Letter from John George Cooke, London, to Baroness Marie Blaze de Bury, 1859 October 18 : autograph manuscript signed.

Confirming that a payment of 18 pounds has been received from Benham, noting that "poor old [Walter] Mantell" has sailed for Wellington (New Zealand), taking "my faithful Ellen with him", and that he has now got her younger sister, "as good as Ellen, only more timorous, & whom the horrid and muzzy drunken" landlady will "bully terribly"; writing that he has received a letter from Fanny Du Quaire, mentioning the Ogles of Kirkby, (Count) Henri du Quaire, Herriman Smith, and various other mutual friends and acquaintances; remarking that the Carlyle's "became much attached to Mantell ere he left, and this pleased me more than I can say"; saying that "H. Vaughan Johnson was here on Sunday morning making very cordial after you & wanting to know if you had Grant Duff's letter to Cooke"; commiserating with her on the death of Lord Westmoreland and lamenting the recent passing of several prominent man; remarking that "That astonishing veteran Lord Brougham is electrifying audiences of Yorkshiremen & seems born intellectually again", commenting on the current political situation ("I hear all the ministers hate each other ... Ferguson says in six weeks we may be under French prefet, but depend upon it our fleet is strong, tho they don't say much"), discussing the construction of British ships and fortfiications, remarking that "Mrs. Wyndham is in town and writes us abusive letters, silly old woman", that Elizabeth Easthope (his half sister) is in town, that he intends to get together her letters from Miss Wilton, and relating a conversation he had with Attree concerning the Austrian army ("he says that all the Austrian officers say it was ... incapacity & jealousy of each other shown by their generals that made them losers ... There seems to have been no plan of a campaign or if there was it was abandoned - and all Radetsky's wise & thoughtful ideas utterly lost sight of.").