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.'

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'Why, true,' replied the governess, had it been a boy who stood thus in her way, it would have been quite a different thing.'

"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 Agnes 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 of his posway sessing 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

of a future life, and suitable comparisons between the things of eternity and those of the present state of being,

"There is, perhaps, no study which conveys such adequate ideas of the instability of human greatness, as that of history; especially when we connect with it a view of prophecy, and of those representations which the Scriptures give us of the kingdom of Christ, where the true glory is exhibited; in comparison of which, all the pomp and pride of earthly things appear but as the painted toys and baubles of early childhood. The feeling which I have described above, continued rather to increase than to diminish, till I was nineteen years of age; but I have no reason to suppose that my real character was ever suspected by any one about me.

"At this time my uncle said to us, one morning at breakfast, that he expected a young gentleman to visit him in a few days, the son of a respected friend, whom he had not seen for many years; adding, that he hoped we should be prepared to make the house agreeable to him.

"And what are we to call him?' said my cousin Agnes, smiling; for it would not be polite to seem ignorant of his name, when he bestows upon us the honour of his company.'

"Clarence Fitzgerald,' replied my uncle; "he is the son of my old friend, General Fitzgerald, of whom you have often heard me speak.'

"My cousin, who had great simplicity of mind, received this command of her father's, as she did every other, without making any comment upon it; but I began instantly to consider whether there might not be something more in this proposed visit than my uncle would have us suppose, and, after turning the matter over and over again in my own mind, I at length made out that this Mr. Clarence Fitzgerald was the intended husband of my cousin; and then my imagination went to work to embellish this chosen youth with all the desirable qualities of a partner for life for one so highly gifted and endowed as my cousin Agnes, and, when I had considered the matter for a while, I became more and more inflamed with envy, and more and more ready to inveigh against the justice of Providence towards myself.

"While these things occupied my mind, my cousin Agnes,

who never enjoyed very good health, was taken ill, and was obliged to confine herself to her room, and then the idea occurred to me, that I could not advance my own interest more effectually than by availing myself of the opportu nity, which I hoped to have, of securing the young gentleman's affection to myself-should fortune so far favour me as to continue the illness of my cousin for some time after the arrival of the expected visitor. I say fortune, in order to accommodate myself to the mode of thinking I then indulged; for I did not then consider that there is no such thing as chance, but that such affairs are ordered and regulated by the Almighty Ruler-without whom, not even a sparrow falleth to the ground.

"I was sitting alone in our common parlour, when I was apprized, by a loud ringing at the outer court, of the arrival of Mr. Fitzgerald. Persons who are full of projects and views of self-interest, are ever liable to fearful apprehensions, which persons of more simplicity are not troubled with. Now the moment approached which I had so long desired, I began to tremble, and looked around me in haste, considering what would be the effect of the first coup d'œil which was to break upon the young man on his entering the room. The parlour was, for that period of time, an elegant apartment, being large and high, and wainscoted with oak, having a cornice composed of a running pattern of the same wood, whereon were represented many delicately-shaped birds, resting on leaves and branches of trees. The floor was brightly polished, and the furniture covered with fine chintz, a large folding glass door was open to the garden, and on each side of this door were couches, with tables before them, on which I had scattered my drawings, my books, and some specimens of fine needle-work. I contrived to seem engaged with my guitar at the instant in which hasty steps in the hall advertised me that the visitor was near at hand, and I only laid it down at the moment when Mr. Clarence Fitzgerald entered the room, and presented a figure which more than answered all my preconceived ideas of him.

"I had perhaps never seen a young man who so entirely answered my notions of the perfect gentleman, as the person who then entered the room; he was, moreover, particu