except Anthony, and might be said to be embalmed by the tears of the
poor, to whom he was always a bounteous benefactor.

"When the son, now Sir Launcelot, came home, he appeared so meagre, wan,
and hollow-eyed, that the servants hardly knew their young master. His
first care was to take possession of his fortune, and settle accounts
with the steward who had succeeded my father. These affairs being
discussed, he spared no pains to get intelligence concerning Miss Darnel;
and soon learned more of that young lady than he desired to know; for it
was become the common talk of the country, that a match was agreed upon
between her and young Squire Sycamore, a gentleman of a very great
fortune. These tidings were probably confirmed under her own hand, in a
letter which she wrote to Sir Launcelot. The contents were never exactly
known but to the parties themselves; nevertheless, the effects were too
visible, for, from that blessed moment, he spoke not one word to any
living creature for the space of three days; but was seen sometimes to
shed a flood of tears, and sometimes to burst out into a fit of laughing.
At last he broke silence, and seemed to wake from his disorder. He
became more fond than ever of the exercise of riding, and began to amuse
himself again with acts of benevolence.

"One instance of his generosity and justice deserves to be recorded in
brass or marble. You must know, gemmen, the rector of the parish was
lately dead, and Sir Everhard had promised the presentation to another
clergyman. In the meantime, Sir Launcelot chancing one Sunday to ride
through a lane, perceived a horse saddled and bridled, feeding on the
side of a fence; and, casting his eyes around, beheld on the other side
of the hedge an object lying extended on the ground, which he took to be
the body of a murdered traveller. He forthwith alighted, and, leaping
into the field, descried a man at full length, wrapped in a greatcoat and