The enclosed Letter to Mrs. M has given too faithful a portrait of our situation & prospects. They are too painful to be repeated to you. If any thing can blunt the poignancy of my wounds it will be the solace that I enjoy the friendship of her connections which it will be my sincerest wish to retain forever

Perhaps (& I feel that it is the kind suggestion of hope improbable & unlooked for) I may yet be deceived & my prayers for her recovery will be heard.

Then my kind friend I will present her to you as one torn from the embrace of death & released from the confines of the Grave. I smile with raptures on the picture I have drawn of the future but it is the smile of dispair. Adieu my dear Friend, ever yours