To his Sister, Miss F. Dewey.
[Date missing. About 1859.]
So you remember the old New Bedford times pleasantly,--and I do. And
I remember my whole lifetime in the same way. And even if it had been
less pleasant, if there had been many more and greater calamities in
it, still I hold on to that bottom-ground of all thanksgiving, even
this, that God has placed in us an immortal spark, which through storm
and cloud and darkness may grow brighter, and in the world beyond
may shine as the stars forever. I heard Father Taylor last Sunday
afternoon. Towards the close he spoke of his health as uncertain
and liable to fail; "But," said he, "I have felt a little more of
immortality come down into me today, and as if I should live awhile
longer here."
[251]To Mrs. David Lane.