wished, and about an hour's ride brought me to the gate of Barston Park.

So completely had I been hurried on by feeling in every stage of the affair, and so entirely had all minor considerations given way to the paramount object of securing Clara's happiness, with which, as I now felt, my own was indissolubly linked, that it was not until my eye rested on the cold grey stone of Barstone Priory, and wandered over the straight walks and formal lawns of the garden, that I became fully aware of the extremely awkward and embarrassing nature of the interview I was about to seek. To force myself into the presence of a man, more than double my own age, and, from all I had seen or heard of him, one of the last people in the world to take a liberty with, for the purpose of informing him that his nephew, the only creature on earth that he was supposed to love, was a low swindler, the associate of gamblers and blacklegs, did not appear a line of conduct exactly calculated to induce him, at my request, to give up a scheme on which he had set his heart, or to look with a favourable eye on my pretensions to the hand of his ward. Still there was no help for it; the happiness of her I loved was at stake, and, had it been to face a fiend, instead of a man, I should not have hesitated.

of the meeting-I trust our friend Oaklands feels no ill effects from his wound ?"

"Mr. Oaklands, I am sorry to say, recovers but slowly; the wound was a very severe one," returned I coldly. "Well, I will not detain you any longer, it is a lovely morning for a ride," resumed Cumberland; "can I be of any assistance in directing you? the lanes in this neighbourhood are somewhat intricate,-you are not perhaps aware that the road you are now following is a private one."

"Scarcely so private that those who have business with Mr. Vernon may not make use of it, I presume," rejoined I.

"Oh! of course not," was the reply, "I did not know that you were acquainted with my uncle; though now I come to think of it, I do recollect his saying that he had met you somewhere; he seldom receives visitors in the morning;-in fact, when I came out, I left him particularly engaged:-perhaps I can save you the trouble of going up to the house; is there any mes sage I can deliver for you?"

66

This allusion to his embezzlement of Oakland's letter stung him to the quick; he turned as white as ashes, and asked in a voice that trembled with passion, “Whether I meant to insult him?"

"I spoke heedlessly, and without deliberate inca tion," I replied, "but perhaps it is only fair to tell ya that for the future there can be no friendly commen cation between us; we must either avoid each other altogether, which would be the most desirable arrange ment, or meet as strangers. The disgraceful conduc of the boy I could have forgiven and forgotten, had not its memory been revived by the evil deeds of the man. Richard Cumberland, I know you thoroughly; it is needless for me to add more."

I thank you," replied I, "but I do not think the business which has brought me here could be well transacted through a third person; at all events I wil take my chance of being admitted:-"I paused, but My reflections were here interrupted by a cock-could not refrain from adding, "besides, if my memory pheasant, which, alarmed at my approach, rose imme- fails not, you were a somewhat heedless messenger in diately under my horse's nose; an unexpected inci- days of yore." dent, which caused that brute to shy violently, and turn short round, thereby nearly unseating me. Having by this manoeuvre got his head towards home, he not only refused to turn back again, but showed very unmistakeable symptoms of a desire to run away. Fortunately, however, since the days of " Mad Bess," my arms had grown considerably stronger, and, by dint of pulling and sawing the creature's apology for a mouth with the bit, I was enabled to frustrate his benevolent intentions, and even succeeded in turning him round again—but here my power ceased-for in the direction of the Priory by no possibility could I induce him to move a step. I whipped and spurred, but in vain; the only result was a series of kicks and plunges, accompanied by a retrograde movement, and a shake of the head, as if he were saying, No! I next attempted the soothing system, and lavished sundry caresses and endearing expressions upon him, of which he was ut terly undeserving, but my attentions were quite thrown away, and might as well, for any good they produced, have been bestowed upon a rocking-horse. At length, after a final struggle, in which we were both within an ace of falling into a water-course, or brook, which crossed the park in that direction, I gave the matter up as hopeless; and, with a sigh (for I love not to be foiled in anything I have attempted, and moreover I could not help looking upon it as an unlucky omen) dismounted, and leading my rebellious steed by the rein, advanced on foot towards the house. As I did so, a figure abruptly turned the corner of a shrubbery walk, which ran at right angles to the road, and I found myself

face to face with Richard Cumberland!

For a moment he remained staring at me, as if he scarcely recognised me, or was unwilling to trust the evidence of his senses, so confounded was he at my unexpected apparition; but, as I met his gaze with a cold stern look, he seemed to doubt no longer, and advancing a step towards me, said, in a tone of ironical politeness, "Is it possible that I have the pleasure of seeing Mr. Fairlegh?"

"None other, Mr. Cumberland," returned I, "though I could hardly have flattered myself that my appearance would have recalled any very pleasurable associations, considering the last two occasions on which we met." "Ah! you refer to that unfortunate affair with Wilford," replied Cumberland, purposely misunderstanding my allusion to Dr. Mildman's. "I had hoped to have been able to prevent the mischief which occurred, but I was misinformed as to the time

As I spoke, his cheek flushed, then grew pale again with shame and anger, while he bit his under lips severely, that a red line remained where his teeth a pressed it. When I concluded, he advanced towar me with a threatening gesture, but, unable to meet li stedfast look with which I confronted him, he turned abruptly on his heel, and muttering, "You shall repeti this," disappeared among the shrubs.

ERAS OF ENGLISH CIVILIZATION.' WHATEVER has imparted beauty, or secured strength to the British constitution, must, directly or indire be traced to the influence of our parliament, in wh A king, lords, and commons, concur in the work of ciplining a nation for the struggles to which it may be summoned. The civilization of England has natura arisen out of the peculiar principle of that constit which has saved us from despotism, on the one ba and from anarchy, on the other. Wide, therefore, E-f his survey be, who takes into one field of view all vast results of the era we are now contemplating, out which all other periods would have contributed little to the real prosperity of the land. When, the fore, we look on the busy past, or contemplate th coming ages, and ponder over the undeveloped epochs the world's civilization, let us remember that marked era, the famous thirteenth century, when the t preservative principle in the politics of England first rose into action. Colonies, in all regions of the g have sown, and are sowing, the seeds of other civiliza tions over the wastes of savage nature; and thus, a

(1) Continued from p. 228.

When we consider the extensive regions of the East, the South, and the West, over which the English language is spoken, it is evident that the civilization of the whole world must be shaped, to a great extent, by the peculiarities of English life and customs. The plain conclusion is, that the era of the rise of our parliament must be viewed as operating not only within the four seas of Britain, but over the length and breadth of the Old and New Worlds. The civilization of the greater part of Asia will, probably, be modified by that of India; whilst the progress of the latter in arts and laws must be directed by the agencies of the English constitution. America, again, will probably follow, at no distant time, the spirit of the systems, exhibited in Canada and the United States; in either of which cases English civilization must be regarded as the parent stream from which the fertilizing agencies flow over the earth. What an ever verdant wreath of glory is all time thus preparing for the name which must remain connected with the era of English parliaments! What avails it that the body of the great De Montfort was once brutally mutilated by his savage focs on the field of Evesham, when many nations will preserve his undying memorials in the principles and forms of their national existence?

some future period, the historian of the South Sea | lable aid rendered to civilization by these great corIsles, or some Australian legislator, may look back to porations. Without them nothing like a compacted the origin of our parliament as the cause of prosperity system of national law could have arisen, and we must and happiness to more than one-half the inhabitants have suffered all the checks to civilization arising from of the globe. the absence of a code suited to the peculiar requirements of the country, or from the presence of a foreign system, which, though excellent in parts, must have seriously modified the character of the people of England. The feeling of independence, and of resistance to wrong, which characterize Englishmen, must be traced to the operation during many ages of the national laws on the habits of the people. Deference to authority is one sure means of securing the advance of a nation in prosperity; and Ireland is at this moment a terrible illustration of the prostration which may befall a people who feel the workings of no such principle. But to produce and support this feeling, the laws themselves must be interpreted and administered on principles suited to the wants of the nation; and this England had secured in ages past by the constitution of her courts, and the organization of her bar. If the long line of statutes and the legion of reports terrify the student who is ambitious of grasping the whole of the vast system, the spectacle may, on the other hand, delight the poorest member of the community whose rights are defined and guarded by the provisions of those ponderous tomes. It is the system of English law which has delivered us from the tyranny of a hundred petty codes; which has saved us from the operations of the wager by battle, and the trial by ordeal; whilst no imperious prince can again sport with the liberties and rights of Englishmen, by setting up his proclamations above the laws. The beggar sleeps securely in his poor hut through which the storm may beat, but where not even the sovereign of the land has a right to enter save at the bidding of the law; and it is this firm security for the weak which has made England the refuge of industry, arts, and wealth, and therefore the home of a most vigorous civilization. To trace the growth of our vast legal system, since the period when the inns of court were incorporated, is impossible in this place; our object is not a history of law, but a survey of the causes which have promoted the growth of the British empire in all the essentials of

4. THE ERA OF THE ENGLISH LEGAL SYSTEM.

5. ERA OF ENGLISH LITERATURE.

The last section brought before us an era relating to the primary elements of civilization; this claims our attention to a series of details subsidiary to the causes just described. If a well-balanced representative system be compared to some deep spring, ever pouring forth the riches of intelligence and liberty; law may be likened to the channels and dykes which preserve the accumulated waters within their desired course. What would a nicely adapted representative system have accomplished in presence of a feeble, confused, or corrupt jurisprudence? Acts of Parliament are but waste paper until impressed by the seal of the judge, and the decisions of a court. Trial by jury-national greatness. open courts of justice-the co-ordinate jurisdiction of several independent courts-the constant watchfulness of a trained body of lawyers-and the numerous securities provided for the protection of the subject,--are the defences thrown up in past ages against the encroachments of arbitrary power or the excesses of an undisciplined democracy. How much the civilization of the land has been promoted by fixed laws, administered by supreme courts, can only be fully estimated by those who have witnessed the disorganization flowing from a contrary system. Time was when right was at the mercy of an ignorant or malicious baron, who required all disputes within his domain to be tried in his own In such places the will of the lord was law; and thus the feudal baron was absolute within his estate, and mimicked within his petty court the terrors and majesty of the imperial sceptre. All this it was necessary to supersede by the great tribunals of the kingdom, before civilization could dwell securely in the land. But the workings of such courts required the cooperation of a large body of men, trained to the consideration of legal subjects, and versed in the national laws. The rise of such a body, and its confederation in regular societies, must be regarded as the commencement of the era now under consideration.

courts.

This happened in the fourteenth century, when the inns of court were formed in the metropolis, under the patronage of the first and second Edwards. The Englishman who walks through the great square of Lincoln's Inn, and passes thence to the Inner and Middle Temple, ending with the Inn named from the Lords Gray of Wilton, would do well to reflect on the almost incalcu

If the fourteenth century was distinguished by the formation of the legal corporations, by which our liberties have been asserted and maintained, the next age was characterised by the uprising of that mighty art which has given power and perpetuity to all the rest. Caxton was born in the beginning of this century, 1410, or 1412, and, having set up on one memorable day his world-famed press in Westminster Abbey, began to teach his country another great lesson in civilization. The mind of England was thus prepared to take advantage of the light shed over Europe by the downfall of Constantinople, and the dispersion of the Grecian scholars through every state and kingdom. Whatever some may think of the works actually published by Caxton, and however lightly the student may estimate their importance, let it not be forgotten, that his books were the pioneers of those which now enrich our noblest libraries, and speak to the soul in the eloquent accents of ancient and modern wisdom. Some who smile at his books on the "Game of Chess," his

Noble History of King Arthur," the "book of the whole Life of Jason," must admit that the old printer did nevertheless good service, by directing the public mind to the important studies suggested by such a work as " The Chronicles of England," and the more general narrative entitled "Polychronicon," the rude style of which Caxton popularised. Great also was the impulse given to the national thoughts by the pub

(1) Such as the Roman law.

lication of French translations from the classics, by which Englishmen were early familiarised with the bold ideas and elevating sentiments which once fired the hearts of Rome's noblest sons.

But we do not regard Caxton so much for his own doings, as for the results produced in all succeeding ages by his labours. The beginnings of literature in his time may seem 'small; and there were doubtless many who listened with sneers to the crank of the solitary press in the old abbey as it toiled on slowly producing works which seemed, to prejudiced eyes, far less beautiful than the old illuminated MSS., elaborated by the handicraft of patient monk and scribe. But that simple press is the honoured father of the steam-printing machine, which now dispenses the intellectual food of millions in a few hours every morning.

lating wars can proceed. To have had the beginnings of such an era, and still to possess its fruits, are the surest omens of a long and triumphant progress upwards, till that point is gained where something re sembling the bright visions of the golden age may visit the homes of men.

Amidst these reflections on the past, and anticipations of the future, some observer of things as they are may look down into the dark abyss of modern society, and inquire whether civilization is there; there, where an tutored thousands crouch in pestilential corners of po pulous human hives, and over whom so little of the pure breezes from a better land has breathed? But stop, and reflect upon the causes of this misery, ere you give up, gloomy observer, all hopes of amelioration for those beings. Has not literature, with all its purifying, life rejoicing truths, been to them a thing unknown and has not their poverty been thus deepened into a fearful gloom and wretchedness by the thick shadow of ignorance? If this could be removed; if for them an era of knowledge were to arise, the results would be as favour able in the dwellings of our mechanics and peasants as upon the surface of England in general. Civilization will not, cannot penetrate through the recesses of society, until knowledge prepares the minds of all to appreciate aright their position, and judge aright of their duties. Four centuries of stirring events have passed away since Caxton originated the era of English literature, and yet much remains to be done for the mass of the lower orders. But let us hope this era will go on increasing in brightness and power until the humble and lowly are brought within its lasting influence.

6. ERA OF THE REFORMATION.

Were Caxton's machine placed by the side of The Times' press, how little notice would it attract, save from those who can trace the spreading glories which from his age diffused over the mental firmament the light and warmth of knowledge. From the establishment of that machine in the abbey, knowledge was furnished with wings, not for the purpose of eluding but seeking men. Thoughts long pent up in the form of costly and rare manuscripts emerged from the gloom of their ancient cells, and rose into the pure heavens, where, for ages, they have blazed sun-like before men. Wynkyn-de-Worde and Richard Pynson, the devoted friends and companions of the first English printer, took up the holy work when Caxton died, and sent, in more than six hundred distinct books, bright forms of truth into the halls of nobles, the parsonage of the priest, and the burgher's home; training up that generation for the great struggle so soon to startle Europe. Then printers and authors began to multiply, and so The character of a people must partake of the peeunumerous did the former become that the names of liarities of their religious systems, for it is impossible three hundred and fifty are given by Bibliographers that themes so commanding in their nature should fail between the time of Caxton and the end of the ensuing to impress the minds of men. This remark will be century, whilst above ten thousand works were pub-confirmed and illustrated by a reference to the religions lished in the same period, attesting the awakening of the nation, and the rapid advance towards civilization, produced by the development of a literary spirit amongst the people. As we proceed to later times, and find ourselves surrounded by the struggles attendant upon the Reformation, and the bitter contests of the civil wars, we see thoughts and books multiplying, as if, amidst the perplexities and shakings of the nations, lights rose up from the trembling earth, or descended from the troubled heavens, to guide bewildered men into paths of peace and homes of rest. It is to be regretted, that so much of this literature should have been devoted to theological and secular strife, and that 30,000 tracts upon such subjects should have been published during the short space of twenty years, from 1640 to 1660. But all this effort was not lost work; something was gained from such an incessant collision of minds by which subsequent times were extensively affected; so that many of our present national habits may be traced to the feelings excited during these long contests. But, amidst the din raised by meaner spirits, three bright forms had risen far above the dusty clouds into the regions of a loftier literature. The stars of Spenser, Shakespear, and Milton, beamed with a refulgent splendour over the troubled waters, and guided by their gentle influence the spirits of men to nobler objects.

To pursue the course of our literary progress, and its varied operations on our complicated civilization, will be deemed needless. It is enough to have indicated the fountain head whence such waters of life flowed, and by the taste of which a host of ardent spirits, in these ages, have been impelled in the pursuit of a higher good than their fathers knew. Amongst all the eras named in this article none are more important than this concern ing which we now treat; for a nation without a literary era must ever remain amongst the rude communities from whose barbarous scats of power little save deso

systems of ancient or modern states, of civilized or savage tribes, and is peculiarly exemplified in the history of European nations. The most remarkable religious era in England was undoubtedly that of our Reformation, whether we consider the circumstances attending its birth, the vast results produced by its operations, and their extensive influence on the most distant nations which have been connected with the commerce or politics of England. One of the most decided peculiarities imparted to the English mind by this great epoch is an intense religious earnestness developed individually, but limited by the church s tem of the people, which links them by many of its forms and services with the ancient ages of Christianity. This stern individuality which leads men to set up some power within the heart as the final arbiter of a debates, and for which they will zealously do battle as for their liege sovereign, marks the puritanical element so strongly developed in the English character. As this moral peculiarity must be noted when reviewing the nature of our civilization, so it is forced upon our atte tion by some of the most momentous events in history. The civil wars and the ultimate fall of the Stuart princes, our relations with the Protestant pores of Europe, and the system of foreign policy introduced by William III., are all direct results of the uncompre mising religious element infused by the Reformation. And how important have been the consequences of this feeling within the country itself can be fully compre hended only by those who survey with a careful and dispassionate mind the changes in our history since the time of Elizabeth, and the present energies at work amongst the people.

The attitude of conflict ever kept up towards Rome, has modified in a remarkable manner the character of English civilization, and stamped upon our laws and manners some of those deeply graven principles and peculiarities which aniaze the foreigner. It is difficult