“Meantime, I feel my reliance on my Saviour grow stronger every day, and…” — Amelia Alderson Opie | V2Melody

“Meantime, I feel my reliance on my Saviour grow stronger every day, and a sort of loathing of worldly society, which I must strive against.”

Recording both the growth of faith and her awareness of spiritual imbalance · Letter to Elizabeth Fry, January 1824

Amelia Alderson Opie

About Amelia Alderson Opie

Amelia Alderson Opie

12 November 1769–2 December 1853

Amelia Alderson Opie entered the world on a crisp November day in 1769, born into the bustling heart of Norwich, that ancient cathedral city pulsing with intellectual and radical energy. The only child of Dr. James Alderson, a respected physician known for his generosity to the poor and his progressive views, and his…

More by Amelia Alderson Opie

Poems by Amelia Alderson Opie

More remarks by Amelia Alderson Opie

“It is, indeed, a great favour to be permitted to enjoy life still, so much as I do, in company; but it is a far greater one to be able to enjoy equally my lonely hours.”

Valuing the ability to find equal pleasure in companionship and solitude · Private note, late 1840s

“Nor have I had a misgiving, but feel so calm and satisfied, that I am convinced I have done right; and I feel now utterly cast for comfort, support, and guidance, on the Searcher of hearts.”

The calm that followed a difficult decision of conscience · Letter to Elizabeth Fry, 2 March 1824

Faith
Truth

“It was interesting to watch the lights from the habitations, far and near, as they gradually disappeared; and to feel that I, probably, was the only being awake and moving, in that vast space of land and water.”

A vivid moment of solitary wakefulness amid sea, darkness and distant human life · Letter to Thomas Brightwell, 11 February 1833