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Show 158 RICIIAIW 1/UIWIS. will i and I donLt not that he will keep !tis promise, simply bcca. uso my name is on his paper. It will be a matter of pride with him to relicYC himself of an obligation to one who ofl'onds his sclf'-cstccm so greatly as to provoke him to complaint." About tcu o'clock the next day we left. Colonel Gn1fton's for the dwelling of the debtor. He rode a mile or two with 11s, and on leaving us renewed his desire that we should return and spend the nigltt wit1t him. His residence lay in our road, and we readily made the pr01nisc. "Could I live as Grafton lives," ~aid 1Villiam, after our friend !tad left us-" could I h:n·c such an cstnblishmcnt, and such a family, and Lc such a. man, it sootHS to me I should be most happy. H e wants for uotl1ing that he has not, he is beloved by his family, and has acquired so happily the nrts of the household-and there is a great deal in that-that he can not but be happy. Everything is snug, and cverytl1iug seems to fit about !Jim. Nothing is out of place; and wife, children, ser· vants- all, not on1y seem to know their several places, but to delight in them. rrhcrc is no discontent in that family j and that dear girl, Julia, how much she reminds me of Emmelinewhat a gentle being, yet how full of spirit-how graceful and light in her thoughts and movements, yet how true, how firm." I let my friend run on in his eulogy without intcrruptiou. 'l'he things and persons which had produced a sensation of so much pleasure in his heart, had brought but sorrow and dissatisfaction to mine. llis fancy described his own household, in similarly bright colors to his mind and eye- whilst my thoughts, taki11g their complexion from my own denied and defeated for· tunes, indulged in gloomy comparisons of what I saw in tho possession of others, and the cold, cheerless fate- the isolation and the solitude-of all my future life. How could I apprc· ciate the enthusiasm of my fri end-how share in his raptures 1 Every picture of bliss to the eye of the sufferer is provocation and bitterness. I felt it such and replied querulously: - "Your raptures may be out of place, '\Villiam, for aught you know. '\Yhat folly to judge of surfaces ! But your young traveller always docs so. '\Vho shall say what discontent reigns in that family, in the absence of the stranger 1 There may be bitterness and curses, for aught you know, in many a bosom, '1'111•: II AI'PY Jo' ,\~IILY. 15() the possessor of which mC'cls ynu with :t smile :uul cheers you with a song-nml that girl Julin- shn is \)('autiful you say but is sl1e blest 1 Rh<' loves-you SC'C t.hnt 1-Js it certain that she loves wisely, worthily-that sl1c wins tl1e object of her lovf'-tklt he docs not deceive hrr- or that shf' does 110t jilt l1im in somr moment of bitter pcrYrrsity and ckdin;:; passion 1 '\Yell dic'l tile ancient Ucclarc, that the happiness of man could 11evcr he estimntcd till the grave l1nd closed over l1im." "The fellow was a fool to sny thnt, ns if the man could be happy then. ]Jut I can dccl:ne }Jim fnlse from my own l1osom. I am happy now, and am resolved to be more so, Look you, Dick- in two weeks more 1 will be in M;ucngo. 1 shall haYe entered 1ny lands, and made my preparations. In four weeks Emmeline will be mine; and t}Jen, hey for an establishment like Grt~fton's. All shall be IJNtce and sweetness about my dwclliug as about Lis. I will lay out my grounds iu the same maniH.'r- I will bring Emmeline to sec l1is-" I ventured to interrupt the drcmncr: " Suppose she docs not like them ns much as you do 1 'Vomcn l1avc their own modes of thinking and planning these m:1tters. '\Vi ll you not give her her own way 1" lie replied good-naturcdly but quickly: "Oh, surely; but she will like them-! know she will. 'rhey arc entirely to her taste; ttncl, whether they be or not, sho shall have her own way in that. You do not suppose I would insist upon so small a mattcr7" "But it was anything but a small matter while you were dwelling upon the charms of Colonel Grafton's establishment. The grounds make no s~nall part of its clJarms in both our eyes, and .~ wonder tlll\t you should give them up so readily." " I do not give them up, Richard. I will 1ct Emmeline know how.much l like them, and will insist upon them as long as I e.an m reason. But, however lovely I think th em, do not suppose that I count them as anything in comparison of the family beauty-the hnrmony that makes the circle a complete system, in which the lights arc all clear and lovely, and the sounds all sweet nnd touching." "I will sooner admit your capacity to lay out your grounds us tastefully as Colonel Grafton, than to bring about such results |