money for you. Give me money, 250 and I will teach them.'

Minerva was obliged to yield, and, of course, disliked her from that day. 'For five-and-thirty years,' she said, and with great justice, 'I never have 255 seen the individual who has dared in my own house to question my authority. I have nourished a viper in my bosom.'

'A viper a fiddlestick,' said 260 Miss Sharp to the old lady, almost fainting with astonishment. 'You took me because I was useful. There is no question of gratitude between us. I hate this place, and want to 265 leave it. I will do nothing here but what I am obliged to do.'

It was in vain that the old lady asked her if she was aware she was speaking to Miss Pinkerton? Rebecca 270 laughed in her face, with a horrid sarcastic demoniacal laughter, that almost sent the school-mistress into fits. 'Give me a sum of money,' said the girl, 'and get rid of me 275 or, if like better, get me a you good place as governess in a nobleman's family you can do so if you please.' And in their further disputes she always returned to this 280 point, 'Get me a situation

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hate each other, and I am ready to go.'

Worthy Miss Pinkerton, although she had a Roman nose and a tur285 ban, and was as tall as a grenadier, and had been up to this time an irresistible princess, had no will or strength like that of her little apprentice, and in vain did battle 290 against her, and tried to overawe her. Attempting once to scold her in public, Rebecca hit upon the plan of answering her in French, which quite routed the old woman. 295 order to maintain authority in her school, it became necessary to remove this rebel, this monster, this serpent,

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this firebrand; and hearing about this time that Sir Pitt Crawley's family was in want of a governess, 300 she actually recommended Miss Sharp for the situation, firebrand and serpent as she was.

'I cannot, certainly,' she said, 'find fault with Miss Sharp's conduct, except 306 to myself; and must allow that her talents and accomplishments are of a high order. As far as the head goes, at least, she does credit to the educational system pursued at my 810 establishment."

And so the schoolmistress reconciled the recommendation to her conscience, and the indentures were cancelled, and the apprentice was free. 315 The battle here described in a few lines, of course, lasted for some months. And as Miss Sedley, being now in her seventeenth year, was about to leave school, and had a friend- 320 ship for Miss Sharp ("tis the only point in Amelia's behaviour,' said Minerva, 'which has not been satisfactory to her mistress'), Miss Sharp was invited by her friend to pass a 325 week with her at home, before she entered upon her duties as governess in a private family.

Thus the world began for these two young ladies. For Amelia it ss0 was quite a new, fresh, brilliant world, with all the bloom upon it. It was not quite a new one for Rebecca (indeed, if the truth must be told with respect to the Crisp affair, the 835 tart-woman hinted to somebody, who took an affidavit of the fact to somebody else, that there was a great deal more than was made public regarding Mr. Crisp and Miss Sharp, 340 and that his letter was in answer to another letter). But who can tell you the real truth of the matter? At all events, if Rebecca was not beginning the world, she was be- 345 ginning it over again.

of candles lights up this chapel, and 90 this scene of age and youth, and early memories, and pompous death. How solemn the well-remembered prayers are, here uttered again in the place where in childhood we 96 used to hear them! How beautiful and decorous the rite; how noble the ancient words of the supplications which the priest utters, and to which generations of fresh children and 100 troops of bygone seniors have cried Amen! under those arches! The service for Founder's Day is a special one; one of the psalms selected being the thirty-seventh, and we hear

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23. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. 24. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.

25. I have been young, and now am old: yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread.

As we came to this verse, I chanced to look up from my book towards 115 the swarm of black-coated pensioners: and amongst them amongst them - sate Thomas Newcome.

His dear old head was bent down over his prayer-book; there was no 120 mistaking him. He wore the black gown of the pensioners of the Hospital of Grey Friars. His order of the Bath was on his breast. He stood there amongst the poor brethren, 125 uttering the responses to the psalm. The steps of this good man had been ordered hither by Heaven's decree: to this Alms-House! Here it was ordained that a life all love, 130 and kindness, and honour, should end! I heard no more of prayers, and psalms, and sermon, after that. How dared I to be in a place of mark, and he, he yonder among the 135 poor? Oh, pardon, you noble soul! I ask forgiveness of you for being of a world that has so treated you -you

my better, you the honest, and gentle, and good! I thought the service would never end, or the organist's 140 voluntaries, or the preacher's homily.

The organ played us out of chapel at length, and I waited in the antechapel until the pensioners took their turn to quit it. My dear, dear old 145 friend! I ran to him with a warmth and eagerness of recognition which no doubt showed themselves in my face and accents as my heart was moved at the sight of him. His 150 own wan face flushed up when he saw me, and his hand shook in mine. 'I have found a home, Arthur,' said he. 'Don't you remember, before I went to India, when we came 155 to see the old Grey Friars, and visited Captain Scarsdale in his room?

a poor brother like me an old Peninsular man. Scarsdale is gone now, sir, and is where the 160 wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest; and I thought then, when we saw him, here would be a place for an old fellow when his career was over, to hang 165 his sword up; to humble his soul, and to wait thankfully for the end, Arthur. My good friend, Lord H., who is a Cistercian like ourselves, and has just been appointed a governor, 170 gave me his first nomination. Don't be agitated, Arthur my boy, I am very happy. I have good quarters, good food, good light and fire, and good friends; blessed be God! my 175 dear kind young friend my boy's friend; you have always been so, sir; and I take it uncommonly kind of you, and I thank God for you, sir. Why, sir, I am as happy as the 180 day is long.' He uttered words to this effect as we walked through the courts of the building towards his room, which in truth I found neat and comfortable, with a brisk fire crack- 185 ling on the hearth; a little tea-table

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laid out, a Bible and spectacles by the side of it, and over the mantel-piece a drawing of his grandson by Ĉlive. 'You may come and see me here, sir, whenever you like, and so may your dear wife and little ones, tell Laura, with my love; but you must not stay now. You must go back 195 to your dinner.' In vain I pleaded

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that I had no stomach for it. He gave me a look, which seemed to say he desired to be alone, and I had to respect that order and leave him.

Of course I came to him on the very next day; though not with my wife and children, who were in truth absent in the country at Rosebury, where they were to pass the Christ205 mas holidays; and where, this schooldinner over, I was to join them. On my second visit to Grey Friars my good friend entered more at length into the reasons why he had assumed 210 the Poor Brother's gown: and I cannot say but that I acquiesced in his reasons, and admired that noble humility and contentedness of which he gave me an example.

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"That which had caused him most grief and pain,' he said, 'in the issue of that unfortunate bank, was the thought that poor friends of his had been induced by his representations 220 to invest their little capital in that speculation. Good Miss Honeyman for instance, meaning no harm, and in all respects a most honest and kindly-disposed old lady, had never225 theless alluded more than once to the fact that her money had been thrown away; and these allusions, sir, made her hospitality somewhat hard to bear,' said the Colonel. 'At 230 home at poor Clivey's, I mean it was even worse,' he continued; 'Mrs. Mackenzie for months past, by her complaints, and and her conduct, has made my son and me so 235 miserable that flight before her,

and into any refuge, was the best course. She too does not mean ill, Pen. Do not waste any of your oaths upon that poor woman' (he added, holding up his finger, and 240 smiling sadly). 'She thinks I deceived her, though Heaven knows it was myself I deceived. She has great influence over Rosa. Very few persons can resist that violent and head- 245 strong woman, sir. I could not bear her reproaches, or my poor sick daughter, whom her mother leads almost entirely now, and it was with all this grief on my mind, that, as 250 I was walking one day upon Brighton cliff, I met my school-fellow, my Lord H. who has ever been a good friend of mine and who told me how he had just been ap- 255 pointed a governor of Grey Friars. He asked me to dine with him on the next day, and would take no refusal. He knew of my pecuniary misfortunes, of course and showed 200 himself most noble and liberal in his offers of help. I was very much touched by his goodness, Pen, - and made a clean breast of it to his lordship; who at first would not hear 265 of my coming to this place and offered me out of the purse of an old brother school-fellow and an old brother soldier as much as much as should last me my time. Wasn't 270 it noble of him, Arthur? God bless him! There are good men in the world, sir, there are true friends, as I have found in these later days. Do you know, sir,' here the old 275 man's eyes twinkled, 'that Fred Bayham fixed up that bookcase yonder

285 smile. They think I am visiting his lordship in Scotland. Ah! they are good people! When we had had our talk down-stairs over our bottle of claret where my old 290 commander-in-chief would not hear of my plan: we went up-stairs to her ladyship, who saw that her husband was disturbed, and asked the reason. I dare say it was the good 295 claret that made me speak, sir; for I told her that I and her husband had had a dispute, and that I would take her ladyship for umpire. And then I told her the story over, that 300 I had paid away every rupee to the creditors, and mortgaged my pensions and retiring allowances for the same end, that I was a burden upon Clivey, who had work enough, poor boy, to 305 keep his own family and his wife's mother, whom my imprudence had impoverished, that here was an honourable asylum which my friend could procure for me, and was not 810 that better than to drain his purse? She was very much moved, sir she is a very kind lady, though she passed for being very proud and haughty in India so wrongly are 315 people judged. And Lord H. said, in his rough way, "that, by Jove, if Tom Newcome took a thing into his obstinate old head no one could drive it out." And so,' said the 320 Colonel, with his sad smile, 'I had my own way. Lady H. was good enough to come and see me the very next day and do you know, Pen, she invited me to go and live with 325 them for the rest of my life

I thought of the psalm we had heard on the previous evening, and turned to it in the opened Bible, 340 and pointed to the verse, "Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him.' Thomas Newcome seeing my occupation, laid a kind, trembling hand on 345 my shoulder; and then, putting on his glasses, with a smile, bent over the volume. And who that saw him then, and knew him and loved him as I did who would not have 350 humbled his own heart, and breathed his inward prayer, confessing and adoring the Divine Will, which ordains these trials, these triumphs, these humiliations, these blest griefs, this 355 crowning Love?

I had the happiness of bringing Clive and his little boy to Thomas Newcome that evening; and heard the child's cry of recognition and 360 surprise, and the old man calling the boy's name, as I closed the door upon that meeting; and by the night's mail I went down to Newcome, to the friends with whom my own family 365 was already staying.

frugal; it was orderly; it must have 5 been stupid to a degree which I shudder now to contemplate. No wonder all the Princes ran away