nfinitely superior
to any which he could enjoy while he was in the trammels and under the
restraints of a governor. He, therefore, turned a deaf ear to all M--'s
arguments, and entreated him to accompany him in the journey; but
this gentleman, foreseeing that a young man, like my lord, of strong
passions, and easy to be misled, would, in all probability, squander
away great sums of money, in a way that would neither do credit to
himself, or to those who were concerned with him, resisted all his
solicitations, on pretence of having business of consequence at London;
and afterwards had reason to be extremely well pleased with his own
conduct in this particular.

"Before he set out on this expedition, M--, in justice to himself,
reminded him of the proposal which he had made to him at Marseilles,
desiring to know if he had altered his design in that particular; in
which case he would turn his thoughts some other way, as he would not
in the least be thought to intrude or pin himself upon any man. My lord
protested in the most solemn manner, that he still continued in his
former resolution, and, again beseeching him to bear him company into
France, promised that everything should be settled to his satisfaction
upon their return to England. M--, however, still persisted in his
refusal, for the above-mentioned reasons, and, though he never heard
more of the annuity, he nevertheless continued to serve his lordship
with his advice and good offices ever after; particularly in directing
his choice to an alliance with a lady of eminent virtue, the daughter of
a noble lord, more conspicuous for his shining parts than the splendour
of his titles; a circumstance upon which he always reflected with
particular satisfaction, as well on account of the extraordinary merit
of the lady, as because it vested in her children a considerable part
of that great estate, which of right belonged to her grandmother, and
afterwards put him in a way to retrieve his estate from a heavy load of
debt he had contracted. When my lord set out on his Paris expedition,
the money M-- had received from his generous friend at Paris was almost
reduced to the last guinea. He had not yet reaped the least benefit from
his engagements with his lordship; and, disdaining to ask for a supply
from him, he knew not how to subsist, with any degree of credit, till
his return.

"This uncomfortable prospect was the more disagreeable to him, as, at
that time of life, he was m