III. I love to smite hot Lust in his might, And to slay the man of a thousand crimes And to dull the brightness of Beauty's eye, OMNES. Horrible! horrible! horrible! SHEPHERD. O dreadfu'! Mr. Stoddart, ye hae spiled my sleep this nicht, I fear.-Come, gang away to bed, like gude callants, and pray that this horrible fiend may never enter our beloved Scotland to ravage its beautifu' and brave.-Gude nicht, gude nicht!-(Omnes exeunt.) SCENE III.-The kitchen.-Time Two o'clock in the morning.-By the dim light of the "kindling peat," the four younger Fishers are seen stowed away in two box beds, sound asleep. The Ettrick Shepherd standing on the floor, having come in search of water.—(speaks.) Weel might Sancho exclaim-" Heaven's blessing on the man who first invented sleep, it wraps one all round like a blanket." Blest omnipresence! thou canst extend thy sway from the frozen regions of the north to the land where fruits and blossoms succeed ane anither in never ceasing round beneath the genial influence o' an eternal summer!—and thou canst give thy sweet gifts to the sma'est part o' this vast space;-thou canst wrap thy downey mantle o'er half the world, and concentrate the whole o' thy benignant influence on the weary traveller who lieth down by the road side wi' his scanty bundle for a pillow, an' naething but the eemage o' the dying mother, whose eyes he hopes to close, watching o'er his slumbers! Even frae the faces o' thae callants, a kind o' calm quietude seemeth to sink into my spirit, a moral tranquillity,—a sacred stillness. AUTHOR OF THE DEATH WAKE. (dreaming.) Oh! horrible! horrible! the grave earth chokes me! the lizard crawls through my hollow ribs! Terrible death! Oh! horror!-horror! (his voice sinks away in inarticulate murmurs.) SHEPHERD. Blessed Heaven! Who art thou? AUTHOR OF THE DEATH WAKE. (still sleeping.) I am Thomas Todd Stoddart, Author of the Death Wake, a Necromaunt, in three Chimeras: and now, fiend, begone! SHEPHERD. Imagination is an awfu' being, when pamper'd and blown into bloated and loathsome life like this! But where is Tibbie's water pitcher, I wonder?— AUTHOR OF THE DEATH WAKE. Oh! horrible! horrible! SHEPHERD. The puir callant's no gotten hydrophobia, I hope-I maun wauken him at a' events-Mr. Stoddart!-he's dead sound.-Thomas Todd Stoddart, Author o' the Death Wake, a Necromaunt, in three Chimeras,―awake! arise! AUTHOR OF THE DEATH WAKE. Begone! evil spirit-what seekest thou? SHEPHERD. The water pitcher, Mr. Stoddart.-Odd Sirs! AUTHOR OF THE DEATH WAKE. Bless me! Mr. Hogg is this you? Such horrid dreams as I have had! I thought I was dead, buried and rotting in dry mould, the which dropped down into my open throat and choaked me, and for all my prayers the foul grave reptile would not trail its slimy length down my parched gullet, to give me the only sensation of coolness which could be procured in that horrid place. SHEPHERD. It's a' that confounded saut Irish stew-I'm fit to moulder down mysel wi' verra thirst.-Where can the pitcher be? MERSHAUM. Hollo! Tibbie,-bring the loch here! we're all choking! PHILIPS. Here is the pitcher in the pantry.-Angels and ministers! The enemy is among us!-Some hairy beast brushed through my naked legs just now. -(Mershaum and the Author of the Death Wake roll down together struggling furiously; at length Mershaum staggers up, having choked the follower of Shelly.) MERSHAUM. What in the name of horror was that? Some dreadful being overthrew us;--I thought I was closing in the death grapple with some evil spirit, and lo! I have squeezed the throttle of Mr. Stoddart "ad deliquium." SHEPHERD. He's comin' about. Burn some brown paper aneath his nose, while I dismiss this spirit, if spirit he be. If ony man i' braid Scotland can warsle wi' an unyearthly cretur an' gie him a cross buttock, I'm the man.- -Whisht! By the red rowan berries Bless us! what's that awa' through the window! MERSHAUM. Ha, ha, ha! it's the advocate's pointer off with the cold roast shoulder of mutton! and now what shall we do for breakfast to-morrow? SHEPHERD. The pinter! odd! wha ever heard o'a pinter being taen for a spirit afore?-Come, to bed, to bed, and he's the best man that brings in a gude dish o' fish to breakfast the morn. (All tumble in again.) THOUGHTS OF AN ABSENT ONE. BY JOHN MACKAY WILSON. My early home! my early home! that cradled life and love, For her cheek smiles on my bosom now, that pined within thee then. Yet oft across our tide of joy a thought of thee will come,- Has change pass'd o'er the holy spot, where dropp'd our parting tear? O'er bosoms that beat gladly to a measure with our own, Now by the brae where sings the Tweed, the beach where shouts the [sea, I should but read how care had chased young gladness from their face. My early home is a dream of joy, from which with a sigh I wake,— It steals through my heart with a melting tone, like a harp on a moonlit lake, Its face may change and its friends depart, but its sea and its glorious river Will wait, and will welcome the exile's sight-the same, and the same for ever! LITERARY GOSSIP AND VARIETIES. The opera of Robert le Diable has been brought out at Paris with a splendour and success that form an epoch in the annals of the French stage. Nearly a year was spent in preparation, and the cost of its production was little short of 200,000 francs. The scenery is said by the French critics to be wonderful, even in the world of wonders, the Opera. It surpasses the magic effects of the famous Aladdin. Mr. Leigh Hunt's forthcoming novel of "Sir Ralph Esher" is written in the form of Memoirs of a Gentleman of Charles the Second's reign, so as to form a kind of "Pelham" of that period. The Rev. Mr. Stewart's account of a visit to the islands of the Pacific is now before the public. His object in undertaking a voyage to Polynesia was chiefly to assist in the dissemination of Christianity. VOL. I. T For this purpose he lived among the natives, and endeavoured to win their confidence. Mr. S's narrative is, therefore, more than usually interesting in its details. Mr. Murray, the kingly bookseller of London, has issued a prospectus and specimen of the first complete and uniform edition of Byron's works, including the letters and journals, together with the life of the author, by Thomas Moore, Esq. This splendid publication will appear in fourteen monthly volumes, corresponding in size and price with the Waverly Novels. The Letter-press and Embellishments are executed in the finest style. spirited and enterprising publisher no less a sum than Twenty-five The copy-right alone cost the Thousand pounds. Dutch literature has sustained an irreparable loss by the death of the celebrated poet Bilderdyk. He was buried on the 23d ult., with great pomp, in the principal church of Haarlem. Two individuals, of the names of Colthurst and Tyrwhitt, gentlemen by birth and education, are on the eve of departure from this country to explore the interior of Africa. They set out at their own expence, proceeding from Benin on the western coast, through to Egypt, their object being to solve the hitherto intricate problem of the Nile. Their hazardous undertaking is fraught with the deepest interest to the literary and scientific world. Mr. Melrose has in the press "Considerations on the Moral Causes, Objects, and Preventives of Pestilence:" to which are appended, from approved documents, "Directions for the Prevention and Treatment of Spasmodic Cholera." By the Rev. P. Macindoe, A. M. Chirnside. Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths. BIRTHS. At Hutton Mill, on the 23d Nov., Mrs. John Hastie, of a son. At Belford, on the 3d ult., the wife of William Brooks, Esq. of Moory Spot, in the county of Durham, of a son and heir. Here, on the 5th ult., Mrs. James Purves, of a son. On the 12th ult., the wife of Mr. Thomas Chartres, jun. ironmonger, High-street, of a son. MARRIAGES. On the 19th Nov. at Coldstream, Mr. George Murrey, only son of Mr. John Murrey, of Hebburn, to Miss Sarah Riddle, eldest daughter of Mr. Andrew Riddle, of West Newton. In Berwick Church, on the 23d Nov., Lieut. James Simpson, R. N. to Jane, 3d daughter of Mr. Robert Carr, druggist, High-street. On the 25th Nov., Mr. George Herbert, Comptroller of his Majesty's Customs of this port, to Miss Sarah Gibbens, daughter of Mr. William Gibbens, Cannon-street Road, London. At Edinburgh, on the 29th Nov., the Rev. Henry Riddell, minister of Longformacus, to Elizabeth, youngest daughter of the late John Horne, Esq., of Stirkoke. REGISTER OF BIRTHS, MARRIAGES & DEATHS. 147 On the 16th ult., at Berwick, Mr. John James, linen-draper, Great Southampton-street, London, to Agnes, eldest daughter of Mr. George Scott, tailor, Church-street. In Berwick Church, on the 26th ult., Mr. John Adamson, teacher, Castlegate, to Janet, daughter of Capt. Scott, Scott's Place. At Montrose, on the 2d inst., the Rev. John Craig of Brechin, to Catherine Holm, eldest daughter of the Rev. John Thomson, of Belford. DEATHS. On the 14th Nov. in this town, Mrs. Smith, midwife, aged 95. A journal, which Mrs. S. regularly kept, shews her to have been present at the birth of 5,512 children. At Craster Hall, near Alnwick, on the 19th Nov. much and deservedly lamented, Isabella, wife of Shafto Craster, Esq., aged 72. At Edinburgh, on the 20th Nov. Mrs. Christison, widow of Alexander Christison, Professor of Humanity in the University of Edinburgh, and mother of the Rev. A. Christison, Foulden. In this town, Nov. 28th, George F. Orde, of Longridge, Esq., one of his Majesty's Justices of the peace for the borough, aged 49. At Haggerston House, Dec. 3d, Sir Carnaby Haggerston, Bart., aged 76. On the 5th ult., at London, William Alexander, Esq., Solicitor, aged 40. Here, on Sunday, Dec. 11th., Miss Turnbull, aged 80. At Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh, on the 19th ult., John, son of the late Captain M'Laren, of Highlaws, near Eyemouth. On the 28th ult., Mr. John Cockburn, merchant, High-street, aged 56. At Edinburgh, on the 30th ult., James, third son of the late Rev. James Baird, minister of Swinton. At Berwick, on the 1st inst., the infant son of Mr. T. Chartres, jun., ironmonger. On the 5th inst., Mr. John Waugh, cornfactor, third son of the deceased Alex. Waugh, D. D., late of Well-street chapel, Oxfordstreet, London. On the 9th inst., Ann, infant daughter of Mr. D. Cameron, printer, aged 16 months. On the 11th inst., George Landles, second son of Mr. Wm. Paulin, Western Lane, aged 3 years. At Berwick, on the 14th inst., Margaret, wife of the Rev. James Thompson, missionary at Quilon, East Indies, and daughter of the late Mr. Johnson, dyer, of the former place, aged 31. She had lately returned home from her husband's station for the benefit of her health. To Readers and Correspondents. WE have great pleasure in announcing, that in all likelihood we shall be enabled, through the valuable services of a much esteemed friend, to lay before our readers in next Number an interesting Paper on the Antiquities, chiefly Monastic, of Berwick, in the different periods from its probable origin as a Town to the accession of James the Sixth of Scotland to the British throne. The promise, however, |