ther, as a proof that all feelings of animosity were buried in
his grave.

"Sir Robert's eldest son had been dead for some years, and the present
Baronet, who resided with his grandfather, was just two years older
than your father, and for several years the cousins lived very amicably
beneath the same roof--were sent to the same college in Oxford to
finish their studies and mingle in the same society.

"It was unfortunate for your father, who had too little ballast to
regulate his own conduct, that he contracted the most ardent friendship
for the young Alexander, who was a gay, reckless, dissipated fellow,
regarding his wealth as the source from which he derived all his
sensual pleasures, and not as a talent committed to his stewardship, of
which he must one day give an account.

"Sir Alexander's early career, though not worse than that of many young
men of the same class, was unmarked by any real moral worth. His
elegant person, good taste, and graceful manners, won for him the
esteem and affection of those around him. Frank, courteous, and ever
ready to use his influence with Sir Robert, in mitigating the distress
of his poor tenants, he was almost adored by the lower classes, and by
whom, in return, they were treated with a degree of familiarity, much
beneath his position as a gentleman. From this extravagant,
kind-hearted, and popular young man, Edward Moncton contracted those
habits which terminated in his ruin.

"Congeniality of mind strongly attached the cousins to each other; and
I am certain that Sir Alexander truly loved the frank, confiding,
careless Edward Moncton, while he equally disliked the cold,
calculating, money-getting propensities of his brother Robert. Robert
possessed a disposition not likely to forget or forgive a slight; and
he deeply resented the preference shown to his brother; and his hatred,
though carefully concealed, was actively employed in forming schemes of
vengeance.

"You well know, how Robert Moncton can hate; the depths of guile, and
the slow, smooth words, with which he can conceal the malignity of his
nature, and hide the purposes of his heart. He had a game too to play,
from which he hoped to rise up the winner; and to obtain this object he
alternately flattered and deceived his unconscious victims.

"The particulars of your father's quarrel with Sir Alexander I never
knew; it took place just before the young men left college and became
their own masters; but it was of suc