CHAPTER V.

"Believe me, she has won me much to pity her.
Alas! her gentle nature was not made
To buffet with adversity."--ROWE.

"Sober he was, and grave from early youth,
Mindful of forms, but more intent on truth;
In a light drab he uniformly dress'd,
And look serene th' unruffled mind express'd.

* * * * *

"Yet might observers in his sparkling eye
Some observation, some acuteness spy
The friendly thought it keen, the treacherous deem'd it sly;
Yet not a crime could foe or friend detect,
His actions all were like his speech correct--
Chaste, sober, solemn, and devout they named
Him who was this, and not of this ashamed."--CRABBE.

"I'll on and sound this secret."--BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER.

MRS. LESLIE, the lady introduced to the reader in the last chapter, was
a woman of the firmest intellect combined (no unusual combination) with
the softest heart. She learned Alice's history with admiration and
pity. The natural innocence and honesty of the young mother spoke so
eloquently in her words and looks, that Mrs. Leslie, on hearing her
tale, found much less to forgive than she had anticipated. Still she