SD884. William Henry Hyett to Samuel Moulton-Barrett (brother)
Published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 4, 335 (in part).
Painswick
March 4. 1838
My dear Sir
I have to thank you for a very kind letter informing me of the death of my old friend, your Uncle– Before yours arrived your Father had been kind enough to communicate to me the same intelligence—which not having heard of his illness—were wholey unexpected by me– The life of a Relative, for whom I assure you I did entertain a very sincere esteem at all times , has given me much– Had it been so ordered few things wd have given me more pleasure than to have seen him again—and could I in any way have done it to have contributed in any way to his comfort and happiness not only for his own sake but for that of my late sister also taken when so [illegible word] an attachment existed– It gratifies me to learn that I was so kindly thought of by him at such a time—and especially of the manner in which he was so considerate as to testify his family feelings– I mean with regard to the Portrait– Indeed I had been meditating, knowing there were two Portraits in existence, the most proper time and mode of asking the gift of one of them– They are both by Pickersgill—one of them I sent over to Jamaica—it had belonged to me—shortly after my sisters death—not being able to obtain from Pickersgill the other which was then, not being finished, in his keeping– My poor friend had been kind enough to offer me the choice– I should much prefer the more recent one which was taken just before she sailed for Jamaica– I cannot describe it—only having seen it in an unfinished state but both Mrs Hyett and myself thought the latter picture gave a much more faithful representation than the former– The Portrait which I would rather not have however, is in a white satin dress with one hand on the necklace– Mrs Hyett begs me to express her grateful sense of your kind intention of sending her the desk and rings, which belonged to one she very sincerely loved—and whose memory is very dear to her–
I hope to be in London tomorrow & to see Mr Dundas in a day or two—when I shall have much satisfaction in communicating to him all your kind leter [sic] contains as to the remembrance which his old friend expressed of him so shortly before his death– <I kno>w that it will afford him a pleasing [illegible word] to know that he was not forgotten by the friend whom he had known and [illegible word] for so many years– As soon as the death of my poor brother in Law was announced in the Newspapers Mr Dundas wrote to me to inquire any particulars which I could supply—expressing a very anxious hope that he should hear that his friend had continued to the last to entertain for him the same feelings of regard which in former years he had known him to possess[.]
Your kind & thoughtful message therefore must be a source of much satisfaction to him–
I am my dear Sir
Your very truly obliged
W. H. Hyett
P.S. Please to address the Portrait to the care of George Basevi Esqr 17. Saville Row London–
Address, on integral page: S. M. Barrett Esqr / Cinnamon Hill / St James’s / Jamaica.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Eton College Library.
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