That some protecting spirit
watched over his actions, and directed his course, he was well assured,
but as yet he had never been able to comprehend the mystery with which
he was surrounded. His questions on this point to his mother it was
evident gave her pain, and were always met by some evasive answer. He
had been early taught to keep his own secret, but the prying curiosity
of an Eton school-boy was not easily satisfied, and too often rendered
the task one of great pain and difficulty. On these occasions I would
seek
1 Friends.
2 The Eton phrase for father.
~27~~
him out, and as the subject was one of too tender a nature for the
tongue of friendship to dwell upon, endeavour to divert his thoughts by
engaging him in some enlivening sport. His amiable manners and generous
heart had endeared him to all, and in a short time his delicate feelings
were respected, and the slightest allusion to ambiguity of birth
cautiously avoided by all his associates, who, whatever might be their
suspicions, thought his brilliant qualifications more than compensated
for any want of ancestral distinction.
The following portrait of my friend is from the pen of our elegant con,
Horace Eglantine.
A PORTRAIT.
A heart fill'd with friendship and love,
A brain free from passion's excess,
A mind a mean action above,
A hand to relieve keen distress.
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