Year: 1866

Dut 0Ob BuACl0ub 4OE eduulHS Ast wy "


Eton, and finishing him of at the univer-


stiles, as it was the maternal wish to do.


Mr.. Ingot hated such gentesl intentions /;


Christ's Hospital had been a fashionable


enough school for him, and he had 6n-
ished of as a clerk at forty pounds a


year in that very respectable house in


which he was now the senior psrtner.-


With the result Of that edueAtisn, as ex-


emplified in himself, be was pefIsctly sat


isfed, and if his nephews only turned out


half as we'll, their mother, he thought,


might think herself uucommonly lucky.


Her family had given themselves airs


uponthe occasion Of her marrying Isaac


"allying herself with commerce, some of


them called it,-and Ingot had erfor-


given them. He gloried in his own pro-


fession, although government had never


seen fit to ennoble any member Of il, and


perhaps all the more uPon that account


for he was one of those Radicals who are


not snobs at heart, but rather aristo-


Gratis. He honestly believed that noble


men and gentlemen were the lower orders,


and those who toiled and strove, the up


per crust of the human pie. When he


was told that the former classes often


toiled and strove in their own way as


much as the others, he made gesture of


contempt, and d" blew y like an exasperated


whale. It was q vulgar sort of retort, Of


course, but so eminently expressive, that


his opponent rarely pursued the subject.


He rather liked his sister-in-law, in


spite of her good birth, and would have.


doubtless, largely assisted her had she


consented to bring up her children ac-


cording to his views but since she pre-


ferred TO take her own way, he withdrew


himself more and more from her society,


until they saw nothing at all of one


another. He had no intention ofleaving


his money away from his brothers


children he had much too, strong a


sense ofduty for that; and as for marriage,


that was an idea that never entered into


his hard old head. He had not made a


fool of himself by falling in love in mid


die age, as Isaac had done, (in youth he


had not time for such follies, and it was


not likely that at sixty-fve he should
commit any such imprudence. So his
nephews and neices felt confident of
being provided for in the future. In the
present. however, as time went on, and
the education of both girls and boys be-
came more expensive, Mrs. Isaac's in
come became greatly straightsned. Her
own family very much applauded the ex-
peusivc way in which she was bringing
her children, and especially her indie
pendence of spirit with relation to her
tradssman brother-in-law, but they never
assisted her with a penny. The young
gentleman at Cambridge was therefore
kept upon a very short allowance and |
the young ladies whose beauty was some
thing remarkable, affected white muslin, |
and wore no meretricious jewelry. Their |
pin-money was very limited, poor things,
and they made their own clothes, at home,
by the help of a sewing machine If
Uncle Ingot could have seen them thus
diligently employed, his heart would
perhaps have softened towards them, but,
as have said, they now never got that
chance. Julia, the elder, had been but
six years old when he had last called at
their highly-rented, but diminutive hab-
itation in Mayfair, and now she was
eighteen, and had never seen him since.
Although she had, Of course, grown out
of the old mans recollection, she remem-
bered his fgurs-head, as she wickedly
called his rigid features, uncommonly
we'll and, indeed, nobody, who had ever
seen it, was likely to forget it. His
was not so much human as
ligneous, and his profile, Nephew Jack
had actually seen upon certain nobby
tree in the lime-walk of Glare Hall, at
Cambridge-much more like than any
ever cut out of black. They
had laughed at the old gentleman in
their early days, and snapped their
fingers at his churlishness, but it had be-
come no laughing matter now.


That remark Of Uncle Ingot's, "if
ever you or yours get Eve pounds out of
me. madam, before die, I promise you,
you shall have five thousand and am
a man Of my word" had become very
serious sentence, condemning all the
family TO, II not poverty, at least very
urgent want. What it meant of course,
was, that he was rssolutely determined
to give them nothing. In vain the young
ladies' worked for Uncle Ingot slippers
and book markers for his birthday, and I
sent to him their best wishes as Christ l
mas in Rimmel's highly scented envelopes; {
in vain Jack sent him pound Of the
most excellent snuff that Bacon's empo-
rum could furnish, at the beginning Of
every term. He always wrote back 3
civil letter Of thanks, in clear and clerk s
II letter, but there was never any enclo-
sure. When Mrs Isaac asked him to
dinner, he declined in a caustic manner
.avowing that he did not feel himself !
comfortable at the sFistoerstic tables of
the west end, and sent her pineapple l
for the desert, Of his own growing. He !
had really no ill-feelings toward his rela- I
tives, though be kept himself so estranged
from them but think this sort Of con-
duct tiokled the old gentleman's grim '
sense of humor. IF he could have found ]
some legitimate excuse for making up"
with his sister.in-law, within the first '
year or two of their falling out, perhaps
he would have been glad to do SO but
time had now so Widened the breach, that
it was not to be easily repaired. What {
be had satiricslly written. when he de-
clined her invitation, had grown to be
true he rarely went into society, and
almost never into the company Of ladies,
the elder portion Of whom he considered
frivolous and vexatiOus, and the younger
positively, dangerous. He had few old
bachelor friends, however, with whom he