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The Philander Chase letters were written in the 18th and 19th century and therefore may contain language that we understand today as harmful or offensive. You may encounter paternalist descriptions of Native Americans, racial slurs, or sexism. For more information, see our policy page.
Description
Mrs. Marriott updates Chase on the lives of her family members and of Chase's English friends.
Date
6-8-1826
Keywords
Great Horkesley, Dr. Ward, Oriel College, Oxford, Dr. Coplestone, Mr. Wiggin, Duff Macfarlane, Lord Kenyon, Margaret Kenyon, Lady Rosse, Nayland, Miss Smith, Lady Palmer
Recommended Citation
Marriott, Mrs. G.W., "Letter to Philander Chase" (1826). Philander Chase Letters. 623.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/chase_letters/623
Rights Statement
Transcript
[Lucca] Square
8th June 1826
Right Rev’d & very dear Sir,
As a Box is about to be dispatched from Gt. Horkesley & Dr. Ward desired to have letters from town to enclose in it, I cannot help adding my [mite] to the English intelligence you are to receive, lest my being silent should seem like indifference to you & all that is going on in dear interesting Ohio. How improbable it would have seemed at one time that I should ever have applied “dear” & “interesting” to any part of America! But your arrival in England gave rise to an entirely new set of ideas & feelings with which I would not part for a great deal. I am sure that I am not singular in looking back to the period of your coming to our favored land as quite an era in my life. “From the blessings they bestow, our times are dated, & our eras move.” You will rejoice, & thankfully rejoice, with me when I tell you that my dear Husband has been preserved in good health all the Winter & Spring, & our nine Children too, with very trifling exception. We have the inexpressible comfort also fo seeing our two dear elder Boys going on well, Geo. at Oriel College, Oxford, & [?] at School. The former has now passed two Terms at the University, & where his Father passed through Oxford a few weeks since nothing could be more gratifying to a Parent’s heart than the testimony given by Dr. Coplestone, his Provost, & the Tutors, to his conduct. I trust, & am sure, we are not forgotten by you, in your [intercessions] at the Throne of Grace. For this dear Boy, who fears his age & situation must be so peculiarly exposed to temptation, & would particularly beg your prayers.
Betsey is at this moment with yours & our good friends the Wiggins at St. Paul’s Church, attending the meeting of the Charity Schools, a [scene] I am persuaded you have a perfect recollection of. With them & Miss Macfarlane I went last week to hear all the tunes on the Ohio Organ, which is now [compleat], & will be dispatched in a week or two. It is quite delightful, & as I sat listening to it, I looked forward to the time when you, without whose pious exertions, humanly speaking, it could not have been wanted in the wilds of Ohio, would be gladdened & edified by its heavenly notes surrounded by your children, for such will all your congregation be to you. How thankful I felt that there was such a heart & such a [?] as Lady Rosse’s. Of our dear friends the Kenyons you know all from dear Margaret. They are particularly well this year, & as much alive to the interest of Ohio as can be. They have made us a nice copy of your drawing of your house. They leave town on Friday [?] night & I am sorry to think how many months must elapse before we can in all probability meet again.
Miss Macfarlane is quite happy in the prospect of a ship to Nayland with Miss Smith. You can understand how much she will enjoy it. We are anxious to hear again from you particularly on account of the distress you were in about your dear little English Boy. I will hope that he has been spared to you, but if his Heavenly Father has seen fit to remove him from his Earthly one, you will not have [left] without much support & consolation, though as I have twice experienced, even a [Bud] cannot be removed from the Parent stock without a painful struggle, I have only mentioned three of my children – Selina keeps pretty stout. Fred’k & “[bouncy] Arthur,” remember Bishop Chase quite well, & little Wharton knows whose picture it is that hangs in Mamma’s Room. Little Edmund Chase, is a lovely Babe near’g months old, & stouter than any of our Children have been at the same age. I will not longer detain you than to beg you to remember us in the kindest manner to every member of your family, for with all of them I feel as if I was quite acquainted. Believe me to be my dear Sir, with the highest veneration & very affectionate regard, your obliged friend,
[S.A.] Marriott
I mean to send with this a little vol: of Sacred Poetry which I hope your little girl will like. I am just come in from visiting your Country-woman, Lady Palmer. She has her family in London for a short time, & we see a good deal of them.