I SIR, pro Shud fartenly haf kaled on you a cordin too mi mifs haddunt itt bin that hur lafhipp prevent mee; for to be fur, Sir, you nofe very well that evere perfun muft luk furft at ome, and fartenly fuch anuther offar mite not ave ever happned, fo as I fhud ave been juftly to blam, had I not excepted of it when her lafhipp was fo veri kind as to offar to mak mee hur one uman without me ever afking any fuch thing, to bee fur shee is won of thee beft ladis in thee wurld, and pepil who fafe to the kontrari muft bee veri wiket pepil in thare harts. To be fur if ever I ave fad any thing of that kine it as bin thru ignorens and I am hartili forri for it. I nose your onur to be a genteelman of more onur and onefty, if I ever faid ani fuch thing, to repete it to hurt a pore fervent that as alwais ad thee grateft refpect in thee wurld for ure onur. To bee fur won fhud keep wons tung within wons teeth, for no boddi nose what may hapen; and to be fur if ani boddi ad tolde mee yesterday, that I fhud haf bin in fo gud a plafe to day, I fhud not haf beleeved it; for too bee fur I never was a dremd of any fuch thing, nor fhud I ever have foft after ani other bodi's plafe; but as her lafhipp was fo kine of her one a cord too give it mee without asking, to be fur Mrs Etoff herfelf, nor no other boddi can blam mee for exceptin fuch a thing when it fals in mi < waye. I beg ure onur not too menfhion any thing of ✦ what I haf faid, for I wish ure onur all thee gud luk in the wurld; and I don't cueftion butt thatt u will haf Madam Sofia in the end; butt as to mifelf, ure onur nofe I cant bee of ani farder farvis to u in that matar, nou bein under thee cummand off anuthar parfon, and ⚫ not mi one miftres. I begg ure onur to fay nothing of what paft, and belive me to be, Sir, < ་ Ure onur's umble farvant Various were the conjectures which Jones entertained for this ftep of Lady Bellafton; who in reality had little farther defign than to fecure within her own houfe the repofitory of a fecret, which fhe chofe fhould make no farther progrefs than it had made already; but moftly fhe defired 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 ladyfhip could not perfuade herfelf of this; fince as fhe now hated poor Sophia with most implacable hatred, the conceived a reciprocal hatred to herfelf to be lodged in the tender breaft of our heroine, where no fuch paffion had ever yet found an entrance. While Jones was terrifying himself with the apprehenfion of a thoufand dreadful machinations, and deep political defigns, which he imagined to be at the bottom of the promotion of Honour, Fortune, who hitherto feems 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 the way of Jones, which in his prefent defperate fituation it feemed unlikely he should be able to refift. CHA P. XI. Containing curious, but not unprecedented matter. THE HERE was a lady, one Mrs Hunt, who had often feen 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 the owned fix and twenty; her face and perfon 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 fhe lived without reproach, but not without pain, in a state of great felf-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 paft it in a good deal of retirement, feeing only a few particular friends, and dividing her time between her devotions and novels, of which fhe was always extremely fond. Very good health, a very warm conftitution, and a great deal of religion, made it abfolutely neceffary for her to marry again; and the refolved to please herfelf in her fecond hufband, as fhe had done her friends in the first. From her the following billet was brought to Jones. ८ . SIR, F ROM the first day I faw you, I doubt my eyes have told you too plainly, that you were not indifferent to me; but neither my tongue nor my hand fhould have ever avowed it, had not the ladies of the family where you are lodged given me fuch a character of you, and told me fuch proofs of your virtue and goodnefs, as convince me you are not only the moft agreeable, but the most worthy of men. I have alfo the fatisfaction to hear from them, that neither my perfon, understanding, or character, are difagreeable to you. I have a ⚫ fortune fufficient to make us both happy, but which cannot make me fo without you. In thus difpofing • myself I know I fhall incur the cenfure of the world; but if I did not love you more than I fear the world, I fhould not be worthy of you. One only difficulty ftops me: I am informed you are engaged in a commerce of gallantry with a woman of fashion. If you think it worth while to facrifice that to the poffeffion of me, I 4 am yours; if not, forget my weaknefs, and let this remain an eternal fecret between you and ARABELLA HUNT.' At the reading of this, Jones was put into a violent flutter. His fortune was then at a very low ebb, the. fource being ftopt from which hitherto he had been fup plied. Of all he had received from Lady Bellafton not above five guineas remained, and that very morning he had been dunned by a tradesman for twice that fum. His honourable miftrefs was in the hands of her father, and he had fcarce any hopes ever to get her out of them again. To be fubfifted at her expence from that little fortune fhe had independent of her father, went much against the delicacy both of his pride and his love. This lady's fortune would have been exceedingly convenient to him, and he could have no objection to her in any refpect. On the contrary, he liked her as well as he did any woman except Sophia. But to abandon Sophia, and marry another, that was impoffible: he could not think of it upon any account. Yet why fhould he not, fince it was plain fhe could not be his? Would it not be kinder to her, than to continue her longer engaged in as .. hopeless paffion for him? Ought he not to do fo in friendfhip to her? This notion prevailed fome moments, and he had almost determined to be falfe to her from a high point of honour; but that refinement was not able to stand long against the voice of nature, which cried in his heart, that fuch friendfhip was treafon to love. At laft he called for pen, ink, and paper, and writ as follows to Mrs Hunt. · MADAM, T would be but a poor return to the favour you have done me, to facrifice any gallantry to the poffeffion of you, and I would certainly do it, though I were not difengaged, as at prefent I am, from any affair of that kind. But I fhould not be the honeft 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 fhall never 'poffefs her. God forbid that, in return of your kindnefs to me, I fhould do you fuch an injury, as to give you my hand, when I cannot give my heart. No, I had much rather ftarve than be guilty of that. though my miftrefs were married to another, I would not marry you unless my heart had entirely effaced all impreffions of her. Be affured that your fecret was not ' more fafe in your own breast, than in that of Your most obliged, and Even T. JONES.' When our hero had finished and fent this latter, he went to his fcrutore, took out Mifs Western's muff, kissed it feveral times, and then ftrutted fome turns about his room, with more fatisfaction of mind than ever any Irishnan felt-in carrying off a fortune of fifty thousand pounds. CHA P. XII. A difcovery made by Partridge. WHILE Jones was exulting in the confcioufncfs of his integrity, Partridge came capering into the 700m, as was his cuftom when he brought, or ancied hest brought, any good tidings. He had been dispatched that morning by his mafter, with orders to endeavour, by the fervants of Lady Bellafton, or by any other means, to difcover whither Sophia had been conveyed; and he now returned, and with a joyful countenance told our hero, that he had found the loft bird. I have feen, Sir,' fays he, Black George, the gamekeeper, who is one of the fervants whom the fquire hath brought with him to town. I knew him prefently, though I have not feen him these several years; but you know, Sir, he is a very remarkable man, or to use a purer phrafe, he hath a most remarkable beard, the largest and blackeft I ever faw. It was fome time, however, before Black George could recollect me.'- Well, but what is your good , you < news?' cries Jones, What do you know of my Sophia You fhall know prefently, Sir,' anfwered ?--Partridge, I am coming to it as fast as I can.-You are fo impatient, Sir, you would come to the infinitive mood, before you can get to the imperative. As I was faying, Sir, it was fome time before he recollected my face. Confound your face,' cries Jones, what of my Sophia? Nay, Sir,' anfwered Partridge, I know nothing more of Madam Sophia than what I am going to tell you; and I fhould have told you all before this, if you had not interrupted me; but if look fo angry at me, you will frighten all of it out of my head, or, to ufe a purer phrafe, out of my memory. I never faw you look fo angry fince the day we left Upton, which Í fhall remember if I was to live a thoufand years.'Well, pray, go on in your own way,' faid Jones, 'you are refolved to make me mad, I find.' 'Not for the world,' anfwered Partridge, I have fuffered enough for that already; which, as I faid, I fhall bear in my remembrance the longest day I have to live. Well, but Black George? cries Jones. Well, Sir, as I was faying, it was a long time before he could recollect me; for indeed I am very much altered since I saw him. Non fum qualis eram. I have had troubles in the world, and nothing alters a man fo much as grief. I have heard it will change the colour of a man's hair in a night. However, at last, know me did, that's fure enough; for we are both of an age, and were in |