ABSTRACT
It is thus that short-sighted mortals, pursuing some delusive hope, alloy for themselves the pure blessings which Heaven has already bestowed upon them. Could they look forward, they would perhaps cherish every passing moment, pardon many imperfections, enjoy what they possess, and only tremble at the thought of losing it. I parted thus again from Gertrude. But oh! how different was this parting from our last. I now went with the certainty of a speedy return, and the knowledge that she was to be / mine. The Captain, before I went, gave me the assurance of his daughter’s hand, if we both of us still continued in the same mind after my return. With such expectations I left her; and scarce can even say I passed a melancholy hour, as I set out for London in company with Frederic Brandon (son to Lord S.) who was still at the university; and Mr. Moncrief, the very person whom I had seen in London with Lady Orville, who both entertained me during the journey. Frederic Brandon had once visited me at my father’s, and with something of an ostentatious civility, had made me promise, that when again in London, I would return that visit at Lord S –’s villa near Richmond.19 His rattling frivolous / conversation entertained me without enlightening my mind, whilst every word which dropt from Moncrief, whether in jest or otherwise, shewed superior intelligence, natural quickness, and a thorough cultivation of most powerful abilities. How large were the resources from which he drew every moment deep and just reflections! How every scene, and even young Brandon’s crude, common-place remarks, awakened in his elevated and instructed mind the finest and most original ideas! The long journey was but as a pleasant drive; and we almost regretted our arrival in London, for there we separated. Young Brandon went to his father’s palace, and I returned to Sir Malcolm’s hovel; but the hearty / welcome with which I was received made amends for all inconveniences, and I was too happy in my own mind to feel any mortification or uneasiness from exterior circumstances. London was to me no longer such as it had been. To my new feelings it offered a new aspect. The reserve I had felt at first had considerably diminished; the novelty, though still sufficient to charm, no longer bewildered and overpowered me. My curiosity, too, was less poignant, 30having before been fully satisfied; and the delight which my uncle expressed at receiving me again made me, in spite of myself, happy and even vain.
