Digital Mitford: Letter View

Letter to Sir William ElfordWilliam 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

, April 3, 1815

Edited by Lisa M. WilsonLisa M. Wilson, Managing Editor, Bibliography and Correspondence, Founding Editor, State University of New York at Potsdam
Lisa M. Wilson is Professor in the Department of English at SUNY Potsdam, where she has taught since 2005. Her areas of interest include transatlantic Romantic and Victorian era literature, particularly women’s writing and popular forms such as the Gothic novel and the literary ballad. She is also interested in book history and bibliographical studies, particularly in the study of authorship in the long nineteenth century (1780-1900). She has published in European Romantic Review, Romanticism on the Net (now RaVon), Romantic Circles, Romantic Textualities, and elsewhere. She is currently working on a monograph on Romantic-period authorship and literary celebrity. Her work on Digital Mitford thus far includes editing and coding Mitford’s Introduction to her collected Dramatic Works (1854), a critical memoir that recounts the author’s influences and experiences at Covent Garden and Drury Lane in the 1820s and 30s. It also includes researching Mitford’s publication history for the site’s working bibliography, particularly tracking the migration of Mitford’s stories from their first publication to their later reappearances in collections and periodicals. A Founding Editor of Digital Mitford, she and her teams of student research assistants have been at work since 2013 on transcribing, coding, and researching Mitford’s letters from 1817 to the early 1820s and on Mitford’s early poems, including her 22 sonnets and her long poems, Weston Grove and Antigone: A Portrait in Verse. She is currently teaching a course on digital textual editing for junior and senior undergraduates and directing undergraduate student internships for Digital Mitford. .

Sponsored by:

Mary Russell Mitford Society: Digital Mitford Project

Penn State Erie, The Behrend College

Digital Mitford Letters: The Mary Russell Mitford Archive

Repository: Reading Central Library. Shelf mark: qB/TU/MIT Vol. 3 Horizon No.: 1361547 ff. 258

Hands other than Mitford's noted on this manuscript:

Red crayon or thick red pencil. Probably a different hand from Mitford's that marks many of her letters, sometimes drawing diagonal lines across pages, and sometimes writing words overtop and perpendicularly across Mitford's writing. A red line is drawn from top left to bottom right of each of the first three leaves. On leaf four, a red line is drawn from top left to bottom right across each of the two text blocks. There is no red crayon across the address text block.

Someone, apparently other than Mitford, perhaps cataloging letters and describing them, who left grey pencil marks and numbered her letters now in the Reading Central Library's collection. This letter is numbered "11" in the top left of the first leaf.

Our default is the Diplomatic view.
Click to toggle the Normalized view (shows conventional spellings;
hides pagebreaks, insertion marks, and deletions):

Maintained by: Elisa E. Beshero-Bondar (eeb4 at psu.edu)

Last modified: 2024-11-23T10:09:03.271728Z

What a happy device have you found, 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

, to make me write quickly! "Unless you write immediately & write a long letter" say you "I shall be sure that you are married." And then you talk something of being certain that I am in Love & being courted & so forth because I have given you a short respite from the fatigue & diffiulty of deciphering a frankfull of my hieroglyphics once a fortnight. But, Alas! my dear friend, you are mistaken, quite mistaken, I assure you! I am not going to be married—no such good luck as 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 says—I have not been courted—& I am not in Love. So much for this question—If I ever should happen to be going to be married (elegant construction this!) I will not fail to let you into the secret—but Alas! Alas!! Alas!!! "In such a then I write a never." [2] Quotation from All's Well that Ends well, act three, scene two; letter read by Helena: "When thou canst get the ring upon my finger, which shall never come off, and show me a child begotten of thy body, that I am father to, then call me husband, but in such a then I write a never."—lmw—In the meantime I am infinitely flattered & delighted to find you complaining of short letters. 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 has always so scolded me for sending you such long ones & bewailed your hard fate so pitifully in being condemned to read them, that I really began to think in spite of all your politeness & my own vanity that I was doing you a great favour in curtailing my epistles. But now he may scold as long as he pleases I have it under page 2
your own hand that you like long letters & long ones you shall have bad good & indifferent—there is a Latin line which I am afraid of writing for fear of blunder butwhich you doubtless remember which expresses pretty accurately the degree in which the aforesaid qualities are likely to appear in my epistles.—Now 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

, then I have like you & CowperWilliam Cowper | Born: 1731-11-26 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. Died: 1800-04-25 in East Dereham, Norfolk, England.
Poet, hymnodist, and author of the most important translations of Homer since Pope. He was deeply committed to the anti-slavery movement and wrote several poems on the subject. His poetry continued to be much-admired and reprinted in the Romantic and Victorian period.—lmw
done talking of my letter. I will if you please begin writing it. And first of all I must quarrel with you for depriving me of the pleasure of descanting on two such notable subjects as the Corn Laws & BonaparteNapoleon 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
by being exactly of my opinion & leaving me nothing to say. As to the Corn Laws they, I must confess, are but the Ghost of a subject & even that troubled spirit seems likely enough to be laid in the red Sea by the mighty Conjuror of FranceFrance | 46.227638 2.213749000000007 Country in western Europe. Paris is the capital and largest city.—bas—but we might neverthless have had a very pretty little dispute about it if we had not happened to be of the same way of thinking—though I believe that I was less an advocate for them than you were (I take it for granted you see that you were for them though you defied me to find out on which side you had ranged yourself) from thinking in common with the best informed people in this neighbourhood that the difference either to the Farmer or the Consumer would be infinitely less than was expected not merely by the mob but by the rational part of their leaders. With regard to 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
we are exactly of a mind—no country can have a right to dictate to another as to the form of its internalpage 3
Government, & when a whole nation, consisting of course of those who act & those who acquiesce, when a whole nation by one simultaneous & bloodless revolution deposed one Monarch—a Monarch imposed on them it by conquering Kings & replaces another of its own free & unbiased choice, & when FranceFrance | 46.227638 2.213749000000007 Country in western Europe. Paris is the capital and largest city.—bas is that Nation and 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
that Monarch none but madmen would interfere & none but fools could expect their interference to succeed. If 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
be a Tyrant what is that to us! The French have deserved him ^ by their treachery to LouisLouis Auguste , Duc de Berry, Dauphin of France, His Most Christian Majesty The King of France, Citizen Louis Capet | Born: 1754-08-23 in Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France. Died: 1793-01-21 in .
Last King of France during the Ancien Régime, he ruled as absolute monarch until 1789 and after the French Revolution as a constitutional monarch until 1792. He was imprisoned, tried, and guillotined in 1792-1793.—jgf, lmw
, & if they prefer a King ?? to a King ?? in the name of Heaven let them keep him. If he be not a Tyrant—And surely FranceFrance | 46.227638 2.213749000000007 Country in western Europe. Paris is the capital and largest city.—bas ought to know—they have deserved him by their fidelity to himself, & why should we interrupt their happiness by efforts which must mar our own. What a pity it was that LouisLouis Auguste , Duc de Berry, Dauphin of France, His Most Christian Majesty The King of France, Citizen Louis Capet | Born: 1754-08-23 in Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France. Died: 1793-01-21 in .
Last King of France during the Ancien Régime, he ruled as absolute monarch until 1789 and after the French Revolution as a constitutional monarch until 1792. He was imprisoned, tried, and guillotined in 1792-1793.—jgf, lmw
did not when he saw as he must have seen that hope was lost retire presently tranquilly to 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 leaving Peace as a parting legacy to FranceFrance | 46.227638 2.213749000000007 Country in western Europe. Paris is the capital and largest city.—bas & building for himself a truer a better & a more dignified reputation by relinquishing his throne than any that even a long reign could have gained him. He was good enough to have done this—why was he not great enough?

Pray have you read the Lord of the Isles? I do not mean, as I once unwittingly did in the beginning of our correspondence, to draw you into the scrape of reading a Poem, but if you should by chance have looked at it pray tell me how you like it. It is certainly a thousand times better than Rokeby & yet it doespage 4
not please me as ScottWalter Scott, Sir, Baronet, or: Sir Baronet | Born: 1771-08-15 in College Wynd, Edinburgh, Scotland. Died: 1832-09-21 in Abbotsford, near Melrose, Roxburghshire, Scotland.
Scottish advocate, antiquarian, poet, and novelist. Also worked as clerk of the Court of Session in Edinburgh. He assembled a collection of Scottish ballads, many of which had never before been printed, in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, first published in 1802, but continually expanded in revised editions through 1812 . Author of the long romance poems, The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805), Marmion (1808), and The Lady of the Lake (1810). From 1814-1831, Scott published 23 novels, and over the course of his literary career, he wrote review articles for the Edinburgh Review, The Quarterly Review, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, and the Foreign Quarterly Review.—ebb, esh
's Poems used to do. I am afraid that I once admired him a great deal too much & now am in some danger of liking him a great deal too little. Nothing so violent as a rebound either ^ of the head or the heart. Once extinquish enthusiasm & all the fire in Vesuvius will never light it again. I fancy that the World is something of my mind in this respect & begins to tire of its Idol—only the World is not half so honest & instead of Knocking down one piece of wood contents itself with sticking up another right before it—"It is not" say all the gentle damsels of my acquaintance "that we like ScottWalter Scott, Sir, Baronet, or: Sir Baronet | Born: 1771-08-15 in College Wynd, Edinburgh, Scotland. Died: 1832-09-21 in Abbotsford, near Melrose, Roxburghshire, Scotland.
Scottish advocate, antiquarian, poet, and novelist. Also worked as clerk of the Court of Session in Edinburgh. He assembled a collection of Scottish ballads, many of which had never before been printed, in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, first published in 1802, but continually expanded in revised editions through 1812 . Author of the long romance poems, The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805), Marmion (1808), and The Lady of the Lake (1810). From 1814-1831, Scott published 23 novels, and over the course of his literary career, he wrote review articles for the Edinburgh Review, The Quarterly Review, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, and the Foreign Quarterly Review.—ebb, esh
less—we only like Lord ByronGeorge Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron Byron | Born: 1788-01-22 in Holles Street, London, England. Died: 1824-04-19 in Missolonghi, Greece.
Romantic-era poet, playwright, and celebrity. English peer after he inherited the Barony of Byron of Rochdale in 1798. He died fighting for independence for Greece. Friend of William Harness.—lmw

better." Now I do not—I like ScottWalter Scott, Sir, Baronet, or: Sir Baronet | Born: 1771-08-15 in College Wynd, Edinburgh, Scotland. Died: 1832-09-21 in Abbotsford, near Melrose, Roxburghshire, Scotland.
Scottish advocate, antiquarian, poet, and novelist. Also worked as clerk of the Court of Session in Edinburgh. He assembled a collection of Scottish ballads, many of which had never before been printed, in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, first published in 1802, but continually expanded in revised editions through 1812 . Author of the long romance poems, The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805), Marmion (1808), and The Lady of the Lake (1810). From 1814-1831, Scott published 23 novels, and over the course of his literary career, he wrote review articles for the Edinburgh Review, The Quarterly Review, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, and the Foreign Quarterly Review.—ebb, esh
less—but Lord ByronGeorge Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron Byron | Born: 1788-01-22 in Holles Street, London, England. Died: 1824-04-19 in Missolonghi, Greece.
Romantic-era poet, playwright, and celebrity. English peer after he inherited the Barony of Byron of Rochdale in 1798. He died fighting for independence for Greece. Friend of William Harness.—lmw

less still; the only modern Poet whom I liked better & better is CampbellThomas Campbell | Born: 1777-07-27 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Died: 1844-06-15 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.
Scottish poet and editor: author of The Pleasures of Hope (1799) and Gertrude of Wyoming (1799). Editor of the New Monthly Magazine from 1821 to 1830, in which capacity he knew Thomas Noon Talfourd as a contributor. See Cyrus Redding's Literary Reminiscences and Memoirs of Thomas Campbell . Possibly the Mr. Campbell that Mitford mentions in her letter to Talfourd of 13 August 1822 .—ebb
. I have told you my dear friend that I would not trust you in the case to be jingled into a fever by "mincing poesy" [3] Hotspur in Shakespeare's Henry IV Part I, act 3, scene 1: "And that would set my teeth nothing on edge,/ Nothing so much as mincing poetry"—lmw but I have found out, to my great satisfaction (for I too am a novel-reader) that there is no danger of affronting you by recommending a prose Epic to your perusal, & I have lately been very much & very unexpectedly pleased with Lady MorganSydney Morgan Owenson, Lady Morgan, or: Lady Morgan | Born: 1781-12-25 in Dublin, Ireland. Died: 1859-04-14 in London, England.
Irish author, amateur performer, and Romantic-era literary celebrity.—lmw
(ci-devant Miss Owenson's) O'DonnelO’Donnel: A National Tale. London: Henry Colburn. 1814. . I had a great prejudice & dislike to this fair Author ever since I read a certain description of which she was guilty ^ where part of a Lady's dress is described as "an apparent tissue of woven air," [4] A misattribution. Not from from Owenson's 1814 novel but from her Woman; or Ida of Athens: "She resembled as she lay, the beautiful personification of Bashfulness by Corradini; for an air of vestal innocence, that modesty which is of soul, seemed to diffuse itself over a form whose exquisite symmetry was at once betrayed and concealed by the apparent tissue of woven air which fell like a vapour around her." The Quarterly Review and Barrett's novel The Heroine also poked fun at this passage.—lmw & really took up the book with an idea that nothing but nonsense could come from that quarter. I was however very much disappointed in my ^ malicious of laughing at her & obliged to content myself with laughing with her. Her hero is very interesting—her heroine very amusing—there are some page 5
good characters particularly a managing bustling woman of fashion et pour la bonne nouche [5] Colloquially, the best for the last.—lmw there is an Irish servant not much if at all inferior to the admirable Irishmen of 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
. With all this the book has two great faults—Irish politics & Irish Antiquities found admission I by the help of an Author-like fellow feeling have discovered. Poor Lady MorganSydney Morgan Owenson, Lady Morgan, or: Lady Morgan | Born: 1781-12-25 in Dublin, Ireland. Died: 1859-04-14 in London, England.
Irish author, amateur performer, and Romantic-era literary celebrity.—lmw
meant to have made one of her old romances full of "woven air" & so forth of her work & have collected materials & written a good deal could not find it in her heart to throw it away & so foisted the ODonnel of ElizabethElizabeth Tudor, Queen Elizabeth I, Queen of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc. | Born: 1533-09-07 in Palace of Placentia, Greenwich, England. Died: 1603-03-24 in Richmond Palace, Surrey, England.
The last of the Tudor monarchs, and defender of father’s instition of a Protestant Church of England, Elizabeth I was Queen of England, France, and Ireland from 1588 until her death in 1603. —ebb, rnes's time into the ODonnel of George the ThirdGeorge William Frederick , King of Great Britain and King of Ireland , King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Born: 1738-06-04 in Norfolk House, St. James's Square, London, England. Died: 1820-01-29 in Windsor Castle, Windsor, England.
The king who lost the American colonies, and suffered porphyria and mental illness in the 1810s, when his son, the future King George IV reigned in his stead as the Prince Regent. King George III's role changed after the Act of Union between England and Ireland in 1801.—ebb
's by way of ^ an Ancestor. After all the book is very entertaining & the Episode easily skiptskipped. Apropos to novels.—I have discovered that our great favourite Miss AustenJane Austen | Born: 1775-12-16 in Steventon, Hampshire, England. Died: 1817-07-18 in Winchester, Hampshire, England.
Novelist celebrated for her wit and style, whose works investigated women's social and economic vulnerabilities in English society. During her lifetime she published anonymously. Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1815), all anonymously. Northanger Abbey, the first written of her novels (composed in 1798-1799) was published posthumously in 1818 (the title was chosen by surviving family) along with her final completed novel, Persuasion. Mitford claims in a letter to Sir William Elford of 3 April 1815 that she has recently discovered Austen is my countrywoman,, that is, a neighbor. Later in a letter of 2 July 1816 praised Emma in particular among Austen's novels. She and Elford evidently knew the identity of Austen as the author long before the information was public knowledge, and she claims in the April 3 letter that her mother remembered Jane Austen in her youth as the prettiest, silliest, most affected, husband-hunting butterfly she ever remembers, but that Jane was by the 1810s extremely quiet, which impressed Mitford: till Pride and Prejudice showed what a precious gem was hidden in that unbending case, she was no more regarded in society than a poker or a fire-screen, or any other thin upright piece of wood or iron that fills its corner in peace and quietness. The case is very different now; she is still a poker—but a poker of whom every one is afraid. It must be confessed that this silent observation from such an observer is rather formidable. Most writers are good-humoured chatterers—neither very wise nor very witty:—but nine times out of ten (at least in the few that I have known) unaffected and pleasant, and quite removing by their conversation any awe that may have been excited by their works. But a wit, a delineator of character, who does not talk, is terrific indeed! Source: L’Estrange.—ebb, rnes
is my Countrywoman—that 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
knew all her family very intimately, & ^ that she herself is an old maid (I beg her pardon I mean a young lady) with whom 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
[del: 2 words.] before her marriage was acquainted.— 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
says that she was then the prettiest silliest most affected husband-hunting butterfly she ever remembers—& a friend of mine who visits her now says that she has stiffened into the most perpendicular precise taciturn piece of "single blessedness" [6] A Midsummer Night's Dream, act one, scene one, Theseus to Hermia: "Earthlier happy is the rose distilled/ Than that which withering on the virgin thorn/ Grows, lives and dies in single blessedness."—lmwthat ever existed, & that till Pride and PrejudicePride and Prejudice: A Novel. London: T. Egerton. 1813. showed ^ what a previous gem was hidden in that unbending case she was no more regarded in society than a poker or a fire skreenscreen or any other thin upright piece of wood or iron page 6
that fills its corner in peace & quietness. The case is very different now—she is still a poker—but a poker of whom every one is afraid. It must be confessed that this silent observation from such an observer is rather formidable—most writers are good humoured chatterers—neither very wise nor very witty—but nine times out of ten—at least in the few that I have known, unaffected & pleasant & quite removing by their conversation any fear awe that may have been excited by their works—but a wit, a delineator of character who does not talk is terrific indeed! After all I do not know that I can quite vouch for this account though the friend from whom I received it is truth itself—but her family connections must render her disagreeable to Miss AustenJane Austen | Born: 1775-12-16 in Steventon, Hampshire, England. Died: 1817-07-18 in Winchester, Hampshire, England.
Novelist celebrated for her wit and style, whose works investigated women's social and economic vulnerabilities in English society. During her lifetime she published anonymously. Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1815), all anonymously. Northanger Abbey, the first written of her novels (composed in 1798-1799) was published posthumously in 1818 (the title was chosen by surviving family) along with her final completed novel, Persuasion. Mitford claims in a letter to Sir William Elford of 3 April 1815 that she has recently discovered Austen is my countrywoman,, that is, a neighbor. Later in a letter of 2 July 1816 praised Emma in particular among Austen's novels. She and Elford evidently knew the identity of Austen as the author long before the information was public knowledge, and she claims in the April 3 letter that her mother remembered Jane Austen in her youth as the prettiest, silliest, most affected, husband-hunting butterfly she ever remembers, but that Jane was by the 1810s extremely quiet, which impressed Mitford: till Pride and Prejudice showed what a precious gem was hidden in that unbending case, she was no more regarded in society than a poker or a fire-screen, or any other thin upright piece of wood or iron that fills its corner in peace and quietness. The case is very different now; she is still a poker—but a poker of whom every one is afraid. It must be confessed that this silent observation from such an observer is rather formidable. Most writers are good-humoured chatterers—neither very wise nor very witty:—but nine times out of ten (at least in the few that I have known) unaffected and pleasant, and quite removing by their conversation any awe that may have been excited by their works. But a wit, a delineator of character, who does not talk, is terrific indeed! Source: L’Estrange.—ebb, rnes
since she is the sister in law of a Gentleman who is at law with Miss A.Jane Austen | Born: 1775-12-16 in Steventon, Hampshire, England. Died: 1817-07-18 in Winchester, Hampshire, England.
Novelist celebrated for her wit and style, whose works investigated women's social and economic vulnerabilities in English society. During her lifetime she published anonymously. Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1815), all anonymously. Northanger Abbey, the first written of her novels (composed in 1798-1799) was published posthumously in 1818 (the title was chosen by surviving family) along with her final completed novel, Persuasion. Mitford claims in a letter to Sir William Elford of 3 April 1815 that she has recently discovered Austen is my countrywoman,, that is, a neighbor. Later in a letter of 2 July 1816 praised Emma in particular among Austen's novels. She and Elford evidently knew the identity of Austen as the author long before the information was public knowledge, and she claims in the April 3 letter that her mother remembered Jane Austen in her youth as the prettiest, silliest, most affected, husband-hunting butterfly she ever remembers, but that Jane was by the 1810s extremely quiet, which impressed Mitford: till Pride and Prejudice showed what a precious gem was hidden in that unbending case, she was no more regarded in society than a poker or a fire-screen, or any other thin upright piece of wood or iron that fills its corner in peace and quietness. The case is very different now; she is still a poker—but a poker of whom every one is afraid. It must be confessed that this silent observation from such an observer is rather formidable. Most writers are good-humoured chatterers—neither very wise nor very witty:—but nine times out of ten (at least in the few that I have known) unaffected and pleasant, and quite removing by their conversation any awe that may have been excited by their works. But a wit, a delineator of character, who does not talk, is terrific indeed! Source: L’Estrange.—ebb, rnes
's brother for the greater part of his fortune. You must have remarked how much her stories hinge upon entailed estates—doubtless she has learnt to dislike Entails. Her brother was adopted by a Mr. Knight who left him his name & two much better legacies in an estate of five thousand a year in Kent & one of nearly double the value in HampshireHampshire, England | Hampshire England | 51.05769480000001 -1.3080628999999817 County on the southern coast of England, known historically as the County of Southampton. The county town is Winchester. Abbreviated Hants. —lmw, but it seems that he forgot some ceremony—passing a fine I think they call it—with regards to the HampshireHampshire, England | Hampshire England | 51.05769480000001 -1.3080628999999817 County on the southern coast of England, known historically as the County of Southampton. The county town is Winchester. Abbreviated Hants. —lmw property, which Mr. Baverstock has claimed in right of his Mother together with the mesne rents & is likely to be successful.—Before I quite drop the subject of novels I must tell you that I am reading Guy ManneringGuy Mannering. with great pleasure—I have not finished it nearly so that page 7
I speak of it now as any one would do that had read no farther than the second Volume of the Mysteries of Udolpho & that won't be much better than one who had finished it—I do not think that Walter ScottWalter Scott, Sir, Baronet, or: Sir Baronet | Born: 1771-08-15 in College Wynd, Edinburgh, Scotland. Died: 1832-09-21 in Abbotsford, near Melrose, Roxburghshire, Scotland.
Scottish advocate, antiquarian, poet, and novelist. Also worked as clerk of the Court of Session in Edinburgh. He assembled a collection of Scottish ballads, many of which had never before been printed, in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, first published in 1802, but continually expanded in revised editions through 1812 . Author of the long romance poems, The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805), Marmion (1808), and The Lady of the Lake (1810). From 1814-1831, Scott published 23 novels, and over the course of his literary career, he wrote review articles for the Edinburgh Review, The Quarterly Review, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, and the Foreign Quarterly Review.—ebb, esh
did write Guy ManneringGuy Mannering. —it is not nearly so like him as WaverleyWaverley; or ’Tis Sixty Years Since. Edinburgh: Archibald Constable. 1814.
Mitford mentions reading Waverley in her Journal in 1819 and 1820.—hjb was & the motto is from "The Lay."