e of the execution; and that
which came down in cart-loads from town to replace it, was rigidly in
accordance with the semi-Gothic architecture of the lofty chambers.
Poor Sparks must have been doubly mortified; for not only did he find
his old eyesore converted into an irremediable evil by the restoration
of the Hall, but the supremacy hitherto maintained in the
neighbourhood by the modern elegance of his house and establishment,
was thrown into the shade by the rich and tasteful arrangements of the
Hall.

From the contracted look of his forehead, and sudden alteration of his
appearance, I have reason to think he was beginning to undergo all the
moral martyrdom sustained for thirty years past by the unfortunate Sir
Laurence Altham; and were I not by nature the most contented of men,
it would have sufficiently reconciled me to the mediocrity of my
fortunes, to see that these two great people of my neighbourhood--the
nobly-descended baronet and rich _parvenu_--were miserable men; that,
so long as I could remember, one or other of them had been given over
to surliness and discontent.

Before the close of the year the grand old Hall had become one of the
noblest seats in the county. There was talk about it in all the
country round, and even the newspapers took notice of its renovation,
and of General Stanley's removal thither from Stanley Manor. Many
people, of the species who love to detect spots in the sun, were
careful to point out the insufficiency of the estate, as at present
constituted, to maintain so fine a house. But, after all, what
mattered this to General Stanley, who had a fine rent-roll elsewhere?

The first thing he did, on taking possession, was to give a grand ball
to the neighbourhood; nor was it till the whole house was lighted up
for this festive occasion, that people were fully aware of the
grandeur of its proportions. He was good enough to send me an
invitation on so especial an occasion. But already I had imbibed the
distaste which has pursued me through life for what is called society;
and I accordingly contented myself with surveying from a distance the
fine effect produced by the light streaming from the multitude of
windows, and exhibiting to the whole country round the gorgeous nature
of the decorations within. To own the truth, I could scarcely forbear
regretting, as I surveyed them, the gloomy dilapidation of the
venerable mansion. This modernized antiquity was a very different
thing from