ELLEN MIDDLETON BY LADY GEORGIANA FULLERTON AUTHOR OF 'TOO STRANGE NOT TO BE TRUE,' 'A STORMY LIFE,' ETC. RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET Ray 20951 Puckering =1884. Telfais polises, 21 Apr. 1952 823 PREFACE. THE tale which is now reprinted, after the lapse of more than thirty years, was published at a time when the writer was on her way to the Catholic Church, into which, two years after it appeared, she had the happiness of being received,—a happiness which, at the end of a long life, is more deeply valued and gratefully appreciated than even in the first days, when submission had brought peace and joy to her soul. Some passages in this story contain language implying a belief in the intrinsic efficacy of Anglican ordinances, which, after her conversion to Catholicism, the authoress would not have used. They have, however, been allowed to remain, because they witness to needs of the soul which, especially under circumstances at all analogous to those of the chief character in the tale, are felt by thousands who never avail themselves of the divine provisions made in the true Church for their relief. |