No  letter  from  you,  my  dear  Theodore,  since  that  of  De-
cember 30th.  If  I  do  not  find  one  when  I  get  to  the  house,
I  shall  not  know  what  to  think.  Indeed,  that  is  my  present
situation.  I  am  truly  uneasy.  Sometimes  I  think  you  have
set  out  to  Tennessee,  to  see  some  sick  relation.  Then  I
fancy  you  in  that  situation,  alone,  without  a  friend;  although
I  should  rather  have  Essex  than  any  nurse  or  attendant  I
ever  saw.  Then,  again,  I  reflect  on  my  want  of  success  in
teaching  you  and  Tudor  (poor  Tudor!)  to  write  regularly  to
me  when  you  were  boys,  or  to  descant  upon  the  topics  that
were  most  interesting  to  me,  and  I  try  to  be  easy.
