[30] In Melmoth.
[31] In his Beginnings of the English Romantic Movement, p. 108.
[32] Eliza Heywood’s romance, Lasselia: or, the Self-Abandoned, shows a similar portent, as Dr. George Frisbee Whicher notes in his The Life and Romances of Mrs. Eliza Heywood.
Professor Ashley H. Thorndike, in his Tragedy, in speaking of the plays of the Restoration dramatist John Banks (p. 273), says: “Even the portents are reduced to a peculiar decorum:—
“Last night no sooner was I laid to rest
Than just three drops of blood fell from my nose!”
These three drops of blood probably have a much more extended history in romance and the drama, which it would be interesting to trace out.
[33] Regina Maria Roche’s Clermont.
[34] A Sicilian Romance, by Mrs. Radcliffe.
[35] In Zofloya.
[36] In The English Novel, p. 228.