the most wonderful is that of supporting hope in the midst of despair. Difficulties, improbabilities, nay, impossibilities are quite overlooked by it; so that to any man extremely in love, may be applied what Addison says of Cæsar, The Alps, and Pyrenæans, sink before him!' Yet it is equally true, that the same passion will sometimes make mountains of molehills, and produce despair in the midst of hope; but these cold fits last not long in good constitutions. Which temper Jones was now in, we leave the reader to guess, having no exact information about it; but this is certain, that he had spent two hours in expectation, when being unable any longer to conceal his uneasiness, he retired to his room; where his anxiety had almost made him frantic, when the following letter was brought him from Mrs. Honour, with which we shall present the reader verbatim et literatim. เ SIR, 'I shud sartenly haf kaled on you a cordin too mi prommiss haddunt itt bin that hur lashipp prevent mee; for to bee sur, Sir, you nose very well that evere persun must luk furst at ome, and sartenly such anuther 'offar mite not ave ever hapned, so as I shud ave bin 'justly to blam, had I not excepted of it when her lashipp was so veri kind as to offar to mak mee hur one uman without mi ever askin any such thing, to bee sur shee is won of thee best ladis in thee wurld, and 'pepil who sase to the kontrari must bee veri wiket pepil ' in thare harts. To bee sur if ever I ave sad any thing 'of that kine it as bin thru ignorens, and I am hartili เ sorri for it. I nose your onur to be a genteelman of more onur and onesty, if I ever said ani such thing, 'to repete it to hurt a pore servant that as alwais ad thee gratest respect in thee wurld for ure onur. To 'be sur won shud kepe wons tung within wons teeth, เ for no boddi nose what may hapen; and to bee sur if 'ani boddi ad tolde mee yesterday, that I shud haf bin in so gud a plase to day, I shud not haf beleeved it; for to be sur I never was a dremd of ani such thing, 'nor shud I ever have soft after ani other boddi's plase; 'but as her lashipp wass so kine of her one a cord too เ give it mee without askin, to be sur Mrs. Etoff herself, เ nor no other boddi can blam mee for exceptin such a 'thing when it fals in my waye. I beg ure onur not to 'menshion ani thing of what I haf sad, for I wish ure เ onur all thee gud luk in the wurld; and I don't cues'tion butt thatt u will haf Madam Sofia in the end; butt เ ass to miself ure onur nose I kant bee of ani farder เ sarvis to u in that matar, nou bein under thee cumand 'off anuther parson, and nott mi one mistress, I begg ure onur to say nothing of what past, and believe me 'to be, Sir, เ ure onur's umble servant Various were the conjectures which Jones entertained on this step of Lady Bellaston; who, in reality, had little farther design than to secure within her own house the repository of a secret, which she chose should make no farther progress than it had made already; but mostly, she desired to keep it from the ears of Sophia; for though that young lady was almost the only one who would never have repeated it again, her ladyship could not persuade herself of this; since as she now hated poor Sophia with most implacable hatred, she conceived a reciprocal hatred to herself to be lodged in the tender breast of our heroine, where no such passion had ever yet found an entrance. While Jones was terrifying himself with the apprehension of a thousand dreadful machinations, and deep political designs, which he imagined to be at the bottom of the promotion of Honour, Fortune, who hitherto seems to have been an utter enemy to his match with Sophia, tried a new method to put a final end to it, by throwing a temptation in his way, which in his present desperate situation it seemed unlikely he should be able to resist. CHAPTER XI. Containing curious, but not unprecedented matter. THERE was a lady, one Mrs. Hunt, who had often seen Jones at the house where he lodged, being intimately acquainted with the women there, and indeed a very great friend to Mrs. Miller. Her age was about thirty; for she owned six-and-twenty; her face and person very good, only inclining a little too much to be fat. She had been married young by her relations to an old Turkey merchant, who having got a great fortune, had left off trade. With him she lived without reproach, but not without pain, in a state of great self-denial, for about twelve years; and her virtue was rewarded by his dying and leaving her very rich. The first year of her widowhood was just at an end, and she had past it in a good deal of retirement, seeing only a few particular friends, and dividing her time between her devotions and novels, of which she was always extremely fond. Very good VOL. VII. BB health, a very warm constitution, and a good deal of religion, made it absolutely necessary for her to marry again; and she resolved to please herself in her second husband, as she had done her friends in the first. From her the following billet was brought to Jones: เ SIR, 'From the first day I saw you, I doubt my eyes have 'told you too plainly, that you were not indifferent to me; but neither my tongue nor my hand should have 'ever avowed it, had not the ladies of the family where เ you are lodged given me such a character of you, and 'told me such proofs of your virtue and goodness, as 'convince me you are not only the most agreeable, but 'the most worthy of men. I have also the satisfaction to hear from them, that neither my person, understand'ing, or character, are disagreeable to you. I have a 'fortune sufficient to make us both happy, but which 'cannot make me so without you. In thus disposing of 'myself, I know I shall incur the censure of the world; 'but if I did not love you more than I fear the world, 'should not be worthy of you. One only difficulty stops เ me: I am informed you are engaged in a commerce of gallantry with a woman of fashion. If you think it 'worth while to sacrifice that to the possession of me, I am yours; if not, forget my weakness, and let this ' remain an eternal secret between you and เ 'ARABELLA HUNT.' At the reading of this, Jones was put into a violent flutter. His fortune was then at a very low ebb, the source being stopt from which hitherto he had been supplied. Of all he had received from Lady Bellaston not above five guineas remained, and that very morning he เ เ had been dunned by a tradesman for twice that sum. His honourable mistress was in the hands of her father, and he had scarce any hopes ever to get her out of them again. To be subsisted at her expense, from that little fortune she had independent of her father, went much against the delicacy both of his pride and his love. This lady's fortune would have been exceeding convenient to him, and he could have no objection to her in any respect. On the contrary, he liked her as well as he did any woman except Sophia. But to abandon Sophia, and marry another, that was impossible; he could not think of it upon any account. Yet why should he not, since it was plain she could not be his? Would it not be kinder to her, than to continue her longer engaged in a hopeless passion for him? Ought he not to do so in friendship to her? This notion prevailed some moments, and he had almost determined to be false to her from a high point of honour: but that refinement was not able to stand very long against the voice of nature, which cried in his heart, that such friendship was treason to love. At last he called for pen, ink, and paper, and writ as follows to Mrs. Hunt: เ MADAM, 'It would be but a poor return to the favour you have 'done me, to sacrifice any gallantry to the possession of you, and I would certainly do it, though I were not 'disengaged, as at present I am, from any affair of that 'kind. But I should not be the honest man you think me, if I did not tell you, that my affections are engaged 'to another, who is a woman of virtue, and one that I 'never can leave, though it is probable I shall never possess her. God forbid that in return for your kindness to me, I should do you such an injury, as to give you my hand, when I cannot give my heart. No; I |