e, and had seen the world;
infirmity, induced by fevers caught in unwholesome quarters, had come on
her before its time, and she seldom moved from her little cot. The plague
entered the village; and, while fright and grief deprived the inhabitants
of the little wisdom they possessed, old Martha stepped forward and said--
"Before now I have been in a town where there was the plague."--"And you
escaped?"--"No, but I recovered."--After this Martha was seated more
firmly than ever on the regal seat, elevated by reverence and love. She
entered the cottages of the sick; she relieved their wants with her own
hand; she betrayed no fear, and inspired all who saw her with some portion
of her own native courage. She attended the markets--she insisted upon
being supplied with food for those who were too poor to purchase it. She
shewed them how the well-being of each included the prosperity of all. She
would not permit the gardens to be neglected, nor the very flowers in the
cottage lattices to droop from want of care. Hope, she said, was better
than a doctor's prescription, and every thing that could sustain and
enliven the spirits, of more worth than drugs and mixtures.

It was the sight of Little Marlow, and my conversations with Martha, that
led me to the plan I formed. I had before visited the manor houses and
gentlemen's seats, and often found the inhabitants actuated by the purest
benevolence, ready to lend their utmost aid for the welfare of their
tenants. But this was not enough. The intimate sympathy generated by
similar hopes and fears, similar experience and pursuits, was wanting here.
The poor perceived that the rich possessed other means of preservation than
those which could be partaken of by themselves, seclusion, and, as far as
circumstances permitted, freedom from care. They could not place reliance
on them, but turned with tenfold dependence to the succour and advice of
their equals. I resolved therefore to go from village to village, seeking
out the rustic archon of the place, and by systematizing their exertions,
and enlightening their views, encrease both their power and their use among
their fellow-cottagers. Many changes also now occurred in these spontaneous
regal elections: depositions and abdications were frequent, while, in the
place of the old and prudent, the ardent youth would step forward, eager
for action, regardless of danger. Often too, the voice to which all
listened was suddenly silenced, the helpi