Page 159 (1/1)
"Poor, simple soul!" interrupted the old uard thyself from other shames, and the wealthiest may envy thee! Tell her thy story, plainly, roundly, truly; abate nothing of thy indigence, repress nothing of her liberality The Poor not impoverished by their own Guilt, are Equals of the Affluent, not enriched by their own Virtue Co as ye both are, with hten the burthen of each other's cares, by the heart-soothing exchange of gratitude for beneficence!"
He then took a hand of each, and joining theh rich, are not hardened, and you, who though poor, are not debased, why should ye not love, why should ye not cherish each other? The afflictions of life are tedious, its joys are evanescent; ye are now both young, and, with little to enjoy, will find much to suffer Ye are both, too, I believe, innocent--Oh could ye always reht worship you!"
He stopt, checked by his own rising e his usual austerity, "Such, however," he continued, "is not the condition of hu over both, be kind to each other! I leave you together, and to yourparticularly to Cecilia, "Disdain not," he said, "to console the depressed; look upon her without scorn, converse with her without conteh not like you, an heiress;--like her, you are fatherless, though not like her friendless! If she is awaited by the temptations of adversity, you, also, are surrounded by the corruptions of prosperity Your fall is most probable, her's most excusable;--commiserate her therefore now,--by and by she may commiserate you?"
And with these words he left the room
A total silence for some time succeeded his departure: Cecilia found it difficult to recover from the surprise into which she had been thrown sufficiently for speech: in following her extraordinary director, her iination had painted to her a scene such as she had so lately quitted, and prepared her to behold some family in distress, some helpless creature in sickness, or some children in want; but of these to see none, to , and delicate,--an introduction so singular to an object so unthought of, deprived her of all power but that of shewing her a woman looked scarcely less surprised, and infinitely more embarrassed She surveyed her apartuest with confusion; she had listened to the exhortation of the old one, seerin