This brief chapter on the brightest relic of the middle ages, we cannot better conclude than in the words of an accomplished modern writer on the subject— the Rev. J. A. Montague. "Heraldry was a part of the great feudal system of Europe, than which, for the time in which it was instituted, nothing could be more beautiful. It was the outward sign of that spirit of chivalry, whose humanizing influence conduced so rapidly to the extinction of the last traces of barbarism, and which had such a beneficial effect upon the warfare of the time. Amongst our ancestors, little given to study of any kind, a knowledge of heraldry was considered indispensable. It was the index to a lengthened chronicle of doughty deeds. The escutcheon of a Mortimer or a Bohun was, for their eyes, as a blast of a trumpet to their ears; stirring them up to deeds of chevisance and fame. If, then, the achievements of our ancestors, both in war and peace (of which heraldry is in many instances the record) are still to hold an honoured place in our remembrance, then ought we not to contemn a science which they honoured and considered of so much importance."

LORD MOHUN.

It would seem that society takes a much greater degree of interest in its rogues and knaves, than it does in its more orderly members. Thus a vagrant, who poaches upon the soldier's manor, and kills without being duly qualified, is sure to be an especial favourite with the public. The fact is indubitable; the world likes to talk of the peace-breaker, and not of the peace-maker; and hence people like Lord Mohun, the subject of our present sketch, are actually embalmed by their vices— just as wood, or any other perishable material, is preserved from decay by being duly saturated with the poison of corrosive sublimate.

Charles, Lord Mohun, flourished at the beginning of the last century, and for a short time previous to it, in an age when order was much less firmly established than it is with us in the present day. He was descended, both on the paternal and maternal side, from a long line of illustrious ancestors; for, according to the Heralds' books, his father was the representative of the Mohuns, of Boconnoc, in Cornwall-a derivative branch of the baronial house of Mohun, of Dunster; while his mother, Lady Philippa Annesley, was the daughter of Arthur, Earl of Anglesey, who had been not a little distinguished in his day, both as a statesman and a political writer. In the great civil war, the family fought on the side of

royalism; Sir John Mohun, the then head of the house, rendering the King essential service in the west of England, where he held a high command, till the banner of Charles was beaten down by the superior talents, or the better fortune of his republican adversaries. But all the loyalty and chivalrous zeal of Sir John have failed to make him so generally recollected as his lawless descendant, who was twice tried for his life upon a charge of murder, and, what with many will hardly lessen his guilt, each time the alleged offence resulted from intoxication. Instead, however, of following the tedious and intricate forms of a public pleading, we shall reduce the whole to a plain, continuous narrative of events, such as they may be gathered from the testimony of witnesses, and the speeches of the contending counsel. And here we may be allowed to observe, that, although some pseudophilosophers have professed themselves mightily shocked at counsel arguing one thing while they believe another, yet, in reality, this is a very idle objection; every question has two sides, and before an accused can be fairly condemned or acquitted, it is essential, to the discovery of truth, that both of these sides should be placed in the clearest light; the private belief or non-belief of the orator is no more important than the conviction of any other individual.

At the time of our narrative, the celebrated Mrs. Bracegirdle, then a widow, was in high favour, not only with the public, but more particularly with the gay and gallant, who, in those days, seemed to consider that actresses were fair game, and that morality-if, indeed, such a thing existed anywhere-had no business whatever upon the stage. It may be, that the actresses themselves gave some encouragement to these opinions by the freedom of their manners; the little estimation in which their profession was held by the graver, and,

perhaps, not more virtuous, portions of society, was not calculatedto teach them self-respect; while, at the same time, from their exposed situation they were more open to scrutiny than those who were hidden from view in the shadow of private life. A figure had need be perfect that stands upon a pedestal, where it not only invites judgment, but where its slightest defects become perceptible.

It was generally believed, that this lady favoured the addresses of a Mr. Mountford, himself an actor, and, to the boot of that, a married man. This, however, did not prevent her from being followed by other admirers, amongst whom was a Captain Richard Hill. So infatuated was this gentleman with her charms, that he actually proposed to marry her; and, upon being rejected, was filled with all the indignation of a man who has received a personal insult, which he is bound in honour to revenge. Above all, his wrath was excited against Mountford, whose success he openly declared he would punish, by taking away his life. The publicity of his threatenings in this respect would, in the present day, have made most people doubtful whether he really intended to carry them into effect; but we shall judge falsely of those comparatively lawless times, if we applied to them any such mode of reasoning. The Captain was fully bent upon destroying his rival, at whatever hazard, and not less determined to carry off his mistress by force, since she was not to be obtained on easier terms. The evidence given by Mr. Powell, at the trial of Lord Mohun before the House of Peers, went decisively to this point, and it does not appear to have been contradicted. According to him, we find the Captain, upon more than one occasion, avowing his passion for Mrs. Bracegirdle, drinking her health, and swearing that he would be revenged on Mountford, who, he felt assured,

was the only obstacle between himself and his desires. As these conversations were renewed at different times and places, they assumed a yet fiercer, and more defined character. At a supper, where, besides themselves, Lord Mohun and Col. Tredenham, another of their acquaintance, were present, the Captain whispered into Powell's ear, "I am resolved to have the blood of Mountford." Powell, who was a friend to both parties, took the alarm at this declaration, and protested that he would inform Mountford of it, who, he doubted not, would give him such satisfaction as one gentleman was entitled to demand of another. This, for the time, put an end to the conversation, which, it is supposed, was unheard by Lord Mohun, who, at the moment, was talking earnestly to the Colonel.

It would seem as if the way in which Powell received the Captain's last communication had disinclined the latter from taking him any farther into his confidence, as, from this time forward, he sought and found a less scrupulous ally in his friend, Lord Mohun. There was no hesitation in this man of iron nerves and turbulent passions, who had the courage to dare attempt anything his headstrong will or his love of pleasure might prompt him to. All those restraints which more or less exercise an influence on most men, even in the pursuit of their favourite objects, found no place in his bosom, and the virtues he did not possess himself he was by no means disposed to allow to others; or, if he did admit their existence, it was only to laugh at them, as the evidences of inferior spirit and contracted understanding. Yet with this almost total absence of all that could make a man estimable, he had yet a sort of canine fidelity in his friendships; at least it so appeared in regard to Hill, in whose case he certainly verified the old adage of "Like to like," for he stood by him faithfully through