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Rh We had been quoting quaint conceits and pleasant passages from a comedy of a countryman of our own; merry jests, as to how Catherine was tamed and Bianca won, made the way short; and it was in the most mirthful spirit that we entered the town. Oh, cold and insensible hearts, that took no thought of the future, that mistrusted not their own gaiety,—more limited in our wisdom than the bird and brute are in their instinct! The mule knows the hidden pitfalls of the morass; the swallow feels the storm ere it comes upon the air, and wings to the quiet shelter of its nest—they foresee their dangers, and avoid them; while we blindly rush forward into the depths of the pit and the fury of the tempest; for we know not what evils await us. No kind foreknowledge gives us even the choice of avoidance.

"We liked Padua. Lord Avonleigh found himself the centre of a knot of gay companions, who, rich, young, and noble, desired nothing better than present enjoyment. I saw but little of him—my temper was graver, my pursuits different. I had began to form hopes born of my own exertions, that talent and industry would do more for me than birth and wealth had done for him. Ah, it is no good sign when we refer to others, not to its own precious possession, in our