^^s*-i?^' 
 
 'H''#» 
 
 f^ 
 
 '>'^
 
 L I E) RA PlY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 or ILLINOIS 
 
 81^3 
 
 V.I
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE, 
 
 BY 
 
 MISS BURNEY, 
 
 AUTHOR OP 
 
 CLARENTINE, GERALDINE FJUCONBERG, SfC, 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 IN FOUR VOLUiViES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 When the inevitable hand of sweeping Time shall have brushed 
 off all the works of to-day, oh, may the fame of this survive 
 till to-morrow ! — Martinus Scriblerus. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 PRINTED FOR HENRY COLBURN, 
 
 EKGLISH AND FOREIGN PUBLIC LIBRARY, CONDUIT STREET* 
 HANOVER SQUARE. 
 
 1812,
 
 PrinUd by Cox and Baylis, Great Queen Street, 
 i.i.ocyln's-inn-fieltlsi
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 -J Mr. Edgvvorth begins the introduction 
 ^ prefixed to the first volume of ^^ Tales ofFa- 
 
 ^ shionahle Life^' by saying: — " My daughter 
 cjasks me for a preface." / can only say, 
 §in excuse for a very dull page which I 
 am about to write : — '^ My pubHsher asks 
 5J me for a preface." To own the truth, 
 > there are few thins^s which he could have 
 i? asked that would have puzzled me more. 
 Happy should I deem myself were I en- 
 titled to decline the task, by answej'ing, 
 '^ Good wine needs no bush." However, 
 ^ as I am not a volunteer in the business, I 
 3i^ may surely be permitted to lighten its toil 
 
 1 
 
 r 
 
 by taking the opportunity of exhaling 
 against prefaces in general, some portion of
 
 11 PREFACE. 
 
 my long -hoarded antipathy. They are^ 
 for the most part, especially to works of 
 this d> scription, mere covert puffs, and 
 declamations of mock humility, which 
 neither those who value their time, nor 
 those who are in search only of amuse- 
 ment, ever read. 
 
 Blessings have been invoked upon the 
 man who first invented sleep ! 1 feel no 
 disposition to extend the benediction to 
 him who first invented prefaces. — Yet sleep 
 and prefaces are certainly of one and the 
 same family. Prefaces produce stupefaction, 
 and it nat very rarely happens that stupefac- 
 tion, or in other words, dullness produces 
 prefaces. I have not the smallest hope o^ 
 escaping the application of this remark to 
 the undertaking which I am now labouring 
 to perform : but I can by no means afford 
 to blot the hazardous sentence, since it 
 helps, at least, to fill up, without further 
 trouble, the given space allotted to the 
 terrible task of— ivriting a preface !
 
 PREFACE. Ill 
 
 The first edition of this little work, 
 happily found its way into the world with- 
 out the wearisome appendage for which I 
 am now solicited : I see not therefore why 
 it might not have come forward again in its 
 original plainness. But since a preface, I 
 believe, like a wig upon a judge, is ima- 
 gined to confer dignity upon a book (though 
 most assuredly, the preface may too often 
 be observed to say as little as the wig) I 
 have at length consented to indite one ; — 
 taking all needful care that it should be 
 sufficiently ungracious to preclude the 
 danger of ever being applied to for another.
 
 ADVERTISEMENT* 
 
 The Publisher of this Work thinks it proper 
 to state that Miss Burney is not the Author 
 of a Novel called " Seraphina,^'' published in 
 the Year 1809, under the Name o/* Caroline 
 Burney.
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BORROWING. 
 
 JLJr. and Mrs. Hampden were the respect- 
 able and long established inhabitants of a 
 smallj but pleasantly situated, country town 
 in one of the western shires of England. 
 The former, a regularly bred physician^ of 
 considerable abilities and extensive prac- 
 tice, was regarded by all the principal fa- 
 milies in the county, with a degree of dis- 
 tinction, seldom bestowed upon medical 
 professors resident in districts very remote 
 from the capital. His pleasing manners, 
 cultivated understanding, and unpretending 
 simplicity of character, might contribute, 
 perhaps, as much to secure him the fa- 
 vour he enjoyed amongst the wealthy, 
 as his skill and experience ; but none 
 
 VOL, I. B
 
 3 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 of these conspired so efTectually to ob- 
 tain for him the love and veneration of 
 his patients of inferior rank, as his dis- 
 interestedness and humanity. By the suf- 
 fering poor in the neighbourhood, he was 
 deservedly beloved. jl^l ^jj 
 
 Mrs. Hampden, with a countenance se- 
 yerely ravaged by the small-pox, a mind 
 unendowed with talents, and a decided en- 
 mity to all modern female accomplishments, 
 had a heart so benevolent, and a temper so 
 mild, ingenuous, and friendly, that she pos- 
 sessed the perfect confidence of her hus- 
 band, his truest affection and esteem, and 
 .the most cordial regard of all who knew 
 her. 
 
 Their family was large, and consisted, in 
 addition to five children of their own, of 
 a young inmate, who had resided with 
 them from his sixth birth-day ; and who 
 now, as affectionately beloved as any of 
 their own offspring, had nearly attained his 
 thirteenth year. This boy's name was 
 Mording^on ; he was the orphan descendant 
 of a man of high family, though indigent 
 circumstances; who, having possessed only 
 a younger brothers mheritance, married
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. S 
 
 imprudently, figured ia the gay world im- 
 providently, died at the age of five and 
 thirty, deeply involved in debt, mortifica- 
 tion, and tardy self-reproach. His son, 
 and a little girl, five years that son's junior, 
 he left to the protection of his elder bro- 
 ther, a peer of the realm, and the head of 
 their noble house. The infant daughter, 
 motherless from the third day after her 
 birth, vras admitted into the nursery at 
 Mordington Castle, and allowed to be 
 brought up with Lord Ossely's own chil- 
 dren. Algernon, the unportioned boy, was 
 in a weak state of health, from the effects 
 of a severe fever ; and seemed as much 
 unfitted for a public school, as he was for 
 even a private education in any but a more 
 sheltered part of England, than that in 
 which his uncle's residence was situated. 
 
 Dr. Hampden had been the Peer s col- 
 lege acquaintance ; the intercourse had 
 even ripened into something like friend- 
 ship ; and an occasional correspondence had 
 subsisted between them, although they had 
 scarcely met three times in the course of 
 the last ten years. To this worthy, yet not 
 affluent man, the embarrassed Viscount 
 B2
 
 4 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 applied for advice respecting his drooping 
 and dependant nephew. The doctor easily 
 discerned that the true object of the appli- 
 tcation was to engage him to offer his house 
 and professional superintendance to the 
 ailing ward of his noble correspondent. 
 He consulted with his wife, whose heart 
 was touched by the mention of the boy's 
 orphan state and unsettled health ; and 
 who compassionately agreed to burthen her- 
 self/ already surrounded as she was by 
 domestic cares, with the charge of the 
 young invalid ; and conscientiously deter- 
 mined rigidly to fulfil towards him the 
 duties of a watchful mother. Her excel- 
 lent management, the salubrity of their air, 
 and the dormant vigour of young Alger- 
 non's constitution, effected, ere long, the 
 complete restoration of his bloom, spirits, 
 and strength. He was happier in the good 
 physician's family than he had ever been in 
 his life. The cordiality with which he 
 was treated, gave warmth and animation 
 to his own heart ; he beheld not around 
 him a single countenance he could forbear 
 to love : Mrs. Hampdc^n was dearer to him 
 far than his own fashionable parent liad
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. . 5 
 
 ever been ; and the doctor, he at once 
 reverenced as an oracle, obeyed as a guar- 
 dian, and loved as a father. 
 
 The youngest child of this worthy pair, 
 a little girl who could yet scarcely walk 
 aloue, was, however, menaced with the 
 speedy appearance of a new brother or 
 sister, to rival her in the mother's care and 
 affection ; when, as the menace drew nearer 
 towards its accomplishment. Dr. and Mrs. 
 Hampden, for the first time, found them- 
 selves in danger of losing a portion of that 
 eonformity in opinion, which had hitherto 
 marked and facilitated all their deliber- 
 ations. 
 
 A calm, moderate, and rational man ia 
 every common occurrence of life, Dr. 
 Hampden was, in one respect, so incor- 
 rigible an enthusiast, that, to the sober 
 apprehension of his wife, he often appeared 
 little less than mad ! Yet, as this enthu- 
 siasm was of a description perfectly dis- 
 tinct from every thing that could interfere 
 with her personal or family concerns, sh^, 
 as much as in humanity was possible, fore- 
 bore all animadversion ; and, indeed, had 
 sometimes felt tempted to reflect upon it 
 B 3
 
 6 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 with a degree of complacency, as one o|' 
 the principal causes of her husband's quiet 
 acquiescence in all her domestic regulations. 
 But now that it threatened to encroach 
 upon her OAvn peculiar province, as sole 
 directress of the nursery, she knew not 
 how to regard it with the same composure. 
 
 The important subject in debate, at the 
 present juncture, was neither more nor 
 less than the baptismal appellation by which 
 their unborn infant should be distinguished. 
 
 Except their eldest boy, who, at the ex- 
 press desire of a particular friend of the 
 doctor*s, had been christened William, all 
 their children had received scriptural de- 
 nominations. Such had been the case also, 
 long before, with respect to Mrs. Hampdea 
 herself, and she gravely averred, that the 
 practice had been similar, not only in her 
 mother's, grandmother's, and great-grand- 
 mother's time; but as far back as the his- 
 tory of any of her progenitors could be 
 traced. The docter, hitherto utterly care- 
 less about the matter, had contentedly suf- 
 fered his house to be filled with a little 
 tribe of Christians, so perfectly Jewish in 
 nomenclature, that they would uot have
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. / 
 
 appeared misplaced in the family of any 
 of the patriarchs. But now, most unex- 
 pectedly, and to his wife's most serious 
 annoyance, this carelessness was wholly 
 superseded by a most ardent wish, should 
 the child for whom preparations were mak- 
 ing, prove a boy, to turn aside from the- 
 good old custom, " and," as Mrs. Han)p- 
 den expressed herself, *^ to give the poor 
 baby a vile heathenish name, which she 
 feared would not only fill its own head full 
 of idle fancies, but be the cause, God forgive 
 her ! that she should never love the little 
 creature with half the fondness she had' 
 felt for her other children." 
 
 The doctor laughed at these apprehen- 
 sions, and adhered immoveably to his pur- 
 pose. Mrs. Hampden, with more real re- 
 gret, than (after the first discussion was 
 over) she thought it either wise or useful 
 to display ; or than her husband imagined 
 it possible she could feel, then sighingly, 
 abandoned the darling projects she had so 
 long cherished of bestowing upon the little 
 stranger, whom she firmly anticipated 
 would be a son, her favourite denomina-^ 
 ti'on of BenjaminT^''^^ 
 
 B 4
 
 8 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 Exclusive of medical books, the doctor's 
 library was neither very extensive nor very 
 diversified. The infatuation above alluded 
 to, and in which originated the unusual 
 disagreement between himself and his wife, 
 happened to consist in an ungovernable 
 passion for reading, and a propensity to 
 accumulate literary resources ; which, dur- 
 ing the early years of his married life, he 
 underwent pangs the most grievpus, tore- 
 strain within prudential limits. Yet, not- 
 withstanding the noble victory he gained 
 over hi$ inclination to become a purchaser 
 of every new work that appeared, nothing 
 could subdue his rage for borrowing all 
 that came under his observation. The loan 
 of a valuable publication, in return for his 
 professional attendance, might often, per- 
 haps, have been regarded by him as equiva- 
 lent to a fee, had not the recollection of the 
 wife and family at home, depending upon 
 him for support, fortunately stepped in, to 
 inspire him with sentiments somewhat less 
 magnanimous. Mrs. Hampden, however, 
 often groaned in spirit at sight of the huge 
 volumes with which, in all weathers, hot or 
 cold, wet or dry, he would contrive, as he
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 9 
 
 vode.back from the houses of his patients,, 
 to encumber himself, and load his horse. 
 The sole book she ever voluntarily perused, 
 furnished her with a quotation so applicable 
 to his case, that, with the alteration of only 
 one word, she declared it seemed written on 
 purpose for him : 
 
 " Of reading many books there is no end, 
 and much study is a weariness of the flesh.'* 
 
 The doctor thought he had every possible 
 reason to controvert the justice of this as- 
 sertion ; for never yet had he experiences 
 any weariness, corporeal or mental, half so 
 benumbing and oppressive to his faculties, 
 as that occasioned by the failure of fresh 
 literary supplies. 
 
 Yet it unfortunately happened, that the 
 worthy physician not only read much, but 
 read fast ; and having worked his way 
 through nearly every scanty library in the 
 neighbourhood, had been reduced, for many 
 a long evening, to pore over the dry pages 
 of Postlethwayf s folio Dictionary, on Trade 
 and Commerce. An interruption at length 
 occurred to this soporific study : — but, as 
 almost all subliinary good is attended with 
 some counterbalancing evil, this very inter- 
 B 5
 
 10 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 fuption proved a death-warrant to poor 
 Mrs. Hampden's project of adding to the 
 Jacobs and Josephs already in her family, 
 the gratification of possessing a Benjamin. 
 ^ Her husband being one day summoned to 
 attend, in his medical capacity, a gentleman 
 of considerable fortune, newly established 
 in their vicinity, was struck, whilst in the 
 sick man's apartment, with the sight of a 
 large unopened brown-paper parcel ; which, 
 by its size and form, appeared to the doctor 
 indubitably to contain — books. 
 '■ ^Lingering somewhat beyond the time ne- 
 t^issary for hearing the invalid's complaints, 
 and writing the requisite prescription, the 
 physician at length ventured to make some 
 cautious enquiries relative to the object 
 in view. 
 
 ^^ There seems, sir," said he, " to He 
 yonder, what some persons would deem a 
 very tremendous budget ; at least if its con- 
 tents are, as I presume, literary." 
 
 " Why, yes. Doctor, I know many whom 
 such a sight would woefully alarm : parti- 
 cularly, if to the sight was added the obli- 
 gation of reading the pages within." 
 
 '* Pray, Mr. Melbourne, what may bcv 
 the subject of those pages V*
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 11 
 
 *^ The whole parcel," replied that gen^ 
 tieman, ** includes only one work ; a new 
 edition of Shakespear, the notes to which, 
 I am told, are full of excellent criticism, 
 learning and entertainment. I sent for it 
 from town before my iUness, and grieve 
 that I have not yet been able to look into 
 it : my daughter reads to me the newspaper, 
 and now and then, a few pages of a novel ; 
 but for any thing that requires closer at- 
 tention, I have not yet found myself di^s- 
 posed." 
 
 The doctor sat upon thorns daring this 
 speech. To hear that a publication, so in- 
 teresting to every admirer of our illustrious 
 bard (and Dr. Hampden stood foremost in 
 that class), so expensive, and so difficult of 
 attainment, should be thus condemned to 
 lie neglected during' the uncertain conti- 
 nuance of its possessor's indisposition, al- 
 most transferred to himself the fever he 
 was called in to cure. Summoning courage, 
 however, after an embarrassed pause, he 
 thus resumed the conversation. 
 
 "In one of the last Reviews," said he, 
 *' I lately met with an account of this 
 edition, which excited in me an extreme- 
 
 3-6
 
 12 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 desire to see it. Perhaps^ sir, when you 
 find yourself in spirits to open it, and 
 have looked over the two or three first vo- 
 lumes, you will indulge me for a short 
 time with their loan ? I have a double mo- 
 tive/' added he, smiling, " for being re- 
 markably careful of borrowed books : the 
 greatest apprehension of injuring them from 
 respect and gratitude to their proprietors ; 
 and a constant dread, were the least acci- 
 dent to happen to them, of being cut off 
 from the resource of ever borrowing again. 
 A poor country physician, sir, with the 
 greedy appetite for reading, and the slender 
 means of appeasing it, which I possess, 
 can never too sedulously guard against 
 whatever threatens to render those means 
 yet more limited." 
 
 Mr. Melbourne appeared much amused 
 by the doctor s frank avowal of the motives 
 that inspired him with such scrupulous 
 care : 
 
 '' My dear, sir," said he, " I have ex- 
 perienced more severely, perhaps, than 
 ' yourself, the misery of being circumscribed 
 in the choice of my lectures. During a 
 pretty long abode I was obliged to make at
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE, 13 
 
 tliip house of a relation, in a wild district of 
 Ireland, I underwent, in this way, a species 
 of tribulation which I never reflect upon 
 without wondering at the fortitude that 
 enabled me to support it. But, Doctor,'^ 
 he continued, " you shall endure no de- 
 privation of this nature from which it may 
 be in rny power to exempt you. If you can 
 manage to put a couple of these volumes in 
 your gi'eat-coat pockets, I will order the 
 parcel to be immediately unpacked. The 
 whole set, indeed, should be at your ser- 
 vice if you had any convenient mode of 
 conveyance for it, or could point out to me 
 the best method of sending it t;o your house ; 
 it would be almost too bulky for a man 
 on horseback." 
 
 *^ Oh, my good Sir,'' cried the enchanted 
 doctor, " trouble not yourself about the 
 weans of carriage ; only confide to me the 
 whole valuable deposit, and I think I may 
 venture to answer for its safe removal. We 
 have acquired, my horse from habit, and 
 myself from inclination, a resignation and 
 facility in accommodating ourselves to 
 heavy burthens, that renders us utterly in- 
 sensible of every inconvenience attached ta
 
 14 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 them. Confide to me, therefore, I again 
 entreat, your precious Shakespear, and be 
 assured, the triumphant satisfaction with* 
 which I shall ride home in such company, 
 will be surpassed by nothing but my grati- 
 tude to you for the trust," 
 
 As he spoke, the eager physician, fearful 
 of hearing any objection started to his 
 plan, hastily thrust the handle of his riding 
 whip into his coat pocket, deposited his 
 large hat upon his head, took the heavy 
 parcel under his arm, with the same ease 
 with which he would have lifted a kitten ; 
 and, somewhat abruptly, bidding his asto- 
 nished, but laughing patient, good morn- 
 ings quitted the room and descended to the 
 hall. 
 
 Here hfe was encountered by Miss Mel- 
 bourne, who, just returned from a walk, 
 and totally unacquainted with his person, 
 was much surprised to see him so encum- 
 bered, and in such manifest haste, and 
 thought it not wholly superfluous to stop^ 
 and watch his proceedings. 
 
 A servant now appeared, whom the doc- 
 tor requested to assist him in mounting his 
 horse. The patient animal, fastened to one
 
 TRAITS OFKATURE. 15 
 
 of the pillars of the portico, raised his head 
 as his master approached, and seemed to 
 survey the additional weight intended for 
 
 him, with looks of rueful anticipation. His 
 exulting owner disregarded these tacit re- 
 presentations, and thinking only of the rich 
 intellectual feast he had in store, mounted 
 with an alertness that would have caused 
 the by-standers some surprise, had they 
 known, that, without any species of cor- 
 poreal refreshment, he had already been 
 riding from house to house eight hours 
 since his early breakfast. 
 
 The servant who had taken charge of the 
 parcel, whilst he settled himself upon his 
 saddle, now enquired what he was to do 
 with it. 
 
 " Give it me, my friend,'* answered the 
 physician, leaning down, and stretching 
 forth his hands to grasp it. 
 
 " Lord ha* mercy upon me, doctor ! 
 You don't mean to ride so many miles with 
 this huge weight before you ! '* 
 
 " Tis nothing, my honest lad ; — give it 
 me, give it me ; — 1 shall be at home in half 
 an hour.'* 
 
 The man^ amazed, hesitated however, no
 
 l6 TRAITS' OF "NATUR E. 
 
 longer to comply. Miss Melbourne, with 
 encreased curiosity, drew nearer to the 
 steps. The Doctor seized the ponderous 
 encumbrance, heaved it up by one vi- 
 gorous effort, encircled it with his right 
 arm, and bowing to the inquisitive lady of 
 the house, slowly and heavily trotted from 
 the door.
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 1/ 
 
 CHAP. IT, 
 
 ABSTRACTION. 
 
 At the distance of about two miles from 
 Mr. Melbourne's, Dr. Hampden vv^s over- 
 taken by a sudden and violent shower of 
 rain. There was no place of shelter near, 
 and the trees were so thinly clothed with 
 verdure, it being now the latter end of 
 autumn, that they afforded not the smallest 
 defence against the fast-falling drops. 
 
 Ill this emergency, the conscientious phy- 
 sician, mindful of his promised vigilant at- 
 tention to the preservation of his borrowed 
 treasure, and, in his anxiety for its perfect 
 safety, regardless of his own, determined, 
 as the flaps of his great coat were too short 
 and scanty, to form for it a sufficient pro 
 tection, wholly to strip the coat itself from 
 his back, and wrap it round the parcel. 
 
 Thus exposed to the ' pelting of the piti- 
 less storm,' the poor doctor rode on for two 
 miles more ; and, at length, completely wet
 
 18 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 through, cold, shaking, and half ashamed 
 of the deprivation to which he had submit- 
 ted, alighted at his own door. 
 
 In the parlour, he was cheered by the 
 comfortable sight of a blazing fire, before 
 which, Mrs. Hampden, w^th her accus- 
 tomed provident kindness, had placed his 
 slippers, and his Jiorne coat. Great was her 
 consternation to find, that not only the slip- 
 pers and coat would be requisite, but an en- 
 tire change of every thing he had on. 
 
 *' The Lord be good unto me 1 " exclaimed 
 she, passing her hand over his soaked sleeve 
 — '* How came you, my dear, in such a ter- 
 rible pickle ? Your great coat never let the 
 rain through in this manner before! — And 
 what" continued she, now first espying the 
 parcel, which hitherto the doctor had con- 
 trived to keep in the shade — '^ what, in the 
 name of wonder, have you here r Is not this 
 your great coat, all bundled up into a heap ? 
 —Why, I verily believe, you have never 
 had it on ! " 
 
 " My dear," said the doctor, a good deal 
 discomposed, " I should be glad you would 
 not ask so many questions ; but send Rutfe' 
 to get me a dry shirt and stockings," ^''- **
 
 Til AITS OF NATURE. 19 
 
 Mrs. Hampden suspended her enquiries 
 to comply with this request. She dispatch- 
 ed her eldest daughter up stairs with a large 
 bunch of keys in search of the fresh hnen ; 
 called aloud for the boot-jack ; stirred the 
 lire into a brighter blaze, and turned all the 
 children out of the room whilst their father 
 shifted his attire. 
 
 The doctor, whom the distresses of the 
 last hour had, in a very unwonted degree, 
 ruffled and fretted, now resumed his usual 
 cheerfulness, and as soon as his toilet was 
 completed, desired the children might be re- 
 admitted, and besought his wife to hasten 
 the appearance of dinner. 
 
 Whilst they sat round the well -supplied 
 board, and after every plate had been filled 
 except her own, Mrs. Hampden, unable to 
 extend her forbearance to any greater 
 length, renewed her attack upon the poor 
 doctor. 
 
 " Only think, my dear," she began, 
 '^ what a foolish thing it was, for the sake 
 of a few trumj^ery books, to rob yourself 
 of the comfort of your warm great coat, 
 and come home in such a miserable plight. 
 I have been looking at the nasty parcel, and. 
 
 r
 
 20 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 upon my conscience^ it made me so angry, I 
 could almost have found in my heart to throw 
 it out of the window. What would you, as 
 a physician, have said to any one else who 
 had taken so much pains to catch the 
 rheumatism ? " 
 
 '^ Why, probably, my dear, I should 
 have said pretty much the same that you 
 have said ; I should have declared it was 
 a mighty silly piece of business." 
 
 ** And, besides, my dear," resumed Mrs. 
 Hampden, " it is a book that you have got 
 already. I am sure your own Shakespeare 
 is almost as good a print, and a great deal 
 better bound." 
 
 The doctor took some pains, though far 
 from confident of succeeding, to explain t^; 
 her the superior merits of the edition he 
 had brought home : but nothing could 
 convince her that a long preface, innu- 
 merable critical dissertations, and a copious 
 collection of notes, could so much enhance 
 the value of a work already published with- 
 out such appendages, as to entitle it to 
 the sacrifice her husband had thought pro- 
 per to make. 
 
 It was the singular, but invariable prac-
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. £1 
 
 tice of Dr. Hampden, to pursue his studies 
 in the family sitting-room. When intent 
 upon any literary subject^ the laughter and 
 talking of his children, or the maternal 
 reprimands of his wife, were equally power- 
 less to disturb him. If, after long attention, 
 his mind became fatigued, it was a ])leasure 
 to him, on closing his book, or putting 
 down his pen, to look around, and see him- 
 self encircled by objects so cheerful and so 
 beloved ; to join in their gay prattle, or 
 engage, as was not seldom the case, in their 
 sports and pastimes. A small, but stoutly- 
 constructed table, sacred to his use, stood 
 <Sn one side the chimney, from whence it 
 would have been treason, even in Mrs, 
 Hampden herself, to have removed it, or to 
 have appropriated the slighest article. An 
 easy chair, likewise a consecrated piece of 
 furniture, occupied a place near it : and 
 one entire side of the rooiA was' fitted up 
 with shelves, containing by far the greatest 
 portion of the doctor's library. Mrs. 
 Hampden reserved for her own accommo- 
 dation, in the centre of the apartment, a 
 large round dining table, over which she 
 expected, and tolerably well succeeded, to
 
 22 TR ITS OF NATURE. 
 
 retain exclusive dominion^ for the several 
 purposes of culling out the household linen, 
 spreading the children's play-things/ or, as 
 occasion might require, laying the cloth. 
 
 The room thus amply stored with objects 
 both animate and inanimate, yet w^ore by no 
 means an appearance of discomfort. It w^as 
 large and lofty ; the various faces assem- 
 bled in it (some of them faces of the truest 
 juvenile beauty) all exhibited an air of 
 happiness and good humour ; and space 
 was never found wanting for the reception 
 of a friend, or the admission, when requi- 
 site, of an infant's cradle. 
 
 According, then, to his constant custom, 
 Dr. Hampden, after the indulgence of a 
 short tiap when dinner was over, turned to 
 his little table, and spreading wide one of 
 the volumes of his new Shakespeare, with 
 an ivory knife in his hand, and a look of 
 total abstraction from all other concern, be- 
 gan his evening lecture. 
 
 It was a considerable time since he had 
 devoted himself to a regular and connected 
 perusal of the works of our immortal bard ; 
 and, at every page, enraptured by the 
 flashes of genius, the sublime morality, or
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 23 
 
 the Sterling wit of the sentiments and ex- 
 pressions ; — bewitched by the interest of the 
 fable, which, as he read with scrupulous 
 and unbroken continuity, gradually un- 
 folded itself,— he was as a being transported 
 into another world — and descried, or fan- 
 cied he every moment descried, new beau- 
 ties, which had never struck hirn before. 
 Scarcely could he forbear bursting out 
 aloud, with exclamations of enthusiastic 
 admiration ; or with favorite passages, 
 which, thus detached, and read to such an 
 audience, would have had the most ludicrous 
 effect imaginable. 
 
 The hour of tea arrived, and Mrs. 
 Hampden, ambitious of the praise with 
 which her husband generally rewarded the 
 excellent bowl she always compounded for 
 him, felt surprised, and somewhat mortified, 
 at his utter silence upon the subject, this 
 unlucky evening. She had often before 
 seen the doctor deeply engrossed by a 
 favourite author, but so deeply as at the 
 present moment, she never remembered to 
 have observed him. Exclusive of reading, 
 all he did was mechanical. He neither 
 heard what was said to him, saw what
 
 24 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 was offered to him^ nor was conscious what 
 he accepted. 
 
 The children, diverted beyond measure 
 at an absence of mind so perfectly incom- 
 prehensible to their faculties, watched his 
 proceedings with an eagerness and delight 
 which insensibly communicated themselves 
 to their mother, and dispelled the momentary 
 vexation she had experienced. They took it 
 by turns to hold the toast and butter before 
 liim, merely for the amusement of observing 
 how totally he disregarded them ; or, 
 which was still better, to mark the in- 
 stinctive accuracy, with which, at a single 
 glance, he was able to distinguish and ap- 
 propriate the nicest morsel. 
 
 Algernon Mordington, a privileged fa- 
 vourite, and, as all lively boys are, in- 
 genious in devising schemes of mischief, 
 now resolved, by way of experiment, and 
 to heighten > the entertainment of his titter- 
 ing young friends, to try how far he might 
 venture to disturb the doctor's attention, 
 without awakening his resentment or put- 
 ting to flight his silent ecstasies. 
 
 Curled up before the fire, enjoying the 
 soundest repose, lay a large old tortoise-
 
 TRAITS OP -NATURE. 2^ 
 
 shell cat, a notorious thief, hut the passive 
 play-thing of the children, whom, if she 
 did not play with in return, she at least 
 endured with a very laudable, and some- 
 what rare command of temper. Mordington 
 gently took her in his arms, and sat down 
 upon a low stool close to the chair of the 
 doctor, who had just possessed himself of 
 a third piece of toast; and, during the 
 long intervals between every bite, his hand, 
 with the fragment it held, hung down ovei* 
 the arm of his elbow chair. Algernon 
 contrived cautiously to move his knees, and, 
 at the same time, the cat, which was sitting: 
 upon them, in such a manner, that her 
 whiskers were brought into close contact 
 with the well-buttered morsel. The animal 
 tiffected an air of disinterested innocence ; 
 blinked, loolced sly, snitFed meekly at the 
 dainty prey ; then directed her eyes to 
 other objects, and commenced so melodious 
 a purr, that her mischievous seducer began 
 to fear her honesty, far the first time, 
 would prove superior to her greediness. 
 
 *^ Hang her ! " murmured he, ^^ she never 
 was so bashful before!" 
 But at the very moment his disappoint- 
 VOL. I, c
 
 26 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 ment was at its height, and his patience 
 was almost exhausted, the artful animal vo- 
 raciously snatched the alluring bait, and 
 springing from Mordingtons arms, darted 
 to the most obscure corner of the room. 
 
 The doctor, somewhat startled at so ab- 
 rupt a seizure, looked down mechanically, 
 to discover its perpetrator; but all traces 
 of the culprit had vanished, and with the 
 tempted the tempter had also disappeared ; 
 for Algernon, wisely anticipating the direc- 
 tion his guardian s eyes would take, imme- 
 diately on the commission of the theft, 
 screened himself from observation behind 
 the high back of the easy chair. 
 
 Unable to descry the cause of his disturb- 
 ance, the physician soon lost all remem- 
 brance of either cause or effect, and without 
 asking a single question, fixed his eyes 
 again upon the pages before him, with as 
 much tranquillity as if nothing had hap- 
 pened. 
 
 The children all stared ; and the broadest 
 grin of mixed wonder and merriment ap- 
 peared upon their little faces. Not one of 
 the set could comprehend how the loss of 
 «o <lelicate. a morsel could be endured with
 
 .TRAITS OF NATURE. 27 
 
 such philosophic apathy ; and the circum- 
 stance, if it did not, in their unreflecting 
 minds, excite any very exalted veneration 
 for Shakespeare's captivating powers, at 
 least convinced Algernon, that he possessed 
 i.i him, a friend, under whose protecting 
 auspices, he might, that evening, indulge, 
 with impunity, whatever vagaries entered 
 his imagination. 
 
 Quietly therefore stealing forth from his 
 concealment, and crossing over to the place 
 where Ruth, the eldest of the little Hamp- 
 dens, sat — 
 
 *^ I am resolved," said he, ^^ to do the 
 thing handsomely ; puss shall have some tea 
 to her toast, and learn to reverence Shakes- 
 peare as she ought ! " 
 
 He then went in pursuit of the conscious 
 and guilty Tabby, and conquering her 
 modest reluctance, soon succeeded in bring- 
 ing her forward again to the scene of 
 action. 
 
 Mrs. Hampden, apprized by Ruth, of the 
 boy's design, threw no impediment in the 
 way of its execution. Her husband's ex- 
 treme taciturnity and absence of mind began 
 to weary her, and though she would not 
 C 2
 
 2S TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 promote, she could not prevail upon herself 
 to forbid, the harmless plots, from which 
 all the little group, it was evident, expected 
 so much entertainment. 
 
 As the doctor always drank a great deal 
 of cream in his tea, his youtiiful and un- 
 suspected persecutor concluded the cat 
 would have as little objection to partaking 
 it with him as her kindest well-wishers 
 could desire. Accordingly, after coaxing 
 and emboldening the distrustful pilferer, 
 till all her fears of consequences were 
 paciiied, he dexterously slid her down be- 
 hind the doctor, upon the seat of his chair, 
 and, unperceived, continued stroking and 
 encouraging her, till he saw her eye rest 
 upon the full saucer, which for nearly a 
 quarter of an hour, the doctor, whilst still 
 reading, had held in his hand to cooL 
 When, satisfied that she descried the object 
 to which he wished to direct her attention, 
 Algernon retreated, leaving her further ope- 
 rations to the guidance of her own cov^Jting 
 nature. 
 
 It was not long before the young ex« 
 pectants, all on tip-toe to observe the cat's 
 proceedings^ were gratified to the utmost
 
 TRAITS OF NATURS. 1^9 
 
 extent of their wishes. Slowly and warily, 
 but yet with purpose almost fixed by recent 
 impunity, the fair * Sehma ' crept towards 
 the immoveable saucer. It was held nearly 
 on a level with her mouth, which, by im- 
 perceptible degrees, she advanced so closely 
 to it, that, at length, to the inexpressible 
 rapture of Algernon and his accomplices, 
 she very fairly began lapping ! 
 
 '' Whew !" ejaculated the astonished doc- 
 tor, " What's all this ?" and bestowmg upon 
 her a smart and sudden cuff, he drove her, 
 shaking her ears, to seek shelter beneath a 
 distant book-case. 
 
 Mrs. Hampden and the children could 
 repress their audible risibility no longer; 
 though they were awkwardly endeavouring 
 to find for it some excuse, when a loud 
 ringing was heard at the gate of the little 
 court before the house. 
 
 " Lord bless me !" exclaimed Mrs. Hamp- 
 den, recovering her gravity in a moment at 
 this sound, '^ I hope, my dear, none of 
 your patients have sent for you such a dis- 
 mal wet night !" 
 
 " To own the truth, my dear,'* replied 
 c 3
 
 3a TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 the doctor, looking rather rueful, '• I hear- 
 tily join in the same hope.'* / 
 
 Algernon now ran out to ascertain the na- 
 ture and object of this peal, and presently 
 returning, with a countenance somev/hat 
 clouded over, 
 
 ** Sir," said he, to Dr. Hampden, " it is 
 a servant from Mrs. Cleveland's : you are 
 requested to go to her house immediately, 
 for she has had a kind of fit, and is very ill 
 indeed. " 
 
 '*' Had any one else sent for me just now,", 
 cried the doctor, slowly rising, and begin- 
 ning to cast off his comfortable home attire, 
 to resume the cloaths — now thoroughly dry 
 — which he had worn in the morning, ^' I 
 should have been bitterly tempted to wish 
 the honour had been conferred on any other 
 Esculapius : but this admirable old lady so 
 fully possesses my respect, that under any 
 circumstances, 1 feel it both a duty and a 
 gratification to attend her." 
 
 " Was not the lady's name Cleveland," 
 said Mrs. Hampden. *' who took so much 
 notice of you, Algernon, and of Ruth and 
 David, last Sunday, coming out of church ?"
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 3l 
 
 " Yes," answered Mordington, ^^ and 
 once before, she was very kind to us when 
 she was out airing, and met us all scamper- 
 ing homewards as fast as we could, because 
 it rained so violently, and thundered and 
 lightened, and poor Ruth was so miserably 
 scared. She took us up in her carriage, 
 and brought us to the gate : don't you re- 
 member it ?" 
 
 ^^ / remember it, at least," said Ruth ; 
 '' and in all my life I don't think I ever 
 shall forget how loud the thunder was, 
 just over our heads, and how black and 
 dismal it grew, and how terribly I wai 
 frightened !" 
 
 " And don't you, therefore," said Al- 
 gernon, smiling, '^ pray most heartily for 
 poor old Mrs. Cleveland's recovery r Only 
 think, how unlucky it would be if there 
 were to come another storm, and she should 
 not be in the way to pick you up !" 
 
 This was spoken in a low voice ; and be- 
 fore little Rath had time to plead not guilty 
 to the charge of such selfishness, the doc- 
 tor called to her for his hat and gloves ; 
 and earnestly recommended to his wife, the 
 C 4
 
 3^, TRAITS OP NATUHE, 
 
 most exact vigilance in preserving his book 
 from being touched during his absence. 
 
 " You need not frighten yourself, my 
 dear^ I assure yon/' answered she ; *' the 
 children won't be much tempted to amuse 
 themselves in that way ; and as for myself, 
 you know^ I never have any time to spare 
 for reading except on a Sunday." 
 
 ^' Wei], my dear, we won't dispute 
 which it is you most want, time or in- 
 clinaiion : hut with regard to the children, 
 I should be very glad they felt no disposition 
 to plead' the deficiency, of either, provided 
 the books they read were my own." 
 
 '' TheLord forbid," cried Mrs. Hamp- 
 den, with some earnestness, '^ that my girls, 
 nit least, should ever take to so lazy and 
 TiEeless a habit, as that of sitting nose and 
 imees together, poring over every book they 
 find ! It's well enough for boys, who can't 
 work, and would only be in mischief, per- 
 haps, if it was not for a little reading, 
 which helps to keep them quiet, and does 
 not take them off from any thing more pro* 
 fitable." 
 
 Algernon laughed heartily at this speech.;
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 33 
 
 and the doctor, as he left the room, good- 
 humouredly said— 
 
 " Well, my dear, I am glad there is any 
 exception admitted in this family to the 
 profitable rule of encouraging systematic 
 ignorance 1 Mind, boys ; as you can do 
 nothing more useful, your opening a book 
 occasionally, is a trespass that will be par- 
 doned." ^ 
 
 The younger children, after the depar- 
 ture of their father, being sent to bed, there 
 now remained below only Algernon, William 
 Hampden and Ruth. Each individual of 
 the friendly trio found out some favourite 
 occupation. The little girl borrowed a pair 
 of scissars to cut out a new frock for her 
 doll ; William,, a young mechanic, busied 
 himself intently in giving the last finish to 
 a fox and goose board of his own construct- 
 ing ; whilst Algernon, after a considerable 
 interval, spent in drawing rocks, ruins, 
 ships and trees, suddenly desisted, saying, 
 as he gathered together all his materials, 
 and started up, — 
 
 *' I wonder I never had the wit to read a 
 whole play of Shakespeare's through ! What 
 entertains Dr. Hampden so very much, 
 e5
 
 34r TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 might surely amuse me a little. Dear 
 mother," added he, a name by which he 
 often delighted to address Mrs. Hampden, 
 *^ let me just look, which play he was so 
 deeply engaged with ; I won t turn over 
 the leaf, or even touch it. — Oh, the first 
 part of King Henry IVth.— Well, Til get 
 the old edition he allows us to read, and try 
 how I shall like it." 
 
 He then, providing himself with the vo- 
 lume in question, returned to the table, and 
 seated himself with the fixed determination 
 not to stir till he had finished, at least, the 
 first two acts. 
 
 Algernon Mordington, fearless of every 
 thing but the displeasure of those he loved, 
 animated and happy as rational indulgence^ 
 youth, and glowing health could make him, 
 possessed a countenance strongly bearing 
 evidence of a high descent, and according 
 perfectly with the liberal spirit of his cha- 
 racter. He was not regularly handsome ; 
 but the expression of hi& face was grateful 
 to all beholders : his figure was light and 
 elegant ; his walk, his every movement, were 
 elastic and graceful : his talents were re- 
 pressed by an education too confined ; but 
 they were by nature brilliant^ and notwith^
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 35 
 
 standing the disadvantages he had to con- 
 tend against, his progress, as a classical scho- 
 lar, did honour at once to himself and to 
 the obscure schoolmaster under whom he 
 had hitherto been brought up. 
 
 The task to which, with all the energy 
 of his disposition, he now applied himselt^ 
 soon acquired the power of fascinating his 
 attention, nearly as exclusively as it had 
 enthralled that of Dr. Hampden. The 
 character and sentiments of the gallant Hot- 
 spur transported him beyond all measure. 
 The wit and facetiousness of FalstafF, he 
 was perhaps scarcely yet of an age duly to 
 appreciate: but the heroism, the blunt frank- 
 ness, the mixture of greatness and gaiety in 
 Harry Percy, threw him into raptures : he 
 laughed, admired, clapped his hands, and 
 perpetually burst out into exclamations of 
 the most fervent applause ; and when, at 
 ten o'clock, Mrs. Hampden insisted upon 
 his retiring for the night, he conveyed, un- 
 discovered, the darling volume up stairs, 
 and placing it under his pillow, opened wide 
 the shutters at the foot of his bed, that he 
 might resume his lecture with the first ray 
 of light, 
 
 c6
 
 30 TRAITS OF NATURE, 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 NARRATION* 
 
 Dr. Hampden did not return from his 
 vi&it to Mrs. Cleveland till near eleven 
 o'clock. He appeared rejoiced that the 
 children had left the parlour ; and told his 
 wife he had something of consequence to 
 say to her. 
 
 Mrs. Hampden, well disposed by this ex^ 
 ordium, to give him her undivided attention, 
 put aside her work, stirred the fire, drew 
 her chair close to his, and assured him, 
 that from her he should meet with no in- 
 terruption. 
 
 The doctor patiently waited till all these 
 Ofperations were over, and then began. 
 
 ^^ The excellent old lady from whose 
 liouse I am just returned," said he, " sent 
 for me this evening, in the double capacity 
 of physician and friend. She has been in 
 this neighbourhood about three months. I 
 have frequently attended her, and was well
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. ^J 
 
 aware, from the first hour in which I saw 
 her, that hers was a hfe no human skill 
 could prolong through the ensuing winter. 
 Our mild sea air appeared, while the change 
 was new, to agree with her : she went out 
 every day ; her spirits were cheerful, and 
 her looks, like her mind, composed and be- 
 nevolent. She is the mother of two sonsj 
 the eldest of whom accompanied her to this 
 place, and remained at it nearly a fortnight 
 after she had procured the retired and pretty 
 habitation she still occupies. He was then 
 summoned away by business : but he left un- 
 der her care his two youngest children, with 
 their needful attendants ; and not till yester- 
 day did he again make his appearance at his 
 venerable parent's. Mr. Cleveland, you are 
 to know, my dear Hannah," pursued Dr. 
 Hampden, " has been peculiarly unfortunate 
 in his family concerns. He is still a you;ig 
 man, — perhaps scarcely ?ive and thirty — yet 
 has he already been twice married. His first 
 lady made him the father of two daughters. 
 She was amiable and good, and her loss was 
 a severe calamity, both to him and his little 
 girls. I know not, however, how it hap- 
 pened ; but about eighteen months after her
 
 38 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 decease, he introduced to his mother and 
 family another wife — a young creature 
 scarcely more than seventeen — beautiful as 
 an angel — thoughtless as the veriest mortal ! 
 They lived together, sometimes as the 
 fondest lovers, sometimes as the bitterest 
 foes. She presented hmi with a son and 
 heir, and two years afterwards, wdth a little 
 daughter. Unhappily for this last child, 
 their discords had arisen, several months 
 previous to her birth, to a most fearful 
 height. Mr. Cleveland was madly jealous 
 of his inconsiderate young wife ; he refused 
 to see his infant daughter, and insisted on 
 her being placed at nurse. Mrs, Cleveland 
 murmured, remonstrated, vrept and soli- 
 cited in vain. The child was sent to nurse ; 
 and the indignant mother, to retahate upon 
 her husband, whom she had now learnt to 
 abhor, injury for injury — disgraced her- 
 self, and a few months after her recovery, 
 eloped with the very man whose attentions 
 to her had first awakened Mr. Cleveland's 
 displeasure, and excited his suspicions." 
 
 *^ What a very disagreeable story, my 
 dear T cried Mrs. Hampden, to whom 
 annals of this sort had seldom been com-
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 39 
 
 municated, and whose natural purity led 
 her to recoil from, and shudder at whatever 
 was vicious — " Did the old lady tell you all 
 these particulars herself? What could in- 
 duce her to publish the wickedness of her 
 own family ?" 
 
 The doctor could not repress a smile at 
 his wife's superabundant scrupulosity : — 
 
 *' Hear me to the end with patience, my 
 good friend," said he, *^ and you will acquit 
 poor Mrs. Cleveland of all indiscretion or 
 indelicacy in this business. I told you, that 
 when her son left her in our neighbourhood, 
 at the beginning of autumn, he consigned 
 to her protection his two youngest children 
 — the ofFpring of that second marriage he 
 had so much reason to deplore. It was 
 wholly owing to the benevolent exertions c^* 
 old Mrs. Cleveland, that the poor little girl, 
 whose early dismission from her father's r x>f 
 had caused so much mischief, was ever suf- 
 fered in his presence. He transferred to her 
 a large portion of the animosity he had nou- 
 rished against her mother : she was excluded 
 from his house, and banished his sight, till 
 her third year was completed. The nurse to
 
 40 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 whom she had been entrusted, proved to have 
 some principle and some humanity ; she was 
 perfectly just to her helpless charge, and 
 reared her in health, neatness, and comfort : 
 but had it been otherwise^ there was no one 
 to interfere in the poor baby's behalf. Her 
 expenses were paid annually by Mr. Cleve- 
 land's steward ; the nurse was never asked 
 to produce her, never exhorted to future, 
 or thanked for past attentions. Perhaps, 
 as the aged Mrs. Cleveland remarked, in 
 extenuation of this part of her son's con- 
 duct, perhaps he might entertain doubts of 
 the child's legitimacy : but these, she added, 
 were unjust, though, possibly, unconquer- 
 able suspicions ; since the little girl bears 
 an obvious resemblance to the Cleveland 
 family. The venerable grandmother had 
 compassion on the pitiable exile ; she often 
 expostulated with her son upon his unkind- 
 ness towards her, and at length urged him to 
 commit the little creature solely to her pro- 
 tection. With some difficulty, he consented : 
 his mother and he lived apart ; he was under 
 no obligation of frequently seeing the child, 
 and he could not answer it to his conscience;^
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 41 
 
 because he had no love for her himself, to 
 deprive her of the love and guardianship of 
 his re&pectable parent." — 
 
 The doctor then proceeded to state, that 
 the child had now resided nearly four years 
 with Mrs. Cleveland, to whom she was grown 
 peculiarly dear. Her father had detained 
 the two daughters by his first marriage 
 under his own roof, and procured for them 
 an excellent governess ; but the being on 
 earth most precious to his affections, was 
 his son. This adored boy, brought up, as 
 well as his half sisters, at home, was now in 
 his ninth year. A more spoilt, unruly, con- 
 sequential little tyrant never encroached 
 upon paternal indulgence, to be a torment 
 to all around him ! Elinor and Alicia, his 
 two sisters, feared as much as they dis- 
 liked him ; their governess, who could not 
 always exclude him from the school-room, 
 feigned illness in order to give her little 
 pupils their lessons in her own chamber ; 
 he had already caused the dismission of 
 three tutors ; — he was the teiTor and scounre 
 of every sei-vant in the house — and all this 
 while, the idol of his misjudging father. 
 
 At the time Mrs. Cleveland, by the ad-
 
 42 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 vice of her physicians, established herself in 
 Devonshire, her son, who had travelled with 
 her, solicited permission to make his little 
 boy, just recovering from the measles, the 
 companion of their journey, and his grand- 
 mother's inmate till his health should be 
 perfectly re-establis-hed. Sickness had some- 
 what tamed him, and Mrs. Cleveland con- 
 sented to the proposal, on condition a steady 
 tutor should attend him. 
 
 If Julius (the name of this petulant 
 youth) had severely tried the temper, and 
 been to his two elder sisters, a bane and an 
 affliction, it will readily be believed, he was 
 to the timid little Adela, an oppressor the 
 inost indefatigable. He saw that their fa- 
 ther had no affection for her ; that he never 
 spoke to, and as seldom as possible looked 
 at her. He beheld her always trembling 
 in that father s presence ; and was perfectly 
 aware, that except Mrs. Cleveland, she had 
 not an efficient friend in the world. One in 
 humble life she possessed, most fond and most 
 faithful. It was a young negro woman, 
 named Amy, who waited upon her person, was 
 her nurse, her comforter, her almost constant 
 companion. Mrs. Cleveland had been in-
 
 traIts of nature. 43 
 
 duced, at the request of a dying friend, to 
 admit this honest creature, when quite a 
 girl, into her household, and to promise her 
 protection whilst she lived, and a moderate 
 provision at her death. From the moment 
 little Adela became a member of her grand* 
 mother's family, the warm-hearted Amy 
 conceived for her the liveliest affection ; 
 Mrs. Cleveland encouraged the attachment, 
 and Adela soon repaid it with devoted sin- 
 ceritv. 
 
 Julius beheld their mutual regard with 
 undisguised derision. He was forbidden to 
 molest the little girl herself, and, openly, 
 never disobeyed : but on Amy, without the 
 smallest scruple, he took every opportunity 
 of disburthening his ill-humour ; and per- 
 petual bad been the squabbles between 
 them, almost from the first day of their 
 becoming acquainted. 
 
 Mr. Cleveland was now returned to 
 fetch this darling boy, and to ascertain the 
 progress of his mother's recovery. He 
 seemed shocked at the alteration which had 
 so visibly taken place in her looks and 
 strength ; and resolved to become a resident 
 for some time under the same roof. Of his
 
 44 TRAITS OF NATURE, 
 
 unoffending little girl, he, as usual, took 
 not the slightest notice. Mrs. Cleveland 
 sighed, as she observed this unnatural anti- 
 pathy. Her own dissolution, she knew, was 
 fast approaching. Who, when she was 
 gone, would be a friend to the poor out- 
 cast? Who would rear, who would even 
 afford her shelter? She meditated long 
 upon this mournful subject ; and then an 
 incident which occurred in her presence, 
 the very evening she sent so suddenly 
 for Dr. Hampden, induced her to confide 
 all her perplexities to him, and unreservedly 
 to solicit his advice. 
 
 She was sitting in her dressing-room, 
 between dinner and tea, propped up by pil- 
 lows, in an easy chair, listening to her son, 
 who was reading to her ; when Julius, 
 rendered more daring by the return of his 
 father, burst abruptly into the apartment, 
 and with a face — handsome as it was — dis- 
 torted by passion, sobbed out, r in accents 
 scarcely intelligible, a vehement complaint 
 against Amy and his sister — averred the 
 former had insulted and struck him, and 
 finally, forced him out of the room. 
 
 Mr. Cleveland, exasperated by this- report
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE, 45 
 
 almost to an equal degree with the enraged 
 accuser, was impetuously rising to pour 
 forth aojainst the supposed delinquents, the 
 full measure of his wrath ; but his mother, 
 though much agitated by the boy's sudden 
 intrusion, besought him to do nothing 
 rashly ; said she would attend him herself 
 to the culprit's chamber, and rung for a ser- 
 vant to support her feeble steps in walking. 
 
 Julius now suspended his angry sobs ; 
 and obviously discontented, rudely cried 
 out — 
 
 '^ Oh, grandmamma, what should you go 
 for ? You'll only take their parts, I know 
 very well ! you always do." 
 
 " r shall take the part of truth and justice," 
 answered Mrs. Cleveland. 
 
 The huihoured urchin, by impertinent 
 speeches, by cries, and even attempts at 
 manual opposition, did all in his power to 
 prevent her departure. But she gravely 
 commanded him to desist, and leaning on a 
 footman, moved slowly forward. 
 
 On reaching the door of Adcla's room, 
 her grandmother dismissed the servant, and 
 took hold of the arm of Mr. Cleveland. 
 
 At the upper end of the chamber, Amy
 
 46 ^TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 and the child were seen both seated on the 
 floor, holding between them a beautiful Httle 
 dog, which apj3eared to have sustained some 
 recent injury which they were endeavburing 
 to reheve. 
 
 " Adela," said Mrs. Cleveland, " what is 
 the matter with poor Frisk ? What are you 
 and Amy doing to him ? " 
 
 ^' We are washing away the blood from 
 his wound, grandmamma," answered she, 
 in a low voice. 
 
 " His wound ! what wound ? How did he 
 receive it ? " 
 
 Before this question could be answered, 
 Amy espying Julius, notwithstanding the 
 attempt he made to screen himself behind 
 his father, reproachfully called out — 
 
 ^' Ah, naughty young massa 1 why for you 
 come here again ? " 
 
 " He comes. Amy," said Mrs. Cleveland, 
 " to hear you answer to the accusation he 
 has brought against you for having treated 
 him exceedingly ill — for having even struck 
 him." 
 
 Amy uttered a long groan^ and looked 
 aghast at these words; whilst Adela, di-
 
 TRAITS OF NATURF. 4? 
 
 recting towards her brother a glance so ex-^ 
 pressive that it made him colour, threw her 
 arms round the negro's neck, and sobbed 
 upon her bosom. 
 
 '^ Don't cry, dear little missy !" cried the 
 sympathizing nurse : " don't cry — never 
 mind bad boy." 
 
 Mrs. Cleveland now desired to hear, in 
 plain terms, what had passed ; but Amy, 
 shaking her head, replied, 
 
 " Me no like tell, Big massa," meaning 
 Mr. Cleveland, " think all right what little 
 massa do." 
 
 This reluctance was misinterpreted by 
 that gentleman, who him.self now peremp- 
 torily ordered her to speak. 
 
 Amy, thus urged, gave, as clearly as she 
 could, the following account. 
 
 Julius, she said, ruffled and irritated by 
 some previous provocation which he had 
 received from the servants below, ascended 
 to his sister's room soon after dinner, with 
 every disposition to tease and harass her that 
 idleness and ill-humour could suggest. At 
 first, he pretended a wish to play with her ; 
 but, besides that she was afraid of his
 
 il TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 roughness, she was far from well, and had 
 no spirits for exertion. He then, muttering 
 at his sister's peevishness, tried to induce 
 Amy to romp with him ; but here again he 
 was unsuccessful : sh6 could not be per- 
 suaded when her little mistress was indis- 
 posed, to make any noise in the apartment, 
 and intreated him to go and amuse himself 
 elsewhere. Resenting these successive 
 failures, he positively declared he would 
 not move ; complained bitterly of their ill- 
 nature ; and, with childish and passionate 
 impatience, ilanghimself upon the ground, 
 and half crying, half scolding, threw his 
 arms and legs about in so vehement a man- 
 ner, that it became dangerous to venture 
 near him. Amy, too well acquainted with 
 the usual catastrophe of these perverse hu- 
 mours not to feel assured that so ill a be- 
 ginning would have a yet worse end, kept 
 a strict watch over him, and made signs to 
 her young charge to remain at as great a 
 distance as possible. Poor Frisk, mean- 
 while, unsuspicious of the hazard he in- 
 curred, and appearing to think the boy's 
 contortions were solely practised for his di-
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE, 4$ 
 
 version, capered up to him with the most 
 joyous glee, and disregarding the heavy- 
 thumps he now and then received, conti- 
 nued barking and frohcking around him, 
 in defiance of all Amy's and the little girl^s 
 endeavours to call him off. 
 
 Observing their uneasiness, Julius sud- 
 " denly started up, seized the dog by the collar, 
 and indignantly said. 
 
 " What is it you are so afraid of? 
 Hav'nt I a right to play with him if I 
 chuse it ? What do you call him away for ?'. 
 
 Then, setting down upon the carpet, he 
 began a sort of spiteful attack upon the 
 little animal, that not only often made him 
 wince, but filled his gentle mistress with 
 sorrow to behold. The effect thus pro- 
 duced, Julius contemplated through his 
 long dark eye-lashes, with secret satisfac- 
 tion ; and at length, averring he had just 
 discovered that Frisk had been unequally 
 cropped, he seized a pair of scissars which 
 accidentally lay upon a chair near him, and 
 threatened with provoking gravity, whilst 
 brandishing the dangerous w^eapon about 
 to pare his ears into better shape. Adela 
 could not suppress a scream of terror, and. 
 
 VOL. !• D
 
 50 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 Amy rushing forward to wrest the soissars 
 from him, he dashed them furiously to- 
 wards her. They missed their aim, but as 
 they fell, fixed themselves by the points in 
 one of the legs of the devoted Frisk. 
 
 Every particle of gall in Amy's compo- 
 position was set afloat by the view of this 
 disaster. She considered not, that though, 
 in the rage of the moment, it had been im- 
 prudently risked, it was yet wholly unpre- 
 meditated ; but catching the young offender 
 in her arms, ere he could guess, or oppose 
 her design, she conveyed him to the landing- 
 place, hastily re-entered the room, and 
 locked the door against him. 
 
 Such an affront to his pride, the first of 
 the kind he had ever received, irritated 
 him almost to madness. He struck his 
 head, his feet^ his hands against the door 
 with frightful vehemence ; raved for re- 
 admission till his own outcries made him 
 hoarse ; and when he found that Amy was 
 alike insensible to his clamour, and to his 
 menaces, he rushed down stairs with frantic 
 speed, and burst in upon his fatlier and 
 Mrs. Cleveland in the manner that has beep 
 described.
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE, 51 
 
 This story, though told by Amy in vevy 
 imperfect language, was yet suthciently in- 
 telligible to till her aged auditor with dis- 
 pleasure and disgust. She turned to address 
 to the outrageous boy a severe reproof, but 
 he had slipped out during the recital, and 
 was no where to be seen. She then looked 
 round at her son, and with forced com- 
 posure^ said, 
 
 " What \s T/our opinion of Amy's nari*a- 
 tive ?'' 
 
 Mr. Cleveland shrugged his shoulders, 
 amiled superciliously, and moving towards 
 the door to depart, answered carelessly, 
 
 *' That it has been the most fatiguing 
 detail of a nursery squabble to which I ever 
 was summoned to listen/* 
 
 ^^ And is this all you have to observe 
 upon the subject r'^ 
 
 " No, madam ; if you demand my fur- 
 ther opinion, I shall say, that of your two 
 j)ets — your black pet, and your white pet,** 
 looking towards Amy and the little girl, 
 " I scarcely know which behaved most un- 
 graciously to my son. What has happened, 
 was the mere effect of transient passion : 
 
 VERSmr OF (LUNOfS
 
 5a TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 the boy's temper is not cruel ; he had no 
 intention seriously to hurt the dog " 
 
 " Oh, Augustus ! what unjustifiable par- 
 tiality ! How pernicious will it be to your 
 boy r 
 
 *^ Do not, dear madam, provoke me to 
 say any thmg that will give you pain. I have 
 never interfered in what relates to the ma- 
 nagement of the objects to whom you are 
 attached, and I should be happy if you 
 would observe the same rule with regard to 
 those / love." 
 
 He then left the room ; and Mrs. Cleve- 
 land, sighing deeply, mentally exclaimed, 
 ^* With such a brother, and a father so in- 
 different, what is to become of the defence- 
 less Adela when I am gone ?" 
 
 Shortly after, under the pretence of en- 
 creased indisposition, or rather from the 
 dread of delaying so important a consulta- 
 tion, the old lady sent for Dr. Hampden, 
 and in a long and confidential conversation, 
 communicated to him the above particulars, 
 and solicited his advice how to secure to 
 her grand daughter, at her impe tiding de- 
 cease, a peaceful and permanent a^sylum.
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 53 
 
 *' I am able freely to dispose," she stated, 
 ** of the sum of three thousand pounds, 
 which I have bequeathed to her by will. 
 This little provision is, probably, the utmost 
 she will ever obtain from any of her father's 
 family. But, my good Doctor, 1 have yet 
 ventured to name no trustees. My yoimgest 
 son. Col. Cleveland, is now abroad, and 
 cannot at preseivt act ; but hereafter he may 
 be a kind friend to her, and afford her a re- 
 fuge in his house. Meanwhile, might I 
 entreat you to become one of her guardians ^ 
 and would you, on proper considerations, 
 permit me to name you as the person under 
 whose superintendency I should wish her 
 to be brought up ? I know that 1 am 
 making a strange request; that you have 
 a large family, and many weighty and 
 important avocations. Yet this ehild's in- 
 evitable misery, if left solely to the protec- 
 tion of her alienated father, grieves me to 
 the heart — oppresses and sinks me to the 
 earth. He will either send her to some re- 
 mote school, trusting her health, her happi- 
 ness, her morals, to chance ; or if he suffers 
 her to reside with him, it will be merely to 
 wink at her becoming the victim of her 
 d3
 
 64 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 brother's arbitrary temper — the sad witness 
 of her own unimportance in a father's eyes ! 
 Take compassion upon her, my worthy 
 friend. No opposition will be made to 
 your assuming the charge ; for my infa- 
 tuated son, alas! will be rejoiced to be re- 
 lieved from any thought upon the subject. 
 Go home, and consult with your excellent 
 wife ; and if you can to-morrow bring me 
 information that she and you accede to my 
 wishes, my approaching end will lose its 
 terrors^ and I shall be ready to exclaim — 
 * The bitterness of death is past !' " 
 
 '* Thus," concluded Dr. Hampden, ^^ thus^ 
 my dear Hannah, have I given you a faith- 
 ful account of the long conference 1 held 
 with this excellent lady. I see that the 
 latter part of the recital has agitated and 
 perplexed you. Take a day or two for 
 consideration, before you come to any posi- 
 tive determination. I am perfectly aware, 
 that in your present situation, the proposal 
 of encreasing your cares, by the introduc- 
 tion of a new inmate, must shock and af- 
 fright you. But make this reflection ; and 
 perhaps it may diminish your surprise at 
 my hazarding the proposal, and remove
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 55 
 
 your reluctance to comply with it. Alger- 
 non Mordington is now nearly thirteen, 
 and as he is destined for the army, it is not 
 improbahle that his uncle may speedily wish 
 to withdraw him from our protection, in 
 order to place him where he may obtain 
 better instruction in the duties of a soldier's 
 life. Indeed I have long wondered at the 
 estrangement to which he dooms him, and 
 felt inclined to condemn the narrow plan 
 of education to which he has been con- 
 fined." 
 
 " Do you think then," cried Mrs. Hamp- 
 den, with tears in her eyes, ^' that the 
 prospect of losing Algernon will reconcile 
 me to the admission of this little Miss 
 Cleveland ? What will she be to me ? How 
 wil she supply to any of us the place of the 
 noble boy, whose departure you speak of so 
 coolly ? Indeed, Dr. Hampden, I am hurt 
 to find you have so little value for him ! I 
 thought you loved him almost as well as I 
 do myself; and, Heaven knows, he is as dear 
 to me as — I had nearly said '-any of my 
 own children." 
 
 '^ My good woman," resumed the doctor, 
 kindly pressing his hand upon her shoulder, 
 D 4
 
 56 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 *' I acfore you for this warmth of heart, and 
 share in all your affectionate sentiments for 
 poor Mordington. But you will allow, 
 that if he is to be recalled, his departure, 
 by reducing the number of your family, 
 will consequently diminish your cares." 
 
 ^' I never murmured at any cares, any 
 trouble of which he was the object," an- 
 swered Mrs. Hampden. " Whenever he 
 goes — and goes too, in order to be made 
 a. soldier — it will be like lopping off from 
 ihe a limb ! He is the joy and life of 
 the house ; he has a better heart, and a 
 sweeter temper than I almost ever met 
 with in any human being. I am sure he 
 loves us dearly; and how do we know that 
 your little Miss Cleveland will ever care a 
 rush about us r" 
 
 " Well, well," said the doctor, smiling, 
 " go up to bed now, Cioody, and think this 
 matter coolly over in the morning." 
 
 ^^ I shall think of nothing but your 
 threat that Algernon is to leave u^ and be- 
 come a soldier. Please the Lord, none of 
 my own boys shall ever, with my consent, 
 take to that trade i'*
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 67 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 EMPLOYMENT. 
 
 Two days after this conversation, Du 
 Hampden being sent for to a patient at the 
 distance of thirty miles, and judging it pro- 
 bable, that from the nature of the case, his 
 absence might be of unusual duration, wrote 
 a note, previous to his departure, to Mrs. 
 Cleveland, upon whom he was too much 
 hurried to call, and detaining Algernon 
 from morning school, made him the bearer 
 of it to his venerable patient. 
 
 The doctor wrote as follows : 
 
 *^ I am summoned, my dear Madam, so 
 abruptly from home, that I have no time to 
 wait upon you in person, as I fully intended, 
 to inform you that my excellent wife, after 
 mature delibe.'-ation, consents to the intro- 
 duction of the little inmate whom you pro- 
 pose to us, and solemnly enejagos to perform 
 towards her, the part of a careful and vigi- 
 lant parent. Make, of my name, in the 
 P 6
 
 58 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 disposition of your affairs, whatever use 
 will afford you most comfort. I shall scru- 
 pulously and conscientiously fulfil the duties, 
 be they of what nature they may, whicli 
 you shall chuse to confide to my integrity ; 
 and only hope that my abilities may be equal 
 to my zeal in the discharge of the office for 
 vvhicb you have selected me. 
 
 ** These hasty lines will be dehvered to 
 you by one whom I am proud to introduce 
 to 3^our notice, as the deserving object of 
 Mrs. Hampden's anxious care and affection ; 
 ■as well as of my own, during the course of 
 the last seven years. His name is Mording- 
 ton : you probably know the noble family to 
 "which he is allied. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, 
 
 *' With the utmost respect^ 
 " Dear madam, 
 ** Your obliged and devoted humble servant^ 
 " Francis Hampden." 
 
 Algernon Mordington, on his arrival at 
 Mr&. Cleveland's gate, told the servant who 
 opened it, that he brought a note from Dr. 
 Hampden, which he was desired, if his lady 
 was up, to deliver^ into her own hands. He 
 was ushered into a little parlour^^ whilst
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 59 
 
 the man went to enquire whether he could 
 be admitted. He speedily returned ; said 
 his mistress was at breakfast in the dressing- 
 room ; and begged the young visitor to 
 walk up. 
 
 Algernon followed his conductor ; and after 
 delivering the object of his mission to the 
 lady of the house, who recollected his coun- 
 tenance, and received him with an encoura- 
 ging and benevolent smile, he directed his 
 attention towards the other individuals in the 
 room, and soon found himself considerably 
 interested in the scrutiny. 
 
 Opposite to Mrs. Cleveland, and at the 
 same table, sat a little girl, pale and thin, 
 who, from a small bason of bread and milk, 
 provided for her ow^n breakfast, was li- 
 berally supplying the importunate demands 
 of a lively little dog, who neither moderate 
 nor scrupulous, partook with her of more 
 than half her portion. Immediately behind 
 her, stood the personage the most striking 
 ta Mordington's unaccustomed obseiTation, 
 of any in the group. This was the worthy 
 Amy, whose figure, short and squab, might 
 have excited some risibihty, had it not 
 been repressed by the profound duskiness 
 v6
 
 66 TRACTS OF NATURE. 
 
 of her skin ; and the extraordinary, and to 
 him, perfectly novel cast, of her broad- 
 spreading features. The countenance, how- 
 ever, invested with so sable a hue, displeased 
 less than it diverted — repulsed less than it 
 attracted him. Its expression was so con- 
 genial to his own gay nature — so mirthful, 
 yet so gentle, that he felt an immediate im- 
 pression of cordial good-will in her fa- 
 vour. 
 
 When Mrs. Cleveland had finished the 
 perusal of the doctor s note, which appeared 
 to give her extreme satisfaction, she po- 
 litely asked Mordington to partake of their 
 breakfast. He thanked her but declined it ; 
 and then begged to know whether he was 
 to wait for any answer to the letter, of which 
 he had been the bearer. 
 
 ^^ Are you acquainted, young gentleman,*' 
 said Mrs. Cleveland, " with its truly satis- 
 factory purport f " 
 
 ^^ No, madam, not at all " 
 
 '• Adela, my dear," resumed the old lady^ 
 after a moment's pause, *^ if you have quite 
 given away enough of your breakfast to Frisk, 
 you may go and play in the garden ; Amy 
 will attend you.**
 
 TRAITS OP KATURE. 6t 
 
 The little girl slid dawn from her chair, 
 and taking Amy's hand, left the room ; 
 followed, to the regret of Algernon, by 
 Frisk. 
 
 « That child;* said Mrs. Cleveland, 
 when they were gone, ^ is my grand-daugh- 
 ter. She is, as you may perceive by l^r 
 pallid complexion, in no very good state 
 of health : lier spirits are as weak as her 
 frame ; but her disposition is excellent. 
 I am, it grieves me to say it, almost her 
 only friend. She has been denied a mother's 
 protection, nearly from her birth ; and she 
 has lived with me so long, that to her fa- 
 ther she is little less than a stranger. You 
 may wonder, perhaps, Mr. Mordington, 
 why I should trouble you with all these 
 particulars : the reason is, that I am ex- 
 tremely desirous to awaken in you some 
 interest for this poor little unsupported 
 creature. 1 understand you are, and for 
 some time longer, may continue to be, 
 a resident in Dr. Hampden's family. I 
 have solicited, and obtained from the wor- 
 thy doctor, permission to leave my grand- 
 child in trust with him, at my own decease. 
 ^You see in me, my good young friend.
 
 62 TKAITS OP NATURF. 
 
 an agedj and infirm individual, who knows, 
 and is resigned to the idea, that she has not 
 long to Hve. My chief sohcitude, for a 
 considerable time past, has been for the 
 future welfare of my helpless tittle charge : 
 that is now removed, by the kindness of 
 your benevolent guardian and his wife. 
 But may I, when reflecting upon their 
 promised attention, chear myself with 
 the idea, that i/ou also, and the doctors 
 youthful family^ will be good and indulgent 
 to my timid girl? Will you be a friend 
 and protector to her ? In her childish dis- 
 tresses, will you support and comfort her ? 
 Will you make allowances for her little 
 faults, and consider, and teach your other 
 a&sociates to consider her as a friendless 
 stranger, to whom gentleness and en- 
 couragement are equally due with hos- 
 pitality and good manners ?" 
 
 To Algernon Mordington, so serious a 
 speech had never before been addressed j 
 nor a charge given of half so much im- 
 portance. Yet he fully understood, and 
 bis generous heart felt every word of the 
 anxious discourse, which he was proud to 
 find himself thought sufficiently a man to
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 63 
 
 have called forth. With the most animated 
 earnestness^ and with glowing cheeks, he 
 answered — 
 
 " In all that I am able — as well as I knovr 
 how — I will serve and be a constant friend 
 to her." 
 
 Mrs. Cleveland, with a smile of the pu- 
 rest benevolence, whilst, at the same time, 3 
 tear started to her eye, extended towards 
 him her hand, saying — 
 
 " I thank you— from the bottom of my 
 heart I thank you, for this frank and cor- 
 dial assurance. Your countenance pre- 
 pared me to expect a favourable reception 
 to my petition. I wish my poor Adela had 
 just such a brother — I wish that she was 
 assured of always possessing such a protec- 
 tor: but, however, you will befriend her 
 whilst you are under the same roof; and 
 for her sake, I hope it will be long ere you 
 are removed. I would now proceed to in- 
 troduce you to her as her destined compa- 
 nion; but she is shy to a painful excess; 
 and dreadfully afraid of every new face : 
 you must endeavour therefore to get ac- 
 <juain ted with her by degrees, and^ mean-
 
 64 TRAITS OP NATURE, 
 
 while, I depend upon you for procuring 
 
 her a kind welcome from the Uttle Hamp- 
 
 dens." 
 
 ** Oh, they are all so good tempered, I 
 am sure they will do every thing tliey can 
 to make her happy." 
 
 *^ Well, my dear, I will not detain you 
 longer at present. Whenever I am well 
 enough to see any body, I shall be glad to 
 see you. Make my kindest and most grate- 
 ful compliments to Mrs. Hampden ; tell 
 her, that had not writing been peculiarly 
 painful to me, I would have addressed my 
 thanks to her by letter. I shall be fa- 
 voured with a visit from her husband, I 
 hope, as soon as he returns ; much yet re- 
 mains to be arranged with him respecting 
 this little girl's establishment beneath his 
 roof; there are days when I am un-. 
 able to converse at all, I trust, however, 
 that Heaven will spare me, till all that 
 relates to her affairs is clearly and satis- 
 factorily terminated. Good day, my young 
 friend ; — take, with you my blessing and my 
 thanks." 
 
 Algernon, much affected by her kindness.
 
 TRAITS OP NATUBE. 6*5' 
 
 respectfully received her offered hand ; 
 bowed with an air of grateful sensibility, 
 and without speaking, departed. 
 
 He found that his return had been impa- 
 tiently 3vatched for, and expected, by the 
 whole youthful party. Mrs. Hampden had 
 communicated the tidings of Miss Cleve- 
 land's approaching admission into their fa- 
 mily ; and they were all eager to leara 
 whether Algernon had seen her, and what 
 was the impression her appearance had 
 made upon him. But he was in no hu- 
 mour to gratify their curiosity, till he had 
 disburthened his mind of some part of 
 the veneration with which it was filled fc»r 
 Mrs. Cleveland. He spoke of her with 
 feeling and concern ; described her dying 
 but placid looks — the benevolence of her 
 expressions, and the softness of her man- 
 ners, till his own eyes glistened, and the 
 children all stood mute, attentive, and 
 deeply interested in the unaffected energy 
 of his relation. 
 
 " I wish," continued he, " she was in. 
 good health, and my own grandmother ! 
 But 1 liave not a female relation in the 
 world who cares a straw for me. My poor
 
 66 TRAITS OP NATURE. 
 
 sister was such a baby when I left her, that 
 I dare say she hardly knows she has a bro- 
 ther." 
 
 " When she does know you," cried Mrs. 
 Hampden, *^ I make no doubt she will 
 prove to you as affectionate a sister as you 
 can desire." 
 
 ^^ I hope so with all my heart ; but, you 
 know, dear mother, all that is as it may 
 happen ; so, as it is of no use to think of 
 it now, I'll tell you what 1 can about little 
 Miss Cleveland. She looks as sickly and 
 thin as I can suppose /was when I first 
 came here. I believe she has very . pretty 
 eyes, though ; but they seem too large for 
 her face. Her grandmother says, she is a 
 good little soul ; and she hopes we shall all 
 like her, and try to make her comfortable. 
 But what I want most to tell you about, 
 is a young black woman, who was wait- 
 ing upon them at breakfast. Oh, she 
 is the most delightful piece of ugliness I 
 ever beheld ! She never looks at you with- 
 out a grin ; she has teeth as white as snow ; 
 lips as thick as the broad wheel of a wag- 
 gon; a fine fleece of black wool upon her 
 head, and so comical a countenance, that
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE^ Gf 
 
 she almost tempted me to give her the pre- 
 ference in my good graces, to the for- 
 mer object of my devotion, old Nurs^ 
 Brown." 
 
 The children, though much entertained 
 by this account of honest Amy, were, how- 
 ever, unanimous in supporting the prior 
 claims of their long established favourite, 
 old Nurse Brown ; and Algernon, to ap- 
 pease them, promised to let no upstart 
 dispossess her of her accustomed place in 
 his heart. 
 
 When this matter v/as settled, Mrs. 
 Hampden led the way to the apartment, 
 which she meditated to assign to their ex- 
 pected little guest ; and very ingeniously 
 contrived to find employment for each of 
 the children of an age to be employed, till 
 dinner time. Ruth was directed to sew a 
 new fringe to the bottom of a w indow-cur- 
 tain ; Judith, the next sister, was dispatched 
 for her little thread-case, to make a white 
 dimity cover for the toilet pincushion ; and 
 even Algernon, as it was now too late to 
 send him to join William and Reuben 
 Hampden at morning school, was not ex- 
 empted from taking his share in the occu-
 
 6$ TRAITS OP NATURE. 
 
 pations that were going forward. As being 
 the tallest, he was directed to remove from 
 a high shelf in an adjoining closet, a pile 
 of old newspapers, pamphlets, reviews and 
 magazines, which, when allowed time to 
 peep into their contents, afforded him suf- 
 ficient amusement, to reconcile him to their 
 dustiness, and almost to appease his anxiety, 
 again to resume his intercourse with Hot- 
 spur and Glendower. 
 
 Whilst thus furnishing occupation for 
 others, Mrs. Hampden was by no means idle- 
 herself. She was fitting to a huge old- 
 fashioned arm chair, a chintz cover, to all- 
 appearance, not many years its junior ; but 
 so neatly repaired, and still so bright in 
 hue, liiat it was as much the admiration 
 ©f the little girls, as the pride of their in- 
 dustrious mother.
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 69 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 TIMIDITV. 
 
 Mrs. Cleveland lived only a fortnight 
 after the conference with young Mording- 
 ton recorded in the preceding chapter : but 
 happily. Dr. Hampden returned from his 
 distant professional visit, in time to receive 
 her final directions respecting lier grand- 
 child ; an 1 to hear confirmed, in her pre- 
 sence, Mr. Cleveland's consentt o his as- 
 suming the guardianship, to which she had 
 appointed him. It 5vas also settled, that 
 the interest of the child's little fortune, 
 should, for the present, be suffered to ac- 
 cumulate ; that her father should pay an- 
 nually a stipulated sum for her board and 
 education ; and that Amy, to whom her 
 considerate mistress left a small annuity, 
 should, if she >\ished it, continue her at- 
 tendance upon Adela ; and reside with her, 
 at Mr. Cleveland's expcnce, in Dr. Hamp- 
 den's family.
 
 70 TRAITS or NATDRK. 
 
 With infinite difficulty, and after re- 
 peated interruptions, Mrs. Cleveland, pre- 
 vious to her decease, addressed to her two 
 eldest grand-daughters, Elinor and Alicia ; 
 the half-sisters of Adela, a short letter, 
 which she entrusted for delivery at some 
 future time, to the care of Dr. Hampdcni 
 It was conceived in these words — 
 
 , *' My dear grandchildren, 
 
 *' I WRITE from a bed of pain, whence I 
 have now no hope of living to arise. My 
 last earthly cares are for the welfare of your 
 little helpless sister ; the poor child, whom, 
 four years ago, your father permitted me to 
 take under my protection. Since that p e- 
 riod, you have scarcely seen her ; and you 
 may, perhaps, require to be reminded of 
 her claims upon your kindness. Some years 
 probably will elapse, ere you meet her 
 again : but cherish the remembrance of her 
 in your hearts ; befriend her, hereafter, if 
 it should ever be in your power, and for- 
 get not, how very dear sbe was to one, who 
 also loved you both most affectionately ; and 
 whose dying request it was, that you would 
 prove yourselves, in the fullest sense of the 
 word, her sisters.
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 71 
 
 *^ I have now only strength and sight, 
 with my final blessing, to sign myself, my 
 dearest children, 
 
 " Your fervent well-wisher, and ever- 
 attached grandmother, 
 
 " A. M. Cleveland." 
 
 The day succeeding the funeral of the 
 writer of this letter, the dejected little 
 Adela made her first entree in the family of 
 her new patrons. She had been detained 
 till that moment in the house of mourning 
 at the solicitation of Julius ; who, learning 
 that his father was determined not to quit 
 it himself, before his mother*s remains were 
 consigned to the grave, thought his sister's 
 presence, and that of Amy, might afford 
 him some relief from the gloominess that 
 surrounded him ; and, for the first time, 
 appeared to attach a slight degree of value 
 to their society. 
 
 It was evening, when her father's car- 
 riage conveyed the fearful child, her af- 
 fectionate attendant, and the sprightly 
 Frisk, to the residence of Dr. Hampden. 
 On hearing it drive up, Ruth, and the rest 
 of the young party, Algernon excepted, 
 would have rushed out to meet their ex-
 
 7^ TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 pec ted companion : but Mrs. Hampden de- 
 sired them to remain quiet, asserting that 
 the sudden eruption of so many entire 
 strangers, would terrify and overpower her. 
 The remonstrance was patiently s' bmitted 
 to — and they all peaceably returned to their 
 seats. 
 
 In a few moments, steps were heard in 
 the entrance, the parlour door was opened 
 by a maid servant, and in capered the alert 
 and familiar Frisk. 
 
 A general exclamation of delight fol- 
 lowed his appearance; and whichever way 
 he turned, he was welcomed and caressed 
 with the most unbounded testimonies of ap- 
 probation. Even the Doctor and Mrs. 
 Hampden were drawn to participate, though 
 with somewhat less enthusiasm, in the ad- 
 miration he excited ; and for some seconds 
 it seemed to be utterly forgotten that any 
 other guest than Frisk was expected. Mor- 
 dington was the first to cast his eyes to- 
 wards the door, where, startled and asto- 
 nished at their vociferation, stood the un- 
 obtrusive little stranger, pressing close up 
 to Amy, and tightly clasping her hand as 
 if for protection from the noisy host—
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 73 
 
 " My dear mother," said Algernon^ 
 ** vTon't you speak to Miss Clevelandi r *' 
 Mrs. Hampden turned round, and, afraid 
 of being too demonstrative, told the child 
 in simple but cordial terms, that she was 
 glad to see her ; begged she would go and 
 sit down; and gratified Amy by desiring 
 she would remain near her young mistress. 
 The children had discretion enough at first 
 to keep aloof ; but their eyes busily sur- 
 veyed the downcast aspect of the abashed 
 new-comer, or gazed with amazement at 
 the dark complexion of her humble friend. 
 
 Ruth at length gained courage, under 
 pretence of fondling Frisk, (who, satisfied 
 with the notice his outset had obtained, 
 now rested quietly at the feet of his mis- 
 tress,) to cross over to the place where 
 Adelawas sitting upon Amy's knees, and 
 to establish herself upon a low stool, close 
 beside them. Amy, nearly as much pre- 
 possessed by the blooming, sparkling coun- 
 tenance of Ruth, as she had, during his 
 visit to her departed lady, been by that of 
 Algernon, very readily contributed her 
 share towards the conversation which the 
 little girl seemed desirous of commencing ; 
 
 VOL. I. J£
 
 74 TRAITS OP NATURE. 
 
 and tried, but without much success, to 
 induce her young^ charge to bear some part 
 in it also: but the bashful little creature, 
 though now evidently recovered from her 
 first apprehensive feelings, could not be 
 prevailed upon to utter more than a mono- 
 syllable at a time, and that in so low a 
 voice as scarcely to be heard. Yet she 
 shrunk not entirely from the notice and ca- 
 resses of her new friend, but suffered her 
 little hand to be detained without any ap- 
 parent reluctance; and now and then be- 
 stowed a soft smile upon her, that threw 
 the warm-hearted Ruth into raptures. The 
 advances of Algernon, who had also ven- 
 tured to approach, she bore, however, with 
 less serenity ; his touch she recoiled from, 
 with a sort of antipathy; if he merely 
 looked at her, she averted her eyes; his 
 vicinity seemed to disturb her; nor could 
 she even composedly endure to see him take 
 the slightest notice of her faithful Frisk. 
 
 Amy was perfectly able to account for 
 these symptoms of uneasiness : but in Ruth 
 they excited equal surprise and concern. 
 Though by no means disposed to feel of- 
 fjEinded, she was nevertheless hurt that the
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. f% 
 
 kind attentions of Mordington should be so 
 perseveringly discouraged ; and found the 
 pleasure she had at first experienced, ia' 
 seeking to conciliate the favour of the 
 young stranger, considerably diminished. 
 
 In a short time the children's supper 
 was brought in, of which Adela was in- 
 vited to partake. She declined it, in a 
 whisper addressed to Amy; and before they 
 had concluded their slight meal, reposed 
 her head upon the negro's bosom, and drop- 
 ped into a calm sleep. 
 
 Mrs. Hampden had given orders that a 
 fire should be kept up in the room appro- 
 priated to her ; and thither, without being 
 awakened, she was gently conveyed in 
 Amy's arms, and put to bed. Frisk at 
 tended her, and as soon as she was laid 
 down, established himself for the night 
 upon a chair by her side. 
 
 ^^ Well, mamma," said Ruth, as soon 
 as her mother descended from the child's 
 room ; " how do you like the little girl ? 
 She looks very mild and gentle ; but I ne- 
 ver saw any thing so fearful in my life : 
 she thinks, I believe, that Algernon will 
 eat her ; and pale as she is, turns ten times 
 S 2
 
 ^S TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 paler^ if he only touches the hem of her 
 'frock. What an odd whim that is !" 
 
 ^^ Have patience with her/' said Mrs. 
 Hampden, *^ and don't expect her to be fa- 
 mihar all at once with so many unknown 
 faces. She has lately lost a fond grand- 
 mother, and been suddenly removed to a 
 place where every person, and every object 
 is entirely new to her. Give way for the 
 present to her little shy humours ; do not 
 shew any impatience or vexation ; and, as 
 much as you can, without appearing to ne- 
 glect her, give her full liberty to come 
 and go, talk, or be silent, as she pleases/* 
 
 ** This," cried Mordington, '^ is just what 
 poor Mrs. Cleveland would have recom- 
 mended. I am sorry I did not let her quite 
 alone this evening, for I believ€ I dis- 
 tressed her : but to-morrow, Fll try and 
 avoid even looking at her. One comfort is," 
 added he, laughing, ^' that poor, dear, pretty 
 Blacky won't require any courting at all to 
 be good friends : she smirks and noddies 
 already as facetiously as if she had known 
 us this twelvemoiith. How I do love her 
 short, shining, hideous face; and her droll 
 eyes, that look like two ripe elder berries 
 stuck in the white of a. hard egg ! "
 
 TRAITS or NATURE* 77 
 
 « Well, well," cried Mrs. Hampden, 
 ** leani youF lesson for school to-morrow^ 
 aiid save some of your wit for another time : 
 and he sure when you go up to bed, you 
 make no noise over the little girl's room." 
 
 He promised observance of this injunc- 
 tion; conned over rapidly, three or four 
 times, his morniag task ; and then, as well as 
 Dr. Hampden.^ turned to his Shakspeare 
 for the remainder of the evening. 
 
 When the little Adela descended to break- 
 fast the next morning, thoii^^h there ap- 
 peared no abatement in her gravity, she 
 looked, at least, perfectly placid ; and, un- 
 less assailed with questions by the younger 
 children, or particularly noticed by any of 
 the party, seemed sufficiently at her ease, 
 and completely bereft of alarm. Algernon, 
 to avoid disturbing, what the doctor termed, 
 her insecure security, wholly abstained from 
 speaking to, or regarding her. 
 
 When breakfast was over, Mrs. Hamp- 
 den gave her two eldest girls permission, as 
 it was a very beautiful morning, to walk 
 across the fields, with Mordington and 
 their brothers, a part of the way, at least, 
 towards the school to which the boys were 
 *3
 
 78 TRAITS OP NATURE. 
 
 riegularly sent. They eagerly prepared 
 themselves for the excursion ; whilst their 
 mother, addressing Adela, asked if she 
 would like, attended by Amy, to be of the 
 party ? 
 
 " It will do you good, my dear," added 
 she ; " air and exercise have been parti* 
 cularly recommended for you, and will 
 make you look as fresh as a rose. Shall 
 Amy bring your little straw hat ?" 
 
 In one of her accustomed whispers, when, 
 though her lips might be seen to move, it 
 was scarcely possible to catch any audible 
 sound proceeding from them, the child 
 faintly answered, 
 
 ** If you please, ma'am." 
 
 " But, my dear," resumed Mrs. Hamp- 
 den, somewhat perplexed on observing with 
 how little alacrity her proposal was ac- 
 cepted, " don't go merely to oblige me: 
 perhaps you had rather walk about the 
 garden with only Amy." 
 
 The little creature, with brightening 
 looks, eagerly caught hold of Amy, saying 
 softly, 
 
 " I had rather walk with only Amy, if 
 you please."
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 79 
 
 The kind matron smiled at the simple 
 sincerity of this answer, and bade her run 
 up with her nurse to fetch her hat. 
 
 Algernon, looking after her as she quitted 
 the room, said, 
 
 " I love her for being so fond of Blacky ; 
 but yet I should like to decoy Frisk away 
 from her : I dare say, he would much rather 
 gambol and scamper about in the fields, 
 than be confined to an old woman's walk 
 in the garden." 
 
 " Let me, however, have no decoying 
 attempted," said Mrs. Hampden. '^ Frisk 
 will do very well under the care of his 
 little mistress ; and indeed, to speak the 
 truth, I have so good an opinion of him, 
 that I hardly believe he could be readily 
 induced to quit her." 
 
 When Adela returned to the house, some 
 time after the juvenile party had set out, 
 she found Mrs. Hampden employed in 
 hearing two of her youngest children, the 
 one six, the other only four years old, read 
 their little lessons. For a moment she he- 
 sitated whether or not to advance ; but re- 
 ceiving a sign of encouragement, she stole 
 softly towards one of the windows, and 
 
 E 4
 
 |0 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 quietly remained observing all that was 
 passing till the children were released. 
 
 Shortly after, Ruth and Judith came 
 back ; and Mrs. Hampden, who never 
 would consent to send any of her girls to 
 school, and was their sole preceptress, called 
 upon them both to go through their daily 
 task. Each produced her little spelling- 
 book and Testament ; and each, in an audible 
 voic^, spelt a column, and read a chapter. 
 She then proceeded to place their writing 
 copies before them, and furnishing them 
 with the requisite implements, enjoined 
 them diligently to exert themselves for one 
 half-hour, in trying which could produce 
 th^ neatest specimen of penmanship. 
 
 Mrs. Hampden, though incapable of 
 giving to her daughters accomplishments 
 which she did not in the slightest degree 
 herself possess, was yet better qualified for 
 the task of instructing them in such plain, 
 and useful acquirements as she undertook. 
 to teach, than half the mothers or go- 
 vernesses who engage in the attempt. She 
 had an almost inexhaustible fund of patience j^ 
 was strictly impartial ; had a clear method 
 of explaining what she exacted; was uu--
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 81 
 
 failingly persevering ; and had a mild yet 
 inflexible firmness of manner, that scarcely 
 ever gave the children an opportunity of 
 eluding her commands, or disappointing her 
 expectations. 
 
 -Not a single circumstance that passed., 
 escaped the silent observation of the watch- 
 ful Adela. When the lessons were over, 
 and the children, according as they had 
 merited applause or censure, had received 
 the one or incurred the other, she savT 
 them, with the most cheerful docility, go 
 in search of their work-bags, and for a spe- 
 cified time, estabhsh themselves round their 
 mother, and industriously begin plying their 
 needles. 
 
 This scene of diligence appeared to fire 
 her with emulation ; for presently, gliding 
 gently out of the room, she speedily re- 
 turned, bearing in one hand a small work- 
 basket, and in the other an immense jointed 
 doll. 
 
 Mrs. Hampden, without seeming to re- 
 gard her, yet attended to all her move- 
 ments, and found some difficulty in repres- 
 sing a smile, when she saw her select from 
 her basket, such instruments of housewifery 
 £ 5
 
 M TKAITS or NATUKB. 
 
 as she thought she should want, and then, 
 very gravely, place the low arm-chair that 
 had been appropriated to her, next to Ruth, 
 and begin hemming a petticoat for her doll. 
 
 This first symptom of approaching soci- 
 ability gave the good Mrs. Hampden very 
 sincere pleasure ; but she carefully forbore 
 making any remarks that should tempt the 
 sensitive little plant to shrink back, and 
 went on conversing with her children upon 
 indifferent subjects. 
 
 It was impossible, indeed, to be many 
 hours in the same house with this child 
 without feeling for her an interest almost 
 amounting to affection. Her countenance 
 had so little of the common-place expression 
 of mere rosy thoughtless infancy, that, on 
 the contrary >. it denoted both reflection and 
 sensibility. Every time she raised her long 
 thick eye-lashes, and looked up in Mrs. 
 Hampden's face, it was with an air that 
 seemed to solicit kindness and protection. 
 The cast of her features was so delicate, 
 and the clearness of her complexion so 
 transparent, that there was an -appearance 
 of natural refinement about her, which, 
 had an hundred other children been present.
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 83 
 
 would have distinguished her from them all ; 
 her voice, without being either monotonous 
 or insipid, was sweetness itself; and so perfect 
 was the symmetry of her pliant and slender 
 little figure, that nothing could be more 
 gratifying to the eye, than to watch the 
 unconscious gracefulness of her movements 
 when in action, or of her attitudes when in 
 repose. 
 
 When the signal was given to the little 
 girls to desist from their work, and it had 
 been neatly folded up and put away, they 
 flocked round their young companion to 
 admire her huge doll. 
 
 She betrayed no uneasiness on observing 
 their eagerness to handle it, but pushing it 
 towards them, and addressing the two eldest 
 girls with an air of good-will, she said, 
 
 *^ You may play with it, if you hke." 
 
 " May we?" cried Ruth. " And will 
 you play with us ? " 
 
 Adela shook her head, and mildly but 
 gravely answered, » 
 
 " No, I thank you.** 
 
 And taking up her basket, she quitted 
 the room^ and repaired to her friend Amy. 
 E 6
 
 84 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 The spirits of this too susceptible child/ 
 though naturally high, had been subdued 
 nearly beyond the possibility of speedy res^ 
 toration^ by the scenes which^ for many 
 weeks, she had sorrowfully witnessed. 
 
 Mrs. Cleveland, the most attentive and 
 affectionate of parents, fallen into a state of 
 incurable languor, and drooping so visibly, 
 that even to the unexperienced observation 
 of a child, the rapid decay of her strength 
 was apparent; her father, though respect- 
 fully attentive to the poor invalid, utterly 
 negligent of his daughter, or disposed to 
 regard her only with scorn and sternness ; 
 her brother usurping over her unlimited 
 authority, and exercising his capricious 
 tyranny with fearless impunity ^ her sickly 
 looks made subjects of reproach ; her de- 
 pressed state of mind derided ; her intellects 
 avowedly considered as defective — what 
 wonder is it, ^at at so tender an age, ali 
 energy, all animation of character should 
 desert her ? 
 
 In addition to the benumbing influence 
 which the above causes produced upon her 
 faeutties, her nerves had recently sustained
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. B^. 
 
 a shock (unknown to all but Amy) capable 
 of leaving u|X)n a youthful imagination an 
 impression the most gloomy and awful. 
 
 During the two last days of her suffering 
 grandmother's existt nce^ the nurses and at- 
 tendants deemed it necessary to prohibit the 
 child's admission into the sick-i'oom. This 
 interdiction almost broke her heart, and but 
 for the soothings and sympathizing tender^, 
 ness of Amy^ would have been a heavier, 
 affliction than she could have supported. 
 
 Perpetually on the watch, however, to 
 obtain, if possible, a favourable opportunity 
 of gaining a moment's access to the bed-side 
 of her only friend, she stole softly, towards 
 the evening of the third day of her painful 
 seclusion, to the forbidden door. It was the 
 fourth or fifth attempt of the same kind which 
 she had made since morning, and on each 
 occasion, after a long pause of almost 
 breathless anxiety, with her hand upon the^ 
 lock, she had been compelled to retreat by 
 the sound of voices or footsteps within, 
 which convinced her the attendants were 
 all in waiting. Amy had been privy to 
 these repeated trials ; no arguments being 
 of weight sufficieat to convince her that it
 
 86 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 could be either right or pardonable to 
 debar an affectionate child from the sight 
 of her parent, as long as that parent conti- 
 nued in possession of her senses ; and acting 
 upon this principle, she even ventured to 
 become the companion of her young mis- 
 tress's intrusion. 
 
 To the child's unspeakable delight, she 
 not only escaped all observation in her 
 way to the patient's chamber, but on reach- 
 ing it, distinguished no sound within, which, 
 she thought, need withhold her from endea- 
 vouring to enter. She tried the handle of the 
 door, which gave way w ith perfect ease ; and 
 advancing on tip-toe, and with a beating heart, 
 she proceeded some paces towards the bed. 
 
 The profound silence that reigned in 
 the apartment — -now in the decline of a 
 cloudy autumnal evening, so faintly light- 
 ed as scarcely to render objects discern- 
 ible ; the deserted state in which her be- 
 nefactress appeared to have been left ; and 
 above all, the undefinable apprehensions 
 that seized upon her mind, and filled it 
 with vague but solemn emotions — all 
 chilled her heart, and for some moments 
 arrested her steps. A whisper from Amy^
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 8^ 
 
 who stood centinel at the door, and urged 
 her to lose no time, lest they should be sur- 
 prised, impelled her again to move forward. 
 She drew nearer to the curtains, and gently 
 opening them, on the side next the window, 
 the ever-venerated and ever- dear coun- 
 tenance of Mrs. Cleveland presented itself 
 to her view, overspread by a paleness so 
 cadaverous, exhibiting an immobility so 
 appalling, that the unhappy child, half con- 
 scious of her misfortune, though ignorant 
 ot the appearance, and of all except the 
 name of death, stood trembling and awed 
 at the sight — too much terrified to cry out, 
 too much amazed to seek refuge in ^i^ht 
 from so direful a spectacle ! Her heart 
 almost audibly throbbed — her eyes seemed 
 fixed by fascination upon the livid object 
 on which they glared ; and whilst thus 
 standing as if spell-bound and rooted to the 
 spot, accidentally moving her hand, it came 
 in contact with that (icy-cold, stiff, and 
 clammy) of the ghastly corpse ! The shock 
 was too great to be borne — she uttered a 
 feeble though penetrating shriek, and 
 sunk senseless on the bed.
 
 a» TSAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 Amy, upon whose affectionate vigilance 
 HO sound or movement of her youthful 
 charge was ever lost^ instantly caught the 
 alarm, and darting towards her, discovered 
 at a single glance, the deplorable cause of 
 herinsensibihty. Though sincerely attached 
 to the departed Mrs. Cleveland, she staid 
 not to lament over her breathless form, but 
 snatching the little Adela in her arms, had 
 barely time to convey her from the room of 
 death before the attendants resumed their 
 station in the apartment. 
 
 The waking reflections^ the nightly 
 dreams of the fear-struck girl, after this 
 unfortunate moment, were of a nature con* 
 tinually to recall the impressive scene to her 
 harrowed imagination. She asked Amy 
 no questions when she recovered from her 
 fainting fit ; her own observation, transient 
 as it had been, having, beyond all possibility 
 ©f doubtj taught her to know that the 
 ghastly, pallid, inanimate figure which she 
 had beheld, could be a representation of 
 nothing but irrecoverable mortality. Yet 
 she dreaded to hear the fact confirmed ; 
 dreaded to hear the word death applied to
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 89 
 
 ©ne she had so tenderly loved ; and from 
 this cause, though the subject was ever up- 
 permost in her mind, she made no commu- 
 nication of her thoughts, but, sad as they 
 were, suffered them to prey in silence upon 
 her health and spirits. 
 
 Amy not having been ordered to an- 
 nounce to her the fatal tidings, and being 
 herself unw^illing to enter upon a conversa- 
 tion so afflicting, the absolute certainty of 
 the loss she had sustained veas never com- 
 municated to the neglected child, till the 
 day her mourning apparel was brought into 
 her room. All the smothered emotions of 
 her heart then burst forth, and she gave 
 way to a paroxysm of grief, that frightened 
 as much as it affected poor Amy, and pro- 
 duced, even in the thoughtless Julius, a 
 temporary disposition to participate in her 
 boundless sorrow. 
 
 Such had been, in addition to the. indis- 
 position that enfeebled her powers of exer- 
 tion — to her father's cruel indiflference, and 
 to the loss of her protectress, the cause of 
 that extreme depression which marked her 
 whole deportment. Her sleep frequently
 
 go TRAITS OF NATURE, 
 
 disturbed by starts ; her innocent mind 
 haunted, even at noon-day, by the most 
 melancholy visions ; the novelty of the 
 scenes to which she had been introduced, 
 had yet tended but in a very slight degree 
 to relieve her from the w^eight that op- 
 pressed and weakened her infant mind* 
 
 1
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 91 
 
 CHAP. VL 
 
 auiXOTISM* 
 
 However gradually, the passive and for- 
 bearing system pursued by the Hampden 
 family in regard to their little inmate, failed 
 not, in process of time, to produce a fa- 
 vourable change in her aspect and manners. 
 After silently attending, for three successive 
 mornings, to the proceedings of the other 
 children during their hours of study, she 
 voluntarily, on the fourth, brought her own 
 book of easy lessons to Mrs. Hampden, and 
 begged she would hear her read. More 
 gratified by this unsolicited application than 
 she chose to appear, Mrs. Hampden quietly 
 assented ; and was equally pleased and sur- 
 prised to find that she not only read with 
 perfect fluency, but, for her age, with an 
 intelligence so expressive, and a propriety 
 of tone and accent so interesting, that she 
 kept alive attention, and gave the most
 
 92 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 pleasing effect to the little story she had 
 chosen. 
 
 Mrs. Hampden too easily guessed by 
 whom she had been thus admirably instruct- 
 ed, to pain her by asking any questions : but 
 when she closed her book, affectionately 
 kissed her, and praised the manner in which 
 she had acquitted herself. 
 
 Cheered and encouraged by this kindness^ 
 the child now said— 
 
 *^ I can repeat some hymns and fabler 
 too, ma'am ; — will you like to hear me ?" 
 
 Receiving a ready assent to the question, 
 she recited her little store of religious and 
 moral poetry,, in a voice so touching, and 
 with a look so innocent, so imaffectedly 
 earnest, that sh6 brought tears* into the eyes 
 of her a\idi tress. Again she was embraced, 
 and commended for her successful efforts ;, 
 and then. Mrs. Hampden asked her whether 
 she had any wish to learn to write ? She 
 promptly answered in the affirmative ; and 
 from that day forward, became an active; 
 and pleased emulator of the industry of her 
 young companions. 
 
 In the same unconstrained manner, she 
 gradually accustomed herself to pursue
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE, ^9 
 
 most of their habits ; and soon evinced a 
 very perceptible increase of confidence in 
 all the female branches of the family. But 
 the presence of Dr. Hampden never failed 
 to recall into her countenance its original 
 shyness ; and of his two eldest boys, as well 
 as of Algernon, she betrayed such manifest 
 distrust and apprehension, that with one ac- 
 cord, they agi-eed wholly to refrain from ta- 
 king any notice of her. 
 
 Not so was it with regard to Amy. To- 
 wards Mordington, who particularly courted 
 her, she conceived sentiments the most 
 friendly and cordial. Extremely dextrous, 
 and full of good-natured ingenuity, she 
 wove baskets for him of reeds, or slender 
 willovr twigs ; assisted him in stuffing his 
 balls^ or constructing his bows and arrows ; 
 made nets for various purposes, and with 
 pieces of elder-wood, fabricated such pow- 
 erful pop-guns, that their report might be 
 heard from one extremity of the garden to 
 the other. 
 
 In the upper part of 'the house was a 
 large and unoccupied chamber, chiefly used 
 as a place to deposit lumber, and yet so 
 spacious, that, in rainy weather, it made an
 
 94 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 admirable play-room for the youthful family. 
 On every wet half-holiday, the boys, drag- 
 ging Amy with them, and followed by their 
 sisters, repaired to this privileged scene of 
 noise and amusement. Adela hated to enter 
 their territories ; yet, rather than submit to 
 a long separation from her nurse, she some- 
 times diffidently crept after them, — stole 
 into a corner with Frisk, and was a silent 
 spectatress of their pastimes. 
 
 One evening, that Algernon had been 
 successively wrestling with William and 
 Reuben, by neither of whom he had been 
 conquered, though by their alternate ef- 
 forts he had been wearied ; suddenly desist- 
 ing, and throwing himself on a seat to take 
 breath, he invited Frisk, by a friendly 
 whistle, to share his resting-place. Adela 
 was now too much accustomed to witness 
 their intimacy, to feel any alarm for the 
 safety of the little animal ; but her eyes 
 filled with tears on hearing Mordington 
 presently exclaim— 
 
 " Why, Nursy, what has given this poor 
 dog such a vile disposition, every now and 
 then, to hop upon three legs ? Has he ever 
 received any hurt ?**
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE, 95 
 
 " Oh, Massa, better not ask about it,** 
 cried Amy, " it no good story." 
 
 " Why, it was not done on purpose, was 
 it, Nurse ? " enquired Ruth. 
 
 *' It was done — well, well, never mind 
 how it was done ! You say a great deal 
 about it, you vex little Missy." 
 
 The children all looked inquisitively at 
 Adela, and saw her face exhibiting such a 
 painful air of consciousness, that, for a mo- 
 ment, they were tempted to suspect, that it 
 was by her the mischief had been perpetrated. 
 Amy, aware, from the expression of their 
 countenances, of what was passing in their 
 minds, hesitated not to clear her beloved 
 charge, by instantly revealing the truth. 
 
 William, Reuben, and their good-tem- 
 pered sisters, expressed, in the strongest 
 terms, their abhorrence of so mischievous an 
 excess of passion ; but Algernon, though 
 he said the least, was struck with a deeper 
 sense of indignation than any of the party ; 
 and, to judge by the anger that Hashed 
 from his eyes, felt as if he would have re- 
 joiced in an opportunity of inflicting upon the 
 young culprit the most exemplary chastise- 
 ment. One observation escaped him, that
 
 q6 traits of nature, 
 
 shewed the good sense with which he could 
 aheady trace effects from their causes. 
 
 *^ I can understand now," said he, " what 
 has made Miss Cleveland so shy of WilHam, 
 Reuben, and me, I suppose she thinks all 
 boys arealike; and as Frisk had his legs 
 disabled at home, expects that here he will 
 lose h\s head ! '* 
 
 *' No, no," exclaimed Amy; — " Little 
 ,Missy no think that at all, — Massa Julius 
 have quite different face ; — he sometimes 
 have so proud, so fierce look 1 And he so 
 love to command ; and if he play, he so 
 glad to tease, tease, and make vexed !-— Oh, 
 no ; he no more like you, than blacky like 
 whitey !'* 
 
 Algernon laughed, and, thanking Amy 
 for her reluctance to allow of the resem^ 
 blance, started up, and called upon the two 
 boys to assist him in suspending a swing to 
 a beam that ran across the ceiling. 
 
 This little conversation, the remembrance 
 of which seemed to operate favourably upon 
 the mind of Adela, and in a slight de- 
 gree to abate her reserve towards Mor- 
 dington and his companions, was succeeded, 
 a few daya after, by an incident which.
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 97 
 
 however trifling in itself, effected a still 
 more material change in all her sentiments. 
 
 Returning home with the two Hampdens 
 from afternoon school^ one exceedingly wet^ 
 cold, and boisterous evening, Algernon was 
 surprised, as he approached the house, to 
 see Adela and the nurse standing under the 
 porch, the former, utterly regardless of t!ie 
 rain that drifted upon her head, and ap- 
 pearing in great distress ; and the latter, 
 vainly exerting all her powers of rhetoric 
 to persuade her young charge no longer to 
 expose herself to the, so nearly certain, risk 
 of catching cold. 
 
 " What is the matter r" enquired Al- 
 gernon, concerned to perceive them in such 
 uneasiness. 
 
 " Oh, good young Massa !'* exclaimed 
 Amy, delighted at his return, " Will you 
 make little Missy not stand here, and 
 get all wet and cold r And me go bring 
 back Frisk." 
 
 " Is Frisk lost, then ?" 
 
 Amy answered, that a short time before, 
 a woman and two boys, who appeared to be 
 travellers, had come to the door to beg ; 
 that Mrs. Hampden was gone to see a sick 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 98 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 neighbour, but that Adela observ hig them 
 from the window, stepped out to give them 
 some relief from lier own httle fund. Frisk 
 had accompanied her — and now was no 
 where to be found ! The nurse, concluding 
 he had been stolen by the wandering pe- 
 titioners, was anxious to attempt his re- 
 covery, by setting out immediately in pur- 
 suit of them. 
 
 ^^ Which way did they go?" eagerly de- 
 manded Mordington. 
 
 Amy pointed in the direction she beUeved 
 they had taken ; and the animated boy^ 
 pushing her and Adela into the passage, only 
 stopped to say, 
 
 " Nursy, my friend, go and comfort 
 yourself by a good fire, and leave the rescue 
 of poor Frisk to me." 
 
 " Then, darting off, he was out of sight in 
 a moment. William Hampden hastily fol- 
 lowed him ; and Amy, with her distressed 
 httle charge, w^ent back into the house. 
 
 Recollecting to have met, in his way 
 home, a party that strongly resembled the 
 description of the supposed offenders, Mor- 
 dington was sanguine in his hopes of suc- 
 ceeding, by the tender of a little money, in
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 99 
 
 recovering the dog, could he but fortu- 
 nately accomphsh his wish of overtaking 
 them. It happened that, of the frugal al- 
 lowance granted him for pocket money, 
 (anxiously desiring to purchase a writing- 
 desk which he had seen upon sale in the 
 
 neighbouring town of S ,) he had saved 
 
 nearly the whole of the last quarter ; and 
 this money he now carried about him. In 
 comparison to the loss of Frisk, the loss of 
 the money was to him as nothing : and, on 
 coming up with the strollers, which he hap- 
 pily effected, so ably did he conduct his 
 enterprize, and so successfully win upon 
 their hearts, partly by his offered bribe, and 
 partly by his gay yet earnest entreaties, 
 that the woman was unable to resist his 
 prayers, and, at length, consented to release 
 the astonished Frisk from the dirty old sack 
 in which he had been immured, and to re- 
 store him to honourable society. 
 
 Bounding, frolicking, and wild with joy, 
 the newly-emancipated prisoner attended 
 his delighted deliverer home, and reached 
 Dr. Hampden's door, in company with 
 V/illiam, who shared in their satisfaction, 
 a few minutes after the family (urider some 
 
 F 2
 
 100 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 anxiety for the young Quixote) had assem- 
 bled to tea. 
 
 His entrance^ preceded^ rather than fol- 
 lowed, by the almost despaired-of Frisk, 
 was hailed with a general cry of transport ; 
 and Adela, in particular, forgetting all fear, 
 and dismissing all coldness, flew past the 
 dog, and springing upon a chair, threw her 
 little arms round Algernon's neck, and em- 
 braced him with the frank and joyful fond- 
 ness of the most affectionate sister. Charmed 
 by a reception so unexpectedly kind , Mor- 
 dington encouraged and returned her ca« 
 resses, whilst the Doctor and Mrs. Hamp- 
 den sat by, and smiled at this novel scene 
 with the sincerest pleasure. 
 
 Thus vanished (and for ever) all distrust 
 on the part of Adela, and all affectation of 
 indifference on that of Algernon ; and, from 
 this period, a cordiality established itself 
 between them, which cheered the heart and 
 brightened the countenance of the little girl, 
 as much as it gratified and flattered her new 
 friend. 
 
 Learning the next day, by means of Wil- 
 liam, the method he had employed to gain 
 his point with the fraudulent intercepters of
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 101 
 
 poor Frisk, it became her most earnest de- 
 sire to offer him some compensation for the 
 sacrifice he had made. She possessed, in 
 addition to the friendship of Amy, only two 
 objects of particular regard ; one was a 
 little gold watch, which she was yet too 
 young to wear, but often contemplated with 
 admiration in its case ; and the other was 
 — Frisk ! — Whichever of these Algernon 
 could be induced to accept, she pined to 
 offer him : but her courage failed, and it 
 was only through the intervention of Amy, 
 that she dared hazard the proposal. 
 
 The disinterested and perfectly undesign- 
 ing boy, shrunk from the idea of taking 
 such advantage of her gratitude, with the 
 steadiest inflexibiHty : but hearing from the 
 nurse, that Adela really fretted at his per- 
 severance in refusing her intended libe- 
 rality, he came to a compromise with her ; 
 declined all concern with the watch, but 
 consented so far to look upon Frisk as his 
 own, as to make him the constant companion 
 of his rambles ; and to suffer his initials, as 
 well as Adela's, to be engraven upon the 
 little silver plate of the dog's collar, 
 F 3
 
 102 TKAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 Meanwhile^ Dr. Hampden, with un- 
 abated ardour, was continuing the perusal 
 of his borrowed Shakespeare. The mania 
 for that author which had so enthusiasti- 
 cally seized him, was strengthened by the 
 warm participation of. Mordington. They 
 read and talked of nothing but Shakespeare ; 
 the quick and retentive memory of the 
 hvely boy was soon furnished with whole 
 scenes from his favourite plays : every 
 speech uttered by Percy he, in particular, 
 delighted to spout forth; and by this means, 
 so incurably confirmed the doctor's pre- 
 possession, as to induce him, at length, seri- 
 ously to declare, that if the babe, whose 
 birth was now hourly expected, proved a 
 boy, it should indubitably receive the ho- 
 nourable appellation of — Hotspur ! 
 
 This project, as has already been related, 
 was opposed by poor Mrs. Hampden with 
 all the earnestness which she thought it 
 jiistifiable to exert ; and, by Algernon, was 
 heard with convulsions of internal laughter. 
 The worthy matron's solemn protest against 
 a breach of custom which appeared to her 
 so unseemly; her husband's incomprehen-
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 103 
 
 sible warmth upon the subject; and the 
 strange effect which such a braggadocio 
 sort of name would produce when contrasted 
 with the primitive and peaceful denomina- 
 tions of the other children, amused him be- 
 yond description. He had the forbearance, 
 however, to conceal his wicked risibility 
 froni the parents, contenting himself with 
 forming eager wishes for the speedy arrival 
 of the moment which was to decide the 
 contest. 
 
 These wishes were gratified, and the 
 birth of a fourth son was announced to the 
 family kbout six weeks after the introduc- 
 tion into it of the little Adela. The joy 
 excited throughout the whole household 
 by the information of Mrs. Hampden's 
 safety, gave honourable and unequivocal 
 testimony of the affectionate estimation in 
 which she was held. Amy, in spontaneous 
 imitation of those who had longer experi- 
 enced the happiness of residing with so 
 good a mistress, displayed the utmost anx- 
 iety to render herself useful, either as nurse 
 to the infant, or as attendant upon the mo- 
 ther ; and by old Nurse Brown, now growa 
 J 4
 
 104 TBAITS OF NATURE, 
 
 infirm and incapable of much exertion, she 
 was considered as a very valuable auxiliary* 
 Adela, no longer confiding in Amy alone 
 for protection and kindness, was well pleased 
 that she should devote a portion of her time 
 and thoughts to the service of others ; and 
 unaffectedly shared in her fondness for the 
 future little Hotspur. 
 
 In the course of the first week that Mrs. 
 Hampden was able to resume her station 
 below stairs, the christening took place ; and 
 the doctor, abating somewhat of the rigour 
 of his original decree, consented that the 
 baby should receive the compound appel- 
 lation of Hotspur-Benjamin! This incon- 
 gruous combination, could not but have 
 demolished the solemnity of a much graver 
 philosopher than Mordington, and almost 
 caused him to roll upon the floor with ir- 
 repressible laughter. On the risible facul- 
 ties of Mrs. Hampden it operated by no 
 means so ludicrously ; though, ou her ear, 
 it grated no less harshly. She internally 
 formed a firm resolution never to call the 
 child by any other but his second, and, as 
 she emphatically styled it, his really chriS"
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 105 
 
 tian denomination ; and, somewhat consoled 
 by the reflexion that she had, at least, pro- 
 cured for him 07ie name that merited to be 
 so considered, she the more patiently sub- 
 mitted to the addition it was destined to 
 receive. 
 
 r 5
 
 i06 TRAITS OF NATURE* 
 
 CHAP. vir. 
 
 TEMPTATION, 
 
 Weeks and months now rolled away in 
 uninterrupted serenity, and the happy and 
 deserving family of Dr. Hampden, flou- 
 rishing in all its branches, presented to 
 every benevolent observer the most grati- 
 fying picture of domestic concord, of pa- 
 rental and filial attachment and confidence^ 
 No mandate of recall arrived for Mording- 
 ton. His uncle. Lord Ossely, occasionally 
 wrote, and punctually paid his bills : but,^ 
 by his silence on the subject of Algernon's 
 removal to a higher school, he proved, that 
 whatever had once been his intentions in fa- 
 vour of the orphan boy, they were gra- 
 dually superseded by increasing solicitude 
 for the interest of his own children ; and 
 that, as demands upon his purse multiplied 
 for them^ the same demands were likely to 
 be yearly more unwilHngly attended to for 
 him, Algernon had no personal remem-
 
 TRAITS or XATURE. 10/ 
 
 brance of any of these relations : be held no 
 correspondence with them ; and, except 
 when he reflected upon his long estrange- 
 ment from his youthful sister^ seldom be- 
 stowed upon them a moment's thought. 
 
 Adela's deserted state, —as lier parents 
 still survived — was yet more singular, and 
 yet more pitiable, Mr. Cleveland, from 
 the hour he had seen her enter the carriage 
 which conveyed her to the good physician's, 
 had never v/ritten a line concerning her, 
 perhaps never suffered her to dwell two mi- 
 nutes in his remembrance. When the half- 
 year s stipend became due for her board, it 
 was remitted, as in former times it had 
 been to her cottage-nurse, by his steward ; 
 ---and Julius, slighting her with equal 
 coldness, neither expressed any wish to be- 
 hold l>er again, nor ever spoke of her to his 
 half-sisters, but as of a crying, pale-faced, 
 spiritless little creature, whom it made him 
 melancholy to think about, and would weary 
 him to death to live with. 
 
 The letter addressed to the Miss Cleve ' 
 
 lands, which had been confided to Dr.. 
 
 Hampden at their grandmothers decease,. 
 
 be had hitherto held back; judging that 
 
 F 6
 
 108 TRAITS OP 'NTATTTRP,. 
 
 the best time to deliver it would be, when 
 Adela^ — should that moment ever arrive,—- 
 vas withdiawn from his protection, and 
 sent for to inhabit her father s house. These 
 young ladies, therefore, had few induce- 
 ments to remember her ; they had been told 
 she was in respectable hands, and hoped 
 that she was happy ; — further, they neither 
 knew, nor were very solicitous to enquire. 
 
 Happy, indeed, and unspeakably im- 
 proved, in every respect, was the unrepining 
 little exile. Called forth by encourage- 
 ment, and by associating w-ith cheerful 
 beings of her own age, a gaiety frank, and 
 sometimes almost wildly unrestrained, had 
 taken place of the timidity and dejection 
 which used to mark her voice and manners. 
 Not a vestige of fear or sadness remained 
 upon her face ; it sparkled with unclouded 
 vivacity; was blooming, open ; — -expressive 
 of perfect confidence in all around her, and 
 of the most genuine and unalterable good- 
 liumour. Algernon loved her beyond de- 
 scription ; gratified her to the full extent 
 of his power, in e>^ery wish of her merry 
 little heart; and foretold continually, that 
 she would be the completest beauty that
 
 TRAITS OF NATITRR. 109 
 
 had ever existed. Mrs. Hampden exulted 
 in the admirable effec's produced, as she 
 asserted and believed, by her own excellent 
 management; the doctor was amused by 
 the child's playful famiharity ; and the 
 younger members of the family all delighted 
 in her, if not as the prime instigator, at 
 least, as the most indefatigable partaker in 
 every mirthful scheme, and in every in- 
 genious frolic. 
 
 The winter passed, and Adela was re- 
 turning, one morning, accompanied by 
 
 Amy and Ruth, from S , the town, 
 
 much frequented for its sea-bathing, near 
 which Dr. Hampden resided, when, just as 
 the little party had entered a ferry-boat 
 which was to convey them across a narrow 
 creek, connected with the sea, that divided 
 / them from the fields adjoining to the doc- 
 tor's house, a lady and gentleman, rapidly 
 approaching the banks, desired the water- 
 man to stop and take them in. The gentle- 
 man held the bridle of a beautiful poney, 
 furnished with a side-saddle ; and after his 
 female companion had entered the boat, she 
 asked the two little girls, in a soft voice, 
 and with an air of kindness, whether it
 
 110 TRATTS OF NATURE. 
 
 would give them any alarm to permit the 
 admission of her gentle courser. They both 
 promptly answered, ^^ None at all :" and 
 the gentleman, stepping into the boat^ 
 quietly drew the poney after him. 
 
 Adela and Ruth/ encouraged by his as- 
 surances that there could not possibly be a 
 milder-tempered animal, ventured, during 
 the short passage^ repeatedly to pat and 
 stroke him. Amy was rendered somewhat 
 uneasy for her young charge, by this fami- 
 liarity, and, two or three times, urged her 
 to come away: — 
 
 ^^ I am not afraid^ Amy," said the child ; 
 ^* Grandmamma, you know, hired a poney 
 for Julius, and I used often to feed him, 
 and he never did me any harm/* 
 
 ^^ Who is Julius, my love ?'* enquired the 
 lady. 
 
 *^ My brother, ma'am ."^ 
 
 A short whispered dialogue now passed 
 between the two strangers ; and then, whilst 
 the lady let down her veil, and suddenly 
 seated herself, the gentleman said^ — 
 
 " Will you give me leave to ask — is your 
 name Cleveland ?" 
 
 « Yes, Sir."— And the little girl looked
 
 TfiAlTS OF NATURE. Ill 
 
 much surprised, and gazed at them both 
 with enquiring eyes, but without knowing 
 in what words to express her curiosity. 
 
 There was a general silence in the boat 
 for some seconds ; the lady had turned her 
 face away from the party, and leaning over 
 the edge of the little vessel, seemed to be 
 attentively contemplating the water. Her 
 companion scrutinizingly regarded Adela ; 
 and, at length, entreating Amy to hold the 
 bridle of the poney, he went and sat down 
 by the lady, and conversed with her in a 
 low voice, during a considerable period. 
 They appeared to be both speaking with 
 great earnestness. Adela and Ruth sur- 
 veyed them with undefinable, but singular 
 interest; they thought they could distin- 
 guish low sobs proceeding from the lady ; 
 and the murmurinsf tones of the gentleman 
 seemed expressive of kindness and commi- 
 seration. After this scarcely audible dia- 
 logue had^ lasted some time, the stranger 
 got up, and relieving Amy from the office 
 she had undertaken, he said to Adela — 
 
 " That lady and I know something of 
 your family, my dear ; will you, then, per-
 
 112 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 mit me now to ask you a few questions ?— 
 Where is now your brother r" 
 
 '^ With my father, I believe, sir, in 
 London." 
 
 " And whom are you with here ?" 
 
 " With Dr. and Mrs. Hampden ; I have 
 been with them almost eight months : they 
 live close to that clump of tall trees on the 
 other side of the meadow." And she 
 pointed, as she spoke, to the clump, and 
 seemed to contemplate with pleasure the 
 neighbourhood of her cheerful home. 
 
 ^^ Are you happy at Dr. Hampden's ?" 
 
 ^' Oh, I never was so happy any where 
 in my whole life ! I have five or six play- 
 fellows — this is nn(^ of them," shewing 
 Ruth ; *^ her name is Ruth Hampden ; I 
 love her as if she were my sister :-— and she 
 has two or three brothers, very good-natured 
 boys ; and there is, besides, Algernon Mor- 
 dington, the best of them all ! I wish you 
 could see Algernon." 
 
 The gentleman smiled at her frank volu- 
 bility, and then said, 
 
 '' With whom did you live before you 
 came to reside at Dr. Hampden's ? "
 
 thaits of nature. 113 
 
 Her voice changed, and her countenance 
 fella s she answered, 
 
 ^^ With poor grandmamma Cleveland ;" 
 and all the vivacity previously animating 
 her features was suddenly obscured. 
 
 ^^ Do you often/' resumed the stranger, 
 iifter a momentary pause, '^ walk to S ?" 
 
 ^^ Once or twice a-week to bathe," 
 
 They had now reached the shore at which 
 they were to land. Adela and Ruth skipped 
 out of the boat without assistance, and then 
 turned to watch the landing of the beautiful 
 poney, and to obtain, if they could, a view 
 of the lady's face ; but she held her hand- 
 kerchief up to it, and it was also shaded by 
 her veil. 
 
 At the distance of about twenty paces 
 from the bank, there was a large tree, newly 
 felled, lying upon the ground ; the lady 
 walked towards it, saying to Adela, in a 
 faltering voice as she passed, 
 ^^ Will.you sitdown there a moment by me ?'* 
 
 The gentleman addressed some observa- 
 tions to Amy and Ruth, which detained 
 them where they stood, and Adela alone 
 followed her conductress.
 
 114 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 When they were seated, the lady, taking 
 her hand, and fervently pressing it, said, 
 
 " How much I wish to speak to you 
 without the danger of being overheard ! — 
 Are you ever suffered to leave home unat- 
 tended ? Could you meet me here to-mor- 
 row, about this time, without any compa- 
 nion ? Trust me, dearest child, no harm 
 shall befall you. I would sooner die than 
 injure you. Oh, if you knew what is 
 passing in my heart — if you knew how 
 your sight gratifies, pains, aiFects me!"— 
 
 She stopped, overpowered by her own 
 emotion, and Adela felt the hand which 
 had hitherto held hers, thrown around her 
 waist, and the next moment was strained 
 with passionate tenderness to the lady's 
 heart. 
 
 Penetrated by such indications of fond- 
 ness, the grateful child would have clasped 
 her arms about the stranger's neck ; but 
 hastily rising, as if to repress her young 
 companion's too-unguarded sensibility, she 
 said, 
 
 " I fear to trust myself longer with you — 
 at least, before witnesses ; but shall you
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 116 
 
 fear, to-morrow, to grant me another inter- 
 view ? — Dearest child ! my precious Adela ! 
 say, will you meet me here again ?" 
 
 ^^ I will — indeed I will," eagerly replied 
 the little girl. 
 
 '^ And you will forbear communicating 
 this request to any of your friends ? You 
 will be silent and punctual ?" 
 
 " I will not say a word to any body ; 
 and I will be here at two o'clock — the 
 moment I have done my lessons.'* 
 
 The lady spoke no more, but again 
 pressed the child's hand, and made a sign 
 to her to go back alone to the little group 
 at the water-side ; and the gentleman then, 
 wishing them all good morning, led the 
 poney forward, and rejoined his female 
 companion. 
 
 Ruth and Amy were both most anxious 
 to know what had been the subject of the 
 lady's conference ; and Adela^ unused to 
 falsehood or mystery, was painfully dis- 
 tressed how to answer their enquiries ; at 
 length she said, 
 
 " I don't think I have any right to tell 
 you, for the lady begged I would not ; so
 
 Il6 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 I should be very glad if you would not 
 ask me.'* 
 
 " They no good people," cried Amy, ra- 
 ther indignantly. ^' Why for they say to 
 you secrets ? Ah, dear little Missy, no make 
 secrets ! Tell kind friend at home all." 
 
 ^« Pray, Amy, don't ask me to do it ; and 
 pray don't say at home, that I have any se- 
 cret. It will be very wrong if you force me 
 to repeat what I have promised to conceal. 
 Dear Amy, be good-natured, and say no- 
 thing about my conversation with this lady 
 —pray, pray don't ; and, my dear Ruth^ 
 be you silent also." 
 
 She pressed her request with such irre- 
 sistible urgency, that they, at length, both 
 gave her their word not to betray her. 
 
 But the speaking countenance of the in- 
 genuous little creature denoted throughout 
 the day, a degree of thoughtfulness, an in- 
 ternal disquietude, she had neither the art 
 to conceal, nor the presence of mind to ac- 
 count for plausibly when questioned. Mrs. 
 Hampden believed that some serious indis- 
 position was impending over her, and was 
 much alarmed, Algernon was persuaded
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 11? 
 
 something had vexed her^ but sought, in 
 vain, to discover what. Amy was half 
 frightened, and every moment felt more 
 and more tempted to reveal all that had 
 occurred at the ferry; whenever she al- 
 luded to the subject, however, Adela's im- 
 ploring eyes so eloquently besought her to 
 forbear, that she stopped, irresolute whe- 
 ther to increase the little girl's present un- 
 easiness by speaking openly, or to trust for 
 the restoration of her cheerfulness to the 
 salutary effects of a night's sound sleep. 
 
 Morning came, and Adela, still more 
 agitated than on the preceding day, yet 
 found it necessary, by a vigorous effort, 
 to assume composure, lest, as the hour of 
 two drew near, her steps should be watched, 
 or her departure from the house prohibited. 
 Neither of these circumstances took place. 
 When the lessons were over, she was suf- 
 fered, with the other little girls, to go into 
 the garden, receiving only a caution not 
 to overheat herself. A few minutes after- 
 wards, the sound of the distant clock of 
 
 S , striking two, faintly reached her 
 
 ear. She coloured violently, and her heart
 
 118 TRAITS OP NATURE. 
 
 beat to such an excess, that she was almost 
 frightened at her own agitation. The chil- 
 dren had gathered round a httle rabbit- 
 hutch, to visit and feed two milk-white 
 favourites, which they were permitted to 
 keep in a corner of the garden. Adela 
 thought the moment favourable for escap- 
 ing unseen. She softly opened the gate, 
 near which she stood : it led, by a path be- 
 tween two hedges, to a sloping meadow, 
 which several tall trees, and the inequality 
 of the intervening ground, concealed from 
 the house. She traversed it unimpeded, 
 and quick as lightning : one other field 
 only divided her from the appointed spot. 
 This she likewise flew across without op- 
 position ; and arriving, breathless and pant- 
 ing, at the stile which separated it from the 
 ferry-walk, was lifted over it by the gen- 
 tleman she had seen the preceding day, 
 who appeared to have been waiting her ar- 
 rival. 
 
 ^^ Where," cried the eager child, almost 
 exhausted by her own speed, " where is the 
 lady who asked me to come ?" 
 
 ^^ You will see her in two minutes, she is
 
 • TRAITS OP NATURE. IIQ 
 
 expecting you with impatience. But you 
 are tired — you are hurried — let me carry 
 you to her." 
 
 " No, no, I can walk ; pray set me 
 down ; and tell me — why did she desire me 
 to come ? Who is she ? Why did she wish 
 to see me so privately r" 
 
 " She will tell you all these things her- 
 self. Be composed — walk gently, and try 
 to recover breath." 
 
 " Oh, I am so anxious to get back 
 again ! If they miss me, you don't know 
 how uneasy it will make them ! Pray let 
 us go quick : poor Amy will be frightened 
 to death !" 
 
 The gentleman, to appease her, hastened 
 his steps, and conducting her for some time 
 along the banks of the stream, at length 
 brought her to the entrance of a shady 
 lane, where, with the horses' heads turned 
 from her, Adela beheld a chariot standing 
 motionless, and a footman waiting be- 
 side it. 
 
 Amy's words, *' They no good people!" 
 rushed into her mind; she turned pale as 
 death, and shrinking back — 
 
 ^/ Oh^ what are you going to do with
 
 120 TRAITS OF IfATURE* 
 
 me}" she cried, in an agony. " For mercy's 
 sake don't take me away ! let me go back ! 
 Pray^ pray let me go back !" And with her 
 little hands clasped, and her eyes raised in 
 tearful supplication, she almost knelt to 
 him for permission to depart, 
 
 *^ My dear," cried the stranger, con- 
 cerned at her distress, *^ you have nothing 
 to fear ; we would not put any violence 
 upon you for the world. Proceed with 
 all confidence ; the lady who desired to 
 see you, is waiting in that carriage : it shall 
 not move whilst you are in it without 
 your consent; but surely you will not re- 
 fuse to enter it a few minutes, that she may 
 speak to you without interruption ?" 
 
 Re-assured by his gentleness, and half 
 ashamed of her suspicions, Adela again 
 suffered him to take her hand, and quietly 
 to lead her forward. They soon reached 
 the chariot : the footman held the door 
 open ; the steps were already let dow^n ; 
 and Adela, raised into it by the stranger, 
 who instantly followed, found herself clasped 
 in the arms of the unknown lady, and de- 
 luged with the tears that were shed over her 
 without control. Susceptible and tender-
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 121 
 
 lieartcd^ the little girl wept also, though 
 she knew not for what cause ; and during 
 an interval of some continuance, the la- 
 dy's deep sobs, and her own sympathising 
 sighs, were the only sounds that could be 
 distinguished. 
 
 " My dearest child/ at letlgth said the 
 gentleman, withdrawing her from his com- 
 panion's arms, and most affectionately em- 
 bracing her likewise ; '^ you asked me who 
 this lady was. She is my wife ; and she is 
 well acquainted with — your mother !" 
 
 " My mother ? Have I a mother living ? 
 Where is she ?'* 
 
 '^ At this precise moment she is in Eng- 
 land : but, in a very short time, her affairs 
 will call her back into Scotland, where she 
 habitually resides. She loves you very ten- 
 derly, my dear little Adela, though she has 
 never had the happiness of living with yon. 
 She is anxious to hear all you can com- 
 municate relative to yourself, and your 
 brother ; and this lady and I have sought 
 an intetTievv with you, for the express pur- 
 pose of obtaining intelligence for her. 
 Your father, you say, and Julius, are in 
 London ; — why arc not you with them r" 
 
 \^L. I. G
 
 122 TRAITS OF N4TURE» 
 
 ^^ I never was told," 
 
 *^ Do you suspect it is because your fa- 
 ther is regardless of your society ? Speak 
 candidly ; — is he less attached to you than 
 to Julius r" 
 
 Adela hung her head^ and the tears 
 rolled down her cheeks ; but she made no 
 answer. Again the lady bitterly wept, anrl 
 with more fondness than evcr^ embraced 
 her. 
 
 " Adela," resumed tlie stranger, ^^ I un- 
 derstand your silence. Hints of Mr. Cleve- 
 land's negligence respecting you have often 
 reached us ; and little is the cliance, as you 
 advance in life, that his regard will in- 
 crease. He detains you, as you perceive, 
 at a distance from himself and his other chil- 
 dren ; he refuses to allow you opportunity 
 of seekin*: to concitliate his affection ; he rears 
 you as an alien, and never will you experience 
 the happiness of a cordial welcome beneath 
 his roof. From your infancy, my dear Adela, 
 has he thus coldly slighted you ; and through 
 life, I greatly fear, you will find him 
 equally insensible. You sigh — you think 
 me cruel for setting before you such a pros- 
 .pect ! Hear me, my poor girl. You have
 
 TRAITS OF NATURK. 123 
 
 a mother living, to whom you are dearer 
 than the air she breathes ; that mother 
 pines to take you to her heart ; to love, ta 
 protect, to be devoted to you. Circum- 
 stances_, of no importance to you to know, 
 have parted her from your father ; yet she 
 possesses affluence, and powder to benefit 
 you to the utmost extent of your wishes. 
 She resides with a friend who would receive 
 you with open arms ; who would treat you 
 as a tender parent. No rival in their affec- 
 tion should rob you of any part of their 
 regard : you should reign without com- 
 petitor over their hearts, their fortime, 
 their time, and even their thoughts ; and 
 your compliance, Adela — you know not 
 how joyful your compliance would make 
 them r 
 
 Wringing her hands with extreme agita- 
 tion, not wholly unmixed with honest re- 
 sentment, Adela now exclaimed— 
 
 ^^ Oh, why, why do you thus tempt me 
 to do w^iat I am sure cannot be right ? If 
 my mother loved me as j^ou say, would she 
 not have brought me up ? Sliould I not 
 have hved with her ? Should I not have 
 known her ? Grandmamma did love raci, 
 G 2
 
 124 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 and till she died, I never left her. It was 
 grandmamma who asked Dr. Hampden to 
 take me; she told me so herself: she told 
 me to obey him ; to make myself contented 
 and happy in his house ; to be grateful to 
 all his family, and never to leave them, un- 
 less my father sent for me. Grandmamma 
 never talked to me of my mother ; and in- 
 deed, indeed, sir," added the child, w^itli 
 energy, ^^ I can hardly believe that I have 
 one !" 
 
 '' Oh, Heaven ! she speaks daggers ! " 
 exclaimed the lady, throwing herself back 
 in the carriage, and hiding her face with 
 her hands. « «' 
 
 *' You are unjust and cruel to yotirtin. 
 happy mother," resumed the gentleman in 
 an accent of reproach. ^^ She would have 
 brought you up ; she would have fostered 
 you with the tenderest care ; but you were 
 torn from her with inhuman sternness, and 
 committed to a stranger to be nursed and 
 sheltered ; she was forbidden to mention 
 you— 'to visit you — to admit you within 
 your father's gates. These harsh and unna- 
 tural commands destroyed whatever affec- 
 tion she might once have felt for Mr. Cleve-
 
 tHAlTS OP NATURE. 12$ 
 
 land, and — she left him ! But, Adela, she 
 left him for 2/our sake, and has never ceased 
 to sigh for your presence, to lament her in- 
 voluntary estrangement, nor to flatter her- 
 self that the day would still arrive, when 
 she might press to her heart a daughter 
 willing to love her, and to be beloved." 
 
 Adela wept extremely as the stranger 
 proceeded ; she took his hand, when he 
 paused, with the most touching sensibility, 
 and said — 
 
 *' Where is my mother ? Oh, do not, 
 do not tell me she is very far distant ; 
 for I cannot forsake my present home, 
 nor yet can I bear, now^ to live without 
 seeing her!'' 
 
 The lady, in great emotion at these 
 words, clasped her hands together with fer- 
 Tour, and raised them to heaven as if in an 
 ecstasy of mental thankfulness. 
 
 *^ Dear Adela! sweet little girl!" cried 
 the delighted stranger, ^' what happiness 
 this declaration will communicate to your 
 poor mother ! But, my love, she can only 
 embrace you a^ a parent, when she is at 
 liberty to detain you as her child ; she can- 
 not admit you as a transient visitor, she 
 g3
 
 126 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 cannot suffer y6n to know two homes ; you 
 inust be whoJiy and irrevocably hers ; you 
 must accompany her to wliatever part of 
 the kingdom she repairs ; you must give up 
 all other dependance^ and renounce all other 
 intercourse!" 
 
 Pale and trembling, Adela, in a tone 
 of the deepest despondency^ demanded why 
 euch painful sacrifices were exacted ? 
 
 *^ Your father, my dear/' resumed tlve 
 gentleman, ^^ though he loves you not him-^ 
 self, will never voluntarily accord to your 
 mother the blessing of your society. To 
 the mercenary protection of strange rs^ he 
 would-^nay, we see he does yield you up 
 without the slightest reluctance ; but to 
 feer whom nature appointed for your gtiar- 
 dian^ so inveterate is his resentment, that 
 fio power on earth w^ould induce him to 
 resign you! If, therefore, you really ai^ 
 Influenced by the affectionate feelings of a 
 daughter ; if you can really desire to be to 
 your mother a prop, a consolation, the 
 feharm of her existence, you must attend 
 lier to a remote abode, and submit to every 
 precaaticn which may conceal your place 
 of residence from your father, and— for a
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 12J 
 
 time — from all the rest of the world! — 
 Have you the courage, Adela, to embark 
 in such an enterprize ? Weigh well your 
 answer ; reflect who it is you are about to 
 renounce and grieve^ or to gratify and 
 bless!" . 
 
 Adela gasped for breath ; — a coW tre- 
 mour shook her whole frame ; she was 
 awed by the solemnity of this injunction ; 
 she acknowledged her mothers right to her 
 duty and her love : — yet, to tear herself 
 from every other tie, to forsake the dear 
 home she now inhabited ; to give up for 
 ever^ Mrs. Hampden, her children, Alger- 
 jaon Mordington, — perhaps, too, her loved 
 Amy I It was more than Bhe had fortitude 
 to bear, even in imagination ; — and wildly 
 exclaiming — ^^ Oh, tliat I could but tell 
 ivhat I ought to do — v/hat I ca7i do!" she 
 burst into a passion of tears, and sobbed 
 with a convulsive violence, that gave the 
 most serious akrm to her two companions. 
 They touched the spring of one of the green 
 blinds, and let down a side glass to give 
 her air. At that moment, an anxious and 
 agitated voice was heard at the door of the 
 carriHge, saying — 
 
 G 4
 
 128 TRAri'^* OF^NA^tURE. 
 
 '■^^ Adel a !— Adela ! Ar^ you there ? Speak 
 to me, if you are! — Pray, pray speak!" 
 
 " Oil, 'tis Algernon ! clear Algernon !** 
 cried she ; and, resisting all opposition, she 
 eagerly sprung to the window, adding—" I 
 aw here!— How did you find me ?— Who 
 sent you ?-~~Oh^ I am so happy to see 
 you ?'* 
 
 " The whole house," answered he, " is 
 in search of you ! Dr. Hampden is himself 
 amongst the pursuers. Dear Adela, pray 
 come home ! How could you put us into 
 such a fright ? What could induce you to 
 enter this carriage ?" 
 
 " She is in this carriage, young gentle- 
 man," cried the stranger, gravely and 
 coldly addressing Mordington, *^ with per- 
 sons well acquainted with some of the mem- 
 bers of her family ; she is in perfectly safe 
 hands, be assured." 
 
 *^ I cannot doubt that," replied the yn* 
 daunted boy, ^^ when I see her in the pro- 
 tectioa of Sir Frederic and Lady Rosalvan : 
 but her friends at home are under great 
 anxiety." 
 
 *^ Have you been questioning our ser-- 
 vant^ sirf" hastily interrupted the gentle-
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 129 
 
 man. " By what means do you know 
 us?" 
 
 ^' I have seen your carriage, sir, at S , 
 
 and there^ also^ I heard your name. But 
 will you, now, permit Miss Cleveland's re- 
 turn to Dr. Hampden's ? They are all ia 
 the utmost consternation and terror." 
 
 Sir Frederic, evidently extremely dis- 
 concerted, said a few words in a low voice 
 to his lady, who, only in sighs and plain- 
 tive murmurs, answered him : and then, 
 making an effort to speak calmly, he ordered 
 the footman to open the door ; gently dis- 
 engaged Adela from the arms of his wife, 
 which had again encircled her ; kissed her 
 himself with great kindness, and told her 
 she was at liberty to depart. Adela lingered, 
 and regarded them both, as if unwilling to 
 forsake them : Mordington, however, im- 
 patiently seizing her hand, drew her from 
 the carriage ; bowed to Sir Frcleric ; and 
 glowing with joy at his success, iiastcned 
 with her to quit the lane, and never spoke, 
 or abated his speed, till they had passeil 
 the stile leading from the ferry to the mca- 
 dovv where Sir Frederic had met her. 
 G 5
 
 1^6 THAITS OF NATURE* 
 
 Thevi, dack€>?iing bis pace^ he said, a» 
 they proceeded, arm in arm, towards tbe 
 hoiise,-^ 
 
 *^ My dear, impi*udent little Adela, how 
 came you to put yourself into tfeose people's 
 hands ? What was their design ? To what 
 motive did they attribute their secret and 
 stispicio'js proceedings ? Were they tam- 
 ^ring with yon to decoy you away ? And 
 wo^ild yoH — dear Adela- would you ha^e 
 ^one with them ? '* 
 
 *^ I yesterday thought myself bound,** 
 i^plie^ she, ^' to answer ho enquiries. J't 
 i^atle me very unhappy^ Algemon, to fol'- 
 bear telling you every thing, when you so 
 "kindly asked me why I was so silent and so 
 grave : but I had promised not to speak ; 
 and I am sure, as that was the case, you 
 tvould have thought very ill of me if I 
 had spoken. To-day, I know no reason 
 *why I siiould not explain to you all that h^s 
 passed." 
 
 She then gave him an unreserved de- 
 'tail of the whole a^air ; and v^hen sbe 
 used — 
 
 '*' What a tria:]; and what an escape you
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 131 
 
 have had," crk;(l he, breathless^ almost, 
 from the earnestness of attention with vvhicli 
 he had hstened to lier ! "My dear AdeJa, 
 be assured that, at no moment of your life, 
 yott ever were in greater danger I Had I 
 but delayed my arrival at the carriage door 
 five minutes later, you probably would 
 have given your reluctant consent to their 
 villainous project — the horses would have 
 moved forward — and we should completely 
 have lost all traces of you ! How I hate 
 and despise their abominably secret and art- 
 ful proceedings ! Why not, in their own 
 .name, boldly apply to Dr. Hampden for 
 permission to take you on a short visit to 
 your mother ? Why seek to entrap you 
 an ay from all your friends ? To set you 
 wickedly against your father — against the 
 parent who provides for you, and has alone 
 OLcknowledged you ? If your mother is so 
 earnest to see ycu, why has she waited 
 above eight years to declare it? At all 
 events, why employ people to steal you 
 away, at the risk of exposing Dr Hampden 
 to tlie blame of having neglected his 
 charge ? — Indeed, indeed, Adela, this Sir 
 G 6*
 
 132 thaits op natuue. 
 
 Frederic is so ill-disposed a man/ and has 
 made me so indignant^ that I am heartily 
 sorry I have it not in my power to punish 
 him as he deserves!" 
 
 Though unwilling to confess it, Adela 
 experienced a considerable degree of un- 
 easiness in hearing Sir Frederic spoken of 
 with such severity. She remembered the 
 kindness of his expressions, and the be- 
 nignity of his countenance ; she still, in 
 fancy, felt herself strained to the lady's bo* 
 som, and bathed with her tears ; and all 
 these recollections gave to them both an in- 
 terest in her imagination which rendered 
 it painful to her to listen to their con- 
 demnation. 
 
 *^ When," cried she, seeking to divert 
 Algernon's thoughts to other subjects, 
 ** when did you hear of my absence, and 
 what lucky guess sent you to look for me 
 near the Ferry? ", 
 
 He reminded her, that on the preceding 
 day, when her visible perturbation had so 
 much struck him, he had enquired of Amy 
 how she had passed the morning, and whom 
 she had seen. The nurse told him^ she had
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 133 
 
 been at S to bathe, and, on her way 
 
 home, had encountered two strangers, whose 
 figure she described, though, restricted bj 
 her promise to her young mistress, she had 
 forborne to speak of the lady's mysterious 
 conversation w^ith her. Mordington had 
 
 several times, upon the beach at S , 
 
 seen two persons exactly answering to the 
 description of these strangers. He had, by 
 accident, heard several people, — tradesmen 
 in the town, — wondering at their resorting 
 to the sea- side so early in the season ; and 
 one observer, more critical than the rest, 
 had remarked, that it was very odd tliey 
 ghculd drive about in a carriage without 
 arms, and, on their first arrival call them- 
 selves Mr, and Mrs. Rosalvan, though, 
 tVom the direction* on the letters left for 
 them at the post-office, it was discovered 
 the gentleman was a baronet ! 
 
 '* rd lay any wager," added the saga- 
 cious shopkeeper, commenting upon this 
 circumstance, *' they are here after some 
 sly trick, though it be past my finding out 
 of what nature. People neither take up 
 false titks, nor drop their real ones, with- 
 out some politic reason. Besides, they look
 
 134 TRAITS OF NATUfiE. 
 
 d^uoed deep, and keep so aloof from evei'jr 
 body, and seeai so full of thought and 
 caution, and are so solemn and sparing of 
 their words, that, my life for it, we shall 
 soon hear of some queer prank they eitb^ 
 have played, or me cm to play !" 
 
 " The charitable eonclusions of this face, 
 tious personage/' cordmued Algernon, " at 
 the time I heard them, only made me 
 laugh", but when I sa¥/ you look so unlikje 
 yourself, and was told by Amy that yoi* 
 had met this Sir Frederic and his lady, I 
 began to wonder whether any thing they 
 liad said to you, was the cause of your dis- 
 turbance . To day, our schoolmaster being 
 sent for suddenly to visit a sick relation^ 
 tlis missed us all two or three hours earlier 
 than usual. The first irvtelligence we heard 
 on arriving at home, was, that you were 
 missing. The hae-aitid-cry and the alar® 
 was general. I remembered the ideas which 
 had haunted me about Svr Frederic, and J 
 also remembered, that he was eaid, with 
 Lady Hosalvan, to saunter almost daily in 
 the direction of the Ferry-wilk. Fear, and 
 ^suspicion of I knew not what, gave me 
 ^ings. 1 flew, rather tliun ran, till I
 
 TBAITS OF NATUREr 135 
 
 reac!«ed the water-side : you were not there : 
 but I perceived, a few paces fr onr the stile, 
 a ribboii lying on tlie ground, which, it 
 struck me, I had seen you wear in your 
 hat. I was then convinced that you had 
 been there ; and continued my search, til! 
 you know how we met." 
 
 They were, now, arrived within sight of 
 the garden-gate throng! i which Adcla had 
 «o adventurously effected her escape. Amy, 
 i»g neater tribulation than it is in the power 
 of words to describe, was the first to es.py 
 them. Frantic with joy, a scream burst 
 from ber that was heard all over the pre- 
 mises, and rushing impetuously forward, 
 she seized Adela in her affectionate arms ; 
 {fcissed 'her with rapturous fondness; — wept, 
 laug^ied, and sobbed by turns ; — and tlien, 
 as if suddenly recollecting lierself, she 
 .poured upon the little girl such a torrent 
 of reproaches ; so vehemently, and even 
 angrily scolded her for the fright she had 
 occasioned tl^em, that Mordington, who 
 saw Adela*s eyes fill with tears, and knew 
 how easily, after so much agitation, her 
 fipiri^s might be overpowered^ interfered in
 
 136 TBAITS OF JSTATURE. 
 
 ,her behalf, and besought Amy to let them 
 proceed quietly to the house. 
 
 The outcries of the nurse had, however, 
 by this time^ brought the whole family into 
 the garden, and the re-appearance of the 
 little truant was hailed with the most joy- 
 ful acclamations. Algernon kindly under- 
 took, when they were all somewhat tran- 
 quillized, to answer, in general terms, the 
 multitude of questions which poor Adela's 
 transient flight called forth. But, to Dr. 
 and Mrs. Hampden, as soon as he had an 
 opportunity of speaking to them in private^ 
 he gave a circumstantial account of every 
 thing he knew. 
 
 The thanks and warmest approbation of 
 the good couple for the active part he had 
 performed, followed this recital. They 
 perfectly agreed with him, that Sir Fre- 
 deric Rosalvan, whatever might be his mo- 
 tives, had formed a deliberate design to 
 carry off the too-confiding Adela. Dr. 
 Hampden, though generally amongst tire 
 first to be informed of the arrival of stran- 
 gers at S , had never heard this gentle- 
 man's name ; he knew not how long he had
 
 TRAITS OF ^ATURE. 137 
 
 been in their vicinity, nor on what pretence 
 he came : but these were enquiries h<? pro 
 mised his wife immediately to set on foot ; 
 and meanwhile it w^as determined^ that the 
 child should, henceforward, be strictly 
 guarded, and on no consideration whatever,, 
 allowed to go alone beyond the precincts of 
 the garden.
 
 l'?8 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 CHAP. Vlfl. 
 
 ELUCIDATION. 
 
 Whilst, with countenances and minds 
 restored to composure after the alarm of 
 the morning, the family of Dr. Hampden, 
 variously occupied, sat in the evening round 
 the great parlour table, Amy, suddenly 
 opening the door, called out, 
 
 '• Little Missy! little Missy! come, see 
 what is here ! It no quite dark ; — come, 
 come, see ! " 
 
 Adela, and the other children with her, 
 started up at the summons, and, guided by 
 Amy, ran to the front gate ; where, bright, 
 and sleek, and graceful, and docile, they 
 beheld the beautiful poney of the Ferry- 
 boat. A lad, one of the helpers in Sir Fre- 
 deric's stable, held the bridle ; and, on 
 being interrogated by half a dozen voices 
 at once, said, 
 
 '^ I have a letter in my pocket, which I
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 13Q 
 
 am to stay whilst the doctor reads ; and I 
 have orders to leave the poney here for one 
 Aliss Cleveland.'* 
 
 '^ For me?" cried Adela. *^ Is it pos- 
 sible } How kind, how very kind they are ! " 
 
 The children, untainted with envy, con- 
 gratulated her on an acquisition so delight- 
 ful ; and gathering round, and admiring 
 and caressing the passive animal, thought 
 not of the letter, till Amy called them in to 
 Jbear it r€ad. 
 
 But to read it publicly, after casting his 
 eyes over its contents, was the last thing 
 Dr. Hampden meditated : he simply told 
 Adela, that the pretty lK)rse was indeed 
 inearit as a present for her ; that Sir Fre- 
 deric and Lady Rosalvan proposed leaving 
 
 S the next morning ; and that he wm 
 
 now going to write to them a short note, 
 in whicli he should insert her respects and 
 '(grateful tliariks. 
 
 " Oh, let me wii.^e to them myself,**' 
 €ried she. '' Let me ask them where they 
 are gt)ing, and wlvethcr I sh^ll ever hefirr 
 from them or see them again. You don t 
 know how nmch I could have loved theiti, 
 had 1 known tiicm longer ! '*
 
 140 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 Dr. Hampden looked at her with moist- 
 ened eyes^ and said, 
 
 " My good little girl, you shall write to 
 them, and I am glad that your own grateful 
 heart suggested the idea." 
 
 This permission enchanted her ; she was 
 furnished with a sheet of paper detached 
 from that on which the doctor meant to 
 write ; Algernon ruletl some lines for her ; 
 and in unformed characters, but with 
 simple sincerity, she composed her Httle 
 epistle (the first she had ever penned), 
 and proudly saw it inclosed within her 
 guardian's, to be dispatched by the messen- 
 ger who had brought the poney. 
 
 The letter from Sir Frederic, which had 
 been so scrupulously withheld from public 
 inspection, was written in these terms : 
 
 « Sir, 
 *^ You have probably, ere this, obtained 
 information from your youthful inmate. 
 Miss Cleveland, of the tendency of the con- 
 ference I held with her this morning, and 
 may conceive yourself, as her guardian, en- 
 titled to resent so clandestine an attempt to 
 allure her from your protection : but in all
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 141 
 
 that I meditated, I as mueh consulted what 
 was due to your character, as what I judged 
 would be most conducive to the accom- 
 pHshnient of my own purpose. Of the 
 truth of this assertion, you will be most in. 
 controvertibly assured, when you learn the 
 nature of the motives by which I was influ- 
 enced. 
 
 '^ In consequence of the discovery made 
 by young Mordington of my name, and of 
 the full conviction you must entertain of 
 my designs, the hopes of quiet success 
 which I had allowed myself to entertain, 
 are completely overthrown. I therefore 
 quit this place to-morrow, deeply con- 
 cerned at my failure, yet willing to give 
 you, before I depart, the satisfaction of 
 being able to accomit for the mystery of 
 my conduct. 
 
 *^ The lady who is now my wife, and 
 who accompanied me on both occasions 
 when I had the pleasure of seeing Adela 
 Cleveland, was once named Cleveland her- 
 self; to be explicit, she is Adela's mother. 
 Our residence, for some years, has been in 
 one of the western counties of Scotland,
 
 142 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 where the profound retirement to which it 
 was at once an act of choice and of wisdom 
 to devote ourselves, excluded not, howe\'cr, 
 from the memory of Lady Rosalvan, the 
 children of her first unhappy marriage. 
 The probable fate of the httle girl, in par^ 
 ticular, she reflected upon with the acutest 
 anxiety. She had too much reason to fear 
 that the helpless innocent would never be 
 considered by its father but as an object of 
 stern and implacable antipathy. Her heart 
 nourished these terrors till they became so 
 insupportable, that, flighting inferior evils 
 —the risk of reproach and insult, she 
 formed the desperate resolution of applying 
 to Mr. Cleveland, through the intervention 
 of a friend, for the surrender of his daugh- 
 ter to her guardianship. The request was 
 refused with contumely and bitterness : it 
 probably merely tended to confirm his 
 groundless suspicions of the paternal inte- 
 rest in the child which he has ever h^en 
 too prone to ascribe to me ; and resentment 
 against Lady Rosalvan conspired with still 
 fiercer animosity against myself, to deter* 
 mine him on withholding a boon, whose
 
 IllAirS OF NATURE. 143 
 
 only value in his eyes was the power its de- 
 tention gave him of opposing our wishes, 
 and disappointing our hopes. 
 
 *^ How hard, how almost impracticable I 
 found it, whilst Adela was confided to the 
 mercy of a hired nurse, to reconcile ray wife 
 to tlie necessity of hving without her, I 
 should in vain attempt to describe. Since 
 the birth of that child, she has never been 
 a parent ; and ceaseless has been her regret 
 and anguish at a separation Vvhich has 
 seemed to rob exisience of every charm, 
 and equally to deprive her of the wish and 
 cf the power to find alleviation in any other 
 attachment. 
 
 *^ We had both erred. Dr. Hampden ; I 
 dispute not, therefore, ti.ie justice vvhich 
 sentenced us to meet the punishment of our 
 fraihy in its unavoidable consequences* 
 Lady Rosalvan, rendered miserable by the 
 renunciation of her child to which she was 
 condemned, rendered me miserable by the 
 sight of her unappeasable sorrow. Our 
 mutual attachment, though not extin- 
 guished, lay dormant : we lived without 
 confidence, yet we lived in seclusion ; no- 
 thing gave her joy ; she participated in
 
 144 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 none of my feelings ; but fearing to speak 
 her grief, though unable to disguise it, she 
 taught iTie to be fearful of remonstrating, 
 lest remonstrance should be interpreted into 
 reproach. What an existence, in the prime 
 of life, for two beings detached from all 
 other society, yet each insufficient to consti- 
 tute the happiness of the other ! 
 
 '^ A few years, a very few years, spent in 
 the endurance of such hopeless constraint 
 and wretchedness, have anticipated, upon 
 the constitution and energy of both, the 
 effects of time, and brought upon us all the 
 languor and depression of premature old 
 age. Had I children,' Br. Hampden ; in 
 exhorting them to withstand the influence 
 of their passions, I would set before them 
 the sad experience of my own life, and leave 
 it to themselves to point the moral. Yet 
 who amongst us ever benefited by the ex- 
 perience of another } 
 
 " But it was some consolation to us at 
 length to hear that the venerable Mrs. 
 Cleveland had claimed the privilege of be- 
 friending the little outcast, and of rearing 
 her under her own eye. My wife now re- 
 signed herself to the deprivation with more
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 145 
 
 fortitude, and a ray of something resem- 
 bling cheerfulness enlivened our solitary 
 abode. 
 
 ^' The death of Adda's protectress, how- 
 ever, too speedily renewed all Lady Rosal- 
 van's inquietude, and redoubled all her dis- 
 tress. She was really ill through excess of 
 perturbation; and the suspense in which 
 we were long held as to Mr. Cleveland's 
 plans for the child's future destination, ag- 
 gravated her sufferings. We learnt, in 
 process of time, that the poor babe was 
 committed to your care : but of your cha- 
 racter, your probable conduct towards her^ 
 your family, and habits oflife, we remained 
 wholly ignorant. It was now mid-winter, and 
 my hapless partner was in the drooping state 
 of a confirmed invalid. Yet she implored me 
 incessantly to take her to England ; to con- 
 duct her to the spot inhabited by her child ; 
 to enable her, from personal observation, 
 to ascertain that she met with conscientious 
 and indulgent treatment. 
 
 ** To deny, unconditionally, such urgent 
 supplications, was not in my nature. I 
 soothed her with solemn assurances of com- 
 pliance with her wishes the moment he- 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 146 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 own health, and the return of spring, 
 should render the journey practicable. She 
 struggled against debility to preserve, or 
 rather, to attain the power, of profiting by 
 my acquiescence in her plan. The winter 
 slowly and heavily wore away ; and about 
 a fortnight since, we arrived at this place. 
 
 '^ Uncertain whether you might not have 
 received injunctions from Mr. Cleveland to 
 deny Adela to her mother's sight, we dared 
 venture no open application to you for per- 
 mission to behold her. From some of the 
 people at S — — , we learnt that your own 
 children, and frequently a little ward who 
 resided with you, resorted, for the purpose 
 of bathing, to the sea-side every third or 
 fourth day. My wife was too weak for 
 long pedestrian excursions, and a carriage 
 was no vehicle in which to linger about 
 your vicinity unremarked. I purchased for 
 her a safe and easy-paced poney, and we 
 spent many hours of every fair day in un- 
 successful endeavours to encounter the ob- 
 ject of our pursuit. I already meditated 
 the design I was so near putting into execu- 
 tion, of engaging her to consent, could we 
 meet with her in private, to accompany ui
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 14f 
 
 into Scotland. The effort was well worth 
 hazarding ; and seemed almost due (aliow 
 the expression) to the dejected spirit of my 
 long-afflicted wife. It could be injurious 
 to no one, if, by conducting it with circum* 
 spection, we enabled you truly to assert, 
 that you neither knew the name nor desti- 
 nation of its perpetrators. The former of 
 these, indeed, I flattered myself you might 
 never have heard ; at least, never have 
 heard with any information, that it belonged! 
 to the husband of Adela's mother : yet, to 
 avoid as much as possible, all danger from 
 that circumstance, we dropped our title, 
 and as scrupulously shunned every chance 
 of encountering your observation, as we 
 dihgently sought opportunities of beholding 
 your little charge. 
 
 " You probably know the rest. Young 
 Mordington proved to us, that with all our 
 caution, we had failed in escaping detection. 
 Aware of Mr. Cleveland's invincible reluc- 
 tance to yield up to us his authority over 
 the child; and satisfied that if informed 
 she was in our hands, he would rather tear 
 her from us by force of law, than gratify 
 the mother's anxiety to detain her, — we 
 
 U 2
 
 148 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 have abandoned the undertaking, and are, 
 as I have told you, about to depart. 
 
 '^ Lady Rosalvan, as you w\\\ easily be- 
 lieve, is deeply grieved thus again, and for 
 so indefinite a period, to be forced to lose 
 sight of her daughter : but it will be a con- 
 solation to her to recollect the child's spon- 
 taneous assurances to us of her present hap- 
 piness. Her bright and smiling aspect con- 
 firms the assertion. Accept, sir, and deign 
 to present to your excellent partner, the 
 fervent thanks of a grateful mother for the 
 kindness you have united to shew to the 
 child she is herself forbidden to cherish! 
 —Would you add to that mothers obliga- 
 tions one other inestimable proof of bene- 
 volence^ let it be this : encourage Adcla to 
 address to Lady Rosalvan (not, perhaps, as 
 her parent, but as her parent's friend) an 
 occasional letter. I insert our direction ; 
 w^ell assured, that if you take into conside- 
 ration the unspeakable gratification your 
 compliance will afford my poor wife, it will 
 not be in your power to deny her request. 
 
 '* We entreat you to permit your little 
 ward to make her first essay as a rider on 
 the horse which has so often, and so safely.
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 149 
 
 carried her mother : and if you would also 
 allow your own children sometimes to mount 
 it, our satisfaction would be increased. 
 
 ** 1 have the honour to be, with every 
 good wish, and every grateful sentiment, 
 " Sir, your obliged and 
 
 ^' obedient humble servant, 
 
 '^ Frederic Rosalvan.'* 
 
 Dr. Hampden discerned in this letter so 
 many indications of a feeling heart ; an 
 openness of character so unperverted and so 
 manly ; and a regret for past errors so 
 earnest and so true, that, warmly interested 
 in favour of its hitherto unknown writer, 
 he suifered his pen, in answering it, to be 
 guided by the genuine kindness of his na- 
 ture ; and dispatched a few lines, compound- 
 ed of such cordiality and respect, as failed 
 not equally to impart to Sir Frederic and 
 bis apprehensive lady, the most re-assuring 
 and consolatory sensations. 
 
 Meanwhile, Adela, hap})y in her new ac- 
 quisition, and happy to participate in its 
 advantages with her youthful cotiipanions, 
 soon learnt to become the most fearkss and 
 expert rider in the family. She often bitterly 
 regretted, that Algernon possessed not a 
 H 3
 
 150 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 courser of equal beauty and perfection on 
 which to have cantered by her side ; and, 
 perhaps, of all the indulgences that could 
 have been accorded him, none, in his esti- 
 mation, would have been of higher value: 
 but indulgences did not seem to be precisely 
 what his noble uncle was inclined to bestow 
 upon him ; and Adela had been a whole 
 twelvemonth at Dr. Hampden's, ere the 
 slightest change was made in the pro- 
 mising boy's frugal mode of education. 
 His little friend's advantages, on the con- 
 trary, appeared to be hourly increasing, 
 3ir Frederic Rosalvan, now, in regular cor-^ 
 ■rdspondence with Dr. Hampden, sketched 
 out a plan for the cultivation of her mind, 
 which he besought her guardian to see 
 strictly executecf. Masters of various de- 
 scriptions, the best which, at so great a dis- 
 tance from the metropolis, could be obtain- 
 ed, were engaged, with scarcely any regard 
 to the expense their attendance occasioned. 
 ^^ I am rich," the secluded Baronet 
 ;wrote, '^ and my temptations to dissipate, 
 money are now circumscribed within the 
 narrowest limits. Adela, it can never be 
 doubted, had she not been deprived of the
 
 TRAITS or NATURE. 151: 
 
 advantages of the station in which she was 
 born, by the events which immediately suc- 
 ceeded her early exclusion from the pater- 
 nal rooF, would have received as liberal an 
 education as her father is now bestowing 
 upon the two daughters of his first mar- 
 riage. / am the cause of the obscurity to 
 which she is condemned, and of every pri- 
 vation she is doomed to suffer. It is there- 
 fore, on my part, no more than an act of 
 justice to attempt iiiaking hef some com- 
 pensation for the means of improvement she> 
 has lost. At this moment she feels not, she- 
 thinks not of the hardship of her destiny ; 
 but should the time ever come when Mr. 
 Cleveland shall call her to hold her proper 
 rank in society, how deeply mortifying to 
 her would it be, to find herself defective in 
 any of the accomplishm.ents, personal or in- 
 tellectual, which education might have 
 bestowed I Lady Rosalvan, on this subject, 
 is yet more anxious than myself. Her 
 daughter's only chance, she avers, of recom- 
 mending herself to Mr. Cleveland's favour, 
 will be through the influence of brilliant 
 taltnts, and superior grace and beauty : he 
 is the slave of these exterior endowments ; 
 H 4
 
 15S TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 and,, let her possess what merit she may, 
 unaided by such attractions^ he will ever 
 hold her in as slight estimation, as he does 
 at this moment." 
 
 In consequence of representations so 
 forcible. Dr. Hampden felt himself bound 
 to conform with scrupulous exactness to Sir 
 Frederic's liberal instructions. His wife, 
 though it was not without disgust she wit- 
 nessed the prodigality with which so much 
 money was lavished upon superfluous in- 
 structors, observed a determined neutrality 
 and silence ; only blessing Heaven, that her 
 daughters were not condemned to the 
 drudgery of toiling for such vain and frivo- 
 lous attainments.
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE, 153 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 ADOPTION. 
 
 Thus affairs proceeded in the tranquil 
 abode of the benevolent physician, and 
 Mordinirton was sutfered to enter his four- 
 teenth year without experiencing the shght- 
 est change in his situation. The youth 
 himself felt htde disturbance at this neglect ; 
 yet, when discussing with William and 
 Reuben Hampden, the professions to which 
 they were to be brought up, he had some- 
 times been heard to say — 
 
 " Your father tells me, I am intended 
 for the army : but I rather think he mis- 
 takes the matter, and that I am destined to 
 the honour of becoming principal usher to 
 our good old schoolmaster ! I am sure, if 
 they keep me much longer poring over Latin 
 and Greek under Ins tuition, I shall be 
 much better qualified for that office, tuaa 
 for beating — according to rule, at least — 
 the enemies of my country, be they ever 
 u 5
 
 154 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 such raw and untrained recruits. All I 
 shall understand, will be how to beat little 
 stupid boys, too lazy to learn their Acci- 
 dence without a daily flogging : and I give 
 you my word," added he, " if that should 
 ever become my trade, I will, for the benefit 
 of learning, and for old acquaintance-sake, 
 Hog your youngest brothers, and your sons* 
 sons, gratis, to the third and fourth gene* 
 ration !" , ' 
 
 *^ Thank you for the friendly promise," 
 cried William ; ^' and, in return, J, who 
 am to be an illustrious knight of the pestle 
 and mortar, engage to furnish you, and all 
 your progeny, with the choicest drugs in 
 my shop, upon the same terms." 
 
 *' Fairly offered," resumed Mordington — 
 *• Now, then, Reuben, tell us what you 
 will do for us and our future generation ? 
 William and I, you find, have entered into 
 a compact to take care of the minds and 
 bodies of our respective descendants : you 
 must have the ciiarge of their souls ; there 
 is nothing else left for you. So, determine 
 upon becoming a parson, and we will admit 
 you a membtr of our confederacy." — 
 
 " Do; my d(i)ar Reuben," cried little Ju-
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 153 
 
 dith, his second sister, '^ and let me live 
 with you, and keep your house. I should 
 like better than any thing in the world, to 
 have the management of a nice snug par- 
 
 sonage." 
 
 " And let me, Algernon," cried Adela, 
 archly, '' have the charge of all the little 
 dunces you may flog too hard ! I will nurse 
 them, and comfort them, till they get well, 
 and become fit for a fresh trhnming ! — Poor 
 souls ] I dare say they will often want my 
 care !" -• 
 
 " You shall have the sole superlnten- 
 dency of them," answered Mordington, 
 laughing ; — " from this moment I dub you 
 directress and overseer of the ward for fla- 
 gellated dolts !" 
 
 '^ I wish," said Dr. Hampden, who, a 
 little before, had entered the room, ^' it may 
 not prove the ward for incurables !" 
 
 " Why, my dear sir," cried Adela, in a 
 tone of remonstrance, " do you imagine 
 Algernon will be wicked enough to scourge 
 them so unmercifully, that they will never 
 recover ?" 
 
 " He will hardly, I should think, my 
 dear Adcla^ proceed to such desperate ex« 
 II 6
 
 156 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 tremities; but the infirmity of dolt-headism 
 is in itself malady sufficient, and seldom 
 admits a cure!" 
 
 A very {ew weeks after this conversation, 
 a total and most extraordinary revolution 
 in Algernon's affairs unexpectedly occurred* 
 Of the two sons on whom Lord Ossely re- 
 lied for the support and preservation of his 
 family greatiiess, one was suddenly carried 
 off by a raging fever, caught at school ; and 
 the other, always of a sickly habit, was left 
 hj the same disease, in so deplorable a state 
 of bodily infirmity and mental weakness, 
 that there seemed scarcely a probability he 
 could be reared to manhood ; or, being 
 reared, that he should ever possess the full 
 use of his reasoning faculties. The blow 
 was severe, no doubt ; yet it fell upon one 
 whom Dr. Hampden, with all his philan- 
 thropy, could with difficulty prevail upon 
 himself to commiserate as he ought. Lord 
 Ossely's utter personal neglect of his un- 
 offending nephew ; the manifest disposition 
 he had betrayed to complete his education 
 upon the njost contracted system, and the 
 suspected design of condemning him, here- 
 after^ to penurious obscurity, were offences
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 157 
 
 to the doctors sense of justice^ which no 
 compelled acts of tardy retribution could 
 induce him to pardon. It was soon disco- 
 vered^ however, that on the entire loss of 
 one son, and the apprehended incapacity of 
 the other, Algernon's uncle felt disposed to 
 centre in him all his ambitious views, and 
 all his proud hopes of perpetuating the ho- 
 nours of his line. In addition to the dis- 
 tinctions already seciirely in his possession _, 
 he looked forward, in a very few years, to 
 the attainment of an earldom, which, on the 
 death, without male posterity, of a distant 
 relation, would devolve to him and his suc- 
 cessors. To enjoy this long coveted ac- 
 cession in rank merely during his own life, 
 and then, through failure of heirs male, to 
 know that it must pass into another family, 
 or rest amongst the dormant jxje rages, was 
 «uch misery to Lord Ossely, as none but 
 men of his character can pity or imagine. 
 Whilst Algernon survived, the dreaded ca- 
 tastrophe was not to be feared ; and from 
 the moment the remembrance of tiiat youth, 
 vigorous in constitution, and bright in in- 
 tellects, occurred to the Viscount, connected 
 with the idea, that to him these dignities
 
 153 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 would descend, the sorrows of his paternal 
 heart were mitigated ; the feebleness, per- 
 sonal and mental, of. his surviving son was 
 reflected upon with diminished agony ; and 
 the nephew, never seen for eight years, nor 
 thought of, till now, for eight successive 
 minutes, became the dearest object of his 
 generous solicitude ! 
 
 It can scarcely be necessary to state with 
 what mingled joy at his brightening pros- 
 pects, and grief at his consequent recall, 
 the family at Dr. Hampden's learnt these 
 rapid and unforeseen changes in the affairs 
 of their fondly-loved, and long-established 
 inmate. The directions from his uncle for 
 his immediate removal, were almost inde- 
 cently precipitate ; every idea of devoting 
 him to a military career was abandoned; 
 he was directly placed at Eton School ; 
 furnished with ample supplies of pocket- 
 money; received, during his vacations, with 
 open arms at his uncle's town-residence, or 
 at Mordington Castle; and, in short, 
 thrown into as fair a way of being cor- 
 rupted by sudden prosperity, as ever ani- 
 mated and inexperienced youth was placed 
 in. But Algernon, exclusive of the inte-
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 159 
 
 grity and goodness of his heart, was pre* 
 served from serious injury by a variety of 
 subordinate causes. He had discernment 
 sufficient to perceive, and, in secret^ to 
 laugh at, the origin of all this wondrous 
 indulgence and profusion. lie soon saw, 
 and even tVit, that he was valued, not fo» 
 himself, but for reasons of family pohcy. 
 Throughout the household of his noble 
 protector, not a single individual warmly 
 interested him, except his own youthful 
 sister Eudocia, a lovely little girl, of the 
 *ame age with Adela ; and the eldest of 
 his female cousins, Isabella Mordington, 
 two years her senii^r. '^I'he \ iscountess, he 
 eonsidered as a ^ood and truly respectable 
 woman, but nothing in her manners con - 
 ciliated his attachment or recompensed 
 him for the loss of the warm-hearted Mrs* 
 Hampden; and whichever way he turned, 
 no substitutes presented themselves to fill 
 up the void left in his bosom by the de- 
 privation of his early companions, William 
 and Reuben. In his letters to these faith- 
 fully icmembcred friends, he depicted the 
 state of liis mind, and the regrets that often 
 possessed it, in the most earnest and forcible
 
 iSO TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 terms. To Adela, also, he frequently wrote; 
 and knowing her, though so young, ca- 
 pable of ei^tering into all the spirit of an 
 unreserved correspondence, he scrupled not, 
 on the arrival, as a fellow student, of her 
 brother Julius at Eton, fre -ly to communi- 
 cate to her his thoughts of him. 
 
 *^ We agree/' said he, " hke fire and 
 water. I can perfectly account for my 
 own unhesitating disposition, the moment 
 we met, to find fault with every thing he 
 said, did, or even looked : but as he can 
 never, till now, have heard any thing about 
 me, I am surprised at the admirable instinct 
 which so immediately led him to make 
 choice of me for iiis ruling object of anti- 
 patljy. I am sorry to say it, dear Adela, 
 but he certainly is, by many degrees, the 
 most presuming, consequential and incor- 
 rigible little varlet in the whole school. It 
 would do him, and me too, a vast deal of 
 good, could I, once for all, wuhout dis- 
 grace, give him a handsome drubbing ; but 
 the advantage I possess over him in size 
 and strength forbids the exploit. What 
 perpetually p-ovokcs me to cuff him is, 
 that with ail his strutting, and all his self-
 
 TRAITS OT NATURE. iffl 
 
 sufficiency^ he is as like you (who never 
 strutted at any thing in your life but an 
 angry bantam-hen) as he can stare ! Some 
 of these days you will hear him cried up 
 as the handsomest young man in London ; 
 already he is as much of a coxcomb as 
 many a fine fellow three times his age. 
 By some queer chance, however, he is an 
 exceedingly promising scholar ; and the 
 boys who associate with him, and can sup- 
 port his arrogance, say that he is fearless 
 and generous ; but I wish, upon the whole, 
 he was less like you in outward show, or 
 resembled you more in inward dispositionr 
 Your father came down with him the first 
 day he made his appearance here, and I 
 happened to be in the way of having aa 
 excellent view of him. I was eager to 
 seize the opportunity of beholding one with 
 whom you are so nearly connected ; and 
 following close at his heels whilst he was 
 walking about the town, I saw him go up 
 to a carriage which was waiting: at a 
 pastry-cook's door, and speak to two young 
 ladies who were within it, under the care 
 of a person who seemed to be their gover- 
 ness. These, 1 have since learnt, were
 
 l62 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 your two half-sisters ; — for your further 
 satisfaction^ let me inform you, that besides 
 being remarkably pretty, they both ap- 
 peared to be extremely good-humoured ; 
 and seem to be exactly the sort of girls you 
 would like^ whether they were your sisters, 
 or entire strangers. 
 
 *^ 1 have wished, ever since I became ac- 
 quainted with her myself, that you could 
 strike up an intimacy with Eudocia^ mi/ 
 little sister. In addition to being a great 
 deal handsomer than any thing I have seen 
 m this part of the world, she is the best 
 tempered and most afFectionate creature 
 you can imagine. Lord and Lady Ossely 
 have been very kind to her ; and she has 
 been taken as much care of as their own 
 daughters. At present she is a good deal 
 more lively and clever than either of them ; 
 and 1 do believe she vviil grow up a charm- 
 ing woman. I have talked to her so often 
 about you, that she longs to know you, and 
 to be introduced to dear good Amy ; to 
 Ruth, and Judith, and Frisk ; and even to 
 the poney Adieu, my dear Adela " 
 
 Though circumstances had conspired to 
 withdraw Mordiiigton so entirely from.Di',:
 
 Traits of nature. i63 
 
 Hampden's roof and protection, nothing 
 produced any alteration in the situation of 
 Adela till nearly four years after his depar- 
 ture. She was then equally surprised 'and 
 delighted hy the arrival of a letter from 
 her eldest sister, newly married, inviting her, 
 in the most cordial terms, to spend some 
 weeks with Mr. Somerville and herself, 
 at their house in Northumberland. This 
 was the first proof of attention, which, since 
 the death of her grandmother, she had re- 
 ceived from any of her family, and the gra^ 
 titude with which it inspired her, was as 
 joyful as it was sincere. A visit to Mri^, 
 Somerville, implied not a permanent se*- 
 paration from her friends in DevdnsWre, 
 and therefore doubled her satisfaction * 
 since, however anxious she was to see and 
 to love those with whom she was so closely 
 allied, the prospect of being wholly removed 
 from the house of Dr. Hampden, would, 
 thus suddenly proposed, have been insup- 
 portable to her. 
 
 Attended by Amy in a travelling chaise, 
 and by a trusty domestic of Mr. Somer- 
 ville's, the happy girl, early in the month 
 of July, began her gaily-anticipated jour-
 
 1^4 TRAITS OF NATURE, 
 
 ney; and, at the expected time, without 
 accident or molestation, reached the place 
 of her destination. 
 
 Nothing could exceed the kindness with 
 which her sister, or the cheerfulness and 
 hospitality with which Mr. Somerville 
 hailed her arrival. In the former she be- 
 held an elegant young woman, scarcely 
 more than eighteen, of the most graceful 
 and prepossessing manners, who, with an 
 encouraging sweetness which Adela found 
 irresistible, addressed her as the being she 
 had most wished to know, and felt most 
 disposed to regard with interest and affec- 
 tion. In Mr. Somerville appeared, at once, 
 even to the undiscriminating eye of a girl 
 of thirteen, a character of the most perfect 
 and unpretending simplicity, accompanied 
 by extremely good natural sense, but liable, 
 from eagerness and occasional want of 
 judgment, to errors and oversights seldom 
 mischievous, but often embarrassing to 
 those with whom he was connected. His 
 age seemed to be about seven or eight and 
 twenty ; he was neither plain nor handsome, 
 but had the air of a man accustomed to 
 good company, great frankness and hilarity
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. iGo 
 
 of countenance, and a temper which no- 
 thing but the sight of meanness or in- 
 justice could ruffle. 
 
 With such an host and hostess, and in a 
 dehghtful mansion, beautifully situated, 
 where it seemed to be the study of the kind 
 entertainers to vary her pleasures, and contri- 
 bute to her gratification, Adela could not be 
 otherwise than supremely happy. Her spi- 
 rits were exhilarated to their highest pitch; 
 time not only seemed to have wings, but, 
 as she often remarked, to be always using 
 them — always frying 1 '' This," cried she, 
 *^ is so like being in Fairy land, or so like a 
 pleasant dream, that 1 am in a perpetual 
 fright lest it should all vanish in an instant ; 
 or lest I should suddenly awake, and find 
 
 myself in bed at S , with Amy standing 
 
 beside me, urging me to get up and hasten 
 down stairs to take a lesson of my old 
 French master in the back parlour !*' 
 
 About a fortnight after he arrival at Rose- 
 down Court, the name of Mr. Somerville's 
 abode, the house was further enlivened by 
 an accession of visitors nearly as youthful 
 as herself, and all connected with her^
 
 166 TRAITS OF NATURE.' 
 
 though all individually strangers. The 
 chief personage in the set, at least, in his 
 own estimation, was her brother, come to 
 spend a portion of his summer holidays with 
 Mr. and Mrs. Somerville, who judged that 
 their proposing it would be gratifying to 
 his father. With him arrived his cousin, 
 the son of Mr. Cleveland's only brother ; 
 and, accompanied by her governess, came 
 also the eldest sister of this youth, Miss 
 Barbara Cleveland, a girl of fifteen, im- 
 periously decreed by nature to be a dwarf, 
 though tortured by art, into being of all 
 dwarfs the most formal and unbending; 
 her countenance was sharp-featured and 
 supercilious ; and in the composition of 
 her mind was united the shallow judgment 
 of a child, with the pert pretensions of a 
 pedant. To an opinion the most exalted of 
 her own merit, personal and mental, she 
 added the coolest incredulity as to the merit 
 of almost every other human being. 
 
 The astonishment of Julius at sight 
 of Adela — the little creature whom he had 
 for so many years accustomed himself to 
 speak and to think of, as the pale-faced
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. l6f 
 
 whimperer, was not wholly unmixed with 
 feelings of brotherly and cordial exulta- 
 tion. 
 
 " Why, how she is grown !'* exclaimed 
 he, shaking her heartily by the hand. 
 " How different a looking girl she is to 
 what f ever expected to see her ! — Kang 
 it! There will be no comfort in plaguing 
 her now, for I make no doubt, she knows 
 perfectly how to take her own part ! In 
 the name of wonder, A del a, where did you 
 pick up such a good colour, and such a 
 happy, contented face ?" 
 
 ^^ We must suppose," said Mrs. Somer- 
 ville, smiling, '^ that whilst she was at the 
 phijsic-shop, as you used to call the good 
 Dr. Hampden's, tliet/ lay in her way, and 
 she found them''^ 
 
 " No quotations, my dear Ellen !" cried 
 Julius, with quickness ; '^ leave them to 
 the classical Barbara. — But, Adela, tell 
 me, what have you done with your two in- 
 separables ? Are Master Frisk and Mrs. 
 Amy still in the land of the living ? Are 
 either of them here ? or both ?" 
 
 *' ' — ' ^ 
 
 * Falstaff, in King Henry IV.
 
 l68 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 '^ Amy is here, but Frisk regained at 
 Dr. Hampden's." 
 
 ^^ Perhaps under a course of medicine. 
 But^ however, never mind ; it is sufficient 
 for me that Amy is on the spot. — My dear 
 Bab/' added he, turning to his prim cousin, 
 ^^ you who hate to be losing a moment's 
 time at this important period of your hfe, 
 and who are always in search of fresh means 
 to improve either your person or your 
 mind, you will be charmed with this same 
 Amy. She is a linguist of the first class, 
 from whom you may obtain such insight 
 into Oriental;, or perhaps Coptic learning, 
 as very few individuals now in England are 
 capable of giving you ; and besides this, 
 being a model of grace, and a pattern of all 
 female elegance, she may bestow a finish 
 upon your carriage, and communicate a 
 dignity to your movements, which no 
 dancing-master could equal 1" 
 
 Miss Barbara Cleveland, who, in this 
 palpable rhodomontade, easily descried a 
 sneer, that weapon of provocation which 
 she was, of all others, the best qualified to 
 retort, was beginning, with a sarcastic air, 
 a reply full of tartness ; when, as they were
 
 TRAITS OF NATURfi. iS^J 
 
 sauntering upon the lawn in front of the 
 house, Amy, who had been walking to the 
 neighbouring village, suddenly emerged 
 from amidst a clump of tall and slender 
 trees, which rendered her diminutive height 
 and disproportioned emhonpoint more re- 
 markable, and directed her steps towards 
 the servants' hall along an unfenced path, 
 in full view of the whole party. At this 
 sight, Julius clapping his hands with an 
 extravagant shout, eagerly exclaimed, 
 
 " There she is, Barbara ' there she is ! 
 -—Stop her, stop her, Adela, and let us have 
 the pleasure of presenting to our accom- 
 plished cousin, this incomparable instruc- 
 tress ! " 
 
 But Adela, who, in addition to her bro- 
 ther's vociferous mirth, had caught the 
 sound, though in a lower key, of a laugh 
 from her young cousin, Talbot Cleveland, 
 flew towards Amy with a purpose widely 
 different from that on which Julius wished 
 her to go ; for, concerned, as well as indig- 
 nant, that her faithful friend should incur 
 the mortification of being made an object 
 of derision, she threw her arms round her 
 neck the instant she reached her, saying^ 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 170 TRAIT8 OF NATURE, 
 
 *^ Make haste into the house, dear Amy, 
 and never mind the noisy outcry of that 
 rude boy." 
 
 " Ah, good young Missy," cried Amy, 
 looking dehghtedly in Adela's face, ^^ Amy 
 no care who laughs, who makes mock, so 
 long as dear Missy love her, and no make 
 mock!" 
 
 ^^ I mock you. Amy ? Oh, never, never ! 
 And if I was a man, I would sooner fight 
 for you, than let you be affronted ! " 
 
 ^^ No, no ; no fight nor no vex about it ! 
 Me no mind their jeers ; me do no harm to 
 jaobody ; me say no rude thing to nobody 5 
 me only black, and not pretty, and not tall 
 — they laugh for that ! Let them laugh, 
 and me laugh too, and think them foolish 
 people ! " 
 
 They were now arrived at the door lead- 
 ing to the servants' offices, and Adela, en- 
 chanted by Amy's untaught philosophy, 
 again kissed her, and then flew back, not 
 without a hope of exciting in her brother 
 some shame, to record an answer which did 
 the worthy negro so much credit. Its ef- 
 fect, however, upon Julius, was slight and 
 transient ; but it filled their cousin Talbot
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. Ifi 
 
 with a contrition which he ingenuously ac- 
 knowledged. 
 
 On the second or third morning after the 
 arrival of this youthful trio^ Mrs. Somer- 
 ville, ordering an open carriage to the door 
 for herself and the two young ladies, and 
 leaving to her husband the care of the 
 boys on horseback, saHied forth, as soon as 
 breakfast was over, to shew them some of 
 the beauties of the country, and parti- 
 cularly to gratify them with the sight of 
 one of the most ancient castles, still habit- 
 able, that has been recorded in British his- 
 tory. The beauty of the day was highly fa- 
 vourable to the scheme, and they all entered 
 with spirit into the pleasures of the excur- 
 sion, and were eagerly communicating to 
 each other their observations and satisfac- 
 tion, when Adela, espying at the end of a 
 long and stately avenue, a sumptuous edi- 
 fice, something in the Gothic style, turned 
 to Mrs. Somerville, and rather surprised, 
 said, 
 
 *^ Is not that the place to which you 
 meant to take us ? Your coachman is 
 driving past it!" 
 
 '* That is not a mansion to which we 
 
 I 2
 
 172 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 can, at present, have access/' answered 
 Mrs. Somerville : ^^ the family it belongs 
 to is just arrived from town ; and till I 
 know whether they mean to be acquainted 
 with us, I do not choose to solicit, as if I 
 was merely an accidental traveller, a view 
 of their house." 
 
 Adela was perfectly satisfied with this 
 explanation ; but Barbara Cleveland en- 
 quired whose residence it was^ and what it 
 was called. 
 
 ^' It belongs," replied Mrs. Somerville, 
 <' to Lord Ossely, and is called Mordington 
 Castle." 
 
 " Mordington Castle ! " repeated Adcla, 
 starting at a name so long familiarized to 
 her by the dates of letters received from 
 thence. ^^ That is where Algernon's uncle 
 lives — where Algernon, perhaps, is now 
 himself! Oh, how I should like to see it!" 
 " Who is Algernon ? " enquired Mr* 
 Somerville, who was just then riding close 
 to the side of the carriage. 
 
 " He is an old playfellow and companion 
 of mine, who lived with me almost two 
 years at Dr. Hampden's ; and he is nephew 
 to Lord Ossely, and his other name isMor-
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 173 
 
 dington. We were the best friends in the 
 world, and I had almost rather see him 
 than any body I know." 
 
 '^ Shall we/' said the indulgent Mr. 
 Somervillc, looking at his wife, " shall we 
 endeavour to gratify her, and send a ser- 
 vant up to the house to ask if we may 
 see it ?" 
 
 ^^ I think," replied that lady good-hu- 
 mouredly, *^ we can never have a better 
 excuse for breaking through a restraint of 
 our own imposing. Julius, will you ride 
 ^back to the footman, and desire him to 
 make this enquiry for us ?" 
 
 " No," said Julius, bluntly, and looking 
 extremely sullen ; '^ I had rather ride to 
 Old Nick than move a step towards the 
 premises belonging to any of the iMording- 
 ton race 1" 
 
 Adela's countenance fell ; and Mr. So- 
 merville, much surprised, said, 
 
 " Why, how now, young Pepper-pot! 
 what has moved your noble spirit to such 
 vehement indignation against these unfor- 
 tunate Mordingtons? What have they 
 done to you ? Where did you know" them r" 
 I 3
 
 174 tRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 *^ I knew Adela's sweet favourite at 
 Eton,'* roughly answered Julius^ " and I 
 hate him." 
 
 *^ A very brotherly and tender declara- 
 tion ! But this is all nonsense ; you are not 
 old enough yet to know what you love of 
 what you hate. It will be time enough for 
 you to entertain these Montague and Ca- 
 pulet prejudices ten or twenty years hence. 
 So, my good little Adela, if you wish it, 
 we will still go to this proscribed mansion; 
 and Julius will grow cool by the way." 
 
 Gratefully thanking him, Adela an- 
 swered, 
 
 *^ I should have no pleasure in going 
 now ; but, indeed, when I proposed it, I 
 did not imagine Julius would have been so 
 offended." 
 
 " So I suppose," cried he ; ^^ for how 
 should you know any thing about what may 
 have passed at Eton ? But you might have 
 waited till you were sure we should all 
 have liked it, before you were so ready with 
 your foolish propositions." 
 
 Adela coloured, and felt much hurt by 
 sueh unauthorised asperity ; but she was
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. l75 
 
 Spared the disagreeable task of making to 
 it any answer, by the zeal and kindness of 
 Mrs. Somerville, who, disgusted at her 
 brothers behaviour throughout the whole 
 affair, reproved him in such plain terms, 
 that, muttering and scowhng, he checked 
 his horse's pace, and in a confirmed fit of 
 ill-humour, rode, indignant and alone, 
 daring the remainder of the way, at a con- 
 siderable distance from the carriage. 
 
 Talbot Cleveland had been a silent au- 
 ditor of all that had passed, and being of a 
 nature cheerful, and averse from strife, felt 
 anxious, as soon as Julius was gone, to start 
 a new subject ; but Mr. Somerville, know- 
 ing that he also was an Etonian, though 
 only of recent date, chose to put some inter- 
 rogations to him relative to the object of 
 his cousin s rancour — the detested Algernon, 
 
 " Tell us," said he, " what has given 
 birth to, and fomented all this absurd en- 
 mity ? Some of these days, this young 'Squire 
 Mordiiigton will be Viscount Ossely, and 
 my nearest neighbour. I hope I shall not 
 find him of a quarrelsome, insolent temper, 
 disposed to be at variance with every body 
 I 4
 
 3 76 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 around him. Speak out, Talbot; let uf 
 hear what kind of a boy ^ou think him. 
 We know already what is Adela's opinion, 
 and that of her brother." 
 
 *• He never quarreled with me, sir/' an- 
 swered Talbot; '^ and, except by Julius, 
 and some of the friends of Julius, I never 
 heard that he was disliked or complained 
 X)f. I am not intimate with him, however, 
 for the breach between him and my cousin 
 is so confirmed, that we have kept aloof as 
 if by mutual consent ; and nothing would 
 enrage Julius so much, as my making or 
 accepting any advances towards a better 
 acquaintance.*' 
 
 " This irascible little gentleman," said 
 Mr. Somerville, " seems to have the most 
 promising qualifications for the future 
 leader of a faction, of any stripling dema- 
 gogue I ever heard of! He would have 
 been an invaluable auxiliary, on whichever 
 side he had declared, during the contests 
 between the houses of York and Lancaster : 
 pray tieaven, he may not blow up a hurri- 
 cane between the illustrious houses of Mor- 
 dington and Cleveland !"
 
 TRAITS OJ* NATURE. 177 
 
 " At all events/' said Adela^ addressing 
 Talbot with resumed vivacity, ^' I hope 
 you will not take sides against Algernon, 
 merely because you are a Cleveland ?" 
 
 ^' 0\\y no ; I will not take sides against 
 atiy one you wish well to." 
 
 *^ I shall wish well to them both ; but I 
 am certain, Algernon will not be the most to 
 blame." 
 
 '' 1 should be very glad to get acquainted 
 with this early friend of yours, Adela/' 
 said Mr. Somerville. 
 
 " And so should I," subjoined his wife ; 
 *^ but whilst Julius is here, impetuous and 
 self-willed as he is, the experiment might 
 be hazardous, and the two boys, at their 
 first meeting, would perhaps entertain us 
 with the sight of a set battle." 
 
 *^ Oh, no," cried Talbot ; '^ they would 
 not even speak — they would only look at 
 each other with airs of defiance. They 
 have never fought, and but seldom come to 
 words ; for Mordington is stouter and 
 stronger than Julius, and, I believe, dis- 
 dains, or is ashasned to beat him ; but, I 
 own, I have often seen him look as if he 
 wished it, and could hardly forbear," 
 I 5
 
 178 TRAITS OF NATURE, 
 
 " To say the truth," cried Mr. Somer- 
 ville, *^ I might sometimes find it difficult, 
 in that respect, not to sympathize with him 
 most cordially !"
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 179 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 DANCING. 
 
 In so retired a situation, and with so tur- 
 bulent and restless an inmate as Julius, 
 Mrs. Somerville soon discovered that it 
 was by no means easy to provide such a 
 succession of amusements for her young 
 guests, as should maintain them in constant 
 good - humour. There were, of course, 
 neither plays^ operas, nor places of public 
 resort of any description to which she 
 could take them ; and though Adela and 
 Talbot seemed perfectly contented, Barbara 
 Cleveland, and Julius, still more undis- 
 guisedly, shewed frequent symptoms of 
 ennui, and of consequent disgust and petu- 
 lance. 
 
 *• I will never," thought their perplexed 
 hostess, " fill my house with school-boys 
 and girls again. But, however, as they 
 I 6
 
 180 TRAITS OP NATURE. 
 
 are here, for my sins^ I must do the best I 
 can to procure them entertainment.'* 
 
 *^ Juhas," said she, one evening that her 
 brother lay stretched upon a sofa, half 
 asleep, '^ are you fond of dancing r'* 
 
 " Whom would you have me dance with 
 here, hey, sister Ellen ? With Amy ? or 
 Barbara's governess ? or the , tres - chere 
 Barbara herself ? Dost ever condescend to 
 §0 irrational an amusement, my little Bab? 
 Would it not put thee out of joint, body 
 and miad^ and tumble down the whole 
 structure of thy high - soaring philoso- 
 phy t" 
 
 '' Let Barbara, and her philosophy alone." 
 
 *^ Which, by the way," interrupted he, 
 *^ is not proof against provocation — witness 
 the angry Oash of those bright eyes, and 
 the tremendous pout of that eloquent lip! 
 — But now, dear sister, proceed; what 
 about my love of dancing: ?" 
 
 /^ I would, if you and the rest of the 
 party like it, endeavour, from the few fa- 
 milies in our neighbourhood, to assemble 
 as many young people as would make a to- 
 lerable ball ; and you should have a harp 
 and two fiddles j and a supper, after dancing,
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 181 
 
 and whatever other addition to your enter- 
 tainment I can devise." 
 
 *^ Oh, let's have these fiddles and the 
 «upper by all means !" cried Julius, start- 
 ing up — " And, really, sister, I must say 
 your are \ery good-natured for thinking 
 
 of it r 
 
 *^ I am glad you have the grace to allow 
 it!" rather drily observed Mr. Somerville. 
 
 ^^ Now, my dear sir, though I mai/ be a 
 bit of an annoyance to you all sometimes, I 
 can assure you, I know as well as any body 
 how to feel obliged to people when they 
 are particularly kind and friendly ; and no- 
 body is ofteiicr so, than sister Elinor !" 
 
 Had Algernon been present when Julius 
 uttered this sentence, the resemblance which 
 he had often perceived in him to Adela, 
 would have appeared to him more conspi- 
 cuous than ever. It is impr-ssible to de- 
 scribe the eOect operated upon his coun- 
 .tenance by the influence of a grateful or an 
 afiectionate sentiment ; it was, by nature, 
 cast in one of her finest moulds, and whea 
 lighted up with genuine good feelings, ac- 
 quired a character so prepossessing, that
 
 182 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 Jew could behold it without pleasure and 
 admiration. 
 
 The thanks and vivacity with which her 
 scheme had been acceded to, redoubled 
 Mrs. Somerville's anxiety to put it in exe- 
 cution. She shared in Adela's regret, that 
 neither Mordington, his pretty sister, nor 
 the two youthful daughters of Lord Ossely, 
 could be invited to participate in their in* 
 tended gaieties : but omitting none else 
 within reach, and offering beds to many 
 whose abodes were too remote to render 
 their return till the next day convenient 
 she collected, by dint of perseverance, an 
 assembly of nearly forty persons, to whom, 
 on the appointed evening, she delightedly 
 •devoted herself to the task of doing the ho- 
 nours of her house. 
 
 Adela, in the midst of all this gay bustle, 
 trod upon air, and was the most gratified 
 and the happiest of any individual present. 
 She danced with Talbot Cleveland, who, 
 young as he was in the talent of professing 
 admiration, evidently beheld her with such 
 animated delight, and attended to her with 
 •such unremitting assiduity, that Mr. So-
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 183 
 
 merville, much amused, gave to him the 
 epithet of her adorer ; and if he failed in 
 making the youth desist from paying her 
 homage, at least completely succeeded in 
 rendering him less unguarded in its display. 
 
 During a pause in the dancing, whilst 
 those who had been engaged in it were 
 partaking of the refreshments handed about, 
 a young lady, who had formed some ac- 
 quaintance with Adela, found her way 
 into an apartment adjoining to the ball-room 
 where she was seated with Barbara Cleve- 
 land, Mr. Somerville, Talbot, and her 
 brother- — 
 
 " Do come,'* cried the busy little in- 
 former, addressing them collectively, " and 
 'see a poor boy in the next room, who, as a 
 great favour, has just now been brought in 
 by his father, the old man who plays the 
 harp, to see the company dance. Some of 
 the party, struck by the oddity of his ap- 
 ]pearance, have attempted to engage him in 
 conversation : but he is completely deaf and 
 "(dumb ; though full of animation, and look- 
 ing every moment as if he was ready to 
 laugh in all our faces. Do pray come ; hi&
 
 184 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 father, to amuse uS;, has been proposing to 
 make hun dance a hornpipe !" 
 
 ^^ Dance ?" repeat'ed Adela, '^ and com- 
 pletely deaf ? Oh, it will be shocking !" 
 
 " Nonsense !" exclaimed Julius, ^^ What 
 should make it shocking, if the boy himself 
 don't mind it : I hate such puling senti- 
 mentality ! Let's go and see him. I darq 
 say the performance will be a famous clever 
 thing. We may afterwards make him 
 dance a pas de deux with the lovely Amy 1" 
 
 Then, seizing Adela by the arm, he 
 dragged her with Lim, followed by the rest 
 of the part}^, to tlie scene of action. 
 
 They arrived, just as the old harper's 
 lively, but unfortunate son, was taking his 
 station at the upper end of the ball-room, 
 to begin his allotted task. At sight of the 
 uncouth figure he presented, Adela and 
 her companions almost started. His hair, 
 of a fiery red, bushy and staring in for- 
 midable profusion, and every variety of di- 
 rection around his brows, gave to his head 
 so disproportioned a bulk, that it was dif- 
 ficult to imagine how it could properly be- 
 long to so slender a body. The tanned
 
 TRAITS OF NAXrRE, 1S5 
 
 complexion accompanying these carroty ho- 
 nours, was of most unusual darknesS', 
 amounting almost to the hue of a mulatto- 
 He wore a party-coloured silk handkerchief 
 loosely tied round his neck, and one of his 
 eyes was covered by a large patch. The 
 dress adorning this gracious personage^ 
 consisted of a tight scarlet waistcoat, coarse 
 canvass trowsers, worsted stockings, and 
 shoes tied on with packthread. He flou- 
 rished, previously to commencing his per- 
 formance, a stout oaken cudgel in his right 
 hand ; nodded facetiously to the company, 
 and then, fixing his eyes steadily on the 
 harper, at a given signal, and at the very 
 instant the music began, he set off on hii 
 unprecedented undertaking. 
 
 But the lati : it^r with which all present 
 were prejiare.l to behold him, speedily, and, 
 most unexpectedly, converted itself into a 
 tumult of appla 'se. The spirit, lightness, 
 and precision, with which he danced ; the 
 variety and extreme diHiculty of many of 
 his steps, and the perfect ease and com- 
 posure with which he executed them, could 
 only 1)0 v?xceed<y] by the astonishment de- 
 picted on eve/y surrounding countenance*
 
 186 TRAITS OF NATURE* 
 
 Loud and universal commendations followed 
 the rustic bow with which he concluded his 
 exhibition ; and, as he directed his steps 
 towards the place where his father sat, 
 more than half the youthfid assembly ac- 
 companied and flocked around him ; some, 
 to express their admiration by smiles and 
 dumb show ; some, to slide more substan- 
 tial offerings into his hand ; and others, 
 for the gratification of gaining a nearer 
 view of his extraordinary aspect. Amongst 
 these latter, stood Mrs. Somerville and 
 Adela ; the former of whom, as soon as she 
 could secure a hearing from the old harper, 
 distracted by the mviltiplicity of questions 
 th^t were asked him, said — 
 
 *^ Some have bestowed upon this poor lad 
 money, which, I suppose, he will give to 
 you ; and others are loading him with 
 praises which he cannot hear : but what is 
 there that can be offered to him which he 
 would keep, and really feel pleasure from 
 receiving ?" 
 
 The youth, who had been looking round 
 him with a disengaged and general smile, 
 extremely advantageous to the display of 
 the only beauty discoverable in his face— •
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 18/ 
 
 a regular and admirable set of teeth — now, 
 fixing an earnest gaze on the surprised and 
 shrinking Adela, carelessly dropped from his 
 slackened hold all the money that had been 
 given to him, and making a hideous noise, 
 something between a chatter and a scream^ 
 suddenly stretched forth his hand, as if 
 tempted to seize upon a cornelian heart, 
 which, suspended to a gold chain, she 
 wore round her neck : but, tlie next mo- 
 ment, checking himself, he desisted from 
 the attempt, though his eye still remained 
 fixed upon the bauble, with the most mar 
 nifest expression of coveting eagerness. 
 
 Talbot Cleveland, who was standing near 
 enough to observe this action, now ad- 
 dressing Adela with a laugh, said — 
 
 " The answer to your sister's question is 
 plain! It is your heart that he will feel 
 most pleasure in receiving !" 
 
 " Can he really be so childish," said 
 Adela to the harper, ^' as to wish for such a 
 useless gift as this ?" 
 
 " Lord love your pretty face, my good 
 young lady," cried the old man, ^' let the 
 poor boy have it ! I warrant he'll take care 
 of it, and neither break nor lose it."
 
 183 TRAITS OF NATURJffi 
 
 " That's more than could be vouched for 
 all receivers of hearts !" observed Mrs. So- 
 merville ; '^ give him the desired prize, then^ 
 my dear Adela, to encourage in a young 
 beginner, so honourable a disposition to 
 good faith." 
 
 " What, giveit him to keep ? — No, I 
 cannot, indeed ; it is one of your own pre- 
 sents." 
 
 '* Then, I have the better title to urge 
 you to part with it. Come, prepare to sur- 
 render it; — some other keep-sake shall sup- 
 ply its place." 
 
 Every body joined in pleading the poor 
 toy's cause ; and AdeJa, ashamed of longer 
 resistance, though assured he must be an 
 ideot for desiring it, detached the corneliaa 
 heart from the chain to which it was affixed, 
 and, half laughing, half blushing, presen- 
 ted it to its silent yet importuiiate solicitor. 
 He received it with a strange burst of dis- 
 cordant exultation ; kissed it vehemently ; 
 thrust it into his vvaist« oat pocket ; and 
 then, as if tired of being a gazing-stock, 
 sat down on the^ floor, beside his father, 
 and leaning back agaiu&t the wainscot, put 
 0.1 his hat, puikd it over his face, and
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. ISg 
 
 seemed deliberately composing himself for 
 an unceremonious nap. 
 
 ^^ He is not a slave to forms !" remarked 
 Mrs, Somerville, regarding him with a 
 smile — '' But let him rest in peace ; and 
 do you tell us," added she, turning to the 
 harper, ^^ what else he has been taught, be- 
 sides dancing so wonderfully ? Can he 
 read ? Has he been able to learn any kind 
 of trade :" 
 
 '' He was brought up, madam, by some 
 thriving relations, who have taught him a 
 power of fine things, more than ever I shall 
 know r 
 
 " Will these relations do any thing to- 
 wards providing for huii r" 
 
 *^ Oh, dear, yes, madam, no fear of that ; 
 I dares to say, he'll be mrrtal well off, by 
 and by."— 
 
 *' I am heartily glad to hear it. To him, 
 helpless and unfortunate as he is, easy cir- 
 cumstances seem absolutely indispensable." 
 
 " But what," said one of the youg la- 
 dies, standing in the circle, '* what is the 
 matter with his eye r Has he lost it ?" 
 
 " No, Miss, no, he hasn t quite lost it; 
 but bless your heart ! he's wild and full of
 
 IQO TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 tricks, and not minding any hindrances, he 
 takes such out-of-the-way fancies, that he's 
 obliged, sometimes, to go about, that poor 
 crippled object, all maimed-like, as you 
 now see him.*' 
 
 ^^ In this case," said Mrs. Somerville, ^' it 
 is particularly unlucky he should be so fro- 
 licksome a genius ; you should as seldom 
 as possible suffer him to go out of your 
 sight." 
 
 ^^ Very true, madam ; but. Lord, he 
 don't much mind me, I assure you !" 
 
 The old man then struck a few chords 
 upon his harp, and the sound, operating 
 like magic, was a signal to all the young 
 people, to fly back to their places, and 
 begin a new dance. 
 
 When the summons to supper was given, 
 Mrs. Somerville delegated to Adela the 
 task of doing the honours of one of the ta- 
 bles, whilst she herself presided at that 
 prepared for her senior guests. This office, 
 new to her as it was, Adela, anxious to 
 merit the distinction it conferred, performed 
 with the most assiduous and graceful at- 
 tention to all its duties. Talbot Cleveland 
 was her neighbour and ready assistant ; the
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE* I9I 
 
 group that surrounded her looked cheerful 
 and pleased, and laughter unrestrained, 
 though not boisterous ; conversation ani- 
 mated, yet not tumultuous, rendered this 
 repast, as well to its beholders as partakers, 
 one of the pleasantest that was ever given. 
 
 Whilst the gaiety in which Adela so cor- 
 dially participated was at its height, turning 
 her head to speak to a footman, she saw 
 standing at the room door, in a cold and 
 very comfortless situation, the poor deaf and 
 dumb boy, whom, if she thought of at all, 
 she thought of as being at supper belovr 
 stairs with his father, and the other musi- 
 cians. He seemed earnestly looking to- 
 wards her and her party; and concluding 
 that he was hungry, and secretly longing to 
 devour some of the good things upon the 
 table, she heaped upon a plate as much 
 cold chicken, ham, and bread, as it would 
 contain, provided herself with a knife and 
 fork, and hastened with her liberal supply, 
 to the humble and silent intruder. Talbot 
 immediately followed, with a glass and the 
 remains of a decanter of wine ; and making 
 signs to him to sit down upon a form behind 
 the door, they placed their respective offer-
 
 192 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 ings beside him, encouraging and inviting 
 him to eat. The youth laughed^ but it was 
 no longer the laugh of an ideot clown ; he 
 bowed, but his bow had wholly lost its 
 peasant's awkwardness ; and Adela, turning 
 with some surprise towards Talbot, said, 
 
 ^^ This poor creature might be won upon, 
 by a little kindness, to behave like other 
 people! 1 cannot endure him when he grins 
 and chatters ; but his laugh is not unplea- 
 sant. I really don't think that he is en- 
 tirely without sense T' 
 
 '^ Why should you ever have thought it? 
 Persons afflicted as he is, often have a harsh 
 and disagreeable manner of attempting to 
 articulate ; but it would be hard to con- 
 clude them all fools !" 
 
 '^ Yet why should a great looby like him 
 want to possess such a ridiculous ornament 
 as my poor little cornelian heart ? What 
 can he do with it ? And why should he be 
 silly enough to prefer it to the money he 
 had received, which would have bought 
 him so many more amusing play-things ?'* 
 
 Talbot frankly acknowledged his inabi'* *' 
 lity to solve this enigma ; and then^ seeing 
 the youth beginning to tast€ the provisions
 
 TRAITS OF NATURB.> IJS 
 
 with which they had so bountifully pro- 
 vided him, Adela and her cousin returned 
 to their places at the table. 
 
 ^^ If 1 could at all guess/' said Barbara 
 Cleveland, who was at once suspicious and 
 fond of the marvellous, " what possible 
 purpose such a frolic could answer, I should 
 be half tempted to believe, that this young 
 purblind dummy is here in a fictitious cha- 
 racter !'* — 
 
 " Perhaps some lover of yours in disguiscj 
 hey, Bab ?" cried Julius, with a provoking 
 laugh. 
 
 *' Barbara is celebrated for her sagacity 
 in finding out personages under a mask 1** 
 s^id her brother : ^^ I remember she had 
 shrewd suspicions, when the old sexton of 
 the village church near my father's house in 
 the country was first appointed"., • 
 
 Here Barbara, with an air of pique, inter- 
 rupted him, to desire that he would not in- 
 troduce her name into any of his foolish 
 stories ! 
 
 " But, by the Lord Harry, he shall I'* 
 cried the delighted Julius, rubbing his 
 hands in anticipation of some ludicrous 
 anecdote : ** Come, Talbot, give us the lii«« 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 154 TRAITS OF NATUKE. 
 
 tory of the old sexton ; and here," added he^ 
 raising to liis lips a glass of wine, *' here's 
 to his very good health !" 
 
 Talbot, displeased by the dictatorial tone 
 m which his sister had commanded his for- 
 bearance, required very little urging to re- 
 late, that the memorable sexton in question, 
 happening to possess a good set of features, 
 and a fine head of curling silver hair, Bar- 
 bara had amused herself for many months, 
 with conjecturing that he was some emigrant 
 prince, or deposed sovereign, reduced to 
 officiate in that degrading capacity by the 
 inconstancy of Fortune, and the sad vicissi- 
 tudes to which human affairs are liable ! 
 
 *^ The poor fellow," continued Talbot, 
 *^ spoke the vulgar tongue as fluently as 
 British sexton was ever known to speak it : 
 but a strong Suffolk whine, she interpreted 
 into a foreign cadence ; the stoop of age, or 
 rather the slouch of vulgarity, she called 
 the bend of sorrow ; every movement, she 
 averred, proclaimed the dignity of fallen 
 greatness ; and, in the very conveyance of a 
 quid of tobacco from his tin box to his dis- 
 coloured mouth, she discernejd a graceful 
 superiority, that could only belong to a
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 195 
 
 man of illustrious birth and polished edu- 
 cation !" 
 
 A general burst of laughter, not very flat- 
 tering to poor Barbara's self-consequence, 
 succeeded this absurd story, which, cer- 
 tainly, had lost nothing in passing through 
 her brother's hands. She bore the tempo- 
 rary derision of the juvenile party with silent 
 haughtiness, though visible indignation; 
 and Adela, not much amused by what she 
 taw gave another pain, to relieve her from 
 the comments with which she was tormented, 
 now said— 
 
 " Well, but supposing the poor young 
 man, sitting at the door, quietly eating his 
 comfortless supper, is really deaf and dumb, 
 and the son of the old harper, and no lover, 
 or sovereign in disguise ; by what means, I 
 should like to know, has it been found pos- 
 sible to teach him, not only to perform such 
 a variety of steps, but also to dance in sucli, 
 excellent time ?" 
 
 ** You may depend upon it," cried Julius, 
 very gravely, " he first acquired these won- 
 derful steps by being compelled to practise 
 them upon a heated metal floor, as is the 
 custom in teaching bears !" 
 K 3
 
 igS TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 *^ Horrid creature ! How barbarous an 
 idea ! But by what contrivance could lit 
 be instructed to keep so well to the mea- 
 sure f" 
 
 ^^ Why, to account for that, another sup- 
 position occurs to me, which, perhaps, may 
 be the most rational of the two. This red- 
 haired scarecrow, apparently composed of 
 ugly flesh and blood, may, in fact, be no- 
 thing more than an ingenious piece of mecha- 
 nism, set in motion by invisible springs !" 
 
 This idea was vehemently applauded, 
 and Julius, who began to consider himself 
 as the wit of the company, was secretly en* 
 joying his litlle triumph, when suddenly he 
 felt bis ami griped by a hand of iron, 
 that seemed threatening to crush it to the 
 bone! A cry of anguish involuntarily 
 escaped him ; and turning to discover who 
 was the merciless inflictor of such pain, he 
 beheld, close at his elbow, the deaf and 
 dumb youth, who, with a glass in his hand, 
 and looking perfectly unconscious and inno- 
 cent, was making signs that he wanted to 
 have it replenished. 
 
 <( No,— ril be cursed if I doT cried the 
 angry sufferer^ pushing him roughly away.
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 197 
 
 '* You have the fangs of a diabolical wild 
 cat, and I make no doubt, that I shall 
 wear their precious marks for a month to 
 come !" — 
 
 *^ Oh, don't be in such a passion, cousin 
 Juhus !" cried Barbara, maliciously; "Re- 
 member your own doctrine of the invisible 
 springs ; and candidly attribute to their 
 having been too briskly set in motion, the 
 superfluous energy of the poor automa- 
 ton's squeeze !" 
 
 She then beckoned the young man to 
 come round to her chair, and, in high 
 gooa numour wim iiiui, iiueu iiis j^iass^ 
 and invited him, by her gestures, to par- 
 take of some of the fruit and cakes within 
 her reach : but declining her offer, he 
 bowed to Adela as he raised the glass to his 
 lips, and having drank its contents, appa- 
 rently to her health, stole quietly away. 
 
 From that moment, the company saw of 
 him nothing further. It speedily became 
 known, that the old harper was no perma- 
 nent inhabitant of the town from whence 
 the other musicians had been hired ; but 
 happening accidentally to be there when 
 Mrs. Somerville sent to engage them, and 
 K 3
 
 igS TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 the customary harper of the place being 
 ill^ this stranger had volunteered his ser- 
 vices, and offered to be his substitute for 
 the night.
 
 TRAITS^ or NATURE. 3 P^ 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 BETTING. 
 
 The period apjoointed by Mr. Cleveland 
 for the duration of his son's visit wasnow 
 fast drawing to a close. Barbara and her 
 brother w^ere to depart at the same tinae. 
 The reluctant murmurs of the latter were 
 incessant. Julius, though eager for change 
 and novelty, as the moment of separation 
 approached, expressed, and really ftlt — as, 
 indeed, whatever he professed he always 
 meant — the most cordial regret. Barbara, 
 alone, arrived and took her leave with equal 
 unconcern ; and exactly proportioned to the 
 frigid temperance of her own feelings, were 
 those, respecting herself, of the social party 
 which she left behind. 
 
 On the last evening of their stay at 
 Rosedown, Adela, whilst walking with Ju- 
 lius and Talbot in the pleasure-grounds, 
 found courage, for the first time, to begin 
 talking of her father. 
 
 K 4
 
 SOO TRAITS OF NATURE, 
 
 ** Does he, my dear Julius, know I aui 
 here ?" said she. *' Will he^ do you think, 
 make any enquiries about me, when he see» 
 yau ? Does he ever speak of me r" 
 
 " He never speaks much of any body ; 
 but he certainly knows that you are here, 
 for I have mentioned you several times in 
 my letters." 
 
 ^* Has he answered those letters ?** 
 
 *^ A pretty question ! Do you think I 
 would write to him twice if he did not 
 ;inswer me ?" 
 
 " And has he ever taken any notice of 
 what you said about me r" 
 
 *^ Why, what are you plaguing yourself 
 in this foolish manner for ? What does it 
 signify whether he has ever taken notice of 
 it or not? His two answers are neither of 
 them half a page long, and he hardly, even, 
 jsays a word about my sister Somerville." 
 
 ^^ Have you either of these letters in your 
 pocket ?" 
 
 " Yes, I believe I have one of them ;— 
 h^re it is— you may read if you have % 
 mind. I have read it once^ and what \% 
 more, 1 have answered it ; and that's enough 
 for me, in all conscience.*'
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 201 
 
 He then put into her hand^ crumpled, 
 torn, and defaced, a letter^ which, as she 
 sighing received, Adela could not forbear 
 saying to lierself — 
 
 " Had this been addressed, by the 
 same writer, to me, should / liave thus 
 slighted and misused it? Oh, that my 
 father would but once put me to the 
 test ! " 
 
 She read as much as was decipherable of 
 the mangled scroll, and found it, though 
 brief, most affectionately cordial, and aU 
 most fraternally familiar. It contained no 
 allusion to any other of the family than 
 Julius ; was evidently penned in haste ; 
 and dated, as Adela observed, from the 
 country residence of General Cleveland^ 
 her uncle. 
 
 " This," said she, as she concluded its 
 perusal, " is the first writing of my father s 
 I ever saw. May I keep it, Juhus^^? " 
 
 " With all my heart," replied its care- 
 less owner. " 1 should have been mighty 
 glad too, if you had had it to answer. I do 
 hate that bore most confoundedly ! '* 
 
 " You would not thu^ undervalue th« 
 ■ it-6 .
 
 202 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 pleasure of this correspondence, if you were 
 denied it as I am ! '* 
 
 *^ The deuce, I should not! — Why, I 
 never would have submitted to being denied 
 it ! I would have written to him at all 
 events ; and so might you, if you had any 
 spirit ! Get a letter ready to-night, and I 
 will carry it to him myself ! " 
 
 *^ Do, my dear Adela ! " interposed 
 Talbot. 
 
 " Oh, I dare not for the world!" cried 
 she, turning pale at the mere idea. 
 
 ^^ I thought as much I " said Julius, 
 laughing — ^' but what can you be afraid 
 of, child? Though you think, perhaps, 
 he would devour you alive, you may de- 
 pend upon it, he would not eat your letter ! 
 I never knew him relish such unpalateable 
 food ! " 
 
 " Ah, Julius ! This is an excellent jest 
 to you, but it is a very sorrowful business 
 to me. However, do not urge me to write> 
 I entreat ; nothing should tempt me, with- 
 out some encouragement from more expe-* 
 rienced advisers, to hazard so great a li-. 
 betty. Yet, I thank you both, most sin-
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 203 
 
 cerely, for wishing me to try any means of 
 inducing my father to remember my ex- 
 istence." 
 
 ^^ Well, if you are such a little chicken- 
 hearted soul, I can't help it. But as my fa- 
 ther never prohibited your writing to him, 
 I would have delivered your letter with as 
 little hesitation as I would ask him how 
 he does 1 — How do you suppose you will 
 ever be sent for home, if you go on in this 
 helpless manner ? I wonder Elinor lets 
 you pursue such a pitiful system ! I pro- 
 mise you, before I go back to Eton, he shall 
 hear your name pretty often mention- 
 ed! I will give Alicia her cue to be 
 asking something or other about you every 
 day." 
 
 " Where is now my sister AJicia ? " en- 
 quired Adela. 
 
 " Down at my uncle's, with my father. 
 She wished very much to have been of our 
 party hither ; and, at one time, we thought 
 it was all settled : but, I know not for what 
 reason, my father suddenly changed his 
 mind. Perhaps he thought her too pretty 
 to go traveUing about with such a fin« 
 
 K 6
 
 904 TRAITS or NATURE. 
 
 dashing spark as this famous cousin of 
 
 ours." 
 
 *^ My dear brother,'* said Adela, with 
 great simplicity, " it is you that are the 
 dashing spark ! Cousin Talbot is as plain 
 and quiet in his manners, as if he had 
 been brought up all his life at Dr. Hamp- 
 den's." 
 
 Talbot was much pleased at this remark ; 
 bu^ Julius, ever prompt to repel reproof 
 in whatever shape it came, was beginning 
 with some asperity, to resent her huplied 
 attack upon the want of tranquilhty in hit 
 own deportment, when Mrs. Somerville sent 
 to summon them home to tea. 
 ^-Adela remained in undisturbed felicity 
 nearly a month at Rosedown after the de-» 
 parture of its other guests. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Somerville, ere autumn was over, were un- 
 der a promise of quitting home tliemselves, 
 to pay a visit to some distant friends. 
 With the truest regret, they were then 
 ctbliged to restore Adela to her early pro- 
 tectors. She left them impressed with fer- 
 vent gratitude for all their kindness, and 
 fondly, as well as sincerely exhorted, to 
 renew ber visit the succeeding summer.
 
 TRAITS eP KATURB. 205 
 
 At Dr. Hampdea's, on her return^ she 
 was greeted with open arms. No changes 
 had occurred during her ahsence, aud the 
 Ottly novelty that awaited her, was a letter 
 from Talbot Cleveland. It was dated Eton, 
 and its contents were these : 
 " My dear Cousin, 
 *' Julius told me to-day, that he had heard, 
 either from you or from Mrs. SomerviiIe,that 
 about the twentieth of this month you would 
 be again established at Dr. Hampden's ; I 
 therefore direct my letter to you at his 
 house. You will not think me officious 
 and troublesome for writing it, when you 
 find it is chiefly for the purpose of talking 
 to you of your father, that 1 take upon 
 myself this cousin's privilege. Your brotheJ^ 
 is too idle to give you any part of the 
 intelligence you may wish for. To me it 
 is a pleasure on every possible account. 
 
 *^ In pursuance of the intention he avowed 
 to you at parting, it was the unwearied 
 study of Julius, from the moment he saw 
 my uncle, to find, or to make excuses, for 
 rendering you the subject of conversation in 
 his presence. Alicia admirably seconded his 
 purpose by the curiosity with which she
 
 206 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 listened to him ; by the innumerable ques- 
 tions she asked, and the happy perseverance 
 with which she seemed delighted at all times 
 to recur to this favourite theme. The atten- 
 tion of my father and mother was at length 
 excited, and they became almost as desirous 
 to seek information about you as Alicia her- 
 self. My uncle, meanwhile — does not your 
 heart now begin to beat?— sat silent, and 
 apparently uninterested in the conversation ; 
 but Adela, be assured, his indifference was 
 indeed only apparent. I often observed 
 him, when pretending not to hear us, and 
 turning over the leaves of a book, I often 
 observed him in the evident act of listening 
 to our discourse ; I saw, when your coun- 
 tenance and features were described, a smile 
 steal over his face ; when Mrs. Somerville's 
 affection for you, and the many kind things 
 she frequently said of you, were related, I 
 perceived in him an air of real fatherly 
 satisfaction : in short, he once so far forgot 
 his assumed unconcern, whilst Julius was 
 trying to recollect the words of some song 
 he had heard you sing, as to interrupt my 
 father in the middle of a speech, and hastily 
 to ask —
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 207 
 
 '^ * Has she any voice ? Is she learning^ 
 music ? ' 
 
 ^^ ' Yes, sir/ answered Julius, very 
 gravely ; * and if all trades fail, and she 
 should be immured for life at the old physic- 
 shop, she may be enabled, hereafter, to 
 make a veiy pretty addition to the bequest 
 of grandmamma, by giving lessons to the' 
 little masters and misses who go down ta 
 S— for bathing and sea-air ! ' 
 
 " ^ My uncle frowned at this humiliating 
 hint, and turned away with a peevish 
 ^ Pshaw ! ' which drew from the fearless 
 Julius a hearty and unceremonious laugh. 
 Alicia and I made signs to him to forbear ; 
 and he abstained, during the remainder of 
 the time we were at my father s, from ut-^ 
 tering such hazardous sarcasms. But he is 
 really very zealous in your cause, and truly 
 anxious that you should now live at home, 
 and be admitted to hold your proper place 
 in my uncle's favour and kindness. Alicia 
 is sincere in good-wishes to the same effect ; 
 and my father, I am certain, will contri- 
 bute, by every argument in his power, to 
 forward the accoujplishment of so desirable 
 an event, '
 
 208 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 ^^ Since our return to Eton, tJieoW heart- 
 burnings and animos.ty between Julius and 
 young Mordington have broken but with 
 more vehemence than ever. 1 know not 
 whether you will be most concerned at the 
 fact, or amused by its cause.— Just beforQ 
 the last vacations, a crony of your brother's, 
 on hearing that he and I were to pay a visit 
 to Mrs. Somerville in Northumberland, 
 dropped some extremely impertinent hints, 
 in the presence of Mordington, about the 
 vicinity of Rosedown Court to the habita- 
 tion of Lord Ossely, and expressed a firn^ 
 belief, that the friendship between Julius 
 and Algernon would be very little increased 
 by so near a residence to each othe*. Mor- 
 dington, offended by the boy's manner, del- 
 manded what he meant. And this insolent 
 meaning turned out to be, that no sistei^ of 
 Julius Cleveland's would wish to visit o» 
 be visited by any of Mordington's relations*^ 
 A violent quarrel was on the point of en- 
 suing ; but some of the other boys inter- 
 posed, and the business ended in a bet, to a 
 pretty considerable amount, between Alger- 
 non and your brother's pert friend. The 
 object of this bet was 5 that Mordiuagton 

 
 TRAITS OF NATURK, 20f) 
 
 should either bring proof that he had 
 gained admission into Mr. Somerville's 
 house ; been well received by him and his 
 lady ; been a party in whatever amusement 
 might be going forward ; spent some hours, 
 and even eat and drank in their mansion ; or 
 that he should acknowledge himself tlie 
 loser, and pay to his adversary the stipu- 
 lated wager. All this, my dear Adela, he 
 achieved in the semblance of ■ the old 
 
 harper s son. Yes ; Algernon Mordington 
 it was, as he has furnished incontestable 
 proof, who, during so great a part of an 
 evening, thus effectually imposed upon our 
 senses, and in every particular fulfilled the 
 terms of his agreement. He has recorded 
 to me all that you said when you rose from 
 table to convey to him his solitary supper ; 
 he has brought, in evidence of his veracity, 
 the little cornelian heart which you so re- 
 luctantly surrendered ; in short, his testi- 
 mony is so clear, ample, and unquestion- 
 able, that he has, by general acclamation, 
 been adjudged to have won his bet, and 
 the laugh of the whole school is turned 
 against his opponent. Imagine how the
 
 210 THAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 mortification of this circumstance ha* 
 tended to exasperate the arrogant partisan 
 of JuHus, and even to irritate Julius him- 
 self ! And above all, judge how the remem- 
 brance of the rough squeeze vi^hich your 
 brother received from the supposed Dummy ^ 
 contributes to gall and enrage him ! Never, 
 my dear Adela, as you would preserve the 
 warm regard that Julius now feels for you, 
 never, after this, speak to him of Mording- 
 ton as your distinguished friend 1 
 
 " Your poor little innocent heart has 
 been an additional cause of contention. 
 Julius very haughtily demanded either its 
 immediate restoration to you, or its resig- 
 nation to himself. Algernon equally re- 
 fused compliance with both these awards ; 
 and he is now distinguished, amongst your 
 brother's witty adherents, by the appellation 
 of the Knave of Hearts I I much question, 
 however, whether this title has ever been 
 applied to him in his own hearing. 
 
 '' The length of this letter will not, I 
 hope, quite exhaust your patience. It 
 should meet with some favour, for it speaks 
 to you of those you love, though of no one
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 211?. 
 
 irho more affectionately regards you^ than^ 
 dear Adela, 
 
 ^' Yours J most sincerely, 
 
 " Talbot Cleveland,'^ 
 
 Surprised and entertained as Adela was, 
 by this account of the old harper's pre- 
 tended son, she yet felt seriously concerned 
 that so harmless, though ridiculous a frolic, 
 should have tended to widen the breach be- 
 tween Julius and Mordington ; and she 
 likewise experienced something very like 
 pique at the persevering silence and caution 
 with which the latter thought proper to 
 conceal himself, during the whole evening, 
 from her. 
 
 *^ It would have been such a pleasure to 
 me," cried she, " to have shaken handff 
 with him ; to have heard the well-remem- 
 bered sound of his voice ; to have seen him, 
 if but for a moment, without that hideous 
 red wig ! I wonder he could have the 
 heart to remain near me so long, and not 
 once to say, ' Adela, how do you do ?* I 
 am sure, he can very little tell when we 
 may meet again." 
 
 But the half-angry sensations occasioned
 
 212 TRlAITS Of NATURE, 
 
 by that part of Talbot's letter relating to 
 her former playfellow^ were presently super- 
 seded by joy at the information which he 
 <:;ommunicated respecting her father. She 
 had often been urged to diligence in her 
 studies, by assurances that the securest pass- 
 ports to Mr. Cleveland's heart, would be 
 talents and information ; Sir Frederic Ro- 
 salvan, the liberal defrayer of all the ex- 
 penses attending the cultivation of these 
 talents, being unwearied in his endeavours 
 to establish in her mind the most perfect 
 conviction of a circumstance so important 
 to her future destiny. Talbot's assertion, 
 that her musical abilities had been so ear- 
 nestly enquired into, fully confirmed Sir Fre- 
 deric's prognostics ; and nothing could sur- 
 pass the indefatigable industry with which 
 she now applied to every pursuit marked 
 out for her by her generous and benevolent 
 adviser. 
 
 1
 
 TRAITS OF NATimB. Qli$ 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 INVETERACY. 
 
 The two eldest sons of Dr. Hampden, 
 William^ and the ever-gentle and well- 
 disposed Reuben, Were now fast approaching 
 to the age when it was becoming necessary 
 to decide on their future destination. 
 Their father, prosperous in his profession, 
 and richly provided with friends acquired 
 by his own merit, was amply enabled to 
 give his boys every requisite assistance to- 
 wards completing their education at Col- 
 lege ; and wished the eldest to devote hifnseif 
 to medicine, and his brother to make choice 
 of the church. A living, in the gift of bnt 
 of his wealthiest patients, was likely to bei- 
 come vacant in a very few years ; and this 
 living the doctor received a positive pro- 
 mise should then be presented to wliichever 
 of his sons made choice of the clerical pro- 
 fession. Reuben willingly accorded v/ith
 
 S14 TRAITS OP NATURE. 
 
 his father's wishes ; but WiHiam, acknow* 
 ledging great reluctance to embrace the 
 plan of life chalked out for him, threw his 
 mother into an agony of alarm, by declaring 
 a determined preference for the army. As 
 a physician, the ambitious youth observed, 
 he should probably be doomed for life to 
 abide obscurely in a remote and paltry 
 country-town, detached from all commerce 
 with the world, deprived of every means of 
 rising to reputation or honour. Should he 
 even establish himself in London, what 
 friends, what recommendations could he 
 there expect ? But in the army, he asserted, 
 his attainment of distinction would depend 
 upon his own exertions ; he should there 
 stand or fall by his own efforts, or his own 
 neglect. In short, he argued so strenu- 
 ously in support of this long-cherished, 
 though but newly-avowed project, that his 
 father, with whatever violence to his feel- 
 ings, both as a husband and as a parent, 
 at length granted a reluctant assent to his 
 wishes ; and the .self-willed 5^outh, ever 
 till now the hope and delight of his mo- 
 ther's heart, almost broke that affectionate 
 heart, and drove her to despair, by the
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 215 
 
 sturdiness with which he resisted her sup- 
 plications, and the cruel composure, as she 
 deemed it, with which he left them, soon 
 after, to enter a military academy. 
 
 Algernon Mordington, on learning from 
 Dr. Hampden, with whom he still main- 
 tained agrateful and affectionate correspon-* 
 dence, the path of life his two friends had 
 fixed upon, sent to each a valuable present 
 of books adapted to their respective studies ; 
 and to his early favourite, Adela, a brief let- 
 ter from his sister, Eudocia Mordington 
 the tenour of which was as follows : 
 
 ^^ Mordington Castle, Nov. 2. 
 " I HAVE not the pleasure to know you, 
 my dear Miss Cleveland, and yet my bro- 
 ther has talked of you so often, that I al- 
 most feel as if I was writing to a friend. 
 He has played the thief at Mr. Somerville's 
 at your expense : the pretty cornelian heart 
 he robbed you of, I have seen. May I 
 venture to own, that the moment he shewed 
 it me, I was seized with a terribly covetous 
 wish to keep it, and to wear it for your 
 sake ? Let me indulge this wish ; and per- 
 mit me to substitute for the trinket of which
 
 tl6 TRAITS OF KATURK, 
 
 I deprive you, one which has belonged t#^ 
 myself, and which it would give me equal 
 pride and pleasure to learn that you some- 
 times condescend to wear in remembrance^ 
 dear Miss Cleveland, of 
 
 *^ Yours most truly, 
 
 *^ EUDOCIA MORDINGTON* 
 
 Accompanying this flattenng little letter 
 came a small pearl cross, the most elegant 
 ornament Adela had yet possessed, and ren- 
 dered doubly valuable to her by having 
 been the property of Algernon's sister. She 
 Vi^rote her grateful and pleased concurrence 
 in the transfer ; and the same day, indulged 
 a proud satisfaction in communicating to 
 Talbot, for the information of her brother 
 (and, if he pleased, of all his school con- 
 federates) the unequivocal justification of 
 the Knave of Hearts. 
 
 Another year had now elapsed, and Adela 
 had not yet been blessed with a sight of her 
 lather; had not^ in any degree, obtained 
 from him the notice and favour Talbot 
 Cleveland so delusively taught her to ex-
 
 TRAITS Of NATURE. 217 
 
 Rect. Mrs. Som'ervilie's promised invitation 
 to 'Rosedowii was, however, repeated: and 
 there, Adela had again an opportunity of 
 seeing' her brother, and there, also, she 
 became acquainted with her still unmarrfed 
 sister, Alicia. Both these" voulbful . re- 
 lotions were, in every respect, as kmd and 
 friendly to her as she could wish : but they 
 equally avoided feeding her with hopes for 
 which their fathers unrelenting coldness 
 gave so httle foundation ; and, by mutual 
 consent, abstained as much as possible from 
 making him the subject of conversation in 
 her presence. 
 
 To the other advantages attending these 
 periodical excursions to Rosedown, was 
 added the benefit to Adela of an early in- 
 troduction to the best society. Mr. Somer- 
 ville's fortune, house, and establishment, 
 were large ; and the liberality of his heart 
 kept pace with the extent of his jDossessions. 
 Guests of every degree, amongst the po- 
 lished and well informed, were welcomed 
 and caressed beneath his roof: and through- 
 out the county, to the sole exclusion of the 
 inhabitants of Mordington Castle, there 
 was not a single family, eminent eitlier for 
 
 VOL. I. fc
 
 218 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 rank or merit, with which he Failed to keep 
 up an easy and cordial intercourse. But 
 the Viscount and his lady, their nearest 
 neighbours, and, as such, the individuals 
 with whom Mr. and Mrs. Somerville most 
 wished to be upon a footing of amity, in- 
 flexibly and invariably held aloof. No rea- 
 son was ever assigned for this singularity ; 
 but its unsocial haughtiness was by every 
 one loudly censured, though by none more 
 regretted than by Adela. 
 
 Yet, the confidential and juvenile corre- 
 spondence she long maintained with Alger- 
 non, had gradually, and now, almost en- 
 tirely, ceased. He had quitted Eton a con- 
 siderable time, and was removed to one of 
 the Universities. Alfred Mordington, Lord 
 Ossely's infirm and suffering son, had 
 breathed his last, leaving the path of suc- 
 cession to the title and estate of his politic 
 father, unmolestedly open to his once-ne- 
 glected, but now, proudly cherished, cousin. 
 A report soon became prevalent, after the 
 death of this unfortunate young man, that 
 a marriage was in agitation between Al- 
 gernon, and one of the Viscount's daugh- 
 ters. The rumour easily spread as far as
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 219 
 
 Rosedown Court, although neither Lord 
 Ossely norany of his family, that summer, 
 visited Northumberland. Julius, who was 
 present when the probability of this alliance 
 was discussed, with well remembered ani^- 
 mosity against his school-cotemporary, criedt 
 out — 
 
 " I never heard a better piece of news in ? 
 my life ! A jubilee ought to be held 
 throughout the land in token of thankful- 
 ness to these insolent Mordingtons for in- 
 termarrying amongst each other, and for- 
 bearing to thrust any of their arrogant sons 
 and daughters into better, or, at least, 
 more unoffending families !" 
 
 Mrs^ Somerville and Adcla looked at him 
 with a reproving shake of the head ; and 
 the former gravely said — 
 
 " How lasting and bitter are your resent- 
 ments, Julius !'* 
 
 '^ Oh, don t attempt to moralize w ith me, 
 dear Elinor, about tliat fellow IMording- 
 ton 1 So rooted and confirmed is my detes- 
 tation of him, that, with all the advantages 
 of wealth, title, and influence he may here- 
 after possess, I would sooner, much sooner, 
 behold Alicia or Adela lying dead at my 
 
 L 2
 
 5?Q TRAITS OF NATURE*-; 
 
 feet> than hear that either of them werft 
 likely to give me sueh a brother !" 
 
 ^^ This is abominable, and really wicked 
 enmity r* cried Mrs. Somerville^ shocked 
 at liis. vehemence^ — " Far heaven sake, Ju- 
 lius, talk of something else!" 
 
 '^ Well, well, don't look so piously 
 scared^ and I will only say one word more, 
 and then close the chapter. Do you know, 
 thiat there is as cordial an aversion between 
 old Gssely and my father, as between me 
 and his precious heir? Ilwr mamma, la- 
 dies^" ;bowing to his sisters Elinor and 
 AHcia, " was once destined to the high ho- 
 nour and dignity of being my Lady Vis- 
 xrountess Gssely. Our papa, a gallant, gay 
 3U)thai?io, in those days, though now a 
 -very sober and discreet gentleman, saw this 
 pretty peeress-elect, and taking one of those 
 perverse kind of fancies to her which we are 
 alj too apt to take to forbidden fruit, he 
 ogled, and sighed, and swore, and wept^ — 
 and, at last, so effectual ly mollified the fair 
 damsel's unambitious heart, as to induce 
 her to forego the splendour of a coronet for 
 the humble privilege of becoming plain 
 Mrs. Cleveland. This heroic sacrifice the
 
 I^RaITS Of NATURE^ 221 
 
 iloughty Peer was unreasonable enough to 
 take in extreme dudgeon, and even to con- 
 demn as treacherous. There were many ap^ 
 prehensions entertained amongst the friends 
 of the angry noble and the successful com* 
 moner, that the dispute would end in a re- 
 ference to the arbitmlion of sword or pistol : 
 but no such turbulent proceedings ensued^r 
 A herd of interposing mediators compro- 
 mised the matter upon less sanguinary 
 terms ; and they wbve 'eantent, as n^eek 
 christians ought <to be^ to hate «ach other 
 in silence, and ito hemid down to tlieir pos- 
 tei^ity, ttnimpaii'cd^ the ge-ntk ranooitr of 
 their '05»*n hearts." 
 
 I'hc suqyrise iof Mrs. •Somerviik land 
 Ailicia, laot mdy at the circCimstahces of this 
 stca-y^ but a^ tlae levity with which it wa-s 
 tcKld, was both manifest and indisjnant. Ju- 
 lius, however, heeded not their repi-elven- 
 sions, and la«ghed at their gravity. 
 
 '* Why, now, yo« ought to be very muctr 
 obliged to me, Elinor," added he, *^ for 
 saving yon, by the relation of so authentic 
 an anecdote, the tioublt: of crazing your 
 poor brains any longer^ with that world o^ 
 conjecture in which you have been bewilv 
 L 3
 
 222 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 d€red, to fipd out the reason why the Os- 
 selys never would visit you ! I think I have 
 laid that subject of perplexity at rest as 
 completely as if I had charmed it to sleep 
 by a necromancer s rod ! There are other 
 matters of puzzle and wonder," glancing, 
 unobserved by her, a significant look to- 
 wards Adela, '^ v.'hich I could, with equal 
 facility ehicidate. But believing, as in 
 duty bound, that there is a time to talk, 
 and a time to be silent, I shall withhold, for 
 the present, all further specimen of my sa- 
 gacity in the art of expounding mysteries." 
 
 This hint, as its flighty utterer expected, 
 raised the curiosity of Mrs. Somerville, at 
 all times zealously interested in every thing 
 that related to Adela, and induced her to 
 seize the first opportunity of being alone 
 with her brother to demand its explanation. 
 ,^V To tell you the truth," cried he, 
 'V these interrogations are just what I 
 wanted. I have something upon my con- 
 science regarding poor little Adela, which 
 I am impatient to disburthen. Would you 
 believe, that well as I wish her, and un- 
 willing as I should be to do her any mis- 
 chief, I aai yet, simple as I stand here^ in
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 52^23 
 
 :; «^reat measure the cause, why my father 
 still keeps her in banishment ? Aye, you may 
 well stare ! But, now, listen td me. At a 
 deuced dull dinner at my uncle's, the Lord 
 knows how long ago, but, however, a good 
 while after I had first seen Adela down here, 
 — linppening, when the servants were with- 
 drawn, to cast my eyes round the room in 
 search of somethino- more amusinjx to look 
 at than 'my amit's austere face, or the prim 
 ])hiz of poor dear ugly Barbara, 1 suddenly 
 e>pied, or fancied I espied, a rem>arkable 
 likeness to Adela in a picture, hanging over 
 the chimney, of a very pretty girl reading to 
 her schbol-n)istrcss. Alicia was sitting be- 
 side me, and giving her a jog, I bade her 
 look up, and told her of the resemblance I 
 had just discovered. As I had not spoken 
 in a guarded voice, my aunt overheard me. 
 Now, par parent hesr, be it known to you, 
 that, next to a Mordington, I hate this 
 ])recious aunt of ours, beyond all other 
 living wights ! With the coolest malignity^ 
 she says and looks, upon mature delibera- 
 tion, the vilest ]>rovoking things of any 
 plausible Jezabel in creation ! What, think 
 you, was her remark upon the resemblance 
 
 L 4
 
 224 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 ] had been fool enough to point out? Why 
 this: that it was extremely probable the 
 likeness realty existed, since that picture 
 had always been thought, by herself, and 
 niany others, very similar in countenance 
 and features to Adela's mother at the time 
 of her marriage with my father. And, thcj)^ 
 with an hypocritical sigh, she added — 
 
 *^ I am sorry the poor girl inherits a re- 
 semblance that will revive the recollection 
 of a person, . it would be so much better 
 should be eternally forgotten !" 
 
 " Is it possible," cried Mrs. Somerville^ 
 resentfully, " my aunt could make such a 
 speech in my father's hearing c" 
 
 V She made it," resumed Julius, *^ no^t 
 quite in ,her usual tone, yet audibly enough 
 for him to catch every word of it. If a 
 look of mine could have killed her^ she had 
 not now been alive to majke such another ! 
 My poor fatner turned as pale as death ; 
 yet said nothing, but poured himself out a 
 alass of wine which ahnost suflbcated him 
 in his haste to swallow it. My uncle 
 eagerly sought to divert the conversation ; 
 and J, trembling with passion, gave our 
 l:^lessed aunt such deadly glances, that I
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 225 
 
 VTonder she bore me in the roott), of chose 
 to remain in it herself! Ori our return 
 home, — for it was in town this passed^ — my 
 father solemnly commanded me, as I vahied 
 my honour and veracity, plainly to t^ll him, 
 whether I had indeed been struck by the 
 likeness i^i question, or had, a^ on so many 
 former occasions, merely been seeking an 
 excuse for making Adela the subject of dis- 
 course? — Thus called upon, I could not 
 deny the reality of the resemblance, though,- 
 I assured him it wa^ vcsy slight. — He 
 pressed his hand forcibly upon my shoulder 
 after I had' spoken ; and with great agita- 
 tion, said, — ' Ask me not again^ Julius^, to* 
 receive this poor young creature beneath? 
 my roof! Obscurity will be her best de-' 
 fence from the opprobrium attached to her 
 birth. I will not have her mother's name 
 recalled to remembrance ; V will not run' 
 the hazard of forgetting what is due to a. 
 child wlio is innocent, and, yet, w^hose like- 
 ness to a guilty woman might tempt me to 
 Idath and curse her every time she crossed 
 my path !" — 
 
 " Dreadful, dreadful!" exclaimed Mrs. 
 Somerville^ shuddering, and covering her 
 
 L 5
 
 5^26 X41AITS OF NATURE . 
 
 face with her hands — ^^ Oh^ Juhus ! Ca.n? 
 a father, who has been eo inckilgent to his- 
 other children, be so harsh to this dear, un- 
 offending girl r Is she, with all her beauty* 
 and a purity so spotless, to be sentenced t<> 
 perpetual seclusion on account of her mo- 
 ther's errors? — I cannot bear the thought ! 
 Whilst I have life and a home, she shall 
 never want a friend or an as3dum ; a friend, 
 I mean, who shall draw her merits forth to 
 view ; who shall introduce her to the world 
 upon an advantageous and honourable foot- 
 ing ! — And you, my dear Julius, who will 
 hereafter have such ample power to serve 
 her ; to enlarge her slender pittance ; to 
 aiford her countenance in society — you, I 
 trust, will act by her the part of a generous,, 
 and really affectionate brother!" 
 
 " I hope," said Julius, *^ you do me the 
 justice, without requirir;g from me solemn 
 protestations, to believe that all this is fully 
 my intention. But, dear Elinor, should my 
 father pay you a sudden visit, what will 
 you do then r Where will you send poor 
 Adela to keep her out of his way ?" 
 
 " I would not send her any where. My 
 fi\ther never forbad my receiving her ; nay>
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 22/ 
 
 he knows, and I should therefore suppose, 
 tacitly approves, her annual visits to us. If 
 he commanded her not to be brought into 
 his presence, she should live in my apart- 
 ment : but he never should be furnished 
 with an excuse for perseverance in his un- 
 natural avoidance, by being taught to be- 
 lieve, that I had dismissed her like a culprit 
 from the house !" 
 
 Mrs. Somervillc spoke with an honest 
 fervour that heightened the colour in her 
 cheeks, and increased the animation of her 
 eyes ; and Julius, laughing at the prompt 
 emotion she displayed, cried out, 
 ^' '• I like thy spirit well, my serene ani 
 •j)lacid sister ! — Good Lord !> How these 
 make-believe gentle souls, when once they 
 are put into commotion, sparkle, bounce, 
 and fly ! But thou dost bounce, most noble 
 Nell, in so good a cause, that I not only 
 commend — I adore thee for it !" 
 
 He then gave her a hasty, but aftection- 
 ate embrace, and sallied forth on his accus- 
 tomed morning ride with Mr. Somervillc. 
 
 The projected marriage of Algernon Mcr- 
 dington, a vague report of which, had al- 
 ready travelled into Northumberland, was 
 JL 6
 
 228 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 fully confirmed, -at the approach of autui|in, 
 by a letter which Adcla received from her 
 friend, Ruth Hampden. Mordington, she 
 skid, had lately written to her father, in h\» 
 accustomed sty|e of frankness and affection^ 
 to claim his good-wishes, and his congratu- 
 lation : he had sent, she added, the kindest 
 
 messages to the whole family, Adela in- 
 
 ■ '* t ' -w ' 'fjj "' ?' • * ■' " ' ■ ■' ' 
 
 eliiaea ; and to Ruth*s two eldest brothers 
 
 the most cordial invitation to pay him a 
 
 visit in town the ensuing winter. " The 
 
 marriage/' Ruth concluded, '^ must, ere this, 
 
 be over • for he announced that it was fixed 
 
 for last Tuesday. Do you not join with 
 
 us most sincerely in wishing hini happy ? 
 
 But^ how young a bridegroom^ — only just 
 
 twenty ! My father says he should, have 
 
 taken, or rather, his uncle should have 
 
 allowed him morc time to look about hini.'*^ 
 
 Adela had no reason, since Julius had:, 
 
 now quitted, Rosedown,. to withhold from. 
 
 public communication the contents of this 
 
 letter.^ Mr. and Mrs. feomerville listened 
 
 to the intelligence with tranquil wishes for 
 
 the young man's felicity, not wholly un* 
 
 mixed with regret, that he had thus in* 
 
 dlssolubly strengthened his connection witji*
 
 a. family §(? unfriendly to their ovyn : \ylul§j; 
 the surj)nse of Adela, had it not bee.n 
 lessened by the rumours of th:ise;ve;^t which 
 she had |>revio^sly heard, would almost 
 have disposed her to suspect, that the 
 Hampdens were tr3dng experiments upon, 
 her creduhty. An engagement so serious, 
 entered into for life, by one she could yet 
 scarcely prevail upon herself to think of but 
 as a school-boy, seemed to surpass belief I 
 she mentally protested it was as ridiculous 
 as. if she had married herself : and hastening 
 to her own room with the open letter iu her 
 h^andj and. a laugh upon her face, she eagerly, 
 proclaimed the extraordinary news to th© 
 faithful J and; scarcely less astonished. Amy. 
 
 ^' Ah, good young Massa Algernon !" 
 exclaimed the unguarded nurse, " What 
 great pity he in sijch a hurry! M^ always; 
 meant him take you for wife !" 
 
 " Tak€ me!" repeated Adela, staring 
 with unaffected amazement at this sugges- 
 tion, " My dear Amy^ how can you talk, 
 such wild nonsense r"^ 
 
 *' It no nonsense at a.ll^ dear.Missy* He 
 always love you, he always say, you prettiest, 
 girl in th^, w.orld ; he qjaKe. you kind, and.
 
 230 I'RAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 good-tempered, merry, nice husband ; and 
 me very, very sorry he go throw himself 
 away upon proud, fine cousin !" 
 
 " If I was not quite sure," cried Adela, 
 ^[ that you are talking at random, I should 
 ask you. Amy, why you speak in such harsh 
 terms of Algernon's poor bride : but as I 
 am well aware that you can know nothing 
 about her, I feel no uneasiness at what you 
 say." 
 
 ^'' Me no want you, dear Missy, to feel 
 uneasiness ; but me do know something 
 labout her. The servants at Mordington 
 Castle, no mind what they tell ; no care 
 either for lord or lady ; and they say, and 
 nie hear all what they say, down stairs- — 
 they say, one of their young Missys, she 
 make love to Massa Algernon ; and when 
 he by, O, she smile so sweet, and speak so 
 kind ; and when he not by, she so cross ; 
 and huif her sister, and pout her father, 
 and vex her mother, and make all the ser- 
 vants run, and give nothing but trouble to 
 all the whole house !" 
 
 Adela looked aghast at this alarming 
 account : but, ever willing to indulge hope^ 
 after a few minutes reflection, she said,
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 531 
 
 *^ So odious a portrait, if, indeed, it can 
 resemble any one related to Algernon, is 
 not the likeness of the cousin lie has mar- 
 ried! Her smiles in his presence, could not 
 disguise her real character from his sister ; 
 and do you imagine she would have forborn 
 to warn her brother of the daniier of 
 making such a choice? The eldest Miss 
 Mordington, he always in his letters, spoke 
 of very highly; and it is her, I have not 
 any doubt, he has married." 
 
 Amy had no positive means of disprovino* 
 a conjecture to which Adcia seemed to find 
 such comfort in chngiug; and, more dis- 
 posed to condemn than applaud herself for 
 what she had already unnecessarily pro- 
 claimed, she affected to be convinced by her 
 young lady's reasoning, and talked immedi- 
 ately of other things.
 
 232 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 CHAP. XIIL 
 
 REPINING S. 
 
 To the other grievances that had marked 
 the progress of Adela's early years — her 
 mother's lamentable dereliction from con- 
 jugal fidelity, her own banishment from 
 the paternal roof, and the untimely loss she 
 had sustained of her grandmothers protec- 
 tion, was added, just as she attained her 
 eighteenth year, the afflicting intelligence 
 of the decease of another of her most anx- 
 ious and invaluable friends. This was Sir 
 Frederic Rosalvan. When the unforeseen 
 tidings reached her, she was at Rosedown 
 Court; and her first impulse would have 
 been to hasten with sympathizing sorrow 
 to the lonely widow — the truly pitiable sur- 
 vivor of a man whom she had just reason, 
 but for one unfortunate cause, to revere 
 and honour. Dread of her father s displea- 
 sure, however, distracted and held poor
 
 TPvAITS OF NATUrvE. 233 
 
 Adda ill suspense and awe. The letter 
 contain! ncr an account of Sir Frederic's 
 sudden decease^ waspenned, at her mother's 
 desire, by a confidential attendant ; it spoke 
 of her lady*s grief in terms that led to the 
 apprehension it wore a character of the 
 gloomiest Cicspair. She had not, the humble 
 writer observed, a single friend or adviser 
 near her ; Sir Frederic, it was feared, had 
 died wLthput completing and signing his 
 will ; and her mistress was in hourly dread 
 of being driven by his relations from the 
 quiet asylum she had so long inhabited. 
 Yet no direct attempt was made to prevail 
 on Adela to undertake the hazardous expe- 
 riment of paying her a visit ; but eyexy line 
 betrayed that such an act, at a time of ca- 
 lamity so heavy, would be more healing to 
 her mother's suffering spirit, than any otheA' 
 species of consolation that could be tendered 
 to her. 
 
 The difficulties in which Adela was in- 
 volved on t4hi.s occurrence, were canvassed 
 over, and most feelingly weighed and pjar- 
 ticipated in, both by Mrs. Somerville and 
 her ever-benignant partner. They mutually'
 
 234 TRAITS OF NATUKE. 
 
 agreed, that, had she been a cherished and 
 estabhshed resident in her father's mans on, 
 every dictate of duty and propriety ought 
 to have withheld her, unless sanctioned by 
 his authority, from paying to his divorced 
 wife particular personal attention ; but, 
 Cast off as she was, the case appeared to 
 them widely different; and their hearts 
 whispered what their lips scarcely dared 
 breathe, that thus abandoned by one parent, 
 there could be little reason to justify her 
 neglecting the otFered attachment of the 
 other, especially whilst that other was in 
 distress and sorrow. Yet, not to rest the 
 sole decision of a question which they 
 deemed so important, upon their own judg- 
 ment, Mrs. Somerville undertook to write 
 to Julius, and urge him to give his opinion 
 of the affair. He was slowly recovering, 
 she knew, from a dangerous indisposition, 
 but^ she hoped, was now in a state to send 
 a circumstantial answer to their enquiries. 
 Meanwhile Adela s heart dictated, and she 
 hastened to dis}3atch the most soothing and 
 tender condolences to her widowed mother ; 
 she ventured to make no promises of repair-
 
 TllALTS OP NATURE 235 
 
 iiig to her, but she expressed, as she really 
 felt, tlie most iirdent desire to be permitted 
 to contribute to lier relief and comfort ; 
 professed the greatest anxiety to hear of 
 her, or from her, speedily again, and urged 
 to her every motive she could suggest for 
 struggling to support with courage the ca- 
 lamity which seemed so nearly to overwhelm 
 her. 
 
 As early as Mrs. Somerville could rea- 
 sonably expect, she received the following 
 answer from her brother : 
 
 ^^ Dear Elinor, 
 
 " I WRITE in pain, so I shall not write 
 much. 
 
 " My father has learnt by the news- 
 papers, the death of Sir Frederic Rosalvan. 
 He was in my room when the paragraj^h 
 first struck my eye, and anxious, on Lady 
 Rosal van's account, to discern its effect 
 upon him, I read it, as if taken by surprise, 
 aloud. He started from his chair at the 
 abhorred name, and walked in great dis- 
 turbance about the room. Gentle feelings^ 
 my dear Elinor, ■ were far from being the
 
 236 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 most conspicuous : — we are good haters in 
 our family 1 Adela's visit must not depend 
 upon the issue of any application made to 
 him : the project, indeed^, had better not be 
 referred to his decision : but let her, by all 
 means, perform this act of almost indispen- 
 sable. duty. I am strongly in favour of the 
 step ; and should blame ever ensue, either 
 to her or to yourself, say boldly, that I, the 
 brother pf Adela, approved, and even ad- 
 vised the measure ; a:nd be assured, that 
 >vith equal boldness, I will justify and 
 avow my interference ! I love n^y father ; 
 but after all, I see not why we should Jioiv, 
 ftt least in private as well as public, w^hdly 
 neglect my mother. 
 
 ^^ 1 ^ff^ ,g<?tting well as fast a:s a siknt 
 ai^^ dull ro^m, dieting, and weaki^iess from- 
 loss of blood will allow me. I wish yo\i 
 l^ad been in town to nurse me I AJicia does 
 not exchange tb^e pleasures of rural retire- 
 ment for the dissipation of London till next 
 spring ; and then only, if Mr. Erington re- 
 vives. He is at present sorely bad — I sus- 
 pect, in a decided consumption. She had 
 better never have married him.
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 23 J^ 
 
 *^ Adieu, dear Ellen. Remember me to 
 Mr. Somerville, and believe me your ever 
 affectionate brother,— Julius Cleveland." 
 
 This answer, which, by its bluntness, and 
 its peremptory tone of fearless indepen- 
 dence, was so characteristic of its rash and 
 undisciphned writer, Mrs. Somerville only 
 communicated to Adela in part; suppress- 
 ing whatever related to the illness of her 
 brother, as judging such information wholly 
 useless, and, at this time, merely calculated 
 to increase, unnecessarily, the concern and 
 anxiety she already suffered. The counsel 
 which Julius gave, so consonant to Adela's 
 earnest wishes, was acted upon without 
 delay. She made wilHng preparations for 
 her journey, the instant its propriety seemed 
 admitted; and Mr. Somerville, with the 
 considerate affection that marked all his 
 proceedings towards her, undertook to ac- 
 company and protect her on the way. This 
 offer was the more grateful to Adela, as she 
 flattered herself that if Lady Rosalvau 
 should be found involved in difficulties with 
 Sil: Frederic's heirs, the presence of a man 
 80 respectable^ would greatly contribute to
 
 %'^S'': TRAITS OF NATlfRE. 
 
 support and encourage her. • Amy — so justly 
 denominated by Julius his sister's inseparable' 
 ^-^of course attended her on this expedi- 
 tion ; and Mrs. Somervil4e, with the most 
 generous sohcitude, did every thing in her 
 power to promote their comfort on a jour- 
 ney, which yet, by depriving her at once of 
 the society of her husband and her sister, 
 so essentially diminished her own. 
 
 Adela had never seen her unhappy mo- 
 ther since the memorable interview, which, 
 when a child, passed between them at 
 
 S . At that time, she knew not, it will 
 
 be remembered, the close affinity that bound 
 them to each other. But Dr. Hampden, 
 pressed from year to year to encourage the 
 correspondence Sir Frederic wished her tb 
 keep up with his wife, had at length deemed 
 it expedient to reveal to his young ward, as 
 much of her mothers story as served to 
 account for so persevering a habit of inter- 
 course. The melancholy truth had been 
 communicated with every extenuating cir- ^ 
 cumstance a tale of such a nature could 
 admit. Adela, discarded by her father, • 
 and never encouraged to love him, dwelt \ 
 upon the idea of her mother with peculiar
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. S^f) 
 
 fondness and commiseration. Their mu- 
 tual letters, were as tender as the longest 
 and most intimate association under the 
 same roof could have made them ; and her 
 impatience, as they speeded on their jour- 
 ney, to reach its termination, could scarcely 
 have been greater, had she been hastening 
 to a parent from vvhose fostering care mere . 
 accident had caused her to undergo a tem- 
 porary separation. 
 
 Lady Hosalvan, prepared for the visit 
 about to bless her, by a note dispatched, 
 express, from the last post-house at which 
 tliey changed horses, was yet so nearly 
 overcome by mingled emotions of gratitude, 
 conscious shame, and maternal affection, that . 
 Adela trembled, lest she should behold her . 
 sinking from her arms, in utter insensibility, 
 to the floor. The violence of these feel- 
 ings, however, was relieved by tears, and 
 the soothing endearments of her lovely 
 comforter. With alternate smiles and sad- 
 ness. Lady Rosalvan gazed upon the bloom- 
 ing face, on which, hitherto, no self-re- 
 proach, no tardily-repented errors, had im- 
 printed their baneful and indelible traces, •
 
 240 TRAITS OP nature; 
 
 Such as Adela now apiDeared, .y/ii? otti&e re- 
 membet-ed to have been ; sach as, at that 
 moment, she, with bitter reflection, acknow- 
 ledged herself — oh, might Adela never be- 
 come! 
 
 Mr. Somerville, on this first evening of ^ 
 the long deferred' meeting betv^een mother 
 and' daughter, forbore all intrusion upon 
 their privacy, and retiring immediately to 
 the apartment allotted to him, beguiled 
 the time with a book, till his usual hour of 
 betaking hitnself to rest. In the morning, 
 Lady Rbsalvari met him in the breakfast - 
 i*oom ; she was now more tranquil, though 
 the habitual dejection of her spirits, strug- 
 gling with the new-born sentiments of joy 
 which Adela's arrival had awakened, still 
 gave to her countenance an expression diffi- 
 cult to define, between animatioii arid lan- 
 guor. Iniinite beauty was yet visible in 
 her whole person ; she was faded and pale, 
 but her features were unimpaired ; her de- 
 portment was grnceful though diffident; 
 her movements gentle, unhurried, and femi- 
 nine^ and hei- geiierar appefar^ance, in Mr. 
 Somerville's eye;' wa!s' so t;aptivating, that
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 241 
 
 fhe immediately impressed him with senti- 
 ments of the truest pity, and the most lively 
 interest and admiration. 
 
 In the course of that day, the only one 
 he meant to spend with her, unless his ser- 
 vices could be particularly useful, he ga- 
 thered from her, in the absence of Adela, 
 a circumstantial account of the present pos- 
 ture of her affairs. The principal heir 
 of her deceased husband, siie informed 
 him, was his brother, an unmarried man, 
 and one who, fortunately for herself, be^ 
 trayed no avidity for money, nor any dis- 
 position to torment her by contesting the 
 spirit of Sir Frederic's will, however it 
 might, in the letter, be found open to chi- 
 cane. With this gentleman, she had, the 
 day previous to Adela's arrival, been called 
 upon, as she acknowledged, with terror 
 and reluctance, to hold a conference. The 
 unsigned will was produced and examined. 
 Some points in it, he frankly avowed a dis- 
 inclinaiion to comply with ; but they were 
 points, she added, not very material to her 
 future well-being, and she waved all pre- 
 tension to solicit their confirnintion. Th« 
 
 VOL. I, M
 
 242 TRAITS OF NATURE. || 
 
 result of the amicable interview was, that, 
 during her^ own life, she should retain pos- 
 session of the mansion she now occupied^ 
 and all that it contained ; that, for the same 
 period, she should enjoy the annual interest 
 of a sum fully adequate to its support, and 
 to her own circumscribed wishes ; and that^ 
 at her death, she should have the power of 
 bequeathing to whomsoever she pleased, 
 the clear and permanent pos.:ession of five 
 thousand pounds ; but the house, its li- 
 brary, pictures, plate, &c. were tO:^'evert 
 to the present Baronet, or his heirs. 
 
 ^^ These," said Lady Rosalvan, " I surely 
 ought not to consider as hard terms. They 
 certainly are not equivalent to the munifi- 
 cent intentions of the testator ; but, from a 
 stranger, from one on whom 1 can have no 
 lawful claim, and who might, perhaps, had 
 be been so inclined, have controverted my 
 title to every part of this provision, the 
 arrangement cannot be esteemed otherwise 
 than fair and liberal. My only cause of 
 regret," concluded she, " is, that so little 
 -will be at my disposal in favour of those 
 who survive me. Ah, Mr. Somerville, it 
 was not the design of the benevolent pro-
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 24% 
 
 tector I have lost, to omit in this last deed^ 
 the name of my poor injured Adela ! The 
 unhappy predicament in which she stands 
 with her unrelenting father, always filled 
 him with alarm and sorrow. Portionless, 
 or nearly portionless ; exiled from her na- 
 tive home ; injured, rather than benefited 
 by the existence of her mother ; counte- 
 nanced partially by the family of her father 
 •—yet, innocent, deserving, and in the full 
 bloom of life — is not hers a fate of peculiar 
 severity ?" 
 
 *' Permit me," answered Mr. Somerville, 
 ^^ to represent to you, my dear Lady Rcsal- 
 van, that you behold our Adela's circum- 
 stances, present as well as future, in too 
 gloomy a point of view. To reply catego- 
 rically to all you have been stating. Pojg- 
 tionless, with three thousand pounds cer- 
 tain, the bequest of her grandmother, she 
 surely cannot with propriety be termed : 
 the sum_ is small, I allow, for one so weal- 
 thily connected, and so highly cultivated ; 
 but Adela, let us hope, will meet with 
 those, disinterested and rational enough, to 
 perceive, that she is intrinsically above all 
 price, and requires not the aid of fortune 
 M 2
 
 «244 -TRAITS OF NATURE, 
 
 4.0 heighten her attractions. Exiled, she, 
 ^unquestionably, has hitherto remained : 
 but, as her father has never seen her since 
 bcr childhood, I still flatter myself, when 
 .the time comes that they shall meet, he will 
 learn to appreciate her value. Meanwhile, 
 she loses nothing by not being in his house, 
 which, since the marriage of my wifes 
 sister, contains .only himself and his son, 
 and would be a very uneasy residence for so 
 young a female, and one so little acquainted 
 w ith the world. Injured hy the existence 
 of a mother she so devotedly loves, be as- 
 sured she will never consider herself. As 
 
 ^for the partial countenance you imagine she 
 receives from Mr. Cleveland's family, I am 
 bappy to tell you, that the assertion is al- 
 
 i'piost totally unfounded. Julius, her nearest 
 natural protector, next to his father, une- 
 quivocally demonstrates himself her staunch 
 friend. General Cleveland, her uncle, has 
 urged upon her the kindest invitation to 
 spend the ensuing spring at his house in 
 town, regardless of his brother's approba- 
 tion or displeasure. My wife and Mrs. 
 Erington, to say nothing of Talbot Cleve- 
 ibnd or myself, love her with the Hios.t
 
 TJRAITS OF NATURE. 243 
 
 fiiitkfal and sincere affection ; and she is 
 adored in the family of her respectable 
 guardian, Dr. Hampden. Now, is this a 
 destiny so verij calamitous. Lady Rosalvan^ 
 as your imagination represented r" 
 
 '• I own, with grateful joy, that it is- 
 notr cried she — ^^ But, tell me, sir, is hep 
 father acquainted with the journey she has 
 now undertaken ?" 
 
 ^' No, my dear madam ; yet, be not ap-' 
 prehensive of consequent mischief. Julius 
 consents, nay, offers, to be wholly respon- 
 sible for its effects : — and Julius, you pro-' 
 bably know, is all-powerful with Mr.- 
 Cleveland, and nearly secure of impunity, 
 whatever he may venture." 
 
 ^* And Julius, then," resumed she, a ray 
 of joy beaming from her languid eye, '' is 
 also, in this instance, a friend ta me /" 
 
 ^^ In evtry instance he would be so, 
 were he in proper circumstances to mani- 
 fest it!" 
 
 *^ Oh, Mr. Somerville ! How this con- 
 versation has tranquilHzed and cheered me! 
 One thing, however, remains to be settled. 
 Tell me the utmost extent of time I may h^. 
 allowed to detain my daughter/* 
 ai 3
 
 246 TRAITS OF NATURK. 
 
 ^^ Keep her with you/' said he, *' for a 
 tnontb, certain ; and let her longer abode 
 here be a matter of after-consideration. Dr. 
 Hampden is entitled to have a voice in the 
 affair^ and ought to be consulted. Perhaps, 
 he will object to her w^intering in a part of 
 the island so much colder than she has been 
 accustomed to ; and, in that case, I am sure 
 you will have no wish to retain her. Mean- 
 while^, rest satisfied, that in having this ex- 
 <^ellent girl for an inmate, you possess a real 
 treasure. Though her nature is sociable 
 and com.municative, she can be as blithe, as 
 animated in retirement, as in the gayest 
 party. Zealous in her pursuits, ingenious 
 and persevering, the day is never too long 
 for the various occupations in which she 
 delights to engage. Her talents and her 
 love of reading, afford her resources inex- 
 haustible against lassitude or disgust in all 
 weathers, in all situations, and at all hours. 
 Never will you behold upon her face the 
 slightest indication of discontent, however 
 profound the seclusion in which you may 
 dwell : yet, place amusement and society 
 fairly within her reach, and she will grasp 
 at them with all the vivacity of youth and" 
 high spirits ; and enjoy their pleasures with
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 24? 
 
 greater zest, than many who fancy there is 
 no liappiness apart from a crowd. — I speak 
 from experience, dear madam ; she has been 
 at Roscdown Court, when the heavy rains 
 of closing autumn have so much injured 
 ©ur roads, that, during many weeks, 
 scarcely a single individual has been able to 
 approach our dwelling. At such periods, 
 Mrs. Somerville has been charmed by the 
 truly domestic qualities which Adela has 
 unconsciously displayed ; her playful good- 
 humour, her promptness to contribute to 
 the amusement of others, and ever active 
 powers of ensuring her own, gave wings to 
 time — transformed hours into minutes, and 
 days into hours !** 
 
 Lady Rosalvan listened to this warm 
 eulogium with real admiration of her on 
 whom it was uttered^ and with smiling ap- 
 probation of him by whom it was pro* 
 nounced. Yet, an internal and unerring 
 monitor, whispered, that not thus could 
 Adela have submitted to loneliness and con- 
 finement, had all prospect of brighter days 
 
 been eternally obscured had memory, 
 
 fraught with gloom and sorrow, 
 M 4
 
 248 TRAITS or NATURE. 
 
 ' Still told of time mispent, of comfort lost. 
 Of fair occasions gone for ever by j 
 
 Of hopes too fondly nurst, too rudely crost. 
 Of many a cause to wish, yet fear to die. 
 
 i 
 
 Mr. Somervi lie's departure the morning 
 after this conversation, and the uninter- 
 rupted tdie-a4^te to which Adela and her 
 mother were then left, speedily put to the 
 test that satisfied spirit for which she had 
 been so highly extolled. The house in 
 which she now resided, was detached from 
 all contiguous abodes, and surrounded by 
 plantations, chiefly of evergreens, that 
 nearly embosomed, and totally deprived it 
 of all distant or varied prospects. The 
 domestics, not numerous, were grave and 
 elderly people, clad in deep mourning, and 
 performing, by long habit, the duties of 
 their several stations witli the regularity 
 of clock-work. The sound of laughter, or 
 the voice of glee, was never heard amongst 
 them ; and the gayest living creature Adela 
 was able to discover about the mansion, 
 was a poor caged-up builiinch, whose mono- 
 tonous piping, however, was so fatiguing _
 
 TRAITS OF KATURE. 24 J 
 
 to her ear, that she was glad when custom 
 began to render her almost insensible of its 
 melancholy exertions. Her walks around 
 this cheerless domain, were necessarily cir- 
 cumscribed, and consequently unamusing. 
 Lady Rosalvan, a prey to alternnate sadness 
 or apathy, had also suffered persoiial inac- 
 tivity to usurp such dominion over her, that, 
 except in a carriage, she never stirred be- 
 yond her garden or her shrubbery. Adela 
 neither wished to leave her^ nor to hazard 
 distant peregrinations entirely alone : to the' 
 garden or the shrubbery, therefore, she,^ 
 likewise, was confined. Within doors, am- 
 ple were the compensations for this privation 
 which she might have enjoyed. The U-- 
 brary. Sir Frederic's chief solace and de- 
 light, collected at a great expense, classed 
 with the nicest judgment, and consisting of 
 the best authors in nearly every language, 
 offered her temptations to indulge her love 
 of reading, which vvould almost have driven 
 to flight every wish to cultivate other pur- 
 suits. An excellent piano-forte, requiring 
 nothing but to be put in tune, held out to 
 her the faculty of exercising herself in a dif- 
 ferent, and also a very favourite s.tudy ; and- 
 M -5 -
 
 550 TRAITS OF NATUKE. 
 
 the valuable and wcH selected pictures, by 
 many of the most eminent Itiilian masters^ 
 adorning the walls, seemed to invite her^ ^ 
 as often as she looked up, to seize so fa^ | 
 vourablc an opportunity of endeavouring to ■ 
 improve herself by drawing from them. 
 Yet, to none of these occupations, could 
 she, with real satisfaction, apply. Lady 
 Rosalvan, in a spacious house, where the 
 free range of every apartment was alike 
 open to her, chose, with a sort of per- 
 verseness frequently attending superfluous 
 advantages, to confine herself to one room, 
 and that the worst, and least tempting ill 
 the building. Habit chained her down to 
 it, rather than endeared it ; and though she 
 could not dtfend her selection, it would 
 have given her pain to break the spell ; and 
 the quiescent companion she had now ob- 
 tained, was too reluctant to inflict upon 
 her uneasiness of any description, long to 
 persist in soliciting a removal. Yet this 
 provoking den, was almost the only part of 
 the house where space w^as wanting for the 
 reception of the instrument ; where there 
 hung no pictures ; and where there appear- 
 ed not a single shelf for books. These last.
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. £51 
 
 however, might be brought to it ; but when 
 they came, Adela's taste in chusing them, 
 was found to differ from her mother's almost 
 as much as their taste in sitting-rooms. The 
 indolent and unhappy recluse, incapable of 
 bestowing upon superior works the degree 
 of attention, and the spirited perseverance 
 which they demanded, had long accus- 
 tomed herself to the exclusive perusal of 
 Novels and Romances. Adela could with 
 pleasure, occasionally in an evening, after 
 a day more usefully spent, have read a.loud 
 some of these, and interested herself in the 
 ingenuity of their fictitious perplexities : 
 but, from morning till night, and week 
 after week, to pursue no other species of 
 lecture was a punishment to her of the 
 most mortifying kind. She sometimes ven- 
 lured, though with caution, to insinuate 
 her contempt of so much romantic insi- 
 pidity ; and Lady Rosalvan, too indulgent 
 to continue imposing a task, obviously dis- 
 agreeable upon her, took the book gently 
 out of her hands; acknowledged the folly 
 both of -the authors and readei-s of these 
 fiimsy works— but making no attempt to 
 seek amusement from better writers, she 
 id 6
 
 252 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 either finished the volume to herself, or laid 
 it by for perusal in her own room ; and, 
 sighing and supine, sat looking at the fire, 
 watching the clouds, or regarding with si- 
 lent dejection, her concerned and wondering 
 daughter. 
 
 A(Ma could not long behold this weari- 
 some mode of existence, without hazarding 
 to make upon it some observation. 
 
 ^^ My dearest mother," said she, ^' how 
 comes it that you who, as I have heard 
 Mrs. Somerviile aver, was admired for your 
 various talents ; you who were a good mu- 
 sician ; understood French and Italian ; 
 had attained to great excellence in draw- 
 ing, and were so expert in all kinds of 
 elegant female works, — how comes it — 
 forgive this freedom, my dear mother — 
 that you now thus totally neglect all these 
 Acquirements, and spend your life in such 
 irksome inactivity ?" 
 
 Lady Rosalvan faintly coloured, yet 
 shewed no resentment, and candidly an- 
 swered, 
 
 '^ The question you ask is natural ; its 
 answer, dearest girl, is but too easy! 
 Those talents you speak of, such as they
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. '253 
 
 were, I attained in clays of youthful energy, 
 when all before me was glowing with hope, 
 life, and animation. I possessed not, Adela, 
 your indefatigable yet unambitious spirit, 
 eager to acquire knowledge, yet thought' 
 less of displaying it. No ; differently edu- 
 cated, every thing I learnt was for the 
 meed of pubHc applause, not for the solace 
 of domestic privacy. I was early accus- 
 tomed to believe that my establishment de- 
 pended upon the industry with which, to 
 the beauty bestowed upon me by nature, I 
 should add the histre of fashionable accom- 
 plishments. Genuine abilities I had none 
 but of the most frivolous description : I 
 could dance well, and learnt it without 
 difficulty ; but my ear for music was defec- 
 tive ; in studying languages, I had to 
 struggle against a treacherous memory ; 
 and my drawings were mere impositions—* 
 childish and incorrect outlines, muddily 
 coloured, and then committed to the im- 
 proving hand of a master, to be afterwards 
 framed, hung up, and exhibited as my pro- 
 ductions. Yet the reputation of talents 
 certainly attached itself to my name, how- 
 ever superficial were my claims to it. Mr.
 
 254 TRAITS OF NATURE^. 
 
 Cfeveland, my dearest Adela, married' 'm€ 
 tinder that erroneous impression — married 
 one whom he beheved^ not only in personal 
 graces, and mental accompHshments, to be 
 an angel, bat whom he also expected to 
 find, in temper and understanding, the best 
 and wisest of created beings! Alas! alas! 
 ill one only of these exorbitant expecta- 
 tions had he the smallest chance of escaping 
 disappointment ! My wisdom and talents I 
 have frankly described to you ; they as- 
 suredly were ill-calculated to confirm the 
 lofty ideas he had entertained of their su- 
 periority. My personal attractions losing 
 the charm of novelty, soon lost also the 
 power of blinding him to my intellectual 
 deficiencies. Nothing then, on trial, proved 
 equivalent to his high-wrought hopes, ex- 
 cept my temper, and that, however thought- 
 less and flightly, was by nature excellent. 
 Would he had been content to regard it as 
 -some foundation for conjugal happiness! 
 But he soured it, my Adela, by supercilious 
 taunts, by avowed contempt, and shortly 
 after, by harsh measures of injudicious au- 
 thority. Indignant and amazed, I sought 
 to defy his restrictions ; I retorted aversioa
 
 TRAITS OF XATUKE. 255 
 
 for disdain ; and liope?ess of indufg^ence at 
 home, became insatiable of amusement and 
 admiration abroad. For a while, I fancied 
 myself triumphant ; my aim was accom- 
 plished I had rendered him suspicious 
 and disturbed ; my punishment soon fol- 
 lowed, and I found that peace and reputa- 
 tion were irretrievably gone!" 
 
 Here Lady Rosalvan, much agitated, 
 paused, and leant her head against the arm 
 of the sofa in evident anguish ; whilst 
 Adela, dismayed at having awakened such 
 a train of self- upbraiding rejections, could 
 only, with silent affection, rise and embrace 
 her, and internally resolve never a^ain to 
 lead to so distressing a subject. Lady Ro- 
 salvan, in a few minutes, recovered courage 
 to look up. 
 
 '• Adela," said she, fondly returning her 
 caresses, *' make but of my story a salu- 
 tarv use, and I shall think its humiliating 
 circumstances can never be too minutely; 
 detailed." 
 
 ^^ My dearest mother,'* cried Adcla, " if 
 you knew the pain it inflicts upon me to 
 hear you thus allude to the unfortunate
 
 256, TRAITS OF nature; 
 
 past, you would spare me now and for ever, 
 all such retrospections." 
 
 " Pain, my poor girl, your wretched mo- 
 ther is now alone qualified to give you. I 
 cannot, as any other parent would — justly, 
 proud of such a daughter — I cannot parti- 
 cipate in the brilliant visions opening to 
 your youthful fancy. Whatever may be 
 your success in life, / shall never witness 
 it. Condemned' to ignominious privacy,, 
 the prosperity of ray children will never, 
 but by rumour, become known to me. The 
 higher they rise, the greater will necessa- 
 rily be their obligation to sink my name in. 
 oblivion. Guilty of my own fall from an 
 honourable station; repulsed by my own 
 frailty from society and public esteem, I- 
 yet can acquire no fortitude to support; 
 with resignation the consequences of former 
 misdeeds. Murmuring, repining, miserable,, 
 as you now behold me, have I invariably 
 been almost from the first hour the ill-fated 
 Rosalvan led me to this retreat. I was not 
 formed for solitude, Adela, though I am 
 compelled to embrace it. Its unwearied 
 tranquiOity is to me like a living death— it
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 257 
 
 alternately palls, stupifies, or drives me lo 
 the verge of desperation ! I loath the pre- 
 sent; look back with agonizing regret upon 
 the past ; and the future seems all a dreary- 
 blank, presenting to me nothing but the 
 prospect of a friendless, desolate old age, 
 terminating in a dissolution of unpitied 
 terror !" 
 
 Adela's blood ran cold at so horrible a 
 picture, and tears of unfeigned and deep 
 commiseration trembled in her eyes ; yet, 
 by a painful eflbrt, endeavouring to dis- 
 perse them, and again throwing her arms 
 round Lady Kosalvan's neck, she said, in. 
 an accent of gentle expostulation, 
 
 '^ My clearest mother, repel these discon- 
 solate and heart-breaking anticipations ! 
 They resemble too much the suggestions of 
 wilful despair, to be of hallowed origin ! 
 They hear no healuig on their ivwgs, but 
 are dark and dreadful, and fraught with 
 mischief and with peril ! Let your daugli- 
 ter be your comforter, your mental physi- 
 cian ! I have been tang! it, with simplicity, 
 (by one zealous to practise what slie taviglit) 
 the pure doctrines of Cliristianity. Let me 
 urge to you tlie soothing precepts she incul-
 
 258 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 cated. Who would speak to you of mercy 
 and divine compassion with more ardent 
 anxiety to impress upon you tlieir belief? 
 But you must be submissive and patient, 
 my beloved mother ! Pdoody heaviness of 
 heart, thankless disgust of life, and black 
 forebodings of unmixed evil— these can 
 only be called aggravations of offence. 
 With many deprivations, under which you 
 are called to bow your head with the pro- 
 foundest humility, you have yet many, nay, 
 countless blessings, for which it becomes 
 you to be grateful. You are comparatively 
 affluent, and you are wholly uncontrouled ; 
 ^-dispense amongst your needy and suffer- 
 ing neighbours, the overplus of that afflu- 
 ence, and if you visit not the mansions of 
 the gay and prosperous, visit the cottages 
 of the poor ; be bountiful, be kind, be con- 
 soling amongst them, and their blessings 
 will draw down consolation upon your 
 own bead. This first of all earthly du>- 
 ties, doing good as you would that 
 good should be done unto you, will, when 
 duly performed, inspirit, refresh, and invi- 
 gorate you for the performance of every 
 QtliGX laudable act; you will pray with
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 2.^J) 
 
 itiore fervour and confidence ; you will sur* 
 vey the beauties of creation with more 
 grateful admiration ; your reilcctions, when 
 alone, will cease to be so bitter; the idea 
 of eni}3loyraent will lose its disgust, and the 
 prospect of solitude its horror ! But why, 
 let me ask, why should you devote yourself 
 to such rigorous loneliness ? This is not a 
 barren desert ; there are hoivses within 
 reach, and those houses seem to be inha^ 
 bited. ^rely, my dear mother, it must be 
 your own fault, that their occupiers have 
 never sought to become your associates. 
 The wife of Sir Frederic Rosalvan, leading 
 a life of regularity and the strictest deco- 
 rum for so many years, v/ould long ere this 
 have found companions, perhaps agreeable 
 and deserving friends, amongst them, had 
 she been disposed to encourage their ad- 
 mission. Dear mother, reform this too 
 rigid and self-denying system ; reform it for 
 mtf sake, if not, at first, for your own; 
 Let me behold within these walU the 1m- 
 man face divine; and remember, that 
 though resigned to endure seclu?*ion when 
 indispensable, 1 am of an age iiiiinitcly to 
 prefer cliecrful society. l>i\ Uamp'lcn ha^
 
 2^0 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 consented, in the letter I received from him* 
 yesterday, to my remaining with you till th& 
 beginning of spring. But, good my mo-' 
 ther," continued Adela, more gaily, '• think 
 you I mean, without remonstrance, to be 
 buried, the whole winter through, in deep 
 snows amidst these wild Scottish mountains, 
 unseeing and unseen ? with nothing better 
 to listen to from without, than the bleak 
 howling of the blast; or from within, than? 
 the Dead March so woefully piped byi 
 your indefatigable bullfinch }'* 
 
 Lady Rosalvan, charmed for a while from; 
 the sense of incurable wretchedness by the 
 mixture she discerned in her daughter^ 
 character of vivacity, seriousness, softness- 
 and understanding, caught from her some 
 sparks of her own animation, and affection^ 
 ately pressing her hand, answ^ered, 
 
 " You have indeed rendered me, my be- 
 loved girl, fully sensible of the cruelty of 
 thus immuring you. The kindness with 
 which you have been willing to sacrifice for 
 my solace the society of your youthful and 
 long-valued friends, merited from me a- 
 better recompense. But, had 1 been dis- 
 posed to seek dissipation and amusement on.
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 2Gl 
 
 ^our first arrival, that event succeeded so 
 closely the death of poor Rosalvan, that the 
 profoundest retirement, for a time at least, 
 seemed as much my duty as it was my choice. 
 The case is now altered. At the end of 
 two months, it is allowable, no doubt, to 
 admit such neighbours as may be willing to 
 bestow upon me their leisure. How few- 
 there are of that description residing within 
 ten miles of this place^ you, my Adela, who 
 have inhabited a part of the kingdom so 
 infinitely more populous, can probably form 
 no idea. Three houses containing females 
 above the rank of peasants, are all that can 
 be met with in this district. The remotest 
 of these, is tenanted by an English family 
 retired hither, I believe, upon motives of 
 economy. I knew something of them in 
 -my early life, and therefore could feel no 
 courage to seek a renewal of the acquaint- 
 ance in my present circumstances. The 
 occupiers of the next residence, are a 
 Scottish nobleman, his lady, and two un- 
 married daughters. With the nobleman. 
 Sir Frederic was upon very friendly terms ; 
 he is a man of taste in literature, of polished 
 manners^ and of great rectitude of charac-
 
 2^3 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 ter : but his lady never deigned to bestovr 
 upon me the sHghtest notice. She probably 
 is of opinion that her daughters would be 
 contaminated by holding any intercourse 
 with so degraded a being ; or^ perhaps, the 
 scrupulous sanctity of her own morals, per- 
 mits her not to give countenance to vice in 
 the person of one she deems so vile a sinner! 
 I pass her carriage sometimes in my airings ; 
 and it is curious to observe the pharisaical 
 disgust her countenance assumes at my ap- 
 proach. Ah^ my Adela — when virtue is 
 taught to appear in so unlovely a garb, 
 what prejudice is done to her cause ! — The 
 remaining mansion of v.'hich I wish to 
 speak^ contains, during two-thirds of the 
 year, a being whom, next to yourself, I 
 love and value beyond all other creatures 
 in existence. Her name is Cameron ; she is 
 of Enghsh extraction, but married, in her 
 early youth, a Scottish officer, now abroad 
 with his regiment. His mother is still 
 living, and to her belongs the house in 
 which resides my friend. She has been ab- 
 sent these last three or four months on an 
 annual visit to her relations in the South, 
 In a very few days I expect her return, and
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 263 
 
 great will be my pride in presenting you to 
 her, and my pleasure in introducing her to 
 
 you." 
 
 " Meanwhile/' said Adela, " what be- 
 comes of tins lady's mother-in-law ? How- 
 does it happen that we have never seen her?" 
 
 '' I seldom/' answered Lady Kosaivan, 
 ^^ go to the house expressly in search of her; 
 she is well-meaning and respectable, but not 
 to me, a desirable associate. Her broad 
 Scottish dialect, often to my comprehension, 
 nriinteliigible, and her ceaseless hurry and 
 irritation in the conduct of her domestic 
 affairs, annoy and importune me. But the 
 younger Mrs. Cameron, with a softness of 
 temper which enables her to assimilate with 
 characters the most opposite to her own— 
 with a candour which induces her to make 
 allowances for faults and foibles from 
 which she is happily exempt, lives unruffled 
 and at her ease with this perturbed old 
 lady, and has even succeeded in winning 
 her utmost regard." 
 
 Adela. much prepossessed in behalf of 
 her mother's friend by so favourable a de- 
 scription, and gratified, at the conclusion 
 of their conference^ to behold that mother 
 
 L
 
 264 TUAITS OF NATURE, 
 
 SO infinitely more composed than at its com- 
 fnencement, now had the additional satis^ 
 faction of being able to prevail upon her, to 
 venture forth on a walk of considerably- 
 greater extent than any she had hitherto 
 succeeded in inducing her to take. They 
 entered, in their way home, one or two of 
 the neighbouring cottages, enquiring, as 
 well as their little skill in the language 
 would allow, into the circumstances of their 
 inhabitants. Adela was chief interrogator 
 on these occasions ; she loved the simple 
 and industrious poor ; and never addressed 
 herself to any of that description, without 
 the most manifest signs of regard, interest, 
 and sometimes, even respect. Lady Rosalvan 
 spoke less ; but she dispensed her bounty 
 amongst those who seemed in peculiar indi- 
 gence, with a ready hand ; and she listened 
 to their narratives with no apparent im- 
 patience. — During the remainder of the 
 day, her good and lovely daughter had the 
 joy of perceiving that she seemed less a prey 
 to that vague restlessness, miscalling itself, 
 and in some measure, perhaps, mistaking 
 itself for sorrow, than she had yet seen her. 
 Thus, by gradual endeavours, seeking to
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 265 
 
 awaken to' the pleasures of benevolence, a 
 disposition grown almost torpid, but na- 
 turally compassionate and liberal ; enchanted 
 at her daily increasing success ; and pleased, 
 since she found difficulties in pursuing 
 more intellectual occupations, to obtain her 
 mothers permission to work for those 
 amongst the cottage children whom she had 
 seen particularly ill clad ; Adela, in culti« 
 valing the virtues of her heart, found yet 
 higher gratification than in improving the 
 acquirements of her understanding. Whilst 
 singing over her coarse and homely employ- 
 ment, she forgot her books, her pencil, and 
 her instrument. Society, except for her 
 mother's sake, she had never coveted ; her 
 conscience was serene; her spirits unbroken. 
 Lady Rosalvan smiled and seemed composed, 
 and Adela was the most enviably cheerful 
 of human beings. 
 
 VOL. I,
 
 266 TRAITS OP NATURE, 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 SYCOPHANCY. 
 
 The expected return of Mrs. Cameron was 
 at length announced, in a short note which. 
 Lady Rosalvan received from her one morn- 
 ings just as she was preparing to set out with 
 her daughter, on one of their, now, daily 
 rambles. Of course, such intelligence instant- 
 ly induced her ladyship to change her pur- 
 pose; she determined upon remaining at 
 home to welcome her newly-arrived friend ; 
 and Adela, no longer scrupulous of leaving 
 her, since she would now have a fevourite as- 
 sociate, begged to be accompanied on her 
 meditated walk by her mother's maid. 
 
 The attendant whom she had on this 
 occasion solicited, was a tried and faithful 
 creature, valuable for many qualities in- 
 finitely superior to her rank and edu- 
 cation. She had lived with Lady Ro- 
 salvan previous to the birth of Julius or 
 Adela. She knew all the circumstances
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. ^S7 
 
 that had led to the disunion of Mr. Cleve- 
 land and her mistress ; and she had been an 
 attentive observer, and was an unaffected re- 
 verer of the virtues and character of her 
 late master, Sir Frederic Rosalvan. Adela's 
 deportment towards the domestics, and 
 her unwearied assiduity to her mother, 
 since her abode at Pine Lodge (the name 
 given to her present residence), had won all 
 hearts beneath its roof; but none more 
 warmly than that of Mrs. Temple. 
 
 As they proceeded on their walk towards 
 the labourer's cabin which Adela designed 
 to visit, she expressed her satisfaction, after 
 talking some time upon indifferent subjects, 
 at the arrival once again in the neighbour- 
 hood, of a friend to whom Lady Rosalvan 
 seemed so much attached, and wh.om she 
 so exclusively allowed herself to visit — 
 
 '^ I am very anxious," continued she, ^' to 
 become acquainted with Mrs. Cameron my- 
 self, though, by my running away this 
 morning, I have made that matter appear 
 so doubtful. But the truth is, as my 
 mother has never seen her since the death 
 of Sir Frederic, I thought it would be 
 N 2
 
 26s TRAITS OP NATURE. 
 
 more considerate, on their first interview, 
 to leave them to themselves." 
 
 *^ Mrs. Cameron/* said Mrs. Temple, 
 *^ saw much less of my dear master than 
 she has always seen of my lady ; his loss 
 will, perhaps, be hardly felt by her." 
 
 ^^ How then did Sir Frederic dispose of 
 himself? How did he contrive to live 
 under the same roof with my mother, and 
 yet avoid forming any intimacy with the 
 person she best loved and saw almost 
 daily ?" 
 
 " He was continually engaged, Miss 
 Cleveland, in the performance of active 
 deeds of benevolence, or in innocent study ; 
 and he lived and died adored and regretted 
 by every poor family in the neighbour- 
 hood 1" 
 
 The good woman uttered this with so 
 much emotion, that her voice faltered, and 
 tears rushed to her eyes. 
 
 " How feelingly you venerate his me- 
 mory, my worthy Mrs. Temple ! " said 
 Adela, taking her hand ; " I am sorry 
 thus to have aroused your sensibility; yet 
 it is pleasant to hear the meritorious dead
 
 TRAITS or NATURE. 269 
 
 spoken of with so much attachment and 
 
 esteem." 
 
 " All, my good young lady, you have no 
 means of judging how really excellent a 
 character my master's was ! You can only 
 think of him as the man who seduced your 
 mother's youth, and has embittered her 
 whole remaining life. As such, he always 
 thought of himself; he condemned, he de- 
 tested the excesses to which a guilty attach- 
 ment had betrayed him. Many, when pas- 
 sion had abated, might have done the same ; 
 but who like him, when fortune, rank, and 
 accomplishments, promised him a favour- 
 able reception again in the world, who 
 would have devoted himself, as he did, 
 to the task of making amends to the lady 
 he had injured? Who would for that lady'g 
 sake, have renounced the society of all for- 
 mer friends ? have lived shut up seventeen 
 years in a solitude like this, subn)itting with 
 the patience and sweetness of an angel, 
 sometimes to her reproaches, sometimes to 
 her fits of despair, and yet oftener, I g^i'ieve 
 to say it, to her unkind ness and injustice ! 
 He frequently proposed to her a removal to 
 the Continent ; a change of scene to any 
 N 3
 
 570 TRAITS OF 1NATURE. 
 
 part of England or Wales : but she €[e- 
 clined these offers^ yet railed continually at 
 this place with open detestation. He bore it 
 all without complaining ; I believe he re- 
 garded it as a part^ and a just part, of his 
 merited punishment for having originally 
 misled her. He sought to soothe, to recon- 
 cile her to herself, to attach her to this 
 country, and to procure her every simple 
 and rational amusement her situation wpuld 
 admit. But my poor lady owns herself, 
 that she was not reared to love retirement. 
 When ashamed to dwell upon her regret of 
 the world, she fretted after her children — • 
 after you, Miss Cleveland, in particular. 
 And to see the anxiety, the tenderness with 
 which my dear master endeavoured to 
 comfort her ! to watch the pity with 
 which he looked at, and treated her ! oh, 
 it was beautiful ! and never shall I reflect 
 upon it with dry eyes, nor without reverence 
 and admiration 1 " 
 
 Adela, whose own starting tears bore tes- 
 timony to her sympathy in these sentiments, 
 now said— - 
 
 ^^ You dispose me to honour Sir Frederic 
 almost as highly, Mrs. Temple, as you do>
 
 TRAIT? OF NATURE. 971 
 
 yourself. I have personal reason, indeed, 
 to cherish his remembrance with peculiar 
 gratitude. To his liberality I am indebted 
 for nearly every advantage of education I 
 have received ; and to his good taste and 
 enlightened judgment in the recommenda- 
 tion of proper books for my perusal^ I owe 
 the love of rational reading which I hope 
 to preserve through life. But still, Mrs, 
 Temple, there is one circumstance for which 
 I feel much perplexed to account, in the 
 little sketch you have given me of the un- 
 availing efforts made by Sir Frederic, to 
 wean my poor mother from languor and de=- 
 jection. I cannot comprehend, how a man, 
 possessed of such resources of mind, and 
 such affectionate perseverance in so good a 
 cause, should fail to accomplish what, with 
 talents so every way inferior, I have, in a 
 great measure, had the happiness to effect. 
 .You must be sensible, that, of late, my 
 mother has shewn infinitely more content, 
 and even animation, than were observable 
 on my first arriyal ; and let it not be 
 thought vanity, if I ascribe this delightful 
 change, in some degree, to my own re- 
 presentations. Yet, compared to those of 
 N 4
 
 Sji TRAITS OF NATURK. 
 
 Sir Frederic Rosalvan, how feeble and 
 frivolous must be the powers of reasoning 
 1 can boast 1 " 
 
 *^ I hope I shall not shock your feelings 
 as a good daughter/' said Mrs. Temple, 
 *' if I venture to confess. Miss Cleveland, 
 that my poor lady never gave to Sir Fre- 
 deric's arguments a fair and impartial hear- 
 ing. She could not but be sensible, in her 
 heart, of his good intentions, his wisdom 
 and his kindness ; and I make no doubt, 
 that she, in reality, highly respected him. 
 But she ceased to love him almost as soon 
 as, by throwing herself in his power, she 
 had lost her accustomed place in society. 
 I will not describe the vexatious particulars 
 of her conduct towards him ; yet certain it 
 is, that she seemed to feel more satisfaction 
 in upbraiding him for the wretchedness of 
 her condition, than she would have found 
 in profiting by his endeavours to relieve it. 
 From you, my dear young lady, she listens 
 to sense and reason with benefit, because 
 she loves the speaker ; and because she has 
 no right to tax you with having contri- 
 huted to her misery ; she thought it almost 
 an insult, I believe, to be urged to resigna-
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 2f3^ 
 
 tion by one whom she regarded as the sole 
 author of her disgrace. Poor lady ! she 
 never took into tlie account how much, ia 
 the first instance, she had been to blame 
 herself in affording encouragement to Sir 
 Frederic ! But, however, by the return 
 of Mrs. Cameron, all your dutiful and vir- 
 tuous pains, I fear, will be thrown away !" 
 
 «' Indeed !" cried Adela ; ^' I had hoped^ 
 on the contrary, to have found in her an 
 able assistant. Why do you entertain of 
 her such suspicions, Mrs. Temple r" 
 
 '' Because 1 know her, ma'am, to be the 
 worst enemy, though under the mask of 
 fondness, that my poor lady has in the world. 
 She is idle, romantic, sentimental, and a 
 dangerous encouraorer of all her dear friend's 
 hiteresting delicacy^ as she calls it ; and, at 
 the same time, if I do not greatly wrong 
 her, thoroughly cold-hearted, and alive to 
 nothins: so much as the care of her own 
 interest. She has, at different periods, and 
 under different pretences, obtained from my 
 mistress, pretty considerable loans of money ; 
 she makes not the smallest conscience of 
 employing my lady's carriage, and her scr- 
 N-5
 
 274 TRAITS OF NATURE* 
 
 vants^ a3 if they were her own ; and she, 
 and her selfish old Sc5otch mother, are sup- 
 phed from our dairy, our kitchen-garden> 
 and our poultry-court, with half the good 
 things they consume. There is n6 end, ia 
 short, of her encroachments, nor are they 
 to be matched by any thing but her abomi- 
 nable and nauseous talent of flattery ! The 
 sight of you in this house, my dear Miss 
 Cleveland, and in such high favour too^ 
 with my lady, will be very far from a 
 pleasing circumstance to her; but, if I 
 may take the liberty to advise, you have 
 nothing better to do, than to steer steadily 
 on in your present course ; to give no faith 
 to her professions, (for it is most probable 
 she will try to court you) yet, carefully to 
 avoid offending my lady by shewing your 
 distrust of her friend's good qualities. 
 Accident may, ^ome time or other, open my 
 lady's eyes to the hollo wness of this wo- 
 inan's character ; but I am sure remonstrance 
 never will." 
 
 Here terminated all that was most ma* 
 terial of a conversation, which left upon 
 the mind of Adela an impression extremely 
 advantageous of the observing keenness of
 
 TRAITS OF NATURfi- ^7^ 
 
 Mrs. Temple, but painfully unfiivourable 
 of lyirs. Caipcron, and by no means so ifn- 
 xnixed with blame pf Lady IJo^alvan a? 
 the sincerity of her affection led her to 
 desire. Vet she, as speedily as possible, 
 (J^smissed every disposition to fruitless cen- 
 5urie or unpleasant anticipation ; and, with, 
 more success than many a philosopher who 
 pets himself professedly to the task, put m 
 practice that happy faculty of her nature 
 *vbiph evi^r allow,ed her to enjoy present 
 good, without indulging too nice a scrutiny 
 iato distant and possible contingencies. 
 
 But at the moment of her presentation to 
 jMrs. Cam^eron, it is natural to suppose that 
 ^he conversation in which she had so re- 
 <;ex>tly been engaged, could not fail to recur 
 forcibly to her mind, and to tinge her man- 
 ners with a slight degree of reserve, mor^ 
 comfortless to herself, iiowever, than ob- 
 >yious to the beholder^ ; thougti not wholly 
 imremarked by her mother, WnO, haymg 
 5aid so much to prepossess her in favour of 
 the new-comer, was sui prised and disap 
 })ointe4 a,t a coolness, for which she knew 
 JIG method of accountmg. Kenuered sen- 
 ^ible^ by Lady Rosa Ivans looks, of the 
 
 N 6
 
 f^TS TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 momentary check which she had given to 
 her satisfaction, Adela exerted herself to 
 dispel from her countenance all traces of 
 its unaccustomed gravity ; entered sociably 
 into conversation ; omitted no act of at- 
 tention and good breeding towards their 
 guest — and in less than half an hour, con- 
 vinced her mother that the formality with 
 which she had entered, either proceeded from 
 shyness, or had been entirely accidental. 
 
 Mrs. Cameron dined, and spent the whole 
 day at Pine Lodge, and left it at night in 
 her friend's carriage, with a promise of re- 
 newing her visit the day but one following. 
 
 Her conversation during the many hours 
 which Adela had passed! in her society, was 
 such as, a few instances excepted, she would 
 have pronounced perfectly inoffensive and 
 rational, had no previous w^arning stimu- 
 lated her natural sagacity, and rendered her 
 peculiarly observant of the occasional traits 
 of affectation, and exaggerated sensibility 
 which the lady had betrayed. These un- 
 welcome remarks she carefully forbore com- 
 municating to her fascinated parent ; spoke 
 with deserved praise of Mrs. Cameron's 
 personal appearance and softness of man*
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 277 
 
 ners, and expressed, as warmly as she could, 
 her readiness to cultivate the acquaintance 
 which had that day been begun. 
 
 A very few visits, and a very shght de- 
 gree of additional observation, unfortunately 
 convinced Adela of the utterly chimerical 
 nature of this too premature declaration. 
 Every succeeding interview alienated her 
 more and more from her mother's ill-se- 
 lected favourite. Vain, ignorant, and fri- 
 volous ; a systematic self-indulger, yet a 
 plausible pretender to the most exquisite 
 sympathy in the feelings and happiness of 
 others, she was indefatigable in ringing the 
 changes upon the charms of unsophisticated 
 tenderness^ of refined friendship — of every 
 sentiment, in short, that could be expressed 
 in tinsel and parading terms, such as were 
 most securely calculated to make a sensible, 
 and really warm-hearted being, sick and 
 indignant. 
 
 Amongst the various subjects on which, 
 with this false colouring, she delighted to 
 descant, the one which very speethly be* 
 came to Adela the most oppressive, was 
 the genius, the sweetness of imagination, 
 and the truly poetic fervour of one of her
 
 27S TRAITS OF -NATURE. 
 
 brothers, whose manuscript compositions m 
 prose and verse, she spent whole e\ ei;iing& 
 in reading to her widely differing auditors. 
 Sonnets, elegies, tales, epigrams ; Addresses 
 to a Lidy's Broken Fan ; Hints for a 
 'f i agedy ; Essays on Sympathy ; Lmes on a 
 Tear; Coup'ets on a Smile; mscription^ 
 and ^escripupns, poured from Mrs. Ca- 
 merotrs i exhausi.ble po^t folio with ^,u;ch 
 abundance, anti were so lavisiily extolled, 
 Jjiat she really seemed to believe herself ii?t 
 possession of the fairy power to transforn^ 
 the vi'est n:fuse into some gem of dazzling 
 lustre. But the whole assemblage, endless 
 jmd diversified as it was, proved to Adela's 
 iin vitiated taste, the must surfeiting regale 
 tbat could have been prf jsented to hex ; and 
 fiuch as nothing but deference to her mo- 
 thers known wishes, would have compelled 
 Jier t9 sac> ifice her time ,to sit and endure. 
 Extravagantly hyperbolical, and filled with 
 flimsy glitter, she heard not a single pro- 
 duction of which the ideas were not hack- 
 neyed, the rhyme and meas,ure incorrect, 
 and even the grammar frequently defective. 
 Some amongst them, also, were so extremely 
 amatory, that it ainaz^d her tp find them in
 
 TaAIX^ OF NATURE. 2^^ 
 
 9. woman's possession, and still more amazed 
 htr to hear a woman bestow .on them un- 
 qualified approbation. T^ such H.centiou^ 
 trash as this, the Novels sjie h^d before 
 reprobated, seemed the yeyy ess/ence of wis* 
 dom ; and there was scarcely a trite or an 
 iaiprobable narrative amongst them that she 
 did not now heartily regret, ^nd, in somj? 
 measui'e, evexi esteem, as possessing the pe-f 
 gative merit, of intending no harm, altiiougU 
 it iaitptd at no good. Her mortifi^catioa 
 was in< reused by the reflection, that whilst 
 all this absurdity w^s A^t pnly tolerated but 
 admired by litr;;iother, the offer of reading 
 to her a page from the Works of Milton, 
 J>ry^en, or Pope, would hay.e bc^en y^wn- 
 ingly rejt;cted ! 
 
 After coiisiderable doubt and hesitation, 
 Adela, at length, gained courage gently 
 to acknowled-e to JLady Rosalv^m, her dis^ 
 like of these fulsome rhapsodies, and tQ 
 supplic;it^ tfeat «shp (Oiight be spared the obr 
 ligation of being pie^nt at any more such 
 lectures. Her request was granted, and, 
 in outward semblance, at leasts forgiven. 
 But, this unfortunate contrariety in their 
 taste, laid the fqimdatipn for m inCiiea^e of
 
 280 TRAITS OP NATURft. 
 
 intimacy with Mrs. Cameron^ and a jealous 
 apprehension of her daughter's criticising 
 spirit, which no subsequent concessions, on 
 other points, could ever afterwards eradi- 
 cate. Adela grieved at these symptoms of 
 diminished affection ; but she could not, 
 even in her humblest moments, condemn 
 herself for the sincerity which had pro- 
 voked their appearance; and was per- 
 suaded, that whatever might be the rights 
 and privileges of a parent, it was impossible 
 they should be so unhmited as to authorize 
 the contamination of that mental purity 
 which it was every young woman's duty to 
 preserve unblemished. Of Mrs. Cameron, 
 her ill opinion hourly acquired fresh vigour. 
 She saw her artfully fomenting the lurking 
 resentment Lady Rosalvan had conceived 
 against her ; she was rendered glaringly 
 sensible of the necessity of being upon terms 
 of privileged favour with her mother, in 
 order to be secure of common civility from 
 her time-serving companion ; and so esta- 
 blished became their own practice of with- 
 drawing as much as possible from Adda's 
 society, that half the day they spent in Lady 
 Rosalvan's chamber ; and the remainder.
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 2S I 
 
 sh€f was given to understand, might be at 
 her own disposal, either in the hbrary, or 
 wherever else she chose to order a fire, and 
 enjoy her sublime speculations. Bitter were 
 these sarcastic insinuations, and afflicting 
 the unkindness that dictated them to the 
 susceptible heart against which they were 
 levelled ! The liberty to employ herself as 
 she would, under any other circumstances, 
 most have wished, granted solely in dis- 
 pleasure, lost its value, and dejected rather 
 than afforded to her any gratification. In 
 this temper of mind, solitude became utterly 
 repugnant to her ; yet, had she, even upon 
 their own terms, demanded re-admission to 
 their councils, the time was passed : Lady 
 Rosalvan had learnt to regard her merely 
 as a rigid spy ; and Mrs. Cameron, with 
 scarcely dissembled exultation, availed her- 
 self of the opportunity to establish her own 
 superior influence, and permanently to de- 
 stroy that of the daughter whose rivalry 
 had given so much alarm. 
 
 It is natural to suppose, that in a pre- 
 dicament so every way unpleasant, Adela 
 could not but be extremely desirous to effect 
 a speedy return to the abode of her unalter-
 
 2S2 TBAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 ably cordial friend. Dr. Hampden. She 
 had the forbearance, however, to make na 
 effort towards the acceleration of that event* 
 She feared to draw forth enquiries which 
 might be unfavourable to her mother ; and 
 she considered it as an indispensable duty 
 to silence every murmur, and submit ta' 
 every discomfort, rather than to make a 
 false representation of her reasons for seek- 
 ing a removal, or drawing down censure 
 upon Lady Rosalvan by acknowledging 
 the truth. 
 
 Wearily and heavily, therefore, now 
 dragged on her hours, each of which, ex- 
 cept those devoted to exercise and chari- 
 table visits, acquired augmented bitterness 
 from day to day. At her meals only, now, 
 did she ever behold the estranged mistress 
 of the house, or her pernicious confident j 
 and their behaviour towards her evinced 
 increased reserve at every meeting. To 
 judge by their ostentatious display of cau- 
 tion in her presence, it might have been be- 
 lieved that she had expressed her dissent 
 from them in opinion in terms the most ar- 
 rogant and offensive. Nothing could be 
 further from the truth. Adela had avowed
 
 TRAITS OF NATUr^E. 283 
 
 Ijer sentiments in language peculiarly guard- 
 ed and delicate ; and notwithstanding all 
 that she was condemned to suffer, felt con- 
 vinced, that, were the deed to perform 
 again, she could find no words more respect- 
 ful in which to cloath her meanino:. 
 
 Mrs. Temple, though discouraged by 
 Adela from making any open animadver- 
 sions on what was passing, had too much 
 shrewdness not to be early struck by the pal- 
 pable revolution which her lady's senti* 
 ments had undergone. A far less degree of 
 discernment than she possessed, wguid have 
 sufficed to point out the change. It was 
 observable, indeed, to every domestic in 
 the house; yet, did it not, in any one in- 
 stance, abate their zeal to serve the dis- 
 graced favourite, or diminish the respect for 
 her which they all seemed solicitous to 
 evince. An universal detestation of Mrs. 
 Cameron prevailed throughout the esta.- 
 blishment, and was often so daringly mani- 
 fested, that mucli as Ad^la valued the ge- 
 neral good-will she herself appeared to have 
 gained, her gratification from it, had it 
 been the result of vanity, could not but have 
 received a considerable check, frpm the
 
 2S4 TRAITS OF NATURE* 
 
 consideration, that most of her own popu-* 
 larity was founded upon a spirit of compa- 
 rison which delighted to set her up as an 
 idol, in opposition to another whom they 
 chose to stigmatize as a demon. 
 
 Happy is it, for beings placed in a state 
 of such insecurity, that time insensibly ope- 
 rates so great a change in their feelings, 
 and is privileged to soften or obliterate so 
 many disappointments. Adela's submission 
 to the galling circumstances of her present 
 situation, at first the mere effect of prin- 
 ciple^ gradually brought with it the re- 
 ward of being accompanied by returning 
 cheerfulness, and revived activity of spirit. 
 She ceased not to regret her mother's affec- 
 tion ; but she ceased to let that regret prey 
 continually upon her mind, and crush all 
 her faculties. She prescribed for herself 
 9 plan of useful reading, and adhered to it 
 with undeviating steadiness ; at inteiTals, 
 she indulged her love of drawing, or 
 amused herself in writing out extracts from 
 fome favourite author. Mrs. Tem])le also 
 made interest with Lady Rosalvan to pro- 
 cure a person to put the instrument in 
 order; and then she gladly resumed the
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 285 
 
 long-discontinued habit of devoting some 
 portion of every day to the practice of 
 music. These employments, though they 
 %vere pursued in sohtude, and uncheered by 
 the voice of encouragement, had yet the 
 power to divest her mind of uneasy reflec- 
 tions, and to deprive even winter of its 
 gloom. Her aspect, after a morning so 
 passed, or diversified only by a walk to the 
 adjoining hamlet, was clear and serene ; 
 she spoke at the hours of repast, though 
 perhaps scarcely vouchsafed an answer, in 
 the conciliating and unreproachful tone of 
 one, who, if she had offended, was desirous 
 to appease ; if she was treated with injustice, 
 was willing not to perceive it. But the 
 subjects of discourses he could safely choose, 
 were few and uninteresting. She dared 
 not allude to any of her own avocations ; 
 she was ignorant what those of Lady Ro- 
 salvan and her friend had precisely been ; 
 she saw within the mansion, none but ser- 
 vants — beyond it, none but peasants. On 
 the weather, therefore ; the tardy arrival of 
 the post ; the inconveniences attending 
 country walks from bad paths and muddy 
 lanes, or any other inoffensive matter of
 
 aSS TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 fact that occurred, she was reduced 
 to expatiate ; wisely, as well as placably 
 considering, that it was better to undergo 
 the imputation of being dull, than to merit 
 that of beino^ sullen. 
 
 Three months elapsed with scarcely any 
 variation in this unsocial system, and the 
 middle of February had now arrived. A 
 letter was then delivered to her from her re- 
 spectable guardian, which caused a sudden 
 and immediate alteration in her position. He 
 wrote to inform her, in terms denoting the 
 highest satisfaction, that his eldest daughter, 
 her friend and favourite correspondent, Ruth, 
 was on the point of being extremely advan- 
 tageously married. " With every prospect 
 of happiness before her," he added, ^^ she 
 is disturbed and restless in no very reason- 
 able degree, perhaps you will think, at 
 what she terms 30ur untimely absence. 
 Shall I speak the truth? Shall I own, 
 my dear ward, that the perverse little 
 animal has positively declared, that she 
 will submit to put on no fetters till you 
 are present to sanction and countenance 
 the hazardous experiment ? We have vainly 
 urged to her your engagement to remain
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 29J 
 
 with Lady Rosalvan till, summoned b/ 
 General Cleveland to pay him the promised 
 visit in London. She reminds us, that the 
 period spoken of is so nearly at hand, that 
 by coming to us immediately, you will only 
 be anticipating your intended departure 
 from Pine Lodge a fortnight or three 
 weeks ; and determined, she says, not to 
 forego the privileges attached to this, her 
 short-lived dai/ of power, she never suffered 
 me to rest till I had promised to solicit 
 your return ; and I greatly fear, will never 
 be brought to reason till you come and 
 preach it to her." 
 
 On every possible account, the intelli- 
 gence contained in this letter, gave to Adela 
 the sincerest and most lively pleasure. 
 Anxious to answer it without unnecessary 
 delay, and persuaded that Lady Rosalvan 
 would, in her heart, rejoice at being eman- 
 cipated from her company, slie ventured, 
 armed with such an excuse, to go up and 
 gently knock at the door of the apartment ifi 
 which her ladyship now spent all her morn- 
 ings. No answer being returned, she en- 
 quired of a housemaid who was passing, 
 whether Lady Rosalvan was gone out.
 
 288 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 ^^ No, ma'am," answered the woman ; 
 ^^ she is in the brown room." 
 
 This brown room (which Adela had 
 always thought admirably denominated) 
 was the dusky den she had imbibed so great 
 a disHke to on her first arrival, but had 
 now beheved wholly deserted by the confi- 
 dential pair, for the advantage of enjoying 
 greater privacy in Lady Rosal van's chamber. 
 Towards the designated spot, however, she 
 hastily repaired, and omitting, as this was 
 a public sitting-room, the ceremony of 
 giving any signal of her approach, she 
 opened the door and was advancing, when 
 checked by the unexpected sight of a tall 
 well-dressed man, who was standing near 
 the fire, on each side of which, seated in 
 arm-chairs, familiarly conversing with him, 
 appeared Lady Rosal van and Mrs. Came- 
 ron. The former started, and hastily arose 
 on beholding her daughter, who, with equal 
 expedition, effected an immediate retreat, 
 followed, however, and eagerly interrogated 
 by her mother as to the motive which had 
 brought her. 
 
 ^^ I came, my dear mother," said Adela,
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 2^§ 
 
 Stopping when she had reached the head of 
 the stairs, " to shew you a letter I have 
 just received from Dr. Hampden. As he 
 requires an answer by return of post, I 
 thought it was right to make the commu- 
 nication with as Httle loss of time as possible. 
 Will you have the goodness to let me speak 
 with you in the library ? " 
 
 Lady Rosalvan assented, and they pro- 
 ceeded down the stairs together. 
 
 Whatever might have been her ladyship's 
 feelings towards her daughter^ previous to 
 this summons, its effect iipon her, like that 
 of every forfeited (though, whilst in pos- 
 session, unvalued) good, to the weak and 
 versatile, was painful in the extreme. The 
 attachment she had so warmly demonstrated 
 during the early part of Adela's visit, 
 seemed now all to revive : she huns round 
 her with tears and caresses ; accused her- 
 self of unkindness and ingratitude in her 
 conduct towards her; implored her for- 
 giveness, her pity, her affection, in accents 
 of the most touching sorrow ; and so com-, 
 pletely softened the heart, and reanimated 
 the tenderness of Adela, that the idea of 
 
 VOL. I. O 
 
 L
 
 i^gO TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 their approaching separation became nearly 
 as irksome to herself, as it seemed oppressive 
 to her mother. 
 
 Mrs. Cameron, suspicious of their long 
 conference, now entered, to ascertain its 
 nature, and, till she heard the undoubted 
 tidings of Adela's recall, and consequent re- 
 moval, was struck v/ith consternation at sight 
 of the good understanding thus suddenly re- 
 newed between them. Her remark, as she 
 quitted the room, much comforted to behold 
 so near a prospect of the departure of this 
 dreaded inmate, was — 
 
 " Well, Miss Cleveland, you will, of 
 course, be so much happier with your 
 scientific doctor and his academical sons, 
 that I shall not presume to offer any con- 
 dolences on your separation from your 
 mother; and still less, on 3'our losing sight 
 of such a poor silly ignoramus as I am ! 
 But let me just add, that I think it a thou- 
 sand pities you cannot be admitted to take a 
 professor's degree in law or divinity your- 
 self ! " 
 
 Tins impertinent sarcasm, Adela only 
 answered with a smile, and Mrs. Cameron, 
 failing to provoke a retort, hummed a 
 
 I
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 291 
 
 tune to disguise her own vexation, anil left 
 her at Hberty to begin her letter to Dr. 
 Hampden. 
 
 At dinner, when the usual trio assembled 
 again, all traces had vanished of the appa- 
 rition Adela had beheld for a moment in 
 the brown room, nor was his existence, 
 name, or cause of admission, alluded to in 
 the remotest degree. To mere puerile and 
 girlish curiosity she was at all times highly 
 superior : but, v/here an appearance of 
 mystery attached itself to the conduct of 
 her mother, she felt an anxiety, neither to 
 be repressed by reason, nor blunted by the 
 slightest hope, that a character so facile, 
 swayed b)'' a counsellor so designing, v/ould 
 be proof against the danger of being imposed 
 upon and misguided. 
 
 The glow of rekindled affection in Lady 
 Rosalvan, lasted undiminished the two re- 
 maining days of her daughter's abode at 
 Pine Lodge. She even had the resolution 
 to insinuate to Mrs. Cameron a wish to 
 be left as much as possible to th:;: uninter- 
 rupted enjoyment of the short interval she 
 was now to pass in Adela's society ; and 
 o 2
 
 292 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 that lad}^, obliged to take the hint, confer- 
 red, at length, upon the being she had so 
 long supplanted, the rare felicity of an ex- 
 emption from her presence. 
 
 It would have been no difficult attempt, 
 Adela believed, to learn from Mrs. Temple 
 who the stranger was, whom she persevered 
 in thinking of with distrust, from the cir- 
 cumstance of having found so much re- 
 luctance in the two ladies to speak of him 
 openly. But there was a native sense of de- 
 licacy in her character, that forbade her 
 running the risk of communicating to ano- 
 ther the suspicions, perhaps unfounded, 
 which she involuntarily entertained herself 
 With whatever effort, she therefore deter- 
 mined to remain silent. 
 
 The moment at length arrived when 
 the motber and daughter were to bid each 
 other farewell. Nothing could exceed the 
 sensibility, the ^ven impassioned fondness 
 of Lady Rosalvan s last embrace ; Adela's 
 whole soul was penetrated by it with 
 gratitude and reciprocal affection ; they 
 mutually promised to write often, and 
 with all their former unreserve ; and then.
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. SQX 
 
 painfully disengaging themselves from each 
 other's arms^ they suffered Amy's remt>n- 
 strances to prevail — Adela moved slowly 
 towards the chaise, and Lady Rosalvati re- 
 tired^ weeping^, to her own rooHn. 
 
 o 3
 
 -i|4 TRAITS OF NATURE: 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 MARRYING. 
 
 As a protector during the long journey 
 Adela was now to undertake^ Lady Uosalvan 
 had resigned to her the steadiest and most 
 respectable of her male domestics, who 
 rode beside the carriage the whole way, and 
 in every little case of difficulty, was the 
 most rational adviser, and useful assistant. 
 Amy^ delighted to have quitted so cheerless 
 a dwelling, was in spirits almost exuberant ; 
 and the young traveller also, recovering on 
 the second day of their journey, her own 
 accustomed vivacity, their route was per- 
 formed with undisturbed comfort ; and in 
 health and safety they reached Dr. Hamp- 
 den's beloved and well-known abode. 
 
 Grateful and happy as Adela had ever 
 been beneath this friendly roof, taught now, 
 by the force of contrast, to doubly value the 
 good fortune of possessing such a home, 
 she felt, and looked, and moved, during the 
 first three or four days after her return, as
 
 #^ TRAITS OP NATURE. 295 
 
 if she trod on air — as if suddenly transported 
 into the regions of the blessed ! Mere, 
 though she saw nothing but the plainest 
 sufficiency ; no equipage, no men-servants, 
 310 elegance of furniture^ or costliness of 
 decoration, she found family concord, 
 cheerful activit}^^ order without monotonyj 
 love, friendship, and confidence, without 
 romance or affectation. As containing ^ 
 greater variety of characters, and a larger 
 circle of animated and youthful individuals, 
 it was a happier mansion than eyen Mfsp 
 Somerville's : with Lady Rosalvan's, it cer* 
 tainly admitted not the remotest compa- 
 rison ; and when Adela's ear caught the 
 
 0\^CllAd \jC UH* \«.^^tlll( 
 
 gazed at the lively and blooming faces 
 around her ; when she watched their dilii- 
 gence in employment, and witnessed the 
 genuine glee with which they enjoyed the 
 simplest amusements, she could not always 
 forbear whispering to herself, with a sigh — ■ 
 ^^ Ah, how unlike to the spirit that ani- 
 mates this charming family, is the afflicting 
 and wretched misanthropy which reigns at 
 Pine Lodge 1" 
 
 In the destined partner of her guileless 
 O 4
 
 2^6 TRAITS OP NATURE. 
 
 young friend^ she was delighted to discover 
 indications of every quality that seemed to 
 prognosticate a happy union. In age he 
 was perfectly assorted to her ; his temper 
 appeared cheerful and liberal ; he was pos^ 
 sessed of an unincumbered^ though mode- 
 rate estate, in her father's neighbourhood ; 
 was well educated, well connected, and, 
 above al!, evidently attached to her whole 
 deserving family. 
 
 A few days previous to the celebration 
 of the important ceremony, Adela, whilst 
 walking with this young man, his bride* 
 elect, and Judith, the second sister, detached 
 herself from the two former, and lingering 
 
 opportunity to put some questions to her 
 relative to the only absent individual of the 
 family — 
 
 *^ Where is now your brother William, 
 my dear Judith ?" said she ; " I miss him 
 more at such a time as this than ever." 
 
 ** So we all do ;" answered Judith, de- 
 jectedly; " his presence, my mother says, 
 is the only thing, at such a happy period, 
 wanting to her entire felicity : but, my dear 
 Miss Cleveland, he has been ordered on
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 2<)7 
 
 foreign service, and how long he may re- 
 main abroad, we have not the most distant 
 idea. He sailed in the summer, about a 
 fortnight or three weeks after you went to 
 Mrs. Somervi lie's ; but we did not know 
 positively of his departure till he had been 
 gone nearly a month. A hasty and brief 
 letter, which he had written to us from the 
 place of embarkation, and confided to some 
 careless friend to put into the post, was 
 lost ; and we never received a line from 
 him till the first dispatches came over from 
 the army, after it had landed." 
 
 " Perhaps," said Adela, ^^ you were all 
 spared much lingering anxiety by this ne- 
 glect : but I do not mean to defend it ; and 
 am certain, that in my own case, it would 
 have made me extremely angry. But tell 
 me, was William well when you did hear 
 from him ? Was he in spirits, and does he 
 continue fond of his profession r" 
 
 ^^ He was perfectly well, and, I hope, 
 has not been tormented by- useless re- 
 pentance : but we often bitterly regret the 
 choice he has made, because it preys so 
 much upon my poor mother's spirits. At 
 times she is really quite miserable. This 
 O 5
 
 298 TRAITS OF NATUHE. 
 
 impending wedding, however, revives her^ 
 and luckily, furnishes her, and, indeed, all 
 of us, w^ith f-o Qjuch to doj that we have no 
 leisure for reflection and sadness. I often 
 think, that but for this unfortunate military 
 passion of William's, and the distressing 
 illnesses of my youngest brother, poor little 
 Benjamin, (for you know, the name of Hotspur 
 is now entirely dropped), we should have 
 been too happy — -almost happier than human 
 creatures, perhaps, have any right to feel." 
 
 ^^ My dear Judith," said Adela, smiling; 
 *^ where did you pick up such miserable 
 doctrine ? I should imagine that human 
 creatures have not only a right to feel the 
 happiness which Providence bestows upon 
 them, but that, to enjoy without abusing it^ 
 and, with a glowdng henrt to acknov/ledge 
 the Source whence it is derivt d, is one of 
 their first, and surely one of their most 
 delightful duties ! Dear Judith, strive to 
 bear sorrow, when it comes, with patient 
 resignation ; but never aim at receiving 
 happiness with distrustful melancholy ! But 
 now let me hear -what you know relating 
 to our old friend Algernon. Has he written 
 lately ? Have you the least idea where h^ 
 is^ and how he is going on r"
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 299 
 
 ^^ We liave had no satisfactory intelli- 
 gence about him a great while. Tlie last 
 time my father heard from him^ he spoke 
 of a journey he meditated, to see his lady, 
 who was at Cheltenham with her mother, 
 and very ill. I begin to think his married 
 life has not been happy. He has never 
 written in good spirits since the first year 
 the connection was formed ; and^ indeed^ 
 has written as seldom as possible. William 
 saw him once in town, and told us, that 
 nothing could exceed the kindness of his 
 reception ; but that he was not pressed to 
 take up his abode at Algernon's house, as 
 he had been, so cordially, soon after the 
 marriage ; and further, he said, that there 
 seemed to reign a species of discomfort 
 throughout the whole mansion, which com- 
 municated libelf to his own feelings, and he 
 was glad to get away." 
 
 ^' Did he see Mrs. Mordin^^ton durin;j 
 this visit ?" enquired Adela. 
 
 " Yes ; she and her husband were toge- 
 ther when h.e was introduced. £le thought 
 her very handsome, hut owns, that she did 
 not look at all good-tempered, and was 
 barely civil to him. As he was going down 
 06
 
 300 TRACTS OF NATURE. 
 
 stairs^ he met Algernon's two children, a 
 little boy and girl, who are twins. William 
 stopped them a moment, feeling interested 
 about them for his friend's sake, and kissed 
 them ; and the only smile he saw upon 
 Algernon's face the whole time he was in 
 the house, was called forth by the gratifi- 
 cation he received from my brother's notice 
 of these little creatures.'* 
 
 ^^ How melancholy are all these partr- 
 cnlars !" sorrowfully observed Adela ; '' poor 
 Algernon ! He merited a happier lot ! — 
 But why, why did he so precipitately marry ? 
 And how came he to be so deceived in the 
 character of the young lady he chose ? He 
 had often resided in the same house with 
 her ; she was his cousin, and had been tlie 
 companion of his sister from her childhood. 
 How was it possible then, he should be so- 
 ignorant of her real disposition : " 
 
 ^' My father," resumed the half-laughing 
 Judith, ^' scruples not to say, she must be 
 an artful Jezabel ! Yet he allows that na 
 great depth of cunning might be requisite 
 to impose upon one so young and inex- 
 perienced as Algernon was at the time he 
 contracted this alliance ; and he says^ that
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 301 
 
 when we recollect how extremely frank and 
 unguarded he ever was himself, and how 
 reluctant to harbour suspicions of the sin- 
 cerity of others_, we may easily account for 
 his having been the dupe of a beautiful girl, 
 who, not only to please herself, but to com- 
 ply with the views of her father, took all the 
 pains she could, to captivate and ensnare 
 him. As for Miss Eudocia Mordington, 
 Algernon's sister, I dare say she was afraid 
 to speak :^ only think how her interference 
 would have offended the whole family !" 
 
 On alluding again to this painful sub- 
 ject in the evening, when they were all 
 assembled at tea, Adela was informed by 
 Reuben Hampden, who, according to his 
 
 wonted custom, had been at S in the 
 
 morning to read the new spaper, that he had 
 seen a paragraph relating to Algernon, 
 which, but for her recahing the circum- 
 stance to his mind, he should perhaps hav€ 
 forgotten to mention. 
 
 *' Yet, not," continued he, '* from in- 
 difference to w^hat concerns Mordington, but 
 from the variety of other intelligence 1 read 
 afterwards, which drove this out of my 
 head. It is stated^ then, that his uncle.
 
 302 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 Lord Ossely, as we have always Q':\]le(-] Iiim^ 
 is dead ; bat that a hv/ weeks previous to 
 this events he had succeeded to a higher 
 title, and that this title, wiiich;, to say the 
 truth, is completely gone out of my recol- 
 lection, has now descended to Algernon* 
 with the estates attached to it, and the 
 whole of his late uncle's persona] property, 
 except the portion he has left his daughter, 
 and the jointure settled on his widow." 
 
 Reuben was severely lectured by his 
 sisters and Adela for having so speedily 
 suffered the new appellation by which they 
 were to know their friend, to escape his 
 memory ; and he promised, if he did not 
 again forget it, to look back at the paper 
 thfi next day, and bring them home a more 
 perfect account, 
 
 *^ But how is it," said Dr. Hampden^ 
 " that only one of the late Viscount's daugh- 
 ters is mentioned ? He certainly h&d ^wo, 
 Reuben, are you quite sure that your 
 memory, in this point also, has not been a 
 little treacherous r" 
 
 ** Oh, here I am perfectly correct, sir ; 
 for I re mennber being struck by the omission 
 myself; and it led me to conclude, that th6
 
 TRAITS OF NATUJIE. 303 
 
 illness of Mordington's wife, which we heard 
 of last summer, had terminated fatally." 
 
 " Well, if it is so," cried Mrs. Hampden, 
 " I hope there is no great wickedness in 
 saying, that such a sort of body is as well 
 out of the world as in it ! On my con- 
 science, I believe, she was only a plague to 
 her husband, and an evil example to all 
 who approached her 1" 
 
 '• My dear," said the doctor, ^^ this is 
 not spoken with your usual sense of charity ! 
 You forget that this poor young woman, of 
 vvhom, after all, we know no positive harm, 
 has left behind her two helpless little chil- 
 dren, whose father, scarcely yet six and 
 twenty, must be wholly unfit to supply to 
 them a mother s place." 
 
 '' 1 had J indeed, forgotten these poor 
 infants," cried Mrs. Hampden, ^^ and I am 
 ashamed of myself for having spoken so 
 unfeelingly. Let us, however, hope, that 
 the little innocents will find friends amongst 
 their mother's female relations. Lady 
 Ossely will perhaps take charge of them ; 
 she has reared and protected Algernon's 
 sister, who, I always understood, was per- 
 fectly happy with her/*
 
 501 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 Three days after this conversation^ 
 which, during an interval of so much 
 joyful though anxious bustle, was not re- 
 newed, the momentous solemnity took place 
 that transplanted Ruth into a diiFerent 
 family, and imposed upon her such new 
 and important duties. To the friends and 
 connections of a bridal pair, the wedding 
 day is seldom one of unclouded content- 
 ment : the fairest hopes may be entertained, 
 and the brightest prospects may, afar off, 
 be discerned ; yet, a doubting, trembling 
 emotion fills the bosom of the parents ; 
 mingles itself with their most complacent 
 feelings, and casts over that awful day, a 
 pensive seriousness but too nearly allied to 
 melancholy. 
 
 '' The Lord be good unto me 1" ejacu^ 
 lated Mrs. Hampden, as she sat after dinner, 
 trying to wink away her tears ; " Who 
 would ever suppose, were they to see us all 
 looking so blank at each other, that this 
 was my precious Ruth's wedding-day ! 1 
 had no notion I should feel so mopish and 
 so dull after an event I have beeri long so
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 305 
 
 farnestly desiring. I wonder, my dear," 
 addressing the doctor, *' whether my poor 
 blessed father and mother were in this way 
 when /was married!" 
 
 '^ No, to be sure, my dear!" answered 
 the doctor, affecting more gaiety than he 
 really felt ; '^ they were too well pleased at 
 your good luck in getting so incomparable 
 a husband ! And I'll tell you another thing 
 that helped them to keep off what you call 
 mopishness : they drank frequently, as you 
 and I are now going to do ourselves, to the 
 health of the new married couple, and 
 thereby drowned all dull reflections in clear 
 port. Come, goody, give me your glass ; 
 
 1 i^«. **-w i;u^,,;u'^ fill t^ii jv-ruxi^, ^^-y p«^ti«^ 
 
 April-faced lasses. Hang it ! what should 
 you girls look so scared about r It will be 
 time enough to take fright when your own 
 turn comes. And, so, here's my hearty 
 love to you, and may that hour speedily 
 arrive I I promise you, I shall be as glad 
 to look grave, and feel a little queer after 
 your wedding, Adela, or yours, Judith, as 
 after our dear Ruth's."
 
 sod TRAITS OF NATURE, 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 PROTECTION. 
 
 Scarcely had the family at Dr. Hampr 
 den's recovered from the mixed impressioa 
 of seriousness and pleasure which the recent 
 event had occasioned^ and returned calmly 
 to their usual habits of life^ when Adela 
 received the following letter from her 
 
 '' Dear Adela, Bath, 3Iarch lO. 
 
 " You will see by the date of this, where 
 1 now am. I hate the place abominably: 
 but my father w^as ordered to it about a 
 month since— I was wise enough to believe, 
 because his London physiciaos did not 
 know what else to do with him. However, 
 now they hear he is laid up with the gout, 
 they say that is just what ihey wanted; 
 and they plume themselves prodigiously 
 upon their foresight and sagacity in sending
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 30^ 
 
 him hither to be martyred. The fact ic-, 
 to do these tormentors justice, that, though 
 lame as possible, he is, upon the whole, 
 wonderfully better than on his first arrival. 
 But this is not what I meant principally to 
 talk to you about ; at the same time that I 
 know, if you are as pious a dutiful little 
 »oul as you used to be, you can never have 
 too many of these amusing details. Now 
 don't look shocked ! I assure you I have 
 been very sorry for the poor patient ; and 
 when he was at the worst, I took great care 
 of him, and sat by him with almost as 
 pitiful a face as you could have worn your- 
 self : and whenever the twinges in his toe 
 were sharper than usual, I used to feel half 
 tempted to foi'owf^ar good eating and drink- 
 ing myself, for fear of the stin-^ing reckon- 
 ing I might one day have to pay. But, 
 luckily, these little retributions seldom fail 
 upon a man till he is turned of forty ; and 
 between one and twenty and forty, there 
 are some pleasant years, it would not alto- 
 gether be so delectable to sperid in prema- 
 ture mortification and penance. 1 can live 
 upon roots, and sip 'pure dement' at any 
 time. In return for this little specimen of
 
 30S TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 epicurean philosophy, you may, if it will 
 arause you, assume the stoic ; preach tem- 
 perance and self denial, and interdict me 
 half the enjoyments of life : — A vous trds 
 
 '^ But.now to business, — You remember, 
 no doubt, that you are invited to spend a 
 month or two this spring at our uncle's. 
 General Cleveland's ? I can hardly suspect 
 you of having forgotten a circumstance 
 which must be so important to a girl of 
 eighteen or nineteen^ — which are you ? — as 
 a first journey to London. Well, the 
 General is here now on a visit to my father ; 
 but he returns to town next week. He has 
 talked to me about the properest mode of 
 bringing you up from t>evoiiahIic, and says, 
 that when once arrived at this place, you 
 should travel the remainder of the way to 
 London with him. I have no objection to 
 a little change of scene, and therefore told 
 him, that I would undertake to fetch you to 
 Bath, and be answerable for placing you 
 safely in his care. Use dispatch, therefore, 
 my dear girl, in getting ready to set out 
 with me next Wednesday. I shall be at the 
 good o\A physic-shop on Tuesday night j and.
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 309 
 
 perhaps, if I behave myself in an orderly, 
 discreet manner, they will give me a bed. 
 Pray prepare honest Blacky to attend you : 
 my father is as wilhng to pay her wages in 
 London as any where else ; and I informed 
 the General, that he must by no means 
 expect to behold your fair person without 
 its dingy, but perpetual shadow. I should 
 hardly think I had imported more than half 
 of you to Bath, if I saw you there without 
 the lovely Amy. 
 
 " My father, you may discover by what 
 I have said above, is aware of this meditated 
 excursion to town, and tacitly, at least, 
 sanctions it. The General was so bent 
 upon carrying his point, that, without saying 
 more than is consistent with his habitual 
 reserve, my father could not well oppose it. 
 I cannot promise that he will see you when 
 you arrive. It is a stipulated thing that you 
 are to be set down at the General's lodgings. 
 But, my good little sister, don't be dis- 
 couraged ; remember the old saying, ^ Rome 
 was not built in a day :' it was built, how- 
 ever, at last ; and my father's prejudices, 
 which, we must allow, have taken a irood 
 long day to gather strepgth, may likewise
 
 310 TRAITS OP NATURE. 
 
 at last, be rooted up ! — The simile is a vile 
 one ; .but I have not time to think of a 
 better. — So, adieu, till you, and I, and 
 Blacky meet. 
 
 '^ Your aifectionate brother, 
 
 " Julius Cleveland.'* 
 
 Between the reception of this letter and 
 the arrival at S — — of its precipitate writer, 
 only one day intervened, which was neces- 
 sarily spent by Adela in all the hurry 
 attendant upon a sudden removal, and aa 
 unforeseen obligation to engage in the dis- 
 agreeable labour of packing up. Judith 
 and Amy w^ere her willing assistants, and 
 some hours before Julius drove to the door, 
 her preparations were completed, and she 
 had full leisure to reflect upon the new 
 prospect opening before her. 
 
 That Mrs. Somerville should be absent 
 from town at a time when her assured 
 support would have been, to the uninitiated 
 Adela, of such peculiar importance, was a 
 matter of serious but hopeless regret. 
 General Cleveland, it is true, she had 
 formed an acquaintance with the preceding 
 year at Rosedown Court, and had every 
 reason, from the kindness, of his conduct
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE, 311 
 
 towards her on that occasion, to expect 
 from him, in his own house, the utmost 
 attention and indulgence. But to her aunt 
 she was a total stranger ; and the sarcastic 
 observations which, from time to time, she 
 had heard Juhus utter respecting her, had 
 by no means incHncd her to place any 
 dependance upon her cordiahty or regard. 
 Barbara Cleveland, their eldest daughter, 
 she had never seen since the summer they 
 had resided together some weeks in Norths 
 umberland. Adela, however, felt tolerably 
 assured, that such as Barbara then was, 
 such she would unalterably remain to her 
 life's end ; — a little consequential pretender 
 to information, who, at fifty, would scarcely 
 be more decisive in her opinions^ or less 
 attractive in her person, than at fifteen. 
 Of the two remaining sisters, she only knew 
 by report, that one was in her own family 
 considered as a beauty ; and that the other 
 was kept back as still a child. Talbot 
 Cleveland, their brother, she was well con- 
 vinced, vv^ould be her st:ady friend ; and, 
 indeed, towards him she always mentally 
 turned with expectations of meeting m6rc 
 invariable kindness than from any one else
 
 312^ TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 in the family. At all events, Adela, who 
 constantly endeavoured, where a change of 
 circumstances might be considered in two 
 points of view, to fix her eye on its brightest 
 side, cheered her doubting spirit with the 
 reflection, that though perhaps unpleasant, 
 her abode at General Cleveland's need not 
 be long ; since Mrs, Somerville had engaged, 
 the moment she reached town, to claim 
 her as her promised guest for the remainder 
 of the season. 
 
 The expected approach of Julius, whose 
 rapid progress, in so still a place, was heard 
 from afar, and provoked every cur in the 
 neighbourhood to rush forth and pursue his 
 chaise with clamorous barkings, first put an 
 end to the ruminations of his sister, and 
 sent her afi:ectionately to the garden-gate to 
 meet and welcome him. He kissed her 
 with his usual appearance of careless kind- 
 ness ; told her that he was as hungry as a 
 hunter, and whistling to a large terrier, his 
 travelling companion, begged leave to in- 
 troduce him to her, by the inviting name of 
 Wasp. 
 
 " I assure you," added he, " Wasp is a 
 very fine fellow, and the best hand at
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 3l3 
 
 hunting down a sleek tabby cat that ever I 
 met with. Come, pat him, Adela ; he 
 won't hunt you ! Whaf s the girl afraid of? 
 He'll not take you for a tabby these dozea 
 years !" 
 
 " And luckily;* said Adela, '' if he 
 really is such an enemy to the harmless race 
 of cats, there are none here he can exercise 
 his ingenuity in tormenting." 
 
 ^' Ah, my poor Adela, this tenderness 
 for the cat tribe is prodigiously ominous ! 
 It is high time you should get to London, 
 or we should have you rusticating into as 
 complete a starched, prim spinster, as ever 
 sat by the fire, rivaling the mouser at her 
 elbow, and blinking, purring, and dozing 
 through a life of solitary insignificance.'* 
 
 Having now reached the end of the 
 caravel walk leading towards the house. 
 Julius suddenly stopped, and said — 
 
 " How must I accost Dr. Sangrado ? 
 If I look very solemn and formal, he'll 
 perhaps insist upon treating me like a man 
 afilicted with hypochondria ; if I am too 
 frisky, he'll swear I'm mad ! How shall I 
 steer safely between these two perils ?'* 
 
 '• Why, if he affirms insanity to be your 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 314 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 case, I will assure him, that you have gout 
 about the world so long with the same 
 symptoms, yet never, to my knowledge, 
 done much mischief, that you may as well 
 be trusted a little longer." 
 
 Notwithstanding the cavalier tone in 
 v/hich Julius, he scarcely knew why, 
 had always delighted to speak of Dr. 
 Hampden, the manner in which he ad- 
 dressed him, when, at length, introduced, 
 was divested of all presumption, and un- 
 affectedly respectful. Adela, on beholding 
 him appear to such advantage, felt proud 
 of bearing to him so near an affinity. She 
 looked at him, now the light enabled her to 
 distinguish the improvement in his height 
 and figure since their last meeting, with 
 pleased surprise. On his countenance and 
 whole person was visibly impressed the 
 character of a gentleman — the grace and 
 ease of one early accustomed to the best 
 society. His features, strongly resembling 
 feer own, but more marked, were handsome 
 without effeminacy, and regular without 
 being formal. Nothing could be more de- 
 hghtful than the expression of his eyeSy 
 when lighted up with gaiety and good-
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 315 
 
 humour; but he could, and, too often, 
 did allow them to assume an air of haugh- 
 tiness and defiance, which, added to their 
 natural brilhancy, rendered them ahuost 
 too fierce to look at. Adela had never, 
 since his childhood, seen him dehvered up 
 to any uncontroulable bursts of passion : 
 but she knew he was irritable ; and from 
 motives of affection as well as of prudence, 
 carefully avoided the slightest risk of 
 awakening: the ^ slumberinsf drasfon.' 
 
 The evening passed in lively and social 
 conversation; the Ilampdens were infinitely 
 pleased with their new guest; Julius ap- 
 peared well satisfied with his own powers 
 of recommending himself to favour, and all 
 parties expressed regret when the hour for 
 retiring arrived. 
 
 After an early breakfast, the following 
 morning, the youthful travellers set forward 
 on their journey, accompanied by the 
 kindest good-wishes of those they quitted, 
 and whom they were so wholly uncertain 
 when they might see again. 
 
 As Amy occupied a seat in their chaise, 
 they both abstained from talking of family 
 nffairs whilst on the road : but at the inn 
 V 2
 
 3X6 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 where they stopped to dine, Juhus was very 
 inquisitive on the subject of Adela's recent 
 visit to their mother. She spoke of it in 
 as favourable terms as truth would permit ; 
 avoiding all details, and softening whatever 
 she could not wholly suppress. Yet her 
 account, modified and cautious as it was, 
 gave him great displeasure. He execrated 
 Mrs. Cameron, calling her a crafty parasite ; 
 vowed that Adela should never enter Pine 
 Lodge again whilst that woman's presence 
 was tolerated within its walls ; and, in 
 short, talked timself into such a passion, 
 that it became difficult, either by persuasion 
 or argi^ment, to induce him to change the 
 subject. But Adela had her interrogations 
 to make as well as Julius ; and was much 
 more eager to hear some particulars of the 
 household to which she was repairing, than 
 to listen longer to his useless ravings 
 against that from which she was lately 
 returned. 
 
 In answer to the questions she addressed 
 to him respecting their aunt — 
 
 '' Pooh, nonsense ! " ejaculated he, 
 *^ Why do you plague yourself or me with 
 .enquiries about that woman ? Hav'nt you
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 317 
 
 found out by this time, from all you have 
 heard at Roscdown, that she is not the sort 
 of person you 11 ever hke ? But what is 
 that to the purpose ? you v^ill be my uncle's 
 guest more than hers. She will hardly be 
 grossly uncivil to you ; she will be obliged 
 to take you about to fashionable houses ; 
 she will make you a very creditable chape- 
 ron ; and what else have you to care for ? 
 You must not expect, wherever you go, to 
 meet v/ith people you can make sentimental 
 friends of ! — As for her two girls, one of 
 them, the amiable Barbara, you already 
 know ; the other, set off by such a foily is 
 passably good-looking : but, like the ovvFs 
 children in the fable, all my aunt's progeny 
 are considered as paragons, either mental 
 or personal ; all, indeed, except the third 
 daughter, poor little Christiana, the best of 
 the whole female race. Talbot I shall say 
 nothing about ; you cannot fail to remember 
 him. — But, by the way, I mhst give you 
 one caution relating to him. Do not en- 
 courage him to be too attentive to you : the 
 old lady will hate you in complete earnest, 
 if she sees any thing of that sort ; and even 
 the assiduities of a pleasant young man will 
 P 3
 
 318 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 hardly compensate the discomfort of being 
 constantly eyed with malignity by the mo- 
 ther with whom he resides." 
 
 *' I am no coquette^ my dear Julius, be 
 assured, and have not the smallest desire to 
 engross an undue share of Talbot's atten- 
 tion ; but I should feel sorry to be com- 
 pelled to treat him with disobliging and 
 unfriendly reserve." 
 
 " Well, manage as well as you can : but 
 depend upon it, that if you turn his head^ 
 the old lady will turn you into stone by the 
 potency of her own gorgon looks. She has 
 set her heart upon marrying him to some 
 dowdy of quality : whether the precise in- 
 dividual is yet singled out, or remains to be 
 pitched upon, I neither know, nor, to say 
 the truth, do I much care : but I am well 
 assured that this is her darling project; 
 and I have seen upon more occasions than 
 one, when Talbot has been holding forth in 
 your praise, that the lofty severity of her 
 accustomed aspect has assumed tenfold 
 greater majesty, and the sublime terrors of 
 her brow have heightened into tenfold more 
 portentous awe." 
 
 On their arrival at Bath^ which, under 
 
 I
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 51.9 
 
 any other circumstances, Adela would have 
 been so ahve to the pleasure of beholding 
 for the first time, the painful reflection, that 
 though actually in the very city which 
 contained her father, she was denied ad- 
 mission to him, filled her mind with sad- 
 ness. She looked anxiously from side to 
 side of the streets through which they 
 drove, supplicating Julius, if they passed 
 the house their father occupied, to point it 
 aut to her. At the moment she made this 
 request, they were proceeding through 
 IVJilsom Street, and at the open door of one 
 of its handsomest dwellings, stood a sei-vant 
 out of livery, whom, when her brother 
 perceived, he said — 
 
 '* That's my father's valet, and that is 
 the mansion that has the honour to contain 
 ipy father himself." 
 
 '^ Oh, speak to the man, dear Julius ! 
 Ask him how my father has been during 
 your absence ; — I should so like to become- 
 acquainted with the face of any one who 
 lives in that house !" 
 
 "You are a goose for your pains, my 
 good little sister,, for this fellow's is the 
 P 4
 
 320 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 iigli est face you ever beheld ! — But here he 
 comes, post haste, to speak to 7we/' 
 
 Then, letting down the side glass — 
 '-' Well, Mr. Gerard," added Julius, '' what's 
 the news with you ? How are you going 
 on here?" 
 
 *^ Charmingly, sir ; my master has been 
 out to-day, taking a little airing ; and bore 
 it vastly well.— But, sir, I have a message 
 to you from your uncle ; he was obliged 
 this morning, suddenly to set off for Lon* 
 don^' 
 
 ^' The d — 1 he was!" impatiently inter- 
 rupted Julius, " and what was the mighty 
 obligation that compelled him to use such 
 extraordinary speed ?" 
 
 *' I really don't know, sir ; but he left 
 word with me, that his lodging was not 
 discharged, and that Miss Cleveland would 
 find herself perfectly well accommodated i^ 
 it, till you were at leisure to conduct her 
 .safely to town,*' 
 
 " Humph ! A very easy way of arrang- 
 ing the business ! Upon my honour," con- 
 tinued Julius, drawing his head back into 
 the chaise ; *^ these are tricks, which, in
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 321 
 
 the father of a family, are rather too young ! 
 I don't half like carrying you, Adcla, to 
 inhabit a lodging by yourself. My. uncle 
 ought to have known better than to have 
 exposed you to so disagreeable a necessity. 
 I wish I could take you in there,'' looking 
 towards his father's house ; " but that I must 
 not do : therefore, let us make the best of 
 an unavoidable evil, and drive quietly to 
 these foresaid delectable lodgings. They 
 are only at the end of the street ; and as 
 soon as I have seen my father, after setting 
 you down, I'll come back and spend the 
 evening with you." 
 
 Adela, silently, but gratefully thanked 
 her brother, by a cordial pressure of the 
 hand ; and on his making a signal to the 
 postillion, they once more proceeded. 
 
 Her reception by the mistress of the 
 house, where she was now to take up her 
 temporary abode, was sufficiently respectful ; 
 and Julius havmg seen her safely cstab-, 
 lished in his uncle's late drawing-room, and 
 recommended to her, as there were other 
 tenants in the" house, to be as seldom visible 
 upon the stairs as possible, .consigned hef 
 P 5
 
 S^Q Traits of nature. 
 
 to the care of Amy, and ran off to pay a? 
 visit to his father. 
 
 In less than half an hour, he made hi» 
 ire-appearance — 
 
 (i Well, Adela," cried he, entering with 
 U look that proclaimed good tidings ; " I 
 have succeeded in effecting a change in our 
 domestic counsels, which I think you will 
 approve. My father consents to your taking 
 possession of the room 1 lately inhabited in 
 his house ; and as he and his people 0(!cupy 
 all the others that are fit for immediate use> 
 I shall remove hither, and avail myself of 
 the ^ perfect accommodations' my uncle 
 thought proper to recommend so warmly to 
 your favour." 
 
 '^ Dearest Julius," cried Adela, fluttered 
 and changing colour; '• shall I see my 
 father ? " 
 
 '^ Not to night, certainly: but you will 
 be in a place of security and credit. Come^ 
 take hold of my arm, and let us set off di- 
 rectly. Amy may follow us, and I will send 
 somebody to fetch your baggage." 
 
 On reaching the house of Mr. Cleveland, 
 every face which Adela beheld in her way
 
 TRAITS OF NATlIRKr 3^33 
 
 to the apartment now destined to receive her, 
 wore an air of respectful congratulation tliat 
 indicated the pleasure with which they, at 
 length, welcomed the daughter of their mas- 
 ter to her proper home. 
 
 ** Here," said Julius, thro vying open the 
 door of a spacious bed-chamher, " is your 
 allotted resting place. I am sorry to tell 
 you, it is the only part of the house to* 
 which I am permitted to introduce you. 
 But never mind ; you shall not live in such, 
 vile durance, longer than I can help. To- 
 morrow, or the next day at furthest^ I will 
 set out with you for London. Meanwhile, 
 in the adjoining dressing closet, you will 
 find two or three shelves with books ; you 
 shall have an excellent supper to-night, of 
 which J invite myself to partake ; and if I 
 am unable to travel with you to town as 
 soon as I mentioned, 1 will, at least, escort 
 you about the cfty of Bath in the morning, 
 and shew you all that is most worth seeing 
 of a place which you must certainly feel 
 some curiosity to become better acquainted 
 with." 
 
 ^^ A million of thanks, my dearest 
 Julius/' cried Adela, '^ for all these truly 
 f6
 
 324 TRArTS OF NATUREi 
 
 brotherly and kind attentions ! What 
 should I have done but for your support ? 
 But if you think that my father requires 
 your presence, leave me now ; and be as- 
 sured, you leave me perfectly reconciled to 
 this seclusion. I have no wish to force 
 myself into my father's sight ; yet tell him, 
 if it is not improper again to mention my 
 name to him, how deeply sensible I am of 
 his goodness in permitting me to remove 
 hither from those solitary lodgings." 
 
 *' By the time I get down to him," said 
 Julius, '^ he will be preparing to go to bed ; 
 so I shall have no opportunity of repeating 
 these iine things, and shall only stay to bid 
 him good night. In the morning, perhaps, 
 I may be better able to make speeches for 
 you ; and if a fair occasion ofters itself, I 
 will endeavour to be as eloquent, as if you 
 stood by to suggest to me, in a whisper^ all 
 I ^^hould say."
 
 TRAITS OF NATUREi 335 
 
 CHAP. XVI r. 
 
 ACCOMMODATION. 
 
 In profound seclusion, except during the 
 hours when Juhus, according to his pro- 
 mise, accompanied her in rambles through 
 the town and its environs, Adela spent two 
 entire days at her father's. On the morning 
 of the third, Juhus inforiiied her, whilst 
 she was at breakfast, that a chaise would be 
 at the door in less than an hour, in which 
 he intended, without further delay, to set 
 out with her for London. 
 
 " And, must I, thtn," said she, mourn- 
 fully, '• inevitably depart without beholding 
 my father ?" 
 
 ^' Even so, my poor Adela: but now 
 pray do not vex yourself unreasonably about 
 it. He has eot some confounded notion, 
 that you are extremely like Lady Rosalvan ; 
 and he takes it into his head, that the sight
 
 326 TRAITS OF NATURES 
 
 of you would shatter his nerves^ and per- 
 haps occasion a relapse! Gerard, however, 
 has ventured to assure him, that you bear 
 much more resemblance to the paternal 
 side of your family than to the maternal. 
 But I will let you into a secret. — This 
 deuced fit of the gout has pulled him down 
 abominably ; and, besides, he is still oblijred 
 to keep one foot wrapped up in flannels, and 
 to submit, whenever he attempts to walk, 
 to the ceremony of using a crutch. Now, 
 you are to know, that these are little humi- 
 liations, which it would extremely discon- 
 cert him to expose to your observation. 
 My father has been one of the handsomest 
 men of his day, and he can by no means 
 reconcile himself to the idea of being seen, 
 for the first time, by a fine blooming girlj. 
 though that girl is his daughter, in the 
 character of a poor broken-down invalid.^ 
 You shake your head, and look incredulous ! 
 Why, you don't suppose, my dear child, that 
 all personal vanity is confined to your own 
 sex ? A man accustomed to admiration, is 
 as unwilling to forego its refreshing incense 
 as a first-rate female beauty. My father 
 and unele are both notable instaace3 of tli^
 
 TRAIT9 OF NATUK-ET. 327^ 
 
 truth c»f this assertion. Thej^ are bucks and 
 beaux of a generation now beginnin^jj to- 
 wax a little ancient ; and have, undeniably, 
 somewhat outhved their ekims to high 
 distinction on the score of exterior at- 
 tractions : but the crows-feet of encroach- 
 ing age are obstinately winked at by them- 
 selves ; and, to others, they trust, remain 
 wholly imperceptible. However, bt^ing a 
 little suspicious^ that the inroads of these- 
 spoilers, may, at nearly fifty, require some 
 coaxing to escape detection, they syste- 
 matically exclude from their presence all 
 observers, whenever illness forces them to 
 omit any of the customary duties of the 
 toilet." 
 
 Adela, who well knew, that in what 
 Julius had been stating respecting the 
 General^ there was very little exaggeration, 
 felt somewhat apprehensive that there might 
 be but too much foundation for ascribing 
 the same weakness to her father. She 
 abstained, therefore, from making any com- 
 ment upon what sl^ had heard ; enter- 
 taining no sort of inchnation to listen to a 
 detail of circumstances in support of such 
 assertions. Indeed, she could not but se-
 
 3^8 TRAITS OF NATURE- 
 
 cretly wonder^ that a son, professing to be 
 upon good terms with his father, could 
 endure, so unnecessarily, to proclaim that 
 father's infirmities. A longer intimacy with 
 Julius, and a fuller acquaintance with his 
 character, gradually removed from her all 
 temptation to persevere in wondering at 
 these instances of levity and indiscretion. 
 She found him, in essential points, disposed 
 to perform his duty, and capable of well- 
 principled and honourable conduct ; but, 
 in delicacy or forbearance respecting the 
 prejudices or sensibility of others, he was 
 utterly deficient: and not only towards 
 indifferent persons was he thus callous, 
 but, from the evil habits fostered by 
 an erroneous mode of education, an equal 
 degree of hardness of heart extended it- 
 self towards his most intimate friends, his 
 nearest connections, and even the parent 
 whose mistaken indulgence had accustomed 
 him to respect no other feelirigs than his 
 own. 
 
 The journey from Bath to London^ was 
 performed with all the celerity that usually 
 attends the journeys of the wealthy and the 
 idle^ who, from mere dearth of real business^
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 32Q 
 
 find amusement in making a business of a 
 pleasure, and fancy themselves hurried be- 
 cause they are impatient^ and entitled to the 
 promptest obedience at every inn, because 
 an air of leisure and tranquillity would de- 
 duct from their consequence. 
 
 When they arrived at General Cleveland's 
 door, the evening was already far advanced ; 
 yet Julius, well acquainted with the late 
 hours to which his uncle's family was accus- 
 tomed, assured Adela, that she would be in 
 excellent time for Mrs. Cleveland's dinner. 
 Then, shaking hands with her, as she de- 
 scended from the carriage, he said he should 
 not alight himself, as he was in haste to get 
 to his father's house, and change his dress. 
 
 '' And besides," added he, '' I feel half 
 inclined to quarrel with our frisky uncle 
 for decamping so cavalierly from Bath ; 
 and, very possibly, were we now to meet, 
 might not have the resolution to resist giving 
 way to the unseemly propensity. So, go iu 
 by yourself. I will call upon you in the> 
 morning, and shall expect to hear a parti- 
 cular account of your reception. Mean» 
 while, good night ; take care of yourself, 
 and be sure you don't behave like a little
 
 S30 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 sneak, and suffer yourself to be browbeateii 
 by any of the old lady's insolent airs of 
 mock-dignity !" 
 
 Her baggage being by this time removed 
 from the chaise, and Adela admitted into 
 the house, he drove rapidly away. 
 
 Left, now, surrounded by strange ser^ 
 vants, in a spacious hall, unknowing whicb 
 way to proceed, she addressed the most re* 
 spectable in appearance amongst the group, 
 and desired to be conducted to her uncle. 
 
 " The General is not at home, ma'am/' 
 answered the man. 
 
 A young voice was at that moment heard 
 from the head of the drawing-room stairs^ 
 enquiring in an eager sort of loud whisper,. 
 
 *Ms that Miss Cleveland ?" 
 
 Adela raised her eyes, and beheld, lean- 
 ing over the banisters, a girl of about four- 
 teen or fifteen years of age, verj brown, and 
 not extremely unlike a little old fairy ; but 
 whose eyes were full of vivacity and intelli- 
 gence, and> who, the instant her question 
 was answered in the affirmative, skipped 
 nimbly down the stairs, saying — 
 
 ^^ Come up into the drawing-room, Miss 
 Cleveland ; there's nobody ther^, for mamma
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 331 
 
 and my sisters are out; but I have had a 
 foreboding all da}^ that you would be liere 
 in the evening. Do come up, and one of 
 the men will shew your maid into the house- 
 keeper's room." 
 
 Adela, concluding this cordial little per- 
 sonage was her uncle's third daughter, Chris- 
 tina Cleveland, very readily consented to 
 follow her : but, as they ascended the stairs, 
 she was startled by a loud chorus of laughter 
 proceeding from a room which, by its situa- 
 tion, slie conjectured to be the dining par- 
 lour. 
 
 '^ Is there company in the house ?" en- 
 quired she. 
 
 '^ Yes ; a party of gentlemen dined here : 
 but papa left them to the care of my brother 
 Talbot about an hour ago, and v/ent to give 
 all the support he could to a new play, 
 Written by somebody he knows, and per- 
 formed to-night for the first time." 
 
 Whilst the little girl was still speaking, 
 she and Adela reached the drawing-room, 
 which, to the latter's great comfort, the even- 
 ing being chill and damp, was cheered by au 
 excellent tire.
 
 332 TKAITS OF K^ATURE. 
 
 " Will you have any tea or coffee?" cle-- 
 manded her hospitable little friend — '^ You 
 look flitigued, and I am sure it would do 
 you good." 
 
 Adela, finding that the day was further 
 advanced than her brother had suspected, 
 and hopeless of obtaining more substantial 
 refreshment, gladly accepted the considerate 
 proposal of her youthful entertainer ; who, 
 after ringing the bell, turned hastily round, 
 and said — 
 
 ^* Do you know. Miss Cleveland, that 
 your carriage, when I heard it stop, put me 
 into a terrible fright ? — Who do you ima- 
 gine I took you for?" 
 
 *^ For something more tremendous than 
 you now, I hope, are disposed to think me," 
 answered Adela, much amused by the origi- 
 nality of her look and manner. 
 
 " Oh, a great deal more so, I assure you ! 
 For I suspected you to be a new tormentor 
 in the shape of a tall, rawboncd French 
 woman, who is engaged as my governess, 
 and has been expected from the country 
 these three days. Had it been her, I should 
 have run off to bed ; indeed, 1 ought by thi*
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 333 
 
 time to have been snugly tucked up for the 
 night ; but mamma's maid, who generally 
 undresses me, went out the instant her mis- 
 tress's carriage drove from the door ; and 
 for any of the Bettys and Mollys who re- 
 main, I don't care a pin : they have no au- 
 thority to make me do what I don't like." 
 
 The appearance of a footman, bringing 
 in a solitary cup of cold, but immensely 
 strong tea, interrupted Christina's loquacity. 
 Adela surveyed her black potion with some 
 dismay : but hoping to render it more palat- 
 able than it looked, by the insertion of an 
 unusual quantity of cream and sugar, she 
 placed it upon a table near her, and begged 
 the man not to wait. 
 
 As soon as he was gone — 
 
 '• To-morrow, said Christina," if that 
 odious Mademoiselle Durocher is not come, 
 I will bring into your room, the moment I 
 am dressed, my youngest sister, dear little 
 Laura. She is only J^hree years old, and the 
 loveliest child you ever beheld. I declare, 
 I think she is a good deal like you, only she 
 has different coloured eyes. I wish you could 
 have seen her to-night, for I am sure you 
 will doat upon her.'*
 
 534 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 " And upon you too !" said Adela^ kindly 
 taking her hand — " You are a warm- 
 hearted, and dear little girl !'* 
 
 " How very good of you to say so ! I as- 
 sure you I am no favourite with any body iii 
 the house, except with Laura and papa." 
 
 '^ I can hardly pity you if you are secure 
 of the affection of your father !" saidAdela, 
 mentally reverting to her own case. 
 
 '^ Oh, yes ; papa is very good-natured to 
 me, and when I can make him laugh, will 
 do any thing in the world 1 ask. Mamma, 
 however, says my jokes are plebeian : yet^ 
 she allows, sometimes, that they are jokes, 
 and smiles a little whether she will or no. 
 My eldest sister, Barbara, is too anxious to 
 be thought a wit herself, to relish any body's 
 hon-mots but her own ; and for a very good 
 reason, as I once heard cousin Julius say. 
 She is, you know, like myself, as sallow a^ 
 a gipsy, and not much higher than a walk- 
 ing-stick ; but being determined to acquire 
 some celebrity, she sets up for a miracle of 
 accomplishments and science, and hates all 
 rivals in knowledge, worse even than she 
 hates a beauty ; for she knows, th^t with a 
 beauty she cannot possibly enter into com-
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 335 
 
 petition, and, therefore, affects to despise so 
 paltry an advantage." 
 
 " I am afraid, however," said Adela, 
 smihng, " she will soon have a formidable 
 rival, even at her own weapons, in you." 
 
 '^ Oh no ; before I am old enough to be 
 presented (for mamma says, I shall not go 
 out with her till I am twenty, unless cither 
 of my sisters marry), she will be established 
 in sbme other family, or settled into a con- 
 firmed old maid, and all her pretensions will 
 be over. But, mercy upon me ! don't I 
 hear another carriage at tlie door ? Oh, it 
 must be my gaunt enemy, this time ! It 
 sounds exactly like a hackney coach ; and, 
 1 suppose, has conveyed her terrific person 
 hither from the inn at which she disem- 
 barked ! Well, ^ood night J dear Miss Cleve- 
 land ; I am off! they won't bring her in 
 here, if I decamp — good night. Papa will 
 be at home by eleven o'clock ; but if you 
 are tired, go to bed." 
 
 She then scampered away, leaving Adela, 
 half in doubt, whether most to love her 
 frankness and good-humour, or to wonder 
 at lier ceaseless prattle and unrestrained com- 
 xnunicativeuess.
 
 536 TRAITS OP NATURE. 
 
 Finding the potent beverage which had 
 been brought to her too nauseous for drink- 
 ing, she took up a volume of tales from a 
 circulating-hbrary, and began reading ; at 
 times, however, disturbed by the peals of 
 laughter issuing from the eating-room, and 
 somewhat surprised at such loud revelry in 
 a private house. 
 
 In about a quarter of an hour, Christina 
 once more put her comic little face in at the 
 door, and leaving it half open as she ad- 
 vanced, said — 
 
 " I have had a peep at the disguised gre-* 
 nadier, as they shewed her to her room ! 
 She is taller than ever, and, with the weight 
 of a single finger, were she to apply it, might 
 crush my whole diminutive body ! Lord 
 bless me, what shall I do with her ? If Jemi- 
 ma had not got out of a governess's hands, she 
 would soon have wheedled mamma into part- 
 ing with her, as she has formerly done with 
 so many others : but I have not the smallest 
 chance of procuring her dismission without 
 an assistant." 
 
 ** Then, my dear little cousin," said Adela, 
 *^ would it not be good policy to restrain this 
 violence of antipathy till you know whether
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 33/ 
 
 »he deserves it? A gaunt look is not always 
 a proof of a ruthless disposition; and this 
 poor lady, notwithstanding her patagoniaii 
 stature^ may be founds upon acquaintance* 
 very gentle and civilized." 
 
 *' Such a miracle is just possible, I allqw ; 
 but, in return, you must also allow, that it 
 is 7iof possible a dwarf should live with a 
 giant without being overawed. She^jnay for- 
 bear, perhaps, to shake me to a jelly every 
 time I affront her : but I shall know she has 
 the power — and hate her accordingly !" 
 
 At that moment, the dining-parlour door 
 was hastily opened, and, the next, a gentle- 
 man's voice reached Adela's ear from the 
 hall, saying to one of his companions, 
 
 *^ In the D — I's name, Talbot, whose 
 great trunk is this, against which I have al- 
 most broken my leg ?'* 
 
 ^^ I know nothing of the matter. But the 
 direction will tell. Read it, Sir Patrick." 
 
 For Mademoiselle Durochery at General 
 Cleveland's, Berkeley-Square, '' And wiso is 
 Mademoiselle Durocher ?" 
 
 *^ A French governess, I believe, newly 
 imported for my sister Christina " 
 
 VOL. I. Qt
 
 338 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 *^ Confound her huge trunk ! What the 
 deuce business has a French governess with 
 so enormous a receptacle for her rouge and 
 ber fly-caps ?" 
 
 Other voices were now heard in tumultu- 
 ous parley, as if the whole party was break- 
 ing up, and presently, .Adela distinguished 
 the nasal tone of him she had heard ad- 
 dressed as Sir Patrick, saying — 
 
 " Stop for me one moment, whilst I go 
 up into the drawing-room to look for that 
 pamphlet the General wished me to take 
 home. I shall find it quicker than I can 
 direct a servant where to seek it." 
 
 And with a deliberate step, that an- 
 nounced none of the flightiness of youth, he 
 began ascending the stairs. 
 
 Adela looked around for some means of 
 absconding, and was hastening towards a 
 folding-door that led into the adjoining \ 
 room, when Christina, darting forward, 
 turned the key in the lock, drew it out, and j 
 laughingly said — 
 
 " Oh, you shall not escape so easily, I 
 promise you ! Why, it's only mamma's old 1 
 cousin. Sir Patrick Harley. Hcs a great
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE, 339 
 
 achnirer of the ladies, and as rich as a Jew, 
 Try and make a conquest of him.'* 
 
 Adcla had no time to remonstrate; for 
 before this speech was quite ended, the 
 portly Baronet who was its subject, breath- 
 ing short, from the effort of mounting the 
 stairs, abruptly entered. 
 
 If the sight of his youthful cousin, still 
 up at so unusual an hour, surprised him, 
 the appearance of an utter stranger, whose 
 face and figure were so striking, astonished 
 him yet more. He bowed, however ; made 
 a slight apology for his intrusion, and ap- 
 proaching one of the pier-tables, took from 
 it a pamphlet, and was'moving back towards 
 the door. But Christina ran after him^ and 
 catching hold of his arm, said in a low 
 voice — 
 
 " Well, Sir Patrick — how do you like 
 her?" 
 
 " Like her r" replied he, in the same tone 
 — ^« Why, who is she?" 
 
 *^ Dear, can't you guess, then ? — She is 
 my new governess ! The lady you have been 
 accusing of wearing rouge, and so ungal- 
 lantly exclaiming against because of a little 
 bruise upon the shin ! Don't you feel more 
 a 2
 
 340 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 forgivingly disposed now you have seen 
 her ?" 
 
 *^ Indeed I do ! — ^She's a most beautiful 
 creature. But, my dear little ^oz, 1 fear 
 you will soon plague her either into a con- 
 sumption, or into another family !'* 
 
 '' Oh, no ; I mean to behave surprisingly 
 well to her, for she has quite won my heart. 
 Take care she does not win yourSy Sir Pa- 
 trick ; if you look at her with so much at- 
 tention, I shall begin to tremble for you!'* 
 
 Here, a loud and impatient voice from the 
 iiall was heard calling out — 
 
 ^^ Sir Patrick, we are off this moment, if 
 you don't come down I" 
 
 Thus hurried, the Baronet with some dis- 
 composure, quickened his steps, and rejoin- 
 iog his companions, the whole party in a 
 few minutes left the house. 
 
 ^^ Did 3rou hear. Miss Cleveland, what I 
 said about you to poor Sir Pat ?" enquired 
 Christina, as soon as he was gone. 
 
 " Not very distinctly : but I suspect you 
 have led him into some error." 
 
 *^^ He has departed under the firm per- 
 suasion that you are the divine DurocherJ- 
 How I should enjoy, were it practicable, to
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 341 
 
 put the same imposition upon my brother. 
 But he will recollect you, of course^ the 
 moment he sees you, though, I believe, it 
 is four years since he beheld you last. He 
 has always spoken of you with prodigious 
 admiration, and if he had suspected you 
 were actually in the house, nothing in the 
 world would have induced him to go out." 
 
 Just then, the door was again suddenly 
 opened, and a v/oman very showily dressed, 
 but of a vulgar and insolent demeanour, 
 bounced into the room, and totally regard- 
 less of the presence of Adela, rudely seized 
 her young companion by the arm, saying : 
 
 " You are the most tiresome and dis- 
 agreeable child I ever knew in my life! 
 What's the reason you could not let Nanny 
 put you to bed, hey, Miss? She says, she 
 offered to do so above an hour ago : but so 
 you always serve me, you do, you little 
 plague 1 You force me to stay at home 
 when my mistress is out, or else, you 
 dawdle down here till past midnight ; and 
 let me come in ever so tired, I'm always to 
 have the job of driving you up to your room, 
 and undressing you! — But go your ways, 
 now, as fast as you can, and be assured, I'll 
 a 3
 
 342 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 some clay or other make you pay for these 
 provoking tricks — I will !" 
 
 Amazed at the woman's shrill vehe- 
 mence, Adela regarded her with mingled 
 indignation and disgust ; whilst the fright- 
 ened Christina^ her gay spirits quite subdued, 
 uttered a faint " good night/' and crept 
 away, without daring to pronounce another 
 syllable. 
 
 " Poor little girl !" ejaculated Adela, 
 when she was gone ; *' This is the conse- 
 quence of being, to use her own phrase * no 
 favourite /' Ah, surely, she ought to think 
 it the greatest of blessings, to exchange the 
 low-minded and selfish tyranny of a waiting- 
 maid, for the reasonable sw^ay of a well- 
 educated governess." 
 
 It was now, as Mrs. Harris,^ the arro- 
 gant tirewoman, had justly observed, near 
 midnight, and Adela began impatiently to 
 wish for the return of the General, to escape 
 the awkwardness of being obliged to an- 
 nounce herself, should her aunt reach home 
 before him. The fire was nearly extin- 
 guished ; no one came near her to take her 
 orders concerning supper ; and the room, 
 but scantily lighted, large, and very lofty.
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 343 
 
 looked gloomy and depressing. Adela^ 
 from her dislike of the careless and indolent 
 manner of the servants she had hitherto 
 seen, forbore to ring ; though, after travel- 
 ling so many miles since a slight and early 
 dinner, she was really faint from want of 
 nom'ishment. She contrasted the comforts 
 of the dear sociable home she had quitted, 
 with the neglected situation in which she 
 was now placed ; and, throwing herself 
 upon a sofa, cold, cheerless, and forlorn, 
 felt almost tempted to weep at the dreary 
 change. 
 
 A carriage, at length, drove hastily up 
 to the door, and a loud, authoritative knock, 
 proclaimed the return of some of the family. 
 Adela started from her recumbent posture, 
 and endeavoured to assume an air of greater 
 cheerfulness. A quick step was presently 
 heard ascending the stairs ; and, the next 
 moment, her uncle entered the room. 
 
 " My poor Adela, my dear niece !"* 
 cried he, in an accent of the utmost kind- 
 ness : " How I grieve that you have spent 
 such a long, lonely, melancholy evening ! 
 1 know not why, but 1 had persuaded my- 
 GL 4
 
 344 TIIAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 self you would not be here to-night. Who 
 travelled with you^ and at what hour did 
 you arrive ?" 
 
 ^^ My brother escorted me, and wc 
 reached town, I believe, about nine o'clock.** 
 
 " Did Julius alight ?" 
 
 '^ No, sir; he was impatient to drive tO 
 my father's, and change his dress for some 
 evening engagement." 
 
 The General now began to enquire Ikjvt 
 she had disposed of herself during the few 
 days she had spent at Bath, and how she 
 had left his brother. 
 
 '' Much better, " replied Adela ; '' I 
 resided in his house till Julius was able to 
 set out with me, and heard excellent ac- 
 counts of the progress of his recovery." 
 
 " But I hope you heard them from his 
 own lips ? He surely did not admit you 
 into his , house, and yet refuse to see 
 you? 
 
 Adela cast down her eyes, and faintly 
 answered — • 
 
 '^ I was told my father was not weli 
 enough to grant me an interview." 
 
 '^ Poor chi-ld! This was most unkindly
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 345 
 
 rigorous. But wc will not talk of un- 
 pleasant subjects to-night. Tell mc, have 
 you seen any of my family ?" 
 
 Adela^ glad to advert to a tnore en- 
 livening theme, spoke in warm terms of th6 
 hospitable reception she had experienced 
 from Christina ; and amused her uncle 
 with an account of the deception she had 
 practised upon Sir Patrick Harley. 
 
 '^ I need not," said the General, laugh- 
 ing, " after so characteristic an instance of 
 the spirit by which she is governed, put you 
 upon your guard against the mischief-loving 
 Christina. She is as very a pickle as ever 
 existed ; but sensible and good-humoured, 
 and, all things considered, not deficient in 
 iittaching qualities. But, my dear girl, have 
 you had any supper r" 
 
 '^ To own the truth,'* answered Adela, 
 " I have, on the contrary, undergone the 
 longest period of abstinence to which I ever 
 yet was condemned ! It will do me no 
 harm, 1 dare say ; but I am sorry that, as 
 it has been very disagreeable, it can claim 
 no praise, since it was also wholly involun- 
 tary." 
 
 *^ You poor little famished creature ! 
 Q. 5
 
 346 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 Why did you not take better care of your- 
 self? Why did you not ring the bell, and 
 tell the servants what you chose to have ? 
 But come down with me now to my study. 
 Mrs. Cleveland, I believe, will be late to- 
 night ; for, if I am not mistaken, there is 
 some engagement, after the opera, to a ball. 
 You shall, therefore, on the present occa- 
 sion, be a guest in my region of the house ; 
 and there, I shall be very glad to accept 
 the fragments of your repast : I cannot 
 expect you, hungry as you are, to be very 
 lavish in your distribution ; but I promise 
 net to be too voracious." 
 
 He then drew her arm within his, and 
 they descended to his apartment, where she 
 spent nearly an hour, much pleased by his 
 courtesy, and enlivened by his good-humour. 
 
 On retiring to the apartment which had 
 been assigned to her, nothing could exceed 
 the surprise with which she gazed around 
 her. It consisted of a small bed-chamber 
 at the back of the house, faintly lighted by 
 a single window, facing a high dead wall, 
 and communicated with a dressing-closet 
 which mightjustly be denominated a boudoir^ 
 being unprovided with any window at all*
 
 TRAITS or NATURE. 34/ 
 
 Tn the chimney stood a miserable httle 
 rusty grate, containing just fire enough, not 
 to warm the room, but to fill it, at every 
 gust that blew, with puffs of suffocating 
 smoke. Neither shovel nor tongs appeared : 
 but a small crooked old poker rested upon 
 a broken wire fender, and was its only 
 appendage. The furniture, coarse and 
 scanty, of this inviting dormitory, corre- 
 sponded so well with its other attractions, 
 that it had all the air of having been freshly 
 imported from a servant's garret. 
 
 Much mortified, yet half inclined to 
 laugh, Adela looked at Amy, who, sleepy 
 and weary as she was, yet found voice to 
 utter the most sarcastic strictures upon the 
 scene before them. 
 
 "It will be all of one piece," cried she, 
 *' with every thing me have seen in this 
 fine, shabby house ! Nothing but foohsh 
 ?how outside, and beggar meanness inside ! 
 Ah, poor dear young Missy! You got 
 plenty, great heap of relations ; but you got 
 but one comfortable home ! When you go 
 see your mamma, you be shut up like poor 
 prisoner, and have no speaky with any 
 body ; and no love, no thanks for leaving 
 ct6
 
 348 TRAITS OF NATURE, 
 
 pleasant friends, and shivering all long 
 winter through, in cold, lonely place T 
 When you go see your papa — oh, that be 
 worse ! Hebid you be shut up in one room 
 always, and no give you welcome, and no 
 see you ; and you nothing for do, but some- 
 times cry, sometimes read, and, now and 
 then, take stolen walk with Massa Julius, 
 Then, you come see your uncle, and your 
 aunt, and your cousins ; and they all out> 
 and you have no victuals for eat, no friend 
 for speak, and be put here, for smoke away 
 all your white skin, and be made as black 
 as Amy ■" 
 
 Adela, now becoming sensible of the 
 danger of encouraging, in her unguarded 
 attendant, a spirit of discontent which 
 might awaken so-much enmity in the house- 
 hold, cried out — *^ Hush, hush, my dear 
 Amy, I will not suffer you to put me too 
 much out of humour with this poor room. 
 I own, that when I first opened the door, I 
 was a little horror-struck; but I am very 
 tiredj. and I dare say I shall sleep as well in 
 my faded check bed, as if it was made of 
 damask. And, you know, we shall not b^ 
 here very long."
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 34^ 
 
 ^' All, mc be glad of that ! Mrs. Somer- 
 ville give you. better sort of welcome thaa 
 this !'* 
 
 Having dismissed the murmuring and 
 fatigued Amy, Adela found, as she had 
 prognosticated, the soundest repose in her 
 unsightly couch, and arose, invigorated and 
 refreshed, just as the young Christina, for- 
 getful of the humiliation of the preceding 
 night, and as gay as a lark, begged for 
 admission at her door.. 
 
 " Oh, Miss Cleveland !" cried she, 
 capering into the room ; *' 1 have the best 
 nevs^s in the world to tell you ! Only think^ 
 poor Mademoiselle Raw-head-and-bloody- 
 bones has been so jumbled and pomelled by 
 her long journey in the stage-coach, that 
 she can't stir out of her bed. The maid 
 who has dressed me, has seen her, and found 
 her as hoarse as a raven, and complaining 
 of a violent pain in all her bones ; and she 
 has desired, when mamma awakes, that 
 the maid will inform her how seriously 
 indisjiosed she is." 
 
 '^ And have you no concern at all for 
 the poor soul r" 
 
 Christina laughed^ and answered^-
 
 350 TRAItS OF NATURE. 
 
 ^f Why, not quite so much, as, I per- 
 ceive, you think I ought. Were she any 
 thing but a governess, I really should feel 
 for her a htUe : but how^ can you expect me 
 to have much compassion for one, who 
 belongs to a class of people I have been at 
 war with all my life? That odious Mrs. 
 Harris, who took the liberty, before you, 
 last night, to treat me so impertinently, is 
 not, upon the whole, so hateful to me as a 
 professed governess. She gives me an in- 
 solent scolding when I put her out of 
 humour; but then, it's soon over, and I 
 have nothing more to do with her till the 
 next day. Now a governess is always at 
 one's elbow ; if she does not storm, she 
 incessantly finds fault, and grumbles, and 
 contradicts, and pesters one with lectures, 
 and watches every look, and seems to think 
 it the duty of her life, whether one sits or 
 stands, laughs or cries, to make one as 
 uncomfortable as she can. To do myself 
 justice," added she, archly ; ^^ it has always 
 been the study of my life, not to remain in 
 their debt. But with regard to this poor 
 mademoiselle, Mrs. Commings, the house- 
 keeper, has been told what an aching jelly
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 351 
 
 she is, and, I suppose, will send her up 
 some warm posset or other, that will set her 
 to rights " 
 
 She then proceeded to say, that she had 
 been into t! e nursery the moment she was 
 dressed, to ietcli her little sister, Laura, in 
 order to bring her to Adda's room : '^ But, 
 do you know, iMiss Cleveland," continued 
 she, " they would not trust her with me, 
 though she almost cried to come to me. 
 This was mere impertinence in the conse- 
 quential nurse ; for, at other times, I have 
 very often carried Laura in my arms, and 
 had the sole care of her for above an hour. 
 However, you will see the pretty little soul 
 if you go down to papa's room presently. 
 He always has her brought to him whilst 
 he is at breakfast." 
 
 ^' He told me so last night, and invited 
 me to breakfast with him." 
 
 " Dear, 1 wish I might go with you." 
 
 *^ And why should you not?'* 
 
 *^ I am sure I don't know, if you give 
 me leave." Then, taking Adela's hand-, 
 " Mow good-natured you are, my dear 
 cousin," she added ; *" I shall love you 
 better than any body in the universe, if you
 
 352 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 continue thus kind and sociable with me. 
 Jemima is sometimes pleasant and chatty 
 enough^ but one is never sure of her ; and, 
 lately, having gained the privileges of a 
 grown-up lady, she has taken it into her 
 head to look down upon me as if I had 
 gone back to the days of pap, rattles, and 
 leading-strings* She forgets how very short 
 a time it is, since we conned over our 
 lessons together^ and were both considered 
 as little school-room misses, who were never 
 to appear, except at dessert. Now, she 
 thinks of nothing but going out, and being 
 admired ; and makes me sick with her af- 
 fectation every time I see her." 
 
 " Was she at the ball your mamma 
 and your eldest sister went to last night ?" 
 
 ^^ No, she is out of town for a few days^ 
 on a visit to one of my aunts." 
 
 Then, casting her eyes accidentally upon 
 the hangings of the bed, and from them 
 towards some of the crazy furniture with 
 which the apartment was decorated, Chris- 
 tina burst into a hearty fit of laughter, an4 
 said^ — 
 
 " How truly poverty- struck everything 
 in this room appears ! I never saw such
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 353 
 
 a ridiculous place in my life. I wonder 
 where they could find such a collection of 
 lumber. It's worse even than our old 
 school- room. I dare say, there is not an 
 alms-house in the kingdom that is not more 
 creditably fitted up. Upon my honour, it's 
 a shame they should ever have dreamed of 
 putting you into such miserable quarters. 
 And, Lord ! suppose there should be ver- 
 min in this old rubbish 1** 
 
 ** Me hope," cried Amy, who was busied 
 in arranging her lady's wardrobe in the tot- 
 tering and solitary chest of drawers ; *^ Me 
 hope, if there is, they will run fast, and 
 when warm weather comes, stock all the 
 whole house ! It would not be fair, if my 
 young Missy keep them all to herself !'* 
 
 Christina, staring first at Amy, whose 
 person she had hitherto but slightly re- 
 marked, and then, reflecting upon what she 
 had said, again indulged an immoderate fit 
 of risibility, and exclaimed — 
 
 *^ How I should be entertained to behold 
 poor mamma's consternation if a vulgar,, 
 impertinent bug was to find its way into 
 her delicate apartment ! Or suppose tluj
 
 354 TRAITS OP NATURE. 
 
 white throat of Jemima, the night before 
 some very splendid f4te^ was to be marked 
 with the disgraceful bites of any of these 
 nauseous creatures ! Mercy upon me ! What 
 an indescribable fuss there would be ! I 
 really don't believe/ they would think all 
 London could furnish poison enough to de- 
 stroy such insolent intruders ! — Barbara 
 would be the best off in the midst of the 
 bustle : she would set about making experi- 
 ments upon some of the little beasts ; and 
 after dinner, to settle the stomachs of the 
 company, might, perhaps, bring forth two 
 or three^ in difierent states, to examine 
 through a microscope ! — I once heard of her 
 doing this with some dried earwigs." 
 
 Adela, being now dressed, interrupted the 
 voluble conjectures of her whimsical young 
 friend, and they descended to the General's 
 room together. 
 
 He received them both with the iitmost 
 cordiality. Adela, in particular, whose 
 looks were much improved by the refresh- 
 ing repose she had enjoyed, he regarded 
 with great satisfaction, protesting, as she 
 approached to receive his outstretched
 
 TRAITS OP NATURE. 355 
 
 hand, that the sight of so blooming and 
 cheerful a countenance was enough to in- 
 fuse good-humour into him for the whole 
 day— 
 
 *^ Or if your good-humonr, my dear 
 papa," said Christina, '' should meet with 
 any stumbling-block, go up into cousin 
 Adela's apartment ; and the regaling sight 
 you will there behold, cannot fail to restore 
 your spirits in a moment!" 
 
 The General, patting her head, enquired 
 what she meant ? 
 
 " Why, I mean, sir," resumed she, with 
 great earnestness, '' that they have put my 
 cousin into a sort of broker's magazine for 
 infirm goods ! She has not a chair, or a 
 table, or a dressing-glass that is not in so 
 dangerous a state of decay, that the least 
 touch threatens to make cripples of them to 
 the end of time ! — I am certain it could be 
 with no less than the hazard of breaking 
 her bones by a sudden crash to the ground, 
 that she could venture to repose upon any 
 of the seats so magnificently provided for 
 her ! " 
 
 " Is this account true ? '* demanded the 
 General, turning hastily to Adela.
 
 356 TRAITS OF NATURE* 
 
 She owned, that, allowing something 
 for a lively imagination, it was perfectly 
 correct. 
 
 " How abominably careless or insolent im 
 that wooden-faced Commings!" resumed he, 
 very warmly—*" I am quite indignant at her, 
 and really shocked and ashamed that yoa 
 should have been so scandalously accommo*- 
 dated even for a single night ! But you may 
 depend upon it, my dear girl, the evil shall 
 be remedied this very day." 
 
 He then rung the bell, and ordered the 
 «ervant who answered it, to send the house- 
 keeper to him directly. 
 
 *' She is just gone out, sir.** 
 
 ^' Well, then, bid her come to me the 
 moment she returns : and bring up break- 
 fast." 
 
 Whilst this order was performing, the 
 gay tones of a child's voice upon the stairs 
 attracted the attention of Christina* 
 
 ^^ Oh, here comes our darling Laura>** 
 exclaimed she ; and running out of the rdom, 
 she presently returned, leading carefully in 
 by the hand, the most lovely and engaging 
 little creature Adela had ever beheld. Na- 
 turally fond of children, she raised her
 
 tRAITi OF NATURE. 357* 
 
 fondly ill her arms, and imprinted a thou- 
 sand kisses upon her rosy cheek. 
 ' '^ Is she not a Httle angel ?" cried the de- 
 lighted Christina. 
 
 "She is grace and beauty personified !" 
 answered Adela. 
 
 " You are undesignedly paying yourself a 
 high compliment 1" cried the General— 
 ^^ Laura has always been thought remark- 
 ably like you." 
 
 ^^ And to say the truth," in a half- whisper, 
 observed Christina, " she has chosen no very 
 Ugly model !'* 
 
 " There never is any ugliness/' said her 
 father, directing towards her a look of 
 ' kindness, " where a genuine expression 
 of goodness of heart brightens the coun- 
 tenance r 
 
 " No, papa," answered Christina, laugh- 
 ing, " only a little sallowness of complexion, 
 and dwarfishness of person, to which the 
 eye, you know, may grow so accustomed, 
 as, in time, to mistake them for beauty ! 
 I wish, however, mamma would shew 
 signs of a disposition to fall into this mis- 
 take !" 
 
 '^ Your mother allows that there is more
 
 358 TRAITS OP NATURE. 
 
 play of features, more character in your 
 face, than in almost any she ever saw.** 
 
 ^* Yes, the sort of character 3^ou would 
 attribute to a female Robin Good fellow ! 
 But so ignoble, so ludicrous, so unseemly 
 in a girl of fiimily ! Well, well, never mind 1 
 If ever I meet with a merry imp like m^^self, 
 we will run into the woods toget'uer, and live 
 with the fairies, '^ under the blossom that 
 hangs on the bough. ''^ I am sure I shall 
 Dever do to associate with men of fashion, 
 and fine ladies." 
 
 " Why you little cynic ! What makes you 
 so severe against them ?'* 
 
 " Their excessive dullness, for one thing, 
 papa ! All humour, and sport, and origina- 
 lity, they call vulgar and low bred : and be- 
 sides that, they require such an immoderate 
 share of beauty, or of rank, or of wealth, 
 to rouse them to attention, and dispose them 
 to be civil, that I am always planning some 
 future scheme of life that may take me out of 
 the reach of their cold-hearted sneers. I can- 
 not be happy, unless I am suffered to laugh 
 without being criticised for the width of 
 my mouth ; or permitted to caper and 
 frisk, without being told I am ungraceful ;'•
 
 TRAITS OF NATURE. 359 
 
 The General, encircled by three beings, 
 who, in their several ways, all stood so high 
 in his favour; incited to mirth by Christina; 
 softened into the tenderest indulgence by 
 the lovel}^ Httle Laura ; and insensibly 
 drawn into hourly increasing approbation 
 by Adela, passed a large portion of the 
 morning in a manner so completely satisfac- 
 tory to his feelings, that on looking at his 
 watch, and finding the day so far advanced, 
 he was evidently much chagrined to be 
 under the necessity of preparing to go out. 
 
 '' But before I sally forth," cried he, '' let 
 me have the pleasure, my dear Adela, of 
 presenting you to Mrs. Cleveland. Chris- 
 tina, go and see whether your mother is yet 
 come down to breakfast. She was out late 
 last night, and will therefore not be particu- 
 larly alert this morning." 
 
 The little girl obeyed, and returning in a 
 few minutes, said her mamma and eldest 
 sister were both in the back drawing-room. 
 
 *' And Laura has been enquired for ;'* 
 contiimed she. " Mamma declares that she 
 is quite angry at your keeping her so long 
 to yourself.**
 
 S60 TRAITS OF NATURE. 
 
 ^^ Well, then^ Laura shall go up stairn 
 with us ;" said the General : and raising her 
 in his arms, he led the way towards the 
 apartment in which his lady was sitting. 
 
 SKD OF VOL. I, 
 
 Priftfedby Cox and Bayiis, jb, Great Queen SU'«ct»
 
 1
 
 .^.^