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ridiculous as we did, though many of them, we have no doubt, were in reality as wise as ourself. What metamorphoses and transmutations were there! Not that we knew all, one half, or more than one tenth of the multitude; but among our friends (and now and then we recognized somebody that we could claim) scarcely one bore any similitude to himself. It would be invidious to make any distinction, or to point out to particular notice those who seemed to have laid aside every vestige of ⚫ original self,' we shall therefore pursue the commou newspaper plan, and, recording some of the most conspicuous characters we observed, leave their friends and the public to make their own comments on the strange alterations and pleasant conceits which diversified the

scene.

The dignified and respected Mayor and the amiable and beautiful Mayoress appeared without masks; the former in evening full-dress, the latter in a white gauze dress, tastefully ornamented with bugles, a Spanish hat with a superb plume of feathers and diamonds, diamond necklace and armlets. They took their station at the top of the great room, and most of the company paid characteristic respects to them during the evening.

Mr. Atkinson, in evening full dress.

Mr. Samuel Grimshaw, in the splendid dress-uniform of the 10th Lancers, and

Miss Grimshaw, in an elegant fancy-dress, were attached to the Mayor's party and unmasked.

Mr. King, of Kirkham, as Bardolph, had not even | golden fires,' which we were told was intended as a reone halfpenny worth of bread to an intolerable deal of presentation of night. What business had 'tragic mesack.' lancholy night' in such a scene?

Mr. R. Kay was excellently habited as a Shiek Chief,
in a genuine native costume.
Miss Henrietta Fielding, as an English Gipsy-Girl, was
most correctly apparelled.
Mr. Jos. Bray, as Richard the Third, was Richard
himself again!'

Miss Buckley, in a simple Faney-dress, looked very
interesting.

Mr. Jos. Buckley, an elderly Gentleman.
Mr. Robert Buckley in a handsome Fancy Dress.
Mr. H. Wyatt in a Domino.

Mr. Rycroft, of Bolton, as a Jew Quill-Merchant, was
such an extortioner that no one would buy of him.
Mr. Lodge as Sir John Falstaff; Great!
Mr. Rogerson, of Blackburn, a Crier of correct lists
and last dying speeches.

Mrs. Townley Parker was sweet Ann Page, and Miss Bourne assumed the same character-we cannot say which was the sweeter.

Sir Richard and Lady Brooke were most chastely habited as an Indian Chief and his Wife, and attracted universal attention.

Miss Barton, a beautiful Sultana.

Miss Wainhouse, of Leeds, was an antiquated Lady of the last century-Misses E. and C. Wainhouse, Quakeresses.

The three Miss Gorsts were the Weird Women,' very correctly dressed.

We cannot undertake to describe all the various characters which were assembled on this festive occasion, nor indeed to mention severally, even those which might The Misses Jerningham were in the character of Norwell challenge notoriety, for the correctness of theirwegian Ladies, unadorned, adorned the most.' costume, or the spirit of their personation. We must content ourself, (and our readers too must be satisfied) with a brief recapitulation of the individuals who came ander our immediate observation; and whose reputation in society, the attraction of their character, or our own acquaintance caused to be particularly regarded.

Mr. Hulton and Mr. R. Dennison were conspicuous, in every group, as the representatives of a French hairdresser and bis assistant. Poudre, papillotes, and fers à friser, were in almost ceaseless activity, and they had the prettiest fluency of professional chit-chat imaginable. Mr. Baxendale, as Signore Marvelloso Impostoro, was not less attractive, and exhibited, in a most imposing style, pictured representations of the chief wonders he had met with, in his travels over all the accessible and inacich we cessible parts of our planet.' He had adopted this method of communicating information, in cisgust with the quackeries of book-making and the illiberality of reviewers; who in revenge had maliciously propagated a report that he was nothing but a common showman, and had caravans travelling through the country;' which however, he conscientiously assured his auditors was a gross fabrication to injure his justly acquired celebrity.

Lord Molyneux as a Yorkshireman made a great noise, and succeeded in his clownish humours to perfection. Mrs. Dukenfield Astley, as a ballad-singer, for a while created a prevalent sensation of delight; we think she vanished en masque, and returned as a French florist.

We were told that Mr. Dnkenfield Astley was the Clown, but we would not believe it.

Mr. Addison, of Preston, was a Dancing Bear, and afterwards a Spanish Grandee. We do not know which he played the best.

Mr. E. Gorst, junior, as an African, appeared naked

and was not ashamed.'

The Earl of Wilton, as a British Tar, only changed his character of one Pillar of the State' for another.

Mr. Wormald, a Venetian Bully. Mess. Guest, Heron, Crossley, and Isherwood, were habited as Choristers of the Collegiate Church, and entertained the Mayoress with the gee of Here's a health,' accompanied by a chime of bell-glasses; afterwards, Mr. Guest personated a Pedant, Mr. Heron came again as the Ghost of an unfortunate Lover, and Mr. Crossley appeared as a Jew.

Mr. Charles Matchitt as a Mountebank Jester. Mr. Browne, of London, as Mark Magnum, seemed completely at home.'

Mr. Bootle Wilbraham, as an old English Lady, was admirably attired, and performed the part most naturally. Miss Braithwaite, of Up-Holland, represented an Old Woman from Ratchdaw with very great effect and cor

rectness.

Robin Hood and Friar Tuck; Lord Linten was superbly
Mr. R. Sharpe was an Archer; Mr. Haigh, of Halifax,
habited as an Arab Chief; Mr. J. J. Ollivant was in a
handsome Spanish Dress; Miss Sergent attired as a
Flower-Girl; Miss Boyer as a Nun.

Mr. Forster was ludicrously fitted up as a Child learn-
ing to walk-he was in leading strings, and a nurse

attended him.

Captain Langton was a very demure Quaker Lady; The Hon. T. Powis, a very valgar Country Woman; Mr. Westmacolt pattered flash,' as Bob Logic; Mr. H. Whittle, (poor man, we gave him sixpence) played most affecting tunes on the violin, and limped about, as an old soldier, most wofully.

Mr. Hesketh of Rafford was a Fish Woman: her

Billingsgate was not of the genteelest.

not.

Mr. Sherrington, a Chelsea-Bun Man, and Mr. Bromilow a dealer in Bambury Cakes, cried aloud and spared Mr. R. Birley was a Physician; Mr. J. Hull, Hamlet; Signor Porta, in a handsome Spanish costume; Mr. Charles Clegg, in a fancy-dress; Mr. James Fraser, a Friar; Miss H. Rawsthorne, a Quakeress; Mr. Fielding junior, a Welsh Farmer; Miss Greenalls, French Peasants; Mr. Troughton, a Highlander; Mr. Corry, a Watchman; Mr. J. Smith, Speaker of the House of Commons; Dr. Alexander, a Prig M. D.; Mr. Jas. Bourne, in uniform; Mr. B. Withington, a Jew Pedlar.

Miss Warrens, were Servant-women in search of
places, and could have very good characters from their
last situations.

Miss Brooks of Liverpool, was very interesting as a
Carniolan Peasant-Girl.

Mrs. Braham was Mary Queen of Scotts, and Miss
Bolton, a Sicilian Peasant.

Mr. Dale as a Rat-Catcher, caught nothing but ap-
plause.

Mr. Taylor, as Giles Scroggins in the flesh, afterwards as Giles in the spirit.

Mr. Bousfield as Doctor Pangloss, reached the right reading,' and received many promises of pupils for five generations to come.

Mr. Josh. Lingard was a faithful pieture of an English nobleman of the time of Queen Elizabeth.

The Hon. E. Stanley, Messrs. Horrocks and Hornby, formed a group of most beggarly looking Ballad Singers, and were very entertaining Mr. Stanley afterwards represented a dirty Scullion-Wench.

Mrs. Hulton, as an Albanian Peasant Girl, was most correctly attired.

There was a black allegorical dress, 'fretted with

Besides an innumerable quantity of dominoes and fancydresses, there were a great variety of characters (many of them well sustained) which we have not the means of Nuns, Friars, (no Penitents that night) Dutchmen, Greenenumerating separately; Abbots, Abbesses, Pilgrims, landers, Moors, Turks, Spaniards, Scotchmen, Hackney Coachmen, Barbers, Chinese, Indians, French Cooks, Jews, Soldiers, Slaves, Fiddlers, Farmers, Watchmen, Clergymen, Barristers, Collegians, Dr. Syntax, Don Quixote, in short every shade and distinction of character and costume that can well be imagined.

At twelve o'clock the national anthem of God save the King was struck up by the several bands in the rooms, which was previously understood as a signal for the company to unmask. The supper room was then thrown open, to which many eagerly repaired for refreshment: afterwards quadrilles were commenced, and dancing was. kept up by the motley assembly to a late hour.

The following letter was written by the celebrated Mr. Addison, on receiving certain hints, which it was impossible to misunderstand, from a married lady, the wife of his friend; and will bear ample testimony to the purity of his conduct, and to his powers of resisting one of the strongest temptations to which our nature is subject.

"MADAM,-It would be ridiculous in me, after the late intimation you were pleased to favour me with, to affect any longer an ignorance of your sentiments, however opposite an approbation of them must be to the dictates of reason and justice. This expression I am sensible may appear inconsistent in the mouth of a polite man, but I hope it is no disgrace to a sincere one. In matters of importance, delicacy ought to give way to truth, and ceremony must be sacrificed to candour. An honest freedom is the privilege of ingenuity; and the mind, which is above the practice of deceit, can never stoop to be guilty of flattery upon such a point.

"Give me leave, madam, to remark, that the connectiou subsisting between your husband and myself is of a nature too strong for me to think of injuring him in a point where the happiness of his life is so materially concerned. You cannot be insensible of his goodness or my obligations; and suffer me to observe, that, were I capable of such an action, how much soever my behaviour might be rewarded by your passion, I must be despised by your reason, and, though I might be esteemed as a lover, I should be hated as a man. Highly sensible of the power of your beauty, I am determined to avoid an interview where my peace and honour may be for ever lost. You have passions, you say, madam; give me leave to answer, you have understanding also; you have a heart susceptible of the tenderest impressions, but a soul, if you would choose to awaken it, beyond an unwarrantable indulgence of them; and let me intreat you, for your own sake, to resist any giddy impulse or illplaced inclination which shall induce you to entertain a thought prejudicial to your own honour, and repugnant to your virtue.

"I too, madam, am far from being insensible. I too have passions; and would my situation, a few years ago, have allowed me a possibility of succeeding, I should legally have solicited that happiness which you are now ready to bestow. I had the honour of supping at Mr. D.'s, where I first saw you; and I shall make no scruple in declaring, that I never saw a person so irresistibly beautiful, nor a manner so excessively engaging; but the superiority of your circumstances prevented any declaration on my side, although I burnt with a flame as strong as ever fired the human breast. I laboured to conceal it. Time and absence at length abated a hopeless passion, and your marriage with my patron effectually cured it. Do no, madam, endeavour to rekindle that taste, and blast your own honour, which has been hitherto flame; do not destroy a tranquillity I have just begun to unsullied. My best esteem is your's; but should I promise more, consider the fatal necessity I should be under of removing myself from an intercourse so dangerous, In any other commands, dispose of,

MADAM,

Your humble servant."

"Just so, Docthor. When Flitcroft was striking My old friend the Doctor having expressed a desire the scaffold of the tower-or steeple, more properlyto see the new street before he returned to Cambridge, of St. Giles's in the fields-a structure, by the way, we were determined to make a survey of it, from its that not only does credit to him as an architect, but recommencement opposite Carlton Palace, to its termina-flects honour on the good taste of Lord Burlington--or tion in Portland Place. So calling a hackney-chariot at Charing-cross, we were imperceptibly carried by our speculations, like the noble buildings we went to examine, much farther than had ever been dreamt of; taking a sweep up to the Regent's Park, round by Saint John's Wood, through Paddington, down Park Lane, along Grosvenor Place, round by Pimlico at the back of Westminster, to Palace Yard, and from thence home-a journey, winding in and out, according to the coachman's reckoning, who was a steady, civil driver, of between eight and nine miles.

CHERTSEY MEADOWS.

While Chertsey Abbey stood, these meadows were the favourite resort of the fairies; the turf for miles around was thickly spangled with cowslips, and each cowslip cradled a spirit, that, at the sound of the curfew-bell, would start from her daylight sleep to join her sisters in the fairy gambols. The same bell still hangs in the new church, and its Saxon inscription tells that it is the same. But now it speaks another language the language of the bridal or the grave; and though its sound often breaks the stillness of evening, no fairy rises at its summons; either the elves like not its altered tones, or they sleep in a warmer moonlight. But my tale is of other times, when the curfew-bell tolled, and the fairies danced, and the monks brewed their wine from the grapes that clustered around the Abbey.

nute that is coming by, but that minute passes
like the former.-Would that I were dead!”

will be rendered gentler by the thought of past happiness; for you will never have felt the pains of neglect, the madness of jealousy, or the venom of ingratitude!'

But William!-will he too be happier!"

No; the sight is the noblest of the human senses. But you will be most happy-'

'Enough!' exclaimed William, enough! Benevolent being, whom I see even in my blindness, take not from me the spell with which her happiness is bound. Unite our hands, as our hearts have long been united, I care not for other joys; for what joys can be greater-what joys so great→ as to rest on her bosom-to hear her voice break forth in love to me? I know no other happiness

6

How!' replied the fairy- Do you not know the fickleness of men? The whole round of creation is not sufficient to their wishes. All they see they desire; all they obtain they despise; and thus they go on from wish to wish, till desire itself is exhausted, and they grow weary of life without losing the innate apprehension of the grave. How then can you hope to fetter such a being?'

Maria answered not with words, but her tears spoke for her, as she lifted up her lovely head and gazed on the heavens, with a look that told the piety as well as sorrow of her heart. It was a look so mild! so beseeching! so full of anguish! The fairy felt all the force of the appeal, and wished to relieve her suffering; but her mistress had warned her against a hasty judgment, and, consulting her talisman, she read the history of the lovers as if in a written volume. William had been blind from his birth, and, according to the astrologer who had cast his nativity, would either recover his sight at the age of twenty, or be blind for ever. For years every remedy of art-I wish to know no other.' and witchcraft had been tried, but neither herb Maria's eyes were cast to earth as she murmurnor mineral, neither prayer nor charm, had pow-ed in accents that were broken by fear, and hope, er to remove his darkness. Still, even in his dark and doubt-But can you not open his eyes, and state, he loved and was beloved by Maria: she yet preserve him faithful to me?' It was a lovely evening-the earth was bright was the playfellow of the child, the companion of and the skies were brighter, when, at the usual the boy, the mistress of the youth-but their love summons, each spirit started from her cowslip to was without hope; the father of Maria would not join in the fairy revels. Some bathed in the consent to her union with the blind and helpless liquid moon-beams, some played with the shoot- William, who, so far from being able to protect ing stars, others chased the humming beetle with a wife, was unable to protect himself. He had, spears from the thorns of roses, and others again indeed, the gift of poesy in no ordinary degree, danced about their elf-queen, who was seated on and could touch the harp as few have touched a throne of gossamer, that was tinged by the it before or since; but these qualities alone were moonbeams into all the colours of the rainbow. useless to the knight of those turbulent times, But they had scarcely revelled it an hour, when when each man was secure only as he could setheir sports were interrupted by the tread of hu- cure himself, and each baron being a sort of king, man feet and the sound of human voices. In an of course exercised the royal prerogative of murinstant all had vanished to their cowslip-bells, der and rapine, under the usual name of honorable - save the elf-queen and her favourite, who, hid in warfare. A poet, therefore, was a much more the gossamer, listened with impatient anger to the useless animal in those days then he is even in the cause of this interruption; but the voices spoke present; and, accordingly, the Baron rejected the in sorrow, and the anger of the gentle elf-queen poetical alliance, except under the condition of was quickly changed to pity. Tulip,' she ex- William being able to see his enemies-a condiclaimed to her attendant- Tulip; it grieves me tion that was not very likely to be fulfilled. The at for these human mortals: this earth has a thou-hour of twelve the next day would bring him to sand forms of life, and every form of life has its the fatal age of twenty, when, if the astrologer happiness; man-only man-seems destined to might be believed, all hope of recovery was fruitunchanging misery. But go, Tulip, and dry up less. But whether he spoke truth or not was little those tears if they are the tears of innocence. to the purpose, for the Baron would grant so long, This talisman will show you their hearts without and not an instant longer. disguise, and at the same time will give you As the moon waxed paler and paler, the despair power to do all that may be requisite for their of the lovers became wilder and wilder, till at welfare. Be wary, however, in its use; for once last it swelled to the utmost endurance of human given, the gift cannot be recalled, and it is no nature, and they resolved, since they could not slight task to make man happy; that, which not live together, that they would die together. This to have is his misery, too often becomes in- was a pleasure no parent could deprive them of; different to him when obtained.'-With these accordingly, they exchanged the first and last words the elfin-queen floated away on the moon- kiss, twined their arms closely round each other, beams! while Tulip, rocked on a blade of grass and thus united were about to seek death in his that waved backwards and forwards in the night-cold dwelling at the bottom of the stream, when wind, anxiously watched the business of the in- they were held back by the fairy, who suddenly truders. To the human sight she was nothing stood beside them as a female warrior. more than a gossamer wound about the grass, and moving with its motion.

dews.

The mortals approached — a young man, and a maiden in her seventeenth year, who had one arm twined about her lover, while her head was drooped to earth like a tulip heavy with the nightHer form was so delicate, and yet so beautiful in its delicacy! The auburn locks flowed about a neck so white! so dazzlingly white! Oh, such loveliness is not often looked on either by sun or moon!-And the youth was worthy of such a maid; though sorrow lay palely on his cheek, and no light was in his eyes.

Maria,' sighed the lover, I hear you weep; I feel the palpitation of your bosom! Alas! is there no hope left?-No hope?-Till now you could always find some consolation for your poor William!--And the time flits so fast too! Though i I cannot see, I hear the moments tramp-tramp -tramp by me with the speed of horse, and then I stretch out my arms to stop the next mi

Forbear!' she exclaimed to the astonished lovers; no flowers spring on the grave of the suicide; no hope is for those who abandon hope. But I come to save, and not to chide; in my hand is the talisman that will restore your sight.'Maria clung more closely to her lover, and her cheeks glowed like the crimson evening.-Look on this vial; it is of purest diamonds, but the water it contains is still purer.-On you, Maria, it depends whether William shall continue in his blindness.'

On me?-Oh then he sees already.'

'Hear me and then decide.-Your's he shall be at all events, for my art can work greater wonders than that with your father-but as to his sight, pause yet a moment: much-nay all-is on your choice. The blind William will always love you—to your sightless husband you never will be older, for age is to the eyes, and not to the ear or mind. You will be every thing to him, and when the last sickness touches you, death

|

Alas!' said Maria- if William continues blind, his happiness must rest solely on me; and then, if any ill-starred hour should snatch me from him, he would be left on the earth, helpless and hopeless. No, benevolent spirit-I will not buy his love at the price of his felicity-I will not withhold from him the sight of this beautiful world, and the beings that are on it. Let the veil fall from his eyes-let them be opened to the sun, and all that the sun gives life to.

'Never-never!' interrupted William-' Blindness!-utter, unalterable blindness!-if sight is to make me forget Maria!'

A tear a heavenly tear was in the fairy's eye, as she joined their hands. May your love,' she said, be always as it is in this hour-as pure, as glowing!-But I must be quick, for the last star is fading from the heavens, and the breath of morning comes drowsily on my senses.'

Thrice the fairy touched his closed eyes with the talisman, and thrice every nerve trembled with a feeling of pleasure to acute as to border on pain. As the last thrill ceased to vibrate, his eyes opened on the fair form of Maria. For a moment he gazed on her in silence; his heart swelled in his bosom, and his whole form trembled with expectation.

'William !'-exclaimed the maiden.

'Tis she!-'tis Maria!'-and he folded her to his breast as if eternity were in the embrace, while the benignant fairy bestowed on them her parting blessing, ere she melted into air. Nor was that blessing fruitless; when the moon, which was then young, had completed her monthly course, the lovers were united in the chapel of Chertsey Abbey; and the torch that shone on their nuptial couch, was lit by the hands of the Elfin Queen herself; and when they died, after an union of thirty years, it was inscribed on their tomb-Here rest the remains of two faithful lovers.-MUSEUM.

ANECDOTE.

foreign Ambassadors his magnificence and his riches, which excelled those of every other Prince, said to them,

Moro, Duke of Milan, having displayed before the

Has a man, possessed of so much wealth and prosperity, any thing to desire in this world? One thing only,' said one of them, a nail to fix the wheel of Fortune.'

tice, to make him expert in its practical application. different purposes for which it is desirable as the modi-THE Public are respectfully informed that the above

A LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.

This Paper is Published Weekly, and may be had of the Booksellers in Manchester; of Agents in many of the principal Towns in the Kingdom; and of the News-carriers. The last column is open to ADVERTISEMENTS of a Literary and Scientific nature, comprising Education, Institutions, Sales of Libraries, &c.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1822.

0, Mr. Editor! guess at the wretch's misery who now writes this to you, when, with tears and burning blushes, he is obliged Methinks I hear an involuntary exclamation burst from yon, as your imagination presents to you fearful images of your corresFear not, Mr. Editor. No disembodied spirit has the honour of addressing you. I am flesh and blood, an unfortunate system of bones, muscles, sinews, and arteries like yourself.

pondent unknown

-hanged!

Then, I presume, you mean to be pleasant.That expres sion of your's, Mr. Correspondent, must be taken somehow in a metaphorical sense.

In the plainest sense, without trope or figure-Yes, Mr. Editor! this neck of mine has felt the fatal noose,-these hands have trem

over it

blingly held up the corroborative prayer-book,-these lips have sucked the moisture of the last consolatory orange,-this tongue has chaunted the doleful cantata which no performer was ever called on to repeat-this face has had the veiling night-cap drawn But for no crime of nine.-Far be it from me to arraign the nise my innocence. It is not for me to reflect upon judge or jury, now that eleven years have elapsed since the erroneous sen

thoughts which continually haunted me, I took
a long stroll. The country was picturesque and
beautiful in the extreme, and the fields, lately
shorn of their russet produce, appeared an ex-
panded plain of lively green. I felt so much
enchanted by the beauty of the evening, and the
delightful reminiscences of past days, which the
scenes around me conjured up, that I found no
inclination to return homewards directly; and,
therefore, digressing from the regular path, sought
a spot which, from my peculiar ideas of associ-
ated beauty, had become a favourite haunt.

justice of my country, which, though tardy, did at length recog-softly passed over the bright and shining pebbles

tence was pronounced. Men will always be fallible and perhaps
circumstances were a little strong, after hanging four

minutes, according to the best calculation of the bye standers, a
reprieve came, and I was cut DOWN
C. LAMB.

IN intruding these lines upon my readers, I am
actuated by no feelings of vanity. What indeed
have I to be vain of? If the destruction of the
hopes which once flitted before my imagination-
if the remembrance of pleasure which the chilling
hand of adversity has blasted-if misery and so-
litude of soul be things to be vain of-I may
indulge in vanity to the fill.-Alas! that I can
look back upon little which does not revive recol-
lections like these.

It is by strange and uncommon circumstances that I have been reduced to my present condition; circumstances, which, even in my own eyes, have given to my life a dream-like tinge of uncertainty, and which have made my existence hang upon me as an unsufferable weight, which death only is able to rid me of.

I loved. Helen P had a soul as pure as the untrodden snow, and a form as beautiful as one of those that burst upon the poet in bis wildest dream. I addressed her; she was not insensible to my passion; the day had been fixed for our union, but a trifling dispute had arisen between us; she slighted me; my pride was stung by her contempt; and I endeavoured to banish all recollection of her.

I was unfortunate. I was reduced from affluence to poverty; but I maintained myself by teaching a small school in the neighbourhood. It was then that Helen displayed her truly noble heart; she visited me and offered her hand and affections, Fool-idiot-madman that I was-I conceived she had injured me-I rejected them. Noble hearted, generous girl! May the God of Heaven requite thee. But thou art rewarded; thou art reaping the fruits of thy good deeds; thou art for ever blessed.

My folly, obstinacy, madness-but I cannot attach a name sufficiently strong to it was punished. I do not repine, I deserved it. I only regret that thou wert a partner in my sorrows.

One evening, to chase away the oppressing

It was a lonely and secrete place, and its solitariness and beauty were the chief causes, why I preferred it to scenes, which, though more magnificent, were in a greater degree exposed to the commnon eye. It was a gently declining dell, at the bottom of which flowed a small stream that made a sweet and melancholy music, as it that formed its bed. On one side rose banks covered with dark green moss, spotted with small white flowers, enlivened by the greener hazzle, and fenced by their trusty sentinel the dark brown thorn; and on the other, after a small flat patch as soft as the Indian couch, sprung a sloping bank, the herbage of which having partly slipped off left the bare yellow sand, which being perforated by the martins, formed in its sheltering bosom a home and a refuge for their brood.

It was here that I delighted to retire after the fatigues of the day, and muse upon every passing object. Here have I sat for hours together, with a flower in one hand, and a book in the other, and forgot the world, my cares, and myself.

I arrived at this still cherished spot, for, alas! I have had cause to hate it-it has been the theatre of part of my misfortunes, and though I love to view its twilight beauties, it is with such feelings as he does who hears the low funeral dole passing through the stirless air, and feels every stroke knock against his heart to tell him he has lost a

PRICE 3ld.

storm. I heard at a distance the rolling sound of the advancing thunder, and saw the vivid sheets of lightning flashing from the dense clouds high in the heavens.

I felt inclined to change my place for a seat. under a tree in a storm of this description is no enviable situation, and I had rather brave its fury in the open plain, uncovered and unshielded-I would rather suffer as complete a drenching as the torrents of heaven can bestow, than run the risk of being reduced to the state of an inurned Roman, for the pleasure and gratification of a temporary shelter from the pitiless tempest.

I began, therefore, to obey the natural impulse of my heart, which prompted me to seek some more secure retreat; when, as I was arising from my recumbent position, and stretching out my stiffened and cramped limbs, I was chilled to the heart by hearing a low groan just beside me. I am no believer in the supernatural, but I confess this startled me prodigiously. This groan was followed by another, and a deep sigh. I heard a slight rustling among the long grass which grew near me. I instinctively advanced to it, and there, marked out by the pale glimpses of the moon, I beheld a man stretched out, seemingly in the agonies of death, for he was clutching the earth with a convulsive motion, and the deep stifling sighs that burst from him at intervals, portended almost immediate dissolution. I gazed upon this. object of horror for a few moments, without knowing how to act. I then raised him in my arms, and wiped the chilling death dew from his brow. I perceived that his clothes were bloody; he appeared to have been either shot or stabbed in the side, probably the latter, as large gouts of coagulated blood clung to his clothes, and the ground appeared to be stained with it. He endeavoured to speak, and a feeble groan again escaped from his quivering and pallid lips. I inwardly breathed a prayer for his safety;-he opened his glazing and fixed eyes, and cast upon me a look that can never be erased from my meI stepped over the little brook that bubbled at mory. He grasped my hand-the blood gushed my feet, and climbing the opposite bank, sat down out in torrents from his side-he shivered all over under the shade of a majestic oak that crowned-his limbs stretched out, and with his eyes wide the summit of the knoll. I looked around-the open, and, as I thought, fixed upon me-he twittering swallows had sought their peaceful ha- expired. bitations, and the dense mists were beginning I was not certain of the moment when his soul to envelop the face of nature with their thick winged its flight to other realms, but I felt his grey mantle. Not a single sound interrupted the limbs stiffening, and the tighter grasp with which deadly silence that brooded upon the scene, save his hand compressed mine-and it was only then the whispering rill that stole over its bed like the that I began to think of the horrors of my situa stealthy footsteps of fear, and the drowsy hum tion, and it was indeed no desirable one. I was of the dor-fly as he occasionally buzzed past me. here alone at midnight-a dead man in my armsSoothed by the gentle calmn of every thing murdered-or one that had committed suicide, around me, I dropped asleep; from which I was which would be equally dangerous to me-my suddenly and unaccountably aroused. clothes were stained with his blood-what must I looked around; the night was far advanced; be the consequence if I were found here-I could dim clouds had obscured the face of the moon, assign no reason for my being at this place at and it was only through some interstice of the such an unseasonable time, and the real truth rolling vapours that she became partially visible. would be treated as a weak and paltry excuse. The day had been sultry and hot, but it was no-All these, and a thousand other terrifying thoughts, thing to the choking and oppressive heat which crowded upon my mind. How was I to act? I now pervaded the atmosphere. I felt that deadly began to fancy I was in a dream; every thing had weight upon my heart, which we fancy precedes happened in such quick succession, that I could some calamity; and I was alarmed at the prog- not believe it was reality, and I began to rouse nostications which I beheld of an approaching up the energies of my mind, to shake off those

brother.