for us, and ours for him, that there was no occurrence in the family, however trifling, but was noted down for his after-knowledge, and none so recorded that was not received with delight and read with interest. In the event of his regiment being sent home, it had long been agreed that he would leave the profession, and take upon himself the management of his estate, and live for ever afterwards amongst us, blessed as he was, and most beloved. Alas! alas! the ways of God are inscrutable, and it is our duty to submit to his all-wise decrees, whatever they may be, with thankfulness, rather than repine at any of them: and this reflection it is, added to the influence of religion, that keeps me now in a state of comparative quietness and serenity, though divided between two great opposing feelings, the desire to depart to where my sainted husband and son are, or to remain here to answer those claims which this other dear object of my tenderest solicitude has upon me. To this gay and thronged place I came only for the benefit of my health. I myself am unable, from infirmity, to leave the house, and, therefore, can afford little or no protection to my child abroad; but this, in one respect, is of

little consequence, as the world has few or no charms for us, and our ways and habits of life are retired, and different from those of the multitude. If, under such circumstances, you feel at any time disposed to give us the pleasure of your society, it will be the means, not only of giving a little change to our thoughts and conversation, but of ensuring to us the gratification we must derive from associating with him who was the friend, even unto death, of one so dear to us. I long to hear more and more of my departed child, and to inquire, with a mother's anxiety, into every circumstance connected with him which you may be able to answer, for you must have many things to relate most interesting for us to hear."

This was an invitation calculated, in every way, to yield me all the gratification I desired, and oftentimes did I avail myself of a permission that gave me the conversation of an amiable, but afflicted, woman, and the company of a younger one, whose well-stored mind and easy manners fitted her for the society of the most sensible and accomplished circles. I am aware that, totally unaccustomed as I had been to the kindness and sympathy of others, much less to any

attention from the sex of which these ladies appeared to be ornaments, I may be thought to speak with a partiality springing from considerations of pride and gratitude; but I declare, with all sincerity, that an intimate acquaintance of several weeks, gave me such an insight into the respective tempers, dispositions, and pursuits of each, as possessed my mind with the assurance, that it was not possible for any to be so good and amiable, without being more than commonly blessed with those dispositions which form the great charm of social intercourse.

Of my new friends, however, the mother was the one that gained most of my attention; her afflictions and consequent infirmities had cast over her mind a shade, made deeper and broader by a devotion strong and impassioned, yet unequivocally sincere; and it was this that took such hold upon my feelings. Yet when we touched upon the subject of religion, her opinions appeared to me so extraordinary and unintelligible, that I earnestly desired to attempt the removal of such notions as, to my mind, tended to deprive her of the comfort and consolation which I had myself found to result from a sober and calm consideration of the

Scriptures. In this undertaking I fancied myself encouraged by my fair associate, whose views on these subjects, so far as I could judge from her manner, seemed to be different from those of her mother; but as I conceived that she felt it to be the place of a friend, rather than that of a daughter, to correct a parent's religious aberrations, she forbore from taking any part in the conversations. Instead, therefore, of continuing those walks in which I had been accustomed to meet Eloise (for such was her name), I dedicated this portion of my time to the mother; and this was ultimately the means of making me acquainted with the tenets and habits of another class of religionists, whose principles of belief I had for some time wished to investigate.

Mrs. Richards had imbibed her notions of religion chiefly from a very earnest and respectable teacher of a High Calvinistic congregation, to whom she was distantly related. This had brought an acquaintance, which had gradually increased to a more intimate connection by the aid he had afforded her in her distress; and the circumstance of his lately being established in this place, was one that offered an additional

motive for her present residence. With him I was shortly afterwards made acquainted; and in the many subsequent conversations into which we so continually, and sometimes so warmly entered upon the tenets of his persuasion, it had often surprised me that Eloise never interfered, and that her opinions and her feelings should never have been drawn forth upon any question arising out of them. She sat, commonly, either drawing or working, listening, to appearance, with great attention, but never offering any interruption. It was upon a fine afternoon as Mrs. Richards, Eloise, their cousin Mr. Goddard, and myself, were drinking our tea near a window commanding a view of the country, that Mrs. Richards, who had been more than ordinarily dejected the whole day, after a variety of other subjects had been started and canvassed, introduced that which was ever uppermost in her mind, by asking Mr. Goddard if the continued depression of her spirits, notwithstanding all her exertions to elevate and rouse them, was not an indication of her not having yet attained to a state of grace, for she felt in her mind a misgiving that she could not be numbered among the elect.