feeling, from its antique appointments; from the dark and richly carved pannels of its wainscot; from its yawning width and height of chimney, looking like the open entrance to a tomb, of which the surrounding ornaments appeared to form the sculpture and entablature; from the portraits of grim men and severeeyed women, arrayed in orderly procession along the walls, and scowling a contemptuous enmity against the degenerate invader of their gloomy bowers and venerable halls; and from the vast dusky, ponderous, and complicated draperies that concealed the windows, and hung with a gloomy grandeur of funeral trappings about the hearse-like piece of furniture that was destined for his bed.

Lord Londonderry examined his chamber; he made himself acquainted with the forms and faces of the ancient possessors of the mansion, as they sat upright in their ebony frames to receive his salutation; and then, after dismissing his valet, he retired to bed. His candles had not long been extinguished when he perceived a light gleaming on the draperies of the lofty canopy over his head. Conscious that there was no fire in the grate-that the curtains were closed-that the chamber had been in perfect darkness but a few minutes before, he supposed that some intruder must have accidentally entered his apartment; and, turning hastily round to the side from which the light proceeded, saw, to his infinite astonishment, not the form of any human visitor, but the figure of a fair boy, who seemed to be garmented in rays of mild and tempered glory, which beamed palely from his slender form, like the faint light of the declining moon, and rendered the objects which were nearest to him dimly and indistinctly visible. The spirit stood at some short distance from the side of the bed. Certain that his own faculties were not deceiving him, but suspecting he might be imposed on by the ingenuity of some of the numerous guests who were then visiting in the same house, Lord Londonderry proceeded towards the figure :-it retreated before him :-as he slowly advanced, the form with equal paces slowly retired :-it entered the gloomy arch of the capacious chimney, and then sunk into the earth. Lord Londonderry returned to his bed, but not to rest: his mind was harassed by the consideration of the extraordinary event which had occurred to him.-Was it real?-Was it the work of the imagination?--Was it the result of imposture ?-It was all incomprehensible.

He resolved in the morning not to mention the appearance till he should have well observed the manners and countenances of the family: he was conscious that, if any deception had been practised, its authors would be too delighted with their success to conceal the vanity of their triumph. When the guests assembled at the breakfast table, the eye of Lord Londonderry searched in vain for those latent smiles-those conscious looks-that silent communication between the parties, by which the authors and abettors of such domestic conspiracies are generally betrayed. Every thing apparently proceeded in its ordinary course: the conversation flowed rapidly along from the subjects afforded at the moment, without any of the constraint which marks a party intent upon some secret and more interesting argument, and endeavouring to afford an opportunity for its introduction. At last the hero of the tale found himself compelled to mention the occurrence of the night:-It was most extraordinary he feared that he should not be credited;-and then, after all due preparation, the story was related. Those among his auditors who, like himself, were strangers and visitors in the house, certain that some delusion must have been practised: the family alone seemed perfectly composed and calm. At last, the gentleman whom Lord Londonderry was visiting interrupted their various surmises on the subject, by saying " The circumstance which

you have just recounted must naturally appear very extraordinary to those who have not long been inmates of my dwelling, and not conversant with the legends of my family; and to those who are, the event which has happened will only serve as the corroboration of an old tradition that has long been related of the apartment in which you slept. You have seen the Radiant Boy-be contentit is an omen of prosperous fortunes. I would rather that this subject should no more be mentioned." And here the affair ended.

ANECDOTE CONCERNING THE EXECUTION OF

KING CHARLES THE FIRST.

Richard Brandon, common executioner or hangman, at that time, died upon Wednesday, June 20, 1649, within five months after the king's martyrdom. The Sunday before Brandon died, a young man of his acquaintance, going to visit him, asked him how he did, and whether he was not troubled in conscience for cutting off the king's head? Brandon replied. "Yes, because he was at the king's trial, and heard the sentence denounced against him, which caused the said Brandon to make this solemn vow or protestation, viz. " Wishing God to perish his body and soul, if ever he appeared on the scaffold to do the act, or lift up his hand against him." And he further declared, that he was no sooner entered upon the scaffold, (to do the wicked act) but he immediately fell a trembling, and hath (ever since) to his death continued in the same agony. He likewise confessed that he had £30 for his pains, all paid him in half crowns, within half an hour after the stroke was struck: and that he had an orange stuck full of cloves, and an handkerchief out of the king's pocket. As soon as he was carried off from the scaffold, he was offered 20s. for that orange by a gentleman in Whitehall, but refused the same; but afterwards sold it for 10s. in Rosemary-lane.-About six o'clock that night, he returned home to his wife, living in Rosemary-lane, and gave her money, saying, it was the dearest money he ever earned in his life; which prophetical words were soon made manifest. About three days before he died, (as above mentioned) he lay speechless, uttering many a sigh and heavy groan, and in a most deplorable manner departed from his bed of sorrow. For his burial great store of wine was sent in by the sheriff of the city of London, and a great multitude of people stood waiting to see his corpse carried to the church-yard, some crying out, "Hang him, rogue, bury him in a dunghill;" others pressing upon him, saying, they would quarter him for executing the king; insomuch, that the churchwardens and masters of the parish were fain to come for the suppressing of them; and with difficulty at last he was carried to Whitechapel church-yard, having a bunch of rosemary at each end of the coffin, and on the top thereof, with a rope tied across from one end to the other.

The man that waited upon this executioner, when he gave the fatal blow was a rag-man in Rosemary-lane.

EXTRAORDINARY INSTANCE OF SECOND SIGHT.

A gentleman connected with the family of Dr. Ferriar. an officer in the army and certainly addicted to no superstition, was quartered early in life, in the middle of the last century, near the castle of a gentleman in the north of Scotland, who was supposed to possess the second sight. Strange rumours were afloat respecting the old chieftain: he had spoken to an apparition, which

ran along the battlements of the house, and had never been cheerful afterwards: his prophetic vision excited surprise even in that region of credulity, and retired habits favoured the popular opinion. One day, while the officer was reading a play to the ladies of the family, the chief, who had been walking across the room, stopped suddenly, and assumed the look of a seer: he rang the bell, and ordered the groom to saddle a horse, to proceed immediately to a seat in the neighbourhood, and to inquire after the health of Lady ; if the account were favourable, he then directed him to call at another castle, to ask after another lady whom he named. The reader immediately closed his book, and declared that he would not proceed till these abrupt orders were explained, as he was confident they were produced by the second sight. The chief was very, unwilling to explain himself, but at length he owned that the door had appeared to open, and that a little woman, without a head, had entered the room; that the apparition indicated the sudden death of some person of his acquaintance, and the only two persons who resembled the figure were those ladies after whose health he had sent to inquire.

A few hours afterwards the servant returned, with an account that one of the ladies had died, of an apoplectic fit, about the time when the vision appeared. At another time the chief was confined to his bed by indisposition, and my friend was reading to him, in a stormy winter night, while the fishing boat belonging to the castle was at sea. The old gentleman repeatedly expressed much anxiety respecting his people, and at last exclaimed-"My boat is lost!" The colonel replied-" How do you know it, sir?" He was answered-" I see two of the boatmen bringing in the third drowned, all dripping wet, and laying him down close beside your chair." The chair was shifted with great precipitation in the course of the night the fishermen returned, with the corpse of one of the boatmen.

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HORRORS OF A GUILTY CONSCIENCE.

It was in the city of Amiens that the hand of justice overtook Joseph Le Bon. He was executed amidst the curses of that very populace, who, a few weeks before, had received him with shouts of applause, and loaded him with caresses. While he was on mission, a poor harmless priest happened to fall under his displeasure: Le Bon issued an order for his arrest; but the priest obtained intelligence of his danger and fled into the woods. This circumstance aroused the fury of the vindictive tyrant: he wrote instantly to the Committee of Public Safety, denouncing a great conspiracy, declared that he had discovered all the conspirators, and that an agent of Pitt had fled into the woods, but from the vigorous measures he had adopted, he had no doubt whatever, that the criminal would be brought to justice. He kept his word. Vigorous measures were adopted with a vengeance. The generale was beaten, and all the armed citizens were ordered to scour the woods, in order to seize the agent of Pitt. On the ensuing day, the poor creature, exhausted with fatigue, half famished, and hunted like a wild beast, returned to the city, and surrendered himself up to his tormentors. He was carried on the same night before the Revolutionary tribunal. He was asked his name, and he no sooner replied, than the Jury, without hearing either the indictment or the evidence, pronounced him guilty, and sentenced him to die. He was then remanded to prison. The whole of the night he spent in prayer, and on the next morning, when the gens-d'armes arrived to attend him to the place of execution, the fears

which had prompted him to take shelter in the woods, instantly forsook him; he became resigned and courageous. Fortified by his religious sentiments and conscious innocence, he proclaimed that he preferred death to living in a society, in whose breasts every spark of justice was extinguished; that the very circumstance of his having been condemned unheard, and without even the forms of a trial, proved that the time was come, when good men should no longer desire to live; and that as death was now the object of his highest ambition, he would show his fellow-citizens in how calm a manner an innocent man could die. On these considerations he refused to get into the cart, but stated his resolution to walk to the place of execution. With a firm countenance and a steady step, surrounded by the Sbirri of Le Bon, and the miscreants who delighted in the blood of men, he walked to the scaffold, which he mounted with joy. But even in the moment of death, the bloody tyrant continued to torment him; he desired the execution to be delayed until his women appeared at the corridor of a house that was opposite; and when these unfeeling wretches, with a ferocity unusual in their sex, waved their handkerchiefs as symptoms of exultation, the fatal knife was permitted to fall, and released the victim from a world that was unworthy of him.

This melancholy event is mentioned merely to contrast it with the conduct of Le Bon at the place of his execution. The night before he suffered the most excruciating agonies of mind; his conscience, like a devouring vulture, preyed upon all his faculties, and awakened the horrors of futurity in his breast. At intervals, he attempted to destroy himself, but fear and hope withheld his hand, and he was heard to give loud shrieks, not such as are given by those who suffer from bodily pain, but the tremendous yell of a dæmon, implying many agitated passions, rage, disappointment, terror, and despair. When he was brought out of the prison to be seated in the cart, the shout that rent the air cannot be described. A person who was present, assured me that the howls of cannibals were nothing compared with it. The populace spit upon him; they asked him, as it was a fine day, why he did not walk to the guillotine as the priest had done, and die like a man? He was goaded with a thousand terrible questions; and as the procession moved, women and children danced in the streets, clapping their hands, and reproaching him with a number of bitter recollections. Yet these were the very persons who, but a few days before, danced and clapped their hands when an inoffensive minister of religion was led to be slaughtered!

Le Bon was silent, but convulsed with passion, and sometimes he cried; but when he reached the scaffold, he gave a horrible shriek, which produced no other effect than peals of laughter from the spectators. He was taken out of the cart, for fear had completely deprived him of strength; and during the short period that elapsed before the knife descended, a thousand different voices wished him a good voyage, and a happy meeting with all his friends in hell. Thus accursed, this ferocious monster expired, leaving a terrible example to guilty minds.

APPARITION OF MARSHAL SAXE.

A man of the name of Schrepfer, who originally resided at Leipsic, of which city he was a native, and where he kept a coffee-house, pretended to study magic, and to have acquired many secrets connected with that imaginary science. He boldly asserted that he had intercourse with, and a contruol over spirits, whom he could summon, command, and cause to disappear, if not altogether

at his pleasure, yet by the force of his invocations. Pretensions so extraor dinary, sustained by some exhibitions which impressed the spectators with astonishment, soon procured him no little reputation.

Schrepfer, about this time, while he still resided at Leipsic, had offended Prince Charles of Saxony, who ordered an officer belonging to his household to repair to Leipsic, and there to give Schrepfer, in his name, personal chastisement. But, while the gentleman inflicted it, Schrepfer threw himself on his knees, and loudly invoked his invisible allies to come to his assistance : and the officer was so much alarmed at the invocation, and its possible consequences, as to quit the chamber with precipitation.

A circumstance so degrading to Schrepfer, induced him to leave Leipsic. After an absence of some time, he appeared at Dresden, where his pretences to skill in magic attracting many followers, his reputation speedily reached Prince Charles, and induced that prince to make every exertion for obliterating the recollection of the indignity lately offered him. He did not hesitate to go in person to the inn where Schrepfer lodged; solicited his pardon and offered every amends. Schrepfer, having accepted the apologies, the prince then requested to see some proofs of his supernatural art. It is said that he exhibited many; but the most difficult operation of magic in all ages, has been to raise departed spirits from the tomb; a prodigy which Schrepfer made no secret of his ability to perform. Prince Charles having earnestly besought it, obtained at length a reluctant promise to present before his eyes an apparition. It only remained, therefore, to fix the spirit to be summoned. After long consideration, the Chevalier de Saxe was named, and Schrepfer undertook to produce his ghost before a select company. The place chosen for the experiment was Prince Charles's palace in Dresden; and the strictest secrecy was observed previous to the affair. The Chevalier de Saxe died only a few years ago, at his palace, which his nephew Prince Charles, who was his principal heir, occupied after his decease, As he left no issue, he was supposed to have amassed great sums. Reports had been circulated, that money was concealed in the palace; and if his spirit could be compelled to appear, that interesting secret might be extorted from him. This motive prompted Prince Charles to name his uncle, as the object of the experiment.

On the appointed night, the company assembled. They were nineteen in number, persons of consideration, character and respectability. The first object of all present was to secure the windows and doors. They did so; and were satisfied that nothing except violence could procure access or entrance.

Schrepfer then acquainted them, that the act which he was about to perform would demand all their firmness; and advised them to fortify their nerves by partaking of a bowl of punch, which was placed upon the table. Several of them very readily followed it; but one gentleman declined the advice. "I am come here," says he to Schrepfer, "to be present at raising an apparition. Either I will see all or nothing. My resolution is taken, and no inducement can make me put any thing within my lips." Another of the company placed himself close to the principal door, in order to watch if any one attempted to open or force it. These preparatory steps being taken, the great work began with the utmost solemnity.

Schrepfer commenced it, by retiring into a corner of the gallery, where kneeling down, with many mysterious ceremonies, he invoked the spirits to come to his aid. A very considerable time elapsed before they obeyed; during which interval, he laboured apparently under great agitation of body and mind being covered with a violent sweat, and almost in convulsions. At length, a loud clatter was heard at all the windows on the outside; which was soon fol