whole of his affection, after her death, centered in us. During our early childhood, we were indulged in every possible way, and, as soon as we were old enough to be sent to school, his chief care seemed to be that of furnishing us with what he called a ' good education. He was himself able to read with tolerable fluency; he could write too, and cast an account sufficiently well to admit of that part of his business being carried on with regularity. His reading was confined almost entirely to the Bible, which he studied constantly and with attention, and there is no doubt with profit also, for, in his worldly concerns, he was a man of strict integrity, and was an humble, devout, and self-denying Christian; and if he failed to instil into the minds of his children those principles which actuated his own conduct, the error was one into which many wiser and better informed men have fallen as well as himself. He had a vague notion, common to many people of the present day, that a superior education, by which I mean an education beyond the prospects in life of the person destined to receive it, was sure, somehow or other, of securing a proportionate degree of happiness in what way this desirable end was actually to be attained, I doubt whether he had ever duly considered; certain nevertheless it is, that, with a view to provide the means of attaining it for my brother and me, he was himself content to rise early, and retire late to rest, and eat the bread of carefulness. Into the particulars of my brother's history there is no occasion for me to enter; suffice it to say, that he ran a short career of extravagance and misery, and came at last to an untimely end; and oh! with what bitter feelings of remorse and regret I here record, that his wickedness and my folly, at length brought down the hairs of our indulgent parent also, with sorrow to the grave.

But to go on with my own story. At six years

old, I was sent to the village school to be taught reading, and plain work, and writing, so far as the mistress was capable of instructing me; for, in this latter respect, her own knowledge was limited ; this deficiency was however much more than compensated by the zeal and attention with which she watched over me in more material points: she spared no pains in endeavouring, both by precept and example, to moderate the headstrong impetuosity of my temper, and to correct the many other failings which already began to appear in my character; and happy had it been for me if I had been suffered to continue under the eye of this valuable woman. Unfortunately, at the age of twelve, I was removed to a little boarding school in a neighbouring town to finish my education, and thereby become, as I flattered myself, nothing less than a lady. There I learnt a little French, and a little music, and a little of many other things, which I was led to consider of essential consequence to my advancement in life. To music indeed, I must do my father the justice to say, that he decidedly objected, knowing that it must be given up whenever I came home; for the idea of a musical instrument in a shoemaker's house, (even had the only parlour in it been large enough to contain one, or could my father have commanded the money to purchase one) was too laughable to be entertained by him for a moment. However, I begged and prayed so hard to be allowed to learn music while I remained at school, that I succeeded in gaining a forced consent to do as others did. It may easily be supposed, that it was merely a smattering that I acquired in this as well as in other things. Had I known inore, I might have been less conceited. As it was, my poor silly head was completely turned; and, being acquainted with no one who was qualified to judge of my proficiency, whenever I came home for a week or two, I was flattered and caressed by all

my acquaintance, and extolled as a model of perfection. In addition to the above acquirements, I was taught a variety of ornamental needle work; there was chain-stitch, and satin-stitch, and pinstitch, and every sort of stitch except the right. As to sewing, hemming, and darning, it was well for me that I had been made acquainted with them elsewhere, otherwise I might have passed through life in almost total ignorance of them all. There was also a pair of globes standing in the schoolroom, on which we were instructed to find out the situation of all the kingdoms of the earth, and many of the stars of heaven; but there would have been no objection to these, if we had not neglected other more suitable things for them.

The time, however, at length arrived when all these delights were to be given up. I was such an expense to my father that he could support it no longer. Besides, he began to feel the want of me as a companion for himself, and a mistress for his family. Alas! how was I qualified for either? and how shall I describe the feelings of mortification and disgust with which I entered as a constant inmate the humble dwelling of a parent, whom, as the first fruits of my superior education, I had learnt utterly to despise. I thought his ideas contracted, his manners low, and his expressions vulgar. All domestic management I detested, indeed so ill calculated was I to superintend others, or to do any thing useful myself, that as far as I was concerned, the family might have gone completely to ruin. I passed my time mostly in idleness; the possibility of helping to maintain myself by working at my needle never once occurred to me, so my knowledge in that respect was turned to no better account than that of setting off my own person to the best advantage. I was listless, discontented, and unhappy. My poor father concealed his uneasiness as well as he could, and endeavoured to procure

for me such gratifications as I desired, often at the expense of his own comfort; but I plainly perceived that he was woefully disappointed in me.

During a year and a half, things went on in this uncomfortable state; at the end of which period the village was enlivened by the arrival of a company of strolling players. This was, to me, a most delightful occurrence: I attended their performances whenever I could obtain leave, which was not quite so often as I wished. My father did not greatly approve of my attending them at all, (foreseeing no doubt that some lamentable consequence would follow), but he saw that I could not bear to be denied, and so (for the sake of peace, I suppose) he let me follow in some measure my own inclinations, which in truth it was now too late to attempt to curb, after they had been suffered for nearly seventeen years to riot in uncontrolled indulgence. The plays that these people acted charmed me beyond expression, and their gay and lively way of life struck me as perfect happiness, when compared with the dulness and monotony of my own existence. I soon contrived to make acquaintance with them; and, being tolerably well looking, and somewhat agreeable too, when I chose, I succeeded in attracting the notice of one of the younger actors, whose flashy appearance, and genteel air, were equally suited to my taste. In short, by the end of three weeks, we had formed and communicated to each other, the mutual resolution of passing the rest of our lives together. A proposal was accordingly made to my father to that effect,-to which he refused to pay the smallest attention. A sharp contest then arose between him and myself, which ended with a declaration on his part, that if I per-sisted in my intention of forming a connexion so improper for me, his doors would be shut against me for ever. I was nevertheless determined to We contrived to get marpursue my own course.

ried without his knowledge; and I quitted the neighbourhood with my husband and his company, without even attempting to see my father, or obtain his forgiveness; and I am afraid with scarcely any feeling of sorrow for the disgraceful and undutiful conduct of which I had been guilty. The voice of conscience, however, cannot long be stifled; and, since the end of the first two or three weeks after our marriage, I have not known a moment's peace. The life of a strolling player I discovered to be very different from that which I had vainly imagined. We were exposed to hardships of every kind, and were even sometimes without the common necessaries of life. My husband turned out profligate and vicious; and finding me almost an useless burthen, soon began to treat me with neglect, which ended in positive brutality. I submitted to his ill usage for nearly three years, and finally formed the desperate resolution of quitting him, and returning to my father. My husband, I was convinced, would make no inquiry as to what was become of me, and I flattered myself with the hope that a recital of my sufferings would soften the heart of my father towards his once darling child, and that the penitence and obedience of my future life, might make amends in some measure, for the errors of the past. I accordingly set out with but a few shillings in my pocket, and begged my way back to my native village: but what was my horror on reaching my father's house, to find that he had been dead more than a year! This last distress completely overwhelmed me; if I could only have seen and humbled myself before him, I should have been comparatively happy; but the thought that he was gone for ever, and the recollection of the unkind and ungrateful return I had made him for his unwearied, though mistaken kindness to me, distracted me to such a degree, as well nigh to deprive me for a time of reason. On inquiry I found that his