15 February 1797

Mary Wollstonecraft to Mary Hays [Little John Street], undated [15 February 1797].1

      My Sister’s cold has been so troublesome that we have remained at home; and as she wishes to pay Miss Cristall the first visit, our party must be postponed ’till next week. I have had my eye on the papers; but Mrs Siddons2 has not performed any of her best parts to make me, on your account, regret the delay.  

      I enclose you a letter for Mr Brown.3 Adieu! 

                                    Mary

Address: Mary Hays. –

1 MW 0039, Pforzheimer Collection, NYPL; Brooks, Correspondence 311; Todd, Collected Letters 397-98.

2 Sara Siddons (1756-1831), like her sister Fanny Kemble, became one of the most popular actresses of the 1780s. Her brother, John, followed her to London and he too enjoyed a notable stage career.  Like her sister and brother, Sarah had a stately, declamatory manner ideally suited to high tragedy.  In 1802 she and John became part owners of the Covent Garden Theatre; she retired from the stage in 1812. 

3 Stephen Weaver Browne had been known to Mary Hays since 1795. See his entry in Biographical Index.