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My very dear Friend will not be surprised at my so long delaying to acknowledge and thank her for her letter of October nor conclude that my silence originated from not thoroughly appreciating its merits, knowing how much I must have felt and suffered in the loss of a valuable and much loved parent. Few are the real friends mankind find in this world. Then loss of one—and that one a Father, is among the heaviest of all calamities. It has been my lot to endure it, but I cannot tell you how much I have mourned, or the pain of endeavoring to give comfort to my Widowed Mother and Sisters who alas could not be comforted. The Turbulence of grief has at length subsided and silent sorrow has succeeded. But We are also not without occasion[al]