of fellow; but here stood before me a mortal man, who, as far as my experience went, had gone to the utmost extent of iniquity that his human nature would permit, and who seemed to unite in himself, all the qualities, which popular prejudice ascribes to the personage above-mentioned.

I will confess it then, I certainly did recoil, when I suddenly found myself in the presence of Colonel Sydenham; but such emotions with me are transient; I soon recovered myself sufficiently to express in terms, my surpise and displeasure at his appearance.

"You have," said I, "exceeded my expectations. I never could have dreamed that your effrontery would bring you voluntarily and unnecessarily to face me. My letter required a written answer, and that alone will I receive; so pray resume your hair and whiskers and retire, for I will hold no personal conference with you."

"Believe me I did not come here to trifle, or to be trifled with," returned he, "nor should I ever wantonly come across you; but your letter, Matthew, requires my personal answer, and that alone shall it have." So saying, with an air of cool determination he seated himself.

"I tell you, I'll have nothing to say to you personally; begone, or I'll disgrace you before the servants."

My uncle's cadaverous face grew more deathy white at these words, and he rose from his chair, but instead of moving towards the door, stepped close up to myself, and, plucking his hand from his bosom, thrust at my face; but involuntarily drawing my head back from the meditated blow, as I supposed, I found myself covered by a very small pistol, held about six inches from my face, on the full cock, and my uncle's tremulous finger hovering upon the hair trigger, in a manner which put me into a cold sweat.

"Attempt to move, or make any cry, and I will blow your brains to hell!" said my uncle, in a vehement whisper.

"What is your purpose? Do you intend to commit murder? What do you mean?"

"Surrender those documents in your possession, by which you say you are enabled to blast my character. Give them up, or I'll be the death of you."

"Well, take away that pistol, and we'll see what's to be done. Don't attempt to humbug me with any nonsense about blowing my brains out, though in your nervous state, your finger may touch the trigger. You are not such a fool as to swing, for the mere sake of revenge."

My uncle lowered the instrument of death, and returned it to the half-cock.

"I do not want your blood," said he, "but you know not, neither do I, what a desperate man may be hurried into; so don't trifle with me, Matthew. I'm in that state of mind and circumstances, that I CANNOT be trifled with. Give me those documents, and I will communicate with you, by letter, with respect to the other matters."

The documents you require are not in my actual possession; they are only available, in case of necessity."

Matthew, I can depend upon your word; give me your honour that you will procure and surrender them to me with

out reserve.

"I shall promise nothing of the kind; you are losing labour. Those evidences shall never be forthcoming if you behave yourself, and I solemnly assure you that I will never breathe a syllable of your conduct to me in particular, or against your character in general, provided you quietly quit the country, and accept the offer I made you. I will allow you 400l. a-year, and give you 10007. in ready money; so let us have no more of these tragedy antics of pistols and daggers; and pray let me be relieved from your farther presence as quickly as possible."

Colonel Sydenham paused a few seconds.

"Make the one thousand ten, and the four hundred five, and I will never see you again."

I hesitated at first at this exorbitant demand, but, upon a moment's reflection, I thought it better to acquiesce, and get rid of him.

"You know," I replied, "that I care little about money, and therefore you fancy that you may press me with confidence upon this point. However, I consent. I shall immediately forward for your signature an instrument, by which I bind myself to allow you 1000l. per annum as long as you continue abroad. The sum of 1000l. I will give you in hand, but not a shilling more. This is my ultimatum; I will have no farther negotiation with you of any kind."

Colonel Sydenham attempted to remonstrate, but I repeated my irrevocable determination with such an air, as gave him to understand that it was in vain to expostulate. Accordingly he re-assumed his disguise, and took his leave, to my infinite satisfaction.

CHAPTER XLIII.

I LOST no time in transmitting to my uncle the instrument referred to in the last chapter. The document was returned, in like manner, without delay, with his signature duly affixed thereto, and accompanied by a note, in which the writer informed me that he took his farewell of London that evening, and that he quitted English ground for ever, by the first packet that sailed after he reached Dover. He apologized (for the haughty and indifferent language which he used, could scarcely be considered an expression of contrition) for the trouble he had given me, and assured me that I might be free from all apprehension in future, as I should never be reminded of his existence, except by the half-yearly demands of his agent upon my banker. There was no tone of hostility in the letter, neither was there any attempt to excuse his conduct. It was altogether heartless and hardened.

Relieved as my mind now was of apprehension from this quarter, I perceived no obstacle to my happiness, except the period of time which was to intervene before my union with Alice.

It was about a month after the circumstances recently detailed, that I was walking in Piccadilly, when whom should I meet, but Burgess, the worthy vicar!

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My good friend!" I exclaimed with unrestrained surprise, "can I believe my eyes? what in the name of common-sense has brought you to town?"

The good man returned my greeting with kindness, but his manner was singularly dejected and embarrassed. His dress, likewise, which was never remarkably spruce, was as disordered as his countenance. His black quaint clothes were covered with dust, his linen was abominable, and his beard showed like a field of corn newly reaped. He was that sort of figure, which sharpers, at a glance, mark for their own. He strode manfully on, however, unconscious of the stares which his extraordinary appearance drew upon him from the passers, many of whom stopped, and looked round to laugh at him.

When he came up to me, the poor man seemed ready to sink with exhaustion. He took off his queer canonical-quaker hat, and with the red handkerchief contained in the crown thereof, wiped away the filthy consistence which perspiration had formed with dust in his furrowed features. This done, he was proceeding to enter into a detail of his business in London.

Now, though I hope and believe I am freer from folly than most men, and though from the high rank which I held in the gay world, I could do things, which less distinguished persons dared not venture upon, it certainly does require large philosophy, considerable strength of mind, and great power, to talk to, far more to walk with, a quiz, in the height of the season, at the hour of four P. M., the scene being that confluence, where St. James's street and Bond street pour their tributary streams into Piccadilly. Much, therefore, as I respected and esteemed the excellent clergyman, I would that we had met at any other time, and in any other place, or that we had never met. My first impulse was, I am ashamed to confess, to disengage myself from him forthwith. But by a struggle I overcame this weakness" Is it worthy," thought I," of the friend of Paulet, and the betrothed of his sister? No; I will be great,” and to guard against the possibility of relapse, I thrust my arm at once, and boldly within that of Burgess. To my dismay, he led me round the corner of Bond

street.

"Stop!" cried I, suiting the action to the word, "where the devil are you going? I had not bargained for this."

"I am going to King street, Marylebone," answered the poor innocent.

"This is Bond street, St. James's, my good friend, for Heaven's sake don't come here." So saying, and without farther parley, I forced him into a hackney-coach, jumped in myself, and desired the man to drive to the place that Burgess had mentioned.

Being thus in a place of safety, I could unaffectedly express my pleasure at seeing the good vicar, and inquire, with real concern, how long he had been in London, and what had brought him there.

"I travelled all last night, my dear Sir Matthew," was his reply," and I have been walking about all day."

"I hope upon no unpleasant business?" said I, attentively perusing his countenance, in which, dirt and fatigue seemed

to be blended with care. He answered in the negative, but his manner denied the assertion.

"Oh, no, it is nothing unpleasant; I can't say that it is anything agreeable either; my poor boy has not been going on quite so steadily as I could wish, but he's a mere child; I'm an old fool; it was to be expected."

"Have you seen your son?"

He had not. He had called at his lodgings in the Strand, whither he had repaired immediately upon quitting the coach, but had been informed there, that the young gentleman had removed to the street in Marylebone to which we were driving. He had then gone to the office of the special pleader, where he had understood that his son was prosecuting his profession, but there he was told, to his surprise, that no such person was known. This puzzled him extremely, and he made every conjecture but the only one which a less partial and more practised person would have suggested. He had been warned by a friend, whose eye had been upon his son, that the young man was not going on quite right, and recommended him to come up without loss of time. The letter containing this alarming intelligence, had been received on Wednesday, and accordingly the good man, in the greatest anxiety, though he would not admit that he had any probable cause for it, had put himself into the coach the same evening, and upon arriving in London, had proceeded immediately, without taking any refreshment, in search of his son. Burgess was a stranger in London, and had been walking about in all directions after the street in which his son lived, having evidently been misdirected by the people of whom he had inquired his way. The poor man could now hardly speak from fatigue and hunger, and the anxiety of hope deferred. In vain I tried to persuade him to stop a few minutes at a cook's shop and recruit his exhausted nature. He declared he could neither eat nor rest until he had seen his son.

Mr.

On being set down at the house, which was in a shabby, suspicious-looking street, the woman who opened the door, answered our inquiry, whether Mr. Burgess lived there, with a hesitating affirmative, but would not say whether he was at home or not, until she went to see. The father's impatience could not await her return, so we followed her up stairs, until she halted at the second floor, and we entered the room before our harbingeress could do much more than announce the names, which my single-minded companion had given, before I could suggest the expediency of withholding them.