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removal might give birth, they were escorted to the carriage by the Earl himself-he handed in Mrs St Clair, but only appeared to assist Gertrude -thus preserving the beautiful unity of his design to the last.

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CHAPTER VI.

Il ne faut pas croire que la vie des Chrétiens soit une vie de tristesse, on ne quitte les plaisirs que pour d'autres plus grands. PASCAL.

To the worldly mind there is always something depressing in the transition from grandeur to mediocrity. This Mrs St Clair and her daughter experienced upon entering the simple dwelling of the Miss Blacks. The one loved the pomps and the luxuries of high life, the other its elegancies and refinements, and both had lost their relish for the humbler sphere which they were now entering. They were received by the sisters with an affection and tenderness which seemed to flow from a better source than mere worldly politeness-there was an openness of character, a calm, sweet gentleness of manner, which could not fail to please; but there was, at the same time, a difference of

tastes, principles, and pursuits, between them and their visitors, which no courtesy of manner, or cordiality of reception, could entirely do away. The Miss Blacks were no vain professors of that religion which all pretend to honour with their lips, while with many their heart is far from it-their time, their talents, their fortune, their hearts were devoted to its service, and in devoting the heart to God, how various and comprehensive are the duties which it embraces! Different portions, indeed, had been assigned them, but both were labourers in the same vineyard.

Thousands at His bidding speed,
And post o'er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.

MILTON.

The word of God was the rule of their faith and practice they believed, and they obeyed. Yet, impressed as they were themselves with the importance of those divine truths, they were aware, that it is not by the mind, but with the heart, that man believeth unto salvation; and they sought rather to make Christianity loved and desired, than to prove its divine origin by reasoning and disputation. As the glories of the firmament

are reflected in the placid bosom of some deep unruffled stream of the valley, so did Divine truth shine in them with a clear yet subdued light; while the charity which "vaunteth not itself, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil,” was visible in that deportment of its votaries, and shed an indescribable charm over the tone of their conversation. Without neglecting their own avocations, or sacrificing their own pursuits, they nevertheless endeavoured, by every means in their power, to render their house agreeable to their vi sitors, and to promote, if not mirth and revelry, at least cheerfulness and amusement. Still there was something in her sisters with which Mrs St Clair could not assimilate-she felt their faith and their practice a reproach to herself, and she turned with aversion from their excellence, as Lucifer did from the sunbeams, only because of their brightness. Thus it is with true Christian piety, which seldom fails to be an offence to some part of the world, which denounces, as zealots and fanatics, all who rise above its own low standard. It was otherwise with Gertrude; though not suf ficiently enlightened to be above imbibing prejudices, she was too liberal-minded and candid to

retain them; and she had not lived many days with her aunts, ere she arrived at the conviction, that all religious people are not necessarily fools, hypocrites, or bigots. The unvarying mildness and gentleness of her aunts, their charity to all, their indulgence towards young people, could not fail to gain her affections; and though their sen timents were totally different from hers, and what she deemed very out of the way, still the fruits were so fair, that she could not but apply to them Pope's often misapplied maxim,—

They can't be wrong whose life is in the right.

But it was a species of virtue Gertrude felt no inclination to imitate; all her ideas of virtue were those of imagination; she loved to expatiate in thought, on deeds of romantic, sentimental excellence; her money, and her tears, and her emotion, were always ready to bestow; but when she herself was brought into contact with real genuine human wretchedness, she shrunk with horror and disgust from the encounter. The dirtiness of the houses, the coarseness of the people, the ugliness of the children, were all revolting to her fine-spun notions of the beauty of benevo

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