to forbid
the bans," remarked Mr Jeeks.

"The sooner the better," returned the other; while, in a state of
intense wonder, I looked at the speakers.

"What is the meaning of all this?" I asked Lucy Ashton, who had returned
very sedulously to her knitting.

"The truth is this, Henry," said my father; "my friend and relative, Mr
Jeeks, having lost his only son, has determined on making his eldest
daughter Harriet, the young lady before you, the heiress of his house.
By marrying her to you, the object of his ambition--the reunion, namely,
of the divided portions of our ancestral estate--is gained; and as it
appears you have no personal objection to the fair Harriet herself, I
don't see why the addition of the Rayleigh manors should make her
disagreeable."

A month settled every thing to the satisfaction of all parties. Mr Jeeks
has settled himself in London; my father resides in Hartley Mead; and
every day my wife and I go over to see the progress of the alterations
and improvements we are making in the old house, which we are restoring
to its original grandeur under the superintendence of Mr Barry.

IRELAND.--THE LANDLORD AND TENANT QUESTION.

Unfortunately for the cause of truth, and the welfare of that country,
Ireland has lately become the stock in trade of every political writer:
"monster pamphlets" and "monster paragraphs" succeed each other with
astonishing rapidity--all alike remarkable for the "monstrous"
assertions they contain, and for the "monstrous" ignorance they display
of the subject on which they profess to enlighten us.

English tourists, Scotch agents, and German adventurers, flock like
birds of prey, and swarm over the devoted country. They go there, not
for the purpose of enquiring into the real state of things, or the real
causes of the admitted misery of the people; but in order to write what
will be most productive to themselves--not with the philanthropic or
patriotic motive of endeavouring to elucidate a subject of so much
importance; but with the determination to compile as many pages as they
can, in as short a given period as possible. They draw the most absurd
caricatures; and, pandering to the prevailing public opinion, they
relate only what tends to strengthen it in its errors, and to misdirect
and mislead those who consult them for information, or rely on them as
authorities. Their numerous errors are detected and pointed out by the
newspapers, according as they tell against