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It would be a matter of satisfaction to me to know how the transacting of Henry and Father have affected the minds of some few, for instance thyself Uncle R & Wm Dean not that I wished thee to inquire, but perhaps thou hast heard remarks from which thou couldst draw conclusions for I do not feel [underline]exactly[/underline] as James Chase expressed to Henry, after haveing had a long talk with Wm Thompson upon the subject, who expressed to him that friends were satisfied with Henrys procedings, giving him fully to understand they did not consider he had done anything wrong in it. J. C. said to Henry we need not care what folks a thousand miles off thought about as long as those here were satisfied, that is the meaning if not his words. We expect Uncle Joseph to spend sometime with us I trust it will be a rich feast I must close in haste in love to all
affectionately J H M
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Please write very soon
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[M?] 1 M 19 1864
My ever Dear Cousin
Though thy kind letter has remained so long unanswered it is not because it was not [underline]very[/underline] acxeptable or because thou wert forgoten, for I often think fo thee in thy loneliness, but as I ever consider the "widow and fatherless" peculiar objects of our Heavenly Fathers care, especially those who put thier trust in him) I trust thou experiences his sustaining Arm to be underneath & around about thee to support thee in thy trials, and his Holy Spirit near to comfort thee in thy afflictions.
Let us ever bear in mind dear cousin that He whose mercies are over all his works does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men; but for the benign purpose of drawing them nearer to himself that he may happy [?] us, and that every chastisement whether
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inward or outward is an indication of our Heavenly Fathers love. How very desirable it is to become firmly established upon the immutable Rock, against which no storms ever did prevail; then shall we have a refuge to flee too in times of trouble and a [covert?] from the storms and tempests
I suppose thou art as well and perhaps better informed respecting the destitution in Kansas than we are, are any of thy family there, and doest thou get any information from private correspondance and, what, I mean respecting the famine. It may truly be hoped the troubles in the political world will work out some good but what the result wll be is only known to Him who holds in his hands the destinies of nations, the aspect just now looks dark and threatening but we must endeavor to hope for the best and put our trust in a stronger
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arm than one of human flesh.
We have had a lovely winter thus far the thermometer has not been below 22° I think below zero, sleighing good and not a great deal of high wind.
Ellen is in town attending school, were she at home she would doubtless write to cousin Ann. I think she has spoken about it several times, when thou writes, which I hope will be soon, I hope she will write to Ellen.
We luxuriate in sweet made by our own free hands, and of a fine quality, we have plenty of molasses that is beautifully graining the difficulty now seems to be to seperate the sugar from the molasses, we are not initiated in that art yet fully, though we have drained some but it mostly seems inclined to pack or adhere together if pressed. I think steaming rectifies that measureably - the moasses answers nearly if not quite every purpose
