being attuned to many of those airs with which our language abounds, and which are as pure in sentiment as they are plaintive in their melody. Although, like the dying poet, she deemed the Bible the best book, she was not one of those who cannot distinguish between a trashy novel, in which some accomplished profligate favours the world with a transcript of his history, or some discarded sycophant with the fruits of his eaves-dropping, and the pages in which the genius of Mackenzie, of Scott, and of Irving, shine with equal purity and lustre.

It was not, as I have said, in the crush of the rout, or the glitter of the ball-room, that Clara sought her pleasures: and it was, therefore, with no ordinary sense of relief, that she escaped from the fashionable jargon of some vapid exquisite, to the society which her father's taste and hospitality were wont to gather around his board; where she was a silent, though not the less gratified, observer of the flashes of wit and genius which such meetings elicit. Yet was Clara not one of those epicene creatures, ycleped bluestockings: it is true, she was mistress of French and Italian, and had just sufficient knowledge of the Latin language to insure correctness in the writing and speaking of her own; but she did not waste, on the acquisition of more learned tongues or abstruse sciences, the time which might be devoted to employments more becoming her sex, and more useful to those around her.

Gifted as she was, too, in personal attractions, enhanced by a grace of manner which Nature needs not the aid of the dancing master to confer, it will not be matter of surprise that she had many admirers; yet it would be unjust towards the wiser portion of the other sex, to conceal that there were those who were as much enchanted by the accomplishments and virtues of her mind, as by the beauty of her person. Among them was a gentleman who was a frequent guest at the table of her father. The younger son of a respectable family, he had been educated for one of the learned professions, and, by the amiability of his manners, not less than by the variety and brilliancy of his talents, had rendered himself a general favourite in the society in which he moved. Upon his enthusiastic and poetical temperament, the beauty and virtues of Clara were calculated to make a powerful impression, which every hour passed in her company tended to deepen.

Ardent, however, as were his feelings, they were under the control of a well-regulated mind, and he was awakened from the elysian dream into which he had suffered himself to be entranced, by the reflection that, situated as he was, straitened in circumstances, and dependant entirely on his success in the profession he had chosen, the object of his passion could not honourably be pursued.

With a resolution and self-denial rarely evinced upon similar occasions, he withdrew himself from the magic circle, ere its enchantment became too strong for him, and suddenly, and at the hazard of much misinterpretation of his motives, ceased to be a guest at Mr Stanley's.

The subject of this sketch was not fitted for the heroine of a romance, and the early years of her life passed away unmarked by any occurrence which it would be interesting to record. At the age of eighteen, however, an eventful year in her existence had deprived her of both her parents, who died within a few months of each other. Mr Stanley had never been a provident man; his affairs, therefore, at his decease, were in such a state, that it required the sacrifice of all he left behind him, even to the furniture of his house, to satisfy the demands of his creditors.

The morning appointed for the sale arrived, and Clara retired to an apartment as remote from the bustle of preparation as she could select. Sorrow for the loss of an affectionate parent was weighing heavily upon her heart, nor was the reflection that she must, in a few hours, quit the home of her childhood, to wander forth, she knew not whither, calculated to lighten her grief. Of the many who were wont, with smiling faces and flattering tongues, to flock to the splendid entertainments which her mother delighted to give, there was not one found to offer the word of comfort in her tribulation; but, as she had never relied upon their friendship, she could feel little disappointment at their desertion. Her prospect over the bare wilderness of life, was, indeed, a desolate one: there appeared not a blossom to gladden her path, nor was there a tree between her and the gloomy horizon, to shelter her from the coming storm. But her view was not confined to earth: she turned upwards, with the eye of faith, to that beneficent God whom she had served in her prosperity, and who, she felt the blessed conviction, would not desert her in the day of her trouble. True it was, the means of deliverance were not visible, but faith assured her that His arm was not shortened that it could not save; she had not trusted to a broken reed, which pierces the hand that seeks its succour.

In the meantime, the preliminary arrangements for the sale were in progress: the rooms were thronged with company, of which no inconsiderable portion was made up of the acquaintances, -they were once deemed friends,-of Mr Stanley. Some were attracted by the amiable desire of witnessing the wreck of the pros perity they had envied; others, by the hope of securing at a cheap rate, some article of furniture, bijouterie, or art, which they had admired in the life-time of its late proprietor.

A few of the relatives of Mr Stanley were gathered into a circle,

in one of the rooms, who, after clubbing their pity for the forlorn and destitute situation of his daughter, proceeded to speculate upon the manner in which she could dispose of herself. One recommended that she should enter some family as a governess, for which her attainments adapted her; another suggested the more eligible appointment of companion to an elderly lady; while a third, who had heard of Clara having been once detected in making up some article of her own dress, after lamenting the difficulty of obtaining situations of the former description, alluded to her qualifications as an attendant on some young ladies, in the enviable capacity of half milliner and half maid. During this discussion, the attention of the group was attracted by the entrance of an elderly personage, in exceedingly plain, but respectable attire, consisting of a dark green single-breasted coat, drab doe-skin breeches, and top boots his hat was remarkably broad in the brim, he had a stout walking-stick in his hand, and his general appearance was that of a man of respectability and substance. He contrived to insinuate himself into the midst of the conclave, and was an attentive listener to their conversation. Having heard the various propositions for the future provision of the orphan, he somewhat abruptly exclaimed, "But while the grass grows, the steed starves: surely there must be some of poor Mr Stanley's friends who are both able and willing to afford his daughter the protection of their roof, until she can be, in some measure, provided for."

His observations were evidently not much to the taste of his auditors, all of whom, however, expressed the great pleasure they should experience in offering her an asylum; but, unfortunately, not an individual of them was, at that particular juncture, in a situation to do so: the residence of one of them was under repair; the spare bed-room of another was occupied by a friend from the country; while a third had the scarlet-fever in the house, and would never forgive himself, if the "dear girl" should catch the disease. A smile of peculiar significance played on the lip of the stranger as he listened to their various evasions, and, perceiving that they eyed him with a look of inquiry, he drew from his pocket a silver snuff-box of extraordinary dimensions, and, tapping the side of it for some seconds before he opened it, afforded them an opportunity of observing the device which was chased upon the lid, representing a cabbage, supported by a pair of extended shears.*

The reader will have no difficulty in guessing that the stranger was our friend Tomkins, the tailor, who, among other peculiarities,

*This is no fiction; the author has frequently seen the snuff-box in the possession of its respectable proprietor.

had adopted this method of showing that he was not ashamed of his humble calling. Some years had passed over his head since the affair of the nosegay, and they had been marked by that progressive prosperity to which honest and unflagging industry so frequently leads. Mr Tomkins, with an obsequious bow to the group, quitted the room; and, having inquired of a servant if Miss Stanley was in the house, sent his respects, and requested permission to wait upon her. His request was unhesitatingly granted, and he was introduced to the apartment to which Clara had retreated. She was habited, of course, in deep mourning; yet, notwithstanding the lapse of time, and the change which sorrow, however temporary, will produce upon the countenance, he recognised in the faint smile, with which she requested him to take a seat, the expression that had so won upon him on the only occasion on which he had seen her when a child. Now Mr Tomkins, although we do not pretend to bring him forward as a man of polished deportment, possessed that delicacy of sentiment which, as it is not the necessary concomitant of refinement of manners, is often found to influence the conduct of persons in the humbler grades of society.

He came to condole with the fair orphan on her bereavement; and the words in which his sympathy was conveyed, were well timed and to the purpose. But he came, also, to offer his assistance, and was considerably embarrassed in his endeavours to do so, without wounding the feelings of the object of his benevolent regard. He expressed himself, however, to the effect, that he had heard of the sale having been somewhat unnecessarily precipitated, and much, he feared, to her temporary inconvenience; that supposing, therefore, she might not yet have fixed upon a residence, he had taken the liberty of calling, to mention that he had rooms, in his humble dwelling, of which he made no manner of use, and he should feel honoured and obliged by her occupying them, until she could provide herself with more suitable apartments. He concluded by saying that he presumed his gray hairs, his character, and, with some hesitation, he added, his relationship, were sufficient warrants for the propriety of the measure, if it were agreeable to her to adopt it.

With the warmth which belonged to her character, Clara expressed her gratitude for the generosity of his offer, and the delicacy with which it was made, adding that, in frankly accepting it, she would not disguise from him that she knew not where else to find a shelter for the coming night.

While she was collecting, preparatory to her removal, the few things which her father's creditors had permitted her to retain, Mr Tomkins proceeded to procure a coach, to which, after he had

whispered a few words in the ear of the auctioneer, he conducted Clara, and they drove off. Having, probably, anticipated that their journey would terminate in some obscure and gloomy part of the metropolis, she was agreeably surprised, on alighting, at being introduced to a spacious house, in the Adelphi, to which her inviter welcomed her with unaffected cordiality. She was shown to her chamber by an elderly female, who acted in the joint capacity of housekeeper and cook; and who, having intimated to her that she would find her breakfast prepared in the adjoining apartment on the following morning, withdrew, leaving Clara to reflect on the occurrences of the last few hours, and to return thanks to the Almighty Being who had thus unexpectedly raised her up a friend in her distress.

On the next day, she rose early, as was her wont, and passed into the room which had been pointed out by her attendant, and which was spacious, and commanded a view of the Thames, and of the Surrey hills in the distance. The reader will, perhaps, conceive the measure of her surprise when, on looking around her, she perceived that her own harp and bookcase, with its contents, had, through the delicate generosity of her benefactor, been added to the furniture.

Clara had too much activity, as well as independence of mind, to sit calmly down, and eat the bread of idleness. Her first object, therefore, was to turn her talents to account, by obtaining some private pupils, whom she could attend at their own houses; and, to this end, she determined on an application to a gentleman who was a frequent guest of her father, and whose acquaintance, from his connexion with the public press, was very extended. He was a native of the green isle, in whom talents and genius of no common order were united to a causticity of humour that, sparing neither friend nor foe, detracted very much from the value of his society, which, when he could resist his propensity to satire, was amusing and instructive in the highest degree. Under much, however, that was rude, and even stern, in his manner, there were concealed a kindness of heart and a generosity of temper, of which Clara had, on more than one occasion, witnessed unequivocal evidence, and which emboldened her to solicit his furtherance of her views. In his reception of her, the Irishman completely overcame the cynic. He informed her that he had called at her late father's residence, on the preceding day, and was much disappointed on finding that she had quitted it a few hours before. He entered with such interest into her scheme, and followed it up by such strenuous exertions among his friends, that, in a very few weeks, Clara had no reason to complain of a dearth of pupils or occupation.