ligence he
received of Mr. A--'s making himself known in the West Indies, furnished
him with numberless advantages over that unhappy young gentleman; for,
being in possession of a splendid fortune, and lord of many manors in
the neighbourhood of the very place where the claimant was born, he
knew all the witnesses who could give the most material evidence of his
legitimacy; and, if his probity did not restrain him, had, by his power
and influence, sufficient opportunity and means of applying to the
passions and interests of the witnesses, to silence many, and gain over
others to his side; while his competitor, by an absence of fifteen
or sixteen years from his native country, the want of education and
friends, together with his present helpless situation, was rendered
absolutely incapable of taking any step for his own advantage. And
although his worthy uncle's conspicuous virtue, and religious regard for
justice and truth, might possibly be an unconquerable restraint to his
taking any undue advantages, yet the consciences of that huge army
of emissaries he kept in pay were not altogether so very tender and
scrupulous. This much, however, may be said, without derogation from,
or impeachment of, the noble earl's nice virtue and honour, that he
took care to compromise all differences with the other branches of the
family, whose interests were, in this affair, connected with his own,
by sharing the estate with them, and also retained most of the eminent
counsel within the bar of both kingdoms against this formidable bastard,
before any suit was instituted by him.

"While he was thus entrenching himself against the attack of a poor
forlorn youth, at the distance of fifteen hundred leagues, continually
exposed to the dangers of the sea, the war, and an unhealthy climate,
Mr. M--, in the common course of conversation, chanced to ask some
questions relating to this romantic pretender, of one H--, who was at
that time the present Lord A--'s chief agent. This man, when pressed,
could not help owning that the late Lord A-- actually left a son, who
had been spirited away into America soon after his father's death, but
said he did not know whether this was the same person. This information
could not fail to make an impression on the humanity of Mr. M--, who,
being acquainted with the genius of the wicked party who had possessed
themselves of this unhappy young man's estate and honours, expressed
no small anxiety and apprehension le