his reception, I am not Petrus, but Alexis; and it is I who am to be married to Christina, begging your pardon, sir.' Here the real Petrus affected a stare of astonishment at the impudence of the supposed Petrus; a farce which was played with great effect for some minutes, till old Jacob, incensed at hearing Alexis persist in not being Petrus, and not knowing what to make of his gabble about Theodoric's having inveigled him to sea, came to the readiest inference that offered itself, namely, that Petrus was drunk, and that it was best to send him home to Theodoric's, under the care of a stout Portuguese servant, who instantly obeyed the order, by laying hold of Alexis by the arm to support him down the steps.

"Were not all the demons of ill let loose upon the unfortunate Alexis? He had not proceeded many paces with his Portuguese attendant, who, being convinced that he was drunk, would not quit hold of him, before an officer of the Mayor's Court, followed by his peons, asked the Portuguese, whether it was not Mr. Petrus Arathoon he was conducting? 'Yes,' said the Portuguese, it is young Master Petrus; but he is quite drunk-what do you want with him? Oh, nothing but to arrest him at the suit of one Jonathan Paul, of the American ship Betsey, for a thousand star pagodas,' re

plied the bailiff. Let me see; aye, it's all right, according to my instructions-Petrus Arathoontall-dark eyes-dressed in a blue Armenian garb.' Alexis, as soon as he could understand the business, began explaining to the man the error he had committed. My friend,' said he, you have mistaken the person. My name is Alexis, not Petrus Arathoon. The person you want is now at Jacob Arathoon's. Arrest me at your peril!' Be it so,' said the officer; come, you are sober enough; walk away with me:' and Alexis was in a few minutes lodged in the debtors' gaol of Madras.

"And it happened, by a singular fatality, that Petrus, during his last voyage, deeming that he might make a considerable profit by a venture in pearls, had become bound in that sum to an American captain, who had supplied him with the commodity, taking care to avail himself of Petrus's inexperience to outwit him in the bargain. The enterprize was unsuccessful, and Petrus, not daring to mention it to Theodoric, relied upon the forthcoming sum stipulated to be paid by Jacob on the day of his marriage. But the money obstinately adhered to Jacob's chest. What can the lad want with so much cash?' said the old Armenian, with a good house over his head, and an excellent dinner every day served up to him, all free of expense

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and such pillaws from his highness the Omrud ul Dowlah!' The American, therefore, finding the money not forthcoming, adopted that harsh measure, which, as I have mentioned, fell on the head of poor Alexis. Petrus, however, not being destitute of honourable feelings, and probably touched with some little compunction for the trick played upon his cousin, to which he would not perhaps have become a party but for his attachment to Christina, contrived to get bail put in to liberate the wretched Alexis, thus compelled to personate a character that did not belong to him; and Alexis, having no other home, skulked to Theodoric's, to whom he narrated his grievances at full length.

"About this time, old Jacob departed this life, leaving, though sorely to his dissatisfaction, his immense property behind him. The Armenians seldom bequeath their possessions by will; because, by their law of succession, the eldest son inherits the whole, being bound to provide, according to a specific rule of distribution, for the rest of the survivors. But the estate of Joseph Moorat, which was not inconsiderable, was also in his hands, as trustee for Christina, his sole heiress in default of male issue; so that Theodoric, who expected to be allowed at least the luxury of handling and turning over that magnificent heap of wealth, having acted

as Petrus's father from his earliest years, and by his instrumentality contrived to place him in his present enviable condition, rubbed his hands with ecstasy. "Tis true,' said he, Petrus is Jacob's lawful son, but who Alexis is, and how Doriclea procured him when she lost her own, is no business of mine. I have eased my conscience by the contrivance which has made Petrus the inheritor of the property that is rightfully his, and thus intercepted it from an alien and stranger to his blood.' And he bewildered himself in some delicious dreams of the immense profits he would realize as soon as he could finger a part of the hoards of Jacob Arathoon and Joseph Moorat, and thus extend his resources far beyond those of the richest merchant of Madras. But Theodoric's calculations were baffled.

Alexis, though his understanding had become inert from having so long been brought up as a sort of pet animal in Jacob's house, during which time he had exercised no faculties but those of eating, drinking, and sleeping, began to perceive that he was called on to rouse and bestir himself. Having proved, to his own satisfaction, that which Locke observes no man can prove to that of others -his own personal identity-that he was Alexis, not Petrus, by whom both his name and his rights had been usurped under the cloak of a resemblance,

which, in one of her maddest freaks, nature had created between them, he stated his case to Mr. Samuel, an acute practitioner in the Mayor's Court. There was the simplicity of truth in his statement, a probability and coherence in the circumstances, which the unpractised ingenuity of a youth like Alexis could not fabricate. The property was immense, and afforded sufficient chance of remuneration to put into motion one of the nimblest understandings in the profession. A bill was filed against Petrus (falsely called Alexis) Arathoon, and Theodoric, stating that Alexis, being the only son of Jacob and Doriclea Arathoon, both deceased, became entitled to all the property whereof Jacob died possessed, and that Petrus, the son of Theodoric and Wilhelmina Arathoon, by reason of a close resemblance between the said Alexis and the said Petrus, pretended to be Alexis, and under colour of such fraudulent pretext, claimed and was in the enjoyment of the whole estate left by the said Jacob, which by law had devolved on him, Alexis, the rightful heir of the said Jacob. There was a similar allegation respecting the property of the late Joseph Moorat, which was claimed by Alexis as the betrothed spouse of Christina, his daughter, such betrothment being valid as a marriage by the customs of the Armenians. The bill