- Project Runeberg -  America of the Fifties: Letters of Fredrika Bremer /
Rose Cottage, November 12, 1849

(1924) [MARC] Author: Fredrika Bremer
Table of Contents / Innehåll | << Previous | Next >>
  Project Runeberg | Catalog | Recent Changes | Donate | Comments? |   
31

Rose Cottage, November 12, 1849. I must now tell you something about Mr. W.H. Channing, because he is in a remarkable manner connected with the life of the country. He was some years ago the minister of a Unitarian congregation in Cincinnati, but the confines of Unitarianism became too small for him; he could not put heart and soul into it, and "he therefore resigned an office which he could no longer hold with an easy conscience," although his congregation, which was very much attached to him, did all they could to induce him to remain, and although he knew not how henceforth he was to maintain himself, his wife, and his two children. But he probably thought like the old patriarch, strong in faith, when he obeyed the summons of the Supreme, "The
32
Lord will provide the offering!" And the Lord did so through his disciples. Some of Channing’s friends took the subject under consideration and wrote a letter to him, the contents of which were: "Come to us; become our friend and spiritual shepherd, but in perfect freedom; follow your own inspiration: preach, talk to us how and when it appears best to you. We undertake to provide for your pecuniary wants. Live free from anxiety, and happy, how and where you will; teach us how we should live and work; our homes and our hearts are open to you."

Channing’s answer to this letter proved the nobility and the earnestness of his heart. He came. And since that time he has lived conformably with the invitation which enabled him to visit now prisons, now religious or social festivities and organizations, or to appear as lecturer on social questions in New York, Boston, and other towns, following the dictates of his inspiration, and by his genial and beautifully gifted nature arousing souls and warming hearts. He produced "revivals" of a higher life, scattering the seed of eternity and fanning the feeble flames of true life wherever he went.


The above contents can be inspected in scanned images: 31, 32

Project Runeberg, Wed Dec 13 12:02:37 2006 (aronsson) (diff) (history) (download) << Previous Next >>
https://runeberg.org/bremlett/08.html

Valid HTML 4.0! All our files are DRM-free