.MzEz.NDMw
[1]
via City of Washn[‘via.....Washn’ underlined] Liverpool 25 February ‘62
Dear Ann
I recd yesterday morning the letter via Africa – vizt a couple of notes from Matthew dated the 11th inst. & your 13 pages(!) written on the 9 & 11th. I went soon afterwards to Horatio N. Hughes’ office, but had to call a second time before I found him in. What I most particularly desired to see him for was to get him to act for William, instead of my doing so (or Tom Bold, as Matthew had suggested.) by effecting Insurance on his 430 bbls of Lard which Matthew is shipping hither by his orders. – Horatio made difficulties & said it had much better be done thro’ Tom Bold; but I convinced him that it would be better that he did it himself; & finally he gave in & understood it. –
We then had a talk chiefly about Rutson & Fontaine. I told him of the further news I had of them, since my last interview with him on the 20th. And on his part he shewed me
^ something of what Walker had written to him
by a copy of out[crossed out] the Africa, & placed in my hands ^ Lord Lyons letter to Fontaine, & of Fontaine’s reply on 31 Janry. – The latter was a very good compo -sition, & I was much pleased with it as
a
furnishing so strong & favorable ^ contrast with
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what he wrote to you 4 days afterwards, & such satisfactory evidence that he was in full possession of all his senses. – His language towards Lord Lyons is quite respectful & becom= =ing; but there is an air of injured innocence & affronting in the ground that F__ takes, that tickled both Horatio & me, & reminded me of of the late Mr. Radcliff (R & Duncan) when he so often warned his young clerks that they could more succeed in there calling, as attor= =nies without Imprudence,[underlined] inasmuch as this quality was, of all others, the chief requisite.
Fontaine coolly asks his Lordship to lay his case before the British Govt, & send them copies of all the correspondence that had passed between them. –
If you pronounce William to be pig-headed, I think I may say the same of Fontaine, & indeed of Rutson too, in declining their release upon the condition that they remain in parole in N. York or Boston until the War is at an end; for surely their case, with such ocular & tangible proof of their offence, is not one in which the British Govt will ever interfere on their behalf.[‘on...behalf’ crossed out] They have nothing to rely upon but Mr. Seward’s clemency; & if they will not assent to his terms, they must just remain where they are.
Before Horatio & I parted, he referred to Sarah’s letter to him about William’s coming
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here, & thus I learnt, for the first time, that he intends taking passage in David Ogden’s crack sailing ship “Dreadnaught.” – Horatio told me that he had already replied to Sarah’s letter, & told her that it was quite out of the question his having William to live with him in his house, whilst his Sister is living with him. – I was of course sorry to hear this, for a variety of reasons.
Last night, after reading your letter aloud, Mary Bold suggested that perhaps Horatio may relent in this particular after William ar= =rives. – If not, then there is nothing for it,
go
of course, but for William to ^ into lodgings somewhere, & it will be for himself to select where, – but at whose expence, it remains to be seen. –
I am sorry to learn that Tobin had been laid up, & at so very inconvenient a time. I hope he may now have a long spell of exemption from these “catastrophies.” –
On Saturday, when Laura went to pay a visit to her niece, Mrs. Foster, who (unknown to me) was in almost daily expectation of in =creasing her family, she found that the event had already taken place that morng., & before the Dr. made his appearance. The arrival is a second boy; & all has been
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going on well since. – Yesterday morning, when Laura was going to repeat her daily call on Mrs. Foster, who lives in Stanhope St., I offered to walk with her, supposing it was all in my may to the office. But instead of that I found the locality was Stanhope St., Windsor,[underlined] close to the head of Parliament St., & near Lodge Lane! But I persisted notwithstanding, after discovering my mis= =take, & accompanied her to the door. – On my way back to town, I descended via Leece St. where I turned into Roscoe St. & down Oldham St., where all looked much as it did 50 years ago![’50...ago’ underlined]. I took note of the cellar where William, the back-door watchman, lived with his wife & family, the house where Jas. Bold lodged for a while, & the old Scotch [Kirk?]
^ & its [smaked?] trees; which seemed not be have
increased a particle in size since I was one of Miss Smith’s day scholars!
On Sunday evening I felt in a similar mood of renewing my acquaintance with old scenes, so I walked for 2 hours as follows: Steering for Rodney St. I walked along the Mount, with its stunted trees (just like those in Oldham St.) – & then I took the whole line of streets up to the communion window of St. Ann’s church;
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I thought of old Mr. Reddish, the accountant, & his wife, arm in arm limping their way to Trinity church, – Russell St. & the Welch charity school brought to mind Mr. [Lomax?] & our old, surviving friend Mr. Turner, when he visited that school. Seymour St. reminded me of Tom Gilpen, & poor Tottie, both of whom lodged there. The site of the Blue Bell re= =minded me of the my travels to & from London in the [“H....,”?] that coach of such incredible speed! that accomplished the 210 miles in about 30 hours !! – Norton St. was little changed, but I
next to
missed the garden fronting a small house near[crossed out] ^ the house were Parson Pulford kept his school. – St. Ann St. was most changed of all, & most woefully! Our Uncle Rutson’s house is now, according to the signs printed on the windows, a “Model Lodging House”! – Think of that,
– “to what ignoble uses may in come at last.”
When I reached St. Ann’s church, I took the narrow foot-way, beside the church-yard, that leads to Cageneau St. – but did not go along that street. I went all round to the front of the church. – Presently I stood at a spot where Uncle Bold so often pulled up in his gig. To make sure I looked at the name of the St., to satisfy myself that it really had the euphonious title of “Rose Place;” & there was the house once, & so long, tenanted by
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the Revd Mr. Smythe, now converted into a miserable dram-shop! – Following the track of Uncle Bold’s gig as far as “Squire” Houghton’s house, at the foot of Gt. Nelson St. North. I there left that track, & went in to Roscommon St., renewing my remembrance of the Brade’s handsome house, & thinking of Pheebe Chorley’s across the way. When I reached the head of Roscommon St. I turned to the right & went along Netherfield Road, below the house where the beautiful Miss Roaches dwelt, fronting[crossed out] past the abode of “Mad [Broen’s?]” father, & the abodes of Major Brooks & the Salkelds, & within sight of Molly Bushell’s famous toffee-shop.
Then I came along Shaw St., Moss St. Daulby St., Brownlow St. & into Mt. Pleasant by the E. side of the Wellington Rooms. Returning, as I had gone, along Rodney St, I finally reached Wel= =field Place at 8 1/2 o’clock just as they had sat down to T, & with a good appetite for the same. –
As I walked home to dinner on Saturday, I loaded by[crossed out] myself with the following articles – 2 very large & heavy oranges, a quart bottle of London made (or so it professed to be) “Royal Milk Punch,” 1/2 a doz. scotch Scones from Wellacey’s & an 8 [?] jar of Marmalade. – On reach= ing the house Mary let me in with my load. She had seated with her in the parlour, an old woman, once a cook living in the house =hold of Sir Wm. Burton. – ‘
[Marginalia – Left Side] I was surprised, & sorry, to learn from young Mr. Hodgson to-day, that although living
under the same
[Marginalia – Right Side] roof with his Parents, he has not seen his Father more than once or twice in the last 5 weeks! – He says his Father is mending, “getting along nicely,” beginning to walk a
little out of doors.
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The old body has long been a pensioner of the Bold’s. She had come out afoot all the way from Bevington Bush, & intended walking thither!. –
The Scones answered for T on Sunday as well as Saturday. The Milk-punch is good, tho’ perhaps not equal to that of your composition. –
I liked Dr. M’Neill’s sermon on Sunday morning better than any I have yet heard from him. There was no one in the pew except Mr. & Mrs. H__ & myself.
Mr. Clunas has just called on me. He is in the mood of embarking tomorrow in the City of Washn. –
I have at last got my price of 8d., that I have been so long asking for our Surats, but only for 40 bales. – I propose letting the rest go at 8d. –
The most interesting or stirring event in this letter is reserved for the close. It is this:
This morng., about 7 a.m. I was tangibly
audibly
as well as orally[crossed out] ^ wakened by “Taylor” out of a sound sleep with the words, “House on fire!”[‘House....fire’ underlined]
As you may guess, I was out of bed & dressed very speedily; - I think in about 5 minutes.
Before I had entirely finished, I stepped out of my room, & asked which house?[‘which house’ underlined] where I was told – The house next door, not the Casements’
– but that on the other side (No. 13) - The
smell of fire was unmistakeable as I was
Ere
dressing. When[crossed out] ^ I got down stairs, Mary Bold came up to my room in her dressing gown to see if I had got up; but we did not ex= =change speech. – When I reached the front
[Marginalia]
And this interdict shows his fathers condition to have been one [of more other
prostration?] than I
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door, Taylor & Kate were bringing up buckets of water to hand across the iron railing to persons who handed them [inthem?] at the next door; - & I took my stand there to aid in this task of lifting the laden buckets across the rails & receive back the empty ones. – The smoke was issuing out in an alarming volume. It was the kitch=
in that was on fire; but it was extin
=guished in a few minutes, to our infinite satisfaction. It must have been burning all night. \\ Here I had to stop, to come home to dinner since which we have had Mr. & Mrs. Edwd A. Cox here from Cardiff. – They came to Lpool last night, & have been spending the evening here. – I enclose his card, in case Matthew knows any means of promoting his interest among ship-owners, or others, at N. York. – After they arrived here about 6½ p.m., I carried by Mary Bold’s request a letter to P.O. receiving shop, on the Park Road (Taylor having gone out to spend the evening somewhere.
The thought occurred to me that Mr. & Mrs. Cox might be in the hungry mood of Miss [Twentyman?] after “an early dinner,” so I extended my walk to a confectioner’s near Steven’s bread shop, & purchased 2 T cakes, some fancy cakes, & a small pot of potted shrimps, & presented these to Mary Bold, in her room, on my return. And I was pleased to observe that this provender seemed to give all the satisfaction I could wish to those assembled round the T table. \\ As I find that Mary has given you a full, true, & particular account of the Fire, I forbear to pursue that topic any further. \\ I send you 3 London Times, & enclose a slip as to the recent honours bestowed Dr. Howson at Cambridge which no doubt was highly gratifying to him, & his commissions.
[Marginalia]
Yours affectionately Rutson Maury
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9
26th February – office – 2 p.m.
I just now saw Mr. John Wood ( Issac Low & Co.) who tells me that via Africa they had a letter of 11th inst from Mr. Thos Dixon, stating that an order had been given by Mr. Seward for the release of Mr. Low for 60 days parole, and he (Low) to remain in Balto., & to report himself person= =ally everyday to Genl Dix. – Mr. Dixon expects the release of Mr. Green also, immediately, under similar conditions.
I should fancy that upon further reflection, our two nephews will accept the terms of release that have been offered to them; & uncle Horatio (whom I have just been talking with) is of the same opinion.
Mr. John Wakefield Cropper is in London.
Yesterday I met his Father in the street, & had a little talk with him. He told me they had no later news from Sedgwick than Mary Wakefield’s own letter to his son John, recd on Saturday last. – the purport of which I then gave to you. –
He further told me that, besides his own letter to Sir Chas Trevelyan, heralding the formal letter of introduction given to Mr. Davis, his Wife wrote a letter on behalf of Mr. &
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Mrs. Davis to Lady Trevelyan, which had been answered by her daughter, who said that her father had seen Mr. Davis the day before he & Mrs. Davis left London, & that her father & mother regretted much that this interview had not occur= =red sooner, or that Mr. & Mrs. D_ had not stayed longer in London, to have enabled them (Sir Chas. & Lady T) to have received them at their house.
You can thank Mrs. Cropper accordingly when you next write to her.
I think there is a feeling gaining ground now in Lpool that in this strug= gle [ ? ] No. & So., the South must suc= =cumb, & return to the Union. – I was just now talking with Mr. Gilmour (Mr. Barnsley’s son in law) and entirely coin =cides in my view that this talk of undying hatred, impossibility of reconcilia =tion, that the So. will never give in etc, etc, is all bash.[‘all bash’ underlined] But I do not think he would like to be named[underlined] as entertaining this opin= =ion. –
