[[1]]*1
To Lady Palgrave
H. W
M. S
Erebus Hobart Town
June 30th 1841
My dear aunt
It is exceedingly kind of you to think of & to write to me so often; the more so
as the narrow circle of my dear correspondents at home is gradually
decreasing); to that, should my worst fears be realized; I shall have to return
to an almost empty house: under these circumstances, the proofs which I
receive of your affectionate regard for me, are as so many consolations for
the other irreparable losses.
It is, however, very ungrateful of one to commence troubling you with a
repetition of those regrets, which you must know I feel, & which are doubly
bittered from any absence & the distance I am from my friends. On the
contrary, I have much to thank you for in having given me such good news of
those other equally dear branches of my family, which God has been pleased
to spare to me. And, in the first, it is especially gratifying to read what you
write about my father & Kew gardens. I much feared that his late sorrows &
the harassing life he has lately led, in waiting upon so many great men would
have told on his constitution. His anxiety to be appointed to the gardens is
such, that he may make too many sacrifices to obtain them; &, when he does,
he has still much to go through before he can comfortably sit down in his
house: should he, on the other hand, be disappointed, it will vex him very
much & depress his spirits: by this time it is, I hope, all settled.
Gurney's name I have often looked for in the E. India papers
[[2]] that have come under my eye, but never met it: poor fellow will now
doubtless get on well; & it is very lucky that he has an acting Surgeonship so
soon, & so good a commander as Col[onel] Wilkins; for every thing, both in
the army & navy, depends upon the good opinion in which you are held by the
commanding officer -- of Dawson's appointment I heard before we went to the
Southern end ward. I sincerely congratulate him upon obtaining an appointment
in a school so well known, & which has produced so many scholars; for I
remember the highest of our Glasgow classical honours being one Year taken
by one from that seminary. My mother tells me he offered to escort Maria to
Jersey, should my father have been prevented by Grandpapa's illness: it was
very kind of him, & very generous to make such an offer! I can but wish him
preferment, either where he is or into a still higher situation & that speedily. I
remember old Mr Gunn very well, & congratulate my Uncle, Jacobson John, on
his good health. I shall never forget spending a very happy week shooting
with Uncle John at Irstead; &, if you write to him, will you be good enough to
ask with my kind compliments on what day pheasant shooting commences?
Then, there is my Aunt Ellen & her Host and husband whom I have never seen;
but in whose increasing family I greatly rejoice truly, I shall have a fine party of
cousins on my return: well do I remember her trying to drive greek into my
head at Hastings, & persuading me that the greek for "we God[?] bless thee, oh
Grasshopper", was passing beautiful. I cast a passing look at Pelham
crescent the other day, on coming down channel; & it brought crowd of old
associations into my head. Aunt Hannah I have not seen nor heard of since
her marriage; & what is more, my Uncle owes me a letter for now 3 or 4 years:
they live, I suppose
[[3]] near or in Yarmouth, where they must be a great comfort to my good
Grandfather & Grandmother, as also to Aunt Mary, who, no doubt, is well. My
dear Aunt, the letter you sent me so vividly brings all these relations to mind,
that it is quite a pleasure to read & reread it; & I find that writing you these few
lines has finished for the time all my melancholy forebodings: you surely need
no greater proof that it is a pleasure to write to you; nor must the small size of
this epistle lead you to think otherwise; for the fact is, I am much straitened for
time. Your's[sic] & my Mother's letters have arrived yesterday; & the post for
England was made up today: it is now 8 PM: I have been all day writing
letters: it is raining hard; & I must get a boat & pull into the cove among the
shipping, to find the homeward bound ship, which I understand sails early
tomorrow morning) -The success of your children at the Charter house must be a great comfort to
you: how happily each follows the others steps; it is, I feel sure, a
precurser[sic.] of greater things to be done at College. Will you tell the boys
with my kind love that there are nothing but seals, whales, penguins & a few
other birds to be found within the Antarctic circle, : no Walrusses tusks, or
bears', or foxes' skins, nothing to bring home as nice presents to your friends
except some pieces of rock from Lat[itude] 74° S[outh]. the 'ultima Thule'
landed upon. I always like to look back to my journal, & see whereabouts I
was when my friends were writing letters to me, on the 10th -- Feb[ruar]y, the
date of yours, I find we were hove-to in a heavy gale & wind, with thick
weather & snow all day, the therm[ometer] at 26°, passing through much
loose Ice, many bergs, & c. Lat[aitude].76. 54 S[ou]th, Long[itude] 183.16
E[ast] -- Again, my dear aunt, let me thank you for your most kind valentine,
certainly the most acceptable & welcome one I ever received.
[[4]] My Mother will, I dare say, tell you that the letter[s] which should have
arrived by the Hebe" did not come at all; &, among them must be the one you
are so good as to have written: it appears the admiralty bags have gone on to
China, with our letters, dispatches &c. I hope to see something of them at
Sydney. There is a vessel come this evening, the "Perseus" from London: she
is said to have lots of letters for us; but they have not arrived here yet; &, if
they do to night, it will, I fear, be too late to answer them by tomorrow's ship
for home. I put these on board at once, to save a chance; & then shall go
ashore & enquire about the new mails, &, if it can be done, (that is, if any thing
delays the sailing of this ship) I shall send an answer, if I receive any thing.
Pray give my kindest love to all at Hampstead, & | Believe me dear Aunt, |
Your most affectionate Nephew| J. D. Hooker
P.S. There are very few Quarterly's here. Sir John Franklin however, has it;
but her Ladyship is unwell, & there are no callers there now. I shall doubtless
find it at Sydney, & shall have great pleasure in reading it; most likely, at Mr
McLeay's
ENDNOTES
1. This letter is a contemporary 19th century copy, not written in the hand of
the original author Joseph Dalton Hooker, and not signed by him. The copy
was probably made by Hooker's Mother or one of his sisters to be circulated
amongst family and friends.
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