when suddenly overpowered by my feelings for her voice began to act on me like a spell i jumped up from my seat and was about to throw myself at her feet when at that very moment the confounded servant brought in the candles and my face instantly became as red as scarlet


had i been caught with a silver spoon sticking out of my pocket i could not have been more confused


very ridi culous wasnt it


very upon my soul youre a capital hand at courting widows


arid what do you now intend to do since you will not take a friends advice and drop the connexion


i call at the cottage the first thing tomorrow morning and bring matters to a crisis without further delay


sup pose therefore you corns over and wine with me in the evening it will be but a pleasant ride for you and of course vou will be anxious to hear how i have got on


agreed and now that we have discussed this weighty matter let us have a fresh bottle


our glasses have been empty for the last half hour


in the excited state in which paul was he needed little pressing so the friends resumed their libations and more than one bumper was proposed to the widows health to which her impassioned lover though by no means re markable for his


convivial propensities made it a point of honour to do every possible justice


night meanwhile


approached and paul having along rjuuliiey uttlolc u ucgcul


u utllv ciuuul lttlilulllllg iivjiuc butihis convivial host would not hear of such a thing


for old acquaintance sake said he if not for the honour of the cloth we must have a bowl of bishop it will be time enough to


i


but consider the distahce


never mind the


distance well talk of that by


and i by with which words powis ordered supper


and while it was getting ready occupied himself with the bishop which lie manufactured in style that might have done credit to the headsteward of trinity j who so degenerate of palate as not to appreciate the merits of this delicious beverage


the


no ilest in ventio n of protestant episcopacy


other stimulants madden or stupify bishop mildly exhilarates


frenzied by brandy


punch lyotr knock down your next neighbour


saddened by gi ntoddy you fall to weeping in the streets and are taken


off by a sympathising policeman to the nearest stationclvouse


the one coppers your nose the other en circles your eyes with a rd watery rim but bishop scorns to play you such deceitful and unsightly tricks


while you drink it you may imagine yourselft drinking a hiss so sweet so seductive so kindly is its flayour and so


refined and mellow the sensibilities lit calls


forth


i cheered by the enlivening beverage the two friends sat carousing till past midnight when paul being as the baron of


bradwardine would plirase it ebriolus


t that is to


say agreeably stimulated so much so indeed that lie told the anecdote of his first interview with the lovely widow at least four times over was strongly urged by powis to take a bed at the parsonage


but no the in fatuated young man would go back to cambridge


a walk lie observed on such a serene night would set him


all to rights


and


you are mad


exclaimed his friend interrupting him are youi awaie of the distance


perfectly


hut go i must and will for it is indis pensable that i should come to am understanding with sbphia without further loss of time


ah powis slie really is an angel


did i tell you how i first became ac quainted with her


one evening


at this instant the church clock struck two whereupon paul stopping short rose frooi his seat aad puttihg oij his hat with that final thump on the crown which indicates a stern fixedness of purpose hurried away to the door


well well said his host finding it useless to expos tulate with him a wilful man must have his way but take my word for it you will have a storra before you reach cambridge


see he added thrusting his head out the clouds are gathering and the atmosphere is


charged with thunder


cant help it good night and shaking his friend cordially by the hand paul set forward on his journey with a promise that when they next met he would ac quaint powis with all the particulars of his first interview with sophia


chapter iii


the first part of the young mans road lay through a long narrow bypath rough and wrinkled with cart ruts overshadowed in places with lofty elms and peopled


with a flourishing colony of gnats which kept humming by thousands scarce six inches above his nose and settling unceremoniously upou his head whenever he took his hat off to wipe the perspiration from his brow


as paul hastened along this gloomy crossroad he kept up his spirits by whistling one of sophias favourite airs which woke an owl who replied with a shrill hoot thinking naturally enough for our hero was no vocalist that the sounds proceeded from an old acquaintance in a neigh bouring ivybush


quitting this lane paul next came out upon a wide sterile desert dull flat and monotonous as a treatise on i political economy and equally devoid of animation any thing more dreary than this tract of country is not i be lieve to be met with except amoiig the steppes of crim tartary


as for a tree or a flower or even a shrub they are as difficult to be found as the longitude


you may indeed see here and there the stump of an old elm or pollard but they are mere sapless skeletons having long since died of confirmed atrophy


well may such scenery and cambridgeshire abounds in it have driven robert hall mad


it eats like rust into the imagination dimming its sunshine and blighting all its energies


when our young cantab had got about a third of his way across this desert he found himself gradually descending into a sort of hollow from which so far as he could perceive by the sickly light of a halfextinguished moon several roads branched off


as be had no recollec tion of having passed this spot in the morning he took for granted he had lost his way so after looking about him for a few minutes in the vain hope of recognising his whereabout he put his hands to his mouth and shouted aloud thinking that possibly some one might be within hearing who would enlighten his benighted intel lect


but as was to have been expected at such an hour no answer was returned to his summons whereupon taking the first path that presented itself and which brought him out again on the moor he doggedly resumed his journey


it was now past three oclock and something like a faint apology for daylight would have glimmered in the easr had not the sky been full charged with thunder clouds


presently the wind began to get up a little a few hot heavy drops of rain fell and that low hollow mysterious sound which invariably heralds a storm swept like the wail of a spirit across the unsheltered heath


these warning intimations were almost immediately fol lowed by a rattling shower half hail half rain and by a tremendous clap which seemed to rend the heavens asunder and startled paul into instant sobri ty


he now began to be seriously alarmed for by the quick vivid flashes of sheet lightniug that illumined the whole horizon lie could just perceive that the track he was pur suing was wholly unknown to him


whether he was i going to or from cambridge he had not the remotest idea a blessei state for a man tobe in at past three oclock in the morning and who is besides wet thrjiigh v and knocked up with fatigue


r nevertheless paul plodded stoutly onward keeping as i well as he could to the path and after toiling upwards of three miles across the moor came to a small hamlet at the entrance of which he caught sight of some lights glancing through the windows of a wayside alehouse


delighted with this timely discovery he hurried up to the cabaret and tapped gently at the door whiclv after a minutecr twos delay was opened by


the landlord who in reply to the travellers request that he would give himi houseroom till the storm had abated cast a


shrewd pro fessional glance at him with his candle shaded with his hand and then satisfied apparently with his scrutiny ushered


him into a smoky sanded kitchen within the


amplerange of whose brick fireplace sat four men two


on each side while five or six others were seated at a curiously notched oaken table


and all were equally busy


in the discussion of a jug of nutbrown october ale


oil his entrance after shaking himself like a french


poodle when he comes out of the water paul took his seat on a small bench near the window and by way of


preventive from cold called for a glass of his hosts strongest and oldest ale and while quaffing it


which he did with infinite relish occupied himself


not with medi tations on the beauty and virtues of sophia for the heavy rain had for a time clean washed away all his sen timent mt with observing the people about him


one or two of these were waggoners as was apparent froniv the circumstance of their long whips lying ili a corner of the room others were labourers who


preferred tippling at an alehouse to going home betimes to their


families then there was the landlord a jolly dog fond of hearing


the chimes at midnight and conspicuous above all an itinerate pedlar a very autolycusin


look and


manner with round fullblown cheoksj a spacious cavern of a mouth and a merry roguish twinkling eye which was constantly directed towards the numerous flitches of bacon that hung temptingly from the rafters above liim


be sides these tliere might perhaps have been a poacher and a small thief or two among the company tlie first who spoke after paul entered was the land lord who observing his disconsolate condition recom mended him to renew his potations and without waiting his answer placed before hiin another glass of ale which was despatched with as much zest as its predecessor


the pedlar then took up the discourse and told several humorous anecdotes and wild local legends such as are still in vogue in some of the more secluded districts of england


the company swallowed these last with the most edifying gravity not a little to pauls disgust and astonishment who hinted his opinon of such nonsense in terms by no means flattering to the narrators vanity


for some time however no notice was taken of him till at length the pedlar having ventured to repeat the well known essex tradition of the murdered oysterwench who at ihidnight on the fall of the moon carries her head


through colchester in a fishbasket paul indignant at such tampering with matters incapable of demon stration and put into a sudden ferment by the heady ale he had swallowed which rendered him utterly regardless of time place and circumstance roundly called on the speaker for proof of the truth of what he had asserted this of course roused the fellows ire his eyes flashed his fists instinctively doubled and a very pretty skir mage would have ensued for our hero when once fairly in his cups was inclined to be dogmatical and pugnacious


had not the landlord adroitly restored harmony by re plenishing the pedlars glass


the storm had by this time cleared off the red morn ing b quote old marlowes line expression had all headlong thrown herself the clouds among and the company prepared to separate with the exception of the carters who waitedthe approach of the early waggons for which the alehouse was a place of call


having received all due directions from his host as to the nearest road to cambridge paul resumed his journey but alas he was


in a far worse plight now than he was when so obstinately persisting in quitting his friends house for what with the strong ale and the effects of sudden exposure to the air after the stifling heat and smoke of the kitchen he became quite stupified and went wandering along the highroad now tacking over to one side and now to the other like commodore trunnion on his way to church to be mar ried with his hands buried in the depths of his pockets and his shiny stiffened hat stuck upon the back of his head till he reached the castleend turnpike when after staggering about a hundred yards further irresistible drowsiness crept over him and he dropped insensible at the door of an innyard just at theentrance of cambridge


now it chanced at the moment of pauls inglorious descent that one of the slow heavy northern stage coaches for i need not remind my readers that forty years ago such vehicles were not the velocipedes that they now are was stopping at the inn


oh its road to london


but though this was the case unluckily for the young cantab not a soul saw him fall for the passengers were all busy


within doors at breakfast the coa chman was enjoying his morning glass of toast and ale in the kitchen and the woodenlegged ostler having finished puttingto the horses was actively employed in the stables


paul consequently lay unobserved for some minutes fast asleep with his heels jutting out on the pathway and his head just inside the yard when suddenly a party of can tabs men of his own college came by on their return to their rooms after a long night spent in merrymaking


as they passed the inn one of them stumbled up against pauls prostrate form


halloo said he who the devil have we got here then stooping for the purpose of getting the unfortunate wight on his legs again he added as he recognised the features of the hardest stud ent in st johns pimpernel by jove and dead drunk too


grad this is a discovery


what paul pimpernel


exclaimed another of the party impossible


impossible


observed a third


nothing more likely these demure studious fellows are always sly dogs at bottom


but i say my boys now that we ve got him here what shall we do withhim


it would be a pity not to have some fun out of him


ha


he continued glancing at the stagecoach a good thought lets clap him into the boot and give him a ride gratis to london


the proposition was welcomed with enthusiasm and preparations instantly made for depositing the sleeper in his new bedchamber


one kept a sharplookout about him a superfluous task by the by for it being early yet not a shopshutter was taken down nor asoul visible within a hundred yards iv hile the others got ready the boot which fortunately for their schemes had been emptied of its contents but a few minutes before and being of those roomy oldfashioned ones now seldom seen would hold a short slim man like paul very com


fortably allowing for hisdrawing up


his legs a little as people do in bed on a coldnight


v these facts being duly ascertained the sen eless student was lifted from the ground and dexterously popped into the bootwithhis head to the aperture and his knets


gently bent sothathe lay as snug as if he were reclining like melibceus on a sloping bank


the lid was then just left ajar by a small bit of stick being thrust into it so as i toigiveihim room to breathe and the party retired to a short distance to watch the result of theirmanceuvie it succeeded to a miracle


before a man could count ten on his fingers out came the passengirs the c achman mounted his box


the ostler drewolf the horsecloths


all right was the word mid away rolled the slow steady vehicle over magdalen bridge past the great gates of trinity and so right on alas that i should say so


ti the very village where dwelt the idol of pauls hoart sopliia dickson


tobecontutve


lungs brass


esq mp by y z chapter iii


he next candidate on our list for the repre sentation of the ancient borough of gullnoodle was charles james woburn esq of tavis tock lodge donenoughshire


jf castlereagh sidmouth were a real specimen of the old prereform days so was charles james woburn a beautiful picture and beau ideal of the modern whig of these postreform times talcing his stand upon what was once the popu lar cry of the hour the bill the whole bill and nothing but the bill


he looked upon everything as settled by that great measure


ho considered lord john russell to be the great benefactor and saviour of his country


he was delighted to see the greys euiottsand kiells filling so many places and posts and offices in tlie british empire and the country ought to be proud to show its gratitude to them in every possible way


they were made for longland and england ought to be delighted to regard itself as made for them


it had been said that in carrying his famous reform bill ins noble friend had had an eye to strengthen ing the landed aristocracy


he would take upon himself to say that only the whig landed aristocracy were meant and they ought to be strengthened as they were bora and lived for their country


it had also been made a charge against lord john that he had taken his stand upon finality


that was partly true and pnrtly not true


it was true in the spirit but not to the letter


the whig leader or he was sorry now to have to say it exleader had certainly talked of finality but then it was only an abstract not a positive and practical finality of which he spoke


the whigs would always be found reason able and prepared to yield to the pressure from without when it was i applied with sufficient force


but still he obfected to change for the mero sake of change


it was not pleasant to live in a perpetual atmosphere of agitation


it was what some body once called making the medicine of the constitution its daily bread


in short he should appeal to the memories of the past rather than to any promises and pledges for the future


even if the whigs sid nothing while in office if they reposed altogether upon their laurels won and basked jn the glories of their political victories achieved still the people of this country would be only acting wisely to maintain them in power if for no other purpose yet to keep the tories out inasmuch as inaction was far preferable to reaction


all this had a cold sound with it and was addressed to unheeding ears


charles james woburn esq there fore was not looked upon with favour either by our local aristocracy or our local democracy


he had only the support of a few of the middle classes and some of the municipal magistrates whom his friends had elevated to the bench


but even they were not enthusiastic


it was clear from the first that ho had no chance of being the winning horse


then caine as our third candidate plausi ble paradox esq of expediencyhall cun ningshire


he was said to be a shining light out of the peclite camp but truly to our unsophisticated natures he was much more like a dark lantern


never was there such a man of mystery before


nobody could under stand him


perhaps he did not understand himself


at all events he did not intend that anybody else should


ile always spoke in parables riddles enigmas and dark sayings


as far as we could see through the mist and fog and cloud and vapour and equivocation of his mystical and metaphysical fining and refin ing meandering and wandering nomeaning and doublemeaning sentences stuffed with parenthesis and made purposely dark and obscure he held the most lax and immoral political creed ever heard of in the world


if we comprehended his meaning rightly he held that country should be nothing faction everything in the estimation of a states man


let a government be ever so bad he said to us on one occasion let its acts be of a most dangerous and pernicious tendency and character let it rot in misrule and mismanagement still it should be allowed to run on unchecked in its wild career until it has whirled everything to destruction and no man should vote against it unless the opposite faction has all its arrangements duly made out for taking office its programme ready its ticket complete and its troops prepared to march at once into the downingstreut barracks


now this did not sound well for a picked man of a party of model moralists and pattern christians who are evermore throwing their respectability into the teeth of other people


and mr plausible paradox had other fallacies equally monstrous and latitudinarian


his great horror indeed seemed to be an approach to anything like intelligible speech


what brown or robinson wouldhavemade clear in five words he would spend an hour or so in cloathing in a most outrageous garb of subtlety a fulldress suit which beats that of the yan kee at the leve by long chalks metaphysical unmentionables sophistical waistcoat rheto rical tie coat doublemilled with cunning and a topper of statecraft with the nap brushed both ways


our innocence was both shocked and astonished at this honest lago of politics moved about amongst us making himself all things to all men setting his opinions in one light before jobson and in another before dobson wordfencing with everything hut committing himself to nothing to as people compared notes the infinite dis gust of some and the as infinite amusement of others of his hearers as they found out that in every promise given and every opinion expressed there was a saving clause and im portant hut or a mighty if which might make the real just opposite to the seeming meaning


there was one sharp fellow ailed bob chaffers at the tinkers club who made rare sport out of the peelite candidate when he paid a canvassing visit to that influential body of the old freemen


he pretended at first to agree entirely with mr paradox and then having trotted him out in capital style suddenly turned round upon mr rowonewayandlooktheother as he called him chopped him into mincemeat in no time and then in his very happiest manner drew all the teeth of the bilingius tyrius and ex tracted the venom to the great delight of his hearers and to the intense horror of the ora torical tumbler on the slack wire himself who seemed to wake up in pain like the man carried when drunk to the lecture room as the opera tor commenced upon him with the knife


mr plausible paradox did not much admire this kind of cross examination


he was a top sawyer in the house of commons where people are accustomed to give and take in the humbug and delusion line and where all as they wink at each others hypocrisy seem to act upon the principle


surely the plcasuro isas great of being cheated as to cheat


but he writhed like an eel in the hands of the cook when questioned by plain honest men


he evidently did not at all admire the process of being skinned alive that is he was willing io he the cook but not the eel


he would therefore have taken his departure and left the place at a very early period of the canvass but his few friends advised him to remain upon the ground


perhaps as mr micawher would say something might turn up and fortune and the chapter of accidents have always much to do with the result of elections


he listened to their advice and lingered on amongst us but hopeless from the first


chapter iv


and now for our hero lungs brass esq of nohall in the county of nowhere the fourth on the list of the candidates for the represen tation of the borough of gullnoodle


we have already announced that he was a radical flaming fast and furious


mr brass was as napoleon said of himself his own ancestor


he had by industry and attention combined with good management and cleverness accu mulated a farge fortune and he was not unwilling to launch out and live in a style becoming the same


he waa ambitious and bad long while climbing up the golden ladder of prosperity entertained aforegone conclusion that he was to be somebody some day and that the house of commons was to be the arena in which he was to come out strong and make a shining figure


he was not deficient in education and attainments


gifted with natural powers of no mean order he had culti vated them as far as possible in his leisure hours


he knew something about the sciences had dabbled iii the arts had read history espe cially touching aristides the gracchi and brutus was a master in statistics and almost a professor of political economy to the test and touchstone of which he carried all things for proof and trial


and he was not shy in using his knowledge


if not positively elo quent he was at all events fluent and voluble and kept himself in constant practice and up to the mark by on every possible occasion tilting in the war of words with the first and foremost of the vestry and municipal chivalry of his native town


ile was ripe in his full blown small honours when a higher and wider field seemed to be opened to bim by the vacancy at gullnoodle and instantly with that strong energy which was a remarkable element in his character and often carried him to success while others were hesitating obout plunging into the tide which he had passed threw himself into the struggle with all his might and main and entered upon his canvass with untiring vigour


he had no quarter for his rivals


he analysed them scarified them blistered them dissected them and scalped them without mercy


he described castlereagh sidmouth as a regular old cheops a venerable mummy dug out of his sarcophagus in one of the pyramids and over laid with a pyramid of prejudices and old world notions the very type of the egjpttan darkness which was felt


he also compared himto the bourbons who were deaf to the teachings of that great schoolmaster time and learned nothing and forgot nothing in spite of all his lessons


his love of the old way paths was after a mere cheat and delusion


why did he slop halfway


why did ho not boldly carry it out and go back to the heptarchy or to the painted skins and wicker boats and war chariots of the ancient britons


those were the real old times and not the small term of years which stretched between the administrations of the marquis of bute and earl grey the short period in which what was called modern toryism sprung up flourished and decayed


and then as to the whig candidate mr charles janies woburn ha hal ha


why the whigs were ten times worse than the tories


hy the cunning device of the reform bill which promised everything and performed nothing they had managed a transfer of power from the tories to themselves


what wore they but a clique a coterie and hardly that


they were indeed only a family party


the country was overrun with greys russells and elliots and other needy and greedy adventu rers of the same class and stamp


nothing was too big forthem nothing too little


they had an appetite for everything


if you wanted a bishop there was one of them ready


if an exciseman died there was one of them prepared to stop into his shoes


they swarmed like locusts in the south and white ants in india


no


ho hated both tories and whigs most cordially


but what was the difference


the tor was a sort of highway man while the whig was a political area sneak and nothing better


it was six of the one and halfadozen of the other


a plague on both their houses


confound their politics frustrate their knavish tricks


and look at mr plausible paradox the peelite


surely he meant eelite when he talked in such a slippery fashion


you never knew where to have him in his oily roundabout figures of speech


ile was playing a game of oratorical thimblerig with the electors all the time and it was impossible for any one to guess under which thimble the pea actually lay


he was neither fish flesh nor fowl not even good red herring


rather he might be called a political nondescript altogether


when you thought you were approaching his meaning there would come a parenthesis which drew you off from it in quite another direction


when you fancied that at last ho was coming to a decision a saving clause would start up which hid it entirely from your view


in short he was ashulingfcllow bent upon playing his owngame and he hoped that the electors would make him cut as soon as possible


it must be owned that this sort of talk continually repeated mado a great impression upon many of his hearers


and when in addition thereto he set forth his own political sentiments and opinions it was decided that mr brass would bo a hard man to beat that in short he was a regular stunner


a real screamer and no mistake a gentleman prepared to go the whole hog bristles and all


ho had a majority in the tinkers club


the cobblers and chimney sweeps were with him to a man


the carpenters and sailmakers said nothing


they were looking out for squalls and studying arithmetic


brass however still continued his canvass haranguing all men in all places


he was he said for england an englishman for his country and not for a faction


he made no mystery of his sentiments


ile had no mental reservation


he kept nothing back


he was for the education of the people


he had moro faith in the schoolmaster than the policeman


he was for cheap and good government not a government of a class or of a few families but the right man in the right place the blood of merit being in his humble estimation better than the merit of blood


the men of great names whose ancestors the best part of them like potatoes were under ground had been tried and found wanting


the finest army ever sent from the shores of england had been sacrificed upon the altars of their mismanagement


a fleet equal to the conquest of the world had been allowed to achieve nothing under their blighting auspices


there must be a change


he was indeed for progress and improvement in all things


he should if elected strenuously support those good and true men who were struggling for universal suffrage


he was also an earnest advocate of the vote by ballot


he thought that the property qualification kept many a worthy patriot out of the house of commong


and as to the shortening of parliament he would either vote that they should be triennial biennial annual or as sheridan said even shorter if needs he according to the wishes of the people


ile would even go further


he would support the ideal as much as the real the improbable as much as the probable the impracticable as much as the practicable the impossible as much as the possible the cloudy and misty as much as the clear and obvious the summum bonum of government he was sure was not yet ascertained


plato had talked of it and so liad aristotle and sir thomas moore and lord bacon but they were mere prattlers babes and sucklings dabblers in the shallows of politics


he would be


the great columbus to put boldly to sea in search of this true utopia not yet discovered and sail and sail on until he found it


all these were big things and clothed in sparkling and glittering language and uttered with the great est confidence had a marvellous effect upon the credulous multitude ever ready to accept omne ignotum pro magnifico and to receive the quacks life pill and allhealing ointment with a reverential awe which would be with held from the whole medicinechest of the regular practitioner


there were indeed some old birds not to be taken with chaff who went about whispering in cornersthey dare not bay it openlythat their belief was that mr brass lungs while so liberal and univer sal in his promises and pledges must be laugh ing at them in his sleeve


but their small voices were drowned at once amidst the general clamour of applause with which he was hailed and heard


the tame seleot few moreover shrugged their shoulders when by themselves as they observed that amongst all the four candidates there was no mr right for whom they could honestly and heartily vote


but such an opinion had no influence when mens passions were excited and the spirit of faction rampant and triumphant on every side of them


the demon of party has a wonderful power at an election


under his influence men be come as little children at a race who only look at the colours of the riders without ever taking into the account the capabilities of the horses


in the meantime the returning officer had received the writ the day big with tbo fate of cato und of rome was approaching and the hustings were being propared


expectation avas now at its height


some were enthusiastic others were resolute and calm the old freemen were again studying arithmetic and calculating the chances


to be continued


photographs from russian life


from fvowrs magtnint for avigttst


concluded


soon an intense pleasure began to manifest itself on the faces of all the grace and softness of the intonations and the exquisite finih of the nuances left no room for criticism


seldom imil i heard a voice of more exquisite freshness


at the opening a certain timidity accom panied by a formality of intonation inter fered with the pleasure but all this was soon lost in the profound feeling the true passion of the singer blending with the sadness of the air all that is beautiful in youth strength softness and expressive ness


the true russian soul so good and so full of warmth hreathod throutrh this voice so soft and charming which went direct to the hearts of the auditors there to touch those chords which awaken the national melancholy


and now the melody grew and developed itself in beauty


it was evident that an intoxication of inspira tion had carried away the singer


no longer the slightest trace of timidity but an entire abandonment of tho soul to the voluptuous delight of the song


if there was not the less a tremulousness in the voice it was no longer the uncertain tone of timidity but the thrill of passion which passes direct into the souls of the listeners and all the while that noble voice con tinued to gain in power in force and in amplitude


his song excited my imagina tion to tho most vivid memory of past scenes which were conjured up before me like life and this through the passion of a aitnrtln aphoorl ctanilinrr imtvinlfi lilft in a common cnbfmt but whose inspiration made him for the moment n magician nnd master alike of the beautiful and of the sublime


singing under the stress of his impassioned emotion this young villager bad forgotten everything us his rivalry and his rival sustained as he was like a buoyant swimmer on the waves of bis melodious and mullifluous song


i heard a sound of stifled sobs it was the innkeepers wife who was frying her head fallen on tlic windowsill


this sight seemed to give a new soul to the singer whose song grew more deeply infused with feeling the innkeeper was punting with the excitement and the charm


the trivial morjratch sat like a statue but with his eyes fixed on the grimy ceiling the poor peasant was sobbing noiselessly in his corner balancing his head ns if to nurse and soften his emo tions and on the ivon visage of the savage under his long black eyelashes that seemed glued to his cheek were two large round tears hanging suspended and ready to break


as for the rival singer he rested utterly motionless but with his right hand dosed and pressed convulsively his forehead


panting as we were under these sen sations i do not know what would have been the effect of the last paroxysms of our emotion had not iachka suddenly brought his song to a close with a sharp note of a boldness a fierceness and a purity so extraordinary that it seemed as if in that one sound his voice had de parted for the heavens


no one moved no one spoke it seemed as though all expected the return of that voice horn its flight


iachka opened his eyes and looked surprised at this kind of ecstatic silence but he soon saw the reason involuntarily that silence had accorded to him the lakoft aid the savage in a voice trembling with emotion but he could not utter another syllable


we were in fact petrified as if by en chantment


at length he rival of iuclikn rose and advanced towards him


you have won


yes you have won


said lie with an emotion it was painful to witness and he rushed out


of tin plane


the nobility of russia are notoriously extravagant resembling in the country districts in many of their habits iho irish spendthrift of tiio past age


the book of mr tourghcnief is full of lifelike por traits of men of this stamp wlio have ruined themselves nd who come to utter destitution


there is one charming little episode of this kind


a proprietor becomes enamoured of a young gl serf the waiting maid of a lady at some distance


she consents to become bis mistress and he succeeds in hiding her from the laty she betrays a marvellous aptitude aud learns with facility to sing to play to sion she cannot resist


he temptation to flaunt her greatness in the eyes oj her pro prietor who has so oltvn tjrinonted liar by her pride and unkindurss


the two irive past ihe domain but are unfortunate enough to overturn the carriage of he lady on tbe roadvside


this leads o a dis covery j tho pouce aip called in are bribed the girl is still retained


uut i in lady has recourse to law in all its most vexatious forms and the lover is harassed in person aud in pocket


suddenly the young girl seeing that ruin will ensue insists in spite of all remonstrances on delivering herself up


he is listrcted but sho escapes and effects her generous numose


allhounh knowing the fate that awaits her from bar vindictive mistress


he loses all selfcontrol wastes his sub stance in debauchery even to his last shil ling and when tl author again encounters him it is in a low coffeehouse at moscow where ho is living on his wits but where nevertheless lie insists on giving his visitor champagne


if our space permitted wo eould extract somo very touching pas sages of uis kjnd


in tho following ex tract an extreme se fs dtiguerreotyped


mr tourgbeuief while out ihootliig tres passe on i he grounds of a proprietor named kadiloff mid d shot wiiioli frihhnb ft young ladv if hi iniiiilv brings dim up


afiw n little brill uadflurt finds ilint tho intruder is a genlleniiin anil lie insists on his com ing to ilc jjouse and dining


he has been presented to ike bjoilicr and sec continued radioff pont ing out to mo a person tall and thin whom i had not perceived on en tering the drawingroom here is fednr mikhicitch


and then addressing this person he said come fedor give this gentleman a specimen of your talents a man with your advantages should not stand skulking in a corner


the man to whom these words were addressed rose instantly from his seat and having tnken a wretched violin from under the windowseat seized the bow by the middle but with tbo wrong en a uppermost ana nnving nxea the instru ment against his chest and shut his eyes bean to sing and dance grotesquely while be scraped tho strings


he seemed about seventy years of age and wore a long fiur tout of grey calico which hung flapping his long bony logs


this unfortunate bcin continued to dance sometimes making bis steps rapidly with his feet sometimes balan cing affectedly his little bald bead some times throwing it back and displaying the swollen veins of his neck while he went through this exercise with an effort tio visible from the occasional yielding of his knees


his toothless mouth opened from time to time to emit a sound more or likr a rattle than an expression of gaiety


ii was not difficult for kadikiff to perceive from my countenance that this exhibition of the talents of fedor was anytning but agreeable to me


enough old gentleman enough now go and get you reward


fedor mikhicitcli instantly restored the violin to its place nnd after saluting us all separately bo left the room


in a few moments mj host invited us to take the eaudevie as dinner was served


whilst we were going to the diu iiigroom and taking our places lednr mikhiciteh who from the effects of the reward had his eyes dancing and a de


i ded vcrmillion at the nose was singing a martini song


his place was allotted apart from us at a small table without able linen in n corner of the room the poor old man had forgotten himself even to the extent of neglecting the most ordinary rules of the table and it appears that it was h matter of necessity especially on any ex traordinary occasion to keep him at a certain distance from the company


he crossed himself took a long breath and began to swallow like a shark the lood set before him


in answer to a dunce of cnauirv on inv part my host said yes be too onee was a landed proprietor he was rich and he ruined himself now ho lives in my house


in bis lime he passed for i ho most formidable gallant in the whole district he ran away with two married women he maintained a choir of singers in his house and he was himself noted everywhere for his skill as a dancer and a singer


during the dinner and in the even ing our author noticed something in the expression of the young ladys countenance which fascinated bis attention


she was the sister of radilofts deceased wife and in the familiarity of his address there was nnlhinrr incompatible with their nosilion


in the evening the conversation led itadi loff to describe the intensity of his grief at the death of bis wife


the next morning he said i found myself beside her body


it wan in the height of summer and in the broad sun light


suddenly i saw here radiloff shud dered saw a fly walkins over her eye wide open as it was


i fell like a sack and when i came to myself i wipt for i our


if i were to live fur a lentury ays lie author i should never forget he expres sion at that moment on the countenance of the young lady


the mother of radiloff an old lady short of stature thin in the face and with a gentle even timid imt snd expression the mother laid on her knee the stocking she was kniiling drew her handkerchief from her enormous reticule and thinking herself unnoticed diied twu liirgo tears


fedor mikhieiteh as if in spired seized bis violin nnd with his wild shrill voice commenced singing


tlie in tention was good


the miserable old man was thus according to his idea showing ins devotion m tui liugic t passing on scene


we all shuddered at i lie first nole and radiluff begged hi n to bcquict


se ven days afterwards i happened to pass again by tbe house of rudiloff but


found neither him nor his tislcrinlaw


in fact on the very night i have described they had eloped together abandoning th old lady


as soon as heard his i com prehended the peculiar expression on the young ladys countenance while radiluft was describing his sensation on seeing tl c dead body of ills rte


that expres sion in fact was not merely one of sorrow or of pity but was inflamed by the fire of jealousy


the length lo which these extracts have run obliges us to bring them to a close the peculiar character of minute ness wlucli pervades the original lias peen necessarily soincnhal lost eight of in order lo reduce them within reasonable com pass


they form but a small portion of he whole coljection of daguerreotypes many of which arc far mot interesting than those which we have selected but less manageable for the purpose of selection


for instance the ahaptpr which narrates in full the story of the slave mialres already referred to and another called in tho french translation the comptoir in which we have a perfect picture of hat impcrium in imperio a russian propri etary village where the mistress a kind of lady bountiful regulates by means of ukases or proclamations rii the allkirs ol her pcuy sovereignly down to the pet tiest derails of offences and punishments but


who h in turn syslcniotiiia y cheairil by her stewards


tlie former comes to sell his wheat a hard bargain is driven between him and the steward as to til price


lj it for the benefit of the mistress


no


the dispute is as to what llio farmer is really to pay lie price for tbe tiyu of the mieuccs being fixed by common con sent


and then the farmer is ushered bv the ktuwiril w every fornmljly and servility into tho nvscipa of the lady in order that tin fnlsi contract may be duly ratified


in this chapter too we find tin steward coercing an honestscrvingman who loves ono of the maidservants coveted by tbo steward himself tho end being that tho poor girl s made tho scapegoat


in another chapter wo have an amusing por trait of a ladyproprietor who from con scientious motives has remained xingle slip conceives it to be her duty lo keep her serfs in tho same state and not a man or a woman of them ispermiitpil lo marry


in another a beautiful pirl has been brought to the capital by a finelady mistress her owner who to keep her about her person as maid refuses her the permission to marry a fellowservant


the result is that lie poor lovers commit themselves tbe youth is sent off as a recruit and the girl sells herself in marriage to a miller for whom she has do love on condition that bo pur chases her freedom


the poor loveless wife literally pines away before your eyes in the authors simple narrative


two lit lle episodes the


village doctor and the village lovers are charming ns idyls irresnectivfi of their value as pictures ol manners and lliu russian hamlet has n peculiar humour of its own thoroughly national


uuforuumtelv it is too lou for extract


the dwarf kiciane is in a lite rary point of view a new character and there is a chapter in which some boym


watching horses recount round a niht tire in the steppes the various superstitions of the country that is full of poetry and racy with nationality


scattered through the bok loo there are portraits of indi viduals each representing a class of the slime uiutl nt iwu ul imvu wcimtu uuwiuj extracted and thus on arriving at the close tin render lias become insensibly pos sessed with almost every phase of russian life


the knrmli translator m ernest harriere


hxs performed his difficult task with great skill


russian prisoners


continued


chapter xiii


alexandria


farm on the roadenvirons of towns and villages


our stock of winewatertanks on tho tops of the houses


tho


river dnieper civility of tho chief of the posthouses


krcmentchougthe country north of tho dnieper


young plantationsa russian courier proceeding to odessa


telega


leaving elisavetgrad about six oclock we passed through adjamka a village on the road and reached alexandria about two oclock after midnight glad to put up at the posthouse and bo relieved from the in convenient crowding of three persons into a carriage intended only for two


the country we traversed was of the same description as on the previous day flat and boundless and without interest for the traveller


i believe it extends in the same way upwards of a hundred miles to the dnieper and it must geologi cally speaking have been formed by the overflow of that river in ages long before the creation of man


at the posthouse there were sofas on which we lay for the rest of the night and the next morning we breakfasted heartily before starting at eight oclock


my companion generally took bread and cheese with his tea this i did not like but as there was always abundance of eggs milk and cream i did not fare badly


strange to say butter was generally a rare article of food why i know not as cream and milk were rich and plentiful


sometimes not even the black bread of the country was to be had but our wants were then supplied by rice cakes not unlike the scotch barley cakes


my companion invariably paid for everything we required on the road before starting this exactness on the part of a government courier savoured more of european order than might have been expected among a people whose habits and ideas partake so much of an eastern character


in asia the smallest man in authority never dreams of paying for anything and considers that the man who has afforded him shelter and food may think himself lucky to remain unmolested


i believe this was the case also in russia until the government put i a stop to such exactions by establishing posthouses and inns where the traveller may obtain what he re quires by paying for it


about ten oclock june th we approached a vil lage on the left bank of the river dnieper


the en virons of most towns and villages in russia are rather ornamental being planted with rows of trees j


but i unfortunately the roads aro worse than in the open country doubtless in consequance of their being more used by tho inhabitants


in this place we had to wade through water and mud a distance of a hundred yards at a time far more than a mile before we reached the bank of the river much to the detriment of our luggage as the water reached above the axletree


when we got upon hard ground the postilion began to gallop as usual and the jolting on the rough pavement broke five out of the six stone bottles of stierry much to tho vexation of my servant who had assured me that they were safely packed


there now remained only one bottle out of the dozen given me by our worthy friend mr maberly


it must not be imagined however that the wine had been selfishly drunk amongst us the postmasters and travellers whom we met all partook freely of our store which had now come to such on untimely end


at this placo i first observed the curious contri vance which the people have for protecting their houses from destruction by fire i afterward found it to prevail all over russia


on the roof of every house is a large tub kept full of water with a mop and a footboard is fixed all round on the sloping part of the roof to enable a person to stand near the tub and pour the water down the chimney or upon any part of the building that has caught fire


the houses are generally of wood and not being painted they soon rot and become like touchwood


there appeared to be great activity among the in habitants of this little place as we had some dif ficulty in reaching tho ferry in consequence of the crowd


it is here that goods which come down the dnieper are disembarked to be forwarded by land to odessa


this being the point of the river nearest to that city and on the high road the inhabitants do rive great commercial advantages from the situation of their village which accounts for the flourishing state in which we found it


there were a great many large barges gaily painted and carrying flags of ull colours moored along the shore altogether it was a lively sceneparticularly so to us who had been traversing buoh solitary regions


we embarked on board a large flat boat which was rowed up the river against the tide close in shore before we crossed in order that the current might not take us too low down tho river


we ob served that there were several mills built a few yards from the shore the wheels of which were turned by the stream


the point of the land here must neces sarily be slanting as might be concluded from the strength of the current but the banks on both sides being rather flat it was not very observable to the eye


the width of the river here is about a mile


we had discharged our horses and driver before entering the boat so that on reaehing the opposite bank we had to wait until a relay could be brought and presently a sorry set of horses made their appearance who dragged us as well as they could through the marketplace up to the hotel which wo reached about one oclock having lost time in embark ing and crossing


we at once ordered dinner and soon after we had discussed it an employ of the government probably a clerk of the postmaster arrived and informed us that his superior an old retired colonel hearing of my arrival hau prepared a collation to which he in vited me i unfortunately i had already dined and had to apologise


when we started again we were surprised at the contrast the nice horses and the driver and postillion in green uniform bore to tho sorry turnout in which we had entered the town we were informed that these had been provided by the colonel in honour of the english prisoner and i regretted that i had not an opportunity of seeing him to thank the kind old gentleman personally for his civilities


krementchoug is a place of some importance and appeared to be thickly inhabited


the streets are broad like those of all tho principal towns in russia and some of the houses are of stone


we left it about two oclock june th on our way to poltova


the country on the north bank of the dnieper is undulating and has a pleasing appearance owing to its unevennebs and the variety of trees such as oaks firs poplars ect


and here and there ure countryhouses the number of which increased as wo advanced towards moscow


whenever we reached an eminenco we had a view of distant churches and villages of young plantations and cul tivated land in all directions which enlivened the prospect


i said young plantations because in


this part of the country i observed that all the fir trees had the appearance of baplincs they were planted so close to each other that they grew up straight and lank and forced the oaks to follow them as they left these naturally widespreading trees no room for their branches


the only way in which i could account for the smallness of these trees was by supposing that they were cut down as soon as they reached a certain size about ten inches to a foot in diameter a supposition in which i was confirmed by seeing immense loads of wood in boats on the rivers


and as no coal is con sumed the demand for wood must be great


at the second station from krementchoug as we drove up we found a russian courier on the point of starting for odessa


he delayed his departure to have a chat with my companion his brother officer sharman and i remarked at the time that it was not unlikely that he was the bearer of the emperors order for the exchange of prisoners


the courier was travelling in a kind of vehicle called a telega which is muchubed in this country


imagine a cask six or seven feet long and of proportionate diameter sawn through lengthways and one half placed upon four wheels without springs


in front is a board for the driver to sit on and the traveller can lie at full length inside either upon straw or bedding covering himself up with his cloak bo that in reality it requires no hood although it is sometimes furnished with one


these convey ances are change


with the horses from station to station they oro very light and afford great con venience of lying down in them to any one travellin day and night


i tsre a leaf out of my pocketbook wrote on it a few lines to my messmates at odessa and consigned it to the courier


in the note i mentioned the place i had reached and named the stations at which i thought they would get the best accommodation


when travelling in russia i had to give a certifi cate to the landlord or landlady of the inn stating the quality of their accommodations and in one instance at valid where we dined i could not refrain from observing in my testimonial that the landlady had acted up tb the real and full meaning of the words sei chas as we had had a good dinner cxpeditiously served


taking leave of the courier we continued our journey and at twelve oclock reached a station within sixteen versts of poltova where we nut up for the night


on our way the driver missed the road and we had to get out and grope about in the dark


ull we discovered the track again


this is not an unfrequent occurrence in countries where the roads are without hedges


this mishap ren dered us anxious to avoid the like in future and after this we travelled more by day and less by nicht


it also caused a delay which prevented our reaching poltova that evening as wo had antici pated


chapter xiv


poltovatjlc of buildingkharkovcarriages made to hold bedsbielgorod nunnery


drunkenness not prevalent in russia


nearly upsetrecruitsrussian military colonies pilgrims to moscow respect of the populace


the next morning th june we resumed our journey and reached poltava for breakfast it bring only one stage from where we had slept


we were driven to a very large new hotel bearing an unpro nounceable name which of course i cannot remember


in the street where our hotel stood there was on one side a row of houses two or three stories high nicely built the groundfloor serving for shops on the other side were shops only with no rooms above them and forming a kind of bazaar they had large panes of glass of an inferior kind


poltava covers a considerable space of ground but did not appear to be densely peopled


its streets are clean and paved and the houses well built


i observed some ladies walking with parasols in their hands but without bonnets they wore instead a light veil hanging from the top of the head but by no means so graceful as the spanish mantilla


they had servants following them so that i could not mistake their rank


while breakfast was being prepared we strolled into the city and soon got into the main street at the top of which is a crescent with an race ised circular garden having in the centre a bronze column with an eagle on the top erected in in celebration of the centenary of the battle of poltava


the eagle holds in its claws a wreath of laurel and faces the military college which is in the centre of the crescent


the rest of the buildings in the crescent are occupied as residences by the military governor and public officers


we were soon surrounded by a number of jews who were anxious to be our cicerone to conduct us to the tomb of the swedes who fell on the battle field of poltava but we resisted their im portunities as it would have caused us to lose some time the place being a mile or two out of the town we were anxious to proceed on our journey as we were tired of bad roads and we knew that after a certain distance we should reach a regular highroad which the government was making and of which we had already seen portions not yet completed


we therefore set out at ten oclock and travelled with five horses at the rate of about eight or nine miles an hour till we reached walk between four and five you to dinner


i could not help noticing to my companion how many new houses were everywhere building in the villages through which we passed and that others were crumbling to pieces and required to be renewed although evidently not of long standing a


and i remarked that the builders must be very clumsy in their work


he assured me that on the contrary the car


penters were very handy with their tools


with the exception indeed of a handsaw and gimlet they use but one tool which is like a common hatchet only smaller with a short light handle which they were very dexterously one end serves for a hammer and with the other they plane and fashion all their wood


as already observed the outside of the houses not being painted with the exception of the win dow frames which are daubed with gaudy green and red the sun which is very powerful in summer warps the boards while the continued rains and cold of winter doubtless contribute to their decay


besides this the builders have an awkward method of erecting houses which contributes greatly to their dilapidation


when required to construct a house on the slope of a hill or on slightly uneven ground instead of levelling the space and forming a foundation they lay one end of the lower beam upon which the wall is to stand on the surface of the ground and rest the other end on a large stone so as to keep it horizontal and then erect the wall upon it


the consequence is that in course of time the rains wear away the lower side the stone gives way and the wall starts encloses its perpendicular so that in a village you may see houses nodding to each other at all angles


in cities the houses are of course built with greater care


the plan of joining logs together one over the other as practised in canada is doubtless a very good one and though consuming a great deal of wood houses are quickly built


the walls are covered with boards or with mud and in both cases are affected by heat and cold


it was amusing to see about this time when the people were preparing for some festival how busily they were occupied in replastering their houses


the wind in the streets seemed to afford the requisite material the women and children were wading in the mire barefooted mixing it and repairing the damages caused by the rain


it was at yalta that the promptitude of the land lady elicited from me a certificate of her having used the words set chas and acted up to their meaning


we saw nothing of any consequence at walk where we only dined


we next proceeded to kharkov where we arrived about one oclock in the morning and put up at the station which was also on hotel and afforded accommodation to a large number of travellers who arrived during the night in their carriages going on to their country seats


i observed that the carriages were made longer than ours in england and some of them contained mattresses so that the ladies could recline in them a very convenient manner of travelling a great distance the occupants being enabled to sleep at ease en route which it is impossible to do in an english vehicle


there was a great concourse of people in this hotel as kharkov is at the junction of several roads and people seemed to be travelling to their estates


we were accommodated with a sofa to sleep on this being the general custom in the country regular beds and bedrooms appeared to be provided only in the hotels of odessa moscow and st petersburg where the concourse of europeans is greater and these luxuries required


we left kharkov early the next morning i th june on our route to byelgorod which we reached that evening having been twelve hours travelling seventyfive versts fifty miles the roads being very heavy and the rain falling all the time


the inn at big good is kept by a german who was absent but his wife entertained us and made interest with her to procure some extra covering for my servant who had an attack of ague


the landlady spoke french and gave us the pleasure of her company whilst we were at tea


the days lengthening as we proceeded northward it was not dark when we finished our meal and we could see from the window the buildings in front of the house


i was struck with the deference which the people manifested on passing the gates of the nunnery and church on the opposite side of the street and although some were not very sober it being sunday night the greater part stopped to cross themselves before the painting that hung over the door and all ceased their shouting and noisy exclamations while they were passing the sacred edifice


it is but j us tice to observe that drunkenness is by no means so prevalent in russia as it is supposed to be at least i came to this conclusion from my personal observation for during my stay in the country i saw very few instances of inebriety and even in those it did not lead to any excesses but only produced a little hilarity


i rose next morning at five oclock and before starting amused myself by looking out of the window


i saw the people as they went to their work each contribute their mite to a bag held at the convent gate by an old man clothed in black


she seemed to have kept her eye on my movements determined to give me an opportunity of bestowing alms and increasing her collection


as soon as the carriage came to the door


and i was about to enter it she crossed the street as rapidly as her age would allow her and thrust her bag forward at the end of a stick i of course acceded to her request


i saw nothing of byelgorod except the street running through it which was broad and the houses detached with apparently extensive courtyards behind


the road from byelgorod th june was still very heavy not having yet been laid down by the government and in one place the driver taking us a short cut over very rough ground would have upset the carriage had he not jumped off the box and with the assistance of my servant restored the equilibrium of the carriage


we overtook today a great number of recruits


i could not help observing the paucity of regular troops although we were constantly passing military colonies built by the side of the road which however seemed to be deserted by all except the women and children


these colonies appeared to be laid out with order and regularity the cottages being all of one size and plan and ranged in a square with intervening gardens


the male inhabitants might have been in the fields at their labour but the general absence of troops in this part of the country was striking indeed we did not see more soldiers than if we had been travelling in england


the recruits had small onehorse carts to carry their trap


they were very young and were escorted by a guard of soldiers in regular uniform


on one occasion i observed several small carts laden with some thirty boys about ten years old evidently of jewish origin and was informed that they were intended to be brought up as musicians


we also overtook a great many women of all i ages but some very old miserably dressed having straw sandals on their feet with an extra pair hanging by their sides


some carried bundles containing anything they might have for sale in the large towns to which they were proceeding some were pilgrims bearing their offerings but all appeared equally poor and as we overtook a great many of this description all proceeding in one direction until we reached moscow i concluded that that was the goal to which they were all pressing


all whom we met or overtook invariably bowed or expressed their respect to the uniforms they saw in the carriage without knowing to who it might be to whom they were thus submissive


the country here and all the way to moscow had the appearance of being regularly cultivated as far as i could see on both sides of the road and i now observed manure used in the fields the land not being so rich as that which i had crossed on the other side of the dnieper


the surface was not hilly but undulating and there were a vast number of churches and villages in the distance interspersed with plantations of trees and fields of wheat and barley


lungs brass esq mp chapter ii


no sooner wes the death of twaddladum twaddledee esq mp for the ancient borough of gullnoodle announced than condidateia numerable of all political shades and colours were in the field soliciting the honour of repre senting the worthy electors thereof in the house of commons


most of them however only appeared to disappear again is double quick tunk


it was j come klee shadow go depart with them


like paul pry tboy justlooked in and hoped the did pt intrude and then vanished again like so many frightened ghosts


with cfesar they could tfay pent vidt but they could riot add with thatfamouvold roman wet for rinding that after ashort effort to flirt and coquet with


the voter they culd make no impression they withdrew into obli vion again like wellbehaved npnontitics as they were


this jcoming withy the waiter and going withthe auctioneer went on until the number of whatappeared to be oona fide candidatos for the vacant eat was reduced to four castlereagh sidmouth eq tory charles james woburn esq whig plausi ble paradox esq peelite and our hero lungs brass esq radical we must give a brief sketch of the several political creeds of these gentlemen


castlereagh sidmouth esq of monopoly hall in the county of standfast was a real specimen of the old churckand king tory school of politicians


his grand motto his great one idea his beginning and end his alpha and omega hi pharmacopoeia chis makeall


mendall and save all of statenmanj ship was fclfc wtetone


v ve clung


to thin as tenaciously as did dr sangrado to his titii tvewprescription ofibeei and bot waten


his lore of the old waysy the good oldj paths waimost wonderful he adored th cobwebs on thwphlars ofthe stateas trrdeify as the state itself


his hatred of the very talk of hange w intenw theybrd was an abomi nation to huna renovation and innovation were synonymous with


jiiin hft looked ui joshua ay


the saint and type and model


iftosmtfrcommanding tbsbnnhd noon to stand still


he had a strong opinion that


galilea ma dealtjnuch ob gently with by the inquisition or daring to set the earth ininotiqn fie always sjsfke ofjtjordibpeoqesiaiiedling intrader wjjtfi his dangerous philosophy which made mepthink when they ought to be work tag


anjuji to ihe story of sirissac newton and the apple it wasa most absurd notion to uso apples ia any way except for pies tadm dumplings and the more choice sorts for d sert


newton therefore was a humbue


w


yet he considered that the newton nil might be called after him as atff s his folly


sidmouth moreover had var strong convictions on the audacity of the je in venturing even to dream of sitting in pi hament


when on this topic he alwafs gretted the glorious days of king john j richard thefirst and venventlik to hi admirationji far back as king pharoakv policy m egypt


nahougnflsvihatdis senters ought to bereatcd as dissenters and made to feel that they were phariahs and not rrahmins


as to maynooth it ought to be burnt down at once airtheold penal statutes against popery be reenaqted and martial law be permanently proclaimed in ireland


the great mistaken of the age liad been the repeal of the test and corporation acts the admis bon of roman catholics into parliament tho abolition of thesiave trade the parliamen taryand municipal reform bills and fie trade and he would devote his life to the cor rection of these evils


but perhaps his greatest horror of all was felt at what is called the march of intellect


to talk of the edu cation of the masses almost drove him into a state of frenzy


what did working people want with books and instruction


tkev ought to be employed all day for then families and then go to bed to rest and refresh themselves after their toil


thecurfew was a glorious institution


the presont move ment was all in conscqueuce of that dreadful invention the printingpress which ought to have been put dow n at once by the ruling powers and authorities when it was fivst dis covered


madmen indeed talked of the inkstand as the greatest stand yet made in the cause of civilization but when he contemplated all the mischief which it had achieved he could only look at the colour of the ink within it and see all its results blackened and coloured thereby


education was indeed a most dangerous affair when spoken of for the million


they would be carried away by it


there were mysterious sympathies connected with it whose dangerous tendencies it would be impossible to counteract


there was peril in the very phrase the republic of letters


they would never hear of the revolution of the earth upon its axis without thinking of that popular delusion which murdered charles ithe first with the axe of resolution


and astronomy was a most mischievous btudy


the fixed stars indeed wereyery respectable luminaries in their way and he had nothing to say against them


in truth he admired their stationary position


but the ideas of raeu were altogether unsettled when they heard of planetb cornet and meteors


be hod on the same principle of wishing to keep things at they were always opposed cheap newspapers and the penny postage


he looked upon the newspapers as a public nuisance and upon rowlaud hill as the greatest quack of the day he had a private opinion that the latter must be the agent of somebody some where perhaps of the pope perhaps of tho president of the united statesperhaps of the iredrrepublicans perhaps of theemperor of russiao


at all events he was a most dangerous ma encouraging people to be al ways writing letters to the neglect of their business


it was scandalous and ought to be put down


his views on foreign affain


vere equally ancient and venerable the holy alliance ought to be revived the bourbons io bo restored in france and don carlos to be placed on the throne of spain


our fleets and armies should walk into the united stated and reduce them into their old condition of colonies the king of naples should be en couraged and the king of sardinia rebuked


as to the monarcli of belgium and sweden he hould ever consider them as intruders into the thrones of the ancient royalties of europe ndspeak of them in nvoher fashion such was the tory candidate for gullnoodle castlereagh sidmouthesq of monopolyhall jn thofoounty of standfast


andstrange to say he found supporters in that ancient borough


some of the rich hankers and mer chants were warmly for him


the clergy were withhim almost to a man


king a good looking fellow and a pleasant one withal out of politics his cause was decidedly in favour with the ladies


they are naturally conser vativeraven to their use of cosmetics


the old freemen also smiled upon him


they bad magnificent traditions apdjsome of them no small experience of the mopey bags which always follow in the train of a tory candidate


there was therefore strongcry of castle reagh sidmouth esq for ever as the succes sor of taddledum twadwee eaa


in tho representation of the borough of gullnoodle b be continuai


chapter hi


showing how mr caudle could oo out and enjoy himself


by the bye sarah just put half adozen shirts and all that sort of thing in my portmanteau


im goinx there you are with your black looks again


i can never go anywhere just a little to enjoy myself but you look like thunder


what i i might sometimes take you out


nonsense women that is women when theyre inanied are best at home


what can thev want to go out for


its quite enough for them to go out to bunt for husbands when theyve caught em let em sit at home and sing with tbe kettle and the cat their best place is their fireside


halfadozen shirts i say and my swingtackle


do you bear me mrs caudle


perhaps when youve done counting the legs of that fly on the ceiling youll attend to me


eli


i i think you never want to go out


quite tbe contrary its my belief youd always be out


if you want ed to go about like a junefly why did you mrrry i should have told you where i was going but as youve shown your temper i wont tell you a syllable


no nor i shant tell you who im going with or when i shall be back


when you see me then you may expect me and not before


and mind all the buttons are on my shirts thats all


its miserable always being left by yourself


yourself indeed arnt there books in the house


theres capital company on the shelves if youd only get acquainted with them


im sure youd be none the worse for em


besides theres the cookery book read that


a wife cant study anything better


the fact is mrs caudle ive induged you too much


ive made a fool or you


no hatfnt


well then who has


if i havnt somebody has its plain


going out indeed ive no opinion of any woman who wants to go out at all


women were never intended to go out only ibe fact is weve let you have your own way


hal they manage these matters much better in tbe east


im generally a pretty quiet man mrs caudle and you know it


nevertheless i have a little of tbe lion in me just a little dont rouse it thats all


there you are with the pockethandkerchief again


always hoisting that signal of distress


no no im not made of sugar like a twelfthcake image im not to be melted with tears j let them be bb many and as hot as they will


besides as i say you can bii do it when you like every mothers soul of you


but im not to be washed ofl my legs by any river of tbe sort


all i say to you is stay at home


youve a needle and thread havent you


and ill be bworn for it plenty ot things to make or to mend


and if you havent cut holes and sewem up again


now see when i come home that any portmanteau ready


whats oclock


i you want five minutes to


no doubt j the old story youre always wanting tome thing


v


the reclaimed or the force of earl y impressions


u a tale


chapter iii


the grey of morning had just begun to mingle with and chase away the gloom of night as louis valliere returned slowly and wearily towards the dwelling of his sister


finding the door fastened he knocked again to obtain admittance and in a few moments marie who had been expecting his return removed the bar and he entered


passing her in silence though she earnestly questioned him as to the course he had pursued he hastened into the little sitting room in which be had before met his sister


for a few moments he passed moodily up and down the floor and then cast himself upon a chair muttering well i shall meet him yet


and if this fails he paused for marie stood before him and addressed him


oh louis you will break adeles heart


poor creature how she wept when you broke away from


us so passionately last night and she could find no omfort till we knelt and prayed to god


poor marie little knew why a momentary smile passed across the face of louis but she added with a womans tact yes louis how often in your young years when some fancied grief was weighing on your little heart did you and adele kneel together at the feet of your sweet mother and pray to the good father of all until your sorrows had passed away like a cloud and again you were happy


for a moment louis had forgotten the dark thoughts of later years and his memory ran back to the happy hours of his pure and innocent youth another smile oh


how different from the first played upon his lips as he recollected the peace and consolation which those hours of prayer had been wont to bring upon his soul but the demon whispered to his pride it was a vain delusion a dream of childhood


yet he sighed and added in his heart it was a happy dream would that i


could dream so now


oh heart of man inexplicable mystery


thou cause of good and evil of happiness and misery at one moment urging on to crime the next rejoicing in the purity of by gone days j now dwelling on the present and the future with gay and joyous hope now turning to the past with vain regret now driven from its early truth by reason now swaying reason back to truth


from the heart a throbbing pulse goes upwards through the soul and bends and conquers all its strongest powers in its citadel there dwells a guard that bind it as you may will burst those bonds and rise unwaver ing to the fight with the foe of human kind still beaten but not conquered still chained but not subdued until victory closes its struggles


that unconquered guardian had arisen from its chains in the soul of louis valliere to commence its cease less conflict and though beaten down for the moment it lay watchful and unsleeping until the liour of victory should arrive


the young man arose and paced the room in silence as his memory reverted to the past but at length shaking off the spell that seemed to rest upon his spirit he returned to his present situation


and mary adele was praying for me to her god


he


spoke this time without a smile but in a tone of sadness and greater feeling than he had hitherto displayed


to her god


what can ho mean


snid poor marie to herself tohorgod she added aloud and louis have you no god silence woman


question me not


he said flttgrily for he shrank from acknowledging his be lief before the simpleminded and pure hearted woman who addressed him when on hour before he would have boasted it to


the world


that ceaseless struggle in his heart was still at work


poor marie drew back whilst the tears came coursing down her withered cheeks for nover before


had either of her children as she called them spoken harshly to her


in a moment hisfeelings rebuked him and almost cursing the unbelief that had made


him treat so oruolly the kind and affectionate creatme who had been to him a mother as far as tutored nature had permitted he approached her and taking her hand addressed jier in a soothing tone


poor marie do not weep


i have forgotten myself to speak so harshly to you who are so kind


come marie forgive and and pray for me


it was said with a struggle and only to pacify the good woman


in a moment she dried her eyes aud loaked up to him with a glad light beaming from them and exclaimed oh louis then you are not one of those poor blinded men who deny the good god


no wonder it vexed you that i should suppose it


the young man


turned away the simple exclamation of his affectionate nurse had gone to his heart nnd he could nnt undeceive her


in a few moments adela entered the room and when her brother told her that he had not seen delmont she became more cheerful than she had been andbesought him not to punish the man who dared to threaten her with violence


why adele do you wish me to forgive him


certainly you cannot be very seriously offended at his conduct or you could desire to be avenged


yes


my dear brother i do resenthis behaviour but i pray to god to give him a better heart and to forgive him as i wish to be forgiven


as you used to pray alas


and she rested her head upon his shoulder and wiped away the tear that the recol lection of the last nights terrific disclosute had caused to start and tremble in her eye


louis valliere was an infidel more from habit and association than from any conviction as some men


oftentimes endeavour to persuade themselves and he felt his unbelief begin to be shaken by the vivid recollections of the past which every word of his sister recalled


but the pride of his heart was too strong and he determined to repress these efforts of memory and to turn from the past to the present


i sought everywhere for delmont he said and i put in requisition every means in my power to discover him but in vain


at all his usual haunts i searched but found him not


i rejoice dear brother for now we will go with you and under your protection i will be perfectly safe


yes we will go with you and pray for you


yes pray for me


he said for he felt that even if it benefitted him not it would serve to calm their minds


and you will not seek after delmont again


i may meet him without seeking adele he replied with a smile


aye but jyou will not seek to encounter him


youwill not risk your own life and my only depen dence by attempting to quarrel with this man v nay nay adele


now you bind me too tightly in your eagerness to prevent harm to your lover


oh louis


you know it is not that and she threw her arms around his neck placing at the same time over his head a ribbon to which was attached a medal of the virgin and said wear this for my sake louis


without examining it he placed it in his bosom and resumed the conver sation


chapter iv


on the night of that day whose early morn wit nessed the transactions of the last chapter two men walked cautiously along the street which has been described in the opening scene and in which the dwelling of adele valliere was situated


they con versed in low tones as they proceeded while one ever and anon cast around him a quick yet piercing glance to discover if they were observed


aye but monsieur must remember that there is no little danger to be encountered in the under taking which he proposes and that it is notworth a mans neck hut if monsieur desires it so ardently jacques derbrouch is not the man to shrink from the enterprise provided any benefit to monsieur is to be derived from it


in other words if there were any chance of ob taining the booty in the house you would not hesitate to assist me in breaking it open


oui


monsieur is right


or if monsieur would makeup to mon


jacques derbrouch the supposed value of an ordinary exploit mons


jacques derbrouch would be just as well satisfied as if he had obtained the booty itself


monsieur is right again


said the man with a smothered laugh


yes monsieur is right


then i may count on the assistance of mons


jacques derbrouch throughout this matter said the other iu the same tone half sarcastic in which he had overruled the objections of his companion


however this time he was not equally successful for the man stopped suddenly and replied monsdelmont i have hunted out this game for you at last when all your means of obtaining information had failed and you then promised me a suitable reward


i have found the place of her re treat and am now leading you towards it but i will not move one step further unless you pay me what i have already earned and what i am yet to earn this night


pshaw


derbrouch what has put that notion into your head


i will pay you when the work is done not before


i understand all that said the man but you may rest assured that i will not move one step further until i am paid


when the work is done derbrouch may whistle for his money


come monsieur le honorable


aye honor among thieves muttered delmont as he placed his purse in the hands of the sturdy ruffian


there


when the matter is ended to my satisfaction you shall receive as much more


the man weighed the purse critically iu his right hand and then in his left and treating himself to a single shake of the contents placed it deliberately in his pocket and preceded his employer


at length they reached the building already described in which adele valliere resided


here they paused and resumed the conversation


this is the house snid derbrouch and a hard house you will find it to break into


but one advantage is that scarcely any one here knows who resides in it


i have enquired of several and some of them are even ignorant that it is inhabited at all


so that if we succeed it will hardly be known and if known there is no one to care for it


i mind not that be the consequences what they may succeed i must i have sworn it


has she not a brother


she had a brother j


but he went to russia and i have never heard of him since except from her lips when she threatened me with his vengeance


but i took itfor granted that it was a ruse


i dont know about that


he may be here


nonsense


you are frightened and wish to find a reason for avoiding your engagement


try me and if i flinch may


and the sentence was closed with a terrible imprecation


have you all the implements with you


yes


but do you not here some one coming


here let us step down this dark alley and we will not be observed


chapter


v just as the two ruffians had suceueded in con cealing themselces several young men reached the spot where they had been standing


cbnveping gaily asf they moved along


j i tell you louis it isntterly impossible


and if adolphe will assist me i wilf undertake tb sarry you to our resort in spite of yourself


yes put in the other louis it is an age since we have seen you and go you must


well be it so


replied the thirdjj and they passed on


in a short time they reached their destination and found a party of jovial friends who were old acquaint ances of louis valliere


with a shout they welcomed him and it was not long beforeall remembrance of adele had passed away from mind


an hour flew by as hours fly where the wine cup is pledged and the gay song snug and the loud laugh rings where the joyousness of youth and the recklessness of man hood are mingled together where men strive to compress into one hour the joy of a whole life but find that the carousal is but misery indeed


at length half intoxicated by his tepeated draughts and carried away by the excitement of the momet louis valliere arose to offer a toast


as he did so the sacred medal dropped from his half open vest and swung before the eyes of his com panions


it was welcomed with a shout of laughter


oh st louis


oh good saint


oh miracle in this age destitute of miracles


exclaimed his reckless companions rejoiced at this occasion of raillery


give us a sermon good st louis


see


will it strike an unbeliever who touches to profane


cried another of the scoffers reaching out his hand to grasp the medal


stung to the heart with the taunts of his infidel companions upon the gift of his pure sister whose image rushed across his excited and bewildered mind mingling strangely with the wild scene around until it seemed


that every


insult was di rected against her the young man struck the scoffer a single blow and stretched him upon the floor


in a moment the confusion became


tenfold wilder shouts and curses were mingled with threats until at length the police broke in upon and captured some of the most turbulent of the company


louis escaped and as he rushed into the street and hurried homewards the cool freshness of the night began to calm the fever of his brain and to bring him back to reason


with shame he reflected upon his disgraceful conduct upon the scene of coarse debauchery through which he had passed and of the pain that his pious and affectionate siter would feel did she but suspect the transactions of that night


from these thoughts his mind reverted to the medal it was still around his neck


and approaching a lamp that stood near he read the inscription it was a prayer that invoked the assistance ot toe iviotner ot uod in mat concise out fervent language which is the inspiration of catho lic piety


as he read it he felt that he had uttered a prayer with his lips though it came not from his heart


he smiled and strove to shake off the fancy but in vain


an inward voice seemed to whisper infidel


thou hast prayed to the mother of god whom thou deniest


again and again he pronounced those few words and at each repetition the spell became the stronger


how often in his early days had he repeated that little prayer and now as he stood there disgusted with his own con duct and the conduct of his infidel companions he felt relieved in treading back through the paths of memory the days of innocence the days when his unbelief was not


it recalled to his mind the dear mother at whose dying bed side he had offered it up whilst the tears were flowing from his eyes and the sobs that broke from his then tancorrupted heart almost choked his utterance


oh


how strong through his floodgate of memory came rushing back every thought and word and deed of that trying time


upon his mind excited as it was was pictured that look that look of love which his dying mother cast upon him as she committed his sister to his charge and upon her pillow into the sleep that knows no waking


a thousand softening recollections swept across his soul


a tear had gathered in his eye he turned away and cursed his unbelief


chapter vi


adele and marie were sitting silently and wearily awaiting the return of louis who had been absant since noon


adele was ready to give way to her fears but marie consoled her with no no my child do not fear


louis has met only some of his old companions and is spending a few hours with them do not fear


he will return in time


in time marie


it is now almost midnight


yes my child but that is the time with gay young men


the two relapsed into silence in a short time a slight noise was heard below and they both started expecting that louis had returned


again they heard the sound but it did not resemble that made by a knocking at the door


at length they became alarmed and fastened the door of the room in which they sat


in a few moments the step of a man was heard pacing cautiously along the passage a hand was laid upon the door but it moted not


in breathless anxiety the two females stood utterly deprived of all


presence of mind


marie speak and learn who it is whispered adele


who are you who thus disturb us at this hour of the night


f said marie in a tremulous voice


there was no answer but the man placed his shoulder to the door and pressed with all his strength


it did not yield but the two females screamed aloud with


the hope of obtaining aid


in another moment the heavy blow of an axe was heard against the door and the strong panelling creaked and trembled beneath its force


another and another followed the door flew open and del mont eprang into the room


as he hastened towards adele marie threw her arms around him and struggled to hold him back


the poor giil shrieked for mercy and besought him to spare her


never


yon have eluded me long enough


and you cursed old woman if you do not hold your peace i will stab you to the heart


here jacques


come and gag the old beldame or she will alarm the neighbourhood


there was a slight noise below and a moment after a quick step leaped lightly up the stairs and louis valliere sprang into the apartment


cursed villain


he exclaimed as he stood be fore the affrighted wretch who pale and trembling gazed into the face of the angry brother whom he had believed to have perished in


the snows of russia


that ghastly look was changed into one of deeper horror as the blow of the avenger descended upon his brow and with a shriek of terror he adele valliere


the startled girl stood gazing in speechless horror upon the almost lifeless form lifeless hut in the convulsive sbudderings that ran through the mass and the trickling blood that flowed from the wound


the avenger rested on the weapon which had done the deed the bludgeon he had snatched from the hands of jacques derbrquch in his short struggle with that ruffian who after a brief resistance had deserted his oompanion and fled


he gazed coldly upon the form before him


at length he turned away and bade marie raise up the man and see if ho wore dead jjifewas not extinct and the wounded man was removed to another apartment and laid upon a couch


adele now thou raayest pray exclaimet louis as he reentered the room for this blessed gift of thine has saved thee from that wretch


and he told hor how in the midst of the carousal the medal had been seen how his brother infidels had scoffed he told her of the affray the inter ference of the police and his escape how he had read without any definite motive the inscription on the medal and how it had led him back to the slays of their youth


and adele pray for me


ah louis pray with me


cannot yet


he exclaimed and turned away


chapter vii


all night long in the chamber to which the wounded man had been conveyed there reigned a deep and unhrokensilencc


asurgeon stood by thehed side and expended all the power of his art to succour and to save after a long and nainful examination of the wound he shook his head doubtfntly and turned away to give some direction to his assistant


the lookers on felt that it was hopeless


in alow voice one of them addressed the surgeon as he drew away from the bed side and stood looking on the form of delmont to watch the effect of his applications


doctor can you save him


mons


valliere humanskill i fear will be un able to preserve his life


in a few hours reason will lose her sway to be only regained as life is passing away


i have seen many such cases and i cannot be deceived


his only hope is in his god


a painful expression passed across the features of louis valliere and he turned away to hidehis


feelings from the searching eye of the surgeon


at


that moment the rustling of a dress was heard and adele valliere passed quickly from the chamber


in the little sitting room she found marie and in a hurried voice addressed her


good marie poor delmont must die


go you and see father durand and tell him to hasten in the name of charity for reason will soon forsake the poor man and he is an infidel


an hour passed and then another and at length a foot was heard upon the stairs and father durand entered the apartment


ah my daughter this is melancholy but lead me to the poor lost child


let me pray for him and bring him back to the true fold


a tear gathered in the eye of the good old man as he spoke and hastily brushing it away he fol lowed adele to the chamber of the wounded man


as they entered delmont cast his eyes towards them


an unearthly light was flashing from them and upon his face beamed the wild expression which told that delirium had commenced its reign


ha


he said and who art thou old man who leadest hither the baautiful maiden stop yes i loved her and thy black garments thou art what men call a priest ha


wouldst thou marry her to me


and then his voice sank almost to a whisper and he continued it is true there is a god


i heard it muttered in my ear did you dare to say it old man


he exclaimed in a loud and furious tone


thus he raved on every moment becoming wilder the strength of the excited spirit supplying strength to the wounded body


for a moment he would sink exhausted from his struggles and lie panting and powerless upon the bed then his eyes would slowly gather all their brightness and fix astern and unmoved gaze upon perhaps some fancied object slowly that clear and resolute glance would fade into a look of horror that came creeping over his pallid features pallid from fear and with outstretched hands convulsively struggling as if with some to other eyes invisible foe he would shriek in agony until exhaustion came again to relieve with insensi bility thelionors of his situation


it was the death bed of the strong and wicked manhood dying without hope and with the burden of his sins upon him


all day long the delirium raged all day long the good priest knelt and prayed by the infidels bed side and ever and anon his mild features changed and his cheek became pale as some horrid blas phemy poured from the lips that soon were to close in death


at length night came down upon that gloomy day a night of horror


louis stood by the bed side of the wretched man


that morn he had sur rendered himself to the authorities and the whole tragedy had been enquired into with the speed and energy of the french tribunals the case had stood so strongly in his favor that he had been discharged at once and had hurried home to place himself by the bed side of him whom he had brought so low


adele valliere with the kindness of woman and


oh


still stronger the charity of a christian which her holy faith had taught her to practice was ever there like a ministering angel to smooth the pillow of the delirious man when he sank down over powered by the paroxysm


vain would be the at tempt to desctibe the night that dragged its weary length along over the heads of the mournful occu pants of that lone old dwelling the wild blasphemy mingled with shrieks and groans and curses the tears and sobs of those who knelt around and the constant prayer of the good old priest that the god of mercy would spare the sinner and that reason might dawn upon the spirit bring the joyous light of repentance to gladden the expiring soul


his prayer was heard


the great depletion resorted to by the surgeon produced its effect


reason began to dawn with a dim and flickering light but the strength of the body and with it the hope of recovery had passed away


chapter viii


it was a bright and beautiful morning thernorn which followed that night of dismay a small and silent group were gathered in that chamber and gazing upon the form that now lay motionless upon the couch


at length father durand again approached the bed side


he was a man upon whom time had left


its marks iu the gray head and the wrinkled brow but had only increased the calm placidity of his features and cast around them a sweetness and a holiness of expression which marked him as the minister of peace


bending over the bed side of the wretched man in a soft low voice he addtessed him


my son be not cast down


despair hot


the god who died for you will save you rely on him


call on him


the god who died for me repeated the dying man slowly and turning his sparkling eye towards the mild face that beamed upon hifn


the god who died for me


yes i believed so once long years ago


the eye of the sufferer became dim the soul seemed to have withdrawn its light from the dull orb and to have retired within itself to commune with the gathering remembrances of those long years ago


suddenly he turned upon tlie good father and exclaimed was it sweet music that i heard a joyous song or didst thou speak


alas my son quiet those wandering fancies and turn to thy present and thy future fate i future he exchiined pondering slowly on the word future


i ia there a fututa i no he continued after a pause no because because and even in that hour as he hung upon the eternal precipice his blinded reason and his pride of opinion


strove to retain their power over his soul