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I received yours of the 8th inst. also the one written a
few weeks before. I should have replied to your former letter but
I have been very much engaged and my mind has been occupied with
other things, but I will now devote a short time to you. I am
thankful to hear you are all well. I hope your health may be preserved.
My own health and that of E. R. is very good, and though
in the midst of very severe affliction I have not been forsaken of
my Heavenly Father, yet I feel my loss more deeply every day. For
more than 12 years he had shared my every joy and sorrow, and when
affliction and death visited our little circle and tore from our
embrace our beloved Children, he, by his cheerful submission to the
Will of our heavenly Father and his strong confidence in his unerring
wisdom and goodness, helped me to bear their loss, and taught
me to acquiesce in the dispensation of Providence—but now I drink
the bitter cup alone and am bereft of my greatest and dearest
earthly blessing.How desolate and empty this world appears. My Lilie
is all that I have left to me of my own immediate family. O
may I have grace given me to supply to her in some degree the loss
of her dear, dear Papa, and train her up in the fear of the Lord.
It is my earnest prayer that she may early be brought to choose
her Father's God for her God and Guide, and that she may walk in
the narrow way of Life all her days and be a useful member to the
Church and community, wherever her lot may be cast—and then may
she hope to be reunited with her dear Father and friends again,
when the toils of life are o'er, on that blissful shore where parting
is no more. Our friends are very kind and attentive and I feel
grateful to the good Lord for so many alleviations to my sorrow,
My greatest comfort is to sit down and commune with my own heart
upon the many precious hours we have passed together in this room
and call to remembrance sayings and expressions with which he
would comfort and encourage me—and at the same time would endeavour
to prepare me for that which has now come upon me. I find it
no easy task to resign one so fondly loved—and who was so loving,
affectionate and indulgent as he was to me—but while I mourn I try
not to murmur. I know that to him the change is unspeakable gain,
and I cannot in my selfish grief wish him back again to his suffering
and pain. I feel a bright hope that we shall meet again, and
together praise our Saviour & Redeemer for all that he has done
for us. And when we meet on that eternal shore there will be no
more parting, nor sickness, nor pain nor sorrow nor crying nor
death—but we shall enjoy the society of each other without the
fear of seperation. I will give you a quotation from hervey which
has been almost constantly on mind,
Then why should my soul be (stamp torn out.E.D.G.)
I know thou art where the
And the Mourner looks up,
Where Love has put off, in the land of its birth
The stains it had gathered in this,
And Hope the sweet Singer that gladdened the Earth
In the hush of the night-on the waste of the Sea
Or alone with the breeze on the hill
There is ever a presence that whispers of thee,
And my spirit lies down and is still."
I feel that it is my duty to submit to the dealings of Providence
towards me and though His ways are mysterious, I will endeavour to
commit myself, my Child and all our interests to his keeping—who
chastises us for our profit—feeling that it is our Father who
smites us—and must do it for our good. Pray for us that we may
still trust in the Lord and that his grace may support and sustain
us. Ma and the family unite in love to you all. E. R. sends her
love. She would like very much to see you. Write soon.
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