I have first been writing two prim letters to two prim ladies for whom I do not care three pins nor they for me — people with whom I have not an idea in common, nor an acquaintance, but who had heard as they were pleased to say that I wrote "an exceeding good letter"— I thank them! & availing themselves of having happened to meet me last week ^ & having known MamaMary Russell Mitford, or: Mrs. Mitford | Born: 1750 in Ashe, Hampshire, England. Died: 1830-01-02 in Three Mile Cross, parish of Shinfield, Berkshire, England.
Mary Russell was the youngest child of the Rev. Dr. Richard Russell and his second wife, Mary Dicker; she was born about 1750 in Ashe, Hampshire. (Her birth date is as yet unverified; period sources indicate that she was ten years older than her husband George, born in 1760.) Through the Russells, she was a distant relation of the Dukes of Bedford (sixth creation, 1694). She had two siblings, Charles William and Frances; both predeceased her and their parents, which resulted in Mary Russell inheriting her family’s entire estate upon her mother’s death in 1785. Her father’s rectory in Ashe was only a short distance from Steventon, and so she was acquainted with the young Jane Austen. She married George Mitford or Midford on October 17, 1785 at New Alresford, Hampshire. On the marriage allegation papers, both gave their addresses as Old Alresford. Their only daughter, Mary Russell Mitford, was born two years later on December 16, 1787 at New Alresford, Hampshire. Mary Russell died on January 2, 1830 at Three Mile Cross in the parish of Shinfield, Berkshire. Her obituary in the 1830 New Monthly Magazine gives New Year’s day as the date of her death.—ajc, lmw
twenty years ago in HampshireNew Alresford, Hampshire, England | New Alresford | Hampshire | England | 51.0856236 -1.1655574999999772 Birthplace of Mary Russell Mitford, who lived at 27 Broad Street until about the age of four; the family moved to Reading in 1791. During Mitford’s time and earlier, inhabitants made a distinction between Old Alresford and New Alresford. In the parish records for their marriage, George Mitford and Mary Russell indicated their current place of residence as Old Alresford and their future residence as New Alresford.—ebb, lmw wrote to enquire after her & to request, forsooth! the pleasure of my correspondence. A great pleasure truly! If ever letters were cold-givers such are mine — Rain & snow & fogs & damp air all in one. — For see, my dear Sir WilliamWilliam Elford, Sir, baronet, Recorder for Plymouth, Recorder for Totnes, Member of Parliament | Born: 1749-08 in Kingsbridge, Devon, England. Died: 1837-11-30 in Totnes, Devon, England.
According to L’Estrange, Sir William was first a friend of Mitford’s father, and Mitford met him for the first time in the spring of 1810 when he was a widower nearing the age of 64. They carried on a lively correspondence until his death in 1837.
Elford worked as a banker at Plymouth Bank (Elford, Tingcombe and Purchase) in Plymouth, Devon, from its founding in 1782. He was elected a member of Parliament for Plymouth as a supporter of the government and Tory William Pitt, and served from 1796 to 1806. After his election defeat in Plymouth in 1806, he was elected member of Parliament for Rye and served from July 1807 until his resignation in July 1808. For his service in Parliament as a supporter of Pitt, he was made a baronet in 1800. After his son Jonathan came of age, he tried to secure a stable government post for him but never succeeded. Mayor of Plymouth in 1796 and Recorder for Plymouth from 1797 to 1833, he was also Recorder for Totnes from 1832 to 1834. Sir William served as an officer in the South Devon militia from 1788, eventually attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel; the unit saw active service in Ireland during the Peninsular Wars. Sir William was a talented amateur painter in oils and watercolors who exhibited at the Royal Society from 1774 to 1837; he exhibited still lifes and portraits but preferred landscapes. He was elected to the Royal Society Academy in 1790. He was also a talented amateur naturalist and was elected to the Royal Linnaean Society in 1790; late in life, he published his findings on an alternative to yeast.
He married his first wife, Mary Davies of Plympton, on January 20, 1776 and they had one son, Jonathan, and two daughters, Grace Chard and Elizabeth. After the death of his first wife, he married Elizabeth Hall Walrond, widow of Lieutenant-Colonel Maine Swete Walrond of the Coldstream Guards. His only son Jonathan died in 1823, leaving him without an heir.
—ebb, lmw

— that after such a job it was absolutely necessary that I should write to you — that I should supple my fingers & thaw my ideas at your warm fire — & yawn & stretch & pity & bemoan myself to my hearts content. You always let me come to you for comfort in all my troubles & this is one of the worst. Nobody can be so awkward as I am at those sort of letters — I would give the world for that comfortable amplifying style which goes on so quietly "hoping" & "trusting" & "fearing" & "wishing" & proses about "sweet infants" & "dear Invalids" & "happy convalescence" — turning & twisting about like a hare before the dogs — with as many words as a City Orator & as few ideas as the board he bethumps. I would give the world for this sort of prosing & mine happens to be different — I write as bad perhaps but in another way —

However I will answer for it I have got quit of these correspondences I have happily ridded myself of my reputation as that [gap: 1 word, reason: illegible.] & please the fates I will so demean myself as never to run the risk of having it said that I write "an exceeding good letter" again. 〰 Pray  what how are you doing my dear friend? And what are you doing? Quarter-sessioning it at ExeterExeterExeter is a cathedral city in the southwest of England, in the county of Devon. —ebb? I intend our worthy Chairman the honourhonor of franking this epsitle of mine when it shall be finished — What else are M.Ps good for? I may say this now, since you have cast the M.P. off & are so determined not to take it up again. — Have you been reading much lately? — I have ^ been reading Miss EdgeworthMaria Edgeworth | Born: 1768-01-01 in Black Bourton, Oxfordshire, England. Died: 1849-05-22 in Engleworthstown, Longford, Ireland.
British author and educator. Best known for Castle Rackrent (1800); also wrote children's novels and educational treatises.—lmw, cmm
's OrmondHarrington, A Tale, and Ormond, A Tale. In Three Volumes. Vol.I. Maria Edgeworth. London : R. Hunter. 1817. —sad falling off! Even that Irish[1] Mitford uses the word Irish here to refer to dialect.—ajc which used to be so fresh & delightful is getting old & usé — & then she so copies herself — to be fair there is no law against stealing one's own goods — it can hardly be called Felony — but it is something very like it — & if EuniceEunice, Tales of Fashionable Life, first series. Maria Edgeworth . London : J. Johnson. 1809. & VivianVivian, Tales of Fashionable Life, second series. Maria Edgeworth . London : J. Johnson. 1812. & the AbsenteeThe Absentee, Tales of Fashionable Life, second series. Maria Edgeworth . London : J. Johnson. 1812. were to prosecute OrmondHarry Ormond
Protagonist of Maria Edgeworth’s Ormond (1812). —ajc, I do think OrmondHarry Ormond
Protagonist of Maria Edgeworth’s Ormond (1812). —ajc would be hanged — Also then I have been reading Mr. Ellis'sHenry Ellis | Born: 1788-09-01 in Dublin, Ireland. Died: 1855-09-28 in Brighton.
A commissioner in Lord Amherst’s embassy to China 1816-17. Author of Journal of the Proceedings if the Late Embassy to China, Comprising a Correct Narrative of the Public Transactions of the Embassy, of the Voyage to and From China, and of the Journey from the Mouth of the Pei-Ho to the Return to Canton. Interspersed with Observations Upon the Face of the Country, the Policy, Moral Character, and Manners of the Chinese Nation. (1817) —ajc account of the Embassy & [gap: 1 word, reason: illegible.] to ChinaChinaspacious and populous land in East Asia with an ancient history, of interest to the English in the nineteenth century for trade in tea, porcelain, and silk, for which the East India Company supplied opium against Chinese law.—ebb, & Mr. Macleod'sJohn McLeod/MacLeod | Born: 1777 in Parish of Bonhill, Dunbartonshire, England. Died: 1820-11-08 in While on board the Royal Sovereign.
Naval surgeon and author of Narrative of a Voyage, in His Majesty’s Late Ship Alceste, to the Yellow Sea, Along the Coast of Corea and Through its Numerous Hitherto Undiscovered Islands, to the Island of Lewchew; with an Account of Her Shipwreck in the Straits of Gaspar (1817) —ajc— One does not get much knowledge there either. Very little new since Sir George Staunton'sGeorge Staunton | Born: 1737-04-10 in Cargin, County Galway, Ireland. Died: 1801-01-14 in London, England.
In 1792 Staunton was apointed principal secretary to Lord Macartney’s embassy to China. Source: ODNB—ajc & Lord Macartney'sGeorge Macartney | Born: 1737-05-03 in Dublin, Ireland. Died: 1806-03-31 in Chiswick, London, England.
The East India Company and the British government sent Macartney on an embassy to Peking in order to facilitate trade with China (ODB).—ajc & Mr. Barrow'sJohn Barrow | Born: 1764-06-19 in Dragley Beck, Ulverston, Lancashire. Died: 1848-11-23 in London, England.
Served as comptroller to Lord Macartney’s embassy to China (1792-4). Known for writing Mutiny on the Bounty (1831), the first published account of the mutiny after William Bligh’s Journal. Source: ODNB—ajc, ebb, lmw time — & a good deal less than in Dr. HoldenHenry Holden, Dr. | Born: 1596 in Chaigley, Lancashire, England. Died: 1662-03.
Roman Catholic Doctor of Divinity, theologian and professor at the Sorbonne. When the practice of Catholicism was officially banned in England and Catholic leaders were fleeing the country, Holden went to Rome to argue against the Jesuits and other orders for maintaining an official Catholic presence in England.—ebb, lmw & the JesuitsThe Society of Jesus
A male religious congregation of the Catholic Church. Their missionary efforts between the 16th and 17th centuries played a significant role in the transmission of knowledge and culture between China and the West.—ajc! Oh live forever those delightful romancers who gave [del: .] us all the delight of fiction which they believed to be truth — No Travellers except BruceJames Bruce | Born: 1730-12-14 in Kinnaird House, Kinnaird, Stirlingshire, Scotland. Died: 1794-04-26 in Kinnaird House, Kinnaird, Stirlingshire, Scotland.
Bruce was only the second European to visit the isolated mountain kingdom of Abyssinia since the 1630s, and he authored the highly popular five-volume Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile in 1790 .—ajc ever approached the charms of the old missionaries. But after all beyond a certain point I do not expect we shall ever get with respect to China — they are so hedged in with the hoop-petticoat of ceremony

that nothing is visible beyond the tiny end of the little slipper. The most satisfactory thing in both these books is the impression which was made even on these Ambassador people by NapoleonNapoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of France, Emperor of the French, President of the Italian Republic, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, or: First Consul of France Emperor of the French President of the Italian Republic King of Italy Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine | Born: 1769-08-15 in Ajaccio, Corsica, France. Died: 1821-05-05 in Longwood, St. Helena, United Kingdom.
Military commander and political leader. During the French Revolution and Revolutionary Wars, Napoleon rose to prominence as a military leader. He engineered a coup in 1799 that brought him to power as First Consul of France and then as Napoleon I, Emperor of the French (from 1804 until 1814, and again in 1815). As Emperor, he led France against a series of European military coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars, building an empire that extended over most of continental Europe until its collapse in 1815. In spring 1814, the Allies captured Paris and forced Napoleon to abdicate, exiling him to the island of Elba and restoring the Bourbons to power. Less than a year later, Napoleon escaped from Elba and retook control of France, only to suffer defeat by the Allies at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. The British then exiled him to the island Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he remained until his death in 1821. He is celebrated as one of Europe's greatest military commanders and as the disseminator of the system of laws known as the Napoleonic Code.—lmw
— the greater than Ever! Even they could not resist his delightful manners — You like him better than you did do you not? I am sure you do. Apropos to BruceJames Bruce | Born: 1730-12-14 in Kinnaird House, Kinnaird, Stirlingshire, Scotland. Died: 1794-04-26 in Kinnaird House, Kinnaird, Stirlingshire, Scotland.
Bruce was only the second European to visit the isolated mountain kingdom of Abyssinia since the 1630s, and he authored the highly popular five-volume Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile in 1790 .—ajc— Have you ever finished that delightful bookTravels to Discover the Source of the Nile, In the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771 1772, and 1773. James Bruce . G.G.J. and J. Robinson. 1790. of his — and are you not in love with the Ozoro EstherEsther
According to James Bruce in Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, In the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771 1772, and 1773, Ozoro Esther was the first daughter of Iteghe, or queen-mother. Friend of James Bruce while in Abyssinia.—ajc & the beautiful Tecla MariamMariam
According to James Bruce in Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, In the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771 1772, and 1773, secretary to the king of Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopian Empire), whome he met on his travels (Vol. 2, Book 4, chapter 1). Also listed as the name of a male 15th century Abyssinian ruler, possibly in error. Mitford refers to the female secretary.—ajc
? I am sure BruceJames Bruce | Born: 1730-12-14 in Kinnaird House, Kinnaird, Stirlingshire, Scotland. Died: 1794-04-26 in Kinnaird House, Kinnaird, Stirlingshire, Scotland.
Bruce was only the second European to visit the isolated mountain kingdom of Abyssinia since the 1630s, and he authored the highly popular five-volume Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile in 1790 .—ajc himself was enamoured with the last mentioned lady — he has [del: .] Orlando'sOrlando de Boys
Orlando de Boys who falls in love with Rosalind in Shakespeare’s As You Like It.—ajc marks upon his whenever he mentions her. And don't you think the Ras MichaelRas Michael
Governor of Tigré, Abyssinia during James Bruce’s expedition Source: ODB.—ajc a most charming old Tyrant? — He has all that commanding Villainy about him which carries one along so gloriously — that intellectual power which there is no hating — just like MiltonJohn Milton, Secretary for Foreign Tongues, or: Secretary for Foreign Tongues | Born: 1608-12-09 in Bread Street, Cheapside, London, England. Died: 1674-11-08 in Bunhill, London, England.
English poet and polemical essayist who wrote in support of Parliamentary and Puritan causes, best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667).—esh, lmw
's Satan Satan
In Judeo-Christian theology, the opponent of God and mankind. The word’s derivation in Hebrew means adversary. —rnes & ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare | Born: 1564-04 in Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, England. Died: 1616-04-23 in Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, England.
Early modern era actor, theater manager, poet, and playwright. Part owner of playing company The Lord Chamberlain's men and author or co-author of thirty-eight plays. Considered the greatest English dramatist and Britain's national poet. Mitford wrote in the Introduction to her Dramatic Works: I had grown up—it is the privilege of English people to grow up—in the worship of Shakespeare, and many of his favourite scenes I literally knew by heart. —lmw
's RichardRichard III of England King of England and Lord of Ireland Richard of Gloucester | Born: 1452-10-02 in Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire, England. Died: 1485-08-22 in Bosworth Field, Leicestershire, England.
House of Plantaganet. King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1483 to 1485. After the death of his brother King Edward IV, Richard of Gloucester was appointed protector to his young sons, King Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, the Duke of York, and in preparation for Edward V's coronation, he lodged them at the Tower of London, and upon the mysterious disappearance of the boys, Richard took the throne. Richard is often accused, without proof, of having ordered the boys' execution to usurp the throne, a plot immortalized in Shakespeare's play, Richard III. His death at the Battle of Bosworth Field made him the last English king to die in battle, and effectively ended the dynastic Wars of the Roses between the Houses of York and Lancaster.—ebb
& my own beloved the EmperorNapoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of France, Emperor of the French, President of the Italian Republic, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, or: First Consul of France Emperor of the French President of the Italian Republic King of Italy Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine | Born: 1769-08-15 in Ajaccio, Corsica, France. Died: 1821-05-05 in Longwood, St. Helena, United Kingdom.
Military commander and political leader. During the French Revolution and Revolutionary Wars, Napoleon rose to prominence as a military leader. He engineered a coup in 1799 that brought him to power as First Consul of France and then as Napoleon I, Emperor of the French (from 1804 until 1814, and again in 1815). As Emperor, he led France against a series of European military coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars, building an empire that extended over most of continental Europe until its collapse in 1815. In spring 1814, the Allies captured Paris and forced Napoleon to abdicate, exiling him to the island of Elba and restoring the Bourbons to power. Less than a year later, Napoleon escaped from Elba and retook control of France, only to suffer defeat by the Allies at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. The British then exiled him to the island Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he remained until his death in 1821. He is celebrated as one of Europe's greatest military commanders and as the disseminator of the system of laws known as the Napoleonic Code.—lmw
. I wonder what he would think of being put in such company? But I never can read RichardThe Life and Death of Richard the Third, King Richard III. William Shakespeare.
Dramatizes King Richard III’s usurpation of the throne of England. The date of composition for this play is uncertain, but conjectured around 1592, and its first known performance was in 1633 for King Charles I.—ebb without thinking of him, & a friend of mine at ParisParis, France | Paris | Paris | France | 48.85661400000001 2.3522219000000177 Capital of France and important center of trade, banking, publishing, fashion, and artistic and scientific activity. Center of Enlightenment activity in the eighteenth century. A key site in the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars; travel between London and Paris was much restricted during this period.—lmw who admires him as much as I do says she delights in "TalmaFrancois Joseph Talma | Born: 1763-01-15 in Paris, France. Died: 1826-10-19 in Paris, France.
French actor and dentist who was a favorite of Napoleon Bonaparte.—ajc's [gap: 1 word, reason: illegible.]"[2] Possibly a role that Francois Talma performed in a Paris theatre after Mitford's friend and former teacher, Frances Rowden, had moved to Paris in 1818.—ebb because it is so like Napoleon'sNapoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of France, Emperor of the French, President of the Italian Republic, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, or: First Consul of France Emperor of the French President of the Italian Republic King of Italy Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine | Born: 1769-08-15 in Ajaccio, Corsica, France. Died: 1821-05-05 in Longwood, St. Helena, United Kingdom.
Military commander and political leader. During the French Revolution and Revolutionary Wars, Napoleon rose to prominence as a military leader. He engineered a coup in 1799 that brought him to power as First Consul of France and then as Napoleon I, Emperor of the French (from 1804 until 1814, and again in 1815). As Emperor, he led France against a series of European military coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars, building an empire that extended over most of continental Europe until its collapse in 1815. In spring 1814, the Allies captured Paris and forced Napoleon to abdicate, exiling him to the island of Elba and restoring the Bourbons to power. Less than a year later, Napoleon escaped from Elba and retook control of France, only to suffer defeat by the Allies at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. The British then exiled him to the island Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he remained until his death in 1821. He is celebrated as one of Europe's greatest military commanders and as the disseminator of the system of laws known as the Napoleonic Code.—lmw
quite a facsimile. But these are his adorer's fancies — we should not allow you the profane to say or to think any such thing. 〰 Pray have you ever tried the name diversion — ^ It would not do to propogate nick names We have been obliged to give it up for fear of indiscretion —  It would not do to propagate nick names & Canard-en-champ

 Monday Morning
.  P.S. ^ note The amusement here spoken of, is discussed in a former letter, of which my letter remains. I must tell you  I add a first envelope to my letter to tell you who are so fond of riddles a new amusement which Penelope ValpyPenelope Arabella French Valpy | Born: 1798 in Reading, Berkshire, England. Died: 1869-03-17 in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England.
One of the daughters of Dr. Valpy by his second wife Mary Benwell. She was baptized on June 15, 1798 at St. Lawrence, Reading, Berkshire. Penelope Arabella was youngest Valpy child to live to adulthood (a younger sister, Elizabeth Charlotte, died as an infant). She married the Rev. Peter French on October 13, 1823 on the same day that her sister Catherine married the Rev. Philip Filleul. The family lived in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, where Penelope was buried. They had five sons and three daughters. Penelope and Peter’s first child, Thomas Valpy French became the first Anglican Bishop of Lahore (now northwestern India and Pakistan).—ebb, mco, lmw  who is a great enemy of mine, Miss JamesElizabeth Mary James, or: Miss James | Born: 1775 in Bath, Somerset, England. Died: 1861-11-25 in 3 Pembroke Villas, Richmond, Surrey, England.
Close friend and correspondent of Mary Russell Mitford. She was the eldest daughter of Thomas Webb and Susanna Haycock. Her father died in 1818 and her mother in 1835. After her parents’ deaths, she lived with her two younger sisters, Emily and Susan, in Green Park Buildings, Bath, Walcot, Somerset; High Street, Mortlake, Surrey; and 3 Pembroke Villas, Richmond, Surrey. According to Coles, referring to Mitford’s diary, letters were also addressed to her at Bellevue, Lower Road, Richmond (Coles 26). She was buried at St. Mary Magdalene, Richmond, Surrey. In the 1841 census, she is listed as living on independent means; in the 1851 census, as landholder; in the 1861 census, she as railway shareholder.—lmw & I fell into quite by accident the other evening. It would only do amongst [gap: 1 word, reason: torn.] such discreet females for fear of propagating nicknames; but I can't resist telling you. — It is then nothing more or less than translating the real sir-namessurnames of different people, sometimes quite literally sometimes with a little improvement into different languages. Did you ever try it? I will give you a sample: Mr. Duckinfield — Monsieur Canard-en-champMr. Dukinfield Dukinfield Mr.
A patient of Mr. Sherwood. May be Henry Duckinfield (note alternate spelling), vicar of St. Giles from 1814-1834, according to a handwritten note at the bottom of the same page on which Needham has typed Dukinfield's name.—scw — somebody suggested that it was Mr. DukinfieldMr. Dukinfield Dukinfield Mr.
A patient of Mr. Sherwood. May be Henry Duckinfield (note alternate spelling), vicar of St. Giles from 1814-1834, according to a handwritten note at the bottom of the same page on which Needham has typed Dukinfield's name.—scw & that the right translation was Dux-in-campo — but I stuck to Canard. — Mr. Vane — Mr GirouetteHenry Vane, or: Harry Vane , Henry Vane the younger | Born: 1613-03 in Debden, Essex, England. Died: 1662-06-14 in Tower Hill, London, England.
Henry Vane was a Parliamentarian during the English Civil Wars and later served on the Council of State. Although he refused to take oaths approving of the execution of Charles I and was formally granted clemency by Charles II, he was exempted from the Indemnity and Oblivion Act and was executed for treason in 1662. —rnes, lmw
— Mrs. Wise Madame le Sage—Dr. Taylor il Dottore Sartore — Mr. Bully Mr.Taureau-mensonge— —Mr. Madison - Signor Pazzia-sono-figlio & a great many others which I can't recollect. Compound names do best. — Of our list the first & the last were famous —for Mr. DuckinfieldMr. Dukinfield Dukinfield Mr.
A patient of Mr. Sherwood. May be Henry Duckinfield (note alternate spelling), vicar of St. Giles from 1814-1834, according to a handwritten note at the bottom of the same page on which Needham has typed Dukinfield's name.—scw a clerical coxcomb of some family & much pride & gloriously awkward [gap: 1 word, reason: torn.] the midst of his coxcombry always puts me in mind of a Duck in thunder — & poor Mr. Madison who in his own proper person is quite nobody happens to be the son of a furious virago who in one of her passions — at Whist especially, might well pass for madness itself[3] Here Mitford is playing with translations of phonemes in people's names, and among her playful inventions, she applies the French translation of duck from "Duckinfield" as canard, and turns the name "Madison" into the Italian phrase meaning, "I am the son of madness."—ebb — Don't[4] At this point a red pencil or crayon crosses through Mitford's word "Don't", perhaps to signal that she neglected to delete this word, since the following leaf begins a new paragraph. This is likely the same hand that appears to cancel many pages of Mitford's letters at the Reading Central Library in red.—ajc, ebb

So [del: .] [gap: 2 words, reason: illegible.] my companions, in mischief—> [del: .] I have taken to the very discreet &[del: .]  my companions in mischief this [del: .] Solitary diversion of choosing characters out of ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare | Born: 1564-04 in Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, England. Died: 1616-04-23 in Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, England.
Early modern era actor, theater manager, poet, and playwright. Part owner of playing company The Lord Chamberlain's men and author or co-author of thirty-eight plays. Considered the greatest English dramatist and Britain's national poet. Mitford wrote in the Introduction to her Dramatic Works: I had grown up—it is the privilege of English people to grow up—in the worship of Shakespeare, and many of his favourite scenes I literally knew by heart. —lmw
for all my acquaintence — Miss JamesElizabeth Mary James, or: Miss James | Born: 1775 in Bath, Somerset, England. Died: 1861-11-25 in 3 Pembroke Villas, Richmond, Surrey, England.
Close friend and correspondent of Mary Russell Mitford. She was the eldest daughter of Thomas Webb and Susanna Haycock. Her father died in 1818 and her mother in 1835. After her parents’ deaths, she lived with her two younger sisters, Emily and Susan, in Green Park Buildings, Bath, Walcot, Somerset; High Street, Mortlake, Surrey; and 3 Pembroke Villas, Richmond, Surrey. According to Coles, referring to Mitford’s diary, letters were also addressed to her at Bellevue, Lower Road, Richmond (Coles 26). She was buried at St. Mary Magdalene, Richmond, Surrey. In the 1841 census, she is listed as living on independent means; in the 1851 census, as landholder; in the 1861 census, she as railway shareholder.—lmw is a charming mixture of Viola Viola
Character in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.—lmw BeatriceBeatrice
Niece of Leonato, character in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. —ajc & IsabellaIsabella
Sister of Claudio, character in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure .—ajc — Made up of every creature's best " — Eliza WebbElizabeth Eliza Webb | Born: 1797-03-03 in Wokingham, Berkshire, England. Died: 1851-03-24 in Sandgate, Kent, England.
Elizabeth Webb, called Eliza, was a neighbor and friend of Mary Russell Mitford. Eliza Webb was the youngest daughter of James Webb and Jane Elizabeth Ogbourn. She was baptized privately on March 3, 1797, and publicly on June 8, 1797 in Wokingham, Berkshire. She is the sister of Mary Elizabeth and Jane Eleanor Webb. In 1837 she married Henry Walters, Esq., in Wokingham, Berkshire. In Needham’s papers, he notes from the Berkshire Directorythat she lived on Broad street, presumably in Wokingham. Source: See Needham’s letter to Roberts on November 27, 1953 . —scw, lmw is MirandaMiranda
Character in Shakespeare's The Tempest. She is the daughter of Prospero and is in love with Ferdinand.—ajc, scw to the life — & Penelope ValpyPenelope Arabella French Valpy | Born: 1798 in Reading, Berkshire, England. Died: 1869-03-17 in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England.
One of the daughters of Dr. Valpy by his second wife Mary Benwell. She was baptized on June 15, 1798 at St. Lawrence, Reading, Berkshire. Penelope Arabella was youngest Valpy child to live to adulthood (a younger sister, Elizabeth Charlotte, died as an infant). She married the Rev. Peter French on October 13, 1823 on the same day that her sister Catherine married the Rev. Philip Filleul. The family lived in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, where Penelope was buried. They had five sons and three daughters. Penelope and Peter’s first child, Thomas Valpy French became the first Anglican Bishop of Lahore (now northwestern India and Pakistan).—ebb, mco, lmw with her brusquerie — her sound dark prettiness — her blundering artlessness & that inconceivable naivete with which she really thinks aloud is & can be nothing but NerissaNerissa
Portia’s maid, character in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. Nerissa disguises herself as a male law clerk when Portia disguises herself as a lawyer. —ajc the lawyers clerk. What would you call her? — Guess what I call you — Then we abound in the laughable — we have two or three DogberrysDogberry
character in Much Ado About Nothing
—lmw & more than one JusticeThe Lord Chief Justice
Most powerful official of the law in England. Character in Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part II.—ajc I hallow to say nothing of PoloniusPolonius
Chief counselor of the king; character in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. —ajc's BardolphBardolph
Character in Shakespeare’s Henry V and Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II, and the Merry Wives of Windsor. —ajc's & NymCorporal Nym
Character in Shakespeare’s Henry V and Merry Wives of Windsor.—ajc's by the dozen. I wish we could find a FalstaffFalstaff
Character in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, part one, Henry IV, part two, and Merry Wives of Windsor —ajc, ebb — but there is nothing like him left in the world. What a pretty taste I have for all that is naughty!  Don't you think me a tad mad-cap? But it's only when I have a pen in my hand — you have no notion what a pretty-spoken well-behaved demure damsel I pass for in these parts.〰 Do you see what honours honors Mr. HaydonBenjamin Robert Haydon | Born: 1786-01-26 in Plymouth, England. Died: 1846-06-22 in London.
Benjamin Robert Haydon was a painter educated at the Royal Academy, who was famous for contemporary, historical, classical, biblical, and mythological scenes, though tormented by financial difficulties and incarceration. He painted William Wordsworth's portrait in 1842 and painted a cameo of Keats in his epic canvas Christ's Entry into Jerusalem(1814-20). MRM was introduced to him at his London studio in the spring of 1817, and Sir William Elford was a mutual friend, and Haydon’s own acquaintances included several prominent British Romantic literary figures. He completed The Raising of Lazarus in 1823 . He wrote a diary and an autobiography, both of which were published only posthumously, and he committed suicide in 1846. George Paston's Little Memoirs of the Nineteenth Century (1893) contends that Mitford was asked to edit Haydon's memoir, but declined.—rnes, ebb has gained? I hope he will get a little solid pudding as well as empty praise & that these Russian Compliments will terminate in Alexander'sAleksandr Pavlovich | Born: 1777-12-12 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Died: 1825-12-01 in Taganrog, Russia.
Emperor of Russia, 1801-1825. —ajc giving him a proper price for his beautiful picture & yet EnglandEngland | 52.3555177 -1.1743197000000691 Country in the British Isles. Borders Scotland and Wales. London is the capital city, and is situated on the River Thames.—bas ought not to lose it— But unless he can find two other such friends as you & Mr. Trigcombe (oh my dear Friend how inexpressibly I admire that liberality of yours!) unless he can find such another what can he do? There is no great chance that Government will be munificent on the occasion — & it is really too large for any private house
 Restart your good custom of writing to me speedily
 & do not forget the riddles. -- Pray do you come to Town this year? And when? Have the nightingales any chance of your coming to listen to them? Do not say no! or you will break their hearts to say nothing of another heart that is not a nightingale's --Once more -- Adieu!

I understand that the same beautiful boy who sat for Solomon is the model from whence he has taken the head of ChristJesus Jesus Christ Jesus of Nazareth | Born: 0001. Died: 0034.
Hebrew preacher and religious leader and the most important figure of the Christian religion, who Christians believe to the the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament and the incarnated Son of God the Father. —lmw. Is not this odd? I believe this principle of self-will & hating to paint furniture pictures is one of the component parts of an artist. My friend Mrs. (not Miss) Hofland's husbandThomas Christopher Hofland | Born: 1777-12-25 in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England. Died: 1843-01-03 in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England.
Landscape painter, and second husband of the author Barbara Hofland.—ebb has just the same fancy. He will cover yards of canvas whether people buy them or not. — After all I cannot help admiring with all my heart & soul the manly noble independent spirit of Mr. HaydonBenjamin Robert Haydon | Born: 1786-01-26 in Plymouth, England. Died: 1846-06-22 in London.
Benjamin Robert Haydon was a painter educated at the Royal Academy, who was famous for contemporary, historical, classical, biblical, and mythological scenes, though tormented by financial difficulties and incarceration. He painted William Wordsworth's portrait in 1842 and painted a cameo of Keats in his epic canvas Christ's Entry into Jerusalem(1814-20). MRM was introduced to him at his London studio in the spring of 1817, and Sir William Elford was a mutual friend, and Haydon’s own acquaintances included several prominent British Romantic literary figures. He completed The Raising of Lazarus in 1823 . He wrote a diary and an autobiography, both of which were published only posthumously, and he committed suicide in 1846. George Paston's Little Memoirs of the Nineteenth Century (1893) contends that Mitford was asked to edit Haydon's memoir, but declined.—rnes, ebb. Don't you? He is quite one of the old heroes come to life again — one of Shakespeare'sWilliam Shakespeare | Born: 1564-04 in Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, England. Died: 1616-04-23 in Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, England.
Early modern era actor, theater manager, poet, and playwright. Part owner of playing company The Lord Chamberlain's men and author or co-author of thirty-eight plays. Considered the greatest English dramatist and Britain's national poet. Mitford wrote in the Introduction to her Dramatic Works: I had grown up—it is the privilege of English people to grow up—in the worship of Shakespeare, and many of his favourite scenes I literally knew by heart. —lmw
men. Full of spirit & endurance & moral courage. Did you read his account of the cartoons in The ExaminerThe Examiner, A Sunday paper, on politics, domestic economy, and theatricals. 1808-1886.
Weekly periodical launched by editor Leigh Hunt and his brother, the printer John Hunt. Mitford’s correspondence demonstrates that her household subscribed or regularly had access to The Examiner and The London Magazine.—ebb?[5] Mitford may be referring to a series of essays in The Examiner through the summer and fall of 1817 about the Raphael cartoons, paintings by Raphael created as full-scale designs for tapestries on biblical subjects for the Sistine Chapel, and part of the British Royal Collection since the seventeenth century. They were housed at Hampton Court, but in 1817 they were put on display at the British Institute Gallery where Haydon set his students to work on studying and copying them. In articles to The Examiner of June 1 and July 13, 1817, Haydon praises the Royal Academy's decision to display the cartoons as a great service to the art of England, but in articles of August 24 and November 16, 1817, Haydon writes in protest of the Academy's decision to remove the cartoons from the gallery, prematurely stopping his students from working with them.—ebb, ajc 〰 Pray have you the great fine edition of LavaterJohann Kaspar Lavater | Born: 1741-11-15 in Zurich, Switzerland. Died: 1801-01-02 in Zurich, Switzerland.
Swiss poet, writer, philosopher, physiognomist, and theologian.—ajc? And do you remember somewhere in the second or third volume the fine plate of Raphael'sRaffaello da Urbino Sanzio | Born: 1483 in Urbino, Marche, Italy. Died: 1520-04-06 in Rome, Italy.
Medieval Italian artist and architect.—ebb
work? Don't you think it like the EmperorNapoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of France, Emperor of the French, President of the Italian Republic, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, or: First Consul of France Emperor of the French President of the Italian Republic King of Italy Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine | Born: 1769-08-15 in Ajaccio, Corsica, France. Died: 1821-05-05 in Longwood, St. Helena, United Kingdom.
Military commander and political leader. During the French Revolution and Revolutionary Wars, Napoleon rose to prominence as a military leader. He engineered a coup in 1799 that brought him to power as First Consul of France and then as Napoleon I, Emperor of the French (from 1804 until 1814, and again in 1815). As Emperor, he led France against a series of European military coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars, building an empire that extended over most of continental Europe until its collapse in 1815. In spring 1814, the Allies captured Paris and forced Napoleon to abdicate, exiling him to the island of Elba and restoring the Bourbons to power. Less than a year later, Napoleon escaped from Elba and retook control of France, only to suffer defeat by the Allies at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. The British then exiled him to the island Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he remained until his death in 1821. He is celebrated as one of Europe's greatest military commanders and as the disseminator of the system of laws known as the Napoleonic Code.—lmw
with that fine thinking brow & that sweet mouth? The ReadingReading, Berkshire, England | Reading | Berkshire | England | 51.4542645 -0.9781302999999753 County town in Berkshire, in the Thames valley at the confluence of the Thames and the River Kennet. The town developed as a river port and in Mitford’s time served as a staging point on the Bath Road and was developing into a center of manufacturing. Mitford lived here with her parents from 1791 to 1795, on Coley Avenue in the parish of St. Mary’s and attended the Abbey School. The family returned to Reading from 1797 to about 1804, after which they relocated to Bertram House. They frequently visited Reading thereafter from their homes at nearby Bertram House, Three Mile Cross and Swallowfield. Mitford later used scenes from Reading as the basis for Belford Regis; or Sketches of a Country Town.—lmw Ladies all say its the image of GirouetteHenry Vane, or: Harry Vane , Henry Vane the younger | Born: 1613-03 in Debden, Essex, England. Died: 1662-06-14 in Tower Hill, London, England.
Henry Vane was a Parliamentarian during the English Civil Wars and later served on the Council of State. Although he refused to take oaths approving of the execution of Charles I and was formally granted clemency by Charles II, he was exempted from the Indemnity and Oblivion Act and was executed for treason in 1662. —rnes, lmw
— but thats a fib — It's much too handsome — too handsome for any bodyanybody but NapoleonNapoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of France, Emperor of the French, President of the Italian Republic, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, or: First Consul of France Emperor of the French President of the Italian Republic King of Italy Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine | Born: 1769-08-15 in Ajaccio, Corsica, France. Died: 1821-05-05 in Longwood, St. Helena, United Kingdom.
Military commander and political leader. During the French Revolution and Revolutionary Wars, Napoleon rose to prominence as a military leader. He engineered a coup in 1799 that brought him to power as First Consul of France and then as Napoleon I, Emperor of the French (from 1804 until 1814, and again in 1815). As Emperor, he led France against a series of European military coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars, building an empire that extended over most of continental Europe until its collapse in 1815. In spring 1814, the Allies captured Paris and forced Napoleon to abdicate, exiling him to the island of Elba and restoring the Bourbons to power. Less than a year later, Napoleon escaped from Elba and retook control of France, only to suffer defeat by the Allies at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. The British then exiled him to the island Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he remained until his death in 1821. He is celebrated as one of Europe's greatest military commanders and as the disseminator of the system of laws known as the Napoleonic Code.—lmw
. I do love to praise him to you because it gets you scolding or laughing at your little Friend & that is what she likes. — Nota bene — You fear you should "think something" (and LucyLucy Sweatser Hill | Born: 1790-05-02 in Stratfield Saye, Berkshire, England. Died: .
Beloved servant for twelve years in the Mitford household who, on 7 August 1820 married Charles Hill. She is the basis for the title character in the Our Village story. Source: Needham Papers, Reading Central Library. —scw says upon such occasions) I have never spoken to Mr. GirouetteHenry Vane, or: Harry Vane , Henry Vane the younger | Born: 1613-03 in Debden, Essex, England. Died: 1662-06-14 in Tower Hill, London, England.
Henry Vane was a Parliamentarian during the English Civil Wars and later served on the Council of State. Although he refused to take oaths approving of the execution of Charles I and was formally granted clemency by Charles II, he was exempted from the Indemnity and Oblivion Act and was executed for treason in 1662. —rnes, lmw
in my life nor he to me — never seen him any where but at Church — but a friend of mine has. — Adieu my dear Friend! Best from PapaGeorge Mitford, Esq., or: George Midford | Born: . Died: .
Father of Mary Rusell Mitford, George Mitford was the son of Francis Midford, surgeon, and Jane Graham. The family name is sometimes recorded as Midford. Immediate family called him by nicknames including Drum, Tod, and Dodo. He was a member of a minor branch of the Mitfords of Mitford Castle in Northumberland. Although later sources would suggest that he was a graduate of the University of Edinburgh medical school, there is no evidence that he obtained a medical degree and he did not generally refer to himself as Dr. Mitford, preferring to style himself Esq.. In 1784, he is listed in a Hampshire directory as surgeon (medicine) of Alresford. His father and grandfather worked as apothecary-surgeons and it seems likely that he served a medical apprenticeship with family members.
He married Mary Russell on October 17, 1785 at New Alresford, Hampshire. On the marriage allegation papers, both gave their addresses as Old Alresford; they later came to live at Broad Street in New Alresford. Their only child to live to adulthood, Mary Russell Mitford, was born two years later on December 16, 1787 at New Alresford, Hampshire. He assisted Mitford's literary career by representing her interests in London and elsewhere with theater owners and publishers. He was active in Whig politics and later served as a local magistrate. He coursed greyhounds with his friend James Webb.
—lmw & MamaMary Russell Mitford, or: Mrs. Mitford | Born: 1750 in Ashe, Hampshire, England. Died: 1830-01-02 in Three Mile Cross, parish of Shinfield, Berkshire, England.
Mary Russell was the youngest child of the Rev. Dr. Richard Russell and his second wife, Mary Dicker; she was born about 1750 in Ashe, Hampshire. (Her birth date is as yet unverified; period sources indicate that she was ten years older than her husband George, born in 1760.) Through the Russells, she was a distant relation of the Dukes of Bedford (sixth creation, 1694). She had two siblings, Charles William and Frances; both predeceased her and their parents, which resulted in Mary Russell inheriting her family’s entire estate upon her mother’s death in 1785. Her father’s rectory in Ashe was only a short distance from Steventon, and so she was acquainted with the young Jane Austen. She married George Mitford or Midford on October 17, 1785 at New Alresford, Hampshire. On the marriage allegation papers, both gave their addresses as Old Alresford. Their only daughter, Mary Russell Mitford, was born two years later on December 16, 1787 at New Alresford, Hampshire. Mary Russell died on January 2, 1830 at Three Mile Cross in the parish of Shinfield, Berkshire. Her obituary in the 1830 New Monthly Magazine gives New Year’s day as the date of her death.—ajc, lmw
—Ever very sincerely & affectionately yours
Mary Russell MitfordMary Russell Mitford | Born: 1787-12-16 in New Alresford, Hampshire, England. Died: 1855-01-10 in Swallowfield, Berkshire, England.
Poet, playwright, writer of prose fiction sketches, Mary Russell Mitford is, of course, the subject of our archive. Mary Russell Mitford was born on December 16, 1787 at New Alresford, Hampshire, the only child of George Mitford (or Midford) and Mary Russell. She was baptized on February 29, 1788. Much of her writing was devoted to supporting herself and her parents. She received a civil list pension in 1837. Census records from 1841 indicate that she is living with her father George, three female servants: Kerenhappuch Taylor (Mary’s ladies maid), two maids of all work, Mary Bramley and Mary Allaway, and a manservant (probably serving also as gardener), Benjamin Embury. The 1851 census lists her occupation as authoress, and lists her as living at Three Mile Cross with Kerenhappuch Taylor (lady’s maid), Sarah Chernk (maid-of-all-work), and Samuel Swetman (gardener), after the death of her father. Mitford’s long life and prolific career ended after injuries from a carriage accident. She is buried in Swallowfield churchyard. The executor of her will and her literary executor was the Rev. William Harness and her lady’s maid, Kerenhappuch Taylor Sweetman, was residuary legatee of her estate. —lmw, ebb

Write soon, soon, very soon indeed!

P.S. Upon looking again at OrmondHarrington, A Tale, and Ormond, A Tale. In Three Volumes. Vol.I. Maria Edgeworth. London : R. Hunter. 1817. I retract some part of my censure in favourfavor of King Corny Corny
King Corny was the king of Ireland in Maria Edgeworth’s Ormond (1817) —ajc (why did she kill him?) Mrs. McRuleMrs. MCrule
Character in Maria Edgeworth’s Ormond (1812) —ebb — & Miss O'FaleyMiss O’Faley
Character in Maria Edgeworth’s Ormond (1817) —ajc — particularly the last.[6] The hand in red pencil or crayon here strikes through all of "Mrs. McRule — & Miss O'Faley — particularly the last" through the end of the sentence.—ajc, ebb The good people are as usual desperately dull — mere puppets — I don't at all wonder at her admiring Sir Charles Grandison Sir Charles Grandison
Title character of Samuel Richardson’s novel The History of Sir Charles Grandison. Became proverbial for an impossibly perfect ideal man and used by Mitford in this sense.—lmw Lady Annaly Annaly Lady
Character in Maria Edgeworth’s Ormond. —ajc & Miss Annaly Annaly, Miss
Daughter of Lady Annaly in Maria Edgeworth’s Ormond. —ajc & all the & indeed all her heroines are Sir Charles GrandisonSir Charles Grandison
Title character of Samuel Richardson’s novel The History of Sir Charles Grandison. Became proverbial for an impossibly perfect ideal man and used by Mitford in this sense.—lmws in caps & petticoats

ReadingReading, Berkshire, England | Reading | Berkshire | England | 51.4542645 -0.9781302999999753 County town in Berkshire, in the Thames valley at the confluence of the Thames and the River Kennet. The town developed as a river port and in Mitford’s time served as a staging point on the Bath Road and was developing into a center of manufacturing. Mitford lived here with her parents from 1791 to 1795, on Coley Avenue in the parish of St. Mary’s and attended the Abbey School. The family returned to Reading from 1797 to about 1804, after which they relocated to Bertram House. They frequently visited Reading thereafter from their homes at nearby Bertram House, Three Mile Cross and Swallowfield. Mitford later used scenes from Reading as the basis for Belford Regis; or Sketches of a Country Town.—lmw January Fifteen 1818

Sir William Elford Bart.William Elford, Sir, baronet, Recorder for Plymouth, Recorder for Totnes, Member of Parliament | Born: 1749-08 in Kingsbridge, Devon, England. Died: 1837-11-30 in Totnes, Devon, England.
According to L’Estrange, Sir William was first a friend of Mitford’s father, and Mitford met him for the first time in the spring of 1810 when he was a widower nearing the age of 64. They carried on a lively correspondence until his death in 1837.
Elford worked as a banker at Plymouth Bank (Elford, Tingcombe and Purchase) in Plymouth, Devon, from its founding in 1782. He was elected a member of Parliament for Plymouth as a supporter of the government and Tory William Pitt, and served from 1796 to 1806. After his election defeat in Plymouth in 1806, he was elected member of Parliament for Rye and served from July 1807 until his resignation in July 1808. For his service in Parliament as a supporter of Pitt, he was made a baronet in 1800. After his son Jonathan came of age, he tried to secure a stable government post for him but never succeeded. Mayor of Plymouth in 1796 and Recorder for Plymouth from 1797 to 1833, he was also Recorder for Totnes from 1832 to 1834. Sir William served as an officer in the South Devon militia from 1788, eventually attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel; the unit saw active service in Ireland during the Peninsular Wars. Sir William was a talented amateur painter in oils and watercolors who exhibited at the Royal Society from 1774 to 1837; he exhibited still lifes and portraits but preferred landscapes. He was elected to the Royal Society Academy in 1790. He was also a talented amateur naturalist and was elected to the Royal Linnaean Society in 1790; late in life, he published his findings on an alternative to yeast.
He married his first wife, Mary Davies of Plympton, on January 20, 1776 and they had one son, Jonathan, and two daughters, Grace Chard and Elizabeth. After the death of his first wife, he married Elizabeth Hall Walrond, widow of Lieutenant-Colonel Maine Swete Walrond of the Coldstream Guards. His only son Jonathan died in 1823, leaving him without an heir.
—ebb, lmw



BickhamBickham, Somerset, England | Bickham | Somerset | England | 51.163534 -3.506621999999993 Hamlet near Plymouth, and residence of Sir William Elford, who lived there until the failure of his finances in 1825 forced him eventually to sell his family’s estate. He sold his property in Bickham in 1831 and moved to The Priory, in Totnes, Devon the house of his daughter (Elizabeth) and son-in-law.—ebb, lmw

PlymouthPlymouth, Devonshire, England | Plymouth | Devonshire | England | 50.3754565 -4.14265649999993 City on the coast of Devonshire. After declines in the seventeenth century, increasingly important from the late eighteenth century into the nineteenth as a seaport, site of trade and emigration to and from the Americas, and a center of shipbuilding. Birthplace of Benjamin Robert Haydon. Sir William Elford was also born nearby at Bickham. Elford worked as a banker at Plymouth Bank (Elford, Tingcombe and Purchase) in Plymouth, from its founding in 1782, and he was elected a member of Parliament for Plymouth and served from 1796 to 1806.—ebb, lmw

She admires Tom JonesThe History of Tom Jones, A Foundling. Henry Fielding . London: 1749. too & so do you, much more that I do — You all talk of FieldingHenry Fielding, or: Scriblerus Secundus | Born: 1707-04-22 in Sharpham, Somerset, England. Died: 1754-10-08 in Lisbon, Portugal.
Satirical novelist and playwright, Fielding was a member of the Scriblerus Club and author of Tom Jones and the popularly adapted low tragedy Tom Thumb. Fielding published his plays under the pseudonym Scriblerus Secundus.—ebb
's art & his plot & its being a complete comic epic & so forth — but is not the art most in artificially visible — did he not want the crown of all art, that of conceling it? — In short is not Peregrine PicklePeregrine Pickle
Protagonist of Tobias Smollett’s The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, In Which are Included Memoirs of a Lady of Quality (1751) —ajc a much more accomplished & likeable person? Does not SmollettTobias George Smollett | Born: 1721-03-19 in Dalquhurn, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Died: 1771-09-17 in Antignano, Tuscany, Italy.
Novelist and poet, as well as editor, translator, critic, and medical practitioner. Smollett's best-known novels were written between 1748 and 1753: The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748), The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751), and The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom (1753), and his four-volume Complete History of England was published in 1754, revised in 1758 . Together with Thomas Francklin, Smollett helped edit the thirty-five volume English translation of The Works of Voltaire, from 1761-1765 . He travelled extensively in France and Italy in his last years. Source: ODNB.—ebb, esh
make us laugh much more heartily & naturally? —And is not — I give up his heroine — but is not the pretty womanly delicate sketch of the cousin SophySophy
Character in Tobias Smollett’s The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751)—ajc much preferable to Sophia WesternSophia Western
Squire Western’s daughter, model of virtue, beauty, and all good qualities. Character in The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling by Henry Fielding (1749)—ajc? — Adieu