I admired Sophia's sincerity, and said I hoped wherever she and her husband went, the divine blessing would go also, and the fruit of their pious labours be seen; and Charles at that moment coming in, I sprang up with outstretched hand to congratulate the new-made rector.

6

'Oh! I dare say this conceited lady has been giving you a fine account of our budding honours.' he said, laughing, which I hope she will bear meekly in consideration of her former estate;' and then sitting down, a more serious colloquy followed, which I don't here record-not distinctly remembering it, except that his sentiments and views on the subject were such as became a minister of Christ, desiring to be and do whatever his master saw fit for him; and wishing at all times to be found like watching Samuel when he waited to say 'Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth."

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Sophia and her husband went together to see the parsonage (denominated in Ireland the glebe house,) and endeavour to ascertain the expences of furnishing, &c. It was, she told me, a charming place, she only feared too nice,-so unlike to any thing she had been accustomed to since her marriage: a pretty little room with a verandah leading on a terrace lined with roses, she particularly dwelt on, with the youthful and innocent delight of an untried, untroubled mind.

'And now,' she concluded, your kind wishes for me will be fulfilled, for I shall have a governess to assist me with the children, and I will delegate to you the pleasant task of choosing one, and you shall come and put our study in train, as another recompense for your affectionate feelings to us; and lastly,

you shall see how happy and comfortable we are, and

how much we desire to make you so.'

' And I trust to see you useful too, Sophy.' 'Thank you, dear S- ; oh! this sinful, sinful nature, always clinging to earth and earthly things!' : The departure of the curate and his family from the village of —, was a scene I never could forget. Not only were the streets lined so thickly as to impede the progress of the chaise, while the higher classes of the people in silent tears, and the lower with loud lamentations crowded round it, and parents held up their children to the windows to receive a parting kiss from those who had watched over them as lambs of their flock; but the road beyond it for upwards of a mile was thronged with the parishioners, who, finally assembling on the top of a hill, watched the carriage as long as they could see it, and prayed for a blessing on the heads of those it bore.

I had attended Charles' farewell lecture a couple of evenings previous, but of this either I do not recollect one word, not even the subject, for the sobs and tears that surrounded me, had a sympathetic effect; and I too, though personally uninterested in the cause, took part in the sorrow.

I received, in two or three months, a letter from Sophy they were comfortably settled, their house delightful and conveniently furnished, a governess provided for the dear little girls, and a master attending the boys;—some dear old friends were staying with them for the first time, and everything internally was agreeable and going on well. Of the state of the parish she did not say much, and from what she did say I feared it might afford a dark ground to the pleasant picture she had drawn, which she did not

like just at first to bring too prominently before me. The former incumbent was a good easy man, who never provoked opposition, and therefore never met with it: there were no schools, no meetings, no lectures; but these would soon begin, and then perhaps times of trial might draw on. And thus it proved; a large proportion of the population was Roman Catholic, and not many months past before the priest had denounced from the altar, any person who sent a child to the new parson's school, or had any intercourse with him or his family.

This was the beginning of such sorrows; amid all her trials, poor Sophy had felt in peace, concerning her husband, she had always seen him beloved and respected, meeting with that honour which she herself paid him, as a consistent and faithful minister of the Most High God: but now, dark looks and threatening gestures followed him, and she knew they were prompted by those who could urge them into deeds: and thus fears, far, far worse than any that poverty, distress, or sickness could cause, were awakened in her breast.

It was in this state, so unlike what our expectations promised, that I found her. I was much pleased with their pretty rural house, the neat and orderly appearance of the children, the air of gentility and quiet arrangement which pervaded every thing, and which might not have been expected, after so long a residence in such places and circumstances as I have described: but on Sophia's countenance I saw marks of a disquietude it had not worn before; I soon found out the cause. Charles had been peremptorily desired to suspend his innovations on former customs, a requisition he paid no attention to; hẹ

had even been at work among the Roman Catholics of the neighbourhood, and in consequence, threats had been uttered against him, which had withered, even in their spring, all poor Sophia's hopes of peace and enjoyment.

A few evenings after I reached them, a dreadful storm occurred: torrents of rain and furious blasts of wind shook the windows and the walls around us. In the midst of this strife of elements, he heard the sound of voices, coming up to the house: it instantly occurred to us that no human beings would venture out on such a night, but those who might take ádvantage of it, to effect a deed of darkness. Charles was reading a paper in a periodical to us, and we, ladies, turned very pale as the voices, which gaining roughness and loudness, perhaps from the effort to rise above the wind, passed directly by the window; he leant back his head in the direction and maintained his composure, though I saw, and was doubly alarmed at it, that a solemn air overspread his face and brow. Presently a loud knocking at the door confirmed our fears; a minute of unbreathing panic followed; Charles then put his hand toward the bell, but before he could ring it, the servant-man, who was a Roman Catholic, crossed the hall, and without a word of interrogation, was heard to open the door. We had sat in awful silence; we heard loud voices mingling with the blast that burst in at the opened door, and heavy steps entering, and the servant stepping into the room, briefly informed his master that some men wanted to see him. Charles, for about a second, sat in calm silence, then slowly rose without a change passing over his face; I saw that countenance, else I could not depict what my

imagination could not represent to me. His wife neither stirred nor spoke; at the first sound of alarm her work had fallen on her lap, her hands grasped the table, and like a statue of marble she sat unmoved, I sprang between Charles and the door, and grasping his arm with one hand, while I endeavoured to lock it with the other, I uttered, I dare say, such incoherent expressions as such an occasion might draw forth he looked at me for an instant, I think I see that look now, he dared not, I suppose, look at his poor wife, and quietly shaking off my feeble hold, opened the door, and with a firm step and erect carriage, advanced towards the men, whom I saw in dripping great coats, standing near the door. I know nothing of the interim, but I was roused by Charles's saying, in a loud and good-humoured tone, purposely I suppose for us to hear: 'Well, step into my study for a moment.'

He did not immediately return to us, neither did he go to the persons he sent into the study; perhaps the threatened danger over, he felt it more; perhaps his heart rose up in thankfulness to Him, under whose protection no weapon that is formed against us can prosper. After a little he put his head in at the door, saying, with a smile: No great cause for fear, ladies, only some of my parishioners come in search of licenses, to be married in the morning, and you know it would not be like an Irishman to be deterred from such a purpose by such a storm as this.'1

Why did you not endeavour to prevent his going out?' I said to Sophia afterwards. She looked into my face silently, and after a pause, clearing her voice,

1 This is a simple relation of a real circumstance, though the announcement may appear ridiculous.