struggle with such dreadful anticipations. It is not certain, nay, I feel a presentiment it will not be. Exert yourself, dear Rainsford."

"I do I have. Never man sustained such a struggle as I have done, as I do now, and every moment of my life. Sometimes I succeed in whipping the hovering demons from my brow, but they come again, and find me only the weaker for my useless victory. Sometimes, as in a dream, I am taken up and carried away to the regions of hope, but, like the prisoner enjoying a few minutes respite from his dungeon, it is only to be brought back into darkness, the more dismal from the contrast of light he has enjoyed. Sometimes I lose for a moment the clew of my eternal thoughts, but it is only to find it again, and be dragged along with greater violence than ever." He paused awhile; Virginia could not answer for her emotions.

"Virginia," continued he, with a sad solemnity, "I must leave this place at once, and for ever; or at least until the hour is past. You that have known and cherished me as a rational being, worthy to be one day the guardian of your happiness, must not see me when I shall, in all human probability, become an ob ject of fear, horror, disgust. No, no, you shall not see me gnash my teeth; foam at the mouth; twist myself into a thousand contortions; roar-rave-blaspheme, tear my flesh; bite the dust; and, perhaps, in some cunning parox ysm, escape the watchful eye of affection, only to commit violence on those I best love."

"O don't talk so, don't talk so! or I shall go mad myself," cried Virginia.

"Ay, madness is catching; it runs in the blood they say. But surely a wife cannot

take it from her husband. If she can it will be a rare conjunction, you and I. Whoever is born under it will be a philosopher."

"What-what are you talking of, Dudley ?" "Ay, true-I am only taking a step before old time; but there's no occasion, it will come soon enough—no danger of that—for they say, they do say-"

His wanderings were arrested by an exclamation of anguish from Virginia, who sunk down on the ground, overpowered by the terrible conviction that his malady had in truth come upon him. He placed his hand on his brow, rubbed his eyes, then knelt down beside her, and by degrees came to himself again.

"I was only jesting, Virginia. I am not mad yet, indeed I am not. I was only rehearsing the tragedy," added he, bitterly.

Then let me beseech you, never to jest with me thus again. I am not lead, nor marble, nor a fool, to be thus played with. O, Rainsford, spare me such jests in future. Í cannot bear them."

He led her to a seat, and proceeded,

"We must part, Virginia; I feel if I wish to spare you the last drop in the cup of bitterness, we must part at once. If my calamity overtakes me here"

"And what if it overtakes you elsewhere?" asked Virginia, suddenly interrupting him.

"No matter; it will be among strangers, or perhaps in some wild solitude of the woods

where I can perish without exciting disgust and horror. They may find me some day or other, but they cannot tell my bones."

"Why, why will you talk thus? But listen to me, Rainsford; I do not, I cannot believe in the truth of your presentiment. I am satisfied if you can only keep your mind from the anticipation, the reality will never come."

"Ay, there's the difficulty; perhaps that very anticipation is a part of my malady?"

"Well, whether it be or not, if the worst should come, the worse it is the more you will require some one to watch over you; to abide by you in your hours of depression; and to assist in all that may administer to your comfort. I owe you this good turn and will it."

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"You, you, Virginia, with those delicate fingers, those slender limbs, that soft and gentle heart! No, no, I must have chains, and giants to put them on. Go, go, tell your parents all, and let them drive me away, for I am bitten, as Isure as there is a Providence above us whose decrees are irreversible. I heard a voice last night telling me to make my peace with Heaven, while yet I was responsible for my acts: and I will do it. I'll go to church to-morrow and pray that I may die without the guilt of blood upon my head or hands; and then, the day after, bid you all farewell, and launch my boat among the stormy billows of the world, haply without rudder or compass to direct her course. Perhaps some time hence you may hear of a starving, ragged wanderer, roaming among the distant regions, chattering disjointed nonsense to a troop of ragged boys, and having

no owner to claim him. Wilt thou shed a tear then, Virginia?"

Virginia could not answer. She was silent, motionless, in the numb palsy of despair. The conviction of his ultimate fate had come upon her, and hope took its flight for ever. She grasped his arm with trembling hesitation, and begged they might return home. That evening the conduct of Rainsford was so strange, and he spoke so confidently of going away soon, that both the colonel and Mrs. Dangerfield were surprised, anxious, and almost of fended. The depression, the paleness, and the traces of tears on the face of Virginia also caught their attention; and when the young man retired, and Mrs. Dangerfield sought her room, the unhappy girl followed, and throwing herself into her arms, sobbed as if her heart would break. She told her mother all, and the mother discreetly, tenderly, yet firmly, advised her to let Rainsford go; nay, to encourage his going; the sooner the better.

"Were it poverty, sickness, imprudence, any thing but guilt," said she, "I would not urge you to break your engagement. But this, this is too terrible; no pledge, no obligation ought to be considered binding in a case like this; since nothing can be more certain, my dear, than that, without administering in the least to his happiness, you must inevitably sacrifice your own."

"But, dear mother, perhaps my presence, my affectionate attentions, my watchful cares, my never-ceasing kindness, might do something towards his happiness. It may be only a con

stitutional melancholy, what I have heard called hypochondria; and physicians say, that the best way of curing this is to call up agreeable impressions and anticipations. Let me try; do, dearest mother !"

The mother sighed, and shook her head.

"Ah! Virginia, yours are but the dreams of youth-and female youth. To you, and such as you, love is the soul of existence, the object and the end of life. It can do all with you, and you think it can do the like with all. But there are miracles it cannot perform, and this Know you not that when the mind is fairly unhinged, and swings with creaking harshness from its usual bearings, nine times in ten the objects of our dearest love become those of our deepest hate. Insanity distorts every thing, and this among the rest. It must be so you must be separated."

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"But whither can he go?" exclaimed Virginia, in anguish. "He has no kindred, no friends; nay, scarcely an acquaintance but ourselves; for his peculiar situation has kept him, he says, aloof from all association with his fellowcreatures. What will become of him should his malady overtake him among strangers?"

"Be not afraid, my dearest daughter. Go where he may, he will find good hearts to pity, and afford him all the cares and comforts of which he may be susceptible."

"Yes, a chain, a cell, and a grave," sighed Virginia; "a strait waistcoat, a cudgel, and a brute to lay it on."

"Necessity, my love, has no law of kindness or forbearance."