I

I know every action, and can guess what they'd be up to in a minute; for instance, if they prick up their ears one may expect a shy, when they lay them back you may look out for a bite or a kick, but, unluckily, women have not got movable ears."

the hounds got on the scent again, something seemed | used to the ways of women, exactly. Now with horses to come over me, so that I could not ride a bit, and kept craning at mole-hills and shirking gutters, till I wound up by getting a tremendous purl from checking my horse at a wretched little fence that he could have stepped over, and actually I felt so faint-hearted that gave it up as a bad job, and walked home ready to eat my hat with vexation. But I know what it is, I'm in love-that confounded Charade put me up to that dodge, I fancied at first that I'd got an ague, one of those off-and-on affairs that always come when you don't want them, and was going to ask Ellis to give me a ball, but I found it out just in time, and precious glad I was too, for I never could bear taking physic since I was the height of sixpennyworth of halfpence."

Really, Lawless, I must be getting home."

"Eh! wait a minute; you haven't an idea what a desperate state I'm in; I had a letter returned to me yesterday, with a line from the Post-office clerk saying no such person could be found, and when I came to look at the address I wasn't surprised to hear it. I had written to give some orders about a dog-cart that is building for me, and directed my letter to Messrs. Lovely Fanny, Coachmakers, Long Acre.' Things can't go on in this way, you know-I must do something-come to the point, eh?—What do you say?” "Upon my word," replied I, "this is a case in which I am the last person to advise you.”

"No," replied I, laughing at this singular regret, "but they contrive to make their eyes answer nearly the same purpose, though.-Well, Lawless, my answer is this,-I cannot pretend to judge whether you and my sister are so constituted as to increase each other's happiness by becoming man and wife: that is a point I must leave to her to decide; she is no longer a child, and her destiny shall be placed in her own hands; but I think I may venture to say that if your parents are willing to receive her, and she is pleased to accept you, you need not fear any opposition on the part of my mother or myself."

"That's the time of day," exclaimed Lawless, rubbing his hands with glee, "this is something like doing business; oh! it's jolly fun to be in love after all. Then every thing depends upon Fanny now, but how am I to find out whether she will have me or not? eh? that's another sell."

"Ask her," replied I, and turning down a different path, I left him to deliberate upon this knotty point in solitude.

As I walked towards home my meditations assumed a somewhat gloomy colouring. The matter was no "Eh! no, it is not that-I'm far beyond the reach longer doubtful, Lawless was Fanny's declared suitor; of advice, but what I mean is, your Governor being this, as he had himself observed, was something dead-don't you see-I consider you to stand in pro- like doing business. Instead of planning with my pria quæ maribus, as we used to say at old Mild- mother how we could prevent the affair from going man's." any farther, I must now inform her of his offer, "In loco parentis is what you are aiming at, I and find out whether she could give me any clue imagine," returned I.

"Eh! Psha, it's all the same," continued Lawless impatiently; "but what do you say about it? Will you give your consent, and back me up a bit in the business, for I'm precious nervous, I can tell you!"

as to the state of Fanny's affections. And now that Lawless's intentions were certain, and that it appeared by no means improbable he might succeed in obtaining Fanny's hand, a feeling of repugnance came over me, and I began to think Mr. Frampton "Am I to understand, then," said I, seeing an was right, and that my sister was formed for better explanation was inevitable," that it is my sister who things than to be the companion for life of such a has inspired you with this very alarming attach-man as Lawless. From a reverie which thoughts

ment?"

"Eh! yes, of course it is," was the reply; "haven't I been talking about her for the last ten minutes? You are growing stupid all at once; did you think it was your mother I meant?"

"Not exactly," replied I, smiling; "but have you ever considered what Lord Cashingtown would say to your marrying a poor clergyman's daughter?"

"What! my Governor? oh! he'd be so delighted to get me married at any price, that he would not care who it was to, so that she was a lady. He knows how I shirk female society in general, and he is afraid I shall break my neck some of these fine days, and leave him the honour of being the last Lord Cashingtown as well as the first."

"And may I ask whether you imagine your suit likely to be favourably received by the young lady herself?"

"Eh! why, you see it's not so easy to tell; I'm not

like these had engendered I was aroused by Harry Oaklands's favourite Scotch terrier, which attracted my attention by jumping and fawning upon me, and on raising my eyes I perceived the figure of his master leaning with folded arms against the trunk of an old tree. As we exchanged salutations I was struck by an unusual air of dejection both in his manner and appearance. "You are looking ill and miserable this morning, Harry; is your side painful?” inquired I, anxiously.

"No," was the reply, "I believe it is doing well enough, Ellis says so," he paused, and then resumed in a low, hurried voice, "Frank, I am going abroad.” Going abroad!" repeated I in astonishment, "where are you going to? when are you going? this is a very sudden resolution, surely."

"I know it is, but I cannot stay here," he continued, "I must get away,-I am wretched, perfectly miserable."

"Have you not thought me very much altered of I would not do so while there remained a possibility late?" he continued.

of her preferring Lawless. Do you imagine that I could be content to be accepted out of compassion? No," he added more calmly, "the die will soon be cast, "Illness of mind, not body," he resumed; "for till then I will remain, and if, as I fear is only too now, when life has lost all charm for me, I am regain- certain, Lawless's suit is favourably received, I shall ing health and strength apace. You must have leave this place instantly-put it on the score of health observed with what a jaundiced eye I have regarded-make Ellis order me abroad-the German Baths, every thing that Lawless has done; what was the Madeira, Italy, I care not, all places will be alike to feeling, think you, which has led me to do so? me then." Jealousy!"

He stood for a moment, his hands pressed upon his brow as if to shut out some object too painful to behold, and then continued abruptly, "Lawless has proposed, then?" "He has asked my consent, and his next step will spite of my walk, I had not much appetite for my of course be to do so,” replied I. breakfast that morning.

SHARPE'S LONDON MAGAZINE.

A CONFIDENTAL LETTER OF SENECA

TO HIS FRIEND PISO. CLEOMIAS will deliver this safely into your hands; after which, I trust it will meet neither other hands Rather would I, Piso, that nor eyes save your own. you had not confided to me the present matter; your opinions and determinations on the merits of the case in question, and your resolutions as to how to proceed upon it, seem already made up; and though you attempt a form of consultation, to my apprehension you rather invite my approval of the course of action you have traced out for yourself, than request my judgment and advice upon that which you should

follow.

66

If you
feel strong enough, Esteban," said she as
she stopped in the doorway, while the Spaniard
arranged the folds of his mantle, "you might go to
the merchant Ozorio, and beg of him to wait a few days
longer, as our little fellow has not yet finished the
number of pictures which he ordered for the seaman's
venture. Indeed I do not know what Barthélemi has.
been about these six months, for he does almost
nothing, not even his escutcheons. Don Manuel's
escutcheon is not begun, that of the Marquis of
Sylva is not finished, those of Donna Inesilla, and
the three brothers Henriquez, are in exactly the same
state as the first day he got them; and Ozorio's
pictures are not a bit more advanced."

"I shall be able to work in a few days, Theresina,"
replied Esteban; "my eyes are better, and then I
will help him."

bad company or bad habits!"

"Does he always stay out for half the day?"
"Alas! Esteban, for nearly the whole of it, this
long time back."

How absurd is this species of self-delusion in men; yet how general! How ably would every cause of trivial injury be pleaded, were the angry "That will not tell me how he spends his time," passions of the plaintiffs permitted to become their advocates! and what sophistry was ever yet so subtle replied Theresina; "he who was formerly so good a or so cunning as that with which the ambition of a workman, and used to be called the Little Escutcheon legal revenge would inspire the pleader? Your over- Painter, and had them finished almost as soon as weening and preposterous anger against your neigh-ordered-Woe is me, should my child have got into bour Strato, its long continuance, and, yet more, its studious concealment from him who has provoked it, almost make you (in my mind) to change places with the culprit, whose small offence seems lost in the larger injury by which, in the way of retribution, you are preparing to overwhelm him. When your neighbour Strato first trespassed upon your estates, and you became sensible of his encroachments, did you apprize him of his aggression? Did you not rather, by an assumed blindness, a pretended inertness, purposely encourage him to repeat the injury, to the increase of your own enmity and the amount of his intended punishment?

Ought you not, instead of thus mimicking the sleeping lion, rather to have warned him of the danger he was incurring? What pleasure can a being endowed with the divine gift of reason receive from the indulgence of a mercenary revenge; the award of a fine of yellow dross, wrung from the hard | earnings of a necessitous man, whose poverty, more probably than his principles, has been accessory to his offence?

It is not in this way the gods deal with us: slow indeed to punish our crimes, they sometimes allow, for the chances of repentance and reparation, a long, a healthful, and a prosperous life; the salutary visitings of memory, of conscience, and of remorse, are frequent for our good, and even when we have reached the very threshold of eternity, the gracious opportunity of atonement is not withdrawn.

Piso, rather would I that the Emperor's suspicions of a treasonable secret between us were verified, than be forced to receive the conviction, that a sin so sordid as malice inhabited the bosom of my friend. Accept, I beseech you, from my counsel, the means of bestowing the most perfect and efficient punishinent on your enemy; forgive him, and thus at once inflict upon him the sting of remorse and the consciousness of your superiority.

BARTHELEMI ESTEBAN MURILLO;
OR, THE BOY-PAINTER OF SPAIN.
CHAPTER I.

"And do you know where he goes, wife?"

"I dare not ask him, Esteban; I am afraid of causing him to tell a falsehood."

"But why do you take it for granted he would tell a lie, Theresina?"

"Perhaps he might only give me an evasive answer, and that would be want of respect to me, and I could not bear that he should do that, either."

"But he will perhaps answer you truly and satisfactorily," said Esteban.

I

The mother shook her head.

"If he intended that I should know, he would not wait for me to ask him," said she. "However, perhaps am wrong to suspect him, or to be uneasy at his silence,—and his mysterious conduct," added she a moment after. "Are not all his earnings for us? For the six months you were ill, Esteban, was not Barthélemi the sole support of the house? Certainly it was not the produce of my needle merely that paid the physician or apothecary. And if I am uneasy, Esteban, I believe it is the very nature of a mother to be anxious; but to be sure he often returns home late."

very

"Seville is a quiet place, Theresina; and then the little fellow never has money enough about him to cause any fear of thieves. However, I will scold him, Theresina, I will not let him make you thus uneasy.'

"Oh! pray do not scold him, Esteban; Barthélemi is the best gift of Heaven,-Barthélemi is an angel!" said the young mother, with a touching expression of maternal love. "Though God were to overwhelm us with the greatest misfortunes,-though he were to deprive us of health, and plunge us in poverty, yet if he be graciously pleased to leave us this dear child, I would not, I could not complain; there is not such another in the world."

"That is the way with all mothers!" said the invalid, smiling. "Just now she was accusing him; I promised to scold him for her, and then she begins to defend him. Be consistent at least, Theresina; either Barthélemi does his duty, and then I, as his father, can have nothing to say, or he neglects it, and in that case it is my place to reprimand him."

Ir was sunrise, and the door of a small house, situated in a retired part of Seville, was gently opened, out of which issued a man still young, whose pale "He is so very young," said Theresina, "that I am features showed that he was only just recovering from a severe illness; he was followed by a young woman. I afraid of expecting too much from him.'

1

"He will soon be fourteen!" said the father. "He is barely thirteen," replied the mother; "Barthélemi was born on the 1st of January, 1618, and this is the 8th of March, 1631, just thirteen years, two months, seven days.'

"Barthélemi is not alone, I hear some noise in his foom," said Esteban.

"Little Ozorio is with him, his father sends him to study under my son," said the young mother, with an air of pride which made the father smile. My son is his master."

"The master and pupil seem to have pretty much the same amount of sense.-But listen, Theresina."

Both being now silent, these words reached them: "You must laugh and cry when I please, or I will puinmel you well," said the voice of a child, in an accent of the most imperious command.

"That might be a good plan, and most effectual in producing the last result," said Esteban, moving away, "but as to laughter, it is scarcely likely to be very successful. Good day, Theresina, I am going to Ozorio."

"And I will go and put a stop to what is going on above," replied Theresina, re-entering the house, whilst her husband slowly went on his way.

CHAPTER II.

Velasquez-" said Barthélemi.

Velasquez again!" interrupted Theresina. Without appearing to notice the interruption, Barthélemi continued,

Velasquez, after having studied under Ferrera the Elder and under François Pacheco, resolved to have no longer any other master than nature, and with this view attached to him a young peasant who accom panied him everywhere, and whom he made to assume every position which he wished to represent, and to laugh and cry at his pleasure, and I am only following | his example. Who knows but that Seville will one day make a boast of having given birth to Barthélemi Esteban Murillo?-But enough: it is getting late, we must go. Come, Meneses."

"And how am I to go, when I can stir neither hand nor foot?"

"You are right, I forgot that little impediment to your movements," said Barthélemi, laughingly hastening to unbind his pupil.

"Are you going out, my son?" inquired Theresina.

46

Theresina slowly ascended a little wooden stair-"May I ask whither?" case, which led to the first story, and opening the door of a room at the top of this staircase, was seized with an involuntary burst of laughter at the scene presented to her view, but, quickly repressing it, she assumed an air of severity, which ill suited the sweet and gentle countenance of the young Spanish mother.

An easel stood in the middle of the room, on which was a picture just begun, and not far from the easel was a boy of about ten years old, tied to a chair, and screaming with might and main; while another boy, somewhat taller, was tickling him, repeating in the gravest and most imperative tone,

"Laugh, I say, laugh, laugh!"

"What is all this, Barthélemi?" said Theresina, having succeeded in recovering her gravity.

"Oh! is it you, mother?" said Barthélemi, turning round. "You can be of such use to me. Will you tickle Meneses whilst I am painting?"

No, no, Senora," said Meneses, in a most piteous tone. Pray do not."

"To tickle the poor child!" said Theresina, "are you mad, Barthélemi?"

"Mad! to do as Velasquez did!" said Barthélemi. "Velasquez is never out of his mouth," grumbled Meneses.

"Velasquez is a great painter!" said Barthélemi, "and, please God, so will I be too."

"I hope so," replied Theresina; "but most certainly it was not by tickling children that Velasquez acquired the talent which now places him at the head of the Gallo-Spanish school of Madrid."

"Ah, but Velasquez had a peasant, who laughed or cried whenever he wished," said Barthélemi, "whilst there is no getting any good of Meneses,"

Meneses is not a peasant," said the boy angrily. "He is the son of Senor Ozorio, picture-merchant at the sign of the Palette of Apelles, on the Place de-laPlata, at Seville. My father sends me here to learn, and not to be tickled or beaten from morning till night."

"If you laughed when I bid you, I should not have tickled you," replied Barthélemi, with the utmost gravity; nor should I be obliged to beat you if you

Certainly, my dear mamma; only if you will allow me, I will tell you some other time," replied Barthélemi without the slightest embarrassment. "It would take too long to explain just now. Meneses, bring my palette, the box of colours and the parasol."

"You have secrets then from your mother, Barthélemi; that is bad," said Theresina, in a tone of soft reproach.

"Another time, my dear mamma, another time," said Barthélemi, accompanying each word with a kiss, as if trying to make her forget by his caresses that he was giving no answer to her question, "Another time; this evening or to-morrow; I am in a hurry now. We are going into the fields, Meneses and I; you see there is nothing very alarming in that, my own sweet little mother."

"Take your large straw hat, then, and your mantle, Barthélemi; the mantle will shelter you from the cold as well as from the heat. Stay in the shade; but if you are very warm, do not stay long there; get into the sun,-yet take care, for a sun-stroke is to be dreaded."

"You are the tenderest of mothers, and the most ingenious in tormenting yourself," said Barthélemi, embracing his mother for the last time, and making his escape, ran off, followed by Meneses.

CHAPTER III.

The day was closing, and Theresina, sitting in the window with her husband, was making lace, while Esteban was reading, and both seemed wholly engrossed by their respective occupations, but on the part of the young woman it was only seeming. Her thoughts were far away from the bobbins she was so busily twisting. A passing step, the bark of a dog, the cackling of a hen, the opening or shutting of a door, nay, the slightest noise, called up an expression either of expectation or disappointment to the sweet face of the Andalusian. But whether with head put close up to the casement, in eager listening to every noise in the street, or whether bent over her work, her large dark eyes seemed following every movement of the bobbins, her fingers went at the same equal

and rapid rate, and might have passed for those of who for some moments had been in the attitude of an automaton, set in motion by mechanism.