Buxton to Priscilla Johnston, 31 Jan, 3 and 6 Feb 1840
Item
Shelfmark: MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 444 Vol. 19, pp. 114-127
Comprises:
- Buxton to Priscilla Johnston, about their previous day's emendation to the Aegerion Valley and Nero's palace, and Hannah's enthusiasm for inspecting every detail of each place she visited. He describes his delight on finding that the book had arrived as arranged by her and his pleasure at the result, lightly upbraiding her for listening to his nonsensical suggestions for alterations even for a minute. He proceeds to request the insertion of a passage on colour prejudice, which he had sent to Sir George Stephen via Mrs Upcher, but which had been omitted from the book; if too late, he asks that it should be retained for him. He advises that the whole length of the Niger should be included in the map, even if only by dotted lines. He warns her that Anna was proposing to send some verbal corrections for her and Edward's consideration. He asks whether there was anything she would like him to get for her in Rome as a present to remind her of the arrival of the book and his relief that she had not listened to his nonsense about it. He describes the dinner at Lord Shrewsbury's, where he was greeted effusively by the Governor of Rome, who had provided the permit for him to visit the prisons, his encounter with the Prince Borghese, who, when he tried to persuade him to become chairman of a prison discipline society, had demurred because of his youth, whereupon he had planned to arrange a deputation of English Lords to visit the Prince and overcome his scruples. He describes the Duke of Bordeaux and the conversation he had with him on the slave trade and his own wish that the Duke might be able to steer clear of turbulent politics despite being the pretender to the crown of France. He mentions that he had been invited to dinner by the Princess Daria Pamphili and that he had heard she went every day of holy week to wash the feet of the patients in the hospital, concluding that, though Catholics were led astray in their doctrine, he would be the last to deny that they had very strong religious feeling. He finishes the letter with a protestation that he would rather talk with his grandson Andrew than with all the Princes and nobles, that he would prefer an evening with her and her husband than one with the Pope, and that he preferred pleasing his wife to pleasing the whole Vatican (Memoir, p. 475) (copy), 31 Jan 1840
- [continuation of the same letter] Buxton writes that he planned to send this letter to England with the Tory MP Escourt and that he had a better opinion of the Ministry since reading the report of Lord John Russell's speech. He mentions Anna's conversation with a clergyman called Barker and their friendship with several clergy since their arrival in Rome. He tells of the result of his clause, proposed for insertion in the first Irish Church Bill to protect the livings of a number of the clergy; he thought this had failed when the Bill was defeated but it had been included in the second Bill and had achieved its purpose. He reverts to his increasing pleasure in what she had done to amend the book and reports on the health of Hannah and himself (Memoir, p. 476), 3 Feb 1840
- [continuation of the same letter.] Buxton writes of the departure of his wife and the girls to attend Mass in St Peter's and his own frustrated plan to go snipe-shooting that day, spoiled by the rain. He lists their future engagements and describes their menu when at home and their morning activities, which included his prison visits. He writes at length on the prisons themselves, his intention to prepare a paper on them for the Pope, and his visit to the church of St. Augustino, where robbers and murderers had donated their weapons to the Virgin. He had gone with Hannah to the Corsini Palace to see Guercino's 'Ecce Homo', Carlo Dolci's painting on the same theme and a Murillo, and to the Borghese Palace to see the collection there the previous day. He records his conversation with a Jesuit called Collier and his own wish to be master of the Jesuit system of missions because he thought they were on the right track in emphasising the use of indigenous missionaries. He suspects that, because of his interest in their methods, the Jesuits hoped to convert him, and lists his objections to their doctrines and its effects, citing as an example the schooling of their maid, which had lasted one week only so that she might learn to say the mass. Hannah intended to invite Collier to their party the following week. Buxton recounts a story of Collier's about an anti-slavery sermon that was so moving that all the slave owners in Maranham were induced to free those whom they enslaved and his claim that, in slave colonies, the priests were the natural protectors of the enslaved people. He informs her that he intended to visit the Jesuit college the following day and the Propaganda Society on the Saturday to seek manuscripts of translations into 'the African language'. A postscript, added at Anna's request, gives his impression of a visit to the Doria Palace and ends with a declaration of his dislike of large, crowded gatherings (Memoir, p. 477) (copy), 6 Feb 1840.
Dates
- Creation: 31 Jan, 3 and 6 Feb 1840
Extent
14 pages
Language of Materials
- English
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Shelfmark
MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 444 Vol. 19, pp. 114-127
Existence and Location of Copies
A microfilm (Micr. Brit. Emp. 17, reel 7) is available for use at the Weston Library.
Repository Details
Part of the Bodleian Libraries Repository
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specialcollections.enquiries@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Weston Library
Broad Street
Oxford OX1 3BG United Kingdom
specialcollections.enquiries@bodleian.ox.ac.uk