Many parts of
England, and Scotland were visited between this time and 1845. During
this interval some of her nearest domestic ties were broken; her eldest
surviving son, an engaging youth of seventeen, her beloved husband, and a
precious daughter, the wife of John Hodgkin, of Tottenham, were all
summoned to their eternal home: whilst under the pressure of sorrow
occasioned by the removal of Ann Hodgkin, the following letter was
penned:--
Tottenham, 12th Month, 9th, 1845.
"My losses have been many and great, but the greatness of this, I am
increasingly coming into the apprehension of. She was lovely in her
life, and in death may we not be divided! or _by_ death, but may her
sweet spirit be very near in my remembrance, to the end of my days,
and then may I join Father and Mother, Brothers and Sisters, Husband
and Children,--how many of the nearest ties now, we trust, in heaven,
and how few on earth comparatively. On this subject I cannot now
dwell,--when I can view her free from all weakness, corruption, and
suffering, in the enjoyment of _that_ rest, she knew so well how to
appreciate, I could smile with a joyful sorrow; but few of such
moments have been given; in general a patient bearing of the present
moment, is the most we have arrived at, under the blessed unmoved
confidence that all is well.
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