as to the flagrant punctuality of their arrival; and the tardy appearance of one liveried lackey alone, in red waistcoat and white apron, verified their worst fears. Many a felon has ascended the fatal ladder with less appearance of shame and contrition, than was painted in the countenances of these unhappy "young men about town," as they ascended the carpeted stairs-about to expiate the offence of such unnatural prematurity of arrival; and the deserts of Arabia would hardly have appeared more awful in their eyes, than did the solitude of the drawingroom, where they found themselves—literally first. Silence succeeded the shutting of the door, which was at length broken by Lord George; whilst, by the help of the pier glass, with his right hand, he arranged his flattened locks; and, with his left, quelled the first symptoms of insurrection in his neck-cloth.

"At least, we shall hear the lions all announcedwe shall know who the inmates of the menagerie are to be to-day." Hardly had this consolation been suggested, when the door was opened, not by the regular officer, the groom of the chambers, who scorned to be a party to so untimely an arrival, but by a mumbling footman, who muttered something that was meant to be a name, and disappeared; having ushered in a young man, dressed in deep mourning. Our two friends regarded him with an unacknowledging stare, which the stranger repaid

in kind, as he passed to a sofa at the further extremity of the room, and unconcernedly occupied himself with a newspaper; whilst the two youths remained in the window-place, where they had nestled themselves from a sense of solitude.

In any other civilized country in the world, gentlemen thus accidentally meeting, if they did not, like the lady in the Anti-Jacobin, "vow an eternal friendship," would at least, from the circumstance of meeting in the house of a common friend, have been admitted to the local rank of acquaintances, and received the regular brevet allowances of nods, smiles, &c. But here we are more afraid of being involved in a bow than in a bad bet-of being obliged to acknowledge an acquaintance than a bill--and the most persevering dun is not so embarrassing as the face which, one is obliged to own, has acquired a legal title to a nod, from our having been incautious enough to incur acquaintanceship with the

owner.

There was something in the air and manner of the stranger, which it was impossible for the most unobservant not to remark as peculiarly distinguished; and from the tact which the usage of the world gives to every one in these matters, such would certainly have been the opinion of our two worthies, if their judgment had not been wilfully biassed by the conclusion which they logically deduced from having been every where, and knowing every body-that

him whom they did not know they ought not to know;" and they would as soon have adopted the doctrine of the Preadamites, as have admitted, that any one, worthy to be ranked among the elect, had existed prior to the commencement of their fashionable millennium, just two years before. Therefore, expecting from the character of the Eatingtons that the party would be rather a mixed one, Mr. Penryn whispered to Lord George-"I think it's the new actor: to be sure this man's figure looks better; but then I only saw him in Richard the Third, with hump, and all that sort of thing." "No," said Lord George, "I think it's the composer-what's his name?—I caught a glimpse of his head behind the piano-forte, last week, at Lady I.'s, as I squeezed half in at the door-way. You know he asks a hundred pounds a night, and the Eatingtons are famous for paying in kind ;-turtle and champagne for notes -you understand."

"I have it, George," retorted the other; "look at his black coat-depend upon it, it's the Popular Preacher. I never heard him, to be sure; but I'm quite certain it's he."

The reader will be good enough to understand, that this colloquy was uttered chiefly to evince (to cach other) the witty pleasantry of the speakers; for I would not have it supposed, that they were so ignorant of that only knowledge to which they even pretended, as not shrewdly to suspect, by his ap

pearance, that the new comer was, in point of fact, one of themselves; though they had hitherto, by some unaccountable accident, happened not to have become personally acquainted with him.

The door was now opened, and the Dowager Duchess of Dulladone and the two Lady Townlys were announced. The former situation of Lord George and his friend was bliss, compared to that in which they now found themselves; for, besides the danger of being devoured, as they would have expressed it, by the two Lady Townlys, to which their present unprotected state seemed to expose them, their misery was increased by the shame of having been convicted, by a dowager duchess and her two unmarried daughters, of having arrived before them; and the consciousness of having thereby forfeited their best claim to that admiration hitherto so lavishly bestowed upon them from that quarter: the young ladies' idea of being "quite the thing," consisting in nothing so much as pre-eminent unpunctuality.

The stranger bowed slightly to the duchess as she passed to his end of the room, which she answered with an inquiring curtsey-her grace's eye-sight, which was none of the best, being now rendered more treacherous by the darkness of the room.

Who is it?" said she to Lord George, in a low whisper; to which he replied, "Indeed I don't know"-in a tone of voice all but impertinently audible. At this moment their host and hostess

appeared from an inner room--Lady Eatington employed with a half-drawn-on glove--his lordship applying a half-opened pocket handerchief to his nose; both which actions were meant to signify rather reproachfully, than apologetically, "You have come sooner than we expected—but here we are.”

As we have introduced our readers to their house, we shall be expected to make them acquainted with the master and mistress; but Lord and Lady Eatington were those every day sort of people of whose characters it is almost impossible to speak in affirmatives. Perhaps the two most positive characteristics of his lordship were, that he was a receiver of rents in the country, and a giver of dinners in town. To speak negatively-he was-no politician--no farmer-no bel esprit-no connoisseur ; but the most distinguished of all these classes met at his house, to pronounce upon the merits of one of the best cooks in Europe: in consideration of which, every one, in accepting his invitations, wrote to him "Dear Eatington,

"Your's truly."

And every one enfiled the crowd at Almack's, to squeeze Lady Eatington's hand when she first came

to town.

Her ladyship was naturally a very silly, and by education (so called,) a very illiterate woman; but long habits of the world enabled her to conceal this; and if she was seldom as well informed as her guests,