of a heroine of romance. But alas! that she was as beautiful as the poet can fancy, or the painter can delineate, is fatally true. Ay, fatally; for those charms which seemed the offspring of heaven's dearest love, were but the mother of hell's blackest machinations.

Know ye not, that the grub, the vile the odious grub, will lay waste the loveliest flower the breath of heaven ever kissed-that the dark and earthly worm will prey into the fairest plant that ever raised its proud head towards the skies, and can ye wonder that the bosom of the purest and most spotless virgin should be ravaged by the desolating power of the black hearted and remorseless seducer.

It was in the summer of Ellen's seventeenth year, when a young man of elegant and striking appearance had taken up his abode at the little village in which the residence of Alleyn was situated. He had arrived there on foot and unattended. But that this mode of travelling could not have been the result of necessity, was evident from his not denying himself any luxuries the place could afford. His precise object for visiting that part could not be gained: indeed, its romantic beauty would have alone been a sufficient enticement to the pedestrian's visit It moreover was distinguished by a variety of brooks which abounded with a peculiar kind of trout, that frequently brought strangers to that secluded spot, and in which sport he seemed to take much delight. His appearance was striking though not showy; there was an elegance even in the simplicity of his dress, which well agreed with his slight though beautifully formed person, that seemed to say its owner had not much mingled in the storms and buffetings of the world. Those who look for beauty in the face of man as the first recommendation, would have been disappointed at first with Irwin. His countenance was more intellectual than handsome, yet it could not be contemplated without leaving a most

favourable prejudice for its possessor. His eyes alone were regularly beautiful, and spoke with a brilliancy and animation that could only be surpassed by his tongue. His hair was of a raven black, and told well with the expression of thought and sentiment his countenance displayed. His manners were the most captivating the simple inhabitants had ever experienced, and without any effort or seeming inclination he interested every one around him in his favour.

Such was the being that Alleyn in imitation of many of his neighbours had admitted into his dwelling; such was the being that was for the future to be the companion of his romantic and susceptible child. It was evident that Irwin was more delighted with the place than its inhabitants. Though they were frank, open and hospitable, they were not in any way adapted to the mind of a young man of refined ideas and intellectual education. The case was altered when he became known to Alleyn and his beautiful daughter. The former was in no wise inferior to his guest in natural and acquired abilities, while the latter astonished Irwin in the elegance of her manners, the charity of her language, and the loftiness of her ideas. If she was bereft of those bewildering charms, and had but the grace of her mind to engage his attention, Ellen would have been safe; for the incen e he paid to her shrine would not have mixed with a sentiment less purified or refined. But what was the creature before him. She possessed a form, that were the visionary creations of Arcadia realized, would have passed for its loveliest idyl. Her countenance was so expressive, that it was difficult to trace whether the woman's beauty, or the angel's grace, reigned most triumphantly. Her eyes were hazel, and their darkness only served to render the pure enamel of her complexion more beantiful. O! not more sweet were the roses that shed their sweetening breath round her door-way than those which faintly blushed in her cheeks. They were like the mother roses,

and her lips seemed like twin buds, whose loveliness so rivalled their parent as to keep the admirer's decision wavering which were the most beautiful. Ellen! 'twas mine to see thee but once, and the recollection of that moment will forever associate itself with my ideas of innocence, youth, and loveliness.

The innocent heart of Ellen till that hour knew not the meaning of the words love and affection, more than the duty she evinced towards her parent, and the benevolence with which she treated all who were in the sphere of her heavenly nature, illustrated. With a mind naturally romantic,and its enthusiasm increased by the wildness of the scenery around her, with no other notions of love than what the ballads and legendary stories as they were sung and told in her native mountains, had created in her mind. With a disposition enthusiastic in the highest degree: with a soul too blindly wedded to the higher and kindlier affections of our nature, she became deeply interested in the society of their guest. He, above all others, was the most likely to be-come the centre of attraction to the heart of a young and susceptible girl. Though his dark eyes and his expressive countenance could be lit up at his command with the brilliancy and animation of genius, yet there was a pensiveness and deepness of thought in his countenance and manners, which told irresistibly in the heart of her he was most anxious to create a favourable impression.

She was his guide in all his rambles: it was she who related to him the traditions connected with the romantic objects around them, while he would breathe into her ear the highborn sentiments of a superior and cultivated mind. The blandishments of polished life when exercised by him, seemed to lose their emptiness, and acquire a fascination and reality, which he alone was capable of bestowing. His manner, his actions, his pursuits, were so completely different to the rest of the beings she had been accustomed to consider as

specimens of mankind, that his really graceful and fascinating manners, viewed through the medium of an elevated and inexperienced fancy, became to her totally enchanting and self subduing. Nature, when reflected from his eyes seemed to be dressed in a loevlier look; and as the witchery of poetry and romance beamed from the mirrors of his soul, or breathed from his lips, a new world seemed to be opened, and he

the god of her idolatry'

appeared, like that superior, yet undefinable being, that in the dream of her infancy and in the imaginings of her youth was constantly their object. The visions of years seemed at length realized; and her heart, her trusting heart, was now unutterably full-full even to bursting. But though her mind was opened to new thoughts and desires, her soul was as pure as ever; pure as the snow that lies in the azure firmament on the misty mountain top" as yet unknown to the foot of man.

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Think not reader this to be the idle pomp of diction: alas! Memory weeps over its sad reality. Love! sacred love! why should thy roses be accompanied with thorns, and why is the breast devoted to thee, doomed to be wedded-to sorrow-to shame -to guilt and to affliction?

Thou art in the rosy morning of youth, the herald of hope, of expectancies too bright ever to be realized; 'tis well thou art transitory, and the forerunner of misery, for wert thy power here permanent, the heaven on earth would be so complete, that the heart of man would not believe there was another, and more delightful sphere.

She delighted in his conversation, in his manners, in short in every thing which his presence blessed. The glooms of the past and the sorrow of years were dispelled by one glance of his eyes, and rapturous expectations of the future were conveyed to her heart by one soft pressure of his hand. It was her wish and her hope; the very summit of the ambition of her previous years; that

Providence would grant her a heart which would beat at the same impulses with her own; a soul whose sentiments were akin to hers, to whom she might breathe her thoughts and sentiments, which she withheld from those around, from the apprehension of their being despised, or ridiculed as unintelligible.

That long-wished for heart, soul and understanding, seemed at length realised in a form which had already caught her enamoured fancy; and she entertained for their possessor, the most delicate and enthusiastic adoration. Her virgin heart, more than ordinarily susceptible, yielded to the intoxicating instigations of her imagination, and surrendered itself to the energies of love, in its deepest and most intellectual sense.

Her father so long absent from the world, knew but little of its deceit and treachery; suspicion was the most unwelcome inmate of his breast; and here there was nothing to suspect: he thought it was no more than natural, that the young people (unhappy man he made no distinction for the difference of their sexes) should prefer their own society, to those of riper years; while his daughter, whose innocent and unsuspecting heart fearing no danger because it knew no sin, became her lover's companion, as often as he desired, and he was too well acquainted with the arts and refinements of vice, to let any opportunity escape, without forwarding the end he had determined to obtain.

Often, with this lovely enthusiast hanging on his arm, would he ascend the highest cliff which overhung the distant sea. There they would watch the declining orb of light and beauty surrendering its powers into its Creator's hands. Here as its last dying rays lighted up her expressive countenance, with its fading splendour, she would exclaim, "O! thus, O! thus may we die like him in happiness, and undiminished glory; our end like his more glowing and beautiful than the hour of his meridian splendor." "Blessed hope," re

iterated her lover, and pressed her palm, as if with the assurance of its completion.

Could a voice then have cried aloud from the Heavens, or arisen from the dust, it would have answered NEVER! Had the light of his eyes at that moment reflected what was passing in his soul, they would have presented a picture where selfishness and crime were the prevailing objects. They would have foretold her end would be one where shame, misery, and repentance would be exchanged for innocence and glory. Could he, it may be asked, look at that tender and confiding creature, so young in years, in hope, even the seeds of vice not embryo in her heart? Could he for an instant have imagined her a thing of disgrace, or longed to make her such? Could he in reward for the confidence she had so illimitably placed in him, reward her with treachery? Could he render those eyes which now seemed devoted to heaven, fearful of encountering its light? Yes! he could do that, and wish for more, though he knew the penalty on one side would be the chill bed of death, and on his own the never ending disgust and abhorrence of the world.

Could a voice at that moment have arisen from the dead: had the angel of innocence that till now had presided over her fate, been present, the guileless soul of Ellen would have been saved. As it was, it fell with all that was bright and heavenly in her nature, to the depraved and sensual monster Desire-and left her not repentance and tears--for the emotions of her soul were too great for those relievers. Wretched and unhappy, how was she able to return to the sinless arms of her parent? how was she to meet his look? How, when left alone to her own sad feelings, could she meet the gaze of that power her bursting soul told her she had irremediably offended.

Man, man, art thou a man, and canst treat the being that was given for thy solace, amidst all thy miseries and afflictions, thus: if thou art, thou

art a libel on nature, which blushes to own a monster like thee as her offspring. Is it not strange, wonderful to think, that he who sees a being devoted to himself, looking up to him with faith and confidence, enjoying the treasure of an unsullied conscience, the protection of her God, and the good opinion of the world, can calmly, and deliberately for the sake of the gratification of a mean and paltry emotion, plan his actions to render her the disgrace of the earth, an object of anger in her Maker's eye, a thing for the finger of scorn to point at ?

-Man! proud man! Drest in a little brief authority, Commits such crimes under high Heaven, As make the angels weep!

When they arrived at the door of her father's cottage, the sense of her humiliation overcame her. What was she about—for the first time, she was going to enter his threshold to disgrace it: she went out of it the most celestial being on earth, a virtuous girl, and had returned to it—what she

was.

Her father would take her in his arms, and clasp what? -a thing polluted, and disgraced-a rank and flowerless stem. "Never!" she exclaimed, in a voice which even made the hardened libertine tremble. As she uttered these words, she flung herself on her knees before the moon, which was rising from the murky clouds as if ashamed to gaze on her, and as it spread its pale beams over her agonized face, she cried aloud, "Great God, I kneel before thee for the first time, a wretch defiled! wreak thy anger on my sinful head, but spare, oh spare in thy merciful goodness my-that aged man, visit not my sins on his head, grant him resignation and happiness, till thou takest him to thyself and I swear this form of mine shall never shame a home that has hitherto been devoted to thee!"

After a few violent sobs of passion, she turned to her betrayer, who stood motionless, gazing on her in the full conviction of his villainy, and told him with an air of determination he

"It

had never beheld her before assume, she was ready to fly with him. is you that have rendered me a thing of shame, and my shame will be thine." This was the only complaint or reproof that ever escaped her lips, and her heart smote her as she uttered it. Reader, this man was a nobleman! how he deserved that title, Ellen's fate will tell.

She fled with him; late as the hour was, they procured means for flight. She became his companion in solitude, but here every thing reminded her of the home and the parent she had left behind, and she became miserable. He took her to courts, she breathed the air of palaces, but their gaiety only made the darkness of her heart more insupportable. He sought the refuge of foreign climes, in hopes that change of scene might dissipate her melancholy, but all was of no avail; in the splendor of palaces and the pomp of courts her thoughts would wander to the home of her infancy, to the peaceful valley, and to the lofty mountains; to the cottage which her sainted mother once blest with her presence; and who perhaps now was in a happier sphere, weeping that the immeasurable space that seemed to be between them was never to be dissolved. She considered herself as a thing abandoned by heaven, as having committed a crime which the tears of repentance could never wash away.

She could fancy she saw her father daily declining and drooping into his grave, unbefriended and unrelieved. The thought was agony-she had sworn never again to enter his doors, but perjury seemed a lighter crime than ingratitude. A voice whispered into her ears, "wilt thou arise and go to thy father." And she determined to fly and end her life with him, as she believed her end to be fast approaching, for the sting on her conscience preyed like a worm on her heart, and gradually undermined her constitution.

Poor Alleyn was at first distracted at his daughter's absence, thinking some accident had befallen her; but

when her lover was absent too, the fatal truth at once flashed upon his mind, and when he heard it confirmed by the testimony of the inkeeper who procured the post horses, he thought himself abandoned by heaven. He was never seen to smile afterwards. All traces were lost of that resignation and contentment which for merly were the leading features of his character. He seemed reckless of every ill that might occur to him, and at first had recourse to drinking. His affairs became embarrassed, which only increased his sullenness. At length he betook himself to the cottage, which had now grown hateful to his sight from the many delightful ascociations connected with it, and rarely stirred from it; and would, were it not for the kindness of his neighbours, have wanted the necessaries of life.

distracted air, till she came to a grave which was newly made; she flung herself franticly on it, and clasped the senseless mound to her breast. The villagers passed into the church, the melancholy truth was apparent to them, the grave was Alleyn's and the mourner could be no other than his unhappy daughter.

Happily it was not his fate long to brood over the remembrance of joys flown never to return, in anticipation of increasing misery and woe, though the means through which he was ushered to the haven of happiness were the most pitiable and revolting. A gang of ruffians from the coast, instigated with the hope of plunder, fired the cottage and stript it of every thing it contained; the owner made no defence, no not even prayed for that mercy which they were not inclined to bestow. The next morning, horrid to relate, the mangled corpse of Alleyn was all that was found in the ruins of his habitation. The winter passed away, and the flowers of spring, as if in mockery of the desolations around, were already shedding their sweets over the ruins of Alleyn's cottage; while around it the rank grass waved its head proudly in the air, like one who elevates himself on the ruins of his foe. It was on a smiling Sabbath morning when a young female, shabbily attired, with her long hair waving wildly in the wind, was seen traversing the quiet church-yard, as the most tardy of the villagers were entering the portal of the temple of the Lord. She hurried through with a wild and

She remained near an hour on the grave, when she determined to enter the church. It was the same aged pastor, to whom she had from her infancy always been the dearest favourite. He gazed on her as she entered, aud she saw the tears burst from his weak eyes, and course each other down his aged cheeks. He was in the pulpit, about to deliver his sermon, when he stopped short, and either by accident or design, (the latter most probably) he uttered in a deep and impressive tone, those joyful and hope inspiring words to a sinner's ear. "NEITHER DO I CONDEMN THEE, WOMAN, GO AND SIN NO MORE.—' -Then spake Jesus unto them, saying I am the light of the world, he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." [1 St. John, c. 8. v. 11, and 12.] She looked up to him as if the sound of hope, and the love of religion, was once more kindled in her breast. She drank eagerly the sounds of his voice. He reminded her of our Saviour, when he spurned not from his feet the sinful Magdalene as she washed them with her tears; of his pardoning, without condemning, the woman taken in adultery, and those acts which best displayed the certainty of pardon, when purchased by the tears of repentance. When he spoke of the kindness and love of heaven, which delighted more in reclaiming one sinner from wickedness, than in the reception of a hundred taintless souls, his pious enthusiasm-the eloquent animation his eyes assumed-and her own soul confirmed the truth of his words, and for the first time she felt relieved by tears. The venerable old man saw the effect he had created, when he summoned up a graver and more