1845 - 1860
This first series were written
mainly from or to John Phillip Green during his time in London when he was
studying for his law degree and later
after been called to the Bar when
trying to establish himself in the legal profession.
Words I cannot
fathom, are notated thus [...] words I
am not sure I have read correctly word -
most of the latter are place and person names.
JRL : John Rylands Library [the second
reference is the one given in the
original Jamison Archive] HMA : Hayle
Mill Archive
Knutsford
June 10th 1845
Dearest Emily
The event we for some time anticipated is now a
reality – God’s mercy has taken your beloved Grandfather* to a holy rest. After
a quiet sleep till about three o’clock this morning he awoke with a feeling of
sickness which did not long continue but left him quite labouring for
breath. During the day he had some
quiet intervals, but the distressful breathing soon returned, and this
afternoon about five o’clock nature’s struggle was over. Most excellent I believe has been his
character and life in all the essential points.
His end has been full of calm serenity and of a strong convincing trust
in the Heavenly father. We grieve that his light shines no longer among us
except by the power of his example. I would we may be like him and be enabled
to look forward with his confidence to the future. Your strong affection we know, and with a
mutual sympathy we […] you and you in us
we look for comfort from them who
[…] all for the best. May God bless you dear Emily and us and have us in his keeping
Yours very
affectionately
Henry Green
I have got to
the end of the note without adding, that we wish you to give our kind regards
to Miss Martineau and say we shall be obliged if she will allow you to come
home on Thursday morning by the omnibus from the Royal Hotel. It leaves I
believe at ½ past 7 or 8 in the morning but as I have not the means of
ascertaining I must trust to Miss M’s indulgence to make the inquiry for you
during tomorrow.
*[John Brandreth]
Sunday 23 February 1846
Extract from a letter
written by Elizabeth Gaskell to Miss Barbara Ferguson whilst staying with the
Greens at Knutsford :
“Emily Green asked so nicely
after you. She is so pretty in an
evening having quite a brilliant colour; and both she Annie & Ellen are so
beautifully dressed – they three seem all very nice, but Isabella is a little
abomination as I can tell you when I see you. Here Emily is charming in temper manners & household ways
but very dull over her lessons Susan says”. [probably Susan daughter of Peter
Holland who married Dr Deane a widower with three children in 1844]
[Further
letters of Mrs Gaskell edited by
John Chapple & Alan Shelston p.30]
Heathfield The
first of December
My
dear J P Green
Is your cold going away now. I wish Mamma was going to have gas in the
drawing room. Papa was talking about having gas in the study but only talking
about it I do not think he will have it
indeed for I do not think Mamma likes it. Do write to me for you never have
written to me once within last year nor this and will you write to me the very
next time you write to anybody.
I am your affectionate
Isabella Green.
[This letter, undated, was obviously written as a much younger child
– the paper is ruled for learning to write and she has written between the
lines.]
JRL Ref Box
1/20 [Ref: JA/IG/1/c1847]
Harrington
Street North c1850
Dear Father
Since I have come to town I have been going over the
ground and am sorry to say that I seem to have forgotten very much of what I
have read I am afraid it will grieve you but I can truly say that I have given
my best powers and all available time during the past year to prepare for this
examination I am in such a state of
anxiety and agitation that I can
scarcely apply myself. Of course I have
talked with Tayler and Wills and they decidedly encourage me to go in and say
that they have no doubt I shall do but still I doubt myself I do not know
whether I am not even wrong in writing to you as I do not wish to give anyone
anxiety about what I ought to bear myself. I know one is always in anxiety
about examinations but still I was nothing at BA to what I am now. Do you think it would be disgraceful to draw
back now when one has come to town professing to the world to be ready. As to any hopes of the scholarship they have
quite vanished. I thought I knew Stephen
well by this. I read it in Manchester
then in London last year then very carefully at home last Spring and now again
in town and still I seem not to know it. What am I to do. Do write and ask my mother to write. Do not let this disturb you as it may be only
a momentary fit of despair but I could not help writing.
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
I have not yet paid the £10 as they generally
receive that 2 or 3 days before the day.
JRL Box 2/10 [Ref:
JA/JPG/1]
Harrington Street North Tuesday
c1850
Dear Mother
I have not very great deeds to tell of I am afraid I
was not at all lucky in the questions none of the things that I had worked up
more particularly were given. I think I did middling considering how unlucky
the questions were for me and hope to get a mention in the list. However I really cannot tell you what to
expect and you must be content as I am to wait till Friday or Saturday. I shall certainly be home on Saturday
whatever Emily’s plans are and I do not think of going down to Maidstone I
think it would be better to get our trip to Ireland over as soon as possible
and have no fancy for staying longer in town. I will see “people” in due course
and look as well as I can for the “picture” which you have so set your hearts
on. Emily says she will go down to
Maidstone and come home on Friday week.
With best love
Yours affect
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/10 [Ref: JA/JPG/2]
32
University Street
c1850
Dear Father
The list of candidates for honours was put out this
morning. The one for mathematics was:
Bouth (scholarship) Univ.Coll
Bridge “
“
Edger “
“
Bates Huddersfield
Malleson Univ.
Coll
Jefferson Wesley
Coll. Sheffield
J R Goulty Univ.Coll
In classics
A Wills
(scholarship) Univ.Coll
{Green Univ.Coll
{Jefferson Wesl.Coll
Sheff
Bates Huddersfield
Durant Univ.Coll
Goalty Univ.Coll
I am glad there is a scholarship given. None was given the last two years and it is
better even for the others that some one should be good enough to get it. Mr
Wills gave a dinner at a hotel in the Adelphi to a circle of A Wills
acquaintance. It was a very grand spread. There were 11 of us and we made
ourselves very merry I assure you. Wills
went home on Saturday evening. It has been a very wet day today but my mother
& aunt have been out this morning. I think I may as well read for the
Flaherty but if Wills goes in I do not think there is any chance of getting it
but it will be worth while having some object during this next 2 months. It takes place in January. J. Thornely is here now, he is reading with a
Mr Richmond a conveyancer in Chancery Lane and likes him very much. He is also
eating his terms at the Middle Temple.
He was very much amused the first time of dining there at the curious
customs. The benchers have a table to
themselves at the higher end of the room and have a much better dinner than the
students. When they come in they march
up the room and all the students have to rise and bow to them. They all have to dine in gowns and dine in
messes of four. I am just beginning
Macaulay but do not know whether to set to it now or wait till after Christmas.
I rather think the latter as I intend to read Arnold’s History of Rome before
long. I and Aunt Long are going to
Jullien’s concert tonight. They are his
usual annual series at Drury Lane and are always very successful.
I do not know
exactly when I shall come back but this will be rather regulated by my mother
and sisters’ proceedings.
With best love to all
Believe me
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
My mother tells Mr Worthington was surprised at
Bishop & Dandy not passing in the first division.
I was also given what he had told me about them.
Somerset House
Monday morning 10 o’clock
Final state of the poll
Green (John Philip)
scholarship
Scott Caleb
MacMahon no where
God Save the Green and Nassan
William Senior the Examiner
John Philip Green
PS P.O. order
all safe
JRL Box 2/10 [Ref: JA/JPG/3]
4
Inner Temple Lanes Jan 31st 1852
Dear Mother
I received your note this morning and am very sorry
you have felt so disappointed in not hearing from me and if you really think
that is from any want of affection in me I do not see how any assurance of mine
can alter your opinion. I have not
formed any such plan of writing once a fortnight but had determined not to
write regularly on any fixed day. I have I confess put off writing this time
longer than I ought to have done or wished to do and having been very busy is I
admit again no excuse for neglecting such an easy and pleasant duty as writing
to one’s dearest friends. For the future
I will try and get out of the wooden and mechanical style of which you speak
and I hope you do not really hold such a bad opinion of me as you confess in
your letter. I received the half
handkerchief with a note from Emily and like it very much. I think it is the
sort that suit best and wear best. I find white handkerchiefs have come into
fashion again for evening dress so I suppose I must get some if I am invited to
any dance which at present does not lie in prospect. It’s rather a bore to wear white
handkerchiefs but suppose one will have to do as others do. There was I am nearly sure no portfolio with
the paint I took to Grundy I remember having to be careful in taking hold of
the edges because of the puckers of the print.
It was I think proposed at first to send it in a portfolio but it was
not carried out. I have not heard anything more definitely about the University
Hall plan the council do not seem to be settled as to the course to be pursued
and there seems to be a little jealousy on the part of the council of the college
of having any system of private tutoring in the hall. At any rate I shall not go there immediately
not till next session if I go then.
Indeed I should not wish it as to come in while the students are in the
midst of their course would need so much reading up for it that I do not think
the consideration they offer would be adequate to the time which a proper
performance of the proposed duties of the office would require. I have not been able to see Mr Hutton while
he was in London and so have not heard anything definite from him about it so
you may consider that for the present the plan is uncertain. I am going on very well at Mr Aspland’s and
see a good deal of business going on. He
is very kind indeed in letting me see what he is doing and asks me to come into
his room whenever he has anything that will be useful or instructive for
me. Indeed I do not know how I can in
any way return his kindness as his business is of a kind that I cannot be of
any assistance to him. I suppose Mrs Aspland is in Knutsford now. I am glad to hear that Mrs Henry Long is
better. I delivered Miss Halls note to
Mr Hall’s chambers. He was not in at the
time but next day I had an invitation to dine with him on the following Sunday. He lives out at Bayswater just to the north
of Kensington Gardens. He has a very
good house and seems altogether very well to do in the world. Mrs Hall who was as I dare say you know a
Miss Duval a niece of the great conveyancer of that name is a very kind and
pleasant lady but I did not altogether like her tone rather too dashing and
ambitious but good humoured and pleasant withal. They have 5 or 6 children their eldest boy
perhaps ten or twelve. Mr Hall is rather a silent man but was very kind and
most of those I have heard speak of him seem to like him very much. I should
think he had not read much besides law but this seems at present to be the
great evil of the legal profession that there is such a mass of accumulated law
pressing on the panting student that he must eschew almost everything like
literary pursuits and apply himself to the great tasks of mastering the
same. Of course a lawyer in large
practice like Mr Hall has not much time for anything beyond his professional
pursuits and what he has he wishes no doubt to give to his family and friends.
I found him nevertheless very friendly.
He goes a tour almost every year and so we had some conversation about
the continent. I have not seen anyone
else that I remember but I am really so busy that I cannot go out and make
calls. Mr Aspland will be going to Liverpool assizes soon and during his
absence I shall be able to pay some visits with greater conscience than at
present. I hope you will believe me
sorry for having delayed writing so long.
The term is now over so I do not dine any longer at the Middle Temple
Hall. Easter term will not begin till the 15th of April so till that
time there is an intermission in legal feastings. I hope you are all well I have not seen Aunt
Mardon very lately.
With best love to all. Believe me
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
P.S. Direct my letters in future to Mrs Aspland 4
Inner Temple Lane as I do not always get them at my lodgings before I go out in
the morning.
JRL Box 2/11 [ Ref: JA/JPG/4]
4
Inner Temple Lanes Feb 10th
1852
Dear Emily
I received your note this morning and certainly I
have not to complain that you leave me unnoticed as I have received three notes
from home since I wrote last. I am very
sorry to hear of your trouble in the school and of the conduct of Bagshot and
Philips. I hope my father is not much distressed about it. Do you think the success of Lieut. O’Connor
had anything to do with their formation such a strange idea of a career in
life. It is quite unaccountable how they
shall have wished to enlist of all things in the world unless they thought that
after a time their father’s would buy them commissions – the life of a soldier
of the line must I should think even to the most intransigent imagination or
the greatest inexperienced be anything but a pleasant prospect. I am glad to hear of your invitation to the
Holts and you will no doubt enjoy your visit to such kind friends very
much. I have been very quiet lately but
next week I have two dances in prospect the first at the Martineau’s of Brixton
and the other at Mrs Fearn’s at Hampstead who was so kind as to remember me and
discover my address tho’ I had not called on her since my return to
London. Indeed tho’ I have been 4 times
to dances there I never yet called at the house and hardly know my way to it.
Mrs Fearn however does not require young men in chambers or at college to make
away their time by visits of ceremony which is very sensible. On Sunday morning I went with Wills and his
brother to Hampstead Chapel where we heard Dr Sadler. The chapel itself is a
very impretending [sic] place and so retired from the road that it would not be
easy to spy out without a guide. Dr Sadler gave us a very good sermon on
prayer. He has a great deal of earnestness and deep pious thought. He referred to the mechanical and contracted
notion of prayer as a sort of clamorous crying out for benefits and assistance
which is often entertained by all classes of Christians and thought that the
best exemplification of what it was was to be found in the works of Pascal
Fenclon and other pious men.
Yesterday evening I called on Wm Roscoe I
met him some days ago in the street and he asked me to come and see him. Miss Clarke and Emily Roscoe were staying
with him and Mrs Redlish! (is that the name) and her daughter were there so
there was quite a large circle and it looked quite like a happy home. Mrs William Roscoe I think you have seen at
Knutsford she seems a pleasant lady enough and very fond of her husband who
rubbed his hands and laughed as merrily as ever. After coming from Hampstead Wills and I went
to the Temple Church where we heard some fine music I must say I think the
music and the Temple is rather too like what one hears in the concert
room. I like good chanting and choruses
but I have a little objection to florid solos and shakes which only tickle the
ears of the congregation and do not have any fitting influence on them.
I am going on very pleasantly at Mr Aspland’s. I
come down to chambers about 10½ and go home about 5. I do hope you will take this note as an instalment
I will write again in a day or two. I
have been so busy today that I could hardly find time
With love to all
Believe me
Yours affectionately
J P Green
JRL Box 2/11 [Ref: JA/JPG/5]
Albert Street Febr 28th 1852
Dear Father
I received the packet you sent by Mrs Aspland all
safely and when I use the [….] will duly consider the profound cogitations and
mental labour necessary to produce such a remarkable compound. I have not tried
it but the smell is at least promising and the look of it more agreeable than
such mixtures generally have. On Tuesday
I was at dinner at Mr Aspland’s and heard some Knutsford news from Mrs A and
was glad to hear the good account she gave of you all. Mr Aspland will go to Liverpool assizes I
believe about the middle of next month but do not know whether he will come to
Knutsford or not. On Monday he is going to Durham where he has a case or two at
the assizes but will not be away more than two or three days. He does not seem much to like travelling so far
but I think he will go. My mother asks
in her last letter whether I have followed out the plan I once had of getting
up early. I did so for some time at
first but the late cold weather quite put a stop to it. It is really so comfortless to get up to a
cold room in the early morning several hours before breakfast and so pleasant
to sit in the evening in a warmer one that I have not had virtue enough to keep
up to my plan but when it is a little warmer I intend to begin again with it. I
have now had more opportunity of judging if my own powers and fitness for the
legal profession than I had during the 8 months I was in Manchester tho’
perhaps even now I can scarcely say anything more definite than then. I find that I have somewhat less facility in
handling the facts of a case and seizing upon the exact point of a matter in
question than I had hoped to find myself possessed of. Of course I know that the almost instinctive
quickness with which a practised lawyer grasps the exact point in dispute or
pounces upon the concealed weakness of an adversary or marshals the evidence he
has so as most forcibly to support & bring out the proposition he wishes to
establish is in great measure owing to his long experience and the constant
training which this particular set of his faculties has undergone still I wish
I was rather “cuter” in these respects than I am afraid I am at present. I don’t think that mere perseverance and
steadiness tho’ also necessary qualities would altogether compensate for the
faculties I have mentioned. However
perhaps I ought not to look at this matter too despondingly when I think of the
little practice I have had in this way and I do not find I think when I discuss
matters with my equals that I am much behind them in these respects. Mr Aspland tho’ he is very kind might perhaps
encourage one a little more when one offers any remark and tho’ it is very well
to be impressed with a wholesome fear of talking wide of the mark yet this fear
sometimes restrains one from making a remark that might have something in
it. I have no doubt however that I am
gaining a good deal by what I see & hear in Mr Aspland’s chambers and that
an awakening to one’s deficiency will be a great step made. I hope you get the Examiner regularly on
Tuesday morning. Do you see the Times now. If you do I dare say you will not
care to have a weekly paper and I have plenty of opportunity of seeing some
paper or other here and do not much care about the Examiner. However if you do not see the Times I dare
say it will be worthwhile to continue taking the Examiner. The Times seems if anything can be gathered
from the somewhat ambiguous articles to be rather favourable at any rate not
strongly opposed to the new ministry which has so suddenly & unexpectedly
occupied the highest offices of the state.
I think the general feeling here seems to be an inclination to let the
new Ministers have a fair trial. But there seems some doubt whether they will
be able to consolidate their power and get into working order on account of
their want of strength in the House of Commons.
I think there are better chances of an efficient and prudent reform of
the law under the guidance of such a lawyer as Sugden than with Lord Truro
Sugden is not I believe at all disinclined to reform and his profound learning
and great experience must give to his suggestions & measures great value.
However I am afraid that such a matter needs more quiet consideration and
deliberation than the present ministers will be able to give to it and that the
attacks of their numerous enemies and the difficulties of their position will
give them plenty to do. I wish however
they would settle the law once and for all for some time to come. I can wait
for the things I asked for till they are ready but I rather want the oil can
but do not send it separately as it is not of much consequence. I hope Emily
has enjoyed her visits and that they have done her good. Mrs Aspland thought she was looking rather
pale. Give my best love to all.
Believe me
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/11 [Ref: JA/JPG/6]
London March 11th 1852
Dear Mother
You will I dare say have received the scrawl I sent
acknowledging the receipt of the second halves of the notes – at the time I
write this I have not received the box which you were about to send when you
wrote your last note so that I cannot acknowledge it also. Your previous letter was very pleasant and I
was glad to hear
that R
Darbishire thought well of me tho’ I think one must apply rather a stricter
standard of what will be required of one than he has done. However it is
gratifying to find that his opinion was favourable. Mr A’s opinion I have never
heard except what came thru’ Mrs A and which does not I think amount to very
much tho’ satisfactory as far as it
goes. However we shall see soon what progress I make in the points where I feel
myself now deficient – Mr James Thornely came to town yesterday to be ready for
his marriage which takes place on Saturday. John has to perform certain
functions on the occasion & among other things has been seeing after some
bouquets for the bridesmaids. He seems a
little afraid on account of his inexperience in the ceremonies but I have no
doubt he will be through very successfully. The marriage will take place at
Little Portland Str Chapel. Alfred is in
town but I have not seen him. His
residence at Hastings has given him a good deal more strength and John speaks
very hopefully about him. He seems to
have had a very pleasant circle of friends there & to have passed his time
in very agreeable and cheerful occupations.
At a party lately I met our old friend J H
Rathbone* tho’ he was so changed that
I certainly should not have known him and he did not remember me I had not much
conversation with him. He asked after you at Knutsford. He seems quite as odd a fish as ever but is a
favourite with people here. Vernon
Darbishire and he were great friends when Vernon was in London. Last Sunday I spent at Brixton with the
Martineaus and had a pleasant walk in the country with a bright warm sun &
blue sky over our head instead of the misty and impervious haze which always
shrouds a “town” sky from sight. We are
not troubled with time on our hands at chambers as far as Mr A goes business is
by no means in a dull way. I have not
been to any parties since the Fearns so have nothing to tell you about in that
line. Shakespeare’s King John is being played now at the Princess’ and they say
that it is very splendidly got up and I think I shall go some day and see it. I saw Aunt Powell** this morning who is going
today to Maidstone with one or two of the younger ones. I do not think she is
looking very well at present tho’ she does not seem to complain of
anything. Aunt Mardon** I saw about 10
days ago and thought she was looking very well.
I hope you will write soon tho’ I must say I have not any reason to
complain of you in this way nor to remind you that I should like to hear.
Give
my best love to all.
You
have not said much about Annie & Ellen & Isabella lately how are they all
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
[*John Rathbone was a pupil at the school
**Emily Powell (nee Green) Ann Mardon (nee Green)
two of Henry’s sisters]
JRL Box 2/11 [Ref: JA/JPG/7]
London
March 16th 1852
Dear Father
I received the box safely and shall no doubt duly
relish its contents I shall now be very plentifully stocked in the way of
preserves. I think it ought to have been
sent by a luggage train as the carriage was 8/4
which seems a very large price for the carriage of one box so we must
remember another time. I am very sorry
to hear of your indisposition and hope you are better by this time. My mother’s last note did not give a very
good account of you. I think if I do go
to Maidstone at all it will be next week or the week after and not at Easter as
I may as well take the opportunity of Mr Aspland’s absence next week and then
stay in town during Easter. We have not
been so busy at chambers just lately and hitherto while I have been with Mr A
there has been a very equable & uniform flow of work yet it seems there are
great variations in this respect. I am
reading Byles [John] on Bills of Exchange and
Promissory Notes when I am not otherwise engaged and find it not uninteresting
department of law tho’ one which I previously knew very little about. It seems
a most important subject and very many of the questions arising out of
commercial transactions turn on points in the law concerning bills. Serjeant Byles the author of the work is in
very large practice and Mr Aspland has been with him as junior in several cases
since I have been with him. You may
perhaps remember that he was a candidate for Aylesbury on the Protections
interest and he wrote a work Sophisms of Free Trade which passed through a good
many editions. He is a member of the
Essex Street congregation which is partly the reason I have told you so much
about him as it is rather remarkable that he should have come out so strong a
Protectionist. Mr Justice Crompton seems
to have found the bench rather a dangerous direction. On some occasion he had
to wear silk stockings and having been accustomed perhaps to warm worsted ones
& stout trousers he has been laid low with an attack of bronchitis or
influenza and been quite incapacitated from performing his duties. Some time ago my mother asked what was meant
by the statement that he had not taken silk – it is not very usual for junior
barristers (as all are who are not queen’s counsel and therefore have the right
to wear a silk gown) to be made Judges all at once Mr Crompton always remained
a Junior and so had never taken silk when he was called to be a Justice. I have read some of the book my mother sent
accompanied with such strong recommendations and tho’ on so short and partial
an acquaintance I can hardly expect to speak about it so enthusiastically as
she has done yet I must say it looks very promising. The sudden and somewhat unaccountable
explosion against lawyers and the legal profession in general which comes up at
the very threshold of the work makes one think that remarks so opposed to his
usual good sense were prompted by having been personally affected by legal
proceedings. Perhaps having lost an estate.
But I have no doubt the book will be very companionable in my solitude
and I will try duly to appreciate a book my mother admires so much. James Thornely was married on Saturday and I
believe it went off very successfully but I have not heard any
particulars. John Thornely has been down
at Hastings till yesterday so that I have not been able to see him or hear
anything about it. What are you all
thinking about the new ministers not very much I dare say as in England it is
our happiness to live under such a settled system of government and such fixed
traditions that a change in the persons of the executive is seldom if any great
importance or at any rate not like it is in some other countries. I think the present Government are to say the
least in a somewhat unstraight [sic] forward and anomalous position with regard
to the one question which has given them consistency & unity as a party but
any rate they are likely to carry on the Government as satisfactorily as the
late ministers. I think the speech of
Lord John at the meeting at his own house was very mean as if he really thinks
the proposals he has made for parliamentary reform might with advantage be
extended why did he not do it before he should not bid for support in
opposition by offering to alter measures he had solemnly & deliberately
brought forward as the best he could devise.
The same observation may be made on his promise to widen the basis of
the administration. I think however on
the whole we shall get on pretty comfortably if the opposition will allow the
ministers quietly to drop the subject of Protection. I hope the next account I have of you will be
better than the last.
Give my love to all & Believe me
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/11 [Ref: JA/JPG/8]
Albert
Street March 22nd[1852]
Dear Mother
I was very glad to receive Emily’s note this
morning. I think we must have a little talk together as companions in distress
tho’ I do not pretend to such claims to sympathy as you have and have not been
nearly so severely visited as you seem to have been. I have no doubt that I shall be well in a day
or two with a little care. I do feel rather good for nothing today but not
quite so bad as not to be able to write a letter tho’ I cannot promise that it
will be a very amusing one. I do not know whether I told you in my last letter
that I had been to the Lyceum theatre. Mr Ashton Yates invited me to go with
some of them. I dined at his house first.
Mrs Ashton Yates seemed very much indisposed and altogether not in a
very happy way. The party was Miss
Sophia Yates & Miss Tring (I think) a young lady who is now staying with
them Mr Ashton Bostock and myself. Miss Sophia Yates is so agreeable &
clever I was particularly struck with her clear exact way of expressing her
thoughts and her nice pronunciation. It is I think what one always remarks in
people who are clever to begin with and have mixed much in good society. The piece we saw was very amusing tho rather
bad in morals &c the great object was to show how a clever gentlemanly
rogue always managed to get himself out of difficulties by means of all sorts
of tricks. And at last when his
creditors had quite got him into a corner and all hope for him seemed to be
gone he escaped by a mere piece of good fortune and the piece closed with a
speech warning others of the danger and folly of such courses and a resolution
on his own part to change his mode of life.
Afterwards there was an extravaganza
which was less extravagant & somewhat more amusing than such things
generally are. I had thought of going to
Maidstone this week or the next but Aunt Powell & several of her children
are there at present and so perhaps it might not be very convenient to have so
many there all at once. It will I think
be better to wait. I do not think that
to use Mr Monk’s oil will prevent my
becoming bald if such is to be my lot. It seems that most lawyers become so
more or less. W. Roscoe is becoming very bald and looks very ill I think. Of course I mean barrister Roscoe as the
other Wm Roscoe is a very tough knotty subject and one would not
suspect him of injuring himself with any amount of work. You seem to have been much pleased with
Niebuhr and his letter writing and other talents. I was once struck with some
of his letters which I read while I was in Germany. He must have been a thoroughly genial man in
all respects and a most valuable friend.
I dare say you will observe he was once tutor to the present King of
Prussia and in a letter he expressed himself in very high terms of approbation
of his character and disposition. It is
remarkable that Frederick William while he was crown prince excited on all
sides such high expectations and should have failed so since he became king in
realizing the hopes which were formed of him. Did not Niebuhr entrust the
choosing of a wife to a lady who had refused him as her husband as a mark of the
confidence & respect he had for her.
I have heard a curious story of the brothers Grimm who are now
professors in Berlin. The elder one said
to the younger that one of them must marry that the house was in frightful
disorder & that they were cheated on all sides but that he really could not
do it as he was in the middle of his great German Grammar. On this consideration the younger brother
consented to look for some one to take care of the household and be his wife.
Niebuhr seems to have loved his wife very dearly tho he gained her in such an
unusual way. That the work was translated by Miss Winkworth does not seem to be
a secret at all here to anyone who knows her. I am still reading the
“Companions” tho many of his sayings are very true & wise yet I think
whenever he comes to propose any practical there is something wanting and it is
just good working plans of improvement that we want now and not mere
general remarks. I hope to hear soon
that you are much better and as for myself you need not have any anxiety.
Best love
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/11 [Ref: JA/JPG/9]
London April 12th 1852
Dear Mother
I am sorry you should have expected a letter from me
on Sunday morning and been disappointed and that you do not get better
faster. I hope the change of room will
be pleasant & do you good and still more the change to Grandmamma’s quiet
house. Emily has been very good in
sending me information about you so often and I hope the cause of her frequent
writing will soon have passed away. I
have written to Grandmamma at Hayle Mill to thank her for her invitation and to
say that I shall be glad to come some time hence but not just at present. I
should have liked so much to come over and see you all and you particularly but
I think it will be on the whole better to put if off till the summer and if
there is any meeting it would I think be better for some of you to come to town
than for me to make the journey. My
lodgings would accommodate two and I could get a bed out somewhere else.
However you will know and be able to decide this better than I.
On Good Friday I went with Tayler and J Roscoe an excursion towards Windsor. We went by railway to Staines which was such
a quiet prim Quaker looking village with hardly anything stirring except a few
cats & dogs (tho to be sure at that time of the day) all the human beings
in the place might be in church or meeting.
We walked along tho rather a dull country to a place about 3 miles
distant from Windsor whose commanding tower and battlements we saw in the
distance and there took a boat & had a row but our boat was such a tub that
we did not make much progress and after seeing some Etonians shoot past in
boats so light that two men could easily lift them out of the water we rowed
back and gave up the job with tired arms and blistered hands. We saw Runnymede and Magna Charter island
which is a spot I have often wished to visit but beyond the historical
association connected with the place it has nothing whatever remarkable about
it being just a wide meadow and spot of ground dotted with trees. The crowds of cockneys on the railway making
their excursions to Windsor quite blocked up the stations and we almost
despaired of a seat when we arrived at the station in London in the
morning. We had dinner at Mrs Roscoe’s
at Richmond and reached London at 10 in the evening. Mrs Roscoe asked after you and my
father. Tho I have often heard of her I
did not feel to know her at all and do not remember having seen her tho I think
I must have done at sometime or other.
On Thursday evening I had tea at Mr Asplands Mr and Mrs Madge were there and it was rather
a pleasant evening. Mr Madge seems to
have known Wordsworth very well and was telling several things about him. I was at Essex Street last Sunday morning and
heard him in a different capacity. In
the evening I went to St George’s Cathedral in Southwark and certainly there
was a contrast there to the plain chapel
the refined wealthy congregation and cultrated [sharp] intellectual preaching
of Essex Street. At St George’s the
building & service was of course anything but plain and we had a sermon
from some wild son of the church in a beard who had passed his life in
converting the Indians and among the suffering poverty stricken Irish. The bishop was there and all his clergy and
looked very splendid in mitre vestments and crosier. It was a grand day with them and so there was
more than the usual no of candles which made quite a flare up as one might
say. I hope this will find you in better
health and I must here close as Mr A is calling me.
Best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 2/11 [Ref:
JA/JPG/10]
London April 26th 1852
Dear Mother
I suppose you have been enjoying some rest and quiet
at The Heath during the last week and I hope you feel much better for it. The last accounts you sent were better and I
hope soon to have a note from yourself.
Easter term is now on and I have begun again to dine in the Hall but the
only difference or variation is that this term we have rhubarb instead of apple
tart and that we dine by day light. In
other respects the process of becoming a member of that Honourable &
Learned Society is unchanged. Sometimes one meets rather pleasant men there but
several of the incipient purists are anything but respectable. We generally make up a mess among ourselves
so that we are not dependent on chance companions. Last Sunday week I went to call on Mrs John
Green* and saw them all. They live in a
pleasant house tho’ a long way out if one has to go to it. This I daresay they find very pleasant. The younger boy seems a very bright cheerful
lad. Samuel is at school at Chatham but
all the others are at home. My
grandfather is staying there a few days at present. I am going to a party on Wednesday next at
the Ashton Yates and as it begins at 9½ and I received an invitation a week ago
I presume it will be rather a grand one. I do not know that I enjoy their large
parties very much as I do not know many of the people & they do not
introduce one much indeed that seems to be done very little at London
parties. What a struggle is going on for
the possession of Mdlle Wagner & her voice.
Everyone here seems quite interested in it. When I passed thro’ Hamburg I heard her sing
and in a half empty theatre but I suppose since then her fame has spread fast
& far. She has a wonderful voice and
altogether a pleasing and natural manner but has no advantages of either face
or figure. I have no doubt the legal
proceeding in respect to her singing in London will create a great enthusiasm
as with the great bulk of an audience in England it is rather the notoriety of
a singer than the real musical enjoyment they desire that attracts them For next Friday evening Mr Thornely has procured
me an entrance into the speakers gallery at the House of Commons. The budget will be discussed and I have no
doubt some interesting sparring will go on. I am having rather a gay week you
see but I certainly have not the same confession to make as to the last few
weeks. I have hardly been out anywhere
for the last month. I am going on pleasantly at chambers and am feeling more at
home in business than at first. I think
altogether I have no need to feel discouraged at present but it is not easy
work by any means. Today is delightfully
warm but how we want rain.
With best to all
Believe me
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/11 [Ref: JA/JPG/11]
*[Henry’s sister-in-law]
London May 10th 1852
Dear Mother
I hope you did not think I had forgotten the
two letters I received from you and my father last week but one because I did
not acknowledge them in my letter when I sat down to write my letter I intended
to acknowledge them and I was surprised to hear that I did not do so. As to the
University Hall affair I daresay I shall hear something more tonight as I am
going to Richard Hattons and I will ask him how it stands. But I have not hitherto heard anything more
definite about it. The letter you
enclosed and which has wandered about so much was from Pettigrew who wrote to
ask me to go and see the grand spectacle of the Review in Paris and the
presentation of eagles to the troops by the President of the Republic and as
some think it will be the inauguration of the Empire in name and form as it
already in fact and reality exists. The
affair was to come off today and it was expected to be one of the grandest sights of modern times of course even
if I had not been prevented on other grounds from going it would be impossible
to reach Paris today in time and I must say I am glad of such a very strong
reason for not accepting such a tempting – although there are others perhaps
quite as strong Pettigrew has passed the winter in Spain and enjoyed it very
much indeed but he does not say much
about it as his note is nothing more than an invitation to come over and stay a
few days with him at his lodgings. He is
coming to London before long and I then shall no doubt see him.
I am glad to hear that you are making progress so
nicely and that Grandmamma is rather better. As to the LLB degree I shall not
go in this time at any rate. It
is coming on soon Taylor Greenhow and M Martineau are going in but I think I
shall wait till a more favourable time.
Last week the graduates were active in their movement for a new charter
for the University of London. On Tuesday
evening there was a meeting to hear what the committee have been doing during
the past year and to re-elect them to manage our cause during the coming
year. We have brighter prospects at
present of obtaining our wishes than ever before. What we want is that the Graduates should be
incorporated in the University and be able to exercise some influence and be
recognised as exercising it in the management of its affairs. At present the University is only a board of
senators appointed by the Queen who regulate examinations and confer
degrees. The meeting went off very well
on Wednesday there was an assemblage at Somerset House to witness the
conferring of degrees on candidates during the past year. This was done by the Chancellor the Earl of
Burlington but it was not at all well managed the room was much too small and a
great many could not see at all. All together it was a very poor affair and not
calculated to give any stranger any idea of the dignity or influence of the
Institution. However these smaller
matters will I hope soon be rectified and we shall see things done in a more
becoming manner. Even this was much
better than when I took my degree. Then
all that took place was that we rung a bell and were ushered into a small room
and there received a parchment certificate from the under secretary which was
all the blessing we got from our alma mater. After the affair at Somerset House many of
the graduates dined together and there was speechifying of rather a higher
class I must say than many after dinner speeches I have heard. Last Sunday I was at Essex Street to hear Mr
Tayler preach the sermons for the domestic missions in London and I think I
scarcely ever heard a better sermon. It was a contrast of the advantages and
disadvantages of modern civilization of the peculiar evils of this age and
state of society and a consideration of the means by which benevolence can most
effectively act on the vast amount of brutality and savagery heaped together in
our large towns. However delightful the cultivation of mind and refinement of
manners which in some classes of society is found in a higher degree now than
perhaps ever before yet modern civilization has amid all its grandeur and
triumphs a very dark side and many evils and stains peculiar to itself and so
he urged the cause of the missions which have been established in several of
our large towns by men who have been awakened to the efforts and duties which
the assistance of an ignorant and brutalized class of fellow creatures impose
and he considered that the missions were one among many other means of getting
at these classes and improving their sad and abject condition. I thing everyone must have liked it very much
indeed and the chapel was very full indeed. I noticed Mr Thos Ashton and his
bride who was as no doubt you know one of the Miss Gairs.
Yesterday afternoon I stayed with Wills who has
sprained his ankle and is confined to the house in some measure and had some
pleasant chat with him. Heath has been
in town and I was very glad to see him again.
He is articled with his father and is working at home at Warwick. I hope
you will go to Southport or somewhere and get stronger.
Will you ask my father or Emily to send off the
books as I should like to have them now unless you have heard of some means of
sending them very soon. I think all you
need send are Kenrick’s Greek and Kenrick’s Latin Exercises […] Latin Grammar &
Buttmann’s Gr Grammar Kenricks Gr Exercises are in 4 little vols and among my
books. Send the keys to both Greek & Latin Exercises as I shall have to
correct in parts no doubt at any rate to see that it is right
With best love to all
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 2/11 [Ref: JA/JPG/12]
Heathfield June 13th 1852
My dear John Philip
Emily has a cold & she is going to stay at
home. Miss Lucy Holland is gone to stay
with Mrs and Miss Worthington near Borrowdale.
We shall have two little kittens they will be just at the right age for
play when you come home their birthday is the 8th of June. Last Wednesday Papa went with the boys to
Pickmere to fish some of them fished and the others rowed we are going there in
the holidays when you come home. Mamma wrote to Mrs Swinburne to ask two of the
girls to come but they had made their plans for the summer and they could not
come. Yesterday was Brandreth’s birthday his presents were a leather satchel
from Aunt & Uncle a saw from Anne Brandreth and a wheelbarrow from Louisa and
Catherine he had been longing for a satchel as he thought one would make him
quite complete he took it to Mere Heyes* yesterday with some books in
it. There is a bark stack at Mere Heyes
thatched and fastened together round the edges which I imagine is for Brandreth
when he has Mere Heyes for Uncle keeps having fresh bark to use and that stays
unmolested. John Broadbent has been at Grove House for a day & a
night. The moss case bed is so full of
birds & they look very promising.
The rhododendrons are nearly in their prime. Meta Gaskell told Annie that Annie Austen
asked her whether she knew where your coat was made at for that it fitted so
beautifully that she would have her riding dress made there. Ellen is dining with Aunt Anna today. Anne Brandreth is going to Lytham early
tomorrow morning. Sometime these
holidays Jane Brandreth with Ralph & Libbie Fletcher are going to stay at
Grove House
Affectionately
Isabella Green
[*Whites 1860 Directory shows that all the land in Mere
was in the possession of Lanford Brookes except for 40 acres belonging to John
& Henry Long & 12 acres of Egertons]
[Written when Isabella was 11 years old – lines were
drawn on the sheet to enable her to write straight!] [This letter is torn along
the folds]
JRL Ref Box
1/21 [Ref:
JA/IG/2/1852]
Tabley Mere (near Mere
Heyes) by Lucy Holland
[There are no letters from John Phillip between May
1852 and January 1854 when he returned to London, when he was teaching in a
school and attending law lectures. From
extracts from letters written by Elizabeth Gaskell in September and December
(shown below) the first to her daughter Marianne and the second to Mary Green -
it seems likely that he returned to Cheshire and assisted his father at the
school.
Tuesday
morning 21 September 1852
“Saturday I dragged Meta out in the rain to
Miss Mitchell’s, when we heard that Father Newman was going to preach the next
day, so Selina, Stephen, J.P.Green and I went to hear him. J.P.G came back here to dinner, and staid
nearly all the afternoon….
[The
Letters of Mrs Gaskell edited by J.A.V.Chapple & Arthur Pollard: Letter 133 p 200]
c12 December
1852
“John Philip will be a great gain to you all;
only for his sake I hope his stay at Knutsford & in that occupation will be
but temporary”
[Further
letters of Mrs Gaskell edited by
John Chapple & Alan Shelston p.76]
1 Eton
villas Jan 21st 1854
Dear Mother
You may make yourself quite easy about me and my
health Dr Powell did not think much of my cold tho’ it was rather troublesome
and painful to have to talk much. I got some port wine from Mr Case and it has
really had a most beneficial effect on my throat and in two days I expect to be
quite well again. I dare say you wish to
hear something about my school experiences. I have a class of about 20 boys and
what I have to do with them is to teach Latin.
The time they take daily is from two to three hours. 2 hours each morning I am hearing them in
class and then to correct exercises &c takes nearly an hour a day. I have
hardly got enough into the work yet to tell you how I shall like it but
just at first I must say I do not altogether like it. The boys in my class are not very far
advanced and are rather a rough lot. But some of them seem nice boys and when I
get the others work in hand I hope we shall get on more comfortably. I suppose at first there is the difficulty
which I have had and that I ought to expect it so after a few weeks I shall be
better able to give an opinion. Mr Key and the other masters are very pleasant
and friendly and in all other respects my position is quite comfortable. I am
glad I shall have only one subject to teach as I shall not be occupied in any
way with the school except the hours I have mentioned. I have begun to attend law lectures and think
I shall enjoy that very much. There are
3 public lectures (3 a week) which I shall attend and 1 private lecture (3
times a week) and with these I shall have quite enough to do. I am very much pleased with my new lodgings
and expect indeed to be so comfortable here that I shall be almost spoiled for
any other London lodgings at least lodgings at anything like the price of
these. I am glad to hear my father is
safe home. Will you ask my father if he
will send me Robson’s Latin Exercises (the 2nd edition). If it will come by post for 6d
perhaps that will be the best way and send it soon. I do not want a new one sent and if he wants
his 2nd edition copy or has to use a new one I may as well get one
here but all I mean is if he does not need the copy he has been using I should
like to have it. I had the letters yesterday one from dream land the other from
the realm of every day and this morning again brought the one from the
dreamer. I think a Daniel at least would
be required to interpret her hapless vision. Good bye & love to all
Yours affect.
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/13]
London Jan 28th 1854
Dear Father
The book you sent for me arrived safely and I was
glad to have it so soon. All the class
had the second edition and this differs in some points from the edition I had
with me before. I feel to be getting on
better in the school now. At the
beginning of this week I felt the work very laborious and irksome and it seemed
as if there was no means of reducing to order the unruly elements I had to deal
with. I think the last master that had
the class I have did not manage very well in fact did not at all like the work
and let the class become very much disorganised. I have had better hopes the
last three days and I think there is a decided improvement. There are 23 in the class now and besides
these I have a class of 14 for one hour. I think I shall manage not to take up
any more time than the 3 hours. I do not
think that what Mr Case said about it being easy work & not necessarily
exhausting is quite carried out. But as
I say I hope everyday will be better in this respect.
I am of course going to the law lectures and like
some of them very well but they are not altogether what I expect. I am rather
disappointed at not being able to attend either the private class in
Jurisprudence or that on Constitutional History both the subjects which I
thought would be better fitted for this year’s attendance than any others. The readers in both these subjects have their
private classes in the morning so of course the school prevents me from going.
I have not called on any one except the Shaens since
I have come here. I have been so occupied first with settling in lodgings and
then with getting rid of my cold that I have had scarcely time to look about
me. Last night I had a call from James
Brooks who managed to get safe through the muddy dangers of the passage up to
my abode. Macculloch also did the same a few nights ago but found the case so
bad that he will almost be intimidated from a second attempt till drier
weather. Daylight and by this time
accurate knowledge of the ground carry me thro without any serious
inconvenience. James Brooks has just
passed his examination as an attorney and is being sworn in the Queen’s Bench
today in the Court of Chancery on Tuesday.
I have not seen Aunt Mardon yet but thought of going up to Islington
tomorrow. You must not any of you think
that because I have been talking in such a doleful strain about the school and
the mud and the lectures that I am anything but as jolly as can be expected
under the circumstances. I hope you will
be well suited in Mr Allen and that all will go on well with you. I have not been to Mr Case’s this time since
his boys came back but I fancy he has a good number of boys from the north now. I am sure it is a very nice place for any boy
to be as both Mr & Mrs Case seem so ready to converse and enter into all
that their boys are doing and interested about.
He seems quite to be thoroughly in earnest in teaching and I think has
considerable influence over those he is with tho’ at first I did not think so
highly of him as I now do. I have
inquired about the Magasin Pittoresque at Rolandes for Madle L’Amy
and they say that if they send it the postage will be 6d a month in
addition to the price but that if any bookseller at Leamington Madle
L’Amy has dealings with have a London agent they could send it every month to
him & then it would only be 2d additional and come to her thro’
the Leamington bookseller. Of course she
might order it direct at a Leamington bookshop.
Let her hear this will you and that I have been prevented from going about it sooner but not from
forgetfulness. Tell Ellen I shall hold myself a debtor to her in a letter
With best love to all
Yours
very affectionately
John
Philip Green
JRL
Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/14]
1 Eton
villas, Haverstock Hill London Feb 3rd 1854
Dear Mother
Today has been a whole holyday at the school
in commemoration of Routh an old pupil in the school and student in the college
having come off senior wrangler at Cambridge.
It is not very uncommon for those who have run a successful career at
the London University to migrate to the older universities and try for a slice or two of the solid pudding
with which those wealthier societies reward intellectual eminence. Routh took his BA
degree the same year that I did and took off the scholarship and I knew him
before a little but he was such a rough uncouth customer that much intimacy was
out of the question – tho’ of course of first rate mathematical ability he
always seemed singularly deficient in appreciation of the niceties of language
and the beauties of literature.
I think I have been getting on better with my
classes since I last wrote and I have had Mr Key’s aid and hope that I shall
get on more easily. Of course in so
large a class there will be some few who will be obstreperous and suffice to
throw all into disturbance and if one can once subdue these unruly spirits all
will go on well. I must say that a great
many in the class are very nice boys indeed and anything but undesirous to
improve. The new class has been given me
in the middle hour so that it does not make much difference to me. The larger class I have the 1st
& 3rd hour in the morning and the 2nd hour the
smaller one. Tho’ I cannot attend the
history and jurisprudence private classes this year I shall be able to do so
next year without interfering with any engagement in chambers and so this year
I have made up my mind to go to the private classes on real property law &
equity which do fall in with the hours I have at leisure. The public
lectures I am attending regularly. As far as the juripr [sic] private class is
concerned at present they are doing just what I did in Germany and I dare say I
know fully more about it than any of the class. Last week I called on Harry
Holland at his chambers & had a talk with him. I found him very friendly but I do not know
that I derived any very material new information to help me. He seemed to think it would not be a bad
thing to settle as a provincial barrister in Manchester for instance. I suppose
he himself has no reason to complain of the way in which fortune has treated
him but he said that among his acquaintance he knew many who could grumble
about the difficulties and uncertainties of the legal profession at
present. However he said that no
profession was content but all cried out that things were not easier. He did not see any disadvantages in my
present course of not going into chambers for a year but following out a plan
of private reading but thought that perhaps a year was too long and that if I
really intended to push on in the law he thought I had better enter chambers
after six months or 9 months. Mr Aspland
I have seen once or twice at his chambers but he has been in a hurry &
engaged both times so that I have not had any opportunities for talking with
him. The roads are much better now and
there is a good chance of getting thro’ with clean boots. I am very comfortable here and in price the
lodgings are the best I have ever been in.
The only disagreeables are that the servant has a very heavy foot and
stumps up stairs just as if she were on stilts and that there is a piano next
door. When I mention these as
disagreeables you may be sure there is not very much to complain of. On Wednesday afternoon I went with Brooks to
Sydenham to see the Crystal Palace which no doubt my father has told you
about. Brooks went back on Thursday. I believe Ch. Broadbent has been in town for
a couple of days but I have not seen him. I must make a few calls next week and
look up my friends. With best love to all
Believe me
Your very affectionate
John Philip Green
JRL
Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/15]
London
Feb 18th 1854
Dear Emily
I have let my letter run on rather longer than I
intended but I suppose you will allow that hitherto I have been very
regular. I am getting on pretty well at
the school now and I am rather surprised to find by the report day coming round
that I have been at it rather more than a month. At the same time I find it rather hard work
and if I could meet with some other engagement that would be convenient with my
other pursuits in relation to time of day and regularity I should like to do
so. I have not looked out at all yet as
I have not wished at all to give up this till I was sure how it would really
be. You must not think I am quite
dissatisfied but simply that I find the work rather more tiring than I
expected.
On Sunday evening I was at Mrs Shaens and passed a
very pleasant evening. Mrs Gaskell and
Marianne were there (on their way from their Paris trip). Mr Samuel
the commissioner and Prof. Newman who by the way has fallen into the
somewhat prevalent fashion of a hairy chin and upper lip. I should think Mrs Gaskell enjoyed her visit
but she did not say much about it and my chief informant in relation to it was
Marianne whom I saw safely home to the Tagarts at Hampstead where she was
staying. I think Mrs G went home on
Tuesday. On Thursday evening I went with
Mr Case to one of the Hampstead conversaziones of which perhaps you may have
heard. All the people in Hampstead seemed to be there and there were some nice
things to look at. The chief interest of
the evening was an exhibition of engravings in different stages as altered by
the artists directions of Turner’s Liber Studiorum. There was a Mr Pye there an old engraver who
seemed very enthusiastic about them made some remarks & gave explanations
of the changes and the reason for them which Turner introduced and altogether
it was very interesting. I renewed my
acquaintance with several of the Hampstead people and thus my visit fulfilled
the purpose of a special call. I
hope you are all well at Knutsford. I do not know whether you have the same
sudden changes of weather which we have had here but I know that here they are
trying enough. I have joined the
Whittington Club again chiefly that I may regularly have the opportunity of
seeing the papers and also because one can dine there rather more comfortably
and perhaps in better company than in a chop house. I have seen several men there who belong to
the Middle Temple but the general run of members of the club are I think rather
below the line. Hannah Tayler has
returned home I called there about a week ago to see them and she asked after
you. Has Mamma ever got the tea from Mrs
Schunck I have not heard whether the
transaction was completed or not. I hope my father is going on comfortably with
Mr Allen. Last Saturday I saw Mr. James
Yates who has been suffering from cold but this had not damped Mrs Yates’s
spirits or stopped the continuous flow of her conversation. He was sorry to have been from home when my
father called. Now that there are
parliamentary debates as well as large quantities of foreign intelligence to
read one needs a full hour today for that alone. The coldstream guards on turning out of
barracks here en route for Chichester and thence to the Mediterranean created
quite a sensation as they marched thro the streets and the temper of a very
large portion of the English is no doubt very warlike just now.
Best love to all and to Grove House [home of the
Henry Longs] & the Heath [Grandma & Ann Brandreth] & Believe me
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/16]
London
Feb 21st 1854
Dear Mother
I do not think you can quite fairly say I am three
letters in your debt. When I wrote on
Saturday I was only one in debt and it is only because you have written two so
close together that your statement is literally true. I shall not at all think of giving up my
engagement at the school before the term ends even if I did then and in the
meantime I do not wish you or any one else to believe that I am dissatisfied or
discontented all I have said or meant to
say is that I find it rather harder work than I had been led to expect. Last Sunday I dined and spent the afternoon
at the Tagarts and it was the first time I had been there except at a
party. There was only Mr & Mr Tagart
Miss Lucy Tagart and a Miss Taylor. I
had a pleasant visit and I must say that both Mr & Mrs Tagart were very
“civil” and gracious. I called at the
Wedgwoods but the house is closed to all strangers on account of there being
scarlet fever. One of the younger children has had it but I believe is better
now. I have not seen Mr Martineau the
hour he gives his lecture exactly interferes with the jurisprudence lecture at
the Middle Temple and this is the one which I least of all wish to miss so I am
afraid I shall not be able to hear him tho’ I should like to do so very
much. You asked me a little while ago
what I thought of the affair at Harrow school.
At that time I had heard nothing about it and it was only a few days ago
that I saw the correspondence which has passed.
When such men as Dr Arnold & Dr Vaughan with their experience and
exact knowledge of what a large public school is deliberately defend the system
of entrusting the head boys with the power of personal chastisement I for one
am quite ready to believe that it is the best course under the circumstances –
I do not think that in this particular case Platt is to be justified in the
extremely severe exercise of his authority but still where such a power is
regularly acknowledged I do not see anything degrading or immoral in one boy
caning another for rudeness and want of deference. J Thornely has been to Liverpool sessions and
has held a brief in a prosecution. He
seems to be trying whatever comes in his way tho’ criminal law and sessions
business are not at all in the line of what he has been reading during the last
three years. I think Tayler will be
called soon after Easter so you see I shall be a good deal younger in standing
if I am called tho’ not much younger in years.
I find I have a good deal of time
to do what I want tho’ the lecture comes just in the middle of the afternoon
and rather cuts up the day inconveniently.
I believe Mrs Schunck has been in town lately. I still feel as comfortable in my lodgings as
I did and if it was not quite so far should think myself very fortunate
in that respect. When I enlist & go
off to Turkey I will not forget to give you full notice.
With best love
Believe me
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/17]
London
March 9th 1854
Dear Father
You have I have no doubt received my note giving the
result of my interview with Sir E Buxton.
I should not have had any objection to an engagement of the kind that
would have been and I am rather sorry his plan had changed. The more immediate object of my writing today
is to ask you to send me £10 or £15. I
find that the first quarter of my scholarship was due the 1st of
January and that the next day will be the first of April and of course I have
had nothing yet from the school. I
thought of using my scholarship provisionally but replacing it out of what I
get from the school and considering it rather as appropriated to whatever use I
may find for it next year as paying a barrister’s fee &c. But just at present I think I must come upon
you for a little supply. If you would
send half a note by return of post. I
could receive the second half on Monday by which time what I have will I think
beat an end. I find now one disadvantage
in having such a long walk every day that it makes me sleepy in the evening and
prevents me getting thro’ much hard reading in the evening and I must
really find some way of gaining a different habit. I must bring this to a close as I am writing
it in class and will write again at the end of the week. I was sorry to hear my grandfather is so
ill. I saw Aunt Mardon on Sunday before
she went down and she promised to write and give me an account how she found
him but I have not had any letter yet.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/18]
London March 11th 1854
Dear Mother
I received your letter this morning and the
enclosure safely. I rather wished this year to have been quite on my own hook
but you will understand the circumstances I am in just at present.
I did I remember omit to mention that Sir G Buxton
spoke about another son who was coming home from Harrow and only just
recovering from the scarletina for whom he would want a tutor before long but
it was not mentioned as at all safe for anyone to be near him yet and as I have
never had the scarletina Lady Buxton said it would not be at all right to put
myself in danger especially considering my engagement at the school. Very
little indeed was said about it and this is why I did not mention to you tho possibly
it would have been better had I done so.
I think I shall just call on Mrs Charles Buxton and thank her and
explain a little more, as the way she
mentions it in the extract Miss Holland gives in her note seems to make it
appear as if I was afraid. However I
dare say that is not what she means. I was very sorry indeed to have a letter
from Aunt Elizabeth this morning with such bad account of my grandfather. Aunt
Mardon promised to write when I saw her on Sunday and my not hearing nothing during the week I supposed he was better or
not any worse. I should have liked to go
down to Maidstone for a day and see him once more but as according to her
account he is not able to recognize anyone and as I dare say they are occupied
and anxious enough perhaps it will be better not. We shall be sorry to lose him a kind hearted
good man as he was but from the account Elizabeth’s letter contains I should
judge there is no hope his living.
When I saw Dr Carpenter this week he told me that Mr
Murland had called on him and thought of sending his son to the hall so I
suppose you have heard something about his leaving. From what Dr Carpenter said
I judged Mr Murland thought of sending Samuel to college at the beginning of
next session in October. I am sorry to
hear Ellen is at one of her old tricks again I hoped that as she approached
years of discretion she would gradually have come to a consciousness of the
high impropriety and inexpediency of colds in whatever form. You do not tell me anything about Grove House
people or about Aunt Anna and Grandmamma. I suppose they are all well and happy
by your saying nothing to the contrary.
Give all my best love and believe me
Yours very affect
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/19]
London March 13th [1854]
Dear Mother,
Before my note reaches you you will no doubt have
heard that my Grandfather* died on Saturday morning about 11 o, clock. Harry Powell came to me yesterday in the
early part of the afternoon to tell me and of course I did not go to Hampstead
to the Fearns. He arrived just as I was
setting out. I called at Finsbury Square yesterday evening and saw Aunt Powell
who told me more about it than Harry had done. My grandfather tho’ he had in a
great measure lost all consciousness towards the last does not seem to have
suffered much from his complaint and all that could be done was done. We shall all be very sorry to lose him and
shall think of him as a good & thoroughly kind hearted man. Will my father
come to Maidstone I suppose he will and how will it be about my going down. Let
me hear by return please. I received
your note safely this morning and have hurried up just in time to answer it. I
think if you would direct ordinary letters to University school it would be
better as I should then get them early in the morning. However in such a case
as this it was perhaps better as it was, give my love to my father and all
& believe
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
If my father comes would you ask him to bring up my
Caesar not I think in my bed room but it was in the schoolroom. It is a small
dark-backed book and is Dachne’s Edition.
I am wanting it in class.
*[John Green formerly of Hayle Mill but then living
in Ashford Road, Maidstone. Henry Green
was his executor]
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/20]
London March 25th1854
Dear Mother,
I really think I shall have to draw up an inventory
of the questions you put to me and then when I write refer to it and be sure
that in the exuberant flow of other matter I do not pass any one
by. However sorry for past omissions I
will now, with the advantages of a new quill and the quiet which reigns at this
hour of 11 p.m. try to satisfy you for once.
As to the examination I never thought of going in this year nor next
either, I presume you do not know there are 3 examinations every year and 3
scholarships awarded every year and the idea is that students should go in just
before they intend to be called to the bar and not at the beginning of their
preparatory course. So there is plenty
of time for that matter to be taken in hand.
If you thought of the great extent of the examination you would easily
understand that I am at least 2 years off being ready tho’ what I did last year
will be in one or two of the branches of great use to me.
As to my shirts one or two of the linen ones are a
little ragged and of course buttons have not an unlimited tenacity but I should
not I think be in any degree accounted disreputable on account of my
“linen”.
As to my Sunday occupations three or four Sundays I
have had colds and stayed in to nurse them about twice I have been out with
Tayler and Thornely and twice I have been to Essex Street and about four times
to Lincolns Inn. I generally hear
something I like from Mr Maurice. The sermons I have heard this year from him
have been chiefly taken from events in Jewish History or passages in the Psalms
and tho’ to most minds these are not so full of interest and meaning as other
parts of the Bible yet Mr Maurice seems to have such a power of entering into
and presenting all forms and manifestations of religious sentiment and life
that he makes them yield much valuable and practical teaching. Two of the sermons I have heard have been on
the dispositions which prompt sacrifices and what wholly different states of
mind the act may be then effect of. I
can’t say I very much liked any of the Unitarian Ministers in London and I do
not know that I feel much the better or wiser for going to hear them tho I am
quite willing to confess that it may be the fault of my own heart that the form
of doctrine they present does not influence it.
I do not wish to judge or censure anyone and what I hope and seek for is
some guide to lighten my own dark reason and conquer whatever is evil in
me.
The party at the Ashton Yates was not a dance. All the rooms were hung round with pictures
or engravings and very beautiful indeed many of them were. There were etchings by Rubens and many of the
old masters and some very fine old engravings in short quite an hours work to
see them all. There were a good many
people there but not many I knew. Mrs
Ashton was not there on account of illness nothing very serious I hope. Mr Ashton was as kind and pleasant as ever
and in short I enjoyed it very much.
There was one thing there which I had never seen before and that was a
series of impressions showing the process of producing the tinted lithographs
which look just like water colours. It
seems that each paper has to be applied to about 18 stones on each of which
there is a different tint supplying or modifying some part of the impression
produced by the preceding stone. The
result is a picture quite I think equal to a regular painting and of course a
great deal cheaper.
I
told my father who no doubt told you about having seen the James. All that passed which had reference to my
plan was that Mr James after dinner told me I had much better not think of
giving up
the law and that he thought that the difficulties in
my way had not prevented others from succeeding
and in short was altogether encouraging. He says his father allowed him
£200 a year after he was called but that he did not need it more than a year
and a half but that he considered he had been particularly fortunate in town
getting into practice. You know that
this will be just the difficult time in my case and I confess in spite of his
words of encouragement I do not yet see my way quite clearly. I like Mrs James very much and feel that they
are and intend to be very kind to me.
The Ashton Yates’ enquired after Grandmamma & Aunt and all of you. I
quite wished Aunt had been there she would so have enjoyed it. I was myself
rather glad it was the kind of party it was rather than a dance. Well I am afraid if I go on any longer I
shall not be ready to get up in the morning in time. So with best love to all
Believe me
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box
2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/21]
London April 3rd 1854
Dear Father
I received the parcel of books safely this afternoon
but I was not at home soon enough to write by today’s post I found the opening
somewhat of a trial for my nails but with patience I effected a dissolution of
the knots. I think I did not tell you
that just at present for a few weeks I have a pupil reading an hour a day with
me. His name is Burrows and his father is one of the physicians to Guy’s
Hospital and a physician in large practice in Cavendish Square. The boy is between 15 & 16 but looks much
older and till lately has been at Harrow.
He comes to me between 4 & 5 which now there are no law lectures is
easy enough for me to effect. He is
rather a nice fellow but not very far advanced in several branches of
study. In fact the only thing he seems
to have learnt well is how to make Latin verses. He was never in decimal
fractions before. Last week I was at a
party at Tulse Hill at the Martineaus which I enjoyed pretty well. Mrs Tagart was so kind as to give Scott and
me a ride back in her carriage which was an immense benefit. Boult is working hard for his degree which he
is going in for next October. He will go
in for honours in both branches and as he has during his visit to the Antipodes
made rather a long cessation of labour I have no doubt he will have quite
enough on his hands for the next four or five months . On Wednesday the 12th the Easter
vacation at the school begins it lasts I think about 12 or 14 days and then the
long term of the year beings and there is no break till August. I am glad to hear there is a probability (or
is it more) of your having Heald. I suppose
I must forward to Maidstone the parcel you enclosed Is there any haste needful about
it. I saw the John Greens last Sunday
week I went over to Mile End
With best love to all
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
I
think it will be much better that Uncle Charles should be executor instead of
me
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/22]
London April 12th [1854]
Dear Mother
I will try this time to in parliamentary language a
categorical answer to your enquiries.
First as to paying a visit to the north to see you all. I do not very well see how I can manage
it. The law lectures begin again next
week so I should have to be back to them. Then my pupil Burrows comes to me
every day at present. I do not expect to have him long after Easter and I am
afraid if I was to go away now I might not have him again. At first his father spoke of about 3 weeks
till Easter but I think it will be about a month altogether. It was Mr Adams
one of the masters in the school who mentioned the engagement to me and me to
Dr Burrows. Mr Adams had himself been
tutor to the youth several times but could not be so again on account of being
fully engaged otherwise. I should very much like to come home but it will I
think be better not in the circumstances.
I shall find some change in going to the British Museum and reading
quietly there instead of coming to the school
I have not yet settled with Dr Burrows what I am to have but Mr Adams
tells me I should have 5/- an hour which
no doubt will be what Dr Burrows would expect and think right to
give. As to the smoking at Heathfield I
never had an idea of it at any rate while I was there and I have no remembrance
of having heard of it in Mr Worthington’s days or before. At any rate as a practice I never heard of
it. I quite think with you that it was
an unfortunate combination of circumstances about the time you mention which
brought the school down. I hope it will
improve now I do not see why it
shouldn’t. I have seen Mr James Yates
several times since my first call both at his own house and elsewhere. Mrs Ashton Yates has been confined to her
room for some weeks with some illness I do not know what. I called on Saturday
to ask and heard she was better but had not yet left her room. Today I shall
receive payment for the school work of this term and this amount of “dibbs”
will quite set me up for some time. I never heard of Oakfield in fact have
quite enough of reading in other things.
I have not seen Aunt Mardon do
you know whether she is come back from Maidstone I had a card from James Brooks on Saturday
telling me of his father’s death I am
going to write to him today. The
holydays here are nearly a fortnight and then begins the long term of 3 full
months and those the hot months which I expect will be the most trying in the
year I dare say by August I shall be
rather in want of rest and country air.
The law term too continues till the end of July so that there will be
work enough in several ways. I am sorry
enough that we are to have a perhaps long and troublesome war coming in to
interrupt our progress and prosperity but still I believe it is a struggle
which sooner or later must have come to pass.
I think it has become quite necessary for the independence of several of
the countries of Europe that we and France who have the power and means should
give a decided and energetic check to the advance of Russia. It is a government and nation from which
great danger is to be apprehended and the sooner we do what is necessary the
easier it will be. I saw Mr Wedgwood
last Saturday but not Mrs I had a very
pleasant chat with him
With best love
Believe me
Yours very affectionately
John Philip
Green
JRL
Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/23]
London April 22nd 1854
Dear
Father
I
don’t know whether this very welcome rain has been blown across to the eastern
shores of our island nor even whether it may not have come from that rainy
quarter in the first instance but I have no doubt you are very glad to see it.
The weather has been so fine that one got quite tired of sunny unclouded skies
and longed for some more all embracing means of laying in general dustiness of
creation than the water carts. The law
lectures began last Wednesday and I expect they will find me full employment
till the end of July. I think of going
to two of the private classes each class meets for an hour every other day and
there is a public lecture by one of the readers every day except Saturday. The
two classes I shall go to are Real Property and Common Law and I think that for
a time to go to classes where you are called upon to talk yourself and say what
you know or do not know will be quite as useful as being in Chambers. I saw Mr James on Thursday. He asked me to
call on him at chambers. I had done so about 10 days before but he was out of
town then so I went again. I think he
approves of what I am doing at present tho’ he rather recommends me not to put
off commencing with a conveyancer till Christmas. However I think it will be better to continue
as I am till then. I have not been out
of town at all this Easter except a day which I spent at Richmond with J
Thornely. I think he has some
business but not a great deal. I should
think he is likely to get on after a little waiting but as he says it is rather
dreary work sitting in chambers reading law or anything else and without the
stimulus of actual work. Wills I think
is doing well but his London work does not increase much he has however a good
deal at the assizes and sessions in the country. Greenhow and Martineau will be called this
term and on Thursday they will entertain their friends at supper in
commemoration of their induction into professional life. Tayler too will be
called this term so that I am quite behind in this respect all my friends. As to the Henry Long affair Emily says I do
not congratulate her. I felt that you know the circumstances at home so much
better that there was no good in me having a say in the matter but I am sure I
wish the girls all success and happiness in the undertaking. Today my pupil comes
to me for the last time next week he is going into the country to school again.
I saw Dr Burrows a day or two ago and he seemed quite satisfied with what his
son had been doing. He is a very agreeable man with the manners which all the
London physicians seem to have by nature or art. The school begins on Thursday. It fits in just with the classes I am now
going to as I have just ½ an hour between the end of school and the lecture
hour to reach the Temple or Lincolns Inn.
I suppose Mrs Aspland has been to Knutsford . I am sorry to hear how
much Mr Henry Long is troubled with rheumatism. It must be a serious impediment
to happiness and enjoyment of life where it becomes as severe as his. Next week there will be a party at the Fearns
to which I am going. I met Mr Samuel Gaskell (but I told you that I think)
With
best love to you all
Yours
very affectionately
John
Philip Green
I hope the Brook House party
have returned all the better for Leamington air.
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/24]
London May 5th 1854
Dear Mother
I hope you will be satisfied to hear that an account
of the proceedings on Wednesday were in all the morning papers of yesterday and
that the name of all on whom degrees were conferred have been published abroad
so far as the London newspapers can do it. As there is an account in the
Times
I suppose you will not want any other paper
sent. As to the important point of
costume it appeared to me better to hire a gown and not put on Tayler’s. The LLB gown is a dark purple stuff with two
strips of velvet in front of a rich blue whereas the MA is black with velvet
front of a delicate lilac tint. Tho’ an accurate knowledge of the appropriate
costume might not have been very general in the audience I thought that to
appear in arts instead of laws costume would have made me feel awkward and in
fact would not have been proper. So I
determined to get a dress on my own account and fork out the 10/6 for the hours
use of the thing. The whole affair was rather slow and formal. The noble earl the Chancellor was not there
but was represented by J G Lefevre the Vice Chancellor a man I believe of very
solid acquirements and talents but certainly as dry and formal an old gentleman
as I ever saw. There were
representatives of the different colleges who when each name was called out
took the man by the hand and led him up to the chair and introduced him to the
Vice Chancellor who then took him by the hand and pronounced the formal words
conferring the degree. After all the degrees
were over the honours scholarships prizes &c were conferred in the same way
& there the affair closed without any oration from any one. The place was
very full and I saw a good many persons I knew there. The library is a long room and not at all
well adapted for the purpose as far as seeing goes. In the evening the graduates dinner took
place and went off very well. There was some speaking and I got a place among a
very pleasant lot of the older graduates near the chair. There were about 60 present at the
dinner I was not called on to speak as
the toast of the new graduates is answered by one of the younger men who have
first taken a degree at all and the other toasts were questions more
immediately connected with the plans and proceedings of the graduates committee
which I do not belong to. What I was
going to say sometime ago about Mr Samuel Gaskell was that I had met him at
Essex Street Chapel and that he had asked me to come and see him. Yesterday he sent me a note inviting me to
dine with him and go to the Royal Institution tonight with him and so I am
going accordingly. I do not know what is to be done at the Royal Institution
but on Friday evenings there is always I believe some good lecture to be
heard. Has the frost spoilt all the
pears and apples in your parts as it has near London. This warm weather is pleasant again.
Best love
Yours vy affection
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/25]
London May 17th 1854
Dear Annie
I find nearly a fortnight has passed since I let you
know that I am still in the land of the living. I saw William Tagart a little
while ago who said he had seen you at Birkenhead lately. I have not anything to do with him at the
school but sometimes see him. He seems rather a lively young man but decidedly
old-headed in his manners and ways. The Tagarts are giving a party next Tuesday
at which I suppose there will be a good many people I must say I don’t so much care for the
ordinary run of dances. They are just the same over again and one is not able
to get away time enough to have a reasonable amount of sleep before ½ past
seven you will think I am talking quite like an old fogey already and that I
want “shaking up” like old Smallweed. I called in Bryanstone Square on Sunday
afternoon but no one was at home so I have not seen the Miss Yateses yet. I dare say they will ask me to spend the
evening which will be the mode of entertainment suited to my quiet early
habits. There are many temptations in
the musical line staring one in the face on all sides on the placards in the
streets. Fidelis Don Giovanni Fieischütz &c &c but I have as yet gone
to any of them. The company at Drury
Lane I believe is very good and tho’ they have not the great singers which the
Italian Opera has yet the conductor Lindpaintner is rather a famous man and I
have no doubt one would get a good 2/- worth of sound vocal and instrumental by
spending an evening there. The chief
lady a phrase which I suppose is equivalent to prima donna tho’ it sounds by no
means so glib in one’s mouth is Madame Caradon who I presume tho’ maybe
incorrectly is Madame Caradon Allan.
However I dare say you know all these facts quite as well as I do. Has Ellen done with Halle now. Hannah Tayler
I think told me the Halles had taken a house in town for some time. I saw the
Taylers about a fortnight ago John I see pretty often. He has introduced me to the Forensic Society
a law debating club which meets every week in the hall of Lyons Inn I have not been to any meeting yet as I have
only just been elected a member. It will
be rather a more formidable affair than the college one as there are older men
in it many members are barristers. I had a pleasant note from Stephen a few
days ago who seems very busy with business and dissatisfied with the dearth of
festivities in Manchester. Are the Henry
Longs come back from Buxton I shall want to hear how you go on with them. It
will be rather late before I shall be able to come home I think not till about
the 4th August so your holydays will be just over. Grandmamma* has come back from Bow to
Boxworth Grove and today I believe she has returned to Maidstone. I saw her on
Saturday evening and thought she was looking better than she did a fortnight
before. Aunt Mardon said she thought her
visit to London had done her good and that she was much better than when she
came. Aunt Elizabeth came to town for one night last week to choose a piano for
Emily Powell who is now come home for good to take her place as the daughter of
the house.
Goodbye or I shall not be up by six with the best
love to you all
Your very affection
John Philip Green
The parcel of books were sent
*[Ann Green]
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/26]
London May 27th 1854
Dear Mother
I have been going on very well since my last letter
and really my health is as sound as could be wished. So that I cannot in anyway be gratified in
exciting a little anxiety on my own account.
I have been going on pretty well at the school this term and tho’ of
course there are occasional relapses & disappointments I think the classes
are in general in a satisfactory way. Mr
Case I am sorry to say is at present very ill.
He has been overworking himself and I don’t think he has a very good
constitution to begin with. He has a good many engagements besides the school
and his boys (16) in an evening and about a week ago gave up and has been very
ill since. I suppose it is some kind of
low fever but I do not think Mrs Case likes it to be spread about that he has a
fever I mean that she is afraid of it being exaggerated. He has to be very
quiet and will not be in working order for sometime to come. I am very sorry as it is so inconvenient for
one is his position. Mrs Case asked me
to help in the evening some of the younger boys. I think Lane Evans goes at
present but she was not sure whether he could go on. I shall feel it rather an inconvenience and
rather hope I shall not be wanted but I could not exactly refuse to help and he
has been kind to me always. I have not
quite fixed whether to go on with the school till Christmas but you may depend
on my letting Mr Key know in good time what my intention is. The Tagarts gave a pleasant party on Tuesday
last. The rooms were very full and good
music and other accompaniments of festivity. I was rather surprised to meet Mr
Gaskell there. He is staying a few days with his brother. May Harvey and Meta
Gaskell were there and of course I danced with both. The former seems coming out very decidedly
and I had some very pleasant “turns” with her.
How grey Mr Gaskell is getting I never noticed it & as much as on
Tuesday. The only thing that I heard
from Mr Samuel Gaskell a few weeks ago which particularly affected me was that
he thought some literary engagement would be the best thing to look for and
that he did not think it by any means so difficult. The only thing is one feels no particular
impulse to write & I do not know that I have ever shown any signs of a
particularly forcible or elegant style. However he seems to have done it and
tho’ no doubt he is a man of some power in his line and I should think great
strength of will he has not as far as I see any genius or imagination. I went to the Ashton Yates last Saturday. It
had been a dinner party and subsided into an evening party about 9 o’clock.
Miss Ellen Yates was in her room and did not come into the evening but I saw
Miss Yates who has been pretty well since she came to town. Mrs Ashton has
recovered her illness in fact I never saw her looking so well. The Bostocks
& Phillips were there Miss Harriet Yates and a good many I did not
know. Russell Martineau was there. He is
in town about his MA degree. He played a piece but it did not seem quite
appreciated. I think there are not
nearly so many people in London who know much about music as there were in the
country. As to where you
should direct my letters. I think I like getting
them best when I reach home in the evenings as then one has a quiet read over
tea. But if there is any note you want me to have before post these in the
evening direct to the school. Well I
have tried to remember all you want to know and hope it will be
satisfactory. The law lectures begin on
Monday again after a temporary vacation.
Best love to all
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/27]
Extract from a letter written to her youngest
sister, Alice, dated Bedford Row (Emily’s home) 7 June 1854 from Catherine Winkworth whilst in London
with the Gaskells :
“J.P.Green
took Selina and me to the Temple Church, afterwards with Mrs G. to the
Wedgwoods’ to dine, after which we went to the Carlyles, where we stayed about
two and half hours. There were very few people there; some of the Leeds
Marshalls, a Mr and Mrs Brookfield, he a fashionable Belgravian preacher, a
wit, and diner out; she a sweet looking woman, said to be the original of
Thackeray’s Amelia. Mr Carlyle talked chiefly to me, and next most to Meta!
Which was odd of him, but very pleasant for us. Altogether he was very
friendly, and I enjoyed listening to him very much “
[JRL
Ref: L&M vol.1 p.443]
London June 20th 1854
Dear Emily,
I think I have not written since I received the
letter enclosing one from our American friend.
He has made a curious omission in not sending the letter which I was to
address and send to the gentleman from S Carolina the pleasure of whose
acquaintance it was to procure me. As there is hardly time to communicate
across the wide Atlantic I think I shall write to the address given in Paris
and say how the matter stands lest it should be thought that I have been
neglectful. When my father comes to town
which I suppose he intends doing at the end of this month please send the book
by him. I should almost fancy that there
may be something of Pettigrew’s own production in it as it seems scarcely worth
while sending the number only because several of his acquaintances are
contributors. I am afraid I shall forget
how to write English at least presuming that I ever could as just now I am
busied with what are called by the collective name of the Real Property
Statutes and certainly as far as ‘style and expression’ go they are about as
uninviting and repulsive morsels of English as may be found. Sometimes after carefully pouring over a
sentence which winds laboriously over a good half page of letterpress broken
into delectable provisos & “notwithstanding” & “nevertheless” one is
tempted to exclaim and is this what every man & women in this realm is
presumed to be familiar with. I suppose
one must be content with a sort of coral-insect life & for some time at any
rate follow out a blind instinct guided mode of working making minute but
continual acquisitions and gradually some result may manifest itself. I suppose the school will break up this week. We shall go on thro’ July and rather lost work
it will be I am afraid. Mr Case is not
returned to town yet but I believe he is going on well. I hope you have read all the numbers
of the Newcomer. I always look for the
1st day of each month with great impatience as I then lay out 2d in
the hire of the new number & carry it home and have a quiet read over my
tea & bread & butter. I like it
very much indeed and think it the best thing Thackeray has ever done. The French pictures seem the great run now
Mrs Gaskell was very much pleased with them. I think she went twice once with
Mr Forster of Goldsmith and examiner renown.
I sometimes think of reading some modern French books indeed I have been
reading Pascal but find it somewhat of a study instead of an amusement. Tayler
has been to Manchester in attendance on the Duchy Court held there last
week. He had something to do indeed he
went down because he had. I was in
Thornely’s chambers 2 days ago and who should come in but James Jevons*. He had
arrived the day before & is now in Liverpool. He is a good deal altered and of course from
his kind of life and pursuits not for the better and as far as [….…]go but he
seemed glad to see me and talked pleasantly enough. I am sorry his undertaking has not turned out
better. It is a good piece of his life
spent at least if little has been done. However he will have gained a good deal
of experience and I hope the old country will treat him better than the Cape
seems to have done.
Ever your affectionate brother
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/28]
*[A former pupil at Heathfield]
London October
9th
Dear Mother
I am just setting off to make a call on Mr & Mrs
A Hills in their new abode. I saw the Taylers yesterday (not Mr T) and they
seem to have enjoyed their journey and stay on the Lake of Geneva very much
indeed. John however on his way home got
hold of what has in some way turned out a bad attack of rheumatism and when I
saw him yesterday he had a shawl round him and was keeping warm near the
fire. He is of course anxious that he
may be quite well before term beings as he has a brief in one of the courts
& of course would not at all like being absent. I went to Islington last night but the house
seemed locked up and no body in it. I
did not go to Finsbury Sq as I was afraid that even by that course I should
miss seeing the Mardons & Grandmamma. So I shall have another try in a few days. After the Hills call I think I shall go to
hear Mr Taylers inaugural lecture at three and as it is now nearly 2 I have not
much time to write. If you send anything
by the Asplands on Wednesday let me hear please on Wednesday morning that I may
be able to meet them at the station & relieve them of their charge. I find
the new rooms tho’ not quite so roomy quite as comfortable as those I had in the
early part of the year. I shall have to
get a book case.
Best love to all
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/29]
London October 17th 1854
Dear Father
I dare say you are wishing to know whether I am
quite settled in my plans and occupations.
Mr Braithwaite has not returned to town so soon as was expected and I
have not begun to go to chambers yet. He
will I believe be back again on Saturday and on Monday I am to go down to him
and begin work. Fry has not yet returned
to town and so I have not yet heard what manner of fellow-pupils I shall
have. I fancy at any rate quiet ones and
one of them Howard passed a successful course at University College. The lectures will also begin next week which
is later than I expected. I thought they
began about the 12th of October.
I saw Dr Carpenter at University Hall on the day of Mr Tayler’s
discourse (which I liked very much) and he asked about Murland and Kay but
there was nothing to say more than they were to come up this week. I did not know then that Murland had gone on
to the continent with his father. I have
been chiefly employed in reading certain matters preparatory to going to Mr
Braithwaite and I think I shall waite[sic] and I think I shall enter quite prepared
with enough previous information to take full advantage of the work I see there
. I have called to see Mr Key but he has lost a relation and has not been at
the school for nearly a week and I am thinking of going again this morning. I
shall ask him if he can help me in any way to find some occupation in teaching
in the evenings. I think I could manage
an hour or two a day very easily.
Rushton one of the masters says he expects to have to refuse one or two
pupils soon and he will do what he can for me. I believe that just now teachers
are not so much wanted as in the spring and summer and even if I do not get
much now I may when I leave Mr Braithwaite do something to make up. I feel very well indeed and quite think that
I shall be doing well in going to the broad
brim. Our friend McCulloch has
appeared again after a three month sojourn in Heidelberg where Dana now a Doctor intrinsque juris is still
abiding. The latter intends visiting
England shortly and will not be very long before he returns to the United
States. McCulloch thinks he intends to
try for a chair as professor of Civil Law (for which he is of course very well
qualified) in one of the American Universities.
I saw Grandmamma last Sunday evening. She seemed
very well and in good spirits and Aunt Mardon as well. I hope you are all very well and that you
find Mr Stuart “answers”.
Best love to you all
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/30]
London Octr 24th [1854]
Dear Emily
I hope that it is the fault of the Postmaster General or some one or more of his
subordinates that I have not received intelligence from home in any form or
shape since last Tuesday week a period of no less than 14 weeks [sic]. I may myself have sometime allowed that
period to elapse without dispatching a letter but you cannot say I have done so
this last time as I have written 3 times since I left home. I went yesterday to our professional “friend”
but he has not yet made his appearance however the clerk had received a
communication from him to the effect that he would be at work on Wednesday
morning (tomorrow) I hear he begins at 9
in the morning which of itself indicates a hardworking man as most conveyancers
even in large practice are content to shew themselves at chambers at 10½ or
11. Now do some one send some kind of a
note to let me hear what is going on at home.
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/31]
London Octr 28th 1854
Dear Mother
I am glad my remonstrance has produced much good
fruit in the shape of three letters from different members of the family. First
and foremost you ask with a dash under the “have” have I paid certain matters
quite implying that you supposed I had forgotten as I usually do. However for your satisfaction I can assure
that both the liabilities are discharged.
I have not seen anyone lately. I
called at the Wedgwoods but they were not at home. Also at Mr Ashton Yates who was alone in his
great house. Painting &c was going
on and he was sleeping at Highgate. He
asked me what I was doing and as he usually does wished I could contrive some
means of shortening deeds as when his lawyers bring long skins of parchment
with long involved sentences recitals provisions declarations and conditions drawn out in array he is quite
bewildered and finds it quite impossible to carry thro’ them. Since Wednesday morning I have been at
Chambers all day and there is anything but lack of employment there. I think I decidedly like our “friend” and if
this week is a specimen of the help and occupation his pupils get I do not
think I could have gone to a better master.
There are two other pupils one Fisher who I think is a young Attorney
from Liverpool the other is Howard of Tottenham formerly a Quaker family but I
do not think Fisher is. Fisher of course
knows more practice but I do not think he has read as much Law as I have. Howard is more of a beginner but he seems a
clever industrious man and so I think in my fellow pupils I am fortunate. As
for the “governor” he is a very odd man like a wise bird an owl than a man. He
has us in every morning to read a law book for about an hour or an hour & ½
and discuss any point that arises. The
rest of the day is filled up with reading papers (not of news) or drawing
different instruments. There seems
plenty to do and of a good improving kind.
As I think I told you Mr Braithwaite is at work at 9 in the morning and does
not leave till 5 or 6 so you may judge he is not one who takes it easily. I fancy he come from Kendal or those parts as
I have seen letters about with that address.
He lives in Mornington Crescent.
You must not think from my description that he is a mere lawyer. From what Fry tells me and from his style of
talking he must be a good scholar and well read in many branches besides real
property. We have a great heap of papers
in just now which relate to a cause which will come before the courts next term
and which Mr Braithwaite regards with great interest. The same estates were before the Court of
Chancery 40 yrs ago but you must not suppose litigation has been going on all
that time. Tayler is rather better and
indeed has been coming to chambers for sometime past. Both he and Thornely have
been having some work to enliven their days in Chancery Lane. I shall go and call on Murland & Kay
soon.
Last Sunday I had a cold & did not go out and on
Monday only a short time but that is quite gone now. I think I always have one when I first come
to town. I do not think I have anything
more to tell you as nothing whatever has happened to me. With many thanks to
Ellen & Emily for their letters & best love to all
Believe me
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/32]
London Novr 4th 1854
Dear Mother
I was glad to be able to tell you last week after a
few days in Mr Braithwaite’s chambers that I thought I had chosen well in
becoming his pupil. We have been going
on very pleasantly this week & from the quantity and kind of the business
he has and the hour and a half’s reading we have with him every morning I feel
I shall be able to learn a great deal.
On Thursday being the first of Michaelmas term Howard & I went to
Westminster to see the Ld Chancellor and Judges walk in state in all
the glory of full bottoms gold lace and ermine thro’ the Hall and open their
respective courts. There was a great
crowd in the hall more than I have ever seen present on such an occasion. I saw Thom. Harvey in one of the courts. He
is come to be with Sharpe & Field for a time and has taken up his abode in
Canonbury which you may remember is not very far from Highbury. I shall try & improve the acquaintance I
have with him as I have liked what I have ever seen of him very much. Thornely and Heath were at Wills the other
evening in council with others as to the choice of a piano for Mrs Alfred for
which article of “furniture” and entertainment her father is ready &
willing to put down to the amount of £160.
I should think for that sum a pretty good instrument will grace our
friends drawing room.
What a long time it seems before we get any decisive
news from Sebastopol. I do not mean of
the actual capture of the fortress but of what has been done since the siege
commenced. I think the last news does
not look quite so favourable and indeed we must not expect to take such a place
without considerable sacrifice of lives.
Boult is in the first division of B.A. but I think
no one else that you know. He has been
in for honours as well but the result is not yet declared. Alfred Bache of Birmingham is expected to
stand very high in mathematics. The last
two years he has I understand been with an engineer in Birmingham and attending
classes at Queen’s College there. He is
I believe to be an engineer and Boult seems to think a good deal of him. Dear Annie she would feel leaving home but it
would not be to go among strangers and far from her friends. She will always have you near to talk to if
she has any difficulties & anxieties and I am sure & hope she will have
very few of them. I hope you have got
more settled in your household affairs than when I last heard about them and
that a satisfactory cook has been captured at last. There are long lists of them in the Times
& some of them would condescend so far as to think the country no objection
but I suppose you go on a different plan of finding one to that. Today I have been reading an immensely long
settlement (or rather part of it) on the marriage of the late Duke of Northumberland
which settlement was prepared by Sir E Sugden late Ld Chancellor
some thirty years ago. It is really
anything but dry work reading the family arrangements and dispositions of
property of such a great house as that of Northumberland and to note the
ingenious devices which conveyancers have to meet all possible contingencies
and keep the property strictly settled and yet to give all kinds of powers for
the advantageous management of the estate and for making provision for wives
present & future and younger children.
You may judge from this that Mr Braithwaite has now and then a client of
undeniable “respectability”. We have the
deeds for the purpose of settling some more property since purchased in the
same way as the other has been. Fry has
been a long tour this vacation. Thro’ Germany
to Florence Milan Venice &c I
just saw them today but had not time to hear much from him. I have not yet heard of any pupils in the
evening but I have taken I think the most likely course to get them by speaking
to Prof. Key & several of the masters at the school. The lectures begin next week and I shall
attend some of them but of course I shall rather feel I am away from Mr
Braithwaite when I am at lecture. Still
I had better finish my years course which this next term will do and then I
shall be in any case qualified to be called to the bar.
With best love to you all and thanking the various
writers of letters.
Believe me
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/33]
London Novr 11th 1854
Dear Emily
I have been quite disappointed today in not having
had time to write. It is just post time and all the day I have been
engaged with Mr Braithwaite in his room and not able to come out. Last night Mr Braithwaite asked me and Howard
to his house to tea. We found Fry and Wm
Fowler and two young Quakers there. Mrs
Braithwaite is such an out and out Quakeress large mob cap short straight down
dress and altogether so solemn & prim that I think it was wonderful I could
hold in at the view of such a personage.
In regard to her face she was really rather handsome and one could only
regret anyone should so spoil herself.
The conversation was interesting Mr Braithwaite has a great deal to talk
about and is a very easy pleasant man in spite of his oddities. He seems to be
very largely read in a branch of learning one would scarcely expect to find
pursued by members of his society viz the Christian Fathers. He read aloud and challenged our admiration
of several passages from Tertullians Apology.
I do not think I have anything to tell you of occurrences during the
past week. I have been very well and
fully occupied all day either here or at home in the evenings and in short a
record of days in which nothing is remarkable is all I have to offer. I think between ourselves Mr Braithwaite
likes me and thinks I go about the right way to derive advantage from what I
see & hear. I am oftener with him
than the others indeed for 3 last evenings he has been minded to have me in his
room after 4 quite regardless that by ¼ to 6 every person begins to feel a
desire of food.
As I said at first I am now writing quite at high
pressure and with best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/34]
London Novr 18th 1854
Dear Ellen
The last week has been real London autumn weather
dirty slushy streets misty damp atmosphere and generally uncomfortable and
disagreeable. Today we have had an east wind which has cleared off the fogs a
little & yesterday there was a “call” at the Middle temple and 6
individuals one of whom I knew took the oaths of allegiance & supremacy and
dined with the students for the last time.
The first man who walked up the hall was a tall dark native of Trinidad
(I do not mean a coloured man) with a moustache which contrasted most curiously
with his white horsehair wig and made me quite sure that if ever “the bar” take
to Schmurbarts they must give up
horsehair. There is a rumour that the
Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn refused to call a man because he had a
capillary decoration on his upper lip.
About 3 days ago I received a note from Miss Roget saying that her
brother had been intending to call on me at Haverstock Hill but had not been
able and inviting me to dine with them on Tuesday an invitation which I spoilt
at least four sheets of small note paper in properly answering and accepting.
Another matter that arises from your letter is that I really do not think I
shall be able to leave town at Christmas.
You see I am paying Mr Braithwaite 2 guineas a week while I am with him
and it would scarcely worth while to come home for less time than a week and
considering this & the expenses of a journey to and fro I think it will be
scarcely worth while. I should very much
like to be at any festive assembly of the kind you mention but you will I think
see that this time it can scarcely be managed.
I think it will be better in future to direct to me at chambers as you
propose as it is much pleasanter not to have to wait till evening for letters
and so for the future address care of J. B. Braithwaite Esq. 3 New Square Linc Inn. I think the Esq should be put in by strangers
tho’ of course among themselves the friends never use such titles and do not
think them proper even when addressed by strangers. I am afraid I have written
a very nonsensical letter but a settlement on the marriage of Anthony Gibbs
& Isabella Gordon has been occupying my thoughts and my hand is rather
stiff with scribbling.
Love to all
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/35]
London Nov 25th
1854
Dear Annie
I am sorry to hear you have been having an attack of
influenza anything like which I know from experience to be disagreeable enough.
You attribute to me that I once said horrid signified bristling. Of course that
means in its primary sense, Horseo the Latin word is to shrink (back properly
spoken of an animal) so that the hair bristles up and stands apart so anything
which has this effect on the nervous organisation of beast or man is very
properly called a “horrid” thing.
I enjoyed my dinner at the Rogets on Tuesday very
much an awfully wet evening which made several of the party a little behind
time from being minus cab at the nick of time. There was a Mr & Mrs Allen (he
a barrister whom I have seen before but not to know) a Mr Mallet and a Miss
Thompson.
I do not think there is anything particular to tell
of the conversation. It was not scientific at any rate and the nearest approach
to science was Dr Roget’s Railway Chess Board which he shewed [sic] me and
which seems convenient enough. The
“Doctor” and Miss and John were all very pleasant and lively. The chief topic discoursed over there and no
doubt over many & many English dinner tables was the exploits and difficulties
of our gallant countrymen who are besieging the Ce rs southern stronghold. I
think most people here are feeling very anxious for them as the large and well
equipped forces which have lately been brought down to divert them from the
siege have put quite a different look on the whole thing. I dare you will
remember hearing that Mr Ashton Bostock is out with his regiment the Scots
Fusiliers. I believe they have had good
accounts of him hitherto but still the life of a surgeon in the midst of such
scenes as we are now reading of must be both excessively arduous and dangerous
– whatever may have been said in times of peace of the luxurious ness and
effeminacy of officers in the army I think they have lately amply proved that
the old indomitable firmness and disregard of danger and adversity belongs to
them still. I am sorry to hear such a
poor account of Mary Green, the last I heard of her was from Aunt Mardon and
then she was better. Will you ask my father whether he does not wish me to call
to see about some premium being paid – I suppose he has not forgotten it but I
have not had any directions about it yet. Jullien has brought out a new grand
quadrille in his descriptive style about the allied armies. I have not yet
heard it but I have been once or twice since they commenced last Tuesday in the
Beethoven Festival when he plays almost exclusively from our beloved Ludwig and
I think I must really go to hear that. I
shall call at the Rogets tomorrow and am very glad to have the opportunity of
knowing them.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/36]
London Decr 2nd 1854
Dear Mother
It is very strange to think that I have been more
than 5 weeks with Mr Braithwait it scarcely appears more than a fortnight. I think it shows I do not at any rate find
the days too long for what I have to do in them. I think I am going on very well and find my
work getting easier and more comprehensible but to become a good conveyancer as
to learn any other technical and intellectual art is not the work of a few
weeks. Tho’ of course I find many
difficulties and cannot hit the exact forms of expression deemed necessary. I like the occupation very much & should
not at all object to pass any evenings at chambers. But I think 7 ½ or 8 good hours work together is pretty
nearly as much as at present with any advantage I can do and then I have the
private law class every evening either for one or two hours so that altogether
I get a pretty good dose of law every day.
I called on Murland & Kay yesterday evening and found them seated
over their tea in a very pleasant room on the second floor of the Hall. They
seem from what they told me to have made a good start and to like their new
mode of life as indeed is natural
enough. Murland has a good many friends in London and both he & Kay visit a
good deal but seemed to be quite in the right way as to not neglecting their
more serious business. Tayler I am
sorry to say is still very unwell. He went
to Hastings for a visit but since his return has been much worse and has not
been at chambers for some time. I am afraid it is complaint of the heart and I
know his friends are very anxious about him but when I called to ask how he was
on the morning of Thursday the account
was that he was better. He himself must
feel it a great disappointment to lay up and keep to the house when he has just
commenced his course as a barrister. You must understand that I have not heard
from any of his family that he has heart complaint but I suppose it must be
that that they are really afraid of. J
Thornely has been to Manchester to the Lancaster Chancery Court but I have not
seen him since his return. I have joined
the Whittington again as in the evenings there are often spaces of time before
the classes when I do not very well know what to do with myself or to go and
also that I may see the papers regularly. The place itself and the members are
not quite what I like but still as I only want to read the papers there it will
not much matter. For instance there are lawyers clerks there and many rather
low people. Rupert Potter tells me his father has directed him to enter the
Reform Club which under the auspices of Thos Thornely & Richd
Cobden MMP. I fancy from what he said
that Mr Edmund Potter will before very long come to live in town & enter
parliament. I often see Rupert now and am rather fond of him. He is reading
with Mr King conveyancer in Old Square. I am sorry to hear that the parties
have to be put off but hope they are [not] given up altogether. Emily gave me some account of your domestic
state which will not I hope be a permanent one as it must be very unpleasant
and unsettled.
With best love
Believe me
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/37]
Lincolns
Inn Dec 8th 1854
Dear
Isabella
I think you had always better write to me on the Thursday
instead of Friday as I shall find it easier to write overnight at home than
here during the day when I am often pressed for time.
You will be sorry to lose Forrester as many’s the
canter you and others have had upon him and many the healthy fresh blow. I dare say you remember me telling that I had
subscribed to the Whittington Club so that I might have been some where to see
the papers. Well the place was burnt
down last Sunday and my guinea might just as well have been dropped into the
Thames. I believe the place made a jolly
blaze and “was only finally got under only by the unremitting exertions of the
fireman” to adopt the language which newspapers make use of in describing such
occurrences. So Mama’s solicitude as to
the danger of my manners being permanently made uncouth by belonging to such an
institution may be quite set at rest by its unforeseen and sudden fate. This week has been very wretched in London
almost perpetual mizzle which has not let my throat abee (if the word is so spelled I’m sure I don’t know) but I do
not think there is much amiss. The men
in hospital at Scutari seem to get well twice as fast when seen to by their
English Nurses. I think all of you had
better volunteer I’m sure you would come up to the regulation height
whatever might be said of Annie & Ellen.
Today perhaps it may interest you to know I have been engaged in drawing
a lease of slate quarries & different mines in Caernarvon and both the
names of places & persons are about us Cambrian as could be wished. How does Brandreth do at school. I do not think you have told me very lately.
I suppose you all saw in the paper the difference
between the Emperor of Russia & the James Newspaper well in case you did
not I will tell you. One is the type of despotism and the other the despotism
of type. I don’t think it is bad tho’
not very original. I have not been anywhere this week except chambers &
lodgings & have nothing to tell you.
Give my kind regards to your two visitors &
With best love to you all
Believe me
Your affectionate brother
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/38]
London Decr 16th 1854
Dear Mother
Tho’
I am quite willing to acknowledge your great authority on a point of spelling I
must beg to maintain that solicitude need not have two lls. I think it is more commonly found with two
but one is quite enough. It is quite as
often solicitor as sollicitor. My cold
is much better now and without having had recourse to any physic taking and a
day or two will see me all right again.
I suppose you will be dispatching the boys before very long and are
looking forward to the pleasant Christmas season. I hope some one will take pity on me on
Christmas Day as it will certainly be rather forlorn to eat one’s dinner alone
in a tavern. Even the winter I was in
Berlin Mr Solly asked me and Worthington to feed with him. I have not seen anything more of the
Rogets. I have called once I dined there
but they were out and John is at present on the northern circuit marshalling Mr
Justice Erle about. We go on very
comfortably at chambers. Mr Braithwaite has been about once or twice this week
and so work has had gone on quite in such full owing but with one thing or
another there is always occupation enough.
I am very much afraid John Tayler does not improve at all. Yesterday I
called and he was not so well and was not able to see me which has never been the
case yet. I did not see any of the family but Thornely saw Mrs Tayler a day or
two since and says that she is very anxious indeed. You ask me what I am doing on Sundays. Last week I went to hear Mr Maurice in the
afternoon whose theme was the influences for good which a great struggle such
as England is now engaged in calls forth and strengthens. That the willingness to submit to sacrifices
and the necessity of making them breaks in upon and counteracts the selfishness
and sordidness of much of English life and in the presence of much that is sad
and terrible this is one of compensations which we have. Twice since I returned to town I have heard
Dr Manning but he has finished his course of instructions now. I must confess I like him better than any other
preacher and am sorry that you were prevented from forming a more favourable
opinion of him than you did. After the
misrepresentations and prejudices one has been accustomed to find in almost
every protestant pulpit whenever Roman Catholicism is spoken of it is pleasant
to say the least to hear a man who really enters into and fairly states
objections to the doctrines he has to establish. I hope dear Annie has got well rid of her
cold and that you and all the rest are well.
Grandmamma Green asked me whether any of you were intending to pay them
a visit but I said I had not heard anything about it. I suppose you are not thinking of doing
so. I met Mr Tinker in an omnibus rather
curiously a day or two ago. It seems he has an undertaking in the Borough for
making different sorts of wheels by steam power. He seemed well and busy but in externals
there was something to be desired and the broad northern dialect sounded odd in
this great city tho’ one is pretty used to it in a different latitude. Tomorrow I think I must call on Mr James
Yates whom I have not yet seen
With best love
Believe me dear mother
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/39]
London Decr 18th 1854
Dear Mother
We are all very much grieved at the loss of our dear
friend Tayler * [John Hutton Tayler]. Tho’ every one was feeling considerable
anxiety about him it has come as a great shock that we shall never again have
companionship with that kind generous and affectionate heart. I cannot tell you anything of his illness at
the last. I told you that when I called
on Thursday he was not so well and Thornely tells me that Mrs Tayler told him
on the same day that his breathing was very short and troublesome and seemed
altogether very anxious. I did not see
any of the family when I called. He died on Saturday morning between 12 and 1
but I did not know till yesterday evening Thornely sent me word on Saturday but
his boy misunderstood him and posted the note instead of leaving it and I have
never got it as it was not fully directed.
I saw Thornely & Wills this morning but they neither of them knew
anything about the family. A sadder blow to them cannot be conceived I am sure
they were all as fond of him as could be he was quite the life of the house. I
am sure there is scarcely any one I know who had so many friends and attached
friends too and no one whose prospects were better of a happy and useful
career.
I was going down from Highgate in an omnibus to call
and see how he was yesterday evening when I first heard of his death from Mr
Ashton Yates who had seen it in the Inquirer.
I will write again as soon as I can.
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
*[“On December 16th
the only son of Mr J.J.Tayler died from heart complaint after a few week’s
illness. He was a young man of great promise, excellent in character; of very
remarkable abilities, had obtained the highest honours at London University and
he was very attached to my sister Selina. His death was an overwhelming blow to
our dear friends, his parents, and a great sorrow to us all.’ …
[Letters and Memorials of Catherine Winkworth eds
Susanna Winkworth and M J Shaen. Vol.1.p 471]
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/40]
London Decr 23rd 1854
Dear Mother
Thank you for sending me such a pleasant remembrance
of the dear friend we have lost you may be sure I had looked among my letters
in my desk to find all I had and was glad that I had preserved three besides
the one you have sent. Thornely shewed me a note he had received from Tayler
while he was at St Leonards this autumn and we were both of us very much struck
at the difference in the handwriting between that and his former ones. It was so shaky and undecided. On Thursday most of his friends attended his
earthly remains to the grave. Will
Thornely Greenhow Martineau Potter & myself holding the corners of the pall
as the coffin was borne up the chapel. Mr Madge addressed some simple earnest
words of consolation to his mourning friends and to the rest who were assembled
and read part of XV chapter of Corinthians and then we passed out and laid our
friend in his grave. The relatives who
attended were his poor father two of his uncles and his cousins Osler and J
Martineau of Birmingham. There were
thirty or forty persons there altogether all the Manchester college students
among others. Mr Tayler was able to bear
up against his sorrow and I hope they all are but it will be a sad thought for
them for a long time to come. I hear
this morning that Mr Tayler wishes the law books John had to be divided among
his more immediate friends and so we shall have something to remind us of him
in what perhaps we shall be using as often as anything else.
I am sorry to hear that you will not have your
normal Christmas meeting but of course it could not be under the
circumstances. I was rather afraid I
should fall under your censure as having managed matters badly in not finding
anyone to have pity on a solitary youth on Christmas Day but on Wednesday
evening I had a note from our kind friend J Ashton Yates asking me to dine with
them in Bryanston Square so you see I am not quite reduced to dine in solitude.
I must request you to send me a supply of money as I
have come to the end of what I have. This week I bought some law books at an
auction prudent purchases really and books that I shall certainly want and do
use everyday. If you write tomorrow you
should direct to Haverstock Hill as I shall not come to chambers either Monday
or Tuesday.
Best love and a Happy Christmas to you at Heathfield
where I wish I was for a peep at you
& believe me
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/41]
London Decr 25th 1854
Dear Mother
I don’t think there was anything you asked except
about Tom Harvey which I did not answer. He was at Mr Asplands the day I dined
there and I had a very pleasant day with them.
I had intended asking him to breakfast with me and have called once or
twice at Sharpe & Fields to see him but he has always been out but I intend
to try again this week or get his address from Mr Aspland. Yesterday I went down to Brixton to spend the
day with Meadows & Greenhow and did not go to Essex Street. I did not hear that any mention or reference
was to be made to Tayler’s death and if there was I shall be very sorry not to
have been. I believe the Taylers are
gone to Nottingham for Christmas and when they come back I shall call there. I
think and should have liked to do so before but I thought just at first they
would prefer being without any visitors but near relatives. The funeral took place at The Highgate
Cemetery. It was Wills proposed to Mr
Tayler that some of his son’s friends should take part and he says that Mr
Tayler was quite pleased and gratified that it should be so. I do not know whether we should have been
invited otherwise. I received the enclosed note safely and it will be
sufficient for the present as I have not anything to pay now. I am afraid your
Christmas Day has not been quite so pleasant as it normally is when we are all
assembled but it is always a joyful and happy time.
With best love & hoping dear Isabella is quite
right again and that are all well
Believe me
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/42]
London Decr 30th 1854
Dear Ellen,
You did not tell me how it was that Mother &
Emily returned last night I thought they were to stay with the Gaskells after
their visit at the Hollins.
I enjoyed my Christmas dinner at the Ashton Yates
very much and they were all very friendly and pleasant. It was more of a party
than I expected and the sd party was composed of the worthy hosts themselves
and daughters at home (2). Mr & Mrs Louis, Dr Eyncourt Mr Captain
D’Eyncourt who has commanded a man of war in the late Baltic expedition. Mr & Mrs James Yates Mr J McGregor MP for Glasgow Mr & Mrs Cameron (he I think a relation
of Mrs A) and your humble servant. There
was a good deal of conversation as you may suppose chiefly about the war and Mr
McGregor has talking power equal to-I-should-not-to-estimate-how-many
horses. He was however very amusing and
if there was rather too much of what his own self did and said on great and
momentous questions & at critical times he had lots of anecdotes and was
really a very clever man. Meadows
Martineau has sometime told me about him as he married a sister of Mrs Charles
Martineau Meadow’s mother. Captain
D’Eyncourt is a quiet and perhaps rather a haughty man with a clear firm voice
coming from between a beautiful pair of black moustachioed and a noble black
beard. Mr Louis D’Eyncourt I should think a very pleasant & agreeable
man. He asked after my pursuits and his
opinion was that tho’ there was a great pressure of candidates in the legal
profession yet that there was a great deal of work to be done and not likely to
be any diminution therein and also that the present time was rather unpleasant
from being a period of change. There
were kind inquiries after all you. I
came to work again at chambers on Wednesday and Howard came the next day but
friend Stone has not shewed up yet. However we are quite in harness again after
an interval of 3 days. The lectures do
not begin till the 17th of next month and I shall have some time to
read up one or two matters I want to do.
I have not seen any of my friends Thornely or Wills &c since
Christmas I do not suppose they have
come to town yet. I think altogether
that judging from this first Christmas which I have spent in London that one
need not be so very miserable here tho’ I confess coming home is much
pleasanter than staying. Are you going
anywhere this holydays or have you any plans. How are Grandmamma & Aunt.
Give them my love and to all & believe me yours
very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/12 [Ref: JA/JPG/43]
[There is a gap between December and April. It seems
likely that this was the time when Philip was thinking about, and then converted, to Roman Catholicism. The family wrote to each other so regularly
that I am sure that during this period many communications would have been
exchanged on the subject. However, both
his parents and other friends and family were very disturbed by his
conversion, and it seems likely all
letters on the subject were destroyed.
It is interesting to note here that we learn from much later
correspondence that his sisters, after much deliberation, were baptised into
the established church.]
London April 21st 1855
Dear Emily
My time with Mr Braithwaite is now drawing quickly
to a close indeed the 26th I believe is strictly speaking the last
day. I dare say he will ask me to stay a
little longer with him but as I have had my full time with him I think I ought
not to exceed more than a week so as just to finish what I have been lately
engaged upon. Barristers often ask their
pupils to stay a little longer but from what I hear from others it is more as a
compliment than anything else & is not often done unless in cases of
particular friendship or connection. I
think that looking back on the last six months I have effected what I hoped for
in regard to law and tho’ another subject has much occupied my thoughts and no
doubt for about a month or 6 weeks prevented me giving my whole mind to my work
at chambers I really think I have learned a good deal with Mr Braithwaite. The good town of London has during the past
week been turning out of doors and diverting to its very bustling life into a
channel somewhat different from the ordinary one in order to do all honour to
their Imperial Majesties our late visitors.
Their reception has certainly been a most imposing and unmistakable
welcome and the extreme fineness of the weather has been very favourable to all
the public out of doors displays. On Thursday morning I went with Thornely into
St James Park to see them enter & return from Buckingham Palace on their
way from Windsor to receive the city address. I scarcely saw the Empress who
seems to have won all hearts by her kind gentle face & learning but I saw
the Emperor very well. They were in a
closed carriage which was rather disappointing to many. This was all that I saw
of them. Heath & Thornely went to
the Crystal Palace to see them. The
former is a season ticket holder & the latter had a shareholder’s
ticket.
On
Sunday I went to see the Bow family and found only Mrs John Green at home tho’
Frank & Fanny came in afterwards.
Uncle John did not come in while I was there but he is at present at
home. They seemed all well.
I cannot exactly tell what day I shall have the
pleasure of coming home. The lectures as
I have told you close on the 8th and I think that it will be
somewhere about that time. I do not think I have any literary communications to
make to you or anything indeed to say of “news”. I have been reading a little
book lately which has pleased me very much “Fabiola or the Church of The
Catacombs” an account of the Roman Church during the persecutions commenced by
Dioclesian & followed up by Maximin.
It is by Cardinal Wiseman and gives a great deal of information and is
beautifully written. I have lent it to
Meadows Martineau at present. On
Wednesday evening I met Mr & Mrs Leydon Lewis neither of whom I have seen
for a considerable time. I saw in the Examiner last week an account of Mrs
Jameson’s Book “Sisters of Charity. Catholic & Protestant”. They spoke very well of it both as an
interesting and as a fair book. I have not seen it myself. Wills tells me he has heard that Mrs H
Holland was too soon allowed to see company and that the excitement of visitors
was the cause of the sad end of her short life. I wonder whether this is
true. It will be a mournful thing to
think of for those who managed matters which from we heard was Lady
Holland. But I do not know how far
accounts of this kind can be depended on.
I hope you have been all well enough to enjoy the bright pleasant week
of sunshine we had had.
With best love to all
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/44]
London June 2nd 1855
Dear Mother
I am sure I did not forget last Monday was your
birthday and tho’ I could not write on Sunday as there was no post I thought of
you a great deal on Monday. I hope you
will go to the seaside somewhere if you feel that it will do you good and I am
sure a little blow at some lively pleasant bathing place if any such are to be
found will not fail in doing something towards setting you up. This week we have had quite a return of the
cold wet weather and so my complaints of being over-weighted in under garments
were rather premature. I went and saw Dr Powell the day after I arrived here
and had a consultation with him about my ailings. He acknowledged that the
glands were rather swollen but thought they were better than they were some
time ago and that nothing could be done better than bathing them in brine which
I have not neglected to do. As to the
other I am sorry to say that your opinion was pronounced correct and that the
bare place tho’ originally owing to the cause I mentioned is now clearly a case
of ringworm. I hope I have not given it
to anyone at home but it will be well to be on the look out. He has given me some lotion for it corrosive
[…] which he said would be quite effectual and I think it is much better
already. I shall go again to see him
tomorrow or the next day. I called to
see Anna last night (I called before but she was not in) and found her
flourishing and I should think enjoying herself but I dare say she will have
written a full account of her proceedings.
I have not yet heard anything more about Sir J Romilly’s son but I know
Mr Case has asked Mr Key to speak again about it and I expect I shall hear by
tomorrow. I will let you know as soon as
I know anything decisive myself. My
occupation this week has chiefly been reading law. There are several books and
very useful & necessary ones which I shall be glad to have some time to
read and which I was not able to find time for while I was at Mr B’s. I have not been to see him yet but I shall go
soon & remove some books which I left there. Anna says she saw J Thornely at the Princess
Theatre on Thursday night with his Aunt & sister but I have not seen any of
my young friends except Wills. I hope I
shall spend a useful & profitable three months as I quite agree with what
you say in your letter that time is flying with me. I feel it very much.
Allowing all that can be said in favour of this war
as being just as necessary to be true still the slaughter & loss of life
that is going on is really fearful. I must say that Mr Gladstone’s speech made
a great impression on me and I think he proved satisfactorily that all the
objects for which we went to war have been attained. It seems as if in war we were led on step by
step to attempt far more & demand far more than we thought of at
first. It gradually becomes a point of
honour instead of necessity to gain some great success nothing will satisfy
public impatience & expectation but some great disaster inflicted on the
enemy which is an object quite separate from repelling aggression. I know it may be said that our course in the
Black Sea is the best calculated to prevent aggression for the future & so
to anticipate the possible causes & origins of future wars but I cannot say
this has been clearly made out.
I do not think I have anything very particular to
tell of myself but I know you will say that such a speech is uncalled for and that I ought always to have plenty to
tell of myself. I am sure I always do
try to tell you what I am feeling and if I do not I suppose it is my nature
which is not so free of expression as some are.
I hope all the London visits will turn out well & happily
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/45]
London June 7th 1855
Dear Mother
As I have now heard definitely tho’ I am sorry to
say unfavourably in regard to Sir J Romilly’s son I write to let you hear the
result. Prof. Key hears from his Honor
that he has made a satisfactory and for the present a permanent arrangement for
the tuition of his son. This was some time
ago now indeed it must have taken place just about the time I first heard that
he was not yet settled. I am sorry it
has turned out as it has done but Prof. Key tho’ a very kind & obliging man
is rather forgetful & wanting in promptness.
In regard to the other matter about which you wrote
I really think there is an improvement. Dr Powell thought so too and I assure
you that in general health I feel as well & sound in every way as can
be. I think the brine does my neck
good. If you would really like & think
it advisable to spend a fortnight at Llandudno in the autumn I am sure I should
be very glad to go with you. I think a
stay there would be quite enjoyable and a few dips in the salt ocean good for
us all. You do not perhaps know how much
the tickets for the Princess Theatre have been bought up. I believe it is now difficult to get any for
sometime to come. I will do what I can
if Emily & Annie wish to see Henry
VIII but I am afraid that unless I knew some time beforehand what night exactly
they would go it will not be very easy to manage. I am going to call in Keppel Street this
evening I daresay you have heard of their safe arrival.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/46]
London June 9th 1855
Dear Father
I suppose now you have parted company with your
young charges and have a house at all events as quiet as well maybe. I will go & meet Emily & Annie on
Monday on their arrival as it will be perhaps easier for them if I do so. I have not seen any paper this morning but
there was a rumour last evening (not mentioned in the evening papers) that the
allied troops have entered the outer lines of Sebastopol. I do not exactly know what this may denote
but following close on the intelligence that the bombardment had recommenced it
may be that some important success has been achieved. There was a call to the bar at the Middle
Temple on Wednesday at which I was present. I knew two out of the six
candidates for forensic distinction and so celebrated the occasion in due &
becoming solemnity and rejoicing. I do
not think there are so many called to the bar now as used to be called about 5
or 6 years ago but I do not know whether this may not be owing to a diminution
in the number of the merely “ornamental” which the requisite of attending
lectures or passing an examination has brought about. I do not think there is anything in the new
system which can in any way stand in the way of those who really think of
making the law their profession. Have
you made arrangements for having the Evening Mail last and sending it on to me
? if so I shall be very glad as I have
been buying it and if you can conveniently let me have it regularly it will
dispense with my getting it and answer my purpose quite as well. I think if I remember right you do not think
of coming this way till the latter part of July. I rather think Mr Stansfeld may be away and
if so you might easily if you like or want to do so stay in the Provost Road a
night or two. Indeed even if he is at home this summer weather I dare say we
might manage very well. When you are so
far on your way southwards as Maidstone why should you not push over the briny
sea and visit the metropolis of our brethren in arms or the rivals in arts to
adopt the recognised antithesis. You
have never been in Paris and if you thought it at all prudent in the purest
aspect of our affairs I think you would not find it so very expensive. I fancy the outcry about high prices has been
exaggerated as it always is. As you read
the same medium of public intelligence as I myself do you will know quite as
much about the “Exposition” as I do. I
think the Exposition des beaux arts is very fine. The picture in the Academy by
the young painter Leighton which the queen has bought I admire very much indeed
but I do not think Anna quite agrees with me.
I did not go with her then as I had been before they came to
London. The book I am most engaged upon
at present is White & Tudors Leading Cases in Equity which the reader in
Equity very strongly recommended and indeed he always makes it a part of his examination. It is very full and I have found it very
instructive.
Chas Murch was called this week. He is
a member of the Inner Temple. I do not see much of him.
With best love
Believe me
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/47]
London June 19th 1855
Dear Mother
I hope the household is in a better way now than it
was some time ago the last letter from Ellen to Anne which I saw on Saturday
was more encouraging but I am afraid you have had rather a bustling anxious
close of the half year. I had a note on Friday from Mr Hy Jackson asking me to
go & spend Sunday at Barnes & stay the night there . I called on him at his chambers in Lincoln’s
Inn on the Saturday and gave a personal answer to his invitation. I like him very much and hope I shall see him
again in the course of time. I think
Emily & Annie have been very much pleased with him. He is so ready to open
out & talk and has it seems to me a very well stored & cultivated mind.
He talks of going round to sessions for a year or two after he has been called
to gain a little practise in speaking and I know several who have done the
same. The only objection to it is that
it takes one away from London and the chance of clients there and is a
considerable expense though I suppose there is no absolute necessity for him to
take an active part in the profession he seems quite to have the intention of
doing so and I think quite rightly. I
believe people are much happier and get through more work of other kinds too if
they have some regular obligatory employment.
Emily & Annie are quite enjoying themselves and yesterday morning I
returned with them to town in the omnibus they being bound for Made
Martha Groom. There is no difficulty in
reaching town by the omnibus and the time taken up does not much exceed an
hour. I am just setting out for the
library at the Middle Temple where I shall pass most of the day. I hope Anna
will not feel lonely but no doubt there will be a difference in living by
herself & in having Aunt & Katherine to support her. I am much obliged to you for sending the
newspaper regularly. The plan will do
for me very well & I hope that you have time to see it. I feel myself at present that there is some
difficulty in getting through so much work each day as when I was in
chambers. Tho’ there is the lecture yet
somehow I feel a greater temptation to be listless and desultory but of course
I try to resist this as much as possible for it will never do on any
account. I do not mean that I am idle
but there is a desire to look into different books and subjects rather than to
keep to those which lie before me and are necessary and not merely matter of
curiosity. I believe Aunt Powell has
returned from Sidmouth but I have not yet seen her. Mr Frank Thornely will be married next week
at Warwick to Miss Heath & I think most who know both parties regard him as
a fortunate man. Also Mr David
Martineau of Tulse Hill is about to be married shortly to one of the Miss
Scotts of Stourbridge so that with one marriage or the other almost all my
young male friends will be taken up. David Martineau is a cousin of my friend
Meadows. I met Harry Holland in the
Temple the other day. He looked changed but greeted me kindly and asked what I
was doing. Miss Holland is pretty well he said. He told me that if he had to
choose his time again he should have adopted Equity & Conveyancing as he
thinks the Common Law Branch of the profession is not nearly so good an opening
at present. From all I hear I think this
is so but it may have the effect of course of attracting a great number of the
former branch. I hope your next letter
will tell me that you are all well and more comfortable in all respects.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip
Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/48]
London July 21st 1855
Dear Mother
I am afraid that the absorbing nature of the
intelligence which has formed the object of my letters lately has allowed much
room for other matter. I still like my
change of abode and do not expect any evil effects from the river. I am glad to see by the paper this morning
that after five years from next December the Thames will no longer be polluted
in the way it now is but that London is to have the advantage which it has by
nature a pure and plentiful river flowing through its midst. Richd Hutton is living in chambers
in the Temple now and the other evening I went to call upon him. I have not been seeing any one lately except
the Ashton Yates on whom I called last Sunday. Mr A and one of the Miss were
intending to set off for Ireland the next day on a visit to Mrs Musgrave and
will be absent some time. I feel to be
spending my time usefully and profitably & tho’ one always thinks that more
might have been effected I do not know how I could be doing better than I
am. I have not yet fixed anything
for October. I shall have a talk with
Wm Fowler one of the Quakers I knew at University College who is
getting on at the bar very well indeed and would be a very good person to ask
advice of as to whom to read with. It is
pleasant being able to see Wills and Martineau whenever I like. I generally go out before they are here in the
morning and do not return till after they leave but still I can always stay
till they come. I suppose you have had
Sydney Smith’s life in the society. I have read several reviews of the book
which have spoken very well of it. Sydney Smith himself had such an union of
qualities which command success in life and are so sure to conciliate popular
favour to their possessor that the interest felt in his biography does not
cause surprise. But in spite of the
constant cheerfulness and genial temperament which he no doubt possessed &
made his home and society so pleasant and in spite of the clear insight and
undistorted judgment which exposed so many shams & untrue pretences I have
not discovered any indications of sensibility to the higher aims of Christian
excellence & the aspect of renunciation which they involved.
I hope you will go somewhere these holydays. I am
sure it is much better for all to have a change of scene now and then
particularly when life is one of comparatively little variety. I suppose the
Longs are all returned from the Lakes. I do not think it is likely I shall go
anywhere this autumn except home which is in fact a complete change for me and
which I am sure I enjoy as much as anywhere. I dare say it will not be till
nearly the end of August that I shall leave London. The lectures will close
before that time but I do not think I shall leave till the time I mention.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/49]
London July 28th 1855
Dear Father
Mr Ryan called here the other day but as it was the
middle of the day I was away. I wrote asking him to call Thursday evening as I
thought he might want to hear something or ask something. I told him he would
have to take charge of Charley Powell* and that I thought the school opened
next week but that I would write and let him know next Monday. I hope he will be satisfactory to you as the
first interview I had with him and the account Mr Woodman gave disposed to
think he would at least more so than any other I had met with. I shall be
curious to hear what he does turn out. I could just fancy it would be as well
not to be too familiar & easy with him at first as I think he has a fair
opinion of himself but really I hardly like to prejudge you in his regard
either one way or the other. I have been
hoping sincerely all this week that your visit to Derbyshire has not had to
suffer from the profuse rain we have had here.
Today it has quite cleared off & promises to be fine but the steady
wet of the last week has made me often think how you were faring. Bright showery weather is not unpleasant but
steady wet is damping to the spirits as well as the skin. As the “colony” here in Harcourt Buildings
take the Times I think I need not trouble you to send the Evening Mail but if
there is anything important which I should like to keep I will let you know.
Tomorrow I am going to dine with the Asplands.
Last Sunday I called at the James’ in Wimpole Street. Mr James was out but I saw Mrs James who was
kind in her inquiries & manner. I have not been at all at the house this
year however one cannot always expect that in London where people are so busy
and have so many acquaintances they must keep up.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
Let me know on Monday when the school opens that I
may write to Mr Ryan
*[Son of Henry’s sister Emily]
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/50]
Temple August 1st /55
Dear Mother
I have arranged about Mr Ryan & Charlie Powell
and they will arrive tomorrow by the 10 o’clock train from London. I shall go to the station and introduce them
to one another or rather put the latter of them in charge of the former. The offer which the Miss Yates’ have made is
a very kind one indeed and I am sure we shall feel grateful for the help it
will be. I do not hear much of what
Harry’s plans are but Aunt told me that Mr Jas. Powell had thought it would be
a very good thing for him to prepare himself for the examination for the civil
service in India. He has time enough as
he is too young by some years to compete.
I had a pleasant afternoon and evening at the
Asplands on Sunday Tom Harvey was there and several people called in the
evening. J Harvey is I think very comfortably settled with Mr Parker and from
his conversation and the account he gives me he is evidently working hard and
with a taste and capacity for his business.
I think tho’ I do not know Enoch very well that Tomkas quite the best
abilities of any of the Harvey family. I have not yet settled what to do in
October. Fowler seems not in all respects to recommend Mr Corte with whom he
read as he is such an old fashioned practitioner. J Roget as I think I told was with a brother
of Prof. De Morgan who is a conveyancer and I find yesterday that James
Thornely also read with him. The
Newcomers has come to a close today in perhaps rather an abrupt way but it is
really a very beautiful number with a genuine pathos in parts which the author
does not often manifest or if he does qualifies it with what is disagreeable
mocking. I was tempted to purchase the collection of the Times correspondents
letters from the seat of war in the East and then it struck me that perhaps my
father has bought them and that at any rate it is worth while mentioning as soon
as possible that I have got them. I
think it will be interesting work so far as the war itself is interesting to
read again a connected account of it.
The Asplands will be leaving town soon for the
North. Mrs A & the children were
much better for their stay in the neighbouring county of Essex or Middlesex I
forget which (if the latter of course not neighbouring) They were all very kind
and pleasant.
I am working away and am quite well. I do not find that my hair comes off so much
now nearly as it did and the worst part has I think been stopped long ago. I have not yet got any shirts but shall
before long. There are at least seven
that are wearable tho’ a little the worse for wear. I have some very nice woollen waistcoats not
so thick as the others.
Believe me dear Mother
Yours very affectionately
John Philip
Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/51]
London August 13th 1855
Dear Mother
I am sorry that I have let so long a time elapse
without writing but I did not think that it was so long as it was. I need not say that your anxiety about my
health has no ground for being aroused. I saw the Powells* a day or two before
their removal when they were quite in the bustle of it. They had just had a communication from
Alderman Wire about the presentation to Christ Church for Edward but had not
had a decided offer of it so that your letter was first intelligence I had of
the matter being finally decided. Though
my last letter necessarily contained something about Mr Ryan and Charlie yet I
had the impression that there was something besides you do not say anything
about him which makes me think that you do not altogether like him or find him
suitable to your purposes. I think I
shall return home before the end of this month as the place is very dull hardly
anyone here and I think I can do what I have to do in the way of reading very
nearly as well at home. I have not yet
decided who to read with after the summer vacation really there is no hurry
about it and I do not know that there is any advantage in settling the matter
very long before I am ready to go. At present I incline to Mr Coote whose name
I think I mentioned to you. Thornely & A Holt went on Saturday to Paris for
a stay of 10 days or a fortnight. They will be there during the Queens visit
and no doubt will scarcely notice that they are in a foreign city so many
English faces & ejaculations will present themselves at all hands. Wills has come back to chambers after the
labours of the Midland circuit. He had
some briefs to defend. Lieut. Austin who
you may remember was Governor of the Birmingham Gaol and made use of modes of
prison discipline which were not authorised by the law and were by the public
& the commissioners appointed to examine into the matter considered
unnecessarily cruel and harsh. A long
interval has elapsed before Lieut. Austin was put upon trial for the charges
made against him and certainly if all his offence is what appears in evidence I
think public opinion and the commission were unduly severe upon him. One of the facts which seemed so shocking the
suicides among the prisoners subjected to the discipline ordered by him have it
appears continued during the administration of his successor when the cause to
which they were formerly attributed has ceased to exist. I was very glad to see Willy Powell so
successful at the school for the final year he has spent there. I saw him the
evening I was at the Powells and with his prizes. I always thought from the little I saw of him
that he must have very good mental powers and tho’ rather shy he is a very
pleasant boy to speak to and have any thing to do with. I do think it is hard
for [sic] Mr Saner with his (reported) £60,000 and all his family well &
prosperously settled in the world to insist upon the Powells paying his
annuity. I am sure it was never thought
at the time that it would continue at any rate beyond Dr Powell’s life or
indeed so long as it has done. You probably know as much of their affairs as I
do as no doubt Aunt Mardon or Powell has told you the same as they told me. I
did not forget dear Emily’s birth day tho’ it was a silent remembrance a poor
evidence you will say of my affection.
Was it 6lbs of tea you want. I am not sure that I have the letter in
which you mentioned it before. If you
want the eye glasses I shall be very glad to do anything for you I can. I shall
I think want some more money but I will let you know again. I did pay for Mr
Ryan’s journey. How is dear Grandmother now and is Aunt Anna come home again
With best love
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
*[Emily Jane Green married Henry Powell in 1836.
Henry came from a non conformist and medical background originating in Kent and
Chichester. He was apprenticed to James Saner in 1822 and gained his MRCS from
Edinburgh in 1829 after which he practised in Whitechapel before going into
partnership with Saner at 36 Finsbury Square.
He died suddenly aged 48 in June 1855 and thereafter Emily Jane lived
with her sister Ann Mardon. . They had one daughter Emily and six sons. Emily
was educated at the school of her aunts Elizabeth & Louisa Green in
Maidstone. Sadly she was admitted to a mental institution and was detained
there until her death at 90. Henry was a solicitor, William was a doctor in
Torquay, Thomas went to the Cape and died there, Charles Saner became a tea
merchant in Amoy China, and it was his daughter to married Arthur Tanner, Edward first went to Cape Town in 1867 but
returned by 1871 and then later went to New Zealand and Alfred Septimus was in
the cotton industry.]
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/52]
London August 18th /55
Dear Father
I am afraid it was not quite “en regle” not to
acknowledge the receipt of the packet of deeds* which you sent however they
arrived all safe and the same day I took them to the office of the Widows Fund.
They wished them left for the solicitor of the Company to inspect and so Mr Cox
gave me a receipt for them and they will be ready to be returned towards the
end of next week as the solicitor will not call before Thursday. Mr Cox seemed to think the matter all plain
& straight forward enough. Mrs Woolley does not seem to have been long a
contributor of premium in consideration of her insurance but I am glad there
has not been any difficulty about the matter for my Grandfather or for
you. I do not see any thing in the way
of my coming home at the end of next week or the beginning of the following and
so you may consider that to be the time of my visit. I had a call from Robert
Holland this morning with a black leather bag with which as he said he was
going marketing in the Borough Market.
It certainly is the way of conveying vegetable marrows and peas and
cucumbers which is least likely to betray a young man’s errand. We read in Lt. Hardwicke’s life that when he
was in an attorney’s office in London where he was rather supported by his
master that the wife used to send him for vegetables to Covent Garden Market
till increasing years and sense of the becoming led him to charge “cab hire to
& from Covent Garden” in his accounts with his master and this made the
good lady feel that to employ the young lawyer was not the most economical way
of conveyance for the necessary vegetable supplies. Holland was quite pleased with my location
and with the quick observation with which he is gifted and called forth by his
present life he told me more about the contents of the room and the various
pictorial & zoological trophies with which it is furnished than I had
noticed in 6 weeks time. Wills is not here
very much in the day as he generally takes his wife out a walk in the afternoon
and indeed there is little occasion for a lawyer to be at chambers. The bustle of lawyers in term time has now
subsided into perfect calm & most of them are no doubt in Switzerland Paris
or forgetting pleas & […] in the noble ambition of winging the tribes of
air and filling their bags with blackcock instead of with briefs. If it would be of service to you that I
should be at home by Saturday I would do so but I rather want to see and settle
some matter with Meadows Martineau who does not return till the Friday and it
is uncertain whether he will make his appearance at chambers the first
day.
There is some news in the Paper this morning which
perhaps you will not hear before my letter reaches you that the Russians under
Liprandi attacked the allied position along the Tchernayne on the 18th
but were repulsed with great loss or as the English account says with a loss of
4.000 or 5.000. None of our troops were
engaged but only the Sardinians & French.
I dare say the Sardinians were glad of the change which active service
must cause in the spirits of soldiers.
It must have been very tedious work not to be called to take any
important or responsible part in the operation and to see a large portion of
their force cut off or debilitated by cholera and sickness. Another dispatch is from Gen. Simpson to the
effect that he & Pelissier had determined to open fire again that day (the
18th ) along the whole line.
The weather is very warm and the river a little
oppressive but Robert Holland does not think sulphurette & hydrogen has any
bad effect on the human system and that the river is not really hurtful to
health.
With best love
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
Tell Annie that I have got her music from Mrs Groom
*[In 1808 Henry’s father John, and his brothers Samuel and William, inherited property in Thurnham in Kent from
their Uncle Samuel Jones. Sam Jones also left £1000 to be invested in 3%
consols the interest from which was to go to them and thereafter to their children
and their children’s children. John
Green was the last surviving executor of the will, and on his death Henry was obliged to take
over the role. The problem on which he
asked John Philip to get advice was that William had his daughter had taken out
a mortgage against their share of the money to aid his son, this was not
allowed under the terms of the will but had obviously taken place without
John’s knowledge. William had now got
into difficulties with repayments on the mortgage and wanted to have his share
of the money – however Henry could not agree to this without the consent of all
the parties concerned. Henry kept a
letter book containing his side of all the correspondence which continued well
into the 1860s – see appendix B]
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/53]
London August 20th 1855
Dear Father
I find that I shall want as much as £20 to settle
what I owe and to get some clothes and a hat &c I am sorry it is so large a sum. I suppose I
had better bring back the deeds if I get them from the Widows Fund Office or
will there be any necessity for them to remain here for any further
inspection. I should think not as far as
I understand the matter. You may expect
me I think on Saturday if you can conveniently let me have the money on Friday
morning. I had quite a disappointment yesterday afternoon. I thought I should like to see Kew Gardens
for once this year and so embarked on a steamer but at Chelsea we had to wait
an hour & a half for another boat and as the tide was unfavourable we did
not arrive at Kew till six and there was scarcely time to reach the gardens at
all and I could only get a hurried walk through part of them.
Believe me
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/54]
London August 22nd /55
Dear Mother
I received your letter safely with the enclosed
order on Williams & Co for which I am thankful to you.
I will attend to the things you mention in your letter before I leave
and as to my hair I feel sure it is now all right. When I spoke of it before I
meant only that it had not ceased coming off but at present the quantity that
comes off is much less than it has been for a long time. I cannot detect any
remains of bare places and feel sure that there is nothing more to fear on this
account. I still however occasionally
use the lotion. I quite feel that I have
no right to apply allowances which I have from you to purposes other than those
for which they were intended and necessary to myself. I have felt this
for some time past and except some books which perhaps I should not otherwise
have purchased (an expense which will not occur again) and the necessary
contribution to public worship I do not think I have incurred any expenditure
on this head. I should I think prefer
coming on Monday to coming on Saturday as you say that there will not be any
difficulty at home but I beg that if there will be any inconvenience that you
will let me know for it is a matter almost tho’ I cannot say quite indifferent
to me. I have not Bradshaws’ Guide so
cannot tell now what train I shall probably travel by but when I have fixed I
will let you know again
With best love
Your’s very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/55]
Birmingham August 25th /55
Dear Mother
You will perhaps be surprised to see me dating from
Birmingham but I thought I should like very much to call on Dr Newman and as
Birmingham is not much out of my way on my journey northwards I have put up
here for a night or two. I have only
just arrived & have not had time to look about me but I have taken up my
abode at a very nice pleasant little inn about a mile out of Birmingham &
near Edgbaston which Wills recommended to me.
All the inns from what I hear are quite full with people coming to the
Musical Festival which begins next Monday.
Greenhow is staying here at the Rob. Martineau’s and tomorrow I shall
call upon him. I shall at any rate come
home on Monday morning and by a train which arrives at Chelford at 1.45 that
seems to be the one which will be most likely to fall in the best with my dear
sister’s plan of coming to meet me on my way from Chelford. We have had a very heavy rain here but the
evening is very fresh after it and Edgbaston seems from a passing glance quite
a pleasant suburb.
With best love
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/56]
The Road to Chelford
Oxford Octr 14th /55
Dear Mother
I am sorry to have given you the trouble of
forwarding my scissors but I shall be very glad to have them. I am enjoying my
visit to this ancient University very much. I am not living in the college but
Thorley (who is very kind and obliging in every way) engaged me a room almost
opposite Wadham College to sleep in.
Most of today we have been walking about the place and seen I think
almost every college of any importance and I did not know till we returned that
the dinner hour today was at 5 ¼ which only leaves me a few minutes to sit down
to write whereas I hoped to have time for a proper letter. I will try & find time this evening or in
the morning before leaving to write more fully.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/57]
Oxford Oct 15th /55
Dear Mother
I hope you received the letter I wrote yesterday
which I wrote in good time tho’ I had some fears that it was not put into the
post in good time. Wadham College is not
one of the most ancient of the Oxford Colleges but it is a very compact and
pleasant place and Thorley’s rooms are very comfortable and cheerful. About five on both days I dined in hall at
the fellows’ table at which were present the sub.warden and two fellows besides
Thorley. The scholars &
undergraduates dined at tables along the hall which is a fine one with a dark
oak roof and pictures of the eminent men in various provinces of human activity
whom the college has produced. The
fellows were very pleasant easy men and not formidable at all one of them of
the name of Ross a very odd man who lives almost a hermit life in regard to
solitude and is learned in almost all sciences especially oriental
language. After dinner in the common
room (to which we ascended by a rather awkward winding stair which is a pretty
good evidence that the fellows do not indulge very much in various excitements
as persons in such a stale world find considerable difficulty in ascending
& descending) the same individual Ross poured himself forth in continuous
talk which was very curious and often very funny. He was really rather an oddity in spite of
his great learning. This morning Thorley
is engaged with his classes and so I am writing this in the Union a sort of literary
club to which he brought me. Yesterday
after the morning I was chiefly engaged in walking about with him and seeing
the various buildings & gardens attached to them. The college gardens are often a great part of
the charm of these places and just at this time they are looking very
well. A very frequent ornament on the college
walls is a large virginia creeper which I dare say you admire very much. I did not go to service at any of the chapels
but saw one or two of them just before the service began. Merton and Magdalen have both of them very
beautiful Chapels. The latter college
has had large additions made to it & a gateway designed by Pugin. I have not attempted to see Miss Chapman as I
have not her address and do not know that it would particularly admirable to do
so. Thorley had several men from other
colleges yesterday morning to breakfast with him one of the name of Brydges a
fellow of Oriel whom I liked very much and Stowe a scholar of Wadham &
brother of Stowe who was an agent of the Times & correspondent in the
Crimea & whose untimely death was mentioned a little while ago. I shall leave for town this afternoon so that
any letters may after this be sent there for me. I am glad to say that I have
not had any trouble with my cold which has entirely passed off. It would have been a very unpleasant visitant
on such an occasion. There is a good
deal of building and restoration going on in several of the colleges and
altogether from what I can learn a much more active & stirring spirit
abroad in Oxford than that which prevailed thirty or forty years ago.
Goodbye dear mother & may God bless you all
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/58]
London Oct 17th /55
Dear
Mother
I
am writing a few lines as perhaps you will be glad to hear that I accomplished
the second stage of my journey in safety.
On my arrival here on Thames Bank as you say I found the fire blazing
brightly & the chambers bearing a more cheerful appearance than a solitary
abode might be expected to do to any one who has been living for some weeks in
a household of people. The eggs happily
survived their transit unfractured and owing to the absence of friend
Maximilian I seem likely to have to consume them myself. In regard to Westward
Ho you have decidedly been excessive in your imagination. The simple fact was
that Mr Siddeley called my attention to the book & as I thought I might
have time to read it and that at any rate some at home might wish to read it I
brought it with me. However I did not find that just the last day before my
departure it would be convenient to read a 3 vol book and as at 10 in the
evening when I looked for the first volume I presumed from not seeing the book
about that some one had taken it upstairs with them I gave up thoughts of
reading it. I did not think it would be worth
while to make any push to read the book as in regard to matters of history I
prefer the facts which sober writers inform us of as the result of their
investigation rather than fictitious representations however brilliant and
admirable in the incidental details. Several things which I read in the second
volume would be considerably neutralised or explained by any history of
character. The only person at chambers
is Meadows who returned from his Kent sojourn yesterday. Greenhow & Wills are at sessions and will
return at the end of the week. The latter has been having trouble with his
servants two of whom gave him notice during his absence in Yorkshire and so you
would not have stood alone among persons of my acquaintance had your
anticipated change come to pass. I have
not seen anyone yet except a few of my young friends. I will not forget about the will but will see
to it as soon as ever I can as also my own arrangements for the next period of
time. About the money I shall I think
have quite enough and when I spoke to my father I did not mean that I had not
plenty for some time but only that I might want some. A quarters’ rent here and
my dinner account for the past year and lectures fees for the ensuing year will
of course make some hole into what I now have but I shall have enough after
these are settled. We shall soon be in the midst of early darkness in the
afternoons as in London the fine October days which are so enjoyable in the
country are too often obscured by fogs.
I dare say you have had very pleasant weather (except one day) since I
left. London wears its usual face of
bustle & care & hurry but after a few days it ceases to excite our
notice and I shall be one of its working ingredients again & go to make
part of its aspect. Where is Harry Powell now if I knew I would write to tell
that just at present he had better call in the morning if he would be sure of
my being at chambers.
With
best love
John
Philip Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/59]
London Oct 20th /55
Dear Father
I went this morning to the Widows Fund Office and
find that if I attend at 3 on Thursday I shall receive the £100 which of course
I shall invest without delay. Mr Cox
says that he shall be much obliged by having the date of the probate of my
grandfather’s will (as proved on &c sworn under &c) as he has mislaid
the copy which he had 3 months ago. Perhaps as it is not a long will you might
send a copy of it so that all may be right on Thursday but of course it is Mr
Cox’s fault for not having taken care of the copy which he had when the
instrument was left with him. The
newspaper I shall pay for tonight or as soon as I am in that part of the
town. I wrote to my grandmother
Brandreth this afternoon and sent a copy of the will as altered by the
suggestions I have received but the substance is exactly the same. I have
determined to go to Mr Braithwait again and settled the matter this morning
with him so that on Monday you may address me at No.3 New Square once more. I inquired about Mr
Corte and from what I hear he is rather too old to read with, not that his
powers are impaired but he is less active and does not much care for pupils now
also he does not settle dress with his pupils which is a great disadvantage. On the whole from what I hear from my
different friends who have read with conveyancers Mr Braithwaite is as
satisfactory a master as I shall easily find and as that is the case having
already read with him is a reason for going again there will be no risk which
there would be in going to a new man. I
think it will even now be better to direct to me at Mr B’s as the post does not
always arrive here so soon as I should want to go out.
With best love to all
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
Tell my grandmother to put her name immediately at
the end in the space between the last line and
the part beginning “signed by the &c then In witness whereof &c
this ---day of October AB 1855 (testatrix’s signature)
Signed by the said testatrix as her last will &c
&c
(witnesses’ signature)
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/60]
London Oct 22nd 1855
Dear Mother
The will as to the question you raise is I am sure
quite right. If you will read it again you will I think see that the £500 is
only to be a charge at all in the event of Anna* surviving. If this does not
happen there will be according to the form I have used no charge at all.
Perhaps the exception of the £500 from the subsequent gift is so over cautious
in this respect that it leads to a supposition of a doubt. But I truly believe that the will as it is now
expresses what is intended at least so far as I understand what is intended. I
have been all day at Mr Braithwaite, and just at present there is a good deal
of work in which awaits our labours upon it.
I am sorry to see this afternoon that Sir Wm Molesworth is dead as you
have perhaps seen from the paper he has been in danger a day or two and the
last account last night was that he was gradually sinking. He was a very eminent statesman and taken
away sooner than the nation can well afford to lose his talents and energy. I
think as I said in my letter to my father yesterday that it will be better
still to direct to New Square.
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
*[Anna Brandreth died in 1864 when a new will was
drawn]
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/61]
London Oct 27th /55
Dear Mother
Mr Romanie who as I dare say you know is our
landlord at Harcourt Buildings has given us notice that he does not intend any
longer to hold the Chambers from the Inner Temple Society. Wills however does not think of leaving but
of taking them himself and continuing the present arrangements. He will have to buy the fixtures & most
of the furniture from Mr Romanie and asked me through Martineau whether I
should be willing to furnish the bed room for myself. I do not feel that I shall be under any
obligation to do so as I think the rent is quite enough to command a furnished
room but still if it is at all probable that in a year or a year & a half I
shall have to furnish for myself I may as well accommodate him by procuring
some of the necessary articles for myself now. As it is of course uncertain
whether I shall find it more advantageous hereafter to sleep where I have my
room for the day or to get a bed room in another part of the town I should not
of course think of getting many things.
The reason I write to ask you about the matter is that if there are any
things at home that are not used now & not likely to be and that would come
in for me I might as well avail myself of them.
If I have to get a bed stead I should of course get an iron one. Is there that article or bedding that would
do or any other of the articles of bedroom furniture. There would not be much needed. I have not however quite determined to do
even so much as this and I said I would give an answer on Tuesday so if you can
without much inconvenience let me have a few lines on Monday morning I shall be
much obliged. You will not I am afraid
think this part of my letter very interesting.
We are going on very well at Mr B’s and hitherto there has been no lack
of work. I have been quite fully engaged
during the week that I have been here I quite feel that I am becoming more
familiar and “handy” at the work and after all conveyancing does not require
very high intellectual capacity but perseverance and cautious & attentive
use of certain forms of expression. As
to what you quote from Mr Kingsley’s book it is the expression of a sentiment
to a certain extent right but not one with which I agree in the turn which is
given to it there. It is quite clear from such passages as “what shall it
profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his own soul” “Working out your
salvation with fear and trembling” that to attain salvation ourselves is a
direct moving principle of conduct & life that it is a chief motive and
sanction to duty of every kind and that to contrast as things opposite the
consideration of future joys with other motives (whatever they are) of
obedience to the Divine will is idle declaration. To say that this consideration of danger to
the state of your own soul and anxiety as to what good state in the sight of
God really is makes men cowards in the post of trial makes them afraid to die
is quite ridiculous. I dare say you may
know that it did not deter that noble hearted man Campian from venturing into
the lions mouth by coming to England at all at such time as he did. He was put to the rack and after a trial
which Hallam in his Constitutional History says was about as unfair as any in
our history (which is saying a good deal). He was convicted of high treason on
evidence that on legal principles ought not to be attended to at all. Read his affecting trial & eloquent
speech in the State Trials and then you will see whether a Jesuit is afraid to
die. In the history of that society you
will find as noble instance of heroism as any either of ecclesiastical or
profane history and certainly I for one should choose my heroes among them in
preference to such buccaneering
adventurers as Amyas Leigh and
the like of them. (I am speaking now of what they are in history I have
no doubt in Westward Ho they are endowed with all kinds of nobility). One thing
I chanced to stumble upon in speaking incidentally of Pope Gregory XIII he adds
the ugly remark “before he had eaten himself to death” what his authority for
such a speech is I do not know certainly it was not for want of intellectual
capacity and pursuits that led that pontiff to indulge in eating (if it was so)
one thing we know of him that he reformed the calendar which reform England was 140 years in adopting for
the admirable reason that it was done by the pope. The book seemed to me to be full of racy
animal spirits nothing particularly elevating about it in a moral point of view and certainly in its tone and
mode of treating the subject matter one needing no particular great degree of
courage to write & publish in the present state of sentiment in this
country. However I shall be going on at
too great length so I will break off here & sending you all my best love
I remain
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/62]
London Oct 29th /55
Dear Father
The last day or two I have had some doubts whether
it will be the proper course merely to replace the sum of stock sold to my
grandfather and not to give the benefit of the fall in the price of stock to
the trust fund. The law is very strict as to the management of trust property
and the principle is undoubted that a trustee is not allowed to make any profit
out of a trust fund and that any accidental advantage which accrues from any
mode of dealing with it must not go to him.
It is not enough to say that my grandfather ran the risk of having to
replace the stock when its price might have risen. He did run that risk and
that among other things made the proceeding improper and unsafe to himself. I
asked Mr Braithwaite for his opinion on the point and he quite agreed with this
view and thinks that the safest way will be not to have any advantage or
benefit whatever from the management of trust property. Trustees must invest their trust fund in the
consolidated fund and keep it there unless the terms of the will or deed
expressly allow investment on other security and then they will be safe. I have
written to Mr Wm Green to
come on Friday that is to be at Messrs Sims & Hill on that day but I have
not at all raised this question. Before
then I can have your opinion & perhaps speak again with Mr B.
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/63]
London Nov 3rd /55
Dear Father
I dare say this morning you received the receipt of
the Bank from Messrs Sims & Hill. They said they would send it. I was not able to write to tell you of the
investment having been completed. I did
not see the transfer made but it was to take place at ½ past 2 and as my
presence was not needed to sign the book and as Messrs Sims & Hill gave me
the ordinary memorandum on receiving the money there was not any occasion for
me to stay. Mr Wm Green was
there and glad to see me & to hear of you.
When I first told him what I proposed doing he seemed to think it would
be quite sufficient to replace £100 consol. stock but I pointed out to him that
it would be right at least to reinvest the sums produced by the former sale
which I understand was £94. I have
thought a good deal about the matter & feel sure that more than this the
Trustee is not bound to do. The £100 the produce of the life policy is in no
sense trust property. His receipt of that & his dealing with Mrs Woolley to
secure the loan are not dealings with property subject to the trusts of the
will under which he acts but a transaction quite independent &
collateral. The trust property actually
dealt with was £94 the produce of the sale of the £100 consols and if this £94 is reinvested at equal or
lower rates then 94 per cent the trustee’s obligation legally & morally
seems to me performed. This then is what I did I invested £94 of the £100 I
received from the Assurance Office. Your
position as Executor of my grandfather is a trusteeship also and the £6 balance may legally & morally belong to
his estate & you have not any right to act in the matter from any motive of
mere generosity towards the Wm Greens. The question however remains whether the £6
belongs to my grandfather’s or to Mrs Woolley’s estate and in reference to this
we must look into the mortgage deed again.
I feel convinced it does not belong to the property administered under
Uncle Jones’ will. Mr Wm
Green seemed to think that the balance would
belong to him because he had given up the interest of the consols to Mrs
Woolley but I could not at all understand what he was aiming at or on what
principle he came to such a conclusion.
He quite agreed with me that £94 was the right sum to invest Messrs Sims
& Hill thought we were not bound to do more than buy £100 stock at present
prices but this point I felt clear about.
When I told Mr Wm Green that the question as to who is
entitled to the £6 still remains open it seemed to set him at rest and our
whole interview was quite pleasant & friendly in every way. One of the Miss Woolleys was present
also. As we are on legal matters I may
ask you to tell Anna that the chief practical distinction between tenants in
common & joint tents is that the shares of the former go to
their heirs or executors on their deaths but that the shares of joint tenants
dying go to the other or others of them if joint tenant may in his lifetime
convey his share but if he does not it will go on his decease to his fellow
joint tenant or joint tenants and his will will have no effect on it. There are
other differences but this is the great leading one. In the second volume of Blackston’s Commentaries
she will find it more fully explained & in a manner I have no doubt she
will understand. I have not yet decided
what to do as to furnishing as Wills was about to have a valuer & from his
estimate determine whether he would not do it himself & I hope he will
indeed. I do not feel inclined to do it
myself. We have had a week of very
disagreeable cold wet weather which I am happy to say has not affected me
unpleasantly but has made me enjoy a bright fire in the evening with the
greater rest. We are going on very well
in New Square. There are 4 pupils Stone & Howard who were there before
Seebohn of Swedish origin & myself but up to this time there has been
plenty to keep us all occupied. Harry
Powell* has not called for the parcel. I think I shall write him a note to
Somerset House and ask him to come and see me at Chambers. The courts began yesterday & the
neighbourhood is once more enlivened by the gentlemen in horsehair making about
from chambers to court & from one court to another in breathless haste
& with some loss of dignity. John Thornely
seems well after his vacation rambles which have been in different quarters of
that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland called
England. I hope you do not feel very
tired. I am afraid you will but I am sure that if you can manage to have some
pursuit that interests you besides it is much less tiresome & irksome. I
have not been reading anything since I came here except matter of a very dry
description & I think it will have to be so for the next year. The reason I have put two stamps on sometimes
is because my letter was just past ½ past 5 not because it was past ½ an ounce.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
*[Eldest son of Emily, Henry’s sister]
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/64]
London Novr 7th /55
Dear
Emily
I
was sorry to hear that you have been poorly but as the same letter bore news of
your being in a better way there was an element of consolation in the
account. I hope you are by this time
“out of the feathers” & looking at faces in the fire or round the
table. The last important intelligence I
have is that the gubernatorial Wills has been graciously moved to furnish his
son’s chambers bed room and all & that the quartet of legal abilities will sit
en permanence at No.4 for some indefinite period. One of them will “lie” there indeed not
professionally perhaps but physically. A
young lady of your reading will of course not forget that I have been
anticipating in getting double service out of the word by no less a person than
Sir H Wotton who defined ambassadors as persons sent to lie abroad for the
benefit of their country. I have during
this day been devoting my energies to providing a happy home (by means of a
marriage settlement) for the Revd H Heylar
Miss Harriet Swete (qy how long since sweet?) so that you can amuse
yourself by looking at their advertised union about the 21st. Before at Mr B’s we were always glad to see
that the event for which we had been so long preparing had really come off and
sometime we were afraid from not seeing the well known names in the looked for
place that some unhappy incident had frustrated our well meant exertions.
Perhaps the respective patres familias were not able to bring themselves to
make the necessary enunciations of lands & goods in favour of their
children or the sordid minded bridegroom tried to make too good terms for
himself or according to the gentler
language of the instructions “such an arrangement will scarcely be considered
free from difficulties by the gentleman’s solicitor”. I have been looking through the snob papers
again which first appeared in Punch & now are collected and really they are
very amusing. The author does not seem
to have great respect for the nestor of Equity Lord Eldon in fact he is so
unceremonious as to call him a sordid old snob language which I think ought to
call down the ire of the Bench of the Middle Temple of which society the said
author is an ancient but inactive member.
Mr B who has not a wide or deep acquaintance with the light literature
of the day (in fact I think he is like Mr Ranville
Ranville who reads Elucydides in
the holydays & does not quote any less serious work than Cicero De
Senectute giggles very deep down when I
repeated to him the treasonable & malicious dictum. It was not apropos of nothing that I
introduced the citation but apropos of a silver tankard which is one of the
heir looms in the Eldon family & was presented in 27 by that great &
good Monarch Geogio quartus to his trusty & well beloved cousin on his
retirement from the scenes which had known him so long.
Mr
B said that he never thought Ld Eldon had a very powerful head
nothing like (whom do you think?)
Napoleon
& Julius Caeser. I saw the Taylers
the other evening and saw Hannah’s sketches which I liked very much. The scenery of Normandy must in many respects
have great similarity to many parts of England.
There were also some engravings of those wonderful Norman Churches which
perhaps after all are the “great things” of the land. Tell Annie I was much obliged to her for her
letter & would have written to her but I was so vain as to think that you
would like a letter from me.
Yours
very affectionately
John
Philip Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/65]
London Novr19th
/55
Dear
Mother
I
intended to write on Saturday but have the invariable excuse to urge viz the
exacting J B.B. at whose side I was a close prisoner during the whole of that
day. I am very sorry to hear that you
have been so anxious about dear Emily.
By not hearing for nearly a week I concluded she was getting to look
like herself again. I trust that the sea
side will restore we can perhaps hardly say the roses to her cheeks but at any
rate her usual looks and will reinvigorate her after her illness. You will feel more retired and quiet than
ever without even the girls in the evening to awaken the tones of our
beneficent friend the piano or to fill the round table except about two yards
on the fireside of it. I do not think I
have seen anyone that you know. Of course I cannot call during the day & at
present I have law classes almost every evening which prevent me going out then
& indeed the evening is not a common time to call unless by
invitation. On Sundays again times do
not suit very well. Yesterday I intended to go to see the Yates but it was so
damp that I did not wish to risk increasing a little cold I have by going out a
second time. However I will do so as
soon as I can. I think of asking John Roget
to spend some evening with me soon. I
see him now & then and I have called to see him once or twice at his
chambers in Chancery Lane. You must not
think by this account that I am leading a very solitary life as I often see
young friends about the temple. J
Thornely sometimes calls for me at dinner time and Mr Rolston my friend of the
catalogues come to see me. Marshall
called on me one evening and we went to Julliene’s concert together. And then my friends in calf skin binding are
always at home waiting for me to converse with them. I am afraid I can hardly say of them that
they are “not harsh & cribbed as dull fools suppose, but musical as is
Apollo’s lute” but they are not so dull after all. In my opinion they are much more
interesting than dried plants or funguses but you will perhaps think this
rather an equivocal praise. I think I
told you I saw Murland & J Grundy at the Hall. They were looking very well & happy. I am finishing my note at chambers where I
found a note from Ellen giving a pleasant account of the party generally. They seem however to have had a visitation of
what you hoped they might avoid viz. fogs.
However I hope they will all be the better for it. You must not think
that I have any cold of any consequence I do not think that it is a cold but I
will take care you may be sure.
With
best love
Yours
very affectionately
John
Philip Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/66]
Lincoln’s Inn Nov 23rd 1855
Dear Annie
I hope you are going on comfortably at Southport
& feeling the benefit of fresher & more bracing air than can be enjoyed
in the neighbouring country of our birth.
But I suppose I ought to intend my hopes specially to the case of our
dear Emily as to the rest of you I have not understood that they are necessary. It is rather tantalizing to hear of fine open
days out of town while here we are living in a thick & dark atmosphere
which for about two months in the year really justifies the assertion of our
French friends that the Londoners never see the sun. I think November in London is not living it
is only continuing to exist but as I remember you have had experience of it I
need not enlarge upon the subject. Last night I went to the Forensic Society
where a grave matter of law was discussed which it would not at all interest
you to hear an account of. I suppose the
“sublime sands” stretch away in as great an expanse as ever dappled with little
pools (ie puddles) of water and marked with the traces most evident of shoeless
wanderers and animals of burthen of the lower rank. I have not seen your friend Mr Jackson again
yet I see he has advanced to the degree of barrister at law by the learned
& Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn last Saturday so that he will be a
peg higher when you next see him. I was
asked to a call party at our inn on the same evening but as I was afraid of not
being able to refrain from wishing our friend’s health & success in more
than two glasses of wine (which is the outside limit I believe that you allow)
that I avoided incurring your high displeasure. At Lincoln’s Inn your friend Mr
J was regaling his friends with rich claret which that Society furnishes in
great excellence but I have no doubt you would allow him 4 glasses considering
the circumstances. I do not think there would be any chance of a favourable
answer from Mr Braithwaite if I was to give him your message. I do not think he would ever recover himself
after such a shocking proposal. It would
be attended with as serious results as to ask a butler to black your shoes or
ascending from below stairs (as our ancestors called it) as to tell the
hospitable master of the house to bring you a plate. The first mentioned gentleman would be about
as much of his element in a ball room as you would be in the house of
commons. Have you asked at all whether
the 27th would suite the convenience of most people. It seems to me rather close upon the
principal festival of the year in England but you will be better able to judge
than I am. It will quite the same to me
when the day is and if on other accounts it would be well to have it near
Christmas I shall be glad enough to come then.
I suppose Isabella does not now condescend to patronize the donkey boys.
It always looks so pleasant to have an animal winching under the blows real or
apprehended of those merciless proprietors.
With best love to all of you
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/67]
London Decr 1st /55
Dear Mother
I had not forgotten Isabella’s question but I did
not understand that you wished an answer by return of post. I thought of waiting a few days. I should be able to ask some one else without
of course telling that it was on our own account. I think that either Hock or some light wine
would be very suitable.
I think they are often seen in London at such times
but you might perhaps have some other kind besides Hock Moselle is very nice
but I fear rather expensive. But I think in a week I could get to hear more
exactly and would let you know directly. I think the 8th would do
very well as far as I am concerned as I have said any time will do. I sent the
note to Heath & rather expected an answer this morning. He is as perhaps you know now living at home
at Warwick. Thornely has been in Manchester
at the Chancery sittings and only returned last night. I saw him this morning and he says that the
Thornely family have for many years met at their Uncle’s on New Year’s
day. When I mentioned the 8th
he said he was afraid he could not stay till then & that he was invited to
stay at the Heath’s on his way back to town and so I am afraid that this may
clash with Heath coming which will be very unfortunate. I am writing to Heath this evening to tell
him that the day is changed to the 8th and inviting him then
instead. I do not know whether you have
Thorley down for an invitation. He will
probably be at Tabley then and so I shall take upon me to invite him when I
write to him which will be I think next Monday.
I do not remember anything more to say in regard to Isabella’s letter
but I think you might perhaps wait a little about the wine. How would it be supposing I get to know about
it here & brought some down with me but I am afraid that I am very
unknowing on the subject. I am sorry you
do not think Emily quite equal to your hopes.
The benefit often makes itself felt afterwards tho’ it may not be very
visible to others at the time. I suppose
you have heard how ill Mr Jos. Yates is. Thornely tells me that he is not
expected to live out this week. I
have heard of it for some time past.
I am going on very well & am quite well.
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/68]
London Decr 10th /55
Dear Mother
I am afraid that I shall not have much time to write
today. You will think I am always making
excuses but really last evening & again today I have been quite
disappointed of an opportunity for writing. Today it has been a regular hard
pull with a crabbed mining lease & I have only just got away in time to
scribble a line to tell you that I will write tonight to more purpose. It is close upon 6 and so I can only plead
inability.
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/69]
London Decr 11th /55
Dear Mother
I am glad to hear that the guests invited are likely
actually to assemble as to have disappointments in this respect is rather a
damper on festive operations. John Thornely & Heath I am sorry to say will
not be able to come. I think I told you
that Heath wrote to me desiring me to thank you for the invitation but that a
family meeting to which among others Mr & Mrs F Thornely and J Thornely
were to come would prevent him leaving home in the early part of January. I have asked Rupert Potter and have some
hopes that he will come but the obstacle in his case is that he does not like
to be absent from his master Mr Cairns just at the beginning to term (the first
day of which is the 11th ) as
at that time there is always a great pressure of work. Greenhow too may be in the north about that
time but he I think will be obliged to return by the beginning of term. It is impossible to fix a day that will suite
all parties. G Thorley sent me a letter
accepting the invitation but making a future apology for his deficiencies in
the dancing way. In my letter I had
quoted Mrs Perkins for the saying that “fellows don’t dance” but I did not of
course mean that they couldn’t but that it was not an accomplishment which they
particularly affected. Perhaps you will
ask Mrs H Long if we may bring him with us on the Tuesday but about this of
course do what you think best only I should like to give him notice before he
comes to us that there is another evening to follow. If I do not tell you any
events in the course of my daily life it must I suppose be that there are not
any. I do very much the same things
every day and think of much the same things and when you know what my
occupations are you know what they are also and that they are not of a nature
to afford much matter for correspondence.
Last night I went with Thornely McCulloch & Potter to Jullienes at
Covent Garden to the Beethoven concert.
The first part was entirely composed of the works of that great author
and I flatter myself that I have some appreciation tho’ perhaps but an indiscrimatory
one for the higher style of music. Sainton played one concerto on the violin
& Alexandree Billet the whole of a symphony on the piano but I must say I
enjoyed the pieces that were performed by the entire company. I should like some of you to have been
there. I think if I had not had the
classes in the evening I should have gone several times as I think one is
really justified in the paying 1/- for an evening of such a kind of
pleasure. I will remember about the
Scarlet Letter. Last Sunday week I went
in the evening to the Asplands and found them all at home & well & Thom
Harvey who is very often there on a Sunday.
I had a pleasant evening there & found them as kind as ever. Mr A putting one or two legal questions which
had arisen in the course of the week in his practice. J. Harvey I think is very “capable” naturally
and is a very careful and industrious worker. I think we get on very well
together. On Saturday
evening every fortnight I have tea at
Dr Mannings & often meet pleasant people
there. Meadows Martineau is rather
anxious just about his younger brother is very strange in his behaviour and
tho’ I do not understand there is any thing really wrong in his faculties yet
it is no doubt very painful. And his
sister also has been in a very low way after a fever she had in the summer. I
hear of Mary Broadbent’s engagement some time ago. I believe from all I have
heard that tho’ rather rough & unpolished externally Edward Greg has many
estimable qualities. I hope dear Emily is
better and that you are all well and happy.
As you have fixed the party for the 8th I do not think I
shall be able to be away so long as I should be if I came home for Christmas
Day. So I am afraid I shall not be with
you on that day. What are your plans on
that occasion? I hope you will be quite
candid in replying to what I am going to say – would you like me to ask
McCulloch. He will I know be in Liverpool about the early part of January &
might perhaps think I might have invited him in case he hears of our party. He has always been a very kind &
serviceable friend to me but you will understand that I do not in the least
wish him to come if you have enough already or think that your party is well
arranged without any one else. It would be quite easy to tell him in case he
should know that we had already as many of the immediate friends of the family
or it would not be necessary to say anything about it. Still if you do not feel any
objection I should rather ask him than otherwise.
Yours very affectionately
Dear Father
I dare say you are not sorry to have some breathing
time and a period of rest after your close engagements at home. Last week I went to what is an annual matter
of interest & pleasure to a certain portion of society perhaps not very
large the Westminster Play. No doubt you
know that it has been for a long time the custom at Westminster school before
the Christmas holy days to have a performance with all the […] which may help
to carry us back some 20 centuries of one of the plays of Terence. This time it was the Phormis and as it is a
long time since I had read it I made haste to make myself a little acquainted
with it so that the somewhat unfamiliar sounds of Roman dialogue might not
strike an altogether unintelligent ear. Proceedings commenced by a prologue
which was chiefly devoted to a memorial of men who have passed away during the
last year & who received their education at Westminster. Among these were Ld
Raglan Dr Phillimore & Genl Markham. There was a very graceful
& pleasant allusion to Dr Liddell their late head master now Dean of Christ
Church Oxford who was present & indeed in the place of honour. He seemed to
be very popular and looked a very pleasant and bodily & mentally powerful
man. The play itself was very well
acted & tho’ many of the points were
lost on me partly perhaps because being so familiar to the majority of the
audience they were loudly applauded before they had been fairly uttered and
partly because I did not always quite catch the meaning at the moment. The epilogue was the most amusing part of the
entertainment. The same characters
modernised appeared in this as in the principal piece. Armes with his shrewish & jealous wife
the litigious Demiphs and the versatile & ingenious Phormis who appeared as
a young man got up in the most outré modern fashion. Doris who in the original piece is the
unmitigated rascal came forward now as a released convict whom as he says
partial reddit remeus tepera (a ticket of leave). The chief object was a hit at
the various changes in the law lately introduced but it would be difficult to
tell the various funny things that were said.
Perhaps you saw the thing itself in the Mail & felt interest enough
in the thing to glance through it. The
boys looked a nice lot and were arranged in the background and sent forth
rounds of applause with the greatest precision.
There was no miscellaneous applause but when the points came at which a
clap was due (particularly phrases which the Eton grammar had made familiar to
all) the signal was given and many dozen hands were directly beaten together
with the discipline of a regiment under review. The performance was held in the
dormitory which is a very long & high room generally occupied by some fifty
or sixty sleepers or wakers as the case may be.
I think perhaps Rupert Potter will come but this morning he says that
just about that time two cousins are going to be at their house on a visit and
he does not know whether he can leave them but he will come if he can. I am
sorry to hear that Arthur Darbishire had a serious accident. He fell down the stairs at the warehouse and
was very much hurt but I do not know to what extent. I do not understand dangerously
hurt but seriously. I quite hope
Greenhow will come and if he does I rather think he would like to come on
Saturday but the others I know will not come till Monday afternoon.
Yours very affectionately & wishing you a very
happy Christmas in case I do not write again before that time
John
Philip Green
JRL
Box 2/13 [Ref: JA/JPG/71]
January 1st 1856
My
dear Philip
Many happy returns of the day and a happy new year
to you. We want a letter from you very
much for we do not exactly know when you are coming home. Annie and Ellen went to Liverpool on Thursday
they seem to be going to a great many concerts at one they saw Mr H .J .Jackson
and Lizzie. Mr J is going to a Gipsy case at Chester and very likely he will
come to Knutsford tomorrow. Annie and
Ellen are going to hear Jenny Lind on Friday and on Thursday they are going to
a dance at the Blackburn’s.
The tables for supper have been put up today so it
quite seems like “getting on”. We have
heard today that Mrs Hollins has got the scarlet fever isn’t it a pity. Aunt
Anna is going with Emily to the concert tomorrow in Manchester. I have sprained my foot again but its much
better today and I have been a ride with Catherine today we went along the
Northwich Road. I saw Mrs Thorley.
Mrs Greenhow is to stay at the Martineau’s from
Saturday to Monday. Miss Catlow has dedicated her new book “Garden Botany*” to
Louisa and Catherine. Mamma went to
Manchester yesterday to “Partyige”.
With best love to you Your affect Isabella Green
Jany 1st
1856.
*[Popular
Garden Botany containing a familiar and scientific description of most of
the hardy & half-hard plants introduced into the flower garden by Agnes
Catlow was published in 1855. British Library ref: 7030.b.13 London 1855. B65.a.4.DSC Request Reeve 1855]
JRL Ref Box 1/22 [Ref:
JA/IG/3/1856]
London Jany 16th /56
Dear Mother
I had a pleasant & speedy
journey to town and found chambers looking as bright as could be expected
considering my sudden transfer from the home circle to Temple solitudes. There
were no mishaps with any part of my baggage which perhaps you will be
interested to hear. I did not see any of the household at No4 this morning as I
wished to be in good time in New Square where J.B.B. greeted me in his mild
placid manner & lost no time in commuting some goodly bundles of papers to
my preparatory labours. Things wore the
same appearance as if I had been absent only a single night & I am at work
feeling none the worse I can tell you for the happy ten days I have spent in
the country with you all. I think there
is not doubt a holy day is a very pleasant and beneficial thing and
particularly where there are such opportunities of having one as I have. The post was very obliging to me but I cannot
say I am so selfish as to be glad that it only lusted out my needs. The guard on the train informed me that Sir
Rob. Peel (on whose want of statesmanlike qualifications he considered himself
quite capable of declaration) is to be married tomorrow to Lady [Emily] Hay the
daughter of [..] of Tweeddale &
sister of Duchess of Wellington. I have not seen Greenhow yet but McCulloch
came in to see whether I had arrived just as I was getting out of the cab. He
had recovered his baggage after some days delay & again expressed the great
pleasure & enjoyment his visit to us had given him. I sent off a letter to
Miss Winkworth together with this and hope I have managed to give an exact
translation of the passage she sent.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John
Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/72]
London Jany 22nd /56
Dear Father
I inclose [sic] two of the bills which I have paid
& will send the third next week. I suppose you will be beginning work again
this week. I do not know whether you have heard that Mr Case’s boys had the
scarlet fever during last half year and his household had to be broken up. The reason I mention it that I remembered
Grundy has had a brother there and that during the holydays they have probably
been together. I do not know that the
brother who was in London has the complaint and it is so long since the time
that the boys at Mr Cases were separated that I can scarcely think there can be
any danger from your pupil coming back to you.
Still you might like to ask him about his brother & whether there
has been anything the matter with him. I
called on Mr Ashton Yates on Sunday last & found him & his second
daughter at home. Mrs Ashton & her
eldest daughter were at Brighton. I was
struck with the change in Mr Yates which has taken place during the last two
years. He is so much older & feebler than I have seen him before but he is
as cheerful & kind as ever. I
suppose he is a man with a considerable number of years behind him. He asked after all Knutsford friends and
wished his kind regards. Mrs Austin sent
me an invitation to her house on Thursday night and I think I shall go and
contribute my presence if nothing more to the entertainment. There is to be another pupil here & I
think he will be one too many. However
as he will be a beginner I dare say he will not very much diminish the work
distributable among the pupils. I have
begun with the evening classes again & shall continue them regularly from
this time. I think I shall breakfast
rather earlier than I do at present & so get an opportunity for a good walk
before going to work. It is often so wet
and dirty in the after part of the day & engagements intervene that
sometimes I do not find time to stretch my legs. I am not as bad however as Mr James who once
told me that he had confined himself to his room for more than a month without
going out at all except for his dinner.
If such has been his mode of life no wonder the result has been what we
see. I dare say you are not more sorry
than most people at the prospect of possible peace. How easily we reconcile ourselves to
circumstances we may be in ? It will be
quite strange not to have to look for the article of our correspondent at the
seat of war and the newspapers will no doubt miss the subject matter of their
most interesting […]. I wish I could
give any useful advice in regard to the little Harveys coming. I have some fears that it might be too much
for dear Emily tho’ no doubt she would not have the whole work on her
shoulders.
With my best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/73]
London February 2nd /56
Dear Mother
I did not I assure you intend to allow so many days
to elapse without writing but this week it has seemed as if there was a
fatality in the way of dispatching a letter.
Two days I waited to inclose [sic] the account for the newspapers which
I now send. The man was not at home when
I called the first time not having heard from you that you intended to order
the Athenaeum to be sent to me here I did not know that it was meant for
me. There is a namesake in Harcourt
buildings with whom I not un frequently have to communicate in regard to the
mutual interchange of letters meant for the other of us. It has lain most of
the week at the Gardener’s lodge which is the
repository for unclaimed parcels but
I shall know for the future what to do & am much
obliged to you for thinking of me in ordering it to be sent here. My impression in
regard to the umbrella certainly is that
it was paid for at the time
I remember thinking at the time that they did not
know me and seemed to make some difficulty when I proposed to take
both the umbrellas they had
made in order that you might choose and that therefore
I had better pay for the one I took at the time. Still I cannot be quite certain and unless it
is entered on your accounts at home I do not think it can be paid as the price
did not come out of my money. I am sorry
to hear that my father’s knee has been so painful & troublesome to him but
I hope it is in a better way now. I
think I mentioned to you my invitation to the Austins. The dancing part of the entertainment fell
through as most of their friends were engaged elsewhere and there were not more
than 12 or 15 persons present some of them (among whom Miss Austin commonly
called Annie Austin was one) acted a charade rather well the above mentioned
young lady decidedly well and then made us sit round & choose a poet each
and whenever a quotation was thrown out the person whose production it was supposed
to be was bound to return the compliment by shewing [sic] his familiarity with
the works of his fellow authors. It is
really not a bad game & the screw put upon one for an quotation on a sudden
develops a hidden knowledge of the poetic literature of our country which one
was hardly conscious of before hand.
However I as you know am by no means remarkable for reading or knowing
poetry. The letter you enclosed some
little time ago was as the outside no doubt informed you from Pettigrew in
Charleston. He seems very well &
enjoying legal practice enough to make him feel to have a position and
occupation in the world. He says that he
intends to be a defender of the causes of people who are not very able to pay lawyer’s
fees and need a protector. He says he is
afraid that the plan is somewhat too high flown for practical execution but
that at present he finds it very gratifying to help people in this way. The greater part of the letter was full of
American politics which seems the life of a great portion of the population of
the United States. I expect Roget will
have breakfast with me tomorrow morning. I called on him the other day. I hear
he has made a very good beginning in his profession. We are going on all well at Mr B’s but
nothing new to tell you.
With best love to all
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
I saw Mr Benj Gaskell’s death in the paper
JRL
Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/74]
London February 6th /56
Dear Isabella
Mr Greenhow asked me the other morning whether you
still wished for a little dog as he has a young one which he will be very happy
to give you. It is a very good one of its kind a rough haired white terrier but
I do not know whether it is such one as
you would fancy or whether you wish to have an “animal” at all. There would not be much difficulty in sending
it by railway if you would like to have it.
There is no doubt about it being a “good” dog & the only thing against
it is that I am afraid in our neighbourhood the animal would be too keen after
game. You will be so good as to write a
line by return as I promised Greenhow to let him have an answer on Friday. He
would give it to some one else if you do not wish for it but he will be quite
glad for you to have it.
In haste
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/75]
London February
10th /56
Dear Emily
I think you were one of the last kind friends at
home who favoured me with a letter & I will therefore try not to be an
[…]debtor. Yesterday morning being a
tempting one for an early walk unfortified by breakfast I went to take that
meal at Bryanston Square as Mr Ashton Yates has more than once invited me to
do. Tho the man who opened the door
seemed at first puzzled by so early a caller there was little difficulty when
once in the room. The lady of the house
is still at Brighton with her second daughter and so only Mr A Miss Yates &
myself were the party. The day before they
had been to an exhibition of architectural drawings & plans with which they
had been much pleased. The style in
which such things are now got up has so much improved as to make them matters
of other than merely professional interest.
They had also been to hear Carl Wiseman lecture on Rome ancient &
modern at the Hanover Square Rooms. The lecture had pleased & interested
them very much & of course both the antiquarian & artistic aspects of
the subject could not have been treated by a more capable or better informed
lecturer. I was not present myself as of
course I am not able to go to any afternoon lectures. I dare say by this time you have read “Little
Dorrit”. I think it promises well. The
chapter containing the whole science of government as administered by the
“Circumlocution Office” is very good indeed tho there is that continual
hammering at one phrase & idea which Dickens is mistaken in my opinion in
making such frequent use of. The
description too in the preceding number of the debtors prison & the Father
of the Marshelsea is very powerful & less forced than much of the author’s
later writings. Martineau is laying in a
stock of English literature by setting aside a certain amount yearly for
expenditure on that object so that “the chambers” enjoy an early opportunity of
reading Little Dorrit and one or two other publications. There is nothing to tell of J B B except that
he has been rather sleepy of late which I think is merely owing to his
exceeding early rising . I believe he
rises at ½ after four a plan of life not to be imitated or approved at least in
London. I hope you are all going on well
and pleasantly at home this party at Grove House which Isabella tells of under
an injunction of profound secrecy will no doubt be enjoyable enough by many
children young and old. John Roget came last Sunday morning and I enjoyed his
company and that of Mr Ralston who as perhaps I may have mentioned was a
college friend of Rogets at Cambridge. I
became acquainted with him independently.
The learned Forensic Society held a debate last Thursday evening &
therefore simultaneously with the debate of the House of Lords on the
interesting question of the constitutionality of creating peers for life. I dare say you did not feel enough interest
in the matter to read thro the debate in the House of Peers but it was well
worth reading and some light might have been thrown on the subject had the
quick fingered stenographer followed the learned or as the case might be
energetic addresses in the hall of Lyons Inn.
I did not speak myself as the hour was getting late before there was any
opportunity and I had to leave before the end but I generally do speak whenever
I am present at all. I do not think
there are any very promising orators in our society but some speak very
fairly and at any rate the debates make one get up points of law which is useful
practice. I called on Mr Phipson who
received me cordially and conversed for some little time chiefly on law or
lawyers. He desired me to send his kind regards to my father when I wrote which
I accordingly do. He thinks the Chancery bar is more promising an opening than
the Common law bar tho we generally find that men feel more the difficulty of
the line they have themselves chosen and think some other is easier or has
greater advantages. I think his advice & opinion is correct in this matter. I believe he has a very good practice at the
Common Law and has been a very favourite master for Law students to read
with. Tell my father that I have read
the mortgage deed of Mrs Woolley to my grandfather again & think that the
£6 which was the surplus after reinvesting the sum borrowed belongs to Mrs
Woolley’s family her executor or administrator should some time or other be
paid to them. That at least is my view of the matter now that I come to read
the deed again.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/76]
London February 25th /56
Dear Mother
You have left me rather longer than usual without
any letter tho’ I do not know that I have any right to complain as I myself
omitted to write last week. Ellen’s
letter tho’ very satisfactory so far as it went did not go into many
particulars beyond the fact of having heard a concert and the state of the
weather and I confess I feel rather “out” of information about you. Last Sunday
Thornely and I went to Brixton to Martineau’s and after a country walk which
would have been pleasanter had the skies been more propitious we dined at his
house. Mrs Martineau was not very well and one of Meadows’ sisters and a
brother are away from home and I fancy not in a very good way in regard to
health. So the dinner table was much smaller than usual. One day the week
before last Mr Phipson invited me to dinner & I went and found Mrs P a very
pleasant lively person and among the company Mr & Mrs Twamley (who asked after Anna) a young lady
with them of the name I think of Hodgetts Alfred Wills & his wife &
several others. It was a pleasant evening but without anything very particular
being said or done. The conversation was very much on the usual topics and as all
the gentleman present were lawyers in esse or in
futuro their professing occupation was not untouched. Mr Phipson was
very pleasant and asked after my father & hoped he would call & see him
when he next passes through London & wondered at the length of time which
had elapsed since seeing him. A.Wills has known Mr Phipson for a considerable
period through Birmingham connections.
One of our occupations at Tulse Hill was to pay a visit to the house
which David Martineau lately married to Miss Scott is building for himself and
a large & handsome place it will be when finished but I do not much like
the situation. We have had very
changeable weather lately and the cold came very suddenly upon us after the
warm moist days we had had but I have kept very well & free from colds
which is a great blessing as I do not desire to experience being ill in
chambers. In lodgings even there is more comfort and convenience in such a
state of things than in chambers. I saw
Thos Harvey on Friday who tells me he is going to be at home for a time after
March next while Mr Harvey is away in the South of England. We rub on very
comfortably at Mr B’s and in spite of the increase of numbers in the pupil room
we have not managed to quarrel and I do not think have much to complain of in
regard to slackness of work. Of course it does make a difference in the
quantity of papers which falls to the share of each person & this is to be
regretted but hitherto as far as I am concerned personally I have almost always
had something to be employed upon. I think the number we have is a little too
great considering that Mr B is not a very quick worker and does not like some
men knock off work very expeditiously still I think the disadvantages I have
hinted at are compensated by other qualities and circumstances which exist in
his care. I do not know whether I
mentioned that Clarke whom I knew at Heidelberg had turned up here for a few
days. He was with me one evening last week with one or two others (Marshall
&c ). He is now secretary to the American legation at Brussels & had
that morning been presented at our court which ceremony he of course described
to me. He is not a very strong minded
man nor does he take much interest in grave matter even politics which might be
supposed to be a good deal in the thoughts of a young diplomatist but he has
travelled in so many countries & seen so many different persons that he is
very pleasant & improving
company. His speech & manners have
been evidently a subject of much study & are somewhat elaborate and these
with a knowledge of the lighter literature & “society” of several of the
chief European countries make up our friend Mr Clarke. I hope my father’s cold has altogether left
him & that you are all of you well.
I do not think I have anything more to tell you. You know as well almost as I myself what I do
every day. I do not feel at all
despondent about the future but rather the contrary & hope it is so with
you likewise. Tho’ it has been said that some men’s doubts are better than
other men’s certainties it is clear I think that when your way seems opened
before you the best thing is to press on with such equipment as nature or
acquisition have furnished you with & not to fancy anything else would have
been wiser or more suitable.
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/77]
London March 3rd /56
Dear Mother
I will not let Monday slip away without writing tho
I was prevented yesterday from writing by a country walk I took with several
younger friends in the after part of the day and at this moment I am expecting
a summons from J.B.B. I am glad to hear
that you are feeling rather better than you were a little while ago. I am going on very well as far as health of
which I thought I sent a rather full account so recently as a week ago. I always try to get a walk in the morning and
find it answers very well and makes me feel fitter. The lump on my cheek is not gone but I do not
think it is any worse. I think I shall
give Mr Quain another call before very long and hear what more he has to say
about it as of course it would be much better to get rid of it as soon as
possible. The lectures are going on very
well. I do not go to all of them as some of them I have heard before in former
years and others I do not much care about. I do not go out if I am settling
anything with Mr B. as it is not worth while doing that. The class in the
evening I attend regularly and this is useful.
The chief drawback is that the reader is such a slow and unanimate
talker (tho an obliging and learned man) that slumber sometimes overcome desire
of knowledge of law. Between 8 & 9
is the crisis of evening I find in regard to sleepiness so it is rather a
severe trial to have to pass it unsurrounded by such unenlivening circumstances
and a room generally a considerable number of degrees above the temperature
best suited for mental activity. One of
Mr Braithwaite’s clients Mr Symes invited him & his 4 pupils to dinner last
week which was kind enough of him. I went among others and enjoyed myself
pretty well. Mr Symes has not any ladies
in his house and the party was composed of the head of the house of Symes &
Co. & Mr B & 4 pupils. The
conversation I am happy to say was very little legal which was remarkable
considering the persons who joined in it. Mr Symes has a pleasant house in
Montague Square which is the square running parallel to Bryanston Square. I do not think I have seen anyone else during
the last week. Have you heard anything
of the Powells lately. I have thought of asking Harry to call and see me or to
come to breakfast some morning but somehow the time has been slipping on
without my having done so. I hope
Brandreth is better. I do not know whether
the war has had the effect of producing the succession of dreadful crimes we
have had to read of during the last two or three months. I do not remember a
time when the papers almost every day had to tell of such dreadful acts of
ferocity or calculating villainy as of late. It seems now almost certain as no
doubt you have heard that the steamer the Pacific has been lost on her passage
with a large number of passengers & crew.
It has been feared for some days past that such must have been the cause
of her long absence. The Athenaeum was
not sent this week. I should like to
know where it is sent from that I may speak about it if such a thing happens
again. I have been reading Alton Locke
lately and think in spite of Kingsley’s great powers & gifts there is
something morbid & strained in the characters he produces and his view of life
and the objects & motives of human action strike me as being essentially
unsound. The best part of Alton Locke
appears to me to be the character of the Old Scotchman Sandy McKaye. The
weather of late has been very propitious I should think for farming operations
& I hope the harvest this year maybe as good as last was.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/78]
London March 11th /56
Dear Mother
The two long letters which I received from home this
morning reproached me with my omission in writing yesterday. I think however that when I receive some
letter or other from you some time between the two Mondays I am more stimulated
to take the pen in hand. I am sorry to hear what you tell me about Robert
Holland no doubt young people who are vigorous & hopeful often prove that a
marriage which at first seemed unpromising & perhaps imprudent may turn out
well and happily for all parties and friends who thought least favourably of it
and by seeing that the best judges often all are the persons most nearly
concerned. Still from what you say I do
not think that Robert Holland has acted rightly in the matter and at any rate
imprudently & inconsiderately. It is
very difficult to judge another righteously without a full knowledge of all the
facts but in saying this I do not mean in the least to hint that you speak
unkindly or without justification in your remarks or reference to Miss
Stanley. I do not know anything more
than that several of the papers assert that what you mention has happened. If it be the fact I do not rejoice that
another protestant has declared her change of faith but simply and truly in the
lady’s own account. We
doubt it has been known or at least reported for some time past
(I remember
almost two years ago Mrs Gaskell mentioned it to me) what her state of mind was
but we cannot tell that she had attained conviction. It seems to me that whatever course a person
takes in breaking away from those with whom he has been associated the one he
has chosen is just not the right one. If he acts directly & on the first
impulse it is hasty and unfeeling if with long consideration and declaration of
mind & thoughts to friends then he ought to have publicly declared
himself long ago. But I am afraid this
is a painful topic and one which there will be no good entering into more at
length. In regard to Miss Stanley I
think it not improbable that her journey & occupation in the hospitals in
the east may have taught her a good deal.
So far as I am informed there are none of the Protestant lady nurses
there at all except Miss Nightingale.
There are the paid nurses and the Catholic Sisters of Mercy still
pursuing their work. Of the latter some
more have gone out lately at the request of the surgeons. God forbid that I
should depreciate Miss Nightingale’s intentions or the good works she or any of
her companions have done but let the truth be known. Dr Hall we hear could not agree with her at
the hospital at Balaclava and further that he did find the assistance of
the Sisters of Mercy both welcome and efficient which he has shewn by having
more sent out. Dr Cumming who was an
inspector sent out by the Government himself a protestant and so far as I know
unbiased state that the War Office in the presence of Mr Hawes Mr Mansell &
the gentleman who informed me how much more efficient and “real” were
the services of these ladies and that his observation led him to the conclusion
that only a entire devotion of the life and being to this work which is secured
by a religious vow could render volunteer attendance on the sick in a hospital
otherwise than a hindrance to the medical men. Here then is a province of
Christian activity which it has been over and over again proved is both practicable
and useful which till lately the Protestant churches never thought of supplying
with labourers and the attempt to do which in the hospitals in the East started
as it was under circumstances as favourable as will perhaps ever arise has
broken down. Whatever value this
experience may have in the future I cannot say but we shall see. Then think of the public meetings to do
honour of Miss Nightingale the royal smile and presents for doing what has in
all ages of the Catholic church formed a part of the most ordinary &
everyday work and to which members with bright prospects in life and everything
to make the world pass happily before them devote themselves unknown to any but
their families the poor and sick whose wounded bodies & souls they heal
& gladden and to their Father in Heaven.
Now I beg above all things that you will not think that I am hinting
that Miss Nightingale and the protestant ladies entered upon this work with any
kind of hope or desire for publicity or fame or selfish and whatever all
I wish to call attention to is the state of mind of the English public itself
which seeks to repay or notice such work by public demonstrations. Then with what studied silence did all the
speakers treat the labours of the Sisters of Mercy it was as if they were
afraid of acknowledging them and so far as I read the speeches the commonplace
that works of Charity do not know the distinction of creed was all the notice that the really efficient
workers had bestowed upon them. Not that
this ungracious behaviour matter to any Catholic and least of all to the
sisters themselves but it is well worthy of notice as a phenomenon of the
public mind in this country. Some such
experience as this may have worked potently on Miss Stanley not that in itself
it would produce a change of faith but it might lead her more seriously than
heretofore to take to heart & appropriate that grace & trust which
support and feed the devotion & fertility in good works which she had
witnessed. Now all this may as far as
Miss Stanley is concerned be an idle dream the operation of the newspaper may
be premature or wholly untrue but much of what I have said does not therefore
lose its truth. I hope I have not hurt
you in any way by what I have said. I am
sure I do not know why we should not speak openly together on most subjects
indeed in all. It will indeed seem like
being a visitor at home that the old little room where in spite of my
unkindness and want of trust you have lavished on me such treasures of love and
blessing in former days will not be mine any longer. But I am very glad that you have done what
you have done with it as it will be much more comfortable for my father to have
a separate dressing room. I am glad to
hear such a good account from Ellen and hope to write a few lines to her before
long.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/79]
London March 17th /56
Dear Ellen,
I am glad to hear that your music has prospered under the
influence of a 5 hours daily practice. It does not need me to tell you that
when persons find out that they possess natural gifts for certain pursuits or
acquirements it is wise to develop them by such cultivation as their
opportunities allow them to bestow.
A Darbishire only stayed one night in town and I
missed seeming him tho’ I called twice at Dr Digby’s and Darbishire called on
me in the Temple. R Potter who saw him
tells me that he will pass thro’ France and by way of Marseilles make the best
of his way to Rome. Potter did not give a very good account of him but I hope
his journey and holy day will bring him to rights again. We have been parched or rather withered up by
the most piercing East winds during the last week winds such as I hope blow
only over the Essex marshes into the metropolis bestowing colds and other more
serious complaints on every other person almost. I have been so fortunate as to escape without
any disagreeable consequences but a great many have been sufferers. The pencil I enclose I thought my father
might find convenient to carry in his pocket. I have used one for some little
time & find it very much preferable to any I have seen. The lead is so
thick that it is not continually breaking like other pencils. I dare say you
have seen them & perhaps have one but I thought it might be found
useful. I saw the wedding at Latchford
advertised & dare say it went off very happily but I have not heard any
thing of the particulars. I wish you a
pleasant journey and stay at Liverpool.
I do not think I shall leave town this Easter.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/80]
(edged in black) Knutsford Undated but before Easter
My dear John Philip
Annie and Ellen went to Manchester yesterday for
Ellen’s music lesson they went to the Gaskells
Marianne is come home, she & Meta are coming to stay here when Meta
who has a cold is better the last time they went they saw Eustace Greg he is so
grown they did not know him at first. Aunt Long is staying at Leamington with
the Miss Ainsworths. Mr Weston from Manchester comes here to teach singing a la Hullah* his pupils had their first lesson
last Wednesday he comes at half past two, or ought to do there are thirty in
the class. Aunt Anna goes about once a
fortnight to Mr Norbury an artist in Liverpool to learn oil painting she likes
it very much, she is gone today & Grandmama is come to stay with us. We
here think that in England the first thing people think of is how quickly they
can do things, soon perhaps stamps will be sticky at the back. Briggs was here yesterday, he came to
dinner and went in the evening & he like all old boys begged a holiday,
nobody begs them for me, but perhaps the case is rather different. Catherine
& I have been admitted to the meetings at Grandmamma’s. We have been once, & Tuesday is the
next. There are two of the staple
animal manufacture of this house.
They are most cruelly banished and their mother is disconsolate. Miss Mitchell is coming here most likely at
Easter if she can possibly leave home.[she was a visiting governess to the
Gaskells] Mr & Mrs Heald have been
here today they walked to Bowdon & Papa went part way with them took them
through Tatton Park & showed them the monument at Rosthern.
With very best love
I remain your affect sister
Isabella Green
Saturday evening
*[Hullah had a system of musical notation and gave
singing classes in schools throughout Britain and the colonies during the
second half of the nineteenth century.]
JRL Box 1/23 [Ref: JA/IG/4/1856]
Towards Tatton Mere probably
painted by Anna Brandreth
London April 7th /56
Dear Father
I think it is a long time since I wrote to you
specially. I have not had many letters
from you that I remember but I dare say you are feeling busy and there is
always some engagement intervening which makes letter writing difficult. I was
glad to receive Annie’s cheerful letter and hope that you are feeling happy and
have no new causes for anxiety. On
Friday evening I heard a debate in the House of Commons. The Education Bill was expected to have come
on but from some reason or other it was postponed which I was sorry for and we
were unwilling auditors of the everlasting recriminations of Sir Jas Graham
& Sir Chas Napier. I do not think
that the character of the former for veracity and of the latter for courage
united with prudence are of such great importance that the time of the House of
Commons need be occupied for now the third time in deciding upon them. Sir Chas may be a very brave commander but he
is certainly a most tedious speaker and when he does break out into a burst of
a little more spirit it is when he is animated by the recollection &
recital of his own great actions and pre-eminent merits. I left about nine o’clock somewhat tired I
must confess. In the earlier part of the
evening Lord Palmerston was called up by a question from Mr Gladstone in regard
to the state of the communications between the United States and our Government
on the subjects which have been lately so warmly debated. I had never seen Lord Palmerston and was
rather surprised at his hesitating & ungraceful style of speaking. It has
been related of some persons who are subject to questions which it is
inconvenient or unpleasant to answer that they have cultivated a hesitation or
indecision of manner in order to give themselves a little more time to consider
the expression of which they are about to make use. I do not know whether this has been the case
with Ld Palmerston but he is certainly anything but fluent &
precise. In a longer speech where he has
more power of enlarging upon as well as of selecting his own topics I dare say
he is more unconstrained and attractive.
I think I mentioned in my letter to Annie that lectures would soon begin
again and that my time with Mr Braithwaite is nearly at an end. I think on the whole I have done well in
going again to him and for the first three months we did very well but latterly
the work has not been enough for the increased number of workers. There is never any necessity for being quite
unemployed but often it is on matters which might as well be done at home as in
a conveyancing chambers. I am sorry this
has been so but I considered the matter and talked with those whom I considered
good advisers before I determined upon returning to him. I am afraid I am giving you a worse idea of
the state of things than there is any reason to entertain & almost all
students have some reasons for complaint in the chambers they have chosen. I have not yet said anything about going and
do not yet know whether Mr Braithwaite will ask
me to stay but I have hopes he will.
I went out to Kew yesterday and passed a very
pleasant afternoon in the fresh air and among the beautiful forms of tropical
vegetation.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/81]
London April 28th /56
Dear Mother
I am sorry to hear you are having a dullish time and
feel the monotony of life in present circumstances. I am afraid my letters lately have not much
contributed to make it otherwise but you know there was the law business to go
into and not much has happened to me to tell you. I daresay it is much more difficult with advancing
years to maintain the same hopeful spirit and untiring energy which has enabled
you to do so much for all of us and to do it so well. However I hope some of us will be able to
turn to be of help and encouragement to you. I do not think I shall be able to
be away from town for more than a week and I have some doubts whether I ought
to make the journey at all at this time of year but if my sisters will be at
liberty during Whitsuntide week I think I may allow myself to pay you a short
visit. I am afraid that in the autumn I
shall have to remain within reach of law books and have thoughts of taking up
my abode a little way out of town but within accessible distance. I have arranged with Wills not to have to pay
for chambers after July and found him very accommodating in the matter. I shall be sorry to lose my usual long visit
in the autumn but there is a great deal of preparation needed for the
examination in November & of course as we grow older a failure is a more
serious thing. This prospect makes me
the more desirous of seeing you now and of having some talk about the state of
affairs while we can. So if Whit week is
as convenient to you as any other you may look for me on Whit Monday for a
visit of some days. If a little later
would suit you better I could come on the Wednesday in Whitweek and stay till
the following Wednesday but I do not think I could come after this time as the
lectures will begin again & you know I must attend them. I saw Mrs Gaskell at the Shaens on Sunday
week last. I did not know she had arrived and so meeting her was to a certain extent a surprise. She was much in her usual way when she is in
London rather preoccupied but at the same time very friendly. As she had only arrived on the preceding
Friday no doubt she wanted to have a good talk with Mrs Shaen and so they were
out of the room for part of the evening.
I have an invitation to the Austins next week but you must not think I
am staying for that instead of setting off homeward immediately. The fact is the lectures will be continued
till the end of next week and so I should have to stay at all events. I believe it is to be a large party and I
dare say I shall find it very pleasant.
I wish some of you were to be at it as the Austin’s have a very nice set
of friends so far as I know and I think you would like it. I shall not be much longer in New Square. Mr
B. asked me to stay as long as I liked but I think I shall take my departure
after next week. I do not find it
practicable to work at Chambers and to prepare for the classes at the same time
and so I intend to devote this summer to the latter purpose. I hope dear Emily has quite recovered her
fall down stairs and is feeling on the whole pretty well.
Believe me dear mother, Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
If
there is any invitation to any of you for Whitweek let me know and perhaps both
that & my visit might be made to come in
JRL
Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/82]
London May 17th /56
Dear Mother
The train was very long & full and considerably
behind time which gives me but a very short time to write a note. I do not find
anyone at chambers & indeed no one except Wills is in town. The country
looked very pleasant as we rode along and the fresh air blew in at the window
as if to prepare us by an over abundance for the somewhat different atmosphere
of the town. I read an account of Magna
Charta out of the book with red edges which seems to excite the curiosity of
fellow passengers and at intervals thought of the pleasure I have had this last
week in seeing you all & being again among you.
Good bye dear mother once more & believe me
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/83]
London May 19th /56
Dear Mother
I am afraid you must have though I sent you a very
lame note on Saturday and I have thought that the last words of it were a very
cold expression of the pleasure I had in passing last week among you. I hope that I may ever remember the love and
indulgence which you all shew towards me and may make myself worthy of it. I feel much better both in health and spirits
for my journey home and shall I hope be better able to enter on the work which
seems cut out for me during the next 4 or 5 months with renewed resolution and
hope. The eggs have not found Maximilian at home so that 10 of them went to
Mrs Lucas who was not unpleased & 15 to Richard Hulton who tho’ somewhat amused at the present was I think glad
of some really fresh eggs.
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/84]
London May 31st /56
Dear Ellen
I do not know what kind of weather you may have been
enjoying or bearing whichever the case may be during the last 3 or 4 days but
here it has been very unlike what is to be expected from the end of May. Happily on the firework night the skies were
not very unpropitious and if the wind had interfered less with the jets of gas
in the illuminated facades of the different houses there would have been
nothing to complain of. The whole affair
gave a great deal of enjoyment to a great many people and would help to console
them after the heavy draws of the tax gatherer.
It was very commonly remarked that the fireworks were too much of one or
two kinds and this was perhaps true but still there were such numbers such
profusion of them and the colours and brightness of the rockets shells so
wonderful that I passed the two hours in great happiness on the balcony of Mr A
Wills which directly fronts Primrose Hill in company not unknown to me. After the aerial fireworks were over we
sallied down Regents Street by dodging among horses carts & carriages and a
tumultuous but very good humoured crowd towards the region of the Clubs &
Government Offices. I did not notice
anything very tasteful or very original in the way of illuminations. One or two of the larger attempts were
decided failures and on arrival at home about 2 was inclined to think it all
vexation & weariness of spirit. I was
prevented from being present at the Tagart’s dance and so cannot tell you anything
about it expect that I hear that it was pleasant & that the Gaskells one or
both of them were there. I hope the Miss Yateses have been pretty well while at
Knutsford. If they have not left you
give my kind regards to them. I do not think I have anything to tell you about
myself the bacon has been boiled & is approved by self & Wm Thos
whenever he bears me company at breakfast.
I am occupied during the day between receiving oral information about
law & taking it in through my eyes from books and that of course is not a
subject you care about. Miss Winkworth sent me a copy of Bunsen’s Book I
suppose on the strength of my having helped in the translation of about ½ dozen
sentences. I have not read it all yet
and do not find it particularly to my liking. Wills’s book has not yet been
published but I believe is on the eve of being so.
Yours very affectionately
John
Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/85]
London June
9th /56
Dear Mother
I am very glad to hear that you have succeeded in
engaging the rooms you wished at the Lakes and will not be disappointed in your
visit to that pleasant district. Last
week I called and saw Murland who is soon leaving London and to reside at home.
He talked of calling to see you at Heathfield on his way through to Ireland
which will be at the latter end of this month. I of course told him that I was
sure you would be very glad to see him and at that time I did not know that
your journey to the Lakes would take place about that time. However perhaps you may be at home and so
unless I know for certain that you will not be there when he intends to call I
will not say anything more to him. He
told that he had been working hard at modern languages and his own subjects. He
is very much the same as he used to be but of course more manly. I was not invited to Mr James Yates’ party
and so not able to tell you any thing about it. I do not think they know my
present address they did not ask me for it when I called last and I did not
volunteer to give it. I believe it was a very large one and an afternoon garden
party. I hope Aunt Long was in time at
Euston Square for the train she wished to travel by and that she arrived safely
at her home. I could not very well go
with her to the station as I had a lecture just at that time. Last week I tried to get a secretaryship to
Mr Beaumont the member for North Northumberland. I heard indirectly that Mr
Gibbs who has been classical tutor at University Hall and has also held the
office of the secretaryship in question was leaving London & that there was
a chance of getting the latter engagement. I went to call on Mr Gibbs to ask
about it but found unfortunately that Mr Beaumont had already engaged a
successor in the office . From what I
heard it would have suited me very well and even Martineau felt inclined to try
if I did not get it. It might have
distracted my attention somewhat from my examinations in October and so I felt
a little doubtful whether I could undertake it advantageously but on the whole
I came to the conclusion to apply and accept it if I was found likely to suit.
From the account I had of the duties I think I might have made them fall in
with a pursuit of the law and shall see if I cannot find some other engagement
of the kind after October. Of course
there is a great difference in such offices according to the position and
requirements of the principal. Sometimes
the whole time of a secretary is required and at all hours almost of the night
& day but I think if I could hear of some member not occupying a government
post and yet needing the services of a secretary for part of the day I should
like to accept it. I hear that Mr
Sanford of Lincoln’s Inn has got the place in Mr Beaumont’s case and so you may
judge that it was worth having. Mr Gibbs
said he thought I should have had a good chance & should have been glad to
recommend me as his successor.
Yesterday afternoon I went to Brixton to Meadows
Martineau’s where with Thornely & one or two others we had a pleasant walk
in the country & dinner afterwards.
I am feeling very well in all respects and shall
soon be thinking of looking for a new abode.
Greenhow & Geo. Martineau have taken a house at Esher & very
much want me to join them there but I have quite declined to do so. I think it will be quite best to get
lodgings away somewhere for the autumn & return to live here after October.
Believe me
Yours very affectionately
John
Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/86]
London July 11th /56
Dear Father
I have as you know been employed for the last four
days at Burlington House keeping watch & ward over about 24 aspirants for
undergraduateship in the London University.
My actual duties have been very slight indeed and have happily not
involved the detection & expulsion of any one attempting to enter his
University Course by a side door. The
hours have been from 10 to 1 and 3 to 6 so that it has occupied the whole of my
days during the past week. The interval
before 1 and 3 I have turned to good account by visiting the new Museum of
Practical Geology in Jermyn Street which appears to me very well arranged for
examination and study and not so extensive & miscellaneous as to take away
all hope of gaining much advantage from it.
Exactly opposite Burlington House is the Egyptian Hall where are Lord
Ward’s pictures for the enjoyment & use of the public generally and these
also I have made a visit or two with great delight.
The two Powells are in my room and seem to be
getting on with their examination very well at least to judge by what they tell
me and the cursory glance which I have thrown over their papers.
I shall leave chambers on Monday and think of taking
up my abode with J Thornely for a time at least. The street he lives in is an open and airy
one and in a pleasant and I should think healthy neighbourhood and so tho it is
not in the country I think I shall go there.
The address is 9 London Street, Paddington. If I fancy I should like to be more in the
country I can still remove after a week or two.
I do not think anything has happened since you left. Martineau is the only one of the three who
visits chambers now the others are away at assizes or sessions. I am glad to hear how much the visit to the
Lakes was enjoyed and hope that all who shared in it may have lasting advantage
from it. From the account of the
entrance and review of the Guards which was given in the Times you would see
that the spectators were rather in evil plight in regard to seeing. I did not see any part of the show as I had
to be back at Burlington House and thought that I might be involved in a crowd
and not able to return in time. I have no doubt for those who had good places
it was a fine sight but for the vast majority who went hoping to see not much
else than a disappointment. Most of those I have heard speak of it say that
there was very little to see at least of the Hyde Park part of the affair.
With best love ,
I am
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/87]
London July 19th /56
Dear Mother
I sent one of the books Emily asked for to Mrs
Caldwell at her inn near Cheapside and you may expect to receive it in due
course. The other book I had promised to
lend before Emily’s note came and that is the reason why it is not sent
also. I find the quarters in London
Street very pleasant and I think I have made a change for the better on the
whole. Hyde Park is very near and it is very pleasant taking a stroll there in
the cool evenings. There is little
danger of my suffering from want of exercise as there was at Haverstock Hill as
it is nearly 3 miles to the Temple from London Street. We generally call it London Street,
Hyde Park or Westbourne Terrace (close to which it is) which perhaps has a
better sound than Paddington. I went
with Louisa yesterday to the Crystal Palace concert and enjoyed every thing
very much except perhaps the two hours waiting which has to be submitted to
after the first struggle for good places till the music begins. We had the ordinary set of opera singers the
old stagers Grisi Mario Fromes &c and two or three Basio Marai & Didiee
whom I had never heard. I liked Didiee’s singing very much. She sang an air out
of the Prophete & one or two other.
Louisa I think liked another whom I have not mentioned Mdle Devries but
I was not so much taken with it tho no doubt very powerful and effective. I did
not go out to the Jacksons because I heard from Mr J that their house was then
full of relations whom his wife had invited not knowing that I was to have
come. Just at present they are at Esher
while the house at Barnes is being painted. I dare say you have heard that the
operation for which my grandmother came to town this week has been successfully
performed by Mr Pritchett and that there are good hopes of her recovering her
sight. It has been a critical time and no one has seen her beyond what was
absolutely necessary as the slightest circumstance of disturbance often
prevents the eyesight from being restored.
The two eldest Powells are at Sidmouth and I shall write on Monday &
tell them the result of the examinations but I do not think there is any doubt
as to their passing it successfully. I
expect the classes will be over next week or early in the following one. I am
just going off to one of them now. I
sometimes walk westwards with Dr Maine who is the reader on Jurisprudence and
find him a very pleasant man. He had a
brilliant college career at Cambridge and tho yet quite a young man has won
himself a reputation. The lectures he
reads on Roman Law and International Law in Middle Temple Hall are very
interesting and full of matter. I hope
you are having a pleasant time at home this summer tho’ your friends have
disappointed you in not coming to stay with you.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/88]
London August 2nd /56
Dear Mother
I am sorry to hear that you do not open school with
better prospects than before. I heard from J. Grundy about two months ago that
he was to have Ellis with him at the Hull after the autumn. I am going on very
well the classes are all over now and I
have nothing to do but read all day which I do not intend to overdo. I called on Mr James a few days ago and saw
him. He was very cordial and asked me what I am doing. I mentioned the subject
of the offer which he made some time back by way of seeing whether it will be
still convenient for me to come. He seemed quite to remember it & to be
willing that I should see the work in his chambers. I think I shall go to some equity counsel for
about six months and then go to Mr James by which time I hope I shall at least
have sufficient legal knowledge to being on my own account. We go on harmoniously enough in London Street
or the “toy shop” as it is generally called being over one. I am in ordinarily
good spirits about the October examination. There are several going in who are
very good men and of course the result is in any case doubtful but I will do my
best. Thornely will leave next Saturday
and after that I shall be quite alone. I
think there will be hardly a single person to call in upon this sultry heat
which has oppressed the lives in town for 4 or 5 days past is driving every one
away. The chief part of the conveyances
which go to the Great Western Railway pass our door and it is curious just at
present to see the number of private carriages and carts of luggage which are
daily taking their departure. The heat
has been as great I really think as it was 2 summers ago when you were staying
in Islington and has almost incapacitated me during the last two or three days
from profitable exertion. I am afraid I have written you a very shabby note but
there has been so much talking while I have been writing that I have felt
rather distracted.
Believe me
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref:
JA/JPG/89]
London August 4th /56
Dear Mother
The chief reason I had for planning to come home in
September was that I though that is the least healthy period of the year in
London. At the beginning of October I
shall be able I think at once to go back to the Temple which I could not do
with any prudence in September supposing I were to pay you a visit immediately
– and to have to find out another lodging for the interval would not be so
convenient & agreeable. I dare say I
might have the present rooms without absolutely engaging them but I could not
of course be at all certain of them. When the prospectus of the examination
comes out which will [be] at the end of this week I may perhaps somewhat change
my plan if that gives any ground for altering it but I think at present it will
be better to put off my visit home till next month. The ripe gooseberries are perhaps hardly a
very important element in the question. Heath was in town this morning looking
very well & brisk. He has a cause at the Guildford assizes which he came to
see about. I do not know whether I mentioned that I have begun to pay a visit
to Mr Braithwaite’s chambers again in the evening to see some of his books. He
has kindly let me have the keys so that I can get in & out when I
like. Where are the Gaskells going to
this time? They really seem on the
perpetual move rather oftener heard of down here than at Manchester. The
weather here tho’ very hot has not any unwholesome feeling about it and I
really feel very well & hearty myself.
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref:
JA/JPG/90]
London August 7th /56
Dear Mother
I have taken it into my head to have a little sea
bathing as you recommend as I find that I cannot at present read with as much
profit as I could wish. London is so hot
and stuffy and I think I should be all the better for a little sea air. The
place I have pitched upon is Dieppe.
From all I hear it is a very pleasant place good sea bathing to be had
and not more expensive than an English watering place. The journey from London is only 14/ and I do
not think it will be a useless expense.
There is a French law student whom I know who has been living in London
for the last two years and is going to Dieppe for a few days, so I shall go
with him on Saturday next and have his assistance in finding nice
lodgings. I think if you write by return
I might receive the letter before I start on Saturday. I shall of course write immediately on
arriving at Dieppe. I should not have
gone so suddenly & without giving you longer notice but the opportunity of
travelling with a companion & a Frenchman made the resolve to start
directly. If I do not go so soon as
Saturday I will write tomorrow but if you do not hear from me again on Saturday
morning you may conclude I am away and may expect the next letter from Dieppe.
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref:
JA/JPG/91]
[The next few letters were written from Dieppe and
are very difficult to decipher as written on extremely thin paper – probably to
keep postage costs down]
Dieppe Augt 10th /56
Dear Father
I was sorry to hear that the fine weather has
brought with it so unpleasant a visitor to my mother. I hope you do not think
my expedition an unwise useless one. There was no time to communicate with you
so I quite acted on the spur of the moment when the opportunity offered
itself. The passage across was very calm
and pleasant just at first there was a little breeze which raised the waters of
the sea and disturbed the stomachs of a large portion of the travellers one of
which I was not. Among the passengers was Mr Baron Alderson & 2 sons merry
enough and glad enough no doubt to escape from trying issues of fact in actions
and sentencing rogues & vagabonds of various dyes & degrees of
criminality to [..] punishment. I found
by the help of my friend Bazire a very pleasant apartment looking over the
promenade on to the sea. The shore is somewhat steep but not at all more so
than at many bathing places in England and by the number of bathers it is quite
evident that there is no danger if ordinary prudence is observed. I do not think you will have any need at all
to be alarmed. I am naturally somewhat cautious and not likely to attempt
anything out of the way or dangerous.
Dieppe is perhaps the most frequented bathing place in France and this
of itself shews that it is as safe to bathe here as any where else. Bazire I am sorry to say will leave with his
cousin tomorrow and proceed to Paris but I shall be comfortably settled then
and shall get on very well. I have
brought some books with me and intend to occupy 6 or 7 hours of the day with
them. This I think will both make my
visit pleasant and prevent my mind from getting rusty. Bazire will be back here again next Sunday or
Monday from Paris. I do not forget that
this is dear Emily’s birthday. Give her
my best love and wish her many years of peace and happiness. I think when you write you had better address
to me Poste Restraunte which will be surer to find me.
Believe me
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/92]
Dieppe Augt 12th /56
Dear Mother
Now that I have tried the bathing here I am able to
give you a very satisfactory account in regard to its safety. The place where the bathing tents are has a
gently shelving descent & the bottom after the first few yards which are
covered with most painful pebbles is clear smooth sand. There are two boats with men in them always
waiting about just a little way beyond the 7 feet of water which will drown a
man as effectually as 100 fathoms and persons bathing at almost all hours of
the day. So I think you may quite rest
satisfied that there is no danger in bathing here even without a
companion. The boats waiting about are a
very good idea it seems to me and might very well be adopted in England. I have found my chamber very pleasant and the
woman of the house a kindly obliging person a somewhat refined Jane Webb. There is a great deal of company and from the
local organ the Bathing Journal it appears that there are distinguished
personages among them. A band plays
about twice a day at the bathing house and the scene in this delightful warm
weather and with the blue sea for a background is quite charming. You know I have never liked the sea side
before but here I am enjoying myself extremely.
Stretching away on each side of the town are high white cliffs with
pleasant turf walks along the edge and views over the blue blue sea dotted with
the white sails of the fishing boats of Dieppe.
If you ever have to go to the sea side again do not forget this
place. It is so easy of access and so
convenient and pleasant in its arrangements.
I have not made any new acquaintances here but I was not about very much
yesterday and without an introduction it is not a very easy thing to begin with
absolute strangers. Our tongue is
continually striking upon my ear & there seem to be several nice English
families here but no one that I have ever seen before. I shall bathe every day & hope to be a
pretty good swimmer before the end of my stay.
I find my French often at fault but I can get along pretty well in this
respect.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/93]
Dieppe Augt 14th /56
Dear Emily
I think after what I have said in my letter you will
not consider me drowned or otherwise irregularly disposed of if I do not write
oftener than alternate days. Yesterday I
took my daily dip in the afternoon had a game at cricket a game which the
English residents here have set up with true British taste.
I
did not bathe today as the water was very muddy and the waves looked rather
stronger and higher than was quite agreeable either for swimming or
bathing. This afternoon I have been
listening to the band and watching the people which is very amusing. In spite of all that has been said crinoline
is in great force and the space of ground requisite for a crowd of French
ladies properly to display themselves or be seated with anything like propriety
is indefinitely larger than it would be if they were so many quakeresses. I can’t say I much admire it and it is
attended with positive inconvenience to themselves I should imagine. On Sunday in church a lady who was evidently
some high personage carried round the plate for some charitable purpose or
other but I am really afraid the charity rather suffered then otherwise by
having her for a collector her dress was so rich and extensive that an
efficient passage among the people & individual presentation of the
receptacles of offerings was out of the question. Tomorrow morning I shall make an excursion to
Rouen which is only an hour & a half by railway from this place. From all I have heard the monuments of
ecclesiastical & civil architecture which are to be found are as
magnificent as any and when I am so near I cannot resist the temptation of
seeing so interesting a city. I shall
return on Saturday and if I am not able to write again before Sunday (which
however I will try to do) you will know the reason why. I have talked with several English people who
I see about the bathing establishment but I have not made any French acquaintances
which I should have liked to do. There
are four or five barristers here who’s faces I am familiar enough with and the
veteran Lord Lyndhurst who in spite of his energetic efforts to resist old age
is but a wreck of a man. If you write to me you may as well address the letter
to my lodgings which are chez [..] Clemence Rue Hugo 38
With best love
Your affectionate brother
John Philip Green
I dare say you have hardly had time to write here or
for the letter to arrive here since my first letter but I shall be glad to […]
on a letter from home
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/94]
Dieppe Augt
17th /56
Dear Mother
I returned from Rouen last night but not early
enough to inquire for letters. But this
morning on paying the post office a visit I was glad to receive a letter from
Emily which from the date must have been lying there since Friday. I had made
up my mind to stay a fortnight before your recommendation to do so was conveyed
to me by Emily and I found that lodgings for a week only were not to be had and
that the expense of a fortnight’s stay would not be much more than for seven
days. I enjoyed my trip to Rouen very
much. The town itself is a very
considerable one a great deal of life and activity stirring in it finely
situated on the sloping banks of the Seine and containing some noble
churches. Friday being the Emperor’s
fete day there was a service at midday in the cathedral at which the leading
officers of the department civil and [..] the judges & advocates of the
courts of justice and a large number of the principal persons of the city were
present (or ‘assisted’ as the French call it).
The city wore quite a gay appearance with the numerous tricolors which
were hung out from the houses & the coloured [..] which were to serve for the
evenings illumination. A great many country
people came in at the latter part of the day and the whole place appeared to be
bent on thoroughly enjoying itself & succeeding in doing so. The cathedral is a very large and solemn
building but has suffered much by time and the […]. The views along it is much impeded and
diverted by screens or rood left stretching across the choir quite out of
character with the style of the rest of the church. The porches and […] great western door are
exquisitely beautiful open stone work.
Bas relief statues in endless profusion which described in detail would
be no easy task. But the most beautiful church in Rouen is that of St Ouen. It
is a little longer than the cathedral (about 450 ft) and lofty in proportion.
Its perfect symmetry and simplicity are what give it its charm. There is very little ornament about it. The
pillars are surmounted with a simple capital a few leaves or branches and each
of a different pattern twined about out of which the pointed arches rise and on
each pillar a niche where in former times were statues. The whole church is now in a very perfect
state having been lately restored to what was supposed to have been its
original state. The west front is almost
all new in the hard Caen stone. I never
saw a church that pleased me so much as this.
There is a water pot standing near the […] which reflects the whole
length of the church and the reflection in the water shows most wonderfully
what an appropriate name have (ship) is for the part of the church to which the
name is applied. It seemed quite as if I
was standing looking into some half finished ribs being the stone pillars and
the bend of the bottom being the arched roof.
The Hotel Bonytheroulde was another curious building of about the same period
as the church (but of XVth
century). There were some bas reliefs on the walls very curious representing
the cavalcade of Henry VIII & Francis I when they met on the Field of Cloth
of Gold. These of course were put up at a later period than the house itself. I am sorry but I must close my letter as the
letter box will be closed directly.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/95]
Dieppe Augt 19th /56
Dear Father
I am writing more because of adhering to my intention
of letting you hear every alternative days than that there is anything very
interesting to communicate. I have had several more dips, have read the papers
and done some hours work in the afternoon, heard the band, sat out in the
evening on the terrace and [………………………] and taken walks at different parts of
the day. I have not done much in the way
of exploration of the country around Dieppe. I do not believe it has any
interest picturesque or historical and somehow one does not feel so adventurous
when alone as when with companions. The
French papers are somewhat uninteresting at present as indeed are all papers at
this season. If the Spanish complications had not arisen I do not know what
they would have done to keep themselves up to the measure of the daily quantum
of news. From what I gather the French
papers generally approve the course of action which O’Donnell has pursued and
consider that with him for prime minister there is a better prospect of an
energetic and efficient administration without at the same time falling back
into the former despotism. Tho’ all at present seems confusion in Spain yet
consideration is that of the political condition of Spain at the commencement
of the present century & the important steps which have been gained since
then there seems a fair prospect of that country finally attaining a happier
& more settled social & political position. From all accounts there is a great deal of
sound material among the Spanish people but there has been a woeful want of
able or even honest public men to act as leaders. The French papers seem to think that their
English contemporaries have been making a great deal of more fuss than was
called for in regard to the alleged unwillingness or rather bad faith of Rafrea
in carrying out the provision of the treaty of peace. I dare say you saw the letter Genl Kmety the Hungarian officer who held a
command at Kars calling on Genl Williams to make a fuller statement as to the
share which the former bore in that perhaps brightest passage of the Eastern
war. The letter is at any rate very
dignified & moderate in its tone. About a month ago I happened to read in a
German paper that some soreness was felt in some quarters these on account to
the oblivion in which Kmety’s service seemed to have been hidden but this is
first open complaint I have seen at least in the English papers. Mr Fairbairns speech on laying the first
stone of the Manchester exhibition was as I thought very appropriate and
fitting and I have not a doubt the undertaking will be a successful one. I am very well but as I said at the beginning
of my letter have nothing to say about my doings at Dieppe. I think I shall return on Sunday or Monday. I should have set off on Saturday but there
is no boat. If you write again after receiving
this please prepay the letter as I had 8d to pay for my mothers’ which I
received yesterday whereas they are only 4d if prepaid.
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/96]
Dieppe Aug
21st /56
Dear Mother
I think I shall return to London on Saturday and not
stay till Sunday or Monday. I find there is no boat on Sunday and I do not
feel it […] to stay till Monday. Bazire
whom I mentioned before has returned from Paris & staying here at present.
He is returning to London on Saturday & that also [..] to me to travel on
that day. I think too I have had enough of Dieppe and while I have quite
thoroughly enjoyed my stay here I think a longer stay would become wearisome. I
must have a fortnight of work in London or perhaps three weeks before coming
home. The prospectus of the examination I received before leaving London and I
think it is not much better or worse than I expected. I have a great deal of
work to do yet and shall have to read much during the next two months. I feel
myself brisker and healthier for my fortnight’ stay. Bazire is a pleasant
enough fellow whom I have known some months in London. He is from the Mauritius
as also are several others at present studying law in England and intending to
return to practice in their own island. From being a native of an English
colony or rather profession Bazire of course speaks English quite well but he
has much more of the Frenchman about him than of the Englishman. Yesterday I
had a pleasant bathe but today the waves were so high that I did not venture
in. There were only one or two who tried it & they seemed to be knocked
about on the pebbles by the waves in anything but a pleasant manner. The town
is still very full indeed. I think more and more arrive. I noticed that in
about 10 days nearly 600 new names were put down at the bathing rooms as
subscribers there. I have been at one or two of the balls but have not danced
as I did not know anyone and tho I believe introductions are not strictly
necessary yet I was quite content to be a looker on. I think our countrywoman who was present
decidedly had the advantage of the natives but a great many that are seen on
the terrace did not make their appearance in the ballroom. I understand Count Walewski the French prime
minister is here and I believe I got a sight of him not knowing at the time who
it was. There is a pier projecting into
the sea at the mouth of the harbour which is a very good place to sit and get
the full benefit of the sea air and it is quite occupation enough to watch the
splendid waves as they come dashing against it & retire boiling &
seething with foam. I was sorry to see
the death of the last Earl of Shrewsbury of the direct line. I had heard some
time ago how very weak & delicate he was & little expected to live very
long. I hope you are all well & with
best love.
I remain your affectionate son
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/97]
Temple
London Aug 28th /56
Dear Father
I received Emily’s note this morning with its
inclosure as also your note & Ellen’s of the preceding day which had made
the round of London Street in coming to me.
I am comfortably settled in Garden Court in McCullock’s room and feel
quite well and in good spirits. I am
sorry to hear that my dear mother has had another attack of her complaint. It
must be very trying to have these recurrences of so painful an ailment &
one too which it seems so impossible to counteract or anticipate. I hope you have quite recovered from the
indisposition from which my mother told me you were suffering a short time
ago. I do not hear anything of much
sickness being prevalent in London. Of course this month is the least healthy
of any in general but I have not heard that this year there has been much
suffering from this cause. The
accustomed haunts of the lawyers are almost entirely emptied of their occupants
and the few who are to be seen are such as like myself have the examination to
look forward to or such as take the opportunity which the leisure of “the long”
affords them to recruit our already overgrown legal literature with new
contributions adding to a load which has already long since overpowered the
strength of the strongest. The new
statutes which every past session produces in greater or less number are often
made the subject of a law book written during the vacation and ready for the
practitioner when he returns to work out the statues after October. However on Saturday the library at Lincoln’s
Inn closes and then there will be no library except private ones to resort
to. I have the run of Mr Braithwaite’s
chambers books and as he is away I go there almost every day. I think I shall
probably be at home in about a fortnight but as is always the case more &
more work seems continually to present itself and assert its claim to my
attention. There is a little mulattoe
from the Mauritius slaving away harder than any of his ancestors paternal or
maternal from whichever line he may desire his dark skin & crisped hair.
Bazire has returned after a rough passage of hours which I was glad to have
been spared by crossing on the Saturday. Best love to Annie whom I have not
forgotten & to all
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/98]
Temple
London Aug 31st /56
Dear Mother
I received your note safely this morning. I am glad to hear that you & my father
are feeling better than you were a little while ago. In regard to Philip Holt and Jas. Swinburne I
have often felt that almost all my friends are either married or going to be
married. John Thornely is almost the
only one who has not yet manifested any intentions in that direction. The
effect of this consideration on me is by no means what my observation seem at
first sight to point to but simply to remind me how old I am growing that
really before very long I shall be a middle aged man! I will not forget to call at Scheurmann’s to make the inquiry you
wish. I have seen one or two notices of
Perthe’s life which have made it out to be an instructive book
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/99]
London Sept 8th /56
Dear Father
I need not tell you I hope how glad I should be to
be going home directly but I do not feel that I can well leave town till the
end of the week Saturday or Sunday. The
weather in London has been very pleasant lately not too hot or close. I have always had a horror of London in
September but I have not found it at all disagreeable or unwholesome. I will not forget the books which I suppose
are commonly enough to be met with at the bookstalls. I am writing this at the British Museum
library which has re-opened after the usual annual closing during the first
week in September. Last week if I had
not had Mr Braithwaite’s chambers to read in I do not know what I should have
done. It is astonishing what a
difference there is between autumn & spring in the western portion of the
town. At five o’clock when Regent Street
is full of carriages & gay people during May there is now hardly anything
in the way of a “vehicle” more distinguished than a cab. I have not heard anything of the Irish
tourists Thornely Greenhow & Martineau.
Wills was up in town last week at chambers. He has had some work to do for Sir F Kelly
who has set on foot the consolidation of portions of our statute law. As you no doubt know the statute book is in a
very confused and unregulated condition and Kelly’s plan as I understand is to
select and class together or consolidate all the different enactments or parts
of enactment which affect the same subject matter. Wills is engaged in preparing the groundwork
of part of this proposed consolidation.
He had an interview with Kelly the other day and seems to like his
work. If the plan is successfully
carried on it will save a great deal of labour & perplexity as well to
practitioners as to persons generally.
Believe me
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/100]
Temple Oct 1st /56
Dear Mother
I had a tolerably pleasant journey but did not
arrive in time to write by last night’s post.
Opposite to me sat a thick necked agriculturist from Northamptonshire
who smiled cheerfully at my ignorance in supposing that his native county is
chiefly occupied with grazing. In the
next compartment were three Chelsea pensioners in undress who had probably been
on a visit to their friends in the north.
They made themselves disagreeable by continuous but most imbecile
attempts at being funny but as far as I could learn the service they had seen
had been principally in barracks & did not warrant them in making
themselves so prominent. I found
chambers ready for me and am now settled down again with all my “things” in
their proper places. You would hear from
my father about the very kind present which Uncle & Aunt Long sent me at
the omnibus. I shall be able to set up
with a most beautiful wig and gown and shall be thinking before long of giving
orders for them to be made. The
afternoon yesterday was very fine in the south and I have wondered whether it
was so with you & whether you availed yourself of it to make the expedition
which the skies succeeded in preventing me from making with you.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/101]
London Oct 6th /56
Dear Mother
I dare say we are all alike just at present in
feeling somewhat anxious about the future but I for one and I am sure I may say
the same for the rest of us do not think there is any ground for
desponding. Of course I am sorry as can
be that it will be necessary for my dear sisters to enter upon so difficult and
harassing an occupation as having a school. I cannot advise whether that or any
plan of leaving home will be better as it must so much depend on their own
feelings and views of what they can best do.
I think that decidedly an effort should be made that they may have some
time either in Paris or elsewhere on the continent. The change would be so much more complete
than to stay for a time in London & I am inclined to think that there would
be much more to enliven and freshen up there than in England.
I am not feeling more anxious about myself than I
can help. I am reading steadily every day but not so as to confuse or overtire
myself. I have heard of another candidate Robinson of Liverpool who is said to
be a man of good abilities and hardworking. But he has not attended any of the
private classes which will be rather against him. Martineau has reappeared at
chambers after his journey in Ireland with Greenhow Thornely Heath & Co
which they all seem to have most thoroughly enjoyed. I have not begun to take
quinine yet but I will in a day or two – I really feel so well that it does not
seem necessary however remembering the good effects it had formerly I will
enter upon a course of it. The eggs in
spite of a tumble off the seat which the basket received were found to be safe
& sound with a few exceptions (not to the soundness but to the safety) and the
rest of the good things naturally did not suffer by their journey when they
were so carefully packed up. We have had
but a dull week here in regard to weather and I dare say you have had much the
same. Captn Harrison who is
to take the command of the immense iron vessel now building at Mill Wall and is
a friend of a friend of mine says that there is going to be some fine weather
during this month. I do not know whether
he is an oracle of the Jack Bunsby class but he has at any rate had experience
enough of winds & skies to make his opinion of some weight. Yesterday afternoon I rode out on an omnibus
to my favourite place in the neighbourhood of London Kew gardens. The weather
was rather gloomy at first but just before setting the sun shone out gloriously
and lit up the bright greens and yellows and reds of the turf and flowers and
trees beautifully. I have run out my
line for this time so with best love
Believe me
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/102]
London Octr 13th /56
Dear Father
I generally look out hopefully on a Saturday morning
for a letter from some of you, at least if I have not received any during the
week but last Saturday I looked out in vain. I am afraid you are all feeling
very anxious about future arrangements and plans & this perhaps makes you
feel less inclined to write. But I hope
you will let me hear what you are feeling & thinking and even if I can be
no assistance to you at least it will do me good to know and to some extent
participate in your doubts & difficulties.
In regard to giving up the school at Christmas it strikes me that if you
stay in the house and my sisters have their school there it will be easier for
them not to begin immediately they return from Paris or wherever else they may
go for a change but to wait till after midsummer. In that case I do not myself
see why you should not continue the boys you have till midsummer. But if it is
thought that there is any objection to one school following another so closely
or you are feeling tired of teaching which you may well be after so many years
of hard work upon it then perhaps it will be better to follow what seems to be
my mother’s inclination & tell the different lads now with you not to
return after Christmas. I need to say
how sorry I am that there is not a larger array to finish up your life in this
capacity and that you do not dismiss them with the means of an independent and
more varied life secured to you. That
the latter has not been the result of your labours life is as I cannot forget
in great measure owing to your liberality as a parent and especially towards
me. I will hope that I shall never
forget this nor be found unequal to the obligations laid upon me.
I hear Mr Malleson has his full number again 26
after a time of some decline and indeed that he had to decline receiving five
new boys. I heard this from Meadows Martineau quite casually not of course on
my part mentioning the state of things at home.
This looks as if private schools were not quite done for at least in the
Southern parts of England but success in this as in other callings is often
difficult to account for or assure. I am
sure from various things I have heard that boys have been as well taught &
I should think better looked after with you than at Mr Malleson’s. Still I don’t at all mean to draw from this
instance any ground for your trying longer to get a sufficient number of boys
to make it worth while to keep up your household and devote your time to
them. I think a change will be better
for you and indeed I suppose it is necessary if you consider it advisable for
yourself & my mother still to live at Heathfield I am sure my sisters will
find it a great support and it seems to me that it will be much easier &
pleasanter for you than to have to seek another abode in Knutsford or in the
neighbourhood.
As for myself I have been going on well &
regularly I am feeling in very good health & strength having begun to take
that wonder working liquid quinine. I
naturally feel a little anxious and at times think I do not get on as well as I
ought & might. I hear of a good number of candidates going in more it seems
to me than in former cases and I feel that however sorry I may be at not being
the first among them I shall not have any right to feel disappointed. There is one candidate above thirty and in
several of the departments he has a good practical knowledge as well as
one derived from books but I hear he has been getting ill. The little mulattoe is the most formidable
competitor having given his whole time for more than a year & a half to the
classes and to preparing for this examination. He was second at the examination
last January and has declared to others that he intends to be first this time.
I hope you got the Athenaeum last week it is not I
think very interesting at present.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/103]
London Oct 20th /56
Dear Mother
I send you with the Athenaeum a number of the
Saturday Review which no doubt you have heard of . As a literary
periodical it seems to me fully as interesting as the Athenaeum tho’ of course
there is not so much scientific & artistic intelligence in the former as in
the latter. On the first leading article
there appear to me to be some objectionable statements but generally so far as
I have observed it I like its political tone.
I think Dr Maine is a leading contributor to it and indeed I believe it
is almost entirely in the hands of Cambridge men. I thought perhaps you might like to take it
instead of the Athenaeum but pray do not let my suggestion weigh anything if
you do not yourself desire the change as I can see the Saturday Review whenever
I wish here. On Saturday Boult paid me a
farewell visit he sets off from Southampton today by the overland route for
Calcutta. He seems in very good spirits
about it and I think he is very likely to do well in the position he has gained
for himself. He has a decided turn for an adventurous and stirring life and in
spite of considerable oddities will I think rise to eminence in the civil
service. I cannot help wishing that the
appointments had been open in my day and I think I should have had a very fair
chance of being enabled to expatriate myself in the same way as our young
friend & old pupil has done. I am
going on quite well but as you may believe without anything particular to tell
you. My time is chiefly spent in the
library or here in Harcourt Buildings. I
think on the whole I am well prepared and am not at all feeling over anxious or
hurried. I have been in a good way for work and have dispatched a good quantity
since I have been here. The thought has
occurred to me that very likely Mrs W Teulon would be able to give some useful
information about France & perhaps some introductions. She must know a good deal about the place and
I fancy has some very good friends there tho’ I fear among the Hebrews. Shall I call sometime and ask her in regard
to what I have mentioned which after the next week I can easily do. In trying to send 3 sheets under one stamp I
followed your directions but I suppose my paper is heavier than yours. We have at last some fine October weather
which I dare say you are enjoying quite as much as we in town.
With love to all
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/104]
Temple Oct 27th /56
Dear Mother
If last week I had very little to tell you this time
I seem to have even less. Greenhow &
Wills have returned to chambers the former sleeping here on Saturday & thus
giving me the unaccustomed pleasure of a companion at breakfast on Sunday. Next Sunday I shall probably go out to Tulse
Hill to dine by Martineau’s invitation and it will be all the pleasanter for
having put the examination behind in the course of time. I do not think I shall be able to send you
word every evening during the examination but I will let you know once or twice
– we do not come out till after post time and it is more satisfactory not to
have to predict in one’s own case but to wait for the result being announced in
due time. We are having some very fine
autumn weather with a dash of cold which is rather briskening than otherwise.
The gas works which were so much talked of a little while ago as constituting a
nuisance in Whitefriars (which is near the Temple) have not caused me any
discomfort or uneasiness and the medical & sanitary officers who were
appointed to inquire into their state and effects have reported quite in their
favour in regard to the charges made against them for being hurtful to the health
of the neighbourhood. I am feeling very
well indeed so well that I cannot help thinking I might have worked harder
without any evil consequences & in particular that I might quite well have
done without my trip to France and passed that fortnight in London. However it would be indeed ungrateful to
complain of being in good health. I hope
you can give the same account of yourself and all at Knutsford. I am glad to hear that Ellen has paid a visit
to Bolton it is what I have often had a fancy for doing but somehow the
opportunity never offered itself.
With love to all
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/105]
London Oct 31st /56
Dear Mother
I have just a few minutes to say that I have been
doing well on the whole during the last two days. There are fourteen candidates altogether some
of course not competitors for more than an ordinary pass certificate. Of course I have no means of judging how I stand with regard to the other
candidates but I think that as far as I myself am concerned I have passed a
fair examination hitherto. The viva voce
examination is perhaps the most formidable part of the examination as you have
then no time for consideration and it is carried on in the presence of three or
four of the benchers of the inn. The
first morning the solicitor general was there among others. I cannot say I felt
afraid of them and do not think that I really knew more than I was able to
bring out. I shall not feel disappointed whatever the result is and shall not
regret that I have tried for. I am sure examinations of this kind are useful
and serve to give you a hint of your short comings if of nothing else. The mulattoe is in high glee he evidently
considers he has done very well indeed and so I have every reason to believe he
has. It is curious how anxious his countryman Bazire is that Brunet (the
mulattoe) shall be beaten. He no doubt thinks that Brunet will have an
advantage over him on their return to the Mauritius if he comes off with flying
colours. The first afternoon I had a severe headache a thing extremely unusual
with me which was very disagreeable but I do not know that it really affected
my work.
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/106]
Temple Novr 1st /56
Dear Father
I have had rather a hard day today and am glad it is
over. I do not think I have done so well today as the two first days but I hear
others complain much in the same way so perhaps I am not much worse off than
they. It is curious how in things which you feel more confident in than others
(as was the case with me in Roman Law) you often succeed less well in than
others as to which you felt more anxious.
Dr Maine tho’ an extremely pleasant and entertaining
man certainly manages to put some “posers”.
However I think on the whole I am pretty well satisfied and shall
without much anxiety await the announcement.
I do not know yet when it will be.
I have not any time now to enter upon matters at large but will write
again in a few days.
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/107]
Temple Nov 5th /56
Dear Father
I am not yet able to tell you the result of the
examination. The list will most likely
be published next Friday. If I have the
good fortune to be first I shall still be able to decide to be called this
present term. I have called on one of the benchers in order to be proposed and
have had my name screened in the hall.
My present feeling is that if I am not first but stand pretty well on
the list it will be worth while putting off being called till after I have had
another trial in January. This will only
lose one term and if my position on the list gives me a reasonable hope of
being first on another occasion I think it will be worth while to wait. It will
be time enough in any case when I write on Friday to let you know whether I
shall want the money for my call now or in January as it has not to be paid
till next week so there will be time even if I am called this term. If I am not called this term there is no use
having the money changed from the hands it is now in and if I am there will
still be time enough to effect this after Friday. I was glad to receive my dear
mother’s letter and send to her & all of you my best love & remain
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/108]
Temple Novr 7th /56
Dear Mother
I do not now regret that I was hopeful enough or
impudent enough whichever it may be called to have my name screened and take
preparatory steps to being called to the bar this term. Matters have turned out
in my favour and the council as you will see by the enclosed list have been so
kind as to place me at the top and to award me a piece of solid pudding in the
shape of the studentship. I shall not pretend not to be glad that the result of
the examination has been propitious to me.
I shall of course be now called this term and shall feel quite free to
go to read with some equity counsel directly & have no further examination
hanging over my head. I shall have to
make a call on my father for “the needful” to pay for my call. The expenses will be about £90 but as I
cannot be quite sure at present what the exact sum will be I shall be obliged
to ask him to transfer to me £100. If it
is at Messrs Heywoods correspondents or agents in London here I can call for it
and it will not be necessary to transfer it from them. As early in next week as it can be done will
be well. I do not know the precise day of call but I believe it will be some
day at the end of the week. There are
two names not in the list who were present at the examination Brunet and
Bullock. They have been in at an examination
before & the rule is if at the second trial a candidate is not placed first
his name is not mentioned at all on the second occasion but he has to fall back
on whatever place he gained at the preceding examination. I hear that Brunet was second at the
examination just concluded but owing to the rule I have mentioned his name does
not appear. The Robinson who stands second is a son of Mr Robinson the
solicitor of Liverpool whom I think my father knows.
The first intimation I had of my success was last
night but as it was only report I did not write by the morning mail lest there
might be some mistake.
The list however was in the Times this morning.
With best love to all
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/109]
Temple Novr 11th /56
Dear Father
I intended to have written yesterday to thank you
for all the kind congratulations which you have sent me but when I came home
about 5 to write the letter Wills had someone with him on business and tho’ he
never makes the least difficulty as to my using the room whenever necessary yet
I did not wish just then to disturb him.
I am sure that the greater part of the pleasure which I do not deny
having felt on account of my successful examination proceeds from the thought
that it will prove to you and all my friends that I am really in earnest in
pursuing the law and have not neglected the time & opportunities I have had
at my disposal. We must not forget
however that I have had altogether a long time of preparation (tho’ it has not
been without some interruptions) and that the place which I have taken would
have been more honourable had I been three years younger than I am. I called on one of the readers (Mr Birkbeck
the equity reader) this morning and had a little conversation with him prefaced
on his part with congratulations & good wishes for me. I have attended his
class very regularly for the last year and have found him very obliging and
communicative and taking a great deal of pains with his class. I think too of calling on Dr Maines tomorrow. Mr Birkbeck told me that the examination was
about the best there had been yet, which was of course very flattering to
hear. I have received many
congratulations from my friends in different quarters and in fact the only
drawback is the reflection that I seem such an age in comparison with some who
have done well in their examinations. I
did consult Mr James before the long vacation and he recommended me to go to
some one with a good rising business and who would attend to his pupils. It is I think better to have the
recommendation of actual pupils than such as Mr James who cannot of course know
particularly the merits of each as a teacher. So I went first to Mr C Hall who received me
kindly and seemed quite willing to have taken me but he was at present &
for some time to come full of pupils.
Then I went to Mr Hardy who was the barrister Tayler read with for a
year & liked very much indeed but he also had two pupils which was all he
had accommodation for in his chambers. Then I went to Mr Eddis who had been
strongly recommended to me by several persons.
He had only one pupil at present and was willing to take me for six
months. So I shall go to him next week after my call. The call I find is next
Monday so I shall have a few days to look about me & see some of my friends
before setting to work again. I received
your letter and the order contained in it safely and hope that its application
will not prove in the event to have been a useless or foolish one. The Council of Legal Education are more
trustful of the economical qualities of their students than the University of
London, for instead of dribbling scholarships out by quarterly payments they
pay in advance & for the whole year.
I shall have nothing to do next week but hand over the check for £52.10
which I have received today to Mr Eddis when I go to him. I called on Aunt Powel & the Greens at
Bow last Sunday and found them generally pretty well. Harry Powell was rather poorly with a cold
but the rest were all well. I think of
running down to Maidstone this week for a night or two one night I shall stay
in Maidstone & one I think with Leyson Lewis who has invited me to do
so. I seem to have been running on all
through the letter about myself but I hope you are all well. Give my best love to all & thank them
heartily for their kind wishes & remembrance of me.
Believe me
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
I received the papers this morning
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/110]
Temple Nov 17th /56
Dear Mother
I will attempt as well as I can to satisfy your
various inquiries. First as to my Maidstone visit I arrived about 4 on Thursday
afternoon and of course made my way directly to King Street. I thought both
my aunts looking very well particularly
Louisa and in good spirits. My
grandmother is wonderfully active and alive considering her age. Her loss of sight made her careful and timid
in moving about but now that she has regained it there seems little difference
in her from what I have always known.
The next morning I walked over to Tovil to see Uncle Charles whom I
thought looking thin and anxious. They
say that the Canada visit has had a very injurious effect on him. He seems to have liked the place and would
have stayed but the climate was too changeable & severe. I do not fancy he
will stay much longer where he is & wish he may soon find a more
comfortable settlement which I am sure he deserves. He told me that one of the Cowans said to him
that since he had been with them their paper had improved 10 per cent which on
a capital of 80 or £90.00 is a large sum and it seems hard that Charles should
not have had more benefit from the services he rendered. I also called at Hayle
Mill where I found John Green much as usual.
Mrs J.G. I did not see. In the
afternoon Lewis called for me with his phantom & drove me over to Farleigh
where I had a very pleasant evening with Mr & Mrs Leyson Lewis Mrs L the mother (she is a very lively
intelligent woman) a Mrs Hodges a friend of theirs and Meadows Martineau who
came the same afternoon. Mrs Leyson
Lewis I found as I believe every one close does a very kind and agreeable
person. In the morning we walked over
the farm. The valley in which East
Farleigh lies is a very beautiful one and I enjoyed very much the walk over the
fields or rather hop gardens in the clean November air. I returned to town the same afternoon.
As to quinine I took three bottles of it each
containing 6 half wine glassfuls which of course at 2 a day lasted 9 days.
The benchers are the governing body of each inn of
court they regulate the calls to the bar and all matters connected with the
administration of the property (chambers rents etc) belonging to each inn. A few years ago the four inns determined to
establish the system of legal education which now exists. A council of legal education was formed
composed of three or four benchers from each of the inns. Each inn secured a certain annual payment out
of its funds for the purposes of the council of legal education. The council of legal education (the chairman
of which is the Solicitor General Sir Rich. Bethell) appointed readers on the
different subjects on which they thought it advisable lectures should be delivered they regulated the
examinations and courses of lectures established. So that the classes and examinations are
conducted by the readers appointed by the council and the viva voce examination
which I mentioned is carried on in the presence of some of the council (who are also
benchers) But the calls to the bar
are still in the hands of the benchers of
each inn and with these the council has nothing to do. The Names
of the different readers you will find in the paper of rules for the
examination which I enclose. As you do
not I suppose want the papers I sent you will you return them to me. A friend
of mine asked me to lend them to him as he is thinking of going in on a future
occasion and wants to see them. So if
you do not want them any longer perhaps you will return them as soon as you
can. I have I think put everything in a right train for my call this evening
and when I write again I will give you a description.
With love to dear Ellen and thank her for her
pleasant & cheering letter and love to all the rest
I remain
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/111]
Temple Novr 19th /56
Dear Father
On Monday evening I went through the solemnities
required for a call to the bar & am accordingly at present a full blown
barrister. We had to present ourselves
soon after five for the important purpose of being duly wigged and gowned. The benchers having issued from their chamber
the students who were already in line and headed by the under treasurer fell in
to the procession and proceeded up the hall to the upper end of it. There the
line was brought up so as to face the benchers who were on the other side of a
table. The oaths or declaration were then read and a formal bow made from
either side of the said table to the opposite side. Then the treasurer who rejoices in the name
of Hoggins addressed a few words to no more especially to myself and Brunet who
were at the head of the row wishing us success &c. Then having signed our names in a book we
retired to our dinners. I asked Meadows
Martineau Scott and a friend of mine Keogh to dine at the same mess with
me. Sir A Cockburne having been
appointed C J of the Comm. Pleas dined in hall for the last time. For the
future his place of dining (except by special invitation) will be with the
other Common Law judges in Serjeant’s Inn.
So he treated the hall to champagne and for this and still more on
account of his general popularity received a few rounds of very hearty applause
on leaving the room. The solicitor
general and a good many of the other benchers were present. Dinner went off very much as usual and
afterwards 10 or 12 of my friends came in to have desert and take wine with
me. There were hardly any speeches but
some songs from different parts of the hall. There were three other call
parties besides my own but the hall rather overpowers the voices. The next morning I went down to Westminster
and was sworn in again in one of the Courts before Sir Ch. Crompton Knt. This completed the whole affair and
accordingly one more was added to that fortunate or as it maybe happy unhappy
class of barristers at law.
This morning I went for the first time to Mr Eddis
and feel sure I shall like him and find him a good man to be with.
But it is just past time So I remain
Yours affectionately
John
Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/112]
London Nov 29th /56
Dear Mother
This last week has passed quickly away and I find
myself at the end of it without any reply to your’s of the 22nd I can on further trial speak very favourably
of my position and circumstances in Mr Eddis’s chambers. There are two other pupils Freemantle (a son
of the bart of that name) who is a pleasant enough man so far as I have had
anything to do with him and seems to work regularly while he is here and Hunter
who was third at the recent examination and seems to have a very good knowledge
of law. I do not know who he is further
than what I have told you and that he is a Cambridge man. We get on together very amicably tho’ the
pupil’s room is of such confined dimensions as to bring us very close together
a state of things not generally considered to promote friendly relations. There is as yet plenty of work and Mr Eddis
does it in our presence which is a great point and is very communicative in
regard to all that is going on and comes under his notice. I like him very much indeed and do not think
that I could have found a better place tho’ no doubt some have a greater name
and more extensive & heavy practice than Mr E. I generally arrive about 10 & stay till 5
½ or 6 and find quite full employment
for the intermediate hours.
I called on the Taylers last Sunday evening &
found them all at home and pretty well.
They have had a pleasant stay at Heidelberg during the autumn and this
of course was a subject of common interest and admiration to us.
I am sorry to hear of Mr R Yates’s illness. I will
call at Bryanston Square and hope it will not be to hear that he is departed.
The outer bar which you ask about is merely the
proper name of the bar from which all ordinary barristers speak in the superior
courts. The inner bar is occupied by
serjeants & queen’s counsel and thus all barristers not serjeants or queens
counsel are outer or other barristers.
I am quite qualified in theory to take briefs or any
other business that may come to me but I do as yet begin to look out for them
or to pass long days in disappointed expectation. I do not see much use in
taking any other room than what I have at present till the summer. I shall be
entered in the law list after January as of Harcourt Buildings where I could
easily receive such an unlooked for thing as a set of papers. I think when I do set up in chambers I shall
take 2 rooms and sleep where I work but in this I shall be regulated by
comparative expense. I feel very free at present for all that goes on here in
chambers and have not as last year to be somewhat troubled to accommodate
attendance on some of the classes with taking the full advantage of Mr
Braithw’s work. But I do not forget the
necessity of finding some mode of employment which either now or in a little
while will be of some immediate profit.
Till now I have really been so much engaged that I have not had time to
consider & make inquiries. Hoping you are as well as November allows both
in health & spirits.
Believe me
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/113]
undated* [Nov/Dec 1856]
My
dear Philip
We are so very glad to think of you coming home,
will it be Tuesday ? if it is what a
great many people will be coming on that day!
Ellen and I came from Liverpool only yesterday, having been persuaded to
stay longer for one thing and another.
Only think my ambition was actually fulfilled we heard Mr Thackeray it was the second George*. I never heard anything like it so
splendid. Ellen and I are overflowing with admiration for Mrs J Thornely and
think her the loveliest and most charming lady possible also Mr Heath who we
like in an almost equal manner he is coming again to Liverpool after
Christmas I wish you would ask him to
come here ? Ellen went to a dance at the
Jevonses on Wednesday eveng. On Monday eveng we went to a small party at the
Kings which was rather pleasant only Mr King wd talk into my ear just behind
me. We have been making rather solid
castles in the air on the subject of taking lodgings in Liverpool for a time
this winter, the school of art &c. The Thornelys were so kind and
pleasant. We all send our best love to
you. You made us both feel so tall in Liverpool
Ever yours affectionately Isabella Green
They really want to know the day of your coming,
before finishing their plans, so as not to miss any of your time.
*[Thackeray
lectured on The Four Georges at various places in England and Scotland in
November and December 1856 [The
Letters of Mrs Gaskell J.A.V.Chapple and Arthur Pollard p.426]
JRL
Ref Box 1/24 [Ref: JA/IG/5/1856]
London Dec 8th /56
Dear Emily
I had not heard of Mr Richd Yates’s death
till your letter informed me of it. I
called at Bryanston Square last Sunday afternoon but then of course they had
not heard but I think I mentioned this last week. I am going on very quietly here in
London. I dare say quite as quietly as
you are at Knutsford. Both the other
pupils at Mr Eddis’s are good men.
Freemantle was a first class man at Oxford & tho’ not a very hard
worker is a man of evidently good abilities.
Hunter is a hard headed Cambridge man a 7th Wrangler I think
who is very improving to be with as he is acute & argumentative. There is a good quantity of work which has to
be got through at a quicker pace than that allowed to conveyancers and now
& then we diversify our occupation by stepping into the Courts to hear
arguments. This is very easy to do as
the Courts of Chancery sit at Lincoln’s Inn and are close to chambers so no
time is lost in going to & fro. I
had a letter from Winkworth last week in which he mentioned having been over to
Knutsford and asking whether I was intending to pay a visit at home this
Christmas. In regard to this matter I
almost think I may give myself that pleasure.
Last Christmas day which I spent here in town and whereon I dined by
myself I found by no means cheerful and as I have been 3 months in town &
it may be some time before I come northward again I think I will come and spend
Christmas week with you at home. I had a
little skating last Tuesday morning at Esher.
Wills has a house there and invited me to spend a couple of nights with
him coming up to town during the day.
His house is a pleasant & comfortable one not so large as the one he
has had near the Regents Park & which he has let for a time. The neighbourhood of Esher I have visited
before in summer & liked it very much & the skating came in very nicely
to replace the beauties of the warmer season.
The thaw came on very soon and did not allow more than a taste of the
sport. I have got our old friend
Braithwaite a pupil during the last fortnight of which I think he was not sorry
as he had only one other pupil besides the one I recommended. I am very well
and not at all in need of a visit to the country in a physical point of view
but I shall hope to see you before long unless you intimate the contrary.
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/114]
London Dec 20th /56
Dear Father
Whether or not from the feeling that I shall so soon
see you in person I have been rather behindhand in my correspondence with
you. I shall travel homewards next
Tuesday by the 10`o’clock train which seems convenient & speedy. I think it reaches Chelford about 4 but am
not quite sure. It will be still quite
light and I can very well walk over to Knutsford leaving my baggage to come by
the coach. I suppose the coach does not
leave for Knutsford for some two hours after 4.
I have no doubt I shall have some companions in travel as all that I
know who are going northwards this Christmas seem to have chosen Tuesday. There will I dare say be rather a scramble
but Tuesday will be much better in this respect than Wednesday. I hope there
may be a little weather for skating as there was last year while I was with you
but in this latitude the appearances of the last few days have not afforded any
encouragement for such a hope. I was sorry to hear of dear Aunt Fletcher’s
death. She was of course less known to
the younger ones amongst us than to the elder but I am sure all must be felt
what a kind and active spirit she had and how good her influence on those about
her.
I was glad to have Isabella’s note this morning
& to hear that she has been having some pleasure at school.
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/1 [Ref: JA/JPG/115]
Temple
London Jany 6th /57
Dear Mother
I had Uncle Long for a companion as far as Crewe and
after that had an easy & quick but rather cold journey to London. There was
quite an assemblage of “nobs” at Chelford going to Chester to appoint a chief
constable for the County. Among them Ld
Stanley of Alderley, Lord De Tabley Messrs Legh Dixon Thorneycroft &c.
I had not sent any instructions of my coming but
soon had a fire lighted & after I had returned from dinner found the place
wearing its usual aspect and I set myself to the important work of “settling
myself” which I found myself able in great measure to effect in the course of
the evening. I am just setting out to
chambers again. Wills has been away
since Christmas and only Martineau is at present in chambers. It has been very
well that I have been away for there are workmen in the chambers below making
an awful noise and what is worse beginning punctually at 6 o’clock a.m. I hope in the course of this week they will
have completed the noisy part of the business.
With best love
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
The letter which I suppose arrived at Heathfield
yesterday directed to me had been posted just before I left.
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/116]
Temple
London Jany 12th /57
Dear Mother
I am sorry to hear that your household matters have
not resumed a more settled condition so soon as you hoped but I hope you will
before long have less trouble & annoyance from this cause. I received a letter from Annie this morning
giving a full account of their visit up to this time which sounds to be a
pleasant one and likely to do them both good.
I am going to a party at the Wedgwoods tomorrow evening. It was the invitation to this which was sent
after me to Knutsford but had to be returned here again. The parties at the
Wedgwoods used to be pleasant but I have scarcely been at the house during the
last two years. I think it was quite the
better course to return at the time I did tho’ I need not say that I shd much
have enjoyed the Knutsford parties.
There has been a good deal of work which I should have missed and it
would have [been] rather awkward coming in upon it now. The workmen in the
rooms below are still “in” and do not fail to rouse me in good time in the
morning. I believe their proceedings are
likely to make the chambers drier and so perhaps there is no right to complain
of necessary “noise” but it is rather a nuisance. Wills has had an advantageous appointment
conferred upon him in connection with the proposed amendment and consolidation
of the statute law. He has been working with many others for some time without
any definite engagement and now when the government have taken the matter up
they have appointed three out of the larger number who have been trying their
hands on the work and Wills is one of them.
He will have hard and trying work but will not have entirely to give up
his other practice and the pay is at the rate of £500 a year 6 months certain.
It is a very nice thing for him and I should not at all object of finding
something of the kind for myself. The
term commenced today and the Chancery Courts all sat at Westminster as they do
always at the commencement of term. I went with Mr Eddis to hear a matter he is
engaged in and I have only just returned.
There are a few new statues in the corridor up the Houses of Parliament,
one of Chatham & another of Fox which looks unutterably ungraceful &
vulgar as far as the figure is concerned but the face & head is powerful
and impressive.
With best love
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/117]
JPG/118 London Jany 24th /57
Dear Mother
I assure you my not writing this week was not owing
to any such feeling as you suggest & indeed I ought not to suppose that not
to receive a letter of mine is anything in the nature of a punishment. The real
reason was that I missed writing on Monday & then put it off from day to
day. Last week I had a pleasant evening
at the Wedgwoods. The judicial world was
represented by families of Aldersons & Cromptons the barristerial by many
individuals more or less known and even infants in the non-legal sense of the
word were not altogether absent. Among the younger members of the company was
our old friend Clement who looks very well & much grown. He is a very pleasant lad indeed and has I
think greatly improved tho’ he was always very nice. He asked after you all & appeared to have
pleasant remembrances of his time at Knutsford.
He is going to school at Manheim for a time and then to travel about
before settling in his father’s business at Stoke. Godfrey was there also and looking a great
deal better than he did when I saw him last.
I met Mr Greg again at the Shaens this week and did not omit speaking to
him. He remembered me quite well and
appeared glad to meet me again. You know
that Eustace after his brief trial for a soldiers life was settled in
Liverpool. Mr Greg seemed to think him
doing well and in a good way and expressed himself glad that Eustace himself on
the return of peace wished to leave the army and not idle away his life as so
many officers do in frivolous dissipation.
I am going on very pleasantly at Mr Eddis’s we have
now a fourth pupil who however has come chiefly for what little conveyancing
work there is and I do not think the others will suffer by it. Mr Eddis has removed into the smaller room
& given up his own to us which is a great gain. He asked me to dinner last week. There were about a dozen people there and we
had a pleasant evening. Mrs E. is a very agreeable woman. He has a good many
children but they were not produced or even heard.
I have had a cold this week but am still rather
hoarse but I think it is better. We have had such unpleasant weather lately
that a cold is nothing remarkable.
With best love
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/118]
London Febry 2nd/57
Dear Father
I was very nearly setting off this morning on a visit
to Liverpool for the Chancery sittings which are being held this week. J Thornely in the first instance asked me to
stay with them for a couple of nights but on referring to home he found that
all available room at the different houses is occupied this week. I dare say I might have found shelter with
some one else had I been very anxious to
come to the sittings. But I thought that
it would be better on the whole not to shew myself at the court till I profess
to be quite ready for business and I do not think that I shall lose anything by
not beginning till the autumn. Another
reason was that I expect to see J E Taylor (of the Manchester Guardian) this
week and I did not like to miss the opportunity of talking with him. I have not made any attempts on the ice this
week and you will see by the papers that skating has been attended with very
considerable danger tho’ no lives have been lost hitherto. I think I am better tho’ not quite well &
have been keeping rather quiet and enjoying the fireside for the last week at
least in the evenings. One or two days
of the last week I have been in court listening to what was going on and trying
to understand the practical course of business as it appears in open court. We have not been very full of work lately tho’
there has been always been something or other to keep us going. The Courts rose
for a weeks vacation on Saturday and it is generally observable that more
papers come on during the periods when the courts are not sitting than when the
solicitors are occupied with the conduct of the court work. I think when I meet Mrs Wedgwood I will shew
her the lines on the Glasgow election which were forwarded to me last
week. I suppose you will have no
objection to my making that use of your effusion. I have not yet paid Tweedies
5/- but will do so before I write again & inclose the receipt. I think I
shall pay a visit to our friend Mr Phipson before very long. He lives very near Mr Eddis and so perhaps I
shall be able to make two calls out of one expedition. It seems such an immense distance now to
Primrose Hill tho’ when I lived out in that quarter I did not think very much
about the walk. Have you heard anything
about the Gaskell journey to Rome.
I see Mrs G’s book advertised.
With
love
Yours
affectionately
John
Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/119]
Temple Febry
5th /57
Dear Mother
I am sure you need not feel any anxiety in regard to
my health. I have had not more than an ordinary cold & cough which is now
much better and what should have made my hand shakey or unsteady when I wrote
my last letter I do not know. The cold
weather is not very easy to bear unless we feel quite well and brave in facing
it out and taking plenty of exercise in the open air but on the whole I am
feeling very well and not at all out of spirits and I can only wish you an
existence as free from ailments as mine.
In hast
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
In regard to trousers &c I am quite well off but
perhaps my new socks might have been warmer then the present ones but I had not
noticed any deficiency till you mentioned the matter. I hope dear Emily has been able to go to
Liverpool
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/120]
London Febry 11th /57
Dear Emily,
I am very much obliged to you as representing the
donors for the handsome pin which you have sent me. If the possession of it
should lead me on to indulge a taste for jewellery generally you will have to
answer for the consequences. I shall be
some little time before I get over the natural embarrassment of carrying such a
splendid object in full view of the world.
The braid for my eye glass I shall find very useful & my glass will
not run such risk of being lost by depending for its sole support on a weak and
neglected single cord. Of course I shall
be very glad to accompany you to Paris if there is no one at home would like to
do it. I suppose my father could
scarcely leave but if he could I think he would enjoy it very much. In regard to your writing about me to the
house where you will stay I will leave it in your hands. It has occurred to me
that as I should be about a good deal it might be cheaper to hire a bedroom at
a hotel and be with you as much as possible except at meals. I do not exactly
know what sort of a house you are going to and what your relations with it will
be and so can hardly judge whether it will be better or not for me to go there
during the few days of my stay. Let me
hear what you think. Have you any
inclination to write to Mrs Wm Teulon for introductions. I should
suppose from what I hear that she has some good friends in Paris and they might
be useful and pleasant to know. I am hopeful that the change in the weather has
done you all good as I must confess it has to me. All remains of my cold have
vanished & I am feeling in very good health & spirits. I was sorry to hear that you were prevented
from going over to Liverpool. The Austins have a party on Monday to which I
& Greenhow are going together. Mr
Austin perhaps you know is now in the board of works in place of the poor law
commission. Last Monday I was taken by a barrister friend Murphy to a private
theatrical performance in which he figured at the house of a friend of his Mr
Wheeler a barrister on the northern circuit. It was rather pleasant and after the
performance there was a dance from which we did not return till nearly 4 in the
morning. There is nothing out of the ordinary way to tell about professional
engagements (or avocations as the modern slang has it).
The account of Tweedie’s I have enclosed.
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/121]
London Febry 16th /57
Dear Mother
I did not in the least degree intend to convey the
notion that I do not like my sisters present on the contrary I think it a very
handsome and appropriate article of its kind.
I only meant that I could not help feeling conscious of something
unusual to myself for the first few days but now I find it quite a comfort
& very useful. I will certainly call
on Miss Holland after a few days.
About three weeks ago
I called on Mr Henry Holland in these buildings and
had a very pleasant chat with him. I called chiefly to ask about the Lancashire
sessions at Manchester & Salford that I might judge whether the course
recommended at Chancery lawyers of attending sessions was likely to be
advantageous to myself. I do not think
he seemed to recommend it much in my case but said that he had felt sessions
work and business so unpleasant that he had given up going. One of his friends Cross would be able to
tell me more and so before long I shall try and hear more on the subject. We have had the Yates’ affairs in chambers as
Mr Eddis has been counsel for Mr Ashton & Mr James Yates in the
matter. I do not suppose there will be
any great difficulties in the administration of the Estate but the state of the
property rendered it very advisable to have some other Trustees than only Mrs
Yates & Mr Ashton Yates. He from the
first wished to retire and that Mrs Yates should do so also and have other
Trustees appointed and this perhaps would have been the best course but Mrs
Yates & her advisers have thought otherwise. I need not tell you not to mention my having
told you anything about the matter for tho’ I have scarcely told you more than
you know before people do not like to suppose that their affairs are spoken of
by those who see them in the way I have done.
The interest of Mrs Yates in the property is somewhat adverse to that of
the rest of the family and the amount of her income is a good deal dependent on
the manner in which the property is managed so that I can understand her wish
to have a trustee on her behalf less immediately connected with the Yates’
family than Mr Thompson however honourable and independent he may be, but this
notwithstanding I do not think she has been well advised in the present
proceeding after all Chancery is not such a den of thieves as most people
imagine. I have already got a new dress coat & trousers but not with silk
facings. I do not think they are much
worn now and not by many except “swells” among whom I suppose are to be taken
the young gentry of Lpool. Yesterday I
went a long walk which I feel much the better for. Tonight as I think I told
you I am going to the Austins.
With best love
Yours affectionately
John
Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/122]
London March 3rd /57
Dear Emily
I think it would be quite practicable to see Rouen
on your way to Paris as the tickets are good for four days from the time of
issue. It would not however be possible to stay to have a peep at Rouen without
passing a night either at that place or Dieppe. There is only one steamer each
way during the 24 hours and its time of sailing does not vary more than 2 or 3
hours according to the tide. The trains
leave London in the morning for Newhaven so as to suite the steamer which
arrives at Dieppe in the evening form 4 to 6 or 7. There is then a short interval of waiting at
Dieppe and passengers proceeding direct to Paris arrive there about midnight. It would be quite easy to reach Rouen the
same evening stay there the night give the next morning to seeing the city and
then in the afternoon proceed to Paris. First class is 28/- second class
20/-. The second class on the French
railways is quite good enough for any reasonable person but the second-class
ticket does not allow the holder to be in the better part of the steamer. The fore part is quite tolerable in fine
weather but if it is at all bad weather the accommodation below is very common
& disagreeable & not at all what I should like you to have to put up
with. I should recommend you to take a
first class ticket on the whole. The
route by Dieppe is much cheaper than that by Calais or Boulogne the difference
is almost one:two which is owing to the greater length of the sea voyage from
Newhaven to Dieppe and the longer time the whole passage takes so that most
persons prefer the Calais route & make it necessary for the directors of
the other to hold out the temptation of greater cheapness. Of course if you stay a night at Rouen the
expense will be something more than 28/- but the place is well worth seeing and
I decidedly recommend that plan.
I have not seen Mrs Teulon but I think I may as well
just ask her and see what she says about Paris and her friends there and then
ask her for letters. She may know very
nice people other than Jews.
I am sorry that I have made you wait a day longer
for the information I have given than you wished but I did not notice till
today that by your letter you ask me to write before Tuesday morning. I hope
however it will not have been any inconvenience to you.
With best love
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/123]
London March 11th /57
Dear Mother
I hope you are going on satisfactorily and not
feeling the sudden cold weather which has come upon us during the last few
days. We can scarcely expect to have
entirely done with winter weather just yet & the present temperature is a
reminder. The result of my application to J.E.Taylor for some employment in
connection with the Manchester Guardian has not been a successful one. He answered my letter in a very friendly
manner but said that at present they are fully provided with contributors to
their journal and that the inconvenience of having to depend on persons at a
distance from Manchester has been found to be so great that he has been obliged
as much as possible to select contributors from persons who are resident in
Manchester or the neighbourhood. I have
also had some conversation with Mr Greg who gave me some information which I
hope I shall be able to use but said that his connection with the press had
never extended beyond contributing articles on special subjects when requested
to do so and that it has now almost ceased.
He could not therefore do anything in the way of helping me to get any
employment of this kind but seemed quite willing to forward my wishes if an
opportunity should offer. However I shall try in other quarters & hope in
some way before very long to be able to find some kind of employment compatible
with my other pursuits. We are going on
very well at chambers at present & we have quite enough work to fully
occupy our time. We have had several interesting matters before us lately which
however I do not suppose you would much care to hear about. I have not been out
in the evening lately at least into society & so having nothing to tell you
of such matters. I am sorry the
Athenaeum has not been forwarded till today but it lay by forgotten. I saw Mrs Teulon who said that most of the
friends she had did not live in Paris & that the only house she knows in
Paris is that of Mad Coulon where she & Aunt Louisa were in a school. She speaks of Mad.Coulon as a very nice
person who gives “receptions” but now somewhat of an invalid. But I thought an introduction would more
naturally come from Aunt Louisa. The
only other person she mentioned was a professor & his wife whom she
likes. I said that I would hear from
home and let her know again my sisters wish.
Did Emily say anything to Mad. Bein about my staying there. She never told me and I though of writing a
note to Bazire who is now studying in Paris and should therefore like to know
where I shall be stationed.
I am quite well & enjoying my new socks &
remain with love
Yours
affectionately
John
Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/124]
London March 30th /57
Dear Mother
I think both Emily & Ellen are looking pretty
well the former perhaps too thin & anxious but I hope their journey will
turn out well and happily for them and be a real change and rest. I cannot learn till Tuesday at what time the
train leaves London as Wednesday is the first day of the month and the time
bills are not out till the day before. I
shall have also to see about a passport on Tuesday which in spite of modern
civilization is still a necessary article to be provided with. After today I shall not send the Athenaeum
any more according to your request and will settle what is owing for it. I did
pay for it up to January so that there is not a great deal owing. I have had to
borrow some money but not much and I have paid almost everything in the way of
bills for clothes & other bills. I
shall be able to get on comfortably for some time now and I do not expect that
during this summer my expenses will be considerable.
My time with Mr Eddis comes to an end about the
middle of May and I think then that if Mr James finds it convenient to take me
I shall go to him for the rest of the summer and autumn. I hope then I shall be
well prepared for any work that will be likely to come to me and the more of it
& the sooner the better. I suppose you saw that Mr James has been a
candidate for Derby at the late election but he retired before going to the
poll.
If I find that I can live cheaply in Paris I think I
shall not return till Easter Monday. Mr Eddis will make a holyday about Easter
and I find that if I were to come back in the middle of next week I should not
do much in the way of work. So I shall
have time to see a little of Paris myself and perhaps be of some assistance to
the girls at their first outset in the new world. I hope you are all well. You
may depend on our not setting out on the salt sea if the weather is bad but we
will not anticipate that such will be the case.
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
E Watkins called
on Thursday afternoon here in the Temple. Of course I was at Mr Eddis and he
told the clerk he would call in the evening.
But I did not see anything of him in the evening and as I do not know
his address I cannot write to ask him to come at some other time. I should like
to have seen him before setting off to Paris and I might perhaps have been of
some use during the first days of his coming to London.
JRL
Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/125]
London April 16th /57
Dear Mother
I suppose you received the note which I despatched
on my arrival at Newhaven on Wednesday evening.
I have had a very pleasant visit to Paris and am glad to find on my
return to chambers that I have not missed anything of importance by my
fortnight abroad. However as Easter Term
has commenced and fresh papers coming in it was quite time to return to work
again.
I am sorry that I was not able to make the search
you asked me to make. The Imperial Library was closed during the whole of my
visit and there was no admittance for anybody.
It is always closed for some weeks during each year and it happened
unfortunately to cover the whole of the time of my stay in Paris. I was a good
deal disappointed to find the long gallery of the Louvre which contains the
great works of the Italian & Spanish painters was also closed during
repairs and alterations being made and I am afraid that Emily and Ellen will
also be deprived of the pleasure of seeing it from the same cause. The weather on the whole has been pleasant
but during the latter part of the time we had cold windy & wet
weather. We saw several of the regular
“sights” but did not work at all hard at them.
I always find it very tiresome to run thro one thing after another
without cessation and as for Emily & Ellen they will have time to enjoy the
various curious or beautiful things which Paris has to shew at their own
convenience and leisure.
I heard one or two preachers who pleased me very
much more particularly the Pére Foelix who was giving a series of discourses
especially addressed to men on the evenings of the week proceeding Easter day.
I have never heard so powerful or attractive a preacher and from the
distinctness & expressiveness of his voice I was able to hear and
understand almost every word he said.
The sight of the nave of Nôtre Dame crowded as close as it could be with
men was itself a very impressive one. On the morning of Easter Sunday there was
a general communion of men also in Notre Dame and very numerously attended.
I had an introduction to a M Salvétat an advocate of
the Paris bar who was formerly a Heidelberg student and one of the same set
that I frequented but he left before I came and I therefore had not known him
before. He shewed me round the Palais de Justice and took me into one of the
Cour d’Assise where a criminal trial was going on which seemed much like our
own but it was cut short by the fainting away of one of the accused. At Salvétat’s house I met Bellair who was a student
at Heidelberg in the year when I was there and is now married and settled in a
lucrative business as avoné (much like our solicitor only more select). I did not see very much of Bazire during my
stay tho in the same house with him. He is on the eve of an examination in
Paris in order to be entered there as an advocate and besides I was chiefly
going about with my sisters.
With best love to you all
Yours affectionately
John Philip Gree
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/126]
London April 29th /57
Dear Mother
You received I hope the letter from the girls which
I put into the post last evening after their arrival. I thought them looking
pretty well. Isabella perhaps less so of
the two. I dare say the colds they have
had & the journey did not give them the best opportunity of looking well
& perhaps when I see them again there will be nothing to desire.
Do we know any people at Preston? The Lancaster Chancery sittings are held at
Preston next month and if I go which I feel inclined to do it would be pleasant
to know some persons in the town and might be useful in the professional point
of view. I shall be “out of my time”
with Mr Eddis about the 17th of May and if he does not invite me to
stay a little longer with him which perhaps he will do I shall then be turning
my thoughts to Mr James. I shall make a trail now that the new parliament is on
the point of meeting to get some occupation as secretary. I have already made
enquiries in several ways but it did not seem a very favourable time when the
old parliament was on the point of dissolution.
A few days ago at dinner at the Temple Hall I met with a law student who
said he had heard of me and told me that he had married a sister of Miss
Mason’s. He seemed a pleasant enough young fellow but I was much surprised to
hear he was married & had several children.
It seems he is on the parliamentary staff of the Time’ reporters and
with this and other work makes some £300 a year. To judge from what I hear the sub departments
on the chief London journals are chiefly filled by Irishmen. If you meet an
Irish law student you may be sure of two things that he has been at Trinity
College Dublin and is in some way or other actively literary of aspiring to be
so.
If I could but see my way to some means of passing
over the next two or three years without incurring any obligation to strangers
or any further one to my friends. I
shall look forward without much anxiety to ultimately making my way in my
profession. The fact is that in
everything the prejudice is against a young practitioner. When there are so many able and experienced
men ready to do the work what reason is there to induce the trial of an
unproved aspirant and this feeling must find its necessary operation more
perhaps in the law than in anything else.
Still there are so many instances of men succeeding without more
external advantages than I have that I do not see any reason to take a
desponding view of things.
I had a letter from Emily last week which contained
very much the same information as the one of Ellen’s which I read here in
London, but as perhaps you may like to see it it shall be sent on. It was retained for the perusal of Annie
& Isabella and they have it now but in a few days at any rate it shall be
sent. I am dining rather oftener at the Temple now than I should have
done. The price of dinners has been
lowered to 2/- and I think it is worth while to pay this in order to dine “in
company” and in a civilised manner.
Yours very affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/127]
Preston May 13th /57
Dear Father
I arrived in very good time in Manchester and did
the little things in the town which I had to do before going to the Court.
There was very little business as the greater part of it was transferred to
Preston. About 2 o’clock the greater
position of the bar indeed all except the three or four who were engaged in the
last case adjourned to the Exhibition. I
had about three hours there not nearly enough to examine all the beautiful
things it contains but enough to be made fully alive to the extent & value
of its collection. The only person that
I saw that I knew was Arthur Darbishire & his brother. We came to Preston
by the 5.15 train and arrived after an hours ride. The barristers are in number about 16 or 18
but as is always the case the heavy work is divided among about five or six out
of the whole array. They seemed a
pleasant set of men several of them I knew more or less before and the others
seen inclined to act in a friendly manner towards a new-comer. There are some 25 causes this time at Preston
which is considered a large number. I
have had no intimation of anything for me and as I believe one always hears of
any papers during the first day I suppose I shall be still one of the
briefless. Neither of the solicitors
whom J Fletcher mentioned have any causes at these sittings and indeed I did
not know any of the names of the solicitors who have entered causes except Mr
Airson and Mr Falcon. I do not suppose
the former remembers having ever met me and so I did not attempt to make myself
known to him. Tom Harvey was in court to
look after their business and came up and spoke to me. I think Mr Marshall who has been settled
several years in Liverpool as a barrister and is a very competent person has
all the business the Harveys have at these sittings. I think I shall go to Bolton tomorrow evening
and stay with the Fletchers. I received a letter today from J Fletcher. I do
not think there will be any use in staying here beyond tomorrow tho’ the
sittings may last till Friday. I have
given the letters to Mr Catterall and called on Mr Ainsworth. I found both of them out but this morning Mr
Ainsworth called and seemed very friendly and invited me to dinner this
evening. Mr Catterall has also called
while I was in Court and left his card so I suppose it lies on me to make
another attempt to meet. J Roget is here
and is in two matters but they have not yet come on.
I remain
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/128]
Birkenhead May 16th /57
Dear Mother
When I was at Preston Tom Harvey asked me to spend a
night with them at Birkenhead which I concluded to do. I had a very pleasant dinner on Wednesday
with the Ainsworths whom I found extremely pleasant & agreeable
people. The Captn & Miss
A had been to the Manchester Exhibition during the day and the beautiful things
they had seen were of course discussed and from having seen them myself on
Tuesday I was able to take some part in the conversation. In the later part of the evening we had some
pleasant singing from the two brothers & sister. I also called again on Mr Catterall the next
morning and found a hearty and cordial old man. He still holds the place of
Registrar to the Court but has been pensioned and the duties of the office are
now performed by two registrars, one for each of the districts over which the
court has jurisdiction. He asked me to dine the following day and meet Mr James
but I was engaged to go to Bolton and had to decline. However he asked me to call whenever I
visited Preston again. I had not time to
deliver the other two letters but shall find opportunity to do so on my next
visit. I had a pleasant evening at the
Hollins Mr & Mrs Fletcher were at Manchester and I found Mr & Mrs J
Langshaw Mary & Jane Watkins & A
Brandreth in the room when I went in. J
Fletcher came in about 9 but he was very tired after a long day’s work and was
not able to talk much. I liked the
little I saw of him very much. He had to
set off again at 7 in the morning and his duties as receiver seem by no means a
sinecure. The next day I went with J L into the town and saw the Market and
other parts of the town. Bolton was very much what I expected to find it. I
called in on the Watkins on my way home
and saw Mrs W. and all of them that I had not already seen. I came to Liverpool about 4 o’clock and
crossed to Birkenhead and was kindly received by the Harveys. Miss Mather & our friend Captn
Robert were there. The latter is certainly a good hearted straight forward
fellow but not improved within the last five years in manners and
appearance. I had a good deal of talk
with Mr H. who behaved very “civilly” towards me and altogether I was very glad
that I had accepted Tom’s invitation. Tom is looking much better than when he
was in London. I shall go to London
today by the morning train on the Great Western Railway from Birkenhead by way
of Shrewsbury and Birmingham. I do not expect to arrive in time to post a
letter this evening and so I do not think I shall be able to write.
With best love
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/129]
London May 23rd /57
Dear Mother
I have not much to say but I thought I should like
to write a line or two. I have had my
first bit of business a case for my opinion which came last Saturday. It is from Brooks & Marshall of Ashton
under Lyne. The first named is I believe
a cousin of our friend. I shall be
leaving Mr Eddis soon and I heard from him that he & Mrs E think of coming
to see the Manchester Exhibition in the autumn. Would it do to ask him to stay
a couple of nights or so at our house and go over in a morning to
Manchester. He is not thinking of staying
in Manchester but some little distance out and it occurred to me that if you
feel you would not be inconvenienced I should like to ask him & Mrs E. to
stay at Heathfield. They are both kind
pleasant people and would not be difficult to have in the house.
Let me hear what you think.
Yours affectionately
John
Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/130]
London May
30th /57
Dear Mother
I have not heard anything of any of the late
occupants of No 13 North Crescent since they left. The boxes were not sent off directly as they
left me to see after them and I was not able to go to the place till Thursday.
Yesterday I went to the office of the carriers who are in the habit of taking
up packages for the L & N W Railway and ordered them to call for the boxes
at North Crescent. They were directed
“by luggage train” to Knutsford and I should not think there can be any
necessity for having Chelford station written on the direction. They would
probably be forwarded today so that you ought to receive them this evening or
Monday morning. If you do not do so early next week of course I will make
enquiries here about them. I did not go
down with the girls to the station but I saw them off from North Crescent and
Harry Powell was to meet them at the station and go with them to Maidstone
where he will pay a visit to Uncle Charles.
The other two travellers I met at the station and saw off as I thought
they might need some assistance in getting their luggage properly booked &c.
I remove on Monday to London Street Hyde Park where I was last
year. I forget the number at this moment
but till I send it you can write to me at Harcourt Buildings. I shall also begin with Mr James next
week. I think perhaps it would be better
if you would write a little note to Mrs Eddis asking her to stay a few days
with us to see the Manchester Exhibition.
I will give it to Mr Eddis if from what he says when I refer to the
matter I think it better to do so. I hope you will not be inconvenienced by
their coming and I quite think you will like both of them. I have asked
Wills to spend a night or two with us and also Scott of Stourbridge but it will
not be just yet. There is a letter in
the Times this morning from Mr Shaen on behalf of Mrs Gaskell expressing her
regret at having made certain statements with regard to the relations between
Branwell Bronté to one of the family where he was tutor and acknowledging that
the information on which she had made the statement was ill-founded. There is also a letter from the solicitors of
the person referred to accepting the apology and adding an expression of their
belief that Mrs G believed the information on which she founded her statement
to be true. So I hope ends what might
have been an extremely awkward affair for Mrs Gaskell. Neither in law nor morality is any one
justified in publishing of another matter of a defamatory character except in
circumstances of necessity which I do not think existed in this case. I am feeling quite well in every way. I have
sent out my opinion in the case I had from Brooks and hope it will be approved
by the persons who sought it. I have not heard any thing more of it. I will
answer my father’s questions before long when I write to him. I hope you are feeling pretty well and that
my grandmother is better than when I was at home. Perhaps you will enclose the note to Mrs E
when you next write which I hope will be soon as I should like to call on Mr E
on Tuesday or Wednesday & say good bye. I am glad to say that Cohen who as
I think I told you had read Roman Law with me for some few weeks has gained the
studentship at the recent examination.
Yours affectionately,
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/131]
9 London
Street W June
11th /57
Dear Mother
I hope you have Annie & Isabella safe at home by
this time. I write chiefly in reference to the return of Emily & Ellen from
Dieppe. I think they will find no difficulty in making the journey home by
themselves and especially as there are so many travelling together. I think therefore there would be no use in my
going to Dieppe or elsewhere to meet them and I should not on my own account
like to leave London just at present without a decided necessity for it. I asked Annie to ask you to send the four
shirts which came from Manchester by Charles Powell when he comes and I say it
was not necessary for me to mention the matter again but perhaps in the many
things she will have to tell you she might forget this one. I hope you will find your girls looking well
I thought them so on seeing them
yesterday. How is my dear grandmother I
hope better.
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/132]
9 London
Street June 17th [1857]
Hyde Park W
Dear Mother
On receiving your note yesterday I wrote directly to
Emily at Ians and expect that she will receive the note before setting off this
evening. I told her that I should have
been very glad to meet her at Newhaven if I thought I could be of any real use
or that they would need assistance. But
it is such a very easy thing to land and have the baggage examined at a place
like Newhaven where the steamer comes close to the wharf near which are the
custom house and station that I do not expect the girls will have any
difficulty. I will of course meet them
at London Bridge at 8 o’clock which is the time for the arrival of the
train. Newhaven is the most convenient
landing place I have ever seen as steam boat wharf custom house, hotel &
railway station are all as it were under one roof and there is very rarely such
a crowd of people as to create confusion. I have received my shirts
safely. Tell Aunt Long that I misread my
father’s letter and was under the impression that she was to arrive on Monday
or Tuesday instead of to depart home again and it was only on looking again at
the letter yesterday that I became aware of the real state of the case. I should certainly have called on Sunday had
I known she was in North Crescent. I am going on very well I have not seen
anything of Mr James the last two or three days as the Courts are not sitting
this week and he is gone down to his country house at Shere near Guildford.
With best love
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
My father can have a bedroom here for a week or if
not here I have no doubt we can get one in the neighbourhood.
JRL
Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/133]
London July
8th 1857
Dear Mother
There will not be many more opportunities of writing
home before the time will arrive when I hope myself to be there. I do not feel there is very much to
tell. Last Monday I went to an afternoon
party at the Tagarts which was intended to have been a garden one but that the
heavy showers altogether prevented.
However there were musicians and a large room and we did not find frock
coats and walking boots an insurmountable impediment to dancing. There were a good many people there.
I heard
from Miss Roget that Dr Roget had
been very ill and they had been
quite anxious about him.
I understood that he was not better but I did not
hear any particulars. Mrs E. Harvey was
there. I have been looking about for chambers lately and found a room in
Chancery Lane which would have suited me very well when it struck me that the
room I occupy at Mr James was formerly let and is now unoccupied. Having heard from the clerk that Mr
James would probably be willing to let the room I spoke to him about it and he
seemed quite willing to let me become a tenant if I did not think the rent too
high. It does seem a great deal to pay
£52.10 for a single room but I have not been able to find anything that would
do which would be less than £40 and I really think the advantage of being to
some extent a permanent inmate of these chambers and necessarily brought into
contact with Mr James would be quite equal to the additional rent I should have
to pay. I think I shall determine upon making the arrangement and hope to have
your approval. The situation of the chambers could not be more respectable or
professional and I think there may be something in having one’s name on the
same door with Mr James which will make any solicitors that come think better
of me. Then too Mr James often holds
courts here as Vice Chancellor of the county of Lancashire and as I
shall attend the Court I think it may be some advantage or help me to get me to
get some footing. However as to all
these dreadful considerations please keep them to yourself and those at home
and do not say anything about it till I have actually arranged the matter. I & J Thornely go on very well together
and I think the air of Paddington where we are is decidedly pleasant and
invigorating. I dare say I shall return
to London this autumn before the end of September to try and be on the ground
in good time before November
With best love
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/134]
London July 13th /57
Dear Father
I understand from a note I received from Ellen that
you are at present at Liverpool. We are
having another turn at the hot weather at present and certainly there are many
places to be found on the earth which [sic] fresher & cooler than the Vice
Chancellor’s Courts. I have been in
Court the last day or two as Mr James is in a large case which I read up and so
feel some interest in. I think if I
remember right I was to call at Sir H Holland’s at the end of the month for
your books and I will not forget to do so. The Chancery sittings will be held
at Liverpool about the 11th August and I shall of course attend
them. If you should happen to meet Mr
Avison and feel you know him sufficiently you might just mention that I attend
the sittings. I know he often has
business at the sittings. I hope you find the Miss Yates’ pretty well. There is
nothing here to tell. I think I shall come
home about the 1st or 2nd whatever the day the Eddis’s
are to come to us.
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
Love
to those with you and kind regards to the Miss Yates.
JRL
Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/135]
London July 25th 1857
Dear Mother
I hope you have not fixed the second week in August
for the Eddis’s to come to us. I shall have to be in Liverpool on Monday the 10th
to attend the Chancery Court which opens on the following day and I should have
liked to be in Liverpool the greater part of that week as well for the purpose
of attending the court as of seeing some of my friends & having something
of the work at the assizes which are held about the time I mention. I hope Isabella is not having much of an
attack and am sorry to hear of it. I
shall no doubt be seeing Mr Eddis during the next day or two and will speak to
him about the matter. I shall be sorry
if we cannot have them. Their visit in
the first week seemed to suit their own plans so well as well as ours that it is
a pity it should be disarranged. But I hope it will not be necessary to do so.
I will write again before long and remain
Yours affectionately
John
Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/136]
London July 27th 1857
Dear Mother
I saw Mr Eddis this morning and I said I would write
to you in regard to their coming at present and make one or two further
enquiries. He said he hoped you would
excuse an immediate answer to your note. He is not so much afraid on their own
account but after having been at Knutsford he intends making a stay of a few
days in a friend’s house in Staffordshire where there is a young family &
he is of course anxious not to run any risk or even cause alarm. He & Mrs E seem to think that if the
other members of our family have had the measles so that there would be no
danger of it affecting others of us than Isabella only there could be nothing
to fear in coming to the house. I told him I thought we had all had the
complaint but that from the example of Isabella there was just a possibility of
being favoured a second time. Won’t
Isabella be nearly well by next week. I hope she will dear girl on her own
account as heartily as can be but what do you think with reference to the visit
of the Eddis. Let me hear by return
please and then I will see Mr Eddis on Wednesday. If their visit has to be
postponed the only time they will have will be in October. Have you heard with any certainty how long
the exhibition will continue open during the autumn. Will the beginning of October suit you as
well for their visit as at present supposing they prefer not coming
immediately. Mr E. is rather in want of
some place to take his family to this autumn where there would be plenty of
room & bracing air. I suggested
Silverdale without having had any personal experience of the place if that
would not be too far from London to bring 10 or 12 people. I think you were all
pleased with the place & did not find it very expensive. Do you think a house could be found where so
large a party would be comfortable. Tell
me something of the advantages or disadvantages of the place and whether you
know anything of the places on the Yorkshire Coast. I dined with Mr Eddis last
week and had a pleasant evening in his company . On Saturday I went to the opera where the
prices have been much reduced for the last fortnight of the season. I heard Piccolamini for the first time and
thought her a very attractive personage.
I saw Frank & Mary Green there and had an opportunity of speaking to
them.
Yours affectionately
John Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/137]
London July 30th 1857
Dear Mother
I saw Mr Eddis after receiving your letter yesterday
and I think that in all probability he & Mrs Eddis will not consider the
risk of conveying measles elsewhere to be of much importance. I dare say you will receive a letter from Mrs
Eddis either tomorrow or Saturday. Mr E.
does not think they will be able to leave before Wednesday evening as some of
the Vice Chancellors do not rise for the long vacation till the commencement of
next week and of course it would not do to be earlier in leaving town than they
are. I should have been very glad to travel homeward a few days sooner and go
with the girls to the Manchester Exhibition on Saturday but it is really out of
the question. I have many little things to do before leaving and besides I do
not like to leave before Mr James does.
I think however that on Monday or Tuesday I shall have the pleasure of
meeting you all again. Tell Emily I have called twice (with an interval of a fortnight
between the times) at the place in Berners Street about the photographs and
they have heard nothing of them. They
have only received two articles from Baldwins & that in pursuance of an
order of their own.
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/138]
Heathfield,
Knutsford 19 September 1857
Dear Cousin*
I am naturally desirous of obtaining what interest I can on behalf of
my son, who is about, this next October, to commence the practice of his
profession as a Chancery barrister on conveyance and equity draftsman. You are
I believe aware how successfully and honourably he has passed through his
studentship for the law, and therefore I make less apology for asking you, when
a proper opportunity offers, to mention his name to any of your solicitor
or attorney friends. His name will be found in the regular law lists and his
address, or chambers, No 3 Stone Buildings, Lincoln’s Inn. I have been making a change in my own
engagements in having relinquished my school this midsummer. My daughters however are about to commence a
school for young ladies in the same house and as I am sure they will endeavour
to desire support I trust they will obtain it.
I have not been in your neighbourhood for some time but have been glad
to hear that the world is not unprosperous with you. With kind regards, in which my family write
I remain yours very sincerely
Henry Green.
*[John Barcham Green, Hayle Mill, Loose, Kent]
[Hayle Mill Archive 7/2/18/29]
London Oct 10th 1857
Dear Father
I arrived at George Fairbairn’s about ½ past 6 and
found him at home alone as his wife was on a visit in Manchester. Mr Hodges who is a clergyman at Holmes Chapel
came in to dinner. George seems to like
his present life and to have great interest in farming & country pursuits
generally. My journey to town the
following morning was not illustrated by any incident and with the exception of
that portion of it which lies between the point of starting & Crewe was
accomplished in perfect solitude. I
found that I could be taken in at London Street and I shall remain there for a
week till I get settled and can have time to inquire & consider what will
the best arrangement to meet my position & purposes. I have been to Stone Buildings this morning
but found only the boy there. Mr James
has been several times during the long vacation but is not there at
present. If you have reason to write in
the next few days direct to 9 London Street as my name will not be painted up
on the door at Stone Buildings till Monday or Tuesday & the postman might
not happen to ask for me at Mr J’s chambers.
I called on Marshall last night as he was the only one of my friends
likely to be in town at present. He was only able to pay the “show” a flying
visit and as he had a cousin with him at Liverpool he could not manage to pay
us a visit. However he seemed to be
quite sorry that he could not bring it in and asked after you very kindly. I found on coming to the Temple that Mrs
McCulloch is like her master out of town and this accounted for the fact of no
letter having been sent by return of post.
There was a note from her lying for me at the porter’s lodge. I hope my mother & Ellen enjoyed their
day at the “show”. I saw by the paper that the concert was very good and the
presence of their R.Highnesses would no doubt attract numbers of people got up
in at all events an expensive style.
Fairbairn says he saw the E of Wilton and thought him about the seediest
man he ever saw in his life but I suppose it is rather a sign of nobbiness now
a day to be shabbily got up.
Best love to all
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/139]
9 Stone Buildings Lincoln’s Inn W.C Oct 17th /57
Dear Mother
I am now settled in chambers at Stone Buildings and
have my book case set up and my books are here so that I feel quite
established. I have found a room at Bayswater which will suite me very well and
the only article I shall find it necessary to provide is a chest of drawers. I
think with you that it is much better to delay having the bother of furniture
to drag after me on each removal as long as possible. The address is 1 Northumberland Terrace,
Westbourne Terrace North. But always
direct letters to me at Stone Buildings.
I saw Mr James for a moment the other day. He was looking very well and
was I think glad to see me again. He
& his wife have been to Paris for some weeks lately. I have also seen Mr Eddis who asked after you
all in a most affectionate manner.
He & his family have been at Dover and Mrs E. is much better than
she was about the time of their visit to Knutsford. As I am not yet so over-whelmed with business
as to render the arrival of any a matter of indifference you will perhaps be
glad to hear that I have a will to draw for Lewis & Darbishire. I have been
busy upon it these last 3 days and expect to send it back to them on
Monday. I shall remove this evening from
Street [sic] to my new abode and hope I shall find my quarters comfortable.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
I have engaged to take one of the chests of drawers
Wills has at chambers & which he no longer wants.
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/140]
Holly Hill Saturday Oct 24th
[1857*]
My dear Isabella
Though I am beginning now to write to you, I expect
I shall only have time for a very short note.
I wonder when I shall see you again, not till next
Midsummer I suppose. It seems such a long time since I came here. On the whole I like it very much, better than
I expected; you were quite right in what you told me about Lucy Hollins; I like
her very much indeed, she is so different from what she was that autumn when
she was at your house. I am very busy
here the whole week, and it is all that I can do to get everything done. I like my German and Music lessons the best.
Dr Hinkel is very nice, he is so funny and he is constantly saying things that
make us laugh. Do you go on with Dr
Marcus with German? I suppose you don’t
with French. What did you do at
Southport ? were you in the same
lodgings as all the Woodland party and was Mary Harvey with you? I never could get answers to these questions
from Harriet and Ada. I am learning
drawing with chalks, not pencil, and I think I like the former best, we draw an
hour every day, most of the girls do water colours and it makes me long so, to
be able to do them. I am so very
sorry I am not coming home at Christmas, but of course if we cannot be all
together there, it will be nicer to go to Bournemouth. Mrs Lalor is reading “Tom Brown” aloud to us
in the evening, I do so like it, you have read it, of course,
have not you, because it is about Dr Arnold. We read aloud at dinner also, but
the book is not a particularly interesting one, Travels in Norway. Will you write to me sometime. I should so
like a letter.
Love
to all and I am dear Isabella your very affec.
Mary
E.Long
[*Mary
Esther Long was aged 9 living with her parents in Knutsford in the 1851 census
and the only Saturday 24th October between then and 1851 was in
1857]
JA/Box 2/6
The Henry
Longs
Mary Long
London Oct 27th /57
Dear Mother
I have not found any reason to regret the
arrangement I have made as to lodging. I find it by no means “forlorn” as the
room is a cheerful one with two windows looking into rather a pleasant street
and has been recently fresh papered with a paper in much better taste than is
generally displayed in London lodgings.
The woman of the house seems a decent obliging person and I have no
doubt I shall go on very comfortably.
The exact address (which I did not give you correctly before) is No 21
Northumberland Place, Westbourne Grove North. Perhaps you will be glad to hear
that I shall be likely to indulge less in the weed which “soothes” than if I
had two rooms as I must confess I do not like smoking in the room I sleep
in. Mr James came back to chambers
yesterday for regular work and today & yesterday I have been busy on papers
of his which have come in yesterday he asked me if I should attend the
Lancashire Chancery sittings next time and recommended me decidedly to give it
a fair trail as he thought there is an opening and that after a time I shall
get business to do. Of course being judge of the Court he cannot give me a help
in any way. I met J Thornely in the
street this morning. He only returned yesterday and I had not time to hear any
news from him. On Sunday evening I
called on the Taylers whom I found at tea with Mrs Schwabe & her two boys
as their guests. I thought the former family looking very well, indeed much
better & in better spirits than I have seen them for a long time. Hannah
said she had had a letter from Emily which she intended answering shortly. They seemed to think the plan of my sisters
quite likely to succeed.
I hope you are all well & am
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
P.S. In my walk to chambers I pass through Sussex
Gardens where your friend lives.
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/141]
London Novr 2nd 1857
Dear Mother
I read my father’s production “The Cat in Chancery”
and did not think that the Court’s stability is likely to be seriously impaired
by the circulation however wide it may be of the said work. I thought parts of
it very amusing and quite worth being brought out of MSS into type for the
delectation of the reading public. I do not think that playful satire on the
evils of litigation & especially Chancery litigation does harm to any
one. Of course no one goes to law that
can help it and complaints of the laws delay & uncertainty are doubtless
coeval with the first existence of laws themselves. These complaints whether just or not have not
prevailed so far as to abolish courts of justice and I am confident that the
Court of Chancery will survive the event of the “Cat” being let out of the bag,
however fierce & active the said cat may be. As far as I am concerned personally the work
cannot well do any harm as it seems one way of rising in the law at the present
time to shew [sic] your liberality & disinterestedness by fiercely abusing
one’s own profession & the administration of justice. I cannot say it is a line I shall take to as
I think that the essential & searching reforms which have affected of late
years in the different courts & especially in the Courts of Chancery have
left little which can be justly complained of in our procedure.
I have made a very pleasant acquaintance through
Geo. Fairburn. He asked me if I knew Hy Bagshawe a Chancery barrister a cousin
of his wife’s. I did not but I have
often wished to know him as he is a very promising & rising lawyer &
has the reputation of being a very pleasant man. His father is a Q.C. of the
Chancery Bar and they are Catholics.
George gave me a letter to the son and he received me very kindly. He called on me on Saturday & asked
me to dine with them yesterday which however I could not do as Mr James had
asked me previously. Bagshawe said he
should be very glad if I would come to his chambers and see what work he has going
on and it was an offer I shall be glad to avail myself as the drawing of
pleadings is a branch of business which Mr James as a Q.C. has no longer
anything to do with. Mr Fairbairn’s
letter is a kind one and I hope I shall be at Chambers when he calls. I really do not think there was anything
unprofessional or undignified in writing to the two person you mention*. In any other profession or business there
would be no reason for hesitation in asking the good word of any friends and it
is only in the case of the bar that there is such a nicety about the
matter. Of course I must conform
to the principles of action which are laid down by professional feeling &
experience for the guidance of barristers but I do not think that what
has been done is in any way inconsistent with these principles. I think however that enough has been done in
this way for the present and I must be content to wait my time patiently. I had a pleasant evening at Mr J’s yesterday.
Mrs James has a somewhat difficult manner but is a decidedly clever &
intelligent woman. They have two
children at least that appeared a boy & a gall the former is a nice looking
entertaining lad. The other persons there
were a Mr Law and a Miss Kingston I think.
I have been telling you a long story and will now “shut up”.
I am very well indeed in health & feel my
Bayswater residence suits me
Yours affectionately
J. Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/142]
* [refers to
letter above, written by his father to
John Barcham Green 19 September 1857]
9 Stone
Buildings Linc Inn Novr 7th /57
Dear Father
I do not know that I have anything particular to
tell you but as my mother seemed to wish to have a line I have sat down to
write a few. I have not yet heard
anything from Longmans & perhaps it would be better during next week to
call there & ask what the result of their examination of the MSS Euclid is.
We are going on well at chambers term has begun and Mr J’s papers came tumbling
in. I have something to do on my own
account from our friend J H Brooks who has sent the papers in the case which he
sent me in the spring for an opinion to consider whether I can draw a bill
which will be likely to succeed. If I do
it will I suppose involve my first appearance in court but I feel rather afraid
of taking a case into court & not succeeding in it. I think it will be the end of the month
before I come northwards but I do not yet know the exact day. It will certainly not be before the end of
Michaelmas term which closed on 25th instant. We have had very
unpleasant weather close muggy damp & foggy for the last few days but this
afternoon it is rather better.
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
A friend of mine S J Hunter who was a fellow pupil
at Mr Eddis has taken the studentship at the recent examination which I was
glad of. I have seen Mr Eddis once or
twice & he asks very kindly after all of you.
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/143]
London Novr 16th /57
Dear Father
I expect to travel northwards on the Wednesday in
next week. I do not quite know at what time I shall arrive as I am rather
thinking of travelling by the Great Northern for a change. The Court sits at Manchester on Friday &
Liverpool on the Saturday & Monday.
I will write to Winkworth to tell him that as the Court only sits one
day at Manchester I shall not have to trouble him for a bed as I shall not go
to Manchester till Friday morning. I
shall have Wednesday evening & Thursday at home.
I was in the Chancery Court today & saw our friend
Mr Longman sitting as a Dft in a big suite of Spiers & Brown.. The Plt is the author of Spiers French
Dictionary and complains that one Contansean whose work has been published by
Longmans has made improper use of Plt’s work in the construction of his
own. I only heard the opening of the
case which promised to be a somewhat heavy one.
Perhaps Mr L. may not be in a very good humour just at present tho’ of
course such things must be happening to such a house as theirs as being dragged
into law. Perhaps he might be inclined
to turn “the Cat” out upon the world if not in the Court. I will call some day this week about the
Euclid. The bill I had to draw for
Brooks has come to nothing as I do not think there is a good case & it
would probably be a useless expense to his client to take proceedings. I was in Court this morning holding a brief
which Bagshawe handed to me. He was for another party in the suit & of
course could not appear for both & so turned it over to me. I had nothing to say as it was a matter of
mere arrangement & not contested.
However it was my first appearance in Court quantum valeat.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/144]
9 Stone Buildings
Lincolns
Inn London Nov 23rd /57
Dear Mother
I will see about the tea which you commission me to get
and hope it will be more successful than the last lot which I bought for
you. I shall arrive at Knutsford from
Manchester as from the opposition at present between the North Western &
Great Northern Railways in conveying passengers between London & Manchester
it is much cheaper to take a ticket through to Manchester and then proceed on
to Knutsford. So that it will be by one
of the evening coaches either from Bowdon or Chelford that I shall arrive at
home. I have not heard anything for me
to do at the ensuing sittings which I should be likely to do by this time if it
is to come but I shall not yet give up attending the Court. I went to dine with
the Bagshaws yesterday and had a very pleasant walk in the afternoon with Henry
Bagshaw in Richmond Park which was looking beautiful in the autumn light. There
were still many leaves on the trees which I was surprised to find.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/145]
Liverpool Nov 28th /57
Dear Mother
I have not added to my wealth by my dancing
attendance on the V. Chancellor but I suppose I must not begin to complain yet
a while that I am not more fortunate. The Liverpool business was finished today
sooner than was expected and so there will no Court on Monday. I am just
setting off to Miss Yates’.
I shall perhaps be at Knutsford on Monday evening
but at any rate on Tuesday.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/146]
London Dec 2nd /57
Dear Father
I had a quick & prosperous journey to town &
as usual without any incidents worthy of narration. I left the parcel at Bowdon in Uncle Long’s
name and inclose the ticket which will have to be presented in order to receive
it. On arriving at Chambers this morning
I was glad to find instructions to draw deed of release from Lewis & Darbishire.
As it is the second piece of work within the last two months which they have
sent me to do it looks as if they intended now & then to send me
conveyancing work. I have not yet seen Mr James. He has been in Court all day
and this morning I was there listening to an argument on a plea in a cause of
Mealor v E.Talbot in which Mr J is counsel. It is a very important case as by
it E Talbot seems to wish to bring prematurely before the Court the question of
his title to the Shrewsbury Estate. Mr
James is for Hope Scott & Bellaris who are the devisees of the late E of
Shrewsbury.
London is very dirty & gloomy as usual at this
time of the year and I have not heard or seen anything or anybody today that
you would care to know about.
Believe me
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
I will make inquiries in regard to the proper course
to be taken in the matter of your trust deed within the next few days &
write to you on the result
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/147]
Lincolns
Inn Dec 5th /57
Dear Mother
I hope indeed that I do not make mistakes of
misnomer or others of the kind I seem to have been chargeable with in the
instance you produce but perhaps as I always go over a draft of a deed more
than once which is rarely the case with a letter I need not be very anxious on
that score. I think the smaller size of
drawers will be more likely than the others to fit me. The present ones have always been rather too
large both in length & girth. I have
been feeling quite busy since I came back with the draft I had to do for
Darbishire & which I sent this evening and there has been besides a good
deal of Mr James’s work going on which I wished to keep up with. Tomorrow I am going out to dinner with P M
Martineau at Brixton and expect to meet there our friend Stephen Love who is
rather a chum of Meds. Tell my father
that the best course to take in regard to his trust deed is to take it to some
solicitor in the first instance whether Mr Worthington or any other and say
that if it is necessary for it to go to counsel to draw he would like it to be
sent to me. It would not I think do to
send it to me direct as I shod not like to do anything
professionally irregular which I think it would be to take such a deed directly
from the “party”. Perhaps it may not need a counsel to draw at all & a solicitor
would do it quite as well and there would be considerable in convenience in
getting the deed properly endorsed & executed without a solicitor within
whose province this especially falls.
Best love to all
from yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/148]
London Dec 11th 1857
Dear Emily
I cannot at this moment tell you certainly whether
or not I shall be able to pay you a visit on the occasion of the two parties in
prospect. I think that if the excursion
trains are continued during this month at their present prices I shall be
likely to give myself the pleasure of seeing you. But if not I scarcely think it would be worth
while to make the journey considering that I shall probably have to come
northwards at the end of next month in attendance on the Lancashire Chancery
Court. However I will consider the
matter & in a day or two write again. It will I think be better for me
to write to Heath &c. I saw J
Thornely since receiving your note and asked him if he thought he could come
but as he did not know what the arrangements of his friends at Lpool might be
he could not give any definite answer. I
know of course that I must make up my mind soon on account of writing the
letters before the persons we wish to see have made other engagements. In the last letter I wrote home I intended to
have told you that Mrs H Jackson had a daughter born to her about 10 or 12 days
ago. Mr J asked me to tell you of it
& to say that both his wife & the baby are doing very well indeed. I heard again today the same effect this
morning. He would have written himself
but has been really so full of business legal or domestic that he has not been
able to find time to do so.
I have had a letter from Aunt Louisa asking me to go
down to Maidstone about Xmas to take part in a “quadrille party” on the 28th
inst. I have not yet written an answer
and I think that the Knutsford plans will rather stand in the way of my
accepting her invitation.
Last night I dined with the Eddises (?) who were
kind in their inquiries after you & asked whether any of you had been or
were likely to visit town. I saw some of
the children for the first time who seemed very nice and kept in very good
order. The night before I met Geo.
Fairbairn in the Strand and we went to the theatre together. He & his
father were passing through London on their way to the continent where they
will be a couple of months and will go as far as Naples.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref: JA/JPG/149]
London Dec 24th 1857
Dear Mother
The letter enclosing A D’s letter safely reached me
and I wrote to him some days ago a “civil” letter explaining the actual state
of the case. I quite felt that it was
the better course and my letter had said nothing more than that he might
remember that we had told him that for our Knutsford parties it was necessary
to invite gentlemen from a distance. I
did not intimate that we were in want of gentlemen on this present occasion or
in any way ask him to bring some “as a charity” to use Ellen’s expression. I told you in a former letter that J Thornely
had promised to come. I have not been able to see Marshall. His father is in town and I think he is
engaged with him. In case I should not see him what do you say to having
Maximilian. He I know will be travelling northwards next week & might like
to come. However just as you please about this. Let me have a line on Saturday morning. I will see about the commission you
mention. I shall leave town either on
Monday or Tuesday and be with you as early as I can. Merry Christmas & best love to you all
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/2 [Ref:
JA/JPG/150]
Grove House Undated
[1858*]
My
dear Philip
We have heard that in Saturday’s Athenaeum there is
a notice of Papa’s Euclid * will you please send us one. Mamma thinks it undignified to ask Mr
Siddeley** as he told Aunt Anna of it.
We are some of us at Grove House, and Mr Hall is sitting here. Aunt and
Uncle are going to John Broadbent’s tomorrow there is to be an horticultural
show there. Papa seems rather better today but he finds it very difficult to
move, he does not go down stairs. I want
the Athenaeum very much, a stray number is always very welcome to me. Mr F
Holland has called today and stayed a long time several other people called
too.
Ever
your affecte
Isabella
Green
[*Gradations
in Euclid by
Henry Green was published during 1858]
[**John
Siddeley’s printers & stationers was opposite the Royal George in
Knutsford]
JRL Ref Box 1/25 [Ref: JA/IG/6/1858]
London Jany 4th /58
Dear Mother
I reached town in safety on Saturday evening. I had
quite a satisfactory day in Manchester. I called first on R Darbishire in
reference to the deed I am engaged in drawing for him. He seemed very kindly
disposed towards me and I think that if
I do his business satisfactorily he intends to continue to send me conveyancing
to do for him. I saw F Tinker who will in the course of a week or two send me
the first sum of the amount which he has been so kind as to promise to lend me.
He would have done it before but owing to the large payments he has had to make
to his uncle’s Trustees he has been somewhat short of money himself. I will bear in mind what you said about
careful spending of this loan and of course feel how much depends just now on
my own prudence & judgement so that I may not become incumbered with debt
even to those who would not press their claim with strictness & without
delay. I went up to the Gaskells after
concluding these matters and had lunch with Mrs G and her two daughters. Mr G arrived from London where he has been
for about a week after we had finished lunch but as he was engaged at dinner
for some time and I had to leave at 3 I did not see much of him. Mrs G was very
pleasant indeed and Meta naturally in a more regular temper of mind than when I
saw her in the summer. My absence from
town has not this time had the effect of attracting business to await me on my
return, indeed with the exception of one or two notes nothing whatever has
arrived here and no one so far as I can learn has called. So that I think I have had the pleasure of a
visit home without feeling that I might as well have been “sticking close” to
work.
Believe me dear Mother
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/151]
London Jany 12th 1858
Dear Father
I was sorry to hear by my
mother’s letter that some of you are unwell and others have to busy themselves
with household matters. I hope both masters and servants are by this time in a
more regular and comfortable way. We
have had very remarkable & sudden changes of weather here within the last
ten days and many I know have been sufferers in consequence but I have been
hitherto quite free myself from cold or other illness. On Thursday evening I am going to a dancing
party at the Hensleigh Wedgwoods’ which will most likely be agreeable but I
have no other engagements of a social character either in connection with the
approaching marriage of her Royal Highness or otherwise.
The term as you my have noticed commenced yesterday
& the Courts of Chancery after a first day’s sitting at Westminster have
returned to the precincts of Lincoln’s Inn. Mr James has a good deal of work in
and I am feeling busy at present tho’ not I am sorry to say on my own
account. Marshall leaves for St
Petersburgh on Saturday and I am going to breakfast & I suppose take leave
tomorrow morning. I have not yet seen
him since his return but he called & left a note for me today.
I think I told you that Mr James is counsel for the
devisees in trust for the will of the late Earl of Shrewsbury in the Chancery
proceedings which have been commenced by Earl Talbot. It has not yet come in
court but pleading has been going on very actively in black & white which
tho’ not quite so exciting is perhaps more important than what goes on by word
of mouth and in silk & horsehair.
I have very little news to tell you as with me one
day is very much like another but I think my life is one that suits me and I
have no reason to complain of it.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/152]
London Jany 21st 1858
Dear Mother
I received the copy of the Macclesfield Courier
which you forwarded to me and read with much interest my father’s lecture so
far as contained therein. I am glad to
hear that it was so favourably received by its auditors to whom the greater
part of the information it contained must have been quite news. I have sent the Courier on to Maidstone as
requested. I have not had any more business on my own account since I returned
to town but I am expecting to receive further instructions before long from R
Darbishire so that I may go on with the business of Mr Whitehead’s
property. Mr James has plenty of work at
present and with that and the reading the reports that come out I find I have
quite enough to do to occupy my day. I
am quite on pleasant terms with him and feel quite at home here now. I have been all the day in Vice Chancellor
Wood’s Court hearing the argument in the case of the Shrewsbury Estates which I
think I mentioned to you. It was not
finished when the Court rose.
I think I have not written since the Wedgwood’s
dance. It was a decidedly pleasant affair, the company in the earlier part of
the evening was interspersed with juveniles who cleared off about ten &
left the older birds a little more room to turn about on the floor. Roget was there among others and the Austins
& Tagarts. The legal profession is
generally powerfully represented at this house and last Thursday was not an
exception. The Aldersons were there with
one of whom I had the pleasure of dancing .
I picked up acquaintance with a very pleasant man who is in the same
office (solicitors) with the eldest Wedgwood of the name of Weld a Lancashire
man and nephew of the late Cardinal of the same name.
Let me hear again before long from you &
Believe me
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/153]
5th February 1858
[Letter
from Henry Green to his cousin John Barcham Green: date from postmark on
envelope]
My
dear Sir
I am about to publish a jeu d’esprit, the title
of which I enclose. You will perceive that it is without my name, - and
therefore I mention it to you in confidence. I am venturing to ask if you will have it in
your power to assist in the circulation and sale. If you could and would order a few copies
through me directly, the profit to myself would be so much the more as I
should save the booksellers deductions.
But I do not desire any subscription or subscribers. The work
will be ready in about a fortnight.
With kind regards to yourself and Mrs Green.
Believe
me,
faithfully
yours
Henry
Green
As
no one in my family at home knows of my intended publiction if you write to me
address me, without any name
Master
of out Chancery
Mr
John Heywood
170
Deansgate, Manchester
[HMA
7/2/34 Jan-Feb 1858]
Liverpool February 5th 1858
Dear Mother
I have again had a profitless errand in coming to
the Lancashire Court and have not any good news of that kind to tell you. The business has been quite up to the average
in quantity but has not had the benefit of my abilities in aiding the transaction
of it.
The first night after I left you I staid [sic] at
the Gaskells and saw Mr Gaskell and the children. I thought Mr G looking better than when I saw
him before. I did not see anyone I knew
in Manchester the next day and indeed I left for Liverpool about 3 in the
afternoon. That evening I dined at the
Adelphi with 6 or 7 other of the barristers and slept there. The next day I was in Court all day. In the
evening I dined with Mr Aspinall the barrister having previously been to the
Thornelys to see them and deposit my luggage.
This morning I have again been to the Court and am about to return to
the Thornelys house where I shall spend the evening. I shall go to Manchester
tomorrow and leave by the 4.15 for London.
I wish I had a better account to give of myself in a professional way
but I suppose it is far too soon to be getting impatient.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/154]
Linc.
Inn Febry 8th 1858
Dear Father
I had a safe and speedy passage to town which as is
always the case on Saturday evening seemed full of life and bustle. The only
communications I found awaiting me at chambers this morning were two
invitations for days which are now past and a letter from Meta Gaskell
explaining the absence of the female members of their family last Tuesday and
generally to a like effect as that received at Knutsford from her elder
sister. Mr James greeted me kindly this
morning and was sorry that I had not yet had the opportunity of appearing
before him when on the bench. Of course
I feel anxious enough on all accounts to be getting into business but I do not
feel that I have as yet any right to complain. It is however somewhat
aggravating to find a man like Bardswell go down and at once step into as much
business as he can do. But this again is
what I ought always to have expected. I think I told you what Wm
Grundy said about his daughters yaleat quantum. Wm Thornely asked
how my sisters felt about their school and seemed to think that trade and
commercial relations generally have been so bad this winter as to make those
persons who are connected with it less willing to spend much just at present
whether on the education of their children or otherwise. He thought that in the spring or summer this
difficulty may be less felt & that they will be more likely to hear of
pupils at least from quarters as those referred to.
I received the paper which I will forward this
evening
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/155]
Linc Inn Febry 17th /58
Dear Mother
I did not exactly mean in my last letter to convey
the impression that I was disappointed at the absence of results from my
northward journeys but only that I naturally felt anxious that something should
come of them before long. I cannot forget that most of those who are getting
work are of longer standing than myself or have strong local connexions who can
always secure them a considerable amount of business. So that do not think that I am feeling in any
way discouraged or out of heart but merely that the present is a somewhat
critical time for all of us and that the sooner we see our way forward the
pleasanter it will be.
The weather here has been very changeable of late
Saturday & Sunday most unutterably wet & wretched but today bright
& fine. I have been having a cold which however has not given me much
trouble and is in fact nearly well. On
Monday evening I went to a small dance at Mr J Atkinson’s a barrister of the
northern circuit. I did not know him at all before but was invited to go by an
acquaintance of mine of the name of Littler (also of the northern circuit) who
had a commission to bring “eligible” men.
The affair was not particularly agreeable but I met one or two
acquaintances as one is sure to do at a party at any lawyer’s house. Except this I do not think I have any news to
tell.
I have been reading &c industriously at chambers
and going to morning & evening along Oxford Street and so have passed my
days. Chas Thornely I saw the other day.
He is living with John and goes to Mr Cary’s studio. I saw some of his sketches (in oils) which
seem almost all sea pieces and liked them very much. I should think he has decidedly some talent
for painting but whether sufficient for the purpose of making it his profession
I should have some doubt.
I hope you have not been troubled with your old
enemy of late & have not been feeling too anxious about future prospects.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/156]
Letter
from Henry Green to his cousin John Barcham Green
Heathfield Knutsford 27 February 1858
Dear
Sir
I am sending you by this Post a copy of my little
book, the price of which is 3/6. Whatever you may think of the letterpress you
will I am sure consider the frontispiece, - the note me langere very
spirited and clever. I hope however that
you will like the book itself and from conviction and not simply from
friendship give it your recommendation.
I shall be obliged by anything you can do to promote its sale as it was
begun in the first instance with a benevolent object in view, about which I
have expended some money, and if this jeu d’esperit be successful I
shall get repaid.
It will give me much pleasure to stay a day or two
with you when I visit Kent – which I hope will be within no very distant
period.
With kind regards to Mrs Green and yourself
Believe me, yours very sincerely
Henry Green
There has been a delay in the publication, and the
work did not come out before yesterday, so that you have it new from the mint.
[HMA 7/2/35 March 1858]
Lincolns Inn March 2nd /58
Dear Emily
I began a letter to you yesterday afternoon but the
East winds a cold and a departed fire combined had such a doleful effect on the
same letter that I determined to see whether 24 hours might not change the
aspect of things. The two inconveniences
first enumerated still subsist but the fact of sitting near a thoroughly satisfactory
fire makes such a difference in my “sentiments” that I have been able to rouse
myself to letter writing with better hopes of succeeding. Last week we had very painful weather dry
east wind and driving dust and almost every one seemed afflicted with some kind
of bronchial or snivelling affection.
The night before last I dined at the Jacksons. Mrs J had been confined to bed for some days
from the above cause and feeling sympathy for me recommended a mustard plaster
which I applied. As I understand
is generally the case I fell asleep under the application which on awaking I
found had most unmistakably operated.
However I find its operation tho’ momentarily unpleasant has been
exceedingly beneficial. Just at present
the first thing I hear on awaking is most vigorous pianoforte practise going on
next door. Happily it is the practice of
a more or less proficient professional and I have the benefit of listening to a
satisfactory performance of the overture to Egmont &c & music of that
class only slightly muffled by traversing a thin party-wall or as the French I find all it “mur
mitoyen”. Mrs Jackson mentioned having
received a letter from you within the last few days which she had been glad to
do. The pamphlet like book you forwarded
to me is it seems the form of United States legislative reports which in our
country appear in large blue folios. It
seems our friend Pettigrew is a member of the legislative party of S. Carolina
& was appointed on a committee to report on taking measures for opening the
slave trade with Africa for the supply of the American slave-states. At present there is a law of congress &
various treaties which prohibit & indeed treat it as piracy but it seems
that some of the southern states have stirred the question of abrogating &
withdrawing from these provisions.
Six of the committee were in
favour of such
a course and
the minority consisting
of J Johnston Pettigrew presented
a counter report showing the reasons against any such proceeding. As he says the undertaking which the majority
propose is quite a hopeless one and the objections to it from a humane &
social point of view quite overpowering.
I saw the Powells some days ago and found them all
well. Charley seems going on well at school & Harry tells me he has had one
of the Holloway scholarships bestowed upon him.
I have nothing to complain of myself except want of business which does
not seem to come this way. However in
most respects I am very pleasantly situated.
I received my father’s letter and the book which was sent on Saturday.
Believe me
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/157]
Lincoln’s
Inn March 4th 1858
Dear Mother
I feel better today & feel as if I should go
on. The cold east winds have somewhat
abated and indeed this morning was quite warm tho’ the ground was covered with
snow. I assure you my own comfort is quite sufficient motive to make me take
proper precautions to keep in good health.
I can always ride in an omnibus on bad mornings or when I am not quite well
as these conveyances take me up & set me down very near both the termini of
my morning journey. I am sorry to hear
of your attack of rheumatism and that you have been feeling the inclement
weather. The reason I did not mention
“The Cat” was because my father had said that he had not yet mentioned it to
you and I did not know whether this might not still be the case. I think it is
decidedly amusing and contains plenty of “points” and I also think it is very
appropriately “got up” tho’ the plates may not be in the highest
style of art. I see no objection to acknowledging it but I should myself feel
inclined to see first whether it is likely to take.
Why do you want my lodging address ?
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/158]
3 Stone Buildings Linc. Inn March 10th 1858
Dear Mother
A few days intercession in the East winds has had
the happy effect of procuring the entire departure of my cold so that you need
not any longer feel any anxiety on my account. The reason however absurd that influenced me in not sending the address
where I lodge was that I was afraid you might pay me an unexpected visit as
once before thinking I was worse than I was in reality. However now that I am
quite well perhaps I may entrust this wonderful fact and tell you that I sleep
at 1 Northumberland Place, Westbourne Grove, North Bayswater. I should feel rather inclined in your
position not to make a journey southward at this time of the year but if there
is any summer excursion in prospect reserve yourself for that. However perhaps
you are feeling that it is so long since you have paid a visit to Maidstone
that it would be pleasant to do so before very long. I have not yet seen any notice of The Cat in
any of the periodicals I have looked into.
I have written a note to Dr Maine who contributes a good deal to the
Saturday Review asking him to procure a notice of it there and I shall of
course let you know if I see anything.
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/159]
3 Stone
Buildings March 18th /58
Dear Mother
The address of the Tea Merchants is Messrs Dixon
Gibbs & Sons 119 Pall Mall S.W.
Yesterday I went to the Crystal Palace to see the eclipse but in common
with the rest of the world was doomed to considerable disappointment. During almost the whole time of the eclipse
the sun & moon were both concealed by most provoking clouds and it
was only at rare intervals and for a few moments at a time that the heavenly
bodies in question were disclosed to view.
Today is very fine & warm and seems quite like the advent of
spring. I have not seen any notice of
The Cat yet. I wrote to Dr Maine but he says he has no such connection with the
Saturday Review as would enable him to procure a notice of any book. I think
the only way that is adopted in reviewing books at least with the more
respectable sections of the press is out of the books sent them they select for
notice such as seem to them likely to interest their ordinary readers and that
there is not any use to attempt by other means to have a notice inserted. Indeed I do not think it is possible to have
it done.
With best love to all
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/160]
London March 31st 1858
Dear Mother
I think as my father will make so short a stay on
his way through town that it would be difficult to convey to him the quantity
of tea you wish sent, that I shall tell Dixon & Co. to pack up the parcel
and send it by rail. I should think that
they will send such a quantity as 18lb to any part of England. I shall most likely give the order this
evening so that on Saturday or Monday you may expect its arrival if you hear
nothing further. I thought my father’s
cough rather bad when he first arrived but the second day I saw him it seemed
much better. I shall not be going out of
town at all this Easter but I shall not I think be at chambers after today till
Monday. I think I mentioned that I was
going to Exeter Hall last Friday. We did not get very good seats being much too
near and below the singers but still I enjoyed the evening very much as I think
did Mrs and Miss Tayler. The former is rather a tiresome person to be with at
musical entertainment as she makes so many remarks which might be spared. I
cannot see any notice in any of the London papers of The Cat or I should have
let you know. Mr James will I suppose go out of town for a few days tomorrow
and the Courts of Chancery rise today till the week after next. This time last
year I dare say Emily and Ellen will remember we were in Paris together. Brandreth will probably have told you that we
met this morning & he was in good time for the 10 train. The writing of the
above is very bad as my hands are so cold and I am afraid the matter of it is
not much better but this notwithstanding
Believe me
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/161]
London April 12th 1858
Dear Mother
I suppose my father arrived safely at home tho’ I have
not had any letter from you since he returned.
We have had very cold weather lately which has made everyone here feel
rather uncomfortable and pinched.
However I hope we shall have an improvement in this respect. Yesterday I dined with Mr Jackson who came
up to town for a few days from Birkenhead where Mrs Jackson & the children
are staying at present. He seems to have
a good deal of work to do and to be in good spirits about the prospects of the
profession. His father of course is a
man of such influence that he gives his son a good deal of assistance in the
way of his profession. A good many young
men at the bar seem rather complaining of want of business but you must not
think by this that I am myself feeling discouraged for as yet I do not feel
that I have any right to complain. Term
begins next Thursday & the courts sit again so that Mr James will be busy
again. I am afraid my letter is somewhat unconnected as I have written in hurry
& with talking going on about me but I thought I would send a line today.
Believe me
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/162]
London April 17th 1858
Dear Father
I have been all this week at the Central Criminal
Court listening to the trial of Bernard and very interesting work I have found
it and decidedly more exciting than the ordinary matters discussed at the Court
of Chancery. The trial closed this evening with a verdict of “not guilty”
somewhat to the surprise of many persons who had heard the evidence but
evidently to the great delight of a large portion of the bystanders. I listened carefully to the evidence and
cannot I confess at all reconcile its great gravity and generally clear
character with the effect which the jury have declared it to have produced in
their minds. It seems to me an instance
where a jury has been led away from the trial of the only issue which they had
to deal with by the exciting and political nature of the considerations
addressed to them. E. James who made the
chief speech for the defence expatiated in all kinds of irrelevant topics and
his oratory tho’ abounding in coarse vigour and animal power is not of a
character to appear to any but very uncultivated natures. However it seems to
have carried the day as the defence produced no evidence at all and quite as I
think failed to detect any material discrepancy or flaw in that produced by the
prosecution. There seemed to be great excitement out of the Court in the
neighbourhood of it and the cheering was very considerable. We have had quite a change in the weather
during the last few days and now it is quite warm.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/163]
London
May 14th 1858
Dear Father
I returned to town last evening and do not delay
sending an account of myself since Monday.
The Gaskells I found all at home and I spent a pleasant evening
there. There was not much business at
the Court and neither at Manchester nor at Liverpool had I anything whatever to
do. I am beginning to doubt whether it will be worth while to attend the Court
much longer. The persons from whom I
might have hoped to get business either rarely have any in the Palatine Court
or give it to counsel who have much better claim on them as well as longer
experience than I have. On the other hand some of the elder men may be promoted
or retire and so leave room for juniors and it is this chance that may make it
advisable to continue my attendance at any rate for some time longer. A further reason for not giving it up is that
it furnishes at once an opportunity and an excuse for paying you a visit at
Knutsford and brings me into contact with some of my friends in Manchester
& Liverpool.
Tuesday & Wednesday nights I stayed at the
Adelphi which I find a very comfortable and not any means expensive house. I saw Philip Holt & Dr Broadbent with
whom I renewed my former acquaintance but several other persons on whom I
called I did not succeed in meeting. I
had a letter of introduction to the Catholic bishop of the diocese Dr Goss whom
I saw at his residence St Edward’s College Everton. He received me very kindly
and made my half hours visit pass very pleasantly. He has the reputation of
being an active zealous man and by no means inclined to hold the reins of
discipline with a loose hand.
You have no doubt read the account of the sad
accident on the Trent Valley Line. The Mr Ince whose name is mentioned among
those of the injured was on his way to attend the Chancery Court as were
several other barristers who were more fortunate than he was. Among others Rupert Potter who joined the
Court this last time was in the train but not in the slightest degree
injured. If I had not travelled on
Saturday no doubt I should have been in the train and run the fearful chance
with the others.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/164]
Adelphi Hotel Liverpool
London May 25th /58
Dear Mother
I am sorry to hear that you have been laid up with
illness. I hope that some pleasant
excursion for you will be brought about this summer and set you up again. It is not the Mr Morgan who was killed in the
Railway Accident that married Miss Reiss. On hearing of the accident in
Manchester everyone was afraid it was as one account gave the name of Osborne
and the other the name of Morgan and the barrister in question writes both
Osborne & Morgan in his name. But
his brother in law telegraphed & found him all safe in London. I have not found opportunity to call on the
Miss Yates yet but I will do so soon if they are still in town.
Mr Braithwaite sent me in a draft to draw for him he
being engaged in the famous May Meetings and not much at chambers and with that
and a case for opinion which I have had on my own account I have been quite
busy the last two days. I hear of one or
two pieces of business as likely to come to me before long and so I am feeling
quite in good spirits so far as I myself am concerned. I think I mentioned to you that it had
occurred to me to become a candidate for the Professorship of Jurisprudence at
University College which will be vacant at the end of the present session. I have got favourable testimonials from A
Wills Mr Aspland Mr Braithwait Dr Maine Mr Eddis & Mr James and shall
tomorrow send them in to the council with a formal application on my own
account. I dare say I may not succeed
in getting the post but there can be no harm in trying for it. The duties of it would not in the least
interfere with the hours which I have to keep vacant for possible clients in
the regular way and I think the holding of such an office might be an advantage
to me. Some day I will shew you the
testimonials I have received. The
election I believe will be within the next few days and perhaps you need not
mention the matter much till we know the result.
Last Wednesday I was a partaker in the national
holyday on Epsom Downs and witnessed that exciting scene the Downs on the Derby
Day. I went down to Esher the night
before dined with P M Martineau W Greenhow & H Greenhow his brother who is
a surgeon in the Indian Army and was in Lucknow all through that dreadful siege
which the handful of Europeans so wonderfully resisted. You may conceive that the latter had plenty
to tell us. Later in the evening Heath
& J Thornely joined us & we had a game at quoits on the village
green. A Wills was in the meantime
entertaining another party at his house in Esher. In the morning the whole party which was
increased by further morning arrivals & amounted to some 15 or 16 had
breakfast together at the Bear Inn in Esher and at about 10 o’clock set off to
walk over a most beautiful country fresh in the brightness of spring foliage to
Epsom Downs. Here of course a very
different scene arose and the mingled hubbub & confusion of the most famous
English race course on the occasion of the greatest race in the world presented
itself to eyes & ears. In the
evening we walked back to Esher had a “tea” and returned to town the next
morning by an early train. Such is a
most reasonable & inexpensive mode of visiting “The Derby”.
You do not say what number in Albion Street the
Longs are going to take up their abode.
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/165]
Lincoln’s Inn June 4th /58
Dear Mother
When I wrote to you last I was under the impression that
the appointment for which I have become a
candidate would be made within a short period. Yesterday I received a note from the
secretary to the college in answer to an inquiry of mine to say that the
council would not probably meet to decide the business of the Professorship in
question till the 3rd July. I
did not receive his letter in time to write to you yesterday so you see there
is no need at present to be expecting any decision one way or the other. You must not suppose that the emolument of the
place is anything considerable. It is quite unendowed and the salary dependent
on the fees of those who choose to attend the class and the number of this has
not I believe lately amounted to more than 4 or 5. But I think that the position may be useful
& creditable to hold which is indeed the chief inducement in my having
applied for it. I send a copy of the
testimonials I have sent in with the exception of Mr Eddis which I had not time
to copy.
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/166]
London June
12th /58
Dear Mother
The reason I did not send the letter from Mr Eddis
was the one I told you in my letter that I had not time to copy it. The original is of course sent in & in
the possession of the Secretary to the College & I do not suppose I shall
have it again at any rate at present. I
should not have much doubt I think under the circumstances in writing to Mrs
James Yates. She is a somewhat odd but I
think a kindly intentioned person and it might be that she would be glad to
have Emily & Ellen staying at her house.
If you decide not to write to her or find that she cannot receive them I
think the girls might stay at Mrs Jackson’s a little longer or how would it be
to ask her if she could as conveniently receive them a week later. It does not strike me as a matter about which
there is very much difficulty.
I dined at the Jacksons on Thursday. Mrs J’s younger sister is staying with them
at present & one of Mr J’s sisters
also dined there.
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/167]
Linc. Inn June 21st 1858
Dear Mother
I received Emily’s note this morning telling me that
they will arrive this afternoon. I could
not very conveniently go to meet them at the station as they arrive so early in
the afternoon. Mr Jackson has invited me
to dine there this evening so that I shall soon see them & I did not think
they would have any difficulty in managing their departure from the station.
I am glad to be able to tell you that I received a
letter this morning from the Secretary to University College to the effect that
the Council on Saturday appointed me Professor of Jurisprudence from the end of
the current session. As I told you the
office is not attended with any material emolument but I think it is one which
is honourable in itself to hold and may be useful in several ways.
I hope you will have a pleasant journey which as I
hear has been changed into a trip to Whitby.
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/168]
London June 30th 1858
Dear Father
I am very glad to hear that you are enjoying Whitby
so much and feel that the visit is doing you some good. I had a “civil” note from Mr E Egerton
yesterday mentioning that he had heard form you and was glad to hear of my
appointment and giving me directions where to send the copies of the
Euclid. As he said nothing about my
calling with the book I of course did not do so and this morning sent off the
three copies to the addresses indicated.
I think Emily & Ellen quite enjoyed their visit as far as I could
judge and that they are both looking well.
This evening I am going to a dance at Mrs Phipsons. I received an
invitation about a fortnight ago. I have
had several bits of business lately but somewhat rare still they are. I shall
be thinking of coming to Heathfield at the beginning of August.
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/169]
3 Stone Buildings Linc. Inn July 13th /58
Dear Mother
I am very sorry indeed to hear of my dear father’s
illness & your natural anxiety on his account. I hope the case will not turn out more
serious than the doctor tells you & you anticipate. I think myself that the circumstances which
you describe are accounted for by the cause which Dr. Merryweather assigns and
I hope that my dear father will soon feel himself again & that you will
make a pleasant & successful journey home. I shall hope in the morning to have
a favourable account and with best love remain
Your affectionate son
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/170]
London July 17th /58
Dear Mother
I was very sorry to hear of my father’s sprain and
the uncomfortable ending which that & his illness must have made to your
otherwise so pleasant and successful trip.
I hope that these untoward occurrences have not in any way neutralised
the good effects of your sea side sojourn and that the latter only will remain.
I went to London & N.W. Railway carriers this morning whom I found with
some difficulty. They undertook to call
for the box at the Eddis’s some time today and forward it without delay to
Chelford station. I should have done
this matter before but I have been so busy this week that I have not had an
opportunity to go round and see about it & I did not know without inquiry
what carriers to write to. On Wednesday at a dinner party at Mrs Chas Holts
consisting of about 16 people tho’ described in the note as a friendly party.
It was very pleasant the feeding part of the entertainment highly
delectable and the talking part lively. We have hot weather returning
again after two or three days wet. I
have no doubt the country is looking fresh.
I had nothing new on the business way.
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/171]
Liverpool Augt 11th 1858
Dear Mother
I am much obliged to you for sending my boots but
the fact is that I am not in distinct want of them as I have a pair of thin
boots & another of thin shoes with me as to the thick boots I do not want
them at all as I have with me a pair much thicker than those left behind and
which I intend having well nailed here in Liverpool before I leave. At the same
time perhaps I should have told you that I expected a pair of boots by rail but
that I did not want them sent on to me & I am much obliged for your trouble
in the matter. I shall sleep tonight and
stay for a few days at the Thornelys 2 Blackburn Place which John invited me to
do. I find that Potter does not propose
my going to Scotland before Monday and so I shall probably be here till
then. The letter you
sent on was from
Mrs Shaen to say that a
friend of
Mr S’s one Mr Duerdin from Australia has a son about
15 for whom he wishes to find a companion to travel for about 2 months in Great
Britain or on the continent paying his expenses but to start immediately. If I had known of it before accepting the
Scotch journey perhaps I might have fallen in with the proposition but I should
not now care to pass that by and I think of writing this evening to say that
such is the state of the case with me.
What do you think of the matter?
The choice of route and other details seems to be left quite to my
discretion and if I had not had happened to have my time pretty well occupied
this autumn with the Scotch journey & my visit home which of course I have
not yet fairly made I should have rather enjoyed such a plan. Let me have a line by return to say what you
think. I think at any rate of going to
Scotland and suppose from Mrs S’s note that that would be in the way. I have not had anything to do this
Court. The matter in which I have drawn
some pleading was not yet ripe for being brought into Court and there is not on
the whole much business. I had a pleasant visit at the Gaskells. Mrs G (who has
just returned from a visit to Buxton) & Meta were the only persons I found
at home Marianne was still at Buxton & Mr Gaskell came in the evening from
a trip to the Isle of Man looking much better than when I last saw him. I did not forget dear Emily’s birthday.
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/172]
Liverpool Augt 16th
Dear Mother
I have received a letter from Mr Shaen to say that
his friend has already made arrangements in regard to his son. I never seriously thought of accepting the
proposal and the substance of my letter to him was that had I known of the plan
earlier I should have been much inclined to fall in with it. I set off for
Scotland tomorrow by steamer to Glasgow & thence by rail to Crieff. I will if possible write from Glasgow on my
arrival there on Wednesday morning so as to let you hear of my safe arrival. I
have been chiefly occupied during the week in attending the assize courts. A. Holt I saw yesterday but most of his
family are away. Alfred Thornely
returned from the Lakes on Friday but William is still there.
I was sorry to hear that you have had your old enemy
troubling you again. I hope my father is going on well. I saw the Miss Yates’ & Anna yesterday.
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
I forget whether I gave my address. It will be E Potter Esq Aberuchill Castle Nr
Crieff Perthshire
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/173]
Aberuchill August 21st
Dear Mother
I arrived here on Thursday about noon & as the
post leaves at a very early hour in the day have not yet found opportunity to
dispatch a letter. This is a most
delightful place an old fashioned substantial house of some 250 years old with
antlers and other trophies of sport hung about the walls, Thick well grown
timber & plantations round the house and closed in at the back & sides
by the mountains on which are found the chief matters of employment during the day. In the house are at present Mrs Potter one of
the Miss P, Crompton P & Rupert P.
Sir Charles Crompton & his eldest son, Mr Gaskell & Miss McNichol &
Miss Bateson. The judge besides being a
very keen sportsman is a man of a very dry & shrewd turn and makes the
party very entertaining. The sporting
has been pretty successful both days since I was here. I have not gone out with them having no
license and therefore thought it better not. Yesterday I was out all day
fishing in the Ruchil a stream about two miles distant and had some pretty fair
sport among the trout but the water was too clear to take any of the larger
fish. We dine at 6 and a considerable
portion of the conversation is on the events of the day, the conduct of the
dogs & any special peculiarities in the behaviour of the birds. Mrs Potter is a kind pleasant person. Mr
Potter is I believe coming next week. I
hope you are really improving. I do not
think this is a house that would suit you as I should be afraid it is damp
& cold at most seasons of the year.
I hear the party just preparing to set out for the
day so I must conclude
With best love from
Your affectionate son
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/174]
Aberuchill August 24th
Dear Father
I was glad to receive my mother’s letter yesterday
and to have some account of you all. I
have been very much enjoying my stay here. The neighbourhood is thoroughly
beautiful and the valley between Comrie & St Fillans a place at the east
end of Lock Earn & about 4 miles from here is as fine as anything I have
seen. The greater number of the party go
out after breakfast to the moors and are not at the house till nearly six after
which dinner & a pleasant evening accomplished. I have not yet been on the moors with a gun
as I scarcely like shooting without a licence and the fish have furnished me
with very fair sport. On Sunday
afternoon we all went an expedition to Loch Earn and rowed and walked about and
had tea there. The lake is very
picturesque high bold mountains on all sides and the lower parts down to the
lake covered with wood. Some of us are
going again today to try the fishing there as the dogs and keepers have been
pretty knocked up with the three hard days work they have had.
Mr Gaskell left yesterday intending to make a week’s
pedestrian tour northwards and return by Glasgow. He was I think looking better
than I have seen him for some time and the Judge seemed to enjoy his
company. The latter & his son are
going in a day or two but are so much pleased with the place that they have
thought of taking a house on Loch Earn and bringing Lady C. & the rest of
the family to enjoy it with them.
I do not know when I shall return but I think probably in 5 or 6 days. I
should have written before but really our days are so occupied that it is very
difficult to snatch an opportunity.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
Mr Henry Booth the secretary to L & N W Railway
a brother in law of Mrs Potter has arrived within the last two days. He seems a
clever intelligent man but rather shy.
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/175]
Aberuchill August 27th
Dear Mother
The time since my last letter has passed in much the
same occupations as I then described to you.
The party here is somewhat smaller as it has been reduced by the
departure of the judge & his son & yesterday Mrs Potter & Mr
Booth. Walter Potter & Oswald
Wrigley have however arrived and today Mr Gaskell turned up again after a
walking expedition of four days through the northern part of Perthshire. Oswald Wrigley is greatly grown and tho’ he
does not look quite strong is very different from what he was when I last saw
him. He has been out all day on the
moors and seems to have stood the work pretty well tho’ somewhat severe. I have
been chiefly occupied in fishing in which I have had pretty good success and
have besides thoroughly enjoyed the pace & scenery. Today I did not go out to fish but agreed to
accompany Miss Bateson & Lucy Potter on an expedition they proposed to make
by ascending Ben Conzie a mountain in the neighbourhood. On further inquiries it was found to be too
far & impracticable so that we went a drive and walked up the valley of the
Lednock a crawling mountain stream which flows though a curious rocky gorge
which the water has worn out in very fantastic shapes and holes. Tomorrow I
suppose I shall be wetting my line again in the Earn or Kinchil. All the Potters will be returning home before
long for the marriage of the second Miss Potter with Edwin Wrigley which is to
take place on the 14th. I
have not yet fixed when to return but I think about Tuesday or Wednesday. I
hope you and my father are going on well and that I shall find you quite
recovered when I return.
Rupert is not a very ardent sportsman & I think
fonder of the rod than of the gun.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/176]
Aberuchill September 3rd
Dear Father
I have not quite arranged how I shall return home or
indeed on what day but you may I think expect me about Monday evening. I have
had some thoughts of travelling to Glasgow by way of Callander & the
Trosacks but the weather has been so changeable lately that I fear I should see
little of the scenery by a mere coach transit. Yesterday we went fishing to a
small loch among the hills near Loch Earn and we had some good sport till it
came on so wet that we were forced to make for home as speedily as
possible. The party here is very much
smaller than it was & consists now of Rupert & Walter P, Oswald Wrigley
& Miss McNicol & Miss
Bateson. I feel that my stay here has
done me a great deal of good in the way of laying on a further stock of health
& animal strength and the invitation happened altogether very opportunely.
I hope your ankle is going on favourably. I expect to find a great difference
when I return home after a whole month absence.
The weather here seems quite broken and this week has been very showery
but at times when the sun is out it is as pleasant as can be.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/177]
Lincolns
Inn October 13th /58
Dear Mother
I only returned to town last night and at Bayswater
found dear Emily’s note & here in Lincolns Inn this morning yours
containing the intelligence about my father which I am very sorry indeed to
hear. If his power of reading &
writing should be seriously interfered with & much more withdrawn altogether
he will indeed have an infliction (sic) to bear with and one in his
circumstances of the most difficult conceivable. But I hope that he may be spared this extreme
trial and that with care and such aids as science can furnish that he will not
be debarred from intellectual occupations to which sight is so necessary. I was much concerned also to hear from
Emily’s note that you have not made much advance and though your letter gives a
more favourable account than did hers yet I feel very sorry that you have so
much to bear with in point of bodily weakness.
I wish so much that it could have been managed to you to have a visit to
Harrogate or elsewhere but as you carefully considered the matter let us hope
it was for the best and that brighter days are yet in store. I have often thought of you dear Mother
during the last 8 or 9 days though no correspondence has taken place between us
and offered up my unworthy prayers for you.
I did not talk to you about my intention of going to Windsor till the
last moment partly because I did not suppose you would care to hear about it
and partly because I wished to know your determination about going to
Harrogate. If that had been considered advisable & necessary it would have
been easier for you to ask me to go with you in default of any one else being able
to than if I had told you that I had a plan in view at the same time on my own
account. I feel myself to have profited
greatly by a week of religious retirement under the direction of those whose
constant aim & purpose it is to discover & realise in their own
practice the spirit & fruits of Christian perfection. Wishing my best love
to my sisters
Believe me
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/178]
3 Stone Buildings Linc. Inn
Oct 22nd /58
Dear Father
You cannot tell how sorry I was to hear of your
anxiety on account of your sight. I
should have written some days ago but perhaps rather absurdly I thought of
waiting to hear what my mother did in reference to Harrogate. I suppose you are not prevented from reading
and writing during the day but only that you have to be careful of your
eyesight. Still it is very unpleasant to
have any anxiety about so necessary an organ as the eye. I have begun to set to work upon my lectures
and expect that it will be quite as much as I can do to have them ready by the
time. However when once the general
outline is laid & I possess a fair knowledge of the detail to begin with I
do not anticipate that it will be a greater piece of work than I can
manage. I have not had any papers sent
me as yet and in that respect do not stand so well as last year when I found
some waiting me on my arrival in town on the 18th. Mr James has been here for a day but has gone
back to the country and the inn has not assumed the busy air which it will wear
in ten days. How is my grandmother going
on? When you write again will you send
the Powell’s address as I wish to see them.
I hope my dear mother is better or if she is gone from home that you
have encouraging accounts of her. I have
nothing particular to tell of myself and wish I could send you a more
interesting letter but I have been feeling anxious & wondering how you are
all going on when perhaps you were thinking that I should write.
Give my best love to my dear mother & the girls
& believe me
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/179]
London Oct 30th 1858
Dear Ellen
I believe the Chancery Court will sit at Manchester
or Lpool on Saturday the 27th and I shall probably pay you a visit
on the following Tuesday. I shall have to return on Thursday as there is a
college examination on Friday Dec 3rd at which my presence will be
necessary. The next Court after
Christmas will be early in February & if the parties or party happened to
be about that time it would be pleasant to do two things on the same journey.
But if that would not do and my presence is really wanted I dare say I can
manage to come over early in January. It
must be before the 10th as term begins then here in London and of course
I must be here then. I had not a very
numerous audience on Monday night and so you will not be surprised to learn
that I did not feel much affected by the “situation”. Martineau & Thornely
came to hear me and Howard & Howley two law friends & a few others whom
I did not know. A good many friends had
said they would come but I suppose forgot or had some better engagement. I was
rather afraid that what I had written would not last an hour but I found the
time passed more quickly than I expected and I gave an hour and quarters
lecture. I think Thornely and Martineau liked my lecture. I do not know yet
whether there are any actual entries or in fact whether I shall have to lecture
at all but I intend to go on if there is any attendance at all whether students
or visitors as it will be a good thing to have to write out the lectures and
will greatly improve myself. We had a
meeting of the Convocation of the Univ. of London yesterday at which discussion
of very respectable warmth took place but I could hardly explain the points at
issue within any reasonable compass.
There must have between 2 & 3 hundred men present.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/182]
3 Stone Buildings
Linc.Inn Nov 24th /58
Dear Mother
I shall be in Manchester on Friday afternoon and
think of staying the night at Winkworths. I shall come over to Knutsford on
Saturday afternoon and stay with you till Sunday evening when I have to leave
for Liverpool to be in time for Monday morning. It would not be very convenient
to come to Knutsford after Liverpool as I want to be here on Wednesday
again. The last few days here have been
of the most pinching kind in regard to weather I scarcely remember such weather
in November. I am afraid I shall not
escape a cold as I feel its approach which is unpleasant with a prospect of a
journey to the north before me in a few days.
I hope I shall find you better when I come on Saturday than when I left
you in October. I had some work last
week from Mr Johnson of Faversham whom my father knows about and I think I
shall have small matter at the Manchester court on Saturday. I shall have I
think “two” regular students in my class at the college. On looking back on the list of this class for
past years I do not find that the numbers have ever exceeded 5 or 6 except in
the time of Mr Austin the first professor. In the time of Dr Graves & Mr
Hargreave the class was often no larger than it is now so that there is no
reason to be disappointed. Every third
year I expect there will be a good class as there is scholarship in
jurisprudence given very 3rd year and the competitors are required
to have attended the jurisprudence class during the preceding year. This
scholarship has only lately been established & is given for the first time
next month so that its establishment may have some material effect in promoting
the study of the subject in the college.
I do not think I have any news of any friends to give you. I had dinner with the Bagshawes at Barnes on
Saturday week and last Sunday with the Jacksons who seemed all well &
flourishing. Mrs J & the children
are going to stay some time in Cheshire next month. I suppose at Chester &
Birkenhead. She asked after Emily and the rest of you very kindly.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/183]
Lincolns Inn Dec 1st/58
Dear Father
I write to tell you that I arrived safely in town
last night. There was pretty well of
business at Lpool but nothing for me.
The Court was over yesterday afternoon and the V.C. & greater part
of the bar returned to town the same evening. I saw the Holts among our Lpool
friends. I called to Alfred in the
morning and he asked me to dine in the evening (Monday) which I accepted. I had a pleasant evening the party consisting
of Mr & Mrs, Miss, Alfred & Robert Holt. They inquired kindly after all
at Knutsford & mentioned having seen you at Lpool recently. I have been engaged this morning in making
out the paper of questions for the Jurisprudence Examination which is on Friday
and have just dispatched it to the printers.
There will be three candidates I hear for the scholarship so that the
task of looking over the papers will not be quite so laborious as it would have
been with a greater number and indeed in the circumstances Mr Atkinson would be
glad if I could decide before Saturday afternoon that the result may be
announced at the Council meeting that afternoon.
With much love I remain
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/184]
London 8th Dec /58
Dear Mother
I am sure so far as I am concerned myself I shall
quite join in the lamentation over the given up dances but of course under the
circumstances they could scarcely be thought of. I think that the Knutsford
parties are very enjoyable & quite as good of their kind as those to be had
elsewhere and the girls will feel it rather provoking to lose this bit if
gaiety & the friends’ whom such an event brings to our house. I had
unfortunately written to Heath the very day before your letter arrived but I
have not heard from him in reply. It is just possible he may not be able to
come and then it will be all “square” but if he accepts I suppose all that can
be done will be to write to him explaining how matters stand. Would you like
any visitors in the absence of “the parties”?
I think as I shall have to be in the north at the end of January I
should scarcely like to travel to Knutsford in the early part of the month
unless there is some special reason. But
if you are still thinking of any visitors for whom you would like my being at
home I dare say I could manage a journey.
My pupil whose name is Pennethome has come to me regularly for an hour a
day since Wednesday week and will continue to do so till next Wednesday when he
goes to Cambridge for his examination.
He is a sharp clever man who quite kept his teacher up to the mark. Several days ago I had a letter from an
oxford student named Brunel and I believe a son of the engineer wishing to read
Roman Law with me during the Christmas vacation from the 15th
instant to the middle of January. I do
not know who recommended him to apply to me. I have some papers in at present
to write an opinion upon and perhaps draw a bill and next Wednesday I have to
make a motion before the Master of the Rolls so that with my lectures I have
quite as much as I can do. I did not
lecture last Monday as the examination had been on the Friday & I had not
time to write a lecture. Are there any
plans for Christmas at Knutsford in the absence of the parties which have
fallen through.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
Lincolns
Inn Dec 18th /58
Dear
Annie
I received a letter from Heath two days ago to the
effect that he is unable to leave home during the early part of January on
account of various birthdays which fall at that time and which have to be kept
with proper solemnities & in the presence of all relatives. He seemed quite
sorry to have to decline again and hoped that sometime in the spring or autumn
I would ask him to Knutsford or would myself call at Warwick in the course of a
journey to or from London. It would certainly
be much easier to get people to Knutsford for a party if things were fixed some
time beforehand but I suppose it could not be avoided. If the time is to be altered an earlier time
would do for me much better than a later one.
As I told you in my former letter term begins on the 11th of
January & I should not like to be out of town then. I have not mentioned
the matter to R Potter yet but I expect his position in this respect is just
like my own & that he would not be willing to come later than the first
week or ten days of January. How would it be if the party could be had at the
end of January or early in February. It would perhaps scarcely do for you to
propose it but as Aunt Long seems in some measure to consider my movements
& the friends I could invite it might be possible that she would feel
inclined to postpone the business. But
now I remember that the end of January would not suite you and so that will not
do.
I am sorry to hear of my mother’s rheumatism I hoped
that she had had enough illness for the year
Yours
very affectionately
J
Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/186]
Lincolns Inn Dec 23rd /58
Dear Mother
In spite of the “discouragement” which you seem now
to throw in the way of my coming to Knutsford I shall not quite give it up
myself as I want to be at the parties whether they are small or large
hops. As my last letter told you I should have a difficulty in coming on the 25th
& 26th but I have never had any for the 5th or 6th
and if it is desired I dare
say Potter would
come then. How
would it be
to ask O.O. Wrigley. Having renewed acquaintance
with him at Abaruchill I should like to do so if you approve. But whatever your
wishes are in this respect I quite intend coming to Knutsford if the parties
are fixed for the 5th & 6th. I have no more time to
write but with much love wish you all a right merry Christmas & many of
them
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/187]
London Dec
29th /58
Dear Mother
I think on the whole I had better give up the plan
of coming to Knutsford at present. I do not much expect that Mr Potter could
come over at present and as I told you Heath has sent me a letter saying that
he is engaged. Then my pupil Brunel
wants as much of my time as I can give him at least for an hour a day so that
on the whole I think I had better not come next week. In that case I should try to leave town on
Saturday the 29th January and stay with you till the Tuesday evening
or Wednesday morning following. I have had a deed to draw this last week from
Mr Charles Tagart who has once or twice hinted at “employing” me and has now
made a beginning but I do not of course know whether he intends doing so
regularly. I am going to dine on New Year’s Day with Mr Jas Yates who invited
me to join their family party on that day.
I had a very pleasant Christmas day which I spent with “a person” at
Bayswater.
Believe me dear Mother
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/3 [Ref: JA/JPG/188]
Lincoln’s Inn Jany 8th /59
Dear Mother
I will see about the screens and also the
photographs which you mention. I also
saw the notice of them in the Times and thought from that they would be rather
a tempting object to possess I had a pleasant dinner at Highgate. The party consisted of Mr Ashton Yates Mrs L
D’Eyncourt & Miss Eliza Yates Dr Mr & Miss Roget & two or three
gentlemen. Miss Roget asked after my
Aunt Long & the Yates’ after their friends at Knutsford generally. Mr James Yates seemed very well and active
but Mr Ashton Yates is I fear growing feeble & less interested in what is
going on around him. I have nothing particular to tell this week. I was sorry
that you were not able to go to Manchester to Mrs G’s as it so often happens
that you are prevented when anything of the kind offers itself. Mr James has come back from his Christmas
visit at his brother in laws Ld
Belpers looking very blooming & happy & greeted me with the compliments
of the season in a very hearty manner.
I received my father’s letter & will do what I
can about it. I know a man named
Hunter a son of Mr Hunter a deputy keeper of the Public records. The father is a great antiquarian &
genealogist and his son tells me is specially interested in the subject of
Emblems. I have asked the son to get me
some information on the inquiries so that if any such is to be got we are at
least likely to be put on the right track.
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/189]
3 Stone Buildings Linc.Inn Jany 24th /59
Dear Mother
I think I may say that I shall be with you early on
Saturday evening & shall stay till Tuesday evening. There is only one thing
that will prevent me coming but which is not very likely to happen viz that I
have any business in Court on Saturday or Monday. I called on Mr Aspland this
morning and told him what you suggested.
He seemed glad to hear of it and said he would mention it at home &
let me know but he thought it was a good opportunity for his daughter to take
of a convoy. I have not had much to do
lately and have consequently been feeling rather dull but have had nothing to
complain of in the way of health. I am
going to a party at the Austins’ this evening a dance I suppose as it was a three
weeks invitation. The lectures go on
satisfactorily but reading to two men is rather a pretence of a lecture.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/190]
Lincolns
Inn Jany 28th /59
Dear Mother
I have heard from Mr Aspland to the effect that Mrs
A finds that she will be scarcely able to get Emily ready to go on Saturday and
is therefore obliged to decline my offer of a convoy. I find I shall scarcely be able to leave by
the early train tomorrow and as there is no train in the middle of the day
which stops at Chelford I have determined to leave by the 5 p.m. train and take
a car from Chelford. This train is mentioned as arriving at Chelford at 9.45 so
that you may expect me at Heathfield between 10 and 11. The photographs I shall not be able to bring.
They say at Colnaghis that they have
had so many copies to make and that at this time of the year the available day
for photography is so short that they will not be able to let me have a set
soon enough to take with me. So I shall
have to see about them before my next visit.
The screens I shall bring with me also some tea.
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
Since writing the above Mr James has invited me to
dinner tomorrow to meet one of the Romillys & so I think I shall put off coming
tomorrow. I see there is a train on Sunday which leaves at 10 & gets to
Chelford in the afternoon and so I think I shall travel by that.
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/191]
London Feby
7th 1859
Dear Mother
I find myself here in Lincoln’s Inn again after an
uneventful journey. The plan of taking
the first train to Crewe & then changing for the faster train works very
well and as you get a ticket from Chelford for the whole distance is very
little more trouble than the former state of things. Mr Houghton & the two Mammatty were in the omnibus to Chelford and
with four other sizeable persons we filled the vehicle completely & almost
unpleasantly. I do not find that London
has been particularly inconvenienced by my week’s absence. I feel to have
enjoyed my journey & visits home very much even had their been no unusual
source of attraction there. As term
begins tomorrow I hope I shall have “avocations” sufficiently pressing to
assist me in dispelling recollections of so interesting a character.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/192]
Lincoln’s Inn 19th Febry 1859
Dear Mother
I went to the warehouse of Heal & Son this
morning to see the articles mentioned in your note. The drawers seemed to me quite satisfactory
wares well made & nice looking and did not shew the contents of the lower
drawers when a higher one was taken out.
As to the chairs (all of which had the fault of which you spoke viz that
the tops touched the wall when placed against it) the beech ones were strong
respectable chairs not of course very ornamental or highly finished. The birch ones were much better in form &
finish & had better cane bottoms but the man said that the beech &
birch were about the same as to strength and that the difference lay in the
shaping & finish. He also said that
their chairs are never made so that the feet touch the wall without the top
doing so & that he had never heard any objection made on that account
before. I told him that the objection
was made and reasonably enough on the ground that the tops knock off the paper
or otherwise disfigure the wall. He said some might be made without this if it
is desired. I am going to dine at Mr Aspland’s this evening & am just in time
to scribble this note before going to meet him at his chambers.
With best love to all
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/193]
London 24th March 1859
Dear Mother
I
had a note from
Mr Aspland o n Tuesday morning
from Liverpool & from an allusion it contained I
supposed that poor Miss Bennett* was dead. It was a great pity that for the last few
years of her life she caused herself so much inconvenience and doubtless
illness. Do you know whether she had any
relations and were any of them if she had any at the funeral and did they see
the will? So far as I remember she told
me she had no near relatives except one or two cousins whom she had scarcely ever
seen and had little regard for. As to
the legacy duty I think it must clearly be paid. The duty payable on debts
which the Testator expressly releases by his will as being benefits & in
that point of view legacies. In this
case of course my father benefits to the extent of £160 by the fact that he is
residuary legatee and I think duty must be paid accordingly. The principle that legacies cancel debts has
no bearing on the question of […] duty.
The Faversham church case has been commenced. A bill which I drew was
filed this morning and on Saturday we are going to move in the Rolls Court for
an injunction to stop the works of which my client one of the church wardens
complains. I am sorry to hear that dear
Annie’s house is not quite right again.
It has been a long business
& rather wearying
I dare say.
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/194]
*[Mary Ann Bennett of Nether Knutsford spinster died
19th March 1859 and in her will she left to the trustees of the
Protestant Dissenters Chapel Brook Street in Nether Knutsford to be applied as
they think proper for the benefit of the Chapel £200. To the Reverend Jodeph
Ashton of Preston Dissenting Minister for the benefit of the Chapel £100. The
rest of the estate she left to Rev Henry Green of Heathfield Over Tabley his
heirs etc and appointed him the executor of the will. It was sworn at under
£800. Original now at JRL]
Lincoln’s Inn 9th April
1859
Dear Mother
I am afraid that I like you tho’ perhaps with less
ground of excuse have to charge myself with neglecting my correspondence to
Knutsford. I have been rather busy but
still not so busy as not to have time to write a few letters as is proved by
the fact that I took a whole holyday on Wednesday and enjoyed the bright warm
sunshine at the Sydenham Palace. I was sorry to hear this morning by Ellen’s
letter of the death of Fanny Merriman.
She always seemed to me a kindly & sweetly disposed girl and I dare
say her loss will be much felt at home.
Last Friday I was in the city & called at Wm Roscoe’s
office. I did not know beforehand that
he had been so dangerously ill as they told me he then was & his clerk said
they scarcely hoped for his recovery. I
had not heard of his death till Ellen’s letter this morning nor indeed of Mr
Tom Roscoe’s but the latter was in the Times this morning. What an unfortunate
family the Roscoes have been in regard to its male members at least all dead
except Edward & Alfred. The
Faversham case did come into court but did not occupy ten minutes & is not
of course mentioned in any paper. The
Master of the Rolls thought our side had not applied soon enough & he
therefore would not make any order then till the other side had had time to
give their views of the question. So it will probably come on again next Friday
or Saturday. I hope the Plt will succeed
and I think he is in the right but I am by no means absolutely certain of
success. The M.R. I thought rather
sneered at the case but perhaps he will take another view when it is properly
explained. It seems rather startling at
first to maintain that Geo. Gilbert Scott the famous architect does not know
how to face a church with stone without endangering the security of the fabric
itself but that is what the Plt has to maintain. I have had a few other morsels of business
lately some on my own and some on Mr Jackson’s account. Tonight I am going to Burlington House to a
meeting of the Royal Society to which I was bidden as a professor by a card
received form the President of said society about a fortnight ago. I have no notion what sort of an affair it
will be probably an assembly of heavy scientific big wigs where I shall feel
very much a stranger & out of my element.
I saw Edward Watkins on Thursday. He is living at Wimbledon at present
but comes to town every day to read in a conveyancers chambers in Gray’s Inn.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
I
shall be in Knutsford somewhere between the 14th & 22nd
May. I cannot at present say exactly
what day but probably about he 19th or 20th
JRL
Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/195]
Letter from Henry Green to John Barcham Green his cousin
Heathfield Knutsford
April 20 1859
My dear Sir
I do not know what your political bias
may be at the present moment but I take the liberty of recommending, if they
need recommendation, the claims of Mr Charles Buxton to your consideration as a
candidate to represent Maidstone. I have
very little personal acquaintance with him, but as the son in law of Sir Henry
Holland Bart he is often mentioned to me and from his votes, speeches in
parliament, and character regard him as one every way qualified to take his
place again in the House of Commons.
Should you agree with me in these opinions I shall be glad to hear that
you have given him your vote and interest, and should you differ from
me, you will I am sure excuse my naming to you a candidate whose character is
worthy of his descent and connexions.
Will you make my kind regards to Mrs
Green, and believe me.
Yours ever sincerely
Henry Green
[HMA
7/2/49]
London 7th May 1859
Dear Father
I have intended writing to you to acknowledge having
received your book on Knutsford* for some days past. I am not aware that I have
been remiss in writing lately as my mother’s letter this morning seems to
imply. I think that I wrote to Annie or
one of the girls within the last fortnight. I have not been out of town at all
this Easter. I wrote to my Aunt Louisa
as you suggested and should have been glad to pay Maidstone a visit during
Easter week but I received a note from her saying that during the early part of
the week she was obliged to be in town & that on Wednesday after the return
of their girls their house would be quite full. I was at the Ashton Yates last
Friday evening at quite a family party Mr & Mrs L D’Eyncourt, Mr H Musgrave
the Ashton Bostocks &c. Nothing particular took place & indeed the
object of my going there was to speak with them on some matters of business and
Mr Asthon Y wanted me to go when Mr D’Eyncourt was there. I have had a few
evenings out lately in the Bayswater region at the houses of acquaintances
there. Mr & Mrs Feetham & Mr & Mrs Kynaston. Mrs Kynaston was a
Miss Peel and in some way connected with the Willocks & Fletchers but I could
not quite make out how. I like the
getting up of your book very much & think that it contains a great deal of
interesting & curious matter. Mr
Ashton Yates wanted to have a copy & asked me if you would send him one
direct or he would get one in London. J
Thornely also had heard about it & intended getting one.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
As to your idea that I wrote Excelsior I may observe
that the only reason for my sending the Review was that I happened to buy it. I
did not write any thing in it nor have I any distinct recollection what the
piece referred to was.
*[Knutsford Its Traditions & History]
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/196]
Lincoln’s
Inn 13th May 1859
Dear Mother
I am thinking of travelling Knutsfordwards on Sunday
I hope to arrive about 5 p.m. I should
have preferred to leave tomorrow but there is a soiree of the Royal Society
tomorrow evening which I should like to attend as I found the first one interesting. I have not yet heard of any business at the
Court but it is possible there may be something for me at Manchester. The Court sits at Manchester on Tuesday and
at Liverpool Wednesday & Thursday. I
hope I shall see the Miss Yates but I do not think I can call before my return
to town. I can assure you that there is no cause for anxiety in regard to my
bodily health and I hope you will think so when you see me. We have had a great deal of east wind during
the last 3 weeks but the sun is generally so warm at least in the after part of
the day as to render them more tolerable than the ordinary run of London East
winds. I passed an evening at the
Charles Tagart’s in Bayswater on Tuesday & last night I went to the Drury
Lane Opera which is this year very good tho’ no doubt not quite up to the
Covent Garden mark. There has been a
quarrel in the Chancery Court this last week between Mr Gye the proprietor of
the latter establishment and Mr Smith of Drury Lane as to which of them is
entitled to the services of Signor Graziani the baritone. The result was that the Court ordered that
the signor should not open his mouth for singing purposes except for his own
private amusement anywhere in London but in Mr Gye’s theatre. They do not actually attempt to order him to
sing for Mr Gye but exclude him from singing anywhere else. In France I have read of the Paris Courts
compelling a singer to perform his contract by singing and perhaps the artist’s
care for his own reputation would make him exert his powers when once on the
boards. But in England we do not go
quite so far as this. London seems very
full notwithstanding the dissolution of parliament which was expected to break
up the season so sadly for those who minister to the luxuries & fancies of
the superior order of the species. It is
thought however that so much of the spare cash of these persons has been spent
in electioneering up & down the country that the London shopkeepers will
take less of it than usual. Mr James is gone to pay a visit to his relatives at
Swansea & I dare say would have preferred to go down as a new made M.P. but
the sweet voices of the Derby electors have willed otherwise. He has certainly been very unlucky with his
election undertakings
With best love
Believe me
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/197]
London 31 May 1859
Dear Emily
I hope you are profiting by the rain & warm
weather which we have had in town. The
trees & grass look vastly benefited here.
Tomorrow I am going to Epsom to witness that great national event the
race for the Derby. I have generally
gone down the evening before to Esher & then spent the evening in a
numerous circle of friends. In the morning we set off to walk across the
country to the race ground (about 6 miles) & then home in the evening. But
this time I am thinking of joining the party tomorrow travelling down by rail
& meeting them tomorrow at Epsom & then in the evening to Esher. There was a pleasant soirée of the Society of
Arts at the Kensington Museum on Saturday to which I was accompanied by Miss
Tagart. The objects of beauty or
curiosity were so plentiful that it made me very regretful that I had not often
paid the place a visit for of course on Saturday evening it was almost
impossible to examine them. There was an
immense crowd of people several thousand I should think. The chief occupation was walking about &
looking at one another & listening to a military band. The Lord Chancellor his lady & daughter I
noticed among the people also V. Chanc.Wood.
I have been sitting in Court the last two days listening to that lengthy
case of Lord v Colvin which is again under the course of hearing. I hear Mr
Jackson has returned from Canada & I sincerely hope he will return within
the next day or two and relieve me of the matter tho’ as there are two other
counsel on the same side with Mr J there is not any responsibility on the
third. I had to do with the case so
recently that I have never fairly penetrated it & do not think of making
any speech so that I hope on all accounts that he will return before our side
has its turn to be heard.
Your holydays are coming nearer at which no doubt
you are rejoiced.
With best love
Your affectionate brother
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/198]
London 11 June 1859
Dear Mother
I have seen the Gaskells several times since their
arrival in Bayswater. They have I think
pleasant quarters in Kildare Terrace but I should fear they will find the
distances rather great for moving about much.
They seem all looking well I think except perhaps Mrs G. On Wednesday evening I went to an “At home”
at Mrs Wedgwoods which I enjoyed. The
chief entertainment was singing which was executed by performers professional
as well as amateur. The second Miss W.
has a very pleasant voice and so far as I can judge decided vocal talent. She & MA sang a trio with an Italian
professional gentleman which was a success.
Previously to going to the Wedgwoods I had been to Brixton to dine with
Mr Clifford of the Middle Temple who perhaps I have told you married a sister
of Miss Masons, our old friend now Mrs
Van W. was there very little altered from what I remember of her when at
Heathfield. She is a lively rather
entertaining person but somewhat of a gossip I should say. This day week I was favoured with a call from
Mr Milnes Gaskell. The immediate object
of his call was to give me a message for you about Dr Brandreth’s
portrait. He said that he had several
copies of the proof issue and that you are quite welcome to one of them. He says that they have no margin and
recommends you to let him have one of them framed for you but wished to know
whether you would like it so or desired to have it in a portfolio. I said I thought you wished to have one to
hang up but that I would write & inquire.
He seemed desirous of making my acquaintance as he talked of asking me
to dinner after Whitsuntide & offered to get me into the Ho. of Commons if
I ever desired it. He asked if I had a
brother called Henry who had written on Knutsford. He had seen my father’s book and I told him
of course that he was the author. He has a somewhat peculiar manner but I think
he is a kind of man I shall manage to get on with & am of course rather
glad to have an opportunity of making acquaintance with that branch of our connection. In a professional way I have been very
slack since I returned from the North. I have finished my lectures & shall
therefore be quite ready for almost any amount of business if it would
but come.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/199]
London 18th June 1859
Dear Father
I was sorry to hear that my dear mother & Emily
have been suffering in different ways from the weakness of the flesh. Florence Gaskell told me about them in the
first instance and then my mother’s note gave me further intelligence. I cannot help thinking that if you are to
have such a quiet time during the vacation as there seems a probability will be
the case it would be much more prudent to manage some real change of scene
& society for at any rate some among you. I am glad to hear that your
lecture went off favourably. I was not
able in any way to contribute to your intelligence. I did look for the point you mentioned some
time ago but I could not find anything in the Brit. Mus. Library.
It is said that a principal difficulty in the way of
making Sir Rich. Bethell Lord Chancellor (a promotion not only well deserved
but which would have been very well received by the legal profession generally)
was that he required his peerage to be limited to his second son. The eldest son is it is said a sad scamp and
has been through the Insolvent Court more than once and the father was
unwilling that his peerage should descend upon such an unworthy
representative. I have not seen any
positive objection made to Lord Campbell personally but the appointment of
Common Lawyers three times running to the highest Equity Judicial position is
by no means grateful to the class who practice at Lincoln’s Inn. I have seen the Gaskells several times and
yesterday conveyed the party across Kensington Gardens to the S. Kensington
Museum where we spent the morning. Mrs
& Meta went to a Hallé Concert & the rest went home & I into town. From what M A said recently I gathered that
she had written to Ellen but that her letter was a very shabby one. She
said that they really find very little time for writing letters but that she
would write at greater length before long.
I have not seen or heard anything more from Mr Milnes Gasell but shall
wait a little yet before writing to him what my mother said. Hoping that the
next time you write you will be able to send a more favourable account.
I remain
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref:
JA/JPG/200]
Lincoln’s
Inn June 23rd 1859
Dear Mother
I had an almost solitary & very dusty ride to
London & after a few hours sleep in bed in addition to those I had managed
to get on the way made my appearance at chambers again. The only matter I found requiring my presence
were some papers from Mr Johnson so that my speedy return to town was not altogether
unnecessary. I had a chat with Mr James
who also returned to chambers this morning. He has paid a visit to his house in
Surrey since holding his Court in Lancashire.
I posted Annie’s letter at Crewe but hope that she has heard something
from Liverpool this morning about her order.
London looked exceedingly cheerless this morning at 5 0’clock with a
cold east wind blowing the dust about but the afternoon is much warmer. I found my father’s coat a great comfort. I
hope I shall observe your wishes for a more plentiful & free correspondence
between us and I am sure it has always been my desire but you know how apt one
is unless naturally fond of letter writing to put off doing so when there is
plenty of time for writing what one feels and then the letter written in a
hurry appears very cold & meagre. This is really the reason &
explanation of my defaults & neglects in the matter and I hope I need not
assure you there is no other one.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/201]
London 5th July 1859
Dear Father
I am very sorry to hear from you that my dear
grandmother* has ended her days on earth.
There is every reason to be thankful that her death has been so little
attended by painful or harassing circumstances so far as herself was concerned
and we shall all I am sure have a grateful & affectionate remembrance of
her many excellent qualities. I know of nothing to prevent my meeting you
tomorrow at Euston Square and if nothing very particular occurs to keep me here
I shall be very happy to meet you there at the time you mention.
I remain
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
*[Ann Green]
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/202]
Letter written by Henry Green to his cousin J B
Green Esq
Upper
King St [Maidstone] July 9 1859
My dear Sir
I have concluded to
remain in Maidstone until Tuesday morning and write a line or two to say that I
shall be happy to dine with you on Monday
3 o’clock. I think you said was to be the time.
With kind regards believe me
Yours very sincerely
Henry Green
[HMA 7/2/51]
London 12th July 1859
Dear Mother
My father has returned to London from Maidstone
& called upon me this morning. He had been to the hotel in Percy Street
& finding the place comfortable & looking promising for a quiet abode
determined to stay there. I had a very
pleasant visit to Canterbury on Saturday & Sunday. I had never been there
before & was very much pleased & interested with what I saw. Meta Gaskell gave me a letter of introduction
to the Miss Jacksons* whose mother was as perhaps you know a Miss Pilkington
& niece of the first Mrs Dr Brandreth.
They had I think been wards of Dr Lyall & lived with him till his
death. They of course know Canterbury
well & were very kind & obliging in shewing me the cathedral which I
should not have been able to see completely on the Sunday had not Louisa
Jackson procured the key for me & conducted me through. I found from Miss Jackson that some of the
Thomas Brandreth’s were staying in Canterbury.
To one of them Arthur Brandreth I was introduced he is in the Indian
civil service has I believe most excellent prospects having already reached a
post of considerable importance & responsibility. He is a quiet &
rather reserved person about 27 or 28 but we got on pretty well together. He afterwards sent me their address in Park
Street Grosvenor Square & hoped I would call on them before long. In the evening I called on Mr Frank Holland
who lives within a few doors of the Jacksons & found him alone. In a few
minutes Mrs F Holland & one of her sisters came in. Both of them but especially the latter struck
me as being very lively & intelligent persons. The Jacksons seem to
consider the Lyalls of Harbledown as a decidedly clever & agreeable family
“alive” I think was one of the words they used. I cannot exactly say what day I
shall be coming to Knutsford but I hope it will not be later than the first
week in August. You many thank heaven
that you are not in London at present where the heat is quite overwhelming
depriving one as it were of all energy & power of exertion
With best love
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
* [Mary Brandreth was married to Dean William R Lyall of Canterbury
(who is of interest to the Gaskells because he promoted Francis Holland's
career - Francis married his niece Mary Sibylla Lyall). Dean Lyall adopted an
orphan family called Jackson. When Louisa Victoria Jackson married Arthur
Brandreth in June 1871 he was a vicar in Diss Norfolk. Meta Gaskell was a
brdiesmaid. Was he the same Arthur as JPG mentions as in the Indian Civil
Service. In fact Louisa married Henry Brandreth who was probably Arthur's
brother. Interestingly in the 1881 census Catherine Pilkington aged 28 is
a visitor staying with the Brandreth's in Norfolk and in the 1851 census Anne
and Louisa Jackson are pupils at a school run by Rachel Martineau as were
Alice Winkworth and Jane Pilkington.]
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/203]
Lincoln’s
Inn 16th July /59
Dear Mother
My father was to start this morning & will
therefore give news of himself & proceedings before this letter will reach
you. He has I think enjoyed his visit to London notwithstanding the heat which
this last week has been almost more intense than I ever remember it. I spoke about the Daily News this
morning. The man appeared sorry &
attempted to account for the mistake by saying that the boy had misdirected
some of the papers. I told
him that unless regularly sent you did not want it at all & I should
certainly immediately stop it if anything like the recent mistake or
irregularity should occur.
F Talbot’s death is exceedingly sad. I saw it in The
Times the morning before Ellen’s note mentioned it & could scarcely believe
it till I found from my father that the description could apply to no other
person.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
In respect to Ellen’s note for which thank her I do
not think it would be possible for me to be in Knutsford before the 6th
or 8th Aug.
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref:
JA/JPG/204]
Lincoln’s
Inn 19th July 1859
Dear Mother
The rods arrived safely yesterday for which please
thank my father. Perhaps he told you that Mr Milnes Gaskell had invited me to
dinner yesterday. I went at 8 o’clock & found several people assembled to
whom there were several additions till the party amounted to about 14. I had a pleasant evening and Mr Gaskell was
kind & agreeable. Mrs Milnes I had not much conversation with she seemed as
you said she was a clever fashionable woman.
None of the family except Mr & Mrs Milnes were there. Mr Panizzi was
rather the leader of the conversation & I have heard of him before as a
great diner out. I had two pleasant men
as neighbours but I did not learn their names. There were only two ladies there
besides Mrs G one of whom was Lady Coltman I understood. Arthur Brandreth whom I met at Canterbury
was there & we had a good deal of talk. I must say he greatly improves on
acquaintance. I bought away the
engraving which Mr G had ready for me.
It is not framed as I thought it better to say in my note that I hoped
Mr G would not give himself any trouble in seeing about that & he has not
done so. The copy seems a very good
& perfect one & I have no doubt you will be glad to have it.
I am quite longing to be in the country. The unfortunate members of the Ho of Commons
will sit I suppose till late in August.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/205]
London 4th Augt
1859
Dear Mother
I fear I have again been putting off writing. Last
week I saw our friends the Thomas Brandreths. Arthur B called on me at chambers
& asked me to dine with them at the house they have taken for the summer at
Sydenham. Mrs B had gone to Broad Green
to take care of Mary B. who has been ill.
The party consisted of Mr B. Arthur, Emily, Mr & Mrs Currie &
two gentlemen. Mr B. was much older than
I had fancied him. I sat next to him at
dinner & had some pleasant conversation with him but he does not seem to be
very fond of hearing his own voice. Mrs Currie I thought a bright agreeable
person. Emily Brandreth is a clever
intelligent person tho’ not particularly attractive in manner & appearance.
They asked after their Knutsford friends as was to be expected indeed and
altogether behaved civilly.
I was glad to become acquainted with them as it
always seemed strange to know so little of our relations as I did. I am thinking of coming home on Sunday night
or Monday morning but I shall only have a day with you then. The Court is on Tuesday & the following
days & from Liverpool I am thinking of setting off to Scotland to
Potters. After that I shall have I
expect three weeks or a month at Heathfield.
It will I think be better to go to Scotland during the early part of the
vacation as the days are so much longer & the sporting less used up. The Potters house I hear is a large roomy one
& the gardens as productive of gooseberries as the one at Aberuchill.
Mr James has left town & the Courts of Chancery
will all be up today for the long vacation & stillness reigns again in the
precincts of Lincoln’s Inn. I have had
Brunel as a pupil again for the last fortnight but otherwise I have been
exceedingly slack of work.
Hoping I shall find you all well when I peep in upon
you on Sunday or Monday
I remain
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/206]
London 6th Augt /59
Dear Mother
I have determined to travel by the train which
leaves Euston Square at 10 a.m. tomorrow and I shall hope to reach you at about
5 p.m.
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/207]
Liverpool 12th Augt 1859
Dear Mother
Thank you for your very kind letter which I received
yesterday & should have answered by return had I had an opportunity to
write. I had a pleasant afternoon at the Gaskells with whom Mrs Prof. Allman is
a visitor. Mr G. was setting off with
Crompton Potter for Kinnaird on Wednesday to be in time for today on which no
doubt numerous luckless grouse have found their deaths. The Thornely party is reduced to Alfred &
Edward the other two being at Royston.
Yesterday I had dinner with A Holt who was alone in the house then but
Miss Holt & Robert came home in the evening & Wm Holt called
in so that I saw most of the family. I
set off this evening by the night train and hope to reach Kinnaird about 1
tomorrow. As soon as I can I will write
but it may be that there is no post in the afternoon. The exact address is I believe Kinnaird Nr
Dunkeld. Mr Milnes Gaskell’s address is
12 Stratford Place W. No guineas
again!
Believe me dear Mother
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/208]
Kinnaird
Dunkeld 13th Augt /59
Dear Mother
I had a successful railway journey here arriving at
about 3 p.m. where I found the whole party at home partly on account of the
rainy weather & partly to rest after the labours of the 12th. Crompton Potter killed with his own gun 51½
brace of grouse & a few hares. The
house is a very large substantial one tho’ not so picturesque an object as
Aberuchill. It has a pleasant garden & beautiful views over the richly
wooded heights which rise on either side of the Tay. The Tay is here a fine sweeping river &
forms a very striking object in the valley.
Besides the whole of the E Potter family there are staying here two Miss
Hattons of Putney one of the Sydney Potter girls & Mr Gaskell. I have not of course had any opportunity of
trying the sporting but from what I hear it is very promising. The ride from Dunkeld here along the valley
is very full of striking parts of view but the mists prevented my seeing much
of it. The general character of the
country in this part of Perthshire reminded me considerably of parts of the
Black Forest. I found the family civil
in their reception of me & I anticipate a very pleasant visit & only
wish that some of you could enjoy the place with me. The mysterious article you found in my room
was a pipe-cleaner but I shall not need it.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/209]
Kinnaird 20th Aug 1859
Dear Father
I received Isabella’s note this morning expressing a
confidence that I had not come to an untimely piscatorial death. I had intended
writing today & have also for several days past but the post goes out at
the inconvenient hour of ¼ to 9 in the morning.
I have had a very pleasant week at Kinnaird notwithstanding the wet
weather. The rambles over the moors are
glorious the heather in its purple perfection & the glimpses of distant
hills magnificent. The fishing has not
been very productive the trout seem shy & unwilling to take feathers &
wool & the salmon are prevented ascending the river by the traps lower
down. These will be taken up on the 26th
and if I find that I can with propriety stay a few days beyond that date I
shall have a vigorous try at those monsters of fish. I have been out on the moors two days this
last week once with Crompton P &
once by myself & made a beginning among the birds tho’ the numbers are not
very brilliant compared with the performances of those who have had some practice. The first day I killed 2 brace of grouse
& the second 4½ & 3 hares so that there was a little improvement. On Friday we had some shooting at the rabbits
which abound here. Walter P. is leaving tomorrow and Mrs Potter said something
tonight about sending some birds to Knutsford via Chelford. If they are sent
you may expect them about Wednesday & I hope in an eatable condition. Mr & Mrs Cobb of Banbury are I believe
coming here on a visit tomorrow so that we shall have a good circle round the
table. In the evenings music & whist are the order of the day as the
sportsmen are scarcely to be expected to be able to support conversation
without other excitement. Today I rode on horseback about 9 miles by way of
Dunkeld to Murthly Castle an old mansion of the family of Sir Wm Stewart,
finely situated on an eminence commanding the Tay & surrounded by beautiful
well wooded grounds. There is a
beautiful chapel in the grounds where the public are allowed to attend the
Catholic services.
Mr Gaskell is here & I think enjoying himself.
He attends more to the rod than the gun & has had fair success. Mr Potter is a kind intelligent man. He has returned from his few days visit to
Manchester. Walter P had a very good days shooting on Saturday his bag
amounting to 22½ brace & several hares which for a young hand is very
good. You will think my letter full of
nothing but sporting details but little else happens. I am as you may believe
in most rude health & condition.
With best love
Believe me
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/210]
Murthly Castle
[This letter was written by W M James in reply to a
letter from Henry Green and was extremely difficult to read].
The
Hound House, Shere, Nr Guildford 27h Augt
1859
My Dear Mr Green
I wish I could give you any useful suggestions to
enable you to determine what would be the best course for you to advise your
son to take. I have always felt that the bar is such a lottery that it is
scarcely possible for any one to form for himself or for a friend any thing
like […] of his alternate chances of success.
Every one has to go through a period of hard trial of that which is
hardest of all to bear the seeking of pearls which cometh from hope deferred
and it seems to me to be far worse now than it was when I was called to the
Bar. There are not only more candidates
but it seems to me that the bar is become every year more and more full of the
friends and connections of solicitors in large practice who have heavy odds in
their favour in the competition. According to my experience however most men
who do resolutely bid their time do ultimately get on at the bar and great
success is so very brilliant that I never like uttering a word of
discouragement to those who are willing to believe that there is a good time
coming. I am bound however to say that I
am never surprised at any young barrister looking to the chances of success in
some of our foreign professions and colonies. I was myself much tempted in an
early part of my career to try Calcutta or Australia and I have known my
juniors who in both those places have had the most splendid success. I had
never until your letter heard of Toronto as offering a good field for an
English Barrister but I can easily understand that it may be so – and that a
young man may find the best chance of a rising fortune in a young and rising
country.
I can only say that were I in your place I would not
seek to influence your son one way or the other. It is a grave and solemn
matter for himself to consider and determine and if, not under any temporary
feeling of depression or disappointment but duly weighing every thing, he
deliberately prefers a career abroad as offering the best chances I conceive
that there is nothing for you but to submit to the sacrifice and bid him God
speed. I know that in these painful separations the bitterness is to the old
who stay and to the young who go forth but it is the daily lot of many families
from the highest to the lowest in our land and modern inventions have all but
annihilated distance. Let him decide for
himself warning him that his decision should be carefully considered trusting
that whatever it may be makes he and you will find occasion ultimately to
regret it
I am
Ever your […] […]
W M James
Having been writing and travelling I have not until
today been able to write in answer to your letter
I know of no prospect of legal employment connected
with the Law […]Commission. I never
could find out who has the [….] distribution of that part of legal patronage.
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/211]
Kinnaird 29thAug/59
Dear Mother
We shall soon have a considerable diminution in the
number of our party as Mr Crompton &
the Miss Huttons are leaving today & Mr & Miss Peyton are also thinking
of moving. The last week has been very
pleasant made up of much the same enjoyments as the preceding to wit shooting
& fishing & intervening days for rest & walks. You may inform Ellen
that the spoon back has had one trial which was quite satisfactory. By its means I landed a pike about 7 lbs
weight & had a strike from another who thought better of it before hooking
himself. Last week we had Mr Cobb of
Banbury for a visitor but he left on Saturday.
I thought him a man of great good sense & kindliness. He takes a good of interest in practical
politics & is an active man at the Reform Club & in elections. My old friend A Wills has taken a
house for himself & family at Pitlochrie about 7 miles distant. On Thursday he his wife & a friend spent
the day here. He is staying near Professor Forbes who is a friend of his &
I believe the two are pursing some kind of geological investigations
together. I was very sorry to hear from
Mr Gaskell of the death of our old friend Miss Mitchell. I think I shall most likely leave about
Thursday or Friday but will of course let you hear more exactly when I have
settled the matter.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
I thanked Mrs P in your name for the grouse so that
there is no doubt whence they came.
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/212]
Heathfield,
Knutsford 31
August 1859
My
dear Sir
I had set out to preach in the neighbourhood of
Whitehaven when your letter arrived and I only returned late last night.
I wrote my uncle William announcing my mother’s death
and directed the letter to him at Mrs Kents, Whitehall Terrace Gravesend but I
have not as yet had any reply. My letter has not been returned and I conclude
therefore that it reached its destination.
I cannot account for no answer being sent to me. With
yourself I should very much like to know how my uncle is. He may perhaps have
been offended that he was not invited to my mother’s funeral, but I had nothing
to do with making the arrangements, and therefore he has no reason to be
offended with me. Should you hear from
him, or of him, I will thank you to let me know.
Mrs Green and your family are I hope all well. I enjoyed my trip into Cumberland and stayed
with some old friends. I climbed one of the hills, and had a clear view of the
Isle of Man, the Mull of Gallow, and Scotland beyond the Solway, 15 or 16
Cumberland peaks and the whole sea south almost to Wales.
With kind regards believe me
Yours sincerely
Henry Green
[HMA 7/2/53]
Black edged London 11 Oct 59
Dear Mother
Dr Thompson said much the same as Mr M in regard to
my complaint. He appeared rather anxious to avoid the swelling breaking &
touched it with caustic for that purpose but more severely than Mr M did. When he saw it again today however he rather
advised that I should have it cut which I thought better to have done & he
accordingly used the lancet. I have to
poultice it for several days & then he hopes it will soon be well again. I
found McCulloch in town much to my surprise & rather in an invalid way
himself. I stayed with him the last two
nights as it saves me the journey to Bayswater & as during the next two
days I shall have to lie rather quiet it will be much more entertaining to have
a companion than to stay in solitary lodgings.
You need not feel at all anxious about me in any way as I feel sure I
shall go on well now. I saw Mr James
yesterday at chambers who had come up from the country for a day to see to some
matters of business. I did not myself
find anything very pressing but was better to come to be ready for it. I hope
you are enjoying Llandudno tho’ if the weather there has been the same as we
have had here you will not have been much favoured in that respect. The landlady seems much grieved at the loss
of her daughter who died about 3 weeks ago tho’ as the latter has been an
invalid for five long years one cannot think her release a subject of much
regret at any rate on her own account.
With best love
Yours
affectionately
J
Philip Green
Ps I have not been to Lincoln’s Inn yet when I
write this so that perhaps there may be a letter there for me which would have
called for an acknowledgment or mention.
JRL
Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/213]
London 15 Octr /59
I think you might in your letter have told me a
little more about yourself & your Llandudno visit. However perhaps you will have a more
convenient opportunity when you have returned home. I saw Dr Th. again today who says I am going
on very favourably & has ordered me to take some tonic medicine to raise
the tone of my bodily condition generally.
The lancing was not very painful that is it was over in an instant. For the first day I had a lint plug in the
incision but afterwards it was pretty kept open by a linseed poultice which I
kept on constantly (renewing it thrice a day) for the last four days. I am now
to put one on every night for the next week.
Jane (Max’s servant) is a very good hand at making poultices or indeed
anything in the nursing or cooking way and I do not think I could have been
better off even had I been at home. I
have not noticed much discharge there was some at first when it was cut but
more blood & since then the discharge has of course been very gradual &
scarcely perceptible. I am to see Dr.
Th. again in a week so that you will see by that he thinks I am going on well
& I have no doubt I shall with a little care as to active exertion. I can
however walk much better than when I left home.
I had some work this week from Mr Johnson which was
pleasant.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
The letter you will perhaps see has been written with a
steel pen which I abominate.
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/214]
Lincoln’s
Inn 22 Octr /59
I have
sate[sic] down to write to you but I have really wonderfully little to
say tho’ again living in the centre of English activity & life. The “Theoretisch practische Clavierschule” I
found at chambers when I arrived last week.
As far as I can form any opinion it appears to be a very complete &
elaborate work chiefly of course exercises or compositions having a direct
bearing on musical training. I have no doubt you will get some valuable hints
from the letter press which is interspersed among the exercises. I can send it if you like but if you are not
feeling to have time enough to attend it at present it can wait till I come. I have also the book on singing which I will
bring also. I fear Annie might feel
rather puzzled with the German but we can see what she thinks of it. Last Saturday I went to hear “Dinorah” at
Covent Garden. As I dare say you know
Dinorah is Meyerbeer’s last work based on a simple incident among villagers in
Bretagne. The orchestra seemed to me
very good indeed as also Miss Tyne & Mr Sansley. The scenery &c is just the same as when
the Italian Company performed the piece in the summer. The music is most exquisite & of
altogether different character from that of the Huguenots & the Prophite
much quieter & less French.
When do the Longs pass through town?
I suppose they will not do more than go from one station to another will
this be so? As for myself I am
progressing favourably. I feel quite
active in regard to walking but Dr Th. tells me to walk as little as possible
for some little time yet.
I hope you are not feeling overwhelmed with your
occupations. I wish I was a little busier.
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
I dined with the Jacksons last Sunday. They are all well. Mr J was in the Great
Eastern when she exploded but happily he arrived home before his wife had even
heard of it. I believe Hannah Tayler is
out of town.
JRL
Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/215]
London 28 Octr /59
Dear
Mother
I inclose [sic] a prospectus of the coffee machine
which if it is as good as is the promise will I think suit you admirably. The prices are not marked in the list nor do
I know more about them than that the price of a 1 pint urn of the plainest kind
mentioned is 8/6 but of course the larger ones of bronze will be considerably
more. The block tin ones are not by any means highly finished & I should
fancy a bronze one would suit you best.
You will I suppose like an additional filter. If you determine on having
one you will send me all particulars. I am going on well on the whole. Dr Th. I
spoke to about vaccination. He seemed rather amused & told me that he would
willingly do it for me as a friend yet that it was not the custom for
“surgeons” to do it. He said however he
would look out for some good matter & let me know.
J
Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/216]
London
5th Novr
1859
Dear Mother
I am sorry to hear that you are feeling somewhat out
of sorts at present. Where I used the expression in regard to myself “well on
the whole” I meant that I was not quite right yet. I felt a little threatening of a return of my
recent enemy in another place. On Thursday
Dr Th. had to use the lancet again but it was not nearly so serious an affair
as the first & he felt quite confident that I should go on well now.
I have certainly felt much better the last two days. In regard to the
vaccination I do not see anything absurd in taking such a precaution. In the spring a son of Prof. Key who is at
the bar had a very severe attack of smallpox and certainly his appearance after
his recovery was quite sufficient to reconcile one to take such a simple means
of prevention. Dr Th’s amusement was
very mild & was not on account of my wish to be vaccinated but that it was
evidently an operation he is not in the practice of performing.
We have had rather unpleasant weather sudden changes
from cold winds & wet & moist warm weather. But except my local
afliction I felt very well. I have been
a little busy with reading & writing for my lectures which begin on
Monday. There was one man called here
about them but I have not been to the College yet & do not know what sort
of class there will be. I find several
of my friends as Jackson Robinson & Murch have been in town the greater
part of the long vacation & I shall feel inclined I think next year to do
the same. I dare say however when next year comes the hot days of July &
August will rather shake me in my resolution.
I think it would be better if the long vacation were in July &
August instead of September & October but I suppose so long as game exists
on not being ready to shoot till Septr & October there would be
great resistance on the part of the bigger wigs.
With love to all
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/217]
London
16 Nov 1859
Dear Isabella
I will call about your watch when the time comes and
do what I can in the matter. I had an
unexpected visit from Uncle Long yesterday afternoon who had come up from
Brighton for the day. He gave a good account of those left behind & seemed
very well himself I thought. We have had
the usual November fogs for the last two days on Monday it was exceedingly
annoying. I have stayed a few days again
with McCulloch as my leg is still troublesome & prevents me walking much or
with comfort. It is really a very
tedious & annoying affair I think I would almost as soon have had the leg
broken at once. But in general health I am feeling quite well & by no means
depressed in spirits. I am engaged on some business for Brookes at present
& I have been a good deal in Court listening to a case in which I am
interested. My lectures are still
delivered into almost empty space tho’ I have one more student this year than
last and I think all three are perhaps more “eligible” than last year. I am dining a good deal at the Temple this
term which for the company as well as the vittles is agreeable. I feel so little inclined to move about
unnecessarily that I have not been to make any calls yet on friends.
I should like to see A Brandreth again before he
goes out to India but I do not know where to find him as I think their Sydenham
house was only a temporary abode & I do not know where they stay in town
when there. However I will institute a
search in blue books & court guides &c & at any rate find out a
former abode.
H. Powell called about 10 days ago for the money
which I gave him.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref:
JA/JPG/218]
Lincoln’s Inn 19 Nov 1859
Dear Mother
I am afraid that my last letter gave rather too
unfavourable account of myself but just then I was feeling rather tired &
impatient that I seemed not to be making much advance. But on Thursday I saw Dr Th. again who
assured me that I was going on very well and the last three days I have felt
much better & my leg is decidedly better & really gives me little trouble
except preventing much exercise. I got
good nourishing dinners at the Temple with “port” & I really beg you will
not think of sending anything here. If
game was to be shot on our patrimonial acres it would be very well but
really anything I want I can purchase in
the great city. The vaccination has
taken most vigorously & certainly shows that had I come in contact with the
disease I should have caught it. The
Lancaster Court sits at Manchester on Tuesday the 29th and I think I
shall be able to leave town on Saturday the 26th & stay Sunday
& Monday at home. I have not gone to Brighton as Dr Th. said a few days
would be little good and I did not like leaving at present unless there were
some decided advantage to be gained. I
hope that before long my letters will not be full of my own ailments. You do not tell me much about yourself &
yours. If I do not write again you may expect me on Saturday the 26th.
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref:
JA/JPG/219]
Westbourne Grove 24 Nov 1859
Dear
Father
I fear that I shall not be able to have the pleasure
of paying you a visit so soon as I hoped.
The reason is that three days ago I thought I noticed on my other side a
threatened beginning of the same affliction that has already given me so much
trouble. Dr Thompson whom I saw on Tuesday morning feared that it is so and
told me to try and prevent it from coming to anything by remaining quite still
for some days and using means which he has prescribed. The two last days I have spent chiefly in
lying down at my lodgings. He advises me
for prudence sake not to make any journey at present as he thinks a little real
care now may save me much trouble hereafter & I think there is no doubt he
is right here. Mrs Ross makes me very
comfortable and I assure you I have not felt very dull as Mr Jackson kindly
came in & spent Tuesday evening with me and Gasquet who lives very near
here has been in several times to see me. There is no cause whatever to feel
anxious about me as I am I feel in good medical hands & have nothing like
pain to suffer. I say this because my
dear mother hinted at paying me a visit
for which I think there is no
necessity at all and she had much better reserve a visit to London to a time
when it is not enveloped in fogs as it is at present one day out of three. I dare say in two or three days I shall be
able to get out of doors again but I think I had better give up thoughts of
travelling to the North at present as it would involve considerable bodily
exertion and this is what I have to avoid as much as possible. I was sorry to hear that my dear grandmother
is not feeling well at present & that Anna had to put off her visit to her
friends at Edgbaston. As I shall
probably not go to chambers this week you will please send me a line directed
to this place. I am engaged in
reading a German book by one W. Menzel
History of Europe during the last forty years which I find very interesting and
just the sort of book for the present occasion.
The Inns of Court Rifle Corps is at last set on foot & in a
decidedly energetic & liberal manner. I have not joined as at present I
should not be able to do anything in the way of drill. The expense owing to the donations of the
older members of the profession will be much less to the enrolled members than
that of any other so I dare say I shall enrol hereafter
With
best love
Yours
affectionately
JRL Box 3/4 [Ref:
JA/JPG/220]
I suppose the letter I wrote on Thursday was too
late for that days post & did not reach you till this morning. I write just a line to say that I am going on
well. I think my staying in & lying down will probably altogether prevent
the new point of anxiety from becoming any real source of inconvenience. I still think I had better not come to the
Court this time but hope that I shall have a visit home either at Christmas on
in January instead of it.
Believe
me
Yours
affectionately
J
Philip Green
JRL
Box 3/4 [Ref: JA/JPG/221]
Lincoln’s Inn 28 Nov 1859
I saw Dr Thompson this morning and am glad to say
that he thinks the danger of a renewal of my complaint is almost over &
that with care I shall avoid any further inconvenience. The means he used for the purpose were lying
down hot fermentation & application of iodine. I quite hope that I am now
in a good way as the old place is much improved & gives me little trouble.
I think that in the summer when I had the first attack I did not take it soon
enough or perhaps more might have been done but in the present case the very
next day after I felt anything wrong I began the treatment. I still have determined not to travel north.
I do not know of any business to go for and I have something here to occupy me
& can of course keep quiet better than by going round with the court to
Manchester & Liverpool. We have a beautiful day today & should
certainly have enjoyed it much more at Heathfield than in town but it has been
otherwise
Yours
very affectionately
I think that this year I shall spend Christmas at
Heathfield unless some particular circumstance occurs to prevent it. I should I hope be able to stay till the 6th
or 7th of January & therefore if the dances are fixed (if at
all) for 3rd & the 4th I should be at home for them
also. But if the Longs feel inclined to
have them I should like to be in Knutsford whether I can myself dance or
not. I will get to know as soon as I can
what friends of mine would be able to come and send you word. I do not think there is any peculiarity in
asking gentlemen as everyone must know & see that they are chiefly wanted
in Knutsford & not “females”. I hope
I shall be quite well by that time; the old place now & then gives me a
little trouble but the new point of danger has quite passed away. Dr Thompson
does not think I can do anything more than I have been doing & hopes that
in a short time I shall be able to take as much active exercise as I wish which
is the only matter in regard to which I am now inconvenienced. I could easily get Isabella’s watch from Mr
Aspland’s & take it to Mr Olliviers & will call in three or four days
if she will write about it. I am glad to
hear that Annie is to have lessons from Garcia.
I am sure that lessons now & then from a really good teacher are
necessary to keep people up to high standard.
Yours
very affectionately
Dear Mother
I had a pleasant journey with our relations as far
as Stafford. There was a collection of barristers
at Chelford and that fact combined with the desire of accompanying our
namesakes interfered with my intention of saving a few shillings. I came down to chambers on my arrival to
intercept any letters that the clerk might be intending to forward &
found that K Darbishire has been
remembering me again by sending some papers so that it is just as well that I
came today. I saw Wm Green at
Stafford as he came to meet his sisters.
I hope the girls will have a successful journey to Liverpool & will
enjoy themselves then. The Greens did not say anything about a visit there tho’
I rather opened the subject carefully of course.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/226]
London 9 Jany 1860
Dear Mother
I arrived in town again yesterday afternoon. I enjoyed the Liverpool ball on Tuesday
evening & was glad I stayed for it. On the Sunday morning I walked out to
Old Swan near Wavertree with Mr Aspinall & returned to the Holts at 2 to
dinner. They were all at home and I had a very pleasant afternoon with them. We
managed to hit upon subjects of conversation which kept words going. On Monday evening I went to dine with Mr
Sheil who lives at Lindale near Birkenhead. The party consisted of himself his
wife & her two brothers. I like Mr & Mrs Sheil very much. The former has travelled a good deal in Cuba
& Spain. Being an Havannah Merchant you may be sure that he did not let me
leave the house without a most fragrant weed to enjoy on the boat. As to the ball I think you compared the one
of Tuesday last with the fancy ball at St.George’s Hall next Tuesday
which is also for charities but on a much larger scale than the former
one. However above 500 people were
assembled and tho’ perhaps of a somewhat mixed class seemed to enjoy themselves
completely. I went with Weld &
Sidgreaves and with their help & that of Mr Aspinall & Mrs Sheil did
not find any want of partners. I called
on the Miss Yates & spent about an hour with them. They seemed very
cheerful & glad to see me & made use of the opportunity to talk over
the affair of their chancery suit in regard to Mr Richard’s property. I have something to do at present from Brooks
indeed I think it is rather a good thing to be absent from town as it seems to
bring business. I hope dear Emily is feeling better
Believe me
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/227]
Lincoln’s
Inn 13th Jany 1860
Dear Mother
I inclose the prices of the pattern of china. By the
“sprigged pattern” I suppose you mean the one with the spots and not the
wreaths. The explanation of McCullock not making his appearance is rather
provoking tho’ I feel clear in the matter as I did exactly what he told me to
do. It seems he did not write to tell his brother in law that he was coming on
the Monday from town to Liverpool. On
Monday evening my letter which had arrived in Liverpool in the morning was sent
to London where it arrived on the Tuesday.
So it just missed the person for whom it was intended & he in some
uncertainty as to whether there was to be a party & how to get to Knutsford
did not come over on the chance of it. He had quite intended coming had he
known with certainty that the dance would be on the 3rd & how he
was to get to it. I have little news we have had a dull week in regard to
weather I have drilled several times & sat at chambers most of the day.
I saw Aunt Mardon last week I thought her looking pretty well.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J P Green
I was sorry to hear of your attack of rheumatism
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/228]
London 21st Jany 1860
Dear Mother
I do not know that I have
anything particularly cheering to tell you but I have on the other hand
no reason to be otherwise than cheerful.
I am glad that the girls have had pleasant visits and are enjoying
themselves at Southport. I had a short
note this morning from Emily telling me that they are very happy & find the
air delightful. The last three days here
are unmitigatedly unpleasant cold windy rainy & muddy. This has introduced a break in the daily
devotion of an hour to the drill serjeant as my military ardour is scarcely
equal to tramping & kneeling in weather like this. I find the drill rather amusing and
beneficial in a bodily point of view. I
shall have to think of getting a uniform before long as the pattern has been
selected & approved and the only point still undetermined is the important
one of a motto for the buttons. The Lancaster Chancery Court will sit at
Manchester on Thursday the 2nd of February. I hear there is very little business to do
but I suppose I ought to go till I decide to give it up. I do not see any difficulty in not having the
crockery from Phillips if you do not want it, but I will look on Monday at some
of their patterns with gilt edges & send you prices. I do not think I should like to take away
patterns again & then not buy, but I do not see any objection to saying in
regard to those already seen, that you did not want that kind on further
consideration. I have thought of calling
on the Milnes Gaskell’s and have always intended doing so when they were likely
to have returned to Town. As parliament opens next week I think there is no
doubt that at any rate Mr G will be in town.
I saw Aunt Mardon at the Carpenters & thought her looking well &
in good spirits tho’ she was anxious about Miss Carpenter who was then ill. I dare say you have heard that Miss Sarah
Carpenter is since dead. I believe her
illness was very short erysipelas I understand from Thornely. I went to see the Drury Lane Pantomime which
was said to be very good. I have come
however to the conclusion that pantomimes are very stupid. The scenery & tumbling was no doubt very
good but there was the eternal banging one another about & throwing joints
of meat & vegetables which is so tiresome. I do not know that my letter
contains anything particularly interesting but you may send it on to the girls
to let Emily know that I have received her note & will send what she wants
on Monday. I have not got it at Chambers
but have found it at home.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/229]
London 26th Jany 1860
Dear Mother
I should enjoy spending a day or two at home but I
do not think I can do so with any propriety at present. The Court at Manchester does not sit till
Thursday & the Courts here only rise on Tuesday so that I feel it would not
do to leave town on Saturday. I have got
a Loypel’s Percolator which I hope you will like. I called at the Ashton Yates
on Sunday last. Mr Y. was out but Mrs & Mss were there and I thought very
gracious. They said that Mr Yates had
been generally very well throughout the Winter.
I have been sitting in Court a good deal this week partly because I had
to appear in a cause for Mr Tayler our fellow tenant of chambers who is away in
Scotland. I had nothing actually to do in the talking way but it is pleasant to
have some papers before one when sitting in court. It is I think rather a pity that it is not
the custom with chancery barristers to attend court & sit there whether on
business or not as it is with the common lawyers at Westminster. One learns a great deal there & yet it is
not quite pleasant to be always seen there & yet not with business. Yesterday I heard a very interesting point
discussed by Cairns who is one of the best speakers at the bar. The drill goes on prosperously tho’ the fresh
accessions of new members rather disturb matters but this is inevitable. I have seen H. Holland several times. He and
I are in the same company namely 2o
6. I met with a very absurd
mistake in a German book the other day.
The author in mentioning the Crimea War refers to Miss Nightingale &
states that she derived this “title of honour” from her labours in watching by night
at the beds of the sick. I went to the
Olympic theatre the other night & was greatly amused by Robson & his
fun & absurdities. He is I dare say
you know one of the best comedians of the day.
I cannot exactly say what day I shall come to Knutsford whether before
or after the Court but I think most likely before.
With best love to all when you have them back again.
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/230]
Liverpool 4th Febry 1860
Dear Mother
The court business this time has been very small. At
Manchester it only lasted an hour & a half & at Liverpool little more
than a day. I saw a good many friends
at Manchester, the Potters A
Darbishire F Tinker in the morning &
several others in the evening. I found the Gaskells rather in a bustling way
previously to their journey to Oxford which was to be on the following day
(Friday). Meta & I went to the Hallé
Concert & fell in with two of the Winckworths & Miss Railton so we were
a good large party. I enjoyed the concert extremely. Hallé played the Pastoral symphony alone and
then a beautiful trio of Webers afterwards.
It was rather a disappointment not to have Piatti Viewxteaups supplied
his place. After all I said about
returning to town today I have been persuaded to stay in Liverpool till Tuesday
to be present at a ball for the benefit of the Catholic charities of the town
& which is to come off on Tuesday evening at the Town Hall. My object in so
doing was I need hardly hint not from any excessive love of dancing but because
I should have an opportunity of being introduced to persons whom I should like
to know (abominable fact & not to be
breathed) especially in the “other” branch of the profession. I shall also have an opportunity of seeing
some of our common friends which the hurried nature of my last visit to
Liverpool have prevented me doing.
Tomorrow I shall dine with the Holts and this evening I shall be with
the Thornleys. On Monday I am going out to a Mr Sheils a merchant of Liverpool
who lives at West Derby. I think the
circumstances of the case are sufficient to justify me in not returning to town
tho’ I strongly desired to do so for the reasons I mentioned in my letter from
London. Last evening I spent with our
“little” friend Sidgreaves who has come to settle in Liverpool as a
barrister-at-law. We had also a man
named Weld whom I slightly know in London & was very glad to meet again. He has also lately settled here as a solicitor
in partnership with Allan Kaye & is a man for whom I have always had a
great liking. I yesterday paid a visit to Mr Lloyd & had some operations
performed. I never had the tooth stuffed
in London but he said that in the autumn even it would have been too late to do
anything that it ought to have been stuffed a year & ½ ago. He found another however which was requiring
attention so that my visit was not in vain. I hope dear Emily’s cold is better
& that Annie is getting back some of her colour. My own inclinations would
have taken me over to Heathfield again today but I think perhaps it is more
important to me to make as many friends as possible. I feel that the tone of my
letter is very disagreeable but I shall let it go as it is. My best to all
& believe me
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/231]
London 18th Febry 1860
Dear Emily
I am very sorry to hear that your health is still
not what it should be. It is particularly provoking at the beginning of a
period of work when it is so desirable to have a good stock of strength &
spirits to start with. I am sure however that our dear mother will take all
care of you that is possible & I will hope that a week or two you will be
yourself again. The weather here has
been very unpleasant recently cold winds & much rain and if you have had
like weather at Knutsford I do not wonder that you find it rather difficult to pick
up your strength after your cold. Do you
wish to see the Examiner on the ground of my experience of it? I do not often see it but I have not a very
high opinion of it. In a literary point
of view it has not nearly so high a repute as formerly and the tone of its
treatment of political & social questions is I think violent &
[….]. I think the Saturday review would
be a more generally interesting paper for you to see tho’ the fault of that is
that it does not pretend to give a summary of the news of the week but only to
furnish a series of political & literary essays on the questions which have
arisen. I was somewhat amused recently
by reading in the “Allgemeine Zeiting” a notice of a lecture of Mr Steinthal at
Liverpool on Hungarian matters. A
criticism on his statements might perhaps be called for but the writer seemed
to be animated by a most violent personal antipathy & enlarged upon his
Jewish origin & alleged revolutionary activity in a remarkable manner. I have been reading a rather interesting
German work lately by one H Richl. It consists of a series of descriptions of
the different classes of society then peculiar mental moral & social
characteristics to be found in modern Germany.
It is a kind of work of which I have not met with any example in English
literature. English books which deal
with the condition of society are generally of a statistical character or are social
novels. They rarely attempt to picture
the great outlines & distinguishing marks of the various groups of men into
which society is distributed. Richl’s
description of the German peasant his mode of life disposition of mind beliefs
& prejudices is in the highest degree “gelungen”.
I was sorry to hear that you are feeling anxious
about dear Grandmother. At her age a very little is sufficient to make us
anxious about her.
Hoping that you will be able to send me a better
account of her & of yourself when you next write.
I remain
Your affectionate brother
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/232]
3 Stone Buildings Linc.Inn 7th March 1860
Dear Father
I shewed Mr Ainsworth’s
letter to Mr James who seemed to think it gave very satisfactory information
& was much obliged to you. Mr Jospeh Catherall who is mentioned in the
letter is the Registrar of the Chancery Court for the Preston district and
therefore Mr James knows him very well.
Indeed I think he has already had communications with Mr Catherall on
the matter of the election. If you are
in Manchester tomorrow & see the person you speak of there could be no harm
in getting any information nor any so far as I can see in mentioning the
possible candidateship of Mr James. In
reference to Mr Aisnworth’s observations on the conduct of the R Catholic
election of Preston I have to remark that in my opinion the special claim of
the Whigs to the “gratitude” of R Catholics is of a very faint character. It is true that the Whigs supported the Act
of Geo. IV commonly called the Catholic Emancipation Act & that they have
resisted the attempts made to disendow the College of Maynorth. But it is a fact not to be lost sight that it
was the Whig party which originally enacted the penal laws and that it was the
Tories who in 1791 and 1829 removed them. So it was Mr Pitt & Sir Robert
Peel who actually established the endowment of Maynorth. In more recent times the only legislative
measure which has specially affected R Catholics was the ecclesiastical titles
bill which was to a certain extent a measure of disability and which happened
perhaps unfortunately to be carried by a Whig government. Taking into consideration the line of policy
in foreign affairs which has been recently followed by Lord J Rapell & Lord Palmerston and the various
acts of indulgence & fair promises of the Government of Lord Derby. I do not think there is anything surprising
in the course taken by a large body of R. Catholics. This course was produced I think by what the
French would call the logic of facts & to speak of spiritual pressure still
less anathemas as having had anything to do with the matter is to say the least
to use highly coloured & exaggerated language.
I had a pleasant evening at
the Royal Society on Saturday Mr Whitworth was there exhibiting his gun &
“bolts” for such rather that balls his projectiles are. His table was the great centre of attraction
indeed so much so that in the later part of the evening it was almost
impossible to get near it. I saw Mr
Ashton Yates & Mr James Y. Misses Martineau & Taylor Dr Carpenter and a
good number of others that I knew. Mr J.
S. Brandreth & Arthur B were also there & invited me to dinner on the
Tuesday (yesterday). Arthur will not go
back to India till November on account of his health & for a few months Mr
& Mrs Brandreth are staying in town. At present they are at a private hotel
in Jermyn Street and it was there that I had dinner. I had a pleasant evening with them. Arthur I
like very much. They told me that Mrs (
Wm) Gaskell is going to Winchester tomorrow to stay with Mrs Lyall
where also Louisa Jackson is at present.
Tell Anna that I have called
at the depot for the knife cleaning machines & that they do not profess to
recommend that small machines as being so durable & effectual as the larger
ones. Some of the No. 8 answer but it is not certain & the others are
considered cheaper in the end.
With best love
Yours affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref: JA/JPG/233]
Heathfield March 60
My
dear Philip
How long is it I wonder since you have had any
“news”. We have been in a wonderful
state of business. Four girls with colds
and two of ourselves. Now Annie is the
worst she kept Ellen awake almost all night with coughing however I think she
has taken a turn this morning. The Longs
are all going to Paris on Wednesday week.
Brandreth will be with them during his Easter holidays. Uncle I think will stay about a fortnight and
Aunt Long and Louisa and Catherine till the weather is too hot. They are not going to Madame Reins though
they would like very much but Miss Green and the Philipses are there and they
think there would be no chance of meeting any French people. I think it is very delightful plan, and they
will enjoy it. Miss Hall is at Grove
House. Mama and Emily went there
yesterday afternoon, and the Longs sound full of maps of Paris, lists of
lodgings, shops &c. We have ordered Hawthorns “Transformation” for the
society. There is such a delightful description of artist life in Rome in
it. I almost feel as if I had been
there, or at least as if I should know much more about Rome if I went now after
reading it. Do you know that we are
having a new girl at Easter. Gertrude Solly, she comes from Wolverhampton or
thereabouts. Mrs Solly came over one day. Emily likes her and the only pity is
that the girl is only 10 years old. At
midsummer there are three more coming and then there will only be room for one
more. One of them is a Miss Hunter, her mother is the sister of Mrs
Phipsons. Mary and Libbie Watkins have
been staying with the Deanes they came here one evening but we did not see much
of them on account of our numerous avocations, which chanced to come very
thickly just then. Mary Harvey too has
been at Knutsford, but she had a cold almost the whole time, however I think
Annie and Ellen saw her several times, she is going to be a bridesmaid to one
of the Miss Pagets who lives near Nottingham.
I have an American fever and read everything about America I can lay
hands on. I began with Antony Trollope
at the West Indies and Northwards to Canada in “Life and Liberty in
America”. So that I know the dimensions
of Broadway and a multitude of American expressions. And now I have taken refuge in Burk’e
Speeches on America for want of something more modern. There is a bright beautiful burst of fine
weather, both yesterday and today it is very fine. I do hope it will last, for every one I think
is tired out with the long winter. Catherine Long threatens to have a new
winter dress if it lasts longer. Aunt
Anna has just been she has had a letter from Caroline Twyford, she wants to
come to Knutsford to see her relations. Aunt A will tell her that the Longs are
going to Paris but that if she will come this week they will be at home.
There is a frantic game going on in the room of that
vulgar show called Punch and Judy I
hardly know whether to stop it or not.
It is innocent but not refined.
The child that I am drawing will be here directly so adieu
Ever
your affecte sister
Isabella
Green
JRL
Ref Box 1/26 [Ref: JA/IG/7/1860]
London 2nd April 1860
Dear Mother
I felt a little anxious till
Isabella’s pleasant & lively letter arrived to hear from you as you had
left me without news for some time. I
saw Hannah Taylor yesterday on calling at their house. Mrs Taylor has been very
seriously ill for some time but is rather better at present. Mr T. was away for the day so I did not see
him. Miss Taylor desired me to give her
love to Emily & say that her silence in the letter writing way was really
due to the occupation of her time & thoughts with her mother. I had a very
pleasant evening at the Roget’s on Wednesday last with a party of 40 or 50
persons a fair proportion of whom I knew.
There was no dancing but simply standing about “& talking”. I called at Rawlings’ Hotel last week where
the Brandreths have been staying & found only Mrs B. at home. I was glad I called as they were leaving town
for Worthing the next day and I should have been sorry not to have seen them
after their kind invitations. I felt
very sorry however to have put off calling on Mr Milnes Gaskell as I have done for he came in while I was
there and the thought that I had never called there made me feel rather
uncomfortable. He was however very
cordial and I do not of course suppose that he thought much about the matter
one way or the other. The fact was I was
waiting till there was likely to be a good night at the house of commons &
I should have made a request for an admission a kind of excuse for a call as he
did with regard to Dr B’s. likeness when he called on me. However I will
certainly call on him after Easter. We
have still cold wintry weather here & like you I feel impatient for it to
pass away. I inclose the bill for the
drawing models the amount of which Emily paid me when I was at Knutsford &
which perhaps she will like to see has been paid. I am going on satisfactorily
on the whole but have no particular news.
The drill here is progressing the corps or those of them who had
uniforms went an expedition marching into Richmond Park last week & I hear
had quite enough of it. I saw A
Fairbairn yesterday. He seemed much as
usual tho’ as perhaps you know he had wielded or rather plied an oar in the
very toughly contested Oxford & Cambridge boat race the day before. I
thought he looked somewhat thin & hard after his training & exercise.
With love to all
Yours very
affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref: JA/JPG/234]
Lincoln’s
Inn 17th April 1860
Dear Mother
I began to write to you
yesterday but was prevented continuing the letter. I somewhat prematurely
expressed my gladness at the warm weather come at last but today we have east
wind & it is as cold as ever. I wonder how the Longs find it in Paris. I
hope you are all better than you were. I suppose except Annie’s your colds have
left you as you were able to go to the Manchester concert. I have not heard any
music recently tho’ there are three opera houses (2 Italian & 1 English) in
full force at present. I dare say your
Easter holyday did you good short tho’ it was and I hope when the warmer
weather comes at least you will find the time till Midsummer slip bye very
rapidly. It hangs rather heavily with me
the old complaint want of business. It
is a trying time no doubt but I am not quite tired of waiting & hoping yet. I am thankful for the good health &
strength I have & have many sources of happiness but I cannot help feeling
considerable anxiety at times as to the future. I wish I could send a more
encouraging account as I feel you have already at home sufficient matter for
anxiety without my adding to it. However
perhaps things may wear a new aspect shortly and I may have a different tale to
tell as I hope I may. Do not now think
anything specially is operating upon me at present but that sometimes one feels
matters of anxiety more than at others.
I received a card for a dance at Mrs Wedgwoods on the 27th of
this month and shall very probably go down to Blackheath to a dance at Mr
Kynastons next Thursday if I can arrange about the journey. Of course I feel there is no use letting the
world at large know of one’s troubles but that the only & the true course
is to put on a brave face upon matters & that it is a most fatal thing in
every way & especially for one’s [….] of mind to make & keep out of the
way. I shall I think be at Knutsford in the early part of next month when we
can compare notes more at large
With my best love
I remain
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref: JA/JPG/235]
London 26th April 1860
Dear Mother
Your quick & loving reply to my somewhat
complaining letter might indeed have called forth an earlier response from
me. But I intended to write at the end
of the week before your letter of this morning arrived. I feel as you say that
the present is a very anxious time for me and indeed for us all and that it will
need all the energy and prudence that I can master of to get through it. If one was certain of success at the end
present difficulties would be much easier to bear but this uncertainty is of
course what is above all trying. I am
sorry to hear you are still anxious again about dear Ellen. I shall be so glad to see you all again in
May & shall perhaps have a brighter account to give of myself than I now
have. I had a pleasant dance at the Kynaston’s last week and was very fortunate
in making acquaintance with a man who gave me lift to town in his carriage.
Blackheath is some 5 miles out of town and at 3 in the morning any help in the
way of cabs is not easy to meet with.
This evening Mr Charles Tagart has invited me to
dine with him quietly in Bayswater.
I will write again early next week with any fresh
news.
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/236]
London 5 May 1860
Dear Mother
As I shall be in Knutsford in a few days from this I
thought I might as well take the songs with me rather than subject them to the
crushing process of the post office. If
nothing occurs on Monday to prevent my leaving I shall travel northward by the
2.45 train & hope to reach Chelford about 7.15. That hour is I see too late for any of the
coaches so I will get a conveyance at Chelford.
I shall be at chambers on Monday morning & should get any note you
might have to write to me if you should have any occasion.
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/237]
Liverpool 11th May 1860
Dear Mother
I have not found any business at Liverpool any more
than at Manchester. Last evening I had
dinner with the Harveys. I met Tom H. & he invited me. The party was Mrs Harvey Enoch Mrs
Haddon Mary & the “boys”. I had a pleasant evening with them and liked
the house. I saw Mr Aspinall this morning & Mr Jackson. As I have no chance of any business Rupert
Potter has tempted me by the prospect of the spring salmon & trout fishing
to be enjoyed just now in its perfection to run with him for three days to
Kinnaird. I held out for a long time
chiefly on the ground of the expense but he wants a companion so much in the
lonely house & on the fishing expedition that he at once offered to pay the
expenses of the journey. As I have nothing
particularly pressing till Wednesday I yielded tho’ with some scruples but as I
do not think of going to Scotland next autumn & as I have never had any
spring fishing I thought it was justifiable.
With best love
Yours very truly
J Philip Green
The address
Kinnaird, Nr Dunkeld N.B.
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/238]
Kinnaird 13th May 1860
Dear Mother
I quite agree with what you say in your letter as to
the propriety & necessity of independence.
The question I confess did not strike me at all in that point of view as
the arrangement in the way & circumstances in which it was proposed seemed
to me perfectly natural & easy. I was not myself very anxious to go at all
and it was really rather that I wished to oblige R Potter who would not have
liked to go by himself that I consented to take the trip. I do not really feel that in the way in which
it was proposed there was anything in the circumstances that he should pay my
journey that would bring me in any way to a position of dependence or being
patronised. I rather felt that when you
had asked me home & I had declined on account of the advisableness of
immediately returning to town that I might appear too ready to catch at any
offer for pleasure to myself while all of you at home are so closely confined
by anxious & difficult occupation.
I am sorry to hear of Aunt Langshaw’s illness. Of course at her age very small causes
suffice to break the thread of life & her departure will naturally affect
grandmother considerably. Our journey
was very successful. We left Liverpool
at 8 on Friday evening had to wait at Preston about 4 hours for the northern
mail a time we passed in the company of Mr Segar & his son. The former is now judge of the Country Court
at Preston and is a very clever amusing old gentleman. The son is a barrister and a man I am very
fond of. We arrived at Dunkeld about 11
and at Kinnaird an hour after. After
lunch we went to the Tay side and fished all afternoon & were rewarded by
getting some very good trout of a very different size and quality to those I
had anything to do with in the autumn. Our attempts to attract the salmon at
our flies were however unsuccessful a result attributed by the keeper to the
“snow brose” which the river is still bringing down from the higher
mountains. Ben Wrackie and several of
the loftier mountains are still largely covered with snow and form very noble
objects in the background. The
vegetation here is about as forward as in Cheshire but the three last days have
done wonders in bringing out the leaves & everything looks as beautiful and
fresh as can be. We have had a quiet day
today & I have employed part of it in writing & preparing my lecture
for next Monday. Do not write again here
as I shall be in town again before a letter can arrive.
With my dearest love to all
Believe me
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green JRL Box 3/5 [Ref: JA/JPG/239]
London 16 May 1860
Dear Ellen
Your letter arrived about the middle of Monday and
was put into my hands on the banks of the Tay.
I felt much obliged to you for your prompt intelligence and that it
would be better at once to return to London.
As I already intended to return on Wednesday this course only involved
my leaving Kinnaird a day earlier than I should have done in the absence of
your letter. I knew however that as far
as any business connected with the Railway Bill in the committee was concerned
there would be little hope of my having a finger in it. In such matters briefs or at least intimation
that they are to be delivered are sent to barristers some days before the
matter is appointed to come on. However
I thought in case the Longs might be able to do something in connection with
other business of the Company they might perhaps call here & that I ought
therefore to be in the way. On finding
that I was leaving next day Rupert determined to travel Londonwards also. On Tuesday afternoon we left Kinnaird &
arrived in London this (Wednesday) morning at 5.30. I have been at chambers since 10 but have not
heard anything of the Longs & did not like to go to the H. of Lords as they
might happen just then to call.
Monday was a successful day in the angling way. We got some more good trout but better than
these we had the excitement of witnessing the struggle with a final victory
over a fine large salmon which the keeper managed to hook. It weighed about 10 lbs and when laid on the
bank fresh from the water was a positively “lovely” object both in form and
[…] We bought him to town and he is I
believe to be bestowed on the Crompton family. I have not much time yet to look
about me in town & have no news.
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/240]
London 23 May 1860
Dear Annie
I was much
amused to find that I had mistaken two of my own sisters. The letter was given me on the river bank and
I was more attentive to the matter of it than to the person of my kind
informant and some how got the notion that it was Ellen’s. However I hope you
will let me thank you now for writing the letter. I have been busy this week to matters of my
own & some for Mr Bagshawe and have to day resisted the temptation of a
beautiful day for the Derby where I suppose the whole of the London ‘world’ is to
be found. I am going tonight to a dance at Miss Tagarts in Bayswater. It is I understand to be a rather large
affair about 100 people which is quite as much I should say as will be
comfortable. I have a dance on Friday evening at the Phipsons. They have
removed to a large house in Westbourne Terrace which looks as if affairs had
been progressing with Mr Phipson at the bar. I suppose this dance is a kind of
house warming. The James Yates’ have also sent me an invitation to a Garden
Party at Highgate in the early part of next month.. I want very much to have a
talk with you at home about my own affairs both in regard to what Mr Ross said
& other matters. I am thinking
therefore of setting off on Saturday and passing Sunday with you when I dare
say we can find a fitting opportunity for a good deal of palaver if we use our
time well. I was very sorry
to hear of dear Aunt Mardon’s illness.
I suppose after the better account you sent and the
fact of you not writing again that she is better. I am very glad that I saw her
when she passed through London lately. I think I shall arrive on Saturday in
the evening but cannot be quite certain at present. It is so much more satisfactory to have a
talk than to correspond by letter that I feel a visit to you is necessary.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/241]
London 25 May 1860
Dear Mother
I shall leave by the 2.45 train tomorrow & hope
to arrive at Chelford at about 7.15 & shall be very glad to see some of
you.
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/242]
London 31 May 1860
Dearest Mother
I have not heard anything more that can materially
alter the view I took as to going to India when I left you. I received a note this morning from Mr
Lawford enclosing one from Mr Aclard at Southampton who expresses himself as
being very willing to give me any information in his power and appointing as I had
suggested Sunday for our conversation. I
cannot come to any final conclusion till that time and most earnestly hope that
I may make a wise one. Of course the
considerable separation which will be occasioned by pursing the plan is as
painful to me as it is to you but I cannot help thinking far less painful for
all of us than that I should linger in this country and fail at last in
establishing myself in practice. However
I must write more fully when I have heard what Mr A says. I had no idea of newspaper writing on
desiring to be introduced to Mr Browning but simply from the consideration that
he would be likely to give me very useful information. You may make yourself easy in regard to the
climate if I am careful of myself. I was reading today that from recent returns
the deaths in Bombay with reference to the population are not more numerous
than in London in ordinary years and you know by your own sorrowful experience
that fatal fevers may be taken as well in England as in India. However I will not continue the matter
further and will write as soon as I can after conferring with Mr Acland. I had dinner with Arthur Brandreth on Tuesday
in company with a Mr Tinney from Bombay whom I found a pleasant man. In the
evening we all adjourned to a Debating Society of which we found ourselves members. Arthur has recently been in to the law
examination at the Inns of Court and has passed. He must have been working hard & kept it
a profound secret from everybody till the list appeared. I suppose he thinks it may be advantageous to
have passed the examination as I do not understand that he thinks of being
called at least at present. Do not be
sad my dear mother at the thought of my going.
It may be for the best & I have every prospect of being able to
return before very long.
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/243]
London 4 June 1860
Dear Mother
I went to Southampton yesterday and saw Mr Acland
who received me very kindly & gave me a great deal of useful
information. The result of all that I
hear only serves to confirm my opinion of the desirableness of going to Bombay
& that without delay. Mr Acland says that he himself was 12 years
at Bombay without a day’s illness & that with care & temperance he does
not think anyone need to fear it. After
that period of time his health rather failed & he came home but has quite
recovered & certainly looks a strong healthy man. From the particulars which he gave me &
which would be too numerous to mention I gather that the business is of so mixed
a character that I should have as good a chance as anyone else and indeed in
some respects better. I by no means
consider that I should have any difficulty in applying to different branches on
the contrary I have had a more general legal training than most men. I no doubt have not seen much practice nor
will the men who go out. I have
carefully considered the whole question in all its bearings have sought all
possible information and consulted those I thought most fitted to give me
advice and the result is in favour of going.
I feel sure that whether it will be a success or not I shall never be
able to say that with the materials before me that I had I ought to decide
differently. If I had anything in the
way of business to give up here the case would be different but I have
not. The prospect in Bombay is really
good not because it is at a distance but because men who have the best means of
judging say that barristers are really wanted there. That with the
present staff they cannot get their work done that the work is increasing &
that the bar are constantly leaving with a fair amount of savings or getting
appointments. Facts like these are not
visions & it is a plain matter of common sense to transfer oneself form a
place where there are already far too many to a place where at present there is
room for more. In regard to the health
question Mr Acland observed that barristers tho’ worked hard are little exposed
to the sun or out of door influences as military men are & that this is
greatly in their favour. I shall have
yet to consult the doctors but subject to that I am in favour of going. Mr A considers that worst month to be
October & that unless I can wait till November the sooner I go the
better. Now to wait till November is to
throw away the best chance of establishing myself at once and so it must be
soon or never. Dunbar is going at the
end of this month & I think of going with him if I can arrange everything
before that time. For a fortnight I think of setting myself to work
industriously to pick up some knowledge of common law pleading and proceedings
in Courts of Common Law. Then I shall
spend a week with you at Knutsford and start at the end of the month. There is still the money question? Do you think one could with propriety ask the
Miss Yates to lend me £500. Of course I shall ensure my life and I believe the
chances of repaying them at an early date are almost certain. This sum would provide journey & outfit
& leave about half to spare when I arrive which I think will be enough for
the first year living very carefully. If
you approve of asking Miss Yates write off immediately or if you think the
letter had better come from me I will write it.
I hope to get from F Tinker what will pay my debt to Martineau &
other small debts which I have.
My dearest love to you all
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/244]
London 7 June 1860
Dear Mother
I have had an interview with Mr Thompson & Dr
Martin. They both agreed in saying that they saw no reason why the climate of
India should disagree with me. Dr Martin indeed said that with proper care a
healthy man had as fair & average a chance of being well & living long
in India as any man in the parish of St George Hanover Square. They said the real thing & indeed the
great difficulty is to avoid falling into the luxurious habits of Indians. Dr M considered that a full & regular
employment would do much to prevent this but that persons who as officers &
some civilians had little to do but “smoke” & idle away their time imbibing
all kinds of liquids from soda water to brandy pawenee were likely to suffer
for it in a climate like India. Strict
temperance & early hours are the real conditions of health in Bombay as
elsewhere in India. The time of year is
no doubt not so good as November but Dr Martin said that if there is any good
reason for going out immediately the risk is not of sufficient amount to make
me stay. The most disagreeable part of
the rainy seasons will be over before I arrive.
I have written to Mr Milnes Gaskell to ask when he could conveniently
see me as Arthur Brandreth recommends me by all means to talk to him about the
matter. I find that I shall have some
good letters & really think that I shall start with as good as opening as
any person in ordinary circumstances could have. I am much obliged by your reminding me
about my teeth which I must certainly get done.
Mr Jackson Mr Eddis & Mr Aspinall all think the prospect is
encouraging & that tho’ of course
there is a chance here yet there are such great difficulties that very many
fail. You see I do not devote many words
to the “tender part” of the question which you may be sure I feel as much as
you but I think that the consideration how great a part of a year we are
separate as it is & that future years even in England would probably
increase this may in some degree reconcile us to the “exile”.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/245]
London 11 June 1860
Dear Mother
I am sorry you think I ought to have written on
Friday or Saturday. I thought my letter which crossed yours conveyed the only
additional information I had to send. I am sure we all feel very much obliged
to the Miss Yates’ for their generous confidence & help. I have also received a letter from F Tinker
expressing his willingness to advance the sum I want and which I mentioned to
you. I am much obliged by your offer of
coming to town but I really do not see how you can be of any service to me here. I have to see a number of people & gain
as much information as possible but this is a matter for myself personally to
do. I saw Col. Sykes & Mr Milnes
Gaskell. The former did not give me any
definite information he has been absent from India so long. I gathered however that Bombay is a very
prosperous & increasing place of trade & quite likely in itself to
furnish plenty of occupation for lawyers.
Mr Milnes Gaskell did not know much about the matter but offered to do
anything in the way of supporting me in applying for any appointment. It is very well to say that Miss Yates’ money
would enable me to wait but what at the end of two or three years & nothing
come of waiting ? Then it will be probably too late to think of going
out now is the right time everyone says both in regard to myself & to the
prospect. The only question that now
perplexes me is whether to go to
Calcutta or Bombay. At the latter I
should have better introduction so far as I can now judge but the former is a
wider field & certain circumstances in the customs of the profession make
it better for a young man. I received a note from Mrs Gaskell this morning
telling me she is in town & asking me when she is to write to Smith &
Elder.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
J Philip
Green JRL Box 3/5 [Ref: JA/JPG/246]
Letter written by Elizabeth Gaskell to Mary
Green
43 Eaton Place Thursday 14 June 1860
My dear Mary,
Philip
only left about an hour ago after sitting here nearly two hours & conveying
off with him a letter to Mr. Smith (& Elder) who promised me “a very strong letter of recommendation to
the first solicitor’s house in Bombay and any others he may find Mr. Green desires
when he sees him”.
I do not think Philip is out of spirits. I
think on the contrary he must have been long depressed by his small success
& the tedious waiting, and that the prospect of going when he really seems
to have a good prospect of immediate employment. He gave me all kinds of
reasons for thinking that he had this prospect and I must say it appeared to me that he had
sufficient grounds for the step he was going to take. As he has probably told
them all to you there is no use recapitulating them. The only quarter from
which I could see a cloud was from the fact of his being a Roman Catholic which
as I know the religious people in India are all evangelical or low
church seemed to me unpromising as far as it went. But then again he had
evidently encouragement from several people high up in legal position in
Bombay who were qualified to judge of his probabilities of success, he thinks
he may return, if all is successful — as successful as he hopes — for a
visit in three years. That if he is
very successful he may come home
for good with a sufficient
fortune to live upon in twelve years time. He reckons his necessary expense at £300 a year (more than in England), but the chances of’ speedy success
as far greater - at the very worst he says he can return and take up his English barrister’s life where he leaves it now. He speaks cheerfully and looks well. I
don’t think he has an idea (when had children ever) of how much you suffer at
the prospect of separation. He spoke of ‘telegrams’ as ‘diminishing’ the
distance which showed me how little he understood what the pain of absence
really is - I remember Meta did the same — but then it is as well, if one can
feel but really sure that the step our children are going to take is for their
true happiness. Of Philip’s success in his profession I should say his chances
are as 100 to 1 against what they would be if he remained in Eng1and. I saw Mr.
James yesterday & had a long talk with him about Philip. He said that Philip was doing “nothing in his
profession here” but might do much at Bombay where he believed there was a good opening etc.
I asked Philip when he thought he should sail - he
said on the 27th or if he could persuade Dunbar (whom he is going to accompany)
On July 12th but he does not wish Dunbar to get the start. He is
going to write to him tonight to ask if he will delay his voyage till the 12th.
I am telling you as much as ever I can because I feel
as if it was the only little thing I
can do for you. Do not ever doubt us,
dear friends —don’t you,
dearest Ellen, ever doubt Marianne. We cannot help — it is as much God’s ordering as any other event of our lives. Having a
very large circle of acquaintance and many occupations which come upon us
unexpectedly & prevent our keeping our time and thoughts free, as
others who do not know so many. But I am quite sure no one that I know of ever
needed our sympathy but what we gave it with true hearts. Dear Ellen Marianne loves you dearly & has many a
time said this week “Oh! I cannot get this sorrow of the Greens out of my head”
— indeed we have thought of it more than of anything else. So often one
means to write or to say things & the time and opportunity slip by: -but believe this, we do love you dearly, as
dear true friends of long ago: - and trust us always please.
I must go- ever Your most affectionate
ECGaskell
Marianne goes to the Prices
(‘?) at Brighton for a little sea—air on Saturday for a week. I go to Brodies
Cowley House Oxford until I see how she is & what she can bear in the way
of fatigue
[The Letters of Mrs Gaskell edited by
J.A.V.Chapple & Arthur Pollard]
Cowely
House, Oxford
Tuesday [19th June 1860]
My dear Isabella
Wayland (or Whelan) the sculptor of the capitals at
the New Assize Courts in Manchester is here doing something of the same kind of
work for Sir B. Brodie. He caught me yesterday to say had you ever got the photographs he sent you, or left
for you somewhere in Machester – at […] where you fixed when you were at the
Assize Court I think, & to
beg me to tell you that he waited 6 weeks for your promised deisgn for a
capital &c & that then he could wait no longer. I said I though that the reason of yr non
acknowledgement, & of your not having sent any drawing &c was probably
domestic distress; but I think he would be very glad of an explanatory line
from you, addressed to him here.
Do you rember where the photographs were to be sent to
Yours affely
E C Gaskell
19 June 1860
Dear Mother
I’ve (that is Dunbar & I) have decided not to
leave by the steamer on the 27th inst but to wait till the 12th
of next month. To leave on the 27th
of the present month would be more than I could manage. I shall have some
opportunity of attending the Courts at Westminster to watch a few common law
actions. From what Sir Lawrence Peel
told me men who have had some experience of equity proceedings & practice
are then better fitted to deal with the
kind of cases that arise in the Indian courts than those who have been
exclusively in the Common Law Courts. Of
course there will be much that is new & strange but as Sir L Peel said if
barristers who are in general of course young & better able to adapt
themselves to new circumstances find any difficulty much more than the judges
who are men of some age in settled habits when they go out feel the difficulty. But he said he did not think the difficulties
were by any means formidable to men of fair intelligence &
application. Sir E Ryan tho’ I found him
rather dry & reserved when I called has sent me a very kind note of
introduction to Sir Geo. Clerk. I shall
also be pretty well off in regard to introductions to solicitors. I have had
two within the last few days & hope for one or two more. As to coming home I shall be very sorry to
disarrange your plan for a real holyday [sic] & would come now or later for
a week. I feel the attending the common law courts would be of great importance
to me & should not like to neglect the opportunity. I have been about four days but have found so
much occasion for running about that I have been unable to do little in this way
hitherto.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/247]
London 28 June 1860
Dearest Mother
You are I dare say feeling very quiet and like
myself sorry to think of parting so soon.
I am feeling rather more as if things were getting straighter & more
in order but there is of course a great deal of small things to be done. I am going tonight to a soiree at University
Hall where I shall see no doubt some friends to whom I can say goodbye. I am beginning to do so already with general
acquaintances. I find that almost
universally they approve the step I am
taking and feel great confidence that it will answer my purpose. I saw A Brandreth this morning who is very
busy getting up a rugby dinner. We are
going in the morning to see a Parsee engineer & contractor who lives at
Hammersmith & who may be of some service.
I have seen Sir L Peel again this morning. He seems quite to like giving information and
any help he can. He is giving me letters
to Sir E Perry & Sir Wm Yardley who are retired Bombay Chief Justices &
from whom I hope tomorrow to gain some useful information & perhaps
introductions. The former is a member of
the present Indian Council and one who takes a great deal of interest in Indian
questions. I should very much like to
have your photograph to take with me as well as that of the others. I have had a new one of myself by Maull &
Polyblank as I thought perhaps you would like one. Could you manage about your
own at Manchester.
With best love
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/248]
London
28 June 1860
Dear Emily
I am glad to hear that you are paying a visit to our
kind friends the Miss Yates. I am of
course feeling very busy & rather bewildered with my preparations but
matters seem to be falling more into order.
I think of coming to Heathfield on Tuesday evening or Wednesday
morning. I should very much like to take
photographs of you all with me. I have
written to my mother about it but thought it would be well to write to you
directly as you might be able to have them done while in Liverpool as you &
Ellen are there. I have had a new one of
myself at Maull & Polyblank which I hope you will like.
With very kind regards to the Miss Yates and love to
Ellen
I remain
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/249]
Lincoln’s
Inn 2 July 1860
Dear Emily
I rather incline to have the photographs in a cases
as being more safe & convenient for a journey tho’ the other plan certainly
has its advantages. The suggestions as
to the India Gauze & the chair I have already attended to. The chair has been recommended on all hands
& the gauze waistcoats now make a part of every outfit. I shall not reach Knutsford early tomorrow
perhaps not till the morning so do not leave Liverpool at all earlier than you
otherwise would have done
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/250]
JPG/251
Letter written from Henry Green to his wife Mary
3 Stone
Buildings July 9 1860
My dear Mary
After our sorrowful parting we did not say much but
had occasion to keep a pretty good look account on the road to Alderly for
neither of the two drivers knew the way – and one went wrong, and had to knock
some people up out of their [..] sleep
to learn the road, however we arrived in good time, and had a prosperous
journey to London arriving at Philips place about six o’clock. We washed and breakfasted and Philip then at
once began to separate books clothes &c that were for India and those for
Knutsford. Some of the books I have packed up and I am glad to find that I can
be of considerable use. Philip went out before me and I stayed to convey his
Indian goods to his chambers, where I have just arrived and John Thornely has
come in, very cordial, and very pleasant, he has received your note, and Philip
and he are making some arrangement for the fresh photograph you wish for. I write now at once lest I should not have
time in the after part of the day, and Philip really has not time to
write. An introduction from Rothschild
has just come and is a decided recommendation of Philip. Philip is now going into the city as to his
luggage and money &c.
Dear one! Be of good heart! It is a hard trial, but
I feel it will end well, and is providently undertaken.
I have not time now to write more but send my love
to you all and remain
Very affectionately your
Henry Green
Philip sends his best love.
I open the note to say that Dunbar has just looked
into Chambers, and I have been introduced to him and gave him your letter. He is evidently a man of some feeling and
sentiment and I am glad Philip has him for a companion – your letter he read at
once and said it should have his warmest attention
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/251]
Letter written from Henry Green to his wife Mary
3 Stone
Buildings July 10 1860
My dear Mary
I think it better to write a few lines when I can
rather than put off with the hope of writing more when I am able. Yesterday
Philip and I went into the city together to Smith & Elders, and one or two
other places and then back to Stone Buildings. Afterwards I took his opera
glass to Carpenter to have the object glass put in for the eclipse, and he went
to make some calls – the glass could not be done at once and I waited awhile,
and at last when Miss Cooper to come in from a drive I stayed to tea when
Philip called for me and remained a little while but as he had some more calls
to make I went to his lodgings and after packing up some of the books went
early to bed. Philip slept at a friend Mr Gasqull close at hand where I had
breakfast this morning. Philip then went to Belgrave Square, where his Parsee
friend gave him three letters of introduction to Parsee merchants in
Bombay. I finished packing up the books
and got them sent off to the railway goods train and mine. I have called here,
saw Mr James who understanding that Philip was dining at the Crystal Palace has
asked me to dine with him this afternoon which I have consented to do. I called
at Henry Jackson’s but found him just gone out with some ladies to the theatre.
I then went to Mr Shaplands and had a pleasant chat with him, he said he had
made a remittance for Emily as he did before, have you heard Heywoods
respecting it. Philip is just gone out,
your letter and parcel have arrived.
Neither I nor Philip know anything of the sovereign in the watch packet,
nor have any idea as to who has done it. George Thorley is a very pleasant
friendly note, expecting that he may miss seeing Philip as he will not be in
Knutsford till Thursday or Friday.
The chest of drawers Philip’s Landlady wishes to
take, and they are disposed of to her, the bookcase I have had a bid for from a
tinker and I think it will go as it will
cost nearly as much as its worth for carriage only if it is taken to Knutsford
The [….] of a [..] – [..] &c &c I can bring in luggage when I come.
I have a letter from Ann Marden she is much better,
the Green sisters are all at Hastings and I intend going over to see them from
Southampton.
We leave London tomorrow afternoon and I feel the
prospect as a sorrowful one but from all I hear I believe Philip is acting
wisely and the prospect is really a good one for him, though of course not a
certainty and there may be causes we nor he know not of, which may cause
disappointment. However we commend him to God’s good providence and pray
earnestly that we may all be spared to see one another again. Philip intends
writing, but if he does not you must not blame him, people who have promised
things disappoint him, and he has to go after them, so that really every moment
seems fully employed.
Mr Croskeys letter gives some useful information. I
think Rothay must be our destination, but I will write more about it
tomorrow. With love to you all and to
our dear friends at the Heath & at Grove House
Believe me your ever affectionate
Henry Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/252]
Letter written from Henry Green to his wife Mary
3 Stone
Buildings July 11/60
Dear Mary
Yesterday afternoon I saw very little of Philip, as
he was engaged for the Crystal Palace. I saw Shapland and called at the
Committee Meeting of the Unitarian Association where I stayed nearly two hours.
Mr J Bowning was in the chair and a full attendance of the committee. Mon
Coquerel of Paris came in and out above an hour, and the conversation when
business was over was very pleasant and animated, Coquerel taking a full share
and speaking very good, though thoughtful English. Hence after dressing
I went to Wimpole Street to dine with Mr & Mrs James, both of whom I found
very pleasant and conversational. James
and I after dinner got into a long conversation about St John’s Gospel, which
he regards as a Christian Epic, when I came away he walked down Wimpole Street
with me, the children are not in London, but at their country place in Essex.
This morning Philip & I breakfasted at the
Jacksons, Lizzie very kind in her inquiries after Emily and you all, her little
boy is a nice fellow, and though he did not remember me, he was very glad to
see Philip. We then went to the lodgings
for a final packing – four boxes of books were sent to the goods train Camden
Town for Chelford & Knutsford and sundry packages chiefly tin ware I took to
the Euston Square left luggage office to await my coming home. Philip is now finishing his packing up, and
we expect to leave London at 5 o’clock.
Write to me at 4 Pelham Place Hastings – for I have made my mind to go
there from Southampton, - but you must write by return of post. Would it do for
me to meet you in Liverpool on Monday?
Perhaps not – indeed I may as well say at one it would not do.
I have received Mr Unsworths letter and my brothers
– which he mentioned to me yesterday when I saw him. Philip has been very busy
this morning with getting a certificate from two of the judges as to his being
a person of good repute, for he learned only last night that without this
certificate he would find some difficulty in being admitted to practice at Bombay,
however it is all arranged – and he has I believe every thing ready.
I suppose Emily & Ellen will take their
departure tomorrow, I cannot write to Mr Crosskey today but will do so either
tonight or tomorrow morning.
With our united love to you all, believe me
Ever your affectionate
Henry Green
Should you go to Liverpool on Saturday before my
arrival leave my shirts ready for me to pack.
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/253]
Southampton 12 July 1860
Dear Mother
I have entered on my last day in England. I cannot help feeling sad at the thought of
leaving you all for so long but in regard to my expedition in itself I feel
full of hope & confidence. My last
days have been passed in very busy preparation & little to communicate has
happened in the course of it.
S McCulloch has come down to Southampton to see me
off. I shall always pray for you all
& hope that the seas & lands which separate us will not prevent us from
loving one another as much as if we were close at hand.
With my dearest love to you all
I remain
Yours very affectionately
J Philip Green
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/254]
Letter written to Mary Green from Henry Green
Southampton 3 o’clock July 12 60
My dear Mary
I have just seen our beloved son off – and what can
I say but may God’s blessings go with him – he is every way worthy of our love
and I pray earnestly we may be spared to see him again – the train is on the
start and I have only time to add his
last message of love to his mother and sisters and all his other relations in
Knutsford. I am off for Hastings where I
will write again
Yours ever affectionately
Henry Green
I write in the railway carriage
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/255]
Letter written to Mary Green from John Thornely
68 Chancery Lane London 13th July
Dear Mrs Green
I am very much obliged to you for your kind letter
of last Sunday.
As to Philips photograph we arranged that if there
should be time to have it taken before his departure, it shd be done and we
were to go together, but you know how many things are crowded into a small
space of time on an occasion of this sort & he had many matters turn up
unexpectedly which have to be attended to, & Philip found that he had not
time at last to sit again for his likeness. I can assure you all his friends
here, & he has a great many, were
very very sorry to lose him, but I believe we all are convinced that he is
taking the right course & that his prospects are good. His abilities are so
much above those of most who go to India for the same purpose, & his
industry & power of application are so great that I do not myself feel
uneasiness about his move. My friend Bickersteth has at different times said a
great deal to me about the prospects of a barrister at Bombay. I will be sure to send you word when I hear
from Philip or of him & trust I shall be able to avail myself of your
kindness & see you all now & then at Knutsford. Please give my kind remembrance to all your
circle & believe me
Yours very truly
John Thornely
JRL Box 3/5 [Ref:
JA/JPG/256]
JOHN PHILLIP GREEN
