Arnold, Matthew, 8 March 1977

Unpublished letter by Matthew Arnold to the botanist Frances Joanna Horner, Lady Bunbury, living near Bury St Edmunds: “My dear Lady Bunbury, It is very odd that only last night at a house when I was leaving somebody was expressing surprise at my not having quoted my father about [Lord] Falkland; and now this morning comes your kind letter and reproaches me with the same thing. But the truth is, it is difficult for a son to quote his father; one cannot quite quote him as if he was a stranger, and the moment one begins a little sentence about what is personal and domestic, one feels embarassed. I have done it once or twice and have never been quite satisfied with the way in which it was done. But I quite agree with you that the passage about Falkland in the Modern History Lecture is one of the best things in that delightful volume. – It gives me a great pleasure to know that you and Sir Charles liked my article. Falkland is an old favourite with me; my father often mentioned him and I can hardly remember the time when I did not know his name. I was in the neighborhood of Newbury, the other day; and a country gentleman who had been at the meeting about the Falkland monument told me the subscription was going on very poorly; so being much pressed to write something for the first number of the ‘Nineteenth Century’ I determined to take Falkland for my subject. – I much wish we could come to you, but you know what an inspector’s life is! Visiting is a pleasure which I must reserve for my retirement – not so very many years off now, I hope. – With very kind remembrances to Sir Charles, I remain, dear Lady Bunbury, sincerely yours [...]”.