Had she been born a peasant, Margaret Moncton would have possessed the dignity of a lady, and the little lecture she thought fit to bestow upon my beautiful wayward sister, was dictated by the same noble spirit.
"'We should never be proud, Alice, of the gifts of nature, or fortune, which depend upon no merit of our own.

Beauty and wealth have their due influence in the world, where their value is greatly overrated; but they add little in reality to the possessor.

Deprived of both, persons of little moral worth, would relapse into their original insignificance; while those, who improve the talents entrusted to their care by Providence, possess qualities which defy the power of change.
Such persons can alone afford to be proud, yet these of all others make the least display and think most humbly of themselves.' "This was said playfully, but Alice did not at all relish the reproof; which, though, disregarded by her, made a deep impression upon me.".