he should acknowledge him to have been his father, "he once lived here, but he is gone."-" Gone! where?" replied the man, in a tone of impatience, "I must see him let him be where he will."" He is gone," answered the other, cooly, "to his grave." "What! Dead?" exclaimed the man; "Good God! what an unfortunate circumstance;-but tell me, has he left any children.” "One," answered Agrarius, who began to dislike the interrogatories of his new acquaintance. "And where is he?"" Here," replied the youth. The monosyllable "here," pronounced in a gentle and rather timorous voice by Agrarius, had a very surprising effect upon the person in black; he descended from his borse, pulled off his hat, and making a low bow: "Sir," said he, respectfully, "if you are really the son of Mr. Denterville, be pleased to inform me if your father had not an aunt who resided in **** shire? you will excuse my asking the question, but something of importance depends on the result of my inquiry." "Yes," said Agrarius, as much disconcerted now by the sudden politeness of the man, as he had been before by his great inquisitiveness, "he had. I remember he has often mentioned her to me, and since his insolvency, had more than once been resolved to write to her for assistance."" Then, Sir," returned the man," she has been dead these three weeks; no will can be found, and all her property of course descends to her nearest male relation as heir at law. I, who was her steward, have been at great trouble to ascertain who this fortunate person might be, and at length, by some papers I found in her bureau, I discovered she had a nephew, called Richard Agrarius Denterville. I immediately recollected the name when I saw it, as his distress had some years ago made a great noise in the world. I went directly to one of the creditors who was my acquaintance, and who luckily happened to be his former confidential friend, who had been most active in procuring his dividend, and to whom alone he had entrusted the secret of his retirement. He told me where he was gone, and I have ridden post to this place in expectation of finding him; if you, Sir, are his son, and if he is dead, permit me to congratulate you on your unexpected fortune, and I hope you will excuse the rudeness with which I just now questioned you."

The astonishment of Agrarius may be better conceived than expressed. He scarcely breathed;-now he told the man to begin his narrative again, and then he abruptly interrupted him in the commencement. His eyes sparkled, his cheek glowed, his frame seemed convulsed with joy, he darted a look at the mansion of his sumptuous landlord, which had been so long the object of his envy and the pinnacle of his ambition. "Tell me," said he, with vehemence, grasping the arm of the man with one hand, and pointing to the villa before him with the finger of the other, "tell me, is the house I am now master of as spacious as that." "As that Sir!" repeated the man, with contempt, "Yes, of double the size."-" My God, I thank thee," exclaimed the frantick youth, prostrating himself on the ground," thou art just, thou hast graciously heard my prayers; I shall be rich, I shall be happy. Quick, quick," continued he, turning suddenly to the man, "make haste and lead me to it."—" Sir," said the steward, "if you will ride this horse to the next town, which is but two miles distant, I will there procure you a chaise, and we shall arrive at Cawdor Castle, (for that was its name) by to-morrow evening." Agrarius, his senses almost overcome by such an unexpected and delightful evolution of fortune, immediately mounted the horse, without returning to his humble habitation, and even without remembering that such an habitation existed.

Deluded youth! the time may arrive when that cot, contemptible as it now appears, shall become the favourite object of thy mutable wishes. Thou wilt recollect the days, the years, thou hast past within it. Thou wilt sigh for the uninterrupted tranquillity it affords, and thou wilt be willing to resign thy possessions, ample as they are, to end thy days in its sequestered situation!

When they arrived at the town, the provident steward procured a ready made suit of clothes conformable to the circumstances of his master, in which Agrarius drest himself, and springing into the chaise, he arrived at Cawdor Castle on the evening of the next day.

(To be continued.)

FOR THE PORT FOLIO.

ACCOUNT OF A FRENCH FETE IN PHILADELPHIA, in honour of THE DAUPHIN'S BIRTH-DAY. In a letter from Dr. Rush, to

DEAR MADAM,

Philadelphia, 16 July, 1782.

For some weeks past our city has been amused with the expectation of a most splendid entertainment to be given by the minister of France, to celebrate the birth-day of the Dauphin of France. Great preparations, it was said, were made for that purpose. Hundreds crowded daily to see a large frame building which he had erected for a dancing room on one side of his house. This building, which was sixty feet in front and forty feet deep, was supported by large painted pillars, and was open all round. The ceiling was decorated with several pieces of neat paintings, emblematical of the design of the entertainment. The garden contiguous to this shade, was cut into beautiful walks and divided with cedar and pine branches into artificial groves. The whole, both the building and walks, were accommodated with seats. Besides these preparations, we were told that the minister had borrowed thirty cooks from the French army, to assist in providing an entertainment suited to the size and dignity of the company. Eleven hundred tickets were distributed, most of them two or three weeks before the evening of the entertainment.

Forty were sent to the governor of each state, to be distributed by them to the principal officers and gentlemen of their respective governments, and, I believe, the same number to Gen. Washington, to be distributed to the principal officers of the army. For ten days before the entertainment nothing else was talked of in our city. The shops were crowded with customers. Hair-dressers were retained, tailors, milliners, and mantaumakers were to be seen, covered with sweat and out of breath, in every street. Monday, July 15th, was the long expected evening.

* The house is now occupied by the Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. Ed. P. F.

The morning of this day was ushered in by a corps of hairdressers, occupying the place of the city watchmen. Many ladies were obliged to have their heads dressed between four and six o'clock in the morning, so great was the demand and so nuinerous were the engagements this day of the gentlemen of the comb. At half past seven o'clock was the time fixed in the tickets for the meeting of the company. The approach of the hour was proclaimed by the rattling of all the carriages in the city. The doors and windows of the streets which leads to the minister's were lined with people, and near the minister's house was a collection of all the curious and idle men, women and children in the city, who were not invited to the entertainment, amounting, probably, to ten thousand people. The minister was not unmindful of this crowd of spectators. He had previously pulled down a board fence and put up a neat pallisado fence before the dancing room and walks, on purpose to gratify them with a sight of the company and entertainment. He intended further to have distributed two pipes of Madeira wine and $600 in small change among them; but he was dissuaded from this act of generosity by some gentlemen of the city, who were afraid that it might prove the occasion of a riot or some troublesome proceedings. The money devoted to this purpose was charitably distributed among the prisoners in the jails, and patients in the hospital in the city. About 8 o'clock our family, consisting of Mrs. Rush, our cousin Susan Hall, our sister Sukey and myself, with ou good neighbours, [Mrs. and Mr. Henry, entered the apartment provided for this splendid entertainment. We were received through a wide gate by the minister and conducted by one of his family to the dancing room. The scene now almost exceeds description. The numerous lights distributed through the garden, the splendour of the room we were approaching, the size of the company which was now collected and which consisted of about 700 persons; the brilliancy and variety of their dresses, and the band of music which had just began to play, formed a scene which resembled enchantment. Sukey Stockton said "her mind was carried beyond and out of itself." We entered the room together, and here we saw the world in miniature. All the ranks, parties, and professions in the city, and all the officers

of government were fully represented in this assembly. Here were ladies and gentlemen of the most ancient as well as modern families. Here were lawyers, doctors, and ministers of the gospel. Here were the learned faculty of the college, and among them many who knew not whether Cicero plead in Latin or in Greek; or whether Horace was a Roman or a Scotchman. Here were painters and musicians, poets and philosophers, and men who were never moved by beauty or harmony, or by rhyme or reason. Here were merchants and gentlemen of independent fortunes, as well as many respectable and opulent tradesmen. Here were whigs and men who formerly bore the character of tories. Here were the president and members of congress, governors of states and generals of armies, ministers of finance and war and foreign affairs; judges of superior and inferior courts, with all their respective suites and assistants, secretaries and clerks. In a word, the assembly was truly republican. The company was mixed, it is true, but the mixture formed the harmony of the evening. Every body seemed pleased. Pride and ill-nature for a while forgot their pretensions and offices, and the whole assembly behaved to each other as if they had been members of the same family. It was impossible to partake of the joy of the evening without being struck with the occasion of it. It was to celebrate the birth of a Dauphin of France.

How great the revolution in the mind of an American! to rejoice in the birth of an heir to the crown of France, a country against which he had imbibed prejudices as ancient as the wars between France and England. How strange! for a protestant to rejoice in the birth of a prince, whose religion he has been always taught to consider as unfriendly to humanity. And above all how new the phenomenon for republicans to rejoice in the birth of a prince who must one day be the support of inonarchy and slavery. Human nature in this instance seems to be turned inside outwards. The picture is still agreeable, inasmuch as it shows us in the clearest point of view, that there are no prejudices so strong, no opinions so sacred, and no contradictions so palpable, that will not yield to the love of liberty.

The appearance and characters, as well as the employment of the company, naturally suggested the idea of Elysium, given by