Lord Raymond presented himself to the house with fearless confidence and insinuating address.  After the Duke of——­and Mr. Ryland had finished their speeches, he commenced.  Assuredly he had not conned his lesson; and at first he hesitated, pausing in his ideas, and in the choice of his expressions.  By degrees he warmed; his words flowed with ease, his language was full of vigour, and his voice of persuasion.  He reverted to his past life, his successes in Greece, his favour at home.  Why should he lose this, now that added years, prudence, and the pledge which his marriage gave to his country, ought to encrease, rather than diminish his claims to confidence?  He spoke of the state of England; the necessary measures to be taken to ensure its security, and confirm its prosperity.  He drew a glowing picture of its present situation.  As he spoke, every sound was hushed, every thought suspended by intense attention.  His graceful elocution enchained the senses of his hearers.  In some degree also he was fitted to reconcile all parties.  His birth pleased the aristocracy; his being the candidate recommended by Adrian, a man intimately allied to the popular party, caused a number, who had no great reliance either on the Duke or Mr. Ryland, to range on his side.

The contest was keen and doubtful.  Neither Adrian nor myself would have been so anxious, if our own success had depended on our exertions; but we had egged our friend on to the enterprise, and it became us to ensure his triumph.  Idris, who entertained the highest opinion of his abilities, was warmly interested in the event:  and my poor sister, who dared not hope, and to whom fear was misery, was plunged into a fever of disquietude.

Day after day passed while we discussed our projects for the evening, and each night was occupied by debates which offered no conclusion.  At last the crisis came:  the night when parliament, which had so long delayed its choice, must decide:  as the hour of twelve passed, and the new day began, it was by virtue of the constitution dissolved, its power extinct.

We assembled at Raymond’s house, we and our partizans.  At half past five o’clock we proceeded to the House.  Idris endeavoured to calm Perdita; but the poor girl’s agitation deprived her of all power of self-command.  She walked up and down the room,—­gazed wildly when any one entered, fancying that they might be the announcers of her doom.  I must do justice to my sweet sister:  it was not for herself that she was thus agonized.  She alone knew the weight which Raymond attached to his success.  Even to us he assumed gaiety and hope, and assumed them so well, that we did not divine the secret workings of his mind.  Sometimes a nervous trembling, a sharp dissonance of voice, and momentary fits of absence revealed to Perdita the violence he did himself; but we, intent on our plans, observed only his ready laugh, his joke intruded on all occasions, the flow of his spirits which seemed incapable of