tears and kissed him twice. And then she grew gayer in spirit, and went and played some music for him while he smoked his pipe. But as he smoked he thought, and his thoughts were rather bitter about a man who, wanting money, had not the courage to ask for it, but had degraded his daughter into the position of being a beggar for it. And as Mr. Balfour was a businessIlke person, though he had not been trained up to commerce, he determined to ascertain exactly how Lord Willowby's affairs stood before proffering him this promised help. CHAPTER XXII. FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS. THERE HERE was a brisk fire in the breakfastroom at The Lilacs, and the frosty December sunlight, streaming through the window, touched the white table-cloth with a ruddy and cheerful glow. A man of about thirty, tall, stalwart-looking, with a huge brown moustache and a partially cropped beard, light blue eyes, and a healthy complexion, stood on the hearth-rug with his hands fixed complacently in his fixed in his pocket. This was Count-or rather as he had dropped his courtesy title since settling down in England, Mr.-Von Rosen, who had served as lieutenant in the Franco-German war, and had subsequently fallen in love with and married a young English lady, who had persuaded him to make England his home. He was a young man of superflous energy, of great good humor and good spirits, who made himself a nuisance to the neighborhood in which he lived by the fashion in which he insisted on other people joining him in his industrial idleness. For example, he had on this very morning, at seven o'clock, sent a letter to Mr. Hugh Balfour, of whose arrival at The Lilacs he had only heard on the previous night, urging him to join a certain shooting party. Lady Sylvia was to drive over with them, and spend the day with two ladies. whom she knew. He himself would call at nine. And so he stood here with his hands in his pocket, apparently quite contented, but nevertheless wondering why English people should be so late with their breakfast. 'Ah,' said he, with his face brightening, as Balfour entered the room. 'You are ready to go? But I have to beg your pardon very much. My man says you were not awake when he brought the letter; it was stupid of him to send it to your room." 'On the contrary,' said Balfour, as he mechanically took up a handful of letters that were lying on the table, 'I have to beg your pardon for keeping you waiting. I thought I would put on my shooting boots before coming down. Lady Sylvia will be here presently. Come, what do you say to having some breakfast with us? He was scanning the outside of the various envelopes with something of an absent air. There was nothing meditative about the German ex-lieutenant. He had once or twice allowed his highly practical gaze to fall on a certain game pie. 'A second breakfast?' said he. 'Yes, perhaps it is better. My first breakfast was at six. And in these short days it is foolishness to waste time at the luncheon. Oh yes, I will have some breakfast. And in the meantime why do you not read your letters ?' 'Well, the fact is,' said Balfour, 'my wife thinks I should have a clear holiday down here, and I have been wondering whether it is any use-’ But quite mechanically, while he was speaking, he had opened one of the letters, and he paused in his speech as he read its contents. 'By Jove,' said he, partly to himself and partly to his companion, 'they must be pretty certaiu that I shall be in the next Parliament, or they would not offer to put this in my hands. Perhaps they don't know that I am sure to be kicked out of Ballinascroon.' At this moment Lady Sylvia entered the room, and that young lady went up to the German lieutenant in the most winning and gracious way-for he was a great friend of hers and thanked him very prettily for the trouble he had taken about this invitation.. keepers they know that too-and my wife she says if you will be so good as to stay with her all the day, we will come back that way in the afternoon-and it is better still, a great deal better, if you and Mr. Balfour will stay to dine with us.' Lady Sylvia was very pleased and grateful. Apart from her personal liking for these friends of hers, she was glad to find her husband taking to the amusements and interests of this country life. She said that Mr. Van Rosen's plan would be very agreeable to her if it suited her husband; He was still and then she turned to him. regarding that letter. 6 What do you say, Hugh?' she asked. 'Oh yes,' he answered as if startled out of some reverie. That is very kind of you, Von Rosen. It would be a delightful day. The fact is, however, I am not quite sure that I ought to go, though nothing would give me greater pleasure, as I have just got an offer here that is rather flattering to a young member who has not done much It is rather an imporwork in the House. tant measure they propose to put into my hands. Well, I suppose I shall only be a sort of junior counsel to Lord least I could get up his case for him. now, I must see these two men at Sylvia,' he continued, turning to his wife, 'if I ask these two friends of mine to run down here to-morrow to dinner, I suppose you could put them up for the night?" but at All the glad light had gone from her face. They had sat down at the table by this time; and before answering him, she asked Mr. Von Rosen whether he would not help himself to something or other that Then she said, in a somewas near him. what precise fashion, 'I think it would look rather singular to ask two strangers down here for a single night at the present time.' 6 Why singular?' said he, with a stare. 'So near Christmas,' she continued in the same proud and cold way, 'people are supposed to have made up their family parties. It is scarcely a time to invite strangers.' I 'Oh, well.' said he, with a good-natured you. laugh, 'I did not mean to offend dare say you are right; an evening devoted to talking about this bill would not have been lively for you. However, I must see my two patrons, and that at once. Von Rosen, would you mind saying to Mr. Le- It was by the merest accident that he 'I do not wish to waste time,' said that inveterate idler. 'The daylight is very short You have finished too.' now. And so they set out, Lady Sylvia having promised to go over to Mrs. Von Rosen during the day and remain until the evening. As they drove off in the dog-cart, Balfour seemed rather preoccupied. When he remarked, 'Things have come to a bonny cripus!' what was his companion to make of that absurd phrase? Von Rosen did not know the story of the small boy in northern parts who was found bitterly sobbing, and digging his knuckles into his eyes; and who, on being asked what was the matter, replied, in language which has to be softened for southern ears, 'Things have come to a bonny cripus; I only called my father an old fool, and he went out and It was the introductory kicked me behind.' phrase of this insulted boy that Balfour used. 'Things have come to a bonny cripus,' said he. They drove along the crisp and crackling road. The hoar-frost on the hedges was beginning to melt; the sunlight had draped the bare twigs in a million of rainbow jewels; the copper-colored sun shone over fields. green the black woods and the dank 'Women are strange creatures,' said Balfour again; and this was a more intelligible remark. 'Why do you say that?' asked the simple lieutenant, who had noticed nothing at breakfast beyond the coffee and the game pie. 'I do believe,' said Balfour, with a smile which was not altogether a glad one, 'that my wife is beginning positively to hate every body and every thing connected with Parliament and politics; and that is a lively look-out for me. You know I can't go on staying down here. And yet I shouldn't wonder if, when Parliament meets, she refused to go up to London.' 'No, no, no,' said the lieutenant; 'there you are very wrong. It is not reasonablenot at all reasonable. She may like the country better, but it is not reasonable. That is what I tell my wife now. She declares she will not go to live in America for a year, and leave her children; and I say to her, "You will think again about that. It is a great trouble that you will leave your children; it will be a great sorrow for a time; but what will you think of yourself after, if you do not do what is right for them? When they grow up, when they want money, what will you think if you have thrust away all that property-and only for a single year's absence ?"' 'And has your wife proved reasonable? has she consented to go?' asked Balfour. Von Rosen shrugged his shoulders. 'No-not yet. But I will not argue with her. I will leave her to think. Oh, you do not know what a woman will do, if she thinks it is for the good of her children. At present it is all "Oh, never, never! Leave my darling little girl, so that she won't know me when I come back? Not for all the money in America !" Well, that is natural too, though it is foolishness. You would not like to have your wife with too hard a heart. And I say to her, "Yes, I will not ask you. We are not so very poor that you must suffer great pain. If you will give up the American property, give it up, and no more to be said." But I know. She is reasoning with herself now. She will go.' 'Do you think she will?' said Balfour, thoughtfully. Do you think she will give up so much of her own feeling if she thinks it right?' Know?' said the tall young German, with one of his hearty laughs. 'Yes, I know that very well. Oh, there is no one so sensible as my wife-not any one that I know any where-if you can show her what is right. But if you ask me what I think of her uncle, that will cause so much trouble all for his nonsense, then I think he was a most wretched fellow-a most wretched and pitiable fellow.' Here occurred a most unintelligible growl, whether in German or English phraseology his companion could not say; but doubtless the muttered words were not polite. Another man would probably have given additional force to this expression of feeling by twitching at the reins; but Von Rosen never vented his rage on a horse. They had a capital day's sport, although Balfour, who was evidently thinking of any thing in the world rather than pheasants, rabbits, and hares, shot very badly indeed. Their luncheon was brought to them at a farm-house, the mistress of the farm giving them the use of her sacred parlour, in which all the curiosities of ornament and natural history contributed by three generations were religiously stored. They got back to Von Rosen's house about six; just in time for a cup of tea and a chat before dressing for an early country dinner. Surely, one or two of us who were sitting round the table that evening must have thought-surely these two young people ought to have been happy enough, if outward circumstances have any thing to do with content of mind. There was he, in the prime of youthful manhood, with strength written in every outline of the bony frame and in every lineament of the firm, resolute, and sufficiently handsome head, rich beyond the possibilities of care, and having before him all the hopefulness and stimulus of a distinguished public career; she, young, high-born, and beautiful, with those serious and shy eyes that went straight to the heart of the person she addressed and secured her friends everywhere, also beyond the reach of sordid cares, and most evidently regarded by her husband with all affection and admiration. What trouble, other than mere imaginary nonsense, could enter into these linked lives? Well, there was present at this dinner that Cassandra of married life who was mentioned in the first chapter of this highly moral and instructive tale, and she would have answered these questions quickly enough. She would have assumed-for she knew nothing positive about the matter that these two were now beginning to encounter the bitter disillusionizing experience of post-nuptial life. The husband was beginning to recognise the fact that his wife was not quite the glorious creature he had imagined her to be; he was looking back with a wistful regret to the perfectly false 'I don't like London much,' said Lady 'But you take a great interest in politics,' observed this monitress, who doubtless considered that she was administering. some wholesome discipline. My wife may take some interest in politics,' said Balfour, but she has no great love for politicians. I confess they are not picturesque or interesting persons, as a rule. I am afraid their worldly wisdom, their callousness, is a trifle shocking.' Well, at all events,' said our Most Gracious Lady-for she was determined to put in a little bit of remonstrance, though she would gravely have rebuked any body else for daring to do so-' you have not much political work to distract your attention at present, Parliament not sitting, and all that excitement about a dissolution having passed away.' 6 ,' said he, with a My dear Mrs. laugh, now is the worst time of all; for a good many of us don't know whether we shall be in the next Parliament, and we are trying what we can do to make our calling and election sure. It is a disagreeable business, but necessary. To-morrow, for example, I am going to town to see two gentlemen about a bill they propose I should introduce; but I shall have to ask them first what is the betting about my being able to get into Parliament at all. My present constituents have proved very ungrateful, after the unfailing attention and courtesy I have lavished upon them.' Here the German ex-soldier burst into a great roar of laughter, as if there was anything amusing in a young man's throwing contumely on a number of persons who had done him the honor of returning him to the House of Commons. But, after all, it was hot our business at this little dinner party to speculate on the hidden griefs that might accompany the outward good fortune of these two young people. We had more palpable trouble near at hand, as was revealed by an odd Our hostess little accident that evening. had a great affection for two boisterous young lads, who were the sons of the august little woman just referred to, and she had invited them to come into the dining-room after dessert. Surely a mother ought to teach these young brats not to make remarks on what does not concern them? we were talking in an aimless Now, as fashion about the Ashantee war, the recent elections, and what not, a sudden sound outside stilled us into silence. It was the children of the church choir who had come up to sing us a Christmas carol; and the sound of their voices outside in the still. night recalled many a vivid recollection, and awoke some strange fancies about the What were most of us thinkcoming year. ing of then? This young ass of a boy all at once says, 'Oh, Auntie Bell, where will you be next Christmas? And do they sing Christmas carols far away in America ?' And Auntie Bell, being taken rather aback, said she did not know, and smiled; but the smile was not a glad one, for we knew that sudden tears had started to the soft and kindly eyes. We were not quite so happy as we went home that night. And when some one remarked to the mother of those boys- But there, it is no use remonstrating with women. (To be Continued). THE TEMPERANCE QUESTION. A REPLY TO FIDELIS. I would be well if we could recognize the T would be well if we could recognize the victory may be but the means to fortify and elevate us; and though the wheels of this Juggernaut may be crushing human hearts, and though I deeply sympathize with the noble men and women who would fain stamp out the human misery which intemperance has strewn broadcast through the land, yet I do not feel that the end would justify the means, or that the liberty of the subject to exercise properly any legitiinate calling ought to be denied him; for I hold that it is of the essence of liberty that every one may do as he pleases, so long as his doing so does not collide with the equal right of every other man to do as he pleases; and I doubt if there are many persons so sure of their position as to affirm that the calling of a hotel-keeper who supplies a dinner and, when requested, a glass of beer or wine, is in itself absolutely wrong, but only in the abuse of it; and I think that no one not absolutely fanatical and despotic, would in such a case, even if he had the power, feel at liberty to step in between the man and his conscience and say to him, 'You must do as my conscience dictates and not as yours.' And if I, as an individual, have no right to say to a man, you must not engage in such and such a calling, a Government has no right to do so; for a Government has no rights except such as have been delegated to it by the individual members of society; and if it had the right and exercised it, I hope to show in the sequel, that it would prove anything but advantageous: for I believe, as I said, in no short-cuts to morality, but that humanity has to travel the old, long and weary way, through besetments from within and from without, and can only attain its scant measure of happiness, or escape the whole burden of the misery of our common lot, not by legal prohibition or keeping temptation out of their reach, but by a higher and a nobler training than they have ever yet received, by the better example of home humanity, which can only be remedied or much modified by those changes in the conditions of our life and improvements of our constitution, moral, emotional, and structural, which the long, slow process of Time can alone effect, but which the remedies proposed, like the nostrums of our quack doctors, often tend only to aggravate. The way in which any measure will affect a being so complex as man in his individual and social capacity, cannot be worked out like a problem in mechanics, nor can its consequences be predicted with certainty by any method of à priori reasoning. Such a measure can only properly be regarded as simply tentative. Still it is only natural that, when a great, hideous monster, like intemperance, forces itself on our view, our first rough-and-ready thought is to strike it down ruthlessly with the nearest weapon to hand. But there is, we fear, no short-cut to morality and wide social improvement. It was once thought (and acted on) that the shortest way to preserve religion was to destroy the misbeliever and thus silence his heretic tongue; but the idea, though breaking out occasionally, like an epidemic, at unhealthy times and in unhealthy minds, is being generally abandoned as the remedy of an ignorant and barbarous age. And I fear that the rough-and-ready way of partial or total prohibition, by substituting physical force for moral suasion, and constraining the best portion of society to forego their gratifications-and life has not too many of them-may not, in the long run, prove the best. It proceeds upon the principle of benefiting the individual and society, by substituting a world without temptations for the kind of world in which we live and in which temptations abound. But if it be true that temptations overcome, strengthen the moral economy and the power of resistance, the conflict and the |