SELF-CONTROL _A Novel by_ MARY BRUNTON His warfare is within.--There unfatigued His fervent spirit labours.--There he fights, And there obtains fresh triumphs o'er himself, And never-withering wreaths, compared with which The laurels that a Caesar reaps are weeds Cowper TO MISS JOANNA BAILLIE MADAM, You would smile to hear the insect of a day pay the tribute of its praise to the lasting oak which aided its first feeble soaring--Smile then;--for a person whom nature, fortune, and inclination, alike, have marked for obscurity, one whose very name may never reach your ear, offers this tribute of respect to the author of PLAYS on the PASSIONS. The pleasure of expressing heart-felt admiration is not, however, my only motive for inscribing this tale to you. Unknown to the world both as an individual and as an author, I own myself desirous of giving a pledge of spotless intention in my work, by adorning it with the name of one whose writings force every unvitiated heart to glow with a warmer love of virtue. On one solitary point I claim equality with you:--In purity of intention I yield not even to JOANNA BAILLIE. May I venture to avow another feeling which has prompted this intrusion? What point so small that vanity cannot build on it a resting-place! Will you believe that this trifle claims affinity with the Plays on the Passions?--Your portraitures of the progress and of the consequences of passion,--portraitures whose exquisite truth gives them the force of living examples,--are powerful warnings to watch the first risings of the insidious rebel. No guard but one is equal to the task. The regulation of the passions is the province, it is the triumph of RELIGION. In the character of Laura Montreville the religious principle is exhibited as rejecting the bribes of ambition; bestowing fortitude in want and sorrow; as restraining just displeasure; overcoming constitutional timidity; conquering misplaced affection; and triumphing over the fear of death and of disgrace.