LITERARY TREASURES

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1687, 29 June 1904, Page 76 (Supplement)

LITERARY TREASURES

LETTERS OF WELLINGTON AND

NELSON.

There was to be sold at Sotheby’s rooms in May, a letter written by, the Duke of Wellington from Brussels to his private secretary, Sir Charles Flint, at four o’clock on the morning of June 19, 1815, the day after the battle of Waterloo. The letter runs\ ,(

“Prior- Canning had my small dispatchbox in our battle yesterday, and when lie was killed it was- lost. I shall be very much obliged to you if you will send me another of the same size as the last, with the'same lock and key and leather cover, etc., as soon as possible. Let it have ii,i itr a small silver or thickglass inkstand, with one of Braham’s patent penholders ant Lane of his pens. What do you think total defeat of Buonaparte by the British Army ? Never was there in the nntlals of the world so desperate or so hard-fought an aotion or such '/& defeat. It was really the battle of the giants. My heart is broken by the tdrrible loss T have Sustained of my old friends and companions and my poor soldiers. I shall not be satisfied with the battle, however glorious, if it does not of itself put an end to Buonaparte.” At’the same , sale was offered what is belipyed. to .be the last complete letter penned by Nelson to Lady Hamilton. It is dated Sept. 25, 1805.; and is addressed, “Victory, off Lisbon.” The letter is as follows: —•

“I am anxious to join the fleet, for it would add to my grief if any other man was to give them the Nelson, howl, which “we” say is warranted never to fail. I have read my Ennna with must interest your letters which I got at Merton, but I must have many others afloat. I do feel by myself; what you must'have felt at not hearing from me from Jan. 29 to after May 18th. ' I fancied that they had been stopt by the Admiralty on the account of Sir John’s orders. . . I mention all these circumstances that my dearest Emma should never think that her Nelson neglects or forgets her for one moment. No I can truly say, you are always present whereso ere I go. I have this letter ready in case I should fall in with anything from Lisbon homeward steering. May God bless you my best my ionly beloved and with my warmest affections to Horatia be assured I am for ever your most faithful and affectionat etc.”

A literary “find” of some historical interest is reported from Dublin. The copy of Thomas Moore’s “Life of Lord Edward Fitzgerald,” which the author presented to Lady Campbell, Lord Edward’s daughter and the grandmother of the Right. Hon. George Wyndham, the Irish Chief Secretary, has been discovered in a second-hand bookshop, with many marginal notes by Lady Campbell herself. In one of these she states that the Duke of Wellington told her that the Government of the day would not have been sorry had Lord Edward Fitzgerald escaped from Ireland in 1798, and that no strenuous efforts were made for a time to secure liis arrest.

DR BARNARDO’S 1 HOMES.—A RESULT . OF A CHAIN LETTER,

(To the Editor “New Zealand Mail.”) Dear Sir,—Might I, through your paper, ask those of your readers who receive a copy of a chain letter in aid of Dr. Barnardo’s homes, not to send out any further copies as I wish it to bo discontinued. The chain should have stopped at No. 30, bub in this and other sentences the words have been greatly altored. I have collected so far ,£7360.—• I am, etc., GERTRUDE! ROBERTSON.

Kenilworth, England, 7th May, 1901.