which I wandered, the night was filent as death. The weeds that grew out at the windows, the ivy that wrapped the nodding battlements fcarcely waved its leaves to the air. To fit under the ruin of a caftle-wall by moonlight, foothed by the lapfe of the half-choaked stream, and indulging conjectures on the unknown fate of its once puiffant owners, is to me a pleasure which nurses virtue while it foftens me into melancholy. While I furvey the inftability of what fo plaufibly promised duration, although I then feel most forcibly the general uncertainty of all things, yet I do not think one good paffion is deadened by the contemplation; my mind is then moft har monized by the conviction, and thought flies from thence to the empyreum of goodness, impregnated with fenfibility, and cloathed with fubmiffion.

I had wandered through feveral arched gateways, formerly entrances to gardens, but now ferving to ascertain the limits of grounds where the cattle scarcely found fuftenance, when I came to a part of the building which I imagined to have been a family chapel, by a figure of the Virgin over the porch, and fome expreffive emblems of mortality which had fallen from their place, and lay almoft covered by the deep grafs. I entered: The roof had fallen in, and the moon fhed her clearest light through the ragged branches of an aged hawthorn, which overshadowed the cavity. The rays fhone full on a venerable figure feated in a corner of the chapel. He appeared to fleep. I walked foftly towards him. He refted his arm on a fmall flab of white marble. A chiffel, a pair of compaffes, and a rule, lay by him. I looked attentively at the flab, which was placed upright, and perceived it to be new; the figures were in bas-relief, and very fmall, but apparently executed with taste. A feraph with a wreath of lilies feemed to hover above the tablet of a weeping Nun, which was fupported by two doves. The faint, her patronefs, fat beneath and appeared to weep as the twined the fatal veil with the rofary, the crofs, and garlands of the gloomy cyprefs; while Penitence on her bended

knee, and Hope with a countenance characteristically expreffive, lifted her eye towards Heaven.

My curiofity was awakened, and perhaps fome more amiable paffions: to return without gratifying it was tantali zing, and to disturb the hoary artist seemed little lefs than cruelty.-Let him fleep, faid pity, let him fleep while he may; the flumbers of age are frequently broken when the decay of ftrength calls for an additional proportion!-But, cried curiofity, interrupting her, if you do not enquire now, you mifs the only potfible opportunity; your carriage fets out by daylight, and you must know now, or for ever remain ignorant.-Impoflible, cried I; and going up to him I ftruck my foot against a ftone: it rolled along the uneven pavement, and answered my purpose by awaking him.

He started.

Be not alarmed my good father (for he wore the Carthufian habit); believe me I would not be an impertinent intruder on your repofe, though I cannot deny that I have a ftrong defire to be informed what can induce you to expose your age thus. Your hair is quite wet, and your habit has abforbed in, a very great degree, the dew of night. Suffer me to lead you where we may obviate the probable confequence of this negligence.'

I thank you, replied he rifing, I have not far to go, my abode is in the north tower of the chateau, whither I ufually retire at dufk; but this evening, as I wrought at the infcription of my daughter's tomb, my fpirits became completely overpowered. I wept bitterly. As the fun went down I grew calm; but nature at my age will not bear much, and I funk into the arms of fleep ere ! was aware.'

But do not stay here a moment long. er, cried I; haften to your bed, and let me attend you thither. I am a ftranger and a foreigner, but I can revere your age, and fympathize in your distress.'

I will believe you,' returned he, in a frank tone, for I am too poor to tempt impofition; and were it other wife, there is that in your manner (ta

ing my hand) which tells me you would be too generous to practise it.'

We were as much acquainted as if we had known each other twenty years.

He then knelt down, repeated a fhort prayer, and, croffing himfelf very devoutly, went up to the tomb, and kiffing the tablet exciaimed, Image of my injured Angelica!'-Tears fuppreffed what he would have uttered.

'Come,' faid I, this grief is deftroying your very life.' He yielded to my entreaty, and we left the ruin.

Is it wrong to enquire what fingular circumstances have occafioned you fuch uncommon forrow?' faid I, as we walked through a corridore to his apartment. No,' faid he, it is not wrong; you may know it, if you please, from its very source.'

We were now at the feet of the winding ftairs of the north tower. The old man put a cord which hung from the roof into my hand, by which, with infinite labour and difficulty, we reached at length his lofty though circumfcribed habitation. He then ftruck a light, and I infifted on his immediately stripping off his habit and drying his hair, while I chipped the wood to make a fire. He cheerfully complied, and having no change of cloaths, got into bed as his beft alternative. I then boiled fome water, and having by accident a bottle of eau de vie in my pocket, which a fair marchande, my fellow-paffenger, had entrufted to my care the day before, I took the liberty of making the poor fhivering monk as comfortable as I could at the good lady's expence.

You know,' faid he, fmiling, as he took a fecond draught, our Order does not allow this; but I am not a bigot to customs now. To accept and to enjoy all things in moderation, is the most rational devotion we can offer to our beneficent Author. Alas! had I always fuffered reason to decide on the propriety of cuftom, had I always confidered, that what our nature revolts at must be difpleafing to the Deity, however varnished by the falfe light of fuperftition, then you had not feen me thus, then my Angelica had not funk blooming into the grave, nor

But, perhaps, faid I, you charge yourself too hardly; custom is a tyrant we must frequently obey, or'

Oh,' returned he, interrupting me, I have no apology to offer save that of fuperftitious bufinefs. Take this key,` and unlock the little trunk in yonder corner; you will there fee to what fatal lengths I have cherished error, without once liftening to the voice of nature. The compaffion you have fhewn my poverty and my grief, unite to make me difclofe myself without referve. Those who have views for concealment, or an infuperable fhame at the idea of acknowledgement, may be referved; but I have no motive. I live upon the charity of my neighbours, therefore have nothing to lofe; and the fhame I feel at acquainting you how ill I have acted, is a punishment which I voluntarily take upon myfelf, as fome atonement for the fin.

'This,' continued he, laying his hand upon the paper which I had brought up to his bed-fide, was written, as you will fee, after my poor girl took the veil, and contains nothing which I do not acknowledge to be too true.'

I opened the paper, and found it entitled,

MEMOIRS OF ANGELICA. INCLOSED for life in the deep cold bofom of a convent, why should I take my pen to ftate the fatal caufe which condemned me hither, fince with me this paper will most probably fink into oblivion? But it may furvive me; it may meet the eye of fome parent lefs determined than my own, in whose heart nature is not entirely petrified. Some trembling female may, in future, be faved by it, and that poffibility shall be my inducement.

My ancestors, several ages back, were noble; but fome of them marrying into Bretagne, loft much of their confequence in their own province by blending with a fpecies of nobility who do not think commerce difgraceful. My father was the younger fon of an ecuyer; he did not,

how

however, retain that unbending pride which had characterized his remote ancestors. He seriously applied himself to the acquifition of that to which the nobility itfelf is frequently obliged to give way, and being fuccefsful in his commercial undertakings, he was foon without any of the hopes or fears of younger brothers. Emboldened by a long run of good for tune, he one year rifked an immenfe venture to the West Indies, and at the time when he hoped to hear of its fafe arrival, he was informed, by his correfpondent there, that a dreadful ftorm had arifen, and the little fleet was fuppofed to have been deftroyed, as no account had fince been heard of it. This intelligence put my father on the rack, and the apprehenfion of its proving true, combating the hope that it would be found falfe, his mind became dreadfully disturbed. Sometimes, when defpondency prevailed, he would accufe the cruelty of that Being, who could fuffer a wretch to toil away half his exiftence, and bury the production of his industry in a moment. Again, when hope gained the afcendancy, he would promife, if his fhips arrived fafe, to offer up his favourite child, myself, then feventeen, to the fole fervice of that Omnipotent Deity who had preferved the fruits of his Jabour.

Let the foul of fenfibility conceive, if poffible, the fituation of a filial mind under this fufpence; conceive its mifery when told, that love lurked in the heart, and united with native abhorrence to stir up rebellion to fuch an unnatural facrifice. A young enfign of the artillery was the friend to whom my heart was opened: he was my coufin and my lover, and from infancy we have been partial to each other. He waited with anxiety, which only my own could equal, the confirmation of my father's hopes or fears. This young man, but a few years older than myfelf, was lovely in his perfon, and of a moft pleafing addrefs. His intellectual merit was univerfally admitted, and his heart was fincere, benevolent, and liberal. We had been deftined by our parents for each other, and had often lived in the fame house with that

degree of familiarity which is apt to exalt fimple approbation into a warmer fentiment, even in minds where time or dif appointment have quenched the romantic ardour of a first love. For hearts like ours, ftill new to the passion, and fill fafcinated by its influence, yielding to it in the beginning with the fanction of our friends, and confirmed, irrevocably confirmed, by their continued approbation, what must we feel at seeing the axe thus laid to the root of our happiness by those very hands who had pointed out where we should plant it?

Ah! whence does a parent deduce his claim to this cruel prerogative? Who fhall fay to the mind, Hate, approve, renounce, accept, as I fhall dictate? None. The foul makes its choice, and will ever feel its independence. But when I queftion the juftice of fuch impe rious commands, I would not wish to be underflood as holding parental authority in contempt. Far, very far from it When the approbation or oppofition of fuch near relatives is grounded upon rational principles, let youth be cautious how it treats that oppofition with haughtinefs, and beware how it wilfully fhats its eyes to that propriety of conduct which infures approbation, at once difpaffionate and difcriminating.

Letters at length came with an account of the fleet's fafe arrival; and my fate was then decided. I was fnatched from the arms of my lover, and forced upon my noviciate in a neighbouring convent.

Can you,' my father would often fay, can you, my child, form to your felf a more happy fituation in this world than that which excludes every tempta tion to evil? a fituation from which you may regard fublunary concerns as if you were an inhabitant of a fuperior planet; a retreat where you will have leifure to commune with your own heart, and by daily labouring for its purification, make it at laft a valuable prefent to the Giver of Life. From the ample and quiet fhade of your convent, you may look down as from a ferene eminence on the cloudy atmosphere that envelopes fociety. You may from thence contemplate, without interruption, the grand order of Nature,

trace

trace effects from their caufes, drink at the hidden fprings of Truth, and inform yourfelf how the filent hand of Omnipotence creates and preferves the harmony of the universe. In refearches like thefe, you will feel your foul detached from, and elevated above, all earthly views and connections; your imagination will carry you to the throne of God itfelf; you will renounce with transport every worldly pleasure, and I fhall have the happinefs of offering to my Maker that facrifice which I have vowed, and which he delights to behold, an innocent and devoted heart. Can you, my love, figure to yourself a happier ftate of being? Impoffible !'

With a heart devoted to love, and tortured with the certainty of everlafting feparation from its object, I was led to the altar, and made to vow eternal obedience to dictates the most repugnant to my foul, and obfcure to my understanding.

When the fatal lawn was thrown over me, and this cruel ceremony at an end, my father came up and thanked me with emphafis; imprinted a kifs on my cold cheek; prefented my weeping mother, with my brothers and fifters, to take a laft embrace; and then, recommending me to the abbefs, they all in agony bade me a long farewell.

I will not attempt to delineate my fenfations on becoming an inmate for life of this unfocial retreat.

When I had been here about a month, the fuperieure came one day into my dormitory, and told me, that a novice, who was to enter the next afternoon, fhould (if I had no objection) occupy one of the beds in my room. This propofal gave me a degree of fatisfaction which I thought no future circumftance could have awakened in me, and I expreffed myself pleased with the arrangement. I felt a degree of hope that my new affociate (perhaps yet unfixed in conventual principles) might, by fympathizing with my forrows, remove a part of that extreme wretchednefs which feemed even to threaten my intellects. The afternoon of the next day brought with it our new fifter elect; but how different from the portrait my fancy had wrought!

Far from the elegant langour of reluctant Beauty fhivering on the icy threshold of eternal celibacy, I beheld a figure, finely formed indeed. but mafculine, advancing undauntedly along, yet with downcalt eyes, and cheeks on which the pencil of health had laid colours that might have been miftaken for the momentary effects of extreme modefty. This equivocal and inconfiftent appearance deftroyed my confidential plan in a moment, and I retired to my room, little pleafed at the idea of fo uninteresting an intruder on the privacy I had fo dearly purchased.

After vefpers, I was introduced by the abbefs to our new devotee; and when fupper was over, I was requested to wait on her to our room. I had been fo difpleased at her apparent want of fenfibility to the horrors which awaited her, that I had fcarcely looked in her face fince our introduction to each other in the chapel, and believe I performed, with a very ill grace, thofe little attentions which, as a ftranger, fhe had a right to expect. The fame difguft accompanied me up stairs; and having pointed out her bed, and ordered a lay-fifter to wait her commands, I coldly wifhed her a good night, and retired to my own fide of the room. Expecting the would go to bed when the had counted her beads and undressed, I had recourfe to my rofary, and waited afterwards till the fhould have taken off her cloaths, before I attempted to prepare for fleep, amufing myfelf the while with training round the window fome branches of woodbine which had crept through the interstices of my cafement, and in contemplating the lucid brightness of the evening ftar as it fparkled through a vault of azure. The rich breath of the evening breeze, the warbling of a neighbouring ftream, the foft radiance of the crefted moon, and the ftillness of the night, abforbed me entirely into that ftate of mind in which the foul feels a fupreme degree of pleafure without being able diftinctly to afcertain its nature, or from what train of thought it is derived. The trance was momentary. The idea of Ferdinand rufhed across my fancy, and I exclaimed, involuntarily, My friend, my love, we must meet no more!'

• Oh,

Oh, heavens!' exclaimed the ftranger, in tones of the deepest distress. I flew to the bed-fide. She was ftill dreffed, except that the bandeau had fallen from her head, and discovered treffes glowing and luxuriant as thofe which ufed to wave round the cheeks of my Ferdinand. The resemblance ftruck me. The loose white robe fhe wore was now untied at the neck and bofom, and I perceived, I thought, an uniform. Gracious Heaven! I fcreamed faintly.

Be compofed, my adorable, my faithful Angelica!' cried the charming novice in a whisper. "Tis indeed your Ferdinand; but harbour not a thought to my prejudice; my intentions are pure as yourself. I have been on the rack ever fince my admiffion, about the means I fhould take to introduce myself without alarming you; but believe me, I have no wishes inconfiftent with the purity I have ever profeffed.'

Impoffible!' cried I. Know you not that I have fworn to dedicate myself to Heaven?'

And can you think this compulfatory oath binding! Do you fuppofe it is registered by angels, or acceptable to God? Will he punish its forfeiture, or regard its obfervance with that complacence with which he looks upon the voluntary dedication of his fervant, or with that anger which follows the non-obfervance of any willing vow? Certainly he will not. You have been forced to make a mockery of the facred rite which unites the foul, abstracted from the world, to its Almighty Author. You have been obliged to profess that feclufion to which the natural bent of your mind did not incline you; and which the ideas you have received and cherished, make not merely tormenting, but even criminal.'

Yet fince it is fo, ought I not to pray for that grace which fhall enable me to banish whatever may impede my progrefs in the path I have fo folemnly

vowed to tread ?'

had, fome impulfe would have arifen in your own mind to aid you in the profecotion of it.'

But why talk to me thus? Was it my choice? Can I poffibly escape from it? No. Then leave me. A wide gulph yawns betwixt us, which neither may pafs without incurring anathemas the moft dreadful.'

My charming Angelica, this is an imaginary abyfs into which you dread plunging it does not exist in the terra firma of common fenfe. When the freedom of choice is taken from you, when you have no will of your own, you be come degraded into a machine, the mere organ of another's fentiments, and cannot, in the nature of justice, be deemed guilty for fubmitting to terms you had no power to refufe; or for refuming, on the very firft opportunity, that natural right which had been wrefted from you, and revoking your acknowledgement of whatever mili tated against that reafon which Heaven has given you for your guide. Resume yourself, my life; dare to be conducted by the light of your own understanding; fuffer no power on earth to dictate terms to you, the injuftice of which is so stri kingly evident. Let us fly, my love, let us fly to that altar where your lips fo lately pronounced an unmeaning vow, and breathe one which rifes from your heart, and is ftamped with the approbation of your intellect. When I first conceived the defign of impofing upon the abbefs, I purpofed to difclofe myfelf gradually to you; but your appearance after a year's abfence, the flattering penforofa Í per. ceived in you, and moreover, the very cir cumftance of my being put into your room, urged me to difcover myself immediately. Let us haften then to fanctify, by rites the most holy, that proximity which chance has favoured me with, and which I cannot enjoy till your voice has authorized me to retain it. After midnight prayers are over, we will go the altar, and interchange our vows: till then, my love, you fhall tell me how you have paffed this dreary noviciate, and I will inform you, what untoward circumftances have prevented me from feeing or hearing from you till now.'

• And