Spar­ta, Wis Aug. 5/74

Dear Robert
I have your of 28 ult
Inclos­ing an excel­lent let­ter from our
Niece Mary It gives the best account
Of our poor sis­ters sad acci­dent, and is
Quite dis­cour­ag­ing in every respect.
It is here­with returned,
I also inclose Mary T let­ter to me
And the let­ter of our nephew R. B.C.
You will rec­ol­lect that the last let­ter to
Me from this fel­low gave me some lying
Details of fam­i­ly quar­rels and requested
Me to turn sis­ter Ann out of Aughalane
As being the cause of all their trou­bles! He
Doubt­less wished to suc­ceed her in the
Occu­pan­cy of the old house and this
Let­ter to me is evi­dent­ly writ­ten with
The same view. I feel cer­tain that if I had
Writ­ten to him in reply he would have used
My let­ter as author­i­ty to take pos­ses­sion. He
Is a bad and dan­ger­ous scoundrell.

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I shall be glad to learn that your
Vis­it to the Pres­i­dent proved agreeable -
Yet I scarce­ly expect that it was. The
Only thing that annoys me is the prompt
Appoint­ment of your suc­ces­sions & retaining
The same name. The new commissioners
Being all of the Sec­re­tary’s selec­tion, will only
Serve to enlarge the “Indi­an Ring: and in
Future his­to­ry their acts will read as yours.
I would protest, and insist that some
Change should be made in the style & title
Of this con­gre­ga­tion of See: Delaon, friends.
I have already sug­gest­ed that you
Should send dft to Ann on D Stu­art & Co fo 50 pounds
By way of pay­ing expens­es atten­dant on her
Acci­dent, If you con­cur with me in
This, I would beg you to write a kind
Reply to Mary & M.C. for both of us & inclose
In your let­ter the dft, pay. To Ann’s order
Under no cir­cum­stances do I desire
That either you or I should cor­re­spond with
Our nephew. They are cun­ning & treacherous;
And would use our let­ters for bad purposes.

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Hugh sent me from Nehol­son’s 8
Bot­tles of whiskey. The bot­tles were a cross
Between quarts & pints — with a preponderance
In favour of the lat­ter. They have very nearly
Evap­o­rat­ed, Please send half a dozen more
By express — not quite so new and finery.
You will also oblige by direct­ing the
“News & Book store” to for­ward the July number
of Black­wood & pay postage if required.
Sub­scrip­tion has been paid — 4th st. near olive
A let­ter from Hugh recd. this morning
Shows that he is unwill­ing to go eastward
I beg that you will urge him to go He needs
A lit­tle fresh air and relax­ation, after the
Heat­ed term in St. Louis
We all get along famous­ly. It seems
That I have gained 3 lbs since my arrival.
Mary does not wish to acknowl­edge a single
Pound addi­tion­al — and Mary T says nothing.
All join me in kind regards to you & Hugh
I trust this will meet you on your arrival
Ever tru­ly yours
H. Campbell