Letter from Emelia Gurney, Hereford, to Mrs John W. Field, 1886 March 22 : autograph manuscript signed.

Commenting on suffering and death; referring to Mrs. Field's recent letter concerning Mr. Field and saying "An increase of illness & suffering had been weighing you down I see when you were so especially heavy on my heart. Solemnly does each day come & go with its burden of pain & apprehension - The 'moment of time' I see is translated by some one the 'stigma of Time' as tho' these marks & wounds were the very object of time - & perhaps each wound is for the flowing in of Life - Life making inroads upon our Death conditions - but Oh it is not joyous but grievous even tho' not a hair of your head shall perish in the Furnace wherein the Son of Man - the Man of Sorrows walks also with you - My dear old Uncle [John Venn] has borne this long & bitter winter wonderfully - he has had such a painless life - his memory fails greatly, but he does not forget his friends - or any old days - This interweaving of the Past with the inmost fibres of our being, is wonderful - May he find all again renewed & unfolded in meaning in Eternity's light - Count Corti came to see me the other day - saying he had attained the summit of his ambition as Ambassador to St. James's - he looked very unaltered - he spoke with much pleasure of those Washington days, & of my dear ones honest & patient work - How sweet you are to write as you do & let me share some of your days & nights - Dear both adieu - I hope to write from Bordighera;" adding, in a postscript, "How curious that phantom ship flashing into the [S.S.] Oregon & disappearing!"