BIB_ID
106225
Accession number
MA 3918
Creator
Cork, Mary Boyle, Countess of, 1746-1840.
Display Date
London, England, 1808 August 1.
Credit line
Purchased on the Acquisitions Fund, 1983.
Description
1 item (4 pages) ; 23.0 x 18.5 cm
Notes
Written from "Burlington Street."
The bookseller's listing for this letter suggests she is introducing Horace Twiss, "the nephew of Monckton's close friend, Mrs. Siddons."
The bookseller's listing for this letter suggests she is introducing Horace Twiss, "the nephew of Monckton's close friend, Mrs. Siddons."
Summary
Reminding him that she has invited him to dinner in order to introduce him to a young man "...who possesses wonderful talents, & has great powers of oratory - All that he wants is to be placed in a situation to enable him to exert his talents, & I feel convinced that if he were so fortunate as to obtain a patron, he would be an honor to his country - He puts me in mind of Sheridan, who when he had neither a penny, nor a friend in the world, said that he was determined not only to be in Parliament, but to shine there - He is a gentleman both by birth, & education, though his father married a sister of Mrs. Siddon's & he is studying the law with a view to being a barrister - He is full of wit, & pleasantry - I never have a party without him & he shines greatly in society - He is a very pretty poet, & I have heard he is a good scholar - of this, you know, I am no judge - but I am sure that if, one of these days, you would bring him into parliament, you would have reason to be proud of him - But how shall we contrive your meeting? - You are not coming to town, & I am quitting it, not to return till next May - so there is no chance of your meeting at least till then - and you are always so churlish of your company that I shall despair of your meeting in Burlington Street even at that distant period - but I am sure when you are acquainted, that you will thank me for bringing it about - Alas! I saw very little of your fair daughters except at other houses, for I never was admitted into theirs, & Miss Susan never once gladdened my mansion with her enchanting countenance - She is exactly what I remember you at her age - Kind, extraordinarily kind as you have been to me, you never were very gracious to me in the writing way, therefore I cannot flatter myself that you will answer this but if you should, direct to the Hon: E. Monckton [illegible] Somerford, near Wolverhampton - I am, dear Mr. Beckford, Faithfully, & affectionately your's, / as I have been ever since you were / fifteen years old."
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