1847 NYC LETTER FROM AUTHOR EDWARD D. MANSFIELD TO WIFE IN OH - GREAT CONTENT

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1847 NYC LETTER FROM AUTHOR EDWARD D. MANSFIELD TO WIFE IN OH - GREAT CONTENT:
$20.50

Lengthy, 3 pg. letter, approx. 7-7/8\" x 9-7/8\", dated at New York City, July 4, 1847,from Edward D. Mansfield (signed \"Edward\"), to his wife, Margaret Mansfield, at Chillicothe, Ohio.

Stampless folded letter has red \"NEW-YORK/10 cts\" cds postmark.

A scarce autograph letter signed (ALS) of Edward Deering Mansfield (1801-1880), Author and Newspaper Editor. Born in New Haven, Ct.; graduated from West Point in 1818, but declined to enter the army and studied at Princeton University,from which he graduated in 1822; Attended Litchfield Law School and in 1825 he was admitted to the Connecticut bar;He afterward removed to Cincinnati, andin 1836 became professor of constitutional law at Cincinnati College;Shortly afterward, however, he abandoned the legal profession to engage in journalism, and edited successively the \"Cincinnati Chronicle\", (1836-1849), \"Atlas\",(1849–52), and \"Railroad Record\", (1854–72). While editing the Chronicle and Atlas he was the first to publish works by Harriet Beecher Stowe;Commissioner of Statistics for the State of Ohio from 1859 to 1868;As an author, hepublished: Political Grammar of the United States (1835); \"Life of Gen. Winfield Scott\" (1848), History of the Mexican War (1849); American Education (1851); Memoirs of Daniel Drake (1855); A Popular Life of Ulysses S. Grant (1868), and Personal Memories (1870), an interesting social and political chronicle reaching to the year 1841.

The letter is written to his wife, Margaret Worthington Mansfield (his 2nd wife, who he married in 1839). She was the daughter of Thomas Worthington, the 2nd Governor of Ohio, and one of the State\'s first two U.S. Senators.

A well-written letter with great content, in which Edwards, who is in New York writing about the Mexican war, and finalizingproofs for a book to give to his publishers, writes of his activities while in New York City, and writes that he is anxious to get back to Cincinnati to finish his work on General Winfield Scott. He describes New York City, noting that the only cheap thing to eat are pineapples, and that there are splendid rides to take in the city. He writes that the churches are \"too gorgeous\", and writes of Calvary Church, with its two steeples. More interesting content.

Includes:

\"My dear wife,

I am still, and though as comfortable as can be, wearied with absence and anxious to get back. In truth, I am not calculated for anything but domestic life...The eternal noise, & the heartless proceedings of public affairs disgust me. But, I must be content. The world will not change for me, nor can I greatly change my fate.

I thought I would not leave N. York till I had written all I meant to write. I have finished my Mexican account, and am nearly through with my... On Wednesday, I suppose, I shall go to N. Haven and get back, if possible, Saturday night. I shall probably leave N. York for the West on the 13th, but that is uncertain; for I mean to do all I intended. I must get back to Cincinnati, however, by the 20th. I must proceed immediately to finish the large Life of Scott, by the entire campaign in Mexico, which I can probably do in three weeks, provided I can get fairly to work. I shall stay with you but two or three days, & then, if possible, make some permanent arrangements.

I want to see my dear little girls. I hope they are well. It is strange, but I cannot see Emma, as I do Diddie. Once in a while, I can catch her little face, but the expression changes.

6 P.M. I attended Dr. Pott\'s Church this forenoon, & heard a very good sermon from the text,\'The world passeth away & the lust thereof, buthe who doeth the will of God endureth forever\'. This afternoon, I have heard Dr. Whitehorne in St. Francis.It was an admirable sermon adopted to the day (4th of July), and pointing out many defects in our system of things. It is very hot, & the city is very dull. My proof sheets are nearly ready, & I mean to return now as quickly as possible....

There is one cheap thing here - pineapples. The City is full of them, &I have eaten them nearly every day; for I am fond of them. Washington Square, a most beautiful place, is almost next door, but they never seem to walk there. I have ridden out almost every afternoon, & most delightful rides there are about here. The upper part of the city is most splendidly built. The Churches, I think, are too gorgeous. One of them, the Church of the Calvary, has two steeples & crosses, upon which a gentleman said the other day, \'There, said he, is your church of Calvary, with two crosses for the thieves, & none for Christ!\'. However, I don\'t know but the people are as good as in other places. A Presbyterian Church here had the largest number of conversions & communicants of any one in the U. States.

Alas! Alack! I have little to write you. My table is covered, as at home, with writings & papers & books. I have been thinking much of you,& your love, dear. After all, you have been very patient, & very kind, considering how we have been obliged to get along. Women are all better than men, I think, & then their love is their world, & that makes a difference. I fear we shall never have much more than the necessaries of life; but then they, with contentment, are riches.

I have been reading again two or three stories in that most admirable book, the Lady of the Manor, and one of them were on this subject, & most beautifully does itshow how, afterwards, the poor are rich and the rich poor - the one contented, & the other forever discontented. Let us try to be happy in what we have, in what we are. I ammost anxious that we should get to housekeeping in the fall, but even that will be difficult.I couldmake double the income that I am likely to have, in N. York, but then I fear it would not agree with either of us. I am much more dyspeptic than I was in Cincinnati & I thinkwater & climate both are more favorable to me than this is.

Love to all, & kiss for the darlings.

Your own dear Edward\"

Very Fine.

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