MORE MODESTY
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY BATHS I In the eighteenth century, as in the nineteenth, the bath had not to be taken immodestly if taken at all, writes “Lucio” in the Manchester Guardian. Mrs Montagu, the “Queen of rhe Blue-stockings,” complained when she visited the Duchess of Portland at Bulstrode that she had the greatest difficulty in obtaining a bathtub there "that was capable of holding water.” After much trouble she was able
to proclaim: "Mv bathing-tub is ready for me, so tomorrow I shall go in.” But there was a difficulty still to be overcome. “Pray look for my bathing-dress.” she implored. “Till then I must go in chemise and jupor:.' Her friend Dorothea Gregory also found too close contact with water highly embarrassing. From Edinburgh she wrote: "I find there is a cold bath in the house. Miss Gordon thinks I shall do well to make use of it, but as I was not aware of such a thing being in the house I did not bring my bathing-dress with me.” Fear is the tax that conscience pays to guilt.—Sewell.
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Bibliographic details
Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21160, 9 July 1940, Page 3
Word Count
181MORE MODESTY Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21160, 9 July 1940, Page 3
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