indebted for our attention, and entreated we would on the following day favor them with a call. We did so. We found the gentleman tortured with the most excruciating pains-terror shook his agonized frame! He wished to address the Great Supreme, but he knew not how to lift up his soul in prayer. He cast his eyes on Corvinus, who witnessed the agonies of his soul-he pressed his hand, and with an effervescence of contrition, exclaimed, "Oh! my God, thou art all-wise, all-perfect, and justly do I suffer the pangs of guilt!" He then seemed much composed, and in a faltering voice thus recited the early part of his life. "Kind stranger, (said the gentleman,) in me you behold an unthinking being, whose existence, though short, has been pregnant with unpardonable error: from my infancy upwards have I violated the laws of morality. I rank with shame, as I was wont with triumph, the seduction of many innocent women. Poor Amelia E-! thy gentle spirit is before me: thy injured lover ought ever to curse me in his heart, for not to thee-ah! not to thee Amelia has he to attribute his wrongs." The name of Amelia E― roused every dormant faculty in the stranger's soul; but he forgot resentment--he felt other emotions than those of hatred for the man he had cause to deprecate. A nobleness of heart forgave that which was past, and in a few * entered the con hours the miserable Col R fines of a gloomy eternity! In the fair field of science let me stray, or amid 'the tall trees and humble shrubs. Spring again gladdened the fields with a tinge endearing to the soul: the husbandman resumed his toil, and all was harmony around. To his grot the stranger once more retired. We are not to expect striking occurrences where quietness reigns---we are not to look for the daring front of commotion in scenes of solitude. No! there all is peace and quietness. THE SAGE EDNOR. Chance one day directed us to the retired abode of Ednor, age had furrowed his cheek, but then it" *The reader will remember that it was Colonel Rwho seduced from the Stranger the object of his first love. The ladies who accompanied this unfortunate gentleman were his own sisters, who had been in Ireland when his regiment landed there, on its arrival from the West Indies. From Ireland they had passed over to Portpatrick, and were journeying towards London, when the accident occurred which we have briefly described. The unfeigned sorrow and affliction of the two sisters, formed a striking contrast to the dissolute career of a thoughtless brother. Corvinus, with his wonted politeness and goodness of heart, endeavoured to sooth their grief by a mild participation in their woe; and their sincere acknowledgment, proved that they bade us farewel with the fairest impressions that gratitude can fix on the heart. : was the furrow of age only. There was in Ednor's manners a something peculiarly engaging; his precepts flowed from an energetic mind, they evinced the substance of reason, not the shadow. Speaking of happiness, he said, "it was the goal at which we all wished to arrive-it was an eminence to which we all aspired. In the pursuit a favoured few succeeded but alas! the great body deviated widely from the path that leads to it, and in doing so were precipitated into horrid caverns, there to howl in misery." Treating of our duties, the sage Ednor said, "that we ought to begin nothing of which we had not well considered the end. In attending to this maxim we discover, as through a glass, the light-house, and hence escape the hidden rocks." Thus, in his graver hours, the good old man discoursed; but, when he pleased, a sprightlier mood he could put on," and laughing instruct," Monitor of my youth, well I remember thy sage precepts, and thy jocular tales, for many a sage precept and jocular tale hadst thou. "The poor he pitied still, and still redressed." THE GENEROUS SWAIN. Born to a comfortable fortune, Alcander lived in his youth in rural affluence. Arrived at that period when the heart expands herself to love, he fixed his affections on an amiable young woman to whom he was soon married. He now became settled in life. His children flourished like the tree planted by the river side, around his table—he was happy, and he wished others so-he thought he saw those that were not-he endeavoured by his generosity to banish their sorrow, but while in the goodness of his heart he alleviated their distresses, he forgot that he added to his own. “True, (said Alcander,) I have repented my liberality when, with tears, my prattling infants have in vain asked for the comforts they had been accustomed to. I have now and then felt displeased, especially when obligated to leave the home of my ancestors, and seek shelter in an humble mansion; but still. I feel a consolation in knowing that my name is spoken of with reverence, and, although poor, esteemed, honored, and respected. Thank Providence, the gloomy cloud is fast dispelling-the prospect brightens-my children will protect me in my old age-will, I trust, render their memory respected, their names endearing to posterity: if they do, then am I amply rewarded for all my cares and all my troubles. "Amidst the store, should thankless pride repine? "Exults in all the good of all mankind. "Ye glittering towns, with wealth and splendor crown'd! "Ye fields, where summer spreads profusion round! "Ye lakes, whose vessels catch the busy gale! Ye bending swains, that dress the flow'ry vale! "For me your tributary stores combine, "Creation's heir-the world-the world is mine!" In the wide range of human woes and human bliss, how diversified the events, as well as the existence, of our lives. I had in my infancy repeatedly perused the poetry which I now subjoin, and although it then made an awful impression on my mind, little did I at that moment imagine that these tragical lines were founded on fact, or that the hermit had resided so near to the place of my nativity. THE HERMIT, A LEGENDARY TALE. WHERE Liddall rolls its lucid stream, Where ivy smiles and brambles frown, Within this cell secluded dwelt |