To B.R. Haydon Esqr
15
Three Mile Cross
Septr 1st 1820.
My dear Sir
You are a thousand times too kind in sending Ms.
Webb
another puppy--I had not heard of it till I got your letter, not having been at
Wokingham myself since I met my
Father there on his return from London, & having unluckily been out when
Miss Webb called on me last week. But I am sure our good
friend will feel
your kindness as gratefully as we do. The poor little puppy
was certainly dead--Papa saw it
quite stiff in the bottom of the basket having waited himself
the coming in of the coach. It often happens--they are very delicate & bear
travelling worse than any thing. I had half a mind not to tell you, for I was sure
you would be sorry--& I am afraid I wrote with great
impatience
for I wrote in such a hurry &
the friend who was to take the
hose
standing by me
hat
in hand & looking as if he thought
every instant an hour. Pray forgive me if I seemed abrupt or ungrateful--you must
know I could not mean it. Our little lady
is a perfect beauty--she is gone out to keep at a farmhouse--Do not forget to pick
out a pretty name for her--She must be of your naming--& shall always be yours
whenever you want her I have no doubt of her being capital.--My dear Mr. Haydon your letter went to my very heart--It does one
harm to think of those cold proud selfish Patrons--as they call themselves--It
lessens one's faith in human nature. But the Picture
will tell--it must--The same heartless vanity which prevents their co-operating in
your liberal &delicate & unostentatious plan,
will induce one of them to possess himself of their glorious work of art--I am
persuaded of this. But it is heart-breaking to think that you in the meantime should
be exposed to these petty cares, & harassed by doubt & vexation--you who
ought to be lifted above all wordly care & to live amongst the delightful creations of your own genious. The only consolation is your elastic &
buoyant spirit, which will bear you through all these trials to the prosperity you so
well deserve. Fame you have already--a better & a purer fame than any living
man--& competence will follow--I am sure of it--Riches you do not want--with such
reputation they are not wanted. In the meantime, my dear Sir, be careful of your invaluable health--& your eyes,
your poor eyes as you call them--to what complaint are
they liable? Who that looked at them could fancy them subject to any!--Never
apologise
apologize
to me for talking of yourself. It is a compliment of the highest kind--It
tells me that you confide in my sympathy. Be assured you may--except my own dear
family & Dear Miss James there is no one
whom I regard with such admiring & respectful interest or of whose kindness I am
half so proud.
So you are not a Queen's Man! How glad I
am to hear it! You have no notion of the height to which this Queen fever
has risen here. I am shocked & disquieted at its terrible effect on conversation.
Why should people talk of such a subject? Why should they contaminate their minds by
looking for an instant at such trash to settle whether a woman, whom all the world
allows to be immodest, be more or less bad? There are no degrees of
comparison in her
chastity
in my opinion--but all the ladies here (always excepting my own dear Mother) call me prudish old maidish I
much
amiable
& read & talk on. Besides being jealous of the hitherto unstained purity of
the English female character, I have another cause of grievance in the abominable
role
which my friends the
Reformers
have made of this bad woman. To rally the good cause by such an Ally! As to the
Reading address, am not at all
astonished--Reading is in a perpetual
state of effervescence--a bottle of ginger beer in hot weather--bouncing & frothy
& flying in every body's face--but that Sir Francis
Burdett & Mr. Hobhouse should
lend themselves to such mischievous wickedness is really astounding.--Yes
Shakespeare knew the Mob most thoroughly--Is
it not the most astonishing of all his astonishing qualities that with so deep an
insight into the weakness & the wickedness of human nature he should yet have
regarded it with so intense & indulgent a love? There is some soul of goodness in things
evil
Here, Mitford quotes a line from King Henry's opening monologue in Act
IV, scene i of Shakespeare's Henry V.might be his motto.
I am engaged in a job just now compared to which the water-pitcherings of the
Danaides
were hopeful. I am persuading Papa to be good
& take care of himself & keep quiet & go to the sea & get well. I
might as well talk to the wind. He has an unpleasant infection on his legs--I think
erysipelas Erysipelas is a bacterial infection. Symptoms include fever and raised red patches on the skin.though he will not
allow it--for which all our medical friends advise the warm sea bath--& he could
go to Southhampton in a day--leave
Mama at Winchester where she has an engagement, & I would stay & keep
house here & he might come back to me in a fortnight fresh & well--& he
will not go. Is not this very naughty? How he stays--walking ten miles a day &
getting to every house
. I
wonder what he would say if I were to behave so!---He desires his best & kindest
remembrances to you nevertheless--& so does Mama--I am so glad that the
coursing
season approaches--so are they.
God bless you, my dear Mr. Haydon--
Ever most sincerely your's
M. R. Mitford.
B. R. Haydon Esqre
22Lisson Grove
Regents Park
J. B. Monck
London
How is Mr. Keats? Is he gone to Lisbon yet? I have not been able to procure
his
Poems
. Perhaps when you come you will have the goodness to bring your copy with you.--Goodbye once more.