claimed the sacred hospitality of his roof. I flattered him for dispositions for which he was not remarkable, that I might wake the embers of humanity in his breast. My cousin joined her entreaties to mine; but he was steeled against all she could say from anger that, at first meeting after an absence of years, she should have denied that he was her husband. I interposed here. I observed that, Croke's sergeant being present, this was a cruel necessity imposed on the lady, and that, if she had faltered in the least, it would have cost a gentleman his life, who had thrown himself upon her generosity. It fortunately happened, that I had more than once spent some weeks, while quite a boy, under the roof of this Laudseer; and had always been his special favourite. He ended therefore with confessing, that he could deny nothing to his old play-fellow, who had made him merry a thousand times, when his heart was most a prey to constitutional melancholy.

The next question was, how my commanding officer could be most effectually screened from his blood-thirsty pursuers. And here I boldly suggested, that no method could adequately answer the purpose, unless that of supporting and carrying through the deception that had already been practised: Sir Joseph must still be affirmed to be the true Laudseer. And what then am I?' rejoined the republican. Considèr, my dear Sir,' said I, entreatingly; it is but for a day; and it is for the life of a gentleman in distress; what good will it do you to take away his life?" And what then am I?' repeated my kinsman with impaWhy you, Sir, must personate Sir Joseph.' Laudseer started back three paces at the proposition. And shall I, one of the known champions of the liberties of England, for an instant assume the name, and act the per'son of one of its destroyers? of a cavalier? of a malignant ? of a reprobate? No, Lionel; no consideration on earth shall induce me to submit to such a degradation. Let your general be gone; I will do him no harm; I will use no means for pursuing him.'

tience. "

'Do not deceive yourself, sweet kinsman,' rejoined I. If you do not protect him, if you do not lend yourself for a few hours to his preservation, you are his destroyer. The infernal Croke is within a short distance; his sergeant is on the other side the door. No earthly power can save us from the tyrant.'

While I was yet speaking, Sir Joseph opened the door, and came out of the inner room. Thank you, Clifford,' said he ; a thousand thanks to this good lady; I thank you too, Mr Laudseer, for as much kindness and forbearance as you have professed towards me. But life is not worth

accepting on these terms; I will never disgrace the master whose livery I wear; whether I live or die, it shall be with the gallantry which, I trust, has hitherto marked all my actions. Clifford, call in the sergeant !'

No,' replied I. For this once I must take upon me to disobey you, Sir Joseph. If this gentleman,' pointing to Laudseer, is inexorable, at least the deed of surrendering you, a stranger, under his own roof, shall be his.' And, as I spoke, I advanced towards the bell, that I might order the sergeant to be called in. This is the gentleman,' added I, turning to Laudseer for the last time, whose head by your own act to cause to roll on the scaffold.'

you are

a

There is something in the sight of a human creature, upon whom you are yourself called on to pronounce a sentence of death, that produces the most terrible recoil in every human bosom. A man ought to be a judge by his office, that can do this, and then sit down gaily, and with good appetite to his dinner. But Laudseer had never been a judge. Sir Joseph Wagstaff stood before him. I thought I had never seen so perfect a gentleman, with so frank and prepossessing a countenance, and an air so unassuming and yet so assured, as was presented before me at that moment. The self-command, by no means resembling a stoical apathy and indifference, but inspired by an unexaggerated view of all the circumstances, combined with what he felt due to his own honour, that displayed itself in his visage and attitude, was deeply impressive. There was but a moment, a slight articulation of the human voice, that remained between him and death.

He shall not die,' said Laudseer. Do with me as you please. He shall be Laudseer; I will be Wagstaff. I have only this morning set my foot on English ground after an absence of years, and my first home-act shall be one, that it may please me at other times, and in the hour of my agony to recollect.'

We

This capital point being settled, the rest was easy. called in the sergeant, but for a different purpose than had been spoken of an instant before. Laudseer stated to him, that he was in reality Sir Joseph Wagstaff; that, hearing

196

ESCAPE OF A ROYALIST GENERAL.

that the master of the house was absent on the continent, and being in the greatest distress for a hiding-place, he had thought this a good opportunity, for prevailing on a lonely female to afford him a brief protection. But all his hopes had been blasted, by finding the master of the house arrived a few hours before him, who was too much devoted to the protectoral government to consent to give him the smallest harbour. He was therefore reduced to make a virtue of necessity; and delivering his sword into the hands of the officer, he added, I am your prisoner, use me well.' The sergeant repeated to him the deceitful cant that had been employed to the other prisoners, and told him that he had nothing to fear, for he would find himself included with Penruddock, in the capitulation that had been made at Southmolton.

The arrangement of the affair was now in our hands. Laudseer was constituted a prisoner, as Sir Joseph Wagstaff; and we, of course, took care to secure for him as good treatment as we could. The place of his confinement was a summer-house in the garden, with one sentinel, Captain Croke's sergeant, at the door, and another, who was really one of his own servants, beneath the single window of his apartment. This was one of his new household-the old servants had remained with his baggage, when he pressed forward on the spur, and had come home alone. Captain Croke speedily arrived from his cruise without any success; but he was transported to find the commanding officer in custody at his return. We sent the prisoner his dinner from his own table; and in the course of the afternoon Captain Croke and Sir Joseph, who, as I before said, was delighted with his talents for mimicry, and who had caught some fresh hints from the brief intercourse he had had with his original, became the best friends in the world. The next day we learned that the vessel we had been in search of was ready; and we embraced the opportunity to depart, while Croke was out for his morning's ride. We took a brief and constrained leave of Laudseer, whom Sir Joseph emphatically thanked for his generous self-denial and clemency. I had the pleasure to see my commanding officer safe on board: here my commission ended: I returned straight to my mother, and am therefore unable to tell you how Croke and the ambassador settled their accounts, when the necessity for deception existed no longer.

SMOLLETT.*

IN speaking of SMOLLETT, we cannot do better than make the following extract from an admirable article in the Edinburgh Review, evidently written by the Editor.

"Smollett's first novel, Roderick Random, which is also his best, appeared about the same time as Fielding's Tom Jones; and yet it has a much more modern air with it: but this

* Smollett was born in Dumbartonshire, in 1731,-educated as surgeon at Glasgow, and spent the greater part of his life in London, supporting himself more by his pen than his profession. He died in the neighbourhood of Leghorn in 1771. His works were:-Advice, a Satire, 1746.Reproof, a Satire, 1747.-Roderick Random, 1748.-The Regicide, a Tragedy, 1749.-Peregrine Pickle, 1751.-An Essay on the External Use of Water, 1752.-Ferdinand Count Fathom, 1753.-Don Quixote, translated, 1755.-Compendium of Voyages, 1757, 7 vols.-The Reprisals, a Comedy, 1757.-A Complete History of England, 1757-8, 4 vols. 4to.Sir Launcelot Greaves, 1762.-The Present State of all Nations, 1764, 8 vols. Travels through France and Italy, 1766.-The Adventures of an Atom, 1769.-Humphry Clinker, 1771.-Besides these, he was engaged in many speculations of the booksellers, and wrote various articles in the periodicals of the day. He was also the founder of The Critical Review,' which he conducted for several years with a spirit then new in the annals of criticism.

The person of Smollett, as described by Dr Anderson, was stout and well-proportioned; his countenance engaging, his manner reserved, with a certain air of dignity that seemed to indicate that he was not unconscious of his own powers. He was of a disposition humane and generous, and was apt, like Goldsmith, to assist the unfortunate beyond what his circumstances could justify. Though few could penetrate with more acuteness into character, yet none was more given to overlook misconduct when attended with misfortune. As nothing was more abhorrent to his nature than pertness or intrusion, few things could render him more indignant than a cold reception. Free from vanity, he had a considerable share of pride, and great sensibility; his passions were easily moved, and too impetuous when roused; he could not conceal his contempt of folly, his detestation of fraud, nor refrain from proclaiming his indignation against every instance of oppression. Though he possessed a versatility of style in writing, which he could accommodate to every character, he had no suppleness in his conduct. He could neither stoop to impose on credulity, nor humour caprice. He was of an intrepid, independant, imprudent disposition, equally incapable of deceit and adulation, and more disposed to cultivate the acquaintance of those he could serve than of those who could serve him.

may be accounted for, from the circumstance that Smollett was quite a young man at the time, whereas Fielding's manner must have been formed long before. The style of Roderick Random, though more scholastic and elaborate, is stronger and more pointed than that of Tom Jones; the incidents follow one another more rapidly (though it must be confessed they never come in such a throng, or are brought out with the same dramatic facility); the humour is broader, and as effectual; and there is very nearly, if not quite, an equal interest excited by the story. What then is it that gives the superiority to Fielding? It is the superior insight into the springs of human character, and the constant development of that character through every change of circumstance. Smollett's humour often arises from the situation of the persons, or the peculiarity of their external appearance, as, from Roderick Random's carrotty locks, which hang down over his shoulders like a pound of candles, or Strap's ignorance of London, and the blunders that follow from it. There is a tone of vulgarity about all his productions. The incidents frequently resemble detached anecdotes taken from a newspaper or magazine; and, like those in Gil Blas, might happen to a hundred other characters. He exhibits only the external accidents and reverses to which human life is liable-not the stuff' of which it is composed. He seldom probes to the quick, or penetrates beyond the surface of his characters and therefore he leaves no stings in the minds of his readers, and in this respect is far less interesting than Fielding. His novels always enliven, and never tire us: we take them up with pleasure, and lay them down without any strong feeling of regret. We look on and laugh, as spectators of an amusing though inelegant scene, without closing in with the combatants, or being made parties in the event. We read Roderick Random as an entertaining story; for the particular accidents and modes of life which it describes, have ceased to exist: but we regard Tom