Letter to <persName ref="#Haydon">B.R. Haydon</persName>, <date when="1823-03-25" cert="high">1823 March 25</date> Mary Russell Mitford Elizabeth Raisanen Brooke A. Stewart Mary Russell Mitford Society: Digital Mitford Project University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg Elisa Beshero-Bondar Transcription and coding by Robin Xiong Date last checked: 2017-01-02. Proofing and corrections by: Brooke A. Stewart Date checked: 2015-09-27. Proofing and corrections by: Lisa M. Wilson Edition made with help from photos taken by Digital Mitford editors Digital Mitford photo files: 20March1823BRHaydon4b.JPG, 20March1823BRHaydon4a.JPG, 20March1823BRHaydon3b.JPG, 20March1823BRHaydon3a.JPG, 20March1823BRHaydon2b.JPG, 20March1823BRHaydon1b.JPG, 20March1823BRHaydon2a.JPG, 20March1823BRHaydon1a.JPG Digital Mitford: The Mary Russell Mitford Archive Greensburg, PA, USA 2014

Reproduced by courtesy of the The Reading Central Library.

Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License Digital Mitford Letters: The Mary Russell Mitford Archive The Reading Central Library The letters of Mary Russell Mitford, vol. 4, 1819-1823 qB/TU/MIT Vol. 4 Horizon No.: 1361550 ff. 466 Letter from Mary Russell Mitford to B.R. Haydon, 1823 March 25.

One quarto sheet of paper folded in half to form two octavo pages, which comprise three pages of the letter. The address appears on the other side.

There are two holes on page two, and one of them obscures the word; there are one hole on page three that obscures the word On the up-right corner of the third page of the letter, the red wax obscures the word.

Address leaf bearing the following postmarks: 1)Sepia-inked oval Delivery stamp reading 26*MR 1823

A large 3 has been written in black ink on the address leaf, denoting a charge of 3d.

Red wax seal,complete, adhered to address leaf.

 Someone, apparently other than Mitford (perhaps cataloging the letters and describing them, or marking them up while creating an earlier edition of Mitford's letters), left grey pencil marks and numbered her letters now in the Reading Central Library's collection. This letter is numbered "4" in the top left of the first leaf, underneath the opening line, "B. R. Haydon E" The same pencil marks "20 March 1823" near "4". 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. On this letter, a red diagonal line is drawn from the top left to the bottom right of pages 1, 2 and 3 of the manuscript. Someone, apparently other than Mitford, who occasionally left notes in a spidery thin hand to explain or document details in Mitford's letters in the margins of her pages, noted in the manuscripts held at Reading Central Library. This may be William Harness or A. G. L'Estrange. On this letter, the name "B. R. Haydon E" is written on the top left of the first page.

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.

 Checked for completion. Proofed against ms. Header information needs to be revised/added.
B.R. Haydon E Three Mile Cross Tuesday 4 20 March 1823 Having checked a perpetual calendar, we found that the date recorded by the cataloguer of 20 March 1823 was a Thursday. The postmark clearly reads 26 MR, a Wednesday. By consulting the theatre reviews referenced in this letter, The John Bull and The Examiner, we have concluded that this letter was written on 25 March 1823. The first John Bull article to mention Julian was published on 24 March 1823, and The Examiner on 23 March 1823, making it impossible for the letter to be written on 20 March 1823. My dear Sir

I am sending a frank to Mrs. Hofland & I cannot help enclosing a note to you to ask if the report in the papers be true that Lazarus is sold? I hope it is so--I hope so so earnestly that I can hardly believe it.

Did I tell you that I had had an application from Mr. Elliston for Foscari? which under Mr. Macready's advice I declined. But the application was flattering--& I trust that under all the disadvantage of the execrable acting a great impression has been made by Julian--to have withstood such acting for four nights is something--Is it not?--& if we go on in the Easter week I shall have hopes--& if we do not I shall not despond--for much has been done of that I am confident. The article in the John Bull was what I expected--but that in The Examiner was worse in my mind--Could not you do any thing to procure a short & more favorable notice against next Sunday? I ask you just as I would ask a brother--I wish with all my heart that any one would write an exposure of that slang of criticism "Melodramatic"--I am sure, as Mr. Macready says, that if any one of the Greek Dramas or even Shakespeare's stronger plays, or any thing that is effective were to be produced now, it would be assailed by that word.--By the way Mr. Macready and his Sister have been kind to me beyond all k ind ness. They are delightful people.

Will you say every thing for me to your lovely wife--& my kind friends Mr. Bewick & Mr. Chatfield? Shall I send you some orders for the Fifth night?Mitford is probably referring to the fifth night of production of her play, Julian, at Covent Garden. An article in the Morning Post lists the fifth night of production as 02 April 1823.--And pray try what you can do with The Examiner.--Ever my dear Sir

Most gratefully your's yours M. R. Mitford.
To B. R. Haydon. Esqre St John's Place Lisson Grove North Regent's Park

Kind regards from Papa & Mama.
William Bewick William Bewick Danlington, county Durham Haughton-le-Skerne, county Durham portrait and history painter He was the pupil of Benjamin Robert Haydon with whom he remained for about three years. At Haydon's studio he met many famous men of the day, including Wordsworth, Hazlitt, and Keats. He worked hard under Haydon's influence, and besides working in his master's studio attended the Royal Academy Schools, and the dissecting teams of the physiologist and surgeon Sir Charles Bell. When he died, he was a substantial property owner in the village. His portrait work is extensively represented in the National Portrait Gallery and the British Museum, London, and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh. Bewick was not a member of the family of Thomas Bewich, the engraver, as is sometimes believed. Edward Chatfield Edward Chatfield 66 Judd Street Brunswick Square, London painter and author Chatfield was a pupil at an early age, by 1816, along with William Bewick, of Benjamin Robert Haydon who was to have an overmastering influence on his life. Under Haydon's teaching he went through a full course of practical anatomy. He began his artistic career with some portrait studies. In 1821 he started upon his first ambitious picture, The Death of Moses in Sight of the Promised Land. This was exhibited in January 1823 at the British Institution and was well received by the public, and gained warm commendation by Haydon. In June 1823 Haydon was arrested for debt, and his effects sold. Some of his pupils had put their names to bills at his request, and suffered considerable pecuniary loss. Chatfield was among the number, but was fortunately able to provide the amount due (£210), and, though impoverished, did not begrudge Haydon the loss and remained loyal to his master, whose instruction had always been given gratis. Thrown on his own resources, Chatfield was compelled to supplement his slender income by portrait painting. Among his sitters were several members of the Russell family (the duke of Bedford's family). Laetitia Macready Macready Laetitia William Charles Macready's sister who live with him and his wife throughout their married life.