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August 15th - 1811 Oh my Dear Mrs Williams when last I saw you which was Nine Months ago great as my Affliction was then it was nothing to be compared with what [[underline]] we [[/underline]] now are suffering - I assure you that had I foreseen what a dreadfull Scene of Misery we were to have undergone the [[unclear]] supposition would have killed me. I have often thought of you my Dear Kind Mrs Williams - Dear to [[underline]] me for your own sake, [[/underline]] and [[underline]] Dearer still for [[/underline]] your more than [[underline]] Parental Affection for [[/underline]] my beloved Amelia. [[underline]] Poor blessed Angel [[/underline]] thank God She is spared this trial Her tender Heart would have been torn severely by it. You will have heard from Sophia how great our distress has been, and how much greater [[underline]] now [[/underline]] from there not being the smallest apparent chance of the Mind getting any better All that Nourishment and Sleep can do is to strengthen the body - but nothing I fear can have any effect on the Mind. It is the greatest Example [[underline]] Ever known of [[/underline]] what [[underline]] wear [[/underline]] and [[underline]] tear an Unimpaired [[/underline]] Constitution can go through. I have all along had a very bad opinion of my beloved Fathers case - because [[underline]] His Affections [[/underline]] could never be worked upon. In all His other illnesses He was rejoiced to see us - and vexed beyond measure when we left Him, even to such a degree at times, as to occasion quite a scene at parting in the [[underline]] forenoon, [[/underline]] though He knew we were to see Him again in the [[underline]] Evening [[/underline]] - but this time, He had just the satisfaction of pouring out His complaints, or telling His Schemes to us, or to anybody else, without caring in the least [[underline]] for [[/underline]] the individual to whom He was speaking and wished us good by without the smallest [[underline]] unconcern [[/underline]] You who Know Him; and what an Excellent and Affectionate Father He was, can guess what a change this was - for though our reason told us but too Evidently that it was [[unclear]] still our feelings were grated, to see Him so altered - Since the 28th of May I have never seen Him but at a distance - and now probably I shall never see Him again. For under His Melancholy State I would not see Him for Worlds, as I cannot serve Him. I would do Him no good, and He would not know me. He is got so very strong that He may last for a long time though He is grown excessively thin. I know how much you have felt and do feel for [[catchword]] us. [[/catchword]]