Mr. Chs Henry Henry Gauss
Columbia
Boone County
St. Charles Mo 22d 1866
My dear son,
I received yr letter of the 18th, yesterday morning, and am very much
pleased to hear, that you are actively employed in your profession.
I trust that the indisposition you speak of, will be but a temporary
one.
I hope, my son, you will never forget, that the manner
in which you spend your next year will make itself felt during all your
future life. I am anxious, that is your profession you should
occupy a high position, but how can I express to you the anxiety I feel
about yr religious and spiritual life. Peace with God is the one
thing needful, with that you will be happy here and in the world
to come, without it you must be miserable.-- Pleasure, and even
professional success are nothing but vanity compared to a well grounded
assurance that you are reconciled to God. And if nothing but severe
efforts can secure temporal success, how much more earnestly
ought you to strive to obtain eternal life. Oh Henry, I
beseech you, be an open and consistent follower of Christ. In
some sense it may be difficult to be so, but if, feeling your own sinfulness
and weakness, you rely on your saviour for pardon and strength and wisdom,
you will be sure to succeed, without him you will be sure to fail.
May God bless you, my dear son, and give you grace to serve him faithfully.
I have just heard, that poor Robert Douglass is dead.
He died on the 11th, I do not know whether this month or last.
I have some reason to hope that he was prepared. Last fall, I
believe, he expressed a hope that he was reconciled to God.
I want to give you one more advice my son.
Do not attach an undue importance to political opinions. To be
a friend of God is worth more than to be either a secessionist or an
union man.
I know, the time will come, when you will
yourself admit that all the questions which have agitated our
country are of less importance, than the dust in a balance, when compared
with the truths of the Gospel.
Your mother has been improving considerably
within the last few days.-- All the rest of us are well. Write
often, and fully on every subject that concerns you.
Your affectionate father
Eugene Gauss
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