engaged, or more, for dinner on Sunday next, but will try to get difengaged in crder to be with my friends.-If I cannot, I will glide like a fhadow uninvited to Gerrard-street fome day this week, that we may eat our bread and meat in love and peace together.-God blefs you both!-I am, with the moft fincere regard, your ever obliged, &c. A LETTER LIII. Thursday, Old Bond-street. THOUSAND thanks, and as many excufes, my dear friends, for the trouble my blunder has given you. By a fecond note I am aftonished I could read Saturday for Sunday, or make any miftake in a card wrote by Mrs. J—s, in which my friend is as unrivalled, as in a hundred greater excellencies. I am now tied down neck and heels (twice over) by engagements every day this week, or moft joyfully would have trod the old pleafing road from Bond to Gerrard-street.-My books will be to be had on Thursday, but poffibly on Wednefday in the afternoon.-I am quite well, but exhaufted with a room full of company every morning till dinner-How do I lament I cannot eat my morfel (which is always fweet) with fuch kind friends! -The Sunday following I will affuredly wait upon you both-and will come a quarter before four, that I may have both a little time and a little day-light, to fee Mrs. J's picture.-I beg leave to affure my friends of my gratitude for all their favours, with ry fentimental thanks for every token of their good will.— Adieu, my dear friends-I am truly yours. LETTER LIV. - of May; and if I efcape, 'twill not be fir a long period, my child-unless a quiet retreat and peace of mind can reflorem. The fubject of thy letter has autorit me.-She could but know little of my feelings, to tell thee, that under the fuppofition I fhould furvive thy mother, I fhould bequeath thee as a legacy toNo, my Lydia! 'tis a lady, whofe virus I wish thee to imitate, that I shall entrai my girl to-I mean that friend whom have fo often talk'd and wrote aboutfrom her you will learn to be an afection. ate wife, a tender mother, and a fincere friend-and you cannot be intimate with her, without her pouring fome par d the milk of human kindness into yo breaft, which will ferve to check the heat of your own temper, which you partake in a small degree of. Nor will that a able woman put my Lydia under the painful neceffity to fly to India for pro tection, whilst it is in her power to gr her a more powerful one in EnglandBut I think, my Lydia, that thy mother will furvive me-do not deject her fir with thy apprehenfions on my accountI have fent you a necklace, buckles, zd the fame to your mother.-My girl c not form a wish that is in the power of her father, that he will not gratify he in-and I cannot in juftice be lefs kind thy mother.-I am never alone -Ti kindness of my friends is ever the fameI wish tho' I had thee to nurse me-bel am deny'd that.-Write to me twice: week, at leaft.-God bless thee, child, and believe me ever, ever thy af fectionate father. YOUR poor friend is fearce able to writ -he has been at death's door the week with a pleurify-I was bled thre times on Thurfday, and blister'd on Fr day-The phyfician fays I am better- i God knows, for I feel myfelf fadly wrong. and fhall, if I recover, be a long whe of gaining ftrength.-Before I have g thro' half this letter, I moft ftep to ref my weak hand above a dozen times.Mr. J was fo good to call upo me yesterday. I felt emotions not to be defcribed at the fight of him, and be overjoy'd me by talking a great deal of you protect the fair, does not man at the part of a demon ?-first alluring by his temptations, and then triumphing in his victory-when villany gets the afcendency, it feldom leaves the wretch till it has thoroughly polluted him T*******, once the joyous companion of our juvenile extravagances, by a deeplaid fcheme, fo far ingratiated himself into the good graces of the old manthat even he, with all his penetration and experience (of which old folks generally pique themfelves), could not perceive his drift, and, like the goodness of his own heart, believed him honourable :—had I known his pretenfions- I would have flown on the wings of friendship-of regard-of affection--and refcued the lovely innocent from the hands of the spoiler: you.-Do, dear Mrs. J, entreat him to come to-morrow, or next day. for perhaps I have not many days, or hours, to live-I want to afk a favour of him, if I find myself worfe-that I fhall beg of you, if in this wrestling I come off conqueror-my fpirits are fled-'tis a bad omen-do not weep, my dear Lady -your tears are too precious to fhed for me-bottle them up, and may the cork never be drawn.-Deareft, kindeft, gentleft, and best of women! may health, peace, and happinefs, prove your handmaids!-If I die, cherish the remembrance of me, and forget the follies which you fo often condemn'd-which my heart, not my head, betrayed me into. Should my child, my Lydia want a mother, may I hope you will (if the is left parentlefs) take her to your bofom ?-You are the be not alarmed at my declaration-I only woman on earth I can depend upon have been long bound to her in the recifor fuch a benevolent action.I wrote to procal bonds of affection;-but it is of a her a fortnight ago, and told her what more delicate ftamp than the grofs mateI trust the will find in you.—Mr. Jrials nature has planted in us for procreawill be a father to her he will protect her from every infult, for he wears a fword which he has ferved his country with, and which he would know how to draw out of the fcabbard in defence of innocence -- Commend me to him-as I now commend you to that Being who takes under his care the good and kind part of the world.-Adieu-All grateful thanks to you and Mr. Jpoor affectionate friend. LETTER LVI. tion-I hope ever to retain the idea of innocence, and love her fill:-I would love the whole fex were they equally deferving. taking her by the hand -the other thrown round her waift-after an intimacy allowing fuch freedomswith a look deceitfully pleasing, the villain poured out a torrent of proteftations Your BEHELD her tender look-her pathetic eye petrified my fluids the liquid defolution drowned thofe oncebright orbs-the late fympathetic features, fo pleafing in their harmony, are now blaited-withered-and are dead;her charms are dwindled into a melancholy which demands my pity.-Yesmy friend-our once fprightly and vivacious Harriot is that very object that must thrill your foul.-How abandoned is that heart which bulges the tear of innocence, and is the caufe-the fatal caufe of overwhelming the fpotlefs foul, and plunging the yet-untainted mind into a fea of forrow and repentance-Though born to From this circumstance it may be conjectured, that this Letter was written on Tuesday the 8th of March 1768, ten days before Mr. Sterne died. and though oaths are facred-fwore, with all the fortitude of a confcientious man-the depth of his love-the height of his efteem-the ftrength of his attachment; - by thefe, and other artful means to answer his abandoned purpose (for which you know he is but too well quali fied)-gained on the open inexperienced heart of the generous Harriot, and robbed her of her brighteft jewel.-Oh, England! where are your fenators ?-where are your laws?-Ye Heavens! where refts your deadly thunder?-why are your bolts reftrained from o'erwhelming with vengeance this vile feducer?—I,-my friend,-I, was the minifter fent by juf tice to revenge her wrongs-revenge-I difclaim it -to redrefs her wrongs.-The news of affliction flies-I heard it, and pofted to ****, where forgetting my cha racter-this is the style of the enthufiaftit moft became my character-I saw him in his retreat-I flew out of the chaifecaught him by the collar-and in a tumult of paffion-demanded:-fure, if anger is excufable, it must be when it is exerted by a deteftation of vice-I demanded him to reftore:-alas! what was not in his power to return-Vengeance! -and fhall thefe vermin-thefe fpoilers of the fair-thefe murderers of the mind -lurk and creep about in dens, fecure to themfelves, and pillage all around them? - Dittracted with my rage-I charged him with his crime-exploded his bafenefs-condemned his villanywhile coward guilt fat on his fullen brow, and, like a criminal confcious of his deed, tremblingly pronounced his fear. He hoped means might be found for a fufficient atonement-offered a tender of his hand as a fatisfaction, and a life devoted to her fervice as a recompenfe for his error. His humiliation ftruck me-'twas the only means he could have contrived to affuage my anger.---I hefitated paufed-thought- and ftill muft think on to important a concern-allift me-I am half afraid of trusting my Harriot in the hands of a man, whofe character I too well know to be the antipodes of Harriot's-He all fire and diffipation;-fhe all meeknefs and fentiment! nor can I think there is any hopes of reformation; -the offer proceeds more from furprise or fear, than justice and fincerity.-The world-the world will exclaim, and my Harriot be a caft-off from fociety-Let her-I had rather fee her thus, than miferably linked for life to a lump of viceShe thall retire to fome corner of the world, and there weep out the remainder of her days in forrow-forgetting the wretch who has abufed her confidence, but ever remembering the friend who confoles her in retirement.-You, my dear Charles, fhall bear a part with me in the delightful task of whispering peace to thofe who are in trouble, and healing the broken in fpirit." Adieu. couraged to hope, by the example of Abraham's faith, even against hope." I think there is, at least, as much pro bability of our reaching, and rejoicing in the "haven where we would be," a there was of the old Patriarch's having a child by his old wife.-There is not ay perfon living or dead, whom I have fo ftrong a defire to fee and converfe with as yourfelf:-indeed I have no inc tion to vifit, or fay a fyllable to but a few perfons in this lower vale of vanity and tears befides you;-but I often derive a peculiar fatisfaction in converfing with the ancient and modern dead, — who yet live and fpeak excellently in their works. My neighbours think me often alone,and yet at fuch times I am in company with more than five hundred mutes-ad of whom, at my pleasure, communicates his ideas to me by dumb figns-que intelligibly as any perfon living can do by uttering of words.-They always keep the distance from me which I direct,and, with a motion of my hand, I bring them as near to me as I pleafeI lay hands on fifty of them fometimes in an evening, and handle them as l like:-they never complain of ill-ulage, and when difmiffed from my prefense, though ever fo abruptly-take no d fence.-Such convenience is not to be enjoyed-nor fuch liberty to be taken with the living:-we are bound-in p of good-manners, to admit all our pretended friends when they knock for entrance, and difpenfe with all the ne fenfe or impertinence which they broa till they think proper to withdraw: 5° can we take the liberty of humbly decently oppofing their fentiments wi out exciting their difguit, and being danger of their fplenetic reprefenta after they have left us. I am weary of talking to the many, who though quick of hearing-are "flow of heart to believe"-propofic which are next to felf-evident ;—you I were not caft in one mould,-corporal comparison will atteft it,—and yet we at fashioned fo much alike, that we r pafs for twins:-were it poffible to taxt an inventory of all our fentiments feelings-juft and unjust-holy and inpure-there would appear as little de ence between them as there is betwee inftinct and reafon,-or-wit and a ncis: the barriers which feparate thei like the real effence of bodies-efcape the piercing eye of metaphyfics, and cannot be pointed out more clearly than geometricians define a ftrait line, which is faid to have length without breadth.-O ye learned anatomical aggregates, who pretend to inftruct other aggregates! be as candid as the fage whom ye pretend to revere-and tell them, that all you know is, that you know nothing! -I have a mort to communicate to you on different fubjects-my mountain will be in labour till I fee you —and then-what then ?-why you muit expect to fee it bring forth a moufe. -I therefore befeech you to have a watchful eye to the cats;-but it is faid that mice were defigned to be killed by cats-cats to be worried by dogs, &c. &c. This may be true-and I think I am made to be killed by my cough, which is a perpetual plague to me; what, in the name of found lungs, has my cough to do with you-or or-you cough? with my I am, Sir, with the most perfect affection and efteem, your humble fervant, &c. I LETTER LVIII. Mr. Sterne to Dear Sir, HAVE received your kind letter of critical, and, I will add, of parental advice, which, contrary to my natural humour, fet me upon looking gravely for half a day together: fometimes I concluded you had not fpoke out, but had ftronger grounds for your hints and cautions than what your good-nature knew how to tell me, especially with regard to prudence, as a divine; and that you thought in your heart the vein of humour too free for the folemn colour of my coat. A meditation upon Death had been a more fuitable trimming to it, I own; but then it could not have been fet on by me. Mr. F-, whom I regard in the clafs I do you, as my beft of critics and wellwithers, preaches daily to me on the fame text: "Get your preferment firft, Lory," he fays, and then write and welcome." But fuppofe preferment is long a-coming —and, for aught I know, I may not be preferred till the refurrection of the juftand am all that time in labour, how muft I bear my pains? Like pious divines? or, rather, like able philofophers, knowing that one paffion is only to be combated with another? But to be serious (if I can), I will ufe all reasonable caution,only with this caution along with it, not to fpoil my book, that is, the air and originality of it, which must refemble the author; and I fear it is the number of thefe flighter touches, which make the refemblance, and identify it from all others of the fame ftamp, which this under-ftrapping virtue of prudence would oblige me to ftrike out. A very able critic, and one of my colour too, who has read over Triftram, made anfwer, upon my faying I would confider the colour of my coat as I corrected it, that that idea in my head would render my book not worth a groat.-Still I promife to be cautious; but deny I have gone as far as Swift: he keeps a due diftance from Rabelais; I keep a due distance from him. Swift has faid a hundred things I durst not fay, unless I was Dean of St. Patrick's. I like your caution," ambitiofa recides "ornamenta." As I revife my book, I will thrive my confcience upon that fin, and whatever ornaments are of that kind fhall be defaced without mercy. Ovid is juftly cenfured for being" ingenii fui "amator ;" and it is a reasonable hint to me, as I'm not fure I am clear of it. To fport too much with your wit, or the game that wit has pointed out, is furfeiting; like toying with a man's mistress, it may be very delightful folacement to the inamorato, but little to the byftander. Though I plead guilty to part of the charge, yet it would greatly alleviate the crime if my readers knew how much I have fuppreffed of this device. I have burnt more wit than I have publifhed, on that very account, fince I began to avoid the fault, I fear, I may yet have given proofs of.-I will reconfider Slop's fall, and my too minute defeription of it; but, in general, I am perfuaded that the happinefs of the Cervantic humour arifes from this very thing,of defcribing filly and trifling events with the circumftantial pomp of great ones. Perhaps this is overloaded, and I can eafe it.-I have a project of getting Triftram put into the hands of the Archbishop, if he comes down this autumn, which will eafe my mind of all trouble upon the topic of difcretion. I am, &c. couraged is excufable, it must be when it is ex- ferably linked f She fhall retir = with that of the and the general fubwhich they recited, Fagal; an epoch no lefs g them, than the wars of g the Greek poets. This Otten yet altogether abo e bard and piper are efteemed za bonourable offices in a chieffamily, and these two characters catly united in the fame perfor. Smith, the celebrated profesor m gow, told me, that the piper of the hire militia repered to him all De poems which Mr. Macpherson has #lated, and many more of equal Major Mackay, lord Rae's brother, alfo told me, that he remenbers them perfectly; as likewife did the Laird of Macfarlane, the greated a quarian whom we have in this country, and who infiits fo ftrongly on the hit, cal truth, as well as on the poetic very beauty of thefe productions. I could a to the laird and lady Macleod to thefe , thorities, with if these wer many more, od not fufficient; as they live in differe any parts of the Highlands, very remote from that each other, and they could only be a fach quainted with that had become i poems a manner national works, and had gr dually fpread themfelves into every mouth, and imprinted on every memory. spot area general brought or friend was that he never Macperion till he inal volume Every body in Edinburgh is to convince poetry, of this truth, that we have endeavoura e of them to put Mr. Macpherfon on a way of pre curing us more of thefe wild flower He is a modeft fenfible young man, fettled in any living, but employed a private tutor in Mr.Graham of Baigo family, a way of life which he is fond of. We have therefore fet abo: fubfcription of a guinea, or two guine a-piece, in order to enable him to that family, and undertake a mifion in the Highlands, where he hopes to recove more of thefe Fragments. There in particular, a country furgeon face where in Lochaber, who, he fays, # recite a great number of them, bet ver committed them to writing; as inder. the orthography of the Highland L guage is not fixed, and the natives have always employed more the fword than the pen. This furgeon has by heart t epic poem mentioned by Mr. Macpher y of every Highland chief- fon in' his preface; and as he is los anciently retained a bard, what old, and is the only perfon living a in every body's that |