dinary face, I could not avoid joining in the laugh, although a scene was preparing for me at which every nerve trembled. I had invited myself to take a glass of wine with my landlord by ourselves, on which occasion I hoped to be able to withdraw without dishonour from the awkward predicament, into which a foolish tongue, moved by the warmth of a grateful heart, had led me. It just then occurred to me that my jovial companion might be made a useful auxiliary in this delicate matter; so after sounding his disposition, I fairly and candidly laid before him my painful situation, and my determination that very night to break off a connexion, which my own sense of honour and prudence, if it had not totally forsaken me, should have crushed in the bud. When he found me serious in rejecting the temptation which chance had thrown in my way, and heard me plead as my motives the want of fortune, of that affection which should be the basis of an honourable matrimonial union, and the conviction that my own unsteadiness of character might probably bring sorrow on the too confiding girl, he no longer appeared the sordid shopkeeper in my eyes; but rising at once into the gentleman, the drop of gentle blood which for centuries had run through the veins of the Chapmans seemed suddenly to have purified and ennobled the whole tide. He grasped my hand with fervour, and exclaimed, "You're an honourable young fellow,! That's fine!-iss-iss, its noble, and you shall never want a hundred pounds while Johnny Chapman can command one!". —a little Irish hyperbole, but kindly meant. I now ventured to propose to him to join the father and me over our bottle below, and follow up by his remarks such observations as I should make when declining Miss Anna's hand. "Would it not be more prudent," observed my friend, "That we should invite him here? It will save his bottle, and afford an excuse for a call for a couple more to us." O! the vile shopkeeper again, thought I, while I agreed to this businesslike proposal. Instead, therefore, of discussing our affair in the private parlour, our good host was kindly invited up stairs, where his reception must have convinced him of the respect in which he was held. After health-drinking, my amicus curia commenced a speech of some length, in which he took occasion to give me credit for all I had said, and much that I did not say in praise of the kindness and attention which I received from all his family during my late illness; and more particularly from his amiable daughter. The ensign was absolutely eloquent; the father affected! "Yes," said the good old man," she is a good girl; and it would break my heart to see her bestow herself on one who would not devote himself to her happiness: but girls will choose for themselves sometimes, captain; and my little Nancy, and and your young friend here, have taken such a liking to each other, that, although he is an Irishman, I don't know that I could refuse to make them happy! But no more soldieringno! no! Nancy is one of the stay-at-homes; and so must her husband that is to be." Here was an unexpected retreat left open to me. After a suitable acknowledgment for all I had heard, I expressed my sorrow that the only chance I possessed of making my way in life was by attaching myself to my profession at least for a few years longer; that it was in fact my sole dependence, and my abandonment of it at such a period would lose me not only the countenance and protection of my family, but of those more influential friends on whose patronage I was dependent for future promotion. Assuring him, that although attached to Anna, by sentiments of the most perfect esteem and regard, I would sacrifice my own feelings, rather than promise that which it would be impossible under my present engagements to perform; finally, that at the end of a couple of years, if Heaven spared me, I should feel grateful for a renewal of dear Anna's favourable regards;—“Now, sir," I concluded, “believe me when I assure you that I would be proud to risk my life and prospects for your daughter's happiness. I owe you both too heavy a debt of gratitude to repay your kindness and confidence by deception. I know the restlessness of my nature too well to endanger dear Anna's future peace by trusting to it. I am young, without fortune; honourable, I trust; but still volatile, fickle, and unsteady. Your daughter deserves a better man than I now am, and such a one as I hope to be when I next have the happiness to meet her. Do me justice in her heart, and I shall depart with feelings of love and gratitude!" I had worked myself up to a kind of tragedy rant, and like the player king in Hamlet, "absolutely shed tears:" they were not the tears of hypocrisy, for the sense of the little Anna's kindness and affection was too powerful in my heart to allow of my breaking off the connexion in terms of cold and cruel civility. It was a satisfaction to me to perceive that the father, notwithstanding his previous yielding to his child's wishes and entreaties, was evidently as gratified as myself at my honourable withdrawal, I took occasion to retire as soon as possible, in order to leave the field open to my friend to make his concluding oration; and which was, I doubt not, of a nature to satisfy the good host that he was the worthiest of wealthy landlords, his daughter an angel, and his young brother-officer the most candid and honourable of (Irish) men! In whatever words he obtained his verdict I know not; but that it was highly favourable to me, I could discern from the more than usually attentive cordiality of my host during the remainder of the evening. After a quarter of an hour's private conversation with his daughter, they both appeared. A little party was collected in his parlour, where, placed beside each other, Anna and myself joined with cheerfulness in the round game of cards. Whatever he said to the girl, it was evident that she considered her hopes deferred, not destroyed; and talked to me of my return as if the day for it was already fixed. Poor little thing! She knew not the instability of her own heart. It was probably the first time she thought she loved; and, indulged as she had ever been in all her wishes, her reserve gave way to her natural impatience. But long before the two probationary years, nay, before one brief year had elapsed, she bestowed her hand upon Captain Clericus of Prince William's regiment, who, in two years more, made room for another and more distinguished suitor. The captain and her worthy father both paid the debt of nature in 1798, in the autumn of which year my little Anna, with High Cliff and forty thousand pounds, became Lady M *****, the last and boldest horsewoman in the Palatine, the gayest of the gay in the vortex of fashionable life, the idol of the veteran husband, and the envy of all the "six feet" ladies of the north. In 1799 she rode the famous match over Scarborough sands against Captain Wrongside of the Beverly Buffs, contesting every inch of the heavy four-mile heat with that accomplished gentleman jockey neck to neck! When almost close to the winning post, seeing that he had the lead by half a head, the captain (with more gallantry than Mr. Flint exhibited towards the celebrated Mrs. Thornton) by an unobserved check to his horse allowed her to pass him as conqueror, with all the honours of the course, amidst the acclamations of thousands, her sporting old spouse being among the most enthusiastic. Her weight stands recorded at York-SIX STONE in the scales. CHAPTER X. a wilderness of steeples, peeping A huge, dun cupola, like a foolscap crown I PASS Over the parting scene with me and my fair one and the friendly host at Durham, as uninteresting to my readers; and also a journey to town, which presented no other novelty to me than the fuller development of my fellow-traveller's character. He was a most extraordinary compound of liberality and meanness, of the exalted feelings of the Irish gentleman, and the low cunning and craft of the Irish provincial shopkeeper. He would squabble for half an hour over our daily bill, contending, penny by penny, every item of supposed overcharge; yet the next moment would fling his half-crown into the hand of some poor soldier's wife, who, with her wretched squalid children were to be seen traversing the roads in those days in utter destitution. We posted the entire journey. Having the important charge of the regimental books and papers, my friend indulged himself and me in this luxury, at the expense of the inexhaustible purse of Mr. John Bull! My companion had never seen London except in its huge effigy the panorama, painted several years before from the view taken at Albion Mills, Blackfriars, and which had been exhibited in the various towns in Ireland. To this point, therefore, he immediately directed his course; but the mills having been destroyed some time previously, he took post on the bridge, and straining his round gray eyes in every direction, seemed for some time lost in the immensity of the scene; taking, however, no small merit to himself for being able to point out from his own recollections SAINT Paul's and West-MINISTER Abbey. He wished much to see the theatres; but the next day was to be the 24th of October, when our morning appearance at Chatham was indispensable; for which place we proceeded forthwith; but my companion could not resist the opportunity of taking a peep en passant at GREEN-WITCH Hospital! Arriving in good time for dinner, we were introduced to the detachment iness at the north angle of the terrace, where we VOL. II. 5 once more met the stuttering captain, the American loyalist, the spoiled child, and honest Harrington; every one of whom, together with ourselves, now belonged to different regiments. Our unfortunate corps had been drafted immediately on its arrival, having produced nearly 200 men fit for service in the line, and half as many more only fit for the invalid companies, then forming for garrison duty. The captain, who had been appointed to the 22nd regiment, was under orders for that luxurious spot Cape Nichola Mole, St. Domingo; a destination which, while it evidently depressed his spirits, served to increase the natural sourness of his temper, which had not been much improved by the contemptuous rejection of his addresses, by the father of his Yorkshire beauty some weeks before. In fact, his overbearing manners had rendered him obnoxious to the mess; but he was a CAPTAIN! an important rank in those days. For his sins and pranks, the spoiled child, although not in the same corps, was under sentence of transportation to the same delightful region; and in a few days both were to embark at the ominous port of Gravesend. Harrington was appointed to a regiment serving in India, and only waited the arrival of remittances from home for his outfit before he took his depar ture. The mad loyalist, who had been a constant pest to the Horse-guards for the last two years, was put out of the way by being appointed a captain-lieutenant in one of the black regiments then raising in the West Indies. My friend Chapman was agreeably surprised at finding himself gazetted lieutenant in the identical regiment, the skeleton of which that same morning marched into Chatham barracks, after two years' service in the Leeward Islands. As for me, I found myself posted to a regiment on its passage from the West Indies; and saw my name in orders to remain at Chatham for garrison duty. After settling accounts with the ex-paymaster, I still found myself pretty strong in funds. I immediately employed the master-tailor of the garrison to build my new regimentals, which happened to be one of the most showy in the service, and sent off to London for one of Cater's (newest cock) goldlaced hats; for many regiments then wore that lively-looking head-gear, together with the expensive regimental sword, which cost six guineas, superseded in a few months by the more sensible regulation of one of two pounds' value. These, with the cost of a long sash, leather boots, and belts, cut deeply into forty guineas, for the half of which I was obliged to draw a bill on my father, and which Chapman cashed instanter. As the Chatham barracks, at the period referred to, boasted of a tolerably fair muster of ladies, I kept myself as much out |