good for the man that he should be alone; and since that period, universal experience has proved the same. Every individual seeks a helpmate and companion; and from early infancy, children desire the company of those of their own age; while man retains this love of society to the most advanced years.

"Some temptations indeed there are, yes, very many, into which an individual may be brought through the medium of society; but I have reason to think, that it is in seclusion that the mind is prepared for its acquiescence in these temptations, and that where one accustomed to publicity has fallen into sin from surprises and sudden temptations, thousands have been prepared by the excessive privacy of their lives for any occasion of evil which may first present itself. Hence the danger of allowing the unsanctified imagination of unconverted man leisure and opportunity for exercising its pernicious faculties; and hence the imprudence of permitting many hours of solitary indolence to young people of any description, espe cially to those of lively fancies and active dispositions. Solitude may be less dangerous to the decidedly dull, but to others it may prove a source of mischief.

"I remember little of my early days, though I have some impressive recollections of certain walks with my father, among the lovely scenery of my native valley; some little circumstances of which are written in indelible characters on my heart: they are associated with the colour and texture of certain flowers, the rush of waterfalls, the whispering of the winds, the hum of bees, and the bleating of sheep. But it was not every day that I was favoured with my father's company during my hours of exercise: I spent many hours and days alone; and this time, as I advanced in years, became the most dangerous period of my life: for when our nature is unrenewed, a very little occasion will serve to engage the heart in the knowledge of sin; and when this knowledge is once admitted, the desire of indulging that which is evil becomes a decided bent of the mind. There is no situation in life, however guarded, however withdrawn from the common occurrences of life, however refined, however apparently pure, in which abundant aliment may not be found for feeding an unholy curiosity or a depraved fancy. Such

being the case, a judicious parent will not desire solitude for his offspring, but will seek occasions of active, innocent. and cheerful sports for his children, in the society of artless young persons of their own age, as the most natural and suitable, and as exercises which are no less necessary for the health of the mind than for that of the body.

"When a child, I was undoubtedly sprightly: I could elimb the hills which encompass this valley with the activity of the chamois, and could look down from the most giddy height without trepidation. But in most of my excursions I was alone; there was no brother or sister or young companion to attend my steps, or amuse me with the thousand trifles by which infancy is diverted; and when I returned home, I generally found Jeanot d'Esten at her knitting, or employed in her domestic concerns, and my beloved father perhaps poring over his books. To neither of these could I disburden my mind of all or any of its vanities, or disclose any of those little feelings by which the careful and penetrating instructer is led to discover the secret workings of the heart,

"I am not finding fault with the nature of my education as being improper for every one; but it was, indeed, particularly unsuited to me, as I was a child of exceed ing lively faculties, amazingly high spirits, restless curiosity, and ardent feelings. A child of a more composed and quiet temperament might have been benefited, and found improvement only of the best kind, where I was injured.

"In the mean time, my beloved father used all the means which his own paternal and pious feelings suggested for inspiring me with the best sentiments with re spect to religion, the highest and most exalted truths of which he daily set before me in the plainest and simplest manner, that if I have failed to do well, it has not been through want of knowledge, and if I have departed from the glory of my sex, it has not arisen from ignorance. But, most assuredly, religion never touched my heart, and scarcely my feelings. O beloved parent! thy form is now before my eyes, such as thou wast when, in the retirement of thy study, thou didst impart the lessons of piety to thy child, or led her mind to the contemplation

of a blessed futurity, on which thine own heart ever delighted to dwell. O my father! blessed was the hour in which thine eyes were closed on this present state of being, to open upon the happiness of the future!

66 If my father erred in his treatment of me, it was only through an overweening affection. I am persuaded, in theory, this excellent man understood human nature well, and was so far prepared to encounter the evils in the heart of man; yet, where his affections were strongly excited, and where he had received kindness, or even common civility, he too often failed to apply his convictions of man's depravity to their proper purpose. His improper charity led him, in many instances which I can now recollect, to unsuitable forbearance; and if such indulgence was not unfrequently extended to his child, it can afford no matter of surprise. How often, how very often does the dimpled loveliness of infancy, and the sparkling beauty of more advanced youth, act like a spell to subvert the mind of even the most enlightened parent.

"That my father was thus blinded when contemplating his only child, I am certain, from what I can recollect of many of his discourses, wherein he addressed me, not as a sinner still under the influence of sin, and needing an entire change of heart and nature, but as one on whom that saving change had already taken place; and thus he unintentionally augmented the pride of my heart. It is with the greatest veneration for my father's excellences, that I advert to this error, occasioned by the partiality of his feelings towards me, and as a caution to parents in general; for perhaps it is almost as difficult to divest an individual of partiality when meditating on the faults of his children, as when contemplating his own defects.

"But while I indulge in these reflections, time runs on the thread of life is drawing to an end, and my task remains incomplete. I would observe, that my education was attended to, in many respects, independent of religious instruction, with considerable care, my father being not only learned, but accomplished, having a fine ear for music, and much skill in drawing. Under these circumstances I passed my early life. My character, as I advanced in years, certainly strengthened, but not in that

which is right. I was sensible that I had my father's good opinion, and that of all who knew me; and I had sense enough to know that I must not risk the loss of my good name. Nevertheless, my perverse inclinations, as time advanced, became stronger, and my delight in worldly pleasures became established. My disposition was naturally daring, and, notwithstanding my sex, I had but little fear of any kind. I was violent and vindictive in my temper. As to any idea of regulating my thoughts, I had none; it was a duty of which I had formed no notion; neither do I suppose that any person, who has not been brought under the powerful influence of the Holy Spirit, can feel any obligation to attend to it. Celestial influence must beam on the heart, ere its benighted state will be discovered, or before any individual can be aware of the abominations which lurk within.

"Through the peculiar favour of my heavenly Father, and his blessing on the conversations I have heard since I entered this house, I have perceived and confessed these sins of the heart as a part of my duty which never before occurred to me. I do not wonder at any judgment, however severe, which these sins may bring upon the individual who indulges them; especially when they are cherished by persons residing in religious families, and who assume the form of religion, and use its language, although utterly destitute of its power.

"In the mean time I attained my fifteenth year, still improving in the eye of my too partial father, who, not comprehending those evidences which I gave of what was wrong, which would probably have been apparent enough to one better skilled in the ways of youth, still believed that he possessed in his Estelle all that the tenderest parent could desire; and this continued partiality and consequent indulgence still administered more and more to my destruction.

"Although my mind had, as I before remarked, been long in a very bad state, yet, as I had been hitherto removed from the contagion of bad company, and preserved from strong temptation, my depravity was as yet known to no one, and scarcely comprehended by myself; and though I was prepared for the commission of evil. I was so blind as to account myself a virtuous

daughter, when a slight circumstance gave so strong a direction to all my feelings, that my progress toward ruin from that time became more rapid.

"I was about sixteen years of age, when an old acquaintance of my father, who resided in Paris, and who had lately become a votary of the new system of philosophy, sent him a present of some of the latest publications: Many of these works were philosophical researches, but others were sentimental and romantic stories, written with a view to render the new principles seductive to the young and inexperienced.

My father was in his study when the box was brought to him. He opened it in my presence, and, having looked into each volume, he threw them down, one after another, in high and honourable disdain, descanting freely upon the baneful tendency of the new principles of philosophy; and then, being engaged in some better study, he called upon me to pack up the books again in the box, declaring his resolution to send them back to Paris. Í remember well the words he used when he appointed me to this task. 'I have examined these books, my Estelle,' he said, 'and so much disapprove of them, that I feel it my duty to return them to the person who sent them. If he was not aware of their tendency, it was his duty to have become so, before he made himself the instrument of their dissemination; and if he knew their tendency, he has justly incurred my resentment. You shall restore them, my daughter,' he added, 'to the box in which they came, and I will put my seal upon the box; for no part of my family shall be polluted by reading them, while they remain under my roof.'

"If my father had been better acquainted with me, he would not have allotted this task to me. I was not the honourable and faithful child he believed me to be: no; I had lived in the habit of deceiving him, and my knowledge of the world makes me fear that there are many daughters such as I was.

"The dealings of a parent with his child are generally sincere. That parent must be base indeed, that does not wish his child to be good and happy; but the deceitful son and artful daughter are more commonly found.

"Before I began to collect and pack up the books, my