married Colonel Charles Churchill, the natural son of General
Churchill; who was himself a natural son of an older brother of
the great Duke of Marlborough.

Horace Walpole was born October 5th, 1717 (23) and educated a
Eton School, and at King's College, Cambridge. Upon leaving the
latter place, he set out on his travels on the Continent, in
company with Gray the poet, with whom he had formed a friendship
at school. They commenced their journey in March 1739, and
continued abroad above two years. Almost the whole of this time
was spent in Italy, and nearly a year of it was devoted to
Florence; where Walpole was detained by the society of his
friends, Mr. Mann, Mr. Chute, and Mr. Whithed. It was in these
classic scenes, that his love of art, and taste for elegant and
antiquarian literature, became more developed; and that it took
such complete possession of him as to occupy the whole of his
later life, diversified only by the occasional amusement of
politics, or the distractions of society. Unfortunately, the
friendship of Walpole and his travelling companion could not
survive two years of constant intercourse: they quarrelled and
parted at Reggio, in July 1741, and afterwards pursued their way
homewards by different routes. (24)

Walpole arrived in England in September 1741, at which time his
correspondence with Sir Horace Mann commences. He had been
chosen member for Callington, in the parliament which was elected
in June of that year, and arrived in the House of Commons just in
time to witness the angry discussions which preceded and
accompanied the downfall of his father's administration. He
plunged at once into the excitement of political partisanship