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Letters of Sympathy.

EXPRESSIONS OF CONDOLENCE.

A LETTER of sympathy and condolence, though unpleasant to write, may afford inexpressible comfort to a friend in the hour of affliction.

Make your letter as brief, but earnest and sincere, as possible.

Do not commit the mistake of insinuating that the misfortune is the fault of your friend. Better leave the letter unwritten.

Admit the loss. Do not attempt to make light of it. If you are satisfied that it will eventuate in a blessing, yon may gently point the way, but with a full admission of the present deep affliction.

To a Friend, on the Death of a Husband.

Newark, O., Oct. 18, 18—.

Dear Friend:
I know that no words can make amends for the great loss you have sustained. I deeply realize, from having passed through a similar bereavement, that expressions of condolence wholly fail to restore the loved and lost one, yet I cannot but hope that the heartfelt sympathy of a sincere friend will not be deemed intrusion on your grief.

It has been well said, that "we weep for the loved and lost because we know that our tears are in vain." I would ease your sorrow, and yet I know not how. We can only acknowledge that the affliction is God's will. Over in the beautiful land to which I trust your life-companion has gone, we may not doubt, he is free from the pains that he so long endured here; and when we gather at the river, is it not a sweet consolation to think that among the loved and lost he may meet you on the other side?

Commending you to Him who doeth all things well, I remain, in the tenderest friendship,

Your Sincere Friend,

WINFIELD BROWN.

To Mrs. Clara Wayland,⁠
Columbus, O.

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Reply to the Foregoing.

Columbus, O., Oct. 20, 18—.

My Dear Friend:
I can scarcely express to you how grateful I am for your sympathizing letter, yet the loss of my husband has so prostrated me that I am hardly able to write this reply. My friends assure me that time will reconcile me to my great bereavement. Yes, time, and the great consolation that you speak of, which comes from the hope that we will meet our friends in a world where partings are no more, will, I trust, enable me to bear my sorrow. God bless you for your thought of me in the dark hours, and your sweet words of consolation.

Your Friend,

CLARA WAYLAND.

8em

To a Friend, on the Death of a Mother.

Evansville, Tenn., Oct. 16, 18—.

Friend Albert:
I have just learned, on my return from a visit in the far West, of the death of your mother. Having suffered the loss of my mother when a child, I know how to sympathize with you in your affliction; though, fortunately for you, your mother lived to guide the footsteps of her boy till manhood’s years had crowned his intellect with judgment and fixed moral principles. It can truly be said that, in the training of her family, in the church, in the social circle, she always did her duty nobly, and was an ornament to society. Ripened in years, and fully prepared for another state of existence, she passes on now to enjoy the reward of a life well spent on earth.

Restored to maidenhood prime, we cannot doubt that in the flowery walks of spirit life she is the same good woman that we knew so well here:

Truly Yours,

To A. H. Stewart, Hartley Jones.,⁠
Belle Plain, Miss.

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To a Friend, on the Death of a Brother.

Lexington, Mo., Dec. 10, 18—.

Dear Henry:
I have learned with profound regret of the death of your brother. I condole with you most sincerely on the sad event, and, if sympathy of friends can be any consolation under the trying circumstances, be assured that all who knew him share in your sorrow for his loss. There is, however, a higher source of consolation than earthly friendship, and, commending you to that, I remain,

Yours Faithfuliy,

SANFORD F. BARTON.