" And pray what may be this vocation, for which you
would exchange a professional life, and the many advantages attendant upon it ?" asked Mr. Mordaunt.
"The cabinet-making business, for which you must be aware I have ever, even from childhood, evinced a considerable talent."
"Great God ! and shall it be said that a child of mine is a mechanic ? that one of my family earns a livelihood by the sweat of his brow ? No- no ! sooner would I see him hugged in the cold embrace of death !"
" What ! a mechanic, Herbert ? oh ! fie, fie for shame !" shrieked the horror-stricken Mrs. Mordaunt- whilst the lip of the supercilious student of medicine, curled with a bitter sneer of contempt. "Why this inveteracy against the mechanics, father ? Is it not among them we find the brightest gems of society ? Are they not the pillars, on which rests that magnificent edifice—our Republic ?" said Herbert Mordaunt, who seemed less likely to yield to the united efforts of his parents, to banish from his mind the idea of becoming a mechanic, than resolutely to combat them. "Marry, you are truly eloquent in praise of these ignorant and unpolished beings-a class with whom no one of standing should associate, and whose ranks, give the penetentiary but its due, would be reduced to one half their number." A flush of indignation passed over the countenance of Herbert Mordaunt, and his eyes sparkled with more than their wonted brilliancy ; but he suppressed the tart reply that rose to his lips, and said in a deferential tone" The trades, I expect, like the professions, are not without their unprincipled members ; but I shall endeavor to avoid these, and keep company with the more honest ones." "Ah! Herbert ! little did I imagine when I was expending hundreds, aye, thousands in educating you, that I should be thus recompensed." an aware, father, that there is a heavy debt due "I am you on that score, and sincerely hope (however improbable it may at present seem) that circumstances will enable me at some future period to discharge it." 66 Come, come, Herbert ! do away with this foolish idea of yours, and go down to Mr. Baldwin's this evening, and inform him that you will be prepared in a week or ten days, at farthest, to commence your studiesotherwise I shall be compelled to annul my will, (which you know I have by me,) and cut you off without a dollar," said Mr. Mordaunt, who thought his son's reply savoured somewhat of relenting. " Touching a professional life it is needless for me to speak, as you already know my mind on that point, and as to your fortune I ask not a farthing of it ; for I am convinced, if I have not overrated my abilities, that I shall be able to maintain myself in competent independence."
"And you still persist in the determination of becoming a cabinet-maker ?" 66"Yes, sir." The violent passions which had been long gathering within, now burst forth with the uncurbed vehemence of a tornado, and striking the centre-table with a force that threatened to shiver it to fragments, Mr. Mordaunt exclaimed"Then, by heavens ! you shall seek a home elsewhere, for I henceforward renounce you-Begone, and forget that you have a parent in existence !" Too thoroughly acquainted with his father's fiery temperament, not to know that further delay would but engender harsher words, and excite to a higher pitch his ungovernable rage, Herbert Mordaunt rose from his seat and advanced to receive the parting embrace of Mrs. Mordaunt ; but she- she who had watched over his infancy with all the tender solicitude which a mother can possibly feel for her offspring- allowing the false pride of the world to gain the mastery over maternal feelings, waved him off, and pointed significantly to the door. Finding now the entire household highly incensed against him, because of the resolution he had formed to follow a vocation, for which he felt an inward conviction, he possessed a fine natural talent, Herbert Mordaunt dashed away the tear that glistened on his eye-lash , and left his father's home in silence and in sorrow. Notwithstanding he had been cradled in the lap of affluence, Herbert Mordaunt happily had not imbibed those little prejudices, which parents of the wealthier order by ridiculing the awkward manner and inaccuracy of speech of the poorer class, under color of training their children in the rules of gentility-but too often manage to instil into their minds, and which eventually imbitter their feelings, and bring them to look with aversion upon a mechanic, however meritorious he might be. Thrown on his own resources, to shape a course for himself through the world, Herbert Mordaunt no sooner found himself in the street, than he bent his steps toward Mr. Daley's, a skilful cabinet-maker, in whose shop his latent genius had first developed itself, when, while yet a mere child, he was in the habit of stealing off from his comrades, to bend with all the intenseness of soul over such articles as the good-natured journeymen would place in his hands, to quiet his importunities, and reward his seeming industry. Arrived at Mr. Daley's, he engaged to serve a three-years' apprenticeship under him, and in accordance with that worthy gentleman's wishes, immediately entered upon the duties of his occupation. Thus in the space of a few hours was Herbert Mordaunt transformed from a dashing young gallant, apparelled in the height of the fashion, to a cabinet-maker's sober apprentice, decked in the coarse habiliments of the laboring class. So rapid was Herbert Mordaunt's progress, that at
