LETTER LXXII. _From Miss Cowley to Miss Hardcastle._ _January 12._ My patience is recompensed. “I may write half an hour, seeing that scribbling is the aliment some girls live upon.” This is my kind doctor, Lucy; and if you had seen how grateful I was for this indulgence, you would be of Mrs. Heartley’s opinion, who has pronounced my fever _good for something_; for that it has saved Lady Maclairn’s life; and, as you may perceive, has taught me to submit. Blessed be God for the renewal of that life, which is so dear to my friends! and which I may, if it be not my fault, still render a blessing to them and myself. We are once more in sight of the harbour of peace; not indeed of that peace which “this world can neither give nor take away,” but of that season of tranquillity, which, in mercy, is allotted to man, in order, as it should seem, to give us time to refit our feeble bark, and to rectify the chart, to which we have hitherto trusted; to recover by repose, strength and vigour for the storms and perils we may yet have to encounter in our passage to eternity; and to leave behind us traces of that providential power which hath piloted us home. You will like to have the particulars of Miss Flint’s will. It will satisfy you, as it has done me, that a death-bed repentance is _much better than none_. She specifies, that, in consideration of her brother Oliver’s donation to Philip Flint, it appears to be an incumbent duty on her part, to provide for those of her family, who have been _too long neglected_, and to the last moment of her mortal life, will she bless Philip Flint, for having seconded her in this act of justice, by his advice and concurrence. The Farefield estate, with the moveables, besides a considerable sum in money, which will devolve on him as residuary legatee, are left to Captain Flint for his life; at his decease they go to Philip Flint, to whom she has only bequeathed five thousand pounds “as a token of her love.” To her niece Mary the same sum, payable when she is of age, and five _more_ at her uncle’s decease. To Malcolm Maclairn two thousand pounds, “as a _mark_ of her esteem for him, and gratitude to his mother.” By the way, poor Malcolm was nearly overpowered by this _mark_, for he had not mourned as one who needed comfort; and I suspect that his conscience was not quite prepared for the legacy. To the poor of the parish she has left a liberal peace offering: to her servants she has been generous and just: to Warner, her woman, she leaves a thousand pounds.