I was exceedingly gratified to get your affectionate letter of the 16th inst., written in that calm spirit of fortitude and resignation which convinces me that you take a right view of our late misfortune (supposed to be the loss of a child). I was fearful until I received your letter that you would be uneasy at my detention here, and am delighted that you are acquiring patience and learning to submit with composure to the inevitable. When you have learnt well these practical lessons you will be much better prepared to encounter the trials and disappointments of life, and nothing is truer than that all mankind must and will experience calamities. When we are prosperous we should always look for a reverse of fortune, and when we are in adversity we should recollect that it is the common lot of humanity. No one ever yet enjoyed uninterrupted happiness, and those who have most nearly approached it, are the sober, the virtuous, and industrious. The indolent are always unhappy and nearly always vicious. If you wish to be happy attend to the duties of your household--these will give you exercise and exercise will insure you health of body and mind. When the mistress takes an interest in domestic affairs--sees that the servants do their duty, that the house is neat and in order; that regular hours are kept by all, in a word, when good house wifery prevails, it affords more real happiness to the well regulated mind of the mistress than any, or all of the so-called fashionable amusements of the gay world. Such a house wife cannot fail to be loved at home and respected abroad. No one is exempt from trouble, mental or physical, and the weight of both may seem at times bearing you to the ground, but take heart and the sum of your enjoyment will always outweigh your troubles. The Almighty in his infinite wisdom, mercy and goodness, has so constituted our minds, that past pleasures and enjoyments can always be vividly recalled to our recollection, past sufferings with difficulty, and seldom in detail. I would advise you to attempt by all means to divert your attention from your own person and surroundings, to other objects. The providence of God has surrounded us with objects of improving distraction, by which we may be led to think of Him. The same hand that strews pleasures in your way, has left no situation, however painful or disagreeable, where an antidote to your distress has not been placed within reach. You must, however, rouse yourself and seek for it. We constantly meet persons who complain that everything goes wrong with them, while with another "whatsoever he doeth prospers." This striking difference is generally to be accounted for, not by the doctrine of chances, but by a reference to the temper and character of the respective parties. Imprudence, or ill temper, for instance, will either mar the success of any project, or present it in a distorted and unfavorable aspect.