maturity before they came in some sort under her control.

But before this important change of circumstance took place another event had occurred which affected the lives of both sisters to an untold degree. In 1831, one of their brothers had married, and within a year afterwards his young wife died, leaving a little daughter, who while yet an infant of weeks was brought to The Fort and committed to Ann and Rebecca's care. Ann was not strong, and had been damaged by an accident when a child, so Rebecca was the more active nurse, but both cared tenderly for the little one, and she became the object of almost maternal affection. The introduction of this child. into the family might have been, and was for a time, a source of vivid interest and much pleasure. But the girl proved unusually wayward and difficult to manage, with a violent temper and propensities hard to account for, and when she was about thirteen it was decided to make another arrangement-apparently suitable and she was removed from her aunts' imme

diate care. As A. grew towards womanhood difficulties only increased, and her subsequent career was such as to cause her friends the keenest anxiety and distress. The story of this niece's life ran like a dark thread through the web of Ann Hunt's existence, and it will be needful later on to recur to it again. At the time now under review she had besides many other occupations and claims. Her brother Henry had. married Catherine, daughter of Samuel Capper, of

Bristol, and had a numerous family, who, as well as other nephews and nieces were the objects of Ann Hunt's auntly interest during the greater part of her life. The earliest letter of hers that has been discovered is addressed in 1837 to Catherine Hunt, and there is another a few years later to the second Catherine, her brother's eldest daughter, who had pleased her by a childish epistle written when she was a little girl. There were also many family anxieties and troubles, some of them relating to the care of the invalid brother, whom Rebecca nursed with a devotion beyond her strength, and others which cannot be related here. It is true, as Ann Hunt said long afterwards, that the sorest troubles are not those which are known to those around us, and in which we receive their sympathy and kindness, but those which can be confided to God alone.

The records of many years are scanty, and chiefly confined to some memorandum books, not journals in the true sense of the word, but consisting of entries made occasionally. Such notes are apt to be mementoes of times of strongest feeling, and it is therefore possible that they convey an exaggerated impression of the sadness, which seems from various causes to have been the prevailing tone at this period and for long afterwards of Ann Hunt's mind and lot. Some letters to her sister, written during their occasional separation, certainly convey a more cheerful impression, and are interesting from their freedom of expression, and the touches of humour

with which her friends were familiar in later years. The fulness of these epistles, often written after retiring for the night, are suggestive of a long past day, when letters were less numerous but more carefully written than now. The note books before mentioned contain abundant evidence of deep earnestness in the religious life: they show the most ardent aspirations after holiness, and are tinctured with the self accusation then usual with Christians, who seemed to think that in writing bitter things against themselves they were best pleasing their Lord. The following, dated "26th of 10th month, 1851," shows her earnestness of spirit and her concern for others:

"In beginning a new year of my mortal existence I did afresh desire one thing, and all things else seemed as dross in comparison, that I might know Christ and be found in Him. Earnestly did I desire, and I make the record, that I may be reminded of the covenant then afresh entered into, that during the year now before me, or such days and weeks of it as may be given, that this one thing may be my pursuit, the object of my desires, my prayers,-that if I be favoured to know any advance towards so blessed an experience, all the events of life however trying, however vexatious, may be taken quietly, thankfully. I desire to have no will about any of them but the will of the Lord, who may see meet to make me less dependent on human comfort or affection, that I may serve Him with more singleness of aim. Enable me to say, so be it, O Lord! But oh that the souls of those dear to me may live in Thy sight. Oh the

inexpressible blessing that He who loves them equally, is ready to show to those who are yet afar off the tender mercy by which He drew me from hardness of heart and vanity to look unto Himself. For ever praised and adored be His holy name for this His goodness and for all that marvellous long-suffering whereby He has borne with me these many years since, and has not yet given me over unto death. Oh that in His loving-kindness He may pour out upon me of His spirit and make me a living member of Christ's body, a fruit-bearing branch in the vine, that so in humility and faith I may fulfil His gracious designs during the short remainder of my pilgrimage, and be instrumental in leading others to Him who has done so much for me. Thine is the word, Thine only is the power, and to Thee on earth and in heaven be all the glory."

It is clear from some of these memoranda that Ann Hunt was conscious of a call to the ministry from an early period of her life. As was usual amongst Friends fifty or sixty years ago, the prospect appeared to her an awful one, and the thought of its being required. of her occasioned severe conflict. The time between the first thought of this line of service and its actual commencement was in her case much prolonged. The prevailing tone of opinion on the subject and her own special circumstances alike increased the difficulty; and in addition, the characteristic of her story-outward as well as inward-is continuance. In some lives and in some minds and hearts, much experience, much startling contrast between light and darkness, are compressed into a few years.

The

otherwise.

remainder of such lives, though chequered with the ordinary vicissitudes of humanity, present nothing comparable to the early experience, but are comparatively calm and even. With Ann Hunt it was. Difficulties of outward circumstance, trials of the affections, acute anxieties and disappointments, events of the most painful import lasted on and on, or were scattered over long periods of time. It was the less remarkable that the spiritual history partook of the same character.

The picture of Ann Hunt's earlier and maturer life must not, however, be made too dark; indeed the recollections of her friends supply much to relieve the shadows of her lot. She was always a bright and interesting companion, and had much enjoyment in social intercourse, and she was greatly attached to her sister, who, though not possessing her attractions, was a person of character, remarkably unselfish, and possessed of considerable mental independence. Ann's time was a good deal taken up in attendance on her stepmother, who was often an invalid and went frequently from home on that account; she was thus introduced in part into the circle of Eliza Hunt's friendships with superior people, and she no doubt profited by the association. There are but few early womanhood.

now who can remember her in Those who can recall her in middle life remember a pale smooth face often lit up by a sweet smile, with fine eyes of shaded grey, which were capable of a great deal of expression. She was always dressed