134 



REMINISCENCES. 



I now see the little toss of the head, and exclamation of, 

 * Oh, papa, what a shame of you ! ' In the last short illness, her 

 conduct in simple truth was angelic. She never once com- 

 plained ; never became fretful ; was ever considerate of others, 

 and was thankful in the most gentle, pathetic manner for 

 everything done for her. When so exhausted that she could 

 hardly speak, she praised everything that was given her, and 

 said some tea ' was beautifully good.' When I gave her some 

 water, she said, ' I quite thank you ; ' and these, I believe, 

 were the last precious words ever addressed by her dear lips 

 to me. 



"We have lost the joy of the household, and the solace of 

 our old age. She must have known how we loved her. Oh, 

 that she could now know how deeply, how tenderly, we do still 

 and shall ever love her dear joyous face ! Blessings on her ! 



"April 30, 1851." 



We his children all took especial pleasure in the games he 

 played at with us, but I do not think he romped much with 

 us ; I suppose his health prevented any rough play. He used 

 sometimes to tell us stories, which were considered specially 

 delightful, partly on account of their rarity. 



The way he brought us up is shown by a little story 

 about my brother Leonard, which my father was fond of 

 telling. He came into the drawing-room and found Leonard 

 dancing about on the sofa, which was forbidden, for the sake 

 of the springs, and said, "Oh, Lenny, Lenny, that's against 

 all rules," and received for answer, " Then I think you'd better 

 go out of the room." I do not believe he ever spoke an angry 

 word to any of his children in his life ; but I am certain that 

 it never entered our heads to disobey him. I well remember 

 one occasion when my father reproved me for a piece of care- 

 lessness ; and I can still recall the feeling of depression which 

 came over me, and the care which he took to disperse it by 

 speaking to me soon afterwards with especial kindness. He 



