been brought, through the divine blessing, to seek her God in the days of her youth. Hence proceeded that calmness of mind and sweetness of manner, which rendered her the object of the love and admiration of all who saw her, with the exception only of myself.

and

"During the time of her confinement to her room, while Mr. Fitzgerald was in the house, I of course frequently visited her in the chamber, and generally found her reading some serious book, or cutting out garments for the poor; but, as I avoided mentioning Mr. Fitzgerald's name, she seldom asked me any questions about him, and it was evident that her thoughts were not occupied concerning him. Her illness, though short, had an alarming tendency; and it appeared, as she afterwards told me, that the impressive views of death and mortality given her at that time, had much loosened her affections from the world, had operated as a suitable warning to prepare her for an early departure. The time, however, at length arrived, when she was to leave her room; and my uncle, one morning at breakfast, announced to Mr. Fitzgerald, with great glee, that he hoped he should have the pleasure of introducing him to his daughter at dinner. The young gentleman coloured on receiving this information, but I could not exactly interpret this symptom; I was, however, so violently affected, that, as soon as I possibly could, I withdrew to a summer-house, which was built on the wall in a distant part of the garden, and there, for a time, gave free and uninterrupted vent to my tears.

"I endeavoured to suppose that these were tears of sweet and amiable sensibility, when, on the contrary, they were nothing but the effusions of selfishness and passion. My heart and affections had not been taken by surprise by Mr. Fitzgerald; on the contrary, believing that the parents had intended a marriage between him and my cousin, I had formed the selfish project of disconcerting their plan. And if, in the pursuit of my object, my own feelings were disturbed and injured, it was, as I have before said, no more than might have been expected, and no more than I deserved.

"I continued weeping in the summer-house till I heard some voices near the wall on the outside of the garden. The wall was skirted by a small coppice, which was inter

sected by several narrow pathways; but these were so seldom frequented, that they were almost overgrown with moss. I had scarcely time to withdraw from the window at which I had sat weeping, with my handkerchief at my eyes, before Mr. Fitzgerald and my uncle appeared.

"My uncle was earnestly engaged in conversation, and did not see me; but not so Mr. Fitzgerald. He perceived me, and, no doubt, remarked my dejected appearance; for, although he took no notice at the time, but passed on with my uncle, in less than a quarter of an hour he returned to the summer-house, by the way of the garden, and entered without ceremony.

"He at first took no notice of my tears, but asking permission to sit down by me, he entered into a conversation, in which he frankly told me, that it was the wish of the parents on both sides that a marriage should take place between him and my cousin; and observed, that as he was entirely dependent on his parents, he had no choice but to submit to their desires. He hinted how much he had been disappointed, when, after our first conversation, he had found that I was not the daughter of his father's friend; and he added, that he could have little hope that he should find in my cousin any qualities which could make him cease to regret his disappointment.

"All this was very fine to the ear, but it was decidedly wrong, and it was what I ought not to have listened to for one moment; but it pleased me, because it flattered my vanity, though, as he had not yet seen my cousin, it could hardly be said to lower her. We were disturbed in this unprofitable discourse by the necessity of appearing at dinner.

"It may be supposed that I was exceedingly anxious to observe the first effect of the appearance of Agnes on Mr. Fitzgerald, thinking that I should be able to read in his countenance, on this occasion, whether I had any thing more to expect from his regard to me. But I found, with dismay, sudden and strong expressions of admiration, on his part, when she appeared; and the artless simplicity and sweetness of her manners seemed every moment to gain increasingly upon him.

"From that moment, he shunned every occasion of being alone with me; and, as there were no prudential ob

stacles in the way of this marriage, it was hurried on by the parents, and I had the mortification, in a few months, of assisting at it, in the character of bridesmaid.

"It may be supposed that the ill success of my plan with respect to Mr. Fitzgerald, who was the only man in the world for whom I had ever entertained any preference, did not render my feelings towards my cousin, who was become his happy wife, more agreeable than they had been before. In short, I became so uneasy in my own mind, that I rejoiced to receive the addresses of a young officer who was quartered in the next town.

My uncle behaved very handsomely to me on my marriage, and presented me with six thousand pounds, and my cousin added some very expensive presents.

"As my husband had what is called good interest in the army, we entertained no thought of leaving the course of life he had chosen. We accordingly joined our regiment, and accompanied it into different parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

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Although my husband had nothing more than his pay, yet the interest of my fortune enabled us to live in a style quite superior to any other married officer in the regiment. But we were not satisfied with this. Although we had all we could reasonably desire, yet our anxiety for promotion was the same as if our very existence depended on it; and I have often recollected the glee with which my husband would proclaim the death of a superior officer, and how frequently he made 'speedy promotion' his

toast.

"All this, which is too frequently practised in the army, is counted but a façon de parler, and it is pleaded, that those who use this language use it without thought, and without the smallest wish to injure a brother officer, or to see him injured. But what does Scripture say on this subject? A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. (Luke vi. 45.) And we may judge of the nature and tendency of these speeches, when our dearest friends, our husbands, and sons, are made the subjects of them. Ask what the bereaved mother or widow would feel were she to hear

the death of her beloved one made the subject of such jests as these; and could such a one, I ask, be brought to think that there could be any excuse for speeches of such a cruel tendency?

"With regard to myself, if I reproved this kind of language in my husband, it was in such a careless, laughing manner, as rather encouraged than checked him; and, as he knew that I was as eager for promotion as himself, he took no pains to conceal from me his failings of the nature above mentioned.

"But promotion in the army was not the only interesting subject of discourse between myself and my husband: he was continually calculating the chances which I had of coming into my uncle's estate; and in this manner he would often express himself. Your uncle is old and paralytic; he has had two strokes already-a third is generally fatal. In case of his death, there is then only one life in your way, and that is your cousin Agnes's. She is not healthy; she always, I have heard you say, was of a consumptive habit.'

"Sometimes I would reply to this, 'She may have chil

dren.'

"He would then calculate upon the chance of this, remarking that she had been married two years or more, and had no prospect of the kind. We then, not unfrequently, proceeded to calculate the value of the estate, and to talk ourselves almost into the belief that we had it already in possession.

"Had we entered upon this kind of conversation in a serious manner, we might, perhaps, have been more easily aware of its horrible tendency. But it was all carried on in a gay, rattling style, and in a kind of cant language, such as is commonly used by young spendthrifts, and generally over a bottle. My husband was the chief speaker; but, although I did not join with him in the strange expressions which he used, and, indeed, often affected to reprove him, yet he was very well aware that my reproofs did not come from the heart, and, therefore, was not checked by them.

"The first event which seemed to bring me nearer to the desired estate, was the death of my uncle, which my husband announced to me with the utmost nonchalance, al

though he owed to this good man nearly all the comforts of his life.'

"This circumstance was soon followed by the less welcome intelligence that Mrs. Fitzgerald was in expectation of an increase to her family. We were then in Ireland; and my husband was evidently in low spirits on the occasion for some weeks.

"The intelligence of the actual birth of the child, with an account of its well-doing and that of its mother, seemed to remove the desired estate to such a distance, that my husband began to murmur at the smallness of my fortune, and to rail at my uncle for not having named me in his will. He now never spoke of my uncle but in terms of disrespect.

"Soon after the birth of little George, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald, our regiment was ordered to England, and I received a kind invitation from my cousin to visit her.

"I found Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald in good health, strongly attached to each other, and living in perfect harmony and love. The little boy, whose existence I had so often deplored, was about half a year old, a lovely baby, possessing all that soft and amiable expression of countenance which rendered his mother so pleasing to every one who saw her with an unprejudiced eye.

"The babe was always dressed with that elegant nicety which is so frequently bestowed on a first child, and was the constant delight of his affectionate parents, who, when they had wearied his little tender frame with play, would sooth him to sleep in their arms, and afterwards, laying him on the cushion of the couch, would watch him. till he awoke again.

"I can give you no account of my feelings during this visit, but that they were so wretched, that I did not dare to look into them. After a time, I returned to my husband, and was, soon after my return, followed by a very melancholy letter from my cousin. This letter contained an account of the sudden death of Mr. Fitzgerald, by a fall from his horse, and presented a lively picture of the distress of the afflicted widow.

"While I was yet considering whether this event tended towards the advancement of my prospects of the estate or