The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 199: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

182 Small seal, with mourning wax —~ Fogad! ft must be from the poor orphan, Rose Foster !” Then, hastily breaking it open, his eyes glanced over the contents, which ran a3 follow :-— “Twx generous interest which yeu have shown in my mnhappy lot, and the kind sasistance and counsel wiioh you have given me in my otherwise friendless conditéoa, would indeed experience but an ungrateful return were I not to make you acquainted with the resolution to which I have cotne, after very mature consideration. You may perhaps think that it 1s Improper, and even fh. deHeate on my part, to have given wag to reGeetions of @ worldly natare so seen._so very soon after the cruel and terrible bereavement which I have experienced. Bus it is precisely because the sense of this bereavement is intolerable in the leng and unemployed hours I pass by myself, that I have determined to seek an occupation which may to some extent relleve my mind from inoces- sant meditation on the loss ef my beloved and lamented parents. Besides, I feol that, situated as [ ar, it ts a ath to remain idle, and that every day whink is pacded by me in inactivity and in brooding over my misfortunes, is the wilful abandonment of an irretrievable portion of my youth to an unavailing despair. Employment, 1 feel, will tutor my soul to resignation; and although I can never cease to think of my fost parents, and must often —often drep tears to their memory, yet fam well assured that constant occupation will mellow éewn my grief to a sentiment of placid submission to the divine will. “ Under all these circums I feel conviaced that you will approve of the resolutiun I have adopted, and the step Ihave taken. Before you receive this letter, I shall have entered a large and most respectable mil- linery establishment, the mistress of which carries the excellence of her heart and the hindoess of her soul in her frank, honest, and open conhtenanss. iI shall therefore be enabled to earn my bread, withuut making any farther inroads upon the sum which remained from the amount paid by the Prince and after the settlement of Messrs. Hodson and Morley'’s claim. That sum will therefore remain to accumulate in the Bank of England, where, under your counsel, I deposited it. “In the establishment where I shall be whea you pecelve this note, I bave entered under an assumed name. I do not wish the mention of that of Foster to provoke curiosity and lead to questions concerning the lamentable death of my beloved parents. I am con. vinced that you will approve of my resolution in this re- spect. “Bat now Lam aboat to write something whieh may appesr ungratefnl: I however beseech you te view it altogether in another light. Fearful that yon may think the step I have taken to be premature aud that the avo- cation | have chosen is derogatory to a young lady wel] and tenderly brought up, —and spprehending that, under these impressions, you may seek to wean me from my purpose, I dare not for the present inform you where that establishment which I am about to enter is situated. But when thy mind has become more settled, and I have given this new mode of life a fuir trial, I will then write to you again and ask you to call and see me. For I shall ever regard you asa friend whom God raised up to shield my father's memory from any blame which the result of a Coroner’s Inquest would have attached to it,—as a friend, also, to counsel and assiat myself. Accept, then, Mr. Men. gies, my profound gratitude; aud believe ma when I de. Clare that I shall ever entertsin & deep sense of the obligations under which I exist towards you. “ROSE FOSTER.” “She has acted wisely—prudently !” said Meagples to himself, when he had terminated the reading of this epistle. “The delicacy of her innocent mind has suggested to her that it would be improper for a friend of my sex to visit her in her new abode— and she is right. But God knows that I would sooner have cut my hand off than injure a hair of her sweet head! Ah! what—atear trickling down my cheek ! | THE MYSTERIES. Well—be it so—and T am not ashamed of it! May your existence prove a happy one, sweet Rose; and erdition seize the villain who shall seek to do you arm !” Having thas mured aloud, Tim Meagles hastity passed his hand across his eyes, and then drained thé tumbler of reeking punch which stood near him : for he felt moved— affected —unmanned ! O man of the world that thou wast—rake and da- banchee though thou mightest have been — yet thine heart was good: aud the drops which then trickled down thy cheeks, were an atohement for many vices and many errors! Flowing lite the spring from the hard and sterile rock in the desert, the tears of a man are the waters of hope gushing forth from even a rugged nature: like the vinegar upon granite, they diksolve obduracy inte the softness of holy and blessed feelings ! ee ) CHAPTER LII NEWGATE. THE clock of Saint Sepulchre’s church was striking eleven in the forenoon, when Mrs. Brace, acoom- panied by Harriet, alighted from a hackney-coach at the door of the prison of Newgate. They entered the dark and gloomy vestibule, where the chains of notorious malefactors were suspended to the walls—as if crime must have ita relics and justice treasure up its memorials! The turnkey on duty inquired the busivess of thé lady and her attendant; and the milliner instantly placed a piece of paper in his hand. It was an order, signed by one of the City Alderinen, “to admit Mra. Brace and friends to view his Majesty's prison of Newgate.” st N ow, then, Soper!” exclaimed the turnkey, at the top of his voice; anda short, stout, dirty-looking individual woke up from a nap which he was enjoy- ing as he lay stretched at length upon a form. * Two ladies to see the gaol. Come—bustle about now— and be alive, will’ee? Why, I'm blowed if you've slept off last night's ale yet ?” “ Keep your observations to yourself, Mr. Pig- man,” growled Mr. Soper, as he with difficulty sup- pressed ayawn. “ This way, ladies, if you'll be so And taking up a bunch of huge keys, he opened a large grated door leading into a dark passage. Mra, Brace and Harriet followed him; and he conducted them into a low hall, paved with massive -sLonea, and the roof of which was supported by thie square pillars. Atthe end of this ball a door opened to a staircase leading up into the chapel; aud this was the first feature of interest which was inspected by the visitresses, High—narrow—and dark, the chapel of Neugate is indeed well suited for the place. Its sombre aspect —the dark wood of whieh the pulpit, galleries, and pews are made—and the absence of all sounds from withou:, combine to render it a place of awful gloom. In the times ef which we are writing, and indeed until within the last few years, there was a large circular enclosure in the middle, where persons doomed to death were seated to hear the “ condemned sermon.” Now-a-days a chair for the wretched cul- prit occupies that spot; and the authorities thus tender the unhappy being painfully conspicuous and boo FD) GOLA S COMM