| Title: | McMahon Glynn, Patrick to Glynn, James P., 1885 |
|---|---|
| ID | 4385 |
| Collection | Patrick McMahon Glynn: Letters to his family (1874-1927) [Gerald Glynn O'Collins] |
| File | glynn/35 |
| Year | 1885 |
| Sender | McMahon Glynn, Patrick |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | lawyer |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Kapunda, South Australia, Australia |
| Destination | Gort, Co. Galway, Ireland |
| Recipient | Glynn, James P. |
| Recipient Gender | male |
| Relationship | siblings |
| Source | |
| Archive | |
| Doc. No. | |
| Date | |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | |
| Log | unknown |
| Word Count | 779 |
| Genre | adversity, gambling, prospects, religion |
| Note | |
| Transcript | Kapunda October 19th 1885 My dear James I am very sorry to find that you have been so unfortunate in your money matters recently. However, with prudence and economy, if luck also should be favorable, it is possible to bring accounts square again. The guarantee you require I enclose herewith, but have not time by this post to write a letter to my mother. If you are wise you will not let anything tempt you to break in upon any little reserve of capital you may again have. It is doubtful whether I would, in case luck ran against me, care to live on through circumstances similar to those in which I was situated during my last year in Melbourne, after going forty eight hours without a meal etc. The affectionate sympathy of those among whom I was latterly thrown made up for a lot, but there would be a change now. I am sure you feel very much the loss of your horse, as riding a good one is one of the best pleasures in life. I had a thoroughbred some months ago, but he got kicked before I even rode him once, and had to sell him at a loss of about £15. Horses are cheap here but good hacks are scarce and the season is so dry that feed is very scarce. At present it costs in livery 15/- a week to keep a horse, though it used to be done for 10/- at other times. You must have run it pretty hard to have got so much in debt. Gambling never brings anything in; but I will say nothing against it, as I join in it here pretty often, winning a fiver last Saturday night, losing one the Saturday before. It is a stimulant to a bachelor's life, and merely fills a gap now and then which never should be open to a man decently married. I am still clerk to Hardy & Davis. I made them an offer to clear out, but they would not consider it, though one of the partners suggested that I should make it. Law is not paying here now — money is so scarce, and the prospects of the coming season are worse than since I came. My relations on the Sydney side think I am a perfect Croesus, but I cannot see the fun of doing much for the support of drunkards' families. The Government employed me to draft a consolidated Local Courts Bill which is now before the Parliament. It kept me very close to work for over a month, and a County Court Judge (we call them Special Magistrates here! and their Courts Local Courts) considered the changes in the old law with me. A job like this is worth about £80, but then I have to give half to the Judge and half the balance to Hardy & Davis. If I acted as the world would advise me my name only would appear on the BUI as draftsman, and the Special Magistrate would get none of the fee. I have just finished a small Bill and, as the instructions came to us both, put the Special Magistrate's name on with mine, though he never touched it. Better to be under no imputation of doing anything narrow. The Boyle paper with your interesting letter arrived, but the editor's note is not very comprehensible. I sent you a Kapunda Herald with an article on "Jesus & Paul" which I wrote as a notice of an article by a friend which appears in the Melbourne Review. My reason for sending it is to give you some clue to what my opinions of modern orthodoxy are. There is no Christianity in the Churches — but perhaps there never will be conscious Christianity. It is an ideal towards which the human race is tending and when realised will not be felt. I have lectured on A. M. Sullivan in Adelaide at the request of the Irish, but did not keep any reports of the lecture, so cannot send you one. People seem to know me pretty well now, as I find there is a biography of me in a work being published on Notable South Australians. I will send my mother a copy. The time for posting is nearly up. I only found at breakfast time that a mail left today, so I wrote at once to catch the 9.45 a.m. train. With love Your affect, brother P McM Glynn PS I presume that you don't want more from my mother than what you state, £50 or £70, as my chance of being a good surety for more is at present doubtful. |
