“I have not, under these grey hairs, forgotten that I was once a young man, warm in the pursuit of pleasure, but meaning to be honest as well as happy.  I had ideas of virtue, of honour, of benevolence, which I had never been at the pains to define; but I felt my bosom heave at the thoughts of them, and I made the most delightful soliloquies.  It is impossible, said I, that there can be half so many rogues as are imagined.

“I travelled, because it is the fashion for young men of my fortune to travel.  I had a travelling tutor, which is the fashion too; but my tutor was a gentleman, which it is not always the fashion for tutors to be.  His gentility, indeed, was all he had from his father, whose prodigality had not left him a shilling to support it.

“‘I have a favour to ask of you, my dear Mountford,’ said my father, ’which I will not be refused.  You have travelled as became a man; neither France nor Italy have made anything of Mountford, which Mountford, before he left England, would have been ashamed of.  My son Edward goes abroad, would you take him under your protection?’

“He blushed; my father’s face was scarlet.  He pressed his hand to his bosom, as if he had said, my heart does not mean to offend you.  Mountford sighed twice.

“‘I am a proud fool,’ said he, ’and you will pardon it.  There! (he sighed again) I can hear of dependance, since it is dependance on my Sedley.’

“‘Dependance!’ answered my father; ’there can be no such word between us.  What is there in 9,000 pounds a year that should make me unworthy of Mountford’s friendship?’

“They embraced; and soon after I set out on my travels, with Mountford for my guardian.

“We were at Milan, where my father happened to have an Italian friend, to whom he had been of some service in England.  The count, for he was of quality, was solicitous to return the obligation by a particular attention to his son.  We lived in his palace, visited with his family, were caressed by his friends, and I began to be so well pleased with my entertainment, that I thought of England as of some foreign country.

“The count had a son not much older than myself.  At that age a friend is an easy acquisition; we were friends the first night of our acquaintance.

“He introduced me into the company of a set of young gentlemen, whose fortunes gave them the command of pleasure, and whose inclinations incited them to the purchase.  After having spent some joyous evenings in their society, it became a sort of habit which I could not miss without uneasiness, and our meetings, which before were frequent, were now stated and regular.