were imbued with delight too exquisite to be interrupted by political squabbles, and months had passed away before Edeliza could find an opportunity of pleading the protestant cause with the enraptured Henry; though repeatedly urged to the undertaking by the duke and his party. She at length entered on the subject with that warmth of feeling which characterized all her actions. The early impressions her fancy had received rushed on her heart, and gave eloquence to her tongue; and she became at once the zealous advocate of a cause which all her habits had taught her to reverence. Henry listened with delight to her persuasive language, while he gazed with rapture on the charms of her person, heightened by elevated feelings; but when she had finished, assuming a severer tone than he had ever yet addressed her in, he replied→→→ Edeliza, I regard the cause for which you now plead with reverence, because I know it is calculated to enlighten mankind. Religious dissensions have already roused the spirit of inquiry, and will by slow degrees spread knowledge over the world. Inquiry kindles the dormant faculties of the human mind, and before awakened intellect misery and barbarism must vanish from the earth. But my conduct on the present occasion must be left to my own judgment: I will not allow you to be the tool of a party, nor myself to be biassed by feeling, therefore, on this subject, I will never listen to you more. Farewell, my love!-for the present we must part.'

Edeliza was chagrined by the harshness of her lover:

but a spark of latent vanity, which circumstances conspired to foster, prevented her acknowledging, even to the duke, the ill success of her mission; and some privileges granted to the protestants shortly after this period, though resulting from the monarch's judgment, were attributed to her influence.

The party began now to exult; they fancied they had found in Edeliza a proper instrument to bind the prince to their interest. They calculated on the warm feelings of Henry, aided by his natural propensity to love and every art was practised to increase his infatuation, and place his victim more completely in his power. Time passed with Edeliza in a round of delight. Henry loved her with the most fervent passion; but the native generosity of his mind had hitherto prevented his requesting any favour inconsistent with her own ideas of virtue. She was the orphan daughter of De Lieramont, an officer who had toiled in his affairs and bled in his service; and could a heart imbued with the principles of justice repay the activity of a departed friend by the dishonour of his child? -No! the judgment of Henry shrunk from the action; though his fevered imagination dwelt incessantly on the accomplishment of his wishes. But the life of this monarch was not destined to be long stationary, and some! convulsions in a distant province soon drew him from this scene of temptation. The danger which called for his presence was urgent, and the prince had but a few hours to prepare for his departure. To bid adieu to Edeliza was reserved as his last care; it was a task at

once painful and pleasing, and he wished the parting words of her he loved to rest on his mind undissipated by vulgar objects. It was midnight when he entered her apartment. She received him with trembling emotion, oppressed by contending feelings. She wept on his bosom, while her heart beat with a painful presentiment of impending evil. She dreaded to hear the last farewell of her lover, for her disordered fancy foreboded it would be an eternal adieu. In vain he attempted to calm her agitated mind: in vain he urged all that reason could suggest to quiet her fears: but in vain the soothing accents of love flowed from his lips: the dawn summoned the monarch away, and left Edelizá a prey to the most tormenting anxiety. Alas! she was not only a prey to corroding sorrow: the engines of malice were at work for her destruction, and the absence of her lover seemed a favourable opportunity of employing their force. The duke, her only protector, was lulled into a fatal security he judged that, elevated as she now was, no one would have the temerity to attack her, and various schemes were formed for removing her from the court without exciting her suspicions.

How changed was the scene to the hapless orphan ! No allurements could draw her from her melancholy contemplations the dissipation that surrounded her had lost its power to charm. Her only amusement now was to sing her complaints to the strains of her lute, in the simple language her feelings dictated. It had been her custom since the departure of Henry, to linger away the long

summer evening's in a little hermitage on the summit of a hill, from whose height an artificial torrent fell into a lake below. Here she indulged in visions of fancy: and here her mind, glowing with the mingled feelings of love and devotion, rose to a degree of sublimity almost above mortality. Fears for the safety of her lover shook her soul: all around her was darkness and suspence, and her heart fondly clung to the Invisible Spirit whose power moves the planets in their orbits, for support and protection. While in this gloomy cell, her lips poured forth to Deity all the tender wishes that warmed her throbbing bosom.

It was after an evening of more than usual gloom in the mind of Edeliza, when, returning through the long avenue of trees that led to her apartments, her ears were struck with the sound of distant music. The night was sultry, not a breeze moved through the ripened foliage, and the harmony of the feathered choir was hushed in silence. It seemed like a pause in creation; and the soft sounds that now floated in the air appeared to her heated imagination like the voice of some invisible spirit. She stopped to listen; while the mingled emotions of surprise, admiration, and terror, played about her heart. The sounds, though distant, were clear; and she distinctly heard the following words, sung in tones the most impressive, by a voice whose melting softness stole upon the enraptured ear→→→

'Haste, fond victim of love's power!
Haste, ere yet the destined hour

Dooms thee to the snare.'

Edeliza trembled: a crowd of indistinct ideas rushed upon her mind, while a thousand vague fears filled her fancy. The words seemed addressed to her, and the time and place gave them double force. But whither was she to haste? From what snare was she to fly? Who had formed the thought of injuring her? And why this mysterious address

The music ceased, and again profound silence reigned: Edeliza raised her eyes fearfully from the ground, as she cautiously proceeded on her way. The moon beams shone faintly through the lofty trees, and shed an indistinct light over the path, which, by discovering objects without developing their form, served but to increase the gloom. With trembling and irresolute steps she moved forward, when the solemn silence was again interrupted by a noise like the clanking of chains, which seemed slowly advancing towards her. She paused with increased emotion, when a sudden light discovered to her view an object whose terrific appearance almost shook reason from her seat. Fear palsied her soul: she sank on her knees, and vainly endeavoured to implore the protection of Heaven; but her lips were locked in silence, while terror bound up her faculties and seemed to chain her to the spot. The figure at length approached; and, stretching his arm to raise her from the ground, she again looked fearfully up, and beheld with frantic terror the being before her. It bore the form of an aged warrior, whose hoary beard hung below his breast, and shaded the glit tering steel that enveloped his body. A helmet covered