, a lady distinguished by her piety and extraordinary accomplishments,
, a lady distinguished by her
piety and extraordinary accomplishments, was the daughter
of Dr. Ralph Cudworth, and born at Cambridge on the
18th of January, 1658. Her father, perceiving the bent of
her genius, took such particular care of her education,
that she quickly became remarkable for her uncommon
learning and piety. She was the second wife of sir Francis
Masham, of Gates in the county of Essex, bart. by whom
she had an only son, the late Francis Cudworth Masham,
esq. one of the masters in chancery, accomptant-general
of that court, and foreign opposer in the court of exchequer. She was well skilled in arithmetic, geography, chronology, history, philosophy, and divinity; and owed a
great part of her improvement to the care of the famous
Mr. Locke, who lived many years in her family, and at
length died in her house at Gates; and whom she treated
with the utmost generosity and respect. She wrote “A
Discourse concerning the Love of God,
” published at London in Gccasional Thoughts in reference to
a virtuous and Christian Life.
” This amiable lady died in
Near this place lies Dame Damans
Masham, daughter of Ralph Cudworth, D. D. and second
wife of sir Francis Masham, of Gates, in the county of
Essex, bart. who, to the softness and elegancy of her own
sex, added several of the noblest accomplishments and
qualities of the other. She possessed these advantages in
a great degree unusual to either, and tempered them with
an exactness peculiar to herself. Her learning, judgment, sagacity, and penetration, together with her candour 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 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.
”