George Lillo

“ An event which has occurred this day drives me from a retreat, in which I had hoped to die. I shall see you no more till we meet in London I shall discover your abode. and will not fail to call on you In the mean time, I have penned for your perusal the sequel of my story —— You will perceive what a blank there is in my affections. If the glow of social feeling is ever more to warm my frozen breast it must be kindled by your's. Adieu. May you never feel the torture that racks the bosom of Mental. ”

“ Barnwell, conjure you to listen to me. The thirst for knowledge is occasioned by an unquenchable spark, and must be gratified. or will eonsume.——Imagine not that I approve of the morbid sensibility, so often mistaken by its possessors for heaven born genius but that active principle which neither ease nor pain can satisfy, which soars into the regions of sublime inquiry; and that creative fancy, gazing with eagle-eye even on the source of light. Let him who feels the heavenly gust obey its sacred voice; for I who have contended with its power, know that genius is not to be subdued. ”

“ Mental appeared less and less disgusting in the eyes of George, and George delighted old Mental, who expressed a wish that this might not be the last of their conversation. "You are an inmate of Sir James's, I presume," said he "For the present, replied Barnwell; but in a few weeks I shall quit this place for London." —— "London! (cried Mental) What takes you to that focus of corruption and folly?" —— "My uncle has most generously entered into a treaty with a merchant there, a share of whose concern is to become mine after the usual initiation." —— "A merchant! ”

“ George asked the name of the owner? "Mr. Mental, the cynic whom you saw yesterday at my house. What do you start at nephew?" —— "Nothing Sir, (replied the youth, hesitating.) but Mr Mental is a strange man." —— "Ah! God forgive him. said Joseph.) if all that people say be true" —— "God cannot forgive him rejoined the Chaplain) he is an Atheist" "He is undoubtedly, a singular being, said the Knight) and people will talk, although nobody, it seems, knows who or what he is. But I have heard old men, who remember his first coming to reside here, whisper strange stories." ”

“ Could not this tomb be moved? Were we in the forests of Germany, I should be induced to think that it covers the door of some subterraneous retreat" —— "Aye Sir. (said Joseph, an aged domestic of the Knight's) you are in the right; to be sure, it is no concern of mine but if I was a Magistrate this here monument should be pulled down and dug under, and my life on it, murder lies at the bottom." —— "That cannot be done without the consent of the owner (said Sir James) , or some better grounds or suspicion than we have at present." —— "Do not you own these ruins, Sir?" said George. ”

“ Know then, that the specious moralist, Linmore, proved himself a villain. He came to our dwelling and found peace, innocence and love: he saw as fond a pair as nature ever designed for each other; what then was that principle, that could excite the vile design to mar such bliss? Oh what a void I felt in my breast, when suspicion pointed to Ellinor's dishonour. Start now, my jealousy was well founded: virtue was subdued. and vice triumphant! One fatal day, pretending some hours' absence. I concealed myself at home. I saw her enter the chamber, and in a few monents Linmore followed. ”

“ Sir James was the first to call the attention of his sister-in-law from the tomb, which held her affections, to the duties she owed herself, her children, and society. 'I am a lone man (said the Knight) and with the blessing of Heaven have acquired by my honest endeavours more riches than I shall ever spend—My brother, I know, accumulated in another way ”

“ Because being irreconcilable to truth and nature they are beneath the dignity of serious argument." Eliza Barnwell, whose modesty did not permit her to trouble the company with her observations, treasured in her memory all that had been said concerning the Abbey. When she retired to her chamber the windows of which commanded a view of the ruins she questioned the servant who attended her concerning the story of the haunted Aisle ”

“ Was she not faithless as fair? —— O. Physician! omnipotent Physician! —— Mental art thou turning Monk —— Can intercession prevail with the All-powerful more than his own benevolence?" —— Not a syllable uttered by this miserable man, was lost to George. Three hours passed away, during which Mental broke out in similar ejaculations or played on the harp As soon as a distant bell announced three he removed a large stone which lay at some distance from the tomb, a kind of grave appeared, in which he placed the harp lamp, and the stool; then masked himself, and left the Aisle. ”

“ I in general kept close at home all day, and walked among the ruins when others slept. Among a few other memorandums of former bliss, I had reserved my dear Ellinor's harp —— it had been her delight. Annexed to these memoirs you will find several pieces of poetry, which I composed at midnight in the Abbey, they all relate to my dear Ellinor. Let this memorandum sometimes claim a place in your thoughts. (It was a miniature of Mental, done in his youth; ah, how unlike to his present appearance! —— George placed it in his bosom, and resumed Mental's narrative.) ”

“ This stranger was a man, who, having early in life obtained a considerable estate had indulged in every pleasure that a vitiated taste and corrupt principles suggested. On a bed of sickness his heart smote him ”

“ Ere I at eight years old I left my native roof, and became a member of the public school at Eton —— Success favored my endeavours, and before I was thirteen years old, I was qualified for the University and my fancy already placed me as struggling for academical distinction.——But a most unhappy reverse took place.———My father died insolvent ”