in her chosen amusements, and habit, at that time, even
made her conceive, that they were indebted to solitude for an additional relish.
The youthful rustic had great integrity, great kindness of heart, and was a lad
of excellent sense. He was florid, well-proportioned, and the goodness of his
disposition made his manners amiable. Accomplishments greater than these she had
never seen in human form, since the death of her father. In fact she is scarcely
to be considered as a sufferer in this instance; since, in her forlorn and
destitute condition, it is little probable, when we consider the habits and
notions that now prevail, that her accomplishments, unassisted by fortune, would
have procured her an equal alliance in marriage.
    When she became a mother, her heart opened to a new affection. The idea now
presented itself, which had never occurred before, that, in her children at
least, she might find the partners and companions of her favourite employments.
She was, at the time of my arrival, mother of four, the eldest of which was a
son. To all of them she had been a most assiduous instructor. It was well for
her perhaps, that she obtained this sphere for the exercise of her mind. It
came, just at the period when the charm which human life derives from novelty,
is beginning to wear off. It gave her new activity and animation. It is perhaps
impossible, that the refinements of which human nature is capable, should not,
after a time, subside into sluggishness, if they be not aided by the influence
of society and affection.
    The son of the Welch farmer by this admirable woman, was about seventeen
years of age, at the time of my settlement in their neighbourhood. His eldest
sister was one year younger than himself. The whole family composed a groupe,
with which a lover of tranquillity and virtue would have delighted to associate
in any situation. It is easy therefore to conceive how much I rejoiced in their
friendship, in this distant retirement, and suffering, as I felt myself, from
the maltreatment and desertion of my species. The amiable Laura had a wonderful
quickness of eye, and rapidity of apprehension; but this feature in her
countenance was subdued by a sweetness of disposition, such as I never, in any
other instance, saw expressed in the looks of a human being. She soon
distinguished me by her kindness and friendship; for, living as she had done,
though familiar with the written productions of a cultivated intellect, she had
never seen the thing itself realised in a living