, the second wife of the preceding, and a lady of distinguished ingenuity and merit, was born at a small
, the second wife of the preceding,
and a lady of distinguished ingenuity and merit, was born
at a small country house of her father’s at Coulton in
Wiltshire, May, 14, 1700. She was the daughter of Bernard Granville, esq. afterward lord Lansdowne, a nobleraan whose abilities and virtues, whose character as a poet,
whose friendship with Pope, Swift, and other eminent
writers of the time, and whose general patronage of men
eyf genius and literature, have often been recorded in biographical productions. As the child of such a family, sh^
could not fail of receiving the best education. It was at
Long-Leat, the seat of the Weymouth family, which was
occupied by lord Lansdowne during the minority of the
heir of that family, that Miss Granville first saw Alexander
Pendarves, esq. a gentleman of large property at Roscrow
in Cornwall, and who immediately paid his addresses to
her; which were so strenuously supported by her uncle,
whom she had not the courage to deny, that she gave a
reluctant consent to the match; and accordingly it took
place in the compass of two or three weeks, she being
then in the seventeenth year of her age. From a great
disparity of years, and other causes, she was very unhappy
during the time which this connexion lasted, but endeavoured to make the best of her situation. The retirement
to which she was confined was wisely employed in the
farther cultivation of a naturally vigorous understanding:
and the good use she made of her leisure hours, was eminently evinced in the charms of her conversation, and in
her letters to her friends. That quick feeling of the elegant and beautiful which constitutes taste, she possessed
in an eminent degree, and was therefore peculiarly fitted
for succeeding in the fine arts. At the period we are
speaking of, she made a great proficiency in music, but
painting, which afterwards she most loved, and in which
she principally excelled, had not yet engaged her practical
attention. in 1724 Mrs. Pendarves became a widow;
upon which occasion she quitted Cornwall, and fixed her
principal residence in London. For several years, between
1730 and 1736, she maintained a correspondence with
Dr. Swift. In 1743, as we have seen in the former article,
Mrs. Pendarves was married to Dr. Delany, with whom it
appears that she had long been acquainted; and for whom
he had many years entertained a very high esteem. She
had been a widow nineteen years when this connexion,
which was a very happy one, took place, and her husband
is said to fcave regarded her almost to adoration. Upon
his decease in ftiay 1768, she intended to fix herself at
Bath, and was in quest of a house for that purpose. But
the duchess dowager of Portland, hearing of her design,
went down to the place; and, having in her earl v years
formed an intimacy with Mrs. Delany, wished to have near
her a lady from whom she had necessarily, for several
years, been much separated, and whose heart and talents
she knew would in the highest degree add to thejiappiness of her own life. Her <*race succeeded in her solicitalions, and Mrs. Delany now passed her time between London and Bulstrode. On the death of the duchess-dowager
of Portland, his present majesty, who had frequently seen
and honoured Mrs Delany with his notice at Bulstrode,
assigned her for her summer residence the use of a house
completely furnished, in St. Alhan’s-street, Windsor, adjoining to the entrance of the castle: and, that the having
two houses on her hands might not produce any inconvenience with regard to the expence of her living, his
majesty, as a farther mark of his royal favour, conferred
on her a pension of three hundred pounds a year. On the
15th of April, 1788, after a short indisposition, she departed this life, at her house in St. James’s-place, having
nearly completed the 88th year of her age. The circumstance that has principally entitled Mrs. Delany to a place
in this work is her skill in painting, and in other ingenious
arts, one of which was entirely her own. With respect to
painting, she was late in her application to it. She did
not learn to draw till she was more than thirty years of
age, when she put herself under the instruction of Goupy,
a fashionable master of that time, and much employed by
Frederic prince of Wales. To oil-painting she did not
take till she was past forty. So strong was her passion for
this art, that she has frequently been known to employ herself in it, day after day, from six o'clock in the morning
till dinner time, allowing only a short interval for breakfast. She was principally a copyist; but a very fine one.
The only considerable original work of hers in oil was the
Kaising of Lazarus, in the possession of her friend lady
JBute. The number of pictures painted by her, considering how late it was in life before she applied to the art,
was very great. Her own house was full of them; and
others are among the chief ornaments of Calswich,
Welsborn, and Ham, the respective residences of her nephews,
Mr. Granville and Mr. Dewes, and of her niece Mrs. Port.
Mrs. Delany, among her other accomplishments, excelled
in embroidery and shell-work; and, in the course of her
life, produced many elegant specimens of her skill in these
respects. But, what is more remarkable, at the age of 74 she
invented a new and beautiful mode of exercising her ingenuity. This was by the construction of a Flora, of a
most singular kind, formed by applying coloured papers
together, and which might, not improperly, be called a
species of mosaic work. Being perfectly mistress of her
scissars, the plant or flower which she purposed to imitate
she cut out; that is, she cut out its various leaves and
parts in such coloured Chinese paper as suited her subject;
and, when she could not meet with a colour to correspond
with the one she wanted, she dyed her own paper to
answer her wishes. She used a black ground, as best calculated to throw out her flower; and not the least astonishing part of her art was, that though she never employed
her pencil to trace out the form or shape of her plant, yet
when she had applied all the p eces which composed it,
it hung so loosely and gracefully, that every one was persuaded that it must previously have been drawn out, and
repeatedly corrected by a most judicious hand, before it
could have attained the ease and air of truth which, without any impeachment of the honour of this accomplished
lady, might justly be called a forgery of nature’s works.
The effect was superior to what painting could have produced; and so imposing was her art, that she would sometimes put a real leaf of a plant by the side of one of her
own creation, which the eye could not detect, even when
she herself pointed it out. Mrs. Delany continued in the
prosecution of her design till the 83d year of her age,
when the dimness of her sight obliged her to lay it aside.
However, by her unwearied perseverance, she became
authoress of far the completest Flora that ever was executed by the same hand. The number of plants finished
bv her amounted to nine hundred and eighty. This invaluable Flora was bequeathed by her to her nephew
Court Dewes, esq. and is now in the possession of Barnard
Dewes, esq. of Welsborn in Warwickshire. The liberality
of Mrs. Delany’s mind rendered her at all times ready to
communicate her art. She frequently pursued her work
in company; was desirous of shewing to her friends how
easy it was to execute; and was often heard to lament that
so few would attempt it. It required, however, great patience and great knowledge in botanical drawing. She
began to write poetry at 80 years of age, and her verses
shew at least a pious disposition. Her private character is
thus given by her friend, Mr. Keate. “She had every
virtue that could adorn the human heart, with a mind so
pure, and so uncontaminated by the world, that it was
matter of astonishment how she could have lived in its
more splendid scenes without being tainted with one single atom of its folly or indiscretion. The strength of her
understanding received, in the fullest degree, its polish,
but its weakness never reached her. Her life was conducted by the sentiments of true piety; her way of thinking, on every occasion, was upright and just; her conversation was lively, pleasant, and instructive. She was warm,
delicate, and sincere in her friendships; full of philanthropy and benevolence, and loved and respected by
every person who had the happiness to know her. That
sun-shine and serenity of mind which the good can only
enjoy, and which had thrown so much attraction on her
life, remained without a shadow to the last; not less bright
in its setting, than in its meridian lustre. That form
which in youth had claimed admiration, in age challenged
respect. It presented a noble ruin, become venerable by
the decay of time. Her faculties remained unimpaired to
the last; and she quitted this mortal state to receive in a
better world the crown of a well-spent life.
”