File:Frances (Appleton) Longfellow to Emmeline (Austin) Wadsworth, 31 August 1847 (cd13ebd0-9330-4d0f-a2f7-9fa720a3fbc8).jpg

Manuscript letter

Archives Number: 1011/002.001-018#022

Nahant. Wednesday.
Tomorrow beloved, we return to the comforts of Craigie Castle, after a ten days visit here, & most thankful shall I be to be under my own roof again, unless the dog star is malicious to my children. We came here from Portland via Lynn, & trusting to find the Hotel thin did not secure rooms, & were accordingly perched up in the garret whose sloping roof seemed quite picturesque at first, & I joked Henry upon finding his true poetical elevation, the attic, at last, & imagined myself a poor woman ‘distrained for rint,’ seeing my baby buried in an unpainted, wooden cradle, antique enough for the infant Them, & knocking my [p. 2] head against the rafters at every step. In a few days we joyfully descended, however, to other rooms, tho still so small they are like mouse traps, & we sleep with our feet almost out of the window. I think I could not survive for a summer the dirt & discomfort of this hotel, but, except that the weather has not been warm enough, & I have had a wretched cold ever since I came, I have enjoyed this much time very well. I found to my joy Mrs Sidney Brooks here, & Mrs Goram [sic]; Mrs Bacon, the Rices, the Belknaps & other Boston people & quite a number of Canadians have also been pleasant. There is the usual strolling & gossiping on the verandahs, & congregating on or near the sofas in the entry – but nothing very [p. 3] lively has been going on since I came – the Horner romance was growing stale, tho’ the hero of it still remains, promenading with his arm in a black handkerchief by way of looking interesting, constantly accompanied by the mamma & daughter, the father having retired in indignation to his own house. Mrs Brooks left for her Fathers a day or two since, & gives no encouragement of visiting Geneseo. Wm Birtt described his visit in glowing terms – to me – “altogether the most charming one her ever made in America,” so you see your efforts were not thrown away. The style opf the house & dinners delighted him, not to speak of the hostesses whicho can not be praised in the same breath.
We have some very pretty girls here – A Miss Stone with fine brow & eyes, & half a dozen little sisters [p. 4] pretty, nice children & amazingly clever. They got up tableaux two evenings, grouping & dressing themselves with wonderful grace & taste their mother is a fine looking woman Then Miss Sprague is a fresh & fair damsel, & a Miss Dana is very stately (whose brother is engaged to one of the Jays) but perhaps the loveliest person is Mrs Abbot Lawrence [crossed out: who married] a Philadelphia girl very pleasing & dressing charmingly. I feel very shabby among the nice dresses, having had no time, this summer, to have a respectable wardrobe. Miss Ruggles often comes over from Mrs Paiges. I like her much. Mrs P., by the way, has a most tasteful mansion constructed out of the Codmans old one, & gives dinners equal to her town ones. Nahant is most thickly settled now but the region is as wild & grand as ever. I have longed in vain for fine surf. We have had a dead calm [p. 5] & such chilly mists that the moon has been lost upon us. Tom has returned from Newport with lively accounts of the Fancy Ball, where he was Manager in his Greek dress. A connection of Mackintoshes, a Mrs Wedgwood, has arrived from England, & wishes to see Niagara & as much besides as possible. She has found a female friend, but no male, one to accompany her, & seizes upon Tom, who goodnaturedly assents, & they will set forth day after tomorrow probably & will I hope see you en route. She is a fat, sensible pleasing woman & highly delighted with every thing American, from the beauty of the women & children to other things many quarrel with. [p. 6] She passed the day here yesterday, & was much stuck by the grandeur of this shore.
I have begun a charming book Hans Andersen’s story of his life. Have you seen it? It has all the simplicity & sentiment of the North & a man of genius. I am hoping daily for your last letter.
Our landlord is insanely talking of a fancy ball next week, but where he will find performers I know not, unless he invites the mermaids & mermen in their national costume. We are thinning off very fast, altho’ all prophecy September will be warm. I have hardly [crossed out: hardly] had a day warm enough this summer & shall enjoy a sunny Autumn.
[p. 7] I asked Mrs Belknap & Mrs Chase lore of Mrs Ritch, & found she had a tedious, but not painful, time. She had very slight, ineffectual pains which prolonged so much the crisis. She used the ether only at the last. I have heard of many new cases here, & it seems now quite universal, & I am cordially thanked by more than one for pioneering to such a blessing. Mary Dwight has a boy a week old born down here. Her eldest boy is most singularly affected they say. The sight of children makes him ill, & every mole-hill is a mountain to him. He has been sadly indulged in such sensitiveness I believe, but when to pull the bit & how far is a most puzzling manner.
[p. 8] I almost despair of educating my children decently – they are so perverse at times that any sincerity seems excusable, & then are so lovely & trusting that your heart melts.
But I am weary scribbling so much on my knee, tho loath to leave any unoccupied ground. Dr Lieber is in this vicinity.
Farewell beloved – with warmest remembrances to all about you – ever thy affte
Fan –
Henry’s best love.

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