He sat with his face half turned from
Harley, as if he would have hid the sorrow which he felt. Harley
was in the same attitude himself; he durst not meet his eye with a
tear, but gathering his stifled breath, "Let me entreat you, sir,"
said he, "to hope better things. The world is ever tyrannical; it
warps our sorrows to edge them with keener affliction. Let us not
be slaves to the names it affixes to motive or to action. I know an
ingenuous mind cannot help feeling when they sting. But there are
considerations by which it may be overcome. Its fantastic ideas
vanish as they rise; they teach us to look beyond it."
* * * * *
A FRAGMENT. SHOWING HIS SUCCESS WITH THE BARONET
* * The card he received was in the politest style in which
disappointment could be communicated. The baronet "was under a
necessity of giving up his application for Mr. Harley, as he was
informed that the lease was engaged for a gentleman who had long
served His Majesty in another capacity, and whose merit had entitled
him to the first lucrative thing that should be vacant." Even
Harley could not murmur at such a disposal. "Perhaps," said he to
himself, "some war-worn officer, who, like poor Atkins, had been
neglected from reasons which merited the highest advancement; whose
honour could not stoop to solicit the preferment he deserved;
perhaps, with a family, taught the principles of delicacy, without
the means of supporting it; a wife and children--gracious heaven!
whom my wishes would have deprived of bread--"
He was interrupted in his reverie by some one tapping him on the
shoulder, and, on turning round, he discovered it to be the very man
who had explained to him the condition of his gay companion at Hyde
Park Corner.
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