Those who shall read my works, or
those whom the winds shall drive towards these shores, will say--There
it is that Eliza Draper was born; and if there be a Briton among them,
he will immediately add, with the spirit of conscious pride--And there
it was that she was born of English parents.
[3] A town of Hindoostan, in Travancore.
"Let me be permitted to indulge my grief, and to give a free course to
my tears! Eliza was my friend. Reader, whosoe'er thou art, forgive me
this involuntary motion;--let my mind dwell upon Eliza. If I have
sometimes moved thee to compassionate the calamities of the human
race, let me now prevail upon thee to commiserate my own misfortune. I
was thy friend without knowing thee; be for a moment mine. Thy gentle
pity shall be my reward.
"Eliza ended her days in the land of her forefathers, at the age of
three-and-thirty. A celestial soul was separated from a heavenly body.
Ye who visit the spot on which her sacred ashes rest, write upon the
marble that covers them: In such a year, in such a month, on such a
day, at such an hour, God withdrew his spirit, and Eliza died.
"And thou, _original writer_, her admirer and her friend, it was Eliza
who inspired _thy works_, and dictated to thee the most affecting
pages of them. _Fortunate Sterne, thou art no more_, and I am left
behind. I wept _over thee with Eliza_; thou wouldst weep over her with
me: and had it been the will of Heaven, that you had both survived me,
your tears would have fallen together upon my grave.
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