their fellow-men, is crushing to the spirit, and, as if some dark crime stood connected with their poverty, which would be discovered by making their wants known, they choose rather to drag on an existence of wretchedness and want, than hazard the additional torture of their minds, by meeting the "proud man's contumely." Poor Gilbert Waltingham felt, at the period in question, all that imagination can conceive on the subject of poverty. The gentleman had already taken his seat, and preparations had been some way proceeded in, when, in consequence of a heavy cloud which threw its shading influence over the town, the evening had suddenly closed in, and there was not light sufficient to enable Gilbert to perform the required operation, without endangering the chin, or the jugular vein, of the stranger.

For a moment or two, the rising purpose to which it appeared unfeeling necessity had driven him, stuck, like Macbeth's "amen," in his throat. He took up his razor, and then laid it on the table again, resumed it, struck it several times briskly on the palm of his hand, advanced towards the gentleman, as if meditating the performance of some foul purpose, and then retreated. The singularity and embarrassment of his manner, attracted the stranger's attention. Without, however, expressing any thing like alarm, he requested Monsieur Barbier to proceed. Thus called upon, he was compelled to the distressing alternative of requesting the loan of a halfpenny, to purchase a taper, before he could despoil him. The request was no sooner made than complied with; and while the destitute Gilbert went to procure the required accommodation, the mind of the stranger was busily engaged in thinking on his necessitous state. He soon returned, and, having attended to his duty, the gentleman retired; and, as he did so, placed a piece of silver in his hand, and, wishing "good night," hastened to his inn. A small fire shortly after blazed in the grate of Gilbert Waltingham, and a slender supper was prepared for himself and his little daughter, Isabel; a luxury, which, for some time before, had not been enjoyed by them.

Mr. Adolphus, who, as we have seen, had entered the miserable abode of our hero at the close of the day, was a gentleman of the law; he was now on a tour of business; his stay at Brighton was not intended to exceed a day or two, and then an affair of importance would call him to town. Without being able to assign any reason for his conduct, he had entered Gilbert Waltingham's humble dwelling, rather than give orders to

be attended at his inn. After taking a hearty supper, Mr. Adolphus retired to his room, but not to sleep; the poverty of the hairdresser, combined with his respectable address, which he had not failed to notice, had produced an impression that he could not shake off, and yet, for which he could not account: the more he thought, and he could not avoid thinking, the more he was perplexed; something remarkable, he conceived, must have occasioned such circumstances, and, in order to satisfy his mind, he resolved to visit him on the following morning.

Full of his purpose, Mr. Adolphus rose earlier than his usual hour, and, after walking round the Steyne, and inhaling a fresh sea-breeze, he returned to his inn, took breakfast, and then proceeded to the sorry room of Gilbert Waltingham. His shopdoor stood open, affording Mr. Adolphus an opportunity of making some hasty observations before he entered. Every thing indicated extreme poverty; and yet, dirt, the almost sure attendant of vice, no where appeared. The fine open and intelligent countenance of Gilbert struck him forcibly; for, even amidst the ruin which want had wrought, there were indications afforded, that he was but

"A shade of what he might have been;

A lonely joyless one."

Mr. Adolphus felt a degree of interest for the unfortunate one, for so he deemed him, of the strongest kind. Having passed the meridian of his days, and being naturally of a disposition of the most amiable cast, he carried not about with him that stiffness and hauteur, which too generally characterize the members of the learned professions. "Good morning, my friend," fell from his lips, in the most courteous accents, as he entered the house. Gilbert had not before perceived him, but, instantly rising from his engagement, he returned the salutation, in a way which convinced Mr. Adolphus, that he either was not what he seemed to be, or had not always been what he now was; and was proceeding to express his acknowledg→ ments, for the kindness he had experienced from him on the preceding evening, when Mr. Adolphus stopped him, by observing→→→→ "I ever feel a pleasure in assisting those who are not indisposed to assist themselves, but who may have been, by uncontrollable circumstances, brought to require such aid : if," he continued, "I am not greatly misGiltaken, you are among that number." bert sighed, but replied not, and Mr. Adolphus continued-" You will, I hope, excuse a stranger, and impute not to inqui 'sitive curiosity, that which arises from sincere

sympathy. Your destitute condition has convinced me, that something of no common order must have been the cause." Just then, the little Isabel awoke, and, in a tremulous voice, called to her father for a little water. Mr. Adolphus started at the sound, for he had not, until then, perceived a small bed in one corner of the room, and a child laid on it. Waltingham instantly attended to the request of his child, and Mr. Adolphus advanced towards the bed-side, where he perceived a sweet girl, of about seven or eight years old, whose features were strongly marked by the rude hand of want and sickness. "The child appears extremely ill," he observed. "Yes, Sir," replied poor Gilbert, stifling the feeling which unmanned him, and wiping away some tears which he could not prevent," she is very, very ill." I am better, father," said the child, faintly, "since I had the good supper last night." "Were you then hungry before, my dear?" inquired Mr. Adolphus. "Yes, Sir," she answered, with much sweetness and simplicity, "very hungry, and so was my poor father too; but some good gentleman gave father a shilling, and that—" Mr. Adolphus could hear no more; he drew his handkerchief from his pocket, and dried up the exhalations from his eyes, which had obscured his vision, while he

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"Felt the luxury of doing good." Turning instantly to Waltingham, he said, as he put into his hand a few shillings, "Here, young man, make haste, and provide what yourself and child require, and, by the time I return again, you will be better able to inform me of your circumstances, and in what way I can best serve you." Without giving time for a reply, he left the astonished and grateful man, who, with all the activity which a parent's heart could exercise, made preparations to meet the wants of his beloved Isabel.

The clock had newly struck eleven, when Mr. Adolphus returned to Gilbert's abode and, finding the opportunity favourable for the occasion, he observed-" If it will not be deemed an impertinent intrusion into your affairs, I shall feel obliged by your informing me, if you have not moved in a condition superior to that in which I now find you." "Your kindness, Sir," returned Waltingham, "has a claim upon me, which, even if I were disposed to seal up my past circumstances in silence, would lay me under obligation to change such intention, in reference to yourself. Yet, I know not in what part of my history to commence, in order to inform you of as much as you desire to know. You will therefore bear with me, while I present you with a hasty sketch

of a life made up of strange vicissitude." Mr. Adolphus took the presented arm-chair, the only one which the room possessed, and Gilbert, seating himself on a stool on the opposite side of the table, thus commenced: "I am the only surviving member of a once numerous and respectable family. My father had long filled a place of considerable trust under government, in the naval department. He was naturally of a high and unbending spirit. The authority which he had been long in the habit of exercising over those who were placed under him, was carried into all his engagements, and became, not only a powerful habit, but a fixed principle. His will was ever the law by which those around him were to be governed. My mother was the youngest child of titled parents, and did not, in any degree, yield to her husband, in point of elevated notions concerning rank and dignity. I was their only son, and, in a few years after my birth, became their only child; for my sister, who was my senior, died before she had reached her eleventh year. On me was lavished all that excess of kindness which the affections of parents could bestow, and which my heirship seemed to claim. No indulgence was prohibited-no wish was allowed to pass ungratified. So wore away the first fourteen years of my life, chequered with a variety of juvenile improprieties, all which, however, were considered as infallible evidences of a spirit which was one day to burst forth in plendid achievements, such as would add laurels to our already distinguished family.

"Ah! how infatuating is vice! with what address can we devise apologies for acts which feed our vanity, or enrich our persons, or gratify our tastes, even while conviction must inform us of the sophistry we palm upon ourselves. Such conduct was too fully pursued by my parents, in reference to myself. Their fondness for their only child might have induced part, but the dignity of connections, which I was expected to maintain, was not less powerful.

'I had not been suffered to leave the family mansion, even for school. A tutor was provided for me, whose lessons I attended to, or disregarded, as inclination might lead me. My tutor was a worthy, but a timid, man, and therefore quite unequal to the task of directing the studies of one so untractable as myself. On one occasion, he had hurt my pride by some proper rebuke. I burned for revenge, and, having heard it was beneath a gentleman to allow any insult to pass unnoticed, I determined to act the gentleman, but, for a while, was at a loss to devise means by which to

punish him as I judged the affair merited. Once I thought of placing a quantity of gunpowder under his bed, and, by a train, fire it; but this plan was laid aside, from the fear that the house might be endangered: then I thought that by inserting a quantity of an offensive drug in a bottle of wine, before it came to table, I might satisfy my revenge on him; but then, I considered that my parents and myself might partake of it, and so pain would be inflicted where it was not intended.

"My thoughts were continually busy, and, at length, I hit upon a plan which I conceived would fully answer my wishes, and, therefore, resolved at once to attend to it. At the extremity of the lawn, there ran a canal of water, over a narrow part of which, a light bridge was thrown, which led, by a rather unfrequented pathway, to a small wood, in which I was aware my tutor was in the habit of walking, most fine evenings. As the distance was between two and three miles, I was certain there would be sufficient time for me to carry my project into execution. I therefore prepared what I needed, and, watching him, shortly after, across the bridge, I stole towards it, where I remained until I was certain he had gone too great a distance to hear my operations.

"I now drew from under my coat, a saw, and commenced dividing the supporters of the bridge. Two I hacked quite asunder, in a slanting position, and the other two, so far crippled, as to render it impossible that a dog scarcely could move upon it, without being precipitated into the water. Exulting in my success, I waited with extreme anxiety his return, not once calculating on the consequences that might ensue, or thinking on the destruction of the useful and neat bridge.

"I had scarcely taken my place behind a grassy mound, from which I was to enjoy the sight of my tutor's being ducked, when I perceived my father and mother advance towards the bridge. I would have called to them, but my voice seemed to have been suddenly taken from me, a cold sweat fell from my forehead, I trembled at every joint. The sensation became too intense to bear. I sprang upon my feet, but too late. I saw my father and mother walk about one-third across the mutilated path, when, suddenly, the parts I had left unsevered, snapped, and they were plunged into the stream.

My mother's shrieks reached my tutor's ears, who was returning; he ran, and, with difficulty, rescued both my parents from their painful and dangerous condition. The destruction of the bridge was imputed to the malice of an incendiary who had lately disappeared, and thus I escaped detection. 2D. SERIES, NO. 14.-VOL. II.

However, it cured my improper feelings towards my tutor, and I have since learned the folly and sin of seeking revenge for every imaginary insult, or even real offence.

"The year following, I lost my mother by death. She had been at a crowded ball, and, returning late, took cold, and in less than three weeks after, was summoned to stand before the tribunal of her Maker. If my grief was not so deep as a mother's death should have occasioned, the cause was to be traced to the defects of my education, and the scenes by which I was surrounded, rather than to insensibility of nature. I had just completed my sixteenth year, when I was entered a scholar in one of the colleges at Cambridge, where, during two sessions, I prosecuted my studies with something like diligence, when, unexpectedly, the news reached me, of my father's second marriage, and to a lady who would, in point of years, have been much more fit to have become the wife of the son, rather than the father. Forgetful of the duty which owed to a parent, I wrote a hasty note, expressive of my surprise at what I had heard, and, while stating my hopes that the report was incorrect, did so in a manner which carried with it all the caustic of strong reproof. The authority of my father had, by such a step, been invaded, and he felt it. His natural temperament rose to its highest pitch, and blazed out furiously: he replied, "that such an interference on the part of a child, rendered such a child unworthy the name, and henceforth I might renounce it." I might, perhaps, by a mode which I ought to have adopted, have softened down, in some degree, the spirit which I had roused, but I seemed not even to wish it, and I instantly replied in a strain equally bitter. The consequences were, the erasure of my name from the will of my father, and the withdrawment of those supplies with which, until then, I had been furnished, even to prodigality.

"My college exercises immediately closed. Still I determined not to return home, or to make submissions. I had before learned at my father's table, that such conduct comported not with the proper conduct of a man of spirit. My mother had left me a property in my own right-of that I soon disposed, and, finding myself in possession of a few hundreds in ready money, I determined to follow the unbridled propensities of my nature. For months I did so. I was surrounded by friends, who applauded my spirit, and cheerfully shared with me the produce of my purse. My funds, however, were not inexhaustible. I remembered poor Richard's aphorism, and proved it to 158.-VOL. XIV.

be correct" Always taking out of the meal-tub, and never putting in, soon comes to the bottom." I became convinced of the propriety of turning my attention to some means of support. My determination was unshaken, to live independent of a father who had renounced me. Growing necessity urged me to any course which might be presented, and at length I adopted one, above all others, disgraceful and mean; it comported, however, with a roving disposition and romantic taste, and, for a while, pleased, but soon disgusted, me.

"My frequent visits at one of the inns of the town, had brought me acquainted with the manager of a strolling company of play

ers.

My voice and address being then tolerably good, and my elocutional powers being known as respectable, he requested me to make an attempt to serve him, on his benefit night, by taking a part in the performance of the evening. I was fond of declamation, felt flattered by the request, and consented. The part assigned me was that of 'Frederick,' in Lover's Vows.' My debut was most successful, and, as my circumstances were becoming pressing, I judged nothing would be more easy than to make a fortune, by commencing player. As no_opportunity, however, presented, by which I could be introduced on the boards of a regular theatre, I even became content to accept a place among a travelling company, and, in barns, sheds, and other temporary buildings, raved as a tyrant, foamed as a madman, or languished as a lover. I made myself generally useful, and soon became expert in adjusting the perukes of the male, and the curls of the female, performers. My skill in this way became considerable, and, as we were, from the poverty of our establishment, compelled to perform any part which might fall to our lot, as well behind the scenes as before the audience, I felt a degree of gratification, rather than regret, that I could be in reality, as well as play it, hair-dresser to the company.

"Such a vagabond life, however, disgusted me, as soon as its novelty had worn off. The poverty behind the scenes was only known to those who were there. The spangled dresses of heroes and heroines were, almost, the only clothes they wore, and generally covered bodies wretched with disease and want. I therefore determined to leave them, and, with a few pounds in my pocket, which I had prudently hoarded from my fortune's wreck, on the anniversary of my nineteenth birth-day, I made my final exit from such a life, perfectly cured of theatricals, and journeyed, scarcely knowing why or where, towards Bath.

"It was the evening of a lovely summer's day, when I drew near that beautiful city. All was tranquil, as Eden before sin entered our world. The sun threw its broad but chaste beams over the whole, and made loveliness look more lovely. A gentle air played around, giving a slight motion to some lofty poplars, and causing a ripple to agitate the surface of the Avon, as it meandered away towards the town of Bristol. Elegance and fashion met the eye at every turn; stately mansions, whose fronts were richly adorned with rows of sculptured columus of the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders, gave a grandeur to the scene, surpassing every thing I had before witnessed; while, in other directions, houses rising above houses, in progressive order, gave a picturesque appearance to the place, which was again relieved from monotony by an apparent proud superiority maintained by some elevated buildings, which seemed as if looking down on others, not less beautiful or extensive, in the vale below. To me, all was new; I had never, until then, visited this fairy city, although its fame had long been familiar to me.

"I entered the city on the eastern side, and crossed the river Avon, over Pulteney bridge, passing through the centre of Bath, and entered Bathwick; and again astonishment rose high, as fresh prospects of increasing attraction opened to my vision, in groves, vistas, lawns, water-falls, tea-gardens, &c. &c., which, with all the magic that art could give, spread along the side, even to the summit of Claverton hills. I took a wide circuit, and returned into the city on the north-eastern side of the town, and, while strolling up one of its many streets, my attention was attracted by a notice exhibited in the window of a hair-dresser's shop, that a journeyman was wanted. Without much consideration, I entered it, and, after a few preliminary matters, engaged myself to its worthy owner. I cannot withhold a tear to his memory: in him I found a second father.

"The family in which I was engaged was small. I was therefore required to lodge in the house; and to this I felt no disposition to object. My employer was a-widower, who had nearly reached his sixtieth year. Of four children, only one survived, a daughter, and she was still from home, at a respectable boarding-school. The superintendence of the household affairs was committed to a skilful matron, while an under servant was employed in the menial duties: these, with a youth, an apprentice, made up the establishment. Here my months passed away most happily. Mr. Hartwell was