Metadata
Title
Mrs. C. A. Hopkinson to Sarah Josepha Hale
Date
1864-04-18
April 18, 1864
Subject
Hale, Sarah Josepha Buell, 1788-1879
Medium
Manuscripts
Language
eng
Type
text
Collection
Sarah Josepha Hale Collection, The Athenaeum of Philadelphia
Identifier
46-M-112
Rights
http://www.philaathenaeum.org/rights.html
Text
Cambridge Ap 18th
My dear Mrs Hale,
I have recd your
letter. I thank you for your real
kindness. But, is it possible
that you find it necessary to ask
me to read my Bible? That
you consider me as having overlooked
a doctrine so important, if true
as the Trinity?
In my last chapter, I
have endeavored to say what could
not offend any sect. I did not
consider that I had any right to
instil [instill] my peculiar tenets. You say
that I do not speak of Christ. But
if I had done so would you [DE:?] not have
been quite as much dissatisfied as
[ED: the following text appears along the left side of the page]
The notice you send is very kind. I should like to know Mrs L [?]
very truly yours
CA Hopkinson
[ED: the following text appears upside down at the top of the page]
How little you will think of me, when I
tell you I am sure as ever of the
war terminating gloriously for our country,
& that God leads us as fully in the cloud as
the pillar of fire, & that there will no peace but in freedom.
as you are now? You would have
missed the recognition of his Deity. It
is better as it is.
Before I "professed religion,"
which I did thirty-eight years ago,
by joining a Unitarian church, I devoted
not months, but years to the study of
the Bible, & read with attention the best
works on both sides of this vexed question.
I came to the conclusion that the evidence
was not in favor of the Trinity, but on
the other hand, I am free to say, I
cannot make up my mind as to the
nature of Christ, from the various [evidences?].
Nor do I think it absolutely necessary
that I should do so. In another
world those things which are darkly hinted
at, will be fully revealed. Meantime it
is his character, his mission & his influence
which concern us, rather than his nature
which is mysterious if not miraculous.
Perhaps you may think that
it is important for parents to instil [instill]
their peculiar religious tenets into their
childrens minds, with their earliest religious
training. Let every mother do as
seems right to her own enlightened conscience.
I shall not ask you to read
any chapter or verse of the Bible.
I have read one which says, "To his
own master he standeth or falleth."
I know you speak to me tenderly
& mean most kindly, But one's
religious tenets, are the last things I
should venture to interfere with, so sure
am I that each person has the
strongest possible interest in the correctness
of his own, I know you do
not mean to hurt me, but is it
is it possible that you do not
perceive the imputation implied by
your asking me to consult the Book
by which all Christians profess to
be guided? And have you so misread
me, as not to see, that I
have said so little on the subject,
precisely that I might say nothing
to offend, or pain, or interfere with
the religious opinions of any one?
That you could think, I have passed
through the valleys of sorrow & climbed
the mountains of desolation that, I have done without
asking the tender pity of God & looking
with gratitude at the example of Jesus
as sustaining & precious - that you
should address me as a woman living
without God & unrecognizant of my
Saviour, I confess pains & humiliates
me, in proportion, to the estimate I put
upon your friendship. Are words necessary
to reveal a Christian character?
Mrs. Sarah J. Hale.
Care of L. A. Godey Esqr
Philadelphia.
My dear Mrs Hale,
I have recd your
letter. I thank you for your real
kindness. But, is it possible
that you find it necessary to ask
me to read my Bible? That
you consider me as having overlooked
a doctrine so important, if true
as the Trinity?
In my last chapter, I
have endeavored to say what could
not offend any sect. I did not
consider that I had any right to
instil [instill] my peculiar tenets. You say
that I do not speak of Christ. But
if I had done so would you [DE:?] not have
been quite as much dissatisfied as
[ED: the following text appears along the left side of the page]
The notice you send is very kind. I should like to know Mrs L [?]
very truly yours
CA Hopkinson
[ED: the following text appears upside down at the top of the page]
How little you will think of me, when I
tell you I am sure as ever of the
war terminating gloriously for our country,
& that God leads us as fully in the cloud as
the pillar of fire, & that there will no peace but in freedom.
as you are now? You would have
missed the recognition of his Deity. It
is better as it is.
Before I "professed religion,"
which I did thirty-eight years ago,
by joining a Unitarian church, I devoted
not months, but years to the study of
the Bible, & read with attention the best
works on both sides of this vexed question.
I came to the conclusion that the evidence
was not in favor of the Trinity, but on
the other hand, I am free to say, I
cannot make up my mind as to the
nature of Christ, from the various [evidences?].
Nor do I think it absolutely necessary
that I should do so. In another
world those things which are darkly hinted
at, will be fully revealed. Meantime it
is his character, his mission & his influence
which concern us, rather than his nature
which is mysterious if not miraculous.
Perhaps you may think that
it is important for parents to instil [instill]
their peculiar religious tenets into their
childrens minds, with their earliest religious
training. Let every mother do as
seems right to her own enlightened conscience.
I shall not ask you to read
any chapter or verse of the Bible.
I have read one which says, "To his
own master he standeth or falleth."
I know you speak to me tenderly
& mean most kindly, But one's
religious tenets, are the last things I
should venture to interfere with, so sure
am I that each person has the
strongest possible interest in the correctness
of his own, I know you do
not mean to hurt me, but is it
is it possible that you do not
perceive the imputation implied by
your asking me to consult the Book
by which all Christians profess to
be guided? And have you so misread
me, as not to see, that I
have said so little on the subject,
precisely that I might say nothing
to offend, or pain, or interfere with
the religious opinions of any one?
That you could think, I have passed
through the valleys of sorrow & climbed
the mountains of desolation that, I have done without
asking the tender pity of God & looking
with gratitude at the example of Jesus
as sustaining & precious - that you
should address me as a woman living
without God & unrecognizant of my
Saviour, I confess pains & humiliates
me, in proportion, to the estimate I put
upon your friendship. Are words necessary
to reveal a Christian character?
Mrs. Sarah J. Hale.
Care of L. A. Godey Esqr
Philadelphia.