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TO THE AUTHOR OF THE
REVOLT OF ISLAM.

PERCY, when from thy wild and mighty lyre
Burst forth that strain which told of
Fear and Faith,

And Tyranny and Force and Hate and
Death,

Vanquished by Love and Wisdom, the lost fire

Of Hope, which flashed from thy electric wire,

Burnt in my breast once more, and with hush'd breath

I stood to seeFame's amaranthine wreath Bound round his brows whose soul could thus aspire.

There shall it rest! and though earth's grovelling throng

Of bat-eyed worldlings, whose enfeebled gaze

Turus back appall'd from Truth's meridian blaze,

See not nor will acknowledge, be thou strong

In self-support, and let thy glorious song Hold its high course-itself its fittest praise!

ARTHUR BRooke.

Tales.

THE HAUNTED CELLAR;

OR, GHOST DISCOVERED,
A German Tale,

BY SIR JOHN RAMSEA. "Softly stealing down the stairs, Comes the Mistress, unawares; Soon suspected guilt to prove; Thefts of Liquor, and of Love." AN old Baroness in Germany, who had lost her Lord, and all her child ren, somewhat more than a century ago, resided in a solitary mansion, with only two domestics, a male and a female: for, though she possessed an ample fortune,

she disdained to keep a numerous retinue of idle and dissipated domestics, for the sake of living in luxurious state; but contented herself, in general, with one dish of substantial food at a meal. Her chief indulgence was a cup of generous wine, for the manufacture of which she had been long celebrated; but, even this, she never used to any sort of excess. What she saved by frugality, she expended in charitable donations; and want was a stranger to her neighbourhood.

The Baroness, having lately changed her man-servant, a youth about twenty, and extremely giddy and inattentive to the duties of his situation, for a man of fifty, which was nearly the age of her woman servant, who was what the world still calls a rigid old maid; she was suddenly alarmed by the report of certain strange noises, which were said to be now nightly heard in the cellar.

As she was by no means free from the superstitions of the age, though a woman, in other respects, of great discernment; she felt, at first, uncomfortable apprehensions particularly, as her servants both agreed, that what they heard could not possibly proceed from any thing short of some supernatural being.

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The good old lady, however, determined to have the evidence of her own ears; and, for this purpose, sat up with them, till the awful hour of midnight.

No sooner had the clock sounded twelve than the noises commenced; which, certainly, were of a nature to produce terror in almost any bosom. A general rummage of every thing below, was succeeded by the deepest groans; and the old Lady actually sunk under the influence of terror; fainting away on the top of the stairs, where she had ventured to listen.

In this state, she was conveyed to her chamber; and, on coming to her senses, after a little reflection, desired her female servant to continue in the room for the remainder of the night, while her man sat up in the adjoining apartment.

Having made this arrangement, she soon closed her eyes, and appeared in a profound sleep. The perturbation of her mind, however, had in truth driven sleep completely from her eyes; which were now shut, with much the same design as those of the sage Grimalkin, when she meditates a sudden interruption ofthe secret festivities in the subterranean

haunts of the four-footed nocturnal depredations of the kitchen.

In short, from the ill-counterfeited dread of her man and maid servant, which had appeared more in their words than in their physiognomies, she felt a strong persuasion that there was some fraud in the business.

Having once entertained this idea, every circumstance which suggested itself still stronger confirmed her suspicion: till, at length, what she at first only suspected, began now to impress her mind with all the conviction of certainty.

She reflected, that her squeamish old maid had always expressed a great dislike to the youth lately discharged, but did not seem remarkably pleased with his departure; that, since her new man came, the favourite casks in the cellar, which before were sufficiently soon exhausted, had still faster grown sonorous; that more provision than usual had also been devoured; and that, whatever ghosts there might be existing below, where no such beings had ever before been heard of, it was not likely that their insubstantial forms were supported by the gross food of mortals, or even the exquisite spirituous contents of her casks.

From all these circumstances, she felt abundantly satisfied, that her female servant knew well enough of the existence of flesh and blood in the cellar.

While the Baroness was occupied in these and similar reflections, her oldmaid, who entertained not the smallest apprehension that her mistress could awaken from such a state of deep somnolency, as that in which she seemed evidently locked, for some hours, at least, began to make preparations for quitting the room. She made a slight noise, as if by accident; carried a candle near the face of her mistress; and asked, with tolerable audibility, if she awake, or would be helped to any thing. Then, adjusting her head-dress at the toilet, with more attention than would have been necessary for an assignation with a ghost, she again repeated her questions, in a lower note; passed the candle at a little greater distance from her mistress's face; and, finding all still and silent, slowly tip-toed out of the

chamber.

was

The Baroness now heard her join her fellow-servant in the next room; and, sliding out of bed, perceived them,

through the key-hole, proceeding down the stairs, with great glee, together.

She followed, in the dark, at a small distance; and saw them descending into the cellar, without any dread of Ghosts or Goblins. On the contrary, she heard a laugh of triumph, which seemed but little suppressed, and in which her ear quickly recognized a complete trio.

Being thus perfectly satisfied of the fact, which was exactly as the old lady had suspected, she returned to her room; and, while dressing herself, determined how she would act.

She was a woman not only of great good-sense, but of great good-nature; and, not seeing objects in the worst light, had in her heart already forgiven them the terror which they occasioned her, though she was resolved to punish them, for their audacity, a little in their own

way.

With benevolence in her heart, and an arch smile of cheerful benignity on her countenance, she softly descended the cellar-stairs; and perceived the furtive worshippers of Love, as well as Wine, at their midnight orgies, near the favourite cask, in an internal vault. The mellow light of a large lanthorn gave them compleatly to her view; and she found, as she had suspected, that the recently discarded young man was not now quite so disagreeable to her squeamish old-maid as he was formerly said to be!

After surveying this interesting scene for a few minutes, the Baroness retreated a step or two back, and gave a stamp with her foot. She now heard a general scream, and instantly advanced; but, though her two servants remained apparently petrified with apprehension and horror, the paramour of the old-maid had instantaneously vanished.

The good old Baroness suffered them to imagine, that she knew nothing of any third person: but she sarcastically complimented their courage,onthus venturing themselves in a haunted cellar; and expressed a wish, now they were there all together, that each hole and corner of the vault might be searched for the Ghost.

At the mention of this design, a groan was suddenly heard, proceeding from a closet in a remote part of the cellar. The Baroness, assuming great alarm, desired her man to look into this closet; which, with some reluctance, he at length did: but, though the groaning continued,

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he persisted that there was nothing to be seen. She then desired her woman, also, to look and she, too, affecting much terror, as the groaning was still audible, opened the door a little way; peeped in; and, returning, assured her mistress, as she well she might, that no Ghost was there!

The old Lady, now, desired her man to take the hammer, and a few stout nails, from a basket in the cellar, and instantly to close up the door; being, as she observed, quite positive, that the Ghost must now be there, where she was resolved to keep him. Having made her man do this, and also completely block up the door-way with full casks and lumber, she drove before her, out of this subterranean Paradise, the guilty pair of transgressors, and locked them up in their respective apartments.

In the morning, she let them out; but would not permit any approach to the cellar: observing, that the parochial priest should first be sent for; that he might exorcise the imprisoned Ghost,and lay him to rest, till dooms-day, in the Red Sea.

The Baroness, accordingly, dispatched her man in pursuit of the parson; enjoying the consternation into which she had thus thrown her plotting domestics, who had little conception of the coming catastrophe. The old-maid wept, with pretended contrition; but her tears, as her mistress well knew, flowed from a different cause.

When the priest arrived, the Baroness took him aside; related to him the whole transaction; and made him acquainted with the rest of her design.

The Baroness and priest now proceeded to the cellar; accompanied by the two trembling servants, each bearing two candles in their hands, which they were scarcely capable of holding.

On their arrival near the door of the closet, the Baroness addressed the holy man: assuring him, that there was certainly an unruly Spirit in her house; and, that she was very desirous that it should be fairly laid to rest by his pious interposition.

A bason of holy-water was brought; the sacred book was opened; and the mystical aspersions were about to commence, before the closet-door, from

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whence the barrels and lumber were removed, previously to forcing it open; when the old-maid, overpowered by her apprehensions, and unable longer to support the dread of compleat detection, swooned away, and fell at her mistress's feet.

The attention of the priest was thus too powerfully arrested, for him to think more of the Ghost; whose portion of holy-water was now plenteously sprinkled on the old maid's face, with at least equally good effect: for she almost immediately revived, and entered into a complete confession of the clandestine conspiracy; acknowledging, as her mistress had suspected, that she entertained an affectionate regard for the young man ; that she had secretly supported him, for some time, in the cellar; and that the story of the Ghost was a contrivance, not so much to alarm the Baroness, as to deter her from ever visiting that part of the house.

The state of the lover, during these transactions, and who was now to be let out from his place of confinement, is not easy to be described. When the door was burst open, he fell on his knees before the Baroness; implored her forgiveness; and assured her that he had a sincere regard for her servant, whom he wished to marry, notwithstanding the disparity of her years, as soon as he could by any means contrive to support her. She also threw herself on her knees to her mistress; and, with tears, joined his petition for pardon.

The Baroness benignantly bidding them rise, took a hand of each; and joining them together, told the priest to proceed with the instructions which she had before given him. When, to their unspeakable astonishment, they found Baroness had been put into the hands of that a ring of the good and generous them, on the spot, in the bands of holy the priest, for the purpose of uniting matrimony; an office which he immediateparties: and the worthy Baroness, conly performed, to the satisfaction of all vinced that they would never more venture to deceive her, took the young man, also, again into her service; where he and his wife continued to live till the death of their mistress, who left them a considereble legacy, as the reward of their long tried future fidelity.

Tit Bits.

THE SOLDIER'S ESCAPE,

Or the Story of the FOUR GEESE,

By T. Tagrhyme.

A Soldier in a country town, having stolen four geese from a farm yard, was carrying them very snug in a large bag to his camp; but unfortunately, a fellow suspecting he had stolen goods in his wallet, stopped him, and insisted upon seeing the contents of his load, which, upon examining, he found to his great surprise, to contain four geese. The enraged countryman could not help loading him with imprecations.---" You rascal," said he, "it is no wonder that our fowls and geese should be so often missing, when such thieves as you prowl about to destroy and steal them. But you shall be punished, I warrant you; I'll take care you shall soon be hanged, you thief, I will. So come along with me to the cage, and in the morning you shall go before his worship the Justice." The poor fellow finding he had got into a sad scrape, began to think of some means of defence, and before morning, he hit upon a scheme which proved very fortunate for him.

Being introduced before his worship, (who by the bye, was not overstocked with the article of wisdom) the examination began as follows:

JUSTICE. Well, Mr. Thresher, what have you to say against that there defender there.

THRESHER. Please your worship, I catch'd him going over a field, with a bag on's shoulder, and so I thought, thinks I to myself, that fellow do look mortally like a thief, and so I wou'd see what he had got in's bag, and there your worship I seed four geese, all dead with their throats cut, an please your worship; And if it be your worship's good will and pleasure, I should like to see him hanged.

JUST. Stop, stop, neighbour Thresher, not so fast; we must go more deliberally about this affair. Let us examine the prisoner. Here, you fellow, look at me, and don't be afear'd. Tell me how you com'd by them there gooses in that there bag.

PRIS. They were sent me by my mother, please your worship, for me and my friends.

THRESH. It must be a lie, your worship; for if all the feathers were on, I cou'd swear to 'em.

JUST. Well, well, send for the surgent of his regimen, and let's hear what sort of a carratter the fellow bears.

(The soldier was here very much alarmed, but while they were gone for the sergeant, a thought struck him that he might soon accommodate matters; therefore as soon as the sergeant arrived, the soldier informed him, that his mother had requested he would make him a present of the fattest goose of the four, which he accordingly did.)

JUST. Well, Mr. Surgent, do you know that there man there with the gooses?

SERG. Yes, your worship; and a more good-natured, braver, and honester man there is not in our regiment.

JUST. Why that's a great caratter indeed; but harkee, fellow, are you sure you came honestly by the gooses; for we have had many geese and fowls lost lately from farmer's yards round about.

PRIS. Please your worship, may be the foxes ran away with them.

JUST. Aye, that's true, there may be something in that. So your mother sent you four geese, eh?

PRIS. Yes, your worship, and she begged you might have the choice of the second.

JUST. Ah, what, did she send one for me.

PRIS. Yes, Sir, and I hope your wor ship will accept of her small present.

JUST. Certainly.-There, neighbour Thresher, you see, the case is clear enough: this is an honest fellow, I'm sure; aye, aye, go home, my good fellow, go home.

PRIS. Thankye, your worship, thankye, I wish you all a good morning.

So the poor fellow by this manœuvre, got clear off with two of his geese; all suspicion disappeared, and the business was dismissed without any farther trouble.

Trifles.

THE following jingling description of the conduct of one whom our Correspondent calls "A Finished COCKNEY SCAMP," may perhaps excite a little

laughter on the shop-board circles of I have, though hatless, bootless, hungry,

the cross-legged Knights:

On the Decampment of a Tailor of the Name

of K-E.

If I am right, And 'tis not trite, Then Mister Kyte, A London wight, Has taken flight, Clean out of sight, In darksome night, And left us quite. Tho' nails we bite, Through loss or spite, 'Tis vain to fight A flying kite. His needle's done, His goose has fled; His thimble's gone, With twist and thread. From board he'd skip, And broad-cloth clip, Then cabbage nip, Or old clothes rip. His drysome lip, In too much sip, He us'd to dip, And bumpers tip. With horse and whip, He took a trip; Gave us the slip,

So farewell SNIP.

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poor,

One faithful friend to me will ope the door; A friend that hides my thread-bare blue surtout,

My dropping beaver, and my leaky boot; A friend that saves me from exulting eyes, Yet gives me air and gives me exercise; Supplies, unseen, a thousand wretched wants,

And saves my feelings from ten thousand

taunts.

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FAIREST, SWEETEST, DEAREST.
Say, by what name can I impart,
My sense, dear Girl, of what thou art ?
Nay, though to frown thou darest,
I'll say thou art of Girls the pride;
And though that modest lip may chide,
Mary, I'll call thee-FAIREST.

Yet no,
that word can but express
The soft and winning loveliness

In which the sight thou meetest ;
But not thy heart; thy temper too
So good, so sweet. Ha! that will do,

Mary, I'll call thee-SWEETEST.

But Fairest, Sweetest, vain would be,
To speak the love I feel for thee;

Why smil'st thou as thou hearest ?
Because," she cried, "one little name
Is all I wish from thee to claim;
That precious name is,-DEarest."

A MONODY,

On the Death of Mrs. JANE CLOWDESLEY NICHOLLS.*

She's gone to that bourne, whence no trav'ller returns,

Where the pangs of mortality cease, Where care is forgot, and all worldly concerns,

For repose in the mansions of peace.

* See the beautiful Epitaph, written by the same hand, which appeared in page 34 of this Volume.

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