Maria Edgeworth to Faraday   6 May 1844¹

Edgeworths Town | May 6th 1844

Dear Sir,

I am much gratified by your desire to have my fathers² Memoirs³ as a souvenir from myself & you shall have the assurance of my grateful regard and high esteem under my own hand - a hand which never was put to a false compliment, or an insincere profession.

Were I writing to anyone but yourself I would express without restraint or reserve and with the warmth with which I feel it admiration for talents and inventive genius directed to the best purposes, free from the petty envy & jealousy wh too often cloud the lustre of genius and poison the happiness of the possessor[.] The brightness of your day the cheerfulness of your temper even under the trials of illhealth and the evident enjoyment you have in science and literature for their own sake together with your love for your private friends and the serenity of your domestic life prove (whatever Rousseau⁴ may have said or felt to the contrary) that "Sois grand homme et sois malheureux" is not the inevitable doom of genius[.]

I hope that you will let my sister Wilson⁵ have as much as you can spare of your time. No one can enjoy more or better appreciate your talents & character[.]

I am Dear Sir | Sincerely yours, | Maria Edgeworth