years, when, by a lucky hit, Sir Charles Banbury and myself took the whole field in, and cleared above twenty thoufand pounds; eight thoufand of which fell to my fhare. I was now once more established in the world and redeemed from the dependence which had mortified my pride. As I was feldom ungrateful, I repaid Sir Stentor's kindnefs, by revealing to him the whole arcana of the turf; which he has improved to fo much advantage, that he has added five hundred per annum to his paternal eftate by his fucceffes at Newmarket. In profperity I never gave ear to the fage whispers of Prudence; her cool advice was never felt but in the winter of adverfity. I was fluth, and refolved to go over to Paris, and glitter in all the fplendor of an Englishman. This rapid refolution was as rapidly executed; and in less than ten days after my fuccefs, I found myself in the city of noise and frippery. I had too much fpirit to murmur at the expence; but I often wifhed for fomething more fubftantial than foup or fricafée. After living at the gigantic table of Sir Stentor, and feasting on roast beef and venifon, I found it difficult to fwallow liquids and fhadows. But every other confideration was foon drowned in that of a young marchionefs, who never met my eyes without telling them fuch a tale of love that it was impoffible not to understand it. I directed my valet, La Foffe, to make every poffible enquiry after her: he brought me intelligence that he was the widow of a marquis, and of a very noble family. This was fufficient. I inftantly difpatched a meffenger of love to her; and, ere another moon had gilded up her horns, married her. But I had caufe to repent my expedition; fhe was indeed the widow of a marquis, but one of the poorest of that title in France: his debts were great; and his widow, instead of difcharging them, had contracted more, her family not being able to fupport her. I was foon roufed from my dream of happiness, and thrown into prison: my fortune was infufficient to procure my liberty; and there I should have perifhed, had not an old rich farmer-general taken my wife under his protection, paid her debts, generously fet me free, and prefented me with a bill of two hundred pounds, on condition I returned to EngVOL. I. land. I did not chufe to reject his offer; and, with that fort of pfeudo-repentance which generally waits on us when we are grown wife too late, took my leave of France and profperity. Immediately on my return to England, I waited on Sir Stentor; but the knight knowing my genius in horfefleth, was not willing to put me in a condition of rivalling him upon the turf. Zounds, Hal! whoy thou fpendeft every thing. No, no, I duont want a top game-keeper now. Here, I'll gi' thee this bill of one hundred pounds, and my bay gelding, Jockey: go and fee 'un; he is as fine a beaft as any I have in hand.' I thought it not prudent to refufe the knight's offer; and making the best of a bad bargain, accepted Jockey and the bill, and made the beft of my way to London. Here, after a long deliberation, I refolved to turn stock-jobber: and the first time I vifited Jonathan's, by propagating a report that Jamaica was taken by the Spaniards, increafed my small fum to two thousand pounds. I was now in raptures, and faw once again the vifions of good fortune fwimming before my fight. I ftill continued improving my principal, when an account from Trieste reduced me to feven hundred; and, in a few days after, another account from the fame unfortunate place utterly ruined me; and I waddled a lame duck out of the Alley. What could I now do? As to mechanic bufinefs, I was utterly a stranger to it, and my foul difdained the livery of a flave. I had distracted myself with reflection, till the laft bill of ten pounds was mutilated, when I thought of setting up for an author. As I did not doubt my invention, and had vanity enough for the character, I fat down to invoke the Muses. The first fruits of my pen were a political effay, and a piece of poetry; the first I carried to a patriotic bookfeller, who is, in his own opinion, of much confequence to the cause of liberty; and the poetry was left with another of the fame tribe, who made bold to make it a means of puffing his Magazine, but refufed any gratuity. Mr. Britannicus, at firft imagining the piece was not to be paid for, was lavish of his praifes, and I might depend upon it, it fhould do honour to his flaming 2 E patriotic patriotic paper; but when he was told Y THE HISTORY OF OPTIMA. SUPPOSED TO BE RELATED BY HERSELF. BY MR. WILLIAMS. My father was the youngest fon of of money as a fufficient fuccedaneum for a refpectable family in Yorkshire, an estate belonging to which being settled principally upon the eldeft fon, he was obliged to go forth into the world in purfuit of one of thofe fituations which enable men, educated in the habits of politenefs, to live with comfort on the fruits of their induftry. After a fucceffion of mortifying difappointments from relations, upon whofe promifes of friendship he had too implicitly relied, he was fortunate enough to meet with an old fchool-fellow, to whom he frankly related the embarraffment of his circumftances, and from whom he experienced that relief which might have been more naturally expected from the good offices of his own kindred: in fhort, his friend being at that time in favour with the minifter, he procured, thro gh his interest, a place of five hundred a year for my father, which he enjoyed till that fatal moment when I was deprived of a fond parent, and h man nature of one of it's principal ornaments. I fhould have informed you, that, previous to my father's appointment to the pot under gov rnment, he had married the daughter of a gentleman in the neighborhood, who had little elfe to recommend her to the notice of his obdurate relations but the extreme beauty of her perfon, and the amiableness of her difpofition; which were qualities that did not much attract the notice of thofe who had long confidered the poffeffion every virtue under heaven. They had not enjoyed the bleffings of the nuptial ftate for more than eleven months, when my mother became pregnant with the unfortunate wretch who now prefents herself before you. As the time of her delivery drew nigh, every precaution was taken, on the part of her doating husband, to render the approaching event as comfortable as poffible; but, alas! his affiduities proved but too weak against the affaults of Heaven: in fhort, I had not been three days ushered into this vile world, when my poor mother was afflicted with a fever, which increased in it's malignancy till the hand of Death put a period to her fufferings. Thus was I left motherless, at a time of life when my infantine weakness called for the support of that tenderness which none but a mother can adminifter. However, not to fatigue the reader with a recital of the follies and misfortunes which befel me ere I had attained my Axteenth year, let it fuffice to fay, that I was trained up in the principles of virtue, and had my exterior manners formed by the best masters of the age at a boarding-fchool in the neighbourhood of London; for, being the only child of my father, he thought every expence trivial that he beftowed on the offspring of his beloved Harriet, and for the fake of whofe memory he would never be prevailed on to think of a fecond márriage. In one of our little excurfions after dinner, which we'regularly purfued when the weather would permit, for the advantages of exercife, we were overtaken by a fhower of rain, which obliged us to feek for fhelter under the wide-fpreading branches of a neighbouring oak, beneath whofe cover a gentleman on horfeback had likewife retreated, with his fervant. This interview was the most important and melancholy in it's confequences that can be imagined; for, on that was suspended all the joy and miferies of my existence. Young as I was at that time, and inexperienced in the affections of the human heart, I confidered the incident with that degree of inattention which marks the conduct of thofe who, apprehend neither good nor evil from the viciffitudes that furround them. The affiduities of the gentleman to accommodate us, were treated by our governefs with uncommon circumfpection; who, in thanking him for the good offices he feemed zealously inclined to render us, indirectly implied, that she fhould be equally well pleafed to difpenfe with his politenefs, and more efpecially as he had evidently marked me out as the principal object of his attention: which circumftance, if it did not alarm her prudence, manifeftly affected her pride; and as foon as the fhower had fubfided, after bidding an abrupt adieu to my admirer, fhe haftened with me and my fellow fcholars towards her own house. In our way home, she did not fail to interlard her difcourfe with various observations on the imprudence of those ladies who give encouragement to the addreffes of ftrangers, and the numberless artifices which are daily practifed to enfnare young women of fortune by needy adventurers, who affume the habits and language of gentlemen, but are totally deftitute of their honour and good qualities. But, notwithstanding the forcible arguments of my governefs, which indeed rather tended to ftrengthen than extinguish the flame kindled by the wanton god in my juvenile heart, I could not efface from my memory the image of a man who had appeared to me in the most amiable point of view. Let it fuffice to fay, that he found means to maintain a fecret correfpondence with me; and by the mere force of his complaifance, and the peculiar addrefs with which he urged his paffion, gained an entire fovereignty over my inclination. The eafe and frequency of our interviews eventually deftroyed that circumfpective caution which was neceffary to their continuance; for one evening we were furprized in the arbour at the bottom of our garden, amufing ourselves with the dear interchange of vows and promifes of eternal love. At the approach of my governess, who appeared to me at that time no other than the miftrefs of a dungeon in which I was fhut up from all the felicities of life, my lover made his escape over the garden-wall; and I was led back to my room, and locked up by my governess, who threatened that evening to write a full account of my imprudence to my father, which the immediately put in execution, notwithstanding my tears and entreaties to the contrary. I now began to feel all the poignancy of grief. The horrors I conceived at the bare idea of labouring under my father's difpleafure tortured me with the moft inexpreffible anguifh; my nights were spent without repole, and my days without tranquillity. I received a letter from my lover, which was conveyed to me by one of the fervants of the houfe, whom he had bribed to his intereft; in this he informed me, that he had, provided a disguise, which he entreated me to use ; and that he should wait for me, at the corner of a lane, at fun-rife the next morning, with a chaife and four, in which he would tranfport me from a scene of oppreffion and inquietude to a state of unutterable joy. However pleasing the ideas of freedom were to my mind, the act of absconding from school in a difguife, and bidding adieu, perhaps for ever, to the endearments of a fond parent, ftruck me with the most forcible conviction that I was doing wrong. I reflected on the magnitude of the error; but, unhappily for me, when I had brought it into the moft repulfive point of view, the fond idea' of my lover took place in my imagination, and the ftrength of paffion overthrew the exertions of duty; in short, I verified, by my conduct, the juftice of the poet, who has afferted, that the woman who deliberates is loft.' Love triumphed over reafon; I met my enamoured fwain at the appointed hour; and, getting into the carriage, we drove away with all poflible expedition. After the perturbation of my fpirits had a little fubfided, and I began to give 2 E 2 way way to the power of reflection, I half repented of the precipitate and rafh step I had taken; but the kind attention and endearing behaviour of my companion foon obliterated ail ideas of melancholy, and I thought of nothing then but leaning for, all my future happiness on my dear Altamont, for by that name I thall diftinguith him. Inftead of taking an improper advantage of my fituation and weakness, as might have been expected from any one but a man of the niceft principles of honour with a thoughtless young creature who had thrown herself thus unwarrantably into his power, he ufed every art in his poffeffion to render my imprudence as amiable as poffible to my own eyes; and his arguments were fo ingenious and effectual, that I began to entertain fome doubts whether I had really been guilty of an error or not. He promifed to feize the earliest opportunity to remove all thofe apprehenfions which female delicacy might fuggeft in a fituation like mine, by a speedy marriage. After the neceffary regulations, my fond Altamont fulfilled his promife; and, with a benign and endearing complacency, he led me to the altar, nothing loth,' where Hymen waited to rivet the foft fetters which were to make us one for ever. Supremely bleffed in the poffeffion of each other, our time glided away on the downy wings of pleafure and content. Would it had continued fo! but Fate de creed that it fhould be otherwife. The first wound I felt to reduce the tranfports I had enjoyed, was infinitely too deep for the healing hand of Time. The caufe was fraught with every horror; it was the death of my dear, my honoured father, to whom my governefs had communicated a particular account of my elopement; and who, at the fame time, rather aggravated the offence, than adhered to the true ftate of that unfortunate tranfaction. The unwelcome recital made fuch an impreffion on the too fufceptible mind of my affectionate parent-who, from the tale of the governefs, entertained no other idea than that I had fubmitted without regret to the unconditional terms of the vileft proftitution-that, after languishing a few days in a violent paroxyfm of madness, he left this capacious theatre of trouble, having previously willed the whole of his property to a very diftant relation. This circumftance had almoft driven me to a state of desperation; and, in spite of all the folicitude for my happiness, which I experienced from the tender partner of my bed, I funk into a gloomy habit of difpofition that jaundiced every profpect of my life. I now found, too late, that thofe joys of the human heart which have their origin in imprudence, are but fhort-lived and temporary, and must eventually be deftructive of our peace: their caufe and confequences are fomewhat like walking through a fplendid portal into the Temple of Wretchednefs. However, the affiduities of my Altamont, affifted by the lenient hand of Time, drew a flight covering over thofe miferable events which we endeavour to hide, but know we cannot bury. To diffipate the gloom that ftill hovered round my head, we launched into every extravagance, and followed Pleasure into all her retreats; but the coy nymph, like the ignis fatuus on the moor, mocked all our endeavours. She beckoned, and we followed; when we run, fhe fled: at laft, quite broke down with the fatigues of the chace, I fell into a lingering illness, which feemed to threaten me witha confumption. The vivid rofes that gave beauty to my face in the days of innocence and peace, now left my cheek; my lips grew pallid; and a conftant tremor,which fhook my frame, filled my dear Altamont with the utmost apprehenfion for my life. During the courie of my indifpofition, he fat continually by my bed-fide, administered my phyfic with the hand of tenderness; and, by the magick of his perfuafive tongue would calm my perturbed fpirits into reft, when the ftrongeft opiates of the phyfician had failed in their execution. As foon as I had recovered fufficient ftrength to travel, it was judged expedient that I fhould go to Spa, and try the benefit of the waters. Every thing was accordingly prepared for an expedition to the Continent; and, as the expences that would attend fuch a journey, added to thofe which had been already incurred by my indifpofition, made it neceffary to raise a confiderable fum of money, my Altamont was forced to mortgage a confiderable eftate in Hertfordshire, to answer the exigencies of the occafion. When he had compleated that business, we let out; and, after spending a few months at Spa, we returned, by the way of of Flanders, to England, my health being greatly re-established by the virtue of the waters. During our refidence at Spa, I had given evident figns of pregnancy, to the undefcribable joy of my enraptured hufband; and, a few months after our return to England, I was fafely delivered of a beautiful female infant, whom I had christened by the name of Harriet, in remembrance of my exemplary mother. A new fource of felicity being now opened to my Altamont and me, we feemed to vie with each other in our careffes and attentions towards the little offspring of our loves. As the grew up, it was univerfally admitted that the bore a ftrong refemblance to her mother. We mutually spent our time in the contemplation of her beauties, as if the principal bufinefs of our lives was to dif. cover new graces in the perfon of our little Harriet. When he had arrived at that period of life when the young • idea begins to shoot,' we had the best mafters to form her mind, and regulate her accomplishments; and we faw with pleafure that the danced, fung, and played on the harpfichord, fuperior to all competition, confidering the tenderness of her years. At this time, Fate, as if envious of our reaffumed happiness, introduced another misfortune into our family, which to tally destroyed the bafis of our peace once more. My dear Altamont, from the nature of his connections, as well as the bent of his own difpofition, was frequently led into little parties of play; and, though his prudence had on every former occafion protected him from venturing any fum that might endanger his quiet, the quite deferted him on the prefent occafion; for, whether owing to accident or defign, I will not determine, but he actually loft in one night the confiderable fum of eight thousand pounds. When he communicated to me the news of his misfortune, it operated on my fenfes like a peal of thunder, and inftantaneously deprived me of fenfibility. When I had recovered from the firft fhock that it occafioned, I ventured to enquire by what means he intended to liquidate fo enormous a debt; when he informed me that he must be reduced to the miferable alternative of mortgaging the remainder of his property. It was in vain that I argued it was poffible he might have been dealt with villainoufly; and that he ought not, if it was merely in compliment to his own difcretion, to pay fo large a fum of money, until he was abfolutely certain that it had been ac quired by men of excellent principles, and honourable character. But, deaf to my remenftrances, he left me with a determination of taking the speedieft method of railing the money; at the fame time obferving, that it was impoffible to exist in the world without ignominy, if he did not inftantly fulfil fo neceffary an engagement. It was certainly a misfortune that could not be fufficiently lamented; but the calls of Honour, he afferted, and the commands of Death, were equally inevitable. The lofs of the money was not the only calamity that attended this accident; for as our circumftances were now confiderably narrowed, we were obliged to retrench all our fuperfluities, and were both cut off from many indulgences to which we had heretofore confidered ourfelves entitled. This, added to the sense of the material injury he had done his family, foured the difpofition of my Altamont to that degree, that we no longer feemed to live in the interchange of thofe tender offices of love and regard which had previously characterized our lives, before this unpleafant event took place. It was even in vain that his little Harriet prattled with her ufual frightlinefs; her infantine pleasantries, that were wont to brighten the brow of her fond father upon every occafion, and prove a fence against the inroads of care, had loit their charms, and were treated by my Altamont with a degree of afperity and difregard that filled the eyes of his child with tears, and the heart of his afflicted wife with the most pungent forrow. From that moment I may date the departure of all domeftick joy; for our lives have ever fince been nothing more than a continuation of jars and di.content. |