File:Frances (Appleton) Longfellow to Emmeline (Austin) Wadsworth, 12 July 1848 (105ec059-0076-4f1e-a6b2-5b6f9e0d7c3d).jpg

Manuscript letter

Archives Number: 1011/002.001-018#021

Nahant. July 12th /48
Dearest heart,
I have been very, very naughty I know, not to write thee all this while, but I have been so busy that I could not make it out possibly, & am glad of a little rest here to tell you I have not been forgetful of you, before we start for Pittsfield, which we shall probably do on Monday. Mary was so bothered with packing her nurse off to England, & getting another, that we have had little quiet enjoyment until now, & have been running into Boston nearly every day. Mrs Harriot not caring to lift her little finger to aid us, but I put mine on my lips. M. has got, at last, a sober, [p. 2] steady New Englander, but not quite as experienced in the ways of children as she would like. It is so hard to find a satisfactory nurse, with head enough, heart enough, & body enough besides. I thank my stars for mine. We are in very comfortable lodgings here, opposite Mr Tudor, with very neat, spacious rooms, commanding a charming view of the southern sea & a graceful promontory. Mr T’s road runs by the house, & carries the children down to a nice, pebbly beach where they can throw stones to their hearts content, & where, yesterday we dipped them, in the broiling sun, poor little Fan sitting meekly on a stone, like the babe in the ballad, to witness the process, taking care of herself, for all hands were needed. Last night the soft moonlight [p. 3] & shooting Auroras were very beautiful from our piazza, but I was mourning for poor Henry, cooped in hot Cambridge where his Examinations have kept him these two days. The hotel is empty, but the cottages filled, & we have had visits from Mrs Kirkland, the Chadwicks, Paiges &c. Today we dine with Mrs P. with Mary Motley, & sup with Mrs Charles Amory. & tomorrow Sarah Lawrence has a child’s party at her charming cottage on Lynn Cliff. Marianne Greene had a girl on the 3d & Emily Appleton twins, a boy & girl, on the 8th! Poor Aunt Wm must be puzzled which way to run to rejoice. Emily’s fortune is rather too much of a good thing. I was amused with Joe’s naïve account of it, but he was very an [p. 4] xious for a time she was so much exhausted. Annie Pierce passed the 4th with us in Boston, where the Floral Procession was charming as usual. Among its many devices a windmill, prettily painted, large as life & whirling as it went, fascinated the children, but still more the sailing in boats on air in the public garden & the huge swings. What a wearisome day it is tho! I went to see the Greek slave which, I know not why, disappointed me. It is lovely too, but has a constrained air & it is too much like any Venus or naked woman. The prudish young ladies of Boston make a great fuss about gazing upon it. We brought Annie here with us, & she returned with Henry after enjoying much the noble [p. 5] surf dashing on Pulpit Rock a sublime sight she has eyes & heart to appreciate. There is a road made now behind both beaches, a great comfort to horses & gentlemen who go to town daily, but it breaks up the pleasant driving on the beaches. You have heard doubtless of the sad tragedy enacted here a week ago. I mean poor Mr Russells suicide. He had seemed depressed, & a girl at Dr Robbins’ saw him the day before opening & half throwing off his coat in a strange way, but his family had no claim, & [p. 6] his daughter heard him sleeping quietly after midnight, but before morning he wandered off alone, without their knowledge, &his hat & coat found on the rocks betrayed his fate, till his body was brought by some fishermen His sisters are said to have been insane, & his daughter you know died by her own hand. This & houng Phillips’, whose cottage I see from my window, cast a gloom over Nahant. Phillips had an incurable disease & his family also are strange; which renders his decision more explicable. He left 10,000 to Mrs Charles Amory’s little girl, & as much I believe to Mrs Tudor, from a fancy he took to them – to young [p. 7]\ Prince something, but the bulk of his fortune, unfortunately, to his cousin, as rich as he, & still more eccentric. The Observatory got a handsome donation which comes very opportunely. But all this you may have heard. I felt much for poor Mrs Beck, &, to add to the gloom, his funeral took place at Cambridge in the midst of a fearful thunder-storm & in the evening. Tom continues to write in a dismal strain from Paris, as indeed he may. There seems no dawn there as yet, & much as I wish them a good Republic I fear this will prove an utter failure I suppose Tom is now in England. He gave an [p. 8] amusing account of the Club des Femmes & their Minerva-like speeches, & the saucy in temptation of the men, who, at last, broke it up with mad merriment. He said it was the only funny thing he saw in Paris. I was glad to hear from Lizzie Prescott how you were all flourishing, & rejoice baby is so nicely & is growing I hope to your heart’s content. Kiss him many times for me – & remember me kindly to nurse & tell her to be very careful of my darling & not be tempted, like another Eve, to any forbidden fruit. Give our love to [crossed out: Mary] Lizzie - & with best wishes to William.
ever affly thine
Fanny E.L.
[p. 1 cross] Mary sends much love & many thanks for her letter

• Keywords: correspondence; long archives; frances e. a. longfellow papers (long 20257); frances elizabeth (appleton) longfellow; people; document; events; death; subject; social life; travel; places; united states; nahant; ma; Correspondence (1011/002); (LONG-SeriesName); Letters from Frances Longfellow (1011/002.001); (LONG-SubseriesName); 1848 (1011/002.001-018); (LONG-FileUnitName)