The acquaintance of Hatton, of whom they saw a
great deal, had very much contributed to the increased amenity
of her life. He was a most agreeable, instructive, and
obliging companion; who seemed peculiarly to possess the art
of making life pleasant by the adroit management of
unobtrusive resources. He lent Sybil books; and all that he
recommended to her notice, were of a kind that harmonized with
her sentiment and taste. He furnished her from his library
with splendid works of art, illustrative of those periods of
our history and those choice and costly edifices which were
associated with her fondest thought and fancy. He placed in
her room the best periodical literature of the day, which for
her was a new world; he furnished her with newspapers whose
columns of discussion taught her, that the opinions she had
embraced were not unquestioned: as she had never seen a
journal in her life before, except a stray number of the
"Mowbray Phalanx," or the metropolitan publication which was
devoted to the cause of the National Convention, and reported
her father's speeches, the effect of this reading on her
intelligence was, to say the least, suggestive.
Many a morning too when Gerard was disengaged, Hatton would
propose that they should show Sybil something of the splendour
or the rarities of the metropolis; its public buildings,
museums, and galleries of art.
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