ther quite overpowered her. Mrs. Bragwell's heart was not changed, but forrow had weakened her powers of reliftance, and the rather fuffered her daughter to come in, than gave her a kind reception. She was more astonished than pleafed; and, even in this trying moment, was more difgufted with the little boys mean cloaths than delighted with his rofy face. As foon as

fhe was a little recovered, Mr. Bragwell defired his daughter to tell him how fhe happened to be at that place juft at that time.

解

In a weak voice fhe began. My tale, Sir, is fhort, but mournful.-Now I am very forry that my readers must wait for this fhort but mournful tale, till next month.

PART VII.

I LEFT your houfe, my dear father, faid Mrs.

Incle, with a heart full of vain triumph. I had no doubt but my hufband was a great man who had put on that difguife to obtain my hand. Judge then what I felt to find that he was a needy impoftor, who wanted my money but did not care for me. This discovery, though it mortified, did not humble me. I had neither affection to bear with the man who had deceived me, nor religion to improve by the disappoint. ment. I have found that change of circumftances does not change the heart, till God is pleased to do it, My misfortunes only taught

me to rebel more against him. I thought God unjuft; I accufed my father, I was envious of my fifter, I hated my husband; but never once did I blame myfelf. My husband picked up a wretched fubfiftence by joining himself to any low fcheme of idle pleasure that was going on. He would follow a mountebank, carry a dicebox, or fiddle at a fair. He was always taunting me for that gentility on which I fo much valued myself. If I had married a poor working girl, faid he, fhe could now have got her bread; but a fine lady without money, is a burthen to her husband, and a plague to fociety. Every trial which affection might have made lighter, we doubled by animoaty; at length my husband was detected in ufing false dice; he fought with his accufer, both were feized by a prefs-gang, and fent to fea. I was now left to the wide world, and miferable as I had thought myself before, I foon found there were higher degrees of mifery. I was near my time, without bread for myself, or hope for my child. I fet out on foot in fearch of the village where I had heard my husband fay his friends lived. It was a fevere trial to my proud heart to stoop to those low people, but hunger is not delicate, and I was near perifhing. My husband's parents received me kindly, faying, that though they had nothing but what they earned by their labor, yet I was welcome to fhare their hard fare, for they trufted that God who fent mouths would fend meat alfo. They gave me a fmall room in their

cottage, and many neceffaries, which they denied themfelves.

O, my child, interrupted Bragwell, every word cuts me to the heart. These poor people gladly gave thee of their little, while thy rich parents left thee to starve.

How fhall I own, continued Mrs. Incle, that all this goodnefs could not foften my heart, for God had not yet touched it. I received all their kindness as a favor done to them. When my father brought me home any little dainty which he could pick up, and my mother kindly dreffed it for me, I would not condefcend to eat it with them, but devoured it fullenly in my little garret alone, suffering them to fetch and carry every thing I wanted. As my haughty behavior was not likely to gain their affection, it was plain they did not love me: and as I had no notion that there were any other motives to good actions but fondnefs or felf-intereft, I was puzzled to know what could make them fo kind to me, for of the powerful and constraining law of christian charity I was quite ignorant. To cheat the weary hours, I looked about for fome books, and found, among a few others of the fame caft, Doddridge's Rife and Progrefs of Religion in the Soul. But all those books were addreffed to finners; now as I knew I was not a finner, I threw them away in difguft. Indeed they were ill fuited to a tafte formed by novels, to which reading I chiefly trace my ruin, for, vain as I was, I should never have been guilty of

wild

a tep as to run away, had not my heart been tainted, and my imagination inflamed, by thofe pernicious books.

At length my little George was born. This added to the burthen I had brought on this poor family, but it did not diminish their kindness, and we continued to fhare their fcanty fare without any upbraiding on their part, or any gratitude on mine. Even this poor baby did not foften my heart; I wept over him indeed day and night, but they were tears of defpair; I was always idle, and wafted thofe hours in finful murmurs at his fate, which I fhould have employed in trying to maintain him. Hardship, grief, and impatience, at length brought on a fever. Death feemed now at hand, and I felt a gloomy fatisfaction in the thought of being rid of my miferies, to which I fear was added, a fullen joy to think that you, Sir, and my mother would be plagued to hear of my death when it would be too late, and in this your grief, I anticipated a gloomy fort of revenge.

But it

pleafed my mercifu! God not to let me thus perifh in my fins. My poor mother-in-law fent for a good clergyman, who pointed out to me the danger of dying in that hard and unconverted ftate fo forcibly, that I fhuddered to find on what a dreadful precipice I ftood. He prayed with me, and for me, fo earneftly, that at length God, who is fometimes pleased to magnify his own glory in awakening those who are dead in trefpaffes and fins, was pleafed, of Iris free grace,

to open my blind eyes, and foften my ftony heart. I faw myself a finner, and prayed to be delivered from the wrath of God, in comparison of which the poverty and difgrace I now fuffered, appeared as nothing. To a foul convinced of fin, the news of a Redeemer was a joyful found. Inftead of reproaching Providence, or blaming my pa. rents, or abufing my husband, I now learnt to condemn myself, to adore that God who had not cut me off in my ignorance, to pray for pardon for the past, and grace for the time to come. I now defired to fubmit to penury and hunger in this world, fo that I might but live in the fear of God here, and enjoy his favor in the world to come. I now learnt to compare my prefent light fufferings, the confequence of my own fin, with those bitter fufferings of my Saviour which he endured for my fake, and I was afhamed of murmuring. But felf-ignorance, conceit, and vanity, were fo rooted in me, that my progrefs was very gradual, and I had the forrow to feel, how much the power of long bad habits keeps down the growth of religion in the heart, even after it has begun to take root. I was fo ignorant of divine things, that I hardly knew words to frame a prayer; but when I got acquainted with the Pfalms, I there learnt how to pour out the fulness of my heart while in the Gospel I rejoiced to see what great things God had done for my foul.

I now took down once more from the fhelf Doddrige's Rife and Progrefs, and, oh! with