ABSTRACT
On examining Sir Harold’s papers, two articles in his will more particularly demanded the attention of Mrs. and Miss Melbourne. By the first, he bequeathed to Matilda the whole of his personal property, which amounted to about ten thousand pounds, as a small return, he said, for the attention she had bestowed upon his sister, and the hours of delight he himself had known in her society. He mentioned her merits and amiable qualities in the highest terms; and then added / a wish, that Julia Melbourne might spend the three first months of her mourning at the Rocks, under the care of her most respected relative, to whose guardianship he, in the most solemn manner, consigned her. To spend any time, however short, entirely at the Rocks, was a circumstance the most painful to the feelings of his relations, but they were determined to observe the last requests of the amiable, unhappy being they had just lost, as religiously as a law. A sealed paper, addressed to Mrs. Melbourne, more fully explained his reasons for expressing this desire, by which he seemed to extend his gentle, yet cruel tyranny, even beyond the grave.
