Bakkehussamlingen

London Bolton Gardens Russellsqu
11. November 1865

Dear M^me. Jerichau
       My nephew has been abroad for a fortnight and again absent in the country from home for a week so that by such mischance he did not open your letter till a day or two ago and he has called & read it to me. I consen[t] with him in thinking that as you have consulted your solicitors in the matter it is best for your own guidance & interests to put yourself entirely in their hands and to be guided wholly by their counsel for they will not only give you the best advice legally but also generally advice you as friends as to the most judicious steps to be taken, not merely to recover your money, but to regain such of yr. pictures as you may desire again to have possession of. And it is always most judicious, when once you may have selected a professional man, to abide by his single judgement, rather than to paplex yourself by seeking counsel elsewhere, so likely are different persons to search upon different data & so to give cont[r]ary opinions upon the same matter.
       And so you are going this month to Rome. How much I regret that we are not going thither also, for I trust in God’s mercy // that we may pass the winter 1856-7 at Rome & Naples. Would th[at?] the Fates should be so propitious as to keep you & M^r. Jerichau there till then. I think I have already written to you to say that I passed 2 or 3 days at Rome in April last with my nephew Andrew Donaldson the painter & passed of much of my time with Gibson & saw [Levern?] the painter[,] our consul there & Penry Williams the painter. And called on my old Friend Schultz the Director of the French Academy.
By the bye I trust that the change will do much good to your husband, and that the change will infuse fe[ch?] vigor with his frame & new inspirations into his soul. I received notice in August to attend, as member, a meeting of the academy of fine arts at Antwerp, & at which annually take place the elections of new members. I could not go out wrote to the President Mr de Keyser, & alluded to the ancient talents of M^r Jerichau, & that justice ought to be rendered to the country & countrymen of Thorwaldsen, who ought never to be ignored, and I have also mentioned him to Couder, Hittorff & other members of the Institute de Paris. I am glad to learn that y^r. husband will exhibit some [works?] at our Royal Academy Exhibition next year: his genius deserves to be appreciated // throughout Europe & I shall be happy when he publishes some of his fine conceptions.
Wish he had as ardent & impulsive a spirit of enterprise as yourself. No man is justified in hiding his light under a Bushel, and to [presume?] that he must be known, because he is capable of great works. The world requires evidences of merit [in?] [arden?] to be able to appreciate, & I think that it is no evidence of vanity, but rather of self respect of & deference to the art – [loving?] for an artist to give them the evidences of his worth.
We have this summer been 6 weeks on the Continent: 4 of which we passed in Switzerland, visiting Geneva, Chamoni[x], Lausanne, Berne[,] Fribourg, Thun, Interlaken, Lucerne and Neuschàtel. A Town which offered us some of the most sublime & beautiful of alphine scenery; mountains, valleys and Lakes in all their varied aspects. The very air so pure & bracing adds to one’s delights, and the occasioned efforts [selections?] one makes to seize the varied beauties of the xxx glaciers, the passes & lofty peaks. For instance M.^m Donaldson’s sister Anna Lugham, who accompanied us, & I walked up on foot to the summit of the Rigi-Culm! saw the sunset[,] slept on the top, & rose with the early morn to catch the first tints of the sun-rise gradually illumine the tops of the fifty ranges[,] snow capped, & rising one above the other[.] // The lease of our house expires at midsummer next, soon after which we shall start I trust for our excursion on the Continent, gradually to reach (if all be well) the eternal city in November next[.]
I have given up my Professorship, & am retiring gradually from professional practise, so as to leave me free, and I trust under the mercy of our heavenly Father to spend the remainder of our days free spared from the cures of professional life in the calm enjoyment of intellectual & social occupation, & preparation for that future status to which, at our advancing years, we should now look forward as not being far distant.
At Rome M^me. Donaldson will enjoy a new series of refined impressions, & I shall be delighted to renew acquaintance with my old haunt, & to be “au fait” of all the discoveries since 1822 – 43 years ago! How great will be our pleasure if you & M^r. Jerichau are there to come & sit with you in y^r. respecetive studios & to think & talk of art in the midst of that art-world. Andrew is come home rich in sketches & with full ardor & devotion to set to at work & paint pictures. Oh that he may realise all we hope of him and now I must draw to a close for my paper warns me no longer to tire you with my prosing selfishness.
My wife desires her affectionate regards to yourself & M^r. Jerichau[.]
Pray let me hear of you occasionally[.] Olinthus & his d^r. child are quite well but M^me. Olinthus is far from well. Jamie & his wife & 2 Boys are flourishing[.] Adieu adieu & believe me ever truly y^rs.
              Tho. L: Donaldson