Mary Russell Mitford to Elizabeth Barrett Browning, letter postmarked 2 October 1847: 'The most interesting [book] that I have read for many years is Lamartine's Histoire des Girondins [...] Even at the Palace where they read so little they are all devouring those eloquent Volumes -- the Queen & all. I would not have believed that Lamartine's prose could be so fine -- but the prose of poets is often finer than their verse [...] The Author does injustice to Napoleon I think, & is over candid to Robespierre & many of the other Revolutionary Heroes -- so that one wonders sometimes [italics]who[end italics] was guilty -- but still the book is charming.'