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sions, however, she did not encourage. deavoured to exert her reason to conquer them. Anticipations of evil, she knew, must inevitably increase her wretchedness, if indulged; besides, they could not avert what she dreaded...and she also considered, that the ills she feared might never come to pass. Why, therefore, unnecessarily torment herself? Why sharpen the sting of real sorrow, by yielding to the terrors of imagination? The same Almighty Providence, she reflected, presided alike in every place, and to its divine protection she devoutly recommended her Egbert.

She at once tried to struggle with her fears, and with her grief; but all her efforts to subdue, in any degree, the latter, were ineffectual. She still wept and trembled at the approaching separation, concealing, however, to the utmost of her power, the anguish she endured. But it could not be hidden from the watchful eyes of Egbert. He dis

cerned the conflicts of her mind. He saw what she suffered to save him from an additional pang; and, while his heart was fluttered by this proof of her tenderness, it was also wrung by the knowledge of her affection.

In the bustle of preparation, he strove to lose the agony of thought. "In a short time," cried he, to himself, "in a short time, and we shall again be....reunited. But in the interval, the little inval, which intervenes, what may not happen? Ah! that is the reflection which maddens, which torments me! I leave my Jacintha again exposed to the tyranny, the artifices of an inhuman mother. Should that tyranny be now too much for her gentle heart to bear, which will not easily, I know, forego the sorrow that pervades it on my account;

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and should I, at my return, find, instead of my love, her........"

He started; he groaned at the dreadful idea which obtruded itself upon his imagination, and looking up to heaven, he fervently prayed that he might never live to hear Jacintha was lost to him.

Mrs. Greville could not conceal from him, nor from Jacintha, the malignant joy she felt at their unhappiness. Neither could she forbear attempting to wound the proud heart of Egbert, by remitting those attentions with which she had before distinguished him; but here her malice was impotent...Egbert felt it not, except when directed against Jacintha.

In the course of two days, every thing was prepared for his departure, accompanied by Woodville, who determined not to leave him until he had embarked; a determination which gave great pleasure to Jacintha. He was to proceed from Wyefield to London, to receive final instructions for his future conduct, and from thence to Falmouth, to take his passage in a West-India packet. The evening previous to his departure, Mr. Greville invited him to a solitary walk. He had many things to say to him, which he believed would be much better received and delivered if they were alone. He wished to know what course he had determined upon, or whether he had formed any plan for his future settlement in life, if his exertions to recover his fortune should prove unsuccessful.

Egbert, who had not suffered his thoughts for a moment, to dwell upon the possibility of a disappointment, now started, and turned pale, at the idea of one being suggested.

"No," cried he, with a degree of wildness, "I have thought of no course...I have formed no plan..

To what purpose should I do either, without friends, without interest to assist me?"

Mr. Grèville, deeply affected by these words, did all in his power to check the progress of despair; and as a proof that we should never give way to despondence, the blackest prospect often brightening when least expected, he lightly touched upon his own story in the following words, as they pursued their walk through some lonely meadows at a little distance from the village.

CHAP. III.

"He various changes of the world had known,
"And strange vicissitudes of human fate;
"Good after ill, and after pain, delight,
"Alternate, like the scenes of day and night.
"Since every man who lives, is born to die,
"And none can boast sincere felicity;

"With equal mind, what happens let us bear;

"Nor joy, nor grieve too much for things beyond our care; "Like pilgrims to the appointed place we tend ; “The world's an inn, and death's the journey's end!”

DRYDEN.

"My father," said Mr. Greville, 66 was the youngest son of a respectable family. He was brought up in the mercantile line, and, before my boyish days were over, had realized a handsome fortune. But the tenure of earthly enjoyments is uncertain...by the sudden failure of a foreign house, he was deprived of the fruits of his long industry. The unexpected misfortunes which fell upon him, were not half so severely regretted upon his own account, as upon the account of his family, consisting of me and one daughter.

"At this distressing period, an old friend, the companion of his early days, and a man of considerable fortune and consequence, stepped forward to his assistance. Through his means, my father was enabled to arrange his affairs, and re-establish

himself in business; but, in a very narrow and circumscribed line, particularly when compared with that in which he had formerly been.

"In order to lighten his expences, his friend proposed taking me entirely under his own care, and educating me for the church; having it in his power to make a very ample provision for me in that line.

My father received this additional proof of his regard with the deepest gratitude; and, at the age of fourteen, I exchanged his protection for that of sir Hugh Netley, and accompanied him to his residence in Kent.

"His lady and one son, about my age, comprised his family. This son was the idol of his parents; not so much, perhaps, from being the only survivor of a numerous offspring, as from being the last hope of their ancient house...the person, by whose means their names and honours were to be transmitted to posterity, as a consideration of deep importance to minds swayed by pride and vanity.

"Their excessive indulgence strengthened the violence of passions naturally impetuous; but their blind partiality rendered them incapable of perceiving the ill effects produced by this conduct.

"I shared all the advantages which they gave this darling heir, in point of education, and was placed at the same university with him in Oxford; from whence, during the vacations, we generally returned to Kent. In the course of one of those visits, I had an opportunity of witnessing the unjust lengths to which the extravagant partiality of Netley's parents could lead them, when either his reputation or tranquillity were in any manner affected.

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