The folk here, are quite on my side about ‘Debonnaire.’ In the first place, the King was so called as synonymous with Pious, according to Sismondi, and the proper original meaning of this word seems to have been ‘gracious,’ in which sense it is constantly applied to the best of the knights. Modern French has debased it, and given it of late the sense of weakness.... In English it decidedly means ... continue reading

My dear Mrs Blackburn, The price of the binding was /6½ per volume, as that blue is an expensive cloth, and the binding of an illustrated book is always more expensive, because the plates have to be sewn in separately. I must say that I have a suspicion that you had divided the sum total by 1000 instead of 2150, for certainly 1/4 would have been almost enough to bind a quarto. The paper is included ... continue reading

My dear Miss Bourne I waited a few days to see if time would come to make something like a drawing, but waited in vain, so now I send a mere tracing of what my notion is, as well as the size of our letters and Numerals, the Exodus in red with blue border, the figures blue with red, and white patterns on all. I wish they would look as pretty in the sketch as ... continue reading

My dear Mr Coleridge I am very much obliged to you for so kindly undertaking the enquiry at Goslings which must be the preliminary to any undertaking in the cause of the Bells. I would not however have given you the trouble of reading my thanks had I not been charged with a message to you from Mrs Keble She obtained a promise from Mrs Selwyn when in England that little John might ... continue reading

Dearest Carry, I enclose the memoranda which I have made in reading Dynevor Terrace here for the second time. If you can not explain all my difficulties, perhaps you will get Charlotte herself to do so. Some of them, mainly those which proceed from ignorance or forgetfulness of passages in books with which she is quite familiar, will appear to her very strange, and many of them probably to you also.

The characters are I ... continue reading

Madam, I am not aware whether Mr Mozley acknowledged the receipt of your friend's kind subscription towards the peal of bells at Auckland, New Zealand, and I therefore gladly express my thanks for the kindness The letter printed in the Monthly Packet was from Mrs Selwyn herself, and it is the very earnest wish of her friends in England to be able to send out to her that of which she has so well expressed ... continue reading

Dear Miss Smith I am going to ask you in my private capacity to do me a kindness. My brother is just setting out on an expedition to Norway, and we are ignorant whether we can write to him there in the ordinary manner for the Continent. I mean whether poste restante is the usual form, or if there is any other mode more congenial to the north, and also whether we should spell Drontheim ... continue reading

My dear Miss Butler, Two lines to say that here I am at home, & shall be delighted to have Likes & Dislikes if they are ready. I go to Dogd on Monday week, but if I could have them in the interval, I should be glad. But I am afraid it is of no use to try for two chapters in one number I am engaged to so much, I have been reading Peothès ... continue reading

My dear Miss Moorsom I wrote to the author of the Garland of the Year in case she should be able to help you to any authorities for the Oxalis, but I have an answer from her this morning saying that it was one of the very few flowers which she described at second hand, but she has written to the person who helped her to try if she can recollect what book she found it ... continue reading

My dear Miss Butler, I certainly do like the Likes and Dislikes so much that I consider my self selfdenying in what I am going to say, and you will consider me servile, but I really believe that the Packet must steer clear of Puseyite name and discussion, and do what it does silently. So I suspect, with all thanks, that it will be wiser for Emily to stand alone, and yet I am sorry ... continue reading

Dear Mr Owen Your pretty present arrived quite safely this morning, and I am greatly obliged to you for the kindness of the thought in bringing me a memorial from a part of the world where my imagination at one time tarried so long. The bracelets will be great friends of mine for many reasons, among which their smooth touch and pretty grain may well be reckoned.

My brother is as usual in the depths of Norway, ... continue reading

My dear Mrs Butler Please to consider this note as coming from Mr and Mrs Keble, as they are very anxious to get this woman’s petition signed as universally and numerously as possible before the end of next week, when it should be returned (with a tail of names on the ruled lines, and on further sheets gummed on beyond if necessary) to Mrs Keble. The name of the place to be written at the ... continue reading

My dear Miss Smith I should have been glad to accept your ‘Manchester Visit’, but it has been forestalled as you will see on the first of August.

I have put out your princesses for October but I do not feel sure how the space will be

yours sincerely C M Yonge

My dear Papa, I am much obliged for your notes this morning; and I do not much expect now that John will join our festivities. It wd have been very nice and pleasant if we could all three have come together, Jane expresses great disappointment that there has been no time to arrange things in any orderly manner. She wd have had no thought but of John & Cordelia being here, if it ... continue reading

The place we are in is a sight in itself - an old house of the Knight Hospitallers, which the great Ormond converted into an Irish Chelsea, making the Commander of the Forces the Master. It is built round a quadrangle, with a cloister, a chapel, and great hall, all in Louis XIV. style . . . this house occupying one side, with the hall and chapel, the house of the Chaplain, ... continue reading

My dear Mary, It is a great undertaking to describe accurately so great a wedding, a great deal of the details I must reserve until I get home, but I was surprised to find that anything so ponderous cd be passed thro so quietly & easily. Aunt Seaton even seemed in not the least bustle & everything was arranged like magic; I suppose from the number of workmen & the abundance of payment. ... continue reading

My dear Mamma- Yesterday made my news run into arrears, so I will only note that you must ask me about the College, and the three black Graces perched round the bell, with Science to make a fourth, and how we took them for Faith, Hope, and Charity, and Graham said Irish divinity had not much to do with faith, and the beautiful embodiment of Ruskinism in the new museum with green Galway marble columns, and ... continue reading

My dear Caroline, If you are at leisure this next/ week will you come and spend a day with us, when we can take a walk in the Cranbury gardens, as the house is still uninhabitable, and I do not think they can come home for a week or so. Any day but Monday will suit us equally well, and we hope you will come before one o’clock. It is so long since I have ... continue reading

My dear Miss Smith Thank you for all your replies, I had been waiting to answer you till I had read aloud to the end, for you must know I began it the day it came when a girl was here whose London experiences are very West End, and as she went away in the midst, much interested, I only glanced on to the end, and kept the rest till she came again. She was decided ... continue reading

My dear Miss Smith It is very odd to send the money in two orders, but when I sent on Saturday the Post Office or I contrived to make a blunder, and the Order arrived for less than your due, so I am afraid you must have the trouble of signing both of these. £1.19 is for the Royal Household, with many thanks, and I have ventured to add a pound for your district if ... continue reading

My dear Miss Butler With all Christmas wishes, and with my brother’s thanks, I return your catalogue, he has taken the address of the bookseller and means to write to him as soon as the Icelandic fervour returns. At present he is more occupied with his turning lathe. I wish some critic would laugh at the endless repetitions of Thor’s visit to Loki, as if it were to Sagas what Harold’s body is to ... continue reading