to Mr. Dalben; and these symptoms were considerably increased on the Saturday, by a very silly letter which he received from his very silly mother, expressing her hopes that he was cultivating a friendship with the charming family at Malvern; for the excellencies of the family at the Ferns had been withdrawn from the eye, it would appear, of this lady, by the more blazing glories of that of the Earl of L-'s. However, it was trusted by Henry that Edgar's mortification would have passed off, or exhaled itself in certain murmurings and mutterings against heads of colleges, classics, degrees, examinations, &c. &c. &c. And there is little doubt that it would have done so, had the young man been left to himself.

Now, it happened on the Sunday previous to this same ball, that there were collected at the Ferns a numerous party of young people, who all, having been invited to the entertainment, had agreed to repair to Malvern the following evening, under the auspices of Mrs. Hargrave, there to dress at lodgings hired for the occasion, and from thence to proceed to the assembly.

These young persons, in addition to those belonging to the family, were Mr. and Miss Wellings, Mr. Roger Clayton, and Miss Priscilla Matthews. And it may be imagined how that

long idle day, of which the proper duties were out of the question, was spent by this choice assemblage. 'Tis true, that as many of the ladies as could procure horses, cantered to the church under the escort of the eldest son of the Hargraves. But Miss Priscilla did not choose to ride, and hence she was of the party of the loungers; for although she did not actually go into the stable with Samuel, or into the dogkennel with Benjamin, yet she walked about the shrubbery with Mr. Wellings, and visited Benjamin's owl and Samuel's ferrets, and talked and laughed, and called the young men by their

surnames.

When the party returned from church, they reported that they had seen Bonville and Milner, and informed those that had been left at home, that Mr. Dalben had actually refused to let either of them go to the ball.

"So much the better, as far as Milner is concerned," said Wellings; "but Bonville is a fool to be governed by old square-toes-a down-right, regular fool. However, I have a thought just come into my head: BenjaminSamuel-here! come here! Come with me!" And he walked out of the room, followed by his two kindred spirits. I have not the honour of knowing exactly what passed in this confer

ence; but perhaps my reader may be pretty well able to judge by the sequel, what the tendency of their discourse might be.

It seems, that the various angry exclamations which, during the Saturday and Sunday had passed the lips of Edgar Bonville, having acted as the steam which escapes through the safety valve, from some raging furnace, had restored the proper temperature to the mind of the young man. And accordingly, he appeared on the Monday morning in one of his most calm and agreeable frames. Mr. Dalben, as usual, gave utterance at breakfast to several of those pure, and wise, and refined principles, which sometimes distil as drops of honey from the lips of pious and intellectual old persons; and Mr. Nash, in his turn, from the rich resources of old experience, brought examples of the effects of attention or neglect of these principles. The manage ment of money was one of the subjects brought forward; and Mr. Dalben having pointed out that there was, perhaps, no concern of life in which continual direction and assistance from above was more needful than in the correct expenditure of our worldly goods, Mr. Nash brought forward examples of the sad effect of neglect in the conduct of affairs of this kind, in the ruin of whole families; showing how this

neglect displayed itself in the production of every possible species of distress, of which distress, he said, he could bring forward instances without end.

When breakfast was finished, Edgar gave Mr. Dalben his hour. Then followed the usual period of severer studies; and after dinner the two young men walked out. During this walk, they were fortunate enough in finding a plant which Henry had never seen before.

"You must have been a botanist some little time," said Henry, "to know the delight of finding a new flower. When I am a clergyman, I think botany will be one of my pleasures ;-I call it my pleasure,-not my duty. Do you ever build castles in the air, Edgar ?”

"Do I?" answered Edgar.

one in the world who does not ?"

"Is there any

"If you will describe your favourite castle to me, I will describe mine to you," said Henry.

"Begin with your's, then," replied Edgar. "I should like to be a clergyman," said Henry.

And he went on to describe his parsonage and his house, and his fields and his garden, and his little study full of books, and the school in his village, with a thousand other particulars, which all exhibited a state of mind

of more piety and humility, perhaps, than of knowledge of the world; for Henry had formed to himself the idea of a place of rest, and of humble and happy usefulness, and had made little allowance for the winds that rush, and the storms that beat on even the most sheltered cottage. "And now Edgar," he said, "now I have described my castle to you, please to give me yours."

"No," returned Edgar; "no, Henry, I cannot. I have not been blessed as you have been, in being brought up in simplicity. I cannot open my heart as you have opened yours."

Henry blushed, and replied, " Edgar, do not suppose that I have opened all my heart to you; there are many thoughts which pass through every heart which cannot be told. Indeed, I do wish to be a humble and useful clergyman, and not to seek after the fine things of this world. I know that I am most happy in retirement, and with my dear uncle, and in teaching Maurice, and looking for flowers; and yet sometimes I fancy I should like to be known and honoured in the world-and yet I do not love the world. I am never happy with worldly people. I want nothing that the world can give me. In short, sometimes I am quite puzzled with myself, and should be much