Letter to <persName ref="#Haydon">B.R. Haydon</persName>, <date when="1821-02-09">9 February 1821</date>. Mary Russell Mitford Karen Bourrier Mary Russell Mitford Society: Digital Mitford Project University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg Elisa Beshero-Bondar Transcription and coding by Karen Bourrier Proofing and corrections by Lisa M. Wilson First digital edition in TEI, date: 4 June 2014. P5. Digital Mitford: The Mary Russell Mitford Archive Greensburg, PA, USA 2014

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 ff.441 Horizon No.: 1361550 Letter from Mary Russell Mitford to B. R. Haydon, 9 February 1821.

Address leaf bearing the following postmarks: 1) A black circular stamp reads READING 12 FE 1821. 42 2) A brown double-circle stamp reading 12 FE 12. 3) A sepia oval stamp reading o'Clock FE 121821 ENG

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

Red wax seal, adhered to upper right corner of page four.

 Red crayon or thick red pencil. Probably a different hand from Mitford's drawing a diagonal line across pages 2-3. Someone cataloging the letters, apparently other than Mitford, wrote B R. Haydon Esq at the top of page 1. Someone cataloging the letters, apparently other than Mitford, numbered each on page 1. In this case there is a letter "25" at the top lefthand corner

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.
Elisa Beshero-Bondar 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.
Three Mile Cross February 9th 1821. My dear Sir

I am quite ashamed when I look at the date of your last letter, but I generally transgress the against the etiquette of correspondence by writing too soon--so you must balance one offence offense with the other & forgive me for both--you are so good that I am sure of your pardon. I have been very busy--audaciously busy--writing a tragedy. We are poor you know--When I was in Town I saw an indifferent Tragedy of which the indifferent success produced for the author three or four hundred pounds. This raised my emulation, which the splendid reception of Virginius or Mirandola would never have excited & I began to write on the subject of Fiesco whose conspiracy against Doria is so beautifully told in Robertson's Charles the Fifth. There is a German tragedy of the same name, I believe, by Schiller, but I have neither seen nor sought for it probably on the same principle on which Mr. Fuseli avoids nature for fear that Schiller should "find me out."--It is finished--that is it was finished--but as I had unluckily slid my hero off the scene like a ghost, I am advised to write the Fifth act over again, which I shall do next week. It is terribly feeble & womanish of course--wants breadth--wants papism--& has nothing to redeem its faults but a little poetry & some merit they say in the dialogue. I am afraid that it will not be accepted & that you will never hear of it again--but I could not bear to make an attempt of the sort without confiding my many fears & my few hopes to one who will I am sure sympathise sympathize with both--my anxiety on the subject is not of vanity--It is not fame or praise that I want but the power of assisting my dearest & kindest Father. I am in very kind & skillful hands--Fiesco is now with Mr Talfourd our highly gifted Town'sman--who gives me that which is most precious, Time & advice & criticism almost as good as your's on Mirandola. I suppose it is the etiquette not to mention these things till they are actually accepted--so you will have the goodness not to speak of it.--

Miss James was called was called home so suddenly that I lost the happiness I had promised myself in seeing her. Her sister has been indisposed & they are now much occupied with four pupils. You will probably see her long before I shall, for certainly she will make haste to go to Town & look at your new picture.Most likely, this is Haydon's Raising of Lazarus, on which he was working at this time, completed in February 1823.. Is the St. John equal to the Christ? Is that possible?Mitford may be referring to appearance of St. John in relation to the image of Christ in the new painting. An article entitled "Mr. Haydon's Raising of Lazarus" in the April 1, 1823 issue of The Repository of Arts, Literature, Fashions, & Manufactures comments that Haydon's painting, taken from the account of Christ's raising of Lazarus from the Gospel of St. John the Evangelist, depicted St. John prominently "with an expression of fervent piety at this fresh proof of his divine master's omnnipotence."239 I am very anxious to look once more at the divine Head which hangs on my memory like some beautiful dream.Mitford is most likely recalling Haydon's famous painting, Christ's Entry into Jerusalem. --Your health & eyes continue I hope to mend.--I can give you an excellent account of Mast & Daphne.--If you should meet with any high & simple story for a Traged y will you think of me & send it me--I mean to try some grander subject.--Have you heard lately of Mr. Keats?--Pray forgive this bad disjointed note.--I could not bear to appear longer unmindful of your kind letter--& yet am so hurried & with visitors that I have not time to write decently.--Adieu my dear Sir--my Father & Mother join in kindest regards to you--

Ever most sincerely your's yours M. R. Mitford.
B. R. Haydon Esqre St. John's Place Lisson Grove North Regent's Park London