250 A Century of Family Letters [CHAP, xvn 



near us at Down, and my father told us how our uncle 

 Charles would not buy Baston, a charming house on Hayes 

 Common, because he saw one rough-looking man on the 

 Common, and thought it would not be safe for his wife and 

 little boy to walk there alone. 



This summer Emma lost her beloved sister Fanny, from 

 whom she had never been parted for more than a week or 

 two. She died on August 20th, 1832, aged 26, after a 

 few days' illness from some inflammatory attack. Her 

 sister Charlotte wrote to Eniina, " I feel with you, dear 

 Emma, that all our recollections and associations with our 

 Fanny are peculiarly free from anything bitter or painful. 

 She was so gentle that a harsh word could hardly ever have 

 been addressed to her, and her wishes and expectations for 

 herself were so unpretending that it made her life one of much 

 calm happiness and very free from disappointments and 

 anxieties." 



Amongst my mother's papers there is a short record 

 of her feelings on this loss the first that ever came 

 really close to her. It is evidently written entirely for 

 herself : 



" At 9 came on the fatal attack and in 5 minutes we 

 lost our gentle, sweet Fanny, the most without selfishness 

 of anybody I ever saw, and her loss has left a blank which 

 will never be filled up. Oh, Lord, help me to become more 

 like her, and grant that I may join her with Thee never to 

 part again. I trust that my Fanny's sweet image will 

 never pass from my mind. Let me always keep it in my 

 mind as a motive for holiness. What exquisite happiness 

 it will be to be with her again, to tell her how I loved her 

 who has been joined with me in almost every enjoyment of 

 my life." 



Emma Wedgwood to her aunt Madame Sismondi. 



MY DEAREST AUNT JESSIE, MAER > S *P*- 15 



How grateful I feel to you, my dear aunts, for the 

 love and sympathy you have for us. Mamma and Elizabeth 

 set off on a little tour in North Wales last Monday with 

 uncle Baugh. I have great hopes it will do Mamma a great 

 deal of good. She has found it more difficult to recover her 

 cheerfulness than we have, but change and travelling always 



