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Frances (Appleton) Longfellow to Nathan Appleton, 1 September 1851
Manuscript letter
Nahant Sep 1st 1851.
Dearest papa,
I was glad to hear, by your letter from Slough, that you had returned to the enjoyment of country life though truly sorry poor Harriot should be so long afflicted & lose so much of her limited visit – I do hope you will be able to see Paris before returning, for she would feel it “the part of Hamlet omitted” probably, & it would, certainly, be provoking to be so near & turn one’s back on it As you thought her nearly well when you wrote, & had a month before sailing, I shall consider it quite certain she recovered eye-sight enough to see the gay capital externally. The theatres would hardly be flourishing so early, or late, in the season to tempt her, & the shops are as attractive at one time as another – a perpetual Garden of Eden, of bloom & [p. 2] temptation, for poor Eves. I hope you will see Charles Appleton & Sam L. either there or in England. They were to go almost immediately to Paris but will have a peep at the Great Exhibition.
Henry has resumed his College duties but we shall remain here ten days longer, as he rather enjoys the sail in the boat to & fro. Yesterday, too, was the very hottest of days, & we sat upon Mrs Story’s rocks, with Emerson & some of her artist guests, admiring a truly Italian sunset for softness – the harsh shore mellowed into a Meditteranean [sic] beauty.
We are in the midst of another Cuban excitement, & no one can tell how it will end. The papers mostly have the decency to support the government, but the shooting of our piratical invaders has aroused sympathy meetings everywhere.
We had a fearful tornado in Medford which has attracted thousands of spectators – or rather the ruins [p. 3] & destruction it left behind, - ploughing up every thing in its way, sweeping away houses, barns & trees like playthings, & desolating the country once so flourishing. Carpets were [crossed out: carried away] borne off miles & rolled into heaps, every household article scattered – a poor baby just born crushed by the falling of its mothers bed, & old women carried even over trees, if report says true. Tom got partly caught in it & luckily escaped, between two falling trees, as he was driving to Waltham. The elements deal so gently with us we usually forget what power of harm they possess – what tamed tigers they have consented to be. It was like an aerial steam-engine – of irresistible force but in one narrow direction only. We had nothing of it here, tho’ the tail of it took to the sea at Lynn. We were driving out Mrs Paiges & saw only great glares of lightning – That same evening a little boy in the next house a daily playmate of the childrens – died – of dysentery. The chicks are happily perfectly well [p. 4] & quite happy in the possession of two white rabbits – tell Hatty – I hope she has found some playmates too, & has grown a buxom English girl. I counted upon the little Wedgwoods & Darwins for her to know, but they seem to have been away when you were in London. The little damsels in the Tuileries must make up for it. The Sidney Brooks’ are here & took us a pleasant drive on Saturday. Healy’s picture of Webster opens in a few days. From the daguerreotype he must have managed it very skilfully [sic].
Mrs Sumner is soon to return to Boston I hear – to be ready to welcome you at the end of the month. So this is my last letter, & I trust it finds you gaining & Harriot quite bright again. Jewett has not loomed yet upon our horizon & will not until October. He is at Keene. George Curtis is engaged to a New Jersey lady - & a fresh report has revived of James Lawrence & Miss Prescott.
With our love to Harriot & Hatty
Yr affte
Fanny.
Dearest papa,
I was glad to hear, by your letter from Slough, that you had returned to the enjoyment of country life though truly sorry poor Harriot should be so long afflicted & lose so much of her limited visit – I do hope you will be able to see Paris before returning, for she would feel it “the part of Hamlet omitted” probably, & it would, certainly, be provoking to be so near & turn one’s back on it As you thought her nearly well when you wrote, & had a month before sailing, I shall consider it quite certain she recovered eye-sight enough to see the gay capital externally. The theatres would hardly be flourishing so early, or late, in the season to tempt her, & the shops are as attractive at one time as another – a perpetual Garden of Eden, of bloom & [p. 2] temptation, for poor Eves. I hope you will see Charles Appleton & Sam L. either there or in England. They were to go almost immediately to Paris but will have a peep at the Great Exhibition.
Henry has resumed his College duties but we shall remain here ten days longer, as he rather enjoys the sail in the boat to & fro. Yesterday, too, was the very hottest of days, & we sat upon Mrs Story’s rocks, with Emerson & some of her artist guests, admiring a truly Italian sunset for softness – the harsh shore mellowed into a Meditteranean [sic] beauty.
We are in the midst of another Cuban excitement, & no one can tell how it will end. The papers mostly have the decency to support the government, but the shooting of our piratical invaders has aroused sympathy meetings everywhere.
We had a fearful tornado in Medford which has attracted thousands of spectators – or rather the ruins [p. 3] & destruction it left behind, - ploughing up every thing in its way, sweeping away houses, barns & trees like playthings, & desolating the country once so flourishing. Carpets were [crossed out: carried away] borne off miles & rolled into heaps, every household article scattered – a poor baby just born crushed by the falling of its mothers bed, & old women carried even over trees, if report says true. Tom got partly caught in it & luckily escaped, between two falling trees, as he was driving to Waltham. The elements deal so gently with us we usually forget what power of harm they possess – what tamed tigers they have consented to be. It was like an aerial steam-engine – of irresistible force but in one narrow direction only. We had nothing of it here, tho’ the tail of it took to the sea at Lynn. We were driving out Mrs Paiges & saw only great glares of lightning – That same evening a little boy in the next house a daily playmate of the childrens – died – of dysentery. The chicks are happily perfectly well [p. 4] & quite happy in the possession of two white rabbits – tell Hatty – I hope she has found some playmates too, & has grown a buxom English girl. I counted upon the little Wedgwoods & Darwins for her to know, but they seem to have been away when you were in London. The little damsels in the Tuileries must make up for it. The Sidney Brooks’ are here & took us a pleasant drive on Saturday. Healy’s picture of Webster opens in a few days. From the daguerreotype he must have managed it very skilfully [sic].
Mrs Sumner is soon to return to Boston I hear – to be ready to welcome you at the end of the month. So this is my last letter, & I trust it finds you gaining & Harriot quite bright again. Jewett has not loomed yet upon our horizon & will not until October. He is at Keene. George Curtis is engaged to a New Jersey lady - & a fresh report has revived of James Lawrence & Miss Prescott.
With our love to Harriot & Hatty
Yr affte
Fanny.
Archives Number: 1011/002.001-021#034
U. S. National Park Service
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Correspondence (1011/002), (LONG-SeriesName)
, Letters from Frances Longfellow (1011/002.001), (LONG-SubseriesName)
, 1851 (1011/002.001-021), (LONG-FileUnitName)
, Letters from Frances Longfellow (1011/002.001), (LONG-SubseriesName)
, 1851 (1011/002.001-021), (LONG-FileUnitName)
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Longfellow House - Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site, Code: LONG
Longfellow House - Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Latitude: 42.3769989013672, Longitude: -71.1264038085938
Latitude: 42.3769989013672, Longitude: -71.1264038085938
NPS Museum Number Catalog : LONG 20257
Title: Finding Aid to the Frances Elizabeth Appleton Longfellow (1817-1861) Papers, 1825-1961 (bulk dated: 1832-1861)
URL: https://www.nps.gov/long/learn/historyculture/archives.htm#FEAL
URL: https://www.nps.gov/long/learn/historyculture/archives.htm#FEAL
2016-01-30
09/01/1851
Manuscript letter in Frances Appleton Longfellow Papers, Series II. Correspondence, A. Outgoing, 1851. (1011/002.001-021#034)
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Organization: Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site
Address: 105 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Email: LONG_archives@nps.gov
Address: 105 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Email: LONG_archives@nps.gov
Wednesday, November 9, 2022 5:43:51 PM
Wednesday, November 9, 2022 5:43:51 PM
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