Maria Grace Saffery, Salisbury, to Anne and Philip Whitaker, Bratton, [Sunday], 27 May 1804.

My Dear Bror & Sister,

   This Morngs Post brought us a letter from Dr Ryland in wh he transcribes ye following note for our comfort from his friend Mr Skinner

“The dear Missionaries are safe at New York ye 6th of April last after a tedious passage of 107 days –  “Comprised by two Misspent both of whom have letters that mention it” –  Nothing more emphatic or more expressive I trust of our feelings can be added to ye little sentence with which ye good Dr closes his accnt –  “blessed be God.”

This is indeed like turng ye land of death into ye morng!  this is indeed the accomplishment of a hope that had sickened almost to dissolution!  this is mercy smiling propitious like ye Bow upon ye Clouds.  I can scarcely forsake the subject for anything of such little comparative importance as myself or my own affairs but I know you are interested in them.  We arrived safely last Eveng @ 6 oclock & found our little children & family in general well Ann Horsey excepted who is not worse  Carey has been with yr Dr frds at Bodenham & was mercifully preserved in danger. The Caravan in wh he went with Maria who attended him & Miss Wakeford broke down – they were much frightened but little hurt the dr Infant not at all.  A person of ye name of Read a methodist took him out of ye Cart & gave him to his Grandfather who happened to be passing at ye moment & who had never seen him before the man said to him do you know whose Child this is?  It is yr Grandson – I mention it as a remarkable occurrence – he walked to Bodenham with ym but soon left it – he has not called at our house but when he heard of our journey said the Mother was in more danger than ye Child with such a driver.

   I am much concerned @ you in your domestic fatigues & hope you have been kept calm amidst these vexatious circumstances in which I left you don’t be subdued by your anxieties or hurried into impetuosity many good Gentm & more amiable women will gladly revive you – you have none of my difficulties – yr place is a truly eligible one – you are not a Novice & depend on it the Lord will provide however I do not say part with Fanny, only do not be afraid of being forced into it at ye worst you have only to instruct a humbler Woman who will perhaps amply repay ye labor – Adieu my dr dr Anne  I have been talking to you & forgot that my letter was addressed to both – my dr S– is very poor [in] body but so refreshed with ye good news that [he] has not heart to complain he joins [in] affectionate remembrances to yourself & our < > yr Bror with

                     Yours most Tenderly & faithfully

                                 Maria Grace Saffery 

Yr aunt & Cousins beg love & we all present Compts to the Boys

Text: Timothy Whelan, gen. ed.,  Nonconformist Women Writers, 1720-1840, 8 vols. (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2011), vol. 6, pp. 193-94 (annotated version); Saffery/Whitaker Papers, acc. 142, I.B.1.(17.), Angus Library. Address: Mrs Philip Whitaker | Bratton Farm | Westbury | Wilts | 27 July 1804. "Carey" mentioned above is one of  Saffery's sons.

Dr. John Ryland, Jr., was a friend of the Safferys and Principal of Bristol Academy and pastor of the two congregations (Baptist and Independent) in Broadmead, Bristol. William Skinner (d. 1834) was a prominent banker in Ashley Place, Stephen Street, Bristol, and a leading member of the Independent congregation (the “Little Church”) that worshiped at Broadmead under Ryland. Skinner was a generous supporter of the BMS, in some cases providing extensive support for particular missionaries out of his own funds. The missionaries mentioned above were all former students at Bristol Academy and newly commissioned by the BMS for service in India, to which they sailed from Bristol via New York in January 1804. The missionaries were Joshua Rowe (1781-1822) (originally from the Salisbury church and baptized by John Saffery in 1800); William Moore (1776-1844) and his wife, Eleanore; John Biss (d. 1807) and his wife, Hannah, and daughter, Mary; and Richard Mardon (1776-1812) and his wife Rhoda.