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Feby 4th 1789.
I received your letter yesterday just as I was going to Court
to pay my Compliments to the Dutchess on lea it being here birthday.
The compliments consisted in making a couple of bows
and kissing her hand. Almost all the Nellisse 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 e3xpectation 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
alike. 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 takes 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
bound 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 man were between y
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 servoir de ce que m'est arrive Dianzic.
Seavez docn que j'y passois une semaine et en general
que j'etois tres content du mon sehour la. Sir Trevor
Corry le President Anglois une a qui j'etois adresse
par Mr Liston notre Charge des affaires a Berlin, me
embloir 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.
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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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010 |
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001 |
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Correspondence |
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Samuel Bentham |
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