After a long, & perhaps I might say, a censurable delay I
undertake to answer your friendly & satisfactory letter. I should feel very
guilty of ingra
(titude to you, & might
justly
incur deserve your reproach, for
my past silence, had I not the following excuse to offer—the great
pressure of business. I have been unusually busy since I wrote to
Mother,
& contrary to what was then the case, have had bad health—an
extremely bad cold. Having a great deal to do, & but little health with
which to perform these indispensable tasks I was necessarily obliged to
postpone all matters which could be defered. My health has now improved &
in consequence of this blessing I am permitted to pay a debt of love, though my
college duties are still very urgent.
William's letter has been received which gave me the
pleasant information of the good health of my relations;
but it appears that it lay a week or two in
the office at
Charlotte.
It was written before the reception of the one I wrote to
Mother or
at least did not mention it. It also stated that
McCulloch has dissented from the decission of the jury.
2 I am
very sorry to hear this. I hope however that he will become satisfied &
cause us no more trouble, or that if he will proceed; that the court will stop
him in his career. Could every man do right, how much happier might we live!
Could any thing be done by reasoning the case with him, I think it would be
advisable for
William
or some person who might have influence upon him, to consider the matter with
him; for if he does proceed, there is no knowing where the matter will end. It
is
a most unfair & unjust, that
he should be the first to be dissatisfied in this affair.
But,
Hugh, such
is the disposition of man, such is the consequence of we
alth. I was glad to learn from your letter that you got home
in safety. You did not state how your money held out, which I should have been
glad to have known. I got a letter from
Caroline a few days ago. She was well & doing well,
but seemed
Page 2
anxious to hear from home. Some of you
ought to write to her. I have visited her once & written once & also
sent your letter to her. I was well pleased on my visit to
Hillsborough with her situation with respect to her boarding
school &c. I have every rea
son to beleive
she is doing well & will do well. In my letter to her, I was free in giving
her advice on different subjects, which I also did when I went up to see her.
On that occassion I had considerable satisfaction with the girls—had
pleasant chat with them heard one play on the Pianna &c. They seemed glad
to see me & were quit familiar.
Caroline told me of their chat about you &
myself—that they said I had on Jackson pantaloons but upon the whole
looked pretty well—that they called you the brushy-headed man & was
not quite so handsome as I. So
Hugh you
are in the back grouds. But I know not how they could admire either of us, for
we
both were certainly very dirty &
shabily dressed. In fine,
Hugh, they
are right singular little animals. Being exceedingly busy I write this at
different times, whenever a leisure moment offers itself; consequently since
writing the above I have received
Mother's
&
Jane's
letter, which is a source of great delight to me, brin
ging news of a later date than
William's, & observing that you are all still in
health. I cannot proceed without first expressing my sincerest thanks to
Mother for
her token of affection in attempting to write
to
Caroline & myself, & giving her credit for the
execution. I shall send the letter to
Caroline as soon as possible. Permit me here to make a
remark of some importance. It is as necessary that a letter at least in its
outward appearance should be neat, that is consist of common letter paper,
& be backed correctly, & folded up in the usual manner & of the
usual size, as that a young person should be neatly & fashonably dressed
when he appears in the company of strangers. This
Hugh I
intend to apply to all of you, as I often get letters from you which are of
very coarse, unsuitable paper,
& which
have the directions on the back put on the wrong place, & the places to
which they are directed incorrectly spelt.—For instance some
3 of you
spell
Chapel
Hill thus
Chapilhill, others thus
Chapple
Hill, & some times thus
Chaplehill. Now none of these is correct. This is the way to
write it,
Chapel Hill
, making two words instead [of] one,
each of which begins with a capital letter & the first having but one
p in it. I believe I generally fold & back my
letters in the fashonable way; if you can therefore condescend to take mine as
pattern I think you would improve.
4 Pay
particular attention to them & imitate them exactly for it is of
importance to write a
nice letter & any person can succeed who takes the
necessary pains. Now, it was not
Mother's
letter which suggested this remark, for it did indeed surpass my expectation;
but I have often thought of making them.
Hugh,
permit me to advise you to read all that is in your power. Your situation
perhaps will offer you opportunities to to do so, as I learn that you live with
mother
& oversee her lands. This is commendable
Page 3
in
you, as we should do all we can for our
Mother
& take every burden off her hands which we can. She has been too much
exposed for the last year to hardships.
Mother's
letter stated something about
aunt
Peggy, but I did not understand it.
Hugh we
ought to take care of her as she is the sister of our
Father,
who is now left lonely & helpless. She is an object of our pity & care,
& it will be in after life a sweet consolation that we were kind to her,
& gave her assistance in her hepless condition. We should overlook all
imperfections in her & treat her as one of our near relations.
Mother's
letter also stated that
S.
Manson
5 is
also dissatisfied with the division of the land. This I am truly sorry to hear.
Hugh let it
never be said of the rest of us that we [s]howed a contentious dispition
[about] our
Father's property. Let us in all
our lives remember what
Paul says with
respect to a brother going to law against brother in the 6
th chapter of 1
st
Corinthians,
6 which
read if you please.
Our Senior Report has not come out yet, but is expected shortly.
When it does I shall let you know how matters stand. I endeavor to build no
high expectations, & consequently hope not to be disappointed; indeed you
nor myself should not entertain very high notions, on account of my bad health
& late entrance into
College. In about a week my class have to speak again our
own compositions publickly. As soon as the throng of business is over I expect
to go to
Hillsborough again, which will [be per]haps about the 25th of April.
With respect to [my] coming home I have
thought much, & cannot
decide what would be the best. I would
be extremely glad you &
William &
Margaret
could come down to our commencement on the
2 5
th of June, as much for your own
gratification as our accomodation & pleassure. The stage will be throng
with young men, so that it would not be convenient for both of us to take a
passage with them; consequently if you do not come for
Caroline we will have to stay untill the next
stage—, nearly a week longer: & were some person to come for her I
should be glad to go home with them. The plan then which I have thought of is
this. If you cannot come so as to take both of us & our packages, for to
get a chair to take her & her trunk, & bring a single horse for me,
which one person could do. I will then send my trunk by the stage & go home
horse back. If you cannot come to take either of us or both we will wait a week
& come in in the stage, which however will cost us a great deal. If you or
any person comes to take [us] home, you shall be at no expense. I should be
glad you & any of the others could come
at any [rate] merely to
7 see
our performances on that occassion, if you can spare the time & money. I
want you to consider this matter, & tell me in your next what you can do,
so that I may know in time how we are to get home. Recollect I wish you &
the others to consult your
own interest &
feelings in this affair, & not mine. Remember me to all my friends. My next
letter will be written to
William, as soon as convenient after the Report is read. I
wish you much pleasure & success among the fair ones of
Providence
& in every thing else. My best love to
Mother
& all the family, &
Hugh
believe me to be