that we emulate your courage; and I
assure you, in your own words, "that whilst our terrified neighbors
see nightly visions of massacres, we sleep with our doors and
windows unbarred." I must observe, though, that it is only those
doors and windows that have neither bolts nor bars that we leave
unbarred, and these are more at present than we wish even for the
reputation of our valor. All that I crave for my own part is that
if I am to have my throat cut, it may not be by a man with his face
blackened with charcoal. I shall look at every person that comes
here very closely, to see if there be any marks of charcoal upon
their visages. Old wrinkled offenders, I should suppose, would
never be able to wash out their stains, but in others a _very_
clean face will, in my mind, be a strong symptom of guilt--clean
hands proof positive, and clean nails ought to hang a man.

In 1796 appeared the first volume of the _Parent's Assistant_. It is
agreeable to learn from a letter of hers that she was not responsible
for this clumsy title:--

My father had sent the _Parent's Friend_, but Mr. Johnson has
degraded it into _Parent's Assistant_, which I dislike particularly
from association with an old book of arithmetic called the _Tutor's
Assistant_.

The book was so successful that the publisher expressed a wish for more
volumes, to be brought out with illustrations. Miss Beaufort, the
daughter of a neighboring clergyman, was entrusted with the artistic
commission, which led to an intimacy between the families. Meanwhile
Miss Edgeworth, stimulated by success, continued to write new stories,
and to correct and revise old ones. The _Moral Tales_ were conceived at
this time, and the idea of writing on Irish Bulls had occurred to her.
She was also busy upon _Practical Education_. At the same time Mrs.
Elizabeth Edgeworth's health, that had long been precarious, gave way,
and in November, 1797, to the sorrow of all the circle, she fell a
victim to consumption. As before, Mr. Edgeworth was soon consoled. It
was in the direction of Miss Beaufort that he turned his eyes. There
must certainly have been something attractive in this man, now past
fifty, three times a widower, with a numerous family by different wives,
that could induce a young girl to regard him as a wooer. Miss Edgeworth
frankly owns that when she first knew of this attachment she did not
wish