My dear Anne It is a very long time since I have had such a nice long letter from you. I think the great Corfu news has given you a spur. It did take me very much by surprise though certainly if I had been asked to guess which of the Colbornes was going to be married, I should have said Jane, and you know she is at an age when two years of ... continue reading

My dear Mary, My letters must seem to be very few & far between but sudden revolutions happen now & then, wh disorder my private arrangements, such as yesterday, when I was just seated to write to Alethea & Uncl Wm proposed driving Char: & me to Southampton, & before we came back the visitors were arrived. You will see how much I enjoyed your very long letter presently when I tell you how pleasant ... continue reading

My dear Alice, The Times was quite right, Lucien was at the camp, though I cannot remember him. Montebello told Lord Seaton that he is very sorry to see our troops in such excellent order. The Queen looked in great good-humour, and was determined to see the men have their dinner. She came to Virginia Water with Prince Albert, who was sneezing and looking as if he had the measles. Lord and ... continue reading

My dear Papa, I feel greatly obliged to you for writing so often. I fear your leisure will decrease rapidly now, that you are able to resume your out of door occupations, to say nothing of all the Confirmation Children, and also such an increase in the colony within doors. I hope you will not find yourself quite overmatched by the half dozen grandchildren, and obliged to retreat to the top of the House, ... continue reading

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 Mrs Moor,

I am afraid Otterbourne will be unrepresented at Ampfield on the 21st, as Mamma and I are going on the 17th to London for a few days, chiefly to meet the Colbornes on their return from Ireland. I did not write before because our plans were not fully fixed. We shall not be long gone, but it is a pity we just miss your celebration.

yours sincerely

CMYonge

My dear Mrs. Moberly,

Thank you for your kind, sweet, cheering note. It does seem to me truly that it is the burden of the flesh she is freed from, so entirely labour and weariness had the mere act of living been to her for months past; but with what sweet smiles! I am glad your dear Alice so thoroughly shared the peacefulness of the earlier watch, as well as that last trying day, which I ... continue reading

My dear Mrs Swinton Thank you once more for the Waterloo letters which I have read with the greatest pleasure. They bring it close to us, just as did Lord Seaton and my father talking it over. I rather wonder to see the Prince of Orange such a favourite but probably he was very different to young girls from what he was to Lord Seaton who was his ‘bear leader’ for some time

Yours sincerely C M Yonge

My dear Miss Beale I can’t resist telling you, apropos to your article about Mrs Dorothy Kilner’s books, that somehow they did gain a curious hold of children’s minds. In ‘Lecture graduées a translation of Tommy Piper appears, with Mr Makegood as Monsieur Réforme! A reproduction of the old book (how well the ‘cuts’ are given) was mine some 60 years ago. My young nephews and nieces constantly were borrowing it when the ... continue reading

My dear Mrs Latimer I rejoiced much to see your writing again though I burn with shame that I was in debt to you, having rather dawdled over my thanks for the African book which told me much more than I knew before about that dismal country which really seems to me to have such an effect on people’s tempers as to make them quite unlike them selves. There has enough happened to make a fresh ... continue reading

Dear Mr Holgate This is really only an abridgement of the article in the Christian Remembrancer, except that I added the going to Winchester College chapel in 1854. I signed the paper because once or twice I found myself writing I to a personal reminiscence, but it can be altered if you wish it. I think Lord Seaton’s personal appearance is fully described in the paper. He was the most striking old man I ever saw. ... continue reading

Dear Miss Walker I should like much to know your Grandmother’s name, in case I should have heard of her from my mother. The curious thing is that my mother had no idea that she was a success. She was very miserable at school, being really too delicate for the treatment of those days and never well in London. She thought her lessons were always marked ‘très mediocre’, and her comfort was watching ... continue reading