yself for the offence I was so unhappy as to give at our
last parting; to beg a reconciliation, to thank you for the case and
affluence I have enjoyed through your means, and to rescue you, in spite
of yourself, from this melancholy situation; of which, but an hour ago,
I was utterly ignorant. Do not deny me the satisfaction of acquitting
myself in point of duty and obligation. You must certainly have had some
regard for a person in whose favour you have exerted yourself so much;
and if any part of that esteem remains, you will not refuse him an
opportunity of approving himself in some measure worthy of it. Let
me not suffer the most mortifying of all repulses, that of slighted
friendship; but kindly sacrifice your resentment and inflexibility to
the request of one who is at all times ready to sacrifice his life for
your honour and advantage. If you will not yield to my entreaties, have
some regard to the wishes of my Sophy, who laid me under the strongest
injunctions to solicit your forgiveness, even before she knew how much I
was indebted to your generosity; or, if that consideration should be of
no weight, I hope you will relax a little for the sake of poor Emilia,
whose resentment hath been long subdued by her affection, and who now
droops in secret at your neglect."

Every word of this address, delivered in the most pathetic manner,
made an impression upon the mind of Peregrine. He was affected with the
submission of his friend, who, in reality, had given him no just
cause to complain. He knew that no ordinary motive had swayed him to a
condescension so extraordinary in a man of his punctilious temper. He
considered it, therefore, as the genuine effect of eager gratitude and
disinterested love, and his heart began to relent accordingly. When he
heard himself conjured in the name of the gentle Sophy, his obstinacy
was quite overcome; and when Emilia was recalled to his remembrance,
his whole frame underwent a violent agitation. He took his friend by the
hand, with a softened look; and, as soon as he recovered the faculty
of speech, which had been overpowered in the conflict of passions that
transported him, protested, that he retained no vestige of animosity,
but considered him in the light of an affectionate comrade, the ties of
whose friendship adversity could not unbind. He mentioned Sophy in the
most respectful terms; spoke of Emilia with the most reverential awe,
as the object of his inviolable love and venerati