passion! thy hand is against every man, and every man's hand against thee-Heaven forbid! said she, raising her hand up to her forehead, for I had turned full in front upon the lady whom I had seen in conference with the monk-she had followed us unperceived-Heaven forbid, indeed! said I, offering ber my own-she had a black pair of silk gloves open only at the thumb and two fore-fingers, so accepted it without reserve-and I led her up to the door of the Remise. : Monsieur Dessein had diabled the key above fifty times before he had found out he had come with a wrong one in his hand we were as impatient as himself to have it opened; and so attentive to the obstacle, that I continued holding her hand almost without knowing it: so that Monsieur Dessein left us together with her hand in mine, and with our faces turned towards the door of the Remise, and said he would be back in five minutes. Now a colloquy of five minutes, in such a situation, is worth one of as many ages, with your faces turned towards the street in the latter case, 'tis drawn from the objects and occurrences without-when your eyes are fixed upon a dead blank-you draw purely from yourselves. A silence of a single moment upon Monsieur Dessein's leaving us, had been fatal to the situation she had infallibly turned about-so I begun the conversation instantly. -But what were the temptations, (as I write not to apologize for the weaknesses of my heart in this tour, but to give an account of them)-shall be described with the same simplicity with which I felt them. THE REMISE DOOR. Calais. WHEN I told the reader that I did not care to get out of the Désobligeant, because I saw the monk in close conference with a lady just arrived at the iunI told him the truth; but I did not tell him the whole truth; for I was as full as much restrained by the appearance and figure of the lady he was talking to. Suspicion crossed my brain and said, he was telling her what had passed something jarred upon it within me--I wished him at his convent. When the heart flies out before the understanding, it saves the judgment a world of pains-I was certain she was of a better order of beings-however, I thought no more of her, but went on and wrote my preface. The impression, returned upon my encounter with her in the street; a guarded frankness with which she gave me her hand, showed, I thought, her good education and her good sense; and as I led her on, I felt a pleasurable ductility about her, which spread a calmness over all my spirits -Good God! how a man might lead such a creature as this round the world with him!— I had not yet seen her face-'twas not material: for the drawing was instantly set about, and long before we had got to the door of the Remise, Fancy had finished the whole head, and pleased herself as much with its fitting her goddess, as if she had dived into the Tiber for it-but thou art a seduced and a seducing slut; and albeit thou cheatest us seven times a day with thy pictures and images, yet with so many charms dost thou do it, and thou deckest out thy pictures in the shapes of so many angels of light, 'tis a shame to break with thee. When we had got to the door of the Remise, she withdrew her hand from across her forehead, and let me see the original-it was a face of about six-andtwenty-of a clear transparent brown, simply set off without rouge or powder-it was not critically handsome, but there was that in it, which, in the frame of mind I was in, attached me much more to it—it was interesting: I fancied it wore the characters of a widowed look, and in that state of its declension, which had passed the two first paroxysms of sorrow, and was quietly beginning to reconcile itself to its lossbut a thousand other distresses might have traced the same lines; I wished to know what they had beenand was ready to inquire, (had the same bon ton of conversation permitted, as in the days of Esdras)—– "What aileth thee? and why art thou disquieted? and why is thy understanding troubled?"—In a word, I felt benevolence for her; and resolved some way or other to throw in my mite of courtesy-if not of service. Such were my temptations-and in this disposition to give way to them, was I left alone with the lady with her hand in mine, and with our faces both turned closer to the door of the Remise than what was absolutely necessary. THE REMISE DOOR. THIS certainly, fair lady! said I, raising her hand up a little lightly as I began, must be one of Fortune's whimsical doings; to take two utter strangers by their hands-of different sexes, and perhaps from different corners of the globe, and in one moment place them together in such a cordial situation, as Friendship herself could scarce have achieved for them, had she projected it for a month : all my life, and I hope I shall go on so till I die, being firmly persuaded, that if ever I do a mean action, it must be in some interval betwixt one passion and another whilst this interregnum lasts, I always perceive my heart locked up-I can scarce find in it to give Misery a sixpence; and therefore I always get out of it as fast as I can-and the moment I am rekindled, I am all generosity and good-will again; and would do any thing in the world, either for or with any one, if they will but satisfy me there is no sin in it. -But in saying this-sure I am commending the passion-not myself. A FRAGMENT. -THE town of Abdera, notwithstanding Democritus lived there, trying all the powers of irony and laughter to reclaim it, was the vilest and most profligate town in all Thrace. What for poisons, conspiracies, and assassinations-libels, pasquinades, and tumults, there was no going there by day-'twas worse by night. Now, when things were at the worst, it came to pass that the Andromede of Euripides being represented at Abdera, the whole orchestra was delighted with it: but, of all the passages which delighted them, nothing operated more upon their imaginations than the tender strokes of nature which the poet had wrought up in that pathetic speech of Perseus, O Cupid, prince of gods and men, &c. Every man almost spoke pure iambies the next day, and talked of nothing but Perseus his pathetic address-" O Capid! prince of gods and men!"-in every street of Abdera, in every house "O Cupid! Cupid!"-in every mouth, like the natural notes of some sweet melody which drop from it, whether it will or no,-nothing but "Cupid! Cupid! prince of gods and men!"-The fire caught D and the whole city, like the heart of one man, opened. itself to Love. No pharmacopolist could sell one grain of hellebore -not a single armourer had a heart to forge one instrument of death-Friendship and Virtue met together, and kiss'd each other in the street; the golden age returned, and hung over the town of Abdera; every Abderite took his oaten pipe, and every Abderitish woman left her purple web, and chastely sat her down, and listened to the song. 'Twas only in the power, says the Fragment, of the God, whose empire extendeth from heaven to earth, and even to the depths of the sea, to have done this. MONTREUIL. WHEN all is ready, and every article is disputed and paid for in the inn, unless you are a little soured by the adventure, there is always a matter to compound at the door, before you can get into your chaise; and that is with the sons and daughters of poverty, who surround you. Let no man say, "Let them go to the devil"-'tis a cruel journey to send a few miserables, and they have had sufferings enow without it: I always think it better to take a few sous out in my hand; and I would counsel every gentle traveller to do so likewise he need not be so exact in setting down his motives for giving them-they will be registered elsewhere. For my own part, there is no man gives so little as do; for few that I know have so little to give: but as this was the first public act of my charity in France, I took the more notice of it. A well-away! said I,-I have but eight sous in the world, showing them in my hand, and there are eight poor men and eight poor women for 'em. A poor tatter'd soul, without a shirt on, instantly |