who are on the point of ascertaining whether their future lives are to be passed in peace or wretchedness. At one moment his cheek burned as though it were scorched by fire,-at another, it turned pale as ashes; then a cold perspiration came over his whole body,-and he felt a sickness fall upon his heart, as if it had been touched by the chilling hand of death. As for Geoffroi, his sensations were of a very different nature from these: seeming to have drowned every reflection upon his master's grief in a most sweet anticipation of the pleasure he himself was about to receive, and even to have forgotten the original object of his coming hither, his countenance evinced that eager joy and hilarity, which was manifested by almost every individual of the crowds he saw hurrying to the happy spot. The lists were constructed in the centre of a large plain, about an acre of which had been paled round, with huge stakes of wood fixed in the earth, and encompassing it, in an oval form. At a short distance from these was erected a scaffolding, on which, enclosed seats had been elevated at different heights, according to the various ranks of the spectators for whom they were destined. On the lowest range sate the minstrels, troubadours, and jongleurs, classes of persons then held in high esteem; and, indeed, courted by all ranks of society, owing to their powers of affording them that amusement which they could not afford themselves, in an age, when the march of intellect was so very slow, that it might almost have been said to have made no march at all. Like the others, these were also placed according to their several ranks, estimated either by the superior skill of the individuals, or by the nature itself of their profession. The Troubadours—that is, the poets, were in higher renown than the Minstrels, who but sung the pieces composed by the former. The Jongleurs were mountebanks-in fact, what we name jugglers, and ranked far below either of the others. Beneath these again, and on benches level with the lists, whence they could readily come forward to offer their advice or assistance to the comba tants, if necessary-were placed the marshals o the field and the heralds, whilst the judges of the contest, were elevated on a platform apart from the rest, whence they could, at a glance, perceive all that went on within the enclosure, and decide upon the conduct of the champions. Had Gaultier chosen to announce himself to the Heralds, a place would necessarily have been assigned to him amid the court party; but this he would not do-for, independantly of having his heart too heavy and too much oppressed by anxiety, willingly to bring himself into public notice; he felt it as a sort of sacrilege, to place himself in a seat above her, whom he still trembled to think of the possibility-he might find ranked amid the minstrels-and that too!he dared not give utterance to the idea which crossed him. It is a long while-let the object of affection be ever so undeserving-before a deeply-rooted love can be torn from out the heart; and when it is so, the heart gains little by the effort, for it is left lone and hopeless. He, therefore, was contented to mingle with the general crowd of gazers; and so placing himself -to the much mental grief and dissatisfaction of Geoffroi, who was extremely anxious it should be known to how great a man he belonged -as near to the scaffolding as possible, he stood silently expecting the arrival of the rest. The spectacle was to commence with what was termed a jouste or joute-that is, a combat between two persons only. One of them, a youth who had but just received the honour of knighthood, advancing modestly towards the lists, and armed from head to foot in a coat of mail-which, by the bye, was about that time beginning to be abandoned for armour of steel in plates-with a plume of white feathers in his helmet, placed himself in front of the Herald, who presenting him with a spear, pronounced the usual formula-" Souviens-toi de qui tu es fils, et ne forligne pas"-" Remember whose son thou art, and degenerate not." A memorable sentence, in the spirit of which, if they of high descent should always act, the pride of ancestry would be as reasonable to the understanding, as its splendour is beautiful to the eye; and would, perhaps, do more towards undermining radi calism, and covering its apostles with the scorn they merit, than any other mode is capable of effecting. He then entered the lists, and mounted his destrier. The clarion was sounded, the marshal-judge dropped his baston, and the combat began. But Gaultier had neither eyes nor heart for it. His eyes, his heart, his very soul, were all employed in the pursuit of Emily, and roving about in every direction---first towards the benches occupied by the minstrels, then in the upper tiers, then again, wandering over the crowd of which he himself made one, he strained his eyes to discover her amid it. - "Alas!" he sighed to himself, as he vainly looked around "that I should be thus doomed to seek my Emily. How grievous is it to look for her midst such as these-amongst Minstrels, and Troubadours, and Glee girls. Foolish, foolish thing! wherefore didst thou leave me? Yet, if not here, where is she?-Who was the one I took for her, on yesternoon?" These words were scarcely uttered, when he observed a movement in the crowd at a small |