Sanderson, Jeremiah Burke. Letter to William Cooper Nell.

Title

Sanderson, Jeremiah Burke. Letter to William Cooper Nell.

Creator

Sanderson, Jeremiah Burke

Contributor

William Cooper Nell

Date

1841-05-21

Description

Handwritten letter from Jeremiah Burke Sanderson to William Cooper Nell.

Is Part Of

Isaac and Amy Post Family Papers

Rights

The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Item may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/

Identifier

558

Location

Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester

Transcription

(Page 1)

                   May 21^st 1841
W^m C – Tis friday afternoon, i’ve a little leis
ure on hand which i think i cannot better
improve than by writing you a line or so –
which i shall get some one of the New Bedford
Delegation who are coming up to attend the A.S
Convention to deliver to you – In the first
place my health is first rate excepting a little
dulness [sic] i feel just now, this i set down again
at dissipation – having attended two weddings
of late – One last night, a Mr [Morton?] to
Miss Ruth Williams the Lady i think you
are acquainted with          She ^is^ quite a small
body so that he being somewhere in the neigh
borhood of six foot six can scarcely be said
to have taken a better half but rather this a
Whew! Marriage is quite the order here – i have
just now received an invitation to a wedding
next Tuesday evening       The way the you
ng bachelors are “taking to themselves wives” is
rather a caution to Sticklers for Celibacy and
by no means flattering to the prospects of those
who expect a plenty of company in that way
of living       Of course thats [sic] insignificant to
me – “Let me but see the young Lady in whose
character is developed the traits that i admire” –

(Page 2)

(ha! ha! if i was as sanguine as W^m C i’^d^ say)
“then i will follow in the footsteps of Predecesser [sic] Edw^d^
B–”– that sentiment of yours must be qualified a
little before i can endorse it, though i can fully sym
pathise [sic] with the feelings under the influence of
which it was written         I have long entertained a
very favorable opinon of Matrimony, maugre the many
instances of domestic misery, which i am far from
believing necessarily grow out of Marriage but rather
originate from a want of affection, mutual concession
in the Parties – We have not always a flowery
path to walk in, nor a cloudless sky to walk under
-- there are troubles, little unpleasantries in single
life and we ought not to expect that Marriage is
an institution which having entered into we can
escape these           i believe there is this much favorable
to Marriage, that while [illegible] ^the Bachelor^ (so from habitual
aversion to change) has to contend almost entirely alone
against adversity without the aid of sympathy or
friendship, – Friendship! did i say? Humph! i can
scarcely be charitable enough towards an old
Bachelor to think him susceptible of sincere friendship
the Married man is assisted by those strong incentives,
the affection and sympathy of his wife and children
and is thus enabled to laugh at the “frowns of fortune”
Oh! the sympathy of affection of friendship, who – that
has felt it – cannot witness its soothing influence
like as dew to the drooping, wilting flower – having

(Page 3)

the effect to resuscitate – so is the expression of
sympathy to the drooping, desponding mind,
To enjoy the Society of those we love and by whom
we are loved, whose hearts are a reservoir into
which we can turn the current of our own over
flowing feelings and receive a kind return of con
fidence, oh! W^m C this is sympathy! this is that
that makes family ties so strong – that makes
man & wife – “no more twain, but one flesh,”
I envy no one, if i did, it would be the Man whose
happiness (Temporally) is derived from this source, –
this is a subject which i acknowledge is frequen[tly]
in my mind, and such is the opinion I have [obliterated]
          as a picture in my mind it has very little [obliterated]
the sombrous – on the other hand the Old Ba[chelor?]
looks absolutely horrible       no wonder the old
Widower Weller said – “Take to thyself a wife Samivil
my boy” – ha! ha! such advice as you have me once
if its not put into practice t’wont be for want of
inclination – think you i could effect any thing in
that way in Boston – ahem!        Now let me close
up by an errand for Mr Harris – he desired me to ask
to send him down another quantity [obliterated] [cards?] as
many as you sent before – [obliterated] Paul [&?]
Edw^d^ B send their Love [obliterated]i should like to hear [from?] [obliterated]

(Page 4)

P.S. I meant to have told you something general &c
I shall have to do it the next time –
                                                J[illegible]

[Text in center left margin, running upward]

The $1.50 is to pay for those
                   Cards
                             [Jery?]

[Text upside-down, bottom of page]

The dollar & [obliterated]

[Address in center of page, running downward]

          W^m C Nell
                   Boston
                             Mass
25 Corn Hill

Tags

Abolitionism; Personal

Collection

D.93 Isaac and Amy Post Family Papers

Citation

Sanderson, Jeremiah Burke, “Sanderson, Jeremiah Burke. Letter to William Cooper Nell.,” RBSCP Exhibits, accessed November 23, 2024, https://rbscpexhibits.lib.rochester.edu/items/show/2856.

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