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also began to make rapid progress in my studies, and the enforced vacancy of mind which had made life so dreary came to an end. However the years I spent at this school are chiefly memorable for an experience which made the deepest possible impression on me at the time, and which I shall remember as long as I live. Let me relate it. My nature had always been dreamy, and though I had chafed against solitude, it was long ere I shook off the habits which my up-bringing had fostered. In the school-room I perforce associated with the other boys; but during play-hours I often held aloof from them, amusing myself with pastimes which I had devised when dwelling under the roof of Miss Erne.

Our playground consisted of a green field of considerable size, enclosed by hedges, and bordered on one side by a country lane, and on this side the ground sloped, a part of it being hidden from the view of the rest of the field. One summer evening, when my school-fellows had set up a wicket, I was strolling in this place, as usual alone, hunting for caterpillars in the hedge, for I was forming a collection of butterflies. It was seldom that any person entered the lane, but that night I observed a lady there, whom I supposed to be watching the cricketers, for she did not pass on. The next night, at the same hour, she was there again. She was closely veiled, yet I could not help fancying that she eyed me narrowly. On the third evening I saw her again, and this time she beckoned to me to approach. Not entirely without misgivings, I obeyed. But my doubts were soon set at rest, for the lady's voice and manner were sweet and gentle, and her face, when she discovered it, was beautiful, though pale and very sad. "Little boy," said "Little boy," said she, after a word or two, "I am in very great trouble, and I want you to help me," and then she asked me to tell her the names of my schoolfellows. I told them over, including my own, but it seemed that the name she hoped to hear was not among them. She handed me some sugar-plums, and was turning away, when, as if impelled by a forlorn hope, she stopped short and put to me a specific question, which I need not repeat, relating to a certain private matter. The question was a general one, asked with no specially personal reference, but the moment I heard it I knew that the boy she was in search of was myself. I said so, and never shall I forget the effect of my reply upon the lady. She grew deadly white and tottered, and for a moment I believed that she was about to fall. Then she gave vent to a low unnatural sort of laugh, which was not good to hear. I was alarmed and would have run away, but the next moment, she had caught me in her arms. Her

tears burst forth, like pent rain in a thunderstorm, and she covered me with kisses, calling me her son. My own feelings were strangely affected, and I too began to cry. But the new demonstration of emotion lasted scarce longer than the former one. Glancing furtively around her, to make sure that we were not observed, she made me promise to tell no one what had occurred, but to meet her in the same place the next night, and then giving me a last kiss she sent me off to join my play-fellows. That night I slept but little, for my feelings were in a state of ferment. Emotions hitherto unknown were aroused within me, and I impatiently awaited the morrow. At the appointed hour I found my mother in her place, and we had a longer interview than before. She impressed upon me repeatedly that the greatest secrecy must be observed as to our meetings; but her explanation in answer to my questions was confined to a statement that we had enemies--cruel and wicked men who had kept us apart till now, and would instantly separate us again were our intercourse discovered. I, of course, sought for further explanation, but she quieted me by saying that there were many things in life which a child of my years could not hope to understand, but which if I lived I should learn as I grew older. Then she began to ask me questions about my life both here and at Melmerby, and to make tender comments on my replies, until my heart yearned towards her strangely. Among other things she would have me tell her if I was perfectly happy, and chiefly because I wished to please her I said yes. But when she heard it, such a look of reproachful sorrow came into her eyes, because I could be perfectly happy without her, that I corrected myself and answered no, and we both wept. Well, to cut this part of my story short, our meetings were repeated on several successive nights, on the fourth or fifth of which my mother unfolded a plan which she had matured. This was nothing less than that she should abduct me from the school, and carry me away to live with her in a remote part of the country. I was overjoyed at the prospect, for in these few short days my mother had already become the lode-star of all my wishes, and certainly there was nothing at school which I regretted leaving. After dwelling in anticipation upon the happy life we should lead together, we proceeded to settle the details of the plot, my mother enjoining secrecy upon me even more earnestly than before. the eve of the appointed day, we met again for a few minutes, and then my mother took leave of me, for she had still some last arrangements to make. When she departed, I still lingered where I stood, to watch her retreating figure, and

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I remember that she turned many times and playfully blew me kisses, and that when she was almost out of sight she looked back and waved a white handkerchief. Iresponded. I was feeling very happy; but on turning round I was a little disconcerted to notice that our proceedings must have been observed, for two tall dark men, who seemed to have entered the lane from the farther end, were on the point of passing the spot where I stood. Dusk was beginning to come on. I know not why, but somehow the sight of these men produced a sinister impression upon me, and I hastened to rejoin my schoolfellows, who were about to go in-doors.

The next day, the last I was to spend at school, I passed in a state of high excitement. We had fixed our flight for the evening, at which time the boys were allowed two hours' recreation in the playing-field; and it had been arranged that as soon as might be after arriving there, I should saunter to the lane-side, watch for an opportunity to make my way through the hedge unobserved, and then hasten to join my mother, who was to await me with a carriage in a retired spot near at hand. In this manner, as the usher's supervision during play time was apt to be lax, we might with good luck count on a start of almost two hours. That day I went about my duties as if in a dream. My thoughts were elsewhere; yet once or twice I fancied that the master regarded me curiously. I made absurd blunders in my lessons, and you may judge of my mortification when, for some very trifling piece of maladresse committed during afternoon school, a pana was imposed upon me, to be performed before I went out. Still I did not lose heart, for though our departure would be somewhat delayed and I was grieved that my mother should be kept waiting, yet I made no doubt that in the end all would still be well. So I seated myself in the deserted school-room, and with a flying and hap-hazard pen transcribed a certain number of lines from the Fasti of Ovid. I remember that the afternoon was one of the most sultry I have ever known. My task accomplished, with a beating heart I took my hat and prepared to go. The schoolroom door was massive and of oak. I laid my hand upon the handle, and discovered that it was locked! Now in all my experience I had never known this to happen before, and the truth flashed upon me instantly. Our plot had been suspected, and I had been caught in a trap, and was a prisoner. No words of mine can avail to paint the feelings of that moment. It is generally supposed that the mental sufferings of children are less poignant than those of adults; but I have often doubted the truth of that opinion. All I know

is that, on land and sea, I have lived through many trying moments since, but never one that can be compared to that. All that was deepest, most elemental, and most tender in my nature seemed to rise in agonised though futile revolt against the cruel powers who had practised this unworthy trick upon my youth and simplicity. In one moment as it were, a veil was rent, and at a single glance I saw all the irony of life. With a piercing cry to my mother, I dashed my little body wildly against the door. Alas! she was at least a mile away, and could not hear me. The next moment something seemed to sweep over my brain, and I knew no more.

For some weeks after this, my life is a blank; but I learned from an attendant who watched by my sick-bed that a brain-fever followed the seizure which had prostrated me in the schoolroom. When I was convalescent, though still very weak, I was informed that I was to be transferred to another school, and the next morning, under charge of the school porter I set out on my journey thither. We travelled by post-chaise, for our route lay across country and off the great roads, and our travels occupied the best part of a week. At the outset I was very melancholy. I felt that every mile of the way must be an obstacle to my mother's finding me again. But, indeed, a conviction already possessed me that powers against whom it was in vain to strive were bent upon keeping up apart, and that in any contest with those powers we must not only inevitably fail of our object but be made to suffer cruelly as well. Nevertheless, as we proceeded on our journey, I brightened up a little. I had youth and returning health on my side; the change of scene and the incidents of travel diverted me, and the porter, a kind-hearted old man who had been a sailor, told me stories of sea-life such as never failed to exercise a powerful fascination over my mind. With my new school, considered on its own merits, I had for long no fault to find. The teaching was excellent and the house convenient and agreeably situated; the entertainment was liberal, and my companions were sons of gentlemen. "Vale House" was situated almost at the opposite extremity of England from my former school,—a fact which, as making it more difficult for my mother to trace me, may have weighed among other considerations when it was selected. As for any endeavour on my part to communicate with her, this was on the face of it hopeless. I was but a child, I had not a friend in the world to advise or assist me, and I did not even know the designation of the person whom I so ardently desired to see again. For, though I had now good reason to believe that

the name under which I passed was fictitious, incredible as it may appear-whether from oversight or some other cause-in none of our interviews had my mother alluded to any other.

On first entering at Vale House, I found my liberty restricted, whilst at the same time I was sensible that my movements were being watched. And, indeed, in my own despite, I still at that time cherished hopes that in some way or other circumstances would set me in my mother's way once more. But as time went on those hopes grew ever fainter. Then, by degrees, the almost heart-broken sorrow with which I had longed for her who alone had taught me the meaning of the word love became dulled, and her image visited my mind less frequently. But in the meantime there was growing up within me a sullen resentment against fate and the powers unknown, or dimly referred to by my mother as our enemies, who as it seemed had chosen me to be the sport of their caprices. I felt that mystery shrouded my birth a mystery which I could not hope to penetrate; whilst that my position in life differed entirely from that of the other boys was continually being brought home to me. For when they would return to their friends for the holidays, I remained behind, a superfluous guest in the household of the master. And when, in our dormitory or playground confabulations, they drew pictures of the delights of happy homes, there was no part for me to play save to fall silent or to turn away. I felt this keenly, I saw that I stood alone, and I developed a tendency to morbidness and reserve.

Years passed on, and my powers of mind and body expanded. I exhibited some taste for scholarship, and in the sports of the school I shone. I had formed friendships among my school-fellows, and in brief-excepting in rare hours of meditation, when my mind never failed to revert to the loneliness of my lot-I was very far from unhappy. Also I now repeatedly spent the holidays at the house of a boy named Dacres, who was my chief friend; and there, almost for the first time, I underwent the softening influence of refined feminine companionship, and acquired the knack of moving with ease and self-possession in society.

At last, when I was in my fifteenth year, an event took place which was attended indirectly with most important results as regards my future. The school changed hands. The change proved to be very much for the worse, and in a short time the whole tone of our school life was transformed. For whereas we had previously been treated like gentlemen by a gentleman, we now found ourselves at the mercy of an underbred

parvenu, who was also a bully and a tyrant. Under his discipline the younger boys shed perpetual tears, whilst we seniors not unnaturally murmured to find our privileges curtailed, and ourselves subjected to degrading punishments. But our murmurs served only to draw down further ills on our devoted heads. At last a climax was reached, and we decided that the time had arrived for us to take the law into our own hands. Accordingly we laid our heads together, and some dozen or so of the more hardy among us made up our minds to run away. (To be continued).

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Dr. Jobn Leyden's Indian Career. ERHAPS the basis of Scotland's universal success in the world lies in her intelligent cottars, and her well-read peasantry. Amongst the array of talent which has gone forth from the Border, and made old Scotland's name "revered abroad, beloved at home," there has never been a more versatile example than Dr. John Leyden. Through the wide Border his name is well known. His native Denholm points with pride to his statue, but if you ask his own townspeople what did John Leyden do? the answer will invariably be that he was a poet. The writer of this sketch honestly admires Leyden's poetry, and would not grudge the author of the "Scenes of Infancy," the sweet singer of the Teviot and the Tweed, the author of the spirited ballads of "Lord Soulis" and the "Cout of Keildar," a place in the ranks of Scottish poets, but only in the ranks, for perhaps hundreds have had equal gifts in the poetic art. Leyden, however, has higher claims for distinction. He is probably one out of the two greatest linguists the British isles have ever produced, one of the ten greatest linguists the world has ever seen. The endeavour of the present writer will be to give a short sketch of Leyden's too brief Indian career, which will give some idea of the vast amount of language which was mastered by the uncouth Scots tongue of this Border genius.

That Leyden ever got to India at all was due to his friends, Sir Walter Scott, Kichard Heber of Oxford, the brother of Dr. Reginald Heber the celebrated bishop of Calcutta, and George Ellis, the author of "Specimens of the Early English Poets." These prevailed upon William Dundas, who was at that time on the board of control of the East India Company to give Leyden the only appointment that was left, namely, a post as assistant surgeon in the Madras Presidency. Leyden had no regular medical. knowledge, but this circumstance did not dismay

him in the least, for he at once set himself to the study of medicine, and laboured so diligently, that in six months he obtained his diploma as surgeon, and took his degree of M.D. at St. Andrews. This quite satisfied the India house as to his medical knowledge, but Dundas, who had been well posted by Leyden's friends as to his capabilities, knew that he was sending to India a man who would advance the cause of Orientalism, especially in its linguistic forms. Dr. Leyden left Scotland for ever in the Hugh Inglis, which sailed for Madras on the 7th April, 1803 from Portsmouth. The tedious Indian voyage was relieved by the congenial society of his fellow passengers Robert Smith,

for duty in the Madras Hospital, where he had severe professional occupation, perhaps far more than he and his friends had bargained for, but it is certain that from the day of his arrival, he set himself to the study of the languages of South India. However, after some months of hospital work, Leyden found the value of the recommendations that had been sent to Lord W. Bentinck the governor of Madras, by his English friends. Lord W. Bentinck had decided to send a commission into Southern India to survey and report upon the valuable new territory which had been acquired by the British after the final overthrow of Tippoo Sultan. Leyden received the congenial appointment of

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the brother of Sydney, and his wife, who were on their way to Bengal. Leyden reached Madras on the 19th August. Now that we have got Leyden to India, it might be appropriate to quote what Sir Walter Scott wrote of his friend with reference to his Indian departure. "Perhaps," says Sir Walter, "he was the first British traveller that ever sought India, moved neither by the love of wealth nor of power, and who despising alike the luxuries commanded by the one, and the pomp attached to the other, was guided solely by the wish of extending our knowledge of Oriental literature, and distinguishing himself as its most successful cultivator." On his arrival in Madras, Leyden was appointed

surgeon and naturalist to the commissioners, and set out with them on the 9th June, 1804. The route lay through Bangalore and Seringapatam to Goa, and thence southward by the West Malabar coast to Cape Comorin. Leyden seized the opportunity of mastering many of the dialects of Southern India while engaged upon this expedition, but the excitement and fatigue proved too much for him, and he was compelled by illness to leave the survey party, and return to Seringapatam within six months from the start. At this place Leyden was fortunate in meeting a famous fellow-Borderer, Sir John Malcolm, who at that time had just received the appointment of resident at Mysore. Malcolm

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