Letter to B.R. Haydon, 31 October ...

X (Close panel) Bibliographic Information

Letter to B.R. Haydon, 31 October 1821.

by Mary Russell Mitford

Original Source

Reading Central Library The letters of Mary Russell Mitford, vol. 4, 1819-1823 qB/TU/MIT Vol. 4 ff.441 Horizon No.: 1361550
Letter from Mary Russell Mitford to B. R. Haydon, 31 October 1821.

Folio sheet of paper folded in half to form four quarto pages, with correspondence on 1-3 and address leaf on page 4, then folded in thirds twice more and sealed for posting.

Address leaf bearing the following postmarks: 1) black circular mileage stamp reading READING

. 2) Red double circle Evening Duty stamp reading B
1 NO 1
1821. 3) Sepia-inked oval Delivery stamp reading 10 o'Clock
* NO * 1 *
1821 F.Nn

A large 7 denoting the fee for a single-sheet letter has been written in black ink by the postal service across the address leaf.

A portion of page 3 has been torn away under the seal.

Red wax seal, only partially visible in image 31Oct1821BRHaydon4a.JPG from 2007

Witness List

  • Witness digMitTeam: Mary Russell Mitford's manuscript letter as read by the Digital Mitford Project
  • Witness LEst1870: The Life of Mary Russell Mitford Related in a Selection from Her Letters to Her Friends, Second and Revised edition, 3 vols., Ed. Alfred Guy Kingan L’Estrange. London: Richard Bentley, 1870.

Electronic Edition Information:

Responsibility Statement:
  • Transcription and coding by Elisa Beshero-Bondar
  • Date last checked: 2014-12-04 Lisa Wilson, Gregory H. Bondar, and Elisa Beshero-Bondar
  • Sponsored by Mary Russell Mitford Society: Digital Mitford Project
Publication Details:
Digital Mitford: The Mary Russell Mitford Archive Greensburg, PA, USA 2013

Reproduced by courtesy of the Reading Central Library.

Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Encoding Principles

Mitford’s spelling and punctuation are retained, except where a word is split at the end of a line and the beginning of the next in the manuscript. Where Mitford’s spelling and hyphenation of words deviates from the standard, in order to facilitate searching we are using the TEI elements “choice," “sic," and “reg" to encode both Mitford’s spelling and the regular international standard of Oxford English spelling, following the first listed spelling in the Oxford English Dictionary. The long s and ligatured forms are not encoded.

October 31st 1821. Three Mile Cross
My dear Sir
The magnificent portion of
bride cake
bride-cake
arrived this morning & shall be distributed as you desire. Yes, we will set half the pretty girls in the parish dreaming on
it--
it.
I wanted to make a bargain with
one,
one
to whom I gave a bit just
now,
now
that she should tell me her
dream--but
dream. But
she says that would destroy the
charm--
charm.
--If she told who the husband was to be she should never get him.
There was no saying a word after
that
that,
you know.
By-the-by,
By the bye
nothing but the sort of sacred air that breathes around
Bridecake
bride-cake
--so that to steal that would be to invade the sweetest & holiest of our affections & sympathies--nothing but this fine & general feeling
could have preserved your munificent
present,
present
& brought it safe to us. By some accident it was
sent,
sent
not by a
Reading,
Reading
Coach
but a Newbury
coach
one
, & found its way to Three Mile Cross, after being carried half way to Newbury, through the intervention of all manner of men &
women--Post boys--
women, post-boys,
&
Chambermaids
chambermaids,
& keepers of
Turnpike
turnpike
gates. But every thing belonging to such a
Wedding
wedding
& such a
Honeymoon
honeymoon
as yours will turn out
right,
right
depend on it. You see that your good luck extends even to your
friends--
friends,
& travels about with your bride-cake.
Oh!
Oh
it will never forsake you
, never
! Never
! I think that last honeymoon
letter,
letter
written whilst the fair
Bride
bride
was
sitting,
sitting
working,
working
& smiling at your side, was prettier even than the first. Did you read it to her as you wrote it?
or
Or

shall I send her a copy? It was worthy even of that charming seal. How much you must both have felt in going into your
painting room.
painting room!--
Will
the Lazarus
the Lazarus
be finished against next season? If any thing could improve your
genius,
genius
it would be living in such a sunshine of love & beauty.
Miss James is
very anxious to have the pleasure of being known to Mrs. Haydon--She mentioned your note with great delight, & talked of calling--but was not I suppose certain of the time you would return to Lisson Grove. She is
by this time back again at Richmond. I wished her very much to call on you
last
Sunday or
Monday,
Monday
that she might leave with you my poor
Tragedy,
tragedy
which I
have
should,
should
of all
things,
things
have
liked
wished
you to
read,
read
--indeed I begged her to take the chance--
I have such an opinion of your judgment. But it is now out of her hands. Only think of my shocking ill luck in having written on the same subject with
Lord Byron--The story of Foscari--
Lord Byron! The story of Foscari!
I am so distressed at the idea of a competition, not merely with his
Lordship's
lordship's
talents, but with his great
name,
name;
& the strange awe in which he holds
people,
people;
& the terrible scoffs & sneers in which he indulges himself, that I have written to Mr. Talfourd requesting him to consult another friend on the propriety of entirely suppressing my play, which had gone to
Town
town
to be presented to
the Manager
the manager
the very day that the subject of Lord Byron's was announced.
n
Note: Lord Byron's play was published by John Murray on 19 December 1821. Byron had composed it between 12 June and 9 July 1821 in Ravenna.
I rather think now that it will not be offered--that Mr. Talfourd will suppress
it--
it;
& I heartily wish he may.
My poor
Tragedy
has been a work of great labour & is certainly complete enough in its own small way, but it is abundantly womanish & feeble, & does not at all adhere to the literal historic truth--which would be a great disadvantage in case the noble author
should have done so, & have made the public familiar with the facts. I hope it will not be offered. What do you think of Lord Byron's dramatic power?
Manfred
was very fine certainly--perhaps the finest thing he ever did--&
Marino Faliero
certainly the worst. But Foscari is a story of real human sympathy--not of factitious sentiment--He will certainly succeed in that. If this play
If it
be sent back to me
unoffered,
unoffered
I shall immediately begin another
play
on some German
story,
story
& shall take for the opening the exquisite first act of the
Orestes
Orestes
of Euripides
--which I saw acted so finely a fortnight ago, & which it is quite wonderful to think has never been transferred to the English stage.
.
What astonishing people those Greek dramatists were! I am just now reading Potter's
Aeschylus
Aeschylus
with the intensity of admiration with which you would look at the frescoes of Michael Angelo
&
.
Happening to express something of this enthusiasm to a scholar of very great
name
name,
he
answered--
answered,
"
The Prometheus
?
Yes,
Yes
the Prometheus
is rather pretty--prettyish-- one of the
prettiest!
prettiest.
" Now what business has this man to know
Greek?
Greek!
And what business have I to be intruding so long on
you?--
you?
Good bye
Good-by,
my dear
Sir.
Sir
My
Father & Mother
father & mother
join
me
me
in every kind remembrance & kinder wish to you &
to
Mrs Haydon.
Ever most sincerely
your's
yours,
MR. Mitford.
M. R. Mitford.
Do not mention my
Foscari
unless it should really be likely to come out of which you shall have the earliest notice. But of that there is very little chance. Once more God bless you. We have just been drinking your health & your dear Mary's. Again Good bye
B. R. Haydon Esqre
St. John's Place
Lisson Grove North
Regent's Park
London
October 31st 1821. Three Mile Cross
My dear Sir
The magnificent portion of
bride cake
bride-cake
arrived this morning & shall be distributed as you desire. Yes, we will set half the pretty girls in the parish dreaming on
it--
it.
I wanted to make a bargain with
one,
one
to whom I gave a bit just
now,
now
that she should tell me her
dream--but
dream. But
she says that would destroy the
charm--
charm.
--If she told who the husband was to be she should never get him.
There was no saying a word after
that
that,
you know.
By-the-by,
By the bye
nothing but the sort of sacred air that breathes around
Bridecake
bride-cake
--so that to steal that would be to invade the sweetest & holiest of our affections & sympathies--nothing but this fine & general feeling
could have preserved your munificent
present,
present
& brought it safe to us. By some accident it was
sent,
sent
not by a
Reading,
Reading
Coach
but a Newbury
coach
one
, & found its way to Three Mile Cross, after being carried half way to Newbury, through the intervention of all manner of men &
women--Post boys--
women, post-boys,
&
Chambermaids
chambermaids,
& keepers of
Turnpike
turnpike
gates. But every thing belonging to such a
Wedding
wedding
& such a
Honeymoon
honeymoon
as yours will turn out
right,
right
depend on it. You see that your good luck extends even to your
friends--
friends,
& travels about with your bride-cake.
Oh!
Oh
it will never forsake you
, never
! Never
! I think that last honeymoon
letter,
letter
written whilst the fair
Bride
bride
was
sitting,
sitting
working,
working
& smiling at your side, was prettier even than the first. Did you read it to her as you wrote it?
or
Or

shall I send her a copy? It was worthy even of that charming seal. How much you must both have felt in going into your
painting room.
painting room!--
Will
the Lazarus
the Lazarus
be finished against next season? If any thing could improve your
genius,
genius
it would be living in such a sunshine of love & beauty.
Miss James is
very anxious to have the pleasure of being known to Mrs. Haydon--She mentioned your note with great delight, & talked of calling--but was not I suppose certain of the time you would return to Lisson Grove. She is
by this time back again at Richmond. I wished her very much to call on you
last
Sunday or
Monday,
Monday
that she might leave with you my poor
Tragedy,
tragedy
which I
have
should,
should
of all
things,
things
have
liked
wished
you to
read,
read
--indeed I begged her to take the chance--
I have such an opinion of your judgment. But it is now out of her hands. Only think of my shocking ill luck in having written on the same subject with
Lord Byron--The story of Foscari--
Lord Byron! The story of Foscari!
I am so distressed at the idea of a competition, not merely with his
Lordship's
lordship's
talents, but with his great
name,
name;
& the strange awe in which he holds
people,
people;
& the terrible scoffs & sneers in which he indulges himself, that I have written to Mr. Talfourd requesting him to consult another friend on the propriety of entirely suppressing my play, which had gone to
Town
town
to be presented to
the Manager
the manager
the very day that the subject of Lord Byron's was announced.
n
Note: Lord Byron's play was published by John Murray on 19 December 1821. Byron had composed it between 12 June and 9 July 1821 in Ravenna.
I rather think now that it will not be offered--that Mr. Talfourd will suppress
it--
it;
& I heartily wish he may.
My poor
Tragedy
has been a work of great labour & is certainly complete enough in its own small way, but it is abundantly womanish & feeble, & does not at all adhere to the literal historic truth--which would be a great disadvantage in case the noble author
should have done so, & have made the public familiar with the facts. I hope it will not be offered. What do you think of Lord Byron's dramatic power?
Manfred
was very fine certainly--perhaps the finest thing he ever did--&
Marino Faliero
certainly the worst. But Foscari is a story of real human sympathy--not of factitious sentiment--He will certainly succeed in that. If this play
If it
be sent back to me
unoffered,
unoffered
I shall immediately begin another
play
on some German
story,
story
& shall take for the opening the exquisite first act of the
Orestes
Orestes
of Euripides
--which I saw acted so finely a fortnight ago, & which it is quite wonderful to think has never been transferred to the English stage.
.
What astonishing people those Greek dramatists were! I am just now reading Potter's
Aeschylus
Aeschylus
with the intensity of admiration with which you would look at the frescoes of Michael Angelo
&
.
Happening to express something of this enthusiasm to a scholar of very great
name
name,
he
answered--
answered,
"
The Prometheus
?
Yes,
Yes
the Prometheus
is rather pretty--prettyish-- one of the
prettiest!
prettiest.
" Now what business has this man to know
Greek?
Greek!
And what business have I to be intruding so long on
you?--
you?
Good bye
Good-by,
my dear
Sir.
Sir
My
Father & Mother
father & mother
join
me
me
in every kind remembrance & kinder wish to you &
to
Mrs Haydon.
Ever most sincerely
your's
yours,
MR. Mitford.
M. R. Mitford.
Do not mention my
Foscari
unless it should really be likely to come out of which you shall have the earliest notice. But of that there is very little chance. Once more God bless you. We have just been drinking your health & your dear Mary's. Again Good bye
B. R. Haydon Esqre
St. John's Place
Lisson Grove North
Regent's Park
London
X (Close panel) Textual Notes
Note: Lord Byron's play was published by John Murray on 19 December 1821. Byron had composed it between 12 June and 9 July 1821 in Ravenna.
Sorry, but there are no notes associated with any currently displayed witness.