little for these, unless I can buy, from your brother's servant, an old pair of Master Gerard's, and have them mended up for her."

I have just recollected," said Margarita, at this moment flushing high with joy, "that I have got a new half-crown in my drawing-box; I will fetch it in a moment; will that do?" "that will be a great

Yes, yes," said Mrs. Hill, help; now we shall do."

"And will you procure materials for the clothes, dear Mrs. Hill?" said the little girl, "and shall I make them?"

"I will purchase them, and cut them out," said the good housekeeper, "and get them made for you this time, because you want them in haste; but after that, when others may be occasionally wanted, it will be pleasant employment for you to make your little girl's clothes yourself: for every young lady should know how to work and cut out for the poor. You will find this to be very agreeable work; and it is delightful to see ladies of quality thus employed."

"But cannot I help to do something now?” said Margarita.

O yes," said Mrs. Hill, you may make your little girl a work-bag, and a housewife, and a pincushion; and you must get her a spelling-book, and a Bible, and a pair of scissars, and a thimble."

Margarita was all joy to find her scheme going on so prosperously. She delivered all her money to Mrs. Hill, begging her to manage it for her; and running up stairs, she soon found an old Bible and spelling-book in the repository of rubbish before mentioned, or, to speak more properly, in the repository of wasted and torn articles. And having obtained leave to take them, she delivered them to Mrs. Hill to paste and mend up as well as she could. After which, the dear child was benevolently led to search the cupboard again; and finding certain bits of satin and of printed calico, the former of which had been put by among her treasures for a doll's hat, and the latter for a patch-work bedquilt for the same lady; she set joyfully to work for the purpose of preparing the articles judged necessary for the little girl to take to school. Mrs. Hill had accomplished all she had undertaken before Marga

VOL. I.

rita was quite ready with her part; for not being accustomed to employ herself in a useful or industrious way, she was very long in effecting that which a more active person would have completed in a few hours. However, at the end of the week, little Rachel was dressed and sent to school.

I am certain that my reader will not be surprised to hear that, when the first quarter was out, Margarita's purse was sufficiently replenished, either by the usual presents she received from her aunt, or from chance remittances from one or other of her friends, to enable her to carry on her charitable design with respect to little Rachel. And in a short time she began to receive in her own person the reward of this laudable action, to which she had no doubt been divinely led: for, from the habit of considering how she was to supply the wants of Rachel Careless, she acquired the habit of general carefulness. Whatever might be given to her in common with the other young people for the use of her doll, she instantly examined with a view to little Rachel. If it was a bit of muslin, she would say to herself, "This will make Rachel a cap; I will get Mrs. Hill to cut it out, and I will make it:" if it was a riband, "O! this will do to fasten Rachel's scissars to her side: or if it was a bit of silk, "Rachel wants a new pincushion." And as her means of doing good increased, she was led to enlarge her objects of charity; so that after a while she made a complete set of pincushions, housewives, and work-bags, for all the children in Mrs. Green's school; and Mrs. Hill was so kind as to walk with her to deliver them.

In the mean time, that careful spirit which she had first exercised towards the poor, now extended itself to her own little possessions and clothes; and this so insensibly that she was not herself readily aware of it. Her frocks were no longer torn whenever they were put on: her shoes, bonnets, and gloves, looked fresh and new, when those belonging to her cousins were completely spoiled. The colours, brushes, and pencils, in her paint-box, were neither wasted nor mislaid; and as for toys and trinkets, she had lost all desire for them. Insomuch that when taken with her cousins to a toy-shop, on accompanying Lady Harriet in her coach to the neighbouring town, if allowed to spend money, she would invariably spend it in such a

way as would most profit the poor: for even in a toyshop some useful things may be found, such as knives, scissars, &c.

Thus passed away several years: and in the mean time Lady Harriet either would, not or did not observe these peculiarities in Margarita's character; while her cousins. and Miss Hartley, though they sometimes laughed at her, for the most part left her to herself so long as she did not interfere with them.

At the end of this time, Lady Harriet took a house in town for a few months every year, with the express purpose of introducing her daughters at court and into society. Jane was introduced the first year, and was said to be an elegant young woman, though not thought so handsome as her mother had been. Celia's turn came the next year, but this young lady did not obtain so many suffrages from the public even as her sister Jane, being a young person of a very ordinary and uninteresting character. While in town, the younger children were kept much in the back-ground: but Miss Hartley being then considered more as a companion to them than a governess, they had much liberty allowed them in private. Lady Harriet still however continued to charge herself with the superintendance of their dress, and to order what she chose them to wear: for she maintained, that very young women seldom, if left to themselves, know how to dress themselves fit to be seen. However, she directed her steward to allow them a certain sum every quarter for their pocket-money, shoes, and gloves, with other trifles. The sum she fixed upon for this purpose was five guineas a quarter; which, considering their situation in life, was not extravagant. Lady Susan happened to be visiting in their house in town when the first quarterly payment was made and on this occasion, she took an opportunity of speaking to the young people on the duty of spending their money to good purpose.

In the opening of her discourse she referred them to the twenty-fifth chapter of St. Matthew.-When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand,

but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

These verses, which I have given you at length, though a somewhat long quotation, in order to spare you the trouble of looking for them in your Bible, have a literal as well as a figurative sense. But Lady Susan, without referring to the spiritual sense, took occasion from them to notice the obligation lying upon all men to do good to the poor. She also observed, that now it was in their power to do good, as she hoped it had always been their wish; whence she proceeded to point out, that in order to do good with this money now placed in their hands, two things were necessary first, personal economy, or the practice of self-denial; and secondly, that prudence which would enable them to put what they give to the poor to the best advantage; "because," said she, "a single sixpence, properly bestowed, may be rendered more useful than twenty

pounds indiscriminately lavished on idle and improper characters. There is no rank in life," continued Lady Susan, "in which economy, or the proper use of money, is not a valuable science. And the higher a person's situation in life may be, the more important is this knowledge inasmuch as a poor person by want of economy can only injure himself and his family; while a person in higher life may injure many families by the absence of economy."

On hearing this discourse, some of the young ladies shrugged up their shoulders; and Jane said, "Indeed, my dear aunt, if we are to do much good with the money now in our hands, we must study a very close economy indeed: for, to tell you the truth, I do not expect, out of these five guineas now in my hand, to have a single guinea left at the end of a week."

"That I am sure you will not, Jane," said Celia. "No, nor if you were to have twice the sum."

"Please to understand, young ladies," said Lady Susan, "that where persons are resolved in the expenditure of their money to consult their wishes and not their real wants, no sum of money, however large, can ever prove sufficient for them. But in order to become a strict and proper economist, the individual should first form an accurate idea of what is really necessary for him, taking into consideration his rank and situation in society; and having ascertained this point, he ought to make it a matter of conscience not to exceed it."

My dear aunt," said Dorothea, “I must tell you that you lose your labour in speaking upon these subjects to my sisters Jane and Celia; they hate economy, and I am sure will never practise it if they can help it: but my cousin Margarita will listen to you from morning till night, if you will take the trouble of talking to her on this subject. I verily believe that she has the whole Economy of Charity by heart; and when she is in the country she spends the greater part of her time in making patchwork and night-caps for the poor."

"Is this true, Margarita?" said Lady Susan, turning to her niece with an expression of pleasure. "Is this true of you? and have I known you so long, and never heard this before? If this be so, my dear child, I sincerely rejoice!" And so saying, she took her by the hand and