The Letters of the Duke of Wellington to Miss J. 1834-1851 Part 6

My days are shorter than a span, A little point my life appears; How FRAIL at best is DYING MAN; HOW VAIN are ALL _his hopes and fears_!

_VAIN his_ AMBITION, NOISE and SHOW!

VAIN are the cares Which rack his mind!

_He heaps up treasures_ MIXED WITH WOE And dies, and leaves them all behind!

Oh be a _n.o.bLER portion MINE_!

_MY G.o.d_ I bow before Thy Throne; Earth's _fleeting_ treasures I resign And fix my hopes on THEE _ALONE_!

"I have underlined all just as forwarded to the Duke."

The next letter from the Duke that has been preserved is dated October 5, and contains a reference to a later note from Miss J.:--

WALMER CASTLE, October 5, 1835.

The Duke of Wellington presents his Compt^s to Miss J. He has only this morning received her letter without date; in which Miss J. apprizes the Duke that she is about to quit Hampstead; but she does not state where she is about to reside.

In respect to Miss J.'s wish that the Duke should write to Her, the Duke a.s.sures her that he will receive Her Letters with pleasure; and that he will answer them regularly. But that he must be permitted to do so, in a form, which shall not expose him to the accusation of treating a Lady with disrespect.

From the perusal of Miss J.'s Letter the Duke does not exactly understand whether Miss J. did or did not send back the Paquet containing the Duke's Letters to her. As the Duke stated upon a former occasion, it is a matter of Indifference whether Miss J.

has burnt the Letters; or kept them; or sent them back.

The Duke begs leave to inform her however that if she sent them back he has not yet received them. They may however be in His House in London as he has been absent from there since the 19th of last Month.

In Miss J.'s next letter she inquires into the truth of a report of the Duke's indisposition that has appeared in the papers. The reply is decidedly testy.

WALMER CASTLE, Nov^r 3, 1835.

The Duke of Wellington presents his Compliments to Miss J.

He received only this morning Miss J.'s Letters of the 28^th and 31^st October.

The Duke returns his thanks to Miss J. for her kind Enquiries about His Health. The Duke was unwell for one day; of which the Newspapers obtained Intelligence; and as usual misrepresented and exaggerated the facts.

The Duke is much concerned that Miss J. is not satisfied with the formal style of His Notes. She was not satisfied when he wrote to her in a form more consistent with familiarity. Such form was considered disrespectful.

The Duke a.s.sures Miss J. that he can reply to any letter which she may think proper to address the Duke as fully in one form as the other.

The poor Duke's life was frequently made a burden to him by the comments expressed by the papers upon his health and his conduct. His letters abound in impatient references to the inaccuracies of the daily journals in all that pertained to himself. These finally irritated him to such an extent that, against the advice of wise friends, he sued the "Morning Journal" for libel, and succeeded in obtaining the punishment of the editor and printer by fines and imprisonment. His course in this matter was deprecated by those who thought that a man of his acknowledged character and position could afford to disregard such attacks.

Apparently after this time matters returned to their former state, in so far as the frequency of the letters was concerned, although the formal mode of address was still retained, greatly to Miss J.'s dissatisfaction. She continues in her Diary the account of the Duke's letters:

"In the Duke's next letter of the 6th of November written in the third person since I wrote to him concerning that plain seal he writes; 'The considerations urged by Miss J. with her usual facility and eloquence are for all times and seasons.'

"Thus graciously did he usually receive my letters on religious subjects, which under circ.u.mstances of illness were doubtlessly additionally earnest.

"In the next of November 6th His Grace writes thus; 'The Duke a.s.sures her that he feels the deepest interest in everything that Miss J. writes to him.' The next from the Duke is dated November 10th wherein he writes; 'The Duke will have great pleasure in attending Miss J. when he will be in London if she will permit him and will let him know where she resides.'

"In the Duke's next letter of Nov. 11th he writes in allusion to me; 'She is so kind to the Duke; and she writes to him with so much earnestness and feeling that it is impossible that he should not be impressed with a deep sense of His obligation to her for taking so much trouble.'

"In his next of the 12th of November he returns me many thanks for my letters.

"By the next letter I presume some inconvenience attended my receiving the Duke as he writes--'It appears that for some reason with which Miss J. states it to be her intention at some future time to acquaint the Duke--it will not be in Miss J.'s power to receive the Duke.'

"Another letter dated the 16th of November, as was the above, refers to my dating my letters on the outside. He writes 'Franks are dated on the outside because the Law requires the use of that form.'

"What I had written to call it forth I cannot remember but the Duke in his next of the 16th of November says 'he has no pretension to superiority,' reminding me of a circ.u.mstance which took place at the commencement of our acquaintance when I told him that his being the Duke of Wellington was nothing to me--leading him to reply 'I know it, I know it and I respect you for it.'

"Judging by the Duke's next letter of the 16th (being the second of that date) I had formed the wish to have a letter of mine returned--which letter I found with all others had been destroyed.

The Duke encloses the succeeding one."

MY LORD DUKE,--I once more take up pen, but in all probability for the last time, if I rightly understand you to mean you are capable of receiving my letters in _silence_, to which I decline subjecting myself. I consider a reply and a very different one to those _lately_ received due to me in the sight of _That G.o.d_ Who _created_ such an interest in your eternal happiness and I am very much mistaken if he does not make you feel the power of this impression by exercising His ALMIGHTY _power_ in some unforeseen manner.

The information that you have destroyed my letters is _any thing_ but gratifying; one and all being more or less marked with _Divine_ Truth, calculated if properly and _seriously_ considered, to benefit your _immortal Soul_. Nor should I imagine myself _justified_ in spending my time in _future_ by penning such to have them committed to the flames. Therefore I shall decline troubling you with a repet.i.tion of this kind, until you consider them sufficiently valuable to retain instead of destroy.

In the mean time I shall occupy myself with any other work my Heavenly Father may condescendingly point out; it being of very little consequence to me how I am employed so that it is under _His direction_ and in HIS _Service_....

I remain, My Lord Duke, so long as G.o.d permits.

Your faithful Christian Friend.

A. J.

"The Duke's next letter is dated Dec. the third followed by one of the 8th which implies I wrote to the Duke on the death of the Countess of S., as he writes 'It is true that a near relation of the Duke's has died a terrible death.'

"By the Duke's letter of the 11th of December I presume I continued displeased at his having burnt my letters,--a truth elicited through wis.h.i.+ng one of them returned, which consequently it was not in his power to do--considering as I told him that it was a sin in the sight of G.o.d to destroy Epistles intended for his everlasting good."

The Duke's reply to this is given in full:--

STRATHFIELDSAYE, Dec^r 15, 1835.

The Duke of Wellington presents his Comp^ts to Miss J. He has only this day received her Letter commenced on Sat.u.r.day and finished on Monday. He is much concerned to learn that Miss J.

has been indisposed; and he hopes that she will have been relieved by attending to the Advice of the Medical Gentleman for whom she had sent.

Nothing will be more satisfactory to the Duke than to put an end to all Dissension upon bygone subjects. He has no feeling upon any of them excepting a desire to avoid to give occasion unknowingly and unwillingly for irritation.

The Duke is much obliged to Miss J. for her Letter. He does not entirely concur in all the opinions contained in that Letter. He a.s.sures her however that he has perused it as he Does all those received from her, with attention. He will state his objections at some future time.

It is quite impossible for the Duke to keep Miss J.'s letters.

They are in general long; and they succeed each other rapidly. If the Duke was to keep them, they might be seen by others. He therefore destroys them as soon as he has read, and perfectly understands them.

This explanation evidently soothed Miss J.'s ruffled feelings, for she makes no further reference at this time to the "Dissension." The Diary continues:--