her voice, her manner in every respect, and the words that she addressed to him sunk deep into his heart. He summoned his daughter again into his presence, desired her to make herself ready for immediate departure, and that night they reached the harbour where the ship lay at anchor, and without loss of time they went on board and set sail.

This ship was a splendid yacht, which belonged to the earl, his brother, and was manned by their own vassals. The captain was a Mr John Lesley, a firm adherent of Lord Robert, a very brave and honest man, but abundantly ignorant and superstitious withal. He was married to one Janet Elphingston, the same who had nursed this young lady, and attended her from the time she was weaned till the death of her mother, when she was sent abroad; and this connexion bred an instant friendship between the young lady and Johnnie Lesley, but in the end it proved a dear intimacy to him. He was the only man she conversed with besides her father, and his broad and homely dialect amused her exceedingly. His wife, her beloved Jenny Elphingston, was the theme of her constant enquiries,untilJohnnie became rather impatient; and one day, while she was sitting beside him at the helm, the following confabulation ensued ;

"Do you know, Captain, that I am wearying exceedingly to see your wife, my own dear Jenny Elphingston? Why did you not bring her with you?"

"Becass I thught she wuld ruther be butter at heeme, me ledy. They're nee gueed sheepmeets, the wimmun." "Has she a large family of children ?"

"I cudnee be saying."

and seizing him by the breast, cried, "Tell me, you rascal, what is it ?"

"Fwat is it?" cried Johnnie, with a quivering voice, “Oh, gueed my lord, it is the ghust of my weef cum to akkuse me for a theeng o' neething. Oh, gueed my lord, lay her! Lay her in the deips of the sea that she has cum out of, or else we are all dead mun; for how can we sail wi' a ghust on beerd?"

"Not so fast, John Lesley," said the apparition, moving towards him with a cloudlike motion; " I retire no again to the elemental world till I have reproved you for your insolence, and likewise read to you your doom." Here the uproar grew excessive on board, for every one of the crew knew Jenny Elphingston, and all of them were horrified, and, roaring aloud, sought shelter, some in one hole, and some in another. As for Lesley, he fled backward by instinct, as far as he could get, and at length, coming in contact with the windlass, he leant his back to that, held both his hands and one of his feet out as his last defence, and brayed most lustily. The apparition, perceiving all things in this state of utter confusion, only shook her closed fist at her husband, and said, "Well, craven, you are not fit to be spoken to now; but -we shall soon meet again!"

"Oo! nu-nu-nu-no meet again! I beg your pardon a thousand tumes, but no meet again," cried Johnnie Lesley, as the vision retired astern, where it vanished behind the binnacle.

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Great was the consternation aboard that ship, and every man wished himself heartily ashore, for this appa

"Ay, mine are nee sae ill to count. But how munny she might have had whun she leeved in your grand house, that's another quastion."

“O fie, Captain, to speak that way of your own wife!" "There's name of you wimmen foks meekle to luppen tee, and I'll warrant she's nee butter nor, her nubbers."

Well, Captain, I regard such a speech as a sort of blasphemy, an insinuation that deserves some manifest judgment from heaven. I would not wonder to see your wife rise out of the waves and reprove you for such a breach of duty."

"Ah! Gueed forbud that uver ye see sucken a sught as that, my ledy!"

The lady retired to her gilded cabin, while Johnnie Lesley kept his post at the helm, whistling on the southland breeze, and singing the following rude stanzas be

Blow now, sweet breeze! Blow from that wucked keentry of France, and bring me in sight of me awn neetaf hulls again!-Gueed be my salveetion, wha have weshere!"

Johnnie turned round his face from the stern, whither he land been propitiating the southern wind, and lo! and behold! on the seat which the lady lately occupied, there sat his own wife, Janet Elphingston, looking him ruefully in the face. "Gueed be my salveetion, wha have we here!" and before the apparition had time to make any reply, Johnnie broke from his post, and ran along the deck bellowing like one distracted, his eyes like to leap from their sockets, and his hair standing like bulrushes. The sailors sprung from their berths, and gathered round him; but he could do nothing but roar, and offer to

like other phantoms, at the close of twilight, or at the still hour of midnight, and it was likewise visible to all 4 on board. But there was none who laid the circum stance so deeply to heart as Lord Robert. It was so strange that both the dead and the living should thus appear in their bodily shapes, and that only in the place t favoured with the presence of his daughter. He recalled to mind the words of the Lady Abbess, and likewise his own daughter's words, of the vices nursed in that abode of iniquity. But always in Lady Elizabeth's presence, she was so kind, so courteous, and so like an angel, that i it was impossible for a fond parent to believe any thing evil of her.

Johnnie Lesley continued in a very restless and unquiet state of mind, his nerves having got such a shock that he was startled by every sound and every sight. Whenever a head rose slowly from the forecastle or companion-door, bis jaws fell down, and he was rendered speechless for some time; once more during the voyage, and once only, he perceived her rising from the companion-door, having her eyes fixed on him, on which he raised the same commotion as before, and the being vanished without having been seen by any other person.

I pass over all the other incidents of the voyage, the surmises that passed, the searching of Lady Elizabeth's cabin, from a belief that the real Jenny Elphingston was there concealed, and shall now carry our party to their own home, an ancient seaport town in the north, near which Lord Robert's castle stood. Great was the anxiety of the crew, as well as of the good nobleman himself, to visit Johnnie Lesley's abode, which was close on the quay at the foot of The Town, for so the village was uniformly denominated.

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Accordingly, no sooner did they set foot on shore, than they went in a body to Lesley's house, with Lord Robert at their head, and their captain in the rear, whose mind seemed visited by some strange misgivings, from a conviction either that his wife, Jenny Elphingston, was dead, and he had seen her ghost, or else that she was a witch, and had the power of transporting herself through the air; and in either of these cases he naturally conceived that he stood rather on ticklish ground. However, Jenny came bustling out as usual, and welcomed them all home

while every one looked to another without speaking, but Johnnie Lesley the most blank of any.

"Hey! gueed be here!" cried Janet, "fwat are ye a' gup. ping and glearing that gaity for, as if ye seedit a ghast? Gueedman, I thunk ye be gruppit wi' the glinders tee; fwat are ye leeking in that keemical way for ?"

"Trith, gueedweef, I had a bittock of a strim-strim-' ming in mee head, and abut me hurt; for do you kene I thought you wur aiblins dead."

"But tuld me this, Shunnet," said Johnnie, still keep ing at a distance, and laying the points of his two forefingers together; "have you been at heem in all your pursonal preeperties own sunce I gaed awa?"

"In truth, gueedman, and I hae nut, for I hae been over the meen, and over the sturns, and over the seas sunce you gaed awa. And fwat do you thunk of that?" "Aib, Gueed preesarve me fra sich an a wucked wummon! It was no wunder I was fruchtned on beerd!" And so saying, Johnnie and his messmates retreated to the alehouse, and left Jenny Elphingston and her adored young Lady Elizabeth to converse at freedom. From that time forth, Jenny paid no more attention to the household and affairs of her husband. She attached herself again to her young lady, and waited on her at all times, and strange were the reports that circulated of the two. The connexion between them must now remain a mystery till the end of time. Whether the lady Elizabeth had the power of ventriloquism, then unknown in this land, and the art | to disguise her person and voice so completely as to personify any acquaintance, or whether she had a familiar spirit who appeared at her command, in the persons of these acquaintances, there seems to be no doubt remaining that she had the personal appearances of these persons, their several voices, manners, and qualities, entirely at her command, no matter at what distance removed from them. Of Jenny Elphingston in particular, or her shade, she had the complete command, and the whole land was kept in agitation by their auguries and pranks, of which the following was their first after the lady's return; and, when compared with those already recounted, and with others, convinces me that the Lady Elizabeth had the rare art of personifying any person with whom she was intimately acquainted.

The fright that Johnnie Lesley had gotten by the apparition of his wife on board, and a sort of vague idea that she had two existences, impressed him with the notion that the seldomer he came in contact with her it would be both the better and the safer for him. Accordingly, he came no more home to his own house during the time his vessel lay at anchor, but boosed away with his companions, and slept either on board, or in the house of his friend, Andrew Chisholm.

Well, one afternoon, as Johnnie and his associates were carousing away in the Blue Bell Tavern, in came Jenny Elphingston, and upbraided him for his continued dissipation, and disregard of all family and social duties; and, finally, she took a seat beside them, and declared her resolution to remain there till her husband accompanied her home. Johnnie durst not say much, nor refuse to go home, though there was nothing farther from his intention; but as he particularly wanted some things out of the house, he determined to go there in her absence, secure these articles, and escape with them aboard. In accordance with this plan, he said to Jenny, if she would sit still a few minutes, and take a glass with his friends till he made a call, he would then go home with her. In this she acquiesced without hesitation, and Johnnie flew home on the wings of the wind, to secure the treasure he wanted; but any person may judge of his feelings, when, on entering his own house, he found another Jenny Elphingston there, gloomy and discontented, and upbraiding

him in no very measured terms. "Ay, ay, Mistress Janet, are you here already? I thought you wur to bide tull I cum❜d back."

་ ་ ་

I dunna ken what you mean, John," said she; "I havena been ower the deer-threshilt the day, accept for a wee drappie of water in the fore-day." Johnnie's heart grew cold within him. He saw that

he wandered in a world of enchantment, and durst not say that either his senses or his life were his own. He only stammered, and said something about glamour being in his een, but that he would be at the bottom of this affair; and, making his escape once more, he fled with all his might to his friend Andrew Chisholm's. But no sooner was he entered, than he found there another Jenny Elphingston, who had sat long awaiting his arrival, determined to have him home with her to his own house that night, while Mistress Chisholm also took her part with great energy, Johnnie could not speak a word, but he began to wink with his eyes, and rub them; then stare wildly at every thing around him, suspecting that he was in a dream. "This is werry udd," said he; "I think there will seen nae be a wummens in the warld wha isua a Jenny Elphingston. Wull ye be sae gueed, Mistress Janet, as bite my finger, for I'm surely in a drim. Hooh! ha! gueed futh, ye're nae ghaist, however."

Johnnie fled with precipitation down to the quay, unchained his yawl, and, without calling assistance, rowed away to his vessel in the offing, but, on reaching her, the only person who appeared on deck to receive him, as he mounted the ship's side, was another Jenny Elphingston, who had already begun to abuse him for leaving her so long aboard by herself, But Johnnie answered her only with a loud bray, and flung himself back into his yawl, resolved to make another attempt to escape from this phantom of a wife, that waylaid him everywhere; and as he rowed back, he prayed to the Virgin Mary in this wise:" O thou gueed Ledy, whae tuck'st vile amung the wummens, I dunna pree to thou for a deed weef, or for a liffing weef; all that I pree for is, to hae but ane weef, whether she be deed or liffing; for a weef wha has the power of multiplying herself, is eneef to pit a man beside himself."

"Hilloa, dear John!" cried the wife in the ship; "will you no stay, an tuck me ashore vit you ?”

Na; you may come ashore in the same way you came there," said John.

Johnnie landed once more, and, from instinct, locked his boat to the ring; but he had nowhere now to go where there was any hope of escape, so he returned to his comrades at the Blue Bell, in a state of mind fairly wriggling! with distraction. His wife was still there, waiting his return, and on the instant began abusing him for making her wait so long, in which she was joined by all present, who declared her to be an obedient, sensible, and goodnatured dame, who deserved other sort of attentions. Johnnie, in utter desperation, began to defend himself, but his defence rather made matters worse. ** Och! Gueed bless you all!" he exclaimed; "you dunna kene fwat you're ackeesing me of! It isna ane weef, nor twae weefs, that I hae, but I hae a weef in ilk ane house I dit the deer of. I have met with nane fewer nor feeve o' mee weefs in this place alreedy, and I luttle kene how munny mae I hae."

"O fie, John! fie for shame!" cried Janet, "to expose your wuckedness in that gaite, and affrunt baith yourself and me! I dreeded as much, at least I dreeded that you had ane or twae mistresses, but neever that you had half-a-dozen weefs. Alaik, that uvair I should have been wedded to such an unconscientious man A

Here Janet Elphingston fell a-crying; and her associates, being by this time half-seas-over, every one of them opened upon John like hounds on a bot track, for the manner in which he had wounded his wife's feelings; and, in the meantime, Jenny, who wished not to hear farther explanations, went away home, discharging her

profligate husband from ever again coming under the same roof with her, and, at the same time, warning him to take care of his tongue, else it should prove the worse for him. This last was a severe restraint on John. He would at once have told his messmates that his wife was a witch, and had the power of appearing in any place she chose under heaven; but he had already suffered severely for speaking freely of her, and, dreading her appearance as death, he held in his words, although often like to burst with the effort.

(Part II. in our next.)

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A MEETING SADDER THAN A PARTING.

TO

are, on the other hand, repelled from the regions of po¬ verty and disgrace by the sight of a great many wretched persons, who having, under the influence of some unhappy star, permitted their good resolutions of industry and honour to give way, are sunk from their former high estate, and now living-if living it can be called—in a state of misery and ignominy almost too painful to be thought of. There may be a use in this as there is a

use for beacons and buoys at sea. But oh, the desolation of such a fate! As different as the condition of a vessel which ever bends its course freely and gallantly over the seas, on some joyous expedition of profit or adventure, compared with one which has been deprived of all the means of locomotion, and chained down upon some reef of rocks, merely to tell its happier companions that it is to be avoided; so different is the condition of a man still

now in the press.

A long-a last farewell!

VICTIMS.

prospects.

The progress of men who live by their daily industry, through this world, may be likened to the march of an army through an enemy's country. He who, from fatigue, from disease, from inebriety, from severe wounds, or whatever cause, falls out of the line of march, and lays him down by the way-side, is sure, as a matter of course, to be destroyed by the peasantry; once let the column you belong to pass on for a little way a-head of you, and death is your portion. It is a dreadful thing to fall behind the ever-onward march of the world.

VICTIMS-the word placed at the head of this articleis a designation for those woe-begone mortals who have had the misfortune to drop out of the ranks of society. Every body must know more or less of victims, for every body must have had to pay a smaller or greater number of half-crowns in his time to keep them from starvation. It happens, however, that the present writer has had a great deal to do with victims; and he therefore conceives himself qualified to afford his neighbours a little illumination upon the subject. It is a subject not without its moral; nor, with deference to the feelings of humanity, is it without its humour.

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A victim may become so from many causes. Some men are wrong-placed in the world by their friends, and, ruin themselves. Some are ill-married, and lose heart. Others have tastes unsuited to the dull course of a man of business, as for music, drink, the company of men out of their own order, and so forth. Other men have natural imperfections of character, and sink down, from pure inability to compete with rivals of more athletic constitution. But the grand cause of declension in life, is inability to accommodate circumstances and conduct.

Suppose a man to have broken credit with the world, and made that treaty of perpetual hostility with it, which, quasi lucus à non lucendo, is called cessio bonorum,—what is he to do next? One thing is dead clear—he no more appears on Prince's Street or the Bridges. They are to him as a native and once familiar land, from which he is exiled for ever. His migrations from one side of the town to the other, are now accomplished by channels such as Leith Wynd and the Cowgate, which, however well known to our ancestors, are in the present day dreamt of by nobody, except, perhaps, the author of the Traditions of Edinburgh. I once came full upon a victim in Croftangry; he looked like the genius of the place! But the ways of victims are in general very occult. Sometimes I have altogether lost sight of one for several years, and given him up for dead. But at length he would re-appear at a midnight fire in the High Street,

Scottish Rebellions," &c. &c.

THE industrious classes of the middle rank are, on the one hand, attracted onwards to wealth and respectability, by the contemplation of men, formerly of their own order, who having, as the saying is, feathered their nests, now live at ease, u kind of conscripti patres; while they,

sheaf of the fisherman, or as some old revolutionary names that had disappeared from French history for a quarter of a century, came again above board on the occasion of the late affair at Paris. At that said fire in the High Street, I observed several victims, who had long vanished from the open daylight streets, come out to glare with their bleared eyes upon the awful scene-perhaps unroost