The Adventures Of Don Pasquale.

THE ADVENTURES OF DON PASQUALE .

RY THE AUTHOR OF THE " OLD , OLD STORY . " CHAPTER II . " C ' est si doux d ' etre aime pour soi-nieHie . " FRENCH PLAY . BEFORE Paesiello could leave his native

country , on his foreign tour , he had to pass through a little ordeal , which , like that of the ancient mysteries , might he said to be composed both of "fire and water . " Foras with many other young men' he

, , had not escaped what Mr . Weller senior , termed the " Aviles" of the " softer sects , " and he had long been on the very friendliest footing of considerable hitimacy with a most charming young " compatriote ;" and her very agreeable but energetic

mother had come to the conclusion , to use her own expression to a dear female friend , "that the thing would do very well . "

Now Paesiello resembled a good many other young men in this world , for , though he greatly admired the daughter , he had not the same hearty appreciation of the mother . Perhaps he thought her too " demonstrative , " or too imperious , or too

affectionate , or too interfering—who can say 1 Or , it may be , that not unlike some niale bipeds , he did not relish interference in such a " ticklish concern , " and thought that he and that " young woman" had better be left alone !

Well , for one , I hold it to be a great mistake , the over-interference and arrangement of parents , in the little affairs of the heart . _ The heart is a very troublesome , difficult piece of mechanism—corporeally and spirituall y—and resists interference and

rejects dictation 1 Young people , in my opinion , ought alw ays to be left to themselves ; and presupposing a certain amount of the " good « ungs " of life , the needful « de quoi , " and a health y competencethey requirefor the

, , ^ ost part , no bringing together , no presslng > no urging onwards , no backing up 1 I don ' t believe in " manages de famille ;" neither do I feel any confidence in

" manages de convenance . " Indeed , I am quite sure , that say what they will , and laugh as our over-facetious friends may , at the " bare idear , " marriages of mutual affection are the " best things out . " WhenthenPaesiello had come not

, , only to man ' s estate , but to his parental fortune—when he was both master of himself and lord of his " hereditary acres "when Dame Rumour , ( if not a lying , yet an exaggerating "jade , " ) had considerably augmented his rent-roll and his

possessions , his landed and his funded property , the mother of the young lady , with a keen eye to business , and a " good forager " as she was , thought that she would bring our hero to hook , and find out the state of his finances and his affections at the same time . And so she wrote

him a most diplomatic letter—as mothers can do , good souls—and asked him to a little afternoon tea , which was then just coming into fashion in that sequestered part of " Italia . " She descanted in this most touching production , this most

effective despatch , on her sympathy for him in his lone condition , the great interest of her daughter in him , also . She assured him how great were their friendship and solicitude for him ; and asked him " currente calamo , " to muffins and tea , to

" Fleur d'Orange , " and a " petit verre " of native "Eau de vie . " Do not be shocked , oh , Good Templars , who read the MASONIO MAGAZINE , and this story at the same time , for they did such things in civilized society at the epoch we are speakine of , some few years

ago . Accordingly at the time appointed , on the day selected , our hero , most becomingly dressed , sauntered up the " Boulevarts " until he reached the gaily-painted house . It was a domicile well known to him , with its Venetian blindsand becoming

"ja-, lousies , " and where , in the pleasant hours of his youth , he had enjoyed many a gay gathering , and received many a friendly greeting . Oh , joyous time , of hope and fear , of gladness and griefof disdain and

antici-, pation , how dost thou to-day take me back to pleasant faces , and festive scenes , alas , no more ! How all seems faded and passing now into the old dark nothingness of time