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
"You cannot think how I long, when the Sabbath comes round, to
have an ear in Federal Street. I find, as Mr. Channing warned
me, that travelling is a sad enemy to the cultivation of
religious knowledge and improvement; it does so derange the
regularity of one's habits of thinking and acting. The day is
too confused, and the nights too wearied. But there is much in
the experience of every day to excite a strong sense of
gratitude to that Providence whose care is extended over us in
all places; in the consciousness which we must have, even when
the idea of separation from those we love presses most heavily
upon us, that there is One, ever present, whose love for us is
infinite. Yet it is not of feelings that I ought to speak; I
could fill volumes with the variety of thoughts which every day
suggests, but I am learning to do without the communication of
them."
From Broadwater the party of four went to the Isle of Wight, and made
the usual circuit, in their little open carriage, through that charming
region, "with nothing wanting but health, and with that deficiency all
was a blank." Dr. R---- was too unwell to enjoy any thing, and Mary
herself, for a wonder, speaks of suffering from a cough which she had
had a month. But it did not prevent her from making what she calls "a
break-neck excursion" up a precipice of about four hundred feet, at the
southern part of the island. Of the country she gives a glowing
description, for which we have not room. On leaving the island, Dr.
R---- found it necessary to return to Broadwater for medical advice,
and Mary, who had arranged to meet some of her relations at Plymouth at
this time, readily, though not without regret, gave up her own plans,
and went back with the family to Broadwater. The place had little
interest for her, and she writes of "useless idleness" as a new thing to
her, and uncomfortable. But others did not think her presence useless,
nor did she fail to find employment. From the wife of the clergyman, who
had lately established schools in the parish on a new plan, she learned
a good deal of the national system of education. After a short time, Dr.
R---- determined to go to Paris, and she accompanied him. But of Paris
itself she saw very little, being chiefly devoted to the care of her
friend. And except for him, she had no wish to be there. "It may seem
strange," she writes, "that I should not wish to see Paris, but the
pleasure of every thing depends upon the circumstances which immediately
surround us. Yet I am very glad I came, for, though I cannot be of much
use, any one is better than none."
Their stay in Paris was short. In view of all considerations, Dr. R----
found it best to return at once to America, and sailed that same month
from Havre, Mary remaining to make her visit to her friends in England.
Her next letters are from Chatham.
"_Chatham, September 7, 1824._
"MY DEAR ANN:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Memoir of Mary L. Ware, Wife of Henry Ware, Jr. — John Shaqi
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