302 LETTERS FROM THE REV. G. H. NOBBS. 
much desired gala days must necessarily be few, 
and very far between ; especially if war continues 
the order of the day. I do not make these re- 
marks from a querulous or discontented state of 
mind : but I do so in order that you, my most 
patient and untiring friend, may not suppose 
that negligence or carelessness is the cause of my 
writing so seldom. 
"And now I have to record a dispensation it 
has pleased Almighty God to visit on myself 
and family. I do not call it an afflictive dispen- 
sation ; for although in the bereavement many 
of my earthly anticipations were prostrated, still - 
I am most graciously permitted to sing of mercy 
and judgment 
"Last December my two sons, Reuben and 
Francis, who had gone to Valparaiso in the 
Dido, returned hither ; the eldest, Reuben, far 
gone in pulmonary consumption ; and the other 
lad betrayed incipient indications of the same 
disease. Their many friends in Valparaiso ad- 
vised their return, as the only means (humanly 
speaking) of restoring Francis to health, and 
arresting, for a short time, the fatal malady 
which was rapidly bearing poor Reuben to the 
grave. They accordingly left Valparaiso in a 
French ship bound to Tahiti, and remained there 
two months without being able to obtain a pas- 
sage home : but they were efficiently cared for 
by some good Samaritans residing there; still 
Reuben kept declining, and fears were enter- 
tained that he would never see Pitcairn's again. 
At length, when all hopes began to give way, 
an opportunity unexpectedly offered. An Ame- 
