Printed by T Booker, at the Metropolitan Catholic Printing Office, 9, Rupert Street, Leicester Squa; e. HUMILITY; OR, Blanche Neville and the Fancy Fair. God resisteth the proud, but to the humble he giveth grace.— REAT were the preparations which were made in the hitherto quiet family of Mr. Lovell, a country gentleman residing in the retired village of Ellingham, in Shropshire, for the reception of his ward, Blanche Neville. The ladies of the family consisted of a maiden sister of Mr. Lovell, with his wife and daughter, and to them Blanche was personally unknown; the kind hearts of the elder ladies made them so solicitous, however, in behalf of the orphan girl intrusted to their care, that neither time nor pains were spared to contribute to her comforts; but the same may not be said of Ellen Lovell, who at eighteen was as much the spoilt pet of the family as at the childish age of eight, and who was rather inclined to look upon Blanche as an interloper than in any more favourable light. Of the disposition of her who was henceforth to be considered one of the family they knew nothing; Mr. Neville had been one of Mr. Lovell's earliest friends, but since Blanche had merged from childhood into girlhood the latter gentleman had seen but little of the fortunes of his ward. Mr. Neville had at one time been the owner of considerable property, but his love for speculations, which had in many cases failed, had involved it to a great extent, and when upon his death bed he consigned his daughter to the care of the excellent Mr. Lovell, he had nothing to bequeath her save a small income sufficient to rescue her from absolute want. Blanche had never known a mother's care, Mrs. Neville having died when she was an infant, and the one great sin from which so many others follow, the sin of pride, which was her predominant passion, and which a watchful mother's counsel and instruction, might have enabled her to subdue, if not entirely eradicate, it was never the lot of Blanche to possess, but, on the contrary, this heinous sin was fostered rather than checked by those who watched over her childhood, till she grew so imperious and haughty that there were few who willingly sought her company. But as she approached her sixteenth year the scene began to change, and little by little she discovered the alteration in her father's affairs; she bore the misfortunes that overwhelmed them with more resignation than he had expected, but there was perpetually some new sacrifice to make, till at last her own atten dant was dismissed, the humblest style of living adopted, and her false pride then led her to be continually seeking to hide from those persons who visited them the utter change from affluence to poverty which was now theirs. But yet Blanche had had one near her who had reprehended her fault, who had noticed the proud and haughty bearing of the young girl, her ready assumption of authority, her glowing cheek, and the displeasure she evinced if a friendly monitor dared offer the slightest reproof. But such a friend as this is generally shunned by the young who fall into the sin of |