The Young Lady's Counsellor by Daniel Wise

:
THE MISTAKE OF A LIFETIME. H
mental repose, would then, you fancy, be satisfied
that sense of soul-emptiness of which you are so
painfully conscious would be removed, and you be
the delighted possessor of genuine bliss on earth.
These things being so, are you not self-convicted
of the same error whose disastrous consequences you
just now beheld in my picture of the royal Elizabeth
? That fatal mistake, of looking wholly to
things external to herself for happiness, which embittered
her life and robbed her death-bed of all true
comfort, is already beguiling you. That mistake
must be corrected, or you will also live unblessed,
and die uncomforted.
Let us enter, at least in fancy, yon ancient
house, whose high-peaked roofs and gable ends
proclaim it a relic of the " days that are no more."
Within, it is desolate and lonely. A venerable lady
of the olden time is housekeeper ; and a girl of rude
manners, but robust frame, is her servant. Let us
ascend these rickety stairs, and introduce, ourselves
10 'the owner of this antiquated pile. Here is his
room, it is a laboratory, containing, as you may see,