(8) HIS TORT of the SOClEfT. 



A«m.nr.>fi.ora muft makc his account with furviving the greater part, per- 



mtoo. IT. \^^.^^ ji^j; whole, of his friends. He mtifl fee them fall from 



'him by degrees, while he is left alone, fingle and unfupported, 



like a IcaHefs trunk, cxpofed to every ftorm, and fhrinking 



from every blafl. 



" 1 HAVE been led to thefe refledliona by a lofs I lately fu- 

 "ftained in the fuddeu and unlooked-for death of a friend, to 

 whom, from my earliefl youth, I had been attached by every 

 tie of the mofl tender afFe(5lioa, Such was the confidence that 

 fubfifted between us, that, in his bofom, I was wont to repofe 

 every tliought of my mind, and every weaknefs of my heart. 

 In framing him, nature feemed to have thrown together a va- 

 riety of oppofite qualities, which, happily tempering each other, 

 formed one of die moft engaging charadlers I have ever known. 

 An elevation of mind, a manly firmnefs, a Cnjlilian fenfe of 

 honour, accompanied with a bewitching fweetnefs, proceeding 

 from the moft delicate attention to the fituation and the feel- 

 ings of otliers. In his manners fimple and unafluming ; in 

 the company of ftrangers modeft to a degree of bafhfulnefs ; 

 yet pofleHing a fund of knowledge, and an extent of ability, 

 which might have adorned the moft exalted ftation. But it 

 was in tlie focial circle of his friends that he appeared to the 

 higheft advantage ; there the native benignity of his foul diffu- 

 fed, as it were, a kindly influence on all around him, wliile 

 his converfation never failed at once to amufe and to in- 

 ftrua. 



" Not many months ago I paid him a vifit at his feat in a 

 remote part of the kingdom. I fotind him engaged in embel- 

 liftiing a place, of which I had often heard him talk with rap- 

 ture, and the beauties of which I found his partiality had not 

 exaggerated. He fhewed me all the improvements he had 

 made, and pointed out thofe he meant to make. He told me 

 I all 



