From Leonard Jenyns   5 June 1860

Swainswick

5 June 1860

My dear Henslow,

I scarcely know whether you will have heard or not before this reaches you, of the visitation which it has pleased God to send me. So little indeed has passed between us for many weeks, almost months, — that you may not have been aware of Jane’s increasing illness up to the time of her being taken from me early in the morning of yesterday.— I wrote to Elizabeth yesterday asking her to communicate the sad intelligence to yourself & Louisa, but lest there should have been an omission in her part, for she has been very poorly herself & had several other letters to write, — I determined to send you a few lines today that you might not be left in ignorance of what has occurred.— I should say Jane’s health had been more than usually failing since the winter, the severity of which pulled her down a great deal. For about ten days previous to her death she kept her bed entirely; — & though I was quite aware she was not likely to recover,— it was conceived by the medical men who attended her that she might have continued many more weeks. In this, however, they were wrong. A great change showed itself on Saturday afternoon, & on Sunday it was more apparent that her end was near. She expired 10 minutes after midnight, i.e. early on Monday morg. She did not suffer much at the last, & had all her faculties about her up to within two or three minutes of her being taken.— Two of her sisters were with me at the time, & will remain for the present. The funeral is to take place on Friday, & she will [be] buried in the Churchyard of this village. She had been more or less of a sufferer, as you know, for so many years, — & tasted so little of the enjoyment of the present life, that I cannot but acquiesce in that dispensation of Providence which has removed her to a better. You must excuse my adding a word more at present, as a man waits for the letters!— With kind love to Louisa, believe me,

My dear Henslow | Your’s affectly | L. Jenyns

P.S. I congratulate you on the birth of another grandchild, & hope Fanny is going on well.

I direct this to Hitcham supposing you are back.—

Please cite as “HENSLOW-560,” in Ɛpsilon: The Correspondence of John Stevens Henslow accessed on 29 March 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/henslow/letters/letters_560