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Jan. 15-21
Too poorly for church. Some nice reading at home. Monday the carriage arrives and we fix up and start off. Get down to Music Hall by sundown ....Charlotte [Nelson] is there and very soon Lizzie Dee steps in. It is so pleasant to be near her again and to have so many around me that I love so well. Emily and Lizzie stay Tuesday night with us. Emily and I have so much to talk about. She has almost entirely given up her plan of engaging in the African Mission. She meets with such opposition from friends but still desires to join the sisterhood in New York City. What a brave little woman she is. I return to The Creek with her on Wednesday to spend the day. Quite a miserable thing happened this morning. After we had both mounted Suzy, the Old lady concluded that both were too heavy so after one or two kicks she succeeded in throwing us both over her back onto the ground. Fortunately we are not hurt but much frightened. I find cousin Sarah quite poorly but she gives me a warm welcome. I stay with her until Emily is out of school. About dinner time I'm quite sick so it is impossible for me to turn out in the evening, so I conclude to remain until Friday when Emily's labors will be over for the week and she can return with me. Thursday Emily is quite sick so Nannie [Lewis] takes her place in the school room and Emily is put to bed. We have nice times being sick together. We have such pleasant chats about things that interest us. Read Miss Alice Cary's poems and she tells me about that singular personage .... Friday brings a letter from Bishop Payne to Emily giving her great encouragement to return with him in May to Liberia. He invites her to visit him in Alexandria in a week or so. I think her mind is made up now. She says she does not think she has any right not to harken to such a call. She has long desired and prayed that she might be the humble means in God's hands of distributing the bread of Life to the poor benighted heathen and now that an opportunity offers itself, she feels it her duty to accept. The dear little woman, she is well fitted for such work in mind and heart but I fear much her health will not bear up under such a climate and the hard work .... I feel certain that she would willingly give up many years of her earthly journey that the few remaining ones may be spent in her Master's cause. We stay Friday night at Uncle Bob's and have a nice evening. Little Lydia is so much grown and is so pretty and sweet. Young Bob has returned from the South heartily disgusted with the Southern life. He thinks he will be quite well satisfied to remain in old Virginia now. I fear the South has not done him any good judging from the way he talks but I hope and feel that there is too much good in Bob for him ever to be spoiled by his associations with the world ....Go back to brother Jim's Saturday evening. Mr. Coffman makes himself very entertaining by reading to us while we work. I have a nice long letter from Cousin Walker Miller [with]... the information required for that branch of the Lewis Tree. I will have to go to work now.
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