Guy Mannering.

GUY MANNERING. 207
honest pride, which rendered him a safer intimate than
Mrs. Mannering ought to have dared to hope or expect.
The obscurity of his birth could alone be objected to
him; in every other respect,
With prospects bright upon the world he came,
Pure love of virtue, strong desire of fame;
Men watched the way his lofty mind would take,
And all foretold the progress he would make.
But it could not be expected that he should resist the
snare which Mrs. -Mannering's imprudence threw in his
way, or avoid becoming attached to a young lady, whose
beauty and manners might have justified his passion, even
in scenes where these are more generally met with, than
in a remote fortress in our Indian settlements. The
scenes which followed have been partly detailed in Mannering's letter to Mr. Mervyn; and to Mr. Mervyn; and to expand what is there
stated into further explanation, would be to abuse the
patience of our readers.
We shall, therefore, proceed with our promised extracts
from Miss Mannering's letters to her friend:SIXTH EXTRACT.
"I have seen him again, Matilda —seen him twice. I
have used every argument to convince him that this secret
intercourse is dangerous to us both. I even pressed him
to pursue his views of fortune without farther regard to
nme, and to consider my peace of mind as sufficiently
secured by the knowledge that he had not fallen under
mny father's sword. He answers-but how can I detail
all he has to answer? He claims those hopes as his due
which my mother permitted him to entertain, and would
persuade me to the madness of a union without my father's
sanction. But to this, Matilda, I will not be persuaded.