Transcription
March 18th 1843
L’embarass du choix, my dear E., is almost as / bad as no choix at all; having within a few days / rec’d from Paris a huge supply of paper of all sorts / petit poulet, grand coquille, poulet d’ecu, +c +c, I have / been hesitating some time which to honor with these / lines to you: with your penchant for these things / you would be forced to scribble will ye, will ye / after an examination of the reams and quires on / the table near me:
Such delicious weather _ [? en revandu] / for the rain and chills of February, we have within / four days an anticipated month of June: I / am writing in the largest salon in the house (40 / feet long) both windows open on the Garden / and the sunshine partly excluded: The grass al: / :ready of the richest green, rose bushes fairly in / leaf, buds bursting + swelling and more than all/ a magnificent tulip of the richest red directly / under our eyes in the open air _ I am looking / forward with much pleasure to the “belle saison” / of Madrid; before the time comes out with a [?unrecovered] / sword to cut away every thing like verdure.
We have had for the last week a very / disabled legation: Mr. Irving is still confined to his /
As personal favor that he would not go to the ball, inasmuch / as the other Diplomats were [^ being] excluded, it would be improper +c. +c. / The poor Secretary urged in vain that he went in costume, that / be could not disappoint the ladies, the cotillion would be / broken up: The Minister persisted and the Secretary in / distress went to the young lady who in turn visited the Duchess / and she to get over this difficulty invited the Portuguese / Minister + family; this invitation [^ (thus extorted)] the [opposition?] say she / had the “lassesse” to accept; but the difficulty could not / end here; what was to be done with the other representatives? / after much debate it was decided to invite them (Sunday / morning) for the Ev’g and invitations were accordingly / issued _ It had been left too late in the opinion [^ of many] and / the foreign Gentlemen could not comprise official [???] / by attending under such circumstances _ It was as: - / :certained afterwards on comparing notes, that the French / Legation were [^ only] invited at 9 p.m. for a ball at 10. / The English ditto, besides the additional offence of omitting / my pretty friend Mrs. Scott + her husband, while Mr. / Irving & I (strange to say) had been horrified to appear / at ½ past one in the morning: this was one of the / mysterious circumstances connected with this strange affair _ Bad is it was with the Foreigners, matters / were still worse with the natives: The Duchess I / suppose in despair, commissioned an old gouty Count / on Sunday to ask in her name several persons of / the very bluest blood, and when the old gentleman /
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Reported progress, either she had changed her mind or had / been misunderstood since she told him to undo his / morning’s work: he remonstrated: she was firm and / with a heavy heart he set about his task and about / the hour these grand dames were thinking [^ of their] dresses for / the bal, they rec’d notice that they would have no occasion / for them: _ this was the coup do grace; revenge was / now the only thing thought of: some had already com - / posed the bitter notes in answer to any future invitations / from Mad. Peñaranda, some too impatient to wait for / this, now pass her on the Prado, and instead of the / friendly not + wave of the hand, look daggers with / their sharp black eyes: _ In short their last “bal costume” / promised to be an epoch to future generations _ All / this seems stupid enough on paper, but here on the / spot it is very amusing to see such confusion about / nothing among that Proud + vain Class [^ in] which they / are [^ all] connected or related, and as a matter of course / [batoyer?] one another.
I have seen George’s letter in the Spectator / of Feb’y 11th and am highly pleased with these good / accounts of the Kam: I hope the Pamphlet has been sent through [Beasely?]
The passing of the bill on the Oregon territory / in the Senate, seems to me a very improper measure / and I am very glad to see by to day’s paper that /
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A packet has arrived with dates to Feby 15th and / that the bill will fail in the House: M’Kenzie’s trial / excited a great deal of interest among us all, tho’ / I have not much anxiety as to the result.
All the people, foreigners + natives are very / kind, and send continually to unique about Mr. Irving. / The English Legation especially show much interest: / In the inc absence of more attracting matter Uncle / Geoffrey now and then looks over the [^ old] papers; and the / Notice of a “Steamboat to Dobbs Ferry every day Sunday / excepted’ makes him feel quite sympathetic/ At this / distance it appears to him an Earthly Paradise.
Have I told you of my pilgrimage to the House / in which Cervantes was born + died, in the street now / called after him? _ with the recollection of the hearty / + sometimes suffocating fits of laughter, which I owed / to him so long ago, I looked with quiet reverence at / the gloomy old Spanish house, and the Medallion in / the Wall, in which was a likeness is bas relief wand / a short inscription _
With these sunny days come thoughts of / excursions to Aranguez + the Escurial, as soon as / Mr. Irving is entirely restored _ I should delight / to have your with on an excursion to the latter / place, which has always struck my fancy [^ and] with / its mixed character of convent + palace, and its / gloomy magnificence, and seemed a good type of /
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The [b??igt?] Philip 2nd its founder.
The Elections are part over and the Cortes / meet on the [4th?] next month _ as the time approaches / rumors fly about rapidly and this Ministers / changed every day or so: _ The little Queen is approaching / her majority, and loses [Every day] her childish appearance, and all / the northern powers with France to aid them, are busy / in determining who shall be the happy man, her / husband: _ To initiate [^ her] into the pomp of circumstance / of royalty she goes every now + then in state to the / Royal box reserved at each of the Theatres, and the / now ballet furnishes a topic of conversation to the puzzled / Diplomats at the next “besa manos”.
Prince Napolean is still here, and he’s made / arrangements contrary to his first intention, so remains some / time, he has had an audience + been to a ball at the Palaca and / we are with many [Burleigh?] nods + Whispers, hinting at his / designs: in fact he is very like his Uncle, but of a heavy / ungainly figure _
The Bull fights have commenced: on / Sunday last, they were magnificent, [mai?was?] much as two men / were badly wounded; one of whom was said to be in danger / This was reported to me, for I was not present. _
I send off tonight by the Courier to Ledyard: but / I hope to have letters in time to acknowledge them by this / same packet of April 4th _ Much love to all the / families in Laight Street and many kisses to the little / folks yours ever
Mrs. E.H. S. A. H.Transcriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
English
