tion had been obtained, he requested that we would keep the knowledge of it a profound secret. I could not refift my curiosity of making further enquiries relative to an affair from which I reaped fo much fatisfaction. I, accordingly, the next time his Lordship had his alms-giving coat on, asked him what occafioned his wearing that fingular drefs? With a fmile of ineffable sweetness he told me, that my curiosity should foon be gratified; for, as we were congenial fouls, he would take me with him, when he next vifited the place to which his coat was adapted. A compliment more truly flattering and more acceptable to me than any I ever had, or could receive." The night before his intended vifit, his Lordship requested that I would be in readiness to go with him the next morning. We then went together to that receptacle of mifery which he had fo often vifited, to the confolation of its inhabitants. His Lordship would not fuffer me to enter the gate, left the noisomeness of the place fhould prove difagreeable to me; but he ordered the coachman to drive to the George Inn in the Borough, where a dinner. was ordered for the happy wretches he was about to liberate. Here I had the pleasure of feeing near thirty, perfons rescued from the jaws of a loathfome prifon, at an inclement feafon of the year, it being Christ-. mas; and not only releafed from their confinement» but but reftored to their families and friends, with fome provision from his Lordship's bounty for their immediate fupport.-I will not pretend to describe the grateful tribute his Lordship received upon the occafion from the band he had juft fet free; nor the fatisfaction he reaped from the generous deed. I participated in the heavenly pleafure; and never was witness to a more delightful fscene. How fhall I tell the fequel of the tale !-But it must be told.-Yet whilft I do it, I am almoft ready to accuse Heaven of unkindness, in untimely cutting off fo fair, fo fweet a flower, the pride of the English garden. His Lordship went fome few months after thefe beneficent acts, to vifit his eftates in Ireland. Where, being obliged, by the mistaken hofpitality of the country, to drink more than he was accuftomed to do, and that at a time when he was indifpofed from a violent cold, a fever, attended with a putrid fore throat, was the fatal confequence. And-drop not, thou felfish tear!-my amiable young friend was removed to those realms, where alone his expanded heart could find its benevolent propenfities indulged and rewarded. By the death of this valuable young nobleman, the poor were deprived of a generous benefactor, his acquaintance of a defirable companion, and the community of one of its brightest ornaments. But to no one was his lofs more grievous than to Major Vaughan, Vaughan, to whom he was an unknown patron. The Major regularly received a benefaction of fifty pounds every quarter, which he concluded to come from Earl Fitzwilliam; that nobleman, with whom he had been bred up, having always held him in great esteem. But upon the death of Lord Digby, the bounty was found to flow from his liberal purse. The Major was, indeed, highly esteemed by every one that had the pleasure of knowing him. He had been bred up by his father, with the hopes of fucceeding to a large eftate. But the old gentleman dying fuddenly, and inteftate, the Major not being legitimate, his only inheritance was a good education, and one of the best of hearts. And, notwithftanding this disappointment, he was of a difpofition as cheerful as if he poffeffed millions. Juft fuch a man must have been Hamlet's Horatio *. The beauty of the description, added to the fimilitude of the character, tempts me to infert the whole of so applicable a paffage. doft thou hear? Since my dear foul was miftrefs of her choice, Hath feal'd thee for herfelf; for thou hast been *Hamlet, A&t III. Scene IV. Whofe Whofe blood and judgment are so well commingled To found what stop she please. Give me the man, In my heart's core-ay, in my heart of heart, The length of my letter reminds me of drawing towards a conclufion. I cannot, however, do fo, till, excited by the lofs of my much-regretted friend, I have devoted a few lines to the cenfure of that injudicious custom which coft him his life. The idea of hofpitality entertained by the inhabitants of our fifter kingdom, is certainly a falfe one; or rather, the error lies in its being carried to an imprudent extreme. In their eftimation, hofpitality can be only fhewn, by prevailing on their guests to tafte of every viand their tables, which are in general luxuriously spread, contain; and by forcing them to fit till many bottles are emptied. The greatest pleasure an Irish gentleman can know, is to fend his friends reeling from his table.-Mistaken people!-True hospitality confifts in combining an unrestrained freedom, with a hofpitable anxiety that your guests go away pleased with the entertainment they have received. Whilft you prefs with a bounteous heart, and help with an unsparing hand, never lose fight of that liberty which alone can make your treats acceptable. Remember that a Digby fell by an illtimed compulfion. G. A. B. fo LADY LETTER LXI. April 15, 17—. ADY Caroline Fox's indifpofition obliging her to go to Bath, the Secretary at War spent the greatest part of his time with us. Mr. Pitt having attacked, in the House of Commons, the memory of the late Lord Orford (Sir Robert Walpole), who had been a patron both to him and to Mr. Fox; the latter defended the cause of his departed friend. This occafioned the first difference between these two great men. The Secretary at War, however, procured by it his Sovereign's affection, together with his perfonal thanks; as his Majesty still retained a great regard for a nobleman who had been so faithful a fervant to him. I will here attempt to give you the political characters of these two great competitors for glory, Mr. Fox and Mr. Pitt. Their qualifications were as different as their perfons. Mr. Pitt's abilities, as an orator, were undoubtedly astonishing. Yet, at times, put the matter he had uttered upon paper, it appeared fuperficial; and it was often satirical to a degree of abuse. His perfon claimed your admiration. With an elegance and grace which led your mind captive while he spoke, and with eyes that darted fire, hẹ generally |