"That voice calls me back to life," she said at length, as the American was pouring forth his vows that she might yet be spared.

"Then it is the same whom my soul has loved!" and the man of Charleston leaped up with frantic extasy.

"But how came she in this place, and in this condition?" He almost instinctively looked towards his rifle as he spoke, and for a moment suspicions of the Indians crossed his mind. But Louisa Pipon soon gained strength enough to tell her simple tale, and to explain how the shoutings of the dance had reached her in her desolate home, how her heart throbbed between hope and fear, how she at length went desperately forth, to trust the strangers or to perish.

And what were not the feelings of the Canadian when he saw his niece again, and in safety! What could he have set in array against the pleasures of that moment! He would scarcely hear the self-accusing story of the American, how, at first, Chillers had put up with a bad "location" in South Carolina; how he had got a better "pitch" afterwards, and at last determined to go in search of his bride, without the certainty of a hundred dollars. It did not signify to Mr. Pipon; he had learnt a serious lesson; his heart and purse opened lavishly at once there was enough for all. He gave the young couple his blessing, promised to surrender his niece's fortune, and never repented when his transports had passed away.

The bishop married them, (the same prelate who was to have fulfilled the ceremony of seclusion,) and whatever his ideas of monastic virtue might have been, a satisfaction beyond all guile gleamed on his countenance at these nuptials, which shed honour on the man, because it was true to nature.

TH.DE

MEREWORTH CASTLE,

THE SEAT OF THE BARONESS LE DESPENCER.

MEREWORTH gave name to an ancient family, of whom, Sir William de Mereworth was with Richard Coeur de Lion at the siege of Acre. It afterwards passed, by females, through the Fitzalan, Beauchamp, and Neville families, to the Fanes; and from them, by bequest, to Sir Francis Dashwood, Bart., of High Wycomb, late Lord Le Despencer, with remainder to Sir Thomas Stapleton, Bart., who since succeeded to the title of Baron Le Despencer, and whose grand-daughter and heiress is now the owner of this fine district.

The splendid residence of this Lady, called Mereworth Castle, was erected by the late Mildmay Fane, eighth Earl of Westmoreland, after a design by Colin Campbell, from a beautiful building by Palladio, but better adapted, perhaps, for the climate of Italy than that of England. Though termed a castle, it cannot lay the least claim, or set up the slightest pretension, to that appellation, except from the circumstance of its having been built on the site of an ancient embattled mansion, the old moat of which still surrounds the present fabric.

It consists of a centre, and two wings for offices, of equal elegance. That in which the stables are, stands on the spot formerly occupied by the parish church, which was pulled down by the earl, who had a new one erected in the middle of the village.

The principal part is towards the north. The entrance opens under a portico, ascended by a grand flight of steps.

The great hall, from which all the principal apartments diverge, is lighted by a dome and cupola, between the walls of which the flues are carried up. The rooms are in general small, but are fitted up in a very costly manner, and contain many pictures, some of them of great merit.

Behind the house, the ground rises into small hills, forming a sort of amphitheatre, being embellished with plantations and prospect rooms. In front is a broad sheet of water, which has been expanded from a small rill that rises at a short distance westward, and flows into the Medway near Bow Bridge. The parsonage house, which, like the church, was re-built by the earl, is a handsome edifice, and forms a pleasing object from the castle. Through the Hurst-woods, which, extending to the north-east, cover an area of several miles, his lordship also had an avenue cut at great expense, and three miles in length, to communicate with the London road near Wrotham. In these woods, which abound with oak, and are partly within the weald, were wild swine as lately as the reign of Elizabeth; and among the quarry hills here the marten cat is still occasionally seen.

The church is dedicated to St. Lawrence, and was consecrated in August 1746. It is built on the plan of St. Paul's, Covent Garden, designed by Inigo Jones; but is more splendid, and has an elegant spire. There are no pews in this church, but seats, as on the continent. The pillars are painted in imitation of marble. The east window contains some very fine painted glass, brought from the old castle, and exhibiting the arms and alliances of the earls of Westmoreland. In a chapel at the west end were re-interred the remains of the Fanes, removed, with their costly monuments, from the old church.

The lineage of the Le Despencers is as anceint and honourable as that of any family in the whole range of