We have been now five days at Mr. Strutt's. We have been treated with so
much hospitality and kindness by him, and he showed such a high esteem,
and I may say affection for my father, that even if he had not the
superior understanding he possesses, it would be impossible for me not
to like him. From the moment we entered his house he gave up his whole
time to us, his servants, his carriage; everything and everybody in his
family were devoted to us, and all was done with such simplicity of
generosity, that we felt at ease even while we were loaded with favours.
This house is indeed, as Sneyd and William described it, a palace; and
it is plain that the convenience of the inhabitants has everywhere been
consulted: the ostentation of wealth nowhere appears.
Seven hours of one day Mr. Strutt and his nephew Jedediah gave up to
showing us the cotton mills, and another whole morning he gave up to
showing to us the infirmary; he built it--a noble building; hot air from
below conveyed by a _cockle_ all over the house. The whole institution a
most noble and touching sight; such a GREAT thing, planned and carried
into successful execution in so few years by one man!
We dined at Mr. Joseph Strutt's, and were in the evening at Mr. George
Strutt's; and I will name some of the people we met, for Sneyd and
William will like to know whom we saw:--Dr. Forrester, Mr. French, Miss
French, who has good taste, as she proved by her various compliments to
Sneyd; Miss Broadhurst, not my heiress, though she says that, after the
publication of the _Absentee_, people used to turn their heads when she
was announced, and ask if that was Miss Edgeworth's Miss Broadhurst! She
met Sneyd in Dublin; has been lately at Kilkenny, and admired Mr.
Rothe's acting of Othello. We saw a good deal of Mr. Sylvester,
[Footnote: The inventor of the Cockle or Sylvester stove.] who is, I
think, a man of surprising abilities, of a calm and fearless mind: an
original and interesting character. Edward Strutt is indeed all that
Sneyd and William described--a boy of great abilities, affectionate, and
with a frank countenance and manner which win at once. One of our
greatest pleasures has been the hearing everybody, from Edward upwards,
speak of Sneyd and William with such affection, and with such knowledge
of their characters. We all like Miss Lawrence.
We have been at the Priory: Mrs. Darwin at first much out of spirits.
Besides the death of her son, she had lost a grandchild, and her
daughter Harriet, Mrs. Maling, had just sailed with her husband for the
Mediterranean. The Priory is a beautiful place, and Emma Darwin very
beautiful.
We breakfasted at Markeaton with Mr. Mundy: he is a charming old
gentleman, lively, polite, and playful as if he was twenty. He was
delighted to see my father, and they talked over their school days with
great zest. My father was, you know, at school, Mr. Mundy's horse,
"Little Driver."