A.L.S. OF EARL OF CHESTERFIELD, OCTOBER 8, 1771, DESCRIBING THE INAUGURAL BALL AT THE NEW BATH ASSEMBLY ROOMS.
The Mrs. Mathews alluded to in the letter was probably the wife of Captain Mathews, who afterwards fought a duel with Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
Here is another Chesterfield letter from a different source:—
Earl of Chesterfield to Mrs. Montague, May 14, 1771.
Lord Chesterfield presents his respects to Mrs. Montague and desires her to accept of the enclosed trifle for her poor women; his charity purse is at present as light as hers can possibly be, not from being as formerly his Play-purse too but from the various applications of wretched objects which humanity cannot withstand.
Of the early nineteenth-century statesmen letter-writers Brougham was one of the most prolific, but I have already spoken of a curious "find" of somewhat sensational Brougham correspondence in Paris.[41] His ordinary letters only fetch from 3s. to 5s. Far more costly are the letters of Curran, Grattan, and O'Connell. Here is a typical letter of the "Liberator," written from Bath:—
Daniel O'Connell to Mr. W. H. Curran.
Bath, October 14, 1817.
My dear Curran,—I have wept over your letter. Oh God your Father never offended me,—we once differed on the subject of the details of our Petition, but if my information on facts respecting that detail was not superior to his, I feel my inferiority in every other respect too sensibly to dare to differ with him. As Brutus was called the last of the Romans so Ireland will weep over him as the last survivor of those great spirits who almost burst the iron Bondage of Britain and would have made her free but that the ancient curse has still bound her and she lingers yet in slavery. How naturally does the thought fly from his bed of sickness to the sorrows of Ireland. The Boldest, best, most eloquent, most enthusiastic, and perhaps more than the most persevering of her Patriots, he was. Alas he leaves none like or second to him. You will my friend think I declaim while I only run rapidly through the thoughts that his illness crowds upon me. You do well, quite well. It will, in every respect, console you to recollect that you have done your duty. I rejoice with all the joy of my heart can mingle with his state that you have this precious opportunity of doing that duty cordially and well. If your letter afforded me hope that I could see your Father, so as to be able to converse with him, I would answer your letter in person, as it is I wait only your reply to go to you. It would suit most convenient not to leave this before Saturday, but your reply will command me. The Funeral must be Public. I will of course attend it. We will arouse everything Irish in London and pay a tribute to his memory unequalled by any which London has witnessed. Tell Phillips I only wait a reply to join you both. Do you think of conveying his remains to Ireland? this if practicable would be best. Write, or get Phillips to write, as soon as you receive this. You perceive that I write in the extreme of haste, but I am for ten thousand reasons convinced that you should listen to no suggestion of a private funeral. You would repent it only once, that is all your life. Would to God I could offer you consolation.
Believe me, my dear friend, to be most faithfully yours,