^ 
 
/ / 
 
 u 
 
MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE LATE 
 
 MRS. ROBINSON, 
 
 WRITTEN BY HERSELF. 
 WITH SOME POSTHUMOUS PIECES. 
 
 IN FOUR VOLUMES. 
 VOL. III. 
 
 EonDont 
 
 Printed by T. Oillet, Salisbury Square^ 
 
 FOR R. PHILLIPS, 7I, ST. PAUL*S; 
 
 SOLD BY T. HURST, PATERNOSTER-ROW, AND BY MESS. 
 CARPENTER, OLD BOND-STREET, 
 
 1301. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 VOL III. 
 
 TheSylphid - . , 
 
 jafpcr, a Fragment - „ qq 
 
 The Savaerti of Aveyron - .. 173 
 
THE SYLPHID. 
 
 Several Numbers of this Periodical Work appeared in a 
 Morning Newfpaper, and Mrs. Robinson had prepared 
 and arranged the whole for feparate publication previ- 
 ous to her laft illnefs. 
 
 VOL. III. ^B 
 
THE SYLPHID. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 MR, EDITOR, 
 
 TTHIS paper is addrefTed to you, from one 
 who has long been an invifible Spy over 
 theadlions of unconfelous mortals; the nairre 
 which I place at the conclufion of my intro- 
 du£lory paflport, will fufficiently declare the 
 powers of my important miffion. I am one 
 of thofe Aerial Beings to whom deftiny has 
 given the clue which is, by fabulous writers, 
 denominated the thread of fate. I have the 
 gift of inviiibility, as well as a prefcient know- 
 Jedge, which enables me to regulate the che- 
 quered tablet of human events, and to com- 
 ment, without fear, on the dangers, the ac- 
 tions, and the varying evolutions in the fcenes 
 of fubiunary viciffitude. 
 
 I am 
 
4 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 I am allowed the power of changing my 
 form, as fuits the obfervation of the moment, 
 I can affiime the minute exterior of the fmall- 
 efl: infeft, or perfonate, if I may be allowed 
 the expreffion, the moft inanimate obje£ls: 
 breathe in the flowers of fummer, or diredt 
 my unerring fhaft from the mofl minute parti- 
 cle of froft that hangs upon the wings of Bo- 
 reas : I can ikim on the auftral breeze, or 
 make my bounding couch on a green wave. 
 I can watch on the pillow of difeafe, fan the 
 feverifli cheek with my enamelled pinions ; 
 or repulfe the bold intruding zephyr that haf- 
 tens to fipneclar from the lips of beauty. 
 
 Often do I penetrate even the mofl obfcure 
 receffes of political as well as amorous in- 
 trigue. I liflen with equal fcepticifm to the 
 Lover's vows and the Courtier's profeflions. 
 I prelide at the toilets of the whole race of 
 women, from the thrice eflenced Duchefs to 
 the Dulcinea of St. Giles's : and I find that, 
 with a difference of manner only, their habits, 
 purfuits, inclinations and frailties, are nearly 
 limilar ! Sometimes I fleal into the garret of 
 a poet J and, by fkimming with light wings 
 
 over 
 
THE SYLPHID. 5 
 
 over his bufy brain, impregnate bis mind with 
 all the fantaflic forms which, at times, I am 
 permitted to exhibit. I then glide throiigh 
 the cabinet of the Politician, and hear him 
 rchearfe his parliamentary oration ; I fee him 
 beat his head, and I hear him rave againll 
 men and meafures, while felf-intereft lays her 
 magnet on his heart, and palfies all its moll 
 honourable feelings. 
 
 In the refemblance of a fly, I wander over 
 the repaft of the epicure. Idifcover amidft 
 luxuries, purchafed at a prodigal expence, 
 unnumbered {lores of anticipated difeafes. I 
 lip of thofe goblets which bear to the lips of 
 fated revellers, vv-ines, whofe flavour and per- 
 fume might have vied with thofe of the Phoe- 
 nician grape ! I there difcover poifons, which, 
 without the antidote which temperance alone 
 can fupply, are inevitably deflruiSlive. In the 
 likenefs of a wafp, I haunt the bowers of in- 
 fidelity ; and, by the menace of my fling, 
 alarm the bofom of half yielding frailty. I 
 f:3metimes infli6l a wound upon the lip of de- 
 ceit, jull as it is preparing to profane the name 
 of Love I awaken, with my drony fong, the 
 
 flumber- 
 
6 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 numbering hufband; who, at fun-rife, fleeps 
 on a fmooth pillow, while his adventurous 
 partner is gathering thorns to fprinkle it, on 
 the more than hemlock verdure of a gaming 
 table! By the yellow, gloffy graces of my 
 form, I remind the rapacious mifer of his 
 gold ; then fuddenly affuming the night-bee- 
 tle's fable habit, I (hew him the femblance 
 of his hidden heart. In the grey garb of a 
 mufquito, I prefent the Monk his outward, 
 humble mien ; while with my poifon I en- 
 grave upon his breaft the mifery of fuperfti- 
 tion. To divert the bold Projeflor from his 
 purpofe, I weave the envenomed fpider's 
 web ; and while he builds his airy caftle on 
 the ruins of his country, 1 invoke a kindred 
 zephyr to deflroy my flimfy fabric; he fees 
 the allegorical deflruflion, and wavers from 
 his purpofe. 
 
 Sometimes to favour an ill-treated Lover, 
 I affift in the important myfteries of omens ; 
 and flit upon the burning bar, in blackened 
 fragments, to tell a flranger coming. To 
 fright the Goffip who has flept, when her fick 
 patient fufFered pain, I have twilled the long 
 
 winding- 
 
THE SYLPHID, J 
 
 winding-fheet ; and fhe has learnt to he more 
 wary in her watchings. Where poverty has 
 pinched the heart, I have bounced from the 
 fire, a purfe of promifed treafure ; chirped 
 like the cricket in the chimney corner to an- 
 nounce a wedding-day ; or tickled, with in- 
 vlilhle breathings, the elbow of a love-fick 
 maiden, fure fign that flie would change her 
 bed-fellow. I have often, as a huge fly, ob- 
 truded myfelf on the plate of an Epicure, who, 
 having fealled himfelf to the very verge of 
 apoplexy, wa!: preparing the laft facrifice to 
 gluttony: the fight of me has fickened his 
 imagination, and, by pulling a period to his 
 meal, I have protracted his exiflence. 
 
 I have aflumed the orient colours of the 
 butterfly ; and while the giddy, gay coquet 
 has viewed me as an emblem of her beaute- 
 ous felf, I have fuddenly become a grub, to 
 teach her the leflbn of mortality. I have 
 purred like one of the tabby fpecies, to fhew 
 the inftability of friendfhip. I have murmured, 
 like the ring-dove, to evince that conftancy is 
 riown to folitudes and fnades. I have, in the 
 deformity of the bat, prcfented to view the 
 
 moping 
 
& THE SYLPHID. 
 
 moping Antiquarian, who fecludes himfelf 
 from the haunts of man, to vegetate amidft the 
 ruins of inexorable time, ufelefs and unfocial. 
 Thus do 1 change my form and my purfuits 
 as rapidly as thougiit ; and thus, from time to 
 time, will I ikim over this bufy fcene in the 
 invilible fhape of an obferving 
 
 Sylphid. 
 
 Mount-Ether, 0^.2l, 1799. 
 
 No. II. 
 
 MR. EDITOR, 
 
 IN my introductory paper I endeavoured to 
 give you fome account of my powei^, and to 
 prepare you for the fpecies of information 
 which you are to expeft during my fojourn on 
 this part of the globe. I already perceive that 
 my occupations will be as various as my zeal 
 fhall be indefatigable : but, before I commence 
 my labours, 1 think it will amufe you to know 
 
 what 
 
THE SYLPHID. 9 
 
 what I have already done in my jouniey of 
 obfervation, fince the fummer morning when 
 J lirll: found myfelf newly awakened to life, in 
 the painted recelfes of a tulip, to that dawn 
 when I refled my airy form on the white cliffs 
 of this wave-circled ifland. 
 
 Know then, Mr. Editor, that I firft breath- 
 ed the aromatic gales on the fun-gilded alti- 
 tudes of Sicily. I glanced my fta^ry eyes over 
 the diftant profpe£l, and ihaking the dew from 
 my tranfparent wings, I found that they were 
 impregnated with celeftial odours. I then per- 
 ceived that I was gifted with the powers of 
 motion, which rivalled the velocity of the 
 morning breeze ; and, as I palTed near the 
 topmoft bough where the mother bird neilled 
 with yer young, I difcovered, by their repofe, 
 that I was invinble. 
 
 From Sicily I crofled the waves to the luxu- 
 rious plains of Italy. I hovered over the fhrines 
 dedicated to bigotry and veiled by fuperfli- 
 tion. I foiled with my tears the relique which 
 pious fraud had rendered facred ; and I turned 
 with horror from the pride-pampered Priefl^ 
 who bartered with the feeble for their foul's 
 
 fiat! 
 
10 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 fiat I In the faloon of the Nobles, I floated 
 amidfl the perfumes of Arabia, over the moft 
 coftly feafts, or ftretched fupine in the rich 
 fefloons of a filken canopy, I liflcned to the 
 deep-drawn refpiration of full- fated luxury, 
 while difeafe and death flood centinels at its 
 pillow. 
 
 I then explored the clay-reared cottage of 
 the laborious peafant : I beheld him on a hard 
 and thinly covered pallet, weary with the toils 
 of a hot vintage, yet fleeping foundly : I heard 
 his foft breath as it gently raifed his fcorched 
 bofom, and I faw the fmile upon his lip which 
 befpoke an unfulliedconfcience ! Happy pea- 
 fant ! more envied, even in thy poverty and 
 toil, than all the fons of ambition, in the very 
 pride of conqueft, and plenitude of dominion. 
 
 From Italy I crofTcd the Alpine hills ; and 
 failed on the fun-beam over Iblitudesof fnow, 
 where mortal feet had never wandered. Ter- 
 rific altitudes ! facred to the God of Nature ! 
 more inftruftive to the philofophic mind than 
 all the fophiftry of man, or all the leflbns of 
 ian6tified law-givers. 
 
 I then took up my abode in the intricate 
 
 mazes 
 
THE SYLPHID. 11 
 
 mazes of Paris and Verfailles — I was, by turns, 
 the obferver of the pleafurable haunts, and the 
 pohtical cabinet. I beheld, with forrow, the 
 encroachments of Profufion ; and anticipated 
 the horrors of Anarchy, while I traced the 
 rapid progrefs of Oppreffion. 
 
 I then winged my way to the habitation of 
 the proud Spaniard. I there faw DuUnefs 
 dreffed in the fpecious garb of felf-import- 
 ance; Oftentation, afTuming the celellial fem- 
 blance of Generofity ; and Jealoufy dipping her 
 deftru£live poignard in the tears of captive 
 beauty. Often did I comprefs ray flender 
 form to enter the latticed window, where the 
 blackefl and fineft eyes on this terreflrial 
 fphere gazed dejectedly on the chain of wed- 
 ed tyranny ; while the foft figh of defpond- 
 ency, flealing over the fevered lip of love, re- 
 pelled and drew me on at pleafure. 
 
 From the dominion of unmeaning pride I 
 crofled the abyfs of waters, aflailed by the wild 
 furf, and buffeted by the reliftlefs breath of 
 the tumultuous Equinox. In my acquatic 
 voyage I marked many a Britifh Tar, fearleis 
 in the very heat of danger ! I beheld the 
 
 nobleft 
 
12 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 nobleft of Valour's Tons undaunted amidfl: the 
 fulphur of defolating warfare : I took my lofty 
 feat on the top-maft of a floating bulwark, 
 where, blackened by the fmoke of war, the 
 Britifh flag waved defiance to the world ; while 
 the fcene below was ftained with blood, and 
 the paufe of thundering contcfl was awfully 
 filled up by the groans of the agonifed and 
 dying! — I ll:iuddered, and purfued my aerial 
 journey. 
 
 As foon as I had dipped my weary pinions 
 in the wh.ite waves, and drank the i-ethereal 
 fpirit of the breezes, I coniinued my flight to- 
 wards the lofty fliores of Albion ; Ihores ren- 
 dered facred by the birth of the immortal Al- 
 fred ; prote6led by the hardy zeal of its bold 
 Barons ; and formed by the hand of Nature, 
 to defend her fons againfl the attacks of fo- 
 reign foes. 
 
 Far and wide have been my wanderings ; 
 on the hot fands of the eaflern world, beneath 
 the vertical and fcorching beam, I have feen 
 the tyranny of wealth lording it over the de- 
 fencelefs native. I have liftened to the cries 
 of infulted nature, while the lengthened ca- 
 valcade 
 
THE SYLPHID. 13 
 
 valcade groaned with the fpolis of infatiable 
 plunder. The burning fun has Ihed its fhafts 
 on the fcorched camel, while his weary limbs 
 have yielded to the burthen of uncounted trea- 
 fures I Even at that moment the fon of bound- 
 lefs rapacity has fmiled ! The glow of Ihame- 
 lefs triumph has deepened the bronze of his 
 clime-faded cheek, and his heart has beat 
 healthfully, while famine, unchecked, has 
 been defolating kingdoms. 
 
 From the fun's hotteft clime I winged my 
 way to the black defarts of the frozen pole. 
 I have crept into the fnow cavern, and liften- 
 ed to the uncouth yell of uncultivated favagesj 
 I found them focial, though unfophiflicated ; 
 I beheld no fanguinary warfare ; I heard no 
 fycophantic adulation ; I witnefled no empty 
 pride, no poifoned oftentation ; no hatred 
 fpringing from envy and deceit ; no party fpi- 
 rit, contending for pre-eminence ; no fpy that 
 llabbed the peace of unfufpeding patriotifm. 
 The kindling fire illumined the long icicles, 
 which, during a fix months night, hung gliften- 
 ing from the Indian's dome ; his limbs were 
 ftrong, and finewy, he knew not the enervat- 
 ing 
 
34 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 ing mifchicf, luxury : his eye looked forward 
 with a penetrating limine fs, the effedl of con- 
 fcious freedom ! I examined his hovel ; it was 
 not flored with the treafures of his neighbour ; 
 I hovered around his his bed, formed of the 
 hides of animals ; it was bleft with tranquil 
 flumber. I marked his eye ; it was illumined 
 by valour, tempered by inftindlive love ; it 
 was the clear but fteady lamp of an unfliack- 
 led foul ! 
 
 I crofled the wild Euphrates ; fported on the 
 golden fands of the pearly Ganges ; hovered 
 on the black pall of night, as it veiled the 
 polar defert ; and fwept with hurried wings 
 along the Cafpian Ocean. I flitted on the 
 white foam of the impetuous Rhone ; imbib- 
 ed the mufky vapours ariling from the filvcr 
 Arno ; and lipped the fweets of fummer 
 flowers, as they opened to meet the fun, on 
 the Etrurian meads. On the Sabine hills I 
 watched the yellow Tiber, while fancy brought 
 to my view the grandeur of ancient Rome, 
 before its glories were faded by the breath of 
 tyrants. I traverfed the borders of the Nile, 
 while my enamelled wing Ihatched new Juftre 
 
 from 
 
THE SYLPHID. 15 
 
 from the eve of valour, and my light form 
 fported amidll the laurels of a Nelson ! 
 
 Over the Black. Sea I followed the navies 
 of the voluptuary, whofe power was confelTed 
 alike in the cabinets of politics and love. I 
 there faw the coftly gems, the gilded palTports 
 to the heart, debafe its befl feelings, and pur- 
 chafe its degradation. I hovered over the poor 
 remains of unlamented greatnefs, till I beheld 
 with rapture the arm of power Wretched forth 
 to emancipate the child of valour,* the bold 
 inheritor of Nature's wreathe, won in the 
 caufe of freedom ; and placed upon his brow 
 by the hand of P'ortitude ! 
 
 I have fince flown rapidly over the thiflled 
 hills of Scotia, where pride receives a lefTon 
 from adveriity; and where confcience, be- 
 neath a tottering roof of ftate, whifpers to the 
 refledling foul, " Such is the reward of bound- 
 " lefs fenfuality :'* I have alfo traverfed the 
 Hibernian (hores ; fhuddered at the efFe6ls of 
 lawlefs fury, and dropped a tear on the re- 
 cords of ferocity, — while Religion wept, and 
 Reafon trembled with anticipated horrors. 
 
 • Kofciufko. 
 
 Behold 
 
l6 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 Behold me at the clofe of the Eighteenth 
 Century, in the metropolis of England. Here 
 I paufe to replenifh my fhattered wings, and 
 to obtain new fources of important informa- 
 tion. It fhall now be my tafk to explore the 
 haunts of artificial beings ; to watch, unfeen, 
 at the toilets of coquets, in the chambers of 
 prudes ; at the altars of pious hypocrites ; in 
 the vortex of diffipation ; on the couch of in- 
 dolence ; in the gloomy clofet of avarice, and 
 the fuperb temple of the unblufhing pecula- 
 tor. I will draw forth merit ; proteft unfriend- 
 ed genius ; unveil pretended chaflity ; goad 
 with the thorn of confcious reproof the often- 
 tatious bofom ; and expofe the fpecious vio- 
 lator of domeftic joy, the oppreflbr of the un- 
 happy ! Neither the eloquence of a Cicero, 
 the force of a Demofthenes, the philofophy of 
 a Plato, the tyranny of a Nero, nor the graces 
 of a Helen (were fuch perfons now in exift- 
 ence), fhoulddireft the wanderings, influence 
 the juftice, interrupt the vigilance, or filence 
 the reproof, of the ever watchful and un- 
 wearied 
 
 SYLPHID. 
 
THE SYLPHID. J7 
 
 No. III. 
 
 SINCE I wrote to you laft, Mr. Editor, I 
 have been perplexed almoll beyond the re- 
 fifting powers of fortitude ; I have witneffed 
 fcenes, and explored charafters, at once fo 
 fpecious, and fo deftrudive, that I was almoft 
 difpofed to queftion my own exiftence. But 
 in order to vent the forrows of my full brcafl, 
 and to convince you, that though I bear a fu- 
 pernatural form, my feeling and aiFeftions are 
 human, I fliall endeavour to paint the mife- 
 lies I have contemplated. 
 
 I have made an aerial journey over many 
 places. I beheld in every country, mothers, 
 wives, and relatives of all delcriptions, mourn- 
 ing in hopelefs and unavailing agony ! I gazed 
 with horror on mutilated limbs ; I vilited hof- 
 pitals overcharged with the fick ; and cham- 
 bers, ohfcure chambers, filled with the dying ! 
 Yet I found, upon enquiry, that the fufferers 
 were innocent of any crime againfl fociety ; 
 that they were the mere fprings of avaft ma- 
 
 voL. III. c chine. 
 
18 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 chine, which, by their exertions, was necef- 
 farily kept in motion. And, are they no moie 
 regarded r are they left to perifh ? mull: they 
 quit their toilfome tafk, unlamented ? Even 
 fo I For what do they encounter death ? For 
 the wreathe of glory. Do they enjoy it ? 
 Thrives it on their brows ? does it lliclter their 
 habitations from the bkfl: of poverty, or docs 
 it bloom to decorate their graves ? I dread to 
 hear thefe queflicns anfwered. 
 
 I have vilited the romantic fcenery of the 
 Welfh mountains; I there invoked the fpirit 
 of imagination, and beheld a long train of 
 dauntlefs vifions, fuch as are defcribed by the 
 infpired and magic pen of Gray ! There, 
 while I beheld 
 
 ** The fteep of Snowden's fliaggy fide," 
 and paufed upon the margin of 
 
 *' Old Conway's foaming flood," 
 my enraptured fancy caught the llralns of 
 ** Higli-born Hoers harp, and foft Llewellyn's lay !" 
 
 while Truth infcrudled me to contemplate the 
 circles of modern refinement; the j!>^/^V^ maitres 
 of fafliionable life ; the tinfel abodes of vitiat- 
 ed 
 
THE SYLPHID. IQ 
 
 cd tafte ; and the infipid phalanx of noble, 
 foi-difant^ literati. 
 
 I repaired to the abode of negle6lcd genius. 
 I beheld the genuine fons and daughters of the 
 Mufes, pining in obfcure poverty, and labour- 
 ing incefTantly for a fcanty pittance. No fplen- 
 douvs decorated their neglected habitation ; 
 no luxuries were feen on the board of weary 
 toil. Ah ! race, negle£led by the proud, un- 
 honoured by the ignorant ! Time will record 
 your names and confecrate your labours ! Your 
 works will give luftre to his wings, while they 
 level with the duft, the lofty monuments of 
 wealth and oftentationl 
 
 I arrefled my flight on the altar of that 
 temple confecrated to the divinity I There 
 I faw the lean, half-flarved deputy, performing 
 the facred funflion, while his full-fed mafter 
 {lumbered in flothful luxury. I faw, around 
 him, what I confidered as the overplus of 
 plenty ; but inflinft fhortly told me, that it 
 was the hoard of extorted claims, wrelled from 
 the children of labour and credulity \ 
 
 I entered the faloon of the Afiatic ; I faw 
 profufion decorating the repafl of vulgar pride, 
 
 and 
 
20 THE SYLPiriD. 
 
 and falfehood dlfpenfing her fmiles, while adu- 
 lation endeavoured, vainly endeavoured, to 
 heal the wounded fpirit of it's patron. I ac- 
 companied the gilded idol to his midnight 
 couch ; I faw him ftart, aghaft ! I, heard him 
 groan convuifively ; around him rofe an hofl 
 of pale and bleeding vi£lims ! triiey fliook. his 
 coftly canopy, embofTed with gems and gold, 
 while their hollow voices murmured, " Caitiff, 
 *^ Jleep no more!" 
 
 T then pafled the portico of one, whofe 
 graces of perfon and of mind ftamped him of 
 Nature's firft order I I obferved his heart beat 
 with thofe afFe£lions, which had led his foot- 
 fleps to the paths of plcafure ; while Envy 
 threw the thorns of malice in his way to per- 
 plex and wound him. It was his deftiny to 
 be placed on an eminence, where all eyes 
 beheld him: like the Sun he dazzled, and his 
 prying oblervers found he had fmall fpecks, 
 which they magnified with the hope of dimi- 
 nifhing his luilre. I then peeped into the book 
 of fate, and with joy 1 beheld the progrefs of 
 his defliny ! around him beamed a thoufand 
 conflellations ! Hope fmiled, aslhe obferved 
 
 the 
 
THE SYLPHTID. 21 
 
 the demon^ Difcord, vanifh ! and the angel 
 Peace, as fhe fhook the tears of memory from 
 the laurels of the valiant, pointed towards that 
 thrice columned 1 emple, which Britifli Vir- 
 tue fhall render invulnerable ! 
 
 This fplendid vifion being configned to the 
 immortal hand of Freedom, Ihe confecrated 
 it amidft the united plaudits of Religion, Wif- 
 dom, Patriotiim : while Time conferred the 
 office of its biographer on the inviiible, but 
 indefatigable, 
 
 SYLPKID. 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 MR. EDITOR, 
 
 TURNING my reftlefs wings from gloomy 
 objeifts, asfoon as I had difpatched my trufty 
 Zephyr with the laft paper, Ifet out on a new 
 purfuit, in the brilliant fcenes of diffipated 
 fully. I had witnelTed in various climes, the 
 
 caprices 
 
22 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 caprices, or rather the diflortions, produced by 
 a Sylph, known to the trifling and unthinking 
 by the appellation of Fafhion ; though fome- 
 times miftaken for a more refined and delicate 
 Spirit, which in the purer regions we denomi- 
 nate Tafle. As thefe contending and almoft 
 equally acknowledged powers are frequently 
 confulted by the fairefl votaries of vanity and 
 pleafure, I fhall, for the inftru£lion of the 
 lovely and rational part of the attractive fex, 
 endeavour to defcribe their different attri- 
 butes. 
 
 Fafhion is a Sylph of fantaflic appearance, 
 the illegitimate offspring of Caprice (for Fa- 
 fhion is of no fex). It was firft awakened to 
 life by the Zephyr of a May morning, bear- 
 ing on it's wings the fleeting fragrance of the 
 mofl fragile blofToms. Its nurfe was the Ca- 
 melion ; air-nourifhed, and perpetually chang- 
 ing its appearance. Placed on the topmofl 
 bough of a tall poplar, it learned to wave with 
 every gale, while its cradle was over-arched 
 by a rainbow, the emblem of itfelf, gaudy, 
 varying, tranfient, and unfubflantial. 
 
 Cheriflied into flrength, it fought the bufy 
 
 fcenes 
 
THE SYLPHID. 23 
 
 fcenes of gallantry and fancy. Its firfl refling 
 place was amidil: the falfe ringlets of a Gallic 
 coquet. It has flitted on Arabian perfumes, 
 over the bofoms of celebrated beauties, even 
 from the earlieft periods. For a time it pre- 
 fided among the Athenian women, laughing 
 Philofophy to fcorn. Sometimes it vihted the 
 temples of Roman gallantry, while Roman 
 hardihood bowed before its altar ! It has been 
 known to rule the defliny of Gallic monarclis ; 
 to revel in the huge ruff and fliffened defor- 
 mity of the vain Englilh Elizabeth ; and it even 
 ftamped the paflport to preferment, during the 
 reign of the Second Charles, in the thcjt licen- 
 tious Court of Britain ! 
 
 Fafhion patronifed the favage Hottentots in 
 their difgulling decorations ; cramped the fine 
 feet of the Chinefe ; and revelled in the Sha- 
 dows of their half-clofed heavy eye-lids. Fa- 
 fhion commended the prim coquets of Van- 
 dyke, and the voluptuous forms, the languifh- 
 ing eyes of the canvas-breathing fenfualiji, Sir 
 Peter Lely. 
 
 Falhion is a diftorted Svlph, decked with 
 iiovvers, feathers, tinfel, jewels, beads, and all 
 
 the 
 
24 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 the garifh profunon of degenerated fancy. Its 
 en:iblems are the tulip and the poppy, glarhig 
 and pernicious to the energies of intelle£l. It 
 makes idiots of its votaries; and yet we fome- 
 times fee the wifefl: governed by its influence. 
 Even the old and the ugly confefs its power, 
 at the very moment when they feel that it is 
 the ufurper of that magic wand, which fliould 
 only be diredled by the hand of Tafte ; but 
 Fafhion governs with imperious command, 
 while tafte attra£ls the foul by intuitive fafci- 
 nation. 
 
 Tafle is a mild and beauteous Sylph, of Gre- 
 cian extraftion, {imply but elegantly adorned I 
 Her veil is neither gaudy nor fantaftic. Her 
 brows are crowned with a profusion of Hea- 
 ven's gifts ; and her flight never extends be- 
 yond the boundaries of Nature. Her emblems 
 are the white rofe, bending in a graceful curve 
 over the modefl:, vale-born lily. It was ori- 
 ginally her ofiice to fold the drapery of her 
 native vefl:ments ; and to braid the glofly 
 treflTes of Cercaflian virgins : fhe preflded over 
 the poetry of Sappho, fhe aflifled in the fculp- 
 ture of the Medicean Venus ; gave the warm 
 
 glow 
 
THE SYLPHID. 25 
 
 glow to the pencil of Claude de Lorraine ; 
 grouped the figures of a Michael Angelo ; and 
 blended the colours which immortalized the 
 breathing pencil of Titian. It was her's to 
 illumine the mind of the Britifh Reynolds ! 
 as it will be her ofRce to confecrate iiis me- 
 mory ! 
 
 Alas ! Mr. Editor, how rarely have I found 
 her in the mazy circles of modern refinement. 
 How popular is her rival Sylph, fantaflic Fa- 
 fliion ! A few mornings iince, almoft frozen 
 by the winter air, and nearly fuffocated by the 
 fogs of the metropolis, I entered a balcony win- 
 dow (for Falhion has of late waged war with 
 Reafon in the fchool of Architedlure, in de- 
 fiance of climate and of atmofphere) ! On a 
 fudden I found mvfelf in the dreffing-room of 
 a celebrated beauty. Heavens ! what afcenel 
 Where, where was deferted Nature ? ^yhat 
 milerable efforts of art were fubilituted for 
 the fublimitles of genius. The walls were 
 covered with caricatures. The ceiling and 
 pannels deformed by fphynxes and centaurs, 
 the monflers of a fantaflic imagination. The 
 chairs and fophas were too fplendid for com- 
 fort, 
 
"2,6 THE SYLPHin. 
 
 fort, and' too flight for ufe. The blazing coal* 
 jfire fned its unwholeforae vapours on the forc- 
 ed produce of the hot-houfe ; and the preliding 
 goddefs of the collly temple was iighing with 
 ennui f even in the midft of magnificence and 
 prodigality. 
 
 What a firange melange of luxury and in- 
 iipidity ! What fophiflicated minds raufl fuch 
 beings pofTefs ! How ufelefs are they in the 
 vafl fcale of human organization, and how 
 little does their exiflence benefit or adorn fo- 
 ciety ! But foft : I am menaced by the angry 
 Sylph, whofe mvfteries I am preparing to un- 
 ravel ! Fafhion already arms her bufy wing 
 with a thoufand arrows ! I muft confult the 
 power which has given me my aerial mif- 
 fion, and if I am permitted to reveal the fc- 
 crets of the reigning favourite, I will proceed 
 in my difcoverles ; and they fliall furnifh ob- 
 fervations for the hfth paper, from the nevey 
 weary and faithful 
 
 s Y L P H I D . 
 
THE SYLPHID. ^7 
 
 No. V. 
 
 1 HAVE pafied the ordeal of Fafhion's pha- 
 lanx ! and again I refume my talk of obfer- 
 vation. The refined Sylphid, Tafle, though 
 deprived of the power ihe once held over the 
 minds of enlightened mortals, flill aflerts her 
 empire in the thoughts, manners, and de- 
 cifions of the difcriminating few. Yet Fafhion 
 is a potent adverfary, and fafhion will oppofe 
 me ; the infe£ls, flitting amidil the thin va- 
 pours of their fhort-iived day, will attempt to 
 mifiead me, by their dazzling ignis fatuiis \ or 
 to fink me amidil the fwift vortex of deflruc- 
 tive diffipation. But, Mr. Editor, I Ihall 
 fhake my untiring pinions in defiance of their 
 efforts ; and, prompted by the fine fpirit, 
 Truth, I (hail flill rely for fupport on her ftrong 
 parent, Reafon. 
 
 I lafl took leave of you to contemplate the 
 breakfafl-room of a celebrated beauty, round 
 whom myriads of human infe6ls poured forth 
 poeans of adulation, though her lovely grand- 
 children 
 
28 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 children already began to lifp her praifes. 1 
 obferved the fair one, like Pope's Belinda, un- 
 veiling that myflerious altar which was def- 
 tined to give her almofl a new creation. 1 
 faw a bufy agent of the prefiding Deity, Om- 
 nipotent Fafhion, compreffing her luxuriant 
 trefles to the compaft circumference of a 
 cocoa-nut ; firft elTaying the jetty fcratch ; 
 then the vv^avy flaxen ; and then the neatly 
 braided, warmly glowing auburn. A fecond 
 fmiling imp of mifchief tinged her elbows, 
 chin, and ears, with a rofy hue ; a third dyed 
 her cheeks and lips with a vermilion poifon ; 
 a fourth enlarged her falling flioulders to an 
 unnatural expanfion ; a iiflh fupnlied her bo- 
 fom with a prepofterous protuberance ; and a 
 Hxth threw over her form an almoft tranfpa- 
 rent drapery, which left every charm diftin6lly 
 vifible to the prying eyes of vulgar curiofity. 
 
 Thus metamorphofed, thus diverted of her 
 natural graces (for beauty fmiled in her fea- 
 tures, and played about her form without the 
 aid of art) ; I faw the lovely mifguidcd pupil 
 of Falhion's fchool bending before a flattering 
 mirror. I obferved her afFeding a thoufand 
 
 Itrange 
 
THE SYLPHID. IQ 
 
 Grange grimaces ; now languifhing with a kind 
 of lifllefs apathy ; now fixing the broad ftare 
 of polite eiFrontery; and now alTuming the 
 vacant gaze of confirmed idiotifm. 1 heard 
 her loudly clatter, in founds rapidly unintelli- 
 gible, and lifp the mofl infipid jargon, with a 
 tone fcarcely articulate. Thefe changes were 
 as fuddenlv afTumed as the manner v/hich ac- 
 companied them. In a moment fhe was 
 grave and gay ; pnidifh and coquetifli ; vola- 
 tile and referved: while fhe performed each 
 charafter v^ith an evident facility, which was 
 fcarcely credible. 
 
 On her table (the chimney time-piece 
 pointing the hour of noon) I obferved a varie- 
 ty of appendages to modern refinement, No- 
 vels, dedicated to their prefiding patronefTes, 
 Dullnefs and Oftentation ! French perfumes, 
 German tranflations ; poems that breathe 
 rancour beneath the mafk of fatire ; criticifms, 
 the efFufions of difappointed felf-interefl, or 
 jealous malignity; and travels, that, ventur- 
 ing beyond the limits of probability, were 
 lofl in obfcure mazes, or overpowered by the 
 glooms of a vapid imagination. 
 
 Before 
 
30 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 Before the fire, on a filkcn cufliion, flept a 
 favourite lap-dog ; while a French milliner 
 difplayed the nevveft Parifian caprices, and an 
 emigrant Jbbe received ten pounds for a fmall 
 packet of the laft imported cofmetics. I ob- 
 ferved the fair enthufiafl gazing with adoring 
 eyes on the cap of Mad;.mie Tallien ; cxtol- 
 ing the fine attitudes of an Hamilton; em- 
 bracing with rapture the fafh of Bonaparte, 
 and wondering at the genius and fancy of 
 Gallic females, while the negle£led literary 
 works of her own illuflrious countrywomen 
 were configned to the mifchievous claws of 
 her favourite kitten, or to the hands of her 
 French femme de chamhre^ for the arrangement 
 of \\Qx papillots ! 
 
 I turned from the fcene of folly and falfe 
 tafle, weary and difgufled. Faffing along the 
 veflibule of the manfion, I obferved an inge- 
 nious artificer, anegle£led poet, a half-ftarved 
 hiftoiian, and a poor country curate, who were 
 inflantly difmified by a lufty lacquey, with a 
 brief afilirance that his Lady was Invifible ! 
 For a moment I felt alarmed, left any of thofe 
 properties which dillinguifh our aerial progeny 
 
 had 
 
THE SYLPHTD. 31 
 
 had dcfcendedio favour the follies of Fafliion's 
 votaries : but I was foon relieved by the in- 
 telligent fplrit. Truth, who informed me, that 
 high-bred iniignificance wa^ frequently inviji- 
 hle to the enlightened children of Genius, and 
 the modeft offspring of Poverty and Virtue ! 
 This intelligence tranquillized the mind 
 though it did not fatisfy the enquiring fpirit 
 of the indefaticrable 
 
 o 
 
 SYLPKID. 
 
 No. VI. 
 
 MR. EDITOR, 
 
 OF all the non-entities which difgrace the 
 temple of fupreme Fafhion, I have difcovered 
 none fo contemptible, as that appendage to 
 exalted rank, vulgarly denominated a 1 oad- 
 eater ! I have found this fpccies o^ reptile in 
 almofl every manfion of proiiigacy and pro- 
 fulion. I have feen their fmiJes at the tables 
 
 of 
 
32 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 of exalted dupes; I have heard them vvhifper 
 the arrangement of an intrigue to 2ifalfc wifcy 
 while Iierhufband has been flattered with the 
 gloiing-title of Friend^ or Patron ! I have ob- 
 ferved this feemingly domefiic affociate feaft- 
 ing at the luxurious table of a man of rank, 
 while he fettled an ailignation for the favou- 
 rite of his pleafures, with a no lefs diflin- 
 guifhed enamorato ! At other periods I have 
 known him carrying on an illicit intercourfe 
 with a friend's wife, winning his money at a 
 gaming table, ridiculing his prodigality, con- 
 demning his falfe pride, and proclaiming his 
 ignorance, even in the prefence of his moil: 
 intimate aflbciates ; at the fame time that he 
 fmiled in his face, and, with little Jefs than 
 the idolatry of a bigot, extolled him for every 
 Virtue that can adorn Humanity ! 
 
 It has often ailonifhed me to behold men 
 of real underftanding, the dupes of thefepoi- 
 fonous an'imalcula. And yet they have accefs 
 to the tables of the Wealthy and the Profufe, 
 while the fons of Genius are left, in obfcurity, 
 to -per'ijh ! I have even feen women of talents 
 and acknowledged judgment countenance, 
 
 and 
 
THE SYLPHID. 33 
 
 and efleem fuch beings, in preference to the 
 more enlightened and candid of tiiat fex, 
 which nature deftined to adore them. 
 
 A Toad-eater is perhaps one of the moil 
 indolent, and at the fame time the moll inde- 
 fatigable of creatures I He has no occupation, 
 and is neverthelefs perpetually employed. 
 He has feldom any honourable independence, 
 and yet he exifts in the very vortex of every 
 luxury. He has no fettled home, but every 
 houfe of ?(?;z is open to receive him. He is 
 not learned, and yet he gives his opinions with 
 freedom, even on the moll abflrufe writings ; 
 he is not poliflied, but he is the cenfor of 
 good breeding ; he is not noble, though he 
 vaunts his principles of Ariftocracy ; and, 
 with a pliability that is ailonilhing, fuits his 
 looks, manners, voice, and opinions, to thofe 
 of the patron on whom he depends for the 
 da'f s enjoyments^ 
 
 " Let no fuch men he trufted\'' they are the 
 fubtile milchiefs which undermine the foun- 
 dation of domeflic happinefs. Tliey are the 
 fmooth honeyed poifons, which contaminate 
 the cup of human felicity. They are the de- 
 
 voL. III. D famers 
 
34 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 famers of the dupes they feed on ; and are 
 only feiviceabJe to the depraved and lenfual. 
 In fa6l, they are the jackall to the lion; the 
 clown to his motley aflbciate ; the monkey, 
 who fkips and plays about his lofty dromedary; 
 the trumpeter to the raree-Jiioiv of fafhion ; 
 the mirror in which Folly fees her own like- 
 nefs ; the lacquey, who waits on the vices of 
 his mafler ; the flatterer of his indifcretions, 
 the fycophant of his weaknefs ; the pliant 
 varnilher of that clay v/hich nature ftamped 
 with dulnels and inlipidity ; the feducer of 
 his friend's wife ; the pander of his friend's 
 miftrefs, the peft of fociety, and the difgrace 
 of human nature 1 
 
 In order to exemplify this opinion, I fhall 
 at fome future period give you a minute de- 
 fcription of fuch Toad-eaters, with their pa- 
 trons and patroneffes, as I have already met 
 with in fociety; in order that the prudent 
 may avoid, the rational defpife, and the libe- 
 ral abhor them. I fhall alfo, in another pa- 
 per, give a portrait of a modern Bear-leader^ 
 perhaps better known to your iinfajliionable 
 readers by the name of a Travelling Tutor; 
 
 for, 
 
THE SYLPHID. 35 
 
 for, Mr. Editor, during my continental re- 
 fearches, I have frequently met with fuch cha- 
 rafters, and they have never failed to excite 
 the fcorn, or the indignation, of your oblerv- 
 ing 
 
 SYLPHID. 
 
 No. VII. 
 
 MR. EDITOR, 
 
 HAVING in my laft paper given you a 
 iketch of the domeflic appendage to high life, 
 commonly denominated a Toad-eater, I now 
 beg leave to make fome comments on that no 
 lefs fuperficial and degraded perfonage, gene- 
 rally diftinguilhed as a woman of Demi-ton. 
 The fort of charafter I wi(h to defcribe is to 
 be met with in every fcene of fecond-rate fo- 
 ciety, though fhe is rarely, if ever, found in 
 the circles of really mental or perfonal im- 
 portance. 
 
 A woman 
 
36 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 A woman of Demi-ton is no lefs remark- 
 able for her love of notoriety, than for the pro- 
 minent figure llie is ambitious of making, 
 wherever ihe meets the eye of public obfer- 
 vation. In a fmall circle of intimate friends, 
 fhe never fails to take the lead in converfation 
 — to inform the attentive group of her opi- 
 nions on matters of falhionable, as well as of 
 political import. " As / always fay," and 
 *' it is my opinion," are the prefatory fentences 
 to every point of her difcourfe ; while *' my 
 judgment is never queflioned," or, *' my 
 friends do me the honour to confult me on 
 mofl occafions," is the unvarying epilogue to 
 every rhapfody of folly and felf-importance. 
 In a carriage, a woman of Demi-ton fits 
 prominently confpicuous; at the Theatre 
 Ihe takes the centre feat of a front row, where 
 fhe annoys the aftors, and difturbs the audi- 
 ence by her vulgar and injudicious remarks ; 
 while, at frequent intervals, fhe looks wifl- 
 fully around for attention or for approbation. 
 In the choice of her drefs fhe is more gaudy 
 than tafleful, more profufe than elegant ; yet 
 
 it 
 
THE SYLPHID. 37 
 
 it Is always outre in its fafhion, and after date 
 in its propriety. 
 
 A woman of Demi-ton, being generally a 
 perfon of vulgar extra£lionj and no lefs vul- 
 gar mind, difdains to aflbciate with thofe claf- 
 fes of people, with whom flie was by nature 
 formed to pafs her days. The circles of no- 
 bility, the abodes of the enlightened, are clof- 
 ed againft fuch a companion ; fhe has there- 
 fore only to mix with men of rank, by be- 
 coming the dependant, and the flatterer of 
 degraded beauty. The houfe of a profefled 
 female gamefter, or the carriage of a ftigma- 
 tifed woman of quality, are the fcenes of her 
 fubordinate triumphs ; while the one, in re- 
 turn for her countenance and her panygeric, 
 daily replenithes her frippery wardrobe : and 
 the other plants a nobleman's carriage at her 
 door every morning, to give her a kind of tin- 
 fel fplendour, whenever fhe is inclined to re- 
 ceive her poor relations, or to be at home to 
 her original clafs of intimate alTociates. 
 
 A woman of Demi-ton is loud and incef- 
 fant in her converfation. She arrefls the 
 flrongefl tide of eloquence by the loquacity 
 
 of 
 
38 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 of her tongue, and the impofing efFiontery of 
 her features. She ailefts an almofl univerfal 
 knowledge. She is a critic by habit, though 
 her erudition fwinis, Hke a gaudy weed, on 
 the rou<;h ftream of an unquiet fancy. She 
 reads the publications of the day, merely to 
 have an opportunity to cenfure ; and fhe 
 keeps a common-place book, as an inexhauf- 
 tible fund for her daily converfation. Her 
 habitation is like herfelf, an exhibition of ufe- 
 lefs and taftelefs frippery ; and her drawing- 
 room is drefled, like a Parifian boutique de 
 bijoux i with the refufe of au£\ion-rooms, the 
 revvards of flattery, and the trumpery of old- 
 fafhioned caprices ; while her table is fcantily 
 provided, and her parfimony extends even to 
 the privation of comfort, neatnefs, and deli- 
 cacy. 
 
 A woman of Demi-ton is always treated to 
 public places; llie is particularly fond of at- 
 tending thofe whom fhe makes her dupes to 
 their morning Ihop rambles, where fhe in- 
 flru61s them in purchafing bargains, at the 
 fame moment that flie fallens (with Lynx- 
 like penetration j on fuch articles of drefs as 
 
 file 
 
THE SYLPHID. SQ 
 
 ihe means to accept from her credulous com- 
 panion. She vilits perpetually ; but at home, 
 exceptins^ during the forenoon, fhe is gene- 
 rally invifible. On her chimney are files of 
 viliting-cards, with the names of perfons to 
 whom Ihe is totally unknown, picked up in 
 lier morning perambulations, or ingenioufly 
 written by hcrfelf, to give her a kind of do- 
 meftic confequence. At a Concert, or a Sub- 
 fcription Ball, fhe is the leading charader ; 
 her grotefque finery excites notice ; her loud- 
 toned voice arrefls attention ; and a fort of 
 dumb aftonifliment, verging on contempt, is 
 by her mifraken for the very rapture of adu- 
 lation. 
 
 At a Watering-place fhe refides in an ob- 
 fcure lodging; but at a Circulating Library, or 
 a Raffle fhop, fhe is the very foul of notoriety. 
 She there makes her farcaflic comments with- 
 oulfenfc^ but fo replete with founds that her 
 hearers wonder while they avoid her. If a 
 prize of chance be gained, flie admires, gazes, 
 lighs, wifhes it had been hers, and fometimes, 
 by her inuendoes, really makes it fb. She 
 never fails to attend the public Balls j but al- 
 ways 
 
 / 
 
40 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 ways finds an excisfe to depart, before the 
 Mafter of the Ceremonies receives the emo- 
 luncient of his labours: and, to complete the 
 journey of deceptive importance, fhe returns 
 to the metropolis in a ftage-coach, to tell all 
 her acquaintances how fplendidly flie has 
 pafled the fummer. 
 
 I (hall conclude my paper, with this brief 
 admonition ; let the children of genius or of 
 SORROW, the nobly minded, the finely feeling, 
 and the liberally ingenuous, traverfe ail the 
 paths through which hope may lead to con- 
 folation ; but never let fuch beings expert 
 kindnefs, friendfhip, fympathy, or philanthro- 
 py, from a woman oi Demi-ton. 
 
 Such is the advice of the watchful and in- 
 dignant 
 
 SYLPHID. 
 
 No. 
 
THE SYLPHID. 41 
 
 No. VIIL 
 
 MR. EDITOR, 
 
 I PROMISED, in a former paper, that I would 
 give you a Iketch of a modern Bear-Leader i 
 a perfonage generally known, in the circles 
 of the haut ton^ as a travelling preceptor. It 
 has been with no Icfs allonilhment than in- 
 dignation, that I have contemplated a variety 
 of thefe chara6lers, during my aerial flight over 
 the Continent; and you will probably be no 
 lefs amazed than I was, when I inform you 
 that I have frequently encountered them in 
 the very loweil fcenes of the moll profligate 
 debafement. 
 
 Cuflom, that omnipotent ruler of bufy life, 
 has long ordained that our younger male 
 branches of Nobility fhould travel, to explore 
 the manners, and imbibe the vices of foreign 
 climes, before they are initiated in thofe of 
 their native country. For this purpofe the 
 juvenile Peer, or the dignified Commoner, is 
 emancipated from the Gothic walls of Eton 
 
 College, 
 
4^ THE SYLPH ID. 
 
 College, or the muftv chambers of an univer- 
 fity, to fly, on the wings of expc6tant diffipa- 
 tion, over the rich vales and luxuriant moun- 
 tains of France and Italy. But as the hope of 
 the family is too young to purfue his journey 
 without a monitor, a man of flender erudition, 
 invincible effrontery, and pliant morals, is 
 fele£led as the Mentor and the appendage of 
 his peregrinations. 
 
 The flrft object of fuch a dependant is felf- 
 intereft. How is he to make himfelf ufeful 
 to his young pupil ; to enhance his claims on 
 his protection ; to fecure his friendfliip ; and 
 to increafe his fortune ? By the art ofplcafng ! 
 — that art (o zealoufly taught by Chefter- 
 field, and fo neceflary to be praflifed in all the 
 paths of polifhed fociety. 
 
 Behold the Bear-leader and his pupil 
 commencing their journey of improvement; 
 examine the main-fpring of all their purfuits, 
 and you will fee the word Plcafure engraved 
 upon it in indelible characters. At Paris the 
 Boy 'traveller is a conftant attendant at the 
 Spe^acles, where the fedu£tlve graces of 
 French AdrefTes and French Courtefans oc- 
 cupy 
 
THE SYLPHID. 43 
 
 ciipy his thoughts, and engrofs his attentions. 
 The Bcar-hadcr knows all the perfonages o-f 
 the gay world, having before travelled in a 
 llniilar capacity. The pupil is, therefore, in- 
 troduced at the petit foicpe of an Adeline, a 
 IS' Ange, or a Carllne ; and time fiies rapidly 
 on the pinions of diffipation I 
 
 From this epocha the young traveller af- 
 fumes a new afpeft, and purfues his routs 
 towards the clime of refined iniquity, in the 
 character of the Boy -Liber tine. Italy ! di- 
 vine, voluptuous Italy ! now opens to his 
 viev/, replete with vices, abounding with 
 temptations, contaminated by example, and 
 fanclioned bv paft ages. There he revels in 
 luxury ; learns every thing, excepting the 
 language of the country; fees all things, ex- 
 cepting its antiquities ; knows all perfons, ex- 
 cepting the literati \ vifits all places, except- 
 ing the public libraries and galleries ; and 
 brings home, as fpecimens of his tafte and 
 difcrimination, a few mutilated bufts, purchaf- 
 ed at an enormous price, the produdions of 
 modern ingenuity; a colleftion of copper 
 medals, artfully rendered inexplicable by the 
 
 ruft 
 
44 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 ruft and verdigrife of a well-contiived im- 
 poflure ; an Italian Opera girl ; a broken 
 conllitution ; and, in order to amaze the cir- 
 cles of expe£lant fplendour, the mofl brilliant 
 afTortment of the laft Parifian fafliions ! 
 
 At the end of a few years the young tra- 
 veller returns, and prefents himfelf to the ex- 
 pedlant eyes of his illuftrious family; a flia- 
 dowy epitome of every flimfy acquirement ; 
 a vf^xMng memento of exalted depravity. What 
 are the advantages of his tourP It is true 
 that we have feen fomey^w inftances, where 
 the pupil of /laut ton has learned the art of 
 pleafing] but he has alfo acquired the fubtle- 
 ties of feduSfion. He does not find, in Bri- 
 tain, all thofe vitiated refources, which France 
 and Italy- prefented in a mixed fociety of the 
 fexes; therefore, as a fubftitute, he flies to 
 the gaming-table, or to a fafhionable club, 
 where he is either robbed by fharpers, or 
 made the pliant appendage of a political party. 
 He fupports a foreign mufician, becaufe it is 
 fafhionable to court notoriety ; he employs 
 foreign domeftics, while thofe of his own 
 country are ftarving j he patronifes horfe-rac« 
 
 ing, 
 
THE SYLPHID. 45 
 
 ing, while GENIUS expires unprote£led ; and 
 he fquanders his patrimony among the igno- 
 rant and debafed, merely becaufe they cannot 
 fathom the depth of his knowledge; though 
 with falfome panegyric, or lilent pulillanimity, 
 they can fan6lion indifcretions. 
 
 ^'ot long fince, being in company with 
 fuch perfonages as are here defcrihed, a cir- 
 cumiiance gave rife to the following im- 
 promptu : 
 
 My Lord, at a dinner, was lying and fwcaring, 
 
 Strange deeds, in his travels of folly, declaring j 
 
 His Tutor, aftonifh'd, with uplifted eyes. 
 
 To the circle proclaims the farrago of lies ! 
 
 Yet no word did he utter, for filence he knew 
 
 Was the fureft precaution the Sage could purfue. 
 
 But a friend of another inquired, " Can it be, 
 
 *' That a Tutor, with patience, fuch folly Ihould fee ? 
 
 ** Indeed, what to make of it, fcarcely I know, 
 
 ** Is ifnafral ?" The anfwer laconic was, " No ! 
 
 ** 'Tis reverfing the order of Nature , I fwear, 
 
 *' For the JBear-LEAUER's muzzled, inflead of the bear.'* 
 
 And now, Mr. Editor, accept the zealous 
 good wifhes of your faithful and devoted 
 
 SYLPHID. 
 
 No. 
 
46 
 
 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 No. IX. * 
 
 WINGING my way through the regions 
 of infinite fpace, I late obferved thee flitting 
 acrofs the five zones that ennbrace the fphe- 
 roidical form of the earth, while, as it turned 
 eaflward on its axis, the various nations of its 
 furface rofe in quick fucceflion to your view. 
 Again I faw thee feated on a horn of the filver 
 moon, contemplating in her varying difk the 
 ever changeful face of Fafhion, and with judg- 
 ment nice difcerning the glare of eccentric 
 folly from the mild radiance of pure and deli- 
 cate taile. Your downward flight from thence, 
 invifible to every eye but mine, I flridly 
 marked, till, fafe arrived on England's fea- 
 girt fhore, I faw thee enter Augufla's fplendid 
 habitations. — Beauty thy particular care, her 
 temple foon thou foughtefl, when alighting 
 
 * This paper appeared in the fame newfpaper, and though 
 anonymous, there is every reafou to believe that it is the 
 produflion of a gentleman well known in the circles of lite- 
 rature 
 
 on 
 
 J 
 
THE SYLPHID, 47 
 
 on 's toilette, thou didft mlilake it 
 
 for the Ihrine of Venus, and in a Britifh fair 
 acknowledged the grace, the charms, the hea- 
 venly panoply, that render the fweetly-fmiling 
 Gcddefs irrefiftible. Become her friend, the 
 guardian-friend of innocence and beauty in 
 this favourite ifle, the fcrvices you have ren- 
 dered have been by me moil faithfully re- 
 ported through the world. Here the falfe, 
 the groveling, naufcous Toad-eater, fmarting 
 beneath thy fatire, already feels his infiu<^nce 
 in decay : the babbling ih'mg oi Demi-ton is 
 bullied in lilence; and even the dauntlefs 
 front of the un\QiiQvt(\. Bear- leader^ half-blufh- 
 ing, owns the juflice of your cenfure. Thefe 
 deeds, well executed, deierve my higheft 
 praife ; but know, my charming Sviphid, that 
 the green-eyed Gnome, whom mortals Envy- 
 call, and gods, Rodonte, this day preferred 
 her prayer, and thus petitioned to fupply thy 
 place : 
 
 *' O Fame omnipotent I what boots thy 
 favoured Sylphid's invifibility, and whence 
 her preference tome, who, wherever beauty, 
 virtue, honour, merit, glory exift, am never 
 
 abfent ? 
 
48 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 abfent ? who can afTume each ihape that fults 
 my purpofe ; clothe the murderous intent 
 with a fmile, hide dellrudlion in a dimple, and 
 diftil the deadly poifon of my blackening gall 
 in honeyed words. But mark my works, and 
 let them fpeak for me. On England's fame, 
 her laws and liberties, I fixed the longing eye 
 of France, and thence impelled her down the 
 dreadful fleep of Revolution, 'Twas I who 
 turned her front to Aiia's golden ftores. Hence 
 fell My fore, and with it the brave, perfidious 
 Tippoo. Hence Egypt boafls its Nile, Hill 
 more prolific from human gore, and Europe 
 her enfanguined plains. The valiant chief- 
 tain, the tempered ileel, the levelled tube, 
 the neighing fteed, the warrior well appointed, 
 are of no avail in battle when I contend againft 
 them. The Imperial eagle's eye I dazzled 
 with Ruffian glory, and fent Suwarrow back 
 from Italy's luxurious clime to his native re- 
 gions of eternal fnow. The Royal Frederick 
 too, with dread of Auflrian aggrandizement, I 
 iixed infirm neutrality, immoveable by earlhly 
 power or influence. Nor lefs my interefl: in 
 domeflic life. When late the orient fun 
 
 gilded 
 
THE SYLPHID. 4^ 
 
 gilded the fumniit of Bellevoir's princely man- 
 fion, ulhering in the day that gave its noble 
 owner to the world ; vvhenoneafy hinge the 
 door flew open to receive each welcome vili- 
 tor ; my impious tongue did dare to cenfure 
 his generous hofpitality as thoughtlefs difiipa- 
 tion, and the lovely hollefs, whofe prelence 
 graced the feilive board, as the patronefs of 
 folly. Tis true I failed, but in fuch attempt 
 'twas glorious even to fall, and now I cite it 
 in proof of my undaunted fpirit. But for this 
 one defeat 1 can lav claim to victories un- 
 numbered. I mix in every circle, and in eve- 
 ry circle find an inftrument to my will ; but 
 above ail do I prefer the antiquated maid and 
 unlettered worldling. Who then like me can 
 tell why beauty pure as Alpine Inow doth 
 often fade beneath the impoifoned breath of 
 calumny ; or v/hy modeft merit Ihivers in the 
 fhade, while blufteiing ignorance battens in 
 the fun?" 
 
 Full well I know thcfe boafled powers of 
 the green-eyed Gnome ; but, my favourite 
 Sylphid, your gentle nature, your polilhed 
 language, and ingenuous truth, pleafe me 
 
 VOL. III. E more 
 
50 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 more than all her cunning, energy, and ta- 
 lent for perveifion, Falfehood has no charms 
 for Fame. Even Eurus, my moft beloved 
 meffenger of all the winds of Heaven, and 
 whom I moft employed, is now fufpended in 
 my fervice. He dared to tell me, that the 
 Chief who fways the fceptre of the fainted 
 Louis, a wretched wanderer was through Sy- 
 ria's burning fands; and hence I lavifhed on 
 one fingle Knight the ftore, to which one hun- 
 dred Captains in the Britilh fleet could boafl 
 as fair a title. But from you, my Sylphid, I 
 cxpedl nought but truth, in chafte and fimple 
 ornament. Proceed, then, to execute thy 
 miffion, undifmayed by envy. 1 have placed 
 thee in my brilliant car of fancy, given thee 
 judgment to guide the reins with tafte, and 
 thought to whirl it over the furface of the 
 earth. On, then, charming Sylphid, and in 
 every corner of the world the clangor of my 
 brazen trumpet ihall falute thee. 
 
 TAME. 
 
 No. 
 
THE SYLPHID. 51 
 
 No. X. 
 
 DOES FAME, with the pen of infpiration, 
 in the language of claffical refinement, conde- 
 fcend to record the labours of the Sylphid? 
 FAME* ! who founds her trumpet to the im- 
 mortality of Genius, Virtue, Valour, and Pa- 
 triotifm ! taking from the fcytlje of Time its 
 defolating power, and raifing a pillar, dedi- 
 cated to Truth, which ihall never perifh — Yes, 
 Mr. Editor, fame has crowned your Sylphid 
 with a wreath more deferable than either 
 wealth or power; more gratifying, more en- 
 viable, than all the glittering fplendours of a 
 diadem ! 
 
 So honoured, fo diftinguifned, 1 will purfue 
 my flight. Su-flained by Hope, I will, in de- 
 fiance of Envy, explore the moft intricate 
 mazes of this fublunary world; travcrfe the 
 bland regions of the fouthern hemifphere ; 
 brave the wild tumults of the boifierous north; 
 flit in the eallern radiance of the fun's emcrg- 
 
 * Vide the laft paper. 
 
 ing 
 
5,2 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 ing orbit; and burnilTi my filmy wings In the 
 golden fplendours of the day-clofing weft. 
 
 But, alas ! human intellect cannot teem 
 "with an idea of the perils I encounter in my 
 journey of obfervation. A phalanx of aflail- 
 ants hourly purfue mcl Falfehood^ with its 
 brazen front, endeavours to intimidate me. 
 Jcaloufy expands her broad, green eyes, to 
 faften, like the bafiiilk, on the fmalleft fpeck 
 for reprehcnflon. Folly rings her dilcordant 
 bells, to bewilder and annoy me. Hypocrjyy 
 with the fmlling mafk o{ Pleafurc, endeavours 
 to draw me from the paths of Truth ; and re- 
 creant Revenge conceals, beneath a cloak of 
 fplendour, the double-edged keen weapon of 
 deftruflion. Yet do I mock the combination; 
 Fame has promifed to confecrate my toil ; 
 Famc^ which looks with pity on the bafe, as 
 they float, down the dark tide of oblivion, 
 while Time tranfcrlbes the labours of un- 
 daunted Truths upon the page of immortality. 
 
 Yet, there are fcenes where the bufy Fates 
 are weaving their web of deftiny ; while a fo- 
 Icmn Jilence feems to prognofticate events of 
 marvellous importance, a povvcr which is in- 
 
 definabJe, 
 
THE SYLPHID. 53 
 
 definable, forbids even the Sylphid to di- 
 vulge the fecrets of this mvflic circle. Un- 
 happv mortals ! how different are your fcenes, 
 your occupations, from thofe of the etherial 
 regions! We fport in the fun's warmeft luftre; 
 glide down the vertical and burning beam ; 
 approach the zenith of undefcribable radiance; 
 and, fearlefs, fliake our tranfparent wings, 
 even in centre of the planetary fyftem. We 
 ikim acrofs the immeafurable waftc of air> 
 unappalied by the thunder's roar, or the 
 blue Ihaft of the unfettered lightning. We 
 feel no terrors, amidft the glooms of night ; 
 whether we dart like meteors along the milky 
 way, or meafure the frozen climes where 
 rifes the clear radiance of the brilliant Ar(5\us. 
 We find no enemies among the myriads of 
 our aerial fpecies i the fealons provide for our 
 every widi ; we imbibe the auftral breezes ; 
 fport on the glowing bofom of Favonius, or 
 bathe in the foft dews that Heaven fheds, to 
 nouriih even the fmalleil:, meaneil flowrets I 
 ^Vhen the ftrong giant, Boreas, leads on the 
 howling Fquinox, we hover round the terref- 
 trial fphere. Wc pay neither flattery nor 
 
 gold 
 
54 THE SYLPHI]>. 
 
 gold for the eommon gifts of nature ; neither 
 do we fhrink beneath the anguifh of oppref- 
 fion. We feel not the acute pang of beholding 
 mifchievous Gnomes, and pernicious fprites, 
 contaminating our paths ; or, raifed above the 
 Jiner Spirits^ revelhng in the plenitude of un- 
 dirturbed felicity. 
 
 I Ihall clofe this paper with a brief account 
 of my lafl twelve hours' obfervations. Know, 
 that I lofl: my way, either in the mills of 
 morning, or the condenfe atmofphere of the 
 metropolis ; and, it fo happened, that I found 
 myfelfon the icicled parapet ofanobfcure 
 dwelling in the vicinity of Fleet-ftreet. A 
 cafement window, with a remnant of a coarfe 
 checked curtain, prcfented its lliatlered panes ; 
 and, as I had never before vilited an apartment 
 of this defcription, I did not hefitate to enter. 
 
 The inhabitant of this attic folitude was a 
 poet; perhaps a Savage, or a Chatterton f 
 a ragged furtout, a pair of old flippers, ftock- 
 ings ungartered, Jocks uncombed, a beard 
 vmfhaved, and a countenance forlorn, with 
 eyes fixed on vacancy, befpoke the beings oa 
 whom nature had fet the flamp of mental no-' 
 
 bilityi ; 
 
THE SYLPHID. 5o 
 
 htl'ity ; but whom the vulgar rich, the oflenta- 
 tious ignorant, liacl ncgle^ed and delerted. I 
 examined the recording Spirit^ Truth ; and I 
 found that this fon of Genius poflefled an in- 
 dependent mind ! that he had difdained to 
 flatter the unworthy, or to countenance the 
 vicious; that he had addrelTed inquiries to 
 peculators, written admonitions to profligates, 
 panegyrics on untitled talents, and ftridures 
 on political errors: I no longer wondered at 
 the miferies of his fituation; but mark the 
 power, the refijllefs power of Adverfity I 
 
 After many evident emotions, many pain- 
 ful, even agonifing conflivf\s, I obferved this 
 Man of Mind unfulding a folio fheet of foolf- 
 cap, and in an audible, though tremulous 
 voice beginning to read a rhapfody of pane- 
 gyric I Often did he vent the feelings of his 
 foul, in deep-drawn fighs, while he preffed 
 bis hand upon his eyes to conceal the tears 
 which regret and poverty extra£led from his 
 full heart I The paper -which he held con- 
 tained a Dedication — to whom ? to a pride- 
 pampered, lofty, and illiterate Patron I a man, 
 as far beneath liim, in the fcale of intelle(El, as 
 
 he 
 
56 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 he was ahve him on the funny altitudes of 
 Fortune ! 
 
 The manufcrlpt was difpatched by a little 
 boy, who, in an hour, returned to fay that 
 ** t/ie Lord would be glad to fee the Author that 
 -day to dinner." The " Poet's eye, in a fine 
 frenzy rolling," feemed, indeed, to dart 
 " from Earth to Heaven!''* But how to appear 
 at the table of his patron, was now the fub- 
 je6l of profound cogitation. The Man of 
 Mind h^d recourfe to the laft expedient — his' 
 ^edf his only refting place, was fpeedily dif- 
 pofed of, and his rufly '* fuit o^ folemn black"' 
 was emancipated from the fhelves of a tole- 
 rifed extortioner, to equip him for a vifit to 
 the Man of Wealth, and for a new feries of 
 mental degradation. 
 
 With a look of deep deje£lion, with a figh 
 of that refignation, which was the only fubfti- 
 tute for defpair, this vanquiOied fpirit defcend- 
 ed from his eagle's nefl: ; but, alas ! at that 
 moment the rain began to fall in torrents 1 
 Tiie Lord d\nti\ at feven o'clock ; it was then 
 halfpaft fix; one MitsLry /liiling flill gleamed 
 in the pocket of the Son of Genius ; a coach 
 
 was 
 
THE SYLPHID. 57 
 
 was called ; and he proceeded, heart-laden, 
 to the abode of his new Patron. I followed. 
 
 On knocking at the gate, the Porter, with 
 a voice more appalling than the roar of Cer- 
 berus, inforrred the unexpe£led vifitor that 
 his Lord had, two hours before, '* left town, 
 to enjoy the feftivities of the feafon, at his 
 country palace.'* 
 
 1 Ihall make no comment, Mr. Editor ; but 
 while my fpangle eyes gliften through tears 
 of pity and indignation, i fhall only exclaim, 
 
 Such is the fate of Genius ! ! ! 
 
 But Fame (hall guard the memory of the 
 Man of Mind, when the Man cf Wealth and 
 titles is forgotten ; — and the deed fhall be re- 
 corded on the page of time, by your faithful 
 and invilible 
 
 SYLPHID. 
 
 No. 
 
tS THE SYLPHII>. 
 
 No. XT. 
 
 MR. EDITOR, 
 
 SINCE I laft addielTed you, I have endea- 
 voured to diliipate the melancholy impreitioa 
 made upon my mind by my vifit to tlie dif- 
 appointed Poet; and, as folly is the mod 
 powerful antidote to reHeflion, I refolved, 
 without delay,- to explore the intricacies of a 
 fafliionable converfazionc. 
 
 Such an affemblage, never before did thefe 
 eyes contemplate. At firft I thought that I 
 was furrounded by Nymphs of the Court of 
 Comus, and Grooms, juil efcaped from the 
 occupations of the ftabie. The night was as 
 cold as though we had been condemned to 
 breathe the frozen gales of Siberia ; yet, I 
 faw naked bofoms, arms, and flioulders, as 
 unequivocally difplayedas though I had been 
 in the haram of an Eailern Defpot. 
 
 The apartments were as unfeafonahly deco- 
 rated as the beauties who adorned Lhem. Fef- 
 
 toons 
 
THE SYLPHID. ^Qt 
 
 toons of rofes feemed to wither In the fumes 
 '^of fulphur, ifluing from a confined and health- 
 deflroying ftove ; while numberlefs waxen- 
 tapers filed an artificial liglit on a ceiling of 
 i;Iue/ky, from which a brilliant lulbe was, like 
 the tomb of Mahomet, fufpended ! 
 
 1 foon difcovered, that the fubjeft of gene- 
 ral converfation was Peace ! and various were 
 the fenfations of various minds on this moft 
 rnterefting epocha. Lady Vermeil, while flie 
 contemplated her features in a magnificent 
 mirror, declared, that flie was heartily weary 
 of the war — becuufe, file found " the price of 
 French Uok'ing-glajfes enormoufly augment- 
 ed !" The lovely Duchefs of Helicon, with 
 all her native fenfibility, fighed her regrets 
 that " fo many brave fellows had perillied !" 
 I caught a tear that fell from her eye, as llie 
 fpoke, and,- placing it on ray brow, confidered 
 it as a gem that might have embellifhed a 
 diadem ! — It was the tear of pky, fpontane- 
 CHiily fpringing from an heart that vi-ce and 
 folly never could contaminate. 
 
 I bluflied when. I beheld her in a circle fo- 
 unworthy of her fan^^iQit and hei fociety. 
 
6g the sylphid. 
 
 Mrs. Evergreen now darted forward, and 
 with rapture vowed, that fhe would expend a 
 whole vear's pin-money in French perfumes the 
 moment that Peace ihould be concluded. — 
 *' Ridiculous !" interrupted I.adv Lombard — 
 *' who ever expects fragrance from an Ever- 
 green P'* Lord Languiih, ftarting from a reve- 
 rie, thanked Heaven ! that he fhould, when 
 hoftihties fubhded, have the power to " ef- 
 cape from the Got/is and Fandals, who had 
 prefumed to fcofFat his eccentricities.''^ While 
 an high varnilhed Marchionefs, with an oath 
 that would have been appropriate in the 
 mouth of a dragoon, declared, that llie fhould 
 foon ride a match on the Plains de Sahlon^ 
 that would aflonifh even the foul of Bona- 
 parte ! 
 
 A venerable Spinjhr, with rigid features, 
 and phrafe fententious, exprelTed her terrors 
 at the idea of *' a communication with fuch a 
 band of defperadoes ! 1 have heard," faid 
 Ihe, *' of their outrages towards the tender 
 fex ! I have been told, that neither jk^wM nor 
 beauty can efcape the ruffian grafp of lawlefs 
 fenfuality ! Thus have I not caule to fear } 
 
 where, 
 
THE SYLPHID. 6l 
 
 where, where is Innocence to fly for fafety ?" 
 A loud laugh filenced this timid veilal , and a 
 lively belle, of eighteen, proclaimed her turn 
 to fpeak. 
 
 AVith a fmile which difplayed the dimples 
 of Venus! with a blufli that would have em- 
 bellifhcd the cheek 'of //t/y^, Hie avowed her^ 
 felf devoid of every apprehenjion ; and declared, 
 that though England boafted of many good- 
 natured Hujhands, a romantic Lover was only 
 to be found in France ! This declaration 
 a6led like an eleftric fhock upon the nerves 
 of a venerable Nobleman ; but as ** deprejfus 
 extollor''' is always the maxim of exalted minds, 
 he foon recovered his fortitude ; and hum- 
 ming an Opera air, replaced the patch upon 
 his upper lip, with the grace of an Adonis. 
 
 I now looked round, with an inquifitive eve, 
 in hopes that I Ihould difcover, among the 
 exalted group, fome of thofe enlightened fe- 
 males for which this country is fo jullly cele- 
 brated : but alas! not one was to be feen ! 
 No Inchbald delighted with the unafFe£led 
 graces of converfation ; no CowLtv charmed 
 with the lively fallies of that wit, which has 
 
 fo 
 
62 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 fo often embellifhcd the dramatic fcene : nd 
 fweetly plaintive S.mith, no tuneful Seward 
 there difFufed the harmony of magic numbers ! 
 No SiDDONs awed with dignity of manners 
 originating in dignity of foul ! No Jordan 
 animated with the falcinating unfophiflicated 
 fmiles of all attractive nature 1 — the bufinefs of 
 the fcene, I there contemplated, was divided 
 into three claffes — gaming, fcandal, and in- 
 trigue ! while the vapid nonfenfe of ufelefs 
 converfation (lefs pernicious in its cfFeftsthan 
 either of the preceding vices) precluded 
 women of fuperior inlelleftual powers from 
 any attention in this motly rendezvous of ig- 
 norance and folly. 
 
 I notwithftanding obferved a Man of Ge- 
 nius promife tranflations of French Plays for 
 the Knglilh Stage, when a peace Ihould be 
 concluded. Give us tranjlatlonsy re-echoed 
 on every fide. The word awoke an unwieldy 
 Churchman, who, llarting from his downy fofa, 
 emphatically exclaimed, " No Popery T^ while 
 a blooming girl of fifteen profefled her *' ido^ 
 latry of French enthufiafm ;" and fervently 
 hoped '* to leain, from Buonaparte, the cuf- 
 
 tom|, 
 
THE SYLPKTD. 6J 
 
 toms^ and the devotion of — a TurkiJ/i Sera^ 
 
 As the clock ftruck two^ the motley groupe 
 defcended to the fupper-room ; and I retired, 
 Mr. Editor, to give you this hafty report, of 
 your wondering 
 
 SYLPHID. 
 
 No. XIL 
 
 YOU will be furprifed, Mr. Editor, when I 
 tell you that, in this overgrown metropolis, 
 ^your indefatigable Sylphid fhould have been 
 at a lofs for a diverfity of information. But 
 the truth originates in the unvaried rounds of 
 diffipated purfuits, which pervade the abodes 
 of all ranksof people, from the drawing room 
 o^ His Grace, to the fmoaking-room of honeft 
 John Bull. Life, or what the exifting race 
 denominate the zvav to live, whether fans 
 Jouci or fans fx fous, is now the whole end 
 and aim of bufy mortals 1 But, ^ truce to 
 jnoraiifing. 
 
 On 
 
04 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 On the Eighteenth of January \ employed 
 all my aftive faculties, to make amends for 
 the lof? of time during the laft fortnight. O ! 
 fuch a bufv day ! fuch fcenes ! fuch drefTing, 
 driving, limpering, and fmihng, never before 
 did Sfiphid eyes behold. And, I alTure you, 
 Mr. Editor, that the ynale coquets of the day 
 were as zealous for conqueft, as indefatigable 
 in the labours of the toilette^ as the moft lovely 
 and diftinguilhed of our courtly beauties. 
 
 Full on the wing in purfuit of novelty, I 
 entered the drefling-room window of a Right 
 Honourable Petit Maitre ! The fafh was left 
 half open to give frefhnefs to his complexion, 
 while he cautioufly tinged the paleneis of his 
 features with tlie Egyptian bronze, now fo 
 univerfally in fnlhion. This celebrated fluid 
 gives a manly grace to the languid and co- 
 lourlefs iniipidity which modern life beftows 
 on the countenance of modern revellers ; who 
 wafte their days on beds of down, and con- 
 fume their nights in the vortex of a gaming- 
 table. 
 
 I obferved my hero of the morning, during 
 the iapfe of four hours, as completely raeta- 
 
 morphofed 
 
THE SYLPHID. 65 
 
 morphofed as though he had pafled the reno- 
 vating fumes of Medea's Kettle ; or, to ufe 
 a more familiar fimile, he became, from the 
 moft inanimate and fhapelefs grub, a hutterjiy 
 of the very fiiil fplendour, His form which 
 was by nature lank and emaciated, aflumed 
 an Herculean appearance ; his pale forehead 
 and heavy eyes, were, by a kind of magi- 
 cal procefs, fo re-animated, that they would 
 have been charaderiflic of " the front of Jovt 
 himfelf !'' Then, Mr. Editor, fuch powerful 
 odours, fuch a mixture of Arabian dews, fuch 
 Perlian eirences, fuch aromatic gales, fcented 
 the apartment, that I, who had been accuf- 
 tomed to the broad etherial atmofphere, was 
 almoft fufFocated by their fvveetnefs. 
 
 At three o'clock the chariot, which was to 
 convey the courtly NarcifJ'us to the fcene of 
 triumph, arrived at the door. Jt was hung 
 low on the fprings, that every ftreet-gazer 
 might have an opportunity of contemplating 
 its noble owner. Arrived at St. James's (my 
 little wings never refling while I continued to 
 puruiehim), I obferved him enter the draw- 
 ing-room. I there beheld a blaze of beauty I 
 
 VOL. in. F But, 
 
66 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 But, judge of my aflonifhment, when I ob- 
 ferved the Male Coquet as little ftruck by the 
 .attradions around him, as though he had been 
 an automaton. 8elf! Bewitching Self ! was 
 the excluiive obje^l of iiis idolatry ; and I 
 liftened to that voice which had, not an hour 
 befove, thundered anathemas againft a trem- 
 bling valet de chaynbre, now lifuing with all the 
 foft and dulcet effeminacy of rehned conver- 
 fation. 
 
 From the drawing-room he haltened home, 
 and in a few minutes completely underwent a 
 new metamorphofis. His hories were waiting, 
 and I now beheld him with a brown cropped 
 wig, a flriped flannel waiftcoat, and all thofe 
 equeftrian decorations that might have difput- 
 ed a rivalry with the lowell: groom in his 
 flable. His courtly bow was exchanged for a 
 nod of vulgar familiarity; his chapeau brdSy 
 for the fquare-elbowed attitude of a profefled 
 pugilift ; his thrice- powdered, thrice-eflenced 
 head, for a broad crowned hat, which would i 
 have become the brows of a beef-eater; and ! 
 his red-heeled pumps for a paii of fquare-toed 
 boots, which were well luited to the occupa- 
 tion 
 
THE SYLPHID. 67 
 
 tion of a French poflillion ! He now talked 
 in a jargon which feemed pecuHarJy adapted 
 to his appearance. He declared that Lady 
 Harriet was the *' neat thing;" that he was 
 '* up to the rig of old Dowager Dwindlecourt ; 
 that he found a drawing-room a /^ore^ the wo- 
 men all quizzes ; and the next time he was 
 humbugged \nio fuch an aft oi dupery^ he hoped 
 he fhould be voted zijlat in every foci«2ty of 
 the bon ton!^"* 
 
 After taking one turn in Hyde-park, he 
 haftencd to Bond-ftreet, where he lounged till 
 twilight ; from the cofFee-houfe, after a fhort 
 dinner, he repaired to the theatre ; there he 
 diilurbed the audience, bv rattling from box 
 to box, till chance conduced him to one 
 which was occupied by a fober citizen and 
 his two fair daughters. The right honourable 
 rambler amufed himfelf by making ludicrous 
 grimaces, as he fat behind the father, while, 
 with his feet on the bench, he annoyed the 
 females of the family. Unfortunately an ob- 
 ferver commented fomewhat fnarply on the 
 ill-manners of our young nobilitv : and the 
 comment being keenly retorted, the fcene was 
 
 rapidly 
 
68 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 rapidly changed tiom pantomine to tragedy ; 
 the hero of ihe day being (hortly after con- 
 veyed to his home, fmarting under the effe£ls 
 of that chaflifement which his folly had fo 
 jullly merited ! — I remain your trufty 
 
 SYLPHID. 
 
 No. XIII. 
 
 OF all the eccentric charaders that have 
 met my obfervation, there is none which has 
 fo completely difgufted me as the wou'd-be 
 MAN oB^ FASHION. Thcfc fclf- Created be- 
 ings are met with at all places of public en- 
 tertainment — in the promenades., and in the 
 ftreets, at the well end of the metropolis. 
 They are ealily recognized, both by the outer 
 form of their drefs, and the undaunted ef- 
 frontery of their features. Not fatisfied with 
 a fafhionable appearance, they aiFe£l a fingu- 
 Jarity, which at once characterizes both ig- 
 norance and vulgarity. 
 
 Being 
 
THE SYLPHID. 6g 
 
 Being a few evenings fince at Vauxhall, I 
 took my ftation near one of the trees which 
 faces the orcheftra. Beneath me, alone, and 
 in a penfive attitude, fat a peifun who had the 
 appearance of a country gentleman. Abroad- 
 brimmed low-crowned hat, a brown furtout, 
 and an old-fafliioned gold-headed cane, re- 
 minded me of the mofl finifhed of dramatic 
 chara^lers — as drawn by Cumberland, and 
 a£led by Kemble — the ddmiYshle Pemuddock / 
 Oppolite to this unoffending ruflic philofo- 
 pher fat four I?ucks of third rate fociety. They 
 obferved the man of thought, and without 
 attending to the common rules of propriety, 
 commenced their attack with all the artillery 
 of grimace — inuendo, nodding, winking, hem- 
 ming, coughing, and whirling ; fymptoms 
 which, in the jargon of modern refinement, 
 conftitute the polite art of quizzing. 
 
 Mr. Ruflicus, for fo I Ihall denominate the 
 hero of my adventure, endured the infolence 
 of folly for a long time with exemplary for- 
 titude, till one of the attacking phalanx, with 
 a bow of afFefted folemnity, enquired after his 
 health, and that of his fon and daughter, 'Squire 
 
 Richard 
 
70 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 Richard and MIfs Jenny ! The ftranger made 
 no reply, but waving his cane with a frown, 
 as a lignal for the coxcomb to depart, again 
 turned his eyes towards the paffing circle. 
 
 Unfuccefsful in his firft attack, young Fus- 
 Ti AN tried a fecond. " We are going to take 
 a flight fupper with fome burnt iiock," faid 
 he, " and as we are confoundedly iiipped 
 with the dullnefs of the company, we fhall 
 thank you to be of our party. You are mod 
 likely a lively feik)w, indeed your pleafant 
 looks befpeak you fuch, and we will take no 
 refufal. Our fupper is ordered at a guinea a 
 head, with champagne and claret. You fhall 
 not, you muft not refuleto make one." The 
 ftranger rofe to mingle with the crowd : the 
 four alTailants followed. 
 
 " Can you, Sir," continued the perfecuting 
 Fuftian, " can you refufe an only fon, juft re- 
 turned from ferving his country ! Can you for- 
 bear to own me r" 
 
 " Puppy, I never faw you before this night," 
 replied Mr. Ruflicus. 
 
 *' Unnatural parent !" continued young Fuf- 
 tian, " Look in my face, behold the features 
 
 of 
 
THE SYLPHID. 71 
 
 of my mother, feduced, and left by you to 
 perifli !*' 
 
 Thefe words, being uttered in atone fome- 
 what louder than a vvhifper, altrafted the ear 
 of a pafling fpeftator, who, wilh inquifitive 
 attention, joined the group. 
 
 " Remember the beautiful Eleonora !" faid 
 young Fullian ; *' the mother of your unhappy 
 fon." 
 
 '* D — n Eleonora 1" exclaimed the irritated 
 Rufticus. 
 
 " You are an unfeeling old favage !'' cried 
 the attending fpeclators. Rufticus Ihook his 
 cane, menacing his commentator, and the 
 group augmented to an cxtenfive circle. 
 
 The courage of Fustian now began to 
 fail, and he ftole from the throng with a figh, 
 lamenting that he *' could not chaflife a 
 parent." 
 
 *' Poor young man P' exclaimed a vener- 
 able citizen. " Sweet fellow !*' cried a pretty 
 milliner. Unhappy wretch !" fighed a female 
 philanthropift, while the honeft and indignant 
 Rufticus vociferated — *' Impudent fcoundrel !" 
 
 Before thefe words had been tranfcribed 
 
 on 
 
72 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 on the page of Difcord, by the Gnome, at- 
 tendant at all fuch fcenes, Fuflian returned, 
 and leading, " nothing loath," a lady of gal- 
 lant notoriety, once more conjured the afto- 
 nifhed Rufticus to receive the lovely and de- 
 ferted Elinor. The woman, tutored to her 
 tafk, nov^r hung around him, entreated him to 
 own her and her fon ; while the mifchievous 
 group whifpered her a rich reward, and the 
 exafperated multitude hooted their indigna- 
 tion. 
 
 At this momentous crifis an old half-pay 
 officer, who had obferved the progrefs of the 
 plot, and who was no llrangerto the quizzing 
 fyftem, or its confequences, flepped forward 
 as the fecond of the perfecuted Rufticus, and 
 in a few moments the lady was coniigned to 
 the protection of a peace officer, and the now 
 paffive leader of the affray feverely chaftifed 
 for his impertinence : while the tide of popu- 
 lar vengeance turned againil the cowardly im- 
 poftor, and the half-pay officer requefted per- 
 miffion to accompany honeil Rufticus, with 
 empty pockets, to his lodgings in the City : 
 thither I attended them. 
 
 On 
 
THE SYLPHID. 73 
 
 On the following morning I renewed my 
 viiit, and invifibly entering the apartment, I 
 found Mr. Rufticus bufily employed with an 
 eminent folicitor. Dire6\ing my eyes over 
 the parchment, which was lying before me, I 
 found that it was a will, bequeathing an eftate 
 of five thoufand pounds per annum to the 
 truly gallant half-pav fon of Mars ; thereby 
 difinheriting a nephew, who had been from 
 his infancy a ftranger to Rufticus, but whom 
 he had identified on the preceding night in 
 the perfon of young Fuf1:ian. 
 
 If this brief adventure fhould prove ufeful 
 to the rifing generation, and evince the dan- 
 ger which may be incurred by the art of 
 quizzing, the public w^ill not regret that it 
 occupied the attention of your faithful 
 
 SYLPHID. 
 
 No, 
 
74 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 No. XIV. 
 
 HEAVIlNS ! what ftrange fcenes of refined 
 deception am I doomed to contemplate, in my 
 journey of indefatigable obfervation ! — How 
 few beings do I encounter who are really 
 what \.hQ,yfeem ; who do not varnilh over their 
 a£lions with theglofs of fuperficial hypocrify, 
 or impofe upon the ingenuoufnefs of Nature, 
 by the moil invincible effrontery ! 
 
 I was led to thefe reflexions by the follow- 
 ing circumftance : — Being almoft petrified by 
 the intenfe cold, a few evenings lince, I avail- 
 ed myfelf of an opportunity that offered, and 
 invijibly entered the tea-room of one of thofe 
 females generally diflinguifhed for their ob- 
 trufive prominence in every fociety : I found 
 her feated amidil a fmall circle of fecond-rate 
 perfonages in a comfortable apartment; and, 
 by the moft impofing manners, commanding 
 the attention of her companions. Few fen- 
 tences had efcaped her lips, before 1 difcover- 
 
 cd 
 
THE SYLPHID. 75 
 
 ed that my new fubje^l of obfervation was 
 one of thofe overbearing and decided cenfors, 
 who examine without judgment, and condemn 
 without remorfe, merely for the pleafure of 
 maintaining a Angularity of opinion. She 
 talked loudly, and incelTantly, on various to- 
 pics ; but the immorality of the t'lmes^ and the 
 follies of her own fcx^ were evidently the moft 
 favourite themes of her acrimonious animad- 
 verfions. 
 
 Filled with the fuflaining^^z of felf-impor- 
 tance, Mrs Prominent, for fo I denominate 
 her, expatiated on vice with the ingenuity of 
 one who had long been initiated in all its va- 
 rv'ing myfteries. She uttered anathemas againft 
 thofe who had wandered from the paths of 
 virtue; and, with a kind of ludicrous folem- 
 nity, thanked Heaven that her *'name was 
 irreproachable !'.* 
 
 'ThQ fecond fubje£l of cominent was that of 
 modern female purfuits. She condemned the 
 art which women employed in the embel- 
 lifliment of their perfons, while the French 
 rouge on her cheek was deepened by the glow 
 of confcious Ihame ; and the humidity of 
 
 cdmpundlioa 
 
76 THE SYLPHID. 
 
 compun£lion gliftened through the falfe ring- 
 lets which fliaded a forehead overfpread with 
 the deadly whitenel's of pearl-powder. She 
 complained of the licentious latitude of female 
 drefs, while (he indecently difplayed a bofom 
 that would have difgufled a Hottentot ; and 
 extolled neatnefs as the moll admired of per- 
 feftions, while (he exhibited a perfon rendered 
 difgufling by dirt and frippery^ that would 
 have difgraced a Parifian inhabitant of the 
 Hue Saint llonore ! 
 
 Her/^ir^chapter of declamation turned upon 
 the literature of the day. Here^/rf. Prominent 
 alTumed a more than ordinary importance ! 
 She arrogantly ventured to examine, diftort, 
 difTeft, and condemn, even the mofl polifhed 
 compofitions. She raved in the mod: ungram- 
 matical jargon of provincial diale£l, againft the 
 language of modern writers ; cenfured with un- 
 blulhing effrontery the prefumption of incom- 
 petent critics ; with an acrimonious afFe6ta- 
 tion of wit, ridiculed the malevolence of fati- 
 rifts ; and, while Ihe perpetually quoted paf- 
 fages from a flimfy work, which fhe had made 
 up of fragments, colle^ed-aX all the book-ftalls 
 
 in 
 
THE SYLPHID. ^^ 
 
 in the metropolis, declared, that there was 
 not one female writer of the prefent aera who 
 had talents to compofe a book, completely 
 
 original. 
 
 Her fourth courfe of calumny was a falma- 
 gundi of no lefs lickening materials, than 
 thofe of the three preceding. She ridiculed 
 the obfcure birth, and early occupations, of 
 certain enlightened individuals ; this man 
 was" low born;" that woman *' of vulgar 
 extraction :" and, while every fourth word 
 fhe uttered was marked by either 2ifalfe ap- 
 plication, or a folfe pronunciation, fhe " boldly 
 affirmed,'' to ufe her favourite expreffion, that 
 no woman, who was not clajjtcally educated, 
 had a right to obtrude her opinions on the 
 public ! 
 
 Y{qv ffth rhapfody of reprehenfion was de- 
 dicated to what^^ denominated " the minor 
 follies'' She execrated the vanity of women, 
 and declared, thaty^^ had 'never felt its influ- 
 ence, though flie had often been mijlaken for 
 fome of the mofi celebrated beauties ! She 
 blamed the inlignificance of affedation, while 
 Ihe lamented that^^^ was a martyr to the de- 
 licacy 
 
7S THE SYLPHID. 
 
 licacy of her feelings ; extolled good-nature^ 
 while (he lamented that women were, in ge- 
 neral, fo depraved as to be unfit for fociety ; 
 abhorred the houfe-hold Zantippe, though fhe 
 menaced her trembling fervant with the moft 
 vehement refentment ; and praifed the meek- 
 nefs o^ connubial obedience, while llie glanced 
 at her aftonilhed carofpofo, with the virulence 
 of a virago I 
 
 This tranfient vilit induced me to explore 
 the page of Mrs. Prominent'' s hiilorv : and a 
 iiiler Sylph has informed me, that flie was a 
 woman of low extraction ; fuperficially edu- 
 cated ; and unexpedledly raifed from a flate 
 of fervile dependance to the enjoyments of 
 profperity ; that fhe had been, in her youth, 
 a living example of that frailty which fhe fo 
 unblufhingly condemned; but having out-lived 
 the memory of a wounded reputation, fhe had 
 wholly forgotten the fting which had infii£ted 
 It. I alfo learnt that fhe was the avowed flat- 
 terer of high-flown indifcretion ; the intimate 
 afl^^ciate oi fnug, but opulent depravity ; that 
 fhe could wink at fcenes which violated do- 
 ^mejiic propriety ; that fhe fealled at the plen- 
 teous 
 
THE SYLPHID. 79 
 
 teous tables of fpecioiis, deceptive characters, 
 though fhe reviled the finking daughters of 
 poverty, whom credulity has fubjugated to the 
 artifices of fed u£lion ; or necejjity propelled to 
 the mifery of perfonal degradation. 
 
 In Ihort, Mr. Editor, I find that fuch cha- 
 rafters are to be met with in almoft every 
 quarter of the metropolis ; that they are every 
 thing, but vjhat they appear to be^ and only 
 really known to your indigent 
 
 SYLPHID. 
 
 By way of poflfcript, Mr. Editor, I beg 
 leave to offer thefe ihort admonitory Stanzas 
 to every Mrs. Pkominent of the prefent 
 day. 
 
 ERE ye condemn, let Conscience be your guide. 
 Think not Deception will the \\i\c beguile ; 
 
 'Tis eafy, finking Virtue to deride. 
 But Innocence delights not in the toil. 
 
 By 
 
80 THE SYLPHIT). 
 
 By over-adled zeal in checking lin. 
 
 You a6t the bear, who wou'd the bee-hive ftorm; 
 Who, roufmg all the bufy tribes within, 
 
 'W?iS Jiung fo torture by the angry fwarm. 
 
 Examine well your lives, and if no ftain 
 
 Your reputation fully, take the field ; 
 The plea of morals fhall the fight maintain, 
 
 And fpotlefs virtue be the vidlor's fliield. 
 But if, perchance, flern-TRUTH fhou'd v/hifper low, 
 
 Remember paji events^ or prefent guile ; 
 Indignant reason fhall a fcourge beftow, 
 
 And ^oa^-^^i/ WONDER mock ye with difmile. 
 
JASPER. 
 
 FRAGMENT. 
 
 [This Novel, though iinfiniflied, will not 
 fail to recommend itself to the Reader, 
 whose principal feeling will probably be 
 the re<rret that it terminates fo abruptly.] 
 
JASPER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 T OUD blew the wind, and the contending 
 waves augmented the howling of theftorm, 
 when Jafper rufhed tovvards the forecallle with 
 the infant Edmund. It was midnight. The 
 white foam dafhed over the lofty prow-of the 
 velTel, and the lightning everv moment illu- 
 mined the wide ocean. Horror and difmay 
 were pictured in the countenances of the de- 
 voted crew ; and the fmall boat which was 
 lifted and engulphed alternately, as the tem- 
 ped fwayed the furge, prefented the only 
 chance of refcue from deftru£lion. 
 
 Jafper had feen manv years of fervice : he 
 had felt the fait wave wafh his white haiis in 
 the flormy hour of night, while the lefs nobly 
 organized, repofed upon beds of down : He had 
 been driven by the fierce hurricane on the 
 G 2 bleak 
 
84 JASPER. 
 
 bleak fands or on the rocky eminence, while 
 undifturbed 11 umber had clofed the eyes of 
 indolence and foily. 
 
 On the foiecafJe he meditated ; — the in- 
 fant Kdmund crept into his bofom. The cold 
 rain, the bleak and cutting wind fcattered the 
 golden hair that played about a cheek rofy and 
 beautiful. The lightning fhivered the main- 
 maft, the (hip rolled as it fell into ihe deep 
 yawning abvfs. The thunder, in frequent and 
 terrifying peals, feemed to Ihake the heavens. 
 Jafper looked fearfully towards the flafhing 
 clouds — he prciTed the infant clofe to his 
 breafl. The boat was ready ; one place yet 
 remained; it was referved as the laft fcene of 
 hope for the preferver of poor Edmund. 
 
 At no great diilance from the wreck, the 
 few who had efcaped beheld her dlfappcar for 
 ever. The boat, after many hours of peril 
 and fatigue to her almoft exhaufted palTengers, 
 reached the fliore. On the bare ftrand they 
 looked around them : before their eyes the 
 wide ocean prefented, as the morning fun glit- 
 tered on its waves, a folitary wafle of waters, 
 fcattered here and there with fragments of the 
 
 wreck; 
 
JASPER. 85 
 
 wreck ; above their beads a black and flupen- 
 dous rock feemed to frown on the wretched 
 throng ; while Famine threw a gliaftly hue 
 over their features, and Miferv in all herworfl 
 Ihapcs on evcrv fide alTailed them. 
 
 Near the fummit of the cliff a little hovel 
 prefented itfelf. 1 he roof was a projefling 
 put of the eminence ; and the door was clofed, 
 as if the abode of necelfity had been deferted 
 by him who had raifed it. 
 
 1 he number who had efcaped from the Tn- 
 diaman amounted to eleven. And, of fix fe- 
 male pairengers, not one had been refcued 
 from the fury of the elements. Among thofe 
 that perifhed was Madame de Stanheim, the 
 mother of young Edmund. 
 
 The hovel, which hrfl met the eyes of Jaf- 
 per, excited emotions which quickened the 
 circulation of every heart. Hope prefented 
 all her vifions of delight, and the certainty 
 that any thing human had exilled on the 
 lonely fpot, which feemed to them the uni- 
 verfe for a moment, cheared their hearts, and 
 gave them new llrength to encounter the mi- 
 feries of their deftiny. 
 
 Jafper 
 
85 JASPER. 
 
 Jafper was the firfl to climb the rugged 
 fteep. He was the foremoll that attained the 
 entrance of the hoveL The door wasclofed. 
 The high weeds had grown before the thref- 
 hold — no human footftep had prelTed them 
 for many a day. The roof was covered with 
 mofs. The little path up the fleep acclivity 
 was unmarked by the track of any palTenger. 
 Jafper paufed and liftened. He called repeat- 
 edly, but no one anfwered. A fecret horror 
 chilled his heart ; he retreated a few paces, 
 hailed his companions, grew pale, and trem- 
 bled. 
 
 '' This muft have been the hovel of a hu- 
 ** man creature," faid he. " Thefe Hones 
 *' were placed here by man ; thefe weeds ftili 
 *' fliew, among their wildnefs, fome little herbs 
 ** which look as though there had b.een culti- 
 ** vation. Here," continued Jafper, *' here 
 *' alfo is a myrtle tree ; here the variegated 
 *' holly" — Again he called more loudly — all 
 Tvithin the hovel was fllent as the grave ; all 
 without was tranquil ; the wind gently fwept 
 the ocean, and the fun feemed to glow in tri- 
 umph over the ravages of the tempeft. 
 
 " Let 
 
JASPER. 87 
 
 *' Let us force the door," faid one ; " per- 
 *' haps vvc ihall find fomething that will re- 
 *' ward us for our pains." 
 
 *' Let us force the door," repeated the im- 
 patient throng. Jafper fet down the baby 
 Edmund on the long weeds, and in a few 
 moments the entrance of the foiitaiy abode 
 was unfolded. 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 THE beams of light which entered the 
 narrow door flic wed every part of the hovel 
 diftinflly : a rude table of ftone, and a pallet 
 of dried weeds, compofed the whole of the 
 furniture. On the former lay, open, a book 
 of prayer. On the latter a fmall packet of 
 papers, twifled round with a lock of braided 
 hair. The uppermoft contained thefe words : 
 ** Shipwrecked on the ift September, 1166." 
 The letters were addielTed to "Henp^y:" 
 they were figned ** Cecile.'* 
 
 The 
 
85 JASPER. 
 
 The fallors continued to feavch the hovel, 
 regardlefs of what they thought ufelefs and 
 uninterefting. Jafper had fecured the papers, 
 and the book of prayer ; when one of his com- 
 rades fhouted, " A prize ! a prize !" as he 
 held above his head a v/atch, and a puife con- 
 taining feveral pieces of gold, the coin of In- 
 doftan. 
 
 Jafper could read as well as he could feel. 
 He had been born to independence ; but in his 
 youth his parents had croffed the afredions of 
 his heart ; he had been fent to fea, and during 
 his abfence the woman he had felefted had 
 married a more wealthy lover, Jafper's foul 
 was proud as it was fulceptible : he did not 
 reproach the being who had debafed herfelf 
 for gold : he pitied, he forgave, but he vowed 
 never to fee her more. 
 
 Not only his inconftant miftrefs was by 
 oath an alien to his bread ; he aifo determin- 
 ed never again to own his kindred, his unkind 
 kindred. To the wild waves he flew forcon- 
 folation ; they afforded him a home, troubled 
 and changing as that which he had deferted ; 
 but he was become carelefs of his defliny, he 
 
 had 
 
JASPER^ 89 
 
 had nothing to hope ; and fear was a flranger 
 10 his nature. 
 
 As he quitted the hovel leading little Ed- 
 mund, now fix years old, his eyes turned 
 towards heaven in gratitude for their mutual 
 prefervation, he beheld in a nook a few paces 
 higher than the roof of the cell, a crucifix. 
 He alio obfervcd a beaten path which led to 
 it. His feet fwifily meafured the fmall dif- 
 tance, and as fwifLly recoiled with horror! 
 Near the ciois lay a human Ikeleton perfefl, 
 excepting the right arm of which the upper 
 joint only was remaining. 
 
 Jafper's cheek was chilled : his heart throb- 
 bed quickly. " God of mercies !" exclaimed 
 he, " what do I behold ? — The poor remains 
 *' of fome wretched iea-beaten mariner, fome 
 *' foiitary outcaft from the world, fome exile 
 *' from the haunts of man, who has perifhed 
 *' here, unknown, unburied !" He turned 
 from the object of his meditations, and pre- 
 fently after joined his companions. 
 
 Joy was vifible in every countenance. They 
 had found more treafure ; a fifhing-net and a 
 fowling-piece. The day was clear, the wind 
 
 had 
 
go JASPER. 
 
 had fallen, and the fea fcarcely heaved above 
 her furface : the boat was little damaged by 
 the ftorm, and the horrors of their fituation 
 abated coniiderably. 
 
 Night approached and they fheltered them- 
 felves from its cold, as from its perils, in the 
 rocky hovel. At dawn light fafper rofe from 
 a deep fleep, and repaired again to the nook 
 where he had the preceding evening beheld 
 the fubje£l of his dreams. W ith eager fpeed 
 he covered the bones with mofs and pebbles 
 at the foot of the crucifix ; and fencing the 
 entrance with large pieces of rock which lay 
 fcattered near it, he knelt before the rude 
 maufoleum, where he uttered a fervent prayer 
 forthercpofe of the departed fpirit. 
 
 Having performed this pious tafk, Jafper 
 feated himfelf on the rock, and taking from 
 his bofom the packet which he had found, be- 
 gan to unfold the letters. The firft was ad- 
 drelTed to Henry, and contained thefe words: 
 
 ** Too certain is my deftiny ! — To-morrow, 
 *' Oh ! to-morrow my fate will be decided. 
 ** To your unfeeling brother 1 mull refign my- 
 ** felf. My/at/ier''s oath is irrevocable. 
 
 "Oh, 
 
JASPER. 91 
 
 ** Oh, Henry ! when the wide fea fhall fe- 
 *' parate us ; when the fhores of Britain fhall 
 *' meet your eyes, where — where (hall Cecile 
 *' hope for confolation ? Can the treafures of 
 *' this eallern world compenfate for the lofs 
 '' of thee? Can the pomp and flate of often- 
 *• tatious folly alleviate the pang, the acute 
 *' pang of reparation ? Happy fhould I feel 
 *' were I preparing to be the partner of your 
 *' deftiny, whether thy palfage be acrofs the 
 *' fmooth and pleafant ocean, wafted by pro- 
 " pitious gales to peace and to your native 
 " home, or to the gulph which leads to eter- 
 " nity beneath the wild and ungovernable 
 " billows. 
 
 *' To-morrow ! Henry — to-morrow the lef- 
 ** fening fail will mark thy progrefs from this 
 " Indian world ! To-moirow will give this 
 *' being, this trembling feverifh being, to the 
 " obje£l of its hatred. 
 
 " The braid of hair which 1 inclofe my 
 <' hands have woven : it is bathed in my tears : 
 " it has been made facred by the (ighs of un- 
 *' polluted love. 
 
 " Eighteen years only have pafTed fince I firft; 
 
 " breathed 
 
g2 JASPER. 
 
 ** breathed in tliis difaftrous world, and yet I 
 *' am weary of exigence : I look forward to 
 ** the grave as my only afylum fron:i forrow. 
 
 " The filence of the folitary tomb 
 
 ** AloriC can foothe to peace this beating breaft : 
 
 ** Pale Death Ihall be my harbinger of reft, 
 ** My fceneof fweet repofe, eternal gloom ! 
 " For on the mountain's brow the fun no more 
 
 " Shall greet thefe eyes with joy at morn's return 3 
 ** The dewy night ihall waft its fragrant ftore 
 
 ** On happier bofoms, while 1 filejit mourn. 
 " The pale moon's melancholy beams fhall fhine 
 ** With envy on this paler cheek of mine j 
 *** The dew drop, to the thirfty flower lefs dear 
 •* Than to thy mem'ry, love ! — Affedion's ter.r 
 ** Shall bathe my fever'd lip, till death's repofe 
 ** Shall bid thofe eyes in fleep eternal clofc. 
 
 "Cecile/' 
 
 CMAP- 
 
JASPER. &3 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 JASPER read the letter twice, and the con- 
 clufive lines: he felt the forrows they deli- 
 neated ; he felt them imprefTed upon his heart 
 by the flrong power of fvmpathy. His com- 
 rades now ihouted from the lands : they had 
 difcovered a frefh fpring, and were bearing on 
 their flioulders feveral cafks of provifion which 
 the night breakers had wafhcd on fhore. Jaf- 
 per defcended, for little Edmund was faint for 
 want of food. A fire was kindled by means 
 of the flint which they found in the fowling- 
 piece, and the dry leaves ^f autumn blazed 
 chearfully while they cooked their morning 
 meal. 
 
 Jafpcr^s mind was occupied in meditation : 
 he frequently turned his eyes towards the 
 lonely nook; while his fancv brought to view 
 the tenant of ihe rock, whofe days had been 
 wafted in folitude, and whofe death had been 
 unblelTed by a tear of holy forrow. 
 
 , At fun-fet the failors oblerved at a diftance 
 
 on 
 
Q4 ' JASPER. 
 
 on the fands, an objeft which had been left 
 there by the waves. It was at four hundred 
 paces diftant from them on the margin of the 
 ocean, and at the foot of a craggy fteep which 
 continued the chain of rocks ah)ng the fhore. 
 They hallened to examine their new prize. 
 Jafper had little inclination to feek after trea- 
 fure ; he therefore remained with PZdmund on 
 the beach, and as foon as his comrades were 
 out of hearing, unfolded the fecond letter : it 
 was dated at a more remote period than the 
 firfl which he had read, and was compofed of 
 the following lines : 
 
 -** The evening fun now fmiles ferene, 
 ** Flulh'd ocean's glowing waves between ; 
 ** The purpling fky is fading faft, 
 *' With tints of varying hue o'ercaft ; 
 *' The fultry breezes fan the deep, 
 *^ And bid the reftlefs billows fleep ; 
 *' The glooms of night will foon o'erfpread 
 " The blue hills' folitary head, 
 ** And all of Nature's tribe Ihall deep, 
 ** While Love alone Ihall wake to weep. 
 
 ** O'er yonder fliad'wy rocky bed 
 
 *' The fea-weed waves its fable head : 
 
 " The moon her filver crefcent rears, 
 
 ** To deck, with modeft li^ht, thefpheres ; 
 
 <«Th* 
 
JASPER. 95 
 
 *< The moaning of the diftant deep 
 ** Marks where the twilight breezes fweep, 
 ** And hark 1 the fea-birds difnial cry 
 ** Awakes the lover's breaft — to figh I— 
 
 *' Now all is folemn^dark, and drear, 
 *' No ftar illumes the fullen fphere; 
 ** The moon, in Ihrouded gloom is lofl, 
 *' Cold blows the wind, the waves are toft j 
 ** And loud the foaming deep is heard, 
 ** While Ihrilly Ihrieks the cavern bird ; 
 *' And where the rocks of ruin rife, 
 ** A wreck, a gallant veflel lies." 
 
 As Jafperfighed over the concluding ftanza, 
 he obferved his comrades bearing their new- 
 found treafure towards him. It was the corpfe 
 of Madame de Stanheim. Every countenance 
 befpoke the feelings of every heart : tears 
 were vifible on every cheek ; but not a fyllable 
 was uttered. The red beams of the fetting 
 fun threw a glowing reflection on the white 
 drapery that enveloped the body, which, when 
 life lent it animation, was the lovelieft; work 
 of ISJature. 
 
 The remains of Madame de Stanheim were 
 conveyed to the rock hovel ; they were laid 
 on the pallet of leaves : Jafper knelt befide 
 
 them» 
 
 JL 
 
q6 jasper. 
 
 them, and opening Ms' praver-book read a 
 fhort petition to the Supien-.e Dilpofer of all 
 things, for the lepofe of that foul which liad 
 quitted its mortal manfion of peiilhable beauty. 
 Some of his comrades flood with iilent re- 
 fpe£l near the corpfe ; others guarded the 
 threfhold ; while liitie Kdmund gathered wild 
 flowers and weeds, as if he meant to decorate 
 the grave of his lofl: mother. 
 
 The folemn prayer being ended, Jafper, in 
 a low and tremulous voice, propofed burying 
 the corpfe in the nook above the hovel : ** I 
 *« will undertake the talk," faid he. As he 
 fpoke Edmund ran towards him ; his arms 
 encircled a large bundle of weeds and wild 
 flowers. He threw them at Jafper's feet ; and 
 in a few moments, fpiinkled with tears, they 
 were fcattered over the bofom of Madame de 
 Stanheim. 
 
 As the laft gleam of twilight flole over the 
 ocean, Jafper depofited the corpfe in the nook j 
 befide the bones of him who had perilhed in 
 the rocky folitude. Edmund gathered the 
 pebbles round the fpot, and placed them in I 
 regular order near the entrance, which vras 
 
 again 
 
JASPER. 97 
 
 again clofed by large blocks of Qone which 
 Jal'per had before rolled from the furrounding 
 acclivity. 
 
 Previous to the entombing of the corpfe, 
 one of the failors obferved a r.ng on the third 
 finger of the kft hand : it was an onyx of 
 remarkable form. Tiiis gem had notefcaped 
 tlie eyes of Jafper ; but the idea of plundering 
 an inanimate being was too horrible for a 
 mind fo fenfitively organized. There were 
 many in the group who, had opportunity per- 
 mitted, would have been lefs fcrupulous; and 
 there was one who had determined to polTefs 
 the treafure. 
 
 At midnight he flole from the hovel while 
 all his comrades were alleep. The moon 
 fhone on the wide ocean ; the light breezes 
 moaned among the rocks ; the llupendous cliff 
 feemed to meet the fky, and the curlew 
 fcreamed as the facrilegious plunderer crept 
 up the rugged pathway. Nature feemed to 
 paufe in horror while he entered the laft fanc- 
 tuary of departed virtue. Not a breath of 
 wind whifpered to aid the concealment of the 
 crime from the liflening ear of Jafper. He 
 heard the fragments of flone rolled from the 
 
 VOL. III. H nook ; 
 
98 JASPEK. 
 
 nook; he flarted from his pillow of leaves ; 
 he flew with light footfleps up the rough deep : 
 — the robber atteaipted to conceal himfelf by 
 climbing the rock ; he fell from a projecting 
 point, and funk in the ocean that rolled be- 
 neath. 
 
 In the morning when the failors met upon 
 the beach, one of their number was miffing. 
 Jafper had been obferved quitting the hovel 
 at midnight : all eyes were turned upon him, 
 he became pale. " Where is our comrade ?" 
 cried feveral voices. 
 
 *' Buried in the deep fea," anfwered Jafper. 
 
 *' By v/hom ?" vociferated the throng. 
 
 " By an avenging God !" replied Jafper. 
 
 The awful tone of voice in which he fpoke 
 occafioned a paufe of fome moments — when 
 Jafper again addrefTed his comrades : ** He 
 " was a robber ; he would have plundered the 
 ** dead ; our lives were not fafe in the power 
 " of fuch a villain ; he would have murdered 
 ** us when fleeping, had we polTefTed any trea- 
 *' fure that could have tempted him." 
 
 " But he fliould have had atrial," cried one. 
 *' He Ihould have been allowed to make his 
 *' defence." 
 
 " He 
 
JASPER. gg 
 
 *' He was tried,'* faid Jafper. 
 
 ** By whom ?" 
 
 " By an omnipotent Judge !— He was found 
 ** guilty, and his punifhment was awful as it 
 " was fevere." 
 
 ** What proof have you of his guilt ?" was 
 the next queftion. 
 
 *' I found the monument laid open, and at 
 ** the threihold this ring, which had been 
 " taken from the dead hand of Madame de 
 *' Stanheim."— Every heart feemed to (hud- 
 der ; every cheek turned pale. The group 
 drew nearer to Jafper ; they looked fiifl at the 
 ring, then at each other. 
 
 " For me !" cried little Edmund, railing his 
 arms to reach it. 
 
 " Yes! for t/iee, boy !" replied Jafper, " It 
 *' was thy mother's; the only legacy fhe CDuld 
 <* leave thee; and itll"iall be thine." 
 
 '* It fnall be Edmund's,^' cried another in 
 the throng. — '' It fliall be Edmund's !" voci- 
 ferated the whole group at the fame moment. 
 
 Reader, this ring was ordained by the Ruler 
 of a myfterious deiliny to be the talifman of 
 Edmund's fate. It was not in the power of 
 
 Fraud 
 
J 00 JASPER. 
 
 Fraud to wreft it from him. It was preferved 
 as a token, that amidft all the viciflitudes of 
 fortune Heaven would not forfake him. It 
 was prefented by Virtue, in her rudeft form, 
 from the hand of a dead mother. It had been a 
 pledge of love. It was to be the unraveller 
 of Edmund's fate, of Madame de Stanheim's 
 forrows. 
 
 On the fifth day after the fliipwreck, at 
 dawn light Jafper difcovered a boat approach- 
 ing the fhore. The joyful tidings were in- 
 llantly communicated to his fleeping com- 
 rades, and they all haftened to the beach, 
 where by fignals they foon made themfelves 
 vilible. It contained feveral men and two 
 officers, belonging to a velTel returning to Bri- 
 tain from a voyage ofdifcovery, and anchored 
 . at no great diftance, but where a projeding 
 precipice wholly concealed it from their view. 
 On the fame day they embarked, and in four 
 months they once more beheld the lo/ty cliffs 
 of Albion towering over that ocean on which 
 her fons had never yet been vanquifhcd. 
 
 • Here the partners of misfortune feparated — 
 Jafper alone had his companion — it was the 
 little Edmund. 
 
JASPER. 101 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A FEW days after their arrival in Eng- 
 land Jalper fet out on foot to vifit his friends 
 in Cornwall. His proud heart had difdained, 
 during eighteen years, to afk their fuccour; 
 but he had now a charge, dearer than his 
 own exillcnce — an orphaned infant to provide 
 for. P'or Edmund's fake, therefore, more 
 than for his own, he refolved on undertaking 
 the journey ; and, at the end of a fortnight, 
 he reached the fcene from which he had 
 eftranged himfelf till he was almoft forgotten. 
 
 On crofling the moor where his father's 
 exteniive farm once flourilhed, he obferved a 
 llately ediMce, furroundcd with plantations, 
 and evidently the abode of a more wealthy 
 or ennobled polTelTor. He flopped ! he i'ighed ! 
 he looked at Edmund. They were both in 
 tatters, weary, hungry, poor and friend lefs. 
 Jafper fat himfelf down on the margin of a 
 rivulet, and Edmund took his place befide 
 
 him. 
 
J 02 . JASPER. 
 
 him. So fad, fo forlorn a pair had rarely ap- 
 proached the houfe of affluence. They wept 
 and talked together till the day began to fliut 
 in. They had no roof to (helter them from 
 the night dews ; they had no food to fupply 
 the cravings of nature ; no pillow to repofe 
 upon after the long day's fatigue. The wind 
 blew chilly, the iky was dark and dreary. 
 Edmund crept clofe to Jafper's arm, when. 
 from his bofom he unfolded one of the facred. 
 reliques, and read the following lines — 
 
 TO THE WILD BROOK. 
 
 Unheeded emblem of the mind^ 
 
 When weeping twilight's fhadows clofe ; 
 I wander where thy mazes wind, 
 
 And watch thy current as it flows. 
 Now dimpling, filent, calm and even, 
 Now brawlino: as in an£:er driv'n ; 
 Now ruffled, foaming, madly wild, 
 Like the vex'd fenfe of Sorrow's hopelefs child'. 
 Beiide thy furface now I fee 
 
 Refled;ed in thy placid breaft, 
 Flufh'd Summer's painted progeny, 
 
 In fmiles and fweets redundant drell : 
 They flaunt their forms of varying dye 
 To greet thee as thou pafTefl; by : 
 
JASPER. 103 
 
 And bending fip thy ample wave, 
 
 And in the lucid lapfetheir bofom's lave. 
 
 While on thy tranquil breaft appears 
 
 No freezing gale, no paffing ftorm, 
 The fun-beam's vivid luftre chcars, 
 
 And Teems thy filv'ry bed to warm. 
 The thronging birds with am'rous pl^y 
 Sweep with their wings thy glitt'ring way ; 
 And o'er thy banks fond zephyr blows. 
 To drefs with fweets the fmalleft fiow'r that srows. 
 
 But when dellroying blafts arlfe. 
 
 And clouds o'erfhade thy with' ring bounds; 
 When fwift the eddying foliage flies, 
 
 And loud the ruthlefs torrent founds ; 
 Thy dimpling charms are feen no more, 
 Thy Minfcrel's carroll'd praifeis o'er ; 
 While not a flowret funny-dreft, 
 Courts the chill'd current of thy alter'd breaft. 
 
 Such is the human mind ! ferene 
 
 W^hen Fortune's glowing hour appears ; 
 And lovely as thy margin green, 
 
 Are buds of Hope, ^^'4lich Fancy rears; 
 Then Adulation, hke the flow'r, 
 
 Bends as it greets us on our way ; 
 But in the dark and ilormy hour, 
 
 Leaves us unmark'd to trace our troubled way 
 
104 JASPER. 
 
 Jafpcr now folded the paper with a figh 
 of refignation ; then bending his eyes on P2d- 
 mund he perceived him fleepingon the turf. 
 Again he looked towards the {lately manfioa 
 — again he felt the night air chilling his 
 bofoni. He touched Edmund's cheek, it was 
 damp with the rifing dew, but it was ruddy aS 
 the rofe. Jafper now thought of the tomb 
 where Madame de Stanheim flept for ever. 
 He could have envied her repofe had his mind, 
 been capable of a felfifh wilh. Hunger had, 
 during many days, been felt feverely ; the 
 weary travellers were poorly flieltered from 
 the changes of the feafon by one miferable 
 covering ; yet the onyx gem was preferved : 
 defliny had placed it in the hands of honefty, 
 and it was held facred even amidft miferies 
 of want and forrow. 
 
 As twilight clofed a thunder ftorm came 
 on : Edmund awoke in terror, and would have 
 hid himfelf in Jafper's bofom. The lightning 
 iialhed frequently, and the rain began to pour 
 in torrents. The windows of the vafl: man- 
 fion difplayed the flrong glare of tapers in the 
 various apartments. They indiflindly heard 
 
 the 
 
JASPER. 105 
 
 the found of mufic during thofe intervals when 
 the thunder ceafed to roar. Jafper rofe from 
 the bank, and taking Edmund in his arms, 
 hallened towards the gate which opened on 
 the moor. 
 
 Again he arrefted his fteps ; he obferved 
 the lower rooms filled with company ; they 
 alfo were decorated with numberlefs branches 
 of lights — a large party furrounded a fumptu- 
 ous table. Jafper and little Edmund weye 
 both cold and hungry, for they had not touch- 
 ed food fince the dawn broke on their lafl 
 day's tedious journey. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 AFTER waiting and watching fome mi- 
 nutes Jafper addreifed his companion — ** Do 
 you fee that large houie ?" faid he. 
 
 " Yes'* replied Edmund ; " let us go ki." 
 
 " Art thou'hungry, Edmund ?" 
 
 ♦'Yes,'*- 
 
I06 JASPER. 
 
 " Yes," fighed the little traveller, ** very 
 hungry." 
 
 ** Then thou fhalt enter, boy," faid Jafper, 
 ** thou fhalt not die for want of food, at the 
 gate of opulence and plenty. Thou fhalt not 
 figh to behold the prodigality of pride heap- 
 ing the ftores of luxury, while innocence and 
 virtue pine at an humble diftance." 
 
 " They will not let me in," faid Edmund. 
 " They fnall," cried Jafper ; '' for where is 
 the heart fo cold as to refufe thee a fh^lter ? 
 Thou haft no offences to make thee odious, 
 my poor boy ; thou hafl never wronged the 
 wealthy or opprcfTed the defencelefs." 
 
 *' They will not give me any thing," faid 
 Edmund ; *' and yet Heaven has been liberal 
 to them," replied Jafper, *' and perhaps they 
 are not half fo deferving." 
 
 The mufic continued; the apartments w^ere 
 perfectly vifible by the full glare of light 
 which illuminated every fide. The table was 
 furrounded with guefls, the fervants in gaudy 
 liveries awaited the fecond feafl which they 
 were deilined to fliare. The fky continued 
 dark and cloudy, excepting when the frequent 
 
 flaHies 
 
JASPER. 107 
 
 Haflies of lightning prcfented Jafper and his 
 little companion as they flood at the iron gate 
 which faced the building. Many lighs ef- 
 caped their bofom ; many tears rolled down 
 Jafper's cheek, when he recollefted the long 
 loft comforts of that fpot, on which he then 
 ftood in mifery and forrow. 
 
 He looked wiftfully towards the manfion 
 
 of feftivity. He remembered the fpacious 
 
 farm of his anceftors — the ancient houfe of 
 
 hofpitality — its gothic cafement windows — 
 
 its lofty columns of chimneys — its fpacious 
 
 porch — its venerable grove of chefnut — its 
 
 orchard — its granaries — its out-buildings — its 
 
 chearful fire — its wide chimney-corner, where 
 
 the traveller had often refted ; and with the 
 
 potent draft beguiled the long wintry evening 
 
 hour, while the wind blew loud, and the fnow 
 
 was drifted over the bleak moor. In fancy he 
 
 beheld the wicker chair, which was the feat 
 
 of his grandfather, the refting-place of honell 
 
 induftry, after the day of ufeful toil. He 
 
 heard in the dream of imagination, the fong 
 
 of the hufbandmen, the full chorus of feftive 
 
 glee ; the loyal fentiment vociferated loudly 
 
 as- 
 
108 JASPER. 
 
 as the brown jug went round. He then began 
 to trace (for memory is a vivid painter when 
 the mind dwells on loft objects of affeftion) 
 the foHtary chefnut walk, where he had fo 
 often wandered by the pale moon's rav? vvith 
 his beloved Margaret ; the mulberry-tree, 
 whofe rude bench he had carved with many 
 a true lover's knot, and many a cypher of her 
 name ; the ftyle, where the wintry wind had 
 firft given to his view the taper ancle, and the 
 fnow-white ftocking of his foul's darling ; the 
 fwift brook, where the had quenched the thirft 
 of fultry fummer from the corner of the hat 
 which he had won valiantly wreftling at the 
 wake, drefled with unnumbered ribbands, the 
 envy of the rufti'cs; the offering at thefhrine 
 of honeft pailion. All thefe poor Jafper well 
 remembered; while his heart throbbed with 
 agony to know that they were gone for ever. 
 
 It was now near midnight. Jafper was loft 
 in meditation, and Edmund had made the 
 ftone fteps his pillow. Jafper would have 
 fheltered the little mendicant with his torn 
 jacket, had Neceftity in herfcant provifion af- 
 forded him a fecond garment. He knew not 
 
 what 
 
JASPER. 109 
 
 what do do ; for, in all the mlfery of his fate 
 he never yet had begged. He prelled the 
 cheek of his little companion ; it was burning 
 notwithftanding that the cold rain had, during 
 three hours, beat upon it. He felt his hand, 
 it was dry and feverifh. ** My boy will die," 
 faid Jafper ; " he is fick, and perhaps this 
 fieep which lilences the cry of hunger, is the 
 ileep of death!" Edmund iighed deeply. 
 
 •' Alt thou in pain, boy r" enquired Jafper 
 as he knelt befide him. Edmund made no 
 anfwer. 
 
 *' Tell me, art thou lick ?" faid Jafper, with 
 a voice rendered inarticulate by agitation. 
 
 Edmund placed his arms round Jafper's 
 neck as he leant over him, but ftill was filent. 
 
 " Speak, my dear boy, my only companion 
 in this wide world of forrows !" faid Jafper. 
 *'Tell me if thou art in pain. I will beg for 
 thee, though for myfelf I would fooner perifli. 
 I will, if they refufe me fuccour, iteal, rather 
 than that thou fhould die of hunger." Ed- 
 mund could not anfwer him ; he was over- 
 powered with fatigue and fever. The noon- 
 day fun had fcorched his little veins ; the 
 
 night 
 
110 JASPERo 
 
 night rain had chilled them ; the ftorm had 
 terrified his fenfes ; and he crept Hill clofer 
 into Jafpcr's bofom. 
 
 Terror now feized on all the faculties of 
 Jafper's foul. He trembled, he was nearly- 
 frantic ^ twice his hand was ralfed towards the 
 bell, and twice his proud heart feemed pallied 
 at the effort. A vivid flafh of lightning roufed 
 his feelings when thev were almoft benumbed 
 with the excels of horror ; he rang the bell 
 violently ; the found ftarted his companion, 
 and he fhrieked. A fervant came to the gate 
 ■with alacrity, becaufe the loud ringing of the 
 bell feecned to announce a vifitor of im- 
 portance. 
 
 " Who rang the bell with fuch authority ?" 
 enquired the domeilic. 
 
 ^'Idid," faid Jafper. 
 
 " By what right ?'* cried the fei-vant. 
 
 ** The right of nature." 
 
 <* Vagabond !" exclaimed the fervant, 
 " what do you want ?'* 
 
 " Every thing !" replied Jafper. " Food, 
 clothing, (belter from the ftorm." 
 
 The gate was clofed abruptly. The fer- 
 vant 
 
JASPER. Ill 
 
 vant muttered his furprize at the iiifolence of 
 Jafper, and returned to the portico. 
 
 " I have been rafh," faid Jafper ; ** I have 
 uttered the language of nature ; it is not in- 
 telHgible to the ears of pomp and luxury. I 
 fhould have been more humble — I demanded 
 when I fhould have begged.'* 
 
 *' Begged !" repeated he, while his cheek 
 flufhed with indignation — " Mufl innocence 
 diftrefled ftoop to implore, while guilty prodi- 
 gality can lift its head in triumph ? Oh, God 1 
 thou art the friend of thy creature ! Should 
 I be criminal in taking that which would pre- 
 ferve an unoffending infant from deftruftion, 
 but which barbarous pride denies him ?'* 
 
 While he was fpeaking he obferved the 
 company quitting the table, and haflening to 
 another apartment, where the mufic invited 
 them to dance. The fervants removed the 
 fupper to their hall in the right wing of the 
 houfe. Jafper fa vv themdlftin£tly while they 
 took their places round the table ; he beheld 
 the former fcene re-a£led with Hill louder 
 revelry, ftili broader glee ! — Shouts and fongs 
 — mingled founds of voices — the fiddle and 
 
 the 
 
112 JASPER. 
 
 the tabor, proclaimed the feftivity of the fer- 
 vants' hall ; while Edmund groaned deeply, 
 and Jafper, kneeling on the cold earth, uttered 
 a prayer to Heaven for pity and prote£tion. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ANOTHER hour pafled, and Jafper began 
 to feel faint with hunger. The fleep into 
 which fatigue had lulled the infant Edmund 
 now terminated, and he awoke in the deli- 
 rium of a fever. He talked of the ocean and 
 the fea birds, and enquired, why he could not 
 " walk upon the waves, and fly with wings as 
 they did r" Every word he uttered feemed 
 like a poniard in Jafper's heart. The boy 
 complained of thii-fl ; the iron gate was not 
 locked ; Jafper felt the bolt ; it yielded to the 
 prefTure of his hand ; it flew back as if to bid 
 him take courage. He entered the fhrubbery: 
 
 he 
 
JASPER4 113 
 
 he crolTed the lawn, he approached the win- 
 dow of the fupper room. The fafh was open, 
 and the table was covered with fruits and 
 wines, fcattered in prodigal diforder. The 
 fervants were llill carouling in a difrant part 
 of the building ; Jafper liilened and trembled ; 
 he looked at the table — " There !" faid he, 
 *' there are the remnants of the feail, the 
 luxurious overplus of fated oftentation. Thefe 
 fruits would cool poor Edmund's feverifli and 
 parched mouth ; the fmalleft quantity of that 
 wine would revive his fainting heart. I have 
 begged — I have implored — I have ailced for- 
 givenefs of Heaven — I am guilty, but I am 
 not felfuh ; I will only take what Edmund's 
 mifery requires, I will not owe my own life 
 to an a£lion that debafcs it. How fevere is 
 the confli(fl:, thought Jafper, between honefty 
 and neceility. Why, why will the rich, the 
 happy, fhut their hearts againil the wretched- 
 nefs of humble virtue ?" 
 
 Jafper raifed his foot to enter the window ; 
 his face was fiufhed with fliame ; his eyes were 
 full of tears — '' Here, on the fpot that once 
 was my paternal home, here to become a 
 
 VOL. III. I robber /" 
 
114 JASPER. 
 
 robber !" fald he, putting his hand upon his 
 agitated bofom, *' here, at tlie dark hour of 
 midnight to fkulk hke a criminal ; to know 
 that I mufl violate my country's laws, or fee 
 an innocent and helplefs infant perilh." As 
 he fpoke he heard fome one approaching 
 acrofs the fhrubbery ; he looked back aghaft ; 
 the rednefs of his cheek was inftantly changed 
 to the palenefs of a corpfe. *' I have taken 
 nothing," faid he wildly ; " it was Edmund 
 who approached ; fear had given him ftrength ; 
 he had with tottering fteps followed his friend 
 and fellow fufferer, and as he endeavoured to 
 clafp his knees fell overpowered before him. 
 
 Jafper beheld Edmund, as he thought, ex- 
 piring; pity required no incentive more power- 
 ful, even though her di<£^ates fhould be pu- 
 nilbed by the forfeit of his own exiftence. 
 He leaped into the room — he filled a goblet 
 with wine — he was retreating when a fervant 
 entered. Edmund's fituation was of more im- 
 portance to Jafper than his own prefervation ; 
 he vaulted through the window, and prefented 
 the wine to the Iids which had now loft the 
 power of articulation. " Swallow it, boy I*"' 
 
 faid 
 
JASPER. 115 
 
 faid he, " for it is the laft perhaps that I fhali 
 ever offer thee." The fervant had given the 
 alarm, and the robber was leized, and dragged 
 to the iteps of the portico, while he loudly, 
 and with penetrating forrow, entreated that 
 the boy might not be left to perlih. 
 
 A confultation was held among the domef- 
 tics ; and it was agreed, that Jafper fhould be 
 fecurelv bound with cords, and contined in 
 the ftable till the following day — "Oar mirth 
 will be interrupted," faid one ; " we (hall be 
 obliged to take him to a juilicc," cried ano- 
 ther; *' and this difmal night who would like 
 to go four miles for a begging failor r" Be- 
 lides, laid a third, " we have not Iialf done 
 fupper, and we mull: have a dance ; who will 
 give up his bottle and his partner for a ragged 
 pilferer, who deferves to be liorie-whippcd 
 into honeftv r" Take him to the flable, and 
 to-morrow Sir Martin (hall examine him. 
 
 Jafper was lilent ; he knew that fuffering 
 worth gains little commiferation from pam- 
 peied ignorance. He knew alio that his 
 poverty would plead againft him, and the 
 very necelnty which impelled him to offend 
 
 would 
 
Il6 JASPER. 
 
 would a£l as a flrong evidence in the convic- 
 tion of his Clime. He liad no friends to plead 
 for him, no gold to pave the pathway to for- 
 givenefs. He was the traveller of neceliity — 
 the viclim of misfortune — but he was the de- 
 fender of innocence, the preferver of a fel- 
 low-creature, and therefore more worthy, 
 more exalted, than the rich, the prodigal Sir 
 Martin. 
 
 The fervants having bound his arms con- 
 duced him towards the liable. " Take him," 
 faid one, *' along the chefnut walk." 
 
 ** O ] not that way !" exclaimed Jafper, 
 not by the chefnut walk ; *' all the felicities 
 of his youthful days, all the happy hours, the 
 moonlight walks with his loved Margaret re- 
 curred to memory, and he began to lofe his 
 fortitude." 
 
 " Take him !" vociferated a furly lacquey, 
 ** I like to hear a ragged fcoundrel choofing 
 his way 1 Take him down the chefnut walk, 
 by the old flyle that leads to the orchard." 
 
 Jn that orchard it had been Jafpcr's eaily 
 joy to gather the iirft fruit for the miflrefs of 
 his heart ; the pang of memory was rendered 
 
 more 
 
JASPER. 117 
 
 more acute than ever, and he fell upon his 
 knees. *' Shoot me," faid he, " but do not 
 drive me mad ! I will not pafs that ftvle ; I 
 will not, while thefe cords confine me, crofs 
 that orchard.'* 
 
 " Bring him along !" faid one ; *' and fetch 
 a torch that he may not avail himfelf of the 
 darknefsof the night, to efcape our vigilance." 
 
 *' 1 would not quit this fpot," faid Jafper, 
 *' for all the riches of its owner." 
 
 *' Why not r" enquired his leader taunt- 
 ingly. *' Becaufe I would not leave my boy at 
 the mercy of fuch favage creatures." 
 
 *' Bring him along !" vociferated the torch- 
 bearer. *' To-morrow he fliall be taught to 
 hold different language — Sir Martin will make 
 an example of the vagabond, though 1 dare 
 fwear that my Lady will try to beg him off. 
 It is her foft heart that brings all the vagrants 
 in the country to our gate ; fhe has tears ready 
 for every canting hypocrite, and is never 
 happy but when llie is encouraging idlenefs. 
 
 Jafper raifed his eyes towards Heaven in 
 gratitude for the faint gleam of hope which 
 this information prefcnted 
 
 "But 
 
118 JASPER. 
 
 *' But then," faid another, '' thank God, Sk 
 Martin Strickland is mafter of his property. 
 He is not fo tender hearted as my Lady ; he 
 loves juflice, and is not to be impofed on by 
 fair words and a ragged garment. Sir Martin 
 would not be able, with only five thoufand a 
 year, to keep open houfe at Chriftmas for no- 
 bility, and a pack of fox hounds for the coun- 
 try gentlemen, and running horfes for his own 
 amufement, if he iiilened to everv travellins; 
 beggar that came whining and whimpering to 
 his manor. Many liave been the days when 
 fhips have been wrecked here upon the coafl, 
 and faiiors have come in troops to Sir Martin 
 for food and clothing : which my Lady would 
 have given them but for fear of the Baronet's 
 difpleafure. Indeed fome fay that by flealth 
 fhe has done many foolifh a£ls of charity." 
 
 *' Blefs her ! Blefs her Heaven for them !" 
 interrupted Jafper. 
 
 *' it was not long ago," continued the fer- 
 vant, after giving Jafper a ftroke on the 
 Ihoulder with the end of the cord by which he 
 led him, " only laft VVhitfuntide that flie made 
 up clean flraw beds in one of the barns, and 
 
 ordered 
 
JASPER. 119 
 
 ordered abeaft to be killed that (he might feed 
 twenty caiVaway feamen with good Englifh 
 beet'; and then the hogfheads flowed as tho' 
 an ocean of ale had poured upon them." 
 
 " Heaven reward her !" faid Jalper. 
 ■ " I lliould like to know what a ragged raf- 
 cal has to do with Heaven !" faid tiie torch- 
 bearer. *' Come, bring him along a little fafter, 
 my coat is wet through with the rain, and I 
 want to liniih my fupper " 
 
 " I have not tafted food thefe twenty-four 
 hours," faid Jafper. 
 
 *' You'll have the better appetite to-mor- 
 row," replied the leader, " if Sir Martin does 
 not make you faji in prilon." — (The whole 
 group laughed aloud. j J^'per now faw by 
 the torch light that he was crofiing the or- 
 chard ; he iighed deeply ; his heart was heavy 
 as his afili6lions ; the rain ceafed, and the 
 moon darted its pale ligiit between the open- 
 ing clouds. Jafper looked round with an an- 
 guilhed bofom. The dark row of chelnut 
 trees ; the little fix le, theilately fabric where 
 he had left Edmund, as he thought, expiring, 
 were all vilible to his aching eyes: and he 
 refigned himlelf to the arms of Defpair, 
 
120 JASPER. 
 
 CHAPTER Vir. 
 
 AT length they reached the Hable. Jafper 
 was forced to enter, and then left to ruminate 
 on his misfortunes. The agony of thought 
 kept his eyes from doling ; and the anxiety 
 which he felt for Edmund's fafcty nearly mad- 
 dened his brain. Seated on a flravv litter, 
 cold, fick, and weary, he heard the carnages 
 of the guefts ratth'ng along the road ; he faw 
 the pale glimpfeof dawn enter the liable. He 
 rofe and approached the window, the morn- 
 ing air revived him ; the dews were fcattered 
 by the approaching fun, and the birds were 
 iinging on the roof of his prifon. 
 
 His eyes eagerly wandered ever the land- 
 fcape ; he rccolle6led many a well known 
 fpot ; the diftant hills which were gilded by 
 the riling fun, flill prefented obje6ls which he 
 never had forgotten. Here and there the, 
 cultivated farms, the abodes of his earliefl 
 friends, emiched the country j the fields of 
 
 riling 
 
JASPER. 121 
 
 riling corn waved on the upland fcene ; and 
 the village church, whofe gothic battlements 
 were overrun with ivy, recalled to mind the 
 day when he had won the prize of ftrength, 
 or witnelTed the harmlefs delights of ruflic 
 revelry. 
 
 AV^hile JaTper flood contemplating the pro- 
 fpeit he perceived four men approaching the 
 liable. They unlocked the door and com- 
 manded him to come forth — he obeyed the 
 fummons. They led him again acrofs the 
 orchard, and from thence into the fhrubbery. 
 But what were Jafper's fenfations — what lan- 
 guage can defcribe the acute pangs that feem- 
 ed to wring his heart when they flopped at 
 the tree, the mulberry-tree, whofe rude bench 
 lie had carved, and which flill prefented to 
 his view the records of his early fond affec- 
 tion. 
 
 Proflratc before the facred relic he kiiled 
 the letters, which time had not effaced, and 
 which his tortured fenfes too v;cll remem- 
 bered. *' Here ! here let nie die !" faid 
 Jafper. 
 
 *' No ; you will hang on another fort of 
 
 tree," 
 
122 JASPER. 
 
 tree," cried the fervant who guarded him. 
 ** But if thefe branches were Jeflined to be 
 your gallows, they would not long be here to 
 remind tliC family of your exit. 
 
 ** Why ?" enquired Jafper eagerly. 
 
 " Becaufe, only yeflerday I heard Sir Mar- 
 tin fay, that the old tree fimuld be grubbed 
 up next autumn, as it only harboured an ugly 
 owl that dillurbed my Lady.'' 
 
 *' The owl might be dcllroycd," faid Jafper. 
 
 " Yes : but the Baronet fays that the tree 
 is a melancholy objeft from the window of 
 the houfe, andintenupts the profped to yon- 
 der hills ; beiides, vSir Martin has bought a 
 pairof oldfafhioned flone-works, which came 
 from Italy, which he means to place here in- 
 flead of the tree. 
 
 " Ah !" fighed Jafper, " did he but know 
 that this was once the fceiie of happinefs 
 which pomp and Iplendour cannot feel — that 
 thefe letters were carved by the hand of faith- 
 ful love — thefe branches fpread their leaves 
 witli every returning fummcr over the fanc- 
 tuary of betrothed affedion. — " 
 
 *' That 
 
JASPER. ]23 
 
 " That is more than you can tell," faid the 
 fervant. 
 
 On the bench was carved the date of that 
 mournful day on which Jafper was forced to 
 quit his kindred. It was juft eighteen years 
 and (cYcn months : he was then five-and- 
 twenty. His beloved Margaret was two years 
 younger. The boifterous element over which 
 he had been deftlned to wander, forrowful 
 and expoled to all the hardfhips.of its changes, 
 had given his features the ftamp of premature 
 age. His hair was already grey ; his once 
 brown cheek was fallow and withered ; no 
 traces of his youth remained ; his eyes had 
 loft their intelligent brilliance; his limbs their 
 mufcular graces ; his lip the fmiie which love 
 and youth prefented ; and his voice that mild, 
 vtt manlv tone, which once reached the hearts 
 of all who heard it. Never, but for the fake 
 of Edmund, would Jafper have re-vifited his 
 deferted home : Time had eflranged his mind 
 from all his kindred, though it had not effaced 
 that image from his heart, which no change 
 of place or fortune could teach him to forget. 
 
 He had been more than an hour feated on 
 
 the 
 
124 JASPER. 
 
 the bench beneath the venerable tree, when 
 his guard announced the approach of Sir Mar- 
 tin. Jafper rofe, and with a modefl bow flood 
 before his Judge. 
 
 " Fellow !" faid the Baronet, " I find that 
 you were lafl night detc£led in an attempt to 
 rob me." 
 
 *' The law of kingdoms will term it rob- 
 bery, Sir Martin, though tlie law of Nature 
 would acquit me." 
 
 *' Nature never made a thief," cried Sir 
 Martin. 
 
 " Becaufe fhe provided amply for the ne- 
 cefTities of all," faid Jafper. 
 
 *' She did not mean to feed the idle," cried 
 the Baronet. 
 
 *' But fne meant to reward the virtuous," 
 replied Jafper. 
 
 ** Virtue has nothing to do with beggars," 
 faid Sir Martin. 
 
 *' But for the influence of virtue there would 
 be no fuch thing as want," replied Jafper. "For 
 if the poor were alfo difhonefl, there would 
 not be fuch an unequal diilribution of For- 
 tune's gifts." 
 
 «* Yjou 
 
*' You dole my wine, vagabond,'* faid Sir 
 Martin. 
 
 '< I iirft begged it." 
 
 *' Biit you begged it faiicily.*' 
 
 *' Is not Honefty fufficiently humbled when 
 it afks relief from Pride." 
 
 '' And has not Wealth a right to refufe, 
 when Infolence demands ailiflance ?'' 
 
 *' Yes ; but Humanity will iind a poor ex- 
 cufe, when it avails itfelf of forms to prolong 
 the miferies of a fuffering creature." 
 
 " You have feen fervice," faid Sir Martin. 
 
 *' I have alfo {eGn happier days," replied 
 Jafper, fliaking a tear from his eye. 
 
 " You are, I believe, a vagrant." 
 
 *' What do you call a vagrant r" enquired 
 Jafper calmly. 
 
 *' A vagabond that has no home." 
 
 " Then I am a vagrant ; for I have no home, 
 no friends, no means of life, excepting thofe 
 which toil affords, and they are but fcanty." 
 
 *' You Ihould be humble—" 
 
 "So I would be, were I lefs poor," faid Jafper. 
 
 ** I doubt that you are honefl." 
 
 " I do not quciiion y^ur integrity. Sir Mar- 
 tin, 
 
i26 JASPEji 
 
 tin, though you poflefs all the gifts of Fortune; 
 why then Ihould you fufped me, who am poor 
 and ftaiving ? J Joes want look, like dilhonefty ? '* 
 
 " You are idle—" 
 
 ** May not the toil of eighteen years hope 
 for a few days of reft ? Muft the poor feaman 
 have no refpite from his labour, while the rich 
 man grows iick with eafe ?" faid Jafper. 
 
 *' What made you fo wretched r" faid Sir 
 Martin, while with his cane he pointed to the 
 tattered jacket. 
 
 ** 1 hat which made you rich, Sir Martin ; 
 deftiny." — The brief yet rational reply which 
 Jafper made difconcerted Sir Martin ; who, 
 though horn to the inheritance of wealth, had 
 been wholly uneducated ; and who, while he 
 difplayed the prodigal gifts of Fortune, was a 
 ftranger to the luxury of benefiting his fellow- 
 creatures. 
 
 Jafper had been the pupil of neceflity : the 
 early part of his life had been pafled in culti- 
 vating his mind ; for though reared in ruftic 
 fcenes, he had been intuitively taught to know 
 the value of extenfive knowledge ; and if his 
 mind had not been as expanded as his wifhcs, 
 
 it 
 
JASPER. 1^7 
 
 it was the want of books, the ciroimfcribed 
 circle of fociety in which he moved, thit li- 
 mited his ftudies. But Jafper had known 
 many a change of fortune, in many a climate: 
 he had been once round the world on a vo>age 
 of obfcrvation : he had not let any occafion 
 pafs in which he had failed to cultivate the 
 inquiring propeniity which inftindl plants in 
 almoli every bofom. Jafper, while wander- 
 ing an outcaft from his home, found perpe- 
 tually (»bje6>s to excite an intereft which never 
 warmed the bofom of Sir Martin, in his abode 
 of empty oftentaiion, furrounded by the luxu- 
 ries of life, and amufed by the fleeting joys 
 of vilionarv happinefs. 
 
 Finding that he Ihould acquire little advan- 
 tage by verbal examination. Sir Martin now 
 began to extort a confeffion of what he conli- 
 dered as the criminal propeniity of Jafpcr's 
 mind. *' 1 believe you to be an impoftor," 
 faid the Baronet. " I am certain that yours is 
 not the language of an uncultivated brute.'* 
 
 ** No, Sir Martin, it is the language of a 
 man — a thinking, wretched, perfecuted man,'* 
 anfvvered Jafper, with modeft pride. *' It is 
 
 eafe 
 
128 JASPER. 
 
 eafe and luxury that brutalize man: the Tons 
 of Sorrow and Necellity are taught to know 
 the value of mental cultivation." 
 
 *' What child is that which you left lafl 
 night beneath my window?" 
 
 ** An orphan." 
 
 *' How came he under your protection ?" 
 
 ** He was placed there by an all-feeing 
 Providence." 
 
 ** Has he no friends r" 
 
 ** Yes ; one, who configned him to my care 
 — one, who will not forfake him." 
 
 *' And what brought you into Cornwall r" 
 . ** Ncceffity ; which makes the feeling heart 
 do that fur others, which it would difdain to 
 attempt for felfifli gratification." 
 
 ** Have you any relations in this part of the 
 country ?" 
 
 " None !" faid Jafper with a iigh. — As he 
 fpoke Lady Strickland defcended the fleps of 
 the portico — Edmund walked by her fide — he 
 was cleanly dreft ; and though his cheek was 
 paler than ufual, his countenance more lan- 
 guid, ftill he looked gay and happy. The in- 
 itant his eye caught that of Jafper, he flew 
 
 towards 
 
JASPEK. 129 
 
 towards him, he clafped his knees, hung round 
 him, and was delighted to extacy. Jafper's 
 heart throbbed with emotion. His beard was 
 of many days growth ; his cheek retained a 
 fear which an Indian had made by the ftioke 
 of a tomahawk ; his countenance retained no 
 trait of its original beauty. But Lady Strick- 
 land was not fo changed as to be unknown to 
 Jafper : he beheld his Margaret, the darling 
 of his youngefl, fondeft affections, looking at 
 him with eyesof pity, though unconfcious that 
 his mifery firfl originated in her unkindnefs. 
 
 " 1 hope, Sir Martin, that you will acquit 
 the poor fellow," faid Lady, Strickland. *' I 
 feel greatly interefled in his fituation, for he 
 looks as though he had fecn happier days.'* 
 
 Jafper had fcarcely power to breathe ; his 
 limbs trembled, his heart beat, his colour 
 changed ; the tone of Margaret's voice eleftri- 
 iied his brain, and he was mute with coniler- 
 nation. 
 
 " He looks faint and exhaufted — bring him 
 fome food and wine," continued Lady Strick- 
 land. " He has not ftrength to plead his caufe ; 
 it is cruel to opprcfs the feeble and defence- 
 
 VOL. Ill, K lefs. 
 
130 JASPEB. 
 
 lefs. Sit down beneath this tree — recolleft 
 yoiirfeif." 
 
 "I do!" faid Jafper feebly. 
 
 *' Compofe your agitation, Sir Martin will 
 render juftice ; he will not fee you perfecuted 
 farther ; vou have already fufFered too much." 
 
 ** I have indeed !" fighed Jafper. 
 
 " The fmall offence you have committed 
 was prompted by neceflity," faid Lady Strick- 
 land. " It was not a wanton robbery ; you 
 did not deprive Sir Martin of any thing that 
 concerned his happinefs ; it was but a venial 
 fault, and you mull be pardoned." 
 
 '' By what rule, my Lady r" faid Sir Martin 
 flernlv. 
 
 " The laws of humanity are not circum- 
 fcribed," replied Lady Strickland. " Suppof- 
 ing, Sir Martin, that you had ftolen a treafure 
 from this man, do you not think that he would 
 have fhewn you mercy ?" 
 
 Jafper fhuddered. 
 
 *' I have my doubts,'' replied Sir Martin. 
 
 " Would you nut have forgiven him ?" faid 
 Lady Strickland, addrelfrng Jafper. 
 
 Jafper made no anfwer, 
 
 *' Speak, 
 
JASPER. 131 
 
 ^' Speak, fellow !'* vociferated Sir Martin. 
 
 " No !" replied Jafper firQiIy. 
 
 ** Then I was deceived," faid Lady Strick- 
 land ; '' I fancied I could trace the heart in 
 the features. I thought I knew you." 
 
 "" Heaven forbid !" exclaimed Jafper. 
 
 ** Why!" faid Lady Strickland. 
 
 *' Sir Martin would then indeed be merci- 
 lefs : yet death would be my beft deliverer 
 from forrow, could I but behold my poor boy 
 fecure from the perils of adverfity." 
 
 Jafper was feated on the bench, beneath the 
 mulberry tree ; Edmund's arm hung over his 
 knee, while he looked willfully in his face. 
 Lady Strickland had once a fon : he had died 
 at an early age. The clothes which Edmund 
 now wore had been his : they were rich and 
 becoming: he looked as lovelv as an an2:cl. 
 Jafper kilTed his hand ; his tears flowed upon 
 it. Lady Strickland's heart was penetrated 
 by the evident fenfibility of Jafper's mind. 
 
 " Ah !" faid he, " how thankful am I to 
 Heaven that thou, Edmund, haft found a 
 friend, though at the peril of mv exiftence. 
 Thus a fecond time have I preferved thee 
 from death." 
 
J32 JASPER. 
 
 ** A fecond time !" faid Lady Strickland. 
 
 ** Yes ; once from the yawning deep — from 
 the unfathomable gulph did I fnatch this 
 boy — that gulph where the ill fated Baio- 
 nefs de Stanheim, his mother, ptrilhed. In 
 the Cavity of a bleak rock have 1 entombed 
 her. It is a folitary grave, but it is a quiet 
 one : there neither pride nor perlecution can 
 violate the ileep of death : there too refts the 
 bones of an unhappy exile — a ihipwrecked 
 man, whom delliny had forced to endure the 
 worft of human calamities." 
 
 " Indeed !" faid Lady Strickland, " what 
 calamity ?" 
 
 " Eternal fcparation from the objeft of his 
 Jove—" 
 
 "Why were they feparatedr'* enquired 
 Lady Strickland, changing colour, and ipeak- 
 ing faintly. 
 
 ** Becaufe fhe was the vi£^im of avarice : a 
 wealthier fuitor, a more advantageous mar- 
 riage.** 
 Jafper could not proceed — 
 
 Lady Strickland funk on the bench and 
 clofed her eyes, while her features were fixed 
 
 in 
 
JASPER. 133 
 
 in a ghafllypalenefs. The fervants were dif- 
 miiTed. 
 
 " Margaret .'"^ cried Sir Martin, ** what fud- 
 den furprize affefts you fo ftrongly ? — what 
 has the vagabond faid, to alarm your fenfibi- 
 lity r" — Lady Strickland did not attend to Sir 
 Martin's queftion ; her whole foul was ab- 
 forbed by the miferies of compunction. The 
 Baronet now took her hand ; he featedhim- 
 felf befide her ; he folded his arm about her 
 Jiftlefs form. Jafper was wild with agony. 
 For the firil day in his life he beheld his rival 
 — the man who had robbed his foul of its re- 
 pofe — the hul"band of that woman whofe 
 image had perpetually haunted him in the 
 ftormy hour, upon the high- waving topmaft, 
 on the loudly roaring waves, or fmoother ex- 
 panfe of a calm fummer fea. No time, no 
 place had, for a fingle hour, fevered her idea 
 from his brain : he had flruggled with his an- 
 guifh till the fatal hour when deftiny had 
 brought it to a climax. 
 
 CHAP, 
 
134 JASPEK. 
 
 CHAPTER VUr. 
 
 AFTER feveral minutes of filent agony, 
 Lady Strickland, with a faultering voice, again 
 addrefTed herfelf to Jafper : " To my care 
 you mull conlign this boy," faid (lie. " I have 
 no children — and he fhall be my adopted fon. 
 You fay that you fnatched him from the 
 v^raves — that his mother perifhed — that you 
 buried her in the foUtary rock where the bones 
 of a deferted lover refted ? Alas ! there is fo 
 much interefl, fuch penetrating forrow in the 
 fate of this poor orphan, that I can never part 
 with him. But the lover who perifhed, what 
 do you know of him ?" 
 
 *' That he was the inhabitant of a fleep 
 rock which hung over the fca ; that there he 
 built a wretched hovel, lived on wild weeds, 
 and the produce of a folitary ifland ; that there 
 he died I" 
 
 " Of what country was he ?" faid Lady 
 Strickland. 
 
 ^'He 
 
JASPER. 135 
 
 *' He was an Englifhman," replied Jafper, 
 while liis dark but funken eyes watched the 
 emotions of her louh 
 
 ** How came he on the illand ?" 
 
 *' Shipwrecked." 
 
 " How long fince?" 
 
 *' Juft eighteen years." 
 
 " And what is your authority for fuppofing 
 that he was adeferted lover?" 
 
 *' Letters, which I found in his clofed 
 hovel." 
 
 *• Produce them," faid Lady Strickland, 
 with a faultering voice. 
 
 *' Pardon me. Madam," replied Jafper; 
 *' they were placed in mv keeping by the de- 
 cree of myllerious delliny, and I was not au- 
 thorized by the fpirit of their departed owner 
 to divulge his fecret : thofe letters were the 
 bonds of facred confidence, the tranfcript of 
 afFedion ; they muft not be violated." 
 
 " How long had he been dead, when you 
 found the letters ?" 
 
 *'0! many, many years. His bones had 
 been whitened by the fea breeze ; his form 
 had wholly decayed, or perhaps fed the ra- 
 venous maw of the fea-bird." 
 
136 JASPEFv. 
 
 Lady Strickland funk back and fainted. 
 Sir Martin was alarmed : he knew, for his 
 fake, that Jafper Woodville, the farmer's only 
 fon, had been fent to fea, and never after 
 heard of. The palenefs which chilled the 
 lip and cheek of his confcience-ftricken wife, 
 convinced him that the failor'sfiorv had pierc- 
 ed her heart. He flew towards the houle for 
 affiftance ; the fhrubbery was extenfive. Jaf- 
 per watched him out of fight, and then throw- 
 ing himfelf at Lady Strickland's feet, gave way 
 to the excefs of forrow. He gazed on her 
 countenance ; he prelTed her to his heart : — 
 fhe was infenfible ; fhe fcarcely feemed to 
 breathe. Sir Martin again approached them. 
 Jafper heard his footfteps : he was tortured, 
 wild, diftrafted : again he prefled Lady Strick- 
 land to his heart — " For the lall time !" faid 
 he, in an agony of defpair, " for the lall — lajl 
 time, Oh Margaret ! thy wretched lover ! thy 
 exiled vi(^im holds thee to his aching bofom." 
 Sir Martin faw Jafper, but did not hear dif- 
 tinftly the frantic language which he uttered. 
 ** Seize the villain !" exclaimed the Baronet ; 
 **■ feizc the audacious vagrant !'* 
 
 «' Yet 
 
JASPER. 137 
 
 *♦ Yet fufFer me to fpeak one word to LaJy " 
 Strickland !" cried Jafper, " one fhort word, 
 and [ will then fubmit with fortitude.' / 
 
 " What would you fay?" enquired Sir Mar- 
 tin, flernly. . ^ 
 
 *' I would recommend to her care this little 
 orphan ; I would conjure her, for the fake of 
 a loft, wretched man, to fuccour and prote(El 
 the infant Edmund, the heir of the Baron de 
 Stanheim." 
 
 " We will protect him," replied Sir Martin. 
 
 " Promife me moft facrediy that you never 
 will defert him," cried Jafper, falling on his 
 knees before Sir Martin. At this moment 
 Lady Strickland's eyes opened faintly : (he 
 faw the agitated Jafper proftrate on the earth, 
 with his hands clafped in the agony of grief, 
 and his eyes blinded with tears. " What new 
 caufe for forrow haft thou, unhappy man ?*' 
 faid Lady Strickland. " Why do I fee you 
 ftill in the attitude of fupplication ?" 
 
 " Imploring an afyium for this boy, this 
 offspring of the Baronefs de Stanheim," replied 
 Jafper. 
 
 " He has found one," faid Lady Strickland ; 
 
 "he 
 
138 JASPER. 
 
 •* he fhali never know any other home but 
 this ; he fhaJliind in me a mother." 
 
 Jafper rofe, and with a firm voice exclaim- 
 ed, " Now, Heaven ! I obey their will with 
 humble refignation !'* Then turning to the 
 domeftics, he added, " Lead me where you 
 chufe, for all places are alike to me." 
 
 " Not a prifoner!'* faid Lady Strickland ; 
 ** Sir Martin will not be fo barbarous. 1 he 
 being who at the hazard of his own life pre- 
 ferved this boy, deferves at leafl fome pity. 
 The fpirit of the loft Woodville, of Madame 
 de Stanheim, will whifper to your heart, and 
 plead for his forgivenefs." 
 
 *' But what will the country fay if I do not 
 render juftice ? What will become of my re- 
 putation, if I pardon a robber and a vagrant ?'* 
 faid Sir Martin. " At any rate, I muft have 
 time to confider the matter. Meanwhile you 
 may go with the fervants and get fome re- 
 frefhment." 
 
 " Not from the bounty of that man who 
 calls me robber ; no. Sir Martin, not from the 
 hand which ftabbed my peace of mind, will I 
 accept the means of life. The only favour I 
 
 afk 
 
JASPER. 139 
 
 afk is liberty to depart, to forget that ever I be- 
 held this fpot — this fatal fpot. 
 
 ** Let him depart," cried Lady Strickland. 
 ** I intreat you, Sir Martin, to let the unhappy 
 being enjoy the only birth-right which For- 
 tune has allowed him — that liberty, without 
 which all human enjoyments are but vi- 
 lionary." 
 
 Sir Martin paufed. The fervants who Hood 
 round Jafper fighed when they beheld his 
 manly, though deje£led countenance ; his fal- 
 low cheek, his dark eyes glillening through 
 tears, as they were fixed on the fate of little 
 Edmund. 
 
 " You may go," cried Sir Martin ; " but 
 upon condition that yau never again vifit this 
 part of the country." 
 
 " Not to enquire after my poor boy r " faid 
 Jafper; " perhaps to bring him joyful tidings." 
 
 " Yes ; to fee Edmund !" faid Lady Strick- 
 land. " Sir Martin will not refufe you fo 
 fmall a favour ; you who preferved him from 
 the ftormy ocean." 
 
 *' Well ; begone !" faid Sir Martin, fternly, 
 as he quitted the group, and turned towards 
 
 the 
 
140 JASPER. 
 
 the houfe. Lady Strickland did not follow : 
 Ihe loitered with Edmund, to bid Jafper a long 
 farewell. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 AS foon as the Baronet was out of light, 
 Lady Strickland took a purfe from her pocket 
 filled with money and offered it to )afper. He 
 llarted back with a look of furprize, which 
 feemed to proceed from a fenfation of horror. 
 ** Keep — keep your ill-gotten gold," faid Jaf- 
 per, " you will want it to confole you." Lady 
 Strickland fighed, as (he looked earneftly at 
 Jafper, whofe eyes were turned from her with 
 a penlive melancholy, while his cheek was 
 fuffufed with a flufh which memory produced 
 as it darted through his brain. He was turn- 
 ing towards the gate, when Lady Strickland 
 again addreifed him. 
 
 ** I beg you to ftay a moment : your looks, 
 your manners have fomething myflerious in 
 
 them. 
 
JASPER. 141 
 
 them. I have fome recolle£lion of your fea- 
 tures : where hav'e I fecn you r'* 
 
 *' Here," reph'ed Jafper, iighing deeply, 
 
 ** At no other place r** enquired Lady 
 Strickland. 
 
 " None," faid Jafper. 
 
 " Then I was miftaken. I fancied that I 
 knew your face, your voice ; indeed, there ap- 
 peared to me an intimate acquaintance which 
 my memory claimed, in every thing you did 
 and uttered." 
 
 *' Perhaps I refeinble a perfon that you once 
 knew," faid Jafper. 
 
 ** It may be fo," replied Lady Strickland. 
 ** Indeed, it. mud be fo ; and yet — " fhe 
 paufed, as fhe fixed her eyes on Jafper's coun- 
 tenance. Her inquifitive look opprefTed him, 
 and again he was turning away towards the 
 gate. 
 
 *' Stay till to-morrow," faid Lady Strick- 
 land. " lake fome refrefliment — I muft be 
 convinced — I think 1 know you." Her voice 
 was tremulous ; her colour became moie*paIe ; 
 Ihe leant againft the bench beneath the mul- 
 berry-irec. Her eyes retraced the letters 
 which Jafper's hand had carved. 
 
142 JASPER. 
 
 " You are weary — you are faint : reftyour- 
 felf on this feat : it has often been the fcenc 
 of forrow." 
 
 " To whom ?" cried Jafper, eagerly. 
 
 ** To me," replied Lady Strickland. 
 
 *' So wealthy, fo furrounded by every fplen- 
 dour, can you be wretched ? It is the fon of 
 toil, the labourer of misfortune, thatis fubjeft 
 to the miferies of life ; the fea-beaten failor, 
 the poor unhappy wandering exile, whofe lot 
 is forrow. But vou are placed where fuch 
 anxieties, fuch fears, fuch perils never can an- 
 noy you. The lap of luxury isfoft and footh- 
 ing ; it lulls to reft all remembrance of the 
 unhappy." 
 
 *' You fpeak with an energy, and in words 
 that I fliould not expeft from one in your 
 fituation," faid Lady Strickland. 
 
 ** Why, Madam ? Does the outward garb 
 always exhibit a picture of the inward mind ? 
 Cannot virtue, feeling, fentiment, inhabit the 
 fame breaft that poverty opprefles ? Is it the 
 ftamp of fortune that gives value to the gifts 
 of Nature ?" 
 
 " Go on ! you aftonifli me !" faid Lady 
 Strickland. 
 
JASPER. 143 
 
 ** Why are you aftonifhed ? Is man fo dull 
 a creature, that he can learn nothing in the 
 book of obfervation ? I have travelled — I have 
 read. Why then fhould this ragged covering 
 throw a fhade on all that reafon has implanted 
 in my heart ? I have been taught in the befl 
 fchool — by the mod fevere, though by the 
 trueft mafter." 
 
 *' Indeed]" 
 
 " Yes ; by adverlity." 
 
 ** You have known better days," faid Lady 
 Strickland. 
 
 " Oh ! I have known the happieft, the 
 fweeteft hours that everfhone on this worldly 
 path of viciffitude. I have been the mofl: blell 
 of human beings : I have {een the fmile of 
 fond afFeftion, the tear of fympathy : I have 
 heard the ligh of dear regret ; but I have alfo 
 felt the chilling breath of fcorn, the fting of 
 perfccution." 
 
 " Tell me your name !" faid Lady Strick- 
 land, with a faultering voice. 
 
 " A name of fo little importance cannot 
 intereft you," replied Jafper — '< a name that 
 has been fo long forgotten." 
 
 " By 
 
\ 
 
 144 " ' JASPER. 
 
 ** By whom ?'* 
 
 *' By all the world ; but moil by her who, 
 when her mind was uncontaminated by the 
 love of wealth, was the treafure of my foul." 
 
 ** You alarm, you tcrrifv me ! I think" — 
 Lady Strickland hefltated — " No, no, it can- 
 not be," added fhe, with a forced fmile : " The 
 exile whom you buried in the defart rock 
 was " 
 
 " An unhappy lover," interrupted Jafper ; 
 who perceiving by the agitated tone of Lady 
 Strickland's voice that fhe was doubtful whe- 
 ther or not fhe knew him, now again thought 
 it prudent to miflead her. He reflected that 
 a knowledge of his fufFerings could not be pro- 
 ductive of any advantage either to herfelf or 
 to him — fhe being the wife of Sir Martin, and 
 Jafper too proud to incur an obligation." — 
 After feveral moments, during which Lady 
 Strickland's heart throbbed with contending 
 conili£ls, fhe again intreated that he would 
 acquaint her with his name. Jafper was 
 filent, 
 
 ** Have you ever heard of the family of 
 Woodville ?" enquired Lady Strickland, with 
 a voice feeble and inarticulate. 
 
JASPER. 145 
 
 *' The fon— the ill-fated Jafper." 
 
 " Yes ; there was a fon, an only fon,'* In- 
 terrupted Lady Suickland. '* The moil wor- 
 thy, the moft regretted of mortals." 
 
 Jalper's foul was agitated almoil: to fienzy : 
 his whole frame trembled ; his lip became as 
 pale as alhes. 
 
 " He was fhipwrecked," faid he ; *' he was 
 the inhabitant of the folitude I mentioned : 
 the hovel on the fea rock was his abode : he 
 will trouble vou no move." 
 
 " Then every hope is vanilhed,*' flghed 
 Lady Stiickland. ** The delulions of a fond 
 fancy muft be for ever buried in his grave." — • 
 After a Ihort paufe (he continued — 
 
 *' Was the unhappy exile ever married ? 
 Eighteen years have pall inice he was heard 
 of lad. His father quitted his farm heart-bro- 
 ken ; his family has funk into decay ; and Sir 
 Martin, not four years lince, deftroyed the old 
 farm-houfe where poor Jalper was born : no 
 trace of it remains, excepting the oak room, 
 which is now the fervants' hall ; it was at the 
 eafl end of the building, and for the fake of 
 Jafper, I conjured Sir Martin to preferve it." 
 
 VOL. III. L " Did 
 
146 JASPER. 
 
 *< Did you remember him fo kindly ?" 
 
 ** Wiiy fhould I not r" faid Lady Strick- 
 land. *' He loved me — alas I too well. I 
 was the caufe of his abandoning his home. 
 Heaven can bear witnels that I have never 
 known one year of happinefs iince his depar- 
 ture. Eeneath this tree I have fat whole 
 hours alone and forrowful. 7'hefe cyphers, 
 which he engraved, 1 have bathed a thoufand 
 times with tears." 
 
 ." Yet I am told that this tree is to be level- 
 led fhortly," faid Jafper. *' I'hat thefe rude 
 records of afTef^ion are to be deflroyed — " 
 
 ** Sir Martin will have it fo. He thinks 
 that the fhadows which the broad branches 
 fpread, only cherifli the melancholy which 
 pervades my mind.'* 
 
 ** Poor VVoodville !" iighed Jafper. " His 
 weary fpiiit fhail reft for ever: he will never 
 moredlfturb your days : he is now tranquil !'* 
 
 " Would to Heaven that I were equally lo,** 
 faid Lady Strickland. *' But the certitude of 
 his fate muft be the folace of my afit6lions : 
 the mifery of hope will no longer keep from 
 my mind the balm of refignation. The few 
 ' lliort 
 
JASPER. 147 
 
 fhort clays which I am deilined to pafs in this 
 weary Icene Ihall be devoted to the memoiy 
 ot his virtues. And if his happy fpint, eman- 
 cipated from the forrows of exigence, demands 
 of me more than regret, I trud: that fate will 
 inRidi the punifhment I merit." 
 
 ** There is one promife that would foothe 
 his fliade, even in the defart's fohtude." 
 
 " Do you think fo ? Name it." 
 
 " Your kindnefs to poor Edmund." 
 
 *' Did he know the parents of poor Ed- 
 mund ?" faid Lady Strickland. 
 
 " He knew his mother, the Baronefs de 
 Stanheim," faid Jafper. 
 
 *' Perhaps he loved her?" cried Lady Strick- 
 land, eagerly. 
 
 *' He loved but one — one early object of 
 his affediiions : her name was Margaret." 
 
 *' Her other name r" 
 
 *' Trelawny." 
 
 Lady Strickland raifed her eyes towards 
 Heaven, and feebly fighed, " Forgive me /" 
 
 At this moment Sir Martin appeared haflen- 
 ing towards them. Jafper availed himfelf of 
 the opportunity to efcape from farther invefti- 
 
 gation. 
 
148 JASPER. 
 
 tion, and inflantly departed. Lady Strick- 
 land's confufion, her agitated features, her 
 aching heart, prevented her obferving him 
 till he had pafTed the gate, and was huftening 
 acrofs the moor at fome diftance. Sir Mai tin's 
 frown evinced his difapprobation of her con- 
 duct, in having remained fo long in converfa- 
 tion with Jafper ; and they filenlly proceeded 
 towards the houfe together. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 , SAD and impreflive were Jafper's rumina- 
 tions as he le-crolTed the moor. Frequently 
 did he look back with aching eyes towards 
 the fplendid abode of the rich Sir Martin ; and 
 as often did Fancy pi6^ure to his mind the 
 birth-place of the Woodvilles. The pang of 
 felf-reproach funk deep into his heart, when 
 he receded that during his long abfence he 
 had never written to his family ; that he had 
 
 never, 
 
JASPER. 149 
 
 never, by the attentions of filial duty, foftened 
 the mileiy of compunction in the bofom of 
 his ralh father. But that father had meanly 
 accepted a bribe to tranfport his devoted fon : 
 he had been teaipted by Sir Martin's gold to 
 banilh from his home the piide of his name, 
 the honour of his family. 
 
 Sir Martin Strickland was born and educated 
 in Cornwall : his father was penurious even 
 to vyretchednefs. The heir to his property 
 had received no education, no expanfion of 
 mind, that could teach him the true value of 
 thofe treafures which he was born to inherit, 
 and which had been amaiTed by the privation 
 of every earthly happincfs. 
 
 Shortly after his father's death, Sir Martin 
 by chance met with Margaret Trelawny : fhe 
 was then on a fhort viiit to a diftant relation 
 near Penzance. The report that flie was 
 fpeedily to be the wife of young W'oodville 
 awakened the jealoufy of the wealth-elated 
 Baronet, and he made her fuch propofals as 
 daggered her fortitude. Still the memory of 
 her promifesto Woodville fuflained her heart 
 under the trial which human vanity infli£led, 
 
 when 
 
160 JASPER. 
 
 when the rank and fortune of Sir Martin were 
 placed in competition with the worth of 
 Jafper. 
 
 The hour of final decifion at length arrived, 
 and Margaret was decided. 7'he virtues which 
 ennobled Wood viile's mind furpafled thefplen- 
 dours of Fortune's favours, and the Baronet's 
 propofals were firmlv rejefted. The mind of 
 Wood viile's father was not the prototype of 
 Jafper's ; he was fordid. Strong temptations 
 were held for-.h, a large increafe of landed 
 property, of money, cattle, intereft and con- 
 Tequence, bought him over to the purpofe of 
 Sir Martin ; and Jafper was the vi£lim. A 
 fhip bound to India was at that period an- 
 chored off the coaft within a few miles of 
 Woodvilie's farm. A number of Cornifh 
 feamen were to embark. Jafper went to wit- 
 nefs their departure. A fufficient quantity of 
 gold had been circulated to fway the feelings 
 of four defperate men — the ill-fated Wood- 
 ville was forced on board the vellel at mid- 
 night ; and before the dawn broke on the 
 eaftern ocean, the crew had loll fight of 
 ■Britain. 
 
 Woodvilie's 
 
JASPER. 151 
 
 Woodviile^s agony was indefcribable, A 
 fullen melancholy preyed upon his mind, and 
 he refufed every thing that approached him 
 in the form of confolation. After they had 
 been feveral days at fea, the niyftery was un- 
 folded to him ; with the addition of the tor- 
 turing afllirance that Margaret had been an 
 accomplice in the outrage which had been 
 planned againft him. Rage, defpair, and dif- 
 appointed paflion rouzed his mind, and armed 
 it to refiflthe miferes of his fortune. From 
 that hour he bore his exile with a proud filence 
 which difdained even to reproach his ene- 
 mies. Year after year he was borne on the 
 boifterous element, refigned to a delliny at 
 which he did not repine, becaufe it was un- 
 merited ; while Margaiet wafted her days in 
 regret and forrow, feeking in vain for that re- 
 pofe which all the treafures of the world could 
 not afford her. 
 
 CHAP, 
 
152 JASPER, 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 WOODVILLE purfued bis way till the 
 clofe of twiliglu, when he arrived at a fmall 
 public-houfe by the road fide : the door was 
 open ; but the confcioulnefs that he had not 
 money to purchafe refrefhment, prevented 
 his attempting to enter. 
 
 He feated himfelf atthe door bench. The 
 evening was ferene ; the rich glow of the fky 
 threw its ref1e£led tints on every furrounding 
 object. The diftant hills, which were partly 
 covered by the vapours ariiing from the ocean, 
 caught the purpling luftre ; and the wind, 
 v^hich fcarcelv ruffled the woods, fanned with 
 its gentleft breath the warm cheek of the life- 
 weary traveller ; for fuch at this moment was 
 the wandering Woodvillc. 
 
 He had only taken his feat to reft for a few 
 moments, for he purpofed, though fatigued 
 and faint with hunger, continuing his journey 
 during the night : the moft chilling damps 
 
 were 
 
JASPER. 153 
 
 were lefs iniolcrable than the noon-day fun. 
 The moon, which had aheady rifen above the 
 mountains, promifed its Hght to chear his 
 path, and to aid the penhve melancholy which 
 abloibed his foul. Amidflthe filence of mid- 
 night folitude he hoped to indulge his lighs, 
 unheard by the ever-watchful ear of curiofity : 
 he anticipated the foothing hour when his 
 tear would fall as the full heart was relieved 
 of the burthen that opprefTed it. 
 
 While he was by thought abftra£led from 
 that world which feemed to prefent a feries 
 of immitigable forrows, the landlord, with a 
 look ofcompaffion, approached him. There 
 was fomething in the countenance of Wood- 
 ville that was prepofleffing: his features were 
 manly and regular ; his eyes black and pene- 
 trating ; his figure had been finely propor- 
 tioned, but hardlhip and fatigue had robbed it 
 of many graces, leaving only the feeble out- 
 line of a vivid and harmonious pidture.; his 
 addrefs, his voice, his words were fuch as 
 marked the difparity between his fortune and 
 his intellefts; for the meanefl garb of poverty 
 cannot conceal the innate luftre of fuperior 
 
 orga- 
 
154 JASPER. 
 
 organization. The chilling touch of adverfity 
 cannot freeze the current of the foul ; what- 
 ever fools may aver, or fceptics argue to the 
 contrary. The ftamp which Nature fets upon 
 her beft woiks is cot fubjeft to the power of 
 Fortune ; and when even lime demands it as 
 the tribute of mortality, Fame reprints it on her 
 proudeft and moft unpeii(hable records. 
 
 Woodville was poor, opprefTed, and unfortu- 
 nate; yet with all thcfe diiadvantages his exte- 
 rior prefented, at the fiifl glance, thofe mental 
 qualities which placed him far above the race 
 of fophiilicated beings who, like the animal- 
 culae which fully the clear fpring, contaminate 
 fociety. Had he chofen any path of life 
 where the perfpe£live promifed an accumu- 
 lation of fame or fortune, their attainment 
 was more than probable with fuch powers of 
 mind as he poffelTed ;- but, like the ill-fated 
 Chatterton, his proud foul llirunk while he 
 beheld Virtue and Genius bending the knee 
 before degraded Greatnefs. He chofe the 
 reftlefs ocean as his home, rather than wait 
 the fmiles, or linger at the gate of Pride and 
 Oflentation. 
 
 Many 
 
JASPER. 155 
 
 Many have been the vi£lims of concealed 
 misfortune : many have prefented to the eye 
 of inquifitiveconimiferation the forced fmile of 
 contentment, while the heart has throbbed at 
 the tauntings ofadveriity. The pride of en- 
 nobled natures dreads the the reproof of over- 
 a6ted friendfhip: the keen pang of wounded 
 felf-Iove, proceeding from the zeal of bufj 
 admonition, links deep into the heart ; and 
 by palfying its moft fervid feeling, takes from 
 it the powers of emulation. Hence do we 
 frequently behold the fons of Genius finking 
 into the apathy of indifference, and fuffering 
 the moll illuftrious attributes of nature to wi- 
 ther into nothing; while we contemplate the 
 ilerling gifts of Nature negleded and forfaken, 
 though the falfe tinfel of Fortune pafles cur- 
 rent with the giddy crowd, and receives the 
 adulation of the million. 
 
 CHAP. 
 
)56 JASPER. 
 
 CHAPTER Xir. 
 
 WOODVILLE raifed bis eyes as the land- 
 lord approached him, and as fudJenly quitted 
 his feat to purfue his lonefome journey. The 
 clofe of day had brought with it fuch refrefli- 
 ing gales, that h's feverifh cheek no longer 
 dried the tear which fell upon it. The land- 
 lord looked earneilly at Woodville — " Will 
 you take a draught of fomething to refrtfli 
 you ?" faid he, fmiling, with rather a compaf- 
 fionating than a chearful countenance. 
 
 Woodville, though faint and thirfty, with 
 di'ffidence declined the offer I 
 
 " You Ihall, you mufl," faid the landlord ; 
 ** this bench is damp ; the air is chilly ; you 
 had better take my advice and enter the 
 houfe ; there is a fire, and you Ihall take fome 
 refrefhment." Woodville thanked his bene- 
 volent landlord, but was departing. 
 
 ** Come, come, you muil eat and drink ; I 
 
 will 
 
JASPER. }57 
 
 will not charge you any thing. A failor de- 
 ferves the good-will of his countrymen ; he is 
 the guardian of their fafety. It would be hard 
 indeed if, out of the great benefits they infure 
 to us, we fhould deny them a fmall return." — 
 Woodvillefighed, and touched his hat. The 
 eloquence of a grateful heart was not loft upon 
 an uncultivated obferver, though it had failed 
 to excite an intereft in the bofom of the 
 wealthy. The contraft between the landlord 
 and Sir Martin ftruck the heart of Woodville, 
 and his foot involuntarily pafled the threfhold. 
 
 A warm and decent room received the land- 
 lord and his weary gueft ; and in a few mi- 
 nutes a jug of ale, with a cold joint of meat, 
 were fet before them. ** I have not yet fup- 
 ped," fdid the hofpitable Andrews, " and we 
 will empty our jug together. Thank God, 
 there is plenty in the cellar." — Woodville was 
 filent, becaufe his heart was too full to give 
 his language utterance. His hand trembled 
 while he raifed the jug to his lips, and he 
 drank fparingly. 
 
 " Drink again !*' faid Andrews, '• I do not 
 grudge you ; then why Ihould you be fparing 
 
 of 
 
158 JASPER^ 
 
 of the liquor. Look at my fign, the Old Oak, 
 this is mycaftle, over which its branches have 
 flourifhed twelve long years ; and they have 
 fheltered many a poor weary traveller, when 
 higher roofs have denied them a refling- 
 plate." 
 
 " I believe you," faid Woodville. 
 
 " You may," interrupted Andrews. *' For 
 thougli the rich Sir Martin Strickland, our ma- 
 giflrate, and our over-ruler, has often threat- 
 ened to take away my licence, and turn me 
 out of my oak fhelter— -'* 
 
 " For what?" enquired Woodville, eagerly. 
 
 " Why, for what he calls harbouring vaga- 
 bonds, and encouraging idlenefs ; but I deny 
 the charge — though I never refufed a draught 
 to the thirfly, or a kind word to the unfor- 
 tunate." 
 
 As Andrews uttered thefe words, the firft 
 morfel reached the lips of Woodville. The 
 food was inviting, becaufe it was fweetened 
 by the hand of Hofpitality. 
 
 " Eat away, my honeft !'* faid Andrews; 
 ** the produce of Nature was defigned for the 
 poor as well as tlie lofty. So fays my Lady 
 
 Margaret ; 
 
JASPER. 159 
 
 Margaret ; but (he, poor foul, was bom fome- 
 what* below the topnidll pinnacle of pride. 
 I remtmber her when Ihe was the daughter 
 ofolci Trelawny — ** 
 
 Woodville's hand Ihook convuliively. 
 
 *' Aye, and as pretty a girl as any in Corn- 
 wall !'* relumed Andrews. ** But the devil 
 would tempt her in the fhape of a rich Baro- 
 net, and Ihe has paid dearly enough for her 
 folly." 
 
 *' Is fhe unhappy r" enquired Woodville. 
 
 *' Whv,thev fay that confcience forely trou- 
 bles her," replied Andrews; " and well it may, 
 for it is faid that fome fixteen or eighteen 
 years ago flie played a kna\ ilh fort of a trick 
 to a young farmer's fon here in our parts; a 
 fellow that was worthy a fcure of Sir Mai tins, 
 with all his money into the bargain." 
 
 " And what became of him ?" faid Jafper. 
 
 " Why, he was fent beyond feas, and never 
 after heard of. To be fure, his fatlier re- 
 pented forely after he was gone ; for the Ba- 
 ronet led him a forry fort of a life, and things 
 fomehow went at iixes and fevcns : this old 
 Woodville fold tl^e farm for a mere modicuin, 
 and went God knows where." 
 
l60 JASPER. 
 
 *' Well, and what followed ?'* faid Jafper, 
 railing the jug to leplenilh his fortitude. 
 
 *' Why, ioon after he was gone, down went 
 the old farm houfe as flat as the moor ; and a 
 iine (lately manfion foon ihewcd us the diffe- 
 rence betwixt a warm habitation and a cold 
 heart. The ale-cellar was converted into an 
 ice-houfe, and the oak room, where Honelly 
 and Labour ufed to regale at fun-let, was 
 made a hall of idlenefs for a tribe of liveried 
 varlets, who feldom fee the fun till it has 
 made half its day's journey." 
 
 ** How does Sir Martin employ his hours ?'* 
 
 *' How does he wafte them ? you (liould 
 fay,'* replied Andrews. ** Why, he lives all 
 his days for other people ; he thinks of no- 
 thing but of making himfelf the talk of the 
 country ; he keeps open houfe for the rich, 
 and a clofed gate for the poor ; he feeds 
 horfes, and builds kennels for hounds, to 
 amufe the gentry^ while the beggar looks on 
 hungry and houfelefs; he talks loudly about 
 a good name, but forgets the road where he 
 may chance to find one ; and he is a rigid 
 dealer in juflice, though Heaven never yet 
 
 gave 
 
JASPER. 161 
 
 gave him a licence for humanity. \t was 
 not fo in old Woodviile's days ; he had a 
 door that would open without a lacquey, and 
 a cellar that did not freeze, but warm the 
 heart ; and yet old Woodviile could not be 
 contented." 
 
 " Why, fo plentifully bleft, did he covet 
 more r" faid Jafper. 
 
 " Becaufe he faw that riches gets a man 
 higher praife and more power than honefty," 
 replied Andrews. " He found that Sir Martin, 
 though nothing but a churl, was more re- 
 fpefled than himfelf, with all his good-nature. 
 Then what did he do ? Why, he thought that 
 the more gold and the more land he got, the 
 broader folks would fmile, andthe lower thev 
 would bow ; he fold his peace of mind, and 
 found that money is but a poor exchange tor 
 a quiet confcience." 
 
 *' He remained fome time in Cornwall ?'* 
 faid Jafper. 
 
 *' Yes ; but what good did that do ? Sir 
 Martin was always harafTing him, and trying 
 to find fault. If by chance a dog crofled the 
 manor which the Baronet then held, he was 
 
 VOL. III. M Ihot 
 
l62 /ASPER. 
 
 fhot without judge or jury. If cattle ftrayed 
 upon hrs ground, why they were popped into 
 the pound, and aprofecution threatened with- 
 out mercy. Then if any of the farmers' 
 people looked awry at Sir Martin, why they 
 were fquat in the (locks next market-day, as 
 an example to others." 
 
 *' Was Sir Martin fo apt to take ofFence — 
 he who had been fo confirmed an offender?" 
 
 *^ O yes ; he was terribly Ihlgacious ; he 
 never could let law reft while he had that 
 which could buy it. But my Lady, poor foul ! 
 has always been inclined to make the burthen 
 light to the weak-fhouldered : flie has taken 
 the load from many a heart ; though, if report 
 may be credited, her own was heavily laden ; 
 for fhe never forgot the day when young 
 Woodville was fent beyond Teas, to plough 
 the rough waves, and to bear the hardlhips of 
 a failor's life. You know what he fuffercd.'* 
 
 ** 1 do indeed!*' fighed Jalper.' 
 
 ** Aye, many aftormy night has he thought 
 of my Lady, I'll warrant him," faid Andrews; 
 " and many a deep figh has he heaved when 
 he recolledted the fcenes he once knew at 
 
 the 
 
JASPER. J 63 
 
 the old farm-houfe. Well, well ! it will not 
 lafl long ; all will not go well at the mill when 
 the miller is not honeft. I'll venture to wager 
 a trifle that Sir Martin will not long enjoy his 
 riches ; and who knows but my l.ady and her 
 firft fweetheart may yet come together." 
 
 ** Never !" cried Jafper, while the idea elec- 
 trified his heart. 
 
 " Though mavhap the cliange of climate 
 has altered him, and my Lady might not like 
 a poor weather-beaten failor," faid Andrews, 
 " Fortune will make folks forget themfelves; 
 and time changes all things." 
 
 *' It does indeed !" faid Woodville, with a 
 (5gh. 
 
 ** Now ril wager fomethlng that you have 
 feen better days," cried Andrews : " you 
 don't look as if vouhad been born to the for- 
 tune which you now inherit. But cheer up, 
 and remember that there is a good friend 
 above who never forfakes the honeft." 
 
 " How do you know that 1 am honeft r" 
 enquired Jafper. 
 
 " I wager my life you are," faid Andrews. 
 " I have always looked for honefty in rags ; 
 and I was never difappointed." 
 
l64 JASPER. 
 
 ** It is too often the decree of defliny/' faid 
 Woodville , ^' and yet Sir Martin is rich, tho* 
 unfeeling." 
 
 " That is another matter,'* interrupted An- 
 drews, olacing his left finger on his nofe. *' I 
 did not fay that wealth was always the fign- 
 pofl to honeilv. Sir Martin has plenty of 
 gold, but he ftill wants fomeihing better." 
 
 '' And what is that ?" 
 
 *' The good-will of mankind. He may 
 buy- their fmiles, but he cannot purchafe their 
 affeftions. A little wealth, well managed, 
 may fecure thofe friends which great llores 
 can only dazzle. For this reafon the very 
 name of Woodville makes the fame heart 
 dance, which finks heavily when our Baronet 
 is mentioned." 
 
 " I (hould have thought that the name of 
 Woodville would have been forgotten," faid 
 Jafper. 
 
 *' That it can never be," replied Andrews ; 
 *' for my Lady every twentieth of May gives 
 alms at the old tree, in commemoration of 
 the day on which young Woodville was ba- 
 nilhed." 
 
 " Does Sir Martin permit fuch a teflimony 
 to be fo publicly difplayed ?" 
 
 ^ 
 
JASPER. 165 
 
 *' Yes^" replied Andrews ; *' becaufe my 
 Ladv calls it her day of tribute ; and Sir Mar- 
 tin .hinks it is irj memory of her decifion in 
 his favour." 
 
 " On the twentieth of May !" fighed Jaf- 
 per : " it is now the thirteenth. I fliould 
 like to witnefs this folemn anniverfary, for I 
 knew poor Woodville.'* 
 
 Andrews ftarted from his feat and exclaim- 
 ed, *' By G— , I thought fo ! I gueffed that 
 you were (hipmates, by your being fo inqui- 
 litive about my Lady. Well, if ever you 
 fee him again, you may tell him that he has 
 had ample vengeance, for fhe has been the 
 moft wretched wife that ever the world faw, 
 and has got the moil churlifh hufband that 
 ever difgraced a parfon. He will Iborten her 
 days, I promife you." 
 
 " Heaven forbid !" fighedjafper. 
 
 " Why, nobody will pity her,** £iid An- 
 drews ; " for falfehood in love feldom goes 
 unpunifhed, particularly where it is faciiiiced 
 for gold. But will you fee my Lady give 
 alms : you never faw a prettier fight in all 
 your days. My Lady takes her feat on the 
 
 bench 
 
l66 JASPER, 
 
 bench beneath the old mulberry- tree, and 
 there fhe beflows her charity from fun-rife 
 till noon on every body that comes to aik it. 
 It is called Woodville's Adverjity. 
 
 *' Anniverfary, you would fay.'' 
 
 " Yes, you are right, that is the word — 
 Wood vi lie's Univerjity — Then fhe fighs and 
 looks as melancholy as a funeral. Indeed, 
 one may fay it is a folemn ceremony, where 
 my Lady adls as chief mourner. You had 
 better I'lay and fee it." 
 
 *' I wilh I could !" faid Jafper. 
 
 ^'- Do," interrupted Andrews ; " Iwillgive 
 you a lodging till the day comes, and feed 
 you into the bargain; and who knows, if you 
 bring tidings of Woodville, but my Lady may 
 handfomely reward you." 
 
 " What I can tell her will avail but little, 
 fince fhe is flill the wife of Sir Martin," faid 
 Jafper ; " yet I feel ilrongly inclined to wit- 
 nefsthe ceremony, though I Ihould be loth to 
 wound her already aching heart, by remind- 
 ing it more forcibly of its unkindnefs." 
 
 " Stay, and try what Fortune may do for 
 you. You are fair-fpoken, and perhaps Ihe 
 may better your condition.*^ 
 
JASPER. 1 67 
 
 " She cannot make me more wretched," 
 faid Jafper. 
 
 ** Well, then, take courage. A few days 
 reft will recruit yourflrength, and you will be 
 able to tell my Lady all you know about 
 Woodville." 
 
 ** I will ftay," faid Jafper, hut I cannot live 
 upon your generofity : if you can employ me 
 with advantage to yourfelf, I will accept your 
 offer," 
 
 ** We will talk of that to-morrow,'* replied 
 Andrews, as he quitted the room to replenilh 
 the jug which they had emptied. 
 
 CHAP- 
 
l6S JASPER, 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE evening pafled chearfully. Wood- 
 ville entertained his hoft with the adventures 
 of his various voyages, flill concealing the fe- 
 cret of his being the long-lamented objeft of 
 Lady Strickland's forrows. Their chearful 
 meal, fpread before them with no fparing 
 hand, lafled till near midnight ; for the mind 
 of Andrews was eager after knowledge ; and 
 the eloquence of his world-weary hiflorian 
 made time pafs rapidly. 
 
 Jafper found during the evening's converfa- 
 tion that Andrews was a bachelor, poffefled 
 of lefs than affluence, but more than fufficient 
 to exclude neceflity : he was fatisfied ; and the 
 mofl opulent might have envied that recon- 
 ciling fpirit, which taught him to know that 
 independence is the firfl of human bleffings. 
 
 On retiring to refl, Woodville found a de- 
 cent apartment, a clean bed, and a mind more 
 
 tranquil 
 
 i. 
 
JASPER. 169 
 
 tranquil than it ever had been fince that day, 
 the commemoration of which he fhortly pur- 
 pofed witneffing. He laid his head for once 
 upon a peaceful pillow> beneath the humble 
 roof of genuine hofpitality. He felt that the 
 benefits he received did not originate in oflen- 
 tation ; and he refolved on proving, that the 
 proudeft: fenfation of a liberal mind is that 
 which owes its origin to gratitude. 
 
 Nature, in her vafl variety of works, never 
 fafnioned a heart more perfeft than that of 
 Woodville. He was one of thofe rare gems 
 which Time dilplays amidft an infinity of 
 drofs ; and to which, though Labour had not 
 polifhed it, innate qualities had given luftre. 
 Thofe who have feen the fine effufions of 
 fancy, flowing with fpontaneous grace from 
 the mind of an uncultivated plough-boy ; * 
 thofe who have traced the infpired and glow- 
 ing imagination of the unhappy Chatterton, 
 will readily confefs that Genius is an innate 
 gift which will difplay itfelf, though fortune,, 
 and even the polifh of education, deny their 
 
 ♦ Burns, the Scottilh Poet, and our English Bloomfield. 
 
 tributes* 
 
370 JASPER. 
 
 tributes. Such a being was the hero of this 
 Hory — fuch was the fcorned, the perfecuted, 
 the neglected Woodville. 
 
 Three days elapfed and Woodville Hill was 
 Andrews's gueft ; every liour was employed 
 in labour, for the little garden was fcarcely 
 cultivated, and a drain was then digging to 
 carry offthe itreams which with every fummer 
 ihower fwelled rapidly from the adjacent 
 mountains. Woodville chofe the higheft 
 ground for the fcene of his labour, becaufe he 
 could from the acclivity perceive the dillant 
 woods, and the tall chimnies of Strickland- 
 houfe. His toil was inceiTant ; but it did not 
 fatigue him ; becaufe it was prompted by gra- 
 titude, and fuflained by hope. 
 
THE 
 
 SAVAGE OF AVEYRON. 
 
 BY MRS. ROBINSON, 
 
173 
 
 THE 
 
 ^SAVAGE OF AVEYRON. 
 
 THE following Poem, which by the date the Reader 
 wiil perceive to have been written a very short time 
 previous to the dilTolution of its excellent Author, will 
 require no apology for its insertion in this publication. 
 The correctness of the metre, and the plaintive har- 
 mony which pervades every stanza, clearly evinces the 
 mild philosophy with which a strong mind can smooth 
 its journey to the grave. This last offspring of Mrs. 
 Robinson's Muse was produced at intervals of fa- 
 vourable symptoms of her fatal malady. The subject 
 was interesting to her heart. She adopted it with all the 
 enthuiiasm of mournful anticipation. The story 
 first suggested itself to her after perusing various ac- 
 counts of a Savage Bov, lately discovered in the 
 Forest of Avtyro7iy in the department of Taf^v, and said 
 
174 
 
 to be then existing at Paris. Frequent instances of 
 this kind have occurred in the history of Man, and 
 conjecture has almost uniformly been bewildered re- 
 specting the origin of such fugitives. In countries 
 where Bakditti have been known to reside, imagina- 
 tion may be allowed the exercise of its powers ; and 
 Reason may ruminate on the possibility, as well as the 
 probability, of such an intereltlng history as that of 
 
 ** THE SAVAGE OF AVEYRON. '* 
 
 'TWAS in the mazes of a wood. 
 
 The lonely wood of Aveyron, 
 
 I heard a melancholy tone, 
 
 It seem'd to freeze my blood 1 
 A torrent tear was flowing fast. 
 And hollow was the morning blast. 
 As o'er the leafless woods it past. 
 
 While terror-fraught it stood I 
 O ! mazy woods of Aveyron ! 
 
175 
 
 O ! wilds of dreary solitude ! 
 Amid thy thorny alleys rude 
 
 I thought myself alone ! 
 
 I thought no living thing could be 
 
 O DO 
 
 So weary of the world as me, 
 While on my winding path the pale moon shone, 
 
 ^Sometimes the tone was loud and sad, 
 And sometimes dulcet, faint and slow ; 
 And then a tone of frantic woe. 
 It almost made me mad. 
 
 The burthen was '* alone! alone !'* 
 
 And then the heart did feebly groan, 
 
 Then suddenly a chearful tone 
 Proclaim'd a spirit glad ! 
 
 ** O ! mazy woods of Aveyron ! 
 
 " O ! wilds of dreary solitude, 
 
 " Amid your thorny alleys rude 
 *' I wish'd myself — a traveller alone I 
 
176 
 
 ** Alone,'* I heard the wild boy say, 
 And swift he climb'd a blasted oak, 
 And there while Morning's herald woke, 
 He watch'd the opening day; 
 Yet dark and sunken was his eye. 
 Like a lorn maniac's, wild and shy. 
 And scowling like a winter's sky, 
 
 Without one beamy ray ! 
 
 Then mazy woods of Aveyron, 
 
 Then wilds of dreary solitude. 
 
 Amid thy thorny alleys rude, 
 
 I sigh'd to be — a traveller alone! 
 
 *' Alone ! alone!*'' I heard him shriek, 
 'Twas like the shriek of dying man ! 
 And then to mutter he began. 
 But, O ! he could not speak ! 
 I saw him point to Heav'n, and sigh, 
 The big drop trembled in his eye, 
 
177 
 
 And slowly from the yellow sky, 
 I saw the pale moon break : 
 I saw the woods of Aveyron, 
 Their wilds of dreary solitude ! 
 I mark'd their thorny alleys rude. 
 And wish*d to be a traveller alone ! 
 
 His hair was long and black, and he 
 
 From infancy alone had been ! 
 
 For since his fifth year he had seen 
 None mark'd his destiny ! 
 No mortal ear had heard his groan. 
 For him no beam of hope had shone. 
 While sad he sigh'd — " almie^ alone /'* 
 
 Beneath the blasted tree ! 
 And there, O ! woods of Aveyron ! 
 
 O ! wilds of dreary solitude ! 
 
 Amid your thorny alleys rude, 
 I thought myself a traveller alone. 
 
 VOL. III. N 
 
178 
 
 And now upon the blasted tree 
 
 He carv'd three notches, broad and long. 
 And all the while he sang a song 
 Of Nature's melody ! 
 And tho' of words he little knew. 
 And tho' his dulcet tones were few. 
 Across the yielding bark he drew. 
 Deep sighing, notches three ! 
 O ! mazy woods of Aveyron ! 
 O ! wilds of dreary solitude. 
 Amid your thorny alleys rude. 
 Upon this BLAsTtD OAK, no sun shone ! 
 
 And now he pointed one, two, three, 
 
 And now he shriek'd with wild dismay ! 
 And now he pacM the thorny way. 
 Quitting the blasted tree. 
 It was a dark December morn, 
 The dew was frozen on the thorn y 
 
^19 
 
 But to a wretch so sad, so lorn. 
 
 All days alike would be ! 
 Yet, mazy woods of Aveyron ! 
 
 Yet, wilds of dreary solitude ! 
 
 Amid your frosty alleys rude, 
 I wish'd to be — a traveller alone! 
 
 I follow'd him along the wood. 
 
 To a small sfrot his hands had made. 
 Deep In a black rock's sullen sliade, 
 Beside a tumblins: flood ! 
 Upon the earth I saw him spread. 
 Of wither'd leaves a narrow bed. 
 Yellow as gold, and streak'd with red ; 
 They look'd like streaks of blood ! 
 Fall'n from the woods of Aveyron, 
 And scatter'd o'er the solitude 
 By midnight whirlwinds, strong and rude. 
 To pillow the scorch'd brain, that throbb'd alone! 
 
ISO 
 
 Wild berries were his winter food, 
 With them his sallow lip was dy'df 
 On chestnuts wild he fed beside, 
 Steep' d in the foamy flood. 
 
 Chequer' d with scars, his breast was seen, 
 
 Wounds, streaming fresh with anguish keen ! 
 
 And marks where other wounds had been. 
 Torn by the brambles rude. 
 
 Such was the Boy of Aveyron, 
 The tenant of that solitude. 
 Where still by misery unsubdu'd, 
 
 He wander' d nine long winters, all alone ! 
 
 Before the step of his rude throne 
 The squirrel sported, tame and gay ; 
 The dormouse slept its life away. 
 Nor heard his midnight gfroan : 
 About his form a garb he wore. 
 Ragged it was, and mark'd with gore ; 
 
181 
 
 And yet, whene'er 'twas folded o'er. 
 
 Full many a spangle shone ! 
 Like little stars, O ! Aveyron ! 
 
 They gleam'd amid thy solitude! 
 
 Or like, along thy alleys rude, 
 The summer dew-drops, sparkling in the sun ! 
 
 It once had been a lady's vest, 
 
 White as the whitest mountain snow! 
 Till ruffian hands had taught to flow 
 The fountain of her breast ! 
 Remembrance bade the wild Boy trace 
 Her beauteous form, her angel face. 
 Her eye that beam'd with heavenly grace, 
 
 Her fainting voice, that blest ! 
 When in the woods of Avlyron, 
 Deep in their deepest solitude, 
 Three barb'rous ruffians shed her blood. 
 And mock'd, with cruel taunts, her dying groan. 
 
162 
 
 Remembrance trac'd the summer bricrht. 
 When all the trees were fresh and green, 
 \\ hen lost the aUeys long between. 
 The lady past the night ; 
 She past the night bewilder'd w".ld. 
 She past it with her fearles^^ child, 
 Who rais'd his little arms, and smil'd. 
 
 To see the morning light ! 
 While In the woods of Aveyron, 
 Beneath the broad oak's canopy. 
 She mark'd aghast the ruffians three, 
 W^aiting to seize the traveller alone ! 
 
 Beneath the broad oak*s canopy 
 " The lovely lady's bones were la-'d ; 
 But since that hour no breeze has playM 
 About the blasted tree ! 
 The leaves all wither'd ere the sun 
 His next day's rapid course had run. 
 
183 
 
 And ere the summer day was done. 
 
 It winter secm'd to be 1 
 And still, O ! woods of Aveyron, 
 Amid thy dreary solitude 
 The oak, a sapless trunk, has stood. 
 To mark the spot where murder foul was done! 
 
 From HER the WILD Boy learnt " alome:** 
 
 She tried to say, my babe will die ; 
 
 But angels caught her parting sigh. 
 The BABE her dying tone ! 
 And f om that hour the Boy has been 
 Lord of the solitary scene. 
 Winding the dreary shades between. 
 
 Making his dismal moan! * 
 
 Till, mazy woods of Aveyron ! 
 
 Dark wilds of dreary solitude ! 
 
 Amid your thorny alleys rude. 
 
1S4 
 
 I thought myself alone ; 
 And could a wretch more wretched be, 
 More wild and fancy-fraught, than he, 
 Whose melancholy tale would pierce an heart of 
 
 STONE. 
 
 END OF VOL. hi; 
 
 T, Giliet, Printer, Salisbury-Square. 
 
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