Lady Morgan’s Memoirs
Journal entries: December 1830
Christmas-day.—My birth-day—à quoi bon?—still I have great
cause to be thankful whilst all I love live. What a cordial greeting from the
Clarkes; how soothing! how cheering!
what a beautiful aspect of life! Love and the arts—I found them all round
the round table; the blackest frost without; all warm and sunshine within.
Flaxman’s illustrations of
Dante on the table, Morgan strumming Rossini at the piano, Josephine with her
pencil, sketching the group, &c., &c. Alas! how long will this last? We
returned home better in health, feelings, and spirits, forgot O’Connell and the Irish Rebellion, the
calumnies of authors, the envy of critics, and soon the whole world, in the
calm, deep sleep of temperance and kindly feelings.
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.
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)
Florentine poet, the author of the
Divine Comedy and other
works.
John Flaxman (1755-1826)
English sculptor and draftsman who studied at the Royal Academy and was patronized by
William Hayley.
Sir Thomas Charles Morgan (1780-1843)
English physician and philosophical essayist who married the novelist Sydney Owenson in
1812; he was the author of
Sketches of the Philosophy of Morals
(1822). He corresponded with Cyrus Redding.
Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847)
Irish politician, in 1823 he founded the Catholic Association to press for Catholic
emancipation.
Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868)
Italian composer of the
Barber of Seville and other popular
operatic works.
