Transcription
Tuesday Morning Feb’y 27th
New York _ 1843
Dear A
I am obliged to begin my letter to you today / & finish it this evening as we start for Nevis tomorrow / morning, & there would be no time to send it down; I shall / be glad when we have the steamers to sail from our [^ own] port / then [your?these?] dates need not be so old _ talking of that my / last note (I must call it [^ so] from you was dated Jany. 7th / you intended it to have come by the Havre packet / but it was sent by the Caledonia) it certainly is a sad / account you give of Mr. Irving _ I confess I tremble for the / result; it seems as if there was some secret agent at / work, about the [brawl?brain] How painful it will be for you to leave / him, I trust if he should not get better that he will re - / sign + come home when you do; of what use is it when / his health is so bad, not to have all the comfort he can / have among his own kin; now that you have appointed / the time to return it seems to bring you nearer to us; I was / in hopes at first that you might have been with us on / the fourth of July. But that cannot be: do not I beg o fyou / cut your visit to [^in] England short by any impatience which / is so natural when you get so near home; remember / how long one is apt to regret it _ Mary, Aunt + Robert were / at the Opera last night, they gave your friend Lucia _ and / very nicely, Aunt even is quite enthusiastic, Mr. + Mrs. Danforth / were of the party I do not remember whether she has come / on the tapis since you left or not. She is certainly a very / fine looking woman & they say very intelligent
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I confess her size overpowered me completely. I seem to dwindle / into a mite _ All the gaiety is at an end; the winter seems to / be breaking up gradually _ the river from our place down / is entirely free + the Piermont ball boat stops ing at Yonkers / & Dobbs Ferry _ Bow has not yet been heard from _ + Fanny’s / children are getting over the scarlet fever nicely _ The weather / has been very mild throughout this month. + [^ today] we are having / a soft rain _ which much [^ to] George’s horror will tend to / break up the north river. The Boats to Bridgeport are / doing well I believe, + if the river only continues closed, these / next few weeks will be their [hardest? Harvest?] _ The pretty things have arrived that John Bryant sent. They are indeed beau - / -tiful, + in excellent taste, he [?insists?] to Mary Ann that he / intends sailing in on the first of April for home. He has had / enough of Europe for this time at least, I am sorry you have / not met; as he is certainly a pleasant companion. Mary Ann / is coming on down to pay Aunt a visit _ + [^ so] our much talked / of visit to Boston has ended in smoke. However one cannot / help getting sick + with some people staying so; though now / I am almost well again. Oh how often I have wished / for wings since your sojourn in Madrid, that I might / look in upon you but especially since I have been / sick for though not sick enough for the bed; feeling too / sick to interest myself in what was going on around me / that a change of place + scene appeared to me so desirable + / I fancy myself very often going about from place to / place with you as my protector now I never express the wish / to go seriously to Ma or Pa for I know how inconvenient it would / be in every point of view for him. But if [^ the?] times go well, when - / you get back you must prepare in the summer months / when the courts are closed, to escort me about _ on a small /
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Scale _ I must stop to dress as Mary Van Renssalear, alias / Fleming is here to spend the day with us. So goodbye _ _ /
Nevis 28th. dear Alex The Robt. L. Stevens has just had the / honor of Landing. Your two sisters + George Bowdoin on the / Dobbs Ferry dock. We found Pa with Coupe’s four waiting / for us, [Y. L.?] who went on over to Piermont waved a / good bye as we parted, Mother looks very well and is well / + like her sweet self perfectly cheerful + contented, Pa / has rather elected to play the hermit this winter, but seclusion / is not beneficial to either his health or spirits, he gets weary / for the want of some active excitement of mind, writes / quantities of letters _ but he probably would not admit a / word of all this _ he goes down to his club dinner on / Friday, and I wish that he could afford to join You in / England, in the Spring. The Schuyler’s Aunt + Robert / I mean are all that is kind, + notwithstanding our long / troublesome visits, urged us repeatedly to stay, + to return / as soon as we wish to, [Yicey?G–?] appears much better, + strong / she wanted to come home for a little while, the Dr. insinu - / ated that she should return in a fortnight. Which I / dare say she will be ready to do, as the frost coming out / leaves the ground so soft that we will scarcely be able / to leave the piazza. There is something very refreshing / in the vast expanse of water + sky around is on this / hill, but the earth looks dreary, with this north west / wind over its bare brown surface. Fanny’s children / are getting over the scarlet fever, which is a great thing to / be thankful for with their delicate constitutions, George / is now looking round her a place here in order to move / his residence + do lawyer’s business in Tarry Town. it / may be one of his plans which he will not carry out. There / is a nice little relation of ours in town this winter, who / I am sure you would like, Elizabeth Church staying / at Sophia’s. She is ugly + thickset. But sensible + bright /
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Disposed to make such of her relations + altogether a / pleasing stout little person _ [?C.” Sullivan Your old friend / has moved with his mother + sister to New York, they have / taken a house in the University, in the same house [ ^ street] with / Julia Boggs; his sister has lost her husband, so he I / should think must have left some property. She is a / pretty little woman, + says she is often mistaken for / Fanny, + that she has a little girl like me.
There is another great rush for uptown property, all the cor - / ner lots / on the 5th avenue are bought up, + Mr Brevoort / they say is well pleased, all the merchants are going up / Minturn at the head, Julia + Livingston had theirs / as they thought secure, on the corner of 5th ave + 13th street / when they find trouble with the title, the Trust Comp’y / have it to settle, + the result is yet to me unknown. / They had a nice plan to build one hundred feet /
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Deep, as Julia says from the front door + look through all / that distance to a conservatory, Rebecca + Uncle Phil / have taken their little cottage for another [term?]. They are as / much pleased with each other as ever and that is / saying a great deal _ We enjoyed Lucia de Lamermoor / very much the other evening although the Company is very / bad, but those sweet duets and some delightful touches / by [?Rapete] with chatty friends around made all pleasant / I won’t bother you any more with my indistinct crossing / but with best regards for Mr. Irving who I am afraid from / your last letter is very ill and a bushel of love for your / own dear self I am your sister to command
Mary
[ADDRESS]
Alexander Hamilton Esq’r
Secretary of the Legation
Madrid
Care of
John Miller Esq.
U.S. despatch Agent
13 Henrietta Street
Covent Garden
London
13
[REVERSE OF ADDRESS]
From Molly & Angel
Feby 27 + 28h
Rec’d March 22nd
Received March 14
[illegible signature]
[RED WAX SEAL]Transcriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
English
