rest the most common observer. He bears it on his nose, in short, Sir, he wears spectacles. From these observations on the characters which composed the family at Chesterhall, it will readily be under. stood, that the office of tutor in such a situation could not be comfortable. I had not been many days at Chesterhall, before a circumstance occurred sufficiently demonstrative of the precarious grounds on which I stood. A complaint was lodged by the cook, in which it was roundly affirmed, that I was accountable for the sudden and violent death of a turkey. In vain did I protest my innocence and absolute ignorance of the fact alledged. These very arguments were turned against me, for it was asserted by Lady Cherterrook, that nothing should be done, could be done, by my pupil without my knowledge. My child," continued her Ladyship, and she spoke with peculiar softness of accent, "my child was ever tender hearted and humane, and whatever of barbarity, or indiscretion attaches now to his conduct, must be traced to his instructor." To such conclusive reasoning, and such impressive eloquenee, I felt no inclination to reply; so taking Lord Yanky by the hand, I walked quietly off to the school-room. Early next morning I was visited by Mr. Sycophant. He set before me the folly of my conduct, and endeavoured to demonstrate by many significant shrugs and winks, that I had completely mistaken the road to independence, and that, if I wished to please, I must submit to censure; and instead of imputing any thing improper to my pupil, I should be proud of every opportunity of attesting my own negligence. Stag "Oh tempora, O mores," was all I could articulate, and sinking down in a kind of stupor on the bed-side, "What time he went, or when I woke, When I went down to breakfast I The political friends and the political opinions of the family passed in review, and received from Mr. Sycophant and the governess, that degree of praise or of censure to which they judged her Ladyship prepared to assent. It was Lady Chesterrook's highest ambition to have her children instructed in French manners, and in the French language. For this purpose were assembled from all quarters, French emigrants of every description; seated round a plentiful table, these accomplished gentlemen learned to forget the frogs of France for the roast beef of old England. On such occasions it was high treason to utter a syllable in vulgar English, and woe be to Lord Yanky if he forgot the French for custard. or apple-dumpling. Nothing could surpass the staring stupidity with which I surveyed the company on these occasions; the rapid question-the ready reply the low bow-the sweet simper the stolen whisper-the significant nod-the rolling of eye-the rotation of heads:-in short, that extreme degree of facility, and seeming carelessness with which every thing went on, in the midst of what appeared to me "confusion worse confounded," astonished me. Here Lord and Lady Chesterrook, who had visited France, shone in all their glory, and here the humble writer of this narrative found himself alone in a croud, and disposed to exchange all his knowledge in the Greek propositions, for a few sentences of decent French. It was after retiring from a dinner of this description, that a detachment of these loquacious gentlemen burst into my school-room.-They had been commissioned by Lady Chesterrook to ascertain her son's progress in the French language. In their opinion nothing had been done right.—One recommended a "large table, on which he had contrived to print a whole dictionary,-another was for no reading at all, but thought it might be acquir ed solely by the car,-a third spoke highly of a game at French,"-by means of which more knowledge might be gained at one sitting, than could otherwise be acquired in a twelvemonth, all were positive, and all were loud -so to save my ears, and avoid a defence, I stole secretly down stairs and escaped, Sic me servavit Apollo. It would be endless to enumerate the indignities to which in this family I was subjected.-Now, Lord Yanky had tumbled from his poney-again he was seen in conversation with the groom— at one time he caught cold by being out,-at another confinement gave his Lordship a head-ach-to day he was discovered lurking in a swine house, to morrow he was found skulking in the kitchen, on all these, and on a thousand similar occasions-my conduct was submitted to investigation, and by a sentence of the star chamber severely censured. I ventured to remonstrate, and wishing to prevent the like occasion from recurring, I subjected my honourable pupil to bodily chastisement. These two measures decided my fate, Lord Yanky was heard to mutter something about "impudence," and "repent it" after a few days of silent indignity, I received the following letter from Lord. Chesterrook: SIR," You are permitted to leave Chesterhall this evening; and to call on my man of business for your salary. CHESTERROOK." As I returned by Leadhills to Dumfries-shire, the recollection of what I had felt a few years before, when quitting for the first time my native vale returned forcibly to my mind ;-and as the Solway Firth began to open on my view, I felt a glow of satisfaction of which all the malevolence of Lady Chesterrook has not yet been able to deprive me. If, Mr. Spy, the condition of one Tutor shall be in the smallest degree ameliorated by what I have said; if one Lady Justice shall be added to the list of those who know the worth of a faithful Tutor,-or, if a single name be blotted from the long register of Chesterrooks ;-Then Sir, I shall receive a reward which his Lordship cannot give, nor my Lady take away. Yours, &c. TO THE PATRIOTS OF SPAIN. Iberians! sink not in despair, A SCOTS TUTOR. Though Gallic legions crowd your plains; From Biscay's cliffs which meet the skies, Though sullen clouds the sky deform, I see the sky-born flame relumed, PHILO-BRITANNUS A WINTER SCENE. November rains had rais'd our streams, The river clad our length'ning vales, No blazing beam illum'd the west, And still the length'ning shadows fell, It was not like the summer's even, It was a pleasing pensive scene, It led me to the church-yard lone,- I lov'd beside the church-yard wall, I view'd the lingering light. And pensive tears bedew'd my cheek, That calm,-that sweetly dying eve, So like a parents parting life,-- I press'd his honour'd grave. EDINBURGH-Printed at the Star Office, (price 4d. a single Number, 4s. 6d. per quarter, deliverable in town, and 58. when sent to the country), by A. AIKMAN, for the PROPRIETORS; where Subscriptions, and Communications, (post paid), will be received. 1811. The Spy. SATURDAY, JULY 20. Omnibus in terris quæ sunt a Gadibus usque, Auroram et Gangem, pauci dignoscere possunt, Vera bona atque illis multum diversa: Juv. MAN by the very constitution of his nature is constantly aiming at something beyond the present. He is eagerly engaged in the pursuit of some unattained good, of wealth, of pleasure or aggrandisement. If his efforts are unsuccessful, he arraigns the justice of providence, pronounces himself the most unfortunate of the human race, and vainly thinks that success would have made him happy; if he succeeds, as soon as the transient glow of delight is cooled, he sinks into apathy; and experience teaches him that true felicity is not to be attained in this sublunary scene. Yet this conviction makes no lasting impression on his mind; hope points to some gay vision of fancy which glitters in distant prospect. This airy phantom is mistaken for reality, and pursued with more than the eagerness of boyhood; but like the splendid arch that spans the sky after a vernal shower, it flies the approach of the deluded enthusiast, its brightness and beauty evanish from his sight, and he is left in darkness to weep in the bitterness of his heart, over his rashness and folly. Thus he spends life in a succession of magnanimous schemes and bitter disappointments, till at last, the grave No. 47. closes over him and all his mighty projects. It may be no improper exercise to cast our eyes abroad over the world, and see whether these remarks are merely the ebulitions of a misanthropic mind, that loves to aggravate the follies and sufferings of human nature, or the sober dictates of reason. If we look into the lives of those men who have attracted the idle gaze of mankind, and filled the world with the sound of their fame; we shall have too much reason to conclude, that the experience of all ages confirms the truth of the royal preacher's remark, that "all is vanity and vexation of spirit." The warrior submits patiently to the piercing colds of the polar regions, and the burning heat of the torrid zone, to fatigue and famine, to laborious days and sleepless nights, to the perpetual danger of death, and of defeat more terrible than death, that he may at last be enrolled in the records of false glory. He stifles the voice of nature and the most amiable feelings of the heart, hears unmoved the groans of the wounded and dying, calculates the glory of his victory by the numbers of the slain, desolates the fairest portion of the globe and drenches the soil in the blood of the innocent inhabitants; but his career ends in a triumph, or perhaps his shoulders are adorned with the impe |