o' great straits and difficulties. I am, as I was saying, Mrs Ogle o' Balbogle, the relic o auld Balbogle.-O he was an excellent character, and if he had been to the fore, I wouldna hae needed to trouble you, Mr Jamphler, wi' ony complaint. But he's win awa' out o' this sinful world, and I'm a poor lanely widow; howsomever, Mr Jamphler, they tell me there's no the like o' you for making the widow's heart glad."

Mr Jamphler was by this time become rather impatient-the dinnerhour was drawing near-and momentarily expecting his guests, he said, "Madam, I am at this time particularly engaged, and it would be as well for you to see your agent."

"My augent!" exclaimed Mrs Ogle of Balbogle. "Ye're my augentI'll hae nae ither but you-I hae come here for nae ither purpose than to confer wi' you anent my affair

"Well, but what is it-what is it?" interrupted the counsellor, a little quickly.

"Mr Jamphler, sit down-sit your ways down beside me," cried Mrs Ogle of Balbogle, "and hear my case. Ye needna be feart, Mr Jamphler, o' ony scaith frae me. I wadna meddle wi' the like o' you-and that's my own dochter, she's come wi' me for insight. Look up, Meg-'am sure ye hae nae need to haud down your head like a tawpy. Mr Jamphler, she's no an illfar't lassie ye see, and she'll hae something mair than rosy cheeks for her tocher-and, Mr Jamphler, she's come o' gentle blood-we're nane o' your muslin manufacturers; na, na, Mr Jamphler. I'm the Laird of Barwullupton's only dochter mysel, and my father left me a bit land-I'm sure I needna ca't a bit, for it's a braw blaud -But to make a lang tale short, I had on the burn side-ye'll aiblins, Mr Jamphler, ken the Crokit burn?"

"I think, madam," said Mr Jamphler, " it would be as well to have your case stated in a memorial."

"Memorial, Mr Jamphler! Na, na, Mr Jamphler-nae memorials for me. Ye're to be my memorial and testimony, and a' that I require."

"I beg, then, madam, that you will call some other time, for at present I am very particularly engaged," interrupted the counsellor, levying the utmost forbearance on his natural urbanity.

VOL. X.

"Mr Jamphler, ye maun thole wi' me, for what I want your ability in is a matter o' desperation."

"Upon my word, madam, it is im possible for me to attend to you any longer at this time," exclaimed Mr Jamphler.

"Noo, Mr Jamphler, really that's no like you; for Thomas Ellwand, the tailor in the Canongate, whar I stay -he taks in a' the books ye put out, and brags ye're o' a capacity to rule a kingdom-what will he say, when he hears ye wouldna spare half an hour frae your tea to pleasure a helpless widow; for I see by my watch it's near five o'clock, and so I suppose ye're hyte for your drap o' het water. O, Mr Jamphler, I hope ye hae more concern for the like o' me, and that ye'll no falsify your repute for discerna ment in the judgment of Thomas Ell wand-he says, that nobody can draw a strae afore your nose unkent. Aiblins, Mr Jamphler, ye're acquaint wi' Thomas-he's a desperate auld farrant creature he wasna pleased with the government here, so he took an o'ersea jaunt to America, and married a wife -a very worthy woman. It would do you gude, Mr Jamphler, to see how content they live."

Madam," said Mr Jamphler, "pray what is the business on which you want to consult me?"

"Business! Mr Jamphler, it's a calamity-it's a calamity, Mr Jamphler!" exclaimed Mrs Ogle of Balbogle, spreading the hands of astonishment. "But I forget mysel, now I see what for ye had been so impatient-I forgot to gie you a fee; there it is, Mr Jamphler, a gowden guinea -full weight."

"But what are the circumstances?" "Circumstances! Mr Jamphler.I'm no in straightend circumstances; for, as I was telling you, Mr Jamphler, I'm the relic o auld Balbogle -Lang will it be, Mr Jamphler, before I get sic anither gudeman-but it was the Lord's will to tak him to himsel, wi' a fit o' the gout, three year past on the night o' Mononday come eight days. Eh! Mr Jamphler, but his was a pleasant end-weel it will be for you and me, Mr Jamphler, if we can slip awa' into the arms of our Maker like him. He was sarely croint, Mr Jamphler, before he died, and his death was a gentle dispensation, for he had lang been a heavy

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handfu'-but at last he gaed out o' this life like the snuff o' a candle. Howsomever, Mr Jamphler, being, as I was saying, left a widow-it's a sair thing, Mr Jamphler, to be a widowI had a' to do, and my father having left me, among other things, o' my bairns' part of gear-for the Barwullupton gaed, as ye ken, to my auld brother the laird, that married Miss Jenny Ochiltree o' the Mains; a very creditable connection, Mr Jamphler, and a genteel woman-she can play on the spinnet, Mr Jamphler. But no to fash you wi' our family divisions -amang other things, there was on my bit grund a kill and a mill, situate on the Crokit burn, and I lent the kill to a neighbour to dry some aitsAnd, Mr Jamphler, O what a sight it was to me the kill took low, and the mill likewise took wi't, and baith gied just as ye would say a crakle, and nothing was left but the bare wa's and the steading. Noo, Mr Jamphler, wha's to answer for the damage? Howsumever, Mr Jamphler, as I can see that it's no an aff-hand case, I'll bid you gude day, and ye'll consider o't again the morn, when I'll come to you afore the Lords in the ParliamentHouse."

"Good Heavens!" exclaimed Mr Jamphler, while Mrs Ogle of Balbogle, rising and going towards the window, cried, "O! Mr Jamphler, the coach that brought us here-I would na come but in a coach to Mr Jamphler-But it's gone-O! Mr Jamphler, as I'm a wee o' a lamiter wi' the

rheumaticks, will ye hae the kindness just to rin out for a coach to me? I'll be very muckle obliged to you, Mr Jamphler; it's but a step yonder to whar the coaches are biding on outlook."

Mr Jamphler rung the bell, and ordered his servant to fetch instantly a coach.

"But, Mr Jamphler," resumed Mrs Ogle of Balbogle; "I hae another favour to ask, ye maun ken I'm sometimes tormented wi' that devilry they call the tooth-ache; are ye acquaint wi' ony doctor that can do me good?" -Mr Jamphler immediately mentioned our friend and correspondent, the Odontist.-" Eh!" said Mrs Ogle of Balbogle, " the famous Doctor Scott! But whar does he bide, Mr Jamphler?" The urbane counsellor mentioned his address. "Ah! but, Mr Jamphler, ye maun write it down for I hae but a slack memory." Mr Jamphler did so immediately; but the lady, on looking at the paper, said, "Na, na, Mr Jamphler, that winna do-I canna read Greek-ye maun pit it in broad Scotch-I'm nane of your novel leddies, but Mrs Ogle o' Balbogle." Mr Jamphler was in consequence obliged to write the address more legibly, and the coach coming to the door, the lady and her daughter withdrew. Mr Jamphler then joined the company in the drawing-room, and soon after the young lady, in propria persona, with the Odontist's address in her hand, was announced as Mrs Ogle of Balbogle.

might, laughs at the applause of friends, and the threats of enemies. The person who could suppose such a thing, must have had his mind blinded by the brightness of its pages; and he who would attempt to wipe off any of its fancied faults, reminds me of one who holds up a farthing candle to aid the blaze of the noon-day sun, because some misty spots may have appeared upon it. Really some of your contributors must have been greatly dazzled-they must have been seeing objects double-before they could think that any of the dirty aspersions of your enemies required a serious answer. No! I cannot but conceive of you as a conqueror going forth in your might, and whatever enemy you meet, you straightway array yourself, and do him battle with his own weapons:-The pert infidel Reviewer you overthrow with his boasted satire; the Anti-English Reformer you overwhelm with honest argument; and the immoral Cockneys you silence with the frown of your virtuous scorn. Is not this the fairest of all warfare? Most certainly it is, and " there is an end of the matter."

This is the reasoning, Christopher, that I would use upon the occasion. And I would go farther than this; I would contend, that, before you appeared upon the field, there was nothing like honest fighting to be found; and that, with the other improvements for which the world is indebted to you, is also to be ranked this, of having settled the mode by which certain pests of society, who, from some offensive quality, reckoned themselves safe from punishment, were to be assailed without hurting the honour of the assailant. Did not the Edinburgh Review consider itself secure in the domination which it had obtained over the opinions of the people, and over the fate of aspirants for literary distinction, until you dared to break through the magic circle that surrounded it, and held up its principles in their true pollution to the world? Did not the Scotsman reckon himself protected by his vulgarity, and by the coarseness of his abuse, until you ventured to expose the darkness of the cave in which the reptile had hid himself, and to shew the total ignorance and malignity by which the creature was directed? Did not the whole host of prating demagogues, who harangue from hustings at seditious assemblies, who scribble in radical newspapers, and who deliver their opinions after the toasts at party dinners, consider themselves safe in their own insignificance, until you taught them, that no sentiment, hostile to our constitution in church or state, could be broached, unnoticed, or unrebuked, while you were the defender of both. These things, Mr Christopher, were not done in a corner; and even your own modesty cannot conceal them. A pretty story, indeed, to begin to defend that, which all the world (worth speaking of) has long

ago confessed was the means of introducing the most auspicious era in the history of our land. The only excuse I can find for such conduct is, that, all these people being now put to rest, you have nothing left you to do, but to allow your contributors to tell in what way it has been done.

With this impression, even I myself could, for a moment, dilate upon the subject. How stupendous the idea to look back to the time of your commencement, and to mark the havoc which you have caused in the world! Then, the Whig faction possessed their original strength and insolence, com bined with the bitterness of a recent defeat. Then, the organ of their sentiments, and the cause of much of the dissatisfaction that was abroad in the land, was scattering the pestilence of its principles on every side. Then, the herd of disappointed patriots, who had hoped to prosper amidst the ruin of the country, were allowed, without restraint, to shed the venom of their malice upon every one that supported the constituted authorities of the kingdom. Then, sedition and infidelity were going arm in arm, shaking the allegiance of the peer, and destroying the faith of the peasant. Then, was there no defence in the hands of govérnment, and of the well-disposed, but the slow operation of laws, which the quibble of a a lawyer l might evade, or the political bias of a jury render useless. Then-but why need I go farther-then, in one word, there were publications in the possession of the friends of disorder, which sent forth, every week and every day their calumnies against the most respectable individuals, and the most venerable institutions in the country; while there were few or none to say that these things were base in themselves, and full of danger to the community.

In these circumstances it was that you, Christopher, appeared like a warrior armed for the combat, prepared to stand or to fall in the defence of the constitution. Hitherto the enemy had been allowed to waste himself in the mere admiration of his own daring, and none had ventured to take up the glove which, in the confidence of hiş own might, he had thrown down. Nay, his tyranny, from being so long endured, had seemed to have been visited with a kind of prescriptive right upon the nation; for though many had

And are benefits like these to be cast lightly aside, because some dapper gentleman has reckoned himself insulted in the fray, or some old lady in male attire has been shocked at the rough North blast of your satire? Were such persons to suppose that you, in embarking in a cause so great, were to consult their little sensibilities, and mould your conduct according to their puling taste? The nature of the duty which you undertook, apart from every other consideration, rendered such a course impossible; and I know, that in some of the severest chastisements that you have given, you have pitied the sufferer while you applied the rod.

All this looks like defence; but as such I by no means intend it. I began with remonstrance; and though I have wandered somewhat, I shall speedily

return.

Why should you, Mr North, allow your contributors to fret themselves with the outcries of your enemies, when you know well that the last means of defence that instinct offers to those in distress, is to call out in bitterness of spirit? This, believe me, Christopher, is all the noise that ever was or ever will be made; for it is all humbug to say that these are loyal people who are finding fault, or are offended. There may indeed be a few unhappy persons, that usurp to themselves such a name, who vacillate between two parties, and are afraid to connect themselves with either-who, from constitutional indecision, know not into which lap to cast their lot. There may be a few of such, who hesitate to join interests with your's. And more than this, there may be some who have hung their fame upon some lumbering periodical, that wishes to stand fair with government, and at the same time have a sneaking eye to the mob;-some who have felt their popularity eclipsed by the brightness

:

of your pages; and it is quite proper for these to complain. The feeling is so natural, that it would be manifest cruelty to repress it, especially as it looks so very pretty in one author to call out against the immoderate con duct of another. But because all this takes place, must it be said that the Tories make an outcry against Maga? No, Mr North; that man is unworthy of the name, who is not prepared to go every length in defence of that glorious constitution under which he was born; who is not ready to sacrifice all that is nearest and dearest to him, before he allows one corner of it to be rubbed away, or one mark of impurity to be left to soil it. With such a man, no half-measures are to be adopted. If an enemy appear against our constitution in church or state, that enemy is to be silenced, though every chicken-hearted associate should tremble, and every wavering adherent cross himself, and prepare for his departure. The Whigs may, and must call out against such things; to do so, has become, of late, a part of their nature of their constitution, from the remembrance of what they themselves have suffered; but let it never be said, that there is one true Tory that can thus be found to ffinch in the hour of danger. If there are such, write them down as Whigs, or worse, as interested persons; for the man who truly respects his king and his country, will also honour the instrument that protected these in the hour of their greatest peril. Yes, I remember well, when danger was abroad in the land, with what wonder many looked to you, Mr Christopher, standing alone and unaided, in this part of the country at least, opposing your single arm, to prevent the spread of infidelity and of anarchy. And if others now appear upon your side, has it not been since the extremity of the contest has gone past? Has it not been to share the spoil when the foe is overcome?

Believe me to be your's always,
A TRUE TORY.

Angus, 1st October, 1821.

THERE are some books which, however excellent, a man may make up his account to read but once in his life. And even that once, more for the sake of bringing a general idea of their spirit to the contemplation of literature, than for any actual pleasure their beauties may afford. Among this class may be reckoned Chaucer; the perception of whose peculiar excellence depends so much on understanding the spirit, as well as the idiom of the age in which he lived, that a re-perusal, after any intervening length of time, can give but little pleasure, if it be not accompanied with an inconvenient portion of trouble.

Notwithstanding all the research and acuteness spent upon the writings of Chaucer, little facility of acquaintance with him has been afforded to the general reader. Tyrwhitt's edition, besides being expensive, is more an object to the philologist than to the general scholar; and, after all, contains but a small portion of the poet's works. Speght and Urry are not to be relied on. Warton is judicious and learned, but a digressive and vexatious guide. Godwin's idea was an excellent one ;that of giving a picture of the age, with the poet for its prominent figure. But it turned out a most unwieldy and unsatisfactory brace of quartos, contemptible in criticism-absurd and visionary in its inferences from factsand altogether unworthy of the genius of the biographer.* The restless gloom

of the philosophic idealist overcasts the page, which might have been the light and elegant memorial of the poet. And instead of dissertation and inquiry concerning these most frightful of all chapter-heads-the feudal system, and the middle ages-we might have been presented with a narrative suitable to the gay and mercurial temper of its subject.

Considering all this, we really are surprised to find ourselves turning over the pages of Chaucer; but somehow or other, we recollected having found in his verses that mixed quality of of h humour and feeling, which has of late become so popular. We have been dunned on all sides by the names of Byron and Juan; and when the blues had traced higher, by those of Pulci and Tassoni, as if banter and fun in rhyme, were any thing wonderful or new.

Disgusted by the charlatan exhibition of Byron in Don Juan-his tossing up his feelings to public view, and catching them as they fell, writhing on the prongs of ridicule-we treated the production in a tone which enhanced its merit a great deal too much. It is admired, and so will any book that sets one half the world laughing at the other. But to the merit of originating the serio-comic style, or even of introducing it first to English literature, the noble author has no claim. We possessed it long before the age of either his lordship or Pulci. We have it in our own old English poet Chaucer, and