the gay world; and was really anxious for as much of Mary's society as she could prevail upon her to bestow partly because it was her duty to befriend a sister's orphan, partly from the pleasure which she took in Mary's cheerful society, and partly from the eclat of her niece's beauty.

And here Mary had encountered all the danger of admiration, and the temptations of vanity and pride and she had been subjected to trials which few in her circumstances would have resisted. Her hand had been sought by one, whom her well-meaning but thoughtless friends deemed worthy of her. Strange it may appear to some, that a lovely maiden of eighteen,—a portionless orphan,-should reject a lover who was handsome, young, agreeable, talented, and who offered to share with her his rank and fortune. But Mary had made a solemn promise to her dying mother, that she would never unite herself with one of whose religious principles she was not well assured. Her lover was not at first rebuked; for, in outward show, he was well suited to have won a maiden's heart; but when a degree of intimacy had arisen, and Mary began to speak to him of what she most valued and revered, he did not shock her by an open avowal of infidelity, but there was a curl on his

lip, and a coldness in his manner, which showed at once that, like Gallio, he cared for none of these things.

But

Mary was sore perplexed; for her heart was not inaccessible to the attentions of a youthful lover, and one who occupied so prominent a place in society; she had made no vow of celibacy; nor was she averse to rank and fortune, which she was so well calculated to adorn. she felt that all these were but as dust in the balance, when set in comparison with the promise, which her revered mother had exacted from her, a promise which was but the renewal of her baptismal vow. She resolved, therefore, to strive against the temptation. She threw herself on her knees before God, in her secret chamber, and prayed earnestly for the guidance of His Spirit; and the scales fell from her eyes, and the glitter of rank and fortune, and the worthlessness of mere earthly love, unsanctified by religion, were plainly shown to her; and her lover appeared to her in his true light, an alien from the family of Jesus Christ. Thenceforth his attentions were disagreeable to her: that sneer and contemptuous coldness, at the mention of religion, ever suggested themselves at his presence; and when,-as the last hope of eager

love, and trusting to his station and wealth,he made a formal offer of marriage, he met with a kind yet decided refusal.

Greatly was her worldly aunt astonished at Mary's conduct; but she was too easy and good natured to reproach her. She contented herself with the self-approving consciousness that she had done her duty to her niece in affording her the opportunity of making a brilliant establishment; and only wondered that she should be so blind to its obvious advantages.

Scarcely three years had elapsed since the breaking off of this attachment-if attachment it could be called; and though many admirers had sought the hand of the beautiful Miss Herbert; yet none appeared to her so agreeable as the friend of her brother, the high-principled and truly Christian Arthur Ridley; whom she met frequently both in town and at her brother's, and to whom she soon discerned that she was not indifferent.

In truth, Arthur had long admired his friend's sister. He had known her from childhood, and had studied her character under various circumstances,-in joy and sorrow, in domestic retirement, and amidst the temptations of society. When friendship ripened into love, and the idea

of marriage suggested itself to him, Ridley, in accordance with the deep-rooted and prevailing principle of his life, solemnly questioned himself, as in the presence of God, with regard to the motive of his wishes; and every consideration convinced him that his love was no mere idle admiration of personal beauty, but a chaste congeniality of the heart and affections; and the more he observed and reflected, the more persuaded did he feel that, if any one more than another possessed the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, if any were calculated to give and receive that mutual comfort in this life, and that mutual aid and strengthening which Christian hearts require in their preparation for another-in short, if any woman were fit to be the wife of a Christian Churchman, it was Mary Herbert.

Ridley considered, though perhaps over scrupulously, that his fortune was not sufficient to justify him in making immediate proposals of marriage. But now that every year brought a large accession to his professional income, the difficulty was removed; and he went down to Welbourne, with intention prepense, and, it must be confessed, with high expectation of winning the object of his long-cherished hopes.

We left the youthful pair returning homeward

a walk of a mile or more on a delightful day, through pleasant lanes and fields. As they approached nearer to the village, Mary, leaning upon her lover's arm, returned, with somewhat of bashful confusion, the salutations of her rustic neighbours. Need we record the conversation which had passed?

When Herbert returned home, his sister knocked timidly at the door of his library; and half smiling, half weeping, confessed to him that Arthur Ridley had made her an offer, to which she had not given a positively decided answer, but to which, if her dear brother and guardian could be prevailed on to accede, she could not bring herself to say nay.

Herbert, who had expected such an announcement, kissed her blushing cheek, and with sincere pleasure congratulated her on having gained the affections of one whom of all men he should most desire to see the husband of his beloved sister.