[^AMBERLEY, LORD AND LADY.
THE AMBERLEY PAPERS: THE DIARIES AND LETTERS OF LORD
AND LADY AMBERLEY, VOL II.
THE HOGARTH PRESS.
ED. RUSSELL, BERTRAND AND PATRICIA.
LONDON, 1937.
II, PP. 512 - 532
    PP. 539 - 557
    PP. 559 - 571^]

 
<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP JAMBE>
<N LET TO WIFE>
<A AMBERLEY JOHN LORD>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X MALE>
<Y 20-40>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT EQUAL>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 512>
 
[} [^LETTER FROM LORD JOHN AMBERLEY TO KATE^] }] 
Aug. 15/72. 
   My dear Love.  What a bore is this whooping cough.  I am
so vexed.  I want to go home very much; so please send the
Williamses all away & have the house cleansed.  We must
try to go back in a fortnight. 
   Frank & I are off this morning for Scotland.  He was outrageous
last night & I shall get him the medicine at Carlisle. 
I had to pretend I was going to bed myself directly after
dinner in order to make him stay in bed.  He had dressed
himself in the dark & come down.  I had to go & lie down
on my bed with him on my arm & at last escaped on the
excuse of wanting to get something to drink, wh. I did. 
Came down, & Ed sang a little, but her voice feeble, & then
had some tea, but was so upset I cd not sleep till past 1 even
with hops & woke at 5.  After reading some time I wanted
to dose, & told Frank how tired I was & asked him to be
quiet.  This about 6.30 or 7.  He wd not, & said I had slept
quite enough, so at last I had to rise & dress.  I am well
enough now I think & he is good & sensible;  helped me
nicely about the packing. 
   You cannot be alone so long.  If you cannot come to me I
must go to you at P.L. 
   How funny about my infancy.  No doubt I was very
naughty. 
   Frank sends you these flowers. 
Ever Yr.
A. 

[} [^LETTER FROM LORD JOHN AMBERLEY TO KATE^] }] 
Yarrow Aug. 15/72. 
   My darling.  I wish to tell you that the Frasers have hired
the cottage on purpose for Frank & me, & that it is delightful
The accommodation is much more comfortable than at
P.L. as there are three rooms, two of them a fair size with 2

<P 513>

large beds in each, & one small one for Frank.  The air here
is most exhilarating, & if you & your 2 children will come
on my enjoyment will be perfect.  Of course we shd take
the house off the Frasers' hands, & have it for a month or
longer at 8 gs., as suited us.  Stopping a night at Naworth
will make the journey a very easy one.  You leave Naworth
at noon & get here at 6.  The whooping cough seems to be a
providential arrangement to force you to come, as the
expense will be little greater than going anywhere else; 
besides if you put a trusty female at Ravenscroft we save the
Williamses' wages as long as they are away.  If you do not
come I shall be forced to go back, & then I shall not gain in
health by having come.  And you know you promised to
follow if I was not well, & I do not feel well at all at present,
tho' very likely I may soon be as strong as possible here.  Mrs.
Fraser has undressed Frank, bathed him, & put him to bed
& he is in the highest spirits.  I have sent for his medicines. 
My love, I am so happy here, except that you are not with me. 
   Mrs. F. will take the best care of me & Frank. 
   Ever yr loving
A. 

   Post takes 2 days from here.  I do not think I am intolerant
of Frank, only I do not like his new trick of always calling
me a beast if we differ about anything. 

[} [^LETTER FROM LORD JOHN AMBERLEY TO KATE^] }] 
Yarrow Aug 16/72 
   My darling.  In the hurry of writing yesterday evening to
catch the post I cd not tell you anything about our journey
hither.  The Storys had asked me whether I wd mind their
maid going with me to Carlisle to do some commissions.  They
had told me she was a Scotchwoman & had a high character,
but I had not expected anything extraordinary.  I was
agreeably surprised to find her a charming companion,
entering frankly & readily into conversation on various
topics, & infinitely more agreeable than most London young
ladies.  After a little conversation about her father, who had
been a sea-captain, she told me of her education at Kirkudbright,
where the family lived & where she had been to a

<P 514>

good school & learnt "Latin roots."  She cd. not read Latin,
but Latin roots, she observed, were of great help in explaining
the derivation of other languages.  I began to tell her
about Sanskrit, but she did not realize its position, & I had
no time to explain it.  Her having been so well educated led
me to reflect on the superiority of Scotch to English schools,
& when I arrived here I mentioned it to Fraser, who told me
that at this little place there is a very good school indeed. 
The best boy in it, the son of a farmer named Laidlaw, is
very well grounded in Greek & Latin & in mathematics up
to quadratic equations, or thereabouts.  Edward has just
been putting him through an examination by papers in
history, English, classics, & mathematics, & I believe he is
going up to Edinboro' Univ.  The master who teaches these
subjects also has to attend to the drudgery of teaching young
children the elementary things, with a pupil teacher.  This
appears to be the very sort of man we want, & I shd think
they mt easily be had in Scotland.  To go on with the maid,
Elizabeth, she told me that she looked very closely after the
other servants to prevent waste, & that they were more afraid
of her than of their mistress.  If anything wrong was done she
was down upon them at once, & wd. not allow it, as when the
cook wanted to throw away a lot of good meat when a little
of it was bad.  She said she met very few servants who were
honest.  Their great object was to spend as much of the
master's substance as possible.  They say of a lady, "She
may as well have it; she can afford it," when they determine
to make her get this or that.  Of Mrs. Story they say, "She
is only here for three seasons; it does not matter if we spoil
things."  And then the way in wh. they deny having done
what they have done she says is astonishing.  She told me
the Storys did not treat her like a maid, but made somewhat
of a companion of her, or she wd not like to stay.  They told
me a nice trait about her, that when they were travelling in
Italy they were going to take her 2nd class, but she looked
into the 3rd, & insisted on going 3rd as she wd be ashamed
to travel 2nd when the other was good enough. 
   Your letter came in while I was writing.  I am so glad you

<P 515>

did not write to Maude, it is much better to leave her alone.
It wd. only lead to trouble, & we shd. have no right to repeat
what was said without any intention at all of conveying
censure.  Thanks for Edith's letter.  Of course I shall not tell
her about it, but she wd. not mind, & she knows perfectly
well from me that whatever is said or written to one of us
is said or written to both.  I have written & told her you may
perhaps be coming here, & I much wish you could meet her,
but unless you stay 2 nights at Naworth (wh perhaps wd be
better) it wd hardly be feasible.  We have such excellent
breakfasts & teas.  Frank is enchanted with it & I have had
no trouble all the morning because he has been playing with
Campbell & Mrs. Geddes' boy.  Tomorrow we dine with
Russell, the Scotsman, weather permitting.  It seems to me
the irritability you speak of in Frank about spelling correctly
must have gone off, for he wrote the first page of his letter to
Rachel alone, & made several mistakes, but he did not the
least mind when I told him of them.  Since then, however,
I have been by him & ready to help him if he wd have it &
wd not be passionate with me.  I hope that he is not worried
or angered by these little errors any longer. 
   Tell me how you feel, my love, & whether the nursing is
still as successful as it was.  Sandy writes complaining of you
for neglecting him.  Why don't you send him a line?  He is
perhaps coming here.  Yr. ever loving A. 

[} [^LETTER FROM LORD JOHN AMBERLEY TO KATE^] }] 
Yarrow Aug 17/72 noon. 
   My love.  Will you forward the enclosed to Collier if you
think it right & agree with it?  It just puts before him the
perplexities wh. have occurred to me & to wh. his letter
seems to furnish no answer at all.  Mrs. Fraser manages
Frank very nicely.  Sh is extremely gentle, but often gets her
own way with him in the end.  He is by the river with the
boys, & enjoys life here immensely.  I think my first instinct

<P 516>

about this place suiting him was quite a right one.  I still
hope you will join us.  I keep this open till the post comes. 
   I think I was more to be pitied than "poor Frank" who
was only unhappy during his angry state, but was perfectly
happy directly after it, slept sound & suffered neither in
body or mind, whereas I suffered in both & slept ill, & in the
morning he contrived an irritating noise with a match box
which, as he said himself, "would wake anybody."  Mrs.
Fraser gives him his medicine regularly & superintends him
generally.  He seems in excellent health & spirits.  He is
always allowed to be as dirty as he likes.  The reason I took
him out with us at Crosby was that Mrs. Story wished him
out of the house. 
   Fairy tales, puzzle, German songs all right.  Please thank
my mother, & say Mrs. F. has been playing me the songs. 
   The Duchess of Cambridge's insolence is surprising.  If
this sort of royal (\canaille\) cannot learn to keep their places I
should simply refuse to meet them in society. 
   I feel much better today.  I have to dress for dinner as the
drive is long. 
Yr. most loving husband -  

[} [^LETTER FROM LORD JOHN AMBERLEY TO KATE^] }] 
Yarrow Aug 18/72 
   My darling.  Being Sunday, this has been a day without
letters.  I have given up any hope of your coming as I believe
it wd. be a longer journey than you wd. like; & if you can
go & stay at Thorpe I shall not feel uneasy about you.  When
you are alone at P.L. you might get Sanderson to come down
& walk with you in the park, wh. wd certainly be a great
pleasure to him poor man.  I do not know what other
"friends" there are who wd. be in London now. 
   [\[A Mr. R.]\] told us a good story after dinner.  Mr. Bennett
the High Ch. clergyman, taught all his female disciples to
call the festivals by their correct ecclesiastical names.  One
New Year's Day a young lady met him in his church, &
making her curtsey, said "I wish you a happy circumcision,
Mr. Bennett, & many of them."  He says Mrs. Bennett who
was by was much confused.  If not true it is "(\bien trouv‚\)". 

<P 517>

  I read quietly this morning, & had a good walk with Mrs.
F. after our dinner.  Frank has been out with Campbell, &
waded across the Yarrow.  This morning he threw one glass
of medicine at the cook, & another at Mrs. Fraser;  the latter
reduced him to penitence by refusing to speak to him &
telling all her children to be equally silent.  He was much
disappointed at their taking no notice, & gave in after a
certain time.  I was not present when it happened. 
   Altho' I am still tired I feel much better & think I shall
soon be very robust here.  As soon as I am I shall return to
you.  Ever yr own A. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP JAMBE>
<N LET TO FRIEND SANDY>
<A AMBERLEY LORD JOHN>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X MALE>
<Y 20-40>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT EQUAL>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 517>
  
[} [^LETTER FROM LORD JOHN AMBERLEY TO SANDY^] }]  
Yarrow - Aug 20/72 
ad. 22/72. 
   My dear Sandy.  Perhaps after all you may come to us
early in Sepr.  I shall be home by the 1st or 2nd;  you might
come a day or two later if (\m'amie\) tells you it is convenient
wh I do not know about.  Lizzie & her children will be gone
 -  that may cause confusion.  Write to (\m'amie\) at P.L. &
find out.  I am merely writing this to prevent you setting off
to Naworth in case you wd prefer coming to us first.  The
early part of Sepr. wd. suit me best if domestic arrangements
admit of it. 
   Why do not you two meet in the Park & talk matters over - 
this matter & others of interest? 
Ever yr friend
A. 

   In haste for post. 
   We must have at least one day alone before you come as
there will be much for us to discuss together. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP TJS>
<N LET TO FRIEND KATE>
<A SANDERSON T J>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LETT PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X MALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT EQUAL>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 517>
      
[} [\T.J.S. to Lady Amberley\] }] 
22 Aug. 72 
   How are you to day my friend?  You were still & ill last
night.  I went into the Park after I left you.  You will see
what A. is scheming & will know that it will come to naught. 
I have written to say that it cannot be.  (\Addio!\) at least until
after September. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP JAMBE>
<N LET TO WIFE>
<A AMBERLEY LORD JOHN>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X MALE>
<Y 20-40>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT EQUAL>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X> 
<P 518>
 
[} [^LETTER FROM LORD JOHN AMBERLEY TO KATE^] }] 
Yarrow Aug 20/72 
MY DARLING 
   Oh yes, Frank did use the term "beast" to me at P.L.
before we came away & I reproved him for it; since wh he
has applied it constantly because he knows I do not like it. 
No doubt he learned it from some servant.  In one drive
with Edith he kept on saying to me "You're a beast, you're
a beast" without stopping for about « an hour.  I believe a
good boxing of the ears wd be far the best treatment in such
cases & make him much happier afterwards. 
Ever yr loving
A. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP TJS>
<N LET TO FRIEND KATE>
<A SANDERSON T J>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<W WRITTEN>
<X MALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT EQUAL>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 518>
 
[} [\T.J.S. to Lady A.\] }] 
9 Eldon Road,
Hampstead N.W.
23 Aug 72 
   Here is another letter from A.  You will see in it his tender
solicitude that you shd [\[be]\] unannoyed & his anxiety lest he
shd have gone too far in his earlier letter in advising me to
go on & see you. 
   He is a dear A. to be so anxious to see me at Ravenscroft
in September & I fr. my part am sorry that I cannot go. 
(\Addio!\)  How is yr face? 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP JAMBE>
<N LET TO FRIEND SANDY>
<A AMBERLEY LORD JOHN>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X MALE>
<Y 20-40>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT EQUAL>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 518>
   
[} [\To T.J.S.\] }] 
Yarrow. 
Aug. 21/72. 
MY DEAR FRIEND. 
   I was mainly in jest about yr. coming here with (\m'amie\). 
As a matter of fact she wd not like it, nor wd she like you to
go & see her alone at P.L. - so please do not annoy her by
doing so.  It was because I knew she wd. not wish it that I
told you not to go; & if I said anything to the contrary
yesterday I retract it on reflection. 
   This valley is quite lovely enough for me.  What more
you may want I do not know.  If you come & join your family
in September I suspect you will have it pretty much to

<P 519>

yourself.  Ask Mrs. Fraser to introduce you to Isabella
Laidlaw - a farmer's daughter, a pretty & (I hope) innocent
young creature.  Perhaps her na‹ve Scotch charms may
counteract the fascinations of the gay London beauties
whose wiles entrap the unwary sometimes. 
   Tell me what you propose doing about Ravenscroft. 
Say you came from the 4th to 10th Sepr., you would then
arrive at Naworth about the right time? 
Yours affectly
AMBERLEY. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP JAMBE>
<N LET TO WIFE>
<A AMBERLEY JOHN LORD>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X MALE>
<Y 20-40>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT EQUAL>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 519>
  
[} [^LETTER FROM LORD JOHN AMBERLEY TO KATE^] }] 
Yarrow Aug 21/72 
   My darling.  As my sore throat was worse this morning I
staid in bed.  Mrs. Fraser brought me my breakfast in bed,
& staid with me while I eat it.  She thought it a pity I was
not in political life & that it wd. be better for me not to lead
such a purely literary life.  Also that it was a mistake not to
be more cautious in the utterance of my opinions in speeches,
wh. were too crude for a young man.  That Russell had at
one time thought of me as a candidate for Edinbro' but had
afterwards changed about it, saying the Whigs wd not be
satisfied with me.  I told her I had no objection to being in
Parlt., but that the constituencies wd not elect me, and as it
was no personal object of mine to get in I did not care to
conceal my opinions to conciliate them.  Besides, that I was
not a Whig, & never cd. satisfy Whigs.  She seemed to think
there had been something particularly crude about one
speech in Devonsh., wh. one she did not exactly know.  I
only said I saw nothing to retract in them.  I am not sure
that I made out very clearly what it was she found fault with,
I suppose I have made many mistakes in the mode of utterance. 
After all this was over I got up & dressed & came here
to read Reade's Savage Africa, wh. is very amusing.  I shall
take it home for you to read.  The tone is quite unlike that
of his M[\[artyrdom]\] of M[\[an]\], the latter being the work of
a much later age.  In the afternoon I had only a moderate
walk with Mrs. F., as my sore throat prevents me from feeling
up to much.  When I came in, after going up to our cottage

<P 520>

to wash my hands, Mrs. F. came to meet me & told me that
Frank had called her a brute & a beast, & thrown a stone
at her, for wh. she had slapped his hand without hurting
him & told him he was to have dry bread for tea.  It appears
that the Fraser boys had sat down on the trunk of a tree on
some seats wh. Frank claimed as his, & that he rudely told
them to get up.  They wd not, but Campbell said he wd give
Frank his seat at once if he wd ask for it, & not call him a
brute.  Frank got on Campbell's back & held him round the
neck, on wh. Freddy, who is a tall strong fellow, calmly
picked him up & put him in the garden.  Frank came back
directly, & when Maria, who had nothing to do with it,
came out, he got a large stone to throw at her.  Mrs. F.
went out to try & gently lead him away, on wh. he addressed
her as above.  Being offered dry bread for tea he went off
without a word, & I heard afterwards that he had got some
hot scons, butter & everything else that was good from
Mrs. Geddes.  I do not like this way he has of going to Mrs.
G. at all sorts of times for food, especially as he has every kind
of luxury here & I am going to stop her giving anything but
dry bread.  Notwithstanding this he is immensely improved
since Mrs. F. has taken him in hand, he has become much
gentler & more amenable to rules in these few days.  She
manages him very judiciously, without ever showing anger. 
She wd. keep him all the time they are at Yarrow if we liked,
but I see no way of getting him sent home. 
   The Scotsman has a dispute with its compositors, all of
whom have left the office.  The work is being done by English
hands.  What the merits of the case are I do not know, but
the men at a public meeting talked a vast deal of trash
about the wrong done to them by English workmen coming
over the border to eat the bread & butter that ought to be
eaten by their fellows in Scotland, &c. &c.  They seemed almost
to threaten the English, whom they spoke of as invaders,
with violence.  These unionists have much to learn yet, &
I am sorry men like Crompton & Harrison never use their
influence to teach them to respect the rights of others. 
   I thought you wd. not like Sandy to call on you when you

<P 521>

were alone, so I told him not to go unless expressly sent for
by you.  Of course it was a jest about his coming with you in
the train;  he seems to have taken it up very seriously.  I shd
prefer his visit to be over by the middle of Sepr., if we can
take him in then.  It will be less trouble than later in the year. 
Thanks for all the enclosures.  I shall be very glad if you go
to Chester Hill. 
   Maria, describing Rachel to Carrie, said "She's a thoroughly
kissable child. Now Frank escapes from you."  Give
my love to the kissable child.  Her letters were almost
illegible.  Frank will answer her soon.  When Edward talked
of giving Frank his calming medicine, the others being out,
Fr. said, "Well, I think you'd better not. It will only make
me stupid, you know. I shan't be so funny then."  Curious,
how he knew its effect. 
   I suppose I shall be home on Monday Sepr. 2. 
Your ever loving one
A. 

[} [^LETTER FROM LORD JOHN AMBERELY TO KATE^] }] 
Yarrow Aug 22/72 
MY DARLING. 
   I am much distressed, my love, by what you say about yr.
health;  it shows that you are not well, & if you want to go
to Clovelly or some such place for yourself we will do it. 
You ought not to feel low & nervous & I wish to go back
again direct when I read of such things.  In spite of my cold
I am getting better & expect to be quite strong in a week. 
I must take 2 days hence to the Gerwyn [\[his sister
Georgiana's house]\], as it is 13 hrs. travelling.  Altho' I am
happy enough here I am feeling unsettled all the time
owing to yr not being with me. 
   I find Frank did not have more than bread & butter
yesterday at our cottage, but as he had evaded his punishment
I told him this mg. he must have dry bread for breakfast,
wh. he eat without murmuring.  It must have impressed
him as he afterwards apologized to Mrs. F. quite of his own
accord.  She tells me he also called her a "she-devil" yesterday. 
Could he have picked this up in a fairy-tale book? 

<P 522>
                                                        
He has a slight cold in the head:  ought I to give him anything
for it?  If we have more of this warm sunny weather
it must soon go off.  St. Mary's Loch & the Yarrow look
exquisite in this fine time.  How I wish you cd. enjoy it with
us.  Ever yr most loving A.  

[} [^LETTER FROM LORD JOHN AMBERLEY TO KATE^] }] 
Yarrow Aug 23/72 
10.40 a.m. 
   My love.  I am writing early as we are going out on a long
expedition & I may have but little time when I return from
it.  Frank has still a little cold in the head, but all the same
he cannot be induced to wear his jacket out-of-doors.  Meantime
the weather is still fine & I hope we may both shake off
our colds soon.  Lizzie sent Frank a book he liked very much
called "Playing Trades."  At first Mrs. F. put it aside in
case it shd. be infectious, but I fancy whoopingcough is not
carried in that way.  I should be very sorry if the baby were
to catch it as it is no doubt dangerous.  Yesterday Frank
wrote to thank her & signed his name "Frank Russlle." 
I did not tell him of the mistake.  I am very glad Williams
is to stay so that the works in hand may go on. 
   If you are very much bent on going away from home we
might go down the Channel & stay on the Devon or Cornwall
coast.  My impression is, however, that you might
recover as well at Ravenscroft as anywhere else, especially
if we take 2 or 3 good rides. 
   Tell me what your size is for gloves, & how many you wish
me to get at Chester.  Maude says the name of the shop is
Brown. 
   9.30 p.m.  Just come home & got your letter.  I am very
unhappy about your illness.  If I could I should like to go
south at once & join you wherever you are.  Besides I see
you are vexed with me about something & you say now you
wd. have come had I answered about the doctor.  But before
you wrote that you did not wish to come & I was to telegraph
if I wanted you.  I did not like to force it upon you,
& so did not telegraph;  & as to the doctor it did not matter
if you were not to come.  I do not know that I told people of

<P 523>

Frank's faults, except Collier, in wh. case I left it to you to
forward the letter.  I remember Lowell well, but thought I
had rather liked him.  Tell me how long Frank can travel at
a time.  I fancy it wd. not do for him to go through to Wrexham,
8 a.m. to 9 p.m.?  But I feel so upset by your letter
that I do not know now what I shall do, & if tomorrow's is
not different I must join you at once.  It is the first time you
ever wrote to me in such a tone.  It occurs to me that you
may think I complained to Rosalind of Frank being troublesome,
but I believe she heard it from the Storys.  I do not
ever consider his faults more than childish, only I regretted
having brought him.  What you tell me about Rachel is
very distressing, & I think untruthfulness ought to be treated
as a very grave offence. 
   I attribute all the irritation of your letter to illness.  Have
you seen the doctor?  It does me no good to be here if I am
anxious, so I must go to you unless you are better. 
Yr ever loving one
A. 

   We have had a delightful picnic & seen Mr., Mrs & Miss
Sanderson. 

[} [^LETTER FROM LORD JOHN AMBERLEY TO KATE^] }] 
Yarrow. Sunday Aug 25/72 
   My darling.  It is raining drearily this morning, tho' not
violently.  The first rainy day since the day after I arrived. 
Frank will be able to write his letter to you, wh. I thought it
a pity to urge upon him when he was so well amused & so
innocently occupied out-of-doors on the fine days. 
   Your pencil letter of Friday made me quite wretched, because
it showed that you were ill without me to attend on
you, & that you were missing me.  I cd. not bear to think of
it, & I longed to rush back & surprise you at P.L. early this
morning.  Sir Alex. & Lady Grant were here for luncheon,
& unfortunately (or fortunately) the letters only came in at
3 instead of 2.  It was brought to me just after the ladies had
left the dinner table.  I ran out to find Mrs. Fraser & say I

<P 524>

must go & also to consult Bradshaw.  Had there been a
direct train south I shd certainly have gone, but by the time
I had the letter it was already too late even without packing
to catch the 4.45 from Selkirk, wh. is the last evening train
to London.  It was a tremendous journey, the more so as I
was already fearfully tired by the bad night the day before,
& I wondered whether I shd. not arrive more ill than you. 
I did not fear for Frank as he can sleep in the train perfectly. 
However I determined to start, & the Grants were to take
me in with them.  I was getting out a few things for packing,
when Mrs. Fraser came in to my room to consult about it. 
She sat down, & soon after Lady Grant followed, & also
took a seat.  Then came Prof. Fraser, then Sir A. Grant, &
all seated themselves round about in my bedroom, where a
species of cabinet council was held.  The Frasers were all for
telegraphing, in order that the Grants mt. send out the answer
if unfavourable, & I mt. go to-day.  So I agreed to do
this, or to go on myself with them & telegraph, they having
offered me tea while waiting for the answer.  But how to get
out here again?  There was the rub.  At last they left me;  &
then on quietly reflecting (as quietly as I cd. while still
feverishly excited) I fully determined to go.  I had now only
an hour to pack & get some tea, to change Frank's clothes &
get him in from his game with the little Grants.  And Mrs.
F. being with Lady Grant I had no one to help me to pack
quickly, so that I felt the situation rather desperate.  Before
coming to a final conclusion, or rather to be sure I had
overlooked nothing before coming to the conclusion I had
arrived at, I read yr. letter again.  The first part struck me
as very bad, just as it had done before.  The pain in the head
distressed me because I had not been there to soothe it, &
the cold in the bronchial tubes sounded very alarming. 
However the latter part wh. I had rather hurried over struck
me more forcibly than it had done before.  Evidently Dr. A.
had advised that you cd. go to Thorpe on Monday, & moreover,
the thing wh. quite shook my resolution, you were just
going back to Ravenscroft.  So I feared that if I did go back
I shd. find you laughing & chaffing, or perhaps even vexed

<P 525>

at my taking such an immense extra journey when it was too
late to be useful.  It seemed so much simpler just to return
home & meet you there that I resolved to do it unless I heard
worse news by telegraph.  Telegraph, I must, because it
wd. be 48 hours before I cd. have another post, & the
suspense was much too long.  I never cursed the Sabbatarian
institutions of my country more heartily than now.  This is
a picture of the deliberations I went through, wh. ended
in my handing the telegram to Sir Alex., who was to receive
the answer, & only to send out a messenger with it to me
if it was bad.  No news was to be good news, so I am glad
that I have heard nothing.  By him I also sent a letter wh.
I hope may reach you tomorrow, & a note to Dr. Anderson
asking him what was the matter with you. 
   I hope the Scotts will take good care of you, darling, &
that they will not let you get ill, or allow you to leave the
house till you are well enough to travel without risk.  If
there is still any bronchial inflammation by all means stay. 
I can join you at any moment much more easily when
Frank is deposited at home. 
   I do not know what in my letters gave you the impression
that Frank had been naughty for long together.  It has not
been so at all;  on the contrary he has been good here
excepting some little explosions of temper wh. have soon
passed over.  I naturally tell you the little things that occur
as being interesting, but not intending to convey the gloomy
impression you received.  After trying to domineer over
the Frasers as usual, & finding it wd. not do, he got quite
happy with them & they like him as a playfellow.  He
has never been in the demoniac state he was in sometimes
at Crosby. 
   As I do not like being any longer away from you I shall
return to Ravenscroft by the most direct route, arriving at
Monmouth by coach at 3 on Thursday.  You had better
have a fly for all your luggage, & let me have the carriage. 
Tell Williams if you do want it notwithstanding to send for
you & not to come for me.  I have sent him a postcard. 
   There is a paper ruled for Frank to write to you.  When I

<P 526>
                           
suggested it he was not inclined to do it;  if he thinks better
of it before the evening he shall have the paper. 
   Perhaps I shd. have answered yr. repeated suggestions
about wandering in the Cheviots.  The notion did not commend
itself to me because it wd. be little pleasure to be in the
midst of mountains with a child unable to accompany me
in walking over them, while I shd. have had no one to leave
him with.  To enjoy mountains, one must have a sympathetic
companion able to ramble about with one;  & if I am
to spend money in staying at hotels & travelling thro' fine
scenery I like you to be with me.  For myself only it is not
worth while.  For the same reason I gave up, not without
sorrow, my scheme of visiting Mona [\[The Isle of Man]\],
because I found in the guide-book that much must be done
by driving, & I did not wish to incur the expense till you cd
come with me.  Ever yr own A. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP LSTAN>
<N LET TO NIECE>
<A STANLEY LOUISA DOROTHEA>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT DOWN>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 526>
 
[} [^LETTER FROM LOUISA STANLEY TO KATE^] }] 
Baeres,
Henley on Thames. 
Aug 29. 1872. 
DEAR KATE 
   . . . We read the very interesting account of Livingstone by
Mr. Stanley very soon after you told us of it -  I wonder if he
is any illegitimate of the House of Stanley who has migrated
to America or if it is only an assumed name.  It makes one
look back & think how African discoveries used long years
ago to be the great desire of Henry's heart -  possibly if he
had been permitted to follow his bent he wd not have brought
such trouble into his family or who knows, he might have
brought home an African wife. 
   If you should be able to pay us a visit be assured we should
be very glad to see you only you know that our means of
having visitors is confined to one room and dressing room
and you shd not have so uncivil a reception as the Duchess
gave you.  But my dear Kate do not be angry with me if I
say - She served you right & you deserve it for you have a
strange turn for all sorts of queer company and since your
exhibition at that very low place at Bristol where you stood

<P 527>

up and harangued about Women's rights I shd wonder at
nothing odd you may do -  You know you sent us the Paper so
we did not get it from mere Report. 
   I hope the Baby has been christened for one day I was
asked whether it wd be so, I marvelled that there could be a
doubt -  Your mother told us of the name chosen - & I was
infinitely relieved for I had heard a rumour about Galahad.... 
   Aunt Rianette's love & I am
Yr affec Aunt
LOUISA DOROTHEA STANLEY. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP LRUSS>
<N LET TO DAUGHTER-IN-LAW>
<A X>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT DOWN>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 527>
 
[} [^LETTER FROM MOTHER-IN-LAW TO KATE^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge,
Richmond Park. 
Sept. 10/72 
MY DEAR CHILD,
   I have been wishing so for the letter - which came this
morning - but I don't like yr. acct. either of self or house -  
what a pity it shd. be so damp!  Were there occasional fires
all over the house while you were away?  What a pity too
that you still feel 'all no-how' - a horrid sensation -  I fear,
I fear the nursing won't do.  That unfortunate illness has
made it a very doubtful duty - Anderson told me that sometimes
sudden weaning in yr. sort of case where milk is abundant,
did harm not good - but I do think that gradually you
must leave it off.  An ass is a wise measure - and you'll see
whether you feel the better for having less of baby. 
   Yes, yr. visit was delightful indeed.  I can't say how much I
felt it so, my dear Child.  Only that horrid end to it!  Willy's
leg much better (did we tell you the poor fellow had been
sent back with it bad from over-riding?) but he will soon be
ill himself if he does not emerge from his present idiotic
phase of mind.  He has discovered the grand secret of health
and strength to be to deprive the body of all nourishment, he
eats a small breakfast, no luncheon, a slice of chicken for
dinner - or else as this morning no bkfst. at all - and is
destroying his appetite - never feels hungry.  Happily his

<P 528>

present theory is likely to be followed by a very different one
 - perhaps equally absurd, but at all events a change is
desirable.  He says 3 days without food will probably have a
most strengthening effect.  I hope Frank is kind to the
kittens - I have seen him cruel - but it's long ago.  I read yr
message to Michaud -  she was much pleased. 
Yrs. and my Johnny's loving Mother. 

   Where is Ldy. Stanley.  Why can't Johnny be out all day
long at beautiful Ravenscroft? 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP HSTAN>
<N LET TO DAUGHTER>
<A STANLEY LADY H M>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT DOWN>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 528>
 
[} [^LETTER FROM MOTHER TO KATE^] }] 
Venice Sept 25th 1872 
MY DEAREST KATE 
   . . . To-day we went to see a manufactory of beads they
are made on a gas light which burns between the Worker
& his hands -  each man had between his face & the flame a
glass screen the woman doing exactly the same thing had
none I asked why & was answered (\Le donne son piu forte &
non se ne curano non e vero?\) said the overseer to the woman
but none answered -  how ill they behave to women everywhere -  
I will write from Lucerne but I have little to say. 
Tell Rachel I have a necklace for her. 
Yr affectly
HMS. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP KAMBE>
<N LET TO MOTHER>
<A AMBERLEY LADY KATE>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y 20-40>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT UP>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 528>
 
[} [^LETTER FROM LADY KATE AMBERLEY TO HER MOTHER^] }] 
Ravenscroft,
Chepstow. 
Sept 20/72 
DEAR MAMA 
   I have only just got yr letter from Adelsberg & after
Reichenau did not know where to write -  I am quite well
now though I felt very weak when I first got here but long
rides & long nights have set me up & I only feel a slight pain
now & then in the shoulder blades where the lung was
congested.  I am very careful about damp but still nurse
baby for he thrives & is so well, strong & quiet now evidently
the milk I give him & his ass's milk agree with him.... 
Yr aff
K. AMBERLEY. 

<P 529>
         
[} [^LETTER FROM LADY KATE AMBERLEY TO HER MOTHER^] }] 
Ravenscroft. 
Sunday, Oct 13/72. 
DEAR MAMA 
   . . . We are all very well & Baby flourishes well I nurse him
without the least trouble except when I am tired as I was
last Friday; for we had s. children fr. Tinterne Trelleck &
Llanishen schools who had attended 150 days in the year. 
I had invited 2 more schools Penalt & Llandogo but they
had none who had attended.  There were about 58 in all. 
They dined at 1.30 & unfortunately we had a heavy cold
hail storm whh obliged them to stay in.  We examined the
1st Classes together in sums; dictation geography & Bible &
the 3 best got prizes & so on with the other classes.  It was
a great encouragement for children & mistresses who had
never had prizes or treats.  We have announced it for another
year so it will be a stimulus to Edn. & we shall examine in
Eng. Histy & Physiology besides -  I shall give them the
books.  At Llandogo they have lately a new mistress & she
told me the girls in the 1st Cl. cd not even thread their
needles;  all intellectual attainments were in proportion -  
We also had some neighbours to look on -  I wonder if you
saw about the P.L. robbery abroad.  Lady Russell has nothing
left in the world but 2 tiny brooches & the one ring she
had on.  The thief got in through Ld. R's dressing room
fastened Ly R's door by a wedge & gimlet through into the
floor & he got out by her window by the gymnastic ladder -  
They were all playing whist in the big room next to her's as
she had not been down stairs for weeks.  3 servants went to
her door while the thieves were there (between 9 & 10) & all
thought she had locked it & was asleep not being well. 
There is little hope the police say of recovering them but it is
a mercy none of them had a fright or worse;  Ly R. &
Agatha had been sitting in the bed room to within 20
minutes of the door being first found locked & must have
been watched fr. the dressing room the door being open &
the windows everything in the bedroom had been forced
open with chisels.  Workmen were all about of late putting
felt under the slates for warmth. 

<P 530>

  I hope you are not the worse for Venice.  I was much
amused by your account of the (\'donne'\) there.  I fancy it
so in many places. 
Yr aff
K. AMBERLEY. 

[} [\To Lady Stanley.\] }] 
Ravenscroft. 
Oct 28/72 
DEAR MAMA,
   I have been remiss in answering yr. letter but days slip by
so uneventfully.  The weather is foggy rainy and dirty here
but as you say I make use of the rare gleams of sun.  I had
a very heavy cold and was in bed 4 days and so kept it off my
chest but I feel any damp directly and in spite of plumbers
my room gets very damp.  The baby unfortunately always
catches my cold when I have one but it flourishes well and
has but « a bottle in the 24 hours so I do well for it.  I think
we shall go to London the end of Nov. or begg. of Dec. 
Will you buy me a large green paper fan and take it to P.L.
for me when you go.  I promised one to Rollo for his eyes at
night the lamp pains him so.  We are all so pleased at the
extreme praise he has got.  Dr. Hooker sent an essay on
Storms of Rollo's to Genl. Sabine (Prest. of Royal Society) to
read unknown to Rollo and Gen. Sabine writes to Hooker:
It is most remarkable and puts W. R. R. among the very
first rank of the meteorologists of Europe and America. 
As he wrote it at 21 it is great praise.  Lady Russell's voice
is at last getting better but she was 2 months unable to talk
to Ld. Russell a great privation. 
   Is whooping cough uninfectious as soon as the cough is
quite gone?  Lizzie's children have all got over it well it is
2 months since they began and she says they are cured. 
   Tell Lyulph I was thinking of doing what he has done
about the Anti Game Law League, subscribing but not

<P 531>  

joining.  It is amusing but not fair at all - and poor Airlie got
very much bullied in it. 
Yr. aff.
K. AMBERLEY. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP LRUSS>
<N LET TO SON>
<A RUSSELL FRANCES LADY>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT DOWN>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 531>
  
[} [^LETTER FROM MOTHER TO LORD JOHN AMBERLEY^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge,
Richmond Park. 
Oct. 29/72. 
DEAR JOHNNY 
   . . . Willy came last Mony -  he goes on tryg a variety of
systems for his health's sake - & it's wonder that he is well
in spite of them, tho' thinner than perhaps is natural to him
 -  One day he goes to town to do a deal of business & go to
the play - a pelting rain -  Rollo advises a cab -  "Oh no!"  he
gets thoroughly drenched & sits thro' the play & comes back
at night in that condition -  Another day, Sunday, not a bit
of food or drop to drink till luncheon - goes to church &
back fasting -  another day works morning noon & eve cutting
trees & clearing the old fortress, with such over-energy that he
gets sick & faint - all on system remember -  Of course nothing
cd. be better than such work if he did not try to exhaust himself
by it -  His mind is always in a most curiously perverse
or exaggerated state about health - & there's no describing
the dear boy's oddities & the grave nonsense he talks on the
subject -  But don't laugh at him or scold him, for he wd not
like it second-hand & is even sensitive upon it with us; but
of course we shall always give him our minds -  It is very
nice having him & he & Ag. have had charmg walks, sometimes
in pelting rain sometimes in sunshine. 
   I am delighted to hear that you are a fond & foolish father
of that big & bouncing boy.... 
Yr. aff Mother. 

[} [^LETTER FROM MOTHER TO LORD JOHN AMBERLEY^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge,
Richmond Park. 
Nov. 5/72 
   Ldy Stanley told us much to our surprise that you were
perhaps coming to settle in town in Nov.  - how very nice

<P 532>

for us.  Poor Rollo is obliged to give up F.O., his eyes are
suffering too much.  You know neither he nor I ever thought
it wd. be his permanent career, but it wd. have been very
nice for a few years until something more congenial had been
found - and he was very happy and interested in his work
and liking the people with whom it brought him into relation. 
The real sad thing however is that his eyes shd. be so weak. 
It depresses me much - for what career is there in which
eyes are not worked? - and what moment of the day do we
not use them for pleasure or profit?  Yrs. and yr. wife's and
yr. bairns' loving Mother, (\M�tterchen\) and Granny. 
   Lady S. looks very well and is so she says.   

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP HSTAN>
<N LET TO DAUGHTER AND SON-IN-LAW>
<A STANLEY LADY H M>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT DOWN>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 532>
 
[} [^LETTER FROM LADY STANLEY TO DAUGHTER AND SON-IN-LAW^] }] 
40 Dover Street, W. 
Nov 7 
MY DEAREST CHILDREN 
   I wish you many happy returns of this most auspicious
day which has been the harbinger of so much happiness to
you both & satisfaction to all your belongings - who know
that you exemplify the happiness of married life....                       
Yr loving mother
HMS. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP KAMBE>
<N LET TO MOTHER>
<A AMBERLEY LADY KATE>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT UP>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 532>
 
[} [^FROM KATE AMBERLEY TO HER MOTHER^] }]                                 
Nov. 20/72. 
DEAR MAMA 
   ...I have been attending very much to a poor old man
here who is dying; the old man you saw once whom I called
our Vety Surgn.  He is in a tiny 2 roomed cottage with a
daughter hourly expecting her confinement a son in law &
other big daughter - only 2 beds in the house - no mattress - 
no blanket till I took one.  He had a sack on his bed - no
saucepan in the house, no bit of flannel for his throat & a
dreadful cough.  I made the woman put her bed in the lower
room as the horror of being confined & her father dying or
dead seemed too dreadful -  the yg man earns 30s. a week -  
It is sad to see such neglect & they never fed him hardly, as
he said he wanted nothing, but when I go & feed him he
eats it all up. 
Yr. aff K. A. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP LRUSS>
<N LET TO SON>
<A RUSSELL FRANCES LADY>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT DOWN>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 539>
 
[} [^LETTER FROM MOTHER TO SON^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge. 
May 6/73. 
   My dear Boy  Yr letter, announced to Frank, is a long
time coming -  How am I ever to let my darling little Frank
go?  Every day makes it more difficult - & yet it comes over
me sometimes 'how can I ask to have him,' considering
risks of all sorts to wch a child must be liable & for wch I am
responsible - so you see I like you to say again as you did
like good people some time ago, 'keep him as long as you
like' & of course I shall not take it in the non-natural sense
of yr not wishing yr boy back, but as generosity, & shd only
keep him an inch, not an ell -  He is very well & happy - 
devoted to Agatha, whom he led into his nursery t'other
day saying to Fr„ulein '(\Das ist meine Liebe\)' -  She said he
was changeable - that sometimes she was the favourite - 
altho' at first he wd not care for her -  '(\Nein, ich liebte dich
nicht, weil ich dich nicht kannte -  Ich liebe die Personen die
ich lange gewusst habe\).'  At this moment his devotion is
chiefly absorbed, however, by the comparative stranger,
Lily R[\[omilly]\], here for a few days, and on whom he
lavishes compliments & attention -  One day he said to her
'You must come into the next room for a moment - I want
to introduce you to the housemaid - I want her to know my
friend -'  The Argylls with 3 daughters drove down one
day - & he handed tea & cake to the young ladies with all
the grace of 18 - in virtue of wch perhaps she has written
to invite 'the grandchildren' to her breakfast the 14th -      
Everybody admires his light graceful figure & active movements
& bright looks - & the two suits he has are very pretty
& very becoming & most comfortable I think -  
Yr. loving Mother. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP HSTAN>
<N LET TO DAUGHTER>
<A STANLEY LADY H M>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT DOWN>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 539>
 
[} [^LETTER FROM LADY STANLEY TO KATE^] }] 
Dover St. 
May 10th 73 
MY DEAREST KATE 
   How dreadfully grieved you & Amberley must be by the
to you almost sudden death of Mr. Mill.  If it had not been
your dreadful distance I wd have telegraphed but what was

<P 540>  

the use to send sad news -  am sure you will be annoyed at
the tone of the Times notice it is so thin & poor & does not
in any way recognize the large powers & qualities of head
& heart of the great Philosopher -  am glad I saw him once
more at your house -  poor Miss Taylor what an awful bereavement
after such a mind.... 
Yours affectly
H. M. STANLEY. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP TAYLOR>
<N LET TO FRIEND KATE>
<A TAYLOR HELEN>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H X>
<U X>
<E INT EQUAL>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 540>
 
[} [^LETTER FROM HELEN TAYLOR TO KATE^] }] 
   Do not think dearest Kate that I have not felt and am not
grateful for the kindness of your letters.  I have felt it deeply
and I did not know till I received your and a few other
letters that anything that concerned myself, that sympathy
for me, could touch me so much and be so soothing.  But it
is only now when Mrs. Colman has gone and I am alone
again, and other people have resumed their ordinary ways,
that I am beginning to realize what it is that I have undergone
and that I have to take up the burden of life again as
best I can. 
   I had no time to look upon it as a possibility before it had
come.  Used as I am to grief I had ceased to accustom myself
to expect this;  I had thought I should have gone first, and
he was so well and cheerful that even now there are still
moments when it seems to me it cannot be real, he can only
be away for one of his short absences, and then I feel I have
no right to dwell on my own selfish grief, as though all the
world had a right to demand an account of me that I could
not prolong a life so good and useful and happy.  It was so
sudden, so unforeseen, and even during the forty-eight
hours I watched by his side I never lost hope up to the last
moment.  Perhaps this is why I cannot realize it even yet. 
The only thing on which I have thought clearly from that
moment has been that I must keep guard over his manuscripts
and see that they are properly published.  My mind
has clung to this as something certain and useful to be done
and to live to do.  The copying them has been and still is my
occupation;  it is good and useful for me, and I shall stay
here till I have finished it, and I am trying to get the printing

<P 541>

done also while I am finishing the copying.  It is good for
me to be here where everything speaks soothingly of him to
me, and I feel stronger to face the sad reality of life now that
I am alone. 
Yrs affectionately
HELEN TAYLOR. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP KAMBE>
<N LET TO MOTHER>
<A AMBERLEY LADY KATE>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y 20-40>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT UP>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 541>
 
[} [^LETTER FROM KATE TO MOTHER^] }] 
May 12/73. 
DEAR MAMA 
   We are both very miserable at the loss to us of the warmest
& truest friend we have known & one who will make a great
blank in our lives.  Amberley is very unhappy about it -  
He was so particularly kind & affectionate to Amberley
approving of him in every way so much that Amberley will
miss his strong moral support much & his warmth of interest
& tenderness.  We had been looking forward to seeing him
here in July.  I am so glad Maude has engaged Marie
Kaiser just what I wanted.  A 1000 thanks to her.  We can
think of nothing but poor Helen Taylor. 
Yr. aff
K. AMBERLEY. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP AIRLIE>
<N LET TO SISTER KATE>
<A AIRLIE H>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT EQUAL>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 541>
 
[} [^LETTER FROM H B AIRLIE TO SISTER KATE^] }] 
Airlie Lodge. 
May 14 [\[73]\] 
   Dearest Kate, I have thought so much of you & Amberley
since I heard of the death of yr great friend J. S. Mill -  
What a great bit of wisdom & sunshine has gone out of yr
life with him & I hear that he meant to take a place this
summer in yr neighbourhood for the sake of yr company -  
Will Miss Taylor be very sad & lonely now?  One feels in
reading about him, what a tender poet he was besides being
a stern philosopher -  What an education of the mind &
soul you have had all these years thro yr intercourse with
him -  I am very sorry for you both & for Frank who might
in the natural course of events have grown up & known him
as now he never can.  And then upon this, the loss of Lizzie,
so very hard upon you -  I always have liked the idea of
married servants & have several - but one is always inferior

<P 542> 

& has to be born with -  Perhaps it is a great deal to expect
of fortune two perfect beings just united to two others &
must you really quite part with her - her pleasant kind face
will be a loss to you for a long time.  It all comes from her
husband being a Welshman they are so obstinate & irritable
 - dear Wee cd be both -  
   I was sorry to see no more of you in London.  I hope some
day I shall get at you better if you wd come to Scotland for
a good while it wd be very pleasant.  Rosalind is still up -  
& Mamma getting impatient! 
Yr affec sister
H B AIRLIE. 

   I am very much interested in Mr Grote's Memoir.  Their
simple young life & hard work makes me think of you &
Amberley but she was always hard & had not much sense
of the beautiful which you have. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP LRUSS>
<N LET TO DAUGHTER-IN-LAW KATE>
<A RUSSELL FRANCES LADY>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT UP>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 542>
 
[} [^LETTER FROM MOTHER-IN LAW TO KATE^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge,
Richmond Park. 
May 20/73 
   My dear Child . . .  J. has a letter from a clergyman
complaining of Mr Stopford Brooke for having spoken highly
of Mr Mill in the pulpit -  how nasty clergymen can be! 
Yr loving (\M�tterchen\)
for whom 5 or 6 people are waiting in all parts of the house -  

[} [^LETTER FROM MOTHER-IN LAW TO KATE^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge,
Richmond Park. 
May 28. 
   Dear Child, How long since I wrote to you!  I need not say
how I miss my dear little Boy!  I hope you think him looking
well & not in any respect the worse for being here -  He was
growing very anxious to see you & his Papa again -  The
longer he stayed the more clearly I saw that with him as,
I believe, with every child, (\Suaviter in modo, fortiter in re\)
is the right way - & the (\res\) ought to be as few as possible -  
Nagging & unnecessary 'do this' & 'do that' & 'don't do

<P 543>

that,' or even a loud or angry voice towards him, are
destruction to his temper, & only tend to harden him -  still
worse is a pitched battle between him & the Authority,
whoever that may be, when the Authority makes it a point
of honour to win - & does win in the end perhaps by brute
force - or loses & gives him a mischievous triumph - both
equally bad -  He is quite clever enough to feel when love
to him is guiding those about him, & good enough, dear
darling, & will give love in return -  But he is variable no
doubt - & great consistency & 'evenhanded Justice' are
all the more necessary for him -  One little peculiarity I
remarked - his great curiosity about the price of everything
 -  Is it the spirit of his Grand Uncle?  He is enquiring &
inquisitive - by wch I mean that as we always tell him some
of his 'whys' are sensible & some foolish -  I anxiously hope
to hear that he is kind to Rachel -  We are leading a quiet happy
life - the day always much too short -  I hope yours is so too. 
Yr ever loving (\Mchen\).  Tell Frank that Fanny & Teddy are
sorry he is gone wch shows how kind he was to them. 

[} [^LETTER FROM MOTHER-IN-LAW TO KATE^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge,
Richmond Park. 
June 14/73 
MY DEAREST KATE 
   I shall not dwell on the shock & the misery of reading yr.
letter -  you know all that for yr self but rather on the
  
<P 544>

comfort given me by Anderson who happened to come just
after - comfort wch my darling Kate, I am anxious to give
you -  He read yr letter -  he says he has known many cases
of men about Jy's age having one such attack from over work
of brain, & never another - & that he has the greatest hopes
this may prove a most useful warning, & nothing more,
altho' of course he does not deny that great anxiety must be
felt less there shd. be a recurrence -  The biting of the tongue
he says was the worst symptom you mention, leaving no
doubt as to the nature of the attack -  the action of bowels he
was glad of, as giving a hope that the attack may have been
caused by indigestion, torpid liver, or some such cause - wch
wd. be a very great relief -  Pray make the doctor investigate
this well -  Anderson hopes he has absolutely forbidden all books,
all head-work - a sad sentence on my precious Johnny - but
I know you will make the time pass as cheerfully as possible
& devise all sorts of out of door interests -  Does he know what
it was?  I rather hope he thinks of it as faintness -  the shock
of the name might upset him at present tho' I know his
strength -  If now or ever you think a little tour wd do him
good & wd like us in the meantime to have the children,
remember I am always ready - but otherwise the children's
companionship must be very good for him -  I thank you
from my heart for telling me all -  I have only said to Mary &
the others that he had not been well -  I managed to hide the
shock & am much happier in keeping it all to myself -  I
have said nothing to his father & shall not without necessity. 
God bless you my Child, keep well & strong yrself.  Anderson
was so struck by Jy's look of ill-health that after reading yr
letter he said he felt positive relief, having dreaded worse - 
repeated again & again that this might turn out to be a most
useful warning - & that he may never have another but on
the contrary ought to get much stronger than before by
leaving off work.  Go on telling me all & believe me I feel
more for you than myself.         
Yr lovg (\M�tterchen\). 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP LRUSS>
<N LET TO SON JOHN>
<A RUSSELL FRANCES LADY>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT DOWN>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 545>
  
[} [^LETTER FROM MOTHER TO LORD JOHN AMBERLEY^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge,
Richmond Park. 
June 17/73. 
   Dearest Johnny, I was so glad to hear from K. yesty that
you were well - except feeling languid & weak -  I wonder
whether yesty was fine enough for your pic-nic -  it seemed
very soon, after so weakening an attack, to be pic-nicing in
company - but if you went I hope you enjoyed & were the
better for it -  I am writing before 8 a.m., and not dressed - 
but immediately after bkfst Ag. & I must be off to Olivia
Elliot's wedding at wch she is a bridesmaid -  We had such
a gathering on Sunday -  I wonder whether it wd. amuse you
to hear their names -  to begin with Mary & Mimi and Ld.
Onslow (a new young man whom we don't much take to)
were in the house - then Arthur Russells & Madeleine &
little Flora, Georgy with her two bairns to say goodbye, as
she was to be off from London next day, Lily & Freddy
Romilly, Mr. & Mrs. Theodore Martin, the Misses & Mr. J.
De Grey, Ld & Lady Halifax & Edith, Mrs. Geo. Lefevre,
Buller, Blennerhassett, Littleton, Thomson, Arthur E[\[lliot]\],
Hugh E., Lecky, & strange to tell & most unexpected,
Father O'Keefe!  such a man I have seldom met with, tho'
his kind may abound in Ireland - 'a clerical ruffian' yr
father thinks -  he came into the drawing room without a bow
or an apology or a word of courtesy bursting with his 'case'
wch he poured into every ear near him in succession with
true Irish volubility self-possession, exaggeration & brogue - 
& when I took him into yr father, his first words were 'Even
you Lord Russell, don't understand half the barbarity with
wch I have been treated' -  As he passed thro' the drawing
room again to go away, no leave taking, no thanks to yr
father or anybody, but 'I think he understands it now' -  
He evidently takes delight in the cruelty with wch he has
been treated as cruelty unequalled he told us 'since the
creation.'  Since I began to write I have been out-of-doors

<P 546>

to morning chapel at 'the children's garden' this irresistibly
fine morning - with Marcus Aurelius - an excellent & a
strengthening companion -  Goodbye my Darling,
Yr loving Mother. 
   Is not the Zanzibar treaty a good event? 

[} [^LETTER FROM MOTHER TO LORD JOHN AMBERLEY^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge,
Richmond Park. 
June 20/73. 
   My dearest Boy, Yr letter is such a comfort to me & I am
so glad I may write openly to yrself -  Kate had suggested
my writing separately to her - & she was right - for it might
have been advisable that you shd. not be worried or depressed
by the over-anxiety of yr poor old mother -  Somehow the
sight of yr handwriting & yr account of the pleasant day you
had spent on yr excursion & the cheerful interest with wch
you write of public matters have done me a deal of
good & enabled me to think more resignedly of that attack
wch came upon me with such a shock, & of the enforced
idleness of mind wch must be as you say a painful sacrifice
to you but wch you are wisely resolved to observe for a time. 
Did I tell Kate that when I said to Dr. A. 'here's a letter
that makes me very miserable' & gave him K's first, he had
no sooner read it than he exclaimed 'Well, Lady Russell,
my feeling is one of great relief - from yr. words I was afraid
of something much worse' -  He also said that he thought
you looking so worn that he had dreaded a break-down of
yr health & premature old age unless you greatly diminished
yr mental labours - & that this attack might prove a blessed
warning -  He said it was immensely in yr. favour that there
had been no tendency to any such illness in my family -  I
have no business to write you to-day - & must leave you,
my Darling, & hope in a few days to answer you on O'Keefe,
Juries, & other interestg matters, & say nothing of yr health
 -  only remember I shall always long to know that you are
feeling stronger & better -  By the bye don't think me meddling,
or do think me so if you like, but if Frank & Rachel

<P 547>

can sleep in some other room than yrs pray make them do
so - as it is VERY important that the air you breathe shd. be
as fresh & pure & unexhausted night & day as possible -  Do
you open yr. windows at night behind a shutter? wch lets
in good air without chill -  I shall ask your father to write you
a nice letter as he is not busy today to make up for this
un-nice one -  Kisses to the 3 pets. 
Yr lovg Mother. 

[} [^LETTER FROM MOTHER TO LORD JOHN AMBERLEY^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge,
Richmond Park. 
June 24/73. 
   . . . I dare say you are living in calm indifference as to the
Shah -  here, the echo but only the echo of the noise made
about him in London reaches us, & makes us thank our fate
that we are off the scene -  I shd take one look at him however,
as an Eastern Potentate is something of a sight, & hope
to take Agatha to Greenwich tomorrow to a luncheon given
him by the Goschens - leaving Maggy here to entertain & to
be entertained by J. -  Greenwich is a long way off, much too
far were it not for Agatha, even to see a Shah & his diamonds
& rubies - Unless yr father was going too - but I think it will
be pleasant & amusing in itself -  She & Rollo went to the
Albert Hall last night, & were astonished & delighted with
the splendour & beauty of the sight & the grandeur of the
instrumental music - 11 military bands -  Yr father is publishing
a 'People's Edition,' cheap, of his book - but without
fresh revision - same as 2d edition -  What a delightful account
K. sent me some time ago of Bertrand -  He's certainly a
most satisfactory baby -  who is his nurse?  the nice English
girl?  You have never mentioned the Williamses -  did they
go?  what of the tutor?  Will you send me Frank again
before the 30th to be smuggled into the H. of Lds & hear his
Grandpapa speak? & then stay with us a bit -  this is a joke,
no doubt a bad one, so don't trouble yourselves to answer it
seriously!  I'll tell you a better joke -  The French Ambassador

<P 548>
                                            
said to Odo at some festival or feast to the Shah at
Berlin "(\Ne diroit-on pas qu'il est ivre?\)"  Odo: "(\Mais ne
savez-vous pas que 'la nuit tous les Chats sont gris!'\)"  It
seems that is a French saying, of wch I don't see the meaning
very clearly, but Odo's double pun was very ready & clever
 -  I never heard till t'other day another '(\mot\)' of his, very
pretty & pleasant -  He was asked, after his first audience 
with Napoleon 3d, how he had felt on the occasion -  "(\J'ai
senti comme l'Empereur, que j'‚tois le neveu de mon
Oncle\)". . . 
 
<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP LRUSS>
<N LET TO DAUGHTER-IN-LAW KATE>
<A RUSSELL FRANCES LADY>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT DOWN>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 548>
 
[} [^LETTER FROM MOTHER-IN-LAW TO KATE^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge,
Richmond Park. 
June 26/73. 
   Dt K. Anderson thinks yr acct of Jy very favourable - 
does not mind the drowsiness, wch he considers a natural
re-action from the long period of over-work of brain - &
shd by all means be indulged - the more rest the better - agrees
with Dr. Audland that arsenic is not advisable now, tho' it
may be so by-&-bye -  I send you the names & directions of
the two London doctors, one of whom he strongly recommends
you to consult -  he can't give the preference to one
over the other -  He told me to advise you against the quarter
sessions - fatigue & possible excitement & company not the
right things in his present languid state - liked to hear of
Mr. Spalding & his pleasant subjects of conversation &
occupation, but warns Johnny to be very careful about
microscopic work - very little of it enough, as it is peculiarly
trying to the brain -  I dare say Switzerland wd. be a good &
bracing change when he feels up to it -  Our Greenwich
expedition was very pleasant - a beautiful & wonderful sight
 - steaming thro' the docks - every vessel dressed with flags &
streamers, both shores crowded with people -  Maggie here
& I must stop. 
Yr. lovg (\M�tterchen\).

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP LRUSS>
<N LET TO SON JOHN>
<A RUSSELL FRANCES LADY>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT DOWN>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 549>
 
[} [^LETTER FROM MOTHER TO LORD JOHN AMBERLEY^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge,
Richmond Park. 
July 1/73. 
MY DEAREST JOHNNY 
   . . . We have had somewhat of a bustling time of it lately -  
I think I told you how beautiful the Greenwich expedition
was -  I liked it much better than the Chiswick brkfst, & so
did Ag I think; except that yr father was with us at the last
 -  It was also a fine sight - but such a rushing about to see
all the various Royal & Imperial Highnesses & the two
Majesties -  Ag is young enough to delight in such sights, the
brightness of all the uniforms, the music &c - & did so - but
the bodily fatigue was great & I was rather afraid for yr
father who was however not a bit the worse - & did not, like
Ag. Rollo & me, end the day by an immense dinner at
Strawberry Hill - very inferior in pleasantness to a little
dinner we had had here the day before -  Tyndall Scott the
architect & Mr. Plunkett were all we expected -  I had tried
in vain to get ladies, but, by one of those little special Providences
wch so often occur to me Julia Dutton & 2 Miss
Ogilvys came down in the aftn & were all 3 delighted to
stay to dinner & were just the people to suit the others - &
we had a charming evg - not a word of gossip - many words
on many high matters - conscience, free-will, instinct &
reason, the Carlyle-&-Froude "right makes right" - &
others -  The 'incident' of Sunday aftn was the pop-in-without
notice of the Shah, with his Master of the Ceremonies,
Interpreter, & Morley -  the drawing room was full
of more ordinary mortals - on whom he cast one glance - a
glance wherein the Daily Telegraph wd no doubt have read
much of high import - but I did not - then down he plumped
(his movements are abrupt) & a few commonplaces were
exchanged among us - yr father him & me thro' the Interpreter,
in French -  One thing was not commonplace;  on yr
father saying that he had but a '(\petite maison\)' in wch to
receive H.M.  The reply was '(\la maison est petite, mais elle
contient un grand homme\)' -  He stayed about 1/4 of an hour - 
good naturedly stopping when on his way out to write his

<P 550>

name in Agatha's book -  When he is gone I shall try to get
hold of Morley's brains, & pick them - & also of Sir H.
Rawlinson's, better still - & make out how far the current
stories about this Despot are true -  One is that he is to cut
off the head of at least one wife on his return - to punish her
for having asked to go to a ballet at Moscow -  He looks hard
& does not smile, & altho' not ill-mannered, has no Eastern
courtesy or grace -  His Gd Vizier we are told is a very clever
man who has really at heart the improvement of his country,
& to whose influence the journey is due - so let us hope it
may not have been made in vain -  Yr father was recd by
the Shah yesty as were many others, at the Palace, at one
o'clock - wch added a good deal to the work of the day for
him - but Bessy Bedford housed & fed us most hospitably, &
all did well & he was not over tired -  It was very hard on him
being obliged to speak first - having nothing to reply to - &
the House was I thought shamefully inattentive but he
spoke well & with vigour -  I must not chatter any more today. 
Goodbye my Children Yr. ever loving Mother. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP FRUSS>
<N LET TO GRANDMOTHER>
<A RUSSELL FRANK>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LETT PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X MALE>
<Y -20>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT UP>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 550>
 
[} [^LETTER FROM FRANK RUSSELL TO HIS GRANDMOTHER^] }] 
Ravenscroft,
Sunday. 
[\[1873]\] 
MY DEAR GRANDMAMA [\[Stanley]\] 
   I liked your letter about the Schah of Persia very much. 
   The building here is very interesting and I like to watch it
very much, they are very nice rooms, one for me and one
for Rachel. 
   We are going to get a little pony to come for me to morrow
afternoon.  There is a door out of my bedroom into Rachel's
and there is a door out of the room under my bedroom into
the Kitchen. 
   Mr. Spalding and mama put little colers on nearly all the
swallows, he went away & is coming back again for good. 
   I am so happy here & send you many kisses, give my love
to Aunt Maude. 
Your loving
FRANK RUSSELL.
                 
<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP LRUSS>
<N LET TO SON JOHN>
<A RUSSELL FRANCES LADY>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT DOWN>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 551>
 
[} [^LETTER FROM MOTHER TO LORD JOHN AMBERLEY^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge,
Richmond Park. 
July 15/73. 
   . . . My poor precious Frank!  he must not be thought
wicked or he will become so -  It was a strong thing certainly
to lock out his parents - but depend upon it he gets hardened
to deeds of the kind & to impenitence by frequent avoidable
battles & punishments -  Irritable children are somehow
often less irritable, wilful ones less wilful, away from home - 
& remember that if Frank is more of a fatigue & trouble
than pleasure & satisfaction to you at present, I shall be only
too glad to have him for any length of time -  the naughty
phase might disappear with the change - don't you think
so? & he cd go back with Mr. Spalding -  I cd provide
capital daily teaching for him here - as much or as little as
you like -  Little Rachel & Bertrand are capital companions
& tonics for you but I doubt about Frank.  Ever, my darling
Yr. loving Mother. 

   Dearest Boy....  I shd much like to see Mr. Spalding if it
is settled that he goes to you -  I was afraid a consumptive
person might not be a right person to be with yr children - 
but Anderson says the notion of infection in that disease is a
mistake - only that the 'depressing influence' wd probably
be bad for you & them -  perhaps however the poor man is not
ill enough for that - & he must be an interesting companion
 -  Think about letting Frank come to us, & go with us to the
seaside next month -  Yr loving Mother. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP LRUSS>
<N LET TO DAUGHTER-IN-LAW KATE>
<A RUSSELL FRANCES LADY>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT DOWN>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 551>
 
[} [^FROM MOTHER-IN-LAW TO KATE^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge,
Richmond Park. 
July 23. 
   Dear Child -  I think what I said was that I knew of no
epilepsy in my family or J's -  His brother Wm died (I believe)
of severe paralysis - his father, at a good old age, of repeated
paralytic strokes, wch only began when he was old -  Cosmo
no doubt is paralytic & another brother, Henry was strange
& unsteady of brain - but those are half brothers of J's, & I

<P 552>

always understood their strangeness of mind & ill health to
be inherited from the Gordons -  I never heard a whisper of
Sackville having fits - but his mother certainly had - so if it
were so it wd be from her in all probability -  If you come,
shall I see a great change in Johnny? 
Yr aff (\M�tterchen.\) 
   Is there a baby coming that you say 'If Amby cd stand it
[\[perhaps travelling]\] I cd not?'  Or is it that you feel worn
& weak poor child with anxiety? 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP TAYL>
<N LET TO FRIEND KATE>
<A TAYLOR HELEN>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H X>
<U X>
<E INT EQUAL>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 552>
 
[} [^LETTER TO KATE FROM HELEN TAYLOR^] }] 
Tetsworth. 
25 July. 
DEAREST KATE 
   Can you not come to Victoria Street while you are in
town;  if you will it shall be ready for you in a day or two,
and I will come myself and stay with you there or leave it to
you, as you like best;  and you would be all alone [^EDN: aloae^] and perfectly
quiet.  I suppose you leave the children at [^EDN: nt^] Ravenscroft,
so that there would be room for you;  and my maid who is
waiting for me at her mother's (in town) would be so glad
to come and wait on you.  You would be quieter there than
either at a relation's house or an hotel; at least so far as
interruption from any one in the house is concerned. 
   I should be so glad if I could be of any use with the children,
could I?  Could I hear them their lessons & take walks
with them while the Governess is away?  You know I
always said I should like to be a governess.  Here I can stay
a longer or shorter time just as it is convenient;  my brother
says he neither wishes to go out himself nor to have anyone
here and that I can do just as I like.  It is not too far from
London for one to go and return in a day, so that if you came
to Victoria Street I could come and see you and return here
the same day.  I should like to see you, to be with you, or
near you, but I have been thinking since I last wrote that
I might be troublesome or depressing, and that if you like it
best I might come and stay at Tintern with my little maid. 
I do feel solitary - not in mind or even in spirits, but in heart,
and my heart turns to you;  I wish to live for I feel as though

<P 553>

I could do some work, but I do not think I can endure life
if I do not love somebody;  I dare not let myself feel towards
my brother's children as it would be only too easy to do, the
children themselves being so sweet and attaching, for there
is a great deal in his way of managing them which is very
painful to me and yet it would be worse than useless for me
to attempt to interfere.  So dearest Kate you see I can go or
come or stay anywhere that would suit you, and am
Your affectionate
HELEN TAYLOR. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP ARUSS>
<N LET TO SISTER-IN-LAW KATE>
<A RUSSELL AGATHA>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT EQUAL>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 553>
 
[} [^LETTER TO KATE FROM AGATHA RUSSELL^] }] 
62 Rue Aguado,
Dieppe. Aug. 26/73 
DEAR KATE 
   Mama's eyes are bad from the glare & from writing &
reading so much out on the balcony - so I write instead today. 
I suppose she has given you a description of Dieppe so
I will say nothing about it except that I think it a wonderfully
pleasant & amusing place -  so much more easy than
an English sea side life -  you do just as you like here in every
way.  Yesterday we sat on the high cliffs all the aftern &
made our tea there -  there is always a beautiful seabreeze on
the heights - & the chasms down to the sea are very fine. 
In the evening Willy, Rollo & I with one of the Lefevres (who
live next door) went to a lecture given by a Monsieur
R‚ville on Voltaire & Fr‚d‚ric le Grand -  it was extremely
interesting.  Voltaire's witty biting pamphlets & letters are
too amusing - his sarcasm terribly cutting.  The peroration
at the end of the lecture was very eloquent & striking.  He
was evidently a strong Liberal & Republican & the audience
applauded every cut at sovereigns most vociferously.  He
read a sentence from Thiers' book saying that no country
should ever trust themselves to one man however great his
genius.  "(\La servitude c'est la mort - la libert‚ c'est la vie.\)"  
He pointed out the faults & the merits of the great revolution
or rather of the 18th century altogether but when he mentioned
the grand principles first put forth in /89 there was a
thunder of applause & bravos.  It is melancholy to think
  
<P 554>

how little liberty they have in spite of all this apparent
ardour for it.  I believe this man wd have been immediately
stopped if he had gone too closely into politics of the day -  
there was one lecture prevented here I think by an official
telegram a short time ago -  We hear hardly anything but
good of the conduct of the Prussian soldiers while here -  Mr.
Alexandre Dumas (fils) told us he had 18 in his little house
& they had not a word to say against one of them.  It seems
to us that the people are much more Buonapartist & more
Legitimist than when we were last in France, an Alsatian
housemaid - whose husband was wounded in the war, & who
was through the two Paris sieges, & it is perfectly fearful to
hear her account of the horrors committed by the Versailles
troops after the Commune -  She actually knew women &
children shot dead before her; & soldiers killed all in a mass
because they wd not fight against the Commune.  I must
stop this most stupid letter -  we are going to bathe -  Papa &
Mama are very well & like their drives on the cliffs in the
(\forˆt d'arguis\) etc.  Rollo went to Rouen the other day. 
Ever yr affec
AGATHA RUSSELL. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP LRUSS>
<N LET TO KATE>
<A RUSSELL FRANCES LADY>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<D ENGLISH>
<M X>
<G X>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X X>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U NON-PROF>
<E INT DOWN>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 554>
 
[} [^LETTER FROM LADY RUSSELL TO DAUGHTER-IN-LAW^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge,
Richmond Park. 
Sept 20 [\[1873]\] 
DEAR KATE 
   I shall only give a few decided opinions:  Frank must not
stay at Ravenscroft with Mr. Spalding -  if you leave my
darling little boy, let it be with his doting Granny & a charming
Miss Strauss or Miss Something else & either put off Mr
Spalding till you return, which when you were here you
told me was quite feasible, or have him at Richmond to give
daily lessons if that wd suit him.  Mr Spalding did indeed
seem a delightful man, & I am not surprized at what you
say of his good influence with the children.  I most heartily
agree that you & Johnny must not be alone in the far East &

<P 555>

yr companion ought to be either a man or a woman whose
conversation & society are entirely congenial.  I wish it cd
be some bright, clever, healthy Doctor who wants to go to
the places you want to go to -  I need not repeat how ready &
willing we are to have the three pets with a Miss - & Bertrand's
girl.  Sweet little Rachel - we shall do our best to
make her happy - but it is sad for you both & for her. 
Your ever loving
F. R. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP LRUSS>
<N LET TO SON AND DAUGHTER-IN-LAW>
<A RUSSELL FRANCES LADY>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT DOWN>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<P 555>
 
[} [^LETTER TO ?JOHN AND KATE FROM MOTHER^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge,
Richmond Park. 
Oct 7/73 
MY VERY DEAR CHILDREN 
   I will at once set on foot enquiries abt lodgings let by kind
people -  indeed I was abt to do so anyhow, in case Mr. S.
comes -  I cannot but think his health an insurmountable
obstacle to him as travelling companion poor man -  otherwise
it wd be an excellent plan to take him - but just think
of the risk to him & to yrselves, for you might be detained
in the very last place that wd be desirable & all might go
wrong in consequence -  I shd do my best for him were he
unhappily ill at Richmond, as you know, & what's of more
importance he wd have the best medical advice at hand -  
Yes indeed I shd try to be a Granny & a Mummy; tho' I
well know it's impossible - (rather Irish)  my dear little
Frank is fond of Ag. & me, & never otherwise than good with
us unless Miss Sch”nborn spoiled it all & we shd have them
much with us & I shd keep a more watchful eye on Miss S.
than I ever did on our own governesses, & you wd give me
power to part with her if she were unkind or seriously faulty -  
   I reckoned on the answer of 'intolerable' companionship
of a doctor - & you reckon on mine:  "why must a doctor
be an intolerable companion?"  Do come as soon as you
can, that we may talk over everything -  I feel the added
responsibility of disapprovg of the children being anywhere
but here but there are things so clearly right that no cowardice
can make one silent, & to my mind this is one, & I think
  
<P 556>

you exaggerate the difficulties -  The pain of parting must be
great anyhow, but I am sure when away yr minds will be
most at ease if the darlings are here. 
Yr lovg Mother. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP ARUSS>
<N LET TO SISTER-IN-LAW>
<A RUSSELL AGATHA>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT EQUAL>
<J INTERACTIVE?>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<P 556>
 
[} [^LETTER TO KATE FROM AGATHA RUSSELL^] }] 
Woburn. 
Wednesday mg. 
[\[1873]\] 
DEAR KATE 
   . . . Mama has just got yr letter & is very sorry that A.
has not been so well -  She cannot believe you will do anything
so unnatural as to leave the children at Ravenscroft &
wd. feel it much for herself & for them - Unless you are afraid
of bad influence from us! why should it be?  Mama does not
think you attach enough value to the children being with the
people in the world who care most for them next to yrselves -  
Breakfast ready!  With many thanks & much sorrow that
we can't go ever yours
A[\[GATHA]\]. R. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP KAMBE>
<N LET TO MOTHER>
<A AMBERLEY LADY KATE>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y 20-40>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT UP>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<P 556>
 
[} [^LETTER TO MOTHER FROM LADY KATE AMBERLEY^] }] 
Ravenscroft. 
Oct 24/73. 
DEAR MAMA 
   I hope you have got safe home after yr long journey.  I
wish I was at the end instead of the beginning of mine -  
Amberley keeps wishing to put off starting, & now he wishes
to spend our wedding day here; so we shall only go to P.L.
on Nov. 10 & stay there a fortnight.  He is doing a good deal
of planting, which keeps him out a great deal, & interests
him, so while it is fine, it does as well to stay here. 
   I am afraid Miss Strauss will not turn out satisfactorily; 
as most governesses, she quarrels with Frank, & complains
of the climate, & does not like going out for long in winter. 
   Have you read the 'Autobiography' [\[Mill's]\] yet?  & do
you like it?  The Daily News appreciates it in a right way -  
I think we shall stop at Avignon on our way, & possibly
leave Frank & Mr. Spalding there, while in Italy.  Frank
is getting on very well in Bain's Eng. Gramr., but I think
we must still be careful not to over work him.  Rachel is

<P 557>

taking her pony & her kitten & her bird to P.L. so she thinks
they will a little make up for not going with us.
Yr. aff
K. AMBERLEY.

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP KAMBE>
<N LET TO DAUGHTER RACHEL>
<A AMBERLEY LADY KATE>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y 20-40>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT DOWN>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<P 559>
 
[} [^LETTER TO RACHEL FROM LADY KATE AMBERLEY^] }] 
Hotel d'Italie
Rome
Dec 20/73. 
DEAREST RACHEL 
   You will get this in time to wish you a merry Xmas my
little wee pet, how I should like to hug you & pet you myself. 
Whenever I see a little girl in a Roman frock in the street I
think of my little beauty & when I see a little girl in an english
frock & pinafore at an hotel I think of my little treasure. 
Frank is very happy & sees all the sights but the many
fountains please him most.  When he is not out he is doing
his lessons & has got on very far in his arithmetic on the
journey, all the way to Practice.  Dear Pupsy is very well &
likes the warm sun very much we are able to sit out in it. 
Today Frank saw some oranges growing on a tree & he
thought they looked very nice & very tempting.  He found
the journies very amusing & liked the stations very much
& was a very good boy.  He has had such a bad cough.  Do
kiss my darling Bertrand & give my love to Miss Strauss &
Mary Jane & wish them a happy Christmas fr me.  I wish I
had you here but I know you are very happy & get much
loved where you are so I will try & not be unhappy without
you.  Tell me about Merlin & the birds & the doll.  Mr.
Spalding enjoys the sights of Rome & likes pictures very
much -  We have seen a great many already & many
churches.  Tomorrow Papa is going to ride in the (\campagna\)

<P 560>

with Miss Story.  We eat such a lot of maccaronni & rice &
such a lot of coffee.  Frank likes it now very much.  Do
write me a very very long letter & tell me what lessons you
do.  Mr. Spalding hopes you repeat the Multiplication table
every day.  Tell me what hymn & poetry you have learned &
how far in the french you are.  From yr dear old Mummy. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP KAMBE>
<N LET TO MOTHER>
<A AMBERLEY LADY KATE>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<X FEMALE>
<Y 20-40>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT UP>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<P 560>
 
[} [^LETTER TO MOTHER FROM LADY KATE AMBERLEY^] }] 
Hotel d'Italie - Rome. 
Dec. 31 - 1873. 
DEAR MAMA 
   I wish you all a happy New Year & wish you could be
enjoying this beautiful Italian sun which you appreciate so
much.  It is really delicious but I am very much disappointed
in its effects as Amberley has been as ill with neuralgia for
the last week as he was in Dover St. & all our remedies sun
included seem useless.  He is in acute pain & unable to move
till 2 then he is easy but so weak & upset.  It is very disappointing. 
The coughs we had are all gone.  I hope Ld.
Russell will give up his anti-Cathc. meeting. 
Yr. aff
KATE AMBERLEY. 

[} [^LETTER TO MOTHER FROM LADY KATE AMBERLEY^] }] 
Hotel d'Italie,
Rome. 
Jan 12/74. 
DEAR MAMA 
   We are staying on here finding it very pleasant now
Amberley's neuralgia is gone.  We have seen a good many
Italians.  The Education Minister is ill but the Minister of
Justice came & was very pleasant.  We had letters to them fr.
Cadorna but knowing the Minghettis we have the pleasantest
society possible there. 

<P 561>

  Pantaleone is going to let us see all the Hospitals, he has
had them all under him since this Govt came here -  Have
you been to P. Lodge since I left -  Lady Russell is looking
for a nurse for my children as she does not find Miss Strauss
does what she had promised to do -  I am very glad we have
Frank with us;  he enjoys it very much & is a lively & intelligent
companion.  He has few causes for outbursts being
alone with us & we find Mr. Spalding a very easy & obliging
inmate, he is always good tempered & cheery which makes
a vast difference to comfort in travelling.  Miss Taylor wants
to join us here but owing to the stupidity of the P.O. I only
got 3 letters together fr. 3 weeks after they were sent, & I
have never had one from you.  
Yr aff
KATE AMBERLEY. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP ARUSS>
<N LET TO BROTHER>
<A RUSSELL AGATHA>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT EQUAL>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<P 561>
 
[} [^LETTER TO JOHN FROM AGATHA RUSSELL^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge
February 9/74. 
DEAREST AMBERLEY 
   I suppose you have been much interested in the elections - 
& I hope you are very angry at Fawcett being turned out; 
we are proud of Scotland as yet - but the Tory reaction in
England has been extraordinary & only think of Westminster
& the City behaving so badly -  Of course now all is over for
Gladstone -  I dare say he'll be rather glad to be out of office
for a bit, & I hope Dizzy will make such horrible mistakes
that there will be a tremendous Liberal reaction next election,
I wish anybody but Dizzy could be Prime Minister. -  
Since Mama has been ill I have had to take more charge of
yr children & she says it is very good for me to manage
Bertrand -  The first day I had a great fight with him in
which he wd have won had not Mary Jane come in, &
stopped the roar.  - But one aftern. I had another little quiet
fight with him about opening the piano, in which to my
great surprise I won; & without any tears.  Now he has
quite taken to me - & cries when he goes away.  Yesterday
he insisted on lifting all alone an enormous book out of the
shelf to a little stool where he sat down with it open before
him - in a fit of laughter at his own wisdom!  He will certainly
be a book worm! 

<P 562>

  Mr. Sanderson was here last Sunday -  but now I must
stop -  Rachel is shockingly coquettish with young men - &
does all she can to be noticed & admired! 
Your very aff. sister
AGATHA RUSSELL.   

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP WRUSS>
<N LET TO BROTHER JOHN>
<A RUSSELL WILLIAM>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X MALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT EQUAL>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 562>
      
[} [^LETTER TO JOHN FROM WILLIAM RUSSELL^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge. 
March 26. 1874. 
MY DEAR AMBERLEY 
   It is not very often that I hear from you, & I do not know
whether you care about getting letters in the vortex of your
Roman gaieties, but I sit down to write on the chance -  They
showed me the letters you wrote home from Rome &
Sicily, & you seem to have had a very pleasant time, barring
some bad weather -  I suppose there are numbers of people
that I know at Rome still there -  I have been here for 10
days, & go back to York on the 31st - when hard work &
drilling will begin -  Rachel & Bertrand are great fun & we
have lots of games with them -  we have just been teaching
Rachel to shoot with a bow & arrow, & to her great delight
she hit the target once or twice -  Bertrand, I think, is his
granny's favourite, & has a perpetual smile on his face -  I
had great fun hunting at York - usually getting 3 or 4 days
a week - but I have sold two of my valuable stud & am now
reduced to 3 horses -  we are going to have a great week at
the end of April, 2 days' racing, circus, polo match, ball, &
Christy minstrels - so for a week we shall entertain all Yorkshire
which will be expensive tho' amusing & open-handed -  
the Yorkshire people say that they have never had a regiment
quartered among them before, so hospitable & so
reckless in expenditure -  Did you know Ld Rossmore?  he
has had a bad fall steeple-chasing at Windsor, & is not likely
to recover -  his next brother is in my regiment.  I was surprised
one day at seeing a paragraph in the Court Journal
saying that you were on your way home "from Egypt, &
were engaged on a serious work, which would soon be
published"  - I suppose it was all untrue -  Do you know
any of the people that live about York?  I know a good many

<P 563>

of them, Sir A. Fairbairn, said he knew you -  he was once
Mayor of Leeds -  politics in Yorkshire are exceedingly Tory,
& the fall of the Govt caused great rejoicing -  did you hear
the joke about Cardwell?  what shd Cardwell's new title
be?  "Baron (barren) Promotion" -  Mama & Papa
went to tea with the Duke & Duchess of Edinburgh the other
day -  they said she had very nice manners.  I suppose she
told you about it.  They went yesterday to George Lefevre's
marriage -  I hope you are all pretty well, & Frank not so
unruly as he was, with love to Kate. 
Ever yr affte brother
WILLIAM RUSSELL. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP RRUSS>
<N LET TO MOTHER KATE>
<A RUSSELL RACHEL>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<D ENGLISH>
<M X>
<K X>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y -20>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT UP>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 563>
 
[} [^LETTER TO KATE FROM RACHEL RUSSELL^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge. 
Saturday 7th/74 
DEAR MAMA 
   On my birthday Granny gave me a nice little garden and
Mary Jane helped me to plant the flowers and also Granny
gave me tools to work it rake, hoe and spade. 
   An Aunt Agatha gave me such a dear little pink silk
umberella an a dear little bag for my dolly.  Dear Mama you
must mind that I have my dolly is here this next Sunday.  I
am so sorry that Miss Strauss is gone, because she was so
kind to me.  She given me a nice French book on my birthday. 
Perhaps the next governess will not have so much
patience with me.  Mary Jane has written the letter for me
because it is so fine an I wanted to play out of doors.  Mary
Jane is going to give me a present for my birthday if I am
good with her in my reading and lessons as long as I have
with them her [^SIC EDN^]. 
   My love to all of you and twenty kisses for each of you. 
From your dear little Rachel Russell. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP ARTH>
<N LET TO KATE>
<A ARTHUR MARY JANE>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H OTHER>
<U PROF>
<E INT UP>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I FORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 563>
 
[} [^LETTER TO KATE FROM MARY JANE ARTHUR^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge,
March 13th/74 
MY DEAR LADY,
   I am glad to say that the children are both quite well. 
Dear little Bertrand is so funny now he is beginning to talk. 

<P 564>
 
We missed Miss Strauss very much.  But Miss Rachel is very
glad she has no music or French to do.  Richards said it was
getting on all right at Ravenscroft.  I beg to remain your
Faithful servant,
MARY JANE ARTHUR. 

[\On next page in Mary Jane's hand.\] 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP RRUSS>
<N LET TO MOTHER KATE AND FATHER JOHN> 
<A RUSSELL RACHEL>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y -20>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT UP>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 564>
 
[} [^LETTER TO KATE AND JOHN FROM RACHEL RUSSELL^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge 
DEAR MAMA AND PAPA 
   We have had snow here for three days but I am sorry I had
a cold and could not go out, and too if I had not one I could
not go out because it was snowing the whole time else I
would have went out and snowballed Mary Jane.  I did not
have my dolly as you promised me on my birthday.  I do
my lessons with Mary Jane every day and I have learnt the
hymns My God my Father, while I stray, and also Glory
to Thee my God this night an I finished my multiplication
sums.  We have been here alone for a week.  Dear Mama
you must promise to come home at the end of April.  Dear
Bertrand is quite well and also my self.  Bertie has just
begun to talk.  He can say 'all this,' all gone, excuse, spoon,
don't, take care.  Mary Jane he can say and Granny an puss,
an he sais when he goes to Mrs. Cox for Buscuits Cox keys
an please cake and milk and kuchen german he sais it when
he wants it at tea time.  I think I have said all now from your
dear little girl
RACHEL RUSSELL. 

[} [^LETTER TO KATE AND JOHN FROM RACHEL RUSSELL^] }] 
DEAR PAPPA AND MAMA 
   I liked my dolly very much. 
   Dear Frank, I thank you very much for my cross.  I like
it very much.  My two cousins Melfield were here to tea
with me on Sunday.  The croqueses [\[sic]\] an primroses an
hythians are looking so nice in my garden an the violets
smells so sweet.  Bertie sens his love to you an a kiss also my
self.  Bertie sais Amberlie Bamberlie.  Goodbye Mama and
Papa and Frank.  [\[Rachel Russell]\] 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP RRUSS>
<N LET TO MOTHER KATE> 
<A RUSSELL RACHEL>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y -20>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT UP>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 565>
 
[} [^LETTER TO KATE FROM RACHEL RUSSELL^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge
April 6/74. 
DEAR MAMA,
   I seen the soldiers come through the Park on Easter
Monday.  I like Mrs. Miller very much.  You must come
home before the 10th of May I was made 7 April fools on
the first of April.  One Granny said she would give me an egg
for my tea an when I opened it there was nothing in it an
I was an April fool.  Granny told me there was some ink on
my face an told me to go and look in the glass then I looked
an there was none an when I came in at the door she said
April Fool.  Mary Jane went to London on Saturday to see
Madame Tussaud's and she was in a circus.  From your dear
little Rachel. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP RRUSS>
<N LET TO BROTHER FRANK>
<A RUSSELL RACHEL>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y -20>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT EQUAL>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 565>
 
[} [^LETTER TO FRANK FROM RACHEL RUSSELL^] }] 
DEAR FRANK,
   I send you all my love and twenty kisses.  I hope the
Fishes wont die before you come back.  The water was put
in the fountain last Friday.  Goodbye to all of you I think
it is a very short letter from your dear sister
RACHEL. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP ARUSS>
<N LET TO SISTER-IN-LAW>
<A RUSSELL AGATHA>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y X>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT EQUAL>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 565>
 
[} [^LETTER TO KATE FROM AGATHA RUSSELL^] }] 
Pembroke Lodge,
Richmond Park. 
April 27. 
DEAREST KATE 
   I hope Rachel has written at length about the visit of the
Queen on Saturday - but she was terribly disappointed
expecting her to have a crown on her head & various other
magnificences.  Bertie made a nice little bow - but was
much subdued & did not treat Her Majesty with the utter
disrespect I expected.  Mama was not down but she & Prs
Beatrice came up to see her. 
Ever yr aff
AGATHA RUSSELL. 
   You must not complain of my letters being too short, for
I have had an enormous number to write; answering all
the kind letters that have been written to Mama while she
was laid up - 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP KAMBE>
<N LET TO MOTHER>
<A AMBERLEY LADY KATE>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y 20-40>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT UP>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 566>
 
[} [^LETTER TO MOTHER FROM LADY KATE AMBERLEY^] }] 
Ravenscroft. 
21 June /74. 
DEAR MAMA,
   We had but just really settled down again and had just
begun to enjoy to the full our country home and our children
when today we are grievously distressed by our darling
Rachel having diphtheria -  Such a time after and we kept
her the right time apart and were most particular about
rooms and clothes but there it is.  I have put her in Frank's
new room having first removed Bertrand and every scrap of
clothes and hangings, etc. to the ground floor room.  Mr.
Audland painted her throat.  It has been very sudden
indeed.  She is far more feverish than ever Frank was and
has much more pain in her head and seems very ill.  There
is a white patch each side.  I am very glad of all the advantage
I have of knowing the treatment and care for Mr.
Audland is not so particular and gives next to no directions. 

<P 567>
 
I had the medicines by me so I had begun before Mr.
Audland came and I trust having taken it in time all will
be well with her. 
   I think I shall send Bertrand with his little maid to her
mother's home, a nice farm not far off. 
   Monday mg. Mr. Audland has been and painted her
throat again.  It is going on well.  He comes again this evg.
and if any need he will spend the night here.  I have a nice
old woman Mrs. Griffiths to attend entirely on this room
and Bertrand is quite isolated so I shall keep him here, at
all events till Rachel is out of doors again.  It is very hot
indeed. 
   She is such a good patient and takes her medicine from
me perfectly but likes no one else near her but A. or me. 
She is much better and easier to manage than Frank was
but not near such a good sleeper which is against her. 
   Tell Maude she brightened at the pretty white Shetland
shawl Maude gave her being put on.  Anything pretty about
her pleases her just as much as ever. 
   Her throat is much more swollen outside than Frank's
ever was.  Mr. Audland has been attending diphtheria
about here so it is impossible to say if it was fr. Frank or not
she got it. 
I will send a line tomorrow. 
Yr. aff.
K. AMBERLEY. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP RRUSS>
<N LET TO GRANDMOTHER>
<A RUSSELL RACHEL>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y -20>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT UP>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 567>
 
[} [^LETTER TO GRANDMOTHER FROM RACHEL RUSSELL^] }] 
   [\[Written at head of page]:\] 'Rachel wished to write this
out of her own head.  K. A. Elise is with Bertrand and does
not come near Rachel.' 

Ravenscr. 
June 24. 1874. 
DEAR GRANDMAMA,
   Thank you very much for the doll and cradle.  I am in bed
with diphtheria and my throat hurts very much.  Spaldy
has two rabbits.  Spaldy has got robins and a hive of bees in
his room. 
RACHEL RUSSELL.

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP KAMBE>
<N LET TO MOTHER>
<A AMBERLEY LADY KATE>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X FEMALE>
<Y 20-40>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT UP>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 568>
 
[} [^LETTER TO MOTHER FROM LADY KATE AMBERLEY^] }] 
Rft.
25 June/74. 
DEAR MAMA,
   I too am in bed today with diphtheria.  It began at 7 this
morning.  Mr. Audland painted it at 8 and has sent for
Dr. Wilson from Monmouth to meet him here this aftn. and
we have telegraphed to Mr. Sanderson for the nurse who
was just leaving his mother.  If we cannot have that one we
prefer some one fr. here as we do not like one we know
absolutely nothing of.  I shd. have liked Mrs. Millar if there
was time.  I don't like any young women to come near me
or Rachel.  Rachel is now taking port wine.  It is still very
bad.  Mr. Spalding is most helpful.  He is gone now to settle
Bertrand and Elise at Nine Wells a very large farm a mile
off. 
   I am very grieved for Amberley to have so much anxiety
but we shall do well I hope and get through easily. 
   I only trust no-one else will catch it. 
Yr. aff
K.A. 
   You shall hear every day.  I have not written to Ly.
Russell today.  She knows about Rachel but has enough to
trouble her.  Mrs. Anderson has written to me of a nurse so
we have her's or Mr. S's.  they will settle it. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP JAMBE>
<N LET TO MOTHER-IN-LAW>
<A AMBERLEY LORD JOHN>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X> 
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X MALE>
<Y 20-40>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT EQUAL>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 568>
 
[} [^LETTER TO MOTHER-IN-LAW FROM LORD JOHN AMBERLEY^] }] 
Rft.
Jn. 27/74.  
DEAR LADY STANLEY,
   Kate is very very ill with diphtheria and the throat all but
closed against swallowing.  I am most anxious about her. 
We shall have a nurse from London here this afternoon.  She
has two doctors.  They hope to keep her up by injecting food. 
   We had no sufficient supply of port so I telegraphed to you
to send it to the doctor at Monmouth who will bring it up
with him, I hope tomorrow, Rachel has to take it, and K.
will, and I require it to keep me up. 
   I shall let you know tomorrow.  Please don't telegraph. 
Yours ever affly.
AMBERLEY. 

<P 569>

[} [^LETTER TO MOTHER-IN-LAW FROM LORD JOHN AMBERLEY^] }] 
DEAREST LADY STANLEY 
   You will know from the doctor that all is over.  I cannot
say more.  It ended this morning early.  I am too too
wretched to write more. 
Ever yrs
AMBERLEY.                           
Jn. 28/74                                               

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP AUDL>
<N LET TO LADY STANLEY>
<A AUDLAND JOHN>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X MALE>
<Y X>
<H PROF>
<U X>
<E DIST UP>
<J INTERACTIVE>
<I FORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 569>
 
[} [^LETTER TO LADY STANLEY FROM DR. AUDLAND^] }] 
Tenton,
Chepstow. 
June 28. 1874. 
DEAR LADY STANLEY. 
   I am truly sorry to have to convey to your Ladyship the
melancholy intelligence of Lady Amberley's death, which
took place this morning about 10 o'clock. 
   When I was first called to her Ladyship on Thursday
morning, I saw her within an hour of the first appearance
of the disease in the throat. 
   I did what was necessary, but at once requested another
Practitioner to be called in.  By my advice Mr. Wilson of
Monmouth a gentleman of skill and experience was sent
for and we met between 5 and 6 the same evening.  The
course of the disease was the most rapid, I think, I ever saw,
for when Mr. Wilson arrived her Ladyship could scarcely
articulate and it was with the greatest difficulty that he could
make any inspection of the throat.  There was also much
febrile excitement and a very rapid pulse.  Everything that
Mr. Wilson could suggest was done and in the morning the
febrile symptoms were alleviated, but there was a total
inability to swallow or to use gargle or take medicine.  We
endeavoured to keep up strength by nutrient enemeta, etc. 
Yesterday she began to swallow and was able to gargle and
a quantity of purulent fetid matter was spit up.  I forgot to
say that there was a considerable swelling externally,
especially on the right side.  As her Ladyship had swallowed
a considerable quantity of milk and a little wine at intervals
during the day and was able to inhale and occasionally to
gargle and as the frequency of the Pulse was diminished we
  
<P 570>

thought, when we met last evening, that there was some
little improvement in the symptoms.
  But this morning I was called up before 5 and when I
arrived I found a great change for the worse.  Great restlessness,
hurried respiration a pulse scarcely to be counted,
lividity of the lips and face all too plainly shewed that a fatal
termination was approaching. 
   At this time Lady Amberley took milk, had small portions
of wine without much difficulty, and at intervals inhaled. 
She became very restless and wished to be carried back to
her own room from whence she had been moved into the
Library the day before.  Contrary to my wishes she was taken
to her own room and although it was carefully done, she was
much exhausted by it.  She gradually sank, although she
took small quantities of fluid to the last, and died, I think,
a little before 10.  I have thus endeavoured to give your
Ladyship a brief, tho' correct statement of the case.  The
last few days have been days of great anxiety to me and on
looking back I cannot but feel that all that could be done
has been done for the departed.  No delay took place in
asking for other advice and I am satisfied that no one, however
eminent, could have done more for her Ladyship than
what was done by my respected and valued friend Mr.
Wilson.  I have not seen His Lordship since, but I am going
up again this evening to Ravenscroft to see Rachel.  Our
post on Sundays leaves soon after 10, but I am sending this
by a messenger to Chepstow.  I hope you will excuse this
somewhat hurried note as I am at present very busy. 
I remain, dear Lady Stanley,
Yours truly
JOHN AUDLAND. 
   Rachel seems so far going on favourably but she is very
weak.  The Diphtheritic follicle was upon the Tonsils, palate
& Uvula.  The constitutional symptoms were not so severe
as we might have expected from the extent of the local
lesion.  But the difficulty now is to get her to take a sufficiency
of food, wine &c.  In these cases there is often a great
repugnancy to the taking of food, which is very difficult to

<P 571>    

overcome.  The nurses seem both very nice persons & are
very desirous of doing everything they can.  I have been
much pleased with them both. -  
   P.S. I forgot to say that Mr. Wilson was sent for at the
same time I was this morning, but did not arrive at Ravenscroft
until all was over. 

<B CLAMBE>
<Q L86 XX CORP JAMBE>
<N LET TO MOTHER>
<A AMBERLEY JOHN LORD>
<C L86>
<O 1860-1889>
<M X>
<K X>
<D ENGLISH>
<V PROSE>
<T LET PRIV>
<G X>
<F X>
<W WRITTEN>
<X MALE>
<Y 20-40>
<H HIGH>
<U X>
<E INT EQUAL>
<J INTEACTIVE>
<I INFORMAL>
<Z X>
<S SAMPLE X>
<P 571>
 
[} [^LETTER TO MOTHER FROM LORD JOHN AMBERLEY^] }] 
[\[From a copy made by Lady Russell.]\] 
July 3/74. 
MY DEAR MAMA,                   
   I thought the cup of misery had been full enough, but it
seems not.  The child too had to go, and I have lost for ever
the sweet caressing ways and the affectionate heart that
might if anything could have been some consolation.  And
now I feel that the desolation is indeed complete.  Yet I
think I must be almost dead to feeling, for Rachel's death
seemed hardly to add to my sorrow.  But I know how I
shall feel it hereafter when I miss her.  Of all the children
she was the dearest to me, and so my two greatest treasures
in this world are gone almost at one blow.  It is cruel, unspeakably
cruel!  I know how you will feel for me dearest
Mama. 
Ever,
AMBERLEY.