was brought to him, and placed in his arms, all the feelings of a father appeared in his manner, and he displayed such tenderness, that the sympathy of all who were present was awakened. The good old grandmother mingled her sobs with those of her son-in-law; and, from that day, it was observed, that she never failed to remember him in her prayers thus performing a duty for this unhappy man which he never thought it needful to exercise on his

own account.

Those who mourn in connexion with Christian hope, and who have the blessed assurance that they shall realize in the Saviour more than all they have lost on earth, find a delight in their very sorrows. And this was the case with Mrs. Courtney. Though deprived of her endeared Emily, though she saw no more before her a lovely and blooming daughter, who had been her sole earthly delight for many years of widowhood, yet she was not unhappy. She blessed her God for the comforts still left her; she found exquisite pleasure in the smiles of the infant Emily; and derived consolation to herself in the exercise of maternal care over the little Christopher, who, though not allied to her by blood, seemed to have a thousand claims on her tenderness and compassion. The very idea that this little boy was not loved by his father rendered him the more dear to her tender heart; and she resolved, that, with the divine blessing, he should never be sensible of his orphan state by any failure on her part. He was taught to call her grandmamma, to tell her all his little griefs, to repose his sorrows in her bosom, and to confess to her all his faults and misdemeanours.

Such a friend was particularly needful to this little boy; for having been hitherto carelessly brought up, he was perpetually guilty of serious failures, and the dread he had conceived of his father often induced him to conceal those faults by untruths, the constant effect of harshness; and, although he was a child of amiable dispositions, and possessed that openness of countenance and smiling appearance frequently remarkable in the natives of Switzerland, he would certainly have been made an unfeeling and desperate character, had he continued long with his father, who always addressed him with some expression of contempt or suspicion; and this occasioned him to enter the

company of his elders with a cloud on his brow, which the good old lady generally contrived to disperse, by a friendly word, or some little act of kindness, which was often known only to the child himself. By this means, little Christopher, when relieved from his father's presence, soon recovered his natural ease and cheerfulness of character; and, though some sagacious persons hinted that the old lady sometimes carried her indulgence too far, yet the child undoubtedly grew and prospered under her management, and became open, generous, and affectionate.

A truly pious mind possesses a facility of deriving consolation from those mercies which remain after severe bereavements have taken place. When the worldly man has lost an object of affection, he seems, as it were, to bear a grudge (if so homely a phrase may be allowed me) against the Almighty, for having thus afflicted him; and he refuses to take pleasure in the blessings continued to him; but the religious man, aware that God does not willingly afflict the children of men, but, in exercising them with sorrows, is only using a fatherly chastisement, and, believing that he shall receive what is infinitely better in a more blessed and heavenly state, where no bitterness shall mingle with his sorrows, he rejoices in affliction, and triumphs in tribulation.

Such was the case with Mrs. Courtney when the first months of sorrow were passed away, and she found herself quietly settled with her two little children, to observe their daily growth and improvement.

Emily was exactly six years younger than her brother, and was at first considered by him merely as a beautiful and delicate plaything, which might be injured by the least carelessness or roughness-by the least carelessness on his part; and therefore, during the first stages of her infancy, he cherished her with the utmost tenderness; and when she was able to follow him, and talk to him, he became excessively fond of her company, and considered it as the highest possible privilege to be intrusted with the care of her, and to be permitted to lead her into his garden, to shew her his rabbits and his birds, or to administer in any other way to her amusement.

Immediately in the neighbourhood of Mrs. Courtney's

house was a little coppice, through which ran a pure stream, on a pebbled channel. This little brook, after having performed several windings in its contracted course, fell over some low rocks, and made its way to a pool at some distance beyond the precincts of the wood.

This pool, which might be seen from the coppice, especially when the sun shone upon its glossy surface, was frequently compared by the little Swiss to the Lake of Geneva; the child having, no doubt, been led to this comparison by early impressions: and when his little sister Emily was able to accompany him into this wood, he used to point out this Lilliputian lake to her, and amuse her with recollections of his infancy, and tales of his childhood, half remembered, and half blended with what he had heard spoken of at a later period of his short life. Education, as it is now carried on, was not understood by Mrs. Courtney; nevertheless, what she knew, she taught with accuracy. She was methodical and orderly. She caused Christopher to study the Bible; he was taught to write and cipher, to read history, and to draw maps; and, when of a proper age, she procured a respectable clergyman, of the name of Harrington, in the town, to give him classical lessons with his own son, who was somewhat older than her boy, and who, after this engagement, became the constant companion of his play-hours, and another friend and protector of the little Emily.

Charles was an amiable boy, and possessed more steadiness of character than Christopher. Hence the friendship of Charles proved a great blessing to his friend; and the union, formed at this time between these young people, proved more permanent than school boy friendships are frequently found to be.

I could dwell long, with much pleasure, on the happy manner in which many years of the early life of these young people passed, under the kind and pious auspices of the gentle Mrs. Courtney; Charles and Christopher being frequent companions, and the little Emily the object of the attention and love of each, so equally, that it was impossible for her to know which of her brothers was most dear to her; neither was she scarcely able to decide, when they played at shepherds, and built little huts in the coppice, in imitation of the shepherds' tents,

remembered by Christopher, as seen on the mountains of Jura, with whom she should take up her abode, or whose rustic dwelling she should render gay with her innocent prattle and dimpled smiles.

The very contentions of these children were always tempered by good principle and the desire of doing well; and, though Christopher was sometimes hasty and unjust, one gentle word on the part of his friend, or one tear of his lovely Emily, would always bring him to his recollection, and restore him to temper and reason again.

No particular change took place in the situation of these young people until Charles had attained his eighteenth, Christopher his sixteenth, and Emily her tenth year. Nothing can be conceived in human nature more lovely than Emily was at that time; she was so gentle, so fair, so simple, so smiling, and yet so intelligent.

After these remarks, it will not be doubted but this little girl had some proper feelings respecting religion; for it is religion only which, by correcting the heart, and governing the powers of the mind, can make a naturally fine countenance truly interesting. Nevertheless, Emily's religion was like that of her grandmother: it was not founded on an extensive knowledge of scriptural truths; though it was a sincere and pious approval of what was good: still it needed a broader foundation, to support her in the time of trial. But this time was not yet come: she was yet under the shelter of a tender parent's roof; her years were few; and she had no other thought than that of following impl citly the direction of others.

About the time of which I am speaking, a melancholy breach was made in the happy little society by the death of the elder Mr. Harrington, and the consequent removal of Charles to another situation.

The separation of Charles from his young companions was extremely affecting. It took place in the beloved coppice, in which they had spent so many happy days of cheerful infancy. On this occasion, deep sorrow sat on the fine countenance of Charles; little Emily wept and sobbed distressingly; while the tender and warm heart of Christopher seemed ready to burst. Charles consoled his young friends with promises, never likely to be performed, of visiting them soon and often in this scene of their happy, early

days; and Emily undertook to take care of the trees and flowers they had planted together.

Thus they endeavoured to console each other; notwithstanding which, the grief of Emily was little abated at the time when news came from abroad that Captain Müller was promoted to be a major, and that he was obliged at the same time to leave the army on account of the state of his health.

Mrs. Courtney, Emily, and Christopher were all differently affected on hearing this news, with the additional information that the major purposed to return to England and to his family immediately. Mrs. Courtney felt that his presence would not add to her happiness; Christopher, who had ever associated unpleasant feelings with the remembrance of his father, instantly lost his cheerfulness; and Emily alone seemed pleased, though she often expressed a hope, indicative of anxiety, that her father would not take her away from her grandmother.

In proportion as the time of the major's arrival approached, the apprehensions of Mrs. Courtney and Christopher seemed to increase; and even Emily's joy changed into something like dread. However, all seemed willing to conceal their feelings from the rest, and to endeavour, in the bustle of preparation, to overcome the apprehensions of which they could not but be sensible.

There was a vacant parlour in Mrs. Courtney's house, which, together with her best bed-room, she determined to devote to the major; and she caused Emily to busy herself, the day before he was expected, in adorning the parlour with flowers, and making other affectionate preparations for the father who was to return to his children after so long an absence.

Mrs. Courtney had been told, that, during the years in which her son-in-law had been absent, he had acquired the habits of a great man; that he was also become an old man in constitution, though young in years; and that the irritation of his temper was become much greater: for the major had found the pleasures of the world greatly inferior to the ideas he had formed of them; and, having no religion to soothe his wounded feelings, he had fallen a miserable victim to the violence of his own passions.

Mrs. Courtney had taken care to conceal from Christo