couch of Philimore. The voices of lamentation that reached him from the afflicted parents assured him that the dying hour of their son had approached. He was supported on the bosom of his mother, while the distracted father held one of his hands, and, as the Doctor drew near, he extended to him the other.
"Generous, exalted friend," he said, "to thy care I commend my parents, as also my Oriana: you have smoothed for me the bed of death; I die contented."
Dr. Lovesworth pressed him in his embrace, saying, "Your parents shall be cherished by me."
"Tell Oriana," added Philimore in faint accents, "that my latest prayer was breathed for her happiness."
He paused awhile, then, raising his nearly dimmed eyes and feeble arms to Heaven, gave an affecting blessing to all around him; after which one convulsive sigh escaped him, and he sunk lifeless in the arms of his parents.
"So fades a summer cloud away;
So sinks the gale when storms are o'er;
So gently shuts the eye of day;
So dies a wave along the shore."
Their joy, pride, and prop was gone for ever! the last breath had transpired—the vital heat was extinguished, never more to be re-animated.
The first tribute that Dr. Lovesworth paid to the memory of his young friend was to mingle his tears with those of the unhappy parents.
The mother's grief was intense, but not in any way comparable to the inconsolable nature of that of the
