I ever until the truth burst so suddenly on me this day! But, ah! it was nature which prompted that feeling;--and I remember well how joyous and happy I was when told, on the occasion of that first interview, that thenceforth I must bear the name of _Hatfield_!” Here he paused again, as if in doubt whether he had omitted any detail, reminiscence, or incident which should constitute a link in the narrative that he was endeavouring, in his progressive thoughts, to render as complete as possible;--and solemnly--profoundly interesting would it have been for a human observer, himself unobserved, to have contemplated that fine and handsome young man, thus devoting the hours when others slept to the task of tracing, by memorial efforts, his career from the days of infancy to the present moment! But no eye beheld him save that of Him who beholdeth all things, and who sleepeth never! “Scarcely had I thus been taken into the care of Mr. and Lady Georgiana Hatfield,”--it was thus he proceeded in his continuous meditations,--“when we repaired to the Continent. Having travelled through France, we crossed the Alps, and entered the delicious land of Italy. The Sardinian States were traversed by us in that leisurely manner which allowed us to view every thing worthy of inspection;--for some weeks we stayed at Florence, the capital of the beauteous Grand Duchy of Tuscany;--thence we journeyed to Rome,--and for several months did we sojourn in the Eternal City. But the health of a young man who was with us, and whose name was Jacob Smith, required a change of climate. Mr. Hatfield was deeply attached to this youth, who, on his side, treated my father with the utmost deference and devotedness. The Roman physicians recommended the genial air of Montoni; and we accordingly removed to the sovereign city of Castelcicala. But Jacob Smith appeared to have some secret sorrow preying upon him; and he pined away before our very eyes. Yes--he _had_ a secret source of grief: for I remember well now, that one night he uttered dreadful screams and ejaculations in his sleep, which awoke and alarmed me--for I slept in the next room to him. I recollect that I rushed in, fearful lest his chamber had caught on fire; and that before I could arouse him, he shrieked forth in thrilling tones--‘_Old Death--Benjamin Bones--my father! No--no!_’--Poor fellow, he died soon afterwards; and I wept much--for he was always kind and good to me! But that ejaculation of ‘_Old Death--Benjamin Bones!_’ even then seemed to touch some chord within my soul, as if awaking a long dormant but vague reminiscence: and now again, that name of _Benjamin Bones_--that frightful appellation of _Old Death_,--Oh! they do not seem so unfamiliar to me as if I had never heard them mentioned but that once, and by the lips of Jacob Smith. Were not those names, in fact, in some way associated with recollections of a much earlier date? Did I never hear those names pronounced in my earliest boyhood? It appears to me