This dovecot where I
now am is the sweetest little nest imaginable; fronting on a city
street, with back windows opening on a sea view, with still, quiet
rooms filled with books, pictures, and all sorts of things, such as
you and Mr. Lewes would enjoy. Don't be afraid of the ocean, now! I
've crossed it six times, and assure you it is an overrated item.
Froude is coming here--why not you? Besides, we have the fountain of
eternal youth here, that is, in Florida, where I live, and if you
should come you would both of you take a new lease of life, and what
glorious poems, and philosophies, and whatnot, we should have! My
rabbi writes, in the seventh heaven, an account of your note to him.
To think of his setting-off on his own account when I was away!
Come now, since your answer to dear Mrs. Fields is yet to come; let it
be a glad yes, and we will clasp you to our heart of hearts.
Your ever loving, H. B. S.
During the summer of 1874, while Mrs. Stowe's brother, the Rev. Henry
Ward Beecher, was the victim of a most revolting, malicious, and
groundless attack on his purity, Mrs. Lewes wrote the following words
of sympathy:--
MY DEAR, FRIEND,--The other day I had a letter from Mrs. Fields,
written to let me know something of you under that heavy trouble, of
which such information as I have had has been quite untrustworthy,
leaving me in entire incredulity in regard to it except on this point,
that you and yours must be suffering deeply.
Pages:
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522