Note 112 — LETTER LII.

The good Lady died of the Small Pox in 1735 in a very advanced Age. Tho’ she had made a Profession of Devotion for a certain time, she had not intirely lost her Taste for Gallantry, in which she certainly out-stripped the Lady Mazarine; for she declared herself, that it would be more easy to number the Shells upon the Shore at Scheveling, than her Adventures of Gallantry. She never missed her Aim but at one Man, and that was King Augustus. She did all she could to engage his Caresses, if not his Affection, but without Success; and every body knows the Adventure of my Lord Raby, who having an Amour with the Countess at Berlin, surprised her with King Augustus striving to get loose from her close Embraces. Nor is this a Wonder; for tho’ the King of Poland did not want Gallantry, yet he was for a Woman of some Politeness, of which the Countess had no Share; for being the Daughter of a Waterman at Emmeris, she had not the completed Education. She had Beauty indeed, but was in every other respect a coarse Lady. Nevertheless, during her Residence at the Hague, the Youth who had nothing else to employ their Time, constantly reported to her House, and among these she had always some favourite Spark. Every body knows her Intrigues with the famous Count de F——; and her Last Will and Testament has render’d several others immortal. You will be surprised to know the End of this Woman, who had been so much talked of, who had regaled so many People in her Time, and to whom every body had easy Access. She dies, is immediately removed out of her Chamber, and put into a Coffin in the Entry of her House, which is sealed up, and she is interred without one of her ungrateful Favourites vouchsafing to attend her Funeral, or indeed any body but the Bearers, and a few Neighbours, who were insulted by the Mob.