THE 
 
 MAN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 WORLD. 
 
 VOL. J,
 
 Publijhed by tie fame 'Author, 
 I. The MAN of FEELING, 
 
 A Novel. A New Edition. Price 3$. 
 
 ILThePURSUITSof HAPPINESS; 
 A Poem. Price is. 6d. 
 
 O 
 
 .
 
 THE 
 
 M A N 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 WORLD. 
 
 IN TWO PARTS, 
 
 n r 1r 
 
 VIRGINIBUS PUE RISQUE CANTO.' HOR, 
 
 VOLUME I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR VT. STRAHAN ; ANP 
 
 T. CADELL, IN THE STRAND, 
 
 MDCCLXXHJ,
 
 THE 
 
 , 
 
 M A N of the WORLD. 
 
 tf / 
 
 PART I, 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 np H O U G H the world is but little con- 
 cerned to know, in what fituation the 
 author of any performance that is offered 
 to its penafal may be, yet I believe it is 
 generally felicitous to learn fome circum- 
 ftances relating to him : for my own part, 
 I have always experienced this defire in 
 rfiyfelf ; and read the advertisement at the 
 beginning, and the poftfcript at the end of 
 a book, if they contain any information of 
 that fort, with a kind of melancholy in- 
 VOL. L B quietude 
 
 1327631
 
 3 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 quietude about the fate of him, in whofc 
 company, as it were, I have patted feme 
 harmlefs hours, and whofe fentiments have 
 been unbofomed to me with the opennefs 
 of a friend. 
 
 The life of him who has had an oppor- 
 tunity of prefenting to the eye of the pub- 
 lic the following tale, though fufficiently 
 chequered with viciflitude, has been fpent 
 in a ftate or obfcurity, the recital of which 
 could but little excite admiration, or gra- 
 tify curiofity : the manner of his procuring 
 the fcory contained in the following meets, 
 is all he thinks himfelf entitled to relate. 
 
 After fome wanderings at that time of 
 life which is moft fubject to wandering, I 
 had found an opportunity of revifiting the 
 fcenes of my earlier attachments, and re- 
 turned 
 5
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. ' 
 
 turned to my native fpot with that' tender 
 emotion, which the heart that can be 
 moved at all, will naturally feel on ap- J 
 preaching it. The remembrance of my 
 infant days, like the fancied vibration of ' 
 pleafant founds in the ear, was frill' alive 
 in my mind; and I flew to find out the 
 marks by which even inanimate things 
 ^were to be known, as the friends of my 
 youth, not forgotten, though-long \mfcen, 
 -nor leflened, in my -efti matron, from the 
 pride of refinement, or the comparifon of 
 experience. 
 
 In the fhade of an ancient tree v thafc 
 centered a circle of elms, at the end 
 of the village where I was born, I found 
 my old acquaintance, Jack; ^Ryland: > 
 he was gathering mofs with one .hand, 
 while the other held a flannel-bag, con* 
 B 2 tainjng
 
 4 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 taining "earth-worms, to be ufed as bait 
 In angling. On feeing me, Ryland drop- 
 ped his mofs on the ground, and ran with 
 all the warmth of friendfhip to embrace 
 me. " My dear Tom, faid he, how happy 
 I am to fee you ! you have travelled no 
 tlpubt a wouncly long way fmce we parted. 
 -You find me in the old way here. I be- 
 lieve they have but a forry notion of fport 
 in Italy. While I think on't, look on this 
 menow ; I'll be hang'd if the marpeft- 
 ey'd trout in the river can know it from 
 the natural. It was but yefterday nbw 
 You remember the crofs-tree pool, juft 
 below the parfonage there I hook'd him, 
 play'd him half an hour by the clock, 
 and landed him at laft as far down as the 
 church-way ford. As for his fize Lord ! 
 how unlucky it is that I have not my 
 landing-net here 5 for now I recollect that 
 
 I mark'd
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 5 
 
 I mark'd his length on -the outfide of the 
 pole; but you mall fee it fome other 
 time.' 1 
 
 Let not my reader be impatient at my 
 friend Ry land's harangue. I give it him, 
 becaufe I would have characters develop 
 themfelves. To throw, however, fome far- 
 ther light upon Ryland's : 
 
 He was firft-coufin to a gentleman 
 who pofFeiTed a confiderable eftate in our 
 county, born to no fortune, and not much, 
 formed by nature for acquiring one ; her 
 found pretty early that he Ihould never 
 be rich, but that he might pofilbly be 
 happy j and happinefs to him was obtained 
 without effort, becaufe it was drawn from, 
 fources which it required little exertion tc* 
 fupply : trifles were the boundaries of hi* 
 B 3 defire y
 
 6 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 defire, and their attainment the goal of 
 j. his felicity. A certain neatneis at all thofe 
 j little v arts in which the foul has no fhare,, 
 an immoderate love of fport, and a ftilL 
 more immoderate love of reciting its pro- 
 ,grefs, with the addition of one faculty,, 
 ; -which has fome fmall connexion with let- 
 ters, to wit, a remarkable memory for 
 puzzles and enigmas, made up his cha- 
 racter ; and he enjoyed a privilege uncom> 
 mon to the happy, that no one envied the 
 means by which he attained what every 
 one purfues. 
 
 I interrupted his narrative by fome en* 
 quiries about my former acquaintance in 
 the village ; for Ryland was the re- 
 corder of the place, and could have told 
 the names, families, relations* and interr 
 marriages of the parifh, with much more 
 
 accuracy than the regifter. 
 
 " Alackaday!
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 7 
 
 " Alackaday! faid Jack, there have 
 been many changes among us fince yo,u 
 left this : here have died the old ganger, 
 Wilfon, as good a cricket-player as ever 
 handled a bat ; Rooke, at the Salutation, 
 is gone too ; and his wife has Left the pa- 
 rifli and fettled in London, where I'm told 
 fhe keeps a gin-mop in fome ftreet they 
 call Southwark; and the poor p t .rfon, 
 whom you were fo intimate with, the wor- 
 thy old Annefly!" He looked piteoufly 
 towards the church-yard, and a tear 
 trickled down his cheek. " I underftand 
 you, faid I, the good man is dead!"^ 
 *' Ah ! there is more than you think 
 about his death, anfwered Jack; he died 
 of a broken heart!" I could make na 
 reply but by an ejaculation, and Ryland 
 accompanied it with another tear; for, 
 though he commonly looked but on the 
 B 4 furface
 
 8 THE MAN OF THE W0RLD. 
 
 furface of things, yet Ryland had a heart 
 to feel. 
 
 <* In the middle of yon dump of alders* 
 laid he, you may remember a fmall houfe, 
 that was once farmer Higgins's ; it is now 
 occupied by a gentlewoman of the name 
 of Wiftanly, who was formerly a fort of 
 fervent-companion to fir Thomas Sindall's 
 mother, the widow of fir William; her 
 miftrefs, who died fome years ago, left 
 her an annuity, and that houfe for life, 
 where fhe has lived ever fince. I am 
 told that fhe knows more of Annefly's 
 affairs than any other body -, but fhe 
 is fo. filent and fhy, that I could never 
 get a word from her on the fubje<5t : fhe is 
 reckon'd a wonderful fcholar by the folks 
 of the village ; and you, who are a man 
 of reading, might perhaps be a greater, 
 favorite with heti if you chufe it, I 
 
 fhaU
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. $ 
 
 mall introduce you to her immediately.'* 
 I accepted his offer, and we went to her. 
 houfe together:. 
 
 We found her fitting in a little parlour;', 
 fitted up in a tafte much fuperior to what 
 might have been expected from the ap- 
 pearance of the houfe, with fome melves r , 
 on which lobferved feveral of the moffc. 
 dafikal Englim and French authors. She 
 rofe to receive us with fomething in her 
 manner greatly above her feeming rankj. 
 Jack introduced me as an acquaint* 
 ance of her deceafed friend, Mn Annefly, 
 " Then, Sir, faid fhe, you knew a man 
 who had few fellows !" lifting her eyes 
 gently upwards* The tender fdlemnity 
 of her look anfwered the very movement 
 which the remembrance had awaked 
 in my foul, and I made no other reply 
 than by a tear. She feemed to take it in ; 
 B 5 good=
 
 O THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 good part, and we met on that ground, 
 like old friends, who had much to afk, 
 and much to be anfwered. 
 
 we were going away, me begged 
 to have a moment's con verfation with me 
 alone ; Ryland left us together. 
 
 jr) ".If I am not deceived, Sir, {aid me,. 
 yijthe opinion I have formed of you, your 
 
 | feelings are very different from thole of 
 Mr. Ryland, and indeed of moft of my 
 neighbours in the village; you feem to 
 have had a peculiar intereft in the fate of 
 that worthieft of men y Mr. Annefly. The, 
 hiftory of that life of purity which he led, 
 of that calamity by which if was ihortened, 
 
 , might not be an unpleafing, though .a^ 
 melancholy recital to you; but in this. 
 l?ox which ftands on the table by me, is 
 rontained a feries of letters and papers, 
 
 which,
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. II 
 
 which, if you will take the trouble of 
 reading them, will fave me the tafk of 
 recounting his fufferings. You will find 
 many paffages which do not indeed relate 
 to it , but, as they are often the entertain- 
 ment of my lei fure- hours, I have marked 
 the moft interefting parts on the margin,- 
 This depofit, Sir, though its general im- 
 portance be fmall, my affection for my 
 departed friend makes me confider as a 
 compliment, and I commit it to you, as 
 to one in whofe favor I have conceived a 
 
 prepoflefiion from that very caufe." 
 
 
 
 Thofe letters and papers were the bafis 
 of what I now offer to the public : had it 
 been my intention to make a Book, I might 
 have publilhed them entire; and I am 
 perfua4ed, notwithstanding Mrs. Wiftan- 
 ly's remark, that no part of them would 
 have been found more foreign to the gene- 
 B 6 ral
 
 12 THE MAN OF THE WORLD* 
 
 ral drift of thefe volumes, than many that 
 have got admittance into fimilar collec- 
 tions : but I have chofen rather to throw 
 them into the form of a narrative, and 
 contented myfelf with tranfcribing fuch, 
 reflexions as naturally arife from the 
 events, and fuch fentiments as the fitua- 
 tions alone appear to have excited. There 
 are indeed many fuppletory facts, which 
 could not have been found in this collec- 
 tion of Mrs.. Wiftanly's ; thefe I was at 
 fome pains to procure through other chan- 
 nels : how I was enabled to procure, them 
 the reader may conceive^ if his patience 
 can hold out to the end of the ftory ; t<* 
 account for that now, would delay its 
 commencement, and anticipate its conclu- 
 fion, for both which effects this intro- 
 ductory chapter may have already been; 
 fubject to reprehenfion, 
 
 CHAP;
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 1 
 
 CHAP, L 
 
 In which are fame particulars 'previous /* 
 the commencement of the main ft ory. 
 
 RICHARD ANNESLY was the 
 only child of a wealthy tradefman 
 in London, who, from the experience- of 
 that profit which his bufmefs afforded 
 himfelf, was anxious to have it defcend to 
 his fon. Unfortunately the young man 
 had acquired a certain train of ideas which 
 were totally averfe to that line of life his 
 father had marked out for him. There I 
 is a degree of fentiment, whicf^ in the 
 bofom of a man deftined to the drudgery- 
 of the world, is the fource of endlefs dif- 
 guft: of this young Annefly was un- 
 luckily pofTefTed ; and as he forefaw, or 
 thought he forefaw, that it would not 
 
 only
 
 J'4 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 only endanger his fuccefs, but take from? 
 the enjoyment of profperity, fnppofmg 
 it attained, he declined following that 
 road 1 which his father had fmoothed for 
 his progrels, and at the rifk of thofe 
 temporal advantages which the old gentle- 
 man's difpleafure, on. this occafion, might 
 deny him, entered into the fervice of the 
 church, and retired to the country on one 
 of the fmalleft endowments fhe has to be- 
 ftow. 
 
 That feeliag which prevents the acqiii- 
 fition -of wealth, is formed for the fupport 
 of poverty ; the contentment of the poor, 
 I had almoft faid their pride, buoys up 
 the fpirit againft the deprefllon of adver- 
 fity, and gives to our very wants the ap- 
 pearance of enjoyment. 
 <Y/-3 
 
 Annefly
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 1 5 
 
 Anneily looked on happinefs as confined 
 to the fphere of iequeftered life. The 
 pomp of greatnefs, the pleafures of the 
 affluent, he confidered as only productive 
 of turbulence, difquiet, and remorfe ; and , 
 thanked heaven for having placed him 
 in his own little fhed, which, in his opi- 
 nion, was the refidence of pure and lad- 
 ing felicity. 
 
 With this view of things his father's- 
 ideas did by no means coincide : his anger 
 againft his fon continued till his death j 
 and, when that event happened, with the 
 prepofterous revenge of many a parent, 
 he configned him to mifery, as he thought, 
 becaufe he would not be unhappy in that 
 way which he had infifted on his following, 
 and cut him off from the inheritance of 
 his birth, becaufe he had chofen a pro- 
 
 feflion
 
 l6 THE MAN OF THE WORLD- 
 
 feflion which kept him in poverty with- 
 out it. 
 
 Though Annefty could fupport the fear 
 of poverty, he could not eafily bear the 
 thought of a dying father's difpleafure^ 
 On receiving intelligence of his being in a 
 dangerous fituarion, he halted to London, 
 with the purpofe of wringing from him his 
 forgivenefs. for the only offence with which 
 his fon had ever been chargeable ; but he 
 arrived too late : his father had breathed 
 his laft on the evening of the day prece- 
 ding that on which he reached the metro- 
 polis, and his houfe was already in the 
 pofleflion of a nephew, to whom his fon 
 underftood he had left every fhiliing of his 
 fortune. This man had been bred a ha- 
 berdafher, at the exprefs defire of old An- 
 nefly, and had all that patient dulnefs 
 
 which
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 17 
 
 which qualifies for getting rich, which, 
 therefore, in the eyes of his uncle, was 
 the moft eftimable of all qualities. He 
 had feldom feen Richard Annefly before, 
 for indeed this laft was not very folicitous 
 of his acquaintance; he recollected his 
 face however, and, defiring him to fit 
 down, informed him particularly of the 
 fettlement which his relentlefs father had 
 made. " It was unlucky, faid the haber- 
 dafher, that you mould have made choice 
 of fuch a profeffion ; but a parfon, of all 
 trades in the world, he could never endure. 
 It is poflible you may be low in cam at 
 this time : if you want a fmaH matter to 
 buy mournings or fo, I mall not fcrupl'e 
 to advance you the needful ; and I wifh 
 you would take them of neighbour Bul- 
 lock, the woollen-draper, who is as honeft 
 a man as any of the trade, and would not 
 
 impofe
 
 I .THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 impofe on a child." Annefly's 1 eyes had 
 been hitherto fixed on the cground ; nor 
 was there wanting a tear in each for his 
 unnatural father : he turned them on this 
 coufin with as contemptuous a look as 
 his nature allowed them to aflame, and. 
 walked out of the houfe without uttering 
 a word. 
 
 He was now thrown upon the world 
 with the fentence of perpetual poverty fpr 
 his inheritance. He found himfelf in the 
 middle of a crouded ftreet in. London,, 
 furrounded by the buzzing fons-of induf- 
 try, and fhrunk back at the fenfe of his 
 .own infignificance. In the faces of thofc 
 he met,, he faw no acknowledgment of 
 connexion,, and felt himfelf, like Cain 
 after his brother's murder, an imfheltered, 
 unfriended outcaft. He looked back to 
 
 his
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. I'C/ 
 
 his father's door; but his fpirit was too 
 mild for reproach a tear dropped front 
 his look ! f -..- 
 
 There was in London one perfon, whofe- 
 gentle nature he knew would feel for his. 
 misfortunes -, yet to that one,, of all others* 
 bis pride forbade him to refort.. 
 
 Harriet Wilkins was the daughter of z- 
 neighbour of his father's, who had for 
 fome time given up bufinefs, and lived on 
 the intereft of 4000 /. which- he had faved 
 in the courfe of it. From this circum- 
 flance, his acquaintance^ old Annefly, 
 entertained no very high opinion of hi*- 
 vmderflanding , and did not cultivate 
 much friendlhip with a man whom he 
 confidered as a drone in the hive of foci- 
 ety: but in this opinion, as in man/ 
 
 others^
 
 O THE MAN OF *THE WORLD. 
 
 others, his Ton had the misfortune to differ 
 from him ; he ufed frequently to fteal 
 into Wilkins's houfe of an evening, to 
 enjoy the converfation of one who had 
 pafled through life with obfervation, and 
 had known the labor of bufinefs without 
 
 I that contraction of foul which it often oc- 
 ( 
 Cafions. Harriet was commonly of the 
 
 party, liftening with Annefly to her fa- 
 ther's difcourfe, and with Annefly offering 
 her remarks on it. She was not hand- 
 ibme enough to attrafb notice; but her 
 look was of that complacent fort which 
 .gains on the beholder, and pleafes from 
 the acknowledgment that it is beneath 
 admiration. 
 
 Nor was her mind ill fuited to this 
 " Index of the foul." Without that 
 brilliancy which excites the general ap- 
 
 plaufe,.
 
 ' ?#!*' 
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 21 
 
 plaufe, it poifcfled thofe inferior fweet- 
 neffes which acquire the general efteem ; 
 fincere, benevolent, inoifenfive, and un- 
 afluming. Nobody talked of the fayings 
 of Mils Wilkins ; but every one heard her 
 with pleafure, and her Imile was the fig- 
 nal of univerfal complacency. 
 
 Annefly found hiinfelf infenfibly at- 
 tached to her by a chain, which had been 
 impofed without art, and fufFered without 
 confcioufnefs. During his acquaintance 
 with Harriet, he had come to that period 
 of life, when men arc moft apt to be im* 
 preffed with appearances ; in fat, he had 
 looked on many a beauty with a rapture 
 which he thought fincere till it was inter- 
 rupted by the reflexion that Ihe was not 
 Harriet Wilkins ; there was a certain in- 
 definable attraction which linked him 
 
 every
 
 22 THE MATsf OT THE WORLD. 
 
 every day clofer to her, and artleflhefs 
 of manner had the effeft (which I pre- 
 fume, from their practice, few young la- 
 dies believe it to have) of fecuring the 
 conqueft me -had gained. 
 
 From the wealth which old Annefly was 
 known to poflefs, his fon was, doubtlefs, in 
 the phrafe of the wqrld, a very advanta- 
 geous match for Mifs Wilkins i but when 
 her father difcovered the young man to 
 be ferious in his attachment to her, he 
 frequently took occafion to fugg^ft, how 
 xifcequal the fmall fortune he could leave his 
 daughter, was to the expectations of the 
 fon of a man worth 30,000 /. and with a 
 franknefs peculiar to himfelf, gave the 
 father to underiland, that his fon's vifits 
 were rather more frequent than was con- 
 fident with that track of prudence which 
 
 the
 
 THE MAN OP THE WORLD. 23 
 
 the old gentleman would probably mark 
 out for him. The father, however, took 
 little notice of this intelligence , the truth 
 was, that, judging by himfelf, he gave 
 very little credit to it-, becaufe it came 
 from one, who, according to his concep- 
 tion of things, mould, of all others, have 
 concealed it from his knowlege. 
 
 But though his fon had the moft fincere 
 attachment to Mifs Wilkins, his prefent 
 circumftances rendered it, in the language 
 of prudence, impoffible for them to marry. 
 They contented themfelves therefore with 
 the afiurance of each other's conftancy, 
 and waited for fome favorable change of 
 condition which might allow them to be 
 
 The firft idea which ftruck Annefly's 
 mind on the difappointment he fuffered 
 
 from
 
 l>4 THE MAN OF THfc WOkLD. 
 
 from his father's fettlement was the 
 it would have on his fhuation with regard 
 to Harriet. There is perhaps nothing 
 more bitter in the lot of poverty, than the 
 diftance to which it throws a man from 
 the woman he loves ; that pride I have 
 before taken notice of, which in every 
 other circumftance tends to his fupport, 
 ferves but to wound him the deeper in this. 
 That feeling now turned Annefly's feet 
 from his Harriet's door ; yet it was now 
 that his Harriet feemed the more worthy 
 of his lore, in proportion as his, circum- 
 ftances rendered it hopelefs. A train of 
 foft reflexions at length banimed this 
 rugged gueft from his heart" 'Tis but 
 taking a laft farewell" faid he to him* 
 felf, and trod back the fteps which he 
 had made. 
 
 2 He
 
 THE MAN OP THE WORLD. 2$ 
 
 He entered the room where Harriet 
 was fitting by her father, with a fort of 
 diffidence of his reception that he was not 
 able to hide-, but Wilkins welcomed him 
 in fuch a manner, as foon diffipated the 
 reftraint under which the thoughts of his 
 poverty had laid him. " This vifit, my 
 dear Atinefly, faid he, flatters me, becaufc 
 it ihows you leaning on my friendfliip, I 
 am not ignorant of your prefent fituation, 
 and I know the effect which prudent men 
 will fay it mould have on myfelf; that I 
 differ from them, may be the confequence 
 of fpleen, perhaps rather than generofity: 
 for I have been at war with the world 
 from a boy. Come hither, Harriet , this 
 is Richard Annefly: his father, it is true, 
 has left him 30,000 /. poorer than it was 
 once expeded he would ; but he is Richard 
 Annefly ftill! you will therefore look upon 
 Voi, I. C
 
 2& THE MAN OF THE. WORLD. 
 
 him as you did before. I am not floic 
 enough to deny, that riches afford num- 
 berlefs comforts and conveniences which 
 are denied to the poor ; but that riches 
 are not effential to happinefs I know, be- 
 caufe I have never yet found myfelf un- 
 happy; nor fhall I now fleep unfound 
 from the confcioufnefs of having added to 
 the preflure of affliction, or wounded me- 
 rit afrefh, becaufe fortune had already 
 wounded it." 
 
 Liberal minds will delight in extending 
 the empire of virtue ; for my own part, I 
 am happy to believe, that it is poflible for 
 an attorney to be honeft, and a tradefman 
 *o think like Wilkins, 
 
 H A P.
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 2J 
 
 . 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 More introductory matter. 
 
 I L KINS having thus overlooked 
 the want of fortune in his young 
 friend, the lovers found but little hin- 
 drance to the completion of their wilhes : 
 Harriet became the wife of a poor man, 
 who returned the obligation he owed to 
 her and her father's generofity, by a ten- 
 dernefs and affection rarely found in wed- 
 lock, becaufe there are few minds from 
 whom in reafon they can be expected. 
 
 His father-in-law, to whom indeed the 
 
 facrifice was but trifling, could not refift 
 
 the joint requeft of his daughter and her 
 
 hufband, to leave the town and make one 
 
 C 2 of
 
 $ THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 of their family in the country. In fome- 
 what lefs than a year he was the grand- 
 father of a boy, and, nearly at the fame 
 diftance of time after, of a girl, both of 
 _whom in his opinion, were cherubs ; but 
 even the goffips around them owned they 
 had never feen more promifing children. 
 The felicity of their Tittle circle was now 
 perhaps as perfect as the lot of humanity 
 admits; nor would it have been eafy 
 to have found a groop, whofe minds 
 were better formed to deferve or attairv 
 it. Health, innocence, and good-hu- 
 mour were of their houfehold; and 
 many an honeft neighbour, who never 
 troubled himfelf to account for it, talked 
 of the goodnefs of Annefly's ale, and the 
 chearfulnefs of his fire-tide. I have been 
 often admitted of the party, though I was 
 Ipo young for a companion to the feniors, 
 
 and
 
 THE MAN OF THE \VORLI>. 29 
 
 and too old for a playfellow to the chil- 
 dren; but no age, and often indeed no 
 condition, excluded from a participation of 
 their happinefs j and I have feen little 
 Billy, before he could fpeak to be well 
 underftood, lead in a long-bearded beggar, 
 to fing his fong in its turn, and be re- 
 warded with a cup of that excellent liquor 1 
 I mentioned. 
 
 Their felicity was too perfect to be lad- 
 ing. Such is the proverbial opinion of 
 mankind : the days of joy, however, are 
 not more winged in their courfe than the 
 days of forrow ; but we count not the 
 moments of their duration with fo fcru- 
 pulous an exactnefs. 
 
 Three years after the birth of her firft 
 
 daughter, Mrs. Annefly was delivered of 
 
 C 3 another i
 
 $6 tfH'E MAtf OF THE WORLD. 
 
 another^ but the birth of the laft was fatal 
 to her mother, who did not many days 
 furvive it. Annefly's grief on this occa* 
 iion was immoderate ; nor could all the 
 endeavours of his father-in-law, whofe 
 mind was able to preserve more compo- 
 fure, prevail upon him, for fome days, to 
 remember the common offices of life, or 
 leave the room in which his Harriet 
 had expired, Wilkins's grief, however, 
 though of a more filent fort, was hot 
 lefs deep in its effects ; and when the 
 turbulence of the other's for'row had 
 yielded to the toothings of time, the old 
 man retained all that tender regret, fo due 
 to the death of a child* an only child, whofe 
 filial duty had led him down the Hope 
 of life without fuffering] him to per- 
 ceive the defcent. The infant Ihe Lad 
 left behind her was now doubly en- 
 deared
 
 THE MAN. OF THE WORLD. 3! 
 
 deared to its father and him, from being 
 confidered as the laft memorial of its dy- 
 ing mother ; but of this melancholy kind 
 of comfort they were alfo deprived in a 
 few months by the fmall-pox. Wilkins 
 feemed by this fecond blow to be loofened 
 from the little hold he had ftruggled to 
 keep of the world, and his refignation 
 was now built upon the hopes, not of over- 
 coming his affliction, but of efcaping 
 from its -preflure. The ferenity which 
 fuch an idea confers, poflefles of all others 
 the greateft dignity, becaufe it poflefles 
 of all others the beft-afiured confidence, 
 leaning on a bafis that is fixed above the 
 rotation of fublunary things. An old man, 
 \vhohas lived in the exerciie of virtue, look- 
 ing back, without a blufh, on the tenor of 
 his pail days, and pointing to that better 
 ftate, where alone he can be perfectly re- 
 C 4 warded^
 
 32 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 warded, is a figure the moft venerable that 
 can well be imagined: fuch did Wilkins 
 now exhibit. 
 
 " My fon, laid he to Annefly, I feel 
 that I fhall not be with you long; yet I 
 leave not the world with that peevilh dif- 
 guft, which is fometimes miftaken for the 
 courage that overcomes the dread of death: 
 I lay down my being, with gratitude, for 
 having fo long pofleffed it, without hav- 
 ing difgracedit, by any great violation of 
 the laws of iiim, by whom it was beftowed. 
 There is fomething we cannot help feel- 
 ing on the fall of thofe hopes we had 
 been vainly diligent to rear j I had looked 
 forward to fome happy days, amidft a 
 race of my Harriet's and yours; but to 
 the good, there can be no reafonable re- 
 gret from the difappointment of fuch 
 
 expecta-
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 33 
 
 expectations, becaufe the futurity, they 
 truflr in after death, muft far exceed any 
 enjoyment which a longer life here could 
 have afforded. It is otherwife with the 
 profpect of duty to be done v theie two 
 little ones, I leave to your tendernefs and 
 care ; you will value life, as it gives you 
 an opportunity of forming them to virtue 
 Lay me befide my Harriet !" 
 
 The old man's prediction was but toa 
 well verified i, he did not long furvive 
 this pathetic declaration. His fon-in-law 
 was now expofed, alone and unaffifted, 
 to the cares of the world, increafed by the 
 charge of his boy and girl; but the mind 
 will fupport much, when called into ex- 
 ertion by the necefllty of things. His 
 forrow yielded by degrees to the thoughts 
 ef that active duty he owed his children ; 
 C 5 in
 
 34 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 in time his fire-fide was again cheated by 
 their fports around it; and though he 
 jbmetimes looked upon them with a tear, 
 at the recollection of the paft, yet would 
 he as often wipe it ffbm his eye, in filent 
 gratitude to heaven, for the enjoyment of 
 the prefent, and the anticipation of the 
 future, 
 
 Od tod 
 
 ^V>f; 
 
 (Uiilf^i-.-iii brttt ar.o^i t 
 3/tl r- ^M). jior-' J;!?> .v &:; io ?.v.-': .3-?^ ot 
 >r. . ;^) ihiv,.' ;.ji ; \ . : loa|f^Ho 
 ,-*C> pTn/.;^!^,^^ ^>cn JiQ-^i iiiff 
 Jii.,.. : -X|a.^J. /ift^irlijJW n 
 
 .U wh-$i c^yi < i ? ^r(i:;;, i i:;i^.v,Diic$
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 fhe openings of two characters, 
 
 the reader may afterwards be better 
 acquainted. 
 
 HIS fon had a warmth of temper, 
 which the father often obferved with 
 mingled pleafureand regret; with pleafure, 
 from confidering the generoflty and noble- 
 nefs of fentiment it befpokej with regret, 
 from a foreboding of the many inconveni- 
 ences to which its youthful poffeffor might 
 naturally be expofed. 
 
 But Harriet was foftnefs itfclf. The 
 fprightlineis of her gayeft moments wou!4 
 be checked by the recital of the diftrels 
 6f a'fellow- creature, and fhe would often 
 weej) alliiight frbnf- foiritt : tale \s ? iiich her 
 C 6 maid
 
 $6 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 maid had told of fictitious difafter. Her 
 brother felt the reprefentatron of worth 
 Si-treated, or virtue opprefTed, with in- 
 dignation againft the oppreffbr, and wiflied 
 to be a man, that he might, like Jack the 
 giant- killer, gird on his fword of fharpnefs, 
 and revenge the wrongs of the fufferer; 
 while his fifter preffed his hand in hers, 
 and trembled for the danger to which fhe 
 imagined him expofed v nay, fhe has been 
 afterwards heard to cry out in her deep 
 in a hurried voice,. " You mall not go, 
 fny Billy, papa and I will die if ,you do.'* 
 
 A trifling incident, of which I find an 
 account in one of their father's letters, will 
 difcrimmate their characters better than a 
 train of the moft laboured expreflioiu 
 
 At the bottom of his garden ran a 
 little rivulet, which was there dammed up
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD.' 37 
 
 to furnifh water for a mill below. On- 
 the bank was a linnet's neft, which Harriet 
 had difcovered in her rambles, and often 
 vifited with uncommon anxiety for the 
 callow brood it contained. One day her 
 brother and fhe were at play on the green 
 at a little diftance, attended by a fervant 
 of their father's, when a favorite terrier of 
 Billy's happened to wander amongfl the 
 bumes where this neft was flickered : Har- 
 riet, afraid of the confequences, begged 
 the fervant to run, and prevent his doing 
 mifchief to the birds. Juft as the fellow 
 came up, the dog had lighted on the bufh ft 
 and furprifed the dam, but was pre- 
 vented from doing her much harm by the 
 fervant, who laid hold of him by the neck,, 
 and matched his prey out of his mouth : 
 the dog, refenting this rough ufage, bit 
 the man's finger till it bled., who, in return, 
 
 bellowed
 
 3$ THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 beftowed a hearty drubbing upon him, 
 without regarding the entreaties or the 
 threats of his little matter. Billy, enraged 
 at the fufferings of his favorite, refolved 
 to wreak his vengeance where it was in 
 his power, and running up to the nett, 
 threw it down, with all its unfledged in- 
 habitants, to the ground. " Cruel Billy!'* 
 cried his fitter, while the tears ran down 
 her cheeks. He turned fullenly from 
 her, and walked up to the houfe, while 
 jfhe, with the man's affiftance, gathered 
 up the little flutterers, and having fatt- 
 ened the neft as well as (he could, replaced 
 them fafely within it. 
 *&_-'$ -lu-iia^-iu ;.;' ! .<-4 l-.ta.* 
 
 "When me faw her brother again, he 
 
 pouted, and would not fpeak to her j Die 
 
 endeavoured to regain his favour by kind- 
 
 aefs, but he refufed her carefles; fhe 
 
 ,!toi fought
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 39 
 
 fought out the dog, who had fuffered on 
 her linnet's account, and ftroaking him 
 on the head, fed him with fome cold 
 meat, from her own hand: vjlien her 
 brother faw it, he called him away. She 
 looked after Billy till he was gone, and 
 then burft into tears. 
 
 Next day they were down at the rivu- 
 let again. Still was Harriet endeavouring 
 to be reconciled, and ftill was her brother 
 averfe to a reconciliation : he fat biting 
 his thumb, and looking angrily to the: 
 fpot where his favorite had been punilhed^ 
 
 At that inftant the .linnet, in whofe 
 caufe the quarrel had begun, was bring- 
 ing out her younglings to their firft inv 
 perfect flight, and two of them, 'unfortu- 
 nately taking a wrong direction, felllhorw 
 
 kit
 
 40 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 into the middle of the pooL Billy darted 
 from the ground, and, without confider- 
 ing the depth, rufhed into, the water, 
 where he was over head and ears the ie- 
 cond ftep that he made. His lifter's 
 {creams alarmed the fervant, who ran to 
 his affiflance , but before he got to the 
 place, the boy had reached a fhallower 
 part of the pool, and, though ftaggering 
 from his firft plunge, had faved both the 
 linnets, which he held carefully above the 
 water, and landed fafely on the oppofite 
 bank. He returned to his fifter by a ford 
 below, and, prefenting her the birds, 
 flung his arms round her neck, and, blub- 
 bering, afked her, if (he would now for- 
 give his unkindnefs, 
 
 Such were the mi0ds which Annefly's 
 tuitioa was to form. To reprefs the 
 
 warmth
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 4* 
 
 warmth of temerity, without extinguifh- 
 ing the generous principles from which it 
 arofe, and to give firmnefs to fenfibility 
 where it bordered on weaknefs, without 
 fearing its feelings where they led to virtue, 
 was the talk he had marked out for his 
 induflry to accomplifh. He owned that 
 his plan was frequently interrupted on 
 both fides by the tendernefs of paternal 
 aflfec"lion j but he accuftomed himfelf to 
 remember, that, for his children he was 
 accountable to God and their country. 
 Nor was the fituation I have defcribed 
 without difficulties, from the delicacy of 
 preventing inclinations in the extreme, 
 which were laudable in degree; " but here 
 alfo, faid Annefly, it is to be remembered, 
 that no evil is fo pernicious as that which 
 grows in the foil from which good mould 
 have fprung." 
 
 CHAP.
 
 42 THE MAN OF THE WORLB. 
 
 C H A P. IV. 
 
 Irf very brief account of their education. 
 
 A NNESLY was not only thefuperin- 
 tendant of his children's manners, but 
 their matter in the feveral branches of edu- 
 cation. Reading, writing, arithmetic, the 
 elements of mathematics and geography, 
 with a competent knowlege of the French.' 
 and Italian languages, they learned toge- 
 ther ; and while Billy was employed with 
 his father in reading Latin ancj Greek, 
 his fitter received inftruction in the female 
 accomplilhments, from a better fort of 
 fervant, whom Annefly kept for that pur- 
 pofe, whofe ftation had once been fupe- 
 rior to fervitude, and whom he ftill treated 
 more as a companion than a domeftic. 
 This inftruftrefs indeed fhe loft when 
 
 about
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 43 
 
 about ten years old ; but the. want was 
 more than fupplied by the afliftance of 
 another, to wit, Mrs. Wiftanly; who de- 
 voted many of her leilure hours to the 
 daughter of Annefly, whom fhe had then 
 got acquainted with, and.whom reciprocal 
 worth had attached taherwiththefmcereft 
 friendfhip and regard. The dancing- 
 mailer of a neighbouring town paid them 
 a weekly vifit for their inftruclion in the 
 fcience he profefied ; at which time alfo 
 were held their family-concerts, where 
 Annefly, who was efteemed in his youth 
 a firft-rate player on the violin, ufed to 
 prefide. Biliy was an excellent fecond; 
 Mrs. Wiftanly or her pupil undertook for 
 the harpficord, and the dancing-mafter 
 played bafe as well as he could. He was 
 not a very capital performer, but he was 
 always very willing j and found as much 
 
 pleafure
 
 44 THE MAN OF THE WORLD, 
 pleafure in his own performance as the- 
 beft of them. Jack Ryland too would 
 Ibmetimes join in a catch, though indeed 
 he had but two, Chrift-cburch bells, and 
 Jack^tbotfrt a toper; and Anneflyalledged 
 that he was often out in the laft, but Jack 
 would never allow it. 
 
 Betides thefe, there were certain even- 
 ings appropriated to exercifes of the mind. 
 " It is not enough, faid Annefly, to put 
 weapons into thofe hands which never have 
 been taught the ufe of them j the read- 
 ing we recommend to youth will (lore their 
 minds with intelligence, if they attend to 
 it properly i but to goa little farther, we 
 muft accuftom them to apply it, we muft 
 teach them the art of comparing the ideas 
 with which it has furnilhed them." In 
 this view it was the practice, at thofe 
 
 ftated
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 45 
 
 ftated times I have mentioned, for Billy, 
 or his fifter, to read a felect paffage of 
 fome clafllcal author, on whofe relations 
 they delivered opinions, or on whofe fen- 
 timents they offered a comment. Never 
 was feen more fatisfacYion on a coun- 
 tenance, than ufed to enlighten their fa- 
 ther's, at the delivery of thofe obferva- 
 tions, which his little philoibphers were 
 accuftomed to make : indeed, there could 
 fcarcely, even to a ftranger, be a more 
 pleafing exhibition ; their very errors were 
 delightful, becaufe they were the errors of 
 benevolence, generofity, and virtue. 
 
 As punimments are neceflary in all fb- 
 cieties, Annefly was obliged to invent fome 
 for the regulation of his : they confided 
 only of certain modifications of difgrace. 
 One of them I fhali mention, becaufe it 
 
 was
 
 46 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 was exactly oppofite to the practice of 
 moft of our fchools j while there, offences 
 are punifhed by doubling the tafk of the 
 fcholar; with Annefly, the getting of a lef- 
 fon or performing of an exercife was a privi- 
 lege, of which a forfeiture was incurred 
 by miibehaviour ; to teach his children, 
 that he offered them inftruction as a favor, 
 inftead of prefling it as a hardfhip. 
 
 Billy had a fmall part of his father's 
 garden allotted him for his peculiar pro- 
 perty, in which he wrought himfelf, being 
 furnifhed with no other affiflance from the 
 gardener than directions how to manage 
 it, and parcels of the feeds which they 
 enabled him to fow. When he had brought 
 thefe to maturity, his father purchafcd the 
 produce ; Billy, with part of the purchafe- 
 money, was to lay in the ftores neceflary 
 
 for
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 47 
 
 for his future induflry, and the overplus 
 he had the liberty of bellowing on chari- 
 table ufes in the village. The fame inftitu- 
 tion prevailed as to his filler's needle-work 
 or embroidery. " For it is neceflary, 
 faid Annefly, to give an idea of property, 
 but let it not be feparated from the idea of 
 beneficence." 
 
 Sometimes, when thefe fums were traced 
 to their difourfemenr, it was found, that 
 Harriet's money did not always reach the 
 village, but was intercepted by the piteous 
 recital of a wandf ring beggar by the way ; 
 and that Billy ufed to appropriate part of 
 his to purpofes not purely eleemofynary ; 
 as, when he once parted with two thirds 
 of his revenue, to reward a little boy for 
 beating a big one, who had killed his tame 
 fparrow ; or another time, when he went 
 7 the
 
 48 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 the blamable length of comforting with 
 a fliilling a lad, who had been ducked in 
 a horfe-pond, for robbing the orchard of 
 a mifer. 
 
 It was chiefly in this manner of infil- 
 ling fentiments, (as in the cafe of the cha- 
 ritable eftabli foment I have mentioned) 
 by leading infenfibly to the practice of 
 Virtue, rather than by downright precept, 
 that Annefly proceeded with his children ; 
 for It was his maxim, that the heart muft 
 feel, as well as the judgment be convinced, 
 before the principles we mean to teach can 
 be of habitual fervice , and that the mind 
 will always be more ftrongly imprefled 
 with ideas which it is led to form of itfelf, 
 than with thofe which it pafllvely receives 
 from another. When, at any time, he 
 delivered inftrucYions, they were always 
 
 clothed
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 49 
 
 clothed in the garb rather of advices from 
 a friend, than lectures from a father; and 
 were liftened to with the warmth of friend- 
 ihip, as well as the humility of veneration. 
 It is in truth fomewhat furprifing, how 
 little intimacy fubfifts between parents and 
 their children, efpecially of our fex ; a 
 circumftance, which muft operate in con- 
 junction with their natural partiality, to 
 keep the former in ignorance of the ge- 
 nius and difpofition of the latter. 
 
 Befides all this, his children had the 
 general advantage of a father's example : 
 they Taw the virtues he inculcated at- 
 tended by all the confequences in himfelf, 
 which he had promifed them as their re- 
 ward : piety in him was recompenfed by 
 peace of mind, benevolence by felf-fatif- 
 
 VOL. I. D faction,
 
 50 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 fa&ion, and integrity by the bleffings of 
 a good confcience. 
 
 But the time at laft arrived, when his 
 fon was to leave thofe inftructions and that 
 example, for the walks of more public 
 life : as he was intended, or, more pro- 
 perly fpeaking, feemed to have an incli- 
 nation, for a learned profeffion, his father 
 fenthim, in his twentieth year, to receive 
 the finifhings of education neceflary for 
 that purpofe, at one of the univerfities. 
 Yet he had not, I have heard him fay, the 
 moft favourable opinion of the general 
 courfe of education there , but he knew, 
 that a yaung man might there have an 
 opportunity of acquiring much knowlege, 
 if he were inclined to it ; and that good 
 principles might preferve him uncorrupted, 
 
 - ij ~ even
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 5! 
 
 even amidft the dangers of ibme furround- 
 ing diffipation : befides, he had an addi- 
 tional inducement to this plan, from the 
 repeated requeft of a diftant relation, 
 who filled an office of fome confe- 
 quence at Oxford, and had exprefTed a 
 very earned delire to have his young kinf- 
 man fent thither, and placed under his 
 own immediate infpection. 
 
 Before he fet out for that place, An- 
 nefly, though he had a fufficient confidence 
 in his fon, yet thought it not improper to 
 mark out to him fome of thofe errors, 
 to which the unexperienced are liable : 
 he was not wont, as I have before ob- 
 ferved, to prefs inftruclion upon his chil- 
 dren ; but the young man himfelf feemed 
 to expect it, with the folicittide of one who- 
 ventured, not without anxiety, to leave 
 D 2 that
 
 52 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 that road, where the hand of a parent and 
 friend had hitherto guided him in hap- 
 pinefs and fafety. The fubftance of what 
 he delivered to his fon and daughter (for 
 fhe too was an auditor of his difcourfes) 
 I have endeavoured to colled: from fome of 
 the papers Mrs. Wiftanly put into my 
 hands ; and to arrange, as far as it feemed 
 arrangeable, in the two following chap- 
 ters. 
 
 It will not, however, after all, have a 
 ^perfectly- connected appearance; becaufe, 
 I imagine, it was delivered at different 
 times, as occafion invited, or leifure al- 
 lowed him , but its tendency appeared to 
 be fuch, that, even under thefe difadvan- 
 tages, I could not forbear inferting it. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 53 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Paternal inftruftions. Offufpicion and con- 
 fidence. Ridicule. Religion. True 
 fleafure.-^ Caution to the female fex. 
 
 are now leaving us, my fon, faid 
 Annefly, to make your entrance into 
 the world : for, though from the pale of 
 a college, the buftle of ambition, the 
 plodding of bufmefs, and the tinfel of 
 gaiety, are fuppofed to be excluded ; 
 yet as it is the place where the per- 
 fons that are to perform in thofe feveral 
 characters often put on the drefies of 
 each, there will not be wanting, even 
 there, thofe qualities that diftinguidi 
 in all. I will not mock your imagina- 
 tion with die picture which fome men, 
 D 3 retired
 
 54 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 retired from its influence, have drawn of 
 the world -, nor warn you againit enormi- 
 ties, into which, I mould equally affront 
 your underflanding and your feelings, did 
 I fuppofe you capable of falling. Neither 
 would 1 arm you with that fufpicious cau- 
 tion, which young men are fometimes ad- 
 , vifed to put on : they who always fufpeft 
 I will often be miftaken, and never be 
 happy. Yet there is a wide diilinclion 
 between the confidence which becomes a 
 man, and the fimplicity that difgraces a 
 fimpleton : he who never trufts is a niggard 
 of his foul, who ftarves himfelf, and by 
 whom no other is enriched ; but he who 
 gives every one his confidence, and every 
 one his praife, fquanders the fund that 
 fhould ferve for the encouragement of in- 
 tegrity, and the reward of excellence, 
 
 In 
 7
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLI*. $$ 
 
 In the circles of the world your notice 
 may be frequently attracted by objects 
 glaring, not ufeful ; and your attach- 
 ment won to characters, whofe furfaces 
 are fhowy, without intrinfic value : in fuch 
 circumftances be careful not always to im- 
 pute knowlege to the appearance of acute- 
 nefs, or give credit to opinions according 
 to the confidence with which they are ur- 
 ged. In the more important articles of 
 belief or conviction, let not tlie flow of 
 ridicule be miftaken for the force of argu- 
 ment. Nothing is fo eafy as to excite a 
 laugh, at that time of life, when feri- 
 oufnefs is held to be an incapacity of en- 
 joying itj and no wit fo futile, or fo 
 dangerous, as that which is drawn from 
 
 the perverted attitudes of what is in itfelf 
 ' 
 momentous. There are in moft focieties 
 
 a fet of felf-important young men, who 
 D 4 borrow
 
 56 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 borrow confequence from fingularity, and 
 take precedency in wifdom from the un- 
 feeling ufe of the ludicrous ; this is at bell 
 a Jhallow quality-, in objects of eternal 
 moment, it is poifonous to fociety. I will 
 not now, nor could you then, Hand forth 
 armed at all points to repel the attacks 
 which they may make on the great prin- 
 ciples of your belief; but let one fuggef- 
 Jtion fuffice, exclufive of all internal evi- 
 dence, or extrinfic proof of revelation. 
 He that would undermine thofe founda- 
 tions upon which the fabric of Qur future 
 hope is reared, feeks to beat down that 
 column, which fupports the feeblenefs of 
 humanity; let him but think a mo- 
 ment, and his heart will arreft the cruelty 
 of his purpofe; would he pluck its little 
 treafurefrom the bofom of poverty ? would 
 he wreft its crutch from the hand of age, 
 
 and
 
 MAN OF THIS WORLD. 57 
 
 arid remove from the eye of affliction the 
 only folace of its woe ?- The way we tread 
 is rugged at beft; we tread it, however, 
 lighter by the profpect of that better 
 country to which we truft it will lead; tell 
 us not that it will end in the gulph of eter- 
 nal difTolution, or break off in fome wild, 
 which fancy may fill up as Hie pleafes, but 
 reaibn is unable to delineate ; quench not 
 that beam, which, amidft the night of 
 this evil world, has cheared the defpon- 
 dency of ill-requited worth, and illumined 
 
 the darknefs of fuffering virtue.- 
 
 ^/ ix?:. 
 
 The two great movements of the foul, 
 which the molder of our frames hasplaced 
 in them for the incitement of virtue and 
 the prevention of vice, are the defire of ho- 
 nour, and the fear of fhame: but the per- ) 
 yerfion of thefe qualities, which- the refine- 
 D 5 ment
 
 58 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 ment of fociety is peculiarly unhappy in 
 making, has drawn their influence from 
 the flandard of morality, to the banners 
 of its oppofite; into the firft ftep on 
 which ayoung man ventures, inthofepaths 
 which the cautions of wifdom have warned 
 him to avoid, he is commonly pufhed by 
 the fear of that ridicule which he has feen 
 levelled at fimplicity, and the defire of 
 that applaufe which the fpirit of the pro- 
 fligate has enabled him to acquire* 
 
 Pleafure is in truth fubfervient to virtue. 
 "When the firft is purfued without thofe 
 reftraints which the laft would impofe^ 
 every infringement we make on them 
 leffens the enjoyment we mean to attain j 
 and nature is thus wife in our conduction, 
 that, when we would be bleiTed beyond 
 the pale of rcafon, we are blefied imper- 
 
 fedly.
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 59* 
 
 fectly. It is not by the roar of riot,, or the 
 mout of the bacchanal, that we are to 
 meafure the degree of pleafure which he 
 feels ; the grofihefs of the fenfe he grati^ 
 fies is equally infufceptible of the enjoy- 
 ment, as it is deaf to the voice of reafon; 
 and, obdurated by the repetition of 
 debauch, is incapable of that delight 
 which the finer fenfations produce, which 
 thrills in the bofom of delicacy and.virtue 
 
 .Libertines have faid, my Harriet, that 
 the fmiles of your fex attend them : and' 
 that the pride of conqueft, where con- 
 queft is difficult, overcomes the fear of 
 difgrace and defeat. I hope there is leis. 
 truth in this remark than is generally ima- 
 gined ; let it be. my Harriet's belief that 
 it cannot be true for the honour of her- 
 fex , let it be her care, that,, for. her o^.vrv 
 D 6 honour.*
 
 60 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 honour, it may be falfe as to her. Look 
 on thofe men, my child, even in their 
 gayeft and moft alluring garb, as creatures 
 'dangerous to the peace, and deftructive 
 of the welfare of fociety; look on them 
 as you would on a beautiful ferpent r 
 whofe mifchief we may not forget while 
 we admire the beauties of its fkin. I 
 marvel indeed how the pride of the fair 
 can allow them to mow a partiality to 
 him, who regards them as beings merely 
 fubfervient to his pleafure, in X( whofe opi- 
 nion they have loft all that dignity which, 
 excites reverence, and that excellence 
 ^which. creates efteem. 
 
 Be accuftqtned, rny love, to think 
 refpeftfully of yourfelf ; it is the error of 
 the gay world to place your fex in a ftation 
 fomewhat unworthy of a reafonable crea- 
 ture ; 
 
 M - .;.
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 6 1 
 
 ture ; and the individuals of ours who 
 addrefs themfelves to you, think it a ne- 
 cefiary ingredient in their difcourfe, that 
 it Ihould want every folid property with 
 which fenfe and underflanding would in- 
 veft it. The character of a female pe- 
 dant is undoubtedly difgufting ; but it is 
 much lefs common than that of a triflingor 
 an ignorant woman : the intercourfe of the 
 fexes is, in this refpect, advantageous, that 
 each has a defire ta pleafe, mingled with 
 a certain deference for the other; let 
 not this purpofe be loft on one fide, by 
 its being fuppofed, that, to pleafe yours, 
 we muft fpeak fomething, in which fafhion. 
 has fancYified folly, and eafe lent her 
 garb to infignificance. In general it Ihould^ 
 never be forgotten, that, though life has 
 its venial trifles, yet they ceafe to be inno- 
 cent when they encroach upon its impor- 
 6 tant
 
 62 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 tant concerns ^ die mind that is often 
 employed about little things, will be 
 rendered unfit for any ferious exertion ; 
 and,, though temporary relaxations may 
 recruit its ftrength, habitual vacancy will 
 deft'roy it..
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 6.3 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 In continuation. Of knowlege. Knowlege- 
 cf the 'world. Politenefs. Honour.' 
 Another rule of attion fuggefted. 
 
 A S the mind may be weakened by the 
 purfuits of trivial matters, fo its 
 ftrength may be mifled in deeper inveftir 
 gations. 
 
 It is a capital error in the purfuit of 
 knowlege, to fuppofe that we are never 
 to believe what we cannot account for. 
 There is no reafon why we Jfhould not 
 attempt to underiland every thing-, but to 
 own in fome inftances our limited know- 
 lege, is a piece of modefty in which lies 
 the trueft wifdom, 
 
 Let
 
 ^64 THE MAN OF THE WORD IT.- 
 
 Let it be our care that our effort in its 
 tendency is ufeful, and our effort need not 
 be repreffed ; for he that attempts the im- 
 poffible, will often atchieve the extremely 
 difficult ; but the pride of knowlege often 
 labours to gain what if gained would be 
 ufelefs, and waftes exertion upon objects 
 that have been left nnattained from their 
 futility. -Men poffeffed of this defire, you 
 may perhaps find, my fon, in that feat of 
 fcience whither you are going: but remem- 
 ber, that what claims our wonder, does not 
 always merit our regard ; and in know-- 
 lege and philofophy be careful to diilin- 
 guifh, that the purpofe of refearch fhould< 
 ever be fixed on making fimple what is 
 abftrufe, not abftrufe what is fimple ; and 
 that difficulty in acquifition will no more 
 fandify its inexpediency, than the art of 
 tumblers, who have learned to ftand on 
 
 their
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. $ 
 
 their heads, will prove that to be the pro- 
 per pofture for man* 
 
 There is a pedantry in being matter 
 of paradoxes contrary to the common 
 opinions of mankind, which is equally 
 difgufting to the illiterate and the 
 learned. The peafant who enjoys the 
 beauty of the tulip, is equally delighted 
 with the philofopher, though he knows 
 not the powers of the rays from which 
 its colours are derived ; and the boy who 
 ftrikes a ball with his racket, is as certain 
 whither it will be driven by the blow, as if he 
 were perfectly verfant in the difpute about 
 matter and motion. Vanity of our know- 
 lege is generally found in the firft ftages 
 of its acquirement, becaufe we are then 
 looking back to that rank we have left, 
 of fuch as know nothing at all. Greater 
 
 advances,
 
 66 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 advances cure us of this, by pointing our 
 view to thofe above us; and when we 
 reach the fummit, we begin to diicover, 
 that human knowlege is fo imperfect., as 
 not to warrant any vanity upon it. In par- 
 ticular arts beware of that affectation of 
 fpeaking technically, by which ignorance 
 is often difguifed, and knowlege dif- 
 graced. They who are really fkilful in 
 the principles of fcience, will acquire the 
 veneration only of fhallow -minds by talk- 
 ing fcientifically ; for, to fimplify exprefilon, 
 is always the effect of the deepeft know- 
 ,lege, and of the cleareft difcernment. On 
 the other hand, there may be many 
 who polTefs tafte, though they have not 
 attained fkill ; who, if they will be con- 
 tented with the expreflion of their own 
 feelings, without labouring to keep up 
 the borrowed phrafe of erudition, will 
 
 have
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 67 
 
 .have their opinions relpected by all. whofe 
 fuffrages are worthy of being gained. The 
 mufic, the painting, the poetry of the 
 paffions, is the property of every one who j 
 has a heart to be moved j and though | 
 there may be particular modes of excel- 
 lence which national or temporary fafhions 
 create, yet that flandard will ever remain 
 which alone is common to all. 
 
 The oftentation of learning is indeed 
 always difgufting in the intercourfe of ib- 
 ciety ; for even the benefit of inftruction 
 received cannot allay the confcioufnefs of 
 inferiority, and remarkable parts more 
 frequently attract admiration than procure 
 efteem. To bring forth knowlege agree- 
 ably, as well as ufefully, is perhaps very 
 difficult for thofe, who have attained it 
 in the fecluded walks of itudy and fpe- 
 
 culation,
 
 68 THE MAN OF THE WORLD* 
 
 culation, and is an art feldom found but 
 in men who have likewife acquired fome 
 knowlege of the world. 
 
 I would however diftinguiih between 
 that knowlege of the world that fits us 
 for intercourse with the better part of 
 mankind, and that which we gain by anV 
 dating with the worft* 
 
 But there is a certain learned ruft which 
 men as well as metals acquire -, it is, fim- 
 ply fpeaking, a blemifh in both; the fociai 
 feelings grow callous from difufe, and lofe 
 that pliancy of little affection, which fweet- 
 ens the cup of life as we drink it. 
 
 Even the ceremonial of the world, mal- 
 low as it may appear, is not without its 
 ufe i it may indeed take from the warmth 
 of friendfhip, but it covers the coldnefs 
 
 of
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD* 69 
 
 of indifference ; and if it has reprefied the 
 genuine overflowings of kindnefs, it has 
 fmothered the turbulence of paflion and 
 animofity. 
 
 Politenefs taught as an art is ridiculous 5 
 as the exprefiion of liberal fentiment and 
 courteous manners, it is truly valuable. 
 There is a politenefs of the heart which is 
 confined to no rank, and dependent upon no 
 education : the defire of obliging, which 
 a man pofTeffed of this quality will univer- 
 fally mow, feldom fails of pleafmg, though 
 his flile may differ from that of modern 
 refinement. I knew a man in London, 
 of the gentleft manners, and of the moft 
 winning deportment ; whofe eye was ever 
 brightened with the fmiles of good-hu- 
 mour, and whofe voice was mellowed with 
 the tones of complacency ; and this man 
 was bred a blackfmith! 
 
 The
 
 JQ THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 The falfehood of politenefs is often 
 pleaded for, as unavoidable in the com- 
 merce of mankind ; yet I would have it 
 as little indulged as poffible. There is a 
 -franknefs without rufticity, an opennefs 
 of manner, prompted by good-humour, 
 but guided by delicacy, which fome are 
 happy enough to pofifefs, that engages 
 every worthy man, and gives not offence 
 even to thofe, whofe good opinion, thougk 
 of little eftimation, it is the bufmefs of 
 prudence not wantonly to lofe. 
 
 The circles of the gay, my children, 
 would fmile to hear me talk of qualities 
 whicb my retired manner of life has al- 
 lowed me fo little opportunity of obferv- 
 ing ; but true good-breeding is not con- 
 fined within thofe bounds to which their 
 pedantry (if I may ufe the expreflion) 
 
 would
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 7! 
 
 would reftrict it : true good-breeding is the 
 filter of philanthropy, with feelings per- 
 haps not fo ferious or tender, but equally 
 infpired by a finenefs of foul, and open 
 to the imprefiions of focial affection. 
 
 As politenefs is the rule of the world's 
 manners, fo has it erected Honour the 
 flandard of its morality; but its dictates 
 too frequently depart from wifdom with 
 refpect to ourfelves,- from juftice and hu- 
 manity with refpefl to others. Genuine 
 honour is undoubtedly the offspring of 
 both ; but there has arifen a counterfeit, 
 who, as he is more boaftful and fhowy, 
 has more attracted the notice of gaiety and 
 grandeur. Generofity and courage are the 
 virtues he boafls of poffefling ; but his 
 generofity is a fool, and his courage a 
 murderer. 
 
 The
 
 J2 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 The punctilio's indeed on which he de- 
 pends, for his own peace, and the peace 
 of fociety, are fo ridiculous in the eye of 
 reafon, that it is not a little furprifing, how 
 fo many millions of reafonable beings 
 mould have fanctified them with their 
 mutual confent and acquiefcence ; that 
 they mould have agreed to furround the 
 feats of friendfhip, and the table of fefti- 
 vity, with fo many thorns of inquietude, 
 and fnares of deftruction. 
 
 You will probably hear, my fon, very 
 frequent applaufe beftowed on men of nice 
 and jealous honour, who fuffer not the 
 fmalleft affront to pafs unqueftioned or 
 imrevenged ; but do not imagine that the 
 character which is moft facredly guarded, 
 is always the moft unfullied in reality, 
 nor allow yourfelf to envy a reputation for 
 
 that
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 7 
 
 that fort of valour which fupports it. 
 Think how uneafily that man muft pafs 
 his time, who fits, like a fpider in the 
 midft of his feeling web, ready to catch 
 the minuteft occafion for quarrel and 
 refentment. There is often more real 
 pufillanimity in the mind that ftarts into 
 oppofition where none is necefTary, than 
 in him who overlooks the wanderings 
 of fome unguarded act or exprefiion, 
 as not of confequence enough to chal- 
 lenge indignation or revenge. I am 
 aware, that the young and high-fpirited 
 will fay, that men can only judge of 
 actions, and that they will hold as co- 
 wardice, the blindnefs I would recom- 
 mend to affront or provocation ; but 
 there is a fteady coolnefs and poflefiion 
 of one's felf, which this principle will 
 commonly beftow, equally remote from 
 VOL. I. E the
 
 74 THE MAN OF THE WORLD, 
 the weaknefs -of fear, and the difcom- 
 pofure of anger, which gives to its pof- 
 fefibr .a ftation that feldom fails of com- 
 manding refpect, even from the ferocious 
 votaries of fanguinary Honour. 
 
 But fome principle is required to draw 
 aline of action, above the mere precepts 
 of moral equity, 
 
 " Beyond the fixt and fettled rules ;" 
 
 and for this purpofe is inftituted the 
 motive of Honour: there is another at 
 hand, which the fubftitution of this phan- 
 tom too often deftroys it is Conference 
 whofe voice, were it not ftifled (fome- 
 times by this very falfe and fpurious Ho- 
 nour) would lead directly to that liberal con- 
 flrufiion of the rules of morality which 
 is hera contended for. Let my children 
 
 never 
 4
 
 THE MA N OF TH E WORLD. 7 
 
 never fuffer this monitor to fpeak un- 
 heeded, nor drown its whifpers, amidft 
 the din of pleafure, or the buftle of life. 
 Confider it as the reprefentative of that 
 Power who fpake the foul into being, 
 and in whofe difpofal exigence is ! To 
 liften therefore to his unwritten law which 
 he promulgates by its voice, has every 
 fanction which his authority can give. 
 It were enough to fay that we are mortal; 
 but the argument is irrefiftible, when, 
 we remember our Immortality 
 
 E 2 CHAP:
 
 76 THE MAN OF THE 
 
 2i'.)C*i C'l *JOjiT .' . 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 ",-.V it> Mikfc; -"'*:" ,; . i s 
 
 Introducing a new and capital Character. 
 
 TT was thus the good man inftrufted 
 his children. 
 
 But, behold ! the enemy came in the 
 night and fowed tares ! 
 
 Such an enemy had the harmlefs family 
 of which Annefly was the head. It is 
 ever to be regretted, that mifcriief is 
 feldom fo weak but that worth may be 
 ftung by it; in the prefent inftance, 
 however, it was fupported by talents 
 mifapplied and ingenuity perverted. 
 
 Sir Thomas Sindall enjoyed an eftate 
 of 5000!. a year in Annefly's parilh. 
 
 His
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLt). 77 
 
 His father left hinv when but a child, 
 pofleiTed of an eftate to the amount 
 we have juft mentioned and of a very 
 large fum of money befides, which his 
 economy had faved him from its pro- 
 duce. H is mother, though a very good 
 
 woman, was a very bad parent ; Ihe loved 
 
 
 her fon, as too many mothers do, with 
 
 that inftinctive affection which nature has 
 be (lowed on the loweil rank of creatures. 
 She loved him as her fon, though he 
 inherited none of her virtues, and bccaufe 
 fhe happened to have no other child, 
 me reared this in fuch a manner, cs 
 was moft likely to prevent the com- 
 fort he might have afforded herfelf, and 
 the ufefulnefsof which he might have been 
 to fociety. In (hort, he did what he" 
 
 liked, at firft bccaufe -his fpirit mould 
 
 . 
 not be confined too early, and afterwards 
 
 E he
 
 ?8 .-THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 he' did what he liked, becaufe it was paft 
 being confined at all. 
 
 /-* y ' - ' ' " '' >/i fi '"ft 
 
 But his temper was not altogether of 
 
 that fiery kind, which fome young men, 
 fo circumftanced, and fo educated, are 
 poflefied of. There was a degree of 
 prudence which grew up with him from 
 a boy, that tempered the Tallies of paflion 
 to make its object more fure in the ac- 
 quifition. "When at fchool, he was 
 always the conductor of mifchief, 
 though he did not often participate in 
 its execution; and his carriage to his 
 matter was fuch, that he was a favou- 
 rite without any abilities as a fcholar, 
 and acquired a character for regularity, 
 \vhile his aflbciates were daily flogged 
 for tranfgrefiions, which he had guided 
 in their progrefs, and enjoyed the fruits 
 
 of
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 79 
 
 of in their completion. There fome- 
 times arofe fuipicions of the reality; 
 but even thofe who difcovered them 
 mingled a certain degree of praife with 
 their cenfure, and prophefied, that he 
 would be A Man of the World. 
 
 As he advanced in life, he fathioned" 
 his behaviour to the different humours 
 of the gentlemen in the neighbourhood ; 
 he hunted with the fox-hunters through 
 the day, and drank with them in the 
 evening. With thefe he diverted him- 
 Iclf at the expence of the fober prigs'* 
 as he termed them, that looked after 
 the improvement of their eftates' when 
 it was fair, and read a book within 
 doors when it rained ; and to-morrow he 
 talked on farming with this latter clafs 1 , 
 and ridiculed the hunting phrafes, and 
 E 4 boifterous-
 
 So THE MAN OF THE WORLDV 
 
 boifterous mirth of his yefterday*s com- 
 panions. They were very well pleafed 
 to laugh at one another, while he laughed 
 in his fleeve at both. This was fome- 
 times difcovered, and people were go- 
 ing to be angry but fomebody faid in 
 excufe that Sirtdall was A Man of the 
 'World. 
 
 !*,:.?:&( 
 
 While the Oxford-terms lafted, (to 
 which place he had gone in the conrfe of 
 modern education) there were frequent 
 reports in the country of the diffipated life 
 he led ; it was even faid that he had dif- 
 appeared from college for fix weeks toge- 
 gether, during which time he was fufpedled 
 of having taken a trip to London with 
 another man's wife; this was only men- 
 tioned in a whifper; it was loudly denied ; 
 people doubted at firft, and fhortly forgot 
 
 it.
 
 THE MAN- OF THE WORLD. 8l 
 
 it. Some little extravagances they faid 
 he might have been guilty of. It was 
 impoffible for a man of two and twenty to 
 feclude himfelf altogether from company ; 
 and you could not look for the tempe- 
 rance of a hermit in a young baronet of 
 5000 /. a year. It is indifpenfable for fuch 
 a man to come forth into life a little; 
 with 5Ooo/. a year, one muft be A Man 
 of the World. 
 
 His firfl tutor, whofe learning was as 
 extenfive, as his manners were pure, left 
 him in difguft ; fober people wondered 
 at this , but he was foon provided with 
 another with whom he had got acquainted 
 at Oxford : One whom every body de- 
 clared to be much fitter for the tuition 
 of young Sindall, being like his pupil, A 
 Man of the World. 
 
 E 5 But
 
 82 THE MAN O? THE WORLD. 
 
 But though his extravagance in fquan- 
 dering money, under the tuition of this 
 gentleman, was frequently complained of,, 
 yet it was found that he was not altogether 
 thoughtlefs of its acquifitionv Upon the 
 fale of an eftate in his neighbourhood, it 
 -was difcovered that a very advantageous 
 mortgage, which hadftood in the name of 
 another, had been really tranfa&ed for 
 the benefit of young Sindall, His pru- 
 dent friends plumed themfelves upon this 
 intelligence , and according to their ufe 
 of the phrafe, began to hope, that, aftar 
 lowing his wild oats, fir Thomas would 
 turn out A Man of the World*
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD.- $3 
 
 . 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 The Footing en which he flood with' 
 Anne/ly and his Family. 
 
 rp H O U G H fuch a man as we have 
 
 defcribed might bs reckoned a valu* 
 
 
 
 able acquaintance by many, he was ; other- 
 wife reckoned by Annefly , he had heard 
 enough (though he had heard but part') 
 of his character, to confider him ss 
 a dangerous neighbour; but it was im- 
 pofiible to avoid fometimes feeing him, 
 from whofe father he had got the liv- 
 ing which he now occupied. There is 
 no tax fo heavy on a little man,, as an 
 acquaintance with a great one. An- 
 nefly had found this in the life-time of 
 Sir William Sindall. He was one of 
 thofe whom the general voice pronounces 
 -to be a good fort of man, under -which 
 E 6 denomination
 
 . 
 
 84 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 denomination I never look for much 
 fenfe, or much delicacy. In fact the 
 baronet poffeffed but little of either-, 
 he lived hofpitably for his own fake, 
 as well as that of his guefts, be- 
 caufe he liked a good dinner and a 
 bottle of wine after it ; and in one 
 part of holpitality he excelled, which 
 was, the faculty of making every body 
 drunk that had not uncommon fortitude 
 to withftand his attacks. Annefly's cloth 
 protected him from this laft inconve- 
 nience; but it often drew .from Sir 
 William a fet of jefts, which his me- 
 mory had enabled him to retain, and 
 had pa{Ted through the heirs of his 
 family, like their eftate, down from the 
 days of that monarch of facetious me- 
 mory, Charles the Second. 
 
 Though
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 8^ 
 
 Though to a man of Annefly's delicacy 
 all this could not but be highly dif- 
 agreeable, yet gratitude made him Sir 
 William's gueft oft enough to fhow 
 that he had not 'forgot that attention 
 which his paft favours demanded ; and 
 Sir William recollected them from an- 
 other motive, to wit, that they gave a, 
 fanclion to thofe liberties he fometimes 
 ufed with him who had received them. 
 This might have been held fufficient 
 to have cancelled the obligation ; but 
 Annefly was not wont to be directed 
 by the eafiefb rules of virtue; the im- 
 preffion ftill remained, and it even de- 
 fcended to the fon after the death of 
 the father. 
 
 Sindall therefore was a frequent gueft 
 at his houfe ; and, though it might 
 have been imagined, that the diffipated 
 
 mind
 
 6 THE MAN OF THE 
 
 min d of a young man of his fortune 
 would have found but little delight in 
 Annefly's humble fhed, yet he feemed to 
 enjoy its fimplicity with the higheft relifli ; 
 he pofTefied indeed that pliancy of dif- 
 pofition that could wonderfully accom- 
 modate itfelf to the humour of every 
 one around him ; and he fo managed 
 matters in his vifits to- Annefly, that 
 this laft began to imagine the reports 
 he had heard concerning him, to be 
 cither entirely falfe,. or at leaft aggra 
 yated much beyond truth. 
 
 From what motive foever Sindall be- 
 fran thefe vifits, He foon difcovered a- 
 very itrong inducement to continue 
 them. Harriet Annefly was now arrived 
 at the fize,. i not the age, of woman-] 
 Jiood; and poflefled an uncommon de* 
 of beauty ^nd elegance of forrrij 
 
 a
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 87 
 
 In her face joined to the moft perfect 
 fymmetry of features was a melting ex* 
 prefiion, fuited to that fenfibility of foul 
 we have mentioned her to be endowed 
 with. In her perfon, rather above the 
 common fize, me exhibited a degree of 
 eafe and gracefulnefs which nature alone 
 had given, and art was not allowed to 
 diminilh. Upon fuch a woman Sindall 
 could not look with indifference ;, and 
 according to his principles of libertinifm^ 
 he had marked her as a prey, which 
 his fituation gave him opportunities of 
 purfuing, and which one day he could 
 not fail to poffefs.. 
 
 In the courfe of his acquaintance he 
 began to difcover, that the foftnefs of 
 Ikr foul" was diftant from fimplicity, and 
 (that much art would be neceffary to 
 Overcome a Tirtue, which the hand o 
 
 a parent
 
 88 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 . 
 a parent had carefully fortified. He 
 
 aflbmed therefore the femblance of thofe 
 tender feelings, which were moft likely 
 to gain the efteem of the daughter, 
 while he talked with that appearance 
 of candour and principle, which he 
 thought necefiary to procure him the 
 confidence of the father. He would fre- 
 quently confefs, with a figh, that his 
 youth had been fometimes unwarily drawn 
 into error; then grafp Annefly's hand, 
 and looking earneftly in his face, beg 
 him to flrengthen by his 'counfel the' 
 good refolutions which he thanked heaven- 
 he had been enabled to make. Upon 
 the whole, he continued to gain fuch a 
 degree of eftimation with - the family, 
 that the young folks fpoke of his feem- 
 ing good qualities with pleafure, and 
 their father mentioned his fuppofed foi- 
 bles with regret. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 89 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Young Annejly goes to Oxford The Friend* 
 Jhip of Sindall Its Conferences. 
 
 T T P O N its being determined that 
 young Annefly mould go to Oxford, 
 ' Sir Thomas Ihovved him remarkable kind- 
 nels and attention, He conducted him 
 thither in his own carriage; and as his 
 kinfman, to whofe charge he was com* 
 mitted, happened accidentally to be for 
 fome time unable to ailign him an apart- 
 ment in his houfe, Sindall quitted his 
 own lodging to accommodate him. To 
 a young man newly lanched into life, 
 removed from the only fociety he had 
 ever known, to another compofed of 
 Grangers, fuch afllduity of notice could 
 not but be highly pleafing; and in his 
 letters to his father he did not fail to fee 
 
 forth,
 
 .,.-,-. 
 it)O THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 forth, in the ftrongeft manner, the obli- 
 gations he had to fir Thomas. His 
 father, whom years had taught wifdom, 
 but whofe warmth of gratitude they had 
 not diminimed, felt the favour as acutely 
 as his fon ; nor did the forefight of 
 meaner fouls arife in his bread to abat 
 ks acknowledgment, 
 
 The hopes wiiich he had formed of his 
 Billy were not difappointed. He very 
 ibon diftinguimed himfelf in the univer- 
 fity for learning and genius ; and in the 
 correlpondence of his kinfman were re- 
 cited daily instances of the notice which 
 his parts attracted. But his praife was 
 cold in cornparifon with Sindall's ; he 
 wrote to Annefly of his young friend's 
 acquirement and abilities, in a ftrain of 
 cnthufiaftic encomium j and feemed to 
 
 fpcak
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD, 1 
 
 fpeak the language of his own enjoyment, 
 at the applaufe of others which he recited. 
 It was on this fide that Annefly's foul was 
 acceflible, for on this fide lay that pride 
 which is the weaknefs of all. On this} 
 fide did Sindall overcome it. 
 
 From thofe very qualities alfo which 
 he applauded in the fon, he derived the 
 temptation with which he meant to fe- 
 duce him ; for fuch was the plan of ex-' 
 quifite mifchief he had formed j befides 
 the common defire of depravity to make 
 profelytes from innocence, he confidered 
 the virtue of the brother as that ftructure 
 on the ruin of which he was to accomplifh 
 the conqueft of the filter's. He intro- 
 duced him therefore into the company of 
 fome of the moil artful of his own afib- 
 ciates, who loudly echoed the praifes he 
 
 lavished
 
 92 TJTE MAN OF THE WOR. 
 
 lavifhed on his friend, and mowed, or 
 pretended to (how, that value for his ac- 
 quaintance, which was the ftrongeft re- 
 
 t 
 commendation pofiible of their own. The 
 
 diffidence which Annefly's youth and in- 
 experience had at firft laid upon his mind, 
 they removed by the encouragement which 
 their approbatiorrof his opinions bedewed; 
 and he found himfelf endebted to them 
 both for an eafe of delivering his fenti- 
 ments, and the reputation which their 
 fuflfrages conferred upon them. 
 
 For all this, however, they expe<5led a< 
 return ; and Annefly had not fortitude to 
 deny it an indulgence for fome trivial 
 irregularities which they now and then 
 permitted to appear in their converfation. 
 At firft their new acquaintance took no 
 notice of them at all ; he found that he 
 
 could
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 93 
 could not approve, and it would have 
 :hurt him to condemn. By degrees he 
 ;began to allow them his laugh, though 
 his foul was little at eafe under the gaiety 
 .which his features afllmied once or "wice 
 when the majority againfl him appeared 
 to be fmall, he ventured to argue, though 
 with a caution of giving offence, againft 
 fome of the fentiments he heard. Upon 
 thefe occafions Sindall artfully joined him 
 in the argument -, but they were always 
 overcome. He had to deal with men 
 who were fkilled, by a mere act of the 
 memory, in all the fophifms which volup- 
 tuaries have framed to juftify the un- 
 bounded purfuit of pleafure ; and thofe 
 who had not learning enough to argue, 
 had aflurance to laugh. Yet Annefly's 
 conviction was not changed j but the 
 edge of his abhorrence to vice was blunt- 
 ed j
 
 '94 THE MA N OF THE WORLD, 
 ied ; and though his virtue kpt her poft, 
 Ihe found herfelf gall'd in maintaining it. 
 
 It was not till fome time after, that they 
 ventured to folicit his participation of 
 their pleafures ; and it was not till after 
 many felicitations that his innocence was 
 overcome. But the progrefs of their vic- 
 tories was rapid after his firft defeat. And 
 he fhortly attained the flation of expe- 
 rienced vice, and began to aflame a fupe- 
 riority from the undauntednefs with which 
 he practifed it. 
 
 But it was necefiary, the while, to de- 
 ceive that relation under whofe infpection 
 his father had placed him > in truth it was 
 ao very hard matter to deceive him. He 
 was a man of that abftracted difpofition, 
 that is feldom converfant with any thing 
 
 around
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 95 
 
 around it. Simplicity of manners was, in 
 
 him, the effect of an apathy in his confti- 
 
 tution (encreafed by conftant ftudy) that 
 
 was proof againft all violence of pafiion 
 
 or defire ; and he thought, if he thought 
 
 of the matter at all, that all men were like 
 
 liimfelf, whofe indolence could never be 
 
 overcome by the pleafure of purfuit, or 
 
 the joys of attainment. Befides all this, 
 
 Mr. Lumley, that tutor of Sindall's whom 
 
 we have formerly mentioned, was a man 
 
 the beft calculated in the world for lulling 
 
 his fufpicions afleep, if his nature had ever 
 
 allowed them to arife. This man, whofe 
 
 parts were of that pliable kind that eafily 
 
 acquire a fuperficial knowledge of every 
 
 thing, poffefTed the talent of hypocrify as 
 
 deeply as the defire of pleafure ; and 
 
 while in reality he was the moft profligate 
 
 of men, he had that command of paflion, 
 
 which
 
 96 THE MAN O-F TH ; E WORLD. 
 
 which never fuffered it to intrude where 
 he could wiih it concealed ; he preferved 
 in the opinion of Mr. Jephfon, the gravity 
 of a ftudious and contemplative character 
 which was fo congenial to his own : and 
 he. would often rife from a metaphyfical 
 -difcuilion with the old gentleman, leaving 
 Jiim in admiration of the depth of his 
 reading, and the acutenefs of his parts, 
 to join the debauch of Sindall and his dif- 
 folute companions. 
 
 I 
 By his afiiftance therefore Annefly's 
 
 difiipation was effectually fcreened from 
 the notice of his kinfrnan ; Jephfon was 
 even prevailed on by falfe fuggeftions 
 to write to the country continued enco- 
 miums on his fobriety and application to 
 ftudy.s and the father, who waa happy in 
 believing him, enquired no farther. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. Q? 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 A very grofs attempt is made on Annejlfs 
 honour. 
 
 CINDALL having brought the mind 
 of his profelyte to that conformity of 
 fentiment to which he had thus laboured 
 to reduce it, ventured to difcover to him 
 the paffion he had conceived for his filler. 
 The occafion, however, on which he dif- 
 covered it, was fuch a one as he imagined 
 gave him fome title to be liftened to. 
 
 Annefly had an allowance fettled on 
 him by his father, rather in truth above 
 what his circumftances might warrant 
 with propriety -, but as the feelings of the 
 good man's heart were, in every virtuous 
 purpofe, fomewhat beyond the limitations 
 
 VOL. T. F of
 
 98 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 of his fortune, he inclined rather to pinch 
 himfelf, than to flop any channel through 
 which advantage might flow to his fon ; 
 and meant his education and his manners 
 to be in every refped liberal and accom- 
 plifhed. 
 
 But this allowance ill fufficed to gra- 
 tify the extravagance which his late 
 connexion had taught him ; he began 
 very foon to know a want which he had 
 never hitherto experienced : at firft this 
 not only limited his pleafures, but began 
 to check the defire of them, and in fome 
 meafure ferved to awaken that fenfe of 
 contrition, which their rotation had before 
 overcome. But.Sindall took care that he 
 jfhould not be thus left to reflexion ; and 
 as foon as he guefied the caufe, prevented 
 ics continuance by an immediate fupply, 
 
 offered
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLCr. 99 
 
 offered, and indeed urged, with all the 
 open warmth of difinterefted friendfhip. - 
 From being accuftomed to receive, An- 
 nefly at laft overcame the fhame of afking, 
 and applied repeatedly for fums, under 
 the denomination of loans, for the pay- 
 ment of which he could only draw upon 
 contingency. His neceffities were the more 
 frequent, as, amongft other arts of plea- 
 fure which he had lately acquired, that of 
 gaming had not been omitted. 
 
 Having one night loft a fum, confide- 
 rably above what he was able to pay, to a 
 member of their fociety with whom he 
 was in no degree of intimacy, he gave him 
 his note payable the next morning (for 
 this was the regulated limitation of their 
 credit) though he knew that to-morrow 
 would find him as poor as to-night. On 
 F 2 thcfc
 
 . 
 100 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 thefe particular occafions, when his hours 
 would have been fo highly irregular, 
 that they could not efcape the cenfure of 
 Mr. Jephibn, or his family, he ufed "to 
 pretend, that, for the fake of difentangling 
 fome point of fludy with Sindall and his 
 tutor, he had pafled the night with them 
 at their lodgings, and what fmall portion 
 of it was allowed for fleep he did actually 
 fpend there. After this lofs therefore, he 
 accompanied Sindall home, and could not, 
 it may well be fuppofed, conceal from him 
 the fhagreen it occafioned. His friend as 
 nfual advanced him money fordifcharging 
 the debt. Annefly, who never had had 
 occafion to borrow fo much from him 
 Ibcfore, exprefled his forrow at the necef- 
 fity which his honour laid him under, of 
 accepting fo large a fum. Poll ! anfwered 
 Sindall, 'tis but a trifle, and what a man 
 
 muft
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. IOI 
 
 mufl now and then lofe to be thought gen- 
 teelly of. " Yes, if his fortune can afford 
 it," faid the other gloomily. Ay, there's 
 the rub, returned his friend ; that fortune 
 fliould have conflitutedan inequality where 
 nature made none. How juft is the com- 
 plaint of Jaffier, 
 
 Tell me why, good heav'n \ 
 Thou mad'ft me what I am, with all the fpirit 
 Afpiring thoughts and elegant defires, 
 That fill the happieft man ? 
 That fuch fliould be the lot of my friend, 
 I can regret thanks to my better ftars, I 
 can more than regret it. What is the 
 value of this drofs (holding a handful of 
 gold) but to make the fituation of merit 
 level with its defervings ? Yer, believe me, 
 there are wants which riches cannot re- 
 move, defires which fometimes they cannot 
 fatisfy i even at this moment, your feem- 
 ing-happy Sindall, in whole lap fortune 
 F 3 has
 
 1O2 THE MAH OF THE 
 
 has poured her blefiings, has his cares, 
 my Annefly, has his inquietudes, which 
 need the hand of friendlhip to comfort 
 and to footh." 
 
 Annefly, with all the warmth of his 
 nature, infifted on partaking his uneafi- 
 nefs, that if he could not alleviate, he 
 might at leaft condole with his diftrefs. 
 
 Sindall embraced him ; " I know your 
 friendfhip, faid he, and I will put it to 
 the proof. You have a fitter, the lovely, 
 the adorable Harriet ; fhe has robb'd me 
 of that peace which the fmile of fortune 
 : cannot reftore, as her frown had been unabk 
 to take away ! did you know the burnings 
 of this bofom ! but I fpeak unthinkingly 
 what perhaps my delicacy mould not have 
 whifperedj even in the ear of friendfhip. 
 
 Pardon
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. IO3 
 
 Pardon me the ardor of a love like 
 mine may be forgiven fome extrava- 
 gance," 
 
 Annefly's eyes fufficiently teftified his 
 inward fatisfaction at this difcovery, but 
 he recollected the dignity which his fitua- 
 tion required, and replied calmly, " that 
 he pretended no guidance of his filler's 
 inclinations ; that his own gratitude for 
 fir Thomas's favours he had ever loudly 
 declared ; and that he knew his fifter felt 
 enough on his account, to make the intro- 
 duction of her brother's friend a more 
 than ufually favourable one." 
 
 " But my fituation, returned Sindall, 
 is extremely particular ; you have heard 
 my opinions on the fcore of love often de- 
 clared ; and truft me, they are the genuine 
 fentiments of my heart. The trammels 
 F 4 of
 
 104 THE'MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 of form, which the unfeeling cuftom of 
 the world has thrown upon the freedom of 
 mutual affection, are infupportable to that 
 finenefs of foul, to which reftraint and 
 happinefs are terms of oppoiition. Let 
 my miitrefs be my miftrefs ftill, with all the 
 privileges of a wife, without a wife's 
 indifference or a wife's difquiet. My for- 
 tune the property of her and her friends, 
 but that liberty alone referved, which is 
 the ftrongeft bond of the affection flie 
 ihould wifti to poffefs from me." He 
 look'd ftcdfaftly in Annefly's face, which 
 by this time began to aflume every mark 
 of refentment and indignation. He eyed 
 him afcant with an affected fmile: "You 
 fmile, fir," faid Annefly, whofe breath was 
 ftifled hy the fwelling of his heart Sin- 
 dall laugh'd aloud : " I am a wretched 
 hypocrite, faid he, and could contain my- 
 
 felf
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. lOJ 
 
 felf no longer.'* " So you were but in 
 jeft, it feems," replied the other, fettling; 
 his features into a dry compofure. " My 
 dear Annefly, returned he,, had you but 
 feen the countenance this trial of mine, 
 gave you j it would have made a picture- 
 worthy of the gallery of Florence. I 
 wanted to have a perfect idea of fur- 
 prize, indignation,, ftruggling friendfhip^ 
 and fwelling honour, and I think I fuc- 
 ceeded. But I keep you from your reft 
 Good night and he, walked out of 
 the room." 
 
 Annefly had felt too much to be able 
 to refign himfelf fpeedily to reft , he couldi 
 not but think this joke of his friend rather 
 a ferious one ; yet he had feen him feme- 
 times carry this fpecies of wit to a. very 
 extraordinary length .j. but the indelicacy? 
 F o
 
 1O6 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 of the prefent inflance was not to be eafily 
 accounted for he doubted, believed, was 
 angry, and pacified by turns j the remem- 
 brance of his favours arofe ; they arofe at 
 firft in a form that added to the malignity 
 of the offence j then the feries in which 
 they had been beftowed, feem'd to plead 
 on the other fide. At laft, when worn by 
 the fighting of contrary emotions, he 
 look'd forward to the coniequences of 
 a rupture with Sindall ; the pleafures of 
 that fociety of which he was the leader, 
 the habitual tie which it had' got on 
 Annefly's foul, prevail'd ; for he had by 
 this time loft that fatisfaction which was 
 wont to flow from himfclf. He fliut his 
 mind againft the fuggeftions of any fur- 
 ther fufpicion, and, with that winking 
 cowardice, which many miftake for re- 
 folution, was refolved to truft him for 
 
 his
 
 Sindall, on the other hand, difcovered 
 that the youth was not fo entirely at his 
 difpofal as he had imagined him ; and 
 that though he was profelyte enough to be 
 wicked, he muft be led a little farther t& 
 be ufeful, 
 
 
 F 6 CHAP.
 
 IOS THE MAN OF THE WORLD, 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 'Annefy gives farther -proofs of depravity of 
 manners. The effeft it has on his father? 
 and the conferences with regard to his 
 connexion with Sindall. 
 
 npO continue that train of diffipation, 
 in which their pupil had been initiated, 
 was the bufmefs of Sindall and his afTo- 
 ciates. Though they contrived, as we 
 have before mentioned, to efcape the im- 
 mediate notice of Mr. Jephfon, yet the 
 eyes of others could not be fo eafily blind- 
 ed; the behaviour of Annelly began to> 
 be talk'd of for its irregularity, and the 
 more fo, for the change which it had 
 undergone from that fimplicity of man- 
 ners which he had brought with him to 
 Oxford. And fome one, whether from 
 
 regard
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. IOC/ 
 
 regard to him, or what other motive I 
 know not, informed his kinfman of what 
 every one but his kinfman fufpected. 
 
 Upon this information he gave the 
 young man a lecture in the ufual terms 
 of admonition ; but an effort was always 
 painful to him, even where the office was 
 more agreeable than that of reproof. He 
 had recourfe therefore to the afiiltance of 
 his fellow-philofopher Mr. Lumley,whom 
 he informed of the accounts he had re- 
 ceived of Annefly's imprudence, and en- 
 treated to take the proper meafures, from 
 his influence with the young gentleman, 
 to make him fenfible of the impropriety 
 of his paft conduct, and to prevent its 
 continuance for the future. 
 
 Lumley expreffed his furprize at this 
 intelligence, with unparallel'd command 
 
 of
 
 110 THE MAN OF THE WORLI>. 
 
 of features ; regretted the too prevailing 
 diffipation of youth, affected to doubt the 
 truth of the accufation, but promifed at 
 the fame time, to make the proper enquiries 
 into the fad, and take the mod prudent 
 method of preventing a confequence fo 
 dangerous, as that of drawing from- the 
 road of his duty, one whom he believed to 
 be poflefied of fo many good qualities as 
 Mr. Annefly. 
 
 Whether Mr. Lumley employed his 
 talents towards his reformation or degene- 
 racy, it is certain that Annefly's conduct 
 betrayed many marks of the latter -, at 
 taft, in an hour of intoxication, having 
 engaged in a quarrel with one of his com- 
 panions, it produced confequences fo no- 
 torious, that the proctor could not fail to 
 take notice of it -, and that officer of the 
 univerfity having interpofed his authority, 
 
 in
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. IIJ 
 
 in a manner which the humour of An- 
 nefly, inflammable as it then was, could not 
 brook, he broke forth into fome extrava- 
 gances fo perfonally offenfive, that when 
 the matter came to be canvafled, nothing 
 fhort of expulfion was talk'd of as a pu- 
 nifhment for the offence. 
 
 It was then that Mr, Jephfon firft in- 
 formed his father of thofe irregularities 
 which his fon had been guilty of. His 
 father indeed, from the difcontinuance of 
 that gentleman's correfpondence much be- 
 yond the ufual time, had begun to make 
 fome unfavorable conjectures ; but he ac- 
 counted for this negleft from many dif- 
 ferent caufes , and when once his inge- 
 nuity had taken that fide of the argu- 
 ment, it quickly found means to convince 
 him that his kinfman's filence could not 
 be imputed to any fault of his fo-n. * 
 
 It
 
 112 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 It was at the clofe of one of their foli- 
 tary meals that this account of Jephfon's 
 happened to reach Annefly and his- 
 daughter. Harriet never forgot her Billy's 
 health, and flie had now filled her father's 
 glafs to the accuftomed pledge,, when the- 
 fervant brought them a letter with the 
 Oxford mark on it. Read it, my love, 
 faid Annefly, with a fmile, while he be- 
 gan to blame bis fufpicions at the filence 
 of his kinfmaa, Harriet began reading 
 accordingly, but me had fcarcegot through, 
 the firfl fentcnce, when the matter it con- 
 tained rendered her voice inarticulate. 
 Her father took the letter out of her 
 hand, and after perufing it, he put it in 
 his pocket, keeping up a look of compo- 
 fure amidft the anguifli with which his 
 heart was wrung. " Alas ! faid Harriet,, 
 has my brother done ? " he prefs'd 
 
 her
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 11$ 
 
 her involuntarily to his bofom, and it was 
 then that he could not reflrain his tears 
 " Your brother, my love, has forgotten 
 us ; he has forgotten the purity which 
 here is happinefs, and I fear has ill ex- 
 chang'd it for what the world calls plea- 
 fure ; but this is the firft of his wander- 
 ings, and we will endeavour to call him 
 back into the path he has left. Reach 
 me the pen, ink, and paper, my love." 
 <e I will go, faid fhe, fobbing, and pray 
 for him the while." Annefly fat down to 
 write " My deareft boy !" 'twas a 
 movement grown mechanical to his pen 
 he dafht through the words, and a tear 
 fell on the place j ye know not, ye who 
 revel in the wantonnefs df diflipation, and: 
 feoff at the folicitude of parental affec- 
 tion ! ye know not the agony of fuch a 
 
 tear j,
 
 TJTE MAN OF THE WORL-DV 
 
 tear; elfe ye are men, and it were be- 
 yond the depravity of nature. 
 
 It was nor till after more than one 
 blotted fcrawl, that he was able to write, 
 what the man might claim, and the parent 
 fiiou Id approve. The letter which he at 
 laft determined to fend was of the fol- 
 lowing tenor .- 
 
 " My fon, 
 
 " With ang.uim I write what I truft will 
 be read with contrition. I. am not {killed 
 in the language of rebuke, and it was 
 once my pride to have fuch a fon that I 
 needed not to acquire it. If he has not loft 
 the feelings by which the filent forrows 
 of a father's heart are underftood, I mall 
 have no need of words to recal him from 
 that conduct by which they are caufed. 
 In the midft of what he will now term 
 
 pleafure,
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. I j 
 
 pleafure, he may have forgotten the fa- 
 ther and the friend j let this tear, with 
 which my paper is blotted, awaken his 
 remembrance; it is not the firft I have 
 fhed \ but it is the firft which, flowed from 
 my affliction mingled with difgrace. Had 
 I been only weeping for my fon, I fhould 
 have found fome melancholy comfort to 
 fupport me ; while I blufh for him* I have 
 no confolation* 
 
 " But the future is yet left to him and 
 to me -, let the reparation be immediate, as- 
 the wrong was great j that the tongue 
 which fpeaks of your mame maybe ftopt 
 with the information of your amend- 
 ment. " 
 
 He had juft finifhed this letter when 
 Harriet entered the room : " Will my 
 
 dear
 
 Il6 THE MAN OF THE WORLD, 
 dear papa forgive me, faid fhe, if I in 
 clofe a few lines under this cover." 
 " Forgive you, my dear ! it cannot of- 
 fend me." She laid her hand on his let- 
 ter, and look'd as if fhe would have faid 
 fomething more ; he prefs'd her hand in 
 his ; a tear which had juft budded in her 
 eye, now dropp'd to the ground. " You 
 have not been harm to my Billy :" me 
 blufli'd as fhe fpoke ; and her father kifs'd 
 her cheek as it blufh'd. She inclofed thq 
 following note to her brother : 
 
 " Did my deareft Billy but know the 
 forrow which he has given the moft indul- 
 gent of fathers, he could not lefs than his 
 Harriet regret the occafion of it. 
 
 " But things may be reprefented worfe 
 than they really areI am fcufy at fra- 
 ming
 
 " Alas! that you fhould leave this feat 
 of innocent delight ; but men were made 
 for bufile and fociety : yet we might have 
 been happy here together ; there are in 
 other hearts, wifhes which they call am- 
 bition , mine fhrinks at the thought, and 
 would fhelter for ever amidft the fweets 
 of this humble fpot. Would that its 
 partner were here to tafte them! the 
 fhrub-walk, you mark'd out through the 
 little grove, I have been careful to trim in 
 your abfence 'tis wild, melancholy, and 
 thoughtful. It is there that I think moft 
 of my Billy. 
 
 "But
 
 . 
 
 Il8 THE MAN 07 THE WORLD, 
 
 " But at this time, befides his abfence, 
 there is another caufe to allay the plea- 
 fure which the beauties of nature fhould 
 beftow. My dear papa is far from being 
 well. He 'has no fixM complaint; but 
 he looks thin and pale, and his appetite is 
 almoft entirely gone ; yet -he will not let 
 me fay that he ails : oh ! my 'brother ! I 
 dare not think more that way. Would 
 you were here to comfort me ! in the 
 mean time remember your ever affectionate 
 
 HARRIET." 
 
 Annefly was ju'ft about to difpatch 
 thefe letters when he received one ex- 
 prefied .in the moft fympathizing terms 
 from fir Thomas Sindall. That young 
 gentleman, after touching, in the tendered 
 manner, on the pain which a father 
 muft feel from the errors of his children,. 
 
 adminiilered
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 adminiftered the only comfort that was 
 left to adminifter, by reprefenting, that 
 young Annefly's fault had been exag- 
 gerated much beyond the truth, and that 
 it was entirely owing to the effects of a 
 warm temper, accidentally inflamed with 
 liquor, and provoked by fome degree of 
 infolence in the officer to whom the out- 
 rage had been offer'd j he particularly re- 
 gretted that his prefent difpofition towards 
 fobriety, had prevented himfelf from be- 
 ing prefent at that meeting, in which cafe, 
 he faid, he was pretty certain this unlucky 
 affair had never happened ; that,, as it was, 
 the only thing left for his friendship to do, 
 was to amend what it had not lain within 
 ;his power to prevent ; and he begg'd, as a 
 teftimony of the old gentleman's regard, 
 that he might honour him fo far as to 
 commit to him tke care of fetting matters 
 
 to
 
 I2O THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 to rights with regard to the character of 
 his fon, which he hoped to be foon able 
 effectually to reftore. 
 
 The earlieft confolation which a man 
 receives after any calamity is hallowed 
 for ever in his regard, as a benighted 
 traveller carefles the dog whofe barking 
 firft announced him to be near the habita-: 
 tions of men. It was fo with Annefly ; 
 his unfufpec~ling heart overflowed with 
 gratitude towards this friend of, his fon, 
 and he now grew lavim of his confidence 
 towards him, in proportion as he recol- 
 lected having once (in his prefent opinion 
 
 unjuftly) denied it. 
 
 33** V. iira 4 an-'., ^q 01 ;s^ a*. 
 
 He returned therefore an anfwer to 
 
 fir Thomas, with all thole genuine ex- 
 
 prcflions of acknowledgment, which the 
 
 7 honeft
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLI>. 121 
 
 honeft emotions of his foul could dictate ; 
 he accepted, as the greateft obligation, 
 that concern which he took in the welfare 
 of his fon, and chearfully repofed on his 
 care the truft which his friendfhip defired ; 
 and as a proof of it, he inclofed to him 
 the letter he had wrote to William, to be 
 delivered at what time, and enforced in 
 what manner, his prudence ftiould fug- 
 gefL 
 
 VOL. I. G C H A P,
 
 THE MAN Of THE WORLD. 
 
 dCfiH-.A P. XII. 
 
 tfheplan which Sindatt forms for obliterating 
 the fain which the character of his 
 
 friend hadfuffered. 
 miri 6t bstoioni 3.i f n io icr-ij s^ hira 
 
 CIR Thomas did accordingly deliver! 
 this letter of Annefly's to his fon; 
 and as the penitence which the young 
 man there felt for his recent offence, made 
 the affumption of a character of ibbriety 
 proper, he accompanied this paternal re- 
 monftrance with advices of his own, dic- 
 tated alike by friendlhip and prudence. 
 
 They were at this time, indeed, but 
 little neceffary; in the interval between 
 the paroxyfms of pleafure and difllpation, 
 the genuine feelings of his nature had 
 time to arife; and, awakened as t;hey flow 
 
 were
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLt). 1^3 
 
 were by the letters of his father and lifter* 
 their voice was irrefiftible : he kifs'd the 
 fignature of their names a thoufand times, 
 and, weeping on Sindall's neck, impre- 
 cated the wrath of heaven on his own, 
 head, that could thus heap affliction on the 
 age of the beft of parents. 
 
 He exprefs'd at the fame time his in- 
 tention of leaving Oxford, and returning 
 home, as an immediate inftance of his ds- 
 fire of reformation. Sir Thomas, though 
 he gave all the praife to this purpofe 
 which its filial piety deferved, yet doubted 
 the propriety of putting it in execution ; 
 he faid that in the little circles of the 
 country, Annefly's penitence would not 
 fo immediately blot out his offence, but 
 that the weak and the illiberal would fhua 
 the contagion, as it were, of his company-; 
 G 2 antl
 
 v 
 
 124 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 and that he would meet every day with 
 affronts and neglects, which the fmcerity 
 of his repentance ill deferved, and his 
 confcioufnefs of that fmcerity might not 
 eafily brook. He told him, that a young 
 gentleman, a friend of his, who was juft 
 going to fet out on a tour abroad, had but a 
 few days before written to him, defiring his 
 recommendation of fome body, with the 
 manners and education of a gentleman, to 
 accompany him on his travels, and that he 
 believed he could eafily procure that fta- 
 tion for his friend ; which would have the 
 double advantage, of removing him from 
 the obloquy to which the late accident had 
 fubjected him, and of improving him in 
 every refpect, by the opportunity it would 
 give, of obferving the laws, cuftoms, and 
 polity of our neighbours c?n the conti- 
 nent. 
 
 2 While
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 125 
 
 While the depreffion produced by An- 
 nefly's confcioufnefs of his offences re- 
 mained ftrong upon his mind, this pro- 
 pofal met with no very warm reception j 
 but, in proportion as the comfort and en- 
 couragement of his friend prevailed, the 
 ambition, which a man of his age naturally 
 feels to fee fomething of the world, began 
 to fpeak in its behalf; he menticned how- 
 ever the eonfent of his father as an indif- 
 penfable preliminary. This fir Thomas 
 allowed to be juft, and mowing him that 
 confidential letter which the old gentleman 
 had written him, undertook to mention 
 this fcheme for his approbation in th6 
 anfwer he intended making to it. In 
 this too was enclofed his young friend's 
 return to the letters of his father and filler, 
 which were contained in the preceding 
 chapter j full of that contrition which, at 
 G 3 the
 
 12.6 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 the time, he really felt, and of thofe good 
 refolutions which, at the time, he fincerely 
 formed. As to the matter of his going 
 abroad, he only touch'd on it as a plan of 
 fit Thomas Sindall's, whofe friendfhip 
 had dictated the propofal, and whofe 
 judgment of its expediency his own words 
 were to contain. 
 
 His father received it, not without thofe 
 pangs, which the thought of feparation, 
 from a fon, on whom the peace of his 
 foul reded, muft caufe; but he exa- 
 mined it with that impartiality which his 
 wiidom fnggefted irr every thing that 
 concerned his children : " My own fatis- 
 fadion, he would often fay, has for its ob- 
 ject only the few years of a waning life ; 
 the fituation of my children, my hopes 
 would extend to the importance of a 
 
 much
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. I2/ 
 
 much longer period." He held the ba- 
 lance therefore in an even hand ; the ar- 
 guments of Sindall had much of the fpe- 
 eious, as his inducement to ufe them had 
 much of the friendly. The young gentle- 
 man, whom Billy was to accompany, had 
 connexions of fuch weight in the ftate, 
 that the faireft profpects feemed to open 
 from their patronage ; nor could the force 
 of that argument be denied, which fup- 
 pofed conveniency in the change of place 
 to Anne{ly at the prefent, and improve- 
 ment for the future. There were not 
 however wanting fome confiderations of 
 reafon to fide with a parent's tears againft 
 the journey ; but Sindall had anfwers for 
 them all ; and at laft he wrung from him 
 his flow leave, on condition that William 
 fhould return home, for a fingle day, to 
 G 4 bid
 
 128 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 bid the laft farewel to his father and his 
 Harriet. 
 
 -3T" -}.}"') /!?!'* >' ' .-.' ' i "5 ri.'r" ii'/.'i 
 
 Mean time the punifhment of Annefly's 
 late offence in the univerfity was miti- 
 gated by the intereft of Sindall, and the 
 intercefilon of Mr. Jephfon. Expulfion, 
 which had before been infifted on, was 
 changed into a fentence of lefs indignity, 
 to wit, that of being publicly repri- 
 manded by the head of the college to 
 which he belonged; after fubmitting to 
 which, he fet out, accompanied by fir 
 Thomas, to bid adieu to his father's houfe a 
 preparatory to his going abroad. 
 
 His father at meeting touch'd on his late 
 irregularities with that delicacy, of which 
 a good mind cannot diveft itfelf, even 
 amidft the purpofed feverity of reproof: 
 
 and,
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 and, having thus far facrificed to juftice 
 and parental authority, he opened his foul 
 to all that warmth of affection which 
 his Billy had always experienced ; nor 
 was the mind of his fon yet fo per- 
 verted by his former courfe of diffipatioiv, 
 as to be infenfible to that fympathy of 
 feelings which this indulgence mould pro- 
 duce. The tear which: he offered to it 
 was the facrifice of his heart; wrung by 
 the recollection of the paft, and fwelling 
 with the purpofe of the future. 
 
 When the morning of his departure 
 arrived, he flole foftly into his father's 
 chamber, meaning to take leave of him 
 without being feen by his filter, whofe 
 tendernefs of foul could not eafily bear the 
 pangs of a folemn farewel. He found 
 
 his father on his knees. The good 
 
 G 5 man,
 
 130 THE MAN OF THE WORLD, 
 
 man^ rifing with that ferene dignity of af- 
 pefb which thofe facred duties ever con- 
 ferred on him, turned to his fon : " You 
 "go, my boy, faid he, to a diflant land, far 
 from the guidance and protection of your 
 earthly parent ; I was recommending you 
 .to the care of him who is at all times 
 prefent with you : though I am not fu- 
 perrUtious, yet I confefs, I feel fomething 
 about me as if I mould never fee you 
 more , if thefe are my laft words, let them 
 be treafur'd in your remembrance Live 
 as becomes a man, and a chriftian ; live as 
 becomes him who is to live for ever !" 
 
 As he fpoke, his daughter entered the 
 room. " Ah ! my Billy, faid fhe, could 
 you have been fo cruel as to go without 
 feeing your Harriet ? it would have bro- 
 ken my heart ! oh ! I have much to fay 
 
 and
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 131 
 
 .$nd many farewels to take ; yet now me- 
 . thinks I can fay nothing, and fcarce dare 
 bid you farewell*' " My children, in- 
 terrupted her father, in this cabinet 
 is a prefent I have always intended for 
 ach of you ; and this, which is perhaps 
 the laft time we mall meet together, I 
 think the fitteft to bellow them. Here, 
 my Harriet, is a miniature of that angel 
 your mother; imitate her virtues, and be 
 happy Here, my Billy, is its counterpart, 
 a picture of your father , whatever he is, 
 heaven knows his affection to you ; let 
 that endear the memorial, and recommend 
 that conduct to his fon which will make 
 his father's grey hairs go down to the 
 grave in peace ! " Tears were the only an- 
 fwer that either could give. Annefly em- 
 braced hh fon and blefs'd him. Harriet 
 blubber'd on his neck ! Twice he offered 
 G 6 to
 
 132 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 to go, and twice the agony of his fitter 
 pulled him back; at laft Ihe flung her- 
 felf into the arms of her father, who 
 beckoning to fir Thomas Sindall, juft 
 then arrived to carry off his compa- 
 nion, that young gentleman, who was 
 himfelf not a little affected with the fcene, 
 took his friend by the hand, and led him 
 to the carriage that waited them. 
 
 CHAP;
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 133 
 
 CHAP. XIIL 
 
 H<? reaches Londvx, where he remains longer 
 
 than was expefted. The effects of his 
 
 ftay there. 
 
 TN a few days Annefly and his friend the 
 baronet arrived in the metropolis. His 
 father had been informed, that the gentle- 
 man whom he was to accompany in his 
 travels was to meet him in that city, where 
 they propofed to remain only a week 
 or two j for the purpofe of feeing any- 
 thing curious in town, and of fettling 
 fome points of accommodation on their 
 rout through the countries they meant 
 to vifit: an intelligence he confefled 
 rery agreeable to him, becaufe he 
 knew the temptations to which a young 
 
 man
 
 134 THE MAN OF THE WORLD* 
 
 man is expofed by a life of idlenefs x ia 
 London. 
 
 . But, in truth, the intention of fir 
 Thomas Sindall never -was^ that his 
 prefent pupil (if we may fo call him) 
 Ihould travel any farther. The young 
 gentleman, for vvhofe companion he had 
 pretended to engage Annefly, was indeed. 
 to fet out very .foon after on the tour of 
 Europe ; but he had already been pro* 
 yided with a travelling governor, who 
 was to* meet him upon, his arrival at 
 Calais (fad the --air of ;England agreed, ib- 
 jll witk this jgefittefflArt's iconftimtion, that 
 he never rbfs*d ch channel) and who had 
 made the fame journey, feveral times be- 
 fore, with fame Ertglim young men f. 
 great fortunes, whorh he 'had the honour 
 of returning to their native country, with 
 
 the
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 135 
 
 the fame fovereign contempt for it that 
 he himfelf entertained. The purpofe of 
 Sindall was merely to remove the fon to a 
 ftijl greater diftance from his father, and 
 to a fcene where his own plan, of entire 
 converfion, fhould meet with every aid> 
 which the fociety of the idle and the pro- 
 fligate could give it. 
 
 For fome time, however, he found the 
 difpofition of Annefly averfe to his de- 
 figns. The figure of his father venerable 
 in virtue, of his filler lovely in innocence, 
 were imprinted on his mind ; and the va- 
 riety of public places of entertainment, 
 to which fir Thomas conducted him, could 
 not immediately efface the imprefiion. 
 ' 
 
 But as their noveky at firft delighted, 
 their frequency at laft fubdued him ; his 
 
 mind
 
 136 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 mind began to accuftom itfelf to the 
 hurry of thoughtlefs amufement, and to 
 feel a painful vacancy, when the buftle of 
 the fcene was at any time changed for fo- 
 litude- The unreftrained warmth and 
 energy of his temper, yielded up his 
 understanding to the company of fools, 
 and his refolutions of reformation to the 
 fociety of the difiblute, becaufe it caught 
 the fervor of the prefent moment, before 
 reafon could paufe on the difpofal of the 
 next ; and, by the induftry of Sindall, he 
 found, every day, a let of friends^ among 
 whom the moft engaging were always the 
 moft licentious, and joined to every thing 
 which the good deteft, every thing which 
 the unthinking admire. I have often 
 indeed been tempted to imagine, that there 
 is fomething unfortunate, if not blamable, 
 in that harfhnefs and aufterity, which vir- 
 tue
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 137 
 
 tue too often affumes ; and have feen, 
 with regret, fome excellent men, the au- 
 thority of whofc underftanding, and the 
 attraction of whofe wit, might have kept 
 many a deferter under the banners of 
 goodnefs, lofe all that power of fervice, 
 by . the unbending diftance which they 
 kept from the little pleafantries and fweet- 
 nefies of life. This conduct may be fafe, 
 but there is fomething ungenerous and 
 cowardly in it ; to keep their forces, like 
 an over-cautious commander, in faftnefles, 
 and fortified towns, while they fuffer tht 
 enemy to walte and ravage the country. 
 Praife is indeed due to him, who can any 
 way preferve his integrity -, but furely the 
 heart that can retain it, even while it opens 
 to all the warmth of focial feeling, will be 
 an offering more acceptable in the eye of 
 heaven, 
 
 Annefly
 
 -138 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Annefly was diftant from any counfel 
 or example, that might counterbalance 
 the contagious influence of the difiblute 
 fociety, with which his time was now en- 
 grofs'd ; but his fedu&ion was not com- 
 plete, till the better principles', which hi* 
 foul ftill retained, were made acceflary to 
 its accomplifhment. 
 
 Sindall procured a woman infamous 
 enough for his purpofe, t;he caft miflrefe 
 of one of his former companions, whom 
 he tutored to invent a plaufible ftory of 
 diftrefs and misfortune, which he con- 
 trived, in a manner feemihgljr accidental, 
 to have communicated to Annefly. His 
 native companion, and his native warmth, 
 were interested in her furTerings, and her 
 wrongs ; and he applauded hiinfelf for 
 the protection which he afforded her, 
 
 while
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 139 
 
 while flic was the abandoned inftrument 
 of his undoing. After having retained, 
 for fome time, the purity of her guardian 
 and protestor, in an hour of intoxication 
 he ventured to approach her on a loofer 
 footing , and (he had afterwards the ad- 
 drefs to make him believe, that the weak- 
 jiefs of her gratitude had granted to hirrij 
 what to any other her virtue would have 
 refufed , and during the criminal inter, 
 courfe in which he lived with her, fhe 
 continued to maintain a character of af- 
 fection and tendernefs, which might ex-r 
 cufe the guilt of her own conduct, and 
 account for the infatuation of his. 
 
 In this fatal connexion every remem- 
 brance of that weeping home which he 
 had fo lately left, with the refolutions of 
 penitence and reformation, was erafed 
 
 from
 
 140 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 from his mind ; or, if at times it intruded, 
 it came not that gentle gueft, at whofe ap- 
 proach his bofom ufed to be thrilled with 
 reverence and love, but approached in the 
 form of fome ungracious monitor, whofe 
 bufmefs was to banifh pleafure and awaken 
 remorfe j and, therefore, the next amufe- 
 menr, folly, or vice, was called in to his 
 aid to banifh and expel it. As it was 
 fometimes neceffary to write to his father, 
 he fell upon an expedient, even to fave 
 himfelf the pain of thinking fo long, as 
 that purpofe required, on a fubject now 
 grown fo irkfome to him, and employed 
 that woman, in whofe toils he was thus 
 ihamefully entangled, to read the letters 
 he received, and dictate mch anfwers as 
 her cunning could fuggeft, to miilead the 
 judgment of his unfufpecYmg parent. 
 
 All
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 14.! 
 
 All this while Sindall artfully kept fo 
 much aloof, as to preferve, even with the 
 fon, fomething of that character which he 
 had acquired with the father ; he was 
 often abfent from parties of remarkable 
 irregularity, and fometimes ventured a 
 gentle cenfure on his friend for having 
 been led into them. But while he feemed 
 to check their continuance under this 
 cloak of prudence, he encouraged it in 
 the report he made of the voice of others ; 
 for while the fcale of character, for tem- 
 perance, fobriety, and morals, finks on 
 one fide, there is a balance of fame in 
 the mouths of part of the world rifing on 
 the other Annefly could bear to be told 
 of his fpirit, his generofity, and his ho- 
 nour. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 14* THE MAN OF THE \VORLD. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 He feels the dijlre/es of poverty. He is put 
 
 on a wtthod of relieving them. An 
 
 account of its fuccefs. 
 
 manner of life which Annefly 
 now purfued without reftraint, was 
 necefiarily productive of fuch expence as he 
 could very ill afford. But the craft of his 
 female afibciate was not much at a lofs 
 for pretences, to make frequent demands 
 on the generofity of his father. The fame 
 excufes which ferved to account for his 
 ftay in London, in fome meafure apolo- 
 gized for the largenefs of the fums he drew 
 for i if it was necefiary for him to remain 
 there, expence, if not unavoidable, was at 
 
 leaft
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 143 
 
 leaft difficult to be avoided j and for the 
 caufes of his ftay in that city he had only 
 to repeat the accounts, which he daily re- 
 ceived from Sindall, of various accidents 
 which obliged his young friend to poftpone, 
 his intended tour. 
 
 Though in the country there was little 
 opportunity of knowing the town-irregula- 
 rities of Annefly, yet there were not want- 
 ing furmifes of it among fome, of which 
 it is likely his father might have heard 
 enough to alarm him, had he not been 
 at this time in fuch a itate of health as 
 prevented him from much focicty with his 
 neighbours-, a flow aguifh diforder, which 
 followed thofe fymptoms his daughter's 
 letter to her brother had defcribed, having 
 confined him to his chamber almoft con- 
 7 -ftantly
 
 144 T HE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 ftantly from the time of his fon's depar- 
 ture. 
 
 Annefly had ftill fome bluflies left, and 
 when he had pufh'd his father's indul- 
 gence, in the article of fupply, as far as 
 fliame would allow him, he look'd round 
 for fome other fource whence prefent 
 relief might be drawn, without daring to 
 confider how the arrearages of the future 
 fliould be cancelled. Sindall for fome 
 time anfwered his exigences without re- 
 luctance ; but at laft he informed him, as 
 he faid with regret, that he could not from 
 particular circumftances afford him, at 
 that immediate juncture, any greater af- 
 fiftance than a fmall fum, which he then 
 put into Annefly's hands, and which the 
 very next day was fquandered by the pro- 
 digality of his miftrefs. 
 
 The
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 The next morning he rofe without 
 knowing how the wants of the day were 
 to be provided for, and flrolling out into 
 one of his accuftomed walks, gave him- 
 fclf up to all the pangs, which the retro- 
 fpecl: of the paft, and the idea of the pre- 
 fent, fuggefted. But he felt not that con- 
 trition which refults from ingenuous forrow 
 for our offences ; his foul was ruled by 
 that gloomy demon, who looks only to the 
 anguifh. of their punimment, and accufes 
 the hand of providence, for calamity which 
 himfelf has occafioned, 
 
 In this fituation he was met by one of 
 his new-acquired friends, who was walking 
 off the oppreffion of laft night's riot, The 
 melancholy of his countenance was fo eafily 
 obfervable, that it could not efcape the notice 
 of his companion, who rallied him on the 
 
 VOL. I. H ferioufnefs
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORL. 
 
 ferioufnefs of his afpeft", in the cant-phrafe 
 of thofe brutes of our fpecies, who arc 
 profefled enemies to the faculty of think- 
 ing. Though Annefly's pride for a while 
 kept him filent, it was at laft overcome by 
 the other's importunity, and he confefled 
 the defperation of his circumflances to be 
 the caufe of his prefent depreflion. His 
 companion, whofe purfe, as himfelf in- 
 formed Annefly, had been flufhed by the 
 fuccefs of the preceding night, animated by 
 the liberality which aitends fudden good 
 fortune, freelyoffered him the ufe of twenty 
 pieces till, better times fliould enable him 
 to repay them. " But, faid he gaily, it is 
 a fhame for a fellow of your parts to want 
 money, when fortune has provided fo 
 many rich fools for. the harveft of the 
 wife and the induftrious. If you'll allow 
 me to be your conductor this" evening, I 
 " S will
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 147" 
 
 will mow you where, by the traffic of yotfr 
 wits, in a very fhort time you may con- 
 vert thefe twenty guineas into fifty." " At 
 play," replied Annefly coolly. " Ay at 
 play, returned the other, and fair play 
 too : 'tis the only profefilon left for a man 
 of fpirit and honour to purfue : to cheat 
 as a merchant, to quibble as a lawyer, or 
 to cant as a churchman, is confined to fel- 
 lows who have no fire in their compo- 
 fition. Give me but a bold fet, and a fair 
 throw for it, and then for the life of a 
 lord, or the death of a gentleman.'* " I 
 have had but little experience in the pro- 
 fefllon, faid Annefly, and mould but throw 
 away your money." " Never fear, replied 
 the other j do but mark me, and I will 
 enfnre you ; I will fhow you our men ; 
 pigeons, mere pigeons, by Jupiter." 
 
 H 2 It
 
 148 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 it was not for a man in Annefly's fitua- 
 tiqn to balk the promife of fuch a golden 
 opportunity ; they dined together, and 
 afterwards repaired to a gaming houfe, 
 where Annefly's companion introduced 
 him, as a friend of his, juft arrived from 
 the country, to feveral young gentlemen 
 who feemed to be waiting his arrival. 
 ".I promifed you your revenge, faid he>. 
 my dears, and you mail have it ; fome of 
 my friend's Lady-day rents too have ac- 
 companied him to London , if you win, 
 you mail wear them. To bufmefs, to 
 bufmefs." 
 
 In the courfe of their play, Annefly, 
 though but moderately fkilled in. the : 
 game, difcovered that the company, to 
 whom he had been introduced, were in 
 fcality fuch bubbles as his aompanion had 
 
 reprelented
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 149 
 
 reprefented them , after being heated by 
 fome fmall fuccefs in the beginning, they 
 began to bet extravagantly againft every 
 calculation of chances j and in- an hour or 
 two, his afibciate and he had ftripped them 
 of a very confiderable fum, of which his 
 own mare, though much the fmaik'r, was 
 upwards of threefcore guineas. When they 
 left the houfe, he offered his conductor the 
 fum he had lent him, with a profufion of 
 thanks both for the ufe and the improve- 
 ment of it. u No, my boy, faid he, net 
 ;now i your note 'is fufficient: 1 will rather 
 call for it, when I am at a pinch ; you fee 
 now the road to wealth and independance ; 
 you will meet me here to-morrow." He 
 promifed to meet him accordingly. 
 
 They had been but a few minutes HI 
 the room this fecond night, when a gen- 
 ii 3 tleman
 
 JJO .THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 tfernan entered, whom the company faluted 
 
 with the appellation of fquire : the greater 
 - part tif them feem'd to be charmed with 
 .his prfefence ; but the countenance of An- 
 
 nefly's companion fell at his approach ; 
 
 " damn him, faki he, in a whifper to An- 
 , he's a knowing one.'* 
 
 In fome degree indeed he deferved the 
 title : fori he had attained^ from pretty 
 
 . long experience, affifted by natural quick- 
 
 : neis of parts, a confiderable knowlege in 
 the fciencej ;and in ftrokes of genius, at 
 games where genius was required, was ex- 
 celled by few. But after all, he was far 
 
 'from being fuccefsful in the profeflion.; 
 nature intended him- for fomcthing better; 
 and as he fpoiled a wit, an orator, and 
 perhaps a poet, by turning gambler; fo. 
 
 he often fpoijed a gambler by the ambi- 
 
 tion
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 151 
 
 tion, which was not yetentirely quenched, of 
 mining occafionally in all thole characters, 
 And as a companion, he was too pleafing, 
 and too well pleas'd, to keep that cool 
 indifference, which is the characteriftic of 
 him, who Ihould be always pofiefs'd ot 
 himfelf, and cpnfider every other man 
 only as the fpunge from whom he is to 
 fqueeze advantage. 
 
 To the prefent party, however, he was 
 imqueflionably fuperior ; and of courfe in 
 a fhort time began to levy large contribu- 
 tions, not only on the more inexperienced, 
 whom Anneily and his conductor had 
 mark'd for their own booty, but likewife 
 on thefe-two gentlemen themfelves, whofe 
 winnings of the former evening, were now 
 faft dimlniming before the fuperior fkill 
 of this new antagonist. 
 
 II 4 But,
 
 152 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 But, in the midft of his fuccefs, he was in- 
 terrupted by the arrival of another gentle- 
 man, who feem'd alfo to be a well-known 
 character in this temple of fortune, being fa- 
 luted by the familiar name of Black-beard. 
 This man pofleiTed an unmoved equality 
 both of temper and afpecl: j and though in 
 reality he was of no very fuperior abilities, 
 yet had acquired the reputation both of 
 depth and acutenefs, from being always 
 accuftomed to think on his own intereft, 
 and purfuing with the mofl fedulous atten- 
 tion every obje<5t which led to it, unfeduced 
 by one fingle fpark of thofe feelings which 
 
 the world terms Weaknefs. 
 
 ; d 7fo'd TL'-J ilsrb TbI 
 
 In the article of gaming, whidi he had 
 early pitch'd on as the means of advance- 
 ment, he had availed himfelf of that in- 
 duftry, and faturnine complexion, to ac- 
 quire 

 
 THE MAN OF TH WORLD". $53,- 
 
 . 
 quire the mod confummate knowlege of 
 
 its principles, which indeed he had at- 
 tained to a very remarkable degree of per> 
 feftion. 
 
 t 
 Oppofed to this man, even the fkill of 
 
 the hitherto-fuccefsful fquire was unavail- 
 ing; and coniequently he not only flripp'd 
 that gentleman of the gains he had 
 made, but gkaned whatever he had lefc 
 in the purfcs of the inferior members of 
 
 the party, amongft whom Annefly and 
 
 . 
 his aflbciates were reduced to their laft 
 
 guinea. 
 
 This they agreed to fpend together at 
 a tavern in the neighbourhood, where they* 
 curfed fortune, their fpoiler, and them- 
 felves, in all the bitternefs of rage and dif- 
 appointment, Annefly did not feek to 
 H 5 account
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD, 
 
 account for their lofies otherwife than in 
 the real way, ta wit, from the fuperior 
 fkill of their adverfary ; but his com- 
 panion, who often boalted of his own, 
 threw out fome infmuations of foul play 
 and connivance. 
 
 4iiiyj*ru -ttv aiwpl luiitoMl-o nrM-^fe 
 " If I thought that," faid Annefly, 
 
 laying his hand on his fword, while his 
 cheeks burnt wkh indignation." Poh \. 
 replied the other, 'tis in- vain to be -angry i 
 here's damnation to him in a bumper." 
 
 The other did not fail his pledge ; and 
 by a liberal application to the bottle, they 
 fb far overcame their lofles, that Annefly 
 reel'd home, finging a catch, forgetful of 
 the pad, and regardlefs of to-morrow. 
 
 ' -JjiJ 'li'.-] ! 
 
 r. \ : 
 
 CHAP,
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD, Ij-J 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 Another attempt to retrieve bis circumftances, 
 
 the conferences of 'which are fall more 
 
 fatal. 
 
 '"T 1 HOUGH the arrival of to-morrow 
 might be overlook'd, it could not be 
 prevented. It rofe on AnneQy one of the 
 mofl wretched of mankind. Poverty, em- 
 bittered by difgrace, was now approaching 
 him, who knew of no friend to ward off 
 the blow, and had no confolation in him- 
 felf by which it might be lightened : if 
 any thing could add to his prefent diftrefs, 
 it was encreafed by the abfence of Sindall, 
 who was then in the country, and the np- 
 braidings of his female companion, who 
 now exclaimed againft the folly which 
 H 6 hcrfelf
 
 156 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 herfett* had caufed, and the extravagance 
 herfelf had participated. 
 
 About mid-day, his laft night's fellow- 
 fufferer paid him a vifit; their mutual 
 fhagreen at meeting, frqm the recollection 
 of misfortune which it produced, was evi- 
 dent in their countenances ; but it was not 
 a little encreafed, when the other told An- 
 nefly he came to put him in mind of the 
 fum he had advanced him two days be- 
 fore, for which he had now very particu- 
 lar occafion. Annefly anfwered, that he 
 had frankly told him the ftate of his 
 finances at the time of the loan, and ac- 
 cepted it on no condition of fpeedy pay- 
 ment; that he had, that lame evening, 
 .efFered. to repay him when it was in his 
 power, and that he could not but think, 
 the demand ungemkmanlike, at a time 
 
 when
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 157 
 
 when he muft know his utter inability to 
 comply with it. 
 
 " Ungentlemanlike { faid the other ; I 
 don't underftand what you mean fir, by 
 fuch a phrafe ; will you pay me my mo- 
 ney or not ? " " I cannot." " Then, 
 iir, you muft expert me to employ fome 
 gentleman for the recovery of it, who will 
 fpeak to you, perhaps, in a more ungen- 
 tlemanlike ftile than I do.* And, fo fay- 
 ing, he ftung out of the room. 
 
 " Infamous wretch ! " exclaimed An- | 
 nefly, and walk'd about with a hurrkd 
 ftep, gnawing his lip, and muttering curfes 
 on him, and on himfelf. There was 
 another gentleman wanted to fee him be- 
 low flairs. 'Twas a mercer who came 
 to demand payment of fome fineries 
 4 hi ?
 
 158 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 his lady, as he termed her, had purchafed; 
 he was, with difficulty, difmiffed. In a 
 quarter of an hour there was another call 
 s Twas a dun of a taylor for cloaths to 
 himfelf he would take no excufe 
 " Come, faid Annefly, with a look of def- 
 peration, to-morrow morning, and I will 
 pay you." 
 
 iiur<r'V <3i'itf ^0'*^ ufr-un ;;/ -cy'^sj 
 But how? he flared wildly on the 
 ground, then knocked his head againft 
 the wall, and acted all the extravagances 
 of a madman. At laft, with a more fet- 
 tled horror in his eye, he put on his fword, 
 and without knowing whither he mould 
 go, fallied into the ftreet. 
 
 He happened to meet in his way fome 
 of thofe boon companions, with whom his 
 nights of jollity had been fpent > but their 
 
 terms
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 159 
 
 terms of falutation were fo cold and for- 
 bidding, as obvioufly to Ihow that the 
 account of his circumftances had already 
 reached them ; and, with them, he who 
 had every thing to alk, and nothing to 
 beftow, could poffefs no quality attractive 
 of regard. After fantering from itreet 
 to ftreet, and from fquare to fquare, 
 he found himfelf towards the clofe of the 
 day within a few paces of that very ga- 
 ming-houfe where he had been fo unfortu- 
 nate the evening before. A fort of mali- 
 cious curiofity, and fome hope of lie knew 
 not what, tempted him to reenter it. He 
 found much the fame company he had 
 feen the preceding night, with the excep- 
 tion, however, of his former afibciate, and 
 one or two of the younger members of 
 their party whom the fame caufe prevented 
 
 from attending. 
 
 Strolling 
 
 -
 
 l6o 1THE MAN OF THfc WORLD. 
 
 Strolling into another room, he found 
 an inferior fet of gamefters, whofe ftakea 
 were loweFj though their vociferation was 
 infinitely more loud. In the far corner 
 iat a mart, who preferred a compofure of 
 countenance, undifturbed by the clamour 
 and confufion that furrotmded him. After 
 a little obfervation, Annefly difcovered 
 that he was a money-lender, who advanced 
 certain fums at a very exorbitant premium 
 to the perfons engaged in the play. Some 
 of thofe he faw, who could offer no other 
 fecurity fatisfying to this ufurer, procure 
 a few guineas from him, on pawning a 
 watch, a ring, orfome other appendage of 
 former finery. Of fuch he had before di- 
 vefted himfelf for urgent demands, and 
 had nothing fuperfiuous about him but his 
 fword, which he had kept the lateft, artd 
 ( which he now depofitedrin the hands of 
 
 the
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. I 6l 
 
 the old gentleman in the corner, who fur- 
 nifhed him with a couple of pieces upon 
 it, that with them he might once more 
 try his fortune at the table. 
 
 The fuccefs exceeded his expectation .; 
 it was ib rapid that in lefs than an hour 
 he had encreafed his two guineas to forty, 
 with which he determined to retire con- 
 tented i but when he would have redeemed 
 his fwprd,he was informed that the keeper 
 of it had juft gone into the other room, 
 where, as he entered to demand it, he un- 
 fortunately overheard the fame gentleman 
 who had gained his money the former 
 night, offering a bet, to the amount of the 
 furn Annefly then poiTefled, on a caft 
 where he imagined the chance to be much 
 againfi it. Stimulated with the defire of 
 doubling his gajn,. and the fudden provo- 
 cation,
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 cation, as it were, of the offer, he accepted 
 it ; and, in one moment, loft all the fruits 
 of his former good-fortune. :The tran- 
 port of his pafllon could not exprefs itfelf 
 in words ; but taking up one of the dice, 
 with the feeming coolnefs ofexquifite an- 
 gui/h, he fairly bit it in two, and cafting a 
 look of frenzy on his fword, which he was 
 now unable to ranfoin, he rufh'd out of 
 the houfe, uncovered as he was, his hat 
 
 'hanging on a peg in the other apartment. 
 
 ' 
 
 The agitation of his mind was fuch as 
 denied all attention to common things ; 
 and, inftead of taking the direcl: road to 
 his lodgings, he wandered off the ftreet 
 into an obfcure alley, where he had not 
 advanced far, till he was accofted by a 
 fellow, who, in a very peremptory tone, 
 dcfired him to deliver his money, or hfe 
 
 would
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. l$ 
 
 would inftantly blow out his brains, pre- 
 fenting a piftol at lefs than half a yard's 
 liftance. " I can give you nothing, faid 
 Annefly, becaufe I have nothing to give." 
 - " Damn you, return'd the other, do 
 you think I'll be fobb'd off fo; your 
 money, and be damn'd to you, or I'll fend 
 you to hell in a twinkling" advancing 
 his piftol, at the fame time, -within a 
 hand's-breadth of his face. Annefly, at 
 that inilant, ftruck up the muzzle with 
 his arm, and laying hold of the barrel, by 
 a fudden wrench, forced the weapon out 
 of the hands of the villain, who, not 
 chufing to rifk any farther combat, made 
 the beft of his way down the alley,' and 
 left Annefly mafterof his arms. He flood 
 for a moment entranc'd in thought. 
 " Whoever thou art, faid he, I thank 
 thee; by heaven, thou inftructeft and 
 
 jrmeft
 
 164 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 armefl me; this may provide for to-mor- 
 row, or make its provifion unnecefTary.'* 
 He now hied him baek with hurried pace 
 to the mouth of the alley, where in the 
 ,ihade of a jutting wall he could mark un- 
 peycei-ved .the objects on the ftreet. He 
 had flood there but a few feconds, and 
 began already to wavfcr in his purpofe, 
 when he faw come out of the gaming- 
 houfe, which -he had left, the very man 
 who had plundered him of his all. The 
 xichnefs of the prize, with immediate .re- 
 venge, awakened together in his mind ^ 
 and the fufpicion of foul play, which his 
 companion had hinted the night before* 
 gave them a fanction of fomething like 
 juftice : he waited till the chair, in which 
 the gamefter was conveyed, came oppofite 
 to the place where he ftood ; then cover- 
 ing his face with one hand, and afTuming 
 
 a tone
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 165 
 
 a tone different from his natural, he pulled 
 %ut his piftol, and commanded the leading 
 chairman to flop. This effected, he went 
 up to the chair, and the gentleman within : 
 having let down one of the glafics to 
 know the reafon of its ftop, the (lopper 
 clapp'd the piftol to his breaft, and threat- 
 ened him with inftant death, if he did not 
 deliver his money. The other, after fome 
 little hefitation, during which Annefly re- 
 peated his threats, with the moft horrible 
 oaths, drew a purfe of gold from his 
 pocket, which Annefly fnatcht out of his 
 hand, and running down the alley, made 
 his efcape at the other end ; and, after 
 turning through feveral ftreets, in different 
 directions, fo as to elude purfuit, arrived 
 fafely at home with the booty he had 
 taken. 
 
 Meantime
 
 l66 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Meantime the gamefter returned to the 
 houfe he had juft quitted, with the ac- 
 count of his difafter. The whole frater- 
 nity, who could make no allowance for a 
 robber of this fort, were alarmed at the 
 accident-, everyone was bufied in enquiry, 
 and a thoufand queftions were afked about 
 his appearance, his behaviour, and the 
 rout he had taken. The chairmen, who 
 had been fomewhat more pofieffed of 
 themfelves, at the time of the robbery, 
 than their mafter, had remarked ,the cir- 
 cumftance of the robber's wanting his 
 hat : this was no fooner mentioned, thai* 
 a buz ran through the company, that the 
 young gentleman, who had gone off a 
 little while before, had been obferved to 
 be uncovered when he left the houfe; and, 
 upon fearch made, his hat was actually 
 found with his name mark'd on the infide. 
 
 This
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 167 
 
 This was a ground of fufpicion too ftrong 
 to be overlooked : meflengers were dif- 
 patched in queft of the friend who had in- 
 troduced him there the preceding night ; 
 upon his being found, and acquainting 
 them of Annefly's lodgings, proper war- 
 rants were obtained for a fearch. 
 
 When that unfortunate young man ar- 
 rived at home, he was met on the flairs by 
 the lady we have formerly mentioned, 
 who, in terms of bitter reproach, inter- 
 rupted with tears, inveighed againft the 
 cruelty of his neglect, in thus leaving her 
 to pine alone, without even the common 
 comforts of a miferable life. Her cenfure 
 indeed was the more violent, as there was 
 little reafon for its violence ; for (he had 
 that moment difmified at a back-door, a 
 gallant who was more attentive than An- 
 
 nefly.
 
 j'68 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 neflr. He, who could very well allow 
 the grounds of her complaint, only plead- 
 ed neceflity for his excuie ; he could but 
 mutter this apology in imperfect words, 
 for the perturbation of his mind almoft 
 deprived him of the powers of fpeech. 
 Upon her taking notice of this, with 
 much feeming concern for his health, he 
 beckoned her into a chamber, and dafli- 
 ing the purfe on the floor, pointed to it 
 with a look of horror, as an anfwer to her 
 upbraidings. 
 
 <' JoWjO'i 
 
 What have you done for this ? faid 
 fhe, taking it up : He threw himfelf into 
 a chair, without anfwering a word. 
 
 At that moment the officers of juftice, 
 who had loft no time in profecuting their 
 information, entered the houfe j and fome 
 
 of
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 169 
 
 of them, accompanied by an attorney, 
 employed by the gentleman who had been 
 robbed, walked foftly up flairs to the 
 room where Anncfly was, and burfting 
 into it before he could prepare for any 
 defence, laid hold of him in rather a vio- 
 lent manner; which the lawyer obferving, 
 defired them to ufe the gentleman civilly, 
 till he mould afk him a few queftions." 
 " I will anfwer none, faid Anneflyj do 
 your duty." " Then, fir, replied the 
 other, you muft attend us to thofe who 
 can queilion you with better authority; 
 and I muft make bold to fecure this lady, 
 till flie anfwer ibme queftions alfo." The 
 lady faved him the trouble; for being 
 now pretty well fatisfied, that her heroe 
 was at the end of his career, me thought 
 it moft prudent to break off a connexion 
 where nothing was to be gained, and 
 VOL. I. I make
 
 I7O THE MAN OF THE WORLD, 
 make a merit of contributing her endea- 
 vours to bring the offender to juftice. She 
 called, therefore, this leader of the party 
 into another room, and being informed 
 by him that the young gentleman was 
 fufpecied of having committed a robbery 
 fcarce an hour before, fhe pulled out the 
 purfe which fhe had juft received from 
 him, and afked the lawyer, If it was that 
 which had been taken from his client ? 
 " .Ay, that it is, I'll be fworn, faid he; 
 and here (pouring out its contents) is the 
 ring he mentioned at the bottom." 
 " But, faid fhe, paufing a little, it will 
 prove the thing as well without the gui- 
 neas." " I proteft, returned the lawyer, 
 thou art a girl of excellent invention 
 Hum here are fourfcore , one half of 
 them might have been fpent or dropt 
 out by the way, or any thing may be 
 
 fuppofed j
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 fuppofedj and fo we fhall have 
 a-piece. Some folks to be fure would 
 take more, but I love confcience in thofe 
 
 matters." 
 
 - 
 
 Having finished this tranfaction, in fuch 
 
 
 a manner as might give no offence to the 
 
 confcience of this honeft pettifogger, they 
 returned to the prifoner, who contented 
 
 him fell with darting a look of indignation 
 
 
 
 at his female betrayer; and after being 
 fome time in the cuftody of the lawyer 
 and his afliftants, was carried, in the 
 morning, along with her, before a ma- 
 giftrate. The feveral circumftances I 
 have related being fworn to, Annefly was 
 committed to Newgate, and the gamefter 
 bound o\ T er to profecute him at the next 
 
 feflions, which were not then very diftant. 
 
 
 
 I 2 CHAP.
 
 172 THE MAN OF THE WORLB. 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 miferies of him, wbofe $uw/bmmt is 
 in/lifted by conscience. 
 
 rp H O U G H Annefly muft have fuf- 
 fered much during the agitation of 
 thefe proceedings, yet that was little 
 to what he felt, when left to reflexion, 
 in the folitude of his new abode. Let 
 the virtuous remember, amidft their afflic- 
 tions, that though the heart of the good 
 man may bleed even to death, it will 
 never feel a torment equal to the rend- 
 ings of remorfe, 
 
 For fome time, the whirling of his 
 brain gave him .no leifure to exercife any 
 faculty that could be termed thinking ; 
 
 when
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 173 
 
 when that fort of delirium fubfided, it 
 left him only to make room for more ex- 
 quifite, though lefs turbulent, anguifh. 
 
 After he had vifited every corner of 
 refource, and found them all dark and 
 comfortlefs, he ftarted at laft from that 
 poflure of defpair in which he fat, and 
 turning the glare of his eye intently up- 
 wards : 
 
 " Take back, faid he, thou Power 
 that gaveft me being ! take back that 
 life which thou didft breathe into me for 
 the bed of purpofes, but which I have 
 profaned by actions, equally mifchievous 
 to thy government, and ignominious to 
 myfelf. The paflions which thou didft 
 implant in me, that reafon which fhould 
 balance them, is unable to withstand ; 
 I 3 from
 
 J74 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 &om one only I receive ufeful admoni- 
 tion ; the fhame that could not prevent, 
 now punifhes my crimes. Her voice for 
 once I will obey , and leave a ftate, in 
 which, if I remain, I continue a blot to 
 
 nature, and an enemy to man." 
 
 .':.: j rro'it fhf ji; -i^r.v'; u 1 ,iY.;i:;..;fi.-nix) 
 
 He drew a penknife, now his only 
 weapon, from its fheath he bared his 
 bofom for the horrid deed when the 
 picture of his father, which the good man 
 had beftowed on him at parting, and he 
 had worn ever fince in his bofom, ftruck 
 his eye (It was drawn in the mildnefs of 
 holy meditation, with the hands folded 
 together, and the eyes lifted to heaven) 
 
 Merciful God!'* faid Annefly he 
 
 would have uttered a prayer ; but his foul 
 was wound up to a pitch that could but 
 one way be let down he flung himfelf 
 
 on
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 175 
 
 on the ground, and burft into an agony 
 of tears. 
 
 The door of his apartment opening, 
 difcovered the jailor, followed by fir Tho- 
 mas Sindall " My friend in this place !" 
 faid he, to Annefly, who covered his 
 face with his hands, and replied only by 
 a groan. 
 
 Sindall made figns for the keeper of 
 the prifon to leave them 5 " Come, faid 
 he, my dear Annefly, be not fo entirely 
 overcome ; I flatter myfelf, you know my 
 friendfhip too well, to fuppofe that it will 
 defert you even here. I may, perhaps, 
 have opportunities of comforting you in 
 many ways , at leaft I mail feel and pity 
 your diftrefies." " Leave me, anfwered 
 the other, leave me ; I deferve no pity, 
 and methinks there is a pride in refufing 
 I 4 * "
 
 176 THE MAN OF THE WORLD, 
 it." " You muft not fay fo ; my love 
 has much to plead for you j nor are you 
 without excufe even to the world." " Oh ! 
 Sindall, faid he, I am without excufe to 
 myfelf ! when I look back to that peace 
 of mind, to that happinefs I have fquan- 
 dered ! I will not curfe, but Oh ! 
 Fool, fool, fool !" " I would not, faid 
 fir Thomas, encreafe that anguifh which 
 you feel, were I not obliged to mention 
 the name of your father.'* " My father ! 
 cried Annefly ; O hide me from my 
 father!" Alas! replied Sindall, he 
 muft hear of your difafter from other 
 hands ; and it were cruel not to acquaint 
 him of it in a way that mould wound him 
 the leaft." Annefly gazed with a look of 
 entrancement on his picture : " Great 
 God! faid he, for what haft thou referved 
 me ? Sindall, do what thou wilt think 
 
 not
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 177 
 
 not of fuch a wretch as I am ; but miti- 
 gate, if thou canft, the forrows of a fa- 
 ther, the purity of whofe bofom muft 
 bleed for the vices of mine." " Fear not, 
 returned fir Thomas ; I hope all will be 
 better than you imagine. It grows late, 
 and I muft leave you now ; but promife 
 me to be more compofed for the future. 
 I will fee you again early to-morrow ; nor 
 will I let a moment efcape, that can- 
 be improved to your fervice." " I muft 
 think, faid Annefly, and therefore I muft 
 feel; but I will often remember your 
 friendship, and my gratitude mall be fome 
 little merit left in me to look upon with- 
 out blufhing.'* 
 
 Sindall bade him farewel, and retired ; 
 
 and at that inftant he was lefs a villain 
 
 than he ufed to be. The ftate of horror 
 
 I 5 w
 
 178 THE MAN OF THE WORLD* 
 
 to which he faw this young man reduced, 
 was beyond the limits of his fcheme ; and 
 he began to look upon the vidim of his 
 defigns, with that pity which depravity 
 can feel, and that remorfe which it can* 
 not overcome. 
 
 C H A P.
 
 THE MAN OP THE WORLD 
 
 CHAP. XVIL 
 
 His father is acquainted with Anmjlfsjitu~ 
 
 ction. His behaviour in conference 
 
 of it* 
 
 *TpH AT letter to old Annefly,. which 
 Sindall had undertaken to write,, he 
 found a more difficult tafk than at firft he 
 imagined. The folicitude of his friend- 
 fiiip might have been eafily exprejfied ons 
 more common occafions, and hypocrify? 
 to him was ufually no unpleafrng garb * 
 but at this crifis of Annefly's fate y there 
 were feelings he could not fuppreis ;. and 
 he blumed to himfelf, amidft die prote- 
 ftations of concern and regard, with v/hick 
 this account of his misfortune (as he term- 
 ed it) was accompanied^
 
 l8o THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Palliated, as it was, with all the art of 
 fir Thomas, it may be eafily conceived 
 what effect it muft have on the mind of a 
 father; a father at this time labouring 
 under the preffure of difeafe, and confined 
 to a fick-bed, whofe intervals of thought 
 were now to be pointed to the mifery, the 
 difgrace, perhaps the difgraceful death, 
 of a darling child. His Harriet, after 
 the firft fhock which the dreadful tidings 
 had given her, fat by him, ftifling the 
 terrors of her gentle foul, and fpeaking 
 comfort when her tears would let her. 
 
 His grief was aggravated, from the 
 confideration of being at prefent unable 
 to attend a fon, whofe calamities, though 
 of his own procuring, called fo loudly for 
 
 fupport and afliftance. 
 
 .l-t'' 
 
 Unworthy
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. l8j 
 
 " Unworthy as your brother is, my 
 Harriet, faid he, he is my fon and your 
 brother ftill ; and muft he languilh amid 
 the horrors of a prifon, without a parent 
 or a fitter to leflen them ? The prayers 
 which I can put up from this fick-bed arc 
 all the aid I can adminifter to him ; but 
 your prefence might footh his anguifh, 
 and alleviate his fufferings ; with regard 
 to this life, perhaps -Do not weep, my 
 love Nay, you might lead him to a re- 
 conciliation with that Being whofe fen- 
 tence governs eternity ! Would it frighten 
 my Harriet to vifit a dungeon ?" " Could 
 I leave my deareft father, faid fhe, no 
 place could frighten me where my poor 
 
 Billy is. " " Then you mail go, my 
 
 child, and I mail be the better for think- 
 ing that you are with him : tell him, 
 though he has wrung my heart, it has not 
 
 forgotten
 
 J&2 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 forgotten him. That he fhould have for- 
 gotten me, is littles let him but now 
 remember, that there is another father, 
 whofe pardon is mor^ momentous/* 
 
 Harriet having therefore entrufted her 
 father to the friendfhip of Mrs. Wiftanly, 
 fet out, accompanied by a niece of that 
 gentlewoman's, who had been on a vifit 
 to her aunt, for the metropolis, where 
 flie arrived a few days before that which 
 was appointed for the trial of her unhappy 
 brother* 
 
 Though it was late in the evening when 
 they reached London, yet Harriet's im- 
 patience would not fuffer her to fleep till 
 fhe had feen the poor prifoner ; and, not- 
 withftanding the remonftrances of her 
 companion,, to wjiom her aunt had recom- 
 mended
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 185 
 
 mended the tendereft concern about her 
 young friend, fhe called a hackney-coach 
 immediately, to convey her to the place 
 in which Annefly was confined ; and her 
 fellow-traveller, when her diffuafions to 
 going had failed, very obligingly offered 
 to accompany her. 
 
 They were conducted, by the turnkey, 
 through a gloomy pafTage, to the wretch- 
 ed apartment which Annefly occupied : 
 they found him fitting at a little table on 
 which he leaned, wkh his hands covering 
 his face. When they entered, he did not 
 change his pofture j but on the turnkey's 
 fpeaking > for his fitter was unable to 
 fpeak, he ftarted up, and exhibited a 
 countenance pale and haggard, his eyes 
 blood-mot, and his hair difhevelled. On 
 difcovering his fitter, a blulh crofied his 
 7 cheek.
 
 184 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 cheek, and the horror of his afpect was 
 loft in fomething milder and more pite- 
 ous " Oh ! my Billy !" Ihe cried, and 
 Iprung forward to embrace him : " This 
 is too much, faid he ; leave, and forget a 
 wretch unworthy the name of thy bro- 
 ther.'* " Would my Billy kill me quite ? 
 this frightful place has almoft killed me 
 already ! Alas ! Billy, my deareft father !" 
 " Oh ! Harriet, that name, that name ! 
 fpeak not of my father !" " Ah ! faid me, 
 if you knew his goodnefs ; he fent me to 
 comfort and fupport my brother ; he fent 
 me from himfelf, ftretched on a fick-bed, 
 where his Harriet mould have tended 
 him."" Oh ! curfed, curfed !" "Nay, 
 do not curfe, my Billy, he fends you 
 none ; his prayers, his bleffings rife for 
 you to heaven ; his forgivenefs he bade 
 me convey you, and tell you to feek that 
 
 of
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 185 
 
 of the father of all goodnefs !" His filler's 
 hands were clafped in his *, he lifted both 
 together : " If thou canft hear me, faid 
 he, I dare not pray for myfelf ; but fpare 
 a father whom my crimes have made mi- 
 ferable; let me abide the wrath I have 
 deferved, but weigh not down his age for 
 my offences ; punifh it not with the re- 
 membrance of me !" He fell on his fitter's 
 neck, and they mingled their tears ; nor 
 could the young lady who attended Har- 
 riet, or even the jailor himfelf, help ac- 
 companying them ; this laft, however, 
 recovered himfelf rather fooner than the 
 other, and reminded them that it was 
 late, and that he muft lock up for the 
 night. " Good night then, my Harriet," 
 faid Annefly. " And muft we feparate? 
 anfwered his fifler-, could I not fit and 
 fupport that diffracted head, and clofe 
 
 thofe
 
 j86 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 thofe haggard eyes ?" " Let me entreat 
 you, returned her brother, to leave me, 
 and compofe yourfelf after the fatigues of 
 your journey, and the perturbation of your 
 mind. I feel myfelf comforted and re- 
 fremed by the fight of my Harriet : I will 
 try to fleep myfelf, which I have not done 
 thefe four gloomy nights, unlefs, perhaps 
 for a few moments, when the torture of 
 my dreams made waking a deliverance* 
 Good night, my deareft Harriet." She 
 could not fay, good night j but me weptj 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 187 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 His ftfter pays him another <vifit. A de* 
 fcription of what paffed in the prifon. 
 
 TT was late before Harriet could think 
 even of going to bed, and later be- 
 fore her mind could be quieted enough to 
 allow her any fleep. But nature was at 
 laft worn out; and the fatigue of her 
 journey, together with the conflict of her 
 foul in the vifit fhe had juft made, had fo 
 exhaufted her, that it was towards 'noon 
 next day before fhe awaked. After hav- 
 ing chid herfelf for her neglect, fhe hur- 
 ried away to her much-loved brother, 
 whom fhe found attended by that baro- 
 net, to whofe good offices I have had fo 
 
 frequent
 
 <:, 
 
 l88 THE MAN OF THE WORLD, 
 
 frequent occafion to Ihow him endebted 
 in the courfe of my ftory. 
 
 At fight of him, her cheek was fluihed 
 with the mingled glow of fhame for her 
 brother, and gratitude towards his bene- 
 factor. He advanced to falute her*, when, 
 with the tears ftarting into her eyes, (he 
 fell on her knees before him, and poured 
 forth a prayer of blefiings on his head. 
 There could not perhaps be a figure more 
 lovely, or more ftriking, than that which 
 
 fhe then exhibited. The luftre of her eyes, 
 , 
 heightened by thofe tears with which the 
 
 overflowing of her heart fupplied them ; 
 the glow of her complexion, animated 
 with the fuffufion of tendernefs and gra- 
 titude j thefe, joined to the eafy negli- 
 gence of her dark-brown locks, that 
 waved in ringlets on her panting bofom, 
 
 made
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. l8(> 
 
 made altogether fuch an aflemblage as 
 beauty is a word too weak for. So for- 
 cibly indeed was Sindall ftruck with it, 
 that fome little time paft before he 
 thought of lifting her from the ground ; 
 he looked indeed his very foul at every 
 glance , but it was a foul unworthy of 
 the object on which he gazed, brutal, un- 
 feeling and inhuman ; he confidered her, 
 at that moment, as already within the 
 reach of his machinations, and ffcafted the 
 grofihefs of his fancy with the antici- 
 pation of her undoing, 
 
 And here let me paufe a little, to con- 
 fider that account of pleafure which the 
 votaries of voluptuoufnefs have frequently 
 Hated. I allow for all the delight which 
 Sindall could experience for the prefent, 
 or hope to experience in the future. I 
 
 confider
 
 IQO THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 confider it abflracted from its confequen- 
 ces, and I will venture to affirm, that 
 there is a truer, a more exquifite volup- 
 tuary than he. -Had virtue been now 
 looking on the figure of beauty, and of 
 innocence, I have attempted to draw. I 
 fee the purpofe of benevolence beaming 
 in his eye! Its throb is fwelling in his 
 heart! He clafps her to his bofom; - 
 he kifies the falling drops from her 
 cheek; he weeps with her; and the 
 luxury of his tears ! baffles defcription. 
 
 But whatever were fir Thomas's fen- 
 fations at the fight of Harriet, they were 
 interrupted by the jailor, who now en- 
 tered the room, and informed him that a 
 
 _ 
 
 gentleman without was earned to fpeak 
 with him. " Who can it be ?" faid fir 
 Thomas, fomewhat peevilhly. * If I am 
 
 not 
 

 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 not miftaken, replied the jailor, it is a 
 gentleman of the name of Camplin, a 
 lawyer, whom I have feen here with fome 
 of the prifoners before.' " This is he 
 of whom I talked to you, my dear Annefly, 
 faid the baronet ; let me introduce him to 
 you." I have taken my refolution, re- 
 turned Annefly, and mall have no need 
 of lawyers for my defence.' " It muft 
 not be," rejoined the other ; and going 
 out of the room, he prefentl^ returned 
 with Mr. Camplin. All this while Har- 
 riet's looks betrayed the ftrongeft fymp- 
 toms of terror and perplexity ; and when 
 the ftranger appeared, me drew nearer 
 and nearer to her brother, with an invo- 
 luntary fort of motion, till me had twined 
 his arm into hers, and placed herfelf be- 
 tween him and Camplin. This laft ob- 
 ferved her tears ; for indeed me bent her 
 
 eyes
 
 192 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 eyes molt fixedly upon him, and making 
 her a bow, " Be not afraid, mifs, faid he, 
 here are none but friends ; I learn, fir, 
 that your day is now very near, and that 
 it is time to be thinking of the bufmefs of 
 it." Good heavens ! cried Harriet, what 
 day ? " Make yourfelf eafy, madam, con- 
 tinued Camplin, being the firft trip, I 
 hope he may fall foft for this time ; I be- 
 lieve no body doubts my abilities : I have 
 faved many a brave man from the gal- 
 lows, whofe cafe was more defperate than 
 I take this young gentleman's to be." 
 The colour, which had been varying on 
 her cheek during this fpeech, now left it 
 for a dead pale ; and turning her languid 
 eyes upon her brother, me fell motionlefs 
 into his arms. He fupported her to a 
 chair that flood near him, and darting 
 an indignant look at the lawyer, begged 
 
 of 
 3
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 193 
 
 of the jailor to procure her fome imme- 
 diate affiftance. Sindall, who was kneel- 
 ing on the other fide of her, ordered 
 Camplin, who was advancing to make 
 offer of his fervices too, to be gone, and 
 fend them the firft furgeon he could find. 
 A furgeon indeed had been already pro- 
 cured, who officiated in the prifon, for the 
 bell of all rcafons, becaufe he was not at 
 liberty to leave it. The jailor now made 
 his appearance, with a bottle of wine in 
 one hand, and fome water in the other j 
 followed by a tall, meagre, ragged figure, 
 who ftriding up to Harriet, applied a 
 fmall vial of volatile fait to her nofe, and 
 charing her temples, foon brought her to 
 fenfe and life again. Annefly prefllng her 
 to his bofom, begged her to recolleil hcr- 
 felf and forget her tears. " Pardon this 
 weaknefs, my dear Billy, faid me, I will 
 VOL. I. K try
 
 194- THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 try to overcome it ; is that horrid man 
 gone ? who is this gentleman ?" " I have 
 the honour to be a doctor of phyfic, 
 madam, faid he, clapping at the fame 
 time his greafy ringers to her pulfe. Here 
 is a fulnefs that calls for venefeftion." So 
 without lofs t)f time he pulled out a cafe 
 of lancets covered with ruft, and fpotted 
 -with the blood of former patients. " Oh J 
 for heaven's fake, no bleeding, cried Har- 
 riet, indeed there is no occafion for it-.*" 
 *' How, no occafion ! txclaimed the other ; 
 I have hfard indeed fome ignorants con- 
 demn phlebotomy in fuch cafes , but it 
 is my prafticCj and I am 'very well able 
 <te> defend it.~It will be allowed that in 
 plethoric habits" c Spare your demon- 
 ftration, interrupted Annefly, and think 
 of your patient.' " You fhall not blood 
 me, laid fiie ; you fhall not indeed, fir !" 
 
 *' Nay,
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 195 
 
 " Nay, madam, faid he, as you pleaie ; 
 you are to know that the operation itfelf 
 is no part of my profeifion ; it is only 
 " propter necefiitatem," for want of chi- 
 rurgical practitioners, that I fometimes con-- 
 defcend to it in this place." Sir Thomas 
 gave him a hint to leave them, and at 
 the fame time flipped a guinea into his 
 hand. He immediately retired, looking 
 at the unufual appearance of the gold 
 with fo much tranfport, that he .might 
 pofilbly have as much .occafion for bleed- 
 ing at that moment, as the patient for 
 whom he had juft prefcribed it. 
 
 Annefly, aflifted by his friend, ufed every 
 pofiible argument to comfort and fupport 
 his fitter. His concern for her had in- 
 deed banifhed for a while the confideration 
 of his -own ftate 5 and when he came to 
 K 2 think
 
 196 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 think of that folemn day, on which the 
 trial for his life was appointed, his con- 
 cern was more interefted for its effect on 
 
 his Harriet, than for that it fhould have 
 HSLxj !''- : - ' ! ~4. 
 
 on himfelf. 
 
 ; - . j t L\ y. '"! 
 
 After they had pafled great part of the 
 day together, fir Thomas obferved, that 
 Mifs Annefly's prefent lodgings (in the 
 houfe of her fellow-traveller's father) 
 were fo diftant, as to occafion much in- 
 convenience to her in her vifits to her 
 brother; an dvery kindly made offer of en- 
 deavouring to procure her others but a 
 few ftreets off, under the roof of a gen- 
 tlewoman, he faid, an officer's widow of 
 his acquaintance, who, if me had any 
 apartment unoccupied at the time, he 
 knew would be as attentive to Mifs An- 
 nefly as if me were a daughter of her own. 
 
 This
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 197 
 
 This propofal was readily accepted, and 
 fir Thomas having gone upon the enquiry, 
 returned in the evening with an account 
 of his having fucceeded in procuring the 
 lodgings ; that he had taken the liberty 
 to call and fetch Mifs Annefly's baggage 
 from thofe fhe had formerly occupied, 
 and that every thing was ready at Mrs. 
 Eldridge's (that was the widow's name) 
 for her reception. After fupper he con- 
 dueled her thither accordingly. 
 
 As he was going out, Annefly whif- 
 pered him to return for a few minutes 
 after he had fet down his fitter, as he had 
 fomething particular to communicate to 
 him. When he came back, " You have 
 heard, I fancy, fir Thomas, faid he, that 
 the next day but one is the day of my 
 trial. As to myfelf, I wait it with refig- 
 K 3 nation>
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD, 
 
 nation, and fliall not give any trouble to 
 my country by a falfe defence ; but I 
 tremble for my fitters knowing it. Could 
 we not contrive fome method of keeping 
 her in ignorance of its appointment till 
 it be over, and then prepare her for the 
 event without fubjecling her to the tor- 
 tures of anxiety and fufpence ?" Sindall 
 agreed in the propriety of the latter pat 
 of his fcheme, and they refolved to keep 
 his fitter that day at home, on pretence 
 of a meeting in the prifon between the 
 lawyers of Annefly, and thofe of his pro- 
 fecutor. But he warmly infifted, that 
 Annefly mould accept the fervices of 
 Camplin towards conducting the caufe on 
 his part. " Endeavour not to perfuade 
 me, my friend, faid Annefly ^ for I now 
 reft fatisfied with my determination. I 
 I thank
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD, 199 
 
 thank heaven which has enabled me to 
 rely on its goodnefs, and meet my fate 
 with the full pofleffion of myfelf. I will - 
 not difdain the mercy which my country 
 may think I merit ; but I will not en- 
 tangle myfelf in chicane and infmcerity to- 
 avoid her juftice." 
 
 X" 
 
 . 
 K 4 CHAP.
 
 20O THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 JW-*m b9id*<! :4f:ti *.<: 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 be fate of Annejly determined. SindalPs 
 friend/kip, and the gratitude of Harriet. 
 
 remarkable happened till that 
 day when the fate of Annefly was 
 to be determined by the laws of his coun- 
 try. The project formed by Sindall and 
 himfelf, for keeping his fitter ignorant of 
 its importance, fucceeded to their wifh ; 
 me fpent it at home, comforting herfelf 
 with the hope, that the meeting me un- 
 derftood to be held on it, might turn out 
 advantageoufly for her brother, and footh'd 
 by the kindnefs of her landlady, who had 
 indeed fully anfwered fir Thomas's ex- 
 pectations in the attention me had mown 
 her. 
 
 Mean
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. SOI 
 
 Meanwhile her unfortunate brother was 
 brought to the bar, indicted for the rob- 
 bery committed on the gamefter. When 
 he was afked, in the cuftomary manner,, to 
 plead, he flood up, and addrefling him- 
 ielf to the judge. 
 
 " I am now, my lord, faid he, in a 
 fituation of all others the mod folemn. I 
 ftand in the prefence of God and my coun- 
 try, and I am called to confefs or deny 
 that crime for which I have incurred the 
 judgment of both. If I have offended, 
 my lord, I am not yet an obdurate offen- 
 der ; I fly not to the fubterfuge of vil- 
 lany, though I have fallen from the dig- 
 nity of innocence ; and I will not fcreen 
 a life which my crimes have difgraced, 
 by a coward lie to prevent their detection. 
 I plead guilty, my lord, and await the 
 K 5 judgment
 
 2G2 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 judgment of that law, which though I 
 have violated, I have not forgotten to 
 vere" 
 
 . i;:iira p$Hi$fif,:2 x>' iii :.-->" ; e.w &d 
 When he ended* a eonfufed murmur 
 
 ran through the court, and for fome time 
 Itopt the judge in* his reply-. Silence ol> 
 tained, that upright magiiibatei worthy 
 the tribunal of E&gknd*. %okc to.thb 
 
 " I am fincerel^fo^y, young* gentle- 
 mac, to lee one of ypur %uie af fKi^, b4jr,/ 
 eharged wi.tb a ^r-ime fop -which die public. 
 lafety has been obliged to award an ex- 
 emplary punilhment.. Much as 1 admire. 
 the heroifrn of your con-fefiion, I; will not 
 lurTtr- advantage to be taken of it to your 
 ^reju^ice-j refled: on the confequences o 
 a pica of guilt, which takes from you all? 
 
 opportunity-
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 opportunity of a legal defence, and fpeak . 
 again, as your owa difcretion, or your 
 friends, may beft,advife you," " I hum- 
 bly thank your, lordfhip, faid Annefly, 
 for the candour and indulgence which 
 you mow me ; but rhaveJpoken the truth, 
 and will not allow myfelf to think of re- 
 tracling it." " I am here, returned his 
 lordfhip, as. the difpenfer of juftice, and 
 I'have nothing but juftice to give ; thej 
 province of mercy is in other, hands ; if, 
 upon enquiry, the cafe, is circumftanced as.. 
 I.wifh it to be, my recommendation ihaU. 
 not be wanting to enforce an, application 
 there." A nnefly was then convicted off 
 the robbery, and the fentence of; the law. : 
 pafTed upon him. 
 
 But. the, judge, before whom he was 
 
 tried, was not unmindful of his promife ; 
 
 K 6. and.
 
 2O4 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 and having fatisfied himfelf, that, though 
 guihy in this inftance, he was not habi- 
 tually flagitious, he affifted fo warmly the 
 applications which through the intereft of 
 Sindall (for Sindall was in this fmcere) 
 were made in his behalf, that a pardon 
 was obtained for him, on the condition- 
 of his fuffering tranfportation for the term 
 of fourteen years. 
 
 This alleviation of his punimment was- 
 procured, before his fitter was fuffered to 
 know that his trial had ever come on, or 
 what had been its event. When his fate 
 was by this means determined, Sindall 
 undertook to inftruct the lady in whofe 
 houfe he had placed her, that Mifs An- 
 nefly mould be acquainted with the cir- 
 cumftances -of it in fuch a manner, as 
 might leaft difcompofe that delicacy and 
 
 tendernefs
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 tendernefs of which her mind was fo fuf- 
 ceptible. The event anfwered his expec- 
 tation j that good woman feemed pofiefled 
 of as much addrefs as humanity ; and 
 Harriet, by the intervention of both, was 
 led to the knowlege of her brother's fitw- 
 ation with fo much prudence, that Ihe. 
 bore it at firft with refignation, and after-, 
 wards looked upon it with thankfulnefs. 
 
 After that acknowlegement to provi- 
 dence which fhe had been early inftruded 
 never to forget, there was an inferior 
 agent in this affair to whom her warmeft 
 gratitude was devoted. Befides that her- 
 felf had the higheft opinion of Sindall's 
 good offices, her obliging landlady had 
 taken every opportunity, fince their ac- 
 quaintance began, to trumpet forth his 
 praifes in the moft extravagant ftrain; 
 
 and,
 
 206 THE MAN OF THE WORliD.. 
 
 and, on the prefent occafion, her encomi- 
 urns were loud in proportion as Harriet's, 
 happinefs was concerned, in. the event,. 
 fwc ;vjwriiw&*fe^!;:s wn : ta;#* 
 Sir Thomas therefore began to be con- 
 Sdered by the young, lady as the worthieft 
 f friends j his own language bore the 
 ftrongeil expreffions of friendlhip ; of 
 friendfhip and no more; but the widow, 
 would often infmuate that he felt more.- 
 than he exprefled.; and when Harriet's, 
 fpirits could bear a httle rallery, her land-* 
 lady did not want for. jokes on the; 
 fubjeft. 
 
 " r n F "N -*'"t i^F -.'*. '1*1 ii 
 
 Thefe fuggeftions of another.- have & 
 greater effedfc than is often imagined ; 
 they are heard with an eafe which does, 
 not alarm, and the mind habituates itfelf 
 to take up fuch a credit. on their truth as, 
 
 it:
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 20J 
 
 it would be forry to lofe, though it is not 
 at the trouble of examining. Harriet did 
 not ferioufly think of Sindall as of one 
 that was her lover ; but fhe began to 
 make fuch arrangements as not to be fur- 
 prized if he mould. 
 
 One morning when fir Thomas had 5 
 called, to conduct her on a vifit to her 
 brother, Mrs. Eldridge rallied him at 
 breakfaft on, his being ftill a batchelor. 
 " What is your opinion, Mifs Annefly,faid 
 ihe j is it not a fhame for one of fir Tho- 
 mas's fortune not to make fome worthy 
 woman happy in the participation of it ? M 
 Sindall fubmitted to be judged by fo fair 
 an arbitrefs;. he faid ; " the manners of the 
 court-ladies, whofe example had ftretch- 
 ed unhappily too far, were fuch, as made 
 it a.. fort of venture to be married;" he 
 
 then,
 
 208 THE MAN OF THE WORLD, 
 
 then paufed for a moment, figh'd, and, 
 fixing his eyes upon Harriet, drew fnch a 
 pifture of the woman whom he would 
 chufe for a wife* that fhe muft have had 
 fome fillier quality than mere modefty 
 about her, not to have made fome guefs at 
 what he meant. 
 
 In Ihort, though me was as little want- 
 ing in delicacy as moft women, me began- 
 to feel a certain intereft in the good opi- 
 nion of Sindall, and to draw fome con- 
 clufions from his deportment, which, for 
 the fake of my fair readers, I would have 
 them remember, are better to be flowly 
 underftood than haftily indulged. 
 ... . 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 209 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 An accident ', ivkich may -pojfibly be imagined 
 fomewbat more than accidental. 
 
 *"p HOUGH the thoughts of Annefly's 
 future fituation could not b,ut be dif~ 
 trefsful to his fitter and him, yet the de- 
 liverance from greater evils which they 
 had experienced, ferved to enlighten the 
 'profped of thofe they feared. His father, 
 whofe confolation always attended the ca- 
 lamity he could neither prevent nor cure, 
 exhorted his fon (in an anfwer to the ac- 
 "count his filler and he had tranfmitted 
 him of the events contained jn the prece- 
 ding-chapter) to have a proper fenfe of the 
 mercy of his God and his king, and to 
 
 bear
 
 2IO THE MAN OF THE WOKLD. 
 
 bear what was a mitigation of his punifh- 
 ment, with a fortitude and refignation be- 
 coming the fubjecl: of both. The fame 
 letter informed his children, that though 
 he was not well enough recovered to be 
 able to travel, yet he was gaining ground 
 on his diftemper, and hoped, as the feafon 
 advanced, to get the better of it altoge- 
 ther. He fent that bleffing to his foil 
 which, he was prevented from- bellowing 
 personally, with a credit for any fum which 
 he might have occafion for againft his ap^ 
 preaching departure. 
 
 His children received additional com- 
 fort from the good accounts of their 
 father, which this letter contained; and 
 even in Annefly's prifon, there were fome 
 intervals in which they forgot the fears of 
 
 parting,
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 211 
 
 parting, and indulged themfelves in tem- 
 porary happinefs. 
 
 It was during one of thefe, that Sindall 
 obferved to Harriet, how little fhe pof- 
 fefied the curiolky her fex was charged 
 with, who had never once thought of 
 feeing any thing in London that ftrangers, 
 were moft folicitcnis to fee ; and propofed 
 that very night to conduct her to the play- 
 houfe, where the royal family were to be 
 prefent, at the reprefentation of a new 
 comedy. 
 
 Harriet turned a melancholy look to- 
 wards her brother, and made anfwer, that 
 fhe could not think of any amufement 
 that mould fubjeft him to hours of foli- 
 tude in a priibn. 
 
 Upon
 
 212 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Upon this, Annefly was earneft in pref- 
 fmg her to accept fir Thomas's invitation; 
 he faid .me knew how often he chofe to be 
 alone, at times when he could moft com- 
 mand fociety ; and that he mould find an 
 additional pleafure in theirs, when they 
 returned to him, fraught with the intelli- 
 gence of the play* 
 
 3LOJni;/i 
 
 " But there is fomething unbecoming 
 in it, faid Harriet, in the eyes of others,'* 
 
 " As to that objection, replied .Sindall, 
 it will be eafily removed ; we (hall go ac- 
 companied by Mrs. Eldridge to the gal- 
 lery,, where people who have even many 
 acquaintances in town, are drefied fo 
 much in the incognito-way, as never to be 
 difcovered." 
 
 Annefly
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 213 
 
 Annefly repeated his entreaties, Mrs. 
 Eldridge feconcled, Sindall enforced them -, 
 and all three urged fo many arguments, 
 that Harriet was at lail overcome, and to 
 the play they accordingly went. 
 
 Though this was the frrft entertainment 
 of the fort, at which Harriet had ever 
 been prefent, yet the thoughts of her ab- 
 fent brother, in whofe company all her 
 former amufements had been enjoyed, fo 
 much damped the pleafure me mould have 
 felt from this, that as foon as the play was 
 over, me begged of her conductor to re- 
 turn, much againft the defire of Mrs. 
 Eldridge, who entreated them to indulge 
 her by (laying the farce. But Harriet 
 feemed fo uneafy at the thoughts of a 
 longer abfence from her brother, that the 
 other's felicitations were at laft overruled ; 
 
 and
 
 214 THE MAN OF THE WORLD, 
 and making fhift to get through thecroud, 
 they left the houfe, and fet out in a hack- 
 ney-coach on their return. 
 
 They had got j:he length of two or 
 three ftreets on their way, when the coach- 
 man, who indeed had the appearance of 
 being exceedingly drunk, drove them 
 againft a poft, by which accident one of 
 the wheels was broken to pieces, and the 
 carriage itielf immediately overturned. 
 Sindall had, luckily, put down the glais 
 on that fide but a moment before, to look 
 at fomething, fo that they efcaped any 
 mifchicf which might have enfucd from 
 the breaking of it ; and, except the ladies 
 being extremely frightened, no bad confc- 
 qwences followed. This difafter happen- 
 ed joft at the door of a tavern, the mif- 
 trefs of which feeing the' difcompoiure of 
 
 the
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORiD. 215 
 
 the ladies, very politely begged them to 
 ftep into her own room, till they could 
 readjuft themfelves, and procure another 
 coach from a neighbouring ftand, for 
 which Ihe promifed immediately to dif- 
 patch one of her fervants. All this while 
 fir Thomas was venting his wrath againft 
 the coachman, continuing to cane him 
 rnoft unmercifully, till ftopt by the inter- 
 ceffion of Harriet and Mrs. Eldridge, and 
 prevailed upon to accompany them into 
 the houfe at the obliging requeft of its 
 miftrels. He afked pardon for giving 
 way to his pafllon, which apprehenfion 
 for their fafety, he laid, had occafioned, 
 and taking Harriet's hand with a look of 
 the utmoft tendernefs, enquired if (he felt 
 no hurt from the fall , upon her anfwer- 
 ihg, that except the fright, me xvas per- 
 fectly wellj " then all is well," faid he, 
 
 piefllng
 
 2l6 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 prefling her hand to his bofom, which role 
 to meet it with a figh. 
 
 He then called for a bottle of Madeira, 
 of which his companions drank each a 
 glafs; but upon his prefenting another, 
 Mrs. Eldridge declared Ihe never tafted 
 any thing between meals, and Harriet faid 
 that her head was already affected by the 
 glafs me had taken : this however he at- 
 tributed to the effects of the overturn, for 
 which another bumper was an infallible 
 remedy ; and, on Mrs. Eldridge's fetting 
 the example, though with the utmoft re- 
 luctance, Harriet was prevailed upon to 
 follow it. 
 
 
 She was feated on a fettee at the upper 
 
 end of the room, Sindall fat on a chair by 
 
 her, and Mrs. Eldridge, from choice, 
 
 2 was
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 was walking about the room ; it fome- 
 how happened that, in a few minutes, 
 the laft- mentioned lady left her compa- 
 nions by themfelves. 
 
 Sindall, whofe eyes had not been idle 
 before, call them now to the ground with 
 a look of the moft feeling difcompoiure - K 
 and gently lifting them again, " I know 
 not, faid he, moft lovely of women, wlie-^ 
 
 ther I ihould venture to exprefs the fenfa- 
 " 
 
 tions of my heart at this moment : that 
 
 . - ; 
 
 refpect which ever attends- a love fo finccre, 
 
 il i< : ' . I/ 
 
 as mine, has hitherto kept me.filent; but 
 the late accident, in which all that I hold 
 dear was endangered, has opened ever/ 
 fluice of tendernefs in my foul, and I were 
 more or lefs than man, did I refift the im- 
 piille of declaring it." " This'is no place, 
 fir," faid Harriet, trembling and cover-' 
 VOL, I. L ed
 
 2l8 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 ed with blufhes. " Every place, cried 
 Sindall, is facred to love, where my Har- 
 riet is.'* At the fame time he threw him- 
 ftlf on his knees before her, and imprinted 
 a thoufand burning kifies on her hand. 
 n Let go my hand, fir Thomas," me 
 cried, -her voice faltering and her cheek 
 overfpread with a ftill higher glow : 
 ** Never, thou cruel one, faid he, (raifing 
 himfelf gently till he had gained a place 
 en the fettee by her fide) never, ,till you 
 Men to the dictates of a pafiion too vio- 
 lent to be longer refitted." At that in- 
 
 ftant fome buttle was heard at the door 4 
 and prefentlv after a voice in a country - 
 accent, vociferating " It is my neighbour's 
 own daughter, and I mutt fee her imme- 
 diately." The door burft open, and dif- 
 covered Jack Ryland, Mrs. Eldridge fol- 
 4 lowing
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 219 
 
 lowing him, with a countenance not the 
 moft expreffive of good-humour. 
 
 Ryland! exclaimed the baronet, what 
 is the meaning of this? advancing towards 
 him with an air of fiercenefs and indigna- 
 tion, which the other returned with a 
 hearty make by the hand, faying he was 
 rejoiced to find Mifs Harriet in fo good 
 company. Dear Mr. Ryland, faid me, 
 a little confufedly, I am happy to fee yeuj 
 but it is odd I cannot conceive tell us, 
 as fir Thomas was juft now afking, how 
 you came to find us out here.". 
 
 " Why, you muft understand, mifs, 
 returned Jack, that I have got a little bit 
 of a legacy left me by a relation here in 
 London -, as I was c\ air^ up on that 
 bwfmefs, I thought I cbdlddo no lefs than 
 La alk
 
 22O THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 afk your worthy father's commands for 
 you and Mr. William. So we fettled 
 matters, that, as our times, I believe, 
 will agree well enough, I fliould have the 
 pleafure, if you are not otherwife engaged, 
 of conducting you home again. I came 
 to town only this day, and after having 
 eat a mutton-chop at the inn where I 
 lighted, and got myfelf into a little decent 
 trimi I fet out from a place they call Pic- 
 cadilly, I think, afking every body I met 
 which was the fhorteft way to Newgate, 
 where I underftood your brother was to 
 be found. But I was like to make a mar- 
 vellous long journey on't j for befides that 
 it is a huge long way, as I was told, I 
 hardly met with one perfon that would 
 give a mannerly anfwer to my queftions , 
 to be fure theys^e the moft humour- 
 fome people, here ^ London, that ever I 
 
 faw
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. Ill 
 
 Taw in my life ; when I afked the road to 
 Newgate, one told me, I was not likely 
 to be long in rinding it ; another bade me 
 cut the firft throat I met and it would mow 
 me ; and a deal of fuch out-of-the-way- 
 jokes. At laft, while I was looking round 
 for fome civil-like body to enquire of, 
 who mould I fee whip paft me in a coach 
 but yonrfelf with that lady as I take it -, 
 
 upon which I hollowed out to the coachman 
 to flop, but he am uut \^ M *, t r.. r 
 
 pofe, and drove on as hard as ever ; I fol- 
 lowed him clofe at the heels for fome 
 time, till the ftreet he turned into being 
 much darker than where I faw you firft, 
 by reafon there were none of your torches 
 blazing there, I fell headlong into a rut 
 in the middle of it, and loft fight of the 
 carriage before I could recover myfelf: 
 however, I ran down a right-hand road; 
 L 3 which
 
 232 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 which I guefled you had taken, afking 
 any body I thought would give me an an- 
 fwer, if they had feen a coach with a 
 handfome young woman in't, drawn by a 
 pair of dark bays ; but I was only laught 
 at for my pains, till I fell in by chance 
 with a fimple country-man like myfelf, 
 who informed me, that he had feen fuch 
 a one overturned juft before this-here 
 large houfe j and the door being open, I 
 /iwj,,. in wuaout more ado, till I happen- 
 ed to hear this lady whifpering fbmething 
 to another about fir Thomas Sindall, when 
 I guefled that you might be with him, as 
 acquaintances will find one another out, 
 you know; and fo here I am, at your 
 fervice and fir Thomas's." 
 
 This hiflory afforded as little entertain- 
 ment to Ls hearers as it may have done 
 
 to
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 223 
 
 to the greateft part of my readers ; but it 
 gave fir Thomas and Harriet time enough 
 to recover from that confufion, into which 
 the appearance of Ryland had thrown 
 both of them, though with this difference, 
 that Harriet's was free from the guilt of 
 SindalPs, and did not even proceed from 
 the leaft fufpicion of any thing criminal 
 in the intentions of that gentleman. 
 
 Sir Thomas pretended great fatisfaction 
 in having met with his acquaintance Mr. 
 Ryland, and, having obtained another 
 hackney-coach, they drove together to 
 Newgate, where Jack received a much 
 fmcerer welcome from Annefly, and they 
 paired the evening with the greateft fatif- 
 f act ion. 
 
 Not but that there moved fomething 
 
 unufual in the bofom of Harriet, from the 
 
 L 4 declaration
 
 224 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 declaration of her lover, and in his, from 
 the attempt which Providence had inter- 
 pofed to difappoint j he confoled himfelf, 
 however, with the reflexion, that he had 
 not gone fuch a length as to alarm her 
 fimplicity, and took from the mortifica- 
 tion of the paft, by the hope of more fuc* 
 ccfsful villany. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 - 
 
 C H A P. XXL 
 
 An account of Annejkfs departure. 
 
 T T was not long before the time arrived 
 in which Annefly was to bid adieu to 
 his native country for the term which the 
 mercy of his fovereign had allotted for his 
 punifhment. He behaved, at this junc- 
 ture, with a determined fort of coolnefs* 
 not eafily expected from one of his warmth 
 of feelings, at a time of life when thefe 
 are in their fulled vigour. His filler, 
 whofe gentle heart began to droop under 
 the thoughts of their feparation, he em- 
 ployed every argument to comfort. He 
 bade her remember that it had been deter- 
 mined he mould be abfent for fome years, 
 before this necefiity of his abfence had 
 L 5 arifen.
 
 226 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 arifen. " Snppofe me on my travels, 
 faid he, my Harriet, but for a longer 
 term, and the fum of this calamity is ex- 
 haufted ; if there are hardfhips awaiting 
 me, think how I mould otherwife expiate 
 my follies and my crimes : the punifh- 
 ments of heaven, our father has often 
 told us, are mercies to its children ; mine, 
 I hope, will have a double effect ; to 
 wipe away my former offences, and pre- 
 vent my offending for the future." 
 
 He was actuated by the fame fleadinefs 
 of fptrit, in the difpofal of what money 
 his father's credit enabled him to com- 
 mand. He called in an exact account of 
 his debts, thofe to Sindall not excepted, 
 and dif~harged them in full, much againft 
 the inclination of fir Thomas, who infift- 
 cd, as much as in decency he could, on 
 
 cancelling
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 cancelling every obligation of that forr to 
 himfelf. But Annefly was pofitive in his 
 refolution ; and after having cleared thefe 
 encumbrances, he embarked with only a 
 few fhillings in his pocket, faying, that 
 he would never pinch his father's age, to 
 mitigate the punimment which his fon had 
 more than deferved. 
 
 There was another account to fettle, 
 which he found a more difficult talk. The 
 parting with his fifter, he knew not how 
 to accomplifh, without fuch a pang as her 
 tender frame could very ill fupport. At 
 length he refolved, to take at leaft from 
 its folemnity, if he could not alleviate its 
 anguilh. Having fat, therefore, with 
 Harriet till paft midnight, on the eve of 
 his departure, which he employed in re- 
 newing his arguments of confolation, and : 
 L 6 earncftly
 
 228 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 eatneftly recommending to her to keep up 
 thofe fpirits which fhould fupport her fa- 
 ther and herfelf, he pretended a defire to 
 fleep, appointed an hour for breakfafting 
 with her in the morning , and fo foon as 
 he could prevail on her to leave him, he 
 went on board the boat, which waited to 
 carry him, and fome unfortunate compa- 
 nions of his voyage, to the fhip deftined 
 to -tranfport them. 
 
 - Sir Thomas accompanied him a little 
 way down the river, till, at the earned de- 
 ike of his friend, he was carried afhore in 
 a fculler, which they happened to meet on 
 their way. "When they parted, Annefly 
 wrung his hand, and dropping a tear on 
 it, which hitherto he had never allowed 
 himfelf to Ihed, " To my faithful Sindall, 
 faid he, I leave a truft more precious to 
 
 this
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 22Q 
 
 this bofom than every other earthly good. 
 Be the friend of my father, as you have 
 been that of his undeferving fon, and pro- 
 tect my Harriet's youth, who has loft that 
 protection a brother mould have afforded 
 her. If the prayers of a wretched exile in 
 a foreign land can be heard of heaven, the 
 name of his friend mail rife with thofe of 
 a parent and a fifter in his hourly bene-- 
 dictions ; and if at any time you mall- be- 
 llow a thought upon him, remember the 
 only comfort of which adverfity has not 
 deprived him, the confidence of his Sin- 
 dall's kindnefs to thofe whom he has left 
 weeping behind him." 
 
 Such was the charge which Annefly 
 gave and Sindall received ; he received it 
 with a tear ; a tear, which the better part 
 of his nature had yet referved from the 
 
 ruins
 
 230 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 ruins of principle, of juftice, of huma- 
 nity. It fell involuntarily at the time, 
 and he thought of it afterwards with a 
 blufh Such was the fyftem of felf-ap- 
 plaufe which the refinements of vice had 
 taught him, and fuch is the honour me 
 has reared for the worfhip of her vo- 
 taries ! 
 
 Annefly kept his eyes fixed on the 
 lights of London, till the encreafing dif- 
 tance deprived them of their object. Nor 
 did his imagination fail him in the picture, 
 after that help was taken from her. The 
 form of the weeping Harriet, lovely in 
 her grief, ftill fwam before his fight ; on 
 the back-ground flood a venerable figure, 
 turning his eyes to heaven, while a tear 
 [ that fwelled in each dropped for the facri- 
 
 fice
 
 . 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. $3! 
 
 fice of his forrow, and a bending angel 
 accepted it as incenfe. 
 
 Thus, by a feries of diffipatlon, fo eafy 
 in its progrefs, that, if my tale were fic- 
 tion, it would be thought too fimple, was 
 this unfortunate young man loft to him- 
 felf, his friends, and his country. Take 
 but a few incidents away, and it is the 
 hiftory of thoufands. Let not thofe, who 
 have efcaped the punimment of Annefly, 
 look with indifference on the participation 
 of his guilt, nor fuffer the prefent undif- 
 turbed enjoyment of their criminal plea- 
 fures, to blot from their minds the idea 
 of future retribution. 
 
 CHAP,
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD* 
 
 CHAP. xxir. 
 
 Harriet is informed of her Brother's de- 
 
 parture. She leaves London on her 
 
 return home. 
 
 took upon himfelf the 
 charge of communicating the intelli-' . 
 gence of Annefly's departure to his filter.. 
 She received it with an enhancement of 
 forrow, which deprived her pf its ex- 
 preflion; and when at laft her tears found 
 their way to utter it, " Is he gone ! faid 
 ihe, and mail I never fee him more ? cruel 
 Billy! Oh! fir Thomas, I Had a thou-* 
 fand things to fay ! and has he left me 
 without a fmgle adieu ? " * It was in 
 kindnefs to you, Mifs Annefly, anfwered 
 the baronet, that he did fo. J " I believe 
 
 you,
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 233 
 
 you, faid fhe, I know it was ; and yet, 
 methinks, he mould have bid me farewel 
 I could have flood it, indeed I ctould- 
 I am not fo weak as you think me , yet 
 Heaven knows I have need of ftrength'* 
 and me burft into tears again. 
 
 i Sir Thomas did not want for expref- 
 fions of comfort or of kindnefs, nor did 
 he fail, amidft the affurances of his friend- 
 fhip, to fuggeft thofe tenderer fenfations 
 which his bofom felt on account of Mifs 
 Annefly. She gave him a warmth of gra- 
 titude in return, which, though vice may 
 fometimes take advantage of it, virtue can 
 never blame. 
 
 His proteftations were interrupted by 
 the arrival of Ryland, who had accident- 
 ally heard of Anneily's embarkment. Jack 
 
 had
 
 234 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 had but few words to communicate his 
 feelings by; but his eyes helped them 
 out with an honeft tear. Your brother, 
 I hear, is gone, Mifs Harriet, faid he ; 
 well, Heaven blefs him wherever he 
 goes !' 
 
 Harriet begg*d to know when it would 
 fuit his convenience to leave London, fay- 
 ing, that every day fhe flayed there now, 
 would reproach her abfence from her fa- 
 ther. Jack made aniwer, that he could 
 be ready to attend her at an hour's warn- 
 ing , for that his bufmefs in London was 
 finifhed, and as for pleafure he could find 
 none in it. It was agreed therefore, con- 
 trary to the zealous advice of fir Thomas 
 and Mrs. Eldridge, that Harriet mould 
 fet off, accompanied by Mr. Ryland, the 
 very next morning. 
 
 Their
 
 THE MAM OF THE WORLD. 235 
 
 Their refolution was accomplifhed, and 
 they fet out by the break of day. Sin- 
 dall accompanied them on horfeback fe- 
 veral ftages, and they dined together 
 about forty miles from London. Here 
 having fettled their rout according to 
 a plan of fir Thomas's, who feemed to 
 be perfectly verfant in the geography of 
 the country, through which they were to 
 
 pafe, KP> -wo px-ov-oilcd on, by tllC CdlflClt 
 
 entreaty of Harriet, to return to London, 
 and leave her to perform the reft of the 
 journey under the protection of Mr. Ry 
 land. 
 
 On their leaving the inn at which they 
 dined, there occurred an incident, of 
 which, though the reader may have ob- 
 ferved me not apt to dwell on trifling 
 circumftances, I cannot help taken notice. 
 
 While
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 While they were at dinner, they were fre- 
 quently diftnrbed by the boifterous mirth of 
 a company in the room immediately ad- 
 joining. Xhis, one of the waiters informed 
 them, proceeded from a gentleman, who, 
 he believed, was travelling from London 
 down into the country, and, having no 
 companion, had afibciated with the land- 
 lord over a bottle of claret, which, ac- 
 cording to tne WiiiLCi'a ai,v.wum, l*io KOI-.O-,,. 
 
 had made fo free with, as to be in a mer- 
 rier, or, as that word may generally be 
 tranflated, a more noife-making mood 
 than ufual. As Sindall was handing Har- 
 riet into the poft-chaife, they obferved a 
 gentleman, whom they concluded to be 
 the fame whofe voice they had fo often 
 heard at dinner, {landing in the pafifage 
 that led to the door. When the lady paf- 
 
 fed him, he trod, either accidentally or on 
 
 purpofe,
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 137 
 
 purpofe, on the fkirt of her gown behind 5 
 and as Ihe turned about to get rid of the 
 flop, having now got fight of her face, 
 he exclaimed, with an oath, that fhe was 
 an angel; and, feizing the hand with 
 which fhe was difengaging her gown, 
 prefTed it to his lips in fo rude a manner, 
 that even his drunkennefs could not excufe 
 it. At leaft it could not to Sindall ; who 
 ftepping between him and Mifs Annefly, 
 laid hold of his collar, and fliaking him 
 violently, afked him how he dared to 
 affront the lady ; and infifled on his afk- 
 ing her pardon immediately. " Dammee," 
 faid he, hiccupping, " not on compulfion, 
 dammee, for you nor any man, dammee." 
 The landlord and Mr. Ryland now inter- 
 pofed, and with the afliflance of Harriet, 
 pacified fir Thomas, from the confidera-. 
 
 tioa
 
 23$ THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 lion of the gentleman's being in a tempo- 
 rary ftate of infanity ; Sindall accordingly- 
 let go his hold) and went on with Harriet 
 to the chaife, while the other, readjuft- 
 ing his neck-cloth, fwore that he would 
 have another peep at the girl notwith- 
 ftanding. 
 
 When Harriet was feated in the chaife, 
 Sindall took notice of the flutter into 
 which this accident had thrown her ; fhe 
 confeffed that {he had been a good deal 
 alarmed, left there fhould have been a 
 quarrel on her account* and begged fir 
 Thomas, if he had any regard for her eafe 
 of mind, to think no more of any ven- 
 geance againft the other gentleman. 
 .** Fear not, my adorable Harriet, whif- 
 pered fir Thomas 3 if I thought there were 
 
 one
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD; 239 
 one kind remembrance of Sindall in that 
 
 heavenly bofom- the chaife drove on 
 
 fhe blulhed a reply to this unfi- 
 
 nilhed fpeech, and bowed, failing, to its 
 author. 
 
 CHAR
 
 240 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 ^f very daring attempt is made upon Har- 
 riet. She is refcued by Sindatt. The 
 conferences. 
 
 "p^TO THING farther happened wor- 
 thy of recording, till towards the 
 clofe of that journey which fir Thomas's 
 direction had marked out for their firfl 
 day's progrefs. Ryland had before ob- 
 ferved that fir Thomas's mort roads had 
 turned out very lorry ones -, and when it 
 began to be dark, Harriet's fears made 
 her take notice, that they had got upon a 
 large common, where, for a great way 
 round, tKere was not a houfe to be feen. 
 Nor was fhe at all relieved by the infor- 
 mation of the poft-boy, who, upon be- 
 7 ing I
 
 THE MAN OF THE 'WORLD. 24* 
 ing interrogated by Ryland as to thefafety 
 of the road, anfwered, " To be fure, 
 mafter, I've known -fome highwaymen 
 frequent this common, -and there ilands a 
 gibbet hard by, where two of them have 
 hung thefe three years." He had fcarcely 
 uttered this fpeech, when the noife of 
 horfemen was heard behind diem, at 
 which Mifs Annefly's heart -began to pal- 
 pitate, Jior was her companion's free from 
 unufual agitation. He alked the poll- 
 boy, in a low voice, if he knew the riders 
 who were coming up behind-, the boy 
 anfwered in the negative, but that he 
 needed not be afraid, as he obferved a 
 carriage along with them. 
 
 The firfl of the horfemen now pafled 
 the chaife in which Ryland and Harriet 
 were, and at the diftance of a few yards 
 
 VOL. I. M they
 
 242 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 they crofled the road, and made a halt on 
 the other fide of it. Harriet's fears were 
 now too much alarmed to be quieted by 
 the late afiurance of the poft-boy: me 
 was not, indeed, long fuffered to remain 
 in a ftate of fufpence ; one of thofe objects 
 of her terror called to the driver to ilop, 
 which the lad had no fooner complied 
 'with, than he rode up to the fide of the 
 carriage where the lady was feated, and 
 told her, in a tone rather peremptory than 
 threatening, that me muft allow that gen- 
 tleman (meaning Ryland) to accept of a 
 feat in another carriage, which was juft 
 behind, and do him and his friends the 
 honour of taking one of them for her com- 
 panion. He received no anfwer to this 
 demand, me to whom it was made hav- 
 ing fainted into the arms of her terrified 
 fellow-traveller. In this (late of infenfi- 
 
 bility,
 
 THE MAN OP THE WOFLLD. 
 
 bility, Ryland was forced, by the inhu- 
 man ruffian and his aflbciates, to leave 
 her, and enter a chaife which now drew up 
 to receive him; and one of the gang, 
 whofe appearance befpoke fomething of a 
 higher rank than the reft, feated himfelf 
 by her, and was very affiduous in ufmg 
 proper means for her recovery. Wnen 
 that was effected, he begged her, in terms 
 of great politenefs, not to make herfelf in 
 the leaft uneafy, for that no harm was 
 
 intended. " Oh heavens ! {he cried, 
 
 where am I ? What would you have ? 
 Whither would you carry me ? Where 
 is Mr. Ryland ?" ' If you mean the 
 gentleman in whofe company you were, 
 madam, you may be afllired, that nothing 
 ill mall happen to him any more than to 
 yourfelf.' " Nothing ill, faid me, mer- 
 ciful God! What do you intend to do 
 L<* M 2 with
 
 244 THE MAN OP THE WORLD- 
 
 with me ?" * I would not do you a mif- 
 chief for the world, anfwered he; and if 
 you will be patient for a little time, you 
 fhall be fatisfied that you are in danger of 
 none.' All this while they forced the 
 poft-boy to .drive on full fpeed ; and 
 there was light enough for Harriet .to dii- 
 cover, that the road they took had fo 
 little the appearance of a frequented one, 
 t,hat there was but a .very fmall chance of 
 fcer meeting with any relief. In a fhort 
 time after, however, when the moon mi- 
 ning out made it lighter, me found they 
 were obliged to flacken .their pace, from 
 being met, in a narrow part of the road, 
 by fome perfons on horfeback. The 
 thoughts of relief recruited a little her ex- 
 haufted fpirits ; and having got down the 
 front-glafs, me called out as loud as Hie 
 was able, begging their affiftance to refcue 
 
 a mi-
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 245 
 
 a miferable creature from ruffians. One 
 who attended the carriage by way of 
 guard, exclaimed that it was only a poor 
 wretch out of her fenfes, whom her friends 
 were conveying to a place of fecurity : but 
 Harriet, notwithftanding fome endeavours 
 f the man in the chaife to prevent her, 
 cried out with greater vehemence than 
 before, entreating them, for God's fake* 
 to pity and relieve her. By this time one, 
 who had been formerly behind, came up 
 to the front of the party they had met, 
 and overhearing this lafl fpeech of Har- 
 riet's " Good God ! faid He, can it be 
 Mifs Annefly ?" Upon this her compa- 
 nion in the carriage, jumped out with a 
 piftol in his hand, and prefently (he heard 
 the report of fire-arms, at which the horfes 
 taking fright, ran furioufly acrofs the 
 Eelds for a confiderable way before their 
 M 3 driver
 
 246 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 driver was able to flop them. He had 
 jfcarcely aceomplimed that, when he was 
 accofted by a fervant in livery, who bade 
 him fear nothing, for that his matter had 
 obliged the villains to make off." Eter- 
 nal bleffings on him ! cried Harriet, and 
 to that providence whofe inflrument he 
 is." ' To have been of any fervice ta 
 Mifs Annefly, replied a gentleman who 
 now appeared leading his horfe, rewards 
 
 itfelf.' It was Sindall ! Gracious 
 
 powers! exclaimed the aftonifhed Harriet, 
 can it be you, fir Thomas!'* * Compofe 
 yourfelf,. rny dear Mifs Annefly, faid he, 
 left the furprize of your deliverance mould 
 overpower your fpirits.' He had opened 
 the door of the chaife, and Harriet, by a 
 natural motion, made room for him to fit 
 by her. He accordingly gave his horfe 
 to a fervant, and ftepped into the chaife, 
 
 directing
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 247 
 
 directing the driver to ftrike down a par- 
 ticular path, which would lead him to a 
 fmall inn, where he had fometirnes pafied 
 
 the night when a hunting. 
 
 " . 
 
 When he pulled up the glafs, " Tell 
 me, tell me, fir Thomas, faid Harriet, 
 what guardian angel directed yon fo un- 
 expectedly to my relief?" * That guar- 
 dian angel, my faireft, which I truft will 
 ever direct us to happinefs j my love, my 
 impatient love, that could not bear the 
 tedious days which my Harriet's prefence 
 
 had ceafed to brighten. 5 When me 
 
 would have expreffed the warmth of her 
 gratitude for his fervices ; " Speak not of 
 them, faid he; I only rifked a life in thy 
 defence, which, without thee, it is nothing, 
 topoffefs.'* 
 
 M 4, They 
 

 
 248 THE MAN OF THE WORLD;. 
 
 They now reached that inn to which 
 Sindall had.directed them ; where, if they 
 found a homely, yet it was a cordial re- 
 ception. The landlady, who had the 
 moft obliging and attentive behaviour in 
 the world, having heard of die accident 
 which had befallen the lady, produced 
 fome waters which, fhe faid, were highly 
 cordial, and begged Mi fs Annefly to take 
 a large glafs of them j informing her, that 
 they were made after a receit of her 
 grandmother's, who was one of the moft 
 notable doftrefies in the country. Sir 
 Thomas, however, was not fatisfied with 
 this prefcription alone,, but difpatched one 
 of his fervants, to fetch a neighbouring 
 furgeon, as Mifs Annefly's alarm,. he faid, 
 might have more ferious confequences 
 than people, ignorant of fuch things, 
 could imagine. For this furgeon, indeed,. 
 
 there
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 there feemed more employments than one; 
 the fleeve of fir Thomas's fhirt was dif- 
 covered to be all over blood^ owing, as- 
 he imagined, to the grazing of a piftol- 
 ball which had been fired at him. This 
 himfelf treated very lightly, but it awa- 
 kened the fears and tendernefs of Harriet* 
 in the livelieft manner. 
 
 The landlady now put a queftion, which" 
 indeed might naturally have fuggefted it- 
 felf before ; to -wit, Whom they fufpefted 
 to be the inftigators of this outrage? Sir 
 Thomas anfwered,. that, for his part, he 
 could form no probable conjecture about 
 the matter ; and, turning to Mifs Annefly, 
 alked her opinion on the fubject ; " Sure, 
 faid he, it can-not have been that ruffian 
 who was rude to you at the inn where we 
 dined." Harriet anfwered, that Ihe could 
 M 5 very
 
 250 TITE MAN OT? THE WX)RLl5 r . 
 
 very well fuppofe it might 5 adding, that 
 though, in the confufion, fhe did not pre- 
 tend to have taken very diftinft notice of 
 things, yet fhe thought there was aperfoiv 
 Handing at the door, near to that drunken 
 gentleman, who had fome refemblance of 
 the man that fat by her in the chaife. 
 
 They were now interrupted by the arri* 
 val of the furgeon, which, from the vigi- 
 lance of the fervant, happened in a much* 
 Ihorter time than could have been expecl:- 
 e'd; and Harriet peremptorily infilled, - 
 that, before he took any charge of her,-, 
 he fhould examine and drefs the wound 
 on fir Thomas's arm. To this, therefore, 
 the baronet was obliged to confent ; and 
 after having been fometime with the op^- 
 rator in an adjoining chamber, they re- 
 ' turned together, fir Thomas's arm being 
 
 flung
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 25! 
 
 flung in a piece of crape, and the furgeon 
 declaring, highly to Mifs Annefly's fatif- 
 faclion, that with proper care there was 
 no fort of danger i though, he added, 
 that if the fhot had taken a direction but 
 half an inch more to the left, it would 
 have mattered the bone to pieces. This 
 laft declaration drove the blood again,' 
 from Harriet's cheek, and contributed 
 perhaps, more than anything elfe, to that 
 quicknefs and tremulation of pulfe which 
 the furgeon, on applying his finger- to her 
 wrift, pronounced to be the cafe. He 
 ordered his patient to be undreft; which 
 was accordingly done, the landlady ac- 
 commodating her with a bed-gown of her 
 own-, and then, having mulled a little- wine, 
 be mixed in it fome powders of his own: 
 competition, a fecret, he faid, of the 
 greateft. efficacy in readjufting any difor- 
 M 6 ders-
 
 T HE MAN OF THE WORLD.- 
 
 ders in the nervous fyftem ; of which: 
 draught he recommended a large tea* 
 cupful to be taken immediately. Harriet 
 objected ftrongly againft thefe powders, 
 till the furgeon feemed to grow angry at 
 her refufal, and recapitulated, in a very 
 rapid manner, the fuccefs which their ad- 
 miniftration had irr many great families 
 who did him the honour of employing 
 him. -Harriet, the gentlenefs of whofe 
 nature could offend no one living, over- 
 came her reluctance, and fwallowed the 
 dofe that was offered her- 
 
 The indignation of my foul has with 
 difficulty fubmitted fo long to this coot 
 defcription of a fcene of the moft exqui- 
 fite villany. The genuinenefs of my tale 
 iveeds not the aid of furprife, to intereft 
 the feelings of my readers. It is with 
 5 horror
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLDi 253= 
 
 horror I tell them, that the various inci* 
 dents, which this and the preceding chap- 
 ter contain, were but the prelude of a 
 defign formed by Sindall for the deft'ruc- 
 tion of that innocence, which was the dowry 
 of Annefly's daughter. He had contrived 
 a rout the moft proper for the fuccefs of 
 his machinations, which the ignorance of 
 Ryland was prevailed on to follow: he 
 had bribed a fet of banditti to execute 
 that fham rape, which his feeming valour 
 was to prevent ; he had fcratched his wrift 
 with a penknife, to make the appearance 
 of being wounded in the caufe ; he had 
 dragged his viftim to the houfe of a 
 wretch whom he had before employed in 
 purpofes of a fimilar kind j he had drefled 
 one of his own creatures to perfonate a 
 furgeon, and that furgeon, by his direc- 
 tions, had adminiftered certain powders, 
 
 of
 
 254 THE MA N OP THE 
 
 of which the damnable effects were to aflifl. 
 
 the execution of his villany, 
 
 Befet with toils like thefe, his helplefs- 
 prey was, alas ! too much in his power 
 to have any chance of efcape ; and that 
 guilty night completed the ruin of her, 
 whom,, but the day before, the friend of. 
 Sindall, in the anguifh of his foul, had 
 recommended to his care and proteo- 
 {ion, 
 
 Let me clofe this chapter on the mon- 
 ftrous deed! That fuch things are, .is a* 
 
 thought diftrefsful to humanity their/ 
 
 detail can gratify no mind that deferves to> 
 be gratified. 
 
 G
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD, 
 
 CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 *be fituatim of Harriet ', and tie conduft of 
 
 Sindall. They proceed homeward. Some 
 
 incidents in their journey* 
 
 T Would defcribe, if I could, the anguifh 
 which the recollection of the fucceed- 
 ing day brought on the mind of Harriet 
 Annefly. But it is in fuch pafTages that 
 the expreflion of the writer will do little 
 juftice even to his own feelings; much 
 muft therefore be left to thofe of the 
 reader, 
 
 ' ' ..';.. ,. v ", ' ' 
 
 The poinancy of her own diftrefs was 
 doubled by the idea of her father's $ a fa- 
 ther's, whofe pride, whofe comfort, but a 
 few weeks ago me had been^ to whom me 
 was now to return deprived of that inno- 
 
 cence
 
 %$.$ THE MAN OF THE" WORLDS 
 
 cence which could never be reftored. T 
 fhould rather fay that : honour ; for guilt 
 it could not be called, under the circum- 
 flances into which Hie had been betrayed ; 
 but the world has little diftinction to 
 make; and the fall of her, whom the 
 deepeft villany has circumvented, it 
 brands with that common degree of in- 
 famy, which, in its juftice, it always im- 
 putes- to- the fide of the lefs criminal 
 part/. 
 
 Sindall's pity (for 'we will do him no 
 injuftice) might be touched; his pafiion 
 was but little abated ; and he employed 
 the language of boch to comfort the af- 
 fliction he had caufed. From the vio- 
 lence of what, by the perverfion of words, 
 is termed love, he excufed the guilt of his 
 paft conduct, and protefted his readmefs 
 
 to
 
 THE MAN OF- THE WORLD. 257 
 
 to wipe it away by the future. He beg>- 
 ged that Harriet would not fuffer her 
 delicacy to make her unhappy under the 
 fenfe of their connexion j he vowed that 
 he confidered her as his wife, and that,, 
 as foon as particular, circumftances would 
 allow him, he would make her what the 
 world called &v though the facrednefs of 
 his attachment was above being encreafed 
 by any form whatever* 
 
 . 
 There was fomething in the mind of 
 
 Harriet which allowed her little cafe un^ 
 cler all thefe proteftations of regard j but 
 they took off the edge of her prefect 
 affliction, and me heard them r if not with 
 a warmth, of hope, at leaft with an alle- 
 viation of defpair- 
 
 They now fet out on their return to 
 the peaceful manfion of Annefly. HOT* 
 
 blisfuL
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 blisful, in any other circumftances, had 
 Harriet imagined the light of a father, 
 whom me now trembled to behold ! 
 
 They had not proceeded many miles 
 when they were met by Ryland, attended 
 by a number of nifties whom he had 
 afiembled for the purpofe of fearching 
 after Mifs Annefly. It was only indeed 
 by the lower clafs that the account he 
 gave had been credited, for which thofe 
 who did not believe it cannot ;nuch be 
 blamed, when we confider its improba- 
 bility, and likewife that Jack's perfuafive 
 powers were not of a fort that eafily in* 
 duces perfuafion, even when not difar- 
 ranged by the confufion and fright of fuch 
 an adventure. 
 
 His joy at finding Harriet fafe in the 
 protection of fir Thomas, was equally 
 
 turbulent
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 turbulent with his former fears for her 
 welfare. After rewarding his prefent af- 
 fociates with the greateft part of the 
 money in his pocket, he proceeded, in a 
 mannef not the moft diftincl, to give an 
 account of what befel himfelf, fubfequent 
 to that violence which had torn him from 
 his companion. The chaife, he faid, into 
 whieh he was forced, drove, by feveral 
 crofs roads, about three or four miles 
 from the place where they were firft at- 
 tacked; it then flopping, his attendant 
 commanded him to get out, and, pointing 
 to a farm-houfe which, by the light of the 
 moon, was difcernible at fome diftance, 
 told him, that, if he went thither, he 
 would find accommodation for the night 
 and might purfue his journey with fafety; 
 in the morning.
 
 THE MAN OF THE 
 
 He now demanded, in his turn, a reci- 
 tal from Harriet of her mare of their 
 common calamity, which me gave- him in 
 the few words the prefent ft ate of her fpi- 
 fits could afford. When me had ended, 
 Ry land fell on his knees in gratitude to 
 fir Thomas for her deliverance. Harriet 
 turned on Sindall a look infinitely expref- 
 five, and- it was followed by- a ftartmg, 
 tear.- 
 
 They now proceeded to the next ftag9 
 on their way homewards, Sindall declar- 
 ing, that, after what had happened, he 
 would, on no account, leave Mifs Annefly, 
 till he had delivered her fafe into the 
 Kands of her father. She heard, this 
 ij>eech with a figh fo deep,. that if Ryland 
 Had poflefled' much penetration, he would 
 have made conjectures of fomething un* 
 
 common?
 
 THE MAN O'F THE WORLD. 2.&I 
 
 common on her mind , but he was guilt- 
 lefs of imputing to others, what his ho- 
 nefty never experienced in himfelf. Sir 
 Thomas obferved it better, and gently 
 chid it by fqueezing her hand in his. 
 
 o?',vn;i :?-.;. 
 
 At the inn, where they iirft ftopt, they 
 
 met with a gentleman who made the addi- 
 tion of a fourth perfon to their party, 
 being an officer who was going down to 
 the fame part of the country on recruiting 
 orders, and happened to be a particular 
 acquaintance of fir Thomas Sindall : his 
 name was Cam.plin. 
 
 He afforded to their fociety an ingre- 
 dient of which at prefent it feemed to 
 ftand pretty much in need ; to wit, a 
 proper fhare of mirth and humour, for 
 which nature feemed, by a profusion of 
 
 animal
 
 262 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 animal fpirits, to have very well fitted 
 him. She had not perhaps beftowed on 
 him much fterling wit ; but fhe had givfin 
 him abundance of that counterfeit affu- 
 rance, which frequently pafies more cur- 
 rent than the real. In this company, to 
 which chance had aflbciated him, he had 
 an additional advantage from the pre- 
 fence of Ryland, whom he very foon dif- 
 covered to be of that order of men called 
 Buts, thofe eafy culhions (to borrow a 
 fimile of Otway's) on whom the wits of 
 the world repofe and fatten. 
 
 Befides all this, he had a fund of con- 
 verfation arifing from the adventures of a 
 life which, according to his own account, 
 he had patted equally in the perils of war 
 and the luxuries of peace ; his memoirs 
 affording repeated inftances of his valour 
 
 in
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 263 
 
 in dangers of the field, his addrefs in the 
 fociety of the great, and his gallantry in 
 connexions with the fair. 
 
 But left the reader mould imagine, that 
 the real portraiture of this gentleman was 
 to be found in thofe lineaments which 
 he drew of himfelf, I will take the liberty 
 candidly, though briefly, to communicate 
 fome particulars relating to his quality, 
 his fituation, and his character. 
 
 He was the fon of a man who called 
 himfelf an attorney, in a village adjoin- 
 ing to fir Thomas SindalPs eftate. His 
 father, fir William, with whom I made 
 my readers a little acquainted in the be- 
 ginning of my liory, had found this fame 
 lawyer ufeful in carrying on fome pro- 
 
 ceedings
 
 THE MAN OF THE -WORLD* 
 
 ceedings againft his poor neigh hours* 
 Which the delicacy of more eftablifhed 
 praditioners in the law might poffibly 
 have boggled at ; and he had grown into 
 confequence with the baronet, from that 
 pliancy of difpofition which was fo fuited 
 to his fervice. Not that fir William was 
 naturally cruel or oppreffive ; but he had 
 an exalted idea of the confequence which 
 a great eftate confers on its poflefibr, 
 which was irritated beyond meafure when 
 any favourite fcheme of his was oppofed 
 by a man of little fortune, however juft 
 or proper his reafons for oppofition might 
 bej and, though a good fort of 'man , as I 
 have before obferved, his vengeance was 
 implacable. 
 
 Young Camplm, who was nearly of an 
 age with matter Tommy Sindall, was fre- 
 quently
 
 THE MAN OF. THE WORLD. 265 
 
 quently at fir William's in quality of a de- 
 pendant companion to his fon j and, be- 
 fore the baronet died, he had procured 
 him an enfign's commifllon in a regiment, 
 which fome years after was ftationed in 
 one of our garrifons abroad, where Camp- 
 lin, much againft his inclination, was un- 
 der a necefilty of joining it. 
 
 Here he happened to have an oppor- 
 tunity of obliging the chief in command 
 by certain little offices, which, though not 
 ftrictly honourable in themfelves, are fanc- 
 tified by the favour and countenance of 
 many honourable men ; and fo much 
 did they attach his commander to the 
 ^nfign, that the latter was very foon pro- 
 moted by his intereft to the rank of a 
 lieutenant, and not long after was enabled 
 
 VOL. I. N to
 
 266 THE MAN OF TH-E WORLD. 
 
 to make a vewy advantageous purchace of 
 a company. 
 
 With this patron alfo he returned to 
 England, and was received at all times in 
 a very familiar manner into his houfe , 
 where he had the honour of carving good 
 difhes which he was fometimes permitted 
 to tafte, of laughing at jokes which he 
 was fometimes allowed to make, and car- 
 ried an obfequious face into all com- 
 panies, who were not treated with fuch 
 extraordinary refpecY as to preclude his 
 approach. 
 
 About this time his father, whofe bufi- 
 nefs in the country had not encreafed 
 fince the death of fir William Sindall, had 
 fettled in London, where the reader will 
 recollect the having met with him in a 
 
 former
 
 . 
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 267 
 
 former chapter ; but the captain, during 
 his patron's refidence there, lived too near 
 St. James's to make many vifits to Gray's 
 Inn ; and after that gentleman left the 
 town, he continued to move amidft a cir* 
 cle of men of fafhion, with \vhom he con- 
 trived to live in a manner which has been 
 often defined by the expreffion of, " no- 
 body knows how." Which fort of life he 
 had followed uninterruptedly, without 
 ever joining his regiment, till he was now 
 obliged, by the change of a colonel, to 
 take fome of the duty in his turn, and was 
 ordered a recruiting^ as I have taken due 
 occafion to relate. 
 
 In this company did Harriet return to 
 her father. As the news of difalter is 
 commonly fpeedy in its courfe, the good 
 man had already been confufcdly informed 
 
 N 2 Of
 
 368 THE MAN OF THE WORLD, 
 of the attack which had been made on 
 his daughter. To him therefore this meet- 
 ing was fo joyful, as almoft to blot from 
 his remembrance the calamities which had 
 lately befallen his family. But far dif- 
 ferent were the fenfations of Harriet : fhe 
 fnrunk from the fight of a parent, of whofe 
 purity (he now conceived herfelf unwor- 
 thy, and fell blufhing on his neck, which 
 Ihe bathed with a profufion of tears. 
 This he imagined to proceed from her 
 fenfibility of thofe woes which her un- 
 happy brother had fufFered ; and he for- 
 bore to take notice of her diftrefs, any 
 otherwife than by maintaining a degree of 
 chearfulnefs himfelf, much above what the 
 feelings of his heart could warrant, 
 
 He was attended, when her fellow- 
 travellers accompanied Mifs Annefly to 
 
 his
 
 atfi orfc 
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 269 
 
 his houfe, by. a gentleman, whom he now 
 introduced to her by the name of Ra\v- 
 linfon, faying he was a very worthy friend 
 of his, who had lately returned from 
 abroad. Harriet indeed recollected to 
 have heard her father mention fuch a one 
 
 in their converfations before. Though 
 
 
 
 a good deal younger than Arincfly, 
 he had been a very intimate fchool- 
 fellow of his in London, from which 
 place he was fent to the Eaft Indies, and 
 returned, as was common in thofe days, 
 with fome thoufand pounds, and a good 
 confcience, to his native country. A ge- 
 nuine plainnefs of manners, and a warm 
 benevolence of heart, neither the refine- 
 ments of life, nor the fubtleties of traffic, 
 had been able to weaken in Rawlinfon ; 
 and he fet out, under the impreflion of 
 both, immediately after his arrival in 
 N 3 England,
 
 270 TfHE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 England, to vifit a companion, whofe 
 virtues he remembered with veneration, 
 and the value of whofe friendfhip he had 
 .not forgotten. Annefly received him with 
 that welcome which his fire-fide ever 
 afforded to the worthy ; and Harriet, 
 through the dimnefs of her grief 3 fmiled 
 on the friend of her father. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 271 
 
 CHAP. XXV. 
 
 Sowtbwg farther of Mr. Rawlinfon, 
 
 T5AWLINSON found his reception 
 fo agreeable, that he lengthened his 
 vifit much beyond the limits which he at 
 firft intended it j and the earned requeft 
 of Annefly, to whom his friend's company 
 was equally pleafing, extended them ftill 
 a little farther. 
 
 During this period, he had daily op- 
 portunities of obferving the amiable dif- 
 pofitions of Harriet. Heobferved, indeed, 
 a degree of melancholy about her, which 
 'feemed extraordinary in one of her age;, 
 but he was fatisfied to account for it, from 
 the relation, which her father had given 
 N 4 him >
 
 372 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 "*"* ^ 
 
 him, of the fituation of his fon, and that 
 remarkable tendernefs of which his daugh- 
 ter was fufceptible. When viewed in this 
 fight, it added to the good opinion which 
 he already entertained of her. 
 
 CX iiT^>?T till I.K".',''JI risJC'VIl.l t J. 
 
 His efteem for Mifs Annefly mowed 
 kfelf by every mark of attention, which 
 a regard for , the- other fex unavoidably 
 prompts in ours j and a young woman, 
 or her father, who had no more penetr^- 
 tion in thofe matters than is common to 
 many, would not have hefitated to pro- 
 nounce that Rawlinfon was already. the 
 lover of Harriet. But as neither me nor 
 her father had any wimes pointing that 
 way, which had been one great index for 
 difcovery, they were void of any fufpicion 
 of his intentions, till he declared them to 
 Annefly himfelf. 
 
 Ho
 
 
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 273 
 
 He did this with an opennefs and fince-* 
 rity conformable to the whole of his cha- 
 racter. He told his friend that he had 
 now made fuch a fortune as enabled him 
 to live,, independently, and that he looked 
 for a companion to participate it, whofe 
 good-fenfe would improve what were wor- 
 thy, and whofe good-nature would bear 
 what were imperfect in him. He had di- 
 covered, he faid, fo much of both in the 
 mind of Mifs Annefly, that there needed 
 not the recommendation of being th^ 
 
 daughter of his worthieil friend to deter r 
 
 
 mine his choice j . and that, though h$ 
 
 o 
 
 was not old enough to be infenfible tq 
 beauty, yet he was wife enough to confi- 
 der it as the leaft of her good qualities. 
 He added, that he made this application 
 to her father, not to afk a partial exertion 
 of his intereft in his favour, but only, ar. 
 N 5 the
 
 274 T H MAN OF THE WORLD, 
 
 the common friend of both, to reveal his 
 intentions to Mifs Harriet. " She has 
 feen me, faid he, as I am ; if not a ro- 
 mantic lover, I fhall not be a different 
 fort of being, ihould fhe accept of me for 
 a hufhandi if fhe does not, I promife 
 you, I fhall be far from being offended, 
 and will always endeavour to retain her 
 for my friend, whom I have no right ta 
 blame for not chufing ta be my wife." 
 
 Annefly communicated this propofal to> 
 fcis daughter, with a fairnefs, worthy of 
 that with which it had been entrufted to 
 him : " I come not, laid he,, my Harriet, 
 as a defpot to command, not as a father 
 to perfuade, but merely as the friend of 
 Mr. Rawlinfon, to difclofe his fentiments ^ 
 that you fhould judge for yourfelf, in a 
 matter of the higheft importance to you,,
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 is the voice of reafon and of nature j I 
 blufti for thofe parents who have thought 
 otherwife. I would not even, with a view 
 to this particular cafe, obtrude my ad- 
 vice ; in general you have heard my opi- 
 nion before, that the violence which we 
 hav been accuflomed to apply to love, is 
 not always neceffary towards happinefs in 
 marriage j at the fame time, that it is a 
 treafon of the higheft kind in a woman to 
 take him for her hufband,. whom a decent 
 affection has not placed in that fituation, 
 whence alone Ihe ihould chufe one. But 
 -my Harriet has not merely been taught 
 fentiments ; I know Ihe has feanied the 
 art of forming them ; and here me (hall b 
 trailed entirely to her own." 
 
 Ihe feelings of Harriet on this propo- 
 
 fclj and the manner in which her father 
 
 .N 6 communicated
 
 276 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 communicated it, were of fo tender a kind, 
 that fhe could not reftrain her tears. There 
 wanted, indeed, but little to induce her 
 to confefs all that had patted with Sindall, 
 and throw herfelf on the clemency of her 
 indulgent parent. Had fhe pra&ifed this 
 fmcerity, which is the laft virtue we mould 
 ever part with, how happy had it been f 
 But it required a degree of fortitude, as 
 well as foftnefs, to make this difcovery ; 
 
 befides, that her feducer had, with the 
 
 , 
 
 tcndereft entreaties, and afiurances of a 
 fpeedy reparation of her injuries, prevailed 
 on her to give him fomething like a pn> 
 mifeoffecrecy. 
 
 Her anfwer to this offer of Mr. Rawlin- 
 fon's, exprefled her fenfe of the obligation 
 Ihe lay under to him, and to her father -, 
 fiie avowed an efteem for his character 
 
 equal
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 27? 
 
 equal to its excellence, but that it amount- 
 ed not to that tender regard which fhe 
 muft feel for the man whom fhe could 
 think of making her hufband. 
 ' 
 
 Rawlinfon received his friend's account 
 of this determination without difcompc- 
 fure. He faid he knew himfelf well 
 enough to believe that Mifs Annefly had 
 made an honeft and a proper declaration; 
 and begged to have an interview with her- 
 felf, to mow her that he conceived not the 
 fmalleft refentment at her refufal, which, 
 on the contrary, though it deftroyed his 
 hopes, had encreafed his veneration for 
 her. 
 
 . 
 
 " Regard me not, fatd he to her .when 
 they met, with that refpecl: of diftance, as 
 if you had offended or affronted me> let 
 
 ir*
 
 278 THE MAN OF THE WQRLJ0. 
 
 me not lofe that look of kindnefs. which, 
 as the friend of your father and yourfelf, 
 I have formerly experienced. I confefc 
 there is one difparity between ns, which 
 we elderly men are apt to forget, but 
 which I take no offence at being put in 
 *nind of. It is more than probable that 
 I fhall never be married at alL Since I 
 am not a match for you, Mifs Annefly, I 
 would endeavour to make you fomewhat 
 better, if it is pofiible, for another ; do 
 me the favour to accept of this paper ;. 
 and let it fpeak far me, that I would cont- 
 ribute to your happinefs, without the 
 felfifh confide ration of its being made one 
 with my own*" So faying, he bowed and 
 retired into an. adjoining apartment, where 
 his friend was leated. Harriet, upon. open- 
 kjg the paper, found it to contain bank- 
 bills to the amount of a thowfand pound*.
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 273 
 
 Her furprife at this inftance of generality 
 held her, for a few moments,, fixed to the 
 fpot ; but fhe no fooner recollected her- 
 felf, than fhe followed Mr. Rawlinfon,. 
 and putting the paper, with its contents,, 
 into his hand : " Though I feel> fir, faid 
 flie, with the utmoft gratitude, thofe fen- 
 timents of kindnefs and generofity you 
 have exprefled towards me, you will ex- 
 cufe me, I hope, from receiving this 
 mark of them." Rawlinfon.*s countenance 
 betrayed fome indications of difpleafure. 
 * You do wrong, faid he, young lady, 
 and I will be judged by your father 
 This was a prefent, fir, I intended for the 
 worthieft woman, the daughter of my 
 worthieft friend-, Ihe is woman ftill, I fee* 
 and her pride v^ill no moie than her affec- 
 tions, fubmk itfelf to my happinefs." 
 Aiuiefly looked upon the bank-bilis ; 
 
 ^ There
 
 280 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 <s There is a delicacy, my beft friend, 
 faid he, in our fituation ; the poor muft 
 ever be cautious, and there is a certain 
 degree of pride which is their fafeft vir- 
 tue." " Let me teil you, interrupted 
 the other, this is not the pride of virtue. 
 It is that fantaftic nicety which is a 
 weaknefs in the foul, and the dignity of 
 great minds is above it. Believe me, the 
 churlifhnefs which cannot oblige, is little 
 more felfifh, though in a different mode, 
 than the haughtinefs which will not be 
 obliged," 
 
 3;{j llfi J2.rt:!f!: j : 'f. ''. j '. *i W la I 
 
 We are inftruaed, my child," faid 
 AnneQy, delivering her the paper ; " let us 
 ihow, Mr. Rawlinfon, that we have not 
 that narrownefs of mind which he has cen- 
 fured ; and that we will pay that laft tri- 
 bute.
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 bute to his worth which the receiving of 
 
 a favour beftows." 
 
 
 
 " Indeed, fir, faid Harriet, I little dc- 
 ferve it ; I am not, I am not what he 
 thinks me. I am not worthy of his re- 
 gard." And fhe burft into tears. They 
 knew not why Ihe wept; but their eyes 
 fhed each a fympathetic drop, without 
 afldng their reafon's leave. 
 
 Mr. Rawlinfon fpeedily fet out for Lon- 
 don, where his prefence was necefTary to- 
 wards difpatching fome bufmefs he had 
 left unfinifhed, after his return to Eng- 
 land. 
 
 He left his friend, and his friend's 
 amiable daughter, with a tender regret; 
 while they, who, in their humble walk 
 
 of
 
 282 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 . of life, .had few to whom that title would 
 belong, felt his abfence with an equal 
 emotion. He promifed, however, at his 
 departure, to make them another vifit 
 with' the retuj a of the fpring. 
 
 -i 2 UCiim i;.i'; 
 
 
 CHAP. 

 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 Captain Catnplin is again i 
 fituation of Mifs Annejly^ with that 
 gentleman's concern in her affairs* 
 
 TJT I S place was but ill fupplied, at their 
 winter's fire-fide, by the occafional 
 vifits of Camplin, whom Sindall had in- 
 troduced to Annefly's acquaintance. Yet, 
 though his was a character on which An- 
 nefly could not beftow much of his efteem, 
 it had fome good-humoured qualities. 
 which did not fail to entertain and amufc 
 him. But the captain feemed to be MS 
 agreeable in that quarter to which he prin- 
 cipally pointed his attention, to wit, the 
 opinion of Harriet, to whom he took fre- 
 quent occafion to make thofe
 
 284 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 which have juft enough of folly in them 
 to acquire the name of compliments, and 
 fometimes even ventured to turn them in 
 fo particular a manner, as if he wifhed to 
 have them underftood to mean fomewhat 
 more. 
 
 The fitnation of the unfortunate Har- 
 riet was fuch as his pleafantry could not 
 divert, and his attachment could only dif- 
 guft. As me had loft that peace of mind 
 which inward fatisfaction alone can be* 
 ftow, fo me felt the calamity doubled, by 
 that obligation to fecrecy me was under, 
 and the difficulty which her prefent con- 
 dition (for me was now with child) made 
 fuch a concealment be attended witn. 
 Often had me determined to reveal, either 
 to her father or to Mrs. Wiftanly, who,, 
 of her own fex, was her only friend, the 
 
 (lory
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 285 
 
 (lory of her difhonour; but Sindall, by 
 repeated felicitations when in the coun- 
 try, and a conftant correfpondence when 
 in town, conjured her to be filent for fome 
 little time, till he could fmooth the way 
 for beftowing his hand on the only woman 
 whom he had ever fmcerely loved. One 
 principal reafon for his poftponing their 
 union had always been the necefiity for 
 endeavouring to gain over the aflfent of 
 his grandfather by the mother's fide, 
 from whom Sindall had great expecta- 
 tions j he had, from time to time, fug- 
 gefted this as difficult, and only to be 
 attempted with caution, from the proud 
 and touchy difpofition of the old gentle- 
 man : he now reprefented him as in a very 
 declining ftate of health, and that, pro- 
 bably, in a very Ihort time, his death 
 would remove this obftacle to the warmeft 
 
 wilh
 
 286 THE MAN" OF THE WORLD. 
 
 \vifli of a heart, that was ever faithful to 
 his Harriet, The flattering language of 
 hi$ letters could not arreft the progrefs of 
 that time, which muil divulge the fhame 
 of her he had undone 5 but they foothed 
 the tumults of a foul to whom his villany 
 was yet unknown, and whofe affections 
 his appearance of worth, of friend (hip, 
 and nobtefiefs of mind, had but too much 
 entangled. 
 
 However imperfectly he had accounted 
 for delaying a marriage, which he always 
 profefled his intention to perform, the 
 delufion was kept up in the expectations 
 of Harriet, till that period began to draw 
 near when it would be impoflible any 
 longer to conceal from the world the ef- 
 fects of their intimacy. Then, indeed, 
 her nneaiinefs was not to be allayed by 
 
 fuch
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 287 
 
 fuch excufes as Sindall had before relied 
 on her artlefs confidence to believe. He 
 wrote her, therefore, an anfwer to a letter 
 full of the moft earned as well as tender 
 expoftulations, informing her, of his hav- 
 ing determined to run any rifk of incon- 
 venience to himfelf, rather than fuffer her 
 to remain longer in a ftate, fuch as fhe had 
 (pathetically indeed) defcribed. That he 
 was to fet out in a few days for the coun- 
 try, to make himfelf indifiblubly hersj 
 but that it was abfolutely necefiary that 
 fhe fhould allow him to conduct their 
 marriage in a particular manner, which 
 he would communicate to her on his arri- 
 val j and begged, as me valued his peace 
 and her own, that the whole matter might 
 ftill remain as inviolably fecret as fhe had 
 hitherto kept it. 
 
 In
 
 2B8 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 In a few days after the recek of this 
 letter, fhe received a note from Camplin, 
 importing his defire to have an interview 
 VPith her on fome particular bufmefs, 
 which related equally to her and to fir 
 Thomas Sindall. The time he appointed 
 was early in the morning of the fucceed- 
 ing day ; and the place, a little walk 
 which the villagers ufed to frequent in 
 holiday-times, at the back of her father's 
 garden. This was delivered her, in a fe- 
 cret manner, by a little boy, an attendant 
 of that gentleman's, who was a frequent 
 gueft in Annefly's kitchen, from his ta- 
 lent at playing the flageolet, which he had 
 acquired in the capacity of a drummer to 
 the regiment to which his mailer belonged. 
 Myfterious as the contents of this note 
 were, the mind of Harriet eafily fuggefted 
 to her, that Camplin had been, in fome 
 
 refped
 
 TH-E MAN OF THE WORLD. 2$9 
 
 refpe6t at leaft, let into the confidence ef 
 ; fir Thomas. She now felt the want of 
 that dignity which innocence beftows; 
 me blufhedand trembled, even inthepre- 
 fence of this little boy, becaufe he was 
 Camplin's; and with a making hand, 
 {crawled a note in anfwer to that he had 
 brought her, to let his ma&er know, that 
 me would meet him at the hour he had 
 
 appointed. She met him accordingly. 
 
 ' 
 
 He began with making many protefta- 
 tions of his regard, both for Mifs Annefiy 
 and the baronet, which had induced him, 
 he faid, to dedicate himfelf to the fervice 
 of both in this affair, though it was a mat- 
 ter of fuch delicacy as he would not other- 
 wife have chofen to interfere in ; and put- 
 ting into her hand a letter from Sindall, 
 told her, he had taken meafures for car- 
 VOL. I. O rying
 
 2$O THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 ryjng into execution the purpofe it con- 
 tained. 
 
 j t * * . 
 
 ' .A'." ?.'.>?] V }fl <<. : ; -''i- .1 - ..- ,'*, *f), J 
 
 It informed her that fir Thomas was in 
 the houfe of an old domeftic at fome miles 
 diftance, where he waited to be made hers. 
 That he had for this fecrecy many rea- 
 ibns, with which he could not by fuch a 
 conveyance make her acquainted, but 
 
 t 
 
 which her own prudence would probably 
 fuggeft. He concluded with recommend- 
 ing her to the care and protection of 
 Camplin, whofe honour he warmly ex- 
 tolled. 
 
 She pauied a moment on the perufal 
 of this billet. " Oh ! heavens ! faid me, 
 , to what have I reduced myfelf ! Mr, Camp- 
 lin, what am I to do ? Whither are you 
 
 to
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 to carry me? Pardon my confufion I 
 fcarce know what I fay to you."- 
 
 " I have a chaife and four ready, an* 
 fwered Camplin, at the end of the lane, 
 which in an hour or two, madam, will 
 convey you to fir Thomas Sindall." " But 
 my father, good heavens ! to leave my 
 father!" " Confider, (aid he, 'tis but 
 for a little while : my boy fhall carry a 
 note to acquaint him that you are gone 
 on a vifit, and will return in the even- 
 ing." " Return ! Methinks I feel a fore- 
 boding that I mail never return." He 
 put a piece of paper and a pencil into her 
 hand ; the note was written, and difpatch- 
 ed by the boy, to whom he beckoned at 
 fome diftance where he had waited. 
 " Now, madam, faid he, let me conduct 
 you." Her knees knocked fo againft 
 O 2 *ach
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD*. 
 
 each other, that it .was with difficulty ftre 
 could walk, even with the fupport of his 
 arm. They reached the chaife ; afervant 
 who ftbod by it, opened the door to ad- 
 jnit her; (he put her foot on the ftep, 
 then drew it back again. " Be not afraid, 
 madam, faid Camplin, you go to be hap- 
 py." She put her foot up again, and 
 Hood in that attitude a moment ; Ihe caft 
 back a look to the little manfion of her 
 fathery whence the fmoke was now rolling 
 its volumes in the calmnefs of a beautiful 
 morning. A gum of tendernefs fwelled 
 her heart at the fight She burfl into tears 
 But the crifis of her fate was come 
 and (he entered the carriage, which drove 
 off at a furious rate, Camplin commanding 
 the poftilion to make as much ipeed as 
 
 was poffible. 
 
 : 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 293 
 
 _. *' 
 
 CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 ' ' ! " - \ " 
 
 e effetts^ which the event contained in tht 
 preceding chapter bad on Mr. Annejly. 
 
 HE receit of that note which Har- 
 riet was perfuaded by Camplin' to 
 write to her father, (intimating her having 
 gone on a vilit. to, a family in the neigh- 
 bourhood, whence fhe was not to return 
 till the evening) though her time of going 
 abroad was fomewhat unufual, did not 
 create any furprife in the mind of An- 
 nefly ; but it happened that Mrs. Wiflan- 
 ly, who called in the afternoon to enquire 
 after her young friend,, had juft left the 
 very houfe where her me0age imported: 
 her viiit to be made. This fet her father on 
 O 3 conjecturing,
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 conjecturing, though without much an- 
 xiety, and with no fufpicion : but his fears 
 were redoubled when, having fat up till a 
 very late hour, no tidings arrived of his 
 daughter. He went to bed, however, 
 though it could not afford him fleep , at 
 every bark of the village-dogs his heart 
 bounded with the hopes of her return 5 
 but the morning rofc, and did not reftore 
 him his Harriet. 
 
 His uneafinefs had been obferved by 
 his fervants, to whom he was too indul- 
 gent a mafter to have his interefts confi- 
 dered by them with lefs warmth than their 
 own. Abraham, therefore, who was coe- 
 val with his mafter, and had ferved him 
 ever fmce he was married, had fallied 
 forth by day-break on fearch of intelli- 
 gence. He was met accidentally by a 
 
 hmntfman
 
 THE MAN OF THE WOfcXD. 
 
 huntfman of fir Thomas Sindall's, who 
 informed him, that as he crofied the lane 
 at the back of the village the morning 
 before, he faw Mifs Annefly leaning oa 
 captain Camplin's arm, and walking with 
 him towards a chaife and four, which ftood 
 at the end of it. Abraham's cheeks grew 
 pale at this intelligence j becaufe he had 
 a fort of inftinctive terror for Camplin, 
 who was in ufe to make his awkward fim- 
 plicity, a fund for many jefts, and tricks 
 of mifchief, during his vifits to Annefiy.' 
 He haftened home to communicate this 
 difcovery to his mailer, which he did with 
 a faltering tongue, and many ejaculations 
 of fear and furprife. Annefly received it 
 with lefs emotion, though not without an 
 encreafe of uneafmefs. " Yonder, faid 
 Abraham, looking through the window, 
 is the captain's little boyi" and he ran 
 O 4 out
 
 296 THE MAN 01 THE WORLD* 
 
 out of the room to bring him to an exami- 
 nation. The lad,, upon being interrogated,, 
 confefied that his mafter had fent him ta 
 hire a chaife, which was to be in waiting 
 at the end of that lane I have formerly, 
 mentioned, at an early hour in the morn- 
 ing, and that he faw Mifs Annefly go into 
 it attended by the captain,, who had not,, 
 any more than Mifs Harriet, been at home 
 or heard of fince that time.. This decla- 
 ration deprived Annefly of utterance-, but: 
 it only added to the warmth of Abraham's 
 inquifition, who now mingling threats 
 with his queftions, drew from the boy the 
 fecret, of his having privately delivered a 
 letter, from his mailer to Mifs Anneflyy, 
 the very night preceding the day of their 
 departure ; and that a man of his ac- 
 quaintance, who had ftopt, about mid-day, 
 at the alehoufe where he was quartered* 
 
 told
 
 THE MAN OT THE WORLD. >O-7" 
 
 told him, by way of converfation, that ha 
 had met his mafler with a lady, whom he? 
 foppofed, jeering] y, he was running away 
 with, driving at a great rate on the" road; 
 towards London. Abraham made a figni 
 to the boy to leave the room. u My poor 
 dear young lady !" faid he, as hefhut.thc- 
 door, and the tears gufhed from his eyes* 
 His mafter's were turned upwards, to that; 
 Being, to whom calamity ever directed 
 them. The maid-fervant now entered thef; 
 room, uttering fome broken exclamations, 
 of forrow, which a violent fobbing reiw- 
 dered inarticulate. Annefly had finifhedi 
 his account with heaven! and-addrefllng 
 her with a degree of calmnefs, which tho' 
 good man-could derive only thence, aikedi 
 her fhe caufe of her being afflicted in fok 
 vmuftial a manner;, " Oh, Er! faid Ihe, 
 ftifling her tears, I! have heard, what the 
 O 5 captain's
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 captain's boy has been telling ; I fear it is 
 but too true, and worfe than you ima- 
 gine ! Gqd forgive me if I wrong Mifs 
 Harriet ; but I fufpeft I have fufpe&ed 
 for forne time fhe burft into tears again! 
 that my young lady is with child." 
 Annefly had ftretched his fortitude to the 
 utmoft this laft blow overcame it, and 
 he fell fenfelefs on the floor ! Abraham 
 threw himfelf down by him, tearing his 
 white locks, and acting all the frantic ex- 
 travagances of grief. But the maid was 
 more ufeful to her mailer; and having 
 raifed him gently, and chafed his temples* 
 he began to mow fome figns of reviving;, 
 when Abraham recollected himfelf fo far. 
 as to aflift his fellow-fervanj iri carrying 
 him to his chamber, and laying him; on 
 his bed, where he recovered the powers of 
 life, and the fenfe of his misfortune. 
 
 Their 
 
 "
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Their endeavours for his recovery were 
 fcconded by Mrs. Wiftanly, who had made 
 this early vifit to fatisfy fome doubts which 
 file, as well as Annefly, had conceived, 
 even from the information of the prece- 
 ding day. When he firft regained the ufe 
 of fpeech, he complained of a violent Ihi- 
 vering, for which this good lady, frojn 
 the little fkill Ihe pofTeffed in phyfic, pre- 
 fcribed fome fimple remedies, and at the 
 fame time difpatched Abraham for an apo- 
 thecary in the neighbourhood, who com- 
 monly attended the family. 
 
 Before this gentleman arrived, Annefly 
 had received fo much temporary relief 
 from Mrs. Wiftanly's prefcriptions, as to 
 be able to fpeak with more eafe, than the 
 incefiant quivering of his lips had before 
 allowed him to do. " Alas ! faid he, Mrs. 
 O 6 Wiftanly,
 
 3 CO THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Wiftanly, have you heard of my Harriet?" 
 ~" I have v fir, .faid fhe, with equal aflo- 
 nimment and forrow; yet let me cntreaf 
 you not to abandon that hope which the 
 prefent uncertainty may warrant. I can- 
 not allow myfelf to think that things are 
 fo ill as your fervants have informed me.'* 
 " My foreboding heart, faid he, tells 
 me they are; I remember many circurn- 
 ftances now, which all meet to confirm? 
 my -fears. Oh! Mrs. Wiftanly, fhe was 
 my darling, the idol of my heart! per- 
 haps too much -fa the will of heaven be* 
 done!" 
 
 The apothecary now arrived, who, upon; 
 examining into the ftate of his patient, or- 
 dered fome warm applications to remove 
 that univerfal coldneis he complained of, 
 and kft him, with a promife of returning 
 
 in
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 in a few hours, when he had finilhed fome 
 vifits, which he was under a necefiity of 
 making in the village. 
 
 When he returned, he found Mr. An-, 
 nefly altered for the worfe j the cold which 
 the latter felt before, having given place 
 to a burning heat. He therefore told 
 Mrs. Wiftanly, at going away, that in the 
 evening he would bring a phyfician, with 
 whom he had an appointment at a gentle- 
 man's not very diftant, to fee Mr. An- 
 nefly, as his fituation appeared to him to 
 be attended with fome alarming circum- 
 ftances^ 
 
 His fears of danger were juftified by 
 the event. When thefe gentlemen faw 
 Mr. Annefly in the evening, his fever 
 was encreafed. Next day, after a reftlefs 
 
 night,
 
 302 THE MAN OP THE WORLD, 
 
 night, they found every bad fymptom con- 
 firmed : they tried every method which 
 medical fkill could fuggeft for his relief, 
 but, during four fuccefiive days, their 
 endeavours proved ineffectual ; and at the 
 expiration of that time they told his friend, 
 Mrs. Wiftanly, who had enjoyed almoft 
 as little fleep as the fick-man whom me 
 watched, that unlefs fome favourable crifis 
 fhould happen foon, the worft confe* 
 quences were much to be feared. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 03 
 
 CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 Tke arrival of Mr. Rawlinfon. Anneflfs 
 difcourfe with him. That gentleman's 
 
 account of his friend's ilnefs, and 
 
 
 
 its conferences. 
 
 A T this melancholy period it happened 
 
 that Mr. Rawlinfon arrived, in pur- 
 
 fuance of that promife which Annefly had 
 
 obtained from him, at the time of his 
 
 departure for London. 
 
 - 
 There needed not that warmth of heart 
 
 we have formerly defcribed in this gen- 
 tleman to feel the accumulated diftrefs to 
 -which his worthy friend was reduced. 
 Nor was his aftoniihment at the account 
 
 which
 
 304: THE MAN OF' THE WORtBi- 
 
 which he received of Harriet's elopement 
 lefs, than his pity for the fufferings it 
 had brought upon her father. 
 
 From the prefent fituation of Annefly's 
 family, he did not chafe to incommode 
 them with any trouble of provifion for 
 him. He took up his quarters therefore 
 at the only inn, a paltry one indeed,, 
 which the village afforded, and refolved 
 to remain there till he faw what hTue his 
 friend's prefent ilnefs fhould haVe, and. 
 endeavour to adminifter fome comfort, 
 either to the laft moments of his life, or 
 to that affliction which his recovery could 
 not remove*- 
 
 In the evening of the day on which he 
 arrived, Annefly feemed to feel a fort of 
 relief from the violence of his difeafc. 
 
 He
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Die fpoke with a degree of coolnefs which 
 he had never before been able to com- 
 mand j and after having talked fome little 
 nme with his phyfician, he told Abra- 
 ham, who feldom quitted his bed-fide, 
 that he thought he had feen Mr* Rawlin^ 
 fon enter the room in the morning, 
 though he was in a confufed (lumber at 
 the time, and might have miftaken a 
 dream for the reality. Upon Abraham's 
 informing him, that Mr. Rawlinfon had 
 been there, that he had left the houfe but 
 a moment beforehand that he was tore- 
 main in the village for foine time, he ex- 
 prefTed the warmeft fatisfaction at the in- 
 telligence ; and having made Abraham 
 fetch him a paper which lay in his buroe, 
 fcaled up in a particular manner, he dif- 
 patched him to the inn where his friend
 
 306 THE MAN OP THE WORLD. 
 
 was, with a meflage, importing an earned 
 dcfire to fee him as foon as mould be 
 convenient. 
 
 Rawlinfon had already returned to the 
 houfe, and was by this time dealing up 
 ftairs, to watch at the bed-fide of his 
 friend, for which tafk Mrs. Wiftanly's 
 former unceafmg folicitude had now ren- 
 dered her unfit. He was met by Abra- 
 ham with a gleam of joy on his coun- 
 tenance, from the happy change which 
 he thought he obferved in his mafter ; 
 and was conducted to the fide of the bed 
 by that faithful domeftic, who placed 
 him in a chair, that the doctor had juft 
 occupied by his patient, 
 
 Annefly ftretched out his hands, and 
 fqueezed that of Rawlinfon between them 
 
 for
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 307 
 
 for ibme time without fpeaking a word. 
 I blefs God, faid he at laft, that he has 
 fent me a comforter, at a moment when, 
 I fo much need one. You muft by this 
 time have heard, my friend, of that lateft 
 and greateft of my family-misfortunes, 
 with which providence has afflicted me." 
 T " You know, my dear fir, anfwered 
 Rawlinfon, that no one would more fm- 
 cerely feel for your forrows than I i but 
 at prefent it is a fubject too tender for 
 
 you." " Do not fay fo, replied his 
 
 friend , it will eafe my labouring heart to 
 fpeak of it to my Rawlinfon : but in the 
 firft place I have a little bufmefs which I 
 will now difpatch. Here is a deed making 
 over all my effects to you, fir, and at your 
 death, to any one you Ihall name your 
 executor in that trull for my children 
 if I have any children remaining ! Into 
 
 your
 
 308 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 your hands I deliver it with a peculiarr 
 fatisfaction, and I know there will not 
 need the defire of a dying friend to add- 
 to your zeal for their fervice. Why; 
 fhould that word ftartle you ? death is to 
 me a meflenger of confolation 1" He 
 paufed ! Rawlinfon put up the paper in 
 filence, for his heart was too full to allow 
 him the ufe of words for. an aniker. 
 
 "When I loft' my fon, continued An-, 
 nefly, .1 fuffered in filence ; and though it- 
 preyed on me in fecret, I bore up againft 
 the weight of my forrow, that I might 
 not weaken in myfelf that flay which ; 
 heaven had provided for my Harriet;" 
 She was then my only remaining com- 
 fort, faved like fome precious treafure 
 from the fhipwreck of my family ; and I- 
 fondly hoped that my age might go down 1 
 
 fmoothly
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 309 
 
 ifmoothly to its reft, amidft the endear- 
 ments of a daughter's care. I have no\v 
 lived to fee the laft refting-plaee which 
 .my foul could find in this world, laid 
 .wafte and defolate ! yet to that Being, 
 whofe goodnefs is infinite as his ways are 
 infcrutable, let me bend in reverence ! I 
 blefs his name that he has not yet taken 
 from me that truft in him, which to lofe is 
 the only irremediable calamity: it is now 
 indeed that I feel its efficacy moft, when 
 every ray of human comfort is extin- 
 guifhed. As for me my deliverance is 
 .at hand; I feel fomething here at my 
 heart that tells me, I fhall not have long 
 to ftrive with infufferable affliction. My 
 poor deluded daughter I commit to 
 .jhee, Father of all ! by whom the wander- 
 ings of thy unhappy children are feen 
 
 with
 
 IO THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 with pity, and to whom their return 
 cannot be too late to be accepted ! If my 
 friend Ihould live to fee her look back 
 with contrition towards that path from 
 which flie has ftrayed, I know his good- 
 nefs will lead her fteps to find it. Show 
 her her father's grave ! yet fpare her for 
 his fake, who cannot then comfort or fup- 
 port her !" 
 
 The reft of this narration I will give 
 the reader in Mr. Rawlinfon's own words, 
 from a letter of his I have now lying be- 
 fore me, of which I will tranfcribe the 
 latter part, beginning its recital at the 
 elofe of this pathetic addrefs of his friend. 
 
 As I had been told (fays this gentle- 
 man) that 'he had not enjoyed one found 
 {kep fince his daughter went away, I left 
 
 him
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 him now to compofe himfelf to reft, de- 
 firing his fervant to call me inftantly, if 
 he obferved any thing particular about 
 his matter. He whifpered me, " that 
 " when he fat up with him the night be-' 
 " fore, he could overhear him at times 
 " talk wildly, and mutter to himfelf like 
 " one fpeaking in one's fleep j that then 
 " he would ftart, figh deeply, and feem 
 " again to recollect himfelf." I went 
 back to his matter's bed-fide, and begged 
 him to endeavour to calm his mind fo 
 much as not to prevent that repofe which 
 he flood fo greatly in need of. " I have 
 prevailed on my phyfician, anfwered he, 
 to give me an opiate for that purpofe, 
 and I think I now feel droufy from its 
 effects." I wiftied him good night, 
 " Good night, faid he, but give me 
 your hand j it is perhaps the laft time J 
 
 ihall
 
 'THE'MA'N OT THE 'WORLD. 
 
 lhall ever clafp it!" He lifted up his eyes 
 to r heaven, holding my hand in hrs, then 
 turned away his face, and laid his head 
 upon his pillow. I could not lay mine to 
 reft: Alas ! faid I, that fuch mould be the 
 portion of virtue like Annefly's ; yet to 
 arraign the diftribution of providence, had 
 -been to forget that lefibn which the beft 
 of men had juft been teaching me; but 
 the doubtings, the darknefs of feeble man, 
 flill hung about my heart. 
 
 When I fent in the morning, I was told 
 that he was ftill afleep, -but that his reft 
 was obferved to be frequently difturbed 
 .by groans and ftartings, and that he 
 breathed much thicker than he had ever 
 done hitherto. I went myfclf to get more 
 perfect intelligence ; his faithful Abraham 
 met me at the door. " Oh fir, faid he,
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 " my poor mafter !" * What is the mat- 
 ter ?' " I fear, fir, he is not in his per- 
 " feet fenfes j for he talks more wildly 
 " than ever, and yet he is broad awake." 
 He led me into the room ; I placed my- 
 felf dire<5Uy before him ; but his eye, 
 though it was fixed on mine, did not feem 
 to acknowlege its -object. There was a 
 glazing on it that deadened its look. 
 
 He muttered fomething in a very low 
 voice." How does my friend ?" faid 
 I. He fuffered me to take his hand, but 
 anfwered nothing. After Hftening fome 
 time, I could hear the name of Harrier. 
 " Do you want any thing, my dear fir ?" 
 He moved his lips, but 1 heard not what 
 he faid. I repeated my (^ueftion ; he 
 look'd up piteoufly in my face, then turn- 
 td his eye round as if he miffed fome 
 
 VOL. I. P objeft
 
 314 TKE MAN OF THE WORLDv 
 
 object on which it meant tx> reft. 'He 
 fliivered, and caught ho!4 of Abraham's 
 hand, who flood at the fide of the bed 
 oppofite me. He looked round again> 
 then uttered with a feeble and broken 
 voice^ " Where is my Harriet ? lay your 
 *' hand on my head this hand is not my 
 " Harriet's me is dead, I know : you 
 *' will not fpeak my poor child is dead ! 
 " yet I dreamed me was alive and had 
 44 left me ; kft me to die alone 1 I have 
 " feen her weep at the death of a linnet ! 
 " poor foul, Ihe was not made for this 
 '* world we mail meet in heaven ! 
 * Blefsher! blefs her ! there! may you 
 " be as virtuous as your mother, and 
 ' more fortunate than your father has 
 *' been ! My head is ftrangely con- 
 " fufed ! but tell me, when did me die ? 
 * l you mould have waked me that I might 
 
 " have
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD, 315 
 
 " have prayed by her.-^-Sweet innocence ! 
 " flie had no crimes to confefs ! I can 
 " fpeak but ill, for my tongue flicks 
 " to my mouth. Yet oh ! moft mer- 
 " ciful, ftrengthen and fupport He mi- 
 c * vered again into thy hands !'*- He 
 groaned and died !" 
 
 Sindall ! and ye who like Sindall but 
 I cannot fpeak ! fpeak for me their con- 
 
 fciences ! 
 
 
 
 
 P 2 CHAP.
 
 316 THE MAN OF THE WORLD* 
 
 Harriet Annejly on her leaving 
 
 her father. 
 -iff* all :ioqqrjt Dnfi nirb^naiA UmD J ' 
 
 T AM not in a difpofition to flop in the ' 
 midft of this part of my recital, feli- 
 citous to embellifti, or ftudious to arrange 
 it. My readers {hall receive it fimple, as 
 becomes a tale of forrow, and I flatter 
 myfelf, they are at this moment, readier 
 to feel than to judge it. 
 
 They have feen Harriet Annefly, by 
 the artifice of Sindall, and the agency of 
 Camplin, tempted to leave the houfe of 
 her father, in hopes of meeting the man who 
 had betrayed her, and of receiving that 
 only reparation . for her injuries which it 
 was now in his power to make. 
 
 But
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 317 
 
 But fir Thomas never entertained the 
 mofl diftant thought of that marriage, 
 with the hopes of which he had deluded 
 her. Yet, though he was not fubjed to 
 the internal principles of honour or mora- 
 lity, he was man of the world enough 
 to know their value in the eftimation of 
 others. The virtues of Annefly had fo 
 much endeared him to every one within 
 their reach, that this outrage of SindalTs 
 againil him, under the difguife of facred 
 friendftiip and regard, would have given 
 the intereft and character of fir Thomas 
 fuch a blow, as he could not eafily have 
 recovered, nor conveniently born. It is 
 not therefore to be wondered at, that he 
 wiflied for fome expedient to conceal ic 
 from the eyes of the public. 
 
 For thispurpofe he had formed alcheme, 
 
 which all the knowlege he had of the de- 
 
 p 3 licacy
 
 THE HAN OP THE WORLI>. 
 
 'jjcacy of Harriet's affection for him, did 
 not prevent his th inking pra&icable ; (for 
 the female who once falls from innocence, 
 is held to fce funk into perpetual debafe- 
 ment) and that was, to provide a hufband 
 for her in the perfon of anotlier. And for 
 that hufband he pitched on Carhplin, with 
 whofe character he was too well acquaint- 
 ed, to doubt the bringing him over to 
 any bafenefs which danger did not attend, 
 and a liberal reward was to follow. Camp- 
 Hn, who at this time was in great want of 
 money, and had always an appetite for 
 thofe pleafures which money alone can 
 purchafe, agreed to his proposals ; they 
 fettled the dowry of his future wife, and 
 the fcheme which he undertook to pro- 
 cure her. Part of its execution I have 
 already related ; I proceed to relate the 
 
 reft. 
 
 I J.& U& t'^ulw 
 
 When
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLP. 
 
 When they had been driven with all the 
 fury which Camplin had enjoined the 
 poftilions, for about eight or nine miles, 
 they flopt at an inn, where they changed 
 horfes. Harriet expreffcd her furprife at 
 their not having already reached the place 
 where fir Thomas waited them j on whick 
 Camplin told her, that it was not a great 
 way off, but that the roads were very bad, 
 and that he obferved the horfes to be ex- 
 ceedingly jaded. 
 
 After having proceeded fome miles 
 farther, on a road ftill more wild and lefs 
 frequented, (he repeated her wonder at 
 the length of the way \. on which Camp- 
 lin, entreating her pardon for being con- 
 cerned in anyhow deceiving her, confefied 
 that fir Thomas was at a place much far. 
 ther from her father's than he had made 
 P 4 fa r
 
 320 THE MAK OF THE WORLD. 
 
 her believe j which deceit he had begged 
 of him (Camplin) to pra&ice, that fhe 
 might not be alarmed at the diftance, 
 Avhich was necefiary, he iaid, for that plan 
 of fecrecy fir Thomas had formed for his 
 marriage. Her fears were fuffkiently 
 toufed at this intelligence, but it was 
 now too late to. retreat, however terrible 
 it might be to goon.^rl: j*,d 
 
 Some time after they ftopt to breakfaft, 
 and changed horfes again, Camplin in- 
 forming her, that it was the laft time they 
 fhould have occafion to do fo. Accord- 
 ingly, in little more than an hour, during 
 which the fpeed of their progrefs was no- 
 wife abated, they halted at the door of a 
 houfe, which Harriet, upon coming out 
 of the chaife, immediately recollected to 
 Jbe that fatal one to which Sindall had be- 
 fore
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 fore conveyed her. She felt, on entering 
 it, a degree of horror which the remem- 
 brance of that guilty night fhe had before 
 paffed under its roof, could not fail to 
 fuggeft, and it was with difficulty flic 
 dragged her trembling {reps to a room 
 above ftairs, whither the landlady, with a 
 profufion of civility, conducted her. 
 
 
 Where is fir Thomas Sindall ? faid fhe* 
 
 looking about with terror on the well- 
 remembered objects around her. Camp- 
 lin, fhutting the door of the chamber, 
 told her, with a look of the utmoft ten> 
 dernefs and refpect, that fir Thomas was 
 not then in the houfe, but had deiirett 
 him to deliver her a letter, which he now 
 put into her hands for her perufal. It 
 contained what follows: i 
 
 
 
 ? 5 2
 
 322 THE MAN DT THE WORLD. 
 
 ; * It is with inexpreflible anguifli I in- 
 farm, tnj ever-d^arcft Harriet, of my in- 
 ability to pedbrrn engagement r, of which 
 I acknowJege the folemnity, aad which 
 iwceEity akme has power to can-eel. The 
 cruelty of my grandfather is deaf to all the 
 remonftrances cf my love ; and having 
 accidentally difcovered my attachment for 
 you, he infifts upon my immediately fer- 
 cirvg out oi> my travels ; a command, 
 which, i my pretent fituationr, I find my- 
 felf obliged to comply with. I fel, witk 
 the moft poinant forrow and remorfe, for 
 that condition to which our ill-fated love 
 has reduced the lovelieft of her fex. I 
 would therefore endeavour, if poflible, 
 *& conceal the ihame which the woiid an- 
 bitrarily afjixes to it. With this view I 
 have laid afide all felfifh confiderations fo 
 much, as to yield to t^c fuit of Mr, Camp-
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 323 
 
 Jin that hand, which I had once the hap- 
 pinefs of expecting for myfetf. This ftep, 
 the exigency of your prefent circumftan- 
 ces renders highly eligible, if your affec- 
 tions can bend themfelves to a man, of 
 whofe honour and good qualities I have 
 had the ftrongeft proofs,, and who has 
 generofity enough to impute no crime to 
 that ardency of the nobleft paflion of the 
 mind, which has fubjected you to the ob- 
 loquy of the undifcerning multitude- As- 
 Mrs. Camplin, you will poffefs the love 
 and affection of that worthieft of my 
 friends, together with the warmeft efteem 
 and regard of your unfortunate, but ever 
 devoted, humble fervant, 
 
 THOMAS. SINDALJ..**^ 
 . 
 
 . Camplin was about to offer his com-t 
 
 inentary upon this letter - % but Harriet, 
 
 P 6 whofe
 
 324 THE MAN OF THE WORLU. 
 
 xvhofeipirits had juft fupported her to the 
 ,end of : it, lay now lifelefs at his feet. 
 .After leveral fuccefllve faintings, from 
 which Camflin, the landlady, and other 
 afiiftants, with difficulty recovered her, a 
 fhower of tears came at laft to her relief, 
 and fhe became able a to articulate fome 
 Ihort exclamations of horror and defpair ! 
 Camplin threw himfelf on his knees before 
 her. He protefted the moft fincere and 
 difintefefled paflion; and that, if fhe 
 would bfefs him with the pofTefiion of fo 
 many amiable qualities as fhe pofleffed, 
 the uniform endeavour of his life fhould 
 be to promote her happinefs. " I think 
 not of thee," fhe exclaimed ; " Oh ! Sia- 
 dall ! perfidious, cruel, deliberate villain 1'* 
 Camplin again interrupted her, with pro- 
 teftations of his own affe&ion and regard. 
 i* Away ! fkid flic, and let me hear no 
 
 more!
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 325 
 
 more! Or, if thou wouldft fhow thy 
 friendfhip, carry me to that father from 
 whom thou ftoleft me. You will not 
 but if I can live fo long, I will crawl to 
 his feet, and expire before him." 
 
 She was running towards the door; 
 Camplin gently ftopt her. " My deareft 
 Mifs Annefly, faid he, recollect yourfelf 
 but a moment ; let me conjure you to 
 think of your own welfare, and of that 
 father's whom you fo juitly love. For 
 thefe alone could fir Thomas Sindall have 
 thought of the expedient which he pro- 
 pofes. If you will now become the wife 
 of your adoring Camplin, the time of the 
 celebration of our marriage need not be 
 told to the world : under the fan&ion of 
 that holy tie, every circumftance of de- 
 traction will be overlooked, and that life 
 
 may
 
 326 THE MAN OF THE WORLP. 
 
 may be made long and happy, which 
 your unthinking rafhnefs would cut off 
 from yourfelf and your father." Harriet 
 fead liftened little to this fpeech * but the 
 fwelling of her anger had fubfided j fhe 
 threw herfelf into a chair, and burft again 
 into tears, Camplin drew nearer, and 
 prefled her hand in his 5 (he drew it ha- 
 ftily from him : ** If you have any pity 
 fhe cried, I entreat you for heaven's fake 
 to leave me." He bowed refpedfully 
 and retired, defiring the landlady to at- 
 tend Mifs Annefly, and endeavour ta 
 afford her fome affiftance and confolation. 
 
 She had, indeed, more occafion for her 
 affiftance than he was then aware of; the 
 violent agitation of her fpirits having had 
 fuch an effeft OR her* that, though fha 
 wanted a month of her time, me was fud- 
 3
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLB. 
 
 denly feized with the pains of child-birth 5 
 and they were but juft able to procure a. 
 woman who c~led as a midwife in the 
 neighbourhood, when fhe was delivered 
 of a girl. Diilracted as her foul was, this 
 new object drew forth its inftinctive ten- 
 dernefs -, (he mingled tears with her kifle* 
 en its cheeks, and forgot the fhame at- 
 tending its birth, in tke natural meltings 
 of a mother. 
 
 For about a week after her delivery fhc 
 recovered tolerably well, and indeed thofe 
 ^bout her fpared no pains or attention to 
 contribute towards her recovery j but, at 
 the end of that period, an accident threw 
 her into the moft dangerous fituatkwi. She 
 was lying in a {lumber, with a nurfe watch- 
 ing her, when a fervant of fir Thomas 
 Sindall's, whom his matter had employed 
 
 very
 
 328 THE MAN OF THE WORLD.'. 
 
 very actively in the progrefs of his defigns 
 on Mifs Annefly, entered the room with a 
 look of the utmoft condensation and hor- 
 ror j the nurfe beckoned to him to make 
 no noife, fignifying, by her geftures, that 
 the lady was afleep ; but the opening of 
 the door had already awakened her, and 
 fhe lay liftening, when he told the caufe 
 of his emotion. It was the intelligence 
 which he had juft accidentally received of 
 Mr. Annefly's death. The effect of this 
 fhock on his unfortunate daughter may be 
 eafily imagined ; every fatal fymptom, 
 which fudden terror or furprife caufes in 
 women at fuch a feafon of weaknefs, was 
 the confequence, and next morning a deli- 
 rium fucceeded them. 
 
 afifii s n. 
 
 She was not, however, without inter- 
 vals of reafon j though thefe were but in- 
 tervals
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 329 
 
 tervals of anguifh much more exquifite. 
 Yet me would fomctimes exprefs a fort of 
 calmnefs and fubmifllon to the will of hea- 
 ven, though it was always attended with 
 the hopes of a fpeedy relief from the cala- 
 mities of her exiftence. 
 
 In one of thefe hours of recollection, 
 fne was afked by her attendants, whofe 
 pity was now moved at her condition, if 
 (he chofe to have any friend fent for, who 
 might tend to alleviate her diftrefs 5 upon 
 which me had command enough of her- 
 felf, to dictate a letter to Mrs. Wiftanly, 
 reciting briefly the miferies me had en- 
 dured, and afking, with great diffidence 
 however of obtaining it, if me could par- 
 don her offences fo far, as to come and 
 receive the parting breath of her once in- 
 nocent and much loved Harriet. This 
 
 letter
 
 330 THE MAN OF THE WOR1B. 
 
 letter was accordingly difpatched -, and flit 
 feemed to feel a relief from having accom- 
 pliflied it : but her reafon had held out 
 beyond its ufual limit of exertion; and 
 immediately after, me relapfed into her 
 former unconne&ednefs. 
 
 Soon after the birth of her daughter, 
 Camplin, according to his inftructions, 
 had propofed fending it away, under the 
 charge of a nurfe whom the landlady had 
 procured, to a fmall hamlet, where me 
 refided, at a little diftance. But this th 
 mother oppofed with fuch earneftnefs^ 
 that the purpofe had been delayed tiU 
 now, when it was given up to the care of 
 this woman, accompanied with a confider- 
 able fum of money to provide every ne- 
 -ceflary for its ufe, in the moft ample and 
 Sumptuous manner. 
 
 \Vhen
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD* 33! 
 
 When Mrs. Wiftanly received the letter 
 we have mentioned above, foe was not 
 long in doubt as to complying with its 
 requeft. Her heart bled for the diftref&s 
 of that once amiable friend, whom virtue 
 might now blame, but goodncfs could fie* 
 forfakc. She fet out therefore immedi- 
 ately in a chaife, which Camplin had pro- 
 vided for her, and reached the houfe, to 
 which it conveyed her on the morning of 
 the following day, her impatience not fuf* 
 fering her to confider either the danger or 
 inconvenience of travelling all night. 
 Frorj her recital, I took down the account 
 contained in the following chapter. 
 
 I -joi abuwtfJDffiu: 
 
 CHAP, 
 
 '
 
 S3 2 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 T.EiMnsfT/r 
 
 i "*w C H A P. XXX. 
 
 n 'duel) 'fii gnCif 
 Mrs. Wijlanlfs recital Condufion of tic 
 
 " \V HEN * en tered the houfe, and 
 had got upon the ftairs leading 
 to the room in which Harriet lay, I heard 
 a voice enchantingly fweet, but low, and 
 fometimes broken, finging {hatches of 
 fongs, varying from the fad to the gay, 
 and from the gay to the fad : it was Ihc 
 herfelf fitting up in her bed, fingering her 
 pillow as if it had been a harpficor^. It 
 is not eafy to conceive the horror 1 felt 
 on feeing her in fuch a fituation ! She 
 feemed unconfcious of my approach, 
 though her eye was turned towards me as I 
 entered , only that (he ftopt in the midft of 
 
 a quick
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 333 
 
 a quick and lively movement fhe had be- 
 gun, and looking wiftfully upon me, 
 breathed fuch a note of forrow, and 
 dwelt on it with a cadence fo mournful, 
 that my heart loft all the firmnefs I had 
 refolved to preferve, and I flung my arms 
 round her neck, which I warned with my 
 burfting tears ! The traces which her 
 brain could now only recoiled:, were fuch 
 as did not admit of any object long ; I 
 had pa(Ted over it in the moment of my 
 entrance, and it now wandered from the 
 idea ; fhe paid no regard to my carefies, but 
 pufhed me gently from her, gazing fted- 
 faftly in an oppofite direction towards the 
 door of the apartment. A fervant entered 
 with fome medicine he had been fent to pro- 
 cure ; (he put it by when I offered it to 
 her, and kept looking earneftly upon him -, 
 fhe ceafed her finging too, and feemed to 
 
 articulate
 
 334 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 A 
 
 articulate fomc imperfect founds. For 
 fome time I could not make them out 
 into words, but at laft (he fpoke more 'di- 
 ftinftly, and with a firmer tone. - 
 
 te ; . Jtai ju*I XHI ttMJ 
 
 " You faved my life once, fir, and I 
 
 could then thank you becaufe I wiflied 
 " to preferve it j but now no matter, 
 ** he is happier than I would have him. 
 I would have nurfed the poor old 
 <c man till he had feen fome better days ! 
 " blefs his white beard ! look there ! I 
 " have heard how they grow in the 
 *' grave ! poor old man !" 
 
 o i;s f i 
 You weep, my dear fir ; but had you 
 
 heard her fpeak thefe words ! I can but 
 coldly repeat them. 
 
 All that day me continued in a ftate of 
 delirium and infenfibility to every object 
 
 around
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 335 
 
 around her ; towards evening fhe feeme J 
 xhaufted with fatigue, and the tofling 
 of her hands which her frenzy had caufed, 
 grew languid as of one breathlefs and 
 worn out; about midnight fhe dropt afleep. 
 
 I fat with her during the night, and 
 
 when fhe waked in the morning, fhe gave 
 
 figns of having recovered her fenfes by 
 
 recollecting me, and calling me ,by my 
 
 name. At firft indeed her queftions were 
 
 Irregular and wild ; but in a fhort time 
 
 fhe grew fo diftincl, as to thank me for 
 
 having complied with the requeft of her 
 
 letter ; " 'tis an office of unmerited kind- 
 
 * nefs, which, faid fhe, (and! could ob&rve 
 
 " her let fall a tear) will be the lafl your 
 
 " unwearied friendfhip for me will have 
 
 " to beftow." I anfwered, that I hoped 
 
 not. " Ah ! Mrs. Wiftanly, fhe replied, 
 
 can
 
 336 THE MAN OF THE WORLD, 
 
 " can you hope fo ? you are not my 
 " friend, if you do." I wiflied to avoid a 
 fubject which her mind was little able to 
 bear, and therefore made no other return 
 than by killing her hand, which (he had 
 ftretched out to me as me fpoke. 
 
 At that moment we heard fome unufual 
 ftir below (lairs, and, as the floor was 
 thin and ill laid, the word child was very 
 diftinctly audible from every tongue. 
 Upon this me ftarted up in her bed, and 
 with a look piteous and wild beyond de- 
 fcription, exclaimed, " Oh ! my God ! 
 " what of my child ?" She had fcarcely 
 uttered the words, when the landlady en- 
 tered the room, and mowed fufficiently 
 by her countenance that fhe had fome 
 dreadful tale to tell. By figns I begged 
 filence. " What is become of my in- 
 
 fant?"
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 337 
 
 fant ?" cried Harriet." No ill, ma- 
 ** dam, (anfwered the woman, faltering) 
 " is come to it, I hope." Speak, 
 ** faid (he, I charge you, for I will know 
 * c the worfl : fpeak, as you would give 
 peace to my departing foul !" fpring- 
 ing out of bed, and grafping the woman's, 
 
 hands with all her force. It was not 
 
 cafy to refift fo folemn a charge. 
 " Alas! faid the landlady, I fear me is 
 *' drowned 5 for the nurfe's cloak and the 
 *' child's wrapper have been found in 
 " fome ooze which the river had carried 
 
 " down below the ford." She let go 
 
 the woman's hands, and wringing her own 
 together, threw up her eyes to heaven till 
 their fight was loft in the fockets. We 
 were fupporting her, each of us holding 
 one of her arms. She fell on her knees 
 I. Q. between
 
 338 THE MAN OF THE WORLD, 
 between us, and dropping her hands for a 
 moment, then railing them again, uttered 
 with a voice that founded hollow as if 
 funk within her: 
 
 ce Power omnipotent ! who wilt not 
 lay on thy creatures calamity beyond 
 their ftrength to bear t if thou haft not 
 <c yet punifhed me enough, continue to 
 " pour out the phials of thy wrath upon 
 " me, and enable me to fupport what 
 " thou inflicteft ! But if my faults are 
 '* expiated, fuffer me to reft in peace, 
 ** and gracioufly blot out the offences 
 " which thy judgments have punilhed 
 
 " here!" She continued in the fame 
 
 pofture for a few moments ; then leaning 
 en us as if fhe meant to rife, bent her 
 
 head
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 339 
 head forward, and drawing her breath 
 ftrongly, expired in our arms." 
 
 Such was the conclufion of Mrs. Wif- 
 tanly's tale of woe ! 
 
 Spirits of gentlenefs and peace! who 
 look, with fuch pity as angels feel, wi- 
 the diftrefles of mortality ! often have 
 ye feen me labouring under the afflictions 
 which providence had laid upon me. 
 Ye have feen me in a ftrange land, 
 without friend, and without comforter, 
 poor, fick and naked ; ye have feen me 
 fhivering over the lait faggot which my; 
 laft farthing had purchafed, moiftening 
 the cruft that Supported nature with the 
 tears which her miferies Ihsd on it ! yet j 
 have ye feen me look inward with a 
 
 fmilc,
 
 THE MAN OF THE WORLD. 
 
 fmile, and overcome them. If fuch ihall 
 ever be my lot again, fo let me alleviate 
 its forrows ; let me creep to my bed of 
 ftraw in peace, after bleffing God that 
 I am not a Man of the World. 
 
 SND OF TH1 FIRST PART? 
 
 E R R A T A in this Volume. 
 
 Page 7, line 3, for have, read lot. 
 '. 122, 1. 4, for tbtre, read thin. 
 
 . 1 8 1, 1, 1 1, for nay, read but. 
 '. 193, 1. 19, for tears, read feart. 
 *. 235, 1. 19, for taken, read / king, 
 '. 253, 1. J$, for dragged^ read trained, 
 
 . 277, 1. 17, for rtjpe& t read

 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBI? 
 
 Los Angeles 
 This book is DUE on the last date stampec||
 
 PR 
 
 M2ma 
 1773 
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