The Sun.
London, England, 1812-10-22 00:00:00

One day I was informed, that an elderly lady
wished to see my a'partments.; and, as it is a rule
with me to pay the utthoSt possible respect to.age,
w:-.titeA upon her inintediately: A cEtrtain etuo-
tioD,.for which I was not able to account, caused
me to ey:amine her. person from head to foot, and
my eniotion 'was' further increased, when Lob-
served: het acting the same with, me, I, pressed
her to' take a seat, which she did; and indeed: W'e
had both of us need enough 'ofbeing seated. We
Continued silent for some time, but the eyes of
both. of us discovered a desire of speaking. She

knew of cOUrs'e who I Was, but uoknocv-

ledge of herperson ; she therefore considered it
as incumbent-upon her to, break this silence ; ac-
cordingly she began in the following manner
:
It is a long time, Mademoiselle, since. L have
had 1 most earnest desire of ranking. myself
amongst the nit►nber of yo:Ir acquaintance ; as I
am no frequenter of the theatre, -and.asl. have
no knowledge of. any person who has the happi-
ness to visit- yoti, and being moreover .unwilling
to address vent by letter, lest any -explanation, in
that way is►ight. leave -roc m for suspicions, and
thus defeat my, purposes, I have therefore taken
advantage...of the bill you have affixed for letting
yonr :apartment, to introduce myself, and enjoy
the satisfaction I have so long sought after. You
will be good enough to excuse the liberty I have
taken ; it is not to hire your lodgings that I mu
conic hither, they are, indeed, above my sin►ple
means ; but I beg, however, you will permit me
to, see them ; any place which you have made. your

residence must be interesting, to my curiosity ;
your talents have obtained you such a degree of
lame as can leave no doubt of your understand-
ing, and I see now that I have not been deceived.
in the account I have received of your person; I
wish :to know only if the descriptiom I have had
of your apartments are equally exact, that I may
follow my unhappy friend step by.step through all

his hopes and disq-uictudes."
To this I hastily replied, You cannot but see,
iThl.ciain, that I am alreudy much surprise'!, and
even alarmed, at your discourse ;tandevery word

that pyopeeds from your lips -does .but increase my
astonishment more and more. I ninit. therefore

insist that you explain yourself as, to Jour errand
hither, of whom it is you speak, and. who you
are yolimlf.- lam not orie who can submit to

be tr:fled wit:)

You must, Madam, either explain

.Ourself to my satisfaction, or I must beg you to

leave my house.

" You are to know, MadernOiselle," continued
she, " that I, was the most intimate. friend of the
deceased M. de S—, and the
.only one he per
mitted visits from during the lust year of his life.
We have passed whole days, togethei. in talking
solely of you ; one while speaking of you as a di-
vinity, another time describiJigyQtt to be a fury;
I at the same time conjuring him to think of you
no more, and be declaring _that his, love of you -
should accompany him beyond the grave. But I
perceive that your eyes are swimming in tears
you will jtvt allow me to intrude only so far as. to
ask What could induce you to make his life so
miserable 5 and .why you refused one who enter-
tained so violent an affection for you, the conso- -
lation of seeing you once more?"
The heart is nut to be controlled, replied I;
M. de was a deserving man, and had many
good, qualities-, but his temper was vindictive,
melancholy, and absolute, so that I dreaded his ,
love, ,as much as 1 disliked bis company. T,o
have satisfied him I Must hive renounced all hu-
than society, and must have,giv-:n up my proles- .
sion ; I was.as proud as I was poor; it was ever
my maxim, and I hope it.will continue to be so,
to be tinder. obligations to no one, and Co depend
for support upon my ovn indlotry. I had a par-
tiality for him, anti ,therefore3l' strove what I.
could'to make him entertain principles more con-
sistent . with prOpriety and justice; but it, was, all
in vain, l'cotild .not pre, ail Arith 1 ; so, that,
• ,•
finding his ini'ituation nroceed` rather from
violence of temper than the force of. his passion
for me, I.cante to the cleerminatiou, Which I re-
solutely kept, of breaking, off all, connexion with
him. The reasonlwby Irefus,ed to visit him. in '
his last moments, was, because the sight would
have overpowered my feelings, and because, had
I after that persisted,,in my,former resolution, I
should but have appeared the more: cruel and in-
exbrable and, hail I compfied with his wishes,
should have made myself the most miserable of
women.- You haVe now, madam, heard. the mo-
tives of, my conduct, which I flatter myself is not,
altogether so ,blameworthy.
" I am far ft:int blaming it," rejoined the old
lady, " I should think myself guilty of great in-
justice if I did ; we owe no 'Sacrifice of ourselves
but to our-vows, to o,ur parents,. or our benefac-
tors ;. an4iit•this last respect, I know well it is
not you- %kilo were under -Obligations, for I have
heard him express Low, greatly he was in your
debt on that ,core ; but: his overbearing disposi-
tion, and -Ilk love tyrannized over him ; he'was
not maste: of himself, and your last refusal' to-see,
hint cert limy hastened his end. When his ser-
vapt rot trued..with the message, exactly at half
an bout pu.,,t. ten o'clock, (for he counted every
Minute'as, it -pissed after he bad sent him to your
house), findl told him that You mere positively de-
- terminc duever to Stye hiamore, he remained silent
for a minute or two,lhen; taking me by the hand,
he pres-ed it in an agony that alarmed me, pro 7
nouneing these words at the-same time, Oh the
cruel woman.! -She shall: safer for this refusal—I
will haunt her as long after death as I have followed
her whilst -living 1 endeavoured to soothe him,

but he was no more."
I believe, 'my dear friend, I need not tell you
what I felt when the old gentlewoman pronounced
rhese last WordS ; the correspondence betwixt
them and the noises Lhad so repeatedly been tor-
mented with, instantly rushed upOn my mind,
and tilled me with terror and astonishment. lat
first imagined that all the powers of Heaven. and
Hell had combined to render my life wretched.;
hut the quiet I afterwards exper-ienced; and time,
with the aid of reason and reflection, veFtored
calMness to my breast. I thought within myself,
that, as the course of things continued to be-al-
ways the same in.the universe, so was it not pos.,
sible that a dead body should be restored to life ;
that, as the existence of a God was discoverable