James Mott letter to Thomas Rotch, New York, 4th of 8th mo 1805.

              B-125-8      
                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                   
                                            New York 8th of 4 mo 1805
                           Dear Friends
                           T & C Rotch 
                                                    The friendship and intimacy
                    that has so long and pleasingly subsided between your family
                    and ours, I have often within a few weeks thought demanded of
                    me, some information to you,of the latter end and closing mo-
                    ments of one of the family,who I believe shared largely in the
                    friendship and cementing love;  but my endeared Lydia's
                    claim upon me for sympathy and attention,together with other
                    necessary concerns,has hitherto put it by; but on reading dear
                    Charity's sympathetic address to Lydia, I concluded I would make
                    every  other consideration give place to writing you on the subject.
                     I believe I did inform you how dear Robert had been during
                    the winter,and maybe tell about the time of his raising blood
          four & five weeks previous to his close,after this discharge of blood, his 
                    disorder made a much more rapid progress,and consequently
                    his strength greatly decreased, and with the decrease of strength
                    the oppression at his breath increased, and  which was to great
                    at times for several of the last weeks, that it seemed almost insup
                    portable,for him to bear, or for us that were with him,to observe,but
                    oh his patience,calmness and resignation under the greatest
                   distress was indeed consoling to our tryed minds,~ ah my
                   dear friends the three months that I have spent steadily with
                    him(having been only 2 nights in that time from him)has been
                    indeed a season of deep instruction to my mind; Oh! how have
                    the cups of sorrow and joy been mingled,- sorrow for his great
                   distress of body,and joy in the sweet disposition of his mind,that
                   could in the greatest extremity of pain,soar above it all, and exclaim
                 of the love and joy that his soul enjoyed;~perhaps to give you some idea