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Show 122 She has received a "stimulating letter from Milford this morning. He is so anxious for my success and so anxious lest I shall let homesickness retard my progress that I think he does not realize how almost harsh some of his letters seem, and did I not know him so well and understand his great desires for my success I should feel hurt, at times. His words, though bitter and sharp, have a good 21 tonic effect and urge me ever onward." The astringency of that message is offset the very next day by another letter from Milford which puts Ellis into such a transport that she thinks she "never did, nor never can, feel greater joy." Whatever feelings he was able to convey, they energized and motivated her far more than did the former message. Perhaps Milford, too, saw that particular communication as harsh and was seeking to soften its effect. In the evening Ellis, calling upon Professor Bodley at her home "to get some explanations in Chemistry," could not avoid a very female comment: "She has a beautiful home, all that wealth and refinement can bestow." Sabbath day observances, in the absence of established branches of the church in Philadelphia at that time, consist mainly of rest and writing home. Later Ellis will have opportunities to broaden her religious horizons-and reaffirm the strength of the tenets of her own faith-by sometimes attending services of other denominations. One event of the new week has Ellis accompanying "Mrs. Pratt" |