tea, and ran towards the pallet as if to defend him who lay upon it. The wretched man seemed just to have strength to raise himself upon his elbow, and in the deathlike features which were then protruded from the blankets, I recognised the remnant of Nolan.

Mary," said he, "be quiet ;" and there seemed a harshness in the tone with which he addressed her. "It is kind of you, gentlemen, to come to see me here."

"You will not take him," she cried out in violent emotion, and looking entreatingly at us-" you will not take him; could he be worse in a gaol ?”

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Quiet, you fool!" said he in a harsher tone. The poor girl obeyed, and sat down upon the pallet.

"Nolan," said Edmund, "I am sorry to see you here; but listen to meI have found you out-you have not deceived me."

"I never tried," he answered, with an energy that seemed unaccountable, "Yes, Nolan, you did; you have ruined me, while you professed yourself my friend."

"No," said Nolan; "you have ruined yourself; and if," said he, "you have come to my garret (he laid a bitter emphasis on the word my) but to upbraid me in my misery, leave my house, sir-begone-I will soon be well, and then"-and he clenched his fist in a passion-"I shall ask satisfaction for this intrusion."

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Don't talk so loud, Joseph," said the poor girl in agony; "the doctor said it would kill you. Oh!" she added, "you have destroyed me; but don't leave me now a bitter Christmas!"

Silence, girl!" cried the sick man, with a voice raised to a feeble and attenuated scream. "Begone, wretches -begone;" and he turned to us with a fierceness that his death-like appearance made appalling.

I pulled Edmund to come away; but his passion was roused.

"Have you not betrayed me? have you not ruined me? Yes, you have the blood of my soul upon your head; you have-it is a curse upon you upon that bed."

The sick man shuddered; he screamed convulsively; he no more shook his fist in defiance; it was clenched but with a spasmn. Oh, you will murder

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him. Leave us, leave us alone; we were happy, yes, we were happy here; you will kill him; the doctor desired him not to talk. Oh, my God, what will I do!"

Just then the sound of wild laughter came from the room below: it had a fearful effect. Nolan started up. Ah, there they are; they are laughing. Mary, where is your father? He cursed me. Did you curse me, Mary?" No, no!" cried the poor thing and she stooped down to kiss his pale and worn cheeks; "no, I never cursed you; it was not in my heart to curse you, though you left me to starve in the streets; no, I never cursed you, not even when the baby starved to death."

Her words were daggers to the dying man; for dying it was plain he was. He started from his pillow-he shook convulsively the arm of the devoted creature who had watched by him: "Did it die-and what are you here for? Go-begone-the devils will come-they will nurse it--ay, they will warm it—ah, ah, ah!"

"Joseph, love," she cried, "you will hurt yourself. Oh, but this is a black Christmas to me! oh, what is all that ever came over me, if I lose you now! I have been glad almost to find you here; when you were well, you did not care for me; but we were happy here. Oh, keep yourself quiet."

Her words fell unheeded on his ears; his eyes were glazed over with a thick film. She took up his handit was cold; she attempted to warm it with her breath. I advanced forward to offer her money to procure any comforts that Nolan might require. I put a guinea into her hand; her eye flashed with delight. "I can get wine; the last bottle is just finished: he should have had another as I got the last; but you do not know what this has saved me from ;" and as she spoke, a deep crimson flush passed hot and burning over her cheek.

Another rude burst of merriment from the room below, started the sick man from the sleep in which he lay. "Ah, there they are laughing again— they will have me--they are there-look at him;" and he pointed his long, emaciated finger at Edmund, who stood with his arms folded at the foot of his pallet.

is I; I forgive you; what can I do for you? can I help you?"

The finger still pointed the same as ever, and the glazed eye was fixed in an immoveable stare. " He is a friend," I whispered; "we are all friends."

"He is a friend," he screamed--"he! he! he!" and his eye peered along as if watching the movements of some unseen beings. “Look there, there, the black man behind Connor. Oh, save, save, save me!"

I looked in the direction he pointed. Edmund had turned deadly pale, and staggered against the wall. I fancied I saw the formless figure of something black in undefined outline behind him. There was something terrible in the thought. I was startled by another sound from the dying man; his hand was now clutching the blankets, and his voice had sunk to a gurgling rattle. "Give me your hand-Ma-Mary: it died; it sta-starved: that was strange."

The poor girl caught his cold and clammy hand, and tried to raise it to her lips; but one wild hiccup, something between a hiccup and a scream, broke from him.

"There, there-ay, he has it; it is a skeleton; I can count its little ribs. Oh, he is dancing it: it is-see, it is a dice-box" his eyes fixed upon the unseen object. For some minutes a quivering shudder ran through all his frame; his hand now feebly clutched the blankets another hiccup, and he was silent for ever.

:

There was something terrible to see the last agonies of that departing spirit in the dismal place that was the scene of them. The wind was whistling through the crevices of the roof, and the very ashes were blown once or twice off the grate by a gust; the paneless casement rattled to the bitter blast, and still there were rising from beneath us the sound alternately of altercation and of merriment, that might well have seemed, to the confused senses of the dying man, the voices of fiends. I could hardly shake off the impression myself. I advanced forward after a moment's pause; he was indeed dead: the finger was still protruded in the attitude of pointing to the terrible phantom that had flitted before his dying eye; his eyes, which were swelled to a nost unnatural size, were

bursting from their sockets, and his under jaw had fallen down in all the lankness of emaciation, and left his livid tongue protruding between his teeth. The poor girl, the victim of his days of strength, the only tender of his days of sickness and misery, was looking earnestly in his face, as if to ascertain whether he was gone; she breathed upon him, as if to warm the cold cheek from which the vital heat had fled for ever at last the consciousness seemed to burst upon her that he was dead. She looked round with the look of agony and despair; but it was a stern and a changeless look; not a tear, not a word gave vent to the sufferings of her heart. She laid down her head beside that of the corpse; her long, black hair fell over the face of the dead man. She threw her arms round the stiffening form, and then she sobbed as if her heart would break.

:

I leaned over her to close the eyes which were hideously staring. She started--she pushed away my hand-she kissed his livid lips. It was terrible to see her, as it were, fondling with the corpse. No, Joseph!" she said, "I will close your eyes; they shall not rob me of that; shall they, dear? No, you will not let them ;" and once more she kissed the dead man's lips. Her hand gently passed down the eyelids, which were already stiffening. But when she had done this, it seemed as if now indeed she felt that she was parted from him, and she burst into a wild and convulsive agony of grief.

Our attention was caught by the gentle sound of footsteps, and a tall, gloomy female figure entered the room, a woman whose circumstances were not, apparently, more comfortable than the state of those she came to visit, seemed to have been brought by this last burst of grief to the apartment.

She seemed, poor woman, to be touched by the scene of sorrow which she witnessed.

Poor thing! poor thing!" she said with tenderness. Mrs. Smith, honey, is he dead?”

"He is, he is dead," shrieked the miserable object whom she called Mrs. Smith. “Oh! Mrs. Mulvany, my heart is broke ;" and she wrung her hands, and flung herself upon the corpse.

"Oh, sir," said Mrs. Mulvany, turning to me, “it's a sorrowful six weeks

she has had nursing him. He lay, at first, down in one of the under rooms; but, poor body, she could not pay the rent, and the landlord was going to turn them into the street, but I persuaded him to put him up here to die, and here this poor thing has never left him night or day but when she went to buy their bit of victuals, when she had money for that same; and here she has staid in this cold garret, when one would think she would be frozen to death. Her great wish was to eat a Christmas dinner with him. Poor thing, it was a fancy she took; and at the same time, God help them, they had not as much as would buy it for them. But he is gone now. Mrs. Smith, honey," she continued, going over to the girl, who still lay upon the corpse," Mrs. Smith, honey, there is no use in your lying there; you can't bring him back to you. God and the blessed Virgin rest his soul; he'll be rewarded now for all his sufferings on earth."

She lay heedless of her consolations; her cheek pressed close to the livid face of the corpse, and all her senses apparently absorbed in contemplating that pale and distorted visage. There was but little use in remaining to witness this heartrending scene. To Mrs. Mulvany, with whose kindness we had been taken, we left some money to provide the comforts that were necessary for the living. Edmund told her that he would see and provide decent burial for the dead. She was astonished. "Well, sir," she said, "I always heard that Mr. Smith had decent people; if he is either kith or kin to you-and 1 ask your pardon for speaking so freely -troth it was a mortal pity you did not find him sooner."

We made no answer to this remark; we hurried from the room. Mrs. Mulvany brought the candle to light us down the narrow staircase; the gust of wind from the window extinguished it. We hastened on in the dark; we were both anxious to escape the piteous lamentation that still smote upon our ears from the desolate being we had left behind.

Scarce had we regained the street, when Edmund burst into a passionate invective. "Ah, Edward, there is a picture of female constancy! Did you ee that? Good God! she an outcast

of the earth; she at whom the finger of scorn would point; she upon whose brow the brand of infamy is stamped; she came to share the cheerless garret of the man who had heartlessly betrayed ber; she is mourning over his corpse; and she! ay, she! the child of fortune, she has forgotten her vowshe has sold herself-her oath for a title-a bauble; and yet the wretch! were that girl we have just left to pass by her, she would fancy herself contaminated by her presence. Edward, we have much to learn: how false is the judgment that is passed by the world-by society. Tell me, tell me, which is best? upon which will God look most favourably-on that poor Mary, with all her faults, or on the proud and haughty Lady Disney? She sold herself for gold. What more could be done by the worst of her sex? and she will mock her God by completing the bargain at his altar."

There was too much truth in what he said; he began again, "And a sinful world will leave that girl to starve-and the proud ones of her sex will scorn her-no! she shall not want. I have a hundred pounds in the world; I will send it to her tomorrow. You seem to wonder at my extravagancewhat use is money to me-I will promise," he added bitterly; "I will promise the same sum every time that I find such female constancy."

He was as good as his word. Next day he gave the poor girl the only hundred pounds that he could command; he afterwards took pains to find out her friends, and was the means of restoring her to the house which she had forsaken, and from which afterwards she had been driven.

I went with him to see poor Nolan's remains committed to the grave; no one attended the sad ceremony but the paid bearers, ourselves, Mary, and good Mrs. Mulvany, who came to comfort her. We buried him about the time of sunset; the ground was covered with snow; and he was laid in a corner of one of the crowded churchyards of the city. It was a sad funeral. I cannot attempt to describe poor Mary's wild grief, when the mingled snow and clay hid the black coffin altogether. from her eyes; it was a sad sight to us all to see the gold rays of the setting sun, as they broke from the masses of

snow cloud that covered the sky, fall with a gladness that seemed mockery upon the new-piled grave of the young.

I felt my spirits giving way beneath the constant and painful excitement in which my mind was kept. I hoped that all was now over, and that I might have that peace which I needed; but no! I had still one more scene to go through. Edmund had ascertained the morning upon which the wedding was to take place; he had formed the strange resolution of being present. A pew in the gallery of church, surrounded by red curtains, afforded us a place from which we could witness the ceremony without being observed ourselves. Edmund made his arrangements with the sexton to admit us early, and then lock the gallery doorit was a private gallery, containing only two pews-so as to prevent the possibility of intrusion. Í had received an invitation to be present, in a more regular manner, at the wedding; but I declined it, and Edmund forced me to accompany him to this hiding place. We drew the curtains close round us; and we had an excellent view of the communion table, where, of course, the ceremony would be performed. We waited some time impatiently for the arrival of the marriage party. I remember well, the frost had shaped itself into all fantastic forms upon a window which stood close behind us. I occupied myself in tracing plumes and coaches in the shapes which the congelations assumed. Edmund had found a prayerbook, and occupied himself in reading over the solemnization of matrimony.

At last the bridal party came; there were two brides; for, as my aunt had told me, her two daughters were both DISPOSED OF on this day. Edmund laid down his book, and we both watched the party. Caroline walked boldly and freely up the aisle; she had just the same toss of her head as usual; perhaps it was rendered more remarkable by the large plume of white feathers which indicated every toss; just as you may have seen cricket players fix little feathers on the wickets, that their slightest movement may be detected. She seemed to have no nervous embarrassment about the obligations she was going to take upon her,

and even when at the altar her manner indicated nothing of embarrassment. Letitia, on the contrary, was pale and agitated; to do her justice, she looked beautiful in the robe of white in which matrimonial etiquette had arrayed her. Edmund gazed on her with a steady and an unwavering eye. I watched his countenance, and not a variation passed along his features as she moved up the aisle in all her loveliness. A stranger could have detected nothing in the still quiet gaze of that passionless eye; there was not even the common admiration that an indifferent spectator might have felt for the beauty of the bride.

The brides and grooms took their places at the communion rails; the clergyman took his station inside; Edmund turned round," Is it not a mockery to complete this meretricious bargain here; listen how they will swear their troth to lies;" he took up the prayerbook, and began to follow the service.

The clergyman commenced to officiate. I have always thought the matrimonial service of the church of England among the sublimest of her sublime forms. I never felt its sublimity as I did then, when I knew that it was desecrated.

When the priest came to that awful adjuration that charges the persons themselves to disclose, in the sight of Him who knows the secrets of all hearts, all just impediments, Edmund trembled. Oh why does he ask her that? she is my wife. I loved her once, I would not have the guilt of that upon her soul."

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There was silence-the colour came to Edmund's check. I thought he was rising to forbid the bans; he changed his position, and leaned his face upon his hand.

The ceremony proceeded; the solemn Vows were interchanged; the solemn prayers were said. Oh, what a mockery of that holy form it is to pronounce it over a match of interest! the solemn blessing came next; Edmund leaned upon me for support; the deep solemn voice of the clergyman echoed through the church, as he exclaimed, with all the dignity of his holy office, Those whom God hath joined let not man put asunder."

Edmund's breathing came quick and short; his eye literally flashed fire; he

tried to smile; but his features in the effort wore a fiendish grin. "God hath joined how dare they mock their God? Say Satan-say money-how dare they mock their God?"

I tremble when I think of what followed; he seemed as if he at once became a fiend; he kneeled down upon his knees; and while the party below were begging, or pretending to be begging a blessing upon the union, he knelt and he prayed; he prayed to God to curse them. And there was a terrible eloquence in his prayer, which he muttered with an awful distinctness; and there was an earnestness in his adjuration, as he prayed to the God of truth to remember her falsehood; as he called on the God of mercy to bear in mind how she had torn and lacerated his heart; and bitterly did he call on the justice of heaven to remember her broken vow, and to make her rue the day she broke it. And sometimes he would pray directly contrary to the prayers that were uttered by the priest. There was one of his prayers upon which I dread to think; the priest prayed for the blessing of children; and he-the malice of demons seemed in his soul-and he cursed her. How shall I tell that fearful curse? he cursed her with the curse of King Lear. The prayer had excited an unmeaning smile in the circle below. Oh! little did they know the terrible imprecations that were rising up from a broken heart. It was a strange thing to see them, all unconscious of the curses that were uttered nigh them; it was strange to see with what cold listlessness the blessing

seemed to be invoked; and with what terrible earnestness the curse was called down.

The ceremony ended; Edmund rose from his knees; his features seemed all black and distorted; from the window where we stood, we could see the carriages drive off from the church door; he watched her entering the carriage of her husband; he gnashed his teeth; "ay, there she is, the legalized wanton; there she has ratified the bargain of her prostitution, and registered the indentures at the altar of her God. Lady Disney! and for that title she would have been the wife of Belzebub.” Again he gnashed his teeth.

The carriages drove off; he watched them until they were out of sight. He then turned round and said, coolly, “It is all over; I am content; but the curse WILL be with her."

Years have passed away since that morning. Sir Harry Disney turned out a wretched husband, and poor Letitia died; literally died from the effects of his savage conduct, at a time when she could ill bear it. Edmund, from that hour, was changed; he became cold, heartless, and sneering. He went to the bar, where he was for some time doing little; he was distinguished for nothing but a bitter savageness of disposition, and a mocking at all the feelings of mankind. Once or twice he came forward on the liberal side in politics; but I must say no more; my tale has been, perhaps, already too long, and here I may better drop the veil.

THIS is the age both of physical and intellectual prodigies. Wheat or barley was once considered indispensable to the manufacture of bread; but now, with nothing but a peck of sawdust, the chemist promises you as nice a loaf as ever lay upon your breakfasttable; and your carpenter will probably

at no distant period be also your fancy baker. In like manner we have been wont to consider the ox our proper resource when we stood in need of a sirloin; and, wishing to sweeten our tea, or our coffee, who ever dreamed of any other repertory of saccharine matter but the sugar-cane? "On a