Bridport Oct 16^th 1875

Dear Mr. Douglass,

I have been looking over your two last letters dated 1873, & 1874 in hopes of provoking a reply before 1875 is departed. I am going to have a chat with you this evening.—Your last letter was written at the time of my sister-in-law'sCarpenter, Mary

Mary Carpenter (1807-77) was the daughter of British reformer and Unitarian minister Lant Carpenter, and with her brother Philip Lant Carpenter, was a social justice activist. She began operating a girls' school in Bristol in 1829 with the help of her mother, Anna Penn Carpenter. Finding the care of poor children her life's calling, in 1835 Mary formed the Working and Visiting Society and in 1852 opened her own reformatory for boys. In the 1850s and 1860s she lobbied for industrial schooling in Britain and opened two schools of her own. In her later years she traveled widely and lectured in Britain and India on education and penal reform. She was inspired to visit India as a result of her father’s friendship with Rammohun Roy, a Bengalese teacher and religious educator who established the Brahmo Samaj, a brotherhood made up of Christians, Muslims, and Hindus. Roy visited Mary’s father, Lant Carpenter, at the Lewis Mead Unitarian Church in Bristol, but died shortly afterward from meningitis in 1833. Mary visited India four times, where she established a school for Hindu girls and became active in social reform. Jo Manton, Mary Carpenter and the Children of the Streets (London, 1976), 18-30; Jennifer S. Uglow, ed., The International Dictionary of Womens Biography (New York, 1982), 94; Mary Carpenter, Six Months in India (London, 1868).ACAB, 1:531-32; DNB, 3:1068-70, 1071-72; DAB, 1:561. visit to the States. She is now on her way to India for the fourth time! Indeed I hope that she is in Bombay before now, we have had notes from her from Gibraltar, Malta, and Suez—all written most cheerfully! The voyage with its enforced rest is a real pleasure to her—she hopes to return to England in the Spring.

We thought that England had fought her last battle against slavery & the slave-trade, & that fugitive slaves were known & acknowledged to the under her special protection,—but some amazing “Instructions " in a circular from the Foreign Office to the Commander of English ships have roused a good deal of the old anti slavery zeal & indignation through the country. We cannot understand how such “Instructions" c^ld ever have been thought of, or expected to be tolerated. there was such general dissatisfaction expressed at once on their publication that they were quietly "suspended,” & no doubt after the discussion w^ch the subject is likely to undergo

before Parliament meets, they will be withdrawn. Fancy an English Government urging Commanders of vessels to take care that slaves s^hd not be misled into the idea that they w^ld recover their freedom by being under the British Flag! As if that very thing was not our boast & pride—it is too monstrous. It seems strange for this subject to come up again—but the issue is so certain that I really dont feel as anxious about it as I do about some other matters w^ch still have to make their way, & get their claims to attention recognized. You may imagine—if you have not heard

from her what a state of indignation Miss Amé-DrazAmé-Draz, Rosine

A Swiss national, Rosine Amé-Draz (c. 1816–?) first arrived in England on 11 July 1838, listing her profession as teacher. In 1841 she was teaching and living in the parish of Egg Buckland, Devonshire. After spending an undetermined length of time back in Switzerland, she returned to England in July 1848, this time listing her profession as governess. According to the 1861 English Census (where she was recorded as “Rosine Ann Davy,” a native of Neufchatel, Switzerland), she was staying in the home of Mrs. Elizabeth Read of Ecclesfield, Yorkshire. By 1871 she was serving as governess to the children of George S. Kemp, a wealthy Lancashire manufacturer. 1841 England Census, Devonshire, Egg Buckland, 11; 1861 England Census, Yorkshire, Ecclesfield, 56; 1871 England Census, Lancashire, Castleton, 1; “England, Alien Arrivals, 1810–1811, 1826–1869,” Ancestry.com. is in about it. I am afraid she thinks me grown cold & heartless,—for when she wrote to me saying that she could not sleep for thinking about it, & was utterly miserable at the wickedness of the Government & the apathy of the people,—I wrote in reply refusing to believe that things were so bad as she thought,—and, seeing that her sleepless nights & miserable days might make her ill, but could not do the slightest good to a single slave, I advised

her to ignore the sins of the government, & to sleep & eat as usual notwithstanding, she writes again that she is sure I cannot be in extremist in saying that she ought not to be unhappy,—she shd hate herself if she were not—&c &c—she really suffers terribly through her intensely sympathetic nature.

M^r CarpenterCarpenter, Russell Lant

The Reverend Russell Lant Carpenter (1816-92), a Unitarian minister, spent his childhood in Bristol, England. He attended Bristol College in preparation for a life of ministry, continued his studies at Manchester and York Colleges and was one of the first to graduate from London University in 1840. Carpenter became intensely involved in the temperance movement and subsequently quit his pastorate at Bridgwater, England, since part of the church's endowment came from taverns selling liquors. In August 18-19 he journeyed to the United States, where he spent a full year preaching from Montreal to St. Louis to Boston. His father, Dr. Lant Carpenter, was a well-known teacher whose Unitarian writings were already known to the antislavery men of the day. Thus, Carpenter became acquainted with Garrison, Douglass, and others. Having returned to England, he married in 1853 and continued his ministerial work there until his death. His works include Memoirs of Lant Carpenter (1842), Discourses and Devotional Services (1849), A Monotessaron (1851), and a biography about his brother, Philip, Memoirs of the Life and Work of Philip Pearsall Carpenter (1880). Carpenter also contributed frequently to the Inquirer and to other periodicals. London Inquirer, 30 January 1892. has been preaching & writing on the subject—he will post his articles to you. Of course it all brings back old times, & old friends with whom we have sympathized in the anti-slavery struggle, you were the chief

& most valued of these. Miss Amé DrazAmé-Draz, Rosine

A Swiss national, Rosine Amé-Draz (c. 1816–?) first arrived in England on 11 July 1838, listing her profession as teacher. In 1841 she was teaching and living in the parish of Egg Buckland, Devonshire. After spending an undetermined length of time back in Switzerland, she returned to England in July 1848, this time listing her profession as governess. According to the 1861 English Census (where she was recorded as “Rosine Ann Davy,” a native of Neufchatel, Switzerland), she was staying in the home of Mrs. Elizabeth Read of Ecclesfield, Yorkshire. By 1871 she was serving as governess to the children of George S. Kemp, a wealthy Lancashire manufacturer. 1841 England Census, Devonshire, Egg Buckland, 11; 1861 England Census, Yorkshire, Ecclesfield, 56; 1871 England Census, Lancashire, Castleton, 1; “England, Alien Arrivals, 1810–1811, 1826–1869,” Ancestry.com. visited us in the summer, & we talked of you as we always do when we meet, & speculated on the chances of your carrying out your long cherished purpose of again visiting England.—We should indeed rejoice to hear that any time was fixed for your doing so. There are so many things that I s^hd like to talk with you about that I cannot enter upon in a letter—When will you come & discuss with us the affairs & prospects of the world in general, & our own in particular????

I am reading Mr. Frothingham'sFrothingham, Octavius Brooks

life of Theodore ParkerParker, Theodore

Theodore Parker (1810-60), Harvard-educated Unitarian clergyman and reformer, was among the most erudite of all New England transcendentalists. Born in Lexington, Massachusetts, he taught at Boston-area private schools from 1831 until 1842 and graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 1836. After his ordination in 1837, Parker preached mainly at his West Roxbury church until 1845, when he resigned and accepted the pastorate of the new Twenty- Eighth Congregational Society of Boston. There he attracted a large, socially diverse and racially integrated following. The author of numerous tracts, sermons, and published addresses, he also edited the Massachusetts Quarterly Review throughout its three-year existence. Although he criticized some Garrisonian positions, Parker joined in the antislavery cause after 1845, attacking slavery on moral and economic grounds but basing his most militant abolitionism on the belief that black emancipation would prepare the way for further Anglo-Saxon dominance. As a member of the Boston Vigilance Committee he gave frequent aid to escaped bondsmen, actively resisted the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, and was indicted for his role in the Anthony Burns case. An outspoken proponent of the admission of Kansas as a free state, Parker hosted a meeting in 1858 at which John Brown disclosed his plans for a raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Parker was among the "Secret Six" who supported John Brown's raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859. Suffering from declining health, Parker traveled to the Caribbean and then Europe, where he hoped to improve his condition. Instead he died of tuberculosis in Florence, Italy, on 10 May 1860, where he was buried. Renehan, Secret Six, 37-46; Henry Steele Commager, Theodore Parker (Boston, 1960); C. Peter Ripley, ed., The Black Abolitionist Papers, 5 vols. (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1985- 92), 4:52; Fredrickson, Black Image in the White Mind, 119-21, 157-58; ACAB, 4:654-56; DAB, 14:38-41; ANB, 17:43-44. with great interest—He was a true man—strong brave & pure—such as we greatly need more of.

On looking again at your letters I see that the last told us of your position as President of the Freedman's Bank—which I fear was a mistake—I hope you did not pay too dearly for its & are well out of it. Do tell us how you are in health—any thing that concerns yourself you may be sure will interest us. Mr Carpenter is now writing to you now, as he is & has been very busy just lately with writing that c^d not be put off.—He is pretty well at present—The winter is his trying time—his last illness came on early in January just after our return from Bridge House, where we had as usual spent the Xmas week with the Blakes—he was then laid by with bronchitis for nearly three months, & had an anxious time of it, as you may suppose

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& is at too great a distance for
me to hope for a visit from her,
unless some lucky chance
brought her into our neighborhood,
so that I have not seen
her now for many years - she
is brave & energetic as of old,
carrying on a school which
must be a source of much
anxiety & labor. I hope that
it answers her expectations
but of this I do not know.
Perhaps you remember my
sister - Lucy - by name at any
rate - & her husband Mr Charles
Thomas, who called on you
& had a pleasant chat with
you some years ago, when
he was travelling in the U. States.
We visited them a few weeks

ago at their beautiful home,
Woodcote, near Bristol, at
the time of the Meeting of the
Scientific Association. Mr & mrs
Blake & other relatives were
with us. there, & I enjoyed the
family gatherings quite as
much as the Science, - of wch
I know very little. Some of
the papers I heard with great
interest. Mr Carpenter too went
rather for sentiment than science,
as he remembered having been
present at the first meeting
held at Bristol nearly 40
years ago! One of our nephews,
the oldest son of Dr Carpenter of
London, was very busy as lone
Secretary, wch office gave him
a great deal to do, both beforehand
in arranging for - & during

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& the dear circle around
him - We are only 20 miles
from them - so I am often
there, & often have the pleasure
of receiving one or other
of the young people here.
We ourselves, are fast getting
feeble old & grey - we are
both on what Mr. Carpenter's
father used to call "the
sunny side of 50" - he liked
to think cheerfully of old age
& there are compensations
certainly for the loss of
one's early vigor. I have
resort to spectacles now,
excepting in day light -
& feel dignified but not
quite at home in them yet.

Since that time he has been
as well as usual. He desires
to be most kindly remembered
to you. Hoping soon
to hear from you, & especially
to hear when we may
expect to see you in Bridport.
I remain your sincere and
affectionate friend,
Mary Carpenter

the week of the writings. But
social questions interest me
much more than physical
science. - how much is man
better than a stone - sometimes!
I have just had a visit
from a young niece (19 years
old) who is going to to the
Falkland Islands, to spend a
year with with an older sist
who married the manager of
the Falkland Island Company
and went out with him two or
three years ago. She is looking
forward with great delight
to this adventurous expedition,
4,000 miles, & six weeks on the
water - she will have the escort
of a lady & gentleman, friends
of her sisters, who are returning

to the F. Islands after a visit
to England. You say that
you like to hear of old people
so I will tell you of my mother.
She was 90 her last birthday
& for this great age is pretty
well. She is very feeble and
seldom leaves her pleasant
rooms from which window
she has a lovely country
view which she greatly enjoys.
She enjoys too the visits of her
children & grandchildren, &
tho' her memory fails a good
deal, likes being read to - her
sight is too weak for her to
read or write herself - she is
most tenderly cared for by
my sister with whom she
lives & her children. I should
like to take you to see her, &

Of course when you come
to England you will want
to go further, & visit France.
(in what conditions are your
French studies I wonder!)
Switzerland, & Europe in general;
Suppose we go together.
We have not been out of
England for the last two
summers, & I think next
year we ought to have a
foreign trip. What places,
do you most wish to see?
I am afraid that you wd
find us rather a drag upon
you, & that we should find
you too young & active for
our diminished powers to
keep up with, - but this might
be remedied by your rushing

off sometimes on an excursion of extra
difficulty, involving mountain
climbing & so forth,
leaving us to vegetate in
the vallies, & join us again
for the easier work - What
do you think of this suggestion
at any rate come to Bridport
& here we can talk over the
next move.
We are expecting a visit from
some American friends of Mr
Carpenter's early in November
Dr. Mrs, & Miss Morison of Wilton
near Boston. - They are travelling
for health, & I believe they
mean to winter in the South of
France. I hear occasionally
from Mrs Crofts, & shd be very
glad if we cd meet now & then,
but she leads a very busy life, &