nations must be warned, in order that they might avert the blow by their prayers and their submission to the Lord, or at least that they might understand why they were going to be visited, and recognise in their misfortune the hand of God, and at least turn to Him after the punishment, if they would not do so before. . . . . As long as Savonarola reasoned from a human point of view, he doubted and hesitated, and remained silent. But by dint of prayers, he at length gave his fancies a real and precise form; he imagined that God had inspired them, and could no longer doubt any of his conceptions. He considered himself a prophet, almost equally with Amos, Ezekiel, Zachariah, and Jonah; for it is a duty for him who hears the word of God to show it forth to man, and he gave himself up unreservedly to his inspirations, as might be expected from a sensitive and believing soul, fed with the Holy Scriptures, swayed by the prejudices of the age, and overheated by the burning sun of the South.

But a prophet does not always dwell in the heavens: he will be a man again when down on the earth, and will be subject to our passions and infirmities. . . . . Fra Hieronimo showed himself fond of success and of power; he exhibited in his person prudence side by side with passion, and the modern cunning side by side with the simple faith of the Middle Ages. The part which he took upon himself bespeaks an amount of shrewdness and tact which would astonish us, if we did not see him acting throughout his career with an extreme caution; ever moving onwards, but moving slowly; looking around him and watching how his words and actions were received. He endeavoured, in fact, to conform to the general

taste; but it was from the wish to succeed, and not from the love of a vain popularity.

PERRENS," Jérôme Savonarole."

SCENES OF GIPSY LIFE.

To find a new phase of gipsy life, one must go as far as Scotland. In that country of mountains, in the midst of an austere nature, in contact with the ancient Britons of the north, the character of the Romany has become grander, and more romantic in its tendencies. There the gipsies do not seem to have been at any time so numerous as in England; several of their original tribes exist no longer; their chiefs have been seized by the law, and the members of their families either became dispersed, or they attached themselves to other groups. The annals of this wandering race,-I do not speak of ancient times, I speak of the commencement of this century,

-are written in characters of blood on the rocks and aged trees of the Caledonian forests. I will choose as the scene of their chronicle and of their adventures the county of Fife; one of the most rich in all Scotland in curious ruins, in rugged scenery, and in picturesque views.

Some fifty years since, a traveller from that county found himself one winter's day before the forge of a farrier, in the neighbourhood of Carlisle. The shoe of his horse, worn out by the ice, was being repaired, when another traveller stopped for the same purpose at the same stall. The steed of the latter was a fine horse of English blood, saddled and bridled with elegance. The horseman himself was richly dressed,

booted and spurred, and held in his hand an unexceptionable jockey-whip. As there were several horses to be shod, the new comer, with an important air, expressed his desire to be served first. This assurance and this bold demeanour attracted the attention of the Scotch traveller, who examined the stranger from head to foot. What was his astonishment when he recognised in the would-be gentleman a certain Sandy Brown, who had scoured the country with a band of gipsies, and whom he had seen several times at his father's house! When he arrived near that part of the country where he was known, the brilliant cavalier divested himself of his fine clothes, sold his horse, took again his leathern apron, his tattered garments, his trade as tinker, and rejoined his tribe in some out of the way spot. The facility with which gipsies assume and cast aside different masks, is one of the characteristics of the race.

.... . .

They relate in the county of Fife many adventures which do honour to the dexterity, if not to the morality, of Sandy Brown, the chief of the gipsies. He had observed one day in a field a young bull, which, I know not by what accident, had lost three parts of his tail. Brown bought of a tanner a hide of the same colour as that of the bull, and with much ingenuity fabricated a false tail, which he was able to adjust on to that of the living animal. Having thus disguised his prey, he carried it off. He was in the act of placing the animal on a boat at Queensferry, when there arrived in great haste a servant sent by his master in pursuit of the thief. A discussion arose between the servant and the gipsy. "I could swear," said the servant, "that were it not for this long tail, I well recognise the animal which

belongs to us.' And he was going to make a more minute examination, when the gipsy drew a knife from his pocket, and, in the sight of all persons present, cut off the false tail of the animal, taking care to carry away a piece of the real tail, which bled profusely. With a superb gesture (the gesture of calumniated innocence), he threw the false tail into the sea, and then addressing his accuser in a solemn tone: "Swear now," said he, "if thou darest!" The servant retired in confusion, and the gipsy tranquilly continued his route with his booty.

ALPHONSE ESQUIROS,

"L'Angleterre et la Vie Anglaise."

THE PROTESTANTS OF LA ROCHELLE (A.D. 1572).

La Rochelle, nearly all of whose inhabitants professed the reformed religion, was then the capital, as it were, of the southern provinces, and the strongest bulwark of the Protestant party. Extensive commerce with Spain and England had introduced considerable wealth, and that spirit of independence which wealth inspires and fosters. The citizens, either fishermen or sailors, and frequently corsairs, early familiarised with the dangers of an adventurous life, possessed an energy which stood them in stead of discipline and practice in war. Accordingly, on receiving the news of the massacre of the 24th of August, far from abandoning. themselves to that stupid resignation which had seized upon most of the Protestants, and made them despair of their cause, the Rochelois were animated by that active and formidable courage which despair often inspires. With

one accord, they resolved to suffer the last extremities rather than open their gates to an enemy who had just given them so striking a proof of his faithlessness and barbarity. Whilst the ministers kept up this zeal by their fanatical discourses, the women, children, and old men vied with one another in labouring to repair the old fortifications, and to erect new ones. Provisions and arms were collected, barques and ships were fitted out; in short, not a moment was lost in organizing and preparing all the means of defence of which the town was capable. A number of gentlemen who had escaped from the massacre, joined the Rochelois, and by the description which they gave of the crimes of St. Bartholomew's-day, imparted courage even to the most timid. To men saved from apparently certain death, war and its chances were what a slight breeze is to sailors who have just escaped from a tempest.

PROSPER MÉRIMÉE, "Règne de Charles IX."

ENVIRONS OF MADRID-INTENSE HEAT.

The environs of Madrid are dull, bare, and scorched up, though less stony on this side than on the road from Guadarrama. The country, which is rather uneven than hilly, presents, everywhere, the same uniform appearance, only broken by a few villages, all dust and chalk, scattered here and there throughout the general aridity, and which would not be remarked, if the square towers of their churches did not attract the attention. Spires are rarely met with in Spain, the square tower being the usual form of steeple. Where two roads meet, suspicious-looking