Hong Kong Hotel
Hong Kong Hotel, Hong Kong, Friday morning, April 15/98, 9:30.
As soon as I got ashore on Wednesday morning, I hastened to the Institute & got letters: 2 home, 1 Albi, & 2 parcels of papers. I need not say how very sad I felt on hearing of our dear father’s death. Since leaving Colombo, where I got news of his serious illness, I have been daily anxious, always hoping he had recovered, tho’ very dubious after the account you gave, & my mind has been strained all the while.
Well, we are left without either father or mother, but thanks be to our Heavenly Father, who both gives life & takes it away. We have every cause to be thankful for such parents as we had & I pray I may ever remember their good example & precepts, & for the honourable life they led, & it is to us a great consolation that we unitedly endeavoured, & I think with satisfaction, to make their declining years very happy & I know how grateful they both were to me. I have felt, & do now feel, that it has been one of the blessings of my life to have assisted to their comfort. What a struggle they must have had to rear & bring us to boy & girl hood, but we may reasonably believe [3:40] their efforts produced an affection that happily remained to the close of their lives.
We often resolved that after death we would have no reflections & I feel sure we unitedly feel there need be none, only I do feel a regret not being with father during his last days, & saw his body laid at rest. This touches me very keenly. We were such friends & I believe he loved me dearly. Often he was so youthful in spirit when we were together that he was more like an elder brother than a father, & he possessed that youthful spirit till the last meeting we had. I have very happy memories & delightful reflexions, & now that he has passed away we must look forward to meeting again, an undivided family in the Heavenly Kingdom, where we have many friends we loved on Earth. I am so happy with the thought of all your kindness & attention to him, & I am sure he would want for nothing, & I have often prayed since leaving Colombo that you & Mary might be sustained to aid & comfort him, & I know my prayer would be answered. How I do appreciate all you’ve done for him & that you had his remains interred at Berwick. I was anxious to know [3:41] where you would lay him & I can see it all clearly. As to Willie, my dear son, how I love him, & he could not help doing the loving services you so gratefully mention. May our Heavenly Father watch over him & preserve him long upon the Earth & may blessings abound around him. Indeed, he is a noble young man & I feel sure you & Mary fairly idolise him. My thanks to him for his kindness to his grandfather. It was always my aim that my boys should have as much opportunity as possible to be with their grand parents, to imbibe their good influence, & happily it was fulfilled. I have the feeling now to hasten my journey homeward but as I look ahead it can’t be much shortened.
Thanks to Willie for the 2 manifold writers also received. Well now, I am glad you are all well, & I am thankful for that & that all’s going on well with you, & you will need time to settle down in your usual way after such excitement & strain. So glad you got Mrs. Simpson & to hear you speak so well of her. Of course, in imagination I can see every thing & incident throughout the illness & even to [3:42] the filling in the grave. I’ve after these past two days been at its side. Yes, I do believe his two dear associates, Mr. Gradon & Mr. Lockwell, would feel it & will miss him, so will many more miss his familiar form. I am so pleased I have the little photo I took of him, Charlie, & Mr. Gradon on the walls, & I’ve oft looked at it. I hope to get it enlarged at home. I note the card, very beautiful, & the paper cuttings & I see it in the Monday’s Mail. It was good of Mr. Gordon to note it in the Grocer. My very kindest respects to all who’ve expressed sympathy with me. Oh, what a pity I was not with you!!
Yes, 81, what a long life when you think of it, & it seems longer at its close, but how fresh & well father was at his age, quite a marvel. Uncle Charlie will be sad. You’ve intimated him, I hope. I shall look forward to getting home to hear all particulars & hope we may be preserved till then.
I intend taking the papers with me to read on passage to Japan & will comment after, & there is a mail due here daylight tomorrow morning, Saturday, so I will get my letters & more papers before sailing. I see “Rohilla” is advtd. in the papers tomorrow night so I will go on board [3:43] soon after noon. I could not settle to write till this morning, & the friends of Frank here have shown me such kindness, it has greatly helped me on these past 2 days. Frank I may yet see when I get back. I note now the “Olympia” is due to sail again from here May 21, so he may be in before I get off to Australia the 10th or 11th. Also I hope to meet Mr. Leask’s cousin at Japan. The “Loksang”, his ship, is due there a day or two before we shall arrive. I will not post this batch till after I get letters tomorrow. I have posted some Chinee “Amoy” literature. Keep it, & in that parcel is a menu of Berwickshire Curling Club. Give it to Mr. Smith with my compliments. I cut it out of an “Advertiser” Mr. Maclagan gave me – 4 – I gave him my “Journal”. Albion sent me a nice letter, not fixed yet. I wrote him yesterday also I wrote Mr. Gordon, Bombay, asking what he did with the 12 films, as I have not got them. Yes: tell Willie they he saw were at caves of Elephanta. I’m glad they are good. I wrote Mr. Sinclair yesterday also, & before I left for Amoy, I wrote Meggie Bannister to tell her I was coming to see her. Also I sent you yesterday 3 spools to develop. The [3:44] one not marked has some Singapore shots: two at Dr. Leask’s home. I wrote you a letter from Swatou in Mr. Maclagan’s & a post card from Amoy. Possibly the latter you may get same day as this. It is a lovely morning here. I intend leaving some of my bags with Mr. Plage (Frank’s friend) who is in the China Sugar Refinery here, till I return from Japan. I will feel freer without so much. Mr. Roberts, the Chief of “Hai mun”, is a bosom friend – 20 years standing – of Mr. Plage & they are great cyclists, so this last two evenings we’ve all been cycling & I enjoyed it. Fine roads around the coast of the island. They’ve put me under great obligation with the profuse kindness they’ve shown me, most remarkable throughout; it is quite mysterious to me. No letter from Frank yet, he must have miscalculated the time he expects me.
Now I hope you will spare nothing to make yourselves very happy & comfortable, & that you will have much of Mary’s company during my absence. I see you were advertising for a maid & I hope successful.
I feel my mind much relieved now I’ve imparted it to paper, it’s always like talking to you, such a comfortable feeling follows every epistle written. Good morning!!
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