Transcription
CATALOG NUMBER HF 3043 K
OBJECT NAME Letter
DATE September 30, 1836
AUTHOR Eliza Storrs (Hartford)
RECIPIENT Emma Nicholas (NYC)
MEDIUM Paper, ink
PEOPLE Julia, Washington Irving, “sister” (in law), Sophia Kip, Mr. Bacon (cousin), Henry Lemuel Storrs, Belvidere, Ann Nicholas, Aunt Eliza
PLACES Hartford, Cold Spring,
EVENTS “as we have done do often for the last year and a half”,
51st
Addressed to Miss Emma Nicholas
Care of Judge Hoffman
New York
Hartford Sept 30th 1836
It was with a presentiment that a letter from / you my beloved friend would meet me on my return that I entered the / house after a long and solitary though not lonely walk. In this instance / my hopes were not [?blighted] and as Aunt Eliza gave me a letter I / recognized your writing, it was with the same delightful feelings / with which your letters are ever read by me that I perused this and / had the dictates of my heart been obeyed it would not have been / until now unanswered, but circumstances over which we have / no influence prevented me and now it is with talking on my / and on my left that I am attempting to write not much to / your edification I fear. Shall I tell you that it was with fear / that I opened your letter, anticipating some reproaches from you / for leaving home and remaining away so long when you are so / soon to leave, but no such reproaches met me, and I consider / it another proof of the disinterestedness of your friendship. / Perhaps the consciousness of deserving in some measure such a / reproof made me fear it, and I must tell you that all the / days passed here although in every respect pleasant, I consider / as so many from those appointed for you, and this reflection /
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Often casts a shade over my enjoyment. The wishes are the / kindness of my friends here have thus far prevented me from / returning, but next week I shall certainly go home. I have / been waiting for Sophia Kip, but there is a good opportunity / next Wednesday or Friday, and of this I shall avail myself / whether Sophia does or not, and [^during] the time which remains / fo ryou to spend in New York I shall be exclusively yours & / hope to see you every day and when we can no more meet / as we have done do often for the last year and a half, our / pens shall be the medium of communication, and I do / not despair of prevailing upon you to come and spend the / winter with me soon, that is if some one else, some as yet / unknown friend, does not claim all your attention, for to tell / the truth I am very much afraid you will [^not] be Emma Nicholas / many years after you go to Belvidere. However, whatever / may be your situation in me you will ever find a true / friend, and may our friendship never suffer from the many / changes of time and the lapse of years, for although
“It is written on our lot
The lot so varied, dark & strange,
To meet, to part, and be forgot
In painful and perpetual change”
All “joyous memories do not die” there are some who can / never be forgotten, and they constitute a previous treasure. You my dear Emma are one of choicest jewels which I / often contemplate and which never grows dim, but which discloses new beauties as years pass away.
You will probably wish to know /
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What makes Hartford so charming, as I cannot mention / every thing I will only tell yout hat one of my greatest / pleasure are long walks, generally quite alone, as to / companions my own thoughts are usually all that I have. To / be sure they are not always the most agreable, for no one can / contemplate themselves with mich satisfaction, and the / vanity and selfishness I have lately discovered only required / circumstances to call forth in me, have made me astonished. / I have from the discovery learned to be more charitable when / I see these faults in others, and to pity rather than condemn / as I have too often done, and may I never forget to be the [page torn] charitable. How little my dearest do we know ourselves / “could we see ourselves as others see us”, or as we ought to / see ourselves we should not be such self complacent / creatures I am sure.
But I had yesterday a companion very / expectedly, and it ws no other than my cousin Mr Bacon of / whom you have heard me speak, and who is a favourite of / mine, so you can imagine I had a very pleasant walk.
I have heard that Henry has / accepted a call to Cold Spring now is this not delightful, to / have him so near us, and in such a charming place too. / How much I rejoice I cannot tell you, and how many / happy day I anticipate spending at the parsonage. I received a letter from my sister (a sweet name it is not?) / a few day since, the first she ever wrote to me, and which is / I trust the commencement of a long continued correspondence.
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This will probably be the last letter I shall write from / the place to you. Give my love to your mother and believe / me ever my beloved Emma your sincere
Friend
Eliza Storrs
I have a favour to ask of you will you ask Julia if she will give / me a note or something of Washington Irving’s for an autograph? / I shall feel much obliged if she will
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We are shivering over coal fires here, our delightful warm days / are all gone and winter seems really to becoming a season / to which I never look forward but with dread of its cold winds, frosts, and snows.Transcriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
English
