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of her attention he refused to allow. On the ensuing day, as she read to him in a low tone of voice a portion of the Psalms, he desired her to read louder, which she did: he continued to listen to her with attention till interrupted by the approach of dissolution, when he told her to break off, and a few minutes after expired.

Lady Masham, as a tribute of grateful respect for his memory, drew up a biographical account of him, which is printed in the great Historical Dictionary, and which is there said to have been written by a lady. She survived her friend and tutor only three years, and died, with fortitude and resignation, April 20th, 1708. She was interred in the middle aisle of the abbey church at Bath. Over her grave is a black stone, thus inscribed: "Dame Damaris Masham." On a pillar near the grave is a plain white marble monument, an urn on the top, and the following inscription:

σε Near this place lies Dame Damaris Masham,
Daughter of Sir Ralph Cudworth, D. D. and second
Wife to Sir Francis Masham of Oates, in the
County of Essex, Bart.

Who, to the softness and elegance of her own sex,
Added several of the noblest accomplishments and
Qualities of the other.

She possessed these advantages in a degree
Unusual to either, and tempered them with an exactness
Peculiar to herself.

Her learning, judgment, sagacity, and penetration,
Together with her candor and love of truth, were very
Observable to all that conversed with her, or were acquainted
With those small treatises she published in her life-time,
Though she industriously concealed her name.
Being mother of an only son, she applied all her
Natural and acquired endowments to the care of his
Education.

She was a strict observer of all the virtues
Belonging to every station of her life, and only wanted
Opportunities to make those talents shine in the
World, which were the admiration of her friends.
She was born on the 18th of January, 1658,
And died on the 20th of April, 1708."

Ballard's British Ladies-Biographium Fœmineum.

MATOAKS.

MATOAKS, or Matoacka* (alias Rebecka), daughter to prince Powhatan, emperor of Attanoughkamouck,† was converted and baptized to the christian faith, at the age of 21, in 1616. The infant colony of Virginia owed its preservation to Motoaka, who may be considred as a national benefactress. In her 13th year, in 1607, she saved the lives and procured the liberty of capt. Smith and his people, whom her father had de signed to murder by surprise. In 1612, she was herself a prisoner, and soon after married Mr. Rolfe. In 1616, having been instructed in the English language, and in the principles of christianity, she was brought to England, and introduced at court. The ensuing year she died at Gravesend, on ship-board, in her way home. Her good sense raised her above the prejudices of her education, and the barbarous customs of her country: her humanity and generosity reflect honour upon her memory. She was the first Virginian that learned to speak English, and that embraced the tenets of the christian church.

TARQUINIA MOLSA.

TARQUINIA, daughter of Camillo Molsa, knight of the order of St. James of Spain, and grand-daughter of the celebrated Francis Maria Molsa, a poet and rhetorician of Modena, was born in the sixteenth century. Contemporary writers speak of this lady as a prodigy of erudition, and are lavish in praise of her genius, her learning, her virtues, her accomplish ments, the graces of her manners, the sweetness of her temper, and the charms of her person. Her father observing, while yet in early childhood, the capacity and intelligence displayed by Tarquinia, determined to give to her natural talents every advantage which education could bestow. She was taught with her brothers the rudiments of language and science. John Politiano, a native of Modena, famed for his knowledge, his talents, and his virtues, was appointed her preceptor. Under

* She is called Pocahontas in Smith's History of Virginia.
+ Virginia.

Lazaro Labadini, a celebrated grammarian, she studied composition and the belles-lettres. From Camillo Corcapani she acquired a knowledge of rhetoric, and from Antony Guarini, a mathematician, the doctrine of the sphere. By Francis Patricio, a famous philosopher, she was taught the art of poetry; with him also she read Plato. With P. Latoni she studied logic, philosophy, and the Greek language. Abraham Rabbi taught her the principles of the Hebrew, which led her to theology, in which she displayed extraordinary acuteness and subtlety. From John Maria Barbier, a man of learning and taste, she attained the purity of the Tuscan language, in which she wrote several elegant poems, also letters and other compositions, which obtained the approbation of the first critics and scholars of the age. She composed in Latin, both in prose and verse; she also translated from both the Latin and Greek with fidelity and elegance.

As a relaxation from severer studies, she cultivated music with success, both vocal and instrumental. She possessed a fine voice, which she modulated with great skill and management. The first masters were ambitious of assisting her, among whom were, Giaches d'Uuerto, Lusasco Lusachi, and Horatio, who taught her the violin, on which, as on the lute, she played with exquisite skill. Alphonsus II. duke of Ferrara, who had a passion for the arts, was transported by her performance and execution. She instituted a female concert, over which she presided, and which did her great credit.

To this account of the endowments of Tarquinia by Hilarian de Coste, may be added the eulogium of Paul de Ribera:* "You have not," said he, addressing Tarquinia, “read books superficially, as is the custom of ladies, nor do you merely possess, in its purity, the Tuscan language; but also the Greek and the Latin, in the former of which you read and understand, not merely the orators and historians, but the philosophers and Plato himself, Jove's rival in eloquence. You are also acquainted with the poets, and read Pindar without difficulty. And, what almost surpasses belief, you learned Greek, while I read Plato to you, in the space of three months. You compose, with facility, verses in Latin, while in Tuscan you

Or, according to other writers, Francis Patricius, one of her tutors.

produce poems full of wit and ingenuity. The subtleties of logic you solve without difficulty: of the ethics of Plutarch, Aristotle and Plato, you are perfectly mistress. What proficiency have you made in physics, in casuistry, in divinity! How incomparable is your skill in music, in which you have no equal! When you sing to the lute, or to your lyre, the Graces and the Muses adorn and inspire you. Language is inadequate to give an idea of your perfections. What wit, what spirit, what a charm in your conversation! what sweetness in your manners, what elegance in your deportment! Bendictus Manzolus, your countryman, bishop of Reggio, has justly exalted you, not only above your father, the eloquent Camillus, but also your grandfather, Francis Maria Molsa, a man not less eminent for his talents than for his merit."

This lady, so highly extolled by contemporary writers, espoused Paulus Porrinus, whose widow she became while yet in the bloom of youth. Overwhelmed by this affliction, she was compared to Artemesia for the excess of her sorrow: though childless, she determined never to contract a second marriage.

She was highly esteemed at the court of Ferrara; while Rome, in presenting to her the freedom of the city, conferred upon her an honour unprecedented among her sex. "The senate and people of Rome," says Hilarion de Coste, “decreed to her, in testimony of her merit, the privileges of a Roman citizen; which, to do her yet more honour, was extended to the whole family of Molsa." The following is a translation of the grant or patent: "As Fabius Matheus Franciscus Soricius, knight, and Dominicus Coccia, consul, have proposed to the senate to grant the freedom of the city of Rome to Tarquinia Molsa of Modena, the daughter of Camillus, the senate and people of Rome have thus decreed: Though it be new and uncommon for the senate to admit into the number of citizens women, whose merits and fame, being confined within the limits of domestic virtues, can seldom be of public utility to the commonwealth: yet if there be among them one, who surpasses not merely her own sex, but even men in almost all the virtues, it is just and reasonable that, by a new example, new and unusual honours should be paid to new and unusual merit. Since, therefore, Tarquinia Molsa, a native of Modena, a most

ancient and flourishing colony of the people of Rome, and daughter of Camillus (who, for his merits and nobility, was made knight of the order of St. James, &c.), imitates, and by her virtues resembles, those famous Roman heroines, wanting to complete her glory but the honour of a citizen of Rome; we, the senate and people of Rome, have decreed to present her with the freedom, &c."

In the patent, inserted by Ribera in her eulogium, the qua lities, studies, endowments, birth, and ancestors of Tarquinia, are particularly enumerated. The decree passed in the capital, Dec. 8th, M.DC. Curtio Martolo and Angelo Fosco, being chancellors of the senate and of the Roman people.

Tarquinia is said, by Ribera, to have retained her beauty and graceful manners till an advanced period of life, and to have confirmed the opinion of Euripides, "that the autumn of beauty is not less pleasing than its spring." It is added, that the perfections of her mind surpassed the graces of her person; and that in virtue and learning she ranked with the most eminent and illustrious characters. She is extolled by the same writer for her chastity and modesty. Hilarion de Coste describes her as visited by the most accomplished persons of all countries, whom the reputation of her extraordinary endowments attracted. By a homage so flattering, he affirms, she was never intoxicated; that, fond of a quiet and retired life, she avoided rather than courted distinction; and that her manners were equally distant from self-complacency and contempt for others. Should there appear something like exaggeration in these accounts, it must be remembered, that, before the diffusion of literature, small talents were conspicuous and meritorious in proportion as they were rare and of difficult attainment.

Bayle's Historical Dictionary-The Female Worthies, &c.

THE HON. MRS. MONK.

THE hon. Mrs. Monk, daughter of lord Molesworth, an Irish nobleman, and wife to George Monk, esq. is celebrated for her poetical talents. She acquired by her own application a perfect knowledge of the Latin, Italian, and Spanish languages; and, from a study of the best authors, a decided taste for poetical composition. She appears to have written for her

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