Item 101 - Letter from Richard Monckton Milnes to Charles Brown

1 ff.

Athenaeum Club, Waterloo Place, London. - Glad to learn Brown has embraced [New Zealand] on Milnes's advice, though his society is much missed; hopes friendship will be sustained despite distance; disappointing support by his uncle has underlined moral strength of Brown's move; hopes to hear of his early marriage, as youthful marriages are 'so much the highest happiness possible to man' and the emptier spaces. [Charles Armitage] Brown's translation of Boiardo [Orlando Innamorato?] belongs to Brown's family, and may be claimed from Milnes's library at any time. Limited value of Colonial Office recommendations; 'the feeling is every day gaining ground here that it is most advantageous to a Colony to be as little governed as possible'; wonderful spectacle of the Great Exhibition, but poor showing of United States; offers to supply books. Disagrees about African Squadron; vessels were needed to protect British traders from piracy, and slave-trading is being kept to a minimum.