acuteness in seizing the ridiculous points of people's characters; and, though she was extremely goodnatured, her heart had not always stopped on her lips the satirical expressions which were prompted by her wit. The slightest of all pretexts suffices for abandoning the unfortunate! Some epigrams, very excusable, and which, at the time, every body declared to be charming, were now recalled to recollection; and the most innocent pleasantry was converted into an absolute act of atrocity. In this resourceless state was Louisa, when a person came to inform her that a man, who was under the greatest obligations to her and her husband, had risen into favour at court, and could easily obtain for her a pension, as the widow of an officer. Louisa resolved to wait upon him, though she had little hope that any benefit would result from her visit. She went on the morrow; and her sister, who saw how repugnant she was to going, offered to be her companion, and seemed quite sure of success. But Louisa, who had studied the world, dreaded lest she should meet with an unfavourable reception; and the first glance of the man in office confirmed all her fears. His freezing manñer, and his wandering and sometimes embarrassed looks, but too well convinced her how troublesome he thought her visit. At the request of Victoria, however, he took the petition, saying, "that he would think about it, but that he was overwhelmed with applications:" Then, rising from his seat, which he had not done when the ladies entered, he dismissed them with that cool impertinence against which the most tenacious applicant is not proof. Louisa, humiliated by such a welcome, firmly determined that she would never again go near Mr. D * * * * *; but Victoria, who was no nice discriminator, and who always took words in their literal sense, saw no reason

for being discouraged, and made up her mind to persevere so steadily in the business as to be successful at last. In the mean while she offered her sister an asylum in her house, which Louisa gratefully accepted.

From this period Victoria did not allow a single day to pass without calling on the man in office. At her first visits she was admitted, but without being able to obtain any satisfactory reply. M. D. **** at length became tired of her frequent visits, and or dered his door to be closed to his importunate visitor. Any other woman than Victoria would have given up all hopes, but she was not to be so easily compelled to relinquish her propects. She made enquiries, and succeeded in discovering at what houses Mr. D * *** was most intimate. Victoria was well received in society, in consequence of her never having given umbrage to any one. Even by the women she was liked, though the was pretty, because scarcely any body praised her person, without adding, "tis a pity she has not more talent." She, therefore, stood with the world on the footing of those persons whom one has no interest in injuring, and whom one even willingly obliges. For this reason it was easy for her to procure invitations from such of her female friends as were visited by Mr. D ****. Being determined to pursue him to his last entrenchments, she never missed an opportunity of being present wherever he was invited. At the same time she inundated him with letters. Neither coldness, nor denials, nor any thing else, could conquer her obstinacy; and she had kept up this persecution for six months, when one morning Louisa received the king's warrant for an annual pension of fifty pounds. She immediately ran to Victoria, to communicate her joy and astonishment to her. "What good fortune!"

exclaimed she. "Could you have believed that Mr. D**** would?" "Oh! I had no doubt," replied "He was obliged to yield at last, I worried him so thoroughly.”

Victoria.

This fifty pounds a year, in addition to the trifle which Louisa could gain by her exertions, enabled her to pay to her sister a small sum for her board; and this came the more opportunely, as, at this period, Victoria lost her husband; and though he left all his property to his wife, yet, as the means of supporting an appearance in the world had been chiefly derived from his profession, in which he ranked high, the two sisters were now obliged to manage with the strictest economy.

Living thus alone with her sister, Louisa felt herself much happier than she had been for a long while. Though she never had had any reason to complain of her brother in law, she had sometimes imagined that she discovered a coldness in his manner, for which she was unable to account, but which was a subject of vexation to her. Several months after his decease, she one day mentioned this to Victoria. "Ah! I know what it was," replied Victoria. "My husband, I assure you, had a great regard for you; but he could not forgive you for having criticised that great speech which he wrote for one of his causes; do you understand?" "What!" replied Louisa; "could I act towards him as to a person in whom I took no interest? He begged me to give him my opinion." "O, no doubt," said Victoria; "and he begged mine too. Every evening he read to me what he had written in the morning; but I always admired." "Indeed! and did not you see that he was often prolix, and that his speeches would have been much improved by his making some omissions?" "I! No, I saw nothing of the kind; for I never comprehended what he read to me." Louisa

smiled: "How then could you praise him?" "Because I saw that it gave him pleasure." Louisa did not smile now; she pressed the hand of her sister, and looked at her affectionately. Goodness of heart is never ridiculous.

Among the persons who visited Victoria was a gentleman of the name of Alinval, a man of considerable talent, but quite an original. He was about forty, and had an income of between three and four thousand a year. He carried his love of independence to such an extent, that he had a complete horror of the very idea of marriage; nor had he ever been able to resolve upon adopting any profession, so insupportable a fetter did he consider every thing which had the slightest appearance of being a task. No tie of love or friendship linked him to society; he never again went near any acquaintance who ventured to complain that it was a long time since he had seen him; every kind of obligation was a burthen to him; and it was impossible to prevail on him to make a promise for the morrow. Yet, in spite of these oddities in his character, Alinval possessed several estimable qualities. Though he was much of a misanthrope, he was a feeling and benevolent man; and he was one with whom it was easy to live on pleasant terms; rather, indeed, in consequence of his general low estimation of men, than of his submission to the laws and usages of society. Victoria, as I have already mentioned, was frequently visited by him; and she had been nearly two years a widow, when one evening, being alone with her sister, she said to her, "Do you know, Louisa, that an idea has come into my head?" As it was rather an unusual thing for Victoria to have an idea, Louisa listened to her with great attention. "Your boy," continued Victoria, is growing big, and both our fortunes to

gether will not be sufficient to give him such an edu cation as he ought to have. To accomplish that purpose, one of us must marry Alinval." "Are you dreaming, my dear Victoria?" exclaimed Louisa. "Marry Alinval, who is always declaiming against women and marriage!" "Nonsense," replied Victoria, "there is nothing that cannot be done with time."

Louisa could only smile at such a project; but she, nevertheless, owned that Alinval appeared to her to be amiable enough, if he could be cured of his singu larities. The two sisters undertook this conversion in concert; and, as esteem, and not love, was all that they felt with respect to our misanthrope, they acted without rivalship; the success of the one could not excite the envy of the other.

It required no long time for them to understand perfectly the character of the man upon whom they were to act; for Alinval liked to talk of himself, and of his manner of living. Surprised to find, that to very extensive knowledge, and an excellent heart, he joined such strange whimsicalities, Louisa strove to remove his erroneous notions. All the talent and sweetness with which she was gifted she employed to convince him that he exposed himself to the risk of being laughed at, and that he made himself a complete slave to his mania for independence. Victoria, on the contrary, conscious that she had not talent enough to contend with a person who had a great share of it, listened without saying a word, and sometimes even, either from her not thoroughly understanding the doctrines laid down by Alinval, or from her being unable to perceive the consequences to be drawn from them, she approved of them by a smile; so that, by little and little, Alinval became habituated to address his discourse to her rather than to her sister. Besides,