The Adventures Of Don Pasquale.

How little appears to endure of all we loved so hugely and cherished so dearly Fond affection and laughing voices ; the smiles of the tender and the true ; those honest eyes lighted up with faithful sympathy ; those warm affections which never

failed us , which , knew not coldness , and never succumbed to treachery—all are but shadows now ; shadows whose ethereal flimsiness mocks alike the dreams of youth , the trust of manhood , and the weakness of old age ! And yet once how pleasant

thou wert to over careless and confiding beings . How little then did we any of us reck of disappointment or delusion ! How utterly impossible then appeared- to be the experience of the wise and the prognostications of the prudent !

What a lot of moralizing sentences crowd in upon my pen , as I sit in my old age in my little study , recalling the souvenirs of the past , the scenes of ancient days , the " cara luoghi" of my youth . The voicesthe funthe laughterthe tears

, , , , the sorrows , the joys , the expectations , the longings , the inconsistency , and the inconstancy which throng over the awakened memory , are all before me now , as it ' seems

to linger , not unwillingly , once again amid the " mirage" and the sweet-scented flowers of life ' s young morn ! But Paesiello , as he rang the bell , and looked up at the windows , was not affected by any such sentimental maunderings , such

old-life feelings , hut entered briskly . and was elegantly ushered in "b y the " maior-domo " into the presence of the young lady and her dear mamma . What a pleasant thing it is to be warmly welcomedto be both admired and

appre-, ciated , especially with the enthusiasm of kindly and agreeable women 1 Who has not felt the soft emotion of confiding , and peaceful happiness , involved hi the sense of a congenial heart , of a sympathetic bosomof a real and disinterested

, friendship 1 That amiable and confiding person , Mrs . Balasso , often says to me , of course in confidence , ( though not " sub sigillo confessionis , " ) that " give her a congenial heart , she can bear all the ills of life . But that she finds great coldness

here , and even Mr . Balasso hardl y reaches her ideal of sympathetic interest . "I may observe , " en passant , " that Mrs . Balasso is very sentimental , and her

husband says at times , looking sagaciously at me , " a little queer . " Oh , gentle reader , it is at such an hour as this—despite the warning experience of years , notwithstanding all the sadder echoes of Life's mournful monotone

that we cannot believe that such apparent genuine and truthful interest is fated to yield to the chilling blasts of adversity , the deadening influences of custom and . change , of heartless worldliness or human treachery 1 Nowe surrender ourselves to the sweet

, self-deceit , though we bitterly grieve , in that hour of awakening , when each " fond delusion droops and dies , " when the voices of old affection are hushed for ever ; when the progress of yeais convinces us too sternlyhow brittle is friendship's chain ,

, how worthless often are the protestations and the assurances of eternal affection . But to return to our story from this moralizing and affecting digression . You , good reader , can easily understand how well Paesiello was received by the

mother , how amiably by the daughter , always obedient to the wishes of a loving parent . And like many another little human " seance , " ( but not mesmeric , by the way ) , that meeting passed away , though not to the contentment of all alike .

When , at last , Paesiello found himself on the leafy promenade again , safe and sound , close to his own comfortable home , a feeling of liberty , of escape , of gladness , seemed to occupy the mind of that thoughtless young man . For he had left behind Mm the " songs of

the sirens , " and the gentle , if pressing , assiduities of a possible mother-in-law ; he had been most discreet , if most" empresse ;" most courteous , if most cold . He had answered no veiled glances , and had heeded no gentle sighs ; he had simply

been most civil , and most considerate—but that was all ! When he had left the house , mother and daughter both agreed that they could make nothing of him ; that he had not spoken a word which could mean anything ; that

his attentions were only those of formal friendship ; and that for some reason or other , the charm was dissolved , the magical formula was all in vain 1 But the mother , like a sage and sagacious