3 ed aid, dragged by the unfeeling arm of papal power, and forced upon the polluted altars of religion to utter vows of abjuration blasphe: mous to the everlasting! The illuminated prison of his plighted bride now opens to his left to point the way legions of fiend,--nor all the opposing power of earth, and hell, marshalled up before him could impede his determined soul; onward he runs, regardless of the dangers of the path, and almost sinking beneath the velocity of his speed-gains the inlet to his doubtful hope. Trembling he knocks -the door opens propitious to his desire! 'What art thou, who comes at such unseasonable hours?' demands the porter. 'Aranza for his niece,' was the reply. dark lantern, and in the other a key. The superior was supported on her arm, and both in earnest conversation. At length, traversing the dismal labyrinths of St: Clare, they reached the door communicating with the vaults of the Inquisition. These they descended; and the abbess, who appeared no stranger to the place, directed the course to take. (To be Concluded in our next. ) From the Freemason's Magazine. THE OLD Maid. SINCE you have admitted the complaints of an Old Bachelor, you surely will not treat an Old Maid with less civility. I am one of that despised sisterhood, very much against my inclination, I assure you; and if you please will 'Good seignier you're welcome give you my history in a few words. within St. Clare.' · He had not proceeded far when he observed the abbess and his mother pursuing their course, as he rightly supposed, to the tomb of Francisco. He had now too much knowledge of the abandoned profligacy of the superior, to think of leaving his mother ever on such an occasion. For a moment. he forgot Mariana, and as he had thus far proceeded without observation he determined to behold the is sue of a suspicious pilgrimage....... In one hand his mother held a When quite a girl, I was in a similar situation to that of Mr. Sorrowful's Eliza. My lover had spared no pains to make a lasting impression on my heart, and succeeded so well that I was for many years in the habit of drawing invol untarily comparisons in his favor from the appearance of every man who said civil things to me, and, with the constancy of an heroine, kept his idea 'unmixed with baser matter' till he was pleased to quit my vivacious ladyship, the bloom of two-and-twenty yet glowing on my cheek, for a deformed piece of antiquity attractive for nothing but her wealth. vertheless, the same sensations do not recur with the same force as for him: that cannot happen but once; and perhaps this man's mind may be better adapted to my contracted powers of susceptibility than one of a warmer and a finer texture. Touched by that as if by the spear of Ithuriel, be started up into his proper form; and I lost him forever. I did, as I suppose most young women do in such cases: in public I laughed away all appearance of grief, and sat up at nights to weep unobserved. My sorrow some time after assumed a softer tone; and I wrote very pathetic odes to despair, ingrati-second affair quite to my mind, and Thus you see, sir, I settled this seemed willing to accomodate my self to such a mixed kind of enjoyment as Fate appeared to design for me. I now inquired after houses to let at moderate rents, became acquainted with the secrets of marketing at low prices, and interested myself in the reported addition of taxes. But while I was thus laudably endeavoring to fit myself for a good housewife, lo! my man of moderation flies off, and leaves me for the roses and lilies of sixteen! However, his deserts overta k him time enough. The girlish similiarity of our tastes and dispo-playfulness that had bewitched sitions, I began to hope that I might though late, meet with happiness, or at least avoid the ridicule attendant on old maidism,of which I had a very absurd dread. This lover of mine, thought I, has passed that heyday of the passions which hurries men into inconstancy: though he is not so desperately fond, I think I may depend on having him all to myself. Well! all is for the best. I once thought I never could like any man but Edward; but time changes one strangely. Ne him from me, presently showed itself in a multitude of unpleasant forms when kept up by the wife. He soon had to contend with obstinacy, ill-nature, and contradiction, which extreme youth and beauty in madam made her think she had a right to display. She would weep when he was disposedl to be merry, and laugh like a byena when he was inclined to sleep' admit gentlemen to her toilet, buy her millinery in Bond-street, and rattle home at four in the morning from a card party. In short, she led him a most delectable life; and, if I could have enjoyed revenge, his predicament. would have furnished me with a retreat. But I am not made up of such ungentle elements. I sometimes, even now, heave a sigh for his fate: and though he has lost my esteem forever, I feel quite as much sorrow for his wretchedness as resentment at his conduct. Don't you think, good Mr. Edi tor, that it is a pity such a liberalhearted creature as myself should be thus excluded from some of the most endearing connexions in nature? With the first man who won my heart, I would have braved every danger, and have struggled with every difficulty; and for the second, although, perhaps I might not have been quite so active I certainly would have done my best to brighten his autumnal days, and to jog with him down October hill with as equal a pace as might be. and wounded sensibility are too Your humble servant, SOPHIA MYRTLE. THE AUCTIONEER. HE is UP gentleman, will you give us a bid. A BUCK, gentlemen, a first rate BUCK-the TIP of the mode. View him-how sleek he is! Smell him-how sweet he is? Will you please to hear the history of this rare animal?-Rare did I say, no not very rare neitherthey are pretty plenty now adays but this one is a remarkable one among a thousand, (and I dare promise I sell that number this season) among a thousand of these animals, you shall not see the fellow of the same Buck this before ye. His name is Harry Holloytria he was born-I don't recollect where he was born--no matter, he was born, and that is sufficient now adays. Soon after he was born (for I suppose he was a full Except that my own caprices have not occasioned my misfor-grown buck) he began to put on tunes, I think my case much harder than that of Mr. Sorrowful: and if you, Mr. Editor, deem the prayers of vestals efficacious, you may secure mine at the trifling expence of inserting this, that the world may see our sisterhood is not composed merely of decayed beauties or unsocial spirits, but sometimes the unwelcome retreat into which those of elegant desires buckish airs. His hair was pow. dered and pomatomed to such a deg ee, that it had not been for that DELICATE smell, Nan would have sworn he had been pie crust, and would have baked it long ere this, head and all; and served it up for the calves head pie: but Nan, this would have been a sad mistake, for calves head would have had no brains in it. Will of industry. War and speculation, makes them plenty; and when war ceases, speculation is at an end, and the bucks perish-Bay, now then, or you will have reason to repent your neglect. You will not be able to supply yourselves af ter I have done selling-Bid something--will you bid nothing?Iand him in then, let us put up something of some value. The LUCUBRATOR, NUMBER I. you give us a bid, gentlenen? His clothes how shall I describe them? Do look at them, gentlemen-they are in the newest fashion. View his blue pantaloons--don't they set snug? his boots, with tops down to the bottom, an't they the uppe? that pudding under his chin, is it not comfortable in winter?and his language--how, sublime! I have hardly courage to repeat it -why it is more than half made up of the most awful words, how many times has he d-mn'd his soul to h--this is a proof that he thinks he has a soul--by his actions one would suppose he thought he had none! I would repeat some of his sentences, but they would make Was you your hair stand on end. to hear him talk of the business he has transacted, you would be crazy to buy: My store; my coustry house; my servant let my horse go loose and broke my carriage, which cost me 300 dollars; d--mn me, Sir, that watch is notly produces satiety, no pains or equal to one I had stolen from me last winter; why it cost me 140 dollars at auction; d--mn me you could not have bought one at the watch makers equal to it for 300 dollars.' 'Principiis obsta; sero medicina para fur Cum mala per longas invaluere mor as." On DEBATING, or DISPUTING. The English are immoderately fond of places of amusement; bu as an attention to pleasure natural cost are spared to afford variety, and keep the senses in a perpetual delirium. These amusements are fitted to all ranks, and each amusement might serve as a distinction of classes, were it not that vanity forces the lower to tread on the heels of the upper gentry, and emulate, by tawdry and imitative finery, that splendid appearance which the habit of being rich (if I may use the expression) only can confer. The opulent and refined have the dear delights of the opera, mas. querades, iddottos, oratorios, con Why do you not bid gentlemen: be must be sold, and shall be sold, and not him only, but thousands of the same specics--They will be sold soon--and there will no more be raised this long time to come. They do not multiply in peaceable times they are an animal that will not flourish in the neighbourhoodcerts, fetes-champêtres, &c.; and These these naturally produce? the inferior ranks fill the galleries of the playhouses, or the shilling pit at Astley's, or Sadler's Wells, and confine their summer excurs sions to twelvepenny ordinaries and sixpenny tea gardens. But of all amusements, that which is commonly called a Disputing Club seems to me the most extraordina-effects not only on the head, but ry. They prevail much among the inferior and more ignorant ranks; though I know not how tó account for their being fond of an amusement which is so little attended with delight or satisfaction. The questions proposed for debate are such as admit of no positive or decisive answer; so that whatever side you give your vote to, you are obliged to contradict common sense. All such disput-than promote the false guidance of ants as I have seen, seem to be actuated by little else but vanity; and if they ever had any learning, it has been long ago done away in the pursuit of fanciful doctrines and ideal 'truths.' It is indeed surprising that we, who are in general reckoned a sensible and well edu. cated people, should give encouragement to societies that are productive of little else than an increas of that vanity which first influenced the speakers, and a confusion of thought more perplexing than the doubts which they attempt to unravel. on the heart; not only on the ima gination, but on the understanding. They induce an unsettled distraction, that permits not a man to think of any thing as certainly true or certainly false; as certainly hurtful, or certainly innocent; and when our confidence in incontro, vertible facts & conscious opinions. is thus destroyed, we have little behind that will not rather impede our conduct. I knew a young man who once possessed an amiable disposition and most promising parts. These he cultivated with unremitting industry in his younger years: but unfortunately when he came to Lontion,he contracted acquaintance with some people connected with these Disputing Clubs. From possessing more wealth than the majority, he thonght it an honor to preside at each meeting, and after a few weeks practice became a 'capital' speaker: but from that moment ceased to be a prudent thinker.' He soon began to doubt of every evidence, and to find dif ficulties where the simplicity of a babe would have sufficed for un A Disputing Club! Methinks the very name creates a degree of disgust; for what can be more odious than the disposition towards wrangling and disputing, whichderstanding. Because he found |