Mary Russell Mitford’s friends were numerous, both here in England and on the other side of the Atlantic, and her sympathies were as wide as the great ocean that lies between us. She writes in later life: “I love poetry and people as well at sixty as I did at sixteen, and can never be sufficiently grateful to God for having permitted me to retain the two joy-giving faculties of admiration and sympathy by which we are enabled to escape from the consciousness of our own infirmities into the great works of all ages and the joys and sorrows of our immediate friends.” This sunny nature which was unembittered by severe trials speaks to us in all the stories of _Our Village_, and it spread such a halo about the scenes therein described that little Three Mile Cross—the prototype of _Our Village_—became in time a resort of pilgrims from far and near, among whom were some of the finest spirits of the age. All longed to gaze upon the cottage in which Mary Russell Mitford had dwelt, and to sit in the small parlour whose window looks down upon the village street, where she had written the stories so dear to her readers. Happily the cottage itself, with the little general shop on one side and the village inn on the other, are still so much what they were in her day that the long space of time that has rolled by since her room was left vacant seems to vanish, and as we enter the front door we almost expect to see the small figure of the “lady of _Our Village_” coming down the narrow stairs to welcome us. * * * * * Before closing this Preface I would express my gratitude to Lord Treowen, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Palmer, Mr. F. Cowslade, Mr. W. May, the Misses Lovejoy, and Mr. J. J. Cooper, for permission to reproduce valuable portraits and relics, and for other kind help. CONSTANCE HILL. GROVE COTTAGE, FROGNAL, HAMPSTEAD, _August, 1919_. [Illustration] CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. AN AUTHOR’S BIRTHPLACE 1 II. HAPPY MEMORIES 9 III. VILLAGE NEIGHBOURS 15 IV. EARLY LIFE IN READING 22 V. LYME REGIS 29 VI. A STORMY COAST 40 VII. A FLIGHT 52 VIII. RETURN TO READING 56 IX. THE SCHOOL IN HANS PLACE 66 X. A GLIMPSE OF OLD FRENCH SOCIETY 74 XI. THE GAY REALITIES OF MOLIÈRE 82 XII. RECOLLECTIONS OF OLD READING 92 XIII. A NORTHERN TOUR 101 XIV. A ROYAL VISIT 110 XV. PLAYS AND POETRY 119 XVI. A CHOSEN CORRESPONDENT 126 XVII. THE MARCH OF MIND 134 XVIII. VERSATILITY AND PLAYFULNESS 144 XIX. FROM MANSION TO COTTAGE 156 XX. THREE MILE CROSS 161 XXI. THE NEW HOME 179 XXII. A LOQUACIOUS VISITOR 190 XXIII. THE PUBLICATION OF “OUR VILLAGE” 203 XXIV. A COUNTRY-SIDE ROMANCE 212 XXV. A NEW PLAYWRIGHT 221 XXVI. “RIENZI” 230 XXVII. FOREIGN NEIGHBOURS 241 XXVIII. AGREEABLE JAUNTS 250 XXIX. UFTON COURT 260 XXX. A FURTHER GLANCE AT OUR VILLAGE 271 XXXI. ECCENTRIC NEIGHBOURS 283 XXXII. THE MAY-HOUSES 292 XXXIII. WALKS IN THE COUNTRY 302 XXXIV. A CENTRE OF INTEREST 315 XXXV. A LONDON WELCOME 328 XXXVI. A BRAVE HEART 339