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Chapter 11 "In the Midst of Life we are in Death": Affliction and Religion in Antebellum New York Nicholas Marshall The sorrowfor the dead is the only sorrow from which we refuse to be divorced. Every other wound we seek to heal, every otheraffliction to forget; but this wound we consider it a duty to keep open; this affliction we cherishand brood over in solitude. —Washington Irving, "Rural Funerals " (1819) In February 1830, Amelia Lewis Curtis died at the age of twenty-threein rural Yates County, NewYork. Amelia's death naturally produced anguish in her father.A teacher in local district schools,John Lewis left a record of the trauma brought on by the loss of his recendy married daughter. His diary records that the dayfollowing her death wasone "of deep mourning, of sorrow,of unutterable grief, to our poor bereaved family." Lewis was left with the hope that the family would be able to "bind up their broken hearts," bend to the will of God, thank Him for the chastisement, and use it for good among the living. For a week after he received the news,however , Lewis could not bring himself to teach his classes. During that time, he professed the further hope that, in time, all the family would "join the dear departed child in realms of endless bliss." When Lewis's eldest son came home a fewdays later, the appearance of his "dear son" caused "great joy."1 Amelia's death impelled Lewis to include a short essay in his diary, attesting to the significance of Christianity.He described his faith as a "religion of sympathy," founded on "the principle of humanwretchedness": It meets man in every species of sorrow and affliction. It takes him by the hand when deserted byhuman supports. It pierces the clouds which throw a melancholy gloom over the path of life and opens before the "wayworn traveller" a "full hope of immortality." "In the Midstof Life we are in Death" 177 This was a depressing vision of the trials endured in everydaylife, but the diarist perceived that there were great benefits to the living as well as the dead contained in the teachings of Christianity: Let us reflect upon this peculiarity of our holy religion, and consider what an advantage we obtain, by possessing it. All the human race are suffering, in some way, or in another. We cannot enter a family and be permitted to know what is passing within it, without perceiving that there is a worm corroding the root of their comforts—some poisoned arrow penetrating their breasts—some intolerable burden subduing their strength. To such how suitable is the invitation of our compassionate Saviour. Lewis decried the preaching of cold, abstract doctrine. "What amockery of human misery! what a want of duty! what a loss of time!" he lamented. He preferred that church which took the sufferer by the hand and "conduct [ed] him to the Saviourl Let us lead him to the wells of salvation! Let us pour the healing balm into his bleeding heart, and assure him that there is One who sympathizes with his sorrows." Given the wretched conditions of everyday life, Lewis believed that Christ's sympathywas the basis for a useful religion.2 John Lewis's reaction to Amelia'sdeath exemplifiesa significant trend in the social relations and religious practices of the antebellum era.According to Lewis, his societywas suffering from constant intrusions ofsickness, misfortune, and premature death. Indeed, the private papers of other ordinaryAmericans livingin NewYork state confirm his impressions.3 Diaries and correspondence from the antebellum period were saturated withdiscussions of affliction. Constant illness and frequent death were the most significant elements in the lives of the common people, far outweighing any other concerns, including the problems associated with economic change. Lewis'sloving commitment to his family, especially to his wife and children, also documents a more general trend found in personal writings . An increasingly sentimentalized culture had spread, emphasizing the importance of close, deeply affectionate familial relationships. Overwhelming experiences with affliction were not unusual in the antebellum era because of a debilitating new disease environment. The physical suffering discussed in personal writings coincided with a dramatic decline in the health status ofAmericansin general. Life expectancyvaried greatly in colonial America depending on the region and period, but the years between 1750 and 1790appear to have witnessed generalized, gradual increases. After 1790,however, life expectancy in America actually began falling, declining from about fifty-six in 1790 to forty-eight in...

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