The Letters of the Duke of Wellington to Miss J., 1834-1851: Edited, with Extracts from the Diary of the LatterWellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of
History
The Letters of the Duke of Wellington to Miss J., 1834-1851: Edited, with Extracts from the Diary of the Latter
Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of
Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 1769-1852 -- Correspondence
receive a favor at _such_ hands! preferring to trust myself
wholly in _His_ Hands Who declares "The silver is Mine and the
gold is Mine."...
May God in His infinite mercy, My Lord Duke, give you Grace to
understand this Divine assertion, "Whoso shall offend one of
these little ones which believe in ME, it were better for him
that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were
drowned in the depth of the Sea."
May HE before it is too late incline you to draw near unto Him
accordingly prays,
His devoted Child and Servant,
A. J.
LONDON, August 7, 1850.
Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington presents His Compliments to
Miss J. He is much concerned at her answer and that he has given
her Offence, however unintentionally! The Duke may have been
mistaken! But it certainly appeared to him that the Money lent
upon Mortgage; of which the Interest was in arrears of a year,
and paid very irregularly might with advantage have been called
in and the rest of the Sum might with advantage have been applied
to defray the expenses attending Miss J.'s illness! More
particularly as Miss J. was unwilling to adopt any of the modes
suggested by which pecuniary assistance might have been sent her!
The Duke assures her that he is not disposed to expose her to any
thing inconvenient by desiring that she should sign any papers!
He was anxious that she should receive the pecuniary assistance
which might be useful or necessary to Her in the manner least
tiresome to Herself and least likely to occasion the inquiries of
busy and impertinent curiosity!
However Miss J. may rely upon it that he will not interrupt her
repose excepting in consequence of her own expressed desire!
One fancies a mocking tone in the last sentence of the Duke's letter,
as though he surmised Miss J.'s silence would not be of long duration.
He did not reckon without his host. Miss J. held her peace for three
weeks. Then, seeing by the "Times" that the Right Hon. Charles
Arbuthnot had died suddenly at the house of the Duke of Wellington, she
wrote a letter of condolence which in its expressions of deep sympathy
and its religious consolations would not have been out of place if
indited upon the death of the Duke's nearest of kin. [Endnote 12] To
this effusion the Duke sent no answer. Nothing daunted, Miss J. only
waited for an excuse to write again. This she soon found in a newspaper
paragraph stating that the Duke had been thrown from his carriage. Her
letter and the Duke's reply follow:
Sept. 16, 1850.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account