to a
sudden end. They were watching the masks, when one among the latter,
dressed as a devil, danced up to them, and, with howls and many mad
pranks, made merry at their expense. Fuseli, when he found he could not
rid himself of the tormentor, called out half angrily, half facetiously,
"Go to Hell!" The devil proved to be of the dull species, and instead of
answering with a lively jest, broke out into a torrent of hot abuse, and
refused to be appeased. Fuseli, wishing to avoid a scene, literally
turned and fled, leaving Mary and the others to save themselves as best
they could.

At this period a man, whose name, luckily for himself, is now forgotten,
wished to make Mary his wife. Her treatment of him was characteristic. He
could not have known her very well, or else he would not have been so
foolish as to represent his financial prosperity as an argument in his
favor. For a woman to sell herself for money, even when the bargain was
sanctioned by the marriage ceremony, was, in her opinion, the
unpardonable sin. Therefore, what he probably intended as an honor, she
received as an insult. She declared that it must henceforward end her
acquaintance not only with him, but with the third person through whom
the offer was sent, and to whom Mary gave her answer. Her letters in
connection with this subject are among the most interesting in her
correspondence. They bear witness to the sanctity she attached to the
union of man and wife. Her views in this relation cannot be too
prominently brought forward, since, by manifesting the purity of her
principles, light is thrown on her subsequent conduct. In her first burst
of wrath she unbosomed herself to her ever-sympathetic confidant, Mr.
Johnson:--

"Mr. ---- called on me just now. Pray did you know his motive for
calling? I think him impertinently officious. He had left the house
before it had occurred to me in the strong light it does now, or I
should have told him so. My poverty makes me proud. I will not be
insulted by a superficial puppy. His intimacy with Miss ---- gave
him a privilege which he should not have assumed with me. A
proposal might be made to his cousin, a milliner's girl, which
should not have been mentioned to me. Pray tell him that I am
offended, and do not wish to see him again. When I meet him at your
house, I shall leave the room, since I cannot pull him by the nose.
I can force my spirit to leave my b