The shrug, the hum, or ha; these petty brands,

SHAKESPEARE.

RETURN We to Riversdale, where, through Joanna Melvill's interest, a large party had assembled. It was one of those lovely spring mornings which brought to mind the description of Gavin Douglas, Bishop of Dunkald, who flourished in the latter end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth centuries, thus modernised by Doctor Warton. The opening reminds one not a little of the novels and songs of "by-gone days," in which "Bright Phoebus," "Diana and her Nymphs," "The Thracian Huntress Harpalice" were brought conspicuously forward. "Fresh Aurora," writes the Bishop, "issued from her saffron bed and ivory house. She

was clothed in a robe of crimson and violet colour, the windows of her handsome hall overshadowed with roses and filled with balm. At the same time the crystal gates of heaven were thrown open to illumine the world. It was glorious to see the winds appeased, the sea becalmed, the serene firmament, the still air, and the beauty of the watery scene. The silver-scaled fishes in the gravel gliding hastily, as it were, from the heat, or seen through clear streams, with fins shining brown as cinnabar, and chisel-tails darted here and there. The new lustre, enlightening all the land, beamed on the small pebbles on the sides of the rivers and on the strands, which looked like beryl, while the reflection of the rays played on the banks in variegated gleams. The bladed soil was embroidered with various hues. Both wood and forest were darkened with boughs, which, reflected from the ground, gave a shadowy lustre to the red rocks. The glebe, fearless of the northern blasts, spread her broad bosom. The corn crops and the new-sprung barley

re-clothed the earth with a gladsome garment. The variegated vesture of the valley, clothed with cloven furrow, and the barley lands, were diversified with flowery weeds. The meadow was besprinkled with rivulets, and the fresh moisture of the dewy night restored the herbage which the cattle had cropped in the day. The blossoms in the garden trusted their heads to the protection. of the young sun. Rank ivy leaves overspread the walls. The blooming hawthorn clothed all the thorns in flowers. The budding clusters of the tender grapes hung endlong, by their tendrils, from the trelices. The germs of the trees unlocking, expanded themselves into the foliage of Nature's tapestry. There was a soft verdure after balmy showers. The flowers smiled in various colours on the bending stalks; some red, others marked like the blue and wavy sea, specked with red and white, or bright as gold. The daisy embraided her little coronet. The grass stood embattled with banewort, the seeded down flew from the dandelion. Young weeds

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H

appeared among the leaves of the strawberries and gay gilliflowers. The rosebuds, putting forth, diffused fragrance from the crisp scarlet that surrounded their golden seeds. Lilies, with white curling tops, showed their crests open. From every bed, scion, herb and flower bathed in liquid fragrance, the bee sucked sweet honey. The swan clamoured among the rustling reeds, and searched all the lakes and rivers where to build their nests. The red bird of the sun lifted his coral crest, crowing clear among the plants and bushes, picking his food from every path. path. The painted peacock, with gaudy plumes, unfolded his tail like a bright wheel enshrouded in his silver feathers, resembling the marks of the hundred eyes of Argus. Among the boughs of the twisted olive, the small birds framed the artful nest, or rejoiced with their merry mates in the tall oaks. In the secret nook, or in the clear windows of glass, the spider full busily wove her sly net to ensnare the gnat or fly. Under the boughs that screen the valley, or within

the pale-enclosed park, the nimble deer trouped in ranks, the harts wandered through the thick wood shaws, and the young fawns followed the dappled roes, and in the pastures and leas the lambs bleated to their dams. The ringdove coos in the tall copse; the starling whistles her varied descant; the sparrow chirps in the clifted wall; the goldfinch and the linnet fill the skies; the cuckoo cries; the quail twitters; while rivers, shaws, and every dale resound, and the tender branches tremble on the trees at the song of the birds and the buzzing of the bees."

All went well, when a circumstance occurred which was particularly well calculated to work upon Hovingham's mind. Among the visitors that had assembled, was Charley Chesterford, who, in the hopes of getting a still firmer footing at Riversdale, paid great court to the lady he looked upon as the reigning favourite. From him Joanna gleaned many trivial circumstances which greatly aided her plans. Chesterford mentioned having seen Margaret and Captain Northam in the