He tapped the hive, and then said in a low, quiet voice, "My cousin is dead," and I felt a cold shiver pass over me, as I distinctly heard a wailing response like a buzzing moan from the bees.

Besides this, she was home-schooled, taught to perform domestic chores at home and to reflect on Bible stories to gain wisdom, as her family did not approve of the National School.

"[6] Coming after the death of her little brother, the unexpected loss of her mother to what may have been consumption made Hearn the woman of the house at 12 years of age, forced to care for the home and her younger siblings.

"[10] In 1866, after deciding to become a full-time writer, at the instigation of her Baptist pastor Jonathan Wittemore, founder of Christian World, she joined the staff of his publication.

[11][12] She also wrote biographies of contemporary British heroes such as Grace Darling, David Livingstone, General Gordon and Queen Victoria under the name "Eva Hope.

Featherstone, an author frequently publishing works on Sunday Schools and Temperance Societies includes her in his lengthy "A Prologue to the Poets," which references other English masters of verse from Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare and John Milton, to contemporary poets Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Keble, and Emma Tatham: "Then there's 'Darenth Vale with its 'Echoes' so sweet/ Come forth, Marianne, I've placed you a seat.

Her "Foreword" partially reads: "I have had frequent misgivings while writing this autobiography, for I know of no particular reason why it should have been written; and it has appeared very egotistic to do it...My hope is that it may be useful, especially to girls and women who are timid as to the years before them and the duties they have to face.