LETTERS TO DR. JOHN GRISCOM. 109 



ten, but I use the word old in relation to the friendship 

 which has the maturity of more than forty years ; and I am 

 gratified by your very friendly letter received yesterday. 



I think you are wise in giving your mind in the 



evening of life more to spiritual than to physical science, 

 and it is happy that you have so good a friend as Mr. 

 Carter, to aid you with books. As we draw near to the 

 boundary between the two worlds, it is natural and wise to 

 occupy our minds principally with those subjects that relate 

 to our immortal nature. I have taken a step towards a 

 release from a part of my physical labors. I have resigned 

 the chemical chair, and indeed my entire professorship, but 

 the Corporation desire that I should remain in connection 

 with the College in the department of mineralogy and geol- 

 ogy, and I have that matter now under consideration, and 

 probably may go on for some years more (if more years 

 are granted to me) an that department A suc- 

 cessor to myself is not yet appointed, but it must be done ere 

 long. I am reminded that my work in this world is almost 

 finished ; my contemporaries are chiefly gone, my dear 

 friend Chauncey was one of the last called away, and yester- 

 day I followed to the grave the remains of my friend Mrs. 

 Day, wife of our late and still surviving President Day. 

 But the case is coming still nearer to me. My own dear 

 wife, the cherished companion of more than forty years, is 

 now in the last stages of consumption, and her death may 

 be expected at any time ; but I bless God that her mind is 

 at peace ; her faith and hope, founded on the Rock of Ages, 

 are firm and cheering, and she looks with confidence to the 

 blessed Redeemer for her safety. We who have been 

 watching her decline for more than a year are, therefore, 

 cheerful in the midst of sorrow. 



Your son sent me the pattern volume of your copy of the 

 " American Journal," and the work is now in progress in 

 the hands of the binder, and I trust will be forwarded to your 

 son in a few days. I had pleasure in making up your set 



