Harry Dudleigh" far out-topped the astonished Oxonians, by spending about half as much again as his noble allowance. Poor Mr Dudleigh frequently looked on all this with fear and astonishment, and, when in the city, would shrug his shoulders, and speak of the "dreadful doings at the West!" I say, when in the cityfor as soon as he travelled westwards, when he entered the sphere of his WIFE's influence, his energies were benumbed and paralysed. He had too long quietly succumbed to her authority to call it in question now, and therefore he submitted to the splendid appearance he was compelled to support. He often said, however, that " he could not understand what Mrs Dudleigh was at ;" but beyond such a hint he never presumed. He was seldom or never to be seen amid the throng and crush of company that crowded his house evening after evening. The first arrival of his wife's guests, was his usual signal for seizing his hat and stick, dropping quietly from home, and betaking himself either to some sedate city friend, or to his countryhouse, where he now took a kind of morbid pleasure in ascertaining that his gains were safe, and planning greater, to make up, if possible, he would say," for Mrs Dudleigh's awful extravagance." He did this so constantly, that Mrs Dudleigh began at last to expect and calculate on his absence, as a matter of course, whenever she gave a party; and her goodnatured, accommodating husband too easily acquiesced, on the ground, as his wife took care to give out, of his health's not bearing late hours and company. Though an economical, and even parsimonious man in his habits, Mr Dudleigh had as warm and kind a heart as ever glowed in the breast of man. I have heard many accounts of his systematic benevolence, which he chiefly carried into effect at the periods of temporary relegation to the city, above spoken of. Every Saturday evening, for instance, he had a sort of levee, nume rously attended by merchants' clerks and commencing tradesmen, all of whom he assisted most liberally with both "cash and counsel," as he goodhumouredly called it. Many a one of them owes his establishment in life to Mr Dudleigh, who never lost

sight of any deserving object he had once served.

A far different creature Mrs Dudleigh! The longer she lived, the more she had her way, the more frivolous and heartless did she become-the more despotic was the sway she exercised over her husband. Whenever he presumed to " lecture her," as she called it, she would stop his mouth, with referring to the fortune she had brought him, and ask him triumphantly," what he could have done without her cash and connexions!" Such being the fact, it was past all controversy that she ought to be allowed "to have her fling, now they could so easily afford it!" The sums she spent on her own and her daughter's dress were absolutely incredible, and almost petrified her poor husband when the bills were brought to him. Both in the articles of dress and party-giving, Mis Dudleigh was actua ted by a spirit of frantic rivalry with her competitors; and what she wanted in elegance and refinement, she sought to compensate for in extravagance and ostentation. It was to no purpose that her trembling husband, with tears in his eyes, suggested to her recollection the old saying, " that fools make feasts, and wise men eat them;" and that, if she gave magnificent dinners and suppers, of course great people would come and eat them for her; but would they thank her? Her constant answer was, that they" ought to support their station in society"-that "the world would not believe them rich, unless they shewed it that they were," &c. &c. &c. Then, again, she had a strong plea for her enormous expenditure in the "bringing out of Miss Dudleigh," in the arrayment of whom, panting milliners "toiled in vain." In order to bring about this latter object, she induced, but with great difficulty, Mr Dudleigh to give his bankers orders to accredit her separate cheques; and so prudently did she avail herself of this privilege for months, that she completely threw Mr Dudleigh off his guard, and he allowed a very large balance to lie in his bankers' hands, subject to the unrestricted drafts of his wife. Did the reader never happen to see in society that horrid harpy, an old dow ager, whose niggard jointure drives

her to cards? Evening after evening did several of these old creatures squat, toad-like, round Mrs Dudleigh's card-table, and succeeded at last in inspiring her with such a frenzy for "PLAY," as the most ample fortune must melt away under, more rapidly than snow beneath sunbeams. The infatuated woman became noto riously the first to seek, and last to leave the fatal card-table; and the reputed readiness with which she "bled," at last brought her the ho. nour of an old Countess, who condescended to win from her, at two sittings, very nearly L.5000. It is not now difficult to account for the anxiety Mrs Dudleigh manifested to banish her husband from her parties. She had many ways of satisfactorily accounting for her frequent drafts on his bankers. Miss Dudleigh had made a conquest of a young peer, who, as soon as he had accurately ascertained the reality of her vast expectations, fell deeply in love with her! The young lady herself had too much good sense to give him spontaneous credit for disinterested affection; but she was so dunned on the subject by her foolish mother, so petted and flattered by the noble, but impoverished family, that sought her connexion, and the young nobleman, himself a handsome man, so ardent and persevering in his courtship, that at last her heart yielded, and she passed in society as the " envied object" of his affections! The notion of intermingling their blood with NOBILITY, SO dazzled the vain imagina tion of Mrs Dudleigh, that it gave her eloquence enough to succeed, at last, in stirring the phlegmatic temperament of her husband. "Have a nobleman for MY SON-IN-LAW ! thought the merchant, morning, noon, and night; at the East and at the West End-in town and country! What would the city people say to that! He had a spice of ambition in his composition beyond what could be contented with the achieval of mere city eminence. He was tiring of it;-he had long been a kind of king on 'Change, and, as it were, carried the Stocks in his pockets. He had long thought that it was "possible to choke a dog with pudding," and he was growing heartily wearied of the turtle and venison eastward of Temple-Bar, which he was compelled to eat at the pub

lic dinners of the great companies, and elsewhere, when his own tastes would have led him, in every case, to pitch upon "port, beef-steaks, and the papers," as fare fit for a king! The dazzling topic, therefore, in which his wife held forth with unwearied eloquence, was beginning to produce conviction in his mind; and though he himself eschewed his wife's kind of life, and refused to share in it, he did not lend a very unwilling ear to her representations of the necessity for an even increased rate of expenditure, to enable Miss Dudleigh to eclipse her gay competitors, and appear a worthy prize in the eyes of her noble suitor. Aware of the magnitude of the proposed object, he could not but assent to Mrs Dudleigh's opinion, that extraordinary means must be made use of; and was at last persuaded into placing nearly L.20,000 in his new banker's hands, subject, as before, to Mrs Dudleigh's drafts, which she promised him should be as sel

dom and as moderate as she could possibly contrive to meet necessary expenses with. His many and heavy expenses, together with the great sacrifice in prospect, when the time of his daughter's marriage should arrive, supplied him with new incentives to enter into commercial speculations. He tried several new schemes, threw all the capital he could command into new, and even more productive quarters, and calculated on making vast accessions of fortune at the end of the year.

About a fortnight after Mr Dudleigh had informed Mrs Dudleigh of the new lodgment he had made at his banker's, she gave a very large evening-party at her house, in Square. She had been very successful in her guests on the occasion, having engaged the attendance of my Lords This, and my Ladies That, innumerable. Even the high and haughty Duke of had deigned to look in for a few moments, on his way to a party at Carlton-House, for the purpose of sneering at the "splendid cit," and extracting topics of laughter for his royal host. The whole of

Square, and one or two of the adjoining streets, were absolutely choked with carriagesthe carriages of HER guests! When you entered her magnificent apart

ments, and had made your way through the soft crush and flutter of aristocracy, you might see the lady of the house throbbing and panting with excitement a perfect blaze of jewellery-flanked by her very kind friends, old Lady -, and the wellknown Miss engaged, as usual, at unlimited loo. The good humour with which Mrs Dudleigh lost, was declared to be " quite charming". "deserving of better fortune;" and inflamed by the cozened compliments they forced upon her, she was just uttering some sneering and insolent allusion to "that odious city," while old Lady's withered talons were extended to clutch her winnings, when there was perceived a sudden stir about the chief door-then a general hush-and in a moment or two, a gentleman, in dusty and disordered dress, with his hat on, rushed through the astonished crowd, and made his way towards the card-table at which Mrs Dudleigh was seated, and stood confronting her, extending towards her his right hand, in which was a thin slip of paper. It was Mr Dudleigh! "There-there, madam," he gasped in a hoarse voice," there, woman!-what have you done?Ruined-ruined me, madam, you've ruined me! My credit is destroyed for ever!-my name is tainted!-Here's the first dishonoured bill that ever bore Henry Dudleigh's name upon it! —Yes, madam, it is you who have done it," he continued, with vehement tone and gesture, utterly regardless of the breathless throng around him, and continuing to extend towards her the protested bill of exchange.

"My dear!-my dear-my-mymy dear Mr Dudleigh," stammered his wife, without rising from her chair," what is the matter, love?"

"Matter, madam ?-why, by! -that you've ruined me-that's all! -Where's the L.20,000 I placed in Messrs's hands a few days ago? -Where-WHERE is it, Mrs Dudleigh?" he continued almost shouting, and advancing nearer to her, with his fist clenched.

"Henry dear Henry !-mercy, mercy! "murmured his wife faintly.

"Henry, indeed! Mercy ?-Silence, madam! How dare you deny me an answer? How dare you swin

VOL. XXX, NO. CLXXXII.

-, my new

dle me out of my fortune in this way?" he continued fiercely, wiping the perspiration from his forehead; "Here's my bill for L.4000, made payable at Messrs bankers; and when it was presented this morning, madam, by --! the reply was NO EFFECTS!'-and my bill has been dishonoured!-Wretch! what have you done with my money? Where's it all gone?-I'm the town's talk about this bill!-There'll be a run upon me!-I know there will-aye-THIS is the way my hardearned wealth is squandered, you vile, you unprincipled spendthrift!" he continued, turning round and pointing to the astounded guests, none of whom had uttered a syllable. The music had ceased-the dancers left their places-the card-tables were deserted. In a word, all was blank consternation. The fact was, that old Lady, who was that moment seated, trembling like an aspen-leaf, at Mrs Dudleigh's right-hand side, had won from her, during the last month, a series of sums amounting to little short of L.9000, which Mrs Dudleigh had paid the day before by a cheque on her banker; and that very morning she had drawn out L.4000 odd, to pay her coach-maker's, confectioner's, and milliner's bills, and supply herself with cash for the evening's spoliation. The remaining L.7000 had been drawn out during the preceding fortnight to pay her various clamorous creditors, and keep her in readiness for the gaming-table. Mr Dudleigh, on hearing of the dishonour of his bill-the news of which was brought him by a clerk, for he was staying at a friend's house in the country-came up instantly to town, paid the bill, and then hurried, half beside himself, to his house in

square. It is not at all wonderful, that though Mr Dudleigh's name was well known as an eminent and responsible mercantile man, his bankers, with whom he had but recently opened an account, should decline paying his bill, after so large a sum as L.20,000 had been drawn out of their hands by Mrs Dudleigh. It looked suspicious enough, truly!

"Mrs Dudleigh!-where-WHERE is my L 20,000?" he shouted almost at the top of his voice; but Mrs Dudleigh heard him not; for she had fallen fainting into the arms of Lady

E

man.

Numbers rushed forward to her assistance. The confusion and agitation that ensued it would be impossible to describe; and, in the midst of it, Mr Dudleigh strode at a furious pace out of the room, and left the house. For the next three or four days he behaved like a madHis apprehensions magnified the temporary and very trifling injury his credit had sustained, till he fancied himself on the eve of becoming bankrupt. And, indeed, where is the merchant of any eminence, whom such a circumstance as the dishonour of a bill for L.4000 (however afterwards accounted for) would not exasperate? For several days Mr Dudleigh would not go near square, and did not once enquire after Mrs Dudleigh. My professional services were put into requisition on her behalf. Rage, shame, and agony, at the thought of the disgraceful exposure she had met with, in the eyes of all her assembled guests, of those respecting whose opinions she was most exquisitely sensitive, had nearly driven her distracted. She continued so ill for about a week, and exhibited such frequent glimpses of delirium, that I was compelled to resort to very active treatment to avert a brain fever. More than once, I heard her utter the words, or some thing like them,-" be revenged on him yet!" but whether or not she was at the time sensible of the import of what she said, I did not know.

The incident above recordedwhich I had from the lips of Mr Dudleigh himself, as well as from others -made a good deal of noise in what are called the fashionable circles," and was obscurely hinted at in one of the daily papers. I was much amused at hearing, in the various circles I visited, the conflicting and exaggerated accounts of it. One old lady told me she "had it on the best authority, that Mr Dudleigh actually struck his wife, and wrenched her purse out of her hand!" I recommended Mrs Dudleigh to withdraw for a few weeks to a watering-place, and she followed my advice; taking with her Miss Dudleigh, whose health and spirits had suffered materially through the event which has been mentioned. Poor girl! she was of a very different mould from her mother, and suffered acutely, though

silently, at witnessing the utter contempt in which she was held by the very people she made such prodigious efforts to court and conciliate. Can any situation be conceived more painful? Her few and gentle remonstrances, however, met invariably with a harsh and cruel reception; and at last she was compelled to hold her peace, and bewail in mortified silence her mother's obtuseness.

about a

They continued at month; and on their return to town, found the affair quite "blown over;' and soon afterwards, through the mediation of mutual friends, the an gry couple were reconciled to each other. For twelve long months Mrs Dudleigh led a comparatively quiet and secluded life, abstaining, with but a poor grace it is true, from company and cards-from the latter compulsorily; for no one chose to sit down at play with her, who had witnessed or heard of the event which had taken place last season. In short, every thing seemed going on well with our merchant and his family. It was fixed that his daughter was to become Lady, as soon as young Lord should have returned from the continent; and a dazzling dowery was spoken of as hers on the day of her marriage. Pleased with his wife's good behaviour, Mr Dudleigh's confidence and good-nature revived, and he held the reins with a rapidlyslackening grasp. In proportion as he allowed her funds, her scared "friends" flocked again around her; and by and by she was seen flouncing about in fashion as heretofore, with small "let or hinderance" from her husband. The world-the sagacious world-called Mr Dudleigh a happy man; and the city swelled at the mention of his name and doings. The mercantile world laid its highest honours at his feet. The Mayoralty -a Bank-an East-Indian Directorship-a seat for the city in Parliament-all glittered within his grasp

but he would not stretch forth his hand. He was content, he would say, to be "plain Henry Dudleigh, whose word was as good as his bond"

a leading man on 'Change-and, above all," who could look every one full in the face with whom he had ever had to do." He was indeed a worthy man-a rich and racy specimen of one of those glories of our

nation-a true English merchant. The proudest moments of his life were those, when an accompanying friend could estimate his consequence, by witnessing the mandarin movements that everywhere met him -the obsequious obeisances of even his closest rivals-as he hurried to and fro about the central regions of 'Change, his hands stuck into the worn pockets of his plain snuff-coloured coat. The merest glance at Mr Dudleigh-his hurried, fidgety, anxious gestures-the keen, cautious expression of his glittering grey eyes -his mouth screwed up like a shut purse-all, all told of the " man of a million." There was, in a manner, a "plum" in every tread of his foot, in every twinkle of his eye. He could never be said to breathe freely really to live-but in his congenial atmosphere-his native elementthe City!

Once every year he gave a capital dinner, at a tavern, to all his agents, clerks, and people in any way connected with him in business; and none but himself knew the quiet ecstasy with which he took his seat at the head of them all-joined in their timid jokes, echoed their modest laughter, made speeches, and was be-speechified in turn! How he sate while great things were saying of him, on the occasion of his health's being drunk! On one of these occasions, his health had been proposed by his sleek head-clerk, in a most neat and appropriate speech, and drunk with uproarious enthusiasm; and good Mr Dudleigh was on his legs, energetically making his annual avowal that " that was the proudest moment of his life," when one of the waiters came and interrupted him, by saying that a gentleman was without, waiting to speak to him on most important business. Mr Dudleigh hurriedly whispered that he would attend to the stranger in a few minutes, and the waiter withdrew; but returned in a second or two, and put a card into his hand. Mr Dudleigh was electrified at the name it borethat of the great loan contractorthe city Cræsus, whose wealth was reported to be incalculable! He hastily called on some one to supply his place; and had hardly passed the door, before he was hastily shaken

by the hands by, who told him at once that he had called to propose to Mr Dudleigh to take part with him in negotiating a very large loan on account of the government! After a flurried pause, Mr Dudleigh, scarce knowing what he was saying, assented. In a day or two the transaction was duly blazoned in the leading papers of the day; and every one in the city spoke of him as one likely to double or even treble his already ample fortune. Again he was praised

again censured-again envied! It was considered advisable that he should repair to the continent, during the course of the negotiation, in order that he might personally superintend some important collateral transactions; and when there, he was most unexpectedly detained nearly two months. Alas! that he ever left England! During his absence, his infatuated wife betook herself" like the dog to his vomit, like the sow to her wallowing in the mire"-to her former ruinous courses of extravagance and dissipation, but

on

a fearfully larger scale. Her house was more like an hotel than a private dwelling; and blazed away, night after night, with light and company, till the whole neighbourhood complained of the incessant uproar occasioned by the mere arrival and departure of her guests. To her other dreadful besetments, Mrs Dudleigh now added the odious and vulgar vice of-intoxication! She complained of the deficiency of her animal spirits; and said she took liquor as a medicine! She required stimulus, and excitement, she said, to sustain her mind under the perpetual run of ill luck she had at cards! It was in vain that her poor daughter remonstrated, and almost cried herself into fits, on seeing her mother return home, frequently in the dull stupor of absolute intoxication !— "Mother, mother, my heart is breaking!" said she one evening.

"So-so is mine"-hiccuped her parent-" so get me the decanter!"

Young Harry Dudleigh trode emulously in the footsteps of his mother; and ran riot to an extent that was before unknown to Oxford!-The sons of very few of the highest nobility had handsomer allowances than he; yet was he constantly over head