28 August 1755
52. Mary Doddridge, Norwich, to her mother, Mercy Doddridge, [Northampton], 28 August 1755. [f. 29]
Norwich Augt 28 1755
Ten thousand thanks to you my Dearest Mama for your equaly kind & wise Letter, greatly do I think my self oblig’d to you for every Instance of your goodness to me & particularly for your kindness with regard to this afair of Mr C.
While I thought that Mr C by his affection for me & his amicable Charicter merited my regard, neither time nor absence alter’d or Could have alterd my sentiments of him, but now the time is come that by Mr C’s his portrit of me he has given us reason great reason to suspect he has lost the affection I am persuaded he once had for me, & that it will be agreeable to him that an End should be put to this long afair I do not nor ever did wish to put any restraint on his Inclinations I do tharfore Madm beg that you will take such meathods as appear to you most wise & prudent for putting such an end to the afair as is most agreeable to yourself
and be assurd my Dearest mama that this request is not the result of angure or resentment, I never will reproach Mr C with what his Conduct has or shall be if he is satisfied with it I will suppose he has good reasons for being so, if he is not the reproaches of his own Hart Heart will be as great a punishment as I can wish him, my determinations are as far as I can judg the result of reason I know to give up Mr C will cost me something it would be affectation to Deny it but as the reason for my Conduct will ever remain the same I do hope it will not greatly affect my Health or Spirits, do not be too much Concernd for me my Dearest Mama by Gods blessing & the continuance of your kind Endulgance joynd with the Love of the rest of my Dear Friends Mr C out of the question I will still be Happy & indevour that for once a forsaken girl shall appear with tolerable dignity in the Eye of the World, I aim at no Heroicks but Judge that in this as well as all other Cases it will be right to indevour to act in such a manner as rason & after reflection shall approve
The few lines I sent by Mr Reymes which I suppose you will recive tomorrow Night will inform you that I have recivd no Letter from Mr C & have indeed for some time given over all expectations of any wear [were] I now to receive one from him fild with expression of Constancy & regard I should Consider [it] as Little less than Insult tho I wear [were] to answer it should not be sparing in my expressions of Gratitude that he would have the goodness to write me when he had nothing else to do
I sincerly thank my Dear Mama for her very kind Intention in wishing me to Continue longer at Norwich, but indeed I grow so very impatient to see my Dear Friends at Northampton that I should greatly prefir that pleasure to any amusement that this place or any other could give me if I go to Walsham as I imagin I shall suppose it will be some time in October before I can reach Northampton & that will be late enough in the year for so long a Journey, & by that time I suppose long before the affair between you & Mr C may be settled, I think I should be glad to know whether you Madm intend to accept his intended visit at Northampton if you do I suppose it will be that you think you should be able to form a better Judgment what his real Sentiments are by his presence than by pen & ink & under his Brothers Eye I suppose it will not be long before you either see or write to him on the subject which I confess lyes nearer my heart than I wish it did tho I greatly aprove the method you propose to take & I do agree to & wil indevour to do as far as is in my power what ever you my Dearest Mamma shall think most proper to be done & beg it as a Favour of you Madm to Direct me in every particular how to act as I am so thoroughly perswaded of your wisdom, prudence, & kind affection for me that I cannot one moment Hesitate about the fitness of any thing you propose to be done.
I communicated your Letter & the 2 you was so good as to send me of Mr C to Mr & Mrs Wood, they greatly admire my Dear Mamma their behavour to me is extreamly Tender & Delicate, but I shall be very glad when this ugly afair is quite settled, & I am permitted to return to my Dearest Mama & Sisters,
I had just know [now] a very kind Letter from Miss Clark with 6 proposals of Mrs Harrisons for printing her Book,1 I shall be glad of Service to her but I fear it will not be in my power, my Brother won’t write to me which I am sorry for
I rejoice extreamly in my Dear Mammas Health & pray God long very long to Continue it & to add to it every Blessing that can contribute to your Happiness
I am quite at a loss to guess where the Idle report of my being going to [Henly] could arise, I have no thoughts at present of taking the Vail, & except I had can think of no reason for going to [Henly]
Adieu my Dearest Mamma I shall be very Impatient to hear from you again in the mean time & at all times I am
Your Ever Dutiful
& Obedient Daughter
Mary Doddridge
Address: To | Mrs Doddridge
Postmark: none
Note on address page: < > 28 1755 | not reced till | Sept ye 3
1 Given the suggestion that subscriptions may have been involved with this volume along with the presence of the Clarks in its dissemination and the use of two sellers in London already known to the Doddridges (Buckland and Field), the reference here is to Elizabeth Harrison's Miscellanies on Moral and Religious Subjects, in Prose and Verse (London: Printed for the author, and sold by J. Buckland, at the Buck in Pater-Noster Row; and T. Field, at the Wheat Sheaf in Cheapside, 1756). She was also a subscriber to Volumes 1 and 2 of the Family Expositor.