![[Header#^header-embed]] > [!SUMMARY] > [Hester Maria Salusbury nee Cotton](https://www.thrale.com/sites/all/libraries/tng/getperson.php?personID=I683&tree=tree01) was the mother of [[Hester Thrale née Salusbury]] and wife of [[John Salusbury]]. ## Death Hester Maria died on 18 June 1773 at [[Streatham Park]] aged 66. On her death bed, Samuel Johnson kissed her and said: > God bless you dearest Madam! for Jesus Christ's sake, and receive your Soul to Salvation!. > [!QUOTE] In [[Thraliana]] September to November 1776, Hester wrote of her mother … > She was for all personal and mental Excellence the most accomplished female that ever my Eyes beheld. Her shape so accurate, her Carriage so graceful, her Eyes so brilliant, her Knowledge so extensive, & her manners so pleasing that it was no wonder She had such Choice of Lovers in her Youth, & admireres in her advanced Age: She died aged 66. leaving behind her no equal for Powers of delighting her Friends and Companions; ## Burial and mourning tablet [[Hester Maria Salusbury nee Cotton|Hester Maria Cotton]] was buried in the [[Thrale burial vault]] at St Leonards Church, Streatham. > [!NOTE] Mourning tablet for Hester Maria Cotton at St Leonards Church, Streatham. > ![[hester-maria-cotton-mourning-tablet.png]] > <div class="caption">Mourning tablet for Hester Maria Cotton.</div> > > Juxta sepulta est Hestera Maria > Thomæ Cotton de Combermere Baronetti Cestriensis Filia, > Johannis Salusbury Armigeri Flintiensis, uxor; > Forma felix, felix ingenio: > omnibus jucunda, suorum amantissima. > Linguis artibusque ita exculta > ut loquenti nunquam deessent > Sermonis nitor, sententiarum flosculi, > Sapientiae gravitas, leporum gratia: > modum servandi adeo perita, > ut domestica inter negotia literis oblectaretur, > Literarum inter delicias, rem familiarem sedulo curaret, > multis illi multos annos precantibus > diri carcinomatis veneno contabuit, > nexibusque vitae paulatim resolutis, > é terris — meliora sperans — emigravit. > <br> > Nata 1707. Nupta 1739. Obiit 1773. A literal translation into English is: > Hester Maria, the daughter of Sir Thomas Cotton of Combermere, Baronet of Cheshire, and wife of [[John Salusbury]], Esquire of Flint, lies buried nearby: > Blessed in beauty, blessed in wit, Delightful to all and most beloved by her own. So accomplished in languages and arts That eloquence never failed her when she spoke, With the charm of her sentiments, the grace of her wisdom, And the weight of her seriousness in counsel. So skilled in managing her affairs, That amid her domestic duties, she found pleasure in literature, And amidst her literary delights, she diligently cared for her household. For many years, while many prayed for her, She endured the poison of a cruel cancer, And as the ties of life gradually loosened, She departed from this world, hoping for better. > Born in 1707. Married in 1739. Died in 1773. The Latin inscription is by [[Dr. Samuel Johnson]]. ## Commentary > [!QUOTE] Her daughter, [[Hester Thrale née Salusbury|Hester]] wrote … > The epitaph engraved on my mother’s monument shows how deserving she was of general applause. I asked Johnson why he named her person before her mind. He said it was … > > because everybody could judge of the one, and but few of the other. > [!QUOTE] [[Hester Thrale née Salusbury|Hester]] also later wrote in her book [[0 - Anecdotes of the late Samuel Johnson|Anecdotes of the late Samuel Johnson]] … > [[Arthur Murphy|Mr. Murphy]], who admired her talents and delighted in her company, did me the favour to paraphrase this elegant inscription in verses which I fancy have never yet been published. His fame has long been out of my power to increase as a poet: as a man of sensibility perhaps these lines may set him higher than he now stands. I remember with gratitude the friendly tears which prevented him from speaking as he put them into my hand. > [!QUOTE] [[Hester Thrale née Salusbury|Hester]] wrote in [[Thraliana]] on 14 January 1779 … > Murphy has been very kind to me, he has translated the Epitaph Johnson wrote upon my Mothers Monument; his kindness is more acceptable to me than his Verses—but the Verses are well enough too. > > > Near this place > > Are deposited the remains of > > Hester Maria. > > The daughter of Sir Thomas Cotton of Combermere, in the County of Cheshire, Bart., the wife of John Salusbury Esqr of the [county of Flint](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flintshire_%28historic%29). > > She was born in the year 1707. Married 1739. died in 1773. > > > A pleasing form, where every grace combined, > > With genius blest, a pure enlightened mind; > > Benevolence on all that smiles bestowed, > > A heart that for her friends with love o'erflowed: > > In language skilled, by science formed to please, > > Her mirth was wit, her gravity was ease. > > > Graceful in all, the happy mien she knew, > > Which even to virtue gives the limits due; > > Whate'er employed her, that she seemed to choose, > > Her house, her friends, her business, or the muse. > > Admired and loved, the theme of general praise, > > All to such virtue wished a length of days. > > > But sad reverse! with slow-consuming pains, > > Th' envenomed cancer revelled in her veins; > > Preyed on her spirits—stole each power away; > > Gradual she sank, yet smiling in decay; > > She smiled in hope, by sore affliction tried, > > And in that hope the pious Christian died. ## See also ![[hester-lynch-thrale-1741-1821🔎#^hester-lynch-thrale-infoblock]] #history/person/COTTON/hester-maria-born-1707 #history/person/JOHNSON/samuel-born-1709 #history/place/england/surrey/streatham/st-leonards-church ![[Footer#^footer-embed]]