28 " MY KINGDOM FOR A HORSE ! " 



father, and I have verified the reference that the funeral 

 of Henry Allison was at Stanwick Church on the date 

 named. As to any thought of legacy-hunting, so far as 

 " Uncle Harry " was concerned, I quote the following 

 extract from a letter written by my father to my mother 

 before they were married : 



I have received a letter from my brother's clerk this morning, 

 and he says that my old Uncle Harry is seriously ill. It is lucky 

 I did not go to see him, as he would have thought I had gone 

 for what I could get in the shape of a legacy, which anyhow he 

 will never leave me. 



FORCETT, Dec. 6th 1853. 

 MY DEAR SIR, 



I received your letter of the 3rd Instant ; and not 

 doubting but that the entry of your Uncle's Death having taken 

 Place, as represented in The Yorkshire Gazette, would be com- 

 municated to you by your Relatives at White House as correct, 

 and that you would have an early Invitation to attend his Funeral 

 to-day, the 6th, at St John's, I thought it unnecessary to trouble 

 you with an earlier answer, in the Hope of seeing you after the 

 Interment of the Corpse. As however the Funeral has taken 

 Place to-day, and you have not called here after the Interment, 

 I begin to apprehend that, for some cause or other, you may not 

 have been asked to attend. If this Liberty of attending your 

 Uncle's Funeral have not been granted you by your Brothers 

 and Sisters to see your Father's Brother laid in his grave, it is a 

 Proof of an unfeeling Heart and of an uncharitable Disposition. 

 Tho' it may perhaps have entered their minds that your steady and 

 upright Conduct might induce your Uncle to leave you a Legacy, 

 which would reduce theirs ; yet, tho' you do not stand in Need 

 of such a Legacy, it shows in them an avaricious and overbearing 

 Disposition. Your chief wish, I feel assured, has been to pay due 

 Respect to the memory of the Deceased, your Father's Brother, 

 by wishing to see him laid in his grave, and if you have been 

 denied this Privilege by your Brothers' and Sisters' Neglect or 

 want of Prudence in giving you an opportunity to do it, they 

 have shown no marks to you of brotherly or sisterly Feelings. 



I, at the desire of your Uncle, visited him and read Prayers to 

 him a few Days before his Death, and being composed and sensible, 

 he seemed much comforted. On the Day of his Death I likewise 

 was on my Road to visit him, but when I had proceeded a little 

 Way beyond East Layton, I got to hear that he was no more, and 

 therefore I returned Home again. In consequence, I suppose, 



