On perusing, however, the tete-a-tete which her absence occasioned, methinks I hear some sprightly lady, fresh from the Royal Institution, express her wonder why Eve should be banished by her husband from Raphael's fine lecture on astronomy which follows; was not she as capable as Adam of understanding all he said, of Cycle and Epicycle, Orb on Orb? If, however, the imaginary fair objector will take the trouble to read to the end of the eighth book of this immortal work, it will raise in her estimation both the poet and the heroine, when she contemplates the just propriety of her being absent before Adam enters on the account of the formation, beauty and attractions of his wife, and of his own love and admiration. She will further observe, in her progress through this divine poem, that the author is so far from making Eve a mere domestic drudge, an unpolished housewife, that he pays an invariable attention even to external elegance, in his whole delineation, ascribing grace to her steps and dignity to her gesture. He uniformly keeps up the same combination of intellectual worth and polished manners; For softness she, and sweet attractive grace. And her husband, so far from a churlish insensibility to her perfections, politely calls her Daughter of God and man, _accomplish'd_ Eve. I will not, however, affirm that Adam, or even Milton, annexed to the term _accomplished_ precisely the idea with which it is associated in the mind of a true modern-bred lady. It may be objected to the poet's gallantry that he remarks How beauty is excell'd by manly grace, And wisdom, which alone is truly fair; let it be remembered that the observation proceeds from the lips of Eve herself, and thus adds to her other graces, the crowning grace of humility. But it is high time that I should proceed from my criticism to myself. The connexion, and of course the transition, will be found more natural than may appear, till developed by my slight narrative. CHAPTER II. I am a young man, not quite four and twenty, of an ancient and respectable family, and considerable estate in one of the northern counties. Soon after I had completed my studies in the university of Edinburgh, my father fell into a lingering illness. I attended him with an assiduity which was richly rewarded by the lessons of wisdom, and the example of piety, which I daily received from him. After languishing about a year, I lost him, and in him the most affectionate father, the most enlightened companion, and the most Christian friend.