in fact the two political systems which were opposed to each other during ten months and between which slight attacks ensued preceded by a skirmishing soon prepared themselves by closer approach for a struggle which when once commenced would be mortal for one of them


these two systems born in the womb of the revolution comprised the moderates represented by the girondins that is to say by bisset pelion vergniaud valaze lanjuinais barbaroux c c and the terrorist or mountain party represented by danton robes pierre chenier fabre marat collet dherbois i hebert c c


after the th of august the influence as is the case after all commotions seemed to have passed into the hands of the moderates


a i ministry had been formed out of the wreck of the old and of a new addition


roland j service and clavieres of the old ministry had been recalled dalton menge and le brun reelected


with the exception of one who in the midst of his colleagues represented the energetic party all the others belonged to the moderates when we say moderates we speak relatively


the th of august produced its echo amongst foreigners and a coalition was firmed to march to the assistance not of louis xvi


personally but of the principles of royalty which was shattered to its base


then re sounded the menacing words of brunswick and like a terrible realisation longwy and verdun i fell into the enemies hands


then there was a reaction to the terrorist system


darton then dreamed of and realised the bloody days of september which presented to her enemies the entire of france as an accomplice to a tremendous assassination active and ready to battle in behalf of her compromised existence with all the energy of despair


september saved france but in saving her placed her beyond the law of nations


france once saved and further energy being unnecessary the moderate party recovered their influence in some degree


then it re criminated upon those ten ible days


the words murder and assassination were bandied about even a new word had been added to the vocabulary of the nation it was that of the septembrisers


dalton boldly accepted the name


like clovis he for a moment inclined his head to the baptism of blood but only to raise it higher and more menacing than ever


another occasion presented itself on which to spread the terror of the passage was the kings trial


violence and moderation then did not confine their struggle to persons but to principles and the experience of the relative forces was made upon the royal prisoner


the moderates were vanquished and louiss head fell upon the scaffold like the th of august the st of january restored full energy to the coalition


the same man was opposed to them but not the same fortune


dumouriez arrested in his progress by the disorder which prevailed in every administration and which prevented succours of men and money declared against the jacobins whom he accused of creating this disorders adopted the girondins and destroyed them by calling himself their friend


vendee rose and the department became menacing reverses produced treason and treason reverses the jacobins accused the moderates and wished to strike them on the th of march the very evening on which our tale opens


too much precipitation on their part saved the girondins as well perhaps as that rain which caused pelion that profound anatomist of parisian disposition to remark it rains there will be nothing done this night


t since the th of march everything foretold the ruin of the gironde


marat put to trial and acquitted robespierre and dalton mo mentality reconciledlike a lion and a tiger to subdue the bull whom they are both to devour


henriot the september nominated commander general of the national guards all foretold that terrible day whose tempest was to sweep away the last barrier the revolution opposed to the march of terror


these are the great events in which maurice under other circumstances would have taken part as was natural to his high and exalted patriotism


fortunately or unfortunately for maurice neither the inducements of lords nor the dreadful preparations in the streets could drive from his mind the sole idea which possessed it and when the st of may arrived this terrible assailant of the bastile and the tuileries was stretched on his bed devoured by that fever which kills the strongest and which neverthe less may be dissipated by a look and cured by a word


to be continued j


a tale of two cities


in three books


by charles dickens


book the second


tua golden thread


continued from the aye of september


chapter ii


a sight


you know the old ballej


w


no doubt j said ono of tho oldest of olerks to jerry the mes senger


yees


sir


retnrned jsrrv


in something of a dogged manner


i do know the b iley


just so


and you know mr lor y


i know mr lorry sir much better than i know the bailey


much better said jerry not unlike a reluctant witness at the establishment in ques tion than i as a honest tradesman wish to know the bailey very well


find tho door where the witnesses go in and show the doorkeeper this note for mr lorry


he will then let you in


into tbe court sir


into the court


mr crunchers eyes seemed to get a little closer to one another and to interchange the enquiry what do you think of this


am i to wait in the court sir


he asktd as the result of that conference


i am going to tell you


tho doorkeeper will pass the note to mr lorry and do you make any gesturo that will attract mr lorrys attention and show him where you btand


then what you have to do is to remain there until he wants you


is that all sir


thats all


he wisheb to have a messenger at hand


this is to tell him you are there


as the ancient clerk deliberately folded and su perscribed the pote mr cruncher after surveying him in silence until he came to the botting paper stage remarked istupose theyll be trying forgeries this morning


treason


thats quartering said jerry


barbar ous


it is the law remarked the ancient clerk turning his surprised spectacles upon him


lt is the law


its hard in the law to spile a man i think


its hard enough to kill him but its wery hard to spile him sir


not at all returned the ancient clerk


speak well of the law


take aare of iyour ohest and voice my good friend and leave the law to take caro of itself


i give you that advice


its the dimp sir what settles on my chest and voice said jerry


i leave you to jidge what n dnmn toott narninnr a minn


well well said the old clerk we all have our varioua ways of gaining a livelihood


some of us have lamp ways and some of us havo dry ways


here is tho letter


go along


jerry took the letter and remarking to himelf with lefs internal deference than he made an out ward bhowef you are a lean old one too made bu bow informed his son in passing of his des tination and went his way


thoy hanged at tyburn jin thoso days so the street outride newgite had not obtained oio in famous notoriety that has since attached to it


but tho gaol waa a vile plaoe in which most kinda of debauchery and villany were practiied


and where dire diseases were bred that came into court with the prisoners and simetiincs rushed straight from the dock at ray lord chief justice himself and pulled him off the bench


it had more than once happened that the judgo in the black cap pro nounced his owu doom as certainlv as the pri soners and even died before him


for the rest the old bailey was famous as a kind of deadly innyard from which pale travellers set out con tinually in oarta and coaches oa a violent passage into the other world traversing some two miles and a half of publio btreet and road and shaming few good citizens if any


so powerful is use and so desirable to be good use in the beginning


it was famous too for tho pillory a wise old insti tution that inflicted a punishment of which no oue could foresee the extent also for the whipping post another dear old institution very humanising and softening to behold in action also for exteu sive transactions in bloodmoney another frag ment of ancestral wisdom systematically leading to the mott frightful mercenary crimes that could be committed under heaven


altogether the old bailey at that date waa a choice illustration of the precept that whatever is is right an aphorism that would be ib final as it is lazy did it not include the trou blesome consequence that nothing that ever was was wrong


making his way through the tainted crowd dis persed up and down this hideous bcene of notion with the ekill of a jman accustomed to make his way quietly the messenger found out the door he sought and handed in bis letter through a trap in it


for people then paid to see the play at the old bailey just na they paid to see the play in bedlam only the former entertainment was much ihe dearer


therefore all the old bailey doors were well guarded except indeed the ial doors by which the oriminals got there aud fhoy were always left wide open


after some delay aud demur the door grudg ingly turned on its hinges a very little way and allowed mr jerry cruncher to squeeze himself into court


whats on


he asked in a whisper of the man he found himself next to


nothing yet


whats coming on


the treason case


the quartering one eh


ah returned the man with a volish hell be drawn on a hurdle to be half hanged and then hell be taken down and sliced before his ovn fase and then his inside will bo taken out and burnt while be looks on and then his head will be chop ped off and hell be cut into quarters


thats the sentence


if hes found guilty you mean to say v jerry added by way of proviso


oh theyll find him guilty said the other


doufc you be afraid of that


mr crunchers attention was hero diverted lo the doorkeeper whom he saw making his way to mr lorry with tho note in his hand


mr lorry sat at a table among the gentlemen in wigs not far from a wigged gentleman the prisoners counsel who had a great bundle of papers before bim and nearly opposite another wigged gentleman with his hanils in his pockets whoso whole attention when mr cruncher looked at him then or after wards seomed to be concentrated on the ceiling of the court


after bomo gruff coughing and rubbing of his chin and signing wiih his hind jerry at tracted the notice of


mr lorry who had stood up to look for him and who quietly nodded and eat down again


whats he got to do with the case


bbkcd ihe mnn lin linrl annvoil with


blest if i know said jerry


what have yuu got to do with it then if a person may inquire p blest if i know that either said jerry


the entrance of the judge and a consequent great stir and eettlingdown in the court stopped the dialogue


presently tho dook became the central point of intereat


two gaolers who had been btanding there went out and the prisoner was brought in and put to the bar


everybody present exoept the one wigged gen tleman who looked at the ceiling stared at hioi


all the human breath in the place rolled ut him like a tea or a wind or a lire


eager faces strained round pillars aud corners to get a sight of him spectators in back rows stood up not to miss a hair of him people on the floor of tho court laid their hands on the shoulders of the peo ple before them to help ihombelveb at anybodys cost to a view of him stood a tiptoe got upon ledges stood upon noxt to nothiug to see every inch of him


conspiouous among these latter liko an animated bit of the spiked wail of newgate jerry btood aiming at the prisoner the beery breath ot a whet he had taken as he came along and discharging it to mingle with tho waves ol other beer and gin and tea and coffee and what not that flowed at him and already broke up ju the great windows behind him in an impure mist and rain


the object of all this staring and blaring was a young man of about flveandtwenty well grown and welllooking with a sunburnt cheek and a dark eye


his condition wus that of a young gentleman


ho was plainly dressed in blnok or very dark grey and his hair which was long and dark was gathered in a ribbon at the back of his neok more to be out of his way than for ornament


as an emotion of the mind will express itself through any covering of the body bo the paleness which his situation en gendered came through tho brown upon his cheek showing the boui to be stronger than the suu


he was otherwise quite self possessed bowed to the judge and stood quiet


the sort of interest with which this man wqb btared nnd breathed at was not a sort that elevated humanity


hid he stoad in peril ofa less horri ble sentence had there been a chance of any one of ita savage details being spared by justs much would he have lost in his fascinntioji


ihe form that was to ba doomed to be so shamefully man gled waa the sight the immortal creature that was to bo so butchered and torn asunder


ieldcd the seusation


whatever gloss tho various specta tors put upon the interest according to their soveral arts and powers ef selfdeceit the intoret was ut the root of it ogreieh


silence in the court


charlea darnay had yes terday pleaded not guilty to an indictment de nouncing bim with infinite jingle and jangle for that be wbb a false traitor to our sjrene ilus triohs excellent and so forth prince our lord the king by reason of his having on divers occa sions and by divers means and ways assisted lewis the french king in his wars against our said serene illustrious excellent and so forth that was lo say uy coming and going between th i dominions of our s iidsereno illustrious excellent and so forth and those of tho said french lewis and wickedly falsely traitorously and otherwise eviladverbiously revealing to tbe said french lewis what forces our said serene illustrious ex cellent and forth had in preparation to send to catiida aud


north america


this much jerry with hid head becoming more and more spiky as the law terms bristled it made out with huge satisfaction and so arrived circuitously at the understanding that the aforesaid and over and over again aforesaid charles dai nay stood thero before him upon his trial that tho jury wira swearing in and that mr attorneygeneral was making ready to speak


the accused who was and who knew be was being mentally hanged beheaded and quartered everybody there neither flinched from the fcitua lion nor assumed auy theatrical air in it


lie wis quiet and attentive watched the opening proceed ing with a grave interest and stood wih his limd resting on the slib of wood before him so composedly that ihey had not displaced a lea of the herbs with which it was strewn


the omrt was all bestrewn wmi herbs nnd sprinkled with vinegar ub a precaution ogainatgaol air aid gaol fever


over the prisoners head there was a mirror to throw the light down upon him


crowds of tho wicked and the wretched had been reflected in it nnd hid passed from its surface and th s earths together


haunted in a most ghstly manner that abominable place would have been if the glass could ever havo rendered back its reflexions as the ocean is one day to give up its dead


soma passing thought of the infamy and disgrace for which it hid been reserved may havo struck the prisoners mind


bo that as it may acbaneein his position making him conscious of a bar of gbt cross hi


face


he looked up and when ho saw lie


glass his face fiiibhed and his right hind pushed the herbs away


it happeucd that tne action turned hii face to that side of the court which was on his left


aboit on a level with his yee there eat in that corner of the judges bench two persons upon whoja his look immediately rested so immediately and so much to the changing of his aspect that all the eyes that were turned upon him turned to thorn


the spactatora saw in the two flguros a young lady of little more than twenty and a gentlemau who was evidently her father a man of a very remarkable appearance in respect of the absolute whiteness of his hair and a certain indescribable intensity of face


not of an active kind but pondering and selfcommuning


when thia expres sion was upon him he looked as if he were old but when it was stirred and broken up as it was now in a moment his speaking to his daughter he became a handsome man not past tho priino of life


hia daughter had ono of her bands drawn through his arm as ehe pat by him and the other preseed upon it


she had drawn close to him in her dread of the scene and in her pity for tho prisoner


hr forehead had been strikingly ex pressive of an engrossing terror nnd compassion that saw nothing but the peril of the accused


this had been so very noticeable so very powerfully and naturally shown that starers who had had pity for him were touched by her and the whisper went about who are they t jerry the messenger who had made llis own ob servations in his own manner and who had been sucking the rust eff his fingers in hia absorption stretched his neck to hear who they were


the crowd about him had pressed and passed the en quiry on to the nearest attendant and from him it had more slowly been pressed and pabsed back at last it got to jerry


witnesses


for which sido against


against what sldel the prisoners


the judge whose eyes had gone in the general direction recalled them lemed baok in hia seat aud looked steadily at the nan whose lio was iu his hand as mr attorneygt neral rose to spin the rope grind the ax and hammer the nails into the scaffold


lights and shadows of immigrant life


chapter iv


an auctioneers clerk


home conversation


a discussion on australian domestic economy


canvas town its rise and characteristics its inhabitants


the scenery as viewed from canvas town


the mortimers


the tent and its inmates


mrs mortimer


lady immigrants


shifts of a gentleman


a contrast


the mother and her children c mr hayes found the duties of his situation in the auctionroom of messrs sales and vendue of a very pleasant description


from the pressure of business however occasioned by the times he found it often hard work to keep up his accounts but on the whole the variety of characters he met with and their free and easy manners rather amused and delighted him as well as relieved the monotony of accountkeeping


he had a good opportunity of seeing the various and often fitful changes of the auction mart at one time realising for very inferior goods prices far beyond the value of the article and at other times seeing consignments of valuable merchandise sacrificed at a fearful loss accord ing to the attendance and the humor of the company


while he was attending to his duties in town mrs hayes and her daughter were no less active in the domestic requirements of the household


the activity and cleanly habits to which they had been accustomed were not neglected here and the humble cottage of paling began under their careful hands to assume an appearance of comfort that many a dwelling of greater pretensions might envy


when hayes came home he met with an affectionate welcome and a comfortable corner to sit down in but the domestic ideas of house keeping were sadly put out owing to the scarcity and dearth of even the commonest necessaries of life


to poor mrs hayes this was a source of perpetual annoy ance


her recollections of home comforts and home prices were very difficult to be set aside and her constant source of vexation arose chiefly from these cir cumstances


only think osborne said she on the first day he returned from his duties i was obliged to pay three shillings for a cabbage you so much wished to have for your dinner


whoever heard of such a price for a cabbage


one would think said hayes very quietly that cabbages might be cheap enough in a climate and coun try like this but these gold diggings the very thing that induced us to come here have made everything very dear


well but how are we to live my dear exclaimed mrs hayes earn what you will it must all go for bare living just look at the price of bread who ever heard of halfacrown for a loaf even in the dearest times


that will soon cure itself and you may depend on it you will soon see bread at a more reasonable price replied hayes


i always thought this was such a famous country for cattle and sheep that meat might be had for the fetching


the books said so as one of the inducements for people to settle in the colony instead of which here we are paying for illcolored and often badly fla vored meat double the price for prime cuts of beautiful beef or mutton in the home country


hayes who had lighted his pipe and was puffing away at the fireside with the most imperturbable gravity slowly withdrew it from his mouth and looking at his wife merely replied all owing to the gold diggings


and then resumed mrs hayes evidently bent on detailing all her grievances theres not a drop of milk to be got without paying a shilling and some have the conscience to ask eighteenpence a quart for it


such stuff


its not like milk its only milk and water


bad job my dear but no help for it replied hayes


no help for it


its a scandal and a disgrace


and then there is an egg you used to like so much for your breakfast


i looked in at a shop today where i saw some in the window and asked the price and what do you think they had the impudence to ask me for a common hens egg


mrs hayes laid great emphasis on the last three wards only guess


probably sixpence or may be ninepence a piece said hayes still puffing at his pipe and evidently en joying the conversation of his wife and her economical distress


why you seem to think very little of it but i do said mrs hayes the woman of the shop actually asked me ninepence for a common hens egg who ever heard of such a thing


theyll be cheaper by and bye replied hayes but you see the lucky diggers will give any price that is asked for any article they want


why there was only today i met a man i had known at home who had been at the diggings and had been pretty success ful


he came down here again the other day and his wife who had never worn anything better than a com mon printed dress gave him no rest till he bought for her a satin gown and a gold watch neither of which articles she had any right conception of the proper use of


the diggers have plenty of money and they spend it as freely


so i think they do said mrs hayes but you will see what will come of it before long


theres an old proverb and a true one wilful waste makes woeful want


by such conversation the evenings were pleasantly spent and this evening being saturday hayes proposed to his wife that on the following afternoon they should take a walk over the bridge and see canvas town which they had only seen at a distance though they heard much of it


he had another inducement for going as he had heard of an old acquaintance and his family who had lately arrived and were living in a tent at that encampment whom he desired much to see


canvas town though now a matter of history will be remembered by many both of those who were compelled to reside in it and those who had frequently to pass through it on their way to st kilda and neigh boring townships


it arose out of the necessities of the times


the influx of people towards the end of and the beginning of caused such a dearth and scarcity of accommodation that there was no alterna tive but like the early settlers and the gold diggers to use tents


about half a mile beyond princes bridge the government let the land for tents and as the prin cipal track to st kilda for there was no proper road then ran through this ground a street of tents speedily sprung up and as each successive ship arrived fresh inhabitants appeared till the whole assumed a very ex tensive and busy appearance


these tents were of all sizes and shapes from the capacious marquee down to the gipsy tent composed of a blanket supported by cross sticks and a ridge pole


the inhabitants of this town were as various as the shapes and quality of the material of their dwellings


the assembling of such a number of people together gave rise of course to all the various means for supplying their wants and bakers and butchers grocers and grogshop keepers plied their various callings to considerable advantage in this frail city of canvas and calico


but it was among the inhabitants of canvas town that the vicissitudes of the first steps in colonial life became most apparent


under many of these tents engaged in the most menial duties female figures that not long before had adorned a drawingroom moved about and when the day was done reposed their wearied limbs not on couches of down but on the hard straw palliass


in some the little furniture they had was arranged with care and neatness while not a little in genuity was observable in many contrivances for render ing the frail habitation more comfortable


indeed many of these tents were not at all to be despised as summer residences


but the first character of canvas town was soon lost for as the more respectable inhabitants obtained more permanent accommodation their places were speedily taken by a disreputable class whose conduct soon rendered the place a nuisance and as the necessity for it was in a measure removed by the increase of permanent dwellings the government gave orders for a clearance and the site of canvas town is all that now remains of that once celebrated locality


mr hayes with his family reached the tents early in the afternoon and they sauntered leisurely along among them in search of his acquaintance


the sun shed a cheerful lustre on the surrounding scenery and from the locality a fine view of melbourne on the one hand and the shipping in the bay on the other lay before them with all the distinctness caused by the purity of an australian atmosphere


nor was the view to landward less interesting as the wooded landscape relieved here and there by the numerous private resi dences glittering in the sun and backed by the clear blue of the dandenong ranges presented a picture the eye loved to dwell upon


in spite of a certain want of variety in the foliage of the woods in this country there are nevertheless many beautiful and picturesque views some grand and sublime such as are to be seen in the mountain ranges others of that quiet soft character that never fails to attract admiration


who that looks on such prospects dare say there are no picturesque views in australia


while gazing at the strange and motley assemblage of tents of all sizes and shapes on either side of them the hayes family noticed one of the better class and before the entrance a figure in a blue flannel shirt busy in stimulating a fire of wood over which was suspended a teakettle from an iron triangle


the figure happening at the moment to turn mr hayes recognised his old friend george mortimer of whom he was now in search


cordial greetings took place between them and they all entered the tent together to see the family located therein


mrs mortimer rose to receive them but the tears filled her eyes and emotion checked her utterance as she saluted those friends whom she had last met in the carpeted drawingroom surrounded with all the comforts to be found in the dwellings of the substantial middle classes in england


she had an infant in her arms and beside her on a piece of old carpet were innocently playing together two older children of different ages


the appearance of mrs mortimer told at once that she was a woman of superior education and breeding while the neat cloth ing and rather aristocratic look of the children con firmed this idea if more confirmation was necessary


everything about the tent its scanty furniture and general arrangement bespoke a taste for neatness and comfort and the most was made of the frail shelter the unfortunate couple were compelled to put up with


the first greetings and welcomings over not unmixed with many apologies for the scanty accommodation mortimer entered into a detail of his experience since leaving the land of his birth


he informed mr hayes that being dissatisfied with the struggle he had to main tain his position at home independently of being able to do anything towards making a provision for his young family he had made up his mind to emigrate to some of the colonies


for a long time he was doubtful as to whether he would try his luck in north america or the cape of good hope when the fame of the australian golddiggings was sounded through the length and breadth of the civilised world and he no longer hesitated


like many others he had to contend against the prejudices of his wife who shrunk from the idea of leaving the land of her birth the home of her childhood and the friends of her youth to land on a foreign shore far from friends and acquaintances and all the associations of her previous existence


her feelings were the feelings of hundreds of similarly situ ated and who but can sympathise with frail woman her sole dependence on a single life which might be snatched from her in a moment and thus be left among strangers bereft of her protector of all stay and sup port but that of her god


man may battle with the struggles sometimes attendant on colonial life but poor weak woman especially when raised in the lap of luxury is an object of pity and commiseration to every rightthinking mind


mrs mortimer was one of those we have now des cribed reared in luxury and surrounded by every comfort that wealth could procure she had contrary to the advice of her friends married the object of her affections and thus braved the frowns of her own connections


mortimer himself was an active and enterprising man of an intel ligent mind and well calculated to fight his way in any country and under any circumstances


he des paired not in being able to achieve independence if he kept his health


he looked forward to the future with confidence and hope and doubted not that in a country where so many men possessed of less intelligence and less active habits had acquired independence that he would do so too


he was sanguine but the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong and so it fared with him


and how have you been getting on mortimer since you arrived here said mr hayes


i fear you have not been very fortunate


no i have not my old friend said mortimer


it has gone rather hard with me


i tried to get em ployment in an office as i knew the little money i had could not last us long but i could not succeed


i was determined to do something so i threw aside the gentle man and with another young man engaged in a contract for fencing a piece of land at prahran at which we make very good wages


but it is hard work though i do not find it in any way oppressive


it is rather different from what you have been accustomed to mr mortimer replied hayes but it is creditable for a man to work for an honest liveli hood and fortunately in this country a man is not looked down upon because he has to resort to bodily labor but rather the reverse


he is respected ac cording to what he can do to help himself


true said mortimer but i feel for my poor wife and little ones


to think that i can obtain no better accommodation for them than this frail tent


such as it is i am glad that i took the pre caution to bring it with me and though it is a suitable nay rather a pleasant residence in the delightful summer weather of this climate yet i fear it will go hard with us when the winter rains set in and the cold blasts from the bay sweep over us


i hope mortimer you may be able to get a better place a good cottage before that time said hayes i shall keep a lookout for you my own house is but a frail affair but it is still better and more con venient than a tent


while the husbands were engaged in conversation the wives were no less actively employed in sympathising with each other and detailing the many grievances they had to put up with


the same complaints of dear rents and an exorbitant price for the commonest necessaries of life were ex changed between them


their dispositions however were entirely different


when mrs hayes would boldly meet a difficulty mrs mortimer would shrink from it and succumb


the one though she might be damped for a moment would speedily bring her ener gies into play and ultimately extricate herself


the other would sink appalled and make no effort what ever


such was the difference in character of two individuals belonging to the same station in society


oh that we had never left dear england to come to this horrible place exclaimed mrs mortimer in bitter anguish of spirit better put up with poverty and be beside sympathising friends than here to struggle for life and have no one on whom to depend to open up the pent up griefs of my bosom and she wept bitterly


my poor infants and what will be come of you if your dear father or myself are removed which is not unlikely if we have to remain much longer in this place


mrs hayes endeavored to cheer the poor lady by assuring her that all would yet be well but that were her worst anticipations to be realised friends would appear when least expected


at least she added so long as hayes


and i have it in our power we will not desert your little family


but the chances are as much in your favor as in ours only keep up your spirits and do not let foolish apprehensions alarm you and like many others you may yet ac quire wealth and be able to enjoy all the luxuries to which you have been accustomed


poor mrs mortimer could only clasp her hands in utter incredulousness she had made up her mind to be miserable and miserable she was


mrs hayes on the contrary had determined to make the most of everything and to be cast down and dismayed at nothing


hence the difference between the two the one shrinking from the slightest difficulty and sighing for home comforts the other selfconfident and determined to do what she could to make a happy home in the country of her adoption


with a view to divert the mind of the mother mrs hayes took notice of the children


the eldest was a fine boy of about four years old the next a girl of about two years and the youngest was an ocean child born on the voyage out


the innocent little things were playing together totally unconscious of the distress of their mother


mrs hayes took the boy by the hand and asked him how he liked australia


i like it very well replied the little follow as there are no wet days here always sunny but i dont like to see mamma cry so


i wish she would go and pull pretty flowers with me


but you know my dear mamma is not very well said mrs hayes patting the curly locks of the child


when she is better she will go out with you and you know you must come and see me


i live on that hill beyond the bridge there pointing towards collingwood it will be a nice walk for you and my little boys will play with you


oh mamma i should so like to go over that hill it looks so pretty when shall we go mamma


some day soon my dear replied mrs mortimer but i fear you will not be able to walk so far oh yes mamma i shall though i can walk a long way you know and i think i can do that


well love we shall see and the fond mother passionately kissed her darling child then turning to mrs hayes she said you may depend on it the first day that mortimer can get away from work we shall be over to see you


the sun was near the western horizon and as the twilight in this country is but very short hayes and his wife rose to take their leave of the mortimers which they did with many expressions of regard for each others welfare and a promise to meet ere long to talk on their prospects and chances of success in the colony


the action of streams


streams and rivers in fact all winter currents act chiefly in a me chanical way and their influence depends partly on the nature of thd rooks over which they run the rapidity of their flow and tho size and volume of water


if the rocks over which they pass be of a soft or friable nature they soon cat out channels and transport the eroded material in the state of mud sand and gravel to the lower level of some lake to their estuaries or to the bed of the ocean


their cutting as well as trans porting power is greatly aided by the rapidity of their currents hence the power of mountain tor rents compared with tlie quiet and sluggish flow of tlie lowland river


it has been calculated for example that a velocity of inchcs per second will tear up fine clay that inches will lift fine sand inches sand as course as linseed and inches fine gravel while it requires a velocity of inches per second to roll along rounded peb bles an inch in diameter and g inches per second to sweep angular stones of the size of an hens egg during periodical rains and landfloods tho currents of rivers often greatty exceea itus velocity nence tne tearing up old deposits of gravel the sweeping away of bridges and the transport of blocks many tons j in weight an operation greatly facilitated by the fact that stones of ordinary specific gravity from to lose more than a third of their weight by being immersed in water


nor is it the mere velocity of rivers which produces their eroding or cutting power but the amount and nature of the debris is carried down ly tlieir tor rents every pebble and block of shingle rubbing and striking and grinding still deeper and deeper the chtinnels down which they are borne


tho geological effects of rivers on the crust is thus of a twofold nature viz to waste and wear down the higher lands and then to bear along the waste material and deposit it in valleys in lake or in the ocean in the state of mud clay sand or gravel


by such deposits lakes are silted or filled up and become alluvial valleys csfcuaiies arc converted into level plains and even largo tracts reclaimed from the sea


every person must have observed the rivers in his own hfw fhnv


vinrrmr rvmlflv fnvlkir


during floods of rain and how their swollen currents eat away the banks deepen the channels and sweep away the sand and gravel down to some lower level


and if during this turbid state he will have the curiosity to lift a gallon of the water and allow it to settle ho will be astonished at the amount of sediment or solid matter that falls to the bottom


now lt him multiply this gallon by the number of gallons daily carried down by the river and this day by years and centuries and he will arrive at some faint idea of the quantity of matter worn from the land by rivers and deposited by them in the ocean


in the same way as one river grinds and cuts for itself a channel so does every stream and rill and current of water


the rain as ib falls washes away what the winds and frosts havo loosened the rill takes it up and mingling it with its own burden gives it to the stream tho stream takes it up and carries it to the river and the river bears it to the ocean


thus the wnoie suriace or tne giooe is worn anci grooved and channelled the higher places being con tinually worn down and the wasted material carried to a lower level


advanced text book of qeology


cojiriegne


the village of coiupiegne is a straggling town built on the oise


it is not a favorable period of the year to visit ootnpiegne the rich wooded country around has lost the better half of its foliage the yellow leaf strews the ground the river ia only animated with lazy looking barges which convey the white stone to paris and today the sky was leaden and gloomy


ilio town is perhaps more busy than usual owing to the presence of tho court and a large liumber of military


almost every house is decorated with flags


the imperial palaeo is a handsome building of the period of louis xv and its park is very extensive


there is an archery ground which is occa sionally visited by tho empress and i pre sume other ladies for i observed several wrist shields padded with crimson satin scattered about witli bows and arrows aud showing evident signs of having been lately used


in another part of the ground and before the grand faoade of the palace were a pirty of gentlemen pigeon shooting whilst others wero strolling about the walks and the celebrated bereeau built by tho emperor napoleon i to please marie louise


there have been several stag hunts in the forest


the guests are lodged in various parts of the palace the namo of each being placed on the floor


iiis majesty and the empress dine with their guests about seven oclock when about one hundred persona aro generally present


in the evenings tho drawingrooms are open to alt


there lias been moro than one theatrical representation that of last night was perhaps the most numerously attended


tho emperorand empress occupied the chair of state in tho centre of the pretty little theatre behind their majesties and on the right and left the visitors at the palace and those honored with special invitations wero seated tho gay toilettes of the ladies and


tho sprinkling of military forming an animated and gay audience


the young tuscan prince vho was on a visit to gompeigne safc beside tho empress whilst on the right of his majesty was placed the princess mathihle


itound about the imperial group were seated marshal pelissicr with short grey hair anu heavy eye brows looking tho old soiher lord and lady cowley tho duchess of montebello and many of the foreign ministers and their indies tlo company of the gyhmhse pert orined their short comedies that of the toilettes appearing togivethe greatest satisfaction to the audience


the entertainment lasted until twelve oclock when their majesties withdrew amid tho cheers of the company to tho drawinyrooms


cor respondence of tho morning post


second chapteri of sln


pickwicks tale


we left will marks leaning under the gibbet with his face towards the town scanning thie dis tance with a keen eye which sought to pierce the darkness and catch the earliest glimpse of any person or persons that might approach towards him


but all was quiet and save the howling of the wild as it swept across the heath in gusts and the creak ing of the chains that dangled above his head there was no sound to break the sullen stillness of the night


after half an hour or so this monotony became more disconcerting to will than the most furious uproar would have been and he heartily wished for some one antagonist with whom he might have a fair standup fight if it were only to warm himself


truth to tell it was a bitter wind and seemed to blow to the very heart of a man whose blood healed but now with rapid riding was the more sensitive to the chilling blast


will was a daring fellow and cared not a jot for hard knocks or sharp blades but lie could not persuade himself to move or walk about having just that vague expectation of a sud den assault that made it a comfortable thing to have something at isis back even though that something were a gallows tree


he had no great faith in the superstitions of the age still such of them as occur red to him did not serve to lighten the time or render his situation the more endurable


lie remembered how witches were said to repair at that ghostly hour to churchyards and gibbets and such like dismal spots to pluck the bleeding mandrake or scrape the flesh from dead mens bones as choice ingredients for their spells how stealing by night to lonely places they dug graves with their finger nails or anointed themselves before riding in the air with a delicate pomatum made of the fat of infants newly boiled


these and many other fabled practices of a no less agreeable nature and all having some re ference to the circumstances in which lie was placed passed and repassed in quick succession through the mind of will marks and adding a shadowy dread to that distrust and watchfulness which his situation inspired rendered it upon the whole sufficiently un comfortable


as he had foreseen too the rain began to descend heavily and driving before the wind in a thick mist obscured even those few objects which the darkness of the night had before imperfectly revealed


look shrieked a voice great heaven it has fallen down and stands erect as if it lived i the speaker was close behind himthe voice was almost at his ear


will threw off his cloak drew his sword and darting swiftly round seized a woman by the wrist who recoiling from him with a dreadful shriek fell struggling upon her knees


another woman clad like her whom he had grasped in mourning garments stood rooted to the spot on which they were gazing upon his face with wild and glaring eyes that quite appalled him


say cried will when they had confronted each other thus for some time what are ye


say what are you returned the woman who trouble even this obscene restingplace of the dead and strip the gibbet of its honoured burden where is the body


he looked in wonder and affrightfrom the woman who questioned him to the other whfose arm he clutched


where is the body repeated his questioner more firmly than before you wear no livery which marks you for the hireling of the government


you are no friend to us or i should recognise you for the friends of such as we are few in number


what are you then and wherefore are you here


i am no foe to the distressed and helpless said will are ye among that number


ye should be by your looks


we are was the answer


it is ye who have been wailing and weeping here under cover of the night said will


it is i replied the woman sternly and point ing as site spoke towards her companion she mourns a husband and i a brother


even the bloody law that wreaks its vengeance on the dead does not make that a crime and if it did twould be alike to us who are past its fear or favour


will glanced at the two females and could barely discern that the one whom he addressed was much the elder and that the other was young and of a slight figure


both were deadly pale their gar ments wet and torn their hair dishevelid and streaming in the wind themselves bound down with grief and misery their whole appearance most de jected wretched and forlorn


a sight so different from any he had expected to encounter touched him to the quick and all idea of anything but their pitiable condition vanished before it


i am a rough blunt yeoman said will why i came here is told in a word you have been overheard at a distance in the silence of the night and i have undertaken a watch for hags or spirits


i came here expecting an adventure and prepared to go through with any


if there be aught that i can do to help or aid you name it and on the faith of a man who can be secret and trusty i will stand by you to the death


how comes this gibbet to be empty asked the elder female


i swear to you replied will that i know as little as yourself


but this i know that when i came here an hour ago or so it was as it is now and if as i gather from your question it was not so last night sure i am that it has been secretly dis turbed without the knowledge of the folks in vender town bethink you therefore whether you may have no friends in league with you or with him on whom the law has done its worst by whom these sad remains have been removed for burial


the women spoke together and will retired a ace or two while they conversed apart


oe could pear them sob and moan and saw that they wrung their hands in fruitless agony


he could make out little that they said but between whiles lie gathered enough to assure him that his suggestion was not very wide of the mark and that they not only sus pected by whom the body hid been removed but also


whither it had been conveyed


when they had been in conversation a long time they turned to wards him once more


this time the younger female spoke


you have offered us your help i have


and given a pledge that you are still willing to redeem yes


so far as i may keeping all plots and conspiracies at arms length


follow us friend


will whoso selfpossession was now quite re stored needed no second bidding but with his drawn sword in his haind and his cloak so mufhed over his left arm asto serve for a kind of shield without offering any impediment to its free action suffered them to lead the way


through mud and mire and wind and rain they walked in silence a full mile


at length they turned into a dark lane where suddenly starting out from beneath some trees wlhere hlie had taken shelter a man appeared having in hiis clharge thlree saddled horses


one of these isis own apparently in obedience to a whis per from the women le consigned to will who seeing that they mounted mounted also


then without a word spoken they rode on together leaving the attendant behind


thley made no halt nor slackenedtheir pace until they arrived near putney


at a large wooden house which stood apart from any other they alig hted and giving their horses to one who was already waiting passed in by a side door and so up some narrow creaking stairs into a small panelled chamber where will was left alone


he had not been here very long when tile door was softly opened and there en tered to him a cavalier wlhose face was concealed beneath a black mask


will stood upon his guard and scrutinised this figure from head to foot


the form was that of a man pretty far advanced in life butt of a firm and stately carriage


his dress was of a rich and costly kind but so soiled and disordered that it was scarcely to be recognised for one of those gorgeous suits which tle expensive taste and fashion of the time prescribed for men of any rank or station


he was booted and spurred and bore about hiim even as many tokens ofthe state of the roads as vwill him


sell


all tils her notedwhile the eyes behind the mask regarded him with equal attention


this sur


i vey over the cavalier broke silence


d thourt young and bold and wouldst be richer t than thou art


the two first i am returned will


the last i have scarcely thought of


but be it so


say that t i would be richer than i am what then


the way lies before thee now replied the mask show it me


first let me inform thee that thou wert brought f hero tonight lest ihou shouldst too soon have told thy tale to those who placed thee on the watch


thought as much when i followed said will


but i am no blab not i t good returned the mask


now listen


t lie who was to have executed the enterprise of bury


ing that body which as thou hast suspected was a taken down tonight has left us in our need


will nodded and thought within himself that if the mask were to attempt to play any tricks the i first eyelethole on the lefthand side of his doublet counting from the buttons up the front would be a very good place in which to pink him neatly


thou art here and the emergency is desperate


i propose this task to thee


convey the body now coffined in this house by means that i shall show to the church of saint dunstan in london to morrow night and thy service shall be richly paid


thou rt about to ask whose corpse it is


seek not to know


i warn thee seek not to know


felons hang in chains on every moor and hgath believe as others do that this was one and ask no further


the murders of stale policy its victims or avengers had best remain unknown to such as thee


the mystery of this service said vill be


speaks its danger


what is the reward p one hundred golden unities replied the cava


lier


the danger to one who cannot be recognised as the friend of a fallen cause is not great but there is some hazard to be run


decide between that and the reward


what if i refuse said will


depart in peace in gods name returned the mask in a melancholy tone anti keep our secret remembering that those who brought thee here were crushed and stricken women and that those who bade thee go free could have had thy life with one word and no man the wiser


mlen were readier to undertake desperate adven tures in those times than they are now


in this ease the temptation was great and the punishment even in case of detection was not likely to be very severe as will came of a loyal stock and his uncle was in good repute and a passable tale to account for his possession of the body and ignorance of the identity might be easily devised


the cavalier explained that a covered cart had been prepared for the pur pose that the time of departure could be arranged so that he should arrive at london bridge at dusk and proceed through the city after the day had closed in that people would be ready at his journeys end to place the coffin in a vault without a minutes delay that oflicious enquirers in the streets would be easily repelled by the tale that he was carrying for inter


menat the corpse of one who had died of the plague and in short showed him every reason why he shotld succeed and none why he should fail


after a time they were joined by another gentleman masked like the first who added new arguments to those which had been already urged thie wretched wife too added her tears and prayers to their calmer representations and in the end wall moved by comnpassion and good nature by a love of the marvellous by a mischievous anticipation of the terrors of the kingston people when he shoud be missing next day and finally by the prospect of gain took upon himself the task and devoted all his energies to its successful execution


the following night when it was quite dark the hollow echoes of old london bridge responded to the rumbling of the cart which contained tihe ghastly load the object of will markss care sufficiently disguised to attract no attention by his garb will walked at the horses head as unconcerned asa man could be whole was sensible that lie had now arrived at the most dangerous part of his undertaking but full of boldness and confidence


it was now eight oclock


after nine none could walk the streets without danger of their lives and even at this hour robberies and murder were of no uncommon occurrence


the shops upon the bridge were all closed the low wooden arches through tihe way were like so many black pits in every one of which illfavoured fellows lurked in knots of three or four some standing upright against the wall lying in wait others skulking in gateways and thrusting out their uncombed heads and scowling eyes others crossing and recrossing and constantly jostling both horse and man to provoke a quarrel others stealing away and summoning their compa nions in a low whistle


once even in this short passage there was the noise of scuffling and the clash of swords behind him but will who knew the city and its ways kept straight on and scarcely turned his head


the streets being unpaved the rain of the night before had converted them into a perfect quagmire which the splashing waterspouts from the gables and the filth and offal cast from the different houses swelled in no small degree


these odious matters being left to putrefy in the close and heavy air emitted an insupportable stench to wlhich every court and passage poured forth a contribution of its own


many parts even of the main streets with their projecting stories tottering overhead and nearly shutting out the sky were more like huge chimneys than open ways


at the corners of some of these great bonfires were burning to prevent infection from the plague of which it was rumoured that some citizens had lately died and few who availing themselves of tihe light thus afforded paused for a moment to look around them would have been dis posed to doubt the existence of the disease or wonder at its dreadlul visitations


but it was not in such scenes as these or even in the deep and miry road that will mlarks found the chief obstacles to his progress


there were kites and ravens feeding in the streets the only scavengers the city kept who scented what lie carried followed the cart or fluttered on its top and croaked their know ledge of its burden and their ravenous appetite for prey


there were distant fires where tihe poor wood sand plaster tenements wasted fiercely and whithler crowds made tlheir way clamouring eagerly for plunder beating down all who came within their reach and yelling like devils let loose


there were singlehanded men flying from bands of ruffians who pursued them with naked weapons and hunted them savagely there were drunken desperate robbers issuing from their dens and staggering through the sopen streets whlere no man dared molest them there were vagabond servitors returning from the sbeargarden where they had seen good sport that day dragging after them their torn and bleeding dogs or sleaving them to die and rot upon the road


nothing was abroad but cruelty violence and disorder


bolany were the interruptions which will marks r encountered from these stragglers and many the narrow escapes he made


now some stout bully would take his seat upon the cart insisting to be driven to his owvn home and now two or three men swould come down upon him together and demand that on peril of his life he showed them what hie had i inside


thetn a party of tite city watch upon their rounds would draw across the road and not satisfied vwith his tale question him closely and revenge them selves by a little cuffing and hustling for maltreat ment sustained at other hands that night


all these sassailants had to be rebutted some by fair words some by fosl and some by blows


but will marks was not the man to be stopped or turne i back now i he had penetrated so far and though he got on slowly still he made his way down fleetstreet and reached the church at last


as had been forewarned all was in readiness


directly he stopped the coffin was removed by four men who sppeared so suddenly that they seemed to have started from the earth


a fifth mounted the cart and scarcely allowing will time to snatch sfrom it a little bundle containing such of his own sclothes as hie lhad thrown off on assuming his dis guise drove briskly away


will never saw the cart sor man again


s


he followed the body into tite church and it was i well


ihe lost no time in doing so for the door was immediately closed


there was no light in the building save that which came from a couple of storches borne by two men in cloaks who stood uppn y the brink of a vault


eaes supported a female sfigure and all oblserved a profound silence


by this dim and solemn glare which mide will feel as though light itself were dead and its tomb the dlreary arches that frowned above they placed a the colin in the vault with uncovered heads and i closed it up


one of the torchbearers then turned y to will and stretched forth his hand in which was a spurse of gold something told him directly that those were the same eyes he had seen beneath tihe a mask


rake it said the cavalier in a low voice and be happy


though these have been hasty obsequies and no priest has blessed the work lthere will not be the less peace with thee hereafter for having laid his bonesbesalde those of his little chil


dren


keep thy own counsel for thy sake no less than ours and god be with thee the blessings of a widowed mother on thy head good friend l cried the younger lady throung her tears i the blessing of one who has now no hope or rest but in this grave


will stood with the purse in his hand and invo luntarily made a gestuo as though he would return it for though a thoughtless fellow he was of a frank and generous nature


but the two gentlemen extinguished their torches cautioned him to be gone as their common salety would be endangered by a longer delay and at the same time their re treating footsteps sounded througlh the church


lie turned therefore towards the point at which he had entered and seeing by a faint gleamin the distance that the door was again partially open groped his way towards it and so passed into the street


meantime the local authorities of kingston had kept watch and ward all the previous night fancying every now and then that dismal shrieks were borne towards them on the wind and frequently winking to each other and drawing closer to the fire as they drank the health of the lonely sentinel upon whom a clerical gentleman present was especially severe by reason of his levity and youthful folly


two or three of the gravest in company who were of a theological turn propounded to him the question whether such a character was not but poorly armed for a single combat tvith the devil and whether he himself would not have been a stronger opponent but the clerical gentleman sharply reproving them for their presumption in discussing such questions clearly showed that a fitter champion than will could scarcely have been selected not only for that being a child of satan he was the less likely to be alarmed by the appearance of his own father but because satan himself would be at his ease in such company and would not scruple to kick up his heels to an extent which it was quite certain he would never venture before clerical eyes under whose influence as was notorious he became quite a tame and milkandwater character


but when next morning arrived and with it no will marks and when a strong party repairing to the spot as a strong party ventured to go in broad day oteund ill gone and the gibbet empty matters grew serious indeed


the day passing away and no news arriving and the night going on also without intelligence the thing grew more tremendous still in short the neighbourhood worked itself up to such a comfortable pitch of mystery and horror that it is a question whether the general feeling was not one of excessive disappointment when on the second morning will marks returned


however this may be back will came in a very cool and collected state and appeared not to trouble himself much about anybody except old john podgers who having been sent for was sitting in thle town hall crying slowly and dozing between whiles


ilaving embraced his uncle and assured him of his safety will mounted on a table and told ihis story to the crowd


and surely they would have been the most unrea sonable crowd that ever assembled together if they had been in the least degree disappointed with the tale le told them for besides describing the witches dance to the minutest motion of their legs and performing it in character on the table with the assistance of a broomstick hie related how they had carried ofelf the body in a copper cauldron and so bewitched him that he lost his senses until he found himself lying under a hedge at least ten miles off when lie had straightway returned as they then beheld


the story gained such universal applause that it soon afterwards brought down from london the great witehfinder of the age the heavenborn hopkins who having examined will closely on several points pronounced it the most extraordinary and the best accredited witch story ever known under which title it was published at the three bibles on london bridge in small quarto with a view of the cauldron from an original drawing and a portrait of the clerical gentleman as lie sat by the fire


on one point will was particularly careful and that was to describe for the witches he had seen three impossible old females whose likenesses never were or will be


thus he saved the lives of the suspected parties and of all other old women who were dragged before him to he identified


this circumstance occasioned john podgers much grief and sorrow until happening one day to cast his eyes upon his housekeeper and observing her to be plainly afflicted with rheumatism he procured her to be burnt as an undoubted witch


for this service to the state he was immediately knighted and became from that time sir jolhn podgers


wvll marks never gained any clue to the mystery in which lie had been an actor nor did any inscrip tion in the church which he often visited afterwards nor any of the limited inquiries that he dared to make yield him the least assistance


as lie kept his own secret le was compelled to spend the gold discreetly and sparingly


in course of time hie mar ried the young lady of whom i have already told you whose maiden nameis not recorded with whom he led a prosperous and happy life


years and years after this adventure it was his wont to tell her upon a stormy night that it was a great comfort to him to think that those bones to whomsoever they might have once belonged were not bleaching in the troubled air but were mouldering away with the dust of their own kith and kindred in a quiet grave


to be continued


milmttor the story o


a feather


g euslt jkrrsl


a storyfrom punch


ciiapteb xxxviii


continued from our last


i am left in clives dressingroom


colloquy with a hares foot


faip would liiieer on the lories of the greenroom fain dwtu upon the deliaousnessof that fairy scene in which men and women seemed exempt from all the cares ye from the bleak coldness of mere human life making to themselves an existence of sweetest ease and happiest excitement


malice envy and slander might be there but reader say where they are not and what an amaranthine bank that ill bewhut a halfway restingplace to heaven for human weariness


for my part wat so happy smelling and plucking the roses about ne that never thought of the slugs and creeping things that might be at their roots


and then i had seen so much of high lifewhich i suppose means life nearest heaventhat i had become tolerant of the failings of those living in the lower stories and cellars of the worlds babel poor things in dim ness dwelling denied the elevating influence of the starry host which ruins down wise humility on the topmast tenants


an actor is a creature of conceit


such is the reproof flung upon poor buskin


how


indeed is it possible that he should escape the sweet malady


you take a man of average clay you breath in him a divine afflatus you fill him with the words of a poet a wit a humourist he is even when he knows it not raised sublimated by the foreign nature within him


garrick enters as macbeth


what a storm of shouts what odoriferous breath in bravos seething and melting the actors heart


is it possible that this man so fondled so houted to so dandled by the world ein at bedtime take off the whole of macbeth with lils stockings


ile is always some thing more than david garrick householder in tho adelphi


he continually euri us about him pieces of greatness not his own his moral self is encased in a harlequins jacketthe patches from parnassus


the being of the actor is multiplied it is cast for a time in a hundred different moulds hence what a puzzle and a difficulty for david to pick david and nothing more than david from the many runnings i


and then an actor by his position takes his draughts of glory so hot and so spicedsee there are hundreds of bands holding to liim smoking gobletsthat he must much of his time live in a sweet intoxication which forsooth hardthinking people call conceit


to other folks reputation comes with a more gentle more divine approach


you sir have carved a venus whose marble mouth would smile paralysis from nestor you have painted a picture and with promethean trick have fixed a fire from heaven on the canvas you have penned a book and made tens of thousands of bruins musical with divinest humanitykings have no such music from cymbals snekbut and psalteryand to each of you reputation comes silently like a fairy through your study keyhole you quaff renown refined cold drawn cold as castoroil and sir if you be a true philosopher you will swallow it as a thing no less medicinal


let me however get back to my story


the play was over and for the night i was left in airs


clive dressingroom


had i felt it achieved the most complete stage triumph and from the fulness of a cuntcnted soul sighed gently happily


my future path seemed to me a path of satin and spangles and in the completeness of my success all the sordidncss and squalor of my past life faded into a dream nothing to me seemed real but the glory of the present


again f fetched a deeper and a deeper sigh


whats all these airs about cried a coarse voice with something of a rustic twang


i started but in a moment discovered that the speaker was a haresfoot whose duty it was to touch the honest cheeks of kitty clive with stagerouge


i suppose you think yourself somebody said the haresfoot


pretty conceit indeed as felt myself no match for the speaker i meekly replied that i had no intention of offending anybody by unseemly affectation but that i hoped some indulgence might be granted me as a young beginner the more especially after the exciting events of the night


it was impossible i humbly submitted to receive so much applause and not be a little moved


its like the whole tribe of ye cried the haresfoot with a sneering laugh


applause to you


where would the npplausc have been but for me


why kitty clive would imve looked a ghost a spectre a thing out of a shroud but for my redt twas who gave something like youthful blood to her face and sparkle to her eye and so have i helped her year alter year


whilst youwhat are you at the best but a supernumerary flourish a thing that rives neither fire nor expression nor any other quality


hut then i own it you are seen you are a thing waving in the eyes of the world and though in my opinion not worth a groat you are gaped at nd bepraised whilst i who give good gifts in secret i am unthought of or despised


spite of my vanity my conscience told mc there was some truth in this


hence addressing the haresfoot in the mildest manner i begged to know if it hud been long in the profession


i have painted every thing replied the haresfoot from juliets down to the old women


ila


i no doubt you have sighed fur the freedom of your african wilderness you have yearned


yes answered hastily but never less than now


this life appears to mc delicious


indeed i know no condition so blissful


poor wretch cried the haresfoot with a contemptuous groan


shall i ever forget the sweetness of my liberty


the fresh perfumed dew that bathed my infant paws i al y adult gambols by moonlight


the sweet springgrass and beds of thymeand sweeter felony committed upon early peas in kitthengarden


nights of my youth iragant and nimble was the air around me aud freshness was in all my steps


then was i guileless even to simplicity


i was slain and from that hour have been made an instrument of deception


oh the false paintings i have done oh the cracked and faded human canvas i have daubed and daubed and passed upon man for heavens painting


there was an earnestness in these words that interested me


how were you killed asked according to act of parlia ment or nocried the haresfoot with much satisfaction i was not coursed and worried and torn to pieces according to the statute


no i thank my stars i was humanely poached


there might have been in my case more honour in dying by the laws of my country but us far as i can conceive of the matter snaring must be much less painful


nevertheless said the haresfoot with a sudden touch of melancholy all my career has been mean and miserable


would you think it


i was even cooked without gravy and dished without currant jelly


an exclamation of sympathy suddenly escaped me


you have heard continued the haresfoot that i was ioacbed


i believe i owed my death to an unsophisticated ove of the english drama


yes hodge peastraw lacking the price of admission to the barn of biggleton elevated for a time into a theatrical temple took me as a mysterious present to bellowly the manager


mr liellowly vaunted an everlast ing devotion to the laws of his country nevertheless mrs bellowly had at the time a strange mysterious yearning for hare and the manager sacrificed the feelings of the patriot to the tenderness of the husband


hodge gave me poached and slaughtered meto bellowly and liellowly who was that night to play othello gavu hodge an order for the show


hence added the haresfoot with a slight laugh in the bargain that bartered me there was murder op both sides


ho your flesh said became a dinner to the managers family and peastraw was never suspected saapected


cried the haresfoot


mr liellowly took care of that at the same time doing what was needful for his own dignity


he dropped a large blot of sealingwax upon my forehead then writing an address to achmet bellowly esq with the lady of the manors admiring compliments tied the document to my hindlegs and caused me to be delivered to him during rehearsal in the bosom of his whole company


nevertheless i was set ved up i may say it in undress for the manager could not in private life rise lo currantjelly


i was eaten said the haresfoot with a sigh i was eaten without the honours


and your feet


i asked


m my fellow forepaw wat at once consigned to paint the heavy old men and general utility


fortune alone can tell what hat become of it but if there be anything a what the players call sympathy i think it bat sunk to the shows for ttery year feel i strange low yearnings toward


bartlemy fair


aud yourself i i ttlced


what wat your career for you have strangely interested me


yon are very kind answered the foot in a slightly satirical tone


i became the property of mr liellowlys litt


belvidere foot little thing i sha was killed for a geniusr pray explain said i you must know said the haresfoot that it hat been ordered by naturewhether wisely or not i will not answer lbatevery manager who ii a father hat a genius that is he possesses a wonderful child who hu ben privately suckled by the tragic muse and taught the witching ways of comedy by thalia poor beltidera wat this doomed wonder


hence i wbs set aside to rouge her little baby checks to paint out the fresh hue of childhoodto overlay it with midnight red


poor waxen puppet


she laved according to rote the laughed a parrot laugh she ogled she simpered the deformed the frank face of babyhood with the taught tricia of the woman and grown fools applauded and wondered and critd a miracle


the marvel went on and at length mr bellowly gave us as he declared a very flourishing circuit of barnsfor no man mora beautifully combind agricultura with the dratruto devote himself wholly to th intcrttti of hit darling btlvldera


and the daily warfob of mr ballowly incraamd in lustre and witchandctin


ant ring and other ornamasis which even phrtotroprierr whilst they dttplm them wear out of respect to th world became the property of mt devoted father who that spit of


uki worldmtfrftt badenied the benefit of belvideras genius would modatcentliiiglj xhikil h even in wayside inns at taverns clubs in all placet and befor all societies


and th poor child


wit coaxed and petted and hotstippered into a belief of its own greatness and into the reality of a low and mortal sickness


felt its cheek now hot and clammy a night after night wat made to lay on more and more paint and wat aaturatf that the creature wat laughing anddanchtgftbml laumming ten night nearer and nttret to iii


htti grava


andatill mr bellowly would in hiblind and pass his ringencumbered hand athwart his chin when the meanest and most stolid biped fraction of the world would speak of that sweet little dear his daughter to the which praise the manager would merely reply ho knew not how it was that heaven had blessed bim of all men in that manner but he was a happy father


time went on continued the haresfoot and bel videra grew worse


the coughthat herald of the churchbell seized her nevertheless air


mellowly declared twas nothing merely symptomatic of the measles and she couldnt have them in a butter season


at this time the child played at a country theutre where mrs clive acted


what think you maam of my darling bulvideru asked bellowly


i think her said kitty in her sharp quiet wayfor she cuts as silently as a pickpockets knife i think her the cleverest corpse ever thought to see


heavensi maam cried bellowly


i tell you man said kitty outcrying him youll have that childs blood upon your hands as surely as those rings her blood has bought


oh there was a long todo i at last mrs clive per suaded bellowlyand as i think not without hard money to take the child from the staue


and she had the poor thing up to london and sent doctors and physicians and day after day would nurse her herself


but all would not do


the little waxen wonder wasted and wasted and at length bellowly aghast saw his infant miracle about to die


the little creature was meek ulibctionate intelligent


i shall die she said to clive i m sure of itund


oh it is io strange i do not seem to fear it


wish you would let me give you somethingit is the only thing that ever was mine


dont look at it till im dead but pray take it


clive with her heart gushing at her eyes dumb and strangling with emotion suffered the child to place the gift in her hand


the child died


clive opened the paper and found tho gift to be myself


to be oontinuoj articles omitted fi oin our last number


our vindication of the claims of bishop nixon has been characterized by a correspondent in the colonial times assuming the imposing designation of vigi lantius as a ramblingand by another in the obsetver under the signature of z as a strangely rambling article remarkable for pretension and illogical deduction


with these erudite gentlemen we presume the rejoinder of the colonial times wandering into mattera altogether apart from the specific subject at issue and catching at every straw to throw into the scale against dr nixon is a choice specimen of close and consecutive argument


or perhaps since they pride themselves on their logic they may rejoice together in the beautiful example with which vigilantius kindly supplies us of syllogistic acumen


last year there was not found one scholar out of in merchant tailors school fitting to proceed to st johns


francis russell nixon had in a previous year been found fitting


therefore ftancis bussell nixon obtained a fellow ship as a matter of course and not of fitting merit


we remember however that we are at the antipodes


we therefore dismiss z with the remark that we asserted no extent of prerogative or power in behalf of dr nixon beyond what ordinarily attaches to the episcopal office in the anglican church and that this antagonist of pretension has therefore taken the trouble to assail an edifice built up by a train of logical deduction peculiarly his own


we leave him in the complacent enjoy ment of the victory he has thus honourably achieved


now turn we to the leader of the faction and his able coadjutor


we may however in the first place briefly observe in answer to the charge of rambling that not one single point was adverted to in the article so designated which had not pro


viously formed a specific subject of animadversion in the columns of the colonial times and that as we before stated we should have considered such attacks undeserving of notice hut for their persevering iteration and the inference which seemed to prompt to such a course that they admitted of no reply


it has been again and again asserted that dr nixons academical position was not such as to warrant the distinction conferred upon him and that his claim tu the title uf lord bishop was founded in empty assumptionin some ambitious desire to attain the titular precedence awarded to the prelates of england


to these points our justification was confined and there was not the remotest intention of defending the general course which the right rev prelate has thought proper to adopt convinced though we are that that course admits of ample vindication


had we entered on this subject as our opponent takes occasion to do we might with some show of reason have been accused of rambling


that the unhallowed feelings to which we before gave a name have had a share in the work of detraction is borne out in the present instance by the insinuation that dr nixon was himself the author of the justification in ques tion and by the fact that in order to accomplish the objects of the faction the established reputation of the school at which he was educated and the college to which he belonged are unsparingly impugned


had his lordship produced that article or had he been even remotely cognizant of its pro duction it is more than probable that the error would have been avoided into which we inadvertently fell in naming dr manners sutton instead of dr howley as the present lord archbishop of canter bury


with respect then to merchant tailors school on which vigilantius so triumphantly dilates we may be permitted to remark that admitting the correctness of the statements with which he has fur nished himself from so redoubtable an authority had he been according to his own classic phraseology a free gratis fornothing boy at that same school it is highly probable with anything like a common capacity he would have favoured us with a more satisfactory proof of his good education than his present exhibition supplies


we consider it how ever unnecessary to say more in reference to the foundation statutes of merchant tailors school and the subsequent advancement of scholars to oxford than to express our hope that at some future period vigilantius will enlighten us from his history of london or some other standard authority as to the means by which the captain of the eton monter is annually placed at cambridge


we may perhaps discover that the mode in which this is accomplished is derogatory to the attainments of the scholar so sent and destructive of his future pretensions and prospects


merchant tailors school has fellowships and scholarships at stjohns but then vigilantius assumes that all these fellowships are annually vacant and that consequently amongst so great a number of competitors some might occasionally creep in as a matter of course and without desert


now we may mention as a parallel case that kings college cambridge has seventy fellowships and scholarships which are filled by a regular succession from eton the number of vacancies being aboatfive per annum


taking this as a datum we may fairly calculate that the annual number of vacancies at st johns to be supplied from merchant tailors school cannot exceed four or five


this makes a material difference in the case and renders election an object of no easy attainment


how severe is the test may be inferred from the fact that out of boys under the instruction of the mott eminent masters and with every stimulus to exertion and emu lation not one was found last year to come up to the required standard of excellence


but then says vigilantius dr nixon is not to be found in any of the cianea of honors at oxford search where you may


if vigilantius will take the trouble to starch in an oxford calendar instead of his hittory of london he will find the name of francis russell nixon of st johns college in the list of classical honors for


so much for his veracious assertions


we briefly remark on the legal provi sion rendering incapable persons ordained by a colonial bishop of holding preferment as ministers of the established church in england and ireland motives of policy atd admitting of ready explanation without provingthat a bishop is not a bishop


the want of spaci forbids us to enlarge and we therefore hastily diswse of the decorous considera tion of the colonial times by the simple fact that it was neither the acceptance of a foreign chaplaincy nor his devotion t the peaceful enjoyments of domestic life that n the case of dr nixon formed so commanding a daim to episcopal honors but his preachership at canterbury where he formed one of the six preacrers selected by the lord arch bishop himself that irought him under the immediate notice of his grace tnd eventually recommended him as eminently worthy to take the superintendence of the newlyconstitutel diocese of tasmania


as to the per saltum o mandamus degree we might adduce the parallel case of almost every english bishop at present cn the bench


we will content ourselves with tha of dr connop thirlwalla name not unknown o famewho at the time of his appointment to the bishopric of saint davids held only his degree of ilastcr of arts and received by mandamus a corresponding academical distinction


it was no more dengatory to dr nixon not to have regularly proceeded than to dr connop thirlwall


we canonly add in conclusion on points that might be almost interminably extended that those can hardly obtain credit for really understanding the subject who can talk so authoritatively about per saltum degrees wrangler and senior and junior optime at mord


before we close we beg to assure z that we require no


thanks from dr nixon


unsolicited we undertook the duty and unthankej we have an ample reward in the satisfaction of doing justice and vindicating merit


the settler ciiaiteh viii


nidf


to st iieliehs


hakdv rose from his slumbers in the bark wigwam with increased energy capable of again renewing the fatigues of the day


the morning broke with great beauty after the storm that liail cleared the air


the first sunbeams darted from behind the mountains that skirted the horizon and played upon the dewspanglcd grass


nature appeared to rejoice in her existence


the laughing jackasses were chattering as if each with leathered perriwig and brief in hand were exerting all his eloquence to bewilder a jury the sweet tingle of the bell bird seemed to reverberate in the ccrra jong valley and he ground lark was ca rolling in his morning song


as soon as the young settler turned out handy in formed him of his intention of paying a visit to his old friend over the mountains


you mean the colonel said the young man he is an intimaie acquaintance of our family


you will probably find him at home though his principal residence is at port stephen since his appointment to manage the companys affairs but he has been in this neighbourhood for some days having just returned from a visit to ihe out stations over the liverpool range


if you have no objection i ivil


ride with you after breakfast and perhaps t may get some seed from his gardener


there was a frank ness and ease of manner in the young set tler that won handys heart and showed that his new acquaintance had been accus tomed to good society


of course the offer of his company on the road was one that handy gladly accepted


the horses were in front of the wigwam shortly after breakfast and the travellers took tlieir de parture up the range on the west side of the currajong valley


when lliey had arrived at the summit handy begged of his young friend to pull up for a moment that he might admire the prospect around him which was one of uncommon richness


that said ihe young man pointing lo the westward is the valley of tlie goul burn


those blue mountains in ihe ex treme distance are part of the great range dividing ihe waters of the eastern portion of this country from those that fall into basss straits and prpbably some to the westward out of which we know nothing


all tlie intervening country that you per ceive so thinly timbered is favoiable for the grazing of sheep a great deal of it beingof limestoneformation


the junction of the goulbourn with the hunter is a little to the left just at the end of the plaio where you see the ploughed ground and that small hut the opening beyond is greigs creek upon which there are slill some portions of good land unlocated


the valley on your left bounded uy uiosc high and conical mountains is the one through which doyles creek runs the baldface mountain on the western side of the valleys mouth and overlooking the hunter opposite my place is a very useful land mark as the peculiarity of its face on this side distinguishes it from all the other mountains many of which are nearly of the same form


these great stones that are scattered about here are all petrified branches of trees


handy dismounted and upon examination found many of them so perfect that if they had not been pointed out as petrifactions he should lave looked upon them as pieces of wood in their natural stale


remounting he took a last look up the valley of the goul bourn so openly limbered that it presented the appearance of an english park


that is mount arthur a head of us said his friend the mountains in the distance be yond are those of the liverpool range there is good country in that direction but very subject to drought


in this way they chatted until they reached the newly opened great road running along tlie crest of the range


the first objects that at tracted handys attention were some eagles of prodigious size which had taken pos session and were feasting upon the carrion of a bullock that appeared to have fallen from exhaustion


these emperors of the feathered tribe appeared quite undis turbed at the approach of the travellers


now said the young man can take you a short cut to the colonels establish ment unless you prefer the great road


i hate a great road at all times replied handy unless


i have artillery heavy baggage or a family coach to move so i beg that you will do quartermastergeneral for us by directing die movements of the column


on they then jogged through an open forest at the top of the range till descending by an easy slope they found themselves at the margin of a dry water course which die youth designated as musclebrook this they crossed and soon came lo an opening leading round some very neat huts detached from each other and within separate gardens neatly enclosed and well kept


the huts were all ranged in line they were built of slabs plastered and whitewashed and the chimneys were of wrought stone


the road in their front was broad and wellformed


there wanted but a similar range on the other side and a church to give it the appearance of a very pretly english village


these are the huts of the colonels assigned servants said the young man he takes great pride in them and gives a premium for the best kept and the neatest garden


leave you to judge if there is any want of comfort on this establishment


a little further down the valley they were now in they reached a large and substantially fenced stockyard on the right of which an extensive range of stables and a mill worked by three horses the supply of water in the course behind being too precarious to admit of an overshot mill


fast the mill was a low neat cottage out of which on tbe approach of the travellers fitepta pretty young dambel who recognised r tlie young settler and addressed him by name


she then went in to apprise her father of the arrival of the travellers but the young man alighted without ceremony and seeing a servant coming from tbe direction of tbe stable ordered liim to take the horses and give them a good feed you appear to be quite at home here observed handy and your preferring the ride across the country lo tbe great road is now accounted for those blue eyes are the attraction


suppose faith shes very pretty


this place answered the young man was my home for a considerable time but there is no part of the country between sydney and darling downs where i am not at home


at this moment the father of the lassie a elout jollylooking farming man came to the door


baying come in lad come in bring in your friend we are just sitting down to dinner and im thinking youll no be the worse of a bit after your ride fer guson will mind ibe beasts


they entered and handy being introduced to die gude wife they sat down and assisted in demo lishing a mountain of mutton chops fol lowed up by a tureen of curdled milk and a pile of fritters


during the dinner tbe superintendent for such the father of the damsel was observed you itave met the colonel be is away two hours ago and the captain with him to newcastle


no replied the young man we have missed him by riding across the country


i am sorry for it as my friend here came purposely to see him


ah said the superintendent it would be very unlike you to keep the great road


you would not miss the chance of a gallon after a native dog im expecting youll be break ing your neck one of these days with your mad riding


i suppose youll be for riding at the mailland races but youll no get one of the colonels horses promise you though i dont doubt if he were here lied be likely enough to run filho da puta for he is as fond of the sport as you are and if it were not that his old wound some times troubles him i would not be surprised at his riding himself


what wound is that enquired handy but he has had so many that it is no wonder he feels the effect of them


tis the last said the superintendent do you not know that he carries in his body at this moment the musket ball he received at waterloo i am sometimes afraid for him for a belter soldier never fought nor a better man ever breathed tliojgh he is my roaster


but hell be glad to see you at tahlee if you happen to go that way


well what say you


youd maybe like to look at the house if you are not too tired


therell no be time to ride to segenhoe today well get fresh horses there are plenty of them here juet now there never was such a man as the colonel for horses


let me have rob roy said the young man


oh i suppose you wanl to be loping over the fences said the superintendent well well you must een hare your own way it is not often you come to see us


one of yon sydney lassie will be picking you up one of these days and that will sober you ill warrant


in this way the trio strolled on to the stables where they found some wellbred horses and among them old satellite the fuller of the australian stud


rob roy and paxaro were soon saddled for the two guests the superintendent rode his own horse and they moved on at a foot pace just to assist the digestion first crossing the brook near ibe cottage then by an open country road skirting tbe hills on their right until they came to a carefully made road between the hills and a garden of considerable extent when by a slight ascent they reached the mansion of st heliers overlooking a rich alluvial and well cultivated plain three miles in length closed in on the left or northern side by mountains some or wlilch were or consider able elevation with conical tops


on the right the mountains receded more from tbe banks of the river a small glimpse of which was afforded by a bend a tittle below the ground on which ihe house stood


in the distance there were some mountains of picturesque form and clothed in that beautiful pearly grey so peculiar to australian scenery


the plain itself was subdivided into large enclosures substantially and regularly fenced with split timber


the clearing bad been effected with discrimination and taste the handsomest trees and clumps of trees being left for the sake of ornament and as shelter for the cattle during the heat of tbe day


with his mouth half open and his eyes fixed


handy sat like a statue charmed by the picture before him till being aroused by some observations on the part of the superintendent he exclaimed my friend is a happy man


and know no one who better deserves to be so or who appreciates the beauties of nature more than lie does


he may surety now apply to himself the language of cowper


had i the choiee of sublunary good what would lib that poisen not here see said the superintendent the gardener is come with the key of the house perhaps you would like to step in though it is but partially finished as the whole family are staying at port stephens


handy stopped for a moment to look at the exterior which presented a chaste style of domestic architecture


the bouse was two stories high built of cut stone the principal front being a segment of a circle round wliich was a colonnade of fluted doric columns the entrance was on the side towards the garden they had passed all appeared to be in perfect keep ing with the beautiful scenery the mansion commanded


the interior notwithstanding the scantiness of tbe furniture was the picture of neatness


it consisted on the ground floor of a good sized drawingroom a dining room and a small sanctum the offices being all a little detached


the upper part was divided into sleeping apart ments and dressingrooms of moderate size reached by a stone staircase of con venient breadth and easy ascent


well observed handy as he descended the stairs this is a place fit for a gentleman to iive in


i am sure no man of moderate income need regret leaving england if be could ensure himself the possession of such an estate as this


what quantity of land is here


altogether about tea thousand acres here replied the superintendent but that is insufficient to keep all the stock so the colonel has formed another large estab lishment away beyond the boundaries in a country he calls new england because he finds the climate something like old england and im thinking youll need go there too if you are looking for land at all this part of die country is taken up long ago


i do not feel disposed to go be yond tbe boundaries if i can avoid it replied handy for my wife would despair of salvation if sbe did pot go to church every sunday


hoot man said the superintendent does she not know that the most high dwelleth not in temples made with hands


do not i fill heaven and earth with tbe lord


thus saith the lord the heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool where is the house that ye build unto me


and where is the place of my rest


for all those tbidgs has mine hand made


yes ses nduj hwdy e feel all that but fot sake of public example if there were no other motive my wife likeatogo to church as she fancies that the service has not the same effectupon the people when read by a man in mufti bb when it comen through ihe legitimate lungs of a parson with a bur plice on and i am inclined to agree with i hew thatrespect i for even he sound of i a church bell had an effect on the callom i heart of napoleon


yaterday evenine


i said he when walking alone in ihe woods


i amidst the solitude of nature the distant i bell of the church of ruel struck my ear i involuntarily i felt emotionso powerful is i the influence of early habits and associations i i said to myself if feel this what roust i be the influence of uch impressions on simple and credulous men


let your philosophers your idealoques answer if they can


it is absolutely indispensable to have a religion for the people and not less o that that religion should be directed by the government but talking of napoleon what was that you told me of the colonels last wound


how did he get that musket ball you say he still carries in his body


i never heard from himself replied the superintendent but the father of this young gentleman and who was also a bro i ther campaigner of the colonel told me i that at the battle of waterloo the colonel i then major was aidedecamp lo general i byng who during the action sent him i with a message to the duke that in gal loping along he observed a body of our troops whose commanding officer had been put lion de combat in doubt as to tbeir proceedings be immediately like hardinge at albnera assumed the command and led them to the point of attack and then on turning to execute his mission to the duke he received die ball under his shoulder blade but his courage and powerful sense of duty sustained him while he still gal loped on


he reached the duke delivered his message and fell from his hone to all appearance dead


he was taken up how ever and conveyed to the village of water loo


on the wound being probed it was ascertained that the ball had entered the lungs and could not be extracted


for a long time his recovery was despaired of but his equanimity of temper and fine con stitution saved his life


i wilt not vouch for die accuracy of the account but you have it as it reached me


i have no doubt of its correctness said handy for it is so like the man