ul he gave to my care to be so tutored (forgive me) as to forget
Him in all things."

"Forget God!" repeated Helen once or twice--"I forget God! Do you
think I am a heathen?"

"No, cousin--no--for you have all knowledge of the truth; but
knowledge, and profiting by our knowledge, are different. My little
gentle-hearted girl will be happier far in her own sphere. I could not
see her degraded to bait a trap for any purpose; she will be happy,
happier in her own sphere."

The lady bit her compressed lips; but during her whole life she never
gave up a point, nor an object, proving how necessary it is that the
strong mind should be well and highly directed. Small feeble minds
pass through the world doing little good and little harm, but to train
a large mind is worth the difficulty--worth the trouble it occasions:
its possession is either a great blessing or a great curse. To Helen
it was the latter, and curses never fall singly. "You have boys to
provide for," she said, "and if I adopted that child, I would not
suffer their station to disgrace their sister."

"I am sure you mean us kindly and generously; nor am I blind to the
advantages of such an offer for my boys. Their father has prospered
greatly, and could at this moment place them in any profession they
chose--still influence would help them forward; but the advancement of
one child must not be purchased by"--Rose paused for a word--she did
not wish to hurt her cousin's feelings--and yet none suggested itself
but what she conceived to be the true one, and she repeated, lowly
and gently, her opinion, prefacing it with, "You will forgive in this
matter my plain speaking, but the advancement of one child must not be
purchased by the sacrifice of another."

"Your prejudices have bewildered your understanding," exclaimed the
lady. "Whatever my ambition may be, my morality is unimpeached; a
vestal would lose none of her purity beneath my roof."

"Granted, fully and truly; woman's first virtue is untainted, but that
is not her only one; forgive me. I have no right to judge or dictate,
nor to give an unasked opinion; I am grateful for your kindness;
but my child, given to me as a blessing for time and a treasure for
eternity, must remain beneath my roof until her mind and character are
formed."

"You are mad, Rose; consider her future happiness"--

"Oh, Helen! are you more happy than your humble cousin?"

"She would be brought up in the sphere I was thrust into, an