y, to such a pitch did his loyalty soar, that he
purchased a firelock of particular mechanism, calculated for the safety
of the bearer, in case he had been placed sentinel at his Majesty's
door, and kept his horses ready caparisoned, with a view of attending
his sovereign to the field. Notwithstanding all these pompous
preparations, had he been put to the proof, he would have infallibly
crept out of his engagements, through some sneaking evasion, his
imagination being very fertile in such saving pretences. Yet he will
talk sometimes so fervently, and even sensibly, on the subject, that a
stranger would mistake him for a man of understanding, and determined
zeal for the good of his country.

"Since my last return to his house, that act of parliament passed, by
which he was enabled to pay his debts, and, among the rest, a thousand
pounds of my contracting, the only burden of that kind I ever entailed
upon him, exclusive of my pin-money, which was never regularly paid; nor
would he have been subject to this, had he not, by his persecution and
pursuit, exposed me to an extraordinary expense. I have also had it
in my power to reward some of my faithful Abigails; in particular,
to relieve from extreme distress that maid to whom, as I have already
observed, Lord B-- granted an annuity, which she had sold: so that she
was reduced to the most abject poverty; and I found her in a dismal
hole, with two infants perishing for want; a spectacle which drew tears
from my eyes, and indeed could not but make deep impression upon a heart
like mine, which the misery of my fellow-creatures never failed to melt.

"Nor did I upon this occasion forget the attachment and fidelity of my
other woman Mrs. S--, who, hearing I was robbed in my passage through
Flanders, had generously relinquished the allowance I had settled upon
her at parting. The exercise of such acts of humanity and benevolence,
and the pleasure of seeing my dear and tender parent often, in
some measure alleviate the chagrin to which I am subject from the
disagreeable disposition of my lord, who, consistent with his former
inconsistency, upon our last reconciliation, cheerfully agreed to a
proposal I made of having concerts in the house, and even approved of
the scheme with marks of particular satisfaction. But, before one half
of the winter was expired, he found means to banish all the company,
beginning with Lord R-- B--, who, as he walked up-stairs one evening,
was stopped by