To suppose Alston [1] the author would be preposterous."
"August 23, 1807. My revery was soon broken in upon by the appearance
of Mr. Douglas with a stranger. I should rather have said by two
apparitions; for it was now near nightfall, and Douglas no sooner
appeared than he turned on his heel, saying, 'Colonel Duane, sir,' and
ran down stairs. The surprise of this interruption the stranger, whom
I had never before seen, did not suffer to endure long enough to allow
me to invoke the angels and ministers of grace for my protection. I
was already within the grasp of this Gabriel of the government. He
seized my hand, and bade me dismiss my surprise, however natural it
might be, on his appearance before me. I handed him a chair, and said
'I had lived long enough in this country to be surprised at nothing it
could produce or exhibit, but yet desired to learn from what cause I
had the favour of this visit.' 'Having heard Mr. Douglas observe,'
said he, 'that you would be pleased to see me--' 'Sir, Mr. Douglas has
made a mistake; he must have meant somebody else.' 'No matter,'
continued he; 'having known and seen your present situation, I could
not as a man, as an Irishman' (here he digressed to show me how he
both was and was not an Irishman), 'I would not leave this town
(Richmond) without warning you of the sacrifice now preparing to
appease the government by your friends, of which you are destined to
be the victim.
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