Transcription
Nevis Saturday afternoon
Dear Alex
When the last despatches arrived / I was at Aunt Fan’s, making my first visit there / this season, for our different little engagements / had hither to prevented our leaving home, “Cottage / Lawn” as their place is now finally named is / very much improved; with the exception of the / bank it looks all very neat, the new road is made / through the low swamp very broad + fine, with goo / trees on the sides. The house furniture, + style of / living are you know delightful, but with all I find / something insipid about the place I cannot describe; / probably the monotony of the Palisades, Fanny / took her baby down, which was a great amusement / to Aunt Fan, and we had a pleasant visit, Cun / -ingham’s life of Wilkie is all the go just now, so we / all read that, on Saturday when Bow + George came / to bring us home Aunt + Uncle could not be / separated from us, so we all sailed up together. / they too dined with us, and drove home in the / afternoon. Eliza, George and I drov have just returned / from a most sociable visit to the Minturns, we / got in the Spittail boat sailed up, took tea + drove / rowed down, we fortunately found them alone, + / had a chatty nice time, he hopes the widow will / not want he place very soon. _ Monday 28th What / a nice chance You have of seeing characters + scenes at /
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That French watering place I hope You have made / minutes for I am afraid even the names will escape / You, before You get home, Bow + E got letters by the last / steamer, we look for the next arrival. We have been / revelling in peaches, and from our own trees, on Sunday / George Bowdoin + I filled our baskets with fine / peaches + clings in a very short time, and we took / a fine basket full over to Mrs. Minturn’s tonight, we / have just returned from an invited party there given in honor of Miss Susan’s 7th birthday, Your nephews took / her bouquets, we met as usual, talked and laughed / as usual, Tony Constant as usual made some failed / attempts at singing, but we did not get there as usual, / for the roads are dreadfully broken up by all these / heavy rains. There is no bridge left between us + them / _ the Irving lane is entirely ruined, we go in over / the fields. Poor Mrs Con suffered very much coming / + was in agony at the thought of going back. Eliza / took her children in her boat, + Ma took a seat / in her conveyance coming home. The Miss Irvings / were there, Storrow to the surprise of all is in this country / without his wife. 29th Walked down to the cottage / after breakfast, E + I went at the Dutch, we are reading / Schiller’s “Geisterseher” we find the story interesting, as / also the study, bathed, and came up for an early dinner. / Pa was on horseback over at the Saw Mill, Ma in the / orchard gathering peaches; they seen joined us, Pa is / not very well, he has something like dyspepsia, for which / I lend him all my experience in dieting, and my homeo- / pathic medicine, C + I have come up to my room since / dinner she has been reading “Strife + Peace” by Bremer + I /
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Wilkie; he writes a great deal in his journal, You see I / am adopting his style. Make Mr Irving tell you about / him, for they were together in Madrid + Paris. I should / not judge that the old scotchman was a remarkably / agreable companion, but thoroughly the artist, the untiring / industry with which he paints, and studies, is most ad / =mirable. We propose to ourselves this afternoon a walk / over the the cottage to hear some parts of Mr Irving’s / letters relative to the excitement at Madrid which You / missed, Julia promised us this treat last evening / if we would go; Eliza’s boy and boat follow, by which / we return. Think of our having the “Yellow fever” / veritable, on the North river. We have not much reason / for alarm personally, for is is as far off as Kingston _ / it occurred in this way, a sloop with the fever on board / after a short quarantine, was permitted by the health off-[page torn] / to go up the river and discharge her cargo, the Pilot / died the Captain died, two persons in the village / also, and some beside sick; whereupon the Mayor / has put Kingston and Roundout in Quarantine / until Wednesday at 12 o’clock; this is the last news / we have on the subject as you will see by the papers the / great rains have flooded so many of the cellars in New / York that much sickness is expected there, so that / we have in anticipation a most sickly time of it _ / Uncle Phil + Rebecca are regularly installed; he is so / happy and satisfied that he insists upon shewing every body / the house, until she begs off for the bedrooms, he has just / written to beg Pa to honour their “Blue room” for a night. / as he goes to town tomorrow, it may be his intention to accept / at once; her brother George has been with her until now, / but he poor fellow has gone for a long while, he is placed “before the /
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Mast” in one of Minturn’s ships bound on an East India cruise. / Master Geroge’s flights + extravagances will be brought down / in rather a severe mann,er if his spirit will hear the discipline / it will be the best thing in the world for him. At present he / knows no Master. Poor Lew is sick + dispirited at Norfolk / waiting for his ship to sail; the place at Bohemia is finally / given up to tenants, + it is probably to be traced to Rebecca’s /
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Marriage that as much of their constitutions remains to them / as they have now for for Ma could not leave the children alone / + Pa could not remain alone at the Hotel. Bob has been in / town lately to receive the Urquharts. We hear of Bow’s being / invited to meet him at dinner at Cottage Place No. 4 / The appearance of rain prevented our excursion to “Sunnyside” / + horses frightened us considerably so that Gec had to have / recourse to fences and fields. Hector Ames had arrived /
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And the young ladies have promised to bring him to us so soon / as he arrives at the cottage, We shall have a thousand questions / to ask about You _ I suppose there is no use of getting in / a worry but that attack of fever + ague in the Pyrennees is / very disagreeable, it would look as if Your general health / were not remarkably strong _ this liability to fever is some / =thing new for you I can only repeat that You cannot be too / careful, it is so much more easy to get out of health, than in / health + for a gentleman who has himself to support ac / =cording to the literal curse upon Adam, + perhaps his sisters / his health should be an object of the first importance / I will write no more of this illegible stuff Ma always / sends lots of / love receive / the same with / =out measure / from your / sister / Mary
[ADDRESS]
Alexander Hamilton Esq’r
Secretary of the LEgation of the U.S.
Madrid
Care of
Mr John Miller
13 Henrietta Str.
Covent Garden
London __
[REVERSE OF ADDRESS]
From Molly
Aug’t 29th 1843
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Rec’d Sep’t 22nd
[WAX SEAL - amber with gold flecks, no legible imprint]Transcriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
English
