| As we went into the great
entrance hall of the Manor, I was reminded of the perky robin redbreast
whom Maria tells us, hopped in when the door was opened for his morning
collation during a hard winter, but I was restless to see the library
where most of Maria's work was accomplished, amongst her noisy,
fun-loving sisters and brothers. There too, she entertained the great
ones who came to pay homage to her. Alas! the beautiful Adam bookcases
are empty now - their valuable treasures scattered, no one knows where,
except for a fragment of them, which is happyily stored in St. Mel's
College, Longford, but the President of the College told me that all the
rare editions were disposed of before he learned that the library was
for sale. Perhaps another Longford-Irish-American will endow this famous
treasure-house with volumes old and new to entertain the future guests
from the nerve-wrecking world outside. The Italian marble mantlepiece is
as perfect as the day it was installed and since Maria 'needleed' by the
fireside. Viewing the rest of the house I felt the deepest sympathy for
the nuns who have to meet such colossal expenses, as dry-rot had seized
much of the building in it's tentacles before they were given
possession, and each of the thirty-eight rooms needs attention before
the house will be habitable at all. Saying good-bye I booked Maria's
little bedroom for the opening day, and when I got back to Dublin I
bought a Sweep ticket for theDerby - nom-de-plume DAPPLE ( name of
Maria's horse )which I hope will trot out of the drum. |
Reflections
on a Centenary - Maria Edgeworth 1849- 1949