duty_, or enforced any _one command_, without having bestowed upon us the faculties and capacity for fulfilling our obligations. Every mother whose mind is sound, is called upon to perform the duties of a mother; and without any better guide than her own reason and attention, she will soon perceive that something more is required, than merely watching over the preservation of her children. I am, and I wish to remain, a stranger to that humility which represses, as beyond me, all that is arduous and praise-worthy. I believe, that by applying my heart to wisdom, I may become wise; and the mother who diligently watches over the first openings of moral existence in the beings entrusted to her, will soon discover, that she has the necessary talents for governing them safely. Attention and experience will enlighten her; and should she never reach to the accomplishment of all she wishes, she will at least secure to herself the favour of God, and her own peace of mind. It pleases me, my Lucy, to look forward to that period, when, with the name of Hardcastle, I may be treading in the same path of duty which our mother pursued in her road to Heaven. Will you wish me to suppress my hopes, that I may one day be able, with the pure joy of an accepted spirit in her abode of bliss, to point to her those inmates, whom her virtues trained for happiness? Yet why this tear? I cannot erase the blot it has made. Wherefore is it that my spirit faints? You must come and chide me; you will find me paler and thinner than when I last saw you; and, it may be, less the heroine, since there has been less to oppose me. But I hate _sea voyages_! Oh sweet Valentine! hasten to us! hasten and bring to me my Lucy! thou shalt then be crowned as the harbinger of spring and Horace. Tell my “lily,” that we expect no tears nor sighs. She is desired to wear the same face she did with her _lilac ribbands_. We are all learning to be philosophers, except Malcolm, who is daily in danger of losing his good humour; and rates the work people for not being at Wenland, at the same time that they are here. I believe in my conscience that Miss Hardcastle and Miss Howard might sleep in the stable for him. But we do not mind his _pouting_; and your apartment, which was Miss Flint’s, is to be made worthy of the captain’s guests. Adieu, my dear girl; the good people here send their blessings with RACHEL COWLEY’S. CHAP. XIII. LETTER LXXVI. _From Miss Cowley to Miss Hardcastle._ _January 24._