my dear sir-I even wave the retort which my feelings might justify; yet I insist that where there is no property, the man becomes a suspicious character, and should be treated as such." "How many whose means are beyond all doubt contemptible, how many mix in the mass what hangers-on, what stale retainers, scandal-mongers, vile traducers! Yet you point the finger of scorn at an individual because he is poor. My dear father," continued our hero, turning to the baronet, "there are creatures in the rational world who, like the polypus, will adhere to you; cut them off in one way, and they will cling to you in another. To avoid these reptiles, the heart must select its friends; and though sudden prepossessions are attended with dangers, I am sanguine in the present instance." "Heaven forbid that I should frustrate an intention so well-meant!" said Supple, rising. "Experience alone can convince in some cases. Adieu, worthy sir," taking *the the hand of the baronet. "Mr. Wentworth, I am your humble servant; you will do me justice at some future period.Adieu." "I do so now," thought Sidney, as the door closed. "I know thee "For one that courses up and down on errands A stale retainer at lord Timon's table; A man grown great by making legs and cringes, The inquiring eye of our hero, though frequently directed towards his father, attained not the answer it sought. The baronet continued thoughtful, and somewhat silent, during the day; he neither spoke of the stranger or his concerns. The sun was sinking in the west; Sidney cast his eyes on the orient beam, and again he glanced at sir Ormsby. "Be at peace, my son," said the baronet; "I can forgive, but I ask time to teach me to forget." CHAP. CHAP. V. "Oh, now you weep; and I perceive you feel To impart our feelings, is, in many instances, a matter easy to accomplish; and where an habitual confidence has been observed, all restraint is painful. Sir Ormsby Wentworth, at this period of our history, experienced an anxiety of mind, to which he had long been a stranger; he beheld his son awaiting that elucidation which his uniform candour towards him fully entitled him to expect; and he felt himself unequal to the task. To confess that a sudden impulse of passion had led him to treat a stranger in the way we have related, might be in a degree humiliating; but but in this case, Sidney was competent to judge, for he had witnessed a part of the scene; he must do more, much more; if he admitted his son to his confidence, he must avow himself vindictive, harbouring a resentment for a series of years; and now, when a medium for retribution of fered, rejecting the opportunity, and cherishing a passion always unamiable, but peculiarly ill suited to the aged traveller on life's fleeting journey. Conscience, thou silent, but imperious reasoner, thou wilt (though distanced for a time) catch up the scattered hours, and with a dread precision, place them before the "minds' eye." The man who is in arrears with virtue, like him who owns a pecuniary obligation of long standing, may frequently calculate, and in idea put the matter into a state of adjustment-but when he seriously sits down to make up his accounts, when the world has lost its consequence, and ceases to rank him amongst its votaries, the calculation becomes infi nitely nitely more difficult; he sees things clearly; he neither qualifies his errors by the medium of inordinate vanity, nor lulls his feelings by a latitude which his declining age would make presumptuous. It was a settlement of this sort which our baronet was called upon to discharge; -he met it, it is true, somewhat unprepared; yet, in extenuation, we might state, that it is probable he knew not such a bond existed-that such an unequivocal appeal to his honour and his huma-nity could be offered; and there should be some allowance made for a man who had not reckoned upon such an attack. This sort of reasoning suits the mind, which shrinks from self-examination, and takes refuge in the yet remaining dregs of time. It is but charity to believe, many trusting. mortals are less erroneous than they appear to be, or how greatly should we deduce from the chosen family of Providence-but if a speck will tarnish the outward surface, if we are sedulous to offer to |