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But this was not all. In all the labours of the field his progress was equally unaccountable. He could with perfect ease have mown as much hay as two of the best men, sown as much, reaped as much, shorn as many sheep, and smeared as many, and with as little extra exertion could have equalled the efforts of three ordinary men at any time. As for ploughing, or any work with horses, he would never put a hand to it, for he then said he had not the power of the labour himself. However unaccountable all this may be, it is no fabrication; I have myself heard several men tell, who were wont to shear and smear sheep with him, when he was a much older man than they, that even though he would have been engaged in some fervent demonstration, in spite of all they could do "he was aye popping off twa sheep, or maybe three, for their ane."

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God is in heaven, and we are upon the earth, and it is
not given to mortal man to scale the heavenly regions, or
come into the presence of the Almighty.' And he said,
Has thy learning and thy knowledge carried thee no high-
er than this? Knowest thou not that God is present in
this wild glen, the same as in the palaces of light and
glory,--that his presence surrounds us at this moment,——
and that he sees all our actions, hears our words, and
knows the inmost thoughts of our hearts?'
"And I said, Yes, I know it.'

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"Then, are you ready and willing at this moment,' said he, to step into his presence, and avow the sentiments which you have of late been cherishing?'

"And I said, I would rather have time to think the matter over again.'

"And I said, Sir, a man cannot force his belief.' "And he said, Thou sayest truly; but I will endeavour to convince thee.'" Here a long colloquy ensued about the external and internal evidences of the Christian religion, which took Wat nearly half a day to relate; but he still maintained his point. He asked his visitant twice who he was, but he declined telling him, saying, he wanted his reason convinced, and not to take his word for any thing.

"Alack! poor man!' said he; so you have never I could multiply anecdotes of this kind without number, been considering that you have all this while been in his but these were mere atoms of the prophet's character-a | immediate presence, and have even been uttering thy sort of excrescences, which were nevertheless in keeping blasphemous sentiments aloud to his face, when there was with the rest, being matchless of their kind. He was none to hear but He and thyself.' intended by his parents for the church—that is, the church of the covenant, to which they belonged. I know not if Wat had consented thereto, but his education tended that way. However, as he said himself, he was born for a higher destiny, which was, to reveal the future will of God | to mankind for ever and ever. I have been told that he committed many of his prophecies to writing; and I believe it, for he was a scholar, and a man of rather supernatural abilities; but I have never been able to find any of them, though I still have hopes of recovering a part. Their conversation ended, by this mysterious sage leadI have often heard fragments of them, but they were re-ing Wat away by a path which he did not know, which cited by ignorant country people, who, never having un- was all covered with a cloud of exceeding brightness. At derstood them themselves, could not make them compre-length they came to a house like a common pavilion, which hensible to others. But the history of his call to the prophecy I have so often heard, that I think I can state the particulars, although a little confused in my recollection of them.

This event occurred about this time one hundred years, on an evening in spring, as Wat was going down a wild glen, which I know full well. "I was in a contemplative mood," (he said, for he told it to any that asked him,) " and was meditating on the mysteries of redemption, and doubting, grievously doubting, the merits of an atonement by blood; when, to my astonishment, in such a place, there was one spoke to me close behind, saying, in the Greek language, Is it indeed so? Is thy faith no better rooted?'

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"And I turned about, for the voice seemed still be hind me, turn as I would, and at length I perceived dimly the figure of an old man, of singular aspect and dimensions, close by me. His form was exceedingly large and broad, and his face shone with benignity; his beard hung down to his girdle, and he had sandals on his feet, which covered his ankles. His right arm and his breast were bare, but he had a crimson mantle over his right shoulder, part of which covered his head, and came round his waist. Having never seen such a figure, or dress, or countenance before, I took him for an angel, sent from above to rebuke me; so I fell at his feet to worship him, or rather to entreat forgiveness for a sin which I had not power to withstand. But he answered me in these words: Rise up, and bow not to me, for I am thy fellow-servant, and a messenger from Him whom thou hast in thy heart denied. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Come, I am commissioned to take thee into the presence of thy Maker and Redeemer.'

"And I said, 'Sir, how speakest thou in this wise

they entered, but all was solemn silence, and they heard nobody moving in it, and Wat asked his guide where they were now. "This is the place where heavenly gifts are distributed to humanity," said the reverend apostle; "but they are now no more required, being of no repute. No one asks for them, nor will they accept of them when offered, for worldly wisdom is all and all with the men of this age. Their preaching is a mere farce; an ostentatious parade to show off great and shining earthly qualifications, one-third of the professors not believing one word of what they assert. The gift of prophecy is denied and laughed at; and all revelation made to man by dreams or visions utterly disclaimed, as if the Almighty's power of communicating with his creatures were not only shortened, but cut off for ever. This fountain of inspiration, once so crowded, is now, you see, a dreary solitude."

"It was, in truth, a dismal-looking place, for in every chamber, as we passed along, there were benches and seats of judgment, but none to occupy them; the green grass was peeping through the seams of the flooring and chinks of the wall, and never was there a more appalling picture of desolation.

"At length, in the very innermost chamber, we came to three men sitting in a row, the middle one elevated above the others; but they were all sleeping at their posts, and looked as if they had slept there for a thousand years, for their garments were mouldy, and their faces ghastly and withered. I did not know what to do or say, for I looked at my guide, and he seemed overcome with sorrow; but thinking it was ill manners for an intruder not to speak, I said, Sirs, I think you are drowsily inclined?' but none of them moved. At length my guide said, in a loud voice,' Awake, ye servants of the Most High! Or is your sleep to be everlasting?'

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"On that they all opened their eyes at once, and stared at me, but their eyes were like the eyes of dead men, and no one of them moved a muscle, save the middlemost, who pointed with a pale haggard hand to three small books, or scrolls, that lay on the bench before them.

"Then my guide said, Put forth thine hand, and choose one from these. They are all divine gifts, and in

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these latter days rarely granted to any of the human race.' One was red as blood, the other pale, and the third green; the latter was farthest from me, and my guide said, • Ponder well before you make your choice. It is a sacred mystery, and from the choice you make, your destiny is fixed through time and eternity.' I then stretched out my hand, and took the one farthest from me, and he said, It is the will of the Lord; so let it be! That which you have chosen is the gift of the spirit of prophecy. From henceforth you must live a life of sufferance and tribulation, but your life shall be given you for a proof, in order that you may reveal to mankind all that is to befall them in the latter days.' And I opened the book, and it was all written in mystic characters, which I could not decipher nor comprehend; and he said, 'Put up the book in thy bosom, and preserve it as thou wouldst do the heart within thy breast; for as long as thou keepest that book, shall thy natural life remain, and the spirit of God remain with thee, and whatsoever thou sayest in the spirit, shall come to pass. But beware that thou deceive not thyself; for, if thou endeavour to pass off studied speeches, and words of the flesh for those of the spirit, woe be unto thee! It had been better for thee that thou never hadst been born. Put up the book; thou canst not understand it now, but it shall be given thee to understand it, for it is an oracle of the most high God, and its words and signs fail not. Go thy ways, and return to the house of thy fathers and thy kinsfolk.'| "And I said, Sir, I know not where to go, for I cannot tell by what path you brought me hither.' And he took me by the hand, and led me out by a back-door of the pavilion; and we entered a great valley, which was all in utter darkness, and I could perceive through the gloom that many people were passing the same way with ourselves; and I said, 'Sir, this is dreadful! What place is this?' And he said, 'This is the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Many of those you see will grope on here for ever, and never get over, for they know not whither they go, or what is before them. But see'st thou nothing beside?'

“And I said, 'I see a bright and shining light beyond, whose rays reach even to this place. That,' said he, ' is the light of the everlasting Gospel; and to those to whom it is given to perceive that beacon of divine love, the passage over this valley is easy. I have shown it to you; but if you keep that intrusted to your care, you shall never enter this valley again, but live and reveal the will of God to man till mortality shall no more remain. You shall renew your age like the eagles, and be refreshed with the dews of renovation from the presence of the Lord. Sleep on now, and take your rest, for I must leave you again in this world of sin and sorrow. Be you strong, and overcome it, for men will hold you up to reproach and ridicule, and speak all manner of evil of you; but see that you join them not in their voluptuousness and iniquity, and the Lord be with you!'"

There is no doubt that this is a confused account of the prophet's sublime vision, it being from second hands that I had it; and, for one thing, I know that one-half of his relation is not contained in it. For the consequences I can avouch. From that time forth he announced his mission, and began a-prophesying to such families as he was sent to. But I forgot to mention a very extraordinary fact, that this vision of his actually lasted nine days and nine nights, and at the end of that time he found himself on the very individual spot in the glen where the voice first spoke to him, and so much were his looks changed, that, when he went in, none of the family knew him.

He mixed no more with the men of the world, but wandered about in wilds and solitudes, and when in the spirit, he prophesied with a sublimity and grandeur never equalled. He had plenty of money, and some property to boot, which his father left him; but these he never regarded, but held on his course of severe abstemiousness,

often subsisting on bread and water, and sometimes for days together on water alone, from some motive known only to himself. He had a small black pony on which he rode many years, and which he kept always plump and fat. This little animal waited upon him in all his fastings and prayings, with unwearied patience and affection. There is a well, situated on the south side of a burn, called the Earny Cleuch, on the very boundary between the shires of Dumfries and Selkirk. It is situa ted in a most sequestered and lonely place, and is called to this day the Prophet's Well, from the many pilgrimages that he made to it; for it had been revealed to him in one of his visions that this water had some divine virtue, partaking of the nature of the water of life. At one time he lay beside this well for nine days and nights, the pony feeding beside him all that time, and though there is little doubt that he had some food with him, no body knew of any that he had; and it was believed that he fasted all that time, or at least subsisted on the water of that divine well.

Some men with whom he was familiar-for indeed he was respected and liked by every body, the whole tenor of his life having been so inoffensive;-some of his friends, I say, tried to reason him into a belief of his mortality, and that he would taste of death like other men; but that he treated as altogether chimerical, and not worth answering; when he did answer, it was by assuring them, that as long as he kept his mystic scroll, and could drink of his well, his body was proof against all the thousand shafts of death. His unearthly monitor appeared to him very frequently, and revealed many secrets to him, and at length disclosed to him that he was STEPHEN, the first martyr for the Gospel of Christ. Our prophet, in the course of time, grew so familiar with him, that he called him by the friendly name of Auld Steenie, and told his friends when he had seen him, and part of what he had told him, but never the whole.

When not in his visionary and prophetic moods, he sometimes indulged in a little relaxation, such as draftplaying and fishing; but in these, like other things, he quite excelled all compeers. He was particularly noted for killing salmon, by throwing the spear at a great distance. He gave all his fish away to poor people, or such as he favoured that were nearest to him at the time; so that either for his prophetic gifts, or natural bounty, the prophet was always a welcome guest, whether to poor or rich.

The

He prophesied for the space of forty years, foretelling many things that came to pass in his lifetime, and many which have come to pass since his death. I have heard of a parable of his, to which I can do no justice, of a certain woman who had four sons, three of whom were legitimate, and the other not. The latter being rather uncultivated in his manners, and not so well educated as his brethren, his mother took for him ample possessions at a great distance from the rest of the family. young blade succeeded in his farming speculations ama. zingly, and was grateful to his parent, and friendly with his brethren in all their interchanges of visits. But when the mother perceived his success, she sent and demanded a tenth from him of all he possessed. This rather astounded the young man, and he hesitated about compliance in parting with so much, at any rate. But the parent insisted on her right to demand that, or any sum which she chose, and the teind she would have. The lad, not wishing to break with his parent and benefactor, bade her say no more about it, and he would give her the full value of that she demanded as of his own accord; 'but she would have it in no other way than as her own proper right. On this the headstrong and powerful knave took the law on his mother; won, and ruined her; so that she and her three remaining sons were reduced to beggary. Wat then continued: "And now it is to yourselves I speak this, ye children of my people, for this evil is nigh you, even at your doors. There are some here who will not

see it, but there are seven here who will see the end of it, and then they shall know that there has been a prophet among them."

It having been in a private family where this prophecy was delivered, they looked always forward with fear for some contention breaking out among them. But after the American war and its consequences, the whole of Wat's parable was attributed thereto, and the good people relieved from the horrors of their impending and ruinous lawsuit.

One day he was prophesying about the judgment, when a young gentleman said to him, " O, sir, I wish you could tell us when the judgment will be ?"-" Alas! my man," returned he, "that is what I cannot do; for of that day and of that hour knoweth no man; no, not the angels which are in heaven, but the Almighty Father alone. But there will be many judgments before the great and general one. In seven years there will be a judgment on Scotland. In seven times seven there will be a great and heavy judgment on all the nations of Europe; and in other seven times seven there will be a greater one on all the nations of the world; but whether or not that is to be the last judgment, God only knoweth."

Our

These are dangerous and difficult sayings of our prophet. I wonder what the Rev. Edward Irving would say about them, or if they approach in any degree to his calculations. Not knowing the year when this prophecy was delivered, it is impossible to reason on its fulfilment, but it is evident that both the first eras must be overpast. He always predicted ruin on the cause of Prince Charles Stuart, even when the whole country was ringing with applauses of his bravery and conquests. prophet detested the politics of that house, and announced ruin and desolation not only on the whole house, but on all who supported it. The only prophecy which I have yet seen in writing relates to that brave but unfortunate adventurer, and is contained in a letter to a Mrs Johnston, Moffat, dated October 1st, 1745, which must have been very shortly after the battle of Prestonpans. After some religious consolation, he says, "As for that man Charles Stewart, let no spirit be cast down because of him, for he is only a meteor predicting a sudden storm, which is destined to quench the baleful light for ever. He is a broken pot; a vessel wherein God hath no pleasure. His boasting shall be turned into dread, and his pride of heart into astonishment. Terror shall make him afraid on every side; he shall look on his right hand, and there shall be none to know him; and on his left hand, and lo! destruction shall be ready at his side-even the first-born of death shall open his jaws to devour him. His confidence shall pass away for ever, even until the king of terrors arrive and scatter brimstone upon his habitation. His roots shall be dried up beneath, and the foliage of his boughs stripped off above, until his remembrance shall perish from the face of the earth. He shall be thrown into the deep waters, and the billows of God's wrath shall pass over him. He shall fly to the mountains, but they shall not hide him; and to the islands, but they shall cast him out. Then shall he be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the land.

"Knowest thou not this of old time, that the triumph of the wicked is of short duration, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment? Though his excellency mount up unto the heavens, and his pride reach the stars, yet shall he perish for ever, like a shadow that passeth away and is no more. They who have seen him in the pride of his might shall say, Where is he? Where now is the man that made the nations to tremble? Is he indeed passed away as a dream, and chased away as a vision of the night? Yea, the Lord, who sent him as a scourge on the wicked of the land, shall ordain the hand of the wicked to scourge him till his flesh and his soul shall depart, and his name be blotted out of the world. Therefore, my friend in the Lord, let none despond because of this man, but lay these

things up in thy heart, and ponder on them, and when they are fulfilled, then shalt thou believe that the Lord

sent me.

From the tenor of this prophecy, it would appear that he has borrowed largely from some of the most sublime passages of Scripture, which could not fail of giving a tincture of sublimity to many of his sayings, so much admired by the country people. It strikes me there are some of these expressions literally from the Book of Job; but, notwithstanding, it must be acknowledged that some parts of it are peculiarly applicable to the after fate of Charles Edward.

In

When old age began to steal on him, and his beloved friends to drop out of the world, one after another, he became extremely heavy-hearted at being obliged to continue for ever in the flesh. He never had any trouble; but he felt a great change take place in his constitution, which he did not expect, and it was then he became greatly concerned at being obliged to bear a body of fading flesh about until the end of time, often saying, that the flesh of man was never made to be immortal. this dejected state he continued about two years, often entreating the Lord to resume that which he had given him, and leave him to the mercy of his Redeemer, like other men. Accordingly, his heavenly monitor appeared to him once more, and demanded the scroll of the spirit of prophecy, which was delivered up to him at the well in the wilderness; and then with a holy admonition he left him for ever on earth. Wat lived three years after this, cheerful and happy, and died in peace, old, and full of days, leaving a good worldly substance behind him.*

LETTERS FROM THE WEST.
No. V.

WE have had two field-days in Glasgow since my last; in other words, two occasions of great public festivity and importance. The one was the laying of the spring stone of the first arch-not the foundation stone, though so called of a new bridge; the other was the opening of that magnificent structure, which unquestionably, in point of architectural grandeur, does no discredit to its name-The Royal Exchange. I shall give you some slight pen-and-ink sketches of the proceedings at both solemnities, or rejoicings, as they are alternately designated, in the various programmes and descriptions of them which have been or are to be published.

I have seldom seen any thing finer or more picturesque than the aspect of the Old Cathedral of St Mungo, after all the public bodies of Glasgow, together with the Masonic brethren-many of them from a great distance had assembled within it. There we did not see that the tawdry finery of some of the Lodges was of the Bartholomew Fair order, and their banners wonderfully resembling old rags or gaudy calico. Every thing was mellowed down and harmonized in the dim religious light of the fretted aisles; and the sonorous and noble voice of Principal M‘Farlane, who, with admirable dignity and tact, conducted the devotional services of the day, led us to forget, if not to forgive, the outrages which the Stentorian voice of the precentor perpetrated on Luther's Old Hundredth Psalm. It must have been a difficult thing to preach a discourse appropriate to the building of a bridge; but, fortunately, the funds of an hospital for the education of boys were to be greatly benefited by the said bridge; and this circumstance the venerable Principal scized upon, to the effect of bringing into his excellent discourse remarks on the progress of education, and the appropriation of charities, that did equal honour to the philosopher, the divine, and the man. Previous to service, a chapter was once more held in the chapter

prophet's surname was Laidlaw, being of a race that has produced * Since receiving the above, we have been informed that this old more singular characters than any of our country.

house of the Cathedral; but it was not of stoled prebends, not lie in your way to record the issue of those importbut of apron'd masons the representatives of the Grand ant events which annually draw together in that fair Lodge-though without "tiled" door, or other precau- town a great assemblage of the nobility, gentry, and yeotions usual in such cases. I did not see the procession- men of the land, I shall not trouble you with “a full for I was in it but I am assured it was very fine. At and particular account" of the sport-the curious may all events, the tout ensemble, taken in connexion with the find it in the racing calendar. Indeed, I feel so little architecture of the fine streets we passed through, must pleasure in seeing one animal spurred past another, that I have been as superb as glorious weather and a well-dress- should not have made one of the multitude which crowded array of a rather considerable fraction of a million of ed the place, if horse-racing had been the only amusement bodies could make it. Thanks to our Captain of Police, which Ayr afforded; but it possesses at all times many Mr Graham-who was born to command, but always as attractions to visitors, and, on this occasion, to these was a gentleman, and who is amazingly popular here, even added a very powerful auxiliary, in the person of the most with the mob, whose excesses he has to keep under, be- celebrated actor of the day, on the boards of its neat litcause he does good-humouredly--we at last got to the tle theatre. The recent illness of Mr Kean has led to water-side, through all the perils of Lancers' horses cara- much speculation on the comparative merits of his actcolling, and ladies' eyes sparkling. Certainly, I never saw ing before and since. Some will have him sadly fallen any thing like the display of beauty in Glasgow which I off, while others maintain that he never acted better in witnessed that day. It won't do to sneer at the Glasgow his life. That he has not yet regained his full compleladies any longer; nor will I be cruel enough to hint that ment of bodily vigour is pretty obvious, and that his voice all the best of the sisterhood of beauty came—like the pro- | is a full tone lower in the more arduous passages of the vincial lodges from the country! The greatest quantity parts he enacts than it was wont to be, I think will only of love and smiles was lavished on the Grand Lodge, in be disputed by those who would tell him he "had white which there were certainly some handsome, as they were hairs in his beard ere the black ones were there;" but he all tall men. Buckingham was among the best-looking; is far from being deficient in energy, or inarticulate. His but he is unfortunately married. The tomfoolery of such eye is quick and clear as ever, and the elastic muscles of affairs—the wine, oil, corn, (or rather oats, as if the Scot- his handsome face are still under his complete command. ticism of reckoning nothing but oats corn had Solomon's He played several nights in Ayr to crowded and fashionsanction,) were poured forth. But there was also given able audiences. I never liked him better in Shylock, one of the most beautiful and impressive prayers I have Richard, and Sir Giles, nor so well in Lear, at any period ever heard, by Dr M'Leod of Campsie. It was full of of his histrionic career. The corps dramatique is Mr unction. Mr Dalgleish, the governor of the hospital, Seymour's regular party, with Miss I. Paton as a minor whose funds chiefly build the bridge, then proceeded to star. prove how well a fine, benevolent old man may touch Every body who goes to Ayr, goes to Burns's monuyour feelings, without one of the usual graces of practi- ment; and, during the race-week, the road thither was consed oratory. Our Provost replied in a most feeling, as stantly crowded with pilgrims. I went also, and while it was an elegant, speech. Then there were cheers to the there, admiring the surrounding scenery, I was agreeably welkin—and really the cheers of many thousands is a no- surprised by the approach of a band of music playing the ble kind of music. Then every man made off for his beautiful air, "Of a' the airts the wind can blaw." After dinner. All the public bodies had regular feasts that day; giving some favourite tunes in the monument, the perand it was quite a harvest to the hotel-keepers in general. formers proceeded to the "keystane" of the bridge of I fear Mr Mylne, who furnished the dinner at the Doon, followed by a crowd of people, and played, “ Ye opening of the New Exchange, was not so lucky, and banks and braes o' bonny Doon," with much simplicity would reap little but praise for his profits. Five hun- and good taste. I was greatly pleased with the unexdred gentlemen sat down, on this occasion, to eat, in a pected treat, and turning to the keeper of the monument, hall worthy of an emperor, a dinner which might have I remarked that it was well judged in the directors to satisfied an Apicius. It is needless to describe the noble have music there at a time when there were so many visibuilding in which we met, as I could not do it techni- tors. "Oh, sir," said my cicerone," the musikers are cally; and, to speak in terms of general admiration, would no employed by the directors; they are the Kilmaurs baun, convey few ideas to such as have not seen an edifice and just come to the monument out o' their ain heads." The an apartment as yet unrivalled in Scotland. I am ac- honours that are now daily heaped on the memory of quainted with no one room like it, Westminster Hall Burns, and the enthusiasm thus displayed by these rustic and the Parliament House apart for these admit not of sons of Apollo, and other visitors whom I met at the place comparison with the classical style of this building. All of his nativity, are in striking contrast with the unmeritthe partisans of the two local parties into which Glasgow ed neglect which the poet experienced while living. is at present split-and between which I stand mid-way The studio of Mr Thom is also a place of great resort -allow this; and so, I think, will even your emigrants in the West. Since your last notice of his works he has from the East, when they see it. It was planned by nearly finished another Landlady, in which he has careHamilton, the architect of Hamilton Palace, another fully avoided the faults, at which you hinted, of his first splendid edifice nearly completed. Next to a good dinner, attempt. The present is a jolly, bouncing, good-natured a good chairman was most to be desired; and there is looking woman, with ample drapery, executed with Mr but one man in Glasgow who has at once the eloquence Thom's characteristic softness and truth. The bust of a and the tact to conduct a meeting of the kind in proper gentleman by Mr Thom, which you formerly pronounced a style, and with unabating spirit. Other very able, and good likeness, and creditable to the artist, has been placed even excellent speakers, we have; but Mr Ewing is by by the gentleman in the exhibition of paintings, &c. prefar the most skilful. He was, of course, our President, sently open in Glasgow, and some would-be critic has atand navigated the vessel of hilarity in a first-rate man- tempted, in one of the newspapers of that city, to rob it of But we had other good speakers; the Principal, all merit. He admits that the bust is sufficiently like to in particular, was eloquent, dignified, and impressive; indicate its subject at first sight, but the head, it is alleMr May, at once elegant and witty; and Mr Wright ex-ged," is indifferently drawn, the hair ill massed, and stiff ceedingly neat, though rather elaborate. The evening altogether was a delightful one.

ner.

"Auld Ayr, wham ne'er a town surpasses,
For honest men and bonnie lasses,"

was last week the scene of unusual gaiety; but as it does

in its lines, and the neck somewhat out of proportion, and the whole indicative of incorrect notions of anatomy." Now, if we are to suppose the gentleman whom it represents a perfect Adonis, these remarks may possibly be true; if not, they are unjust. If the gentleman's head unfortunately happens to be an imperfect model-if

This odour comes to soche as thence ane daye's journeye

remayne,

An' the faces of the people all are comelye and amene. Thorowe the citye there outsprange fulle manie fountaynes pure,

Cule at noontyde an' als lukewarme at the morninge's chillye houre;

1

Nevir mot frogge or creepand thinge to breede therein have poure,

shoure.

he habitually wears his hair ill-massed and stiff in its lines-if his neck be thicker in proportion to the size of his head, than that of the Apollo, there would have been no truth in the bust if it had not been so also. The principal object, in portrait sculpture, is surely to make a faithful and striking likeness; and those who are sufficiently acquainted with Mr Thom's subject to judge of the bust, will admit that he has not been unsuccessful. We "men of the west❞ are proud of our sculptor, and partial to his works; but we are willing to refer the merits of this bust to the respectable arbitrement of the Editor of the Lite-Bot clere an' swete they gushet oute in ane evirlastynge rary Journal; and if, in the course of your rambles, you happen to visit the falls of Clyde, which are now in all their glory, it may be worth your while to follow the stream as far as Glasgow, and settle the point. About five miles below Lanark, you will find the modest Mr Forrest in a quarry by the road side, hammering away at a gigantic equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington; and a mile farther on, in a beautiful loop of the Clyde, you will be readily introduced to that singular genius, John Greenshields, who is now engaged heart and soul in sculpturing a spirited group from the graphic cantata of the Jolly Beggars. Mr Greenshields had just finished a statue of his gracious Majesty, when he began this motley crew of "randie gangrel bodies"-but, vast as the stride undoubtedly is, he has not forgotten the old song, There's a difference to be seen

'Twixt a beggar and a king

for the "patches" and "wallets" with which he has covered his tatterdemalions, are executed with as much precision and accuracy as the trappings of royalty that adorn his figure of our Sovereign.

Should you be induced to take the short excursion I have pointed out, the palace will be an agreeable lounge while your horse baits at Hamilton, and then a short ride will bring you to the exhibition of paintings in Glasgow, which I hope will be found to deserve the notice of the far-famed periodical over which you preside, upon the Editor's next appearance in his magic slippers.

ORIGINAL POETRY.

BABYLON.

Translated from the Spanish of Don Juan Lorenzo di
Astorga.

[Or this "learned clerk " of Astorga as little is known as of his poetical contemporary Gonzalo di Berceo, whom we formerly introduced to our readers. (Lit. Jour. vol. i. p. 237) The poem of "Alexander the Great" is all that remains to rescue his name from entire oblivion; and even that is regarded by some critics as only a translation of a La'in poem, of which there also exists a French version. We feel inclined, however, to support Don Lorenzo's claim to originality upon the grounds of internal evidence. His resemblance, in thought and manner, to Di Berceo, is much closer than it could have been had the poem in question been only the translation of a work composed in a different country and in a different age. The following specimen, from the " Alexander," has the same poctical imagery and incident as the "Benedictine's Pilgrimage" we gave in a former number, and completely identifies itself with the same age and state of society in which that was composed-the early part of the 13th century.]

THE dwellaris in that halesome londe na mortelle dollouris dree,

Thair be al maner spycerye, bothe the clove an' citrone tree;

Thair alsua the frankincense swete, the carnatioun fayre

to see,

Ginger, nuttemeg, and spikenarde, most preshyous of the three.

The fragrancye the trees give out, is of vertew so sovráne, That thaim besyde, nocht potencie hath uney kynde of payne;

In ane champayne, richt smooth an' wide, it wals fulle
dichtlye plast,

Quhar deer wer plentyfulle, an' eke all kynde of huntynge
beast;
The mountaynes also round about with flokkis wer well
ydrest,
Quham nowther springe nor summer mot in aney waye
moleste.

The palaces they reirit weren by ane maister richt grete,
All conyngely bye squarre an' rule they weren situate;
Feste in the livynge rocke, I wot, wer thair foundacions
sette,

That fyre nor water nevir mot thaim laye all desolate.
The portalles off the samyn were off natyve ivorye,
Pure whyte, an' als fyne chrystele they glancit gloriouslye;
Most conynge the devyces-quhyle highe an' roiallye
Soarit the kinges aun chamberis, quhilk, in suthe, most
kinglye be.

Four hundred ar the pillares this buildynge that upholdde,
Bothe capytale an' base theroffe of verray fynest golde;
Not the live coale it halde not bene mor dazzlande to be-
holdde,

So burnishet an' bricht wer they as mot na all be tolde.
There alsua musicke chauntit wals, with arte bot seenil

knowen,

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By the Ettrick Shepherd.
THE auld man's wife's dead,
The poor body's wife's dead,
The auld man's wife's dead,

An' feint a mair has he.
There was hay to won, an' lint to weed,
An' deuks an' hens an' a' to feed,
An' peats an' turs an' a' to lead-

What meant the wife to dee?
The auld man's wife's dead,
The poor body's wife's dead,
The auld man's wife's dead,

A mile aboon Dundee.
Now when her back is at the wa',
She had a faut, an' maybe twa,
But now she's dead, that's warst of a',
An' what a gouk was she!

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