Transcription
CATALOG NUMBER HF 3033 B
OBJECT NAME Letter
DATE 1802-1805
AUTHOR Augusta
RECIPIENT Ann(e) Hoffman Nicholas
MEDIUM Paper, ink
DESCRIPTION Letter from school friend.
*Original spelling retained throughout work, content appears exactly as written.
[PAGE 1]
Monday Febr 22nd/
Happy, my beloved Ann as I/ should be to visit your charming/ Wilderness, it is not at present in my drawer; but tell Dearest Cecilia it is/ not the fascinating pleasures of the/ city which detain me, for the country/ even in its wintry robe possesses many/ charms, for which I would willingly/ exchange all those of the Town./ There is a pleasure very close connec/-ted with the melancholy feeling/ that vein of Leafless Groves inspires/ Be it from a recollection of their former/ beauty, that we have reposed beneath/ their branches, and partaken of their/ Prosperity, and now bestowing on/ them a consciousness of their change/ sympathize in their downfall./ I know not but perhaps my beloved/ Friend who now experienced all the/ various sensations which its desolate/ appearance excites can better inform/
[END OF PAGE 1]
[PAGE 2]
Me-/
Those elevated Pleasures which spring/ from Devotion I fear Dearest Ann/ I feel not in their full degree. That/ temporary Enthusiasm which carries/ us beyond this scene of things,/ that Glow/ of Devotion so delightful so/ transitory, have been succeeded in my/ mind by a painful sense of my own/ unworthiness, that those things I so/ ardently desire, I reserve not to/ possess. Those feelings have given rise/ to resolutions without number, but/ the Resolve which the morning wit-/ messed, the Evening has seen violated./ And still I wish without obtaining/ and endeavor without performing./
I know not what time your Uncle/ S. returns, I am afraid I must soon close/ my letter and send it to your House/ yet it is not without a sign I relinquish/ so sweet an employment as writing/ to my beloved Ann and even at the risk/ of losing the opportunity will retain it a/ little longer./
[END OF PAGE 2]
[PAGE 3]
But I forgot to tell you who preached/ for us. Mr Chapman in the morning/ Father Harris in the Afternoon. I heard/ so imperfectly that I cannot give you/ any account of our Sermons. My/ thoughts often wandered to Clifton/ Give my best love to Cecilia, tell/ her how much regret we cannot/ accept of her kind Invitation./ I have not yet got Madoe it is not/ in the library. Adieu Dearest/ Ann remember your affectionate/ Augusta
[END OF PAGE 3]
[ADDRESS]
Miss Ann Hoffman/
Clifton Wilderness
[END OF LETTER]
