St Andrews, Villas

Bridport June 8^th

Dear Mr Douglass

You're letter & the beautiful photograph, which arrived in good Condition last Sunday Mor^g, gave me a delightful surprise, for you do not generally answer letters at once, & I am always prepared to wait for a few months for a reply.—All the greater was the pleasure this time, & I must not delay a few lines of hearty thanks—also for the most interesting & admirable oration which I read to Mr Carpenter

We were struck with your dignified independence & absolute truthfulness in your estimate of Lincoln, refusing to give praise indiscriminately, where praise was not due, yet pouring it out freely and generously when you could honestly do so. I wish I could have seen & heard you delivering it, I am very glad you gave us the opportunity of reading it. The photograph is a magnificent one. I had not seen it before. It shows that you are as full of life & power as ever, so I hope that you will not suffer from the work you have cut out for yourself this summer, but get a "good man" nominated, & elected, & then come over to England for a little repose.

I am really in hope, of a visit from Mrs. Crofts in a few weeks I heard from her a

few days ago, telling me of their plans for the holidays, & saying that she should like to come & stay a little with us if possible. I think I have only seen her once (many years ago) twice we left Halifax eleven years ago, & shall be very glad to welcome her here, & I hope that the complete change of scene & thought may do her good, for I think she won't be living for

much on the strain, & with poor health.

You may fancy us talking over old times & mutual friends. I hope that she will be with us the first and second week in July. I am sorry that you did not see Majors Wilson and Gladstone, but, as you are in sympathy with the movements they advocate against certain odius laws,—it is of the less consequence, as you do not need

converting & enlightening. I felt sure you would be entirely with us in appreciating the importance of the work. M^r Stansfeld is taking a noble part in it. I wish that we had a hundred M^r Stansfelds & a hundred Mr Butlers] at work in England & elsewhere against this legislation, it would soon disappear if we had.

I shall go on hoping against hope that we shall see you here next summer 1877, if not before. Next Monday M^r Carpenter & I are going to visit some friends at Birmingham, & at the end of the week, if the weather is at all promising, we mean to go on to Yorkshire, & explore some of its beautiful districts that we did not see when we lived there,

getting home again by the end of the month.

Have I told you that I have two nieces and a nephew living in the Falkland Islands? The nephew Robert Blake is sheep farming. One of the nieces is married & has two little girls, her sister is gone and to be useful to her they are all very happy & prospering with hard work.

I must say goodbye and remain very sincerely yours

Mary CarpenterCarpenter, Mary Browne

Mary Browne Carpenter (c. 1824–98) was the wife of the prominent Unitarian minister Russell Lant Carpenter (1819–92). They were married in Bridgwater, Somersetshire, in 1853. She was one of four daughters born to William Browne, a wealthy Unitarian merchant, and his wife, Mary. William Browne served as mayor of Bridgwater in 1854. In addition to her support of the antislavery effort, Mary Browne Carpenter was also deeply involved in the woman suffrage movement, belonging to one of the more radical suffrage societies in Bridport. She also supported the animal rights and temperance movements. 1841 England Census, Gloucestershire, Bristol, 22; “England and Wales, Christening Records, 1530–1906,” FamilySearch.org; “England and Wales, Death Index, 1837–1915,” FamilySearch.org; “England and Wales, Marriage Index, 1837–1915,” FamilySearch. org; “England and Wales, Non-Conformist Records Indexes, 1588–1977,” FamilySearch.org; Elizabeth Crawford, The Women’s Suffrage Movement in Britain and Ireland: A Regional Survey (New York, 2006), 161, 169.She has not been identified by name.