Letter #69 to son Alex in Australia
This is Alexander Dick's last letter from Scotland.
Glasgow, 24th. June, 1862
My Dear Son,
I am delighted with your of 23rd. March. 1 am proud
of your affectionate regard. £40! Why, I never dreamed of such a large sum.
John Leckie's nonsense has roused you up indeed. This
display of the interest you take in my welfare does you great credit and I may well be proud of such a
son. I hope you dont miss it in your business. I have now
£70 so I can go first cabin if I choose.
I have not been altogether idle. I have got it into
my head that I have got an Arithmetic more suitable for schools than any of the
hundreds extant, ready for publication. Some of it written, I should think, ten
times over. If I can get encouragement, I will have it published.
I will let you know my whereabouts next mail. I keep in tolerable health
and I am in no way afraid for the voyage. A. Russell has got a job in a spirit
cellar in Gallowgate. Annie is still in the cap warehouse. Aunty is going
about. I was at Busby lately, there is no appearance of more printing for
blocks. The cylinders are on 5 days a week. Dr. Ross is building a large
addition to his house. Mr. Gay's family are getting up and he requires more
room. Wm. Wilson does not come home. The runaways to New Zealand have returned
and business is brisk in his line, so he has resolved to spend £2000 on his
premises and wait to see the work done. Patt Donahue was breaking stones on the
roadside and Wm. Moody writes you this mail. He informed me you had sent his
wife a fine present. Mr. Galbraith has left Busby and Mr. Houston from Leven
has got his place. Mr. Galbraith is to spend this summer at the coast as he is
in bad health. He got a wife with money and does not need to work. Most of the
Turkey Red shops keep the printers busy not withstanding the high price of
cotton. But otherwise block printers are little employed and poorly paid. From
Leven I have no news, but Alex'r Stephen is very poorly.
William writes me this
mail. Jack and he do not seem to be on the road to fortune yet. I can only hope their turn is
corning.
The war in America seems to
be against the South, but it may be the Southerns are leading the Northeners
into a trap. It is not known in Britain how the population of the South feel,
whether they are generally disposed to give in or to fight to the last. The
army of the North is hemming in the South but the Southerns may regain all at
blow. The Southern General Beauregard is the ablest of all the American
generals by common consent and he may yet strike decisively and roll back the
tide of war. And there can be little doubt that by and by the European powers
will endeavour to stay the strife. It is likely that in the course of the summer
the war will stop.
The population engaged in
the cotton manufacture are suffering severely both in England France. There is
but a small quantity of cotton spun in Scotland compared with England so that
the privation in Scotland bears no comparison to the destitution in England.
But Glasgow has a large-quota of idle men, but the Poor Law board got them
employment at small pay.
The Great Exhibition has not raised so great a
commotion as in 1851. I have not learned that any one I am acquainted with is going
up, so I did not think of stirring. I will write W M D next mail. He mentions that
Jack & William have sent their portraits but they have not reached me yet
and he prepares me for seeing them look rather thinner. My father was a man of
bones and sinews, no flesh. An old sailor said to me that when my father was in
the West Indies with Admiral Rodney there was not a man in the fleet that could
have laid him on his back. So Jack & William may be quite stout and spare
of flesh and I have no doubt it will turn out to be so and
that I will find them sturdy carpenters if not something
better. John McCubbin works for wages at the Sidney digginqs and is just making
a living.
I hope Peace and prosperity will attend you. I am, your affectionate
Father,
Alex'r Dick.
Names & Notes on Letter #69
John Leckie
Mary, Annie & Alex Russell
Dr. Ross
Mr. Gay & Family
Wm. Wilson
Patt Donahue
Wm.Moody
Mr. Galbraith
Mr. Houstoun
Alex'r Stephen
General Beauregard
My Father, Wm.Dick
Admiral Rodney
John McCubbin
- transcription and
Names/Notes by Ian A Scales, c.1989 (note- the ‘original’ transcription was in printed format on
paper, and has been re-formatted using OCR – so may have some inaccuracies
which have escaped my editing – C. S-P)
Scans of the original letter (click
on the image below for a larger version):
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