enemies, and all who have injured us; and even to cherish sentiments of good will towards them. But it does not require us to live with them, or to treat them as if nothing had occurred to separate us. If he had acquired any rights over you by being your step-father, you may perhaps justly think that he has now forfeited them all. I am myself not sufficiently informed to give an opinion upon that point. However, if his object in speaking to you be such as I have conjectured, his being your step-father certainly is an additional and a forcible reason for granting his request. If it would be a consolation to him to ask you to forgive him, in God's name let him have it; and after you have once talked with him, you will probably see your way more clearly."

Upon this the young woman was wrapped in silence, and seemed to be revolving in her own thoughts the consequence of rejecting, or complying with my advice. To comply would cost her, no doubt, a difficult struggle; to reject might appear contemptuous and ungrateful towards me, who had no interest in view, as she must have been perfectly aware, but her own welfare, and must reasonably be supposed to know better than herself in what her duty and welfare consisted. Observing her perplexity I rose from my chair, and said, "I will detain you no longer now; consider the matter at your leisure. I will call again at Mr. Browne's, and enquire how you are proceeding. My eye will be always carefully upon you; and I am sure, it will give me great pleasure to hear that you are doing well." She had now risen from her chair herself, and seemed to be much relieved by my not pressing her for an immediate determination; so she thanked me again and again, and made me many curtsies, and hastened homewards.

§ 5.-The Hodges Family.

AFTER this, some days elapsed, and still no Jacob Brockbourn appeared. But one morning, as I passed by the cluster, I had the satisfaction of hearing from Mrs. Martin, that the young woman had written to him, and had received an answer. What was the exact purport of these letters she could not inform me, but I myself could easily conjecture; especially when I understood that a meeting was to take place in consequence of them at some early opportunity. But Mrs. Martin gave me a still greater satisfaction when she assured me, that the event, which I had been long anxiously expecting, would most certainly very soon occur; for that Jacob Brockbourn had visited her again, and had told her himself, that he both intended and wished to see me, and only delayed his call, till he could make it at some hour which would be perfectly convenient to me. "Let him come to me then," I said, "in the evening, whenever he pleases; for that will be convenient both to me and to him.

On this same day I at length found the young Mrs. Hodges at home, and I had been already informed by Mrs. Martin, that she was desirous of some conversation with me. I was glad of this, because it betokened, I thought, a wish for her own improvement, or implied at least that she considered it of some consequence to her to stand fairer in my opinion than she yet did. So I went to her without loss of time, and with pleasant anticipations. She had her fire up-stairs, and was sitting there, as I discovered afterwards, quite alone; but at first, when I

called to her by her name, she came down to me in the apartment below, which was very desolate and disagreeable, having no furniture in it, and being only used, as it seemed, for a store-house of bones. Of these there was a large heap in one corner; and, putrefaction having begun in the flesh attached to them, I retired hastily with my children, some of whom happened to be with me, beyond the door-way into the open air. The wind was blowing bitterly cold; but the rude blast was pure and sweet at least, and therefore far preferable to the noxious, charnelhouse scent of the bones.

Mrs. Hodges herself now stood in the door-way, and I had a full opportunity of observing her. She was pretty; but the character of her beauty was entirely ruined, when she began to talk, by the levity, and the boldness, and the ill-humour, which by turns displayed themselves in every feature of her face. She was very young withal; so young indeed in appearance, that she might easily be mistaken for one not far advanced in her teens; but her age perhaps might be as much as seventeen or eighteen years. 'Alas!' I thought to myself, that a person, looking like a mere child, should have already seen and practised, so early in life, the very utmost profligacy, to which she might be expected to arrive after a long period, and by slow steps. By some unfortunate concatenation of events, unknown to me, she has acquired almost at once all the habits of vice, and she does not seem to be conscious of her own depravity.' Yet she was not pale, but had a bloom upon her countenance, which might have been taken for a symptom of health; but I discovered afterwards, that it was only the effect of the fire. In fact

she was but just up, and still at her breakfast; too sure a proof that the night had been ill spent in riotous living. Her hair, as before, was done up in curl-papers, which were not of the cleanliest sort; and, as for her face and hands, she had not yet found time to wash them. In no respect was she either decent, or tidy. In short, at this hour of the day she was a dirty slattern. But such another opportunity of speaking to her might never occur, whilst Mrs. Brockbourn's death was fresh in her recollection; so I shut my eyes against annoyances, and began as follows; having first dismissed my children, under pretence of the cold wind, to run about at their pleasure till I had done.

"I can

"Mrs. Hodges," I said, "although you are a stranger in this parish, you know very well, I believe, who I am, and for what purpose I have been here amongst you so often of late, and why I have been desirous of seeing you in particular." not tell, Sir," she answered, tossing her head, "why you particularly wished to see me; but I know that you have enquired after me, and talked about me to others; and I dare say you have heard plenty of bad things about me, but they are false, Sir, quite false, depend upon it." Why, yes, Mrs. Hodges," I said, "I have heard some bad things of you, certainly; and I will tell you presently what they are, that, if they are false, you may prove them to be so to my satisfaction, if you can, and if you wish it. But perhaps it may appear strange to you, that I should concern myself about you, or your actions, at all. I must first, therefore, inform you, that I take a deep interest, as it is my duty to do, in the welfare of my parishioners; and that I am anxious more espe

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cially about their souls, whether they are likely to be saved or not; because it is their souls, chiefly, which God has put under my care." At this she turned her face from me with a half-stifled laugh, as if it were mere talk, or as if she knew nothing, or cared nothing about her soul; but I proceeded, without rebuking her, till I had advanced further into my subject. "And how," I said, wishing her to apply it to herself, "how could I consider their souls to be safe, who had anything to do with the horrible deed, which has lately been committed here? Believe me, Mrs. Hodges, there are more persons than one, who will be called to a dreadful account for this deed hereafter, unless they make their peace with God before they die. And, therefore, fearing, as I do, that he might snatch them out of this world, in his anger, without giving them time to prepare themselves to meet him in the next, if they throw away or abuse the precious moments which he still allows them, I have come amongst you, again and again, to warn you, and to beseech you, not to put off the most necessary of all works; the work of sorrow for your sins, and reformation of your lives." Nothing of this seemed to touch her at all, and I went on thus-" You have seen, by a tremendous example, how unexpectedly and suddenly a person may be taken away with all her sins upon her head.

But if God has caused you to see such a thing, without doubt he intended that you should lay it to heart; and, without doubt also, if, in spite of it, you go on in the same course, he will punish you the more severely and the more terribly, either here or hereafter. He is a consuming fire to those who despise him. I tremble therefore for many of you; for I