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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 745, April 6, 1878 - -Author: Various - -Editor: William Chambers - Robert Chambers - -Release Date: August 24, 2020 [EBook #63031] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL OF *** - - - - -Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - -[Illustration: CHAMBERS’S JOURNAL - -OF - -POPULAR - -LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART. - -Fourth Series - -CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS. - -NO. 745. SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1878. PRICE 1½_d._] - - - - -BORLUM. - - -Long ago—you may say in 1808—when I was a boy at Peebles, the -school-children, as a variety in their boisterous amusements, -occasionally bombarded with stones a grievously defaced effigy built -into the walls of a ruinous old church in the neighbourhood. With -savage significance, the unfortunate piece of sculpture was called -Borlum, and as Borlum it had been pelted by several successive -generations. From the dearth of historical knowledge at the spot, -no one could explain who or what was meant by Borlum; and not till -some years afterwards, in the course of reading, did I find out that -by Borlum was meant Brigadier Mackintosh of Borlum, who commanded a -resolute party of Highlanders in Mar’s rebellion of 1715, and who, -by their masterly audacity in marching towards the Border, threw the -southern counties of Scotland into a state of indescribable alarm. To -Borlum, as he was familiarly termed, was thus assigned the character of -a bugbear along the whole course of the Tweed; and long after he had -passed away, and when the political events in which he was concerned -were forgotten, the original terror of his name survived in the -vengefully destructive recreations of school-children. In a vicarious -capacity, a harmless piece of sculpture, which had nothing at all to do -with Borlum, was doomed to suffer for a popular scare nearly a hundred -years previously. - -In the history of that miserably managed affair, Mar’s Jacobite -rebellion, Mackintosh of Borlum—or more properly _younger_ of Borlum, -for his father was still living—stands conspicuously out as a military -hero, who threw into the shade many of higher title and pretensions. -How with five hundred of his clan, with banners flying, he marched -to Inverness, and seized that important post. How he hastened on to -the Lowlands, eluded the troops designed to intercept him; crossed -the Firth of Forth with a large force in open boats, and captured -Leith. How, carrying everything before him, he marched onwards to -the Border, in order to join the rebel forces of General Forster -in Northumberland—are all facts belonging to history. His sagacity, -foresight, intrepidity, and daring courage were worthy of a better -cause. Getting into England, and mixed up with half-hearted movements, -Borlum is very much lost sight of. The enterprise, owing to Mar’s -indiscretion, had been shockingly ill considered. The English Jacobites -failed to rise in a body, as they were justified in doing, for the -auxiliaries which had been expected from France never made their -appearance; and the whole thing collapsed, as is well known, by the -humiliating capture of the insurgents by General Carpenter at Preston, -in Lancashire. Surrendering at discretion, the whole were conducted -as prisoners to London—Borlum among the rest. A dreadful downcome to -the proud Highland chief, but not more so than to Lords Derwentwater, -Winton, Nithsdale, Kenmure, Carnwath, Widdrington, and other Jacobite -noblemen. - -It is not altogether agreeable to look back on the dynastic struggles -which took place in England in the first half of the eighteenth -century; for with some redeeming traits of character, they give a very -mean view of human nature. The subject has been suggested to us by the -appearance of a work which many will appreciate for its lively account -of scenes and circumstances hitherto imbedded in the dry records of -history. We mean _London in the Jacobite Times_, by Dr Doran, F.S.A. (2 -vols. Bentley and Son). The writer, it is sorrowful to learn, passed -away before the work at which he had long patiently laboured had well -been published; and we regret that he has not survived to hear the -praises bestowed on his endeavours to produce a picture of past times -such as is rarely presented. The way the subject is treated is quite -unique. Instead of going into regular historical details, which would -be alike tedious and tiresome, the author writes in a sketchy and -anecdotic style without pause from beginning to end, and we have before -us a drama of unflagging interest, extending over the greater part of -a century. We do not think, however, that the book would have been the -worse of a few preliminary remarks on the strange circumstances by -which the Stuarts forfeited the crown, and placed themselves in the -grotesquely unhappy condition of kings retired from business. - -The flight of James II. from England, and practically his abdication of -authority, December 22, 1688, finished the house of Stuart. When a king -runs away from his subjects, and stupidly flings down a magnificent -inheritance, he has a bad chance of being called back again, -particularly when by a course of exasperating and illegal conduct he -has forfeited general esteem. Yet, from the date of that fatal flight -there were successive plots by Jacobite adherents to bring back the -Stuarts to the throne. Throughout the reign of William III. and of -Queen Anne, the plottings were of a comparatively obscure character. -On the death of Anne in 1714, and the installation of George I. under -a parliamentary Act of Settlement, came the crisis. The rebellion of -1715 broke out, and being quenched at Preston, the fierce dissensions -of Jacobites and Whigs arose. Dr Doran commences his narrative with the -death of Anne, but scarcely awakes to his subject till the droves of -rebels from Preston enter London and are dispersed through the various -prisons, the more noble of them being conducted to the Tower. - -While preserving the forms of law, the government did not put off time -in the examination and trials of the captured rebels. The pulpits rang -with sermons condemnatory of their crimes. Joseph Addison, in his -paper the _Freeholder_, railed upon them with indecent subserviency. -There was no want of evidence to convict the leading spirits in -the insurrection; but matters were considerably simplified by the -voluntarily proffered testimony of the Rev. Robert Patten, who had -been formerly a curate at Preston, and acted as chaplain to the rebel -forces. Clapped into prison with his associates, Patten pondered on the -best means of escaping the gallows; and the longer he thought of it, -he became the more firmly convinced that his best plan was to become -king’s evidence. His testimony was accepted; and at the cost of being -branded throughout all time as a rascal, he daily stood up in court -and told every particular requisite to convict the unhappy noblemen -and gentlemen with whom he had been associated, and whose bread he had -eaten. Very much through the testimony of this wretch, the prisons were -gradually cleared by the exit of batches of convicts on hurdles to -Tyburn. The Tower was similarly relieved of two of its noble inmates, -Derwentwater and Kenmure, who perished on the scaffold; and there would -have been more of them, but for the escape of the Earl of Nithsdale -disguised in his wife’s clothes, and for the fortunate reprieve of -the Lords Widdrington, Nairn, and Carnwath. On the evening of the -day on which the Earl of Derwentwater was beheaded (24th February -1716), London was thrown into a state of commotion by the appearance -in the sky of an extraordinary Aurora, in which there were fancied -resemblances of armies, flaming swords, and fire-breathing dragons—the -Jacobites accepting the phenomenon as a token of the indignation of -Heaven at the cruel murders on Tower Hill, and prognosticating the rise -of the sun of Stuart! On the estates of the Earl of Derwentwater, this -famed aurora was called the ‘Earl of Derwentwater’s Lights;’ and it is -said that an aurora is still so named in the vicinity of Dilston. - -The government of George I. had some difficulty in dealing with the -Earl of Wintoun, who contrived to get his trial put off as long as -possible, on the plea that he was not yet prepared with his evidence. -The truth is, the earl was a somewhat eccentric being. In his youth -he had run away from his home at Seton House, went to France, and -hired himself to work as a blacksmith. Returning at the death of his -father, when everybody had given him up for lost, he assumed the -title, George fifth Earl of Wintoun, and was living quietly at Seton -when the rebellion broke out. He had no wish to connect himself with -it; but stung by some outrageous proceedings of the authorities, he -joined the insurrection, and so got himself into trouble. When brought -to the bar of the House of Lords, there was some surprise at the -oddity of his behaviour. Whether from cunning or affectation, he did -not seem to understand why his trial should be hurried on, though in -reality he might have complained of the delay. All the earl’s shifts -did not greatly serve him. Patten, on being questioned, said that he -had seen the Earl of Wintoun on several occasions with a drawn sword -in his hand when the Pretender was proclaimed. After this, of course -Wintoun was found guilty, and condemned to be beheaded. Not a pleasant -drive from Westminster Hall to the Tower, accompanied by the Gentleman -Gaoler, ceremoniously carrying an axe with its edge turned towards -the condemned earl. One feels a degree of satisfaction in knowing -that after all the Earl of Wintoun escaped his doom. Confined to an -apartment in the Tower preparatory to the morning of execution, he -brought his knowledge as a blacksmith into play by cutting through the -iron bars of his window by files supplied by his servant, and dropping -to the ground got clear off. He died at Rome in 1749, his title and -estates being meanwhile forfeited. The title has been latterly revived -in favour of the Earls of Eglintoun. But with the disappearance of the -last of the Setons in the direct line, an ancient and honourable family -was blotted from the Scottish peerage. - -Mackintosh of Borlum—called by mistake Borland by Dr Doran—was confined -along with General Forster and a host of others in Newgate. Borlum and -Forster are stated to have often quarrelled regarding the military -conduct of the insurrection, their angry debates often furnishing -amusement in the corridors, court-yard, and common room in the prison, -to which visitors were admitted without hinderance, as to a tavern, -for the more eating and drinking there were the better it was for Mr -Pitt, the governor. Pitt, himself, was never disinclined to lend his -assistance in eating a dinner, or in finishing a bowl of punch. So -countenanced, the revelries in Newgate were boundless. Dr Doran affords -a glimpse of this state of things. Visitors and sympathisers supplied -the prisoners with money. ‘While it was difficult to change a guinea -almost at any house in the street, nothing was more easy than to have -silver for gold in any quantity, and gold for silver, in the prison; -those of the fair sex, from persons of the first rank to tradesmen’s -wives and daughters, making a sacrifice of their husbands’ and parents’ -rings and other precious movables for the use of the prisoners. The aid -was so reckless, that forty shillings for a dish of early peas and -beans, and thirty shillings for a dish of fish, with the best French -wine, was an ordinary regale!’ - -Forster was to be tried on the 18th April, but a week previously the -town was startled with the intelligence that he had broken bounds; -he was off. ‘His escape,’ says Doran, ‘was well planned and happily -executed. His sharp servant found means to obtain an impression of -Pitt’s master-key, from which another key was made and conveyed to -Forster, without difficulty. Pitt loved wine, and Forster seems to have -had a cellar full of it. He often invited the governor to get drunk -on its contents. One night, Pitt got more drunk than usual, finished -the wine, and roared for more. Forster bade his servant to fetch up -another bottle. This was the critical moment. The fellow was long, -and Forster declared he would go and see what the rascal was at. On -going, he locked the unconscious Pitt in the room; and the way being -prepared by his servant, and turnkeys, as it would seem, subdued by -the “oil of palms,” master and servant walked into the street, where -friends awaited them. Pitt sounded the alarm, but everything had been -well calculated. A smack lay at Holly Haven, on the Thames, which had -often been employed by the Jacobites in running between England and -France.’ By this means, Forster effected his escape, and ‘the joy of -the Jacobites was incontrollable.’ The government shut up Pitt in one -of his own dungeons, and offered a thousand pounds for the recovery of -‘General Forster;’ but pursuit was useless. The general was safe in -France. - -Borlum, who knew that his trial would speedily take place, meditated -on plans for emulating the success of Forster. Strange to say, -notwithstanding a knowledge of the irregularities that were carried on -in Newgate, the public authorities made no change in the administration -of affairs. Wine flowed, punch was sent round, and the prisoners -suffered scarcely any stint in their indulgences. Things were indeed -rather worse than better—all which was favourable to a plan concocted -by Borlum and his fellow-captives. ‘The prisoners,’ says Dr Doran, -‘might cool themselves after their drink, by walking and talking, -singing and planning, in the court-yard, till within an hour of -midnight. Evil came of it. On the night of the 4th [May] the feast -being over, nearly five dozen of the prisoners were walking about the -press-yard. Suddenly, the whole body of them made an ugly rush at the -keeper with the keys. He was knocked down, the doors were opened, and -the prisoners swept forth to freedom. All, however, did not succeed in -gaining liberty. As the attempt was being made, soldiers and turnkeys -were alarmed. The fugitives were then driven in different directions. -Brigadier Mackintosh, his son, and seven others overcame all -opposition. They reached the street, and they were so well befriended, -or were so lucky, as to disappear at once, and to evade all pursuit. -They fled in various directions.’ Some others less fortunate were -secured, ‘and were not only heavily ironed and thrust into loathsome -holes, but treated with exceptional brutality.’ What a picture of a -metropolitan prison in the reign of George I.! - -The escape of Borlum from Newgate with certain other convicts produced -an immense sensation. For decency’s sake, if for nothing else, the Lord -Mayor and Aldermen came down to the prison, and solemnly gathered some -evidence on the subject. The least thing in the way of amends was to -offer a reward for the capture of ‘William Mackintosh, commonly called -Brigadier Mackintosh.’ Placards were profusely posted up describing the -appearance of Borlum. ‘A tall, raw-boned man, about sixty years of age, -fair complexioned, beetle-browed, gray-eyed, speaks broad Scotch.’ The -reward for capturing him was two hundred pounds, to which sum, however, -were added a thousand pounds by the government. Every effort failed -to secure the old Highland chief. He and his son succeeded in getting -on board a vessel in the Thames, by which they reached the coast of -France, and there for the present we must leave him. - -These furtive escapes did not slacken operations at Tyburn, to which -doomed men from Newgate were carried in half-dozens, as if for a public -entertainment. We can hardly in the present day realise the brutality -of these exhibitions, to which, however, ladies of quality regularly -adjourned to see the show. Hanging formed a holiday amusement of -the fashionable society of London. Such was the disregard of humane -feeling that officers of the law were not ashamed to practise cruel -deceptions on convicts at the very scaffold. Dr Doran describes a case -of this kind. It was that of a person named David Lindsay, convicted -of traitorous visits to France, who was sentenced to die, and carted -to Tyburn in spite of an amnesty. ‘When his neck was in the noose, the -sheriff tested David’s courage, by telling him he might yet save his -life on condition of revealing the names of alleged traitors. David, -however sorely tempted, declined to save his neck on such terms. -Thereupon, the sheriff ordered the cart to drive on; but even this move -towards leaving Lindsay suspended did not shake his stout spirit. All -this time the sheriff had a reprieve for the unnecessarily tortured -fellow in his pocket. Before the cart was fairly from under Lindsay’s -feet, it was stopped, or he would have been murdered.’ Taken back alive -to Newgate, a very unusual spectacle, Lindsay, after being nearly -starved in a loathsome dungeon, was sent into perpetual banishment; -ultimately he died of hunger and exposure in Holland. - -As the hanging of some thousands of rebels would have shocked ordinary -decency, vast numbers were condemned to be banished, as an act of -grace, to the Plantations, or were ‘made over as presents to trading -courtiers,’ who might pardon them for ‘a consideration.’ Think of lords -and ladies at court being presented with groups of convicts on whom -money could be made by selling pardons! The fact throws a new light on -this period of English history. As regards transportation, Dr Doran -gives some not uninteresting and little known particulars concerning -Rob Roy. Twelve years after the rebellion of 1715, Rob was taken to -London in connection with the Disarmament Act, and sentenced with many -others to be transported to Barbadoes. Handcuffed to Lord Ogilvie, he -was marched from Newgate through the streets of London to a barge at -Blackfriars, and thence to Gravesend. ‘This,’ says Dr Doran, ‘is an -incident which has escaped the notice of Walter Scott and of all Rob’s -biographers.’ Before quitting England, the barge-load of convicts were -pardoned and allowed to return home. - -Matters had considerably calmed down, when the country was startled -with the rebellion which broke out in 1745, headed by the young -Chevalier, Charles Edward, grandson of James II. It was a daring and -romantic adventure, but as badly conceived and supported as that of -thirty years previously. No promised auxiliaries were supplied from -France; and that the attempt to upset a powerful and settled government -by a handful of adventurous Highlanders and the adherents of a few -discontented noblemen and gentry should have ended disastrously, as it -finally did on the field of Culloden, is not at all surprising. This -fresh outbreak in the reign of George II. affords new material for the -graphic pen of Dr Doran; and to his second volume we must refer for -many painful though curious details concerning the treatment of the -unfortunate prisoners. The manners of the more fashionable classes in -the metropolis do not seem to have improved. We are told that ‘people -of fashion went to the Tower to see the prisoners as persons of lower -quality went there to see the lions. Within the Tower, the spectator -was lucky who saw Murray [of Broughton], Charles Ratcliffe, Lord -Traquair, Lord Cromarty and his son, and the Lord Provost, at their -respective windows. Lady Townshend, who had fallen in love with Lord -Kilmarnock, at the first sight of “his falling shoulders,” when he -appeared to plead at the bar of the Lords, was to be seen under his -window at the Tower.’ The Lord Provost, here alluded to, was Archibald -Stewart, who, known to be of Jacobite proclivities, was charged with -culpable neglect of duty, in having allowed a party of Highlanders -to rush in and take possession of Edinburgh. Stewart was tried and -acquitted. Lord Cromarty’s life was spared; but Lords Kilmarnock, -Balmerino, and Lovat perished by beheading on Tower Hill. Lovat had -expressed a passionate desire to be buried with his head in his own -country in Scotland. The wish was gratified. His head was sewed on -again by the undertaker before the body was despatched northwards! Lord -Traquair was liberated. - -The case of Charles Ratcliffe was peculiar. He was a younger brother -of Lord Derwentwater who was executed in 1716, and he had himself only -evaded the same fate at that time by being one of the prisoners who -escaped from Newgate and took refuge in France. Assuming the title of -Earl of Derwentwater, he was made prisoner in 1745, on board a French -vessel on its way to Scotland with supplies for Prince Charles. The -sentence of death which had been passed on him thirty years before -was now raked up. He was condemned to be executed; and giving him the -benefit of his assumed title of nobility, he was beheaded on Tower -Hill, his manly courage and proud bearing not deserting him at the last -dreadful scene. - -Like Patten, in the former rebellion, Murray of Broughton, who had -acted as secretary to Charles Edward, was saved by basely turning -king’s evidence, and sending many better men than himself to the -scaffold. He retreated into private life under a deserved load of -infamy. Years afterwards, as we learn from Lockhart, Murray, several -times in disguise, visited Mr Scott, father of Sir Walter, for the -sake of professional advice. On one of these occasions, Mrs Scott, -from curiosity, intruded with the offer of a cup of tea, which Murray -accepted. When he withdrew, Mr Scott lifted the window-sash, and threw -the empty cup into the street. The lady exclaimed for her china, but -was silenced by the remark: ‘I may admit into my house, on a piece of -business, persons wholly unworthy to be treated as guests by my wife. -Neither lip of me nor of mine comes after Mr Murray of Broughton.’ As a -memento of this curious incident, Sir Walter made prize of the saucer, -which he preserved. - -The executions of the untitled prisoners were conducted in a wholesale -manner on Kennington Common, to which crowds flocked to see the hideous -show. Drawers attended to supply wine to the culprits while the ropes -were put round their necks, for the Jacobites drank treasonous toasts -till the last. At one of these tragic ceremonials, ‘Captain Wood, after -the halter was loosely hung for him round his neck, called for wine, -which was supplied with alacrity by the prison drawers. When it was -served round, the captain drank to the health of the rightful king, -James III.’ The slight delay so caused was lucky for another culprit, -Captain Lindsay, who was coming up with a second batch. ‘While the wine -was being drunk, Lindsay was “haltering,” as the reporters called it. -He was nice about the look of the rope, but just as he was courteously -invited to get in and be hanged, a reprieve came for him, which saved -his life.’ At this period, London could not be deemed a pleasant place -of residence for any one with delicate feelings. The entrances to the -town were lined with decaying bodies hanging in chains. At length the -sights became so offensive as to cause public remonstrance. - -Dr Doran winds up his dramatic narrative with some graceful remarks -on the altered state of feeling towards the Jacobites in the reign of -George III. By the decease of Charles Edward in 1788, after having sunk -to the character of a sot, the Jacobite fanaticism was considerably -abated, and only lingered as an expiring sentiment till the death of -Charles’s brother, Henry, Cardinal York, 1807, when the house of Stuart -was extinct. - -It is pleasant to know that the royal family always spoke with sympathy -of the Stuarts. Charles Edward, as is well known, was unhappy in -his marriage with Louise, Countess of Albany, daughter of Count von -Stolberg. She left him for a convent in 1780, and subsequently to his -death became the wife of the Italian poet, Vittorio Alfieri. By a -strange turn in the wheel of fortune, she sought an asylum in England, -on the outbreak of the French Revolution, and was well received at the -court in St James’s Palace, the king and queen vying to do her honour. -She went to see the king in the House of Lords with the crown on his -head, when proroguing parliament, 1791. Hannah More speaks of seeing -the Countess of Albany on that occasion seated among ladies ‘just at -the foot of the throne which she might once have expected to have -mounted.’ Finding London dull, with ‘crowds but no society,’ and that -the climate of England did not suit her, she returned to the continent. - -In his latter years Cardinal York was supported by a pension of four -thousand pounds a year from George III.; an act of kindness which was -handsomely responded to by the Cardinal giving up to the king the crown -diamonds which James II. had carried away with him to France. On the -death of the Cardinal, the Countess of Albany became the recipient of -an annuity from the king. This she enjoyed till her decease as plain -Madame Fabre at Montpelier, in France, in 1824. Such was the sorrowful -ending of the broken-down and much-tried widow of Charles Edward Stuart. - -We feel that our desultory sketch would be incomplete without some -account of Borlum subsequent to his escape to France in 1716. For any -such account, however, there are very slender materials in history. To -a writer in the _Celtic Magazine_ (Inverness, 1877) we are indebted for -some of the following particulars. Borlum remained in France only one -or two years, during which his father died, whereupon he became the -chief of his house. On what terms, if any, he was allowed to return -to his own country there is no statement. At all events, he was again -in Scotland in 1719, for in that year he took part in the mad attempt -at insurrection by the aid of Spanish soldiers, which was immediately -stamped out. That Mackintosh of Borlum should have engaged in so wild -an adventure, is an evidence of his Jacobite fervour and indiscretion. -He was once more a fugitive, but for a time contrived to elude -detection. At length, he was apprehended in the wilds of Caithness, and -was conveyed as a state prisoner to Edinburgh Castle. - -Few, perhaps, among the gay crowds who throng Princes Street, and -cast a glance at the buildings of the castle perched on the summit of -rugged cliffs, are aware that in one of these buildings, long used as -a state prison, poor Mackintosh of Borlum was confined for the last -years of his life. Certainly, a hard fate for the old Jacobite! Cribbed -and confined in his airy but miserable den, Borlum did not spend his -time uselessly. Before being involved in political troubles he had -devoted himself to the improvement and planting of lands. He is said to -have planted a row of trees which still ornament the public road near -Kingussie. Now that he was locked up, he wrote an Essay on the best -means of inclosing and improving lands, which was printed in Edinburgh -in 1729. Our authority adds: ‘On the 7th January 1743, after a rough -earthly pilgrimage of eighty years, the gallant old soldier passed to -his rest, true to the last to the principles which had influenced his -whole life. One of his last acts, it is said, was to dedicate one of -his teeth to the service of his exiled master, by writing with it on -the wall of his room an invocation of God’s blessing on King James!’ - -How long Borlum was immured in that dismal prison on the castle rock, -is not clearly ascertained. The obituary in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ -speaks of his having been confined in the castle ‘fifteen years.’ By -the authority above quoted, he is said to have been imprisoned ‘for -nearly a quarter of a century.’ Truth may lie somewhere between—from -twenty to twenty-one years. The _Caledonian-Mercury_, in noticing his -decease at the age of ‘about eighty-five,’ gives him a high character -as ‘a complete gentleman, friendly, agreeable, and courteous;’ and for -what he had written as regards the improvement of land, he is to be -lastingly esteemed as ‘a lover of his country.’ Nowhere is a word said -of the cruelty of confining so aged and accomplished a person in the -worst species of prison till he was released by death. For the seeming -harshness of this prolonged imprisonment, an excuse may perhaps be -found in the political apprehensions of the period; but this scarcely -lessens our compassion for the sufferings of a man in so many respects -estimable. With all his faults, Borlum must be admitted to have -possessed that quality of earnestness of purpose which in the ordinary -concerns of life is now so feebly demonstrated. It could be wished -that some one had done full justice to his biography; for Borlum was -undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary men of his time. - - W. C. - - - - -HELENA, LADY HARROGATE. - - -CHAPTER XIX.—FIRE! - -‘There is nothing so hard, nothing so difficult as to get a governess -nowadays,’ said the Countess of Wolverhampton, quite unaware that she -was but echoing the complaint of many ladies of a lesser degree, to the -effect that it is next to impossible to procure pattern cooks, prize -housemaids, exemplary seamstresses, or model kitchen-maids, in these -degenerate times. ‘I mean a really satisfactory governess of course,’ -added the noble mistress of High Tor. Lady Wolverhampton and her two -elder daughters were the sole occupants of the smallest of the suite of -drawing-rooms, the windows of which were yet open to admit the balmy -air of the hot evening. Dinner was but just over, and the flush of the -sinking sun was faintly visible on the heathy ridges and pine-groves to -the west. - -‘It is very tiresome, mamma,’ said sympathetic Lady Maud. - -‘It is more than tiresome,’ rejoined the Countess. ‘It makes me, on -your sister’s account, very anxious. If I had known, when Miss Grainger -left us, how very long it would take to replace her, and that dear -Alice would be for months at a stand-still so far as her education -went, I should not have parted with her so readily.’ - -‘But she left us because she was going to be married,’ said Lady Gladys -smiling; ‘and we could not, I suppose, have forbidden the banns on -account of the scarcity of good governesses. I wonder, by the way, how -the scarcity can exist, when we are so perpetually informed that the -governess market—a phrase which I don’t like, suggesting as it does -white slavery, involuntary servitude, and the auctioneer’s hammer—is -overstocked.’ - -‘That sounds clever, Gladys,’ answered Lady Wolverhampton in her plain -way; ‘but I am afraid that, like most clever-sounding things, it proves -nothing. I could get a highly certificated instructress, a person -primed with information on particular subjects, warranted to be worth a -handsome salary, a’—— - -‘A teaching-machine, in fact,’ suggested bright Lady Gladys, seeing -that her mother hesitated for the lack of a word. - -‘Precisely. A teaching-machine,’ resumed the Countess. ‘But I don’t -want one. I wish Alice’s governess, whoever she may be, to be a good -sensible young woman, such as Miss Grainger was; and instead of that, -all my correspondents write to me of the degrees and diplomas that have -been taken out by those they recommend. I suppose I am an old-fashioned -person, but I do wish’—— - -But before the Countess of Wolverhampton could complete her discourse -on the governess topic, the door was jerked open, and the old butler, -who had permitted himself to turn the handle for once with such -unconventional vivacity, stood gasping in the doorway with a face as -white as his cravat. - -‘Why, Bugles!’ began the Countess, rising in alarm; for that an ox -should talk, as Livy tells us that a Roman representative of the bovine -genus actually did, is scarcely more calculated to disturb the nerves -than that a well-trained servant should crack the ice of his artificial -decorum. The Earl, who was, like his wife, a partisan of old fashions, -was lingering over his wine in the dining-room, and might of course be -ill. Apoplexy was the first thought that rose, like a sheeted spectre, -before the Countess’s mind. - -‘Fire, my lady! Fire at High Tor; broke out sudden; and all the village -is in flames!’ panted out Bugles the butler, who was fat and short of -breath. And without were to be vaguely heard other voices and the sound -of running feet, and the cry, alarming above all others, of ‘Fire! -fire!’ as grooms and gardeners forgot their usual respectful reticence -in the first flush of the anticipated struggle with the direst foe of -man and his works. - -‘There really is a fire, and I’m afraid a great one, to judge by the -smoke and the sparks,’ said Lord Harrogate, who at this juncture -entered. ‘My father has had his horse saddled already, and has started -by this time for the village, and I am going too of course. I only came -first to see if’—— - -‘If we were ready to come too?’ cried Lady Maud. ‘To be sure we will, -the moment we can get our hats, Gladys and I. Alice will stay with -mamma. We can’t work at putting out the fire, but we may be of use -somehow.’ - -And in an incredibly short space of time the Ladies De Vere and their -brother were hurrying down the steep road that led to the scene of -the disaster. High Tor House, isolated and on a lofty spot of rising -ground, was in no sort of peril from the fire raging beneath; but the -indwellers of the great mansion were not disposed, like the divinities -of the Pagan Olympus, serenely to contemplate the woes of the -inhabitants of earth, and without waiting for orders, nearly every boy -and man in the Earl’s employ had hastened down to fight the common foe. - -‘The dry weather—unusually dry for this moist district, where the last -thing we generally have to complain of is the want of rain—must help -the fire sadly,’ said Lord Harrogate, as the lodge-gates were left -behind, and the lurid light of the conflagration became more and more -distinctly visible through gaps in the high hedges that bordered the -road. As they drew nearer, the eddying clouds of smoke, mingled with -fiery dots here and there, the dull crimson glow, and the smothered -sound of voices mingling with the roar of the flames and the clang of -labour, gave unpleasant tokens of the mischief that was going on. - -‘I hoped at the first that the report was an exaggerated one, as most -reports are,’ said Lord Harrogate, as they came in sight of the burning -houses. ‘But this is an ugly business. It is on one side of the street -only, by good luck, that the fire is raging, and if we can keep it from -spreading’—— - -The crash of a cottage roof tumbling in, and followed by a shower of -sparks and small fragments of flaming wood, drowned the rest of the -sentence. Matters were evidently bad enough, though not quite so bad -as might have been augured from the first announcement of that herald -of misfortune, Bugles the butler. The whole southern side of the long -straggling street was more or less in flames; and to keep the fire from -communicating itself to the houses on the opposite side of the road -was a work which in itself taxed the strength of the whole adult male -population to the utmost. - -The noise, the smoke, the falling sparks, and the occasional plumping -down into the dust of the road of some half-consumed scrap of woodwork, -made Lord Harrogate’s sisters, who were physically no braver than the -average of their sex, shrink back aghast. - -‘Here, Maud!’ cried her brother impatiently. ‘We must not—or I must -not—be drones in the hive. You know most of these good people—Mrs -Prosser, for instance.—Mrs Prosser, my sisters will stay with you while -I go forward to bear a hand in getting the fire under.—Where’s my -father? Ah, there he is, in the thick of the smoke!’ - -And there, sure enough, was dimly to be seen the well-known figure -of the old Earl giving orders to such as were cool enough to hearken -to them, whilst his frightened horse, held by a groom, stood at some -distance. Darting through the clouds of suffocating vapour, which were -dense enough to suggest the idea of a battle, Lord Harrogate reached -the place where his father was standing. - -‘I don’t see any fire-engines!’ exclaimed the young man, looking with a -sort of dismay at the chain of buckets passed from hand to hand. ‘What, -in the name of all that’s wonderful, are the people dreaming of?’ - -‘We have sent to Pebworth for help,’ said the Earl, shaking his gray -head; ‘but before any arrives, if the wind freshens the houses will be -mere cinder-heaps. As for the parish engine, Stickles here has got the -same story to tell that is only too common among us in England here.’ - -And Stickles, who was the clerk, rubbed his hands apologetically -together as he faltered out, in reply to Lord Harrogate’s impatient -question, the excuses which he had previously addressed to the Earl. -The engine of which he was official custodian had been long out of -repair, and was to have been ‘seen to,’ and should have been ‘seen -to’ after harvest-time, had not the unfortunate outbreak of a very -real and practical fire tested the unreadiness of the precautions for -putting it out. As it was, the only available means of doing battle -with the conflagration was the rude and simple one of flinging water -on the flames, and at this task the inhabitants were busy enough. They -were busier, however, before long, as, under the direction of Lord -Harrogate, whom they respected, they began to tear down some portions -of the burning buildings, in the hope of preventing the fire from -spreading. A strange sight it was which the village street presented, -encumbered as it was by chests and bedding and the poor furniture which -had been hastily dragged out from the doors of cottages now blazing, -and the wailing of frightened children, and the shrill voices of the -women, blended with the hoarse deep roar of the triumphant flames. - -‘’Tis a mercy, my lord, it broke out when it did,’ said Charley Joyce, -best bowler in the local cricket club and best woodman in the Earl’s -employment, and in both of these capacities well known to the Earl’s -heir. ‘There’d ha’ been a lot of us burned in our beds, if it had -tarried till after midnight. All came,’ he added, ‘of that blessed -rock-oil from Ameriky.’ - -Such indeed was the reported origin of the disaster. A girl, for -milking purposes, had taken a tin lamp with her into a cowshed; the cow -had kicked over the lamp, and the burning petroleum had set fire to -the straw litter, whence the flames had mounted to the thatched roof. -Thatched roofs, picturesque to look upon, were only too numerous for -safety in that West-country village. The fire had crawled and darted, -lithe as a serpent, from gable to porch and from paling to stable. - -‘There! Look at the school-house now!’ cried a score of voices; and -indeed the flames were pouring outwards through the shattered windows -and licking the blackened walls, and withering to charred sticks the -pretty hedge where the fragrant woodbine had clung so lovingly to the -quickset, and scorching the very flowers in the garden. - -‘The fire began near about there,’ remarked Joyce; but Lord Harrogate -was already out of earshot, since his keen eye had caught a glimpse of -a pale beautiful face, in the midst of the confusion of the crowded -street. He pushed his way through the excited throng. - -‘You are not hurt, Miss Gray, I hope and trust?’ he said with an -eagerness that surprised himself. - -‘No; but my house is burning,’ said Ethel in reply; ‘and I am a -stranger, and—— But pray, my lord, do not trouble yourself to’—— For -the young man had drawn her arm gently but firmly through his. - -‘You must let me choose for you,’ he said. ‘My sisters are here, close -by, at Mrs Prosser’s, who keeps the village shop—a kind motherly old -soul. I must leave you with them.’ - -Thus Ethel allowed herself to be led to the place where, amidst a knot -of women, whose awe-stricken faces told how great was their interest in -the spectacle, the Ladies De Vere stood watching the progress of the -fire. Lord Harrogate did not linger for an instant, but went back to -put heart into the men still battling with the encroaching flames. - -It was no trifle, this hand-to-hand combat, as it were, with the -fire; the fierce heat driving back the volunteers who ventured very -near to the tottering walls to fling water upon the blazing timbers, -while the blinding smoke rushed volleying out to blear the eyes and -clog the lungs of the workers, and ever and anon some tall chimney or -breached roof would fall with a crash, sending showers of bricks and -half-consumed wood into the midst of the crowd; and hairbreadth escapes -were many and bruises numerous. - -At last, however, the two engines from Pebworth came clattering into -the street, and water being in that region of streams ready to hand, -and the wind happily abating, the fire was fairly conquered, and all -further danger at an end. There was no loss of life; but some were -singed and many bruised; while thirty humble homes had been turned to -heaps of smouldering ruin, and household gear and clothing, snatched -from the flames, formed piles here and there in the wet road. -Gradually the hospitality of this or that neighbour afforded temporary -shelter to the crying children, the lamenting women, and the exhausted -men; while a flying squadron of boys chased and led back captive the -cows and pigs, the fowls and donkeys of those whose yards and sheds had -been made desolate by the conflagration. - -But what was Ethel to do? The old dame who served her had been readily -received into the dwelling of a neighbour; and indeed nearly all of -those so suddenly evicted had kindred, and all had friends to harbour -them at this pinch. The young school-mistress looked forlorn indeed, as -she stood alone in the midst of so many groups of voluble talkers. - -‘You must come home with us, Miss Gray,’ said Lady Maud kindly; ‘must -come up to High Tor House, I mean,’ she added, seeing that Ethel did -not at first appear to comprehend her words, ‘and stay with us until -something can be done. It is the least we can do for you, burned out of -house and home in this dreadful way, as you have been.’ - -Lady Gladys heartily seconded the invitation; but Ethel still hesitated -until the Earl drew near. - -‘I have been telling Miss Gray here, papa, that we will take care of -her at the House for a few days till she can look about her,’ said Lady -Maud. - -‘Quite right, my dear,’ answered the Earl with his fatherly smile; and -thus the matter was settled. - - - - -CHINA AND MAJOLICA. - - -The love of china-ware still continues to be a mania amongst certain -classes in this country. In the houses chiefly of the ‘upper ten,’ we -see scattered in lavish profusion little Dresden figures, shepherds and -shepherdesses, sweet, fresh, smiling, fantastic little loves, leaning -on impossible crooks, or ogling us from under trees whose bowery -greenery embodies all that is idyllic in crockery. Wonderful little -old tea-cups, without handles, transparent as an egg-shell, with no -colouring to speak of, faded, washed-out looking, are proudly pointed -to as almost priceless. From these our great-great-grandmothers, in -all the glories of hoops and furbelows, are said to have drunk their -hyson and bohea in their great wainscoted and tapestried rooms, -discoursing as they sipped the fragrant nectar, much as we their -great-great-granddaughters do still, over our afternoon tea; for the -world changes, but the human heart does not. All manner of vanities go -the round; trivialities of dress or gossip; much tattling about the -mote in our neighbour’s eye, and a careful avoiding, with commendable -modesty, any reference even the most remote to the beam in our own. -These pale transparent cups going their oft-repeated rounds may have -sown in their day the seeds of many a pathetic commonplace tragedy or -comedy, disseminating, as they circulated around the board, harmony and -peace, or dissension and distrust. - -Your true china collector has undoubtedly in him something of the -antiquarian Dryasdust spirit, which loves to excavate and unearth the -buried treasures of the past; in his case, however, it is gracefully -blended with and overlaid by an instinctive fondness for the tender, -lovely, fragile object of his regard. He knows, for he has often -anxiously weighed it, how frail it is. Every time he looks at it he -remembers the tumult of conflicting emotions with which, once secured, -he packed it up with his own hands, and the fears for its ultimate -safety which tempered the ecstatic pride of his triumph in the bargain -which he had just struck. - -To the china-hunter, every object in his cabinet or on his brackets is -a trophy. That quaint old enamelled _tazza_ of Lucca della Robbia’s, -he bought in Rome; and as he gazes at it he thinks not so much of -the astute Jew dealer, for whom, as he flatters himself, his own -knowingness was fully a match, but of a long-forgotten holiday, with -its bright days of sunshine, and the lengthening purple shadows of -night deepening over the skies, and the grapes in ripe clusters on the -wall. How well he remembers their flavour still, and the hand that -plucked them for the stranger, and the eyes that looked into his! What -was her name? He has forgotten it. What her fate? He has never known. -A most prosaic ending, truly, to a vanished romance. But her charming -grace and beauty unforgotten, blend still in his memory like a sweet -rhythmical chant, and beautify with a glory not altogether its own this -rare old cup of Lucca della Robbia’s. - -With a sigh he turns from it to contemplate this old plate of -mezza-majolica. Opal-hued, iridescent, it darts at him as he gazes upon -it subtle flashes of blue and yellow and ruby-hued flame, rejoicing -his soul with a deep unalterable conviction that it at least is real. -He acquired it in Urbino, many, many years after he became the happy -possessor of the Lucca della Robbia cup. He paid a full price for it -too; but although a close man, he does not, and has never regretted the -imprudence. At the sight of that beautiful plate, which he is pleased -to call unique, his charmed heart melts away into softness, and his -purse-strings begin to relax of their own accord. It moves his spleen -to see careless visitors pass it by, as they sometimes do, to gaze at -the soft beauty of that bright yellow-robed maiden, with dove upon her -hand, who hovers self-forgetful upon the very verge of a pea-green -china sea. The poor old quaint plate of mezza-majolica, gleaming there -like a veritable jewel, is a treasure he jealously guards, and of its -history we would say a few words. - -The Italian enamelled earthenware which became famous under the name of -Majolica, was first produced in 1300 in a town in the duchy of Urbino, -which was under the feudal sway of the Malatestas, who were lords of -Pesaro. Vessels of red clay such as had been long in use were covered -with a thin coating of white earth obtained from the neighbourhood of -Siena, and upon this ground different coloured patterns were traced. -The vessels were then partly baked and covered with lead-glaze, after -which they received a final firing. This delineation of coloured -patterns upon an opaque white substance was the humble germ out of -which the splendid many-hued majolica ware grew. - -The colours employed were usually yellow, green, blue, and black; and -the soft lead glaze, which was easily affected by external influences, -imparted to the pottery that metallic iridescent lustre which is the -special characteristic of majolica. To the Spanish Moors, this art -was also well known; and some of their beautiful masterpieces finding -their way into Italy, acted as a fillip to the infant art, which long -remained swathed in rude and ungraceful swaddling-bands. While it was -in this transition state, a new tin glaze was discovered, and applied -to terra-cotta bas-reliefs by the famous Lucca della Robbia, and the -lordship of Pesaro was sold to the house of Sforza. The new feudal -superiors took an extreme interest in the potteries, and granted such -special privileges to the manufacturers, that in a short time they -succeeded in making Pesaro famous for the production of majolica. -Early specimens of the ware manufactured here are generally adorned -with Moorish arabesques and coats of arms. Heads of saints are also a -favourite study, and so are heathen goddesses; while heads of the popes -and Dukes of Urbino abound, the name being affixed, to prevent all -mistake as to the portrait. - -In the pottery of the Pesaro manufactory, the outlines of the subjects -are traced in black or blue, and are in general correctly drawn; but -the figures are flat and hard, without a vestige of the breadth and -freedom which give such admirable life and vigour to the etchings on -the Greek vases; all faults in design or execution being atoned for -by the marvellous beauty and finish of the glaze, whose iridescent -splendour has been equalled but never surpassed by later artists. The -most beautiful specimens of this ware are due to the genius of an -obscure artist, whose very name has been forgotten, who flourished in -Pesaro about 1480. The dishes he made were large and thick, and were -intended not so much for use as for display; as is shewn by holes in -a projection behind, through which strings were passed in order to -suspend them from the wall. The colours he used were blue and yellow, -and they shone with a rare and matchless mother-of-pearl splendour. - -At the end of the fifteenth century tin enamel had come into general -use, and the potteries of the duchy of Urbino had begun to manufacture -a finer majolica ware. The art may be said to have reached its most -palmy period. The finest qualities of the old mezza-majolica were -retained in the new manufacture, and far greater artistic skill was -displayed in the painting and ornamentation. The town of Gubbio -acquired a world-wide fame by the beauty of its lustrous majolica; -and in the year 1485, Georgio Andreoli, a gentleman of Pavia, was -attracted to it. He was a painter and sculptor by profession; and -his majolica plates, glowing like jewels with the richest and most -brilliant colours, are still famous. He excelled in the use of ruby -red and golden yellow, and his ware is generally encircled by a -brilliant flame-coloured border. He delights also in the picturesque -effect produced by gold arabesques on a ground of vivid blue. His -period of greatest activity was from 1486 to 1537. To china-fanciers -he is known as the famous Maestro Georgio of Gubbio, and his works -now command almost incredible prices. He is charged with having made -a secret of his metallic lustre, and with having travelled about the -country selling his recipes to the highest bidder; but for this charge -there is no good ground. His brothers and his son worked along with -him, and they had many assistants, to whom all the processes of the -manufacture were known. In the city of Urbino, where Raphael was born, -the manufacture of majolica ware was carried on with great spirit and -success. Among the foremost of the ceramic artists of Urbino was a -certain Orazio Fontana. His designs, which are characterised by great -freedom and breadth of style, and truth and fidelity of drawing, -are likewise brilliantly coloured and admirably glazed. One of his -masterpieces, a magnificent cup, in the possession of Baron Rothschild, -has his name inscribed upon it; a frequent practice with the great -Italian potters. - -All over the duchy of Urbino, potteries of this ware flourished at -Gubbio, at Pesaro, at Urbino, and at Castel Durante. From these -workshops potters travelled with their secrets to other parts of -Italy and also to Flanders. The majolica of Castel Durante is very -beautifully finished; and one of its principal manufacturers, Piccolo -Passo, wrote a treatise upon the art of making and decorating majolica. - -Faenza, which has given its name in France to all soft pottery, also -produced much beautiful majolica ware. The Faenza majolica has, like -that of Urbino, a rich marzacotta glaze, and some of the more ancient -specimens are enamelled in berettino, a pale-blue tint. The later -Faenza majolica is in style very like that of Urbino; decorative and -embossed embellishments are laid aside, and pictorial designs are -generally used. - -Such is a brief sketch of an art for which Raphael and Marc Antonio did -not disdain to furnish compositions, and whose masterpieces not only -found ready access into palaces, but were presented to churches and -hung up in cathedrals during the middle ages as votive offerings to -saints. - - - - -MR ASLATT’S WARD. - - -IN FOUR CHAPTERS.—CHAPTER I. - -Some years ago I was brought by reverse of fortune to form one of that -vast number of women in search of employment, the thought of whom -makes one’s heart ache as one looks at their numerous applications -for situations in the columns of our daily papers. I had long been an -orphan, but not a penniless one, till a great bank-failure, such as -have from time to time brought so much misery and embarrassment upon -the middle classes of society, swept away my little all, and left me -entirely dependent upon my own exertions for future maintenance. - -As the shock conveyed by the news of my loss passed away, I was not in -utter despair. I had been well educated, was a tolerable musician, and -had travelled much; so it seemed to me that I should have no difficulty -in finding a situation as companion or governess; and I strove hard to -conquer my natural shrinking from the irksomeness of such a life, and -to become reconciled to my altered position. Friends promised to help -me, and for a time I depended upon their promises. But finding that -no situation was forthcoming through their efforts, I determined to -try the effect of an advertisement in the _Times_. I composed it with -care, endeavouring to set my qualifications in their best light, and -felt sanguine as to the result. I expected to have at least a dozen -responses, and was disappointed at receiving only two. The first letter -I opened was in a woman’s handwriting, and consisted of a string of -impertinent queries, linked to a statement of the writer’s requirements -in the governess she engaged for her daughters—requirements which I -felt sure I could never fulfil; winding up with a request that if I -felt equal to the demands of the situation, I would call at a certain -address in the neighbourhood of Regent’s Park. Such a letter checked -my expectations, and with some impatience I destroyed it. The next was -very different. It was a courteously worded note from a gentleman, -informing me that he was seeking a governess, or rather companion, for -his ward, a girl of eighteen; and would be glad to have an interview -with me, if I would kindly make such arrangements for one as would suit -my convenience. The tone of his letter pleased me, and as he gave the -address of an hotel not far from the part of London where I was then -residing, I immediately wrote a reply, naming an hour at which on the -following day I would call upon him. - -It was with not a little trepidation that I set out the next morning -to fulfil my engagement. I had the vaguest ideas of what I ought to do -or say in the new position in which I found myself, and for which my -previous experience had ill prepared me. My heart sank within me as I -inquired for Mr Aslatt, and was conducted by a waiter to his private -room. Would the stranger be a very formidable personage? I wondered. -The first glance at him was reassuring. A more benevolent countenance -I have never seen; and his tall stately figure and genial though -dignified manner, enhanced the pleasing impression it created. He was -not a young man; but so bright was the lustre of his steel-blue eyes, -so full of life and energy their glance, and his words and actions so -quick and lively, that no one would have thought of calling him old, -although his black hair was streaked with gray, and his brow somewhat -lined by the cares and sorrows which come to all as the years pass on. -My fears vanished at his kind reception, and I at once felt at my ease. - -‘I do not know whether the services I require will be to your mind, -Miss Bygrave,’ he said; ‘but your duties will be very light. I wish -to obtain a sympathetic companion rather than governess for my ward, -Rose Sinclair, a young lady of most lovable disposition, though -high-spirited and, I fear I must add, rather wilful. The fact is she -has lived with me ever since she was a little child, and perhaps -has been made too much of—spoiled a little, you know. But she is so -engaging, so artless, so affectionate, no one could bear to deny -her anything. She has had masters and governesses in abundance, but -they have seldom known how to manage her. She requires very careful -treatment; she may be led and guided, but she will not be ruled. She -has very good abilities, but is averse to application. I have released -her from regular study; but I should be glad if you could persuade her -to read with you, and practise her music and painting, for both of -which she has rare talent. Her position is a lonely one; she has no one -to depend on but me; and I am most anxious to find for her a companion -who might prove a friend also. If you will excuse such a remark from a -stranger, I will add that your appearance encourages me to hope that -you would prove such a one, if you were willing to try.’ - -Although Mr Aslatt offered me a far larger salary than I could have -expected, and assured me of his desire that everything should be -done to make me comfortable and at home in his house, I hesitated -for some time before I accepted the situation, for I rather doubted -my ability to control a high-spirited spoiled girl of eighteen. Her -guardian’s partiality for her evidently led him to think lightly of the -difficulties of the post he offered me. - -‘I think you cannot fail to be pleased with my ward,’ he continued; -‘she is of such a noble disposition, so generous and gracious; but -as I have said before, she needs to be gently checked, and prevented -from following all the impulses of her young and ardent nature. I do -not think you would find much difficulty in managing her, if you once -succeeded in gaining her affection.’ - -‘But if I were not so fortunate?’ I said inquiringly. - -Mr Aslatt smiled, and slightly shrugged his shoulders. ‘I do not think -we need fear that alternative,’ he replied pleasantly. ‘But should my -hopes be disappointed, and the position prove distasteful to you, you -will be perfectly at liberty to resign it whenever you please.’ - -I thanked him, and after a little more discussion agreed to undertake -the office of companion to his ward. - -Early in the following week I quitted London, and proceeded to Westwood -Hall, as Mr Aslatt’s residence was named, a large country house, -situated in a neighbourhood not many miles from the metropolis. I found -a carriage waiting for me at the quiet little station where I alighted -from the train. After a pleasant drive through pretty country lanes, -where the trees often met overhead, we passed through some large iron -gates, beside which stood a picturesque lodge, and drove through an -avenue of elms to an old-fashioned mansion in red brick. The building -formed three sides of a square, and in the space thus inclosed were -flower-beds of various shapes, brilliant with many-hued flowers; and in -the centre stood an antique sun-dial upon a carved stone base, round -which, as I afterwards noted, ran in distinct letters the motto, ‘Time -is short; Death is nought; Love is all.’ I had scarcely time to notice -the general surroundings of the place, before the carriage stopped at -the large oaken door. - -Mr Aslatt had apparently been on the look-out for it, for he met me -with a cordial greeting before I crossed the threshold, and led me into -a large oak-panelled hall which formed the centre of the house. It -was a curious apartment. The floor, ceiling, tables, chairs, settee, -were all of oak, and most elaborately carved. The walls were decorated -with banners, shields, swords, helmets, and various old family relics. -Everything was old; and I felt for a moment as if I had been suddenly -transported from the nineteenth century, and carried back into the -middle ages. But though the oaken furniture was dark with age, the hall -did not strike me as gloomy, perhaps because immediately on entering, -my eyes rested on the one bright object it contained. A girl was seated -upon the settee, whose bright golden hair and dress of pale blue made -a delightful spot of colour amidst the prevailing sombreness. A large -black dog, of rather forbidding aspect, crouched at her feet, but -sprang up as I entered, and began to bark furiously. ‘Quiet, Nero; -quiet, sir!’ said the young lady, without rising, while regarding me -with an intentness which made me flush. - -‘Rose, this is Miss Bygrave,’ said her guardian; and at his word she -rose and moved slowly across the polished floor to meet me, still -surveying me calmly and coolly with her large blue eyes, as if anxious -to arrive at a correct estimate of my character and qualifications. -She was tall and womanly in figure, but wore her long golden hair in -a cloud over her neck and shoulders, merely confined by a ribbon, -as a child’s might have been. Though a beautiful girl, she appeared -unconscious of the fact. Her regular clear-cut features were expressive -of self-reliance and determination, without being in the least harsh -or unfeminine. Her manner was perfectly self-possessed, and her -bearing slightly haughty; but it was not long before I discovered that -underneath that appearance of womanly dignity there was the simplicity -and waywardness of a very child. - -‘How do you do, Miss Bygrave?’ she said somewhat coldly, giving me her -hand, and scanning my face with a deliberation which I should have -resented from any one else, but to which I now submitted humbly, as if -it had been the right of the proud young beauty who stood before me. -Then as if the result of her scrutiny were satisfactory, she added more -graciously: ‘I daresay you are tired with your long drive; come, and I -will shew you to your room.’ - -I followed her up the wide staircase and along a corridor to a room -overlooking the extensive garden which lay at the back of the house. -I was much pleased with the appearance of my bedroom. From what I -had seen down-stairs I was prepared for an oaken chamber hung with -tapestry, with gloomy recesses, hearse-like bed, and ancient furniture. -Nothing of the kind, however, met my view. Here everything was modern, -and even luxurious, and in such style as would have suited the most -fastidious taste. - -‘I hope you will be comfortable here,’ said Miss Sinclair. - -‘It will be my own fault if I am not,’ I replied, as I advanced to the -window opening on to a small veranda, from which steps led down into -the garden. ‘How pretty the garden looks!’ I remarked. ‘I shall often -feel inclined to walk there, I fancy.’ - -‘You must not think of going there after sunset,’ said Miss Sinclair -decidedly. - -‘Why not?’ I asked in surprise. - -‘Because—— Well, perhaps I ought not to mention it, for my guardian -does not like it talked about; and yet you would be sure to hear of it -some time or other, so I may as well tell you at once. The truth is -the house is haunted; not this part, but the left corridor, where the -rooms are very, very old. And the ghost has been seen coming out of the -window of the Blue Chamber—which communicates with the garden, as this -does—and going down the steps.’ - -I was astonished at the gravity with which she made this statement. - -‘You do not surely believe in ghosts, Miss Sinclair?’ I asked. ‘You -cannot really credit such stories?’ - -She turned from me impatiently, saying: ‘It is easy for you to doubt -their existence; perhaps if you had seen what I have, you would think -differently.’ - -‘What have you seen?’ I inquired. - -But offended by my scepticism on the subject, the young lady did not -choose to reply. She drew herself up proudly, and after inquiring if -there was anything I needed, left me to make my toilet. - -Vexed with myself for having so soon given offence to my charge, I -strove for the rest of the day to ingratiate myself with her; nor were -my efforts unsuccessful. - -‘I think I shall like you,’ she said frankly; ‘that is, if you do not -interfere with me too much. I was dreadfully put out when Cousin told -me you were coming, for I like to be sole mistress here. By the way, -how do you like my guardian? I always call him Cousin, although I do -not at all understand how we are related to each other. I know nothing -of my parents, except that they died when I was a very little child. -Cousin has promised to tell me about them some day; but he looks so -grave whenever I refer to them, that I fancy there must be something -painful for me to learn concerning my parentage, and therefore I do not -intend to ask any more questions. But you have not told me how you like -Mr Aslatt.’ - -I was amused at her eager curiosity, and told her that although I had -had so little opportunity of judging, I had received a most favourable -impression of her guardian’s character and disposition. - -She seemed pleased with my reply. ‘You can have no idea how good he -is,’ she said. ‘But he is a man of strong prejudices, and it is hard to -move him when he has once made up his mind with regard to any person -or thing. Not that I mean to find fault with him, for as far as I am -concerned I have not the least cause of complaint. I cannot tell you -how kind he is to me, or how much I owe him. He is the best old darling -in the world!’ - -‘He is surely not so very old,’ I remarked, smiling at her enthusiasm. - -‘Don’t you think so?’ returned she. ‘He seems quite old to me; but of -course you are much older than I am, and therefore judge differently of -age. Would you mind telling me how old you are? I know it is very rude -of me to ask, but I always seem to do what I ought not.’ - -I laughed, and informed her that I was in my twenty-eighth year. - -‘Nearly ten years older than I am,’ she remarked, ‘and fourteen years -younger than Mr Aslatt; so you see he really is old.’ - -‘Not old for a man,’ I ventured to say. - -‘Yes; he is,’ contradicted my companion impatiently, shaking back her -golden hair. - -At this moment Mr Aslatt entered the room in which we were sitting. ‘I -have just been thinking, Rose,’ he said, ‘that if it is fine to-morrow, -we might ride over to Ashdene. I daresay Miss Bygrave would like to see -the old Priory there.—Are you fond of riding?’ he added, addressing me. - -It was long since I had been in the saddle; but in earlier years I had -exceedingly enjoyed the exercise, and I told him so. - -‘Then I hope you will enjoy a ride to-morrow,’ he said. ‘I think I have -a horse that you will like, and Rose will lend you a riding-habit.’ - -I thanked him heartily; but Rose said decidedly: ‘I cannot go to -Ashdene to-morrow; you forget that it is my day for visiting the -school.’ - -Mr Aslatt’s face changed, and a look passed across it, which I should -have called a look of pain had not the cause been so trivial. ‘Surely -you need not go to the school to-morrow, Rose,’ he said gently; ‘your -visit is not of so much importance, but that Mr Hammond can manage -without you for once.’ - -Rose’s face crimsoned and her lip pouted, but she made no reply; and -Mr Aslatt hastily introduced another subject of conversation. But her -brightness was gone for the rest of the evening; she replied shortly -and coldly to her guardian’s remarks, and flatly refused to sing -when he asked her to do so. It was evident that her conduct grieved -him, for the look of pain was more clearly visible; but he shewed no -sign of resentment, and the tone in which he bade her good-night was -as affectionate as if her behaviour had been all that he could have -desired. - -‘This is the way to the haunted rooms,’ said Rose as we went up to -bed together, opening as she spoke a door at the top of the draughty -staircase. She raised her lamp, so that its light rendered visible the -gloom of the dreary corridor. The air which met us had a close musty -smell; and the grotesque figures carved on the oak panels, with the -sculptures in the distance casting dim shadows on the opposite wall, -had rather a weird appearance in the uncertain light. Suddenly a door -creaked on its hinges, and Rose sprang back, uttering a faint cry, and -hastily closed the door which communicated with this passage. ‘Did you -hear that?’ she asked in an awe-struck whisper. - -‘Why, you silly girl,’ I said laughingly, ‘what you heard was only the -effect of the wind!’ - -She shook her head unbelievingly, and replied: ‘Well, remember, I warn -you to shun that part of the house, especially when night is coming on.’ - -The next morning, at an early hour, the horses were brought to the -door, and Mr Aslatt, Rose, and I started for Ashdene. Rose had made -no further opposition to the expedition, and there was no trace of -vexation on her lovely face as we rode off. She looked remarkably -well in her riding costume. The close-fitting habit of dark-blue -cloth shewed to advantage the exquisite symmetry of her figure; and -the little velvet hat, whose sole ornament was a heron’s plume, was -very becoming to the fair face. She was an accomplished rider, and -controlled admirably, without the least appearance of effort, the -spirited movements of the beautiful animal she rode. It was a bright -May morning, and the ride was most enjoyable. About noon we reached -the little town of Ashdene, where we dismounted; and after partaking -of some luncheon at the hotel, proceeded to view the ruins of the old -Priory. Here we found so much to interest us that the afternoon was far -advanced before we were ready to return. As we were walking our horses -up a hill not very far from home, I saw a young man coming towards us -dressed in a gray tweed suit. As he came into view, Mr Aslatt urged his -horse into a canter; but Rose checked hers as it quickened its pace, -and said reproachfully: ‘The horses are tired, cousin; we must not -hurry them up this hill.’ - -As the young man drew near, he raised his hat. ‘Good afternoon, -Hammond,’ said Mr Aslatt, rather stiffly I thought. - -How it happened I don’t know, but just then Rose dropped her -riding-whip, and it fell within a few feet of Mr Hammond. He picked it -up in a moment, and handed it to the young lady, who thanked him most -graciously, and even bent down from her saddle to shake hands with him. -‘I was so sorry to be absent from my post to-day, Mr Hammond,’ she -said; ‘but we were tempted to take advantage of this fine day for a -ride to Ashdene.’ - -‘It was a great disappointment to the scholars not to see you,’ he -replied; ‘but they have no cause to complain, for it is so seldom you -are absent. I think you are if possible too devoted to their welfare.’ - -‘That is my opinion too, Mr Hammond,’ interrupted my employer; ‘and you -must not be surprised if for the future you do not see Miss Sinclair so -frequently at the school.’ - -‘I trust that will not be the case,’ exclaimed Rose indignantly. ‘I see -no necessity for changing my habits.’ She looked quite angry as she -spoke, and I felt sorry for Mr Aslatt, he seemed so agitated. - -Mr Hammond smiled complacently at Rose’s remark, and there was -something almost supercilious in his manner as he bade Mr Aslatt ‘Good -afternoon;’ but the bow and parting glance he bestowed upon his ward -were most deferential in their admiring homage. As we pursued our way -in silence, the expression of Rose’s face plainly shewed that she -considered herself injured. - -Mr Hammond was a good-looking young man, apparently about thirty, -though he might have been older. Good-looking though he was, his -countenance did not impress me favourably. His dark eyes had a hard -look, in spite of their fine shape and lustrous hue, and there were -faint indications of self-indulgence in the curves of his mobile mouth. -His manner was easy and suggestive of conceit; in short, his appearance -inspired me with distrust. Perhaps the want of cordiality which Mr -Aslatt’s manner betrayed, contrasting so vividly with Rose’s gracious -greeting, may have given rise to this feeling on my part. - -Rose kept up an appearance of offended dignity during dinner-time -and as long as she remained in Mr Aslatt’s presence. But as we were -strolling in the garden after dinner, she suddenly asked me what I -thought of Mr Hammond. Guessing that she had a great liking for that -individual, I was guarded in my reply to her query, merely reminding -her how impossible it was to form a just estimate of anybody in such a -brief interview. - -‘Did you notice how rudely Mr Aslatt spoke to him?’ she next inquired. - -‘I observed that he seemed impatient of the interruption,’ I replied; -‘but I do not think his words were rude.’ - -‘I believe he hates Mr Hammond,’ she said quickly. ‘You cannot -think how unjust he is to him. You know Mr Hammond is the village -schoolmaster. There was no school in the village many years ago, when -Mr Aslatt came to reside here, so he built a very nice school-house at -his own expense (I must take you to see it to-morrow), and promised -always to make up the master’s salary to a certain sum. For years I -have been accustomed to go in and out the school whenever I like; -and when I asked to be allowed to give the children a weekly singing -lesson, Mr Aslatt made no objection, indeed he seemed pleased for me -to do so. But since old Mr Green died, and Mr Hammond succeeded him, -he has changed his mind on the subject, and can’t bear me to go to the -school-house. At first he seemed to like Mr Hammond so much; but lately -he has taken a decided dislike to him; though what poor Mr Hammond -has done to call forth such a feeling, I cannot imagine. Cousin has -tried to persuade me to give up my visits to the school; but that I am -resolved not to do, and I have told him so. He also tried to get my -consent to our removing to London for the season; but I would not agree -to that. So then he could not rest till he had got a companion for me. -I made no opposition to that plan, although I did not like the idea, -for I saw he had set his mind upon it, and I could not bear to vex -him. He is so good to me, and I am not altogether ungrateful, though -I do behave so naughtily. I know you thought my conduct very bad at -dinner-time, for you looked so dreadfully grave.’ - -She glanced up at me as she spoke with such a pretty air of -deprecation, so like a petted child, that I could not find heart to -scold her. Indeed her captivating ways so fascinated me, that although -I saw much to disapprove, I was disposed to be very lenient towards her -faults. - - - - -SELLS. - - -It would puzzle a philologer to give an exact definition of the -‘sell.’ Nearly related to the hoax, it differs from it in being more -innocent in its inception and less mischievous in its consequences. -Some little ingenuity is required to concoct a happy ‘sell;’ but any -one may perpetrate a hoax who is equal to ‘lending a lie the confidence -of truth.’ The latter is a deliberately planned deception, oftenest -attaining its end by personation or forgery or something closely akin -to it; whereas a sell needs no such playing with edged tools, and may -not only be unpremeditated, but even unintentional. - -The Irishman who undertook to shew an exciseman a private still, and -introduced him to his brother, who had been twelve years in the army -and was a private still, sold the guardian of the revenue very neatly; -although it is possible the victim of the joke did not see the fun -of the thing, any more than the official of the North London Railway -Company did, when, overhearing a third-class passenger aver that any -one could travel from Broad Street to Dalston Junction without a -ticket, as he had done only the day before, he interviewed him when he -alighted. The traveller not proving communicative, the zealous railway -servant conveyed a coin into his hand, and then asked: ‘How did you -go from Broad Street to Dalston Junction yesterday without a ticket?’ -‘Oh,’ was the unwelcome reply, ‘I walked!’ - -As readily trapped was the amateur musician who responded to the -advertisement: ‘Wanted, a trombone-player for Barnum’s Balcony Band,’ -by waiting upon the famous showman without delay. - -‘You want a trombone-player?’ inquired he. - -‘Yes,’ said Mr Barnum. - -‘What is the place worth?’ asked the applicant. - -‘Oh, about twenty-five dollars a week, I suppose.’ - -‘Very well, I should like it.’ - -‘All right,’ said Mr Barnum; and the trombone did frightful execution -through the week. Saturday came, and with it Mr Green for his salary, -instead of drawing which, he received a paper on which was written: ‘Mr -Green to Mr P. T. Barnum.—To playing the trombone on his Balcony one -week, twenty-five dollars.’ The recipient smiled. - -‘It’s all right, isn’t it?’ asked Mr Barnum. - -‘Why,’ said the musician, ‘you’ve made an odd mistake: you’ve made me -the debtor instead of you.’ - -‘No mistake at all,’ said Barnum. ‘You see, this is how it is. There -are a good many gentlemen in this city fond of practising on brass -instruments; but they cannot do so at home because of their neighbours’ -objections. So I find them room on my Balcony during so many hours a -day, where the street is so noisy that it does no harm; and they give -me so much a week for my trouble in keeping the organisation complete. -You don’t think me such a fool as to pay such a wretched lot of players -surely? However, as you seem to have been honestly mistaken, you can -pay me ten dollars this week; but hereafter I can make no reduction.’ -There was a vacancy in the Balcony Band the following Monday. - -We take it that the shrewd showman was not quite so much astonished -at the way his advertisement was misconstrued, as one A. B., who, -recognising a long-lost friend in the stalls of the theatre, but -unable to catch his eye, notified in the ‘agony’ column of the -_Times_: ‘If the gentleman who was in the stalls at the —— Theatre -on the evening of the 5th inst. will write to the following address, -he will hear from the Box above;’ and received nearly a score of -replies. The first he opened, ran: ‘MY DEAR MADAM—I cannot express -to you how delighted I felt this morning on taking up the _Times_ -and reading your advertisement. How exceedingly kind and thoughtful -of you to communicate with me in this way. Pray, let me know as -quickly as possible when and where I may see you. I am burning with -impatience to speak to you. Can we meet this evening? Do send me a -note, or better still, a telegram, here, on receipt of this.—Yours -Most Affectionately.’ The second letter, commencing ‘Mia Carissima,’ -suggested a meeting at the Duke of York’s Column, and ended: ‘Good-bye, -pet. Yours ever and a day—The Gentleman in the Stalls.’ A third -deluded mortal declared he had not slept a wink after seeing A. B. -at the theatre. ‘You know Who’ informed the ‘Dearest Being,’ whose -himage he still saw before him, that his passion was much too much for -ordinary words to tell; that after wandering all his life, mixing in -revolutions, &c., he should like to stop at last, and finished somewhat -prosaically with: ‘It’s just four o’clock. All are in bed and fast -asleap. Good-night. I’m not married.’ And so on with a batch of other -aspirants, who evidently deemed the anonymous occupant of the Box -nothing short of an heiress. - -Many an unpremeditated sell has been perpetrated from inability to -resist sudden temptation. One of the judges of the Supreme Court of New -York state, visiting the Centennial Exhibition, sat down in a quiet -corner apart from the others, to listen to a great cornet-player, and -as was his wont in court, drew his gray coat about his head and ears -as a protection against possible draughts. His motionless figure soon -attracted attention; and the whisper ran that it was the statue of some -wonderful character. The judge’s sister wickedly told those near her -that they were gazing at the effigy of an Aztec priest from Mexico. The -information passed from mouth to mouth, and some hundreds of people -were drawn to the spot, to disperse somewhat sheepishly when the object -of their curiosity, having had enough of the cornet, readjusted his -coat and rose to go. - -A good story is told of one Boggs, whose impertinent curiosity -was proverbial throughout the country that owned him. He was on -one occasion travelling on the Little Miami Railroad alongside a -solemn-looking man, who persisted in looking out of window and took -no heed of Boggs’ endeavours to enliven the journey with a little -conversation. At last the brakeman or guard came round with some water, -and the unsociable traveller turned round to take a drink. Seizing the -chance, Boggs asked: ‘Going as far east as New York?’ - -‘No,’ grunted the man. - -‘Ah!’ said Boggs, ‘New York is dull this time of year; mebbee you’re -striking for Philadelphia?’ - -The surly one shook his head. - -‘P’raps Cleveland’s your destination?’ insinuated Mr Boggs. ‘No? Can’t -be going this roundabout way to Chicago?’ - -No reply was vouchsafed. - -‘Well,’ cried Boggs despairingly, ‘I s’pose you’ve no objection to -telling where you _are_ going?’ - -‘Well sir,’ exclaimed the man, ‘I’m going for seven years!’ - -Then the deputy-sheriff said he would rather not have folks talking to -his prisoners, and Boggs gave in. - -This puts us in mind of Mark Twain’s anecdote of Artemus Ward and a -travelling bore, between whom the following amusing colloquy took -place: ‘Did you hear that last thing of Horace Greeley’s?’ - -‘Greeley, Greeley, Horace Greeley; who is he?’ said Artemus. - -Five minutes elapsed, then came: ‘George Francis Train is making a good -deal of disturbance over in England; do you think they will put him in -prison?’ - -‘Train, Train, George Francis Train,’ said Artemus solemnly; ‘I never -heard of him.’ - -The tormentor tried another tack; he said: ‘What do you think about -Grant’s chance for the Presidency?’ - -‘Grant, Grant?—Why man!’ said Artemus, ‘you seem to know more strangers -than any one I ever saw.’ - -The man took a walk up the car; coming back, he said: ‘Well, you -ignoramus, did you ever hear of Adam?’ - -The humorist looked up and said: ‘Adam? What was his other name?’ - -The journey henceforth was made in peace. - -Very nicely sold were a couple of tramps who waylaid a wealthy -farmer in Louisa County, Iowa, and demanded his money or his life. -Disinclined to part with either, he took to his heels. They chased -him half a mile down the roughest of lanes, dashed after him through -a brier-hedge, and went panting across an old corn-field. Then the -chased one struck for the woods, and went wheezing up a steep hill; his -pursuers pressing closely behind with blood-shot eyes and shortened -breath. The farmer dashed across a forty-acre stubble-field, across a -frozen creek, through a blackberry patch, down a ravine, over another -hill, across a stump-field, to be run down on the road by the tramps. -They overhauled him thoroughly, searched him from top to toe, to -find he had not a solitary cent wherewith to reward them for their -perseverance. - -Our concluding example relates to an affecting romance told by the -_Detroit Free Press_. It was the second time that the hero of the story -had accompanied the young lady home from one of those little social -parties which are got up to bring fond hearts a step nearer to each -other. When they reached the gate, she asked him if he wouldn’t come -in. He said he would. Sarah took his hat, told him to sit down, and -left the room to remove her things. She was hardly gone before her -mother came in, smiled sweetly, and, dropping down beside the young -man, said: ‘I always did say that if a poor but respectable young man -fell in love with Sarah, he should have my consent. Some mothers would -sacrifice their daughters’ happiness for riches, but I am not of that -sort.’ - -The young man started with alarm; he didn’t know whether he liked Sarah -or not; he hadn’t dreamed of marriage. - -‘She has acknowledged to me that she loves you,’ continued the mother; -‘and whatever is for her happiness is for mine.’ - -The young man stammered out: ‘I—I haven’t’—— - -‘Oh, never mind! Make no apology. I know you haven’t much money, but of -course you’ll live with me. We’ll take in boarders, and I’ll be bound -that we’ll get along all right.’ - -It was a bad situation. He hadn’t even looked love at Sarah. ‘I had no -idea of’—— he began; when she held up her hands saying: ‘I know you -hadn’t; but it’s all right. With your wages and what the boarders bring -in, we shall get along as snug as possible. All I ask is that you be -good to her; Sarah has a tender heart, and if you should be cross and -ugly, it would break her down in a week.’ - -The young man’s eyes stood out like cocoa-nuts in a shop-window, and he -rose up and tried to say something. - -‘Never mind about the thanks,’ she cried; ‘I don’t believe in long -courtships. The eleventh of January is my birthday, and it would be -nice for you to be married on that day.’ - -‘But—but—but’—— he gasped. - -‘There, there! I don’t expect any speech in reply,’ she laughed. ‘You -and Sarah settle it to-night, and I’ll advertise for twelve boarders -straight away, I’ll try to be a model mother-in-law. I believe I’m -good-tempered and kind-hearted, though I did once follow a young man -two hundred miles and shoot off the top of his head for agreeing to -marry my daughter and then quitting the county.’ She patted him on the -head and sailed out. And now the young man wants advice. He wants to -know whether he had better get in the way of a locomotive or slide off -the wharf. If ever a young bachelor was ‘sold,’ Sarah’s young man was -in that predicament. - - - - -ELEPHANT GOSSIP FROM RANGOON. - - -We have much pleasure in laying before our readers the following -interesting particulars regarding the elephant, and the way in which -the physical strength of that sagacious animal is turned to account -in the timber-trade of Rangoon. The notes are contained in a letter -from a resident in that town to his brother in England, who has kindly -placed it at our disposal. After describing some phases of every-day -social life, the writer thus proceeds: ‘The elephants I go daily to -see are beauties, fine powerful well-trained animals, and strange to -say, the _mahout_ (driver) of one of them is an old servant of my own. -It is both interesting and amusing to watch them working the timber. -The government have nine elephants employed at the depôt, and there -are other animals belonging to natives at work there also. I often -take my seat on a teak-log, picking out the cleanest and softest for -the purpose, light a cheroot, and watch the performance. Elephants -are pretty much like men; I don’t mean in personal appearance, but in -character. I can pick out “characters I have met” quite easily among -the group of sixteen or eighteen all working there together sometimes. -There are willing workers, and there are skulkers; there are gentle -tempers, and there are others “as dour as a door-nail.” Some of them -will drag a log two tons in weight without a groan; while others, -equally powerful but less willing, will make a dreadful fuss over a -stick that is, comparatively speaking, nothing. - -‘There are a good many female elephants employed. Some belong to the -government; but most of them are owned by Karens, who bring them in -from the jungle when work is obtainable. They are not so powerful as -the males; and the want of tusks is rather against them, because they -have to do the pushing or “ounging” part of the work, as the natives -call it, with their trunks. These they roll up in a coil, and just at -the place where the trunk and the head unite, they press against the -log and roll it over. - -‘I saw the legs very nearly knocked from under a man two days ago -by a lively female who was rolling over a log in this way. She had -discovered by experience that it was easier to move a heavy log by -a violent jerk than by slow steady pushing; and when the man on her -neck called out “Oung!” and pushed her ear forward with his foot—the -equivalents in elephant-driving for “Go along, old lady!”—she stood -for a moment motionless, then in an instant up coiled the trunk, down -went the head, and away rolled the log, one end of it coming round with -a sweep which all but made an “Aunt Sally” of the innocent spectator. -He sprang from the ground as if he had received an electric shock, -and saved himself; after which he received the congratulations of the -by-standers for being an ass to stand in the way of an elephant like -that. - -‘I think the females do a little flirting sometimes when they see a -handsome stately _tusker_ working near them. A little one came in -from the jungle the other day, and was working away with admirable -diligence near the place where my largest elephant was engaged -dragging logs. He is really a noble-looking animal, with immense -tusks that almost touch the ground when his head is in repose. There -is a dignified air about all his movements too which must be very -captivating with the other sex. Sometimes the two passed very near -each other, and I noticed when this happened that the little lady from -the jungle gave utterance to certain peculiar sounds. The only good -imitation of them which I can think of at the moment is that strange -medley of incoherences which a cornopean is sometimes made to produce -when beginners get up steam. Such sounds, for instance, as I have -heard proceeding from the house of a neighbour of yours, when I have -been enjoying a pipe in the garden on a summer afternoon. At first I -thought they were the promptings of fear; but an elephant under these -circumstances generally becomes impatient with the driver, thumps -its trunk upon the ground and “trumpets.” It was simply a little -flirtation, a tender long-drawn-out elephantine kiss thrown at my noble -friend. - -‘The highly trained male elephants with tusks manage the “ounging” part -of their work very skilfully. The trunk is used as a pad or buffer -between the ivory and the wood, and the pushing is done steadily. An -average log weighs about a ton and a half. When it has to be pushed -into the river, the elephant feels the end of it with his trunk, and -having ascertained where he can place his tusks with most advantage, -he adjusts the buffer, and starts off pushing the log steadily before -him. Should it happen to be an extra-heavy one, he stops occasionally -to take breath; and as it slides down the muddy bank towards the water, -he gives it a finishing slap, as if to say: “There, you’re afloat at -last!” Sometimes the logs are awkwardly jammed up together, so that the -ends have to be raised in order to get the dragging-chains fastened. -This he does by putting his tusks underneath; and passing his trunk -over the log to keep it steady, lifts it up to the required height. -When it is a very heavy lift, he will go down on his knees to get a -better purchase. He stacks the timber most skilfully also by lifting -the end of the log as much as nine or ten feet in this manner, places -it on the top of the pile, then goes to the other end and pushes it -forward till he gets it quite flush with the rest. In all this he is of -course directed by his rider the _mahout_, who uses certain words which -the elephant has been accustomed to hear; and signs, the meaning of -which he knows perfectly. A push of the foot behind the right or left -ear makes him answer the driver’s wish as a boat answers the rudder, -and a nudge behind the neck means “Straight ahead.” - -‘A highly trained elephant, however, will work among timber by _verbal_ -directions as intelligently almost as a collie will among sheep. -The finest and best-trained animals are reserved for employment in -the saw-mills, where they work amongst the machinery with sagacity -and precision. Strangers have sometimes been so much impressed with -their admirable qualities in this respect that they have carried away -slightly exaggerated impressions on the subject. One case I remember in -which a spectator was so profoundly overcome by the careful manner in -which he saw the elephant laying planks and slabs on the travelling -benches to be cut, that he gravely reported the circumstance in an -Indian newspaper, remarking that the animal shut one eye when it looked -along the bench, to make sure the timber was laid on for the saw -accurately! - -‘Some male elephants have no tusks. These are called _hines_ by the -Burmese. The most powerful animal I ever had was one of them. He -was very tall, and in strength a perfect Samson among elephants. An -incident in his history is worth relating here, as I am on the subject. -In the month of January male elephants sometimes give trouble. Samson -had fallen into a capricious mood, under the influence of a little -siren belonging to the herd, and in a fit of jealousy he frightened -all the others so thoroughly one night that they broke their fetters -and made a bolt of it out of the timber-yard, with Samson in pursuit. -One unfortunate member who was on the sick-list at the time and had an -impediment in his walk, was bowled over and trampled on several times, -and was never fit for anything but the hospital afterwards. The others -took to the jungle, and it cost some money to recover them. Samson -remained in possession of the timber-yard for three whole days, no -living thing daring to venture near him. - -‘I have watched a fowl that had thoughtlessly gone to scrape for its -morning meal on the accustomed spot in the rear of the elephant-shed, -run for its bare life, with Samson after it at full speed, trunk and -tail extended! Crowds of people used to collect daily, most of them at -a highly respectful distance however, to witness the giant keeping the -world at bay. Sometimes an adventurous native, out of pure mischief -would approach within thirty yards or so of him spear in hand, when -Samson would thump his trunk upon the ground and rush at the intruder, -who soon disappeared under the nearest verandah. The poor animal was -helpless against such tactics. They were to him what the deprivation of -sight was to his prototype; but the desire for revenge was there still, -and he tried his strength upon the posts of the building, attempting -to push them down. When he had failed in this, he deliberately set -about unroofing it with his trunk; whereupon the tormentor pricked his -legs from underneath the house with his spear, and made him desist. -After carrying on this game till he got tired, he walked off with his -companion one night to the jungle, and selected a spot for his future -residence close to a mud-pool. - -‘For some days he made raids upon the adjoining gardens, eating up the -fruit-trees without compunction; and in revenge for some opposition -he met with from a market-gardener who did not appreciate his new -neighbour’s high-handed way of doing things, levelled his hut to the -ground. Things were beginning to get serious. Claims for damages became -unpleasantly frequent, and it was absolutely necessary to put a stop -to his depredations. Accordingly, I sent out a deputation of elephants -to wait upon him, with picked men as drivers and attendants, for the -purpose of bringing him to reason. There were ten elephants altogether, -the senior member being a very patriarchal-looking animal with an -immense pair of tusks—the one, in fact, who was always employed to -settle difficulties among the juniors; and in this capacity he had been -uniformly successful. When the deputation arrived at the spot, Samson -was enjoying his morning bath in the mud, and they surrounded him. The -patriarch, with the chief _mahout_ driving, and another good man and -true behind him, for the purpose of supplying any lack of moral courage -that might manifest itself under trying circumstances, was taken -nearest to the renegade. His sweetheart was quietly browsing among the -bamboos close by. The moment Samson realised the situation, he made a -rush from the bath at the patriarch, who forgetting his wonted dignity -of manner, turned tail and bolted. The hook and the spear with which -the drivers were armed alike failed to restore courage to the leader. -On he went, tearing through the jungle, the branches of trees and -thorny creepers making sad havoc with the persons of the men on his -back. His bad example demoralised the whole force; they fled for their -lives every one of them. At last it came to be a race between Samson -and the patriarch, the other elephants having made lateral tracks for -themselves and got clear of danger. When it came to close quarters -between the two, the _mahout_ thinking discretion the better part of -valour, laid hold of the branch of a tree as he passed and held on, -leaving the other man to his fate. In a very short time he too was -unseated, but in an involuntary manner; the elephant shot under the -branch of a tree which did not afford space for the man to pass under -as well, and he was swept to the ground. He was able, however, to elude -the pursuer, who was so eager to get at the four-footed fugitive that -he took no notice of the fallen rider as he crawled along into the -thick jungle. - -‘Fortunately no life was lost in this most exciting adventure. Even -the patriarch got off scot-free. When tired of the pursuit, Samson -returned to his rural retreat. The deputation got home in the evening, -more frightened than hurt. I administered chlorodyne with much success -to those whose bruises and lacerations bespoke a sleepless night; and -it has since been regarded as a specific for patients suffering from -cutaneous diseases and nervous excitement. - -‘But I have not done with Samson yet. He was a valuable elephant, and -I was most anxious to recover him. I offered a reward of two hundred -rupees (twenty pounds) to any one who would bring him in; and a few -days afterwards he came marching into the timber-yard as gentle as a -lamb, with a young lad astride on his neck. This youth was the son of -the man from whom I had purchased him, and the boy had been familiar -with the animal from his childhood. Hearing of the reward that was -offered for the apprehension of his old pet, he set off in quest of -him. When he found him, he made use of the terms with which Samson had -formerly been familiar. There was no longer any difficulty. The youth -took him by the ear, told him to give him a leg up—the usual way for -_mahouts_ to mount their steeds—and immediately Samson was himself -again. Next day he was on duty, looking as if nothing had happened, -and his little friend was the possessor of a reward which to him was a -small fortune. Such is the affinity between God’s creatures which the -law of kindness establishes. The little fellow had really more power in -the tones of his voice over the huge animal than a phalanx of its own -species under the direction of a score of men! - -‘There are elephants that have naturally one tusk only. These are -called _tays_ by the natives here. When the single tusk happens to be -on the right side of the head, literally as well as metaphorically, -and the animal otherwise is large and well proportioned, he is greatly -prized by the native princes of India. They seem to regard him with -veneration, as the Burmese do the so-called white elephant. There is -one of these _tays_ at the depôt at present. He is the largest and most -powerful animal in the government herd; but age is telling upon him, -and now he is chiefly occupied in doing “the heavy-father” amongst the -youngsters. When they have tried their best and given up in despair -some log which none of them can drag, the _tay_ is brought to the -front, his chain is fastened to it, and as he walks off, apparently -without inconvenience to himself, be it ever so heavy, his eye really -seems to have “Bless you, my children!” &c. in it. I have watched -him often, and I think my interpretation of his feelings is pretty -nearly correct. I was told by the superintendent of the depôt that -native princes had sent messengers from India to try and purchase this -elephant for state purposes, offering as much as five thousand rupees -for him; but he has a value where he is which does not consist in a -superstitious veneration for his single tusk, but in the virtue which -lies in a friend in need.’ - - - - -TO A LITTLE CHILD, - -Who, soon after going to his first school, wrote home to his mother: ‘I -am afraid I am spoiling your photograph by dropping my tears on it. I -take it to bed with me every night.’ - - - Couched within thy little nest, - Now the lessons all are done, - Clasp her Picture to thy breast, - Fondly clasp thy dearest one. - - Freely let the tear-drops flow, - Tears of love, like showers of Spring; - In thy heart Love’s flowers shall grow, - And shall sweetest comfort bring. - - Fear not, if _those_ features fade, - If thy tears _their_ form shall dim; - Prayers ascend, while thou art laid - Murmuring soft thy Evening Hymn. - - _Living_ lips, no _artist_ made, - Nor the _sun-ray’s_ magic might, - In thy Mother’s home have prayed - To thy God for thee to-night. - - Angels fly from her to thee; - Thee and her good Angels tend; - So your Father bids, and He - Will your dear ones all defend. - - Press her Picture to thy heart; - Smile upon it through thy tears; - Never let that love depart - Through the changing, coming years. - - Sacred is the Mother’s love, - Dear to God the loving son; - Thou shalt be with her above, - When the work of life is done. - - T. S. P. - - ST BARTHOLOMEW’S HOSPITAL, - _Feb. 17, 1878._ - - * * * * * - -Printed and Published by W. & R. 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