Clarkson, Catherine (1772-1856). - Letter, from Ipswich (postmark), to Dorothy Wordsworth (1771-1855), at Rydal Mount, Ambleside, Kendal, dated 30 July 1831. WLL / Clarkson, Thomas / 23.

<July 30 1831>

My dear friend!

I cannot help writing to tell you that my Husband has derived great benefit in his Rheumatic pains from taking rectified spirits of Turpentine beginning with 4 drops twice a day & increasing the dose gradually up to 20 drops - His Rheumatism however is not of the acute kind still it has been thought to be partly on the nerve of the joint - Now Sciatica is I believe considered to be wholly in the great nerve of the hip & thigh which is the cause of the dreadful pain which it occasions - You may believe that it grieves me exceedingly to learn that your dear Sister should have been so great a sufferer - Glad should I have been if she had been here to have done all I could in attending upon her. I should indeed have esteemed it a privilege to wait upon her though it would have been very painful to witness her sufferings. God grant that she may have no return of them. I owe you many thanks for answering all my questions & for your kind wishes for us & our little grandchild. I wish you could see the babe & its Mother & particularly its grandfather who seems if possible to love it more than any of us. Mary went to church last Sunday but one the day three weeks after the Birth of the child. left London the next day in the afternoon in a hired carriage & went as far as Romford where the Coach took up the whole party the following morning & brought them to Ipswich - My Sister went forward to Woodbridge & our little Carriage brought Mary & Nurse & the babe hither - They drove up to the Iron gate exactly at four o'clock The Mother stepped from the Carriage looking as fresh as a flower took the babe from the Nurses arms & presented it to me by whom it was transferred to its Grandfather. Tom went with the party to Romford & returned to London having commission business on the Tuesday Morning he followed however by a late Coach staid one day with us & back to London the next - Poor fellow! I pitied him to have to sleep in those nasty chambers but duty makes all things palateable. Mary has gone on well considering all the excitement to which she has necessarily been subjected though we have kept her as quiet as we possibly could - The babe thrives & will be a wonder when he has flesh proportioned to his bone & muscle - I never saw an Infant so strong. I am very glad that he came so soon for I shall get my share of nursing by

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beginning whilst he is light. We long to have him all to ourselves for Nurse has a great many prejudices & we dont like to put her out of her way - for she is a good creature but she does not give the child half water or air enough to please us - you may think of us sitting out of doors with the babe lying in his little basket. What a blessing that he is come whilst his dear Grandfather has eyes to see him & his grandmother strength to handle him. Dear friend! I run on but I know you will forgive me & your thoughts will go back to the Infancy of your Brothers children & my talk will revive forgotten feelings

But now to Rydal Mount & its Inmates - Is it the baby Quillinan or the little 3 year old darling whom I saw when I was with you that is Dora's Godchild? Can it be that the baby is 10 years old - Let me see - I was with you in 22 - this is 31 - yes it must be so. How wonderful it seems! How often have I thought of the corpse of its beautiful Mother lying in that House deserted House as it seemed for the children & the maid were with you & Mr Gee who imposed the duty of sleeping in the House upon himself was glad to relieve himself by day so that there was only one female when we went backward & forward - How different now with the fat Rector & his wife & child & servants - but nothing I think could make that house otherwise than melancholy to me. I wish we were rich enough to take dear Mrs Luffs house & then she should be our guest - but we seem to be further off from riches than ever. I say this without any painful feeling for our wants are abundantly supplied - only we are crippled in moving about & seeing our friends - Pray God preserve us from War & Pestilence - The Cholera will come I fear but I do not think it will prove the dreadful scourge here which it has done elsewhere - Bloodshed I fear too but not actual warfare. Private accounts from Kent & several other counties are very gloomy - The madness of the people does not seem to be appeased. Oh the folly of yielding to Intimidation! There is a prospect of an abundant Harvest though the Hay crop is short -

So far I wrote a fortnight ago - since then we have been in trouble for our dear little babe has been very poorly & I fear

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that it must be weaned - The mothers milk evidently [] with it - there is a cause for this which might perhaps [] removed but when the child is in pain the mothers [] counteract the effect of medicine & diet - They are now [] Woodbridge under the eye of Mr. Mose who really is a very [] man & I go backward & forward to see them. Tom left the [] after the assizes at York where there was little or no business [] fortunately was here when the child was at the worst - He went [] London on Monday & starts again for Carlisle - He hopes to make you a visit for a day or two - He has set his mind upon it & I hope he will not be disappointed - My Husband did not see any of Mr Wilberforces near connections when he was in London - I hope & believe that there has been nothing morally wrong in young W.W's conduct - He had a partner a much older man than himself - but the concerns were large & of a speculative kind. It is a sad pity for doubtless if the young man had followed up the Law he would have done something in it - He seemed to me a very good tempered light hearted fellow - rather pleasing in manners & person - he expressed himself well in conversation - but I thought him not strong in Intellect - I suppose that he could not apply to study & wanted to get rich - and has thus sacrificed Independence. The next Brother distinguished himself at Oxford & is a most respectable Clergyman The third Son also is a Clergyman & well spoken of. The youngest Henry I suppose is still a minor - Patty Smith travelled with the WWs to Geneva where or in the neighbourhood they are settled for the present. I heard of the party from Julia Smith who kindly wrote to enquire after us - & by the by Julia seems to have been reading the Excursion for the first time - she says "I have been very much delighted with "the Excursion" just now, it has been my comfort, it has been to me instead of country air, & song of birds & green fields this last month - How happy must he be who could write it, if only reading it goes so far towards making me happy" We have just begun Harvest & with more of the old feeling than for several years past - The weather is the [real] old english harvest weather & masters & men feel more confidence than they have done of late years that the in gathering of the Corn will prove a mutual benefit. Do you know I cannot help wishing that Dr Bell had distributed some of his immense wealth amongst his private friends - I hope he has not forgotten Mr. Johnson the most effective of all his practical coadjutors. I want very much to know whether Miss Cookson enjoys tolerable health - A nice sweet-tempered girl is come into this neighbourhood who has been a great sufferer for several years & something in the same way as Miss Cookson - She has improved greatly but her Mother says that she has been as well as she is now more than once & has gone back

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[] so that she dare not build much upon present appearances [] that a Clergyman is gone from Ipswich to Langdale. I know nothing [] except that his name is Jeffrey - Did I not tell you in my [] my Husband had consulted Dr. Farr for his eyes - he went to him [] he is a physician as well as oculist & I am persuaded that no [[?]] [] application would do good without the body being just right - Dr F [] him some medicine which did a great deal of good & the application of Belladonna to the lower eye lid acts like magic for the time. - [] are careful not to resort to it very often - But it seems as if it would at any time enable him to use his eyes for a few hours if he wanted to do so for any important purpose. It acts by enlarging the pupil. I saw my dear grandchild on Thursday peaceful & happy & I had a very good account of him & his dear Mother yesterday - If the child goes on well for two or three days the mothers milk will improve - We are very unwilling to take him wholly from the breast. He has learnt to suck Beef Tea with a little bread in it through a bottle so that it would not be difficult to wean him entirely. His mother does not want active fortitude but what heart can sustain the piercing shrieks of a little helpless Infant? When the child is not in pain it is the most placid little thing you ever saw & is very forward for its weeks - Its lower limbs are so like its grandfathers that is quite impossible to help laughing at the similitude in dissimilitude. My Husband made us all laugh immodirately when he saw him in his bath by saying that he wormed like a little man in a great Pot & "that little thing to be a 'relation of ours" "a relation" he repeated but it is impossible to represent the drollery with which he said it. Only you know him & will imagine it.

We began reaping on Wednesday to day (Saturday) several of our men are [harrowed] up from the heat - It is the case on all the neighbouring Farms

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And now my dear friend I must entrust that I may hear from some of you a little oftener. My Faith is shaken in "no news being good news" Let us bind ourselves not to suffer more than a month to elapse without answering each others letters. May God bless you all. My Husband sends his love. Mine to all & each - Your ever affectionate friend till death C: Clarkson

July 30. 1831.

To

Miss Wordsworth

Rydal Mount

Ambleside

Kendal

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Object summary: WLL / Clarkson, Thomas / 23