allies. We fear this is not
the case; our own brief experiences would certainly tend to a different
conclusion. Less a player than a looker-on in the great game, we have
seen, through all the excitements of dissipation, all the fascinating
pleasures of the most brilliant circles, the steady onward pursuit of
self-interest; and, instead of the occasions of social enjoyment being
like the palm-shaded wells in the desert, where men meet to taste the
peacefulness of perfect rest, they are rather the arena where, in all
the glitter of the most splendid armor, the combatants have come to
tilt, with more than life upon the issue.

For this, the beauty wreathes herself in all the winning smiles of
loveliness; for this, the courtier puts forth his most captivating
address and his most seductive manner; for this, the wit sharpens the
keen edge of his fancy, and the statesman matures the deep resolve of
his judgment. The diamond coronets that deck the hair and add lustre
to the eyes; the war-won medals that glitter on the coat of some
hardy veteran; the proud insignia of merit that a sovereign's favor
grants,--all are worn to this end! Each brings to the game whatever he
may possess of superiority, for the contest is ever a severe one.

And now to go back to our company. From Lady Janet, intent upon
everything which might minister to her own comfort or mortify her
neighbor, to the smooth and soft-voiced Downie Meek,--with the kindest
of wishes and the coldest of hearts,--they were, we grieve to own
it, far more imposing to look at, full dressed at dinner, than to
investigate by the searching anatomy that discloses the vices and
foibles of humanity; and it is, therefore, with less regret we turn from
the great house, in all the pomp of its splendor, to the humble cottage
where Mr. Corrigan dwelt with his granddaughter.

In wide contrast to the magnificence and profusion of the costly
household, where each seemed bent on giving way to every caprice that
extravagance could suggest, was the simple quietude of that unpretending
family. The efforts by which Corrigan had overcome his difficulties not
only cost him all the little capital he possessed in the world, but
had also necessitated a mode of living more restricted than he had ever
known before. The little luxuries that his station, as well as his age
and long use, had made necessaries, the refinements that adorn even the
very simplest lives, had all to be, one by one, surrender