improper persons to whom the command had been intrusted. My father's character was raised in proportion as his fortunes were ruined. A duel with an Aid-de-Camp of the Archduke, in which the rash young man was killed, was made the pretext for his persecution, and he resigned his commission soon after, having fought twenty years for an ungrateful autocrat, who suffered him to depart without a ducat, excepting the small sum produced by the sale of his horses and camp equipage. I am, you see, dearest Alice,' said he, removing you from one solitude only to another. We must bury ourselves at a distance from the great; and from the only friend I have in this world, I shall entreat a quiet asylum.'

"We reached the end of our journey-it was Castle Carra. Your grandfather received us with open arms, and agreeably to my father's wishes, gave him for our residence, a small hunting lodge, the ruins of which are yet to be discerned on the shores of the lake.

"We had not been long there before the trifling property my father had brought from Germany was exhausted, and with it his health

appeared to proportionably decline. He was now almost dependant on his friend's bounty, and his efforts to conceal the distress attendant on his poverty could not be hidden even from me, ignorant as I was of every worldly concern. In the morning I often surprised him in tears; and for the live-long night he would frequently pace his chamber. We had, indeed, completely retired from the world. Your grandfather was nine months of the year confined by the gout, and our whole society was confined to one person-William O'Hara. (Alice paused, and seemed agitated.) William O'Hara was youngest brother of your grandfather, and at the time we came to this part of the country, was on the Continent learning the art of war. William returned to bid his family adieu, and was the constant visiter of my father's sick bed, and the only man whom I had ever intimately known. He generally passed part of every day at the lodge, and at last became so necessary to my parent's happiness, that when any accident interrupted the customary visit, his absence rendered the patient low-spirited and uncomfortable. Our other occasional visiters

were the Village Doctor and the Parish Priest, and when I compared young William with them, I thought him almost a demigod. Often, Henry, have I traced his features in your own -the eye soft as woman's, when he spoke of sorrow or of love; but in anger, its flashes were insupportable. The voice had all the flexibility of your own-it could persuade or threaten. The figure, tall, elegant, and athletic; his appearance was so engaging as to procure him among the neighbouring ladies, the title of Sweet William.

"I never left my father's chamber but for the short time in the afternoon, when he usually slept. No one intruded their visits on us, and the loneliness of the lodge, at that time embosomed in an oak wood (of which a portion still remains), allowed me to take my evening exercise without the fear of any strange step breaking in upon my privacy. Solitude is ever dangerous to woman; but, oh! how fatal was it to me. William often surprised me in my walks, and my flushing cheek betrayed how agreeable was our meeting. Ignorant of the

VOL. II.

C.

world, I wondered if any men were like my father and my companion.

"My parent's decline was so gradual, that I did not perceive it. He was unusually low one evening after William had left him—I asked him if his shoulder pained him, (an old wound there caused him at times intolerable agony.)

No, Alice; few as my friends are, I am about to be bereaved of the dearest.' • Gracious God!' exclaimed I, while my changing colour betrayed my feelings, it cannot be William O'Hara!' 6 Nay, love, we must learn to live without him. O'Hara sighs for military glory; and, as the fortunes of the old house are greatly shattered, although they have not suffered the total shipwreck which has annihilated mine, he is determined to leave the fragment to uphold the name, and seek out fame and fortune for himself where the best sword has the best chance. Oh how my bosom beat at the thought of running the same brave course, when thirty years ago I kissed the tear from my mother's cheek, and bade her an eternal adieu. Ungrateful Austria!' The remembrance of

what he had been, and what he now was, agitated my father excessively, and turning away his head, he gave free vent to his tears. His mind was totally enfeebled by disappointment, disease, and poverty; and all that remained of the once chivalrous Maguire-he who had figured in the proudest of the continental courts -he who had often led the Imperialists to vic tory-was a heart-broken, spiritless invalid, waiting in hopeless, helpless despair, the kindly deliverance of death.

"William O'Hara called on us, he was later than usual, and my father, contrary to his general habits, did not take his evening's repose. I thought William appeared anxious for an opportunity of speaking with me, and when a servant came for him from Castle Carra, he scrolled a little billet, which he put into my hand unseen. 'Dearest Alice, it will be a sweet moonlight night-I wish to see you before I go, and will be at Glandullogh as the Castle clock strikes ten-your father will be then asleep, and your attendance for a short time unnecessary.' William observed me as I read his invitation; the blood mounting to my cheek,