an inimitable beauty, had not the young creature who sat by her shewed that it was possible even to surpass her. Her hair was almost flaxen, and her skin could scarcely be equalled by any poetical simile; she had large blue eyes, and her eye-brows and eye-lashes were a dark brown; she had a sweetness in her countenance which would have disarmed a tyger of its rage. I had considered them but a few moments, when she, who seemed the elder of the two young women, looked up, and seemed surprised at the sight of a stranger. However, she rose with great civility, and said, Madam, here is a gentleman, who, I believe, would speak with you.' I then was so confounded, that I neither knew how to retire, or make an excuse for so unaccountable a visit. But the eldest of the ladies asked me to come in, with so benign and cheerful an aspect, that it gave me courage to own the occasion of my intrusion, and ask a thousand pardons for it. To which she answered, That my curiosity was its own punishment, since it had made me take so much pains to see what was so little worth it, as her retirement. I had now f time to view the room they were in. It was hung, to the top of the chairs, with fine Indian matting; above which, all round the room, were shelves filled with books; and, upon looking into them, I found them to be an admirable collection of history, divinity, and travels. There were a few books of the best philosophy, and some plays. There were upon stands several basons of flowers; and, in short, every thing was so elegant and charming, that I began to fancy myself in an inchanted habitation, and could not forbear expressing my desire to know how people of so extraordinary a genius came to live in so very retired a manner ? which the elderly lady perceiving, told me, that if I had patience, she would give me a faithful account of it. She said, her husband was the heir of a noble family; that his name was Theanor, by whom she had two daughters, which were the young women I saw; that her husband died when the eldest was betwixt eight and nine years old, and left great debts. In vain did she apply to his rich relations; they would not assist her: so that she found herself either obliged to alter her way of living, or leave his debts unpaid; which, though the laws did not force her to satisfy, she thought herself bound to do by all the rules of justice and honour. She therefore discharged all her servants except two maids, and an ancient clergyman, whom she kept to instruct her daughters. With this small family, she retired to this house, where she said she had lived upwards of fifteen years. She paid her husband's debts in the first seven; but had found so much peace in that solitude, that she was loath to quit it, and had the pleasure to find both her daughters in the same mind. I could not forbear asking how they amused themselves in so absolute a retreat, and in what manner they divided the day?→→ In answer to which she told me, that indeed they seldom went abroad; and that when she had given me an account of one day, she told me their whole course of life for the last fifteen years. " As soon as we rise, (said she,) we meet in a little chapel below stairs, where the clergyman I mentioned to you, reads prayers to us, and we sing a psalm. After this, we have our breakfast; and my daughters lamuse themselves with their music or painting, as they like best, while I am busied with the affairs of my fafamily. About eleven o'clock we go into a room, where we prepare medicines for the poor, who cannot afford better help, and there have a press filled with cloaths for them of all sorts; and in the drawers under are Bibles, and other books of devotion; that while we take care of their bodies, their souls may not be entirely neglected. Here we spend our time, till we are ready to dress for dinner. After dinner, my daughters play on the harpsichord, and sing, or sometimes we only converse till we have a mind to come up hi*ther, where one of us constantly reads, while the others work. In the evening we walk till supper; after which we call our little family, and end the day, as we begun it, in praising God, and imploring his protection. f " I told her, I was no longer surprised that they liked their way of living, since it appeared to me to be such as must entirely secure them from all kinds of discon tent. They none of them answered to this; and, upon look ing up, I saw the face of the eldest daughter covered with tears. I expressed my concern at this sudden alteration, and begged to know the occasion of it. Alas!" said her mother, this unhappy girl is more to be pitied than you imagine; and it is only on her account that I feel sorrow. About five years ago, she fell desperately in love with a young man, who was equally so with her. But the misfortune was, that he was not only much below her in his fortune, but of a family which are notorious for their wickedness; though he is not so himself; for his mother, who was perfectly vir tuous, had instilled into him all the principles of piety and morality. They had long had a mutual tenderness. before I perceived it; but when I did, and found how much Rosella's heart was fixed, it afflicted me so, that I fell into a deep melancholy, which ended in a dangerous sickness, and I was given over by my physicians. I then told Rosella the cause of my illness, and advised her against a marriage, the apprehensions of which had, in all probability, cost me my life. She fell on her knees by my bed-side, and, bathing my hands with her tears, begged I would endeavour to recover; for if somebody was to be the victim of her unhappy passion, she was resolved it should be herself, since death would be less terrible to her than offending me. I rejoiced, and was surprised at her compliance, and hop⚫ed her affections had not been so firmly rooted as I since found. When I began to recover, she begged leave to write to Alphonso, (for that was the name of her lover, and give him an account of the promise she had made, and the reasons which forced her to it. He received the news with inexpressible grief, and the next • day left his father's house; to which he has never yet returned, nor has any body heard of him. I have beer * so much touched with my daughter's sufferings, and N the patience with which she endured them, without ever upbraiding me as the cause of them, that I now wish as ardently as she does, to see him return; that I may have the pleasure of rewarding her filial piety, by giving her hand where she long ago placed her heart.' She could not end this relation without tears, in which her daughters accompanied her. I own I was moved with compassion at the story of Rosella; and cannot take my thoughts from the charming retirement, or forget the beauty of Melissa, which was the name of the younger daughter. I staid till it was dark, and then took my leave, extremely delighted with so uncommon an adventure.— Adieu. BELLAMOUR. [See the continuation of her story in letter 12. part II.] །གླང་ jazo. LETTERS MORAL AND ENTERTAINING. PART 11. LETTER I, To Lady Sophia, from a young woman of quality, relating the occasion of her leaving her father's house. Madam, WHEREVER I am, it will be a pleasure to you, I am persuaded, to know I have found a retreat entirely to my own satisfaction. The occasion of my flight and concealment you are partly acquainted with. I found my father inflexible in his resolution of marrying me to a foreigner of great distinction, one of his own principles, a bigotted Papist. My mother, you know, was a strict Protestant; and, by her marriage articles, had secured her own liberty, and that of educating her daughters in the same profession. I was their only child, carefully instructed in those sacred truths, which, by the assistance of Heaven, I will never renounce, but rather give up my title to all the dazzling advantages the world can tempt me with. It is for this I am a voluntary exile from my father's house; who, after my mother's death, intrenched on my religious liberty, restrained me from the public worship, and forbade me reading my Bible. These severities, with the French match he was treating for me, put me on the desperate adventure of privately quitting his family, and securing my freedom in some humble disguise. No person on earth was privy to my design, but a near relation of my mother's; a person of strict honour and piety, who encouraged me to sacrifice every thing, rather than renounce my faith, or break my peace with Heaven and my own conscience. I got the habit of a country girl; and, with this gentleman's assistance, was carried into one of the most fertile counties in England, till we came near a large farmhouse, of which he had some knowledge, and there he left me to make my own fortune. I went on with cautious steps, till I came to the entrance of a square court, surrounded with a hedge of hawthorn in its full bloom. I met the mistress of the family. She appeared young, and, in a clean modest dress, was perfectly agreeable. There was something in her aspect so gentle and so beneficent, that I could not help being interested in her welfare, from the first moment I saw her. She was then dealing out the remains of a plentiful table to a company of indigent people; who, with lifted hands and grateful hearts, implored Heaven tó reward her, in a thousand blessings. A very pretty boy and girl, with sparkling eyes, and rosy cheeks, stood hanging on her apron; who, to mimic their mother, gave away all the little treasure they had in their pockets to the beggars children; and then fell a crying, because she would not suffer them to pull off their own shoes and stockings, to give to some that were bare-footed. |