LETTERS. 95 
for which my future life shall be faithfully 
devoted to his service." 
The pardon was a source of unspeakable de- 
light to his family, especially to his sister Nessy, 
whose peace of mind had been broken by the 
terror of losing him by an ignominious death, 
and whose joy, on hearing of his pardon, was, 
perhaps, more difficult to bear than her previous 
grief nad been : 
" For sudden joys, like griefs, confound at first." 
She had written to her mother and sisters on 
the 26th, enclosing a statement of the pardon 
having been transmitted to Portsmouth. In 
this letter she said, a O blessed hour! Little 
did I think, my beloved friends, when I closed 
my letter this morning, that before night I should 
be out of my senses with joy. This moment, this 
ecstatic moment, brought the enclosed. I cannot 
speak my happiness. I am too mad to write 
sense ; but 'tis a pleasure I would not forego to 
be the most reasonable being on earth." 
In this way the family received the delightful 
intelligence ; and the warm-hearted and untiring 
Mr. Graham, unable to remain easy at home, 
hastened to Portsmouth to congratulate his young 
friend, and bring him to London. Nothing can 
be more hearty or natural than the following: — 
A. Graham. Esq. to Miss N. Hey wood. 
"Portsmouth, Oct. 21th, 1792. 
" My dearest Nessy, 
" If you expect me to enter into particulars as 
to how I got him, when I got him, and where 
I have him, you will be disappointed ; for that 
G 
