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BENTLEY'S

MISCELLANY.

VOL. XXV.

LONDON;

RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.

1849.

^fc»J.»-»«^JJ^"^

CONTENTS.

' Mrs. Ward

The Note Book of & Coroner*^ Clerk, by the Author of '* Expe- riences of a Gaol Chapkin,** . 1 , I H, 21 7, 3^7, U9, SU Good Night! From the Gemiart of Pnuer, . . , .14 Cmjuet Side. A Sketch from the North Countrre. The Happy Valley ; or, The Emigrants Home Leaves irom Admiral Lord Minorca^s Note- Book Old Music and Pictures, ..... 02

Hans Michel ; or, A Few Old German Proverhs^

applied to New German Pomica . U ^^ pj^^^^^ 21

The Mirror of the French Repuhuc; or. The f '

Parisian Theatres, . , . -* - . 369

Queen's Bench Sketches. No. IV. * *v . . 31

Frank Hamilton; or, the Confessions of an

Only Son, . . . ^By W. H. Maxwell. 124

An Incursion into Connemara; with an Account

of a Traveller who Survived it, .' . . . 3.59

The By- Lanes arid Dowiih of England, iritli Turf Scenes and Cha- racters, hy Sylvanus, , . 38, 175, 236, 400, 479, 603 A Holiday at Berlin in Ancient Times, , . . ,43 ITie Rambles of Death, ...... 47

Life : A Gossip. . . , . "

The King who became Voung Again I A Tale

to be Put to the World, Forgiveness. — The Beturn, . Appetite. A Sarcastic on the Gastric,

Wayside Pictures : XV I L The Ranee. XVIU.

Bert rand d 11 Guesclin, XIX.

The Ruins of La Garaye,

and the Priory of Lehon, • 57 XX. The Valley of the Foun- tain. The Balls of Dinan. —

XXL English and French m

Dinan hefore the Revolution,

^X X I L The Mayor's Head;

The Sedan Chair. Mixed An-

iiqui t ies .— X X 1 1 L Renn es, 164 XXIV. Soldiers and Priests.—

XXV. The Game of Soule.

-^XXVL Nantes,— XXVI L

The Duchess de Berri, * 275

By Alfred Crowqnill .

XXVIIL The War of La Ven- d^e. A ngers. — ^XX 1 X . T he Paradise of the Demi- For- tune, . * .416

XXX. La Jeune France* — XXX L Celtic Monuments. — XXXI L Tours. — XXXIIl. The Loire to OrleaiiB.^ — XXXIV. The Show-houses of Orleans, . . .465

L The Shoreis of the Low Countries, Antwerp. — ^11. Malines. Bruges. — 11 LBrus- sels and its Revolution, . 624

66, 197, 299, 411, 53^1

193

L

MimeirB of Chateaubriand, written by Himself,

PMtion of Sir James Brooke in the Indian . „^ • ^ a -. *

Archipelago.. . . By James Augustus ^

Sir James Brooke and the Pirates . 1 ^t.John,

The Cellini Cup, by Samuel James Arnold, . , -83

The Literary Career of William Eliery Channing» } By Charles Schiller and his Contemporaries, . \ Whitehead

A Winter's Night with my Old Books, chiefly concerning Ghosts and

Prodigies, by Albert Smith, .....

The Philosophy of History. — Macaulay's James the Second Literature op the Month:

Warwick'^ Naaotofty. — Forty Dayi In the Desert on the TrAck of the JcraeUtes.^Bar* naril'i Three Y«ar>* Croics in the Moxftiublque Ctvanntl for the Buppre«ilD&ar the SUv» Trade. — Merrlfteld^s Arti tt( PaintiD|[ in Oil. Miniature^ Maiatc, and on Glut.— Coa- tvlW* Clara Pano. — Shaw'i OulUni!!* of En^li^h LiUrature,— Druinniond's Hemonr of Montagiie Stanley, A.R.3.A. — AJnaworth'B I.ancaihire Witchet. — Martin Tmitrond, a Frenclunan in London In 1II3L--The Ilomance of the Peer af;e.— Max well'i Cxar, hit Court and Feople,— Tyndalc'« tiland of Sardinia. — WUItio's DilaailA and Montenegro. — Gr«l«'« Notetof a Two Yean' Renidenre in Half, ....

Bryant'e What I saw in Californiiii in 1S46 and 1847.— Ketnhlv'a Saxons in Eufland,— A HJflory of the EiiKllih Com moo wealth. — Mr«. Homer's Bird of Fuaaie; or, Flylnx GiiTop«e« of Many Landi.— Count Kraaiiiikl's Coisaeks of ih« UlirAtne,— CiirHitg «

imiXhnm. A Ufeodof Te tt>ryinii,ui 194%W ILC.

Perdvsl r A €Mhft tn a Slaver, I7 Cmcli, nt Djrariiid tha DoamncaiL A Ueend of Aix. fli»l4tt^ From ScMUer, , .

Tka iMvoestioii to Destli^ .

WmIjii MAoor, By the Author of *'Th^Eoaet Cboioe,^ " A Ballad, . , , . .

BfLM^

Vte]

imor8H«.lfooitlb tiia8lBver.>rCBidi

t and Tears, hj WUhBmJmmm^ Tb* Loring Start ! by William Jooet, Fkn ; or^ Scenes and Adveotores on llio BanlcB of tbe Aniaaan. br K

E. Wan-eJi, . . , . , -

Musical Note* for March, 404 j April, 519; May, by Tartini's The Opeaii^ of the Operaa - . . ,

Alke May, by Edward Jeoe^ ....

GoMp of Walballa and Schiraathaler,by Mis CoeteUo, Night. From the German, ...

The House of D'Etpagnet, the Arehitect, at Bordeaux, To the Cloudi From the Gonnati, , . .

Spring, From the Germanj . . ♦ .

Lyrical Bt^oei of the Indian MaU.— No. L ChiUianwallah.— !

CkMDxerat, *...., '-^innirnt Alfreil B. Street,

and \V'»ve«, . , * , ,

utht'd Meg. A Lay of the Border, W Hiding SK(>et. A Lejfend, from the German of Guatav. UhefHled Forrat. A True Tale, '**.--To Clara, by MiiH Cofttello,

t to Hoyalty in the Gambia, by Capt. Sir H. V, HunUey, R,N Mf(f* f»f I>e Lomartine, Victor Hugo, and Julee Janln, by l\ i

Nititiorc^ o Victoriai,

148 154 ISl 4S4

ia4 . 190

im

941

dt^4 314 SSS 378 630

3S7, 5€S, 607

^ ' 643 430 469 502 507 506 510 51ti

No. XL

539

. 563

566

. 567

Soilings 581

589

568

589

G.

596 640

BENTLEY'S MISCELLANY,

THE CORONERS CLERK,

BY THE AUXnOR OP " KXPRRIRNCES OF A GAOL CHAPLAIN/* WITH AN ILLUdTEATION BY LEBCR.

OBAPTKH I,

A DI7CHSSS a DIAMOND

i A R * R I N G 8.

^^ There is at* oonti)nditi|;( with ner«iMiicy, und we Klinuld be very tcn^Br how wo cemure tho^e that siibrait to it ? 'Ti* une thin^ tti \*e at lil>t?rty to do what wfs wiiJ, ami iLiiutL«r thing to be tied up u> do what we inu»t.**

Sir Rooeh L'^Ebtramoc.

I wONDBR whether this record of a chequered life will ever come before tlic world I Will credit be given to its disclosures ? and will lliey avail? will they warn, deter, console?

At twenty I found myselt^ with articles on the eve of expiring, in the office of a very wary, successful^ and thoroughly unscrupulous man.

He was an attorney of the olden time: cunning, half-educated, cringing, unprincipled, mendacious. Similar characters may exist at this day. But if ever there was a being whose soul was steeped in suspicion ; who believed all would cheat if tliey could ; who looked upon uprightness as fabulous, and the law as a license to prey on the property and fears of others, Mr* RalTorde was that valuable and truly popular personage. But he throve; and, as far as the rapid accumulation of means, accompanied by the utter wreck of character, could be called prosperity. IVlr. Raffbrde might be deenieil a very thriving personage* The secret of his rise may, perhaps, be thus explained: fie was a thoroughly reckkss pracfUtQucr. The bearings of no case, however dark and dajjtardly might be its features, de- terred him from undertaking it. He quailed before no rebuff of a judge, and no sarcasm of an oppotiing counsel. Libel the deatl, knowingly, I would not; but in musing on his career I feel con- vinced that the more ^agitious, base, and indefensible the cause, the more heartily did it commend itself to his advocacy.

In the office, and tlioroughly devoted to its owner's interests,

slaved another clerk, named Tillett, In him — he was barely two and-

twenty — Rafforde seemed to repose unmeasured confidence. lie

was one of a large family ; and niaintainedj such was his habitual

self*denial, out of a moderate salary, his mother and a blind and

I decrepid sister. A more despondent, dejected, craven countenance

ras never owned by human being I And there appeared no adequate

»use for this depression* He stood well with his employer. How-

ver crabbed or sarcastic Raflbrde might be to others, he had always

'« word of encourage men t> a kindly phrase for the down-ca^t Tillett.

VOL. XXV. B

TffE COROKEKS CT.ERE.

Angry as he might be with others, the vials of his wrath were never poured out on his humble and industrious familiar. The ex* ception was too raai ked to escape notice. I ventured, on one occa- sion, to allude to it ; it was a dark, bleak, winter's day, and the willing slave had been toiling in the office for thirteen hours conti- nuously, over a mortgage i*hich required iinniediate execution* All at once he lagged, — ^his physical powers gave way, — blindness seized him ; he tottered feebly from his seat, and declared that he could no longer see the parchment it was his business to engross, I spoke to him : he returned no answer — looked piteously around him — began to mutter hastily and incoherently ; and in a few seconds fell sense- less on the floor. I raised him — applied restoratives — and, when he had somewhat rallied, counselled rest and refreshment*

*'No," said he, resuming his pen^and again bending himself to his unwelcome task. '* no rest for the guilty man ; let him toil till he dies."

" Pooh I pooh 1 bright days are in store for you, Tillett. Your employer conBdes in you, applauds you, caresses you, defers CoH^ you — " ^

He looked up, with quivering lip and, bloodshot eye, and added, slowly : " and will one day hang you ! *'

The amazement pictured in my face recalled to him, I imagine, his wonted self-possession. With ready cunning he instantly essayed to remove the effect of his previous self-accusation.

** I rave ! heed not what I say. I will hurry home and sleep/*

He wrung my hand and rushed wihily from the office.

But I was by no means cle*ir that he did " rave/' or that it behoved me to pay "no heed "to his extraordinary admissions. And this impression was deepened by an ejaculation that escaped him the first morning he was able to ivork after recovering from his seizure.

Pleased by some unprompted effort which I had made in his ser* vice, by something which I had on the spur of the moment done^ or, cautiously, lefi undone, Rafl^jrde surprised me with a hearty ex- pression of rare approval, and the reo>ark,

" Conduct like this merits encouragement, and must have it. On Tuesday I go to the assizes at Derby, and thence for a couple of days to Matlock. Now, the latter place you will not be sorry to see ; and at the former, while rvurk is going on, you may learn a lesson. You shall accompany me, and I will bear your expenses throughout. In fact, you shall be my guest. Give me, I say, the man, and not the mere machine — the man who can think, and plan, and act for him- self. I start at ^\e to the minute."

Scarcely had the sound of hi*i retreating footsteps become inaudible when Tillett rushed from his seat, and advancing hastily towards me, Raid, with passionate earnestness,

•'Don't trust that man. Accept no favour at his band. False and designing in all he does, his benefits are snares. Once place yourself under obligation to him, and you become his victim for life/*

" This from vou, Tillett ! You who are so manifestly in Raffbrdc's

nfidence, and enjoy so large a share of his favour ! You *re jea-

u !— palpably and undeniably jealous! " No!'* said he, and his former vehemence of manner subsidfl perfect sadness, •* no such unworthy feeling actuates me.

THE COEONEE'S CLERK.

motives you cannot fathom, but they are pure. Yes ! I can call God to witness that they are pure. You don't know thia man. Man, do I call him ? He is a demon I "

" A flattering observation ! and to the party chiefly interested be- yond question g^rati tying, Hope the demon does not know what is said of him in hia absence hy his confidential clerk ! But to Derby Iffol Make up your mind to double fag, Tillett, for a week's hohday I 11 have."

" And at Mr. Raffbrde's cost ? "

*' Most assuredly : it will add to the enjoyment of my trip that my principal bears all charges./*

Thia was said with a laugh. It seemed to grate harshly on Til- let's ear. He turned hastily and almost angrily away. Returning after a few moments, and taking my hand in his, he murmured in low but earnest tanea^ —

"HaslamI Have I ever deceived you? Has there, since you knew me, been aught in my bearing towards you unjust or insincere?"

*'No, my boy] no siu of that kind can be laid to your charge. If somewhat too melancholy for the ordinary aifairs of life, — and at times abominably short and crusty, — a dissembler your worst enemy cannot call you,"

*' Has my advice ever proved selfish or equivocal? "

'* Never: save and except when you exhorted me to be leas de- monstrative in my attentions to the gunsmith*s pretty daughter* You turn away indignantly I Nay, then, 111 be serious. Your counsel has always proved salutary; and for it 1 readily own myself your debtor."

*' Cancel the obligation by granting me one request — abandon this journey. Feign ilhiess ; plead unwillingness to leave home ; conjure up some pretext for remaining where you are. Risk offending Raf* forde, rather than accompany him. Ooce within his toils, and you are lost 1 "

"Pooh I nonsense! I shall go: and a merry week I promise my- self. RafTorde's notions of honesty and principle may be somewhat faint and shadowy r does it follow that / am to adopt them ? 1 dety him to mislead me/'

Tillett turned sadly away, remarking in an under-tone, —

*' It is as I expected — another victim! — another, to the full, as self-con fid en tj and ere long to be as debased and degraded as myself I "

** As if one would be muzzled and led/* was my muttered aside, "by mysterious inuendoes of that lugubrious description/'

Strange! the temerity with which in early life we avow crude and rash conclusions,^the tenacity with which we cling to them, — and the chagrin with which, slowly and reluctantly, we receive the les- sons of that stern and remorseless teacher^Experience. Who is it that says, well and wisely, 'Uhey advise better who impose caution, than they who would stimulate hope? '*

It was a bright, dusty, piercing, breezy morning in i\Inrch when Rafibrde and I drove into Derby. The commission had been opened on the previous evening, and the town was crowded. It was a motley assemblage. There were to be seen — ^jostling about in the throng and conspicuous for top-boots, buckskins, buff waistcoats.

TME CORONERS CLERK.

and blue coats with bright buttons — goodly spedmens of the county gemlemiiii, summoned on tlie grand jury, and looking alarmingly solemn and important, ^barristers, keen, expectant, and wiry-visaged, with eyes red as ferrets from want of sleep and, perhaps;, a somewhat letigihened AetkrufU at the bar mess, — ^gaping and bewildered country yokels, subpoenaed as witnesses, and even out of court palpably all abroad and thorougldy mystified, — uneasy clients, hunting up iheir attornieSj and looking marvellously impatient^ obstinate^ and vicious, — and javelin-men marvellously ill at ease in their new attire, and all more or less under the influence of their early potations-

Rare specimens of the animal that walks arm-in-arm — as man has been quiiintly defined— may be met with in a country town during the assize week. One case, which contributed its full quota of wit- nesses, rendered that assize memorable, and jrave occasion to much delicious gos^jsip, was, that of a disputed will, in which the fluent Vauf^han (afterwards judf^e) was counsel. He represented the hdrs-at-law, and was retained to upset tlie wilL The amount at stake waa not large ; some eight or nine thousand pounds at the utmost, But undue influence, it was averred, had been exerted. Three nephews to whom the testator was known to have been par- tial, and the youngest of whom was his Gotl-child, were gratified with legacies of ten pounds each ; a favourite farming bailiff waa rewarded for thirty years of faithful service by the liberal remem- brance of five guineas ; while a vinegar- faced and most tyrannical housekeeper, was ma«le easy for life by a specific legacy of ^ve thousand pounds, and was named, moreover, residuary legatee.

These last were termed •* frightful items in a single gentleman's will," and were denounced accordingly. Some odd stories too were afloat, as to the mental condition in which the sick man was found when his will was read over to him, and the reluctance with which he signed it.

In fact, the will was said to be any body's rather than that of the party whose property it disposed of.

The main witness for its validity was that of an old crony of the deceased, who had played cribbage with him every night for the last dozen years, and from whom he had ha<l no concealments. Thi» person gave the history of the will ; how ** it first came to be thought of/* anti a rough copy made ; how this was altered by the deceated Again and again, till '* he had fashioned it to his own liking;" how it was copied out afresh, and hhewn to the housekeeper, who •* mightily approved" of it; how it was finally transcribed, signed, and sealed, in witness's presence, by the dying man, as and for his last will and testament; — all this was stated by the stalwart yeoman with admirably feigned aimpHeity. He was a handsome, hale look- ing, old man ; and his grave, respectful, and decorous demcanoag j told amazingly with the judge, and not a little with the jury. ^1

Vaughan rose to cross-examine* "■

The gay, smiling, easy manner with which he addressed himself to his task ; the passing compliment which he paid the witness ,* the adroitness with which he threw him off his guard ; the subtlety with which he shaped question after question, till he finally nailed his victim to some most perilous admissions, attested the clearness his intellect, and his thorough insight into character. The fact*

length established were these : that he (the witness) was to marry

THE CORONERS CLERK.

the housekeeper " if the will stood ;" that they •*had a written tm- derstafidim/ uprm that matter ;" that she (the housekeeper) liad re- peatedly told him — " the will must be to mtf liking as well as to fiis (her master's), 'afore /'// aiiow kim to sign it ;" and that ** words were struck out and figures put in at her bidding ! "

All these points were developed with quiet but masterly manage- ment. I Rafforde, who sat next me, w^hose sympathies were generally with

the designing and fraudulent, and to whom rascality was always palateable, sighed deeply when these awkward revelations were unfolded, I ** Ah f " whispered he, " these admissions are damning, — damn-

ing I Vaughan will pitch the case out of court. Bah! what an oversight."

And he was rl^lit. I In a speech which occupied an hour^ Mr. Vaug-han effectually

demolished the evidence in favour of the will. The testimony of the old yeoman J so much relied upon by the opposite party, he rid- dled with shots of the most merciless raillery, antl then dissected with scorn the base and mercenary motives with which it was given. And yet his address turned upon one pivot. There was but one idea in the whole speech— that the disputed will was made under undue influence ; was the honsekeeper's will, not the will of the de- ceased. Bnt that idea was exhibited under such rich and various clothing; was lighted up with such happy illustrations ; had here the decoration of some apt quotation, and there the ballast of some grave and weighty apothegm ; here gleamed the stroke of the most polished irony ; there fell the home-thrust of the most manly indig- nation ; as a whole, it seemed the perfection of legal oratory. To Rafforde the impression made was nauseous. "Let us go/' said he, ere Vaughan concluded; "I foresee the verdict, and I 've a baptismal register to search at All Saints* Church,"

With a flushed visage and angry eye he literally fought his way out of court. Nor did the cool air calm him. He growled, and grumbled, and muttered discordant curses every inch of the road; and as he passed the threshold of the sanctuary, wound up his dis- contents by ejaculating,^ —

*' flang those fools I hang 'em ! hang 'em I Faugh ! to mar by foUy Buch a glorious chance f

The day was closing. Bark clouds were gathering in the west, and a thick, gloomy haze filled from aisle to aisle the noble church we were entering. What a contrast to the scene we had quitted ! TfterCf all spoke of earthly passions, of man's contests with his fel- low— ^of jealousy, rivalry, hate, revenue ; Aer*?, every object reminded him of impending helplessness, declitie, decay, oblivion ; Ihvrt^, the pervading watchwoTils seemed ** effort and struggle;" here, gentle Ij^^oices seemed to murmur ** repose and rest ;'' thtre, everything did ^Bhomage to the fleeting present; ftcrc^ every obj^>ct beckoned to the ^■dim and distant future; tftere, amid the hum of voices, and the ex- ^Hciting conflict of intellect, and the subtle appeals of prejudice, won- ^Hdrous deference was paid to the rights of property, ami dexterous ^"allusion made to the halo of fame and the blazon of heraldry ; here, one stern and unbending moral wn& reiterated over the mouldering

6

THE CORONERS CLERK.

tombs of the departed — " Mortal 1 learn that earth's distinctiont

here cease for ever V

A slirunken, bent, white-haired old man — the aged guardian of the sanctuary^ soon to be with those of whom he spake^now tottered feebly up to us, and in a shrill, reedy voice craved owr "notice of what most deserved a traveller's attention in All Saints' Church/*

First, he pointed to the monument of the celebrated Bess Hard- wicke, Counters of Shrewsbury, completed before her death. She was plagued with four husband^^ and yet reached the age of eighty- seven; then to a tablet commemorative of a Rev. Dr, Henderson, an unwearied beggar in a good cause, who solicited and obtained contributions from strangers, travellers, friends, forei^ers, anybody and everybody, towards rebuilding his church (All Saints'), and who found such favour in his irksome but self-imposed calling, that by his own individual eflbrts he raised the sum of three thousand pounds. Next the old man rested beside a monument raised to some persons, a family, who fled from London to avoid the plague, and died of it at Derby ! '* Wondrous," as the great magician writes,* *' that our will should ever oppose itself to the strong and uncontrolhible tide of destiny — that w^e should strive with stream when we might drift with the current T'

On these perishing mementoes of the past the old man glibly dea^ canted in his thin, shrill, wiry tones, but to dull and sluggish ears. RafTorde would not soothe him with even feigned attention. He wandered listlessly from aisle to aisld till, pausing abruptly in the chancel, he exchiimed, —

** Here slumbers a beautiful, gifted ^ and much calumniated woman ! and no tablet, no monumental slab, however humble, marks her place of rest, — she who was once so caressed and worshipped T*

" To whom do you refer ?"

" To one whom neither high birth, nor unrivalled beautyj nor a most generous and confiding spirit, could screen from savage and unrelenting calumny t what unsuspected facts could I, from my own personal knowledge, disclose relative to this ill-fated woman!"

•* You have yet to name her/'

'* Georgina> the celebrated Duchess of Devonshire."

" Right r* cried the aged cicerone, who had by this* time crawled up to us, and who now chimed in the conversation with his thin, shrill voice — ** she lies in the family vault along with her great fore- elders. There were many grand folks at her funeral — many — many — I mind it well f

*' Nor can I easily forget it/* observed Rafforde, *' for I was pre- sent. It makes me,*' continued he, *' an old man to remember events so long passed. I was detained by business at the inn at Red- burne, where the funeral cortege made its first pause, and where the conductors held /heir first citrouse. No room for surprise ! The funerals of the great are rarely mournful affairs ; all disphiy of feeling is scnipuloualy shunned. But onward. I saw the pro- cession enter Northampton, a drenched and wretched-looking com- pany, with a creaking and battered hearse, plumes all soiled and travel- stained, attendants unshaven and shabbily clothed, and horsei fit for the knacker's yard. It was a sorry cavalcade, ill-suited to the last obsequies of one ho courted, so popular^ and so fair. And

• Sir \r»Uer Scott, ** The AbLut/' voL iii. p. 207.

THE CORONERS CLERK.

I was present in this church when they buried her. It wai mla- managed to the last ; all was hurrj and confusion. What mattered it? The grave never sheltered a more truly broken-hearted woraan/'

'* Wonderful !'* struck in the old sexton j amaeedly; "broken- hearted I and to have so many friends to follow her to the grave — so many I for I well remember it was a l^rge funeral/'

*' Her enemies outnumbered them," observed Raffbrde ; " nor did they cease to vilify her even in the grave. One charge, most pertf- fiaciously persevered in, I know to be false ; that tounded on the diamond ear-rings held by IVIeyer, the Jew bullion-broker, and which, it was asserted, had been lost at play^ Nothing more un- true I The whole matter was adjusted by the firm to which I served my clerkship. There was a party named Aleason — he *s dead and gone, so there can be no delicacy about names — who held a situa- tion of trust in a mercanlile house, Meason was the son of a favou- rite servant of the duchess — a nurse, I think — and whom her former mistress much i^alued for faithful services. The son was a silly young man, inconsiderate and extravagant — ^got into difficulties, and forged the signature of his employers. He was detected, and his ruin seemed inevitable. In her sorrow the delinquent's mother sought the duchess, and implored her aid. With many tears she assured her former benefactress that the firm woiild forego all pro- ceedings against the criminal if the amount of his forgeries (seventy pounds) was forthcoming, and a solemn promise given that he would quit the country. 'Would the duchess, to save her child's life/ the suppliant proceeded, 'lend her this sum?* Strange as it may sound, the duchess was penny leas. She could no more com- mand the required seventy pounds than she could seven thousand. She avowed this with many regrets. The agonized mother then said, * The duchess was her la^t hope ; ikai failing, her son must perish on the scaffold/ Yielding to the impulse of the moment, the duchess rose, took from her jewel-case a pair of diamond ear-rings, placed them in Mrs. Hyett's hands, and told her to leave them with Meyer, in Hatton Garden, who would advance the necessary sum. Her (the duchess's) name was, under any circum- stances, to be withheld. The culprit's life was saved ; but the story got wind, and, amid innumerable other calumnies uttered relative to this lovely and envied woman, was this, that her diamond ear- rings had been sold to Meyer, the Jew, to pay her play debts. Nor had any member of Hyett's family the candour (at least, that I ever heard) to come forward and state the simple truth. But/' continued he, musingly, as he turned away towards the vestry, "this is not an isolated case. The noblesse are not cruel or hard- hearted. They are not, in the main, selfish or sordid. Far from it. They are the poor man's truest and most generous friends.*'

** This from you, sir,'* said I, ** is cheering ; because I have seen books on your table in which passages like these were to be found * the higher classes are forgetful of their Christian obligations ; they treat the poor bke cattle: as for the nobility they are notoriously d^d to all feelings of compassion : insolent in demeanour, and volup- tuaries in practice ; they are cold and callous to the voice of humanity, and exercise over the poor man a system of heartless cruelty calcu- tated to draw down upon them the just vengeance of heaven ! ' **

THE CORONERS CLERK.

''Good metal, too!" cried RafTordei sniiliugly, and rubbing hill

hands. *' Nothing tells so well at an election with a mob, or on aoj occasion where popuhir leeling is to be roused as a fierce attack on the aristocracy — nothing more grateful to the masses than abuse of their superiors. It will find willing^ hearers to the end of time.

* Down with the Peerage ! ' A glorioua cry 1 I would use it to* morrow to suit my purpose." .

" Well ! " cried the old guide, with a face of horror, ** if ihia b#" not ' to blow hot and cold with the same breath,' if this be not to put

* bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter/ I 've heard to no purpose godly and painful preachera in this church, man and boy, for a mat- ter of fourscore years. Theresa no denying it — 'tis the end of the world j *'

CHAPTER II.

HOW TO TAMPER ^VITH A R£OISTBR*

<* My perplexities and arinoyiiTj*:*'^ have not iM&en few. At one period tlie fras drHihuTiLil. But the Hpetrtntile un the whutut was cheering, ib«t of a fmiedy — Lord 8i oaro u t h.

In that vestry to which Rnfforde now stole with a light gingerly step sat a pale^ shy, awkward-looking young man, who, w^e were told, was the curate pro i em pore. His attendant satellite, the clerk, stood behind him, holding in hit* brawny fist a large key, which from time to time he brandished impatiently, either by way of signal to us to mend our pace, or as an assurance that he had the means of satisfying our curiosity. On him Hafforde bestowed no attention. lie was intently scanning the curate; and the while there gleamed in his grey sleepy eye that expression of malignant cunning, which 1 had more than once remarked in it when he was meditating some act of villany.

'' You wish, I understand, to search our registers/' said the pilUd- faced curate ; he had the voice ofagirl, and looked faint and f* hausted : ** during what year ?*'

** I am iniable to say," was RafTorde's cautious reply ; ** my search may extend over a lengthened period. 1 require the register of the birth and death of a partj^ named Johanna Maygarth."

** With what year willjou commence?" said the clergyman, with a culm business-like air, "and with what register — that of baptismi or burials ?"

" What year? — oh, with that of 17^0; and the register — let roe see — yes, that of burials." The volume was searched out, dustedj and handed down to him in silence.

The man of law pored over it with seeming earnestness ; I could ■ee by the (lashing of the eye and the restless twitching of the mus* clea about the mouth that he was cogitating some cmtp d'Hat, and annoyed at some existing impediment which opposed its execution* Ten, twenty, forty minutes elapsed, w^hcn the clergyman satd kindly to the clerk, who had been labouring for the last half hour under a paroj^ysm of the fidgets, dusting books, arranging papers, smoothing the surplice, and beating the devil's tattoo, first with one foot and then with the other, in a fever of anxiety to be off, " Morris, you need not remain here ; I will 'see to this matter niyself— the preiiCDCC of one party will suffice.*'

*' But the key, sir, the key !" said the weary functionary, brands isliing the emblem of his office with ofliciauB importance ; " them

^

THE CORONER S CLERK*

registers be precious ; they contains the pedigrees of half the folks in Derbv."

'* I will lock up the iron chest/' responded the curate quietly, ''and see that everything is restored to it which ought to be In its custody."

Amen required no further pressing ; he *'inade a leg/* and was off in a trice ; but, on his departure, his fidgets and restlessness seemed transferred to Rafforde, That worthy searched on, but suddenly be- came strangely addicted to locomotion. *' The draught from the win- dow was cutting/' and he moved a little to the right ; '* the stone on which his feet were resting was cold and damp/' and he retreated a h'ttle to the left ; soon afterwards " the odour from falling soot on an expiring fire annoyed him," and he removed stool and table to a dark recess some few paces forward ; ere long, ^' he found the light defi- cient/' and retreated some half-dozen feet backward. One fact amidst all this restlessness was observablej that, shift his position as Kaflbrde would, and place the register and table in what light he mightj the curate quietly but speedily so arranged his own arm- chair as thoroughly to command the attorney's every movement. Whether this arose from accident, from habitual vigilance, or from suspicion of his visitor's intentions, must remain matter for conjec- ture.

Suddenly, my principal's face lighted up with a aelf-aatisfied leer, the nearest approach to a smile that ever brightened his designing visage; and I felt persuaded that his scrutiny had been rewarded by some entry in the register which was favourable to him, or which he fancied he could turn to account He drew from his pocket-book a pencil, and then, slowly and stealthily from his w^ristband, a dimi- nutive double-bladed penknife — the miracles which I have seen that little implement, aided with a dash of pounce, effect in certain ill- drawn and obnoxious documents I — wrote the following words on a scrap of paper, and, folding it up closely, tossed it over to me for perusab^ —

** Engage your neighbour in conversation ; take any subject, no matter what — the approaching death of the bishop — the expected vacancy in this very living: talk to him, and mute Mm lalk iotfou."

I began, and did my best, but in vain ; the curate, for the 'most part, replied in monosyllables. The colour deepened in his cheek, and his eye looked still more anxious and haggard when 1 ventured, on m^ prificipats atti/torih/, to speak of his rector's death as being hourly expected. He *' had not heard,*' he said, ** of his incumbent's being ill ; his loss would be felt in the parish." As to the '* demise of the diocesan, the death of a bishop," he quietly reraarkedj " was not a matter which much affected llw inferior ckrgtf,"

But, while he spoke, his gaze was riveted on Mr. Rafforde ; he never withdrew it for an instant, and my employer, as I could see by his rising colour and angry scowl, was annoyed and controlled by it* Twiliirht »tole on ; but, before it had rendered surrounding objects indistinct, the churchman rose, and said deliberately, ** I am sorry to interrupt you, but, for to-day, your search is closed/'

''^ Why so ?" inquired the other; " we have some twenty minutes* twilight before us yet, and my sight is always strongest at this hour."

*' An unusual advantage ; and^ that you may not presume upon it unduly/* — the clergyman's tone increased in firmness — ^' permit me now to close the books/*

THK COWOSWMS CLERK.

■"^J

llie Iawj9, inkpeiuoual J ; ''nothiog like

lii joong companion ; *' but it is

eff« M Mf * sltMimiffg/ "

ined,* cried the attorney fiercely

0,i

Mt «rip libee; sen liMi tht irBcat. Man ■ f ibeCL Never, aercr *

•-Mr*"

le: no r^lj Cioald well be briefer.

\ mUk wkidl k was uttered startle mt fisible even in the 111 fffiir— ** tntcirtioDs were present IgilaMI >CBtmei in the soul ! — thou $o€ TAX Grsat Etsrkal ! — thy hL Of thiiie empire the most flagi.

doift llMNi whoUy de^rt even &e

my ht can ttlcnee thee, defy thee, wUkomi God U a tribunai

CBAPTXB in.

FflTSMTT AND PStKCIPLS*

*▼•!

ifvi in tlw cunc particuW «id to a malicioua ntaa

WttDi R«ibede had recoTered a Utile froin the rebufi' which the curate*^ worda and laMitr CMveyed» mad taw the latter calmly re- phdng the legioets wlti^ mm nsty de|>anto(ry» his native amimtitr retained, and, aaaiaiiiing the bullT. he excUitned sharply and imely—

''You are ialktii^ en ne, sir, creel hardship; hardship which yoiir tMDpormTy poateaiop of power eoables yoa to perpetrate, but whieh your better jiwlppem nasi cwwidemw,*'

''Hamph!" was the nerpleiiiig reply.

'* Happdjr eoRtiiiued Raffbrde, ** you are amenable to the higher powers, and rely upoo it that your cooduci shall be represent^ to the hishop."

'« Boom," went the last massy r^^giatcr into the far depths of the iron chest : *' click — click," was the merrj- response of the lock.

«* Do a5 you would be done by/' resumed Ra0brde, bent on bullying the clergyman, and striding up to him with an insolent and menacing gesture, '' is a precept often on your lips* Profes- sional duty compels you to utter it. Why should not kindness of heart, which ^om are bound specially to cherish, induce you to prac- lise it ? "

" A weighty question, but which might have been more oppor- tanely put," said the other calmly.

** You have injured me," bellowed RaForde, " grossly and griev* ously ; and not myself only, but those wronged and helpless ones, the widow and the orphan, for whom I seek redress. A selfish and ^cruel spirit^ priest, most assuredly is your's."

"'In toe main, your conclusion may not be wholly erroneous,** I the churchman, pleasantly ; " but how I can have eithibited it I preaent instance, puzzles me."

THE CORONEE S CLERK,

11

" Then listen. My principal object in coining to Derby waa to

search those registers in behalf of some oppressed parties who have been strippeil of their property, and are now seeking its restoration. Certain entries in those books will at once establish or negative their claim. I believe those entries to be there existent ; and it was material to me that my search should be minute, patient, prolonged, and thorough. You interrupted this."

*'Only when day departed : for to-morrow name your own hour, and your appointment shall be abided by, I say to-morrow, for