Page:Original stories from real life 1796.pdf/96

Rh In this thoughtleſs manner he ſpent his time and fortune; never applying to any profeſſion, though formed to ſhine in any one he ſhould have choſen. His friends were offended, and at laſt allowed him to languiſh in a gaol; and as there appeared no probability of reforming or fixing him, they left him to ſtruggle with adverſity.

Severely did he reproach himself—He was almost loſt in deſpair, when a friend viſited him. This friend loved the latent ſparks of virtue which he imagined would ſome time or other light up, and animate his conduct. He paid his debts, and gave him a ſum of money ſufficient to enable him to prepare for a voyage to the Eaſt Indies, where Charles wiſhed to go, to try to regain his loſt fortune. Through the interceſſion of this kind, conſiderate friend, his relations were reconciled to him, and his ſpirits raiſed.

He ſailed with a fair wind, and fortune favouring his moſt romantic wishes, in the ſpace of fifteen years, he acquired a much larger fortune than he had even hoped for, Rh