page_0001

Cheltenham

43 Lansdowne Crescent

May 28^th / 67.

My dear Friend,

If you have received my two last letters you will not be surprised to hear that our precious friend Elizabeth Rawson is now in heaven! She died at Capri near Naples on the 15^th of this month after having endured for weeks the most excruciating suffering which she bore as dear Mr. Rawson says to me in a letter received this morning with the fortitude of a martyr. But he says that at the end all was peace. No bodily suffering. No restlessness no fear or anxiety. She knew she was dying—Death was no [illegible] of terrors to her. The dignified composure with which she met his approach is indescribable—There was full reliance on the promises of God. She would have been glad to recover but as it was not the Lord's will she was resigned to die—She was sensible to the very last and spoke within about two minutes of her departure—Oh—my dear friend—you cannot imagine how agonized my heart is you do not know what a precious friend I have lost—The world is becoming like a vast grave all my true beloved friends are being torn away from me either by death or other circumstances. Here I am so alone for I have no one near who knew my faithful loving devoted Lizzie, and to whom I can speak of her! Oh you know too well my very dear friend what it is to suffer thus! But I feel more than I can tell you for dearest M^rs Rawson. God only knows what the bitterness of her poor heart must be!—In the middle of her deep sorrow—she thinks of mine—and writes to comfort me! She says she tries to think of her darling's happiness—to turn her eyes from the cold grave and to fix them on that blessed abode of rest and peace. Where we shall soon go to meet her—Dearest Lizzie is buried in the English Cemetery at Naples and dear Mrs. Rawson is gone back to Capri. It was Lizzie who planned it thus for her. She wished her mother to remain there for a few weeks to gain strength for the sad journey home! Dear friend I could write much to you about my beloved lost one, but your time is precious and you know all. I feel and I am sure that I shall have your sympathy in this deep sorrow of my heart. She loved you much and you know how truly she felt for you, and how she longed for the deliverance of the slaves! How often you were the subject of our conversation dear friend—you and your cause! How many plans we used to form to help you! She knew all my heart—and I knew hers—Oh how I shall miss her during the rest of my journey in this sad world—

I cannot write much. I am so sad and my thoughts are so confused I never never forget you dear friend as my sorrows increase so does my sympathy for you! I never cease to pray for you and the prosperity of your cause I watch with intense anxiety the course of events in America and see the dawn of that glorious day so long prayed for. I wish to live as long as I can be of any use to those I love more than I can express. I can do but little but my affection is deep and I know that fervent affection is often strengthening and soothing to our dear ones, even when we can give nothing else and do nothing to uphold their hands but love them. I have just read in the Times that slavery is abolished in the Territories. God grant it may be true, and that your precious life may be spared to see it abolished everywhere. I should like to live to see you happy dear friend. I will tell you when dear Mrs. Rawson returns to England. Perhaps you will then have time to write her a few lines. How often I think of those happy happy days when she and dear Lizzie and myself were seated around you at Wincobank!—Oh—how every thing is changed since! But we shall all meet again—soon in the blessed Eternal world! My very dear friend, I need not repeat how earnestly and continually I pray for you—and yet it is so sweet to repeat it. God bless you for ever and ever bless you.

Your faithfully affectionate

Rosine Amé-Draz