have taken to the boards with
thorough facility ;—but there was evidence of archness and agreeableness , —a good deal that looked as if it could be very shrewd and pleasant off the stage . She had black hair , fine eyes , a good-humoured mouth ,
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Marriages frotn the Stage . 1 ST
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 1, 1837, page 157, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1835/page/13/
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