Transcription
CATALOG NUMBER HF 3037 B
OBJECT NAME Letter
DATE
AUTHOR Julia Hoffman
RECIPIENT Emma Nicholas
MEDIUM Paper, ink
Friday Dec. 18th, 1829/
Nearly three weeks ago my dear Emma I wrote/ half of a letter to you and then thought it necessary to begin with an/ apology but ‘eere now my case is too desperate for an apology to avail me any thing/ so my letter must go without it, Charles received a letter from Matil/da yesterday which has made my conscience trouble me still more/ than it did before, and you both looked so cross upon me in one {unrecovered}/ my dreams last night that if it were only to sleep in peace I should/ have to write; I am sorry Matilda should have been hurt at my/ not writing I thought she knew me too well to impute it to any thing/ but laziness, as to not thinking of her, how could she suppose it? I/ often wish for her to talk to me, and to make me talk I find myself/ relapsing into my former stupidity, and by next spring I shall have/ lost all the agreeableness I caught from her last winter./
Pa has been quite sick for several days, to night he is a great deal better/ but is not {unrecovered} {unrecovered} yet. I presume he will attend to Miss Carter’s/ concern as soon as he is able to go out, but money is as scarce as/ ever. I received your mother’s letter enclosing the money for Deborah,/ who is in Philadelphia, Lavinia goes on in a week or two and as/ she knowns Deborah I will send it by her and tell her to let me know/ how much is still due./
Matilda’s’s account of the Whitesboro beaux was very amusing I am/
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Afraid she will not be able to endure our New York beaux after them/ I will promise her two new ones in the Spring unless they should/ be frightened away by my stupidity before that time, they are brothers/ the younger one handsome, intelligent enough and quite agreeable/ no one could think the one handsome, though his face does/ not want intelligence, he has traveled a great deal and moreover/ has written a book of his travels, which is exceedingly admired, it is/ written in a very unaffected style and the author passes through/ so many dangers and tells theme so well, that Matilda’s fancy would/ soon make him a hero, and with all this his manners are modest almost/ embarrassed, if she has a desire to know him tell her to read the/ “Year in Spain by a Young American.”/
The fashionable world goes on more furiously you hear nothing/ but weddings engagements and balls frequently two parties of a night/ it is strange to me that they do not all die off, but I suppose they/ are used to it [as] "eels are to skinning" Elizabeth Hutchinson was married/ last night with four hundred dollars upon her in lace, Mary Lands/ was married to Mr Griffin about a fortnight ago Sue Bard is engaged/ to Ferdinand Lands, and Catherine Van Renssalaer to Gov. Wilkins, I believe that those are the most important events that have happened lately./
I am delighted that your school succeeds so well, I hope your scholar/ will improve very fast, as to your distress my dear Em, whenever you/ feel it coming on just sit down and tell me about it I shall always/ be delighted to receive your letters and will answer, the truth is I am/ so stupid nowadays that I can hardly think my letters worth reading/ when they are written./
Has your mother heard that David Colden has had a paralytic he has/ perfectly recovered now, his wife was very much distressed about it indeed/ and the family do not like to have it be known, it arose from exposure/ to cold and I believe the physicians did not consider it any think very/ alarming./
Mary and Phil dined here about a fortnight ago, they asked after/ you as soon as they came, there father has been quite sick again but/ is much better now./
Tell Matilda that Mary Holt is still at Sing sing and if she directs/ her letters to the care of Miss D{unrecovered} I think she will receive them/
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Give my love to your mother and Matilda to the latter I will write, & trust/ very soon thank your mother for her affectionate letter to me, Charles and/ George would send love if they were here. [Sholto] hope Cora will not/ think he neglected her he sends his respects./ Go[od] night dear Em/ ever your attached aunt/
Julia Hoffman
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[Address]
2nd/
Mrs Emma Nicholas/
Care of Mrs Nicholas/
Whitesborough/
N York/
[Postmark]
New-York/
Dec/
19
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