Munich, Dec. 2/78.
Mother dear, I thank you ever so much for your sumptuous birth-day present. A covered Krug of beaten brass (& gilded at in addition,) is not a common spectacle in any country; & we all enjoy the grace & splendor of this thing as much as we do its utility & its rarity.
I will whisper in your ear, privately & confidentially, that our quarters here are not paradise—or rather they were not, when we came. The street entrance was like that of a barn; when one got up stairs the halls were so dark he could not see six feet before him,—& phew! how they did smell of the closets!—& how raw & chill they were! The table cloth was never clean. One day I found a servant tipping up a tall what-not (which had some of Livy’s precious glassware on it,) to shove the corner of a carpet under it. Our bedroom ‸window‸ looked upon a court; all sorts of occupations were carried on under it. At 5 a.m., they sawed wood & split it there; at 6 a professional carpet beater began to add his whackings; at 7 some boiler-makers reinforced the carpet beater—now think of all those noises going at once! The very first night, as I was dropping to sleep I discovered that my pet destestation was in the house—a cuckoo clock. (There is also one in the house where I write.) Clara Spaulding’s bed has tumbled down twice. Her window shade has to be put up with a step ladder, & gotten down in the same way. To our morning noises was soon added, (in the hall,) the barking of a s Spitz dog at 7.30 a.m. The fact is, there was but one thing we took solid & healing comfort in, & that was our gentle young [colored] girl who waits ed on our table. But alas, day before yesterday she fell in the cistern & the color all came off.
We require her to fall in every day, now. We have clean table linen, now. Clara’s bed & window shade are to be fixed today. I shall invite the Spitz to supper this evening, & tomorrow he will know more about the Sweet By & By than he does now.
So we are all right, now, Mother my dear. We are contented, & pretty happy. We think the world of the Fraülein, & would not be willing to live elsewhere in Munich than under her motherly wing. But by George it ‸it‸ would do my very soul good to have Charley & Theodore here a month & keep a record of their comments!
With the love of us all to you & all in the homestead,
Your now middle-aged son,
Saml.
Mrs. J. Langdon | Elmira | New York | U.S. of America.
[in upper left corner:]
Via England. |
[flourish]
[on the flap:]
slc
[postmarked:]
münchen 
7-8 am
[and]
new york dec 15 paid all e
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