Transcription
CATALOG NUMBER HF 3022 C
OBJECT NAME Letter
DATE January 3, 1801
AUTHOR Judge Josiah Ogden Hoffman (Albany)
RECIPIENT Alice Ann Hoffman (New Brunswick, NJ)
MEDIUM Paper, ink
DESCRIPTION Miss Hay, Miss Hays, Matilda’s health, education, high
Expectations, payment to Mr. Wilkes (?), Aunt Maria thanks
Albany January 3, 1801
My dear Ann -
I have once again returned to my / own house, and am again surrounded by those who / with yourself are most dear to me _ Absence from / my children serves to teach me how much they are / beloved _ they often serve a source of anxiety, but from / the prospect and hope of their future [unrecovered? - - dilligence] and happiness, I desire the most heart-felt delight / Can they ever, by any misconduct, or ungrateful / behavior destroy the flattering expectations of a Parent / who devotes almost every thought and [?motion/] / to their benefit -
I found your brothers and sisters all well / they were eager in their inquiries about you and / offered a thousand questions about our said [?dour?] / your amusements in New York, and the like, all / showing how much they think of you _ Matilda’s / health is better but she continues very very thin /
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She has again commenced as far as her [???unrecovered] / will permit, her studies, under my care, and ?? / attention, as I would wish _ you have [?resumed?] yours / with much greater advantage and, I trust, with more / than usual zeal. You are fast approaching to a / period of life when great things will be expected / of you _ remember that as a child you are thought /to be well advanced in your mental acquiescents [sic?] / you have therefore already some character to lose / for your own sake, and to verify the praises of others / it is incumbent on you to pursue the road of [mast?? Unrecovered] - / with undiminished zeal. If you are not / superior in your attainments to most other young / Ladies, you will be considered as inferior _ for you will / be estimated by the present expectations of your friends. to realize therefore such expectations ought to be / an object of great ambition with you_ Such ambition / will be laudable and will incite you to assiduity / not only in the attainment of intellectual but performance Improvements. /
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I hope long in this you have received all your / things and that they may please you _ for the [??Sper - ] / -an you ought to write a letter of thanks to your / Aunt Maria _ and do not forget, that it is high / time I should receive a letter from you.
Offer my best respects to Miss Hay and her / sister _ the amount of our last quarter will be sent / by this mail to Mr. Wilkes [?] - through much forgetful- / ness I left New York without paying it.
This is the commencement of a New Year. . and in the opinion of [???], of a New Century, / be it either or both, may it prove to you a / happy one _ and a year of great improvement, for / the next year will find you “Miss in her teens” [??]
We all write in the most cordial wishes for / your health and happiness and most tenderly / are both prayed for by my beloved child, you
Ever indulgent Parent
Jos. Ogden Hoffman
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