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FULL
TRANSCRIPTION
BELOW
Williston Vt, May 14th 1861
Dear Chum.
What perfectly horrid & unchristian weather they have up
here in Vermont & all New England for that matter I suppose. When I left
the South strawberries ripe peaches half grown &c While here there is
not the sign of a green leaf or blossom on nary fruit tree. Rain rain
rain is the program with but little variation. But there I don’t care
much for I don’t feel it a hardship to stay in & study Hebrew in a rainy
day.
I had a
good time for two weeks in Groton where I was sponging my bread when you
letter arrived.
I
was glad that the war did not commence till I was fairly oph.[sic].
If there now I should be afraid I might be invited to shoulder a gun
& take a longer tramp than we used to after “jay birds.”
In
such a case I am afraid my gun would nary fire when I pointed it at
northern soldiers. Do you
hear from Teel? Or does he stay South yet. My correspondence South
has all ceased. I wrote T after I reached home but have had nothing
from him & nothing from second creek locality.
I hear
that Burnette arrived in N.Y. two weeks ago last Sat. stopped there till
Monday & took Katy & started for home. Mr. Holmes saw him & says he was
feeling badly about matters. I reckon the sight of Philadelphia &
New York would convince him that the north were aroused & terribly in
earnest.
He
told me before I left that in case of conflict between the two sections,
it was certain that Jeff Davis would take Washington which proposition I
demurred to & still do, though I had no idea the capital could be put in
so much danger as it has been.
I
am getting very anxious for the show to begin for the government to
commence active operations. The little affair at St. Louis pleases the
people & if the mob attacked the soldiers nobody will cry over their
supplying with cold lead. So these sows & street fights remind you of
old experiences at all?
But what is going to be the end of the war?
The north are not going to be whipped that is subdued by the south, but
are they going to succeed in putting down the seceders & Southern
Confederacy?
I do not think the South can ever be subdued & made loyal without a
standing army for them to fear & to be held as subjugated provinces
though they may be quelled for a time.
I am
glad you have at last met with a political conversion & are a staunch
Union man. The sentiments contained in your two last letters put side
by side show a decided improvement & I shall not be surprised to hear of
you as commanding the regiment of which I shall have the chaplaincy.
The
green mountain boys are wide awake & none more loyal.
Mass
deserves praise for her energy in responding to Lincolns call, but
knowing that in the long run, comparisons between her & N York the
Empire state must prove odious to you / I forbear to bring up that old
point of controversy.
I am going to have a capital time up here this Summer. It is a
magnificent country as far as pure air & fine scenery are concerned I am
working diligently from seven till twelve on the Hebrew each day &
recite to brother after dinner.
He
commends my progress while South by saying I did more than twice as much
at it as he did while there. In the PM & eve, I read, write letters,
work in the garden go riding &c. Brother has a horse that just suits me
which I make free with whenever I choose. She is a splendid driver &
his new carriage is going to get the new off in a hurry.
The
place is not larger than Branford mostly a farming community. Last
Sabbath eve at 5 o’clock I entertained the people of Williston by a half
hours lecture on talk on the religious condition of the blacks & what
was being done for there rel instruction &c. The church was partly well
filled & the audience seemed interested. I bless my stars now ever time
I am called on for a speech that I practiced talking to the negroes
giving them that same instruction and myself some experience &
confidence in extemporaneous talking.
I
should have been happy if it had been consistent to have visited you at
Lowell before coming here to settle down to study, but I could not make
it seem so. I hope you will be disposed to take a trip in this
direction this summer. I may go to New Haven at commencement though now
it looks rather doubtful.
You see lots of papers I suppose in Lowell. I get sight of the daily
Tribune Independent & a Waterbury paper. Am glad you are so
enterprising & writing editorials &c. Send me a paper with your
contribution marked & I will return favors when I take a literary turn.
How goes the law these days. Do you entertain the idea of going
south as matters are? I hope not. What news do you get from
Williams since the war began. Miss Finny has left the south. At your
earliest leisure write me a good long document. There is no likelihood
of mail being cut off between us while we are both in New England.
I am as
ever your friend. J.J.H.
Bio From Anderson's College Yearbook:
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