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S.B. to IB.
Monday 19th Dec.r. 1779.
1
I now set me down with an intention of answering or rather beginning to answer your
3 letters, taking them in the order of their dates, and taking
notice of each article or rather of each subject.
Many thanks to your Secretary and d' your eyes. your eyes and d—
I hereby accept you as my sole immediate corresponden
at least to the exclusion of any other part of the family, and
henceforth I make no more speeches upon that subject.
2
Yes Lehmenn is one of the best of men. He forgeteth
not his friend neither do I forget him mine.
Thank him if you please, for his letters and further promise,
though I hope by this time if you have seen each other
that you have done with thanks and all other such forms.
If he does not do at any time what you wish bid him
and you wish to punish him for his disobedience you
have only to remind him of the woman who washed his
leather breeches at Portsmouth. The composition
3
The Composition of which the nails are made consistlys
chiefly of Copper. There is I believe a little tin with it.
The Sheats themselves likewise are not of pure Copper.
I certainly should like to know the exact quantitiesy proportions of
any other metals there may be in the composition,
but that more as a matter of curiosity than any real
use, or at least than any use worth the pains it would cost.
4
What a stupid, ignorant, blockhead of a brother I have got,
not to know the meaning of the Draft & Dimensions
of a Ship, and having used those words ten thousand time.
How can I explain them? Draft is synonimous to drawing
& Drawing to draft or draught. Dimensions are dimensions
now I hope you know, if not no matter provided I have them
They will not require many Waggons to transport them
and I hope you will send them when you send the other
things.
As to the Journals I leave you to your own
prudence & discretion.
Sunday 26th.
It is now almost a whole week that I have not been able
to set down to continue this letter and now I shall be obliged to
confine myself almost entirely to Queries & Commands. But 1st a little
of my journal. Tuesday 21st at 10 o Clock The 2 young Medems Mr Bull
& I set out for the Pinau one of the Duke's country palaces. The Duke
himself was gone the day before. It is about 14 or 15 English miles from Mittau
we stopt at a little public house just before we came there to dress ourselves
and did not get there till a almost 2 o Clock. He had done
us the honour to wait dinner for us near 2 hours and had sent
a man to look for us, however he was in the most perfect good
humour imaginable. He had entirely put off the Duke and put on the
Master of the house and officiated in that function to the perfect
satisfaction of his guests. At dinner he sat himself at the bottom
of the table and the Dutchess at the top, and helped the Soup or whateve
dishes were put before him, just in the English fashion. My place was
always next to the Dutchess at one end or to the Duke at the other, when
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next the Dutchess I assisted her in serving the Soup; when next the
Duke he set me to cut the roast beef. After dinner the Duke shewd
us his pictures Prints and E India curiosities. Then we had
a little musick and the Dutchess sang most divinely. next
we went to dansing. Our whole company I believe did not consist
of above twenty of which about 9 were ladies chiefly young wives
or daughters of the principal people of the court except a widow
lady of the neighbourhood and her 2 daughters. This lady has
14 farms or estates, and manages them all herself and is said to
be excedingly rich. It was impossible to be more merry than
we were all the evening. The Dutchess did me and I believe all the gentlemen the honour to danse
several times with me us country danses & minuets, but the Duke
was the youngest man in company. He danses incomparably.
We change partners every dance as is the custom throughout Germany,
however it did so happen that I danced more with the daughters
of this Widow and particularly with the eldest a fine girl of about
20, than with anybody else. It also happened that She as well as
the rest of the company walking in and out of the several rooms
which communicated with the dansing room sat herself down on
a couch in one of them whenever it happened to be vacant to
rest herself. as there was room for 2 persons on this couch when
there was nobody else in the room there was no occasion for
me to fatigue myself with by standing of course then I sat myself
down by her. The same part of the company happened in the course
of the evening to see this lyoung lady and me 3 or 4 times seated
in this same manner, and therefore were pleased to say that it
was something more than mere charm that made us danse so
much together They also said that we forgot to come regularly to the
dances and a number other little circumstances relating to us afforded
a part of the company the Dutchess among the rest no small diversion.
The widow & her 2 daughters went home that night or
rather about 2 o Clock in the morning. The next day we spent as
joyously as the first. Though as the Widow & her daughters were
not there the company would feign persu have persuaded me that my
spirits were very low. The Duke also was pleased to divert himself
and the company a little at my expence on the same account.
On Thursday after dinner we took our leave and set off on our
return. I did not come to my lodgings but immediately to Baron
Medem's to spend the evening. Fryday/ called on Klopman in
the morning but the whole of the day till 7 in the evening I was at
home without dinner and chiefly employed in writing something in conseq
of what the Duke had talked with me about at Pinau. Supt with
Mr Bull. you will wonder at my being so much with this Mr Bull
he is a dutch-Englishman, a Merchant of Amsterdam a man of a
good deal of learning and who has travelled a great deal. He lives
at another house, but wants me to be dine and sup always
with him when I am not otherwise engaged, and he is on several
accounts very usefull to me. He sets off for Amsterdam about the
2d or 3d of next month. He keeps a carriage here and either Klopman
or he take me to court and every where else where I want to go.
Saturday Christmas day/ Went to court dine there. returned again to
the Concert. To day all was formal again The Duke's air was now quite Majesti
the court as full of red & blue Ribbands to speke the compliments of the season
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Identifier: | JB/538/421/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 538.
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1779-12-19 |
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538 |
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421 |
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001 |
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Correspondence |
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Samuel Bentham |
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