He writes with regard to a description of mat which only one man, Burr, can make, so that it will take him two or three weeks to execute an order from Brighton, wanted immediately. He asks Miss Gilbert to have the kindness to advise him concerning this matter, and says he has enclosed last week's accounts, but is "fearful through the multiplicity of business that the items, although correct in general, are somewhat confused in detail." Then follows a lengthy superscription—
I remain
Dr. Madam with
Gratitude and Respect
Your obedient
Humble St.
W. H. Levy.
The "confusion in detail" seems to have been considerable, and Mr. Gilbert's summary for 1854 was as follows:—
| Total of disbursements on Levy's account | £159 11 0 |
| Total of Mandeville's bills not entered | 60 5 8 |
| ———————————— | |
| £219 16 8 | |
| Total of receipts for material (presumably from workmen) | £54 4 11 |
| Total of other receipts (presumably sales) | 32 8 9 |
| ———————————— | |
| Total receipts | £86 13 8 |
| Loss | 133 3 0 |
To this are added the following remarks:—
This account is only approximate. To the disbursement should certainly be added about £6 paid to Levy for himself and not entered, and one lost bill of Mandeville's (£4: 18: 6), if not more than one. The receipts also are probably imperfect.
The word loss is one that would not approve itself to either of those chiefly concerned. Bessie was giving freely of her income, Levy was spending economically and carefully. Each knew that there was no error, though there might be irregularities which seemed considerable to those who were not primarily concerned in the great cause.
For three months in 1855 there follow a most bewildering series of accounts. Disbursements, receipts, sales, and a few donations are all entered on one page. Such a course probably induced further remonstrance from the sighted, and in March 1855 a more orderly system is adopted. Receipts and disbursements are neatly kept on separate pages, and confusion henceforth ceases.
We may recall that Bessie always hated "sums," and found them bewildering. She was, however, very accurate in mental calculation. She knew what money she had advanced, on what occasions and to whom. No amount was omitted or entered twice over in her memory. It was only by slow degrees that she learnt the value of written records, the nature of them, and the necessity of absolute accuracy in matters of business. Ledgers and cash books and journals at first indicated merely a certain incapacity in the sighted; but time and experience taught her that they were indispensable.