Memoir of John Murray
Isaac D’Israeli to John Murray, [1805?]
It is a most disagreeable office to give opinions on MSS.; one
reads them at a moment when one has other things in one’s head—then
one is obliged to fatigue the brain with thinking; but
if I can occasionally hinder you from publishing nugatory works, I do not
grudge the pains. At the same time I surely need not add, how very confidential such communications ought to be.
When you write, make your letter as short as you choose, ![]()
![]()
for I see you are deeply
occupied. The Prince’s band is now
arranged before my house, and I shall be overtaken by a storm of music!
Mellish has been the grand dasher
here; had £25,000 depending on two or three races! Had his horse
Sancho not been extraordinarily successful ’tis
said he meant to have shot himself. He kissed and hugged him on the grounds. At
length closes his present account with a poor £5000 winner. Rode a
donkey-race with Lord Petersham, who,
Phaethon-like, could not manage his ass, and was dashed into a cloud of dust,
rolling on the earth by (like Phaethon) carrying himself too near it. I have
not done with Mellish; I hope one day to begin on him. He
has thrown out a fine estate in Yorkshire, from a dice-box; anticipated his
mother’s jointure; drives round the Steyne all the morning, to the terror
of nurses and children; bursts into the shops of milliners. This delightful boy
of folly has not yet shot himself; but the time ought to be very near. He is
getting old—twenty-five! he has lasted a good while, and the chink of his
last guinea will soon be heard.
Your humble and affectionate nephew,
Isaac D'Israeli (1766-1848)
English essayist and literary biographer; author of
Curiosities of
Literature (1791). Father of the prime minister.
Henry Francis Mellish (1782-1817)
Son of Charles Melish of Blyth (1737-1797); he was a dandy, gambler, and friend of the
Prince Regent who kept a large stable of horses; in the Peninsular War he was aide-de-camp
to General Ronald Ferguson.
Charles Stanhope, fourth earl of Harrington (1780-1851)
Of Elvaston Castle in Derbyshire, the son of the third earl, a dandy and friend of George
IV. In 1831 he married the actress Maria Foote (1797-1867), daughter of the playwright
Samuel Foote.
