Part 38 (2/2)

'They are like the brethren of Dives They pay but little regard to Moses and the prophets'

'Well, Mr Trevor, you will own at least that, since I can talk with all this see in me; and what you and all mankind would expect'

'I may: but not all mankind There are some who pretend to be so learned, in what they call the depravity of hu heard you speak thus admirably in favour of virtue, they would think it more than an equal chance that you are one of the wickedest of hbours do not scruple to affirm that I ae estate in trust; and it is a serious and a sacred duty imposed upon me to seek how it may be best employed I seldom am satisfied with the means which offer themselves; and am therefore always in quest of new'

'I wonder at that, sir, with your systerieve any penetrable heart But I know no taskto their wants, without encouraging their vices Of these wants I consider instruction as the greatest; and to that I pay the greatest attention Food, cloathing, and disease are iuilt incredible to speculation, did we not see it in hourly practice But the poor are so ht to hold and the oppressions to which they are subject, that, by relieving thesetheood that I can, e, by which that which I call the moral system of mankind is to be i happiness Are you of that opinion?'

'I certainly am'

'Then I cannot but think you intend to promote this beneficial plan'

'I scarcely know my own intentions They are unsettled, incoherent, and the dreae, such as you have ier acquainted and were intih to induce you to relate your history, and confide your thoughts to me, as to a friend; or, if you please, as to one who holds it a duty to offer aid, whenever he iood end'

'To offer aid is kind: but there are very few cases in which he that receives it is not enerous spirit; and, as you are inclined to listen, I will very willingly inform you of the chief incidents of a life that has already been considerably checkered, and the future prospects of which are sufficiently glooan my narrative; and succinctly related the principal of those events hich the reader already is acquainted

Nor did the state ofsense of injury which was ever present to ination, when I cae, suffer ent or a feeble hand

Some of the incidents necessarily induced me to mention Olivia, and betray my sentiments in part: which the questions of Mr Evelyn, put with kindness, delicacy, and interest that was evidently unaffected, induced th wholly to reveal, with all the tenderness and the veheed or rather impelled to this confidence by the emotions which Mr Evelyn betrayed, in his countenance, voice, and manner His hopes, his fears, and his affections, were so listened and his cheek so frequently glowed, that it was impossible for the heart not to open all its recesses, and pour out not only its complaints but its very follies

Of all the pleasures in which the soul of hts that of syle not only two but ten millions of spirits as one Could a world be spectators of the sorrows of Lear, a world would with one consent participate in them: so omnipotent is the power of sympathy It is the consolation of poverty, it is the cordial of friendshi+p, it is the essence of love

Pride and suspicion are its chief eneender the most baneful of the miseries of man

Mr Evelyn remained, after I had ended, for so his eyes towardth, fixing thenity of countenance, he thus broke silence

'I have been devising,friend, allow me to call you so, by what means I should best make myself understood to you; and how most effectually prevail on you to contribute to reat ends for which souls of ardour like yours are so highly gifted I have already sketchedthe use and abuse of property One of those rare occasions on which it may be excellently employed now presents itself You are in pursuit of science, by which a world is to be improved To the best of my ability I follow the same track: but I have the means, which you want You have too little: I have too much It is my province, and, if you consent, as I hope and trust you will, it will be my supreme pleasure to supply the deficiency I am acquainted with the delicacy of your sentiments: but I am likewise acquainted with the expansion of your heart, and with its power of rising superior to the false distinctions which at present regulate society I e your coe what may perhaps be the foible of immature virtue, and follow the affectionate impulse which binds me to you as my friend and brother Beside these are vibrations hich I am persuaded your warm and kindred heart will ly obey impetuous sensations: but reluctantly listen to the slow and frigid deductions of reason, when they are in contradiction to our habits and prejudices I therefore repeat, you are enerous and s of which your whole life proves you are so eminently susceptible, not to wound me by refusal Do not consideryour history, I have travelled with you through life, and seem as if I had been the inmate of your bosoers, we have been i similar principles, similar views, and similar affections Our souls have coth is come in which that individual intercourse for which they may most justly be said to have panted is opened If you object, if you hesitate, if you suspect me, you will annihilate the purest sensations which these souls haveboth yourself andfervor in the look, deportestures, of Mr Evelyn that was irresistible It surpassed his language It led me out of myself It hurried me beyond the narrow limits of prejudices and prepossessions, and transported er in , and cowardly suspicions He had bornethe Gods; whose ministers isdom and beneficence I burst into exclamation

'I own it, you are my friend! you are my brother! I accept your offers, I will receive your benefits, but I will retaliate'

I paused I felt the egotishts, but could not subdue the torrent I continued inwardly to voith the most vehement asseverations, that I would repay every mark of kindness he should bestow fifty fold The heart of man will not rest satisfied with inferiority, and has recourse to a thousand stratagems, a thousand deceptions, to relieve itself of any such doubts; which it entertains with impatience, and pain

My own enthusiasm however was soon inclined to subside; and I becaradation which I had felt, and expressed, at the beginning of the discussion Of this the quick penetration of Mr Evelyn seemed to be aware; and he so effectually counteracted these ehts of resistance; or of betraying those jealousies which would now have appeared al, to a man who had displayed a spirit so disinterested

This subject being as it were dismissed, our conversation recurred to my present affairs, and future prospects; and, while we discoursed on these, that which ht well at this period be called the h I had as it were lost sight of Olivia, though I knew not but she h, whatever her condition ht of me it ith pain, not with love, still that she must and should be mine was a kind of frantic conclusion hich I always consoled myself But for this purpose riches presented themselves as of the first necessity; and riches themselves would be useless, unless obtained with the rapidity rather of enchantress of human events

I did not conceal this weakness from my friend, and ventured to propose a plan on which I had previously been ru it in practice Every man had heard of the fortunes acquired in the east, and of the wealth which had been poured from the lap of India The army there was at all times open to men like myself; youthful, healthy, and of education 'Tis true I had been of opinion that there were strong moral objections to this profession: but these etfulness of, and I stated this as the most probable scheme for the accomplishment of my dearest hopes