oured and rose-odoured document:--

"Dear Mr. Templeton,

"I have to make two thousand excuses; one each for two
indiscretions, I believed I had your box at the Opera for
last evening; and I also fancied--think of my absurdity!--
that the bouquet of camelias left there was meant for me.
Pray forgive me; or, rather, ask the fair lady who came in
at the ballet to forgive me. I never can think of the
incident without shame and self-reproach; _du reste_, it
has given me the opportunity of knowing that your taste in
beauty equals your judgment in flowers.

"Very much yours,

"Helen Collyton.

"Sir H------ bids me say, that he expects you on Wednesday.
We dine earlier, as the Admiral goes on board in the
evening."

This was an absurd incident; and, trivially as it is touched on here,
made of that same Lady Collyton a very dangerous enemy to me.

This is not a specimen of calligraphy, certainly:--

"If you promise neither to talk of the Catholic Question,
the Kildare Place Society, nor the 'Glorious Revolution of
1688.' P------ will have no objection to meet you at dinner.
Hammond, you've heard, I suppose, has lost his election; he
polled more voters than there were freeholders registered on
the books: this was proving too much, and he must pay the
penalty. Y------ is in, and will remain if he can; but
there is a hitch in it--'as the man who lent him his
qualification is in gaol at Bruges.' Write and say if you
accept the conditions.

"Yours,

"Frederick Hamilton."

There are some memorials of a very different kind--they are bound up
together; and well may they, they form an episode quite apart from all
the events before or after them! I dare not open them; for, although
years have passed away, the wounds would bleed afresh if only breathed
on! This was the last I ever received from her. I have no need to open
it--I know every line by heart!--almost prophetic, too!

"I have no fear of offending you now, since we shall never
meet again. The very thought that the whole world divides
us, as completely as death itself, will make you accept my
words less as reproof than warning. Once more, then, abandon
the career for which you have not health, nor energy, nor
enduring strength. Brilliant displays, discursive efforts,
however effect