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"Oliver S. Chase, a Young Nantucketer in Search of Wealth and Adventure" by Andre Aubuchon (Conclusion of an article begun in our April issue.)
THERE CAN BE few more touching spectacles than that of a young man, almost alone in a distant country and bound by honor and duty to remain for a long time. So overwhelmed was Oliver by homesickness and by his environment that he wrote openly to his brother-in-law, Josiah Barrett, of his hope that a revolution or a Spanish invasion would so disorganize Peruvian commerce that it would be possible for him to break his agreement with Sylvanus Crosby without dishonor.
"How I should like to be with you," he wrote to Lizzie, "But, as Balm (Josiah) says, 'If wishes were horses beggars could ride.' — In which case I should turn my horses to the North Pole." In December, 1866, Oliver wrote: "While I do not yet see any prospect of so early a return, still as time is continually working changes...we may hope, though cir cumstances do not warrant a definite expectation."
Contributing to Oliver's homesickness was the bitter realization that he had been unable to save enough from his salary to start a business when he would return to New England. Oliver's faithfulness to the word he gave to his employers and his sense of utter desolation showed in one of his letters:
I can assure you that I do not like it at all to be so far away from home. Was I gaining any material advantage through my being here, the fact of my being so far away might be somewhat reconcilable, that might be - Aye!, undoubtedly would be of far more advantage to me every day if in the States among my own people...Obliged to stop here...I may yet build up an antidote to this noxious poison.
Oliver consoled himself by reflecting upon his good fortune in en joying almost perfect health. In almost every letter, he alluded to this
