e of injustice in the
mind of her guard, because it had been sophisticated into misanthropy,
she touched her heart. Jemima (she had only a claim to a Christian name,
which had not procured her any Christian privileges) could patiently hear
of Maria's confinement on false pretences; she had felt the crushing hand
of power, hardened by the exercise of injustice, and ceased to wonder at
the perversions of the understanding, which systematize oppression; but,
when told that her child, only four months old, had been torn from her,
even while she was discharging the tenderest maternal office, the woman
awoke in a bosom long estranged from feminine emotions, and Jemima
determined to alleviate all in her power, without hazarding the loss of
her place, the sufferings of a wretched mother, apparently injured, and
certainly unhappy. A sense of right seems to result from the simplest act
of reason, and to preside over the faculties of the mind, like the
master-sense of feeling, to rectify the rest; but (for the comparison may
be carried still farther) how often is the exquisite sensibility of both
weakened or destroyed by the vulgar occupations, and ignoble pleasures of
life?

The preserving her situation was, indeed, an important object to Jemima,
who had been hunted from hole to hole, as if she had been a beast of
prey, or infected with a moral plague. The wages she received, the
greater part of which she hoarded, as her only chance for independence,
were much more considerable than she could reckon on obtaining any where
else, were it possible that she, an outcast from society, could be
permitted to earn a subsistence in a reputable family. Hearing Maria
perpetually complain of listlessness, and the not being able to beguile
grief by resuming her customary pursuits, she was easily prevailed on, by
compassion, and that involuntary respect for abilities, which those who
possess them can never eradicate, to bring her some books and implements
for writing. Maria's conversation had amused and interested her, and the
natural consequence was a desire, scarcely observed by herself, of
obtaining the esteem of a person she admired. The remembrance of better
days was rendered more lively; and the sentiments then acquired appearing
less romantic than they had for a long period, a spark of hope roused
her mind to new activity.

How grateful was her attention to Maria! Oppressed by a dead weight of
existence, or preyed on by the gnawing worm