me, I would fee no company but his wife, and three young children. On alighting, I was conducted into a very elegant dining-room; and the gentleman went to call his lady, to whom he obligingly introduced me. After mutual compliments, fixing my eyes on the lady, I was perfuaded fhe greatly resembled the young gentleman whom my friend fufpected to be a woman; and I obferved she looked at me very earnestly, not without betraying some modeft blufhes. As dinner was not quite ready, I spoke to the lady as follows. "Madam, I am much obliged to this gentleman and you, for the polite and courteous reception you are giving to a stranger. ftranger. But, Madam, the more I look at you, I cannot but flatter myfelf I have feen you, or one very much resembling you, fome years ago, in a city far diftant from this, though in another dress. As your complexion and features very much resemble a lovely gentleman whom I have feen, I will be obliged to you, if you will be fo good as inform me whether my fufpicions are juft or not. Perhaps you may also recollect having feen me. I beg pardon, Madam, if I am in a mistake." To this the lady, fmiling, replied, "Yes, Sir, you have seen me frequently; and I have been oftener than once in your company. The day before I left the city you refer to, I was in your friend Mr Ts's room, being invited by Mr M, and heard him, with very great pleasure, deliver a moft excellent fpeech to the gentlemen there affembled. That fpeech had fuch an effect upon me, that I refolved immediately to execute a refolution I had previously made to return to my own country, and throw off my difguife." I answered, Madam, I rejoice at the pleasant opportunity of feeing you again, though in a very different drefs. My dear deceafed friend began to suspect, from certain circumftances

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cumstances in your behaviour, that you was a woman, and defired me to call for you next day at your lodgings, and invite you to visit him again. I called accordingly for you in the afternoon, but found you had left the town in the forenoon." I then repeated to her what had paffed betwixt Mr Ts and me, with the dif courfe of the maid of the house where the lodged, relating to her. Upon which he replied, "Your excellent friend's fufpicions were well founded; and the account the girl gave you was literally' true. As I hope you will continue with us for fome time, I fhall, after dinner, give you a parti cular account of my life, with the reasons for difguiling my fex, and pursuing masculine ftudies.” I made my acknowledgments in the most obli ging manner I could; and told her Ladyship, I would do myself the pleafure, if it would not be inconvenient, to lodge with them that and the following day. She thanked me for the favour, as the politely called it.

After dinner, the attendants and children bee ing removed, and none remaining but the gentleman, lady, and me; fhe addreffed me as follows. Sir, as my husband was intimately acquainted with all the transactions of my life, he being a few years older than me; I don't scruple to fatisfy your curiosity in his prefence. You will, no doubt, be much furprised to find, that a young woman appeared in man's apparel, and, in that drefs, fpent fome years in the ftudy of dearning; and be curious to know what were my motives for acting fo very extraordinary a part. I fhall therefore endeavour to gratify that curiofity which fuch an odd phænomenon cannot fail to ¡Excité.

"My father is a gentleman of character and fortune, and lives in the neighbourhood; and

my

my husband is my coufin-german. My father has a numerous family of children, and I am his eldest daughter, but not his firft-born, as I have a brother older than me. I was from my birth a lively, brisk, and handsome girl; and was beloved by my coufin, now my husband, from my tender years, as he was brought up with me. I don't know how it happened, but fo it was, that I was never happy but in his company. I had naturally an averfion to dolls, and fuch playthings and entertainments as girls are addicted to. I therefore partook of all the diverfions and recreations that my coufin amufed himfelf, with; and he was equally fond of me, I hated the fe male dress, and was always flovenly in it. Petticoats, stays, and caps were a burden to me; and fo was the needle... I often wished that I had been a boy like him; and fometimes fecretly put on fome of his cloaths, in which I made a good appearance, to the fatisfaction and entertainment of my cousin. As foon as I was capable of speaking, I was fent to the fame fchool with him, and, chiefly by his affiftance, I foon learned to read English perfectly. When I was feven years of age, as my father and mother wère continually chiding me for the flovenlinefs of my drefs, which was become more and more irksome to me, and as they well knew I had a genius and a vaft ambition for learning, having made fome progrefs in Latin under the direction of my dear coufin; -I one day took occafion to tell my father, that I hated nothing more than petticoats, and every other part of womens drefs; that I never expected to make any figure as a girl, but hoped I might do, it as a boy; that I had no tafte for female amufements, but my fole delight was in books. I expreffed my defire, that he would condefcend to humour me in my defign of pro

fecuting

fecuting literary ftudies; that as I abhorred a girl's drefs, he would order proper boy's cloaths to be made for me, and, to conceal the change, put me to a grammar-school at some distance, along with my coufin, who would take care of me. He answered, "Thou art a masculine girl indeed, and must at any rate be a boy. I fhall confider your propofal, and talk of it to your mother; and, if fhe will confent, I shall indulge your inclination." The fame day mamma rallied me a good deal on my whimfical propofal, as fhe called it; and ufed a variety of arguments to diffuade me from my defign. But all fhe could fay was ineffectual to divert me from my favourite project. My coufin was confulted, who gave cheerfully into the scheme. It was then refolved, that we fhould both be fent to, a town where all branches of education are taught by very able mafters. In a day or two after, as foon as I had rofe out of bed in a morning, mamma privately dreffed me in a fuit of caft cloaths belonging to my coufin; and finding that both the and I liked my appearance in that dress, and that it was poffible my sex might be effectually concealed, called papa, who was exceedingly fond of me in my boyith apparel. Being ftript of these cloaths, much against my inclination, I was told, to my comfort, that I and my coufin fhould be fent away early next morning. Accordingly my mother awaked me at three that morning, and dreffed me in my boy's cloaths. The chaife being ordered to attend at the garden-door, papa, my coufin, and I, went into it; and the firft day we travelled near fifty miles. Next morning, having arrived at a large town, my father fent for a tailor, and ordered him inftantly to get ready for me two new fuits of cloaths, of fuch colours as I myfelf fancied. They were brought to our lod

gings in the evening, together with fhoes, ftockings, fhirts, and every thing I ftood in need of. The following morning we profecuted our journey, and, about noon, arried at the place of our deftination. As my name is Fanny, I, at my father and coufin's defire, affumed that of Francis, and took the firname of my coufin, who is nephew to my mother, and was to pass as his brother. My father procured us lodgings in a refpectable and religious family, recommending to the landlord, a worthy Prefbyterian clergyman, to inftruct us carefully in the principles of Chriftianity, and fuperintend our behaviour; and ordered us conftantly to lie in feparate beds; which order we religioufly obferved. Having placed us at fchool, fettled every thing relating to our edu-cation and board, and given us his blefling, accompanied with wholefome advices and fervent prayers, he fet out on his return home. On hist arrival it was given out, that I had gone to London to live with a rich aunt, a widow; and that my coufin was fent to a diftant fchool. To prevent all difcoveries, he had ordered a ftranger to drive the chaife; fo that no one in the family, no not my eldest brother, was privy to the project.

"We continued at fchool above fix years, in which time we made confiderable progrefs in learning, having been taught Latin, Greek, French, Italian, writing, arithmetic, and feveral branches of the mathematics; and my dear hufband cannot refufe to own, that I was as diligent, and made as good progrefs, as he. We lived in perfect love and friendship, as if we had had one common foul, ftudying to please and oblige one> another. Between the fixth and feventh year, when I was on the eve of the fourteenth year of my age, we mutually figned a paper, importing, that as we had dearly loved one another from our

tendereft