Thousands of thanks, dear Mr.
Murray, for allowing us to read those sheets of the wonderful
Fanny’s ‘Journal’ in their rough
state. I cannot tell you the entertainment they have proved to Lord Dacre, and how strongly they interest me,
who have always been a greater enthusiast about her than he has. The depth of
thought, the vigour of writing, the high tone of poetry in her descriptions,
the absolute reality of all she portrays, make her work enchanting and piquant
in the extreme. One sees her own
| MRS. BUTLER’S JOURNAL. | 403 |
I am a little amused by her leaving in all her breakfasts, dinners, and suppers, goings to bed and gettings up, puttings out of her dresses for acting, and recording every stitch she sets in that nightcap (which must be the most richly embroidered in the world); while she gives us so many stars for passages omitted, where sometimes one’s curiosity is excited. I want to know which of her Mr. ——’s is Mr. Butler. I think it must be the sender of nosegays. The vigorous style shows the advantage of having studied the older authors as she has done. I wish she would not “progress.” How I hate that word as a verb. A few more American expressions I would fain change for the honest English she delights in. But I am chatting as if I were sitting in your own library.
