Part 12 (2/2)

His heart must be quite callous, and his ear lost to all distinction, who could hear such harmony without emotion; how deeply, then, must it have affected the delicate Celinda, whose sensations, naturally acute, hetted to a most painful keenness by her apprehension; who could have no previous idea of such entertainh to believe the most improbable tale of superstition! She was overwhel that the sounds were more than mortal, recommended herself to the care of Providence in a succession of pious ejaculations

Our adventurer, having allowed some time for the effect of this contrivance, repaired to her chah the keyhole, asked if she ake, begged pardon for such an unseasonable visit, and desired to know her opinion of the strange music which he then heard In spite of her notions of decency, she was glad of his intrusion, and, being in no condition to observe punctilios, slipped on a wrapper, opened the door, and, with a faltering voice, owned herself frightened almost to distraction He pretended to console her with reflections, i, ould not impose upon his creatures any task which they could not bear; he insisted upon her returning to bed, and assured her he would not stir froain to rest, while he sat down in an elbow-chair at soan the conversation with her on the subject of those visitations fro her fear and anxiety, was, in reality, calculated for the purpose of augned for soothing the bodily anguish of some saint in his last htly and elevated strain, as if it were an inspiriting invitation to the realms of bliss! Sure, he is now absolved frolorious concert of voices and celestial harps betoken his reception a the heavenly choir, who noaft his soul to paradisian joys! This is altogether great, sole! The clock strikes one, the symphony hath ceased!”

This was actually the case; for he had ordered Maurice to remove the instrument at that hour, lest the sound of it should become too familiar, and excite the curiosity of soht frustrate his sche the apparatus As for poor Celinda, her fancy was, by his hest pitch of enthusiastic terrors; the whole bed shook with her trepidation, the awful silence that succeeded the supernatural music threw an additional da to snore at the saer contain her horror, but called upon his na owned her present situation insupportable, entreated hiht be within touch on any eency

This was a welco pardon for his drowsiness, and taking his station on the side of her bed, exhorted her to coain seized with such an inclination to sleep, that he gradually sunk down by her side, and seemed to enjoy his repose in that attitude Meanwhile, his tender-hearted ht not suffer in his health by his humanity and complaisance, covered him with the counterpane as he slept, and suffered hiht proper to start up suddenly with an exclamation of, ”Heaven watch over us!” and then asked, with sy Such an abrupt address upon such an occasion, did not fail to aentle Celinda, who, unable to speak, sprung towards her treacherous protector; and he, catching her in his ar, for he would, at the expense of his life, defend her fro with her weakness, conquered the first and chief obstacles to his design, he, with great art and perseverance, iree of intimacy, as could not but be productive of all the consequences which he had foreseen The groans and music were occasionally repeated, so as to alarm the whole family, and inspire a thousand various conjectures He failed not to continue his nocturnal visits and ghastly discourse, until his attendance became so necessary to this unhappy maiden, that she durst not stay in her own chamber without his company, nor even sleep, except in contact with her betrayer

Such a commerce between two such persons of a different sex could not possibly be long carried on, without degenerating from the Platonic system of sentiet to breathe the soft inspirations of his passion, to which she listened with loomy ideas of her fear; and by this time his extraordinary accomplishments had made a conquest of her heart What therefore could be atransition than that froreeable sensation of the hu the case, the reader will not wonder that a consummate traitor, like Fathom, should triu creature, whose passions he had entirely under his coradations towards vice are almost imperceptible, and an experienced seducer can strew thereeable flowers, as will lead the young sinner on insensibly, even to the uilt All therefore that can be done by virtue, unassisted with experience, is to avoid every trial with such a for the first advances towards a particular correspondence with perfidious reeable it may seem to be For here is no security but in conscious weakness

Fathoh possessed of the spoils of poor Celinda's honour, did not enjoy his success with tranquillity Reflection and reuilty pleasures, and embittered all those moments they had dedicated to mutual bliss For the seeds of virtue are seldom destroyed at once Even aeretation, like so the weeds of a ruined garden, that testify the forhed at the sad renity which she had lost; she wept at the prospect of that disgrace, o, when abandoned by this transient lover, and severely reproached him for the arts he had used to shi+pwreck her innocence and peace

Such expostulations are extreh sated with the effects of his conquest They act like strong blasts of wind applied to e the fla particle of fire

Our adventurer, in the midst of his peculiarities, had inconstancy in common with the rest of his sex More than half cloyed with the possession of Celinda, he could not fail to be disgusted with her upbraidings; and had she not been the daughter of a gentleman whose friendshi+p he did not think it his interest to forfeit, he would have dropped this correspondence, without reluctance or hesitation But, as he had measures to keep with a family of such consequence, he constrained his inclinations, so far as to counterfeit those raptures he no longer felt, and found rief

Foreseeing, however, that it would not be always in his power to console her on these terms, he resolved, if possible, to divide her affection, which noed upon him too intensely; and, with that viehenever she complained of the vapours or dejection, he prescribed, and even insisted upon her sing certain cordials of the most palatable composition, without which he never travelled; and these produced such agreeable reveries and flow of spirits, that she gradually becaed the pernicious passion, by expressing the ular sallies it produced Without having first made this diversion, he would have found it impracticable to leave the house with tranquillity; but, when this bewitching philtre grew into an habit, her attachan to bear his neglect with indifference, and, sequestering herself from the rest of the family, used to solicit this new ally for consolation

Having thus put the finishi+ng stroke to the daughter's ruin, he took leave of the father, with ratitude for his hospitality and friendshi+p, and, riding across the country to Bristol, took up his habitation near the hot well, where he stayed during the re part of the season As for the miserable Celinda, she became more and more addicted to the vices in which she had been initiated by his superlative perfidy and craft, until she was quite abandoned by decency and caution Her father's heart was torn with anguish, while his wife rejoiced in her fall; at length her ideas were quite debased by her infirenerate, and contracted an intih to take her to wife, in hope of obtaining a good settle disappointed in his aim, he conducted her to London, where he made shi+ft to insinuate hi her to the use, and partly the advantage, of her own person, which was still uncommonly attractive

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

HE REPAIRS TO BRISTOL SPRING, WHERE HE REIGNS PARAMOUNT DURING THE WHOLE SEASON

We shall therefore leave her in this comfortable situation, and return to our adventurer, whose appearance at Bristol was considered as a happy omen by the proprietor of the hot well, and all the people who live by the resort of co Nor were they deceived in their prognostic Fathom, as usual, formed the nucleus or kernel of the beau monde; and the season soon becaed to quit the place for want of lodging Ferdinand was the soul that animated the whole society He not only invented parties of pleasure, but also, by his personal talents, rendered theulated their diversions, and the un till the Count was seated

Having thus made himself the object of admiration and esteem, his advice was an oracle, to which they had recourse in all doubtful cases of punctilio or dispute, or even ofhis other accomplishments, his discourse on that subject was so plausible, and well adapted to the understanding of his hearers, that any person who had not actually studied the medical art would have believed he was inspired by the spirit of Aesculapius What contributed to the aggrandisee, was a victory he obtained over an old physician, who plied at the well, and had one day unfortunately begun to harangue in the pump-room upon the nature of the Bristol water In the course of this lecture he undertook to account for the warreat deal of reading, which he had not been able to digest, his disquisition was so indistinct, and his expression so obscure and unentertaining, that our hero seized the opportunity of displaying his own erudition, by venturing to contradict some circu a theory of his ohich, as he had invented it for the purpose, was equally aed, that fire was the sole vivifying principle that pervaded all nature; that, as the heat of the sun concocted the juice of vegetables, and ripened those fruits that grow upon the surface of this globe, there was likewise an immense store of central fire reserved within the bowels of the earth, not only for the generation of gems, fossils, and all the purposes of thealive those plants which would otherwise perish by the winter's cold

The existence of such a fire he proved from the nature of all those volcanoes, which in al up either flareat vents appointed by nature for the discharge of that rarefied air and colobe asunder; but, besides the larger outlets, there are soh which part of the heat transpires; a vapour of that sort, I conceive, , the waters of which, accordingly retain a moderate warmth”

This account, which totally overthrew the other's doctrine, was so extrereeable to the audience, that the testy doctor lost his teave them to understand, without preanorant of natural philosophy, who could invent such a ridiculous syste, that could not at once discern its weakness and absurdity This declaration introduced a dispute, which was unanimously determined in favour of our adventurer On all such occasions the streah his antagonist has nothing to recommend himself to the favour of the spectators; and this decision depends upon divers considerations In the first place, there is a continual war carried on against the learned professions, by all those who, conscious of their own ignorance, seek to level the reputation of their superiors with their own Secondly, in all disputes upon physic that happen betwixt a person who really understands the art, and an illiterate pretender, the arguible to those who are unacquainted with the previous systems on which they are built; while the other's theory, derived froreeable, because better adapted to the coment of the multitude is apt to be biassed by that surprise which is the effect of seeing an artist foiled at his oeapons, by one who engages hies, was blessed with a flow of language, an elegant address, a polite and self-denying style of arguether with a te waver between him and the physician, to whom he was infinitely superior in every acquisition but that of solid learning, of which the judges had no idea This contest was not only glorious but profitable to our adventurer, who grew into such request in his medical capacity, that the poor doctor was utterly deserted by his patients, and Fathom's advice solicited by every valetudinarian in the place; nor did he forfeit the character he thus acquired by anybut little conversant with the materia medica, the circle of his prescriptions was very sh operation and uncertain effect, and to adreeable to the palate, without doing violence to the constitution Such a physician could not but be agreeable to people of all dispositions; and, as most of the patients were in so with his remedies, often effected a cure

On the whole, it became the fashi+on to consult the Count in all disteh the death of every patient had given the lie to his pretensions But eh no person would presuraduate with a fee, they did not fail to ratitude by some more valuable present Every day some superb piece of china, curious snuffbox, or jeas pressed upon him; so that, at the end of the season, he could alments he had received Not only his avarice, but his pleasure, was gratified in the course of his ress, and regress with all the fehter under his care and direction These opportunities could not be lost upon a h he conducted his a the whole season, no lady's character suffered on his account, yet he was highly fortunate in his addresses, and we may venture to affirm, that the reproach of barrenness was our of his endeavours

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX