"THE WARD OF TEE

BY THE AUTHORESS OF "THE PCFI

THIS is such a novel as we can cord E
Interesting in its plot, elegant in its a

to history, and abounding in natural and
has afforded us such a fund of amuseme
seldom derive from novels of the
many other occasions, the talent of
have certainly never seen this talent t
a brief sketch of which we are about t
us preface this sketch by a request that
fied with the hasty brevity of our stor
itself, all the beauties which have in
notice.

Reginald and Hugh were the sm Collingwood, whose estates were Sir Ralph, compelled to take part in to follow the House of York; b his mother, was enamoured of a denHouse of Lancaster. In this pligt the lady of his choice, and wer Henry and Queen Margaret. bosta ham; and his wife, who had not surrendering up the child to a fait The priest wished at first to car the Lady Isabel; but in the mer his son Hugh had succeeded to through grief for the loss of h was considered to be insane. babe to its uncle, Sir Hugh, to the old village pastor, to in Sir Christopher, being a Lau but left strict injunctions to a watch over the child's safet and left him one daughter. Isabel, though she disliked .. dentally meeting with the village pastor, was struck b allowed him to play with grew up from childhood 1 strong affection for each ce sins. At the and

father was, to Soon she re

hand, in

..

for them.

But those two, having

lodged her with the old jeweller,

the hut of his old friend the miller, who knew of, and rejoiced at, his attachment to Ellen, he met with one Master Conyers, an outlaw, who was then treating secretly with the Earl of Richmond, respecting the approaching invasion of England. The outlaw had some conversation with Hubert, and bade him beware which side he chose; and Hubert was also introduced to a girl in boy's clothing, acting as page to the outlaw, and being an outlaw herself, her father having been burnt for heresy through the intrigues of Carlton, who being fruitlessly enamoured of Marion (the page), had thus avenged himself on her. The lovers were soon betrayed to Carlton by Ellen's maid, and by him to Ellen's father, who, to cool their love, gave out that Hubert was his own illegitimate son, and, therefore, the brother of Ellen. The lovers were dismayed at this intelligence, but took Lady Isabel into their confidence, who, as she began to suspect the real truth of the matter, would not believe Sir Hugh's story. Meanwhile, Carlton plotted to burn the Lady Isabel's house in the night, with the view of obtaining her money and jewels, which were wrongly considered to be concealed in the flooring of a particular room. But Marston Conyers got wind of the transaction, and, with Hubert, lay in wait for the robbers, and falling on them when they were taking up the flooring, slew two. But the old miller, who was in the kitchen defending his sister, the Lady Isabel's servant, was mortally wounded; Hubert was cut down, and Carlton, with two or three others, escaped, bearing with them Hubert, whom they confined in a dungeon of Sir Hugh's castle. Sir Hugh, hearing of the outrage, taxed Carlton with it; Carlton demanded the hand of Ellen, and threatened to sue Sir Hugh for certain gambling debts, unless he complied with his request. Sir Hugh then told him of Hubert's real parentage, adding, that the papers relating to his birth were in a secret drawer of his cabinet. This done, Sir Hugh went forth to seek his mother, and assure her he had no share in the outrage. Meanwhile, Ellen was busy releasing Hubert from the dungeon, by means of a secret passage opening into a cave, where Marion was to meet them with a horse. Whilst sitting in this cave, they heard a fearful scream; it was the death-shriek of Sir Hugh. Carlton had murdered him in a secret path leading up to the castle; but Marion had seen the deed, and had even picked up the murderer's dagger, when his back was turned. Ellen and Hubert, unknowing of the murder, parted; Ellen went by a secret passage to her father's chamber, and Hubert made the best of his way across the country to Newcastle. Ellen, peeping into her father's chamber, saw Carlton rifling his cabinet. Suddenly he heard a noise in the castle, and flew to his own room, first throwing on the fire the papers relative to Hubert's birth. Ellen snatched some fragments from the flames, and these fragments, coupled with the dying words of the old miller, were sufficient to make Lady Isabel believe that Hubert was indeed the son of her long-lost Reginald. Still proof was wanting. Meanwhile, Hubert, in journeying to Newcastle, lost his way on a moor, and was compelled to take refuge in the hut of a shepherd whom he met. The shepherd proved to be the son of a nobleman, who had been killed fighting for the house of Lancaster, and whose wife and child had consequently been compelled to disguise themselves in order to escape

observation. As the followers of Richard were, at this time, scouring the country for recruits, the shepherd's mother earnestly besought Hubert to let her son accompany him to Newcastle, that he might there take arms for the Earl of Richmond. Hubert consented, upon condition that the shepherd should wear woman's clothes, and ride behind him on a pillion.

Arrived in Newcastle, he met Marion, who told him that Ellen was in the town, having been carried off by Carlton, as a Ward of the Crown. Hubert rescued her from this man, and, with her and Marion, took refuge in a convent, after a desperate conflict with Carlton's men. During the conflict, however, he lost the hollow staff, wherein were papers and letters given him by Marston Conyers, to various persons in the Earl's camp. But the Abbot gave him other letters, and sent him on his way; at the same time, sending Ellen and Marion, with an escort, to the Princess Elizabeth, afterwards the bride of Henry. On his journey to the Earl's camp, Hubert fell in with a strange knight, to whom he rendered great service. On arriving at the camp, he found that this stranger was no other than the Earl himself, but, by his especial desire, he made no mention whatever of his services. The battle of Bosworth-field immediately ensued, wherein Richard the Third was slain by Marston Conyers, who found his crown, and parted with it to Sir William Stanley, upon condition of receiving a reversal of his own and Marion's sentence of outlawry. Sir William Stanley, however, forgot his promise as soon as he had got the crown into his hands; and the Queen Dowager having a mortal hatred to Marston Conyers, a price was set upon his head. Carlton managed to change sides so cleverly, as to keep well with Henry the Seventh, who, being avaricious, made use of him to fill his coffers. Hubert was severely Wounded in the battle, and did not recover his health for some months, when he found that Ellen was about to be married to Lord Clifford the shepherd whom he had carried to Newcastle); that the Lady Isabel had been confined by Carlton, upon the plea that she was insane; that Marston Conyers and Marion were hiding for their lives; and that his affairs were perhaps as unprosperous as they could be. However, he did not despair, but sought out Lady Isabel's banker, a noted jeweller of the time, and stated his case. The jeweller had come into possession of the hollow staff which Hubert lost at Newcastle, and, therefore, readily acknowledged his claims, supplied him with money, and by disguising him as an apprentice, took him into the apartments of the Princess Elizabeth, to whom Ellen was maid-of-honour. But the King and Carlton entered the apartment whilst he was there; both recognised him, and when Carlton accused him of murdering Sir Hugh, the King, without mentioning his former services, committed him to the Tower. Carlton bribed the gaoler to suffocate him, with a pan of charcoal; but ere this could be effected. Lord Clifford came to take him secretly to the King's apartments. Henry, weary of Carlton, was now glad to find some means of getting rid of him, and ordered Hubert to collect the evidence necessary to convict him of his numerous crimes. Hubert only demanded a free pardon for Conyers and Marion, which, having obtained, he began to search for them. But those two, having brought Lady Isabel to London, and lodged her with the old jeweller,

but I must offer one or two PRACTICAL REMARKS. Do not object to my following this matter up with some remarks of a practical nature. I am a Christian, and a Christian minister; I feel that all speculation should end in practice; that the law should lead us to the gospel, and Moses to Christ; and, therefore, before we close, let me give a practical turn to this argumentative discussion.

In the first place, my dear friends, (and I speak to all of you with sincere affection,) if any are here who have doubts about revelation, or who reject it, I do beseech you, however imperfectly I may have brought the argument before you to-night,-I do beseech you to consider and reflect upon it; for I am sure there is great force in this argument, arising from the internal evidence, the elevation and purity, the superhuman character, of the morality of the Bible. I once read of an infidel-I forget where it was I read it—but I once read of an infidel—a determined infidel, who was led-I forget by what circumstances to doubt the truth of his infidelity, his religious and moral system, if it could be called such; he went into his chamber, opened the Bible, and happened to open it at this place; he walked about his room, and he thought about the distant antiquity of the time of Moses, the uncertainty of all things connected with the infancy of nations; the fabulous stories that are connected with their origin; all sorts of things against the credit of the Bible and the Hebrew legislator; but the thought haunted him, "Where did he get this law? I cannot understand this. How came he by this law?" And by dwelling upon that one idea, he was led on to trains of reflection, to examination of the evidence and the contents of the Scriptures, till his mind rested in his humble and happy reception of the divinity of the volume, and of all that it contains! Weigh this argument, I beseech you. How is it that our moral ideas and our moral tastes are altogether so superior to the philosophers, the priests, the statesmen, of antiquity? I did not speak of our mode of accounting for this in the introductory remarks, but I speak of it now. How does it happen that, since the time of the introduction of Christianity, and in exact proportion as the Bible has become known and diffused, pure, just, and consistent ideas on moral subjects have been diffused along with it? How is that not only those who, in a nation like ours, adhere to, and profess, the religion of the Bible, but those who do not strictly adhere to it, and even those who reject it, whatever may be the lowness of their ideas with respect to some parts of morals, have yet far more elevated views as to the nature of God and the principles of virtue, than what were common in ancient times? How is it that the general standard of morals in this country is comparatively so high among the mass of the people, and really so high among the scrupulous and conscientious disciples of the Scriptures? The fact is, that we are all indebted for that state of mind and feeling which qualifies us for judging of this law, to the direct or the indirect operation of the law itself, and of the volume in which it is contained, upon our sentiments and habits, whether we are willing to acknowledge it or not.

In the second place, I beg to say, and would impress it upon the minds of young men as an argument which I do not know how they can withstand that you will always find infidelity, in some form or

other, associated with profanity and impurity. Now, I do not mean to say that all infidels are either profane or impure; I do not mean to say that all who reject the Scriptures indulge habitually in profanity of speech, or are habitually licentious in their conduct; but I do mean to say that the principles of infidelity will permit both, and that in most infidel publications you will find the most solemn and awful subjects treated with a levity which is as unphilosophical and irrational on the supposition of Christianity being false, as it is profane and impious on the ground of its being true; and I mean to say, further, that you will find, in all the shops in this city that vend infidel publications, you can always get any impure publication you please. I have sometimes gone into shops where infidel publications are sold, in order to obtain some of them which I have wished to examine; and when there, I have asked to look at certain other publications of an immoral character. There they were, in the window, on the counter, on the shelves, ready for any that asked, and ready to be handed to you, perhaps by women! THIS IS INFIDELITY! Walk the streets of this city, go into some of the alleys and lanes where there are shops that publish its "tracts "—its "Bible"-go, and you will find, side by side with books professing to teach a pure creed, and to inculcate a rational morality, or which are filled with objections against our religion, other books, in large numbers, of the most immoral and corrupting description. How is this? How does it come to pass that there is so universal an association between infidelity and impurity? Go into any of the shops that publish Christian books, our "tracts," and our "Bible ;" go to any, whatever may be the sect they represent; go to Harvey and Darton's, as Quakers; to Seeleys' or Rivingtons', as the Church of England; to Jackson and Walford's, as Dissenters; to Nisbet's; to the Tract Society; to the Methodist publishers; go and ask for any of these infamous publications, and they will turn you out of the shop for the insult. How does this come to pass? Why is it that the men who sell this very impure book (and infidel publications affect to lament very much the impurity of the Bible, and its immoral influence), how is it that the men who sell this book, and who sell all other books founded upon it,-how is it that they, of all men, are insulted, when you breathe in their shop a wish for any publication that has a mark or a shadow of impurity upon it? How can you account for this? I cannot account for it except upon the principle, which I feel to be a fact, that infidelity permits and encourages vice-that against which the thunders of this law are uttered,-and that Christianity is the patroness, the nurse, the mother, of purity and virtue.

In the next place, let me say, that if this be the law of God, it is for you and me to meditate very deeply how we stand in relation to it. How does God look upon me as a moral agent in relation to this law? As guilty.

And, in the last place, let the principles which must shut us up to the reception of the law, shut us up also to the reception of the whole volume; and then, when we are compelled to admit the law which condemns us, we shall find ourselves at the same time in full possession of the gospel that redeems: the admission of what may and ought to alarm the conscience, will bring along with it the harbinger