1838 November 6, Haverford, to Mother, Philadelphia

              Haverford 11th mo 6th 1838

Dear Mother

What apology shall I offer for not writing to thee before? I can think of none that will excuse my delinquency though perhaps I can find some that will palliate it in some degree. I have at several times been on the point of commencing a letter when I found that Tommy was on the point either of commencing or finishing one and I concluded that it would be best for me to leave it for some future opportunity. The other day however I had actually begun one written and directed it and was about to seal it when I found I had directed it on the wrong side finding however that the mistake would be concealed by the folds of the paper nothing daunted I directed it over again and was about to add a postscript by the way of apology when oh "miserable dictu" my ink pot upset and the current of the ink totally effaced the traces of the current of my thoughts-- I am afraid thee will think that my carelessness needs more apology than my slowness in writing-- We had a very pleasant visit from Father and Uncle Alfred the other day although I think they must have been somewhat dissapointed in finding that they had seen Prospect Hill before-- but perhaps the dissapointment was less than they would have experienced if they had never seen it before as the day was so misty that