| In His Own Words
King Calendar
December 31, 1815. Rufus writes to his youngest son, Frederick:
"Your mother makes complaint that you do not write as regularly as heretofore, nor as often as she directed you to do – Probably your Holidays will be up, nd you returned to Jamaica, by the Time this reaches you; you will attend to my request, that you would often visit the House, and observe tht all goes on well – but in no possible way, can you better [deserve?] my Love & applause, or increase my disposition to gratify your wishes than by exerting yourself to obtain, and keep at, the head of your classes – the deprivation of a little leisure, or play, will be only a small sacrifice, or distinction that will afford me so much Gratification, and which will hereafter prove so advantageous to you – inform us whether you continue to like your situation with Miss Wickham, and how Mrs Smith & others go thro’ the winter.”
January 17, 1816. Mary Alsop King writes to Frederick:
“I do not regret the change as the cold has continued to encrease my cough upon the slightest exposure to it and made it necessary for me to confine myself altogether to the house so that I have not been out since the day I arrived at Georgetown – Mrs Gore has likewise been shut up but not from some cause, her health is better than usual, but she has confined herself upon Mr Gores account who has been trying the efficacy of Blistering for the Rheumatism which has kept him up stairs for more than three weeks – this morning she tells me his Knee is so much better that she hopes in the course of a fortnight he will be able to come down again.”
and continues with advice to her youngest son:
“We hear regularly once a week from Edward he enjoys good health and seems pleased with the winter climate of Chillicothe, he will be admitted to the Bar in the Spring when he will be enable to form a more correct opinion of what his future prospects may be – he complains that his Brothers do not write to him – you must not suffer this charge to be alleged against you as it is unkind to neglect a Brother who is separated by such a distance and in a land of Strangers – write often to him and enclose it to your Papa who will forward it to him.”
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