their actions; not to be able to
convince themselves that they are unattractive, and that they had
better be quiet, and think of other things than wedlock."

The following is an extract, from one of the few letters which have been
preserved, of her correspondence with her sister Emily:--

"May 29, 1843

"I get on here from day to day in a Robinson-Crusoe-like sort of way,
very lonely, but that does not signify. In other respects, I have
nothing substantial to complain of, nor is this a cause for complaint.
I hope you are well. Walk out often on the moors. My love to Tabby.
I hope she keeps well."

And about this time she wrote to her father,

"June 2nd, 1818,

"I was very glad to hear from home. I had begun to get low-spirited
at not receiving any news, and to entertain indefinite fears that
something was wrong. You do not say anything about your own health,
but I hope you are well, and Emily also. I am afraid she will have a
good deal of hard work to do now that Hannah" (a servant-girl who had
been assisting Tabby) "is gone. I am exceedingly glad to hear that
you still keep Tabby" (considerably upwards of seventy). "It is an
act of great charity to her, and I do not think it will be unrewarded,
for she is very faithful, and will always serve you, when she has
occasion, to the best of her abilities; besides, she will be company
for Emily, who, without her, would be very lonely."

I gave a _devoir_, written after she had been four months under M.
Heger's tuition. I will now copy out another, written nearly a year
later, during which the progress made appears to me very great.

"31 Mai, 1843.

"SUR LA MORT DE NAPOLEON.

"Napoleon naquit en Corse et mourut a Ste. Helene. Entre ces deux
iles rien qu'un vaste et brulant desert et l'ocean immense. Il naquit
fils d'un simple gentilhomme, et mourut empereur, mais sans couronne
et dans les fers. Entre son berceau et sa tombe qu'y a-t-il? la
carriere d'un soldat parvenu, des champs de bataille, une mer de sang,
un trone, puis du sang encore, et des fers. Sa vie, c'est l'arc en
ciel; les deux points extremes touchent la terre, la comble lumi-neuse
mesure les cieux. Sur Napoleon au berceau une mere brillait; dans la
maison paternelle il avait des freres et des soeurs; plus tard dans
son palais il eut une femme qui l'aimait. Mais sur son lit de mort
Napoleon