Walmer Castle, Oct. 24, 1834.
The Duke of Wellington presents his compliments to Miss J. The Duke has received her Letter in which she expresses a desire to see the Duke and that he should call upon her.
The Duke has certainly received one, if not more, letters from Miss J., all written upon the same important subject and with the same beneficent object in view, although the desire to see the Duke was not expressed in them; and the Duke lately acknowledged the receipt of one, and of the book, etc., accompanying it.
Although the Duke is not in the habit of visiting young unmarried ladies with whom he is not acquainted, he will not decline to attend Miss J. He is at present at a distance from London, and he will be detained at Walmer Castle by business in this part of the county for more than a fortnight.
Miss J. will probably write to the Duke again, and will let him know whether she will be in London in a fortnight or three weeks from this time.
This was followed by a note, dated November 8, renewing the expressions of the Duke's desire to meet one who took such an interest in his welfare, and informing Miss J. of his intention to call upon her the twelfth of the month. She was then with her friend Mrs. L. in lodgings in London, and here the Duke presented himself.
The interview was most curious, and is fully described in Miss J.'s Diary. It seems to furnish the key to this correspondence, that lasted over seventeen years. Even the pietistic phrases with which Miss J.'s account is thickly interspersed are of value as demonstrating the woman's real character, and making plain how completely all that concerned her was subordinated to her conception of what constituted the glory of God. The full statement was not written immediately after the Duke's visit, although the main facts were noted in her Diary. The following narrative was committed to paper some years after the occurrence it reports. Her motive in giving particulars is, as she herself states, to protect herself, lest at her death some question might arise as to the precise relations that had existed between the Duke and herself.
She writes:—
"I was about to enter further into a copy of the list of the Duke's letters, in the book with the lock and key, without comment on the past; but I am not permitted to do so, considering the Lord is too jealous for his holy name to suffer me to be exposed to censure which a full knowledge of circumstances would explain and prevent. Consequently, however reluctant (recoiling from the task as I do) to enter into such, the honor due to the holy name so justly declared to be above every name demands the effort; and may HE, as I have upon my knees especially implored him, be with my pen accordingly, influencing it to write only what is agreeable to his unerring will, and likely to obtain the end in view above alluded to, for his holy name's sake! Since he must have influenced the Duke of Wellington to love me above every other lady upon earth from the first moment he beheld me, I am not afraid, as in his sight, to imply such feelings were permitted to exist towards one, through the workings of his power, for the accomplishment of his own ends, be they whatever they may,—which ends, however varying from those I had naturally anticipated, will, I trust, redound far more to His Glory than my anticipations, if realized, could possibly have done.
"I say naturally anticipated! And who can presume to think such were not justifiable when the individual thus brought into my presence by 'the Lord of Lords' for the purpose of receiving instruction from his holy word, never spoke, all power of speech seeming to be withdrawn, until he was compelled to exclaim: 'Oh, how I love you! how I love you!' repeating the same over and over and over again with increasing energy.