To Sir W. Elford
16
Three Mile Cross
September 9th 1820.
You will think your poor little Friend very naughty indeed, my dear Sir William if she do not sometimes write you two letters, so having made no vow by Styx this time, she will scribble.In ancient Greek history and mythology, gods or mortals who make oaths by the River Styx are understood to be strongly bound not to break them. The penalty for breaking an oath was to drink the poisonous water of this mythical river, which would stupefy the oath-breaker for an entire year. Having nothing to say my dear Sir William is such an old story between us that there areis no need of apologies on that score. I really think we go on quite as well without a subject as with one--the cobweb spins out to a good size--rather flimsy to be sure, & not very durable--but there it is looking very happy & comfortable these bright autumn mornings-- & the poor little round spider snugs herself up in her hole and seems proud of her handywork & as soon as one is finished away begins another.--So she shall spin on. Moreover, it behooves me to pay my court very spiderously, or I shall have my nose quite put ofout of joint by that formidable rival Lady Madelina. I did wait on her as I told you I should, & think with you that she is a most delightful woman. I did not expect to find her still so very handsome--but the best parts of beauty, grace intelligence & and goodhumourgood humour are those which last the longest, & and that pretty Scotch voice is enchanting. We talked a great deal of you--& of Devonshire--which she admires with her whole heart--& she says things of you--It is very well that Mr. Palmer was out of hearing--there is no love lost beween you I assure you. In short I was quite charmed with every thing about her but her Queen madness which burst forth suddenly on the appearance of
the Times & sent me off in a hurry. Had she this frenzy-fever in
Devonshire or has she caught it from
her husband?
He & his brother members & his precious constituents are alike insane upon this subject. Indeed to do
Reading justice it never is behindhand in any
folly stirring. They had a meeting to address the
Queen--& voted said address--& sent up their worthy members to present it--& up they went in all their paraphernalia--& the gracious
Queen never spoke to them! Is not this famous? Never said a word, shoved the answer unread into their hands, held her tongue & marched off.
"Served them just right--did not she Mary?" Saidsaid Mrs. Monck to me when she told me the story--
"a couple of simpletons. I only wish the whole meeting had been there to have partaken of the compliment." Mrs. Monck you see is sane. Did I ever talk to you of
the Moncks?
He is a very extraordinary man--a great Grecian--& more like an old philosopher than anything you ever saw--I defy anything or anybody to put him out of humour--he has not of course though a clever man,
any thing much of
Charles Fox's powers or eloquence, but he is more like him in point of character than any man that ever lived--full of kindheartedness & of a tolerant humanity--more generally beloved by man woman & child than any person I ever heard of--Dividing his whole time between literature & usefulness & family affection.
His wife is a pretty lively chatty woman kind & good humored--entirely without her
husband'shusband's largeness & liberality of mind--not even understanding the breadth & depth of his character--but in whom good habits & kindly prejudices produce nearly the same effect. She loves his
old friends because they are old friends, & is good to the poor because she has been used to
it.be charitable.--She has returned from a three years & a half tour through
France Italy Switzerland &
Germany without having brought back a single new feeling or left behind one old one. She is so entirely unchanged in mind & person as to produce an effect more extraordinary & surprising than could have
been the resulted from the greatest alteration. She took up her
Coley habits, as if she had only laid them aside
the night before with her clothes, & the presence of a sweet little girl of three years old born in
France & and not speaking a word of English seems necessary to convince one that the Mother has ever set her foot on the Continent. This identity of character has a great charm with me--I never liked
Mrs. Monck half so well in my life as since she returned so perfectly the same as she went. Besides we agree like two drops of water. She hates her
husbandshusband's parliamenting. So do I. She sickens at the name of
Queen Caroline. So do I. She thinks
Mortimer Common the prettiest place in the world. So do I. She detests
Reading and its doings. So do I.--
Reading is at present
Queen mad. It reads & talks & dreams & lies of nothing else--& engrafts a clumsy and awkward licentiousness on its original vulgarity & dullness. After all the crying evil of this frightful enquiry is its tendency to confound right & wrong. Those who dislike the
King's immorality think themselves bound by the duty of party to palliate the much grosser and more horrible conduct of the
Queen, & we hear of
"little indiscretions"
&
"too great condescensions"
& such paltering with vice from the very lips of the stern mentors who thunder at the crimes of Kings & the wickedness of Ministers. This must be wrong--there can only be one Virtue & one Wickedness. Besides the
Queen's
conductdefence throws a stain & a slur upon womanhood--She seeks to cover her enormous crime with a cloak of innocence & purity & profanes the sacred & holy name of matronly virtue by asserting her claim to it. Chastity is become a
byewordbyword & a jest--She is to womanly purity, what a false prophet is to religion. She can not alter the eternal truth--but she can give mockers & scoffers a pretence to doubt
it'sits existence. Many years must pass away before the effect of this ceases & modesty shall become
again a holy thing. I am astonished when I hear a woman vindicate the
Queen. Do tell me what you think on this subject?
These wavy lines appear to represent a change in paragraph and subject (and in this case also a change from one day's writing to a later one). It seems possible that Mitford uses this metamark to indicate such a change without wasting the space incurred by a paragraph break.
Sept. 13.--Since writing the above I have spent a day at Coley & extracted from Mr. Monck rather more of the Royal Visit than his wife could do, partly by cross-examination--& partly from an effect of character. "You are bad enough, Mary," said quoth he "but not quite so bitter as my wife." She really did speak to them--She said "You do me honour--it is an excellent address"--(I dare say she thought so for of all the fulsome nonsense that has been penned on her none this surpassed!)--her presence was announced by a prodigious giggling chattering & romping outside the door--like a parcel of boys let loose from school--which suddenly ceased & she entered as gravely as Mrs. Liston in Queen Dollalolla.Mitford is conflating a celebrated role in a burletta with the production itself: Sarah Tyrer Liston, as Sarah Tyrer before her marriage in 1807, was widely celebrated for her performance of Queen Dollalolla in a comic opera adaptation of Tom Thumb. She continued her acting career as Mrs. Liston until 1822. Her dress we had a great deal of fun about from the delicious ignorance of the describer. It was in the midst of the Court mourning & he put himself to charges for a black suit, the coat he had to go to the Pope's CourtIf Monck paid a visit to the Pope's Court, presumably this was the court of Pope Pius VII of 1800-1823. Napoleon forced the Pope and his Cardinals into exile to the province of Savona between 1809 and 1813, but was restored to Rome by signing a treaty. It seems likely that Monck would have visited the Pope's Court during his time in Europe in the previous decade. being unluckily of a pure colour--but the Lady herself was it appears in colours--"fawn Colour Mary--the colour of that Cow!"--How was it made: . "So"--buttoning up his Coat--Of a Man's Coat--pray was the best of her apparel--"Don't be foolish--a woman's coat"--a grey coat--the thing you all wear in winter" --a Pelisse?-- "Yes--a fawn coloured pelisse--garnished with gold!"--
Have you read
the Abbot? I have just finished it--disappointed--because as every alternate book of his is commonly excellent & the last was bad I had made up my mind that this should be good--& good it would be from
any bodyanybody else, but he has accustomed us to such writing that mere mediocrity will not satisfy us. After all it is remarkably pleasant reading--quite as free from the peculiar faults as the striking beauties of the
Author--no ghost--no prophecies--only one old woman & not much of her--& no torture scene--a very agreeable book, they
The end of the page, apparently missing the rest of the letter. The Digital Mitford editors will check for the missing page at Reading Central Library. L'Estrange concludes the letter with further discussion of The Abbot in unfavorable comparison with Shakespeare's play, Twelfth Night and represents Mitford's signature.