control, ferociously exclaimed, "This is neither the time nor place to chastise the insolence of the bully or the bastard." "Bastard in your teeth, you tenth transmission of idiotcy," retorted the bold Fitzgeorge. Then bridling up to his opponent, he continued-" I thank heaven that I was born free. No counterfeit imposition forced into legal currency under sanction of a priestly fraud. Look to the genealogy of the Guelphic sovereigns. Boasts not your Queen her proud descent from the Norman Conqueror? And his mother was to his father what your maternal ancestor was to Charles the Second." "Peace, George, peace," said the amiable Algernon Sydney; "you are too generous to probe the wounds of past generations, to revenge a present quarrel. Be content with the noble mark you have inflicted upon his escutcheon; the scar will not be the less painful or lasting for being struck upon a royal shield, or hidden under an engrailed bar." "It is the privilege of such free-born spirits as your friend," said the Earl to Sydney, in a mild sneering manner, "to claim unlimited immunity of speech; and the penalty of my order is to bear with it. But, Robert Sydney, you should be a Percy, and one of us." "I should be what I am," retorted Sydney, warming with energy at the indignant sneer of the Earl of Avonshire, "or I should be unworthy of the name I bear. My ancestor fell a victim to yours. The profligate despot crushed the virtuous patriot. History has, however, done justice to the memory of both." "It has it has," interposed Fitzgeorge. "It has inscribed the name of Sydney in imperishable gold upon the roll of eternity; while that of the despotic profligate is only remembered as a blot upon our royal escutcheon. The vices of the second Stuart may not be entirely effaced from history; but Providence has done posterity justice by exterminating the legitimate race of the tyrant. "By my troth," said Tom Sparkle, whose anger had cooled into contempt for Avonshire, perceiving that the gestures of the parties denoted more than wordy anger, and thinking to allay the irritation, "I hold all discussion upon genealogy to be barbarous warfare. Who questions the blood of the Arab, its primitive purity, fleetness, strength, and symmetry? Yet who can trace its pedigree? What is the value of legitimacy? unless we could prove the marriage-certificate of Adam and Eve. "A bold piece of badinage for the cousin of an Archbishop, the son of an Earl, and the expectant of a maternal coronet," simpered the legitimate. "I am happy that you did not annex honours to the distinctive expectancies," retorted Tom, "as I think nobility would be unreal mockery without them; not that I am a pearl fisher-I may not add to the family jewels-but if ever the crested insignia of our house should descend to me, I will try neither to reduce their number nor diminish their lustre." "There spoke real nobility," said Sydney; "thou art truly the Prince Hal' of our fraternity, Tom; and for thy generous intentions we honour, and will obey thee." "Come Avonshire," said Tom; "by my princely dignity I com mand obedience. You have wronged Fitzgeorge, and you must apologise or "Or what?" inquired the Earl, doggedly. "Or be expelled from good fellowship-discommoned from our court of fraternity-banished our royal presence," said Tom, laughingly; "and then, my dear fellow, you will die of ennui.” "Better to die of ennui than disgrace, Mr. Sparkle,” said the Earl, looking as solemnly severe as such an inexpressive countenance would permit him. "I properly estimate your good intentions, Mr. Sparkle, but I think I shall best sustain my own position by withdrawing for the present and consulting a friend." "Aye, do," said Tom, "if you can find one (exit Avonshire). There goes legitimacy, as he thinks, though all the world knows he is a changeling, a forster brother, and something more, of the legitimate offspring, who, being feminine, was exchanged by agreement between the mothers." "Can such things be, and remain in undisturbed tranquillity?" inquired Sydney. "Are there no next of kin? no aspirant heirs. to titled honours and a princely revenue?" "Plenty, my dear fellow-plenty, and powerful ones too; but the proofs who shall produce the damning proofs, when mothers conspire to cheat their children of their heritage? The Earl and his kinswoman were born in Florence, on the same day, under circumstances of unparalleled profligacy and mystery, the ducal representative being a consenting party to the fraud. The story is extant, and in choice Italian. Some wet day," said Sparkle, will translate it; but for the present I bind you both to secrecy. Our present care must be to protect Fitzgeorge, and foil his challenger." ❝ we "It has not come to that yet," said Fitzgeorge; " and if it should, I claim to be sole arbiter of mine own honour." "Another rebellious subject," said Tom. "By our lady we will resign our barren sceptre, and abdicate, if our high prerogative is to be thus insulted." "Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof," ejaculated the amiable Sydney. "My own impression is, that we shall hear no more of the Earl or his menace. Fitzgeorge may well afford to treat the matter with contempt, looking to the correction he has inflicted.” CHAP. VIII.-A DIGRESSION. A Digression arising out of foregone Circumstances-Metaphysics of the HeartPrejudices of Society-Triumph of Mind over Pride of Ancestry-Patronage the Soul of Confidence in some Pursuits-Struggles of Genius-The World not so bad as bad Men would paint it-The godlike Ambition of doing Good. The uncontrollable tear of heartfelt gratitude forced its way through the lustrous channel, despite of Fitzgeorge's attempts to suppress it. The noble generosity of his companions, in supporting him against one of their own order, their disregard of station, wealth, and influence, in favour of private attachment, produced a deep impres sion of their sincerity: for the first time since he had been associated with them, he felt himself more able to bear, and equal to combat, the prejudices of society. Elevation of spirits produced elevation of mind; the bold energies and natural elasticity of his composition expanded in power and brilliancy. Men of true nobility, he found, disregarded the accidental circumstances of birth: distinctive greatness and worldly honours might be mere nutshell properties if not emblazoned by the heraldic bearings of virtue and crested by sincerity. The test-papers of the physician may demonstrate the state of the gastric fluids; but there is no test but action whereby we can analyze the operations of the mind. The proud heart of Fitzgeorge swelled with rapturous delight as he looked back upon the desolation of his boyhood. He was no longer the obscure student struggling for academical renown, but the acknowledged friend of high-born associates. The cold, contemptuous sneer of the unfeeling aristocrat might now be met with a laugh of proud defiance; the triumph of mind asserted its independence over the pride of ancestry, and only those who could combat with intellect could hope to gain his friendship or preserve his regard. "How short is the distance between proscription and preferment !" said Raleigh. How easy the ascent from misery to happiness, if those who have the power would but lend a helping hand! A cheering smile and a few bland words from those we respect may often tend to encourage the early exertion of science and art, which else, like the shaded rose, might wither in the bud. Patronage, in some pursuits, is the soul of confidence and stimulant to success. How many, endowed with genius and adorned with virtue, have pined away in the spring-tide of their hopes, blighted by the coldness of neglect; or, ere their summer-leaves could expand to maturity of form, have felt the withering blast of poverty snapping the tender shoots and tendrils of life, leaving what else had been a goodly tree. a scathed trunk, sapless and sinking into premature decay! The world is not, however, so bad as bad men would paint it; nor are greatness and goodness so rarely amalgamated as the ungenerous of the morbid mind would imply. Generosity of mind and action, although innate, require cultivation. The guano of increased production is gratitude. If there was more gratitude found in the humble recipient, there would be more generosity in the wealthy donor. "Charity covereth a multitude of sins," saith the proverb. Hence, charity is self-gratification," saith the metaphysical reasoner. Let it be so, in the proportion of one to one hundred; and who shall complain of its selfishness? With others, who cannot see anything bright in the world except through a false medium, charity is associated with ambition and accused of hypocrisy. The baseness of suspicion may pollute the purest motive; but of all the hopes of honours and rewards ambition spurs us to, there is nothing more free from hypocrisy or so godlike as the ambition of doing good. But a very few days had elapsed since the rencontre between Fitzgeorge and the Earl of Avonshire when the noble student was suddenly withdrawn from collegiate associations. The mysterious whisperings and conjectures which floated through the university circle had at length reached the ears of his family connections; and, fearing that remonstrance might lead to greater publicity or provoke unpleasant inquiries, they prudently advised the withdrawal of their doubtful kinsman. "A BIT OF BLOOD." ENGRAVED BY E. HACKER, FROM A PAINTING BY J. F. HERRING, SEN. "To what base uses may we come, Horatio!" "Blood will tell." Of all the maxims a succession of Solomons have put forth, there is none to compare with it. Blood does tell in all ranks, vicissitudes, and employments. To begin at the very top, take the long, trying, uncompromising set-to; the exciting struggle in which every flourish of the whip, every dig of the spur, every shake of the head, is met as truly and readily as the bank does her notes. Two, three, four, all hard at it from the distance inhead for head and crack for crack-finishing fiercer and fiercer every stride a dead heat, or, as the French give it, "won by a nose"never mind which; you may rest tolerably well assured of the pure pedigree of those who have just combated so obstinately with each other. There is only one kind of animal we know of could continue the fight with such heart and temper, and so the consequent course of proceeding is plain enough. Single out the fortunate man at once from his fellows, shake his hand, wish him joy, tell him you told him so, and climax all with the indisputable argument that "Blood will tell." And then the hunter-the long run or the flying leap. Twenty miles as the crow goes, over the most severe part of our country, and at a capital pace throughout, scarcely a check of any consideration in it-the hounds turning and steadying again of themselves, thanks to a burning scent and a happy scarcity of over-riding. Very few, of course, up at the whowoop; to name might perhaps be invidious we cannot, however, refrain from adding a word or so of justly due distinction to Lord Howard de Howard, who, on his celebrated mare Purity, had decidedly the best of it from first to last-finishing, moreover, with a most extraordinary feat at an awfully stiff post and rail, within three fields of where they ran into him. We need not accompany the chronicler any further into the particulars of how Lord Howard and Co. manages to effect all this. It must be good on both sides, as the breeders repeat in getting to Whalebone one way, and then, by a little circumbendibus, to Whalebone the other. There is only one class of hunter can face his work like this. Purity, on our affiidavit, is as well-bred as the Howard himself; and then you see-ecce iterum— "Blood will tell." Lower yet though, to try the true ring of the royal metal. The strong bow is broken at last; the three hundred guinea hunter gone |