Page:The Leadbeater Papers (1862) Vol 1.djvu/47

to the widow Jackson, who was remarkable for speaking ill of nobody, though ever so bad. She was the daughter of a clergyman, and was left by an extravagant husband in reduced circumstances. She valued her descent from Bernard Gilpin, the apostle of the North, whose life she was pleased to find in a biographical dictionary. Her genteel deportment and blameless life interested her neighbours. Joseph Wills gave her a spot of ground, others I suppose assisted her in building a comfortable cottage; her daughter Julia it is said made some of the inner partitions with her own hands. This was a fine young woman, industrious and ingenious, full of health and vivacity, but she fell a victim to the small pox. Her mother's sorrows were soothed by the worthy rector of Narraghmore, Richard Beauchamp, and his benevolent Julia (one of the Keatinge family), who took her into their house, and treated her with that respect and affection which her character deserved, and which they were wont to bestow. Her house was now occasionally inhabited by persons who took care of it for her, and kept her furniture, &c. locked up in the parlour. The display of this room, with which I was sometimes indulged, excited sensations of admiration and pleasure, not exceeded when the wonderful productions of the first masters, exhibited in the gallery of Sir Joshua Reynolds or at Somerset House, burst on my view. The screen on which "The Harlot's Progress" was depicted, and the family pictures disposed about the walls, especially one into which a little boy was introduced (rendered more interesting by hearing