nd disturbed to
listen to her. She went on to say, with an agitated voice, but ingenuous
countenance--"I cannot help crying, to be sure; but indeed I am not sorry
that the poor slaves are to have their liberty, and I do not mind the money
we have lost; I only want to see my dear mamma, and to comfort her, and to
tell her that I would not be the mistress of bought slaves for all the
world; for I _now_ know that in the sight of God they are my equals, and if
good, my superiors. I _know_ that Jesus Christ died to save them as well as
me, and that he will not forgive them who insult him, by daring to buy and
sell those whom he has purchased with his own blood; and besides, I do not
wish to possess them; for if I did, I should be proud and cruel and
miserable, as I used to be."

The anxious, troubled heart of Matilda now found refuge in abundant tears,
and, throwing herself on the bosom of her maternal friend, she shed them
freely there; and as the storm of grief subsided, Mrs. Harewood obtained
her attention to these words--"My dear Matilda, your vivid imagination, and
the quickness of feeling, which even in a good cause is too apt to hurry
you away, have led you into unnecessary trouble; it is not _your_ mamma,
but a Mrs. Weston, of Jamaica, of whom I spoke. I can, however, scarcely
regret the pain you have experienced, because it has caused you to express
sentiments which do you honour, and which must give great pleasure to your
mother."

"But my mamma is coming over soon?"

"She _is_, my dear, but under very different circumstances, her property
being all well disposed of, and settled in the English funds; and be it
your comfort to know, that although your father was a proprietor of West
India estates, yet his fortune was not accumulated by the infamous traffic
to which we allude; although, like other people, he held slaves for the
purposes of agriculture and domestic labour, he had an estate in this
country, which enabled him to support an expensive establishment, without
recurring to those practices too common among the planters in your
country."

"And has the lady of whom you spoke no estate, no money, to support
herself and her little girl?"

"She has _not_, my dear; but I trust her friends in England will provide
her with some situation, in which her talents will enable her both to
support herself and benefit others; and by this means the cup of affliction
now may hereafter prove one of blessedness: her little