beheld from the closet, I was made aware, by the sound of a bell, of which I had been apprized, that breakfast was ready, and accordingly hastened down stairs, resolving to make myself better acquainted, if possible, with the history of the lady who had engaged so many of my thoughts. Upon enquiry I found, that the unmarried name of the person respecting whom I was so inquisitive, had been Matilda Vincent, that she had possessed the estates of Inglewood for some time, and had been dead more than forty years: it was further added, that she had been a singular character, and had shewn her singularity by leaving behind her written memoirs of her life, in which she had taken so little care to guard her name from the ill opinion of her successors, that she had made a full, true, and perfect confession of many parts of her life with which no one could have been acquainted, and which, certainly, set her in not amiable point of view; "though," remarked our dignified hostess, from whom I received this account, "if you, my young friend, are willing to read, and even to copy these memorandums, you will find nothing in these confessions which can be injurious, in any way, to your mind. I only wonder at this, that any lady should have taken pleasure in leaving behind her any memorials of her own errors."

My father replied, that probably the lady in question left this narrative in somewhat the same spirit in which a benevolent navigator would like to publish an account of . an unfortunate voyage-in order to warn others against the rocks and shoals upon which he suffered shipwreck.

"It may be so," replied the old lady, "and if your daughter chooses to read the manuscript, I will deliver it into her hands as soon as we have inspected the house; and she may, if agreeable, retire to her closet to peruse it: for," added she, "it was in that very closet in which it was written, and which, out of respect to the writer, we have left precisely in the state in which we found it; no article having been removed from it since her death.

I could say much of the delight with which I received this permission; but having already said more of myself than I at first intended, I will now withdraw into the back ground, and introduce my readers to other persons more worthy of their notice.

The Memoirs of Matilda Vincent.

"It having pleased the Almighty Ruler of all things to call me, the chief of sinners, to come into his gracious presence, and to receive his free grace and pardon, which were obtained for me by the precious death of his beloved Son, I have thought it right, at an advanced period of my life, lest I should be led impiously to take credit to myself for that which has been wrought for me by God alone, to note down certain circumstances of my life, on which, should my memory fail, I may look, from time to time, and be reminded of those sins of my life, by which I truly deserve to be called the chief of sinners.

"I had my origin from a family of credit in this country. My grandfather, who possessed large estates in this vicinity, with this spacious mansion in which I now dwell, had one son and two daughters. The elder of these daughters, who was my mother, married, and went to reside at a distance; but the second remained at home till my grandfather died and her brother was married, at which time, or soon after, she was united to one in very low circumstances, who presently spent all her property, and left her, but whither he went, or what became of him, was never known. My father left his wife shortly after my birth, and my mother did not long survive his desertion of her, in consequence of which I became a needy orphan in early infancy. I was not, however, suffered to know pecuniary distress-for my uncle came in his coach-and-six, and brought me with my nurse home to his house, and there I remained till I married.

"The modes of education then were very different to what they are now. Boarding-schools were little frequented, and the governesses appointed to take care of young ladies at home were little better than upper servants. However, my uncle did for me as for his own offspring, for he had but one child, a daughter, about my own age. We were brought up together in one nursery till our days. of babyhood were expired, and then, as my aunt was dead, (for she died soon after the birth of her daughter,) we were placed under the care of a governess, who exercised us in needlework and in playing on the harpsichord, a telent but little cultivated in those days.

My uncle made little difference, in his manner of treatment, between me and my cousin, (who, being christened Agnes, was called by the servants, according to the custom of those days, Mrs. Agnes,) excepting that he sometimes took her out with him in his coach, to visit a neighbour, when, on some pretence or other, he would leave me at home; and though this seldom happened, it gave me great offence. On one of these occasions, when I could not have been so much as ten years of age, I remember listening to a conversation between my governess and the housekeeper, as they were drinking tea together in the housekeeper's room, and who supposed that I was amusing myself with my painted baby. They were speaking of the high fortunes which little Mrs. Agnes had a title to, and of the great match which she would have a right to expect; and then they spoke of me; and the governess said she had reason to suppose my parents had not left me a sixpence.

"But,' said the housekeeper, you may be sure her uncle will not forget her, but will give her something considerable out of his vast property.'

"When gentlemen have children of their own,' replied the governess, they are not always so ready to give fortunes to other people.'

"True,' said the housekeeper; but I shall think it cruel if poor Miss Matilda is quite cut off from her grandfather's property, and that for the sake of a girl only?' 'Why, true,' replied the governess, 'had it been a boy who stood thus in her way, it would have been quite a different thing.'

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"These wise persons then proceeded to discuss our respective merits with regard to beauty; and as, upon the whole, the advantage was decided to be on the side of my cousin, I found myself excluded in every instance, and, young as I was, I was strongly sensible of the mortification. I was still reflecting upon what had passed, my doll lying disregarded on my lap, when my little cousin returned, and entered the housekeeper's room, whither she had come in pursuit of her governess and me.

"I remember, to this moment, her dress and general appearance on that occasion. She wore a full slip of rosecoloured taffety, with an apron of the finest lace; on her head was a small round cap, with an artificial flower on

one side; a row of pearls adorned her neck, and bracelets of the same, her arms.

"She was generally pale, but the air and exercise had given a blush to her cheeks, and added much to her beauty. She came forward to me with much affection in her manner, and kissing me, she presented me with a small paper of dried sweetmeats, which she had brought from a lady to whom her father had introduced her during their airing; but I have no doubt that I received them with a very bad grace-for nothing makes a person so awkward as being under the influence of the mean passion of envy.

"These first feelings of envy which had been excited within me by the injudicious conversation of the governess and housekeeper, were not permitted to die away; although my cousin always conducted herself towards me with the most invariable sweetness, and evidently had no suspicion of the dispositions which I indulged towards her; but, as I was continually exposed to hear the same kind of discourse, envy of my cousin's more distinguished lot. at length took such effect upon me, that I became secretly very unhappy, and, as I advanced in age, these sentiments held such entire-possession of my mind, that it became materially injured and polluted by them.

"Those who are not acquainted with the depravity of the human heart, will plead, that the perversion of my mind on this subject was entirely owing to the injudicious and evil suggestions of the persons with whom I dwelt; but I answer, that these cruel suggestions would have failed in producing such effects, had they not met with a mind in me prepared for their reception.

"There are, perhaps, no evil passions which are so carefully guarded from the eyes of the world, as those which proceed from envy. Whoever is envious of another, confesses his inferiority to that person in some one point of view or other; and, to a proud and worldly character, how painful is a confession that we are outshone in any one particular in which we wish to excel! So painful, indeed, were these feelings to which I was subjected, that I would not even avow them, if I could help it, to myself, but, on the contrary, I endeavoured to persuade myself that I loved my cousin; and was careful not to omit any mark of outward respect and affection, by which I might evince.

to the world, and to Agues herself, the strength of my regard, and of my devotedness.

"In the mean time, I continually indulged myself in that pernicious pleasure to which the selfish and indolent are invariably addicted, and which, being within the reach of all, is, perhaps, more widely fatal than almost any other evil practice that is, in the formation of airy visions of happiness, by which self is placed in that situation where the evil desires of the heart have every opportunity of gratification. These are the chambers of imagery into which unregenerated persons enter, in the dark hours of night, to commit abomination with their idols, saying, 'The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth.' (Ezekiel viii. 12.)

"In these views of fancied happiness and triumph, I was myself, of course, the first object-I was then put in full possession of all the estates and honours of my cousin. I was clothed in her most superb dresses-was adorned in her jewels-and received the homage of her dependents. On these imaginary occasions, she was excluded; while her interests and welfare were entirely remote from my mind. But how this had been effected, was a part of the picture which I ever left in shade, being unwilling to unveil, even to my own eyes, the murderous tendency of my wishes. Oh! how deeply wicked and deceitful is the human heart! how dreadful the designs of ambition! and how closely allied is envy to the foulest crimes of which our nature is capable! Yet man is formed with an insatiable thirst for happiness; and if he has been taught to consider that happiness consists in earthly possessions and distinctions, all attempts to make him cease to covet them, or to hate those who seem to stand in the way of his possessing them, must be fruitless, without such an interference of the Divine favour as shall change entirely the current of his affections.

"The desires of the natural man are, undoubtedly, ever inclining towards earthly objects; nevertheless, his ambition, and, consequently, his feelings of envy towards his superiors, may be inflamed on the one hand by indiscreet conversation, and, on the other, may be greatly diminished, even in the minds of unregenerate young persons, by a frequent recurrence in their presence to the concerns