wrecks, and other calamities, set off by the harrowing pathos of the newspapers, and felt no distress, I have feared that my heart was uncommonly hard, and that I really could not care for any but myself; but the manifest sufferings of my two friends, set me at ease on this point. I suffered with them, and felt assured that I could feel for the woes of those, at least, who possess the power of pleasing, and are free from disagreeable habits. Poor Eliza! she made no complaint; she wore no look of sadness, fished for no sympathy; but knowing the case as I did, I was sure that she felt as much as is usual in such cases. Poor Ashley! he lamented his departure from the beaten track, but he was resigned, and endeavored to banish all appearance of pain. Had two common-place lovers been equally distressed, they would have contrived to make all their friends uncomfortable.

What could be done? I attempted in vain to assure Ashley; and if I ventured to touch upon such points with Eliza, I feared for myself. Really, it did seem that one may be more nice than wise! Romance and reality, in this drudging world, seem scarcely compatible. I was worried.

CHAPTER V.

Upon Mount Olivetto, near Florence, stands a monastery, then inhabited by a few Benedictine

monks, who were gentlemen by birth, and each brought into the institution enough for his share of the maintenance of a quiet, retired, godly, and comfortable way of living. Ashley and I, in our rambles, often called at this place, to see two friends, who, by the influence of the archbishop of Florence, had obtained good rooms in the spacious building, and good cheer at the liberal table, at a very moderate price. Some weeks after the conversations I have recorded, we stopped for repose and refreshment, and a little conversation with our cloistered friends; by accident the discourse took a metaphysical and somewhat casuistical turn; and, as I thought, a new idea was started in Ashley's mind.

Going from this monastery towards San Miniato, the rambler of taste passes over the hill called Bello Squardo, from which the beautiful valley of the Arno is seen in its most enchanting aspect, as the sun declines. We sat down upon one of the stone benches which the liberality of the proprietors had placed by the road side for the accommodation of wayfarers of taste, and contemplated this view, and talked about it until we become really excited, and the world seemed almost forgotten. I almost thought Ashley was himself again, so much had he regained his usual energy and vivacity. An hour or more had awakened his faculties and removed an incubus from his heart.

I moved to go; not in the short direction towards the city, but towards the villa in which Bentley resided.

"Not that way now, my dear friend," said Ashley, "I believe that I must be less frequently there."

"You must not be; your scruples are unfounded ; it is the place where you should be every evening." "Would that I could believe so."

"There is one person who can persuade you, if not convince you."

"The civilized man subjects his passions to his

reason."

"True; but he reasons from his feelings, and not from his notions. You shrink from the supposed injustice of marrying one whom you deem better than yourself; but tell me, have you seen among the many who visit her, one who is better than yourself?"

"There are several men in all respects unexceptionable, whom she can have if she chooses. There is H., who is well-bred, well-connected, talented, wealthy, and has never made a fool of himself."

"But he smokes himself with tobacco, and smells like a living ham. A taste so fastidious as hers could not be reconciled to him, as a companion. I put him out of the question."

"Are you sincere?"

"I am intent on business, and therefore the amusement of joking is not likely to impair the solidity of my reasoning. I tell you that H. could not find acceptance, even if no other offered."

"If H. knew that she disliked tobacco, he would abandon it."

"How is he to know it?"

"Some friend might, in his hearing, remark that she had a dislike of it."

"And he might not believe it. And if he did, he would not give it up; and were he to reform, she would suspect the reason, and apprehend that the old idol would be reinstated, when the object was secured. I know Eliza, and I tell you that she will not avail herself of any superior advantages in that quarter."

"Well, there are others; what say you to L.?" "He admires Carlo Dolce!"

"Does she know it?"

"Not that I am aware of; but she can't admire him."

"There is D., a fine fellow as ever breathed, with a snug fortune, and remarkably handsome; and she seems to like him."

"Of course she seems to like him; very probably she does like him; but the two would not know each other, until the next state of being. As to the rest, it is not worth while to discuss their pecu

liar fitness, for she is of the few, and they are of the many."

"You are modest to put yourself in the crowd. How do you dispose of yourself?"

"I have kites to fly elsewhere; and were there hope for me, circumstances would not allow me to indulge it; moreover, I cannot offer her a comfortable home; you can, and therefore it is fair that you should."

"A mess of pottage! how can you allude to such matters? She has the means of comfortable subsistence, even if you had none."

"It is an argumentum ad hominem; you have been adducing purely worldly advantages in support of the claims of others; I therefore tried them upon yourself. If they shock you when brought home to you, imagine whether she will consider them. Now here is the door; you are to read your fate in her eyes, and not in your own darkened mind, where it is not written; you are to mind your own affair, and leave the rest of the company to me.

CHAPTER VI.

'Face the difficulty,' is a good motto. I never could swim until I jumped into deep water; then, not having ground to fall back upon, I swam readily enough; so Ashley, thrown into deep water, soon found the top of it. When a man looks back upon