I am, from my unhappy fate, obliged to move by the will of others, and to be in places which I would by my own will gladly avoid.

Besides, I am, except for these few minutes, no participator of the revels--a spectator only, and attended by my servants.

Your situation is different--you are here by choice, the partaker and minister of the pleasures of a class below you in education, birth, and fortunes.

If I speak harshly, Mr.Latimer,' she added, with much sweetness of manner, 'I mean kindly.' I was confounded by her speech, 'severe in youthful wisdom'; all of naive or lively, suitable to such a dialogue, vanished from my recollection, and I answered with gravity like her own, 'I am, indeed, better educated than these poor people; but you, madam, whose kind admonition I am grateful for, must know more of my condition than I do myself--I dare not say I am their superior in birth, since I know nothing of my own, or in fortunes, over which hangs an impenetrable cloud.' 'And why should your ignorance on these points drive you into low society and idle habits ?' answered my female monitor.

'Is it manly to wait till fortune cast her beams upon you, when by exertion of your own energy you might distinguish yourself?
Do not the pursuits of learning lie open to you--of manly ambition--of war?
But no--not of war, that has already cost you too dear.' 'I will be what you wish me to be,' I replied with eagerness--'You have but to choose my path, and you shall see if I do not pursue it with energy, were it only because you command me.' 'Not because I command you,' said the maiden, 'but because reason, common sense, manhood, and, in one word, regard for your own safety, give the same counsel.' 'At least permit me to reply, that reason and sense never assumed a fairer form--of persuasion,' I hastily added; for she turned from me--nor did she give me another opportunity of continuing what I had to say till the next pause of the dance, when, determined to bring our dialogue to a point, I said, 'You mentioned manhood also, and in the same breath, personal danger.