essay was therefore looked upon as absolutely nec

essary.

The next night he provided himself with larger pistols, and abundance of ball and powder-he did not load till about the time he was going to bed— he left a chair against the door, thereby to prove whether the thing was supernatural, or not; if supernatural, he supposed it would enter, as ghosts are thought to do, through the key-hole, or, at least, without throwing down the chair. Howev-. er, in the middle of the night, he heard the same knockings, the door opened, and down went the chair, which added not a little to the noise. Our hero rose, seized two pistols, and first questioning who he was, the figure which was evidently not the same he saw the preceding night, made no reply; he threatened to fire-

6

Forbear,' cried the supposed spirit, if you will be satisfied, follow me.'

'I will,' replied the soldier, but observe this, if any danger awaits me, as you are my leader, it is at you therefore I shall discharge the contents of these.'

He followed him-the figure brought him downstairs to a private place underground, where, a clandestine door being opened, he was admitted into the presence of a gang of robbers; the soldier still defended himself with his pistols, vowing he would discharge them if his life was threatened, but the captain of the gang assured him he was safe.

I am the person,' cried he, 'who gave you the

blow last night; believe me, I should not have so resolutely stood your fire, had I not taken previous care to prevent your pistols (which you left here) from endangering my life; but you have been too prudent this time. We have long inhabited this place, and made it a practice to deter people from living in the house, that our stay might be long and uninterrupted; we take it by turns to haunt the house. Now, therefore, as we have been so far candid to you, ere you depart from this, you must swear not to divulge our secret within fourteen days, by which time, we shall provide some other habitation for ourselves, and give you quiet possession of this house."

The soldier, without any hesitation, agree to this; upon which his health was drunk, and he became better acquainted with his new friends før notwithstanding their occupation, he thought there was some honor among them, it being their sworn rule to make depredations only, but never commit murder, if avoidable; this was certainly evident in their behaviour to him-for doubtless they could have destroyed him without fear of discovery, instead of which, they preferred rather making him their friend, and even giving up to him their convenient residence.

The next morning, the soldier's friends were very anxious to know his success: he amused them with a humorous fictitious tale that the spirit (which was a spirited one indeed) confessed, upon being interrogated three times, that he was uneasy, on account of some business he had omit

6

ed doing before he had died, the performance of which would render him now happy, and he would rest for ever. 'I offered my services,' added the son of Mars—' Thank you,'cried he, ' you are a very good fellow;'-then he told me what it was, which being enjoined to keep secret, I cannot possibly reveal; in fourteen days time, however, I shall be able to accomplish it, and then, I flatter myself, I shall have quiet possession of my house at easy rent; in order to effect the latter, he went and made his bargain sure with the landlord. About the expiration of a fortnight, he went to his house, but first of all, paid a visit to the apartment that was under ground; he soon discovered the door-he opened it, but the tenants were gone; on the table, there was a letter for him, returning him hearty and sincere thanks for the honorable adherence he observed to his oath-as a requital for which, a bill for an hundred pounds was enclosed; this, thought the soldier, will be great help towards housekeeping.

His family came to congratulate him, among whom was an old and superstitious woman, who hoped he was perfectly convinced that there were such things as ghosts and apparitions.

No,' cried our hero, I am not convinced yet.' They all wondered at his incredulity, but more so, when they heard the real story, and were admitted to the secret apartment, which was demonstration sufficient of its truth: herein they made merry, drank a health to the new owner.

and

After a few months quiet possession, this happy

and uninterrupted tenant received the following brief, but pleasing note from one of his predeces

sors:

. Sir,

In the hurry and confusion of our leaving those under apartments, which we occupied in your house, either without permission or the knowledge of the owner, we omitted taking away a small box that contains some bags of gold; you are certainly entitled to the same for having so honorably kept your word, which you may find under a stone that is marked B G. 111. Yours, &c.'

Our surprised hero immediately examined the place that was refered to, where he found the box as described, containing three bags, with fifty guineas each; thus, by courage and perseverance, he obtained a dwelling on moderate terms, and a sufficiency to pay his rent for several succeeding quarters.

DISTRESSES OF A MODEST MAN.

I labor under a species of distress, which I fear will at length drive me utterly from that society, in which I am most ambitious to appear. But I will give you a short sketch of my origin and present situation, by which you will be enabled to judge of my difficulties.

My father was a farmer of no great property, and with no other learning than what he had acquired at a charity school; but my mother being dead, and I an only child, he determined to give me that advantage which he fancied would have made him happy, viz. a learned education. I was sent to a country grammar school, and from thence to the University, with a view of qualifying for holy orders. Here, having but a small allowance from my father, and being naturally of a timid and bashful disposition, I had no opportunity of rubbing off that native awkwardness, which is the fatal cause of all my I begin now to fear can never be amended. You must know, that in my person I am tall and thin, with a fair complexion, and light flaxen hair; but of such extreme susceptibility of shame, that on the smallest subject of confusion, my blood all rushes into my cheeks, and I appear a perfect full blown rose. The consciousness of this unhappy failing, made me avoid society, and I became en

unhappiness, and which