military band playing up with great power and precision; then various other banners, with appropriate inscriptions, the principal bearing the arms of the town; then a line of open carriages, with the Mayor, the chief members of the corporation, and Stanley's private friends; then another extremely powerful band; then a company of morris dancers, duly arrayed in a style the most grotesque, and performing evolutions of a character the most fantastic; then twelve blooming damsels attired in white, each bearing a basket of flowers, which they strewed with due foresight and skill.

When all these had passed in most admirable order, the triumphal car was turned, and Stanley joined the procession. It was then that he had a full view of the scene, which was indeed on the whole most imposing. Independently of the regular inhabitants of the town, streams of gaily-dressed persons had poured in from the surrounding villages; and while the trumpets were sounding, and the bands were playing, and the bells were ringing, and the cannon at intervals roaring in the distance; the colours were flying, and the masses were cheering, and all seemed inspired with joy.

It is, however, necessary to mention that this was not the end of the pageant. A vehicle drawn by two severe-looking donkeys immediately succeeded the car, and in front of this vehicle a machine was fixed, bearing a powerful resemblance to a gibbet, from which a wellconceived effigy of Mr. Swansdown was suspended in a picturesque position, with a short pipe firmly established in his mouth, and his person thickly studded with crackers, while beneath him sat a gentleman in the similitude of an unearthly personage, grinning with truly ferocious delight, and fiddling away as if he then strongly felt that he had not many minutes to live.

It may be added as an extraordinary fact, that Stanley did not much approve of this highly characteristic exhibition, and therefore actually intimated something like a desire to have it suppressed; but the patriots, possessing a more exquisite taste for the sublime, and being consequently far more delighted with that than with any other portion of the pageant, would not hear of its suppression for one moment, and hence, having the power in their own hands then, the thing was preserved in all its pristine integrity, while the truly Satanic musician kept fiddling fit to break his heart, and thus the imposing procession moved on.

The reception Stanley met with as he passed was highly flattering. The ladies were especially delighted with his appearance, and waved their handkerchiefs in an absolute state of rapture, he was such a remarkably fine young man, such a really charming fellow, so handsome, so graceful, so excessively elegant. In nearly every window his colours. appeared, while with the crowd he was an idol, he did distribute the handfulls of half-crowns and shillings at the corner of each street with so much liberality.

These scrambles were a source of great amusement, he having learned the art of making them to perfection from the chief of the Sons of Glory. It is true there was no mud, which was certainly unfortunate as far as it went; but there was plenty of dust, which, when duly commingled with the perspiration of the patriots, had a very good effect, and more especially as during the whole of the morning they had been paying their best respects to the barrels of beer which were freely established in all parts of the town.

Having passed through nearly all the principal streets, the procession reached the inn at which Amelia, and the most distingué ladies of the borough, had taken up their quarters. Here a splendid triumphal arch had been erected, with the trellis-work of which wreaths of ribbons and flowers had been ingeniously and effectively interwoven, while the whole was surmounted with an elegant banner, presented to Stanley by the ladies of the town.

Beneath this arch, as had been previously arranged, the car stopped; and, as Stanley was acknowledging the joyous greeting of all around, a trumpet sounded, when the music and the cheering simultaneously ceased, and in an instant, as if by magic, a dead silence prevailed. Stanley, from whom this arrangement had been kept a strict secret, looked amazed; but, before he had time to inquire the cause, the poor children belonging to the various schools to which the widow had sent munificent donations in his name, and who had been stationed upon platforms on either side of the arch, commenced singing a hymn, in which the blessing of Heaven was fervently invoked on the head of their benefactor. The effect of this was electrical: all were touched deeply the handkerchiefs of the ladies were no longer waving, and even the hardy crowd, as the strains of the children fell like heavenly music upon their ears, and thus realised their conception of a choir of angels, were awed, and hundreds of men, whom few calamities could have softened, hundreds who had been shouting, and drinking, and acting in a manner the most reckless but a moment before, were seen wiping their eyes with the sleeves of their coats as the tears trickled into their bosoms.

Stanley was much affected: he tried to conceal it, but could not; while Amelia wept and sobbed like a child: her heart was so full, and she felt so happy.

The moment the strains of the children had ceased the trumpet again sounded, and again the enlivening music was heard; and when Stanley had directed the largest coin of the realm to be given to each child to be worn as a medal in remembrance of him, the pageant continued its course.

At length it arrived at head-quarters - the inn at which Stanley's committee had been held - when the Mayor, and the members of the corporation, alighted, and having received their representative in form, they conducted him at once to the principal room.

The crowd had not, however, seen sufficient of him yet; albeit he had been in his perilous position for nearly two hours—and that position really was one of peril, inasmuch as the patriots by whom the car was borne had been taking a little too much strong ale—they loudly summoned him again to appear, and he eventually obeyed that summons: he appeared upon the balcony, and the shouts with which they hailed him were tremendous. He then addressed them, and in his address thanked them for the enthusiasm they had displayed; and, having intimated to them that it was nearly three o'clock-an intimation which was well understood―he begged of them all to be merry and wise.

A circle was then formed in front of the inn, and when the wretched-looking effigy of Mr. Swansdown had been placed in the centre, the crackers with which his devoted person had been filled were ignited, and blew him to atoms.

The patriots, bearing in mind the highly palatable intimation they had received, then repaired to the various houses of entertainment at

which really enormous quantities of beef and plum-pudding had been provided; and at six o'clock Stanley sat down to dinner, with two hundred of the principal inhabitants of the town.

Here the utmost enthusiasm prevailed up to the hour of nine, when that being the time appointed for dancing to commencethe whole party retired from the table. Stanley opened the ball with the lady of the Mayor, and was delighted to see his guests so joyous and happy. Here, again, he was the admiration of the whole of the ladies, and Amelia won the hearts of all the gentlemen present. Sir William danced with the widow the greater part of the evening, and nothing could exceed her delight: he was so graceful, so attentive, so kind: she was in raptures. Mr. Ripstone was absent, which she could not but think very odd; but, then, Sir William was present; and, although Mr. Ripstone was a dear, good creature, Sir William surpassed him in every point.

Having danced with spirit until twelve o'clock, Stanley, worn out with fatigue and excitement, retired with his party almost unperceived; and when the carriages were ordered, the crowd, who were waiting outside to do him honour, insisted upon drawing him themselves to his residence, which was situated nearly a mile from the town. All opposition to this was, of course, vain, and the horses were accordingly removed from both carriages, the traces and poles only remaining attached; and, when Stanley and his party had entered, three cheers were given as the signal for starting, and off they went, preceded by a military band. Instead, however, of taking them directly home, they drew them round the town, which was brilliantly lighted up, and it was not until they imagined that their chosen representative had seen enough of the general illumination that they would consent to proceed towards his mansion.

Having once got upon the road, they were not long before they reached the gates, and here they were met by enthusiastic thousands, who, by the light of large bonfires, had been dancing on the lawn. The committee had arranged this quite unknown to Stanley, and had instructed their agents to regale the happy multitude with boiled beef and beer.

This was, of course, a fresh source of delight to Stanley, who not only encouraged the dancers to proceed, but by way of acknowledging the compliment they had paid him, took the hand of one of the lasses, and having placed her at the head of about two hundred couples, led off the next dance, The Triumph!—much to the amusement of Amelia and her friends, who were enjoying the sport at the drawing-room window. This, however, settled him. The line for nearly an hour seemed interminable, for even those who had before no intention to dance, stood up to have the honour of dancing with him. He did, however, at length, reach the bottom, when, feeling quite sure that he had had enough of it, he restored his proud partner to her friends, and left the lawn.

A signal was now given, and in an instant it was answered by a grand and unexpected flight of rockets, and as this was succeeded by a really magnificent display of fireworks of every description, it was rationally supposed that the enthusiastic guests would withdraw; but, no, nothing of the sort: although Stanley and his party retired to rest in an absolute state of exhaustion, the multitude immediately re-commenced dancing, and kept it up with infinite spirit until the rosy morning dawned.