field, and consider I shall be more effectually employed in beguiling the time of your absence with such matter as may lead your father to look forward to comfort, by soothing and establishing the present tone of his mind "

Sidney acquiesced most readily to a plan which bore so pleasing a promise. The chaise was announced" One word, my dear sir," said Sidney; "the orphan of Mrs. Fitzhenry is a girl?"

"Yes," said the doctor," an infant at the time of her father's death, now a poor defenceless woman; this will not encrease your zeal, because suffering worth has already claimed your services; yet woman is a creature of such delicate mould, whether we consider her structure or her fame, that, to an honest man, we have only need to say she suffers, and he is her champion, her guardian; his honour is her shield; she is 'bruised,' and he will bind up her wounds! Go, my friend," continued Firmor, and the tears coursed down his cheeks; "these

ara

are the advantages of prosperity; used thus, it is a blessing."

Sidney embraced the good rector, and hastened into the chaise.

There are few undertakings of an Englishman which are not marked by a wish to \excel; if he is a pugilist, a coachman, or a pedestrian, he fills his vocation with an anxious desire of attaining excellence; with what success such beings are favoured, may be easily understood; but when an Englishman goes forth to succour the distressed, he takes no thought for himself, no difficulty retards him; he is the brother, the husband, the father of the unfortunate; his island is the home of all that are oppressed; his heart the refuge of all who are in need, from the royal exile to the humblest refugee. The slave meets freedom and our shore at once. Taken in the mass, Englishmen are very superior beings: exceptions may exist; there are hearts of impenetrable stuff: but let us suppose our virtuous islander the victim of

transient

transient spleen, the hypochondriac of an hour, depressed by the clouds of the morn, elevated by the meridian sun-these are the attributes of his climate; not a breeze that blows but bears its variation to this distinguished, yet changeable clime. We are the creatures of situation; and if the mutability of the atmosphere may, with reason, be traced to a cause so natural, its effect ceases to create surprise. But while we admit that we are barometrical animals, may we not, with laudable pride, avow, that the mind of an Englishman is prepared to meet every sorrow adversity casts on his shores? he redresses grievances, cherishes the stranger, and gives the wanderer rest. What then is that cloud but a vapour? Dews are ever exhaling, and the smiling sunbeam disperses the perishable gloom.Such is the friendship of an Englishman! His mind is active in projecting, and his hand prompt to execute, deeds of generosity.

This is no eulogium, but a tribute. The misanthrope

misanthrope pourtrays the world agreeably to his prejudices; wanting in himself the amenity of a social nature, he despises that world which can exist without him. It is, indeed, usual to depreciate the present race, and elevate that which has fallen to dust. Speaking elementally, the depression of one system must elevate the other. I would rather understand it as a technical, than a well-digested reference; such a picture is dispiriting to the mere children of earth; let us respect departed excellence, while we honour living worth. For my own part, I consider the present rather a foolish than a wicked world; nay, I trust that, in the balance, we shall not be found light wpon the scales,

CHAP.

CHAP. VII.

""Tis with our judgment as our watches-none
Go just alike, yet each believes his own."

THAT laudable anxiety which filled the bosom of Wentworth during his solitary journey did not so wholly absorb his feelings as to make him forget what had passed. On the contrary, he reverted to the communication of doctor Firmor; and though he gave implicit belief to the tale, as facts which had actually taken place, yet he thought some allowances should be made for the colouring of the doctor. He was a man of exemplary morals, somewhat bigoted in his ideas-at least Sidney was resolved upon considering him as such; for

VOL. I.

if