Transcription
Nevis Sunday 10th June
It is time My dear only brother to begin the letter for / the packet of the 16th, and the size of these immense sheets / must, I am sure, insure You every detail respecting the family, by / the last vessel from here (of Course we only speak of steamers) you / had no letter from Nevis the time skipped by without our think-[page torn] / if it, but George Schuyler promised to tell every thing, which / promise I have no doubt he has amply fulfilled. We [^ have] received / letters from You by every steamer but one, which was I think the / one of the 1st May. The poor Irvings have great trouble, from their / Uncle’s illness, and consequent inability to write to them, they / have had no letters by two steamers at least, + came over here two / or three days ago to know what we had heard, we alas had news, / but not of the best kind, that their Uncle’s trouble had appeared / again on his hands __ They were delighted to hear a part of your / letters read, as the only thing like communication with Madrid / for some time. Our household now consists of Fanny + her children, / Ma + the ponies, Pa is off as usual with Goerge Schuyler on that / Eastern railroad business, trying to pick up some crumbs, + as / there is no capital misled, it is very well, Bow was with us / all last week, but like a good fellow as he is, he went down yes- / -terday to take his Ma to church, he is weak as a child, / and if his Ma would insist upon his staying in the Country, or / travelling somewhere, it would be very desirable, for he certainly is / losing his health, if you can judge by loss of strength. Eliza + / the [trattees?brattee?] are still in town, she did not intend to come out [page torn] / the last of the month but Ma says she has threatened since the / extreme heat of last week to break the spell and come sooner / Uncle Phil has gone to Bohemia for his wife, and will feel too / glad to have her back gain, he spent one night here last / week, and could only be interested and roused by talking of / his little cottage and his housekeeping. Rebecca writes in rap - / tures of Bohemia, but says that “her old gentleman has sufficiently / tasted the sweets of solitude”, We think Nevis is looking remarkably / well. The trees you watered and scrubbed, locusts I mean shew /
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Their care, and amply repay. The entrance trees are green, scarcely / one dead, as to that particular Maple, it bears so evidently the / marks of being transplanted and chopped, that is not a great favorite, / although it is out in leaf but the trees to the South of the house / bud out beautiful branches, + never would own they had not always / stood there, which to judge of them by my own feelings, must be / the height of their ambition. Our horse establishment is very / delightful for the ladies. Pa has been kind enough to buy one great / big heavy horse from John Storms as a match to “Boston”, which / takes us on our way slowly by surely, to which way of going we / had been a long time strangers, for Master Stephen is ditto to / “FireAway” baulking without the least necessity upon level ground at / times. our old rockaway lost its top sometime ago, and while it / is getting mended, we use with very great comfort to all but / Ma + Fanny the Coupé, it goes to the dock, to church, and yesterday / drive down to Aunt Fan’s in the morning to bring Ma from there in the afternoon. Bow drove her down there on Wednesday, to see / Grand Ma + Grand Pa who [??] there, she went on to town to visit / poor Mrs Fleming, who is living with Mary, who together with Gilbert / + his wife (for as Bow says he has had the courage or the impudence / to take one within a few days) are forming one comfortable establish- / ment, in the 3rd avenue. Geccy brought up such delightful accounts / of a little French Opera Company they have got at Niblo’s, and Bina / Wells who has just returned from the South wrote me such a pressing / note yesterday, to come + see her for a few days, that (for her sake / [page torn]-ne) I shall have to go down with Fanny tomorrow afternoon, where / shall finish and despatch this. But I can’t be persuaded to / stay long in town, for strawberries and roses are just beginning. / Geccy + I picked the first ones last eve’g so you can compare the / time with your own. The beds look very well, + I only hope that / next year we shall be all dabbling in them together. Old [San?] / is still chef, + in his own good time has got every thing very nice, / to be sure he cut up all our violet beds, + lilly roots, but the borders / look neat. Peas just coming in pd. Those poor papers of your / grandfather have now all come up to Nevis, + Pa at last / is busy with them. It appears upon an interview he has had /
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With Hawkes, he Hawkes receives no sort of compensation for his / trouble, and in the multiplicity of his other affairs, begs Pa will / help him now, to select such as should be published. The truth is / the books do not sell at all, they are all on the booksellers shelf, / and Hawkes cannot take the trouble, Poor Grandma will / spend all she has in publishing them, + must be rather / troubled by the want of success of the work. However, I say go on / and finish; I think of you sometimes when I think sit copy-[page torn] / a few letters, there were to be done. Monday eve’g 12th I write not / from the City after the Opera, but still from Nevis, I could not exactly / make up my mind to go off this afternoon so I wrote to Bina I would / be there in a few days, saw fanny off [?? ?? ??] Pa came home / in the boat this afternoon, after having had quite an excursion to / Bridgeport, then over the rail road to Hudson, he says Uncle / William Ludlow looks dreadfully, fat + stupid, but that Aunt Julia / as usual makes best of every thing. The establishment is in dreadf-[page torn] / condition, as usual very bad housekeeping. However, the [boys?] have / already begun to pay interest money, + are in good heart _ Pa + G [page torn] / go off again very soon to Boston they will be there on the 17th / at the Bunker Hill celebration, when Webster is to make a speech / Cap’t Stockton is sending round a speech of his, at a great Tyler / meeting at Trenton, it is the most entirely disgusting demagogism / you can imagine, abusing the [“Bank Highs”?] + swearing by Jeffers-[page torn] / Madison Tyler _ today Tyler has been making a triumphant entreé / in the city with his Cabinet, all New York in the streets; the Schuylers / children and servants posted down to Mrs Millers in great excite - / ment _ Croton is baying away at the moon, which I shall have / to stop, for he will distress the family, who are now yet to [page torn] / in their first nap. You would be delighted to see how well / Mrs. Constant is, she is visiting all about, drive here the other / day, + unceremoniously stayed to tea, with Aunt Sarah, her / pretty sister Ellen, and Master Willy, who is as spoilt a young / gentleman as needs be. They have now got a German tutor for / him and Ellen, but he assures them he can’t have that man / walking after him all the time. He kicks his hat all over the / piazza, then jams it down on his mother’s flowers, who only smiling / by says “Oh Willy don’t” but thinks it pretty smart.
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14th I finish this dear Alex still at home, although I carry it down / with me in the morning, to go off with Pa + George for the steamer in / the afternoon, we are enjoying a nice visit from GrandPa, He + his / friend dominic Van Pelt, left Fordham this morning, that GrandPa / might have the pleasure of shewing him all his children along the river, / accordingly the[y?] stopped at Uncle William’s, dined at Aunt Fan’s, + got / here at about sic to pass the night, fortunately G. L. S. had engage - / ments at Piermont this afternoon, so he rowed over after that, which / brought him just in time for tea, + helped us through, – notwithstanding /
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Anecdotes have kept the field, and the old gentleman is quite an original. / tomorrow, Grandma + Aunt Fan come. Pa, George + I go down. Eliza comes / with her little ones on Tuesday next. Fanny rather later. We have / had a beautiful day, Pa + I this morning rode over to Mrs. Minturns / he upon Siruis myself (as Borrow says) on Steph. The colt is as quiet / as a lamb, and can be made to take a beautiful canter, my horse / inclines either [to?] stand still or turn back to the stable, but by letting / him wheel You twice round, he goes on; which I practised successfully. / We found the lady sick, I saw her in her wrapper, but as she told me / to say to Pa, she was afraid she did not look handsome enough to / shew herself. I hear Pa saying that he will send up shaving apparatus /
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In the morning, the parson is in his room, for which / Pa must be glad, for he has stitch to him well _ / The Pearson’s engagement is the last piece of news which / I believe You heard of by the last steamer, nobody would / have imagined Kem could have caught such a bird / but as both parties families + all are delighted there / is nothing to say. I dreamt last night you had come / home. I shall go to bed now + try to take up the theme / so you see waking or sleeping
I am yours,
MMH
Ma sends a thousand loves and / thanks for her letters
[ADDRESS]
Alex Hamilton Esq
Secreatry of Legation of the U.S.
Madrid
Care of M. [Salez Lacare Acné]
Bayonne
John Miller Esq
U.S. despatch Agent
13. Henrietta St.
Covent Garden
London
[REVERSE OF ADDRESS]
From molly
June 14th 1843
Miss A Hamilton
Aux [loris] du / Msn. [Saur]-lez [Lacaze Aine] / Bayonne
[POSTMARK 1 - red ink, circle]
Z
29JU29
1843
[POSTMARK 2 - red ink]
PAID
[POSTMARK 3 - red ink, circle]
NEW YORK
JUN
15Transcriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
English
