straction indifference, and his authority tyranny, to a young, spoilt, and pretty woman. Her attachment would not be diminished, for his high qualities ensured that respect needful for the duration of affection; but he had also those which keep the imagination alive, and of that, feminine love is "all compact." We can also believe that Colonel Mannering was very fond of his wife, though shy of showing it, even to herself; above all, his pride would revolt from any of that display before others in which she would take an excusable vanity. Pride on the one hand—petulance on the other, would soon lead to misunderstanding, the weaker party would soon be forced to yield, and the yielding would be less palatable from the consciousness of having been wrong. Colonel Mannering is a strictly just man, but not one to make allowances; a weakness would irritate him as much as a fault. Deceit is the offspring of fear, especially with woman; and the sophistry of—
"It is such a trifle it cannot matter,"
is too easy not to be tempting in practice. We have dwelt on Colonel Mannering's character—for the whole story grows out of it; and, moreover, it formed both that of his wife and daughter. But while Julia's habits and opinions were from her mother, she inherited some of the qualities of her father—the high spirit, the quick feeling, and the
