Alfonso daparted in conforinity; he was curious to develope the motive's which so suddenly uccasioned the duke to send for the monk. He retraced the conversation they had just had; but without effect. His curiosity was foused, but not satisfied! the solemnity with which he spoke too, was remarkable. He recollected the habits of the duke; compared them with those of a monk, but all were of no avail. It was a mystery which baffled his understanding. At length arrived at the monas. tery, it was sometime before he he could gain admission. When conducted into the presence of the abbot, he was struck with his physiognomy; he had expected to meet a cold, haughty, and austere conventual, and beheld a pleasing image of venerable phylanthrophy. Having delivered his brief inessage, the good old man turned aside in deep meditation; his rapid stride his anxious inquiries, and the sudden changes of his countenance, confirmed Alfonso in the mystery he suspected and redoubled his curiosity. 11c endeavoured to draw from the abbot some explanation, but without effect. saithe, it is impossible to leave the convent at this montent-tomorrow I shall be master of my time, Brother Ambrosio will accompany you to the duke; take with you this letter, it will revive his drooping spirits; but hasten back with all dispatch." In a short time he entered with a letter in his hand. My son,' Alfonso did as he was desired. The duk no sooner read the letter, than his countenance announced the prophetick promises of the monk. His spirits became more lively and animated, even his bodily pain exhibited symptoms of decrease. The following day Alfon so so was again dispatched to the monastery, more and more amazed at all he saw. Miguel asked with a smile if his assurances had been verified. knew it he cried,— 'my medicine never fails, permit me to offer you some refreshment my son; l'il attend you presently to the duke.' It has been mentioned that Al. fonso was an officer in the spanish service. The regiment of in which he served in the rank of lieutenant, formed part of the legion which lined the frontiers of Portugal, when a rupture, between the two kingdoms, was expected in the year 179-. A few months antecedently to the period we now speak of, all differences having been accommodated the troops, to the exception of a few, were recalled and Alfonso's regiment marched into Arragan having the city of Sarragossa for its head quar. ters. He had been attached to this corpse from his first debut in the spanish army-comprising a period of something less than three years. The same colonel was still in command; and the good understanding which uniformly subsisted among the officers in general, together with the character of the regiment itself, had preserved its original staff to the exception of one or two death vacancies. terious cloud about his birth, could expect. From the officers of the regiment he selected one as the companion of all his visits, the associate in all his studies, and the confident in all his studies, and the confident in all his secrets--no! there was one secret he had preserved entire-it was his native country and the singular events of his youth. Captain Bernard was his senior in years as well as in rank. Like himself, chaste in sentiments and fond of science, he was brave, humane, honorable in his dealings, sincere and permanent in his attachments. There was another circumstance which contributed much, not only to the foundation of their intimacy, but to strengthen their mutual friendship. All their brother officers were affluent and chiefly younger sons of nobility. Alfonso's only subsistence was his pay; and Bernard though he enjoyed an annuity, purchased from the wreck of his family, once opulent, it was siender in itself, and inadequate to contend against the extravagance which surrounded him. Happy for both they had resolution to withstand the folly of their associates, and philosophy sufficient to persevere in an abstraction from The profession of a soldier is at best an idle life, and ever the paTent of ennui to an active mind. But fond of letters, and the cultivation of science, Alfonso suffered little depression from the endless uniformity of his condition. The hours which intervened the duties of his profession, were parcelled out in select variety. Temperate in his living, and chaste in his conversation, he was never observed in the midnight bacchanalian. Lively in his humor, and sprightly in his imagination, the sallies of his wit were distinguished by feeling, modesty and deference. When no longer pleased with the convivial board, or when the prattling of a vain gallant, cards, or a tedious circumlocution of parade etiquette ceased to entertain, he would retire from the mess room to seck it among the families he knew, or realize it in study and retire.superfluity. Both managed so ment. Honored by the friendship of his commander, beloved by his brother officers, and courted by a few families of distinction in the neighborhood, he was as happy as ne without relations, and a mys- Iconomy. well in the arangement and distribntion of their finances, that they realized a parity of appearance with their associates, even in the practice of a steady system of e the society of Bernard and Alfonso was eagerly courted, and various the stratagems employed to decoy them to the hazard-table. Although in this regiment it was not encouraged perhaps, to an equal extent with other corps in the service, yet it was too predominant; and sensible of the insiduous influence of the passion, both obstina tely declined every overture which was made. Alfonso was indebted to his friend for advice on this as well as on other subjects. He had not experienced the advantages of precept Bernard had; and though he too lost his father before he was There is a happy mixture of honor and noble frankness of disposition in the military character, which seems peculiar to the profession. Ever conspicuous, it is the spontaneous effusion of genuine patriotism and unsophistocated honesty. The habits of a soldier might incline many to doubt the existence of sentiments seemingly foreign to the din of arms, and the passive machines of a ruling faction; but distinct from the mass of the people, he is habituated to the peculiar prejudices of his associates; and the heart untainted by the selfish passions which inflame the votaries of wealth, he is equally prompt to avenge the enemies of his country and the in-sensible of the misfortune, he had sult offered to him as susceptible to the appeal of indigence, and affliction How different the char-acter of the intriguing courtier, the commercial speculist, the quibbling lawyer, or the heated zealot! The soldier's acceptation of honor is undeviating. In the latter, where we might record one single instance of generous feeling, there would be ten to poison and obliterate the tribute we would bestow. Beyond this, however, we cannot applaud. The idle life of a soldier rarely spares him from reproach. Intemperance is a vice not only as it regards the morals of the man, but as it impairs and destroys the constitution :—she is the offspring of idleness--the twin sister of play. Beloved of all their messmates a mother! From her he acquired the rudiments of virtue--to her he was indebted for the rich endowments of his mind. She it was who taught him the history of that father he had never known, and the lesson had its influence with the son. She described this father as the best, the tenderest of husbands--one who was once affluent, but play, cursed play, though it never changed his affections, it ruined his fortune, and drove him from affluence to a cottage! (To be Conitnued.) APHORISMS. Actions-Our actions are like the jingle of rhyme, which everyone repeats in his own manner. For the Lady's Miscellany. A LETTER To a GENTLEMAN, who after se- To Mr. SIR, In your boyish years, I remember you bade fair for goodness and ' wisdom; personal accomplishments seemed to embellish mental worth; but the influence of bad company, and the power of a latent bad disposition, soon changed your conduct, and established your character. Wealth, and external advantages, furnished you with mears, and you thought it argued a want of spirit not to employ. those in the ruin of innocence. I know that many have fallen victims to your arts, who, in fact, had little else but reputation, to mark the distinction between them and the worthless. The conquest o ver such was easy, and therefore to you satiating and unfashionable. To ruin virtue when a princi I am so well acquainted with your character, that I make ΠΟ doubt of your receiving this letter with cold indifference, at least, if not with indignant slight,; but, Sir, I ask not now your immediate attention to it-your mind, I trust, has not lost all its sensibility, and there will be a time when this letter may act as a monitor--till then, what you have done will apple of the mind, and a guide to pear to be no crime, and you will continue to extend your criminality, until to do wrong shall become your study, your pleasure, and, as it were, your duty. If the many vices which degrade your charac ter, leave you uncertain of my meaning by this letter, know that the purpose of it is to announce the death of Miss, whom you basely betrayed to shame and dishonor. the actions, seemed a more glori ous undertaking; and you entered on it with a malignant spirit and unabating ardor. Had your cruelty been confined to those who, wanting wealth, want friends, it is probable we had remained ignorant of it; but when you dared to degrade rank, equal to your own, to infamy equal to your own, there baseness equal to your own, there baseness could no longer be concealed. When I review the arts which you practised in the ruin of that beauteous unfortunate, who has Yes, Sir, this night she lies in her grave, a monument of your infamy, and an example of the noble pride of virtue, that allows not its possessor to live in shame. Of her dishonor you have the wretched merit-may you also have against your profligacy, or to won'share in her contrition! ider'at the in genuity which marked just left the world, I know not whether to be most indignant a every step you took. In reputation and fortune, you knew the family to be equal, if not above, your own. This daughter's education was the only pleasure her parents declining days. Iler heart was carefully tutored to eveby worthy thought, and it was a pleasing reflection, that her early merit spoke her to be amiable, ingenuous, and sensible. comman prejudices. But, independent of this, were the consequences of your profligacy confined to one alone. Was Emilia the only sufferer by her folly and your guilt -No--Your cruelty has even extended beyond your intention -even beyond the grave-Think, Sir, of her parents. You never was ignorant of their worth, nor a stranger to their friendship. This daughter was their only comfort, saved from the wreck of a numer. ous family, and the tender care that made life desirable. But the horrors of such a disappointment are only describable in their ef fects. So baneful and so speedy have these been, that it is probable ere this reaches you, there will not survive one individual belong But, unhappily there is in female youth, a critical period, when sensibility of soul leaves them susceptible of many impressions, and while it is experience only that can guide them to discriminate be. tween those impressions, her few years kept her ignorant of that experience-It was this period you chose for the accomplishment of your designs. You interposed eleing to the family to reproach you for your baseness. the laws of right and wrong, the nice boundaries of prudence, could be established. You laid your plans with penetration and subtlety, and concealed their depth with hypocricy. The victim of your artifice had not yet learned that one might smile and deceive; and, at a time when she believed every one to be as much a friend to sincerity and undisguised truth as herself, Do not, Sir, review this mournful calamity with a smile of conscious pride and power. Do not trace the steps which led to it, and boast of their success. You have no cause to elevate your mindyou triumphed over virtue-you triumphed over humanity-you sneered at the distress which ou occasioned, and deserted the ob you taught her, by sad experienceject with an unfeeling speed, what happier females know only by report--that an ingenuous mind is ever in danger from the machinations of a designing world. -Every crime, like thisof your's takes from the general character of youth, and stamps a degree of infamy on us, which heightens the But, Sir, although you may carry your pride to the lowest grave, your power draws apace to its period. Health, even with temper. ence and virtue, has neither per manence nor certainty. Pensive moments will come to make you wretched, when you least expec |