I had been gone a fortnight when the telegram was put into my hands. I had got a letter from my sister, a few hours before, saying that all was well at home. The telegram said in five words that she had died suddenly the previous night. There was no mention of my mother, and I was three days' journey from home. The news I got on reaching London was this: my mother did not understand that her daughter was dead, and they were waiting for me to tell her.

My mother's favourite paraphrase is one known in our house as David's because it was the last he learned to repeat. It was also the last thing she read - Art t…

Sometimes the little boy who calls me father brings me an invitation from his mother: 'I shall be so pleased if you will come and see me,' and I always reply i…

Shall we make a new rule of life from tonight: always to try to be a little kinder than is necessary?

You have lost a child, a dear, dear child. I have lost the only earthly object of my affection.... I have now one request to make,... deny me not. Afford me th…

What we conceal Is always more than what we dare confide. Think of the letters that we write our dead.

Until you have lost a child, you don't know what it is. Parents are supposed to die first. When your child is gone before you for an abnormal reason, it create…