Transcription
New York September 24 1844
My dear Sister
Procrastination is said to be the thief / of time, and the truth of it I have found in putting / off from day to day writing to you, until now more / than the fortnight has passed to which I promised / on your leaving us should not intervene without Sarah / or myself writing to you. My delay has in part / been prompted from a desire that Sarah herself should / write; as I can readily imagine a line from her would / prove far more acceptable than one from myself; but / as there is no reasonable prospect of her being induced / to perpetrate so dutiful an act, I take it upon myself / to partly fulfill the promises made, as well as to assure / you that your flying visit has not thus early been effaced / from my mind. In truth I regret that your stay / could not have been longer with us, for I found so / much in your own views of society and the world / generally which coincided so well with my own, and / the good influence your presence and advice had / upon Sarah, that I do not doubt a longer stay would [^ not only] have confirmed my own predilictions for a new Sister but / also have been the cause of increased benefit to my good / little wife: however I hope in the ensuing spring
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To be able to go on to Boston and take Sarah with me, when / we will not only meet again, but I shall have the pleasure / of making the acquaintance of others of her family and / numerous friends. I should much like to / make a visit this fall on Sarah’s account, as I sometimes / think she longs once more to be among her old companions. / It is hard I Know for one so young to be this suddenly / taken away from the “old familiar faces” and scenes of / early life, and to live as it were in a community of / strangers, but these things ought to have been thought / of before she put her head into [^ the] noose which she / must have known was to separate her from her early ties. / I do not make these remarks because I think Sarah / dissatisfied with a residence here, or that she is low / spirited + gloomy; but it is so natural for the young, par = / =ticularly one who has altered so much her relative situation / in life, to contrast the bye-gone days with the present, – / to call to mind the hours of youthful innocence and / wirth when unconscious of the trials which await / a more advanced age of existence, that it is natural / she should at times feel the lofs of early associations. / and fondly cling to the remembrance of the bright + illusive/ dreams of early youth. However, this is no more than / [^ what] all of us experience to a greater or lefs degree in our lives, + / perhaps few more so than my self for I am most unfor = / =tunately a being of imagination + sensibility, – one who / scarcely exists in this every day world. I have from / childhood lived in an atmosphere of my own
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Creation, — in a world of beautiful dreams and / sweet imaginings + many [fairy] visions have I / woven for myself only to see the folly + vanity of such / indulgences. This is a work a day world and sooner / or later these gossamer fabrics are destroyed by the / drudgery + realities of every day life. Contentment is the / true secret of real happiness, or at least that state of mind / which gives peace + tranquility to an early existence; and / it his much within ourselves xxx whether or no we / shall possess it.
Your sister Mary with Sarah + myself accompanied / Mr Mitchell to Brooklyn the day before yesterday one a house / hunting expedition; We looked at one, a cosy little two / stopry house, which Mr M has subsequently determined to / rent, + Sarah + myself contemplate making a part / of his household. Mr M goes to Boston to mourn / for the purpose of bringing his family on to N.Y. so that / in the course of two or three weeks we will probably be / settled in Brooklyn for the winter.
Thursday Sep’t 26th. Mr Mitchell did not get off yesterday as he / had anticipated but purposes going this afternoon, by him I send this. / Since writing the first of [^ this] letter Sarah has persuaded me to give up the / idea of oing over to Brooklyn with Mr. M. She thinks it will be lonesome / for her, as in the want of living there I should not go home to dinner, / and she says that I would be with her but a few moments morning / + evening + again the crossing the ferry in the winter would be uncom = / =fortable and inconvenient to myself. So I have pretty much made up / my mind to remain quiet when I am at Mrs [Lelands?]-and’s /
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We have had quite a change in the weather in a day or two past. / Yesterday it rained for the first time in many weeks and to / day Shawls + cloaks are seen in Broadway and a little fire / pit at this present time would not be unacceptable for my / fingersare actually [??-ed] with the cold
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Sarah sends her love to you and “all the folks” when you / write you can direct to Mrs Lelands 34[1?] Broadway.
Yours affectionately
William Irving
[ADDRESS]
Mrs George [Wales?]
67 Temple St.
Boston
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Favor of / Mr MitchellTranscriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
English
