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thou art spared to us all, and that if Earth
is to be thy Sister's home a little longer, she
also hopes for a small degree of usefulness,
as in such a family as ours there are small
things, almost nothings to do which if she
were not in it, would & must occupy the time
of one whose hours are very precious. So thou
seest she is a little better than nothing yet; &
is quite resigned to life while the hope is
afforded that her sun will set as soon as her
usefulness ceases.

I learnt by Ann that dear Ruth Barker
whom, when thou wrote me, thou wast ex-
pecting, did make thee a pleasant visit,
but by thy silence respecting Patience, I think
she must be much better.

I feel even now grieved that I could
not have seen dear Lillis Orvis, for now it
is as it was before, doubtful whether we
ever meet again in this world and it is not easy for me
to reconcile the loss of time that must elapse
between the times of our parting here and our
meeting there, yet the more patience we en-
courage the more easy is the parth of endu-
rance. Lillis was one of my first intimates
in F. out of our own family, and though we
have not always of late years seen thro' the
same glasses, I have always loved her for
her sincerity & faithfulness to apprehended du-
ty, and hope she has cherished the same feel-
ing towards me, and with similar charity.

I suppose Ann told you all about G. Tru-
man's visit here, and how Jane Hunt called
for me, and took me with them to meeting
[deleted]there[/deleted] at Galen a regular meeting of the Friends. He
evinced an earnestness in the family where