ernal fondness; said he knew
what it was to be in love; and observed that, if he had been as tenderly
beloved by his father as I was by mine, he should not now perhaps have
cause--here he was interrupted by a sigh, the tear rushed into his eye,
suppressed the dictates of his grief, and the time being opportune,
desired me to relate the passages of my life, which my uncle had
told him were manifold and surprising. I recounted the most material
circumstances of my fortune, to which he listened with wonder and
attention, manifesting from time to time the different emotions which
my different situations may be supposed to have raised in a parent's
breast; and, when my detail was ended, blessed God for the adversity I
had undergone, which, he said, enlarged the understanding, improved the
heart, steeled the constitution, and qualified a young man for all
the duties and enjoyments of life much better than any education which
affluence could bestow.

When I had thus satisfied his curiosity, I discovered an inclination to
hear the particulars of his story, which he gratified by beginning with
his marriage, and proceeded to the day of his disappearing, as I have
related in the first part of my memoirs. "Careless of life," continued
he, "and unable to live in a place where every object recalled the
memory of my dear Charlotte, whom I had lost through the barbarity of an
unnatural parent, I took my leave of you, my child, then an infant, with
a heart full of unutterable woe, but little suspecting that my father's
unkindness would have descended to my innocent orphan; and setting out
alone at midnight for the nearest seaport, early next morning got on
board a ship, bound, as I had heard, for France; and, bargaining with
the master for my passage, bade a long adieu to my native country, and
put to sea with the first fair wind. The place of our destination was
Granville, but we had the misfortune to run upon a ridge of rocks near
the Island of Alderney, called the Caskets, where the sea running high,
the ship went to pieces, the boat sunk alongside, and every soul on
board perished, except myself, who, by the assistance of a grating got
ashore on the coast of Normandy. I went directly to Caen, where I was so
lucky as to meet with a count, whom I had formerly known in my travels;
with this gentleman I set out for Paris, where I was recommended by him
and other friends, as tutor to a young nobleman, whom I accompanied to
the court of S