Transcription
CATALOG NUMBER HF 3022 B
OBJECT NAME Letter
DATE December 4, 1800
AUTHOR Judge Josiah Ogden Hoffman (in New York)
RECIPIENT Alice Ann Hoffman (Mrs. Anne H Nicholas)
MEDIUM Paper, ink
DESCRIPTION Aunt Seton, return to school, obedience, education
PEOPLE Aunt Seton
PLACES School
EVENTS
KEY WORDS Return to school, obedience, education
New York December 4, 1800
My dear Child -
I was glad to hear of your safe return / to Brunswick and I hope you have again engaged in / your studies with your usual ardor _ you will know the / great value of your improvements to my future happi- / ness and pride; and that in proportion as my hopes / of you are elevated so will disappointment mortify and / depress me _ remember though however cultivated / your mind, or whatever personal attractions you may / display; unless the heart unites its virtues; great know- / ledge and an handsome exterior; can possess no in- / trinsic or real value. I am naturally led to these re- / flections by a conversation with your Aunt Seton from / after my arrival in this city _ the subject occasioned her / much pain _ her affection for you was and is great / it was her duty to inform me of a propensity in you which /
[END OF PAGE 1]
If encouraged, it is difficult to say to what length it may / distract you from the love and Approbation of your friends / I allude to your representations of your Aunt’s improper / preference for one of her children _ this could never have / been the effects of your own observations _ it would be do- / ing Injustice even to your juvenile discernment to think / so _ it must have been repeated to you, and repeated / from ill-natured motives; and how ought you to be af- /fected, when you reflect, that your repetition of it how- /ever silently it may have been received must justly be as - / [bed?] to the same motives _ I avoided speaking to you on / this subject; I did not wish to interrupt your amusements / and enjoyments, while in this city; and I indulge a / hope that admonition delivered in this manner would / never be forgotten. That this hope be verified. Your con- / duct has pained me not a little. [-unrecovered serren??] tinged / [with big s??endo]; for your Aunt has ever been to you / kind, tender and affectionate _ respect too for my feelings, / for you know how warmly my heart is attached to / her, ought at least to have imposed silence on your /
[END OF PAGE 2]
lips. I do not write to you in anger _ I write to you un- /der the influence of paternal disapprobation, blended with / feelings more keenly [distressing?] to myself than this let- / ter possibly can be to you _ I now forgive you, but as you / prize the happiness of a Parent who is devoted to you / never again repeat an offence [sic] so humiliating to the kind I feel, when I boast of the goodness of your heart / you must write to your aunt and by your future / conduct enforce her oblivion of the past.
I shall start for Albany the latter end of / next week. Have you got every thing you want / for the winter _ if not, write to me at once [page torn] /
And [unrecovered?] for, that they are forwarded b- [page torn] /
My return
Render my respects to Miss Hay [page torn] /
Her sister, and believe me, my dear child [page torn] /
Your forgiving and indulgent Parent
JOH
[END OF PAGE 3]
Envelope
Addressed to Miss Alice Ann Hoffman
At Miss Hays
Brunswick
New Jersey
[END OF LETTER]
