she should be educated by him, and early taught to shun those errors which proved the ruin of her mother. To the tender care of my Almighty God, I bequeath my injured husband and beloved sons. May every blessing descend on my children-showers of blessings from above. And may we, who now can meet no more on earth, experience a joyful reunion, when time shall be no more, and the work of redeeming love shall be completed!"

"The manuscript broke off in this place, and the few last lines were scarcely legible.

"Such was the account which this unhappy lady gave of her life, and I could fill volumes with my comments on it, but I forbear. Suffice it to say, that it left an impression of sadness on my mind which never wore off. My heart clung, in a manner which I cannot describe, to the little Estelle; and I was exceedingly uneasy lest any dispute should arise, on the part of the Duke de Nemours, respecting my guardianship of this child. This matter was, however, soon and amicably settled between us. For the duke, as I afterwards found, being on the point of forming a connexion with a lady of high station and fortune, was easily persuaded to leave the child where her mother had placed her.

"Among the unhappy lady's papers, I found, after her death, two letters, the one addressed to the Comte de Barfleur, and the other to his mother. I did not think it right to read them, but dispatched them immediately to Pau, with the communication of her death, and an account of the blessed state in which she had departed.

"I certainly expected a written answer to my letter, and was therefore surprised, when after several weeks, in which nothing had been heard from Pau, the Comte de Barfleur himself was introduced into my study. I did not at first form any conjecture concerning this stranger, nor had I the least idea who he might be. I did not therefore immediately send away the little Estelle, who was sitting on a chair by my side, amusing herself with some such trifles as children love. I saw, however, by the air and manner of this gentleman, that he was no ordinary visitor, though it did not occur to me that he was so nearly related to the late unhappy Comtesse de Barfleur. But he soon

informed me of his name; and told me, that, being on the borders of Switzerland when he received my letter, he had come so far to question me respecting the last hours of a lady who had once been inexpressibly dear to him. I immediately called my servant, and sent away the innocent daughter of a miserable mother, seeing that the presence of the child disturbed the comte. And when left alone we had a long and very interesting conversation together, in which the comte proved himself to be a reformed character, reformed in the best sense of the word, viz. the Christian one. He took much blame to himself in the misfortunes of his unhappy wife; saying, that had he not exposed her to the temptations of a vicious world, young and beautiful as she was, she might have still lived and been happy, still lived to bless him and his children. But alas!' he added, though I have seen my error, it has been too late for my happiness! My wife is lost to me for ever! and my children are without a mother!'

"I said much to him respecting the desirable state in which she died, and the hopes I entertained of her present happiness. He seemed consoled by these assurances, and accepted my invitation to remain with me some days; during which, he visited the grave of his unfortunate wife, and many of those places in which he had formerly enjoyed her society.

"I parted with the comte with sorrow, and I believe that our sorrow was reciprocal. I was much affected when, on taking leave, the Comte de Barfleur asked to see the infant, and, kissing its cheek, would have forced on me a purse of gold for its use, which, however, I did not accept, being handsomely supplied with all I could require. He refused to take back the money, desiring it might be given, in the name of the departed lady, to the poor of the parish.

"Thus the Comte de Barfleur took his leave, and I never saw him more, though I have always remembered this visit with pleasure.

"And now, having given an account of this visit of the Comte de Barfleur, I close my narrative by saying, that nearly fourteen years are now past since the unhappy daughter of the pastor Claude was laid in her grave; and since that period, the young Estelle has never quitted me: while every moment which could be spared from my other

duties has been devoted to the education of this lovely child.

66 The younger Estelle resembles her mother in person, and is not less beautiful; though, from having been nurtured in affliction, there is a gentleness and softness in her manner, which probably never appeared in that of her mother. The sad fate of that parent seems also to have rested heavily on her heart, and, with the divine blessing, to have inspired her with a dread of that arrogant, independent, and self-sufficient spirit, which was the ruin of her mother.

"We had comparative peace in our lovely village till this dear child was about thirteen years of age. At that time we were driven from our home before the tide of revolutionary fury; and since that period have been wanderers in many countries, and often almost deprived of the necessaries of life. At length being arrived in England, we have obtained a peaceful asylum; and our connexions on the Continent having found means to supply our wants, we are content to wait till Providence shall point out whither next it may be best for us to re

move our tent.

“In the mean time, while blessed in the presence of my lovely and affectionate child, and permitted to mark her growth in grace, to look on that lovely countenance, to behold that beauty, that noble deportment, and that elegance, which would fit her to shine as the brightest ornament of those courtly scenes in which her mother moved with such universal admiration, and yet to behold all these qualities clad in the veil of the deepest humility, and accompanied with a degree of diffidence and modesty rarely associated with the meanest pretensions, is indeed a sight to exhilarate the most dejected spirits, and to excite the highest song of praise: for what but divine power can enable a young person to triumph over the snares of sin, and to march forward heavenwards, surmounting all the stumbling-stones and rocks of offence which the world and Satan may place in her way?"

This manuscript was signed,

"ERNESTHUS WILHELM."

As the reading of the manuscript had detained the

VOL. VI.

T

young

ladies to a late hour, the lady of the manor requested them to join her in prayer as soon as it was concluded.

A Prayer against Temptation.

"O BLESSED LORD and SAVIOUR, we beseech thee to keep us from every path and every situation where we may be endangered by our own evil inclinations. We feel our dangers from without to be great, but these would be powerless, as they were with thee while on earth, if we were free from those which are within. Our own hearts are the enemies which we would chiefly dread. O, save us from ourselves. Render us deaf to the suggestions of our own vile inclinations. Turn our eyes away from beholding vanity, and our ears from hearkening to it. Fill our hearts with holy love, and draw our affections upwards to thyself, who art alone worthy of our supreme regard. Draw us, O Lord, and we will run after thee.

arm.

Set us as a seal upon thy heart, a seal upon thine Reveal thyself to our souls in all thy fulness; and make our feelings subordinate to those principles of love, of gratitude, and adoration, which will lead us near to thyself.

"O blessed Saviour, we lament the coldness of our hearts, the low and degraded state of our desires, and the trifling objects of our cares. We would love thee fervently. We would be superior to temptation from earthly things, but we feel ourselves too often overcome and bowed to the dust. Ah, Lord God! who is able but thyself to deliver us from the body of this death? Thine, O Lord, is the work of our salvation. From beginning to end it is thine, and thine only. And thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, now and for evermore. Amen."

CHAPTER XXIX.

Third Conversation on the Lord's Prayer-" But deliver us from Evil."

"I AM prepared with a curious little narrative, my beloved young friends, which I hope will at once please and profit you," said the lady of the manor, when she found herself again surrounded by her young people. "Its title is The Garden of Roses,' and it refers expressly to that clause in the Lord's Prayer, by which we are taught to seek deliverance from all evil. It is curious, because it presents a view of that kind of life never, as I can recollect, before described by any English writer; and is the more valuable, as it is, I have every reason to think, a very faithful picture."

The lady of the manor then read as follows.

The Garden of Roses.

"It is now between sixty and seventy years since my father and uncle went out to India, the one in a civil and the other in a medical capacity. When they left England, my uncle was married; and as his wife's sister accompanied them on the passage, my father made so good a use of the opportunities afforded him during the voyage, that he had scarcely arrived in Calcutta, before the young single lady consented to become his wife, and was united to him before any of the party left the presidency.

"The state of the English possessions in India, was very different at that period to what it now is; and our territories, which are now bounded by the towering summits of the Himalaya, at that time extended little further than