y the idea with which it is associated in
the mind of a true modern-bred lady.

It may be objected to the poet's gallantry that he remarks

How beauty is excell'd by manly grace,
And wisdom, which alone is truly fair;

let it be remembered that the observation proceeds from the lips of Eve
herself, and thus adds to her other graces, the crowning grace of
humility.

But it is high time that I should proceed from my criticism to myself.
The connexion, and of course the transition, will be found more natural
than may appear, till developed by my slight narrative.

CHAPTER II.

I am a young man, not quite four and twenty, of an ancient and
respectable family, and considerable estate in one of the northern
counties. Soon after I had completed my studies in the university of
Edinburgh, my father fell into a lingering illness. I attended him with
an assiduity which was richly rewarded by the lessons of wisdom, and the
example of piety, which I daily received from him. After languishing
about a year, I lost him, and in him the most affectionate father, the
most enlightened companion, and the most Christian friend.

The grief of my mother was so poignant and so lasting, that I could
never prevail on myself to leave her, even for the sake of attaining
those advantages, and enjoying those pleasures, which may be reaped by a
wider range of observation, by a more extended survey of the
multifarious tastes, habits, pursuits, and characters of general
society. I felt with Mr. Gray that we can never have but one mother, and
postponed from time to time the moment of leaving home.

I was her only child, and though it was now her sole remaining wish to
see me happily married, yet I was desirous of first putting myself in a
situation which might afford me a more extensive field of inquiry before
I ventured to take so irretrievable a step, a step which might perhaps
affect my happiness in both worlds. But time did not hang heavy on my
hands; if I had little society, I had many books. My father had left me
a copious library, and I had learnt from him to select whatever was most
valuable in that best species of literature which tends to form the
principles, the understanding, the taste, and the character. My father
had passed the early part of his life in the gay and busy world; and our
domestic society in the country had been occasionally enlivened by
visits from some of his London friends, men of sense and learning,