parliament is dead; another therefore must be named; I have advanced my

claim, and I believe that I shall have no competitor. To-night the question

is to be decided, as there is a call of the house for the purpose. You must

nominate me, Lionel; Ryland, for shame, cannot shew himself; but you, my

friend, will do me this service?

How lovely is devotion! Here was a youth, royally sprung, bred in

luxury, by nature averse to the usual struggles of a public life,

and now, in time of danger, at a period when to live was the

utmost scope of the ambitious, he, the beloved and heroic Adrian, made, in

sweet simplicity, an offer to sacrifice himself for the public good. The

very idea was generous and noble,--but, beyond this, his unpretending

manner, his entire want of the assumption of a virtue, rendered his act ten

times more touching. I would have withstood his request; but I had seen the

good he diffused; I felt that his resolves were not to be shaken, so, with

an heavy heart, I consented to do as he asked. He grasped my hand

affectionately:--"Thank you," he said, "you have relieved me from a

painful dilemma, and are, as you ever were, the best of my friends.

Farewell--I must now leave you for a few hours. Go you and converse with

Ryland. Although he deserts his post in London, he may be of the greatest

service in the north of England, by receiving and assisting travellers, and

contributing to supply the metropolis with food. Awaken him, I entreat you,

to some sense of duty."

Adrian left me, as I afterwards learnt, upon his daily task of visiting the

hospitals, and inspecting the crowded parts of London. I found Ryland much

331

The Last Man