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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 Ex Lihris 
 
 SIR MICHAEL SADLER 
 
 ACQUIRED 1948 
 
 WITH THE HELP OF ALUMNI OF THE 
 
 SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
 
 BAIT cG-M TEIM - II H - ILAW ,. 
 
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 ^IRTMITR ]HLAI.]L,T1HT1TE ^ C? 
 
 25 PATEKNOSTER ROW.
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Each lonely scene shall thee restore, 
 
 For thee the tear be duly shed. — Collixs. 
 
 " I AM afraid, my love, you find yourself worse 
 than usual this evening," said Mr. Franklin to 
 his wife, as he approached the sofa where she 
 
 was sitting. 
 
 "' On the contrary, my love, I am rather better 
 than usual, and find myself able to sit and chat 
 with you a little," replied Mrs. Franklin, while 
 a faint smile played on her pallid features. 
 
 " What can be the matter with Louisa, I won- 
 der ? her eyes were very red when she bade me 
 good night on the stairs, and I concluded the poor 
 child was distressed on your account ; though 
 very happy to find myself mistaken, yet I wish I 
 had inquired a little further into the cause of her 
 
 uneasiness." 
 
 " Sit down my love, and I will satisfy you. 
 Louisa has been crying, in consequence of our 
 conversation, which hps been of a nature to affect 
 us both ; but she is no longer distressed, and will 
 
 A 
 
 629372
 
 2 THE DAUGHTEK- IN-LAW. 
 
 eventually be no worse for the pain a sense of 
 duty urged me at this time to afflict her with ; 
 she will never forget what I have said, and we 
 shall both be spared the necessity of renewing the 
 subject." 
 
 " You surprise me, my love ; the child is in 
 general so tractable and good, that I had no idea 
 she could do any thing to offend a mamma she 
 loves so fondly, at such a time as this especially." 
 
 " Nor has she, my dear, offended me in any 
 way ; I have only awakened her feelings, by 
 jjointing out a few errors she may escape, and a 
 few duties she ought to practise, in a situation 
 she will probably find herself placed in by-and- 
 by, where her conduct must, in a great measure, 
 determine not only her own happiness, but that 
 of her dear father also." 
 
 " You are very considerate, my love," said 
 Mr. Franklin, as, with a shrinking eye he gazed 
 on the altered form of his beloved wife, " you 
 are very considerate to guard our poor little girl 
 from the errors you speak of so very long before- 
 hand ; but it will be something vv^onderful indeed, 
 though she is an extraordinary child, if at nine- 
 teen she should remember the lectures you gave 
 her ten years before, and regulate her conduct in 
 the choice of a husband, by precepts given at a 
 period when the choice of a doll is her principal 
 concern," 
 
 " Very true, my love," returned Mrs. Franklin, 
 with a look of great tenderness and anxiety ; 
 " but the advice I gave Louisa did not respect
 
 THE DAUGHTEll-IX-LAW. 3 
 
 her own marriage (for that would indeed have 
 been somewhat premature) ; it is probable that of 
 her father may take place a great deal sooner.'' 
 
 " My God I Louisa, what do you mean ? my 
 love, my own dear love, why will you tear my 
 heart by such a cruel supposition? — if — if I were 
 so very wretched as to lose you, which God in 
 mercy forbid ! do you think I could ever think of 
 any other woman supplying your place ? Oh, 
 Louisa ! surely you cannot think me capable of 
 it ! I have not deserved such an opinion as this, 
 from a wife so fondly, so constantly beloved." 
 
 Mr. Franklin threw himself on the sofa, and, 
 overcome by his feelings, wept aloud. 
 
 Mrs. Franklin hoped that she should have had 
 strength to bear this trial, but she found her 
 nerves exceedingly shook, and her own tears 
 would spring to her eyes ; but she endeavoured 
 to lift up her heart to Him from whom cometh 
 all consolation ; and as soon as she perceived the 
 violent emotion under which her husband suf- 
 fered gave way, she thus addressed him : — " I 
 am convinced, my dear Charles, that the time will 
 come, when you will see, that without doubting 
 your love, your constancy, or the propriety of 
 your conduct in any respect, I might yet conclude 
 it a very possible thing, that you would, at some 
 future period, make choice of another wife, in 
 case my present disorder terminates in the way 
 we have both reason to expect." 
 
 Mr, Franklin was unable to speak, and after 
 a short pause, she proceeded : — " I do not wish, 
 
 A 2
 
 4 THE 1)AUGHT£E-IN-LAW. 
 
 further than is necessary, to advert to an hour 
 so awful and so pamful to us both ; I trust that 
 our Heavenly Father, having called us to this 
 trial, will give us strength to bear it ; and shall 
 only add, that my opinion on second marriages 
 being somewhat different from those of the world 
 in general, and founded on experience and obser- 
 vation, rather than abstract reasoning and feeling, 
 I cannot help concluding, that you will one day 
 marry again, though I am well assured at this 
 moment your heart abhors the very idea. I have 
 observed through life, that those men who have 
 been most happy in their first connection, are the 
 most desirous of forming a second, or at least the 
 most liable to be led into it ; and therefore, that 
 the wife who is themost sincerely lamented, is much 
 the most likely to meet with an early successor. 
 You have been happy with me, Charles ; you 
 will find a loss of my society, when you have 
 ceased to bewail my person, and that loss must 
 be supplied to you in one way or other ; it is 
 more likely and more natural that a worthy and 
 amiable woman should supply it, than any other 
 kind of acquaintance." 
 
 " No, no, you are quite mistaken ; I shall 
 never, never forget you I" said the husband, 
 vehementlv. 
 
 " Forget me you never will, my dear, nor ever 
 cease to love my memory, nor even to regret my 
 loss ; but grief is a passion, and it is the nature 
 of all passions to subside in time, and frequently 
 to be exhausted by their own violence ; and you
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 5 
 
 must allow me to say, I know so miicli of your 
 temper, your habits, your wants, that I am cer- 
 tain, when your mind ceases to feed on its sor- 
 rows, it will be naturally led to look for some 
 one on whom to bestow those tender attentions, 
 and participate that affectionate companion, 
 whereby you have for the last ten years made 
 me the happiest of women." 
 
 " Have I not my child ?" 
 
 " A child affords m.uch to the heart, but little 
 to the mind, especially to a man, and more espe- 
 cially when that child is a female ; the prattle of 
 Louisa will often divert a languid hour, I hope ; 
 but when you are harassed by the cares of busi- 
 ness, vexed by men of one description, puzzled 
 by those of another, or allured by a third, a little 
 girl can neither assist your reasonings, soothe your 
 troubles nor guard your virtues ; and some fe- 
 male acquaintance may then rise to your mind, 
 not in the odious light of a rival to her you have 
 lost, but of a pitying friend who can console you 
 for the misfortune ; thus friendship may ripen 
 into that tender regard which produces a connec- 
 tion less vivid, less dear, than a former one has 
 been, yet salutary in its effects, as providing a 
 companion for declining life, and •' a friend thfj* 
 sticketh closer than a brother." Look round the 
 circle of our acquaintance, my love, and you will 
 find men of warm and tender hearts, whom we 
 know to have made excellent husbands, and to have 
 sincerely lamented tlieir wives, and you will find 
 them all married again, thou^?i, perha})s, at very 
 
 A 3
 
 6 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW.- 
 
 different periods, according to their different cha- 
 racters ; the most impetuous having been married 
 soonest, hut the most melanchol)' and sentimental 
 coming in time to the same conclusion ; whereas, 
 the men who, either from their ow^n levity, the 
 faults of their deceased partners, or any other 
 cause, were precisely the characters of whom 
 superficial observers said — " Oh, he will soon be 
 married again ! — he has forgot his wife already! ' 
 and you will find them yet widowers, and likely 
 to remain so. The warm and generous heart of 
 a man of sensibility, who is called to this trial, 
 though blasted,, is not destroyed ; and so surely as 
 the hand of time, and the more blessed power 
 of religion, heals its wounds and renovates its 
 powers, so will the feelings it has been accustomed 
 to cherish and to exercise, revive. '' In suppos- 
 ing you, my dear Charles, subject to the feelings 
 common to human nature, do not think I impeach 
 your love, or doubt your faith, but consider me 
 as desiring your happiness, and capable of loving 
 her who shall hereafter contribute to it ; and in 
 regulating the heart, and directing the conduct of 
 my dear child, in a situation of the most trying 
 importance, consider me as extending my cares 
 ind my love beyond the limits of my existence, 
 and thus, in a great measure, continuing the com- 
 panion of yottr future years, and the guardian of 
 our mutiigl pledge of eternal affection." 
 
 Exhausted by her great exertion, Mrs. Frank- 
 lin was ready lo. faint, and her husband, in great 
 alarm, intreated h<er to speak no more ; and as-
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. / 
 
 sured her — " that although it Avas impossible for 
 him to be convinced of the possibility of his heart 
 ever being given to another, yet that her solicitude 
 for his welfare, and the liberality of her opinions 
 on a subject most women treated with abhorrence, 
 must add, if it were possible, to that unbounded 
 love and perfect esteem he now felt for her." 
 
 Mrs. Franklin, conscious that she had injured 
 herself by this evening's conversation, yielded to 
 his entreaties, and promised that she would not 
 attempt to renew a subject to which she had been 
 led to expatiate far beyond her first intentions, 
 and which she found too much for her enfeebled 
 frame to support 
 
 This amiable woman had been married in her 
 twenty-second year to Mr. Franklin, who was four 
 years older : he was a merchant chiefly engaged 
 in the Spanish trade, and connected in the way 
 of business with her father, whose full consent 
 was given to a marriage every way suitable in 
 both parties. Mr. Franklin, in addition to his 
 patrimonial fortune, which was considerable, (but 
 being personal, was all engaged in com.merce), 
 was the heir to a fine old family estate, on the 
 mother's side ; but whose present incumbent was 
 so little likely to leave it soon, that it appeared 
 more likely to become the possession of his child 
 than his own. Unfortunately it was entailed on 
 the male heir, in default of which, it passed to a 
 different family. Louisa, the eldest child of Mr. 
 and Mrs. P'ranklin, whose humble memoirs we 
 propose to relate in this volume, was born the
 
 8 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 first year of tlieir marriage ; and, though under 
 the circumstance above-mentioned, there is reason 
 to cr'ncludCja son would have been more welcome, 
 yet she was received with joy, and nourished with 
 unbounded love by both parents. 
 
 Mrs. Franklin had no other child for three 
 years, when she presented her husband with 
 another girl, which caught the measles a few 
 months after its birth, and died. This disappoint- 
 ment was not made up for the space of near four 
 years, when the birth of a boy completed the 
 happiness of Mr. Franklin ; and for near two 
 years this lovely blossom grew beneath his eye 
 as the fairest flower in the world's wide garden ; 
 but, alas ! about that time, the severe pain oc- 
 casioned by cutting his teeth, brought on a fever, 
 from which no power of medicine, no attention 
 of parental solicitude could save him ; and after 
 much severe suffering, experienced during many 
 weeks, he expired in the lap of his afflicted mother. 
 
 The sufferings of Mrs. Franklin on this occa- 
 sion were not vv'holly mental ; the dreadful nights 
 she underwent with her little boy, especially the 
 habit of jumping out of her warm bed and run- 
 ning into the nursery, which she had practised 
 before he was so ill as to require her constant care, 
 had given her a bad cold, which, being neglected 
 (in the general and overpowering interest both 
 herself and husband had felt for their precious 
 boy) had fallen upon her lungs, and soon produced 
 every symptom of pulmonary consumption. Igno- 
 rant of the nature of the complaint, those around
 
 THE DAUGHTEK-IN-LAW. 9 
 
 imputed every little ailment she mentioned to 
 grief alone ; and when the prevalence of the dis- 
 order threw that hectic bloom into her pale cheek, 
 which is the most fatal criterion of the complaint, 
 poor Mr. Franklin began to hope she was recover- 
 ing from the stroke of sorrow ; and perhaps his 
 fatal security might have continued still longer, 
 if little Louisa had not said one day, as she stood 
 earnestly looking at her mother, — " 1 wonder that 
 mamma's arms should grow so very thin, when 
 her cheeks are so rosy ; now Betty's cheeks are 
 as red as mamma's, but then her arms are fat and 
 red too." 
 
 " People look thin in black, my love," said 
 Mrs, Franklin, " from an effect of the light you 
 are too young to understand." 
 
 " Yes ; but, mamma, your arms are white, 
 and they are thin too, and your neck and face is 
 quite thin, for all that red colour comes after 
 dinner so." 
 
 " The child is perfectly right," said Mr. Frank- 
 lin ; " you are ill, my love, I am sure you have 
 a slow fever, or something of that kind ; I must 
 see Dr. Jackson directly." 
 
 The Doctor prescribed Bristol ; and the alarmed 
 and deeply-afflicted husband bore his wasted 
 treasure to the reviving spring : a temporary 
 amendment appeared to take place ; and on 
 their return to their residence in London, they 
 received the congratulations of their friends, on 
 the supposed restoration of Mrs.Franklin'shealth; 
 but in a few weeks every consumptive symptom
 
 10 THE DAUGKTEK-IN-LAAV. 
 
 re- appeared ; and they were ordered to return 
 to Bristol, or set out for the Devonshh-e coast, 
 with all speed. 
 
 Mrs. Franklin knew that the presence of her 
 husband in London was not only necessary to 
 his own affairs, but to those of his partners and 
 their families. She felt the hand of death was 
 upon her, not to be removed by mortal help, and 
 she resolved to await the awful moment, in her 
 own house, where she was surrounded by do- 
 mestics who loved her, and friends who esteemed 
 her, and vvhere her husband's distress would ad- 
 mit some alleviation, from that diversion to me- 
 lancholy inevitable to a man of business, in the 
 scene of his engagements, and v/hich could not 
 take place at a distance from home. Her mind, 
 deeply imbued with that blessed religion, w^hose 
 precepts alone can support the mind about to be 
 torn from every earthly blessing, when, rich in 
 all, now sought in a peculiar manner for strength 
 in the hour of need ; and those hours in which 
 the languor of disease abated, were spent in se- 
 curing, by earnest prayer and meditation, an in- 
 heritance in that land, " where the moth doth 
 not corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal ;" 
 and in communicating to her darling little one, 
 as far as she was capable of understandirsg them, 
 the great truths of Christianity, and with ad- 
 vising and impressing on her yielding mind, the 
 necessity of carrying the precepts contained in 
 the gospel into every part of her actual conduct 
 in future life. She was particularly anxious to
 
 THE DAUGHTEll- IN-LAW. 11 
 
 make her daughter understand the difference 
 between humility and meanness ; and to ground 
 and settle the former in her mind as a rule of 
 action, while she avoided the other, not only as 
 contemptible, but sinful ; nor was she less soli- 
 citous to show her the difference betwixt extra- 
 vagance and generosity, so often confounded by 
 young people ; and to teach that the true ground- 
 work of charity is a liberal economy. These pre- 
 cepts the wise mother inculcated by familiar ex- 
 amples, drawn from the objects and persons 
 around them : for she well knew, that however 
 desirous children may be to retain rules, given 
 by those they love, and to treasure sentences ut- 
 tered by dying lips, yet the natural volatility of 
 youth, and the variety of pursuits they are en- 
 gaged in, render it next to impossible that they 
 should retain the spirit of a moral precept, unless 
 it be embodied by example. 
 
 The reader must not suppose, that because 
 Mrs. Franklin was now particularly anxious as to 
 the state of her Louisa's mind, that she had been 
 negligent in times past ; on the contrary, she had 
 ever been the most active and tender governess 
 of her little girl, and had, till after the birth of 
 her son, been herself the sole instructor of Louisa; 
 after that time she had become a day-boarder 
 in a neifjlibouriiisc boardinor-school, where she iiad 
 made considerable proficiency in the usual avoca- 
 tions of her age and situation in life ; but at the 
 period we are now speaking of, all other educa- 
 tion, save that of the heart, appeared compara-
 
 12 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 tively insignificant in the eyes'of the dying parent ; 
 and though she continued to send Louisa to 
 school, as an amusement very necessary to divert 
 the mind of a child of great sensibility, yet she 
 seldom enquired after her progress in music or 
 drawing, farther than to recommend industry in 
 pursuing them ; for her heart was full of higher 
 subjects, and she felt every moment as a treasure, 
 of which she was on the eve of being called to 
 give a final account. She was truly thankful, 
 that, although oppressed by a sense of weakness, 
 which rendered far the greatest number of her 
 hours useless, yet that she was not afflicted by 
 severe pain or rendered unequal to bearing the 
 company of her husband and child. 
 
 The most severe exercise her mind ever felt, 
 arose from the idea that Louisa might one day be 
 subject to the control of a step-mother, who 
 might possibly be unfit, though perhaps not un- 
 worthy of the situation ; she knew the mind of 
 her child to be endowed with a more than ordi- 
 nary understanding, and a sensibility unhappily 
 so acute, that she would be but too apt easily to 
 perceive the errors of those around her, and 
 deeply to lament them. She trembled lest her 
 talents should subject her to the dislike of a 
 vulgar mind, who might contemn what it could not 
 relish, and repress the scions it knew not how to 
 cultivate, or warp the branch it could not rear. 
 
 Under these painful impressions, there were 
 moments when she was almost tempted to ask 
 Mr. Franklin for a promise she well knew he
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LA.W. l3 
 
 would make with avidity, that of never engaging 
 in a second union ; but the recollection of all 
 she had observed in other men, who had been 
 strongly attached to their wives, and who had yet 
 fwith scarcely a solitary ey^eption) been in the 
 course of a few years married again, the con- 
 sciousness that he was a man peculiarly fitted to 
 enjoy and adorn the connubial state, and that 
 his person, manners, and station in life, were 
 such as render it probable that many women 
 would endeavour to gain his affection, deterred 
 her from engaging him in a promise, which she 
 was convinced he would keep, however painful, 
 and which, the moment it became so, would defeat 
 her wishes, which were as ardently desirous of 
 his welfare, as they could be even of Louisa's. 
 
 Accustoming herself to look much on this 
 subject, Mrs. Franklin at length beheld it without 
 dismay ; and by directing her judgment to the 
 investigation of the good as well as evil, which 
 might arise to her child from such a connection, 
 she was enabled in a great measure to secure the 
 one and ward off the other, so far as it was 
 likely to effect the mind of Louisa ; and though 
 it was (with the utmost caution) yet almost im- 
 possible to revert to the termination of her life, 
 without awakening grief, even to agony, in the 
 throbbing heart of the poor child, yet she con- 
 trived so to bring forward examples and exhorta- 
 tions, that, long before the evening alluded to, a 
 ground- work of obedience and friendly confidence 
 had been laid in the breast of Louisa, when cir-
 
 14 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 cumstances should call it into action, the happy 
 effects of which were found long after the lips 
 which uttered them were mouldered in the dust. 
 
 As Mrs. Franklin was truly solicitous to save 
 her beloved partner from every unnecessary pang, 
 she never again adverted to a circumstance, 
 which, in the present tone of his spirits, appeared 
 impossible to him, since every day, as it increased 
 her weakness, seemed to increase his tenderness, 
 and to bind her to his heart by tenfold cords. 
 Her meekness and resignation, her unabating 
 love and tender consideration, which induced her, 
 under the extreme debility she now experienced, 
 still to address him with cheerfulness, and conceal 
 her fears and her pains, lest they should wound 
 him, had the effect of rendering her an object of 
 equal esteem and veneration ; with affection he 
 looked upon her almost as a being of superior 
 order, which had been lent him for a time, from 
 her native heaven, which she was about to revisit ; 
 and he never approached her but with sentiments 
 in which devotional gratitude for past happiness 
 was mingled with agonizing grief for its departure. 
 
 Those who have felt that bitter sorrow of at- 
 tending the sick room of a consumptive friend, 
 and have witnessed from day to day the fluctua- 
 tions of this most flattering, though, in fact, most 
 hopeless of all diseases, know that there are 
 times when the patient appears to suffer so little, 
 and appears so essentially relieved by some change 
 of medicine or regimen, that those around them, 
 who are not particularly conversant in their com- 
 plaint, cannot help believing that a kind of miracle
 
 THE DiVUGHTER-IX-LAW. 15 
 
 is wrought in their favour, and that they are 
 about to receive them again from the very jaws 
 of the grave. Hope, when nursed by affection, 
 is rendered doubly sanguine, and the illusion she 
 presents in this case is generally increased by the 
 patient, whose meekness and tenderness throws 
 a veil over suffering he forbears to communicate, 
 lest it should wound the feelings of those most 
 dear to him, while it enlarges on evefy agreeable 
 sensation and temporary amendment. These 
 various emotions were felt by poor Mr. Franklin, 
 who veered between the incertitude of hope and 
 fear, in a manner those only can conceive who 
 have drank the same draught of sorrow with him- 
 self; he loved, most fondly, most tenderly loved 
 his wife ; she had been his earlv, his only choice, 
 and his esteem for her character, which had in- 
 creased with increasing knowledge of her worth, 
 and was now, by her patient submission to the 
 Divine will, and byher generous fortitude towards 
 himself, rendered perfect in his eyes, tended every 
 hour to make parting more painful, and force him 
 to take refuge from the agony such thoughts in- 
 flicted, in any hope or expectation that relieved 
 him, however improbable or fallacious such pro- 
 mise might appear to the eye of dispassionate 
 reason. 
 
 Mrs. Franklin dreaded lest the fatal stroke 
 should fall on him during these moments, and 
 yet she found it impossible to repress the little 
 pleasure thus snatched between long and melan- 
 choly intervals, although at times, as we have seen, 
 
 B 2
 
 16 THE DA.UGHTER-1N-LAW. 
 
 she endeavoured to prejiare him for the change, 
 which, however it might be delayed, she felt to 
 be inevitable. 
 
 As her end drew nigh, the painful struggles 
 she had mentally endured fof her husband and 
 her child subsided ; she was enabled, by a firm 
 faith and a hope full of immortality, to cast all 
 her cares upon her blessed Redeemer, and trust, 
 not only her own eternal welfare, but the earthly 
 comforts of those most dear to her, to Him who 
 " ordereth all things aright;" and in the humble 
 hope, that, according to her abilities, she had 
 laid the foundation of good in one heart, and been 
 in her day the minister of good to the other^ she 
 quietly resigned both to heaven, and awaited the 
 call of her Heavenly Father, with pious confi- 
 dence for the future and gratitude for the past. 
 
 The cares of business necessarily occupied a 
 considerable portion of Mr. Franklin's time ; and 
 though the very sight of him might be truly said 
 to do his wife good, yet she rather sought to 
 increase his engagements, than request his com- 
 pany, aware of the pangs which followed every 
 visit to her apartment. It w^as, however, happy 
 for them both, that the evening was generally 
 the period in which she was less incommoded by 
 her cough and fever, than any other period of 
 the day, and therefore the husband still found 
 those hours so long and so sweetly dedicated to 
 her society, still employed in her service, and 
 devoted to an intercourse more interesting and 
 endearing than any in which human nature is
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. l7 
 
 ever called to suffer or enjoy. This sacred hour 
 was generally partaken by little [Louisa, though 
 it was her accustomed hour of retiring ; but 
 what mother, so situated, could deny herself the 
 gratification of looking another and another time 
 at the dear being on whom her eyes must close 
 so soon for ever. 
 
 These were not melancholy evenings, though 
 they were sometimes serious ones ; each party 
 repressed some feelings for the sake of the other, 
 and both parents felt especially for the happiness 
 of their child ; and dreading lest an impression 
 inimical to her peace, and inconsistent with her 
 years, should be made on her mind during so 
 long a period of solicitude, they endeavoured to 
 divert their own views, for the sake of directing 
 hers from too close or frequent reflections on the 
 subject of her mother's illness, each inwardly 
 trusting, that when the moment of separation 
 did indeed arrive, strength would be given them 
 from above, proportioned to their wants. So 
 fully did Mrs. Franklin feel the truth of the 
 poet's assertion, that 
 
 " When such friends part , 'tis the survivor dies,'^ 
 
 that she felt it her duty, as far as she was ena- 
 bled in so weak a state, to amuse, console, and 
 cheer her husband, as the one whose lot in this 
 severe dispensation was infinitely the harder of 
 the two ; and notwithstanding the conviction she 
 felt, that in time he might, like other men, be 
 induced to make a second choice, vet her h(?art 
 
 B 3
 
 18 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 trembled for his more immediate sufferings, and 
 her feeble lips breathed many a silent prayer for 
 the mitigation of his impending sorrow. 
 
 One evening as she was thus employed, with 
 little Louisa reading the Blind Child on a stool 
 beside her, they were interrupted by the entrance 
 of Mr. Franklin before his usual time. — " I have 
 been so lucky, my love," said he, eagerly, " as 
 to procure you a few oysters at last, and I 
 hope you will allow me to open them for you • I 
 fear they are not fine, but I am sure they are 
 sweet." 
 
 " They will be very sweet from your hand, 
 ("harles : for though it is continually feeding me 
 with good things, its power of adding to their 
 flavour does not diminish." 
 
 As Mrs. Franklin spoke, she half rose from the 
 sofa where she lay, and Louisa springing up, 
 caught the pillows, and shaking them as she had 
 seen tthe nurse do, placed them behind her 
 mother's back, and then put the stool on which 
 she had been sitting under her feet. Mr. Franklin 
 gave an approving nod to her exertions, at the 
 same time he said — " I have forgot my knife, 
 Louisa ; I have not my wits about me as much 
 as you, child, as young as you are • I must con- 
 fess women are the best nurses by far." 
 
 " Yet I have made a very good one of you, my 
 dear," said the invalid with a cheerful accent ; 
 " you seldom make a noise with the door, or 
 break the fire, or throw down a physic bottle 
 now-a-days, and no one moves me half so easily
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 19 
 
 as you do ; there is no lesson affection cannot 
 easily learn." 
 
 " Then learn to eat this oyster," returned the 
 husband playfully, as he presented one to her 
 parched lips. 
 
 Mrs. Franklin had been very fond of oysters, 
 and with the sickly desire common to her com- 
 plaint, had lamented they were not in season, 
 under the idea that they would greatly relieve 
 her ; she ate several at this time, declaring they 
 were very good, and the only food she had taken 
 for a long time which tasted as it used to do. 
 After making what she considered a very hearty 
 supper, to the great satisfaction of her husband 
 and Louisa, she laid down again on the sofa, 
 observing, that she should rest better if she 
 heard them engaged in conversation, than if they 
 remained silent ; for though desirous of obtaining 
 composure, she had no inclination for sleep. 
 
 Mr. Franklin taking Louisa on his knee, ob- 
 served that her mamma looked much cooler and 
 better than usual. 
 
 "Yes," returned Louisa, "" but that is no won- 
 der, for she has never coughed once since five 
 this morning ; and though her fever was very 
 bad after dinner, yet it was gone down charmingly 
 before you brought the oysters." 
 
 " Indeed !" said the anxious husband, and his 
 eyes again turned to heaven, illumined by thank- 
 fulness and hope. 
 
 " Move me a little, my love,"" said Mrs. Frank- 
 lin ; '' I think the other side will be easier."
 
 20 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 She was removed most tenderly several times, 
 but no side was found more easy than the last. 
 
 " You will not think me capricious, Charles, 
 though I do give you so much trouble ; I find I 
 cannot lie ; I must sit up now, and rest on your 
 shoulder." 
 
 This change of position was quickly effected, 
 and Louisa's good offices again called into action, 
 though the servant was in the room ; for her 
 solicitude to prove her love had taught her a 
 method of paying every little attention in such 
 a silent and efficacious manner, that few attend- 
 ants on a sick chamber could excel her in those 
 offices where activity rather than strength vv-as 
 required. Mr, Franklin called her a good child, 
 and said — *' When I am a gouty old man, Louisa 
 shall wrap my flannels round my legs, she is so 
 handy." 
 
 " Louisa will nurse you," said Mrs. Franklin, 
 " not only because she loves you, but because 
 she will remember how much her mother owes 
 you." 
 
 There was a difficulty in the pronunciation of 
 these words that affected and somewhat alarmed 
 her auditors. Louisa, starting from her father's 
 knee, took her mother's hand and silently pressed 
 it to her lips. 
 
 " You will remember this, my dear child, I am 
 sure you will," still more faintly articulated the 
 languid mother. 
 
 Louisa, unable to reply, pressed the cold hand 
 Avith redoubled ardour to her trembling lips.
 
 THE DAUGIITEil-IN-LAW, 21 
 
 Mrs. Franklin, as she withdrew it, gently 
 raised herself, and clasping both her hands, for a 
 few moments seemed, in silent devotion, to be 
 begging blessings on the head of her child and 
 her husband ; as if exhausted by the effort, she 
 fell back into the arms of Mr. Franklin, and 
 Louisa partaking her feelings, dropped on her 
 knees before them, while her father's streaming 
 ej^es looked up to heaven for blessings on both. 
 In the silent pause which ensued, the faint breath 
 of his beloved wife ceased to play upon his cheek ; 
 he listened, but no sound was heard ; alarmed, 
 he cried — " Louisa, your mother is fainting ; 
 give me the salts :'" but Louisa gazed, unable to 
 move. Betty flew to his assistance, and from 
 her lips the dreadful truth found utterance — if 
 that truth should be called dreadful, which pro- 
 claimed the emancipation of a soul thus purified 
 from earthly sorrows to heavenly bliss ; snatched 
 in the very moment of adoration, and with a look 
 of humble confidence, still stamped on its lovely 
 features, that spoke the divine composure which 
 illumined its departing moments. Yet death is 
 ever found awful, even under its mildest form ; a 
 kind of horror, which suspended grief, seized on 
 the faculties of the astonished child, and for a 
 short time absorbed every other emotion, but the 
 bitter anguish of her father awoke her to a sense 
 of her incalculable loss, at the same time that it 
 called her to pity his stronger sense of acute 
 suffering ; and the first words she uttered, were 
 — " My father ! oh, my poor, poor father I"
 
 22 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 That father clasped her to his aching heart, 
 and while his tears first freely flowed with hers, 
 felt that heaven had left him one jewel from the 
 wreck of former haj^piness, which, though un- 
 equal to bestowing comfort, yet ought to save 
 him from despair. 
 
 As we do not wish to dwell on scenes which 
 would recall sensations of severe anguish to such 
 of our readers as have lost near relations, and 
 cannot be readily conceived by those who have 
 not, we shall pass over a few succeeding days, 
 and observe only, that, on the morning preceding 
 Mrs. Franklin's funeral, at a very early hour, 
 when even the eyes of the widower were sealed 
 by the short and broken slumbers which visit the 
 pillow of the afflicted, Louisa stole from her 
 chamber, and, creeping on tiptoe to the house- 
 keeper's room, she took thence the key of the 
 chamber where her mother lay, and carefully 
 opening the door, she entered the room, and 
 sitting down by the corpse for the last time, 
 earnestly and fondly contemplated those features 
 so soon to be consigned to their last abode. Her 
 mind, naturally vigorous, had soon recovered 
 from its first emotion of terror, and was now en- 
 abled to feel a melancholy but sacred pleasure in 
 gazing one moment on the faded ruin before her, 
 and the next, in lifting her heart towards that 
 divine mansion, where she believed the spirit of 
 her beloved mother was now rejoicing in the pre- 
 sence of her God, and where she ardently desired 
 to partake her felicity. Her little heart, new to
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 23 
 
 the world, and a stranger to its blandishments, 
 felt simply a desire to join her beloved parent ; 
 and she knelt down by the coffin, earnestly pray- 
 ing that herself and her father might soon be 
 permitted to join her mother in heaven ; when 
 recollecting how often that mother had informed 
 her that obedience and patience were the duties 
 to which, as creatures and Christians, we were 
 more immediately called, she changed the nature 
 of her request, and besought the great " Giver of 
 Good" to imprint on her mind every precept of 
 the departed saint before her, and make her a 
 blessing to her father, that she might be worthy 
 of her mother. 
 
 As Louisa rose, a sweet and tranquil sense of 
 the Divine goodness spread over her mind, and 
 composed the agitation of her heart ; she audibly 
 pronounced a resolution of always obeying her 
 dear mamma, and beseeching God to direct her 
 in all things ; and then, kissing the pale cheek 
 of the corpse, and carefully covering the face, she 
 departed unseen, with a heart afflicted but de- 
 voutly resigned to heaven, and sensible of its 
 support and mercy. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 How every -heart string bleeds at thoughts of 
 parting ! — Blair. 
 
 As soon as Mr. Franklin was enabled to see his 
 friends, or rather, as soon as his friends concluded
 
 24 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 that it was proper that they should intrude on 
 his privacy, and endeavour to divert the sorrow 
 they could not cure, he was assailed on all sides 
 with advice respecting his little daughter, of 
 whom it was observed, that she must inevitably 
 be ruined if she were not sent to a good school at 
 a distance from home ; that it was natural to 
 suppose that an only child would be spoiled by 
 an indulgent father, under such jDainfyl circum- 
 stances ; and therefore it was his duty, for her 
 sake, to consent to a removal, which was the 
 only way to procure her a good education, and 
 save her from being completely ruined by indul- 
 gence. 
 
 As Mr. Franklin perceived that Louisa was 
 quite as forward in her education as any child he 
 was acquainted with, and her mind, in fact, more 
 cultivated than those of many much older ; as 
 her manners were extremely mild and unassuming, 
 and her temper very amiable, he could not per- 
 ceive the necessity of depriving himself of his 
 only pleasure and solace, which was her society. 
 He knew, though they did not know, that what 
 they justly called liis long melancholy evenings, 
 were to him inexpressibly dear, notwithstanding 
 their sadness; for he loved to sit with Louisa and 
 talk of all her mother said, and did, and wished^ 
 and to plan with her the means of fulfilling all 
 her mother's intentions, either towards the poor 
 she was accustomed to relieve, or as they re- 
 garded the establishment and improvement of 
 her household or her garden, in which, though
 
 THE DAUGHTEE-IN-LAW. 25 
 
 small, she had taken great delight, and where 
 she had formed a little greenhouse, adorned with 
 the choicest exotics, in which Louisa had re- 
 ceived man)" a lesson of love. 
 
 The interesting evenings thus spent w^ith his 
 child might have been rendered equally beneficial 
 to both, if the father had been as judicious as he 
 was tender ; but the suavity of Louisa's manners 
 deceived him into the belief that no mode of in- 
 dulgence could be prejudicial to so good a dis- 
 position and excellent an understanding as he 
 l)elieved his Louisa to possess ; he therefore 
 indulged himself by never refusing any thing she 
 desired, thinking the loss they had mutually sus- 
 tained, gave them both a kind of right to possess 
 every other good. Like most other children, 
 Louisa was fond of sitting up at nights, and as 
 this was the time when her father m.ost needed 
 her innocent prattle, the habit, begun from a kind 
 of necessity in her mother's last days, increased 
 to a very blamable degree : and as their conver- 
 sation generally took a turn, which, by adverting 
 to their departed friend, opened anew the avenues 
 of sorrow, the natural sensibility of poor Louisa's 
 mind was rendered still more acute, which, com- 
 bining with the nervous weakness inseparable 
 from improper hours, rendered her in a few 
 months a delicate pining flower, m.ore Hkely to 
 wither beneath the eye of her indulgent parent, 
 than refresh him with perennial fragrance. 
 
 This change had come on so gradually, that 
 it would have continued imperceptible, if Mr. 
 
 c
 
 26 THE DATJGHTER-IN-LAW, 
 
 Franklin had not been under the necessity of 
 taking a short journey ; on his return, he felt 
 shocked at the pallid looks, and the extreme agi- 
 tation of joy discovered by his child, but on his 
 questioning the servants, he could not find that 
 any person thought her altered during his ab- 
 sence ; he began to perceive that something was 
 essentially wrong in his system, and concluded 
 but too suddenly, that because he was wrong, 
 the friends who had so strenously insisted on the 
 necessity of sending her to school must be right ; 
 and he determined that his duty should rise 
 paramount to his inclination, as soon as he should 
 be able to reconcile Louisa herself to the task of 
 parting with him ; but this he was well aware 
 could be no easy task. Warm to impetuosity 
 in her attachments, naturally endued with too 
 great a portion of sensibility, which had been 
 nurtured by circumstances, he knew that her 
 love to him at this time amounted to a species of 
 passion, which it was equally necessary and dif- 
 ficult to allay for her own sake, though it was 
 to him the dearest tie of existence. He again 
 lamented the loss of that wife, whose attempered 
 spirit would have directed the ductile mind of 
 his delightful but suffering child to the medium 
 in which Virtue presides, and Happiness is her 
 attendant. When, however, he pointed out to 
 Louisa the necessity of removing her to some 
 country situation, where change of air might re- 
 store her strength, and young companions en- 
 liven her, he found that her mother's precepts
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAAV. 27 
 
 had indeed sunk deep into her heart ; though he 
 had suffered them to lie dormant there so long, 
 an uncomplaining obedience to his will, a severe 
 struggle with the tears that rose to her eyes, 
 evinced her resolution to act right, while the 
 pain it cost her affected him. exceedingly ; and, 
 unequal to the task he was exacting, he declared 
 that it should be put off for another month or 
 two, at all events. 
 
 In the course of that time, the housekeeper 
 told him, " that she thought if Miss Louiy 
 wasn't sent somewhere, it would be all over with 
 her, for she scarce eat as much as a sparrow, 
 and she would cry at a feather; she was just 
 fretted to death because a geranium was dying, 
 and had been making'a sort of song on her sick 
 linnet, that was enough to break her heart, poor 
 little creature ! for her part, she had always 
 thought her a deal too good, to be long for this 
 w^orld ; but still she thought it w^as right just to 
 try what the country might do for her." 
 
 To the country it was determined she should 
 go ; and after many consultations, the anxious 
 father at last set out wdth his darling to a school 
 w^here only ten pupils were taken, flattering him- 
 self that she would, from this circumstance, be 
 under the more immediate eye of the governess. 
 
 He was received by that lady with an air of 
 polite gravity, which induced him to hope he had 
 met with a person of feeling, who would appre- 
 ciate the situation of his child justly. — '^ This 
 
 c 2
 
 28 THE DAUGHTKR-IN-LAAV. 
 
 little girl," said he, " is my only child, madam, 
 and she has no mother." 
 
 The lady bowed. 
 
 "■' Her health has of late been delicate, but I 
 believe my foolish indulgence has been the sole 
 cause of it,'' 
 
 The lady bowed. 
 
 Mr. Franklin arose, for his voice was lost, and 
 it appeared the lady's was in the same predica- 
 ment ; but his motion to depart, induced her to 
 enquire rapidly, what he intended the young lady 
 to learn ? 
 
 " Whatever' she — that is, whatever you think 
 proper." 
 
 It was right to shorten these painful moments, 
 and the fond father, clasping his trembling child 
 in his arms, after one farewell kiss, rushed out 
 of the house, scarcely less affected, than in the 
 dreadful moment when her mother's lifeless head 
 dropped on his aching breast. 
 
 Louisa struggled hard, but sorrow would have 
 vent ', and she sat down on the window-seat, 
 whence she had caught the last glance of her 
 father, and wept bitterly. 
 
 The governess took up her knitting, to which 
 she applied herself with great diligence ; she 
 had probably read Sterne's assertion, " that con- 
 solation ever comes too soon or too late," and 
 therefore concluded it^w^ould be foolish to offer 
 it ; when after getting to the end of her cotton, 
 however, she looked up, and saw the new scholar, 
 she said coolly — " If you have done crying. Miss,
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 29 
 
 I will take you to the young ladies, for I want 
 some more cotton, I find." 
 
 Eager to atone for her apparent deficiency in 
 the confidence she ought to have had in her new 
 friend, Louisa hastily rose, and, smiling through 
 her tears, followed the steps of her governess 
 with alacrity to the school-room. 
 
 As Miss Saunders, her new governess, advanced 
 to speak to the teacher, Louisa closely followed 
 her, hoping she would be introduced in a man- 
 ner that would ensure her protection and con- 
 solation; but how did her little heart sink, when, 
 in the half-whispered address of Miss Saunders, 
 she distinctly caught the words " little puling 
 pet," as applied to herself! 
 
 This inflicted a pang she was not prepared to 
 expect ; and though she strove to hide it, a kind 
 of dismay, far more powerful than even her first 
 sorrow at parting with her father, came over her 
 mind and absorbed her faculties ; she was, how- 
 ever, somewhat relieved by the governess hastily 
 quitting the room, after informing the pupils — 
 " That ihey might now go to play in the garden, 
 and take Miss Franklin with them, if she would 
 condescend to go." 
 
 The word^ condescend' operated like an ice- 
 bolt on the warm hearts of the youthful group ; 
 and after viewing their new companion with eyes 
 askance, one after anotlier, dropped out of the 
 room, without offering her any attention. 
 
 Louisa had been used to very dificient treat- 
 ment at the school in town, where she had been a 
 
 c 3
 
 30 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 daily, though of late not a constantly daily visit- 
 ant. She tried to persuade herself, that, perhaps 
 ladies in the country accustomed themselves to 
 such manners, and her spirits recoiled at the 
 rudeness as well as unkindness of country ladies. 
 As these things passed her mind, a little blue- 
 eyed girl, with flaxen hair, returned into the 
 room with a small garden-hoe in her hand, and, 
 running up to Miss Atkinson, the teacher, asked 
 her, in that tone of confidence kindness alone 
 inspires, for the flower-seeds she had promised 
 her. 
 
 " I will give you them, but it is too early to 
 put them in the ground, I believe. I am not 
 much more of a gardener than yourself, but I 
 think I have been told that lupins should not be 
 set till May." 
 
 The tone of voice in which this was uttered, 
 though addressed to another, reassured and com- 
 forted poor Louisa ; and as the speaker gave her 
 opinion with an air of great doubt, on a subject 
 on which she knew herself equal to speak with 
 certainty, she advanced towards her with a timid 
 and deprecating air, saying — " I believe, ma'am, 
 as the weather is so open, the lupins may be 
 planted now, though it is too earl|^ for several 
 other flo'.vers." 
 
 The teacher smiled graciously at this innocent 
 advance to better acquaintance, and inquired — 
 " How a little girl, whom she understood came 
 from London, should know any thing about 
 gardens?"'
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 31 
 
 " My mother," said Louisa, and her colour 
 flew to her cheek, while her lip quivered with 
 emotion — " my mother taught me a little about 
 flowers." 
 
 " Then you and I will take a turn in the 
 garden," said Miss Atkinson, laying down her 
 work, " and you shall teach me." 
 
 This act of kindness, at a moment of such 
 deep despondency, quite overcame Louisa ; she 
 gasped for breath — she gazed on the teacher — 
 ran towards her — checked herself, and then burst 
 into tears. 
 
 Miss Atkinson rose hastily, and caught the 
 poor child to her bosom, with an emotion almost 
 as vivid as her own ; but while she twinkled 
 away the tears that sprang to her eyes, she ex- 
 claimed — " Here's a pretty piece of work truly, 
 for me to get over ! Yes, yes ; this is sensibility 
 and genius truly : but, come, child," said she, 
 trying to put away Louisa as she kissed her, 
 " you must get the better of all this, and then 
 you will find yourself very happy amongst us ; 
 Caroline here will let you share her garden, 
 and " 
 
 " Oh, I will give it her all, and she shall work 
 with my hoe, and skip with my rope," exclaimed 
 the little blue-eyed girl, as she drew Louisa's 
 hand away from the neck around which she clung. 
 
 Anxious to show her gratitude, and perceiving 
 it would be more acceptably evinced by conquer- 
 ing her feelings than expressing her affection, 
 Louisa struggled with, and overcame them. She
 
 32 .. THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 took a hand from each of her new friends, and 
 soon found herself in a spacious garden, where 
 cheerful voices and busy faces were seen on every 
 side; her knowledge of flower-seeds was instantly 
 proclaimed by Caroline ; and she was soon sur- 
 rounded by all the young group, who were soli- 
 citous to atone for their late inattention. 
 
 In a short time she became acquainted with 
 their names, their gardens, their rules, and their 
 occupations ; and, on their being called to sup- 
 per, she proceeded with an air of so much mo- 
 dest familiarity to take her appointed place, that, 
 although the traces of tears were yet seen on her 
 cheeks. Miss Saunders herself observed, that she 
 hoped she would be a good girl in time. 
 
 Louisa was again shocked to perceive that this 
 lady had taken a prejudice to her, and appeared 
 to think that she had taken a spoiled, unmanage- 
 able child into her family; she began to examine 
 how far it was possible that she could deserve 
 that character, and the result of such self-ex- 
 amination was, that though she could not accuse 
 her heart of wilfully offending any human being, 
 yet she was sensible that her father's indulgence 
 had led her into habits, and induced her, per- 
 haps, to adopt manners similar to those she had 
 heard attributed to spoiled children ; she there- 
 fore concluded, very justly, that Miss Saunders 
 had been given to understand, that in her she 
 had undertaken a very difficult charge, and that 
 it would-probably be some time before she could 
 effect a change in her opinion.
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 33 
 
 Louisa sighed bitterly as these thoughts pass- 
 ed her mind, but she recalled her mother's ad- 
 vice, to be always humble, but never despairing; 
 and, with a resolution to deserve the good opi- 
 nion of her governess, and patiently to await its 
 attainment, she breathed a fervent prayer to her 
 Heavenly Father, for help in all her distresses, 
 and blessings on her father ; and then, fatigued 
 with her ride, and somewhat stupified by weep- 
 ing so much, she dropped into a sounder slumber 
 than she had enjoyed for many months. 
 
 Miss Saunders, though a woman of fine un- 
 derstanding and elesrant manners, was not well 
 calculated in many respects for the delicate and 
 arduous situation in which she was placed, for 
 she was a person subject to be governed by the 
 impulse of the moment, and apt to take what 
 are called likings and dislikings, without any 
 reason for her choice or rejection ; and though 
 she was by no means of that stubborn cast of 
 character which is generally found to accompany 
 those who are subject to idle prejudices, yet, as 
 she frequently went from one extreme to another, 
 there was equal danger in both, to those who were 
 placed under her guidance. These bad effects 
 were less experienced in her seminary than was 
 usual at this time, owing to the meliorating in- 
 fluence of Miss Atkinson, her teacher, who was 
 an amiable good girl, and who endeavoured, by 
 every means in her power, so to balance favour 
 as to produce general happiness. 
 
 A very short time served to establish Louisa in
 
 34 THE DAUGHTER- IN-LAW. 
 
 the good graces of all the masters who attended 
 the school, and their praises in some measure 
 atoned to her for the cold glances and haughty 
 salutations of her governess ; hut it'was a source 
 of deep uneasiness to her to observe this stub- 
 born prejudice. Ever accustomed to receive the 
 kindest attentions from ever)' one around her, 
 and feeling in herself a constant disposition to 
 be obliging and affectionate, her heart sunk, and 
 her hopes withered beneath this cruel blight ; 
 and her natural timidity, by preventing her from 
 displaying the excellent qualities of her heart, 
 unhappily increased the evil which afflicted her ; 
 and she daily saw those around her receiving the 
 most flattering proofs of tenderness from a w'arm 
 and generous heart, without being enabled to 
 throw herself into the way of receiving the slight- 
 est share of such envied distinctions. 
 
 The dominion of the governess of a boarding- 
 school over the hearts of her little subjects is 
 absolute. Parted from their natural connections, 
 and taught to look up to her with reverence, 
 not unmixed with fear, the least attention she 
 bestow^s on the little train around her is received 
 with unbounded gratitude, and cherished with 
 lively affection ; a kind word is received as a 
 great benefit, for it is considered a great honour, 
 and a trifling indulgence becomes an unspeak- 
 able obligation. The power of giving pleasure 
 and inflicting pain with scarcely an exertion, is 
 apt to mislead the person so situated into an un- 
 due influence over the feelings of others ; but,
 
 THE DAUGHTER-I]Sr-LA^V. 35 
 
 as it most frequently happens, it becomes bene- 
 ficial to children, by exciting them to praise- 
 worthy endeavours, we can scarcely wish it to 
 be decreased. To this must undoubtedly be at- 
 tributed principally, the superior progress in 
 learning, which children in schools are generally 
 observed to make above those who are privately 
 educated, even in cases where the latter appear 
 to have many more advantages. 
 
 While Louisa was combating the new diffi- 
 culties of her situation, her father was not less 
 painfully employed; his mansion was now indeed 
 bereft of all that could render it interesting' or 
 agreeable to him, and the melancholy loneliness 
 of his supper-hour was particularly irksome : 
 books no longer lent their wonted solace, for his 
 Louisa was not there to listen to and admire 
 them, or her little representative to be instructed 
 from their details. His friends, who had been 
 received rather as intruders than guests, during 
 the first months of his mourning, again returned 
 to condole with him for the loss of his late com- 
 panion ; they now were received with gratitude, 
 and welcomed with pleasure : in a short time 
 their visits were returned, and an intercourse 
 once opened with the world, increased with ra- 
 pidity ; so that when Louisa returned home at 
 her first vacation, she was sm*prised to find her 
 father keeping more company a great deal than 
 she remembered to have seen during the period 
 of her mother's highest health and activity. 
 She rejoiced to sec her dear parent looking so
 
 36 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 much better than when she parted with him ; 
 but she could not help sighing at the disappoint- 
 ment she felt at finding not a single hour in 
 which she could sit with him as she used to do, 
 to read her French lessons, to listen to his de- 
 scription of the stars, or to be told how dear she 
 was to the heart of her fond father. 
 
 That father read the feelings and the wishes 
 of his child, and, as far as he was able, in the 
 multiplicity of his engagements, checked their 
 course, and devoted his time to Louisa ; in her 
 society he found himself as happy as a man can 
 be in that of a child ; it taught him to see that 
 dissipation, eren when most correct, could never 
 make him happy ; but it taught him likewise, 
 that the chasm in his comforts could only be sup- 
 plied by a wife. 
 
 His friends, having made the discovery first, 
 accounted for the pains they had taken to leave 
 him no time to meditate upon her he had lost. 
 Louisa's presence gave him both time and recol- 
 lection ; he saw her mother again in her, and 
 wondered how he had ever ceased to see her : 
 the thorns of grief were renewed and sharpened; 
 and while he most regretted the loss he had 
 sustained, he was most sensible that that loss 
 could never be repaired : though his grief was 
 no longer violent, yet it appeared more settled'; 
 and the langour which stole over his mind, and 
 was observable in his countenance, forbade all 
 expectation of his forming, or even thinking of a 
 second choice : bv degjrees he withdrew himself
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAAV. 87 
 
 from the hurry of that company, which had oc- 
 cupied rather than amused him ; and before the 
 time for returning to school commenced, he had 
 become nearly as much devoted to his child, and 
 decidedly as fond of domestic scenes as ever ; 
 and those young ladies, who had a few weeks 
 before considered him in the light of an interest- 
 ing mourner, whose sorrows they were anxious 
 to console, or a gay widower, whose pleasure 
 they were willing to extend, now concluded he 
 was a very stupid creature, of whom it was im- 
 possible to make any thing accommodating or 
 agreeable. 
 
 Miss Saunders was not of this number, for 
 when Mr. Franklin returned with Louisa, she 
 was exceedingly struck with the difference in his 
 person and manner, which, though tinctured with 
 sadness, was no longer sorrowful ; his visit was 
 considerably longer, and enabled her to see how 
 truly agreeable he was ; and as Louisa was now 
 enalDled to part with him in a manner which 
 did equal honour to her fortitude and sensibility, 
 Miss Saunders, flattered by her exertion, kindly 
 transferred her admiration of the father to the 
 daughter, whom she declared to be amazingly 
 improved during her absence ; and from that 
 time discovered so many good qualities in her, 
 that Louisa shortly became that envied and ge- 
 nerally unfortunate being — a favourite ; but she 
 bore her new honours so meekly, and retained 
 so much humilitv in the day of her power, that 
 
 D
 
 38 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 her young friends rejoiced in her advancement, 
 rather than envied its progress. 
 
 In every necessary attention to her school 
 duties, her attention increased as she grew older, 
 and her mind became more matured ; so that, 
 at the next vacation, even those acquaintances 
 Avho had most confidently pronounced on her 
 being completely ruined, observed, " that really 
 Louisa Franklin was a clever child, considering 
 how timid she was, and what a long time she 
 had lost by living at home with her sick mother 
 and her doting father." 
 
 Another, and another, vacation passed, and 
 Louisa remarked with pleasure, that her father 
 regained his spirits, but retained for her the same 
 affectionate tenderness, and for her mother's 
 memory the same lively esteem, which had ever 
 TOiarked his conduct. During each recess, he 
 generally contrived to accompany her for a few 
 days to visit her maternal grandfather, who re- 
 sided in Essex, and who was extremely fond of 
 her, as the representative of his only daughter. 
 
 Louisa was eleven years old, when, on her ac- 
 customed return to her father's house, she was 
 requested to pay a visit to Mr. Hartop, her fa- 
 ther's partner, for the purpose of forming an ac- 
 quaintance with two young ladies of the name 
 of Debrett, who were, with their mamma, vi- 
 sitants at Mr. Hartop's house : they were both 
 older than Louisa, and neither of them the com- 
 panions she would have chosen ; but as friends 
 of Mr. Hartop, they had a right to her polite
 
 THE DA,UGHTER-IN-LA.W. 39 
 
 attention ; and, without being guilty of insince- 
 rity, by professing more friendship than she 
 really felt, Louisa treated the young ladies with 
 a degree of civility which appeared to win their 
 affections, and to make a remarkable impression 
 on those of their mother. 
 
 Mrs. Debrett was the widow of an officer, and 
 had resided since his death in the neighbourhood 
 of Exeter, from whence she was drawn to Lon- 
 don by the adjustment of some pecuniary con- 
 cerns,' in Avhich the assistance of Mr. Hartop, 
 who was her cousin, was of use to her. She 
 w^as a fine woman in her person, showy rather 
 than solid in her attainments, but highly pleasing 
 in her manners and general deportment, keen 
 in her remarks, and warm in her temper ; she 
 had the unfortunate faculty of making either 
 positive friends or enemies, in the common ac- 
 quaintance of a day : thus, while one person was 
 crying up Mrs. Debrett in one company. as a 
 most fascinating woman, whose warm, generous 
 heart, and interesting manners, ought to afford 
 her a universal passport, another person, in ano- 
 ther company, was condemning her as a specious 
 encroacher, an insolent satirist, or a passionate 
 scold ; and though both parties coloured the 
 subject too highly, yet neither were devoid of 
 truth, for Mrs. Debrett was liable to both inter- 
 pretations ten times a-day, because she was sub- 
 ject to act from the impulse of the moment, and 
 allowed feeling to predominate over reason, 
 whenever it was strongly excited ; and the im- 
 
 D 2
 
 40 THE DAUGHTKR-IN-LAW, 
 
 moderate fondness she testified for Louisa was 
 rather the effect of a predisposition to admire 
 her, than any real elucidation of the virtues she 
 knew her to possess. 
 
 Maria Debrett, the eldest daughter of this lady, 
 was tall, thin, and somewhat awkward in her 
 person, indolent in her habits, and uninformed 
 in her mind, but her temper was good, and her 
 heart as affectionate as is consistent with idle- 
 ness ; such persons wish well to those around 
 them, but have not the energy required by active 
 friendship ; they will do no harm even to an 
 enemy, but cannot do good for even their dearest 
 connections. 
 L Ellen Debrett was scarcely one year younger 
 than her sister, but she was considerably less in 
 her person, had a very pretty face, and was agile, 
 smart, and lively in her gait ; while a pertness 
 mixed in her manners, that proved to a stranger 
 how much superior she conceived herself to bo 
 to her plainer sister, a circumstance to which her 
 mother's ill-judged partiality greatly contributed, 
 as the beauty of Ellen was her darling theme 
 continually, and had evidently had an equally 
 bad effect on both her daughters, as it had caused 
 the youngest to rest satisfied with very moderate 
 attainments, and by sinking the spirits of the 
 eldest, nearly incapacitated her from making any 
 attainments at all : thus, two girls, who were 
 both blessed with very tolerable understandings, 
 by this improper treatment were alike injured.
 
 THE DAL"GHT£R-IN-LAW. 41 
 
 the elder being a listless hoyden, and the younger 
 a forward chit. 
 
 Mrs. Debrett was a woman of too much dis- 
 cernment not to perceive that Louisa Franklin, 
 young as she was, could appreciate the defects 
 of her eldest daughter, and must sometimes feel 
 wounded by the airs of superiority assumed by 
 her darling, since even her own partiality could 
 not always render her blind to them ; and the 
 mild courtesy which she displayed towards both, 
 appeared to win the affections of the mother ; 
 and her display of regard was met with the 
 fondest cordiality by Louisa, who became so at- 
 tached to Mrs. Debrett, that, on her return home, 
 she was never weary of relating to her father 
 something said or done by that lady, which ap- 
 peared to her likely to place her kindness in a 
 pleasing point of view; and as he alwajs listened 
 to her artless eulogies with patience, and often 
 with pleasure, Mrs. Debrett became naturally 
 the chief subject of her conversation, in places 
 where the auditors were less inclined to listen : 
 and one day when she was visiting an old lady, 
 who was the intimate acquaintance of her family, 
 and who had insisted on receiving a farewell 
 visit from her, previous to her return to school, 
 she was surprised to hear a visitor address her 
 good friend, Mrs. St. Aubin, in the following 
 manner — " 1 wish you had been at Mrs. Har- 
 top's last night, and this little girl with you ; 
 you would then have seen how amiable Mrs. 
 Debrett was: she played off more airs llian be- 
 
 1) '6
 
 42 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 came her, all the evening, lost a great deal more 
 money than she could afford to do, and being 
 worked up into an ill-humour, went into a most 
 outrageous passion at her eldest daughter, who, 
 to be sure, is a stupid child, but by no means de- 
 served the treatment she met with." 
 
 " Notwithstanding all that,''' said another visit- 
 ant, " Mrs, Debrett is certainly a very charming 
 woman ; she has been used, in her husband's 
 time, to mix with the very best company, which 
 accounts for what you call airs in her ; and 
 though she is hasty in her temper, yet when her 
 passion is off, she is very good-tempered : we all 
 have our faults, and she is so free to confess hers, 
 there is so much generosity in her nature, and 
 frankness in her disposition, that I confess I can- 
 not help liking her very much ; and the style of 
 her manners you must allow to be very superior ; 
 she is indeed a perfect gentlewoman. I never 
 met with a person so calculated to bring out 
 young women to advantage ; and I have no doubt 
 but her daughters will, in a few years, find the 
 advantage of having such a chaperon as their 
 mamma." 
 
 " And somebody else's daughter too," said an 
 old gentleman, nodding significantly towards 
 Louisa. 
 
 " Yes, I rather think so," said the first speaker ; 
 " one should be careful what they say. I sup- 
 pose, my dear," turning to Louisa, "you have 
 been a good deal with Mrs. Debrett during your 
 vacation ?"
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 43 
 
 Louisa answered in the affirmative ; and look- 
 ing at the second speaker with great complacency, 
 added — " And I like Mrs. Debrett exceedingly — 
 she is so kind to me : she was very fond of plants, 
 and she " 
 
 " Ay, ay," interrupted the gentleman, " so 
 fond, child, that she will transplant some of hers 
 into your garden very soon, take my word for 
 it ; but, how^ever, as Mrs. Tweedle observes, least 
 said is soonest mended — little jugs have long 
 ears." 
 
 Louisa blushed exceedingly ; she saw that 
 " more was meant than met her ear," by the 
 knowing nods and winks of the party ; and, for 
 the first time, she wished Mrs. St. Aubin had 
 not asked her. She was aware that she was a 
 party in some way unknown to herself, and yet 
 that her presence imposed restraint on those 
 around her ; this was a new sensation to her, 
 and so anxious was she to escape it, that she was 
 casting about in her mind how she could leave 
 the room, without doing it in so pointed a man- 
 ner as to show the company how much these 
 inuendoes affected her, when Mrs. St. Aubin, who 
 loved her very much, and was hurt at the incon- 
 siderate manner in which her guests had wounded 
 the feelings of a child, who was treated as an 
 automaton in the first place, and a spy in the se- 
 cond, drew her near to her, and said, in an open 
 but kind manner — " There have been ^so many 
 reports respecting my friend Franklin's marriage, 
 not one of which have had the leat^t groundwork,
 
 44 THE DAUGHTEE-IN-LAW. 
 
 that it is probable the match talked of with Mrs. 
 Debrett may pass off like the rest ; so, my dear 
 Louisa, don't allow it to give you a moment's 
 uneasiness ; most probably it is all idle chitchat." 
 Louisa, at once enlightened and wounded, not 
 so much by the intelligence as the manner in 
 which it reached her, saw that Mrs. St. Aubin 
 did not believe her own assertion of the reports 
 being a mere fabrication, and she felt that her 
 father ought not to have left a communication of 
 so much importance to be made by a stranger ; 
 this want of confidence, as she deemed it, caused 
 the tears instantly to spring to her eyes, and she 
 involuntarily sunk for a moment on the bosom 
 of Mrs. St. Aubin ; but the affected pity of those 
 around her, expressed by " Poor child !" " God 
 help her !'' " I wish I had been more cautious," 
 &c., roused her as quickly ; and the moment she 
 fancied that those feelings were read, which had 
 dared to arraign a father so beloved and respected, 
 she became to the greatest degree anxious to de- 
 stroy the impression her own emotion had awa- 
 kened ; by a determined effort, she repressed the 
 choking, which rose almost to suffocation in her 
 throat, and shaking the tears from her cheek as 
 she raised her head, said to her friend — "I do 
 not think my papa is likely to marry Mrs. Debrett 
 suon, because I think he would have told me of 
 it, for he knows that I am very fond of Mrs. De- 
 brett, and would rather have her for a 1 would 
 
 rather, if papa does marry, that he should marry 
 he?' than any other person."
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAAV. 45 
 
 " You are a good girl," said Mrs. St. Aubin, 
 kissing her forehead ; " I am sure you will try- 
 to make your mother-in-law happy, let her be 
 who she will ; but we are summoned to dinner." 
 
 Thankful for any circumstance which drew 
 the attention of the company to any other object 
 than herself, Louisa withdrew from the side of 
 Mrs. St. Aubin : but she was too little accus- 
 tomed to veil her feelings, though ever taught to 
 suppress her passions, to appear the thoughtless 
 little girl she had done on entering the house, 
 for a train of serious reflection succeeded the 
 late conversation, which it was impossible to 
 banish, either from her heart or her countenance. 
 
 On her return home, she was informed that her 
 father was gone to Mr. Hartop's, but had left 
 orders that he should sup at home, and that she 
 might sit up, as it was the last evening she would 
 be at home. 
 
 The last evening sounded melancholy in the 
 ears of Louisa, and the recollection of all that 
 had passed at Mrs. St. Aubin's came over her 
 mind with additional force, — " Perhaps it is the 
 last supper we shall ever eat together alone^" 
 said Louisa internally ; and the last supper of 
 her dear mother rose full upon her mind, and 
 with it all her mother's virtuous precepts, and her 
 happy end : her tears flowed freely, and her 
 heart was relieved from the burden she had en- 
 dured so many hours ; she knelt down, and fer- 
 vently prayed that the advice imprinted on her 
 mind by the parent she had lost, might become
 
 46 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 her guide, in the new and interesting connection 
 which might call her to trials she had never yet 
 known, and difficulties she could not foresee ; 
 and that she might be enabled with duty to 
 honour the mother she must receive, without 
 ceasing to regret the mother she had lost. 
 
 Scarcely had she risen from her knees when a 
 rap at the door announced the return of her fa- 
 ther ; fearful of giving him pain, she forced a 
 smile into her countenance, which, though no 
 longer marked by sorrow, was pensive from its 
 late depression, and met him at the door ; but as 
 the redness in her eyes could not fail to be visible 
 when they approached the supper-table, he re- 
 marked it, and inquired if she was well r 
 
 " Quite well, papa, but " 
 
 " But what, Louisa ? Something must be the 
 matter with you — you would not cry so much at 
 parting with Mrs. St. Aubin, as to make you 
 
 such a figure, child — perhaps she has " Mr. 
 
 Franklin hesitated, and turned towards the fire. 
 
 " My dear father," said Louisa, running to 
 him, and putting up her hands to embrace his 
 neck, " Mrs. St. Aubin has said nothing to 
 make me cry, I assure you ; though she did, at 
 least her company did, tell me you were going 
 to marry Mrs. Debrett." 
 
 " Well, child, go on ; I thought you loved 
 Mrs. Debrett." 
 
 " So I do, papa, and I told them so ; but 
 when I got home, and indeed when I was there, 
 I could not help thinking that — that "
 
 THE DAUGHTEK-IN.LAW. 47 
 
 " What do you mean, Louisa !" 
 
 " That you would have told me yourself, if I 
 had deserved your kindness ; and I couldn't help 
 crying." 
 
 " jMy dear child," said the father, pressing 
 her fondly to his bosom, " I would have told you 
 all before we parted, but people are so meddling 
 with the concerns of their neighbours, that they 
 have denied me the satisfaction of announcing 
 my intentions to you ; besides, there was no 
 hurry in the affair ; it may take place some time, 
 or it may not. Mrs. Debrett is a very charming 
 woman, and I trust we shall be very happy in 
 case she does become one of our family." 
 
 Louisa had perpetually heard this Mord charm- 
 ing applied to her mother-elect, and did not well 
 know what it meant; she concluded, however, 
 that it Avas what she meant, when she attributed 
 kindness to Mrs. Debrett, and felt that she loved 
 her for the expression of it ; she therefore as- 
 sured her father, that she was certain she should 
 be very happy with that lady, and would do her 
 very best to merit her good opinion ; and she hoped 
 in time to be able to love the Misses Debrett as 
 much as she now did their mother, for she thought 
 Maria was a good girl enough, and Ellen played 
 very prettily ; and then innocently added — " I 
 suppose most children grow like their mothers in 
 time, papa." 
 
 The father caught her to his breast, and the 
 tears rushed to his eyes, a thousand tender re- 
 collections flowed on his heart, and the beloved
 
 48 THE DAUGIITER-IN-LAW. 
 
 wife he had lost rose agahi in the child she had 
 bequeathed him ; his mild and tender partner, 
 the object of his first affection and his sincere 
 regret ; she, whose love had indeed extended be- 
 yond the grave, in thus forming the infant mind 
 of his delightful child to receive a connection 
 usually so dreaded and repulsed, again claimed 
 the tribute due to her piety and his own fidelity ; 
 and the lamentations now given to this excellent 
 woman, if less bitter, were as fond, and as sin- 
 cere as those felt in the first agony of separa- 
 tion. Time never fails to ameliorate the acute- 
 ness of anguish, for we could not long exist 
 under a sense of exquisite sorrow ; but there are 
 periods when memory will restore the image of 
 our griefs in colours as vivid as ever, and make 
 us feel that the love which was cherished by 
 virtue, whether filial or connubial, is a part of 
 the soul, and like it, can never die. 
 
 Louisa partook the sensations of her father 
 too much to be able for some time to restrain 
 her tears, but when they were subsided, she en- 
 deavoured, by every attention her affectionate 
 little heart could devise, to restore him to his 
 wonted cheerfulness, or at least to divest his me- 
 lancholy from any pain or self-reproach on her 
 account ; and though a mind, recently agitated 
 by sorrows of so tender a cast, could not soon 
 regain its wonted temperament, yet the melan- 
 choly thus imposed is not unpleasing or unpro- 
 fitable to the heart ; and, in the devout resigna- 
 tion to the Divine will, which followed this re-
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IX-LAW. 49 
 
 newal of regret, Mr. Franklin and his child ex- 
 perienced a calm composure, and a renewed sense 
 of affection, favourable alike to virtue and to 
 happiness. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Gay Hope is theirs, by Fancy led. 
 Less pleasing when possessed. — Gray. 
 
 l^ouisA returned to school, and did not hear any- 
 thing more of the affair which had so greatly in- 
 terested her for three months, farther than her 
 father mentioning, in his first letter, the circum- 
 stance of Mrs. Debrett's return to Exeter ; and 
 afterwards sending her love to Louisa, from which 
 it appeared that he regularly corresponded with 
 that lady. At the end of that time, however, 
 a bridecake and gloves, directed to her, were 
 ushered into the school-room, with all the eclat 
 due to an occasion of importance, and Louisa, 
 with great trepidation, awaited its unpacking — 
 " There must be a letter; I am quite certain my 
 papa would write." 
 
 " One, two, three pair of beautiful silk gloves, 
 and such a handsome cake, but no letter or note 
 whatever can I find," said Miss Atkinson. 
 
 Louisa shrunk back from the admiring group, 
 and endeavoured to twinkle away the tear caused 
 by her disappointment ; but fearful again that 
 blame should be attached to her father for this 
 apparent neglect, she summoned her spirits, and 
 
 E
 
 50 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 received the congratulations of her young friends 
 with complacency, if not with gaiety. 
 
 At the hour of retirement, she endeavoured to 
 account, in every possible way, to her more inti- 
 mate companions, for the apparent omission in 
 her father; and they who had ventured to con- 
 dole with her on the omission, and advert to the 
 circumstance as an act of diminished kindness, 
 met with her most marked displeasure, which for 
 ever prevented their pity, and saved her from 
 combating the usual arguments and prejudices 
 which are generally vented against step-mothers. 
 
 Louisa now endeavoured seriously to recall 
 every word her mother had spoken on the sub- 
 ject, and to weigh those words with the attention 
 her increased understanding taught her to con- 
 sider due to them, not only on account of the 
 lively affection she ever felt towards her invaluable 
 parent, but because she saw the real excellence 
 of the advice, and the great consequence it de- 
 rived from her present situation. 
 
 In the course of a few days, she had the satis- 
 faction of receiving a few lines from her father ; 
 and a postcript was added by her new relative in a 
 very affectionate manner : she cherished this letter 
 as a proof of her father's goodness ; and, return- 
 ing to her usual avocations ,did not, for the pre- 
 sent, perceive that any change had taken place 
 in her connections, that could affect her happi- 
 ness ; and returnedt home, a the following vaca- 
 tion, without a cloud upon her brow or her heart, 
 prepared to give and receive the pleasure usually
 
 THE DA.UOHTER-IN-LAW. 51 
 
 diffused through a family, when a material branch 
 of it returns to the paternal mansion. 
 
 Perhaps Louisa had never been received with 
 so much apparent joy, at any of her former pe- 
 riodical visits, as in the present instance ; for her 
 father, delighted with the ingenuous affection of 
 her manners, felt obliged (if we may use so strong 
 a term) to her for so far overcoming her feelings, 
 which could not fail to be awakened on seeing 
 another occupy the place of her mother ; and the 
 lady now in that place could not help, for the 
 same reason, to be pleased with a child whose 
 sincerity she could not doubt, and whose affection 
 must be an honour to her. The young ladies, 
 who had been elated with the round of visiting 
 produced by the marriage, considered Louisa's 
 return as the signal for renewed amusements, and 
 therefore welcomed her as the harbinger of joy; 
 and the whole party sat down to dinner in that 
 frame of mind which taught the child to believe 
 *' her presence made a little holiday," and that 
 " every face was dressed in smiles to greet her ;" 
 and, as her power of bestowing pleasure was now 
 more diffused than formerly, of course it became 
 more gratifying to her. 
 
 But another day came, and another still, and 
 Louisa found, not only that her power of com- 
 municating pleasure was fled, but that she was 
 for the most part either forgotten, or considered 
 an intruder by part of the family at least ; for 
 Ellen Debrett frequently lamented that she was 
 now shut out from visits and rides she used to 
 
 E 2
 
 52 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 enjoy; for though it was possible to take two 
 girls, mamma said it was completely out of the 
 question to take three ; and therefore they were 
 all left at home together ; and it was rather hard 
 that two girls, like Maria and her, should stay at 
 home on account of a little girl like Louisa. 
 
 To these complaints, the little girl, who was 
 two years younger, could only reply by observing 
 — " That she was always willing to stay at home 
 alone, as she could employ herself during the 
 time they were absent in drawing, of which she 
 was extremely fond." 
 
 " Then tell my mother you had rather stay at 
 home by yourself," said Ellen bluntly. 
 
 " I don't think that would look handsome or 
 kind towards you ; but if Mrs. Debrett, I mean 
 if your mother, wishes to take you out, I will 
 request her not to disappoint you on my ac- 
 count," said Louisa, going towards the dressing- 
 room of Mrs. Franklin. 
 
 " There she goes," said Ellen ; " what a little 
 fool it is !" 
 
 " You might be ashamed of yourself to say so," 
 said Maria, roused by a sense of justice from her 
 usual apathy ; " you ought to remember it is her 
 father's coach in which you ride, and her father's 
 friends you want to visit ; and that it is very hard 
 if she may not go out a little now, after being 
 confined at school so long ; in my opinion, we 
 ought to stay at home now, and let her go out, 
 poor thing." 
 
 Ellen catching the last words, with avidity ran
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 53 
 
 to her mother's dressing-room, and interrupted 
 Louisa's witless harangue, by an assertion directly 
 the reverse, sa3'ing — " That Maria was desirous of 
 staying at home with Louisa, if her mother would 
 have the goodness to take her out." 
 
 As Mrs. Franklin could have no objection to an 
 arrangement perfectly consonant to her wishes, 
 she of course made none ; Ellen became her com- 
 panion, by a kind of implied consent, in Maria's 
 case, and habitual obedience in Louisa's ; and as 
 the latter always appeared occupied and happy, 
 Mr. Franklin made no observation on the ar- 
 rangement, until the vacation had nearly expired, 
 when he one day said he had engaged himself 
 and Mrs. Franklin to dine in a family part)% 
 %vhere they must contrive to take Louisa, as his 
 friends had not seen her for a twelvemonth, and 
 were anxious to do so. 
 
 " We cannot all go in the carriage," said Mrs. 
 Franklin. 
 
 " I think we cannot all go with propriety," said 
 Mr. Franklin, '' for my friend's rooms are small ; 
 to be sure, the young ones might sit at a side table ; 
 but it struck me, that as Ellen has been out so 
 often lately, and is your constant morning com- 
 panion, she might stay at home." 
 
 Ellen began to pout — she had rather go to 
 Russell-square, than any place ; she had never 
 been to Mr. Benson's in her life ; and 
 
 Mrs. Franklin should like to take Ellen to 
 Mr. Benson's, for she thought Mrs. Benson's 
 
 ■1 . '^
 
 54 ' THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 nieces very genteel girls, and being just her age, 
 would be very eligible acquaintances for her. 
 
 " So they would for me," interposed Maria, 
 " and I have staid at home with little Louisa ever 
 since the holidays ; so it is full as likely I should 
 go as you, Miss Ellen." 
 
 " You staid at home," observed her mother, 
 " with Louisa, because you were both fond of it ; 
 now Ellen likes society ; she is of a different dis- 
 position to either of you, she loves company as 
 I do." 
 
 " I love Emily Benson dearly," said Louisa, 
 innocently looking up, 
 
 " Then you wish to visit her, I suppose. Miss 
 Franklin ? Pray why did you come with such a 
 sanctified face to my dressing-room, and say you 
 should always be happy at home alone, if I 
 pleased to take out your sisters ; I hate hypo- 
 crisy !" said the lady in great wrath. 
 
 Louisa, terrified with the idea that she had 
 committed some great, but to her, indefinable 
 error, rose to explain, but the contemptuous 
 glance of Mrs. Franklin rendered her utterly 
 unequal to it ; for contempt was a passion she 
 had never met before, as directed to herself ; and 
 conscious she could not merit it, her sense of 
 injustice led her to look for protection from her 
 father"; she turned towards him, but instantly 
 recollecting this kind of appeal was one of the 
 things her mother had particularly told her would 
 distress him, and be unworthy of herself, she 
 checked the imploring eye, and, by a strong effort,
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 5.5 
 
 conquering lier awakened indignation, sat down 
 again, still trembling with the idea that she had 
 been, however unconsciousl3% the cause of awak- 
 ening the first family feud she had ever witnessed 
 in her own circle. 
 
 Mr. Franklin was not slow to mark the pro- 
 gress of her feelings, and his heart yearned to 
 treat her with the fondness he was wont to dis- 
 play, when any circumstances called forth those 
 virtues he had delighted to inculcate ; but aware 
 of the delicacy of his situation, he contented him- 
 self by observing, in a general manner, that al- 
 though Maria and Louisa had both alike been 
 willing to resign the pleasure of accompanying 
 their mamma, when it was improper, yet it by 
 no means followed that they had not a pleasure 
 in going out when she could take them with 
 convenience ; for his part, he had concluded 
 Ellen would have had a pleasure in seeing their 
 enjoyment, and was still loth to believe he was 
 mistaken ; half an hour's consideration would con- 
 vince her that his expectations were reasonable, 
 whether justly-founded or not. 
 
 The calmness and self-control of this speech 
 showed Mrs. Franklin in a moment the glaring 
 folly and impetuosity of her own ; her feelings, 
 ever quick and warm, instantly took an opposite 
 direction. — "My dear Franklin, you are perfectly 
 right !" she exclaimed, and rushing forwards, 
 clasped Louisa in her arms, while, with fears in 
 her eyes, she said — '' My sweet child, I have
 
 56 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 been unjust to you, very unjust; but you will 
 forgive me, my good child, I know you will." 
 
 " Oh dear, pray, pray do not say such words 
 to me," said Louisa, sobbing on her bosom ; " it 
 is true I have not deserved your anger, but I do 
 not like to hear you say so, indeed I do not. 
 Pray let us all go together." 
 
 This reconciliation, though very sweet at the 
 time, and sincerely intended to be kept by all 
 parties, yet appeared to lay a foundation for new 
 disputes, as Ellen thought proper to conclude 
 that her mother loved Louisa better than her own 
 children, and endeavoured to inspire Maria with 
 the same idea. 
 
 Ever indulged to excess by the doting parent, 
 this poor child, whose overweening passions made 
 her really an object of compassion, became 
 wretched from the imagined slight ; and Mrs. 
 Franklin, unable to see her suffer, redoubled her 
 injudicious indulgence, which she could not refuse 
 to extend to one so much more deserving; as 
 Louisa ; so that she was again in danger, v/hen 
 the commencement of her school avocations 
 happily restored her to that regularity of occupa- 
 tion so serviceable to children, and in her case, 
 much happier than the mingled scene of disquie- 
 tude on the one hand, or dissipation on the other. 
 
 Louisa now corresponded occasionally with 
 Maria, who accounted for her father's having 
 seldom favoured her with a letter of late, by 
 saying he was much engaged with business : in 
 the course of the autumn, she found that the
 
 "the daughter-in-law. 57 
 
 whole family were for some time at Brighton ; 
 but when Christmas came again, she was at once 
 delighted and disappointed, by receiving a letter 
 from her dear father, informing her that he judged 
 it best for her to remain at school during the va- 
 cation, the weather being so cold as to render 
 travelling disagreeable ; and that, as the Misses 
 Debrett were going to a finishing school for one 
 year, their .^mamma was too busy to make an ad- 
 dition to the family convenient at this time ; 
 though, he added, that before Louisa's return, he 
 hoped to inform her of a very pleasant one. 
 
 Tears would spring to Louisa's eyes as she 
 read the mandate of her banishment ; but a short 
 period of reflection sufficed to convince her, that 
 it was indeed very probable that Mrs. Franklin 
 was extremely busy, and that it was better she 
 should remain where she was ; but she could not 
 possibly help wishing to see her father ; the dis- 
 tance was no object in a carriage, " at least we 
 used to think so," sighed Louisa. 
 
 Letters from home became now more scarce 
 than ever, and there were moments when the 
 fondled pet, whose every look had been an ob- 
 ject of attention, and every wish prevented by 
 gratification, almost fancied she was forgot ; but 
 she always endeavoured to chase the idea, the 
 moment it intruded ; she recalled her father's 
 steady aff'cction, and the undeviating justice of 
 his character — she recollected the love Mrs. 
 Franklin had expressed for her ; and believed, 
 that although, as the lady had said, she was
 
 58 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 rather passionate, yet that she %vas very sincere ; 
 and she flattered herself, that by-and-by some 
 sufficient reason would be given for the silence 
 they observed ; other little girls were in the 
 same predicament with herself, and therefore she 
 had no right to complain of present neglect, 
 although former attention had made her more 
 sensible of it than she had a right to be. 
 
 " So you have got a little brother, Louisa," 
 said Miss Saunders ; " I wish you joy of him." 
 
 " Oh dear, ma'am," said Louisa joyfully, " have 
 you had a letter from my father?" 
 
 " No, child, I have had no letter of late ; I 
 saw the birth of your father's heir in the news- 
 paper ; 'tis a matter of consequence to your 
 family ; and some day, when the hurry is over, 
 they will tell you of it, I apprehend." 
 
 Louisa coloured, and observed — " She was 
 very glad to hear it ; she remembered her little 
 brother, and that she was verv fond of him." 
 
 " Most likely, my dear ; he was your own 
 brother." 
 
 " My mamma," replied the child, colouring 
 more deeply, " told me, that all my papa's chil- 
 dren must be to me own brothers and sisters, and 
 that I must love them as I did little Charles," 
 
 " Undoubtedly," said Miss Saunders, correct- 
 ing her tone ; " they bear your father's name, 
 and should be very dear to you," 
 
 " I hope I shall love them," said Louisa ; " I 
 am quite certain I shall be kind to them," 
 
 In a few days Louisa was repaid for her anxiety,
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 59 
 
 by an affectionate letter from her father, together 
 with a little present from Mrs. Franklin, which 
 were sent by their own servant. Louisa seized 
 the opportunity of conveying to her mother-in- 
 law a pretty little cap, which she had purchased 
 with her own pocket-money, and worked neatly 
 during play-hours ; and which she accompanied 
 by a most affectionate note, addressed equally to 
 both parents. 
 
 Midsummer was again hailed by the juvenile 
 inhabitants at Miss Saunders's ; but they had 
 nearly all departed, before Louisa received any 
 intimation of the will of her father. During this 
 state of suspense, she endeavoured to prepare 
 her mind for what she deemed the worst, as she 
 was not only extremely anxious to see her father, 
 but desirous to embrace her little kinsman, about 
 whose amusements and comforts she had already 
 made many arrangements, and only regretted 
 that he was such a very little boy, she was afraid 
 the nurse would not permit her to handle him. 
 Her fears were soon relieved on the former head, 
 as her father's servant came to escort her home ; 
 and she had the satisfaction of being most kindly 
 received by her father, who went with her him- 
 self into the nursery, and with sincere delight 
 witnessed the effusions of her love towards the 
 little innocent, whose birth was esteemed by the 
 father an inestimable blessing. 
 
 Louisa found that the young ladies, Maria and 
 Ellen, had been at home some days, and were 
 now gone with their mother to make some pur-
 
 60 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 chases, preparatory to visiting their friends. — 
 " You, my love, will want many things," said 
 Mr. Franklin ; " it is a long time since you were 
 at home, and you are grown prodigiously." 
 
 " It felt a very long time, papa, indeed." 
 
 " I hope, my love," said the father, evading 
 the fond gaze of his daughter, " it will never be 
 so long again ; but we were busy, you see, and 
 Mrs. Franklin thought — that " 
 
 " It was a great deal better, my dear papa, I 
 am certain ; but you might have brought my 
 mamma over — though, to be sure, it was too far 
 for her in winter — so 'twas all very well." 
 
 Louisa's self-offered apologies were interrupted 
 by the arrival of the ladies, who all, with one 
 accord, exclaimed, on the sight of Louisa, how 
 prodigiously she was grown — a compliment, if 
 it was one, she could return in Ellen's case, as 
 her person, always pretty, was much improved 
 during the twelvemonth they had been parted ; 
 but Louisa's chief attention was given to the 
 baby, and Mrs. Franklin observed — " It was very 
 odd, but she thought Louisa was as much de- 
 lighted with the boy as her father." 
 
 " Yes ; but though I love him very dearly, I 
 hope i/ou will not be so very fond of him ; not so 
 
 very, very, as to " She hesitated, and the 
 
 tears sprang to her eyes. 
 
 " I don't understand you, child : why am I 
 not to be very, ve?y fond of my little boy ? do 
 you think I shall love you the less :''
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 61 
 
 " Oh no !'' said Louisa, and she looked tenderly 
 on her father. 
 
 " I comprehend you, my good girl," said Mr. 
 Franklin, advancing to his child : " she fears," 
 said he, turning to his wife, " that your attention 
 to the child may injure your own health ; she 
 recollects an instance very near to her, in which a 
 mother's constitution was ruined by a blameable 
 attention in such a case." 
 
 " So you would have me take care of mj^self, 
 would you, Louisa?" said Mrs. Franklin, kissing 
 her as she spoke ; you are really a most excellent 
 child ; I question whether either of those great 
 girls have ever given my health a single thought 
 since my confinement ; I shall, however, take 
 your advice, child, and have some consideration 
 for myself." 
 
 Of this assertion no one about Mrs. Franklin's 
 person doubted the truth. Though extremely 
 pleased with becoming the mother of a son, whose 
 birth so much increased the happiness of his 
 father, and even the consequence of his family, 
 yet Mrs. Franklin had been so long out of the 
 habits of nursery cares and employments, that 
 she could not be said to fulfil all the duties of a 
 tender mother ; and the difference between her 
 conduct in this respect, and that of his late wife, 
 had often surprised and wounded Mr. Franklin. 
 He did not consider that the present Mrs. Frank- 
 lin was at this time considerably older than his 
 Louisa had been, when her tenderness had been 
 called upon in the discharge of maternal duties,
 
 62 THE DAUGHTEE,-IN-LAW. 
 
 and that of course her habits were more fixed, 
 and her taste as well as feelings assimilated to 
 different objects of pursuit ; although extremely 
 anxious to procure every advantage to her daugh- 
 ters, which could further their advancement in 
 life, or render them happy in their situation now, 
 yet Mr. Franklin might have recollected, that as 
 the wife of an officer, subject to frequent remo- 
 vals, his lady had been under the necessity of 
 intrusting each of her daughters to the care of a 
 nurse, and therefore could not possess the know- 
 ledge which arises from experience, nor the 
 patience which results from habitual attention to 
 the little helpless beings, who claim not only the 
 tenderness, but the skill of those to whom they 
 are committed. 
 
 During a widowhood of seven years, Mrs. 
 Franklin, though living in a confined circle, from 
 circumstances considerably contracted, from the 
 death of Colonel Debrett, had yet been much in 
 the habit of visiting ; and being fashionable in 
 her dress, pleasing in her manners, and furnished 
 by her distant and more splendid acquaintance 
 with those fashionable anecdotes of high life 
 which are ever carefully sought after by the little 
 great, who reside at a distance from the metro- 
 polis, she had become a kind of queen in her own 
 party, to whom she was ever necessary. The 
 circle being changed did not change the habit, 
 and though attached to her husband, who was not 
 only extremely amiable as a man, but possessed 
 those superior attainments which rendered him a
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 63 
 
 more engaging companion than any she had 
 been accustomed to meet, and highly gratified by 
 the elegant home to Avhich he had introduced 
 her, yet a larger circle was necessary for her 
 happiness ; naturally hospitable, she rejoiced in 
 her increased powers of displaying this virtue, 
 not unmixed with the errors which are loo fre- 
 quently its concomitants ; and in a very short 
 time after his second marriage, Mr. Franklin 
 found himself, he scarcely knew how, immersed 
 in a round of engagements, not quite consistent 
 with his commercial duties, by no means agree- 
 able to his ideas of domestic comfort, and though 
 not too expensive for his situation in life, yet 
 more so than prudence warranted, in a man 
 whose fam.ily was increasing, and whose com- 
 merce was impeded by the political derangements 
 which now agitated Spain, and threatened more 
 violent convulsions. 
 
 Now the children were all at home, Mr. Frank- 
 lin concluded that his lady would spend more 
 time there ; but on finding that the very circum- 
 stance gave rise to an increased circle of visits, as 
 the Misses Debrett had made many acquaintances 
 at' their school, who now swelled the list of their 
 mamma's visitors, he thought it his duty, though 
 in the mildest manner, to inform ^Irs. Franklin, 
 that it would perhaps be advisable to contract 
 their engagements, lest the young ladies should 
 be led to imagine, on their return home for good, 
 that the present system of dissipation awaited 
 them, in which case they must necessarily be 
 
 F 2
 
 64 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 disappointed, as it was but too likely that cir- 
 cumstances would oblige them to contract their 
 expenses, which he observed, were now greatly- 
 exceeding the expenditure he had marked on 
 their marriage, as the boundary which could not 
 be exceeded. 
 
 Mrs. Franklin had too good an understanding 
 not to perceive the justness of this caution ; but 
 loth to curtail the enjoyments or advantages of 
 her daughters, as she thought proper to deem 
 them, she observed — " That, to be sure, this 
 was an expensive year, because there were three 
 girls at boarding-school, but the next would 
 bring thin<?s round ; she only intended her 
 daughters to remain at school one year, though 
 they were certainly, in point of real knowledge, 
 considerably behind Louisa, and therefore might 
 stay a second with advantage ; but as their for- 
 tunes were certainly inadequate to the expense, 
 she did not wish to load his generosity too far, 
 and should curtail their stav." 
 
 From this time, however, Mrs. Franklin made 
 up her mind to lessen the expense of the family, 
 by keeping Louisa at home : she was instigated 
 to this by other motives equally urgent ; the 
 first was a perception, that since her daughters 
 had been at school, their friends appeared to ex- 
 pect to find them improved so much, as to place 
 Louisa at a distance proportioned to her years ; 
 whereas she was still so much forwarder than 
 they were in her attainments, that the difference 
 was still more conspicuous; and the second was,
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 65 
 
 that she found, in the gentleness, docility, and 
 affection of Louisa, so useful a partaker in her 
 nursery cares, that, young as she was, if she was 
 left at home, Mrs. Franklin could not only go 
 out herself with perfect ease, but perceive that 
 Mr. Franklin himself got the better of that so- 
 licitude for his boy, which she denominated the 
 fidgets. 
 
 When, in a happy moment of compliance, this 
 system was offered to the consideration of the 
 father, he naturally objected to it, as inconsistent 
 with the welfare of his daughter ; but on being 
 assured it would add greatly to the happiness of 
 his wife, by cementing the affections of Louisa 
 for her boy, and was told that she was really so 
 clever, and so steady a little girl, that she might 
 be trusted to pursue her studies at home, under 
 the eye of a judicious friend, there was no resist- 
 ing a plea so flattering; and Louisa was informed 
 the next day, that her return to school was sus- 
 pended for half a year at least. 
 
 This recess, though exciting the congratula- 
 tions of Maria, and the upbraidings of Ellen, who 
 again declared Louisa was her mother's pet, did 
 not produce any change indicative of pleasure 
 in Louisa. She had been happy at school, and 
 her employments there had become extremely 
 agreeable to her ; and she foresaw, that notwith- 
 standing the permission to remain was attended 
 with an exhortation to neglect nothing she had 
 been accustomed to do, yet the power of so em- 
 ploying her time as to be beneficial, would pro- 
 
 F .3
 
 66 THE DAUGHTER- IN-LAW. 
 
 bably not be consistent with the numerous petty 
 sacrifices of that invaluable time which she had 
 lately been impelled to make; for what with just 
 helping Ellen to make her hair decent, and teach- 
 ing Maria how to put on her spencer, and hold- 
 ing the baby while nurse got her breakfast, or 
 preparing its cap, because nobody made the 
 cockade so neatly ; or filling up a few cards, 
 because she wrote so pretty a hand ; or garnish- 
 ing the dessert, because the old housekeeper 
 liked to see her, she was "so cheerful and handy, 
 and like her poor dear mamma," Louisa found 
 no time to pursue her drawing, of which she was 
 so fond ; could scarcely snatch it for the practice 
 of a lesson ; and as to reading, it was quite out 
 of the question. 
 
 When, however, Maria and Ellen returned to 
 school, her engagements were somewhat less nu- 
 merous ; and Mrs. Franklin appeared for a short 
 time to relinquish the routine to which she had 
 of late been so much devoted ; but as it was 
 done in compliance with the wishes of her hus- 
 band, and from a conviction of propriety, which 
 forced itself on her judgment, rather than sub- 
 dued her inclinations, it had the useful efiect 
 such sacrifices have upon the temper ; one part 
 of the day was a prey to ennui and languor, the 
 other to disquiet and anger, Her spirits natu- 
 rally ardent, and her mind active, when no 
 scheme of pleasure was presented, shook oif the 
 stupidity which pervaded her mind in the first 
 instance, to look after her servants, and inquire
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 67 
 
 after the management of her household ; and 
 when this search penetrated abuses, or discovered 
 faults, a temper prepared by discontent to be ir- 
 ritable was easily roused to passion ; and his 
 hours which Mr. Franklin spent in the counting- 
 house, were too frequently dedicated by his lady 
 to scolding her servants, or lamenting her mis- 
 fortune, in being obliged to manage such a num- 
 ber of them, although it was an evil in a great 
 measure brought on by herself. 
 
 In all these troubles Louisa bore a full share ; 
 for though she was not often numbered with the 
 transgressors, yet she was constantly condemned 
 to listen to the recapitulation of their offences, 
 and find herself called upon for a justification of 
 the lady's conduct, more especially when she 
 could not obtain her own, which was not unfre- 
 quently the case ; for Mrs. Franklin had so many 
 good points in her disposition, that she was often 
 condemned to self-reproach, for errors which she 
 always promised herself in the hour of reason 
 to amend, though that of passion too often broke 
 the engagement. 
 
 When Louisa had been at home about three 
 months, she had the happiness *of seeing her 
 grandfather, who had promised to visit Mr. Frank- 
 lin ever since the birth of his boy, but had been 
 prevented by repeated attacks of the gout, to 
 which he was subject. His real regard for Mr. 
 Franklin had induced him to feel satisfaction in 
 his second marriage, as a means of increasing 
 his happiness ; but he had likewise felt consi-
 
 68 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LA-W. 
 
 derable anxiety on account of Louisa, for whom 
 he felt all that fond regard and indulgent tender- 
 ness peculiar to the relationship in which he 
 stood, and in which it may ever be remarked, 
 parental affection appears to relinquish authority, 
 only that it may redouble tenderness. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Blessed are the dead, that die in the Lord. St. Paul. 
 
 Mrs. Frankltn was too fond of any thing that 
 produced a change in her family, not to receive 
 Mr. Havell, the father of her predecessor, with 
 some degree of pleasure, which was considerably 
 increased by the urbanity of that gentleman's 
 manners, and the particular respect with which 
 he treated her, notwithstanding his overweening 
 fondness, as she deemed it, for Louisa. She 
 paid him every possible attention consistent with 
 her own notions of procuring him happiness ; 
 and every friend he had left in London, and 
 every descendant of those he had lost, were in- 
 vited to meet him, and treated with a splendour 
 more suited to her notions of fashionable ele- 
 gance, than to those of an old English merchant ; 
 so that while he thanked her zeal for such a 
 manifestation of good- will, he gave a sigh for 
 the expense of its exhibition. Though long 
 since retired from business, he still took too 
 much interest in the concern he had quitted, and 
 the general situation of his country, with regard
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 69 
 
 to its political and commercial situation, not to 
 know that Mr. Franklin must be struggling 
 against the tide at this time, and for some years 
 must bend to the pressure of the times. 
 
 From the character he had heard of his pre- 
 sent wife, as a widow, who having a narrow in- 
 come, had prudently retired to a cheap place, 
 where she educated her daughters at home, and 
 by dint of good manageinent, still kept up a 
 respectable acquaintance, without involving her 
 income, or seeking aid from her relations, he was 
 led to conclude that the second choice of Mr. 
 Franklin, though not lucrative, was prudent ; 
 and as he knew the generosity of his son-in-law, 
 and was capable of it himself, he hoped that a 
 connection, which had given permanent advan- 
 tages to a worthy woman, had given also a most 
 desirable helpmate to one who merited every 
 blessing connubial friendship could bestow. 
 
 On revolving these things in his mind, he was 
 induced to believe that Mrs. Franklin had adopted 
 her present style of magnificence out of compli- 
 ment to him, under a mistaken idea of its being 
 agreeable to his wishes ; and he recollected hav- 
 ing heard much of late years of the rigid economy 
 adopted in some families in general, in order to 
 make grand exhibitions at particular times ; and 
 though it was a system he abliorred in itself, yet 
 he concluded that every person had a right to 
 spend their money in their own way ; and as 
 Mrs. Franklin might have been used to it in 
 her line of society, he had no right to object to
 
 70 THE DAUGHTER-US- LAW. 
 
 it, especially when made subservient to his enter- 
 tainment. The good old man therefore gave up 
 his first idea of remonstrating with Mr, Franklin 
 on the subject, as he had intended to do ; but 
 fully impressed with the desire that Louisa should 
 be removed from sharing in extravagance her 
 fortune would give her no right to adopt, or im- 
 bibing meanness equally unnecessary to one who 
 had a right to expect a genteel independence, he 
 determined on requesting that she might reside 
 with him altogether, proposing her education 
 should be finished under the care of a private 
 governess. 
 
 When Mr. Havell made this request to Mr. 
 Franklin, it naturally induced them to advert to 
 the past, and from thence to the present situation 
 of the affairs of the house ; and Mr. Franklin 
 informed his father-in-law, that at the time of 
 his marriage with Mrs. Debrett, he had settled 
 twenty-five hundred pounds upon Louisa — " Not, 
 my dear sir," added he, " that I considered that 
 by any means as an adequate fortune for Louisa, 
 with whose mother I received three times that 
 sum, and who was — (here his voice faltered ex- 
 ceedingly) — who was in herself a jewel above all 
 price ; but that it was quite as large a sum as I 
 could with conveniency vest in the funds, it being 
 now so difficult to get money from the continent ; 
 and besides, as Mrs. Debrett's daughters had 
 not quite tw*o thousand pounds a-piece, the in- 
 terest of which they will receive for themselves 
 when they attain their eighteenth year, and I was
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LA.W. 71 
 
 desirous of saving my family from those little 
 bickerings which are apt to arise from competi- 
 tion or jealousy, I thought sueh an income suffi- 
 cient for Louisa, while she remained a girl in her 
 father's house, especially as (like her mother) 
 she has little pleasure in spending money, except 
 in helping her fellow-creatures." 
 
 " Very true," returned Mr. Havell, " and the 
 w^ants of a charitable woman are the most mode- 
 rate of all a wife's expenses : my Louisa was " 
 
 " What was she not ?" exclaimed the hus- 
 band, with enthusiasm, while the tears sprang to 
 his eyes. " Believe me, sir," added he, grasp- 
 ing the old gentleman's hand, " that not a day 
 passes over my head in which I do not gratefully 
 bless the memory of Louisa, and ever thank 
 her for the happiest hours I pass with my pre- 
 sent wife, v/ho, I can assure you. is very sincerely 
 attached to my daughter, and will regret parting 
 with her exceedingly." 
 
 " I believe it all, Charles," said Mr. Havell, 
 softened and gratified, while the tears of fond 
 remembrance coursed his furrowed cheek ; " and 
 when I come to recollect hov/ you have been 
 situated, and that I never in any way gave you 
 a hint that I wished you to settle any thing on 
 Louisa, I think you acted with very great consi- 
 deration. May I ask if you hold the fortunes of 
 Colonel Debrett's children in your hands?" 
 
 " No, sir, I positively declined it." 
 
 " You did perfectly right ; but must, I am cer- 
 tain, have experienced great inconvenience. It
 
 72 THE DA.UGHTEfl-IN-LAW. 
 
 has always ^been my intention to leave Louisa 
 five thousand pounds under your guardianship ; 
 and when I came up to town, it was with the in- 
 tention of purchasing stock for that purpose ; 
 but I will lend it to you instead ; in a little time 
 the present difficulties may blow over ; and I 
 shall take care that, in case of my death, you 
 are not called upon for it, in such a manner as 
 to distress you." 
 
 Mr. Franklin thanked the good man, with 
 that unembarrassed air with which the generous 
 ever receive favours they know themselves equally 
 capable of bestowing. The present relief was 
 of most essential benefit to him, and therefore 
 made the loan doubly valuable ; and as he men- 
 tioned the circumstance to Mrs. Franklin, at the 
 same time with Mr. Havell's request for Louisa's 
 company, it was not possible for her to make any 
 objection ; and she was told to prepare for her 
 journey into Essex immediately. 
 
 The morning before her departure, Mrs. Frank- 
 lin took her out to purchase a new bonnet and 
 other necessaries ; and Mr. Franklin being en- 
 gaged in the city, Mr. Havell having looked over 
 the papers, sauntered into the housekeeper's 
 room, intending to make her a farewell present ; 
 she was then packing Louisa's things, but proud 
 of his attention, left the portmanteau to itself, 
 and addressed Jiim with — " Dear me, sir, I be 
 very sorry, though to be sure I be very glad for 
 some things, you be going to take Miss Lucy
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 73 
 
 away ; I hope it'll do her a deal of good, poor 
 thing — that I does." 
 
 " I am afraid she will be dull, Mrs. Johnson, 
 at the first, because she has been used to so much 
 gaiety at home ; but at her age habits are not 
 bad to break." 
 
 " Gaiety, sir !" screamed the housekeeper : 
 " gaiety indeed ! I'm sure and sure, she niver 
 knowed a bit of that till you corned ; to be sure 
 you have made a famous change for her for this 
 week past." 
 
 " So much the better ; such weeks should not 
 come often; I have made a great deal of trouble, 
 Johnson, in the house." 
 
 " Oh, no, sir, for matter of that, we keeps it 
 up pretty well at all times ; but poor Miss Frank- 
 lin, it be nothing to she much, for the nursery 
 be her place ; there she sits from morning to 
 night, work, work, at mistress's trimmings, or 
 else nursing the babe ; and though, to be sure, 
 so much gadding, and dressing, and visiting, as 
 some young ladies have, ben't no better for them, 
 yet still there's a medum in all things, thinks I." 
 
 "Mrs. Franklin seems very fond of Louisa," 
 said Mr. Havell thoughtfully. 
 
 " Ay, to be sure, she may well be fond of 
 her ; she has eyes in her head ; though to be 
 sure, one would think she was blind sometimes', 
 to see how she goes on with Miss Ellen ; but, 
 howsomdever, she sees plain enufF that ]Miss 
 Franklin is worth a hundred of her girls put 
 together, at every thing, as one may say ; and 
 
 a
 
 74 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 ■when she begins of her tantrams, always replies 
 so meek and gentle-like, that she cannot help 
 but love her as it were ; but what signifies love, 
 if it does not teach us to do as we would be done 
 by ? not but there are many worse women than 
 mistress ; she has a noble spirit of her own in 
 many things, I must say that." 
 
 Mr. Havell withdrew, ruminating on this ac- 
 count, and more pleased than ever that he had 
 secured his darling from the evils of her situa- 
 tion, whatever they might be. 
 
 Tn a few days he had the pleasure of seeing 
 her established in his own household, and per- 
 ceived, that from either its novelty, or the cir- 
 cumstances mentioned by Mrs. Johnson, she cer- 
 tainly appeared in much better health and higher 
 spirits than during her residence in London, 
 though she was by no means deficient in cheer- 
 fulness there. 
 
 Louisa had left her parental home with regret, 
 and especially her little brother, whose smiles 
 had begun to be intelligent to her, and Avhose 
 helpless state had given him an interest in her 
 affections ; but the liberty she enjoyed, and the 
 unbounded indulgence with which she was 
 treated, very soon made her grandfather's house 
 a paradise to his servants, who were all, like 
 their master, far advanced in life, and who were 
 strangers to the plans of modern education, in 
 eliciting, or rather forcing, the powers of chil- 
 dren ; every thing she said and did appeared a 
 species of miraculous excellence ; and it was im-
 
 THE DAUGIITER-IN-LAW. 75 
 
 possible for her to help conceiving herself a pro- 
 digy of talent and wisdom. She began to study 
 how to preserve the reputation so suddenly be- 
 stowed upon her, and was, by this tide of pros- 
 perity, not only losing all the uses of past sub- 
 jection, but urging fast to an affected character, 
 when the introduction of a pious and sensible 
 young woman to her grandfather's mansion, as 
 her governess, restored her in a short time to 
 her native simplicity, and engrafted actual virtues 
 upon amiable propensities : from her she imbibed 
 anew the precepts of her invaluable mother, and 
 was enabled, with more accuracy, to apply the 
 dying advice of her parent to the situation in 
 which she now found herself. 
 
 Miss Lay ton, the governess of Louisa, \vas a 
 person of meek and gentle manners, but of firm 
 and vigorous mind, combining mildness with 
 energy, and simplicity with dignity ; her mind 
 was richly cultivated, her knowledge extensive, 
 and her taste refined ; she would have been an 
 excellent governess to a child at any age, but 
 much of her treasure must have been wasted on 
 a child in an earlier period of education; she 
 was at that happy age when the groundwork of 
 knowledge being laid, and an interest acquired 
 in it, the pupil is enabled to push forward with 
 zeal and activity, in the tract a more enlightened 
 mind prescribes. In the first rudiments of learn- 
 ing, emulation is ever necessary, as strong sti- 
 mulants must be applied ere the infant can over- 
 come the labour required in all exercises of the 
 
 G 2
 
 76 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 opening faculties ; hence it will be found that 
 no private tuition is equal to a school ; but when 
 the rudiments are already acquired, and aversion 
 to study subdued, the delight of pursuit precludes 
 the want of any other, save that a companion 
 and guide increases pleasure and alacrity in the 
 most flowery path. 
 
 The period in which Louisa lived with her 
 grandfather, although his occasional fits of sick- 
 ness sometimes distressed her, might be justly 
 called the " Sabbath of her life," for it was a 
 period of rest, in which piety and peace united 
 to bless the present scene, and prepare her for 
 the future ; for although the indulgence of her 
 venerable parent might have had a tendency to 
 enervate her mind, yet the prudence of Miss 
 Layton wisely obviated that evil, by keeping her 
 perpetually employed ; and the suffering state in 
 which she so often beheld her worthy relative, 
 who endured it with that Christian fortitude 
 which was the best comment on the pious prin- 
 ciples with which her mind was now deeply em- 
 bued, enabled her to preserve at once a sensibi- 
 lity of heart and equanimity of temper, favour- 
 able alike to her virtue and happiness. 
 
 Louisa had been nearly two years thus com- 
 fortably situated, during which time she had only 
 paid one short visit to London, on the birth of a 
 little sister, when one morning her grandfather 
 Avas seized with the gout in his head, to a degree 
 which became truly alarming : unfortunately 
 Miss Layton was then visiting her friends, and
 
 THE DALGHTER-IN-LAW. 77 
 
 the distress of Louisa was much increased by 
 the illness of that servant who was Mr. Havell's 
 principal nurse on these occasions : collecting 
 herself in the best manner she was able, and con- 
 scious that if her dear relative retained his senses, 
 he would have pleasure in seeing her about his 
 bed, she exerted herself to the utmost, agreeable 
 to the directions of his medical attendants, and 
 had the satisfaction of hearing him speak before 
 morning, and assure her that her kindness con- 
 soled, and her efforts relieved him ; but scarcely- 
 had she congratulated herself on this happy 
 change, when the msidious disease seized on his 
 stomach, and the symptoms of danger were of 
 course more aggravated. Louisa now dispatched 
 one messenger to Miss Layton, and another to 
 her father, and then instantly returned to the 
 bedside of the invalid. 
 
 Though now in great agonies from the acute- 
 ness of the pain, yet he appeared capable of re- 
 lief from the medicines administeied by the hands 
 of this affectionate child, who was the only one 
 of his offspring near him at this trying time, his 
 sons being engaged in commercial pursuits on 
 the continent. Yet, much as he was comforted 
 by her attendance, he was not unmindful of her 
 youth and inexperience, and was fearful that if 
 his dissolution took place at this time, she might 
 suffer from supporting a scene ill suited to her 
 years, and calculated to alarm as well as grieve 
 her ; but when, in the few broken accents which 
 pain allowed, he besought her to leave the room, 
 
 G 3
 
 78 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. ^ 
 
 and alluded to the reason, she replied — " No, 
 my dear, dear grandpapa, I cannot leave you ; 
 the God whom we serve will support us both — 
 his blessed will be done !" 
 
 " Amen," returned the sufferer ; and, reas- 
 sured by that Divine Goodness, who heard his 
 unuttered prayer, he continued to hold the hand 
 of his young nurse, and to regard her as the 
 only thing on earth which had yet a claim on his 
 dying eyes. 
 
 Towards midnight his severe pains abated, and 
 hope, the constant companion of life, at Louisa's 
 season of it, was again buoyant in her heart ; 
 every moment she expected Miss Layton would 
 return, and with her some beneficial plan would 
 be adopted, some regime altered, which would 
 dispel the symptoms, and restore the invalid ; 
 and while she now listened in breathless sus- 
 pense towards the door, and now gazed with fond 
 solicitude on the object of her cares, a livid hue 
 stole over the features of the dying man, and 
 the hand she held no longer strove to return her 
 gentle pressure ; faint sounds of prayer issued 
 from the quivering lips, but no articulate sound 
 met her ear ; she motioned to the attendants to 
 be silent, and dropping on her knees, fervently, 
 though silently, besought the Father of Spirits 
 to receive the soul of his departing servant. The 
 dying saint seemed conscious of help from above; 
 a sweet smile illumined his languid face ; he 
 made an effort audiblv to bless his child, and 
 with that effort closed his pious life.
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 79 
 
 Deeply affected, both by awe and love, for 
 many minutes Louisa continued to kneel by the 
 bedside, till urged to withdraw by the weeping 
 servants ; but scarcely had she risen from the 
 solemn contemplation, when her father entered 
 the room, and in his arms she freely shed the 
 tears of sincere affection for the loss she had 
 sustained. 
 
 Mr. Franklin was truly sorry that he had not 
 arrived to soothe the deathbed pillow of a man 
 so sincerely beloved and esteemed ; but he was 
 truly happy to find that his child had supplied 
 the place of her mother to her pious grandsire, 
 and in her whole conduct had evinced the mag- 
 nanimity of pure affection, which, while it par- 
 takes with genuine sympathy the pains of those 
 we love, enables us with unrepining fortitude to 
 bear the burden which it shares. 
 
 The following morning Miss Lay ton arrived, 
 and in a few days the good man was deposited 
 in the house appointed for all living. His faith- 
 ful servants received an advance of the annuities 
 his goodness had provided as the support of their 
 declining years ; his house was disposed of until 
 the return of his eldest son ; and Mr. Franklin 
 returned with his daughter and her governess to 
 his house in London, where the latter, finding no 
 farther occasion for her services to Miss Franklin, 
 took up her abode with another family ; but her 
 parting from her late charge was attended with 
 real sorrow to them both. 
 
 Louisa was now nearly fifteen ; she had at-
 
 80 THE DAUGHTER-IK-LAW. 
 
 tained sometliing more than the middle height ; 
 and although very slender, was finely formed ; 
 and from habits of constant exercise, was become 
 agile and graceful in all her motions ; and her 
 face, though delicate, indicated health and good- 
 nature ; the deep mourning she wore became her 
 very much, as she happened to be very fair ; so 
 that many people, on her return, expressed them- 
 selves very much pleased with her person, a cir- 
 cumstance that never failed to throw a gloom 
 over the countenance of Mrs. Franklin ; for as 
 her daughter Ellen was now seventeen, and con- 
 sidered very handsome, and the fond mother had 
 indulged in dreams of future greatness for her 
 darling, she could not bear any thing in the shape 
 of a rival crossing her path ; and forgetting the 
 youth and gentle character of Louisa, she saw 
 only in the elegant young creature before her a 
 formidable opponent to her wishes with regard 
 to Ellen. 
 
 Ellen herself had by this time imbibed such a 
 portion of vanity, that she was too much intoxi- 
 cated by the subtle draught to see danger from 
 any competitor, and she felt pleased with the 
 return of Louisa, from a recollection, that if she 
 still retained the disposition and the powers of 
 obliging she once possessed, that she would be 
 a very desirable inmate, especially as Mr. Frank- 
 lin had lately curtailed his establishment, and an 
 assistant in her toilet cares was requisite for 
 Ellen's comfort. 
 
 The quiet retirement, and the confined but
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 81 
 
 truly desirable society Louisa had lost, could not 
 fail to be subjects of sincere and frequent regret 
 to her ; compared to the life she had led in the 
 country, her father's house appeared a round of 
 dissipation ; and though she soon perceived it 
 was carried on with more system and less ex- 
 pense than formerly, yet the sober habits of life 
 were equally perverted. 
 
 As however all young people are fond of so- 
 ciety, and naturally attached to the glitter which 
 plays on the surface of things, most probably 
 Louisa, had she been permitted to join it, would 
 soon have made one in the gay circle ; but Mrs. 
 Franklin, with so much good sense, pointed out 
 the impropriety of taking so young a person into 
 public, that Mr. Franklin, who easily acceded 
 to a line of conduct agreeable to his own judg- 
 ment, was led to assure Louisa it would be bet- 
 ter for her to remain at home, to which she gave 
 not only unqualified obedience, but cheerful con- 
 sent. 
 
 Her little brother was now at a most engag- 
 ing age, as he began to prattle; and pleased with 
 the affectionate attention she showed, became so 
 fond of her, that he was her constant companion ; 
 and as his little sister was likewise beginning to 
 distinguish persons, and never failed to hold out 
 her little arms when Louisa entered the nursery, 
 her affectionate heart gave them the place her 
 revered grandfather had lately occupied, and 
 found, in their simple expressions of affection, 
 and in many offices of friendship they claimed
 
 82 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 at her hands, much of her time was employed in 
 a manner she judged profitable to them, and not 
 unpleasant to herself; but she soon found, that 
 by little and little, her services in this way mul- 
 tiplied on her hands till they became burdensome, 
 since they denied all time for the elegant pursuits 
 her taste dictated, and her fortune justified. 
 
 Mrs. Franklin found so much advantage from 
 the cares of Louisa in her nursery, not only be- 
 cause of the ease it gave her own mind, but the 
 pleasure which was communicated to her hus- 
 band by the affectionate attentions of his eldest 
 child to his second offspring, that she cast off 
 her own share of the burden, and entered with 
 new avidity into parties of pleasure, assured 
 that home was rendered comfortable to Mr. 
 Franklin, and he would therefore bear her ab- 
 sence with more patience than he was wont to do; 
 for the concerns of his counting-house had re- 
 gularly grown more oppressive for the last two 
 years ; and though he seldom troubled her with 
 any detailed account of his grievances, yet there 
 was a gloom on his brow which indicated a heart 
 ill at ease, and he seldom took up a newspaper 
 without regretting some circumstance which 
 threatened distress. He had made one reform- 
 ation in his household by the dismissal of two 
 servants, previous to Louisa's return, for which 
 he gave reasons too strong to be disputable ; but 
 when that event took place, as by the will of Mr. 
 Havell, the interest of the five thousand pounds 
 he had lent him was, from the day of his death,
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 83 
 
 to be appropriated to the " board and instruc- 
 tion of his beloved grandchild, and her benefit 
 and futherance in life," Mrs. Franklin pleased 
 herself with the idea, that an idle footman and 
 gossiping maid, whose province had been attend- 
 ing on the Misses Debrett, would be recalled ; 
 but after waiting some time, and finding that her 
 hints of their necessity did not induce any reply, 
 much less consent from Mr. Franklin, she one 
 evening addressed him thus — "Now the family 
 is increased, my dear, you must see the necessity 
 of getting another servant ; I find Jackson is still 
 at liberty, so I think we had better get her to 
 come back ; Louisa has a right to a maid, and 
 she can wait upon hei\ and attend to some little 
 matters besides, so as to be very useful." 
 
 " Louisa had a right to a governess, in my 
 opinion, yet you positively objected to receive 
 Miss Layton." 
 
 " Surely there is a great deal of difference, my 
 dear, between a fine lady governess, with fifty 
 pounds a-year, who herself wants waiting upon, 
 and a common servant ; you are continually tell- 
 ing me you cannot afford this thing, and the other 
 thing is unnecessary, and prophesying that the 
 French will ruin your Spanish trade, and all that; 
 so how could I think of your bringing such an 
 increased expenditure into the family ?" 
 
 "You knew that Louisa's return brought an 
 additional income of two hundred and fifty pounds 
 a-year." 
 
 " True, and for that reason I think myself fully
 
 84 THE I)xVXJGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 justified in expecting an increase to our estab- 
 lishment ; she has been used to being waited on, 
 hand and foot, at her grandfathers, you know." 
 
 " Certainly ; but while she is shut up in her 
 nursery, she cannot want it ; it will be time 
 enough to provide her a footman when she goes 
 into public, and a maid when she has to dress 
 for company," 
 
 " Well, I shall say no more; you are the most 
 altered man in the world, Mr. Franklin; either I 
 have been so unfortunate as to lose your affection, 
 or else I deceived myself if I thought I ever had 
 it — it is plain you cannot love me now, for you 
 thwart me in every thing : to be sure, I thought 
 you had some regard for your own child, though 
 me and mine were unworthy your attention; but 
 I don't know what to think — I declare 1 can 
 make nothing of you," said the poor lady, burst- 
 ing into tears of vexation. 
 
 The husband, with a heavy heart, was begin- 
 ning a reply, when the little boy broke into the 
 room (though such intrusion was without the 
 pale of the law), to show papa his fine new frock, 
 with buttons before, which sister had made him, 
 and had been tr3'ing it on before he went to bed; 
 he was followed by Louisa, who was not a little 
 proud of her first effort at this kind of notabi- 
 lity ; and not aware that she had entered at an 
 imfortunate moment, claimed the approbation 
 of Mrs. Franklin for having made the dress fit 
 Charles so exactly. 
 
 " Oh, yes, you are amazingly clever !" replied
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 85 
 
 the lady, with a scornful smile; "it is a thousand 
 pities you were not brought up to be a mantua- 
 maker; it is really a sad thing that the independ- 
 ence of your fortune should cramp your energies 
 by confining you to the society of gentlewomen." 
 
 Equally surprised and wounded, Louisa was 
 on the point of hastily giving utterance to the 
 palpable truth, that she ghould most probably 
 never have exerted her talents in that way, if 
 she had not been positively requested to do so 
 by Mrs. Franklin herself: but she cast her eye 
 towards her father, in whose countenance she 
 saw an expression of anger towards his wife she 
 had never before witnessed ; and not wishing 
 either to retort through him or herself, since a 
 moment's recollection restored her to the remem- 
 brance of that blessed precept, " a mild answer 
 turneth away wrath," she merely observed, that 
 she could never blush for any work which proved 
 that she obeyed Mrs. Franklin's wishes ; and 
 withdrew, followed by her father, who was led 
 after her by the child. 
 
 "You are very kind to this little fellow, Louisa," 
 said Mr. Franklin, " and I hope he will one day 
 be very grateful to you," 
 
 " I love him so well," said she, " that every 
 thing I do for him is the greatest pleasure ima- 
 ginable to myself; but if that were not the case, 
 it would be my duty to increase his comforts, 
 without expecting so strong a return as gratitude; 
 that is a tribute due to a parent rather than a 
 sister, I apprehend." 
 
 H
 
 86 ■ THE DAUGHTEE-IN-LAW. 
 
 *' I am under a necessity, my dear child, of 
 calling upon you very early in life for all that 
 you may think due to me. I wish to be open 
 with you, Louisa, for your affection is not of a 
 common character : I am perfectly aware that 
 your situation is very dijEFerent in this house to 
 what it was in your grandfather's, and your pre- 
 sent privations do not escape me. I hope you 
 will not impute them to Mrs. Franklin, for 
 though she had spoken petulantly to you just 
 now, and but for your example, I might have 
 answered her in the same way, yet, I can assure 
 you, she is desirous of giving you every advan- 
 tage consonant to your fortune and habits ; but 
 when I tell you, my dear Louisa, that every 
 means of contracting our expenses for a few 
 years is an increase to my comfort, and an esta- 
 blishment of my credit among the thinking part 
 of the world, I think you will perceive, that in 
 thus making you the confidant of my troubles, 
 and an assistant to my relief, my heart confers 
 on you a privilege not often granted to so young 
 a person. I hope, at least, this confession will 
 sweeten the denials my prudence had forced me 
 to make of your rights, though not your re- 
 quests." 
 
 " My own dear father," said Louisa, fondly 
 kissing the hand he had extended to her, " I 
 have no wants or wishes of any kind, but to see 
 you happy, and my mother pleased with my ex- 
 ertions. I know you have had many losses in 
 your business of late years, for my poor grand-
 
 THE DAFGHTER-IN-LAW. 87 
 
 father frequently lamented such things to me ; 
 but he always said you would struggle through 
 them with care ; and I hope you will, if that is 
 what you allude to. Pray do not consider me 
 such a child as to want anything inconsistent with 
 our fortune and your comfort, though I do sin- 
 cerely wish I were a woman, that I might give 
 you what my good grandfather was so kind as to 
 leave me." 
 
 Tears flowed freely from the eyes of the fond 
 father, as he kissed the cheek of his daughter, 
 and his heart was lighter than he had felt it many 
 months, from thus sharing its burden with one 
 whom affection had taught what is generally 
 learned only in the school of experience — the 
 power of appreciating his cares. 
 
 He returned to his wife with an unclouded brow, 
 and the kindness of his manners recalled her more 
 quickly to a sense of her error than any species 
 of recrimination could possibly have done. She 
 now shed tears of penitence for the unworthy 
 passion she had evinced, and was more profuse 
 in the language of self-accusation than either the 
 father or his child would have allowed their in- 
 most hearts to whisper. She even made many 
 excellent resolutions of economy, and for a short 
 time exerted all the faculties of her energetic 
 mind to circumscribe her own expenses and those 
 of her daughters ; but in doing this, contentions 
 arose, disgraceful to themselves and distressing 
 to those around them. Ellen's spirit, nurtured 
 alike by long indulgence and consummate vanity, 
 
 H 2
 
 88 THE DATJGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 would bear no control ; and Maria, whose only- 
 exertion was some frivolous occupation leading 
 to dissipation, was almost equally averse to every 
 species of domestic restraint or employment ; so 
 that it very frequently happened that the high- 
 spirited Mrs. Franklin, whose superior mind, and 
 commanding though winning manners, kept the 
 circle of her acquaintance in awe of her powers, 
 or won by her persuasion, was herself baffled 
 alike by the daughter she had foolishly spoiled, 
 or the one she had blameably slighted ; and 
 many a time, oppressed by vexation, or wearied 
 with entreaty and remonstrance, she would seek 
 the chamber of Louisa, and bitterly lament the 
 obstinacy and perverseness of her unnatural chil- 
 dren. Yet when the storm was blown over, and 
 their obedience to some trifling request purchased 
 by a promise of taking them to some public place, 
 or engaging some party for their amusement, 
 Louisa was again consigned to oblivion, further 
 than as her talents were called on for their accus- 
 tomed assistance. 
 
 As time passed, and her age seemed to give 
 some right to a partial participation of their 
 amusements, this conduct sometimes struck 
 Louisa as hard, for she was not aware that Mrs. 
 Franklin had predetermined never to take her 
 out until she had obtained Ellen an establish- 
 ment for life ; and though that young lady had 
 now attained her nineteenth year, no circum- 
 stance had arisen to render it probable that she 
 would soon fulfil the wishes of her anxious pa-
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 89 
 
 rent ; every where she attracted attention ; hut 
 either the consciousness of her own beauty, the 
 affectation of her manners, or the frivolity of her 
 mind, defeated the impression ; and with many 
 admirers, she could not yet boast a single lover. 
 
 Mrs. Franklin was one evening requested to 
 take tickets for the benefit of a favourite actress, 
 by a lady whom she was anxious to oblige, and 
 accordingly took such a number as would not 
 only treat her own family, but some female 
 friends ; and on the morning of their distribution, 
 Mr. Franklin said, he approved the play very 
 much, and would accompany them ; Louisa had 
 never seen the new theatre, nor indeed been at 
 a play since she was quite a child, and it was an 
 amusement he should have a pleasure in partak- 
 ing with her, and one to which not a shadow of 
 objection could possibly be made. 
 
 The manner in which the last words were 
 spoken indicated a kind of resolution in him, 
 which, when exerted, was decisive, and therefore 
 no comment was made, farther than to say, that, 
 to be sure, a play once a season was no great 
 thing ; and Louisa heard the news with all the 
 delight natural to her years and vivacity. 
 
 Maria honestly congratulated her on the cir- 
 cumstance, and hoped she would soon begin to 
 go with them every where ; but Ellen reminded 
 her that she should want the lace running on her 
 frock, which she mentioned the evening before, 
 
 " Then you had better do it yourself," said 
 Louisa ; " for as I am going out to-night, I am 
 
 II 3
 
 90 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 certain I shall spend the whole day in nursing 
 little Emily, she is so very poorly with cutting 
 these double teeth, and the poor little lamb is a 
 little relieved when we can do any thing to amuse 
 her." 
 
 This observation, though received with a scorn- 
 ful toss of the head by Ellen, who wondered how 
 any body" could spend their time with little child- 
 ren, was carefully attended to by Mr. Franklin, 
 w^ho was very fond of his little girl, and remem- 
 bered the sufferings of his first set of nestlings 
 with their teeth, as a season of great trial to 
 their mother, Louisa alone surviving that trying 
 period. 
 
 On adjourning to the nursery, he found the 
 little girl much worse than he had expected ; and, 
 surprised that no medical assistance had been ob- 
 tained, dispatched a servant for the apothecary, 
 whom he waited to see before he went to the 
 city. This gentleman said the child was certainly 
 very ill, as her fever ran extremely high ; but if 
 they could prevent her falling into convulsions, 
 to which there was a great tendency, she would 
 be better soon, but lamented he had not been 
 sent for earlier. Mrs. Frankin, in great alarm, 
 waited for his opinion, holding the child in her 
 arms, and rocking it about with great emotion, 
 and scolding the nurse-maid and Louisa for not 
 informing her of its danger ; but as soon as the 
 child ceased to cry, and its father was departed 
 with the doctor, her fears were entirely over ; she 
 consigned it to Louisa's care, assured her the
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 91 
 
 worst was over ; and then stepped out to purchase 
 a turban for the evening. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Happy the babe, who privileged by fate. 
 To shorter labours, and a lighter iveight, ' 
 Receivd but yesterday the gift of breath, 
 Ordered to-morrow to prepare for death. — Pope. 
 
 When Mr. Franklin returned to dinner, his first 
 steps were directed to the nursery, where he found 
 Louisa dressed for the play, but attending her 
 little sister, whose appearance indicated great 
 fever, but who was at that time asleep. 
 
 Several youg ladies, companions of Maria and 
 Ellen, dined with them ; and as they were all 
 pleased with the suavity of Louisa's manners, 
 they united in paying her an attention, which, by 
 flattering her, called out her spirits, and made her 
 enter with uncommon avidity into conversation 
 on the gay scene she was about to witness. She 
 was the more inclined to indulge her cheerful 
 vein, because Mrs. Franklin had consoled her 
 with asserting repeatedly, that if Emily slept, she 
 would be quite well in the morning ; and as she 
 had stepped out the moment the cloth was drawn, 
 she satisfied herself in that particular, and en- 
 joyed anticipated pleasure without a drawback ; 
 but just as the carriage drew up to the door, Mr. 
 Franklin stepped into the nursery the very last 
 thing, and returning with consternation in his
 
 92 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, 
 
 looks, said the child had awoke in a strong con- 
 vulsive fit, and though she was now recovered, 
 yet there was so much reason to fear a relapse, 
 it was quite impossible to leave her to the care 
 of servants only. 
 
 " Good Heavens !" exclaimed Mrs. Franklin, 
 flying to the door, " send for doctor Jackson im- 
 mediately — what can be done?" 
 
 " My dear Maria," said her husband, " do not 
 alarm yourself so much ; I gave instant orders 
 that doctor Jackson should be sent for, and I 
 trust he will administer some lenitive which may 
 allay the sufiering that produced convulsion ; but 
 without dreading any immediate danger, surely 
 you must admit that some one of the family ought 
 to remain, to see that Peggy does her duty, and 
 receive the doctor's orders." 
 
 " Peggy is a very good girl," said Mrs. Frank- 
 lin, whose fears were allayed with the same ra- 
 pidity which had marked their rising. 
 
 " True ; but we cannot expect a servant to 
 forego the temptation of a little chat in the house, 
 or any other apparently trifling act of neglect, 
 at the time we are ourselves engaged in pursuing 
 amusement at a distance ; though I do not ima- 
 gine I can do much good, yet I shall certainly 
 stay at home myself, rather than Peggy should 
 be left sole nurse on so momentous an occasion." 
 
 " You, my dear ! that is impossible ; we cannot 
 go without you, nor is it possible for me to stay 
 at home ; it must be one of the girls. — Maria, 
 you are the eldest."
 
 THE DAUGHTEE-IN-LAW. 93 
 
 " But I never nursed Emily since she was born, 
 and I know she won't let me come near her." 
 
 " That's true enough — more shame for you ; 
 in fact, there is nobody that can do any good but 
 Louisa ; but really," said Mrs. Franklin, looking 
 round, " I can't ask you, child. Oh, Louisa is 
 gone out of the room, I see ; it appears she is as 
 fond of pleasure as the rest of us, when it comes 
 near her," 
 
 One of the visitants observed, that Miss Frank- 
 lin left the room the moment her father entered 
 it, and had not heard any part of the conversa- 
 tion, except his first declaration respecting the 
 child. 
 
 Mr. Franklin and his lady now passed on to 
 the nursery together ; they found Louisa with 
 the sick child on her lap, exhorting the little boy 
 to be still while Peggy undressed him. — " Really, 
 my dear Louisa, I am hurt at leaving you," said 
 Mrs. Franklin ; and she spoke the truth, for 
 though she had not wished for her company in 
 the first instance, yet she was really affected with 
 this proof of self-command, and her love to the 
 little one. 
 
 Mr. Franklin was at once proud of her virtues, 
 and pained at her disappointment ; and while he 
 praised her care, he also blamed himself for sub- 
 mitting to its present exercise ; when he looked 
 at the placid face of the little sufferer, for her 
 sake he became reconciled ; and after giving 
 strict orders to his servants to come and acquaint 
 him if the slightest return of the convulsions took
 
 94 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 place, he complied with the reiterated entreaties 
 of his wife, and set out with the young party to 
 the play. 
 
 Mrs. Franklin had never known the sorrow of 
 parting with a child, nor ever experienced any of 
 those fears of such an event which agitate less 
 fortunate parents. She had not received either 
 of her daughters from the distant places where 
 they were nursed, until they had passed the 
 ordeal of infantine diseases, and her son had 
 hitherto been a remarkable healthy child j she 
 therefore saw in Mr. Franklin's fears a kind of 
 weakness she thought unworthy of him ; and 
 when, after his arrival at the theatre, he continued 
 to express his solicitude, she imputed his inter- 
 ruption of her enjoyment rather to a wish to vex 
 her than any other cause, and determined to thwart 
 the ill humour which she could not contend with 
 in such a place as that. 
 
 Mr. Franklin had ordered the carriage to come 
 at the end of the play, and was surprised to find 
 his servant ready to the very moment : on praising 
 his punctuality, the man said he had been waiting 
 a quarter of an hour, for Miss Franklin had said 
 he had better be too soon than too late, for she 
 wanted them at home exceedingly. 
 
 On repeating this message to Mrs. Franklin, 
 agreeably to the idea she had adopted, and the 
 resolution she had formed, she replied — " That 
 as the latter part of the entertainment was a new 
 pantomime, and was what she had been most de- 
 sirous of seeing, she should certainly not go home,
 
 THE DAIJGHTER-IN-LAW. 95 
 
 merely because Miss Franklin was desirous of 
 abridging the entertainment she could not share." 
 
 Mr. Franklin quitted his wife, with a look of 
 such marked and deep displeasure, as she had 
 never seen him assume since the hour she married 
 him. Like all passionate people, she quickly 
 repented the warmth and ill-timed petulance with 
 which she had spoken ; she saw the extent of her 
 unkindness, in wounding the heart of a fond 
 father, at the very moment he was suffering 
 under fears, usually appertaining more to the 
 maternal character than his own ; and her con- 
 science told her, that so far from seeking to 
 abridge her pleasures he had endeavoured in the 
 first instance to soothe her fears, and had never 
 hinted at keeping her at home, which, alarmed 
 as he had evidently been, he might have done 
 with the greatest propriety. The image of her 
 lovely babe, at that moment perhaps writhing in 
 agonies, next presented itself to her view, and her 
 ardent mind became anxious to the extremest 
 degree to return : she expressed her wishes to 
 the young people, and the exquisite sorrow which 
 marked her features, inspiring them with an idea 
 of her illness, made them readily coincide with 
 her wishes. But alas ! her servants were not 
 returned — there was no gentleman with whom 
 she was acquainted near her j and she was com- 
 pelled to wait, in all the torment of awakened 
 fear and distressing suspense. 
 
 The most wearisome attendance for days and 
 weeks by the sick couch of her child, could
 
 96 THE DAUGHTEE-IN-LAW. 
 
 scarcely have comprised such keen regret and 
 bitter anguish as that which agitated the breast 
 of Mrs. Franklin for the following hour ; the 
 stage, the actors, and the company, all swam 
 before her eyes, unseen save when they awakened 
 remorse the most cutting, and self-reproach the 
 most vindictive. 
 
 Her mind was scarcely relieved by the bustle 
 of concluding the pantomime, for the agitation of 
 doubt had given way to the stupor of terror, 
 though its object was scarcely definable to her- 
 self ; but the certainty of having incurred most 
 justly the anger of a husband, whose indulgence 
 rendered such a circumstance doubly criminal, 
 was an evil of which she was certain; and how 
 much sorrow might follow in the train of this, 
 it was impossible to foresee, or at present to guard 
 against. 
 
 By degrees the overflowing house grew empty, 
 the contending coachmen ceased to jar, and the 
 lobby had yielded those most weary with waiting, 
 yet still their carriage was not announced. Mrs. 
 Franklin, roused to exertion, now regretted she 
 had not looked out for the assistance of some 
 friend, before all her acquaintance had left the 
 place ; and conceiving that Mr. Franklin's irrita- 
 tion had prevented him sending the carriage, or 
 even the footman, she was proceeding to request 
 the doorkeeper to procure a hackney-coach, when 
 her servant, to her great relief, appeared, and 
 told her the carriage was drawing up to the 
 door.
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 97 
 
 " You have been shamefully late," said she, 
 losing a sense of sorrow in vexation at the negli- 
 gence she conceived him guilty of. 
 
 " We had to go to Princes Street to fetch the 
 doctor, just at the time we were coming for you, 
 ma'am." 
 
 " Is the child worse ?" 
 
 " It be in a fair way to be better soon, madam, 
 being not likely to see morning, as far as I can 
 hear." 
 
 The insolence of this speech was not lost on 
 Mrs. Franklin, who was a proud woman, and 
 very tenacious of respect ; but she was unequal 
 to notice it now ; her own heart smote her more 
 than the words of any other person could do ; 
 and, ordering the driver to be quick, she flung 
 herself into her carriage in silent confnsion. 
 
 As the young ladies who accompanied her 
 were each set down at their respective homes, it 
 was near three quarters of an hour before she 
 reached hers ; the hall was dark on her arrival, 
 and contrary to the bustle she expected, a cold 
 and solemn silence pervaded the house : leaving 
 her daughters to make the incjuiries her trembling 
 tongue refused, she snatched the light from the 
 housemaid who attended, and ascended the stairs 
 with all the haste her trepidation permitted. All 
 was still ! the voice of moaning had ceased ; nor 
 could she hear the doctor's or her husband's 
 voice, as she expected, in the breakfast-room ; 
 but as they were secondary objects now, she pro- 
 ceeded to the nursery, and softly pushing open 
 
 I
 
 98 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 the door, beheld her husband leaning against the 
 chimney-piece, his eyes covered by his hands, 
 and his attitude expressive of severe though re- 
 pressed sorrow. Louisa was kneeling by the 
 bedside, with her eyes fixed on the child in the 
 bed : not a breath was heard ; and the long 
 snufF of the candle, as it twinkled in the socket, 
 denoted the total absorption of the afflicted pair 
 before her. 
 
 Mrs. Franklin now trembled violently ; but as 
 well as she was able, trod on tiptoe to the bed ; 
 a single glance assured her the precaution was 
 useless. The severe sufferings which had ter- 
 minated, by successive convulsions, the life of her 
 little innocent, had set the mark of death in its 
 most terrific form on its distorted features ; and 
 the mother, overwhelmed by the sight, dropped 
 senseless on the floor. 
 
 Mr. Franklin at this sound first started from 
 his painful reverie ; at this afflicting spectacle, 
 his heart, already softened by suffering, forgot 
 every other sensation but that of pity for the 
 wretched mother, whose sorrow, he well knew, 
 was as acute now, as her carelessness had been 
 reprehensible ; he assisted Louisa to restore her, 
 with the utmost tenderness, and omitted no means 
 of soothing and consoling her, as soon as return- 
 ing reason enabled her to appreciate his cares ; 
 but to a heart so smitten, the language of affec- 
 tion inflicted new wounds ; and turning from the 
 husband she had injured, the abashed wife sunk
 
 THE DAUGHTEE-IN-LAW. 99 
 
 on the bosom of Louisa, and there freely shed the 
 tears of repentance and sorrow. 
 
 The 'extreme grief she experienced for some 
 days wholly incapacitated her from attending to 
 the remains of her babe, and the care of the 
 funeral devolved upon Louisa, as the young ladies 
 were both so shocked by the circumstance of a 
 death happening in the family, that even the 
 small degree of exertion they usually evinced, 
 appeared entirely to forsake them ; they carefully 
 avoided going near the room where the corpse 
 "was deposited, and were observed to be never 
 parted during the time it remained in the house, 
 fear thus effecting a union the general dissimilarity 
 of their habits had hitherto prevented ; for al- 
 though they were alike fond of dissipation, in 
 one it was produced by the activity of vanity, and 
 in the other by the love of idleness ; so that till 
 now they were seldom observed to pass their 
 time together in the house. 
 
 A decisive proof was given, in the conduct of 
 these young people, of the difference between 
 that true sensibility which is the offspring of 
 Compassion and the sister of Fortitude, and of 
 that weakness of mind which shrinks from suf- 
 fering, and is overwhelmed with the first ap- 
 proaches of sorrow. Maria was particularly at 
 this time a proof of the latter, for Ellen's mind, 
 ever occupied in selfish cares, felt little beyond 
 the first surprise, except what her fears suggested 
 at the idea of death as an object of terror ; but 
 her sister, who had really loved the child, though 
 
 I 2
 
 100 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAAV. 
 
 her indolence had taken no share in its welfare, 
 for some days sunk under the pressure of grief 
 from its loss, and could never see her mother 
 without bursting afresh into tears, and thus 
 awakening with new force the poignancy of the 
 mother's feelings, already too acute ; whereas 
 Louisa assumed a look of composure in the pre- 
 sence of Mrs. Franklin, and transacted every 
 circumstance relative to the interment of the 
 child, in such a manner as to save her from pain- 
 ful reflection and unavailing regret ; though she 
 was not sorry to find that an impression of 
 thoughtfulness was left upon her mind, after 
 the violence of grief had subsided, as she hoped 
 it would have a tendency to produce a taste for 
 domestic enjoyments, even when the necessity 
 for seclusion no longer existed. 
 
 Mr, Franklin was desirous of using to the 
 happiest purpose the new power which his for- 
 giving tenderness had now given him over the 
 softened feelings of his wife ; but conscious that 
 as the sense of grief subsided, habits of dissipa- 
 tion would return, and too probably with increased 
 avidity, as many kind visitants had insisted upon 
 it — " That poor Mrs. Franklin ought to get out 
 again : really her poor nerves would be irrepar- 
 ably injured, after such a shock as she had re- 
 ceived ; she ought to seek amusement," &c., he 
 wished, in a particular manner, by rendering her 
 own house agreeable, to make other scenes un- 
 necessary for the restoration of her peace. In 
 this arduous undertaking, Louisa most gladly as-
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 101 
 
 sisted, by exerting herself with unremitting dili- 
 gence to procure amusement at home ; and as 
 she was now more at liberty from nursery cares 
 than she had been during the life of little Emily, 
 and Charles was at an age the most endearing, 
 sometimes by the help of his prattle, at others 
 by little musical performances, made up by the 
 three girls, with Mr. Franklin's accompaniment, 
 and at others by well-chosen books ; the even- 
 ings had of late been got over so pleasantly, that 
 it appeared a very possible thing to go forward in 
 the same way. Maria was particularly improved 
 by this plan, as it called out powers she was not 
 conscious of possessing, and awakened tastes 
 which had hitherto lain dormant ; so that her 
 mother could not help very frequently praising 
 her for possessing more talent than she was 
 aware of. This young w^oman's heart, as we 
 have already said, was naturally good, and she 
 loved her mother as much as it was possible for 
 a child to do, who had been for many years sub- 
 ject to the painful idea that her sister w^as pre- 
 ferred ; affected with maternal praise, and in- 
 creasing every day in affection towards Louisa, 
 whose superior faculties were borne so meekly, 
 that while they excited admiration, they forbade 
 envy, she now endeavoured to apply herself to 
 the practice of some neglected accomplishment, 
 or the acquisition of some useful branch of know- 
 ledge. Mr. Franklin applauded her exertions, 
 and advised her regularly to give some hours in 
 every day to reading and drawing— a system that 
 
 I 3
 
 102 THE DATJGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 could be now easily practised, as Louisa had un- 
 dertaken to give little Charles the rudiments of 
 education, and had converted the nursery into 
 a school room. 
 
 The party was soon increased by Ellen, who 
 had a little taste for music, and was extremely 
 desirous of learning to sing as well as Louisa, 
 it being a qualification which she had observed 
 made even plain girls much run after, and must 
 be positively fascinating when it accompanied per- 
 sonal charms ; and as an attention to every species 
 of learning induces some degree of solidity, and 
 Ellen was under the necessity of being at least 
 civil, during the time in which she was receiving 
 instructions from her monitress, she was not a 
 disagreeable inmate during the time she joined 
 them ; and a general improvement in her man- 
 ners was soon visible, as she had conquered her 
 haughtiness, in order to gain the instruction she 
 wanted, since Louisa, though mild and forgiving 
 to the greatest degree, would not have submitted 
 to grant those favours to insolence, which so well 
 merited entreaty. Ellen, thus constrained to be 
 civil, acquired the habit of watching herself, and 
 restraining her humours : she was obliged to see 
 much of her little brother, and his innocent en- 
 dearments touched the chord of aftection which 
 self-love had so long caused to lie dormant in her 
 breast ; and by degrees she learned to love the 
 little circle she had in the first instance barely en- 
 dured, and found herself happy in the home it 
 had ever been her study to fly from ; being obliged
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 103 
 
 to consider Louisa as far her superior in the only 
 accomplishment to which she had attached merit, 
 and finding there were difficulties in the attain- 
 ment she had not apprehended till she encoun- 
 tered them, she conceived a very superior idea of 
 her youthful preceptress ; and Louisa's taste and 
 opinion began to be consulted beyond the com- 
 pass of a song, and were in the high road to lead 
 her active, though uncultivated mind, to higher 
 attainments, when an important circumstance en- 
 gaged the attention of the family. 
 
 About two years before this period, Mr. Frank- 
 lin had been requested by a country gentleman 
 to take his eldest son into his house and counting- 
 house, not so much for the purpose of instructing 
 him in the art of managing a business, as to give 
 him a general knowledge of the commerce of his 
 country, and introduce him to genteel society ; 
 for his fortune was perfectly independent, and the 
 general state of mercantile concerns not promis- 
 ing, more than general knowledge was unneces- 
 sary for him ; and as his father, since the death 
 of his mother, and the marriage of his sister, had 
 led a life of extremeretirement at his own country- 
 seat, he wished his son, then eighteen, to look a 
 little into the world, but through the medium of 
 a friend, on whose care and respectability he could 
 depend. His knowledge of Mr. Franklin's cha- 
 racter, as a merchant, ensured him such an in- 
 sight as might be sufficient for him in the way he 
 wanted, without subjecting him to any species of 
 drudgery or degradation ; and the manner in
 
 104 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 which Mrs. Franklin was mentioned, as a lady 
 whose society was extensive, elegant, and fashion- 
 able, promised precisely the introduction Mr. 
 Egerton wished for his son ; and the manner in 
 which he sought for this advantageous situation 
 being equally flattering and liberal, Mr. Franklin 
 had agreed to accept the charge, and was in ex- 
 pectation of receiving Charles Egerton, when un- 
 fortunately the worthy father, from an accidental 
 fall from his horse, was so much injured as to be 
 confined for a considerable time to his bed ; and 
 as this was succeeded by a decline, the duteous 
 son had never quitted him till the awful period 
 of his sufferings, which had terminated at the 
 same time Mr. Franklin buried his little girl. 
 
 The young man having paid the last duties to 
 his much-loved parent, and meeting in his views 
 the entire approbation of his guardians, now again 
 offered himself as aninmatewitliMr. Franklin, dur- 
 ing the remaining year of his minority ; and the 
 very respectful and ingenuous manner in which he 
 made his wishes knovv^n, added to the affectionate 
 and pious manner in which he adverted to the 
 memory of his father, rendered Mr. Franklin so 
 much interested in him, that he instantly coin- 
 cided with his wishes, and prepared his faniily to 
 receive him with the regard due to his merit. 
 
 When Ellen had first heard this gentleman 
 mentioned, she had declared that such a country 
 squire's son must be the greatest bore in nature ; 
 but when she found that he was in actual posses- 
 sion of a very fine estate, from the recent death
 
 TFIE DAUGHTEB-rX-LAW, 10) 
 
 of his father, and could, in her ideas, afford to 
 throw away money upon any thin;^, she conceived 
 that he would be a most desirable acquisition ; 
 and, by a violent exclamation of joy, evinced her 
 expectations that Mr. Egerton would be " a dash- 
 ing youth :" but her expectation was checked by 
 the information from Mr. Franklin, that Mr. 
 Egerton would not be put in possession of his 
 estate till he was three-and-twenty, and that he 
 had professed an intention of regulating his pre- 
 sent expenditure entirely by his (Mr. Franklin's) 
 wishes and directions. 
 
 " Then it will be moderate indeed,'^ said Ellen, 
 sneeringly. 
 
 "It will be consistent," returned Mr. Frank- 
 lin, " with his real welfare and his situation in 
 my family, not one of whom could be any way 
 benefited by its increase, since I shall never allow 
 either presents or treats of any kind to persons 
 under my protection, to constitute the expenses 
 of a young man so situated. I had hoped that 
 you. Miss Ellen Debrett, had given m.e credit for 
 generosity as well as prudence ; but since that is 
 not the case, I am determined that you shall be 
 compelled to do justice to my delicacy and honour, 
 with respect to Mr. Egerton, whom, you may de- 
 pend upon it, I shall guard with the discretion 
 and penetration of a father. ^ 
 
 Mrs. Franklin was extremely hurt with Ellen's, 
 conduct, and reproved her severely, a circum- 
 stance so new, that she resented it with her usur.l 
 asperity ; and, conceiving Mr. Egerton to be the
 
 106 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 cause of her disgrace, she took an aversion for 
 him before she had seen him ; and apprehending, 
 from the manner in which her mother had ex- 
 pressed herself, that she would be happy in seeing 
 her united to a man of Mr. Egerton's description, 
 she determined to thwart her wishes, should it be 
 in her power to refuse him. 
 
 To be scolded by a mother, who had hitherto 
 excused her every foible, and indulged her every 
 wish, was a kind of insolence she had no idea of 
 submitting to ; all she owed her for past kind- 
 ness was at once obliterated, and sullen resent- 
 ment indulged, as an act of justice towards a cruel 
 and refractory parent ; so true it is, that the surest 
 way to render a child ungrateful, is to spoil them 
 by unqualified indulgence. 
 
 Louisa saw this renewed petulance in Ellen 
 with sincere pain, and regretted that any circum- 
 stance had occurred which broke the harmony 
 that had been so happily gaining ground in the 
 family of late ; but she was aware her father knew 
 better than she could possibly do the propriety of 
 admitting a stranger. 
 
 From this time, however, she was compelled 
 to remark, that Mrs. Franklin treated her with 
 less cordiality than she had done since the death 
 of Emily ; and as she could not divine the cause, 
 her mind was oppressed by solicitude, especially 
 as she observed, the more she exerted herself in 
 her usual avocations, the more cold and unfriendly 
 Mrs. Franklin appeared ; yet she never let slip a 
 word of blame on any subject ; so that it was
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 107 
 
 impossible for Louisa to apologize for error which 
 was not imputed, or expostulate on unkindness, 
 which, though keenly felt, was not embodied in 
 a questionable shape. 
 
 This was a source of trouble LouiSa had never 
 contended with till now, Mrs. Franklin, natu- 
 rally impetuous and passionate, had often severely 
 hurt her by assertions and blame in her angry 
 moments ; but sjie had now learned to under- 
 stand the nature of the person with whom she 
 had to do, and she knew that a hasty speech was 
 often followed by an ample concession, and that 
 in some shape or other, sorrow was expressed for 
 injury, which she amiably endeavoured to persuade 
 herself was in a great measure involuntary ; but 
 that cold, repelling manner, which threw her at 
 the heart-chilling distance she now experienced, 
 was indeed cruel, and the consciousness that she 
 did not merit such treatment, appeared, on a first 
 view, to render it more intolerable, as she could 
 have amended a fault, or have gained pardon for 
 a transgression, and have been restored to favour; 
 but where no crime was alleged, no reparation 
 could be made ; where no breach was formed, no 
 reunion could be cemented ; and the partition, 
 begun by sh3'ness, though slow, seemed final : 
 but a further recollection taught her to look to 
 Him who judgeth righteously, and commit her- 
 self to that love \vhich beam.eth on the hearts of 
 the humble, and cheers their spirits when all the 
 world looks cold around them. 
 
 From prayer and meditation on the Divine
 
 108 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 goodness, Louisa was enabled to sustain the altered 
 manners of Mrs. Franklin, without even by a 
 single look appealing to her father for sympathy 
 or redress, although the internal conflict she sus- 
 tained so far affected her health, as to induce 
 him to make more particular inquiries respecting 
 her feelings than he had ever done at any preced- 
 ing period of her life, and she could not at times 
 help fearing that he understood the nature of 
 her sorrow ; though, happily for them both, he 
 was at this time so much engaged in a commer- 
 cial affair of importance, as to preclude observ- 
 ing much of any thing that passed in his house, 
 where preparations were now making for the con- 
 stantly-expected guest. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Nothing can detain affection, or fix esteem, hut that 
 kind of beauty which depends not on flesh and blood. 
 
 Sermons for Women. 
 
 On the morning preceding that on which Mr. 
 Egerton had fixed for his arrival in London, 
 Louisa informed Mrs. Franklin at the breakfast- 
 table, that she thought little Charles very far from 
 v.'ell ; he did not complain of any particular pain, 
 but was restless and feverish, often asking for 
 water, and unable either to eat or play. 
 
 Mr. Franklin flew to the nursery, and returned 
 with the child in his arras, who, in reply to his 
 mother's inquiries, said his forehead hurt him
 
 THE DAUGIITER-IN-LAW. 109 
 
 sadly, and something pricked him all over ; but 
 it only began after Louisa left him. 
 
 Mr. Franklin smiled at this account ; but as 
 Mrs. Franklin was now soon alarmed, they agreed 
 to send for Dr. Jackson, who said, on his arrival, 
 the little fellow had given a very good account 
 of his sensations, as he really believed he was 
 beginning the measles. 
 
 "• The nurse always thought he had the measles 
 when very young ; and as he had since then been 
 exposed to them without being infected, they had 
 concluded that nurse was in the right," Mrs. 
 Franklin observed. 
 
 " That conclusion may be very just," said the 
 judicious physician ; " in which case we must take 
 care of ourselves, for there is every reason to be- 
 lieve this complaint will turn out to be the scarlet 
 fever, which has been very prevalent of late." 
 
 A general cry of terror rose from the break- 
 fast-table, for several instances of the fatality of 
 this fever, not only in children, but adults, had 
 been lately read, and commented upon by Mr. 
 Franklin, in the morning papers. The child, 
 though not comprehending the emotion those 
 around him expressed, yet partook its alarm, and 
 as in all cases of trouble he looked to Louisa for 
 comfort, he instantly stretched out his arms to 
 go to her. 
 
 "Not for the world, my good little fellow." 
 said the doctor, interposing ; " the young are ever 
 liable to infection ; your nurse is the best person 
 
 K
 
 110 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 we can have, and she must be separated from the 
 family," 
 
 " Oh, my God, this is too much !" said Mrs. 
 Franklin, in great agitation, falling back in her 
 chair, while a death-like paleness suffused the 
 face of her husband, and he pressed his only son 
 to his aching heart with trembling agony. 
 
 The terrified child held out his arms, with ve- 
 hemence calling — " Oh, take me, Louisa, and I 
 will be well ; indeed I will." 
 
 " My dear doctor," said Louisa, " if he has 
 got a fever, I have already run all the risk I can ; 
 for when I heard him moaning, I fetched him 
 from his own bed to mine in the night, and I 
 must, indeed I must attend him ; I will observe 
 all you say, and take every care to guard myself 
 and every body else from infection ; but to aban- 
 don him is impossible." 
 
 The extreme anxiety evinced in her manner, 
 united to her pallid looks and heavy eyes, induced 
 the doctor to think that it was but too probable 
 she was indeed infected already, and he no longer 
 opposed her will ; and, as with trembling steps 
 she withdrew with her precious burden, he gave 
 a sigh to both the interesting victims ; at the 
 same time he expressed a hope that, as the fever 
 was taken at its earliest stage, a favourable issue 
 might be expected. 
 
 Ellen inquired with impatience if it would be 
 advisable to leave the house, receding as she 
 spoke from the breakfast-table.
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. Ill 
 
 "" Doctor Jackson thought, in so large a house, 
 it was possible to remain with safety. 
 
 Maria declared, that whether it was or not, 
 she would not quit it — " Should Louisa have the 
 fever," said she, " pray who must take care of 
 her?" 
 
 " A nurse, to be sure," said Ellen. 
 
 " In case I find any symptoms of the fever, in 
 my next call, have affected Miss Franklin," re- 
 turned the doctor, "- 1 shall then recommend you 
 not only to get a nurse, if possible, but to leave 
 the house ; and as you, Miss Debrett, can do 
 your excellent young friend no good, I would 
 advise you to keep out of the way. I perceive 
 an exhortation to this effect is unnecessary to your 
 sister ; but as every period of life is liable to 
 the infection, I must insist upon it, that both Mr. 
 and Mrs. Franklin place the confidence in Louisa 
 she is, I am certain, most fully entitled to, and 
 abstain from venturing to visit my little patient 
 as much as possible." 
 
 As soon as Mr. Franklin could arrange his 
 ideas, and in any measure command his feelings, 
 he procured lodgings for Mr. Egerton, justly con- 
 cluding it would be the safest course he could take. 
 
 The poor child grew regularly worse, and agree- 
 ably to the directions of his medical attendants, 
 no one entered the room save Peggy, who di- 
 vided the care of attending him with Louisa, who, 
 on her part, devoted herself to her charge, and 
 to her God, devoutly believing, that whatever 
 might be His will concerning her, that as her 
 
 K 2
 
 112 THE DAUGHTKR-IN-LAW. 
 
 path of duty was that of danger, He would order 
 all things aright. She, however, neglected no 
 means whatever that could enable her to escape 
 infection, and was the better enabled to practice 
 them, from the pious resignation which, by keep- 
 ing her spirits in a composed frame, prevented 
 her from sinking into that state of nervous de- 
 bility, which is favourable to feverish irritability. 
 It was, however, impossible for her to communi- 
 cate her own resolution to the servant, who, being 
 extremely fond of the little boy, was incessantly 
 lamenting over him ; and being deeply imbued 
 with the belief, according to her own expression, 
 " that what is to be, is to be," could not be pre- 
 vailed upon to take the necessary precautions. 
 
 To Mr. Franklin's great relief, he was inform- 
 ed the second day, that Miss Franklin exhibited 
 no symptoms of fever ; but this joy was cruelly 
 damped in the evening, by a declaration that the 
 little boy was in the greatest danger. 
 
 Extremely attached to every child he had, yet 
 it will be readily conceived that this boy had a 
 hold still stronger than any on his heart ; and as 
 it was now upwards of three years since Emily's 
 birth, he had no hopes of a farther addition to 
 his family ; and the expectation flattering to every 
 man of seeing his name descend to posterity, in 
 possession of an independent property, was again 
 wrested from him ; and, at a period when the 
 many troubles with which he was contending 
 made his visions for futurity the only happy ones 
 he could enjoy, his extreme solicitude can only
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 113 
 
 be conceived ; for when we remember to his fears 
 for his son was superadded the consciousness that 
 Louisa's life was also in jeopardy, all expression 
 must fail to point out the acuteness of his sor- 
 rows, the anguish of his suspense : hour after 
 hour he slowly paced along the passage adjoining 
 the nursery, listening to the low murmurs of his 
 son, or the soothing voice of his daughter, as she 
 endeavoured to cheer or console the little suf- 
 ferer ; informing her when it was the hour ap- 
 pointed for a medicine to be given, or from time 
 to time lifting up his heart to God to implore a 
 blessing on them both ; then seeking his wife, 
 he endeavoured to bend her mind and his own to 
 the dispensation that awaited them, sometimes 
 yielding to her entreaties, that he would not go 
 again to the infected apartment, and at others 
 returning, wdth still stronger interest, to the scene 
 of his anxiety. AVith him it was impossible to 
 attend to the arrival of their guest ; he could 
 barely grasp his hand, and bid him fly from the 
 house, where Danger had taken up her abode, 
 with Sorrow in her train. As, however, Mrs. 
 Franklin considered Mr. Egerton as one whose 
 future situation in her family would lead him to 
 partake its pleasures and its pains, and the man- 
 ner in which he received her husband's inform- 
 ation evinced the sympathy he felt for them, she 
 pressed him not to go to his lodgings till the 
 evening, saying, that as the dining-room was on 
 the ground floor, no possibility of danger could 
 
 K 3
 
 114 THE DAUGHTEK-IN-LAW, 
 
 occur, and his society would certainly afford con- 
 siderable relief to Mr. Franklin. 
 
 The young gentleman professed he had no fears, 
 and very gracefully accorded with her invitation, 
 to the satisfaction of both herself and daughters ; 
 but Mr. Franklin, though he exerted himself to 
 do the honours of his table, was incapable of 
 more. 
 
 On the third day Peggy gave evident signs of 
 fever, which being communicated to the family, 
 increased the alarm of the ladies exceedingly ; 
 but when towards night she became delirious, 
 their terror knew no bounds ; they considered the 
 habitation as infected with the plague ; and Mrs. 
 Franklin declared, that sleeping another night in 
 the house was impracticable. 
 
 It was in vain that Mr. Franklin urged the 
 impropriety of Peggy's conduct, as related to him 
 by Louisa, and cited Louisa herself as a proof, 
 that with care infection might be avoided ; both 
 mother and daughters insisted upon it that they 
 must instantlv remove or die. 
 
 Mr. Egerton was present at this declaration, 
 and offered to give up his lodgings immediately, 
 saying, that he was quite confident any room dis- 
 tant from the nursery would be perfectly safe for 
 him, because he had no fears to operate against 
 him ; but as the ladies had many, their safety, 
 under similar circumstances, might be doubtful. 
 
 Mr. Franklin, grateful for this generous and 
 delicate offer, instantly accepted it ; and the car- 
 riage was ordered to convey the ladies, Mr. Frank-
 
 THE DAUGHTER- IN-LAAV. 115 
 
 lln proposing to Mr. Egerton to be their escort, 
 with which he readily complied, saying, he should 
 return at a very early hour. 
 
 " And I hope, my dear," said Mrs. Franklin, 
 " you wdll come to me as soon as possible, after 
 you have received Mr. Egerton ; I am sure he 
 will excuse you." 
 
 " But I am not in the habit of excusing my- 
 self," said Mr. Franklin, solemnly, "from any 
 known duty ; surely, you cannot suppose I shall 
 leave my house to-night — a night on which per- 
 haps I shall be called to seal the eyelids of my 
 only son, and prepare for death my first-born 
 child." 
 
 " Oh, my God, Mr. Franklin, how can you 
 talk so, and yet refuse to go with me ; if you 
 catch the fever, what will become of me ? oh, for 
 pity's sake, consider me ! surely you have some 
 regard for the living, as well as the dying ? I can- 
 not possibly leave you, unless you promise to fol- 
 low me," cried Mrs. Franklin, throwing her arms 
 around him, and weeping excessively. 
 
 The distressed husband strove to soothe her, 
 but was firm in his resolution to watch on this 
 eventful night the progress of the disease ; and 
 she at length departed, with the promise that she 
 should hear from him often in the course of it. 
 
 When Mr. Eqerton returned, he was charged 
 in the most particular manner with numberless 
 directions how to avoid the nursery, so that had 
 all the plagues of Egypt rested there, and all 
 the horrors of Bluebeard's chuiiiber been ready
 
 116 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 to open on him, he could not have been better 
 warned against them ; but he forgot all the in- 
 terdictions as soon as he beheld Mr. Franklin, 
 whose benevolent countenance, for the first time 
 since he had beheld it, was lightened by a 
 chastened smile : he informed him, that during 
 his absence he had been comforted by Doctor 
 Jackson's assurance, that the fever was approach- 
 ing its crisis, without any symptom of increased 
 malignity ; and that in the morning he flattered 
 himself with being able to give more decisive 
 encouragement. 
 
 Mr. Egerton sat up very late with Mr. Frank- 
 lin, and by entering into various subjects of con- 
 versation, beguiled the hours, and opened such 
 an insight into the excellency of his own heart, 
 and the cultivation of his mind, that at any other 
 time Mr. Franklin would have been absolutely 
 delighted with that, which even now consoled 
 and amused him ; but the more he contemplated 
 this young man, the more precious did his own 
 boy become in his sight, and he felt as if he had 
 never till now known the full worth of such a 
 connection ; and the moment he had wished the 
 amiable stranger a good -night, he turned to the 
 nursery door, and inquired with unusual solici- 
 tude, how Charles was going on ? 
 
 Louisa, who had heard his step, instantly 
 opened the door, and with a congratulatory smile, 
 assured him the child was doing well; but added, 
 in a tone of the tenderest compassion, that poor 
 Peggy was still raving, and, she feared, was not
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 117 
 
 likely to be better soon, since it was impossible 
 to prevail upon her to swallow her medicines. 
 
 Mr. Egerton was just ascending the second 
 stairs, and so situated as to look down on the 
 nursery door, when Louisa opened it ; her ad- 
 dress to her father made him immediately com- 
 prehend who she was, and the nature of her 
 office in the proscribed room. She looked so 
 pale and haggard, that he did not for a moment 
 consider her as a rival to the beautiful Miss El- 
 len Debrett, whose face had struck him as the 
 prettiest he had ever seen ; but he w-as not the 
 less affected by the softness of her voice, the in- 
 telligence of her countenance, and the superior 
 conduct she evinced by her attendance in the 
 sick room of her little brother ; and he felt, by 
 still stronger ties, drawn to participate in the 
 sorrows of a man who had such singular trea- 
 sures at stake, and who manifested an affection 
 proportioned to their w^orth. 
 
 The morning gave increased hopes for the 
 child, which continued through that day and 
 the next ; so that on the evening of the latter, 
 Mrs. Franklin ventured to visit her own house, 
 to hear the happy tidings confirmed, and (if she 
 dared) venture to take a peep at her boy. But 
 the groans of poor Peggy, whose room was con- 
 tiguous to the nursery, effectually terrified her 
 from approaching the place ; and she departed, 
 satisfied with Louisa's assurance (which was 
 given at a considerable distance,) that the dear 
 child was slowly but regularly recovering.
 
 118 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 In the course of this night, the faithful ser- 
 vant who had divided the cares of Louisa with 
 her little nursling breathed her last ; in conse- 
 quence of which, Mrs. Franklin declared it was 
 impossible to re-enter her own house for some 
 time, and proposed, as the season was not quite 
 concluded, that the family should remove for a 
 month to Bath. 
 
 As the housemaid had shown symptoms of fe- 
 ver, Mr. Franklin was of opinion that it might 
 be some time before the house could be deemed 
 completely safe ; he made no objection, further 
 than to say, that he hoped in another week the 
 child could be removed with safety, and the 
 change of air would then be equally beneficial 
 for him and Louisa, who was so much reduced 
 with the extreme fatigue she had undergone, 
 that he was extremely desirous that something 
 might be tried as a restorative ; but to this Mrs. 
 Franklin objected, on the score of Bath being a 
 place totally improper : and added, that it was 
 quite out of the question for either her or little 
 Charles to accompany them, as the infection 
 would hover round both for some time ; for her 
 own part, she was wretched till she could press 
 them both to her heart ; but she conceived it 
 would be madness to lose all the fruits of her 
 flight by such an indulgence. 
 
 As this apology was perfectly reasonable, Mr. 
 Franklin made no reply, farther than to observe, 
 that as Bristol was not liable to the same objec- 
 tions with Bath, he should take his children
 
 THE DAUGHTEE-IN-LAW. 119 
 
 there as soon as Charles was able to bear the 
 journey, an arrangement which would leave Mrs. 
 Franklin at liberty to pursue her plans, without 
 interference from the suffering part of her family. 
 
 As soon as the journey was determined upon, 
 Maria expressed a great desire to remain with 
 Louisa, and partake her charge, saying — " That 
 now Charles was getting better, he would take 
 more waiting upon than he had done when he 
 was too ill to want amusement ; and she thought 
 poor Louisa could be ill able to go through the 
 fatigue of being a nursemaid, after all she had 
 undergone in watching over him both night and 
 day so long." 
 
 To this her mother did not object ; and as 
 Mr. Franklin undertook to guard her from all 
 infection, she returned home with him ; and 
 Mrs. Franklin, after assuring Mr. Egerton that 
 she hoped and expected he would make one of 
 her party, was proceeding to give orders to Maria 
 to send her such clothes as were necessary for 
 her at Bath, when she was interrupted by her 
 husband informing the young gentleman that he 
 wished for his company for a few days at home, 
 as he had been so much and so painfully en- 
 gaged of late, as to have neglected his business, 
 and should be glad of his assistance to set things 
 a little to rights. 
 
 Mr. Egerton professed himself ready to attend 
 his wishes, observing, that it would perhaps be 
 as well for Jiim cither to remain in London du- 
 ring the whole absence of the family, as it was a
 
 120 THE DAITGIITEH-IX-LAW. 
 
 plain case he was now fever-proof, or accompany 
 Mr. Franklin, when he escorted the rest of his 
 family to Bristol, 
 
 Poor Mrs. Franklin, who, in pursuit of one 
 darling object, had ventured to forsake the path 
 of duty, and incur losing the affections of her 
 excellent husband, and who had even stooped, by 
 various innuendoes, to insinuate various charges 
 derogatory to the character of that exalted girl, 
 who merited her highest gratitude, and would 
 have possessed it, but for the jarring interest 
 she now held with the undutiful but still idolized 
 Ellen, in the eyes of Mrs. Franklin (and which 
 had neither entered into her own mind nor that 
 of her father), now saw all her nourished project 
 snatched from her grasp, at the very moment of 
 its realization ; and resolved by one bold push, 
 either to obtain her object, which was the undi- 
 vided attention of Mr. Egerton to her darling, 
 or relinquish her plan altogether of removing to 
 Bath ; for although she could not hope to keep 
 the young gentleman from becoming acquainted 
 with Louisa in time, yet she flattered herself she 
 could manage to keep them asunder, until Ellen's 
 beauty had made such an impression on his 
 mind, as to render him indifferent to any other 
 person ; not considering, that young as he was, 
 the excellence of his understanding was likely 
 to act as a complete preservation from the effect 
 of mere personal attractions. 
 
 Fraught with this idea, she declared, that al- 
 though she was more than ever convinced of the
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 121 
 
 necessity of removing, she would not do it unless 
 accompanied by her husband or by Mr. Egerton, 
 in whom she felt the confidence of a son, since 
 the amiable attention he had shown the family, 
 in the short but eventful period of his acquaint- 
 ance with them, had proved he merited the place 
 of a son in her heart. 
 
 The word son revealed at once to Mr. Frank- 
 lin all that had appeared of late mysterious or 
 defective in his wife ; and although shocked that 
 her generally ingenuous character should be 
 capable of plotting to catch a husband for her 
 daughter, yet when he considered how blindly 
 she had ever been attached to Ellen, and the 
 greatness of the prize she was now angling for, 
 he pitied and excused the conduct he could not 
 approve ; and feeling assured that the young man 
 would be in no eventful danger from a girl so 
 little assimilated to himself in disposition, he 
 gave way to the wishes of his wife ; and in a 
 short time she had the pleasure of mixing in the 
 gay circles at Bath, with a daughter she idolized, 
 and a youth of whose person and fortune she 
 had great reason to be proud, though his virtues 
 far exceeded both. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Man proposes, but God disposes. Baxter. 
 
 Whilst Mrs. Franklin was engaged at Bath in 
 the pursuit of an object which became more and 
 more necessary to her happiness, the nearer she 
 
 L
 
 122 THE DAUGHTER. IN-LAW. 
 
 imagined herself in possession of it, her husband 
 was watching with anxious tenderness the bloom 
 of health revisit the cheek of his lovely boy, and 
 lamenting its complete desertion of his amiable 
 daughter. Supported by her affection, Louisa 
 had appeared almost invulnerable to the com- 
 mon sufferings of fatigue during the severity of 
 Charles's illness 3 but as he got better, she evi- 
 dently declined ; and the still afflicted father 
 found he had only changed the object of his 
 solicitude, not lost the sensation. 
 
 As soon, however, as it was deemed prudent 
 to remove the little boy, he set out to Bristol, 
 as had been proposed, having procured lodgings 
 at the beautiful village of Clifton, in that neigh- 
 bourhood, and sent a servant before them to en- 
 sure a comfortable reception. 
 
 To Mr. Franklin this was a journey of much 
 painful interest ; and as he looked at the fragile 
 form of his daughter, he trembled with future 
 anticipation, as much as past sorrows. 
 
 On their arrival at Bath, he committed the 
 care of his double treasure to Maria, while he 
 stepped into Gay Street, to visit Mrs. Franklin. 
 She pressed him exceedingly to remain with her; 
 but, as she could not deny there appeared a ne- 
 cessity for attending to the young party he was 
 escorting, consented to release him. While the 
 point was debating, Mr. Egerton came in ; and 
 Mr. Franklin being glad to see him, and having 
 little time, as he meant to sleep at Clifton, pro- 
 posed to take him down to the inn, to which
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 123 
 
 the young gentleman gladly acceded, on which 
 poor Mrs. Franklin again appeared in alarm, 
 saying — " It was by no means safe for him to go 
 near the invalids," 
 
 Mr. Franklin could hardly repress a smile, 
 but reassured her by saying — " Maria would be 
 happy to see him ; the rest of his party were 
 unequal to paying their respects to a stranger." 
 
 " I shall have great pleasure in seeing Miss 
 Debrett," said Mr. Egerton ; she always ap- 
 peared to me very amiable, and her present 
 conduct has given me an idea of her worth, 
 which is only exceeded by that of Miss Frank- 
 lin herself, which, in my opinion, is above all 
 praise." 
 
 Such things as these had occasionally dropped 
 from Mr. Egerton before they left town, and had 
 rendered Mrs. Franklin more than usually anx- 
 ious to draw him away from the sight of a per- 
 son whom she considered as capable of exciting 
 affection by her manners, as completely as she 
 had won esteem by her conduct ; for although 
 she had not failed to insist upon it, that as 
 Louisa had been subjected to the infection in 
 the first instance, before she was aware of it, 
 which lessened the merit of her risk, and had 
 even endeavoured to insinuate that her atten- 
 tions were intended as the medium of gaining 
 an undue ascendancy over the father, and thus 
 lessening his affection for his wife, yet so many 
 simple truths had from time to time escaped the 
 lips of all the ladies, which tended to show 
 
 L 2
 
 124 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 Louisa the excellent and unaffected character she 
 really was, that Mr. Egerton could not avoid 
 yielding her the respect she merited. 
 
 Mrs. Franklin was not a cunning Avoman ; her 
 passions were too warm, her heart too open, to 
 be capable of habitual insincerity, or the subtlety 
 necessary for carrying on any regular plan of de- 
 ception ; in the attack she now made on Mr. 
 Egerton, she had mistaken her own powers, and 
 involved herself in the guilt of deceit, and incur- 
 red the pain of self-reproach, without any pro- 
 babilitity of obtaining her end. Thus maternal 
 love, the most amiable and praiseworthy affection 
 that expands the human breast, by an undue as- 
 cendancy and improper association, led an inge- 
 nuous and hitherto noble-spirited person into a 
 mode of conduct equally blameable, ridiculous, 
 and inefficient, precisely what she would have 
 despised and condemned in another, and which 
 no sophistry she was mistress of could justify in 
 herself. 
 
 Mr. Egerton' s short visit to the inn did not 
 produce the evils she feared ; and she had the 
 pleasure of seeing him dance the first two sets 
 with Ellen at the Upper Rooms that very night, 
 with more satisfaction than either of the parties, 
 \vhose conduct, by the most ingenious misinter- 
 pretation, could not be deemed favourable to her 
 wishes. Though Ellen was proud of being es- 
 corted by so fine a young man, of whose fortune 
 and independence the usual exaggerated reports, 
 common to watering-place fame, had been sufR-
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 125 
 
 ciently circulated, yet she had repeatedly told her 
 mother he was by no means the man to please 
 her, for there was not " sufficient style about 
 him ;" and the penetrating eye of her mother, 
 though willing to be blind, frequently whispered 
 her that Mr. Egerton's countenance said — " There 
 is too much style in Miss Ellen Debrett for me." 
 
 Mrs. Franklin's plan of operation was now sus- 
 pended, by a letter which Mr. Egerton received 
 from her husband, informing him, that it was now 
 ascertained beyond a doubt, that Louisa was be- 
 ginning the scarlet fever ; and, as he found it 
 impossible to leave her in her present situation, 
 he entreated that young gentleman to set out for 
 London immediately, and, as far as he was able, 
 supply his presence there. He added, that though 
 Maria's affection for Louisa made her decline 
 leaving C-lifton, he had placed her with Charles 
 at a neighbouring house, so that Mrs. Franklin 
 might remain easy on her account ; and he pro- 
 mised to take as much care of himself as the 
 nature of the case admitted. 
 
 On reading this letter, Mr. Egerton professed 
 an intention of immediately returning to town ; 
 but observed, that if Mrs. Franklin wished to 
 visit Clifton, he would escort her thither in the 
 first place. 
 
 pjUen declared roundly, no circumstance should 
 induce her to leave Bath, or suffer her mamma 
 to do such a mad thing ; it was the only place 
 where they could stay with safety. 
 
 " I hope you will ensure its safety to you by 
 
 L <}
 
 126 THE DAUGHTEk-IN-LAW. 
 
 taking my advice, Miss Ellen, when I am gone," 
 said the j'oung gentleman, in a very pointed man- 
 ner to Ellen, with which Mrs. Franklin was a 
 good deal surprised ; but her mind was so struck 
 with the circumstance of Louisa's illness, the 
 departure of Mr. Egerton, and the distressed 
 situation of her husband, that the impression she 
 had received soon vanished from her mind ; and 
 after bidding him a friendly adieu, she sat down 
 to look over the circumstances that agitated her 
 spirits, with m.ore particularity, and weigh her 
 own wishes and conduct under them. 
 
 " Mr. Egerton," said she, mentally, " cannot 
 marry, it appears, with propriety, for three years, 
 and in that time many circumstances may arise 
 to prevent a union with Ellen ; but he might 
 marry sooner, if any friend would advance him a 
 few thousands, to begin the world with a little 
 eclat. If Louisa should die, Mr. Franklin can 
 do this undoubtedly ; and as his son will be 
 nobly provided for by the time he is of age, I do 
 not think he will object to it ; in that case Ellen 
 will have a house in town, and her friends will 
 convince themselves of the splendour of the con- 
 nection : what is the use of marrying well, if 
 nobody knows it ? When she comes to have a 
 family, she can then retire (just to please him) to 
 their country seat ; she shall have one of the 
 new carriages from Hatchett's ; Egerton's family 
 livery is, I understand, rich and becoming ; how 
 beautiful she will look in white satin, with a 
 Brussels lace over it, and pearls ! though dia-
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-L-VW. 127 
 
 monds would have a better effect, if we can per- 
 suade poor Franklin to consent to it, after all this 
 expense. Dear, how unfortunate ! the whole 
 family will be in mourning three months at least. 
 Poor Louisa ! there never was any creature fitter 
 for heaven than she is, to be sure — but if she 
 
 must die " 
 
 As Mrs. Franklin uttered these words, her 
 heart told her, in language that would be heard, 
 how unworthy this soliloquy was of her, and bade 
 her remember the feelings of that dreadful night 
 when death had claimed her own offspring, and 
 apply the lacerated sensations of that evening to 
 the present situation of her invaluable husband. 
 Franklin's unbounded love and tenderness rose 
 to her mind, accompanied by all he had felt since 
 that time ; and she was forced to acknowledge 
 that his generous forgiveness and active conso- 
 lations had been ill repaid, during the late time 
 of trial to them both, in which, while his half- 
 broken heart v/as torn by the sufferings of his 
 children, he had yet never lost sight of his care 
 for her person, and consideration for her com- 
 forts. A new source of anxiety arose from this 
 contemplation ; he was himself in danger — at 
 this very moment, perhaps contagion had seized 
 on him — she might be again a widow ! — the 
 thought was terrible, and every selfish conside- 
 ration vanished before it. Hastily rising, she sum- 
 moned her servant, and ordered her to pack a 
 few necessaries, and tell William she wanted the 
 carriage for Bristol immediately.
 
 128 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 " Miss Ellen is out, ma'am," said the maid. ' 
 
 " Then send Dalton to find her immediately, 
 for I have not a moment to lose ; all — all may be 
 over before 1 can fly to his assistance." 
 
 The servant, struck with the impetuous man- 
 ners of her lady, lost no time in obeying her ; 
 and just as the carriage drove to the door, Dal- 
 ton, the footman, returned, saying he had seen 
 Miss Ellen, who told him she should only stop at 
 the library a few minutes, and then return home. 
 
 " Drive to Hazard's library," said Mrs. Frank- 
 lin ; " I will take her up from thence." 
 
 Somewhat calmer since she found herself ac- 
 tually on the road to her husband, Mrs. Franklin 
 thought she would alight herself at Hazard's, and 
 purchase some little books for Charles. On en- 
 tering the shop, she first ordered her little pack- 
 age, and then stepped forward to the reading- 
 room to call Ellen, whom she found in earnest 
 conversation with a young man, whom she had 
 remarked at the rooms a few evenings before 
 with surprise, as he was then at cards with a very 
 genteel party ; and she knew him to be a clerk 
 whom Mr, Franklin had dismissed from his service 
 about a year before. 
 
 Coolly replying to his bow, she immediately 
 summoned Ellen to the carriage ; and before that 
 young lady had time to comment upon her pre- 
 cipitation, or express her dread of its conse- 
 quences, inquired — "How she happened to be en- 
 gaged so seriously in talking to a person of whom 
 she knew so very little .?" as Mr. Gossamer was
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 129 
 
 the onl)^ person in Mr. Franklin's service who 
 had never, upon any occasion, visited in his 
 house ; and as there were times when he kept 
 up the custom of having all his people about him, 
 she thought it a proof that he did not hold him 
 equally respectable with the rest. 
 
 Ellen observed — " That was very probable, for 
 Mr. Franklin liked nobody but humdrum quizzes, 
 and Mr. Gossamer was too much of a gentleman 
 to be shut up in a counting-house ; he was now 
 in his proper sphere, as he was the heir to a title, 
 and associated with nobody but people of rank. 
 He won two hundred guineas/' added she, " of 
 dowager lady Dollarip only last night." 
 
 " More the pity," said Mrs. Franklin, " for she 
 can ill afford to lose it ; he is, to be sure, a fine, 
 genteel figure of a man, with very good address, 
 and seemed well received at the rooms ; but I 
 am not sorry I interrupted your tete a-tete, for I 
 am certain Egerton is a very particular man as to 
 the conduct of young ladies ; and this circum- 
 stance explains to me the caution he gave you at 
 parting, which at the time surprised me a good 
 deal ; but I have had so much to think of, that 
 it had escaped ray memory till this moment." 
 
 " Mr. Egerton may save himself the trouble of 
 pestering me with his sapient remarks," replied 
 Ellen, sneeringly, " for he will never have a right 
 to question my conduct, let who will ; I am full 
 as old as him, and I think myself as wise." 
 
 This disobedient retort produced an altercation, 
 which ended in tears on the part of the mother,
 
 130 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 and sullen silence on that of the daughter ; so 
 that when they arrived at Clifton, Mrs. Franklin 
 appeared little less agitated than the husband 
 she met, and who was so truly affected by this 
 mark of her tenderness, that all her past coldness 
 was forgotten, and he received her as the partner 
 of his sorrows, and the friend on whom he could 
 yet lean for comfort, at an hour when every other 
 support was on the point of failing him. 
 
 Kestored to comparative calmness, by a con- 
 duct which had the approbation of her own heart, 
 Mrs. Franklin was on the point of running again 
 into extremes, as she insisted upon attending 
 Louisa herself; but this Mr. Franklin as strenu- 
 ously refused : it was, however, a gratification to 
 him, to find that her late apparent deficiency did 
 not proceed from selfishness, which is the surest 
 way to make the heart habitually callous, but 
 from that attachment to a favourite scheme, 
 which, when once either fulfilled or overthrown, 
 would leave her the power of returning to the 
 more enlarged duties of her station, and the of- 
 fices of affection which each of her family might 
 then hope to partake with Ellen. 
 
 The progress of the fever was more gradual, 
 but less violent in Louisa's case, than it had been 
 in either of the preceding instances ; she was 
 seldom delirious; and the happy temperament of 
 her mind, and her patient acquiescence with what- 
 ever was proposed for her relief, had the most 
 beneficial effect upon her system ; so that in a 
 short time Mr. Franklin had the satisfaction of
 
 ITHE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 131 
 
 hearing her pronounced out of danger, and of 
 being enabled to sit by her bedside, and inform 
 her of the interest her mother had taken in her, 
 during the period when she was at the worst part 
 of her fever, and the difficulty he yet found in 
 keeping her out of the room. 
 
 Louisa expressed great gratitude for this kind- 
 ness in Mrs. Franklin, but intreated him to con- 
 tinue his cares for the safety of one who was of 
 so rnuch importance to them all, and who had 
 hitherto escaped, through the care she had been 
 forced to take of herself. 
 
 The feeble voice of Louisa was at this moment 
 interrupted by an audible sob, and in the next 
 she found Mrs. Franklin's arms thrown round her 
 neck, and heard her exclaim — " Oh, Louisa, you 
 are too good to me ! — you have saved my boy — 
 you have sacrificed yourself — and yet you would 
 save me, who — who — " 
 
 She could say no more, overcome with emo- 
 tion ; and Mr. Franklin, in great terror for the 
 consequences of this rash act of impetuous feel- 
 ing, tore her from the bed, and forced her into 
 another apartment, where he obliged her to take 
 a portion of the medicine which had been pre- 
 scribed to him as a prevention of the infection, 
 and by every means in his power sought to soothe 
 and restore her mind to its wonted tranquillity ; 
 in which, after some time, he was so happy as to 
 succeed : he now learnt, that at the time when 
 her acute feelings and awakened passions had thus 
 led her to the bedside of Louisa, she had been
 
 132 THE DAUGHTEK-IN-LAW. 
 
 exchanging high words with Ellen, on the suhject 
 of her attention to Mr. Gossamer, with whom 
 she suspected that imprudent and self-willed 
 young woman had commenced a correspondence; 
 andthatEllen's want of affection and consideration 
 towards her, by presenting the contrast with 
 Louisa, which even her own blind partiality was 
 forced to acknowledge had led her precipitately 
 to follow him into the room of her daugliter-in- 
 law, as the person to whom she ever appealed in. 
 cases of distress or perplexity ; but the silence 
 Mr. Franklin observed there checking her im- 
 petuosity, induced her to enter on tiptoe, and by 
 that means she learned the kind sentiments of 
 Louisa towards her, in a manner which, by affect- 
 ing her still more, had awakened her feelings to 
 a degree equally injurious to the invalid, and 
 dangerous to herself. 
 
 Oil this conduct Mr. Franklin remonstrated 
 with his usual gentleness and good sense, and 
 she promised to be niore guarded, saying — " That 
 she must ever feel happy that his calm wisdom 
 offered an antidote to her blameable irritability, 
 and that she wished he would advise Ellen with 
 the same fatherly kindness he had ever done, 
 respecting her connection with this Mr. Gossamer, 
 to whom she really feared she was attached ;" 
 saying, " do pray, my dear, persuade her that 
 Egerton will be far the better match, and that it 
 vvdll be madness to refuse him, even for the pros- 
 pect of a title." 
 
 •' I shall have no difficulty in persuading your
 
 1" 
 
 THE DAUGHTER- I^-LAW. 133 
 
 daughter to abandon all thoughts of the man you 
 speak of, my dear, for he is too decidedly worth- 
 less for her to think of him for a moment, after 
 I have told her ivho and ichat he is ; but unless I 
 had some right to suppose Mr, Egerton had 
 serious thoughts of proposing himself to Ellen, I 
 should think it wrong even to use his name to 
 her, when speaking on the subject of marriage, 
 lest I should in my turn be the means of mis- 
 leading her, though not as wickedly, yet as 
 decidedly, as even the scoundrel Gossamer." 
 " Scoundrel ! did you say scoundrel, my dear r 
 " Indeed I did; for as I dismissed him from my 
 own counting-house for nefarious practices, which 
 pity to his youth induced me to pardon, and now 
 find that he is a gambler by profession, and has 
 even dared to practise upon the credulity of one 
 of my own family in the most shocking manner, 
 by representing himself as a gentleman, and the 
 heir to a title, which is a mere farrago of lies, 
 invented for the vilest purposes, I can have no 
 hesitation in pronouncing him a scoundrel, and 
 that, too, of the very deepest dye." 
 
 Mrs. Franklin did not leave the elucidation of 
 these facts to her husband, although she had 
 requested his interference, which was ever mild 
 and friendly, and therefore generally salutary : on 
 the contrary, she burst upon Ellen with a recital 
 of them, so broken by the angry epithets and 
 bitter reproofs her fear and anger dictated, that 
 Ellen believed the whole she said to be the dic- 
 tates of her ang-rv resentment towards herself, 
 
 M
 
 134 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 rather than the just assertions of truth agamst 
 her lover ; and she received her admonition with 
 silent scorn, and a determination in a very short 
 time to show how completely she disbelieved the 
 accusation, and despised the accuser. Ignorant 
 of the world, she could not conceive it possible 
 that such a man could mix with the society she 
 had seen him in ; and she was too proud to in- 
 quire of Mr. Franklin, on whom she could have 
 placed implicit reliance, because she knew that 
 he never suffered passion to distort truth, or to 
 warp his opinion of either men or things. 
 
 Mrs. Franklin was too well read in her daugh- 
 ter's countenance to flatter herself that Ellen 
 would be a willing convert to her views ; but as 
 she was now nearly of age, her fears were on 
 that account the more distressing ; and by turns 
 she was agitated by the fear of losing Mr. Eger- 
 ton, and again, by the far more dreadful idea of 
 gaining for a son-in-law a wTetch she despised. 
 A thousand times she regretted ever having set 
 out on an expedition which, invented for an un- 
 worthy purpose, involved in a great measure a 
 dereliction from principle and duty, and threaten- 
 ed to produce consequences equally distressing 
 and derogatory. Many ladies, who carry daugh- 
 ters to watering-places with similar views, are, 
 we fear, doomed to similar disappointments ; but 
 few, we are persuaded, feel their own folly so 
 sensibly as poor Mrs. Franklin, for with her this 
 line of conduct was too novel to be attended
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 135 
 
 with ^that nonchalance which veterans in such 
 practices may be shielded with. 
 
 In the mean time, Maria, who seldom had 
 drawn a thought of her mother since the com- 
 mencement of their western tour, had attracted 
 the regard of a very respectable young gentleman, 
 w^ho lodged in the same house to which she had 
 been removed on the appearance of Louisa's 
 fever. He was led to the Hot Wells for the 
 purpose of visiting a friend, who was ordered 
 there for a pulmonary complaint, and who had 
 lately been sent to Clifton for the benefit of a 
 purer air. This gentleman was struck with the 
 attention which he saw Maria evince for little 
 Charles, and the sorrow in which the subsequent 
 danger of Louisa involved her rendered him 
 anxious to relieve her by every little attention in 
 his power. As Maria was of necessity much 
 left to herself, he found means of frequently 
 conversing with her, and as she was communica- 
 tive, good-tempered, and appeared desirous of 
 improvement, he conceived a preference for her, 
 which ripened into love ; and as his situation in 
 life, though not splendid, was equal to her wishes, 
 and superior to any claims she could have on the 
 score of fortune, he did not hesitate to make her 
 an offer, which Maria very ingenuously accepted, 
 at the same time she referred him to her mother, 
 as one whose consent was necessary to her 
 happiness. 
 
 As Mr. Aldridge (the gentleman in question) 
 had become tolerably well acquainted with Mr. 
 
 M 2
 
 136 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 Franklin, he preferred speaking to him ; and was 
 assured by that gentleman, that he should have 
 a speedy, and, he doubted not, a very happy in- 
 troduction to his lady. 
 
 When Mr. Franklin, after this conversation, 
 went into the drawing-room, he found, to his 
 great pleasure, Louisa laid on the sofa, and his 
 wife reading to her, while little Charles was 
 sitting very quietly at her feet. — " I congratulate 
 you and myself, my dear," said he, with a gay 
 air ; we have two children restored to us, and we 
 are going to have one taken away, under circum- 
 stances equally happy." 
 
 " Oh, my dear," cried Mrs. Franklin, throwing 
 down her book, " how delighted I am ! Has he 
 then wrote ? I always thought he would speak at 
 last." 
 
 *' You were perfectly right, for he has spoken, 
 not written, as you first suggested." 
 
 " Oh, Heavens ! when did he arrive ?" 
 
 " Arrive ! I don't understand you ; he has 
 oeen here the last two months, I believe. — Mr. 
 Aldridge has been here ever since you came, 
 Louisa, hasn't he ?" 
 
 " Mr. Aldridge ! dear, how you have deceived 
 me, Mr. Franklin ! I was in hopes — but, dear 
 heart I was born to be disappointed, I believe. 
 As to this Mr. Aldridge, he is very respectable ; 
 I knew his mother : they are worthy people : but 
 I don't believe Ellen will think of him — I don't 
 believe she will indeed, so it don't signify talking 
 about it."
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, 137 
 
 " Mr. Aldridge told me he only wanted your 
 consent, for your daughter had given hers." 
 
 *' Impossible ! Ellen has scarcely seen hmi." 
 
 " And have you no child but Ellen, my dear ?'' 
 
 Mrs. Franklin started and blushed. — " Is it 
 possible," she exclaimed, " that Mr. Aldridge 
 will really marry poor Maria:'' 
 
 "' Very possible ; for it is a fact, that he will 
 not only marry Maria, but double her fortune in 
 his settlement. I wish with all my heart your 
 other daughters may do as well, for I have in- 
 quired much, and find him a very worthy young 
 man." 
 
 " How very singular," said Mrs. Franklin 
 thoughtfully, " that Maria should be married 
 first !" 
 
 " It is only so in the eyes of those who have 
 been used to set too higli a value on extrinsic 
 charms ; but if even they were to look into the 
 world, they would find more maiden ladies on the 
 wrong side fifty, who had been beauties, than 
 plain women : for where neither the heart nor 
 the talents have been cultivated, few men allow 
 themselves to marry, even the person they ad- 
 mire, unless there is a large fortune thrown into 
 the scale." 
 
 The entrance of Maria interrupted Mr. Frank- 
 lin : she received the consent and congratulations 
 of her mother with modesty and gratitude ; then 
 turning to Louisa, said — '' I am certain if there 
 is any thing in me worthy of Mr. Aldridge"s 
 regard, it is to you, Louisa, I am indebted for it, 
 
 M .3
 
 138 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 and so I shall think to the last moment of my 
 life. I am shocked when I reflect on my past 
 folly and stupidity ; but as you have succeeded 
 in awakening me to some reflection, and the 
 society of a sensible man must be a stimulus to 
 future exertion, I hope I shall one day be more 
 worthy of the friends I am blessed with, than I 
 have hitherto proved myself." 
 
 Louisa would have disclaimed this praise, but 
 Mrs. Franklin united with Maria in asserting 
 that she had spoken only the truth ; and little 
 Charles joined most manfully in " being quite 
 sure Louisa was the best sister in the house, be- 
 cause she nursed both him and Peggy, when 
 nobody else came near them ; and kneeled down 
 by poor Peggy, and prayed till they came and 
 took her to heaven ; and why," added the child 
 wistfully, " why did they not take me, papa, for 
 I was ill all the same as Peggy r" 
 
 " You were spared, my love, I trust, to be a 
 good man, and to make your parents happy." 
 
 " Then I will be good," said the prattler, 
 clasping his father's knees, '' and I will make you 
 happy ; but I dare say the same angels would 
 have taken me away too, if Louisa had not begged 
 them to leave me." 
 
 As soon as Louisa was able to bear the jour- 
 ney, the whole party returned to town, accom- 
 panied by Mr. Aldridge, who was now^ considered 
 as one of the family ; and although Mrs. Frank- 
 lin did not soliloquize on the greatness of Maria's 
 marriage, or the beautv of her bridal habiliments.
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, 139 
 
 yet she took much more interest in her than she 
 had ever done before ; and began to discover 
 that her neglected daughter had more latent 
 virtues and qualifications than she had ever given 
 her credit for. She was grateful to that Provi- 
 dence which had given a Protector to one to 
 whom she had been a very inefficient guardian, 
 and gratitude has ever a beneficial eifect on the 
 heart, so that hers was v/armed towards all 
 around her ; and she had never appeared equally 
 worthy, or amiable, in her own family, as on her 
 first return to London : but, alas ! soon after 
 their arrival Mr. Egerton was regularly estab- 
 lished in the family, and she dreaded lest the 
 pale and altered countenance of Louisa should 
 attract his attention ; and though it was impos- 
 sible to observe more in his manners than the 
 common attentions of a polite man, with a com- 
 passionate heart, yet even these awakened her 
 jealousy, and gave her a sensation towards Louisa, 
 which, though she endeavoured to suppress, was 
 yet sufficiently indicated to render that poor girl 
 (weak and nervous as she yet was) very far 
 from happy. Sympathizing, however, in the 
 better prospects of Maria, Louisa enjoyed that 
 reflected pleasure which never fails to illuminate 
 the heart of benevolence. With the first powers 
 of returning strength, she endeavoured to improve 
 Maria still farther in the little accomplishments 
 she possessed, and to imprint upon her mind a 
 just sense of the important duties in which she 
 was about to engage ; and had the satiffaction to
 
 140 THE DAUGHTEH.IN-LAW. 
 
 see that her labour was not in vain, for Maria 
 was solicitous in every way to improve herself. 
 
 The marriage of Maria with Mr. Aldridge 
 took place about three months after the family 
 returned to London. 
 
 Agreeably to the still dear though hopeless 
 scheme of Mrs. Franklin, she contrived that 
 Louisa should officiate as bridesmaid to Maria, 
 instead of her own sister ; for as Mr, Aldridge 
 resided at Hampstead, she considered her, Ellen's 
 only rival, as more effectually removed ; and 
 Louisa, to whom a perception of this weakness 
 in her mother-in-law had become very distressing, 
 most gladly accepted the invitation of Maria to 
 remain with her during the autumn, being very 
 fond cf the situation of her house, and much at- 
 tached to the worthy young^couple who inhabited 
 it. 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 This is the round of a passionate man^s life : he 
 spends his time in outrage and acknowledgment, 
 injury and r^eparation. Johnson. 
 
 During the time that Louisa remained a visitor 
 at Mr. Aldridge's, she received an offer of mar- 
 riage from his particular friend, Sir John Allen- 
 son, which all her family earnestly wished her to 
 accept. Even Mrs. Franklin, though generally 
 so ambitious for Ellen, desired to see this match 
 take place ; for she had so earnestly set her mind 
 on securing Mr. Egerton for her darling daughter,
 
 THE DAUGIITEK-IX-J,A\r. 141 
 
 that she was willing to give up to Louisa the ad- 
 vantage of rank, though it was one very dazzling 
 in her eyes. Louisa firmly, but modestly, de- 
 clined the offer ; and, fearful that she should de- 
 prive Mr. Aldridge of his friend, immediately 
 prepared to return to London. 
 
 This resolution on Louisa's part was exceed- 
 ingly painful to her father, who naturally desired 
 to see her the wife of a respectable man, whose 
 situation in life would increase her influence and 
 her happiness ; and he questioned her on the sub- 
 ject, with somewhat of severity in his manner. 
 
 " Sir John is a man of many good qualities," 
 said Louisa, " but I could not honour, though I 
 might obey him ; he is so passionate, that he 
 would make me tremble like a slave, rather than 
 love him like a wife." 
 
 " Bui it is soon over, and he alwa)'s apolo- 
 gizes." 
 
 " I should of course forgive him, father, but 
 how could I respect him ? the head of a family 
 ought not to be a man in the habit of excusing 
 himself for an error it will be his duty to correct 
 in others. I have not hastily resolved on this 
 step, and I am compelled, as a Christian, to see 
 that I ought to persist in it." 
 
 Mr. Franklin, perceiving that tears were trick- 
 ling silently down Louisa's cheeks as she thus 
 spoke, did not press her farther ; and he soon 
 became aware, from reflection, that no situation 
 could repay a young woman, of her principles, 
 for the misery of passing her life with a man of
 
 142 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 violent temper, since she must condemn him in 
 private, and blush for him in company, every 
 day, even whilst she, perhaps, forgives him and 
 loves him. Mr. Franklin was, however, soon 
 called from contemplating this disappointment, 
 by another of a more alarming nature. 
 
 Mr. Franklin, in common with many other 
 merchants, had sent out a large venture of goods 
 to Buenos Ayres, under the conduct of a very 
 worthy man, who had been his servant many 
 years, named Larkins ; whom he now heard had 
 died of a fever immediately after his arrival, but 
 not before he had disposed of a considerable part 
 of the property. The bad success of our arms 
 in that quarter, at the same time, led to the con- 
 clusion that all was lost ; and Mr. Franklin, who 
 had already experienced those sufferings which 
 belonged to the political convulsions of the times, 
 and whose lady could never be prevailed upon to 
 diminish her expenses, began to be seriously 
 alarmed for the stability of his house, and called 
 his family together, to consider what was to be 
 done. 
 
 Mrs. Franklin, like most people of very buoy- 
 ant spirits, became alarmed to the greatest degree, 
 when she found the evil was of the magnitude 
 specified ; and, in her agony, declared " that all 
 was over — they were inevitably ruined." 
 
 " Pardon me, madam," said Mr. Egerton, 
 " if I differ from you entirely ; much of the pro- 
 perty will be lost, but much also may remain. I 
 will set out immediately for Buenos Ayres, with
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 14 
 
 Q 
 
 Mr. Franklin's permission, and I hope to save a 
 part at least." 
 
 This generous offer Mr. Franklin was not in a 
 situation to refuse ; though it grieved him much 
 to expose his beloved young friend to the evils 
 consequent on a residence in the country, after 
 what had occurred, Mrs. Franklin was com- 
 pelled to submit, though, in a great measure, it 
 defeated her views for her daughter, who had, 
 by various hints, given her to understand, that 
 she should choose for herself, and had hopes to 
 establish herself much more highly than even 
 Mr. Egerton could promise. 
 
 As, in a very little time, Ellen would come of 
 age, there was therefore little hope of her wait- 
 ing his return from the new world ; and, indeed, 
 nothing less than the blindness which ambition 
 bestows on its votaries, could have misled poor 
 Mrs. Franklin in this matter at all ; since in no 
 one instance did Mr. Egerton show that he had 
 any admiration of Ellen, and in many little 
 matters, a discerning person might have perceived, 
 that for Louisa he had profound esteem, and even 
 warm affection, though it never passed his lips ; 
 he set out with the good wishes of all, except 
 the beauty, who, it is certain, rejoiced in his 
 absence, because her mother's continual en- 
 treaties, that she " would not do this foolish 
 thing, or wear that improper dress, lest it should 
 disgust Mr. Egerton," had rendered his presence 
 disagreeable to her. 
 
 When Mr. Egerton had sailed, Mrs. Franklin
 
 144 THE DAUGHTER-IW-LAW. 
 
 appeared to dismiss the cause of his departure 
 from her mind ; and making herself certain that 
 he would secure all the money, and more, which 
 had been sent out, she prepared to give her usual 
 entertainments, asserting the necessity of keeping 
 up appearances, lest their late misfortunes should 
 gain wind, and injure their credit. 
 
 Alas ! misfortunes seldom come single ; on 
 the very day when Ellen completed her minority, 
 and received from her good father-in-law her 
 little fortune, which he had improved to the ut- 
 most in his power, he received an account of the 
 failure of a bank in Madrid, by which he was a 
 loser to such an amount, as to render all his 
 hopes of weathering his troubles unavailing. 
 
 With deep sorrow in his countenance, he in- 
 stantly repaired to Mrs. Franklin's dressing-room, 
 v/here she was closeted wdth the girls, making 
 some splendid decorations for the evening ; his 
 pallid looks and trembling hands told half his 
 tale, before it was revealed ; and his wife and 
 daughter eagerly sought to console him, before 
 they learnt the nature of his misfortune ; whilst 
 Ellen scarcely removed the flowers from her 
 hands in the first instance, though she soon after- 
 wards glided out of the room. 
 
 " My only consolation in this hour of agony," 
 said Mr. Franklin, " is the circumstance of hav- 
 ing this morning settled with Ellen." 
 
 " Yes ! thank God, my poor child has it in 
 her power to help you, though but by a trifle ; you
 
 THE DAUGHTER. IN-L-VW. H5 
 
 have been the best of fathers to her, and she 
 will be proud to sliow her gratitude." 
 
 " I will not take a shilling from her ; but if 
 she will help you, my dear, during my long ab- 
 sence " 
 
 " You will not leave me, Mr. Franklin ? I can 
 bear all things but that. I have been a foolish, 
 thoughtless, expensive wife, but surely an affec- 
 tionate one. I will suffer any thing for you, but 
 do not leave me. Ellen, Louisa, kneel with me 
 to him — make him promise that he will never 
 forsake us " 
 
 Ellen was gone — Louisa wept, but she did not 
 speak. 
 
 Mr. Franklin explained his situation ; he told 
 his wife, that the Spanish bank, though it had 
 failed, was believed to be possessed of consider- 
 able property ; and if he were on the spot soon, 
 it was probable that he might come in for a con- 
 siderable dividend, which would enable him, to- 
 gether with the sale of his eflfects, to pay his 
 creditors. 
 
 " And will you go thither for their sakes ? will 
 you leave your wife and children in distress and 
 poverty, for them .^" 
 
 " Certainly, my dear ; they have trusted me, 
 and I owe them my utmost exertions." 
 
 " But will you come back in poverty ?" 
 
 " Most probably I shall come back, as to my 
 own personal situation, the same as I go out ; 
 but I shall thereby keep poverty from many 
 
 N
 
 146 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 Others : and surely I shall be rich, in the ap- 
 proval of my own conscience — rich, in the ap- 
 probation of those for whom I make this venture 
 —and rich, I hope, in the sight of my wife ; for 
 -with your regard for me, how could you bear to 
 see the finger of scorn pointed at me ?" 
 
 Louisa saw clearly, that every word her fa- 
 ther uttered was right ; therefore she determined 
 to endure with fortitude all the ravings and com- 
 plaints of Mrs. Franklin. As the poor woman 
 was now in strong hysterics, she consigned her 
 to the care of her maids ; and whilst her father 
 retired to the counting-house, to call a meeting 
 of his creditors, she sent messages to all their 
 expected guests. When this first pressing care 
 was got over, she reflected, with much pain, on 
 the circumstance of her own minority, envied 
 Ellen the power of helping her father, and hoped 
 that he would not persist in refusing the cash 
 necessary for his personal accommodation, as 
 he must be aware that she would be able to 
 repay it. 
 
 [CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Me. Franein's offer was gladly accepted by his 
 creditors, who being all well aware of his in- 
 tegrity, readily agreed to accept the property he 
 oflfered them ; and promised, that until his return,
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 147 
 
 they would pay Mrs. Franklin two hundred a-year, 
 for her support, and that of her infant son. They 
 also made him an offer of the money requisite 
 for his travelling expenses ; but this he declined. 
 
 " I did so," said he, in relating the matter to 
 his wife, " because I thought, on the whole, I 
 had better take a hundred from Ellen." 
 
 " Run and fetch her this moment," said Mrs. 
 Franklin. 
 
 But Ellen was nowhere to be found. After a 
 long search, it was ascertained that Ellen had 
 taken a coach, soon after she left her mother's 
 dressing-room in the morning, into which she had 
 put several boxes, and drove, no one knew 
 whither. In the course of inquiry, they learnt, 
 that a large box of hers had been taken away the 
 preceding day ; so that it was plain the removal 
 was preconcerted ; and that her proceedings had 
 not been remarked, in consequence of the bustle 
 in the house, made by that very entertainment 
 of which she was tlie object. 
 
 For a time, the agony of the mother super- 
 seded the sorrow of the wife, in Mrs. Franklin's 
 case ; nor could any peace be afforded to her, 
 until she learnt that Ellen had driven to church, 
 where she was barely in time to be united to a 
 young naval officer, with whom she had set out 
 to the East-Indies. This communication changed 
 her sorrow to anger, and her invectives against 
 her late darling were bitter and severe. Mr. 
 Franklin did his best to console her, by tellincr 
 
 N 2 '
 
 148 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 her, " that he found the young man was ge- 
 nerally thought of a good disposition, and that 
 Ellen would like to live in Calcutta ;" but to 
 this she only replied by saying, what was indeed 
 very true, " that she was selfish, ungrateful, and 
 worthless ; and since she could not remember 
 her with patience, she earnestly desired to forget 
 her, and confine her thoughts to Maria, who now 
 showed her the truest tenderness, and to Louisa, 
 who must henceforth be her companion." 
 
 Mr. Franklin departed ; his house, carriage, 
 and furniture, were disposed of, and lodgings in 
 the Hampstead Road were taken by Louisa for 
 her mother-in-law, brother, and self, as they all 
 declined the ofi'er of Mr. Aldridge to reside in 
 his house, though they desired to live near him, 
 and share his protection. In all their arrange- 
 ments Louisa was the sole actor ; for, from the 
 time of her husband's departure, Mrs. Franklin 
 sunk into a state of such despondency, that she 
 was nearly as helpless as^ a child. She seemed 
 to think that she was in a state of positive want ; 
 and since it was certain that she had given up 
 her first year's income to her husband, and that 
 therefore they were all three supported entirely 
 by Louisa's income, this might account for the 
 dread of poverty she experienced, and which 
 proved too fully, that those who are the most 
 gay and thoughtless in prosperity, are the greatest 
 cowards in adversity. 
 
 By slow degrees, Louisa drew her into em-
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 149 
 
 ployment, awoke her former cheerfulness, and 
 at the same time, engrafted it upon that resig- 
 nation which is the gift of religion, to which 
 Mrs. Franklin now looked, with all the eagerness 
 natural to an afflicted, humbled, and regenerated 
 heart. She also felt, that her duties as a mother 
 forbade her to indulge in melancholy, as the 
 sweet boy, whom Louisa delighted to instruct, 
 was deeply affected by the silence and sorrow of 
 his mother, and one day very innocently said — 
 " I wish I was at school, as other little boys 
 are : I can see twelve go past every day, and 
 they always look merry ; but we are never merry 
 at home." 
 
 Mrs. Franklin was much struck with these 
 words, as she said, with a deep sigh, " Fwish, 
 child, you were one of them." 
 
 " That might be managed, dear mamma, if we 
 went into the lodgings of the people opposite, 
 which I perceive are to let." 
 
 " But they consist of only two rooms." 
 
 " True ; but they are handsome and airy 
 ones." 
 
 " You cannot suppose, Louisa, that we can all 
 sleep in one room ?" 
 
 " No, my dear ma'am, but I will tell you my 
 plan : — the lady who keeps the excellent prepa- 
 ratory school just above us wants a teacher, and 
 would be glad to accept my services in lieu of 
 Charles's board ; that is the true reason why I 
 mentioned the smaller lodgings ; turn it over in 
 
 N 3
 
 150 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 your mind, and if you can reconcile yourself to 
 parting with him, I will do all the rest." 
 
 " I must be a very weak woman, if I did not 
 in a moment see all the advantages such a 
 scheme offers to my child, Louisa ; but can I 
 suffer my dear husband's only daughter to enter 
 this degrading situation for my sake, when I am 
 at this moment supported by her income ? no, 
 no, I cannot do it." 
 
 Nevertheless, Louisa, by gentle perseverance, 
 and reiterated assurances " that she should be 
 very^ happy," prevailed upon her to consent ; 
 and in a few days all the parties were removed 
 accordingly. The little boy soon became won- 
 derfully improved in health and spirits ; and 
 Louisa certainly appeared rather better than 
 worse, for she did not find the labours of her 
 situation, though they were considerable, prey 
 so much on her mind, as the complaints and low 
 spirits of her mother-in-law. Mrs. Franklin 
 herself, after the first week, appeared better also, 
 for since she had no person to listen to her la- 
 mentations, she ceased to make them ; and as 
 she twice a- day hoped for the pleasure of seeing 
 her dear boy and Louisa (who was scarcely less 
 dear), as they took their regular walks, it became 
 an employment for her to calculate on the time 
 of their return, consider the state of their clothes, 
 and by degrees busy herself with mending or 
 making what each might want. The small ex- 
 pense at which she now lived, enabled her to
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 151 
 
 purchase those things which each required ; and 
 the sense of being useful to them, was a source 
 of pleasure that soothed her feelings and tran- 
 quillized her mind. 
 
 It was very difficult at this time for any letters 
 to be received from abroad ; but in the course 
 of the following winter they heard twice from 
 Mr. Franklin, whose accounts were on the whole 
 very satisfactory ; but from Mr. Egerton they 
 did not hear — a circumstance of which Mrs. 
 Franklin often dilated, whilst Louisa silently de- 
 plored it : and after a time it affected her so 
 much, that Mrs. Franklin insisted upon it, that 
 her health was injured by the toils of the school, 
 and eagerly insisted on her leaving it. 
 ' One Sunday evening, which was the only time 
 in which they enjoyed each other's society, 
 whilst they were discussing this important point, 
 the door opened, and Mr. Egerton was sud- 
 denly announced. Mrs. Franklin sprang from 
 her chair, and in her overwhelming joy, threw 
 her arms around him, whilst Louisa, pale and 
 trembling, sank fainting on the sofa on which she 
 was sitting. 
 
 The fears and terrors of the traveller thus 
 awakened, revealed all his long-treasured feel- 
 ings ; and when Louisa recovered, her heart was 
 comforted with that innate assurance of his love 
 and respect, which is so dear to every woman of 
 sensibility, when she has made the discovery of 
 its attachment to a worthy object; and poor
 
 152 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 Louisa's late anxiety had rendered her but too 
 well aware of the state of her affections. 
 
 When Mrs. Franklin declared the situation 
 of Louisa, it was eiddent that Mr. Egerton was 
 exceedingly hurt to find her in it ; yet it only 
 raised his conceptions of the greatness of her 
 character in his mind ; and he did not for a 
 moment hesitate to offer her his hand and for- 
 tune, on his reaching that period which his father 
 had prescribed for his minority. Louisa gave 
 her full consent to his wishes, as she trusted 
 that within that period her father would return ; 
 but she forbade all conversation on the subject 
 till that arrival. 
 
 Mr. Egerton had rescued considerable pro- 
 perty, by his journey, from the gulf into which 
 it had been plunged ; and the creditors were all 
 loud in their praises of his exertions, and even 
 pressed him to write and recal Mr. Franklin — 
 a measure which it may be supposed his wife 
 warmly seconded ; whilst Louisa thought it bet- 
 ter to leave the matter to his own discretion, as- 
 sured that he would be impatient to return, and 
 that it would add to his uneasiness to urge him. 
 
 In fact, a few weeks only had elapsed, when 
 one evening, as Louisa and her young charge 
 were taking their usual walk, she perceived a 
 hackney-coach draw up to their former lodgings, 
 and her father himself alight. Forgetful of 
 every thing but joy and gratitude to Heaven, 
 she sprang forward, clasped her arms round his
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 153 
 
 neck, and called out to Charles to " come and 
 welcome his papa." When she had given his 
 now blooming boy to his arms, she hastened over 
 the way, to break the tidings to Mrs. Franklin, 
 who received them with a flood of tears. Having: 
 seen the parties met, she then conducted her 
 young charge home, where she soon obtained 
 permission to rejoin them. 
 
 She now perceived that her father had grown 
 very old in his journey, for his skin was brown, 
 his hair white, and his form spare and attenu- 
 ated ; but he looked nevertheless in health and 
 spirits ; and he hastily told them " that he had 
 recovered sufficient of his property to satisfy all 
 his creditors, and probably leave some little mat- 
 ter on which himself and wife could subsist in 
 humble independence." 
 
 When, on the following morning, Mr. Egerton 
 arrived, and with unfeigned delight welcomed 
 his paternal friend, these observations were ne- 
 cessarily repeated before him, when he had him- 
 self given that happy account of his own stew- 
 ardship, so welcome to all; on which Mr. Frank- 
 lin observed — " Well, my dear, Egerton's pains 
 and mine, have, it seems, rescued enough for a 
 bare living for us. Can you be content to resign 
 the world, and live with me in retirement, or 
 must I venture once more into the busy vortex 
 of trade ? What do you think, my dear ?" 
 
 " Not on my account, Mr. Franklin ; I can 
 live with you happily, thankfully on a single 
 hundred-a-year, or less."
 
 154 THE DA^UGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 " That I am sure you will, my dear madam," 
 said Louisa ; " but there is no occasion to try, 
 for next week you know I shall be of age, and 
 then you will have better than another hundred, 
 as I have taken the liberty to order a deed of 
 gift, presenting that to you." 
 
 " My dear Louisa, why did not you make it 
 the whole ? when we talked together on the 
 subject, I advised you to do so." 
 
 " Because Mr. Egerton, I choose to give the 
 other half to my little brother, in order that no 
 future casualties might deprive him of the ad- 
 vantages of education." 
 
 " You are the best of all good girls ; such a 
 disposition of your fortune gives me the utmost 
 satisfaction." 
 
 " My child, or I might say, my children (for 
 I now perceive that the fondest wish of my 
 heart is fulfilled,) I cannot permit this. I thank 
 you, fondly thank you ; but neither myself nor 
 my wife would consent to enrich ourselves by 
 such a medium," 
 
 Mr. Franklin's observations were cut short 
 by the arrival of a country-looking man, who 
 was the bearer of a letter and a box, the former 
 of which, he said, " could only be delivered to 
 his honour Franklin," whose faithful servant he 
 professed himself to be; and the latter, *'he could 
 give into no hands but those of madam," for 
 whom he declared " he had been looking all 
 over Lunnun."
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 155 
 
 After Mrs. Franklin had sent him to get re- 
 freshments, she began to unpack the parcel, 
 but found the key was enclosed in the letter, 
 on which Mr. Franklin had been for some 
 time looking in silence ; at length he put it into 
 Mr. Egerton's hands, who, at his request, read 
 as follows : — 
 
 *' Onneked Sik, 
 
 " This comes with my sarvis to tell 
 you, that my poor master, 'Squire Batson, be 
 dead ; and the last thing he ordered, was for 
 John Larch to carry his desk, and 'liver it with 
 his own hands ; also to say, the last thing as he 
 did eat, was the cake as madam did send him. 
 He said as how he had remembered and pro- 
 vided for me, and John, and Towler, and his 
 ould mare ; so if you please to luck in his will, 
 I hops you'll find it, and do that is honnest by 
 us, as all your kith and kin did afore yoo. We 
 all knows as you comes to this estate, but we 
 takes it madam v/ill have moast of his money, 
 which he was main fond of seaving of late years ; 
 so no more from your umble servant, 
 
 Hannah Geeen." 
 
 " So it seems your poor cousin Batson is dead! 
 dear me 1 he was younger than you, my dear," 
 said Mrs. Franklin. 
 
 " True, my dear ; but he was an invalid from
 
 156 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 his infancy, and it is a wonder he lived so long ; 
 by an accidental fall, he was deformed in body, 
 and in consequence weak in mind ; but he was 
 a simple, well-meaning, and piously-inclined 
 man, who had nothing in life to regret, and much 
 to hope for in a change." 
 
 After Mr. Franklin had thus spoken, silence 
 for a time sealed the lips of all the little party, 
 for how could they help ascending in their 
 thoughts to Heaven, and offering up praises to 
 God, for giving the blessings of competence and 
 abundance to the declining days of him whose 
 integrity had merited it, and whose industry 
 had enabled him, in the last effort of his life, 
 to repay his creditors fully, and by that means 
 transmit the estate unimpaired to his son, whose 
 education, by this means, was fully and properly 
 provided for. 
 
 After a short time thus/occupied, Mr. Frank- 
 lin proceeded to open the will, which was depo- 
 sited in "the first portion of the desk. It was 
 written by the testator's own hand, but regularly 
 witnessed by three attornies, who vouched to 
 the sanity of the deceased. After opening with 
 the observation — " That his cousin Franklin was 
 his heir, and that he rejoiced in giving him the 
 family estate greatly improved in value," he spe- 
 cified annuities to his two oldest servants, his 
 horse, dog, and three aged parishioners, together 
 v/ith a handsome bequest to the parish school ; 
 and went on to say —
 
 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 157 
 
 " And whereas tlie wife of my said cous'n 
 did, many times, send unto me, whom she 
 had never seen, barrels of oysters, twelve cakes, 
 Stilton cheeses, Sec, even continuing such pre- 
 sents after the death of my gamekeeper, when 
 I could send nothing to Aer, thereby shewing 
 her kind remembrance and good heart ; I do 
 hereby give and devise to her, my own writing- 
 desk, heretofore described, in the wliich is 
 many pigeon-holes, filled with tokens of my 
 gratitude, as she will find ; and the which I 
 give to her, solely and separately, to be dis- 
 posed of according to her individual will and 
 pleasure." 
 
 Mrs. Franklin, on hearing this, looked anx- 
 iously for the opening of this treasure ; and on 
 pressing a spring, soon saw a number of little 
 deposits, each of which was dated and labelled 
 in the most curious way, as thus — " For my 
 birthday, a capital Yorkshire goose pie :" " Au- 
 gust 6th — a beautiful pot of preserves," &:c, 
 
 " Of the many who have ate of your good 
 dishes, my dear," said Mr. Franklin, " I fear few 
 retain so grateful a sense as poor cousin Batson 
 has done ; but is it possible that you continued 
 this custom down to the present time ?" 
 
 " I left it off when I was first involved in dis- 
 tress, but renewed it when Louisa left me, as I 
 had then money and leisure, through her kind- 
 ness : but before I look further at my treasure, 
 let me tell you all, that I do not mean to renounce
 
 158 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 my share of the money she so lately offered us— 
 no ■; I will have the half of her fortune." 
 
 " So you shall, if you wish for it," said Louisa, 
 
 " And by the same rule, I insist on your 
 sharing half of mine. This affair is between our- 
 selves ; and neither father, lover, nor brother, 
 have a right to interfere." 
 
 This was allowed to be true ; and as all the 
 party could afford to be merry, many jokes were 
 passed on the contents of the pigeon-holes : for 
 some time, they were found to contain only five, 
 seven, or ten golden guineas : but as the dates 
 approached nearer to the last, the places were 
 stuffed with bank-notes of great value. Four or 
 five hundred pounds was the reward of a turbot, 
 and a thousand pounds put for a basket of choice 
 confectionery ; so that when the whole was 
 counted, to the surprise of all present, there was 
 found upwards of eleven thousand pounds, toge- 
 ther with several valuable caskets of jewellery, 
 which appeared to have been in the family for 
 centuries. 
 
 Mrs. Franklin divided both equally, and then 
 said, " Now, Louisa, you see I take you at your 
 word — we will divide." 
 
 " But my dear madam, remember your own 
 daughters." 
 
 " I do remember them ; and at my death will 
 divide this sum, ' and that which you give me, 
 betvv'ixt them : in the mean time, Maria wants 
 nothing from me, and Ellen deserves nothing :
 
 THErDAUGHTEE-IN-LA\V. 159 
 
 the interest of this money shall be my store, 
 with which to feed the hungry, not the extrava- 
 gant — to clothe the naked, not adorn the vain. 
 Henceforward I hope to become the Lady Boun- 
 tiful of the village where I shall reside, not the 
 proud expensive woman, who vies with the great 
 in their follies, but cannot imitate them in their 
 charities." 
 
 Louisa took the bills as frankly as she could 
 have given them ; and, whilst she kissed the 
 donor affectionately, said, " It is so pleasant a 
 thing to give to those we love, that I sincerely 
 thank you for enabling me to imitate your ex- 
 ample. It will be always a sweet recollection, 
 that Mr. Egerton was not only willing to take me 
 without a fortune, but assisted me in disposing of 
 my own, to the parents who wanted it ; but it is 
 also very delightful to give him one, and most 
 sincerely do I thank you for it." 
 
 When mourning was^provided, and a carriage, 
 the family (after fulfilling all their pecuniary 
 obligations) journeyed down to the Hall, of which 
 they took possession, amidst the congratulations 
 of the tenantry and servants. Although every 
 thing within the house was old-fashioned, yet it 
 was in excellent keeping with the venerable 
 avenues, formal gardens, and noble rookery ; and 
 all was so delicately clean, that the ladies were 
 never weary of praising Mrs. Green's good ma- 
 nagement. So far from affecting to be the woman 
 of fashion, or to seek a display of her taste, Mrs.
 
 160 THE DAUGHTEIi-TX-LA^V. 
 
 Franklin sought only to discover what were the 
 duties of her present station, and to prove that 
 the lessons of adversity had produced their due 
 effect on her heart and her conduct. 
 
 In about three months after their arrival, Mr. 
 Egerton having taken possession of his fortune, 
 married Louisa, and removed to his own estate, 
 which, happily for all parties, was within twenty 
 miles distance of her father's abode. Mr. Frank- 
 lin gave his daughter with pleasure to the worthy 
 young man who had been a friend to him in the 
 day of adversity, and proved, in a thousand ways, 
 the soundness of his principles and the excellence 
 of his disposition ; but his wife could not conceal 
 the sorrow she felt at parting with one whom the 
 experience of every year made her deem more 
 valuable. As the marriage was kept in the 
 former manner of the family, many guests were 
 invited to breakfast, and their poor neighbours 
 feasted on the lawn ; so that the mistress of the 
 mansion was compelled to recal the energies for 
 which she had formerly been so celebrated ; and 
 she charmed all the company by the warmth of 
 her welcome and the gracefulness of her manners ; 
 and divided the admiration bestowed on the young 
 and lovely bride. All went on well, till the car- 
 riage was announced which carried that bride 
 away, and then the long-suppressed trouble of 
 her soul broke forth in a flood of tears. 
 
 Louisa, already exceedingly affected, as every 
 young woman of sensibility must be, however
 
 THE DAUGHTEH-IN-LAW. 161 
 
 attached to the man of her choice she may be, 
 earnestly besought her to be calm, saying, " My 
 dear mother, you must support me ; at this awful 
 moment I look to you for help." 
 
 Mrs. Franklin struggled with herself, and after 
 fondly pressing her to her heart, resigned her to 
 her father, who led her to her carriage, along 
 with her husband, endeavouring, though with a 
 faltering voice, to assure her of his happiness in 
 her future prospects. 
 
 Whilst this was passing, Mrs. Franklin again 
 wept freely in the arms of a valued neighbour, 
 who sympathized in her feelings, but somewhat 
 blamed their excess, by saying, " That she had 
 herself parted with three dear daughters, without 
 allowing herself to weep thus, though they were 
 all her own children." 
 
 " So did I part well with my own child," said 
 Mrs. Franklin ; '" I was affected, but niot to tears, 
 for my pleasure in the marriage balanced my 
 pain in parting : but in losing this dear child, 
 such recollections are recalled, as few people can 
 comprehend She has endured my pride and 
 folly, in the day of prosperity, without a murmur ; 
 she has supported my spirits, in the day of ad- 
 versity, without a sigh for that of which I de- 
 prived her. She has led my sick heart to the 
 fountain of grace, as revealed in the word of God ; 
 and she has strengthened my wavering footsteps 
 in the moral government of my- conduct. In 
 short, I have found in Louisa, a mother as to
 
 162 THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAAV. 
 
 guidance, a friend as to support ; and you, my 
 friends and neighbours, may be assured, that if 
 you ever observe any thing praiseworthy in my 
 present or my future life, it will be owing to the 
 love, the wisdom, the goodness, of my dear 
 " Daughtek-in-Law." 
 
 THE END. 
 
 J. BILLING, tniNTER, WOKING, SURREY.
 
 Jan. 1857. 
 
 % Catalogue 
 
 OF 
 
 INSTRUCTIVE AND AMUSING 
 
 WORKS FOR THE YOUNG. 
 
 INCLUDING THOSE 
 
 FORMERLY PUBLISHED BY CLARKE & CO. 
 
 (LATE DARTON & HARVEY.) 
 
 *-vyN>"S>'>^^>s-/ -^^^^w 
 
 LONDON : 
 ARTHUR HALL, VIRTUE, & CO. 
 
 25, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 Menzies, Edinburgh.] [McGlashan ^- GUI, Dul'.in. 
 
 No. 8.
 
 New and clieaper Edition, price 4s. cloth gilt, 
 
 A BOY'S ADVENTURES IN THE WILDS 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 
 
 By WILLIAM HOWITT. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTBATIONS BY HARVET. 
 
 Now ready, 
 
 LADY MARY AND HER NURSE; 
 
 OR, 
 
 A PEEP INTO THE CANADIAN FOREST, 
 
 WITH 
 
 A HISTORY OF THE SQUIRREL FAMILY. 
 By MRS. TRAILL, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "CANADIAN CRUSOES." 
 
 SdHitfj jUustralfons. 
 Cloth, 3s. 6d.; gilt, 5s.
 
 WORKS FOR THE YOUNG. 
 
 ACKWORTH VOCABULARY, 
 
 or English Spelling Book ; with the Meaning attached to each 
 Word. Compiled for the use of Ackworth School. New Edition , 
 18mo. cloth lettered. Price Is. 6c?. 
 
 ART OF CHESS-PLAY.— A NEW TREATISE 
 
 ON THE GAME OF CHESS. By George Walker, Esq. 
 Ninth Edition, 12mo. cloth lettered, reduced to 2s. Gd. 
 
 BARBAULD'S (Mrs.) LEMONS POUR DES 
 
 ENFANS, (1 luisl'age de Deux Ans jusqu'a Cinq. Avec une 
 Interpretaticju Anglaise. New Edition. 18mo. cloth lettered. 
 Price 2s. 
 
 BOY (the) and THE BIRDS. 
 
 By Emily Taylor. With Sixteen fine Woodcuts, from Land- 
 seer's Designs. 16mo. gilt edges. Price 2s. 6a'. 
 
 " A delightful book for children. The birds tell of their habits to a little in- 
 quiring boy, who soes peeping into their nests and w.itohing their doines, and 8 
 very pleasant way they have of talking, sure to engage the young reader's atten- 
 tion. The designs are pretty, and nicely cut on wood."— Spec<u/o>-. 
 
 CANADIAN CRUSOES ; 
 
 a Tale of the Rice Lake Plains. By Mrs. Traill, (late 
 Catharine Parr Strickland,) Authoress of "The Backwoods of 
 Canada." &c. In foolscap, with numerous Engravings. Price 6>. 
 cloth gilt. 
 
 Edited by Agnes Strickland. Illustiated by Harvey". 
 
 "This is an extremely pleasing and not very improbable fiction. The object 
 of the writer has been to inculcate the virtues of energy and self-reliance under 
 circumstances of difficulty and danger. The book is exceedingly well calculatiil 
 for children, to whom its interesting contents, its handsome appearance, and 
 beautiful illustrations will render n an acceptable present." — Taii't Manustru, 
 Sept. 1862. 
 
 " .\ very delightful hook for young readers. The interest is deep and wfll 
 sustained, the style uniformly agreeable and lively ; and the knowledge of tin 
 writer, who has lived for some time on tlie Kice Lake Plains, the scene of lb'' 
 Story, adds a value to the book for readers of all ages. Mr. Harvey has c<in 
 tributed some excellent woodcuts, and the book is altogether a pretty and m 
 tcresting one."— Guurtiian. 
 
 Aetuur Hall, Virtue, & Co. 25, Tatf iusostek R"W
 
 CHEMISTRY NO MYSTERY ; 
 
 being the Subject Matter of a Course of Lectures by Dr. Scoffern. t 
 illustrated with Diagrams and Woodcuts. Second Edition, | 
 revised and corrected, with Index, price Zs. 6d. cloth lettered. ' 
 
 " A very agreeable account of some of the leading facts and principles of 
 Chemistry, not only made plain to the meanest capacity, but attractive, we should 
 imagine, to the most idle youth, and amusing to all." — Spectalor. 
 
 " This work contains quite as much information as is requisite for any person 
 ■who does not intend to make Chemistry a professional or hobby-horsical pursuit. 
 The various information is conveyed in a clear and distinct manner, so that the 
 dullest child can hardly fail to understand w hat it means. We recommend evt^ry 
 father to purchase this work for his children, unless they happen to be particularly 
 stupid. It does much credit to Mr. Scoffern, the author : il is very w ell printed 
 and neatly bound." — Polytechnic Journal, 
 
 COLA MONTI; 
 
 or, the Story of a Genius. A Tale for Boys. By the Author of 
 "How to AVin Love." With Four Illustrations by Franklin. 
 In foolscap 8vo. cloth. Price 3s, 6d. 
 
 " No one possessing common sensibility can read this book without a thought- 
 ful brow ami a glistening eye." — Chambers'' Edinburgh Journal. 
 
 " An exceedingly well-told tale, which will interest boys of all ages. * * * 
 As a holiday companion, few books would be more popular." — E7iglish Churchman, 
 
 " A lively narrative of school-boy adventures." 
 
 •' A very charming and admirably-written volume. « « * It is adapted to 
 make boys better." j 
 
 " A simple and pleasing story of school-boy life."— /o/m Bull, j| 
 
 DECOY (the); 
 
 or, an Agreeable Method of Teaching Children the elementary 
 Parts of English Grammar. Price 1*. sewed. 
 
 DOCTOR'S LITTLE DAUGHTER. 
 
 The Stor^' of a Child's Life amidst the Woods and Hills. By 
 Eliza Meteyard. In foolscap 8vo. price 7s. 6d. elegantly 
 bound and gilt, with numerous Illustrations by Hakvey. 
 
 " This is a very delightful book, especially calculated for the amusement and 
 instruction of our young friends ; and is evidently the production of a right- 
 thinking and accomplished mind." — Church of England Review. 
 
 " An elegant, interesting, and unobjectionable present tor young ladies. The 
 moral of the book turns on benevolenct-." — C/iristian Times. 
 
 " This Story of a Child's Life is so full of beauty and meekness, that we can 
 hardly express our sense of its worth in the words of common praise." — Non- 
 cnnfonnisl. 
 
 " This will be a .choice present for the young." — British Quarlerhj Review. 
 
 " The whole stf)ry is told with a most touching grace, and a golden glow of 
 poetry pervades it. The fine designs of Harvey which illustrate the book, add 
 greatly to its attractiveness, and we cannot entertain a doubt of its becoming one 
 of the most popular volumes in the ' Children's Library.' " — Eliza Cook't Journal. 
 
 EARTH (the) and ITS INHABITANTS. 
 
 By Margaret E. Darton. Crovv-n Svo. cloth, with coloured 
 Frontispiece. Price 5s. 
 
 Arthur Hall, Virtue, & Co. 25, Paterkoster Low.
 
 EDGEWORTH'S EARLY LESSONS. 
 
 New and cheaper Edition, fcap cloth, 35. 6il. or in Four Pocket 
 Volumes, price 10*. 
 
 ENGLISH STORIES of the OLDEN TIME. 
 
 By Maria Hack. A New Edition. With Vignettes by 
 Harvey. [In preparation. 
 
 " A popular History of Ensland, from Alfred to Elizabeth, adapted to th^ 
 capacities of young persons. The matter is \inexceptionable, and rmbcdies a good 
 deal of information, valuable and interesting to juvenile readers, with a dispas- 
 sionate ard just estimate of the characters of the persons, and the causes and 
 influence of events." — Specialor. 
 
 EVENINGS AT HOME ; 
 
 or, the Juvenile Budf^et opened. By Dr. Aikek and Jfrs. 
 Barbauld. Sixteenth Edition, revised and newly arranged by 
 Arthur Aiken, Esq. and Miss Aiken. Witli Engravings by 
 Harvey. Fcap. 8vo. Price 3s. Gd. cloth. 
 
 d^fltrtv.t, (fHrs. c:fjomas.) Sli^ovfts ty. 
 LOVE, A REALITY, NOT ROMANCE. 
 
 In fcap. Price 3^. 6d. handsomely bound, with gilt edges. 
 Cuts by Gilbert. 
 
 " Few writers are more indefatigable in their offices of benevolence than the 
 authoress of this elegant little volume, who has once more done herself inlinite 
 credit bv a transcript of the realities of life, so fairly and truly made, as to go home 
 to the heart of every one who follows tlie tale to the conclusion. It is a hish gift 
 to be able to write well ; but it is a far higher and nobler privilege to be known to 
 write usefully, and to the best of purposes ; and this Mrs. Geldart has nevermore 
 effectually done than in ' Love, a Reality, not a Romance.' "--Bell's Messenger. 
 
 NURSERY GUIDE. ISmo. cloth, \s. Gd. 
 ELDER BROTHEUS. IGmo. cloth. Price 9(/. 
 MAY DUNDAS. Fcap. cloth. Price 2s. Gd. 
 EMILIE, THE PEACE-MAKER. Fcap. cloth. Price 2s. Gd. 
 STORIES OF SCOTLAND. Fcap. cloth. Price 2s. G(/. 
 THOUGHTS OF HOME. Fcap. cloth. Price 2s. Gd. 
 TRUTH IS EVERYTHING. Second Edition, Fcap. cloth. 
 Price 2s. Gd. 
 
 GRECIAN STORIES. 
 
 By Maria Hack. "With Thirty-eight fine Illustrations by 
 Gilrert, engraved by AVrigiit and Folkard. 12mo. cloth 
 lettered. Price Cs. 
 
 " These historical narratives are composed on the popular pl.an of the enter- 
 taining an<l instructive stories of the aiithoress, relating to ICngland. They 
 will be valuable, especially to the non-classical, as an accurate picture of 
 Greece, its annals, and its great men." — Tait't Mag. 
 
 Arthur 1I\ll, Yirtue, & Co. 25, Paternoster How.
 
 HEROINES OF THE MISSIONARY 
 
 ENTERPRISE ; or, Sketches of Prominent Female Mission- 
 aries. By Daniel C. Eddy. With Preface hy the Rev. John 
 Gumming, D.D. Third Edition, in fcap. 8vo. Price 2s. 6d. cloth. 
 
 " This is a hook for the many, and cannot fail to he a great favourite, especially 
 'Hi the sex whose virtues and labours it records." — British liaiiner. 
 
 HOWITT.— A BOY'S ADVENTURES IN THE 
 
 WILDS OF AUSTRALIA; or, Herbert's Note Book. By 
 William Howitt. With Designs hy Harvey. New Edition, 
 price 4s. cloth gilt. 
 
 '* Tt is really the next thing to a personal pilgrimage through the Golden 
 Land. In vivid portraiture of things as they are, it far excels every publication 
 that has yet reached us from Ajstralia." — British Banner. 
 
 " All the boys in England, whether ' old boys ' or young ones, will rejoice in 
 this fascinating book, full of anecdote and wild adventure ; sober as we are and 
 little given to roam, it has inspired us with a strong desire to take a journey in 
 the Bush, if we could see the end of it. The descriptions of the scenery, the 
 trees, and the animals are extremely spirited and graphic, — they have all the 
 appparance of being written on the spot, and are redolent of the fresh open air. 
 We have very seldom read a book of travels that has charmed us so much, and 
 we shall consider that the young folks who find it hanging on the bough of their 
 Christmas tree' are extremely fortunate." —Athencpiim. 
 
 " As might be expected, they will find not only interesting and amusing 
 
 incidents and descriptions, but a good deal of useful information on the subject 
 
 i Australian life, among the natives as well as among emigrants. There are 
 
 veral woodcuts illustrating some of the most striking scenes, and the book will 
 
 take a high rank among Christmas and New Year presents." — English Churchman, 
 
 " This is a capital book, and will commend itself alike to young and old. 
 
 It is full of humour, adventure, excitement, and those incidents of peril and 
 
 pleasure which seem indigenous to Australia. The gold-diggings, bush-rangers 
 
 and bush-fires — floods, robbers, and hunting 'scapes — all contribute their quota 
 
 to this interesting book. It is emphatically a boy's book, and will be a very 
 
 acceptable Christmas-gift." — Church and State Gazette, 
 
 " This book was written in the midst of the scenes it describes, and has the 
 reality and vividness of actual experience and adventure. In the form of a boy's 
 journal, it pictures Australian scenes, and records the incidents of travel in the 
 bush The natural history of the bush is very instructively and amusingly woven 
 into the story Let us then commend it, to boys especially, as decidedly first- 
 rate — one of the best bookseverfurnishedfortheirgralification." — Nonconformist. 
 
 HOW TO WIN LOVE ; 
 
 or, Rhoda's Lesson. A Story Book for the Young. By the 
 Author of "Michael the Miner," "Cola Monti," &c. With 
 Illustrations on Steel. Second Edition, in square 16mo. hand- 
 somely bound in cloth. Price 2s. Qd, with gilt edges. 
 
 " A very captivating story." — Morning Post. 
 
 " Truthfulness, descriptive talent, and pure morality in every line." — Literary 
 Gazette. 
 " Just what a story for children ought to be." — Douglas Jerrold's Newspaper. 
 
 LADY MARY AND HER NURSE; or, a 
 
 PEEP INTO THE CANADIAN FOREST. By Mrs. Traill, 
 Author of " Canadian Crusoes." Illustrated by Harvey. Fcap. 
 cloth, 3j. &d. 
 
 Arthur Hall, Virtue, & Co. 25, Paternoster E,ow.
 
 LAWRENCE'S (Miss) STORIES FROM THE 
 OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. 
 
 New Edition, with Cuts. [In preparation. 
 
 ^flfh) ^crirs of JllustrntrtJ i«:iniiaT5. 
 MANUAL OF HERALDRY, 
 
 BeiriK a concise Description of the several Terras used, and 
 containing a Dictionary of every Designation in the Science. 
 Illustrated by 400 Enfiravings on Wood. New Edition, in fcap. 
 8vo. Price 3s. in emblematic cover.' 
 
 Uniform with the above, price 3s. 
 
 MANUAL OF PERSPECTIVE. 
 
 Illustrated by numerous Engravings. By N. Whittock. 
 Just Published, also uniform, price 3s. 
 
 MANUAL OF GEOGRAPHY, 
 
 Physical and Political. For the use of Schools and Families, 
 with Questions for Examination. By Edward Farr, Author 
 of " History of England," &c. 
 
 *' Though perfectly free from pretension, and proposed only as an assistant to 
 the mother or the teacher, this little book is one of the best works on general 
 geography that have come under our notice for a long time. A careful reading 
 of the more recent works of statists and travellers is apparent in its pages. The 
 information is well put together, and the several subjects are profusely 
 illustrated."— /KAenrr urn. 
 
 MIRACLES OF NATURE AND MARVELS 
 
 OF ART. 
 
 Numerous Cuts. Price I*, each. 
 
 LAND CREATION. 14 Engravings. 
 
 THE TROPICS AND THE POLES. 10 Engravings. 
 
 NATURE AND ART. 18 Engravings. 
 
 MY OLD PUPILS. 
 
 With Four Illustrations on Wood. Square IGmo. Price 2s. Gd. 
 handsomely bound in cloth, with gilt edges. 
 
 Arthur Hall, Virtue, & Co. 25, Paternoster Row.
 
 MY YOUTHFUL COMPANIONS. 
 
 By the same Author. 12mo. cloth. Price 1*. With Steel 
 Frontispiece. 
 
 NAOMI ; 
 
 or, the Last Days of Jerusalem. By Mrs. J. B. Webb. With 
 View and Plan of Jerusalem. New Edition, with Designs bj' 
 Gilbert. Fcap. 8vo. cloth lettered. Price Is. &d. 
 
 " One of the most interesting works we have read for some time. The senti- 
 ments are appropriate, the style is graceful, and the tale is well contrived. * * « 
 We are not, then, surprised at tlie popularity it has attained, it deserves it ; 
 and ^^ e cordially wish it further success." — Metropolitan. 
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL CONVERSATIONS: 
 
 in which are familiarly explained the causes of many daily 
 occurring Natural Phenomena. By Frederick C. Bakewell. 
 Third Edition, with Cuts. Fcap. cloth lettered. Price 3*. 6c?. 
 
 " We can most confidently recommend the PhilosopV.ical Conversations to 
 heads of families, as a work at once highly amusing and instructive." — Birming- 
 ham Journal. 
 
 *' We have seldom, if ever, met with so much instruction on curious and philo- 
 sophical subjects conveyed in a form so clear, so entertaining, and so perfectly 
 free from the pedantry or affectation of learned technicalities. We shall be sur- 
 prised if this work does not speedily become the favourite rudimental manual of 
 Natural Philosophy in public seminaries and in private tuition." — Bath Herald. 
 
 " This is a very pleasing and lucid work, well adapted to allure young people 
 to the study of Natural Philosophy." — Leeds Mercury. 
 
 " We have perused this volume with much pleasure and improvemrnt. It is a 
 work we can confidently recommend, especially to the heads of families, as from 
 the subjects selected, and the familiar style in which they are treated, it cannot 
 fail of proving both instructive and amusing." — Cambridge Chronicle. 
 
 PICTORIAL SPELLING BOOK; 
 
 or, Lessons on Facts and Objects. With 130 Graphic Illustra- 
 tions. Fifth Edition. Price Is. in cloth. 
 
 PIPPIE'S WARNING ; 
 
 or, the Adventures of a Dancing Dog. By Catharine Crowe, 
 Author of "Susan Hopley," &c. With Cuts. Price 2s. 6d. 
 gilt edges. 
 
 PLEASANT PASTIME ; 
 
 or, Drawing-Room Dramas for Private Representation by the 
 Young. With Cuts. Price 2s. 6d. with gilt edges. 
 
 Arthur Hall, "Virtue, & Co. 25, Paternoster Eow.
 
 RAILWAY APPLIANCES, 
 
 in the Nineteenth Century ; or, the Rail, Steam, and Electricity. 
 With Illustrative Anecdotes, Engravings, and Diagrams. Fcap. 
 8vo. cloth lettered. Price Is. 6d. 
 
 RECOLLECTIONS OF MRS. ANDERSON'S 
 
 SCHOOL. A Book for Girls. By Jane Winnard Hooper. 
 Illustrated by Franklin. Fcap. 8vo. Price 3^. 6d. cloth giit. 
 
 •• A pretty unpretentious volume, neatly embellished, and gay in its livery of 
 green and gold. Outside and in 'tis precisely the Lean ideal of a presmtor a 
 prize-book for a young lady. More fresh and more delishtlul reading than this 
 book it has rarely been our fortune to meet."— i1/'jrnm°' Ad vcr titer. 
 
 " An amu^n;; series of descriptions likely to interest the young folks for whom 
 they are intended." — Express. 
 
 " Although professedly a • book for girls,' the volume is so interesting in itself 
 as to be calculated to give amusement to those who have attained a riper age; 
 and, although there is nothing attempted beyond amusement, yet a liigh moral is 
 ronveyed in its pages. One word as to the 'getting up.' The typography is 
 faultless, and the binding and finish such as to fit it especially for the place which 
 we sincerely hope it will be found largely to occupy— the drawing-room table."— 
 Belfast Meicury. 
 
 " A young lady's experiences of a boarding school, which are related in a very 
 amusing and natural manner."- £n4'/is/i Churchman. 
 
 " This little work is calculated to be exceedingly useful in forming the minds 
 of female children."— Ceir* Messenger. 
 
 RODWELL'S CHILD'S FIRST STEP TO 
 
 ENGLISH HISTORY. With many Cuts. New Edition, 
 revised by Julia Corner. IGmo. cloth. 2s. 6d. 
 
 ROWBOTHAM'S (J., f.r.s.a.) DERIVATIVE 
 
 SPELLING BOOK, in which the Origin of each Word is given 
 from the Greek, Latin, Saxon, Geiman, Teutonic, Dutch, 
 French, Spanish, and other Languages; with the Parts of 
 Speech, and Pronunciation accented. 12mo. cloth. Price Is. Grf. 
 
 ROWBOTHAM'S GUIDE TO THE FRENCH 
 LANGUAGE AND CONVERSATION; 
 
 consisting of Modern French Dialogues, with the Pronunciation 
 of the most diflicult Words ; for the use of Schools, Travellers, 
 and Private Students. A New Edition, by De La Voye. Demy 
 ISmo. Price 2s. 6d. handsomely bound in French morocco. 
 
 SCRIPTURE SITES AND SCENES, 
 
 from actual Survev, in Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine. Illus- 
 trated by Seventeen Steel Engravings, Three Maps, and Thirty- 
 seven Woodcuts. By W. H. Bartlett. Price 45. post 8vo. 
 cloth gilt edges. 
 
 Arthur Hall, Virtue, & Co. 25, Pateri;oster Row.
 
 SELECT POETRY FOR CHILDREN; 
 
 With brief Explanatory Notes, arranged for the use of Schools and 
 Families. By Joseph Payne. Tenth Edition, corrected and 
 Enlarged. 18mo. Price 2s. 6c?. cloth, or 3*. gilt edges. 
 
 " A very nice little volume, containing a charming collection of poetry." — 
 Spectator. 
 
 " We do not know any other book that, in the same compass, contains such a 
 rich selection of pieces, that are at once sprightly and instructive, pathetic and 
 devout." — Congregational Magazine. 
 
 " A very pleasing and suitable selection." — Westminster lievietc. 
 
 " It is really a treat to see anything so simply good as the little volume before 
 us." — Metropolitan Magazine. 
 
 STUDIES IN ENGLISH POETRY; * 
 
 with short Biographical Sketches, and Notes explanatory and 
 Critical, intended as a Text-Book for the higher Classes in 
 Schools, and as an Introduction to the Study of English Litera- 
 ture. By Joseph Payne. Third Edition. 12mo. Price 5s. in 
 cloth, red edges. 
 
 " The plan .and the execution are equally good ; altogether it is an excellent 
 reading book of poetry." — IVatchman. > 
 
 " The work is deserving of commendation, as comprehending much that is 
 excellent — the very flowers and gems of English poetry — and nothing exception- 
 able." — Tail's Magazine. 
 
 " We can honestly recommend the volume to the favour and confidence of our 
 readers." — Eclectic Review. 
 
 " Mr. Payne is entitled to the highest praise for the care bestowed on the 
 antiquated orthography of the earlier authors, and the ability and judgment dis- 
 played in the annexed notes throughout the volume." — The Student. 
 
 STRATAGEMS. 
 
 By Mrs. Newton Crossland (late Camilla Toulmin). With 
 Cuts. Price 2s. 6d. gilt edges. 
 
 " A sweet tale, penned in a fair mood, and such as will make a rare gift for a 
 child."— Sun. 
 
 TALES OF MANY LANDS. 
 
 By Miss M, Frazer Tytler, Author of "Tales of the Great 
 and Brave." Fcap. 8vo. cloth lettered. With Engravings and 
 Woodcut Illustrations. New Edition. [171 preparation. 
 
 " Sketches of common life, and traits of childish character, intermingled skil- 
 fully with pictures of foreign scenery and national characteristics; and pathetic 
 stories, written with talent, and in a manner to interest youthful readers. Each 
 tale is illustrated by a clever wood engraving." — Spectator. 
 
 WAKEFIELD'S (Priscilla) FAMILY TOUR 
 THROUGH THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 
 
 A New Edition, revised and corrected to the present time. 
 With a Map. 12mo, cloth. Price 6s. 
 
 Arthur Hall, Yirtue, & Co. 35, Paternoster Rotv,
 
 WAKEFIELD'S (Priscilla) JUVENILE 
 
 TRAVELLERS ; a Tour throughout Europe. A New Edition, 
 corrected to the present tinie. "With a Map. 12mo. cloth. 
 Price 6s. 
 
 WAKEFIELD'S (Priscilla) INSTINCT 
 
 DISPLAYED in the Animal Creation. A New and Revised 
 Edition, with many Additions to the original Work of Priscilla 
 Wakefield. Foolscap 8vo. cloth lettered. New Edition. 
 
 [In preparation. 
 
 " A nice little work, in the shape of letters between two young ladies who are 
 induced to study natural history. The anecdotes are well selected, and told in a 
 simple and unaflfected manner, which greatly enhances their value. The object 
 the authoress had in view is humane, and her book ought to be in the hands of 
 every child from eight to twelve years of age." — Bristol Mercury, 
 
 WATTS'S (Dr.) DIVINE and MORAL SONGS 
 
 FOR CHILDREN. With Anecdotes and Refiections, by the 
 Rev. Ingram Cobbin, M.A. With Frontispiece and Fifty- 
 seven Woodcuts. New Edition. Price 1*. in cloth, or is. 6d. 
 with gilt edges. 
 
 WINTER EVENINGS; 
 
 or, Tales of Travellers. By Maria Hack. A New and 
 Cheaper Edition, with Illustrations by Gilbert. Fcap. cloth. 
 Price 3*. 6u, 
 
 Arthdr Hall, Virtue, & Co. 25, Paternoster Row.
 
 IJnrtnn ^ litrnni's ^^uhluatinns. 
 
 Price Half-a- Crown. 
 
 .iLFRED DUDLEY; or, the Australian Settlers. 
 
 Second Edition. With Nine Illustrations. 16mo. cloth lettered, 
 gilt edges. 
 
 BOY AND THE BIRDS. By Emily Taylor. 
 
 With Sixteen Fine Woodcuts, from Landseer's Designs. 16mo. 
 gilt edges. 
 
 CHARLIE'S DISCOVERIES; or, a Good Use for 
 
 Eyes and Ears. With many Cuts, by T. Williams. lGn-:0. 
 cloth, gilt edges. 
 
 CITY SCENES; or, a Peep into London. With 
 
 many Plates. 16mo. cloth lettered. 
 
 EIRESIDE STORIES; or, Recollections of my 
 
 Schoolfellows. Third Edition, with Thirteen Illustrations. 
 16mo. cloth lettered, gilt edges. 
 
 FOOTSTEPS TO NATURAL HISTORY. With 
 
 Cuts. Square IGmo. gilt edges. 
 
 LITTLE BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE; containing 
 
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 This book is DUE on the last 
 date stamped below 
 
 pRNU
 
 PR 
 
 4790 
 H8da 
 1857 
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
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 AA 000 370 378 2
 
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