Letter from Edward Pease, Darlington, to Henry Pease, c/o Richard Fell, Borough, London, remarking on the increased health of Anna and on the fact that a slow recovery is preferable to a rapid one which may not last; expressing his hope that the weather in Tunbridge is not as ‘gloomy & damp’ as in Darlington, and expressing his further hope that ‘the weather will clear up & all the rich beautiful foliage which surrounds & enlivens, may for a while continue; yet as I write this and admire the dark shade on the opposite wooded bank, I see one tree with its fading leaf, emblematic of Egyptian mourning – the works of the harvest man are impeded, yet I saw on my way to St. Helens yesterday some reapers at work – I have not yet seen one field cleared, in looking over the country I have seen about 4 Stacks of Grain, that thou mayst conceive the state of our harvest’; describing the companions found by the Robert Barclays at Buxton Derbyshire: ‘Jos Dockray & Esther who happily call upon them less seldom than they see them with their prayer books under their arm on their road to church! what more likely heaven-sped journey those have who can use such a book, than those who have it not; how this parade of sanctity or devotion stands in the sight of him who knows all Hearts & only blesses the Pure, I know not – the recent accot of R. Barclay state his improvement from champooing’; describing a social event, possibly a wedding at ‘Cos WBs’ William Backhouse, attended by, among others, ‘Jno Bright, whose bright eyes I ween will be about him’; referring to visitors for the Quarterly Meeting; recounting the fact that John is about to return from his duties as ‘bridegroom man’ to rejoin ‘his two Sophias’; describing alterations at Southend ‘these wet days hinder their operations and it is well for them that the roof is yet on; the side walls are all carried up, and ready for removing the roof as soon as it is safe’; discussing the disposition of Henry’s fruit: I find thou has wrote about thy fruit; but the Grapes quite ripe do not appear as if they would keep; to whom are they to go – having observed the Apricots generally ripe ere thy letter came I directed them 3 day to be pulled, my cook to preserve them for you: there may be 4 doz more which your cook will care for as wished’; describing a day spent with George Stephenson: ‘did I name G. Stephenson spending most of a day very agreeably with me, & his warm anxiety for a Rway from NCastle to Edinr, which he says can be got without either incline or tunnel – but where is the cash to come from, in so bare a country, Yet on every ground it seems to us a most desirable & valuable thing’; describing a visit to Shildon and Bishop Auckland for a ‘satisfactory examination of the pupils near 100 in each school’; referring to ‘dear Rachel’ having to endure a week of visits from well-wishers ‘it being the Bristol custom after her marriage to Richard Fry; to the fact that no further has been heard of the dispute over the chaplain for the workhouse and to the fact that ‘I am proposing to make one more effort to stir the magistrates at the Quarter Sessions respecting a Northgate bridge – I doubt my success, but O’Connell like constancy moves things despaired of sometimes’; referring to his having met ‘your Bro Jno at the forenoon meeting on 1st Day the only time we have met’; to a dispute about whether ‘Cos. T. Robson’ should be allowed to accompany his wife to America ‘surely no station in society annihilates civil, shall I say sacred rights – neither Law nor gospel can make severance or dissolve honorable marriage: can a man be under the necessity of asking if he may have his wife’s company?’; describing celebration of John Harris’s marriage ‘When naming Jno Harris marriage I might have noticed the demonstrations of attention to it by the flags out from the RWay office, the Station at Shildon Colliery, & the village, the celebration at the latter place was wild enough & the running in Sacks, etc. etc. the establishment of an annual feast whether in commemoration of the event or not I know not ‘; referring to Henry’s determination to spend the winter at Belmont Uxbridge, Middlesex, 25 September 1838 – From: Quaker families of Darlington,Pease family, Henry Pease (1807 – 1881), Correspondence