THE 
 
 MAN 
 
 O F 
 
 FEELING. 
 
 A NEW EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR W. STRAHAN; AND 
 
 T. CADELL, IN THE STRAND. 
 
 MDCCLXXXJII,
 
 .;/V~ 
 
 - 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 IVl Y dog had made a point on a piece 
 of fallow-ground, and led the curate 
 and me two or three hundred yards 
 over that and fome ftubble adjoining, 
 in a breathlefs ftate of expectation, on 
 a burning firft of September. 
 
 It was a falfe point, and our labour 
 was vain : yet, to do Rover juftice (for 
 he's an excellent dog, though I have 
 loft his pedigree), the fault was none of 
 his, the birds were gone : the curate 
 fliewed me the fpot where they had lain 
 baflcing, at the roct of an old hedge. 
 
 I flopped and cried Hem ! The cu- 
 rate is fatter than I ; he wiped the fweat 
 from his brow. 
 
 There is no ftate where one is apter 
 
 to paufe and look round one, than after 
 
 A 2 fuch 

 
 iv INTRODUCTION 
 
 fuch a difappointment. It is even fo m 
 
 life. When we have been hurrying on, 
 
 impelled by fome warm wifh or other, 
 
 looking neither to the right hand nor to 
 
 the left we find of a fudden that all 
 
 our gay hopes are flown j and the only 
 
 flender conib'ation that fume friend 
 
 can give us, ib to point where they were 
 
 once to be found. And lu I if we are 
 
 not of that combuilible race, who will 
 
 rather beat their heads in fpite, than 
 
 wipe their brows with the curate, we 
 
 look round and fay, with the naufeated 
 
 Micfinefs of the king of Ifrael, " All 
 
 is vanity and vexation of fpirit." 
 
 Hooked round with fome fuch grave 
 apophthegm in my mind when I difco- 
 *vered, for the firft time, a venerable pile, 
 to which the inclofure belonged. An 
 I air of melancholy hung about it. There 
 was a languid tfiilnefs in the day, and a 
 
 fingle
 
 INTRODUCTION. v 
 
 fingle crow, that perched on an old 
 tree by the fide of the gate, Teemed to 
 delight in the echo of its own croaking. 
 
 I leaned on my gun and looked j but 
 I had not breath enough to afk the cu- 
 rate a queftion. I obferved carving on 
 the bark of fome of the trees : 'twas 
 indeed the only mark of human art 
 about the place, except that fome 
 branches appeared to have been lopped, 
 to give a view of the cafrade, which was 
 formed by a little rill at fome diftance. 
 
 Juft at thatinftant I law pafs between 
 the trees, a young lady with a book in- 
 her hand. I flood upon a ftone to ob- 
 ferve her i but the curate fat him down 
 on the grafs, and leaning his back where 
 I ftood, told me, " That was the daugh^ 
 ter of a neighbouring gentleman of the 
 name of WALTON, whom he had feen 
 walking there more than once. 
 
 3 (t Some
 
 vi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " Some time ago" he faid", " one 
 HARLEY lived there, a whimfical fort 
 of a man I am told, but I was not then 
 in the cure j though, if I had a turn 
 for thofe things, I might know a good 
 deal of his hiftory, for the greateft part 
 of it is ftill in my pofiefiion." 
 
 ' tf His hiftory! faid I. " Nay, you 
 may call it what you pleafe, faid the 
 curate^ for indeed it is no more a hif- 
 tory than it is a fermon. The way I 
 came by it was this : fome time ago, a 
 grave, oddifli kind of man boarded 
 at a farmer's in this parifh : The coun- 
 try people called him The Ghod; and 
 he was known by the fiouch in his 
 gait, and the length of his ftride. I 
 was but little acquainted with him, for 
 he never frequented any of the clubs 
 hereabouts. Yet for all he ufed to 
 walk a-nights, he was as gentle as a 
 lamb at times ; for I have feen him 
 i play-
 
 INTRODUCTION. vii 
 
 playing at te-totum with the children 
 on the great ftone at the door of our 
 church-yard. 
 
 " Soon afcer I was made curate, he 
 left the parilh, and went no body knows 
 whither - 3 and in his room was found a 
 bundle of papers, which was brought 
 to me by his landlord. I began to read 
 them, but I foon grew weary of the 
 tafk -, for, befides that the harlti is in- 
 tolerably bad, I could never find the 
 author in one ftrain for two chapters I 
 together; and I don't believe there's a U 
 fingle fyllogifmfrom beginning toend." 
 
 " 1 ihould be glad to fee this med- 
 ley," faid I. " You (hall fee it now," 
 anlVered the curate, " for I always take 
 it along with me a-fhooting." "How 
 came it fo torn ?" " 'Tis excellent wad- 
 ding," faid the curate. This was a 
 pica of expediency I was not in a con- 
 dition to anfweri for I had actually in 
 
 my
 
 viii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 my pocket great part of an edition of 
 one of the German IlluftrifTuni, for the 
 very fame purpofe. We exchanged 
 books j and by that means (for the 
 curate was a ftrenuous logician) we 
 probably faved both. 
 
 When I returned to town, I had lei- 
 fure to.peru.'e the acq 1 iiuion I had 
 > maJe !i|I found it a burr.: it ot'little epi- 
 PTodeSj put together v/i. \iout art, and of 
 no importance on the whole, with fome- 
 l ' thing of nature, and little cl r e in them. 
 
 1 I was a good aeal affected with fome 
 very trifling paiTages in itj and had the 
 name of Marmontel, or a Richardlbn, 
 
 been on the title-page 'tis odds that 
 
 I Ihould have wept : But 
 
 One is afhamed to be pleafed with the 
 works of one knows not whom. (/ 
 
 THE
 
 THE 
 
 MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 CHAP. XI *. 
 
 Of bajhfulnefs. A charafter. His opi- 
 nion on that fubjeff. 
 
 THERE is fome ruft about every 
 man at the beginning ; though in 
 Tome nations (among tlVe^French, for 
 inftance) the ideas of the inhabitants, 
 from climate, or what other caufe you 
 
 * The reader will remember, that the Editor 
 is accountable only for fcattered chapters, and 
 fragments of chapters ; the curate muft anfwer/ 
 for the reft. The number at the top, when the 
 chapter was entire, he has given as it originally 
 flood, with the^itle which its author had affixed 
 to it. 
 
 B will,
 
 2 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 will, are fo vivacious, fo eternally on 
 the wing, that they muft, even in fmall 
 focieties, have a frequent collifion ; the 
 ruft therefore will wear off fooner : but 
 in Britain, it often goes with a man to 
 his grave; nay, he dares not even pen 
 a bic jacct to fpeak out for him after 
 his death. 
 
 , " Let them rub it off by travel," 
 faid the baronet's brother, who .was a 
 flriking inflance of excellent metal, 
 fhamefully rufted. I had drawn my 
 chair near his. Let me paint the Koncft 
 old man : 'tis but one paffing fentence 
 to preferve his image in my mind. 
 
 He fat in his ufual attitude, with his 
 elbow refted on his knee, and his fingers 
 prefied on his cheek. His face was 
 fhaded by his hand \ yet it was a face 
 
 that
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 3 
 
 th at might once have been well account- 
 ed handfome ; its features were manly 
 and ftriking, and a certain dignity re- 
 fided on his eyebrows, which were the 
 largeft I remember to have feen. His 
 perfon was tall and well-made ; but the 
 indolence of his nature had nowinclined 
 it to corpulency. 
 
 His remarks were few, and made only 
 to his familiar friends j but they were 
 fuch as the world might have heard with 
 veneration : and his heart, uncorrupted 
 by its ways, was ever warm in the caufe' 
 of virtue and his friends. 
 
 He is now forgotten and gone! The 
 laft time I was aTS ikon- hallTTTaw his 
 chair ftand in its corner by the fire-fide^ 
 there was an additional cufhion on if, 
 and ic was occupied by my young lady's 
 B 2 favourite
 
 4 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 I favourite lap-dog. I drew near unper- 
 ceived, and pinched itsear in the bitter- 
 nefs of my foul ; the creature howled, 
 
 v and ran to its miftrefs. She did not 
 fufpect the author of its misfortune, 
 but fhe bewailed it in the mod pathetic 
 terms 5 and killing its lips, laid it gently 
 on her lap, and covered it with a cam- 
 brick handkerchief. I fat in my old 
 friend's feat ; I heard the roar of mirth 
 and gaiety around me : poor Ben Sil- 
 ton ! I gave thee a tear then : accept of 
 one cordial drop that falls to thy me- 
 mory now. 
 
 Cf They fhould wear it off by travel." 
 Why, it is true, faid I, that will go 
 far ; but then it will often happen, that 
 in the velocity of a modern tour, and 
 amidft the materials through which it is 
 commonly made, the fri&ion is fo vio- 
 lent,
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 5 
 
 lent, that not only the ruft, but the 
 metal too, is loft in the progrefs. 
 
 Give me leave to correct the expref- 
 fion of your metaphor, laid Mr. Silton : 
 that is not always ruft which is acquired 
 by the inactivity of the body on which 
 it preys ; fuch, perhaps, is the cafe with 
 me, though indeed I was never cleared 
 from my youth ; but (taking it in its 
 firft ftage) it is rather an encruftation, 
 which nature has given for purpofes of 
 the greateft wifdom. 
 
 You are right, I returned 3 and fome- 
 times, like certain precious foflils, there 
 may be hid under it gems of the pureft 
 brilliancy. 
 
 Nay, farther, continued Mr. Silton., 
 
 there are two diftin<5t forts of what we 
 
 B 3 call
 
 6 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 call bafhfulnefs ; this, the awkvvardnefs 
 of a booby, which a few fteps into the 
 world will convert into the pertnefs of a 
 coxcomb ; that, a confcioufneis, which 
 the moft delicate feelings produce, and 
 the rnoft extenfive knowledge cannot 
 
 ^.always remove. 
 * 
 
 From the incidents I have already 
 related, I imagine it will be concluded, 
 fthat Harley was of the latter fpecies of 
 
 ^^fc^BS^ ^ i * - i' ' 
 
 bafhful animals j at lead, if Mr. Sil- 
 ton's principle is juft, it may be argued 
 on this fide : for the gradation of the 
 firft mentioned fort, it is certain, he 
 never attained. Some part of his ex- 
 ternal appearance was modelled from 
 the company of thofe gentlemen, whom 
 the antiquity of a family, now poflefled 
 of bare 250!. a year, entitled its repre- 
 fentative to approach: thefe indeed 
 
 were
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 7 
 
 were not manyj great part of the pro- 
 perty in his neighbourhood being in 
 the hands of merchants, who had got 
 rich by their lawful calling abroad, and 
 the fons of fte wards, who had got rich 
 by their lawful calling at home : per- 
 fons fo perfectly verfed in the ceremo- 
 nial' of thoufands, tens of thoufands, 
 and hundreds of thoufands (whofe de- 
 grees of precedency are plainly demon- 
 ftrable from the firft page of the Com- 
 plete Accomptant, or Young Man's 
 beft Pocket Companion), that a bow 
 at church from them to luch a man as 
 Harley, would have made the parfon 
 look back into his fermon for fome pre- 
 cept of Chrjftian humility. 
 
 B 4 CHAP.
 
 8 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 Of worldly interefts. 
 
 are certain interefts which 
 A the world fuppofes every man to 
 have, and which therefore are properly 
 enough termed worldly i but the world 
 is apt to make an erroneous eftimate : 
 ignorant of the difpofitions which con- 
 ftitute our happinefs or mifery, they 
 bring to an undiftinguilhed fcale the 
 means of the one, as connected with 
 power, wealth or grandeur^ and of the 
 other with their contraries. Philofo- 
 phers and poets have often protefted 
 againft this decifion ; but their argu- 
 ments have been defpifed as declama- 
 tory, or ridiculed as romantic. 
 
 There
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 9. 
 
 There are never wanting to a young 
 man fome grave and prudent friends to 
 fet him right in this particular, if he 
 need it : to watch his ideas as they arife, 
 and point them to thofe objects which. 
 a wife man Ihould never forget. 
 
 Harley did not want for fome moni- 
 tors of this fort. He was frequently 
 told of men, whofe fortunes enabled 
 them to command all the luxuries of 
 life, whofe fortunes were of their own 
 acquirement : his envy was invited by 
 a defcription of their happinefs, and 
 his emulation by a recital of the. means 
 which had procured it. 
 
 \ 
 
 Harley was apt to hear thofe lectures 
 
 with indifference; nay fometimes they 
 
 got the better of his temper ; and as the 
 
 inftances were not always amiable, pro- 
 
 B 5 voked,,
 
 jo THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 voked, on his part, fome reflexions, 
 which I am perfuaded his good-nature 
 would elfe have avoided. 
 
 Indeed I have obferved one ingre- 
 dient, fomewhat necefiary in a man's 
 compofition towards happinefs, which 
 people of feeling would do well to ac- 
 quire ; a certain refpedt for the follies of 
 mankind : for there are fo many fools 
 whom the opinion of the world entitles 
 to regard, whom accident has placed in 
 heights of which they are unworthy, 
 that he who cannot retrain his con- 
 tempt, or indignation at the fight, will 
 betoooften quarrelling widi thedifpofal 
 of things, to relifti that fhare which is al- 
 lotted to himfclf. I do not mean, how- 
 ever, to infmuate this to have been the 
 cafe with Hurley ; on the contrary, if 
 we might rely on his own teftimony,the 
 conceptions
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING, n 
 
 conceptions he had of pomp and gran-V 
 deur ferved to endear the ftate which; 
 Providence had affigned him. 
 
 f He loft his father, the laft furviving 
 
 f 
 
 of his parents, as I have already related, 
 ^hen he was a boy. The good man, 
 from a fear of offending, as well as a re- 
 gard to his fon,. had named him a va- 
 riety of guardians ; one confequence of 
 which was, that they feldom met at all ' 
 to confider the affairs of their ward j 
 and when they did meet, their opinions 
 were fo oppofite, that the only poffible 
 method of conciliation, was the media- 
 tory power of a dinner and a bottle,, 
 which commonly interrupted, not end- 
 ed, the difpute ; and after that inter- 
 ruption ceafed, left the confulting par- 
 ties in a condition not very proper for 
 adjufting it. His education therefore 
 B6 had:
 
 12 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 had been but indifferently attended to ^ 
 and after being taken from a country- 
 fchool, at which he had been boarded, 
 the young gentleman was fuffered to 
 be his own matter in the fubfequent 
 branches of literature, with fome afiift- 
 ance from the parfbn of the parifh in lan- 
 guages and philofophy, and from the 
 excifeman in arithmetic and book- 
 keeping. One of his guardians, indeed, 
 who, in his youth, had been an inha- 
 bitant of the Temple, fet him to read 
 Coke upon Lyttelton j a book which 
 is very properly put into the hands of 
 beginners in that fcience, as its fim- 
 plicity is accommodated to their under- 
 Handings, and its fize to their inclina- 
 tion. He profited but little by the 
 perufal , but it was not without its ufe 
 in die family : for his maiden aunt ap- 
 plied it commonly to the laudable pur- 
 
 pofe
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 13 
 
 pofe of preffing her rebellious linens to 
 the folds fhe had allotted them. 
 
 There were particularly two ways of 
 increafmg his for tune, which might have 
 occurred to people of lefs forefight than 
 the counfellors we have mentioned. One 
 of thefe was, the profpect of his fucceed- 
 ing to an old lady, a diftant relation, 
 who was known to be poflefTed of a very 
 large fum in the flocks : but in this 
 their hopes were difappointed i for the 
 young man was fo untoward in his diff 
 pofition, that, notwithftanding the inj 
 ftrutftions he daily received, his vifits 
 rather tended to alienate than gain the 
 good-will of his kinfwoman. He fome- 
 times looked grave when the old lady 
 told the jokes of her youth j he often 
 refuted to eat when fhe prefled him, 
 and was feldom or never provided with 
 
 fugar-
 
 i 4 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 fugar-candy or liquorice when fhe was 
 feized with a fir of coughing : nay, he 
 had once the rudenefs to fall afleep, 
 while (he was defcribing the compofi- 
 tion and virtues of her favourite cholic- 
 (water. In ihort, he accommodated 
 himfelf fo ill to her humour, that fhe 
 died, and did not leave him a far- 
 thing. 
 
 The other method pointed out to hirrr 
 was, an endeavour to get a leafe of fome 
 crown-lands, which lay contiguous to 
 his little paternal eftate. This, it was 
 imagined, might be eafily procured, as 
 the crown did not draw fo much rent as 
 Harley could afford to give, with very, 
 confiderable profit to himfelf ; and the 
 then lefiee had rendered himfelf fo ob- 
 noxious to the miniftry, by the difpofal 
 of his vote at an election, that he could 
 7 net
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 15 
 
 not expect a renewal. This, however, 
 needed fome intereft with the great, 
 which Harley or his father never pof- 
 felled. 
 
 His neighbour, Mr. Walton, having 
 heard of this affair, generoufly offered 
 his afiiftanee to accomplifli it. He told 
 him, that though he had long been a 
 ftranger to courtiers, yet he believed 
 there were fome of them who might 
 pay regard to his recommendation j 
 and that, if he thought it worth the 
 while to take a London-journey upon 
 the bufmefs, he would furnifh him with 
 a letter of introduction to a baronet of 
 his acquaintance, who had a great deal 
 to fay with the firft lord of the trea- 
 fury. 
 
 When
 
 16 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 When his friends heard of this offer r 
 they prefied him with the utmoft ear- 
 neftnefs to accept of it. They did not 
 fail to enumerate the many advantages 
 which a certain degree of fpirit and af- 
 fnrance gives a man who would make a 
 figure in the world : they repeated 
 their inftances of good fortune in others, 
 afcribed them all to a happy forward- 
 nefs of difpofition; and made fo copious 
 a recital of the difad vantages which at- 
 tend the oppofite weaknefs, that a ftran- 
 ger, who had heard them, would have 
 been led to imagine, that in the Britifh. 
 code there was fome disqualifying fta- 
 tute againft any citizen who fnould be 
 \ con v idled of modefty. 
 
 Harley, though he had no great re- 
 lifh for the attempt, yet could not 
 
 refift
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 17 
 
 refift the torrent of motives that af- 
 faulted him ; and as he needed 'but 
 little preparation for his journey, a day, 
 not very diftant, was fixed for his de- 
 parture. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 i8 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 CHAP. XIIL 
 
 The Man of Feeling in love. 
 
 THE day before that on which 
 he fet our, he went to take leave 
 
 of Mr. Walton. We would conceal 
 
 nothing; there was another perfon of 
 the family to whom alfo the vifit was 
 intended, on whofe account, perhaps, 
 therewere fome tenderer feelings in the 
 bofom of Harley, than his gratitude 
 for the friendly notice of that gentleman 
 (though he was feldom deficient in that 
 virtue) could infpire. Mr. Walton had 
 a daughter ; and fuch a daughter ! we 
 will attempt fome defcription of her by 
 and by. 
 
 Harley's
 
 THE MAN OF FFELING. 19 
 
 Harley's notions of the X.OAOV, or 
 beautiful, were not always to be de- 
 fined, nor indeed fuch as the world 
 would always aflent to, though we 
 could define them. A blufli, a phrafe 
 of affability to an inferior, a tear at a 
 moving tale, were to him, like the 
 Ceftus of Cytherea, unequalled in con- 
 ferring beauty. For all thefe Mifs 
 Walton was remarkable j but as thefe, 
 like the above-mentioned Ceftus, are 
 perhaps (till more powerful, when the 
 wearer is poflfefled of fome degree of 
 beauty, commonly fo called ; it hap- 
 pened, that, from this caufe, they had 
 more than ufual power in the perfon of 
 that young lady. 
 
 She was now arrived at that period of 
 life which takes, or is fuppofed to take, 
 from the flippancy of girlhood thofe 
 
 fpright-
 
 20 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 fprightlinefles with which fome good- 
 natured old maids oblige the world at 
 three-fcore. She had been ulhered into 
 life (as that word is ufed in the dialed 
 of St. James's) at feventeen, her father 
 being then in parliament, and living in 
 /London : at feventeen, therefore, fhe 
 I had been a univerfal toaft -, her health, 
 inow fhe was four-and-twenty, was only 
 idrank by thofe who knew her face at 
 jleaft. -Her complexion was mellowed 
 into a palenefs, which certainly took 
 from her beauty -, but agreed, at lead 
 Harley ufed to fay fo, with the penfive 
 foftnefs of her mind. Her eyes were 
 of that gentle hazel colour which is ra- 
 ther mild than piercing ; and, except 
 when they were lighted up by good hu- 
 mour, which was frequently the cafe, 
 were fuppofed by the fine gentlemen to 
 want fire. Her air and manner were 
 
 elegant
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 21 
 
 elegant in the higheft degree, and were 
 as lure of commanding refpect, as their 
 miftrefs was far from demanding it. 
 Her voice was inexpreffibly foftj^it 
 was, according to that incomparable 
 fimile of Otway's, 
 
 f like the fhepherd's pipe upon 
 
 the mountains, 
 
 " When all his little flock's at feed 
 before him." 
 
 The erTeft it had upon Harley,himfclf 
 ufed to paint ridiculoufly enough j and 
 afcribed it to powers, which few be- 
 lieved, and nobody cared for. 
 
 ' Her converfation was always cheer- 
 fuU.j3utjj.rely witty; and without the 
 fmalleft affectation of learning, had as 
 much Jenrjrnrnr in it as would have 
 6 puzzled
 
 22 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 puzzled a Turk, upon his principles 
 of female materialifm, to account for. 
 Her benjkence was urrbotmdejdj in- 
 deed the natural tendernefs of her heart 
 might have been argued, by the frigi- 
 .dity of a cafuift, as detracting from her 
 [virtue in this refpect, for her humanity 
 fas a feeling, not a principle : but 
 linds like Harley's are not very apt 
 k> make this diftinction, and generally 
 ive our virtue credit for all that be- 
 ^evolence which is inftinclive in our 
 
 As her father had fome years retired 
 to the country, Harley had frequent 
 opportunities of feeing her. He looked 
 on her for fome time merely with that 
 refpect and admiration which her ap- 
 pearance feemed to demand, and the 
 opinion of others conferred upon her : 
 
 from
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 23 
 
 from this caufe, perhaps, and from that 
 extreme fenfibility of which we have 
 taken frequent notice, Harley was re- 
 markably filent in her prefence. He 
 heard her fentiments with peculiar at- 
 tention, fometimes with looks very ex- 
 preffive of approbation ; but feldom 
 declared his opinion on the fubjefr, 
 much lefs made compliments to the 
 lady on the juftnefs of her remarks. 
 
 From this very reafon it was, that 
 Mifs Walton frequently took more par- 
 ticular notice of him than of other vifit- 
 ors, who, by the laws of precedency, 
 were better entitled to it : it was a 
 mode of politenefs fhe had peculiarly 
 ftudied, to bring to the line of that 
 equality, which is ever neceflary for 
 the eafe of our guefts, thofe whofe fen- 
 fibility had placed them below it. 
 
 Harley
 
 24 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 Harley faw this ; for though he was 
 a child in the drama of the world j yet 
 was it not altogether owing to a want 
 of knowledge in his part ; on the con- 
 /trary, the moft delicate confcioufnefs of 
 ( propriety often kindled that blufh which 
 marred the performance of it : this 
 raifed his efleem fomething above what 
 the moft fanguine defcriptions of her 
 goodnefs had been able to doj for cer- 
 tain it is, that notwithftanding the la- 
 fboured definitions which very wife men 
 have given us of the inherent beauty of 
 virtue, we are always inclined to think 
 her handfomeft when fhe condefcends 
 to fmile upon ourfelves. 
 
 It would be trite to obferve the eafy 
 
 \ gradation from efteem to love : in the 
 
 bofom of Harley there fcarce needed a 
 
 tranfition j for there were certain feafons 
 
 when
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 25 
 
 wfren his ideas were flufhed to a degree 
 much above their common complexion. 
 In times not credulous of infpiration > 
 we fhould account for this from fome 
 natural caufe ; but we do not mean to 
 account for it at all; it were fufficienc 
 to defcribe its effects -, but they were 
 fometimes fo ludicrous, as might dero- 
 gate from the dignity of the fenfations 
 which produced them to defcribe. They 
 were treated indeed as fuch by mod of 
 Harley'sfober friends, who often laugh- 
 ed very heartily at the awkward blun* \ 
 ders of the real Harlty, when the dif- 
 ferent faculties, which fhould have pre- 
 vented therm, were entirely occupied 
 by the ideaJ. In fome of thefe pa-j 
 roxifms of fancy, Mils Walton did nos 
 fail to be introduced ; and the picture? 
 which had been drawn aonidft the fur- 
 C rounding;
 
 26 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 rounding objects of unnoticed levity, 
 was now fingled out to be viewed 
 [through the medium of romantic ima- 
 j gination : it was improved of courfe, 
 i and efteem was a word inexprefiive of 
 Lthe feelings which it excited. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING, af 
 
 C HAP. XIV. 
 
 /<? fets out on bis journey. The beggar 
 and his dog. 
 
 HE had taken leave of his aunt on 
 the eve of his intended departure ; 
 but the good lady's afFe&ion for her 
 nephew interrupted herfleep, and early 
 as it was next morning when Harley 
 came down flairs to fet out, he found 
 her in the parlour with a tear on her 
 -cheek, and her caudle-cup in her hand. 
 She knew enough of phyfic to pre- 
 fcribe againft going abroad of a morn- 
 ing with an empty ftomach. She gave 
 her blefling with the draught ; her in- 
 ftruclions fhe had delivered the night 
 before. They confided moftly of ne- 
 C 2 gatives ;
 
 2 8 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 gatives j for London, in her idea, was 
 fo replete with temptations, that it 
 needed the whole armour of her friendly 
 cautions to repel their attacks. 
 
 Peter flood at the door. We have 
 mentioned this faithful fellow formerly: 
 Harley's father had taken him up an 
 1, orphan, and faved him from being caft 
 on the parifh ; and he had ever fmce 
 remained in the fervice of him and of 
 his fon. Harley fhook him by the 
 hand as he palled, fmiling, as if he had 
 faid, " I will not weep." He fprung 
 haftily into the chaife that waited for 
 him : Peter folded up the ftep. V" My 
 dear mafter (faid he, fhaking the foli- 
 tary lock that hung on either fide of his 
 head), I have been told as how London 
 
 is a fad place." He was choaked* 
 
 with the thought, and his benediction 
 
 could
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 29 
 
 could not be heard: but it fliall be 
 heard, honed Peter! where thefe tears 
 will add to its energy. \^s^ 
 
 In a few hours Harley reached the 
 inn where he propofed brcakfafting; 
 but the fulnefs of his heart would not 
 fufFer him to eat a morfel. tie walked 
 out on the road, and gaining a little 
 height, flood gazing on that quarter he 
 had left. He looked for his wonted 
 profpeft, his fields, his woods, and 
 his hills : they were loft in the diftant 
 clouds ! He penciled them on the 
 clouds, and bade them farewel with a 
 figh ! 
 
 He fat down on a large ftone to take 
 out a little pebble from his fhoe, when 
 he faw, at fome diftance, a beggar ap- 
 proaching him. He had on a loofe fort 
 Cj of
 
 30 THE MAN OF F'E E'L I N"<?.. 
 
 of coat, mended with different-coloured 
 rags, amongft which the blue and the 
 rujQet were predominant. He had a, 
 Ihort knotty (lick in his hand, and on 
 the top of it was ftuck a ram's horn ; 
 his knees (though he was no pilgrim) 
 had worn the fluff of his breeches ; he 
 wore no fhoes, and his ftockings had 
 entirely loft that part of them which 
 fhould have covered his feet and ancles t 
 in his face, however, was the plump 
 appearance of good humour $ he walk- 
 ed a good round pace, and a crook 
 legged dog trotted at his heels. 
 
 " Onr delicacies, fakl Harley to him- 
 felf, are fantaftic ; they are not in na. 
 ture! that beggar walks over the 
 fharpeft of thefe ftones barefooted, 
 whilft I have loft the moft delightful 
 dreajri in the world, from the fmalleft 
 
 of
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 31 
 
 of them happening to get into my 
 fhoe." The beggar had by this time 
 come up, and pulling off a piece of hat,, 
 afked charity of Harley j the dog be- 
 gan to beg too : it was impoflible to 
 refift both j and, in truth, the want of 
 fhoes and {lockings had made both un- 
 necefiary, for Harley had deflined fix- 
 pence for him before. The beggar, 
 on receiving it, poured forth bleflings 
 without number ; and, with a fort of 
 fmile on his countenance, faid to Har- 
 ley, <f that if he wanted to have his 
 fortune told" Harley turned his eye 
 brifkly on the beggar : it was an un- 
 promifing look for the fubjed of a 
 prediction, and filenced the prophec 
 immediately. " I would much rather 
 learn, faid Harley, what it is in your 
 power to tell me : your trade muft be 
 an entertaining one : fit down on this 
 C 4 ftone,
 
 3 2 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 jftone, and let me know fomething of 
 your profeffion j I have often thought 
 of turning fortune-teller for a week or 
 two myfelf." 
 
 " Matter, replied the beggar, I like 
 your franknefs much ; God knows I 
 had the humour of plain-dealing in me 
 from a child j but there is no doing 
 with it in this world ; we mutt live as 
 we can, and lying is, as you call it, my 
 profefilon: but I was in fome fort forced 
 to the trade, for I dealt once in telling 
 truth. 
 
 " I was a labourer, Sir, and gained 
 as much as to make me live : I never 
 laid by indeed : for I was reckoned a 
 piece of a wag, and your wags, I take 
 it, are feldom rich, Mr. Harley." 
 _ f? So, faid Harley, you feem to know
 
 THE MAN OF FEELJNG. 33 
 
 me." " Ay, there are few folks in the 
 country that I don't know fomething 
 of: How fhould I tell fortunes elfe ?" 
 " True ; but to go o-n with your ftory : 
 you were a labourer, you fay, and a 
 wag ; your indu.ftry, I fuppofe, you left 
 with your old trade ; but your humour 
 you preferve to be of ufe to you in your 
 new." 
 
 " What fignifks fadnefs, Sir? a man- 
 grows lean on't : but I was brought to 
 my idlenefs by degrees -, firft I could 
 not work, and it went againft my fto- 
 nnacb to work ever after. I was feized 
 with a jail fever at the time of the affizes 
 being in the county where I lived j for 
 I was always curious to get acquainted 
 with the felons, becaufe they are com- 
 
 monly fellows of much mirth and little^ 
 
 thought, qualities I had ever an efteem ' 
 
 C 5 for. \
 
 34 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 
 for. In the height of this fever, Miv 
 'Harley, the houfe where I lay took 
 fire, and burnt to the ground : I was 
 carried out in that condition, and lay 
 all the reft of my illnefs in a barn. I 
 got the better of my difeafe, however, 
 but I was fo weak that I fpit blood- 
 whenever I attempted to work. I had 
 /io relation living that I knew of, and I 
 never kept a friend above a week, when 
 J was able to joke ; I feldom remained 
 above fix months in a parifh, fo that I 
 might have died before I had found a 
 fettlement in any: thus I was forced to 
 beg my bread, and a forry trade I found 
 it, Mr. Harley. I told all my misfor- 
 tunes truly, but they were feldom be- 
 lieved ; and the few who gave me a 
 halfpenny as they pafifed, did it with a 
 fliake of the head, and an injunction 
 JBOt to trouble them with a long ftory. 
 
 In
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 35 
 
 In fhort, I found that people don't care ^ 
 to give alms without fome fecurity for 
 their moneys a wooden leg or a wither- 
 ed arm is a fort of draught upon heaven 
 for thofe who chufe to have their money 1 
 placed to account there -, fo I changed \ 
 my plan, and, inftead of telling my 
 own misfortunes, began to prophefy 
 happinefs to others. This I found by 
 much the better way : folks will always 
 Jiften when the tale is their own ; and 
 of many who fay they do not believe in 
 fortune-telling, I have known few on 
 whom it had not a very fenfible effect. 
 I pick up the names of their acquaint- 
 ance; amours and little fquabbles are 
 eafily gleaned among fervants and neigh- 
 bours; and indeed people themfelves 
 are the bed intelligencers in the world 
 for our purpofe : they dare not puzzle 
 C 6 u*
 
 36 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 
 us for their own fakes, for every one is 
 anxious to hear what they wifli to be- 
 lieve i and they who repeat it to laugh 
 at it when they have done, are gene- 
 rally more ferious than their hearers are 
 apt to imagine. With a tolerable good 
 memory, and fome (hare of cunning, 
 with the help of walking a-nights over 
 heaths and church-yards, with this, and 
 fhewing the tricks of that there dog, 
 whom I ftole from the ferjeant of 
 marching regiment (and by the way he 
 can fteal too upon occafion), I make 
 fhift to pick up a livelihood. My 
 trade, indeed, is none of the honefteft; 
 yet people are not much cheated nei- 
 ther, who give a few half- pence for a 
 profpect of happinefs, which I have 
 heard fome perfons fay is all a man can 
 arrive at in this world. But I muft bid 
 
 you
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 37 
 
 you good-day, Sir ; for I have three 
 miles to walk before noon, to inform 
 fome boarding-fchool young ladies, 
 whether their hufbands are to be peers 
 of the realm, or captains in the army : 
 a queftion which I promifed to anfwer 
 them bv that time." 
 
 fr' t J /"CX-C * 
 
 Harley had drawn a Shilling from his, 
 pocket j but Virtue bade him confider 
 on whom he was going to beftow it. 
 Virtue held back his arm : but a 
 milder form, a younger fifter of Vir- 
 tue's, not fo fevere as Virtue nor fo 
 ferious as Pity, fmiled upon him: His 
 fingers loft their comprefiioni nor did 
 Virtue offer to catch the money as it 
 fell. It had no fooner reached the 
 ground than the watchful cur (a trick 
 he had been taught) fnappeditupj 
 
 andj 
 
 157347 
 
 J
 
 38 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 and, contrary to the mod approved 
 method of ftewardfhip, delivered it 
 immediately into the hands of hit 
 matter. 
 
 . * * * ****** 
 
 CHAP,
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 CHAP. XIX, 
 
 He makes afecond expedition to the Bara- 
 uet's. The laudable ambition of a young 
 man to be thought fomething by the 
 world. 
 
 WE have related, in a former 
 chapter, the little fuccefs of his 
 firft vifit to the great man, for whom 
 he had the introductory letter from Mr.. 
 Walton. To people of equal fenfibi- 
 lity, the influence of thofe trifles we 
 mentioned on his deportment will not 
 appear furprifing ; but to his friends in 
 the country, they could not be ftated, 
 nor would they have allowed them any 
 place in the account. In fome of their 
 letters, therefore, which he received 
 foon after, they exprefied their furprife 
 
 at
 
 40 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 ^at his not having been more urgent in 
 (Jiis application, and again recommend- 
 ed the bluihkfs aflldu-ity of fuccefsful 
 merit. 
 
 He refolved to make another attempt 
 at the baronet's; fortified with higher 
 notions of his own dignity, and with 
 lefs apprehenfion of repulfe. In his 
 way to Grofvenor-fquare he began to 
 ruminate on the folly of jmnkmcj, who 
 affixed thofe ideas of fuperiority to 
 riches, which reduced the minds of 
 men, by nature equal with the more 
 fortunate, to that fort of fervility which 
 he felt in his own. By the'time he had 
 reached the Square, and was walking 
 along the pavement which led to the 
 baronet's, he had brought his reafoning 
 en the fubject to fuch a point, that the 
 ji by every rule of logic,, 
 fliould
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 41 
 
 fhould have led him to a thorough in- 
 difference in his approaches to a fellow- 
 mortal, whether that fellow- mortal was 
 pofiefied of fix, or fix thoufand pounds 
 a year. It is probable, however, that 
 the premifes had been improperly form- 
 ed : for it is certain, that when he ap- 
 proached the great man's door, he felt 
 his heart agitated by an unufual pulfa- 
 tion. 
 
 He had almoft reached it, when he 
 obferved a young gentleman coming 
 out, drefied in a white frock, and a red 
 laced waiftcoat, with a fmall fwitch in 
 his hand, which he feemed to manage 
 with a particular good grace. As he 
 patted him on the fteps, the ftranger 
 very politely made him a bow, which 
 Harley returned, though he could not 
 remember ever having feen him before. 
 
 He
 
 42 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 
 He alked Harley, in the fame civil man- 
 ner, if he was going to wait on his friend 
 the Baronet? (t For I was juft calling, 
 faid he, and am forry to find that he is 
 gone for fome days into the country " 
 Harley thanked him for his inform- 
 ation j and was turning from the door, 
 when the other obferved that it would 
 be proper to leave his name, and very 
 obligingly knocked for that purpofe. 
 *' Here is a gentleman,. Tom, who 
 tf meant to have waited on your mafter." 4 
 "Your name, if you pleafe, Sir?'* 
 '* Harley." "You'll remember, Tom,. 
 Harley." The door was fhut. " Since 
 we are here, faid he, we fliall not lofe 
 our walk, if we add a little to it by a 
 turn or two in Hyde-park." He ac- 
 companied this propofal with a fecond 
 bow, and Harley accepted of it by an- 
 other in return.. 
 
 Th*
 
 THE MAN OF FFELING. 4.3 
 
 The converfation, as they walked, 
 was brilliant on the fide of his compa- 
 nion. The playhoufe, the opera, with 
 every occurrence in high-life, he feem- 
 ed perfectly mafter ofj and talked of 
 fome reigning beauties of quality, in a. 
 manner the moft feeling in the world. 
 Harley admired the happinefs of his 
 vivacity ; and, oppofite as it was to the 
 refejre_of his own nature, began to be 
 much pleafed with its effects. 
 
 Though I am not of opinion with" 
 fome wife men, that the exiftence of 
 objects depends on idea j yet, I am 
 convinced, that their appearance is not 
 a little influenced by it. The .optics 
 of fome minds are in fo unlucky a per- 
 fpectlve, as to throw a cejtaTnihade on 
 every picture that is prefented to them ; 
 while thofe of others (of which number 
 
 was-
 
 44 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 was Harley), like the mirrors of the la- 
 
 ies, have a wonderful ffiVfi in better 
 
 no; their complexions. Through fuch 
 
 a medium perhaps he was looking on 
 
 his prefent companion. 
 
 When they had finifned their walk, 
 and were returning by the corner of the 
 Park, they obferved a board hung out 
 of a window, fignifying, " an excel- 
 lent ORDINARY on Saturdays and Sun- 
 days." It happened to be Saturday, 
 and the table was covered for the pur- 
 pofe. " What if we fhould go in and 
 dine here, if you happen not to be en- 
 gaged, Sir ?" faid the young gentleman. 
 " It is not impofiible but we fhall meet 
 with fome original or other it is a fort 
 of humour I like hugely." Harley 
 made no objection j and the ftranger 
 fhowed him the way into the parlour. 
 
 He
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 45 
 
 He was placed, by the courtefy of his 
 introdu&or, in an arm-chair that ftood 
 at one fide of the fire. Over againft 
 him was felted a man of a grave confi- 
 dering afpecl, with that look of fober 
 prudence which indicates what is com- 
 monly called a warm man. He wore a 
 pretty large wig, which had once been 
 white, but was now of a brownifh yel- 
 low j his coat was one of thofe modeft- 
 coloured drabs which mock the injuries 
 of dud and dirt ; two jack-boots con- 
 cealed, in part, the well-mended knees 
 of an old pair of bucklkin breeches, 
 while the fpotted handkerchief round 
 his neck, preferved at once its owner 
 from catching cold, and his neckcloth 
 from being dirtied. Next him fat an- 
 other man, with a tankard in his hand, 
 and a quid of tobacco in his check, 
 3 whofe
 
 . 4 6 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 
 whofe eye was rather more vivacious, 
 and whofe drefs was fomething fmarter. 
 
 The firft-mentioned gentleman took 
 notice, that the room had been fo lately 
 wafhed, as not to have had time to 
 dry; and remarked, that wet lodging 
 was unwholefome for man or bead. 
 He looked round at the fame time for a 
 poker to ftir the fire with, which, he at 
 laft obferved to the company, the peo- 
 ple of the houfe had removed, in order 
 to fave their coals. This difficulty, 
 however, he overcame, by the help of 
 Harley's flick, faying, " that as they 
 fliould, no doubt, pay for their fire in 
 fome fhape or other, he faw no reafon 
 why they fhould not have the ufe of ic 
 while they fat." 
 
 4 The
 
 'THE M'AN OF FEELING. 47 
 The door was now opened for the ad- 
 miffion of dinner. " I don't know how 
 it is with you, gentlemen, faid Harley's 
 new acquaintance; but I am afraid I 
 fhall not be able to get down a morfel 
 at this horrid mechanical hour of din- 
 ing." He fat down, however, and did 
 not Ihow any want of appetite by his 
 eating. He took upon him the carv- 
 ing of the meat, and criticifed on the 
 goodnefs of the pudding. 
 
 "When the table-cloth was removed, 
 he propofed calling for fome punch, 
 which was readily agreed to i he feem- 
 ed at firfl inclined to make it himfelf, 
 but afterwards changed his mind, and 
 left that province to the waiter, telling 
 him to have it pure Weft Indian, or he 
 could not tafte a drop of it. 
 
 When
 
 48 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 When the punch was brought, he 
 undertook to fill the glaftes and call the 
 toads." The king." The toaft na- 
 turally produced politics. It is the 
 privilege of Englifhmen to drink the 
 king's healch, and to talk of his con- 
 duct. The man who fat oppofite to 
 Harley (and who by this time, partly 
 from himfelf, and partly from his ac- 
 quaintance on his left hand, was difco- 
 vered to be a grazier) obferved, c< That 
 it was a fname for fo many ptnfioners 'o 
 be allowed to take the bread out of the 
 mouth of the poor." " Ay, and pro- 
 vifions, faid his friend, were never fo 
 dear in the memory of man ; Iwifhthe 
 king, and his counfellors, would look 
 to that." cc As for the matter of pro- 
 vifions, neighbour Wrightfon, he re- 
 plied, I am fure the prices of cattle " 
 A difpuce would have probably enfued, 
 
 hut
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 49 
 
 but it was prevented by the fpruce toaft 
 mafter, who gave a fentiment; and 
 turning to the two politicians, " Pray, 
 gentlemen, faid he, let us have done 
 with thefe mufty politics : I would 
 always leave them to the beer- fuckers 
 in Butcher- row* Come, let us have 
 fomething of the fine arts. That was a 
 dainn'd hard match betwixt the Nailor- 
 and Tim Bucket. The knowing ones 
 were curfedly taken in there ! I loft a 
 cool hundred myfclf, faith." 
 
 At mention of the cool hundred, the 
 grazier threw his eyes aflant, with a min- 
 gled look of doubt and furprife ; while 
 the man at his elbow looked arch, and 
 gave a fhort emphatical fort of cough. 
 
 Both feemed to be filenced, hov/ever, 
 
 by this intelligence j and, while the re- 
 
 D mainder
 
 5 o THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 mainder of the punch lafted, the con- 
 verfation was wholly engrofTed by the 
 gentleman with the fine waiftcoat, who 
 told a great many f( immenfe comi- 
 cal flories," and " confounded fmart 
 things," as he termed them, acted and 
 fpoken by lords, ladies, and young 
 bucks of quality, of his acquaintance* 
 At laft, the grazier, pulling out a 
 watch, of a very unufual fize, and tell- 
 ing the hour, faid, that he had an ap- 
 pointment. " Is it fo late ? faid the 
 young gentleman j then I am afraid I 
 have mifled an appointment already j 
 but the truth is, I am curfedly given to 
 miffing of appointments." 
 
 "When the grazier and he were gone, 
 
 Harley turned to the remaining perfon- 
 
 2ge, and aflced him, If he knew that 
 
 young gentleman ? " A gentleman 1 
 
 L -~ faid
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 51 
 
 faid he j ay, he is one of your gentle- 
 men, at the top of an affidavit. I knew 
 him, fome years ago, in the^uality of ' 
 a footman j and, I believe, he had fome- / 
 
 times the honour to be a _pimp. Ati 
 
 laft,, fome of the great folks, to whom 
 he had been ferviceable in both ca- 
 pacities, had him made a ganger; irt 
 which ftation he remains, and has 
 afiurance to pretend an acquaint 
 with men of quality. The impu-. 
 dog ! with a few (hillings in his poc 
 he will talk you three times as muc 
 rny friend Mundy there, who is vvor ' 
 nine thoufand, if he's worth a farthing./ 
 But I know the rafcal, and defpife himJ 
 as he deferves." 
 
 Harley began to defpife him too, and 
 to conceive fome indignation at havi; 
 fat with patience to hear fuch a ft 
 D 2 fp
 
 52 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 fpeak nonfenfe. But he corrected him- 
 felf, by reflecting, that he was perhaps 
 as well entertained, and inftrufted too, 
 by this fame modeft ganger, as he 
 fhould have been by fuch a man as he 
 had thought proper to perfonate. And 
 furely the fault may more properly be 
 imputed to that rank where the futility 
 is real, than where it is feigned; to that 
 rank, whofe opportunities for nobler 
 accomplishments have only ferved to 
 rear a fabric of folly, which the untu- 
 tored hand of affectation, even among 
 the meaneft of mankind, can imitate 
 with fuccefs. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 53 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 He vifits Bedlam. T'he diftrejfis of a 
 
 daughter. 
 
 OF thofe things called Sights in 
 London,- which every ftranger is 
 fuppofed defirous to fee, Bedlam is one. 
 To that place, therefore, an acquaint- 
 ance of Harley's, after having accom- 
 panied him to feveral other (hows, pro- 
 pofed a vifit. Harley objected to it, 
 '< becaufe, faid he, I think it an inhu-> 
 man practice to expofe the greateft mi- 
 fery with which our nature is afflicted, 
 to every idle vifitant who can afford i 
 trifling perquifite to the keeper j efpe* 
 cially as it is a diftrefs which the hu- 
 mane muft fee with the painful reflec- 
 tion, that it is not in their power to 
 D 3 alleviate
 
 54 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 alleviate it.*' He was overpowered, 
 however, by the folicitations of his 
 friend and the other perfons of the 
 party (amongft whom were feveral la- 
 dies) ; and they went in a body to 
 Moorfields. 
 
 Their conductor led them firft to the 
 ^ difmal manfions of thofe who are in the 
 moft horrid ftate of incurable madncfs. 
 The clanking of chains, the wildnefs of 
 their cries, and the imprecations which 
 fome of them uttered, formed a fcene 
 inexprefilbly {hocking. Harley and his 
 companions, efpecially the female parr 
 of them, begged their guide to return : 
 he feemed furprifed at their uneafmefs, 
 and was with difficulty prevailed on to 
 have that part of the hou-fe without 
 fhowingthem fome others j who, as he 
 exprefTed it in the phrafe of thofe that 
 
 keep
 
 IKE MAN OF FEELING. 55 
 
 keep wild beafts for iliow, were much 
 better worth feeing than any they had 
 patted, being ten times more fierce and 
 unmanageable* 
 
 He led them next to that quarter 
 where thofe refide, who, as they are not 
 dangerous to themfelves or others, en- 
 joy a certain degree of freedom, accord- 
 ing to the ftfltc of their diftemper. 
 
 Harley had fallen behind his compa- 
 nions, looking at a man, who was mak- 
 ing pendulums with bits of thread, and 
 little balls of clay. He had delineated 
 a fegment of a circle on the wall with 
 chalky and marked their different vi- 
 brations, by interfering it with crofs 
 lines. A decent looking man came up, 
 and fmiling at the maniac, turned to 
 Harley, and told him, that gentleman 
 D4 had
 
 56 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 had once been a very celebrated mathe- 
 matician. " He fell a facrifice, faid 
 he, to the theory of comets j for hav- 
 ing, with infinite labour, formed a table 
 on the conjectures of Sir Ifaac Newton, 
 he was difappointed in the return of one 
 of thofe luminaries, and was very foon 
 after obliged to be placed here by his 
 friends. If you pleafe to follow me, 
 Sir, continued the ftranger, I believe I 
 fhall be able to give you a more fatif- 
 factory account of the unfortunate peo- 
 ple you fee here, than the man who 
 attends your companions." Harley 
 bowed, and accepted his offer, 
 
 The next perfon they came up to had 
 fcrawled a variety of figures on a piece 
 of flate. Harley had the curiofity to 
 take a nearer view of them. They con- 
 fifted of different columns, on the top 
 
 of
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 57 
 
 of which were marked South-fea an- 
 nuities, India-flock, and Three per 
 cent, annuities confol. " This, faid 
 Harley's inftructor, was a gentleman 
 well known in Change -alley. He was 
 once worth fifty thoufand pounds, and 
 had actually agreed for the pur chafe of 
 an eflate in the Weft, in order to realize 
 his money; but he quarrelled with 
 the proprietor about the repairs of the 
 garden-wall, and fo returned to town 
 to follow his old trade of flock-jobbing 
 a little longer j when an unlucky fluc- 
 tuation of flock, in which he was en- 
 gaged to an immenfe extent, reduced 
 him at once to poverty and to madnefs. 
 Poor wretch ! he told me t'other day, 
 that againfl the next payment of differ- 
 ences, he (hould be fome hundreds 
 above a plum," 
 
 D 5 It
 
 58 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 ** It is a fpondee, and 1 will main- 
 tain it," interrupted a voice on his left 
 hand. This aflertion was followed by 
 a very rapid recital of fome verfes from 
 Homer. te That figure, faid the gen- 
 
 f tleman, whofe clothes are fo bedaubed 
 with fnufF, was a fchoolmafter of fome 
 
 / reputation : he came hither to be re- 
 folved of fome doubts he entertained 
 concerning the genuine pronunciation 
 of the Greek vowels. In his higheft 
 fits, he makes frequent mention of one 
 
 s Mr. Bentley. 
 
 " Burdejiufive ideas, Sir, are the mo- 
 tives of the greateft parFeT 7 mankind, 
 and a heated imagination the power by 
 which their actions are incited : the 
 world, in the eye of aphilofopher,- may 
 be faid tQ,he-a~large madhQufe." " It 
 is true, anfwered Harleypttie paffions 
 * of
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 59 
 
 of men are temporary madnefies; ancf 
 fometimes very fatal in their effects. 
 
 From Macedonia's madman to the 
 Swede." 
 
 " It was indeed, faid the ftranger, a 
 very mad thing in Charles, to think of 
 adding fo vail a country as Ruffia to 
 his dominions j that would have been 
 fatal indeed ; the balance of the North 
 would then have been loft; but the 
 Sultan and I would never have allowed 
 
 it." Sir !" faid Harley, with no* 
 
 fmall furprife on his countenance. 
 ** Why, yes, anfwered the other, the 
 Sultan and I j do you know me? I am 
 the Chan of Tartary." 
 
 Harley was a good deal (truck by this 
 
 difcovery j he had prudence enougl*, 
 
 D 6 however,
 
 60 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 however, to conceal his amazement, 
 and bowing as low to the monarch, as 
 his dignity required, left him imme- 
 diately, and joined his companions. 
 
 He found them in a quarter of the 
 houfe fet apart for the infane of the 
 other fex, feveral of whom had gathered 
 about the female vifitors, and were ex- 
 amining, with rather more accuracy 
 than might have been expected, the 
 particulars of their drefs. 
 
 * Separate from the reft ftood one, 
 \vhofe appearance had fomething of fu- 
 ; perior dignity. Her face, though pale 
 and wafted, was lefs fqualid than thofe 
 of the others, and Ihowed a dejection of 
 that decent kind, which moves our pity 
 unmixed with horror : upon her, there- 
 fore, the eyes of all were immediately 
 
 turned. 1
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING, 61 
 
 turned. The keeper, who accompa- 
 nied them, obferved it : " This, faid 
 he, is a young lady, who was born to 
 ride in her coach and fix, She was be- 
 loved, if the ftory I have heard is true, 
 by a young gentleman, her equal in 
 birth, though by no means her match 
 in fortune : but love, they fay, is > 
 blind, and fo fhe fancied him as much 
 as he did her. Her father, it feems, i 
 would not hear of their marriage, and \ 
 threatened to turn her out of doors, if ) 
 ever Ihe faw him again. Upon this the 
 young gentleman took a voyage to the 
 Weft Indies, in hopes of bettering his 
 fortune, and obtaining his miftrefs ; 
 but he was fcarce landed, when he was 
 feized with one of the fevers which are 
 common in thofe iflands, and died in a 
 few days, lamented by every one that 
 knew him. This news foon reached 
 
 his
 
 $2 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 his miftrefs, who was at the fame time 
 prdTed by her father to marry a rich 
 miferly fellow, who was old enough to 
 be her grandfather. The death of her 
 lover had no effect on her inhuman pa- 
 rent : he was only the more earneft for 
 her marriage with the man he had pro- 
 vided for her j and what between her 
 defpair at the death of the one, and her 
 averfion to the other, the poor young 
 lady was reduced to the condition you 
 ' fee her in. But God would not pro- 
 ;fper fuch cruelty ; her fathers affairs 
 \foon after went to wreck, and he died 
 almoft a beggar." 
 
 Though this flory was told in very 
 plain language, it had particularly at- 
 tracted Harley's notice ; he had given 
 it the tribute of fome tears. The un- 
 fortunate young lady had till now fecm- 
 
 cd
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 63 
 
 ed entranced in thought, with her eyes 
 fixed on a little garnet ring fhe wore on 
 her finger: fhe turned them now upon 
 Harley. tf My Billy is no more ! faid 
 fhe, do you weep for my Billy ? Blefif- 
 ings on your tears ! I would weep too, 
 but my brain is dry; and it burns, it 
 burns, it burns !" She drew nearer to 
 Harley. " Be comforted, young lady, 
 faid he, your Billy is in heaven." 
 " Is he, indeed ? and fhall we meet 
 again ? and fliall that frightful man 
 (pointingto the keeper) not be there ? 
 Alas ! I am grown naughty of late; I 
 have almoft forgotten to think of hea- 
 ven: yet I pray fometimes; when I can, 
 I pray ; and fometimes I fingj jvhenj 
 arnjaddeft, I fing:You fhall hear 
 me, hufh \ 
 
 Light
 
 64 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 " Light be the earth onBilly's bread, 
 ef And green the fod that wraps his 
 grave !" 
 
 There was a plaintive wildnefs in the air 
 not to be withftood; and except the 
 keeper's, there was not an unmoiftened 
 eye around her. 
 
 <f Do you weep again ? faid fhej I 
 would not have you weep : you are like 
 my Billy : you are, believe me; jufl To 
 he looked when he gave me this rings 
 poor Billy ! 'twas the laft time ever we 
 met! 
 
 " 'Twas when the feas were roaring 
 I love you for refembling my Billy; but 
 I {hall never love any man like him." 
 She ftretched out her hand to Harlcy j 
 he preffed it between both of his, and 
 
 bathed
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 65 
 
 bathed it with his tears. " Nay, that 
 is Billy's ring, faid fhe, you cannot 
 have it, indeed; but here is another, 
 look here, which I plated to-day of 
 ibme gold-thread from this bit of fluff j 
 will you keep it for my fake ? I am a 
 ftrange girl j but my heart is harm- 
 lefs : my poor heart ; it will burft fome 
 day j feel how it beats!" She prefs'd 
 his hand to her bofom, then holding 
 her head in the attitude of liftening 
 " Hark ! one, two, three ! be quiet, 
 thou little trembler; my Billy's is cold! 
 but I had forgotten the ring." She 
 put it on his finger. ff Farewell ! I 
 muft leave you now." She would have 
 withdrawn her hand; Harley held it to 
 his lips. -^" I dare not ftay longer j my 
 
 head- throbs fadly : farewell !" She 
 
 walked with a hurried ftep to a little 
 apartment at fome diftance, Harley 
 
 ftood
 
 66 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 flood fixed in aftoniihment and pity ! 
 his friend gave money to the keeper. 
 Harley looked on his ring. He put a 
 couple of guineas into the man's hand : 
 " Be kind to that unfortunate" He 
 burft into tears, and left them. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 67 
 
 CHAP. XXL 
 
 <Tbe Mifantbropijt . 
 
 THE friend, who had conducted 
 him to Moorfields, called upon 
 him again the next evening. After 
 fome talk on the adventures of the pre- 
 ceding day i " I carried you yefterday, 
 faid he to Harley, to vifit the mad j let 
 me introduce you to-night, at fupper, 
 to one of the wife : but you muft not 
 look for any thing of the Socratic plea- 
 fantry about him ; on the contrary, I 
 warn you to expect the fpirit of a Dio- 
 genes. That you may be a little pre- 
 pared for his extraordinary manner, I 
 will let you into fome particulars of his 
 hiftory. 
 
 "He
 
 68 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 fc He is the elder of the two fons of a 
 ; gentleman of confiderable eftate in the 
 Urountry. Their father died when they 
 were young : both were remarkable at 
 fchool for quicknefs of parts, and extent 
 of genius ; this had been bred to no 
 profefllon, becaufe his father's fortune, 
 which defcended to him, was thought 
 fufficient to fet him above it ; the other 
 was put apprentice to an eminent attor- 
 ney. In this the expectations of his 
 friends were more confulted than his 
 own inclination j for both his brother 
 and he had feelings of that warm kind, 
 that could ill brook a ftudy fo dry as 
 the law, efpecially in that department 
 of it which was allotted to him. But the 
 difference of their tempers made the cha- 
 rade rift ical diftinflion between them. 
 '. The younger, from the gentlenefs of 
 his nature, bore with patience a fitua- 
 
 tion
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 69 
 
 tion en:m ly difcordant to his genius J 
 and diipofition. At times, indeed, his 
 pride would fuggeft, of how little im- 
 portance thofe talents were, which the 
 partiality of his friends had often extol- 
 led : they were now incumbrances in~a]| 
 walk of life where the dull and the ig- 
 norant pafied him at every turn ; his 
 fancy and his feeling were invincible 
 obftacles to eminence in a fituation, 
 where his fancy had no room for exer- 
 tion, and his feeling experienced per- 
 petual difguft. But thefe murmurings 
 he never fuffered to be heard ; and that 
 he might not offend the prudence of 
 thole who had been concerned in the 
 choice of his profeflion, he continued to 
 labour in it feveral years, till, by the 
 death of a relation, he fucceeded to an 
 eilateofalittle better than lool, a year, 
 with which, and the fmall patrimony 
 
 kft
 
 r o THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 left him, he retired into the country, 
 and made a love-match with a young 
 iady of a temper fimilar to his own, 
 
 f with whom the fagacious v/orld pitied 
 
 \ him for finding happinefs. 
 
 K But his elder brother, whom you 
 
 are to fee at fupper, if you will do us 
 
 ? the favour of your company, was na- 
 
 ; turally impetuous, decifive, and over- 
 
 * bearing. He entered into life with 
 
 thofe ardent expectations by which 
 
 young men are commonly deluded : in 
 
 his friendfhips, warm to excefs j and 
 
 equally violent in his dillikes. He was 
 
 on the brink of marriage with a 
 
 young lady when one of thofe friends, 
 
 for whofe honour he would have 
 
 pawned his life, made an elopement 
 
 with that very goddefs, and left him 
 
 befides deeply engaged for fums which 
 
 that
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 71 
 
 that good friend's extravag ...^ uad 
 fquandered. 
 
 < e The dreams he had formerly en^\ 
 joyed were now changed for ideas of ai 
 very different nature. He abjured all/ 
 confidence in any thing of human form J 
 fold his lands, which dill produced him 
 a very large reverfion, came to town, 
 and immured himfelf with a woman who 
 had been his nurfe, in little better than 
 a garret j and has ever fince applied hisl 
 talents to the vilifying of his fpecies./ 
 In one thing I muft take the liberty to 
 inftrucl: you j however different your 
 fentiments may be (and different they 
 muft be), you will fuffer him to go on 
 without contradiction ; otherwife he will 
 be filent immediately, and we fhall not 
 get a word from him all the night 
 after." Harky promifed to remember 
 
 this
 
 72 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 this injunsflion, and accepted the invi- 
 tation of his friend. 
 
 When they arrived at the houfe, they 
 were informed that the gentleman was 
 come, and had been fnown into the par- 
 lour. They found him fitting with a 
 daughter of his friend's about three 
 years old, on his knee, whom he was 
 teaching the alphabet from a horn- 
 book : at a little diftance flood a fitter 
 of hers, fome years older. " Get you 
 away, Mifs, faid he to this lad, you are 
 .a pert goffip, and I will have nothing 
 to do with you.'* " Nay, anfwercd fhe, 
 Nancy is your favourite ; you are quite 
 in love with Nancy." <c Take away 
 that girl, faid he to her father, whom he 
 now obferved to have entered the room, 
 fhehaswoman about her already." The 
 children were accordingly difmifled. 
 9 Betwixt
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 73 
 
 Betwixt that and (upper-time he did 
 not utter a fyllable. When (upper 
 came, he quarreled with every difh at 
 table, but eat of them all; only ex- 
 empting from his cenfures a fallad, 
 which you have not fpoiled, faid he, 
 becaufc you have not attempted to 
 cook it. 
 
 When the wine was fet upon the 
 table, he took from his pocket a parti- 
 cular fmoking apparatus, and filled his 
 pipe, without taking any more notice 
 of Harley, or his friend, than if no fuch 
 perfons had been in the room. 
 
 Harley could not help dealing a look 
 of furprife at him j but his friend, who 
 knew his humour, returned it, by an- 
 nihilating his prefence in the like man- 
 ner, and, leaving him to his own me- 
 E ditations,
 
 74 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 ditations, addrefied himfelf entirely to 
 Harley. 
 
 In their difcourfe fome mention hap- 
 pened to be made of an amiable charac- 
 ter, and the words honour and politenefs 
 were applied to it. Upon this the gen- 
 tleman, laying down his pipe, and 
 changing the tone of his countenance, 
 from an ironical grin to fomething more 
 intently contemptuous: "Honour, faid 
 he, Honour and Politenefs I this is the 
 coin of the world, and pafles current 
 with the fools of it. You have fubfli- 
 tuted the fhadow Honour, inftead of 
 S the fubftance Virtue; and have banilh- 
 ed the reality of friendfhip for the 
 fictitious femblance, which you have 
 termed Politenefs : politenefs, which 
 confifts in a certain ceremonious jargon, 
 more ridiculous to the ear of reafon 
 
 than
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 75 
 
 than the voice of a puppet. You have 
 invented founds, which you worfhip, 
 though they tyrannize over your peace j 
 and are furrounded with empty forms, 
 which take from the honeft emotions of 
 joy, and add to the poignancy of mif- 
 fortune." " Sir !" faid Harley His 
 friend winked to him, to remind him 
 of the caution he had received. He was 
 filenced by the thought The philofo- 
 pher turned his eye upon him : he ex- 
 amined him from top to toe, with a fort 
 of triumphant contempt. Harley's coat 
 happened to be a new one - t the other's 
 was as fhabby as could poflibly be fup- 
 pofed to be on the back of a gentleman : 
 there was much fignificance in his look 
 with regard to this coat : it fpoke of the 
 fieeknefs of folly, and the threadbare- 
 nefs of wifdom. 
 
 2 " Truth,
 
 76 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 " Truth, continued he, the mod 
 amiable, as well as' the mod natural of 
 virtues, you are at pains to eradicate. 
 Your very nurferies are feminaries of 
 falfehood j and what is called Fafhion 
 in manhood, compleres the fyftem of 
 avowed infincerity. Mankind, in the 
 grofs, is a gaping moniler, that loves 
 to be deceived,, and has feldom been 
 difappointed : nor is their vanity lefs 
 fallacious to your philofophers, who 
 adopt modes of truth to follow them 
 through the paths of error, and defend 
 paradoxes merely to be finguiar in de- 
 fending them. Thefe are they whom 
 ye term Ingenious ; 'tis a phrafe of 
 commendation I detail ; it implies an 
 attempt to impofe on my judgment, by 
 flattering my imagination: yet thefe are 
 they whofe works are read by the old 
 with delight, which they oung are taught 
 

 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 77 
 
 to look upon as the codes of knowledge 
 and philofophy. 
 
 " Indeed, the edu cation ofyour you tri] 
 is every way prepofterous; you wafte at 
 fchool years in improving talents, with- 
 out having ever fpent an hour in difco- 
 vering them j one promifcuous line of 
 inftruction is followed, without regard 
 to genius, capacity, or probable fitua- 
 tion in the commonwealth. From this 
 bear-garden of the pedagogue, a raw 
 u principled boy is turned loofe upon 
 the world to travel > without any ideas 
 but thofe of improving his drefs at 
 Paris, or ftarting into tafte by gazing en 
 fome paintings at Rome. Afk him of 
 the manners of the people, and he will 
 tell you, That the fkirt is worn much 
 fhorter in France, and that every body 
 eats macaroni in Italy. When he re- 
 E 3 turns
 
 78 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 turns home, he buys a feat in parlia- 
 ment, and {Indies the constitution at 
 Arthur's. 
 
 <f Nor are your females trained to any 
 more ufeful purpofe : they are taught^ 
 by the very rewards which their nurfes 
 propofe for good behaviour, by the firft 
 thing like a jeft which they hear from 
 every male vifitor of the family, that a 
 young woman is a creature to be mar- 
 lied ; and when they are grown fome- 
 what older, are inftru&ed, that it is 
 the purpofe of marriage to have the en- 
 joyment of pin-money, and the ex- 
 pectation of a jointure.*' 
 
 * " Thefe indeed are the effects of 
 luxury, which is perhaps infeparable 
 
 from 
 
 * Though the Curate could not remember 
 having ftiown this chapter to any body, I ftrongly 
 
 fufped
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING, 79- 
 
 from a certain degree of power and 
 grandeur in a nation. But it is no 
 fimply of the progrefs of luxury that 
 we have to complain : did its votaries 
 keep in their own fphere of thoughdefs 
 diffipation, we might defpife them with- 
 out emotion j but the frivolous purfuits 
 of pleafure are mingled with the mod 
 important concerns of the ftate ; and 
 public enterprife (hall deep till he who 
 fhould guide its operation has decided 
 his bets at Newmarket, or fulfilled his 
 engagement with a favourite miftrefs in 
 
 fufpedl that thefe political obfervations are the 
 work of a later pen than the reft of this perform- 
 ance. There feems to have been, by fome acci- 
 dent, a gap in the manufcript, from the words, 
 *' Expectation of a jointure," to thefe, " In 
 Ihort, man is an animal," where the prefenc 
 blank ends ; and fome other perfon (for the hand 
 is different, and the ink whiter) has filled part of 
 it with fentiments of his own. Whoever he was, 
 he feems to have caught fome portion of the 
 fpirit of the man he perfonates. 
 
 E 4 the
 
 8o THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 the country. "We want fome man of 
 acknowledged eminence to point our 
 counfels with that firmnefs which the 
 counfels of a great people require. We 
 have hundreds of minifters, who prefs 
 /forward into office, without having ever 
 / learned that art which is neceflary for 
 every bufinefs, the art of thinking; and 
 miflake the petulance, which could 
 give infpiration to fmart farcafms on an 
 obnoxious meafure in a popular afiem- 
 bly, for the ability which is to balance 
 the intereft of kingdoms, and inveftigate 
 the latent fources of national fuperio- 
 rity. With the adminiftration of fuch 
 men the people can never be fatisfied; 
 for befides that their confidence is 
 gained only by the view of fuperior ta- 
 lents, there needs that depth of know- 
 ledge, which is not only acquainted 
 with thejuft extent of power, but can 
 
 alfo
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 81 
 
 alfo trace its connexion with the expe- 
 dient, to preferve its pofiefibrs from the 
 contempt which attends irrefolution, or 
 therefentment which follows temerity." 
 
 [Here a confiderable part is wanting.] 
 
 * * " In fhort, man is an animal 
 equally felfifh and vain. Qfanity^ in- 
 deedjis bu t a modification of felfifhnefs. 
 From the latter^ there are fome who pre- 
 tend to be free : they are generally fuch 
 as declaim againft the luftof wealth and 
 power, becaufe they have never been 
 able to attain any high degree in either: 
 they boaft of generofity and feeling. 
 They tell us (perhaps they tell us in 
 rhime^ that the fenfations of an honeft 
 heart, of a mind univerfally benevolent, 
 make up the quiet blifs which they en- 
 E 5 joy j
 
 82 THE MAN OF FEELING! 
 
 joy j but they will not, by this, be ex- 
 empted from the charge of felfifhnefs. 
 Whence the luxurious happinefs they 
 defcribe in their little family- circles ? 
 Whence the pleafure which they feel, 
 when they trim their evening fires, and 
 liften to the howl of winter's wind I 
 Whence, but from the fecret reflection 
 of what houfelefs wretches feel from it ? 
 " Or do you adminifter comfort in afflic- 
 tion the motive is at hand j I have had 
 it preached to me in nineteen out of 
 twenty of yourconfolatory difcourfes 
 the comparative littlenefs of our own 
 misfortunes. 
 
 " With vanity your beft virtues are 
 grofsly tainted : your benevolence^ which 
 ye deduce immediately from the natural 
 impulfe of the heart, fquints to it for its 
 reward. There are fome, indeed, who 
 4 tell,
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 3: 
 
 tell us of the fatisfaftion which flows 
 from a fecret confcioufnefs of good ac- 
 tions : this fecret fatisfaftion is truly-? 
 excellent when we have fome friend to 
 whom we may difcover its excellence.'* 
 
 He now paufed a moment to relight 
 his pipe, when a clock, that flood at 
 his back, ftruck eleven > he ftarted up 
 at the found, took his hat and his cane, 
 and nodding good night with his head,, 
 walked out of the room. The gentle- 
 man of the houfe called a fervant to- 
 bring the ftranger's furtout. (t What 
 fort of a night is it, fellow?" faid he. 
 " It rains, Sir, anfwered the fervant,, 
 with an eafterly wind." (f Kafterly for 
 ever!"- He made no other reply ;. but 
 Ihrugging up his fhoulders till they al- 
 moft touched his ears, wrapped himfelf 
 tight in his great coat, and difappeared. 
 E 6 " This.
 
 84 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 <c This is a ftrange creature," faid 
 his friend to Harley. " I cannot fay, 
 anfvvered he, that his remarks are of 
 the pleafant kind : it is curious to ob- 
 ferve how the nature of truth may be 
 changed by the garb it wears j foftened 
 to the admonition of friendlhip, or 
 foured into the feverity of reproof : yet 
 this feverity may be ufeful to fome 
 tempers ; it fomewhat refembles a file ; 
 dilagreeable in its operation, but hard 
 metals may be the brighter for it." 
 
 C H A P.
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. B$ 
 
 CHAP. XXV. 
 
 His /kill in phyfiognomy. 
 
 THE company at the baronet's re- 
 moved to the playhoufe accord- 
 ingly, and Harley took his ufual route 
 into the Park. He obferved, as he en- 
 tered, a frefh-looking elderly gentle- 
 man in converfation with a beggar, who, 
 leaning on his crutch, was recounting 
 the hardfhips he had undergone, and 
 explaining the wretchednefs of his pre- 
 fent condition. This was a very inte- 
 refting dialogue to Harley , he was rude 
 enough therefore to fiacken his pace as 
 he approached, and at laft to make a 
 full flop at the gentleman's back, who 
 was juft then exprefling his companion 
 for the beggar, and regretting that he 
 
 had
 
 86 THE MAN O-F FEELING, 
 
 had not a farthing of change about him- 
 At faying this he looked piteoufly on 
 the fellow : there was fomething in his 
 phyfiognomy which caught Harley's 
 notice : indeed phyfiognomy was one of 
 Harley's foibles, for which he had been 
 often rebuked by his aunt in the coun- 
 try j who ufed to tell him, that when 
 he was come to her years and experi- 
 ence, he would know that all's not gold 
 that glifters: and it muft be owned, 
 that his aunt was a very fenfible, harfii- 
 looking, maiden-lady of threefcore and 
 upwards. But he was too apt to forget 
 thii caution ;. and now, it fee ms, it had 
 not occurred to. him.: ftepping up v 
 therefore, to the gentleman, who was 
 lamenting the want of filver, " Your 
 intentions, Sir, faid he, are fo good,, 
 that I cannot help lending you my af- 
 fiftance to. carry them into execution,'* 
 
 and.
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 87 
 
 and gave the beggar a (hilling. The 
 other returned a fuitable compliment, 
 and extolled the benevolence of Harley. 
 They kept walking together, and. bene- 
 volence grew the topic of difcourfe.. 
 
 The ftranger was fluent on the fub- 
 jeft. " There is no ufe of money, faicT] 
 he, equal to that of beneficence : with/ 
 the profufe, it is loft; and even with 
 thofe who lay it out according to the 
 prudence of the world, the objects ac- 
 quired by it pall on the fenfe, and have 
 fcarce become our own till they lofe 
 their value with the power of pleafing; 
 but here the enjoyment grows on reflec- 
 tion, and our money is moft truly ours,, 
 when it ceafes being in our pofleiftorx" 
 
 " Yet I agree in fbme meafure, an- 
 fwered Harley, with thofe who think, 
 
 that
 
 gg THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 that charit^jto_our common be^arsjs 
 often mifplaced j there are objefls Jefs 
 obtrulive whofe tide is a better one." 
 
 <f We cannot eafily diftinguifh, faid 
 the ftranger j and even of the worthlefs, 
 are there not many whofe impudence, 
 or whofe vice, may have been one 
 dreadful confequence of misfortune ?" 
 
 Harley looked again in his face, and 
 blefled himfelf for his fkill in phyfiog- 
 nomy. 
 
 By this time they had reached the end 
 of the walk, the old gentleman leaning 
 on the rails to take breath, and in the 
 meantime they were joined by a younger 
 man, whofe figure was much above the 
 appearance of his drefs, which was poor 
 and fhabby : Harley '$ former compa- 
 i nion
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 89 
 
 nion addrefied him as an acquaintance, 
 and they turned on the walk together. 
 
 The elder of the Grangers complained 
 of the clofenefs of the evening, and 
 afked the other, if he would go with 
 him into a houfe hard by, and take one 
 draught of excellent cyder. " The 
 man who keeps this houfe, faid he to 
 Harley, was once a fervant of mine : I 
 could not think of turning ioofe upon 
 the world a faithful old fellow, for no 
 other reafon but that his age had inca- 
 pacitated him; fo I gave him an annuity 
 of ten pounds, with the help of which 
 he has fet up this little place here, and 
 his daughter goes and fells milk in the 
 city, while her father manages his tap- 
 room, as he calls it, at home. I can't 
 well afk a gentleman of your appear- 
 ance to accompany me to fo paltry a 
 
 place."
 
 90 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 place." " Sir, replied Harley, inter- 
 rupting him, I would much rather enter 
 it than the moft celebrated tavern in 
 
 tOWn : tnjtiv* tp fhejTpremrnng., may 
 
 fometirries iifr-^-geaknefs in the man ; 
 to encourage induftry, is a duty in the 
 /^citizen." They entered the houfe ac- 
 cordingly. 
 
 On a table at the corner of the room 
 }ay a pack of cards, loofely thrown to- 
 gether. The old gentleman reproved 
 the man of the houfe for encouraging fo 
 idle an amufemeiH. Harley attempted 
 to defend him, from the necefllty of ac- 
 commodating himfelf to the humour of 
 his guefls, and taking up the cards, be- 
 gan to fhuffle them backwards and for- 
 wards in his hand. (( Nay, I don't 
 think cards fo unpardonable an amufe- 
 mcnt as fome do, replied the other. - t and 
 
 now
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 91 
 
 now and then, about this time of the 
 evening, when my eyes begin to- fail 
 me for my book, .1 divert myfeif with 
 a game at piquet, without finding my 
 morals a bit relaxed by it." " Do you* 
 play piquet, Sir?" (to Harley) Harley 
 anfwered in the affirmative} upon which 
 the other propofed playing a pool at a 
 Shilling the game, doubling the (lakes ^ 
 adding, that he never played higher 
 with any body. 
 
 Harley^s good nature could not re- 1 
 fufe the benevolent old man; and the 
 younger flranger, though he at firft 
 pleaded prior engagements, yet being/ 
 earneftly folicited by his friend, at laft. 
 yielded to felicitation. 
 
 When they began to play, the old' 
 gentleman, fomewhat to the furprife of 
 
 Harleyj,
 
 92 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 Harley, produced ten (hillings to ferve 
 for markers of his fcore. " He hadjio 
 
 phangp for fh 
 
 himieli.but I can eafily account for it ^ 
 fit is curious to obferve the affection that 
 inanimate things will create in us by a 
 .Jong acquaintance : if I mayjudge from 
 nny own feelings, the old man would' 
 not: part with one of thefe counters for 
 ten times its intrinfic value , it even got 
 the better of his benevolence ! I myielf 
 haveapairofoldbraisfleeve-buttons" - 
 Here he was interrupted by being told, 
 that the old gentleman had beat the 
 younger, and that it was his turn to 
 take up the conqueror. Ci Your game 
 has been fhort," faid Harley. " I re- 
 piqued him,'* anfwered the old man, 
 with joy fparkling in his countenance. 
 Harley wifhed to be repiqued too, but 
 he was difappointed ; for he had the 
 
 fame
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 93 
 
 fame good fortune againft his opponent. 
 Indeed, never did fortune, mutable as 
 (he rs, delight in mutability fo much as 
 at that moment : the victory was fo 
 quick, and fo conftantly alternate, that 
 the flake, in a fhort time, amounted to 
 no lefs a fum than 12!. Harley's pro- 
 portion of which was within half a gui- 
 nea of the money he had in his pocket. 
 He had before propofed a divifion, but 
 the old gentleman oppofed it with fuch 
 a pleafant warmth in his manner, that 
 it was always over- r If J. Now, how- 
 ever, he told them, that he had an ap- 
 pointment with fome gentlemen, and it 
 was within a few minutes of his hour. 
 The young ftranger had gained one 
 game, and was engaged in the fecond 
 with the other j they agreed therefore 
 that the ftake Ihould be divided, if the 
 old gentleman won that -, which was 
 
 more
 
 94 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 more than probable, as his fcore was 
 90 to 35, and he was elder hand j but 
 a momentous repique decided it in fa- 
 vour of his adverfary, who feemed to 
 enjoy his vi&ory mingled with regret, 
 for having won too much, while his 
 friend, with great ebullience of paf- 
 fion, many praifes of his own good 
 play, and many maledictions on the 
 power of chance., took up the cards, 
 and threw them into the fire. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 95 
 
 CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 The Man of Feeling in a brothel. 
 
 TH E company he was engaged to 
 meet were afiembled in Fleet- 
 flreet. He had walked fome time along 
 the Strand, amidft a crowd of thofe 
 wretches who wait the uncertain wages 
 of proftitution, with ideas of pity fuit- 
 able to the fcene around him, and the 
 feelings he poffeffed, and had got as 
 far as Somerfet-houfe, when one of 
 them laid hold of his arm, and, with a 
 voice tremulous and faint, afked him 
 for a pint of wine, in a manner more 
 fiipplicatory than is ufual with thofe 
 whom the infamy of their profeffion 
 has deprived of fhame : he turned 
 round at the demand, and looked fted- 
 faftly on the perfon who made it. 
 
 She
 
 $6 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 She was above the common fize, and 
 elegantly formed ; her face W4S thin and 
 hollow, and fhowcd the remains of tar- 
 nifhed beauty. Her eyes were black, 
 but had little of their luftre left : her 
 checks had fomc paint laid on without 
 art, and productive of no advantage to 
 her complexion, which exhibited a 
 deadly palenefs on the other parts of 
 her face. 
 
 Harley flood in the attitude of hefi- 
 tation j which fhe interpreting to her 
 advantage, repeated her requeft, and 
 endeavoured to force a leer of invita- 
 tion into her countenance. He took her 
 arm, and they walked on to one of thofe 
 obfequious taverns in the neighbour- 
 hood, where the dearnefs of the wine is 
 a difcharge in full for the character of 
 the houfe. From what impulfe he did 
 
 this,
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 97 
 
 this, we do not mean to enquire ; as it 
 has ever been againft our nature to 
 fearch for motives where bad ones are 
 to be found. They entered, and a 
 
 waiter fhewed them a room, and placed 
 a bottle of claret on the table. 
 
 Harley filled the lady's glafs; which 
 Ihe had no fooner tailed, than dropping 
 it on the floor, and eagerly catching his 
 arm, her eye grew fixed, her lipaffumed 
 a clayey whitenefs, and ftie fell back 
 lifelefs in her chair. 
 
 Harley ftarted from his feat, and, 
 catching her in his arms, fupported her 
 from falling to the ground, looking 
 wildly at the door, as if he wanted to 
 run for affiftance, but durft not leave 
 the miferable creature. It was not till 
 fome minutes after, that it occurred to 
 F him
 
 98 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 him to ring the bell, which at laft how- 
 ever he thought of, and rung with re* 
 peated violence even after the waiter 
 appeared. Luckily the waiter had his 
 fenfes fomewhat more about him ; and 
 fnatching up a bottle of water, which 
 flood on a buffet at the end of the room, 
 he fprinkled it over the ha*nds and face 
 of the dying figure before him. She 
 began to revive, and with the afii fiance 
 of fome hartfhorn drops, which Harley 
 now for the firft time drew from his 
 pocket, was able to defire the waiter to 
 bring her a cruft of bread ; of which 
 fhe fwallowed fomc mouthfuls with the 
 appearance of the keeneft hunger. The 
 waiter withdrew : when turning to Har- 
 ley, fobbing at the fame time, and fhed- 
 ding tears, " I am forry, Sir, faid fhe, 
 that I fhould have given you fo mucfi 
 trouble j but you will pity me when I 
 6 tell
 
 THE M-AN OF FEELING. 99 
 
 tell you, that till now I have not tafled 1 
 a morfelthcfe two dayspaft." Hefixed1> 
 his eyes on her's every circumftance 1 
 but the lad was forgotten ; and he tookj 
 her hand with as much refpect as if fhe 
 had been a dutchefs. It was ever the i 
 privilege of misfortune to be revered by 1 
 him. " Two days! faid he; and I j 
 have fired fumptuoufly every day !" *' 
 He was reaching to the bell; (he under- 
 lie od his meaning, and prevented him. 
 " I beg, Sir, faid (he, that you would 
 give yourfdf no more trouble about a 
 \vretch who does not wifh to live ; but, 
 at preient, I could not eat a bit ; my 
 ilomach even rofe at the laft mouthful 
 of that cruft. He offered to call a 
 chair, faying, that he hoped a little reft 
 would relieve her. -He had one half- 
 guinea left : " I am forry, he faid, that 
 at prefent I fhould be able to make you 
 F 2 an
 
 ioo THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 an offer of no more than this paltry 
 fum." She burft into tears : Your 
 generality, Sir, is abufed j to beftow it 
 on me is to take it from the virtuous : 
 I have no title but mifery to plead ; 
 mifery of my own procuring." " No 
 more of that, anfwered Harley j there 
 is virtue in thefe tears j let the fruit of 
 them be virtue." He rung, and order- 
 ed a chair. " Though I am the vileft 
 of beings, faid (he, 1 have not forgotten 
 every virtue j gratitude, I hope, I (hall 
 flill have left, did I but know who is 
 my benefactor." " My name is Har- 
 ley" e< Could I ever have an oppor- 
 tunity" " You fhall, and a glorious 
 one too ! your future conduit but I do 
 not mean to reproach you if, I fay 
 it will be the nobleft reward I will do 
 myfeif the pleafure of feeing you again." 
 Here the waiter entered, and told 
 
 them
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 101 
 
 them the chair was at the door $ the- 
 lady informed Harley of her lodgings, 
 and he promifed to wait on her at ten 
 next morning. 
 
 He led her to the chair, and returned 
 to clear with the waiter, witiiout ever 
 once reflecting that he had no money in 
 his pocket. He was afliamed to make 
 an excufe; yet an excufe muft be made: 
 he was beginning to frame one, when 
 the waitercut him fiiort, by telling him, 
 that he could not run fcores j but that, 
 if he would leave his watch, or any 
 other pledge, it would be as fafe as if it 
 lay in his pocket. Harley jumped at 
 the propofal, and pulling out his watch 
 delivered it into his hands immediately j 
 and having, for once, had the precau- 
 tion to take a note of the lodging he in- 
 tended to vifit next morning, fallied 
 F 3 forth
 
 102 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 
 forth with a blufli of triumph oa his 
 face, without taking notice of the fneer 
 of the waiter, who, twirling the watch 
 in his hand, made him a profound bow 
 at the door, and vvhifpered to a girl, 
 who ftood in the paflage, fomething, 
 in which the word CULLY was honoured 
 with a particular emphafis. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 103 
 
 CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 His Jkill in plyfiognomy is doubted. 
 
 AFTER he had been fome time 
 with the company he had ap- 
 pointed to meet, and the tafl: bottle was 
 called for, he firft recollected that he 
 would be again at a lofs how to dif- 
 charge his fhare of the reckoning. He 
 applied therefore to one of them, with 
 whom he was moft intimate, acknow- 
 ledging that he had not a farthing of 
 money about him j and, upon being 
 jocularly afkecFthe reafon, acquainted 
 them with the two adventures we have 
 juft now related. One of the company 
 afked him, if-the old man in Hyde-park I 
 did not wear a brownifh coat, with a I 
 narrow gold edging, and his companion 
 an old green frock, with a buff-coloured 
 
 E 4. waiftcoau '
 
 jo 4 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 waiftcoar. Upon Harley's recollecting 
 that they did, " Then, faid he, you 
 may be thankful you have come off fo 
 well; they are two as noted fhar^exs, in 
 their way, as in any town, and but t'o- 
 ther night took me in for a much larger 
 fum : I had fome thoughts of applying 
 to a juftice, but one does not like to 
 be feen in thofe matters." 
 
 Harley anfwered, " That he could 
 not but fancy the gentleman was mif- 
 taken, as he never faw a face promife 
 more honefty than that of the old man 
 he had met with." " His face !" faid 
 a grave-looking man, who fat oppofite 
 to him, fquirting thejuice of his tobacco 
 obliquely into the grate. There was 
 fomething veryemphatical intheaftion: 
 for it was followed by a burft of laugh- 
 ter round the table. " Gentlemen, faid 
 
 Harley,
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 105 
 
 Harley, you are difpofed to be merry; 
 it may be as you imagine, for I confefs 
 myfelf ignorant of the town : but there 
 is one thing which makes me bear the 
 lofs of my money with temper : the 
 young fellow who won it muft have been 
 miferably poor; iobferved him borrow 
 money for the flake from his friend : 
 he had diftrefs and hunger in his coun- 
 tenance : be his character what it may, 
 his neceflities at leail plead for him." 
 At this there was a louder laugh than 
 before. " Gentlemen, faid the lawyer, 
 one of whofe converfations with Harley 
 we have already recorded, here's a very 
 pretty fellow for you : to have heard 
 him talk fome nights ago, as I did, you 
 might have fworn he was a faint ; yet 
 now he games with (harpers, and lofes 
 his money $ and is bubbled by a fine 
 (lory invented by a whore 3 and pawns 
 F 5 his
 
 jo6 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 his watch j here are fanftified doings 
 with a witnefs ?" 
 
 cc Young gentleman, faid his friend 
 on the other fide of the table, let me 
 advife you to be a little more cautious 
 for the futures and as for faces you 
 may look into them to know, whether 
 a man's nofe be a long or a fhort one." 
 
 CHAP.
 
 TH'E MAN OF FEELING. 107 
 
 CHAP. XXVIII. 
 He keeps bis appointment* 
 
 THE lafl night's raillery of his com- 
 panions was recalled to his remem- 
 brance when he awoke, and the colder 
 homilies of prudence began to fugged 
 fome things which were nowife favour- 
 able for a performance of his promife to 
 the unfortunate female he had met with 
 before. He rofe uncertain of his pur- 
 pofe ; but the torpor of fueh confidera- 
 tions \vas feldom prevalent over the 
 warmth of his nature. He walked fome 
 turns backwards and forwards in his 
 room j he recalled the languid form of 
 the fainting wretch to his mind j he 
 wept at the recollection of her tears.. 
 " Though I am the vileft of beings, I 
 F 6 have
 
 io8 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 
 have not forgotten every virtue j grati- 
 tude, I hope, I fhall ftill have left." 
 he took a larger ftride <f Powers of 
 mercy that furround me ! cried he, do 
 ye not fmile upon deeds like thefe ? to 
 calculate the chances of deception is too 
 tedious a bufmefs for the life of man !" 
 The clock ftruck ten ! When he 
 was got down ftairs, he found that he 
 had forgot the note of her lodgings ; 
 he gnawed his lips at the delay : he was 
 fairly on the pavement, when he recol- 
 lected having left his purfe -, he did but 
 juft prevent himfelf from articulating 
 an imprecation. He rufaed a fecond 
 time up into his chamber. " What a 
 wretch I am, faid he ; ere this time per- 
 haps " 'Twas a perhaps not to be 
 born j two vibrations of a pendulum 
 would have ferved him to lock his bu- 
 reau i but they could not be fpared. 
 
 Wheti
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 109 
 
 When he reached thehoufe, and in- 
 quired for Mils Atkins (for that was the 
 lady's name), he was fhown up three 
 pair of flairs into afmall roomlighted by 
 one narrow lattice, and patched round 
 with fhreds of different- colon red paper. 
 In the darkeft corner flood fomething 
 like a bed, before which a tattered co- 
 verlet hung by way of curtain. He had 
 not waited long when (he appeared. 
 Her face had the glifter of new-wafhed 
 tears on it. " I am afhamed, Sir, faid 
 flie, that you fhould have taken this 
 frefh piece of trouble about one fo little 
 worthy of it -, bur, to the humane, I 
 know there is a pleafure in goodnefs for 
 its own fake : if you have patience for 
 the recital of my flory, it may palliate, 
 though it cannot excufe my faults." 
 Harley bowed, as a fign of aflent ; and 
 
 fhe began as follows : 
 
 3 I am
 
 iro THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 " I am the daughter of an officer, 
 whom a fervice of forty years had ad- 
 vanced no higher than the rank of cap- 
 tain. I have had hints from himfelfV 
 and been informed by others, that it was 
 in fome meafure owing to thofe prin- 
 ciples of rigid honour, which it was his 
 boaft to pofTefs, and which he early in- 
 culcated on me, that he had been able 
 to arrive at no better ftation. My mo- 
 ther died.whren I was a child; old 
 enough to grieve for her'dcath, but in- 
 capable of remembering her precepts. 
 Though my father was doatingly fond 
 of her, yet there were fome fentiments 
 in which they materially differed : fhe 
 had been bred from her infancy in the 
 ilricleft principles of religion, and took 
 the morality of her conduct from the 
 motives which an adherence to thofe 
 principles fuggefted. My father, who 
 
 who
 
 THE MAN OF FEEDING, in 
 
 had been in the army from his youth, 
 affixed an idea of pufillanimity to that 
 virtue, which was formed by the doc- 
 trines, excited by the rewards, or guard- 
 ed by the terrors of revelation -, his dar- 
 ling idol was the honour of a foldierj' 
 a term which he held in fuch reverence, 
 that he ufed it for his moft facred afle- 
 veration. When my mother died, I 
 was fome time fuffered to continue in 
 thofe fentiments wruch her inftruclions 
 had produced j but foon after, though, 
 from refpecl: to her memory, my father 
 did not abfolutely ridicule them, yet he 
 fhewed, in his difcourfe to others, fo 
 little regard to them, and at times 
 fuggefted to me motives of action fo 
 different, that I was foon weaned from 
 opinions, which I began to confider as 
 the dreams of fuperftition, or the artful 
 inventions of defigning hypocrify. My 
 
 mother's
 
 ii2 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 mother's books were left behind at the 
 different quarters we removed to, and 
 my reading was principally confined to 
 plays, novels, and thofe poetical de- 
 fcriptions of the beauty of virtue and 
 honour, which the circulating libraries 
 eafily afforded. 
 
 " As I was generally reckoned hand- 
 fome, and the quicknefs of my parts 
 extolled by all our vifitors, my father 
 had a pride in fhowing me to the 
 world. I was young, giddy, open to 
 adulation, and vain of thofe talents 
 which acquired it. 
 
 " After the lad war, my father was 
 reduced to half-pay; with which we re- 
 tired to a village in the country, which 
 the acquaintance of fome genteel fami- 
 lies who refided in it, and the cheapnefs 
 
 of
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 113 
 
 of living, particularly recommended. 
 My father rented a fmall houfe, with 
 a piece of ground fufficient to keep a 
 horfe for him, and a cow for the bene- 
 fit of his family. Aa old man fervant 
 managed his ground j while a maid, 
 who had formerly been my mother's, 
 and had fince been mine, undertook 
 the care of our little dairy : they were 
 afiifted in each of their provinces by 
 my father and me j and we pafled our 
 time in a ftate of tranquillity, which he 
 had always talked of with delight, and 
 my train of reading had taught me to 
 admire. 
 
 " Though I had never feen the po- 
 lite circles of the metropolis, the com- 
 pany my father had introduced me into 
 had given me a degree of good-breed- 
 ing, which foon difcovered a fuperiority 
 
 over
 
 ii 4 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 over the young ladies of our village. 
 I was quoted as an example of polite- 
 nefs, and my company courted by mod 
 of the confiderable families in the 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 " Amongft the houfes where I was 
 frequently invited, was Sir George 
 Winbrooke's* He had two daughters 
 nearly of my age, with whom, though 
 they had been bred up in thofe maxims 
 of vulgar dodlrine, which my fuperior 
 underftanding could not but defpife, 
 yet as their good-nature led them to an 
 imitation of my manners in every thing 
 elfe, I cultivated a particular friend- 
 Ihip. 
 
 '" Some months after our firft ac- 
 quaintance, Sir George's elded fon came 
 home from his travels. His figure, his
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING, 115 
 
 addrefsj and converfation, were not un- 
 like thofe warm ideas of an accomplifh- 
 ed man which my favourite novels had 
 taught me to form j and hisfentiments, 
 on the article of religion, were as libe- 
 ral as my own : when any of thefe 
 happened to be the topic of our dif- 
 courfe, I, who before had been filent, 
 from a fear of being fingle in oppofi/- 
 tion, now kindled at the fire he railed, 
 and defended our mutual opinions with 
 all the eloquence I was miftrefs of. He 
 would be refpectfully attentive all the 
 while -, and when I had ended, would 
 raife his eyes from the ground, look at 
 me with a gaze of admiration, and ex- 
 prefs his applaufe in the higheft ftrain of 
 encomium. This was an incenfe the 
 more pleafing, as I feldom or never had 
 met with it before; for the young gen- 
 tlemen who vifited Sir George were for 
 
 the
 
 Ii6 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 the moft part of that athletic order, the 
 pleafure of whofe lives is derived from 
 fox-hunting : thefe are feldom felicit- 
 ous to pleafe the women at all : or if 
 they were, would never think of apply- 
 ing their flattery to the mind. 
 
 " Mr.Winbrookeobfervedtheweak- 
 nefs of my foul, and took every occa- 
 fion of improving the efleem he had 
 gained. He afked my opinion of every 
 author, of every fentiment, with that 
 fubmifTive diffidence, which (hewed an 
 unlimited confidence in my underftand- 
 ing. I fa w my felf revered, as a fuperior 
 being, by one whofe judgment my va- 
 nity told me was not likely to err : pre- 
 ferred by him to all the other vifitors 
 of my fex, whofe fortunes and rank 
 fhould have entitled them to a much 
 higher degree of notice : I faw their 
 
 little
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 117 
 
 little jealoufies at the diftinguifhed at- 
 tention he paid me j it was gratitude, 
 it was pride, it was love! Love which 
 had made too fatal a progrefs in my 
 heart, before any declaration on his part 
 fhould have warranted a return : but I 
 interpreted every look of attention, 
 every exprefiion of compliment, to the 
 pafiion I imagined him infpired with, 
 and imputed to his fenfibility that fi- 
 lence which was the effecT: of art and 
 defign. At length, however, he took 
 an opportunity of declaring his love : 
 he now exprefTed himfelf in fuch ardent 
 terms, that prudence might have fuf- 
 pe&ed their fmcerity j but prudence is 
 rarely found in the fituation 1 had been 
 unguardedly led into j befides, that the 
 courfe^of reading to which I had been 
 accuftomed, did not lead me to con- 
 clude, that his expreflions could be too 
 
 warm
 
 1*8 THE MAN OP FEELING. 
 
 warm to be fmcere : nor was I even 
 alarmed at the manner in which he talk- 
 ed of marriage, a fubjeclion, he often 
 hinted, to which genuine love fhould 
 fcorn to be confined. The woman, he 
 would often fr.y, who had merit like 
 mine to fix his affection, could eafily 
 command it for ever. That honour 
 too which I revered, was often called 
 in to enforce his fentiments. I did nor, 
 however, abfolutely affent to them ; 
 but I found my regard for their oppo- 
 fites diminifh by degrees. If it is dan- 
 gerous to be convinced, it is dangerous 
 to liften { for our reafon is fo much of 
 a machine, that it will not always be 
 able to refift, when the ear is perpetual* 
 ly afiailed. 
 
 " In fhort, Mr. Harley, (for I qre 
 you with a relation, the cataftrophe of 
 
 which
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 119 
 
 which you will already have imagined) 
 I fell a p'ey to his artifices. He had 
 not been able-fo thoroughly to convert 
 me, that my confcience was filent on 
 the fubjectj but he was fo affiducus to 
 give repeated proofs of unabated affec- 
 tion, that I huihed its fuggetlions as 
 they rofe. The world, however, I 
 knew, was not to be filencedj and 
 therefore I took occafion to exprefs my 
 uneafinefs to my feducer, and entreat 
 him, as he valued the peace of cne to 
 'whom he profeiTed fuch attachment, to 
 remove it by a marriage. He made ex- 
 cufe from his dependance on the will of 
 his father, but quieted my fears by the 
 promife of endeavouring to win his 
 aflfent. 
 
 " My father had been fome days ab- 
 fcnt on a vifit .to a dying relation, from 
 
 \vhom
 
 120 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 whom he had confiderable expectations. 
 I was left at home, with no other 
 company than my books : my books I 
 found were not now fuch companions 
 as they ufed to be ; I was reftlefs, me- 
 lancholy, unfatisfied with myfelf. But 
 judge my fituaeion when I received a 
 billet from Mr. Winbrooke informing 
 me, that he had founded Sir George on 
 the fubjecl: we had talked of, and found 
 him fo averfe to any match fo unequal 
 to his own rank and fortune, that he 
 was obliged, with whatever reluctance, 
 to bid adieu to a place, the remem- 
 brance of which fhould ever be dear to 
 him. 
 
 <c I read this letter a hundred times 
 over. Alone, helplefs, confcious of 
 guilt, and abandoned by every better 
 thought, my mind was one motley 
 
 fcenc
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 121 
 
 fcene of terror, confufion, and re- 
 morfe. A thoufand expedients fuggeft- 
 ed themfelves, and a thoufand fears 
 told me they would be vain : at lafr, 
 in an agony of defpair, I packed up a 
 few clothes, took what money and trin- 
 kets were in the houfe, and fet out for 
 London, whither I underftood he was 
 gone, pretending to my maid, that I 
 had received letters from my father re- 
 quiring my immediate attendance, I 
 had no other companion than a boy, a 
 fervant to the man from whom I hired 
 my horfes. I arrived in London within 
 an hour of Mr. Winbrooke, and acci- 
 dentally alighted at the very inn where 
 he was. 
 
 " He ftarted and turned pale when 
 
 he faw me ; but recovered himfelf in 
 
 time enough to make many new proteft- 
 
 G ations
 
 122 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 ations of regard, and beg me to make 
 myfelf eafy under a difappointment 
 which was equally afflicting to him. 
 He procured me lodgings, where I 
 flept, or rather endeavoured to deep, 
 for that night. Next morning I faw 
 him again ; he then mildly obferved on 
 the imprudence of my precipitate flight 
 from the country, and propofed my 
 removing to lodgings at another end of 
 the town, to elude the fearch of my 
 father, till he fliould fall upon fome 
 method of excufing my conduct to him, 
 and reconciling him to my return. We 
 took a hackney-coach, and drove to the 
 houfe he mentioned. 
 
 ff It was fituated in a dirty lane, fur- 
 nifhed with a taudry affectation of 
 finery, with fome ; ,old family-pictures 
 hanging on walls which their own cob- 
 webs
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 123 
 
 webs would better have fuited. I was 
 ftruck with a fecret dread at entering; 
 nor was it lefiened by the appearance of 
 the landlady, who had that look of 
 felfifh ihrewdnefs, which, of all others, 
 is the mod hateful to thofe whofe feel- 
 ings are untinclured with the world. A 
 girl, who ftie told us was her niece, fat 
 by her, playing on a guitar, while her- 
 felf was ac work, with the afilftance of 
 fpectacles, and had a prayer-book, with 
 the leaves folded down in feveral places, 
 lying on the table before her. Perhaps, 
 Sir, I tire you with my minutenefs; 
 but the place, and every circumftance 
 about it, is fo imprefied on my mind, 
 that I fhall never forget it. 
 
 ff I dined that day with Mr. Win- 
 
 brooke alone. He loft by degrees that 
 
 reftraint which I perceived too well to 
 
 G 2 hang
 
 t24 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 hang about him before, and, with his 
 former gaiety and good-humour, re- 
 peated the flattering things, which, 
 though they had once been fatal, I durft 
 not now diftruft. At laft, taking my 
 hand and kiffing it, " It is thus, faid 
 he, that love will laft, while freedom is 
 preferved -, thus let us ever be bleft, 
 without the galling thought that we are 
 tied to a condition where we may ceafe 
 to be fo." I anfwered, " That the 
 world thought otherwife ; that it had 
 certain ideas of good fame, which it 
 was impofiible not to wifh to maintain." 
 f " The world, faid he, is a tyrant > they 
 are (laves who obey it: let us be happy 
 ^ without the pale of the world. To- 
 morrow I (hall leave this quarter of it, 
 for one, where the talkers of the world 
 (hall be foiled, and lofe us. Could not 
 my Emily accompany me? my friend, 
 
 my
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 125 
 
 my companion, the miftrefs of my foul! 
 Nay, do not look fo, Emily ! your fa- 
 ther may grieve for a while, but your 
 father fhall be taken care of; this bank- 
 bill I intend as the comfort for his 
 daughter." 
 
 " I could contain myfelf no longer r 
 " Wretch, I exclaimed, dofl thou ima- 
 gine that my father's heart could brook 
 dependance on the deftroyer of his 
 child, and tamely accept of a bafe equi- 
 valent for her honour and his own !" 
 " Honour, my Emily, faid he, is the 
 word of fools, or of thofe wifer men 
 who cheat them. 'Tis a fantaftic 
 bauble that does not fuitthe gravity of 
 your father's age j but, whatever it is, 
 I am afraid it can never be perfectly 
 reftored to you : exchange the word 
 then, and let pleafure be your object 
 G 3 now."
 
 126 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 now." At theie words he clafped me 
 in his arms, and prefled his lips rudely 
 to my bofom. I darted from my feat. 
 " Perfidious villain ! faid I, who dar'ft 
 infult the weaknefs thou haft undone ; 
 were that father here, thy coward foul 
 would (brink from the vengeance of his 
 honour! Curft be that wretch who has 
 deprived him of it ! oh! doubly curft, 
 who has dragged on his hoary head the 
 infamy which fhould have cruflied her 
 own ! I fnatched a knife which lay be- 
 fide me, and would have plunged it in 
 my breaft; but the monfter prevented 
 my purpofe, and fmiling with a grin of 
 barbarous infult, <f Madam, faid he, I 
 confefs you are rather too much in he- 
 roics for me: I am forry we fhould 
 differ about trifles; but as I feem fome- 
 how to have offended you, I would 
 willingly remedy it by taking my leave. 
 
 You
 
 THE ,MAN OF FEELING. 127 
 
 You have been put to fome foolifii ex- 
 pence in this journey on my account j 
 allow me to reimburfe you." So fay- 
 ing, he laid a bank-bill, or what 
 amount I had no patience to fee, upon 
 the table. Shame, grief, and indig- 
 nation, choaked my utterance; unable 
 to fpeak my wrongs, and unable to bear 
 them in fiknce, I fell in a fwoon at his 
 feet. 
 
 " What happened in the interval I 
 cannot tell ; but when I came to my- 
 felf, I was in the arms of the landlady, 
 with her niece charing my temples, and 
 doing all in her power for my recovery. 
 She had much compaffion in her coun- 
 tenance : the old woman affumed the 
 fofteft look fhe was capable of, and 
 both endeavoured to bring me comfort. 
 They continued to fhow me many civi- 
 G 4 lities,
 
 128 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 lities, and even the aunt began to be 
 lefs difagreeable in my fight. . To the 
 wretched, to the forlorn, as I was, ftnall 
 offices of kindnefs are endearing. 
 
 " Mean time my money was far 
 fpent, nor did I attempt to conceal my 
 wants from their knowledge. I had 
 frequent thoughts of returning to my 
 father ; but the dread of a life of fcorn 
 is infurmountable. I'avoided therefore 
 going abroad when I had a chance of 
 being feen by any former acquaintance, 
 nor indeed did my health for a great 
 while permit it j and fuffered the old 
 woman, at her own fuggeftion, to call 
 me niece at home, where we now and 
 then faw (when they could prevail on 
 me to leave my room) one or two other 
 elderly women, and fometimes a grave 
 bufmefs-Iike man, who ihowed great 
 
 com-
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 129 
 
 companion for my indifpofition, and 
 made me very obligingly an offer of a 
 room at his country-houfe for the reco- 
 very of my health. This offer I did 
 not chufe to accept ; but told my land- 
 lady, " that I fhould be glad to be em- 
 ployed in any way of bufmefs which my 
 fkill in needlework could recommend 
 me to; confeffing, at the fame time, 
 that I was afraid I (hould fcarce be able 
 to pay her what I already owed for 
 board and lodging, and that for her 
 other good offices, I had nothing but 
 thanks to give her." 
 
 " My dear child, faid fhe, do not 
 talk of paying j fince I loft my own 
 fweet girl (here fhe wept), your very 
 picture fhe was, Mifs Emily, I have 
 no body, except my niece, to whom I 
 Ihould leave any little thing I have been 
 G 5 able
 
 130 THE MAN O FEELING. 
 
 able to fave : you fhall live with me, 
 my dean and I have fometimes a little 
 millinery work, in which, when you 
 are inclined to it, you may afiift us. 
 By the way, here are a pair of ruffles 
 we have juft fmifhed for that gentleman 
 you faw here at tea ; a diftant relation 
 of mine, and a worthy man he is. 
 'Twas pity you refufed the offer of an 
 apartment at his country-houfe j my 
 niece, yon know, was to have accom- 
 panied you, and you might have fancied 
 yourfelf .at home : a mod fweet place 
 it is, and but a fhort mile beyond 
 Hampftead. Who knows, Mifs Emi- 
 ly, what effect fuch a vifit might have 
 had ! if I had half your beauty, I 
 Ihould not wafte it pining after e'er a 
 worthlefs fellow of them all." I felt 
 my heart fwell at her words j I would 
 have been angry if I could - t but I was 
 
 in
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 131 
 
 in that ftupid flate which is not eafily 
 awakened to anger : when I would 
 have chid her, the reproof {tuck in my 
 throat; I could-only weep ! 
 
 fe Her want of refpect increafed, 
 as I had not fpirit to affert it ; my work 
 was now rather impofed than offered, 
 and I became a drudge for the bread I 
 eat : but my dependance and fervility 
 grew in proportion, and I was now in 
 a fituation which could not make any 
 extraordinary exertions to difengage / 
 itfelf from either -, I found myfelf with 
 child. 
 
 ce At laft the wretch, who had thus 
 trained me to deftruction, hinted the 
 purpofe for- which thofe means had 
 been ufed. I difcovered her to be an 
 artfulprQCiirefs for the pleafures of 
 G 6 thofe >
 
 I 3 2 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 thofe, who are men of decency to the 
 world in the midft of debauchery. 
 
 <c I roufed every fpark of courage 
 within me at the horrid propofal. She 
 treated my pafllon at firft fomewhae 
 mildly i but when I continued to exert 
 it, fhe refented it with infult, and told 
 me plainly, That if I did not foon 
 comply with her defires, I fhould pay 
 her every farthing I owed, or rot in a 
 jail for life. I trembled at the thought ; 
 ftill, however, I refitted her importu- 
 nities, and fhe put her threats in exe- 
 cution. I was conveyed to prifon, weak 
 from my condition, weaker from that 
 flruggle of grief and mifery which for 
 fome time I had fuffered. A mifcar- 
 riage was the confequcnce. 
 
 ** Amidft all the horrors of fuch a 
 ftate, furrounded with wretches totally 
 
 callous,
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 133; 
 
 callous, loft alike to humanity and to 
 fhame, think, Mr. Harley, think what 
 I endured : nor wonder that I at laflr 
 yielded to the felicitations of that mif- 
 creant I had ften at her houfe, and funk 
 to the proftitution which he tempted. 
 But that was happinefs compared to- 
 what I have fuffered fince. He foon 
 abandoned me to the common ufe of the 
 town, and I was caft among thofe mi- 
 ferable beings in whofe fociety I have 
 fince remained. 
 
 " Oh ! did the daughters of virtue" 
 know our fufferings j did they fee our 
 hearts torn with anguilh amidft the af- 
 fectation of gaiety which our faces are 
 obliged to afTume ! our bodies tortured 
 by difeafe, our minds with that con- 
 fcioufnefs which they cannot lofe ! Did 
 they know, did they think of this, Mr. 
 3 Harley I
 
 I 3 4 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 Harley ! their cenfures are juft ; but 
 their pity perhaps might fpare the 
 wretches whom their juftice fliould 
 condemn. 
 
 (t Laft night, but for an exertion of 
 benevolence which the infection of our 
 infamy prevents even in the humane, 
 had I been thruf: out from this mifer- 
 able place which misfortune has yet 
 left mej expofed to the brutal infults 
 of drunkennefs, or dragged by that 
 juftice which I couid not bribe, to the 
 f>uniihment which may correct, but, 
 alas ! can never amend the abandoned 
 objects of its terrors. From that Mr. 
 Harley, your goodnefs has relieved 
 me." 
 
 He beckoned with his hand : he 
 would have flopped the mention of his 
 
 favours $
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 135 
 
 favours ; but he could not fpeak, had 
 it been to beg a diadem. 
 
 She faw his tears -, her fortitude began 
 to fail at the fight, when the voice of 
 fome fl ranger on the flairs awakened 
 her attention. She liftened for a mo- 
 ment ; then darting up, exclaimed, 
 " Merciful God ! my father's voice !" 
 
 She had fcarce uttered the word, when 
 the door burft open, and a man entered 
 in the garb of an officer. When he 
 difcovered his daughter and Harley, he 
 flarted back a few paces ; his look af- 
 fumed a furious wildnefs ! he laid his 
 hand on bis fword. The two objects of 
 his wrath did not utter a fyllable. 
 " Villain, he cried, thou feed a father 
 who had once a daughter's honour to 
 preferve ; blafted as it now is, behold 
 him ready to avenge its lofs !" 
 
 5 Harley
 
 136 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 Harley had by this time fome power 
 of utterance. " Sir, faid he, if you 
 will be a moment calm" <f Infamous 
 coward ! interrupted the other, doft thou 
 preach calmnefs to wrongs like mine ?'* 
 He drew his fword. " Sir, faid Harley, 
 let me tell you" The blood ran quicker 
 to his cheek his pulfe beat oneno 
 more and regained the temperamentof 
 humanity ! " You are deceived, Sir, 
 faid he, you are much deceived j but I 
 forgive fufpicions which your misfor- 
 tunes have juftified : I would not wrong 
 you, upon my foul I would not, for the 
 deareft gratification of a thoufand 
 worlds j my heart bleeds for you 1" 
 
 I His daughter was now proftrate at 
 
 his feet. " Strike, faid (he, ftrike here 
 
 \ a wretch, whofe mifery cannot end but 
 
 : with that death fhe deferves." Her hair 
 
 had
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. i 
 
 had fallen on her fhoulders ! her loo*k"\ 
 had the horrid calmnefs of out-breathed 
 defpair ! Her father would have fpoken; 
 his lip quivered, his cheek grew pale; 
 his eyes loft the lightning of their fury I 
 there was a reproach in them, but with 
 a mingling of pity ! He turned them 
 up to heaven then on his daughter.- 
 He laid his left hand on his heart 
 the fword dropped from his right he 
 burit into tears. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 138 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 CHAP. XXIX. 
 
 T'he dijlrejfes of a father. 
 
 HARLEY kneeled alfo at the fide 
 of the unfortunate daughter : 
 c< Allow me, Sir, faid he, to entreat 
 your pardon for one whofe offences have 
 been already fo fignaUy punifhed. I 
 know, I feel, that thofe tears, wrung 
 from the heart of a father, are more 
 dreadful to her than all the punifhments 
 your fword could have inflicted: accept 
 the contrition of a child whom heaven 
 has reftored to you." " Is fhe not loft, 
 anfwered he, irrecoverably loft? Dam- 
 nation ! a common proftitute to the 
 meaneft ruffian!" " Calmly, my dear 
 Sir, faid Harley, did you know by 
 
 what
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING, 139 
 
 what complicated misfortunes fhe had 
 fallen to that miferable ftate in which 
 you now behold her, I fhould have no 
 need of words to excite your compaf- 
 iion. Think, Sir, of what once fhe 
 was ! Would you abandon her to the 
 infuks of an unfeeling world, deny her 
 opportunity of penitence, and cut oft" 
 the little comfort that ftill remains for 
 your afflictions and her own t" <{ Speak, 
 faid he, addrefiing himfelf to his daugh- 
 ter; fpeak, I will hear thee." The 
 defperation that fupported her was loft ; 
 fhe fell to the ground, and bathed his 
 feet with her tears ! 
 
 Harley undertook her caufe : he re- 
 lated the treacheries to which fhe had 
 fallen a facrifice, and again folicited the 
 forgivenefs of her father. He looked 
 on her for fome time in filence j the 
 
 pride
 
 I 4 o THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 pride of a foldier's honour checked for 
 a while the yearnings of his heart ; but 
 nature at laft prevailed, he fell on her 
 neck, and mingled his tears with hers. 
 
 Harley, who difcovered from the 
 drefs of the ftranger that he was juft ar- 
 rived from a journey, begged that they 
 would both remove to his lodgings, till 
 he could procure others for them. At- 
 kins looked at him with fome marks of 
 furprife. His daughter now firft re- 
 covered the power of fpeech : " Wretch 
 as I am, faid (he, yet there is fome 
 gratitude due to the preferver of your 
 child. See him now before you. To 
 him I owe my life, or at lead the com- 
 fort of imploring your forgivenefs be- 
 fore I die." " Pardon me, young 
 gentleman, faid Atkins, I fear my paf- 
 fion wronged you.'* 
 
 " Never,
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 141 
 
 <f Never, never, Sir, faid Harley; 
 if it had, your reconciliation to your 
 daughter were an atonement a thou- 
 fand fold." He then repeated his re- 
 queft that he might be allowed to con- 
 du6t them to his lodgings] to which Mr. 
 Atkins at laft confented. He took his 
 daughter's arm, " Come, my Emily, 
 faid he, we can never, never recover 
 that happinefs we have loft ! but time 
 may teach us to remember our misfor- 
 tunes with patience." 
 
 When they arrived at the houfe 
 where Harley lodged, he was informed, 
 that the firft floor was then vacant, and 
 that the gentleman and his daughter 
 might be accommodated there. While 
 he was upon his enquiry, Mifs Atkins 
 informed her father more particularly 
 what fhe owed to his benevolence. 
 
 When
 
 142 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 When he turned into the room where 
 they were, Atkins ran and embraced 
 him ; begged him again to forgive the 
 offence he had given him, and made 
 the warmeft proteftations of gratitude 
 /'for his favours. We would attempt to 
 defcribe the joy which Harley felt on 
 this occafion, did it not occur to us, 
 that one half of the world could not 
 underftand it though we did ; and the 
 other half will, by this time, have 
 underftood it without any defcription 
 - at all. 
 
 Mifs Atkins now retired to her cham- 
 ber, to take fome reft from the violence 
 of the emotions (he had fuffered. When 
 Ihe was gone, her father, addrefiing 
 himfelf to Harley, faid, " You hav,e 
 a right, Sir, to be informed of the pre- 
 fent fituationofone who owes fo much 
 
 to
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 143 
 
 to your compaflion for his misfortunes. 
 My daughter I find has informed you 
 what that was at the fatal juncture 
 when they began. Her diftreffes you 
 have heard, you have pitied as they de- 
 ferved j with mine perhaps I cannot fo 
 eafily make you acquainted. You have 
 a feeling heart, Mr. Harley ; I blefs it 
 that it has favedmy child j bu^vc^u 
 never were a father, a father, torn_by 
 that mo ft dreadful of calamities, the 
 diihon-our_ojl_a_child he doated on ! 
 You have been already informed of 
 fome of the circumftances of her elope- 
 ment- I was then from home, called 
 by the death of a relation, who, though 
 he would never advanceme a {hilling on 
 the utmoft exigency in his life-time, left 
 me all the gleanings of his frugality at 
 ills death. I would not v/rite this in- 
 telligence
 
 I4 4 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 telligence to my daughter, becaufe I in- 
 tended to be the bearer myfelf j and as 
 foon as my bufmefs would allow me, I 
 fet out on my return, winged with all 
 the hade of paternal affection. I fondly 
 built thofe fchemes of future happinefs, 
 which prefent profperity is ever bufy to 
 fuggeft : my Emily was concerned in 
 them all. As I approached our little 
 dwelling, my heart throbbed with the an- 
 ticipation of joy and welcome. I ima- 
 gined the cheering fire, the blifsful con- 
 tentment of a frugal meal, made luxu- 
 rious by a daughter's fmile : I painted 
 to myfelf her furprife at the tidings of 
 our new-acquired riches, our fond dif- 
 putes about the difpofal of them. 
 
 The road was fhortened by the 
 dreams of happinefs I enjoyed, and it 
 
 began
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 1-45 
 
 began to be dark as I reached the honfe : 
 I alighted from my horfe, and walked 
 foftly up flairs to the room we common, 
 ly fat in. I was fomewhat difappointed 
 at not finding my daughter there. I 
 rung the bellj her maid appeared, and 
 fhewed no fmall figns of wonder at the 
 fummons. She blefled herfelf as flie 
 entered the room : I fmiled at her fur- 
 prife. " Where is Mifs Emily, Sir ?" 
 faid fhe. " Emily !" " Yes, Sin fhe 
 has been gone hence fome days, upon 
 receipt of thofe letters you fent her.'* 
 " Letters! faid I. Yes, Sir; fo 
 fhe told me, and went off in all hafte 
 that very night." 
 
 " I flood aghaft as fhe fpoke -, but 
 
 was able fo far to recollect myfelf, as to 
 
 put on the affectation of calmnefs, and 
 
 telling her there was certainly Tome mif- 
 
 H take
 
 i 4 6 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 take in the affair, defired her to leave 
 me. 
 
 fe When fhe was gone, I threw rny- 
 felf into a chair in that flate of uncer- 
 tainty which is of all others the mod 
 dreadful. The gay vifions with which 
 I had delighted myfelf, vanifhed in an 
 inilant : 1 was tortured with tracing 
 back the fame circle of doubt and dif- 
 appointment. My head grew dizzy as 
 I thought : I called the fervant again, 
 and afked her a hundred queftions to no 
 purpofe j there was not room even for 
 Conjecture. 
 
 * e Something at laft arofe in my 
 mind, which we call Hope, without 
 knowing what it is. I wifhed myfelf 
 deluded by itj but it could not prevail 
 over my returning fears, I rofe and 
 
 walked
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 147 
 
 walked through the room. My Emily's 
 fpinnet flood at the end of it, open, 
 with a book of mufic folded down at 
 fome of my favourite leflbns. I touch- 
 ed the keys; there was a vibration in 
 the found that froze my blood: I look- 
 ed around, and methought the family- 
 pi&ures on the walls gazed on me with 
 companion in their faces. I fat down 
 again with an attempt at more com- 
 pofure } I ftarted at every creaking of 
 the door, and my ears rung with ima- 
 ginary noifes 1 
 
 " I had not remained long in this 
 fituation, when the arrival of a friend, 
 who had accidentally heard of my re- 
 turn, put an end to my doubts, by the 
 recital of my daughter's difhonour. He 
 told me he had his information from 
 a young gentleman, to whom Win- 
 H 2 brookc
 
 i 4 8 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 brooke had boafted of having feduced 
 her. 
 
 (< I ftarted from my feat, with broken 
 curfes on my lips, and without knowing 
 whither I Ihould purfue them, ordered 
 my fervant to load my piftols, and faddle 
 my horfes. My friend, however, with 
 great difficulty, perfuaded me to com- 
 pofe myfelf for that night, promifing to 
 accompany me on the morrow to Sir 
 George Winbrooke's in quefl of his fon. 
 
 " The morrow came, after a night 
 fpent in a flate little diftant from mad- 
 nefs. We went as early as decency 
 would allow to Sir George's: he receiv- 
 ed me with politenefs, and indeed com- 
 pafilon ; protefted his abhorrence of his 
 jbn's conduct, and told me that he had 
 let out fome days before for London, 
 on which place he had procured a 
 
 draught
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 149 
 
 draught for a large fum, on pretence of 
 finifhing his travels j but that he had not 
 heard from him fmce his departure. 
 
 " I did not wait for any more, either 
 of information or comfort, but againft 
 the united remonftrances of Sir George 
 and my friend, fet out inftantly for Lon- 
 don, with a frantic uncertainty of pur- 
 pofe j but there all manner of fearch 
 was in vain. I could trace neither of 
 them any farther than the inn where they 
 firft put up on their arrival j and after 
 fome days fruitlefs inquiry, returned 
 home deftitute of every little hope that 
 had hitherto fupported me. The jour- 
 neys I had made, the refllefs nights I 
 had fpent, above all, the perturbation 
 of my mind, had the effect which natu- 
 rally might be expected j a very dan- 
 gerous fever was theconfequence. From 
 H this,,
 
 150 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 this, however, contrary to the expec- 
 tation of my phyficians, I recovered. 
 It was now that I firfl felt fomething like 
 calmnefs of mind j probably from be- 
 ing reduced to a ftate which could not 
 produce the exertions of anguifh or de- 
 fpair. A ftupid melancholy fettled on 
 my foul; I could endure to live with 
 an apathy of life 3 at times I forgot my 
 refentmenr, and wept at the remem- 
 brance of my child. 
 
 <f Such has been the tenor of my 
 days fince that fatal moment when thefc 
 misfortunes began, till yeflerday, that 
 I received a letter from a friend in town, 
 acquainting me of her prefent fituation. 
 Could fuch tales as mine, Mr. Harley, 
 be fometimes fuggefled to the daughters 
 of levity, did they but know with what 
 anxiety the heart of a parent flutters 
 round the child he loves, they would be 
 
 lefs
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 151 
 
 kfs apt to conftrue into harfhnefs that 
 delicate concern for theirconduct, which 
 they often complain ofas laying reftraint 
 upon things, to the young, the gay, and 
 the thoughtlefs, feemingly harmlefs and 
 indifferent. Alas ! I fondly imagined 
 that I needed not even thefe common 
 cautions ! my Emily was the joy of my 
 age, and the pride of my foul! Thofe 
 things are now no more ! they are loft 
 for ever ! Her death I could have born 1 
 but the death of her honour has added 
 obloquy and fhame to that forrow which 
 bends my grey hairs to the duft !" 
 
 As he fpoke thefe laft words, his 
 voice trembled in his throat; it was 
 now loft in his tears ! He fat with his 
 face half turned from Harley, as if he 
 would have hid the forrow which he 
 felt. Harley was in the fame attitude 
 H 4 himfelf ;
 
 I 5 2 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 
 himfelf i he durfl not meet his eye with 
 a tear i but gathering his (tifled breath a 
 * f Let me in treat you, Sir, faid he, to 
 hope better things. The world is ever 
 tyrannical j it warps our forrows to edge 
 them with keener affliction : let us not 
 be flaves to the names it affixes to mo- 
 tive or to aftion. I know an ingenuous 
 mind cannot help feeling when they 
 fling : but there are confiderations by 
 which it may be overcome: its fantaftic 
 ideas vanifh as they rife; they teach U& 
 i to look beyond it." 
 
 A FRAG-
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 153 
 
 A FRAGMENT. 
 
 Showing bis fuccefs with tbe baronet. 
 
 X HE card he received was 
 in the policed ftyle in which difappoint- 
 ment could be communicated : the 
 baronet " was under a necefiity o-> 
 giving up his application for Mr. Har- / 
 ley, as he was informed, that the leafe / 
 was engaged for a gentleman who had 
 long ferved his majefty in another ca- \ 
 pacity, and whofe merit had entitled \ 
 him to the firft lucrative thing thac-^ 
 fhould be vacant." Even Harley could 
 not murmur at fuch a difpofal. " Per- 
 haps, faid he to himfelf, fome war- 
 worn officer, who, like poor Atkins, 
 H 5 had
 
 154 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 had been neglected from reafons which 
 merited the higheft advancement jwhofe 
 honour could not ftoop to folicit the 
 preferment he deferved ; perhaps, with 
 a family, taught the principles of de- 
 licacy, without the means of fupport- 
 ing it j a wife and children gracious 
 heaven ! whom my wifties would have 
 deprived of bread."- 
 
 He was interrupted by his reverie by 
 fome one tapping him on the fhoulder, 
 and, on turning round, he difcovered 
 it to be the very man who had explain- 
 ed to him the condition of his gay com- 
 panion at Hydepark-corner. <f I am 
 glad to fee you, Sir, faid he ; I believe 
 we are fellows in difappointment." 
 Harley ftarted, and faid, that he was at 
 a lofs to under/land him. " Poh ! you 
 need not be fofhy, anfwered the other; 
 
 every
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 155 
 every one for himfelf is but fair, and 
 I had much rather you had got it than 
 the rafcally gauger." Harley ftill pro- 
 tefted his ignorance of what he meant. 
 * c Why, the leafe of Bancroft-manor j 
 had not you been applying for it ?" 
 <; I confefs I was, replied Harley ; 
 but I cannot conceive how you Ihould 
 be interefled in the matter." ec Why, 
 I was making intereft for it myfelf^ 
 faid he, and I think I had fome title : 
 I voted for this fame baronet at the laft 
 election, and made fome of my friends 
 do fo too ; though I would not have 
 you imagine that I fold my vote; no, 
 I fcorn it, let me tell you, I fcorn it ; 
 but I thought as how this man was 
 {launch and true, and I find he's but a 
 double-faced fellow after all, and 
 fpeechifies in the houfe for any fide he 
 hopes to make moft by. Oh ! how 
 H 6 many
 
 156 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 
 many fine fpeeches and fqueezings by 
 the hand we had of him on the canvas I 
 " And if ever I fhall be fo happy as 
 to have an opportunity of ferving you >5r 
 ! A murrain on the fmooth-tongned 
 knave ! and after all to get it for this 
 pimp of a gauger." " The gauger t 
 there muft be fome miilalceTTaidmar- 
 ley ! he writes me, that it was engaged 
 for one whofe long fervices" " Ser- 
 vices ! interrupted the other j you fhall 
 hear: Services ! Yes, his filter arrived 
 in town a few days ago, and is now 
 iempftrefs to the baronet. A plague 
 on all rogues ! fays honeft Sam Wright- 
 ion : I Ihall but jult drink damnation 
 to them to-night, in a crown's-worth 
 of Alhley's, and Leave London to-mor- 
 row by fun-rife."" I Ihall leave it 
 too," faid Harley ! and fo he accord- 
 ingly did. 
 
 In
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 157 
 
 In pafling through Piccadilly, he had 
 obferved on the window of an inn a no- 
 tification of the departure of a ftage- 
 coach for a place in his road home- 
 wards j in the way back to his lodgings 
 he took a feat in it for his return. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 I 5 8 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIII. 
 
 He leaves London. Characters in afiagi* 
 coach. 
 
 THE company in the flage-coach 
 confifted of a grocer and his wife, 
 who were going to pay a vifit to fome 
 of their country friends j a young of- 
 ficer, who took this way of marching 
 to quarters ; a middle-aged gentle- 
 woman, who had been hired as houfe- 
 keeper to fome family in the country ; 
 and an elderly well-looking man, with 
 a remarkable old-fafhioned periwig. 
 
 Harley, upon entering, difcovered 
 but one vacant feat, next the grocer's 
 wife, which, from his natural Ihynefs of 
 temper, he made no fcruple to occupy, 
 
 how-
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 159 
 
 however aware that riding backwards 
 always difagreed with him. 
 
 Though his inclination to phyfiogno- 
 my had met with fome rubs in the me- 
 tropolis, he had not yet loft his attach- 
 ment to that fcience : he fet himfelf 
 therefore to examine, as ufual, the 
 countenances of his companions. Here 
 indeed he was not long in doubt as to 
 the preference ; for befides that the el- 
 derly gentleman, who fat oppofite to 
 him, had features by nature more ex- 
 preflive of good difpofitions, there was 
 fomething in that periwig we mention- 
 ed, peculiarly attractive of Harley's re- 
 gard. 
 
 He had not been long employed in 
 thefe fpeculations, when he found him- 
 felf attacked with that faintifh ficknefs 3 
 
 which
 
 i6o THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 which was the natural confequence of 
 his fituation in the coach. The pale- 
 nefs of his countenance was firft ob- 
 ferved by the houfekeeper, who imme- 
 diately made offer of her finell ing- 
 bottle, which Harley however declined, 
 telling at the fame time the caufe of his 
 uneafinefs. The gentleman on the op- 
 pofite fide of the coach now firft turned 
 his eye from the fide-direction in which 
 it had been fixed, and begged Harley 
 to exchange places with him, exprefiing 
 his regret that he had not made the 
 propofal before. Harley thanked him, 
 and, upon being allured that both feats 
 were alike to him, was about to accept 
 of his offer, when the young gentle- 
 man of the fword, putting on an arch 
 look, laid hold of the other's arm, 
 e So, my old boy, faid he, I find you 
 have ftill fome youthful blood about 
 
 you,,
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 161 
 
 you, but, with your leave* I will do 
 myfelf the honour of fitting by this 
 ladyj" and took his place accordingly. 
 The grocer flared him as full in the 
 face as his own fliort neck would al- 
 low j and his wife, who was a little 
 round faced woman, with a great deal 
 of colour in her cheeks, drew up at the 
 compliment that was paid her, look* 
 ing firft at the officer, and then at the 
 houfekeeper. 
 
 This incident was productive of Tome 
 difcourfej for before, though there was 
 fometimes a cough or a hem from the 
 grocer, and the officer now and then 
 humm'd a few notes of a fong, there 
 had not a fmgle word pafTed the lips of 
 any of the company. 
 
 Mrs. Grocer obferved, how ill-con- 
 venient it was for people, who could 
 
 not
 
 1 62 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 not be drove backwards, to travel in a 
 flage. This brought on a difiertation 
 on ftage coaches in general, and the 
 pleafure of keeping a chay of one's 
 own j which led to another, on the 
 great riches of Mr. Deputy Bearfkin, 
 who, according to her, had once been 
 of that induftrious order of youths who 
 fweep the croffings of the flreets for the 
 conveniency of patten gers, but, by va- 
 rious fortunate accidents, had now ac- 
 quired an immenfe fortune, and kept 
 his coach and a dozen livery-fervants. 
 All this afforded ample fund for con- 
 verfation, if converfation it might be 
 called, that was carried on folely by the 
 before-mentioned lady, nobody offer- 
 ing to interrupt her, except that the of- 
 ficer fometimes fignified his approbation 
 by a variety of oaths, a fort of phrafeology 
 in which he feemed extremely verfanr. 
 
 She
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 163 
 
 She appealed indeed frequently to her 
 hufband for the authenticity of certain 
 facts, of which the good man as often 
 protefted his total ignorance ; but as 
 he was always called fool, or fomething 
 very like it, for his pains, he at laft con- 
 trived to fupport the credit of his wife 
 without prejudice to his confcience, 
 and fignified his aflent by a noife not 
 unlike the gruntingof that animal which / 
 in ihape and fatnefs he fomewhat re- 
 fembled. 
 
 The houfekeeper, and the old gentle- 
 man who fat next to Harley, were now 
 obferved to be fad afleep ; at which the 
 lad}?, who had been at fuch pains to en- 
 tertain them, muttered fome words of 
 difpleafure, and, upon the officer's whif- 
 pering to fmoke the old put, both fhe 
 and her hufband purs'd up their mouths 
 into a contemptuous fmile. Harley 
 
 looked 
 
 -
 
 164 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 looked fternly on the grocer : " You 
 are come, Sir, faid he, to thole years 
 when you might have learned fome re- 
 verence for age: as for this young man, 
 who has fo lately efcaped from the nur- 
 fery, he may be allowed to divert him- 
 felf." Dam'-me, Sir, faid the of- 
 ficer, do you call me young?" ftriking 
 tip the front of his hat, and ftretching 
 forward on his fear, till his face aimed 
 touched Harley's. It is probable* 
 however, that he difcovered fomtthing 
 there which tended to pacify him ; for 
 on the lady's entreating them not to 
 quarrel, he very foon refumed his pof- 
 ture, and calmnefs together, and was 
 rather lefs profufe of his oaths during 
 the reft of the journey. 
 
 It is poffible the old gentleman had 
 waked time enough to hear the lafl part 
 
 of
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 165 
 
 of this difcourfe ; at leaft (whether 
 from that caufe, or that he too was a 
 phyfiognomift) he wore a look remark- 
 ably complacent to Harley, who, on 
 his part, fhewed a particular obfer- 
 vance of him : indeed they had foon a / 
 better opportunity of making their ac- j 
 quaintance, as the coach arrived that 
 night at the town where the officer's 
 regiment lay, and the places of deftina- 
 tion of their other fellow-travellers, it 
 feems, were at no great diftance $ for 
 next morning the old gentleman and 
 Harley were theonlypaflfengers remain- 
 ing. 
 
 When they left the inn in the morn- 
 ing, Harley, pulling out a little pocket- 
 book, began to examine the contents, 
 and make fome corrections with a pen- 
 cil. " This, faid he, turning to his 
 
 com-
 
 i66 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 companion, is an amufement with which 
 I fometimes pafs idle hours at an inn : 
 thefe are quotations from thofe humble 
 poets, who truft their fame to the brittle 
 tenure of windows and drinking-glaf- 
 fes." " From our inns, returned the 
 gentleman, a ftranger might imagine 
 that we were a nation of poets : ma- 
 chines at leaft containing poetry, which 
 the motion of a journey emptied of their 
 contents : is it from the vanity of being 
 thought geniufes, or a mere mechanical 
 imitation of the cuftom of others, that 
 we are tempted to fcrawl rhyme upon 
 fuch places ?" 
 
 " Whether vanity is the caufe of our 
 becoming rhimeflers or not, anfwered 
 Harley, it is a pretty certain effect of it. 
 An old man of my acquaintance, who 
 deals in apothegms, ufed to fay, That he 
 
 had
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 167 
 
 had known few men without envy, few 
 wits without ill-nature, and nqjx)et__ 
 without vajiity j and I believe his re- 
 mark is a pretty juft one : vanity has 
 been immcmorially the charter of poe ts. 
 In this the ancients were more honeft 
 than we are : the old poets frequently 
 make boaftful predictions of the im- 
 mortality their works fhall acquire 
 them ; ours, in their dedications and 
 prefatory difcourfes, employ much elo- 
 quence to praife their patrons, and 
 m.ujcji--^aii]ag__m^de{iy to condemn 
 themfelvesj or at leaft to apologize for 
 their productions to the world : but 
 this, in my opinion, is the more afTum- 
 ing manner of thetwoj_ for of all the 
 garbs I ever ~faw 
 herJuimility is to_ 
 
 it
 
 *68 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 <f It is natural enough for a poet to be 
 vain, faid the ftranger: the little worlds 
 which he raifes, the infpiration which he 
 claims, may eafily be productive of felf- 
 importance ; though that infpiration is 
 fabulous, it brings on egotifm, which 
 is always the parent of vanity." 
 
 " It may be fuppofed, anfwered Har- 
 ley, that infpiration of old was an article 
 of religious faith j in modern times it 
 may be tranflated a propenfity to com- 
 pofe $ and I believe it is not always moft 
 readily found where the poets have fixed 
 its refidence, amidft groves and plains, 
 and the fcenes of paftoral retirement. 
 The mind may be there unbent from 
 the cares of the world ; but it will fre- 
 quently, at the fame time, be unnerved 
 from any great exertion : it will feel 
 imperfect ideas which it cannot exprefs> 
 2 and
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 169 
 
 and wander without effort over the re- 
 gions of reflection." 
 
 " There is at leaft, faid the ftranger, 
 one advantage in the poetical inclina- 
 tion, that it is an incentive to philan- 
 thropy. There is a certain poetic 
 ground, on which a man cannot tread 
 without feelings that enlarge the heart : 
 the caufes of human depravity vanifh 
 before the romantic enthufiafm he pro- 
 fefTes, and many who are not able to 
 reach the Parnaffian heights, may yet 
 approach fo near as to be bettered by 
 the air of the climate." 
 
 " I have always thought fo, replied 
 Harley; but this is an argument with 
 the prudent againft it : they urge the 
 1 danger of unfitnefs for the world." 
 
 'sr 
 
 I I allow
 
 170 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 
 " I allow it, returned the orher j but 
 I believe it is not always rightfully im- 
 puted to the bent for poetry : that is 
 only one effect of the common caufe. 
 Jack, fays his father, is indeed no fcho- 
 iar; nor could all the drubbings from 
 his matter ever bring him one ftep for- 
 \vard in his accidence or fyntax : but I 
 intend him for a merchant. Allow the 
 fame indulgence to Tom. Tom reads 
 Y r irgil and Horace when he fhould be 
 cafting accounts ; and but t'other day 
 he pawned his great-coat for an edition 
 of Shakefpeare. -But Tom would have 
 been as he is, though Virgii and Ho- 
 race had never been born, though 
 Shakefpeare had died a link-boy j for 
 his nurfe will tell you, that when he was 
 a child, he broke his rattle, to difcover 
 what it was that founded within itj and 
 burnt the fticks of his go- cart, becaufe 
 
 he
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. i 7 r 
 
 Tie liked to fee the fparkling of timber 
 in the fire. 'Tis a fad cafe; but what is 
 to be done ? Why, Jack fhall make a 
 fortune, dine on venifon, and drink cla- 
 ret. Ay, but Tom Tom fhall dine 
 with his brother, when his pride will let 
 'him ; at other times, he fliall blefs God 
 over a half-pint of ale and a Welfh-rab- 
 bitj and both uSall go to heaven as they 
 may. That's a poor profpect for Tom, 
 fays the father. To go to heaven ! I 
 cannot aree with him." 
 
 " PerhapSj faid Harley, v/e 
 daysdifcourage the romantic turn a little 
 too much. Our boys are prudent too 
 foon. Mi flake me not, I do not mean 
 to blame them for want of levity or difii- 
 pation; but their pleafures are thofe of 
 hackneyed vice, blunted to every finer 
 e motion by the repetition of debauch ; 
 I 2 and
 
 172 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 and their define of pleafure is warped to 
 the defire of wealth, as the means ofpro- 
 curing it. The immenfe riches acquired 
 by individuals have erected aftandard of 
 ambition, deftruflive of private morals, 
 and of public virtue. The weaknefTes 
 of vice are left usj but the moft allow- 
 able of our failings we are taught to de- 
 
 Mpife. Love, the pafiion inoft natural 
 to the fenfibility of youth, has loft the 
 
 I plaintive dignity he once poffeffed, for 
 
 I the unmeaningiimperof a danglingcox- 
 comb i and the only ferious concern, 
 
 * that of a dowry, is fettled, even amongft 
 the beardlefs leaders of the dancing- 
 fchool. The Frivolous and the Intereft- 
 cd (might a fatirift fay) are the charac- 
 teriftical features of the age j they are 
 vifible even in the cffays of our philofo- 
 phers. They laugh at the pedantry of 
 our fathers, who complained .of the times 
 
 in
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 173 
 
 in which they lived ; they are at pains 
 to perfuade us how much thofe. were 
 deceived ; they prjde themfelves in de- 
 fending things as they find them, and 
 in exploding the barren founds which 
 had been reared into morives for action. 
 To this their ftyle is fuited ; and the 
 manly tone of reafon is exchanged for 
 perpetual efforts at fneer and ndicule. 
 This I hold to be an alarming crifis in 
 the corruption of a ftate ; when not 
 only is virtue declined, and vice pre- 
 vailing, but when the praifes of virtue 
 are forgotten, and the infamy of vice 
 unfelt." 
 
 They foon after arrived at the next 
 inn upon the route of the ftage-coach, 
 when the ftranger told Harley, that his 
 brother's houfe, to which he was return- 
 ingj lay at no great diftance, and he 
 I 3 mud
 
 j 7 4 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 
 muft therefore unwillingly bid him: 
 adieu. 
 
 " I fhould like, faid Harley, taking 
 his hand, to have fome word to remem- 
 ber fo much feeming worth by : my 
 name is Harley." " I lhall remember 
 it, anfwered the old gentleman, in my 
 -^prayers 5 mine is Silton." 
 
 And Silton indeed it was ! Ben Sil- 
 ton himfelf ! Once more, my honoured 
 
 friend, farewell! Born to be happy 
 
 without the world, to that peaceful 
 happinefs which the world has not to 
 beftow ! Envy never fcowled on thy life, 
 v nor hatred fmiled on thy grave. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 175 
 
 CHAP. XXXIV. 
 
 He meets an old acquaintance. 
 
 WH EN the ftage-coach arrived at 
 the place of its defti nation, Har- 
 iey began toconfider how he fhould pro- 
 ceed the remaining part of his journey. 
 He was very civilly accofted by the ma- 
 iler of the inn, who offered to accom- 
 modate him either with a poft-chaife or 
 horfes, to any diftance he had a mind : 
 but as he did things frequently in a way 
 different from what other people call na- 
 tural, he refufed thefe offers, and fet ou-c 
 immediately a-foot, having firfl put a 
 fpare fhirt in his pocket, and given direc- 
 tions for the forwarding of his portman- 
 teau. This was a method of travelling 
 which he' was accuftomed to take -, it 
 faved the trouble of provifion for any 
 I 4 animal
 
 t 7 6 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 animal but himfelf, and left him at li- 
 berty to chufe his quarters, either at an 
 inn, or at the firft cottage in which he 
 faw a face he liked : nay, when he was 
 not peculiarly attracted by the reafon- 
 able creation, he would fometimes con- 
 fort with a fpecies of inferior rank, and 
 lay himfelf down to fleep by the fide of 
 a rock, or on the banks of a rivulet. 
 He did few things without a motive, 
 but his motives were rather eccentric : 
 and the ufeful and expedient were terms 
 which he held to be very indefinite, 
 and which therefore he did not always 
 apply to the fenfe in which they are 
 commonly underftood. 
 
 The fun was now in his decline, and 
 the evening remarkably ferene, when he 
 entered a hollow part of the road, which 
 winded between the furrounding banks, 
 
 and
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 177 
 
 and Teamed the fward in different lines, 
 ,as the choice of travellers had directed 
 them to tread it. It feemed to be little 
 frequented now, for fome of thofe had 
 partly recovered their former verdure. 
 The fcene was fuch as induced Harley 
 to ftand and enjoy it j when, turning 
 round, his notice was attracted by an 
 object, which the fixture of his eye on* 
 the ipot he walked had before prevent- 
 ed him from obferving. 
 
 An old man, who from hisdrefs feem- . 
 ed to have been a foldier, lay fad afleep 
 on the ground j a knapfack refted on 
 a (tone at his right hand, while his ftaff 
 and brafs- hiked fword were crofled at 
 his left. 
 
 Harley looked on him with the moft 
 
 earned attention. He was one of thofe 
 
 figures which Salvator would have 
 
 I 5 drawn *
 
 I 7 8 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 drawn ; nor was the furrounding fcenery 
 unlike the wildnefs of that painter's 
 back-grounds. The banks on each fide 
 were covered with fantaftic (hrub-wood, 
 and at a little divtance, on the top of one 
 of them, flood a finger- poft, to mark 
 the directions of two roads which di- 
 verged from the point where it was 
 placed. A rock, with fome dangling 
 wild flowers, jutted out above where the 
 foldierlay; on which grew the (lump of 
 a large tree, white with age, and a fingle 
 twifted branch (haded his face as he 
 fiept. His face had the marks of manly 
 comelinefs impaired by time ; his fore- 
 head was not altogether bald, but its 
 hairs might have been numbered j 
 while a few white locks behind crofTed 
 the brown of his neck with a contrafl 
 the mod venerable to a mind like Har- 
 ley's. " Thou art old, faid he tohim- 
 felf, but age has not brought thce reft 
 
 for
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 179 
 
 for its infirmities : I fear thofe filver 
 hairs have not found Ihelter from thy 
 country, though that neck has been 
 bronzed in its fervice." The granger 
 waked. He looked at Harley with 
 the appearance of fome confufion : 
 it was a pain the latter knew too well 
 to think of caufing in another j he 
 turned and went on. The old man 
 readjufted his knapfack, and followed 
 in one of the tracks on the oppofite fide 
 of the road.' 
 
 When Harley heard the tread of his 
 feet behind him, he could not help 
 ftealing back a glance at his fellow- 
 traveller. He feemed to bend under 
 the weight of his knapfack j he halted 
 on his walk, and one of his arms was 
 fupported by a fling, and lay motion- 
 lefs acrofs his bread. He had that 
 I 6 fleady
 
 i8o THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 Heady look of forrow, which indicates 
 that its owner has gazed upon his griefs 
 till he has forgotten to lament them j 
 yet not without thole ftreaks of compla- 
 cency, which a good mind will fome- 
 times throw into the countenance, 
 through all the incumbent load of its 
 "deprefilon. 
 
 He had now advanced nearer to 
 Harley, and, with an uncertain fort of 
 voice, begged to know 'what it was 
 o'clock j " I fear, faid he, fleep has 
 beguiled me of my time, and I fhall 
 hardly have light enough left to carry 
 me to the end of my journey." lc Fa- 
 ther ! faid Harley, (who by this time 
 found the romantic enthufiafm rifing 
 
 ift him) how far do you mean to 
 go ?" " But a little way, Sir, returned 
 the other; and indeed it is but a little 
 
 way
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 181 
 
 way I can manage now : 'tis juft four 
 miles from the height to the village, 
 thither I am going." " I am going 
 there too, faid Harley ; we may make 
 the road fhorter to each other. You 
 feem to have ferved your country, Sir, 
 to have ferved it hardly too; 'tis a cha- 
 racter I have the higheft efteem for. I 
 would not be impertinently inquifitive$ 
 but there is that in your appearance 
 which excites my curiofity to know 
 fomething more of you : in the^mean 
 time,fuffer me to carry that knapfack." 
 
 The old man gazed on him j a tear 
 flood in his eye ! " Young gentleman, 
 faid he, you are too good ; may heaven 
 blefs you for an old man's fake, who 
 has nothing but his blefimg to give 1 
 but my knapfack is fo familiar to my 
 fhoulders, that I (hould walk the worfe 
 
 for
 
 ifo THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 for wanting it j and it would be trou- 
 blefomc to you, who have not been 
 ufed to its weight." (t Far from it, 
 anfwered Barley, I fhould tread the 
 lighter 3 it would be the moft honour- 
 able badge I ever wore." 
 
 < c Sir, faid the ftranger, who had 
 looked earneftly in Harley's face during 
 the laft part of his difcourfe, is not your 
 name Harley ?" "It is, replied he; 
 I am afhamed to fay I have forgotten 
 yours." You may well have forgot- 
 ten my face, faid the ftranger, 'tis a 
 long time fince you faw it; but pof- 
 fibly you may remember fomething of 
 
 old Edwards." " Edwards ! cried 
 
 Harley, oh ! heavens ! and fprung to 
 embrace him; let me clafp thofe knees 
 on which I have fat fo often: Ed- 
 wards! 1 fhall never forget that 
 
 _t fi re ~
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING'. x 3 
 
 fire-fide, round which I have been fo 
 happy ! But where, where have you> 
 been ? where is Jack ? where is your 
 daughter ? How has it fared with them,: 
 when fortune, I fear, has been fo un-\ 
 kind to you? 1 '" 'Tis a long tale, re- ; 
 plied Edwards j but I will try to tell-; 
 it you as we walk. 
 
 " When you were at fchool in the" 
 neighbourhood, you remember me at 
 South-hill: that farm had been pofiefTed 
 by my father, grandfather, and great- 
 grandfather, which Jaft was a younger 
 brother of that very man's anceftor, who 
 is now lord of the manor. I thought I 
 managed it, as they had done, with pru- 
 dence ; I paid my rent regularly as it be- 
 came due, and had always as much be- 
 hind as gave bread to me and my chil- 
 dren. But my laft leafe was out foon 
 
 after
 
 184 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 after you left that part of the country j 
 and the fquire, who had lately got a 
 London- attorney for his fteward, would 
 not renew it, becaule, he faid, he did 
 not chufe to have any farm under 300 1. 
 a-year value on his eftate ; but offered 
 to give me the preference on the fame 
 terms with another, if I chofc to take 
 the one he had marked out, of which 
 mine was a part. 
 
 " What could I do, Mr. Harley ? I 
 feared the undertaking was too great for 
 me j yet to leave, at my age, the houfe 
 I had lived in from my cradle ! I could 
 not, Mr. Harley, I could not ; there 
 was not a tree about it that I did not 
 look on as my father, my brother, or 
 my child : fo I even ran the riik, and 
 took the fquire's offer of the whole. 
 But I had foon reafon to repent of my 
 
 bargain 3
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 185 
 
 bargain ; the (teward had taken care 
 that my former farm (hould be the bed 
 land of the divifion : I was obliged to 
 hire more fervants, and I could not 
 have my eye over them all ; fbme un- 
 favourable feafons followed one another, 
 and I found my affairs entangling on 
 my hands. To add to my diftrefs, a 
 confiderable corn-faclor turned bank- 
 rupt with a fum of mine in his pofief- 
 fion : I failed paying my rent fo punc- 
 tually as I was wont to do, and the 
 fame fteward had my (lock taken in 
 execution in a few days after. So, 
 Mr. Harley, there was an end of my 
 profperity. However, there was as 
 much produced from the fale of my ef- 
 fects as paid my debts and faved me 
 from a jail : I thank God I wronged 
 no man, and the world could never 
 charge me with diftionefty. 
 
 "Had
 
 186 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 
 < Had you feen us, Mr. Harley, when 
 we were turned out of South- hill, I am 
 fure you would have wept at the fight. 
 You remember old Trufty,. my fhag 
 houfe-dog j I fhall never forget it while 
 I live ; the poor creature was blind with 
 age, and could fcarce crawl after us to 
 the door j he went however as far as the 
 goofeberry-buflij that you may remem- 
 ber flood on the left fide of the yard ; 
 he was wont to balk in the fun there j 
 when he had reached that fpot, he (top- 
 ped ; we went on: I called to him 5 
 he wagged his tail, but did not flir : 
 I called again ; he lay down : I whittled, 
 jand cried Trufty; he gave a fhort howl, 
 jand died ! I could have lain down and 
 /died too ; but God gave me ftrengtii 
 (to live for my children." 
 
 The old man now paufed a moment 
 to take breath. He eyed Harley 's face ; 
 
 it
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 187 
 
 h was bathed with tears : the (lory was 
 grown familiar to himfelf ; he dropped 
 one tear, and no more. 
 
 " Though I was poor, continued he, 
 I was not altogether without credit. A 
 gentleman in the neighbourhood, who 
 had a fmall farm unoccupied at the 
 time, offered to let me have it, on giv- 
 ing fecurity for the rent; which I made- 
 fhift to procure. It was a piece of 
 ground which required management to 
 make any thing of 5 but it was nearly 
 within the compafs of my fon's labour 
 and my own. We exerted all our in- 
 duftry to bring it into fome heart. We 
 began to fucceed tolerably, and lived 
 contented on its produce, when an un- 
 lucky accident brought us under the- 
 difpleafure of a neighbouring juftice of 
 the peace, and broke all our family- 
 
 happinefs again, 
 
 " My
 
 188 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 " My foon was a remarkable good 
 fhooter; he had always kept a polrner 
 on our former farm, and thought no 
 harm in doing fo nowj when one day, 
 having fprung a covey in our own 
 ground, the dog, of his own accord, 
 followed them into the juftice's. My 
 fon laid down his gun, and went after 
 his dog to bring him back : the game- 
 keeper, who had marked the birds, 
 came up, and feeing the pointer, ihoc 
 him jufl as my fon approached. The 
 creature fell j my fon ran up to him : 
 he died with a complaining fort of cry 
 at his matter's feet. Jack could bear 
 it no longer j but flying at the game- 
 keeper, wrenched his gun out of his 
 hand, and with the butt end of it, fell- 
 ed him to the ground. 
 
 " He
 
 THE MAN OF FEELINJ3. 189 
 
 <{ He had fcarce got home, when a 
 conftable came with a warrant, and 
 dragged him to prifon -, there he lay, 
 for the juftices would not take bail, till 
 he was tried at 'the quarter- fefiions for 
 the affault and battery. His fine was 
 hard upon us to pay ; we contrived 
 however to live the worfe for it, and 
 make up the lofs by our frugality : but 
 the juflice was not concent with that 
 punilhment, and foon after had an op- 
 portunity of punifhing us indeed. 
 
 " An officer with prefs-orders came 
 down to our county, and having met 
 with thejufticesj agreed that they fhould 
 pitch on a certain number, who could 
 mod eafily be fpared from the county, 
 of whom he would take care to clear 
 it : my fon's name was in the juftices' 
 lift. 
 
 " 'Twas
 
 o THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 " 'Twas on a Chriflmas eve, and the 
 'l)irth-day too of my Ton's little boy. 
 The night was piercing cold, and it 
 blew a dorm, with fhowers of hail and 
 fnow. We had made up a cheering 
 fire in an inner room , I fat before it in 
 my wicker-chair, bleffing providence, 
 that had ftill left a ffielter for me and 
 my children. My fon's two little ones 
 were holding their gambols around us j 
 'my heart warmed at the Tight: I brought 
 -iubottle of my beft ale, and all our mif- 
 "fortunes were forgotten. 
 
 " It had long been our cuflom to 
 play a game at blind man's burFon that 
 night, and it was not omitted now j fo 
 to it we fell, I, and my fon, and his 
 wife, the daughter of a neighbouring 
 farmer, who happened to be with us at 
 the time, the two children, and an old 
 
 maid
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 191 
 
 maid fervant, who had lived with me 
 from a child. The lot fell on my fon 
 to be blindfolded : we had continued 
 fome time in our game, when he grop- 
 ed his way into an outer room in purfuit 
 of fome of us, who, he imagined, had 
 taken (belter there $ we kept fnug in 
 our places, and enjoyed his miftake. He 
 had not been long there, when he was 
 fuddenly feized from behind* t( I fhall 
 have you now, faid he, and turned 
 about." c< Shall you fo, matter ? an- 
 fvvcred the ruffian, who had laid hold of 
 him j we fhall make you play at another 
 fort of game by and by." At thefe < 
 words Harley darted with a convulfive 
 fortofmotion> and grafping Edwards's 
 fword, drew it half out of the fcabbard, 
 with a look of the mod frantic wildnefs. 
 Edwards gently replaced it in its flieath, 
 
 and went on with his relation. 
 
 " On
 
 192 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 
 On hearing thefe words in a ftrange 
 voice, we all rufhed out to difcoverthe 
 caufe ; the room by this time was al- 
 moft full of the gang. My daughter- 
 in-law fainted at the fight ; the maid 
 and I ran to afiift her, while my poor 
 fon remained motionlefs, gazing by 
 turns on his children and their mo- 
 then We foon recovered her to 
 life, and begged her to retire and 
 wait the iffue of the affair ; but 
 Hie flew to her-hufband, and clung 
 round him in an agony of terror 
 and grief. 
 
 " In the gang was one of a fmoother 
 afpecl, whom, by his drefs, we difco- 
 vered to be a fcrjeant of foot: he came 
 up to me, and told me, that my fon 
 had his choice of the lea or land fer- 
 vice, whifpering at the fame time, that 
 7 if
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 19% 
 
 if he chofe the land, he might g 
 on procuring him another ma;,, 
 paying a certain fum for his freedom. 
 The money we could juft mufler up in 
 the hoiife, by the affiftance of the 
 maid, who produced, in a green bag, 
 all the little favings of her fervice -, but 
 the man we could not expe'lt to find. 
 My daughter-in-law gazed upon her 
 children with a look of the wildeft 
 defpair : (( My poor infants ! faid fhe, 
 your father is forced from you j who 
 (hall now labour for your bread ? or 
 muft your mother beg for herfelf and 
 you ?" I prayed her to be patient , but 
 comfort I had none to give her. At 
 laft, calling the ferjeant afide, I afked 
 him, " If I was too old to be accepted 
 in place of my fon ?" " Why, I don't 
 know, faid he ; you are rather old to 
 be fure, but yet the money may do 
 K much. 5 '
 
 194 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 much.'* I put the money in his hand ; 
 and coming back to my children, 
 * e Jack, faid I, you are free j live to , 
 i give your wife and thefe little ones 
 1 bread j I will go, my child, in your 
 ttead : I have but little life to lofe, 
 and if I ftaid, I Ihould add one to the 
 wretches you left behind." " No, 
 replied my fon, I am not that coward 
 you imagine rnc ; heaven forbid, that 
 my father's grey hairs fhould be fo ex- 
 pofed, while I fat idle at home j I am 
 young, and able to endure much, and 
 God will take care of you and my fa- 
 i mily." f< Jack, faid I, I will put an 
 end to this matter ; you have never 
 hitherto difobeyed me; I will not be 
 contradicted in this ; flay at home, I 
 charge you, and, for my fake, be kind 
 to my children. 
 
 "Our
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 195 
 
 " Our parting, Mr. Harley, I can- 
 not defcribe to you ; it was the firft 
 time we ever had parted : the very 
 prefs-gang could fcarce keep from 
 tears ; but the ferjeant, who had feem- 
 ed the fofteft before, was now the leaft 
 moved of them all. He conduced 
 me to a party of new-raifed recruits, 
 who lay at a village in the neighbour- 
 hood ; and we foon after joined the 
 regiment. I had not been long with, 
 it, when we were ordered to the Eaft 
 Indies, where I was foon made a fer- 
 jeant, and might have picked up fome 
 money, if my heart had been as hard 
 as fome others were j but my nature 
 was never of that kind, that could think 
 of getting rich at the expence of my 
 confcience. 
 
 K 2 Amongft
 
 196 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 
 " Amongft our prifoners was an old 
 Indian, whom fome of our officers fup- 
 pafed to hav-e a treafure hidden fome- 
 where; which is no uncommon practice 
 in that country. They prefied him to 
 difcover it. He declared he had none j 
 but that would not fatisfy them : fo 
 they ordered him to be tied to a (lake, 
 and fuffcr fifty laihes every morning, 
 tiU he fhould learn to fpeak out, as they 
 faid. Oh ! Mr. Harley, had you feen 
 him, as I did, with his hands bound 
 behind him, fuffering in filence, while 
 the big drops trickled down his fhri- 
 veiled cheeks, and wet his grey beard, 
 which fome of the inhuman fol- 
 die-rs plucked in fcorn ! I could not 
 bear it, I could not for my foul j and 
 one morning, when the refl of the 
 guard were out of the way, I found 
 mt>ns to let him cfcape, I was tried 
 
 by
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 1-97 
 
 by a court-martial for negligence of 
 my poft, and ordered, in companion 
 of my age, and having got this wound 
 in my arm, and that in my leg, in 
 the fervice, only to fuffer 300 lafhes, 
 and' be turned out of the regiment j 
 but my fentence was mitigated as to 
 the lafhes, and' I had only 200. When 
 I had fuffer red thefe, I was turned out 
 of the camp, and had betwixt three 
 and four hundred miles to travel before 
 I could reach a fea-port, without guide 
 to conduct me, or money to buy me 
 provifions by the way. I fet out, how- 
 ever, refolved to walk as far as I could, 
 and then to lay myfelf down and die. 
 But I had fcarce gone a mile, when 
 I was met by the Indian whom I had 
 delivered. He prefTed -me in his arms, 
 and kified the marks of the lafhes on 
 my back a thoufand times ; he led me 
 K 3 to
 
 j 9 8 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 to a little hut, where fome friend of 
 his dwelt; and after I was recovered 
 of my wounds, conducted me fo far 
 on my journey himfelf, and fent another 
 Indian to guide me through the reft. 
 "When we parted, he pulled out a 
 purfe with two hundred pieces of gold 
 in it : " Take this,- faid he, my dear 
 preferver, it is all I have been able to 
 procure." I begged him not to 
 bring himfelf to poverty for my fake, 
 who fhould probably have no need of 
 it long j but he infifted on my accept- 
 ing it. He embraced me : " You 
 are an Englifliman, faid he, but the 
 Great Spirit has given you an Indian 
 heart; may he bear up the weight of 
 your old age, and blunt the arrow that 
 brings it reft !" We parted ; and not 
 long after I made fhift to get my paf- 
 fage to England. J Tis but about a 
 
 week
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 199 
 
 week fince 1 landed, and I am going 
 to end my days in the arms of my fon. 
 This fum may be of ufe to him and his 
 children j 'tis all the value I put upoa 
 it. I thank heaven I never was covet- 
 ous of wealth j I neve_r_had_rnuch, but 
 was-- alw&y-fr-ibLjiappy^s to be content 
 wuluny little." 
 
 When Edwards had ended his rela-" 
 tion, Harley flood a while looking at 
 him in filence ; at laft he prefied him 
 in his arms, and when he had given 
 rent to the fullnefs of his heart by a 
 fhower of tears, " Edwards, faid he, 
 kt me hold thee ta my bofom j let me 
 imprint the virtue of thy fufferings on 
 my foul. Come, my honoured vete- 
 ran ! let me endeavour to foften the 
 laft days of a life, worn out in the fer- 
 vice of humanity : call me alfo thy fon-, 
 K 4 and
 
 200 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 and let me cheriih thee as a father." 
 Edwards, from whom the recollection 
 of his own fufferings had fcarce farced 
 a tear, now blubbered like a boy ; he 
 could not fpeak his gratitude, but by 
 fome (hort exclamations of blefiings 
 upon Harley. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 201 
 
 CHAP. XXXV. 
 
 He mtffes an old acquaintance. An 
 adventure confcquent upon it. 
 
 WHEN they had arrived' within a 
 little way of the village they 
 journeyed to, Harky flopped fhort, 
 and looked fledfaflly on the mouldering 
 walls of a ruined houfe that flood on 
 the road-fide. " Oh heavens! he cried, 
 what do I fee : filent, unroofed, and 
 dcfolate 1 Are all thy gay tenants 
 gone ? do I hear their hum no more-? . 
 Edwards, look there, look there -.1 : the 
 fcene of my iafant joys, my earliefl 
 friendfhips, laid wafte and ruinous! 
 That was the very fchool where I was 
 boarded when you were at South-hil} 1 ; 
 K 5 'tis
 
 202 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 'tis but a twelvemonth fince I faw it 
 flanding, and its benches filled with 
 cherubs: that oppofite fide of the road 
 was the green on which they fported; 
 fee it now ploughed up ! I would 
 have given fifty times its value to have 
 faved it from the facrilege of that 
 plough." 
 
 " Dear Sir, replied Edwards, per- 
 haps they have left it from choice, and 
 may have got another fpot as good." 
 * f They cannot, faid Harley, they can- 
 not ; I (hall never fee the fward cover- 
 ed with its daifies, nor prefied by the 
 dance of_thc dear innocents : I lhall 
 never fee that flump decked with the 
 garlands which their little hands had 
 gathered. Thefe two long ftones which 
 now lie at the foot of it, were once the 
 fupport$ of a hut I myfelf affifted to 
 
 rear:
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 203 
 rear : I have fat on the fods within ir, 
 when we had fpread our banquet of 
 apples before us, and been more bleft 
 Oh ! Edwards ! infinitely more 
 bleft than ever I fhall be again." 
 
 Juft then a woman pafied them on 
 the road, and difcovered fome figns of 
 wonder at the attitude of Harley, who 
 flood, with his hands folded together, 
 looking with a moiftened eye on the 
 fallen pillars of the hut. He was too 
 much entranced in thought to obfervc 
 her at all j but Edwards civilly accoft- 
 ing her, defired to know, if that had 
 not been the fchool-houfe, and how it 
 came into the condition in which they 
 now faw it ? " Alack a day ! faid Ihe, 
 it was the fchool-houfe indeed \ but to 
 be fure, Sir, the fquire has pulled it 
 down, becaufe it flood in the way of his 
 K6
 
 2Q4 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 profpecls." - ff What! how! pro- 
 
 ! pulled down !" cried Harley, 
 " Yes, to be fure > Sir -, and the green> 
 where the children ufed to play he has 
 ploughed up, becaufe, he faid, they 
 hurt his fence on the other fide of 
 it.-" Curfes on his narrow heart, 
 cried Harley, that could violate a right 
 fo facred ! Heaven blaft the wretch ! 
 
 " And from his derogate body never fpring 
 A babe to honour him 1" - 
 
 But I need not, Edwards, I need not 
 (recovering himfelf a little), heiscurfed 
 enough already : to him the nobleft 
 fource of happinefs is denied; and the 
 cares of his fordid foul ftiall gnaw if, 
 while thou fitteft over a brown cruft, 
 fmiling on thofe mangled limbs that 
 have faved thy fon and his children !" 
 
 "If
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 205 
 
 cc If you want any thing with the 
 fchool-miftrefs, Sir, faid the woman, 
 I can fhew you the way to her houfe." 
 He followed her without knowing whi- 
 ther he went* 
 
 They ftopped at the door of a fnug 
 habitation, where fat an elderly woman 
 with a boy and. a girl before her, each 
 of whom held a fupper of bread and 
 milk in their hands. " There, Sir, is 
 the fchool-miftrefs.'* <e Madam, faid 
 Harley, was not an old venerable man 
 fchool-m after here fome time ago ?" 
 " Yes, Sir,, he was ; poor man ! the 
 lofs of his former fchool-houfe, I be- 
 lieve, broke his heart, for he died foon 
 after it was taken down ; and as another 
 has not yet been found, I have that 
 charge in the mean time." lf And 
 this boy and girl, I prefume, are your 
 
 pupils ?"
 
 206 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 pupils ?" " Ay, Sir, they are poor 
 orphans, put under my care by the pa- 
 rifh; and more promrfing children I 
 never faw." ."Orphans!" faid Har- 
 ley. " Yes, Sir, of honeft creditable 
 parents as any in the parifh $ and it is a 
 fhame for fome folks to forget their re- 
 lations, at a time when they have moft 
 need to remember them." " Ma- 
 dam, faid Harley, let us never forget 
 that we are all relations." He luffed 
 the children. 
 
 " Their father, Sir, continued fhe, 
 was a farmer here in the neighbour- 
 hood, and a fober induflrious man he 
 vvasj but nobody can help misfortunes : 
 what with bad crops, and bad debts, 
 which are worfe, his affairs went to. 
 wreck, and both he and his wife died 
 of broken hearts. And a fvveet couple 
 "they were, Sir j there was not a pro- 
 
 perer
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 207 
 
 perer man to look on in the county 
 than John Edwards, and fo indeed 
 were all the Edwardses." " What 
 Edwardses ?" cried the old foldier 
 haftily. " The Edwardses of South- 
 hill ; and a worthy family they were." 
 tc South-hill !" faid he, in languid 
 voice, and fell back into the arms of 
 the aftonilhed Harley. The fchool- 
 miftrefs ran for fome water, and a fmell- 
 ing-bottle, with the affiftanceof which 
 they foon recovered the unfortunate 
 Edwards. He flared wildly for fome 
 time, then folding his orphan grand- 
 children in his arms, " Oh ! my chil- 
 dren, my children ! he cried, have I 
 found you thus ? My poor Jack ! art 
 thou gone ? I thought thou fhouldfl 
 have carried thy father's grey hairs to 
 the grave I and thefe little ones" his 
 tears choaked his utterance, and he 
 
 fell
 
 208 THE MAN OF FEELING*. 
 
 fell again on the necks of the chil- 
 dren. 
 
 r~" My dear old, man ! faid Harlcy, 
 /Providence Has fent you to relieve 
 I them j it willblefs me, if I can be the 
 means of affifting you.'* Yes, in- 
 deed, Sir, anfwered the boy j father, 
 when he was a-dying, bade God blefs 
 us 5 and prayed, that if grandfather 
 lived, he might fend him to fupport 
 us."" Where did they lay my .boy ?'.* 
 faid Edwards. " In the. Old Church, 
 yard, replied the woman, hard by his 
 mother." " I will fhow it you, an- 
 fWered the boy i for I have wept over 
 ft many a time, , when firft I came> 
 amongft ftrange folks.'* He took the 
 old man's hand, Harley laid hold of 
 his fitter's, and they walked, in filence 
 to the church-yard. 
 
 There
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 209 
 
 There was an old ftone, with the cor- 
 ner broken off, and fome letters, half 
 covered with mofs, to denote the names 
 of the dead : there was a cyphered R. E. 
 plainer than the reft : it was the tomb 
 they fought. " Here it is, grandfather,'* 
 faid the boy. Edwards gazed upon i 
 without uttering a word : the girl, who 
 had only fighed before, now wept out- 
 right : her brother fobbed^ but he ftifled 
 his fobbing. " I have told fitter, faid 
 he, that fhe fhould not take it fo to 
 heart ; fhe can knit already, and I (hall 
 foon be able to dig : we fhall not flarve, 
 fifteo indeed we fhall not, nor fhall 
 grandfather neither." The girl cried 
 afrefh j Harley kifTed off her tears as 
 they flowed, and wept betweea every 
 kifs. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 210 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVI. 
 
 He returns home. A defcription of his 
 retinue. 
 
 IT was with fome difficulty that Har- 
 ley prevailed on the old man to leave 
 the fpot where the remains of his fon 
 were laid. At laft, with the afftftance 
 of the fchool-miftrefs, he prevailed j 
 and fhe accommodated Edwards and 
 him with beds in her houfe, there being 
 nothing like an inn nearer than the di- 
 flance of fome miles. 
 
 In the morning, Harley perfuaded 
 Edwards to come with the children 
 to his houfej which was diftant but a 
 fhort day's journey. The boy walked 
 in his grandfather's hand j and the name 
 of Edwards procured him a neighbour- 
 ing
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 2ir 
 
 ing farmer's horfe, on which a fervant 
 mounted, with the girl on a pillow be- 
 fore him. 
 
 With this train Harley returned to 
 the abode of his fathers : and we cannot 
 but think, that his enjoyment was as 
 great as if he had arrived from the tour 
 of Europe, with a Swifs valet for his 
 companion, and half a dozen fnuff- 
 boxes, with invifible hinges, in his 
 pocket. But we take our ideas from) 
 founds which folly has invented j Fa-| 
 fhion, Bon ton, and Vertu, are the names* 
 of certain idols, to which we facrifice 
 the genuine pleafures of the foul : in \ 
 this world of femblance, we are con- j 
 tented with perfonating happinefs 5 to l 
 feel it, is an art beyond us. 
 
 It was otherwife with Harley; he ran 
 up flairs to his aunt, with the hiftory of 
 
 his
 
 &I2 THE MAN OF FEELIN.G. 
 
 his fellow- travellers glowing on his lips. 
 His aunt was an economiftj but flae 
 knew the pleafure of doing charitable 
 things, and withal was fond of her ne- 
 phew, and felicitous to oblige him. She 
 received old Edwards therefore with a 
 look of more complacency than is per- 
 haps natural to maiden ladies of three- 
 fcore, and was remarkably attentive to 
 his grand-children : fhe roafted apples 
 with her own hands for their fupper, 
 and made up a little bed befide her own 
 for the girl. Edwards made fame at- 
 tempts towards an acknowledgment for 
 thefe favours j but his young friend 
 flopped them in their beginnings. 
 " Whofoever receiveth any of thefe 
 children" faid his aunt; for her ac- 
 quaintance with her bible was habi:jal. 
 
 Early next morning, Harley ftole 
 into the room where Edwards lay : he 
 
 expected
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 213 
 
 expected to have found him a-bedj but 
 in this he was mi-ftaken : the old man 
 had rifen, and was leaningover his fleep- 
 ing grandfon, with the tears flowing 
 down his cheeks. At firft he did not 
 perceive Harley j when he did, he en- 
 deavoured to hide his grief, and crofting 
 his eyes with his hand, exprefied his 
 furprife at feeing him fo earJy aftir. 
 " I was thinking of you, faid Harley, 
 and your children : I learned laft night 
 that a frnall farm of mine in the neigh- 
 bourhood is now vacant : if you will 
 occupy it, I lhall gain a good neigh- 
 bour, and be able in fome meafure to 
 repay the notice you took of me when 
 a boy j and as the furniture of the houfe 
 is mine, it will be fo much trouble 
 faved." Edwards's tears gufhed afrefli, 
 and Harley led him to fee the place he 
 intended for him. 
 
 The
 
 214 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 The houfe upon this farm was indeed 
 little better than a hutj its fituation, 
 however, was pleafant, and Edwards, 
 affifted by the beneficence of Harley,fet 
 about improving its neatnefs and con- 
 venience. He flaked out a piece of the 
 green before for a garden, and Peter, 
 who afled in Harley's family as valet, 
 butler, and gardener, had orders to fur- 
 nifh him with parcels of the different 
 feeds he chofe to fow in it. I have 
 feen his mafter at work in this little 
 fpoat, with his coat off, and his dibble 
 in his hand : it was a fcene of tranquil 
 virtue to have flopped an angel on his 
 errands of mercy ! Harley had con- 
 trived to lead a little bubbling brook 
 through a green walk in the middle of j 
 the ground, upon which he had erected 
 a mill in miniature for the diverfion of 
 Edwards's infant grandfon, and made 
 
 fhift
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 215 
 
 Ihift in its con ft ruction to introduce a 
 pliant bit of wood, that anfwered with* 
 its fairy clack to the murmuring of the" 
 rill that turned it. I have feen him 
 ftand, liftening to thefe mingled founds, 
 with his eye fixed on the boy, and the 
 fmile of confcious fatisfadion on his 
 cheek ; while the old man, with a look 
 half turned to Harley, and half to 
 Heaven, breathed an ejaculation of ' 
 gratitude and piety. 
 
 Father of mercies ! I alfo would 
 thank thee ! that not only haft thou 
 afllgned eternal rewards to virtue, but 
 that, even in this bad world, the lines 
 of our duty, and our happinefs, are fo 
 frequently woven together. 
 
 A FRAG-
 
 ai6 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 A FRAGMENT. 
 
 The Man of Feeling talks of what he does 
 not under/land. An incident, 
 
 * * * * " INWARDS, faid he, I 
 have a proper regard for the profperity 
 of my country: every native of it ap- 
 propriates to himfelf fome fhare of the 
 power, or the fame, which, as a nation, 
 It acquires j but I cannot throw off the 
 man fo much, as to rejoice at our con- 
 quefts in India. You tell me of im- 
 menfe territfcrries fubjecltotheEnglifh: 
 I cannot think of their poffefiions, 
 without being led to enquire, by what 
 right they poffefs them. They came 
 there as traders, bartering the commo* 
 dities they brought for others which 
 i their
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING, 217 
 
 their purchafers could fpare* and how- 
 ever great their profits were, they were 
 then equitable. But what title have 
 the fubje&s of another kingdom to 
 eftablifh an empire in India ? to give 
 laws to a country where the inhabitants 
 received them on the terms of friendly 
 commerce ? You fay they are happier 
 under our regulations than the tyranny 
 of their own petty princes. I mufl 
 doubt it, from the conduct of thofe by 
 whom thefe regulations have been 
 made. They have drained the treafu- 
 ries of Nabobs, who mufl fill them by 
 oppreffing the induftry of their fubjects. 
 Nor is this to be wondered at, when we 
 confider the motive upon which thofe 
 gentlemen do not deny their going to 
 India. The fame of conqueft, barba- 
 rous as that motive is, is but a fecon- 
 dary confideration : there are certain 
 L ftations
 
 2i8 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 ftations in wealth to which the warriors 
 of the Eaft afpire. It is there indeed 
 where the wiflies of their friends affign 
 them eminence, where the queftion of 
 their country is pointed at their retuin. 
 When fhall I fee a commander return 
 from India in the pride of honourable 
 poverty ? You defcribe the victories 
 they have gained ; they are fullied by 
 the caufe in which they fought : you 
 enumerate the fpoils of thofe victories; 
 they are covered with the blood of the 
 vanquifhed ! 
 
 " Could you tell me'of fome con- 
 queror giving peace and happinefs to 
 the conquered ? did he accept the gifts 
 of their princes to ufe them for the 
 comfort of thofe whofe fathers, fons, 
 or hufbands, fell in battle? did he ufe 
 his power to gain fecurity and freedom 
 
 to
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 219 
 
 to the regions of opprefiion and flavery ? 
 did he endear the Britifh name by ex- 
 amples of generofity, which the moft 
 barbarous or moft depraved are rarely 
 able to refifl ? did he return with the 
 confciouihefs of duty difchargcd to his 
 country, and humanity to his fellow- 
 creatures ? did he return with no lace 
 on his coat, no flaves in his retinue, 
 no chariot at his door, and no burgun- 
 dy at his table ? thefe were laurels 
 which princes might envy which art 
 honed man would not condemn !" 
 
 cc Your maxims, Mr. Harley*, are 
 certainly right, faid Edwards. I am 
 not capable of arguing with you ; but 
 I imagine there are great temptations 
 in a great degree of riches, which it is 
 no eafy matter to refift ; thofe a poor 
 man like me cannot defcribe, becaufe he 
 never knew them j and perhaps I have 
 L 2 reafon
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 reafon to blefs God that I never did j 
 for then, it is likely, I fhould have 
 withftood them no better than my 
 neighbours. For you know, Sir, that 
 it is not the fafhion now, as it was in 
 .former times, that I have read of in 
 books, when your great generals died 
 fo poor, that they did not leave where- 
 withal to buy them a coffin j and people 
 thought the better of their memories 
 for it : if they did ,fo now-a-days, I 
 queftion if any body, except yourfelf, 
 and fome few like you, would thank 
 .them." 
 
 -* 1 " I am forry, replied Harley, that 
 there is fo much truth in what you fay .; 
 but however the general current of opi- 
 nion may point, the feelings are not yet 
 loft that applaud .benevolence, and cen- 
 iure inhumanitv. Let us endeavour to
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING; 22 r 
 
 ftrengthen them in ourfelves j and we, 
 who live fequeftered from the noife of 
 the multitude, have better opportuni- 
 ties of littening: undifturbed to their 
 voice.'-' 
 
 They now approached the little 
 dwelling of Edwards. A maid-fervant, 
 whom he had hired to affift him in the 
 care of his grandchildren, met them a 
 little way from the houfe : " There is a 
 young lady within with the children," 
 faid fhe. Edwards expreffed his fur- 
 prife at the vifit : it was however noc 
 the lefs true; and we mean to account 
 for it. 
 
 This young lady then was no other 
 
 than Mifs Walton. She had heard the 
 
 old man's hiftory from Harley, as we 
 
 have already related it. Curiofity, or 
 
 J, 3 fomc
 
 222 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 fome other motive, made her defirou-s 
 to fee his grandchildren j this (he had 
 an opportunity of gratifying foon, the 
 children, in fome of their walks, having 
 ftrolled as far as her father's avenue. 
 She put feveral queftions to both; flie 
 was delighted with the fimplicity of 
 their .anfwers, and promifed, that if 
 they continued to be good children, and 
 do as their grandfather bid them, fhe 
 would foon fee them again, and bring 
 fome prefent or other for their reward. 
 This promife Ihe had performed now : 
 fhe came attended only by her maid, 
 and brought with her a complete fuit of 
 green for the boy, and a chintz gown, 
 a cap, and a fuit df ribbands, for his 
 fifter. She had time enough, with her 
 maid's affiftance, to equip them in their 
 new habiliments before Harley and 
 Edwards returned. The boy heard his 
 
 grancU
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 2*3 
 
 grandfather's voice, and, with that filent 
 joy which his prefent finery infpired, 
 ran to the door to meet him : putting 
 one hand in his, with the other point- 
 ed to his fitter, " See, .faid he, what 
 Mils Walton has brought us !" Ed- 
 wards gazed on them. Harley fixed his 
 eyes on Mifs Walton ; hers were turn- 
 ed to the ground , in Edwards's was. a 
 beamy moifture. He folded his hands, 
 
 together " I cannot fpeak, young 
 
 lady, faid he, to thank you.'* Neither 
 could Harley. There were a thoufand 
 fentimentsi but they gulhed fo impe- 
 tuoufly on his heart, that he could not 
 utter a fyllablc. * * * * 
 
 L 4 CHAP.
 
 224 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 T 
 
 CHAP. XL. 
 
 <Tbe Man of Feeling jealous* 
 
 H E defire of communicating 
 knowledge or intelligence, is an 
 argument with thofe who hold that man 
 is naturally a focial animal. It is in- 
 deed one of the earlieft propenfities we 
 difcover j but it may be doubted whe- 
 ther the pleafure (for pleafure there 
 certainly is) arifing from it be not often 
 more fctfiih than focial : for we fre- 
 quently obferve the tidings of 111 com- 
 municated as eagerly as the annuncia- 
 tion of Good. Is it that we delight in 
 obferving the effects of the ftronger 
 pafiions ? for we are all philofophers in 
 this refpect; and it is perhaps amongfl: 
 the fpe&ators at Tyburn that the mod 
 genuine are to be found. 
 
 Was
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 225 
 
 Was it from this motive that Peter 
 came one morning into his matter's 
 room with a meaning face of recital ? : 
 His matter indeed did not at firft ob- 
 ferve it i for he was fitting, with one 
 ihoe buckled, delineating portraits in 
 the fire. " I have bruflied thofe clothes, . 
 
 Sir, as you ordered me."- Harley 
 
 nodded his head ; but Peter obferved 
 that his hat wanted brufhing too : his 
 matter nodded again. At laft Peter 
 bethought him, that the fire needed 
 ftirringj and taking up the poker, 
 demolifhed the turban'd head of a Sara-\ 
 cen, while his matter was feeking out a i J 
 body fork. " The morning is main 
 cold, Sir," faid Peter. Is it'*'* faid 
 Harley. " Yes, Sirj I have, been as 
 far as Tom Dowfon's to fetch fome bar- 
 berries he had picked for Mrs. Marge- 
 ry.. , There was a rare junketting laft 
 L 5 . night
 
 226 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 night at Thomas's among Sir Harry 
 Benfon's fervants j he lay at Squire 
 Walton's, but he would not fuffer his 
 fervants to trouble the family : fo, to 
 be fure, they were all at Tom's, and 
 had a fiddle and a hot fupper in the big 
 room where the juftices meet about 
 the destroying of hares and partridges, 
 and them things j and Tom's eyes 
 looked fo red and fo bleared when I 
 called him to get the barberries: And 
 I hear as how Sir Harry is going to be 
 
 married to Mifs Walton." " How ! 
 
 Mifs Walton married !'" faid Harley. 
 ' Why, it may'nt be true, Sir, for all 
 that; but Tom's wife told it me, and 
 to be fure the fervants told her, and 
 their mafter told them, aslguefs, Sirj 
 but it mayn't be true for all that, as I 
 faid before." " Have done with your 
 idle information, faid Harley : Is my 
 
 aun.c
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 227 
 
 aunt come down into the parlour to 
 breakfaft ?" " Yes, Sir."" Tell her 
 I'll be with her immediately." 
 
 When Peter was gone, he flood with 
 his eyes fixed on the ground, and the 
 lafl words of his intelligence vibrating 
 in his eafs. " Mifs Walton married !" 
 he fighed and walked down flairs, 
 with his (hoe as it was, aad the buckle 
 in his hand. His aunt, however, was 
 pretty well accuftomed to thofe appear- 
 ances of abfence; befides, that the na- 
 tural gravity of her temper, which was 
 commonly called into exertion by the 
 care of her houfehold concerns, was 
 fuch, as not eafily to be difcompofed 
 by any circumftance of accidental im- 
 propriety. She too had been informed 
 of the intended match between Sir 
 Harry Benfon and Mifs Walton. " I 
 L 6 have
 
 228 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 have been thinking, faid fhe, that they 
 are diftant relations : for the great- 
 grandfather of this Sir Harry Benfon, 
 who was knight of the fhire in the reign 
 of Charles the Firft, and one of the 
 Cavaliers of thofe times, was married 
 to a daughter of the Walton family." 
 Harley anfwered drily, that it might be 
 fo; but that he never troubled him- 
 felf about thofe matters. ff Indeed, 
 faid fhe, you are to blame, nephew, 
 for not knowing a little more of them : 
 before I was near your age, I had fevved 
 the pedigree of our family in a fet of 
 chair-bottoms, that were made a pre- 
 fent of to my grandmother, who was a 
 very notable woman, and had a proper 
 regard for gentility, I'll allure you j 
 f but now-a-days, it is money, not birth, 
 that makes people refpe&ed j the more 
 fliame for the times." 
 
 Harley
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING, 229 
 
 Harley was in no very good humour 
 for entering into a difcufiion of this 
 queftion ; but he always entertained fo 
 much filial refpect for his aunt, as to 
 attend to her difcourfe. 
 
 c We blame the pride of the rich, 
 faid he, but are not we afhamed of our 
 poverty ?" 
 
 " Why, one would not chufe, re- 
 plied his aunt, to make a much worfe 
 figure than one's neighbours} but, as 
 I was faying before, the times (as my 
 friend Mrs. Dorothy Walton obferves) 
 are fhamefully degenerated in this.re- 
 fpec~h There was but t'other day, at 
 Mr. Walton's, that fat fellow's daugh- 
 ter, the London Merchant, as he 
 calls himfelf, though I have heard 
 that he was little better than the keeper 
 
 of
 
 2jo THE MAN OF FEELING-. 
 
 of a chandler's fhop : We were leav- 
 ing the gentlemen to go to tea. She 
 had a hoop forfooth as large and as ftifF 
 and it fhewed a pair of bandy legs, 
 
 as thick as two 1 was nearer the 
 
 door by an apron's length, and the pert 
 hufly brufhed by me, as who fhould 
 fay, Make way for your betters, and 
 with one of her London-bobs but 
 Mrs. Dorothy did not let her pafs 
 with it j for all the time of drinking 
 tea, fhe fpoke of the precedency of fa- 
 mily, and the difparity there is between 
 people who are come of fomething, 
 and your mufhroom-gentry who wear 
 their coats of arms in their purfes." 
 
 Her indignation was interrupted by 
 the arrival of her maid with a damaik 
 table-cloth, and afet of napkins, from 
 the loom, which had been fpun by her 
 
 miitrefs's
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 231 
 
 miftrefs's own hand. There was the 
 family-creft in each corner, and in the 
 middle a view of the battle of Wor- 
 cefter, where one of her anceftors had 
 been a captain in the king's forces ; and 
 with a fort of poetical licence in per- 
 fpeftive, *there was feen the Royal 
 Oak, with more wig than leaves upon 
 it. 
 
 On all this the good lady was very 
 copious,, and took up the remaining in- 
 tervals of filling tea, to defcribe its ex- 
 cellencies to Harleyj adding, thatlhe 
 intended this as a prefent for his wife, 
 when he fhould get one. He fjghed 
 and looked foolifh, and commending 
 the ferenity of the day, walked out in- 
 to the garden* 
 
 He fat down on a little feat which 
 
 commanded anextenfive profpeft round 
 
 8 the
 
 232 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 the houfe. He leaned on his hand, 
 and fcored the ground with his ftick : 
 " Mifs Walton married ! faid he j but 
 what is that to me? May fhe be hap- 
 py ! her virtues deferve it j to me her 
 marriage is otherwife indifferent : I 
 had romantic dreams ! they are fled I- 
 it, is perfectly indifferent." 
 
 Juft at that moment he faw a fer- 
 vant, with a knot of ribbands in his 
 hat, go into the houfe. His cheeks 
 grew flufhed at the fight ! He kept his 
 eye fixed for fome time on the door by , 
 which he had entered, then ftarting to 
 his feet, haftily followed him. 
 
 When he approached the door of the 
 kitchen where he fuppofed the man had 
 entered, his heart throbbed fo violently, 
 that when he would have called Peter, 
 
 his
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 233 
 
 his voice failed in the attempt. He 
 flood a moment liftening in this breath- 
 kfs ftate of palpitation :. Peter came 
 out by chance. <c Did yout^honour 
 want any thing E" tc Where is the 
 fervant that came juft now from Mr 
 
 Walton's:" "From Mr. Walton's, 
 
 Sir ! there is none of his fervants here 
 that I know of/' <c Nor of Sir Harry 
 Benfon's ?" He did not wait for ait 
 anfwerj but having by this time ob- 
 ferved the hat with its party-coloured 
 ornament hanging on a peg near the 
 door, he prefled forwards into the- 
 kitchen,. and addreffing himfelf to. a 
 fir anger whom he faw there, afked him, 
 with no fmall tremor in his voice, "If he 
 had any commands for him r" The man 
 looked filly, and faid, ec That he had no- 
 thing to trouble his honour with." 
 " Are not you a fervant of Sir Harry Ben- 
 fon's r
 
 234 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 fon's?" No, Sir."" You'll par- 
 don me, young man j I judged by the 
 favour in your hat." " Sir, I'm his 
 majesty's fervant, God blefs him ! and 
 thefe favours we always wear when we 
 are recruiting." fc Recruiting !" his 
 eyes gliftened at the word : he feized 
 the foldier's hand, and fhaking it vio- 
 lently, ordered Peter to fetch a bottle 
 of his aunt's bed dram. The bottle 
 was brought: " You (hall drink the 
 king's health, faid Harley, in a bum- 
 per." " The king and your ho- 
 nour." f< Nay, you fhall drink the 
 king's health by itfelf; you may drink 
 mine in another. 31 Peter looked in his 
 matter's face, and filled with fome little 
 reluclance. " Now to your nniftrefs, 
 faid Harley -, every foldier has a mif- 
 trefs." The man excufed himfelf - 
 <c To your miftrefs I you cannot refufe
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 235 
 it." 'T was Mrs. Margery's beft dram! 
 Peter flood with the bottle a little in- 
 clined, but not lo as to-difcharge a drop 
 of its contents : " Fill it, Peter, faid 
 his mafter, fill it to the brim." Peter 
 filled it i and the foldier having named 
 Suky Simpfon, difpatched it in a twink- 
 ling." " Thou art an honeft fellow, 
 faicl Harley, and I love thee ;" and 
 fhaking his hand again, defired Peter 
 to make him his gueil at dinner, and 
 walked tip into his room with a pace 
 much quicker and more fpringy than 
 ufual. 
 
 This agreeable difappointment how- 
 ever he was not long fuffered to enjoy. 
 The curate happened that day to dine 
 with him : his vifits indeed were more 
 properly to the aunt than the nephew j 
 and many of the intelligent ladies in 
 
 the
 
 236 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 the pariih, who, like fome very great 
 philofophers, have the happy knack at 
 accounting for every thing, gave our, 
 that there was a particular attachment 
 between them, which wanted only to 
 be matured by fome more years of 
 courtfhip to end in the tendereft con- 
 nexion. In this conclufion indeed, fup- 
 pofing the premifes to have been true, , 
 they were fomewhat juftiiied by the 
 known opinion of the lady,, who fre- 
 quently declared herfelf a friend to the 
 ceremonial of former times, ,. when a 
 lover might have fighed feven years at 
 his miftrefs's feet, before he was allowed 
 the liberty of kiffing her hand. 'Tis 
 true Mrs. Margery was now about her 
 grand clima<5leric.$ . no matter : that is 
 jufl the age when we expect to grow 
 younger. But I verily believe there 
 was nothing in the reports the curate's 
 
 connexion
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 237 
 
 connexion was only that of a genealo- 
 gift i for in that character he was no 
 way inferior to Mrs. Margery herfelf. 
 He dealt alfo in the prefent times ; for 
 he was a politician and a newfmonger. 
 
 He had hardly faid grace afterdinner, 
 Avhen he told Mrs. Margery, that fhe 
 might foon expect a pair of white gloves, 
 .as Sir Harry Benfon, he was 'very well 
 informed, was jud going to be married 
 to M ifs Walton. Harley fpilt the wine 
 he was carrying to his mouth:: he had 
 time however to recollecl himfelf be- 
 fore'the.curate had finifbed the different 
 ^particulars of his intelligence, and 
 iumming up all the beroifm he was 
 matter of, rilled a bumper, and drank 
 ijto'Mifs Walton. " With all my heart, 
 faid the curate, the bride- that is to be." 
 Harley would have faid Bride too j but 
 
 the
 
 238 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 the word Bride fluck in his throat. 
 His confufion indeed was manifeft : 
 but the curate began to enter on fome 
 point of defcent with Mrs. Margery, 
 and Harley had very foon after an op- 
 portunity of leaving them, while they 
 were deeply engaged in a queftion, whe- 
 ther the name of fome great man in the 
 time of Henry the Seventh was Richard 
 or Humphrey. 
 
 He did not fee his aunt again till fup- 
 per; the time between he fpent in walk- 
 ing, like fome troubled ghoft, round 
 the place where his treafure lay. He 
 
 * 
 
 went as far as a little gate, that led into 
 a copfe near Mr. Walton's houfe, to 
 which that gentleman had been fo 
 obliging as to let him have a key. He- 
 had juft begun to open it, when he faw, 
 On a terrace below, Mifs Walton walk- 
 ing
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 239 
 
 ing with a gentleman in a riding drefs, 
 whom he immediately guefled to be Sir 
 Harry Benfon. He (lopped of a fud- 
 dtn; his hand fhook fo much that he 
 could hardly turn the key; he opened 
 the gate, however, and advanced a few 
 paces. The lady's lap-dog pricked 
 up its ears, and barked : he flopped 
 again 
 
 " the little dogs and all, 
 
 Tray, Blanch, and Sweetheart, fee they 
 bark at me ! 
 
 His refolution failed j he flunk back, 
 and locking the gaie as foftly as he 
 could, flood on tiptoe looking over the 
 wall till they were gone. At that in- 
 flant afhepherd blew his horn : the ro- 
 mantic melancholy of the found quite 
 overcame him !- it was the very note 
 
 that
 
 40 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 that wanted to be touched he fighed 1 
 he dropped a tear! and returned. 
 
 At fupper his aunt obferved that he 
 was graver than ufual j but Ihe did not 
 fufpect the caufe : indeed it may feern 
 odd than fhe was the only perfon in the 
 family who had no fufpicion of his at- 
 tachment to Mifs Walton. It was fre- 
 quently matter of difcourfe amor.gft the 
 fervantsi .perhaps her maiden-cold- 
 nefs but for thofe things we need not 
 account. 
 
 In a day or two he was fo much ma- 
 tter of himfelf as to be able to rhime 
 upon the fuhject. The following paf- 
 toral he left, fome time after, oa the 
 handle of a tea-kettle, at a neighbour- 
 ing houfe where we were vifiting j and 
 as I filled the tea-pot after him, I hap- 
 i pened
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 241 
 
 pcned to put it in my pocket by a fimi- 
 lar at of forgetfulnefs. It is fuch as 
 might be expected from a man who 
 makes verfes For amufement. I am 
 pleafed with fomewhat of good-nature 
 that runs through it, becaufe I have 
 commonly obferved the writers of thofe 
 complaints to beftow epithets on their 
 loft miftrefies rather too harfh for the 
 mere liberty of choice, which led them 
 to- prefer another to the poet himfelf : 
 I do not doubt the vehemence of their 
 paffion j but, alas ! the fenfations of love 
 are fomething more than the returns of 
 gratitude. 
 
 LAVINIA. A PASTORAL. 
 
 WH Y fteals from my bofom the figh ? 
 Why fix'd is my gazeon the ground ? 
 Come, give me my pipej and I'll try 
 To banilh my cares with the found. 
 
 M Ere-
 
 242 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 Erewhile were its notes of accord 
 
 With the fmile of the flow'r-footed Mufe; 
 
 Ah ! why by its mafter implor'd 
 Shou'd it now the gay carrol refufe ? 
 
 'Twas taught byLAViNiA's fweet fmile 
 
 In the mirth-loving chorus to join : 
 Ah me ! how unweeting the while ! 
 can never be mine ! 
 
 Another, more happy, the maid 
 By fortune is deftin'd to blcfs - 
 
 'Tho' the hope has forfook that betray'd, 
 Yet why fhould I love her the lefs ? 
 
 Her beauties are bright as the morn, 
 With rapture I counted them o'er; 
 
 Such virtues thefe beauties adorn, 
 
 1 knew her, and prais'd them no more. 
 
 I term'd her no goddefs of love, 
 I call'd not her beauty divine : 
 
 Thefe far other pafiions may prove, 
 But they could not be figures of mine, 
 
 It
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 243 
 
 It ne'er was apparel'd with art, 
 
 On words it could never rely ; 
 It reign'd in the throb of my heart, 
 
 It gleam'd in the glance of my eye. 
 
 Oh fool ! in the circle to fhine 
 
 That Fafhion's gay daughters approve. 
 
 You muft fpeak as the faftiions incline; 
 Alas ! are there famions in love ? 
 
 Yet fure they are fimple who prize 
 The tongue that is fmooth to deceive ; 
 
 Yet fure {he had fenfe to defpife 
 The tinfel that Folly may weave. 
 
 When I talk'd, I have feen her recline 
 With an afpecl fo penfively fweet, - - 
 
 Tho' I fpolce what the (hepherds opine, 
 A fop were afham'd to repeat. 
 
 She is foft as the dew-drops that fall 
 From the lip of the fweet-fcented pea j 
 
 Perhaps when fhe fmil'd upon all, 
 
 I have thought that fhe fmil'd upon me. 
 
 Ma But
 
 14 4 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 But why of her charms fliould I tell? 
 
 Ah me ! whom her charms have undone ! 
 Yet I love the reflexion too well, 
 
 The painful refle&ion to {hun. 
 
 Ye fouls of more delicate kind, 
 Who feaft not on pleafure alone, 
 
 Who wear the foft fenfe of the mind, 
 To the fons of the world ftill unknown, 
 
 Ye know, tho' I cannot exprefs, 
 Why I foolifhly doat on my pain ; 
 
 Nor will ye believe it the lefs 
 
 That I have not the flcill to complain. 
 
 I lean on my hand with a figh, 
 
 My friends the foft fadnefs condemn; 
 
 Yet, methinks, tho' I cannot tell why, 
 I fliould hate to be merry like them. 
 
 When I walk'd in the pride of the dawn, 
 Methought all the region look 'd bright: 
 
 Has fweetnefs forfaken the lawn ? 
 
 For, methinks, I ^row fad at the fight. 
 
 When
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 245 
 
 When I flood by the frream, I have thought 
 There was mirth in the gurgling foftfound $ 
 
 But now 'tis a forrowful note, 
 
 And the banks are all gloomy around ! 
 
 I have laugh'd at the jeft of a friend ; 
 
 Now they laugh and I know not the caufe, 
 Tho' I feem with my looks to attend, 
 
 How filly ! I afk what it was ! 
 
 They fmg the fweet fong of the May, 
 They fmg it with mirth and with glee ; 
 
 Sure I once thought the fonnet was gay, 
 But now 'tis all fadnefs to me. 
 
 Oh ! give me the dubious light 
 
 That gleams thro' the quivering {hade j 
 
 Oh ! give me the horrors of night 
 By gloom and by filence array'd ! 
 
 Let me walk where the foft-rifing wave 
 Has pi&ur'd the moon on its breaft : 
 
 Let me walk where the new-cover'd grave 
 Allows the pale lover to reft ! 
 
 M 3 When
 
 246 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 When fhall I in its peaceable womb 
 Be laid with my forrows afleep ! 
 
 Should LAVINTIA but chance on my tomb 
 J could die if I thought fhe would weep* 
 
 Perhaps, if the fouls of the juft 
 
 Revifit thefe manfions of care, 
 It may be iny favourite truft 
 
 To watch o'er the fate of the fair. 
 
 Perhaps the foft thought of her breafl 
 With rapture more favour'd to warm - t 
 
 Perhaps, if with forrow opprefs'd, 
 Her forrow with patience to arm. 
 
 Then ! then ! in the tendereft part 
 May I whifper, " Poor COLIN was true j 
 
 And mark if a heave of her heart 
 The thought of her COLIN purfue. 
 
 THE
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 247 
 THE PUPIL. A FRAGMENT. 
 
 * * * * J3 U T as to the higher 
 part of education, Mr. Harley, the 
 culture of the mind j let the feelings 
 be awakened, let the heart be brough 
 forth to its objecl, placed in the light in 
 which nature would have it ftand, and 
 its decifions will ever be juft. The 
 world 
 
 Will fmile, and fmile, and be a villain ; 
 and the youth, who does not fufpect its 
 deceit, will be content to fmile with it. 
 Men will put on the moft forbidding 
 afpect in nature, and tell him of the 
 beauty of virtue. 
 
 I have not, under thefe grey hairs, 
 
 forgotten that I was once a young man, 
 
 M 4 warm
 
 248 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 warm in the purfuit of pleafure, but 
 meaning to be honeft as well as happy. 
 I had ideas of virtue, of honour, of 
 benevolence, which I had never been 
 at the pains to define; but I felt my 
 bofom heave at the thoughts of them, 
 and I made the moft delightful folilo- 
 
 quies. It is impofilble, faid 1, that- 
 
 there can be halffo many rogues as are 
 imagined. 
 
 I travelled, becaufe it is the fafhioa 
 for young men of my fortune to travel : 
 I had a travelling tutor, which is the 
 falhion too j but my tutor was a gentle- 
 man, which it is not always the fafhion 
 for tutors to be. His gentility indeed 
 was all he had from his father, whofe 
 prodigality had not left him a (hilling 
 to fupport it, 
 
 I have.-
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 449 
 
 fc I have a favour to afk of you, my 
 dear Mountford, faid my father, which 
 I will not be refufed : You have travel- 
 led as became a man > neither France 
 nor Italy have made any thingofMount- 
 ford, which Mountford' before he left 
 England would have been afhamcd of: 
 my fon Edward goes abroad, would you 
 take him under your protection ?" 
 He blufhed my father's face was fear-- 
 let he preffed his hand to his bofom, 
 as if he had faid,-Umy heart does not 
 mean to offend you. Mountford fighed 
 twice <? I am a proud fool, faid he, 
 and you will pardon it; there! (he 
 fighed again) I can hear of dependance,. 
 fince it is dependance on my Sedley." 
 " Dependance ! anfwered my father - f 
 there can be no fuch word between us : 
 what is there in 9000!, a-year that 
 ftiould make me unworthy of Mount- 
 M 5 ford'*
 
 2^o THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 ford's friendfhip ?" They embraced ^ 
 and fooa .after I fee out on my travels, 
 with Mouniford for my guardian. 
 
 <{ We were at Milan, where my fa- 
 ther happened to have an Italian friend, 
 to whom he had been of fome fervice 
 in England. , The count, for he was 
 of quality, was felicitous to return the 
 obligation, by a particular attention to 
 his fon : We lived in his palace, vifited 
 with his family, were carefTed by his 
 friends, and 1 began to be fo well 
 plealed with my entertainment, that I 
 thought of England as of fome foreign 
 country! 
 
 <c The count had a fon not much 
 older than myfelf. At that age a friend 
 is an eafy acquifuion : we were friends 
 the firil n,ght of our acquaintance. 
 
 "He
 
 THE MAN, OF FEELING. 251 
 
 <f He introduced ,me into the com- 
 pany of a fet of young gentlemen, whofe 
 fortunes .gave them the command of 
 pleafure, and whofe inclinations incited 
 them to the purchafe. After having- 
 fpent fome joyous evenings in their fo- 
 cicty, it became a foit of habit which 
 I could not mifs without uneafinefsj 
 and our meetings, which before were 
 frequent, were now ftated and regular. 
 
 <f Sometimes in the paufes of our 
 mirth, gaming was introduced as an 
 amufement : it was an art in which I 
 was a novice : I received instruction, as 
 other novices do, by lofing pretty large- 
 ly to my teachers. Nor was this the 
 only evil which Mountford forefaw 
 would arife from the connexion I had 
 formed i but a lecture of four injunc- 
 tions wasnot his method of reclaiming. 
 M6 He
 
 252 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 
 He fometimes afked me queftions a- 
 bout the company - t but they were fuch 
 as the curiofity of any indifferent man 
 might have prompted : I told him of 
 their wit, their eloquence, their warmth 
 of friendfhip, and their fenfibility of 
 heart : *' And their honour, faid I, lay- 
 ing my hand on my bread, isunquefti- 
 onable." Mountford feemed to rejoice 
 at my good fortune, and begged that 
 J would introduce him to their acquaint- 
 ance. At the next meeting I intro- 
 duced him accordingly. 
 
 ic The converfation was as animated 
 as ufual j they difplayed all that fpright- 
 linefs and good-humour which my 
 praifes had led Mountford to expect; 
 fubjecls too of fentiment occurred, and 
 their fpeeches, particularly thofe of our 
 friend the fon of count Refpino, glow- 
 ed
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING, 253 
 
 cd with the warmth of honour, and 
 foftened into the tendernefs of feeling.. 
 Mountford was charmed with his com- 
 panions ; when we parted, he made the 
 higheft eulogiumsupon them: " When 
 fliall we fee them again?" faid he. I 
 was delighted with the demand, and 
 promifed to reconduct him on the mor- 
 row. 
 
 " In going to their place of rendez- 
 vous, he took me a little out of the 
 road, to fee, as he told me, the perform- 
 ances of a young ftatuary. When we 
 were near the houfe in which Mount- 
 ford faid he lived, a boy of about fever* 
 years old crofled us in the flreet. At 
 fight of Mountford he Hopped, and 
 grafping his hand, " My deareft Sir, 
 faid he, my father is likely to do well ; 
 he will live to pray for you, and to blefs 
 
 you :
 
 254 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 you: f ycs, he will blefs. you, though, 
 you are an Enolifhman, and Tome other 
 hard word that the monk talked of this 
 morning which I have forgot, but it. 
 meant that you Ihould not go to hea- 
 ven j but he fhall go to heaven, faid 
 I, for he has laved my father : come- 
 and fee him, Sir, that \\t may be hap- 
 py." " My dear, I am engaged at 
 
 prefent with this gentleman." " But 
 he fhall come along with you j he is an 
 Engliihman too; I fancy $ he fiiall come 
 and Jearn how an Englifhman may go 
 to heaven. "r Mountford fmiled, and 
 \ve followed the boy together. 
 
 " After crofling the next dreet, we 
 arrived at the gate of a prifon. I feem- 
 ed furpriied at the fight j our little 
 conduflor obferved it. " Are you 
 afraid, Sir ? faid he j I was afraid once 
 
 too,
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 255 
 
 too, but my father and mother are here, 
 and I am never afraid when I am with 
 them." He took my hand, and led me 
 through a dark pafTage that fronted the 
 gate. When we came to a little door 
 at the end, he tapped , a boy, ftili 
 younger than himielf, opened it to re- 
 ceive us. Mountford entered with a 
 look in which was pictured the benign 
 afifurance of a fuperior being. I fol- 
 lowed in filence and amazement. 
 
 " On fomethinglike a bed, lay a man, 
 with a face feemingly emaciated with 
 ficknefs, and a look of patient dejedlion; 
 a bundle of dirty (hreds ferved him for a. 
 pillow j but he had a better fupport 
 the arm of a female who kneeled befide 
 him, beautiful as an angel, but with a 
 fading languor in her countenance, the 
 ftill life of melancholy, that feemed to 
 
 borrow
 
 256 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 borrow its fhade from the object on 
 which fhe gazed. There was a tear in 
 her eye ! the fick man kitted it off in 
 its bud, fmiling through the dimnefs 
 of his own ! when fhe faw Mountford y 
 fhe crawled forward on the ground, 
 and clafped his knees ; he railed her 
 from the floor ; fhe threw her arms 
 round his neck, and fobbed out a 
 fpeech of thankfulnefs, eloquent be- 
 yond the power of language. 
 
 " Compofe yourfelf, 'rny love, faid 
 the man on the bed j but he, whofe 
 goodnefs has caufed that emotion, will 
 pardon its effefts." " How is this* 
 Mountford? faid Ij what do I fee? 
 what muft I do?" " You fee, re- 
 plied the ftranger, a wretch, funk in po- 
 verty, ftarving in prifon, ftretchcd on a 
 fick bed 1 but that is little : -there are 
 his wife and children, wanting the bread 
 
 which
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 257 
 
 which he has not to give them 1 Yet 
 you cannot eafily imagine the confcious 
 ferenity of his mind ; in the gripe of 
 affliction, his heart fwells with the pride 
 of virtue \ it can even look down with 
 pity on the man whofe cruelty has wrung 
 it almoft to burfting. You are, I fancy* 
 a friend of Mr. Mountford's ; come 
 nearer and I'll tell you ; for, fhort as 
 my ftory is, I can hardly command 
 breath enough for a recital. The for* 
 Of count Refpino (I ftarted as if I had 
 trod on a viper) has long had a criminal 
 pafTion for my wife , this her prudence 
 had concealed from mej but he had 
 lately the boldnefs to declare it to my- 
 felf. He promifed me affluence in ex- 
 change for honour > and threatened mi- 
 fery, as its attendant, if I kept it. I 
 treated him with the contempt he de-> 
 ferved : the confequence was, that he 
 
 hired
 
 2:58 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 hired a couple of bravocs (for I am per- 
 fuaded they acted under his direction) 
 who attempted to affaflmate me in the 
 ftreet ; but I made fuch a defence as 
 obliged them to fly, after having given 
 me two or three ftabs, none of which 
 however were mortal. But his revenge 
 was not thus to be difappointed : in the 
 little dealings of my trade I had con- 
 tracted fome debts, of which he had 
 made himfelf mafter for my ruin ; I 
 was confined here, at has fuit, when not 
 yet recovered frofln the wounds I had 
 received ; the dear- woman, and thefe 
 two boys, followed me, that we might 
 flarve together; but Providence inter- 
 pofed, and fent Mr. Moumford to our 
 fupport : he has relieved my family 
 from the gnawings of hunger, and re- 
 fcued me from death, to which a fever, 
 confequent on my wounds and increaf- 
 
 cd
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 259 
 cd by the want of every ncccflary, had 
 almoil reduced me." 
 
 " Inhuman villain !" I exclaimed, 
 lifting up my eyes to heaven. " Inhu- 
 man indeed ! faid the lovely woman who 
 flood at my fide : Alas ! Sir, what had 
 we done to offend him ? what had thefe 
 little ones done, that they fhould perifti 
 
 in the toils of his vengeance ?" 1 
 
 reached a pen which ftood in the ink- 
 ftandilh at the bed-fide " May I afk 
 what is the amount of the fum for 
 which, you are imprifoned ?" " I was 
 able, he replied, to pay all but 500 
 crowns."" I wrote a draught on the 
 banker with whom I had a credit from 
 my father for 2500, and prefenting it 
 to the Granger's wife, " You will re- 
 ceive, Madam, on prefenting this note, 
 a fum more than fufficient for your huf- 
 
 band's
 
 2 6o THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 band's difcharge ; the remainder I leave 
 for his induftry to improve." I would 
 have left the room : each of them laid 
 hold of one of my hands; the children 
 clung to my coat : Oh ! Mr. Harley, 
 methinks I feel their gentle violence at 
 this moment; it beats here with delight 
 inexprefiible ! " Stay, Sir, faid he, I 
 do not mean attempting to thank you ; 
 (he took a pocket-book from under his 
 pillow) let me but know what name I 
 lhall place here next to Mr. Mount- 
 ford ?" et Sedley*' he writ it down 
 f< An Englifhman too, I prefume." 
 <c He fhall go to heaven notwithftand- 
 ing," faid the boy who had been our 
 guide. It began to be too much forme; 
 I fqueezed his hand that was clafped in 
 mine ; his wife's I prefled to my lips, 
 'and burft from the place to give vent 
 to the feelings that laboured within me. 
 ^ Oh t
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 261 
 
 " Oh! Mountford ! faid I, when he 
 had overtaken me at the door: <c It is 
 time, replied he, that we fhould think 
 of our appointment j young Refpinc*! 
 and his friends are waiting us." 
 tc Damn him, damn him ! faid I; let 
 us leave Milan inftantly j but foft 
 I will be calm s Mountford, your pen- 
 cil." I wrote on a flip of paper. 
 
 To Signor RESPINO, 
 ef When you receive this I am at a 
 di fiance from Milan. Accept of my 
 thanks for the civilities I have received 
 from you and your family. As to the 
 friendfhip with which you were pleafed 
 to honour me, the prifon, which I have 
 juft left, has exhibited afcene to cancel 
 it for ever. You may poflibly be merry 
 with your companions at my weaknefs, 
 as I fuppofe you will term it. I give 
 
 you
 
 262 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 you leave for derifion : you may affeft 
 a triumph j I (hail feel ic. 
 
 EDWARD SEDLEY." 
 
 <c You may fend this if you will, faid 
 Mountford coolly ; but dill Refpino is 
 a man of honour -, the world will continue 
 to call him Io7 " It is probable, I an- 
 iwered, they may; I envy not the ap- 
 pellation. If this is the world's honour, 
 if thefe men are the guides of its man- 
 ners" Tut ! faid Mountford, do you 
 eat macaroni ?" 
 
 [At this place had the greatefl depre- 
 dations of the curate begun. There 
 were fo very few connected pafiages of 
 the fubfequent chapters remaining, that 
 even the partiality of an Editor could 
 not offer them to the Public. I dif- 
 3 covered,
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 263 
 
 covered, from fome fcattered fentences, 
 that they were of much the fame tenor 
 with the preceding j recitals of little 
 adventures, in which the difpofitionsotf 
 a man, fenfible tojudge, and (till mofdj 
 warm to feel, had room to unfold them- 
 felves. Some inftruflion, and fome 
 example, I make no doubt they con- 
 tained ; but it is likely that many of 
 thofe, whom chance has led to a peru- 
 fal of what I have already prefented, 
 may have read it with little pieafure, 
 and will feel no difappointment from 
 the want of thofe parts which. I have 
 been unable to procure: to fuch as mayt 
 have expected the intricacies of a novel, ) 
 a few incidents in a life undiftingiiifliedJ 
 except by fome features of the heart, 
 cannot have afforded much entertain- 
 ment, 
 
 Harley's
 
 64 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 Harley'sown ftory,from the mutilat- 
 ed paflfages I have mentioned, as well as 
 from fome inquiries I was at the trouble 
 of making in the country, I found to 
 fiave been fimple to excefs. His mif- 
 trefs, I could perceive, was not married 
 to Sir Harry Benfon : but it would 
 feem, by one of the following chapters, 
 which is ftill entire, that Harley had 
 not profited on the occafion by making 
 any declaration of his own paflion, after 
 thofe of the other had been unfuccefs- 
 ful. The ftate of his health, for fome 
 part of this period, appears to have 
 been fuch as to forbid any thoughts of 
 that kind : he had been feized with a 
 very dangerous fever, caught by at- 
 tending old Edwards in one of an in- 
 fectious kind. From this he had re- 
 covered but imperfectly, and though 
 he had no formed complaint, his health 
 
 was manifeftly on the decline. 
 
 2 It
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 265 
 
 It appears that the fagacity of fome 
 friend had at length pointed out to his 
 aunt acaufe from which this might be 
 fuppofed to proceed, to wit, his hope- 
 lefs love for Mifs Walton j for, accord- 
 ing to the conceptions of the world, 
 the love of a man of Harley's fortune 
 for the heirefs of 4000 1. a year, is in- 
 deed defperate. Whether it was fo in 
 this cafe may be- gathered from the 
 next chapter, which, with the two fub- 
 fequent, concluding the performance, 
 have efcaped thofe accidents that proved 
 fatal to the reft.] 
 
 N CHAP.
 
 26 THE MAN OF FEELING, 
 
 CHAP. LV, 
 
 He fees Mifs Walton, and is happy. 
 
 HA R L E Y was one of thofe few 
 friends whom the malevolence of 
 fortune had yet left me : I could not 
 therefore but be fenfibly concerned for 
 his prefent indifpofition j there feldom 
 pafled a day on which I did not make 
 inquiry about him. 
 
 The phyfician who attended him had 
 informed me the evening before, that he 
 thought him confiderably better than 
 he had been for fume time pad. I called 
 next morning to be confirmed in a piece 
 of intelligence fo welcome to me. 
 
 When I entered his apartment, I found . 
 him fitting on a couch, leaning on his 
 hand, with his eye turned upwards in the 
 
 attitude
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 267 
 
 attitude of thoughtful infpiration. His 
 look had always an open benignity, 
 which commanded efleem j there was 
 now ibmething more a gentle triumph 
 in it. 
 
 He rofe, and met me with his uftial 
 kindnefs. When I gave him the good 
 accounts I had had from his phyfician, 
 " I am foolifh enough, faid he, to rely 
 but little, in this inftance, upon phyfic : 
 my prefentiment may be falfe ; but I 
 think I feel myfelf approaching to my 
 end, by fleps fo cai/, that they woo me 
 to approach it. 
 
 There is a certain dignity in retir- 
 ing from life at a time, when the infir- 
 mities of age have not fapped our facul- 
 ties. This world, my dear Charles, 
 was a fcene in which I never much de- 
 lighted. I was not formed for the 
 N 2 buttle
 
 268 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 buftle of the bufy, nor the difilpation 
 of the gay : a thoufand things occurred, 
 where I blufhed for the impropriety of 
 my conduct when I thought on the 
 world, though my reafon told me I 
 fhould have blufhed to have doneother- 
 wife. It was a fcene of diflimulation, 
 of reftraint, of difappointment. I 
 leave it to enter on that ftate, which I 
 have learned to believe, is replete with 
 the genuine happinefs attendant upon 
 virtue. I look back on the tenor of 
 my life, with the confcioufnefs of few 
 great offences to account for. There 
 are blemifhes, I confefs, which deform 
 in fome degree the pidlure. But I know 
 the benignity of the Supreme Being, 
 and rejoice at the thoughts of its ex- 
 ertion in my favour. My mind expands 
 at the thought I lhall enter into the 
 fociety of the blefled, wife as angels, 
 
 with
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 269 
 
 with the fimplicity of children." He 
 had by this time clafped my hand, and/ 
 found it wet by a tear which had juftj 
 fallen upon it. His eye began to moif- 
 ten too we fat for fome time filent 
 At laft, with an attempt to a look of 
 more compofure, " There are fome 
 remembrances (laid Harley) which rife 
 involuntarily on my heart, and make me 
 almoft wilh to live. I have been blefled 
 with a few friends, who redeem my opi- 
 nion of mankind. I recollect, with the 
 tenderefl emotion, thefcenesofpleafure 
 I have patied among them j but we fhall 
 meet again, my friend, never to befepa- 
 rated. There are fome feelings which 
 perhaps are too tender to be fuffered by 
 the world. The world is in general f 
 fifh, interefted, and unthinking, and 
 throws the imputation of romance or 
 melancholy on every temper more fuf- 
 N 3 ceptible
 
 270 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 ceptible than its own. I cannot thinlc 
 but in thofe regions which I contem- 
 plate, if there is any thing of mortality 
 left about us, that theie feelings will 
 fubfiftj they are called, perhaps they 
 are weaknefies here -, but there may 
 be fome better modifications of them 
 in heaven, which may deferve the name 
 of virtues." He fighed as he fpoks 
 thefe laft words. He had fcarcely finifli- 
 ed them, when the door opened, and 
 his aunt appeared leading in Mifs Wal- 
 ton. " My dear, fays flie, here is 
 Mifs Walton, who has been fo kind as 
 to come and enquire for you herfelf." 
 I could obferve a tranfient glow upon 
 his face. He rofe from his feat <c If 
 to know Mifs Walton's goodnefs, faid 
 he, be a title to deferve it, I have fome 
 claim." She begged him to refume 
 his feat, and placed herfelf on the fofa- 
 
 befide
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 271 
 
 befide him. I took my leave. Mrs. 
 Margery accompanied me to the door. 
 He was left with Mifs Walton alone. 
 She inquired anxioufly abouthis health. 
 " I believe, faid he, from the accounts 
 which my phyficians unwillingly give 
 me, that they have no great hopes of 
 my recovery/' She ftarted as he fpoke ; 
 but recollecting herfelf immediately, 
 endeavoured to flatter him into a belief 
 that his apprehenfions were groundlefs. 
 " I know, faid he, that it is ufual with 
 perfonsat my time of life to have thtfe 
 hopes, which your kindnefs ftiggeftsj 
 but I would not wifh to be received. 
 To meet death as becomrs a man, is a 
 privilege beftowed on few. I would 
 endeavour to make it mine j nor do I 
 think that I can ever be better prepared 
 for it than now : It is that chiefly which 
 determines the fitnefs of its approach." 
 N 4 " Thofe
 
 272 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 "_Thofe fentiments, anfwered Mifs 
 Walton, arejuft; but your good fenfe, 
 Mr. Harley, will own, that life has its 
 (proper value. As the province of vir- 
 tue, life is ennobled j as fuch, it is to 
 be defired. To virtue has the Supreme 
 Director of all things afiigned rewards 
 enough even here to fix its attachment." 
 
 The fubjecT: began to overpower her. 
 Harley lifted his eyes from the 
 ground <f There are, faid he, in a 
 very low voice, there are attachments, 
 Mifs Walton" His glance met her's 
 They both betrayed a confufion, and 
 were both inftandy withdrawn. He 
 paufed fome moments " I am in fuch 
 a ftate as calls for fincerity, let that alfo 
 excufe it It is perhaps the laft time we 
 fhall ever meet. I feel fomething par- 
 ticularly fokmn in the acknowledgment, 
 
 yet
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 273 
 
 yet my heart fwells to make it, awed as 
 it is by a fenfe of my preemption, by a 
 fenfe of your perfections" -He paufed 
 
 again <f Let it not offend you to 
 
 know their power over one fo unworthy 
 It will, I believe, foon ceafe to beat 3 
 even with that feeling which it (hall lofe 
 the lateft. To love Mifs Walton could 
 not be a crime; if to declare it is one 
 the expiation will be made." Her 
 tears were now flowing without con- 
 troul. " Let me intreat you, faid flie, 
 to have better hopes Let not life be " 
 fo indifferent to you j if my wifhes can 
 put any value on it I will not pretend 
 to mifunderfland you I know your 
 worth I have known it long I have ! 
 efteemed it What would you have me I 
 fay ! I have loved it as it deferved." j 
 He feized her hand a languid colour 
 reddened his cheek a fmile brighten- 
 ed
 
 274 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 ed faintly in his eye. As he gazed on 
 her, it grew dim, it fixed, it clofed 
 He fighed, and fell back on his feat 
 Mifs Walton fcreamed at the fight 
 His aunt and the fervants rufhed into 
 the room They found them lying mo- 
 tionlefs together. His phyfician hap- 
 pened to call at that inftant. Every 
 art was tried to recover them With 
 Mifs Walton they fucceeded But 
 Harley was gone for ever !. 
 
 G H A P.
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING, 275 
 
 CHAP. LVI. 
 The emotions of the heart. 
 "T Entered the room where his body lay; 
 -*- I approached it with reverence, not 
 fear : I looked ; the recollection of the 
 pad crowded upon me. I faw that form 
 which, but a little before, was animated 
 with a foul which did honour to huma- 
 nity, flretched without fenfe or feeling 
 before me. 'Tis a connexion we cannot 
 eafily forget : I took his hand in mine ; 
 I repeated his name involuntarily ; I 
 felt a pulfe in every vein at the found. 
 I looked earneflly in his face;, his eye 
 was clofed, his lip pale and motionlefs. 
 There is an enthufiafm in forrow that 
 forgets impoffibility ; I wondered that. 
 it was fo. The fight drew a prayer 
 from my heart : it was the voice of 
 frailty and of man ! the confufion of 
 my mind began to fubfide into thoughts 
 
 I had time to meet! 
 
 I turned,
 
 276 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 I turned, with the laft farewell upon 
 my lips, when I obierved old Edwards 
 (landing behind me. I looked him full 
 in the face ; but his eye was fixed on 
 another object : he preiTed between me 
 and the bed, and ftood gazing on the 
 breathlels remains of his benefactor. 
 I fpoke to him I know not what ; but 
 he took no notice of what I laid, and 
 remained in the fame attitude as before. 
 He flood fome minutes in that pofture, 
 then turned and walked towards the 
 door. He paufed as he went -, he re- 
 turned a fecond time : I could obferve 
 his lips move as he looked : but the 
 voice they would have uttered was loft. 
 He attempted going again; and a third 
 time he returned as before. I faw him 
 wipe his cheek; then covering his 
 face with his hands, his bread heaving 
 with themoftconvulfive throbs, he flung 
 out of the room. 
 
 THE
 
 THE MAN OF FEELING. 277 
 
 THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 HE had hinted that he fhould like 
 to be buried in a certain fpot near 
 the grave of his mother. This is a 
 weaknefs i but it is univerfally incident 
 to humanity : 'tis at lead a memorial 
 for thofe who furvive : for fome indeed 
 a {lender memorial will ferve; and the 
 foft affections, when they are bufy that 
 way, will build their ftrudtures, were 
 it but on the paring of a nail. 
 
 He was buried in the place he had 
 defired. It was fliaded by an old tree, 
 the only one in the church-yard, in 
 which was a cavity worn by time. I 
 have fat with him in it, and counted the i 
 tombs. The laft time we paffed there, 
 methought he looked wiftfully on that 
 tree: there was a branch of it, that bent 
 
 towards
 
 2.7-8 THE MAN OF FEELING. 
 
 towards us, waving in the wind j he 
 waved his hand, as if he mimicked its 
 motion. There was fomething predic- 
 tive in his look! perhaps it is foolifh to 
 remark it; but there are times and 
 places when I am a child at thofe things. 
 
 I fometimes vifit his grave ; I fit in 
 the hollow of the tree. It is worth a 
 thoufand homilies ; every noble feeling 
 rifes within me ! every beat of my heart 
 awakens a virtue ! but it will make 
 
 you hate the world No: there is 
 
 fuch an air of gentlenefs around, that I 
 can hate nothing ; but, as to the world 
 I pity the men of it. 
 
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