UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 127 



15th. I hope you are interested, dear Mam- 

 ma, in Bessy Grimley's history. 



Franklin is returned he came about a week 

 after his letter; poor Bessy was very anxious, 

 for the weather was stormy, and she could not 

 hinder herself from being frightened at the 

 thoughts of the great ocean he had to cross. 

 We went again to see her, and I tried to cheer her, 

 by telling her 1 had lately come a much longer 

 voyage. My aunt accompanied us, and was 

 pleased with the cottage and its inhabitants ; 

 she went to visit the poor old decrepit woman, 

 and found her bed made up comfortably, and 

 both that and the room looking very tidy and 

 clean. The window was open, and a rose tree 

 covered with flowers hung over it. My poor 

 daughter, said the old woman, planted that rose- 

 tree in her last illness, and Bessy has nursed 

 both it and me ; and she trims it and trains it in 

 such a manner, that the flowery branches hang 

 where I can see them, because she knows how 

 much I love the tree. 



My aunt observed a little shelf of books in one 

 corner, and sked if Bessy could read, " Oh ! 

 yes, ma'am I wonder the old man did not tell 

 you that, for many a time she has comforted us 

 both, and indeed, often makes me feel less pain, 

 by reading to us. I taught her myself, when she 

 was a little creature, and I am sure I often won- 

 der how any one can object to the poor having 



