of his countrymen. To inherit this wealth he had but
one child - the daughter whom we have introduced to the reader, and whom he was
now conveying from school, to preside, over a household that had too long wanted
a mistress.
    When the district in which his estates lay, had become sufficiently populous
to be set off as a county, Mr. Temple had, according to the custom of the new
settlements, been selected to fill its highest judicial station. This might make
a Templar smile, but in addition to the apology of necessity, there is ever a
dignity in talents and experience, that is commonly sufficient, in any station,
for the protection of its possessor; and Marmaduke, more fortunate in his native
clearness of mind, than the judge of king Charles, not only decided right, but
was generally able to give a very good reason for it. At all events, such was
the universal practice of the country and the times; and Judge Temple, so far
from ranking among the lowest of his judicial cotemporaries in the courts of the
new counties, felt himself, and was unanimously acknowledged to be, among the
first.
    We shall here close this brief explanation of the history and character of
some of our personages, leaving them in future to speak and act for themselves.
 

                                  Chapter III

 »All that thou see'st, is nature's handy work:
 Those rocks, that upward throw their mossy brows,
 Like castled pinnacles of elder times!
 These venerable stems, that slowly rock
 Their tow'ring branches in the wintry gale!
 That field of frost, which glitters in the sun,
 Mocking the whiteness of a marble breast! -
 Yet man can mar such works with his rude taste,
 Like some sad spoiler of a virgin's fame.«
                                                                            Duo.
 
Some little time elapsed ere Marmaduke Temple was sufficiently recovered from
his agitation, to scan the person of his new companion. He now observed, that he
was a youth of some two or three and twenty years of age; and rather above the
middle height. Further observation was prevented by the rough over-coat, which
was belted close to his form by a worsted sash, much like the one worn by the
old hunter. The eyes of the Judge, after resting a moment on the figure of the
stranger, were raised to a scrutiny of his countenance. There had been a look of
care, visible in the features of the youth, when he first entered the sleigh,
that had not only attracted the notice of Elizabeth, but which she had been much
puzzled to interpret.