Still River,
Harvard, Mass.
Dear Friend Palmer:—
If there was a possibility of sending me here only six or seven acres of our old Fruitlands, you should hear no more of me as a claimant.
As this cannot be, and I am once more adrift in consequence of the lease of our house and grounds having been sold, I hope you will have prosperity enough in the culture to release yourself gradually from my encumbrance whereby I may be enabled just to pay the rent on an acre or two to cultivate with my own hands.
Do not let me ask in vain for a good long letter narrating all your local news since I left your hill regions. Mr. Emerson will inform you of William’s movements and convey any letters or messages to me. I suppose Dr. Thomas has made a pretty handsome fortune by this time in setting people’s mouths in tune and that he will retire to Fruitlands to make sure of it.
Yours faithfully,
Charles Lane.
London, Sept. 16, 1851.