Having uttered these words, the Count was seized with a violent fit of convulsions, which ended in his throwing up large quantities of blood from his lungs. Howard assigned, as a cause for this, that some sharp points of the fractured ribs had penetrated the lungs, and consequently directed, that he should not be allowed to speak on any pretence, and used such remedies as the symptoms demanded. For three days life was in the greatest jeopardy, yet he constantly made signs for them to read the Bible to him, and one text he could not have sufficiently often repeated to him

"Though thy sins be as scarlet, yet shall they be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

Amelie continually read to him in his native tongue, and Forrester explained such passages as were likely to be misunderstood, and showed the bearing of the Old Testament on the New, well knowing that the grace of God will often render the proud and strong intellect of man like that of a little child-the only state in which the true milk of the Gospel, is ever first received.

Eisenberg drank in eagerly every word uttered by the musical voice of the manly Englishman, and when sufficiently recovered to be permitted to speak, astonished them by the acute questions he asked. His quick mind soon understood the mystery of salvation; and if ever man's was worked out in fear and trembling, his was.

Sometimes Howard would beguile the time in the evening by relating incidents of his own travels in the

East, and the real enthusiasm which he felt for every thing connected with the Holy Land, threw a fire and interest into these narratives, which no written story could give, and added much to the conviction which the invalid so recently entertained, of the truth of the Bible.

When the Count was a little recovered, he again proceeded with his Confessions, even against the advice of his friends: but he now considered that he was fulfilling a sacred duty in telling all, and would not be opposed. All Howard could do, was to limit the time, and not permit the invalid to exhaust himself. It was evident to the friends that a great change for the worse, had taken place in all his symptoms, and that the evidences of fatal pulmonary disease, were daily taking the place of his former steady progress to convalescence: hectic fever, with a hacking and harassing cough, were seldom absent, and the hope of ultimate recovery, was now totally banished from the minds of his kind attendants.

CHAPTER XIX.

"Oh! 'tis a fearful thing to stand

By the sinner's dying bed,

When the changed brow, and clenched hand
Are convulsed with inward dread."

"Le plus heureux passe pour le plus grand, et le public attribue souvent au mérite tous les succès de la fortune."

VOLTAIRE.

"Last scene of all, that ends this strange, eventful history.”

THE Count proceeded. I need not tell persons, so well acquainted with the customs of the Continent, that those who desire to be ennobled by a title, will find very little difficulty in procuring one, if they have the money to pay for it. I had the desire, and the money, and, consequently, very quickly assumed the title of Count, and coronets soon sparkled on every thing belonging to me. This honor I procured from the ex-amie of a German Sovereign, who resided in Paris, and derived a great portion of her income from the permission granted her of bestowing titles of nobility.

As Count Von Eisenberg, I visited the principal cities of Europe; but without a thought of indulging again in the practice of Homœopathy; it had served my turn well, and it was only as a matter of curiosity

that I ever cast a glance at the progress of others. I felt glad that I had made, and was not speculating on making, a fortune by Homœopathy, when, as a scientific nobleman, I witnessed the total failure of my Homœopathic brethren in Paris, when the celebrated physicians, Andral and Bailly, gave the death-blow to the system in France, by giving the Homoeopathists opportunity to exercise their powers on the patients in the Hôtel Dieu; for out of the numbers they were permitted to treat, only two were declared cured, and, unfortunately, one of these returned a few days after, and died. In consequence of this, and several other experiments, tried by order of the French Academy, many of whose members were anxious to prove the truth of this system, a Report was drawn up by the Academicians, and sent to the Minister of Public Instruction, declaring that it would be unnecessary to authorize the establishment of Homœopathic dispensaries, as the practitioners of the supposed science had utterly failed to prove its utility.

The students also took the matter up, and several of them sought the notoriety of being experimented on publicly, in the Hôtel Dieu. To avoid any suspicion of foul play, the only Homoeopathic druggist in Paris provided, and administered the desired medicines to these healthy young men, for a considerable length of time, without producing the slightest effect. This was attacking the root of the system, as it proved the falsehood of the premises on which Hahnemann's grand dogma was based; for medicines capable of curing cer

tain diseases, should also be capable of producing them, or Homœopathy is a fable.

As in France, every thing is public, the public failure of the Homoeopathic experiments, excited only general mirth and ridicule, evinced by numerous pasquinades on the subject, and the pictorial liberties taken with its profound professors, by such prints as the Caricature and Charivari; little Vaudevilles were also played in the minor Theatres, in which Homœopathy was made the standing jest; in fact, into such discredit had the fair experimental trial of its merits brought it, that its reign was evidently over, for a time, in La Belle France.

When I sought Paris, I was not without intention of practising there; but seeing the state of things, I at once abandoned the idea; and having indulged in all the gaities of that studiously lively capital, I got tired of the whirl of dissipation, and retreated on the Brunnens of Nassau. Fashion, following the Bubbles blown by your illustrious countryman, had already begun to people the wilds, and crowds were thronging the Hotels from all parts of Europe, some in search of health, but by far the greater number in a vain, unsatisfying pursuit of pleasure, or of what, in most minds, is its synonym, variety.

It was at Schlangenbad, that I first became acquainted with my dear Amelie. Struck with her beauty and accomplishments, I sought and procured an introduction; and, as I passed for a person of ancient family and good property, intimacy ensued, my atten