er was ever sent away from their gates. The gentry received one
another, and travelled to each other's houses, in a state almost feudal.
The question of Slavery was not born at the time of which we write. To
be the proprietor of black servants shocked the feelings of no Virginian
gentleman; nor, in truth, was the despotism exercised over the negro
race generally a savage one. The food was plenty; the poor black people
lazy and not unhappy. You might have preached negro emancipation to
Madam Esmond of Castlewood as you might have told her to let the horses
run loose out of her stables; she had no doubt but that the whip and the
corn-bag were good for both.

Her father may have thought otherwise, being of a sceptical turn on very
many points, but his doubts did not break forth in active denial, and
he was rather disaffected than rebellious. At one period, this gentleman
had taken a part in active life at home, and possibly might have been
eager to share its rewards; but in latter days he did not seem to care
for them. A something had occurred in his life, which had cast a tinge
of melancholy over all his existence. He was not unhappy--to those about
him most kind--most affectionate, obsequious even to the women of
his family, whom be scarce ever contradicted; but there had been some
bankruptcy of his heart, which his spirit never recovered. He submitted
to life, rather than enjoyed it, and never was in better spirits than in
his last hours when he was going to lay it down.

Having lost his wife, his daughter took the management of the Colonel
and his affairs; and he gave them up to her charge with an entire
acquiescence. So that he had his books and his quiet, he cared for no
more. When company came to Castlewood, he entertained them handsomely,
and was of a very pleasant, sarcastical turn. He was not in the least
sorry when they went away.

"My love, I shall not be sorry to go myself," he said to his daughter,
"and you, though the most affectionate of daughters, will console
yourself after a while. Why should I, who am so old, be romantic? You
may, who are still a young creature." This he said, not meaning all he
said, for the lady whom he addressed was a matter-of-fact little person,
with very little romance in her nature.

After fifteen years' residence upon his great Virginian estate, affairs
prospered so well with the worthy proprietor, that he acquiesced in his
daughter's plans for the building of a mansion much