Memoir of Mary L. Ware, Wife of Henry Ware, Jr.Hall, Edward B. (Edward Brooks)
Religion
Memoir of Mary L. Ware, Wife of Henry Ware, Jr.
Hall, Edward B. (Edward Brooks)
Unitarians -- United States -- Biography; Ware, Mary L. (Mary Lovell), 1798-1849
"... I had given Mr. B---- notice of my intention to come to
him at this time, and found him looking out for me even at the
gate, with characteristic impatience, on Tuesday about noon,
and not a little delighted to see me at last. You know how
strongly attached he was to my father and mother, and indeed to
the whole family; his enthusiastic feelings have fully retained
the remembrance of what he enjoyed with them, and any one who
belonged to them would have been most welcome to him. Besides
this, he used to pet me, and took a great deal of pains to
teach me, and I thought the little body would have lost his
wits when he saw me; he is a kind-hearted man, and with all his
peculiarities one cannot but respect and love him. You may
remember what a little oddity he was in appearance when he was
in Boston, and I assure you increasing years have not at all
lessened his peculiarity. His face is not, I think, altered in
the least; his hair is still a bright brown, cut as short as
scissors can do it, upon which he usually mounts a small
sailor's wove hat, from beneath the narrow rim of which his
little bright, gray eyes twinkle in a most animated manner. His
common dress is a pepper-and-salt frock-coat, which has been
apparently in the service many long years, the waist of which
just divides his height, coming down to the chair when he sits;
a straight, long waistcoat of the same materials, and a colored
neckerchief tied as tightly as possible round his little neck;
breeches of purple-corded velvet, fastened at the knee with a
little steel buckle, white worsted stockings, and a pair of
what have been long leather gaiters, pushed down over the
ankles _à la negligée_. Fancy this little odd figure moving
about as briskly as if he were a boy just loose from school,
the vivacity of his manner and looks corresponding exactly with
the quickness of his motions, and you have my little friend Mr.
B----. You would think all this must be ludicrous, but it is
not. There is so much good sense and kind feeling about him,
and so much real benevolence in his manner towards every one,
that all his peculiarity is forgotten in a very short time. He
is one of the most intelligent, entertaining men I ever met
with, and certainly one of the most warm-hearted. He has passed
a very unsettled life since he left America, and is now living
in a poor cottage, quite out of the way of all society, with no
amusement but his little garden, which he cultivates entirely
himself, and a fine library of most valuable books. This is
quite enough for him, and he seems as happy and contented as
possible, because he is independent. His _sanctum_ is more like
grandpa's than any I ever saw; he reminds me of him in many
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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