THE

DISCARDED SON.

A TALE.

Habant;

PRINTED BY L. SKELTON.

THE

DISCARDED SON;

OR,

HAUNT OF THE BANDITTI :

A Tale.

IN FIVE VOLUMES.

BY

REGINA MARIA ROCHE,

AUTHOR OF THE

CHILDREN OF THE ABBEY; MAID OF THE HAMLET:
VICAR OF LANSDOWN; TRADITION OF THE
CASTLE; MUNSTER COTTAGE BOY; CASTLE CHAPEL;
TRECOTHICK BOWER, &c. &c.

Thou hast been

As one in suffering all, that suffers nothing;
A man who Fortune's buffets and rewards
Has ta'en with equal thanks: and blest are they
Whose blood and judgment mingled are so well
That they are not a pipe for Fortune's finger,
To sound what stop she' please.

SHAKSPEARE.

Second Edition :

VOL. III.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR

A. K. NEWMAN & CO. LEADENHALL-STREET.

1825.

SJK

R 445 D5

V. 3

THE

DISCARDED SON.

CHAP. I.

"When Fortune means to men most good,

She looks upon them with a threat'ning eye."
SHAKSPEARE.

HAVING entered the Streights of Messina, the Italian shores appeared in view, exhibiting a variety of the most beautiful scenery, set off and heightened by the brilliant clearness of the atmosphere. In the enthusiasm it awakened, Osmond could not refrain from exclaiming, in the language of the poet,

"Could Nature's bounty satisfy the breast,

The sons of Italy were surely blest;