Letter to Philander Chase

Authors

Lord Kenyon

Files

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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

Lord Kenyon updates Chase on the lives and affairs of his English friends and assures him of their continued support for Chase's cause.

Date

8-25-1827

Keywords

Archbishop, Bishop of London, Wales, Menai Bridge, Mr. Kip, G.W. Marriott, Mr. West, Margaret Kenyon, Bishop of Salisbury, Aunt Kenyon, Lloyd Kenyon, Edward Kenyon, Dr. Gaskin, Dr. Bell, Cheltenham, Mrs. Chase

Transcript

Gredington

Aug’st 25

1827

My dearest Bishop

Most fervently do I congratulate you on God’s blessing having been so graciously showered down on the foundation of your College with which my name is so beyond all [?] of [?] honoured by being associated. There can be no establishment except our own Apostelical Church for which I can so anxious as for that under your superintendence, & wh. I rejoice heartily in regarding as so interestingly a part of it in spirit & in fact. I hope our ArchBp & Bishop will acknowledge your most Xtian Letters in the spirit in which they were conceived & expressed. The ArchBp I grieve to hear is very poorly but the Bp of London ought to be very well, for he has been journeying to see our wonder in Wales The Menai Iron Suspension Bridge. I have not seen it since its completion but hope to do so this year. I have never written to thank your excellent Brother in Law Mr Kip for his kind present, wh. I value highly as a proof of his kind esteem, (& who does not wish for the esteem of one whom he highly esteems in return?) and for its intrinsick [sic] curiosity. I beg you to offer my sincere respects & thanks, & I heartily hope he will long be spared to his Country & his friends. I rejoice to hear from dear G Marriott how highly he continues to admire & love our Countryman Mr West, for I now consider him English & American as well as Irish. Long very long I pray God may you & he be spared to each other to all most dear to you, & to the sacred cause wh. has bound you in ties of indisoluble affection & Xtian Charity. As to the charges agst West I have not the slightest apprehension of there being the least foundation for them. As a light comment in his case I quote Pope “Envy will merit as its shade pursue, But like the shadow prove its substance true.” I thank you in my heart for your affec’te thought of me in the lock of hair you kindly sent me wh. my precious Marg’t has [unkindly] undertaken to get set for me, not however to keep you any more in my mind or my heart, for that can hardly be. I hope you will again soon be settled for a [while] at least at your own dwelling with your most excellent Wife, for that she is such her conduct, not forgetting the affection & veneration tow’ds yourself shown by it, most clearly proves. Considering this life in its true light only as the path to a better & happier to all true Christians who in faith & humble endeavours so consider & value it, I ought not to wish an extended period of trial to either of you, but for the sake of your blessed work I do most anxiously hope you will both long be spared to witness, & constitute to, its spread & prosperity. I heard an excellent report last Monday of our dear friend the good Bishop of Salisbury when I called at his Palace door. I had written to advertise him of my coming with my precious girls but by some accident he missed receiving my Letter, & was out on a Confirmation. We only returned here on the 23rd Inst having been in the Isle of Wight since we left London in June for my precious girls health & gratification. They were all very much pleased with it, & with being a [deal] on the water there. My excellent Aunt promises us her company here in a few weeks. My precious Lloyd & Edward have been to see her & thank God found her very well & in excellent spirits. Her kind attachment to the loved Bishop of Ohio is nowise lessened, now with her affecte & pious disposition is it ever likely to do so. Sympathy in behalf of the most sacred & interesting of causes is sure to keep closely united those who duly estimate the worth of such a cause, & as time passes the link of attachment cannot but be strengthened. It is quite delightful to see her at her age almost 82 so animated in behalf of all that is most valuable on Earth, & that will be valuable in no less a degree when the Earth shall have passed away. Dear good Dr Gaskin is better than he has been: he at length has become convinced of the necessity of acting accord’g to medical advice; & cannot but hope that it may please God still to continue that primitive pious man among us for some years. Poor Dr Bell is pretty well: we saw him at Cheltenham as we came thro’ it. He is still indefatigable in his exertions for his Schools & his system, & I anxiously hope Ohio may materially profit by his labours, for I consider them of inestimable value in education. How delighted I shd have been could I have been present at the foundation of your College! What a day for grateful thoughts to your pious mind, what an occasion for gratitude to God on the part of its friends in Ohio, & of fervent prayer for a continuance of the Mercies under which [?] its prosperity can be continued! We are always rejoiced to hear from you, but beg you will always mention your health, & I could like to see the journal of your daily engagements since your return to Ohio from Old England. All our kindest regards & wishes to good Mrs Chase, my dear Godson and all most dear to you both. The dear Marriotts are all remarkably well I think this year. Ever my dearest Bishop your most affecte and faithful friend Kenyon

Recommended Citation

Lord Kenyon, "Letter to Philander Chase" (1827). Philander Chase Letters. 725.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/chase_letters/725