Maria Grace Saffery [and John Saffery], Salisbury, to Anne Whitaker, Bratton, [Saturday], 20 December 1800.

My dear, very dear Anne,

   My surprise & concern were ys Morng ignited in no small degree on ye perusal of yr letter wh I conceived at first light to be an answer to one I had sent to the office last Sab. Eveng.   It was indeed another disappointment as I had not only written in reply to yr affectionate enquiries but ye request of Maria who will inform you of ye < > she was < >. I shall leave ye good lady to tell you ye particulars relative to her journey when she gets to the end of it to morrow. I hope she will be < > possible way. May ye Lord make her a comfort to you in her assigned employment. I am exceedingly glad yt yr dear Cousin Jane is appointed Lady of ye Bed Chamber  She is a sweet intelligent girl suited to yr wishes I shall envy her first kisses of yr pretty little Maid for so yr uncle Blatch predicts it will be. I was greatly inspired at sight of him he read my Epistle but our Interview was quite short. [next section of the letter has faded and is not readable] ye week before last yr Bror was at Lymington to supply a Sab – from thence he went to Portsea &c &c I must close adieu!  in haste –

John Saffery now begins:

   My dr M– has closed very abruptly & desired I wd finish Mr Greys preaching at Shrewton will be very accpetable to me, & I doubt not to ye people there. My love to him, & inform him notice shall be given of it – I wish he had come on to Sarum.

   You want to know @ ye School, but we know very little @ it ourselves – we have but Miss Head (intimated by you) & Miss Hoskins, there I fear it will rest. Our situation is truly perplexing, & I find myself very much tried, & depressed at times but we are in ye hands of God.  Mrs Hilton’s niece has declined coming as a teacher fm a fear she is not sufficiently qualified & we have declined all tho’t of having one for ye first quarter or half year & on ye other hand we determined on keeping two Servants fm a conviction it will be impossible to do with one – It wd be highly gratifying to my dr M with myself to converse & advise with you at times – I have tho’t much within these few days of ye Poets words – My soul with various tempests tossed – Her hopes o’erturned, her projects crossed – See every day new straits attend – And wonders where ye scene will end  Sometimes however my soul is stayed on God & happy O for a stronger faith, & more thankfulness – We have much to excite gratitude, & much to encourage faith, but I find nothing but grace in making me feel or do as I ought – The distresses of many @ us is truly great & ye support of ye poor a very painful matter. I used to pay 4 & sometimes 5 poor rates in a year & now we have one every 3 weeks, so yt every year they will be to us £14.10.0 at least, but enough of yse things we hope soon to hear of ye Lds goodness to you again  We expect Mr Shoveller here to-morrow to spend ye Sab. with us wn I shall Baptize 5 but I must close with saying yt we are Your very affectte Bror  & Sister

                                 J & M Saffery

Friday Night

Decr 20 1800

Text: Saffery/Whitaker Papers, acc. 142, I.B.1.(15.), Angus Library, Regent's Park College, Oxford. Address: Mrs P. Whitaker | Bratton. No postmark. For a complete annotated version of this letter, see Timothy Whelan, gen. ed., Nonconformist Women Writers, 1720-1840 (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2011), vol. 6, pp. 184-85. 

Annajane Blatch (1793-1809 was Jane Attwater Blatch’s only daughter; she was seven at the time of the above letter. Anne Whitaker  was preparing for the birth of her second son, Joshua, which occurred on 15 January 1801. By July 1801, the Blatches had permanently settled at Bratton. ‘Remembering all the Days the Lord hath led us’ was hymn CCVII in John Griffin’s A Selection of Missionary and Devotional Hymns, designed for the use of the Congregation, meeting in Orange-Street, Portsea (Portsmouth, 1797), 190.