A Mother's Last Wish

She had, at first, yielded to our entreaties; but when she heard that her favourite

was recovering, she could no longer debar herself from her society, and entered her

chamber long before the danger of infection was past. The consequences of this imprudence

were fatal. On the third day my mother sickened; her fever was very malignant,

and the looks of her attendants prognosticated the worst event. On her death-bed the fortitude and

benignity of this admirable woman did not desert her. She joined the hands of Elizabeth and

myself: “My children,” she said, “my firmest hopes of future happiness were placed on the

prospect of your union. This expectation will now be the consolation of your