d, it was much wiser and
better for young ladies who were not rich, to live quietly in the
country, and escape the temptations of luxury and display. At that time
the "young ladies" seemed to us certainly _not_ young; that was about
two-and-twenty years ago, and Jane Porter was seventy-five when she
died. They talked much of their previous dwelling at Thames Ditton, of
the pleasant neighborhood they enjoyed there, though their mother's
health and their own had much improved since their residence on
Esher-hill; their little garden was bounded at the back by the beautiful
park of Claremont, and the front of the house overlooked the leading
roads, broken as they are by the village green, and some noble elms. The
view is crowned by the high trees of Esher-place, opening from the
village on that side of the brow of the hill. Jane pointed out the
_locale_ of the proud Cardinal Wolsey's domain, inhabited during the
days of his power over Henry VIII., and in their cloudy evening, when
that capricious monarch's favor changed to bitterest hate. It was the
very spot to foster her high romance, while she could at the same time
enjoy the sweets of that domestic converse she loved best of all. We
were prevented by the occupations and heart-beatings of our own literary
labors from repeating this visit; and in 1831, four years after these
well-remembered hours, the venerable mother of a family so distinguished
in literature and art, rendering their names known and honored wherever
art and letters flourish, was called HOME. The sisters, who had resided
ten years at Esher, left it, intending to sojourn for a time with their
second brother, Doctor Porter, (who commenced his career as a surgeon in
the navy) in Bristol; but within a year the youngest, the
light-spirited, bright-hearted Anna Maria died: her sister was
dreadfully shaken by her loss, and the letters we received from her
after this bereavement, though containing the outpourings of a sorrowing
spirit, were full of the certainty of that reunion hereafter which
became the hope of her life. She soon resigned her cottage home at
Esher, and found the affectionate welcome she so well deserved in many
homes, where friends vied with each other to fill the void in her
sensitive heart. She was of too wise a nature, and too sympathizing a
habit, to shut out new interests and affections, but her _old ones_
never withered, nor were they ever replaced; were the love of such a
sister-friend--th