hand for charity, where alone the wretched could look for aid and the persecuted for shelter. These were, indeed, the only dwellings of peace and security in those unhappy times, and those whose memory we reproach as lazy monks, had perhaps no alternative betwixt the cloistered life and that of lawless soldiers of fortune. The wealth of the church proved at length pernicious to its prosperity, and a fruitful source of corruption. But at the period of which we have been speaking, it created few evils in proportion to the many which it alleviated. We have often heard from those who thought very little about the matter, the stale complaint of the pleasant and fertile lands possessed by the church. For this they cannot be blamed, when choice was allowed them, nor was it to be much lamented, when it is recollected, that abbey lands being the only domains free from plunder, and the tenants possessing them the only individuals of that class free from military service, these were better cultivated, and the inhabitants more happy and tranquil than any others in the kingdom; they were the only bounds on which property was secure, and the inhabitants undisturbed. Even the great evil, for such it certainly was, of bestowing abbeys on foreigners, was not without its advantage. They brought with them ingenious brothers of their order, who introduced or improved painting, sculpture, music, gardening, and agriculture. It is to Italian fathers of the convent that we owe the art of raising fruit trees in the ungenial clime of Scotland, and much of the wealth with which they are reproached was expended on those sacred edifices which were the chief ornament of the country, and did honour to its taste and its piety; they did, indeed, "Bid temples worthier of the God arise." And though it became necessary to dispeople these haunts of superstition when religion was reformed, and the state of society no longer required these asylums, still the pensive, the poetical, and the imaginative, must regret that the nests of these rooks (to use the expression of our rude reformer) were so entirely defaced. Even the independent and the republican Milton felt the solemn enthusiasm of a poet when wandering "where storied windows, richly dight, cast a dim religious light." Daily viewing the magnificent remains of our neighbouring abbey, and pondering on the liberal charities there bestowed, the cures performed by brothers that have, as in other religious establishments, made the powers of medicine their particular study; and their toils and cares for others; often I think back on the primitive fathers of the cloister, and admire that wisdom of Providence that rendered an order of men, founded on principles so repugnant to our general nature, and to the gospel institutions, so useful as a barrier against utter darkness and ignorance. "And never do my due feet fail To walk these studious cloisters pale," where, amidst these solemn ruins, I muse undisturbed till fancy has her fill, and see with my mind's eye, not merely "Abbots purple as their vines," but at times the lean ascetic monk absorbed in sublime contemplation, or buried in transcribing or embellishing some gorgeous missal, or reverentially copying with painful accuracy the charter of our salvation. Even my father, who was a presbyterian pastor, (not a vulgar or unlearned one,) could allow, with grateful justice, that there was piety and learning to be found in convents; and, were he still a dweller upon earth, would have been shocked at this overcharged likeness of the worst of these fraternities. I had thoughts, Mr Editor, of transmitting these strictures to the author himself, but was afraid it would appear like presumption to pierce the cloud in which he has involved himself. This transgression on the good feelings of his readers is quite an anomalous deviation from the right path. We know, from the general tenor of the work, that it proceeds from one who needs not to seek an anodyne for his own immoralities, by viewing vice in its most aggravated form, under the habit of sanctity. Neither has he any motive to flatter the vices of those who cannot lift the veil that conceals him; what then can be his inducement? If it be the inordinate love of a joke, few of his readers, whether pious or otherwise, would choose to purchase pleasantry, such as it is, at the expence of the disgust which accompanies it. If it be to give a faithful picture of the prevailing manners of churchmen in that period, it is the want of fidelity I complain of; a faithful picture would include, at least, a few of those who lived above this world while they were in it, to relieve the mind from the horror awakened by the wretches who disgraced, not merely the order, but the nature to which they belonged. So much time and thought as this letter has cost me, would be ill bestowed on an ordinary painter of life, much more on an ephemeral novelist. But while I blame, I not only admire, but greatly approve the general scope and tenor of the works in question; nay, I most readily admit, that they have already had a very beneficial influence upon the public taste. The sound sense, the just and discriminating views of life, the lenient gentleness with which the faults of all laymen and laywomen, appear merely as shades to promote the general effect of his pictures cannot be too much applauded; and the kind and brotherly feeling that he teaches us to cherish towards our humbler brethren of mankind, is admirably calculated to meliorate the temper and soften the prejudices of those who are too much inclined to think vice the necessary associate of vulgarity. Nonsense may still, perhaps, be eloquence in love, but the general taste is so raised by the perusal of these extraordinary productions, that it will no longer pass for eloquence in a fictitious narrative. We have not only to thank this author for what he has written, but to laud him for what others have not written, since even novel readers have learned to despise bombast and false pictures of life. We are led to hope, that this source of our profit and delight is by no means dried up; and we likewise hope, that our ingenious benefactor is aware, that the public are so thoroughly acquainted with his talents for exposing the faults and follies of one particular class of society, that they will readily excuse his furnishing any more entertainment of the same kind. And, moreover, that they are so thoroughly satisfied with regard to his accurate and extensive Biblical knowledge, that he will be most willingly spared the trouble of producing any more proofs of his scriptural attainments. Of his inimitable Jewess, it is but just to say, that in her language, heightened and adorned as it is by the lofty style of the ancient prophets, there is no incongruity. It suits the character, and is not profaned by any undue association. The whole character is a just tribute to a sex, among whom the still and patient heroism of the heart is as frequent and not less interesting than the sanguinary glories of the warrior, rewarded as these are by that public applause which female virtue rarely meets, and female delicacy carefully shuns. Now, I am so fully convinced of the candour of the author's mind, and of his patience under just remonstrance, that I augur a happy result from reproof in its mildest form, and shall not be surprised to find his next work not only free from the blemishes thus complained of, but abounding in characters, forming a complete antidote to the evil influence of those already specified. Age with him must not be" dark and unlovely" as with other beings. No; he must only with advancing years ascend a higher elevation, and take wider views through a clearer atmosphere. Such is the earnest wish of his sincere and ardent, though not blinded admirer, J. H. EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY. THE wild, but frequently beautiful and impressive, superstitions of the peasantry of Scotland have often become the subject of remark. Their most picturesque and characteristic features have acquired an immortality, and a widely extended fame, of late years, from being embodied in some of the breathing" lays" of our nation's minstrel, and from forming the groundwork of more than one of his imperishable tales. It is from such records that posterity will be best able to gather a knowledge of those “ mysterious influences" which swayed, in no inconsiderable degree, the actions and opinions of the grandsires of the present generation, but the very recollection of which seems to have utterly passed away in our large towns, and is only cherished by the old and the romantic, even among our rural population. The politician and the philosopher will probably rejoice at the declining power of these relics, as they term them, of a barbarous and unenlightened age; and hail their utter extinction as a proof of the rapid improvement of our national manners. It may be so; but I cannot help lamenting, when I observe, that with the poetical superstitions of the peasantry of England, as well as of our own country, much of that high-spirited independence and native dignity of soul, which was their proudest boast, have taken their departure. But society has not yet reached that point of refinement where the meanest of its members are totally free from the influence of occult and undefined sensations, leading to the belief in supernatural agency. The lighter and more airy and romantic particles of the popular creed may have evaporated; but there is left behind a gross and unetherial residuum, which betrays its existence in a superabundance of offensive shapes, and in none more so than in the universal popularity and extensive circulation of the astrological absurdities which are annually bought, and their contents as eagerly swallowed as the "Christmas pudding" of the south, or the well concocted curran bun" of the north, at this merry season. servances of our respective ecclesiastical establishments. Our national church assumes an apostolical simplicity in its arrangements and holy ordinances. The weekly recurring Sabbaths of tranquillity and rest are the only days set apart from the bustle of life, and exclusively appropriated to the observances of public service, and the worship of the Most High. With us there are no "moveable feasts." Lent passes unnoticed, and the precise date of Easter day and Rogation Sunday is a matter never inquired after. Scarcely one among a thousand will be found who are the least curious to know whether the Dominical letters be BA or DC, or whether the Epact or the Golden Number be above or below twelve. How different the case is among the adherents of Episcopacy requires not to be stated. To them an almanack for the year is indispensable; yet I see no good reason why any thing more than the astronomical phenomena of the season, and such tables and informations as may be of frequent use, ought to become the daily manual of a whole people; or why their understandings should, in the nineteenth century, be insulted by the political prophecies and meteorological anticipations of obscure astrologers, who must either be enthusiasts or impostors. The predictions of professional stargazers, of Francis Moore, physician, and others of his tribe, are, however, much less attended to in Scotland than they appear to be among our wealthier neighbours across the Tweed; and the few copies of their " Prognoser tications" which travel so 66 far north" as our domicils, I understand from my bookseller, meet with a very slow sale and limited circulation. Many plausible reasons might be assigned for this apparent difference in national feeling and taste. It may be said, that the Scotsman, with his usual foresight and sagacity, although he may believe "That words and signs have power O'er sprites in planetary hour," yet dreads something " uncanny" in too close a familiarity with the proficients in their use, and "Deems not well their venturous part, Who tamper with such dangerous art;" or something may be imputed to the superior intelligence and literary taste of the working classes of our countrymen, compared with those of the same rank in England; and, above all, to the dissimilarity of the ritual and ob What would an intelligent foreignthink of the taste and literary refinement of our professional bibliopoles, who, as a company, are, in London, the exclusive publishers of these silly trash, after a perusal of "Vox Stellarum, or a Loyal Almanack for the year which are contained all things fitting "Now, reader, come and lay thy envy by, Who can behold the heavenly canopy, In the same page, its author, Francis Moore, physician, who, by the bye, must by this time be fast verging to the age of Methusalah, informs us, that the New Year is "likely to begin with rain," and kindly points out those parts and portions of the human frame on which particular days exert their influence during the month. The knowledge that the 15th of January is unquestioned sovereign of the belly, the 16th of the reins, and the 25th of the hams, is surely of inestimable value! "Here now follow," says the sapient Doctor, in the month of April; "here now follow my monthly observations relating to the political affairs of the world." "After the many dangers and troublesome transactions we have laboured under for some years past," continues this Sir Oracle, we are now arrived at the year 1820, and (mirabile dictu!) still we find that the heavens do walk in a constant course of circular motions!" I have much pleasure in informing my female friends, that the Doctor assures his readers, that a "signal and eminent marriage" will take place near the conclusion of June. It is not, however, quite so agreeable to learn, that, in the succeeding month, troubles are threatened to Holland and Prussia;" although "the Protestant" will doubtless rejoice to hear, that the Pope is to be poisoned in October, and the lovers of mischief to understand, that "broils and uneasiness" are to "appear very barefaced" in November, in which important month, too, a gentleman of the long robe meets disgrace, a female of note meets sorrow and affliction, and a sly intrigue comes to light." However, in December, he informs his readers, 66 This year of troubles draweth to an end, The stars erratic now do disagree: Blest be those worthies that their time do In cultivating peace and harmony. In the Doctor's elegant stanzas upon "the Influence of the Moon on Man's Body" in the "Twelve Signs," the important fact, that The legs unto Aquarius' lot do fall, tions of the world!" Little did he The improvements of modern artists in the art of engraving are deservedly applauded. By what individual the vignette of "the Ladies' Diary, or Woman's Almanack," for the present year is executed I am ignorant, but in freedom, softness, and an interesting air of obscurity, I have as amusements seem to have gained a less extensive patronage, at least among the possessors of the Ladies' Diary, and its "male brother," who, I presume, are a body by no means despicable in point of numbers, than I was at first inclined to dread. "And does Scotland prefer no claims, as a nation, to celebrity in the world of Almanacks?" methinks I hear it asked. My answer is, simply the production of "The Belfast Town and Country Prognosticator," "for as the hawkers this present year,' have it. The title-page declares it to be printed in Dublin, and calculated at Belfast; it is, however, shrewdly suspected to be one of "The comforts o' the Sautmarket," bewailed by Come a reetle, come a rattle, come a rat the immortal Bailie Nicol Jarvie. tat tot, A wee wee man wi' a red red coat, The Irish excel in "buttering a sto A staff in his hand, and a bane in his ry," and it must, I have no manner throat. How delighted was the domestic cir- The gallant ship, she leaves the strand, Is graceful wav'd adieu ! What, too, can be more light and happy than the following lines from the Gentleman's Diary," "The eightieth of the kind." Full bent was I, good Mr Di, To solve your prize so queer, When lo! a fly came whisking by, And buzz'd against my ear? That posterity may do justice to the memory of the author of this brilliant distich, I chronicle his name, 'tis Mr William Birkin, student, Free School, Dronefield. It appears, then, .that uneasiness at the decline of the popularity of such pastimes is unnecessary and gratuitous. Rational my of doubt, have been a mirthful son of the sod, who, half in jest and half by his unalienable right of blundering, drew up the article" Memorable events for 1820." Poor Sandy's love of antiquity is here unmercifully quizzed upon; he is gravely told that 5827 years have elapsed since the creation of the world, 2227 since the Scots entered Albion; 2148 since the building of Edinburgh Castle; and 3002 since the reign of Fergus the First! But I must conclude, and I cannot do so in a better manner than is exemplified by the work last quoted, namely, by dismissing my readers with a smile on their face, that is, if a specimen of its budget of anecdotes will raise one. Well, then, here followeth an excerpt from the record alluded to. "Two English gentlemen, sometime ago, visited the field of Bannockburn, so celebrated for the defeat of Edward's army. A sensible countryman pointed out to them the positions of the hostile nations, the stone where Bruce's standard was fixed during the battle, &c. Highly pleased with his attention, the gentlemen on leaving him pressed his acceptance of a crown piece. Na, na,’ said the honest man, returning the money, keep your crown piece, the English hae paid dear aneugh already for seeing the field of Bannockburn." I am, &c. AN OLD SUBSCRIBER. Glasgow, Jan. 11, 1820. |