greater advantage than when they were united with elegant manners, and that he therefore considered it as an especial duty of the advocates of Christian simplicity to insist upon the necessity of a courteous and elegant carriage.

Emmeline, who was in her seventeenth year when her sister was in her twenty-first, was of a less sedate character than Henrietta, yet scarcely less lovely in her way. Her countenance was so strikingly charming, that it was difficult for any one to pass her without turning again to look after her; and yet it was impossible to say what it was in her which particularly pleased. Her feelings were not under the same control with those of her sister; and yet she never fell into those excesses which might have been expected from a young person whose whole soul sometimes beamed with joy in her dark blue eyes, or expressed itself in bitter sorrow, on slight occasions, on her coral lips and mantling cheek. But this young creature cherished, by the divine blessing, a lively sense of her duty to God; for we dare not impiously attribute this best of heavenly gifts, a sense of religion, to any human work; no, not to the best directed efforts even of the most judicious parent: for it is God the Spirit who alone can change and soften the heart of man; and to him henceforward and for ever be the glory, and all the glory, given by every pious instructor, when the slightest symptom of grace appears in the wayward minds of any of the youthful sons of Adam.

Adolphus was a fine youth, and not less so his friend Theodore; and though neither of these were without faults, yet it was to be hoped, from many excellent traits in their characters, that the Almighty had begun his work of love in their hearts.

These young people resided together under the paternal roof of Adolphus, till it was thought necessary for them, as he was now nineteen years of age, to go to the University and as Mr. Vaughen had a friend who was a tutor in Trinity College, Cambridge, of a decidedly pious character, it was thought advisable, the young men being both intended for the Church, that they should be placed under his superintendance in the college just mentioned, although the expense was such as Mr. Vaughen hardly

knew how to meet for his own son. As, however, those who had the charge of Theodore's education approved the plan, and as the young men expressed great uneasiness at the idea of being separated, Mr. Vaughen resolved to make an effort to provide for the cost, and accordingly went over to Cambridge, and placed the young people under the charge of his friend.

I shall not describe the silent sorrow of Henrietta on this occasion of her separation from her brother and his companion, whom she loved little less than she loved her brother; nor shall I enter into a minute description of the many tears shed on the same occasion by Emmeline; but proceed to say, that Mr. Vaughen now, for the first time in his life, began to feel anxiety about money, a species of solicitude which he had taken care never to feel before.

During the first year of his son's residence at Cambridge, a legacy of one hundred pounds, left by a distant relation, had set all things right, and enabled him, when Adolphus returned to spend the Christmas vacation, to pay, as far as he knew, every shilling that he owed in the world-a circumstance for which he was very thankful. The experience of this year, however, had taught him that his present annual expences exceeded his income by at least one hundred pounds; and he, consequently, foresaw, that, unless some exertion was made, he should, during his son's residence in Cambridge, involve himself in difficulties from which he might never be extricated during the rest of his life.

Mr. Vaughen was not a man who needlessly troubled his family with his perplexities; he therefore resolved not to express his anxiety, till he could at the same time propose some means for its relief.

In the interim, however, he made his difficulties a matter of special mention in prayer, and carried all his troubles to the throne of grace; determining to follow up whatever ideas should suggest themselves, after his application to his heavenly Friend and never-failing Comforter.

The first idea that occurred to him was that of taking another pupil; but, after some time, as no pupil offered, he abandoned this project, and waited a short time to see what might offer itself for his relief. But although his

mind was oppressed, it was not overwhelmed; for he reposed his confidence upon the Rock of Ages, and he felt a full assurance that this his light affliction would work for his good, and for that of all whom he loved.

About this time, while his mind was in this state of expectation, (for we cannot call it doubt,) an old lady, the daughter of his predecessor, arrived in the village, professing that it was her wish to terminate her days amidst that peaceful retirement in which she had passed her youth, and then to be buried by the remains of her parents.

Mrs. Vaughen called on her as soon as she heard of her arrival, and found her in mean lodgings, although they were the best which the village afforded. The result of this visit was an invitation, which the old lady accepted, to dine at the parsonage; and, consequently, she arrived the next day, accompanied by a cousin in destitute circumstances, a meek and dependant creature, who sustained the twofold situation of companion and waitingmaid.

When Mrs. Alice Turner (the old lady alluded to) was received into the parlour of the rectory, she seemed at first much affected, and afterwards delighted: and more than once, during the day, did she express the delight that it would afford her, could she but be permitted to finish her days in those apartments in which she had spent the earliest periods of her life.

This remark, which appeared natural enough, passed without notice by Mrs. Vaughen, though not unobserved by her husband, to whom this idea occurred-Could we by any means spare this lady this room, and the bedchamber above, what she would pay us would supply, in a great measure, the deficiency of our income: but we have no second parlour; and could I ask my wife, who is the daughter of a gentleman, to live in a kitchen? But although this idea presented itself in a form so dubious, and apparently attended with so many difficulties, yet Mr. Vaughen would not and could not divest his mind of its influence, and so entirely did it occupy him during the whole of the next day, that his wife and daughters more than once asked him what he was thinking of. At length, the thought became so importunate, that he resolved to open his mind to his eldest daughter, and to ask

her opinion on the subject, and whether she conceived that the proposal would be altogether intolerable to her mother.

With this view, on the following afternoon, he asked Henrietta to accompany him on a walk; and when they were at some little distance from the house, he stated to her, first, his pecuniary difficulties, which statement seemed considerably to affect her; and then mentioned his plan for their relief, by which he suddenly, and much to his surprise, seemed to remove her distress.

Seeing, however, the unruffled calmness with which she received the proposition of giving up their only parlour for the use of another, he began to fear that this calmness arose from a want of consideration-"But, Henrietta, my dear, you do not consider that we have only one parlour?”

"Yes, I do, papa," she answered; "I know we have but one parlour."

"And when we give up our parlour, we must sit in the kitchen."

"And we cannot have a pleasanter room, papa," said the young lady.

"But the servants, my dear, you must sit with them." “O, but papa,” replied she, "I think we should not require two servants then: we could part with our under servant; mamma does not much like her: and I am sure that none of us could have any objection to sitting in the room with nurse."

It happened that the head servant in Mr. Vaughen's family had formerly lived at Stanbrook Court in the capacity of housemaid, and had known Mr. Henry Vaughen when he was a child, she being about ten years older than himself. She had afterwards lived as upper servant at the parsonage, and had nursed every child in the family. She was, therefore, considered more as a humble friend than a servant, by all in the house. This circumstance was much in favour of Mr. Vaughen's plan, though he had not thought of it when the idea of the proposed domestic alteration first entered his mind. "And do you think, my dear," he said, "if we take our meals in the kitchen, that you could do with one servant ?"

"Certainly," said Henrietta, "in that case we should

prefer it; particularly as I and my sister would, of course, make a point of doing what we could in the house to assist nurse."

"Well, but Henrietta, my dear," said her father, "what shall we do with our visiters? You know I cannot receive more than one person in my study."

66 Why, papa," said Henrietta, smiling, "we will tell all our friends and acquaintances our situation, and why we have found it necessary to let our apartment; and those who still choose to visit us notwithstanding-our poverty, I was going to say; but that word will not do, for we shall not be poor then-our degradation: shall I use that word, papa? No, that won't do; for we shall not be disgraced, though living in our kitchen-our descent--I think that word will do," added she, smiling: "those who choose to visit us, notwithstanding our descent, we will bring into our neat kitchen; and those who do not like us in our new station will, it is to be hoped, stay away: so that difficulty, my dear papa, will soon be settled.".

"My dear, artless Henrietta, shall I tell you," said her father, "that there will be a third description of persons among our acquaintances?—I mean those who will neither come to see us in our kitchen because, they love us, nor stay away because they dislike us; but, taking a middle course, and perhaps cherishing mixed feelings with regard to us, will come to look at us, to find fault with us, to hear what we have to say, and perhaps to ridicule us. Now these are the kind of characters whom the prince of this world frequently uses to forward his vilest purposes; and through the intervention of these instruments, which often apparently seem weak and ineffectual, he continually opposes the cause of good, and effectually promotes that of evil: by means of these mixed characters he acts upon those who would otherwise sooner suspect him, and through these he makes the worse appear the better cause.

"Now, even though I should prevail with your dear mother to concur in my plan, and I think, judging of the future from the past, I shall meet with but little difficulty in doing so, yet I feel afraid that she will suffer much from the impertinent interference of this description of neighbours, and from connexions whose regard she has