to his next elder brother, and assumed the title of Laird of Stoneyhillock.

Soon after this, Mrs. Broadsword, now well stricken in years, and much broken down in body and spirits, by the many af flictions that had visited the family, was removed from her earthly pilgrimage, and deposited with the remains of her husband. Her death was principally occasioned by an accident, viz.-a fall in her own house : upon this, the uncontroulable management of the estate devolved upon Benjamin.

BENJAMIN was a genteel young man, rather of a handsome figure, and goodly countenance. He was the only son of the family who had got a college education.He was bred to one of the learned professions, and had acquired the good opinion and esteem of his masters, who considered him a young man of promising abilities.Benjamin, on his succeeding to Stoneyhillock, immediately relinquished his profession, took possession of the mansion-house, and proceeded to put in execution the well digested plans of the unfortunate Jonathan, which had been much neglected during the continuance of his malady; and as Benjamin was quite unincumbered with pecu

niary burdens, except the patrimonies of the other surviving branches of the family, which by that time were much reduced in number, he commenced his career with every prospect of success, and might have lived happy and comfortable at Stoneyhillock, had no bar opposed itself to his future good fortune. He was active, sober, intelligent, and persevering in his country matters, and seemed to have no trifling knowledge of country affairs; but, as if ordained to fill up the cup of misfortune already nearly overflowing with the miserable destiny of his predecessors, Benjamin got involved in an affair of a most serious nature, which, although the guilt was never brought home to him personally, yet, so prejudiced was the country against him, that he considered it prudent to take a last farewell of Stoneyhillock, and seek his fortune in a foreign clime; but, alas! his glass was soon run; and, not long after he had put his foot on ship board, he paid the last debt of nature. The circumstance above alluded to, was the birth of a child by one of the females at Stoneyhillock, which disappeared as soon as it came into the world, or it may rather be said it never appeared

at all. This mysterious affair naturally roused the jealousy of the surrounding country, and right or wrong the Laird must father the bairn, and bear the guilt of it's death; unfortunately for Benjamin, the guilty person eluded her guard, and escaped from justice; so that the real fact remains a secret to this day. But, as the public, from the affair not being investigated, was unable to discover the true father, it was thought no sin to consign it to the Laird, who had to bear the guilt unheard, untried, and without having it in his power to justify himself from the charge, in consequence of the absence of the mother. Yet, sensible that a prejudice once created is not easily allayed, Benjamin, out of two evils, chose the least, and preferred breathing his last in a distant land, rather than pine out a life of supposed guilt in his native country. Here it may not be improper to observe, that the above case called loudly for the intervention of a Coroner's Inquest; for, had that been immediately resorted to, the guilty person would have been discovered; and Benjamin, if innocent, completely cleared of the guilt, might have remained in his own country, and spent his

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days in the enjoyment of his property-in place of being hunted from his native spot, and condemned to seek refuge in a foreign land, upon a mere supposition of guilt.

As if ordained by fate, Reuben again saw the succession to Stoneyhillock for the second time thrown open to him; and there being now no opposition, he immediately took possession of the mansion-house, and the sole direction of the estate. This gentleman, as already hinted, was set aside upon a former occasion, on account of his being considered of weak intellects, and incapable of managing his own matters.From his very infancy, Reuben was consi dered weak in his intellects: he had no capacity for education, and as little inclination; nor indeed had he a genius for any trade or profession. He was at one time sent on ship-board, but there he could do no good; he was afterwards taken home, and placed on a small farm upon the estate of Stoneyhillock, but in that he had no better success. In a word, there was not a situation even in the meanest station of life which Reuben was capable of filling; yet Providence, for ends which no human being can fathom, reserved this very person

to succeed to the paternal estate of Stoneyhillock, and to represent the last remains of the Broadswords. Before proceeding farther in the memoirs of Reuben, it may not be improper to give some account of the Misses Broadsword, Julia and Olivia.

JULIA, the eldest of the sisters, was, in personal appearance, by no means of a superior mould, much less had she any claim to beauty; her person was tolerably handsome, her features rather of a diminutive cast, and her countenance thin and pale. The qualities of her mind were, however, certainly of no ordinary kind, had she enjoyed the opportunity of improving them by a more extensive intercourse with the world, and in polite society. Boarding schools and seminaries for female education were extremely rare in Julia's days, except in the capital of the kingdom; and the small rental of Stoneyhillock could ill afford such expensive education to its numerous inmates. But so anxious was Julia to improve her talents, that she never allowed an hour to pass without storing her mind with the best reading she could procure, and from thence acquired a more than common degree of knowledge, which