I thought, "is power! Not to be strong of limb, hard of heart, ferocious,

and daring; but kind compassionate and soft."--Stopping short, I clasped

my hands, and with the fervour of a new proselyte, cried, "Doubt me not,

Adrian, I also will become wise and good!" and then quite overcome, I wept

aloud.

As this gust of passion passed from me, I felt more composed. I lay on the

ground, and giving the reins to my thoughts, repassed in my mind my former

life; and began, fold by fold, to unwind the many errors of my heart, and

to discover how brutish, savage, and worthless I had hitherto been. I could

not however at that time feel remorse, for methought I was born anew; my

soul threw off the burthen of past sin, to commence a new career in

innocence and love. Nothing harsh or rough remained to jar with the soft

feelings which the transactions of the day had inspired; I was as a child

lisping its devotions after its mother, and my plastic soul was remoulded

by a master hand, which I neither desired nor was able to resist.

This was the first commencement of my friendship with Adrian, and I must

commemorate this day as the most fortunate of my life. I now began to be

human. I was admitted within that sacred boundary which divides the

intellectual and moral nature of man from that which characterizes animals.

My best feelings were called into play to give fitting responses to the

generosity, wisdom, and amenity of my new friend. He, with a noble goodness

all his own, took infinite delight in bestowing to prodigality the

treasures of his mind and fortune on the long-neglected son of his father's

friend, the offspring of that gifted being whose excellencies and talents

The Last Man