Description
Abigail (Chesebrough) Grant 1734-1807, ALS, 4 pages, March 6, 1774, from London, damp-stained, with tears, comparing moral temptations in London to those where her correspondent is, remarking on the life of a pious soul and the temptations that test it. She often visits the theatre and “… listen with pleasure to the soft airs of a Linley. I see the unmeaning figures at the [H]hay Market [Theatre], with shall I say (pleasing contempt) and can relish their harmonious sounds which at present is the chief an opera affords you. [S]entiment is not that oft[en] in their pieces their intention being to dazzle the Eye and tackle the ear. I like to take a turn in the Pantheon where elegance of taule is displayed in great perfection now have I depoised my curiosity satisfaction to most publick places. A mask Ball I’ve not yet been at. my Pil (?) not quite liking that amusement of the bon ton. I have been regal’d at St James’s with the most famous female singer in En[glan]d.” Grant writes that she has been to the Court and records her impressions of “Majesty,” offering observations of both King [George III] and Queen [Charlotte]. She mentions her upbringing by her non-birth mother and her recent loss of a child.
