The Letters of the Duke of Wellington to Miss J. 1834-1851 Edited by Extracts from the Diary of the Latter By: Arthur Wellesley Wellington (1769-1852)
First Page: THE LETTERS OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TO MISS J. 1834 1851 EDITED, WITH EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY OF THE LATTER, BY CHRISTINE TERHUNE HERRICK LONDON T. FISHER UNWIN 26 PATERNOSTER SQUARE University Press: JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. Transcriber's Note: In this e text, superscripted characters are represented by being preceded by a carat, e.g., D^r and 13^th. PREFACE. The effort of the Editor throughout this volume has been to repress fancy rather than to exercise it. There has not been a word added to or taken from the letters of the Duke, even the occasional eccentricities of orthography and punctuation having been preserved. The editing that was absolutely necessary to render coherent some of Miss J.'s lucubrations has been restricted to the excision of superfluous passages of Scripture that added nothing to the sense of the text, and the correction of the very erratic punctuation both of her diary and of the copies she has left of her own letters. Miss J.'s copies of the Duke's epistles have been verified by comparison with the originals. In every case where the needful books and journals of reference were attainable, the Duke's statements in the letters of his comings and goings and occupations have been corroborated by contemporary data. The particulars of Miss J.'s personal history have been derived from private family sources. CHRISTINE TERHUNE HERRICK. BROOKLYN, March 18, 1889. CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. FIRST INTERVIEWS 10 III. THE FIRST DISCORD 21 IV. SMOOTH WATERS 39 V. FRESH DIFFICULTIES 55 VI. COMPARATIVE CALM 79 VII. ASPIRATIONS AND REBUFFS 98 VIII. A PEACEFUL PERIOD 120 IX. MISUNDERSTANDINGS 149 X. A BREATHING SPACE 166 XI. THE FINAL RUPTURE 183 XII. CONCLUSION 210 APPENDIX 221 THE LETTERS OF WELLINGTON. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. These hitherto unpublished Letters from the Duke of Wellington to Miss J., and the Diary of the latter, have lain for years in a trunk in the attic of a country house within thirty miles of New York city. Their publication is permitted through the kindness of a friend with whose family Miss J. was remotely connected. The facts with regard to Miss J.'s life and character have been in part obtained through those who knew her personally, but mainly through her own Diary, a worn volume once handsome, that at the first glance would be taken for a Bible. This book is supplied with a spring lock. Its hundreds of pages are closely covered with a minute handwriting, and the ink with which they were traced has faded to a yellowish brown, indistinct in places, but never quite undecipherable. The Duke's letters are written in a peculiar, irregular hand, very difficult to read, and becoming more crabbed as he advanced in years. While the spelling is almost invariably correct, the construction of the sentences is often involved, and the punctuation follows no known method. At the time Miss J.'s correspondence with the Duke of Wellington opened, she was a very beautiful woman about twenty years of age. Her parents were from among the smaller English gentry, and in her girlhood she, with her elder sister, attended one of the best schools in England. Many of her companions were of noble birth, and the associations then formed were continued in later years. Miss J.'s father died while she was little more than a child, and not long after the mother followed. At her death the daughter writes that a vision was vouchsafed to her of the heaven her mother was entering... Continue reading book >>

The Letters of the Duke of Wellington to Miss J. 1834-1851 Edited by Extracts from the Diary of the Latter By: Arthur Wellesley Wellington (1769-1852)

First Page:

THE LETTERS OF THE

DUKE OF WELLINGTON

TO MISS J.

1834 1851

EDITED, WITH EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY OF THE LATTER, BY CHRISTINE TERHUNE HERRICK

LONDON T. FISHER UNWIN 26 PATERNOSTER SQUARE

University Press: JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.

Transcriber's Note: In this e text, superscripted characters are represented by being preceded by a carat, e.g., D^r and 13^th.

PREFACE.

The effort of the Editor throughout this volume has been to repress fancy rather than to exercise it. There has not been a word added to or taken from the letters of the Duke, even the occasional eccentricities of orthography and punctuation having been preserved.

The editing that was absolutely necessary to render coherent some of Miss J.'s lucubrations has been restricted to the excision of superfluous passages of Scripture that added nothing to the sense of the text, and the correction of the very erratic punctuation both of her diary and of the copies she has left of her own letters.

Miss J.'s copies of the Duke's epistles have been verified by comparison with the originals. In every case where the needful books and journals of reference were attainable, the Duke's statements in the letters of his comings and goings and occupations have been corroborated by contemporary data.

The particulars of Miss J.'s personal history have been derived from private family sources.

CHRISTINE TERHUNE HERRICK.

BROOKLYN, March 18, 1889.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. PAGE

I. INTRODUCTION 1

II. FIRST INTERVIEWS 10

III. THE FIRST DISCORD 21

IV. SMOOTH WATERS 39

V. FRESH DIFFICULTIES 55

VI. COMPARATIVE CALM 79

VII. ASPIRATIONS AND REBUFFS 98

VIII. A PEACEFUL PERIOD 120

IX. MISUNDERSTANDINGS 149

X. A BREATHING SPACE 166

XI. THE FINAL RUPTURE 183

XII. CONCLUSION 210

APPENDIX 221

THE LETTERS OF WELLINGTON.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION.

These hitherto unpublished Letters from the Duke of Wellington to Miss J., and the Diary of the latter, have lain for years in a trunk in the attic of a country house within thirty miles of New York city. Their publication is permitted through the kindness of a friend with whose family Miss J. was remotely connected. The facts with regard to Miss J.'s life and character have been in part obtained through those who knew her personally, but mainly through her own Diary, a worn volume once handsome, that at the first glance would be taken for a Bible. This book is supplied with a spring lock. Its hundreds of pages are closely covered with a minute handwriting, and the ink with which they were traced has faded to a yellowish brown, indistinct in places, but never quite undecipherable. The Duke's letters are written in a peculiar, irregular hand, very difficult to read, and becoming more crabbed as he advanced in years. While the spelling is almost invariably correct, the construction of the sentences is often involved, and the punctuation follows no known method.

At the time Miss J.'s correspondence with the Duke of Wellington opened, she was a very beautiful woman about twenty years of age. Her parents were from among the smaller English gentry, and in her girlhood she, with her elder sister, attended one of the best schools in England. Many of her companions were of noble birth, and the associations then formed were continued in later years. Miss J.'s father died while she was little more than a child, and not long after the mother followed. At her death the daughter writes that a vision was vouchsafed to her of the heaven her mother was entering... Continue reading book >>

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