The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 197: what you’re looking at

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182 THE small seal, with mourning wax Egad! it must ~? be from the poor orphan, Rose Foster ! Then, hastily breaking it open, his eyes glanced over the contents, which ran as follow :— “THE generous interest which you have shown in my unhappy lot, and the kind assistance and counsel which you have given me in my otherwise friendless condition, would indeed experience but an ungrateful return were I not to make you acquainted with the resolution to which I have come, after very mature consideration. You may perhaps think that it is improper, and even in- delicate on my part, to have given way to reflections of a worldly nature so soon—so very soon after the cruel and terrible bereavement which I have experienced. But it is precisely because the sense of this bereavement is intolerable in the long and unemployed hours I pass by myself, that I have determined to seek an occupation which may to some extent relieye my mind from inces- sant meditation on the loss of my beloved and lamented parents. Besides, I feel that, situated as I am, it is a sin to remain idle, and that every day which is passed by me in inactivity and in brooding over my misfortumes, is the wilful abandonment of anirretrievable portion of my youth to an unavailing despair. Employment, I feel, willtutor my soul to resignation; and although I can never cease to think of my lost parents, and must often —often drop tearsto their memory, yet lam well assured that constant occupation will mellow down my grief to a sentiment of placid submission to the divine will. “ Under all these circumstances, I feel convinced that you will approve of the resolution I have adopted, and the step [have taken. Before you receive this letter, I shall have entered a large and most respectable mil- linery establishment, the mistress of which carries the excellenee of her heart and the kindness of her soul in her frank, honest, and open countenance. I shall therefore be enabled to earn my bread, without 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 when you receive this note, I have 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. , “But now Lam about to write something which may appear ungrateful: I however beseech you to view it altogether in another light. Fearfulthat you may think the step I have taken to be premature and that the ayo- cation I have chosen is derogatory to a young lady well and tenderly brought up,—and apprehending 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 my mind has become more settled, and I have given this new mode of life a fair trial, I will then write to you again andask you to call and seeme. 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 assist myself. Accept, then, Mr. Mea- gles, my profound gratitude; and believe me when I de- clare that I shall ever entertain a deep sense of the obligations under which [ exist towards you. “ROSE FOSTER.” “¢ She has acted wisely—prudently !” said Meagles 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 sheis right. But God knows that I would sooner have cut my hand off than injure a, hair of her sweet MYSTERIES. Well—be it so—and I am not ashamed of it! May your existence prove a happy one, sweet Rose; and perdition seize the villain who shall seek to do you harm !” Haying thus mused aloud, Tim Meagles hastily passed his hand across his eyes, and then drained the tumbler of reeking punch which stood near him: for he felt moved—affected —unmanned ! O man of the world that thou wast—rake and de- bauchee though thou mightest have been — yet thine heart was good: and the drops which then trickled down thy cheeks, were an atonement for many vices and many errors! Flowing like 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 dissolve obduracy into the softness of holy and blessed feelings! CHAPTER LII NEWGATE. THE clock of Saint Sepulchre’s church was striking eleven in the forenoon, when Mrs. Brace, accom- 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 its relics and justice treasure up its memorials! The turnkey on duty inquired the business of the 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 Aldermen, “ to admit Mrs. Brace and friends to view- his Majesty’s prison of Newgate.” ‘“‘ Now, 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 gaolk Come—bustle about now— and be alive, will’ee? Why, I’m blowed if you’ye slept off last night’s ale yet 2?” “ Keep your observations to yourself, Mr. Pig- man,” growled Mr. Soper, as he with difficulty sup- pressed a yawn. “ This way, ladies, if you’ll be so kind.” And taking up a bunch of huge keys, he opened a large grated door leading into a dark passage. Mrs, Brace and Harriet followed him; and he conducted them into a low hall, paved with massive flag-stones, and the roof of which was supported by thick square pillars. At the end of this hall, a door opened to a staircase leading up into the chapel; and this was the first feature of interest which was inspected by the visitresses. High—narrow—and dark, the chapel of Newgate is indeed well suited tor the place. Its sombre aspect -—the dark wood of which the pulpit, galleries, and pews are made—-and the absence of all sounds from without, combine to render it a place of awful gloom. Inthe times of 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 head! Ah! what—a tear trickling down my cheek! | tender the unhappy being painfully conspicuous and COLMA (EloOO_ KS. EOKN