"Meanwhile, time passed on, and a year ex- to be delivered to you. If they are not asked pired since we had entered the nunnery. I was for, I shall think that you have not survived the disturbed one morning by more than usual ring- war. Farewell."

ing of bells, and sounds of life within the convent walls. I inquired the reason, and was told that a bride of the Church was about being wed. I was invited to the ceremony. I saw a vailed novice kneeling at a gorgeous altar: I heard solemn music, and priests chanting joyfully: the abbess approached the poor victim of the Church, removed her white vail, and cut off the rich, auburn hair that clustered round her lowly-bended head; then, like an eclipse, a black vail descended on the new-made nun, and all was over. One more triumphant hallelujah pealed through the chapel, and the sister turned to take her place among those who have left the world forever; I then saw my sister!

I COULD easily imagine the manner in which the Puritan had become possessed of this letter. I could less understand how he had reconciled "Oh! she was so pale and spirit-like in those himself to its appropriation. But his was a chashroud-like robes, that I scarcely believed, scarce-racter that made for himself his own laws, and ly hoped, that she was alive! She was, alas! dead to me.

"From that moment I was debarred from all access to their new nun. But I was tempted by every conceivable device to follow her example. My obduracy at length moved the anger of the sisterhood, by which I perceived that I could no longer remain in peace among the Ursulines, and I was meditating how or whither I should depart from there, when I was sullenly summoned to the grille once more.

was satisfied to act by them. His naturally great capacity, and prejudices warped by untoward circumstances, formed a mass of contradictions, which nothing but his own vehement and constraining will could force into one channel.

Felton was one of those whom enthusiasm, at the same time, inspired with supernatural power, and made it impracticable for any useful or sustained purpose. His strong passions lent their aid, at once to intensify his energies, and to render them abortive. He was so intent on controlling others, that he neglected his own selfcommand.

"My summons was accompanied by a request from the abbess that this visitor might be my last, for she felt that scandal might befall her con- If he had not met with Zillah, he might have vent, owing to the number of men, heretics, too, risen to almost any influence amongst the men who presented themselves for admittance at its who then ruled the people, whose power was gates. I went thither with reluctance. It was, based on influences less powerful, but more however, with unspeakable joy that I then found steadily maintained than those that he possessed. our old Chaplain, poor Phoebe's earliest friend. With the proud consciousness of genius by which He had been forced by the Puritans to leave our genius is always possessed, he was ascetically old home. He had wandered away over Eng-humble, and self-condemned by convictions of land, wherever he could find hearers for his doc- his own great guilt. He only aspired, theretrine. Thus he had never received the letters that Phoebe wrote to him, in our distress, from London.

At length he had reached that city, whereto all wanderers, sooner or later, are surely attracted. He had heard of my poor father's death. He had traced us painfully to St. Germain, and now he stood before me, jaded and faint, and in beggar's weeds. When I told him of Phoebe's fate, the faithful old man was well-nigh overcome.

“'I have lost her,' he exclaimed; 'she who was the star of my evening-my only hope on earth-my child, my child!"

And, so saying, he lifted wept. I tried to soothe him. sistance-I prayed him to accept her who was lost to him.

his voice and claimed his asme instead of

fore, to rule through the medium of another, and that other he sought in Zillah. His ardent imagination had invested her with the attributes and destiny of Joan of Arc. Her sublime beauty, her high purity, her singular eloquence, he imagined fitted her for such a mission; and who shall say that she did not lend a temporary ear to such flattery? To be the savior of her distracted country; to unite a divine and apparent duty with that ambition which lurks, however secretly, in the gentlest heart; to obtain a bloodless victory for the principles of faith and freedom; all this seemed not impossible, perhaps, to her youthful and excited fancy.

But all this was over now; her castles in the air had faded, had been resolved into a common cloud, which had been accidentally converted into glory by the sunlight of imagination. All whom she had loved had passed away, even the cause of spotless purity that she had hoped to see triumphant. I saw her, in idea, a lonely exile, like myself; perhaps by this time deprived of even the old chaplain's protection; with all her

"Finally, I have arranged with him to take me hence to-morrow. And yet I know not where to go. By the murder of the King, a wide gulf seems opened between me and my former friends in hapless England. If in my foolish childhood, I was prepossessed against kingly power, I can still less stoop to that of successful soldiers and bravoes, however sancti- beauty, isolated among strangers. fied. France is almost as distracted as our own

I determined as soon as I laid the poor Puritan country, and Germany is a wilderness. Switzer- in his grave to set out in search of her. My land appears to me to be the safest refuge. home had become insupportable to me; the land, Amongst her brave and free people I perhaps the lake, the very skies seemed to be in mournmay find repose. ing for Marguerite, and perpetually to reproach "I leave these hurried lines with the concierge me with my heartlessness.

I sold the little property I possessed; and once I had let fall Bryan's letter, as I was reading more mounted on my black steed, I looked my that from Hotspur; they had both been addressed last upon that lovely scenery, and all its haunted to "Master Neville," by which name alone I was woods, and paths, and GRAVES. known to the old goldsmith. He picked up the I soon found myself at Geneva, and the old letter I had dropped, and as he handed it to me goldsmith, whom I had before employed, had he hesitated, and at last said timidly:letters for me. One was from Bryan, and to the "You will pardon me, I hope, for having accifollowing effect it was dated from the well-dentally seen the name by which your correspondremembered house in London, where we had so ent addresses you. I have had inquiries made long been guests. frequently for Lord Hastings, which I was unable The young cavalier had taken to his new pro- to answer. Dare I do so now?" fession with characteristic enthusiasm and energy; he had been proportionably successful-successful beyond his hopes. After two years absence he "It was only an old man," the goldsmith rereturned to Venice, where he found our friend the sumed: " a very old and reverend-looking_man, merchant, with his daughter; the mother had who was making inquiries in that name. I have died soon after she had reached her native city. done some business for him, and but yesterday Bryan, having won both fame and gold, was re-furnished him with certain moneys for his travel. ceived with consideration by the Venetian He has been living some time at Versoix, he is Seignory: They tendered him a high command, now on his road to Italy." but the merchant had offered him his partnership. The Empire of India would not have tempted him to hesitate, when Fay was in the balance.

He had gratefully accepted the merchant's proposal, and was now in London on matters of business connected with his new vocation. Party persecution had almost ceased, and he had been unmolested. He had seen even Hotspur in the city, and had given him my address.

The other letter was from that redoubtable cavalier, and ran thus:

"My worthy Cousin,

I answered eagerly in the affimative, buoyed up with a rising hope.

I waited for no more.

I scarcely stopped to ask which road, and I found that I must have passed the chaplain (for I doubted not that it was he),upon the road. I was soon mounted, and retracing my steps far more rapidly than I had before traveled. At Morges, I heard that an old man and two females, closely vailed, had just left the town. In a few minutes afterward I was by Zillah's side.

*

All coldness, all distance, all reserve had passed away. We were alone in the wide world but for each other; and yet the world seemed no longer lonely.

We proceeded into Italy. We were obliged to pass through Lausanne; but we traversed it quickly, and my wife, Zillah, did not even ask the reason why. To this day, she only knows that I there labored for long years, and that there the Puritan found a grave. Poor Marguerite's story will never be known as long as I am living. Let woman's love be ever sacred!

"They tell me you are turned Swiss, and have made your sword into a reaping-hook. Well for you, to have anything to reap besides laurels, which are such a barren crop. I have turned into something stranger still- -a man of business! Yes! I have been up in the North, trying to disinherit myself, and, thank Heaven, I have succeeded. I got a 'pass' into Lincolnshire; and by using half as much ingenuity to be honest as that d- -d Hezekiah did to serve his master the devil, I have succeeded. I have proved that At Genoa, superb Genoa, we found repose. humbugging deed to be a forgery-and so you're There, by the glorious waters of the Mediterrawelcome, my Lord, to your own home when-nean, beneath the joyous sun of Italy, we passed ever you please to return and can get possession of it.

*

*

*

*

*

some happy years. But still, deep longings after
our own distant country would often mingle with
the sense of enjoyment. Often, when gazing
pensively upon the sea, some English ship, or
it might be, only some English-looking cloud,
would cause our eyes to meet, and seek and find
a sympathy; each of us could read in the other's
thoughts the picture of a sea-beaten shore, bor-
dered by green hills, with oak and hawthorn
woodlands reaching upward to the old Manor.

'The King shall have his own again, But the chaplain never seemed infected with And a fig for the Close Committee.' this home-sickness. He felt so near his final "P. S. On the strength of that fig, I screwed home, that he thought little of any resting-place money enough of your farmers to pay myself for upon the road; and never was mortal pilgrim the money I sent you-which in good sooth I more gently borne toward his goal. His last wanted sorely. I tell you no more news, for hours, too, were watched over by Zillah as by a this letter may never reach you-moreover I daughter, and his spirit rejoiced in her return to expect daily to see you in the field, scampering the services of his beloved Church. along upon old Satan, with a scarf across your cuirass, and a cheer for King Charles as your cry. "Yours affectionately, "H. H."

For my

wife now numbered the vague doctrines of the Puritans among the disappointing aspirations of her younger days. She had hoped to find in it a reformation of the Reformation-so pure an essence of her ancient faith, that controversy itself might find no more material for its strife. Her hope had failed-she had seen many of her preachers become wild, and,-in some instances, profane sectarians; she had seen many of her

patriots degenerate into "self-seekers,” dema- | induced him to seek for retirement in these regogues and regicides. Her zealous mind expe- mote parts. This individual now presented himrienced a reaction proportioned to her overstrain- self before me, and with a resigned air demanded ed enthusiasm; she now feared Puritanism even what I wanted? more than Papistry, and would have taken refuge from democracy in despotism itself.

I only waited to see my old friends once more, and to thank the few who remained of those who fought for my escape. I seemed to behold a new generation, when my former tenants presented ENGLAND is still ringing with the sounds of themselves. Many were altogether strangers to joy that welcomed back her Charles to his throne. With him came many an exile in his father's cause; but none knelt more gratefully than I did, at my own threshold, ruined though I was, as I offered up thanksgiving for my own and my sovereign's restoration.

But this good king it seems was told,
By some who were with him too bold;
"If
you want to gain your ends,
Caress your foes and trust your friends."

of my journey to London. I fear he must be pointed consoled themselves with their strength already well nigh weary of my wanderings. of claim; and not a few repeated these familiar Suffice it to say, that London presented such a lines out of Hudibras, by way of reprisals :change in its aspect, its manners, and its temper, as might appear incredible, on considering the vast matter there was to change. Whitehall was already restored to its former glories. The Banqueting Hall had lately resumed its convivial functions, so awfully interrupted by the late King's death. I now found myself awaiting his successor's audience, as I stood in the window that had opened on the scaffold.

Familiar as I had been with the martial court at Oxford, I was astonished to observe the changes that had taken place in it. With reverence be it spoken, I could almost have fancied myself at Versailles. The only courtiers who seemed at home here, were jabbering French, and lisping foreign oaths, through beards trimmed in Parisian fashion. Instead of casting off the slough of foreign dress and manner, these coxcombs seemed to adhere to both as a test of quality: the corruption, without the grace, of Louis's Court still clung to them. As different in appearance as men of rival nations, were the old Cavaliers, who crowded to an audience of their restored King. A stern and martial look was worn by many amongst whom I recognized former friends; but the greater number exhibited an air of gay and reckless levity that contrasted, not agreeably, with gray hairs. I made this observation to the stout old Earl of Craven, who replied

"Yet those are the fellows, depend upon it, who will get anything from our new sovereign. A ribald jest, or a quaint conceit, will prevail more than all our scars and forgotten services. You, I presume, are come to seek for compensation; or perhaps restoration of your paternal land. Let me tell you, reluctantly, you have no chance. Clarendon and his Machiavellian brother statesmen have determined not to disturb any 'vested interests,' I think they call them; and as for compensation, all the money that the exhausted Treasury can grasp, is scarcely sufficient to buy jewels and yellow starch for Lucy Waters and her kind."

This was discouraging intelligence, but I soon made my way to the Chancellor himself, who confirmed it.

The strangest application of all, perhaps, was made by a Dominican friar, who came to beg for alms toward a church in Spain, wherein the soul of the late King had been prayed for. I had been observing the motley crowd for some time, watching with interest for the old familiar names that were applied to new persons-Rochester, Southampton, and Buckingham, for instance. The latter might, perhaps, be taken as the type of the second Charles's court, as Digby was of the courtiers of his father. Buckingham was brilliant, fascinating, witty, gracious; but volatile, superficial, madly extravagant, and heartless. He had sufficient tact, however, to be very useful to his master; he always endeavored to conciliate the old Cavaliers, and treated his meaner brother courtiers with contempt. I had watched him moving through the room, for some time, with interest; at length he approached a group of silken parasites, who were playing cribbage, and occasionally devoting their souls languidly to perdition upon some point of the game.

"D-your diminutive oaths!" exclaimed Buckingham. "If you must swear, swear handsomely; swear by the loud thundering and eternal immortal Ju-"

"Swear not at all!" interrupted a solemn voice, which appeared to be recognized, but not by many; for the garb of the speaker was that of a Dominican friar, and his voice was the voice of Goring, Earl of Norwich! I might multiply these strange incidents innumerably, in speaking of this extraordinary court, but my conscience warns me not to trespass further on the reader's patience.

At length I obtained admission into the presence. The King accosted me with an air of such frank and fascinating courtesy that I immediately forgot all my vexation at delay. He received me without the least formality, led me into a window recess, and inquired about my "Any property," said he, "that has been con- affairs; alluded to my father's character and serfiscated may perhaps be restored; but the am- vices in a manner that gratified and surprised nesty exempts all those who have meantime en-me; assured me that if what I desired could be joyed it, from being obliged to make retribution, done for any man in England it should be done and property that has been legally bought and paid for must so remain."

for me, and dismissed me with the kind expres sions of regret, that he was unable to grant my prayers at once. I took my leave, and he never thought of my affairs again; and yet my gracious monarch is no hypocrite. Nay, more, I am almost as much obliged by his attention to my cause as if he had granted it, or been able to do so. How little do people in power know their power!

I was silenced. I determined, however, to press for an audience of the King from a sort of sentiment. I had long time to wait, and my suspense was the more disagreeable from the remarks made upon me by the court witlings. I was, of course, set down as a suitor for some favor; every one in that crowded hall, except the professional courtiers, was a suitor, men of all As I was leaving the presence, I met my classes, claims, and characters. Will Davenant cousin Hotspur pressing in. He turned back wanted a play-house, because he had corrupted with me, however, and declared, with delight, the garrison of York by his debaucheries and his that now he had found me, he would not leave wit; Gauden wanted a bishopric, because he had me for any King in Europe. He had sought for pirated the fame of Icon Basilicon: dissolute me in all directions, and hitherto in vain. He soldiery wanted promotion; ruined gentlemen had just learned that I was at court, and the obwanted compensation; all the poets wanted to ject of my being there.

be laureates, and all the pamphleteers to become "Save yourself that trouble;" he continued: secretaries of state. In short, everybody wanted "if these fellows had assisted you, you would everything. Most of those who were disap-have no comfort in your acquisition; what be

tween these insatiable expectations of remune-mittee-fellows knew they were in a scrape, and ration, and the obligations they would haunt you they sold him your broad lands for a mere song; with the sense of. I have settled all this affair you can pay him his whole price, if you are for you by my own right hand and giddy head. generously minded, out of a couple of year's Your Quaker's possession of Beaumanoir is not rent. There, say no more about it, my dear worth a rush; he has almost as little right to it, coz; and that's all I beg of you, in return for any as I had. He purchased the property as confis- little trouble that I have had in the business. cated from me; I have proofs that I had no right Now the audience is nearly ended, and I must to it, and his title falls to the ground. The Com-make a dash for it. Farewell!"

:

THE END.