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ON ASCERTAINING THE PRICES OF GRAIN, AND STRIKING THE FIARS. PAUL T ALTHOUGH the laws regarding the importation and exportation of grain have been a very frequent subject of discussion in Britain for upwards of two centuries, and their regulations have been founded, in a great measure, on the prices of grain in this country, the means for ascertaining these prices are still very im perfect. If we compare the average prices, as set down in docuinents, which are generally appealed to as authoritative, we find discrepancies which we cannot reconcile; and as there are no means of ascertaining from what causes they arise, our reliance on such documents is necessarily much shaken. The accounts of the prices of middling wheat in Windsor market, as ascertained by the audit books of Eton College, are generally referred to by historians, political economists, and writers on statistics. 'I hey have been kept regularly since the year 1646, and they form the record most to be relied on, for the prices of wheat for the latter half of the 16th, and the whole of the 17th century. But if we compare this account with the return of prices laid before Parliament in 1814, by the receiver of corn returns, we will observe very great discrepancies, as will appear from the following list:

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Price at Windsor. By Return. L.2 13 0 L.2 2 11 27:10

1800 692 MINDIG WAY P6709 1805 1 901 ENÇA

1809

1811

56 0 5 8:0

5 13 7 4 8 0 4 15 7 4 14 6

In comparing the prices of English and Scotch grain, we also find much greater differences than we could previously expect. It was proved, by the evidence of Mr. Turnbull, one of the witnesses examined before the committee of the House of Cominons on agriculture in the year 1814, that good Scotch wheat sold in general as high as the average price of English wheat. Thus the average price of the wheat produced on his farm, near Dunbar, for crops 1805, 1812, was 94s., while the average of English wheat for that period was 928. 7d. Yet, in the return of the average prices of Scotch wheat laid before Parliament, we find the price for 1792, 39s. 4d., for 1800, 91s. 2d., for 1805, 53s. 7d., for 1809, 73s. 7d., for 1811, 788. 10d. In 1814 the price of English wheat is set down at 74., while that of Scotch is 96s. 2d. The variations in the price of other kinds of grain are, perhaps, still more remarkable, as will appear from the following table of the price of English average. Scotch average. L.1 7 1 1 13 10 1 12 1 1.4

oats:

--1808 : 1809

1810

1812

1814

1817

L. 18 8 1 12 8

1 9 4

2 4 0

1 6 6

1 12 1

6

1 17 9 I 3 8

The prices of barley, pease, &c., vary in the same manner. What we have chiefly in view at present is, to direct the attention of our readers to the anomalies in the fiar prices of grain for Scotland. The purpose of striking the fiars, originally was, in order to ascertain the amount in money of the rents and feu-duties due to the crown, many of which are pay able in grain. Formerly they were struck by the Lords of the Exchequer, from the information received from the sheriffs of the different counties. But about the beginning of the 17th century, the duty was devolved, at least in some of the counties, upon the sheriffs themselves. The sheriff fiars for the county of Haddington are extant since the year 1627, and of the county of Edinburgh from 1640. To regulate the manner of striking the fiars, the Court of Session passed an act of sederunt, on the 21st December, 1723. This act provides that the sheriffs shall, between the 4th and 20th February, yearly, summon before them a competent number of persons who have knowledge and experience of the trade of victual in their bounds, and from these persons they are ordered to choose fifteen, of whom not fewer than eight shall be heritors, as a jury to fix the prices of grain of the preceding crop. Proper witnesses are also to be summoned to give evidence as to the prices of grain, more especially since 1st Nov. preceding, and any person in Court, though not summoned, may offer information to the jury. The jury prepare a verdict setting forth the prices, and the sheriff must, before the 1st March, pronounce his sentence according to the verdict. In this manner the fiar prices for each crop are appointed to be struck. The practice also of ascertaining the prices of the different qualities of grain was ordered to be continued, and to be introduced into the counties where it had not previously been observed. These regulations, seem well adapted to attain the object in view. But it may well be doubted how far the Court of Session had the power

to enact them. In many counties dittle or no attention was paid to the act, and although one or two attempts have been made to set aside the fiars of particular counties, on the ground that they were erroneously struck, these attempts have been un successful. If, & 900 E Granto a ad lliw grads dem!* The object of fixing three fiar prices of each kind of grain, is to distinguish the prices of the different qualities. But the method practised is obviously very rude. To proceed with any degree of accuracy, the quality of the grain should be ascertained before any inquiry is made about the price hit instead of proceeding in this way, no inquiry whatever is de about the quality, which is inferred solely from the price Now, were the prices of grain for each crop perfectly steady, there would be no great objection to this practice; but as the markets are continually fluctuating, it may, and indeed must happen. that the prices of the first quality of grain are taken into com putation to fix the second or third fiars, and the price of the worst quality to fix the second or first. Suppose, for instance, as happened last year, that the price falls from Octobenuatil the time of striking the fiars, that the second fiars are fixed at 60s. for wheat, and that the prices at the beginning of the seas were 66s., 64s., and 62s. for the three qualities, then the third quality of grain is taken into computation in fixing the price of the first quality, because it is sold above 60% If, on the other hand, the price of grain rises between September and Math then the prices of the first quality of grain are taken into cun putation in fixing the fiars of the third quality. Where prices vary much between harvest and the striking of the fiars, it is evident that the mode of proceeding at Haddington makes the first and third fiars utterly fictitious. It would be tedious to examine the mode of proceeding in striking the fiars in other counties; but we may merely point out the discrepancies that exist among the different returns for the same year, which can only arise from different modes of proceeding. Thus it would naturally be expected that the fiare of the county of Edinburgh would be higher than those of other counties, from the great consumption of grain which takes place in the capital; aut in point of fact, the prices there are generally higher than in Had dington, by one or two shillings a-quarter, on account of the expense of carriage. The East Lothian farmers therefore sell a great part of their crops in Edinburgh, merely on account of the higher price, notwithstanding the distance they must bring their grain. Yet the Edinburgh fars for the best grain are generally lower than those of East Lothian for the second Thus for the years 1827, 1828, 1829, and 1930, the price of the best wheat in the county of Edinburgh, as ascertained by the fiars, is 48s. 8d., 76s., 528. 7d. In the county of Haddington, the second fars for these years were 48s. bld., 70% 6dg bồ 59s. 11d., and the first fiars 4s. or be above theses prices Wheat of as good quality in ordinary years is produced in File as in East Lothian, yet a rental of 500 quarters of wheat in the former county, for the three crops 1828-1830, would have pro duced L.650 less than an equal rental in the latter county.com verting the wheat into money at the highest fars of each county. This is a difference of 15 per cent. In some counties only ens fiar price for each kind of grain is struck, in others there are two, in others three. In some, the different species of grain are distinguished as white and red wheat, Angus and potato sts. In the county of Caithness, four species of oats are distinguished. In others the species of the grain is disregarded, but the place where it grows makes a distinction. Thus i Berwickshire we have the Merse grain distinguished from Lammermuir; in Stirlingshire and Clackmananshire we have Kerse inrley, Dry field barley, and Muir barley; sin Aberdeenshire and kineat dineshire the only distinction is, with or without fodder." A a farther source of confusion, the fiars in some of the counties are set down in Imperial bushels; in others in Imperial quat ters; in Berwickshire, again, the quantity is four duperial bushels. In Orkney, the Sheriff makes his return by the Not wegian meil and the malt pundlar, weights which, for the benefit of the denizens of the south, he explains, contain respet tively 177 lb. 12 oz. and 116 lb. 7 oz. We presume the remoteness of the worthy sheriff's jurisdiction has prevented him from learning that some seven years ago an act was passed by the British Parliament, introducing a new measure, and that it is part of his duty to enforce the provisions of that act, and not to give an example of its violation in his own proceedings

We believe that we have said enough to convince every pe that the mode of striking the fiars calls loudly for alteration but if farther evidence is required, it will only be necessary to refer to the fiar prices of grain for different counties, for the same year, and it will be found that a difference of 10 or 12 per cent in the prices of the same kind and quality of grain is by am means uncommon. Now, this is a serious consideration to many individuals. The whole stipends of the parochial clergy

are now anodified in grain; and as these stipends are converted, in terms of the 48 Geo. III. chap. 188, at the highest fiars of the county where the parish is situated, it will be found, upon calculation, that ofętwo clergymen having the same stipend in victual, there will be a difference in some instances of 20 per cent. A clergyman is on this account obviously in a much better condition when there are three fiars struck in his county than when there is only one. It is very usual also, to stipulate for dentsoin grain, the conversion into money taking place at the Highest fiars. This is now become a common practice in East Lothian, and in many other districts. Now, an East Lothian farmer, who pays in this manner, will find that by the made of striking the fars in that county he pays nearly 10 per cent of rent more than he ought to do, and for twenty years' possession of his farm, the will pay twenty-two years' rent. The difference between a rent paid by the fiars in East Lothian and Fife is still greater.

In order to put an end to the confusion and injustice which exist, one uniform systein should be adopted for the whole of Scotland. Why should a clergyman in one county receive onefifth dess stipend than his neighbour in the adjoining county, when it was intended by awarding both the same quantity of victual, to put them on an equal footing? The clergy should be paid as nearly as possible alike where their duties ared equal. One this account, as well as for several other reasons, a general average for the whole of Scotland, of the prices of grain, should be annually ascertained and published. By this general average the clergy ought to be paid. It is also expedient to ascertain the average price of the different species, varieties, and qualities of grain; but the present mode is highly objectionable. There appears to be only one mode of proving such prices accurately. This is to distinguish the different species and permanent varieties of grain, as red and white wheat, barley and beer, or bigg, Angus and black oats, and making an average for each species and variety and further, to distinguish the quality of the grain by the weight. It is well known that the great test of the value of grain is its specific gravity, the part which yields the flour or meal being: much heavier in an equal bulk than the husk orekin. Thus, wheat of a particular species, which weighs 64 iba perbushel, is worth several shillings a-quarter more than wheat of the same species which weighs only 60 lbs. per bushel. Unless the weight is given it is imposible to ascertain, without samples, the value of grain of different years, or even of different counties, or, what is generally of more importance, the prices of grain in England and Scotland. Of what value, for instance, is the information that wheat sold in Mark Lane from 50s. to 70s. a-quarter, or how can a corn merchant send grain there with safety, unless he knows what is the current price of the quality of grain he has on hand 2 //The mere quantity, by measurement, of grain is so little relied on, as the means of ascertaining the value, that it is now the practice in Glasgow, as well as in Ireland, and in many districts of England, to sell not by the measure, but by the weight; and undoubtedly weight is, in this instance, a much better criterion of value than measure. But both combined form the only true mode of fixing the value; for a quarter of wheat which weighs 496 lbs, is much more valuable than a larger measure of wheat of the same species, which is precisely the same weight. The introduction of the practice of purchasing grain by weight, however, is leading to much confusion, and which will soon put an end to all the benefit expected from the equalization of weights and measures, for in each town different weights of grain are selling as equivalent to am imperial quarter. This is shown by the following table:Wheat. Qats. 496 lb. 812 lb.

grain, for the last two centuries, it would have been most valuable in shewing the effect of improvements in agriculture, in ameliorating the quality of grain, and it would have enabled us to judge much more accurately, than we can do at present, of the prices at different periods. In a very bad year we would have no grain of the first quality, in a very good year little or none of the third. We would thus see, at a single glance of the table of average prices, the nature of the seasons, in as far as grain was concerned. doidwe

The grain consumed in Great Britain and Ireland exceeds, in value, one hundred millions annually. In 1818, we paid more than ten millions to foreigners for grain, and the suns paid duce ing the last year probably exceed seven millions. It is surely of some consequence to ascertain, with some degree of accuracy, the price of a commodity, on which we expend a fourth or a fifth of the value of the total annual produce of the country. It is justly considered an object of importance to observe and register, in every part of the country, the daily and annual fall. of rain, even to the hundredth part of an inch. The oscillations of the barometer have been ascertained, for every day, for a century, and they have even been observed for every hour for a whole twelvemonth. The daily, monthly, and yearly temper ature of many parts of the country is known with the utmost accuracy, and the information is carefully recorded, and quickly published. These observations have properly engaged the attention of learned societies, and of ingenious individuals; and it would be disgraceful not to be acquainted with the physical condition of our country. But is it not shameful, that no attempt has been made to ascertain the prices of grain with precision? It is an object surely as important, even in a scientific point of view, as the measuring the quantity of rain, the observing of the oscillations of the barometer, or the recording of the variations of the thermometer, for it is of the greatest consequence to the sciences of political economy and agriculture. Besides, until the average prices of grain are more accurately fixed, the merchant must carry on his speculations, in a great measure, in the dark; the landed proprietors, the clergy, and the tenantry, must be continually exposed to injustice in their payments and receipts, and the duties on grain, which often virtually prohibit its importation, cannot be properly lascertained,

"There

These

THE GOOD OLD TIMES-The celebrated patriot, Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, draws the following picture of Scotland in the year 1698 from which it would appear that it was not without reason that King James composed a ballad on the Gaberlunzie Man," for the beggars were anciently a very formidable race. are at this day in Scotland," says Fletcher, (besides a great many poor families very meanly provided for by the Church boxes, with others, who by living upon bad food fall into various diseases) two hundred thousand people begging from door to door. And though the number of them be double to what it was formerly, by reason of this great distress, yet in all times there have been about one hundred thousand of those vagabonds, who have lived without any regard or subjection either to the laws of the land, or even those of God and nature." free-and-easy denizens of the soil appear to have occasionally held a sort of wild saturnalia: In years of plenty, a continues our author, many thousands of them meet together in the mountains, where they feast and riot for many days; and at country weddings, markets, and burials, and at other the like public occasions, they are to be seen, both men and women, perpetually drunk, cursing, blaspheming, and fighting together," As a remedy to this great mischief, Fletcher proposes, "that every man of a certain estate in the nation should be obliged to take a proportionabl number of those vagabonds, and either employ them in hedging and ditching his grounds, or any other sort of work in town or country." And for example and terror of these formidable "vagabonds," he gravely adds Three or four hundred of the most notorious of those villains which we call Jockeys might be presented by the government to the state of Venice, to serve in their gallies against the commom enemy of Christendom." This was certainly a radical reform. On perusing the above extracts, it is impossible not to be struck with the contrast which our happy country now presents-her population virtuous and industrious, excelling in all the arts, and her remotest wilds penetrated by that civilization and commerce which have ever been If we had a hat of the weights, as well as of the prices of the parents of freedom, peace, and plenty.

19560

480

360

528

Barley,
per measure,
490
640

560 (per atone of 14 lbs. ) - 4-48
480
ditto

504

Birmingham
Manchestert
Glasgow vdon
Malton
Wakefield
These weights are reckoned a quarter in the different towns,
(Westminster Review, No. 81, p. 70.). If this system is ellow-
ed to become general, it will be impossible for any one to say,
without a minute calculation, for which he may not always
have the data, what is the price of grain in a different part of
the country. It humbly appears to us, that all grain should be
sold by the imperial quarter, that the species and permanent
varieties should be distinguished, and two or three qualities of
each species distinguished by the weight. We suggest the fol-
lowing scale for the ordinary white wheat;

First quality, per imperial busbel, 63 lbs. and upwards.
Second quality, per ditto, between 60 and 63 lbs.

Third quality, per ditto, 60 lbs., and under.

14

A LATE SWISS ADVENTURE.
(For the Schoolmaster.)

My friend pointed out the scene of an adventure of one of his friends, which had nearly proved fatal to him. The Swiss are essentially mountain climbers; armed with a long pole, they dart off wherever the thought strikes them, to climb some point which they perceive, fifty miles off, towering into the third heavens. Of these, Mr. Hutzler is one of the most adventurous. A few years ago he started from Zurich to climb the Titles, and resolved to take the nearest way to it, crossing the Lake of Lucerne, and going over the mountains of Unterwalden in a direction never before attempted. He had a friend with him; and on getting to Unterwalden, he engaged two guides, who engaged to conduct them to the top of the mountain opposite the Titles; but when they got there, they found that there was a precipice of nearly 2000 feet to descend before the foot of their object could be obtained. One of the guides refused to go on. The other, a young man of great strength and desperate courage, made the attempt to descend, and returned to say that he thought he could get down; but if they wished to follow him, they must have good heads. After a consultation of some time, they determined all four to make the attempt. The young man followed, led by his dog, an animal which was renowned for its skill in descending and mounting the most difficult passes, and by the other guide and the amateurs. When he had got 500 feet down, the first guide stopped, as did they all; for they had been labouring with the most painful exertions to descend from one ledge of rock, a few inches wide, to another, until now nothing appeared below but one enormous precipice, nearly perpendicular, of 1500 feet. After a short pause, and seeing the impossibility of retracing their steps, they braced | their failing courage, and addressed themselves anew to the task. Their young guide appeared more like a chamois than a man-hangher occasionally by the fingers, and supporting himself on points of rock not half the breadth of his shoe; and he shortly left his friends greatly behind. They heard the dog occasionally whining, as if in distress; but still they toiled on, until they got about half way down, when they heard a rustling noise, joined to the groans of the poor dog, who had lost his footing, and was now scrambling to regain it; but in vain-down, down he went, struggling hard for life, while they eyed him in mute despair. At length, a long-continued howl told them he had cleared the rock, and was descending through the air; they watched his long descent, until the hollow sound of a body falling at an immense distance below, told them all was

over.

When they turned their eyes on each other, they saw despair and death in each pale countenance; and for a moment hope forsook them. They had a thousand feet of precipice below them, and an equal distance above; their strength and courage were exhausted, and they appeared to give up all hope of life. The young guide was the first to recover; he groaned for the loss of his faithful dog, and set off down the rocks with a speed and desperation which set death and peril at defiance. They looked on, expecting every moment to see him follow the course of his faithful friend; but, to their astonishment, they saw him in a short time seated beside the poor animal on the slope below. This renewed hope within them; and again they started; and, after incredible dangers and difficulties, they all got safely down, and returned thanks to God for their escape. An old guide came up from the other side, and bitterly reproached the young one for his temerity, accusing him of treachery and murder, as no one who regarded the life of himself, or others, would attempt such a precipice. The

young one listened in gloomy silence, took up the dead dog, tied him across his shoulders, and, as if in mockery of the old one, took his way up the very path he had descended; and they saw him reach the top in safety.

THE SWISS GIRL.

How blest The Helvetian girl, who daily braves, In her light skiff, the tossing waves, And quits the bosom of the deep Only to climb the rugged steep! Say whence that modulated shout? From wood-nymph of Diana's throng? Or does the greeting to a rout Of giddy Bacchanals belong? Jubliant outcry!-rock and glade Resounded-but the voice obey'd The voice of an Helvetian maid. Her beauty dazzles the thick wood; Her courage animates the flood; Her step the elastic greensward meets, Returning unreluctant sweets; The mountains (as ye heard) rejoice Aloud, saluted by her voice! Blythe Paragon of Alpine grace, Be as thou art; for through thy veins The blood of heroes runs its race!

WORDSWORTH.

THE BOAR SONG.
Bring me the hunter's goblet deep;

It holds a flask and more:-
But a single quaff shall drain it off,
To pledge the mighty Boar!
For to-morrow's field this cup of the Rhine
Thy prowess shall restore:

Oh! never should less than a flask be thine,
To pledge the mighty Boar!
(Chorus.)—A flask of wine from the sunny Rhine,
To pledge the mighty Boar!

We have not chased the coward fox,
Nor slain the feeble hare:-

A noble prey was our's to-day,

When the wild swine left his lair.
He fell not by rifle, he fell not by hound,

Nor by six-foot spear he fell :

'Twas the hunter's glaive that dealt his wound;
Be the hunter's song his knell!

(Chorus.)-His pledge be the wine of the sunny Rhine,
And the hunter's song his knell!
Peril is on the antlered brow,
While lowered for the fray:

And steady the hand that guides the brand,
When it strikes the stag at bay.
And the villain wolf has a sharp white fang,
When he turns on the woodman's edge;
But we honour not his dying pang,
Nor give him the goblet's pledge.
(Chorus.)-No flask of wine from the sunny Rhine,
To wolf or stag we pledge!

(Chorus.)

Nor stalwart arm, nor stedfast heart,
Are ever needed more

Than when hunters kneel, with levelled steel,
To receive the rushing Boar.

'Tis thus the serf should crook the knee

Across his Tyrant's path;

Bending his brow in mockery,

Then fill the wine from the sunny Rhine,
And pointing his sword in wrath.
To pledge the freeman's wrath!
Speed now! The hunter's feast array!
Bring on the vanquished Boar !
With vine leaves spread his grisly head,
The king of the chase before!

To him-he slew the fierce wild swine-
One princely cup we pour;
And a second from the sunny Rhine,
(Chorus.)-A flask of wine from the sunny Rhine,
We pledge to that mighty Boar!
We pledge to that mighty Boar!
Tait's Magazine.

THE STORY-TELLER.

THE TWO SCOTCH WILLIAMS.*

BY MRS. JOHNSTONE.

SOME evenings passed, in which the Stories told around The Round Table were more profitable than generally attractive to part of the juvenile audience. They were stories from Ancient Indian and Egyptian History-of pyramids and pagodas, and of times and people, whose customs, and whose very existence as nations, is long since past, and almost forgotten; and when the ballot fell on the Scottish Boy, Norman Gordon, there was general satisfaction; for they anticipated a Tale of "The North Countrie," a wild legend of ghost, or fay, of Lowland faith and courage, or of Highland chivalry and clanship. The young Scot earnestly whispered Mrs. Herbert, whose gentle manners and maternal kindness had inspired him with confidence, which surmounted his natural and national bashfulness. Her smiles and whispers of approbation, gave him courage to proceed, which he did unceremoniously as follows:

"To be sure, Miss Sophy, I could tell of ghosts and kelpies, and the Linn of Dee, and a hundred places; but I won't. My story shall be of MEN, and if you shouldn't like it, it does not take long a-telling; or rather I shall read it, like the lazy preachers in my country, who fancy it better to read than make the prose halt. My tale was written out for me by my first tutoress, my Aunt Mary, who was as good an aunt as your aunt Gibbons, Miss Fanny; though instead of Westminister she lived in Old Aberdeen."

a friend of the schoolmaster's, in the city of Glasgow, his whole kindred made a push to raise the supplies necessary to make "Willie a doctor." One aunt gave a pair of homeknit hose perhaps; and a grand-dame a coarse linen shirt or two, with a better one for Sundays; for every granddame and matron had, in those simple days, her household stores of linen. The old shoes clouted for common wear, a new pair in the chest, four days of the parish tailor, who, with his apprentice, worked in all the cottages and farm houses at sixpence a-day, completed the equipment of our hero; the tailor displaying some extra flourishes on the rude staple of William's blue coat, as his handywork might haply be seen in so magnificent a place as the Candleriggs of Glasgow. His entire equipment cost the family L.1, 8s. ; but it is not every day a son is launched into life, and they were determined to do it respectably. And now the rainy November morning was come when William, mounted behind his father, set out for the capital of the West, boys and girls shouting good wishes after him from the schoolhouse green, and maids and matrons bestowing solemn blessings on "blithe Willie" as he rode past.

Behold him now established with the identical widow, who, twelve years before, had entertained the schoolmaster, when he attended the University, at a pension of four shillings per week; but Willie, as a boy, was received at a more reasonable rate. His board was two shillings and sixpence, of which his master was to pay one-half. mother's share was to be paid in rural produce, for though neither butter nor meat were very plentiful in the Upper Ward, money was still more scarce. William's heart had never sunk, till next morning that his father, having first

His

The boy was told that no apology was necessary for the sin of reading; and he produced his little MS. book, pre-shared his porridge and butter-milk, returned thanks after facing his lecture by these words:" Ladies and Gentlemen of The ROUND TABLE, you are to know that my poor country, Old Scotland, still not wealthy, was, in the higher and inland districts, about the beginning of the last century, very poor indeed. Any one of you would have laughed to see the miserable, black, long cottages, in which those who called themselves, thought themselves, felt themselves gentlemen, lived at that time :—and now I read."

their meal, in what appeared an earnest prayer for the preservation of his boy amid the snares and temptations of life, and for a blessing upon him.

In one of the most sterile, moorland parishes, a region of heather and moss, in the Upper Ward of Clydesdale, lived an honest, poor couple, who, among several children, had a son, named William, a lively, intelligent, and active boy, whom his mother loved, and the neighbours liked. When William had been at school for about five years, though occasionally away at herding, at peats, or harvest work, his parents, having other children to educate, began to grudge the expenses of William's learning, for what with one branch and another, he cost them nearly two shillings a quarter. It was fortunate that the schoolmaster's conscience compelled him, about this time, to declare, that he could do no more for William. He was Dux of the school, read Horace well, and Homer tolerably, and his penmanship was a marvel in the Upper Ward,-which, however, was not saying much. It would be a shame, and 3 sin, to consign such bright parts and high classical attainments to the plough-tail. William's parents were very willing to believe this; and as an opportunity offered to place him as an apprentice with a small surgeon apothecary,

NIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE. Second Series. Just Published: LOUTER AND BOYD, Edinburgh; and SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL;

"And mind ye, Willie, to be eident and diligent in your calling; do your master's biddin'; and aboon a' mind that ye have a higher Master, whose will we maun a' strive to fulfil, if we would do weel either here or hereafter. And now, my bairn, mind that if ye do not do weel, there's ane at hame, owre yonder, already thinkin' lang to hear o' ye, whose very heart ye'll break. But, why forsee ill ?-to the Lord's keeping I commend ye, and part in peace.”

Our William would have said something to comfort and re-assure his father; but excellent and ready as was the natural address of the bright and intelligent boy, he could

not at this time articulate one word.

Five years, five busy, short, bright years, passed over young William, every hour improved, and employed either in the study and practice of surgery and pharmacy, in attending his master's shop and patients, or in some way for warding his general education. The cadger from his parish, who weekly visited the Tron-now termed the Bazaar I believe to dispose of his gathered load of eggs and butter, was the general medium of intercourse between William and his family, and the bearer of his mended hose and clean linen, and of those little gifts with which the country matron propitiated the widow who was in place of a mother to her boy. Even one year's residence in a city, which, though an emporium of trade, is also the seat of a University, made a great change on William. When he visited the Upper Ward in the third year of his apprenticeship, his friends had some reason to be proud of

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over the hills and holts of Lanarkshire, and be fitter than Eclipse himself for traversing those wide-spread regionu where a good share of William's practice day for here mines were now opening, and population gathering. »! At Hamilton Fair, as William wished to see some friend in that neighbourhood, the purchase was completed, and 4 think the beast cost the young doctor L.3, 15siya rather smart price in those days; but there was a bridle to boot, and, borrowing a saddle, William, on his return, cantered over Bothwell Brig on his own horse, with no mean intis. faction. The minister of a parish, about seven miles off, had also been attending Hamilton Fair on some business and was now jogging on before Williamɑne those days mounted travellers were not so numerous in Lanarkshireas to make introduction a difficult matter; and, besides, Mr. Johnston, being of the number of William's elders and betters, had a right to address him on his own terris, The minister was a very good man : he knew his beadle's child was ill at home of the small-pox; and thus its turned out that the young surgeon of the Kirk of Shotts was invited to halt at the Manse. In those days this could imply nothing less than dinner and a bed. This last civility The Doc. tor" was resolved, in his own mind, not to accept; but is was well he had not mentioned his intention, for before the dinner or early supper served up to them was half ended, he began to think that the Minister's small parlour afforded

"The Doctor." These important years had made a still greater change on the inner than the outward William Frugality, diligence, and the love of study, had already gained him distinction. His employer valued him according to his merits, and afforded him every proper indulgence in pursuing his studies. He was now remarked for the frankness and civility of his manners, and known to some of the Professors, who occasionally called in at his master's shop They recommended him to pupils; and, by teaching what he knew, William acquired the means of learning more. He was able to attend some of the lectures of the College, and, by the time his apprenticeship was concluded, his character for steadiness and ability, and accurate knowledge of all he pretended to know, were so well confirmed, that he readily obtained the appointment of surgeon in a merchant ship trading to the West Indies. His relations now thought his fortune made. William was not quite of this opinion: but he said he had got all he yet deserved, he must be qualified for more before he got In this situation our William made several voyages, and enlarged his knowledge of men and manners, as well as of his profession. But he saw that this was not the place for improvement: and though his appointments were more lucrative than could be hoped for in his own poor country, he resolved to settle in his native district as a rural practitioner. He had saved in his voyages nearly thirty a fully pleasanter prospect than the fairest on that night in pounds; so before settling down for life he resolved to enthe whole fair vale of Clyde. The Minister's daughter had large his acquaintance with that science in which it was lately returned from a long visit to Glasgow, which she had his chief ambition to excel, by a winter's attendance on the made to complete her education or finish her manners; and medical lecturers of Edinburgh;-some accounts say Glas- though there was no sign about Miss Johnston of having gow, and that it was not until a later period he was able to forgotten the Manse, its duties, and homely pleasures, she receive the instructions of the Edinburgh schools. To possessed an air of ease and refinement, and a degree of chemistry, in particular, a science then comparatively in its spirit, intelligence, and cultivation, which William was infancy, he zealously devoted himself; and the most of his not accustomed to meet with every day even in the best West Indian savings were devoted to the purchase of a small "Ha-houses" of the Upper Ward. He accordingly agreed apparatus, which he brought to the country, his chief posses-to spend the night where he was, engaged the minister si sion, after a selection of medical books, and a few of general the canonical game of draughts, was beaten and rebeatenliterature. Even thus early William began to study accuracy and being declared stupid, was set down with Bell," as and elegance in style, and to extend his classic knowledge. fitter match, while her reverend papa, went forth to com Imagine, now, the pride of William's rustic relations, mune with one of his elders. Such was the commencement when he settled at the village of Kirk of Shotts, under the of William's acquaintance with an amiable young woman, sonorous title of "The Doctor,"-for which he was entirely whom, as their intimacy improved, he daily more and more indebted to the kindness and respect of his compatriots. admired. Nor did she appear insensible to his merits, even Fixed in the centre of this bleak moorland district, then pro-when the whole district declared that it would be but verbial, even in Scotland, for its poverty, our William now, very poor marriage for Miss Johnston, as, besides her claims began to draw teeth for a groat each, to bleed on the same of rank, station, and accomplishments, she possessed, in terms, and sell medicine from his small store in penny-right of her mother, a fortune of six hundred merks, or worths. To patients whom he visited all over that region, L.400 sterling. I believe our William thought not much for fifteen or twenty miles in every direction, his most lucra about marriage; nor did he speak of it at all, even when tive visits might bring from 1s. to 1s. 6d. while three-joked by his fair patients on the subject; for, though n fourths of them proved, like virtue, their own reward. tra William was now twenty-four years of age. His reputation was gradually increasing; so were his practice and his fees. He had performed some notable operations in surgery. The cures he had accomplished were best known

to himself, and he was not inclined to boast, not more from modesty and delicacy towards "the Old Doctor," than consciousness of how much he wanted of that perfection of which his profession was capable. About this time, as the season was falling into winter, and his foot-journeys were long, and so fatiguing, that, on returning home to his cottage, he was unable to pursue his studies, our William resolved to buy himself a horse, at Hamilton Fair. None of your "bits of blood," nor in any way remarkable for symmetry, or any fine point whatever, but some hardy brute of a serviceable country nog, which would bear him

mounted, you are not to suppose his toils were at an end, or
that he was become a dashing surgeon, comfortably endowed
with fees. Very far from it.
His meals were still as
homely as those of the peasantry about him; and, save for
his books and chemical apparatus, there was little to dis-
tinguish his dwelling from their cottages.
In his appear.
ance there might be more attention to neatness and clean."
liness; but his dress was scarcely so good as the Sunday
garb of the small lairds' sons. Neither his slender means,
his tastes, nor his prospects, allowed of any extravagance,
At markets, to which he was often professionally led, the
young Doctor passed for a scrub; for, instead of a carouse
with the better sort of farmers, which the habits of the age
sanctioned, he mounted and galloped home, groomed and
suppered his own steed, and trimmed his lamp for the in
dulgence of a few hours of quiet study,—that is, if ever å

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