compass, with a traverser which played about, but pointed to no register. Like a celebrated Utopia, conceived of by a great statesman, it had "no north!" no south!". it was "all

round my hat," everywhere alike. My Lord Shallbeso held it in his hand, and looked at it with intensity of will, and the index in a little while became fixed. "There!" said he, "there's a compass worth having! Wherever the index points, that's the way to go."

"Yes, that's the compass, if one could rely upon it!" said Annie.

"Rely upon it! Yes, my lady, with unflinching confidence. There's no variation of the needle, no dip, no bobbing about from point to point, so that just at the time you want it most, it is then most worthless. You might just as well carry a pewter medal in your pocket as a German compass. Here, my lady, take this for my sake, put it into your bosom; you'll find the need of it, take my word for it." And so eager was the old lord to place the compass in its proper place, that Annie was fain to take it into her own hands, and hid it as directed.

This put the old man in a very amiable humor. "Here," said he, "you see I have all manner of settings for my compasses. I like the locket best, such an one as you have, because it is kept warm in the bosom, and the index plays freely. I have received hundreds of letters from philosophers and divines, and any quantity from my fair friends, that my compass is the only one worth a farthing."

"How shall I use it, and when?" asked Annie.

"Whenever you are in doubt about anything, hold it in your right hand firmly, and let it adjust itself; and then go wherever

it points.

a sneer.

ANNIE'S COMPASS AND MOTTO.

13

I don't ask for faith!" exclaimed the old man, with “What I want is confidence, self-reliance Nil-desperandum. You see, that's my motto on all my compasses." Annie, finding she must have a compass, examined the casket carefully, to see if there were any she would like better than a locket. My Lord Shallbeso aided her with great amiability of "These locket-forms," he said, taking one up and showing it to Annie, "admit of the miniature of the husband being worn in front, while the compass is neatly hid behind it. And here, too, is a signet-ring, in which a lady may wear her husband's initials, or his crest, as she pleases; and, turn up that secret hinge, and there is the compass. Perhaps you would prefer a ring to a locket?”

manner.

Annie said she would; and my lord found one with a device deeply cut, showing an eagle soaring to the sun, and for its motto the word "Fearless." Annie was delighted with the device and motto; both of them were to her taste exactly. She took off a ring to see if this ring could go on her finger.

"I will keep this as a souvenir," said the lord, taking up her ring.

• Never!" exclaimed Annie; "that's my wedding-ring."

Any one of your rings will answer me as well."

No, my lord, I have none to spare. I have nothing to give in exchange for your compass, and I will not have it;" taking it off.

"You shall!" said Lord Shallbeso, in tones that put an end to the controversy. "One word, my dear Mrs. Outright; keep the compass to yourself. It is for your own use, and not for your husband. I give it to you."

So saying, they returned to the library, where the guests were assembled, and Annie held up her hand to let her friends see the beautiful gift of Lord Shallbeso. They all admired the beauty of the stone and its device; and neither Lord D. nor Lady Di. gave the slightest intimation that they knew of the compass that lay concealed beneath it.

CHAPTER II.

FRANK AND OLIVER ACCEPT LORD AND LADY DIELINCŒUR'S INVITATION TO GO TO THE FRENCH OPERA.

THEY had been at home about ten days, when the French opera reached Vanity Fair. The troupe had been delayed in consequence of the severe indisposition of the prima-donna. Their coming created quite a sensation among the men about town; and the Clarendon Club, according to a plan concocted beforehand, invited the entire troupe to a supper, after the manner in which such midnight suppers are sometimes arranged in foreign lands. We make this statement to satisfy our friends that there is nothing new in Vanity Fair; indeed, all their manners and customs are taken at second hand. Originality and independence in matters of taste, manners, and morals, were regarded as in bad taste.

On the evening before their first and opening night, Lord and Lady D. came in to make an evening call, as was now their familiar custom. Lady Di., sitting beside Annie, in a very sis

ARGUMENT FOR THE OPERA.

15

terly, affectionate way, said, "My dear Mrs. Outright, you are to dine with the Gulphins, to-morrow, and we shall meet you there. Now, my lord has secured a sofa in the parquet, the best place of all for us to hear in the opera-house, for to-morrow evening, and we must obtain your promise to go with us from the Gulphins'. The troupe is a charming one, and we number the chief performers among our personal friends."

"Is it possible?" exclaimed Frank.

Lady Di.?"

"Personal friends,

My Lady Di. looked her surprise, and Frank repeated what had been told them by Lord Shallbeso.

"The wretch!" exclaimed Lady Di., in an affected tone of passion. "Lord Shallbeso is a wrong-headed man, and best understood by contraries. Take him by his opposites whenever he speaks of clergymen, women, or artists, and you will be very near the truth. I shall feel myself aggrieved," turning to Annie, as she spoke, "if Lord Shallbeso is to outweigh me in a matter of this sort. I came to say seats had been secured for us as a party, one and inseparable, and now you must go."

'O, no!" said Gertrude, with very great decision of tone for her to use. "We do not go to the opera."

"You must excuse us," said Annie.

"If our tastes lead us

to love opera-music, we do not necessarily go to the theatre to listen to it."

"Indeed!" said Lady Di. "And will you explain to me why it is that music, sung as was designed by the author, in character, if you please, with a chorus and orchestral accompaniment, should be something you ought not to listen to, when the same music, sung by the same persons, accompanied by the

same orchestra, is listened to in a concert-room larger than the opera-house with delight? Is not this a nice discrimination?" "It is too nice for me to defend successfully, but not for me to feel," replied Annie.

But," said Lady Di., "may not this sentiment be the result of a previous bias, a prejudice held by your grandfather, or grandmother, or some one not fitted to form your opinions on any other matter, and whose opinions about other matters have long since been set aside, while this still holds its place?"

"I have no doubt," said my Lord D., bowing to Annie and Gertrude, and then addressing himself to Oliver and Frank, "that my lady has hit the key-note of many such mental states; and that we are often influenced in our judgments by men of whose existence we know nothing. It is this which we call, in common parlance, a 'public sentiment,' or 'the religious sense of the community;' something akin to what we style in physics momentum: the public mind moves on, like a line of railwaycars, long after the engine is detached."

This idea had the charm of novelty, and was pursued by Oliver and Frank, and Lord Dielincour, who became absorbed in the discussion, having their wives and Lady Di. for an audience. Lady Di. was ardently alive to all the points made; but to Annie and Gertrude it seemed a mere fencing with words, which not comprehending, they soon wearied of; and they sat, as ladies often do, behaving themselves very properly-smoothing down their dresses, or their hair, or the muslin over their bosoms, utterly unconscious of all that is said, and in every look showing their extreme simplicity and vacuity of mind. Not so Lady Di.; her eye was bright, and full of eager interest. She put in