purchased a boat for him that he might become experimentally acquainted with the power of resistance offered by water to a body passing through it; that he might see the influence of light currents of wind on the sails. He seemed to attach some importance to the size of the vessel, and professed a strong desire to make his experiments on a large scale. The scene he fixed on was Southampton water in the neighbouring county; and would you believe it, Sir Wilfred, I thought he was busily engaged in taking his scientific observations, till yesterday's post brought me a letter dated from Stornoway, and accompanying an order on me for 150 pounds in favour of Rory M'Tosh, fish-curer and bailie."

"Joined the Yacht Club," snored Sir Wilfred; "go it George."

"You therefore perceive that a tutor is indispensable.'

"A pilot, indeed, as you express it, Sir Wilfred, is what both our young men require; a person of firm and decided character to hold the helm steadily in all the storms he may encounter; a person of mature years and great experience. Money would be no object with me could I but procure so inestimable a guide for the wandering steps of my youthful charge. Surely, Sir Wilfred, at one or other of our glorious Universities, a gentleman with those qualifications could be found."

"If you don't grudge the money," said Sir Wilfred, "you can get any thing you require."

"I would not grudge the money." "Then leave the tutor getting to me; by George! I'll get you a fellow

shall teach your nephew Chaldaic in a week."

66

Languages I do not insist on. Those, I can teach him myself; tis life! life! life!"

"Send him to Paris, if life is what you want to show him. I learned more there in a fortnight, than the rest of the world could have taught me in a century. Frascati's-Tivoli

the Palais Royal-the Theatresah, my dear fellow, I've a great mind to be his tutor myself."

4

"Tis not shows and spectacles I require. Of these, we have plenty here. I remember twelve years ago, seeing a Swiss giantess in London seven feet high, so that we need not leave our own island for extraordinary sights;-no, the life I mean is the co-existent, yet invisible life within us -the deep caves of reason, sentiment, and reflection, where the metaphysical genii are perpetually at work; rearing subterranean palaces more stately and enduring than those of Aladdin-fit habitation for him who reigns over his subject thoughts, the king of the world of shadows which are more real than wood and stonethe etherial, pure, idealized soul."

"Abraham!" exclaimed the voice we have heard before, "go and tell the gentleman that the tea is cold, the candles burnt out, and Miss Hope and I gone to bed."

66 Then, Abraham," said Mr. Hubble, as the faithful domestic, with a fidelity worthy of Homer's messengers, delivered the notice word for word, "bring in some fried bones, and lay the cognac on the table. I believe, Sir Wilfred, you always take it cold,"

"Without," continued the worthy baronet, and sipt the last drop of his madeira with a sigh.

"MY DEAR SON,

"Mr. Flashy wrote to me to say, that not another shilling could be raised among the tenants, and that, as he was about to separate from his partner, he must clear off all old scores, and therefore sends in his bill. The rascal; he thinks he has his noose too firmly round my neck for me to kick; but he shall find he is mistaken. I

know that, if I am pushed to extremities, you will not refuse me your assistance, and an amazingly good offer has already been made for Ashywell, if you will join me in breaking the entail. This I will not ask you to do, unless the necessity is very urgent; but as I think I see symptoms in Sir Hilary Jupp of an intention to call up his money, you had better run

up for a day or two to London, and visit him in his suburban paradise at Muswell Hill, and pay great attention to the tall young woman I introduced you to at Cheltenham. She is his only child, and they say will have ten thousand a-year; and as the whole of it was made by selling blankets, I don't doubt you would be able with that sum to keep yourselves warm and comfortable. In fact, my dear Arthur, I have certainly held out some expectations of that sort to the old usurer, and I shall therefore consider it a piece of dutiful obedience if you will either marry her without delay, or keep her in hopes of it for as long as you possibly can. The thousand pounds you ask is paid into Drummond's, but for Heaven's sake my dear boy, be careful; for extravagance is the worst vice a young man can possibly indulge in. The week I spent at Scarfield has answered very well. Old Hubble is a real gentleman, though he has a little more ready money than is quite the thing; but bating that, and a cursed odd way he has of speaking like an encyclopedia, he is a most excellent and worthy man. Your mother continues as much attached as ever to his niece Mary Hope, and talks of asking her here again sometime next month. His nephew is at present in Scotland in his yacht, if I can make out old Hubble's story, and is in want of a tutor. If you knew what a great rough Tony Lumpkin sort of a bear he was, you would be some little astonished at the

"DEAR FATHER,

46

old gentleman's fancying a tutor can be found to refine him; but people like Mr. Hubble, my dear Arthur, must be humoured with their whims, and I have promised to employ you among the big wigs and wise men in Cambridge, to procure for him a per son such as he requires. I shall also write by this day's post to my friend Colonel O'Donahue, who is living near Wallingford, to look me out a bear leader in Oxford, and his task will be easier as I have the name of a person to whom he is to apply-Jerome Whiffle, A. M.-in whom Mr. Hubble has such confidence, from having read a book of his on education, that he will en gage with him at once, if Mr. Whif fle will undertake the charge. In the mean-time, be on the look-out, and if O'Donahue fails in securing Whiffle, you will be prepared with a substi tute from Cambridge. 1 shall desire the Colonel to write to you whether he succeeds in his commission; which will be a saving of time, and also of trouble to me, as letter-writing is not my forte. Be careful of the thousand pounds, and never play high with a bad partner; don't forget to visit Muswell Hill, and I think on farther acquaintance, the squint you observed will disappear. Believe me, your af fectionate father,

"WILFRED HAMMOND.

"No news yet from the Horse Guards-but we may expect to hear very soon."

Many thanks for the draft on Drummonds, which I will keep as long as it will stay by me, as a memorial of your fatherly regard. The hint about Miss Jubb shall be attended to, and the squint as little observed as possible. As to George Hope and his tutor, I rejoice very much you told O'Donahue to write to me as to the success of his inquiries, as I should have assuredly failed in getting any one so qualified for the place as Mr. Whiffle. The Colonel writes me on the subject, so your mind may be quite at rest. Young Hope will obtain all the polish and experience that the pride of Oxford can impart, and the old gentleman's experiment on the slow de

velopement of the mental powers on which you have told me he is so eloquent, can be carried on under the most favourable auspices. I am glad my mother is going to ask the young girl, Miss Hope, to visit her again. thought her society was of great use to the old lady last summer, and I have no doubt will be equally agree. able this. I am pushed for time, as Euclid is waiting, and I remain, dear father, your affectionate son,

"ARTHUR HAMMOND."

"So far, so good," said Sir Wilfred on receipt of this missive from his son. "Old Hubble will see that I have exerted myself to oblige him. The ten thousand a-year will reconcile

Arthur to the squint the villain Flashy shall be paid off, and all will go well-I'll run up for a few days to town, and get a horse for Tom Herrick in place of Brown Tiger, which is certainly grown groggy. Another conversation with Sir Hilary will do no harm at the same time. I wish I had told the boy at once, I had made an arrangement for him to marry the girl. The last five thousand could'nt

have been had without it; the next, I fear, won't come without the actual marriage; for the old blanket-maker begins to ride rusty."

-A pity that plans so deeply laid, should be so completely overthrown as were those of poor Sir Wilfred; as we are under the disagreeable necessity of explaining to the reader in the course of the following pages.

It is much to be lamented that ladies begin to require spectacles just at the time when they grow most inquisitive. The prying propensities of fifty, joined to the clear eyesight of twenty-five, would have made our hitherto invisible friend Miss Barbara Hubble, perfectly intolerable. As it was, people were astonished at her powers of vision. With a particularity that only belongs to an eye-witness, she could describe events that occurred at the same moment at opposite extremities of the parish; and it was remarked, that if a slight degree of impropriety could be elected in the events of which she was an observer, the perspicacity of her vision seemed supernaturally increased. She could see it at five miles' distance though invisible to any eyes but her own. Miss Barbara in short, was one of those pure and happy creatures that one reads of in fairy tales, who have no means of understanding in their own persons what faults or imperfections may be, and are therefore forced to study them in the characters and conduct of other people. It will easily be imagined that Miss Barbara, having freed herself from all the blots and blemishes that human kind are liable to in this world, had come to this conclusion that she was a chosen vessel, and sure of felicity in the next; a felicity which according to the old adage must be very much enhanced in value, however diminished in enjoyment, by the very few people whom she allowed to share it. For heaven, according to some notions, is something like a religious tea-meeting, to which only a very small and select party can be admitted; where the share of the toast and muffins that falls to each is computable by simple division; and where each has therefore an interest in keep

ing the number of guests as low as possible.

One day, about a fortnight after Sir Wilfred's visit to Scarfield-indeed it was on the 15th day of August, 1838-Miss Barbara had occasion to go to the upper portion of the village to inquire into certain rumours touching the behaviour of one of the inhabitants, and was accompanied, as far as the little stream on which the village is situated, by her grand-niece, Mary Hope. A basket slung over her arm, and a fishing-rod in her hand, showed that she intended

"To ply the sport

Which that sweet season gave;"

and Mary was indeed allowed to be one of the best casters of a line that fished on the Scarfield water. In fact, if you looked in Mary's face, you would allow her to be anything in the world-for such faces and figures are not seen every day, and we have a very poor opinion of the fish that did not catch hold of her hook immediately, that they might have a nearer view of such a beautiful creature. If we were a fish- -but we shall not mention what a lot of foolish things we should be inclined to do,-suffice it to say, that Mary Hope was the prettiest girl in England; dark hair, blue eyes step like a fawn, smile like an angel-and for all other particulars, as to shape and figure, we refer you to the Venus of Canova.

"Remember," said the old lady as they parted at the little foot-bridge, "that I consider your conduct highly blameable, and”.

Conduct, grand-aunt?"

"In fishing, I mean. That man Yarrel that you study so much, and the wretch called Christopher North with his rhapsodies in praise of fish

ing, are worthy of eternal reprobation -for fishing as practised by you is sinful in the highest degree; but as my brother encourages you in it, I cry aloud in vain."

"But how is it sinful, aunt Barbara ?"-inquired the young lady. "At any rate, if you fish, do it with real flies."

"Oh! twould be so cruel."

"Cruel ?—what is cruelty compared to deceit ? You delude the unfortunate fish under false appearances, and are therefore virtually guilty of a lie. But go your ways. Good Mr. Whiffle will soon be here, and you shall profit from his exhortations."

Miss Barbara pursued her way after this rebuke, and Mary followed the windings of the stream, and soon arrived at the point of the river where the ripples on the water promised the best sport. It was a beautiful nook, where a gigantic willow hung over the wide reach, and Mary laid her basket on the ground, and was proceeding to put her rod in order, when

*

-Aunt Barbara had transacted her business at the upper end of the village, and administered sundry preventives of iniquity, in the shape of tracts against smuggled gin and other illicit delectations, and was on her way home again, when the straw-hat of her niece, glinting near the willow, attracted her observation. She adjusted her spectacles with renewed accuracy on the long thin bridge of her nose, at sight of the well known Dunstable, and could scarcely believe the evidence of her eyes, corroborated by her sil. ver-mounted Dollands, when she saw standing by the side of her niece the figure of a tall young man. She saw even the bright brass buttons on his light green coat, she saw his grey beaver-light, fancy-coloured waistcoat, and from his general appearance, could not resist the inevitable conclusion that he was the most gentlemanly, handsome-looking man she had ever gazed on in the course of her life.

Long stood Aunt Barbara on the little eminence that overlooks the river for nearly a mile of its course, watching the motions of the pair.They were evidently well acquainted, they stood so near each other. They were evidently delighted, Mary had so entirely neglected her fishing.

What's that she sees!-His hand goes gently round Mary's waist; the grey beaver gets into a state of the most alarming proximity to the Dunstable bonnet, and Heavens !

GD

-At that very moment a slap on the shoulder sent the spectacles she had so sedulously fixed, spinning about a yard beyond her red tipt nose, and Aunt Barbara's farther observations were unavoidably suspended by an inability of seeing any thing at the distance of twenty feet.

"Hallo! old aunt! Here we are, all alive and kicking. How are ye, old one?-how's nunky?"

"George !-you've broken my spectacles-when did you come home run after Mary. Such a thing! ah! what a sinful world !"

"Why, what's the matter? Is this a way of receiving a dutiful nephew after the dangers of the deep, and a hundred perils besides? Cheer up, old lady, and don't stand gazing up the brook as if you expected to see something wonderful under the old wil

low."

I've seen it, George. Where are my spectacles ?-the gipsy- the cunning, double-faced fishing gipsythat's the fish she's after! Oh! the wickedness of the unregenerate slut!"

"What's all this? exclaimed George, helping the old lady to re-adjust her peepers.

"Do you see nothing, George, just under the great tree?a white bonnet?-a grey hata man's grey hat?"

"Neither hat nor bonnet-the devil a thing is moving near the water but the miller's brown cow-and now, that I look at her, I declare the mark on her rump is something in the shape of Mary's poky bonnet."

"I certainly see a cow," answered the aunt, "but I am as certain as I am of my existence that I saw a man speaking to Mary, a tall handsome man,-I should know him again among a thousand, George! I saw him with my own eyes put his arm round Mary's waist; and his hat, George, and her bonnet were just going together when your sudden attack"

"Wakened you out of your dream, and showed you that the whole vision was nothing but a white streak on an old cow. Come, come, aunty, don't try to set me against Mary, for I want believe a word to her discredit—no,

by heavens, though fifty aunts were to wear out fifty pairs of spectacles in prying out hats and bonnets on all the cow's rumps in England.”

The aunt and nephew pursued their way in silence, for George was irate at the accusations brought against his sister, and aunt Barbara was imagining mischief in her heart, and only waiting for a public opportunity of accusing her in presence of her good uncle and if possible of the godly Mr. Whiffle. As they passed the Crown they perceived symptoms of an arrival in the yard-a post-chaise was standing as if recently come in, and a thin lankhaired young man was lifting a pretty heavy trunk from the dicky, which he then carried in the direction they were going.

"Ho, my friend," said George, "you seem a stranger here. Where are you

off to !"

"Unto the domicil of one who dwelleth in these parts, called Ignatius Hubble, Esquire."

"And whose is that huge box, if I may ask?"

"It appertaineth unto the good and learned Jerome Whiffle, sometime a dweller in the tents of sin but now a portioner in Canaan."

"And what the devil is this Canaanite going to do at my uncle's? By Jove I've a great"

"To subdue the rebelliousness of an unlicked cub called Hope."

A grasp, as of a Boa Constrictor,

laid on the shoulder of the young man made him pause-a flash of momentary anger passed across his face, and even a slight intention was visible of resenting the insult, but in an instant all such thoughts were checked, and he continued,

"If I have offended by speaking too plainly the object of my master's coming, restrain your anger. Do I speak to the young alumnus?"

My name is George Hope, and when I have found out what all this rigmarole singing through the nose can mean, I will let both you and your master know a little more of me.'

"How glad I am he is come!" exclaimed Miss Barbara, turning her eyes to heaven. "Oh, George, you are a fortunate youth; your uncle has fixed on the great Mr. Whiffle as your tutor

he is to have the entire management of all your actions to teach you all the sciences; he has written a work on conic sections and defluxions, and is the cleverest man in England; and so good! His books, I am told, are truly edifying, and his very domestic speaks like a true sheep."

"He looks uncommonly like one, and that's the same thing," replied the nephew, hurrying on with increased speed, as he could make neither head nor tale of the extraordinary story his aunt had told him, and was anxious for an explanation from the lips of Mr. Hubble himself.

That worthy gentleman was so delighted to see his nephew, and had so many questions to ask, that the presence of the thin young man with the trunk was scarcely noticed.

"Your aunt has already told you," began the senior, "of your future happiness in acquiring the assistance of one of the most learned men of any age or country; but before I resign my charge of your intellectual advancement answer me a few questions. I see by your tartan-coloured waistcoat and plaid trowsers, as well as by a letter lately received, that you have visited the northern limits of this Island. Did you make any observations on the needle in those hyperborean regions?"