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tions as are necessary to render them harmonious parts of a whole, and unless the writers whom they employ possess enough of generosity and self-denial to submit to his sway.

And now, having discharged this most ungracious part of our task, we turn with pleasure to the more welcome duty of bearing testimony to the quantity of amusement and instruction which are to be found blended in this work. From Professor Jameson's dissertation, we obtain, with the aid of the map, the most complete and authentic information respecting the geography of the arctic regions. We also learn, from his interesting abstract, the nature of the various soils and rocks, and the general features of the islands and continents which are scattered through the icy sea. We regret that our limits do not permit us to present our readers with more than the general conclusions drawn by the learned Professor from the facts he details :

"The observations made in Cherie island, Jan Mayen's island, Spitzbergen, Old Greenland, and the various lands and islands first explored during the four Arctic expeditions, viz. that under Captain Ross, and the three under Captain Parry, afford the following general facts and inferences: "1. That these miserable and almost uninhabited regions abound in primitive and transition rocks; and that although secondary rocks occupy considerable tracts, still, as far as is known at present, their extent is more limited than that of the older formations; that the alluvial deposits are not extensive; that true modern volcanic rocks occur only in Jan Mayen's island; and that the only traces of tertiary strata were found in sand-stones and clays, and lime-stones connected with the new trap-rocks in Baffin's Bay.

have been found to gratify the curiosity of the mineralogist, yet the previous details show that valuable ores of iron, copper, lead, and tin, and also graphite, or black-lead, are met with.

of mineral substances, are not wanting in the Arctic re"11. That the gems, the most valued and most beautiful gions, as is proved by the occurrence there of precious garnets, beryls, zircondichrottes, and rock crystals.

"12. That the islands and lands described in the sketch, exhibit the same general geognostical arrangements as occur in all other extensive tracts of country hitherto examined by the naturalist, a fact which strengthens that opinion mineral kingdom, are everywhere similar, and, conse which maintains that the grand features of nature, in the quently, that the same general agencies must have prevailed during the formation of the different groups of rocks of which the earth is composed."

Professor Leslie's contribution to the present volume is characterised by profound and comprehensive views of the phenomena of climate. He establishes, in a manner happily removed alike from the dryness of an abstruse speculator, and the superficiality of a mere popular author, the premises from which a true theory of climate are to be inferred. He demonstrates the unaltered character of the arctic climate, at least for that period of which we possess authentic records. He lays before us, with graphic power, the most striking phenomena of the arctic regions. One specimen is all that we can afford of the felicitous manner in which he has accomplished his task :

"After the continued action of the sun has at last melted away the great body of ice, a short and dubious interval of warmth occurs. In the space of a few weeks, only visited by slanting and enfeebled rays, frost again resumes his trethe whole ground is covered, to the depth of two or three mendous sway. It begins to snow as early as August, and, feet, before the month of October. Along the shores and the bays, the fresh water, poured from rivulets, or drained from the thawing of former collections of snow, becomes As the cold augments, quickly converted into solid ice.

"2. That the Neptunian, primitive, and transition rocks, now forming islands of various magnitudes, were in all probability at one time connected together, and formed a more continuous mass of land than at present; and that on these formations were deposited the secondary lime-stones, sandstones, gypsum, and coal, and upon these again the tertiary rocks, and the still newer shell-clay of Spitzbergen. That these various kinds of primary transition, secondary, and the air deposits its moisture in the form of a fog, which tertiary rocks and alluvial clays were raised above the level freezes into a fine gossamer netting, or spicular icicles, disof the sea, at different times, through the agency of the ig-persed through the atmosphere, and extremely minute, that

neous and volcanic rocks.

"4. That previously to the disposition of the coal formation, as in Melville Island and in Jameson's Land, the previously-existing, or older hills, supported a vegetation resembling that which at present characterises the tropical regions. The fossil corals in the lime-stones, corals, of which the prototypes are at present met with in the hot seas of the tropical regions, also intimate that before, during, and after the deposition of the coal formation, the waters of the Arctic Ocean were so constituted as to support polyparia, or corals, resembling those of the present equatorial seas.

might seem to pierce and excoriate the skin. The hoar frost The whole surface of the sea steams like a limekiln-an apsettles profusely, in fantastic clusters, ou every prominence.

"3. That in the course of time the land was broken up, either suddenly or by degrees, or partly by sudden and violent action, and partly by long-continued agency of the at-pearance called the frost smoke-caused, as in other instances mosphere and the ocean, into its present insular form; and of the production of vapour, by the water's being still relathat, consequently, the secondary and tertiary formations tively warmer than the incumbent air. At length the diswere formerly in these regions more extensively distributed persion of the mist, and consequent clearness of the atmothan at present. sphere, announce that the upper stratum of the sea itself has cooled to the same standard; a sheet of ice spreads quickly over the smooth expanse, and often gains the thickness of an inch in a single night. The darkness of a prolonged winter now broods impenetrably over the frozen continent, unless the moon chance at times to obtrude her faint rays, which only discover the horrors and wide desolation of the scene. The wretched settlers, covered with a load of bearskins, remain crowded and immured in their huts, every chink of which they carefully stop against the piercing external cold; and, cowering about the stove or the lamp, they seek to doze away the tedious night. Their slender stock of provisions, though kept in the same apartment, is often frozen so hard as to require to be cut by a hatchet. The whole of the inside of their hut becomes lined with a thick crust of ice; and, if they happen for an instant to open a window, the moisture of the confined air is imme diately precipitated in the form of a shower of snow. As the frost continues to penetrate deeper, the rocks are heard at a distance to split with loud explosions. The sleep of death seems to wrap up the scene in utter and oblivious

"5. That probably the ancient climates of the Arctic regions were connected in some degree with the former magnitude and form of the Arctic lauds, and their relations to the magnitude and height of other countries.

"6. That the boulders, or rolled blocks, met with in different quarters, and in tracts distant from their original localities, afford evidence of the passage of water across them, and at a period subsequent to the deposition of the newest Neptunian strata.

7. That possibly the distribution of the erratic blocks, or boulders, was occasioned by the agitations in the ocean, caused by the upraising of certain lands.

ruin.*"

When we turn from the pictures of the soil and climate of these dreary regions to the history of animated nature, we find the sea and air swarming with living The gelatinous creatures, which form the

creatures.

8. That the black, or common coal, the coal of the old or the most abundant coal formation, which some speculators maintain to be confined to the more temperate and warmer regions on the earth, is now proved,-by its discovery by Parry in Melville Island, far to the west, and by lowest scale of vital existence, crowd the ocean to a deScoresby, far to the east in Jameson's Land,-to form an interesting feature in the geognostical constitution of Arctic countries.

"9. That the new red sand-stone and gypsum found in tracts, allow us to infer that they contain rock-salt.

"10. That although few new metalliferous specimens

The sound of voices, which, during the cold weather, could be heard at a much greater distance than usual, served now and then to break the silence which reigned around us-a silence far different from that peaceable composure which characterises the landscape of a cultivated country; it was the death-like stillness of the m st dreary desolation, and the absence of animate existence.

gree unknown in other climates, affording dainty and plentiful repasts to myriads of fishes. Among these are many species of whales, yielding rich harvests of oil; while, from beneath the ice-bergs, the herrings depart annually to carry wealth and subsistence to more genial regions. The tusks of the walrus afford beautiful ivory; and the numerous flocks of birds are furnished with a peculiarly delicate and abundant down.

a scoop, succeeded in alarming the monster, who made off, leaving the captain without the slightest injury. the coast of Spitzbergen, found himself suddenly between "In 1788, Captain Cook, of the Archangel, when near the paws of a bear. He instantly called upon the surgeon who accompanied him to fire, which the latter did with such admirable promptitude and precision, that he shot the beast through the head, and delivered the captain. Mr Hawkins, of the Everthrope, in July 1818, having pursued Where such sources of wealth are exposed to view, the and twice struck a large bear, had raised his lance for a dangers arising from a cold and stormy climate, or from third blow, when the animal sprang forward, seized him. ferocious animals, have proved insufficient to deter men by the thigh, and threw him over its head into the water. from approaching. During the brief arctic summer, the Fortunately it used this advantage, only to effect its own ships of all nations may be seen braving the dangers of attacked a bear in the Spitzbergen sea; but the animal haescape. Captain Scoresby mentions a boat's crew which the Polar seas in quest of those commodities which bear a ving succeeded in climbing the sides of the boat, all the price in their own land. The perils which beset the sailors threw themselves, for safety, into the water, where mariner here are peculiarly calculated to excite the ima- they hung by the gunwale. The victor entered triumphantly, gination. The insidious and noiseless cold hems him in, and took possession of the barge, where it sat quietly, till it by converting the buoyant element through which he was shot by another party. The same writer mentious the steers his way into a solid mass. Even during the seaingenious contrivance of a sailor, who, being pursued by son which is, by courtesy, termed summer, huge moun-jacket, handkerchief, and every other article in his possesone of these creatures, threw down successively his hat, tains, detached from the main body of the ice, are driven 'sion, when the brute, pausing at each, gave the sailor always through the open sea, threatening destruction to the ves- a certain advantage, and enabled him finally to regain the sels they encounter. Even when becalmed or stranded, vessel. they do not cease to be dangerous, although they are so after a more insidious fashion. Large masses separate in silence from their bases, deep under water, and ascend, on account of their buoyancy, with an accelerating velocity, sufficient to beat in the sides or bottom of any vessel they may chance to encounter. To all these inanimate objects, co-operating with, and increasing the ordinary perils of, the winds and waves, are added the ferocious attacks of savage animals; but this part of the story we shall leave to Mr Murray to tell :

"Though the voracity of the bear is such, that he has been known to feed on his own species, yet maternal teninhabitants of the frozen regions. derness is as conspicuous in the female, as in the other There is no exertion which she will not make for the supply of her progeny. A she-bear, with her two cubs, being pursued by some sailors across a field of ice, and finding that, neither by example, nor by a peculiar voice and action, she could urge them to the requisite speed, applied her paws, and pitched them alternately forward. The little creatures themselves, as she came up, threw themselves before her to receive impulse, and thus both she and they effected their escape.'

The population, however, of these savage regions is not A race of men, confined entirely to occasional visitors. as dull almost as their climate, are spread along its coasts. We might almost term the Esquimaux a people in whom the workings of fancy and intellect have been frozen up. What traces of humanity they do retain, will appear from the following extract:

"The annals of the north are filled with accounts of the · most perilous and fatal conflicts with the Polar bear. The first, and one of the most tragical, was sustained by Barentz and Heemskerk in 1596, during their voyage for the discovery of the north-east passage. Having anchored at an island near the strait of Weygatz, two of the sailors landed, and were walking on shore, when one of them felt himself closely hugged from behind. Thinking this a frolic of one of his companions, he called out, in a corresponding tone, 'Who's there? pray stand off.' His comrade looked, and "The Esquimaux, during this expedition, became the screamed out, A bear! a bear!' then running to the ship, subjects of a more minute observation than had ever before alarmed the crew with loud cries. The sailors ran to the been made upon them by Europeans. They constitute a spot, armed with pikes and muskets. On their approach, most widely-diffused race, occupying all the shores of the the bear very coolly quitted the mangled corpse, sprang upon Northern ocean, and embracing nearly the entire ciranother sailor, carried him off, and plunging his teeth into cuit of the globe. Richardson and Franklin found them his body, began drinking his blood at long draughts. Here- along the whole coast of the American Polar sea; Kotzebue, upon, the whole of that stout crew, struck with terror, in the channel near Behring's Straits. The Samoiedes and turned their backs, and fled precipitately to the ship. On Kamtchadales, in northern Asia, seem to belong to the arriving there they began to look at each other, unable to same family. A similarity of visage and figure, boats, huts, feel much satisfaction with their own prowess. Three and instruments,-even a resemblance in habits, character, then stood forth, undertaking to avenge the fate of their and mode of life,-might have been produced by the comcountrymen, and secure to them the rites of burial. They mon pressure of the same very peculiar outward circumadvanced, and fired at first from so respectful a distance, that stances. The affinity of speech, however, which is such as all missed. The purser then courageously proceeded in proves the dialects of all the Esquimaux to be mere varieties front of his companions, and, taking a close aim, pierced the of one common language, affords a clear proof, that an eri-" monster's skull immediately below the eye. The bear, ginal race from some one quarter, has spread over the whole however, merely lifted his head, and advanced upon them, range of those immense and desolate shores. This migra holding still in his mouth the victim whom he was devour- tion must have been facilitated by the vast continuity of ing; but seeing him soon stagger, the three rushed on with coast, which stretches along the Arctic ocean, and which is sabre and bayonet, and soon dispatched him. They collected not equalled in any other quarter. Hence, probably, the and bestowed decent sepulture on the mangled limbs of their Esquimaux, at distant ages, connected the old and new comrades, while the skin of the animal, thirteen feet long, continents, which, at all other points, were then wholly became the prize of the sailor who had fired the successful unknown to each other. shot.

“The history of the whale-fishery records a number of remarkable escapes from the bear. A Dutch captain, Jonge Kees, in 1668, undertook, with two canoes, to attack one, and with a lance gave him so dreadful a wound in the belly, that his immediate death seemed inevitable. Anxious, therefore, not to injure the skin, Kees merely followed the animal close, till he should drop down dead. The bear, however, having climbed a little rock, made a spring from the distance of twenty-four feet upon the captain, who, taken completely by surprise, lost hold of the lance, and fell beneath the assailant, who, placing both paws on his breast, opened two rows of tremendous teeth, and paused for a moment, as if to show him all the horrors of his situation. At this critical instant, a sailor, rushing forward with only

"The external form of that people seems influenced, and, as it were, characterised, by the severity of the climate. Their stature is decidedly lower than that of the Europeans; five feet nine inches being considered, even in a man, as almost gigantic. Though the trunk of the body is somewhat thick, all the extremities are small, especially the hands and feet, and the fingers short. The face is broad and flat, the nose small, and at the same time, so sunk and deep, that in some instances, a ruler could be applied from cheek to cheek without touching it. It is somewhere observed, that their visage presents that peculiar form which the human face naturally assumes under exposure to intense cold, that all the projecting features are drawn in, and the cheeks, consequently, pushed out. In the same way, exposure to the weather may perhaps produce the high cheek bones of

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mountaineers. Under these modifications, however, both their bodies and their limbs are very tolerably shaped. Even the female countenance, though without pretensions to regular beauty, is often agreeable, with a frank and goodhumoured expression; so that, were it cleared of the thick crust of grease and dirt, so as to exhibit the real complexion, which is only that of a deep brunette, it might, even in Europe, be reckoned handsome. The skin is unctuous, and unpleasantly cold to the touch; the flesh soft and flabby, owing, probably, to the fat animal substances which form the principal part of their food.

"In their moral qualities, the Esquimaux, or at least this particular tribe, present much that is worthy of commendation. At the first opening of the intercourse, the most undeviating honesty marked all their conduct, though this quality, in the course of two winters' communication, was considerably undermined. They were exposed, indeed, to most severe temptations, by seeing constantly scattered about the ships little planks, pieces of old iron, and empty tin pots, which was to them as if the decks had been strewed with gold and jewels. It also came to their knowledge that, in some of their early exchanges, rich skins had been bartered for beads, and other trifles of no real value, a system against which they exclaimed as absolute robbery. From first to last, the virtue now mentioned was practised among themselves in a manner worthy of the golden age. Their dresses, sledges, and all their implements of hunting and fishing, were left exposed inside or outside of the huts, without any instance being known of their having been carried off. Property, without the aid of laws or tribunals, was in the most perfect security. The common right to the products of the chase marks also a singular union, without seeming to relax their diligence in search of food, though it may perhaps contribute to their very thoughtless consumption of it. The navigators admit that they were received with the most cordial hospitality into the little huts, where the best meat was set before them, and the women vied with each other in the attentions of cooking, and drying and mending their clothes. The women working and singing, their husbands quietly mending their lines, the children playing before the door, and the pot boiling over the blaze of a cheerful lamp,' gave a pleasing picture of Savage life. Yet a continued intercourse showed that the Esquimaux inherited their full share of human frailty. Begging we shall pass over, though in many instances persevering and incessant, because it seems to have been called forth almost entirely by their connexion with our countrymen, and by too lavish presents at the first; while their little bursts of envy appear to have flowed from the same source. But the fair Esquimaux are charged with strong propensity to slander and detraction, which were as busy among them as they sat in circles round the door mending their lines, as in the most fashionable drawing-rooms. Their own conduct, meantime, is said to have afforded the most ample scope for censure, especially in regard to connubial fidelity; and yet, when it is admitted that these faults were carefully concealed, and much outward decorum observed, and that the propensity to calumny often led the natives beyond the strict limits of truth, we doubt whether too implicit reliance may not have been placed on the scandalous chronicle of the frozen regions. The natives certainly do appear to display a peculiar apathy in regard to the sufferings and even the death of neighbours and relations. Widows, and the aged and infirm, if they have not children of their own, experience the greatest indifference. In times of plenty, indeed, they share in the general abundance of food; but, during scarcity, a very small quantity reaches them, and, receiving no attendance in their sickness, they often perish through pure want and neglect. The children are treated with extreme tenderness; though the practice of adoption, which prevails most extensively, and which establishes in full force, between the parties, the ties of father and child, is practised with regard to boys only, and seemingly with the view that they may contribute to support the old age of their fictitious parents.

"The religious ideas of the Esquimaux, though they cannot be dignified with any better name than superstition, are not much more absurd than the popular creed of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Their principal deity is Aywillaigoo, a female, immensely tall, with only the left eye, wearing a pigtail reaching to her knee, so thick that it can scarcely be grasped by both hands. Captain Lyon witnessed a mighty incantation, in which Zoolemak, the chief magician, summoned Aywillaigoo to the upper world to utter her oracles. The party were assembled in a hut,

where light after light was put out, till they were left in total darkness. Zoolemak then, after loud invocations, professed to descend to the world below to bring up the goddess. Soon there rose a loud chant of peculiar sound, imagined to be the voice of Aywillaigoo. During half an hour, in reply to the loud screams and questions of her votaries, she uttered dubious and mystical responses; after which, the sound died away, and she was supposed to descend beneath the earth, when Zoolemak, with a shout, announced his own return to the upper world. The magician, however, being soon after on board a British ship, was treated with nine glasses of hot water (brandy), under the influence of which he began to act over again his enchantments, when it appeared, that by varying modes of applying the hand or jacket to the mouth, he produced those changeful sounds which had passed for the words of Aywillaigoo. This divinity has for her father a giant with one The Esquimaux pantheon comprises, moreover, Pamiooli, a spirit frequently invoked, and a large bear, whose dwelling is in the middle of the ice, and who frequently holds converse with mankind. The natives believe also in a future world, the employments and pleasures of which, according to the usual creed of savage races, are all sensual. The soul descends beneath the earth through successive abodes, the first of which has somewhat of the nature of purgatory; but the good spirits, passing through it, find the other mansions successively improve, till they reach that of perfect bliss, far beneath, where the sun never sets, and where, by the side of large lakes, that never freeze, the deer roam in vast herds, and the seal and walrus abound in the waters."

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We could have wished to enter into the interesting details given by Mr Murray respecting the mode in which the whale-fishery is carried on, and its national importance, but we have already allotted to the consideration of this work as large a space as we can well afford. We | have spoken freely of what we conceive to be its defects, because, were they removed, we know of no work among the many daily offered to the public that would exceed it in value or interest. We heartily wish that its pubmay meet with the patronage which their intelligence and enterprise so well deserve.

lishers

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THIS is just such a work as ought to find a place in a family library. It contains a great number of witch and ghost stories, told in an elegant and amusing manner, strung upon a slender and scarce apparent thread of argument. We do not think that Sir Walter has gone very deep into the theory of supernatural visitations, or thrown much new light upon the origin of the belief in them ; but he has given a candid view of the progress of a mind which, at one period, delighted to indulge in the feverish excitement of a momentary acquiescence in the truth of superstitious tales, and which has, in maturer years, outgrown that childish taste. About the time when Sir Walter commenced his literary career, Monk Lewis, and a herd of imitators, were striving hard to eke out naturally sterile imaginations, by borrowing from the records of outworn superstition. Scott gave in to the folly for a little, but his naturally strong understanding, and his common sense, taught him soon to feel the emptiness and worthlessness of such inspiration, and to turn to the healthier fields of human life.

Demonology and Witchcraft are diseases of the mind. Their absurd mythology is the produce of weak nerves, and confused ideas. When the bodily functions are deranged, be it through the extreme of misery or of riotous indulgence, we are often conscious of a vague and unsccountable sensation, more nearly resembling terror than any other feeling. A higher degree of the disease produces delirium a state of mind in which the ordinary associations of thought seem violently broken up, and the disconnected ideas drift unconnectedly athwart the brain. In this state, every painful sensation suggests some odious

and revolting external cause-snakes coiling around, toads crawling over our limbs, and such like. This is the source of our belief in malignant demons, who hover around us, ever on the watch to poison the springs of life and happiness. Superstition may assume different forms and colours, according to the local situation, the religious and moral creeds, the state of information, of the people subject to its sway, but to this fertile source it may still be traced. But for this sickness, it never could have originated-and only in constitutions so shattered and debilitated, can it retain a vital existence.

Such a loathsome subject is unfit for true poetry. We do not deny that it may at times awake a half-pleasureable thrill; but this fits it as little to become a material worthy the workmanship of the poet, as the rich and delicately mingling dies of a cancer, render it a proper object for the painter to represent, The aspirations of the soul to comprehend the being and attributes of Deity, its timid longings after immortality, are fit themes for song; but these are as different from the craven apprehensions of the believer in witchcraft, as the pure atmosphere on the mountain tops from the mud in the streets. But not only was that perversion of taste, which sought materials for poetry and romance in tales of diablerie, unhealthy, it was, even independent of this circumstance, hollow and worthless. The day had gone past when men could sympathise in such horrors. No one could - believe them—their very authors, ashamed of their own weak inventions, sought to do away with their supernatural incidents, by natural explanations. They were, like actors walking on the stage, trying to persuade them selves that their pasteboard decorations are real graves ≫ their readers, like great lubberly lads, seeking for amusement in the games of children.

But in thus seeking to exclude witchcraft (in general -we allow some excepted cases) from the category of the poetical, we do not mean to deny that there is a way of presenting it to the contemplation so as to become a pleasing and profitable object. It may afford much amusement, viewed as a curious mental problem. We may pass the time worse than in dissecting this diseased part of the system. And this is exactly the plan which Sir Walter has adopted. The consequence is, that he has produced an interesting book. To be sure, he is (like some professors of chemistry) not very profound, but then he lectures gracefully, and performs his experiments with unrivalled neatness.

The work is divided into ten chapters: letters, Sir Walter is pleased to call them—we know not why; for they are no more letters than this review is. They are regular didactic chapters. The first contains an exposition of the origin of the more prevalent opinions respecting demonology. This chapter is elegantly composed throughout, and contains many really acute remarks, but is, on the whole, not a little desultory. It goes round the bush and round the bush, and ends nearly where it begins. The following remarks on the difference between those nervous disorders which superinduce a disposition to see apparitions, and insanity, strike us as peculiarly happy:

"This frightful disorder is not properly insanity, although it is somewhat allied to that most horrible of maladies, and may, in many constitutions, be the means of bringing it on, and although such hallucinations are proper to both. The difference I conceive to be, that, in cases of insanity, the mind of the patient is principally affected, while the senses, or organized system, offer in vain to the lunatic their decided testimony against the fantasy of a deranged imagination. Perhaps the nature of this collision between a disturbed imagination and organs of sense possessed of their usual accuracy, cannot be better described than in the embarrassment expressed by an insane patient confined in the Infirmary of Edinburgh. The poor man's malady had taken a gay turn. The house, in his idea, was his own, and he contrived to account for all that seemed inconsistent with his imaginary right of property;-there were many patients in

it, but that was owing to the benevolence of his nature, which made him love to see the relief of distress. He went

little, or rather never, abroad; but then, his habits were of much company-but he daily received visits from the first a domestic, and rather sedentary character. He did not see characters in the renowned medical school of this city, and he could not, therefore, be much in want of society. With so many supposed comforts around him,-with so many visions of wealth and splendour, one thing alone disturbed the peace of the poor optimist, and would indeed have confounded most bons vivans; He was curious,' he said, 'in his table, choice in his selection of cooks, had every day a somehow or other, every thing he eat tasted of porridge.' dinner of three regular courses and a dessert; and yet, This dilemma could be no great wonder to the friend to whom the poor patient communicated it, who knew the lunatic eat nothing but this simple aliment at any of his meals. The case was obvious; the disease lay in the extreme vivacity of the patient's imagination, deluded in other with the honest evidence of his stomach and palate, which, instances, yet not absolutely powerful enough to contend like Lord Peter's brethren, in the Tale of a Tub, were indignant at the attempt to impose boiled oatmeal upon them, instead of such a banquet as Ude would have displayed when peers were to partake of it. Here, therefore, is one instance of actual insanity, in which the sense of taste controlled, and attempted to restrain, the ideal hypothesis which I previously alluded, is entirely of a bodily character, adopted by a deranged imagination. But the disorder to and consists principally in the disease of the visual organs, which present to the patient a set of spectres or appearances, which have no actual existence. It is a disease of the same nature, which renders many men incapable of distinguishing colours; only the patients go a step farther, and pervert the external form of objects. In their case, therefore, conthe imagination, which imposes upon, and overpowers, the trary to that of the maniac, it is not the mind, or rather evidence of the senses, but the sense of seeing (or hearing) which betrays its duty, and conveys false ideas to a sane intellect."

It is in this same chapter that Sir Walter gives an account of his vision of Lord Byron after the death of that illustrious poet. We know that our readers will be anxious to hear Sir Walter on this subject:

"Another illusion of the same nature, we have the best reason for vouching as a fact, though, for cereas o we do not give the names of the parties. Not long after the death of a late illustrious poet, who had filled, while living, a great station in the eye of the public, a literary friend, to whom the deceased had been well known, was engaged, during the darkening twilight of an autumn evening, in perusing one of the publications which professed vidual who was now no more. to detail the habits and opinions of the distinguished indiAs the reader had enjoyed the intimacy of the deceased to a considerable degree, he was deeply interested in the publication, which contained some particulars relating to himself and other friends. A visitor was sitting in the apartment, who was also engaged in reading. Their sitting-room opened into an entrancehall, rather fantastically fitted up with armour, skins of wild animals, and the like. It was when laying down his book, and passing into this hall, through which the moon was beginning to shine, that the individual of whom I speak saw, right before him, and in a standing posture, the exact representation of his departed friend, whose recollection had been so strongly brought to his imagination. He stopped for a single moment, so as to notice the wonderful accuracy with which fancy had impressed upon the bodily eye, the peculiarities of dress and posture of the illustrious poet. Sensible, however, of the delusion, he felt no sentiment save that of wonder at the extraordinary accuracy of the resemblance, and stepped onwards towards the figure, which resolved itself, as he approached, into the various materials of which it was composed. These were merely a screen, occupied by great-coats, shawls, plaids, and such other articles as usually are found in a country entrance-hall. The spectator returned to the spot from which he had seen the illusion, and endeavoured, with all his power, to recall the image which had been so singularly vivid. But this was beyond his capacity; and the person who had witnessed the apparition, or, more properly, whose excited state had been the means of raising it, had only to return into the apartment, and tell his young friend under

what a striking hallucination he had for a moment laboured."

The second chapter we could have wished omitted. It professes to treat of the scriptural doctrines regarding evil spirits, and their intercourse with men. This is a delicate and difficult topic; and although Sir Walter brings an immense mass of biblical learning to bear upon the enquiry, it does not appear to us that he has succeeded one whit better than his predecessors.

her a fit victim. At present, the story is scarcely worth mentioning, but as it contains materials resembling those out of which many tragic incidents have arisen."

Sir Walter sums up his argument by contrasting two of life when the heart beats a ready alarm to a tale of pictures-the one of the state of the mind at that period terror; the other, its feelings at the more advanced period, when its susceptibility to such excitement has become dulled. We think the contrast well managed, and the concluding remarks extremely just:

"The charm of the tale depends much upon the age of the person to whom it is addressed; and the vivacity of fancy which engages us in youth to pass over much that is absurd, in order to enjoy some single trait of imagination, the sadder and graver regions which lie beyond it. I am dies within us when we obtain the age of manhood, and the more conscious of this, because I have been myself, at two periods of my life, distant from each other, in situations favourable to that degree of superstitious awe which my countrymen expressively call being eerie.

Chapter third discusses the demonology of the heathen world; chapters fourth, fifth, and sixth, the belief in fairies; chapters seventh, eighth, and ninth, the belief in witchcraft; the concluding chapter is occupied with a summary of other mystic arts. In the puzzling history of witchcraft, our greatest difficulty has always been the apparent belief on the parts of many of the unhappy sufferers in the reality of their guilt. The following anecdote seems to throw some light upon this knotty point: "The last Scottish story with which I will trouble you, happened in, or shortly after, the year 1800, and the whole circumstances are well known to me. The dearth of the years in the end of the eighteenth, and beginning of this century, was inconvenient to all, but distressing to the poor. A solitary old woman, in a wild and lonely district, sub-seat of the Earls of Strathmore. The hoary pile contains sisted chiefly by rearing chickens-an operation requiring so much care and attention, that the gentry, and even the farmers' wives, often find it better to buy poultry at a certain age, than to undertake the trouble of bringing them up. As the old woman, in the present instance, fought her way through life better than her neighbours, envy stigmatized her as having some unlawful mode of increasing the gains of her little trade, and apparently she did not take much alarm at the accusation. But she felt, like others, the dearth of the years alluded to, and chiefly, because the farmers were unwilling to sell grain in the very moderate quantities which she was able to purchase, and without which, her little stock of poultry must have been inevitably starved. In distress on this account, the dame went to a neighbouring farmer, a very good-natured, sensible, honest man, and requested him, as a favour, to sell her a peck of oats at any price. Good neighbour,' said he,' I am sorry to be obliged to refuse you, but my corn is measured out for Dalkeith market; my carts are loaded to set out, and to open these sacks again, and for so small a quantity, would cast my accounts loose, and create much trouble and disadvantage; I dare say you will get all you want at such a place, or such a place. On receiving this answer, the old woman's temper gave way. She scolded the wealthy farmer, and wished ev.1 to his property, which was just setting off for market. They parted, after some angry language on both sides; and sure enough, as the carts crossed the ford of the river beneath the farm-house, off came the wheel from one of them, and five or six sacks of corn were damaged by the water. The good farmer hardly knew what to think of this; these were the two circumstances deemed of old essential and sufficient to the crime of witchcraft-Damnum minatum, et malum secutum. Scarce knowing what to believe, he hastened to consult the sheriff of the county, as a friend rather than as a magistrate, upon a case so extraordinary. The official person showed him that the laws against witchcraft were abrogated, and had little difficulty to bring him to regard the matter in its true light of an accident.

"It is strange, but true, that the accused herself was not to be reconciled to the sheriff's doctrine so easily. He reminded her, that if she used her tongue with so much license, she must expose herself to suspicions, and that should coincidences happen to irritate her neighbours, she might suffer harm at a time when there was no one to protect her. He therefore requested her to be more cautious in her language, for her own sake, professing, at the same time, his belief that her words and intentions were perfectly harmless, and that he had no apprehension of being hurt by her, let her wish her worst to him. She was rather more angry than pleased at the well-meaning sheriff's scepticism. I would be laith to wish ony ill either to you or yours, sir,' she said; for I kenna how it is, but something aye comes after my words when I am ill-guided, and speak ower fast.' In short, she was obstinate in claiming an influence over the destiny of others by words and wishes, which might have in other times conveyed her to the stake; for which her expressions, their consequences, and her disposition to insist upon their efficacy, would certainly of old have made

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"On the first of these occasions, I was only nineteen or twenty years old, when I happened to pass a night in the magnificent old baronial castle of Glammis, the hereditary much in its appearance, and in the traditions connected with it, impressive to the imagination. It was the scene of the murder of a Scottish king of great antiquity; not, indeed, the gracious Duncan, with whom the name naturally associates itself, but Malcolm the Second. It contains also a curious monument of the peril of feudal times, being a secret chamber, the entrance of which, by the law or custom of the family, must only be known to three persons at once-viz. the Earl of Strathmore, his heir apparent, and any third person whom they may take into their confidence. The extreme antiquity of the building is vouched by the immense thickness of the walls, and the wild and straggling arrangement of the accommodation within doors. As the late Earl of Strathmore seldom resided in that ancient mansion, it was, when I was there, but half furnished, and that with moveables of great antiquity, which, with the pieces of chivalric armour hanging upon the walls, greatly contributed to the general effect of the whole. After a very hos. pitable reception from the late Peter Proctor, Esq., then seneschal of the castle, in Lord Strathmore's absence, I was conducted to my apartment, in a distant corner of the building. I must own, that as I heard door after door shut, after my conductor had retired, I began to consider myself too far from the living, and somewhat too near the dead. We had passed through what is called 'the King's room,' a vaulted apartment, garnished with stags' antlers, and similar trophies of the chase, and said by tradition to be the spot of Malcolm's murder, and I had an idea of the vicinity of the castle chapel.

"In spite of the truth of history, the whole night scene in Macbeth's castle rushed at once upon my mind, and struck my imagination more forcibly than even when I have seen its terrors represented by the late John Kemble and his inimitable sister. In a word, I experienced sensations which, though not remarkable either for timidity or superstition, did not fail to affect me to the point of being disagreeable, while they were mingled at the same time with a strange and indescribable kind of pleasure, the recollection of which affords me gratification at this moment.

"In the year 1814, accident placed me, then past middle life, in a situation somewhat similar to that which I have already described.

"I had been on a pleasure voyage with some friends around the north coast of Scotland, and in that course had arrived in the salt-water lake under the castle of Dunvegan, whose turrets, situated upon a frowning rock, rise immediately above the waves of the loch. As most of the party, and I myself in particular, chanced to be well known to the Laird of Macleod, we were welcomed to the castle with Highland hospitality, and glad to find ourselves in polished society, after a cruise of some duration. The most modern part of the castle was founded in the days of James VI. ; the more ancient is referred to a period whose birth tradition notes not.' Until the present Macleod connected with a drawbridge the site of the castle with the mainland of Skye, the access must have been extremely difficult. Indeed, so much greater was the regard paid to security there to convenience, that in former times the only access to the mansion arose through a vaulted cavern in a rock, up which

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