CHAPTER I. < USE HOSPITALITY ONE TO ANOTHER.'-1 Pet. iv. 9. MR. CONROY, and his niece Mary, arrived late one summer's evening at the house of Mr. Harding. The two families had long been intimate; and although Mr. Conroy was by no means what is usually denominated a religious character, he was respected as a man of very upright principles; and having shown the greatest kindness and affection for his late brother's children, he had a peculiar claim on all the friends of that family. He was in the habit of making a tour, almost every summer, through various parts of England and the Continent, and was usually accompanied by one of his nephews or nieces. He was an elderly bachelor, and like most of that class, possessed many peculiarities. He was a man of consider B able landed property, and having a generous and liberal disposition, his benevolence extended in many directions; occasionally manifesting itself where others considered it unnecessary, but never being withheld from any case of real distress. Mr. Conroy was naturally cheerful, and fond of society, although rather inclined to listen to others than to talk himself. He had been so much in the company of persons acquainted with religion, that he understood something of the subject, and had no objection to the introduction of it in conversation, although his heart was not seriously impressed with its importance. He was a close and keen observer of others, and had a mixture of humour and dry remark, which subjected him to the animadversions of those who did not understand his character; but he was a man of quick feelings, and could sympathise in the trials of others far beyond what the generality of observers would have imagined. His pride was of that singular kind which displays itself in assuming an indifference of manner and feeling when the individual is most affected. He preferred, at all times, being considered callous and uninterested, rather than easily moved by circumstances; hence, he was suspected of possessing very little real feeling. Had he been influenced by Christian principles, he might have overcome this artificial quality, (for after all it was nothing else) which was, in truth, almost as much to be deprecated as that anxiety to appear amiable, and devoted, and full of good deeds, which some professors of religion exhibit. But by this peculiarity Mr. Conroy drew on himself the suspicion of the undiscriminating, and received his sentence at their hands, while the hypocrite, the self-deceived, and the Pharisee, not unfrequently succeeded in passing for zealous and devoted persons. Mr. Harding received his guests with all the hospitality of a patriarch; he was a man of simple habits and unaffected manners. He apologized for the absence of Mrs. Harding, who was attending on the sick child of a cottager; and ordering tea, they entered upon the changes which had taken place since the visit of Mr. Conroy and Mary two years before. They found that the Rectory had changed its master, that the military depot stationed in the vicinity contained some officers of two regiments just returned from abroad, and that a few of the party, together with their wives, appeared likely to become agreeable additions to the religious society of Ashton. Mary inquired how they liked the new Rector. |