I82a-i824] Revels at Maer 163 



Mrs Josiah Wedgwood to her sister Fanny Allen. 



SHREWSBURY, TUESDAY NIGHT, 

 Dec. 15th, 1824. 



. . . We came here from Stych on Saturday. I went as 

 chaperon to the Drayton Assembly [from Stych] with Miss 

 Clive, Susan Darwin, Charlotte and Fanny, with Joe and 

 William and Edward Clive, but it was a bad and very thin 

 ball and double the number of ladies to the gentlemen. I 

 like the two young men very much. Edward set up a grand 

 flirtation with Susan, who is the only one of the family who 

 has the least talents that way, and like my dear Caroline 

 [Drewe] I could not help fancying that William was a good 

 deal pleased with Charlotte. We staid the following day 

 there pleasantly enough. . . . Charlotte came on here 

 with me, but she has paid for her whistle in having caught 

 such a cold that she had till to-day entirely lost her voice. 

 I find myself very comfortable here, the Dr is very kind 

 and I am always very fond of Caroline. I wish I could 

 inspire Joe with my sentiments, for I should like her for 

 my daughter more than anybody I know. I have been 

 with her to-day at her infant school, and I could scarcely 

 refrain from tears, but not tears of sorrow, at seeing the little 

 creatures, all at the word of command, drop down on their 

 knees and say the Lord's Prayer. They sung two hymns 

 very tolerably, and a whole set of them, none more than four 

 years old, seemed to me quite perfect in their multiplication 

 table. I was quite surprized at their proficiency; not that 

 they were all quite under command, for some of the new 

 comers were toddling about the room without knowing what 

 they were about, and others were lying down upon a bed 

 that was placed in a corner of a room for that purpose. Caro- 

 line means to send you down the report, if she can get it 

 ready for Lady Bath, as we think it will show at once the 

 necessary expenses, and all that she may want to know. 

 At the same time the reality is not so picturesque as the 

 description, which a person who wishes to put it in practice 

 must be prepared for. She must not expect to see rosy 



