every excess; and within the last six weeks he had died in a rapid decline, leaving her a widow, with two children, and hourly expecting to be delivered of a third. She was not twenty-three years of age, and never knew want till now; but she was left without a shilling to support herself and miserable children: she owed for her husband's funeral, and the apothecary's bill, for which she was afraid of being arrested. To avoid this she was going to seek shelter with a poor widow in Essex; and if his lordship would write to her at the post-office at Harlow, she would, if brought to bed in the meanwhile, get some safe person to go for the letter.

*

His lordship's answer evinced the benevolence of his heart. He expressed his readiness to alleviate her distress, but justly observed that her tale ought to be authenticated by something more than the recital of a perfect stranger. He desired to know who the lady was who had recommended the application to him, and assured the writer she need not conceal her, for that he considered it was doing him a great kindness to afford him the means of rendering service to the necessitous. On the 14th of July his lordship received a note nearly as follows:

"Mrs. Smith, widow of Captain Smith, begged leave to inform Lord Clarendon that Mrs. Grant was brought to bed. It was she who recommended Mrs. Grant to Lord Clarendon; while her husband was living, she had frequently been with him on the recruiting service in Hertfordshire, where she had heard of the benevolent character of his lordship. She added, that Captain Smith, when in Jamaica, had frequently visited Mrs. Grant's father, who was a person of great wealth; that she had herself done more than she could afford for an amiable and unfortunate young woman. She had no doubt but that as soon as her letter should reach Jamaica, Mrs. Grant's father would send her abundant relief; but till then she might, without the friendship of some individual, be totally lost.”

In consequence of this late note, his lordship returned an answer, and enclosed a draft for five guineas, offering at the same time to write to any person at Harlow who might be of assistance to her, particularly to any medical person. On July the 23rd, the supposed Mrs. Grant wrote again to his lordship, acknowledging the receipt of the five guineas, and stating that she had the offer of a passage home: but she said that she wished to see his lordship, to return her grateful thanks for his kindness. At the same time she was extremely delicate, lest their meeting should be misconstrued by a malignant world, and entreated that it might take place a little distance from town. The answer to this letter she begged might be addressed to A. B. C. at George's Coffee-house, to which place she would send for it. His lordship, at her request, wrote an answer, and appointed the Bell Inn at Kilburn. Before the arrival of the day of meeting, however, his lordship received another letter from Mrs. Grant, stating that ever since she came to town, she had met nothing but trouble. Her last child had died, and she was seized with a milk-fever; that she had twelve shillings left of his lordship's and Mrs. Smith's bounty, when she came to town; that she was afraid of coming further than Whitechapel, lest her creditors might arrest her; and she concluded with the request of the loan of five pounds, to be inclosed in a note addressed to Mr. Paul, to be left at the Saracen's Head Inn, Aldgate. His lordship, in reply to this note, sent the money requested, and with great humanity condoled on her supposed situation. He then proposed to take her into the country, where she might live quiet, and free of expense, until she heard from her friends. The next letter introduced another actor on the stage. It came from the

Rev. H. Paul. Mr. Paul, at the desire of Mrs. Grant (then said to be delirious), acknowledged the receipt of the five pounds. He would write again, and say anything Mrs. Grant might dictate in a lucid interval. He begged his answer might be left at the Chapter Coffee-house. His lordship accordingly wrote to the Rev. H. Paul, with particular inquires after the state of Mrs. Grant, and proposed to send the proper medical assistance. The Rev Mr. Paul replied to this letter, and stated the description of Mrs. Grant's complaint, which was of a delicate nature. He then stated the high notions of Mrs. Grant, who would not condescend to see any person from his lordship in her present wretched state; and added that she thought her situation such, that it was not delicate to admit any one to see her but those absolutely necessary. Mr. Paul therefore had promised, he said, not to divulge her residence; but declared that in her lucid intervals, Mrs. Grant expressed the utmost anxiety to be enabled to thank her benefactor.

This correspondence produced a meeting between the supposed Rev. H. Paul and his lordship, which took place at the Bell Inn, at Kilburn, on the 8th of August. The prisoner then introduced himself to his lordship as the Rev. Henry Paul. They entered into conversation on the subject of Mrs. Grant, when his lordship asked every question as to her situation, with a view to alleviate it. Mr. Paul said he had not seen her distinctly, for the curtains were closed round her; but the opium had had an effect which he had known it frequently to produce: it had given her eyes more than usual brilliancy: with respect to her lodging, it was a very small room. The woman who attended her seemed a good sort of a woman enough, and she was also attended by a surgeon or apothecary. As Mr. Paul seemed to be a man of respectability, his lordship asked him at what seminary he had been brought up: the prisoner replied he had been educated at Westminster and Oxford, and had the living of St Kitt's, in Jamaica, worth about 700l. per annum; that he had property in Ireland, and was going to America on private business. To his lordship's question how he was so fortunate as to meet this young woman, he said it was by an accident, that quite looked like a romance. He was coming to town in the Ongar stage, in which were a young woman, two children, and a lady, all in mourning. He entered into conversation with the lady, and was surprised to find her the daughter of a person at whose house, in Jamaica, he had himself been frequently received with kindness. Although his business pressed, he determined to stay and afford her some assistance. He then stated that he had that day given her a 21 note, which his lordship, at this interview, returned (being the note on which the indictment was founded). He added, that Mrs. Grants father was extremely affluent, and he should not wonder if he was to remit 500l. at the first intelligence of his daughter's situation. His lordship in his evidence said, that he seemed to express himself in language of the purest truth and benevolence; and as he appeared a well-educated gentleman, who had seen the world, he had no suspicion of any fraud.

After this interview a correspondence took place between the pretended clergyman and his lordship, in which the fornier stated the progression of the patient, Mrs. Grant, towards convalescence, and at her desire requested that linen, poultry, fruit, and wine, might be forwarded, all of which were supplied by the bounty of the noble lord.

At length Mrs. Grant was sufficiently recovered to be able to write to his lordship, and in her letter she expressed her unbounded thanks for the

benevolence which she had experienced at his hands, and remarked that but for the friendly introduction of the Rev. Mr. Paul, she believed that she Iwould have been lost. She then went on to say, that although she had been ordered by her medical attendant to keep herself perfectly quiet, yet she could not resist the temptation of sitting up in bed to write to her benefactor, whom she hoped to be able shortly to thank personally for his numerous kindnesses.

The last letter from Mr. Paul was dated August 23. He acknowledged the receipt of 6l. 2s. which had been expended for Mrs. Grant; and informed his lordship that the sheets which had been last sent, had, by some accident, been near brimstone, which affected Mrs. Grant very much; that her situation required fine old linen, if his lordship had any such. He apologized, if there should be any inaccuracy in his letter, because he had a head-ache and some degree of fever.

The farce now began to draw to its conclusion. His lordship received another letter from Mrs. Grant, dated Saturday, September 1st, in which the supposed lady said:

She

"Last Saturday, her father's sister came to town, and found her out. She was a sour old lady, a man-hater, and snarled at the whole sex. had taken Mrs. G. into the country with her, although she was removed at the peril of her life. The lady she was with was nearly as bad as her aunt; but, as the latter was going out for a few days, her Argus would let her come to town, which would enable her to meet his lordship. As her ill-tempered aunt had given her neither money nor clothes, she begged 41. of his lordship. If this opportunity was lost, she should never be able to see him, as her aunt was a vigilant woman, and hated the men so much, that at the first entrance into her room, finding the Rev. Mr. Paul there, she most grossly affronted him. She could not have any letter addressed in her own name lest it should fall into the hands of her aunt, and therefore begged his lordship to direct to Mrs. Harriet, Post-office, Waltham.”

His lordship, in his answer to this letter, expressed some suspicions that he had been duped; in answer to which Mrs. Grant thanked Lord Clarendon for his favours, and declared that she was sorry to think he should conceive himself duped, but he would find his mistake when she got home to the West Indies. In a postscript, she added- "That best of men, Mr. Paul, died suddenly on Saturday last."

This closed the intercourse between his lordship and his correspondents, Mrs. Grant and Mr. Paul Soon afterwards, however, he received another letter from a Rev. Mr. Bennett, setting forth a deplorable tale of misery; but his suspicions being awakened, he employed his steward to trace the supposed Rev. Mr. Bennett, when it turned out to be the prisoner at the bar, who had imposed himself on his lordship as the Rev. Mr. Paul, that "best of men," whom Mrs. Grant stated to have "died suddenly." His lodgings being searched, a book was found in his own handwriting, giving an account of money received, (by which it appeared that he had plundered the public to the amount of four hundred and eighty-eight pounds within two years,) with a list of the donors' names, among whom were, the Duchess of Beaufort, Lord Willoughby de Broke, Lord Lyttleton, Lady Howard, Lady Mary Duncan, Bishops of London, Salisbury, and Durham, Earls of Kingston and Radnor, Lord C. Spencer, Hon. Mrs. Fox,

and others.

More memoranda were also found, which shewed that the prisoner had

reduced his mode of proceeding to a perfect system, notes being taken of the style of handwriting which he assumed, under his different names, and of the description of sealing-wax, wafer, and paper, used in his letters.

The jury found the prisoner guilty, and the Court immediately sentenced him to seven years' transportation. He was sent to Botany Bay in April

1805.

THE SPRING'S LAST MESSENGER.

BY MISS F. F. HOOD.

He did not see the summer flowers
Spread forth o'er hill and plain ;
The spring with all its early blooms
Had brightened earth again:
A happy fate was yours, dear flowers,
They plucked you, here to bring,
To cheer the half-departing heart
With tidings of the Spring.

These violets blossomed freshly then
Within his darkened room,

And brought him thoughts of far-off fields
And hedges bright with bloom;
And oft his weary shaded eyes

Gazed on their lovely hue,

And dreamed of pleasant meadow sides,
Where they profusely grew.

And when, his earthly labours o'er,
He gained the long-sought rest,
These little blossoms, cherished long,
Lay in the mourner's breast:

She loved their little withered flowers,
Though scent and hue were gone;
Last memory of the pleasant Spring
He lived to gaze upon.

FRAGMENTS OF FAMILY HISTORY.

MISS SARAH CURRAN.

EVERY reader of the Sketch Book must have been caught with an early paper in it, called "The Broken Heart." Here the genius of Washington Irving found a suitable field of exercise; and he gives us, in his most polished diction, a little tale of woman's fondness and faith, continuing unaltered even to the grave. The casual reader may have lingered over the sketch, being attracted by its pathos. How much higher the interest then, when its authenticity is declared; and we exercise the privilege, which the lapse of nearly a half-century confers upon us, to name the parties referred to by the writer? There are none, now living, who can be pained by such mention, or we should forbear.

The summer of 1803 was memorable in Ireland for the insane attempt at a Revolution made by Robert Emmet. We have no wish to quit the even tenor of our way by the discussion of politics, and least of all, Irish politics. Suffice it, therefore, for present mention, that the design was to seize the castle of Dublin, taking the Viceroy prisoner, and detaining him as a hostage, and to proclaim a Provisional Government. A depôt of arms was formed in an adjoining street to the castle, and the preparations were made in undisturbed secrecy. On the 23rd of July, at nightfall, the insurgents moved from their concealment. They had but to traverse three streets ere the castle was reached, and, from its defenceless state, probably taken. The carriage of one of the Judges, Lord Kilwarden, encountered them by the way; and in the delay of the perpetration of a cold-blooded murder (from which their Chief vainly sought to keep them) the whole enterprise was blasted. A small body of military coming up, dispersed the tumultuous crowd with a few discharges of musketry; and the émeute was at an end almost as soon as it had commenced.

Emmet fled to the Wicklow hills, and found safe concealment there with the disaffected peasantry. He might have embarked in some of the fishing smacks, and thus have reached the French shores in safety; but a romantic passion, enkindled in more tranquil hours, urged him to return to the metropolis, that he might bid a final farewell to his Betrothed. He retraced his steps accordingly; and while sojourning at Harold's Cross, in the vicinity of Dublin, he was arrested on the 25th of August, was tried by Special Commission on the 19th of September, and was executed on the following day.

The unhappy object of this fatal attachment-fatal to him, and no less fatal to herself-was the lady whose name heads our paper, the youngest daughter of CURRAN. "In happier days and fairer fortunes," writes Irving, "Emmet had won the affections of a beautiful and interesting girl, the daughter of a late celebrated Irish barrister. She loved him with the disinterested fervour of a woman's first and early love. When every worldly maxim arrayed itself against him; when blasted in fortune;