tion. The Bard of Douglas, therefore, gazed upon the object of his fear as if he had looked upon something not mortal; nevertheless, as he gazed more intently, he became more capable of discovering the object which offered itself to his astonished eyes, and they grew by degrees more keen to penetrate what they witnessed. A tall thin form, attired in, or rather shaded with, a long flowing dusky robe, having a face and physiognomy so wild and overgrown with hair, as to be hardly human, were the only marked outlines of the phantom; and, looking more attentively, Hugonet was still sensible of two other forms, the outlines, it seemed, of a hart and a hind, which appeared half to shelter themselves behind the person and under the robe of this supernatural figure. The phantom addressed Hugonet in an antique language, being a species of Scotch or Gaelic:- You are a learned man,' said the apparition, ' and not unacquainted with the dialects used in your country formerly, although they are now out of date, and you are obliged to translate them into the vulgar Saxon of Deira or Northumberland; but bright must an ancient bard prize one in this remote term of time,' who sets upon the poetry of his native country a value which invites him to think of its preservation at a moment of such terror as influences the present evening.'

6

"It is indeed,' said Hugonet, " a night of terror, that calls even the dead from their graves, and makes them the ghastly and fearful companions of the living. Who, or what art thou, in God's name; who breakest the bounds which divide them, and revisitest thus strangely the state thou hast so long bid adieu to?'

"I am,' said Thomas the Rhymer, 'by some called Thomas of Erceldoun, or Thomas the True Speaker. Like other sages, I am permitted at times to revisit the scenes of my former life, nor am I incapable of removing the shadowy clouds and darkness which overhang futurity; and know, thou afflicted man, that what thou now seest in this afflicted country, is not a general emblem of what shall herein befall hereafter; but in proportion as the Douglasses are now suffering the loss and destruction of their home, for their loyalty to the rightful heir of the Scottish kingdom, so has Heaven appointed for them a just reward; and as they have not spared to burn and destroy their own house, and that of their fa

thers' in the Bruce's cause, so is it the doom of Heaven, that as often as the walls of Douglas Castle shall be burnt to the ground, they shall be again rebuilt still more stately and more magnificent than before.'

"A cry was now heard, like that of a multitude, in the court-yard, joining in a fierce shout of exultation; at the same time, a broad and ruddy glow seemed to burst from the beams and rafters, and sparks flew from them as from the smith's stithy, while the element caught to its fuel, and the conflagration broke its way through every aperture.

"See ye that,' said the vision, casting his eye towards the windows, and disappearing——' Begone! the fated hour of removing this book is not yet come, nor are thine the destined hands. But it will be safe where I have placed it, and the time of its removal shall come.'

"The voice was heard after the form had vanished, and the brain of Hugonet almost turned round at the wild scene which he had beheld; his utmost exertions were scarcely sufficient to withdraw him from the terrible spot, and Douglas Castle that night sunk into ashes and smoke, to arise, in no great length of time, in a form stronger than ever.

"In conclusion, this strange tale, though incredible, is so far undeniable, that Castle Douglas was three times burned down by the heir of the house and the barony, and was as often reared again by Henry Lord Clifford, and other generals of the English, in a manner rendering it more impregnable than it had previously existed; thus verifying the prediction of Thomas the Rhymer."

FATE.-There are very few instances on record of the capture of notorious thieves when in the act of committing their depredations. Highwaymen formerly, though frequently resisted, effected their purposes, and got clear off. A prescribed limit seems however to have been given to these men; and their fate would almost make a man a believer in predestination. Many have escaped from difficulties and dangers, and have afterwards, by a single act of indiscretion, betrayed themselves to the officers of justice. Claude du Vall, one of the most daring and accomplished highwaymen of his time, committed in numerable robberies with impunity; but the bottle, the betrayer of better men, sealed his fate; and he who had, by his courage and vigilance, so long eluded justice, was pounced upon in an unguarded moment, when the means of defence or escape were unavailable. It is the same with soldiers, many of whom have escaped unharmed in a dozen pitched battles, to die in a petty skirmish.

***

SIR WALTER SCOTT.-" Old and odd books," Sir Walter tells us," have furnished him with materials for many of his novels." The industry of this author almost equals his genius: those who are readers of "old and odd books" will acknowledge this. The adventures of roaming individuals of the two last centuries, trials, plays, and curious tracts, have furnished their share; but such things come not under the eyes of our puny critics, who would doubtless set up a howl about plagiarism, were they aware of the fact. In the arrangement of his borrowed materials, Sir Walter has displayed infinite judgment; and it is rarely indeed that we find genius and judgment combined. He has interwoven some most curious facts with the most interesting fiction. Let us,

however. mention one or two instances in which Sir Walter is indebted to others. In Shadwell's play of "The Squire of Alsatia," will be found many of the characters who figure in that admirable novel, "The Fortunes of Nigel." No one who has read the play alluded to will fail to recognise in the Captain Hackum of Shadwell the bully Feppercole of "Nigel;" and the Alsatian "parson" of Scott has his prototype in the same play; many of the scenes of which have been closely followed by the author of "Waverley." Again, in the novel of "The Pirate," who can doubt that Captain Roberts, of buccaneering memory, formed the ground-work of the character of Clement Cleveland. The dress which Roberts wore at the time when he was killed, is minutely described in "The Pirate." Let it not be supposed, however, that these facts are mentioned as proofs of Sir Walter's lack of invention. No one will say that Byron, for want of imagination, fixed upon the frightful narrative of the wreck of the "Medusa," so correctly and so beautifully detailed in "Don Juan."

***

PAINTERS.-It would appear that the old masters who, in accordance with the spirit of the age, seldom painted any but scriptural subjects, were utterly ignorant of the costume of earlier times. Their other blunders are numberless; but those in regard to costume are, perhaps, the most ludicrous; although, were it not for these errors, a modern artist would have little to guide him in representing a scene of threecenturies since. When Holbein painted a subject from the Old or New Tes tament, the characters were decked im the costume of his time. Van Leyden and Albert Durer did the same; and, accordingly, we have St. Paul in a pair of breeches of the time of Henry the Eighth, the Virgin or St. Catharine in head-gear of the same period, and the executioner who beheads the latter has the dress and arms of one of the French king's body guard of that day. A later painting represents the conversion of St. Paul, whose attendants are attired in scarlet short cloaks and slashed doublets. The Children of Israel armed with muskets, and the wise men presenting to the infant Jesus, among their other offerings, the model of a Dutch frigate, are absurdities in the works of the old masters, which have long since been exposed and laughed at. The blunders of modern artists are inexcusable: we not unfrequently see a

scene of the time of Charles the Second, in which each character has a costume belonging to a distinct period; and this too, when there are books and prints out of number which would supply the necessary information.

***

SPANISH COURAGE.-Mr. Washington Irving, in one of his most amusing works, has given us ample testimonials of the courage of the conquerors of the new world; but this quality, unaccompanied by mercy, is found, in a greater or lesser degree, in all barbarous nations. In their engagements with the Moors; in their various conflicts with the natives of South America; and in the long and sanguinary wars of the Low Countries, the Spaniards of former times have sufficiently proved that they were not deficient in courage; but is there a single instance on record of their moderation after a victory. They have had generals as brave as Turenne, but not one possessing the humanity and good-nature of that celebrated com

"I COME OF AN ANCIENT FAMILY. An intelligent foreigner who, a short time since travelled in this country, and whose lately published tour has excited so much curiosity, has not failed to observe some of the worst habits of the English, particularly that of boasting of their descent and their great acquaintance. He calls it the "English habits;" but the practice is not confined to England alone, although it prevails among all classes here. Let an obscure tradesman of the name of Smith or Jones earn, by forty years of industry, a handsome competency for life, and lo! the carriage and the coat of arms on its pannels. He who has twenty neighbours of the same name straightway discovers that he is descended from a line of kings and warriors. A rich cockney traces, of course, his pedigree from some Sir Richard Fitz- or De la "who came in with the Conqueror;" and not-even though he may bear one of their names -from the Gerards, the Batts, or the Basings, men of wealth and honour in days of old, when Aldermen fought as well as feasted. On the other hand, families of aristocratic pretensions affect to speak contemptuously of trade and tradesmen, and boast that "none of their name" have ever been engaged in trade, although some of the highest sounding names in English history may be found on the door-posts of shops and warehouses in London. ***

"THE READING PUBLIC."-Hazlitt

says that the French read as much as they talk, and that fruit-women may be seen in the streets of Paris perusing Voltaire and Racine. What should we say to the same class of women reading Shakspeare in this country, he enquires, without, of course, having noticed something similar in London. The writer of this has more than once seen the owner of an apple-stall with a volume of the Waverley novels; and it is a well known fact that thousands of the humbler classes in England are novel-readers. In the suburbs of London there are shops at which books, the refuse of the respectable circulating libraries, may be obtained for perusal at one penny per volume; and few persons can have failed to notice the humbler class of milliners and strawbonnet-makers, who may often be seen trudging home with a couple of greasy well thumbed volumes under their arms. There must surely be something like a taste for reading in this country, although that taste may have become vitiated, when squalid hollow-eyed girls, who rest from their labour but once a week, and who can barely earn the miserable pittance of a shilling a day, spare a moiety of that pittance for the gratification of novel-reading. ***

POVERTY -"Hence, loathed melancholy," exclaims one poet, while another sings

"There's such a charm in melancholy, I would not if I could be gay."

But no bard has sung the praises of poverty; both poets and philosophers have voted it a curse. It has, nevertheless, sweets which the rich cannot taste. "When poverty enters the door love flies out of the window," says the proverb. The love that takes wing in adversity is not worth possessing in prosperity. In poverty a man tries his friends, and is free from the envy of his enemies. Poverty sharpens the intellect of man, but wealth and luxury destroy his physical and mental powers. It has its bitters and its sweets; it has led to opposite results, but it has also been the origin of some of the noblest deeds in history. Erasmus wrote in praise of Folly; will no modern pen give us an eulogy on Poverty? ***

THE MISER AND THE PRODIGAL The question," which is the worst member of society, the miser or the spendthrift," is, one would suppose, now confined to the discussions of sixpenny debating clubs. The first leaves undone the things which he ought to