Your kind letter gave all the pleasure that your good nature could desire—It is a great comfort to know that my trifles have, some of them at least, a chance of being accepted, & it is no less a one that my Tragedy is not yet rejected. I enclose a good for nothing essay for Mr Colburn.[1] Mitford mentions around this time in her Journal of 1819-1823 that she is working on an Essay on Letters, and an Essay on Thomas May, either of which might be what she is referring to here. The Essay on Thomas May was published as On the Comedies of Thomas May, New Monthly Magazine: NS 2, 1821 70. —scw, ebb I have nearly finished another little Drama for Mr BaldwinRobert Baldwin | Born: 1780. Died: 1858-01-29.
Printer of the London Magazine; London printer and bookseller. Partners with Charles Cradock and William Joy; published works with them under firm name Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy. Also published separately under R. Baldwin. See Coles 14.—lmw
—You will wonder at my loading you with so many of these slight Sketches, but I wish to accumulate a little stock of them that if a series should be inserted in the Magazine I may not be interrupted when I begin another Tragedy,[2] The tragedy that Mitford subsequently began was Foscari.—scw which I shall certainly do as soon as I hear that FiescoFiesco.
Mitford’s first attempt to write a full-length tragedy, never performed or printed, although she did submit it for consideration to William Macready and the managers of Covent Garden Theatre in 1820. Schiller also wrote a play on this subject, entitled Die Verschwörung des Fiesco zu Genua; or Fiesco’s Conspiracy at Genoa. In a letter of 9 February 1821 Mitford indicates that she was not familiar with Schiller’s work, having neither seen nor sought for it. —lmw is rejected. Was the last little Drama [3] Mitford is likely referring to Emily. She records in her notebook on March 23, 1821 that she sent it to Talfourd on that date.—scwtoo long? too artificial? Too like a play? I am afraid it was—& this[4] Mitfordmay be referring to the dramatic sketch, Claudia's Dream. In her notebook, she refers to this sketch by name on April 3. She mentions beginning another sketch on April 12, and records finishing a sketch on April 21 , which indicates the rapid pace at which she was composing for magazines around this time.—scw will not be much shorter. Nothing seems to me so difficult page 2
(writing prose always excepted) as to tell a story rapidly in dialogue that tries to be easy & natural.

You will find a copy of the Sonnet[5] This is the sonnet Mitford wrote on Talfourd's pleading in court, written March 9, 1819, printed in the 1827 poems, sonnet #13, page 306:
XIII.
ON HEARING MR. TALFOURD PLEAD IN THE ASSIZE-
HALL AT READING, ON HIS FIRST CIRCUIT,
March 1821.—lmwwhich you desire so flatteringly. Short as it falls of its object I certainly never expected that you would send that sonnet to either Magazine—to have thought that would have shewn a want of knowledge of you equal to the Dear DoctorRichard Valpy, Doctor of Divinity, or: Dr. Valpy | Born: 1754-12-07 in St. John’s, Jersey, Channel Islands. Died: 1836-03-28 in Reading, Berkshire, England.
Richard Valpy (the fourth of that name) was the eldest son of Richard Valpy [III] and Catherine Chevalier. He was a friend and literary mentor to Mary Russell Mitford. He matriculated at Pembroke College, Oxford University on April 1, 1773, aged eighteen, as a Morley scholar. He received from Oxford a B.A. (1776), M.A. (1784), B.D. & D.D. (1792). He took orders in the Church of England in 1777. Richard Valpy served as Second Master at Bury School, Bury, Huntindonshire from 1771 to 1781, and was also collated to the rectory of Stradishall, Suffolk, in 1787. He became the Headmaster at Reading School, Reading, Berkshire, in 1781 and served until 1830, at which time he turned the Headmastership over to his youngest son Francis E. J. Valpy and continued in semi-retirement until his death in 1836. During his tenure as Headmaster of Reading Grammar School for boys over the course of fifty years, he expanded the boarding school and added new buildings. He is the author of numerous published works, including Greek and Latin textbooks, sermons, volumes of poetry, and adaptations of plays such as Shakespeare’s King John and Sheridan’s The Critic. His Elements of Greek Grammar, Elements of Latin Grammar,,Greek Delectus and Latin Delectus, printed and published by his son A. J. Valpy, were all much used as school texts throughout the nineteenth century. Valpy’s students performed his own adaptations of Greek, Latin, and English plays for the triennial visitations and the play receipts went to charitable organizations. Valpy enlisted Mitford to write reviews of the productions for the Reading Mercury. In 1803, his adaptation of Shakespeare’s King John was performed at Covent Garden Theatre.
Richard Valpy was married twice and had twelve children, eleven of whom lived to adulthood. His first wife was Martha Cornelia de Cartaret; Richard and Martha were married about 1778 and they had one daughter, Martha Cartaretta Cornelia. His first wife Martha died about 1780 and he married Mary Benwell of Caversham, Oxfordshire on May 30, 1782. Together they had six sons and five daughters and ten of their eleven children survived to adulthood. Richard Valpy and Mary Benwell’s sons were Richard Valpy (the fifth of that name), Abraham John Valpy, called John; Gabriel Valpy, Anthony Blagrove Valpy; and Francis Edward Jackson Valpy. His daughters were Mary Ann Catherine Valpy; Sarah Frances Valpy, called Frances or Fanny; Catherine Elizabeth Blanch Valpy; Penelope Arabella Valpy; and Elizabeth Charlotte Valpy, who died as an infant.
Richard Valpy died on March 28, 1836 in Reading, Berkshire, and is buried in All Souls cemetery, Kensal Green, London. Dr. Valpy’s students placed a marble bust of him in St. Lawrence’s church, Reading, Berkshire, after his death. John Opie painted Dr. Valpy’s portrait. See .—ebb, lmw
's enquiry respecting Judge Garrow's compliment.[6] The anecdote is obscure, but Mitford may be referring to Judge William Garrow, a lawyer who made his name during the Treason Trials, who became a judge and later a Member of Parliament who helped shape the rules of evidence and the modern adversarial system.—scwand besides I would not for the world make that which was a mere relief to my own feelings an object of barter—No! that sonnet shall never be printed for money—but would you dislike if sometime hence—not for a long while—it should slip, nobody knows how, into the London MagazineThe London Magazine. 1820-1829.
An 18th-century periodical of this title (The London Magazine, or Gentleman’s Monthly Intelligencer) ran from 1732 to 1785 . In 1820, John Scott launched a new series of The London Magazine emulating the style of Blackwood’s Magazine, though the two magazines soon came into heated contention. This series ran until 1829, and this is the series to which Mitford and her correspondents frequently refer in their letters. Scott’s editorship lasted until his death by duel on 27 February 1821 resulting form bitter personal conflict with the editors of Blackwood’s Magazine connected with their insulting characterization of a London Cockney School. After Scott’s death, William Hazlitt took up editing the magazine with the April 1821 issue.—ebb, lmw? If you should dislike it you must tell me so. If not I could send it to 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 who has often had the goodness to offer to perform any commission—It would be a nice little job for him—but not just now for he is very angry and with reason at the unprovoked attack that one of Mr BaldwinRobert Baldwin | Born: 1780. Died: 1858-01-29.
Printer of the London Magazine; London printer and bookseller. Partners with Charles Cradock and William Joy; published works with them under firm name Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy. Also published separately under R. Baldwin. See Coles 14.—lmw
's writers has made on his character. I cannot imagine how anything so malicious could creep into so respectable a publication. [7] It is difficult to tell with certainty which article Mitford may be referring to here. The long friendship between Benjamin Robert Haydon and Scott had become irreparably strained just before the latter's death in February 1821 in a duel. Haydon felt that Scott had slighted his character on numerous occasions, and wrote feelingly to Mitford about it in March of that year. (See Benjamin Robert Haydon: Correspondence and Table Talk, Vol. II, pp. 69-71 and London Magazine Vol. III, January-June 1820 .—scw I suppose its [del: .]for want of an Editor,my dear Mr Editor-that-wontwon't-be—page 3
shall you really have the courage & constancy to refuse£600 a year? I am afraid you are right—your prospects are in my mind well worth £6000—though if the limits could be managed there is Mr Jeffrey to prove that the characters of a great Editor & a great Lawyer are perfectly compatible. My FatherGeorge 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 desires me to say that he fears 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 Town Sessions would be hardly worth attending. He went into 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 within half an hour after ^ receiving your kind letter & is not yet returned—but he will be back on Saturdaytime enough to take my packet to our unwearied friend Mr MonckJohn Berkeley Monck
Member of Parliament for Reading area 1820-1830, who frequently franked Mary Russell Mitford’s letters. Mitford’s letter to Sir William Elford of 20 March 1820 about the election of Monck describes him in context with a politically active Patriot shoemaker, Mr. Warry, who brought him from France. Monck was the author of General Reflections on the System of the Poor Laws (1807), in which he argued for a gradual approach to abolishing the Poor Laws, and for the reform of workhouses. Francis Needham claims that it is he who is referred to in Violeting, when the narrator thinks she sees Mr. and Mrs. M. and dear B.. (Dear B. would be their son, Bligh.) Dr. Webb’s research suggests that celebrated shoemaker is Mr. Warry, possibly Joseph Source: Francis Needham, Letter to William Roberts, 26 March 1954. Needham Papers, Reading Central Library.—lmw, ebb, scw—will make enquiry of Mr  Annes Annesley & the Town Clerk as to the general business more especially as to any that is expected this Sessions, & will slide in a note if any should offer worth having—I wish with all my heart there may—& half of this wish is very selfish for then we shall have a chance of seeing you in our smoky cabin.

Two things in this neighbourhood annoy me very much. First & most Mr DickinsonCharles Dickinson, or: Mr. Dickinson | Born: 1755-03-06 in Pickwick Lodge, Corsham, Wiltshire, England. Died: 1827 in Farley Hill, near Swallowfield, Berkshire, England.
Friend of the Mitford family. He was the son of Vikris Dickinson and Elizabeth Marchant. The Dickinson family were Quakers who lived in the vicinity of Bristol, Gloucestershire. On August 3, 1807, he married Catherine Allingham at St Giles, South Mimms, Middlesex. They lived at Farley Hill, near Swallowfield, Berkshire, where their daughter Frances was born, and where the Mitfords visited them. Charles Dickinson owned a private press he employed to print literary works by his friends (See letters to Elford from March 13, 1819 and June 21, 1820). He wrote and published an epic poem in sixty-six cantos, The Travels of Cyllenius, in 1795. Upon his uncle's death, Charles Dickinson inherited the considerable wealth his extended family had amassed in the West Indies.—ajc, lmw
—who having all his life amused himself with combating the received Theories of medicine especially what he calls the Sangrado system (which was all very well whilst his objections were confined to mere speculative harangues)—is now reducing  reducing his principles to practice & with every symptom of approach-page 4
ing Apoplexy killing himself from sheer obstinacy—chusingchoosing rather to die of the blood which rushes to his head than to give up his opinion & live by the lancet. Is not this grievous in an old friend whom one loves so well? He has no right to take himself out of the world in this malicious way [when] people wish him to live—Has he? My other misfortune need not concern me the least in the world—The Duke of Wellington's sons are at home for the EtonEton College
Boarding school for boys, located in Eton, Berkshire.—ebb holiday & they come every day to a little Alehouse next door to learn French of a Jew who lodges there purposely to teach them. "The poor little lads Ma'am"said my neighbour the landlord "are kept very strict—they never look up but their tutor corrects them—& there they sit in my parlour from eleven to half past four & never have a glass of anything." Without sympathising very deeply in the last & principal grief ennumerated by my friend of the tap room, I am quite indignant at the poor little boys being cheated of their holiday. Is it not abominable? a worse inequity than beating 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
—learning French poor little souls when they ought to be stealing birdsnests & playing cricket & doing mischief! The Battle of Waterloo was a joke to this wickedness. The only thing that looks like the holidays is their mode of conveyance which is generally five in a gig rain or shine.[8] The rest of the letter is missing.—scw