hing was said for
two or three minutes, and then my uncle put his lips to my ear and
whispered something. I fell down senseless. My mother was . . . I
remember nothing for a long time--for two years I was out of my mind; at
the end of this time I recovered, or partly so. My uncle the baronet was
very kind to me; he advised me to travel, he offered to go with me. I
told him he was very kind, but I would rather go by myself. So I went
abroad, and saw, amongst other things, Rome and the Pyramids. By
frequent change of scene my mind became not happy, but tolerably
tranquil. I continued abroad some years, when, becoming tired of
travelling, I came home, found my uncle the baronet alive, hearty, and
unmarried, as he still is. He received me very kindly, took me to
Newmarket, and said that he hoped by this time I was become quite a man
of the world; by his advice I took a house in town, in which I lived
during the season. In summer I strolled from one watering-place to
another; and, in order to pass the time, I became very dissipated.

"At last I became as tired of dissipation as I had previously been of
travelling, and I determined to retire to the country, and live on my
paternal estate; this resolution I was not slow in putting into effect; I
sold my house in town, repaired and refurnished my country house, and,
for at least ten years, lived a regular country life; I gave dinner
parties, prosecuted poachers, was charitable to the poor, and now and
then went into my library; during this time I was seldom or never visited
by the magic impulse, the reason being, that there was nothing in the
wide world for which I cared sufficiently to move a finger to preserve
it. When the ten years, however, were nearly ended, I started out of bed
one morning in a fit of horror, exclaiming, 'Mercy, mercy! what will
become of me? I am afraid I shall go mad. I have lived thirty-five
years and upwards without doing anything; shall I pass through life in
this manner? Horror!' And then in rapid succession I touched three
different objects.

"I dressed myself and went down, determining to set about something; but
what was I to do?--there was the difficulty. I ate no breakfast, but
walked about the room in a state of distraction; at last I thought that
the easiest way to do something was to get into Parliament, there would
be no difficulty in that. I had plenty of money, and could buy a seat;
but what was I to do in Parliament? Sp