pliment, and the language in which it was conveyed. He thanked the Jew for his kind declaration, entreated him to bear with the peevishness of a disposition sore with the galling hand of affliction: and, turning up his eyes to Heaven,-" Were it possible,' cried he, "for fate to reconcile contradictions, and recall the irremediable current of events, I would now believe, that there was happiness still in reserve for the forlorn Zelos, now that I tread the land of freedom and humanity, now that I find myself befriended by the most generous of men. Alas! I ask not happiness! If, by the kind endeavours of the gallant Count de Melvil, to whom I am already indebted for my life, and by the efforts of his friends, the honour of my name shall be purified and cleared from the poisonous stains of malice by which it is at present spotted, I shall then enjoy all that satisfaction which destiny can bestow upon a wretch whose woes are incurable." In the midst of these invocations, his ear was suddenly invaded with the sound of some few solemn notes issuing from the organ, which seemed to feel the impulse of an invisible hand. At this awful salutation, Melvil was roused to the keenest sense of surprise and attention: reason shrunk before the thronging ideas of his fancy, which represented this music as the prelude to something strange and supernatural; and while he waited for the sequel, the place was suddenly illuminated, and each surrounding object brought under the cognizance of his eye. What passed within his mind on this occasion is not easy to be described: all his faculties were swallowed up by those of seeing and of hearing; he had mechanically raised himself upon one knee, with his body advancing forwards: and in this attitude he gazed with a look through which his soul seemed eager to escape. To his view, thus strained upon vacant space, in a few minutes appeared the figure of a woman arrayed in white, with a veil that covered her face, and flowed down upon her back and shoulders: the phantom approached him with an easy step, and, lifting up her veil, discovered (believe it, O reader!) the individual counte Renaldo comforted him with the assurance of his being on the eve of triumphing over his adversaries; and Joshua confirmed the consolation, by giving him to understand, that he had correspondents in Spain of some influence in the state; that he had already written to them on the subject of Don Diego, in consequence of a letter which he had re-nance of Monimia. ceived from Melvil while he tarried at Mons, At sight of these well-known features, and that he, every post, expected a favourable answer on that subject. After dinner, the physician took his leave, though not before he had promised to meet Renaldo at night, and accompany him in the repetition of his midnight visit to Monimia's tomb; for this pilgrimage the unfortunate youth resolved nightly to perform during the whole time of his residence in England: it was indeed a sort of pleasure, the prospect of which enabled him to bear the toil of living through the day, though his patience was almost quite exhausted before the hour of assignation arrived. When the doctor appeared with the coach, he leaped into it with great eagerness, after he had, with much difficulty, prevailed with Don Diego to stay at home, on account of his health, which was not yet perfectly established. The Castilian, however, would not comply with his request, until he had obtained the count's promise that he should be permitted to accompany him next night, and take that duty alternately with the physician. About midnight they reached the place, where they found the sexton in waiting, according to the orders he had received; the door was opened, the mourner conducted to the tomb, and left, as before, to the gloom of his own meditations. Again he laid himself on the cold ground; again he renewed his lamentable strain; his imagination began to be heated into an ecstasy of enthusiasm, during which he again fervently invoked the spirit of his deceased Monimia. seemingly improved with new celestial graces, the youth became a statue, expressing amazement, love, and awful adoration. He saw the apparition smile with meek benevolence, divine compassion, warmed and intendered by that fond pure flame which death could not extinguish. He heard the voice of his Monimia call Renaldo! thrice he essayed to answer; as oft his tongue denied its office; his hair stood upright, and a cold vapour seemed to thrill through every nerve. This was not fear, but the infirmity of human nature, oppressed by the presence of a superior being. At length his agony was overcome: he recollected all his resolution, and, in a strain of awe-struck rapture, thus addressed the heavenly visitant." Hast thou then heard, pure spirit! the wailings of my grief? hast thou descended from the realms of bliss, in pity to my woe? and art thou come to speak the words of peace to my desponding soul? to bid the wretched smile, to lift the load of misery and care from the afflicted breast; to fill thy lover's heart with joy and pleasing hope, was still the darling task of my Monimia, ere yet refined to that perfection which mortality can never attain: no wonder, then, blessed shade, that now, when reunited to thy native heaven, thou art still kind, propitious, and beneficent to us, who groan in this inhospitable vale of sorrow thou hast left. Tell me, ah ! tell me, dost thou still remember those fond hours we passed together? Doth that enlightened bosom feel a pang of soft at last the fruits of that pious resignation to the will of Heaven, which she had so devoutly practised during the term of her affliction: and, lastly, they were accosted by the physician, who was not quite so hackneyed in the ways of death, or so callous to the finer sensations of the soul, but that he blubbered plentifully, while he petitioned Heaven in behalf of such an accomplished and deserving pair. regret, when thou recallest our fatal separa- | clergyman, who told Monimia, she had reaped tion? Sure that meekened glance bespeaks thy sympathy! Ah! how thy tender look o'erpowers me! Sacred heaven! the pearly drops of pity trickle down thy cheeks! Such are the tears that angels shed o'er man's distress! Turn not away-thou beckonest me to follow yes, I will follow thee, ethereal spirit, as far as these weak limbs, encumbered with mortality, will bear my weight; and, would to heaven! I could with ease put off these vile corporeal shackles, and attend thy flight." Melvil, whose passions were still in agitation, and whose mind could not yet digest the incidents that occurred, embraced them all by turns; but, like the faithful needle, which, though shaken for an instant from its poise, immediately regains its true direction, and points invariably to the pole, he soon returned to his Monimia; again he held her in his arms, again he drank enchantment from her eyes, and thus poured forth the effusions of his soul.-" Can I then trust the evidence of sense? and art thou really to my Monimia, taking Madam Clement by the hand,-"Whatever joy," said she," Renaldo So saying, he started from the ground; derives from this occasion, is owing to the and, in a transport of eager expectation, at bounty, the compassion, and maternal care awful distance, traced the footsteps of the of this incomparable lady, together with the apparition, which, entering a detached apart-kind admonitions and humanity of those two inent, sunk down upon a chair, and with a worthy gentlemen." sigh exclaimed,-"Indeed, this is too much!" What was the disorder of Renaldo's mind, when he perceived this phenomenon! Before reflection could perform its office, moved by a sudden impulse, he sprung forwards, crying,-"If it be death to touch thee, let me die!" and caught in his arms, not the shadow, but the warm substance of the all-accomplished Monimia." Mysterious powers of Providence! this is no phantom: this is no shade! this is the life! the panting bosom of her whom I have so long, so bitterly deplored! | I fold her in my arms! I press her glowing wish restored? Never, O never did thy breast to mine! I see her blush with virtuous pleasure and ingenuous love! she smiles upon me with enchanting tenderness! Olet me gaze on that transcendent beauty, which, the more I view it, ravishes the more! These charms are too intense! I sicken while I gaze! Merciful Heaven! is not this a mere illusion of the brain? was she not fled for ever? had not the cold hand of death divorced her from my hope? This must be some flattering vision of my distempered fancy! perhaps some soothing dream-if such it be, grant, O ye heavenly powers! that I may never wake." 64 O gentle youth!" replied the beauteous orphan (still clasped in his embrace), "what joy now fills the bosom of Monimia, at this triumph of thy virtue and thy love? when I see these transports of thy affection, when I find thee restored to that place in my esteem and admiration, which thou hadst lost by the arts of calumny and malice-this is a meeting which my most sanguine hopes durst not presage!" So entirely were the faculties of Renaldo engrossed in the contemplation of his restored Monimia, that he saw not the rest of the company, who wept with transport over this affecting scene; he was therefore amazed at the interposition of Madam Clement, who, while the shower of sympathetic pleasure bedewed her cheeks, congratulated the lovers upon this happy event, crying,—"These are the joys which virtue calls her own." They also received the compliments of a reverend beauty shine with such bewitching grace, as that which now confounds and captivates my view! sure there is something more than mortal in thy looks! Where hast thou lived? where borrowed this perfection? whence art thou now descended? Oh! I am all amazement, joy, and fear! thou wilt not leave me ! no! we must not part again: by this warm kiss! a thousand times more sweet than all the fragrance of the east! we never more will part. O! this is rapture, ecstasy, and what no language can explain!" In the midst of these ejaculations, he rav ished a banquet from her glowing lips, that kindled in his heart a flame which rushed through every vein, and glided to his marrow. This was a privilege he had never claimed before, and now permitted as a recompense for all the penance he had suffered : nevertheless, the cheeks of Monimia, who was altogether unaccustomed to such familiarities, underwent a total suffusion; and Madam Clement discreetly relieved her from the anxiety of her situation, by interfering in the discourse, and rallying the count upon his endeavours to monopolize such a branch of happiness. "O my dear lady!" replied Renaldo, who by this time had in some measure recovered his recollection, "forgive the wild transports of a fond lover, who hath so unexpectedly retrieved the jewel of his soul! Yet, far from wishing to board up his treasure, he means to communicate and diffuse his happiness to all his friends. O my Monimia! how will the pleasure of this hour be propagated! As yet thou knowest not all the bliss that is reserved for thy enjoyment! Meanwhile, I long to learn, by what contrivance this happy interview hath been effected: still am I ignorant how I was transported into this apartment, from the lonely vault in which I mourned over my supposed misfortune!" CHAPTER LXIV. The mystery unfolded. Another recognition, which it is to be hoped the reader could not foresee. She made no verbal reply, but answered by an emphatic glance, more eloquent than all the power of rhetoric and speech. This language, which is universal in the world of love, he perfectly well understood, and, in token of that faculty, sealed the assent which she had smiled, with a kiss imprinted on her polished forehead. In order to dissipate these interesting ideas, which, by being too long indulged, might have endangered his reason, Madam Clement entreated him to entertain the company with a detail of what had happened to him in his last journey to the empire; and Monimia expressed a desire of knowing, in particular, the issue of his contest with Count Trebasi, who, she knew, had usurped the succession of his father. THE French lady then explained the whole mystery of Monimia's death, as a stratagem she had concerted with the clergyman and Thus solicited, he could not refuse to gradoctor, in order to defeat the pernicious tify their curiosity and concern: he explained designs of Fathom, who seemed determined his obligations to the benevolent Jew; re. to support his false pretensions by dint of lated the steps he had taken at Vienna for perjury and fraud, which they would have the recovery of his inheritance; informed found it very difficult to elude. She observ- them of his happy rencounter with his fathered, that the physician had actually despaired in-law; of his sister's deliverance and marof Monimia's life, and it was not till after riage; of the danger into which his life had she herself was made acquainted with the been precipitated by the news of Monimia's prognostic, that she wrote the letter to Re-death; and, lastly, of his adventure with the naldo, which she committed to the care of Madam Clement, with an earnest entreaty that it should not be sent till after her decease; but that lady, believing the count had been certainly abused by his treacherous confidant, dispatched the billet without the knowledge of Monimia, whose health was restored by the indefatigable care of the physician, and the sage exhortations of the clergyman, by which she was reconciled to life. In a word, the villainy of Fathom had inspired her with some faint hope, that Renaldo might still be innocent; and that notion contributed not a little to her cure. The letter having so effectually answered their warmest hopes, in bringing back Renaldo, such a pattern of constancy and love, the confederates, in consequence of his enthusiastic sorrow, had planned this meeting, as the most interesting way of restoring two virtuous lovers to the arms of each other; for which purpose the good clergyman had pitched upon his own church, and indulged them with the use of the vestry, in which they now were presented with a small but elegant collation. banditti, in favour of a gentleman, who, he afterwards understood, had been robbed in the most base and barbarous manner by Fathom. He likewise, to the astonishment of all present, and of his mistress in particular, communicated some circumstances, which shall appear in due season. Monimia's tender frame being quite fatigued with the scene she had acted, and her mind overwhelmed with the prosperous tidings she had heard, after having joined the congratulations of the company on the good fortune of her Renaldo, begged leave to retire, that she might by repose recruit her exhausted spirits; and the night being pretty far spent, she was conducted by her lover to Madam Clement's coach, that stood in waiting, in which also the rest of the company made shift to embark, and were carried to the house of that good lady, where, after they were invited to dine, and Melvil entreated to bring Don Diego and the Jew along with him, they took leave of one another, and retired to their respective lodgings, in a transport of joy and satisfaction. As for Renaldo, his rapture was still mixed Melvil heard this succinct detail with with apprehension, that all he had seen and equal joy and admiration: he poured forth heard was no more than an unsubstantial the dictates of his gratitude to the preservers vision, raised by some gay delirium of a disof his happiness." This church," said he, ordered imagination. While his breast un"shall henceforth possess a double share of derwent those violent, though blissful, emomy veneration; this holy man will, I hope, tions of joy and admiration, his friend, the finish the charitable work he has begun, by Castilian, spent the night in ruminating over tying those bands of our happiness, which his own calamities, and in a serious and nought but death shall have power to unbind." severe review of his own conduct. He comThen turning to that object which was the pared his own behaviour with that of the star of his regard,-" Do I not overrate." young Hungarian, and found himself so light said he, "my interest with the fair Monimia?” | in the scale, that he smote his breast with violence, exclaiming, in an agony of re morse ceasing horror and remorse! If misery can atone for such enormous guilt, I have felt it in the extreme: like an undying vulture it preys upon my heart;-to sorrow I am wedded; I hug that teeming consort to my soul;-never, ah! never shall we part; for, soon as my fame shall shine unclouded by the charge of treason that now hangs over it, I will devote myself to penitence and woe. A cold damp pavement shall be my bed, my raiment shall be sackcloth, the fields shall furnish herbage for my food, the stream shall quench my thirst, the minutes shall be numbered by my groans, the night be privy to my strains of sorrow, till Heaven, in pity to my sufferings, release me from the penance I endure. Perhaps the saints whom I have murdered will intercede for my remission." cried Melvil, "I could no longer withhold from your participation, the great, the unexpected turn, which hath this night dispelled all my sorrows, and restored me to the fruition of ineffable joy. Monimia lives!-the fair, the tender, the virtuous Monimia lives, and smiles upon my vows! this night I retrieved her from the grave. I held her in these arms; I pressed her warm delicious lips to mine! O! I am giddy with intolerable pleasure." "Count Melvil has reason to grieve; Don Diego to despair: his misfortunes flow from the villainy of mankind; mine are the fruit of my own madness: he laments the loss of a mistress, who fell a sacrifice to the perfidious arts of a crafty traitor: she was beautiful, virtuous, accomplished, and affectionate; he was fraught with sensibility and love. Doubtless his heart must have deeply suffered; his behaviour denotes the keenness of his woe; his eyes are overflowing fountains of tears; his bosom the habitation of sighs; five hundred leagues hath he measured in a pilgrimage to her tomb; nightly he visits the dreary vault where she now lies at rest; her solitary grave is his couch; he converses with darkness and the dead, until each lonely aisle Such was the exercise of grief, in which re-echoes his distress. What would be his the hapless Castilian consumed the night; penance had he my cause! were he conscious he had not yet consigned himself to rest, of having murdered a beloved wife and dar- when Renaldo, entering his chamber, disling daughter! Ah wretch! ah cruel homi- played such a gleam of wildness and rapture cide-what had those dear victims done to in his countenance, as overwhelmed him with merit such a fate? Were they not ever amazement; for, till that moment, he had gentle and obedient, ever aiming to give thee never seen his visage unobscured with woe.— satisfaction and delight? Say that Serafina" Pardon this abrupt intrusion, my friend," was enamoured of a peasant, say that she had degenerated from the honour of her race; the inclinations are involuntary; perhaps that stranger was her equal in pedigree and worth. Had they been fairly questioned, they might have justified, at least excused, that conduct which appeared so criminal; or had they owned the offence, and supplicated pardon-Oh barbarous monster that I am! was all the husband-was all the father, extinguished in my heart: How shall my own errors be forgiven, if I refused to pardon the frailties of my own blood-of those who are most dear to my affection? Yet nature pleaded strongly in their behalf!-My heart was bursting while I dismissed them to the shades of death. I was maddened with revenge! I was guided by that savage principle which falsely we call honour. Accursed phantom that assumes the specious title, and misleads our wretched nation! Is it then honourable to skulk like an assassin, and plunge the secret dagger in the heart of some unhappy man, who hath incurred my groundless jealousy or suspicion, without indulging him with that opportunity which the worst criminal enjoys? Or is it honourable to poison two defenceless women, a tender wife, an amiable daughter, whom even a frown would almost have destroyed? O! this is cowardice, brutality, hell-born fury and revenge! Heaven hath not mercy to forgive such execrable guilt. Who gave thee power, abandoned ruffian! over the lives of those whom God hath stationed as thy fellows of probation;-over those whom he had sent to comfort and assist thee; to sweeten all thy cares, and smooth the rough uneven paths of life? O! I am doomed to never Don Diego was confounded at this declaration, which he considered as the effect of a disordered brain. He never doubted that Renaldo's grief had at length overpowered his reason, and that his words were the effect of mere frenzy. While he mused on this melancholy subject, the count composed his features, and, in a succinct and well-connected detail, explained the whole mystery of his happiness, to the inexpressible astonishment of the Spaniard, who shed tears of satisfaction; and straining the Hungarian to his breast,-"O my son!" said he, "you see what recompense Heaven hath in store for those who pursue the paths of real virtue ; those paths from which I myself have been fatally misled by a faithless vapour, which hath seduced my steps, and left me darkling in the abyss of wretchedness. Such as you describe this happy fair, was once my Serafina, rich in every grace of mind and body which nature could bestow. Had it pleased Heaven to bless her with a lover like Renaldo !-but no more, the irrevocable shaft is fled: I will not taint your enjoyment with my unavailing sighs!" Melvil assured this disconsolate father, that no pleasure, no avocation, should ever Before they had seated themselves, Renaldo inquired about the health of Monimia, and was directed to the next room by Madam Clement, who permitted him to go thither, and conduct her to the company. He was not slow in availing himself of this permission: he disappeared in an instant, and, during his short absence, Don Diego was strangely disturbed: the blood flushed and forsook his cheeks by turns; a cold vapour seemed to shiver through his nerves; and at his breast he felt uncommon palpitation. Madam Clement observed his discomposure, and kindly inquired into the cause; when he replied, so entirely engross his mind, but that he should still find an hour for sympathy and friendship. He communicated the invitation of Madam Clement, and insisted upon his compliance, that he might have an opportunity of seeing and approving the object of his passion. "I can refuse nothing to the request of Count de Melvil," replied the Spaniard, "and it were ungrateful in me to decline the honour you propose. I own my self inflamed with a desire of beholding a young lady, whose perfections I have seen reflected in your sorrow; my curiosity is, moreover, interested on account of that humane gentlewoman, whose uncommon gene-"I have such an interest in what concerns rosity sheltered such virtue in distress; but my disposition is infectious, and will, I am afraid, hang like a damp upon the general festivity of your friends." Melvil would take no denial, and having obtained his consent, repaired to the house of Joshua, whose countenance seemed to unbend gradually into a total expression of joy and surprise, as he learned the circumstances of this amazing event: he faithfully promised to attend the count at the appointed hour, and, in the meantime, earnestly exhorted him to take some repose, in order to quiet the agitation of his spirits, which must have been violently hurried on this occasion. The advice was salutary, and Renaldo resolved to follow it. He returned to his lodgings, and laid himself down; but, notwithstanding the fatigue he had undergone, sleep refused to visit his eyelids, all his faculties being kept in motion by the ideas that crowded so fast upon his imagination: nevertheless, though his mind continued in agitation, his body was refreshed, and he arose in the forenoon with more serenity and vigour than he had enjoyed for many months. Every moment his heart throbbed with new rapture, when he found himself on the brink of possessing all that his soul held dear and amiable; he put on his gayest looks and apparel; insisted upon the Castilian's doing the same honour to the occasion; and the alteration of dress produced such an advantageous change in the appearance of Don Diego, that when Joshua arrived at the appointed hour, he could scarce recognize his features, and complimented him very politely on the improvement of his looks. True it is, the Spaniard was a personage of a very prepossessing mien, and noble deportment; and had not grief, by increasing his native gravity, in some measure discomposed the symmetry of his countenance, he would have passed for a man of a very amiable and engaging physiognomy. They set out in the Jew's coach for the house of Madam Clement, and were ushered into an apartment, where they found the clergyman and the physician with that lady, to whom Don Diego and the Hebrew were by Melvil introduced. the Count de Melvil, and my imagination is so much prepossessed with the perfections of Monimia, that I am, as it were, agonized with expectation; yet never did my curiosity before raise such tumults as those that now agitate my bosom." He had scarce pronounced these words, when the door re-opening, Renaldo led in this mirror of elegance and beauty, at sight of whom the Israelite's countenance was distorted into a stare of admiration. But if such was the astonishment of Joshua, what were the emotions of the Castilian, when, in the beauteous orphan, he beheld the individual features of his long lost Serafina! His feelings were not to be described: the fond parent, whose affection shoots even to a sense of pain, feels not half such transport, when he unexpectedly retrieves a darling child from the ingulfing blows or devouring flame. The hope of Želos had been totally extinguished: his heart had been incessantly torn with anguish and remorse, upbraiding him as the murderer of Serafina; his, therefore, were the additional transports of a father disburdened of the guilt of such enormous homicide. His nerves were too much overpowered by this sudden recognition, to manifest the sensation of his soul by external signs. He started not, nor did he lift a hand in token of surprise; he moved not from the spot on which he stood; but, riveting his eyes to those of the lovely phantom, remained without motion, until she, approaching with her lover, fell at his feet, and clasping his knees, exclaimed," May 1 yet call you father?" This powerful shock aroused his faculties; a cold sweat bedewed his forehead; his knees began to totter; he dropped upon the floor; and throwing his arms around her, cried,— "Oh Nature! O Serafina! Merciful Providence! thy ways are past finding out." So saying, he fell upon her neck, and wept aloud: the tears of sympathetic joy trickled down her snowy bosom, that heaved with rapture inexpressible. Renaldo's eyes poured forth the briny stream; the cheeks of Madam Clement were not dry in this conjuncture; she kneeled by Serafina, kissed her with all the eagerness of maternal affection, and with |