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Is then my Rosa dead!

False fiend! I curse thy futile power!
O'er her form will lightnings flash,
O'er her form will thunders crash,

But harmless from my head
Will the fierce tempest's fury fly,
Rebounding to its native sky.—
Who is the God of Mercy ?-where
Enthroned the power to save?
Reigns he above the viewless air?
Lives he beneath the grave?

To him would I lift my suppliant moan,

That power should hear my harrowing groan ;-
Is it then Christ's terrific Sire?

Ah! I have felt his burning ire,

I feel, I feel it now,—

His flaming mark is fix'd on my head,
And must there remain in traces dread;
Wild anguish glooms my brow;
Oh! Griefs like mine that fiercely burn,
Where is the balm can heal!
Where is the monumental urn
Can bid to dust this frame return,
Or quench the pangs I feel!'
As thus he spoke grew dark the sky,
Hoarse thunders murmured awfully,
O Demon! I am thine!' he cried.
A hollow fiendish voice replied,
Come! for thy doom is misery.'

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we yet have. But, in directing his attention to the United States and the British Colonies of North America, Captain Hall was taking higher and more dangerous ground. It is easy for almost any one to write about places so far off and so rarely visited by Europeans as Oei-hai-oi, the Amherst Isles, and Loo Choo; for the simple fact of having been there at the other extremity of the globe-is enough to entitle even a very commonplace man to publish a book when he comes home, that his friends may know what he has seen and heard. If it is strange and new, it is interesting; and on this account alone, the book may run through a dozen editions, without possessing one spark of literary merit. In the same way, as the number is comparatively small, and was still smaller a few years ago, who have seen with their own eyes the great revolutions, or watched the progress of society and manners, in the vast empires springing up in the southern divisions of the New World, any thing that threw light upon the subject was likely to be favourably received, and was not subjected to the experimentum crucis, by being compared with numerous similar works on the same subject. But North America is far more trodden ground. The first flush of curiosity concerning it has died away. A trip across the Atlantic to New York and through the United States, or to Quebec and through Canada, is merely the work of a summer month or two, and consequently all the reading public, either by report or actual observation, know pretty accurately what is to be seen, and how things are

We have thus presented our readers with a good num-going on both on the Hudson and the St Lawrence, and ber of the most striking passages in this poem; and we are satisfied that none who take delight in such matters can have perused them without a very high degree of interest and satisfaction. That so elaborate and valuable a work, by one of the first poets of our times, should have existed entirely unknown to his nearest surviving friends and relatives, cannot fail to be of itself regarded as a circumstance well worthy of commemoration. That it should have fallen to our lot to be the first to intimate the existence of this important literary curiosity, and to present to the public, through the pages of the LITERARY JOURNAL, various selected portions of its contents, must always remain with us a subject of pleasant retrospection and selfcongratulation. It is not impossible that the whole poem may be afterwards published in a separate shape, but of this we are not yet aware. In conclusion, we have only to hope, though we can scarcely promise, that in the prosecution of our labours, we shall occasionally be enabled to offer to our readers literary matter of as novel and interesting a nature as that to which we have now directed their attention.

Travels in North America, in the years 1827 and 1828. By Captain Basil Hall, Royal Navy. In three volumes. Edinburgh. Cadell & Co. 1829.

THIS is not a work of small dimensions, nor will it be possible, in any review whatever, to consider and discuss the numerous topics, connected with North America, upon which the author has entered at length in the course of three closely-printed octavo volumes, averaging about 430 pages each. All that we shall at present attempt is, to state our general impression of the book, and to give our readers such a view of its contents as may make them acquainted with its leading features.

even on the Ohio, the Missouri, and the Mississippi. The traveller, therefore, who undertakes to publish an account of his travels in this quarter, must be able to do something more than merely state accurately and truly what he observes. He must be able to give to these observations a graphic force and interest; to draw correct inferences from them; to reason from what has been to what may or will be; to group old things anew; and to find in the freshness of his own mind a fruitful source for original and striking trains of thought. A book of travels in the interior of Africa judged of by very dif ferent rules, from a book of travels in France or Germany. In the one case we think of the traveller more than his book; and if he prove to us that he encountered many dangers, and overcame many difficulties, we consider ourselves bound to refrain from any severe criticism on his literary effort. But, in the other case, as the narrator has had nothing marvellous either to do or to suffer, and as he voluntarily pushes into our hand a new book about scenes and places with which we are all perfectly well acquainted, we feel entitled to ask-what intrinsic merit or novelty do its contents possess, to authorize this additional demand upon our time and purse?

It is by this higher standard that we propose judging of Captain Hall's Travels in North America; and we are happy to say that, taking the work for all in all, we think it bears the test exceedingly well. The Captain is a lively, intelligent, active-minded man, who is not contented with common-places, and who likes to probe things to the root. He does not, apparently, possess a very vivid fancy, nor, probably, a very acute sensibility, nor, so far as we can discover, is his stock of book-learning very varied or extensive; but then, he has just a sufficient supply of both fancy and sensibility for a traveller,-that is to say, he has enough to prevent him from being dull and mechanical, and not so much as to make him poetical, apocryphal, or mawkish; and as to his book-learning, the want of it (if it be a-wanting) is well supplied by a knowledge of life, an acquaintance with men and man

Captain Basil Hall is already well known to the public as a successful and indefatigable traveller in several different quarters of the globe. He is familiar, indeed, with almost every latitude from Cape Horn to Green-ners under almost every different phasis, a personal exland, and every longitude from Loo Choo to London. His "Voyage to the Eastern Seas in 1816" is replete with interest; and his "Journal written on the Coasts of Chili, Peru, and Mexico, in 1820-1 and 2," is probably, on the whole, the best book about South America which

perience of a very complete and comprehensive kind. If a man has naturally fair average parts, nothing will so speedily mature the judgment and render its decisions valuable as foreign travel. Few men have done more in this way than Captain Hall; and whilst we have consi

derable confidence in his judgment, we are also satisfied | tion, the influence of females in society, their political inthat it is his sincere and anxious desire never to allow stitutions, and other matters of importance. Having reit to be influenced by preconceived prejudices of any turned from Boston to New York, he once more left that kind. In one or two instances his scrupulousness upon city for Philadelphia, and from Philadelphia went on this point has carried him a little too far. For exto Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Columbia, and ample, he tells us in the present work, that in order Charleston, journeying of course through Maryland, Virto enable him to form his opinions entirely for himself, ginia, and North and South Carolina. From Charleshe has carefully abstained from looking over the pages ton he went down the coast to Savannah; and then, again of a single preceding traveller in North America. This turning to the west, made a very extensive tour through may have been conscientious-but, at the same time, it Georgia, along the Alabama, and down upon the Missisargues a want of confidence in himself, which, we think, sippi at New Orleans. Proceeding thence up the Missisan author ought to be slow to confess. No doubt there sippi to its confluence, first with the Ohio, and then with would be a freshness and novelty about every thing he the Missouri, it is difficult to say where the expedition saw, which would probably strengthen the impression might have ended, had not a severe illness which overmade by any individual object, and render it more easy took the child made it necessary to get away from these to commit to paper a vivid description of it; but might it great rivers as fast as possible, and into a more northern not be an object which had been described a thousand latitude. Captain Hall accordingly crossed the Alletimes before by men of perhaps superior powers, or might ghany mountains, and, going through Pennsylvania, arthere not be doubts and difficulties to clear up, or a new rived a third time at New York, from which he soon mode of treating the subject, which could never be dis- afterwards took his final departure for England, and in covered unless by consulting previous authorities? We July 1828, landed at Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, after regret, both for our own sake and his, that Captain Hall an absence of fifteen months and five days. During this laid down the resolution of reading nothing about North busy interval, independently of the double voyage across America till his own work concerning it issued from the the Atlantic, he had travelled in America eight thousand press. Had it not been for this rule, we should have eight hundred miles, as a married man, and without found his remarks a good deal more condensed in several meeting with the slightest accident. places, whilst in others we should probably have had the benefit of his opinion on several interesting questions broached by his predecessors, but not yet satisfactorily settled. In short, we think it clear that Captain Hall's plan of proceeding, or rather, of not proceeding, before visiting a foreign country, ought to have no imitators. Another question naturally suggests itself at the outset. With what sort of feelings towards the Americans did our traveller enter America? Did he go as an aristocrat or a democrat? Was he anxious for a puff from the Quarterly, or was he more ambitious of the praises of "Thus it ever was, in great things as well as in small, on the Westminster Review? In the very first chapter, grave or ludicrous occasions. They were eternally on the deCaptain Hall alludes to this subject at some length; and, fensive, and gave us to understand that they suspected us of a with becoming earnestness, labours to convince his reader design to find fault, at times when nothing on earth was further from our thoughts. Whenever any thing favourable that he went into the country determined to judge de- happened, by chance or otherwise, to be stated with respect liberately and candidly, and to be guided by no rule but to England, there was straightway a fidget till the said cirthat of setting down his own sincere impressions, what- cumstance was counterbalanced by something equally good ever these might be. We feel convinced that Captain Hall or much better in America. To such an extent was this has conscientiously adhered throughout to this determina-jealous fever carried, that I hardly recollect above half a tion; only we suspect that, without being aware of it, he has what we may term a British mode of thinking, which, in several instances, is scarcely calculated to do complete justice to the national peculiarities of the Americans. As a whole, however, his work is a fair and honourable one, and as such ought to be appreciated on both sides of the Atlantic. As we have already hinted, we think it a little too long; but this we easily forgive, in consideration of the great mass of amusing and valuable matter it Contains. Upon many political, agricultural, and commercial questions of moment, Captain Hall speaks to the point, and with great good sense; while, as a mere traveller, or lively and picturesque narrator, it is impossible not to follow him, both with pleasure and profit.

In our quotations from this work, it is impossible for us to enter upon any of the graver subjects it discusses. We must content ourselves with seriously recommending these to the best attention of our readers; and, in the meantime, present a few miscellaneous extracts, which may be taken as fair specimens of the general tone of the book, and which cannot fail to be considered both amusing and interesting. Without farther preface we subjoin these passages :—

AMERICAN JEALOUSY.

dozen occasions during the whole journey, when England kind was manifested on the part of the audience; or that a was mentioned, that the slightest interest of an agreeable brisk cross fire was not instantly opened on all hands to depreciate what had been said; or, which was still more frequent, to build up something finer, or taller, or larger, in America to overmatch it. It always occurred to me, that they paid themselves and their institutions the very poorest description of compliment by this course of proceeding; and it would be quite easy to show why."-Vol. I. pp. 10-11.

NAMES OF PLACES IN AMERICA.

"It has been the fashion of travellers in America, I am told-for I have read no travels in that country-to ridicule the practice of giving to unknown and inconsiderable villages, the names of places long hallowed by classical recollections. I was disposed, however, at one time to think, that there was nothing absurd in the matter. I did not deny that, on first looking at the map, and more particularly, on hearing stage-drivers and stage-passengers talking of Troy, Ithaca, and Rome, and still more, when I heard them speaking of the towns of Cicero, Homer, or Manlius, often by a good hearty laugh. The oddity and incongruity an involuntary smile found its way to the lips, followed of the thing were much heightened by the admixture of such modern appellations as Truxton, Sullivan, and Tompkins, jumbled up with the Indian names of Onondaga, Oneida, and Chitteningo.

Captain Hall, along with his wife and infant daughter, (both of whom accompanied him in all his subsequent peregrinations, encountering every inconvenience with an indomitable spirit worthy of their name,) sailed for New York in April 1827. He proceeded up the Hudson, made a short trip to Massachusetts, and then turning westward, travelled along the Grand Erie Canal to Niagara. Thence he visited Lake Erie, and then proceeded through Canada, along Lake Ontario, and down the St Lawrence, to Montreal and Quebec. In September, he recrossed the Canadian frontier, and proceeded by Lake "A little longer personal acquaintance with the subject, Champlain, Saratoga, and Albany, to Boston. All these unHere he however, led me to a different conclusion. remained some time, visiting all the public institutions in courteous, and at first irrepressible, feelings of ridicule, were, I hoped, quite eradicated; and I tried to fancy that and about the town, and devoting his attention exclusive- there was something very interesting, almost amiable, in ly to American affairs such as their religion, their ma- any circumstances, no matter how trivial, which contribunufactories, their naval resources, their system of educated to show, even indirectly, that these descendants of ours

were still willing to keep up the old and generous recollections of their youth; and although they had broken the cords of national union, that they were still disposed to bind themselves to us, by the ties of classical sentiment at least. For these reasons, then, I was inclined to approve, in theory, of the taste which had appropriated the ancient names alluded to. I had also a sort of hope, that the mere use of the words would insensibly blend with their present occupations, and so keep alive some traces of the old spirit, described to me as fast melting away.

which pleases them best; but, on the other hand, I hope it will be granted, that both the one and the other, contradistinguished as they are so much from what is seen elsewhere, are perfectly fair points of remark for a foreigner.” Vol. I. pp. 156-7.

PECULIARITIES OF AN AMERICAN VILLAGE.

"On the 26th of June 1827, we strolled through the vil lage of Rochester, under the guidance of a most obliging and intelligent friend, a native of this part of the country. "By the same train of friendly reasoning, I was led to Every thing in this bustling place appeared to be in motion. imagine it possible, that the adoption of such names as Au- The very streets seemed to be starting up of their own acburn,-loveliest village of the plain,'-Port Byron, and cord, ready-made, and looking as fresh and new as if they had been turned out of the workmen's hands but an hour the innumerable Londons, Dublins, Edinburghs, and so before or that a great boxful of new houses had been sent on, were indicative of a latent or lingering kindliness towards the old country. The notion, that it was degrading by steam from New York, and tumbled out on the halfclear land. The canal banks were, in some places, still to the venerable Roman names, to fix them upon these mushroom towns in the wilderness, I combated, I flattered unturfed; the lime seemed hardly dry in the masonry of myself, somewhat adroitly, on the principle that, so far the aqueduct, in the bridges, and in the numberless great from the memory of Ithaca or Syracuse, or any such place, saw-mills and manufactories. In many of these buildings being degraded by the appropriation, the honour rather lay the people were at work below stairs, while at top the carwith the ancients, who, it is the fashion to take for grant-penters were busy nailing on the planks of the roof. "Some dwellings were half painted, while the foundations ed, enjoyed a less amount of freedom and intelligence than of others, within five yards' distance, were only beginning. their modern namesakes. I cannot say how many churches, court-houses, jails, and Let us,' I said one day to a friend who was impugn- hotels I counted all in motion, creeping upwards. Several ing these doctrines, let us take Syracuse for example, which, in the year 1820, consisted of one house. one mill, streets were nearly finished, but had not, as yet, received and one tavern: now, in 1827, it holds fifteen hundred in their names; and many others were in the reverse predicahabitants, has two large churches, innumerable wealthy ment, being named but not commenced,-their local habishops filled with goods, brought there by water-carriage tation being merely signified by lines of stakes. Here anp from every corner of the globe; two large and splendid there we saw great warehouses, without window sashes, hotels; many dozens of grocery-stores, or whisky shops; but half filled with goods, and furnished with hoistingseveral busy printing-presses, from one of which issues a cranes, ready to fish up the huge pyramids of flour barrels, weekly newspaper; a daily post from the east, the south, bales, and boxes, lying in the streets. and the west; has a broad canal running through its bo- town, the spire of a Presbyterian church rose to a great som;-in short, it is a great and free city. Where is this height; and on each side of the supporting tower was to be seen the dial-plate of a clock, of which the machinery, in the to be matched,' I exclaimed, in ancient Italy or Greece?' "It grieves me much, however, to have the ungracious hurry-skurry, had been left at New York. I need not say task forced upon me of entirely demolishing my own plau- that these half-finished, whole-finished, and embryo streets, sible handiwork. But truth renders it necessary to declare, were crowded with people, carts, stages, cattle, pigs, far bethat, after a long acquaintance with all these matters, I dis-yond the reach of numbers; and, as all these were lifting covered that I was all in the wrong, and that there was up their voices together, in keeping with the clatter of hammers, the ringing of axes, and the creaking of machinery, not a word of sense in what I had uttered with so much stuthere was a fine concert, I assure you! died candour. What is the most provoking proof that this fine doctrine of profitable associations was practically absurd, is the fact, that even I myself, though comparatively so little acquainted with the classical-sounding places in question, have, alas! seen and heard enough of them to have nearly all my classical recollections swept away by the contact. Now, therefore, whenever I meet with the name of a Roman city, or an author, or a general, instead of having my thoughts carried back, as heretofore, to the regions of antiquity, I am transported forthwith, in imagination, to the post-road on my way to Lake Erie; and my joints and bones turn sore at the bare recollection of joltings, and other nameless vulgar annoyances, by day and by night, which, I much fear, will outlive all the little classical ledge of my juvenile days."-Vol. I. pp. 131-4.

DRESS OF THE AMERICANS.

In the centre of the

"But it struck us that the interest of the town, for it seems idle to call it a village, was subordinate to that of the suburbs. A few years ago the whole of that part of the country was covered with a dark, silent forest; and even as it was, we could not proceed a mile in any direction, except that of the high-road, without coming full butt against the woods of time immemorial. When land is cleared for the purposes of cultivation, the stumps are left standing for many years, from its being easier, as well as more profitable in other respects, to plough round them, than to waste time and labour in rooting them out or burning them, or blowing them up with gunpowder. But when a forest is know-levelled, with a view to building a town in its place, a different system must of course be adopted. The trees must then be removed, sooner or later, according to the means of the proprietor, or the necessities of the case. man possessed of capital, will clear his lot of the wood, and erect houses, or even streets, across it; while, on his neighbour's land, the trees may be still growing. And it actually occurred to us several times within the immediate limits of the inhabited town itself-in streets, too, where shops were opened, and all sorts of business actually going on, that we had to drive first on one side, and then on the other, to avoid the stumps of an oak, or a hemlock, or a pine-tree, staring us full in the face.

"The ladies in America obtain their fashions direct from Paris. I speak now of the great cities on the sea-coast, where the communication with Europe is easy and frequent. In the back settlements, people are obliged to catch what opportunities come in their way; and, accordingly, many applications were made to us for a sight of our wardrobe, which, it may be supposed, was none of the largest. The child's clothes excited most interest, however, and patterns were asked for on many occasions.

"While touching on this subject, I hope I may be permitted to say a few words, without giving offence certainly without meaning to give any-respecting the attire of the male part of the population, who, I have reason to think, do not, generally speaking, consider dress an object deserving of nearly so much attention as it undoubtedly ought to receive. It seems to me that dress is a branch, and not an unimportant branch, of manners-a science they all profess themselves anxious to study. The men, probably without their being aware of it, have, somehow or other, acquired a habit of negligence, in this respect, quite obvious to the eye of a stranger. From the hat, which is never brushed, to the shoe, which is seldom polished, all parts of their dress are often left pretty much to take care of themselves. Nothing seems to fit, or to be made with any precision. It is very true, they are quite at liberty to adopt that form of dress, as well as that form of government,

Thus, one

"On driving a little beyond the streets, toward the
woods, we came to a space about an acre in size, roughly
enclosed, on the summit of a gentle swell in the ground.
"What can this place be for?'

"Oh,' said my companion, that is the grave-yard.'
"Grave-yard-what is that?' said I; for I was quite

adrift.

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"Why, surely,' said he, you know what a grave-yard is? It is a burying-ground. All the inhabitants of the place are buried there, whatever be their persuasion. We don't use churchyards in America.'

"After we had gone about a mile from town, the forest thickened, we lost sight of every trace of a human dwelling, or of human interference with nature in any shape. We stood considering what we should do next, when the Our friendly loud crash of a falling tree met our ears. guide was showing off the curiosities of the place, and was

from which we could cull more entertainment for our readers, we shall, in all probability, return to it next week.

quite glad, he said, to have this opportunity of exhibiting the very first step in the process of town-making. After a zig-zag scramble amongst trees, which had been allowed to grow up and decay century after century, we came to a spot where three or four men were employed in clearing out a street, as they declared, though any thing more unlike a street could not well be conceived. Nevertheless, the ground in question certainly formed part of the plan of the town. It had been chalked out by the surveyor's stakes, and some speculators having taken up the lots for immediate building, of course found it necessary to open a street through the woods, to afford a line of communication with the rest of the village. As fast as the trees were cut down, they were stripped of their branches and drawn off by oxen, sawn into planks, or otherwise fashioned to the purposes of build-peared about a month ago, in a very decent, dull, and buing, without one moment's delay. There was little or no exaggeration, therefore, in supposing with our friend, that the same fir which might be waving about in full life and vigour in the morning, should be cut down, dragged into daylight, squared, framed, and, before night, be hoisted up to make a beam or rafter to some tavern, or factory, or store, at the corner of a street, which, twenty-four hours before, had existed only on paper, and yet which might be completed from end to end within a week afterwards."— Vol. I. pp. 160-4.

Trials and other Proceedings in matters Criminal, before the High Court of Justiciary in Scotland; selected from the Records of that Court, and from Original Manuscripts preserved in the General Register-House, Edinburgh. By Robert Pitcairn, W. S., &c. &c. Part II. Edinburgh. William Tait. 1829.

THE FALLS OF NIAGARA.

"On the 29th of June, 1827, we went from Lockport to the Falls of Niagara, which infinitely exceeded our anticipations. I think it right to begin with this explicit statement, because I do not remember in any instance in America, or in England, when the subject was broached, that the first question has not been, 'Did the Falls answer your expectations? The best answer on this subject I remember to have heard of, was made by a gentleman who had just been at Niagara, and on his return was appealed to by a party he met on the way going to the Falls, who naturally asked him if he thought they would be disappointed, Why, no,' said he: Not unless you expect to witness the sea coming down from the moon!

We reviewed the First Part of this work, which ap

siness-like manner. We shall probably review the Parts which are to follow, after a similar fashion. But, with regard to the Part now before us, we mean to allow ourselves a little liberty. To this resolution we are moved by a twofold reason. In the first place, though the portion of the records of our criminal court, at which Mr Pitcairn is now arrived, are more full and more regularly kept than at an earlier period, they are still too meagre to allow of our speaking with certainty of the forms and principles of law recognised at the time of which they this Second Part is allotted to a laborious and unexpectare a monument; and, besides, no inconsiderable space in edly successful attempt to fill up, aliunde, a gap of four years in the Books of Adjournal. Although full, therefore, of valuable hints, it does not throw any broad or decidedly new light upon our legal antiquities; and we consequently decline launching at present on so wide an ocean. Add to this, that the contents of the present number of this publication are such as irresistibly incline us to pick out and lay before our readers, in the pure spirit of gossip, some of the marvellous tales with which it abounds. With all deference, therefore, we offer our friends the most full and authentic narrative of the state of the infernal kingdom during the reign of James VI. that has yet been given to the public.

of Satan.

"The first glimpse we got of the great Fall was at the distance of about three miles below it, from the right, or eastern bank of the river. Without attempting to describe it, I may say, that I felt quite sure no subsequent examina- It is generally understood that the belief in witchcraft tion, whether near or remote, could ever remove, or even increased with the progress of the reformed doctrines. materially weaken, the impression left by this first view. We are inclined to think this a mistake. The belief was From the time we discovered the stream, and especially after coming within hearing of the cataract, our expectations as prevalent before, but the laxness and remissness of the were, of course, wound up to the highest pitch. Most wealthy and indolent Catholic priesthood was the cause people, I suppose, in the course of their lives, must, on some that less was said of it. The reformed clergy merely reoccasion or other, have found themselves on the eve of a tained on this point the superstition of their predecessors, momentous occurrence; and, by recalling what they expe- but they set themselves with more noise and more enerrienced at that time, will, perhaps, understand better what was felt, than I can venture to describe it. I remember 5y to overthrow what they conceived to be the kingdom myself experiencing something akin to it at St Helena, James, more regular and systematic tactics were adoptThe warfare was carried on sharply; under when waiting in Napoleon's outer room, under the consciousness that the tread which I heard was from the footed, and by his vigorous generalship the hellish host was of the man, who, a short while before, had roved at will driven to great straits. It is well known, that in his over so great a portion of the world; but whose range was riper years, he penned, with his own royal hand, a now confined to a few chambers; and that I was separated most masterly treatise against the practice of witchcraft. from this astonishing person only by a door which was But it is, perhaps, not so well known, that this treajust about to open-so it was with Niagara. I knew that, tise contains merely the matured experience of his youthat the next turn of the road, I should behold the most splendid sight on earth,-the outlet to those mighty reserful campaigns. The matter stands thus. In 1589, voirs, which contain, it is said, one-half of the fresh water Anne of Denmark was intercepted in her way to this on the surface of our planet."-Vol. I. p. 177-81. country by a tempest, which obliged her to put back. In a fit of impatient gallantry James took shipping for Denmark, where he was married to the Princess. Returning with his bride to Scotland in May 1590, he too experienced some buffeting from severe gales. Now, these gales happening during the winter, and early in spring, a time at which such phenomena are of rare occurrence in our latitudes, it was evident to the dullest apprehension, that they must be caused by some infernal agency at work to thwart the will of the growing Solomon. James, whose disposition, by nature and education, had more of the pedagogue than the king, and who was withal a little timid, where his own person was concerned, was easily induced to take strong measures against those daring enchanters who had waged war with majesty itself. Early in 1591, many suspected persons were apprehendit and put to divers sortes of trialls." In June, of the same year, his majesty gave a proof of his determina

ROADS IN CANADA.

"Illustrations, it is well known, generally mystify the subject instead of clearing it up; so I shall not compare this evening's drive to trotting up or down a pair of stairs, for, in that case, there would be some kind of regularity in the developement of the bumps; but with us there was no warning no pause; and when we least expected a jolt, down we went smack! dash! crash! forging, like a ship in a head-sea, right into a hole half-a-yard deep. At other times, when an ominous break in the road seemed to indicate the coming mischief, and we clung, grinning like grim death, to the railing at the sides of the waggon, expecting a concussion, which, in the next instant, was to dislocate half the joints in our bodies, down we sank into a bed of mud, as softly as if the bottom and sides had been padded with cotton for our express accommodation."-Vol. I. p. 268. We have no room for more quotations to-day, but as we do not think any work has been recently published

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tion that no witch should escape through ill-judged lenity in the assize, by causing the majority of a jury who had thoughtlessly acquitted one, to be "dilatit of errour" in his own royal presence. On the twenty-sixth of October, he granted a commission to several of his counsellors for the more effectual enquiry after, and discovery of, witchcraft. Owing to these energetic measures many hidden crimes were brought to light, and many delinquents punished.

the most severe death the court could adjudge, being burnt without having been previously strangled. She appears to have believed in her own supernatural powers, and to have gloried in them to the last. He

Johnne Feane is another remarkable individual. is reported to have been schoolmaster at Tranent, and was a person of no small consequence, being "Register and Secretar to the Devil." It was his office to lead the ring in the preparatory incantation of dancing “widderschinnes about." Also, on entering the church where their meetings were held, he "blew up the duris, and blew in the lychtis, quhilkis were lyke mekle blak candillis, stiking round about the pulpett." He sat next to the Devil, on his left hand. He had the power, while lying in his bed, to be "tane in the spreit, and to be careit and transportit to many montanes, as thocht threw all the warld." He could go in the body "souch and athairt the eird," and skim over the sea in a riddle. He could open "ane lok be his sorcerie, be blawing in ane woman's hand, himselff sittand at the fireside." "Being cumand furth of Patrik Umphrais sonis house in the mylne, under nycht, fra his supper, and passand to Tranent on horsbak and ane man with him, he, be his devilisch craft, rasit up foure candillis upoune the horssis luggis, and ane uther candill upoune the staff which the man had in his hand; and gaif sic lycht as gif itt had bene day lycht; lyk as the saidis candillis returnit with the said man quhill his hamecuming; and causit him fall deid at his entre within the hous."

It cannot be denied that, owing to the means of discovering witches not having been at that time brought to the last degree of precision and certainty, there is great reason to fear that many innocent suffered along with the guilty. Thus, in the case of Alesoun Balfour, condemned in virtue of her own confession, the unfortunate woman declared, when led to the stake,-" That the tyme of hir first depositioun sche wes tortoured diverse and severall tymes in the Caschielawis, and sindrie tymis takin out of thame deid, and out of all remembrance eithir of guid or ewill; as likewyis hir guidman being in the stokis, hir sone tortourit in the Buitis, and hir dochtir put in the Pilliewinkis, quhairwith sche and thay wer swa vexit and tormentit, that pairtlie to eschew ane gretar torment and pwnieschement, and upoun promeis of hir lyffe and guid❘ deid, falslie and aganis hir saul and conscience, sche maid yat confessioun, and na utherwyis." The unhappy woman suffered, adhering to this declaration to the last. The production of a copy of it, notorially attested, was afterwards held by an assize sufficient for clearing the Master of Orkney of an accusation that he had consulted Agnes Sampsoune is said by Spotswood to have been with witches. We have met with nothing in history" not of the base and ignorant sort of witches, but mamore affecting than this death declaration of poor Aleson; it is the wailing of outraged nature suffering from the absurdity and brutality of man.

But to return to our subject. The victims of the ages of superstition were not always so innocent as this poor woman. The guilt of some of them is of a nature that renders sympathy with their sufferings, dreadful as they were, almost impossible. This is the most painful thing in the history of witchcraft, that, while we acknowledge the absurdity of the sentence, we can rarely feel for the sufferer. Both the judge and the accused believed in the power of spells, and, not unfrequently, the condemned person met with little worse treatment than his unnatural indulgence of pride, malice, covetousness, and licentious pleasure deserved.

The crime of witchcraft was not confined to the lower orders. We find, in Mr Pitcairn's pages, no less than three instances in which the parties accused are of high rank. Catherine Lady Fowlis, (p. 191,) to whose case we alluded on a former occasion, seems to have been a woman not only of high birth, but strong mind. Ambitious views, and a natural tinge of the age's superstition, led her at first to seek supernatural aid. But she seems soon to have penetrated the hollow mummery of the crones to whom she applied, and to have moved onward to her purpose with a clear eye and reckless heart. She allowed them to proceed with their incantations, but relied solely on their skill in preparing poisons. Her stepson, Mr Hector Monro, (p. 201,) was of a different character. His mind appears to have been as sickly as his body. He was accused of trafficking with witches to procure health. The extent of his guilt was selfishly taking steps, which his foster-mother had persuaded him would save his life, at the expense of his brothers. Both of these precious kinsfolk were acquitted. Eufame Makcalzane, (p. 247,) their equal in rank, was a character differing from both. She was the daughter of Lord Cliftonhall, a senator of the College of Justice, eminent in literature, and distinguished both as a lawyer and a statesman. With the exception of her alleged share in the treasonable conspiracy against the king and queen, she seems to have dabbled in the black art solely for the purpose of facilitating her enjoyment of licentious pleasures, and ensuring her vengeance on such as stood in her way. She suffered

tron-like, grave and settled in her answers, which were
all to some purpose." She seems to have been a profess-
ed curer of sickness, by means of spells and incantations.
Her prayer for her patients, which is entered on the dit-
tay, is a doggrel version of the creed. The conjuration
used by her for the recovery of the sick is in the name of
God and Jesus. The " Ave Maria" was likewise used
by her for similar purposes. The following is rather a
curious way of curing a sick person :-" Item, the said
Agnes is fylit and convict of cureing umquhile Robert
Kerse in Dalkeyth, wha wes havelie tormented with
witchcraft and diseis, laid on him be ane Westland war-
lack when he wes in Dumfreis; quhilk seiknes sche tuik
upoun hir selff, and kepit the samyn with grit groining
and torment quhill the morne, on quhilk tyme thair wes
ane grit dyn hard in the hous; quhilk seiknes she caist
off hir selff in the cloise, to the effect ane catt or dog
mycht haif gottin the samyn." A similar cantrip was
played by Agnes in behalf of Eufame Makcalzane, who
is accused of "consulting and seiking help at Anny
Sampsoune, ane notorious witch, for relief of hir payne
in the tyme of the birth of hir twa sonnes ;
quhilk being praktesit be hir, as she had ressavit the
samin frae the said Annie, and informatioun of the use
thairof; hir seiknes wes cassin off hir unnaturallie, in the
birth of hir first sone upoun ane dog; quhilk ranne
away, and wes never sene agane and in the birth of hir
last sone the same prakteis foirsaid wes usit, and hir na-
turall and kindlie payne unnaturallie cassin off hir upoun
the wantoune catt in the hous; quhilk lykwyis wes never
sene thaireftir." She was one of the party which con-
vened at the "Brume-hoillis; quhair, with Robert
Greirson, their admeralt and maister-man, thay past oure
the sea in riddillis to ane schip, quhair thay enterit with
the Deivill thair maister thairin; quhan aftir thay had
eittin and drukkin, thay caist owir ane black dog, that
skippit under the schip, thay having thair maister the
Deivill thairin, quha drownit the schip be tumbling."

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