This appeal to the tender sympathies of Edward and Llwellyn, the most forcible, perhaps, which Mr. Walsingham could have made, was deeply felt by both; and it was some time before the former could recover himself sufficiently to express, in terms adequate to the strength of his emotions, that fulness of affection for his guardian, and that wish to accompany him, go where he would, which warmed and animated his bosom.

The impression, indeed, had proved more powerful than Mr. Walsingham could have foreseen, and he was in fact, sorry for the depression which he had thus involuntarily occasioned. Assuming, therefore, a more cheerful tone, and turning towards Hoel, who had sate for some time with his face shaded by his hands, he asked him, if, during the period when he and his father first saw Rivaulx Abbey, they had also seen the ruins of the Castle at Helmsley; and receiving an answer in the negative, he added, "that, as connected not only with the history of the former place, but with that of the kingdom itself, this castle presented an object of peculiar interest. It is, however," he con

tinued, "independent of these historical associations, in itself a picture of very striking beauty and effect, and enjoys at the same time, a situation not less remarkable for its pleasing and romantic features."

"I have often heard my father, Sir, who occasionally visited Helmsley on business connected with his farm,” replied Hoel, " mention these ruins with admiration, and I shall certainly be most happy in the opportunity of seeing them. I understand, however, that His Grace of Buckingham is at present in the adjoining mansion house, a circumstance which may possibly prevent the access of strangers."

"The Duke, my dear youth, after having for many years absented himself from his Ryedale estates, which include nearly the whole of the parishes of Helmsley and Kirby Moorside, and part of the parish of Kirkdale, came hither a short time ago in a bad state of health. He is now, however, with a great part of his household on a visit of some weeks in the neighbourhood; and if any obstruction to the gratification of a laudable curiosity ever occurred, from his presence, which yet I do not believe, that is of course for the present removed."

"I can assure you, Sir," interrupted Edward, "that not the smallest obstacle is thrown in the way of those who wish to inspect the ruins. I have repeatedly gone thither since His Grace's return, and it will afford me great pleasure to accompany our young friend to the castle, and to add what little information may lie in my power."

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"I can have no objection, Edward," replied Mr. Walsingham, provided Llwellyn sees none in intrusting his son to your care; and I rather wish, indeed, the present opportunity should be seized, as the Duke's establishment when at home, and increased as it usually is by the retinue of numerous visitors, is not, I am sorry to say, very remarkable either for order or sobriety."

"Indisposition has then, I am afraid," cried Llwellyn, "made little improvement in the moral character of the Duke. Fame has gifted him, I understand, with some of the most brilliant attributes of wit and imagination, and she has more than whispered, I believe, how much these have been prostituted to the worst of purposes. Can you, my friend, add any thing in mitigation of the public judgment ?"

"Of this nobleman personally," answered Mr. Walsingham, "I know little. Indeed, from every motive moral and prudential, I have been solicitous to avoid any interview with him, and, fortunately, my situation in life is such as does not render me liable to be thrown in his way.

From what has transpired, however, concerning him, during the short period he has been at Helmsley, for it is only since the death of the late king that he has visited these estates, it would appear that his sole object, notwithstanding the very precarious state of his health, is to bury reflection in the hurry and tumult of dissipation; for he is seldom without much company, and this, too, of such a description as is calculated to engage him in a continued series of hunting and convivial entertainments.

"I apprehend, therefore, that as neither sickness, nor the advance of life, for the Duke is near sixty, has hitherto produced any amelioration of conduct, the career of this accomplished but unprincipled man will terminate as it began, in thoughtless vice and selfish gratification. It is, indeed, a most melancholy reflection, that with property such as Villiers once

possessed, and which, from its magnitude, and the influence necessarily connected with it, might, if properly employed, and in conjunction with his acknowledged talents, have rendered him a blessing to his country and his friends; scarcely one good, or just, or truly generous action should have been united. The only circumstances which I can recollect, as palliating in the smallest degree the general profligacy of his life, are to be drawn from the recollection that he lost his father by the hand of assassination, when he was not yet two years old, a deprivation often more disastrously injurious to those who are born to inherit rank and affluence, than to any other class of society; and that with a very handsome and interesting figure, and with a promptitude and splendour of wit seldom equalled, and perhaps never surpassed, he was destined to live and move in the dissolute and voluptuous court of Charles the Second.

"In short, to indulge every whim, and to follow every caprice, to gratify each passion as it rose, and to sacrifice all that is laudable and moral at the shrine of ridicule and folly, have been, and still are, the leading features of his