His brother wrote of
him: "From her must have come to Henry the imaginative and romantic
side of his nature. She was fond of poetry and music, and in her
youth, of dancing and social gayety. She was a lover of nature in all
its aspects. She would sit by a window during a thunderstorm enjoying
the excitement of its splendors. Her disposition, through all trials
and sorrows, was always cheerful, with a gentle and tranquil
fortitude."
No words could describe her son's nature more nearly. When he was only
sixteen years old we find him writing to his father: "I wish I could
be in Washington during the winter, though I suppose it is rather vain
to wish when it is almost impossible for our wishes to become
realities. It would be more pleasant to get a peep at Southern people
and draw a breath of Southern air, than to be always freezing in the
North; but I have very resolutely concluded to enjoy myself heartily
wherever I am. I find it most profitable to form such plans as are
least liable to failure."
His mother's sympathy with his literary tastes was certainly unusual.
He writes to her from college when he was sixteen years old. "I have
this evening been reading a few pages in Gray's odes. I am very much
pleased with them." ... To which she replies: "I wish you would bring
Gray home with you. I have a strong inclination to read the poems,
since you commend them so highly. I think I should be pleased with
them, though Dr.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25