he did not perform so well as the greater part of
the company, yet she was never awkward; and when at a loss for the figure,
she listened with modesty, and obeyed with precision the rules laid down to
her. Many of the party now assembled were amiable and obliging, but in so
large a number, some were of course present, whose manners were less
agreeable: but as Matilda considered herself one of the family, so she
deemed it her duty to partake their cares, and render every person as happy
as possible. She neither suffered rudeness to disturb her temper, nor
awkwardness to excite her contempt; her conduct, under every temptation of
this nature, was uniformly marked by self-command, modesty, and civility.

There was in this young party two Master Eustons, who, happening to be
richer and a little older than the rest of the party, thought themselves
entitled to quiz all around them at some times, and lord it over them at
others. On their first coming into the room, they sought out Matilda, as
a proper companion for them, because they had heard her named as a great
West-Indian heiress; but when they saw her a modest, unassuming girl, they
rather shunned her, as not being likely to enter into their sports. These
boys would not have been voluntarily chosen as companions for his own by
such a careful and observant father as Mr. Harewood, but they were the
nephews of an old friend of his, and were then on a visit to their uncle,
who would have felt himself neglected if Mr. Harewood had not invited
them; and as, that gentleman very justly observed to his excellent lady,
his children must necessarily mix with the world, both at school and
elsewhere, it was desirable that they should do it sometimes under the eye
of those kind parents, who might teach them how to distinguish what was
good, and lead them, from general company, to choose particular society.

There was also a young lady who wished to render herself the particular
companion of Matilda, for the same reason the Eustons had done, because she
considered her the most wealthy child in the place; and from her person,
and the elegance she observed in her mamma's dress and manners, she
concluded that in a few years she would be the most dashing. It is
astonishing how soon the eye of even a child can discriminate, in that
particular which has been rendered the sole subject of its studies and the
grand object of its wishes; so that people who pique themselves upon being
men of the wo