TO CORRESPONDENTS, A continuation of the Elville Family Secrets is intended for our next: we hope the ingenious authoress will favour us with one. The Essay signed Mercutio requires revision. The Lines on perusing a beautiful Sonnet, by W. M. T.-Sonnet, and Lyre of Woe, by W. M. 'T.-Verses on the cutting down of a favourite Elm, by Mr. J. Webb-shall certainly appear in our next.—Stanzas to Cupid are likewise intended for our next. S. Y.'s Eugenio and Zelma, with an Engraving, in our next. *** Our Readers are requested to notice the following Errata: In the Lines addressed to S. Y. by J. M. L. in our Magazine for December last, p. 667, in line 1 of the 7th stanza, for Then scarcely-read, Then surely We have to apologize to our ingenious correspondent J. M. L. for having so long delayed correcting this mistake, which he pointed out to us in the month of January; but his letter having unfortunately been mislaid, it escaped our recollection. In the Magazine for January, page 29, col. 2, line 10 from the bottom -for naval hero-read novel hero. The Botany Plate in this Number is referred to in the Continuation of the Ninth Lesson, given last month, THE LADY'S MAGAZINE. FOR MARCH, 1807. THE SUDDEN ALARM; OR, A LESSON FOR SCANDAL, A Tale. (With an elegant Engraving.) THOSE who habituate themselves to evil-speaking and slandering, and censoriously revile or ridicule those who are absent, not only act in that mean and ungenerous manner which must draw on them the utmost contempt of every person of sound understanding and liberal sentiments; but not unfrequently expose themselves, by the levity and petulance of their tongues, to more serious mis chiefs than they could have imagined they had to apprehend. Letitia Marlow had been left an orphan almost totally unprovided for, at the age of ten years; but her uncle by the mother's side, Mr. Wilson, had taken her under his protection, and brought her up as his own daughter. Letitia was mild, gentle, and engaging, and every day gained more and more on the good will and affection of her uncle, till, as she grew up, she became the maVOL. XXXVIII. nager and mistress of his household affairs, and obtained an almost und controuled authority over him. Mr. Wilson was a gentleman who, possessing a lucrative office in one of the departments of government, which he filled with much ability and credit to himself, had realized a considerable fortune. He had real generosi ty and goodness of heart, but at the same time might occasionally excite a smile from those who were not accustomed to him, by certain singu larities of character and oddities in his manner. He had an impediment in his speech and a kind of snuffle, which when he endeavoured to be grave and sententious in what he said, as he commonly did, had sometimes a very ludicrous effect. Notwithstanding these infirmities, he seemed to have persuaded himself that no person could speak more forcibly or pointedly; and this opi R 2 nion of his powers tended only to heighten the ridicule to which he too frequently exposed himself. Yet, with the exception of this foible, he possessed much good sense, a considerable stock of acquired knowledge, and a sound judgment. He was friendly and beneficent to all who were civil and prudent enough to take no notice of his infirmities, of the ridiculing of which he was extremely jealous, and which he scarce ly ever forgave. To his niece he was constantly extremely kind and affectionate; and his love for her, from the gentleness, delicacy, and propriety of her behaviour, as has been before said, continually increased. When Letitia had attained the age of nineteen, Mr. Wilson enlarged his household, of which she had the direction: she, however, kept scarcely any company, and saw but little of the world, as her uncle was rather of a reserved disposition, and totally averse to fashionable gaiety. Letitia passed her time chiefly in reading, drawing, and at her piano-forte. She knew nothing of a life of gaiety and dissipation, and she had no desire to plunge into fashionable follies. About this time Mr. Wilson, in consequence of some business he had to transact relative to an estate he had purchased in a distant county, found it necessary to leave London. As he had reason to believe that he should be obliged to be absent for a long time, and he was so for a considerably longer time than he expected, he engaged a widow lady of the name of Graham, a distant relation of his, whom he had constantly endeavoured to serve, having a very advantageous opinion of her good sense and prudence, to be a companion to his niece during his absence. He then took a very affectionate leave of Letitia, and giving some good advice to her and Mrs. Gra ham, in his peculiar manner, set out for the country. It chanced that the business which had occasioned, Mr. Wilson's absence from town detained him in the country several months, during which time, the unexperienced Letitia, and Mrs. Graham, who was not quite so unexperienced, finding themselves under no restraint, indulged themselves somewhat freely, in company with several of the intimate female acquaintances of the latter, in the fashionable entertainments of the town. These new acquaintances of Letitia frequently visited her, and she visited them in return. Their company and conversation, however, were not very improving to the bitherto innocent and artless Letitia. The subjects of their conversation, or rather of their tittle-tattle conferences, when most innocent, related only to the frivolities of dress and fashion, and the most insipid trifles; and when not quite so harmless, turned upon the foibles and faults which they discovered, or pretended to discover, in their acquaintances and friends. Among these females was a Miss Jenkins, who possessed much vivacity, and, indeed, real wit, though lamentably misapplied to the purposes of scandal, in which she was a great adept; and as she had a fertile invention, she never either wanted for a subject, or suffered her levity to be confined within the bounds of truth. Mrs. Graham had nearly the same propensity to scandal, and to turning into ridicule even the persons to whom she was most obliged; but as she had less liveliness of imagination, she was under the necessity of being contented with ill nature instead of wit. Unfortunately, Letitia conceived an admiration of the accomplishments of these two ladies, and imagined that all they said and did was in the exact taste of the most fashionable part of the world; and in this, perhaps, she did not make so great a mistake as in supposing that such manners were consistent with true politeness, not to say with good sense or good nature. She, how ever, was dazzled with the ease and sprightliness of miss Jenkins, who frequently rallied her in a very lively manner on the old-fashioned maxims and manners which she had learned of her uncle, whom she took every opportunity to turn into ridicule, imitating his solemn manner of speaking on some occasions with great exactness and effect. In this ridicule, Mrs. Graham, too, very cordially joined, notwithstanding she had been frequently greatly obliged to the friendship of Mr. Wilson, and notwithstanding she knew that in his will he had bequeathed her a legacy of several thousand pounds, the bulk of his fortune being intended for Letitia, The truth of the maxim, derived from the highest authority, that 'evil communications corrupt good manners,' became now every day more apparent. Letitia, anxious to emulate what she admired, and prove herself deserving to be admitted into the fashionable circles, began to imitate, but too successfully, the bad qualities of her companions. She vied with them in ridiculing and slandering, in the most flippant and petulant manner, all of whom she had any knowledge, provided they were absent, and many of whom she knew nothing. Her former acquaintances, when present, she addressed, according to the lessons she had received from her new and more accomplished companions, with a formal and fulsome flattery, but, in general, with a strong mixture of the ill-concealed sneer, and the more SD, the more they were simple in their manners, and strangers to af fectation. This change in the character and behaviour of Letitia was solely to be attributed to the ill example given her by her new companions, for, in reality, her heart was inclined to what was amiable and praise-worthy, to the honest uncorrupt feelings of human nature. But she was led astray by the idea of thus attaining to fashionable manners and fashionable accomplishments, and rising superior to the tame and groveling. ideas of unpolite life. In the mean time, Mr. Wilson, having finished the business which had detained him so long from home, prepared for his return; and, notwithstanding his peculiarities, he had an honest and good heart. His long absence from Letitia had made him wish to see her again, and to receive that expression of pleasure, and warmth of congratulation, which, he thought, might naturally be expected from an innocently grateful heart like hers, he determined to surprise her, presuming, that, by this, he might ultimately heighten both her pleasure and his own. He set out, therefore, with all convenient speed, and, when he arrived in town, entered his own house with as little noise as possible, and strictly forbidding any person to apprize Letitia of his arrival, hastened abruptly to her apartment. But it happened, that, at this moment, miss Letitia, Mrs. Graham, and miss Jenkins, were holding one of their polite conversations, in which they treated in no very merciful manner the characters of almost all such of their acquaintances as had any characters to defame. Most unfortunately, too, at this very time, some mention having been made of Mr. Wilson, miss Jenkins began to treat him with her accustomed levity and petulance; and miss Le titia, not to appear interior to her very accomplished friend in acting her part in this gay scene, very readily joined in ridiculing her uncle, by mimicking, with very indecent pleasantry and too great accuracy, his stammering speech, his snuffling voice, and his sententious gravity, which certainly, on many occasions, bordered not a little on the ludicrous, but which it was highly improper and most resprehensible in her to hold up as objects of scornful ridicule. Mr. Wilson, when he approached this scene of indecent merriment, hearing his own name mentioned, did not enter the apartment of his niece, but, though the door stood open, passed on unperceived, and took his station where, without be ing seen, he could hear all the discourse of these facetious ladies. Of this he soon heard enough to incense him to the utmost degree against Letitia, his insqlent, as he now deemed her, and most ungrateful niece. In the first emotions of his indignation and anger, he had half resolved to burst suddenly upon them, reproach them for their mean and ungrateful behaviour, and order them immediately to quit his house; but on further consideration he determined not to have any personal altercation, but to retire as he had entered, and employ some other method to signify that he was acquainted with their behaviour, and to manifest his resentment. He accordingly walked away without taking any further notice. But he -did not depart, as he had entered, without being perceived; Letitia saw him, and started as if she had seen an apparition. She shrieked out-My uncle!--and the alarm became general, as it was sudden. Her companions, however, at first, endeavoured to persuade her, that it must be merely the effect of her imagination, and that it could not possibly be her uncle: but she persisted that she was certain that it was him, and no other person; and in this she was undoubtedly right. In the meantime, Mr. Wilson had hastily and abruptly quitted the house, leaving the ladies to recover from the consternation into which his sudden and unexpected appearance had thrown them as well as they could. On making enquiry of the servants below, they found that he had returned without notice, in the manner that has been before described, and intended to surprise his niece with his arrival. Letitia's conscience told her that he had acted in this unusual manner only because he had hoped he should give her an unexpected pleasure, and wished to witness the joyful emotions of her heart. What then must have been her feelings at the recollection, that she could have no doubt that he had heard all the false and scandalous insinuations against him of Mrs. Graham and Miss Jenkins, and all the ludicrous mimicry with which she had ridiculed his infirmities and peculiarities! That he was extremely offended she was sufficiently convinced by the manner in which he had left the house without saying any thing to the servants; and she well knew that, as she entirely depended upon him, it was in his power to make her very sensibly feel the weight of his resentment: she knew, too, that whenever he was offended it was very difficult to persuade him to forgive. The foolish mirth of these ladies was now entirely at an end. Miss Jenkins soon took her leave, and left Mrs. Graham and the unhappy Letitia to consider what was to be done in the present exigency of their affairs. They first made every enquiry in their power to discover, if possible, where Mr. Wilson was; but they could learn nothing concerning him |