Not till you are cordial friends, said the bishop Brother, give me your hand, offering to take it Chevalier, yours

Dispose of mine as you please, my lord, said I, holding it out.

He took it, and the general’s at the same time, and would have joined them.

Come, my lord, said I, to the general, and snatched his reluctant hand, accept of a friendly offer, from a heart as friendly. Let me honour you, from my ovm fcnoxvledge, for those great qua-lities which the world gives you. I demand your favour, from a consciousness that 1 deserve it; and that I could not, were I to submit to be treated with indignity by any man. 1 should be sorry to look little in your eyes; but I will not in my own.

Who can bear the superiority this man assumes, brother?

You oblige me, my lord, to assert myself. The chevalier speaks nobly, my lord. His cha-racter is well known. Let me lead you both friends to our Jeronymo. But say, brother Say, chevalier, that you are so.

I cannot bear, said the general, that the Chevalier Grandison should imagine himself of so much consequence to my sister, as some of you seem to think him.

You know me not, my lord. 1 have at present no wish but for the recovery of your sister, and Signor Jeronymo. Were I able to be of service to them, that service would be my reward. But, my lord, if it will make you easy, and induce you to treat me, as my own heart tells me I ought to be treated; I will give you my honour, and let me say, that it never yet was forfeited, that whatever turn your sister’s malady may take, I will not accept of the highest favour that can be done me, but with the joint consent of the three brothers, as well as of your father and mother. Permit me to add, that I will not enter into any family that shall think meanly of me; nor subject the woman I love to the contempt of her own relations.

This indeed is nobly said, replied the general. Give me your hand upon it, and I am your friend for ever.

Proud man! He could not bear to think, that a simple English gentleman, as he looks upon me to be, should ally with their family; improbable as it is, in his own opinion, that the unhappy lady should ever recover her reason; but he greatly loves the Count of Belvedere; and all the family was fond of an alliance with that deserving nobleman.

The bishop rejoiced to find us at last in a better way of understanding each other, than we had hi-therto been in; and it was easier for me to allow for this haughty man, as Mrs. Beaumont had let me know what the behaviour was that I had to expect from him: and indeed, his father, mother, and two brothers, were very apprehensive of it: it will therefore be a pleasure to them, that I have so ea-sily overcome his prejudices.