ferving which way he went, nor did any object attract his attention, till he found himself in the midft of La Place de Carousel. He there looked up; but never were the energies of a philofopher put to feverer trial than thofe Vallaton underwent, on beholding himself at the foot of the instrument of death-the bloodstained guillotine! He started with horror, yet had he not the power of inftantly turning from it; he seemed arrested to the fpot; he gazed upon the scaffold; he fancied he there beheld the placid countenance of the meek old man fmiling upon him, as when he preffed his hand at parting. Again he thought he faw his filver hairs grafped by the hand of the executioner, and the blood-streaming head held up to his distracted fight. His knees fmote against each other, a chilly coldness crept along his whole frame, and his emotions became so apparent, as to attract the notice of the paffengers. An An honeft fans-culotte came up to him. « My good citizen," faid he, " I would have you remember, that this is no place to indulge your melancholy. You have, probably, had fome friend fent to heaven by this short bridge; but who, in Paris, has not? If you ftay here till your grief be taken notice of, it may create some fufpicions of incivifm, which may get you into a difagreeable predica ment." Vallaton thanked his monitor, and ufing his utmost endeavours to recollect himself, returned to his home. The inventions of prieftcraft had never implanted a prejudice in the breast of Vallaton. He laughed at the terrors of superstition, and derided the folly of those who could believe in the existence of confcience. Yet would he now have given, not only the bag of gold which was contained in his portmanteau, but all which the wide world could furnish, to have been restored to the fame tran quillity quillity which, but a fortnight ago, he had enjoyed. Whether he fought the conversation of his friends, or mixed in the scenes of revelry and riot; whether he basked in the mid-day fun, or covered himself up in the darkness of night; ftill the trunkless head of the old man pursued him. To his "mind's eye," in every place, in every fituation, the haggard vifion appeared. In this frame of mind, it may be believed, that he readily acquiefced in Myope's propofal of leaving Paris. All that happened to him from this period, is fo interwoven with the history of Mr. Myope, that it must still be fresh in the reader's recollection. Here, therefore, we shall close this tedious chapter. CHAP. X. "Hard is the fortune that your fex attends! LYTTLETON. IT T was a late hour before the philofofophers, affembled at Mr. Glib's, thought of feparating; and long after Mrs. Botherim's ufual time of breakfast on the following morning, before Bridgetina iffued from her apartment. They had juft began the repaft, which the fond mother had been at much pains to prepare, and to keep warm for her darling child, when Julia Delmond entered the parlour. The pallid countenance and languid air of their fair visitor plainly spoke fpoke her want of reft; and the vifible impatience with which fhe waited for the finishing of the tedious meal, evidently denoted the perturbed state of her spirits. No fooner had Mrs. Botherim left the room, than Julia feizing the hand of her friend, faid fhe was extremely anxious for her opinion concerning an affair of fome moment, but could not have that fatisfaction without betraying the fecrets of another, and feared it was not justifiable to do fo. "Not justifiable!" returned Bridgetina, furely you cannot have forgotten, thatthe facts with which you are acquainted are a part of your poffeffions, and that you are as much obliged, with refpect to them as in any other cafe, to employ them for the public good. Have I no right to indulge in myself the caprice of concealing any of my affairs; and can another perfon have a right, by his caprice, to bedge up and reArain the path of my duty? You may take down |