Tales of My Time, Vol. II (of 3)

often wondered since at the kindness of his forbearance. When the business of the day was over, it was my only comfort to take long walks, in which I enjoyed the luxury of ruminating unmolested on t

a small basket, containing such refreshment as might

on; my real object was to give a free course to my sorrows, and obtain a short interval of undisturbed leisure, to consider whether there existed any practicable mode of relieving them. The grandeur of the pines, and the solemn cadence of t

d education, formed me for higher things, while I am condemned to the vulgar cares of loss and gain, in which I have no interest, and obliged to confine

under the shelter of a hut formed with stakes and covered with branches, which had been probably raised by some ar

to shed tears over the grave of those we love, than mourn the living!" The voice which seemed to pronounce these words was so faithfully echoed by memory, that I started up, and broke into a passionate invocation to my country: "Oh, my

er grasp, and my eyes were met by those of Henry Talbot. No language could convey the rapture and astonishment of this unexpected meeting. A second fig

e of speaking. Such was the impetuosity of my feelings, that I was quite overwhelmed, and for a short space resisted the evidence of my senses, determined rather to believ

useful, confiding in his skill, volunteered in conveying the fugitive to a vessel which lay off the bay hovering on the coast to receive him. Talbot had no design of accompanying the stranger's flight, but the melancholy catastrophe which occurred on the return of the boat towards the land, altered his purpose. He swam on shore, and aware of the consequences which would ensue from investi

mountains, could not venture to rest his weary limbs in the same cavern for two successive nights. The last preceding his departure, had been passed in the rock-surrounded cottage of poor Kelly, and the following witnes

ise of the most profound silence respecting our interview. We agreed to correspond, and I engaged their warmest interest in endeavouring to procure my liberation from a professi

rgone a change, I recollect him with the same vivid enthusiasm which this romantic meeting inspired. He and I appeared to be drawn towards each other by some mutual attraction, which brought us at once into contact, while I observed that towards Tal

in this transient glimpse, when I beheld him for the first moment in my life, infused into my soul such assurance of his worth, that I would have followed him to the limits of creation, and trusted more implicitly to a "yes" or "no" pro

ther, that taking a hasty farewell we parted, with a promise to meet if possible at night on the heights of Montmorenci. I regained my boat in a state of spirits very unlike that in which I had left it. My mind was filled with bright

ad in day-light; but we held a nightly congress, and I gave myself much credit for the skill with which, as I imagined, I evaded all suspicion in m

omplete possession of my mind, and who professed the warmest attachment to me not only for Harold's sake but my own. He promised

nd manifested in every way how far my thoughts were wandering from the work of my hands. One day I had been more careless than usual, and after committing several shameful blun

odern patriotism is a scenic display; our liberality consists in profusion of words; and feelings are cultivated for the sake of a passive impression, not for practical use. The noble exertions, and still nobler privations arising from self-denial, which elevate man in the scale of existence, are rarely to be found, and will be more scarce, I fear, every day. The present fermentation will be suppressed, but there is a secret adversary silently, yet busily, at work in the minds of men, which will carry on its operations unseen, till all the mass is leavened, if the enemy be not exposed before the mischief is completed. Seek contentment and respectability where they m

king a great character for cleverness and dispatch, which might bring pecuniary recompense, and thus set me free. The person who had absconded, and taken some deeds of consequence belonging to my uncle away with him, owed him also

F VOL

and Son, 25, Pa

riber'

hyphenation have been retained except

t included in the original