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HOW THE AUTHOR WAS LED TO 
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‘““T was born in the country, where I have passed 
two-thirds of my life-time. I feel myself constantly 
recalled to it, both by the charm of early habits, by 
natural sensibilities, and also, undoubtedly, by the dear 
memories of my father, who bred me among its shades, 
and was the object of my life’s worship. 
“Owing to my mother’s illness, I was nursed for a 
considerable period by some honest peasants, who loved 
me as their own child. I was, in truth, their daughter; 
and my brothers, struck by my rustic ways, called me 
the Shepherdess. | 
“My father resided at no great distance from the 
town, in a very pleasant mansion, which he had pur- 
chased, built, and surrounded by plantations, in the 
hope that the charms of the spot might console his 
young wife for the sublime American nature she had 
recently quitted. The house, well exposed on the east 
and south, saw the morning sun rise on a vine-clad 
slope, and turn, before its meridian heats, towards the 
