Letter from J. Peter Lesley to Benjamin Smith Lyman
Description:
Lesley realizes that he has not wished a happy new year to Lyman, his sister and cousins, nor anybody, and follows with a section in German. Lesley's daughter Mary is gone and Margaret is going, but he and his wife take comfort that babies keep coming and they are happy grandparents like Lyman's uncle Edward and aunt Kate. Lesley is annoyed that Lyman lives in Philadelphia and he misses his company. He makes numerous guesses as to how Lyman passes the time to address boredom, including sleeping half the day, turning a lathe, and inventing a universal language. Lesley discusses the cursed invention of the 19th-century post office and is frustrated with the constant stream of letters from strangers asking him to do something he feels the writer is too ignorant or lazy to do himself. One day he may seek monastic solitude out of desperation, with the exception of Lyman whose society he enjoys.
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