ell received and
favourably noticed.

The following pretty lines have been preserved amongst Bessie's
papers:--

Will you please tell me very truly what you think of this little
poem? You know I have a great respect for your opinion, and that is
why I send it.

WHAT IS SYMPATHY?

It is the perfect tune that lies
Underneath all harmonies.
The brook that sings in summertide
Between the flowers on either side.
It is that voiceless under part,
That, still unheard, heart sings to heart.
The interchange of thoughts that lie
Too deep for louder melody.
The breath that makes the lyre move
With silent echoings of love.
ISABELLA LAW.

Bessie paid other short visits to old friends at this time. We hear of
her with Miss Bathurst at Stanmore, and greatly interested in Miss
Bathurst's most honoured friend, Lady Byron. She also stayed with Miss
Butler, who remembers that one day when she was about to mount her horse
Bessie stood stroking his legs, saying: "Surely this must be
thorough-bred." Another time, as Bessie stood near him, the horse
stretched out his head and took the rose she was wearing so gently from
her dress that she did not know it until she was told that he was eating
it. Bessie used to drive in a pony carriage with Miss Butler, and to
puzzle her hostess by a request for a description of the scenery.

On one occasion a gentleman who had become recently blind was asked to
meet Bessie at Stanmore. It was very touching to see her sit by the
blind man's side, take his hand and try to encourage and comfort him.
Work for others, help for others; these were the things she told him
that would make life worth living, and her own ardour was able to
inspire him as well as others with hope and energy.

FOOTNOTES:

[7] _Town and Country Sermons_; 18. "Character of Peter."

[8] Page 8.

CHAPTER XV

TIME OF TROUBLE

"Good times and bad times and all times pass over."
BEWICK'S VIGNETTES.

Bishop Gilbert's family circle was fast diminishing. His eldest son and
four daughters were married. The _sisterhood_ was broken up. Numerous
home duties at Chichester and in London, together with the care of
parents whose health was beginning to fail, engrossed the time and
thought of the daughters at home