Metadata
Title
Sarah Josepha Hale to David E. Hale
Creator
Hale, Sarah Josepha Buell, 1788-1879
Date
1836-09-17
September 17, 1836
Medium
Manuscripts
Language
eng
Type
text
Collection
Sarah Josepha Hale Collection, The Athenaeum of Philadelphia
Identifier
46-M-149
Rights
http://www.philaathenaeum.org/rights.html
Text
Boston, Sept. 17 - 1836
My dear Son - I rec'd your letter of June 30 - about ten days
since - but as I had, a short time previous, mailed a letter
for you - I did not hasten to answer you, as I wanted to
fill a large sheet - a folio - making a family letter, if we
cannot have a family meeting. - I feel thankful
that your health has been preserved, in that perilous
climate - and that you are so comfortably situated; if comfort
can be predicated of such a place. - I hope before this you
have been promoted - I think you deserve it for your
long service, without any furlough since you graduated.
But I do not wish you to have any promotion which
will induce you to remain in the army. I dislike the
service more and more. The pay is small - and there seems
no chance of obtaining, by any sacrifice in the service
that which a soldier is taught to consider of the first importance
- namely honor, - If our officers cannot conquer impossibilities
as well as enemies they are court-martialed,
and disgraced. Many have resigned - and, I understand,
that the Lieutenants are generally employed in civil engineering,
immediately, and to much greater profit than the army pay
[afforded?] them - to say nothing of enjoying one's liberty;
and the privilege of ordering one's own movements.
Thomas Lee - (he was first Lieut.) resigned - and went
to Washington to transact some business - and was forthwith
appointed by Government to superintend the works and
property at "Old Point Comfort" I believe (at some military
station near, at any rate) with a salary of $3000! -
I was informed of this by his father - who further remarked
[DE: ?] his son wrote him, that he had become convinced that
no young man of talents and enterprise would remain long
in the army under the present system - that the opportunities
of employment on public works were now so great and
increasing, there was [DE: ? ?] every advantage on
the side of the civil engineer, of the U.S. Officer. -
I wish you could serve a year in the Civil Engr Corps.
before resigning - as I suppose your military tactics
have been your chief study since leaving the W.P.[Institution?]
- There seems no prospect of subduing the Seminoles;
tho' I think greater exertions on the part of Government
will be used in the coming campaign than was made
last winter. I dread the war - it seems so desperate and
so interminable. - But God is able to preserve you -
- Frances has written you that she is with me - we have
had a pleasant time - H. F. & Willey - but you and
J. were not - Willey has grown and improved too,
very much. He is a fine scholar - the "crack sholar [scholar] of the
New Hampton Seminary," as they tell me. He will be fitted
to enter the "Rensselaer Institute" next Sept. where they prepare
students for all the duties of Civil Engineering -
And here comes another family epistle from Frances Martha
odious name, I mean the Martha - Mother insists that
I shall write, I should be very willing if it were a little
[fairy?] sheet, but this enormous concern frightens away all ideas -
I am spending the vacation home - Horatio and Willey have
been home, so that we almost made a family party -
You complain of the hot weather - We have had not a
symptom of summer, the vegetation is nearly all blighted
by the frosts - However it is comfortable to-day -
[? ?] all getting along finely - Mother will tell you
of her arrangements, Horatio is quite a literary gentleman
I am living on my own [looks?] (almost) Josepha & Willey
on nothing at all - I am glad you have passed so much of
the hot season safely, and I hope you will be preserved
through the winter and visit us in the spring -
I hope you wont be quite a savage or marry any of those wild
girls who live round about - Are the people; (excluding of course
Indians, Negroes, sarpints and the like) civilised? -
Mother proposes that we should return in a year
and open a school, she being [sleeping?] Principal, and we
active assistants, that we are to have 20 scholars, make
2000 dollars and take a house - This plan originated in
the sage head of Horatio, who is crazy after a home
as he calls it - I shall install him cook, and see how
he likes home - But I suppose it mustn't be -
and I shall have the felicity of bidding you welcome to a
little [brick?] house, with green blinds and to the bosom of a
family of 26 all living on at least spending the the day time,
in that little brick house - Hold the charming prospect before
the eyes of the mind, and feed upon it - By the way, Willey
says that I used to tell him the "mind's eye" was in the back
of the head, but I positively deny his assertion - I wish I could
send something to comfort you in that dreary place, but it's
"no possible" - I send love and prayers for your health and
safety - I would write better, if I could -
Good bye
Frances Anne!
- studies the same, as at West Point, except the
Military - and indeed more extended. He is inclined to enter
that profession - (Civil E.) and as he shows an uncommon
aptitude for the Mathematics and Drawing - I have concluded
to educate him for those pursuits. - Frances has grown
and improved very much. She is a lovely girl - called quite
a beauty - I wish you could see her, and hear her play - she
excels in music - and indeed is an interesting and accomplished
young lady, as you will acknowledge, when you meet. -
I have not seen J. for a year - hope I shall be able
to go to [Troy?] next month. - I have a work in prep - which
promises to be profitable - and I have been making some
arrangements, which, next year, will, I think, be very advantageous.
Will tell you all about in my next - God bless you. S.J.H.
Boston Sept. [?]th 1836
Dear Brother
Mother has just given me leave to have a little corner in this family
letter and as it will be the last & best [?] family that I shall have I will see
if I can manage to concoct a few lines. Here I am in this good city of Boston,
whither I returned from New Hampton a few weeks ago and to the same rocky &
hilly place I shall be jacked off tomorrow with all my goods & chattels. It is indeed
a rather pleasant place than your broiling climate as I had rather
be frozen than burnt alive. I am studying to fit myself for a Civil Engineer and
[DE: am] so I shall have to study very hard I suppose as I intend to enter the Rensselaer
Institute next September. I went to the [Exhibition?] of the Phi Beta Kappa Society
last week and a most eloquent address and a splendid poem In one part of it he
described a hot day such a one as I suppose you have down in your part of the world
I can only recollect one verse it was this
"And abolition men and maids
Were tanned to such a hue
You scarce could tell them from their friends
Except their eyes were blue"
I have nothing more to say except to condole with you on your
unfortunate situation and so I must close Excuse all mistakes
Your aff. brother
W.G. Hale
Battle of Withlacochee [Withlacoochee]
Hollow ye the lonely grave,
Mark its caverns deep and wide;
In the soil they died to save
Lay the Grave men side by side.
Side by side they fought and fell,
Hand to hand they met the foe;
Who has heard his [grandsire?] tell
Braver stripe or deadlier blow?
Make no mournful harmonies,
Shed no earthly tear for them;
Summer dew and sighing breeze
Shall be wail and requiem.
Pile the grave-mound broad and high,
Where the martyred brethren sleep;
It shall point the pilgrim's eye
Here to land - but not to weep.
Not to weep - oh, no! The grief
Springing from a blow like this,
May not seek a [forced?] relief
In the drops that mothers kiss
But the kindling heart shall bear
[Home?] the lesson [stern?] and high,
With as proud a flame to dare, -
With as calm a throb to die. -
Elah -
[ED: the following appears along the side of the page]
I have copied a poem of Horatio's which I thought
would interest you. It was published in the America
Monthly Magazine. He has a long poem in the last
number of that work, entitled "Black Hawk" - I hope
you will be here next commencement, when
he graduates. - Your affectionate Mother
S.J. Hale
My dear Son - I rec'd your letter of June 30 - about ten days
since - but as I had, a short time previous, mailed a letter
for you - I did not hasten to answer you, as I wanted to
fill a large sheet - a folio - making a family letter, if we
cannot have a family meeting. - I feel thankful
that your health has been preserved, in that perilous
climate - and that you are so comfortably situated; if comfort
can be predicated of such a place. - I hope before this you
have been promoted - I think you deserve it for your
long service, without any furlough since you graduated.
But I do not wish you to have any promotion which
will induce you to remain in the army. I dislike the
service more and more. The pay is small - and there seems
no chance of obtaining, by any sacrifice in the service
that which a soldier is taught to consider of the first importance
- namely honor, - If our officers cannot conquer impossibilities
as well as enemies they are court-martialed,
and disgraced. Many have resigned - and, I understand,
that the Lieutenants are generally employed in civil engineering,
immediately, and to much greater profit than the army pay
[afforded?] them - to say nothing of enjoying one's liberty;
and the privilege of ordering one's own movements.
Thomas Lee - (he was first Lieut.) resigned - and went
to Washington to transact some business - and was forthwith
appointed by Government to superintend the works and
property at "Old Point Comfort" I believe (at some military
station near, at any rate) with a salary of $3000! -
I was informed of this by his father - who further remarked
[DE: ?] his son wrote him, that he had become convinced that
no young man of talents and enterprise would remain long
in the army under the present system - that the opportunities
of employment on public works were now so great and
increasing, there was [DE: ? ?] every advantage on
the side of the civil engineer, of the U.S. Officer. -
I wish you could serve a year in the Civil Engr Corps.
before resigning - as I suppose your military tactics
have been your chief study since leaving the W.P.[Institution?]
- There seems no prospect of subduing the Seminoles;
tho' I think greater exertions on the part of Government
will be used in the coming campaign than was made
last winter. I dread the war - it seems so desperate and
so interminable. - But God is able to preserve you -
- Frances has written you that she is with me - we have
had a pleasant time - H. F. & Willey - but you and
J. were not - Willey has grown and improved too,
very much. He is a fine scholar - the "crack sholar [scholar] of the
New Hampton Seminary," as they tell me. He will be fitted
to enter the "Rensselaer Institute" next Sept. where they prepare
students for all the duties of Civil Engineering -
And here comes another family epistle from Frances Martha
odious name, I mean the Martha - Mother insists that
I shall write, I should be very willing if it were a little
[fairy?] sheet, but this enormous concern frightens away all ideas -
I am spending the vacation home - Horatio and Willey have
been home, so that we almost made a family party -
You complain of the hot weather - We have had not a
symptom of summer, the vegetation is nearly all blighted
by the frosts - However it is comfortable to-day -
[? ?] all getting along finely - Mother will tell you
of her arrangements, Horatio is quite a literary gentleman
I am living on my own [looks?] (almost) Josepha & Willey
on nothing at all - I am glad you have passed so much of
the hot season safely, and I hope you will be preserved
through the winter and visit us in the spring -
I hope you wont be quite a savage or marry any of those wild
girls who live round about - Are the people; (excluding of course
Indians, Negroes, sarpints and the like) civilised? -
Mother proposes that we should return in a year
and open a school, she being [sleeping?] Principal, and we
active assistants, that we are to have 20 scholars, make
2000 dollars and take a house - This plan originated in
the sage head of Horatio, who is crazy after a home
as he calls it - I shall install him cook, and see how
he likes home - But I suppose it mustn't be -
and I shall have the felicity of bidding you welcome to a
little [brick?] house, with green blinds and to the bosom of a
family of 26 all living on at least spending the the day time,
in that little brick house - Hold the charming prospect before
the eyes of the mind, and feed upon it - By the way, Willey
says that I used to tell him the "mind's eye" was in the back
of the head, but I positively deny his assertion - I wish I could
send something to comfort you in that dreary place, but it's
"no possible" - I send love and prayers for your health and
safety - I would write better, if I could -
Good bye
Frances Anne!
- studies the same, as at West Point, except the
Military - and indeed more extended. He is inclined to enter
that profession - (Civil E.) and as he shows an uncommon
aptitude for the Mathematics and Drawing - I have concluded
to educate him for those pursuits. - Frances has grown
and improved very much. She is a lovely girl - called quite
a beauty - I wish you could see her, and hear her play - she
excels in music - and indeed is an interesting and accomplished
young lady, as you will acknowledge, when you meet. -
I have not seen J. for a year - hope I shall be able
to go to [Troy?] next month. - I have a work in prep - which
promises to be profitable - and I have been making some
arrangements, which, next year, will, I think, be very advantageous.
Will tell you all about in my next - God bless you. S.J.H.
Boston Sept. [?]th 1836
Dear Brother
Mother has just given me leave to have a little corner in this family
letter and as it will be the last & best [?] family that I shall have I will see
if I can manage to concoct a few lines. Here I am in this good city of Boston,
whither I returned from New Hampton a few weeks ago and to the same rocky &
hilly place I shall be jacked off tomorrow with all my goods & chattels. It is indeed
a rather pleasant place than your broiling climate as I had rather
be frozen than burnt alive. I am studying to fit myself for a Civil Engineer and
[DE: am] so I shall have to study very hard I suppose as I intend to enter the Rensselaer
Institute next September. I went to the [Exhibition?] of the Phi Beta Kappa Society
last week and a most eloquent address and a splendid poem In one part of it he
described a hot day such a one as I suppose you have down in your part of the world
I can only recollect one verse it was this
"And abolition men and maids
Were tanned to such a hue
You scarce could tell them from their friends
Except their eyes were blue"
I have nothing more to say except to condole with you on your
unfortunate situation and so I must close Excuse all mistakes
Your aff. brother
W.G. Hale
Battle of Withlacochee [Withlacoochee]
Hollow ye the lonely grave,
Mark its caverns deep and wide;
In the soil they died to save
Lay the Grave men side by side.
Side by side they fought and fell,
Hand to hand they met the foe;
Who has heard his [grandsire?] tell
Braver stripe or deadlier blow?
Make no mournful harmonies,
Shed no earthly tear for them;
Summer dew and sighing breeze
Shall be wail and requiem.
Pile the grave-mound broad and high,
Where the martyred brethren sleep;
It shall point the pilgrim's eye
Here to land - but not to weep.
Not to weep - oh, no! The grief
Springing from a blow like this,
May not seek a [forced?] relief
In the drops that mothers kiss
But the kindling heart shall bear
[Home?] the lesson [stern?] and high,
With as proud a flame to dare, -
With as calm a throb to die. -
Elah -
[ED: the following appears along the side of the page]
I have copied a poem of Horatio's which I thought
would interest you. It was published in the America
Monthly Magazine. He has a long poem in the last
number of that work, entitled "Black Hawk" - I hope
you will be here next commencement, when
he graduates. - Your affectionate Mother
S.J. Hale