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
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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
MY DEAR MISS J.,--I write to you now as I am under the necessity
of going out of Town to Windsor Castle from whence I shall not be
permitted to return till late on Wednesday.
I found a crowd around my horses after I quitted you on Saturday
and I was followed away by the same persons who had followed me
to your part of the Town.
I enclose what I told you that I would send you; it appears to me
to be a good likeness, judging from the recollection of other
Busts.
I will write to you as soon as I am certain at what time I can
call upon you.
Ever Yours most faithfully,
WELLINGTON.
Miss J. writes in her Diary for this date:
"The Duke told me that a _boy_ from his _own_ door called after
him, attracting others accordingly all the way. This annoyed him
particularly on my account, as he was aware of my objection to
notice, notwithstanding that I was at the time under Mrs. L.'s
roof, where all the visits referred to took place and under her
protection."
Of the picture to which the Duke refers, Miss J. thus writes, after his
death:--
"This was his own Picture in wax, made by himself and was an
impression conveying a striking resemblance. It is made upon one of
his own Cards, cut in _half_. On this is engraved 'Field M. The
Duke of ----.' How this valuable Article is eventually to be
disposed of, I wait upon The Lord of Lords, who permitted it to be
bestowed upon me, to point out. He must determine whether it is to
be sent to the British Museum, as a remembrance of one who in His
Hands was permitted to become the preserver of our nation, or to be
disposed of for the propagation of Christianity among the Jews in
whom I am so deeply interested. Whichever it may be I trust that
His Holy Name will be magnified, on account of its having been
bestowed on one so devoted to the poor Duke's everlasting welfare,
during the last eighteen years of his life,--his _eventful_ life!"
LONDON, Sept. 6, 1844.
MY DEAR MISS J.,--I did not return from Windsor Castle till late
on Wednesday. I was in the field with the Troops yesterday
Morning; in the House of Lords from one o'clock till the
Parliament was prorogued and in the Public Offices till between
six & seven in the evening. Now I am about to return to Windsor
Castle this afternoon for the Christening of the Infant Prince
and I shall not return till night or possibly to-morrow. Here
they are crying out for me in the levee Robes. Under these
Circumstances I cannot fix a time at which I could go to pay you
a visit.
Ever Yours most faithfully,
WELLINGTON.
The infant prince here referred to was Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.
LONDON, Sept. 7, 1844.
Morning.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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