Rejoiced to see them flow, Lord Montfort left the room, that he might, uninterrupted, give vent to his emotion.

To Lindsay Lord Montfort now briefly related the real circumstances of his birth, and his adoption by himself. The inexpressible astonishment which took possession of Lindsay's mind, on hearing this extraordinary history, may be imagined. He felt bewildered and confounded-like a man whose identity is all at once changed by magic. That he was not his Father's Son, he could scarcely comprehend. When Lord Montfort at last finished speaking, the feelings of overflowing love towards him, which still filled his heart, were the first that burst forth.

My more than father!'-he exclaimed, 'what change of parentage, or of fate, can loosen the sacred ties of affection-far, far stronger than those of blood-which bind me to you for ever! The filial love, and the unbounded and devoted attachment that fill my heart towards you, will ever be yours,-for I could not divest myself of them. They are a part of myself;-and to them are now added a fresh debt of gratitude, that I can never repay. I owe you far more than a son ever owed a parent; for without being my father, without one tie of nature or obligation, you have been to me the best and kindest of fathers; and that, purely because I was an orphan, and helpless, and destitute! If I did not now feel towards you ten times the affection, the gratitude, and veneration that I ever felt before, I should be a monster!'

Deeply affected with this burst of feeling, Lord Montfort expressed the paternal pride and love he must ever feel for him.

'But we must not forget that you have another father, my dear son,--for such I must ever consider you,' said Lord Montfort.

Yes;' said Lindsay, 'now, I have two fathers.' Lord Montfort would have prepared Lord Setoun for the meeting, but in an instant Lindsay was in the room, and in his arms. 'My father!' was all he could utter. 6 My son my son! my long lost child!' burst from Lord Setoun's heart. For awhile the father, with his long lost child,

Forgot his sufferings, and all else beside,
Life has few moments of such pure delight,
Such foretaste of the perfect joys of heaven.

But over this meeting we must draw a veil.— There are thousands whose hearts can instinctively feel what must have been the emotions of the father and the son on this re-union, and to those who cannot, description would be unavailing. But so much more powerful a passion is paternal than filial love, that those who know the human heart, will easily imagine how infinitely the happiness of Lord Setoun exceeded that of his son.-The latter indeed had never known the want of a father; but the former had through life mourned in agony the loss of his child. And now to meet this long lost, loved, lamented son again-and such a son-when hope was extinct ;-seemed to change the colour of his destiny, and recompense him for years of misery. Even his countenance seemed changed. Hope, and benevolence, and joy beamed over those features, which so long had borne the sombre impression of despondency and despair.-He could feel no anger against Lord Montfort. The belief of his death, the destitute situation of his orphan boy, solemnly given into his charge by his dying grandmother, and the exemplary manner in which he had discharged towards him the duties of a father-forbade him to complain. In fact, as we have before had occasion to observe, the happy easi

ly forgive. Lord Montfort could not however förgive himself. It was not the adoption of the boy that was wrong-it was the deceit of concealing from the child's nearest relations what had become of him, and passing him off as his own son ;-an act unjustifiable in itself, and which had embitter-ed the life of his unfortunate father.

CHAPTER LIX.

RE-UNIONS AND UNIONS.

Omnes ut tecum merites pro talibus annos
Exigat, et pulchra faciat te prole parentem.

VIRG. En. I. 78,

Happy is the man that hath made her his wife!
Happy the child that calleth her mother!

Economy of Human Life.

The two fathers and the son-now transformed from Lindsay into Lord Roslin --lost no time in setting off for Florence. Lord Setoun perfectly remembered Miss St. Clair, whose demeanour and calm collected courage had won his admiration during the storm on the Furca; and he was delighted to find that she was the destined wife of his son. She was also a descendant of his own house, a distant cousin :-her father, Sir Reginald St. Clair, having descended in a direct line from the unfortunate Lord Setoun, who was attainted in the great rebellion. Lord Setoun remembered Lady Hunlocke also, and he acknowledged that:

she was a most captivating woman; but then she was a very woman. Caroline St. Clair, he said, had shown herself all that a woman should beyet possessing the firmness of a man.

But one new impediment now started up to Lindsay's or we should now say to Lord Roslin's, marriage with Caroline-that hung heavily on his mind; which was, that he had not a sixpence. It was true that Lord Montfort insisted, that the discovery he had been compelled, as an act of justice to make, should have no influence upon the fortune of his son as he still called Lord Roslin; and that the unlucky settlements which had been already twice made for his marriage with Caroline St. Clair, should be allowed to stand as they were, without any other alteration than the necessary substitution of one name for another.

To this the said Lord Roslin could not be induced to agree; not that he felt too proud to contract fresh obligations to Lord Montfort, whom he still considered as his father; but he felt that in accepting fortune from him, he was depriving his future children or heirs of their just inheritance, and that it was a robbery of a patrimony to which he had no claim.

Lord Montfort, however, would have felt deeply hurt had his son, as he always called Lord Roslin, persisted in refusing all pecuniary aid from him. The latter was sensible of this, and therefore yielded reluctant consent to accepting temporary assistance. It was indeed repugnant to his nature, now that he knew himself not to be his son, to receive it; but it was still more repugnant to him, to hurt Lord Montfort's feelings, and not to marry Caroline and he did not see, being, although deep in love, not altogether deprived of reason, how they were to live upon air.

:

It was at length determined that Lord Roslin should quit the military service, which the prospect of uninterrupted peace had divested of every attraction for him, and that Lord Montfort should use his all-powerful influence to obtain for him an appointment then vacant at home, in the civil line. Although not an office of great emolument, it was calculated to call forth his talents, and bring him forward in public life-in which Lord Montfort had' always thought him peculiarly qualified to distinguish himself;-and the event afterwards fully justified his expectations.

Lord Montfort also resolved to use his powerful interest with the royal ear, to obtain the restoration of Lord Setoun to his title. As soon as his marriage with Lady Hunlocke should be celebrated, he resolved to proceed without delay to England, to push these points by his presence and personal solicitations.

On arriving at Florence, some delay took place at the gate of the city, with those eternal plagues of travellers in Italy-the Doganieri, or CustomHouse Officers, who took it into their heads to insist upon searching the carriage, and even the persons, of the whole party; on the pretence of having information that they had contraband goods with them. Lord Montfort shrugged his shoulders -turned his pockets inside out and walked off-leaving Lord Roslin to settle the matter for Lord Setoun, who obstinately resisted this examination, and seemed to prefer being detained all night, to submitting to what he considered an indignity. Lord Montfort proceeded straight to Colonel Cleveland's, walked in at the open door, and up stairs, and into the room where Lady Hunlocke and Caroline were sitting.

At the unexpected sight of him, Lady Hunlocke's