 | Letters of Mrs. Adams, |  |
Heaven be praised, I have safely landed upon the
British coast. How flattering, how smooth the ocean,
how delightful was Sunday, the 18th of July. We
flattered ourselves with the prospect of a gentle
breeze to carry us on shore at Portsmouth, where
we agreed to land, as going up the Channel always
proves tedious; but on Sunday night the wind shifted
to the southwest, which, upon this coast, is the same
with our northeast winds. It blew a gale on Sunday
night, on Monday and Monday night, equal to
an equinoctial. We were obliged to carry double-reefed
topsails only, and what added to our misfortunes
was, that, though we had made land the day
before, it was so thick that we could not certainly
determine what land it was. It is now Tuesday,
and I have slept only four hours since Saturday
night, such was the tossing and tumbling on board
our ship. The captain never left the deck the
whole time, either to eat or sleep, though they told
me there was no danger; nor do I suppose that
there really was any, as we had sea-room enough.
Yet, the great number of vessels constantly coming
out of the Channel, and the apprehension of
being run down, or being nearer the land than
we imagined, kept me constantly agitated. Added
to this, I bad a violent sick headache. O! what
land. You will hardly wonder, then, at the joy we
felt this day in seeing the cliffs of Dover, Dover
castle, and town. The wind was in some measure
subsided. It rained, however, and was as squally
as the month of March; the sea ran very high; a
pilot-boat came on board at about ten o'clock this
morning. The captain came to anchor with his
ship in the Downs, and the little town of Deal lay
before us. Some of the gentlemen talked of going
on shore with the pilot-boat, and sending for us if
the wind subsided. The boat was about as large as
a Charlestown ferry-boat, and the distance from the
ship about twice as far as from Boston to Charlestown;
a shore as bold as Nantasket beach; no
wharf, but you must be run right on shore by a
wave, where a number of men stand to catch hold
of the boat, and draw it up. The surf ran six feet
high, but this we did not know until driven on by a
wave; for the pilots, eager to get money, assured
the gentlemen they could land us safe, without our
being wet; and, as we saw no prospect of its being
better through the day, we accordingly agreed to go.
We were wrapped up and lowered from the ship
into the boat; the whole ship's crew eager to assist
us; the gentlemen attentive and kind as though we
were all brothers and sisters. We have spent a
month together, and were as happy as the sea would
permit us to be. We set off from the vessel, now
mounting upon the top of a wave high as a steeple,
and then so low that the boat was not to be seen.
the gentlemen stood braced up against the boat, fast
hold of me, and I with both my arms round him;
the other ladies were held in the same manner,
whilst every wave gave us a broadside, and finally a
wave landed us with the utmost force upon the
beach, the broadside of the boat right against the
shore, which was owing to the bad management of
the men, and the high sea.
(Thus far I had proceeded in my account, when a
summons to tea prevented my adding more; since
which I have not been able to take my pen. Though
now, at my lodgings in London, I will take up the
thread where I left it, until the whole ball is unwound.
Every particular will be interesting to my
friends, I presume, and to no others expose this incorrect
scrawl.)
We consequently all pressed upon the side next
the shore, to get out as quick as possible, which we
need not have done, if we had known what I afterwards
found to be the case, that it was the only way
in which we could be landed, and not, as I at first
supposed, owing to the bad management of the
boatmen. We should have sat still for a succession
of waves to have carried us up higher, but the roar
of them terrified us all, and we expected the next
would fill our boat; so out we sprang, as fast as
possible, sinking every step into the sand, and looking
like a parcel of Naiads, just rising from the sea.
A public house was fortunately just at hand, into
which we thankfully entered, changed our clothing,
that day, we engaged them for six o'clock the
next morning, and took lodgings there, all of us, ten
in number. Mr. Green set off immediately for London;
nobody mourned. We were all glad to retire
early to rest. For myself, I was so faint and fatigued,
that I could get but little. We rose at five,
and, our post-chaises being all at the door, we set
off, in the following order; Mr. Foster, myself, and
Esther, in one, Dr. Clark and Abby in the second,
Colonel Norton, Mrs. Adams and brother, in the
third, and Mr. Spear and Lieutenant Mellicot brought
up the rear. Our first stage was eighteen miles, from
Deal to Canterbury, where we breakfasted; the
roads are fine, and a stone a novelty; I do not recollect
to have seen one, except the pavements of
Canterbury and other towns, from Deal to London,
which is seventy-two miles. Vast fields of wheat,
oats, English beans, and the horse-bean, with hops,
are the produce of the country through which we
passed, which is cultivated like a garden down to
the very edge of the road, and what surprised me
was that very little was enclosed within fences.
Hedge fences are almost the only kind you see; no
cattle at large without a herdsman; the oxen are
small, but the cows and sheep very large, such as I
never saw before. When we arrive at the end of
our stage, we discharge the first carriages, and call
for new ones, which will be ready in a few moments
after you issue your orders. Call for breakfast, you
have it, perhaps, in ten minutes for ten people, with
Canterbury is a larger town than Boston. It contains
a number of old Gothic cathedrals, which are
all of stone, very heavy, with but few windows,
which are grated with large bars of iron, and look
more like jails for criminals, than places designed
for the worship of the Deity. One would suppose,
from the manner in which they are guarded, that
they apprehended devotion would be stolen. They
have a most gloomy appearance, and really made
me shudder. The houses, too, have a heavy look,
being chiefly thatched roofs, or covered with crooked
brick tiles. Now and then you would see upon the
road a large wood, looking like a forest, for a whole
mile, enclosed with a high brick wall, or cemented
stone; an enormous iron gate would give one a peep,
as we passed, of a large pile of building, which
looked like the castles of some of the ancient
barons; but, as we were strangers in the country,
we could only conjecture what they were, and what
they might have been. We proceeded from Canterbury
to Rochester, about fifteen miles, another
pretty town, not so large as the former. From
thence to Chatham, where we stopped at a very
elegant inn to dine. As soon as you drive into the
yard, you have at these places as many footmen
round you as you have carriages, who, with their
politest airs, take down the step of your carriage,
assist you out, inquire if you want fresh horses or
carriages; "Will supply you directly, Sir," is the answer;
a well-dressed hostess steps forward, making
if you desire a chamber, the chambermaid attends;
you request dinner, say in half an hour; the bill of
fare is directly brought; you mark what you wish to
have, and suppose it to be a variety of fish, fowl, and
meat, all of which we had, up to eight different
dishes, besides vegetables. The moment the time
you stated is out, you will have your dinner upon
table in as elegant a style as at any gentleman's
table, with your powdered waiters, and the master
or mistress always brings the first dish upon table
in person. But you must know that travelling in a
post-chaise is what entitles you to all this respect.
From Chatham we proceeded on our way as fast
as possible, wishing to pass Blackheath before dark.
Upon this road, a gentleman alone in a chaise passed
us, and very soon a coach before us stopped, and
there was a hue and cry, "A robbery, a robbery!"
The man in the chaise was the person robbed, and
this in open day with carriages constantly passing.
We were not a little alarmed, and every one was
concealing his money. Every place we passed and
every post-chaise we met was crying out, "A robbery!"
Where the thing is so common, I was surprised
to see such an alarm. The robber was pursued
and taken in about two miles, and we saw the poor
wretch, ghastly and horrible, brought along on foot;
his horse ridden by a person who took him, who also
had his pistol. He looked like a youth of twenty
only, attempted to lift his hat, and looked despair.
You can form some idea of my feelings when they
sits next month; and then, my lad, you swing."
Though every robber may deserve death, yet to exult
over the wretched is what our country is not
accustomed to. Long may it be free from such
villanies, and long may it preserve a commiseration
for the wretched.
We proceeded, until at about eight o'clock I
was set down at Low's Hotel in Covent Garden,
the Court end of the town. These lodgings I took
only for one night, until others more private could be
procured. As I found Mr. Adams was not here,
I did not wish such expensive apartments. It was
the hotel at which he kept, when he resided here.
Mr. Spear set out in quest of Mr. Smith; but he
had received intelligence of my coming out with
Captain Lyde, and had been in quest of me but
half an hour before at this very place. Mr. Spear
was obliged to go first to the custom-house, and,
as good fortune would have it, Mr. Smith and Mr.
Storer were near it and saw him alight from the
coach, upon which he informed them of my arrival.
Though a mile distant, they set out upon a
full run, (they say,) and very soon, to our mutual
satisfaction, we met in the hotel. "How do you?"
and "How do ye?" "We rejoice to see you here;"
and a thousand such kind of inquiries as take place
between friends, who have not seen each other for a
long time, naturally occurred. My first inquiry was
for Mr. Adams. I found that my son had been a
month waiting for my arrival in London, expecting
him, he returned to the Hague. Mr. Smith had received
a letter from his father, acquainting him that
I had taken passage with Captain Lyde. This intelligence
be forwarded three days before I came, so that
I hourly expect either Mr. Adams or Master John. I
should have mentioned, that Mr. Smith had engaged
lodgings for me, to which Mr. Storer and he accompanied
me this morning, after paying a guinea and a
half for tea last evening, and lodging and breakfast, a
coach included, not however to carry me a greater
distance than from your house to our own. The gentlemen
all took less expensive lodgings than mine,
excepting Dr. Clark, who tarried with us. He said
he would not quit us until we were fixed in our
present hotel; the direction to which is "Osborne's
New Family Hotel, Adelphi, at Mrs. Sheffield's,
No. 6" Here we have a handsome drawing-room,
genteelly furnished, and a large lodging-room. We
are furnished with a cook, chambermaid, waiter, &c.,
for three guineas a week; but in this is not included
a mouthful of victuals or drink, all of which is to be
paid for separately.
| Letters of Mrs. Adams, | |