! i m. 
 
3 
 
 I 
 
 ri 
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INSTRUCTIVE 
 
 TALES, 
 
 FOR YOUNG PERSONS, 
 
 INTENDED TO AMUSE AND INFORM THE 
 YOUTHFUL MIND, 
 
 COMPRISING, 
 
 LASCELLS; OR, THE YOUNG SOLDIER. 
 
 LELAND; OR, THE WANDERINGS OF YOUTHFUL 
 
 ROMANCE. 
 
 A NEW EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR JOSEPH WHITE, 
 48, RATCLIFF HIGHWAY, 
 
 1828. 
 
LASCELLS- 
 
 OR 
 
 THE YOUNG SOLDIER, 
 
 -> ($<!- 
 
 CHAP. I* 
 
 HAS the youthful reader, now en 
 tering upon the perusal of our first 
 volume, ever visited the neighbour 
 hood of the town of Morpeth, in 
 Northumberland? If so, he has 
 doubtless walked, as we have, in 
 the Blue- Bell Wood, with which 
 every visitant of that town is ac 
 quainted. It takes it name, as, if he 
 has seen the spot, he will know, from 
 the great number of the flower called 
 the blue-bell that grow within it: 
 VOL. i. B 
 
indeed, in the months of May and 
 June, nearly every foot of ground be 
 neath the trees is covered with them. 
 In a small but neat cottage border 
 ing upon this wood, lived a young 
 widow, of interesting and prepossess 
 ing appearance ; and whose manners 
 indicated her previous acquaintance 
 with a higher sphere, than that she at 
 present, with resignation indeed, but 
 not with entire self-satisfaction, was 
 seen to occupy. She had an only 
 son, a boy entering upon his fifteenth 
 year, but of a size and stature that 
 to a stranger would have indicated 
 him to be several years older; and 
 with personal recommendations be 
 sides, which he appeared to have 
 inherited from his mother, superior 
 
to those of most youths. He was of 
 an open, gallant disposition; tenderly 
 attached to this the only parent he 
 remembered, but prone from his 
 heedless and fearless turn, to rush 
 into youthful mischiefs and extra 
 vagancies, which cost her frequent 
 anxieties, and sometimes tears. But 
 the sight of the last upon her cheeks, 
 was what never failed instantly to 
 transport him to sorrow and repent 
 ance almost as wild as the conduct 
 that had brought them there. At 
 such moments, he would passionately 
 embrace her, hang upon her neck in 
 an ecstacy of filial feeling and devo- 
 tedness, intreat pardon wth the most 
 ardent supplications, and most com 
 monly end by vowing that never, 
 B 2 
 
never, by a solitary action or a word, 
 would he offend her more. But, 
 alas! promises so rashly made, are 
 too commonly as rashly broken; and 
 Herbert Lascells, not less than the 
 generality of promise-makers and 
 breakers, was an instance of the 
 truth of this observation. 
 
 The deceased father of Herbert was 
 the younger son of a Scotch nobleman, 
 and had entered the army at the age of 
 twenty. Being quartered at Carlisle 
 soon after the purchase of his coift- 
 missi6n, he had there accidently seen 
 and became attached to a young lady 
 of great beauty and merit, but no for 
 tune, the present tenant of the cottage 
 by the Blue-Bell Wood. A match, he 
 well knew, was this, to which the pride 
 
of the haughty Peer, his father, would 
 never have permitted his consent, and 
 the fair Matilda therefore became his 
 by a private union. Scarcely was 
 the marriage consummated, when the 
 regiment to which he was attached 
 was ordered to the Continent; and 
 there, fighting bravely at the head of 
 his company, he soon afterwards fell. 
 With a presentiment of his early fate, 
 he had, previously to leaving Eng 
 land, intrusted a sealed packet di 
 rected to his wife to the care of a 
 friend, with instructions to forward it 
 to her the moment news of so dis 
 astrous a nature should arrive, or 
 otherwise to re-send it to him on 
 his return. 
 
 Mrs. Lascells, who then still resi- 
 B 3 
 
ded at Carlisle, received this packet, 
 and by another channel the heart 
 rending intelligence of her husband's 
 death, nearly at the same moment. 
 Her first transports of grief were so 
 violent, as to threaten her own exis 
 tence: but, t>y degrees, she recovered 
 sufficient self-possession to inspect 
 the contents of the last sad testimony 
 of the tender concern ever manifested 
 forherbyCapt.Lascells. It was found 
 to contain a legal instrument, by which 
 he conveyed to her a small property 
 he had enjoyed from the age of 
 eighteen, independently of his father; 
 a letter to that nobleman ; and another 
 to herself, explaining the contents 
 and object of the first, and conjuring 
 her, by every tender recollection of 
 
their short-lived happiness, to over 
 come grief, and still, were it only for 
 the sake of his intreaties, to be happy. 
 Heavily did the widowed Matilda 
 sigh over expressions, calculated by 
 their very soothings to increase her 
 sense of the irreparable loss she had 
 sustained. Her first care was to obey 
 the deceased in all that she was im 
 mediately capable of rendering obe 
 dience; and she therefore directly 
 dispatched, by a proper messenger, 
 the letter to Lord Lascells. The 
 performance of this slight, but as she 
 considered it, sacred duty, led her to 
 reflect in what way she could best 
 fulfil the remaining desires of the 
 epistles ; for to fulfil them, should it 
 be found in any degree possible, she 
 
8 
 
 was determined. With the feeling of 
 hopeless grief, that takes pleasure 
 only in its own indulgence, she consi 
 dered that her now sole prospect of 
 any thing resembling happiness, was 
 in silently pondering upon the virtues 
 and the affection of him who was for 
 ever sundered from her, in some re 
 tired spot, where few would be found 
 to witness, and none to reprove the 
 melancholy to which she was bent to 
 resign herself. 
 
 Under the influence of such re 
 solves, she became the occupant of 
 the cottage already more than once 
 alluded to ; having, by the advice of a 
 friend, sold the property bequeathed 
 to her for an annuity, from the amount 
 of which she hoped to derive at least 
 
9 
 
 the necessaries of life for herself and 
 one servant-girl; and to find an occa 
 sional solace from afflictive thoughts 
 in the society of an amiable couple, a 
 clergyman and his wife, who also re 
 sided near the Blue- Bell Wood, and 
 with whom from early life she had 
 been acquainted. 
 
 After a residence here of some 
 months, she became the parent of the 
 hero of our tale. This circumstance 
 first gave bitterness to the recollec 
 tion, that she had as yet received no 
 answer to her husband's letter to 
 Lord Lascells; for one chief object of 
 that epistle, she knew, w^as, to pre 
 vail with his lordship to become at 
 least the protector of that innocent 
 pledge of his Matilda's affection. 
 
10 
 
 which his fondness anticipated would 
 become the loved image in her arms 
 of himself. Lord Lascells, it was 
 now pretty apparent, intended not to 
 acknowledge his son's offspring; and 
 a mother's natural regard taught her 
 to lament the seemingly inevitable loss 
 to her darling child, of those distinc 
 tions of rank and fortune, to which by 
 birth he was entitled. Thinking that 
 duty to this child required it of her, 
 she then took a step, to which no 
 other considerations could possibly 
 have become an inducement : she se 
 conded the letter of Captain Lascells 
 to the grandfather of her boy, by one, 
 couched in the most appropriate and 
 respectful terms, from herself. 
 
 To this last letter she received an 
 
11 
 
 answer, but from his Lordship's se 
 cretary, not himself. In the haughti 
 est and coldest style, it informed her 
 of Lord Lascells' fixed determination 
 not to believe that his deceased son 
 could ever have so disgraced himself, 
 as to marry one so greatly his inferior 
 in rank : it alluded to the Captain's 
 letter as a well- executed and artful 
 forgery, the hopes of the writer of 
 which would certainly be frustrated ; 
 and ended by the insolent advice, 
 not to give farther trouble to his 
 Lordship on the subject, as all such 
 applications would in future remain 
 unanswered. 
 
 Matilda clasped the then smiling in 
 fant to her bosom, when she had read 
 this unfeeling and insulting epistle; 
 
12 
 
 knd mentally vowed, that never, even 
 at his own earnest request, should that 
 grandsire call him a Lascells ; trusting 
 to render him an equally honourable 
 and more useful character in life, by 
 bringing him up in ignorance that a 
 noblemim was his progenitor, than if 
 she should inspire him with hopes of 
 fortune or grandeur so little likely 
 to be realised. In pursuance of this 
 resolve, she adopted, as her son in 
 creased in years, the plainest style of 
 dress that was consistent with a taste 
 ful neatness; she accustomed herself 
 and him to nearly constant employ 
 ment, occupying the hours that she 
 did not devote to furnishing him with 
 the elements of a plain education, in 
 the humble labours of the dairy and 
 
II 
 
 the spinning- wheel; and, almost from 
 his very infancy, she was perpetually 
 striving to impress upon his mind y 
 that to the exertions of his hands he 
 must in after-life alone look for the 
 means to maintain himself. 
 
 Young Herbert, therefore, became, 
 as he advanced in years, little other 
 than the plain country boy, in know 
 ledge of the world, and the general 
 range of his ideas; although the assi 
 duous cultivation of his mind by his 
 fond mother, and the constant pre 
 sence of her example, gave a refine 
 ment to his manners not often the 
 attendant of a completely rural 
 education. It was easily to be per 
 ceived too, that his notions on several 
 points were elevated above those of 
 
 VOL. i. c 
 
14 
 
 the rustic lads who were his common 
 playfellows ; that in courage he was 
 greatly their superior, and equally so 
 in nobleness of spirit, and a seemingly 
 innate sense of what was honour 
 able both in sentiment and practice. 
 But with all this, the mistakes of his 
 inexperience, and the follies of his 
 wilfulness, were sadly numerous; and 
 gave far too frequent pain, as has 
 been noticed, to one of the best of 
 parents. In fine, he was a compound 
 of bravery, generosity, honour, rash 
 ness, and folly; and few were the 
 actions of his youth, that could not 
 be plainly traced to this mixture in 
 him of these various but by no means 
 opposite qualities. 
 
CHAf. II. 
 
 IT was a fine morning in June, and 
 young Lascells and his mother were 
 taking a walk together, which had 
 been deprived indeed of its novelty 
 by repetition, but which no familiarity 
 with its natural beauties could en 
 tirely divest of their charms. 
 
 This walk combined a portion of the 
 Blue-Bell Wood with that of another, 
 separated from the first only by a 
 road, called the Lady's Chapel Wood, 
 in the centre of which stand the ruins 
 of an old chapel, dedicated in Popish 
 times to the Virgin Mary a circum 
 stance from which it derives its name, 
 c 2 
 
16 
 
 Through the Lady's Chapel Wood 
 also runs the clear and beautiful 
 stream of the river Wensbech ; and 
 the spot, taken altogether, has many 
 claims to be considered in the light of 
 a more than commonly beautiful and 
 romantic wilderness. In the course 
 of the walk we mention, the follow 
 ing dialogue took place between our 
 hero and his mother. 
 
 HERBERT. 
 
 What a strange-looking old ruin is 
 this Lady's Chapel, mother! It al 
 ways makes me feel I can't tell how, 
 when I look at it.- Only I often think 
 I should like to see many such curious 
 old buildings, in other places, I mean 
 places a great way off, perhaps 
 where there may be a great many 
 
17 
 
 more of them, and many other curious 
 things, such as we never see nor hear 
 of in these woods, that we've walked 
 in already these hundred times. 
 
 MRS. LASCELLS. 
 
 Yes, my love, but such sights are 
 only seen by travellers 
 
 HERBERT. 
 
 Then I should like to be a traveller, 
 mother. 
 
 MRS. LASCELLS. 
 
 My dear boy, travellers often pay 
 dearly for the knowledge they acquire 
 of what is curious in other countries, 
 at the same time that they are neg 
 lecting to obtain a more useful ac 
 quaintance with things, quite as curi 
 ous and interesting perhaps, that are 
 close to their own doors, at home, 
 c 3 
 
18 
 
 I hope, as you will be entirely without 
 the means to become a traveller, that 
 you are disposed to be more wise; 
 and really I cannot blame your curi 
 osity in regard to this singular ruin, 
 the history of which, I doubt not, 
 would prove as instructive as that of 
 many an one, which English tourists 
 have thought it worth their while to 
 write large books about, merely be 
 cause they are to be found in places 
 far distant from w r here they them 
 selves were born. I shall be quite 
 ready to tell you all I know respecting 
 this Chapel; which of course you are 
 aware is a religious foundation; and 
 
 HERBERT. 
 
 O, but my dear mother! indeed it 
 is not exactly that no, not about 
 
19 
 
 religious foundations that I want to 
 know. I want to to not to walk 
 always in the Blue-Bell Wood, and 
 the Lady's Chapel Wood, and then 
 home, and next day in the woods 
 again. I think I should like at this 
 very moment to be to be 
 
 MRS. LASCELLS. 
 
 Yes, any where, I suppose, but at 
 your mother's side, Herbert. 
 
 HERBERT. 
 
 O, no, 110; indeed I did not think 
 at all about being away from you, 
 mother. I only meant that now 
 does'nt it seem very foolish? but, 
 indeed, I could'nt tell you in words, 
 at least not just now, what I 
 meant. 
 
 Mrs. Lascells sighed deeply. She 
 
20 
 
 had long before witnessed too many 
 symptoms of that buoyant, sanguine, 
 and aspiring spirit, that possessed 
 her son, to feel at ease when she 
 contrasted it with the path in life, 
 to which her narrow circumstances 
 would render it necessary that he 
 should be confined. The sentiments 
 he had just expressed infinitely 
 strengthened her fears : for the next 
 five minutes of their walk, during 
 which both were silent, she found 
 herself next only to completely mi 
 serable. Herbert also, during the 
 same period, looked greatly more 
 serious than usual: at length he re 
 sumed the conversation thus. 
 
 HERBERT. 
 
 Did not my father travel a good 
 deal, mother? 
 
21 
 
 MRS. LASCELLS 
 
 Not much not much 
 
 [This was said with a rapid but 
 half-choked utterance; as the early 
 fate of Captain Lascells, preventing 
 in a great degree his acquisition of the 
 species of knowledge for which he 
 too had so ardently panted, arose to 
 her memory, and filled her eyes with 
 uncontrollable tears.] 
 
 HERBERT. 
 
 There ! now have I asked the very 
 question, that I have been all this 
 while resolving not to ask. And I 
 have made you cry too, as you always 
 have done, when I have talked about 
 my father. Well! what shall I say 
 next? Something just as stupid, 1 
 dare say. Heigho! this travelling 
 
22 
 
 now ! Well, but, dear mother, there 
 must be some people who do not 
 travel just for curiosity sake: for 
 instance, soldiers. Really, I have 
 often thought how much I should 
 like to be a soldier! 
 
 [At these words Mrs. Lascells 
 became pale as death. She grasped 
 almost wildly the youth's arm ; looked 
 at him as if she would have seen into 
 his soul; and, had not a fresh flood 
 of tears came to her relief, would 
 probably have fainted. Herbert's 
 exclamations at sight of her distress, 
 were passionately fervid.] 
 
 HERBERT. 
 
 Mother! dearest mother! what 
 have I said? Do not look so at me: 
 speak to me. Are you ill? What 
 
23 
 
 shall 1 do for you? Where shall I 
 run for help ? Mother ! mother ! what 
 can have made you thus? 
 
 MRS. LASCELLS. 
 
 O ! my child ! I can scarcely even 
 now think it an illusion, that I saw 
 your father, bleeding, dying, in the 
 field of battle ! And you too to talk 
 of being a soldier! I conjure you, if 
 you value my peace, my life, never 
 again mention in my ears that dread 
 ful subject. 
 
 HERBERT. 
 
 O, I will not, my dear mother; 
 never! never! and so now be quite 
 well again directly. I would not be a 
 soldier, to make you look as you did, 
 just now, though but for a moment, 
 no, not for a thousand worlds. 
 
24 
 
 MRS. LASCELLS. 
 
 Well, Herbert, let us return; and 
 say no more about it. 
 
 HERBERT. 
 
 That I will not , mother; for I can 
 not bear to see you thus. And yet, 
 to think now, that because a soldier is 
 just talked of, you should make so 
 certain of his being killed in battle 
 directly! Well then, suppose now, 
 only suppose, there should be soldiers 
 wanted, only to wear red coats and 
 accoutrements, and travel about, and 
 march to the fife and drum, and 
 see sights, and never to go away from 
 their country to fight at all, would 
 you mind my being such a soldier as 
 that? 
 
 MRS. LASCELLS. 
 
 You almost make me smile. Her- 
 
25 
 
 bert, in spite of my melancholy 
 thoughts. Such would be strange 
 soldiers! Yes, I think I may safely 
 promise you, that you may be a sol 
 dier whenever you can be oiie without 
 danger. 
 
 o 
 
 HERBERT. 
 
 And you will promise me that, then? 
 How I should enjoy now for such 
 soldiers to be raised, and for me to 
 pay you a visit by surprise in my regi 
 mentals, while you laughed yourself 
 at being so tricked into consenting 
 to it. 
 
 MRS. LASCELLS. 
 
 You are a rattling fellow, Herbert. 
 What a pity it seems, that the world 
 will not permit such light hearts to 
 continue happy! 
 
 VOL. I. D 
 
26 
 
 HERBERT* 
 
 Well, but mother, now I come to 
 think of it, it does seem strange, as 
 you say, to talk of soldiers and no 
 danger. Besides I really think there 
 must be something like a pleasure in 
 danger after all at least I am much 
 mistaken if I have not sometimes 
 found a pleasure in it. For instance, 
 now; you know, mother, the row of 
 poplars, on one side of the church 
 yard, that are so high they overlook 
 the tower of the church itself. Well, 
 I have been to the top of the tower, 
 and seen a fine prospect to be sure, 
 but that was all : but I did not feel 
 myself animated, and delighted, 
 and I can scarce tell you how at 
 all in comparison as I have felt when 
 
27 
 
 1 have climbed nearly to the top of 
 one of those poplars, and there looked 
 down upon the church, while I swung 
 this way and that way with the slender 
 bough 
 
 MRS. LASCELLS. 
 
 Good heavens! is it possible? 
 
 HERBERT. 
 
 O, yes; and I see at once, Mother, 
 you think there might have been 
 some danger in that. 
 
 MRS. LASCELLS. 
 
 O, Herbert! Herbert! how does 
 every day thus bring me some new 
 proof of your unthinking rashness ! 
 
 HERBERT. 
 
 Nay, now, mother, surely that was 
 not so very, very rash. 
 
 D 2 
 
28 
 
 MRS. LASCELLS. 
 
 That I could but cure you of this 
 way of thinking! O, Herbert, that 
 I could but see you confine your 
 thoughts and undertakings to your 
 station in life! 
 
 HERBERT. 
 
 Well, mother, you will excuse my 
 saying so, but, really, I cannot 
 perceive what my climbing up 
 a poplar-tree has to do with con 
 fining my thoughts to my station 
 in life. 
 
 MRS. LASCELLS. 
 
 That observation would have been 
 extremely rude, Herbert, if its man 
 ner had not been so perfectly re 
 spectful. I will therefore explain 
 myself so far as to say, that I think 
 
29 
 
 the country-boy, who seeks danger 
 for the love of it, though but in the 
 most trifling actions, does attempt to 
 soar above the sphere which an all- 
 wise Providence has allotted him. 
 But let us drop the subject; and, 
 before we go home this morning, pay 
 a visit to our kind friends at the rec 
 tory. 
 
 As they now proceeded in the di 
 rection named, silence was maintained 
 by both mother and son during the 
 remainder of the way. To the worthy 
 Rector, Mrs. Lascells took an oppor 
 tunity to unburthen her mind, as she 
 had often before done, relative to the 
 too evident symptoms of his father's 
 only failings in her eyes, that appeared 
 in Herbert. The good man confessed 
 D 3 
 
30 
 
 that he knew not how to advise 
 her in the matter; and could only 
 counsel her to commit her anxieties 
 to the supreme director of all things. 
 At the same time, he commended her 
 care to keep the youth in ignorance of 
 the nobility of his descent, at least 
 until such time as a prospect should 
 appear of his recovering the dues of 
 his birth and rank ; and acknowledged 
 that the most effectual way to hinder 
 his thoughts from taking an elevation 
 not consonant with his circumstances, 
 seemed to be to continue employing 
 him in rural affairs, and frequently 
 re-impressing it upon his mind, that 
 he was born to live and think like an 
 individual, whose occupation was to 
 be labour, and whose lot obscurity. 
 
31 
 
 After some conversation on general 
 subjects, to which Herbert was ad 
 mitted, having returned from a con 
 trived ramble in the garden with the 
 clergyman's lady, the mother and son 
 took leave, and returned through the 
 Blue-Bell Wood to their own simple 
 and retired cottage. 
 
CHAP. Ill, 
 
 SOMETHING more than a twelve 
 month had elapsed from the date of 
 the conversation we have related, 
 when the unusual length of time that 
 Herbert was one day gone to Mor- 
 peth, (as he had sometimes before 
 done, by Mrs. Lascell's permission, 
 occasionally at least to vary the scene 
 of his existence,) began to inspire his 
 mother with alarm. Evening came, 
 and he had started considerably be 
 fore noon, and still he was not return 
 ed. As usual, in her troubles and 
 perplexities, Mrs. Lascells now flew 
 to the Rector, to impart her fears, and 
 
33 
 
 obtain counsel ; leaving strict instruc 
 tions with her servant to send Herbert 
 after her immediately he should arrive. 
 The Rector was not willing to see 
 anything extraordinary in the boy's 
 protracted absence, and cautioned 
 Mrs. Lascells against the premature 
 indulgence of her maternal terrors. 
 But when night was actually come, 
 and without the appearance of Her 
 bert, he began fully to participate in 
 the anxiety he had at first condemned ; 
 and, after at length escorting the lady 
 to her abode, remained with her till a 
 late hour, with the kind view of sup 
 porting her spirits, and keeping alive 
 hope in her breast, at least as long as 
 he should find it possible to do so. 
 Finally, however, he was obliged to 
 
34 
 
 c6nfess the improbability of her son's 
 return that night, and with an afflicted 
 spirit he himself took the way to the 
 rectory. 
 
 The anguish of suspense endured 
 by Mrs. Lascells, on this, in her 
 sleepless night, it must be unneces 
 sary for us to attempt to describe. It 
 will suffice to inform the reader, that 
 pretty early the following morning, 
 the carrier from Morpeth brought a 
 letter from Herbert, which the charms 
 of a fresh can with an unexpected 
 acquaintance, at a little inn by the 
 road-side, had prevented his deliver 
 ing, as he had solemnly engaged to 
 do, to the youth, on the afternoon of 
 the preceding day. This letter Mrs. 
 Lascells tore open with agitated haste, 
 and read precisely as follows. 
 
35 
 
 Morpeth, 12 at noon* 
 DEAREST MOTHER, 
 
 I have this day availed 
 myself of the promise you gave me 
 nearly a year back in the Lady's 
 Chapel Wood. I am a Soldier, with 
 out danger of having to fight for my 
 bread; or rather, I believe I should 
 say, I am going, for a little while, to 
 play at soldiers. The Recruiting 
 Sergeant for a regiment in the Army 
 of Reserve, with whom I have just 
 entered myself, has explained it all to 
 me, so that I have not been at all rash 
 in what I have done, you may depend 
 upon me. The Army of Reserve, you 
 must know, has been planned for the 
 purpose of getting together a number 
 
36 
 
 of young men, and enterprising lads, 
 who are never to fight without the 
 French come; and the French, you 
 know, are such cowards, that they are 
 certain never to come at all. So as I 
 happen to be tall and strong, the Ser 
 geant took me to be eighteen at least, 
 and said that I should do for one ; and 
 finely I have cheated him in it to be 
 sure. And we are never to leave 
 England, or at least only to go to 
 Ireland if we are wanted there, and 
 that will only be like going to a diffe 
 rent part of our own country. I 
 should have just come home to tell 
 you all about it, only the Sergeant 
 said there would not be time, and that 
 as I had your promise to let me be 
 such a soldier as I am going to be, 
 

 37 
 
 that would be sufficient. And he 
 tells me he has no doubt I shall soon 
 be made a Sergeant like himself; and 
 a Sergeant, he says, is a gentleman; 
 and though you know, mother, you 
 have often told me I had no prospect 
 in life but that of labouring with my 
 hands, I hope you will acknowledge 
 yourself mistaken, when you hear 
 that I have a prospect of being a ser 
 geant and a gentleman. And I sup 
 pose you will hardly know me in my 
 regimentals, when I call upon you in 
 a fortnight's time; for we are only 
 going to Carlisle now, and I shall have 
 liberty then to come and see you, and 
 very often in future too, for as I told 
 you before, we are hardly to be real 
 soldiers, but only an Army of Reserve. 
 
 I, E 
 
38 
 
 So till I see you again, believe me to 
 remain, 
 
 Dearest Mother, 
 Your dutiful & affectionate Son y 
 
 HERBERT LASCELLS. 
 P. S. An Army of Reserve means, 
 I believe, an army that is to supply 
 the regular soldiers with fresh troops 
 when they are wanted : but then no 
 one is obliged to become a regular 
 soldier without he chooses it, that is, 
 without he volunteers, and then he 
 gets a great deal of money besides, 
 which they call his bounty. If I were a 
 volunteer, you may be certain I should 
 send you all my bounty directly; for 
 of course I shall have no occasion for 
 money now I am to be kept and cloth 
 ed at the expense of the government. 
 
and so many pounds might be of some 
 service to you I daresay. But you 
 may be sure / shall not volunteer, 
 since the remembrance of how you 
 looked in the Lady's Chapel Wood, 
 when I only talked of being a fighting 
 soldier, will be quite sufficient to pre 
 vent my thinking of that. Though 
 I own I should have liked to be a 
 soldier in earnest, if it had not been 
 so very, very disagreeable to you. 
 Farewell, dearest mother, till this 
 day fortnight. Again and again af 
 fectionately, yours, 
 
 HERBERT LASCELLS. 
 
 Mrs. Lascell's consternation on the 
 perusal of this letter may be readily 
 supposed. She instantly communi- 
 E 2 
 
40 
 
 cated it to the Rector; and that 
 worthy gentleman wanted not to be 
 urged immediately to set out for 
 Morpeth, to see if, upon application 
 to a magistrate there with whom he 
 r was acquainted, any steps could be 
 employed for the immediate restora 
 tion of our youth. He had little 
 doubt, as he informed Mrs. L., that 
 Herbert might easily be recovered 
 by the authority of his friend, if the 
 proper methods could be taken be 
 fore he was formerly entered at 
 Carlisle; and only regretted that, 
 owing to the carrier's delay, time had 
 been given for the military party to 
 gain so greatly the start of the pur 
 suit that should immediately be made. 
 He however assured the lady of his 
 
41 
 
 most strenuous exertions, and left 
 her in a state of mind more endurable 
 by far than the agony of uncertainty 
 and suspense, into which she had 
 been at first thrown by the non- 
 appearance from Morpeth of her 
 beloved son. 
 
 Meanwhile, Herbert, with the Ser 
 geant, and one or two other recruits, 
 were pursuing their way to Carlisle. 
 Their road had at first laid over 
 that wild and solitary tract, which 
 extends between Morpeth and 
 Hexham. However, the walk was 
 enlivened by the beauty of the day, 
 the gay discourse of the Sergeant, 
 and the bright dreams of our youth, 
 that ere long he too would be seen 
 
 E 3 
 
42 
 
 wearing a non-commissioned officer's 
 sash and sword. 
 
 Their first resting-place was a little 
 pot-house by the road-side, in front 
 of which hung from a branch of an 
 old oak the sign of the King's Head. 
 Beneath the tree were benches, and 
 a sturdy table, at which the travellers 
 needed no invitation to seat them 
 selves. Bread and cheese, and ale, 
 were called for by the Sergeant, who 
 generously intimated that he would 
 be answerable for all expenses; and, 
 as the repast proceeded, so ably did 
 he exert those powers of good-hu 
 moured and entertaining small-talk, 
 seasoned with descriptions of the feli 
 city of the soldier's life, with which he 
 had at first prevailed over our hero's 
 
43 
 
 ready credulity, that Herbert thought 
 he had never before met with so en 
 gaging a companion. It is true, his 
 opinion in this respect a little altered, 
 when, on suddenly missing a recruit 
 from his side, our Sergeant, in his 
 first fears that the man had escaped, 
 poured forth such a volley of oaths 
 and horrid imprecations, that Herbert 
 was thunderstruck, and then first 
 began to perceive in himself some 
 symptoms of repentance for having 
 engaged in so wild an expedition. 
 
 Reflections of a nature not very 
 agreeable, occupied him till the party 
 reached a rising ground, not very 
 distant from the spot where they had 
 halted ; when arrived at which, Her 
 bert involuntarily looked behind him, 
 
44 
 
 and saw far off the high country near 
 Morpeth, and made no doubt that 
 the clumps of contiguous trees were 
 the Blue-Bell and Lady's Chapel 
 Woods. The sight seemed to effect 
 a sudden and thorough revolution 
 in his ideas ; for he instantly would 
 have given up all the golden pros 
 pects he had indulged, to have been 
 once more with his mother in the 
 cottage by the wood-side. But re 
 gret, he felt, came too late ; and he 
 summoned up his spirits to proceed, 
 apparently as light-hearted as before, 
 with his companions. 
 
 But the Sergeant had not failed to 
 notice the change that had taken 
 place in his young charge ; and both 
 on account of it, and of his fears that 
 
45 
 
 pursuit would very probably be made 
 after the youth, he urged the party to 
 expedition on their route. Accord 
 ingly they descended at a quick pace 
 the other side of the hill, towards 
 Hexham; which town, as it was so 
 late in the day when they left Mor- 
 peth, they did not however reach till 
 several hours after dark. 
 
 At Hexham, their accommodations 
 for the night were but indifferent; but 
 this, and all other such disagreeable in 
 cidents, Herbert was of a disposition 
 to make little account of. Rising 
 pretty early the next morning, they 
 had travelled a considerable distance 
 before noon; and, pursuing their walk 
 after dinner with unabated energy, 
 the heat of the afternoon soon began 
 
46 
 
 to render repose extremely desirable. 
 The Sergeant therefore proposed, 
 that they should retire for a while to 
 the shade of a little coppice by the 
 road-side; and if they could there get 
 a nap, he said, it would so refresh 
 them that they could more than make 
 up for their lost time in the cool of 
 the evening. 
 
 All took their leader's advice, and 
 laid themselves down under the trees. 
 It was not long before Herbert alone 
 remained awake, thought preventing 
 his so speedily composing himself as 
 his companions. As he lay, he could 
 easily perceive whatever occurred 
 upon the road, although the foliage 
 was thick enough to screen him and 
 his comrades from the observation of 
 
47 
 
 all passengers. The sound of wheels 
 arrested his attention; and immedi 
 ately afterwards a single-horse chaise 
 passed in the direction he was pur 
 suing, in which were seated two gen 
 tlemen, one of whom he knew to be 
 his mother's friend, the Rector. 
 
 This startled him exceedingly, as 
 he could not conceive the object of 
 the journey of at least one of the 
 parties ; and yet a certain uneasy feel 
 ing at the circumstance prevented his 
 issuing from the coppice to accost 
 them. The fact was, that the Rector 
 was accompanied by his friend the 
 Magistrate of Morpeth; the latter 
 having readily offered his personal 
 services, and the use of his chaise, to 
 assist in the recovery of our vouthr 
 
48 
 
 But owing to the wood's enveloping 
 the military party at this unlucky 
 moment, and to other equally un 
 fortunate events, the object of these 
 kind friends of Mrs. Lascells was 
 defeated, as will be seen in the sequel. 
 On the fourth night from their set 
 ting out, having about noon of this 
 day passed the wild black heaths 
 near the Roman Wall, and entered the 
 County of Cumberland, they reached 
 the place of their destination, Car 
 lisle. The Sergeant lost no time in 
 passing Herbert and the other re 
 cruits through the necessary forms; 
 this ceremony taking place early on 
 the day following their arrival. Next 
 day, our hero obtained his uniform, 
 and began to learn his military duty; 
 
49 
 
 and when he returned to his quarters 
 at evening, it was not, we will under 
 take to say, with absolute displeasure, 
 that he heard the compliments of his 
 landlady on his handsome appear 
 ance, or observed the confirmation 
 of her testimony presented by a large 
 glass which was suspended in her 
 parlour. Meanwhile, the Sergeant 
 congratulated himself on having 
 brought the regiment a recruit so 
 creditable to his skill in that service ; 
 and indeed was greatly disposed to 
 wonder at his own good luck, in not 
 having had the prize snatched out of 
 his hands by the interposition of the 
 lad's friends. 
 
 Yet neither had the efforts of those 
 friends been wanting. The Rector, 
 
 I. F 
 
50 
 
 and his associate in the pursuit of 
 Herbert, had easily traced his steps 
 to Hexham; and though they had 
 obtained no intelligence of him much 
 beyond that town, owing to the Ser 
 geant's party taking their repose in 
 the wood, as we have related, they 
 had resolved to proceed even to Car 
 lisle, thinking it possible that by some 
 chance they had passed the youth 
 upon the road, and that at any rate 
 they should be able to take measures 
 at that place to prevent his actual 
 entry into the army. 
 
 But, owing to information they 
 afterwards received, relative to ano 
 ther recruiting sergeant and his party, 
 whom they erroneously concluded to 
 be those they were in quest of, they 
 
51 
 
 directly made the best of their way 
 upon the road to Appleby ; and not 
 discovering their mistake till they 
 arrived at that town, the opportunity 
 of achieving their object was lost 
 irrecoverably. Ultimately, the good 
 Rector returned to Mrs. Lascells 
 without having effected his purpose, 
 to her utter grief and dismay ; while 
 Herbert was encountering the mingled 
 impressions produced upon his mind 
 by scenes, faces, and a manner of life 
 entirely strange, and, before many 
 days had been spent in Carlisle, was 
 betrayed into a step he had neither 
 intended nor anticipated as a possi 
 bility. But his further history will 
 most properly be pursued in our 
 next following chapter. 
 F 2 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 THE first time Herbert appeared 
 upon parade, he went through his 
 evolutions so greatly to the satisfac 
 tion of his officers, that he received 
 unusual praises; whilst his uncom 
 monly good figure, and open martial 
 air, created an universal impression 
 in his favour. The Sergeant too 
 continued to ply him with flatteries ; 
 for, as it now began to appear, he had 
 a still further design upon our youth, 
 and this was to get him to volunteer 
 from the Army of Reserve to the 
 troops of the line. 
 
 With this design, he was continu- 
 
53 
 
 ally lamenting in his presence that so 
 fine a lad should be deprived of the 
 opportunity of making a figure in the 
 world ; adding that in the King's ser 
 vice he would infallibly be promoted 
 before he was many weeks older, and 
 that a young fellow better calculated 
 to do honour to his Majesty's troops, 
 and shine as an officer, he had never 
 had the luck to clap eyes on. All this, 
 however, produced nothing in Her 
 bert, but the wish that his engage 
 ments to his mother had left him free 
 to follow the dictates of his inclina 
 tion: he constantly replied, that no 
 body had ever a greater desire to 
 follow the profession so strongly re 
 commended, and that he himself 
 believed he should soon rise in the 
 F 3 
 
54 
 
 regular army ; but, at the same time, 
 that duty to a parent, and the obli 
 gation of his promises, forbade it. 
 The Sergeant would either affect to 
 laugh at these scruples, or endeavour 
 to prevail with him by arguments 
 against them; but he had the morti 
 fication to find that his efforts of every 
 kind were without avail, and that his 
 only resource was in a plan, which in 
 such cases has but too generally 
 proved successful. 
 
 Ten days had now transpired since 
 their leaving Morpeth, and the mor 
 row would bring that, upon which, 
 agreeably to the Sergeant's specious 
 promises, our hero was to be allowed 
 leave to set out from Carlisle to visit 
 his mother. The Sergeant, at the 
 
time he made this promise, well knew 
 that it would not be in his power to 
 keep it ; but as the youth still dreamt 
 of nothing else than its exact per 
 formance, his deceiver became the 
 more earnest to dispatch his designs, 
 since the discovery of his duplicity 
 w r ould no doubt overturn all his influ 
 ence with Herbert. On the morning 
 of the day at which we are arrived, 
 therefore, meeting the youth upon 
 his customary walk after parade, 
 under the Castle walls, he accosted 
 him in his usual gay, good-humoured 
 style, and, after a few general re 
 marks, ended by inviting him to meet 
 a few brother non-commissioned offi 
 cers at his lodgings to supper. Her 
 bert frankly accepted an offer, that 
 
56 
 
 apparently at least was so frankly 
 made, being chiefly flattered by the 
 idea of finding himself alone, of all the 
 privates of the regiment, considered 
 company for his superiors in mili 
 tary rank. 
 
 At the appointed hour he reached 
 the Sergeant's lodgings, and found 
 the non-commissioned officers al 
 luded to already arrived. He was 
 received with distinguished signs of 
 welcome, and could not perceive that 
 he was looked upon by any one pre 
 sent in the light of an inferior. The 
 supper was substantial, the ale exhi 
 larating, the company merry, and all 
 the talk about the pleasures and per 
 petual variety of the soldier's life. 
 The meal ended ; pipes and grog 
 
57 
 
 were produced. Herbert refused to 
 smoke, having never taken a pipe 
 into his lips in his life ; which how 
 ever he did not choose to say, think 
 ing perhaps the confession would be 
 derogatory to his dignity as a sup 
 posed stripling of eighteen. The 
 grog he did not so steadily object to 
 partaking of; and its effects, uniting 
 with that of the ale, were soon pretty 
 apparent in one so totally unac 
 customed to strong liquors of any 
 kind. 
 
 Need we enlarge in our description 
 of this scene? The result was that 
 which takes place in the case of 
 nearly all raw recruits situated as was 
 Herbert : drinking was continued to a 
 late hour ; the youth was completely 
 
58 
 
 overcome by it, and by the fumes of 
 the tobacco from his companions; 
 and in a state almost of stupefaction 
 gave his consent to volunteer for the 
 s service. At the usual time 
 
 next morning, and before the effects 
 of the liquor had subsided, he was 
 led to be sworn in, and receive his 
 bounty; after the performance of 
 which ceremonies, his gay comrades 
 left him to reflect upon all the conse 
 quences at his leisure. 
 
 Scarcely conscious of what had 
 occurred, Herbert staggered home to 
 his quarters, and needing no induce 
 ment after setting up all night to 
 throw himself upon his bed, was soon 
 sunk in the most profound repose. 
 Jle knew not exactly how long he 
 
59 
 
 had slept; but he was awakened by 
 the roll of the drum for evening 
 parade, and in the first confusion of 
 his senses was unconscious whether 
 he was at Morpeth or Carlisle, at 
 military quarters or in the Blue-Bell 
 Wood. The reality forced itself upon 
 his mind with the jingle of his bounty 
 money, as he first turned and then 
 sat upright on his bed : he sat for the 
 few following seconds, while the loud 
 roll of the drum still continued, an 
 image of blank despair. His fond 
 mother, the cottage of his nativity, 
 the woods whose pleasant walks he 
 had so recently despised, all rushed 
 upon his memory, connected with 
 the idea that he was parted from 
 them, perhaps, for ever. 
 
60 
 
 In the bitterness of self-reproach, 
 he next remembered his so solemn 
 engagements to the most affectionate 
 of parents, not to take the very step 
 into which he had allowed himself to 
 be seduced; and, for the first time, he 
 seriously felt remorse for having quit 
 ted Morpeth without obtaining his 
 mothers consent. In fact, his con 
 duct in this instance now first pre 
 sented itself to him in its true light, 
 as a most imprudent, unwarrantable, 
 and undutiful proceeding, to which 
 the conversation with his parent in 
 the Lady's Chapel Wood afforded 
 so very slight a sanction, that he 
 wondered how he had ever been led 
 to conceive of it as any sanction at 
 all. The glimpse he had had of the 
 
V 
 
 worthy Rector on the road then re 
 curred to his fancy, and he directly 
 saw that the only object of that good 
 man's journey must have been his 
 restoration to the arms of his mo 
 ther. The affliction doubtless en 
 dured by his mother herself during 
 his absence was next contemplated, 
 and oh ! with how much agony ! 
 
 He was actually in tears when the 
 false Sergeant entered his apartment, 
 and in a tone of sharpness which 
 Herbert had never before noticed in 
 him, asked if he could not hear the 
 drum? Herbert looked at him at 
 first with some surprise; but this 
 harshness had a better effect ilpon 
 him than would the most opposite 
 conduct; it seemed the signal for 
 
 I. G 
 
62 
 
 him to summon up his fortitude, and 
 he was, however young, of that lofty 
 tone of character, which could best 
 enable him to obey the call. With 
 out speaking, therefore, he again 
 looked at the Sergeant with dignity, 
 through the tears which he attempted 
 not either to wipe away or to conceal, 
 while he evinced by action his imme 
 diate readiness to accompany him. 
 The expression of his countenance 
 was that of a high and generous spirit, 
 betrayed into conduct it repented by 
 the arts of a mean and little one ; its 
 sorrow seemed purposely retained 
 for reproach to its betrayer; its forti 
 tude told him that it could bear the 
 worst, however unprepared. The 
 Sergeant himself appeared struck, 
 
63 
 
 and even touched by something like 
 remorse, at the noble bearing of the 
 young recruit; and muttering, that 
 the muster-roll of the regiment to 
 which Herbert now belonged, with 
 his name included, would be called 
 in a few minutes, but that he (the 
 Serjeant) would procure his excuse, 
 as he had only entered that morning, 
 he was about to depart alone. But 
 Herbert manfully told him, that he 
 was as ready to pass muster as him 
 self, and they hastened together to 
 the Castle- Yard. 
 
 Herbert answered with the most 
 cool composure to his name, and 
 went through his part on parade with 
 the steady promptitude of a veteran. 
 After their exercise, the command to 
 o 2 
 
64 
 
 form squares by companies gave an 
 emotion to the whole regiment; as 
 this evolution was never performed 
 but for the purpose of hearing gene 
 ral orders, either for a march, or in 
 relation to some matter of consider 
 able military importance. The orders 
 were read, and were found to contain 
 peremptory instructions for every man 
 to prepare himself to leave Carlisle at 
 day-light next morning ! 
 
 Thus, before he had completed his 
 sixteenth year, was Herbert Lascells, 
 as a consequence of a single indis 
 cretion, a momentary forgetfulness of 
 the deference due from a son to a 
 parent, engaged for life to a profesr 
 sion, of the real difficulties and hard- 
 ships of which he Jiad not an idea, 
 
65 
 
 about, as it appeared, immediately to 
 enter into the full career of his future 
 employments, it might be, in another 
 and distant country! Reader! be 
 ware! The errors of Herbert were 
 not of a common kind. They sprung, 
 it is true, from a seemingly inborn 
 disposition to rashness and impru 
 dent enterprise; but it was his in 
 genuous and unsuspicious nature, 
 that at Morpeth first afforded the 
 wily Sergeant a handle wherewith to 
 convert them to his purposes. Her 
 bert had no tendencies towards the 
 sickly sensibilities, and feverish rest- 
 lestnesses, of what is commonly 
 called romance; his proneness to ac 
 tion arose from the native energies 
 of a vigorous mind, and a frame as 
 G 3 
 
66 
 
 vigorously constituted. Beware, 
 then, reader, whatever be your sta 
 tion in life, lest, if ever situated like 
 Herbert, your conduct should be as 
 blameworthy, and yourself unprovi^ 
 ded with as good excuses for it lest 
 its effects should be as severe, and 
 your fortitude unequal like him to 
 sustain them. 
 
CHAP- V. 
 
 HERBERT spent the brief hours 
 allotted him for preparation, in 
 penning an epistle to his mother, 
 most penitentially informing her of 
 his having been surprised into be 
 coming a regular soldier, and inclosing 
 his bounty money for her use. But 
 his letter was much more than this. 
 When contrasted with that received 
 from Morpeth, it seemed at first im 
 possible that it should have been 
 penned by the same writer. Instead 
 of the childish tone, the simple cre 
 dulity, elation, and extravagance of 
 hope, so manifest in the first, it exhi- 
 
68 
 
 bited a strong sense of having acted 
 wrongfully, together with the sin- 
 cerest sorrow for having become a 
 source of affliction to his parent, and 
 the firmest resolves bravely to bear 
 all the consequences that should at 
 tach to his own person. It was can 
 did, manly, sensible, and resigned; 
 appearing the language of one, to 
 whom less than a fortnight's experi 
 ence, followed by self-repentance, 
 had singularly given the wisdom 
 which is not always reaped from years. 
 In fine, this letter gave all the balm to 
 the wounded spirit of his mother, 
 that it was at the moment capable of 
 receiving; for having, since the Rec 
 tor's return without her son, given 
 herself up to despair, fearing his 
 
69 . 
 
 death, or even worse, the assurance 
 that he was still alive, to whatever 
 dangers about to be exposed, impart 
 ed something like a feeling of com 
 fort. The steadiness of character, 
 that ran throughout the epistle, could 
 not fail also most pleasingly to sur 
 prise her; and in spite of herself, the 
 prospect painted by Herbert of his 
 returning home, and that ere very 
 long, with honour and promotion, 
 seemed to rise before her like a vision 
 of happiness for the future. And as, 
 though her son informed her of his 
 immediate departure from Carlisle, 
 probably for the Continent, it was out 
 of his power to state the actual place 
 of his destination, it immediately ap 
 peared that all farther efforts used 
 
1 
 
 70 
 
 for his recovery, must, from the un 
 certainty in what quarter to employ 
 them, be fruitless: and this convic 
 tion gave her a resolution derived, like 
 Herbert's, from necessity, to look 
 forward with resignation to whatever 
 might henceforth be his fate, 
 
 The regiment, at the hour arrang 
 ed, was equipped, and took the road 
 to the coast. Here transports were 
 in readiness to receive them, and the 
 whole embarked, with a fair wind, for 
 Portsmouth; where they were to 
 land, and be re-shipped, for what part 
 of the world they w r ere not as yet in 
 formed. During this comparatively 
 short voyage, Herbert had sufficient 
 experience of what it was to be con 
 fined within a very small space, 
 
71 
 
 which there was no escape, with pro* 
 ifligate and abandoned men, and 
 i coarse, if not vicious women. He 
 ^learned what it was besides, to lounge 
 away long and weary days on a ship's 
 deck in the same society, and to sleep 
 at night in darkness and noisome air, 
 amidst numbers of such, below. But 
 he bore these inconveniences with the 
 temper of a martyr, thinking them a 
 just punishment for his treatment of 
 so excellent a mother, and only long 
 ing to be able to lose the sense of 
 what he now suffered in the services 
 of the ' tented field. 5 
 
 On arriving at Portsmouth, the 
 soldiers were marched to Hilsea Bar 
 racks, near that town ; and many days 
 had not here elapsed, before young 
 
72 
 
 Lascells, whose superiority to the 
 general run of private soldiers, had 
 very early become apparent, was pro 
 moted to the rank of Corporal. A 
 few days afterwards, the company to 
 which he was attached, was embarked 
 on board an East Indiaman; and the 
 remainder of the regiment being dis 
 tributed in other vessels, the whole 
 set sail for the East Indies. 
 
 With a depression of spirits, Her 
 bert found himself unable to subdue, 
 he seated himself on the forecastle of 
 the Indiaman, and continued there 
 for several hours, a prey to his melan 
 choly reflections. He had found time 
 just prior to his embarkation, to send 
 a third letter to Mrs. Lascells, appri 
 sing her of the quarter of the globe to 
 
- 73 
 
 which he was to be dispatched ; and 
 his thoughts continued for some time 
 in unison with the subject-matter of 
 his epistle, and the person to whom it 
 was addressed. On the last account 
 alone, we need not wonder that they 
 were tinged with an uncontroullable 
 sadness. 
 
 The passage through the Needles, 
 which are high pointed rocks near the 
 coast of the Isle of Wight, and the 
 views of that lovely island itself which 
 appeared from the deck of the vessel, 
 gave a little relief to the general turn 
 of his contemplations. For some 
 time the ship traversed the waves 
 so close under the island, that he 
 could count the trees nearest the 
 waters edge, and could trace the 
 
 i. H 
 
74 
 
 windings of the lanes and hedges. 
 But when the trees, the buildings, 
 and the shores of Old England gradu 
 ally receded from his sight when 
 the thought arose, that he might now 
 be viewing for the last time the coun 
 try of his birth, the land that contain 
 ed all that was dear to him tears 
 forced their way to his eyes in spite 
 of his most heroic resolutions. 
 
 We pass over the particulars of 
 this voyage, which lasted five months, 
 but was attended with nothing re 
 markable. At the end of that time, 
 the ship anchored in Diamond Har 
 bour, which is no other than one of 
 the mouths of the great Indian river 
 Ganges; and the regiment immedi 
 ately proceeded in boats up the stream 
 
75 
 
 to Calcutta. The transition to these 
 boats from the unwholesome close 
 ness of the ship, was extremely 
 agreeable to Herbert, notwithstand 
 ing the heat of the climate, to which 
 all were necessarily much exposed 
 upon their passage. 
 
 Calcutta was found by several to be 
 a much handsomer and more spacious 
 town than they had expected to meet 
 with out of England ; and Fort Wil 
 liam, in which the regiment was sta 
 tioned, is really a series of noble 
 buildings and fortifications, all of 
 white stone, and containing several 
 fine squares, decorated with gravelled 
 walks and rows of trees. Native 
 servants here attend all Europeans; 
 so that even the private English sol- 
 H 2 
 
76 
 
 dier is in many respects a gentleman 
 in comparison with his situation in 
 his own country. As for Herbert, 
 being very shortly raised to a Ser- 
 geanfs Post, he enjoyed a proportio 
 nate share of these advantages; and 
 his birth, or lodging, was fitted out 
 in what he deemed a handsome 
 manner; containing, amongst other 
 articles after the manner of the coun 
 try, a set of varnished and splendidly 
 gilt chairs; a table of sesoo wood, 
 which resembles our mahogany; and 
 a carved and ornamented bedstead of 
 the same material, hung with the 
 finest white muslin curtains. 
 
 After some little time spent in a 
 manner that was only wanting in 
 activity to complete Herbert's satis* 
 
77 
 
 faction, the regiment was ordered to 
 Dinapore, an European station upon 
 the Ganges, about six hundred miles 
 above Calcutta. This expedition was 
 to be performed in large boats, thatch 
 ed over for the accommodation of 
 the men, and they were expected to 
 arrive at the place of their destination 
 in about four weeks. Accordingly, 
 they set out, and proceeded a certain 
 number of miles every day; after 
 which, all were allowed to scatter 
 themselves over the country, at their 
 discretion, provided that they return 
 ed by a stated hour in the evening. 
 
 Herbert had many opportunities on 
 
 these occasions, of observing the very 
 
 primitive manners and customs of the 
 
 inoffensive but superstitious Hindoos; 
 
 H 3 
 
78 
 
 as well as of remarking the most 
 curious natural productions of the 
 country. Among the latter, he in 
 cluded the various kind of palm trees, 
 known by their long and slender shafts, 
 crowned with tufts of broad and glossy 
 leaves ; the bamboo, which in appear 
 ance somewhat resembles the English 
 willow; and the mangoe, which pro 
 duces an extremely fine fruit, and 
 bears a blossom that scents the air 
 with a perfume, reminding him of 
 that of the primroses growing on the 
 hedge-banks round his native woods. 
 The Barracks atDinapore are regu 
 lar and handsome buildings of white 
 stone, consisting of two large squares, 
 which contain most convenient ranges 
 of apartments for the officers, and 
 
79 
 
 long and spacious halls, in which the 
 private soldiers and non-commis 
 sioned officers are lodged with the 
 greatest comfort; the latter enjoying 
 the advantage of possessing what are 
 called the corner births, which they 
 have the means of rendering quite 
 private. The buildings are all of a 
 single story, and have many high and 
 arched windows, fitted up, on account 
 of the heat of the climate, not with 
 glass, but green lattice-work. The 
 areas of the squares, and the walks 
 surrounding them, are kept extreme 
 ly neat ; so that every thing in the 
 way of external appearance, and in 
 ternal convenience, is provided for 
 the European soldier at this station. 
 The soldiers were indeed uncom- 
 
80 
 
 monly pleased with these barracks, 
 after their long confinement to the 
 thatched boats; and Herbert not less 
 so than the rest. In his birth at 
 Dinapore, he lived with even more 
 magnificence than at Calcutta; and 
 his good mother, doubtless, would 
 have smiled, had she been able to 
 observe our hero seated at his meals, 
 and practising some little airs of state, 
 while his black man stood officiously 
 behind him, keeping off the flies with 
 a fan, or chowry, as it is called in that 
 country. 
 
 To observe the varieties of the 
 place, he occasionally crossed by a 
 little bridge in rear of the Barracks 
 to the Bazar, or Black Town, inha 
 bited by people who obtain their sub- 
 
81 
 
 sistence by providing the soldiers 
 with provisions and other necessary 
 articles". This town forms a striking 
 contrast to the habitations of the 
 Europeans, as it consists entirely of 
 mud huts, without either windows 
 or chimnies, ranged in little narrow 
 streets, in the midst of which are 
 stalls covered with a variety of wares, 
 such as pottery, fruits and vegetables, 
 brass vessels, chintzes and muslin, 
 painted umbrellas for the sun, curious 
 shoes, beads, trinkets, &c. Near the 
 Bazar, are a few larger and better 
 houses, some occupied by rich natives, 
 and others by English gentlemen; and 
 the gardens and open spaces around 
 are planted with the luxuriant trees 
 peculiar to the climate. 
 
82 
 
 At last, this state of indolent repose 
 was exchanged for what young Las- 
 cells infinitely preferred, namely, ac 
 tive service. War broke out in India, 
 several of the native princes rising in 
 arms against the English government, 
 and the troops at Dinapore were 
 ordered to join their countrymen in 
 all haste. And now Herbert had an 
 opportunity of exhibiting to advan 
 tage, and in their appropriate sphere, 
 the high and daring qualities with 
 which Nature had invested him ; but 
 which, in his present situation, sur 
 rounded by luxurious softness, en 
 dangered by youth, and unprotected 
 by parental guardianship, a little more 
 inaction might have urged to vicious 
 pursuits. 
 
83 
 
 We will not follow him through his 
 various campaigns in India, except to 
 relate his successive and rapid pro 
 motions in the army. After the very 
 first battle, his gallantry and good 
 conduct having been particularly re 
 marked by the Governor who was 
 present, he was made an Ensign on 
 the field. Shortly afterwards he be 
 came Lieutenant, and then Captain; 
 and just previously to the termination 
 of the war, was raised to the command 
 of a regiment. All this occurred be 
 fore he was quite of age; although, 
 as already remarked, he looked 
 several years older than in reality he 
 was. But we must quit him for a 
 short time, to return to Mrs. Lascells, 
 in her cottage by the Blue-BellWootL 
 
CHAP. VI. 
 
 SUCCESSIVE returns of the India 
 fleet had not failed regularly to bring 
 Mrs. Lascells letters from her son. 
 But the last fleet had brought no 
 tidings from Herbert; owing, though 
 the lady was unacquainted with the 
 fact, to the circumstance of his having 
 been engaged in active hostilities with 
 the enemy, in the interior of the 
 country, when it sailed. The dread 
 that he had fallen in battle, like his 
 father, or by the fatal diseases of the 
 climate, immediately therefore took 
 possession of her mind ; and she was 
 a long time inconsolable for his sup- 
 
85 
 
 posed loss. The good Rector in vain 
 attempted to convince her that her 
 fears were unreasonable, or at least 
 premature; her husband's fate had 
 left an impression on her mind, that 
 made an early death appear but the 
 natural consequence of the military 
 profession, and she could not be per 
 suaded to indulge a hope of ever 
 more seeing her beloved child. 
 
 One fine summer evening, just as 
 the sun was setting behind the hills, 
 the Rector and his lady were sitting 
 beside her near her cottage door, and 
 endeavouring to revive hope in her 
 almost totally despairing breast. As 
 they conversed, the shade of a tall 
 figure suddenly flitted across the 
 casement, and the figure itself, ha- 
 
 J. i 
 
86 
 
 bited in a long blue military coat, 
 and a slouched hat, drawn far over 
 the face as if for concealment, as 
 hastily was presented at the open 
 door. The ladies mutually exhibited 
 some symptoms of alarm ; which the 
 stranger perceiving, with the excla 
 mation of " Mother!" he directly 
 pulled of his disguise, and discovered 
 to all the robust and finely- formed 
 person, in full military uniform, of 
 Colonel Lascells. 
 
 Mrs. Lascells fainted, in her first 
 emotions of joy and surprise; but, 
 being speedily recovered, awoke to 
 all the happiness of the fond mother, 
 delighted with the endearing em 
 braces of her darling son. The 
 mutual explanations that took place, 
 
87 
 
 and the felicity manifested in the 
 countenances of all, we need not 
 describe. The congratulations of the 
 Rector and his lady were as ardent 
 as they were sincere ; and a full hour 
 was spent in continued expressions 
 of the satisfaction and enjoyment 
 experienced by all present. 
 
 When the warmth of these first 
 emotions had somewhat subsided, 
 the conversation naturally turned 
 upon the intentions of Colonel Las- 
 cells, relative to his future pursuits 
 in life. 
 
 He replied: "I love my profes 
 sion, and have neither wish, nor de 
 sign, under existing circumstances, 
 to quit it. Could I indeed see my 
 mother placed in that rank of life, 
 i 2 
 
88 
 
 and surrounded with that affluence, 
 which I have learnt are but her 
 rights, I should think it my duty, 
 for her sake, and in consideration of 
 my having become a soldier contrary 
 to her expressed wishes, to leave the 
 army now that I find myself again in 
 my native country, and devote the rest 
 of my days, as a too easy penance for 
 my fault, to her happiness at home. 
 But since Providence appears to have 
 thrown me in the path, by pursuing 
 which I shall probably acquire fortune, 
 and perhaps personal nobility, in lieu 
 of that nobility of birth of our title to 
 which we seem to be deprived, I 
 hold it equally my duty not to pause 
 in my career, at least until I have 
 provided an honourable competence 
 
89 
 
 for the future years of the parent, to 
 whose affection I owe so much." 
 
 Tears of tenderness and joy, mixed 
 however with the apprehension of 
 again losing her son, started into the 
 eyes of Mrs. Lascells. " O, my Her 
 bert!" she exclaimed, " could I but 
 prevail with you never, never more to 
 quit our Northumbrian woods, your 
 mother, and the country of your 
 birth ! Be assured that I am content 
 with my present station, and shall 
 be completely happy while blest with 
 the knowledge of your safety. But, 
 if you again seek the dangers of the 
 soldier's life ! O, Herbert, will you 
 then suffer your mother throughout 
 her existence to be the prey to the 
 anxieties she must feel, while any dear 
 I 3 
 
90 
 
 to her are daily exposing themselves 
 to unheard-of hardships, to disease, 
 to wounds, to death? 
 
 " Could I but see you in the pos 
 session of your clues, my dearest 
 mother, I would not/' replied the 
 Colonel. 
 
 " A bargain! and I am witness;" 
 good-humouredly exclaimed the Rec 
 tor: " who knows even yet what may 
 happen?" And as he spoke, a chaise 
 and four was seen descending the 
 road down the hill-side, with the 
 speed almost of light, and it rivetted 
 the attention of all until it stopped 
 directly opposite the cottage-door. 
 
 Before the party could recover 
 from their surprise, a gentleman, 
 dressed in black, darted from the 
 
91 
 
 vehicle, and enquired for Mrs, 
 Lascells. She tremulously informed 
 him that she was the person he had 
 named. 
 
 The stranger bowed. " You will 
 excuse my abruptness," he said, " but 
 the business upon which 1 am come is 
 important, and requires dispatch. I 
 am executor under the will of the late 
 Lord Lascells" but, pausing, he 
 continued, " perhaps you had re 
 ceived no intelligence of his lord 
 ship's death?" 
 
 Mrs. Lascells faintly (for a thousand 
 mingled sensations rushed at once 
 upon her) replied, that she had not. 
 
 The stranger again bowed. " Ma 
 dam," he went on, " it is then my 
 duty in the first place to apprise you 
 
92 
 
 of that circumstance; and next to 
 state, that his eldest son having died 
 on his travels abroad, his lordship has 
 bequeathed his property, upon proof 
 made that you are the lawful widow 
 of his second son, also deceased, to 
 the celebrated Colonel Lascells, whose 
 exploits in India have rendered him 
 so famous, (these are the words 
 of the will, my dear madam,) upon 
 proof also made that the said Colonel 
 Lascells is the legitimate descendant 
 of his said second son." 
 
 " I have documents to prove both 
 in my possession," cried the Rector, 
 starting from his chair, while Mrs. 
 Lascells, overcome by her emotions, 
 sunk to her's. "And," continued the 
 warm-hearted gentleman, "most hap- 
 
93 
 
 pily, Colonel Lascells is now present, 
 to hear from your mouth of his good 
 fortune." 
 
 The Colonel rose. The legal gen 
 tleman, for such it now sufficiently 
 appeared he was, bowed infinitely 
 more profoundly than before. " My 
 Lord" said he, " I shall execute the 
 remaining duties imposed upon me, 
 whenever I am honoured with your 
 lordship's commands." 
 
 The first impulse of Lord Lascells, 
 for this title we also must now give 
 our hero, was most tenderly to em 
 brace his mother, and assure her that 
 the promise he had but just made her, 
 under such little expectation of what 
 had since happened, should be sa 
 credly observed. As soon as a toler^ 
 
94 
 
 able degree of calmness again pos 
 sessed the party, they all proceeded 
 to the Rectory, where the documents 
 mentioned by the good clergyman 
 were produced, to the entire satis 
 faction of the late Lord Lascells' 
 executor, and not less so, it may be 
 presumed, to that of all present be 
 sides. And it was agreed, before the 
 company separated for the night, that 
 all should proceed, on the day fol 
 lowing, to make the final arrange 
 ments, at Lascells Castle. 
 
 Let the reader conceive of Lascells 
 Castle, then, as the future residence 
 of Herbert, Lord Lascells, and his 
 mother. By years of desert, crowned 
 with glory, he had amply compensated 
 for the leading error of his youth ; and 
 
95 
 
 both he and Mrs. Lascells were, as 
 [they deserved to be, through their 
 [future lives, as happy as perhaps it 
 is ever permitted mortals to become 
 in this world. And it was 110 incon 
 siderable addition to the felicity of 
 both, that Lord Lascells, soon after 
 he was put in possession of his title, 
 married a young lady of equal rank, 
 and of singular beauty and accom 
 plishments; while their children in 
 herited the virtues, not less than the 
 wealth, of their parents, and were 
 universally admired and beloved in 
 that part of Scotland where they 
 resided. 
 
LELAND: 
 
 OR THE 
 
 WANDERINGS OF YOUTHFUL 
 ROMANCE. 
 
 -..- 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 " How can you tell me Romances 
 are hurtful reading sir?" said the 
 young Augustus one morning to his 
 Tutor, when the latter, upon enter 
 ing the study, found his pupil busy 
 over the 4 Mysteries of Udolpho,' 
 instead of the problem in Euclid, the 
 solution of which should by that time 
 have been ready. " Look, sir," con 
 tinued the youthful enthusiast, " ut 
 
 I. K 
 
98 
 
 this fine passage, so full of senti 
 ment and devotion, describing the 
 
 feelings of , produced by 
 
 the tranquil beauty of a summer's 
 evening!" 
 
 " Look at your Euclid, sir," was 
 Mr. Mason's reply. 
 
 But seeing the tears start into his 
 pupil's eyes at this reproof " My 
 dear Augustus," said the perhaps too 
 indulgent Tutor, " should I once 
 more pardon your inattention to my 
 orders, and forgetfulness of your 
 appointed lessons, may I trust that 
 it will be for the last time? 
 
 Augustus was silent; it is to be 
 feared from pride ; his eyes still wan 
 dered to the half-open page of his 
 favourite * Mysteries,' though his 
 
99 
 
 hand was extended to the detested 
 Euclid. 
 
 " Shew me the passage you are 
 so charmed with," said Mr. Mason, 
 kindly. Augustus eagerly pointed 
 to it. 
 
 " Sentiment and devotion!" re^ 
 peated the Tutor, when he had 
 perused it: " the consequence, as 
 you truly observe, of our heroine's 
 witnessing the beauties of a fine 
 summer's evening: and I find re^ 
 flections very similar upon a fine 
 morning. Pray, my young friend, 
 have you been able to discover a 
 rainy night, or a foggy morning, in 
 the whole volume?" 
 
 Augustus stared. 
 
 " And yet," continued Mr. M f 
 K 2 
 
100 
 
 " though we rarely find bad weather 
 in romances, this work-day world, as 
 it has been called, of ours, abounds 
 with it: arid sentiment is as rational, 
 and devotional feelings as proper, I 
 should imagine, in rain as in sun 
 shine." 
 
 The Tutor paused: but no obser 
 vation escaping from his pupil, for in 
 truth this reasoning was of a nature 
 to which his mind was too little ac 
 customed, he proceeded: 
 
 " You are in your thirteenth year, 
 Augustus Leland. You have think 
 ing powers, and talents for expres 
 sing yourself, somewhat beyond your 
 age ; together with abilities for study, 
 adequate to the acquisition of almost 
 any species of learning, Yet, owing 
 
101 
 
 to your not having followed that course 
 of study my experience enabled me 
 to point out you, your mind is ex 
 cited, heated, rather than improved, 
 by what it has acquired; and is in 
 danger, indeed, of being debased, 
 and ruined, through the pernicious 
 luxury of romance-reading. 
 
 The youth was now, though not 
 with the best possible grace, again 
 recurring to his Euclid ; but, with a 
 good-natured smile, Mr. Mason pre 
 vented him. " No, turn to your 
 admired description in the romance," 
 said this gentleman: " we will make 
 that the subject of this morning's 
 lesson." Augustus complied, though 
 with a look of still greater surprise 
 than before. 
 
 K 3 
 
102 
 
 " 1 have observed," said Mr. M., 
 taking up the book, " that the reli 
 gion of romances consists almost en 
 tirely in the mere indulgence of our 
 natural feelings, aroused by obser 
 vation of a fine prospect, or the 
 glories of the rising and setting sun. 
 Yet such feelings, my dear Augustus, 
 experience has shewn us, are power 
 less to sustain us in the actual prac 
 tice of our religious duties, and, 
 when indulged beyond their rational 
 and just bounds, but little conducive 
 to our after peace." 
 
 Augustus now spoke, and some 
 what abruptly : nay, he so far forgot 
 himself as to reply by some rather 
 pert observations, in defence of his fa 
 vourite authors ; observations, evinc- 
 
103 
 
 ing far too much confidence in his own 
 judgment, and too little deference for 
 that of his Tutor. These Mr. Mason 
 very properly reprehended. 
 
 " I have endeavoured, sir," said 
 he, his countenance assuming an ex 
 pression of severity, " observing the 
 species of reading to which unfortu 
 nately you are so much attached, to 
 warn you betimes, and lead you 
 from the flowery path of fancy and 
 over-refined feeling, into the high 
 road of well settled principle. I re 
 gret exceedingly to say, that hitherto 
 my efforts have been as ill seconded 
 by parental authority, as unimproved 
 by your obedience. But, for the 
 future, depend on me, no exertions 
 shall be wanting on my part, by 
 
104 
 
 means of a strict enforcement of 
 those studies to which you are fool 
 ishly so averse, to moderate your 
 conceits and high-flown feelings, 
 while I would strengthen and exalt 
 your principles." 
 
 So saying, Mr. Mason left our hero 
 (a hero literally in his own opinion) 
 to meditate on what had passed, un 
 til the hour when study would next 
 require their meeting. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 FROM a sentence which escaped 
 Mr. Mason at nearly the close of the 
 last chapter, it may be conjectured 
 that his authority over young Au 
 gustus was not remarkably well esta 
 blished; a circumstance for which it 
 now becomes our duty to account, as 
 well as to narrate some particulars in 
 the previous history of the youth, of 
 importance to the proper understand 
 ing of his present character and fu 
 ture adventures. 
 
 Leland was the only son of a doat- 
 ing mother, who had been left, soon 
 after the birth of a younger female 
 
106 
 
 child, in the state of widowhood. 
 Unhappily, therefore, he never had 
 known the kind severity of a father's 
 care; and his errors had not been 
 checked, because not properly un 
 derstood, by his all-indulgent mater 
 nal parent. The family seat w r as the 
 remnant of an ancient castle, situated 
 on the banks of the meandering 
 Wye : it had formerly been a place of 
 strength, and the predecessors of the 
 Lelands had exercised within it the 
 amplest baronial sway: the moat 
 which had once surrounded it could 
 be distinctly traced, and vestiges of 
 a draw-bridge and portcullis were 
 yet visible at the principal entrance. 
 Add to these circumstance, that the 
 country around w r as retired, thickly 
 
107 
 
 wooded, and almost without a neigh- 
 bourhood; and the only associates of 
 the youth, his mother, sister, pre 
 ceptor, and their few domestics ; and 
 ! the growth of his earliest and strong 
 est propensities will scarcely excite 
 wonder. It must be recorded too, 
 
 that the nearest town, that of L 
 
 could boast an established Circula 
 ting Library, to which Mrs. Leland 
 was a regular subscriber, and was as 
 Tegular supplied with box-loads of 
 its contaminating trash. The vo 
 lumes thus periodically received, 
 Augustus was allowed to peruse 
 without prohibition or restraint, to 
 the neglect of every serious employ 
 ment, and in opposition to the re 
 peated remonstrances of his accom 
 plished and conscientious Tutor. 
 
108 
 
 True it is, Mrs. L. had never the 
 remotest intention of filling with 
 hurtful and ungovernable notions the 
 bosom of her darling son. She esti 
 mated romance-reading by her own 
 experience of its effects; and could 
 not be made to believe, that what 
 was to her the mere amusement of a 
 solitary hour, could possibly become 
 the source of danger to any mind, 
 however young, or however diffe 
 rently constituted. Faithful to this 
 idea, she insisted that Leland's evi 
 dently increasing irritability of feeling, 
 his restlessness, and seeming anxi 
 eties about he knew not what, were 
 all the consequences of the dry les 
 sons of Mr. Mason; and would con 
 stantly end her rather frequent ha 
 rangues upon the subject, by asking 
 
109 
 
 Augustus, if present, whether he had 
 yet read < The Hermit of the Grot/ 
 6 The Black Knight and the Demon/ 
 or < The Secrets of Kenelm Tower?' 
 
 It had long required the exertion 
 of the Preceptor's utmost prudence 
 and address, to prevent an open 
 rupture with the mother, w r hile ad 
 ministering the instructions required 
 of him to the son. Weary at length 
 of this incessant contest with the 
 maternal authority, and foreseeing 
 the ruin of his pupil from the farther 
 indulgence of his fatal habits, Mr. 
 M. now resolved to obtain Mrs. Le- 
 land's support of that system of in 
 struction he had acquainted Augus 
 tus with his determination to enforce, 
 or otherwise to give up his employ- 
 
 I. L 
 
110 
 
 ment. For this purpose, he waited 
 on Mrs. L. the following morning in 
 the breakfast parlour, when the dia 
 logue we here repeat took place be 
 tween them. 
 
 After a few general observations 
 upon indifferent subjects, and upon 
 education, " I am sorry, Madam," 
 commenced the Tutor, " to inform 
 you that Augustus disappoints me 
 much, by the slow progress he makes 
 in the studies likely to be most useful 
 to him." 
 
 " Bless me! Mr. Mason, why, my 
 dear boy is accounted a prodigy by 
 all who know him that is, whenever 
 he is in spirits to unbend from that 
 pensive way of his, which I must 
 own is not always becoming to him." 
 
Ill 
 
 " He knows sufficient, Madam, to 
 be able to talk upon many subjects 
 which he does not really understand ; 
 and it would not surprise me to find 
 that such a youth should have the 
 dexterity to astonish the illiterate, at 
 the very time that he must be pitied 
 by the sagacious and well-informed." 
 
 " O! now I understand you, Sir. 
 You would have the boy quite moped 
 to death as he partly is already by 
 learning Geometry, and Algebra, and 
 Mechanics, and such low stuff. As 
 to all which, I must however once 
 more beg it to be understood, that 1 
 consider a sort of polite smattering 
 amply sufficient for him." 
 
 " But, Mrs. Leland, a polite smat 
 tering in Mathematics, and the Sci- 
 L 2 
 
112 
 
 ences, will not cure him of those 
 defects of character, which a tolera 
 ble proficiency in those studies would 
 have a powerful tendency to remove. 
 And, Madam" 
 
 " And, Sir, I do entreat that you 
 will not addle the lad's brains, nor 
 damp his sweet sensibility, nor de 
 stroy his exquisite taste, by forcing 
 him to pursuits that are not conge 
 nial to him. My boy has genius, 
 sir; and the most charming talent for 
 invention." 
 
 Mr. Mason shook his head. 
 
 " Nay," resumed the lady, " it was 
 but the other evening I caught him 
 myself, in one of his musing fits, 
 composing extempore, and reciting 
 aloud looking all the while at the 
 
113 
 
 moon then over the ruined turret a 
 tale of a valorous knight, and a fair 
 lady confined in the Gothic keep of 
 an old castle, that would have done 
 honour to the writer of the < Fay of 
 the Rock' herself. And, to speak 
 plainly, Mr. Mason, 1 would not have 
 this enchanting talent of his discou 
 raged, for the sake of all the sciences 
 your wisdom may be able to teach 
 him." 
 
 " Then, Madam, though most un 
 willingly I speak it, my duty compels 
 me to apprise you, that, since 1 can 
 not submit to bear the responsibility 
 for consequences which I predict, 
 while you deprive me of the neces 
 sary power to obviate them, I must 
 
 L 3 
 
114 
 
 decline the farther superintendence 
 of your son's education." 
 
 " Sir! Mr. Mason! can you mean" - 
 The lady was unable to proceed ; for 
 she was even more hurt than surprised 
 at this unexpected declaration. 
 
 " Will you allow me, my dear, Mrs. 
 Leland," said Mr. M., " to inquire 
 whether you intend literally to follow 
 his dying father's injunctions, in put 
 ting Augustus to some honourable 
 trade?" - 
 
 " That his father's oldest friend, 
 that you, who have been a second 
 father to him, should at last think of 
 deserting us" almost sobbed out 
 Mrs. Leland. 
 
 " Pardon me, my good Madam. 
 
115 
 
 Your serious answer to my question 
 may prove the means to effect a re 
 moval of those obstacles, that other 
 wise must prevent my continuance 
 with you." 
 
 " His father certainly desired it: 
 and distressing as it is to reflect, that 
 my boy in that case will be the first to 
 disgrace his noble ancestry" 
 
 " To disgrace!" repeated Mr. 
 Mason. 
 
 " Yes, alas!" said Mrs. L., I fear 
 the continued impoverishment of our 
 estate for you know, my friend, it 
 has been impoverished by successive 
 generations must compel Augustus 
 to find some means of retrieving our 
 finances, or else that he will one day 
 see an aged mother, and helpless 
 
11G 
 
 sister, surrounded by the bitterest 
 evils of poverty and distress.' 5 
 
 " Then, surely, my dear Madam" 
 " But pray," interrupted Mrs. Le- 
 land, " do not inform the dear boy as 
 yet that he is designed for trade: for, 
 young as he is-, he shews such a 
 charming pride in his ancestors, and 
 has such delicate feelings with re 
 gard to all the dirty interests of com 
 merce, that it would certainly break 
 his heart. Let us stay till he is a 
 little older, Mr. Mason, and then' 
 " And then it may be too late. 
 Let me once more conjure you, Mrs. 
 Leland, to crush his destructive pro 
 pensities in the bud. For, depend 
 upon it, corruption lies at the root of 
 romance: and the very same susrep- 
 
117 
 
 tibility of disposition, which may at 
 first lead to the love of the amiable 
 and the good, the world will despise 
 for its simplicity, ensnare through its 
 openness, and finally prevert to the 
 sensuality to which it is so easily 
 seduced, unfortified as it generally is 
 by humility or prudence, and but too 
 commonly captivated by the first 
 alluring vice presenting itself under 
 the external form of virtue." 
 
 Mrs. Leland attempted, but in vain, 
 to convince Mr. M. that no such dis 
 astrous consequences could possibly 
 ensue in the case of a youth of so 
 sweet, so amiable a disposition as 
 her Augustus. The Tutor was im* 
 moveable; and, rather than part with 
 a preceptor of such acknowledged 
 
118 
 
 worth, and one who had besides 
 evinced much affection for her son, 
 the lady at last agreed, that, in the 
 future conduct of his education, she 
 would not interfere with Mr. Mason's 
 plan; but would actually, if Mr. M. 
 desired it, forbid the farther indul 
 gence of the youth's rooted passion 
 for romances. 
 
CHAP. ill. 
 
 THE next morning, when Mr. Ma 
 son required of Leland his customary 
 task, once more was he pained to 
 find (notwithstanding that the pupil 
 contrived to conceal, as he imagined, 
 a volume of the ' Black Banner,' on 
 the entrance of his Tutor) that ro 
 mance had either prevented or totally 
 supplanted study. With a sternness 
 in his countenance Leland had never 
 before witnessed there, the justly 
 offended preceptor, taking him by 
 the hand, instantly led him to his 
 chamber. " Remain there till your 
 lesson is completed, sir," said Mr. 
 
120 
 
 Mason, and immediately left him; at 
 the same time securing the door on 
 the outside. 
 
 Astonishment and confusion for a 
 moment entirely overwhelmed Au 
 gustus; but rage quickly took the 
 place of those emotions ; for now, for 
 thq first time in his life, he beheld 
 himself the subject of active coercion. 
 He flew violently to the door; but, as 
 it was composed of solid oak, and its 
 lock of no ordinary strength, it re 
 sisted of course his most strenuous 
 efforts to force it. Swelling with 
 resentment, for a few minutes he 
 paced the room with the strut of a 
 monarch in tragedy: then again he 
 assaulted the door; and again the 
 antique oak repelled his puny efforts. 
 
121 
 
 Words cannot paint his fury! At 
 length, after once more traversing 
 the room, and hurling, with a fierce 
 look, his Euclid (author of his woes !) 
 at the massy frame which held him 
 prisoner, he sat down, thinking it 
 might be possible to plan some me 
 thod of escape. 
 
 But, for the means of effecting 
 this the window was two stories 
 from the ground : and his apartment, 
 however ancient, was unprovided 
 with a trap-door, leading through 
 mysterious passages to a subterra 
 neous vault, or a sliding pannel, open 
 ing upon a concealed corridore, and 
 conveying, by a winding staircase, to 
 some secret outlet. In vain did he 
 rack his brains for precedents of any 
 
 I. M 
 
122 
 
 Rolando, Rinaldo, or Orlando, who 
 had ever leapt from a casement at the 
 height of near forty feet from terra 
 firma; and the conviction was irre 
 sistibly forced upon him, that the 
 most doughty hero of them all, who 
 should have attempted so dangerous 
 a feat, would, in all human probabi 
 lity, have broken either his legs or 
 his neck. 
 
 Stung with the bitterest vexation, 
 he sat some time pondering how to 
 act. Suddenly casting his eyes to 
 wards a half- open closet, he perceived 
 a stout and apparently long rope. A 
 rope-ladder! he triumphantly ex 
 claimed; and wondered that this so 
 noted expedient in all cases of forlorn 
 prisoners had not before occurred to 
 
123 
 
 him. Eagerly did he lower it from 
 the window, and found that it would 
 nearly though not quite reach the 
 lawn beneath. 
 
 Still, all this by no means corres 
 ponded with his ideas of a rope-lad 
 der; and he was rather confused at 
 perceiving the difficulties that would 
 attend his descent by such a convey 
 ance. However, he magnanimously 
 secured one end of the rope to the 
 bed-post, (no fastening of a more dig 
 nified nature presenting itself;) placed 
 a chair by the window; mounted it; 
 surveyed the distance to the bottom; 
 twisted his hands in the rope; sus 
 pended one leg from his elevated 
 situation; and finding a sensation 
 resembling a whirling of the brain 
 M 2 
 
124 
 
 rapidly overcoming him hastily drew 
 it back again. 
 
 This circumstance had nearly over 
 set his glowing heroics: he calmly 
 seated himself on the bed-side. But, 
 soon reviving, all the horrors as he 
 had learned to deem them, of im 
 mured solitude, recurred to his dis 
 tempered imagination. He dwelt 
 upon the triumph of defeating the 
 plans of his tyrant, as in thought he 
 called his too gentle Tutor: he pic 
 tured to himself the agitation and 
 alarm that would pervade the castle 
 upon the discovery of his absence, 
 (for he had already determined to 
 lurk within the neighbouring wood 
 till night-fall;) and, full of the con 
 sequence he expected would for ever 
 
125 
 
 attach to him, could he but summon 
 Resolution to achieve the enterprise, 
 he once more ascended to the win 
 dow; and (will it be believed?) his 
 important vanity did then enable him, 
 though trembling every joint, and 
 pale as the midnight spectres he had 
 so often read of, to descend, by suc 
 cessively untwisting and retwisting 
 his fingers in the rope, and resting 
 his feet upon every slight projection 
 by the way, as far as the window im 
 mediately beneath his own. But this 
 as he was dangling past, too much 
 occupied with his own fears to notice 
 w r ho was standing within, a shriek 
 struck like the knell of death upon 
 his ear, and at the same moment he 
 felt the rope descending with the 
 M 3 
 
126 
 
 rapidity of lightning. Convinced 
 that it had either broken or become 
 unfastened above, he gave a shriek in 
 concert, terror unloosed his hold, and 
 he fell senseless to the ground. 
 
 Acute pain, for he had dislocated 
 an ancle, recovered him just in time 
 to witness his mother, tutor, sister, 
 and the domestics of the household, 
 rushing all together to the spot. 
 " Augustus! child!" franticly ex 
 claimed Mrs. Leland, " how could 
 you think of so rash an attempt 
 he's killed! he's killed!" she cried in 
 the utmost terror, seeing that he lay 
 motionless, his face concealed in the 
 high grass, upon the ground. " Be 
 calm, 1 intreat you, Madam," said Mr, 
 Mason, lifting a hand of the terror* 
 
127 
 
 stricken youth, and observing the 
 burning blush that prevailed even 
 over the hue of affright upon his 
 cheek; "people do not often die of 
 shame." " But pray, sir, how did 
 this happen?" he enquired of Augus 
 tus : " I do not recollect any problem 
 in Euclid, elucidating the methods of 
 perpendicular descent from a second- 
 story window." 
 
 " I no, sir it's not in Euclid, 
 but that is the rope broke" stam 
 mered out the youth; so confounded 
 by his mortification, pain, and terror, 
 that he scarcely knew what he said. 
 " The rope!" said Mr. Mason, affect 
 ing now for the first time to notice 
 it, and discovering that it must be 
 strongly secured above, since he tried 
 
128 
 
 in vain to pull it from the window; 
 " the rope broke!" 
 
 " La! no, sir," cried the servant- 
 girl, \vho at this moment bustled into 
 the circle, " the rope's not broke: 
 for as I happened to be in the next 
 chamber, and heard a monstratious 
 noise in young master's room, I made 
 bold to turn the lock, and there I 
 seed the rope tied to the bed-post, 
 and the bedstead pulled all the way 
 from the furder corner of the room 
 right up to the window!" 
 
 At this, Mr. Mason could not for 
 bear smiling; the servants tittered; 
 and little Emily laughed outright. 
 " I did so scream," she cried, " when 
 1 saw brother's legs hanging, I 
 couldiit tell how, outside the win- 
 
129 
 
 dow: yet I could hardly help laugh 
 ing* either, to see him clinging to 
 the rope, just like our old tabby- 
 cat!" 
 
 The titter among the servants here 
 became a general roar, which Mrs. 
 Leland silenced by a frown; but at 
 ' the same time could not herself avoid 
 saying, " silly, silly child!" During 
 all this while, the little would-be hero 
 had stirred neither hand or foot, nor 
 uttered a syllable, as he lay ; nor could 
 his mother's most pressing iriireaties 
 prevail with him to attempt to rise. 
 " Harkee, young gentleman," at 
 length said Mr. Mason, " you are at 
 liberty to prolong your folly to any 
 extent you may think proper: it can 
 hurt nobody but yourself. But, be- 
 
130 
 
 fore we leave you, let me give you 
 this little piece of advice. Should 
 you ever again think of escaping from 
 a two-pair of stairs window by means 
 of a rope and a bed-post, remember 
 that it was the increased momentum 
 acquired by your body, when arrived 
 at a certain depth, which had the 
 effect of drawing the bedstead to the 
 window after you: a principle in 
 MECHANICS this, which, as you have 
 more than once heard me explain it, 
 might have prevented your causeless 
 fright and fall, had romances permit 
 ted your paying me the attention 
 necessary to enable you to recollect 
 it." 
 
 So saying, Mr. Mason walked into 
 the castle : and the servants having, 
 
131 
 
 by his mother's orders, forced Le- 
 land upon his legs, the hurt he had 
 received by the fall was then dis 
 covered. As he was unable to sup 
 port himself, a sort of bier was 
 constructed of the crossed arms of 
 the domestics: and, with Mrs. Le- 
 land in tears, and an expression of 
 grief mingled with comic wonder 
 in the countenance of Emily, the 
 little cavalcade followed slowly 
 the steps of the Tutor. A surgeon 
 being sent for, the ancle was set im 
 mediately upon his arrival: but Le- 
 land's recovery from the consequen 
 ces of his heroism, cost him several 
 day's confinement, not merely in his 
 chamber, but in bed. 
 
V 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 THOUGH really concerned at the 
 rather serious termination of LelantTs 
 exploit, Mr. Mason felt inclined to 
 hope that the best effects might result 
 from it. He communicated these 
 hopes to Mrs. Leland; but that lady 
 seemed rather disposed to reflect on 
 the severity of the Tutor, as the 
 cause of her son's disaster, than to 
 allow that the disaster itself had any 
 connection with the youth's turn for 
 romance. A little conversation which 
 she had the next day with Augustus, 
 however, materially contributed to 
 alter her sentiments in this respect. 
 
133 
 
 Approaching his bedside to make 
 her customary enquiries, she was at 
 first pleased to observe that he an 
 swered with a degree almost of viva 
 city; for, since his accident, he had 
 hitherto maintained a sullen silence, 
 when she spoke, or made her, and 
 indeed every one else, replies equally 
 ungracious and ungrateful. The truth 
 was, that during the hour previous to 
 this visit, having had an interval of 
 bodily ease, but finding it impossible 
 to divert his thoughts from his recent 
 disgrace, Leland had been working 
 up his feelings to the highest pitch 
 of exasperation, not with himself, for 
 his own frantic absurdities, but with 
 his Tutor, for that gentleman's at 
 tempts to cure him of them ; and he 
 
 I. N 
 
134 
 
 was now eager to give vent to all the 
 reproaches on the worthy man, which 
 the bitterness of his spirit inspired 
 him with. 
 
 Mrs. Leland listened for some little 
 time in astonishment, and scarcely 
 without a smile, to the vehement ex 
 clamations of " brute!" " monster!" 
 " barbarian!" with which he loaded 
 his kind corrector. She then made 
 some attempts to moderate the trans 
 ports of his resentment: and even 
 entered upon a sort of half-defence 
 of Mr. Mason; though she had not 
 the prudence entirely to conceal her 
 chagrin at the Preceptor's unexpected 
 activity in the system of discipline he 
 had commenced under her sanction. 
 
 " Consider, my dear child," said 
 
135 
 
 she, " that Mr. Mason certainly 
 ought to have been obliged in the 
 first instance, in regard to the lesson 
 he set you. And really, I think, it 
 would have been easier for you, with 
 the abilities you possess, to have ap 
 plied yourself seriously to it when he 
 first locked you in, and thus have re 
 gained your liberty in a short time by 
 completing it, than to have had re 
 course to such a very, very violent 
 step as getting out of your window. 
 You have surely great reason to be 
 thankful that the consequences were 
 no worse, as you must be sensible 
 they might have been, 
 
 " I cannot much longer endure his 
 tyranny," said Augustus, who had 
 paid but little attention to Mrs. Le* 
 N 2 
 
136 
 
 land's remarks; " and you know, 
 mother, if Osric, in the ' Abbey of 
 St. CJair,' had not escaped from the 
 cruelties of the monk Egbert, his 
 preceptor, by means of the spiral 
 stairs so happily discovered by him - 
 cut, as you remember, in the interior 
 of the immense walls of his prison 
 he would never have been able to 
 achieve the deliverance of his be 
 loved Elfrida, nor yet to obtain such 
 noble vengeance on his other ene 
 mies, by the midnight burning of 
 their strong-hold, the Castle of the 
 Wizard's Glen." 
 
 " Is it possible, child!" cried Mrs. 
 Leland, now first perceiving his 
 practical application of her admired 
 authors; " that you could seriously 
 
137 
 
 set yourself to imitate the nonsense 
 that one reads in a book?" 
 
 " Nonsense!" repeated Augustus, 
 equally surprised in his turn; " nay 
 mother, hav'nt you over and over 
 again told me, that the whole story 
 was actually divine?" 
 
 " Yes!" said his mother, as the 
 real state of her son's mind now 
 dawned upon her own; and, cast 
 ing a sorrowful look upon the youth, 
 she left the room to conceal her 
 tears : for knowing no medium in her 
 conclusions, she was now ready to 
 believe, not merely that his imagina 
 tion w r as infected, but that his reason 
 ing powers were disturbed, by the 
 fantastic visions of romance. 
 
 N 3 
 
133 
 
 As for Leland, though, at a former 
 period, the sentiments his mother had 
 just advanced would have had their 
 proper weight with him, yet now, so 
 infatuated was he become, surprise 
 at the seeming alteration in her opi 
 nions was quickly changed into a 
 feeling of contempt : yes, my young 
 reader! pause while you reflect, that 
 romance had, even at this early pe 
 riod, brought her victim to an unre 
 served indulgence in contempt for the 
 admonitions of a parent! 
 
CHAP. V. 
 
 ON Leland's complete recovery 
 from the effects of his un-romantic 
 accident, his mother, convinced but 
 too late of the mischiefs to be appre 
 hended from the farther cultivation 
 of his darling propensities, began 
 heartily to co-operate with Mr. Ma 
 son in his endeavours to work a 
 thorough reformation. The Tutor 
 was now even positively charged to 
 omit no species of study, or restraint, 
 that might conduce to this end ; and 
 Leland, for the first time, found no 
 refuge from his tasks, or the inflicter 
 of them, in the arms of his mother. 
 
140 
 
 Meantime, the youth's abstraction 
 of manner increased daily : and his 
 only solace became that of wander 
 ing, after he had finished his lessons, 
 through the woods that surrounded 
 the domain of his fathers, while in 
 imagination he conjured up their 
 spirits, to behold and redress his 
 wrongs. In these rambles, he was 
 speedily known and noticed by the 
 peasants whose cottages were nearest 
 to his home ; and not a few of them 
 would stare with astonishment, as 
 they witnessed his heroic strut, his 
 sudden starts and pauses, or his up 
 lifted hands while solemnly invoking 
 the manes of his progenitors. 
 
 Neither did this kind of observa 
 tion altogether displease him: 011 the 
 
141 
 
 contrary, it flattered his pride to 
 observe their silent Bonder as he 
 passed. And it cannot excite sur 
 prise, that the pleasure he thus learn 
 ed to take in this self-exhibition, 
 soon added affectation to his other 
 follies; though it might have gone 
 nigh to cure him of that contempti 
 ble weakness, had he heard the loud 
 laugh of the simple cottagers, that 
 inevitably followed his departure. 
 
 When at home, the honest and un 
 concealed mirth of the little Emily, 
 at his various extravagancies, not a 
 little added to his discontent and dis 
 quiet: and every day his walks be 
 came longer and more frequent. 
 Neither did Mr. Mason entirely dis 
 courage these perambulations, though 
 
142 
 
 he took proper care that a romance 
 should never be their companion ; for 
 he thought air and exercise necessary 
 to his pupil, after the rather severe 
 studies to which it was now thought 
 expedient to subject him, in order to 
 divert his mind from more baneful 
 pursuits. 
 
 But in spite of this kind attention 
 to the health of Augustus, he was 
 observed to grow paler and more 
 sickly, and his dejection of spirits 
 to increase. These symptoms were 
 viewed by Mr. Mason with real 
 though concealed alarm; but by 
 Mrs. Leland with such distress, that 
 she had begun to repent her con 
 currence with the recently-adopted 
 measures of the Preceptor, when a 
 
143 
 
 new folly on the part of her son once 
 mere induced her to give them her 
 entire approbation. 
 
 Leland was one day walking in the 
 most unfrequented part of the woods, 
 when, on turning an angle of the path, 
 he suddenly observed, at the distance 
 of a few paces, the rude and squalid 
 tent of a family of gipsies; who, 
 with a large iron kettle suspended 
 over a wood-fire before them, ap 
 peared to be preparing themselves a 
 repast. A man, rather advanced in 
 years, was attending the kettle ; while 
 his son, a lad about Leland's own age, 
 stood, with a vacant yet sly look, 
 idly by; and a woman, with a child 
 at her back, seemed to be gathering 
 sticks a few yards farther on, to add 
 
144 
 
 to the nearly exhausted embers on 
 the turf. 
 
 Strange to tell, though Leland 
 might be said to have heard of gipsies 
 in the course of his life, he was totally 
 unacquainted with their character as 
 common pilferers from every neigh 
 bourhood visited by them, and their 
 ordinary means of obtaining the ne 
 cessaries of life. In fact, he knew 
 nothing, either of men or things, 
 beyond the precincts of his mother's 
 estate, and those exaggerated des 
 criptions in his favourite authors, 
 which alone had ever interested his 
 imagination; for his unconquerable 
 reserve had prevented those inqui 
 ries, as becoming as they are natural 
 to youth, which would have proved 
 
145 
 
 the sources of much valuable infor 
 mation. 
 
 As he approached, he could not 
 help betraying in his countenance 
 marks of surprise, mingled with alarm. 
 Having never before seen any of this 
 singular race, his romantic fancy in 
 stantly painted them as beings super 
 natural and unearthly: and it should 
 be noticed, that though these wan 
 derers had been some weeks resi 
 dent in the vicinity, arid had com 
 mitted many thefts from the castle 
 grounds, they had hitherto studi 
 ously avoided Augustus, whenever 
 he had ignorantly approached them 
 in his walks, judging him to be the 
 young heir of the domain, and fear 
 ing that by his means they might be 
 
 i. o 
 
146 
 
 discovered, and forced to migrate 
 earlier than suited their intentions. 
 But, having that morning accidentally 
 met with a servant-girl of Mrs. Le- 
 land's, from whom, in return for 
 foretelling her no small share of fu 
 ture splendour, they had obtained, 
 along with a silver sixpence, some 
 insight into the several characters of 
 the family, they were resolved to ac 
 cost our hero on his next appearance, 
 and had scarcely matured a plan, of 
 no good import to the youth, when 
 he appeared to their wishes. 
 
 On seeing him, the man, though 
 apparently inattentive to every thing 
 but the kettle before him, gave a sort 
 of cough, accompanied with a mean 
 ing look, (both unobserved by Au- 
 
147 
 
 gustus,) which aroused the woman's 
 attention. Yet she continued her 
 occupation of gathering sticks, till 
 Leland, having passed the man in 
 silence, was immediately opposite to 
 her; when, approaching him, she de 
 manded in a mysterious manner, if 
 she should tell his fortune? 
 
 Startled at the question, and struck 
 with her wild appearance, which re 
 minded him of the Weird Sisters he 
 had read of in a Scottish romance, 
 he stood a moment hesitatingly : then, 
 with great sagacity, as he thought, 
 and with an important voice, asked if 
 she could describe the present; " for 
 if so," continued he, " I may believe 
 your prophecy of the future.- Who 
 I?" 
 
 o 2 
 
148 
 
 " An heir, a prisoner, and a slave!" 
 replied the woman, in a solemn tone. 
 
 Leland was thunderstruck. 
 
 " But," resumed the gipsey, taking 
 his hand, and attentively examining 
 it, " you will escape the tyrant. Be 
 resolute; and this day will give you 
 liberty." 
 
 Astonished beyond measure, Au 
 gustus, after a pause, eagerly en 
 quired her meaning? 
 
 " We," returned the woman, glanc 
 ing her eye at her seemingly inatten 
 tive husband, and the arch-looking 
 youth at his side, " we want no 
 castles, and read no books. We 
 are happy: but you!" 
 
 " I am indeed wretched!" said he, 
 pathetically. 
 
149 
 
 It need not surprise the reader, 
 whom we spare the farther partir 
 culars of this extraordinary converr 
 sation, that its result was a deter 
 mination on the part of Leland to 
 accompany these gipsies, he scarce 
 knew whither, and certainly he knew 
 not why. But there was a something 
 wild, singular, and, to say all in a 
 word, romantic, about this adven 
 ture; and though he did not entirely 
 credit the woman's pretensions to 
 prophetic powers, he found it im^ 
 possible to resist their fascination. 
 
 Before he could have time to re 
 pent of his resolution, the tent was 
 struck, the moveables secured upon 
 the back of an ass that had been 
 browsing on thistles under the hedge, 
 o 3 
 
150 
 
 and the party commenced their jour 
 ney through the wood ; the artful hag 
 contriving to keep our hero in talk, 
 while the man, who had not yet 
 spoken a word, walked on gloomily 
 before, and a settled leer w r as on the 
 countenance of the urchin. 
 
 About sunset, a circuitous route 
 having been purposely chosen by 
 their leader, they reached the open 
 country. The shades of evening be 
 gan now rapidly to deepen: and that 
 depression of the spirits, which, after 
 an eventful day, sometimes seizes on 
 the mind, infected by the gloom of 
 twilight scenery, began to have a 
 sensible effect upon Leland; whose 
 animated apostrophes to liberty, and 
 praises of pedestrian exertion, had 
 
151 
 
 before gradually sunk into a pro 
 found silence. 
 
 The gipsey- woman now more than 
 once advanced to the man in front, 
 and addressed him in a few low 
 words, to which he replied by indis 
 tinct mutterings: a feeling of dread 
 stole fast upon the mind of our hero : 
 the darkness was every moment in 
 creasing. He was just revolving in 
 his mind the comforts of his snug, 
 warm bed-chamber, and recoiling 
 in horror from the thought of the 
 miserable covert borne by the ass 
 before him, when the man suddenly 
 turned, and seized Leland by the 
 coat ; and, in spite of his shrieks and 
 resistance, speedily divested him of 
 that and his other garments; while 
 
152 
 
 the woman stood as on the watch at 
 a little distance, and the gipsey-boy 
 looked on, and grinned and laughed 
 outright alternately. During the perr 
 formance of which atrocious act, the 
 man's features, though they altered 
 not for a moment from the composed 
 and savage gloom they expressed ha 
 bitually, appeared to our youth dis 
 torted with the malignant passions of 
 a fiend, and conveyed an impression, 
 which he judged would never be 
 effaced from his memory. Having 
 thus effected their purpose, some 
 rags, which in fact formed a cast-off 
 suit of the gipsey-boy 's, were thrown 
 to the horror-stricken Augustus ; and 
 the woman having by this time pro 
 ceeded on her way to some distance, 
 
153 
 
 the boy jumped upon the ass's back, 
 the man seized hold of the bridle of 
 the animal, giving the clothes just 
 forcibly taken in charge to his son, 
 ' and the whole party, favoured by the 
 darkness, were out of sight in a few 
 seconds of time. 
 
 What was the situation, and what 
 the feelings, of Augustus! The con 
 sciousness that he had been duped, 
 excited his rage ; the conviction that 
 to his own credulous folly his mis 
 fortune was chiefly to be attributed, 
 filled him with shame and mortifica 
 tion; the darkness and loneliness of 
 the strange spot at which he found 
 himself, inspired him with terror; 
 cold, nakedness, hunger, and bo 
 dily weariness, united to afflict him. 
 
154 
 
 The anguish of his mind was be 
 trayed by his loud and bitter lamen 
 tations, which none were near to 
 compassionate, and the tears of dis 
 tress and self-remorse fell plentifully' 
 from his cheeks. 
 
 Miserable as was his plight from 
 the loss of his own garments, it was 
 long before he could prevail with 
 himself to assume those of the 
 dirty gipsey-boy. But he at length 
 found it absolutely necessary to pro 
 tect in some degree his shivering 
 limbs from the night-air; and the 
 moon now rising, inspired him with 
 the hope of being able to retrace his 
 way to the Castle. He now clothed 
 himself therefore with rags, which in 
 the morning he would have spurned 
 
155 
 
 from his path; and found them at 
 least impart a feeling more agreeable 
 than that of a total want of apparel. 
 Painfully did he begin his way 
 toward the home, whose neighbour 
 hood he had so causelessly quitted ; 
 and more and more doubtful did he 
 become as he advanced, of his being 
 again able to reach it. He with the 
 utmost difficulty recognised the ob 
 jects he had passed in the day-time, 
 both from the different light, and the 
 opposite position, in which they now 
 appeared to him. His perplexity in 
 creased when he found it necessary 
 to re-enter the woods ; and his terrors 
 were not slight as he passed under 
 the dark arms of the lofty trees. 
 The wood-cat, the fox, and the va- 
 
156 
 
 rious lesser animals, which in our 
 happy country are the only beasts 
 that prowl nightly for their prey, 
 were abroad; but the motions and 
 voices of these were sufficient to 
 give affright to one, whose habits 
 had rendered him scarcely conscious 
 that such animals existed. To add 
 to his distress, he found it totally 
 impossible to continue in the mazy 
 path pursued by the unprincipled 
 wanderers when escorting him in the 
 contrary direction, and was obliged 
 in consequence to guess at the track 
 he ought now to follow. So intricate 
 and deceptive were the few beaten 
 ways under the trees, that, after 
 toiling nearly two hours, forcing a 
 passage through innumerable brakes, 
 
157 
 
 thai nearly tore from off him his rem 
 nants of clothes, and at last dis 
 covering an outlet, he became imme- 
 ^diately sensible that he had not made 
 the slightest real progress, having 
 emerged from the wood at the dis 
 tance of a few yards only from where, 
 after leaving the gipsies, he hud 
 entered it ! 
 
 This appeared the climax of his 
 woes. Overcome with the fatigue of 
 exertions so apparently fruitless, he 
 threw himself upon a bank, and again 
 gave vent to a torrent of tears. At 
 that moment he could have relin 
 quished all farther effort in despair; 
 but then the alternative that pre- 
 'sented itself, that of remaining all 
 night upon the shelterless spot where 
 
 i. P 
 
158 
 
 .he now was, appeared so forlorn and 
 comfortless, that he could by n'o 
 means readily embrace it. At last 
 he resolved, cost him what labour it 
 might, to pursue the boundary of the 
 wood, in the direction which he knew 
 must conduct him towards the Castle, 
 and not again intrust himself to its 
 paths ; and, regretting that this idea 
 had not earlier occurred to him, he 
 once more set forward. 
 
 In pursuing the resolution now 
 formed, he was obliged to quit the 
 road very shortly afterwards, and 
 cross a stile into the fields that fol 
 lowed the irregular outline of the 
 wood. As he proceeded, a path that 
 had for some time accompanied him, 
 terminated in a narrow lane, whose 
 
159 
 
 direction, be was instantly conscious, 
 was the reverse of that he ought to 
 take. To continue along the margin 
 of the trees, it became necessary 
 'therefore to clamber over a hedge, 
 and surmount every other obstacle of 
 the like nature that might occur on 
 the way. Little as he was equal to 
 such undertakings, after the fatigues 
 he had already undergone, he felt it 
 indispensable to his reaching home 
 that night that he should attempt 
 them; and, after some moments of 
 hesitation, began to execute the task. 
 Had the wretched apparel that he 
 could scarce keep together on his 
 limbs been of the most opposite des 
 cription, it must have suffered greatly 
 from the wearer's putting its texture 
 p 2 
 
160 
 
 to so severe a proof: what then very 
 shortly became the state of that $f 
 Augustus? Long ere he reached ,341 
 angle of the wood, from whicfi h 
 could faintly descry the castle-turrets 1 
 standing in darkness beneath the 
 waning moonlight, it was torn almost 
 literally to ribbands ; and became of 
 course so accessible to the night air, 
 that the youth doubtless owed it to 
 the extraordinary bodily exertions fc > 
 was making, that he did not after 
 wards fatally suffer from the cold. 
 At length, when he was well nigh 
 exhausted with his toils, and the 
 night was nearly become the dawn 
 ing of another day, the gates of the 
 Castle stood before him; and the 
 fair, in the garb of a beggar-boy, in 
 
I* 161 
 
 the cast-off tatters, now yet more 
 tattered, of a gipsey-child, at an hour 
 so unseasonable, was to demand ad- 
 
 !mittance! 
 
 Clie only light was visible at any 
 window of the abode, and that window 
 
 | looked from the chamber of his mo 
 ther. It told Leland that a parent 
 had been counting the hours, in little 
 ."V^ss than distraction no doubt, till his 
 Uppearance. It aroused emotions in 
 his bosom toward that fond parent, 
 which not all the sufferings of his 
 situation, not all the shame he felt 
 at the recollection of the circum 
 stances under which he must again 
 appear before her, could deprive of 
 their just tone of gratitude. Some 
 portion of the selfishness of romantic 
 p 3 
 
162 
 
 feeling had vanished, for a time at 
 least, from the effect of the past day's 
 adventures ; and real affliction in his 
 own person had made him more* 
 capable of valuing the anxiety of 
 another on his account. 
 
 He knocked with a feeble and 
 tremulous hand; but, in the stillness 
 of the hour, the sound loudly rever 
 berated in the Castle hall, and th: 
 
 <j 
 
 casement of Mrs. Leland was in 
 stantly thrown open. 
 
 " Mother!" exclaimed Augustus, 
 even before she could well appear at 
 the window. 
 
 His mother, at the sound of his 
 voice, waited not to convince herself 
 by sight, but immediately flew down 
 stairs to the portal. 
 
163 
 
 But, when the strange and un 
 looked-for figure, rendered yet more 
 wild by the sinking moonlight, under 
 which her son now stood before her, 
 met her eye, a shriek alone expressed 
 her agitated feelings, and she fainted. 
 The shriek, following the resounding 
 knock of Augustus, betrayed the fact 
 that one other person of the house 
 hold had watched through the so 
 litary hours, for now immediately 
 appeared Mr. Mason; wLo, though 
 scarcely less surprised, however more 
 self-possessed, than Mrs. L., glanced 
 only at the singular accoutrements of 
 the youth, (following up that glance 
 with an awful frown,) and then de 
 voted himself solely to the lady's res 
 toration. This, by the assistance of 
 
164 
 
 some domestics, who shortly reached 
 the scene, being effected, the Tutor 
 took care that sufficient assurances 
 of the safety of her son should be 
 poured into her eager ears, but at the 
 same time convinced her of the pro 
 priety of denying herself a farther 
 sight of him till the return of day 
 light ; having before sternly ordered 
 Leland himself to his chamber. 
 
CHAP. VI. 
 
 WE pass over the humiliating ex 
 planations into which it was necessary 
 for Leland to enter, both to his mother 
 and tutor, as soon as a long but dis 
 turbed sleep, still agitated with the 
 events of the past day, had recruited 
 his exhausted strength, and brought 
 him to the re-possession of his facul 
 ties beneath the parental roof. These 
 explanations w r ere received with the 
 utmost astonishment by Mrs. Leland, 
 who could scarcely bring herself to 
 think it possible that Augustus should 
 have been guilty of such gross folly 
 as he had now discovered in his 
 
160 
 
 conduct; while Mr. Mason, without 
 any such symptoms of surprise, 
 questioned and cross-questioned the 
 youth, in a manner to set the weak-' 
 ness and silliness of this grand ex 
 ploit of his in its strongest light 
 before him, hoping thereby to render 
 him so heartily ashamed of himself, as 
 to prevent the repetition of his extra 
 vagancies for the future. In doing 
 this, however, Mr. M. unintentionally 
 awakened again the pride and stub 
 bornness native to his disposition; and 
 half kindled new resolutions in his 
 mind, the objects of which were, to 
 shew some day that he could be wise 
 as w r ell as adventurous, and re-exhibit 
 himself in some new feat, the daring 
 uccess of which should create the 
 
167 
 
 wonder and admiration of all, while 
 it confounded the sagacity of his 
 Tutor. A disposition so insane, it 
 was impossible that less than bitter 
 experience should subdue; and ac 
 cordingly we shall find that mortifica 
 tions yet more severe than any he had 
 hitherto suffered, were in reserve for 
 Augustus. 
 
 Mrs. Leland took some pains to 
 have the tatters in which her son had 
 re-appeared at the Castle, conveyed 
 away with so much secrecy as she 
 judged would prevent the knowledge 
 of what had transpired from spread 
 ing through the household. But, by 
 some means, which never distinctly 
 appeared, her precautions on this 
 head were rendered unavailing ; and 
 
168 
 
 in a few days, Augustus could not 
 help observing, the servants all met 
 him with an half-suppressed smile, 
 or tittered together in his presence. 
 On more than one occasion, he even 
 heard the words "gentleman gip- 
 sey-boy" exchanged between them; 
 which sufficiently apprised him of 
 their acquaintance with what had 
 happened. Little Emily, meanwhile, 
 who had been not a little curious con 
 cerning the causes of her brother's 
 absence, was not long in discovering 
 the whole affair; and nothing could 
 prevent her open laugh at the odd 
 fancy, as she termed it, of Augustus, 
 or withhold her arch enquiries re 
 specting his new acquaintances, the 
 gipsies. 
 
169 
 
 Leland was not a little disturbed 
 and indignant at all this : he began to 
 shun the society of almost every one: 
 his moodiness every day increased. 
 At his daily lessons, Mr. Mason 
 found him more and more listless 
 and inattentive: he was also pained 
 to observe, that he continued to 
 grow paler and more sickly-looking. 
 For this latter circumstance, indeed, 
 he would have been able to account, 
 had he been aware of a practice to 
 which his pupil had latterly habi 
 tuated himself. 
 
 For, finding no intervals of leisure 
 for romance-reading during the day, 
 Leland had at last come to the reso 
 lution, as it were in spite of his best 
 friends, to devote a portion of the 
 
 i. Q 
 
170 
 
 night-hours to the continuance of 
 tliis baneful pursuit. And often, when 
 all else in the Castle were wrapped 
 in sleep, had he devoured in secret 
 the forbidden volumes; and when he 
 at last sought his repose, it was to 
 pass the remaining hours till morning 
 in a succession of feverish dreams, 
 and then to rise with haggard looks, 
 and with a mind totally indisposed 
 for every species of study. But the 
 discovery of his wilfulness in this re 
 spect also was now to take place, and 
 to bring with it his embarking in a 
 new folly. 
 
 One night, just before the hour of 
 twelve, when he had been reading 
 the adventures of some hero, or he 
 roine, who had accidentally become 
 
171 
 
 the inmate of a ruined castle, which 
 was in fact no other than the lurking- 
 place of banditti, his imagination was 
 exalted to a more than ordinary pitch 
 by the description before him. The 
 scene presented to his mind was a 
 bedchamber, in which the chief per 
 sonage of the tale was represented as 
 sitting reading by night ; when, on a 
 sudden, the bed-clothes are seen to 
 have a tremulous motion, and a dark 
 figure stands unexpectedly behind the 
 chair of the reader. Leland could 
 not avoid turning an eye to his own 
 bed-clothes, when his excited fancy 
 pictured them as shaking at that very 
 moment. He started from his chair; 
 and in the instant of doing so, actu 
 ally himself saw a figure close behind 
 Q 2 
 
172 
 
 him. It was that of Mr. Mason: but 
 the faculties of the youth were too 
 terrified and bewildered to allow of 
 his perceiving this ; and he directly 
 fell motionless to the floor. 
 
 Circumstances had at length led 
 the Tutor to suspect the nocturnal 
 occupation of his pupil. On this 
 night, he had resolved to satisfy him 
 self of the truth of these suspicions; 
 and, owing to the deep interest taken 
 by Augustus in the wonders of the 
 romance, was enabled to enter his 
 chamber with such stillness as to be 
 unperceived by him until the moment 
 described, He now used his utmost 
 efforts to restore the youth, at once 
 convinced of the justice of his suspi 
 cions, and shocked at perceiving how 
 
173 
 
 baneful still were the effects of the 
 species of reading he had so often 
 and strongly condemned. The well- 
 known voice of his Preceptor soon 
 brought Augustus to himself; but 
 shame and resentment at the idea of 
 having been betrayed into an exhibi 
 tion of romantic terror, in the presence 
 of the very person from whom he 
 would most have wished to conceal 
 any weakness of that nature, ren 
 dered him still obstinately silent. 
 Mr. Mason saw that it would be to 
 no purpose to attempt converting 
 what had happened to his good, at 
 least at the present moment; and 
 staying only to see him in bed, and 
 the light extinguished, he returned to 
 his own chamber. 
 
 Q 3 
 
174 
 
 A 
 / 
 
 In the Tutor's looks, as Leland 
 slowly recovered possession of his 
 faculties, the latter had discovered 
 more of pity than of anger. But this 
 only rendered more bitter the re 
 flections of the youth upon his bed: 
 for what is so mortifying as pity, to 
 those who are resolved upon acqui 
 ring admiration? Mr. Mason had 
 seen him overcome even to fainting 
 by fantastic terrors : yes, he had seen 
 this, who had so often laid it down 
 that such were the consequences of 
 indulging in the visions of romance, 
 and whom Leland was so bent upon 
 convincing that, in his case at least, 
 no such consequences could possibly 
 follow. Stung beyond measure by 
 this thought, repose left the couch of 
 
175 
 
 Augustus: the first faint light of 
 morning began to appear, and still 
 sleep had not visited his eyelids. 
 The hour, he felt, would now speed 
 ily arrive, at which he must again 
 meet the eye of his preceptor; must 
 encounter his look of pitying supe 
 riority, and, as he doubted not, 
 receive the punishment so justly due 
 for disobedience to his, and his 
 mother's commands. The thought 
 suddenly glanced upon his mind 
 need he encounter all this? That 
 thought was succeeded by as sudden 
 a determination that he would not. 
 " Why not," thought he within him 
 self, " at this moment put in practice 
 the resolution I had already formed, 
 of one day seeing the world for my- 
 
176 
 
 self, and perhaps never returning to 
 that home where 1 meet with such 
 continual mortifications?" The idea 
 thus rashly started, was followed up 
 by its yet more rash execution : the 
 morning dawned upon the Castle 
 towers, and Leland was no longer an, 
 inmate beneath them. 
 
CHAP. VII. 
 
 THE mists of early morning floated 
 in a thick white mass over the deep 
 valley, through which ran the tranquil 
 Wye, and whose heights on one side 
 were crowned with the Castle of his 
 ancestors, as Leland departed from 
 the spot which from his infancy he 
 had called his home. Avoiding the 
 woods, he took the bye-track which 
 he knew intersected the road lead 
 ing to the town of L ; where he 
 
 again met with and crossed the Wye ; 
 and, proceeding rapidly on his way, 
 had passed the boundary line which 
 separated his native Herefordshire 
 
178 
 
 from Shropshire, before the hour at 
 which his absence from the break 
 fast-table gave the first notice to his 
 mother and tutor of his abrupt de 
 parture. What were the feelings 
 of these his natural protectors and 
 friends, and of the other inhabitants 
 of his paternal roof, upon the occa 
 sion, must be left to the reader to 
 imagine: we must at present content 
 ourselves with describing those only 
 which filled the bosom of Augustus, 
 He reached the town of Ludlow 
 just as the sun, gaining some height 
 over the horizon, began to render the 
 heat oppressive, and made rest ex^ 
 tremely desirable to our young travel 
 ler. His frequent habits of pedes- 
 trianising had rendered Jiim pretty 
 
179 
 
 equal to the exertions he had already 
 made; but now, thinking the danger 
 of pursuit to be past, he resolved to 
 allow himself a respite. He there 
 fore walked into a house of enter 
 tainment, which hung out its friendly 
 sign at the entrance of the town, and 
 inquired if he could be accommoda 
 ted with breakfast. 
 
 The hostess, surprised perhaps at 
 the question at an hour of the day 
 which in that part of the country is 
 thought late for that repast, and still 
 more struck, it might be, with the 
 youthful appearance and way-worn 
 looks of the' enquirer, hesitated be 
 fore she answered yes: but then, 
 thinking curiosity on the subjects 
 that arose to her mind no part of 
 
180 
 
 her business, troubled herself no 
 farther than to prepare the meal re 
 quired. It may here be necessary to 
 inform the reader, that Leland was 
 not unprovided with that essential 
 to every species of travelling, money : 
 for his mother had always been more 
 bountiful to him in this respect than 
 was properly consistent with her 
 limited means ; and, as he had been 
 almost entirely without the means of 
 spending what she gave in his own 
 neighbourhood, his purse had be 
 come tolerably weighty. His peram 
 bulation with the gipsies had suffi 
 ciently instructed him that he must 
 not expect to find the world disinter 
 ested; and as he had entertained 
 confused resolutions of engaging in 
 
181 
 
 the enterprise he was now pursuing, 
 from the hour of Mr. Mason's con 
 versation with him upon that unfor 
 tunate adventure, he had, contrary 
 to his natural disposition, become 
 a hoarder of every shilling of his 
 pocket-allowances. But what was 
 thus carefully heaped together, he 
 was now prepared to employ as pro 
 fusely : and accordingly he astonished 
 the landlady by his liberality in dis 
 charging the cost of his breakfast. 
 
 Willing to retain so good a custo 
 mer, she began by questioning him 
 as to the road he was going ; a ques 
 tion to which Leland was puzzled to 
 reply, for this was a point on which 
 at present he had not once reflected. 
 Ill fact, of the name of the town 
 
 I. B 
 
182 
 
 where he now was he was ignorant ; 
 and it was perfectly at random that 
 he answered he was travelling* to 
 Shrewsbury. " Shrewsbury!" re 
 peated the hostess; " then, my dear 
 young sir, you had better rest your 
 self here till after dinner; and by that 
 time the Shrewsbury coach will pass 
 through the town, and you can ride 
 all the rest of the way like a young- 
 gentleman as you seem." 
 
 But Leland replied, that he pre 
 ferred walking; at which the good 
 lady stared, and muttered her wonder 
 that young heads should be so saving. 
 To convince her that she was mis 
 taken in the motive of his choice, he 
 now began to expatiate on the advan 
 tages of pedestrian exercise; and as- 
 
183 
 
 sured'her that in every possible point 
 of view it was preferable to every 
 species of artificial conveyance. But 
 against this opinion she protested 
 strongly, and actually appeared not 
 very clearly to understand the argu 
 ments he entered into in support of it. 
 The matter ended in the youth's re 
 peating his resolution to proceed in 
 the manner he arrived, and almost im 
 mediately, with an exulting air, put 
 ting that resolution in practice. Ani 
 mated by rest, and his invigorating 
 meal, he set forward with new life, and 
 no small appearance of importance in 
 his steps and gestures. Few who now 
 saw him would have imagined him to 
 be the hero, who but the night before 
 fainted at his own fears, and conjured 
 R 2 
 
184 
 
 up a spectre in the person of his pre 
 ceptor : few also would have supposed 
 that he had passed the preceding 
 night without repose; and he himself 
 began to exclaim against sleep as af 
 fording nought u to charm the wise." 
 But the increasing heat of the day, 
 and the effect of his exertions before 
 breakfast, combined very quickly to 
 alter his sentiments in this respect. 
 He had not now travelled many miles, 
 before he was completely overcome 
 by exhaustion; and his first object 
 became to find a retired and shady 
 spot, on which to recline until the 
 coming-up of the stage, any idea of 
 assistance from which he had not 
 long before held in such contempt. 
 Such a spot he found, beneath some 
 
185 
 
 lofty elms that skirted a little copse 
 by the road-side ; and scarcely had he 
 here thrown himself upon a grassy 
 bank, ere he fell into the most pro 
 found repose. How long exactly he 
 lay in this situation, he knew not; 
 but, on awaking, he saw clearly, by 
 the position of the sun in the sky, 
 that the noon was past, and that 
 evening would ere long be fast ap- 
 proaching. The Shrewsbury coach, 
 doubtless, then, had gone by while 
 he slept; and he would be necessita 
 ted to reach that town in the best 
 manner he could (and that if possible 
 before nightfall) or else to return to 
 Ludlow. The latter he could not 
 persuade himself to think of, and he 
 therefore resumed his route. 
 R 3 
 
186 
 
 With his best efforts, the night 
 fell; and still was he far distant from 
 Shrewsbury, The increasing dark 
 ness speedily possessed his mind 
 with a gloom congenial to itself; and 
 his weariness returning, and his feet 
 becoming sore with toils to which 
 they were so little accustomed, in 
 creased his distress. At length he 
 once more seated himself by the road 
 side, musing upon the circumstances 
 in which he found himself, and half 
 wondering why he had left the home, 
 beneath whose roof he would again 
 now have been gladly placed. As 
 these thoughts arose, a stage passed 
 rapidly along in the direction he was 
 to pursue; but though he called 
 loudly to the coachman to be taken 
 
187 
 
 up, it whirled by without regarding 
 him. In fact, it was carrying its full 
 number of passengers, and though 
 it's driver heard Leland's call, he 
 would not trouble himself to regard 
 it. This new disappointment worked 
 upon his feelings greatly; he could 
 not refrain from many bitter tears, 
 while inwardly he condemned his ex 
 treme rashness and folly. 
 
 The moon now appeared rising 
 over the trees, and gave him the sa 
 tisfaction of assuring himself of a 
 pleasing light upon the remainder of 
 his way. At length he came in sight 
 of that very considerable and most 
 pleasingly-situated town of Shrews 
 bury; approaching it by a handsome 
 bridge over the river Severn. The 
 
188 
 
 houses appeared to extend and lift 
 themselves majestically along the op 
 posite bank, receiving a flood of 
 moonlight on their numerous roofs, 
 while the fronts and gable-ends of 
 many formed masses of the deepest 
 shade, and the spires of the diffe 
 rent churches rose like burnished 
 silver over them. The pleasant mea-* 
 dows skirting the deep valley whose 
 bottom was the river's bed, com 
 posed a picture of the softest re 
 pose, and as Leland looked upon 
 them from the bridge, imbued his 
 mind with a melancholy that melted 
 him again to tears. 
 
 The hour was nearly arrived, at 
 which on the night preceding he had 
 been so strikingly the victim to his 
 
189 
 
 own fantastic terrors; he now re 
 flected upon all the circumstances of 
 that hour with the most poignant 
 mortification and regret. All the 
 inferior inns of the town being closed, 
 and the profoundest stillness reign 
 ing in the streets, he began to enter 
 tain fears that he should be unable 
 to find a lodging for the night: but at 
 length he saw lights burning in the 
 long entrance-passage of a principal 
 travellers' house and hotel, and orie 
 or two waiters in motion at the upper 
 end of it. He advanced, and ad 
 dressing one of them, desired to be 
 provided with abed: the man eyed 
 him from top to toe, seeming par 
 ticularly to notice his dusty and 
 pilgrim-like appearance, and then 
 
190 
 
 coldly asked if he could pay for it. To 
 this Leland replied by shewing the 
 contents of his purse ; and the waiter, 
 needing no more, took from it half a 
 crown, and then consigned the young 
 traveller to the care of a chamber 
 maid. This latter, more curious than 
 the male domestic, plied him hard 
 with questions as she performed her 
 office; only naturally taking such a 
 liberty with one so young, alone, and 
 travelling so late on foot for no ima 
 ginable purpose: but the native re 
 serve of Augustus greatly aided him 
 in his brief and not very gracious 
 answers, and the girl gave up her 
 point with the conviction only that 
 he \vas an obstinate runaway. Being 
 left to a strange bed, to solitude, and 
 
191 
 
 darkness, his spirits were again over 
 come by the novelty of his situation; 
 and, but for shame, he would with 
 little difficulty have come to the re 
 solution of setting forward for the 
 Castle again with the morning light. 
 Nay, he once nearly determined upon 
 this step : but at last, worn out with 
 fatigue, and the harassing effect of 
 his own thoughts, he sunk to sleep, 
 with the resolve of leaving the future 
 to his feelings in the morning. 
 
CHAP. VIII. 
 
 THE morning came; and Leland 
 rose to look upon gay scenes, and a 
 bright sky, inspiring day-dreams that 
 at once dissipated all thoughts of 
 returning. By the now ready offici- 
 ousness of the same waiter, who but 
 the night before had received him so 
 ungraciously, his apparel was brou^lit 
 him in the neatest trim, and he was 
 politely desired to walk down stairs 
 to the coffee room, and there give his 
 orders for breakfast. All this was 
 highly flattering to one, to whom the 
 interior of an inn was so new: he 
 began to think that he had never 
 
193 
 
 before known what it was to be happy, 
 and that the supremest felicity was 
 to be found in a house of entertain 
 ment for travellers. Neither was a 
 sumptuous breakfast unacceptable to 
 him who had tasted nothing since the 
 late breakfast of the preceding day; 
 although sleep had in a great measure 
 supplied the want of food, and indeed 
 anxiety had rendered him forgetful 
 of it. He now took his coffee, toast, 
 and eggs, and perused the London 
 paper with the air of forty at least, 
 and had never in his life before felt 
 himself a personage of so much con 
 sequence. 
 
 Instructed by the events of the 
 past day, he did not fail to enquire at 
 what hour the next stage would pass 
 
 i. s 
 
194 
 
 for Wales, which, as he was now so 
 near that country, he had, while at 
 breakfast, resolved to visit. As the 
 state of his feet still reminded him of 
 his late extraordinary pedestrianism, 
 he was rather mortified to hear that 
 no conveyance would go through the 
 town in that direction during the day, 
 although one had passed early in the 
 morning. This information deter 
 mined him, after a little reflection, 
 to continue at Shrewsbury till next 
 morning, at an early hour of which, 
 he was told, the coach to Holyhead 
 would start from the inn-yard, and 
 arrive at the last-mentioned place 
 late in the evening. By availing him 
 self of this conveyance, his geogra 
 phical knowledge apprised him that 
 
195 
 
 he would have an opportunity of cros 
 sing the mountainous and romantic 
 region of North Wales in a single day, 
 and the top of the coach, he doubted 
 not, would afford him every facility 
 for surveying its beauties. Accord 
 ingly, he spent the greater part of 
 this day in examining whatever was 
 worthy observation in the town; took 
 a walk by the river-side, and along 
 the beautiful meadows he had seen 
 the night previous ; and as, to do him 
 justice, he had a pure taste for the 
 enjoyment of the antique memorials 
 of former days, derived much satis 
 faction from a visit to the fine old 
 church of St. Mary's, &c. 
 
 With all his high-flown feelings on 
 the subject of money, he was a little 
 s 2 
 
196 
 
 struck at the amount of the bill 
 brought him by his first acquaint 
 ance at this stylish inn, the smirking 
 waiter. This he was required to 
 settle the night previous to his 
 departure, agreeably to established 
 custom in the cases of travellers who 
 are to leave at unseasonable early 
 hours on the following day. He did 
 so; having before paid half the cost 
 of his intended journey; by both 
 which disbursements he found his 
 purse so much reduced, that he 
 began to discover how unequal had 
 been his fund at "first to the expence 
 of seeing the world; and that, rich 
 as he had imagined himself, it might 
 probably be his most prudent step, 
 as soon as he arrived at Holyhead, to 
 
197 
 
 endeavour as quickly as possible to 
 get back again. 
 
 Day-light scarcely had once more 
 dawned, when he was summoned to 
 mount the vehicle destined to convey 
 him, and the several passengers be 
 sides, ere they reposed again, to the 
 farthest boundary of North Wales. 
 Leland procured a seat in front, and 
 this being the first time he had been 
 so seated on the roof of a coach, felt 
 an uncommonly elated sensation as 
 l^e saw the wheels revolving rapidly 
 beneath him, and the breezes of 
 the morning, and the rich country 
 through which he passed, united to 
 give animation to his spirits. The 
 peculiar neatness of the cottagers' 
 gardens in this part of England, and 
 
 
198 
 
 the universal richness of their pro 
 duce, was what chiefly excited his 
 attention during the first twenty miles 
 of the ride. Soon after, he was in 
 formed that he was on the point of 
 entering Wales; and though, upon 
 this news, he prepared himself for 
 a succession of grand and striking 
 scenes, it is no more than the truth to 
 say, that the reality rather surpassed 
 than fell beneath his expectations. 
 
 The principality was entered by a 
 bridge over the little river which flows 
 through the vale of Chirk. The ap 
 proach to this vale was picturesque; 
 and Augustus observed an aqueduct 
 on the left hand, which added to the 
 interest of the view. Beyond Chirk, 
 he saw the curious old castle of that 
 
199 
 
 name ; whose numerous modern win 
 dows did not appear to him to be 
 greatly in character with the massy 
 solidity of the ancient building. Pre 
 sently, in an opposite direction, ap 
 peared the handsome abode of a 
 celebrated hospitableWelsh Baronet; 
 arid, directly after, at an abrupt turn 
 of the road, was opened the first view 
 of the lovely vale of Llangollen. The 
 beauty and extent of this rich vale im 
 mediately captivated the eyes of our 
 young traveller, w r ho justly thought 
 that never in his life before had he wit 
 nessed so enchanting a scene. In the 
 foreground was a canal, and at some 
 little distance its aqueduct, consisting 
 of handsome stone piers, and iron 
 balustrades for the convenience of the 
 
200 
 
 passengers. The river Dee, rippling 
 over its rocky bed, and occasionally 
 dashing and foaming over the ob 
 structions and shallows it encoun 
 tered on its way, formed a striking 
 contrast with the regular smoothness 
 of the artificial stream. All around 
 were pastures, and richly cultivated 
 grounds, interspersed with luxuriant 
 trees, and closed in the distance by 
 blue mountains. 
 
 As the vehicle proceeded, the 
 views, perpetually varying, presented 
 sometimes a ruined castle, crowning 
 a lofty eminence; sometimes nume 
 rous little cascades, rushing and 
 tumbling down the steeps into the 
 river; sometimes on one side a wild 
 precipitous waste, and on the other a 
 
201 
 
 fine champagne country, clothed with 
 softness and beauty. The very cot 
 tages had a picturesque look, being 
 universally of limestone, roofed with 
 blue slate. The first little Welsh town, 
 however, which the travellers reached, 
 and at which they breakfasted, had 
 but a dingy aspect; but to Augustus, 
 its dulness and dirt were compensa 
 ted by the presence of a native harper 
 at the inn, whose notes brought back 
 the scenes of many a romance to his 
 imagination, though all around him 
 was most provokingly unromantic, as 
 he could not help inwardly acknow 
 ledging. 
 
 Beyond the little town, the ob 
 structions in the river increasing both 
 in number and size, the Dee became 
 
202 
 
 more foamy and tumultuous, and 
 more beautiful in its seeming anger. 
 The scenery still consisted of moun 
 tains, cataracts, eminences clothed 
 with weeping birches and larches up 
 their sides, and black with heath or 
 tall pines at their tops, pastures, and 
 long vales enriched with crops of 
 ripe corn. This lasted till the coach 
 reached Corwen, a little beyond 
 which town the Dee turned its course 
 from that of the travellers, but the 
 river Elwy soon compensated for 
 its absence. 
 
 Picturesque bridges thrown over 
 the latter stream continually pre 
 sented themselves, and cne had the 
 accompaniments, a most romantic 
 glen and waterfall. Augustus was 
 
203 
 
 now entertained with the sight of se 
 veral cottages, to the walls of which 
 were suspended rude resemblances of 
 loaves cut out in stone, signifying, as 
 the coachman informed him, that 
 white bread was there to be sold to 
 the luxurious who could pay for it, 
 barley bread being that in common 
 use. The next peculiarity that struck 
 him, was some straggling wild horses 
 at a distance, many of which, he was 
 told, roamed at large in the more 
 mountainous parts. 
 
 The three peaks of the highest 
 mountain in Wales, Snowdon, were 
 soon seen, though as yet at a great 
 distance. The river Conway was 
 crossed, and the road afterwards 
 wound by its side, presenting fre- 
 
204 
 
 quent views of large masses of rock, 
 shaped by the channel into grotesque 
 forms, that were lying in its bed. 
 Occasional bursts of the snowy tops 
 of mountains were next visible, and 
 continued to occur throughout the 
 route ; and the travellers were soon 
 completely encompassed with these 
 grand creations of nature. On every 
 side were now precipitous heights, 
 and immense masses of overhanging 
 stone, deep glens, and roaring cas 
 cades, while the road ran along the 
 gloomy vallies, or was fearfully cut 
 half way up the sides of the emi 
 nences. Amidst such a profusion of 
 scenes so truly romantic, Leland was 
 entirely overpowered by the feelings 
 they are so calculated to excite; feel* 
 
205 
 
 ings, in such situations naturally, 
 and therefore justly indulged, and 
 which are only dangerous, or blame 
 worthy, when produced by artificial 
 stimulants, and applied to times and 
 occasions that make them appear 
 affected, if not ridiculous. 
 
 Such, for a succession of milea 
 which we must leave undescribed, 
 did Leland find the scenery of North . 
 Wales. At length, the travellers 
 arrived at Bangor, where dinner was 
 prepared for them. At this meal, 
 various questions were put to him by 
 the other travellers, all of whom 
 were surprised at being accompanied 
 on their journey by so mere a youth, 
 alone, and unprotected by a relative 
 or friend. These questions put him 
 
 i. T 
 
206 
 
 to infinite pain; as the truth, he felt, 
 was not to be told ; and he was too 
 little versed in deceit to be able to 
 invent answers that were at all satis 
 factory. It was greatly to his relief, 
 that all were at last summoned to 
 proceed : they then quickly reached 
 Bangor Ferry, where both passengers 
 and luggage were consigned to a large 
 ferry-boat, and in ten minutes landed 
 in the island of Anglesea. The ap 
 proach of evening soon after pre 
 vented the aspect of the country, 
 upon the renewal of their journey, 
 from being observed; and the night 
 had completely closed in before the 
 arrival at Holy head. 
 
 Both from weariness and the desire 
 to avoid farther questioning from his 
 
207 
 
 companions on the road, Leland was 
 no sooner safely bestowed at the inn, 
 and had discharged the remainder of 
 the demand upon him for his convey 
 ance, than he desired to be shewn 
 to his chamber. The thoughts that 
 visited him upon his pillow were not 
 of the most agreeable nature. He 
 began to reflect with a feeling of 
 dread upon his distance from home; 
 and, after the various claims upon 
 his purse that had been made during 
 the day, its reduced state inspired 
 him with some anxiety about the 
 means of returning thither. But, 
 ever ready with some wild scheme 
 for extricating himself from his dif 
 ficulties, the idea of repassing on 
 foot the sublime and beautiful scenes 
 T 2 
 
208 
 
 he had so much admired during the 
 day, and of deriving new pleasure 
 from a closer inspection and con 
 templation of them, no sooner pre 
 sented itself, than the plan was 
 determined on. In his eagerness to 
 embrace this undertaking, he never 
 calculated upon the number of days 
 that it would occupy to perform in 
 this manner the distance he had ac 
 complished by the stage coach in the 
 course of but one. Neither did the 
 wisdom of proceeding just so far as 
 Holyhead, he knew not why, in order 
 to return again for as good a reason, 
 immediately occur to him : but, full of 
 his new project, he sunk to sleep, 
 and rose with an unaltered resolu 
 tion pretty early the next morning, 
 
CHAP. IX. 
 
 THE daylight view from his window 
 presented to Leland a new scene, that 
 of a part of the Irish Sea, with vari 
 ous vessels sailing upon it. Delighted 
 with so novel a prospect, which he 
 had somehow forgotten would be ex 
 hibited at a little coast and port town, 
 he directly made the best of his way 
 to the pier, where one of the Dublin 
 packets was at that moment prepar 
 ing to sail. He saw nearly all those 
 with whom he had travelled the pre 
 ceding day, stepping from the pier 
 to the vessel, and re-stepping from 
 the vessel to the pier; and, ignorant 
 
210 
 
 that they were intended passengers 
 to Ireland, and that the bustle he 
 saw around arose from the prepara 
 tions for the voyage, he ventured to 
 imitate their example. After several 
 times traversing the deck, and re 
 turning, and again stepping on ship 
 board and examining the sails, the 
 mast, cordage, &c, a new field for 
 observation appeared to him through 
 the hatchway, down the cabin-stairs; 
 and, with the presumption we have 
 remarked in his character, he directly 
 went below. The variety and com 
 pleteness of the accommodations, the 
 curious construction of the bedsteads, 
 formed like cup-boards one over ano 
 ther, and running along each side of 
 the vessel, here excited his adaiira- 
 
211 
 
 tion. He surveyed every part most 
 attentively, and after remaining below 
 stairs a considerable time, was begin 
 ning to think how fortunate he was in 
 enjoying an opportunity to see such 
 sights, when he suddenly perceived 
 an inclination of the floor of the 
 packet, as if it were lying very much 
 on one side. He was going to ex 
 press his surprise at this appearance 
 to those around him, when as sud 
 denly the inclination of the vessel 
 was altered, and it clearly lay upon 
 its other side. He gave an exclama 
 tion of affright, at which all near him 
 laughed; and, supposing therefore 
 that he should derive no solution from 
 them of the cause of his alarms, lie 
 hastily made his way up the stairs. 
 
212 
 
 What were then his confusion and 
 dismay, when he perceived the ocean 
 all around, and the shore, and little 
 town of Holyhead, apparently flying 
 fast away from the vessel! In fact, 
 the packet had set sail w r hile he was 
 so much occupied below, and all there 
 were too much intent upon their own 
 concerns to notice him, or to suppose 
 otherwise than that he was a passen 
 ger like themselves. The Steward, 
 the only person who had particularly 
 observed him on board, having also 
 noticed his arrival by the coach the 
 preceding evening, in company with 
 those with whom he was still sur 
 rounded, very naturally conceived 
 him to belong to one of the families 
 going to Dublin 5 and none of the pas- 
 
213 
 
 sengers themselves were surprised at 
 seeing him among them, if they ob 
 served him at all, as they either en 
 tertained the same idea as the Stew 
 ard, or else, having travelled with 
 him the preceding day, they could 
 feel no wonder at his continuing their 
 companion, since few indeed travel 
 to Holyhead with any other pur 
 pose than that of crossing the Irish 
 Channel. 
 
 His first cry when on deck was, 
 "'Stop the ship! stop the ship!" 
 which sounded so ridiculously to all 
 acquainted with the nature of a sea- 
 voyage, that every one in hearing, 
 burst into a fit of laughter. At this, 
 he gave way to a flood of mingled 
 passion and tears ; which exciting the 
 
214 
 
 pity of some, and the attention of 
 all, the Captain among others, ap 
 proached, and enquired into the 
 cause of his grief. In broken sen 
 tences, Leland made him sensible 
 that he was surprised into his pre 
 sent situation, and of his earnest 
 desire to return to Holyhead. " It 
 is impossible," was the Captain's 
 only reply to this latter application ; 
 and he then proceeded to enquire 
 into the causes of our youth's sin* 
 gular predicament, what was his 
 name, where resided his friends, how 
 he happened to be in a strange place 
 alone, &c. 
 
 These questions were 'put in the 
 presence of all on board, every one 
 having crowded round to hear the 
 
215 
 
 explanation of so strange an occur 
 rence. How abashed, how utterly 
 mortified and confounded, was Au 
 gustus! The same confession of 
 the truth that he had so studiously 
 avoided in his intercourse with his 
 stage-coach companions, was now 
 wrung from him in the presence of 
 a large audience by surprise, terror, 
 and distress, uniting to render him 
 incapable at the moment of farther 
 concealment. In fact, he acknow 
 ledged, in reply to the Captain's 
 enquiries, his name to be Augustus 
 
 Leland; that he lived at Castle 
 
 in Herefordshire; that he had left 
 his home without cause or occasion; 
 that he had no wish whatever to pro 
 ceed to Dublin; that he was fearful 
 
216 
 
 his remaining cash would scarce suf 
 fice for his return, &c. 
 
 How pitiful did he appear in his 
 own eyes, and those of his auditors, 
 while making his acknowledgments! 
 How bitter was his mortification at 
 perceiving a smile at least upon the 
 countenance of all, at hearing an un 
 restrained laugh from several ! The 
 Captain alone looked grave, nay 
 severe, and indignant: he surveyed 
 Leland with eyes of piercing and 
 stern import; informed him that he 
 knew his mother, that he would 
 detain him on shipboard till he had 
 written to and obtained an answer 
 from her respecting his future dis 
 posal ; and that he had no doubt of 
 obtaining her consent to his sending 
 
217 
 
 him a sea-voyage as cabin-boy to a 
 friend of his who was commander 
 of a sloop then going on a cruise; 
 adding, that he thought this would 
 prove an excellent punishment for 
 him, and no doubt cure his disposition 
 for roving in future. 
 
 At hearing all this, Leland at last 
 fell on his knees, wrung his hands, 
 sobbed, and intreated the Captain to 
 turn the ship round, and take him 
 back to the pier at Holyhead. The 
 laugh was renewed at this; while 
 the Captain, not without a seaman's 
 oath, exclaimed, "What! alter the 
 packet's course? No, not for fifty run 
 aways. Nay, if I had five hundred 
 such on board, I should put them all 
 into the hold till we got to Dublin, 
 just as I am going to serve you." 
 
 i. u 
 
218 
 
 Leland sprang upon his feet, and 
 looked with terror and anxiety into 
 the Captain's face, for an explanation 
 of his meaning. This he soon disco 
 vered. " Morris," cried the Captain 
 to one of the men," clap this young 
 ster down below, and shut down the 
 hatches." The man approached to 
 execute the order; which drew from 
 Augustus a fresh burst of anguish 
 and dismay. Some of the passen 
 gers now interposed, supposing it 
 \vas really intended to put in force 
 what was threatened ; but it was the 
 wish only of Leland's present kind 
 corrector to create a strong impres 
 sion, and in this he fully succeeded. 
 Without appearing to notice what fell 
 from those around him, he went on, 
 " a storm seems to be brewing;' 7 and 
 
219 
 
 he here looked at the slightly clouded, 
 though serene summer sky; " and if 
 we should happen all to go to the 
 bottom, little runaway will go first, 
 that's all." 
 
 The idea of a storm at sea, while 
 he was shut up in the dark in a ship's 
 hold, was now present to the mind 
 of Augustus. Who shall describe 
 what he felt at this moment! At 
 length, the Captain seemed to be 
 prevailed upon by the earnest in- 
 treaties of the passengers, to allow 
 of our youth's remaining upon deck. 
 " However, my lad," said he, " if the 
 storm should come, depend upon it 
 I shall make a clear deck, and throw 
 you over board along with the rest of 
 the lumber." 
 
 As Leland now sobbing took a seat 
 u 2 
 
220 
 
 at one side of the vessel, never in his 
 life before had fair weather appeared 
 to him so desirable. Shame and grief 
 both led him to hide his face with 
 his hands as he leant against the rail 
 ing which ran round the deck's edge ; 
 but while in this situation, he could 
 not avoid now and then upturning 
 an eye to the heavens, to see if they 
 grew darker, to the no small amuse 
 ment of all who thought it worth 
 their while to observe him. Some 
 young men in particular, for diver 
 sion's sake, seated themselves near 
 him, and with grave countenances 
 affected to perceive with much alarm 
 the increasing signs of an approach 
 ing tempest. Others, with as much 
 apparent seriousness, expressed their 
 wish that it had never been their lot 
 
221 
 
 to enter the same ship with a run 
 away; as though they feared that 
 the storm predicted was about to 
 visit all on his account. In the pro 
 per possession of his faculties, Au 
 gustus might have been able in some 
 measure to see the drift of what was 
 passing; but the novelty of his present 
 fears caused them so entirely to get 
 the better of his judgment, that every 
 thing he heard, appeared stamped 
 with the utmost appalling reality. 
 What would he now have given, to 
 have been once more safe at home in 
 the Castle ! How merely nothing, in 
 comparison with his present troubles, 
 appeared to him the most difficult 
 tasks, the severest discipline, impo 
 sed by Mr. Mason! 
 
 All apprehensions of a storm were 
 u 3 
 
222 
 
 soon afterwards dissipated by the 
 Captain's expressing his much more 
 real fears of a calm. And in fact the 
 light and rather contrary airs with 
 which the vessel had started, and 
 which from the first had rendered it 
 necessary to tack frequently, (there 
 by occasioning the change of the 
 packet's side to the water that had 
 excited Leland's alarms) were sink 
 ing gradually away; and in a short 
 time all was breathless stillness 
 around. . The sails hung motionless 
 in the rigging, the ship lay like a dull 
 log upon the surface of the sea, and 
 not a ripple disturbed the universal 
 smoothness of the vast expanse of 
 waters. The very crew and passen 
 gers seemed as though infected with 
 the profound silence that was reign- 
 
223 
 
 ing, for only here and there were 
 heard a few low words among them. 
 Meanwhile, the ocean received a dark 
 gloomy look from the colouring .of 
 the sky, for there was that general 
 cloudiness in the face of the heavens, 
 which sometimes accompanies a day 
 of extraordinary closeness and heat, 
 and the present was a day of that 
 description. 
 
 This aspect of things was almost 
 as frightful to Leland, as would have 
 been the storm, the mention of which 
 had so greatly aroused his terrors. 
 He looked around him, and could see 
 nothing but one dark wide waste of 
 ocean, for the coast of Wales had 
 entirely disappeared, and no other 
 land was in sight. The idea of such 
 a situation was both oppressive and 
 
224 
 
 fearful to one who had never before 
 seen either the ocean or a ship, who 
 had been nursed in banefully luxu 
 rious seclusion, and whose mind had 
 not been reared to vigour or firm 
 ness by any acquaintance with the 
 actual world. The sky and the sea 
 were the only objects presented to 
 his timid and astonished gaze; he 
 looked again and again around, and 
 still nothing in any quarter was ap 
 parent but the sea and sky. 
 
 When the packet had lain in the 
 manner described during the space 
 of half an hour, a gentle swell began 
 to be perceivable in the water, and 
 the vessel was as gently agitated. 
 The swell increased, and the motion 
 of it's burden increased with it. 
 Shortly, the rising of the surface 
 
225 
 
 became a perfect roll, of the kind s 
 frequently accompanying a sea-calm, 
 and our ship rolled tumultuously in 
 concord. The effects of the motion 
 upon all the fresh-water sailors 
 were soon sufficiently visible, and 
 not less so in the case of Leland than 
 of the rest. He was quickly over 
 come, with others, by the dreadful 
 sensations of sea-sickness, retched 
 violently, and was completely the 
 subject of those feelings, under the 
 influence of which people are willing, 
 according to the common expression, 
 to give their lives for a straw. 
 
 The swell and the calm, to the 
 no little mortification of all, lasted 
 until sunset; the hours thus occu 
 pied affording Augustus ample leisure 
 for reflection and bitter repentance. 
 
226 
 
 Having been blest with a constitu 
 tion more than commonly free from 
 the attacks of indisposition, he re 
 membered not a day's previous ill 
 ness in his life; but illness the most 
 distressing to the feelings had now 
 overtaken him. The sun at length, 
 just ere his departure, burst from the 
 mantle of clouds in which he had 
 been enveloped during the clay, and 
 shed a stream of parting radiance 
 over the ocean, as he appeared on 
 the point of quenching his lustre in 
 its waters : but the glories of such a 
 scene afforded no consolation even 
 to the romantic temper of Augustus, 
 He was infinitely more satisfied to 
 remark that the rolling motion of the 
 vessel decreased, as a brisk air again 
 began to wing it to the place of its 
 
227 
 
 destination; and became still more 
 comforted, as the shades of evening 
 drew on, through the contemplation 
 of the snug sleeping accommodations 
 below, in one of which he did not 
 dream of a refusal to his reposing 
 till morning. 
 
 Impressed with the certainty of 
 this enjoyment, no sooner did the 
 veil of confirmed night appear to be 
 dawning round, and the coolness of 
 the air to give additional evidences of 
 its approach, than he resolved to pro 
 ceed to the cabin. On rising, he found 
 it next to impossible to keep his legs 
 upon the deck, both from their having 
 become cramped by so long a con 
 finement to a particular spot, and 
 from the now pretty steep inclination 
 of the vessel to one side. He seemed 
 
228 
 
 also to feel \vorse from the effects of 
 his own motion, and from all the 
 causes mentioned, found it a little 
 difficult most slowly to walk down 
 those stairs he had descended with 
 such ease and vivacity in the morning. 
 He was proceeding, as soon as he 
 reached the cabin-floor, to take pos 
 session of the first sleeping nook that 
 presented itself, when a rough arm, 
 and angry voice, arrested him with, 
 "Stop, sir! that's my birth!" At 
 tempting to make himself master of 
 the next, he was accosted in a very 
 similar manner; and in fact found that 
 every bed on board was thus engaged, 
 the packet on this occasion carrying 
 a more than usual number of passen 
 gers. Travellers, even of the most 
 generous dispositions, are apt to 
 
229 
 
 acquire a taint of selfishness upon an 
 unpleasant voyage, or a long journey ; 
 and Leland, though doubtless in the 
 situations of those around him, he 
 would have imbibed precisely their 
 feelings, thought himself thrown into 
 the society of a set of the most unro- 
 mantically interested and unsympa- 
 thising mortals that it could have 
 fallen to his lot to encounter. The 
 extreme of mortification was painted 
 on his countenance; but if any body 
 regarded it, it was without any ex 
 pression of pity, and in some instances 
 with a laugh. He was at last advised 
 to stretch himself upon the floor for 
 the night, as he was assured several 
 would do who were in his predicament. 
 
 Rather than resort to this alterna 
 tive, he resolved, since the heat and 
 
 I. w 
 
230 
 
 closeness of the cabin renewed his 
 most distressing sensations, to take 
 his station again on the deck. He 
 was returning therefore, when the 
 Captain, meeting him on the stairs, 
 in a tone of thunder asked him what 
 business he had to go below; adding, 
 that the deck was quite good enough 
 for a runaway, who might have been 
 at home and warm in his bed but for 
 his own folly. Sunk to despair by 
 the manner of the Captain, and hu 
 miliated to the dust by the bitter 
 justice of his remark, Leland took his 
 former seat, and hung over the ves 
 sel's side in an agony of remorse and 
 affliction. The wind increased with 
 the increasing darkness; anew tack 
 brought the packet's side at which 
 our vouth was stationed almost to 
 
231 
 
 the water's edge; he recoiled with 
 horror as the dark roaring waves, 
 tipped with white foam, seemed to 
 rush by with tumultuous eagerness 
 in the direction contrary to that the 
 ship was pursuing- lie felt, that to 
 look upon them for an instapt, would 
 subject him to the danger of tumbling 
 into the abyss he was surveying. In 
 his terror, he crawled up the deck to 
 its opposite side, which was lifted in 
 air in proportion as that he quitted 
 was plunged into the waters. He 
 then continued lying upon the bare 
 deck, feeling in himself neither life 
 nor spirits to attempt retaking a seat. 
 To add to his afflictions, rain soon 
 began to descend from the heavens, 
 threatening in the space of a few se 
 conds to wet to the skin a traveller 
 w 2 
 
232 
 
 totally unprovidefl with great .coat, 
 and all other travelling accommoda 
 tions. The Captain, without seeming 
 to take notice of his forlorn condition, 
 now gave private orders to one of the 
 men to furnish him with a stout sail 
 cloth; and a passenger also, at the 
 same gentleman's secret suggestion, 
 soon after provided him with an um 
 brella. Tears of gratitude started 
 into his eyes, in return for these ser 
 vices; for he had just before consi 
 dered himself as abandoned by all, 
 and perceived no prospect before 
 him but that of lying exposed to the 
 "pelting of the pitiless storm" till 
 the morning. But for the assistance 
 of these articles, indeed, he would 
 have suffered not less from the ocean 
 than the sky; for, owing to the 
 
233 
 
 still rising strength of the wind, and 
 proportionate boisterousness of the 
 waters, the salt spray was continually 
 beating over the bow and sides of the 
 packet, and would alone have sufficed 
 to give him several complete drench- 
 ings. But, being thus tolerably well 
 protected, the Captain knew that the 
 youth was not likely to receive any 
 serious detriment from the elements; 
 experience having shown him that 
 people rarely even take cold, under 
 the most adverse circumstances, from 
 sleeping on the deck of a vessel at sea. 
 In this manner then passed the 
 night-hours; Augustus finding him 
 self enabled, amidst the noisy pat 
 tering of the rain above, and the 
 ceaseless din of the waters around 
 and below, to snatch an agitated and 
 w 3 
 
234 
 
 little-refreshing repose. How diffe 
 rent the sleep he might this same 
 night have enjoyed beneath the roof 
 whose shelter he had so causelessly 
 deserted; in the home made desolate 
 by his unprovoked absence; and under 
 the watchful care of that fond mother, 
 whose grief was at this moment nearly 
 insupportable upon his account! 
 
 The first sounds that met the ears 
 of Leland at early morning, were the 
 not unwelcome exclamations of se 
 veral of the passengers at first sight 
 of the coast of Ireland. He just 
 raised himself to look in the direction 
 to which they were pointing; but the 
 distance appeared so great, that he 
 derived little comfort from the view. 
 He once again therefore " changed 
 his weary side" upon the hard couch 
 
235 
 
 lie had so long occupied ; and though 
 the rain was now over, cast not from 
 him the thick folds of sail-cloth which 
 the wet had vainly sought to pene 
 trate, but on the contrary, as he felt 
 numbed by the night-air, drew this 
 rude and unsightly mantle still more 
 closely round him. Nay, so op 
 pressed was he with his various dis 
 tressful feelings, that he could not 
 summon spirits to rise, even when 
 he heard the numerous expressions 
 of admiration that burst from those 
 around, as the vessel more nearly ap 
 proached the beautiful Bay of Dub 
 lin; its waters, and the surrounding 
 shores, now all resplendent with the 
 beams of the morning sun. The 
 book of Nature's glories appeared 
 as though suddenly closed to him; 
 
236 
 
 illness, mortification, remorse, and 
 the humbling sense of being utterly 
 at the disposal and mercy of a seem 
 ingly most harsh and tyrannous 
 stranger, had combined to deprive 
 him of the enjoyment, that in other 
 circumstances he would undoubtedly 
 have derived from the contemplation 
 of so lovely a scene. 
 
 When at last the packet was made 
 fast to the pier of the new harbour 
 behind the Hill of Howth, its motion 
 having then entirely ceased, and the 
 deck resembling only the level sur 
 face of the ground, he ventured to rise 
 from his uneasy couch, while the pas 
 sengers were eagerly pressing to the 
 vessel's side, and not a few of them 
 were clamorously busy in securing or 
 directing the proper disposal of their 
 
237 
 
 luggage, &c. Leland alone looked as 
 one who had no part or lot in what 
 was going forward: he stood, with a 
 blank expression of countenance, 
 regarding what he saw in a manner 
 that would almost have indicated that 
 nothing whatever was passing before 
 his eyes. At length, he also, with 
 what purpose he knew not, was slowly 
 stepping along the plank, laid for the 
 passage to the pier, when the arm of 
 the Captain arrested him. 
 
 " Softly, my lad!" that most terri 
 ble of men to Augustus exclaimed to 
 him, " you are under my charge till I 
 can find a way to bestow you safely 
 at your mother's; and I shall take 
 good care that you do not run away 
 from me, depend upon it." " Morris," 
 he continued, "if this youngster so 
 
238 \ 
 
 much as sets a foot upon the pier, 
 look to have your discharge before 
 we sail again." Without another 
 word, the Captain himself then 
 passed to the landing-place, and, 
 equally with his passengers, pur 
 sued the road to Dublin. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Two days elapsed before the ves 
 sel, thronged with a band of fresh 
 occupants, re- started for Holy head : 
 during which time, the almost intole 
 rable weariness and disgust experi 
 enced by Leland from his confinement, 
 may be imagined. The man to whom 
 he was entrusted, executed the orders 
 given him with the most exact fidelity ; 
 so that these two days presented no 
 
'239 
 
 change of scene within the packet, 
 but that occasioned by his transitions 
 from the deck to the cabin, and from 
 the cabin back to the deck ; and no 
 alteration of the prospect from his 
 prison, which consisted invariably of 
 the poor fishing-town and barren 
 headland of Howth, in one direction, 
 and the M 7 ide and pathless ocean on 
 the other. And greatly as he now r 
 wished, yes, from the very bottom of 
 his soul, to be at home again, he found 
 it impossible to contemplate a re 
 newal of all he had suffered on his 
 voyage to Ireland, without absolute 
 terror. 
 
 The morning for the destined sail 
 was lowering and squally; but the 
 wind, in every capricious gust, blew 
 direct for the coast of Wales. The 
 
240 
 
 waves without the harbour, as Leland 
 perceived, rose to a height that, he 
 could not but imagine, must infallibly 
 bring destruction to the packet, if her 
 commander ventured to sea in such 
 weather; but the commander himself, 
 on the contrary, appeared pleased 
 with the prospect before him, cheer 
 fully expressing his full assurance of 
 being able, with such a wind, to 
 reach Holyhead before night-fall. 
 Accordingly, they stood out to sea; 
 and then commenced a scene, of the 
 horrors of which Leland could have 
 previously formed no idea. The sea, 
 to his conceptions, rolled in perfect 
 mountains ; the packet was alternately 
 borne in air upon their tops, and sunk 
 in the dark abysses between them; 
 and while many on board, entirely 
 
241 
 
 given up to their fears, shrieked at 
 every ascent and descent upon the 
 waters, Leland himself, mute, but 
 pale and trembling, held with all his 
 strength to the mast a precaution, 
 indeed, in some measure rendered 
 necessary by the frequent passage of 
 the billows over the deck, threatening 
 in their course to hurry him along 
 with them into the ocean. All this, 
 to seamens' eyes, amounted only to a 
 squall; and the single precautionary 
 order issued by the Captain was, to 
 reef his topsails. But the dread with 
 which a scene like this inspired Au 
 gustus, and all not accustomed to 
 behold such, together with the nearly 
 universal illness the tumultuous agita- 
 tation of the waves occasioned, it 
 must be needless to describe. Such a 
 i. x 
 
242 
 
 passage, performed in thirteen hours, 
 had our voyagers on the present oc 
 casion, from the pier of Howth to 
 that of Holyhead. 
 
 After what has been said, it will be 
 almost unnecessary to mention that 
 his short naval experience operated 
 as a sufficient cure for our hero's turn 
 for leaving home in quest of romance. 
 His adventures till he again reached 
 the Castle, under the care of a friend 
 of the kindly-severe Captain, were 
 only those of the every-day traveller 
 by a stage-coach. He was received, 
 it must be owned, far too indulgently 
 by his mother, and not greatly less 
 so, owing to her influence, by Mr. 
 Mason. But, as we have much sa 
 tisfaction in adding, he, from the day 
 of his return, applied himself with 
 
243 
 
 proper diligence to the performance 
 of the duties enjoined him by his 
 preceptor; and, as Mrs. Lelaiicl took 
 especial care that a romance should 
 never afterwards enter her doors, his 
 mind, receiving only a natural and 
 healthy exercise of its powers, reco 
 vered the vigour of which it had been 
 deprived through a long course of 
 pernicious reading. It was then not 
 long before his ideas became in most 
 respects suited to the world of real 
 life, and ceased to revel in that of ex 
 travagant and romantic fiction. A 
 change thus happily begun, was com 
 pleted and confirmed by his future 
 intercourse with the metropolis, in 
 the character of an apprentice to a 
 highly respectable tradesman there; 
 who dying before Augustus had quite 
 
244 
 
 finished his term, the young man 
 succeeded to the business of his em 
 ployer, and was enabled by successful 
 application to provide for the decli 
 ning years of his mother, in a manner 
 equally becoming in the son, and suit 
 able to the early expectations, and the 
 unfortunately growing necessities, of 
 the parent. In after life, if the me 
 mory of one person in the world, next 
 to that of his Tutor, was more espe 
 cially revered by him, it was that of 
 the somewhat abrupt but excellent- 
 hearted Captain of the Dublin Packet, 
 who had so well contrived to adapt 
 the salutary discipline of a short sea- 
 voyage, as A CURE FOR THE WANDER 
 INGS OF YOUTHFUL ROMANCE. 
 
 YOU.NGMAN, PRINTER, W1IUAM AM) MALDON.