Sunday Sept. 4th.
Went to Church,—& neither Arabel nor I particularly well. Mr. Deane’s sermon was issimo, but not benissimo. Mrs. Griffith invited us, & me especially, to meet Mr. Corry[1] tomorrow evening, at the Bartons. Refused!— Mrs. Cliffe gave me the seat of her footman (thank her) behind her carriage: & she & Eliza dined here. An exposè of Miss Wall’s letter. Most abusive insolent & unfeminine. I am glad I never knew her intimately.
Found Mrs. Boyd Miss Gibbons & Miss Bordman at the chapel. Mrs. B came an [sic] avant to beg me not to invite any of them to the house. Out of some hesitation, I extracted or think I extracted that Mr. Boyd was afraid lest any superabundant attention shd. be shown by me to Miss Gibbons. Before we parted, I said to Mrs. Boyd,—“Tell Mr. Boyd that I am surprised at his being so vindictive”. Perhaps he may be surprised at my being so impudent. His precaution arose from a feeling which is consistent enough with human nature; but not consistent with his nature. And yet, he is mint sauce after all, as I told him once.
I have just heard that poor Minny’s father is removed from the reach of her affection & anxiety. May God support her! I have not seen her yet.
I have been down to see dear Minny. She is lying on the bed, crying bitterly. Oh! our very grief shd. console us for the loss of those for whom we grieve; seeing that while we feel its acuteness we may remember “such, they can feel no more”. And yet how hard, how impossible, to remember or to reason when the heart is breaking!--
1. James Corry (1772–1848) of Cheltenham, a close friend of Thomas Moore since childhood.
