and desolate old age not one of ail those to whose happiness or amusement i have contributed would now seek me in this lowly habitation to soothe my hours of weariness or pain i had friends � i had fortune � i had all that renders life desirable and have been assailed by few of its most trying yet has disappointment been my daily portion and sorrow the companion of my path tears more than time have worn these on my cheek � i am not so old as i am wretched a long pause ensued during which the appeared to be struggling with some mental agony restless but silent she sat with both her hands pressed violently upon her forehead and her head bent forward as if beneath the weight of severe affliction it seemed as though the of memory were thrown open and the that poured in brought nothing along with it but and the salt weeds of it was strange to behold one who had so nearly finished her course � one who had approached the of eternity � thus agitated by the recollection of former years it was not however with fruitless that e endeavoured to regain her former composure she cleared her voice and smoothed her forehead and rising from the posture of humiliation in a calm and collected manner resumed the thread of her discourse i said that i had spent a long life in the service of my fellow creatures well might i quote the memorable words of the dying cardinal and say that had i served my half as sincerely as i have served my friends he would not have left me thus i said that i had served my fellow creatures but what was my motive if kind and willing and charity and good will � if patient and submission may me to the name of christian i indeed have been a of christ but let me ask again what was my motive with kind services i sought to purchase friends amongst whom i live the centre of a charmed circle � friends whose partial love might screen my faults and even from my own observation with gifts i those whom my humour sometimes with charity i bought the pains of pleasing the poor that my step might be welcome in the cottage of the and my countenance hailed as the of joy to every creature in the universe my heart naturally with benevolence i was patient too by nature and never hesitated to suffer in the cause of another when certain that suffering would be known and appreciated fo submit without resistance a part of my creed � and verily i had my reward for all that i did and endured and truly there was enough of both was without any reference to a higher object than that of making myself beloved and i am the more willing to lay my own errors before the world because the character at which i aimed is one that too frequently passes under the of amiable and as such is held up to admiration while concealing beneath a cloak of loveliness a selfish and ig noble mind � should either of my fair friends be running upon the where i have suffered it may be worth her while to listen for a few hours to the detail of circumstances tending to the of those which have made me what i am � feelings which have been a constant source of disappointment and humiliation for years � feelings which still pursue me to the brink of the grave and occupy that place in my heart where higher thoughts should reign supreme raise not your expectations to the heights of romantic interest mine has been the common lot of mortals � my character by any extraordinary traits the narrative to which i call your attention is that of a mis spent but in great measure an life displaying none of the extremes of vice or virtue good fortune or calamity perhaps were i inclined to look with partial eye upon the past i might be able to no trifling number of actions in themselves and which had they originated in a love of god and to his service might have been held as in my favour but which having nothing for their object save the transient applause of friends have passed away from n remembrance with the worthless by which they were excited alas i my young friends it is only that heaven bom benevolence which regards all creatures as the children of one universal father that can prompt us to true christian charity and love it is only by first desiring to serve that we can ever effectually serve mankind but i detain you and the hour is late come to me to evening if you are at leisure and have no more agreeable employment and you shall listen to the story of an old woman chapter ii faithful to the appointed hour on the following day the two young ladies seated themselves at the fireside of their venerable friend who commenced her simple narrative without introduction i was bom to that station in life which entitled me to all the and advantages that a reasonable mind could desire my mother died early and my father being fully engaged with the business of a bank in which he was an active partner an older sister and were sent during the usual term of education to a fashionable school and afterwards left to the of own tastes and the of our own conduct for my sister this was all as her regular and even temperament secured her against any temptation to from the customs most approved in society at first i thought that her of character arose solely from of feeling but i learned in time to respect the substantial reasons she was able to give for everything she did and after experience taught me 