you, the best of wives, lived a wretch in consequence of his unkindness, and died prematurely. It was the last satisfaction he had that he lived to see his error, and to pray for pardon from above, and to ask forgiveness from his wife. Farewell.

"FRANCIS."

VOL. III.

That lofty door, the far resounding hall;
Well furnish'd rooms, plate shining on the board,
Gay liv'ried lads, and cellar proudly stored,
Then say how comes it that such fortunes crown
These sons of strife, these terrors of the town?
Lo! that small office! then th' incautious guest
Goes blindfold in, and that maintains the rest;
There in his web, th' observant spider lies,
And peers about for fat intruding flies;
Doubtful at first, he hears the distant hum,
And feels them flutt'ring as they nearer come;
They buzz and blink, and doubtfully they tread
On the strong birdlime of the utmost thread;
But when they're once entangled by the gin,
With what an eager clasp he draws them in ;
Nor shall they 'scape till after long delay,
And all that sweetens life is drawn away.

CRABBE.

WE have been so much occupied with the principal personages of our drama, that we have had little time to pay attention to one

who figured in it in a subordinate and not over respectable character.

The best of every man's performance here
Is to discharge the duties of his sphere;
A lawyer's dealings should be just and fair,
Honesty shines with great advantage there.

So writes Cowper, the poet. Whether the limb of the law with whom our readers are acquainted merits the above eulogium must be left to them to decide.

Mr. Sharpness had been brought up to the law, and commenced his career as clerk to a country attorney, Tredcroft by name, at Rankston. Being by nature very sharp, he soon ingratiated himself with his employer, who, after a time, took him into partnership. From that moment his good fortune set in, and his partner dying, Sharpness found himself the inheritor of the old lawyer's ill-gotten wealth, and the mansion he had built on the ruin of some of his clients. It was then Anthony Sharpness, Esq., fully realised the lines that head this chapter.

For some time he got on tolerably well

with the leading people of the borough, but an unfortunate bill transaction was brought to light, which implicated him so severely, that he sold his mansion and his country practice to a rival attorney, and established himself in London. Here he took for his partner his senior clerk, who had served him faithfully at Rankston, and who was tolerably well acquainted with many nefarious cases in which Mr. Sharpness had been engaged.

His acquaintance with Lord Hovingham commenced when, as a cornet, the latter wished to raise money to meet a pressing demand, and from that time he had been his lordship's legal adviser. The Italian proverb

Con arte, ed inganno, si vive mezzo l'anné,
Con inganno, e con arte, si vive l'altra parte,

would not have been an inappropriate motto for Mr. Sharpness.

In course of time Mr. Sharpness had gained such an ascendancy over Lord Hovingham, that he appointed him auditor over all his accounts at a salary of three hundred a year,

and consulted him legally upon almost every subject.

One morning when the above were conning over a draft of a will, which the lawyer was preparing, Miss Melvill made her appearance to tell her cousin that the garden party at Marston had been postponed in consequence of the rain that was falling.

"You may sit down, my dear," said Frank. "We shall soon have finished our business, in which, by the way, you are interested."

"How can that be?" asked Joanna, with a look of feigned astonishment, for her quick eye had glanced over the paper, in which she read the words, Ten thousand pounds to Joanna, daughter of my deceased brother, Charles Hovingham, Colonel in the Army. Free of legacy duty. "I won't interrupt you, Frank. I know Mr. Sharpness's time is valuable."

She was about to leave the room when the butler entered with a card, which he delivered to Lord Hovingham. "Mr. Fergus O'Lachlin, No. 31, Rue Royale, Boulogne-sur-Mer."