t the tenderness, the
unfaltering fortitude, with which she bestowed her blessing, and then
proceeded, until articulation was denied, to distribute to each some
token of her tender love. She died in perfect charity with all,
sweetly submissive to the Divine Will, and consoling her afflicted
husband and children to the very last.

Your mother's heart was as large as it was tender. She was devoted, as
a wife, to her husband; as a mother, to her children. She was kind to
dependents, ever thoughtful for the poor, and there was a large place
in her heart for her dumb companions. Her presence will, I am sure,
never fade from your recollection; and in all my remembrance of her I
can recall no period of her life when her face was so dear to look
upon as in the days after leaving Port Darwin. As she lay back on her
pillows, a veil of white lace thrown round her head, her eyes so
bright, her smiles so loving, not a murmur from her lips nor a shade
of unrest on her serene countenance, the peculiar sweetness of her
expression seemed a foretaste of the peace of heaven.

I do not recall these things solely as a tribute to the dear one who
has passed away from among us, but for your profit and for mine. We
have seen how your mother used her opportunities to make the world a
little better than she found it. We may each do the same service in
our own sphere, and so may best be followers of her good example. In
tenderest love may we ever cherish and bless and revere her memory.

My dear children, I might write more. I could never tell you what your
mother was to me.

Your very affectionate father,

BRASSEY.

'SUNBEAM,' R.Y.S.: _September_ 1887.

[Illustration: PORT SAID COALING-PARTY]

[Illustration: Evening Prayer]

_INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER._

When the arrangements for a contemplated cruise to the East were being
considered, towards the end of 1886, it was thought best for Lady
Brassey and her daughters to make the voyage to Bombay in a P. & O.
steamer. The 'Sunbeam' herself was to sail from Portsmouth by the
middle of November. Lord Brassey, in the first paragraph of his
'Sunbeam Papers,' thus acknowledges the help he derived at starting,
in what may be called the domestic department of the yacht, from Lady
Brassey's presence on board for even a few hours.

'We embarked at Portsmouth on Monday, November 16th. The "Sunbeam" was
in hopeless confusion, and it required no ordinary effort of
determination and organisatio