taken in either case. Those who read this journal, if it shall be
perused by impartial eyes, shall judge of me truly; and if they consider
me as a fool in encountering danger unnecessarily, they shall have no
reason to believe me a coward or a turncoat, when I find myself engaged
in it. I have been bred in sentiments of attachment to the family on the
throne and in these sentiments I will live and die. I have, indeed, some
idea that Mr. Herries has already discovered that I am made of different
and more unmalleable metal than he had at first believed. There were
letters from my dear Alan Fairford, giving a ludicrous account of my
instability of temper, in the same pocket-book, which, according to the
admission of my pretended guardian, fell under the investigation of
his domestic during the night I passed at Brokenburn, where, as I now
recollect, my wet clothes, with the contents of my pockets, were, with
the thoughtlessness of a young traveller, committed too rashly to the
care of a strange servant. And my kind friend and hospitable landlord,
Mr. Alexander Fairford, may also, and with justice, have spoken of my
levities to this man. But he shall find he has made a false estimate
upon these plausible grounds, since--

I must break off for the present.

CHAPTER IX

LATIMER'S JOURNAL, IN CONTINUATION

There is at length a halt--at length I have gained so much privacy as to
enable me to continue my journal. It has become a sort of task of duty
to me, without the discharge of which I do not feel that the business
of the day is performed. True, no friendly eye may ever look upon these
labours, which have amused the solitary hours of an unhappy prisoner.
Yet, in the meanwhile, the exercise of the pen seems to act as a
sedative upon my own agitated thoughts and tumultuous passions. I never
lay it down but I rise stronger in resolution, more ardent in hope. A
thousand vague fears, wild expectations, and indigested schemes,
hurry through one's thoughts in seasons of doubt and of danger. But by
arresting them as they flit across the mind, by throwing them on paper,
and even by that mechanical act compelling ourselves to consider them
with scrupulous and minute attention, we may perhaps escape becoming the
dupes of our own excited imagination; just as a young horse is cured of
the vice of starting by being made to stand still and look for some time
without any interruption at the cause of its terror.

There remains but