rl, an old tale; yet, let not this example, or the
frigid caution of cold-blooded moralists, make you endeavour to stifle
hopes, which are the buds that naturally unfold themselves during the
spring of life! Whilst your own heart is sincere, always expect to meet
one glowing with the same sentiments; for to fly from pleasure, is not to
avoid pain!

"My uncle realized, by good luck, rather than management, a handsome
fortune; and returning on the wings of love, lost in the most enchanting
reveries, to England, to share it with his mistress and his friend, he
found them--united.

"There were some circumstances, not necessary for me to recite, which
aggravated the guilt of the friend beyond measure, and the deception,
that had been carried on to the last moment, was so base, it produced the
most violent effect on my uncle's health and spirits. His native country,
the world! lately a garden of blooming sweets, blasted by treachery,
seemed changed into a parched desert, the abode of hissing serpents.
Disappointment rankled in his heart; and, brooding over his wrongs, he
was attacked by a raging fever, followed by a derangement of mind, which
only gave place to habitual melancholy, as he recovered more strength of
body.

"Declaring an intention never to marry, his relations were ever
clustering about him, paying the grossest adulation to a man, who,
disgusted with mankind, received them with scorn, or bitter sarcasms.
Something in my countenance pleased him, when I began to prattle. Since
his return, he appeared dead to affection; but I soon, by showing him
innocent fondness, became a favourite; and endeavouring to enlarge and
strengthen my mind, I grew dear to him in proportion as I imbibed his
sentiments. He had a forcible manner of speaking, rendered more so by a
certain impressive wildness of look and gesture, calculated to engage the
attention of a young and ardent mind. It is not then surprising that I
quickly adopted his opinions in preference, and reverenced him as one of
a superior order of beings. He inculcated, with great warmth,
self-respect, and a lofty consciousness of acting right, independent of
the censure or applause of the world; nay, he almost taught me to brave,
and even despise its censure, when convinced of the rectitude of my own
intentions.

"Endeavouring to prove to me that nothing which deserved the name of love
or friendship, existed in the world, he drew such animated pictures of
his own feel