Letter to <persName ref="#Haydon">Benjamin Robert Haydon</persName>, <date when="1821-01-07">January 07, 1821</date> Mary Russell Mitford Samantha Webb Mary Russell Mitford Society: Digital Mitford Project University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center Elisa Beshero-Bondar Transcription and coding by Susannah Claire Ritchey Date last checked: April 24, 2017 Proofing and corrections by Samantha Webb First digital edition in TEI, date: February 08, 2017. P5. Edition made with help from photos taken by Digital Mitford editors Digital Mitford photo files: DSCF8092.jpg, DSCF8091.jpg, DSCF8090.jpg, DSCF8089 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 Digital Mitford Letters: The Mary Russell Mitford Archive Reading Central Library The letters of Mary Russell Mitford, vol. 4, 1819-1823 qB/TU/MIT Vol. 4 Horizon No.: 1361550 ff. 373 Letter from Mary Russell Mitford to Benjamin Robert Haydon, 1821 January, 7.

One page, four surfaces photographed 12 centimeters by 18 centimeters. Folded width wise at 11 and a half centimeters length.

Sheet (pages three and four) torn on right edge of page three where wax seal was removed.

Red crayon or thick red pencil. Probably a different hand from Mitford's that marks many of her letters, sometimes drawing diagonal lines across pages, and sometimes writing words overtop and perpendicularly across Mitford's writing. A red line is drawn from top left to bottom right of each of the first three leaves. On leaf four, a red line is drawn from top left to bottom right across each of the two text blocks. There is another red line going from the top left down to the bottom, middle right of the post script. Someone, apparently other than Mitford, perhaps cataloging letters and describing them, who left grey pencil marks and numbered her letters now in the Reading Central Library's collection. This letter is numbered "24" in the top left of the first leaf.

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.
Someone, apparently other than Mitford, perhaps cataloging letters and describing them, who left grey pencil marks and numbered her letters now in the Reading Cnetral Library's collection. This letter is numbered "24" in the top left hand corner. Janr 7th1821. My Dear Sir

I take the advantage of a County meeting which will make franks as plenty as blackberries to thank you for the London letter which was so delightful a companion to the Edinburgh one--I agree with you very thoroughly in your love for the endless city--I am something of a Cockney in my tastes in spite of my rustic habits--I like no other great town--but I like London & all that comes from it-- ? friends betters gowns are all the more welcome for bearing the London mark--The London magazine itself is the better for its title--& I do not think Mr. Charles Lamb would write so delightfully any where else.--I say who is Mr. Edgeworth Benson--

How have you borne this cold weather ? Every body abuses it.--even I myself from sympathy or complaisance of the contagious habit of grumbling I have sometimes caught myself complaining of cold notwithstanding a strong internal feeling that a trot something between a run & a walk of three or four miles through the frost is one of the highest of physical pleasures. We have all stood the winter remarkably well--nobody has caught cold in the house except my plants which being crammed into a sad little windy hole, very different from their former spacious & comfortable habitation have been silly enough to die in their very prime of life & beauty--Ah my pretty plants that I had reared & watered & nursed so tenderly they are all dead- ? Geraniums Macartney roses--geranium all dead. I have not a pot left alive except an old tough Cammellia Japonica--& he is turning yellow & curls his leaves--I am afraid he will follow poor fellow--Thank God violets & primroses are not so killable--I shall stick to them for the future--this snow which keeps me indoors against my will, is good for them--it will keep them warm & cherish & comfort their young leaves.--Poor dear Daphne disliked the frost almost as much as my Geraniums--I was obliged to give up taking her to walk with me--but she is pretty well, only too delicate and shrinking to brave the East wind--We have had a sad fright about your Puppy. The woman to whose care we trusted him, the widow of a butcher who fancied herself & I believe was under obligations to Papa suddenly failed & had left Reading before we had heard a word of the matter--when we sent to enquire after the Puppy we found that he was gone & could hear no tidings of him till yesterday, when my Father found that the poor grateful woman had taken him with her. He is very safe--& we have a place for him as soon as he can be ? returned to us--for at present we only know that he is with her. Papa had very little coursing in Hampshire since his return the frost has of course prevented his taking out the dogs. Nothing has tended so much to console him for his disapointment in not seeing you as the bad sport he has had this season. He talks of going into Ilfordshire for now--> next week if the weather breaks & will try Daphne on the hills, the very place for her to show off.

Adieu my dear Sir--My Father & Mother join in kindest rememberances & in every good wish. Many happy & glorious years to you My dear Mr. Haydon.

Ever very sincerely your's, Mary Russell Mitford.

How do you go on with the little picture. Will it be profitable even for you to paint up to that Mitford is referring to Haydon's painting Christ's Agony in the Gardon Head of Christ? I think not.
Scott John Edgeworth Benson Broadgate, Aberdeen St Martin-in-the-fields Scott was a journalist who owned the Champion. He was close friends with B R Haydon, and publishes art critique by Charles Lamb. He died from wounds inflicted in a duel. The name Edgeworth Benson was a psuedonym for John Scott. ... <!--Title--> CHrist Agony in the Garden Benjamin Robert Haydon 1821 Christ is depicted kneeling in prayer as a nude male mounting steps, and a man riding a horse int he background. Macartney rose rosa bracteata rosaceae This plant is commonly found in North America. geranium geranium perennial herb geraniaceae This flower is from the geranium genus and the perrenial herb species. Also called cranesbill because the genus word is greek for crane. Native mostly to subtropical Africa. Grows in temperate regions of the world such as the mountain tropics, but most commonly in the Mediterranean. camellia camellia sinensis tea The cammelia is part of the cammelia genus, and the sinensis species.This plant is now extinct in the wild. The cammelia finds its origins in Eastern and Southern Asia. There are more than 3,000 named cammelias. Hybrid species tend to be more hardy in warmer climes, although regions of warm, moist weather is where these flowers flourish. blackberry rubus armeniacus rosacaeae This is a fruit born on certain roses. japonica camellia japonica theaceae This is the most common cammelia species, otherwise known as the Japanese camellia or the Rose of Winter. It belings to the camelia genus and the japonica species. It is found in the wild in mainland China, Taiwan, southern Korea, and southern Japan. Grows in forests. Whim B.R. Haydon's puppy who was lost for a few days. She mentions the dog because the lady charged with the dog's care had disappeared before the bad weather hit. Mitford mentions the loss and finding of Whim in the Journal on January 4 and January 7, 1821.