fail wholly to subdue and inthral a girl so
young, so romantic, so enthusiastic, as Madeline Lester. How intense and
delicious must have been her sense of happiness! In the pure heart of a
girl loving for the first time--love is far more ecstatic than in man,
inasmuch as it is unfevered by desire--love then and there makes the
only state of human existence which is at once capable of calmness and
transport!

CHAPTER II.

A FAVOURABLE SPECIMEN OF A NOBLEMAN AND A COURTIER.--A MAN OF
SOME FAULTS AND MANY ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

Titinius Capito is to rehearse. He is a man of an excellent
disposition, and to be numbered among the chief ornaments of
his age. He cultivates literature--he loves men of learning,
etc.
--Lord Orrery: Pliny.

About this time the Earl of ______, the great nobleman of the district,
and whose residence was within four miles of Grassdale, came down to pay
his wonted yearly visit to his country domains. He was a man well known
in the history of the times; though, for various reasons, I conceal
his name. He was a courtier;--deep--wily--accomplished; but capable
of generous sentiments and enlarged views. Though, from regard to his
interests, he seized and lived as it were upon the fleeting spirit of
the day--the penetration of his intellect went far beyond its reach. He
claims the merit of having been the one of all his co-temporaries (Lord
Chesterfield alone excepted), who most clearly saw, and most distinctly
prophesied, the dark and fearful storm that at the close of the century
burst over the vices, in order to sweep away the miseries, of France--a
terrible avenger--a salutary purifier.

From the small circle of sounding trifles, in which the dwellers of a
court are condemned to live, and which he brightened by his abilities
and graced by his accomplishments, the sagacious and far-sighted mind of
Lord--comprehended the vast field without, usually invisible to those
of his habits and profession. Men who the best know the little nucleus
which is called the world, are often the most ignorant of mankind; but
it was the peculiar attribute of this nobleman, that he could not only
analyse the external customs of his species, but also penetrate their
deeper and more hidden interests.

The works, and correspondence he has left behind him, though far from
voluminous, testify a consummate knowledge of the varieties of human
nature The refinement of his tas