File:Frances (Appleton) Longfellow to Mary (Longfellow) Greenleaf, 22 March 1844 (1d7d1905-afc1-4733-9639-8f79a352ef6c).jpg

Manuscript letter

Archives Number: 1011/002.001-014#006

Cambridge March 22d 1844.
Dear Mary,
I hope you have been making due allowance this long while for my wifely duties as scribe &c & have not thought me unmindful of you & James through my great silence. I do not undertake, this winter, to do as I would be done by in the way of letters, but hope they will not be needed on either side much linger. The balmy air & the voices of the birds, which rather prophecy than fulfill Spring to us as yet, remind me that among other charming things you are to return, but I suppose I must not hope for you until we can really give you a warm welcome. By that time you may find a new claimant for your love under our roof, so, if all goes well, we shall have the joy of celebrating two arrivals about the same period. I had a delightful long chat with Mrs Greenleaf a day or two since, & among divers feminine topics, upon which we agreed charmingly, for few have as much reason to do so, you & James were as usual bought upon the tapis, & I was delighted to hear that you had seen something of Aunt, Mrs Gardiner, & continued to enjoy your quiet lodgings so well – more especially that your health is so excellent. You have escaped one of the most trying winters we have had for many a year, & I [p. 2] have often wondered more people did not follow your example & migrate with the birds, notwithstanding the trouble of flying so far. Now, the earth seems to be really alive again, & though March is blustering after his wonted fashion, I trust his reign is nearly over. The roads have been such sloughs of despond that I have not ventured into town for some weeks, & was thankful to see my Father & Mrs Appleton, today, after our long non-intercourse. She gave a very beautiful ball in February, which I enjoyed very much, from the novelty of the thing, it being the first & last of my season. The house was thrown entirely open & decorated with the greatest profusion of green-house plants & flowers, which had a charming effect & harmonized without eclipsing (as Bennett would say but I hope in better grammar) the human flowers. We have just received a nice letter from Sam & a golden gift of oranges. I am very impatient to know him face to face & am glad he talks of returning this summer. Henry is in excellent health & spirits, & has lately commenced a set of lectures upon modern Languages which I sometimes fear will be too severe a trial for his eyes although they continue improving. I have proposes, à la Portia, disguising myself in male attire to hear them, but have now resigned myself to getting a rehearsal only. He has been also occupied with writing a few poems, which will appear in Graham, in May & June probably. & are among the best he has ever written. I trust one of them upon peace will carry conviction to many hearts, [p. 3] The horrible accident at Washington will prepare them to feel the full truth of this poem although that did not suggest it.
Smoke begins to issue from Mr Worcester’s one chimney, only experimentally however, & his graceful figure is often seen pacing beneath the shade of his fine trees, but I suppose they will not take possession of their snuggery until nearly the end of April. I confess I am rather anxious to see them there that our repairs may not be delayed into the summer. Aunt Sally & Mrs Peck sail on together as well as can be expected with the former’s April disposition. Thanks to her affection for Henry I have been enabled to keep tolerably even in her good graces, but Mary Dixwell is not rarerly amused with her sudden changes from fever to agu [cut off] from ‘my dear’ to ‘Madam’ which befall her.
Dr. Gray has been giving very interesting botanical lectures before the Lowell audience, & Aunt Sally, with many others, is a punctual listener & ardent admirer. I hope they will inspire our people with a little more reverence for trees, and that we shall be spared the pain of seeing the venerable patriarchs sacrificed for paltry purposes, as two were here, recently, by a barbarous mechanic. There is a letter going through the papers concerning this mansion, Henry’s possession thereof &c – in which it is declared he intends to dedicate one room to relics of Washington! This fiction, will, I fear, bring upon us antiquarian visitors to any amount.
How do they feel in your part of the world about the annexation of Texas? Here there is great excitement & indignation, & many that have been cowardly about slavery are [p. 4 bottom] warmed by the occasion into a clearer expression of abhorrence. Heaven defend us from an act so foolish & wrong!
Graham has flattened Willis as much as he slandered Henry in his portrait gallery, but it is as little of a likeness on the better side. If he cannot find more truth-telling artists he had better resign publishing this species of falsehood through out the country. Henry’s book is thriving better than the printers, who, Felton tells us, are in a bad way. He is almost through [p. 4 top] with the laborious part of it. Mrs Pierce has another boy. This is the latest Cambridge news I have heard. We have received from my brother a fine old Venetian portrait by Tintoretto, which dwells about in corners, disrespectfully in the shade, not having yet a place provided for it. I hope you have been enjoying Macready as much as Jewett says he has. he is an admirably finished artist – but a still better man. Pray give my love to Mrs Gardiner, when you see her, & to James when you [p. 1 cross] see him! With Henry’s to you both – ever yr loving Fanny L.
ADDRESSED: 25 / MRS JAMES GREENLEAF / CARE OF HARROD DARLING & CO / NEW ORLEANS / LA.
POSTMARK: CAMBRIDGE MAR 26 / PAID
ENDORSED: FANNY – COURT MAR 22/[??]

• Keywords: correspondence; long archives; frances e. a. longfellow papers (long 20257); frances elizabeth (appleton) longfellow; people; document; henry wadsworth longfellow; subject; health and illness; social life; Correspondence (1011/002); (LONG-SeriesName); Letters from Frances Longfellow (1011/002.001); (LONG-SubseriesName); 1844 (1011/002.001-014); (LONG-FileUnitName)