the softness and the prejudices of her education, for contending with
calamity, is incontestable.

"As to me, health and diligence will give me, not only the competence
which I seek, but the power of enjoying it. If my present condition be
unchangeable, I shall not be unhappy. My occupations are salutary and
meritorious; I am a stranger to the cares as well as to the enjoyment of
riches; abundant means of knowledge are possessed by me, as long as I
have eyes to gaze at man and at nature, as they are exhibited in their
original forms or in books. The precepts of my duty cannot be mistaken.
The lady must be sought and the money restored to her."

Certain obstacles existed to the immediate execution of this scheme. How
should I conduct my search? What apology should I make for withdrawing
thus abruptly, and contrary to the terms of an agreement into which I
had lately entered, from the family and service of my friend and
benefactor Hadwin?

My thoughts were called away from pursuing these inquiries by a rumour,
which had gradually swelled to formidable dimensions; and which, at
length, reached us in our quiet retreats. The city, we were told, was
involved in confusion and panic, for a pestilential disease had begun
its destructive progress. Magistrates and citizens were flying to the
country. The numbers of the sick multiplied beyond all example; even in
the pest-affected cities of the Levant. The malady was malignant and
unsparing.

The usual occupations and amusements of life were at an end. Terror had
exterminated all the sentiments of nature. Wives were deserted by
husbands, and children by parents. Some had shut themselves in their