"My father had a sister living in London--a rich widow, who had an only daughter. I called on them two or three times, as I could not well avoid doing so. I was not infatuated with my cousin, nor did my visits beget in my mind any great affection for my aunt. "Her husband had been dead several years before that time. He had been related to a family of title, and on his death had left a fortune to his widow of about fifty thousand pounds. "My father considered his sister a person of great consequence in the kingdom; and used to keep up a regular correspondence with her. "When I was about twenty-two, I received a letter from him, commanding me forthwith to marry my cousin! "He had made the match with my aunt, without consulting my wishes. "The deluded man thought the plan he had formed for me, would make me a very great personage. But I could not regard the affair in the same light. "Soon after receiving my father's orders, my aunt sent me a note-- containing a request for me to call upon her. "I complied; and found that she considered the thing as quite settled, that I was forthwith to marry my cousin. In fact, my aunt at this interview had a good deal to say about preparations for the ceremony! "My cousin was neither personally good-looking, nor interesting in any way. On the contrary, she had a disposition exceedingly disagreeable; and, to crown all, she was a full half-dozen years older than myself. "Soon after that interview with my English relatives, I embarked for Sydney. I had been for some time anxious to return home. As I have told you, New South Wales is my native country; and I prefer it to any other. I had seen enough of Europe; and longed to gallop a horse over the broad plains of my native land. "On my return home, and reporting that I had _not_ married my rich cousin, my father flew into a great passion, and refused to have anything farther to do with me. "I tried to reason with him; but it was of no use. It ended by his turning me out of his house; and telling me to go and earn my own living. This I did for some time, by driving a hackney coach through the streets of Sydney. "My father, on finding that I was man enough to take care of myself, without requiring any assistance from him, began to take a little interest in my affairs. In doing so, he discovered something else--that caused him quite as much displeasure as my refusal to marry my English cousin. "He learnt that I was making serious love to a poor, but honest girl, who, with her mother, scarce earned a subsistence, by toiling fourteen hours a day with her needle. "To think I should let slip a woman with fifty thousand pounds--and who could claim relationship with a family of title--and then marry a poor sewing girl, was proof to my father that I was a downright idiot; and, from that hour, he refused to acknowledge me as his son.