dearly, and that I miss his letters very much indeed; but I think
that the point I felt most about him was the sad affliction to his
family, and the great loss to my dear father, who had of late seen
more than ever of him.'

From the home letter I only quote from the reflections so regularly
inspired by the anniversary of the 28th of November.

After lamenting that it was difficult to realise those scenes in his
mother's illness which he and his brother only knew from narration,
Patteson adds:--

'The memory of those days would perhaps have been more precious to me
if I had witnessed more with my own eyes. And yet of course it
really mattered nothing at all, because the lesson of her life does
not depend on an acquaintance with a few days of it; and what I saw
when I was there I never have forgotten, and hope that I never may
forget.

'And indeed I feel now with regard to you, my dear Father, that I
have not learned to know you better while I was with you than I do
now. I think that in some ways I enter more almost into your mind
and thought, or that I fancy I do so: just as the present possession
of anything so often prevents our really taking pains to learn all
about it. We rest content with the superficial knowledge of that
which is most easily perceived and recognised in it....

'I think I know from your letters, and from the fact of my absence
from you making me think more about you, as much about you as those
present. I very much enjoy a letter from Joan, which gives me a kind