iation are based on the laws which regulate the
accumulation and distribution of the means of subsistence. In this
Association we have the union of what the coldest prudence would
dictate, and of what the most affectionate Christian heart would
desire."

Mr. Gladstone was at that time the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and his
advocacy was very valuable. The pecuniary result of the meeting, which
had given her some months of labour, was most gratifying to Bessie, and
she resumed her work of collecting funds with fresh ardour. We find her
making application, in vain, for a grant from the Peabody Fund. The
question of State aid for the blind was suggested to her, and she set to
work in the usual patient and thorough way, to obtain information and to
look around for influential help. But the autumn brought sorrow and
grave anxiety, which almost put a stop to other work. Mrs. Gilbert,
whose health had long been failing, declined rapidly. Bessie remained at
Chichester, and wrote constantly and very tenderly to the sister, Mrs.
Elliot, who was unable to leave her own home, and yet anxious to be with
her mother if the illness should prove alarming. Bessie writes an
autograph letter on 9th December 1863, tells of the arrival of married
sisters at the palace, of the anxiety of Dr. Tyacke and her father, of
the sympathy they all feel for the one who cannot join them, "we know
how much your heart is with us, and how much we should like to have you
here.... I have just heard that Mary thinks mamma looking better than
she expected, and Sarah says she does not think her looking quite so ill
as on Monday. It is a pleasure to tell you anything the least
cheering.... You do not know how sorry we all are for you; I hope you
will not find this letter difficult to read. I wished especially to
write to you to-day to tell you how we all think of you, and feel for
and with you in all this difficulty and anxiety."

That evening a younger sister prepared some arrowroot in the sick-room,
and the blind daughter administered it carefully, spoonful after
spoonful, to her dying mother. "It pleased them both so much," we are
told, and it was the last office of love, for on the 10th December Mrs.
Gilbert died.

The death of this warm-hearted, generous woman, who had made home so
happy for her children, devoted wife and loving mother, was a crushing
blow. Death had not visited the home for nearly thirty years, and this
great grief opened up the possib