she had found rest. Cultivated, refined, elegant, she was a Christian; preferring her own church, the Protestant Episcopal, she yet often attended religious services elsewhere. Her brother never accompanied her when she attended "chapels," as he styled them. She was childless; and she bestowed on George De Vane all the exuberance of her fine nature. She instructed him in those things which only a woman can teach: taught him to love music, for which she had a passion; to draw, encouraging him to sketch from nature; and she opened to his young mind the hidden treasures of that noble library which had been accumulating in his ancestral home for more than half a century. She saw the grand nature of the boy: grand, yet with faults that might shed disastrous eclipse over all the heaven of his future. Generous, brave, impetuous, full of truth and ardor, sympathizing with every thing great and noble, yet with strong aristocratic tastes, and not resolute where his tastes were offended; full, too, of sensibility, and impatient of restraint; a genius that almost disdained labor-such were the outlines that characterized the young nature which stood upon the threshold of manhood. No one of his age was better informed; his teachers had fitted him for college at an early age, delighting in his proficiency; and his aunt had instructed him in elegant learning to such a degree, that few of any age could surpass him in acquaintance with English lite

rature.

In the society of gentlemen-such gentlemen as were entertained at General De Vane's table - George was full of sympathy, entered freely into conversation with them, and unostentatiously, indeed unconsciously exhibited those rare acquirements which attracted to him the attentions of persons much older than himself. When, too, he accompanied his father in his visits to the capital of his State, he found much to stimulate his ambition. Often he

rambled in the great forests which stretched out almost illimitably about his home, taking his gun with him; lifting his voice in reciting the lines of favorite poets; and sometimes, like the great Athenian, addressing an imaginary audience, in his loudest tones, until the wild woods. echoed with his vehement harangues. Oh! what a training for genius, ambition, and sensibility such a youth gives a youth alternating between society and solitude! How the intellect grows and the soul expands, like nature in that zone lying between the extremes of northern ice and tropical fervors, when Spring breathes upon it!

CHAPTER II.

"LADY that in the prime of earliest youth

Wisely hast shunn'd the broad way and the green,
And with those few art eminently seen,

That labor up the hill of heavenly truth."

MILTON: Ode to a Virtuous Young Lady.

DE VANE, closely engaged in his studies, did not quit the college grounds again before the following Saturday. His closing examination was about to take place, and he was roused to unusual exertion. The youngest member of a large and strong class, he wished to distinguish himself; and as he had not bestowed that attention upon his Mathematical course, which the importance attached to it in the College required, he now redoubled his diligence. In Metaphysics and Belles-Lettres, he was without a rival; and few equalled him as a classical scholar. As an orator, he was transcendent, and his Society had already chosen him to deliver the Valedictory Oration at the approaching commencement. But in Mathematics, his tastes had not been met, and he was respectable, without being distinguished in that department. In the Faculty he had friends; but the Professor of Belles-Lettres and Oratory was especially attached to him, and that gentleman had advised De Vane to devote the remainder of his time mainly to the neglected branch of study. Professor Niles was a man of large acquirements; had attained eminence at the bar, and then, while yet young, had given up his profession, and had passed some years in European travel. Before his return, he was elected by the Trustees to the

Chair which he now filled, and from the first recitation made by De Vane, in his department, he had formed a high estimate of the young student, which soon ripened into a friendship. He had married in France a young, beautiful, and accomplished woman, and De Vane often passed his evenings at their house, where his tastes were cultivated-music, books, conversation, every thing contributing to the encouragement of his favorite pursuits.

Walking in the College campus, De Vane saw his friend Waring descending the steps of the chapel, and he immediately joined him.

Waring, what are you to do with yourself this fine day? Are you disposed for a walk ?"

Yes," replied Waring; "where shall we go?"

"Into the town; we may perhaps meet your fair friends once more. Have you seen them since our meeting on the river-bank ?"

"Yes," said Waring; "I called the next evening, and Mrs. Springfield asked after you with interest."

"Indeed!" said De Vane. "I am grateful. I hardly supposed she would think of me again. I owe it to you, Waring."

"Not at all; she was really pleased with you, and made me give a full account of you.”

I trust you were generous, Waring, and did not make her believe that I am a free-thinker."

"No; I told her that you wanted discipline; that you were somewhat spoiled, and inclined to be transcendental."

"Did the young lady ask after me, Waring ?"

"No; she sat by, and heard my description of you.' “And did not ask a single question about me ?”

"Not one," said Waring.

"That is not flattering; she must be as cold as a Greek

statue-she is certainly as beautiful as one. If the Venus de Medici can excel her, I shall pronounce it faultless."

"She would consider it no compliment to be compared with Venus, even in marble,” said Waring; "if you must go to the fine arts, why not say Raphael's Virgin ?”

"Because," replied the other, "she does not in the least. resemble her. Nor does she remind me of her, except by her near relation to something divine. I am willing to say Iphigenia, or, if you prefer, Ruth, or Eve; but she is Eve yet in Eden."

"As you will," replied his friend.

By this time the young gentlemen had entered the principal street of the town; and, walking leisurely, they enjoyed the animated scene. The morning was fine, handsome equipages dashed past, and the sidewalks were thronged with pedestrians. Quite a number of young people were walking; the students from the College, and the young ladies from the academy and the schools, were enjoying the bright, bracing air.

"Waring," said De Vane, "let us look into this bookstore; I love book-stores-they are the most agreeable of all places on earth to me.'

They entered the book-store. It was an unusually fine one; its shelves were enriched with the handsomest editions of the best works in the language; rare old volumes too might be found here; and De Vane had passed many an hour in looking through them. He was soon absorbed by a splendid copy of the Paradise Lost, bound in two large volumes. Raising his head at length, while a smile broke over his fine face, like a sun-beam," Waring," said he, "come here; I will give you the portrait of your young friend, and even you will not object to a single feature in it." Waring walked up to his side, and De Vane read in his finest style-a style unsurpassed by any one of any age-the lines in which Milton describes Eve: