HA 124 - Letter paper of Bad Ems from Joshua Bates 1840

He writes to his mother and sister in Weymouth, Massachusetts, in 1840 “I send you above a print, though a very bad one, of this place to which I came for the benefit of my health and I am happy to say that in seven days I am completely restored; the water which I drink bubbles up hot from the base of the mountains and thousands of people are drinking.. there is no occupation for anyone here except climbing the mountains on donkeys and we frequently see the Empress of Russia & her whole Court mounted on these humble animals..” The letter was carried from London to New York on the Amrican ship “Gladiator”. Joshua Bates (1788-1864) was an American financier whose sister, Nancy, married Captain Warren Weston. Bates became senior partner in Baring Brothers by whom the letter was probably posted in London. His great granddaughter, Sylvia Brett, was the last Rani of Sarawak.