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36 in the side, or the toothache, or something, and must wait for my nurse and perambulator."

"For God's sake, sir," said Gell, "don't talk like that. What do you think best to do? Those miserable fellows have left us, and we can't do much alone, but I am loth to go without having a bang at the monsters."

"If that is your mind, Gell, as it is exactly what I mean to do myself, in God's name let us do our little best. Mind, don't waste a shot."

The guns were already loaded, and thanks to their exquisite mechanism were worked as easily, if not as quickly, by one man as ten. We trained them carefully on the two foremost engines, I gave the word, and we fired simultaneously. Two explosions followed, as the boilers of the two machines blew up together. They were total wrecks, and not only so, but their débris had considerably damaged the economy of their neighbours. Hastily reloading, we demolished two more with our second discharge. The third round I missed my machine, the fourth and fifth Gell missed his. By this time the uninjured machines had approached within two furlongs, and were closing in


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52 turies made their country the greatest and richest in the world. Up to last year it seemed that nothing could destroy our position and prosperity. Where is it now? What has become of the great American nation with its genius, its learning, and its wealth? So far as we know it is gone for ever. But let us remember that those great qualities of union and self-reliance will enable us to do again the noble deeds of our ancestors. Few as we are, we are enough to found a new Jefferson in some other land, and revive, if God will, the glory of our nation elsewhere than in our old home. This is the last Fourth of July we shall spend in our dear country. But though we never see it again, if only we do our duty I feel as certain as I stand here that our sons or grandsons will reconquer this great inheritance which now we have lost, and raise up a new America, greater and nobler, may be, than the old."

So we steamed away, the tears standing on the cheeks of the men and the women, many of them sobbing aloud at quitting the dear homes and graves of their loved and lost. But presently the requirements of practical life overcame this sentimental sor-

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Rh row, and before long all were busy arranging for the comfort and health of the children the sick and the weakly, and finally of themselves. I was on one vessel, Gell on another, a third had been assigned to the orphans, who were in charge of Aurelia, assisted by several good women who had no ties of their own, while the other vessels were placed under the command of the most experienced and trustworthy of the pilots whom I could select. Each steamer towed behind it a barge, containing reserves of provisions sufficient to make us independent of chance supplies for a considerable time.

We had not proceeded far when we discovered to the general consternation that our wary foe was not going to let us escape so easily. He had struck camp, and was following us along the left bank at no great distance behind. At this sight the last sparks of courage that animated our feeble folk died away. Had it not been for the exercise of the sternest discipline I verily believe that our crews would have flung themselves overboard in utter despair. With much difficulty and many threats mingled with persuasion, we prevailed upon these heroes not to commit


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50 the end of the fourth I was almost in despair. But with the dawn of the 25th despair was turned to triumph as I saw Gell's boat, the "Bâton Rouge," steam up with colours flying, followed by six fine vessels of the largest size.

Gell reported that they had found St. Louis quite deserted, the only living thing being a poor little child of six, half starved, who was discovered lying upon the quay, and who had said, crying bitterly, that its father had told it to wait there until he returned. They had brought the little waif with them, and it was much petted by the crew. It was evident that the emigration had taken place a very few days previous. The houses and shops were full of wares, and Gell had very wisely spent a day in loading the vessels with such provisions as seemed most likely to prove useful. More time had been occupied in overhauling the machinery of the steamers, and the best part of twenty four hours had been consumed on the return journey.

And now preparations began in earnest. Orders were sent round the town that each citizen should take on board the vessel to which he was assigned all such


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Broken Necks/Lenin and Wilson Talk Their New Language on Doorstep of Valhalla

The New Ones sit on the doorstep of Valhalla. After their deaths the New Ones make a long trip. And they rest for a time on the doorstep before entering Valhalla.

There sits a man with a short beard. He stares calmly out of the sky. Another man with along face approaches. The long-faced one stops at the step on which the short-bearded one sits. After a pause he spedks.

The Long-Faced One: You are Nikolai Lenin.

The Short-Bearded One: Who?

The Long-Faced One: Nikolai Lenin, the bolshevik premier.

The Short-Bearded One: Perhaps.

The Long-Faced One: Strange you do not recognize me. You must have seen my picture often. It was printed more times than yours. I am Woodrow Wilson. I have had along trip. Is this a place to sit down? Yes, you are Lenin, I recognized you from far away. What are you doing?

The Short-Bearded One: One does only one thing here. One rests. And forgets.

The Long-Faced One: Perhaps you are forgetting the trouble you caused on earth.

The Short-Bearded One: Did I cause trouble? Where?

The Long-Faced One: In Russia. You did something to the Russians.

The Short-Bearded One: Russia—Russians? When I was a boy I went to a place with my grandfather. There were men in black boots and women in red and white dresses. They danced? Perhaps you have seen them, too? No. What trouble was there?

The Long-Faced One: [He stares out of the sky with perplexed eyes] I don’t remember at the moment. But there was trouble of some sort.

The Short-Bearded One: Are you a Russian, Mr. —excuse me, your name? I forget.

The Long-Faced One: Woodrow Wilson. It is dizzy up here, is it not? No, I am not a Russian. I come from France, Lenin.

The Short-Bearded One: And my name, you say, is Lenin? Hm, it does not sound like anything—Lenin...Lenin. Did you cause trouble in France?

The Long-Faced One: Let me see. It was not France. It was somewhere else. There was a great deal of trouble.

The Short-Bearded One: Tell me. What was it happened?

The Long-Faced One: Let me see. I was thinking of you as I came here. And of others. We had a great deal of trouble, but it seems to have passed out of my mind. Do you recall a place named America?

The Short-Bearded One: No.

The Long-Faced One: Perhaps it was America I was from and not France.

The Short-Bearded One: You are tired, my friend. A moment ago you said you were a Russian. Now you speak of other things. It is confusing to remember what one has dreamed. Yesterday there was a man sitting beside me and weeping. When I asked him why he wept, he answered he had forgotten the reason for his weeping.

The Long-Faced One: I wept, too, as I came here. What was I saying about Russia?

The Short-Bearded One: You were telling me they wore black boots and red and white dresses. But it is not important.

The Long-Faced One: No. Something else. Let me see. Oh, yes, there was a war.

The Short-Bearded One: A war? Where?

The Long-Faced One: It is hard to say. There was a great deal of trouble.

[A group of figures have gathered about the two talkers. ]

A Figure Speaks: You, with the long face. You have just come. Tell me where you have come from, and what is this thing of noise I have forgotten?

The Short-Bearded One: Yes. Tellus. There is a story in my head and it keeps falling asleep.

A Figure Speaks: Life. Tell us about it. What isit? A dream still haunts me.

The Short-Bearded One: Tell us, friend. There was a little dream—

The Long-Faced One: It is hard. I knew a little while ago. But now I seem to have lost something. There was a great deal of trouble—

The Figures All Speak: Yes. This trouble, tell us of it. What was it happened? The noisy dream. You have just come from it. You will remember something. Think.

The Long-Faced One: I don’t know. There was some trouble somewhere, and I was init. But it has slipped my mind. May I not sit here with you in silence for a time? Look. There comes one way down the road. He is putting on a sword and helmet. He is weeping and covering his face. Wait—I know who he is. He is a Kaiser, and he had something to do with the trouble. When he arrives we will ask him to tell us.

[They sit and stare at the dim figure moving slowly toward them.]

The Short-Bearded One Whispers: What did you say was my name?

The Long-Faced One: Your name? Let me see. I forget. Yes, I forget your name.

[The Short-Bearded One rises and walks to the towering gate of the Hall. The gate opens and with a smile at those waiting on the doorstep, he steps across the threshhold and vanishes.]


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108 wiser to carry out the best measures that the circumstances will admit, rather than to let things slide because you may fancy that nothing can be of any avail.

The foremost vessel having arrived at a distance of perhaps seven miles from us, slowed down, while her consorts rapidly overhauled her. It was not long before they had all come into line and anxiously we awaited their next move. Meantime I was in complete doubt what to do. If these were European vessels, or cruisers escaped from our country, it was my duty to hoist flags, fire guns, and do all in my power to attract their attention. If on the other hand they were the mis-begotten offspring of our American ports it was a matter of importance by every means to conceal our whereabouts. While in this undecided frame of mind I saw them change their course and bear away to the South. They were evidently leaving us. When the crowd observed that they were getting farther away a long low groan told us that our people looked upon them as saviours, not enemies; and struck with the idea that I might be casting away our one chance of communication with the outer world, I gave orders


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42 THE OLD SPONE MANSION. “He’s not a parson, I'll bet on that; for he looked into the billiard-room, last night, when I was there; and I asked him to play, for all you fellers were dancing and I was deuced hard run——”

“And he played?”

“Yes! and beat me. Beat me easy. He’s somebody, let me tell you; for Senator Clare and the governor both came in, staid till the game was over, and then took him away with them to talk. They wouldn't do that with any of us. I saw them, an hour after, sitting together in the shadow of the piazza. You'd better not be quite so free-and-easy with him, Jones.”

“Who can he be?” cried the young ladies. “Has any one heard his name?”

It is an animated and often amusing sight, when fifty or a hundred persons, of all ages and in every variety of dress, are sporting in the surf: the young shouting with fun and excitement, while the old gravely go through with the bath as if it was the most serious affair in life. One cannot, at first, recognize one’s most intimate acquaintances. The tall, willowy belle of the drawing-room has lost the cloud-like amplitude of lace and muslin, which distinguished her the night before, and is converted into a walking mummy, in red and blue woolen Bloomers; an oil-skin cap on her head, no shoes to her feet, her thin person at the mercy of the breeze. The stately dame, lately compressed into that ‘love of a basque,' is revealed in all her huge proportions, and wallows over the sand, toward the surf, in her yellow-brown bathing-dress, quivering all over like calves-foot jelly. Then the cunning look of the babies!

I had taken a book with me, and after watching the scene awhile, began to read, occasionally looking up to see how Rosalie enjoyed the bath. The little thing was in high glee, and far out among the breakers: where, catching sight of me, she clapped her tiny hands and laughed. I smiled back, and wished, for the moment, I had bathed too; for the waves came rolling in quick and crisp, and everybody was wild with delight. To shut out the temptation I turned again to my book.

Suddenly there was a startling cry. I looked up. The bathers were hurrying in shore: the women screaming; the men pale, but silent With an instinctive fear I searched the crowd for Rosalie and her nurse. They were not to be seen. But I beheld, beyond the breakers, a woman’s form, sinking and struggling; I caught the gleam of a child's golden hair; and I hear the cry, “they are drowning,” repeated by half score of voices, all in one breath. Yet though there were twenty men among the bathers, all were hastening in shore, the boastful Jones leading the terrified pack, and actually treading down helpless females in his way.

I sprang to my feet, and with a wild cry was rushing to the bank, when a strong arm restrained me. It was that of Mr. Talbot.

At any other time his presence would have embarrassed me, but now I thought only of Rosalie.

“Oh! save ber,” I oried, clasping my hands, “save her!”

He seemed to comprehend everything at once. Throwing off his coat, he leaped down the bank, ran swiftly across the beach, denuding himself of cravat and vest as he went; stopped an instant, on the edge of the surf, to remove his shoes: and plunged in. The next moment he was far out among the breakers.

I watched him breathlessly. He reached the nurse just as she was going down for the last time, caught her, and turned to come in. But at that instant, an enormous billow swept over them; and the whole three went under.

Twenty voices were speaking at once. I heard every one of them, and recognized most of the speakers, though I never took my eyes from the breakers. The nurse was being censured by all. She had been warned, one said, not to go out so far, but had disregarded everybody, and had finally got into a hole, and lost her footing, and with it her presence of mind. A current, which ran just outside the breakers, another added. had swept her, in a moment after, far beyond her depth. Mr. Talbot, one of the gentlemen said, was in this current now, and would never get out of it alive, “for I saw the nurse,” he continued, “catch him about the neck as he went down.” A by-stander suggested that if a boat could be launched, something might yet be done. But a dozen voices answered that there were no fishermen about, and that nobody else could steer a boat through the surf: besides, the nearest boat was three hundred yards off. The attempt to save the nurse and child, another declared, had been madness from the first. It was the craven Jones, that spoke, for I recognized his voice.

Hours seemed to elapse while these things were being said. But the drowning persons did not reappear. The great wave, which had carried them under, rashed shorewards, and spent itself at the very feet of the fugitives. Another, and another came racing in. Suddenly, in a trough of the sea, far out, I saw an arm dashed upwards; it held aloft a child’s form, which I recognized as Resalie’s; and it was followed imme-


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XXVI.]

How mightfully soever Hagen on Gelfrat leapt,

The noble margrave parried; and with one stroke he swept

A great piece off his buckler,— that sparks therefrom were shed;

Whereby King Gunther’s vassal was wellnigh stricken dead.

Thereon he unto Dankwart to call aloud began:

“Dear brother, help me quickly! for, lo, a mighty man

Hath got me at his mercy; he’ll make an end of me!”

Then spake the valiant Dankwart: “To that I soon will see.”

Then nearer sprang the hero and struck so fell a blow

With keen edge of his weapon, that dead he laid him low.

Then fain had Else taken some vengeance for the wight;

But he and all his people went off in sorry plight.

His brother had been slaughter’d; himself, too, had a wound;

Full eighty of his warriors lay there upon the ground

In grim Death’s grip forever; needs must the hero then

Turn round and flee for safety before King Gunther’s men.

Now while they of Bavaria along the road did flee,

The horrid sounds of slaughter were heard unceasingly.

So did the men of Tronjé after their foemen chase,

Who of defeat had dreamt not; too soon it came to pass.

And while they still were fleeing, Dankwart the thane call’d out:

“Upon the road right quickly we ought to turn about

And let them run at leisure: all wet they are with blood!

Unto our friends return we; in sooth I deem it good.”


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 THE OLD

s'roun

MANSION.

41

“She must be beautiful then,” laughed his friend, “if, being only a governess, she has attracted you.”

“Not what a fashionable woman would call beautiful; but something more original,” was the reply. “She is dressed in a simple white robe, with wavy brown hair worn in ringlets: from the back of her head; a tall, stately girl, with great, luminous eyes, and a brilliant complexion: a sort of high-souled Diana stepped down from a pedestal.”

I was dizzy with a strange delight. I had not only never heard myself called beautiful before, but had never supposed that I was beautiful.

“You are enthusiastic,” replied Mr. Talbot's friend, in a tone, half banter, half surprise. I must see this paragon.”

“She’s clever, too; clever in the English sense,” continued Mr. Talbot. “Whom do you think I found here, when I arrived this morning? That fellow you defended, when I was opposed to you last.”

‘Not Despencer?” :

“Yes! and passing himself off for an Englishman. I happened to overhear him flirting with a stylish-looking heiress, the daughter, I suspect, of the people who employ this governess. He was romancing grandly about my lord this and my lady that, and doing it, I assure you, in a way to impose on nine out of ten, when this young lady, who sat there quietly knitting, but dreadfully annoyed, as I could see, happened to be appealed to.” And he briefly narrated what I have already told. “When she had done,” he said, “the fellow looked as crest-fallen as he did in the dock. He evidently thought she had heard about him. He caught my eye, afterward; recognized me; and has disappeared, I’ve no doubt, for I don’t see him here tonight. You know he’s a coward.”

“Cursing you heartily,” laughed the other, “for having prevented his trapping an heiress.”

“Precisely. But he’d have been found out, even if I hadn’t come. This Diana of mine would have seen through him before long. If she has culture, as well as intellect and beauty, what a woman she must be!”

“How old is she?”

“That’s the most curious part of all. Apparently about eighteen. Governesses, you know, are generally old and ugly.”

“How do you know she's a governess?”

“I heard one of these old tabby-cats say to her daughter, a bony, sharp-nosed caricature of herself, ‘see what a ridiculous way that girl, the Elliotts’ governess, has her hair dressed in.’ The heiress, I believe, is a Miss Elliott.”

Fortunately, at this juncture, a crowd of young people, came gallopading down the piazza, and availing myself of the noise, I escaped, undetected.

Up to that hour of my life, I had said and believed that a woman ought to be more gratified by praise of her intellect than of her person. I now knew better. For the sweetest words I had ever heard were Mr. Talbot’s declaration that I was beautiful. A tumult of strange, but happy feelings possessed me; I could not remain among the crowd; I stole away to my favorite arbor, at the foot of the lawn, overlooking the sea. There I sat, for quite an hour, in a dreamy, delicious revery, only mechanically hearing the surf breaking on the beach beneath me, and the music of the dancers fitfully rising and falling on the land wind.

When I stole back to the drawing-room, I could not, at first, lift my eyes, and my heart fluttered nervously. But the one I dreaded, yet wished to see, was not there, nor did he reappear for the rest of the evening.

The next morning, Georgiana was out of humor: I suppose at the absence of her admirer. I deferred telling her, therefore, as I had intended, what I had overheard about him. I took a long walk on the beach with Rosalie and her nurse, and when the bathing hour arrived, told my pet I would watch her from the bank, as I did not wish, myself, to go in, that day. I was leaving the hotel, for this purpose, when my steps were arrested, in the doorway, by the crowd of laughing and talking young girls and their admirers, who blocked it up for the moment. All at once I observed that Mr. Talbot was near me. One of the young men, who had, I suppose, picked up an acquaintance with him, asked him if he was going to bathe, and on his replying in the negative, the other added, familiarly,

“Not used to it, eh? Or a little afraid? It’s rough, today, and will take a good bather.”

A quiet smile of contempt was the only answer to this ill-bred speech; then the crowd opened, and I pushed through.

The crowd flocked after me. Ladies in wrappers; gentlemen in bathing hats; nurses carrying children in long flannel night-gowns; a grotesque medley; but every one in high good- humor. A group near me was talking of Mr. Talbot’s refusal.

“Afraid, that’s it,” said his interlocutor. “One of your solemn prigs. Shouldn’t wonder if he was a parson on a ticket of leave.”

At this coarse sally there was a laugh from one or two silly girls. But here another gentleman interposed.


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 Graves said, 'Yes, my Lady, I hope she is;' when just, as we flattered ourselves, that the dear little creature was enjoying a quiet sleep, Miss Graves called out, 'Oh, my Lady! my Lady! Julie's in a fit!' and when I turned round she was lying on her back, kicking, with her eyes shut." And here the Marchioness detected Mr. Grey, and gave him as fashionable a stare as might be expected from a Lady Patroness of Almack's.

"The Marchioness—Mr. Vivian Grey—My love, I assure you we're engaged in a most important, a most"

"Oh! my life, I wouldn't disturb you for the world, only if you will just tell me what you think ought to be done; leeches, or a warm bath; or shall I send for Doctor Blue Pill?""

The Marquess looked a little annoyed, as if he wished her Ladyship—in her own room again. He was almost meditating a gentle reprimand, vexed that his grave young friend

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 should have witnessed this frivolous intrusion, when that accomplished stripling, to the astonishment of the future minister, immediately recommended "the warm bath," and a few grains of "mustard seed," and then lectured with equal rapidity and erudition, on dogs, and their diseases in general.

The Marchioness retired, "easier in her mind about Julie, than she had been for some days," as Vivian assured her "that it was not apoplexy, but only the first symptom of an epidemic." And as she retired, she murmured her gratitude most gracefully to Julie's young physician, and her prime minister, the parrot, on her left shoulder, at the same time cackled a compliment.

"Now, Mr. Grey," said his Lordship, endeavouring to recover his dignity, "we were discussing the public sentiments, you know, on a certain point, when this unfortunate interruption—"

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 Vivian had not much difficulty in collecting his ideas, and he proceeded, not as displeased as his Lordship, with the domestic scena.

"I need not remind your Lordship, that the two great parties into which this State is divided, are apparently very unequally proportioned. Your Lordship well knows how the party to which your Lordship is said to belong, your Lordship knows, I imagine, how that is constituted. We have nothing to do with the other. My Lord, I must speak out. No thinking man,—and such, I trust, Vivian Grey is,—no thinking man can for a moment suppose, that your Lordship's heart is very warm in the cause of a party, which—for I will not mince my words—has betrayed you. How is it, it is asked by thinking men, how is it that the Marquess of Carabas is—the tool of a faction?"

The Marquess breathed loud, "they say so, do they?"

"Why, ray Lord, listen even to your

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 in your own hall—need I say more? How, then! is this opinion true? Let us look to your conduct to the party, to which you are said to belong. Your votes are theirs, your influence is theirs; and for all this, what return, my Lord Marquess, what return? My Lord, I am not rash enough to suppose, that your Lordship, alone and unsupported, can make yourself the arbiter of this country's destinies. It would be ridiculous to entertain such an idea for a second. The existence of such a man would not be endured by the nation for a second. But, my Lord, union is strength. Nay, my Lord, start not—I am not going to advise you to throw yourself into the arms of opposition; leave such advice for greenhorns. I am not going to advise you to adopt a line of conduct, which would, for a moment, compromise the consistency of your high character; leave such advice for fools. My Lord, it is to preserve your consistency, it is to vindicate your high

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 THE

OLD

STONE

MANSION.

sometimes experience, I felt, at that moment, that a third party was listening to this episode. I glanced aside, and sure enough, in a deep arm-chair, half concealed by the lace curtains of the window, there sat a gentleman, who, though apparently absorbed in a book before him, wore such a quiet, significant smile on his face, that I knew he had overheard us. I was annoyed, for I had a suspicion he was silently laughing at the warmth of my retort. Just then he rose from his seat, and his eyes, as he turned away, rested on me for an instant. I felt the blood rush to my brow. He evidently saw my mortification, for he looked immediately toward Georgiane and her admirer; and the latter, now first observing him, turned white as ashes.

Somehow, for the rest of that day, I could not get this stranger out of my mind. I had seen him only for a second; but I knew his every feature, and the air with which he carried himself. A massive head, eagle eyes, a mouth firm as a martyr’s, o lofty manner, a powerful frame: intellect, strength and manliness; these were the qualities he impressed me as possessing beyond any other man I had ever seen.

CHAPTER IV.

That night there was a ‘hop.” Strange to say, for the first time in my life, I was fastidious about my dress. But as I had only a white muslin and blue barege, to choose from, I was not long in coming to a decision. I selected the former. My hair was dressed a la Grecque. Before going downstairs, I went into my cousin’s room, to see if I could assist her. She was in high good-humor, having on a new and beautifully fitting dress; and looked at me in unaffected surprise.

“Why, Maggy,” she cried, “you are really charming. You always dress so old-maidish, that one doesn’t know how pretty you grow. There, child, I declare, I’ve brought quite a color to your cheeks. Isn’t she improved, ma?”

My aunt, stiff in moire antique, was drawing her gloves on her fat, pudgy hands. She glanced at me and replied,

“Your cousin will always be odd, Georgy. See how she has dressed her hair.”

I knew, from the tone, that my aunt was displeased; perhaps thought my coiffure pretentious; and the pleasure of the evening was spoilt.

Nobody spoke to me for a long while. I sat on a chair, in one corner, and watched the matrons gossiping in groups, and their daughters whirling around in the waltz; all seemed enjoying themselves: I only was unhappy. After a while, an elderly, single lady came up, who lived on gossip.

“I don’t see Miss Elliott’s English beau,” she said. “Somebody told me, too, he left this afternoon. Do you know anything about it?”

I had not heard of his departure, and was surprised; for he had expected to remain several weeks longer. But I was so indignant at this impertinent attempt to elicit information regarding Georgiana’s affairs, that I suppressed my curiosity to learn what my companion knew, changed the conversation, and directly after rose and left her.

The atmosphere, in the drawing-room, was se heated, that I passed out into the piazza, which running the whole length of the hotel, was used for a public promenade, especially on evenings It was now almost as crowded as the drawing. room, for a waltz had just been finished, and the dancers were parading, two and two, up and down, gayly chatting and laughing. Having no one to walk with, I stopped at a chair near one of the windows, so that I could look in. I had scarcely taken my seat, when I saw the gentleman, who had overheard our conversation ‘in the morning, cross the room to speak to an acquaintance, who was concealed behind the curtains of the window, outside of which I sat. After mutual expressions of delight and sur- prise, at meeting each other unexpectedly at this place, the latter said,

“There are some pretty girls here, Talbot. Are you dancing?”

“Dancing,” answered my silent critic of the morning, “isn’t much in my line; and besides I know nobody as yet.”

“Precisely my case. I ran down here, for a day or two, merely because it was near. Generally I go to Newport, as you do. But I understand Gov. Bright, Senator Clare, Col. Howard, and others whom we know are here; and they’ll introduce us.”’

“To tell the truth,” replied he, who had been called Talbot, “I don’t see any faces here that interest me, except one.”

“Who is she?”

“Who she is I can’t say. A governess, I believe. But what she is, you can judge for yourself. She is sitting yonder, in that corner. No,” he added, in a still lower tone, as he glanced across the room, “she has disappeared.”

I was within two feet of the speaker, separated from him only by the wall, and heard every word distinctly. My first impulse was to rise. But to have done this would have attracted his attention. I was compelled, therefore, to remain, though my cheeks tingled.


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 character, it is to make the Marquess of Carabas perform the duties which society requires from him, that I, Vivian Grey, a member of that society, and an humble friend of your Lordship, speak so boldly.""

"My friend," said the agitated Peer, "you cannot speak too boldly. My mind opens to you. I have felt, I have long felt, that I was not what I ought to be, that I was not what society requires me to be:—but where is your remedy, what is the line of conduct that I should pursue?"

"The remedy, my Lord! I never conceived, for a moment, that there was any doubt of the existence of means to attain all and every thing. I think that was your Lordship's phrase. I only hesitated as to the existence of the inclination, on the part of your Lordship."

"You cannot doubt it now," said the Peer, in a low voice; and then his Lordship looked anxiously round the room, as if he feared that

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 there had been some mysterious witness to his whisper.

"My Lord," said Vivian, and he drew his chair close to the Marquess, "the plan is shortly this. There are others in a similar situation with yourself. All thinking men know,—your Lordship knows still better,—that there are others equally influential—equally ill-treated. How is it that I see no concert among these individuals? How is it that, jealous of each other, or each trusting that he may ultimately prove an exception to the system of which he is a victim; how is it, I say, that you look with cold hearts on each other"s situations? My Lord Marquess, it is at the head of these that I would place you; it is these that I would have act with you—and this is the union which is strength."

"You are right, you are right; there is Courtown, but we do not speak. There is Beaconsfield, but we are not intimate,—but much might be done."

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 "My Lord, you must not be daunted at a few difficulties, or at a little exertion. But as for Courtown, or Beaconsfield, or fifty other offended men, if it can be shown to them that their interest is to be your Lordship's friend, trust me, that ere six months are over, they will have pledged their troth. Leave all this to me—give me your Lordship's name," said Vivian, whispering most earnestly in the Marquess's ear, and laying his hand upon his Lordship's arm—"give me your Lordship's name, and your Lordship's influence, and I will take upon myself the whole organization of the ."

"The Carabas party!—Ah! we must think more of this."—

The Marquess's eyes smiled with triumph, as he shook Vivian cordially by the hand, and begged him to call upon him on the morrow.

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 only remaining member of the domestic circle who was wanting, was the Honourable Mrs. Felix Lorraine, the wife of the Marquess's younger brother. This lady, exhausted by the gaiety of the season, had left town somewhat earlier than she usually did, and was inhaling fresh air, and of course studying botany, at the magnificent seat of the Carabas family,, at which splendid place Vivian was to pass the summer.

Mr. Grey watched the movements of his son with an anxious, but apparently with no curious eye. "If the Marquess will give my son a good place, why Master Vivian's new system works rather better than I conceived it would; but how the young knave hath so managed, shall I say? the old fool,—does, I confess, puzzle my philosophy."

Alas! when Mr. Grey jocosely used the phrase, "new system," he was little aware of the workings of his son's mind. But so it is

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 in life; a father is, perhaps, the worst judge of his son's capacity. He knows too much—and too little.

In the meantime, as we before stated, all was sunshine with Vivian Grey. His noble friend and himself were in perpetual converse, and constantly engaged in deep consultation. As yet, the world knew nothing, except that, according to the Marquess of Carabas, "Vivian Grey was the most astonishingly clever and prodigiously accomplished fellow that ever breathed." And as the Marquess always added, "resembled himself very much when he was young."

But it must not be supposed, that Vivian was to all the world the fascinating creature that he was to the Marquess of Carabas. Many complained that he was reserved, silent, satirical, and haughty. But the truth was, Vivian Grey often asked himself, "who is to be my enemy to-morrow?" He was too cunning

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68 finds my story quite incredible. Please tell him the real state of things."

"The real state of things? Well first, there is not a man woman or child in the city of New Orleans. Secondly, excepting ourselves, there is not to the best of my belief a man woman or child in the whole of the States. Thirdly, by to-morrow night, if he chooses to stay here he will be the only human being left on this Continent. We have got the vessels ready, Sir, and propose to light the fires at once, with your approval."

"Right, William; you had best let the vessels drop down to the creek as soon as they can start, and we will get our folks on board the first thing to-morrow morning."

The Lieutenant was evidently staggered by the vigorous confirmation Gell had given to my story. But judging it best to let him see for himself I took the boat to the nearest wharf, where we landed and walked through street after street in perfect silence. I noticed that he seemed to be in search of some particular house, which he could not easily find. At last following him we turned into a quiet road which


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 a master of the human mind, not to be aware of the quicksands upon which all greenhorns strike;—he knew too well the danger of unnecessary intimacy. is the way to govern mankind, and such was the motto of Vivian Grey.

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Rh yard further. I replied coolly, "Why, sir, I intended to take you first to see our fugitives, who would have told you the same tale as I. But if you are afraid of a trap we will go to the city first, then you will be amply satisfied. Pull up stream, men;" and I turned the boat's head and we proceeded towards the town. As we neared the wharves we passed the two vessels on which our engineers were hammering away at the machinery.

"So much for your story," said the officer; "why you told us just now there was not a man left in New Orleans, or in the United States, I think you said. And I hear workmen busy on board the first vessel we come to."

"Yes," said I, "we have sent them on board to get them ready for our flight. Would you like to ask them yourself?" So saying we drew alongside the ironclad, hailed it, and William Gell looked over the bulwarks.

"Gell" I cried in answer to his look of surprise, "this is Lieut. Danvers, commanding the U. S. sloop of war 'Roanoke.' I have told him of the deplorable condition of this city and the whole country. He


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66 The tale we had to tell was of so extraordinary a character that I cannot be surprised that Lieut. Danvers, his officers, and men entirely declined to listen to us. That the Continent they had left so short a time before teeming with humanity should have been completely depopulated, and that by a horde of steam-engines, seemed to them so ridiculous a story that they were uncertain whether to tar and feather us for rogues and liars, or to clap us into irons for lunatics. At last becoming nettled at their incredulity I said, "Well, Lieutenant, come and see for yourself." After a short conference with the others he entered a boat accompanied by three or four of his crew, each of them with a revolver stuck ostentatiously into his belt, for the truth was they suspected some trick, and that we were going to take them into an ambuscade of smugglers or pirates.

We rowed towards the creek where our vessels lay. I noticed Lieut. Danvers fingering his revolver as we approached the suspicious looking spot, but when on a sudden he caught sight of our vessels between the trees that masked them, he drew it and presenting it at my head vowed he would shoot me if we rowed a


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Rh , as they served to occupy our minds, and prevent them from dwelling on the graver aspects of our past and future. Steering thence for the Sandwich Islands we encountered a cyclone which caused us much anxiety and some damage, but in spite of all misadventures we arrived safely at our destination six weeks after leaving the mouth of the Mississippi.

We found our new home as wild an any of the desert islands discovered by our early explorers. Here too the race of man seemed to be extinct. What miracle had happened to depopulate all quarters of the globe at once? Were we destined to be only the last devoured by the Cyclops? Yet here indeed the natural process of deterioration may have accounted for an extinction which it would surely have produced in a few years. At all events the absence of natives or other whites than ourselves simplified a good many problems that I had foreseen as likely to arise.

It was the 4th of September 1949, that we dropped anchor in a deep land-locked bay. Every soul was on deck, even our friend the President, to witness the landing of the relics of the ancient world on the soil


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Rh to see the children after their long confinement on board revelling in the luxury of their mother nature, and at the same time eagerly helping their parents and elder brothers at their work. Such a camping out never was.

We were rather hasty in fixing upon this spot for our home, as soon appeared by the scarcity of water, and after a few days we again shipped our passengers and sailed round the island in search of the town of Honolulu. When we found it we were much surprised that, although there could be no mistake about the spot, of habitations there was no sign. A few months had sufficed, with the aid of the luxuriant vegetation, to obliterate all trace of what had once been a thriving port. It needed however but a few weeks' hard labour to restore it to something not unlike its former appearance and to something more than its former prosperity, if prosperity is to be reckoned by the virtue and happiness of the citizens. Our early trials and struggles were much like those of any other Colonists of a new country, and I do not propose to dwell upon them. Without any formal sanction except the general consent I governed the


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ASEAN Human Rights Declaration

ASEAN Human Rights Declaration

We, the Heads of State/ Government of the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (hereinafter referred to as “ASEAN”), namely Brunei Darussiam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, on the occasion of the 21st ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

REAFFIRMING our adherence to the purposes and principles of ASEAN as enshrined in the ASEAN Charter, in particular the respect for and promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as the principles of democracy, the rule of law and good governance.

REAFIRMING FURTHER our commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Charter of the United Nations, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and other international human rights instruments to which ASEAN Member States are parties;

REAFFIRMING ALSO the importance of ASEAN’s efforts in promoting human right, including the Declaration of the Advancement of Women in the ASEAN Region and the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women in the ASEAN Region.

CONVINCED that this Declaration will help establish a framework for human right cooperation in the region and contribute to the ASEAN community building process;

HEREBY DECLARE AS FOLLOWS:

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

1. All persons are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of humanity.

2. Every person is entitled to the rights and freedoms set forth herein, without distinction of any kind, such as race, gender, age, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, economic status, birth, disability or other status.

3. Every person has the right of recognition everywhere as a person before the law. Every person is equal before the law. Every person is entitled without discrimination to equal protection of the law.

4. The rights of women, children, the elderly, persons with disabilities, migrant workers, and vulnerable and marginalised groups are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

5. Every person has the right to an effective and enforceable remedy, to be determined by a court or other competent authorities, for acts violating the rights granted to that person by the constitution or by law.

6. The enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms must be balanced with the performance of corresponding duties as every person has responsibilities to all other individuals, the community and the society where one lives. It is ultimately the primary responsibility of all ASEAN Member States to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

7. All human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. All human rights and fundamental freedoms in this Declaration must be treated in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing and with the same emphasis. At the same time, the realisation of human rights must be considered in the regional and national context bearing in mind different political, economic, legal, social, cultural, historical and religious backgrounds.

8. The human rights and fundamental freedoms of every person shall be exercised with due regard to the human rights and fundamental freedoms of others. The exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of others, and to meet the just requirements of national security, public order, public health, public safety, public morality, as well as the general welfare of the peoples in a democratic society.

9. In the realisation of the human rights and freedoms contained in this Declaration, the principles of impartiality, objectivity, non-selectivity, non-discrimination, nonconfrontation and avoidance of double standards and politicisation, should always be upheld. The process of such realisation shall take into account peoples’ participation, inclusivity and the need for accountability.

CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS

10. ASEAN Member States affirm all the civil and political rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Specifically, ASEAN Member States affirm the following rights and fundamental freedoms:

11. Every person has an inherent right to life which shall be protected by law. No person shall be deprived of life save in accordance with law.

12. Every person has the right to personal liberty and security. No person shall be subject to arbitrary arrest, search, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty.

13. No person shall be held in servitude or slavery in any of its forms, or be subject to human smuggling or trafficking in persons, including for the purpose of trafficking in human organs.

14. No person shall be subject to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

15. Every person has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State. Every person has the right to leave any country including his or her own, and to return to his or her country.

16. Every person has the right to seek and receive asylum in another State in accordance with the laws of such State and applicable international agreements.

17. Every person has the right to own, use, dispose of and give that person’s lawfully acquired possessions alone or in association with others. No person shall be arbitrarily deprived of such property.

18. Every person has the right to a nationality as prescribed by law. No person shall be arbitrarily deprived of such nationality nor denied the right to change that nationality.

19. The family as the natural and fundamental unit of society is entitled to protection by society and each ASEAN Member State. Men and women of full age have the right to marry on the basis of their free and full consent, to found a family and to dissolve a marriage, as prescribed by law.

20. (1) Every person charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a fair and public trial, by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal, at which the accused is guaranteed the right to defence.
 * (2) No person shall be held guilty of any criminal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed and no person shall suffer greater punishment for an offence than was prescribed by law at the time it was committed.
 * (3) No person shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an offence for which he or she has already been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law and

penal procedure of each ASEAN Member State.

21. Every person has the right to be free from arbitrary interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence including personal data, or to attacks upon that person’s honour and reputation. Every person has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

22. Every person has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. All forms of intolerance, discrimination and incitement of hatred based on religion and beliefs shall be eliminated.

23. Every person has the right to freedom of opinion and expression, including freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information, whether orally, in writing or through any other medium of that person’s choice.

24. Every person has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly.

25. (1) Every person who is a citizen of his or her country has the right to participate in the government of his or her country, either directly or indirectly through democratically elected representatives, in accordance with national law.
 * (2) Every citizen has the right to vote in periodic and genuine elections, which should be by universal and equal suffrage and by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors, in accordance with national law.

ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

26. ASEAN Member States affirm all the economic, social and cultural rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Specifically, ASEAN Member States affirm the following:

27. (1) Every person has the right to work, to the free choice of employment, to enjoy just, decent and favourable conditions of work and to have access to assistance schemes for the unemployed.
 * (2) Every person has the right to form trade unions and join the trade union of his or her choice for the protection of his or her interests, in accordance with national laws and regulations.
 * (3) No child or any young person shall be subjected to economic and social exploitation. Those who employ children and young people in work harmful to their morals or health, dangerous to life, or likely to hamper their normal development, including their education should be punished by law. ASEAN Member States should also set age limits below which the paid employment of child labour should be prohibited and punished by law.

28. Every person has the right to an adequate standard of living for himself or herself and his or her family including:
 * a. The right to adequate and affordable food, freedom from hunger and access to safe and nutritious food;
 * b. The right to clothing;
 * c. The right to adequate and affordable housing;
 * d. The right to medical care and necessary social services;
 * e. The right to safe drinking water and sanitation;
 * f. The right to a safe, clean and sustainable environment.

29. (1) Every person has the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical, mental and reproductive health, to basic and affordable health-care services, and to have access to medical facilities.
 * (2) The ASEAN Member States shall create a positive environment in overcoming stigma, silence, denial and discrimination in the prevention, treatment, care and support of people suffering from communicable diseases, including HIV/AIDS.

30. (1) Every person shall have the right to social security, including social insurance where available, which assists him or her to secure the means for a dignified and decent existence.
 * (2) Special protection should be accorded to mothers during a reasonable period as determined by national laws and regulations before and after childbirth. During such period, working mothers should be accorded paid leave or leave with adequate social security benefits.
 * (3) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. Every child, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

31. (1) Every person has the right to education.

 * (2) Primary education shall be compulsory and made available free to all. Secondary education in its different forms shall be available and accessible to all through every appropriate means. Technical and vocational education shall be made generally available. Higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
 * (3) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and the sense of his or her dignity. Education shall strengthen the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in ASEAN Member States. Furthermore, education shall enable all persons to participate effectively in their respective societies, promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial and religious groups, and enhance the activities of ASEAN for the maintenance of peace.

32. Every person has the right, individually or in association with others, to freely take part in cultural life, to enjoy the arts and the benefits of scientific progress and its applications and to benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or appropriate artistic production of which one is the author.

33. ASEAN Member States should take steps, individually and through regional and international assistance and cooperation, especially economic and technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realisation of economic, social and cultural rights recognised in this Declaration.

34. ASEAN Member States may determine the extent to which they would guarantee the economic and social rights found in this Declaration to non-nationals, with due regard to human rights and the organisation and resources of their respective national economies.

RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT

35. The right to development is an inalienable human right by virtue of which every human person and the peoples of ASEAN are entitled to participate in, contribute to, enjoy and benefit equitably and sustainably from economic, social, cultural and political development. The right to development should be fulfilled so as to meet equitably the developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations. While development facilitates and is necessary for the enjoyment of all human rights, the lack of development may not be invoked to justify the violations of internationally recognised human rights.

36. ASEAN Member States should adopt meaningful people-oriented and gender responsive development programmes aimed at poverty alleviation, the creation of conditions including the protection and sustainability of the environment for the peoples of ASEAN to enjoy all human rights recognised in this Declaration on an equitable basis, and the progressive narrowing of the development gap within ASEAN.

37. ASEAN Member States recognise that the implementation of the right to development requires effective development policies at the national level as well as equitable economic relations, international cooperation and a favourable international economic environment. ASEAN Member States should mainstream the multidimensional aspects of the right to development into the relevant areas of ASEAN community building and beyond, and shall work with the international community to promote equitable and sustainable development, fair trade practices and effective international cooperation.

RIGHT TO PEACE

38. Every person and the peoples of ASEAN have the right to enjoy peace within an ASEAN framework of security and stability, neutrality and freedom, such that the rights set forth in this Declaration can be fully realised. To this end, ASEAN Member States should continue to enhance friendship and cooperation in the furtherance of peace, harmony and stability in the region.

COOPERATION IN THE PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

39. ASEAN Member States share a common interest in and commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms which shall be achieved through, inter alia, cooperation with one another as well as with relevant national, regional and international institutions / organisations, in accordance with the ASEAN Charter.

40. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to perform any act aimed at undermining the purposes and principles of ASEAN, or at the destruction of any of the rights and fundamental freedoms set forth in this Declaration and international human rights instruments to which ASEAN Member States are parties.

Adopted by the Heads of State/Government of ASEAN Member States at Phnom Penh, Cambodia, this Eighteenth Day of November in the Year Two Thousand and Twelve, in one single original copy in the English Language.

November 19th, 2012

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THE

OLD MANSION.

39

jewelry a magniﬁcent cameo ring. He had a low, exquisitely modulated voice, which it was a pleasure to listen to, irrespective of the words he uttered. Few men had equal tact in conversation. He seemed to read character intuitively, and talked accordingly. With Georgiana his conversation was principally of the great people whom he knew abroad. To believe him, he was intimate with Lord John Russell, then prime minister of Great Britain; knew Louis Napoleon, just elected Prince President, intimately; had drunk Johannisberg at Metternich’s own table; had been invited to Russia, on some secret, but important business, of Nicholas; and was possessed of the entree of every court in Europe. As to the aristocracy of England, from the Dukes of Norfolk and Devonshire down, he pretended to be either personally acquainted with them, or to know from reliable hearsay, all about them. He certainly had a fund of anecdote and gossip, especially respecting the female members of the British nobility, which, if not true, was, at least, amusing. I used to hear him discourse, by the hour, on those themes; for they were favorite ones with Georgiana; and, somehow, he always happened to lounge into the parlor, about noon, when everybody except my cousin and myself was either bathing or sleeping. I soon began to suspect that he was a mere adventurer. Georgiana, however, did not think so. More than once we had a warm discussion regarding him.

“I’ve no patience with you, Margaret,” she said, one day. “How could Mr. Despencer know so much about the British nobility, if he was not one of their set? Then his voice. It is the very ideal of a ﬁnished English gentleman’s."

“His voice is well modulated, I admit," was my reply. “But I miss the drawl which is said to he conventional in the upper circles of English Society "

“Oh! it’s only the fops that have that," quickly interposed my cousin.

“Possibly. But to go back to his knowledge of the nobility. He has only to study Burke’s Peerage, of which even you have a copy."

Georgiana was quite indignant. She still insisted, however, that I should continue to play propriety for her, by being in the drawing-room, in the mornings, while she ﬂirted with her admirer; and as the bathing hour had arrived, and everybody was going to the beach, she gave as last look in the mirror at her becoming morning dress, for this conversation happened in her room. Then she lounged downstairs, book in hand. I was provoked, for I wished to look at the bathers, especially as Rosalie was to go in, with her nurse. I felt my indignation increase, while I listened to the fulsome compliments which her admirer paid to my cousin, particularly when he said that she reminded him of the Lady Clementina Villiers, with whom he had danced at Almacks the preceding winter. I sat nervously knitting my purse, eager to speak my mind; and at last an opportunity offered. The talk fell on manner, which the gentleman pronounced an infallible test of high breeding, “and which,” he said, with a bow, “you have in perfection, Miss Elliott.”

Georgiana blushed, simpered, and to cover her confusion, turned her fan toward me, saying, “My cousin, here, goes so far as to assert that one can tell, by the accent, what particular nation and province a stranger belongs to.” Her admirer could do nothing less, at this, than turn toward me. He had seen me, I have no doubt, a score of times; but had never condescended to be aware, by any visible sign, that I existed. Now, however, he smiled blandly, saying,

“Ah! Miss, I fear you are a critic. But let us put your penetration to a test. Come now: in what part of England was I born?"

There was a latent sneer under his assumption of deference and admiration; and I answered bluntly,

“Indeed, sir, you are a sphinx. You don’t talk like a cockney, for instance. And it can’t be said of you, as a pert Oxonian wrote back to his college, the day after he had dined at a great London nabob’s, ‘we had all the delicacies of the season at table, except the letter h.’ Nor have you the silly drawl which I've been told the upper classes have affected till it has grown to be a second habit. Nor the Yorkshire accent, for Mr. Elliott’s coachman is a Yorkshireman; and he doesn’t pronounce as you do. I heard a Gloucestershire man, only the other day; and you‘re not a Gloucestershire man. In fact," said I, looking at him with a sudden suspicion, called up by this discussion, “you talk precisely like any ordinary New Yorker.”

To my surprise, he shot a quick look of inquiry at me, and colored in embarrassment. But it was only for a moment. He forced a laugh and answered gayly,

“Well done. You literary ladies, after all, beat our sex in the delicacy of your compliments. To be an educated American and an educated Englishman, Miss Elliott," he said, bowing to Georgiana, “is to be precisely the same thing."

By one of those strange instincts, which we


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 style of welcome usually given to the best fellow in the world.' As I had brought a letter of introduction to him from a friend in Italy, Lady Blessington introduced me particularly, and we had a long conversation about Naples and its pleasant society.

"Bulwer's head is phrenologically a fine one. His forehead retreats very much, but is very broad and well marked, and the whole air is that of decided mental superiority. His nose is aquiline. His complexion is fair, his hair profuse, curly, and of a light auburn. A more good-natured, habitually-smiling expression could hardly be imagined. Perhaps my impression is an imperfect one, as he was in the highest spirits, and was not serious the whole evening for a minute—but it is strictly and faithfully my impression.

"I can imagine no style of conversation calculated to be more agreeable than Bulwer's. Gay, quick, various, half-satirical, and always fresh and different from every body else, he seemed to talk because he could not help it, and infected every body with his spirits. I cannot give even the substance of it in a letter, for it was in a great measure local or personal.

"Bulwer's voice, like his brother's, is exceedingly lover-like and sweet. His playful tones are quite delicious, and his clear laugh is the soul of sincere and careless merriment.

"It is quite impossible to convey in a letter, scrawled literally between the end of a late visit and a tempting pillow, the evanescent and pure spirit of a conversation of wits. I must confine myself, of course, in such


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Rh scathing words and issued from the hall like a whipped puppy. When the last was gone and she was left alone, she suddenly bethought herself of the danger we might incur by delay, rushed to the bridge, and arrived just in time to save us from the death prepared for us not by a remorseless foe, but by our friends.

Meanwhile, we were standing on the further bank, a great gap yawning between us and safety. The engines were bearing down on us fast. What was to be done?

"Gell," said I, "you must swim across. You can do it. The river is wide, and you know I can't swim twenty yards."

"God strike me dead if I leave you," he replied.

"You must," I replied. "Give my love to Aurelia. There must be one man left, if only to protect her. Your hand, William. There is no other way."

"No other way? But there is! See yonder."

I looked. A boat manned by one person, and that a girl, was making its painful way across the swift current. Borne onward for a few yards, then whirled round by an eddy, and ever and anon seemingly on


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 sketches, to the mere sentiment of things that concern general literature and ourselves.

The Rejected Addresses' got upon his crutches about three o'clock in the morning, and I made my exit with the rest, thanking Heaven that, though in a strange country, my mother tongue was the language of its men of genius.

"Letter June 14, 1834. I was at Lady Blessington's at eight. Moore had not arrived, but the other persons of the party—a Russian count, who spoke all the languages of Europe as well as his own; a Roman banker, whose dynasty is more powerful than the Pope's; a clever English nobleman, and the 'observed of all observers,' Count D'Orsay, stood in the window upon the park, killing, as they might, the melancholy twilight half hour preceding dinner.

"Dinner was announced, the Russian handed down 'miladi,' and I found myself seated opposite Moore, with a blaze of light on his Bacchus head, and the mirrors with which the superb octagonal room is panelled reflecting every motion The soup vanished in the busy silence that beseems it, and as the courses commenced their procession, Lady Blessington led the conversation with the brilliancy and ease for which she is remarkable over all the women I ever met

"O'Connell was mentioned.

He is a powerful creature,' said Moore; 'but his eloquence has done great harm both to England and Ireland. There is nothing so powerful as oratory. The faculty of "thinking on his legs" is a tremendous engine


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42 the point of swamping, it yet forged through the boiling waters until it gained the smooth shallows under our bank. Need I say that the pilot was my brave Aurelia?

We leapt on board, only just in time to escape the rush of the foremost engine. Gell, who had picked up a rifle, aimed at the monster, fired, and sent the bullet only too truly into the boiler. For there issued from the shot-hole, just as it exploded, such a jet of boiling water and steam as to scald us severely even fifty yards away.

We took the oars, and the intrepid girl whose strength and nerve had been so sorely tried sank in the stern sheets. A few minutes more and we landed in safety among the crowds of our fellow citizens who had flocked to our welcome. But we could feel little kindness, though much pity, for the ignoble men, who too cowardly to defend themselves had been so ready to sacrifice their defenders, and received their congratulations in silence, and with eyes fixed on the ground, as we walked up the thronging street. At last a little girl of about seven years put her small hand in mine, and said, simply: "Thank you, sir, so much!"


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44 few shots, but without effect.

To calm the general nervousness, I determined to get together a meeting of the Town Council. First we called upon the Mayor, but found he had fled, whither was not known, but it was supposed by boat. Going to the houses of the other councillors we were met by the same intelligence. Pretty shepherds these, to quit their flock at the approach of danger!

At all events I would not desert these poor helpless sheep while I could be of any use to them. Mounting the steps of the Council Hall, I took off my hat and motioned for silence.

"Citizens," I said, "we are met in the presence of a great and terrible danger. I have to announce that your chosen magistrates, the Mayor and Councillors, have deserted their posts and run away in the night. Well, if they were afraid, we are well rid of them. Better they should be out of the city than here to paralyse all efforts for the safety of the citizens. But there is no time for forms and ceremonies. If there is any man among you who thinks it is in him to save his fellow-townsfolk, in God's name let him come forward and let us make him our leader, our dictator,


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, crack—crack, crack—crack, crack—so this is Paris! quoth I (continuing in the same mood)—and this is Paris!—humph!—Paris! cried I, repeating the name the third time

The first, the finest, the most brilliant

—The streets however are nasty;

But it looks, I suppose, better than it smells—crack, crack—crack, crack—What a fuss thou makest!—as is it concern'd the good people to be inform'd, That a man with pale face,


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46 "Those who are NOT willing to obey me, hold up their hands."

Not one.

"Citizens," said I for the last time, "you have unanimously chosen me your leader and dictator to meet the present peril. God only knows whether I shall be permitted to rescue you, or whether we are fated all to perish together. I may be compelled to do things that seem harsh or unjust, but remember that you have sworn to obey. And for my part I swear that as long as you will obey me I will never desert you. Now, go all of you to your homes, and provide everything you need for a journey; clothes, provisions, cooking gear, and all else. We know not how soon we may be obliged to march!"

I stepped back among the granite columns of the portico and passed into the lonely Council-chamber while the crowd dispersed. My next action was one which would have been ridiculed by most of my fellow citizens, but which, writing for posterity, I need not be ashamed to confess here. I walked into the Cathedral church of the Episcopalians, and there, before the sculptured figure of Him who died to save


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 and clad in black, had the honour to be driven into Paris at nine o'clock at night, by a postilion in a tawny yellow jerkin turned up with red calamanco—crack, crack—crack, crack—crack, crack—I wish thy whip

But 'tis the spirit of thy nation; so crack—crack on.

Ha!—and no one gives the wall!—but in the of  herself, if the walls are besh-t—how can you do otherwise?

And prithee when do they light the lamps? What?—never in the summer months!—Ho! 'tis the time of sallads.—O rare! sallad and soup—soup and sallad—sallad and soup, encore


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48 the moment of my election I had determined that our only hope of safety lay in flight. I had seen enough of the morale of our citizens to know that any attempt to engage in conflict with the enemy could only end in disaster. The flight must be an orderly, well-organised exodus, and above all I must persuade each and every man that salvation was only possible by union and combination. As I proposed to remove every man woman and child in the city it seemed to me that the river offered our sole chance of escape. A cross-country journey in waggons would be so replete with hardships that putting aside the terrible risk of total annihilation by the foe, a large proportion of our caravan would inevitably perish on the road. Where again should we obtain a sufficient supply of horses to remove even our diminished population?

I reckoned that at the least six large river steamers would be required to convey us, allowing sufficient


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 'Tis too much for sinners.

Now I cannot bear the barbarity of it; how can that unconscionable coachman talk so much bawdy to that lean horse? don't you see, friend, the streets are so villainously narrow, that there is not room in all Paris to turn a wheel-barrow? In the grandest city of the whole world, in would not have been amiss, if they had been left a thought wider; nay were it only so much in every single street, as that a man might know (was it only for satisfaction) on which side of it he was walking.

One—two—three—four—five—six—seven—eight—nine—ten.—Ten cook's shops! and twice the number of barber's! and all within three minutes driving!


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Author:Laurence A. Hughes

Works

 * The Truth About the Movies, by the Stars (1924)

title: Author:Laurence A. Hughes


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94 where we hoped to begin afresh, and reconstruct the world anew. So landed the remnant left by the Trojan war, "relliquiœreliquiæ [sic] Danaum," on the shore of Latium. So landed the relics of Roman civilization on the mud banks of the Lido. But what exiles yet, since Noah and his children, had ever borne with them the whole hopes of the human race, scarcely saved from the wreck of a ruined universe?

The scene was very lovely. All the wealth of tropical vegetation seemed to be concentrated in that small bay, where we rode in perfect security as though in some inland sea. And as we thanked Providence for bringing us safely through all dangers I think there rose in each man's heart some consciousness of the duty that lay upon him, and a determination to do his best to make the new world that was to be purer, truer, honester, happier, less selfish, less greedy, than the old world which we had left behind.

We passed the night on board, and on the morrow we landed. And then ensued a busy scene, each family being eagerly occupied in framing temporary shelters in which to pass a few weeks until more permanent structures could be erected. It was delightful


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38

THE

OLD

STONE

MANSION.

become, literally, an atheist. But I still remembered her early instructions, I still cherished the hope of meeting her in a better world. Sometimes, in dreams, I would even see her: we would walk by cool waters and green meadows; she would smile on me as of old; and I would be supremely happy.

From these dreams I would be aroused by the harsh voice of the servant, calling me to rise; and I would have to get up in the dim, early daylight, and dress on the bare ﬂoor, in my ﬁreless room. CHAPTER III-

WHEN I was about sixteen, an event happened. which gave me the ﬁrst happy hours I had ever spent in my uncle’s house. A new daughter was born to the family. The babe came after such a long interval, and when the hope of so great a blessing had ceased for years, that, for a time, it softened and reﬁned all. From the ﬁrst, the child took a great fancy to me, a fancy which, I need not say, I returned. My heart, so long shut out from love, lavished all its treasures on this little darling. I can never think of her, even now, without happy tears.

She was, in some respects, a precocious child. I remember the wonder with which I recognized the ﬁrst gleams of intellect in her, when, one day, as I carried her in my arms, she pointed to some ﬂowers on the paper-hangings, and on my stopping, picked out, with instinctive taste, those that were really the most beautiful. From that hour I watched the rapid development of her mind with intense pleasure. Long before she could talk, I began to tell her little stories, which I am sure she comprehended. She felt sick, and it was I that nursed her, day and night, till she recovered. The ﬁrst moment of extatic happiness I had known from my orphanage, was when she was strong enough, she put her arms around my neck, kissed me, and called me “dear Maggy.” She was a demonstrative child at all times. Oh! how sweet was the patter of those tiny feet, as she toddled along the entry, early on summer mornings, to ask to be taken into my bed. The humanizing inﬂuence, which little Rosalie brought with her, did not entirely die out. When she was in her second summer, the family, on her account, was ordered to the sea shore. Annually, ever since I had lived at my uncle’s, my aunt and Georgiana had gone out of town in the summer: now to Newport; now to Saratoga; now to Niagara; now to Lake George. But as invariably I had been left at home. But now, such was the attachment of Rosalie for me, I had to be asked to go.

There was a great contrast, however, between the gay and dashing heiress and myself. Georgiana dressed in the height of the fashion, and, though not beautiful, had a figure that made up stylishly: she was accordingly surrounded by admirers, and imitated and envied by her own sex, I had, long since, grown out of my slovenly days, but I dressed with studious plainness, for I had but a scanty allowance, and as I was passionately fond of books, a good deal went for them. The thought of any one caring for me never suggested itself to me as possible. Generally, I disliked gentlemen, for what had I in common with prosy bon vivants like my uncle, or silly dandies such as crowded about Georgiana! My manner, also, in society, was absorbed. Half the time I did not see the dances, nor hear the music. I expressed no surprise, therefore, when I discovered, accidentally, that the retiring young girl, who stole silently to her seat at the table, and to whom a servant, when the dessert came in, brought Mrs. Elliott’s child, that she might give it its dainty allowance of ice-cream, and see that it got no more, was governess, and ate at the first table in this capacity. I only smiled to myself. What did I care, I said, what was thought about me?

I used to sit in an arbor, that overlooked the sea, and read by the hour; and this confirmed the general impression as to my position. It was the first time I had ever seen the ocean, an event in any one’s life. I never tired of looking at the waves breaking on the beach below; at the white sails in the offing; at the sea-eagles hovering over the surf; or at the fishermen launching their boats. Moonlight especially had a charm inexpressible for me. It filled me with a sense of a different existence. One stormy night, when the spray was blown over the lawn to the very hotel, and when nobody but the bather ventured out, and he only to assure himself that the bathing-houses were not being washed away, I wrapped myself in a thick shawl, and stole forth. Never shall I forget the scene, as the great waves, magnified by the darkness, héaved up out of the gloom, and thundered, whitening, down, shaking the very shore. When I returned, a general sneer went round: and I heard more than one whisper of “wants to be romantic,” “I wonder Mrs. Elliott permits it.”

One of the most assiduous admirers of Georgiana was an Englishman, handsome, and about thirty, and who had, in great perfection, that air and manner which belongs to good society. His dress was studiously unostentatious, and his sole


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Rh Dana called his coast-guard, that his vessel was in sight far down on the Eastern horizon. What should have taken him so far in that direction I could not guess, nor why he should be concluding his cruise before the allotted time, which was by no means his habit. An hour later the same messenger came with the news, that the vessel was approaching, but that Mr. Dana had rigged up some very queer gear on board; and soon after came the further intelligence that the vessel in sight was not the "Hope," and that the smoke of a second steamer was just visible toward the same point of the compass.

What did this mean? As I hastened to the nearest look-out place I found the whole population, as it appeared, hurrying in anxious silence, broken only by confused murmurs, to the same spot. Arrived I took the glass from the old sailor and gazed long at the distant vessel. No, it was not the Hope. And sure enough, on the horizon was plainly seen the smoke of a second vessel; and as I thought, of a third. Had Europe then escaped the ruin of America, and was this some squadron of her many fleets exploring the seas in search of the remnant of the American people?


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 THE

OLD

STONE

MANSION.

37

all the while she was undressing me, what a wicked child I was. I brooded over this injustice in silence, but when I saw Georgiana alone, the next day, I could contain myself no longer. For once I rose in rebellion. I called her by every spiteful epithet I could think of, and at last began to beat her. “Oh! if I could only tear off your long ringlets, which your mother and you are so proud of,” I said; “if I could only make your face ugly forever.” For this, ef course, I was punished, and more severely than before.

Another time, Georgiana was jeering me about my poverty, and boasting of her father’s riches, and of what a great heiress she would be. I had, somehow, picked up certain items in our mutual family history, and I retorted,

“Poor as I am,” I said, “my father, at least, was a clergyman; and yours,” he was a large provision merchant, “is only a miserable pork- dealer.’”

“I'll tell pa that!” she cried, angrily. “I'll tell him you call him names!”

“Do,” said I, “and say, that, while his grandfather ran away with the tories, my mother’s grandfather was at Bunker Hill.”

She was white with rage, for we were both, by this time, old enough to understand our country’s history, and unfortunately my taunt was but too true.

“And you may say,” I continued, pursuing my triumph, “that while your grandfather made a fortune by smuggling tea, mine was one of those who boarded the ships in Boston harbor and threw the tea overboard.”

She could not forgive me for this, and not long after, an opportunity for revenge presented itself.

It was the custom, at the school which we attended together, to devote one afternoon, each week, to criticising what were called compositions. Every scholar was expected to write an essay the night before, which the teacher, after dinner, criticised in presence of the whole class. On one occasion, the theme assigned us was “A Mother’s Love.” I recall, even at this day, the feelings under which I wrote. Often as the image of my mother had been present to me, never before had it come up so vividly. It was in an agony of emotion, if I may say so, that the words flowed from my pen. When the essay was finished, I remember, I was still so excited, that I clasped my hands, and sobbed, “Oh! mother, dear mother, come and take me away!”

When the class had assembled, the teacher, addressing me, said,

“Did you write this yourself, Margaret Gray?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied.

She looked at me doubtfully, for a moment, and then began to praise the composition, when Georgiana rose from her seat and interrupted her,

“Please, ma’am,” said my cousin, “Margaret didn’t write it. I saw her copy it out of some big book in father’s library.”

I was struck dumb with amazement. I knew that Georgiana was not always truthful, but, as yet, I had only heard her tell falsehoods to escape blame. The deliberate malice of this assertion, and its unblushing coolness, literally confounded me. I stared at her with an amazement, that was mistaken for the consciousness of guilt. The teacher’s face grew dark.

“Margaret Gray,” she said, severely, “I knew you were sullen, slovenly, and sometimes disobedient; but I did not think you would tell a deliberate lie.” She paused an instant, for I turned white with rage. “Yes! I use plain words,” she went on, “for, to pretend another's work is your own, is the wickedest of lies, You will stay in for an hour, after the school is diamissed, and wear, all the week, while in school, a white paper pinned on your back, with the word ‘liar’ printed on it.”

I made no reply. I tried, at first, to speak; but could not; I choked. If, at that moment, I could have got at my cousin, with a deadly instrument, I believe I would have killed her.

I was, ever after, a marked girl, in that school. I avoided my classmates, in consequence, more than ever. Before this, I had taken some pride in composition; but now I wrote carelessly on purpose. Often, when I detected Georgiana copying her essays, which had always been her habit, I was tempted to betray her; but I resisted. “No,’ I said, “I will not be so mean.” At last, I grew so unhappy at school, and so defiant and indifferent, that I was dismissed as an example. My aunt, at first, refused to send me to another: she said it was wasting money, and that I might ‘reap as I had sown;' for she was fond of quoting Scripture. My uncle humphed, twirled his watch-keys, and looked at Georgiana with an expression that said, “Thank heaven our child is different.” But after awhile, another school was found for me, where I finished my education. It pains me, even yet, to think of those days. Often and often I wished, with bitter tears, that I had never been born. I heard at church, and I read in my Bible, that there was a God, all-powerful and good; but sometimes I did not believe it. ‘He would not permit such injustice,” I said. If it had not been for my mother, I should have


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Rh on us. A sixth and last discharge brought two more to the ground and then I said, "We can do no more."

With our own hands we had destroyed nine of the foe, and had our proper gunners remained and shot with moderate coolness they might have fired ten or twelve times as fast, before the riflemen took up the ball. Indeed the partial success of two unaided men proved to me beyond a doubt that a little courage and steadiness must have won a decisive victory. For the guns should have destroyed ninety or a hundred, the marksmen would have accounted for at least a hundred more, and with two hundred huge locomotives encumbering the ground with their wrecks, the remainder if not daunted by their loss (supposing they had any sense to appreciate the fact) could never have approached our narrow front except singly, when they would have been destroyed in detail.

This was, however, no time to consider what might have been. Lighting the time fuse of a shell I left it beneath the ammunition wagon, which done we ran at our best pace towards the bridge. As we


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100 exercise, and drive all  'papillons noirs'  out of your head. These are my orders, not only as magistrate, but as your physician."

Gell sighed, but I would not listen to his protests, and two days after I sent him off in Dana's charge on this cruise, which I had long intended to organize, but which might have been indefinitely postponed but for his hallucinations, which gave me great anxiety.

When he was gone I deliberately reviewed what he had said, in order to satisfy myself whether there could be the slightest ground for his strange fancy, but soon came to the inevitable conclusion that it could only be due to a disordered brain. Short of having witnessed her actual fate, no evidence could be more absolutely conclusive.

So Gell and Dana and a picked crew sailed away, and were absent for some six weeks, during which time I had the whole care of the community on my shoulders. On their return I was pleased to find that not only had they enriched our stock of plants by a large number of invaluable specimens of nutritious and medicinal qualities, but that Gell had recovered his tone and spirits, although never quite the same


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Rh could see her with us again, it is as certain as we are talking together that she is no more. It is a horrible idea of yours besides. That our poor darling should have been left alone with those monsters on that vast continent, without a soul to speak to, and certain of a miserable death by starvation or at the hands of that loathsome foe, is a notion which if true would allow me not an hour's happiness for the rest of my days"

"I know," interrupted Gell, "that is just what makes me so miserable."

"But it is not true, William, your reason tells you it can't be true, and were it not that you are overwrought and brainsick I should be very angry with you for entertaining such a thought. Now listen to me. You must drop your work at once, and go for a cruise with Dana round the islands. I want to get a supply of useful plants, shrubs and vegetables of all sorts that the islands produce, to stock our farms and gardens. You are a bit of a botanist, here is a Flora of the Sandwich Islands, and I want you to bring me specimens of all those that I have marked, besides any others that you think will be of value. You must spend all your time in the open air, and take lots of


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 in the hands of any man. There is an undue admiration for this faculty, and a sway permitted to it which was always more dangerous to a country than any thing else. Lord A— is a wonderful instance of what a man may do without talking. There is a general confidence in him—a universal belief in his honesty, which serves him instead. Peel is a fine speaker, but, admirable as he had been as an Oppositionist, he failed when he came to lead the House. O'Connell would be irresistible, were it not for the two blots on his character—the contributions in Ireland for his support, and his refusal to give satisfaction to the man he is still willing to attack. They may say what they will of duelling: it is the great preserver of the decencies of society. The old school, which made a man responsible for his words, was the better. I must confess I think so. Then, in O'Connell's case, he had not made his vow against duelling when Peel challenged him. He accepted the challenge, and Peel went to Dover on his way to France, where they were to meet; and O'Connell pleaded his wife's illness, and delayed till the law interfered. Some other Irish patriot, about the same time, refused a challenge on account of the illness of his daughter, and one of the Dublin wits made a good epigram on the two:—

'The great period of Ireland's glory,' continued Moore,


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276

Now when they were returnéd to where the fight had been,

Spake Hagen, lord of Tronjé: “Ye heroes, be it seen

What damage we have suffer’d, and who to us is lost;

By reason of this battle which Gelfrat’s wrath hath cost.”

A loss of four they reckon’d; these must they grieve for well.

But fully they aveng’d were: for against them there fell

Of the Bavarian warriors a hundred men and more;

Whereby the Tronians’ bucklers were dimm’d and wet with gore.

Just then a gleam of moonlight between the clouds did break.

“Now look ye well that no one,” so to them Hagen spake,

“Betray to my dear masters what we have done this day;

Let them until the morning free from all trouble stay.”

When they who had been fighting had now caught up the rest,

With weariness the people were grievously distress’d.

“How long,” were many asking, “must we be riding yet?”

And doughty Dankwart answer’d: “No lodging can we get.

“Until the dawn of morning  ye all must onwards ride.”

Volker the quick, who all things did for the folk provide,

Bade some one ask the marshal: “Where shall we go towards,

That we may rest our horses and eke our well-loved lords?”

Then spake the doughty Dankwart: “In sooth I cannot say,

But there must be no resting before the dawn of day;

Then, wheresoe’er we find it, upon the grass we’ll lie.”

Some, when they heard this bidding, were sore aggrieved thereby.


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 "Volkert, Volkert, for God's sake have mercy on me; save me from an ocean of doubts; spare me, O spare me; save me from the disgrace to appear to myself and my friends a fool and a superstitious fanatic! Tell me, O tell me, am I indeed deceived? O, I will forgive thee, I will pronounce thee my benefactor, my saviour, only speak—tell me I am not deceived!"

The tears ran down his cheeks, as he pronounced these words, spoken in the most violent passion.

It is a terrible awful sight to see a man weep. I turned my eye away from that affecting scene, not being able to behold it any longer. The rest of my companions were seized anew with dumb stupefaction, when they saw the violent emotions of my venerable friend, and a pause of unutterable horror ensued, after the Austrian's speech. The old man either would or could not speak, and the Austrian began once more to address the hoary de-


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XXVI.]

So were they undiscover’d by the warm blood-stains red,

Until the sun uprising with his bright beams had shed

The day-dawn o’er the mountains; then first the king did see

That they had fought. The hero spake to them wrathfully:

“How now? ye have, friend Hagen, methinks but small regard

For this my presence with you, seeing ye thus have dared

To stain with blood your armour! now who hath done this thing?”

“’Twas Else, who set on us last night,” he told the king.

“His ferryman the cause was that we were set upon;

My brother came, and Gelfrat was by his hand fordone;

Then Else fled before us,  by direst need bested.

Four men we lost; a hundred of them we left for dead.”

The place at which they rested I know not to declare;

But all the country people ere long became aware

That sons of noble Uté to court were on their way:

And thus a hearty welcome at Passau soon had they.

The Bishop Pilgrin, uncle of these high rulers three,

Was in his heart well-pleaséd his sister’s sons to see,

With such a host of warriors, thus come to his domain.

That he meant well unto them, was very quickly plain.

Right gladly were they welcomed by friends upon the way;

But since there was at Passau no room for them to stay,

They needs must cross the water, where open field they found;

There tents and wooden cabins they set up on the ground.


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 ceiver in an accent of utter insensibility, and with a sternness of look not to be described.

"Volkert, thou wilt not know me. I will spare thee the disgrace of confessing thine own guilt, but if thou wert in my power—"

His eyes darted flashes of lightning, and his voice was like the roaring of thunder.

"If thou wert in my power, I would make thee confess thy cheats, and if I should be forced to beat thy old, rascally limbs to atoms, and to draw thy black blood from thy diabolical heart by single drops, I would make thee confess: But," added he in a more gentle accent, "thou art not within the reach of my power, and it is well that it is so. Volkert, here is my hand, I forgive thee. Thou not only deservest my forgiveness, but also my sincere gratitude, because thou hast given me a wholesome lesson, hast taught me, that every body,


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 though ever so wise, may be deceived; and I think I have not paid too dear for it."

Volkert wanted to speak, but he could not, being overcome by a sudden emotion, and hid his face with his hands.

"Well, Volkert," resumed the Austrian, "I see thou art not quite so bad as I thought, I will not compel thee to a confession, though I am wishing most ardently to have my doubts cleared up, and trust that thou wouldst tell me more than I want to know. I will not distress thee any longer by my presence; I am going to leave this house and this town for ever."

"Gentlemen," added he, addressing us, "I have deceived you, by supporting the reality of things which have been nothing but illusion; from this moment I have forfeited your good opinion, and the honor of being admitted any longer to a circle where I have been respected. You may


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 'was between '82 and '98, and it was a time when a man almost lived with a pistol in his hand. Grattan's dying advice to his son was, "Be always ready with the pistol!" He himself never hesitated a moment '

"Talking of Grattan, is it not wonderful, with all the agitation in Ireland, we have had no such man since his time? You can scarcely reckon Shiel of the calibre of her spirits of old, and O'Connell, with all his faults, stands alone in his glory.

"The conversation I have given is a mere skeleton of course

"This discussion may be supposed to have occupied the hour after Lady Blessington retired from the table; for with her vanished Moore's excitement, and everybody else seemed to feel that light had gone out of the room. Her excessive beauty is less an inspiration than the wondrous talent with which she draws from every person around her his peculiar excellence. Talking better than any body else, and narrating, particularly, with a graphic power that I never saw excelled, this distinguished woman seems striving only to make others unfold themselves; and never had diffidence a more apprehensive and encouraging listener. But this is a subject with which I should never be done.

"We went up to coffee, and Moore brightened again over his chasse-café, and went glittering on with criticisms on Grisi, the delicious songstress now ravishing the world, whom he placed above all but Pasta; and whom he thought, with the exception that her legs were too short, an incomparable creature. This introduced mu-