before I depart to surrender myself into the hands of justice, let me hear you bless me. That voice which I ever loved, has now become doubly precious to me, since it has talked to me of hope and pardon. With a trembling faith, I believe this parting will not be eternal between us; and if to hear it now amid all my guilt and care, and on the brink of a fearful and violent death, can awaken pleasure in my breast, what will it not be when it greets me in heaven. Your prayers have been answered, and the fierce storm which raged a few minutes since in my heart is hushed to rest, so that your blessing will be most valuable and effectual. My life has been a short and sad one, and the only beam of joy illumining its darkness has come from your friendship; but never did your countenance appear to me so beautiful as at this moment, glowing with the blessed consciousness of having brought back a stray sheep to the fold; never did your brightest looks wake half the joy in my heart, that now arises from that smile of holy meaning now on your lips."

She ceased speaking for some time, and Sedley observed with alarm a great change in her countenance; he feared she was about to faint, and entreated her to let him raise her from her kneeling position, but she resisted the movement, and said, "No, I will not rise till you have blessed me; for I feel ill almost unto death, and there is a strange feeling of suffocation here," laying her hands on her chest, "and a failing of my sight, which,

quick, quick, Sedley, my senses are becoming confused."

She would have fallen on her side as she spoke, but Sedley supported her; and in a voice almost inaudible from intense emotion, he said, "May He who died for you, and who forgave even the chief of sinners, absolve and pardon you, and bless you for evermore."

Jessy pressed his hand slightly as he finished, and suddenly he felt her weight greater on his arm. He looked at her face and perceived that she was insensible; a stream of blood flowed from her mouth, and each moment the ghastly paleness of her countenance increased.

The excitement of her feelings, and the powerful revulsion they had undergone, from despair and reprobation to pardon and peace, had been too much for her delicate frame, and had caused the rupture of a large vessel on the lungs.

Sedley raised her in his arms and carried her to a couch, on which he laid her gently, and was proceeding to summon assistance, when she opened her eyes languidly, and in a faint voice, said, "Do not leave me, I am dying, and this is the happiest death I could have chosen-I thank my Redeemer for this his last mercyI have been spared a dreadful and shameful end." Her voice grew weaker and weaker, and her hold on Sedley's hand relaxed-suddenly she clasped her hands together, and her eyes opened wide and flashed brightly as she exclaimed in a clear and distinct voice, "This day shall I be with thee in Paradise." arms then fell heavily down, the light vanished from the eyes, which in dimness and death strove still to encounter Sedley's, and Jessy's spirit took flight from its polluted tenement,

The

Sedley remained motionless for some time, gazing on the inanimate form before him, which in the short space of a few hours had been shaken by fierce pangs, and warmed by redeeming mercy. He then knelt beside the couch, and prayed long and fervently that her soul might be found acceptable at that judgmentseat to whose bar she had so lately sent one unprepared.

Strange and awful was it to contemplate the stillness and repose of death on that countenance, which had known so little repose on earth; to compare the silence in that cold, deserted heart, with the stirring energies, the schemes, hopes, fears, passions, and sorrows which had filled it so lately. A calm smile sat on the features, and this her parting hour was more joyful than grievous to Sedley, for he felt that his prayers had been heard, his tears accepted, and that "she would rise again!" He felt that in the last great day, when the sound of the trumpet should fall on the ears of the self-righteous, and cause their hearts to die within them, and

strike them dumb, depriving them of all their boasted pleas, this poor, blood-stained, but penitent sinner, would be accepted and comforted, with the malefactor and the adultress, whilst the proud and presumptuous should be cast away and rejected.

In the indulgence of these reflections, Sedley felt his heart strengthened and renewed, and he resolved to root out from his bosom the unhappy attachment which had grown there for Teresa St. John. Before him lay a fearful warning against the indulgence of criminal feelings, and in view of this victim to her headlong passions, he felt strength sufficient to carry his good resolutions into execution. It is only by constant falls that we learn to fear our own poor, wavering resolves.

The fragrant breeze came in at the open window, and stirred the locks of Jessy's dishevelled hair, and played wooingly over the inanimate temples; the sun shone warmly on the pale lips and the half-closed eyes, imparting a false brilliancy to them, and mocking the beholder