Your kind entertaining letter my dear FriendWilliam 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

& its very curious and amusing Enclosure (which I re-enclose) X [1] 8 Note
X This Enclosure was a MS. Journal cf. Lord Ashburton.—penAnnot_RCL have given me great pleasure. Lord AshburtonAlexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton, or: Lord Ashburton | Born: 1774-10-27. Died: 1848-05-13 in Longleat, Wiltshire, England.
Influential financier, politician, and government official. Head of Baring Brothers, Merchants, which later operated as Barings Bank, which upon its collapse in 1995 was Britain's oldest merchant bank. Barings also served as Member of Parliament for Taunton and later, for North Essex, and as Master of the Mint, President of the Board of Trade, and Ambassador to the United States. In 1842, as Ambassador, he was responsible for the Ashburton Treaty, which delimited the frontiers between British North America and the USA.—rnes

's descriptions are delightful chiefly from the extreme & singular honesty with which he sacrifices all effect & fine writing to the desire of placing the exact & naked truth before his Correspondent—a sacrifice which like most other meritorious self denials, is repaid a thousandfold by the freshness & spirit which this absence of commonplace finery throws open over the subject. His naïveté too is quite charming—just such as a highly gifted Author can sometimes bestow on a fictitious character but which very few Authors indeed can boast themselves. I hope the Public will see the Journal—a selection at least—not an abridgement—En attendant I have transcribed his letter, which made me fully conscious of its length (one does not feel that it is long in reading) & of the peculiar power of compressing words & letters which his Lordship possesses—a power which I believed passed away with my Maternal Grandfather Dr. Russell—who at the age of Eighty eight wrote a hand quite as small as firm as ever & as legible as Lord AshburtonAlexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton, or: Lord Ashburton | Born: 1774-10-27. Died: 1848-05-13 in Longleat, Wiltshire, England.
Influential financier, politician, and government official. Head of Baring Brothers, Merchants, which later operated as Barings Bank, which upon its collapse in 1995 was Britain's oldest merchant bank. Barings also served as Member of Parliament for Taunton and later, for North Essex, and as Master of the Mint, President of the Board of Trade, and Ambassador to the United States. In 1842, as Ambassador, he was responsible for the Ashburton Treaty, which delimited the frontiers between British North America and the USA.—rnes

's—Is Lady A. so fat & so pretty as he describes? And is he himself as agreeable as his letter would indicate? And is your friend Mr. Cranstoun related to the celebrated EdinburghEdinburgh, Lothian, Scotland | Edinburgh | Lothian | Scotland | 55.953252 -3.188266999999996 The capital and second-largest city in Scotland, located on the Firth of Forth. Site of the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Castle, and Holyrood Palace.—lmw Advocate & Whigthe Whig party | Whigs
In Mitford's lifetime, the Whigs developed into a formalized political party under the leadership of Charles James Fox, standing in opposition to the party. George Mitford and Mitfordsupported Whig and liberal candidates and causes. A number of Whig politicians subscribed to Mitford's early poems.—lmw? (Observe how nicely this word Whig leads me on to Politics without having recourse to any wicked hieroglyphical jerks such as a certain friend of mine is wont to use!)—You ask me two questions & tell me not to answer them—but I shall answer them—one at least to your satisfaction. With all possible regard for the private character of Lord Fitzwilliam, I am quite of your opinion, respecting his dismissal—&page 2
have always considered it as a fine & striking piece of Poetical Justice—As to the Legality of the meeting at Manchester—hem—I really don't know what to say of the matter—our speechifying Lawyers here in the Country were very positive on the subject—but as their betters & Wisers & Learneders in LondonLondon, England | London | England | 51.5073509 -0.12775829999998223 Capital city of England and the United Kingdom; one the oldest cities in Western Europe. Major seaport and global trading center at the mouth of the Thames. From 1831 to 1925, the largest city in the world.—lmw seem to demur—I think it safest to demur too.—In fact I cannot help having a small private suspicion that the meeting must have been illegal or some of the many great Whigthe Whig party | Whigs
In Mitford's lifetime, the Whigs developed into a formalized political party under the leadership of Charles James Fox, standing in opposition to the party. George Mitford and Mitfordsupported Whig and liberal candidates and causes. A number of Whig politicians subscribed to Mitford's early poems.—lmw Lawyers in ParliamentParliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; supreme legislative body in England.—ajc would certainly have hazarded a contrary opinion—but granting that, I still think it illegally suppresssed. We are one step nearer now my dear Friend but only one, so I will talk no more of the matter.

I thought you would laugh at the 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 story—It is a real misfortune for one person with some pretensions to celebrity to have a name similar in sound to one rendered very famous by another—But he will have a good deal of fame of his own when the Picture is exhibited—Fame of all sorts Praise & Blame—both of which he will welcome as tokens of celebrity & pegs to hang Answers on! I am pretty sure in spite of the ominous "almost" that the Painting will be finished this Spring, because the great difficulty 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 at length overcome—The present Head is the seventh he has painted! one of them was taken from himself! which seems to me quite as good a as the Birthday—for though his Countenance be very intellectual & full of spirit & ardency, it is I think one of the very last human faces that any body but the owner would think of copying for Jesus 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. (Pray don't tell the story of the Head—which Mr. HoflandThomas Christopher Hofland | Born: 1777-12-25 in Nottinghamshire. Died: 1843-01-03 in Leamington Spa.
Landscape painter, and second husband of the author Barbara Hofland.—ebb told me—& which might set our two fiery Artists in a flame.) You, whose poetical faith is I believe rather PopeAlexander Pope | Born: 1688-05-21 in London, England. Died: 1744-05-30 in Twickenham, Middlesex, England.
Augustan-era Catholic poet whose achievements include the mock epics The Rape of the Lock and the Dunciad, as well as the Essay on Man, and a translation of the Illiad. He had a disfiguring disability, probably resulting from Pott's disease, and was an invalid for much of his life. He was known for his biting satire. Source: Britannica.—lmw, rnes
-ish, would have liked to see a Portrait of PopeAlexander Pope | Born: 1688-05-21 in London, England. Died: 1744-05-30 in Twickenham, Middlesex, England.
Augustan-era Catholic poet whose achievements include the mock epics The Rape of the Lock and the Dunciad, as well as the Essay on Man, and a translation of the Illiad. He had a disfiguring disability, probably resulting from Pott's disease, and was an invalid for much of his life. He was known for his biting satire. Source: Britannica.—lmw, rnes
which Mrs. HoflandBarbara Wreaks Hofland | Born: 1770 in Yorkshire, England. Died: 1844-11-04 in Richmond-on-Thames.
Novelist and writer of children’s books popular in England and America, Barbara Hofland was a native of Sheffield, Yorkshire, where she published poems from July 1794 in the local newspaper, The Sheffield Iris. Her first marriage to Thomas Bradshawe Hoole left her widowed and in poverty, raising a son, Frederic, on her own, and she supported herself by publishing poems and children’s books, and by running a girl’s school in Harrogate. second marriage was to the artist Thomas Christopher Hofland. (Source: ODNB)—ebb says they have just had in the house—"taken very young an undoubted original by Jarvis; a sweeter expression, a more intelligent countenance cannot be conceived; no unholy or selfish feeling has yet ruffled the soft serenity of the brow which even Dr. Morris>page 3
of AberystwithAberystwyth would allow to be wide enough & high enough for a Poet—Should not you have discovered this not to be my writing even if I had omitted the inverted commas by the continuity of the style, the absence of that perpetual hopping motion which distinguishes mine?—Now that I am transcribing other people's letters I will copy for you a passage from one 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's (poor dear man! really it's a shame to laugh at him!) written (to thank us for a hare) from Mr. Wilkies house at KensingtonKensington, London, England | Kensington | London | England | 51.5010095 -0.1932793999999376 A district of west London, now part of the Royal Boroughs of Chelsea and Kensington in inner London. Site of Kensington Palace, Kensington Gardens, and Holland Park. —lmw. "Wilkie is painting a capital picture of reading the will. At a table is an old lawyer's clerk, a sort of mean looking narrow featured rascal who holds the will with all its awful appendages of seals & reads it with that cant twang which all people have in their voice when they are doing what they have done often & habit has rendered them insensible either to the importance or interest of what they do.—To the left sits the widow—a large enbonpoint lady with her arm stretched out on the favorite arm chair of her late dear Spouse holding a handkerchief & by her expression of feature seeming not at all displeased at which she hears read, or at what either she hears said by a bald pated half pay Officer who leans down to her cheek & in an affected air of condolence is certainly whispering something in the Widows Ear which perhaps prevents her despairing of a future conquest should so shocking an idea enter her afflicted head. To the right, or rather in the center stands a sort of middle aged Grandmother holding the infant in her arms & erecting her head with an  gleeful Turkey-cock chuckleair of proud insolent ecstasy at what has been read by the Clerk which makes it freely clear that her part of the family are safe, her air, figure, look & expression are quite admirable, they dilate into a kind of turkeycock chuckle & capitally contrast with a furious old maid at the door who has snatched up her cane at the instant & is sarcastically sneering at the whole company, as she hurries away inpage 4
indignation at being cut perhaps with ten pounds for a ring. These are the principal points in this admirable picture, which will be out in the Spring—there are other characters in it equally excellent, such as an old man with an ear trumpet, a servant boy & others which keep up the chain of interest. It is for the King of Bavaria and will not be engraved here." Now this is exceedingly clever & pleasant, as all he writes & says is when he does not put himself in a passion—By the way the room he has taken is in PiccadillyPiccadilly, Westminster, London, England | Piccadilly | Westminster | London | England | 51.5030787 -0.152073200000018 A wide road in London’s West End that lends its name to the surrounding district. Since medieval times, Piccadilly had been known as the road to Reading. In Mitford’s time, it was the site of many inns and public houses, including the White Horse coaching inn, which was the starting terminus for western-bound mailcoaches bound for Bath and Bristol. It was also the location of Devonshire House, 18th-century headquarters for the Whig party, and Burlington House, later home to the Royal Academy of Arts, the Geological Society of London, and the Royal Astronomical Society. It was also the headquarters for booksellers such as Stockdale and Hatchards in this period.—lmw, ebb & I believe all his Pictures are to be exhibited

—I quite agree with you respecting DisciplineDiscipline: A Novel. Mary Brunton. Edinburgh: George Ramsay & Co.. 1814.
First edition published anonymously.—lmw—there is no word but Methodism that can express the impression intended to be conveyed—& that impression spoils it. The end too is miserably lame, the cause of which is explained by Dr. BruntonAlexander Brunton, Professor, Very Professor, Doctor of Divinity, or: Doctor of Divinity | Born: 1772-10-02 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. Died: 1854-02-09 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.
Spouse of Mary Balfour Brunton. Church of Scotland clergyman and Moderator of the General Assembly in 1823. Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Languages at the University of Edinburgh between 1813 and 1847.—ncl, lmw

in Mrs. B.Mary Brunton Balfour | Born: 1778-11-01 in Burray, Orkney Islands, Scotland. Died: 1818-12-07 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Author of novels Self Control and Discipline. Mitford pokes gentle fun at her under the name Mrs. Discipline in letters of 1819.—lmw

's life to be the appearance of WaverleyWaverley; or ’Tis Sixty Years Since. Walter Scott. Sir Walter Scott Walter Scott Sir Baronet . Edinburgh: Archibald Constable. 1814. , which took away all the originality of her highland pictures & dispirited & overwhelmed her by its infinite superiority—Mrs. BruntonMary Brunton Balfour | Born: 1778-11-01 in Burray, Orkney Islands, Scotland. Died: 1818-12-07 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Author of novels Self Control and Discipline. Mitford pokes gentle fun at her under the name Mrs. Discipline in letters of 1819.—lmw

herself was not at all like a Methodist—she had none of the smoothness the sadness & the cant of those wretched looking people—on the contrary she was exceedingly lively bouncing & abrupt—with great talents undoubtedly & a power of strong eloquent writing very rare in a woman. I have just been looking over a book which puts Methodism in the strongest point of view of any I ever met with—unintentionally for it is an Evangelical book, of the highest class & reputation—splendidly printed & widely circulated—The Memoirs of the Revd. H. Martyn. Did you ever hear of him? He was a Cornish young man, who gained the highest honours at CambridgeCambridge University
The University in Cambridge. The school was established in 1209.—jap, but falling into the clutches of Mr. C. Simeon & his sect relinquished all his hopes & prospects in 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 & went as a Missionary to IndiaIndia | Indian subcontinent | India | 20.593684 78.96288000000004 In Mitford’s time, the East India Company and its private armies controlled India and its economy, effectively from 1757 to 1858, after which Queen Victoria and her government directly governed India as the Raj. Became the Republic of India, a federal parliamentary republic, in 1950.—ebb where he died.—This book is chiefly a selection from his journals, & the shocking familiarity with which he addresses the page 5
Diety—the horrible manner in which he consigns all who differ from him to eternal punishment—& above all the strain of constant fear doubt & agony in which he describes his own mind, are such as no Imagination could have conceived. In the whole thick & closely printed Octavo Volume there is not one page uncontaminated by such expressions of personal fondness towards the SaviourJesus 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 as a lover would scarcely use towards his Mistress or a Mother to her babe—& with such declarations of wickedness remorse & misery as would seem exaggerated from a Murderer. If I had any friend likely to fall into Methodism (any friend of common sense I mean in such danger) I should certainly recommend these Memoirs as an Antidote—the very dose which the Methodists themselves would prescribe for a [gap: reason: torn.][contrary] purpose. If it were possible to laugh at such a history, now the book would be ridiculous & entertaining enough—We are very sorry to hear of Mr. ElfordJonathan Elford, Member of Parliament, or: Mr. Elford, Member of Parliament | Born: 1776-11-05 in Plympton Erle, Plymouth, Devon, England. Died: 1823-03-11 in Upland, Tamerton Foliott, Plymouth, Devon, England.
The only son of Sir William Elford and his first wife Mary Davies Elford. He joined Oriel College, Oxford on June 3, 1795 and later moved to Tamerton Folliot, Devon on an estate he called Upland. He served as a Captain in the South Devonshire militia from 1803 with his father, who was also an officer. On May 10, 1810, he married Charlotte Wynne . He also became a freeman for Plymouth in 1810. Throughout his adulthood, his father tried unsuccessfully to secure him a position within the government. He served briefly as Member of Parliament for Westbury from March 10 to November 29, 1820, a seat he secured under the patronage of Sir Manasseh Masseh Lopes. At this time, Westbury was a controversial rotten borough whose interest Lopes had purchased from Lord Abingdon, and Jonathan Elford probably secured the position in the place of Lopes who was serving a prison sentence for electoral corruption. When Lopes's sentence was lifted, Elford resigned his seat in November 1820 so Lopes could return. His death at the age of 46 left Sir William without an heir and his debts contributed to his father’s financial collapse in 1825 .—kab, ebb, lmw
's illness. He is I hear now recovering—The "We" at present consists only of[gap: reason: torn.][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] & myself—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
has been at WinchesterWinchester, Hampshire, England | Winchester | Hampshire | England | 51.059771 -1.3101420000000417 City and county town of Hampshire. Site of Winchester Cathedral and Winchester College, one of the oldest public grammar schools. Jane Austen died here and is buried in the Cathedral. John Keats wrote several of his best-known poems while on a visit to the city.—lmw these ten days & is likely to remain these ten days longer—I remain at home as "lady of the Key" &— behave very well in my post—considering—that is to say I have as yet starved no one, only once forgot to write to the Butcher & only twice lost the Insignia of my Office. Mrs. DickinsonCatherine Dickinson Allingham | Born: 1787 in Middlesex, England. Died: 1861-09-02 in St. Marylebone, Middlesex, England.
Catherine Allingham was the daughter of Thomas Allingham. She married Charles Dickinson on August 2, 1807 at St. Giles, South Mimms, Middlesex. They lived in Swallowfield, where their daughter Frances was born, and where they were visited by the Mitford family. According to Mitford, Catherine Dickinson was fond of match-making among her friends and acquaintances. (See Mitford's February 8th, 1821 letter to Elford . Her husband Charles died in 1827, when her daughter was seven. Source: L'Estrange). —ajc, lmw dined here on Wednesday—the fact in Natyral history respecting which you enquire cannot be resolved yet awhile—she does not expect to be confined till the end of next month—She begs her best regards—so does 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—I have hardly light to say that [del: .]I am ever my dear Friend

I always deal in postscripts from sheer shatter-brainedness.—Only think of Mr. Elliott's Solicitor falling down in a Apoplectic fit in the Middle of ^ the drawing up of our conveyance & our being still detained here!—I don't know where we shall go when we remove.—

Of course you will understand that though I have transcribed Lord AshburtonAlexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton, or: Lord Ashburton | Born: 1774-10-27. Died: 1848-05-13 in Longleat, Wiltshire, England.
Influential financier, politician, and government official. Head of Baring Brothers, Merchants, which later operated as Barings Bank, which upon its collapse in 1995 was Britain's oldest merchant bank. Barings also served as Member of Parliament for Taunton and later, for North Essex, and as Master of the Mint, President of the Board of Trade, and Ambassador to the United States. In 1842, as Ambassador, he was responsible for the Ashburton Treaty, which delimited the frontiers between British North America and the USA.—rnes

's letter it was only for my own benefit & 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
's & I do not mean to make any indiscreet use of it.—Write soon my dear Friend—never mind having nothing to say—I am sure I set you a good example of writing about nothing.—Excuse the wafer—I am afraid of over-weight—& once more my dear friend Goodbye—God Bless you.