Lady Morgan’s Memoirs
Sydney Owenson to Robert Owenson, [1798]
St. Andrew’s Street.
Dearest Papa,
You see I have let two days pass since I wrote last; but
Olivia sent you, I know, a very
funny letter, with ![]()
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a caricature of Molly answering to her
call—“’Tis I, my lord, the early village cock”! I have
nothing so amusing, dear papa; but I have made up my mind on a subject which I
trust you will not oppose; for there is no use in opposing it. I have made up
my mind, once and for all, and I am so convinced I am in the right, that though
it would break my heart to disobey you, should you differ from me, still, I
will at least try the experiment of what I have hit on, for, I hope, all our
benefit. Mr. O’F—— has been here; he has
told me all; and I have seen your name on the list of Statutes of Bankruptcy.
He said it was the best and honestest, indeed, the only thing that could be
done, and that you will come out of this terrible dilemma as well considered
and respected as you have hitherto lived; but that time, and great economy, and
your resuming your theatrical position with Mr.
Daly, at the Theatre Royal, were indispensable. Now, for all
this, dear Sir, we must relieve you from the terrible expense you have been at
for our education. Of this, I am resolved to relieve you, and to earn money for
you, instead of spending the little you will have for some time to come. I will not go to any school—where they can teach
me nothing I did not know before! I was at the head of my classes at Madame Terson’s, and as for Mrs.
Anderson—the vulgar creature!—she is not worth
mentioning. Now, dear papa, I have two novels nearly
finished! The first, is St.
Clair; I think I wrote it in imitation of Werter, which I read
in school-holidays, last Christmas. The second is a French novel, suggested by
my reading ![]()
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The Memoirs of
the Duc de Sully, and falling very much in love with
Henri IV. Now, if I had time and quiet
to finish them, I am sure I could sell them; and observe, Sir, Miss Burney got three thousand pounds for
Camilla, and brought out Evelina unknown to
her father; but all this will take time. Meanwhile, I want an asylum both for
myself and Olivia. Her education is
certainly not finished, and she has none of my pursuits; droll, and witty, and
musical as she is. Now, Madame Dacier, who was head
governess at Mrs. Anderson’s, left that school in
disgust, and has set up in a school for herself, in a beautiful place, at
Richmond, near Ballybaugh Bridge, where she means to take twelve pupils to
educate with her own family. Now, she is most desirous to have
Olivia; and her terms for everything are only
twenty-five pounds a-year; she is particularly protected by our dear friends
and masters, Signor Pellegrini and
Monsieur Fontaine, and she will take
Molly as children’s maid to the school. Now,
dear Sir, you see there is so much of the family
disposed of—now for me. I, yesterday morning, opened my heart to Dr. and
Madame Pellegrini, who approved of everything I said,
though they earnestly asked me to come to them and stay for six months, having
neither chick nor child but dear little Alphonsina; and
the Doctor, on his return from the grand tour, with a
rich young Mr. Dick, has been appointed
Professor of Italian and Spanish at Trinity College, Dublin, with a very
handsome income, and is very well off in a charming house near Merrion Square,
where I ![]()
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drank tea, last evening, with the
Vice-Provost’s family (the Fitzgerald’s), and
a most astonishing creature, Miss Emily Curran, the
daughter of the celebrated Mr. Curran,
Olivia having gone to the play with the Douglasses.
Well, Dr. Pellegrini approves of my intention, which is,
simply for the present, to go as instructress or companion to young ladies. My
books, against which he says there is nothing but my youth—but that will
soon cure itself—won’t be reedy for a year to come. He says, he
really thinks at this moment he knows of two families, pupils of his own, who
would be delighted to have me; the one, Mr.
Sheridan’s, the Secretary of War; the other, Dr. Dickson’s, the Bishop of Limerick.
Should the latter answer, I should prefer, as it would take me out of Dublin
and all former acquaintance, not that I am ashamed of what I am about to do,
but then I think you will be, with your Irish pride; and as for
Olivia and Molly, I am afraid to
break it to them. But I am Resolved. I know I shall go through my appointed
task right well, and, as Shakespeare
says, “All my corporal faculties are bound up to the
purpose.” I will not say more, dear papa, at present; but I hope to
have everything settled by the end of next week, when we must give up these
expensive apartments, happen what may.
Your own old
PS. Captain
Earl and Captain White
Benson, of the 6th, whom you may remember at Kilkenny,
al-![]()
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ways running after us, called yesterday; but
Molly would not let them in,
which I think was rather impertinent of her. However, as things are at
present, I believe it was all for the best.
White Benson (1777-1806)
Of Pontefract in York; he was lieutenant in the sixth regiment of foot before his
retirement in 1799 after serving in the Irish Rebellion. He was the grandfather of Edward
White Benson, archbishop of Canterbury.
Frances D'Arblay [née Burney] (1752-1840)
English novelist, the daughter of the musicologist Dr. Charles Burney; author of
Evelina; or, The History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World
(1778),
Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress (1782), and
Camilla (1796).
Molly Cane (d. 1831)
The devoted nurse and housemaid who raised Sydney and Olivia Owenson.
Lady Olivia Clarke [née Owenson] (1785 c.-1845)
The younger sister of Lady Morgan who married Dublin physician Sir Arthur Clarke
(1778-1857) in 1808. She wrote songs and a play, and published in the
Metropolitan Magazine and
Athenaeum.
Richard Daly (1758-1813)
Irish actor educated at Trinity College, Dublin; he was manager of the Smock Alley and
Crow Street Theatres in Dublin.
Quintin Dick (1777-1858)
The son of a West-India planter, he was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and was MP
for West Looe (1803-06), Cashel (1807-09), Orford (1826-30), Maldon (1830-47), and
Aylesbury (1848-52). He is depicted as the wealthy Ormsby in Disraeli's
Coningsby (1844).
Hamilton L. Earle (d. 1798)
Captain in the sixth regiment of foot during the Irish Rebellion and an admirer of Sydney
Owenson; he died a suicide.
John Fontaine (1803 fl.)
Dublin dancing master and friend of Robert Owenson; though his name appears in trade
directories as “John,” he may have been French.
Henry IV, king of France (1553-1610)
King of France from 1589 to 1610; in 1598 he enacted the Edict of Nantes giving religious
liberties to Protestants.
Henry IV, king of England (1366-1413)
Son of John of Gaunt; after usurping the throne from Richard II he was king of England
(1399-1413).
Alfonso Pellegrini (d. 1824 c.)
He was professor of Italian and Spanish at Trinity College Dublin (1799-1824).
Charles Francis Sheridan (1750-1806)
The elder brother of Richard Brinsley Sheridan; he was educated at Mr Whyte's school in
Dublin, served in the Irish Parliament, and published political pamphlets.
Madam Terson (1793 fl.)
Hugenot schoolmistress at Portarlington who afterwards taught Sydney and Olivia Owenson
at Clontarf in Ireland.
