The masses move as if but one will pervaded them, and the individuals are docile, tractable, yet resolute, as your own heart could desire. Never you fear for the remote issues. England will yet become what we have vowed to make her; and you and I will enjoy the satisfaction of having consummated the work.

Be

And now, my friend, let me tell you of another matter, which, scarcely less than the realisation of the patriot dream of our youth, engrosses me. I have seen an angel! Yes, even I, the incredulous, have looked upon a be ing of brighter cast than poor humanity; and I do not conceal from you, that the recollection of the vision haunts me wheresoever I go. Yet she is of mortal mould, too; and, they tell me, of very brief experience in the joys and sorrows of the world. So much the better. ing young, she has a chance, at least, of being unsophisticated; and in this case, I-even I, may win her. Do you ask who she is? Read, then, O Brutus! and wonder while you read. She is nothing less than an earl's daughter; yet I, Frederick no, no-John Beaver, do not despair, sooner or later, of calling her my own. Are we not in the grey dawn of a new intellectual day? Is not the whole world about to be regenerated? And when the regeneration arrives, shall a coronet stand in your way or mine, when we go forth to choose either our places in the political circle or the companions of our domestic hours? Harbour not the thought for a moment; but listen to me, and I will tell you all my mind in the plain and intelligible prose which befitteth the occasion.

In the first place, then, I have to inform you, that your express reached me in excellent time; but that I had already received from high quarters intimation of the result which was anticipated, as well as a hint touching the line of conduct which might be expected to encourage the people's friends and alarm their enemies. My agents went to work without delay, and let me tell you, that there are among them one or two of whom old Rome herself might have been proud. We made no great stir among the dwellers in the town,-for, to say the truth, these town-people scarcely come up to my views of what reformers ought to be. You will get noise enough out of them whenever you want to carry your point at a public meeting, but they are too much accustomed to law and its administrators to give you more. Therefore, in the very bowels of the earth we dig for heroes, and in the bowels of the earth we find them. Round about among the mines the apostles of liberty went preach

VOL. XXIV. NO. CXXXIX.

ing, and our patriots sent us forth a band, than whom all England can shew nothing superior. You may conceive how we astonished the civic authorities! While they were talking, we were acting: and suddenly, just as they had come to the conclusion that it would be judicious to wait till their representative, Mr. Blackston, arrived, my myrmidons marched into the market-place, and the town became one wide scene of excitement. Is it not capital, that these pot-bellied, corporate Solomons should play so nicely into our hands; nay, that the wisdom of Altamont itself should prove but a catspaw-as the sailors call their lightest breezes-in wafting us onwards to our haven. I often laugh to myself when I think of the astonishment of the M. P., when he shall open his eyes some fine morning, and discover that he lives and moves only at the good pleasure of the bumble editor of a provincial newspaper. But never mind that we met, we speechified, we formed our ranks,-we marched to Welverton; and there-there, my friend, such a vision of beauty passed before mine eyes, that they cannot now descend to look with satisfaction on realities! You never beheld a lovelier creature than this addle-pated lord's daughter, the Lady Evelyn I think they call her. A sweet name, is it not? "My Evy, my gentle Evy!" How musical the words sound in juxtaposition! But she is more than beautiful,-she is a heroine. There she stood, clinging by her mother's arm, while her harumscarum papa harangued us, exactly in such language as I could have wished him to adopt—terribly insolent, and full of wrath, yet requiring only to be treated with contempt. Well, there she stood, the very image of all that is graceful, and feminine, and gentle; and then and there I made a covenant with myself that she should yet grace the home of one of England's most ardent regenerators, and be partaker in his principles! For the rest, I have little to add. The patriots kept their temper and sustained their dignity. They spared the very blades of grass by the rich man's wayside; and having sufficiently warned the aristocrat of the fate which hung over his order, they peaceably, and with infinite grandeur, marched home. My friend, there was not one case of intoxication from morning even till night. They drew up in the market-place after our return. They received my thanks; and, dispersing at the word of command, they betook themselves in peace to their own houses.

Now, what do you think of all this? Are we not prospering? Farewell; and may Fortune favour both you and me, as

F

well in our public career of honour as in the prosecution of our private happiness.

The preceding letter will have instructed the judicious reader on certain points concerning which he has heretofore been in ignorance. It will have shewn him, not only that there was a lack of unanimity among the reformers of Coketown; but that all the old influences were mouldering away, and new men and new motives beginning to make themselves felt in many quarters. As a necessary consequence, there were heartburnings and jealousies manifold. The poor, old, worn-out corporation became quite desperate. "Better to have remained under the yoke of the Boroughdales a thousand times, than thus be made tools of by the Lord knows whom." In like manner, the liberal member for the borough and his liberal agent were both of them furious.

"You have no more influence here"so wrote the attorney to his principal, the day after the great meeting-" than if you had with the place no connexion. That scoundrel, whom in an evil hour we dragged from his obscurity, has, by some hocus-pocus process of his own, got entire possession of the people's minds, and twists them about in every direction, as may suit his own purposes, or gratify his caprices. I beseech you to come down without delay, and try what your personal presence among us can effect. And I beseech you, much more earnestly, to get for Stiles, and Jones, and Tims, and Butterworth, the places for which they are suitors, and which I promised that you would procure for them. The insolent scum begin to grow impatient, forsooth, and threw in my teeth, only this morning, that they had found a better friend than either me or Mr. Blackston in Mr. Beaver, who never gave pledges that he did not redeem."

The receipt of this letter had not, as may be imagined, any very sedative effect upon the excited feelings of the member. He proceeded, however, at once to the proper quarter, determined to provide for his future constituents without delay. The following will shew forth the degree of success which attended his application, and the state of mind into which recent events had thrown him :

London. DEAR SIR,I have received your

letter of the —, and am much obliged by the care which you take of my interests in Coketown. I wish that you had always been as circumspect and considerate, in which case we should not now have to complain of having a millstone round our necks, which, if we cannot soon get rid of, will certainly sink us. What do you think of the unparalleled assurance of your protégé, the editor? I went to the Office im

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mediately on the receipt of your communication, and told the , with perfect frankness, that it was absolutely neces sary, in order to keep up the liberal interest in Coketown, that certain places in his gift should be bestowed upon certain of my constituents. My dear sir," replied his your wishes are anticipated; I made out four appointments only the day before yesterday, in favour of four young men, natives of your borough. I really forget their names; but if it be, as I dare say it is, a matter of importance to you to know, we can easily ascertain."

"Were they called Giles, Jones, Tims, and Butterworth?" demanded I.

"I really cannot tell; but we shall see," was the answer. Whereupon he rang the bell; and the clerk, bringing in the warrants, there, sure enough, stood the names of your four protégés in full length as employés under government.

"And how came these persons to be provided for without any reference made to me?" demanded I, somewhat sharply.

"Because though you did not make the application in their favour," replied he; "I could not possibly divine that you would have any objections to them. I hope that I have not done wrong, I hope that they are sound men, and true. At all events, I can assure you, that the places were asked by a steady and influential supporter of the good cause, and I gave them at once, never doubting that the circumstance would prove as useful to you as I trust that it is agreeable."

What could I say? The men for whom I was going to apply had already got the berths which I was about to solicit. How could I possibly find fault with the arrangement? I told his

indeed, that it would have been better for me personally, had the credit of procuring the appointments appertained to me; but I could only thank him when all was done, and assure him that his patronage had been judiciously exercised. I then ventured to demand the name of the party to whose solicitations he had yielded.

"The party immediately applying to me," was his answer, "was not, I suspect, personally known to you, even by

character; but the individual at whose solicitation he moved is your own editor, and a monstrous active, clever, and welldisposed fellow he is. I advise you, by all means, to keep him up to his mark. We owe more to his exertions at the present crisis than to those of any other individual in the north."

Here was a pretty position for me to find myself in. I could only echo faintly the praises of Mr. Beaver, and wish his

good morning. And now I have to announce, that at an early hour in the morning I shall set off for Altamont, where I shall be very glad to see you on Thursday to dinner, that we may consult together as to the steps which it will be prudent to take in a state of things so anomalous, and perfectly unsatisfactory.

Mr. Blackston kept his word; and on Thursday, at the hour of six, he and Mr. Sharpus, the attorney, sat down to a dinner-only not tête-àtete, because Mrs. and Miss Blackston were present to share it with them. But the ladies soon withdrew, and the gentlemen entered incontinently into business.

"Did you ever hear of such impertinence ?"

"You established him as editor: could you not displace him?"

"I am afraid not. The rogue got over me there. He was threatened, as you know, with several prosecutions for libel, and the glories of martyrdom not being pleasant in his eyes, he talked of giving up the names of the real proprietors, whereof I, you know, was chief. Besides, Lord Boroughdale's break with me rendered it necessary that I should throw the whole concern into his hands.

To be sure, I have his bond for a thousand pounds, which I am at liberty to sue for, should he at any time advocate views that are hostile to my interests in the borough; but of what use is that? denced deal too shrewd to declare open war against us. He will push his sap under our walls, and blow us all very quietly to the devil."

He is a

"What do you think, then, of establishing a rival concern? Coketown can't support two newspapers professedly on the same side. What, if we get a journal of our own, and carry all our patronage thither ?"

"That plan might answer were it quite certain either that the newspaper press has the influence which is generally supposed, or that we could as easily persuade our constituents to give up the Journal as we persuaded them to take it. But on both heads I have serious doubts. Newspapers never give the tone to public feeling; they may contribute to confirm and to deepen it; but they are perfectly powerless when used as instruments wherewith to resist the growth of a favourite scheme, be it what it may. Unless, therefore, our new paper hold the very same language with the old, how is it to make its way; and if both speak the same, shall we not have two rivals to watch

instead of one? Upon my honour, I don't know what to do. But tell me, is he free with the world?—are his finances flourishing?"

"I am sorry to say that he owes no man a shilling; though where he gets his funds from to keep him out of debt is more than I can guess; for though the circulation of the Journal be very fair, neither that nor the profits on his advertisements would enable him to live as he does."

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May fate confound him! How, in the name of all that is unlucky, came you at the outset to take him by the hand?"

"Why, the case was this. The idea of establishing a liberal newspaper was, if you recollect, your own. It seemed to be a very good one, and so it would have proved, if we had only shewn ourselves a little less vehement in our desire to work it out; for I am sure that we could have found in

a person sufficiently competent to carry it on, had we been content with mediocrity of talent; but this would not satisfy us. Accordingly, I wrote to an old friend of mine, who has long been connected with the London Inquirer, desiring that he would put me in the way of finding a person of sufficient talent and skill to manage the concern, and not over scrupulous as to the language in which he should clothe his ideas. By return of post, I received an answer, recommending

con

Mr. Beaver; and with Mr. Beaver, as you know, our bargain was cluded. Thus was the matter arranged on the spur of a moment; and now we find, to our sorrow, that mere talent will not of itself suffice to furnish us with a pliable partisan in the sort of warfare which we are waging."

"Do you imagine that the miscreant is open to flattery? Could we bend him to our own purposes by the application of personal civility and good dinners ?"

"I cannot pretend to say; yet I should fancy, that if it were possible to work upon his selfishness at all, it must be through the side of vanity that you must achieve it."

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Egad, I suspect you are right; at all events, the experiment is worth trying. I'll send him an invitation to-morrow to dine with me on Tuesday, and you'll come and meet him."

"With all the pleasure in the world. Yet, if I might venture to suggest, you will take care to associate with him the very élite of the reforming gentry. He's as proud as Lucifer, and would consider himself insulted were you to place him-I was going to say, on the same level with himself."

"Well, I'll invite the mayor, and one or two of our leading friends in the borough, the same day."

"Do nothing of the sort. Have him either to a family dinner, or let him meet at your table the Bellairses, the Flints, the Steadys, and so forth; for, in the first place, he and the corporation are by no means on the best terms; and if the contrary were the case, he would feel himself insulted were he classed with them in your card of invitation."

"The devil take his impudence!" exclaimed the M. P.-"a ragamuffin whom we took up from the very kennel! I declare that I can scarce bring myself to submit to such degradation."

"Pooh! pooh! what does it matter? It is but the annoyance of an hour. And if you can by such means recover your ascendancy over him, only think of the prodigious point that you will have gained."

The two friends continued the consultation for more than three hours, for they were both warmly attached to a bottle of good port,

when it came in their way; and more than one, as the rumour goes, sanctified their deliberations on the present occasion. But it is not worth while to carouse with them. Enough is done when I state, that the plan proposed by the attorney was considered eminently judicious; that Mr. Blackston acted upon it without delay; that Mr. Beaver met the Bellairses, the Steadys, and the Flints, on the day appointed, and that he received at their hands marks of the highest consideration. Nevertheless, the results did not quite answer to the expectations of him who proposed the dinner.

"Did you not find him pliable, and even diffident?" demanded the attorney, when, on the day succeeding the feast, his patron and client had taken a seat in his office.

"Pliable and diffident!" exclaimed Mr. Blackstone. "As pliable as an old oak, and as diffident as the clown in a pantomime. Deuce take me, if ever I encountered so strange a fellow! His information, to begin with, is boundless; his powers of conversation quite extraordinary ; his self-possession a marvel. And then he has the knack of pouncing upon the slips of all those about him, with such a patronising air, too, as if he pitied your ignorance, and would not, if he could help himself, expose it to others, that you do not know which to resent the most, the circumstance of his possessing a great deal more knowledge than yourself, or the contretemps which should have afforded him the opportunity of shewing it at your expense. We all began, as you may suppose, to speak to him as if we were patronising an inferior. If you will believe it, we had not enjoyed the honour of his company one hour, ere one and all began to feel that we had met at least our equal. I wish with all my soul that he were any where else than in Coketown!'

Perhaps the reader may be curious enough to contrast with this the editor's own account of the dinnerparty, which occasioned so little satisfaction to the founder of the feast. If so, let him read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the following epistle :

Congratulate me, my dear Jem, on having been again admitted into what is

vulgarly styled " good society." Only conceive! I dined yesterday, by special invitation, at the mansion of our borough member, and found that there had been invited to meet me some of the most influential families of which the Liberal interest in this county can boast. I was, of course, the lion; and the magnates began, as their wont is both in town and country, to draw me out. I was ceremoniously appealed to on all sorts of subjects. I was invited to take wine with one of the gentlemen after another; and had the honour of sitting next but one to the master of the mansion. The scene was not new to me, and therefore I could afford to smile at it, which excited extreme amazement among my newly acquired friends; and when, instead of merely answering such questions as these big-wigs chose to put, I became, in my turn, the catechist, I declare that it would have done your heart good to see how they stared. But I have more to tell you than this. The conversation happened to turn on the revolution of 1688; and my statement that there occurred an interval of perfect anarchy between the flight of James and the arrival of William in London, seemed quite to amaze them. No one ventured to contradict me; yet it was evidently the first time that any had heard of the circumstance. And then, when we began to discuss the actual prospects of the country; when I-I-took the lead, assuring them that there was the very best spirit among the people, who only

required their right, and would accept of nothing less, by Heaven, Jem, it would have killed you to witness the sort of stupifying effect which my eloquence produced upon them! Besides, we had a touch at the classics; a glance at the literature of France; a word or two anent our own standard writers-such as Pope, Addison, Swift, Hooker, and Sydney; and the immeasurable distance at which the cultivators of the soil felt that they were left behind, altogether overwhelmed them. The results were that, when we joined the ladies in the drawing-room, my position was entirely changed. They no longer paid court to me as to an inferior. I honoured them, one after another, by leading them into conversation; that is to say, as often as I condescended to withdraw my attention from the fairer portion of the creation. And when the hour of parting came, it seemed to bring with it, as far as they were concerned, a sense of positive relief. Is not all this rich in the extreme?

I suppose the new M.P. flatters himself that he is playing the diplomate with rare effect. What a fool he is! He hopes to use me - I mean to use him; and the world will judge by and by which has proved the more skilful artisan. Meanwhile, keep thy great mind easy as to the progress of matters more important. The train is laid, and when the explosion takes place, hurrah for Old England and her real friends, -the friends of the species all over the world!

WELL, Jack, here we are, pretty much, I presume, in the position occupied by Sheridan and Mick Kelly, the whilst the dramatist explained to the maestro, by sundry significant growls, the nature and character of the music which he considered would appropriately auspicate the induction upon a profane stage of the Virgins of the Sun. For myself, I honestly confess that I regret the absence of the bowl of punch which took its state between these two facetious worthies of Paddy's land; and which, if it did not lend them the inspirations of a Hippocrene, at least enabled them to come to a good understanding. Sheridan would never have been able to instil his notions of a combination of sweet sounds through the medium of such grunts as Kelly

describes, if it had not been for the intervention and magic influence of the occan of punch. First, all was mere unintelligible and incapable noise; but as the tide ebbed and flowed into the reservoirs of their respective glasses, Kelly began to feel "Soft music, soft music steals over the sea,"

And the result of his efforts as a composer upon this occasion proves that there was no illusion. Ah! you think, notwithstanding my early dinner and abrupt departure from the social board, that the arm of this stall is a more comformatible boundary between us than the recking bowl of punch. You are wrong. The odorous fumes would necessarily be most acceptable as sacrificial offerings