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so; but I can tell you it is a most unlucky day for my niece, poor thing; she'll never live happy; and; before a twelvemonth they'll both be in the workhouse, depend upon it, doctor. I know what's to happen, and that will be a just dispensation of Providence on her for disgracing all her relations by marrying a shoemaker's son ; for they are disgraced, though they don't know it, the creatures; and on him, for looking up to my sister's daughter; but they'll all go to ruin, anyway."

The wedding procession had passed, and we might not follow, though our heart went after it; for we felt we were but an apprentice; yet the old grocer's last observation woke the slumbering soul of chivalry within us, as now, in the world's grey and frosty age, it wakes only in the breast of eighteen; and in spite of the power of his bank stock, in spite of the terrors of Doctor Smith, yea, and the fear of our own mother's lecture, we shouted at the top of our voice-and truly that was no small pitch-pointing at the same time to the still well-painted and better-filled window over the way. "Ha, old boy, you prophesied as bad about the shop and the school this time last year, and there they are both yet!"

Doctor Smith stood dumb with astonishment, all the old people within hearing ran to the doors, and Samson opened his eyes on us in mingled wrath and amazement; but the seer of Chatterford had an original mode of interpreting his own predictions. "You young saucebox," cried he, in no very gentle tone, advancing, as if with intent to collar; "didn't I say they would all be ruined, except they amended their ways; and so they did, though it warn't much; but they'll all be ruined, anyway, and so will you, you young villain ;" and his eyes closed, “Doctor Smith, that boy will be hanged yet." And Samson withdrew into the sanctity of his own four walls, giving the door a prophetic bang behind him, where he edified Mrs. Heavyside with many an awful disclosure regarding the futurity of the whole town, and ourselves in particular, till both deplored in concert the foreseen misfortunes; for though Samson rarely prophesied anything but evil, there was no malice in his composition, and the only subject of lamentation he and his helpmate had (by the bye, an indispensable article to some people) was found in his own predictions, for they never doubted their fulfilment. We will not linger to relate how Doctor Smith expressed his sense of our merits on the occasion, nor recall the animadversions of our mother, prolonged though they were to a rather late hour that evening; but from that day Samson displayed an unusual interest in our destiny, and his versions concerning it generally vacillated between the gallows and the workhouse. Years passed away. We had gone forth into the world, and tried our strength amid the strife of men; we had mingled with the crowds of cities; we had learned their lessons; alas! for the knowledge of good and evil is strangely blended; and we had gained some steps, short and slippery though they were, in the highway of fortune; but sufficient to give our words a weight and our opinions an importance unknown to apprentice-doings among the magnates of Chatterford; for we had returned a greater if not a better man; but the tracks of time were deep in that quiet corner: many were altered, and some were missed; for the scythe had been there as well as the sand-glass; but as we sauntered up the street in all our travelled glory to re-visit the scene of our early bondage, in the shop of Doctor Smith our ear was caught by a sound of other days:-" Doctor, depend upon it, I know what's to happen; the bushrangers will rob them, and the kangaroos will eat them, and they'll never get as much as a Christian funeral; but people will go to their own destruction."

And there stood Samson in the old accustomed station, with his eyes fast closed, prophesying to our former instructor against the intended voyage of his young niece

and nephew, who were bound for the far Australia. Their mother was dead, and their elder brother had married. Mary and her husband (we have forgiven the fellow) were growing rich and prosperous, and the solitary brother and sister hoped to better their fortune in the southern" Land of Promise."

Samson had an old man's dislike of emigration, and had been more than usually liberal of his predictions, having already foretold shipwreck and misfortunes of every possible shape by land and sea; for it was only the conclusion of the vision that reached our ear. But pleasant letters came back from that wandering pair-letters full of hope and prosperity-and both married well in the distant colony. It was thought that Samson showed something very like disappointment at the news; but he prophesied on; and as the march of the world's improvement gradually neared the narrow sphere of his observation, matters of more public import found a place in his revelations. A library was established in Chatterford, and he prophesied against that; people nevertheless read, and the books increased in number. A news-room arose, and Samson foretold its doom. But it prospered, and he was at length caught reading the Queen's speech quietly by its fire. But as the old man's thread of life grew thinner, his predictions took a more alarming turn, and his inherent love of the terrible seemed to strengthen; till at length, on the lighting of Chatterford with gas, he was actually known to run from house to house, warning his neighbours against the catastrophe which must follow, and when no one believed his report, Samson stationed himself as usual at his own door, and made a point of calling in every passer-by to give them private instruction from the depths of his boding vision. We know not what decrees of Fate he made known against the steam-engine and powerlooms, some of which were now established in the neighbourhood, but many of the rising generation openly avowed that Samson was insane, and the men of his own had lost confidence in his foreknowledge, for some of them had grown as rich as himself. But Mrs. Heavyside's faith was still the same, and in her he found a believing listener when all Chatterford failed him.

When we last saw Samson Heavyside he discoursed no longer touching ourselves and the gallows; nay, he seemed to have forgotten or forgiven our early unbelief; age and disease had laid their withering hand upon him, and he could no longer reach the door at which he delighted to prophesy. His trusting partner had gone down to the grave before him; his ear had failed, and his eye grown dim to our earthly sights and sounds; but a word dropped, we know not how, regarding "the railway" then in progress, chanced to reach him, and the slackening cord once more sent forth a prophetic tone. "It will never do," cried he, in a thin voice cracked by age and anger. "It will ruin the world; I know it will, and all connected with it will be ruined; turned to 'stags' every man of them, depend upon it, for I know what's going to happen."

Poor Samson, peace to his prophetic soul! that was the last prediction he ever uttered, and that railway train sweeps past his very grave; but the number of its 'stags' we never counted, though it may be that many of the old man's visions were as certain as the dreams of our early hope or those of all modern prophets.

STRANORLAR, 1846.

THE EYE-WITNESS.

III.-INDIVIDUALITIES OF STATESMEN AND LEGISLATORS.

THE Scotch have a peculiar epithet — “kenspeckle." They apply it to individuals whose face or features, tallness or shortness, leave a vivid impression. A 66 kenspeckle" man is one whom, having seen once, you will know ever afterwards. He stands out, in your memory, from the whole herd of the human race. Handsome or ugly, there is something in the conformation of his body, in the twitch of his nose, in the cast of his eye, in the manner of his walking, which irresistibly reminds you of himself, and prevents you from confounding him with any

other individual.

Certain of our public men are "kenspeckle," and their forms and features are as familiar to those who have never seen them as to those who have. No country visitant of London, though he came from the farthest north or the remotest west, would be mistaken in detecting in the tall figure, the aquiline nose, the expressive mouth, the determined cast of the countenance, the apparition of His Grace FieldMarshal the Duke of Wellington, conqueror at Waterloo, and Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's forces. Not so markedly, but almost as surely, would be recog nised the large bust, the somewhat deficient legs, the "Saxon" look, light-haired and florid, of Sir Robert Peel. Again, as the huge hulk of Mr. O'Connell moves downwards towards the House, every man would say "that's him!" His individuality, like his voice, is so distinctive, that it would be impossible for any one to mistake him. Very much smaller in size, but as peculiar in look, is LORD JOHN RUSSELL. His smallness creates, at first, an idea of insignificance; but on listening to one of his speeches, those especially in which he enunciates great principles, one feels that though the man may not be an orator, in the larger sense, he has a mind and a soul, and we exclaim with the chorus in Henry the Fifth

"model to thy inward greatness,

Like little body with a mighty heart!"

There are other men not so notable, but whose physiognomies are markedly expressive. The "long head" of Sir Thomas Wilde, the foremost of our forensic advocates, and who has ploughed his way upwards from an humble to a high position in life; the full-sized bust and intelligent head of Thomas Wakley, Coroner, and representative for Finsbury; the genteel figure, handsome form, and spirited aspect of his colleague, Mr. Thomas Duncombe; the thin pale cast of the countenance of Mr. Richard Cobden, whose head is generally drooped downwards, as if he were perpetually meditating; the unmistakeable race-proclaiming look of Mr. Disraeli; the burly form of the "Railway King," Mr. Hudson, who talks everything in a strong Yorkshire dialect; the round, sleek, jolly, good-humoured aspect of Sir Robert Harry Inglis, who makes people feel that "godliness is profitable" even for this life; the fury of Mr. Ferrand, who roars out everything he has got to say in a voice which would awake the "Seven Sleepers ;" the tall form of Mr. Charles Buller, the cleverest man in point of intellect in the existing House of Commons, but who seems almost to have outgrown himself, and to have shot beyond powers and capacities of the

highest order; the brusque manner of Roebuck, whose tongue is a razor of the keenest penetration, but who is recognised as a thoroughly honest man; the dry humour of Mr. Villiers, brother of the Earl of Clarendon, relieving his somewhat "arid " manner; the hard, dry fun of Sir John Tissen Tyrrell, all the more exhilarating, because it has the appearance of dropping unconsciously; the comfortable look of Mr. Hume; the emphatic size of Mr. Pattison; the very good-humoured smile of Mr. Alderman Humphries, once "Lord Mayor of London,"-all these things may be noticed by the habitual visitant of the Legislature, but can hardly be conveyed to those who are "without."

We enter the "House" on an important night. The front opposition benches are crowded. Lord John Russell is sitting beside Lord Palmerston; the one you can distinguish by his "smallness," the other by his erect attitude and handsome figure. On one side of Lord John Russell sits Sir George Grey, cousin of the present Earl Grey, and who, though he does not often address the House, whenever he does so, gallops like a race-horse, and leaves the impression that he treats his clear, vigorous intellect much as some people do spoiled children-merely to be humoured on occasions. Lower down you may observe Mr. Macaulay-the brilliant essayist, the sparkling poet, and the telling orator-folding his arms, and leaning back on his seat with the air of a pedagogue. That sharp-faced man is Charles Wood, brother-in-law of the present Earl Grey, a pair who, in days now gone by, used to be termed "the Dual party." Mr. Charles Wood is an intelligent and respectable man, but, in speaking, he never knows when to have done. A similar thing may be predicated of Mr. Labouchere, a man whose private and political character is singularly pure, and whose word of honour is safer than many men's bonds. That bustling man is Mr. Benjamin Hawes, member for Lambeth; he is a clever individual, has a large,knowledge of commercial subjects; and, along with Mr.Tuffnell, acts as "whipper-in" for the Whig party.

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Party!—there is no party now! On both sides of the House men are ranged, as if there still existed "Her Majesty's Opposition as well as "Her Majesty's Government." It is a great mistake. Whatever may have been the cause-political education, moral progression, individual treachery, or a conglomeration of accidents→ the usual ideas of political party are now numbered amongst the things that floated in men's minds "before the Flood." Other and higher notions have come in their stead. The great question now with an honest political man, as well as an honest statesman, is, "How can I best serve my country?" All idea of opposing a measure because it comes from an opposite side of the House is laughed at—as it ought to be. The old watchwords have now less sense than ever they had; and the appellations of Tory, Conservative, Whig, Radical, and Chartist, have lost all distinctive power, and can only be applied in immediate relation to the expressed opinions of an individual. So far the country has gained immeasurably; and though, for a time, we float in a kind of political chaos, the elements will once more subside, and form a new stratum for human thought and human action.

Lord John Russell is one of the most conspicuous remnants of the days of party. He was born and educated in a school whose notion was, that all men were disposed politically into the party of movement and the party of resistance. Up till 1828 the idea was a correct one. For although Sir Robert Peel (then Mr. Peel) had begun to amend our Currency and our Criminal Laws, no serious inroad had been made in the "old" Constitution. In 1828 the first assault was made. Lord John Russell carried the Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts; and Sir Robert Peel, then Home

Secretary, somewhat sulkily assented. In 1829 came Catholic Emancipation; after it the Reform Bill; and all the changes which have changed the very spirit of our times.

That Lord John Russell is not an orator, every reader of a newspaper is aware. He has not the personal appearance, the imposing attitude, nor the rotund sesquipedalianism which tell on an audience. But you cannot listen to him without feeling that a man of mind is speaking. He utters his thoughts in a sententious mode; con. centrates his opinions into phrases which strike you as being peculiarly appropriate and reflective. There is nothing grand, nothing extraordinary; but all that is spoken is stamped with the character of an intellectual observation of human nature, both in its public and its private aspects. The late Rev. Sydney Smith, in a muchquoted sentence, describes Lord John Russell as having a courage which would dispose him to command the Channel fleet, perform the operation for the stone, or rebuild St. Paul's, should any of these performances lie within the sphere of his imperative duty. Ludicrous as it is, the description is as correct as some of those caricatures which convey a more faithful idea of an individual than the most elaborate portraiture. Lord John Russell is a singularly courageous man; and yet, as a general rule, he may be termed singularly cautious. Proud, cold, reserved, he never commits himself to that species of unscrupulous opposition which has been the disgrace of some living statesmen. Yet he is not inattentive to the arts by which a party is kept together, whether it be by corresponding with the managers of the daily press, or contributing to the periodical review. He speaks more correctly than he writes, of which an example may be observed in an article in the last Number of the Edinburgh Review,' on "Grey and Spencer," written, as it is understood, by Lord John Russell. Privately, he is a pure-minded man, with a temperament opposite to licentiousness, and a pride which scorns petty arts. Though fettering himself with party trammels, he has great faith in principles, and sees his way much farther than Sir Robert Peel, to whom he is inferior as a speaker, but superior as a thinker. It may not be superfluous to add, that Lord John Russell has written a play, a history, essays, and reviews; that he has filled high offices of state with much credit to himself and great utility to the country; that he has been connected with some of the most momentous changes of modern times, from the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts to the remodelling of our Municipal system; and though not, in any extraordinary sense, a very "great man, the large space which he fills in the public eye is due to the rectitude and consistency of his public conduct and the exemplary purity of his private character.

99

SHREDS OF THE PAST.

QUACKERY IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

"In the course of my life I have often pleased or entertained myself with observing the various and fantastical changes of the diseases generally complained of, and of the remedies in common vogue, which were like birds of passage, very much seen or heard of at one season, and disappeared at another, and commonly succeeded by some of a very different kind. When I was very

young, nothing was so much feared or talked of as rickets among children, and consumption among young people of both sexes. After these the spleen came in play, and grew a formal disease: then the scurvy, which was the general complaint, and both were thought to appear in many various guises. After these, and for a time, nothing was so much talked of as the ferment of the blood, which passed for the cause of all sorts of ailments, that neither physicians nor pa

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