| Description | I have this moment receiv'd my dear son's letter of the 18th ultimo, but will not follow examples of delay when I can avoid it.
My opineon, wish, and desire is that you quit not Mr. Wigleb until his course of chymistry is finaly ended, and that you will not quit Germany untill you are tolorable perfect in reading, writing, and speaking the language, and have likewise acquired a distinct and regular good hand of writing it-otherwise your year and a half will be lost; and therefore I will fix no time for your coming home, but request you to attend to your chymistry whilest at Langensaltza, and, before you leave it, correct and revise your notes, that you may avail your self of Mr. Wigleb's instructions in the correcting of any errors you may have fall'n into: and I hope when you leave it that you will also leave a fair character behind you, that no reflections may be made by Mr. Wigleb or any other person, and that you will conform to the custom of the country in respect to presents to servants.
Since writing the above, I have open'd another letter, which I observe with great pleasure and satisfaction is from Mr. Reinhard. I am glad to see that I accord with him in opineon respecting the necessity of your perfectioning your self in the writing the German correctly, and in a good distinct hand, which I am sorry I cannot compliment you upon, even in your own language. Mr. Reinhard is so good as to invite you to return to him for a little while, in order to improve your German and writing before you return home. It is the very thing I wished for, and beg you will avail your self of the occasion. I am much concern'd to learn from Mr. Reinhard that you are not very well, and beg you'l write to me upon that head the moment you receive this. I think you should advise with some medical gentleman whether you should drink the seltzer or the pyrment water.
I beg you'l acquaint Mr. Reinhard that I mean to take his son so soon as he thinks him properly qualify'd to enter upon business, that I will not take any apprentice fee with him, and all other terms and conditions I shall leave to Mr. Reinhard to settle.
As soon as I heard from Mr. Steiglitz at Lille I wrote to him to come directly to Soho, where I would do the best in my power to serve him; to which he answered, April 24, and says, He should not like to come to Soho upon an uncertainty, and that he should be glad to know the terms and salary before hand. I realy do not want another clark, but in consideration of his civilities to you at Leipzig, and of your and his request, I agreed to take him till something more advantageous could be found for him. I have again wrote him very fully and explicitly, both as to terms, salary, and work, and have made him such offers as I would not have done to any man who had not been so particularly recommended as by my son; for you know I never chose to have my domestic happiness interupted by any body, and I never took any clark or offer'd any one, before, to lodge and board in my house. However, I have left it open to him to come or not, as he pleases.
I have heard from travilers that my name and Mr. Watt's are enroll'd in the Society of Hungarian Miners, but we never receiv'd any formal notice of it; however, if there is any publication of that society, I beg you'l procure it for me and pay any expence attending it.
I have no agates, nor any of the labradore stones you mention, and I beg you'l procure some. The box of terra pondarasa, which I sent through the hands of Messrs. Isnel & Martin of Amsterdam to be forwarded to you at Mr. Wiglib's, ought to have come to your hands before this time, and, if it has not, I beg you'l write a line to them, or take some means to get it, as it contains a choice parcel and may enable you to obtain some good things. I have no good specimen of the occulus mundi, nor of nickeol, nor cobalt, nor tungstein.
I intended writing to Mr. Reinhard by this post to thank him for the letters he hath favour'd me with, and for all his parental kindness's to you, but I now find I shall be obliged to put it off till the next post, as Mr. Wilson from Cornwall is this moment arived and will only stay one day, which will be fully occupied by a variety of business.
The time I fix for your coming home is when you find your self qualify'd to write German letters and conduct my German correspondence; and I must beg the favour of Mr. Reinhard to take you again upon the old terms and consider you as one of his pupils untill you can write a good mercantile hand and a gentleman like letter. I mentioned to Collins that you and he might return together, but I presume he will return sooner than you will be ready.
When you are at Mr. Reinhard's, look round and see if you can find out any thing that Mrs. Reinhard wants which I can send her, or him, for I feel much gratitude towards them for their kind, affectionate, and honorable conduct in your favour; and I beg you will assure them of my sensibility of it, as well as of my best wishes and sincerest regards.
Your sister is well and desires her love to you, and so doth Miss Mynd. I beg you'l write oftener, and you'l oblige, dear Matt, your very affectionate father,
Mattw. Boulton
[Edited transcript.] |