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Title: Letter from University of North Carolina student to his female cousin, February 8, 1817 : Electronic Edition.
Author: [Unknown]
Funding from the University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill supported the electronic publication of this title.
Text transcribed by Bari Helms
Images scanned by Bari Helms
Text encoded by Caitlin R. Donnelly
First Edition, 2007
Size of electronic edition: ca. 12K
Publisher: The University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
2007

No Copyright in US

The electronic edition is a part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill digital library, Documenting the American South.
Languages used in the text: English
Revision history:
2007-03-29, Caitlin R. Donnelly finished TEI/XML encoding.
Source(s):
Title of collection: Burwell Family Papers (#112), Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Title of document: Letter from University of North Carolina student to his female cousin, February 8, 1817
Author: [Unknown]
Description: 3 pages, 3 page images
Note: Call number 112 (Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Editorial practices
The text has been encoded using the recommendations for Level 5 of the TEI in Libraries Guidelines.
Originals are in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Original grammar, punctuation, and spelling have been preserved.
Page images can be viewed and compared in parallel with the text.
Any hyphens occurring in line breaks have been removed, and the trailing part of a word has been joined to the preceding line.
All quotation marks, em dashes and ampersand have been transcribed as entity references.
All double right and left quotation marks are encoded as ".
All single right and left quotation marks are encoded as '.
All em dashes are encoded as —.
Indentation in lines has not been preserved.

For more information about transcription and other editorial decisions, see the section Editorial Practices.
Letter from University of North Carolina student to his female cousin, Febuary 8th, 1817.
[Unknown]



Page [1]
Chapel Hill Febuary 8th 1817.

D. Cousin

I now set down to write to you, as you are one of the fair sex, I shall direct my subject chiefly upon them I will point out to you the description of the girls on the Hill, some of them have mouths capacious enough to take in a punch bowl that holds about a quart, some are so gigantic as when moveing appears like some huge monster or other, some of them, could easily, with a small wand, sweep away the cloud from above them, they are of such height, there is not a single handsome girl on the Hill, as I have seen since I have been here, the description I have given of them I must confess I have exaggerated a little, but take them all and all they are ugly, curious animals.
They are not like some I could mention there, I must pass some eulogiums, on a certain girl, you must guess her name. O! eulogiums did I say, she will not admit of eulogy without the greatest merit. Her height is common, elegantly formed; her figure of the most exact symmetry; her face that of a Hebe, blooming with life and spirit

Page [2]
"Oh! No pen can trace,"
"No words can show the beauties of her face!"
"There all the little Loves and Graces meet"
"And every thing that's soft, and ev'ry thing that's sweet!"
Her age I will not mention; she is in the full perfection of beauty. Her eyes sparkled with life and good humour. — Her cheek glowed with the freshness of the morning rose; her hand and arms were of the most polished whiteness
"For she was fair beyond the brightest bloom,"
"Fair as the forms that, wove in fancy's loom,"
"Fled in light vision round the poet's head."
A celestial smile irradiates her whole countenance; her voice is ever musick to my ear, and whose smile had power to soothe and lull to rest all my pains. She was educated in the lap of affluence and luxury. her language is impressive, bold, and energetic; light gay and elegant, or full of point and dazzling wit, according to the subject on which she converses. O if I could have my arms entwined around her most beautiful neck and could imprint on her vermilion lips the kiss of affection. By Heavens! I would think it an easy task to pluck bright honor from the pale face moon. Her temper was unalterably sweet; But her talents bears no proportion to the goodness her heart.

Page [3]
She is as pure as the snow just fallen from the sky
Tell my cousin, that, either way, I shall present to her esteem the most accomplished of human beings; but I warn her not fall in love with him, neither in propria persona, nor with his private character. Tell her, he is a bright and particular star neither in her sphere, nor in any other womans.