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would it not be better at once to let that ceremony take place, which will place our happiness beyond the power of caprice? My friend, Father Anselm, is at hand-the priest, the altar, all is ready. Oh, terminate then at once my suspense, my anxietyfrom misery, from despair, lift me to Heaven and happiness!"

On this subject I will not listen to you," replied Elvina impatiently; "while we can hope, let us hope you have not yet put the sentiments of the duke to the test; it is therefore too soon to despair."

"Too soon!" deeply sighed St. Valery; "ah, my Elvina!" then, as if suddenly recollecting himself, "the united interest of my friends shall be exerted to render him propitious: but if, after all, he should still continue adverse

"Oh, yield not to such a fear!" hastily interrupted Elvina, with a cheek varying at its sugges

tion.

St. Valery, fearing he should offend by longer persisting in the subject so near his heart, ceased for the present to importune her on it; but so earnestly implored an interview with her the next evening, when, if not entirely out of suspense with regard to the determination of the duke, something, at least, might have transpired to give him an idea of it, that she at length consented to grant him one.

Prudence now demanded her bidding him adieu ; reluctantly, perhaps, she thought of doing so: but she was too sensible of the propriety of the measure, to suffer herself to be prevailed on to prolong their interview, though his entreaties were powerfully seconded by the feelings to which the hour gave rise for by this time the deep gloom of closing day had fallen over the scene, save where through the timestruck arches the rising moon poured momentary

gleams of trembling light; and nought was seen, nought was heard, but what was calculated to excite that pensiveness which softens the heart, and renders it still more susceptible of tender impressions-the hollow and indistinct whisperings of the trees in the breeze of night, and the mournful plaints of the birds, that held their ancient solitary reign amidst the mouldering battlements.

St. Valery attended her towards the inner cloisters-they then separated; at the moment of parting, "I shall remember your bidding," he cried, with a smile that illumined his whole countenance; 66 you desired me not to forget you in my orisons; yet it was unnecessary to do so, for what vow can I prefer to Heaven, in which Elvina is not remember. ed?"

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Often met their eyes of love, and happy were their words in OSSIAN.

secret.

THE oratory, to which Elvina now hastened, and which she regained in a state of mind very different from that in which she had quitted it, relieved from the painful idea of thinking him unworthy of her esteem, from whom she had in vain endeavoured to detach her regard, opened into a spacious gallery of the castle of Osma; of which the convent, owing its erection to an ancestor of the illustrious house of De Hara, in pursuance of a vow made in a moment of danger, formed a wing, altogether constituting an immense fabric-one of those Gothic and magnificent piles, that cannot be gazed at without the memory of the past being awakened in the mind, the soul sent back to the days of other years.

It stood at the base of a rocky eminence in the province of Andalusia, and at some distance from Seville, shrouded in every direction, but that opening to the Guadalquiver, by magnificent woods, the growth of centuries-their deep gloom beautifully contrasted by the rich groves of orange and lemon, for which this province is so famed, and which completely margined the lawn that spread before the building still extending beyond them on the left, the woods stretched their dusky shades to the steep acclivities in the rear, and climbing to their summits, formed high in air

"A woodland quire,"

where at every step,

"Solemn and slow, the shadows blacker fell,
And all was awful listening gloom around."

From these heights, wildly straying through the intertwisted roots of the trees, a thousand limpid rills descended, fertilizing the gardens beneath, and supplying the scattered fountains, the harmony of whose murmurs was not less delightful to the ear, than the refulgent whiteness of their waters to the eye.

To the lovers of the chace, the castle was a delightful residence, its distant woods and mountains abounding with game; nor to the admirers of the beauties of nature, and the votaries of festive pleasure, was it a less delectable one, the scenes about it being of the most enchanting description; and in its ancient halls the voice of sprightly mirth resounded, the trembling harps of joy were strung, bards sung the exploits of heroes, or the heaving breast of love.

The duke of Osma, its possessor at this period, and chief of the illustrious family of De Hara, was now in the autumn of his days. To the solidity of maturity, the energies of a mind unimpaired by age, he united abilities of the first order; pre-eminently gifted by nature, he shone alike in the field and the cabinet; commanding in his mien, lofty and elevated in his air and language, it was impossible to deny him attention; nor was he altogether deficient in those qualities that concilitate esteem: seldom, however, did he sufficiently relax from the natural haughtiness of his character to obtain it. The most arrogant of mankind, he aspired to universal homage; nor knew how to forgive the slightest opposition to

his hereditary claims to distinction. Pride was his governing principle, the spring of all his actions; he was generous, but it was from this motive-revengeful, but also owing to the same cause. The feeling that rendered him impatient under the appearance of an obligation, rendered him raging at the shadow of an injury: he was, in short, a turbulent subject, an unsteady friend, as are all who yield to sudden irritations, and an implacable enemy. Even his daughter, the fair Elvina, seemed more endeared to him by the gratification she afforded this passion, than by her many virtues; yet that he was strongly attached to her, it was but fair to surmise, since no other reason than his affection for her could be as signed for his not forming a second engagement, death having early dissolved that between him and her mother.

Elvina was all that thought can frame of elegance and grace-to the beauty of youth, a figure that might have served as a model for a sculptor, were added all those graces which charm and inspire love; every feature was expressive of mind; her fine dark eyes beamed with intelligence; her complexion fluctuated, as pain or pleasure passed over her varying brow, now displaying all the delicacy of the fragile lily, now the bright glow of the unfolding rose; and her smile was rendered resistless, by the sensibility with which it was replete.

Brought up under the immediate care of an amiable female of the name of Olivia, she was early instructed in every virtue, and guarded against that haughtiness which characterized her family; so that to all but that noble pride which elevates the mind, she had remained a stranger.

An exalted imagination led her to the study of all that was grand and elegant, the sublime in nature, and the pathetic in composition; and to an exquisite

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