as to be added to them. In the diary of the grandfather, Mr. Wintle,
we find the following entries:--

1829.--April 6. Little Elizabeth alarmingly ill with scarlet fever.

" 7. Child very ill.

" 8. Child somewhat better.

" 18. Letter from Mary Ann [Mrs. Gilbert],
stating that little Elizabeth had lost one eye.

" 21. Went to Oxford. Little girl blind.

July 9. Dr. Farre and Mr. Alexander say
there is no chance of little Bessie seeing.

And so the "flashing black eyes," scarcely opened upon the world, were
closed for ever, and all memory of sight was very speedily obliterated.
Mrs. Gilbert had not been allowed to nurse or even to see her little
girl, who had been removed from the nursery to a north wing, stretching
back and away from the house. It was the father who watched over and
scarcely left her. Mrs. Gilbert believed that the child's recovery was
owing to his unremitting care. Dr. Gilbert's common sense seems to have
been in advance of the medical treatment of that period; and he insisted
on open windows, change of bedding and clothing to suit the exigencies
of the case. When the child was thought to be sinking, he took upon
himself the responsibility of administering port wine; this may or may
not have saved her life, it is certain she struggled through and
survived a dangerous, almost fatal attack.

But the handsome, healthy baby was sightless; one eye was entirely and
the other partly destroyed, the throat ragged and certain to be always
delicate, ears and nose also affected. A childhood of much suffering was
inevitable--and then?

It was the father who bore the first brunt of this sorrow. It was he who
listened to the pathetic appeal of the little one, "Oh, nursie, light a
candle," to her entreaty to be taken "out of the dark room," to the
softly-whispered question, "If I am a _very_ good 'ittle girl may I see
my dolly to-morrow?" He had been full of courage, hope, and resource at
the most critical times, but he was broken-hearted now, and would rush
weeping from the child's bedside.

It was not until July, by that time a fifth baby was in the nursery,
that the parents took their little Bessie to London, and there, as Mr.
Wintle's diary tells, the case was pronounced to be hopeless. The
renowned oculist of that day, Mr. Alexander, told them that there was no
possibility of s