been disinherited for not having separated herself from such a scoundrel, as they suppose me to be. I could furnish volumes of circumstances of this nature, all of which are owing to that unhappy name of Smith, but I fear I have already trespassed too far on your valuable pages. Having told you thus far, what I am, I will conclude, by telling you, for my own sake, and for the benefit of the public at large, what I am not.

I am not the young man of respectable appearance, who was remanded last week on a charge of robbing his employer.

I am not the unhappy man, who, a few days ago deliberately committed suicide, by suffocating himself with charcoal, in a fit of temporary insanity. I am not a tripe-dresser in Golden Lane; I am not a whalebone merchant in Fleet Street; I am not a tailor in the Strand; I was not married last week, at St. Pancras Church, to somebody, whose name I forget. I have never performed the principal Witch, in Macbeth-neither am I any relation to the "Bottle Imp,"

whatever.

I am not ready to fight Jem Ward, or any other pet of the fancy, for 50 sovereigns aside; nor am I to be heard of at Peter Crawley's.

I am not the ragged young urchin, who was placed at the bar, for a daring robbery on a lollipop-vender. Neither did I die, lamented by all who knew me, on the thirtieth ultimo, as stated in the public journals.

I am not sexton to half a dozen parishes; and I know nothing about the keys of any engine whatever.

I do not beat carpets, nor undertake porter's work; I did not preach an impressive discourse on any occasion; neither was I committed for three months to the tread mill, for playing at thimblerig during divine service.

I am not the monster in human form, who was convicted of skinning cats alive, and leaving their quivering carcasses to writhe in all the horrors of excoriation. I am not a gingerbread baker, nor a dealer in marine stores.

I am what I am, Dei gratia, and remain, the reader's obedient servant, GREGORY SMITH.

THE GENEROUS LOVER. (For the Parterre).

CHAP. II. Beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold. OUR two friends reached the tents just as the ex-pacha arrived, and his successor

was coming out to receive him at the door of his pavilion. Ali pacha (for that was the name of him who was quitting the government) came attended by all the janissaries composing the ordinary garrison of Nicosia, since the Turks had obtained possession of it, amounting to about five hundred. They came in two wings or files; some with muskets, others with drawn scimetars. They approached the entrance of the new pacha's tent, and took their stations round it: then Ali Pacha, inclining his body, made a reverence to Hassan, and the latter, with a slighter inclination, returned the salute. Ali then entered Hassan's pavilion; and the Turks mounted Hassan upon a fine horse, richly caparisoned; they led him round the tents, and took a considerable circuit over the ground about them, crying out in their language"Long live Sultan Soliman, and Hassan Pacha in his name!" They repeated this a number of times, shouting louder every time; and then they led him back to the tent, where Ali Pacha had remained; when he, the cadi, and Hassan, shut themselves up there for an hour, no other person being present. Mahomet told Ricardo that they had done this in order to consult about what should be done in the city relative to the works which Ali had commenced.

At length the cadi came to the door of the tent, and called out, three several times, in Turkish, Arabic, and Greek, that all who had justice to demand, or any complaint to make, against Ali Pacha, might enter freely, for that Hassan Pacha was there, whom the Grand Signior sent to be viceroy of Cyprus, who would do them all right and justice. This permission being given, the Janissaries left the door-way of the tent unoccupied, and gave free passage to all who chose to enter. Mahomet took Ricardo in with him, for the latter was allowed to pass, as being a slave of Hassan. There entered, to ask justice, some Greek Christians, and also several Turks; but all for matters of so little importance, that the cadi dispatched the greater part of them without either pleadings or cross-examinations: for all causes, except matrimonial ones, are settled among them summarily, and at once, rather according to the good sense of the judge than according to any written law. And among those barbarians (if, indeed, in the brevity of their legal proceedings they can be considered as such) the cadi was the competent judge of all causes, deciding

them in a breath, without there being any appeal from his sentence to another tribunal.

At this time, there entered an alguazil, or chauz, as he was called in Turkish, to say that a Jew was waiting at the door of the tent, who had with him for sale a very beautiful Christian woman: the cadi ordered him to be admitted. The officer accordingly went out, and immediately returned with a venerable-looking Jew, who led by the hand a woman attired in a Barbary dress, so richly adorned, and so elegantly arrayed, that she could not have been equalled by the wealthiest Moorish woman of Fez or of Morocco, though they were thought to excel in dress all the other African ladies, not excepting the Algerines with their profusion of pearls. Her face was hidden by a veil of crimson taffety; upon her ancles, which were uncovered, there shone a pair of clasps, or anclets, apparently of pure gold; and upon her arms, which were visible through the sleeves of an undergarment of fine transparent silk, she had bracelets of gold, set with numerous pearls. In short, her attire was costly and elegant in the extreme.

Struck with admiration at this first view, the cadi and the two pachas, before making any inquiry, commanded the Jew to cause the Christian woman to unveil herself. He did so, and a face of radiant beauty beamed upon them, like the sun bursting from a cloud. All were astonished; but the sorrowing Ricardo gazed in breathless amazement, as if he thought he beheld a visitant from another world.- Could it indeed be she-or was it some phantom, conjured up by his evil genius to torture him with cruel mockery?-had the demon of the tempest really spared that angel form? -Surely it must be so-and she whose knell he thought he had heard in the wild howl of the winds and waters-she whose damp cold relics he had longed to clasp, now stood before him in all the splendour of her living charms-his cruel and adored Leonisa !

The exceeding beauty of the fair Christian, so suddenly beheld, at once made a eonquest of the hearts of Ali and Hassan; nor was the cadi unmoved by the power of her charms; he was even more affected by them than the pachas, and was unable to take his eyes off Leonisa's lovely countenance. And such is the force of this passion-all three conceived, at that very moment, what appeared to them to be a wellgrounded hope of possessing and enjoy

The

ing her; so that, without staying to inquire how, where, or when she came into the hands of the Jew, they asked him what price he set upon her. covetous Israelite mentioned a sum equivalent to four thousand crowns of that period. But scarcely had he named his price before Ali Pacha said that he would give it, and told him to go directly to his tent, and count over the money. But Hassan Pacha resolving not to let her go thus, though it should be at the risk of his life, said, "I, too, will give for the damsel the sum which the Jew asks-which I would not offer to do, nor would I oppose myself to Ali in this matter, but for a reason which, as he himself will acknowledge, obliges me so to do-which is, that this beautiful slave cannot belong to either of us, but to the Grand Signior above, in whose name I purchase her: let us see now who will be so bold as to attempt to take her from me." "That will I," replied Ali, "for I purchase her for the very same purpose; and surely it is rather for me, who am going direct to Constantinople, to make this present to the Grand Signior, and thereby gain his favour; since, being now left, as you know, Hassan, without an employment, it is necessary that I should seek to obtain one; whereas you are certain, for three years, of the government of this rich kingdom of Cyprus. For this reason, and because I was the first who offered the price for the captive, it is but right, Hassan, that thou shouldst leave her to me. But Hassan was not to be thus argued out of his purpose. Love, in all its shapes, is an overmatch for reason. "Such a present to the Grand Signior," returned he, "will come with a better grace from me, who make it without any interested motive; and as for the opportunity of conveying her, I will man a galiot with my own crew and slaves, for that especial purpose.' Irritated at these words, Ali rose up, and laid his hand on his scimetar, saying—

'My intention, Hassan, being the same as thine, namely, to make a present of this Christian woman to the Grand Signior, and I having been the first purchaser, I once more tell thee it is fit and just that thou shouldst leave her to me; and if thou persist in doing otherwise, this weapon, which I grasp, shall vindicate my right, and chastise thy audacity."

The cadi, who heard all this, and who was no less inflamed with desire than the contending pachas, fearful lest the fair captive should not come into his

"Do you think," said Ricardo, "it is fit that I should place myself where she may see me?"

"By no means," answered Mahomet, "lest you should surprise her, or be agitated yourself, and by your emotion shew that you have seen and know her; which might be prejudicial to my design."

"I will follow your advice," said Ricardo; and accordingly he was cautious that his eyes should not encounter those of Leonisa, who had all this time kept hers fixed upon the ground, shedding a few gentle tears. The cadi approached her, and taking her hand, delivered her to Mahomet, commanding him to take her to the city, and give her into the is mistress Halima, and tell her er as a slave of the Grand Mahomet obeyed, and left alone, who gazed after the fair and wandering star of his hopes, until she disappeared behind the walls of Nicosia. He then went to the Jew, and asked him where he had bought that Christian captive, or how she had come into his possession. The Jew answered him, that he had bought her on the island of Pantalaria, of some Turks who had been wrecked there. He was about to proceed in his narrative, but was prevented by a summons from the pachas, who wanted to ask him the very same thing which Ricardo desired to know; and he accordingly left him.

On the way from the tents to the city, Mahomet took occasion to ask Leonisa to what place she belonged; and she answered, "the city of Trapani.'

Mahomet then asked her if she knew in that city a gentleman of rich and noble parentage, named Ricardo. On hearing which, Leonisa heaved a deep sigh, and said, "Yes, I do know him, to my misfortune."

"How to your misfortune?" inquired Mahomet.

"Because," returned Leonisa, "he knew me to his own, and to my unhappiness."

"And do you," asked Mahomet, "also know, in the same city, a young gentleman of elegant exterior, the son of wealthy parents, and himself a person of great worth, generosity, and discretion, named Cornelio?"

"I know him too," answered Leonisa;

"and, I may say, still more to my misfortune than I know Ricardo. But who are you, sir, who seem to know them, and put these questions to me about them ?"

"I," said Mahomet, "am a native of Palermo, whom a variety of incidents have brought to wear this habit in which you now see me, so different from that which I wore formerly; and I know them, because within these few days they have both of them been in my hands. Cornelio was captured by some Moors of Tripoli, by whom he was sold to a Turk, who brought him to this island, to which he came with merchandize, being a merchant of Rhodes, and he intrusted Cornelio with the care of all his property."

"He will know how to take care of it," said Leonisa, "for he can take very good care of his own. But tell me, sir, how or with whom did Ricardo come to this island?"

"He came," answered Mahomet, "with a corsair, who took him in a garden on the sea-shore at Trapani; and he said that a young lady was carried off at the same time, but he never would tell me her name. He remained here a few days with his master, who was going to visit the tomb of Mahomet at Medina: but when they were on the point of departure, Ricardo was taken very ill, so that his master left him with me, as being from the same place, to take care of him until he should recover, or, if he should not recover here, to send him to Constantinople, at which place he would duly advertise me of his arrival. But heaven ordained it otherwise; for the unfortunate Ricardo, though not afflicted with any corporeal malady, expired at the end of a few days, having constantly on his tongue the name of one Leonisa, whom he told me he had loved more dearly than his life, and who had been drowned in the wreck of a galiot on the island of Pantalaria, whose death he was ever lamenting, until grief put a period to his existence; for I could discover no disease in his body, but only symptoms of great anguish in his soul."

"Tell me, sir," asked Leonisa, "did that youth whom you mentioned, in any of the conversations which passed between you, and which, as you were fellow-countrymen, must have been numerous, ever speak of that Leonisa, and of the manner in which she and Ricardo were carried off?"

"Yes," replied Mahomet, "he mentioned her, and he asked me if a Chris