other; so that on the Sunday I was occupied by a succession of children, nearly the whole day, except the time which was spent at church. A great desire to do them good, supplied in some measure, the want of knowledge; I was respected by the parents, whom I often visited; and gained by degrees such a portion of influence among the poor, that if I could have afforded to relieve their several necessities somewhat more liberally, I certainly could have accomplished, with but few exceptions, whatever I had desired among them. The poor of Bedale, although it is a market-town, were more simple and far less corrupted, than many of the same class at Catterick; which is a great thoroughfare, containing a large inn, where the Duke of Cleveland, and afterwards Lord Darlington, with their grooms and footmen, used sometimes to spend whole weeks, for the purpose of fox-hunting; a circumstance most ruinous to the morals of the lower classes.

My exertions at Bedale, trifling as they were, produced the happiest effects on the comfort of my situation there: I no longer looked back with regret, on the departed splendour of Nostel, or disquieted myself with the inconveniences of a small crowded house. My mind reconciled itself perfectly to the many privations to which we were subjected; I now went little from home, except to Catterick; and every succeeding day found me more contented, cheerful, and happy. My mother, always ready to promote every benevolent or useful undertaking, was delighted to see her daughter thus occupied. She did every

thing in her power to assist and forward my various little plans; often indeed to her own great inconvenience, but it was a singular excellence in her character, that where the good, the moral improvement, or even the pleasure of others was concerned, her own ease or indulgence was never taken into the account, and her spirits were so much revived by seeing that we could again be of some use, notwithstanding our narrow fortune, that had it not been for her anxiety about my brother, she would have been once more quite comfortable and happy.

I must here mention that I could not prevail upon any of the young people in the town, the daughters of the tradesmen and others, to contribute in any manner towards my Sundayschool. The experiment was quite new, and far from being popular, as these institutions have since happily become; first, by the benevolent exertions of Mr. Raikes, and afterwards by the countenance and support of many worthy persons of all sects and parties, throughout the kingdom, the attempt was at that time considered as enthusiastic and visionary. I was regarded as a well-meaning young woman, but odd and singular; a fair mark for the shafts of ridicule, and one whose society was rather to be avoided, than sought after and desired. I shall give an instance of this, which, among many others at the time, was productive of considerable inconvenience.

A young lady in the neighbourhood, of some ability, and not unaccomplished, had made her

self so agreeable to me, by her obliging manners, cheerful conversation, and musical talents, but particularly by the pleasure which she apparently took in the pursuits which I found most interesting, that I treated her with unreserved confidence, gave her my opinion freely upon every subject on which we conversed; spoke of my friends at Catterick, as perfect models of the Christian character; expressing at the same time, an ardent wish that others would follow their edifying example. These conversations she had the address to repeat in a manner so ludicrous, as to give the idea that I meant to set myself up as a general reformer: they were coloured, embellished, and distorted, as best suited the occasion; and at length, a report was circulated, that I had written a satirical copy of verses, implicating the character, and reflecting upon the conduct and pursuits of the greater part of the neighbouring gentlemen; many of whom in fact, I had never seen, and of whose merit or demerit, I had not the slightest knowledge. The establishment of my Sunday school, together with our retired manner of life, gave currency to the belief, and the report was long circulated, before my mother or myself heard any thing of it. At length, a lady, who lived some miles distant, a former neighbour of my mother's, and her particular friend, came to spend the day with us; and after dinner, introduced the subject, by saying, that she had taken great pains to contradict a story, which she was certain, from what she knew of my disposition and character,

could not be true, and then enumerated the above particulars. At first, we thought the report too ridiculous to be worth refuting, and especially, as she said that this supposed copy of verses had never been produced; but she affirmed that it was so much talked of, and so generally believed, that it was quite necessary it should be contradicted. I wrote accordingly to two neighbouring ladies, at whose respective tables I understood the subject had been canvassed, assuring them that it had not the slightest foundation in truth, and requesting that the authority might be given up on which it rested. Their answers convinced me that it had originated in the manner above-mentioned, and afterwards they took so much pains on my behalf, that I never heard it mentioned any more.

I do not believe that it originated in any malice towards the person traduced by it. The unprincipled author of it was merely desirous of being entertaining; and not paying any regard to truth, of which many other instances afterwards occurred, considered only, what she thought would amuse, without reflecting upon the consequence. The opportunity of some display of wit, was the more tempting, as my Catterick friends were generally, at that time, considered as Methodists; a charge in which I was deeply implicated from our known intimacy, and from my having ventured to deviate in many particulars, from the common method in which the greater part of young people usually spend their time. And here I would remark, how very de

sirable it is, that certain unpopular terms, whether originally meant as terms of reproach, as Enthusiast, Sectary, Puritan, Jacobin, Quaker, &c; or such as were at first adopted for the sake of distinction only, as Dissenter, Presbyterian, Methodist, Socinian, Unitarian, &c; were accurately defined to their children and pupils, by intelligent parents and preceptors. What strange confusion of ideas, and how much illiterate, low abuse, might thus be prevented!

CHAPTER 16.

The Author visits Harrogate....Meets an interesting stranger. ....His pleasing manners....General information..... His attention to the Author....Embarrassment of her situation....The stranger leaves Harrogate....Reflections on sudden attachments....The Author's state of mind.

As it is my intention to mention every occurrence I can recollect, which may in any way, be useful to my readers, and as the attachments formed by minds of sensibility, are often of the utmost consequence to them, and give the colour of happiness or misery to many succeeding years, I shall now relate a short history of an event, of a very different nature indeed, from the foregoing, but which for a long time, affected my mind far more deeply.

* See some very ingenious Essays on this subject, by Mr. J. Foster.