Herstmonceux - 'Personal influence exercised by a man having the peculiar gifts which qualify us to exercise it, seems to me of far greater importance than anything that mere institutions can effect for the development & cultivation of all life, especially of religious life; and therefore my main question wd be where can I find an able learned & pious man endowed with those gifts? The man being found, it would be a very minor consideration whether he had the care of a parish or the superintendence of a college, though each situation wd also have its special advantages'. If JCH had a son reading for ordination, he would send him to study under John F.D. Maurice: 'For notwithstanding the disadvantage of his position in London, & of his not having the care of a parish, I shd think the blessing of being constantly with him wd far more than counter balance everything else'. JCH gives a couple of other names he approves of who would be willing to take a pupil. Regarding the Diocesan Colleges, JCH is 'convinced that they are excellent institutions; and ours, I can answer for it, has done much good, & sent out many useful clergymen'. JCH sings the praises of the Principal of his College, Mr Brown. He is an admirable person and apparently an excellent teacher: 'He looks with great repugnance & dread on the Romanizing tendencies of the age'. JCH is pleased that WW has resumed his lecturing and to large audiences. W. Taylor is an expert translator but his book on German literature is miserably shallow. JCH sees 'no prospect of a time when I shall ever be able to arrange my etymological materials; & at least according to my view of it, etymology will be a sore root for old age'.
(Undated. ‘May 1819’ has been added at the head in another hand.)
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Transcript
Dear Sir,
I have the pleasure of transmitting to you with this Letter 4 drawings from our Cathed[ra]l Misereres—hoping that they will be deemed equally interesting with the ones before copied & as well worth [th]e etching.
I beg to return you my sincere thanks for the impressions of the etchings from these designs {1}; & which I have now received for so long a time without any acknowledgement of their rec[eip]t as obliges me to apologize to you for my neglect upon this point. Their execution I cannot but be pleased with: yet, surely it would have been better to have had them executed upon a larger scale? for, I presume, it will be found hardly possible to do some of these Carvings justice in the size you have adopted—as in that of the “5th Seat, So[uth] Side” herewith sent: & there are many still undone much more laboured than this one.
I have enclosed two etchings for your acceptance—one, of the late Dr Sayers’ House {2}—which I have executed for my friend Mr W[illia]m Taylor, Jr in order to be introduced into the D[octo]r’s works forthcoming from Mr T’s hands {3}—the other tells its own tale.—I hope they may meet with your approbation. I have one or two other small subjects in hand & when they are executed I shall feel great pleasure in transmitting you with† impressions.
May I ask for your solution of the intials† upon the Carving “5th Seat So[uth] Side”? May not the figures presented at [th]e {4} “5th Prebends S. No[rth] Side” be portraits of a Sir Tho[ma]s Wingfield & Marg[are]t Bovile who intermarried in 13—. & which appears the connection between these families? & are not [th]e forms in “3d Archdeacons Stall So[uth] side” probably portraits of Sir W[illia]m de Clerc & Dionysia, daughter of Sir W[illia]m de Wickingham who were marr[ie]d in 1351.? In turning over Blomfields† Norw[ic]h {5} some time back I recollect finding [tha]t [th]e crest of one of† benefactors to [th]e Cathed[ra]l was a bunch of oak leaves & I presume the leaves introduced in “1st Archdeacons S. So[uth] Side” (& which are introduced in the sweeps of many of [th]e carvings) may be symbolical of this crest? the name of [th]e family I forget & not having [th]e History before me cannot exactly refer to [th]e mention of it. You are in possession (according to the presumption in your last note to me) of a board & Cathed[ra]l drawing of mine—of which I am at present in no want.
May I ask [th]e favor of your acquainting me, whether Edelincks print from Dabiner’s Soldiers fighting for [th]e Standard {6} is to be easily obtained—& at what price?—I have got to read a Paper at our Philosoph[ica]l Soc[iet]y before Xmās; the merits of Lionardi da Vinci, I have thought of for my theme & I therefore wish to exhibit whatever productions of this “mighty master of the” brush {7} I can obtain.
With apologies, for sending so rough a letter, & for troubling you with the above interrogatories
I remain, | Dear Sir, | Yours very respect[full]y
Charles Edwards.
PS. I should have sent you this letter & parcel a week back, had I not waited for the enclosed impressions. the etching of [th]e Tombstone So[uth] Acre Church {8} has not bitten in so respectably as I did or could expect: but as I intend retouching it throughout you shall be presented with a more finished impress[io]n if thought worth accepting when it is so executed.
[Direction:] D. Turner Esq.
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No marks of posting. The missing letters of most words abbreviated by superscript letters have been supplied in square brackets, except in the case of some common abbreviations, e.g. 'Mr'. Fossil thorn ('y') has been replaced by '[th]'.
{1} An example of one of these etchings, is in the British Museum (No. 1878, 0713.4658), captioned ‘4th Prebendal stall N. side Norwich Cathedral’, and marked elsewhere ‘Cha[rle]s Edwards del[ineavi]t’.
{2} Lower Close, Norwich, the home of Frank Sayers, who died in 1817.
{3} Taylor’s edition of Sayers’s Works appeared in two volumes in 1823. The only illustration in the work is the frontispiece, an engraving by W. C. Edwards of John Opie’s portrait of Sayers, painted in 1800.
{4} Written as a catchword, and repeated at the head of the next page.
{5} i.e. the part of Blomefield’s Essay towards the Topographical History of the County of Norfolk dealing with Norwich, occupying volume 2 of the original edition (1745) and volumes 3 and 4 of the reprint (1806).
{6} The reference is to Edelinck’s engraving of a cartoon by Leonardo da Vinci, of which there are examples in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Royal Academy. The identity of Dabiner (if that is the correct reading) is unclear.
{7} The closing inverted commas should have been put after ‘brush’.
{8} St George’s church, South Acre, in Norfolk.
† Sic.