‘My dear Mr. Rogers,—I hardly know whether in your present state of health I ought to write to you about an event which will give you so much pain as that which I have to communicate; but if you ought not to know it, your kind and considerate attendants will keep it from you; and if you were to hear it first from a newspaper, I know it would be a greater shock.
‘My dear father was on Thursday evening last seized with another severe attack of apoplexy, and after more than twenty-four hours of unconsciousness, he died at half-past eight on Friday night. Up to the moment at which the attack became violent he preserved his calm and cheerful manner, seemed happy and contented and showed his usual sweet consideration of all around him.
| 434 | ROGERS AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES |
‘Trusting, my dear Mr. Rogers, that you may soon be sufficiently recovered to enjoy a visit to the sea or country,
