of this ambitious woman. So complete was the ascendancy she obtained over the mind of her too easy mistress, that she neither heard, saw, examined, nor judged for herself. Every thing was left to Mrs. Pegg. All the servants, even the old and attached domestics of the family, were, one after another, on various pretexts, dismissed. Some Mrs. Pegg thought it dangerous to keep, because they knew too much of her real character; others were too unbending to be subservient to her wicked views: she therefore made use of the opportunity which constant access to her lady afforded, to prejudice her mind against them all.

Never, indeed, did Mrs. Pegg make use of her influence for the advantage of any human being. Never did she commend any one to her lady's favour on account of their real

8

real worth; or seek to lessen any one in her regard on account of any blemish in their moral character: all her motives were purely selfish. But if Lady N. had been possessed of the principles of justice, she would not have taken this woman's representations as sufficient evidence, neither would she have delegated to a mean and vulgar person that authority, for the due exercise of which, she was to be responsible at the tribunal of the Almighty.

The dread of giving herself trouble, would not then have appeared to her as a sufficient excuse for shrinking from those inquiries by which the truth would have been established; nor would she have considered herself justifiable in giving up her own judgment, where she was called upon by Providence to exercise it.

With respect to her

children,

Lady

Lady N. was still more seriously to blame. She doated upon them to excess. Yet she did not give herself any trouble in the formation of their minds. She trusted every thing to Mrs. Pegg. "What could she do?" she said; "she never had been used "to children, and did not know "how to manage them: but happily "Mrs. Pegg had been used to them, " and therefore could not fail to manage them properly!"

Their first notions of right and wrong were consequently imbibed from Mrs. Pegg. Now it happened, that of right and wrong Mrs. Pegg had no other rule or standard than self-interest. Whatever gave her trouble was punished as a fault of the first magnitude. Whatever did not interfere with her ease or convenience was passed without notice. No idea of the consequences which false and

injurious

injurious impressions might have upon the future character, entered into her imagination; nor, if it had, would it have disturbed her peace. The children might be false, cruel, capricious, proud, or obstinate, with impunity, provided they paid a proper respect to her, and never failed to observe her special orders; but no sooner did they transgress in this respect, than they were punished with unmerciful severity; and so completely did she keep the poor infants under subjection, that they dared not utter a complaint.

The children believed that their mamma's apartments were haunted by a secret spy; and in truth they were so; for the unprincipled nurse, not contented with the possession of her lady's unbounded confidence, took care, by means of listening, to inform herself of all that was going forward.

And

And such an adept had she become in this detestable practice, that a two-inch door was no obstacle in the way of her information. When she

had, from any thing that passed, the slightest grounds for alarm respecting the continuance of her influence, she had immediate recourse to a method which she had ever found to be infallible. Lord N. or Lady Mary were, upon such occasions, the innocent sufferers.

As they were the objects of their mother's doating fondness, their slightest indisposition engrossed her whole attention; and upon such occasions her sole dependence was placed on the care, the skill, the wonderful management of Mrs. Pegg. No won

der, then, that Mrs. Pegg should be sometimes induced to make to herself an opportunity of evincing her skill and dexterity in their recovery; and

as