" He then gave
his host his address, which was a country-seat near a post town in the
south of England, and bid him an affectionate farewell.
The mysterious stranger departed; but his words remained impressed upon
the mind of the anxious parent. He lost his lady while his boy was
still in infancy. This calamity, I think, had been predicted by the
astrologer; and thus his confidence, which, like most people of the
period, he had freely given to the science, was riveted and confirmed.
The utmost care, therefore, was taken to carry into effect the severe
and almost ascetic plan of education which the sage had enjoined. A tutor
of the strictest principles was employed to superintend the youth's
education; he was surrounded by domestics of the most established
character, and closely watched and looked after by the anxious father
himself. The years of infancy, childhood, and boyhood, passed as the
father could have wished. A young Nazarene could not have been bred up
with more rigour. All that was evil was withheld from his observation--he
only heard what was pure in precept--he only witnessed what was worthy
in practice.
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