Epistolary and emotional education: the letters of an Irish father to his daughter, 1747–17521

Abstract

The letters Bishop Edward Synge (1691–1762) wrote to his daughter Alicia (1733–1807) in 1747–1752 are discussed to show how correspondence from a father to a daughter could be used to teach a teenage girl how to spell and write letters. Moreover, these letters are an excellent source to show how emotional behaviour was taught. Instructions on letter‐writing were inextricably connected to advice on general manners. At the base of both lay Synge’s ideas on emotional composure. He taught his daughter emotional self‐restraint in writing and behaviour. Synge’s ideas on emotions can be traced to the eighteenth‐century ideal of politeness, of which restraint in the display of emotions formed a part. In addition, Synge’s views on emotion and education are compared with those of his friend, the Irish‐Scottish philosopher Francis Hutcheson (1694–1746). Furthermore, the letters Synge wrote to his daughter are similar to the letters Lord Chesterfield (1694–1773) wrote to his son from 1737. In both correspondences there is a tension between the ideal of politeness and the way polite behaviour can compromise sincerity. Chesterfield instructed his son to dissimulate, to hide his true emotions. Synge tried to find a balance between polite manners and sincerity, but wrote that, if necessary, custom might prevail over sincerity. The Synge correspondence belonged to an older emotional culture, in which polite self‐restraint was of utmost importance. A few decades later, the cult of sensibility would become popular, in which the expression of emotions would be encouraged. 1 I would like to thank Dr John Logan for pointing out the Synge letters to me and Prof. James Moore, Prof. Alexander Stewart and Dr David Fleming for their helpful comments on previous versions of this essay.