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Feby 4th 1780.
I received your letter yesterday just as I was going to Court
to pay my Compliments to the Dutchess on lea it being her birthday.
The compliments consisted in making a couple of bows
and kissing her hand. Almost all the Noblesse of the
country present themselves on this occasion. They come here
a day before and stay till the day after the Duke's birthday
which is the 15th of this month. During this time they
feast themselves and one another without ceasing, and
then at the expectation of the time they return to their
estates to oeconomize. That is such who have no public
concerns to keep them here. You may imagine that
this little capital is as full as it can hold, half a dozen
sleeping in a room together on beds brought into
the room at night at taken out again in the morning.
Curtains are never thought of but as ornaments
to state beds which are seldom slept in.
I got to a window and ran over my letter before the Dutchess
made her appearance. We had a great dinner that is
great in quantity for in quality it is pretty nearly always
like. As normal the desert was served the Martial
presented the Duke a glass of wine coverd with a glass top
then taking off the top held it while he drank to the Dutchess.
The Martial took his seat again and the same glass was
past round the table from one to another; a servant
attending to fill it for each person and the next in turn
standing as well as the person drinking but and holding
the top of the glass. each person empties the glass
and wipes it side with his napkin before he presents
it to the next. The glass was about half an hour
making the revolution of the table. Each person
bowed to the Dutchess in drinking, and but as She would
have been tired in returning the reverence to everyone
she did it only a few pretending to to the be
engaged in conversation with the Duke the rest of the
time. N.B. I got a courtesy. I don't know how many
there were at the 2 tables but thir were upwards between
2 and 300 who went away before dinner not being invited.
There is enough about Court matters. —
Vous me dites que vous aviez en un peu de miscontentement
de ne rien seavoir de ce que m'est arrive Dantzic.
Seavez donc que j'y passois une semaine et que en general
que j'etois tres content du mon sejour la. Sir Trevor
Corry le President Anglois une a qui j'etois adresse
par Mr Liston notre Charge des affaires a Berlin, me
cambloit de politesse; je peux bien dire cambloit parce-qu'il
me voulait quire me permettre d'accepter
les invitations des autres. — but what do I write
French for! — I made also something more than an
acquaintance if not quite a friendship with a Mr Barstow
of the house of Elliot, Barstow & Elliot Capital Merchants.
From He furnished me with all the information I
asked for, and offered to continue the same service by letters.
He furnished me also with some Recommendations
for Meruel, Pillau &c. The Russian, Dutch
& Danish residents shewed me also all the civilities
in their Power. The former (General Peterson) is married
to an English lady of Petersburg and She gave me a letter
to her sister & brother in law Mr & Mrs Kay in Riga:
the Danish resident gave me a letter to an officer in
the Marine department in that his country, the one the
most capable of furnishing me with such information
as I wish for, and who should this be but the husband
of the lady to whom Mr Lindgren so often promised
me a letter. You may tell let that lady
know that she may now spare her pen ink and
paper. Mr Hazavzenski gave me a magnificent
kind of a dinner and invited I believe most of the above
mentioned people to meet me, would feign have given
me more but I was otherwise engaged. made me
me a number of very great compliments by telling
me the civil things which my acquaintance there
said of me and in every respect behaved to me with all
possible attention and politeness. He has a son
who is now on his travels in France which is the country
he the father is very much attached to. That he has a daughter
I think I have told you in a former letter but neither
the attractive charms of the daughter nor the politeness of
the father or of the rest of my acquaintances could prevent keep
mye from pursuing my journey at the expiration of
the week, so much did I wish to fetch up that part
of my time which was almost lost in waiting for the
Vessel at Hamburg. At Koningsberg I believe I have
already told you that I stopt but a day, but that my
reception at A Merchants there was more flattering to
me than any circumstance during my journeytravels. To find
that I such men as the Mays
had taken steps to insure me civilities there
though it was a month after I had left them
flattered me more than you can imagine not knowing
the disposition of the men.
Feb.y 11.th Here I am still and here I must stay till the
15th the Duke's birthday. but shall most likely set off that
very night. The Marechal
Klopmann insisted upon it that
it would be the greatest want of attention were I to go away
so short a time before the birthday, and that the D. would
certainly take it amiss as no stranger ever had so
much attention paid to him as I have had. It is not
however the fear of displeasing the D. that makes me stay,
for I flatter myself we are too good friends for him to require
such a compliment. I have now been here near 2 months
and yet have not made many acquaintances; however I
have informed myself of what appeared subservient to my plan
and I hope to be able to give or procure you a tollerable good
account of the constitution, Laws, & politics of the country.
The attendance I have given at the Court will be of the greatest
service to me in Russia where oeconomy is more attended to
than in any country. I have for a fortnight to gather
at court every day and upon the whole at least 5 or 6 times
a week. This alone has of course not left me a great deal
of time to visit private people, but besides that it was not
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Identifier: | JB/539/010/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 539.
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1780-02-18 |
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539 |
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Correspondence |
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Samuel Bentham |
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