of Wm. Stables, a wealthy yeoman, who resided at Heatherwick (now
Stanke), about a mile from Harewood; and who, successful in the
cultivation of his paternal acres, sought to extend his interests by
renting the farm of Sandygate. His removal was however unpropitious to
his domestic happiness; for entering the new house before it was fully
fit for occupation, his wife, already in a delicate state of health,
took cold and died; leaving him with four children, the eldest of whom
was six years old, and the youngest but an infant. Mr. S. is said to
have been a shrewd and sensible man, of strict morals and unbending
integrity; but withal stern and inflexible in disposition, pharisaic,
and a bigoted churchman. His punctuality in the performance of outward
religious duties, and the regular payment of his dues, with now and
then a fat sheep given to the poor, secured him among his neighbours
the reputation of being a good Christian. As might be supposed,
his children were trained with great severity, and educated in the
straitest sect of their religion. Collect and catechism were duly
committed to memory, prayers regularly read in the family, the Sabbath
rigorously observed, a stiff and precise order reigned through
the whole household; but it wanted the charm and life of spiritual
feeling. As the children grew up to maturity, this state of things
was destined to be changed by the introduction of a new and unwelcome
element, which seriously disturbed the never too profound tranquillity
of the old man. Mary, the youngest child, whose mind had gradually
opened to the truth, although so defectively communicated, became
deeply convinced of sin under the ministry of Mr. Jackson, the parish
clergyman; and so painful and vivid were her views of her miserable
condition, that she cried aloud for mercy in the church. Her father
was deeply concerned for her, but, as he was ignorant of spiritual
religion, he was utterly at a loss to understand her feelings. As a
last resource he sent for the minister, but with no better result,