".
Tully was the cook and confectioner, the Bath Gunter, who provided
the supper.
Mrs. Piozzi died in May, 1821. Her death is circumstantially
communicated in a letter from Mrs. Pennington, the lady mentioned in
Miss Seward's correspondence as the beautiful and agreeable Sophia
Weston:--
"Hot Wells, May 5th, 1821.
"Dear Miss Willoughby,--It is my painful task to communicate to you,
who have so lately been the kind associate of dearest Mrs. Piozzi,
the irreparable loss we have all sustained in that incomparable woman
and beloved friend.
"She closed her various life about nine o'clock on Wednesday, after
an illness of ten days, with as little suffering as could be imagined
under these awful circumstances. Her bed-side was surrounded by her
weeping daughters: Lady Keith and Mrs. Hoare arrived in time to be
fully recognised[1]; Miss Thrale, who was absent from town, only just
before she expired, but with the satisfaction of seeing her breathe
her last in peace.
"Nothing could behave with more tenderness and propriety than these
ladies, whose conduct, I am convinced, has been much misrepresented
and calumniated by those who have only attended to _one_ side of the
history: but may all that is past be now buried in oblivion!
Retrospection seldom improves our view of any subject. Sir John
Salusbury was too distant, the close of her illness being so rapid,
for us to entertain any expectation of his arriving in time to see
the dear deceased. He only reached Clifton late _last_ night.
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