nobleman, our well loved Frederic, suffered much and suffered long, but eventually he fulfilled all his father's wishes and duties, and that, with a due and kindly consideration for the honoured dead and the worthy living, it was so ordered, that Arthur visited him, and in due time accompanied him to his native land. On this occasion, Lord Meersbrook was less the mourner than the consoler of his brother, who, from circumstances, did not learn the loss he had sustained for near a twelvemonth, and on arriving at Ispahan almost felt as if he was about to witness the funeral of his father.
This circumstance, of course, knit the hearts of these two amiable young men more closely than ever, and the accident which occurred in the Channel placed them in the situation of the royal friends mentioned in the Old Testament:—"Very pleasant hath thy love been unto me, my brother Jonathan, surpassing the love of woman." Nevertheless, woman has her day, even where the dearest friends and strongest bonds of consanguinity forbid the bands. Arthur, whose feelings were always impetuous, had ceased to weep for his father and rejoice over his brother; but the "great deeps" of his soul had been stirred within him; and at the very time when the commotion was subsiding into that state he would have called a "lull," Beauty crossed his path, Love followed in the wake; and he entered at once into all the pains and penalties, the bitter sweets, and sorrowful pleasures, which belong to his votaries.
