afforded ample food for research; it was yet grand in decay. The dust of

ages had not embedded all its ruins-here and there a mouldering wall or trembling tower, and a marble pillar, bore testimony that

"The long-lost isle of Ithacus the wise"

had once been worthy of the renown given to it in the immortal verse of the blind bard.

Ithaca was then under the guardian care of Great Britain, as one of the Ionian Islands; it sent members to the senate, and paid its contributions to the state. At the eastern extremity of the island, a small garrison of English and Greek troops kept guard, more for shew than any real

use. The inhabitants were few and inoffensive, nor likely to rebel against that authority

authority which permitted them to pursue the even tenour of their way in peace; whilst the neighbouring coast of the Morea was every where agitated, and blooddyed, through the ambitious designs of Ali, Pacha of Albania, who aimed at the sovereignty of Greece, and total expulsion of the Turks from Europe.

The Count began his sports, and from day to day continued them-his company only was to be had in the evenings; Freeman, absorbed in study, always preferred being alone; and Harolde, with Berenice, wandered amongst the vineyards and olive groves unmolested, and both of them happier than they had been for many years.

Harolde very gently, and at different times, told her every occurrence after her departure from Lampedosa. She shed tears for the cruel fate of her faithful

French

French servant, and sympathized in the sufferings of Harolde, when he mistook the mangled body for hers. The confession of Lamska she knew to be true in most points, and rejoiced unfeignedly that Bernardo was not her real father.

There is, on the southern shore of Ithaca, a beautiful mount, spangled with flowers, and rich with the most delicious fruits; on the summit stand the remains of an ancient bath, through which a small stream of water glides, and meanders away to the ocean, where a harbour for boats has been formed by Grecian industry. This little promontory is called Penelope's Garden," for no other reason than that fondness the modern inhabitants have of doing honour to the glory of their ancestors, with whose histories the very lowest vinedresser is familiar.

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On

On this spot Harolde and Berenice reclined; and as the child gathered flowers, which he laid at their feet, like a Cupid doing homage to Venus and Adonis, she told her tale, interrupted by sighs and tears, which Harolde mingled with his

own.

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I have no recollection of ever being at any place in my infancy but the island of Cyprus, where we resided in a handsome country seat, three miles from Lernicah. My father, who I always thought was a Greek, held an office under the Bashaw, as a collector of tribute from his countrymen: this made him very unpopular, as it was the price of their slavery; and he exacted it with a rigid hand, frequently calling in the aid of Turkish soldiers, to compel prompt payment: he was gloomy and reserved in his disposi

tion; and at a very early age, I observed my mother was far from happy.

"We kept up a princely establishment; all the pomp of eastern grandeur attended our progress through the district, when my father travelled to discharge the duties of his disagreeable office; and next to the Bashaw, no man exercised greater power, or conducted himself with such arrogance towards his suffering countrymen (as I supposed the Greeks to be).

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My mother attended to my education herself; and as her accomplishments were far superior to those possessed by the Cyprian ladies, I frequently, urged by infantine curiosity, begged to know where she learnt those things which made her appear so much above all our acquaintances. She always avoided entering into any explanation, assuring me she was a native

VOL. III.

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