During
the last winter I have not enjoyed my usual health. Mrs. Stowe also
became sick and very much exhausted. At this time we had the offer of
a voyage to Great Britain and back free of expense."
This offer, coming as it did from the friends of the cause of
emancipation in the United Kingdom, was gladly accepted by Mr. and
Mrs. Stowe, and they sailed immediately.
The preceding month Mrs. Stowe had received a letter from Mrs. Follen
in London, asking for information with regard to herself, her family,
and the circumstances of her writing "Uncle Tom's Cabin."
In reply Mrs. Stowe sent the following very characteristic letter,
which may be safely given at the risk of some repetition:--
ANDOVER, _February_ 16, 1853.
MY DEAR MADAM,--I hasten to reply to your letter, to me the more
interesting that I have long been acquainted with you, and during all
the nursery part of my life made daily use of your poems for children.
I used to think sometimes in those days that I would write to you, and
tell you how much I was obliged to you for the pleasure which they
gave us all.
So you want to know something about what sort of a woman I am! Well,
if this is any object, you shall have statistics free of charge. To
begin, then, I am a little bit of a woman,--somewhat more than forty,
about as thin and dry as a pinch of snuff; never very much to look at
in my best days, and looking like a used-up article now.
Pages:
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230