"

The curse may pass your lips, said Edward, «but it will be but empty breath. I do not believe that any man on earth has greater power to call one down upon his fellowleast of all, upon his own child- than he has to make one drop of rain or flake of snow fall from the clouds above us at his impious bidding. Beware, sir, what you do."

You are so very irreligious, so exceedingly undutiful, so horribly profane," rejoined his father, turning his face lazily towards him, and cracking another nut, that I positively must interrupt you here. It is quite impossible we can continue to go on, upon such terms as these. If you will do me the favour to ring the bell, the servant will show you to the door. Return to this roof no more, I beg you. Go, sir, since you have no moral sense remaining; and go to the Devil, at my express desire. Good day."

Edward left the room without another word or look, and turned his back upon the house for ever.

The father's face was slightly flushed and heated, but his manner was quite unchanged, as he rang the bell again, and addressed his servant on his entrance.

"

Peak-if that gentleman who has just gone out-»

I beg your pardon, sir, Mr. Edward?.

Were there more than one, dolt, that you ask the question? If that gentleman should send here for his wardrobe, let him have it, do you hear? If he should call himself at any time, I'm not at home. You'll tell him so, and shut the

door. »

So, it soon got whispered about, that Mr. Chester was very unfortunate in his son, who had occasioned him great grief and sorrow. And the good people who heard this and told it again, marvelled the more at his equanimity, and even temper, and said what an amiable nature that man must have, who, having undergone so much, could be so placid and so calm. And when Edward's name was spoken, Society shook its head and laid its finger on its lip, and sighed, and looked very grave; and those who had sons about his age, waxed wrathful and indignant, and hoped, for Virtue's sake, that he was dead. And the world went on turning round, as usual for five years, concerning which this Narrative is silent.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIRST.

(1) Lord George and his secretary quickly dismounting, gave their horses to their servant, who, under the guidance of Hugh, repaired to the stables. Right glad to escape from the inclemency of the night, they followed Mr. Willet into the common room, and stood warming themselves and drying their clothes before the cheerful fire, while he busied himself with such orders and preparations as his guest's high quality required..

As he bustled in and out of the room, intent on these arrangements, he had an opportunity of observing the two travellers, of whom, as yet, he knew nothing but the voice. The Lord, the great personage, who did the Maypole so much honour, was about the middle height, of a slender make, and sallow complexion, with an aquiline nose, and long hair of a reddish brown, combed perfectly straight and smooth about his ears, and slightly powdered, but without the faintest vestige of a curl. He was attired, under his greatcoat, in a full suit of black, quite free from any ornament, and of the most precise and sober cut. The gravity of his dress, together with a certain lankness of cheek and stiffness of deportment, added nearly ten years to his age, but his figure was that of one not yet past thirty. As he stood musing in the red glow of the fire, it was striking to observe his very bright large eye, which betrayed a restlessness of thought and purpose, singularly at variance with the studied composure and sobriety of his mien, and with his quaint and sad apparel.

Gashford, his secretary, was taller, angularly made, highshouldered, bony, and ungraceful. His dress, in imitation of his superior, was demure and staid in the extreme; his man

(2) We again introduce our readers to the Maypole Inn. The period at which the present chapter opens is somewhat before the Riots in London, headed by Lord George Gordon.

ner, formal and constrained. This gentleman had an overhanging brow, great hands and feet and ears, and a pair of eyes that seemed to have made an unnatural retreat into his head, and to have dug themselves a cave to hide in. His manner was smooth and humble, but very sly and slinking. He wore the aspect of a man who was always lying in wait for something that wouldn't come to pass; but he looked patient -very patient-and fawned like a spaniel dog. Even now, while he warmed and rubbed his hands before the blaze, he had the air of one who only presumed to enjoy it in his degree as a commoner; and though he knew his lord was not regarding him, he looked into his face from time to time and, with a meek and deferential manner, smiled as if for practice.

Such were the guests whom old John Willet, with a fixed and leaden eye, surveyed a hundred times, and to whom he now advanced with a state candlestick in each hand, beseeching them to follow him into a worthier chamber.

« For

my lord, said John- it is odd enough, but certain people seem to have as a great a pleasure in pronouncing titles as their owners have in wearing them- this room, my lord, isn't at all the sort of place for your lordship, and I have to beg your lordship's pardon for keeping you here, my lord, one minute. »

With this address, John ushered them up stairs into the state apartment, which, like many other things of state, was cold and comfortless. Their own footsteps, reverberating through the spacious room, struck upon their hearing with a hollow sound; and its damp and chilly atmosphere was rendered doubly cheerless by contrast with the homely warmth they had deserted.

It was of no use, however, to propose a return to the place they had quitted, for the preparations went on so briskly that there was no time to stop them. John, with the tall candlesticks in his hands, bowed them up to the fire-place; Hugh, striding in with a lighted brand and pile of fire-wood, cast it down upon the hearth, and set it in a blaze; John Grueby (')

() Lord Gordon's servant.

(who had a great blue cockade in his hat, which he appeared to despise mightily) brought in the portmanteau he had carried on his horse, and placed it on the floor; and presently all three were busily engaged in drawing out the screen, laying the cloth, inspecting the beds, lighting fires in the bedrooms, expediting the supper, and making everything as cosy and as snug as might be, on so short a notice. In less than an hour's time, supper had been served, and ate, and cleared away; and Lord George and his secretary, with slippered feet, and legs stretched out before the fire, sat over some hot mulled wine together.

"

"

So ends, my lord, said Gashford, filling his glass with great complacency, the blessed work of a most blessed day. « And of a blessed yesterday,» said his lordship, raising his head.

"Ah! —and here the secretary clasped his hands--- a blessed yesterday indeed! The Protestants of Suffolk are godly men and true. Though others of our countrymen have lost their way in darkness, even as we, my lord, did lose our road to-night, theirs is the light and glory.»

་་

« Did I move them, Gashford?" said Lord George.

Move them, my lord! Move them! They cried to be led on against the Papists, they vowed a dreadful vengeance on their heads, they roared like men possessed

But not by devils,» said his lord.

By devils! my lord! By angels. »

«Yes-oh surely-by angels, no doubt,» said Lord George, thrusting his hands into his pockets, taking them out again to bite his nails, and looking uncomfortably at the fire. «Of course by angels-eh Gashford ? »

«You do not doubt it, my lord?» said the secretary.

No-No» returned his lord. «No. Why should I? I suppose it would be decidedly irreligious to doubt it-wouldn't it Gashford? Though there certainly were, he added, without waiting for an answer, some plaguy ill-looking charac

ters among them. »

When you warmed, said the secretary, looking sharply at the other's downcast eyes, which brightened slowly as he

when

spoke ; when you warmed into that noble outbreak you told them that you were never of the luke-warm or the timid tribe, and bade them take heed that they were prepared to follow one who would lead them on, though to the very death; when you spoke of a hundred and twenty thousand men across the Scottish border who would take their own redress at any time, if it were not conceded; when you cried 'Perish the Pope and all his base adherents; the penal laws against them shall never be repealed while Englishmen have hearts and hands' and waved your own and touched your sword; and when they cried 'No Popery!' and you cried 'No; not even if we wade in blood,' and they threw up their hats and cried Hurrah! not even if we wade in blood; No Popery! Lord George! Down with the Papists---Vengeance on their heads' when this was said and done, and a word from you, my lord, could raise or still the tumult-ah! then I felt what greatness was indeed, and thought, When was there ever power like this of Lord George Gordon's!»

"It's a great power. You're right. It is a great power! » he cried with sparkling eyes. But-dear Gashford-did I

really say all that? »

And how much more! cried the secretary, looking upwards. Ah! how much more! »

And I told them what you say, about the one hundred and forty thousand men in Scotland, did I! he asked with évident delight. That was bold.

་

"

»

Our cause is boldness. Truth is always bold.»

Certainly. So is religion. She's bold, Gashford ? »

The true religion is, my lord. »

And that's ours,» he rejoined, moving uneasily in his seat, and biting his nails as though he would pare them to the quick. « There can be no doubt of ours being the true one. You feel as certain of that as I do, Gashford, don't you? »

Does my lord ask me, whined Gashford, drawing his chair nearer with an injured air, and laying his broad flat hand upon the table; me, he repeated, bending the dark hollows of his eyes upon him with an unwholesome smile, who, stricken by the magic of his eloquence in Scotland but