a canon of the cathedral of--. What had been
the joys of his boyhood, became, afterwards, the safe-guards
of his manhood, and finally the support and comfort of his
declining years. The business of his life was prayer, and the
exercise of the most unwearied and ardent charity. Its ruling
principle, love to God, and to man. In the few hours of
relaxation which he allowed himself, he found his pleasures in
the study of ecclesiastical architecture, of the lives of
saints and martyrs, above all, of everything that was in any
way connected with the foundation, and the history of the
several parts of that minster which he loved with all the holy
love which men are wont to feel for the country of their birth
and for the home of their youth, and, moreover, with a feeling
akin to that which made Jacob exclaim, as he rose from his
resting-place at Bethel, "This is the house of God, and the
gate of Heaven!"

As I am not writing Mr. Lacy's history, it is unnecessary to
enter into further details respecting the events of his life,
if events they can be called, that chiefly consisted in the
casual opportunities vouchsafed to him, of soothing some
extraordinary sorrow; of recalling to the fold of Christ some
wandering sinner, and of performing works of mercy and
self-denial such as are seldom met with or even heard of in
this luxurious and self-indulgent age. I will, therefore,
revert to that hour of evening prayer which this chapter began
by describing, as it will introduce us at once to the subject
of this story.

Mr. Lacy had seated himself in his stall, and his eyes were
glancing over the small congregation that had gathered
together, on a week-day, for divine worship, when his
attention was attracted by a woman who was sitting on one of
the benches generally occupied by the poorest inhabitants of
the town. She was very simply dressed, in deep mourning; but
there was something about her attitude and countenance which I
plainly indicated that she belonged to the higher classes of
society. It was impossible to guess at her age; for although
the slightness of her figure and the delicate beauty of her
features gave her the appearance of youth, her face bore a
wild and haggard expression that we seldom see in those who
have not far advanced on their pilgrimage through life. Her
arm was thrown against one of the adjoining pillars, and just
before the beginning of the service she laid her head upon it,
and neither stirred nor look