Men who
have not been suspended between confidence and fear, in their
judgment of a beloved friend's faithfulness, are ignorant of "the
nerve whence agonies are born." It is when sunk in sorrow, when
adversity loads us with divers miseries, and our wretchedness is
completed by such desertion!--it is then we are compelled to
acknowledge that, though life is brief, there are few friendships
which have strength to follow it to the end. But how precious are
those few! The are pearls above price!
Such were the reflections of the Count Sobieski when he arose in the
morning from his sleepless pillow. The idea that the letter might
have been delayed afforded him a faint hope, which he cherished all
day, clinging to the expectation of seeing his friend before sunset.
But Somerset did not appear; and obliged to seek an excuse for his
absence, in the supposition of his application having miscarried,
Thaddeus determined to write once more, and to deliver the letter
himself at his friend's door. Accordingly, with emotions different
from those with which he had addressed him a few days before, he
wrote these lines--
"To PEMBROKE SOMERSET, ESQ.,
"If he who once called Thaddeus Sobieski his friend has received a
letter which that exile addressed to him on Friday last, this note
will meet the same neglect. But if this be the first intelligence
that tells Somerset his friend is in town, perhaps he may overlook
that friend's change of fortune; he may visit him in his distress!
who will receive him with open arms, at his humble abode in St.
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