half-way down her arm, a large cape, no stays, a black-velvet girdle round her waist, some very rich lace in her chemise, round her neck, and in her sleeves; but the lace was not sufficient to cover the upper part of her neck, which old Time had harrowed; she had no cap on, but a little gauze bonnet, which did not reach her ears, and tied under her chin, her venerable white hairs in full view.  The dress of old women and young girls in this country is detestable, to speak in the French style; the latter at the age of seven being clothed exactly like a woman of twenty, and the former have such a fantastical appearance that I cannot endure it.  The old lady has all the vivacity of a young one.  She is the most learned woman in France; her house is the resort of all men of literature, with whom she converses upon the most abstruse subjects.  She is of one of the most ancient, as well as the richest families in the kingdom.  She asked very archly when Dr. Franklin was going to America.  Upon being told, says she, “I have heard that he is a prophet there;” alluding to that text of Scripture, “A prophet is not without honor,” etc.  It was her husband who commanded the fleet which once spread such terror in our country.

TO HER SISTER

     LONDON, Friday, 24th July 1784.

My Dear Sister: 

I am not a little surprised to find dress, unless upon public occasions, so little regarded here.  The gentlemen are very plainly dressed, and the ladies much more so than with us.  ’Tis true, you must put a hoop on and have your hair dressed; but a common straw hat, no cap, with only a ribbon upon the crown, is thought dress sufficient to go into company.  Muslins are much in taste; no silks but lutestrings worn; but send not to London for any article you want:  you may purchase anything you can name much lower in Boston.  I went yesterday into Cheapside to purchase a few articles, but found everything higher than in Boston.  Silks are in a particular manner so; they say, when they are exported, there is a drawback upon them, which makes them lower with us.  Our country, alas, our country! they are extravagant to astonishment in entertainments compared with what Mr. Smith and Mr. Storer tell me of this.  You will not find at a gentleman’s table more than two dishes of meat, though invited several days beforehand.  Mrs. Atkinson went out with me yesterday, and Mrs. Hay, to the shops.  I returned and dined with Mrs. Atkinson, by her invitation the evening before, in company with Mr. Smith, Mrs. Hay, Mr. Appleton.  We had a turbot, a soup, and a roast leg of lamb, with a cherry pie....