looked down joyously on the white sails, and the glassy sea yielded softly and peaceably to her motion; and now where is she? Where is the brave crew, and where are the merry passengers, the fathers, children, husbands, wives ? Cold, hushed, lost, buried beneath those mighty waters which were so furiously lashed by the storm last night, when, amidst the howling blast, the loud thunder, the hoarse waves-there arose a fearful death-cry from a hundred voices, and a goodly ship went down into the abyss!"

It was but yesterday," sighs a desolate one, "that my heart rejoiced in the certainty of being beloved, and I was so full of happiness that I viewed everything, animate and inanimate, as arrayed in holiday garb. And now the veil has been suddenly and rudely torn from before my charmed eyes, and I am forced to contemplate the wreck of long, long-cherished hopes, the heartlessness of my former idol, and the blessed lot of my rival."

"It was but yesterday," cries a poor widow, "that morning dawned on the husband of my

youth and love; who, though in a darksome and dreary prison-cell, galled with chains, and branded as a felon, was still full of life, and humble hope, the result of sincere penitence; and now he swings on yonder ugly gibbet, a warning to his fellow sinners; yet was he once a frank, light-hearted youth, who shuddered at the bare idea of crime."

Catherine Brand threw herself on a sopha, and exclaimed passionately,

"My mind had grown tranquil in these lovely woods-I was almost happy -the fresh mountainbreeze had fanned my cheek into health; my circulation had become brisker, more joyous; life was again spreading out before my view, some of its powerful and seducing charms-but I must not think of this-the memory of my pleasant days but enhances my regrets, and there is truly,

"Nessun maggior dolore

Che ricordarsi del tempo felice
Nella miseria."

But though Catherine was easily discouraged,

her mind was peculiarly elastic, and in the course of a few days she began to view Farquhar's conduct in a new light. It is so easy to find excuses for those we love! She reasoned herself into the belief that business of importance had called him thus suddenly away, and she anticipated his speedy return to claim her hand.

She was invited to spend some time with a family in the neighbourhood, and accepted the invitation. Teresa felt her absence severely; Mrs. Derby's manner towards her had grown intolerable, and had it not been for her friendless condition, Teresa would have left the family immediately. At length Catherine Brand returned, thoroughly disgusted with her visit. The gentleman and lady with whom she had been staying were continually skirmishing with each other in a covert manner; smiling blandly in each other's faces with rage in their hearts; and lavishing endearing terms, when words could scarcely have done justice to the intensity of their dislike.

"I was very intimate," said Catherine, “with

some nieces of Mrs. Godwin's, and I had a kind feeling towards her on their account. They have been abroad for many years, and owing to my incorrigible idleness as a letter-writer, our intercourse has ceased, I never can hope to meet with such another family. The girls were handsome and fascinating, without one spark of vanity; their feelings were noble and generous in the extreme; there were no mean fears of rivalry in their bosoms, and many, more talented and beautiful than themselves, were almost domesticated with them. At the same time, no girl, though she might infinitely eclipse them in outward seeming, and even in brilliancy of genius, could at all compete with them in fixing the attention of the other sex. They never tried to fascinate, yet no man could be in their society without feeling the influence they so involuntarily exercised."

"Their candour was extraordinary; they never even told a white lie, and yet they never gave offence. Such were these charming girls, and I was their chosen friend. They indeed ap

preciated me as no one since has done. To them was devoted the spring time of my buoyant spirits; the bloom and sparkle of my beauty expanded and warmed in their genial circle;

my

affections were gathered into their hearts and

treasured by them.”

"Their dear friendship is a sweet recollection, but they are gone-dispersed-and years have rolled over our heads since we last embraced each other. Yet, dear girls, still does my heart yearn towards ye! They loved and valued me as I could wish, and although, since then, I have been scorned, and insulted, and trampled on by the hard and worldly-still I have been appreciated. May God bless the beloved friends of my youth and sharers of my bright days, and grant us at some time a happy meeting, even in this world. But, oh! what an affecting one it would be! I think they would grieve, I know they would, at the ravages sorrow has worked in their once joyous young friend's countenance and heart!"

Very soon after this conversation, Catherine