Authors, English -- 19th century -- Correspondence; Eden, Emily, 1797-1869 -- Correspondence
I wrote to you December 29th, and sent you a silk scarf in a parcel that
poor Doctor Bramley was sending home to his wife. He was with us at
Barrackpore three weeks ago, was taken with fever last Monday fortnight,
and died in seven days. There never was such a loss both publicly and
privately, but the former especially. There is nobody here who _can_
take his place at the Hindu College. He was a very delightful person in
his way and the man we saw most of, as George had a great deal of
business always to do with him, and he was very sociable with us. It is
a horrid part of India, those sudden deaths. Your most affectionate
E. E.
_Miss Eden to Mr. C. Greville._
BARRACKPORE,
_April 17, 1837_.
MY DEAR MR. GREVILLE, they say that a letter written to-day will still
be in time for the overland packet, and for all the adventures to which
the _Hugh Lindsay_, the _Dromedary Dawdle_, the _Desert_, etc., may
entitle it. Waghorn[447] I see is not at Cairo--another calamity! I am
in opposition to George’s government on the great Waghorn question. I
cannot see why they do not pay him anything he asks, and give him an
East Indian peerage, or anything else. All the letters that come quickly
to us are invariably stamped “to the care of Mr. Waghorn, Cairo,” and if
I thought he were there now, I should, in defiance of the authorities
here, address this “to the care of dear Mr. Waghorn”! I suspect you
would then have it in less than two months; now, if you receive it in
1838 my fondest expectations will be gratified.
I cannot go back in our life more than 36 hours. It is all the same
thing, so I will suppose you called on Thursday morning, and after your
visit we came up to Barrackpore in the evening. You know what a horrid
bad road it is this side of the half-way home, and therefore will not be
surprised to hear that one of the leaders, the horse that you always say
is the handsomest of the new set, stepped on a loose stone and came down
like a shot. The postillion, who weighs about 1-1/2 lbs., as a small
native should, was pitched out of sight into a neighbouring presidency;
I believe the leaders ran over the fallen horse, who kicked at them, and
they of course kicked him. The spring of the carriage was broken, and
the four Syces and the postillion and the guards, being all good
Mohammedans, of course looked on contentedly, knowing that what must
be--must be. Luckily W. Osborne for once had no other conveyance but our
carriage, so he jumped out at the side, and we all tumbled out at
opposite doors, and he _Hindustani’d_ the Syces and cut the traces, and
we were all put to rights (barring that one horse), and not the worse,
thank you. Only it is so much too hot in this country to have
adventures.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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