1861 January 1 Hanover C H

My Dear Sir (General John Hartwell Cocke)

I cannot hear of your
being in deep affliction without offer-
ing you my sincere though unavailing
sympathy. and yet now that I have be-
gun to write, I scarcely know what to say,
in the presence of a heart-rending
grief such as I have no doubt yours
is, even a Christian friend would tread
softly. I trust that as your day is, your
strength has been, & that your faith
is of that strong & enduring kind wh
can stand up even under this trial, un
speakably great as it must be.

I have been spending my Christ
mas with my Sister Mrs Price, and saw

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here in the papers the death of your
son announced. the children thought of you
with interest & sympathy & with me, would be
very glad to hear from you. With
the calamities in which our country is
now plagued, it must be particular-
ly hard to bear up under an indi-
vidual grief--& yet it is what
thousands are now enduring--To an
aged Christian under all these trials
it seems almost unkind to wish for
a renewal of health & strength un
der it all, but I cannot help hoping
it for you.

Did you hear of the death
of Dr Charles Minor? He left a
very large & dependent family &

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was all in all, to his children but
he died most triumphantly, Mr
John Minor wrote me. I think
you told me you did not know him
His life was a very beautiful one
& his death a fit end of such a
life.

Lucian went to Richmond
with his Uncle to-day & we ex-
pect to go down on Saturday--

Farewell my dear Sir, ever
most truly and affectionately yours
[Mrs.] L. C. Minor

MSS 640