grieved to have so little favourable to report respecting her last end.

It is a great pleasure to be enabled to record the hopeful conversion of one of these fortunetellers, Mrs. T— When first I visited her, and reproved her for the wickedness of pretending to usurp the prerogative of God, she constantly contended that there was no harm in it. "It was an honest bit of bread," she said, and made other excuses, all of which could not for one moment be entertained. On one occasion, another fortune-teller being present, I read the account of Elymas the sorcerer, and also of the damsel possessed with a spirit of divination (Acts xvi.,) showing that the influence was infernal, and enlarging on the consequences. The younger fortune-teller could not bear this, and jumping up darted out of the place before I could attempt to stop her for prayer. Mrs. T., who was an aged woman, always listened respectfully to my reading in the Scriptures, instructions, and prayers; and regarding her as one of my special cases, I had up to the period of her decease, about a year since, paid more than ordinary attention to her case. At length the Word of God appeared to produce some

effect, and she professed to feel herself a sinnerpreviously she always maintained the contrary. I told her it was useless to talk about repentance, unless she broke off her sins, and urged her to desist from "fortune-telling." She would not promise, she said. A favourite phrase with her was, "I likes to speak my mind, and shall tell no lies." After a further lapse of time, however, she professed to begin to feel the sinfulness of fortune-telling, through, as she said, "my being always at her." She, however, failed in her good resolution to practise this evil no more, several times, and admitted to me that she had so failed-" It was for a bit of bread," she said. "What am I," added she, "but a poor old widow? Maybe I'll be sitting here without a morsel of fire, or a bite or sup in the place, or a bit of 'bacca, (she smoked,) well, just then the silly fools will come to have their fortunes told to be sure; I suppose the devil sends them just then to tempt a poor old creature; but, please the Lord, and the blessed Jesus you tell me about," said she, clasping her hands, "I'll wash my hands of it altogether, for there's no luck in it, and I see now, bless the Lord, its wickedness." I had a strict watch kept upon Mrs. T., and I

have every reason to believe she kept her promise to the end of her life, under circumstances, too, of great temptation.

The parish would not allow Mrs. T. any outdoor relief, and she declined going into the house for the following reason. Her only son is a pedlar, and has been in the habit formerly of enacting the part of the "Wild Indian" at fairs. Some of my readers may possibly have seen the "Wild Indian," surrounded by fairies, robbers, etc., in front of the shows at fairs, dancing a hornpipe in fetters. I have expostulated with my poor friends upon the subject. I believe this man to be a strictly honest person. He returns to London for a day or two from his peddling tours in the surrounding counties about once in three weeks. The business is extremely bad, but he has always managed to pay his poor old mother's rent, and leave her a loaf of bread and one or two other necessaries when he goes away; and Mrs. T. would say, "I likes to keep a roof for him, and to see his face when he comes to London, if I am half-starved, so that he may not have to go to any of them low lodging-houses and bad places; for I'm his mother, you know, though he is sixty years old." I must not dilate

upon this case, but will just mention one circumstance to show the altered condition of my poor old friend, whom I have a very good hope of meeting in a better world. Said she, "I sees the benefit of praying now, Mr. Vandicum, and may the Lord Almighty bless you for coming to teach a poor old sinner, and I knows," she said, "my prayers is answered. You may believe me or believe me not, but the other day I was hungry and starving, I hadn't a bit of fire in the place, and I didn't expect my son home for weeks; but as I sat at the door, very faint and low, I says, 'Oh! God Jesus Christ, I wish you would send my son home to his poor old mother;' and I kept on saying that ere, it seemed so strong on me, and as I'm a living sinner,” (said Mrs. T., formerly she never would own she was a sinner,) "I looks up, and I'm blest but if there wasn't Jim a-coming up the court. So he throws down his pack, and, says he, 'So I've come home, mother.' 'Yes,' says I, 'so I see.' Says he, 'I shouldn't,

* I think it right to state that Mrs. T. was a woman of remarkably independent spirit; such expressions as these might mean little upon some persons' lips, but they meant a great deal (those who knew her would consider, I think) upon hers.

but I've been thinking very much about you, but,' says he, 'I'm very hungry, so let's have some victuals as quick as you can.""-Then followed an exact account of what my friend Jim sent out for, down to half an ounce of 'bacca"And we sat down to a nice cup of tea and a good fire," said Mrs. T., "and wasn't I thankful to the Almighty, for it was His doings, and Jim said the same."

This was all Jim could do, to pay his mother's rent, and when he came to town, leave her perhaps the value of eighteenpence; and a beggar woman who lives close by, have often found washing her out, as she expressed it, "a few bits of things because the poor old crittur couldn't," and giving her a bit of bread sometimes, and a few tea leaves she had collected now and then. Jim would, I believe, have supported his mother like a lady, but he had not the means.

Had a person entered Mrs. T.'s little dark cell in B alley, in the corner a little pallet would have been seen, which might have been mistaken for a stump bedstead, and as a piece of cotton over it looked tolerably clean, it might have been said, as I once did, to Mrs. T., "I'm glad to see you sleep pretty comfortable." It was winter