I shall rejoice to see the fine ladies turn
their talent for drawing to the same moral account with this fair
penitent. Such a record of their faults as she has had the courage to
make of hers, hanging in their closets, and perpetually staring them in
the face, would be no unlikely means to prevent a repetition,
especially if the picture is to be as visible as the fault had been."

CHAPTER XLVIII.

The next morning I resumed my journey northward, and on the fourth day,
I reached the seat of my ancestors. The distant view of the Priory
excited strong but mingled emotions in my bosom. The tender sorrow for
the loss of the beloved society I had once enjoyed under its roof, was a
salutary check to the abundant joy arising from the anticipation of the
blessing which awaited me there. My mind was divided between the two
conflicting sentiments that I was soon to be in possession of every
material for the highest happiness--and that the highest happiness is
short! May I ever live under the influence of that act of devout
gratitude, in which, as soon as I entered the house, I dedicated the
whole of my future life to its divine Author, solemnly consecrating to
his service, my time, my talents, my fortune; all I am, and all I have.

I next wrote to Lucilla; with whom I continued to maintain a regular and
animated correspondence. Her letters gratify my taste, and delight my
heart, while they excite me to every thing that is good. This
interchange of sentiment sheds a ray of brightness on a separation which
every day is diminishing.

Mr. Stanley also has the goodness to write to me frequently. In one of
my letters to him, I ventured to ask him how he had managed to produce
in his daughter such complete satisfaction in his sober and correct
habits of life; adding, that her conformity was so cheerful that it did
not look so much like acquiescence as choice.

I received from Mr. Stanley the answer which follows:

"STANLEY GROVE, _September_, 1808.

"MY DEAR CHARLES;

"As I wish to put you in possession of whatever relates to the mind
of Lucilla, I will devote this letter to answer your inquiries
respecting her cheerful conformity to what you call our 'sober
habits of life;' and her indifference to those pleasures which are
usually thought to constitute the sole happiness of young women of
a certain rank.

"Mrs. Stanley and I are not so unacquainted with human nature, as