noble soul. To be open to
impressions of that kind is one of the finest endowments of a finely
endowed nature; and, all through, the attentive reader of her history
will be sure to remark and imitate Mercy's exquisite and tenacious
sensibility to all that is true and good, upright and honourable and
noble. And then, what a blessing it is to a girl of Mercy's mould to
meet at opening womanhood with another woman, be it a mother, a mistress,
or a neighbour, whose character then, and as life goes on, can supply the
part of the supporting and sheltering oak to the springing and clinging
vine. Christiana being now the new woman she was, as well as a woman of
great natural wisdom, dignity, and stability of character, the safety,
the salvation of poor motherless Mercy was as good as sure. Indeed, all
Mercy's subsequent history is only one long and growing tribute to the
worth, the constant love, and the sleepless solicitude of this true
mother in Israel.

2. Now, it was so, that, wholly unknown to all her companions, young and
old, in her own very remarkable words, Mercy had for a long time been
hungering with all her heart to meet with some genuinely good
people,--with some people, as she said herself,--"of truth and of life."
These are remarkable words to hear drop from the lips of a young girl,
and especially a girl of Mercy's environment. Now, had there been
anything hollow, had there been one atom of insincerity or exaggeration
about Christiana that morning, had she talked too much, had all her
actions not far more than borne out all her words, had there not been in
the broken-hearted woman a depth of mind and a warmth of heart far beyond
all her words, Mercy would never have become a pilgrim. But the natural
dignity of Christiana's character; her capable, commanding, resolute
ways; the reality, even to agony, of her sorrow for her past life--all
taken together with her iron-fast determination to enter at once on a new
life--all that carried Mercy's heart completely captive. Mercy felt that
there was a solemnity, an awesomeness, and a mystery about her new
friend's experiences and memories that it was not for a child like
herself to attempt to intrude into. But, all the more because of that, a
spell of love and fear and reverence lay on Mercy's heart and mind all
her after-days from that so solemn and so eventful morning when she first
saw Christiana's haggard countenance and heard her remorseful cries. My
so c