thout suffering. He must have died in a moment. I thought I should
have broken my heart when I came home and found what had happened. I
shall miss him every moment of my life; I have missed him every instant
to-day--so have Drum and Granny. He was laid out last night in the
stable, and this morning we buried him in the middle plantation on the
house side of the fence, in the flowery corner, between the fence and
Lord Shrewsbury's fields. We covered his dear body with flowers; every
flower in the garden. <i>Everybody loved him</i>; 'dear saint,' as I used to
call him, and as <i>I do not doubt he now is!!</i> No human being was ever so
faithful, so gentle, so generous, and so fond! I shall never love
anything half so well.

"It will always be pleasant to me to remember that I never teased him by
petting other things, and that everything I had he shared. He always ate
half my breakfast, and the very day before he died I fed him <i>all the
morning</i> with filberts." (There may have been a connection between the
filberts and the funeral.)

"While I had him, I was always sure of having one who would love me
alike in riches or poverty, who always looked at me with looks of the
fondest love, always faithful and always kind. To think of him was a
talisman against vexing thoughts. A thousand times I have said, 'I want
my Mossy,' when that dear Mossy was close by and would put his dear
black nose under my hand on hearing his name. God bless you, my Mossy! I
cried when you died, and I can hardly help crying whenever I think of
you. All who loved me loved Mossy. He had the most perfect confidence in
me--always came to me for protection against any one who threatened him,
and, thank God, always found it. I value all things he had lately or
ever touched; even the old quilt that used to be spread on my bed for
him to lie on, and which we called Mossy's quilt; and the pan that he
used to drink out of in the parlor, and which was always called Mossy's
pan, dear darling!

"I forgot to say that his breath was always sweet and balmy; his coat
always glossy like satin; and he never had any disease or anything to
make him disagreeable in his life. Many other things I have omitted; and
so I should if I were to write a whole volume of his praise; for he was
above all praise, sweet angel! I have inclosed some of his hair, cut off
by papa after his death, and some of the hay on which he was laid out.
He died Saturday, the 21st of August, 1819,