- My
Royal General Is Inflexible To The Persuasions
Of Almost All The Courts In Christendom,
And Hurried By His Thirst
Of fame, or some other
more latent motive, has given orders to prepare
for a march, where, or against whom,
Is yet a
secret to the army; but by the preparations for
it, we believe they are not short journeys we
are to take. - Should I now quit a service
where I have been promoted so much beyond
my merit, what, my lord, but cowardice or ingratitude
could be imputed to me as the motive!
- Not all my reasons, powerful as they are,
would have any weight with a prince, who is
deaf to every thing but the calls of glory; and
I must return loaden with his displeasure, and
the reproaches of all I leave behind! - Now
to return is certain infamy! - To go, is in pursuit
of honour! - Your lordship will not therefore
be surprized I make choice of the latter,
since no hazard can be equal to that of forfeiting
the little reputation I have acquired, and
which alone can render me worthy any part of
the favours I have received.
I am,
With the extremest respect and submission,
Your lordship's
Eternally devoted servant,
HORATIO."
The last and most difficult task he had to go thro', was the refusal he
must give to Dorilaus, who had laid his commands on him in such express
terms; and it was not without a good deal of blotting, altering, and
realtering, he at length formed an epistle to him in these terms:
To my more than father, my only patron,
protector and benefactor, the most worthy
DORILAUS.
Most dear and ever honoured Sir,
"To hear you are living, and still remember
me with kindness, affords too great a
transport to suffer me to throw away any thought
either on the motives of your long silence,
or that happiness, which you tell me, I may
expect has been the produce of it: - it is
sufficient for me to know I am still blessed in
the favor of the most excellent person that
ever lived, and am not in the least anxious for
an explanation of any farther good.
To tell you with how much ardency I long
to throw myself at your feet, to relate to you
all the various accidents that have befallen me
since first you condescended to put me in the
paths of glory, and to pour out my soul before
you with thanksgiving, would be as impossible
as it is for me at present to enjoy that blessing! - The
king's affairs, it is true, would suffer
nothing by my absence; but, sir, what would
the world say of me, if, after a whole year of
inactivity and idleness, I flew, on the first appearance
of danger, and forsook a prince, by
whom I have been so highly favoured? - Instead
of the character I have always been ambitious
of attaining, should I not be branded with
everlasting infamy!
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 139 of 194
Words from 73237 to 73736
of 102800
