prized,

Who watch'd his youth and boyhood tenderly;

Then bid him stop, nor seek his much-lov'd home,

Nor think once more to his dear friends to come;

When he obeys p'rhaps I may fickle prove, Commanded turn from all I prize and love. If these things ne'er can be-if still

The weary traveller cools his thirst once more, If still the wanderer pursues his way,

Nor stops until he reach the well-known door, Then know I still must love, I cannot turn, In spite of all I love with love must burn: Death soon I know must be the lot of me; Oh! let me die but near and blessing thee.

MUSETTE,

"L'autre jour sur l'ombrage."

E. P.

(Translated from "Florian's Melangees.) The other day under the shade, A love-sick shepherd sadly strayed; Recounting all love's sad disdain, The echo murmered back his pain :

"Oh! heavenly bliss," the shepherd said, "And pleasure all above, "To love a dear angelic maid, "And meet returning love.

"But oh! what pain to meet with scorn "From one whom you adore; "To wish morn night, then wish night morn,

" And pray to be no more. "My shepherdess obliges me "To love and then to die; " She makes me drop the briny tear, "And heave the bitter sigh. "We doat upon her blooming lip, "We gaze upon her eye; " She show us all her beauty-then "She bids us (cruel!) die,"For oh! what pain to meet with scorn •" From her whom I adore; " I wish morn night, then wish night morn, "And pray to be no more."

E. P.

TO THE BEINGS OF A DREAM.

Beautiful Beings! pure, and bodiless
As languid haunting memories, which float
Thro' gentlest minds,-of songs, all tender-

ness

And mournful grace, in each enrapt'ring note;
Beautiful Beings!-haply ye were sent
To soothe, th' indignant breast, by insult rent.
O maiden! pallid as thy garb of snow,
Whose pitying smile is ling'ring in my heart,
Thy fairy clasp-thy gracious bidding-No!
Such picturings of the past, may ne'er depart
From the wrung, grieving bosom, seeking
bliss,

Which other worlds shall render, never, this!
O youth! poor youth! who, pining unto death,
For her, the sister early lost, became
Insep'rably her guardian-(the breath
Of mortal life, extinct in thy worn frame)
Thou wert my friend!-and-sweet dreams
-phantoms!-уе,

In your unchanging love, brought peace to me!

IN

*

It was a bright morning in April, though rather cold, especially upon the mountain tops, when Alfred, the warder of Peak Castle, stood in thoughtful guise, gazing towards the hamlet of Castleton, which lies at the foot of the Peak. Were we to say, that he was in the best of humours at this time, we must forfeit

*

HOOLE'S ARIOSTO.

the character of veracious historians, for the truth is, that not having been blessed by nature with the sweetest temper in the world, his moroseness was a little increased by the following circumstances; in the first place, he was very cold, and had neither fire nor exercise to warm him; in the next, he was ex

Paine Peveril's Castle.

tremely hungry, for though past six o'clock, nobody had brought him his breakfast: and lastly, there were next day to be "grand doings" at the castle, but at its gate he stood, and might stand everlastingly ere he should behold any of them; which circumstance, considering his curiosity to be inordinate, and his propensity to tattling extraordinary, was confessedly the most vexatious of any. But the approach of a stranger who, although tall, athletic, and young in appearance, was by no means prepossessing in form and countenance, and who was clad in the Scottish garb, aroused Alfred from a host of unpleasant cogitations; "Warder!" cried he, "is this Paine Peveril's place in the Peak?"-" Whose should it be?" quoth Alfred; "Well man, I did but ask, since thereto am I bound: and tell me the lady's name for whom the Tournay is held?" "What, are you come to fight for her?"-" To take my chance," replied the stranger, "with the lave : but her name friend?"-." Ho! ho! ho! ho!" quoth Alfred, laughing violently, "a pretty fellow indeed are you, to come suitoring here, and don't know your leman's name :Mell-to be sure!" - "Oh fair Mell." -"Call her fair an you like, but, in my eyes, brown is she as a berry."-" Could I see Paine Peveril, good man, just now, on his daughter's account?"-" Ho! ho! ho! ho! ho!" again roared Alfred, "better and better; why, she's his niece! braver man never broke a lance, than William of Whittington her father, and of a rare spirit too is Mistress Mell, I'll assure ye! Well, an ye're come a gallivanting to her, I s'pose I must e'en let you in: your name, Sir, if you please?" "Malcolm; a son of the king of Scots."-" What a barefaced lie!" quoth Alfred, "then you'd be a prince you know; and who ever saw a prince tramping it up a moun

tain alone, withouten scores of arms and horses, and merry men to bear and to ride 'em?"-" My retinue is in the village," replied Malcolm, tossing a piece of gold to the civil warder, when, as if by enchantment, the gates of the castle flew open immediately. "In with thee, then!" cried Alfred, and much luck may it bring to your brawny shoulders and monkey phiz. Thanks for the gold, but still say I, a fig for the prince who leaves his revenue behind him!" He closed the gates, and peered around to see if chance would bring him another such a windfall, but nothing save his breakfast troubled him for some time; at last came forth, from the castle, a little pale-faced, fantastic, foreign-dressed fellow, with a dancing gait,suudry smiles when he did not speak, and sundry twitches when he did: "Vell Alfred, a fine day to you:avez vous-No! no! ce n'est pasave you see-Mademoiselle dat is Miladi Melette ce matin? Is she valk out?" "Yes, yes," said Alfred, "Ah! bien! vhare go she to, Alfred, mon ami?"-"Why, Mossher," answered Alfred, with a grin, " to the Devil's Hole here, just below, and you may follow her!" "A la bonne heure," retorted the Frenchman with a shrug, " but my good friend, shew you me de vay firstHah! hah! hah!" and chuckling at his joke, he ambled as usual down the hill. "Eh, Master Walter," cried the honest warder, as he grasped roughly the hand of one to whom he could be civil, an elegant and handsome youth arrayed in hunting costume, and holding a couple of hounds in a leash-" Well Sir, and whence come you?"-"As usual, from Haddon Hall" replied he, and shortly my Lord of Arden will follow me to behold Master Peveril's Tournament, and the fairest of ladies." The young man paused, hesitated, and the conscious blood mounted to his cheeks. "Have you had any sport Sir," asked the warder. "No," replied Walter, " my lord keeps us so hard at our exercises, that holidays are rare now at Haddon; but, per favor, I am here to day to seek it."-"May you find more, Master, than I do," returned Alfred, "though, to be sure, I've had some, with a great rawboned Scotchman, aprince he calls himself; and that dog of a Frenchman."-"Stop, stop, friend, there is in Lord Arden's family a tradition that I am a Frenchman borne." "You, Master Walter, you a Frenchman? Lord bless your beautiful face, 'tis unpossible! you a frogfryer? a toadeater?"-"I am indeed Alfred by birth, for," --" bless your heart and soul, don't talk so, Master Walter! Why, you are no more like that Mossher the Baron." "Well, Alfred, 1 am French though: and for my sake I beg that you will treat the Baron Burgoyne with respect." "O certainly Sir, if you wish it;" replied the prattling gate-keeper, with a bow of ludicrous solemnity; "sogo your ways, and be a Frenchman an you you will, but, think first of what the fairest of ladies' may say to it; that's all!" Now Walter was conscious that he admired the spirited Mellette but too well; yet, since his birth was involved in obscurity, he could not be one of those knights who might contend for the hand and estates of the heiress of Whittington; and, on the morrow, she would be the affianced bride of the bravest warrior in Christendom, for none other would she wed, as she had long declared. "Alas!" thought the orphan Walter, "what then avails my skill in arms, for which so often my Lord of Arden eulogises me! The fair Mellette must become the guerdon of another, and I shall then retire to a convent for ever!" His melancholy reflections were, however, abbreviated by an express from Lord Arden, requir

ing his presence at Haddon immediately.

Early next morning on a level plain at the foot of the Peak, pre.. parations commenced for the Tournament: lists were erected, and the pavilions set up, intended for spectators, judges of the field, &c. which enclosed the arena for the combat: the influx of company to Castleton, and places in the vicinity, was, and had been, great; and at the dawn of day nothing was to be seen but masses of people of all descriptions and grades, moving towards, or about the scene of action: nobles and gentles-peasants, traders, and artisans; whilst the senses were stunned by an uproar arising from bands practising military music, shouts, cries, and laughter,-the trampling and neighing of steeds, the rolling of all kinds of conveyances for persons, and building materials, -the strokes of smiths' and carpenters' hammers, the clash and clanking of armour, &c. &c. After the preparations had been completed, and the spectators taken their places: a herald came forth and proclaimed that: "Mellette, eldest daughter and heiress of William, Lord of Whittington, in the county of Salop, having declared her firm purpose of disposing of herself in marriage, only to one of genthe birth, and undoubted skill in arms, the said William Whittington, together with Paine Peveril of the Peak, his half-brother, now invited all good knights and true, to a friendly competition in military games, at the aforesaid Paine Peveril's place in the Peak; he, who came off victor, to receive for his guerdon the lady Mellette in marriage, and William of Whittington's Castle, of Whittington, in the County of Salop." Then the herald, shouting "God save the King," retired amidst a flourish of trumpets and the acclamations of the multitude. Immediately from the opposite side came forth another herald who proclaimed what games were appointed to take place, the laws and courses of the Tournament, and the names of the judges of the field, and concluding like the other, then retired. A band of excellent music next struck up, which after playing for about a quarter of an hour, whilst the various competitors were assembling in the respective pennoned and emblazoned lodges of the challengers, ceased; and four heralds appearing, called as to the four quarters of the earth, and the four habitations of the winds, "Come forth! come forth!" The trumpets sounded, and William of Whittington, with Paine Peveril, as the challengers of the Tournay, appeared on the field, to swear, that no magic arts assisted the competitors, in the ensuing games; that fraud was not, nor should be, used, nor avail them therein; nor did the contest originate in any other than feelings of the most perfect amity. Their oaths taken, the Norroy and Clarencieux King of Arms unfurled their banners, amidst a deafening uproar of trumpets and acclamation, the lists were opened, the cry "To achievement!" heard, and the combatants on either side rushed to the onset. Lord Arden who had only that morning arrived at the Peak, brought with him, amongst a numerous and splendid company of knights and gentlemen, &c. &c. one Guarine de Meez, a youth who was to make his first essay in arms upon this occasion: "I will be obliged to you," said the owner of Haddon Hall to William of Whittington, "to keep your eyes on that young man, for good as has been the education of my boys, I fear that the son of the Count de Louvaine will exceed them." For this request there was scarcely any occassion, all eyes were fixed upon the new knight, whose tall and elegant form indicated a face as handsome, but

which the envious vizor, now concealed; light in figure, agile and graceful in his movements, and as it seemed a proficient in those sports which now engaged his attention; Mellette could not forbear (as her eyes tracked all his evolutions by the glitter and blaze of his virginarmour) secretly wishing that the stranger champion might be, by kind fortune, intended for her; it seemed indeed likely, for he bore every thing before him, and having vanquished, in single combat, the Baron Burgoyne, and Prince Malcolm, he was led up between them to Lord Arden, as judge of the field, who declaring "Guarine de Meez, only son and heir presumptive, of Amiens de Meez, Count de Louvaine, victor in the sports of the day, and worthy of the prize;" the same was proclaimed at the four corners of the field by heralds, amidst the flourish of trumpets, and acclamations of the assembled multitude. Lord Arden then taking the youth by the hand, presented him to the challengers, saying, "To ye, knights and gentlemen, I resign this youth, that ye may do for him according to the laws of courtesy and honor, and the ordinances of chivalry." William of Whittington and Paine Peveril, then embracing the good knight, asked, whether he were willing upon the terms proposed in the proclamation of the Tournament, to become a member of their respective families? To which the youth replied by casting himself at the feet of the trembling, agitated fair one, exclaiming, "It is for you, sweetest Mellette, to declare, whether you are willing to accept me as your liege lord, your unworthy servant, your true knight, and loving defender for ever?" Then raising the vizor of his helmet, Mellette exclaimed in a transport of joy, Walter!" and threw herself upon his bosom !

66

But the sudden metamorphosis of