succeed. "Rascal!" said he, at the same time seizing me by the collar; "you may assume the dress of an officer, and steal verses from a magazine, but I am determined you shall not steal my handkerchief with impunity." At these words my courage nearly gave way, for, that very morning, seeing the handkerchief hang from a pocket near Holborn-bars, I could not resist giving the owner one of my peculiar lessons, to make him more careful for the future. The sequel of this love-adventure was, that though I explained, in the clearest manner, the laudable motive which induced me to make myself master of the article in question, the magistrate before whom I was taken, and who appeared to me a very ignorant man, took quite another, and, I will say, a ridiculous view of the case; but requested I might be taken care of, and obliged with a private lodging for two years, which was immediately granted, and I was accompanied by two gentlemen (friends, I suppose, of the magistrate) to a magnificent house, where, however, the rooms were small, and the furniture was nothing to boast of. Here was I left at my ease, and although frequently pressed by persons to take a walk out with them, I constantly refused, for I had become quite domesticated-a sort of single family-man. At the end of two years being particularly invited to take a stroll, I could resist no longer. Having no money, and not having seen my aunt Sarah for a long time, I thought it would be only showing her proper respect if I paid her the first visit. To her, therefore, I went, and she gave me a few shillings, with which I bought a fustian jacket. This was not exactly a proper habiliment for one of my merit and genius, but I considered that a gentleman looks well in any thing, and put it on. I lived once more at my aunt's house, and, no doubt, should have made my fortune, had not another cursed love affair stepped in and prevented it. I happened, by mere chance, to scrape acquaintance with a pretty servant wench who lived with a respectable family in Montague-Square. One night, my dear Sally's master overheard us, and came down gently. "Who is this," he cried, as he entered the room, "making such a noise here ?" Please, Sir, 'tis my cousin, Sir-from the country." Her master made no more ado than to take a candle from the table and hold it before my face, which he no sooner beheld than he retorted, "Then your cousin from the country is the rascal who stole my mare!" To deny it, I felt persuaded would be of no avail, as innocence always stands but a bad chance against prejudice and obstinacy; so I went with a gentleman whom he sent for, that every thing might be settled to the satisfaction of both parties. It was about this time that a sense of filial love, which, I shame to say, had not been encouraged for many years, rose strong within me, and I petitioned the government to let me once more behold the respected authors of my existence. My wish was instantly complied with, and what enhanced the value of this acquiescence was, that, perceiving my dress was not in the best condition, they kindly furnished me with a new suit, and shaved my head, to prevent my becoming sea-sick on the passage. The kindness I then experienced made me a government-man to this day. Not to trespass too long on my hearers' patience, I shall pass over the meeting with my beloved parents, which was extremely affecting, and merely state that, when I had been abroad about seven years, a patriotic feeling suddenly possessed me, and I longed to revisit the shores of my native country. I urged my father and mother, with as much eloquence as I was master of, to accompany me; but my father said they had a public duty to fulfil, and, under all circumstances, he would abide by it. It was, he added, the desire of the ministers at home that he should remain for life where he was, and he conceived that he should be unworthy the name of Briton were he to act contrary to their wishes. With the greatest veneration for my father's patriotism, and satisfied that it was for the good of his country, I left the other side of the Atlantic, and began the world afresh, resolving, at the same time, to steer clear of love, which had been the only thing that prevented me from making my fortune. PISA EDITION OF MOORE'S MELODIES. No. IV. Additional Stanza to " Fly not yet.” * Fly not yet;-as in the dark, We best discern the lightning's spark, So 'tis in midnight's too brief hours, The happiness that was prolong. w THE FISHERMAN'S TALE. THERE is a village in Scotland called Gourloch, situated on the shore of a fine bay, about three or four miles from the town of Delingburn, and inhabited mostly by fishermen, who let part of their houses in the summer months to people who resort thither for the purpose of bathing. Perhaps no other part of Scotland, or of the British Islands, presents so much richness and variety of scenery. From the summit of a hill of very precipitous ascent, a little way to the east of the village, the view is particularly fine, embracing an extent of country un * See No. I. usual in such situations, where the intervention of mountains commonly shuts in the landscape too abruptly. When descending one day, during my visit to the west country, from this commanding spot, I sat down, wearied with the exertion, on a huge isolated rock, near the narrow path by which alone the hill is accessible. Presently, an elderly man, of a grave aspect, and a maritime appearance, winding slowly up the hill, came and sat down near me on the rock. I guessed him to be one of the better class of fishermen from the village, who had purchased, with the toil of his youth and his manhood, a little breathing-time to look about him in the evening of his days, ere the coming of the night. After the usual salutations we fell into discourse together, and after a pause in the conversation, he remarked, as I thought in somewhat a disjointed manner, "Is it not strange, Sir, the thoughts that sometimes come into the brain of man, sleeping or waking, like a breath of wind that blows across his bosom, coming he knows not whence, and going he knows not whither, and yet, unlike the wind that ruffles not the skin it touches, they leave behind them an impression and a feeling; are as things real and authentic, and may become the springs of human action, and mingle in the thread of human destiny?— I was thinking at this moment of something which has sat, for many days past, like a mill-stone on my mind; and I will tell it to you with pleasure." So I edged myself closer to him on the stone, that I might hear the better; and, without more preamble, the Scottish fisherman began his story, as nearly as I remember, in the following words : "About six months ago, a wedding took place in our village, and a more comely and better looked-on couple never came together. Mr. Douglas, though the son of a poor man, had been an officer in the army, an ensign, I'm thinking; and when his regiment was disbanded, he came to live here on his half-pay, and whatever little else he might have. Jeanie Stuart, at the time, was staying with an uncle, one of our folk, her parents having been taken away from her; and made up for her board as far as she could, by going, in the summer season, to sew in the families that came out then like clocks from the holes and corners of the great towns, to wash themselves in the caller sea. So gentle she was, and so calm in her deportment, and so fair to look on withal, that even these nobility of the loom and the sugar-hogshead thought it no dishonour to have her among them; and, unknowingly as it were, they treated her just as if she had been of the same human mould with themselves. "Well, they soon got acquainted, our Jeanie and Mr. Douglas, and the end of it was, they were married. They lived in a house there, just beyond the point that you may see forms the opposite angle of the bay, not far from a place called Kempuck-stane; and Mr. Douglas just employed himself like any of the rest of us-in fishing, and daundering about, and mending his nets, and such-like. Jeanie was now a happy woman, for she had aye a mind above the commonalty; and, I am bold to say, thought her stay long enough among those would-be gentry, where she sat many a wearisome day, and would fain have retired from their foolishness into the strength and greenness of her own soul. "But now she had a companion and an equal, and, indeed, a superior; for Mr. Douglas had seen the world, and could wile away the time in discoursing of the ferlies he had seen and heard tell of in foreign lands, among strange people and unknown tongues. And Jeanie listened and listened, and thought her husband the first of mankind. She clung to him as the honey-suckle clings to the tree; his pleasure was her pleasure-his sorrow was her sorrow—and his bare word was her law. One day, about two weeks ago, she appeared dull and dispirited, and complained of the headach; on which Mr. Douglas advised her to go to bed, and rest herself awhile, which she said |