409 4^th Ave - N.Y.
e Oct. 4. 1866
My dear Uncle,
I should be very unmindful
of the many kindnesses I have received
at your hands and forgetful of my
love and respect for my cousin Fannie,
if I did not find some means of ex-
pressing my sympathy with you in
her loss – I could not be with you in
the sad recession of her funeral, and
therefore can only write –
But I could not even write if I
did not believe there is consolation for
even such trials as yours. Sorrows are
God's instruements for our good – not to
drive us to despair and thence to the
cross as many men have supposed, for
what sort of worship is that to which
men are driven by any even the best mo-
tives! They are intended rather to purify and

and strengthen us – to strengthen us if we
are able to bear them, and they are never
sent if we are too weak to derive from
them the intended good. It is often and
generally impossible for us to tell what
precise lesson our sorrows are intended by
the Divine Providence to teach – but we
shall come nearest to reaping their full
benifit if we endeavor to live on our
usual life as cheerfully as we may and
with an humble desire to do our duty
better than before – If we do this we
shall rob death of his victory – and make
the beauty and purity of the life that
has passed aid and strengthen us as
much now as before – More than this –
for we shall thus strive after its per-
fection—and if we can add any portion
of that to one more good it may give
us strength for trials we did not ex-
pect, and which we might not other–
wise have been able to overcome—
But it is not for me to hope to
console you by any direction I can give

your thoughts. Your own reflections will
lead you in the right path. My only
hope is that you may derive strength
even from this great sorrow to pursue
the right more earnestly than before,
and that your reward may be higher
than any earthly approbation can give –
Our loss has been Fannie's gain. We
shall make it ours also, if touched by
her early death, we can make any part
of her purity, gentleness, faithfulness
and simple truth our own—and bring it
forth as she did in our lives—
My dear wife wishes my to express to
you her sympathy in this loss both
for you and for herself – She had learned
to love Fannie very much in her short
acquaintance and desired to know her
better – but she feels this trial deeply
for you because she had noticed the
how much Fannie loved you and feels
how fully it was returned – We remem-
ber also how great a trial it has
been to every member of the family and

and offer you and them all the
sympathy of loving hearts—
My wife joins me in love to you a[ nd ]
all the family—
Affectionately,
Your nephew,
S. S. Seward
Hon. Wm H Seward
Wash. D.C.

h Oct 4/66
S.S. Seward
New York