Daughters of the Puritans

During the first half of the nineteenth century, Miss Sedgwick woulddoubtless have been considered the queen of American letters, but, inthe opinion of her friends, the beauty of her character surpassed themerit of her books. In 1871, Miss Mary E. Dewey, her life-longneighbor, edited a volume of Miss Sedgwick's letters, mostly tomembers of her family, in compliance with the desire of those who knewand loved her, "that some printed memorial should exist of a life sobeautiful and delightful in its