"Whence came it?"

11 May 2022: “…my natural temperament is such that when I wish to do anything I seem to have an instinctive faith that I can do it; whether it be cutting and making a garment, or writing a Greek novel. The sort of unconsciousness of danger arising from this is in itself a strength. Whence came it? I did not acquire it. But the ‘whence? how? whether?’ of our inward life must always be answered, ‘From a mystery; in a mystery; to a mystery.'" -Lydia Maria Child, talking about herself

Still working on my Hobomok entry and just smiled and smiled when I read this passage. All that confidence and tenacity in a young woman in the early nineteenth century!