Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume I.djvu/105

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about his head; such being the vision (according to his account to his valet) that had appeared, and notified to him he should die at a particular hour. To afford encouragement and corroboration to virtue, it may be well for it to recoiled!:, that there is no guilt without horror, no vice without remorse.

Amidst all those corruscations of wit, and flashes of merriment, which incessantly emanated from this young and gallant nobleman, his heart was wrung with everlasting care, and his soul harrowed by superstitious alarms. Of the truth of this assertion the following is a remarkable instance:—A few months before he died, he made a visit to the seat of Lord, an old friend and neighbour. The mansion is old and gloomy, and well calculated to affect an imagination that could be easily acted upon; the spirits of his lordship appeared to be agitated on entrance, but after a time his accustomed hilarity returned, the magic of his tongue enraptured the circle; and all, apparently, was festivity and delight. As the night waned and the hour of repose approached, his lordship's powers of conversation became still more extraordinary; the company were rivetted to their chairs, and as often as the clock admonished them to depart, so often did he prevail upon them to forget the admonition, by a fresh stock of anecdote, or a