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this is not all that is sufficient. I have been very
near taking one or two steps here from a kind
of unwariness which you & I have in our dispositions
and you I believe even more than I which if I had
taken would have put an end to all expectations
from this quarter. As it is I have great reason to
expect success but cannot possibly "be assured of it
these 2 or 3 months. Neither would I choose in any way
to engage myself here before I had visited Russia unless
my success here depended on my not going there. The case
however is quite the contrary.
I received also yesterday at my return to Mittau your
two letters one dated Decr 28th the other the 31st. Also one
from Mr Rigron at Petersburg to in answer to one I had
written to him for credit at Riga. I will now instead
of going to Sup at Mideni's set about answering your letters.
You have given me to expect a great deal of usefull
information for Div: but I fear that Mr Coulemb has
been beforehand with me.
You may depend on my profiting of the oeconomical
and safe conveyance of letters from Petersburg by the canal
of Mr Sneyd. am I to direct them to him?
With regard to cloaths as I have made a mit of Velvet
here I am in hopes I may do without any more.
Curvators. Its is right there should be no whale bone
buttons I ordered none.
The letter I sent you from Meruel was but a very small one
it contained a copy of a letter which I received from Baron
in answer to one I had written him from Dantzic
to send me my letters. It was his telling me that he had
received none for me that made me expect to find them
directed to at . If I don't hear of
your having received this letter I shall write to Meruel about
it.
I will remember your directions.
the
At Petersberg I shall hear about Mr Grosseman's treatise
on ship timber. — Thank you for Govt Transports.
I hope very much to have an answer before I leave
Riga to the letter I sent you the 26th of Decr in which
I gave your some about foreigners buying estates
in England. This interests me very much.
Fontana's Air Experiments prove what I expected from
having seen Trostwijk's: but I am very agreably surprised
with at the degree length of time which he could breath so
small a quantity.
I did not know much of him nor had I any great opinion of
his abilities. Bach is a man of a great streak of knowledge
but no genius to make use of it. Eveling is a
man of the greater abilities. He told me he would
write to you.
This is certainly a very interesting discovery and by
means of the description given us at the patent office
one certainly might be able to make it perfectly.
Yes do send me your expounding table if it is
not too troublesome to copy or get copied whether it
be finished or not.
Kleist here has had a letter from his son giving
him an account of his success in a lawsuit between
Thorpe and him about an exorbitant charge he
made for his time in attending them on their
travels notwithstanding he had offered to do it
for nothing but his expences and they had besides
either kept him out or actually taken him out
of prison more than once. His moral character
must be bad, but yet if you know how to manage <add> deal with him he may be usefull</add>
Now for your second letter.
12 It is with the greatest pleasure that I find that my father
is pleased with my letters and satisfied that my travels
may turn to my advantage. I am infinitely obliged
to him for his Offers of advancing me the money if I
should find an advantageous opportunity of engaging
in Trade; but I do not much think that I shall
have occasion for it. For although it is very probable
I may engage in some way of trade before I return
yet it would most likely be such in which no
capital would be necessary or at least none to be made
use of out of England. My schemes with respect to this
plan are very different from what they were before I came
here. That which was then the principal one is now
scarcely thought of. It may be put in practise but not
till others are brought to bear.
At my return to Mittau I also found people all in a
bustle on account of a part of the palace being
fallen in. The floor of the Chapel of a room or two
adjoining together with that of the 2 other stories underneath
all fell in upon the lower a ground floor which was a
kind of Arsenal. The Archives of the Dutchy which
were kept in one of these rooms are some of them a good deal put
out of order and disfigured if not torn and or lost.
This accident was owing to the same cause as the downfall
at . There were heavy walls built over arches
which were without any support immediately under them.
The next day the Sister of the old duchess the Duke's
Mother died here. She was my opposite neighbour
but as she has been for some time too infirm to come to
Court, there is no mourning for her.
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Identifier: | JB/539/008/002 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 539.
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1780-01-29 |
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539 |
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008 |
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002 |
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Correspondence |
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Samuel Bentham |
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