Page:Tragical history of George Barnwell (2).pdf/16

 daughter, on the expreſs condition of her reſiding with Mr. Nutting till her twenty-fifth year unleſs ſhe married before that time with his conſent. —— Mr. Nutting was his ſole Executor, and was receive the intereſt of her property. The father died: Miſs Elliſon had viſited him at his lodgings, and had heard of his intentions with reſpect to her. A day was fixed for her removal; and I was ordered by my Maſter to take a coach from Hyde Park Corner to Kenſington and bring Miſs Elliſon to the Strand. She was not a beauty, her complexion was rather tinged with an olive hue, but her features were the index of thoſe inmates of the female breaſt, which charm the heart of man ſweetneſs of temper, and conquering ſubmission, while the expreſſion of her eyes indicated a ſuperior mind. I gazed, and received an impreſſion never to be eraſed, no never. —— Miſs Elliſon brought with her a large quantity of Books which had been carefully ſelected for her uſe by Mrs. Herries her late governeſs among them were the works of the immortal Shakeſpeare. —— Theſe Mr. Nutting ſrictly prohibited his ward from reading, as he determined that none but works of a religious tendency, that accorded with his own ideas, ſhould be peruſed by Ellinor; and I was ordered to replace them in a box and convey them to the loft. Here, my dear George, inſtead of retiring to my bed, I paſſed moſt of each night. —— I taſted every diſh of knowledge, and found every diſh a dainty. The ſpring of reaſon, that had been ſtretched to impotence by the bigotry which I had inſenſibly imbibed in this family, ſeemed, by this accident, to have recovered its elaſticity and once more reſumed its operations to the prejudice of ſuperſtition."

Here Mental propoſed breaking off his ſtory to another opportunity. Barnwell took leave, with many thanks for the confidence he had obtained and returned to his uncle's.