Monday. Sept. 19.
Off at 8 in the morning, with Maddox—after have [sic] tea’d & bread & buttered with her & Minny. Intercepted by Dominic & Henry, who wanted me to breakfast at Mrs. Trant’s, & talked a great deal of native nonsense—Dominick especially. He accused Henry of making use of his ideas in conversation,—which, thinks I to myself, accounts for henry’s nonsense. Breakfast at Ruby Cottage not begun; but Miss Boyd met me at the door,—& Mrs. Boyd ran down stairs in a flannel dressing-gown & nightcap, to hold communion with me on the subject of Mr. Biscoe’s distresses. Annie does not love him, & therefore is not worthy of his love. If I were a man, & had a heart, I wd. not covet the possession of her’s—Oh! no NO! Mr. Boyd sent for me twice, before Mrs. Boyd released me from letter reading & her bedroom. When I went to him, & explained my detention, he regretted .. not that it had happened at all, but that it had not happened later in the day; because—no very flattering reason,—the earlier he heard Greek reading, the better he liked it. I am making an anachronism. This observation was not made until after he was shaved, during which operation, I was of course exiled!—
He showed me his Benedictine edition of Gregory.[1] It is in high preservation, & very beautiful. I will get one like it, whenever I have next the use of Fortunatus’s purse[2]—or any purse, heavy enough. He allowed me to read a part of the Apologetic, out of it (from τουτοις εγω συνειμι[3]); a high privilege, granted on solemnly enforced conditions of not leaning my arm on any part of any page. I liked & admired much of what I read. I do like & admire Gregory’s prose!!—& I enjoy reading a beautiful style so much the more, when I can read it with one who enjoys it too—when I can read it with Mr. Boyd.
Because he went out of the room for a moment, Miss Boyd came in,—& when he came in, he hinted rather broadly I thought, that she shd. go out. “Sister”. “What?” “Oh I only wanted to know if you were in the room still”.
When her exit had taken place—,“What was my sister talking to you about?” “She was praising the old fashion of cutting trees into peacocks & towers,—& she was abusing Samson Agonistes”.[4] “Abusing Sampson Agonistes!! But did she not notice my Gregory?” “No! she did not”. He was not angry with me for the rape of his Chrysostom , by D[ominick] T[rant].
We talked & discussed a good deal about the Romans,—& he agreed with me, not altogether I think, about them; but that the ‘οι πολλοι must be yielded up. I think that he likes to agree with me. I am sure that I like to agree with him—particularly on religious subjects!— And yet the desire of agreeing with him, NEVER, as far as I know myself, NEVER did or could occasion any change or modification of those opinions of my understanding which are independant of my inclination,—least of all on religious subjects! We were only an hour at dinner!! How prestissimo. Milo cd. not have been longer dining, than Mrs. Boyd is![5] Mr. Boyd sent for me before we had quite had our des[s]erts. Glad of it. He lent me Beverley’s pamphlets,[6] which I took away with me at six—intended to be a quarter past five. Billy’s apologia was, that clocks are different. So are tempers. I may get a scold when I get home. Called for a moment at Mrs. Trants, to take Chrysostom. Interrupted the finale of their dinner, & was importunated to stay. Dominick & the Grand Duchess Helena![7] He is growing very forward; & gliding into a taste which is most unmanly & ungentlemanly—that of exciting confusion of countenance, in order to enjoy it. There was an impertinence in his manner today, which was quite intolerable,—& which my want of presence of mind made me suffer from, more than I shd. have otherwise done. It is provoking, that such a fool as Dominick, should have made me feel confused even for one moment: want of presence of mind is my comet “which from its horrid hair, shakes” (& has shaken) several annoyances.[8]
Found Mrs. Griffith & Charlotte Peyton,[9] among the arrivals—and only half past six—& tea only just gone in—& everybody in good humour. My hair was wet, & Mrs. G. pigtailed it with my pocket handkerchief. Very fine effect, I have no doubt!
Told Arabel about the Grand Duchess & D T,—& made her laugh until there was a bedquake.
1. Subsequently given to E.B.B., it appeared as Lot 717 in Browning Collections; (Sancti Patris Nostri Gregorii … Nazianzeni … Opera Omnia, Quœ Extant … Vol. I, Parisiis, 1778.)
2. Fortunatus possessed an inexhaustible purse and a wishing cap; both he and his sons were eventually ruined by these magic gifts (RE).
3. Τούτοις ὲγὼ σύνειμι: “With these [thoughts] I am occupied.” A marginal note by E.B.B. in WG, p. 30, records: “I read from this place with Mr. Boyd. Sept. 19th. 1831.” and indicates that the reading continued to the foot of p. 32 (112 lines). Another note in WG, at the commencement of the “Apologeticus,” records this as being “a very fine passage.”
4. John Milton, Paradise Regained. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is added Samson Agonistes (London, 1671).
5. Milo, an athlete of Crotona, who is said to have eaten the whole of a four-year-old heifer (RE).
6. The entry of 21 September makes it clear that these were A Letter to His Grace the Archbishop of York, on the Present Corrupt State of the Church of England (Beverley, 1831) and The Tombs of the Prophets, a Lay Sermon on the Corruption of the Church of Christ (Beverley, 1831), by Robert Mackenzie Beverley (1798–1868).
7. The Grand Duchess Helena (1807–73), daughter of Prince Paul of Württemberg and sister-in-law of Czar Nicholas I of Russia, had been staying with a numerous suite at Cheltenham. The Gloucester Journal, 3 September 1831, recorded that she had made an excursion to Malvern Wells and Little Malvern of 29 August. Unfortunately, we do not know the no doubt scurrilous story that caused so much mirth when relayed to Arabel later in the day.
8. John Milton, Paradise Lost (London, 1667), Bk. II, lines 706–711.
9. Mrs. Griffith’s granddaughter, Charlotte Lea Peyton (1813–1842), the eldest of the nine Peyton children.
