"And say you will not displace a man, my Lord, come what may!" exclaimed Talbot. "This battle must be fought--and the sooner the better! Your Lordship will find your justification in the unanimous resolve of your council." This sentiment was echoed by all present, and by some of the more discreet an admonition was added, advising the Proprietary to handle the subject mildly with the ministry, in a tone of kind expostulation, which, as it accorded with Lord Baltimore's own feeling, met his ready acquiescence. After despatching some business of less concern, the members of the council dispersed. CHAPTER VII. An old worshipful gentleman who had a great estate, That kept a brave old house at a bountiful rate. THE OLD AND YOUNG COURTIER. But who the countless charms can draw That grac'd his mistress true? Such charms the old world seldom saw, Nor oft, I ween, the new. Her raven hair plays round her neck Like tendrils of the vine; Her cheeks, red, dewy rose-buds deck, Her eyes like diamonds shine. BRYAN AND PEREENE. Anthony Warden had resided in Maryland for forty years before the period of this story. During the greater portion of this time he performed the duties of the Collector of the Proprietary's revenues in the port. By the persuasion of Cecilius Calvert he had become a settler in the New World, where he had received from his patron the grant of a large tract of land, which, in progress of time, under a careful course of husbandry, rendered him a man of easy fortune. One portion of this tract lay adjacent to the town, and stretched along the creek of St. Inigoe's, constituting an excellent farm of several hundred acres. Upon this land the Collector had dwelt from an early period of his settlement. A certain sturdiness of character that matched the perils of that adventurous colonial life, and a vigorous intellect, gave Mr. Warden great authority over the inhabitants of the province, which was increased by the predominant honesty of purpose and plain, unpretending directness of his nature. A bountiful purse and jocund temper enabled and prompted him to indulge, almost without stint, that hospitality which furnishes the most natural and appropriate enjoyment of those who dwell remote from the busy marts of the world. His companionable habits had left their tokens upon his exterior. His frame was corpulent, his features strongly defined, his eye dark blue, with a mastiff kindness in its glance. The flush of generous living had slightly overmastered the wind-and-weather hue of his complexion, and given it the tints of a ripe pear. Seventy years had beaten upon his poll without other badge of conquest than that of a change of his brown locks to white;--their volume was scarcely diminished, and they still fell in curls upon his shoulders.