in the church, and commenced with asking him whether he had seen Lord and Lady D-walk up the centre aisle. He answered calmly in the affirmative.

"I thought," said I, "that you had not seen them.” "And why, my love?" was his reply.

66 Because," "I answered, "you never changed countenance."

"Changed countenance!" he reiterated; and such a glow and flush arose in his cheeks as I had never seen in them before, neither could I then understand what had at that time excited it, for he did not speak, but seemed absorbed in meditation.

Presuming however, that he was not displeased at what I had said, I proceeded to give him some account of Lord and Lady D's remarks on his sermon, and the admiration which they had expressed. But, suddenly interrupting me, "O my Caroline!" he rejoined, "my dear Caroline! if you love me, if you desire my spiritual welfare, beware of polluting my mind with the sound of human praise. If there is any one thing for which I have prayed more than for another, it is this-that I might be blessed in my ministry with a single eye, and that I might never be led to seek any glory but that of my crucified Saviour.

"What, my beloved wife," he added, tenderly taking my hand, "what, humanly speaking, has rendered the visible Church a barren wilderness, excepting this spirit of self-love, which has more or less pervaded many of its ministers and teachers, and this spirit of idolatry, which has possessed such numbers of the people? Every man either sets himself up as an idol, or exalts his teacher to the same impious elevation. But I have prayed, I have prayed earnestly to be kept from this sin; and, if you value my happiness and welfare, Caroline, you will never more repeat any thing which you may hear of me, be it good, or be it evil; for I consider myself, in my character as a minister, as accountable to my God alone, and, by the help of his approval only do I desire my services to be prompted."

So saying, he left me alone, in no very comfortable state of mind; for I both feared that I had offended him,

and I was, also, thoroughly mortified by his too evident superiority over myself.

It was in my husband's 'study that this conversation had taken place, and when he left me, I was sitting exactly opposite to the little picture of Lucy which I have before spoken of. While I was deeply engaged in the comparison between Mr. Selwyn's state of mind, as he had described it but a moment previous, and my own, such as I had ever felt it to bè, (for I never could re*member the time when my exertions were not influenced by the spirit of eye-service,) my attention was suddenly arrested by the sweet portrait of Lucy, as the reflected light of the afternoon sun shed over it a rich glow. by which it appeared in the most striking point of view. The painter had been particularly happy in preserving the holy and gentle expression of the original countenance, and the dovelike eyes of the little girl seemed, at that instant, to be fixed upon me with such an expression of holy harmlessness and entire freedom from passion' as we sometimes see in lovely infants when they appear to be looking unconsciously upon the angry contests of the elders of the family.

Lucy had ever been to me an object of the keenest envy, and that baleful passion again rekindled within me at this moment; insomuch so, that I burst into tears, turned from the picture, and, in a fit of excessive ill-humour, withdrew to my chamber, where, for a long time, I indulged myself in bitter weeping. But, as my husband had been suddenly called from home on some parochial duty, I had leisure to wipe away my tears before his return. For I was then just in the humour to consider myself a heroine; and it is a part of that self-exalted character to weep in secret, and to appear all beautiful resignation in the presence of the fancied tyrant. Thus my afflictions continued to be, for a time, unobserved by my husband, who came in, at a late hour, somewhat fatigued with the duties of the day, and with his mind full of the distresses of some sick person by whom he had been praying.

The little cloud in this way blew over; and, during the course of the same week, we were invited to dine at Dr. Delaney's, to meet Lord and Lady D, who I found were remotely connected with the old doctor,

.

Mrs. Delaney evidently considered herself to be indeed in her glory on this occasion, though she made me blush for myself many times, when I remembered that this woman had been my chosen and most intimate associate.

During dinner, she talked without intermission, addressing Lady D- with the most servile and yet familiar flattery, and treating me as a kind of upper servant; at the same time interlarding all her discourse with a sort of ready-made religious expression, and a peculiar set of phrases which are in the mouth of all professors of a certain rank in life.

After dinner we withdrew to the drawing room: and then Mrs. Delaney began to open her mind, as she called it, to Lady D, or rather, to detail before that lady, who, little as I saw of her, appeared to me a truly pious and elegant woman, the account of her own experience, of the rise of her friendship for me, (a part of her story of which I now began to be ashamed,) of her present happiness with Dr. Delaney, and of her plans for advancing the cause of true religion in the town.

On this last topic, she expatiated very largely, told the lady of all her schemes, and finished by carelessly adding, that she was sure of my co-operation in all that she desired; thus assuming to herself a pre-eminence which I was by no means inclined to yield her: for I had not yet learned to say, with St. Paul, What then? notwithstanding every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. (Phil. i. 18.)

But it may be said in my behalf, that I did not see aught of Christ in all this parade and talk. Certainly I did not nevertheless, there can scarcely be any question that benefit is derived to some individuals from every public charity, however ill contrived, however deficient in point of spirituality, however blended with evil; and on this account I ought to have rejoiced in the proposal of any plan by which the slightest good might be effected.-But to proceed.

I returned home that evening in a very mortified state, plainly perceiving that I should become a mere cipher in the town, unless I exerted myself in promoting some pub

lic work before Mrs. Delaney's active spirit began to set itself in motion.

The doctor and his bride had resolved on taking a journey to Bath, and they were to set out on the following Monday, to be absent for some weeks. I waited only, therefore, for their departure, and, when I thus saw the coast clear, I set to work to establish a school of industry in the centre of the town, which was to receive the children of both parishes.

Mr. Selwyn, as soon as he heard of my plan, gave me the greatest encouragement, and placed a fifty-pound note in my hands for helping forward my purpose. I also met with the most flattering support from many of the ladies in the town and neighbourhood; and, in short, all difficulties were so soon and so easily overcome, that, before my bosom friend returned, I had procured a large room in the situation that I wished, I had assembled nearly two hundred children, and had set them all to spin and knit, and read in the primer, and I had enjoyed the pleasure of seeing them parade to and from church in a uniform of my own choosing, I had also the satisfaction of receiving many congratulations on the subject, and of hearing myself called a mother in Israel by many well-meaning people, who knew less of me than I did of myself.

It was on the occasion of the first appearance of the children at church, that I had a very serious and affecting conversation with my husband. It commenced by my expressing myself pleased with what I had done, and asking him if he did not think that the little ones appeared to advantage.

"My dear Caroline," he answered, "so far every thing is right. But I wish you to consider the proper end of all charities of this kind; and to observe, that if the grand object is not habitually kept in view, no divine blessing can ever be expected upon the work.

"There is often much, too much, of self-seeking in all undertakings of this kind; too much of the pharisaical spirit of desiring the praise of men. Hence proceeds much parade, much bustle, much cleansing of the outside of the cup and platter, but at the same time little if any of that simple spirit which induces the Christian teacher

constantly to aim at directing the eye of his pupil towards the Saviour.

"These establishments, of which we are speaking, my beloved," he said, "are only valuable in the proportion in which there is the knowledge of the Saviour found in them; in proportion as faith and holiness, Christian humility, and, in short, as true religion abounds. When these are wanting in the manager, or when the wellmeaning directors fail either in diligence or watchfulness, it is a question with me, whether he who collects and associates a number of children together is not injuring rather than benefiting mankind.”

It might surely have been expected, that, having such a faithful monitor at home, I should employ every possible exertion to render my services in my school pure and unalloyed by worldly motives. But although I loved and honoured my husband above all human beings, yet my self-love was even greater than my conjugal affection: and, when I was out of his sight, and acting with a view to the observation of others, my vanity wholly overpowered me; in consequence of which, though I visited my school on most days, I consider that I did really nothing when there-that is, nothing that was calculated to promote the spiritual good of the children. It is true, that I bustled from room to room, I changed the plans, scolded the teachers, displayed my own knowledge, gossiped with the other visiters, reproved the children in a language that they could but half comprehend, bestowed rewards on the pertest of them, set the elder ones among them to tyrannize over the younger, caused all of them to sing certain hymns without their understanding the meaning of a single sentiment contained in them, and procuring long prayers to be said in the hearing of the little ones, of which they did not understand a syllable; in short, I occasioned a general stir, while I was wholly prevented by my self-love from observing that I was not made the means of bringing any thing to pass which could be deemed in the least degree spiritually good.

After awhile, Mrs. Delaney came home; and (as I was soon told) expressed great anger at my establishment, although she did not decline taking the place which had been reserved for her in our committee.