Saturday, January 5, 2019

Mrs. Fanny Kemble to John M. Forbes, before June 9, 1863

I had a long talk with Lord Clarendon on Thursday evening about American affairs, and found him, I am sorry to say, much less just in his notions upon them than that nice man, his dead brother-in-law, Cornwall Lewis, was. I sent him (Lord Clarendon) yesterday morning a fair and accurate account of the whole origin of the quarrel and present state of the struggle; but if one of our cabinet ministers has yet to learn anything upon either subject, it is a shame and a pity! That fellow, ———, the “Times’s” worthy correspondent from the South, who was a defaulter on the turf here, you know, is a nephew of Lord 's, and connected with our great people; and the wicked trumpery he writes, both privately and in the “Times,” is a fruitful source of mischief on the subject. I am happy to say that Lord Clarendon gave the “Times” its deserts for the mischievous course it has pursued towards America in its devilish “leading articles.” That paper will lose its influence, if the feeling once gains ground that it is absolutely dishonest and unprincipled, as well as the cleverest paper in the world.

Good-by. I am glad you are coming back soon; the sight of you carries me to Milton Hill, and refreshes my heart and soul.

Always affectionately yours,
Fanny Kemble.

P. S. Your former friend, formerly captain, now Admiral Charles Elliot, is brother to my friend of the colonial office, and has just been made governor of St. Helena.

SOURCE: Sarah Forbes Hughes, Letters and Recollections of John Murray Forbes, Volume 2, p. 26-7

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