uld rejoice in mine! Even from their blessed abode, my grateful heart
seems to hear them say, 'This is the creature we would have chosen for
thee! This is the creature with whom we shall rejoice with thee through
all eternity!'"

Yet such was my inconsistency, that charmed as I was that so young and
lovely a woman could be so cheaply pleased, and delighted with that
simplicity of taste which made her resemble my favorite heroine of
Milton in her amusements, as well as in her domestic pursuits; yet I
longed to know what these Christmas diversions, so slightly hinted at,
could be, diversions which could reconcile these girls to their absence
not only from their green-house, but from London. I could hardly fear
indeed to find at Stanley Grove what the newspapers pertly call _Private
Theatricals_. Still I suspected it might be some gay dissipation not
quite suited to their general character, nor congenial to their usual
amusements. My mother's favorite rule of _consistency_ strongly forced
itself on my mind, though I tried to repel the suggestion as unjust and
ungenerous.

Of what meannesses will not love be guilty: it drove me to have recourse
to my friend Mrs. Comfit to dissipate my doubts. From her I learned that
that cold and comfortless season was mitigated at Stanley Grove by
several feasts for the poor of different classes and ages. "Then, sir,"
continued she, "if you could see the blazing fires, and the abundant
provisions! The roasting, and the boiling, and the baking! The house is
all alive! On those days the drawers and shelves of Miss Lucilla's
store-room are completely emptied. 'Tis the most delightful bustle, sir,
to see our young ladies tying on the good women's warm cloaks, fitting
their caps and aprons, and sending home blankets to the infirm who can
not come themselves. The very little ones kneeling down on the ground to
try on the poor girls' shoes--even little Miss Celia, and she is so
tender--to fit them exactly and not hurt them! Last feast-day, not
finding a pair small enough for a poor little girl, she privately
slipped off her own and put on the child. It was some time before it was
discovered that she herself was without shoes. We are all alive, sir.
Parlor, and hall, and kitchen, all is in motion! Books, and business,
and walks, and gardening, all are forgot for these few happy days."

How I hated myself for my suspicion! And how I loved the charming
creatures who could find in these humble but