Letter 6: 6 September 1800
Letter 6: 6 September 1800
- Physical form: One sheet folded into 2 leaves (18.4 x 22.7 cm)
- Cover: Miss Rickards / at Mrs Hunt’s / Crescent / Birmingham
- PM: Penny Post Pd 1d [Ha]mpstead S.O.
[twice]
7o’ClockNight SP 8 PENNYPOSTPAID
C S E 8 80[0] - WM: BUTTANSHAW
- SM: Misc MS 4342
My dear Miss Rickards,
Tho I hope so soon to see you again I
cannot, especially as you desire another letter, deny myself the pleasure of
writing to you once more[.] We returned from Norfolk last Tuesday the 26th, & after having spent a
couple of days at Newington, [1] &
one at Low Layton with Mrs Gregory, [2] returned
hither. Willing still to enjoy the fine weather, we went last Thursday to
Richmond, & in order to improve the time of your absence, & because also
(to let you into a secret) I find Hampstead dull without you, we are going to
Dorking [3] on Monday next, & shall return when you do, within a day more
or less. I spent a day since I wrote to you with a farmer who was in the middle
of his harvest. It was an interesting sight, fifteen or sixteen men, grasping
the sickle, & taking as
even
[fol 1v] even & measured
strokes as if they had been regulated by music, others setting up, & binding
the sheaves—the children of the family playing about in high delight, & the
gleaners eagerly treading on the heels of the harvest men—all these presented un
tableau bien riant, & tho I could not absolutely discern any Lavinias among
the gleaners, the master of the farm was a very respectable Palemon [4]—I saw
Mlle Julien at Norwich; [5] Mrs John Taylor [6] is very fond of her. We found most of our friends at
Diss & Palgrave [7] much as we left them last. Indeed you will think it
is a part of the country where people remain stationary a good while, when I
tell you there are two couple whose ages make above 330. I see by the papers we
have lost a lady in good old age, who has been equally distinguished in the
splendid circles of fashion & the walks of literature; I mean Mrs Montague. [8] As an author, she was indeed satisfied with
the reputation which her first & only publication procured for her, but her
house was long ^the^ resort of whoever was distinguished
in
[fol 2r] in the court or the college; & the wit & charms of her own conversation were surpassed by none of those she entertained—The Hoares [9] go to Norwich on Wednesday for two months. I met with an anagram at Norwich which I think very curious—
Your ever affte
AL Barbauld
Hampstead Sep -6th
Notes
[1] Stoke Newington, north of London, perhaps to visit JA, who had settled there in 1798 on his return from Dorking. In 1802 the Barbaulds would settle there. BACK
[2] "Mrs. Gregory": Betsy Nunes, a friend from Palgrave School days who married the Rev. Dr. George Gregory (1754–1808), a feminist, liberal, and prolific writer (ODNB). At this time the Gregorys lived at Low Leyton, east of Stoke Newington. BACK
[3] Dorking: See Note 1 to Letter 1. BACK
[4] ALB alludes to the story of Lavinia and Palemon in Thomson's Autumn, lines 177–310. BACK
[5] "Mlle Julien": Not identified. Probably ALB saw her perform at the Theatre Royal in Norwich. BACK
[6] Mrs John Taylor: Susannah Taylor (nee Cook, 1755–1823), friend of ALB and mother of Sarah and Susan Taylor, ALB protegees. See Note 4, Letter 5. BACK
[7] Diss and Palgrave: See Note 7, Letter 5. BACK
[8] Elizabeth Montagu (1718–1800), author of An Essay on the Writings and Genius of Shakespeare (1769) and famous for hosting intellectual salons. In the early days of her literary celebrity ALB had been invited to join Montagu's circle. BACK
[9] The family of Samuel Hoare, banker, of Hampstead, friends of the Barbaulds. BACK
[10] "Un Corse" is Napoleon Bonaparte, who in 1800 was not yet emperor of France. What the anagram makes is not clear. BACK