has been
done. Look at my dear, good Esther."

"Esther deserves your praise, I am sure, because you say it. But it is
you that have made her good. She could not be with you, without being
benefited."

"You are very kind, but no merit attaches to me. They were the
precepts of Christianity that softened her heart, though she was
always gentle."

"It was the sweetness of religion she heard in your voice, its
kindness she read in your eyes, and its loveliness illustrated in your
life, that attracted and improved Esther"

"Were I to admit what you say, the credit would, after all, belong to
religion."

The sun had nearly reached his meridian, as the young couple
approached the house of Mr. Armstrong. What a change had been produced
in a few hours! The warm sunshine, while it glorified the landscape
had robbed it of its sparkling beauty. The trees no longer wore their
silver armor; the branches, relieved of the unusual weight, had
lost the graceful curves and resumed their original positions; white
blossoms no longer bedecked the evergreens; and all around,
large drops were falling, as if lamenting the passing away of the
short-lived magnificence.

On parting from Bernard, at her father's door, Faith reminded him of
his promise, and invited him and Anne to tea with her in the evening.
Bernard accepted the invitation for himself, and conditionally for his
sister.

CHAPTER XXII.

"O nymph, with loosely flowing hair,
With buskined leg, and bosom bare,
Thy waist with myrtle girdle bound,
Thy brow with Indian feathers crowned,
Waving in thy snowy hand
An all-commanding magic wand
Of power, to bid fresh gardens blow,
Mid cheerless Lapland's barren snow!"

JOSEPH WARTON.

Bernard and his sister, on their arrival, found only Mr. Armstrong
and his daughter, but were joined, in the course of the evening, by
Pownal, at whose arrival all expressed pleasure. The whole company
united with Miss Armstrong in requesting Bernard to read the legend,
who, at last, produced the manuscript from his pocket.

"I must entreat your indulgence," he said, "for the defects of which
the piece is full. The author is an inexperienced writer, and
unable, like an accomplished hand, to atone by elegance of style for
improbability or poverty of incident. You will expect no more than
that he should observe the proprieties of his subject, nor require him
to introduce into a tale of the children of Nature the refinement