My dear Sidney," said Lady Berenger to her only son, who was reclining at his ease, and apparently deep in thought, in a large arm-chair by her dressingroom fire-"My dear Sidney," repeated her ladyship, "don't you mean to dress this evening?

"Dress, madam," exclaimed he, starting, "to be sure I do; you are expecting company?"

"Yes, Sir Algernon, and Lady Lyndsey, and their niece. Well, Sidney, why do you look so discomposed?"

"Because, mother, I hate the name of these same Lyndseys; they were Catholics once, of as good and honourable a race as ourselves, but, instead of standing by their religion in these times of danger and distress, they forsake their faith, and become traitors to their lawful king."

"Hush, hush, Sidney! such words are dangerous; pray be careful.”

"My dear mother, this irritates me more than

all the rest. What! under my father's roof, in my mother's private apartments, shall I be afraid of proclaiming my sentiments? have I not the privilege of every free-born Englishman? But why do I ask such a question? is it not matter of notoriety that I must be deprived of those rights because I follow the religion of my forefathers?"

"Nay, nay, my dear boy," said his mother, persuasively; "I only mean that you should curb your angry spirit; if you indulge in the use of such daring words in private, you may forget yourself at a time when the consequences would be dreadful."

'Well, dearest mother," said Sidney, suddenly stopping in his hurried walk to and fro, "I will be calm; I promise for your sake to control if possible my indignant feelings."

"Heaven bless you, my dear son, and grant that you may be spared to be a comfort to your family. It is impossible for me to describe, my dear Sidney, the painful anxiety I feel whenever I contemplate the present state of affairs. A crisis is surely ap

proaching, and our ill-fated family will I fear fall a

sacrifice."

'Why, my dear mother, do you indulge in such despondency? I, on the contrary, feel so confident of success. Our cause is surely that of the righteous; what reason, then, have we to despair?"

Alas, alas! my dear son," said Lady Berenger, still in a despondent tone, "I remember the year '15, when many a gallant spirit thought, and felt, and spoke as you do-where are they now? Those who survived have since wandered over the world, carrying to their graves the bitter feeling of their disappointed youth."

"Not so, dear mother," replied Sidney; "age shall achieve what youth could not effect;' and those who were preserved from the battle-field or the scaffold still live to join us younger hands and hearts to pull the usurper from his throne. Grieve not, dear mother; we shall both, I trust, live to see the House of Stuart restored to its lawful rights."

At this moment the heavy sound of wheels was heard rolling through the paved court, and Sidney, starting, exclaimed

"They are come, mother; do you receive them, and I will go and prepare for supper."

He affectionately kissed his mother's hand and

left the apartment. Lady Berenger sighed as she listened to his retiring footsteps as he hurried through the gallery, and she could hardly repress a tear when she reflected how soon these buoyant hopes might be blighted, that ardent spirit for ever crushed! But this was no time to indulge in forebodings; so composing herself, she went to meet her friends with a tranquil countenance, but an aching heart.

We will now give some account of the families of Berenger and Lyndsey, who were nearly connected, though, from a difference in their political opinions, all intimacy, and even intercourse, had been avoided within the last few years.

Lord Berenger adhered strictly to the faith and opinions of his ancestors. To his family and friends he was the most indulgent of beings, but in political feeling bitter and severe; and in proportion as his opinions became the unpopular creed, so did his bitterness and bigotry increase in their support. Lady Berenger was a sensible, well-educated woman, attached, but not bigoted, to her religion; in fact, she mourned in secret, for she dared not confess it to her husband, that one near and dear to her had

greatly changed his religious and political views. Her only brother had been compelled to leave England, having been concerned in the unfortunate rebellion of '15; but a long sojourn in the Prussian States, where he acquired considerable property, had, by degrees, modified both his religious and political creed and he viewed with silent though with deep regret, the absorbing and bitter antagonism of his brother-in-law against the House of Hanover, to all impartial eyes now firmly seated on the English throne. It was by her brother's early persuasion that Lady Berenger had advocated the advantages of a foreign education for her sonas English Catholics could not then be admitted to the colleges, nor could they enter the army. Her daughters, therefore, had been brought up at home, whilst her son was educated abroad, from whence he had not long returned; but if his mother, in her inmost heart, hoped that he might return with a less exclusive creed and spirit, she was doomed to be disappointed. Sidney embraced warmly the political views and religious faith held by his father, and, urged by the enthusiasm and chivalry of youth to take a prominent part in the