Name/Title
Letter from William Irving to Jane WalesEntry/Object ID
HHV 003.684Description
Letter from William Irving to Jane WalesSubject
William concerned that Sarah does not write her family, “repugnation to letter writing”, “Dromios of New York and Boston” (sister Harriet of Boston and aunt S __d?), discussion of Aunt [L or S?] possibly negative influence over the young girls of the family, William feels Sarah avoided this influence because she married him so young, keep “Flora” close to avoid bad influencesSubject Person/Organization
William Irving (1811-1854), Jane Wales (?-?), Sarah Mann Irving (1824-1913), Mary Mann, Harriet Mann, Florence MannSubject Place
* Untyped Subject Place
New York, Boston, MACollection
Irving Manuscript CollectionTranscription
Transcription
New York February 2nd 1845
My dear Sister
My old propensity of procrastinating / has been again exercising its power over me in / allowing so much time to elapse since I last wrote to / you; yet my fault is in some measure palliated in / my Knowing that Mrs Jenks has Kept you informed / of our movements in New York.
I wish you could suggest some measure by which / I might be enabled to induce Sarah to write. I hve / used all the arguments within my reach to induce / her to write, at least to her good mother if no one else; / and I assure you it causes me no little regret to think / that my wife should neglect that which the common dic - / tates of our natures should prompt us to perform; __ that / which, apart from extraneous considerations, duty, more sacred / than any other within my Knowledge calls for. Her neglect / however, I am sure does not arise from a want of / affection or through indifference, for she is constantly / talking of her, and many and often times does she exprefs / a longing to see her again. The truth of the matter is / she is naturally averse to letter writing, and now
[END OF PAGE 1]
Having put off the day from time to time, she Knows / not how to begin to frame an excuse for her long / neglect. I will not yet quite despair of overcoming her / repugnation to letter writing but will hope she will ere / long be induced to write.
Though I have had the pleasure of only seeing your good / self and Mrs Jenks of the members of my Wife’s family / still I feel as ‘tho; I had seen your sister Harriet also / having met with her exact counterpart here in New / York. The Dromios of Ephesus + Syracuse are completely / lost in the shade of the Dromio’s of New York + Boston / I have had some acquaintance with the latter and / she proclaims her second half in Boston as one in thought / feeling and action with herself. I believe they sojourned / for a time with each other in this goodly city, when it is / said they always walked alike ___ dressed alike __ danced / alike and even snoozed alike __ what the one thought / the other thought __ when the one was amazed the other / was amazed __ where the one smiled the other smiled __ / when the one Wept the other Wept __ if one was sick / the other was sick __ if one was shocked the other was / shocked __ if our was happy the other was happy and “vice / verse; in truth so much similarity in body, mind and / soul, probably scarce even existed fro before. Doubtless /
[END OF PAGE 2]
You will be anxious to Know who my Dromio of New York / may be, as well as to learn whether a favourable opinion of / the Dromio of Boston would be the result of a Knowledge of / the character +c of the former. The N.Y. Lady is your char - / ming, amiable Aunt Sarah S __d and my opinion / Why! That there never was a more fortunate event in the / annals of the [^ than] when a separation of these two wonderfully / similar beings took place. If any one should be anyways / desirous to see a daughter rendered pretty effectually good / for nothing, let them send her to Mrs S __ to reside for a / year or two [page torn] the age when she is about to enter upon [page torn] / womanhood of her life. Perhaps I am either too severe / on Mrs [L or S??] - yet it is my sincere and candid opinion and / if my views should ever have any consideration I hope / that for the future no young Sisters in Law may be sent / to her motherly care to complete their education. In my / Wife’s case I myself was too early in the field for Mrs [L/S?] / to gain much of an ascendancy over her.
Flora has just recovered from an attack of the meazles. / She has not as yet resumed her school duties, but will commence / in a day or two, she is a good little girl and a general favorite / and the presence of Mrs Jencks of course will balance any unfavourable / tendencies others might have, she is scarcely allowed to go into / the basement and Sarah + myself Keep her as much as we can in / our room when she is not at school.
[END OF PAGE 3]
Mary has just come in and says that Mr. Fogg is going to / Boston tomorrow and that she will send your [^ the this] by him if / I will close it, therefore I close it thus abruptly
Your affectionately
William Irving
[ADDRESS]
Mrs George Wales
67 Temple Street
Boston
[POSTAGE STAMP - red ink, circle]
BOSTON
FEB
6
MASSTranscriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
EnglishOther Names and Numbers
Other Numbers
Number Type
Former NumberOther Number
W 3339Condition
Notes
Remarks: Small holes at fold lines on first and third pages of writing; hole at center right of address page; staining.Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Jane Wales (?-?)Notes
RecipientGeneral Notes
Note Type
StorageNoteNote
Home Location: Historic Hudson Valley, Union Church, Storage, Shelf 31CNote Type
DepartmentNote
Library
