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Lord Clifford, the son of his patron, the Earl of D (to whom Mr Cleland had been the most affectionate as well as the most attentive of tutors), being suddenly attacked with a dangerous illness in France, which country he was then visiting for his amusemen', the Earl, in the greatest affliction, entreated Mr. Cleland to hasten to his son, and by his presence alleviate the inquietude be must uaturally feel in such a situation, at tended only by strangers.

There needed no greater inducement than the affection he had always experienced for Lord Clifford, to hasten Mr. Cleland's departure. He arrived in Paris after u ing the utmost expedition, and found the young nobleman slowly recovering, but in a state of the utmost debility.

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Mr. Cleland intimated the condition of his son to the Earl, who immediately requested be might, if possible, be brought to England, at the same time lamenting the impossibility of attending Lord Clifford himself, owing to the critical state of affairs in France; that Lady ——— was extremely anxious for the safety of her son, and depended on Mr. Cleland's asing every exertion for a speedy departure. This letter Mr. Cleland carefully concealed from his pupil, whose nerves were in that irritable state as to preclude all knowledge of any thing unpleasant.

Appearances now became truly alarming in Paris, and every individual became fearful of safety. It was in vain Mr. Cleland urged the physicians to permit their departure, they gave it as their decided opinion, that it would hazard in the extreme the life of their patient; nor could he doubt the truth of their assertion, as his pupil daily decreased in strength, and seemed slowly sinking into an untimely grave. Confined to a sick chamber, Lord Clifford was totally iguerant of the dreadful circumstances that were daily taking place in Paris, and though Mr. Cleland's mind was agitated by a thousand fears, yet he commanded his feelings too well to permit his countenance to express them, and had by that means the satisfaction of beholding the unfortunate youth free from terrors that must have shook his enfeebled constitution, and rendered his last moments truly distress

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ing; by his paternal care he expired in his arms dest tute of every concern, but not receiving his parents' blessing, to whom he entrusted, by Mr. Cleland, every affectionate remembrance they could desire from one they h dl ved so much. Mr. Cleland, after performing the painful task of acquainting the Earl with the mel ncholy event, collected what papers and property had belonged to Lord Clifford, and prepared for his depar ture; but be found this no easy task, his papers and property were seized; and regardless of his solemn assertions of innocence, he was (by the order of wretches scarcely knowing right from wrong) thrown into prison, where for many months he endured every hardship and oppression, and where he might have remained much longer, had not a friend, by his exertions, effected his escape, as already mentioned.

When Mr. Cleland awoke from the most refreshing slumber he had experienced for many months, he found the vessel had made a rapid progress, and that the cliffs of Albion once more met his enraptured view; but a few more hours elapsed and he trod again his native shore: the artless effusions of his little companion were unattended to, so great was his impatience and so varied his feelings. The first ten miles were passed in a silence his agitated mind could not avoid; but the pleasing remarks and innocent gratitude of his little protogée by degrees brought him to some recollection and calmness, and rendered him more equal to the seeing a family be had been so long estranged from. We will pass over the transports of such a meeting, and suffice it to say he experienced a must joyful reception; nor was the little emigrant unnoticed in the delightful scene.

Adeline (for that was the orphan's name), caressed and treated with maternal tenderness by Mrs. Cleland, lost all remembrance of her own country, and the cruel treatment she had there experienced; though at times tears of sincere affection would fall at the recollection of the fate of her unbappy parents. Alike dividing the care and tenderness of Mr. and Mrs. Cle land, with their nephew, Mr. Beriton, sorrow was a stranger to the bosom of Adeline, and in grateful attentions to ber kind benefactors,

this truth by the sudden death of Mr. Cle land's patron, Lord D, which was shortly after followed by the death of the worthy ctor, who departed from this world with no other regret than the leaving those who had been, during his life, as dear to him as his own children, destiture and fiendless; fer had it pleased Heaven to have continued the life f Lord D, Mr. Cleland was well convinced he would have transferred the living to his nephew, who had till now been his curate; out circumstances were sadly reversed by his death; the rectorship was in the gift of an other, with whom Mr. Beriton had no interest; and upon inquiry, he found it already disposed of to a person who would not need his

and pleasing improvement in the various studies Mrs. Cleland kindly instructed her in, her days glided on in peaceful happiness; no did this calm meet any interruption till the death of Mrs. Cleland, who expired after a short illness, in Adeline's arms: this heavy irr mediable loss required a¦l her fortitude to support; she had not only to regret a kind bene factress, but a tender affectionate mother, for such to her had Mrs. Cleland always prov. d. Still Adeline remembered there was one t whom this deprivation was even more afflict ing, therefore, exerting that resignation se often inculcated by her late worthy friend, she endeavoured all in her power to alleviate the sufferings of Mr. Cleland. These kind attentions, with the ass stance of his nephew (nd-sistance, intending to perform the duty time, the never-failing restorer of peace to every mind that bends in calm resignation to Divine Providence), received their due reward, and content oɛce more became a resident in their dwelling.

himself; in this respect Mr. and Mrs. Beriton were not much disappointed, as it would have been painful to their feelings to have remained longer in a place where they had lost their more than parents; therefore hasteuing their departure, by disposing of what little furniture they could not conveniently move, and taking leave of the kind villagers, wlio followed the chaise with blessings and tears, they set off for London, hoping in that large me ropolis Mr. Briton would easily procure em

Mr. Beriton could not be an inmate in the family, and remain an unconcerned spectator of the graceful attainments and personal beauties of Adeline, and their mutual attachment was a source of the sincerest joy to Mr. Cleland, who, three years after the death of his wife, united them by the most indissolubleployment; and soon after their arrival having ties. Their happiness for some time continued uninterrupted, and was during that period augmented by the birth of a daughter: but, alas! constant felicity is not the lot of mortals, and Mr. and Mrs. Beriton were convinced of

settled themselves in a small but neat and cous venient lodging, they placed an advertise. ment in the papers for a curacy.

(To be concluded in our next.)

WIDOW LATELOVE IN SEARCH OF A HUSBAND.

MR. EDITOR,

IN the hope that through the channel of your widely circulating Magazine, I may be enabled to contradict a false and scandalous report which has been propagated concerning me, by a parcel of pitiful young flirts, I ven ture to request your insertion of this letter.

I am, S.r, for the third time, a widow, and to my great mortification, likely to continue so; a matter that will doubtless surprise you, when I have informed you that I am just the fashionable age, that I possess a large fortune entirely at my own disposal, and that with

respect to my person, good eyes, good teeth a slight genteel figure, and a certain je né sais quoi, have gained me the appellation of the fascinating widow Latelove; and yet with all these advantages, mortifying as the ac knowledgment is, I must confess to you,

"That nobody comes to woo."

But let me hasten to explain to you the reason of this strange neglect, which pro ceeds entirely from the report I mentioned in the beginning of my letter, that my temper has actually caused the death of my three bus,

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sensibility on the occasion; I paid dear, however, for the pleasure which I experienced in mixing my tears with his; he pressed ardently for an immediate union, I consented, and in two nights afterwards eloped in a style which I defy any heroine of them all to outdo. We were married, and for three weeks our felicity was unbounded.

This blissful state was terminated by Mr. Plastic's having occasion for money; the good-natured world in its report of my fortune, had trebled what I actually possessed, and as money was the last thing I had sup posed my husband would have troubled himself about, I never mentioned the subject to him.

But conceive my mortification, when I found that the possession of the idol of his soul, as he had often termed me, was but a secondary consideration, and he dropped expressions of anger and disappointment which petrified me; he recovered his temper, however, almost immediately, and after apologiz

bands; and as a little sketch of my history will effectually convince you of the falsity of this report, with your permission, I will relate it. I was an only child, and in my girlish days, a perfect Lydia Languish; a marriage of love was, in my opinion, the summum bonum of human happiness; and a marriage of love I was determined to make. Before I had attained my sixteenth year, I had two suitors, the one a grave sensible man about thirty, whose person it must be owned, was agreeable, and whose fortune was very large; but I disliked him very much for two or three reasons; the first was, that he had taken care to secure the approbation of my friends, a step which, in my opinion, plainly proved him to be totally devoid of delicacy and refinement; secondly, when I lost my little French dog, Cassandra, he did not appear at all to sym. pathize in my. grief on the occasion; and when, in a few days afterwards, I had one sent me, the most beautiful little creature in the universe, be had the presumption to tell me that the price asked for it was exorbitant,ing for his warmth, he proposed that we and that, when thousands of my fellow-creatures were in want of bread, it was, in his opinion, absolutely sinful, to devote such a sum to so idle a purpose; and he concluded, by modestly hoping, that I would oblige him by bestowing the half of it on a woman who had just had the misfortune to lose her husband and two fine children, as well as all that she was possessed of, by fire. Now you know, Mr. Editor, if she had had any feeling she would not have survived such complicated misfortunes; and to administer to the necessities of a being devoid of sensibility, would have been such a sin against sentiment, that I could not possibly prevail upon myself to be guilty of, and I said so; but had I been for seven years the man's wife, he could not have taken upon himself to lecture me more freely; I retorted in the same style, and we parted in high anger on both sides.

He was scarcely gone when Mr. Plastic (my other lover), was announced. I had not seen him for ten days, and he was ignorant of the loss I had sustained of my sweet little Cassandra; never shall I forget the sympathy with which he mourned her fate, nor the eharming compliments which he paid to my

should, as soon as we could arrange matters, retire into the country; a plan, which, as I had formed the most delightful ideas of love and a cottage, met with my perfect approbation.

One week's resisdence at Clump Hall (for so our habitation was named), completely destroyed my castles in the air; instead of an elegant cottage, furnished with the greatest taste and simplicity, our mansion seemed coeval with the flood, and the furniture was apparently of the same date with the building; instead of bowers of roses, our garden was ornamented with yew representatives of our first parents, swans cut out in box, and a variety of other uncouth figures; and our prospects, in the contemplation of which I had promised myself the greatest pleasure, consisted for several miles round of a barreu flat.

Completely disgusted with my habitation, I signified to Mr. Plastic my astonishment that he should ever for a moment have supposed it possible for a woman of my elegant ideas, to exist in a state of the most barbarous rusticity, and peremptorily declared my intention of leaving it immediately; but I soon

found that my gentle mate, whose heart I had supposed was the seat of sensibility, was utterly devoid of all feeling. It was his pleasure, he told me, that I should remain where I was, and I would find it the wisest thing I could do to acquiesce in his will; to disobey it, indeed, was not in my power; but I took care literally to follow Swift's advice, for 1 never did any thing he desired without murmuring. Three years rolled on, and but for the pleasure which I found in perpetually contradicting Mr. Plastic, I should certainly have died of ennui. At the end of that time he was seized with a complaint for which the Bath waters were.prescribed by his physician, and I accompanied him thither. Restored once more to society, I took care to benefit by my freedom, and instead of coufaing myself to my tyrant's sick room, I was soon the life of the fashionables, with which Bath was at that time filled. Mr. Plastic raved and threatened in vain; I coolly reminded him, that his fits of passion would only retard his recovery; he refused me money, but I made no scruple of using the privilege of running him in debt, which I did to a large amount; and one morning while we were at breakfast, my milliner, mercer, &c. presented their bills, which Mr. Plastic had no sooner cast his eyes over, than he threw him. self into a rage that occasioned the breaking of a blood-vessel, and he instantly expired.

I was a good deal shocked at this event, but I consoled myself by reflecting that it was entirely his own fault, in giving way to a vio. lence of temper which he ought to have taken pains to check; and I firmly resolved to take warning by his example, and never allowed any circumstance to put me in a passion.

could not expect much happiness with him. His wealth had been acquired in the East, and it was said that qualms of conscience selduin suffered him to sleep in quiet. Now you must know I hate scandal, and besides, if there even was some truth in the story, I considered that we could have separate apartments; in short, we were married, and the style of Eastern luxury in which we lived, rendered me for some time perfectly happy.

Unluckily for me, my plan of separate apart. ments did not meet with Mr. Rupee's approba tion; and though I should not have minded acting in opposition to his will, yet I had many reasons for not coming to an open rupture with him. Large as my jointure was, he pos sessed the power of making it still larger, and every attention on my part was sure to be rewarded by some magnificent present; but yet the want of rest, for unfortunately the story was true enough, would soon have worn me out, if I had not hit upon a plan to procure

some.

Mr Rupee was interdicted the use of wine, as the faculty declared, that it was highly injurious to him; nevertheless he liked a chcer. ful glass, and I noticed that when he indulged in any little excess he always slept better; now as there is nothing so conducive to health as sleep, and as a certain quantity of Madeira always made him sleep, I thought myself fairly justified in engaging him to break through the milk and water regimen prescribed for him; and if I did not succeed in prolonging his life, I at least rendered him something happier while he did live, for as his devotions to Bacchus became more fervent, his conscience was less troublesome. He died in about six months after our marriage, and left me as rich as avarice itself could desire, and as I was fully determined on evincing to the world the

Well, Mr. Editor, I was once more free, and I was fully determined never again to wear the fetters of Hymen, unless they were hand-strength of my attachment towards him, I somely gilt, and indeed an opportunity soon presented itself of enabling me, as the phrase is, to make an excellent match.

Mr. Rupee, a man of immense property, solicited my hand; my friends indeed shook their heads, and hinted that beside the disparity of our ages, and the baduess of Mr. Rupee's constitution, there were reasons why I

caused a sumptuous monument to be erected to his memory, and persevered during the usual time in all the formalities of widowhood with the most rigid decorum.

At length I returned to the gay world; and in the enjoyment of my liberty, and every luxury that wealth could purchase, I for some time fancied myself perfectly happy.

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Amongst the crowd of admirers who paid homage to my charms and my wealth, was Mr. Latelove, the presumptive hear to an earldom; it is true that he was rather advanced in years, but the nobleman who kept him out of it was so much older that the chances were considerThis circumably in Mr. La clove's favour. stance, frankly speaking, was the sole reason which induced me to bestow my hand upon bim; but I took care not to add my fortune to the gif, that I had prudence sufficient to keep to mys if.

Mr. Latelove's character was very differen to that of either of my former husbands, he was devoted to the pleasures of the takie, but next to them I believe he loved me; and as he was an easy tempered good natured man, we lived very well toge her.

My happiness, however, received a considerable check by the mariage of Mr. Lat love's ́uncle, the Earl, who in his sixty-fourth year took a helpmate from his dairy. I hoped, however, that this marriage was not likely to produce any heirs; but I was mistaken; in less than a year the Countess presented her Lord with a son, and thus my hopes of a title were annihilated.

Mr. Latelove was as much vexed as myself at this event; but a favourite dish had the power at any time to console him, and he eagerly endeavoured to lose in good eating the remembrance of his disappointment. The physicians, however, highly disapproved of his conduct; they assured him that there was but one way to save his life, and that was by adhering to temp rance; and as my influence with him was well known, I was strenuously solicited to exeat it; but as I was fully conscious that Mr. Latelove's only enjoyments were those of eating and drinking, and as life without enjoyment is not werth having, I declined interfering. His family behaved rather impertimently, and hinted that I shewed want of feeling and affection for him; but I was satisfied with my own conduct, and you know, Mr. Editor, The conscious mind is its own awful world.

One day Mr. Latelove eat a bason of turtle with more appetite than he usually shewed; and he declared to me that he firmly believed the physicians were fools, for he felt himself much better; and as he did not think an hour or two's study would hurt him, he desired me to give him a large manuscript on the art of cookery, which was principally composed of receipts that had belonged to his grandmother, which he intended at some time or other to publish, but he had hitherto been deterred by the trouble which he should have in editing it. He observed to me, as I placed it before him, that he should in a mouth or two set about is long projected task, for that it was a pity to keep such valuable knowledge from the bulk of mankind. I left him to bis literary labours, but in less than half an hour I was summoned to the drawing-room; he had been seized with a fit of apoplexy, and before, we could procure any medical assistance be expired.

And now, Mr. Editor, that I have ran through the whole of my matrimonial adventures, you will, I hope agree with me, that I have nothing to reproach myself with; you may perhaps wonder, as I have certainly not been very happy in the conjugal state, why I should wish to enter it again; but the fact is, I am of an active disposition, I cannot exist without a pursuit; and matrimony furnishes one with such charming resources for killing time, that a husband is, upon the whole, rather a desirable appendage to a woman of spirit. I there. fore throw down my gauntlet, and if amongst your numerous readers there should be one

bold enough to take it up, he will find the por. trait I have drawn of myself, in the beginning of my letter, a faithful likeness. Two requi sites only I must insist upon-birth and edu cation; as to every thing else I am no boaster, but I will venture to say, let my future sposa's temper and disposition be what they may, he

will meet with his match in

LUCINDA LATELOVE,

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