46 
His Lordship having placed the box 
en the bed, sat down again on the 
chair. ‘Here, my Lord,” said the old 
man, “here are copies of the sales .of 
three of the principal seats belonging to 
your, ancestors, which your great grand- 
father sold, or rather pretended to-sell, 
during the troubles. Here are also the 
letters of the pretended buyers, by which 
you may immediately recover the estates 
on your arrival in Scotland, Precautions 
have been taken to prevent any dis- 
putes.” What was his Lordship’s astonish- 
ment when he saw these three contracts 
of estates, which he knew formerly be- 
longed to his house: “* Ah!” cried he 
with transport, “ Ah! who are you, re- 
spectabie and benevolent old man, to 
whom I owe more than to my own father? 
speak, I beg of you! favor me with the 
name of so generous a benefactor in 
whom [am so singularly interested, and 
whose days heaven seems to have pro- 
Jonged, that he may find in me, the most 
tender and respectable of friends, and 
the mostjgrateful of men!” ‘“ Leave me, 
my dear Lord,” said the old man, in 
haste, “ I am too weak to bear a longer 
coversation, leave me, I beg; take that 
box and bid adieu to an old man, who 
thinks himself less unfortunate since he 
has had the happiness of holding you in 
his arms.” “ Ah! whoever you are,” 
said Lord’S. “ and whatever reasons you 
may have to conceal the name of so ge- 
merous a man, can you have the cruelty 
to oblige me to obey you? To abandon 
you in sucha situation, without friends, 
Without help, without —,” “ Stop, my 
Lord! it is with pleasure I see in you 
such generaus sentiments ; but know that 
your friend (since you think him worthy 
of that title) however unfortunate he may 
be in other respects, is still free from 
want; therefore, if you wish to oblige me, 
leave me, my Lord, instantly; nay, do 
more, and believe me I have a right to 
demand it: swear to me that you) will 
never come here again, nor ever search 
after me, unless I send for you.” His 
Lordship seeing by his tone of voice that 
he would not be refused, promised to 
obey him; once more embraced him, and 
then left him with tears in his eyes. On 
his return home he immediately opened 
the box, and found a great number of pa-. 
pers which he judged would be of great 
use to him. Next morning, as he was 
preparing (notwithstanding his promise) 
to return to the old man, he was sudden- 
ly stopped by the following letter, sealed 
XN 
Extracts from the Portfolio of a Man of Letters, (Aug. 1,» 
with his own arms,'and to his extrém 
surprise, sicued George Stair. a 
“Do ‘not return to me; my, lear Lord, 
for you will not find me. Tt it had been 
only to tell you who Tam, that is, your 
great grand-father, who has so long been 
supposed dead, and who justly deserved 
to be so; I should not have opposed 
your just desire of knowing your benefac- 
tor; but the consequences whieh fF fore- 
saw of so interesting a scene, too much so 
for my weak age to bear, made me dread 
to satisfy your curiosity, upon circum- 
stances, which far from offering to you 
so dear and respectable a relation as you 
imagined, would only have shewn to you 
a wretch—a monster less worthy of pity 
than horror! 
“ My father died a few months after 
my birth; my mother soon followed him ; 
I was left to the care of an aunt, sister to 
my father, who brought me up so tender- 
ly that (though she was the cause of my 
crime) I still retam-the most grateful re- 
membrance of hey in my heart. I was 
scar, seventeen, when, struck with indig- 
naif; ab seeing my countrymen armed 
aga) |, their lawful Sovereign, I formed’ 
they. sign of tendering to King Charles F. 
the oxer of my fortune and sword: but 
what was my astonishment»when at dis- 
closing my ‘atebeita to my good aunt, Tf 
saw her trembling lift her hands to hea- 
ven, and look at me with a kind of 
horror, Surprised and afflicted at the 
state she was in, and turning with im- 
patience to know the reason, “ You force 
me then to tell you,” cried she, bursting 
into tears, “ know then that the Prince 
you are so desirous of serving, is the author 
of ny shame and of your father's death, 
I was about fifteen, and among the at- 
tendants who waited on his mother, when 
the wretch, imposing on my age atid ere- 
dulity, by the most sacred oaths, con- 
trived to seduce me—in short, [ was ru- 
ined. The perfidious Prince, soon after, . 
went to Spain, in hopes of marrying the 
Infanta, I should have been entirely 
lost, if your father had not come to Lon- 
don: to hin I was obliged to own my 
misfortune and the consequences ‘which 
I dreaded.. ‘That dear brother, afflicted 
even to tears, ran immediately to the 
‘Queen, obtained permission to take me 
away, and sent me to one of his seats 
near Edinburgh, where I remained till I 
was perfectly recovered. Alas! (added’ 
she) I was doomed to see him no more: 
The grief which he conceived for my un- 
doing, soon killed him; and his worthy 
‘ t Re J - wite, . 
Oe eh ne ! 
