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
"'I dare not on this occasion indulge the hope of my dear Sister's
continuation in England, she having this morning received a letter
which renders it necessary that she should return home and I must
pray to God to give me grace and strength to bear such a
separation, Who alone can prevent my sinking under these various
surrounding perplexities, for when she is gone I shall not have
anyone but Himself to look to, with the exception of yourself to
whom I have much to say if I could but consider it His Will that I
should repose in you accordingly. O that HE may direct me and
influence you to receive all I have to communicate in whatever way
to His unerring Will prays yours devotedly.'"
The final quarrel was now approaching. The account of it is best given
in Miss J.'s own words, omitting, as heretofore, a large proportion of
the Biblical quotations.
"May The Lord enable me to proceed as HE would have me do for His
great holy name sake! for when, or how, to commence a description
of the circumstances in which I was placed with regard to pecuniary
matters, I know not. However, having besought the Lord to aid me I
will at once state that my own Income, limited at best, had become
still more so through a fire which took place on the property
mortgaged, rendering it so small that it was impossible to live
upon it without further help added! Meanwhile, the landed property
we had expected to possess appeared, through a Will drawn out at a
later date to belong to the younger branches of our family, which
was a dreadful disappointment to my beloved Sister. She had buoyed
up her hopes that _her_ portion thereof, united to mine would
compensate for hopes which could now no longer be anticipated. This
rendered her grief on my account additionally distressing, causing
her to reason with and beseech me to spread the whole affair before
the Duke. From the very thought of this I recoiled unutterably,
thus inducing her to reproach me with a want of due affection and
consideration for herself, as my death would be insupportable and
must necessarily take place if she left me in England so situated.
At length, considering as she had justly remarked that the Duke's
abundant riches were bestowed upon him by God to do good with when
in his power and that any aid afforded me could never be
sufficiently great to admit of his feeling the loss thereof; also
considering the gold and silver are _The Lord's_ Who could
consequently dispose of it accordingly, ... therefore it appeared a
_duty_ due to God and man to appeal to the Duke Who in _God's_
sight may _justifiably_ have been expected to become a father unto
me under _such_ circumstances. That, too, as above observed,
without feeling the consequences thereof any more than the Ocean
would miss a bubble that had appeared on its surface and then
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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