es?" said he, in his sedate
manner--"when do they think of leaving London?'

"I wish they may ever get out o't," was the agitated reply of the
afflicted lady.

"I am very sorry to hear you say so," responded the minister. "I thought
all was in a fair way to an issue of the settlement. I'm very sorry to
hear this."

"Oh, sir," said the mourner, "don't think that I am grieved for them and
their legacy--filthy lucre--no, sir; but I have had a letter that has
made my hair stand on end. Be none surprised if you hear of the earth
opening, and London swallowed up, and a voice crying in the wilderness,
'Woe, woe.'"

The gentle priest was much surprised by this information; it was evident
that Mrs. Glibbans had received a terrible account of the wickedness of
London; and that the weight upon her pious spirit was owing to that
cause. He, therefore, accompanied her home, and administered all the
consolation he was able to give; assuring her, that it was in the power
of Omnipotence to convert the stony heart into one of flesh and
tenderness, and to raise the British metropolis out of the miry clay, and
place it on a hill, as a city that could not be hid; which Mrs. Glibbans
was so thankful to hear, that, as soon as he had left her, she took her
tea in a satisfactory frame of mind, and went the same night to Miss
Mally Glencairn to hear what Mrs. Pringle had said to her. No visit ever
happened more opportunely; for just as Mrs. Glibbans knocked at the door,
Miss Isabella Tod made her appearance. She had also received a letter
from Rachel, in which it will be seen that reference was made likewise to
Mrs. Pringle's epistle to Miss Mally.

LETTER XIX

_Miss Rachel Pringle to Miss Isabella Tod_
LONDON.

MY DEAR BELL--How delusive are the flatteries of fortune! The wealth
that has been showered upon us, beyond all our hopes, has brought no
pleasure to my heart, and I pour my unavailing sighs for your absence,
when I would communicate the cause of my unhappiness. Captain Sabre has
been most assiduous in his attentions, and I must confess to your
sympathising bosom, that I do begin to find that he has an interest in
mine. But my mother will not listen to his proposals, nor allow me to
give him any encouragement, till the fatal legacy is settled. What can
be her motive for this, I am unable to divine; for the captain's