pless Jacobite in the country. In his early
days he had fought under the banners of the Duke of Cumberland as a
gentleman volunteer; and had received the public thanks of that worthy
for the courage he displayed at the memorable battle of Culloden, and
for the activity and zeal with which he afterwards assisted in
apprehending certain gentlemen in his own neighborhood, who were
suspected of secretly befriending the unfortunate cause. At every public
meeting the Squire was eloquent in his own praise.

"Who can doubt _my_ patriotism, _my_ loyalty?" he would exclaim. "I did
not confine my sentiments upon the subject to mere words. I showed by my
deeds, gentlemen, what those sentiments were. I took an active part in
suppressing the rebellion, and restoring peace to these realms. And what
did I obtain, gentlemen?--the thanks--yes, gentlemen, the public thanks
of the noble Duke!" He would then resume his seat, amidst the plaudits
of his time-serving friends, who, judging the rich man by his own
standard of excellence, declared that there was not his equal in the
county.

Not content with an income far beyond his sordid powers of enjoyment,
Squire Hurdlestone the elder married, without any particular preference,
the daughter of a rich London merchant, whose fortune nearly doubled his
own. The fruits of this union were two sons, who happened in the economy
of nature to be twins. This double blessing rather alarmed the
parsimonious Squire; but as the act of maternal extravagance was never
again repeated on the part of Mrs. Hurdlestone, he used to rub his hands
and tell as a good joke, whenever his heart was warmed by an extra
glass of wine, that his wife was the best manager in the world, as the
same trouble and expense did for both.

A greater difference did not exist between the celebrated sons of Isaac
than was discernible in these modern twins. Unlike in person, talents,
heart, and disposition, from their very birth, they formed a striking
contrast to each other. Mark, the elder by half-an-hour, was an
exaggeration of his father, inheriting in a stronger degree all his
narrow notions and chilling parsimony; but, unlike his progenitor in one
respect, he was a young man of excellent natural capacity. He possessed
strong passions, linked to a dogged obstinacy of purpose, which rendered
him at all times a dangerous and implacable enemy; while the stern
unyielding nature of his temper, and the habitual selfishness which
charac