creature, who shall a great deal more than a little recompence every thing! LETTER XIV. MRS ROBERTS. Nov. 3, 1790. GIVE me leave to congratulate you upon the acquisition your income receives by the dropping of that ripe and mellow fruit*, which is, I trust, transplanted into a kinder soil, where the storms of sickness and sorrow can never blow. Clean, pretty, clever, faithful, sober, homekeeping Thomas has a Miss Mollyish terror of a gun, and is but a poor horseman. When he confessed these maidenisms, I despaired of his suiting the pleasant, prancing, pop-gun situation of butler at Prior's Lea, and was the less concerned to find him in treaty for another place. Your young military cousin, Jauncey, has been at Mr White's a fortnight, with his pale, pretty wife, and a lovely infant girl in arms. They were * The father of the lady's husband.-S. much noticed by our Lichfield ladies and gentlemen. I was pleased to see that mark of respect paid to the recollection of my old friend*, whose beauty was once the boast of our city-whose conduct was so prudent-whose disposition so gentle. Young Mrs Jauncey likes us all mightily. She is in a sad state of health. I should think it must exhaust her little stock of bodily strength to nourish a profusion of pale brown hair, with a slight tint of amber. She suffers it to float in natural ringlets, unstained by powder, to the very bottom of her back, and wears neither hat, cap, nor cushion. Her sickly countenance, beneath these plenteous and dishevelled tresses, and a wildish look in eyes, sunk by want of health, make her exactly resemble my little print of Margaret's ghost, "Whose face is like an April mprn Here are an agreeable family, who have adorned the cathedral area since July last, and who stay with us till Christmas, Archdeacan Lee, his very amiable and pleasing wife, and his three lovely daughters. The eldest is just fifteen, beautiful Mrs Jauncey, senior, once the celebrated Miss Helen White of Lichfield.-S. as the vernal morning, dimmed by no clouds, with all its rosy tints, and crystal lights. She is the finest unprofessional harpsichord player of her age I ever heard. Her father is a good performer on the violincello; a kind husband and parent; an admirable companion; and his droll songs are superior to every body's ;-Edwin is nothing to him. Yesterday morning, Sunday, Mr Inge preached in our choir, a sermon of great learning and ingenuity, composed on the arrival of our new and very fine organ. The discourse was upon churchmusic, its pleasure and utility; it concluded with -" and in conviction of the benefit devotion receives from sacred music, let us say, Halelujah to the God Most High!—and again let us say Halelujah !”—Instantly, by previous appointment, and entirely unexpected by the audience, the organ poured in the grand chorus from the Messiah : "For. the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth," Our glorious organ pealed along the aisles, and the choir put forth all her energies in the execution; her minstrels sung with their heart and soul. Surprised, affected, charmed-almost everybody wept with pleasure. I wish you had been there. Scarcely have I left myself room on my paper to say adieu, and yet again adieu! LETTER XV. MRS MOMPESSAN. Colton, Dec. 10, 1790. You, my dear friend, having outlived complaints so similar to mine, is very encouraging;yet why, when you say you hope I shall live to be old, do you add, though, when that time comes, you will be indifferent to every mortal object. The disparity between your age and mine, is not so great but that, should I attain the period, I may yet hope to enjoy your society; and if it pleases God to call you first away, I cannot be lieve that our spirits, on soaring above the earth, will lose all earthly consciousness. I hope, and wish to believe, that the remembrance of those affections, which, being in themselves pure, exalted our human nature, will accompany us when it shall become angelic. If the rich bad man in torments, could recollect his brothers with an affectionate solicitude, that they might escape his fate, sure the attachments of benevolent spirits translated will not be extinguished. As yet I have seen only the extracts from Mr Burke's pamphlet, which the newspapers presented. I am afraid the French carry the spirit of freedom too far;-but no powers of wit and eloquence can persuade me to think a government, so barbarously oppressive, ought to have stood-where, if a libertine of rank chose to debauch the wife of a tradesman, and found the husband an obstacle, -or the son of a man in high station marries against his consent,-a lettre de cachet could be procured to imprison the obnoxious person for life, amidst the solitary horrors of the Bastile; and perhaps have him chained by the neck to its accursed walls. That dreadful sword hung over every head; and if the natural hilarity of the people made them sing and dance in a situation so perilous, ought that gaiety to suppress our wishes for their deliverance from such impending danger? Now they have obtained it, I can only wish and hope that they may not abuse the blessings of their emancipation: that the spirit of freedom, which in former times has produced so much public virtue, will render France a bright example, to the surrounding nations, of wisdom, fortitude, temperance, and fidelity. |