win the human heart,' said I to myself. 'Strict impartiality and justice are jewels of inestimable worth, and where can they find a more congenial residence than at the head-quarters of the army?'-My name was at length called; and I entered a small room in which Sir Henry Torrens was standing at a high desk covered with memorials and letters. He appeared to me tall and slender, with a fine countenance of a pensive cast, and pale with studious application to busi-ness. I bowed, certainly with great respect, and heard the cheering words, I am happy to see you.' A favourable answer soon caused a smile of gratitude to mantle on my cheek, which was accepted most fascinatingly; and I made room for my successor. 'Ah!' thought I, 'this is the way to do business.' 6 "A few days more were spent in viewing the various curiosities of London. At length the coach drove down the Haymarket, and, with my family, I soon after rattled over Hounslow Heath. N. VI. THE RETURN. Breathes there a man with soul so dead, This is my own, my native land! Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd, As home his footsteps he hath turn'd, From wand'ring on a foreign strand! SCOTT. "It was evening when we left London, and in the grey of next morning the pavement of Oxford rattled beneath us. The walls of the colleges looked grim, and a sigh escaped me while I thought of the numerous aspirants after fame, whose eyes were now resting from speculation. Happy youths!' thought I, the ample page of science is opened to your view. A shining horizon is before you. Like gay ships preparing for a voyage, in a safe harbour, you rest upon the anchor of hope, unmindful of the rocks, quicksands, and storms of life.' "We slept the next night at Shrewsbury, and the recollection of the circumstances under which I had passed through that city, about twenty years before, was pregnant with a train of thought deeply interesting. I was then a friendless adventurer; now, blessed with rank and a bright prospect. “The following day revealed to us the gigantic Snowdon. Man feels elevated amidst such grandeur as the scenery of Wales presents. It is awful to pass under projecting precipices, and to roll along the brink of destruction; but there is a sublimity in doing so that enlarges the soul. "All was bustle at the Head, the packet from Dublin having just arrived. Among the passengers who stalked into the hotel, a military face struck me as one I had seen. It was only the strong likeness of a brother. I am,' said he, 6 on my way to London, to push for a company, my horse being tired of half-pay. James is in Dublin; he will be rejoiced to see you.' "We passed over in the packet at the rate of a mail-coach, and entered the beautiful bay of Dublin in seven hours. The blue mountains of Wicklow formed fine shade and lights in the distance, diversified as we neared them by ancient castles and smiling villages. Nor is the charming distant effect of Dublin diminished in its beauty upon entering the city; for magnificent buildings, noble streets, numbers of stately ships, elegant bridges, spacious squares, and the appearance of great wealth, at once proclaim a metropolis second only to London itself. "But whilst my heart exulted at this external, and I felt the throb of realized hope in once more treading the terra firma of my own, my native land,' my soul drooped under melancholy in passing on to the northern suburbs where my father's establishment was situated; for there was ❝ TO BE LET,' on so many houses in every street, that an evident decline in prosperity was proclaimed. There appeared, moreover, in many things, a shabby and dirty air, indicating poverty, and a want of the spirit which is every where seen in London. |