The young ladies agreed with this remark, and asked the lady of the manor if she could propose any thing which could be substituted in society in the place of the cards and dancing, which the religious world had rejected.

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The lady of the manor replied, that many substitutes might be adopted, were young people properly educated: but," added she, "this is a difficult subject; and, as I am not now prepared to give my opinion upon it, I will defer it to another occasion. At present, I would satisfy myself by endeavouring to impress, in the most solemn manner, upon your minds, the sin of that unprofitable and injurious gossip, in which our sex are too much disposed to indulge: to say the least on such a subject, it is a waste of precious time; but it is often productive of more baneful consequences, in the degradation of character, and in the destruction of all the principles of domestic and of individual happiness."

The lady then called upon her young people to join her in prayer.

Prayer on the Subject of Forgiveness of Injuries.

"O SAVIOUR of Mankind and Prince of Peace, who, through the sacrifice of thyself once offered, hast restored peace to a fallen world; grant unto us that charity which is greater than faith and hope. Enable us continually to bear in mind, that as we are polluted ourselves, so also are our fellow-creatures; and that no intercourse can be carried on with them, without mutual occasions of offence. Enable us, therefore, O blessed Redeemer, to forgive as we would be forgiven; and, whereas an uncharitable spirit is apt to arise in our hearts, give us grace to resist the first motions of unkindness which may be felt towards our neighbours. Help us to acknowledge the danger and sin of such feelings, and place a restraint on our tongues to prevent the utterance of any unkind expression. Endue us, blessed Lord, with that knowledge which may lead us to be thankful for the smallest acts of kindness; and impress us with the conviction, that even of these we are not worthy. Divest us, O blessed Lord, of that selfishness which is inherent in our fallen nature, and which mixes itself even with our religious duties. O deliver us from a party spirit, and make us

more and more anxious for thy honour, and zealous only for thy glory. Let it be the constant subject of our thoughts, not so much how we are treated by our neighbours, as in what manner we may best promote their happiness and comfort, and how we may devote our time and talents to their service and thy glory. Thus enable us to await the time, when true Christians shall be for ever one, and no disunion shall be found among thy members.

"To God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, be glory now and for evermore.

Amen."

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Second Conversation on the Lord's Prayer-" Lead us not into Temptation."

"I HAVE promised you, my dear young people," said the lady of the manor, when next the party met, "to furnish you with a story on the subject of temptations. I shall now fulfil my engagement, without any other preface than to remind you, that our Lord's expression, ‘Lead us not into temptation,' by no means asserts that the Almighty tempts us, for we are tempted and drawn aside by our own evil inclinations. (See James i. 13, 14.) I will now leave my little history to speak for itself."

The Beautiful Estelle.

"An interval of quiet, and a space for reflection on the past, after the experience of many and various tossings on the tempestuous sea of life, being permitted me, ere my departure from the present scene of things, I am inclined to avail myself of it, in order to arrange certain papers which have long lain by me, relative to a lady, with whose history my own is intimately connected, and to furnish such additions to her narrative as few are so able to supply as myself; my motive for so doing not being to afford amusement to the idle reader, but to hold up a warning to youth, and to shew the very dreadful effects of a presumptuous and self-confiding spirit. There are no promises contained in Scripture for the consolation of the proud; whereas we are assured that God will guide those in judgment who are meek, and that he will teach his way to such as are gentle. (Psalm xxv. 9.) A high and independent spirit

appears to have been the original cause of every affliction which I am about to record; and the occasions of humbling this spirit were as the rending of the rocks and the stilling of the raging sea.

"But not to anticipate.--I must commence by informing my reader that I am a minister of the Reformed Church, and formerly, that is, before the fatal period of the general and systematic dissemination of infidelity on the Continent, was the curé of a small parish in the Pays de Vaud, and had the superintendence of a little congregation in one of those lovely and solitary valleys of the Alps which, through many long ages of papal darkness and tyranny, had afforded a place of retreat to those who, retaining a more pure doctrine, could not be tolerated under the reigning form of ecclesiastical government.

"In this valley the humble inhabitants had preserved a degree of Christian simplicity which would not have disgraced the apostolic ages, till the middle of the last century; not only shut out from the rest of the world by the Midi and the Mordi, but by lesser mountains, rocks, and precipices, forests and wilds, peculiarly their own, which, rendering the approach more difficult, seemed almost to preclude the visits of affluent strangers.

"The people in my small parish were poor, living on the produce of their flocks, herds, and beehives, abiding in thatched dwellings, and looking up to their pastor as the first of human beings. Though now so far removed from this abode, in which I have experienced so many peaceful days, yet I still fancy I see the wooden spire of the vil lage church, elevated above the trees, and surrounded by the humble dwellings of the peasants, the thatched roofs of some of which were only visible; the hills, with their many irregular peaks and table lands, rising in the background. The spot, indeed, was lovely, and is fixed for ever on the tablet of my memory.

"But even this sequestered region-this region which possessed so few attractions for a worldly-minded individual, was, at length, visited by some who made it their business to spread the poison of infidelity and false philosophy, and who at length too well succeeded in doing that which the utmost rancour of popish violence could not effect.

"I was not a young man when I was appointed to this situation. I succeeded, in my ministry, a venerable pastor of the family of the holy and faithful John Claude, who, at the time of the persecution occasioned by the revocation of the Edict of Nantz, was obliged to forsake his country, and seek an asylum in remote regions.

My predecessor, Erasmus Claude, was born and educated in England. He was by no means so poor as the ministers of our Swiss churches generally are. He was a

man of decided piety, and possessed an accurate and deep knowledge of Scripture; but had a romantic and enthusiastic turn of mind, which rendered him less fit for those duties in which plain sense is a powerful auxiliary.

"Erasmus Claude had married an elegant and beautiful woman, such as we do not often see among the wives of the pastors of the Alpine villages; but she had died early, leaving her husband with one daughter, who afterwards became so distinguished for her personal attractions, that she was generally known by the name of The Beautiful Estelle.

"I have seen a portrait of this young lady, taken at the time when she must have been in the height of her beauty: she was represented in the character of a shepherdess; the idea having been probably taken from the pastorial Florian, whose favourite shepherdess is Estelle.

"If this picture was a faithful portraiture of the lady, I can conceive nothing more beautiful than she must have been, and cannot wonder at the admiration which she is said to have excited.

"Much has been said of the transient nature of beauty; and the charms of youth have been compared, not only to the flowers which presently fade, but to the glories of the morning and the tints of the rainbow which disappear while the eye is resting upon them. The beauty of the human face, when that face is illumined by intellectual worth, however, surpasses the beauties of form as much in duration as in degree; and there are certain expressions of the countenance which even old age cannot destroy. I have seen the beauty of holiness beaming forth amid the ravages of disease, and have traced the mild lineaments of peace and love divine, even amidst the torture of pain. In beholding these effects of religion, our thoughts may be