FRANKFORT, July 23, 1850.
MY DEAR DAUGHTER,—Doubly near and dear to me in your affliction, I do not
know how to address you, or to express my sympathy in your great calamity. You
will find, my child, in your own heart and in your own reflections the only
real consolations. If, as I believe, this life is but a state of preparation
and probation, happiest is he who, having done his duty like a man and a
Christian, is soonest relieved from it. You have every reason to be assured
that such is the fortunate lot of that husband of whom death has deprived you.
That very excellence, which you mourn the loss of, will become a source of
comfort and consolation to your heart. The death of your husband has placed you
under great responsibilities, and left you many duties to perform. Turn, then,
courageously to the performance of those duties, and in their performance you
will find strength and consolation. You will feel, too, the high and pleasant
consciousness that you are thereby best gratifying and manifesting your respect
and devotion to the memory of your husband. He has enjoined it upon you to take
his place in respect to your children, and to be to them as a father and mother
also. You will, I know, consider this a sacred duty, and will not abandon it by
giving yourself up to unavailing grief. I had intended to go to Louisville,
to-morrow, to see you, but, upon consultation with Harry, it is decided to be
best to postpone my visit for about a week; then, perhaps, I may be more
serviceable to you than now. Your mother will probably accompany me. Farewell,
my dear child.
SOURCE: Ann Mary Butler Crittenden Coleman, Editor, The Life of John J. Crittenden: With Selections from His Correspondence
and Speeches, Vol. 1, p. 376
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