Had he not been prepared, in the first instance, by his nervousness and credulity, for something su pernatural, he would not have been troubled at all. A cat was a much more likely thing to rustle about his room than a disembodied spirit. The portraits could have had no such sinister expressions as he attributed to them, but for the excited state of his imagination. Even a slap on the back in that lonely room was more likely to proceed from some natural cause, which he could not detect, than from the freak of a wanton or pugnacious ghost. Effects, we know, do not happen without causes; but why should we be so ready to attribute

pointed, bearded chin, and a white frill beneath it, fixed its solemn gaze upon him; there the large expressive eyes of a young damsel, whose hair rose high above her head, in one massive fold like a school-girl's white starched cap, looked steadily at him; there again a young smooth-faced squire, in his yellow coat with lace trimmings, seemed to be scanning his modern apparel with a curious gaze. He could not divest himself of the idea that the pictures were in league against him; and it was with an unsteady hand that he put out his candle, and with a sudden leap that he sprang into bed, and rolled himself up in the wide, cold bed-clothes. For a long time he could not sleep: the moon-trifling and ridiculous accidents to miraculous and light peered into his bed-room through the window; and though the portraits were no longer visible, yet he could fancy their outlines as he had before seen them, and his imagination exaggerated the unpleasant expression with which it had already invested them.

supernatural agencies ? A little investigation will put to flight most of those intrusive spirits which exercise so painful an influence over the minds of the credulous, just as the light of a candle dissolves the darkness in which they lie concealed.

At length his eyes closed, and he fell into a dreamy, dozing sleep. He was presently disturbed by a rustling noise in the corner of his room; for THE RESTLESSNESS OF WORLDLY MINDS. a few moments he lay still and held his breath; WHATEVER men may pretend or imagine, "the wicked again the rustling sound was heard, and unable are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose "There is no peace, any longer to bear the anxiety that oppressed him, waters cast forth mire and dirt." he rose hastily, and seizing a box of matches which saith my God, to the wicked." Poets and novelists he had placed near him over-night, prepared to have beautifully described contentment, and have light his candle. The light flashed twice, then often charmed their heroes into a momentary oblivion of their sorrows: but this has made way for subsequent and as it burned up, casting a dubious dissatisfaction with every situation and employment in ignited; light over the room, a tall, white figure seemed to real life. And all men of information know very well stand beside him, stretching out its arm in a methat many of those very writers have rankled with nacing attitude within a few inches of his face. envy and discontent, because the public has not reWith a cry of terror he fell backwards, and lay warded their ingenuity with liberality proportioned to for some time almost insensible upon the floor. their self-estimation! The citizen fancies that conHappily the candle had already become ignited, tentment dwells in rural obscurity; the rustic conand when he again opened his eyes the figure was cludes that it may be found in the splendours and gone. Just opposite to him stood a tall looking-pleasures of the metropolis. Courtiers pretend to glass upon a low stand, and as he raised himself think that this pleasing companion is inseparable from upon his feet his own form was reflected in it, clad retirement; the poor crroneously imagine that it may in his white night-dress, in which he immediately be found in palaces. Britons amuse themselves with recognised the object that had caused him so much descriptions of Arcadian groves; the Arcadians probaalarm. A little encouraged by this discovery, he bly conclude that none are so happy as the inhabitants renewed his examination of the room, and pre-conscience, resentment, disproportionate or disapof this favoured isle. But pride, ambition, an uneasy sently perceived a large black cat sitting upon the pointed expectation, the insipidity of enjoyment when canopy of his bed, and preparing to leap down upon novelty ceases, the common troubles of life, and the the floor, making a stepping-stone of his shoulder, dread of death, render men dissatisfied and uneasy in as it had before done of his back, when he sat read- every place and station, from the throne to the cottage. ing at the table. They who have it in their power are continually shifting from one place and pursuit to another; and such as are excluded from this privilege, envy, grudge, and murmur. The world resembles people in a fever, who relish nothing, are always restless, and try by incessant change of place or posture to escape from their uneasy situations; but all their efforts are in vain. Does not this single consideration prove that godliness is the health of the soul, and that without it there can be no abiding contentment P-Scott.

Thus the soft hand that had been laid upon him was resolved into the light step of a favourite and privileged cat, and the tall gristly ghost, with its outstretched, threatening arm, into the reflection of his own shivering figure, as it held the lighted match unsteadily to the candle-wick.

The portraits upon the walls appeared now to enjoy the joke. The gentleman with the sharp chin and pointed beard seemed to be stiffening his lips, as if he would have laughed if it had been A THOUGHT FOR THE THOUGHTLESS.-What, if it be consistent with his antique dignity to do so; the lawful to indulge such a thought, would be the funeral lady with the tower of powdered hair was evidently obsequies of a lost soul? Where shall we find the tears fit to be wept at such a spectacle? Or could we realise the smiling; and the young squire regarded him with calamity in all its extent, what tokens of commiseration a mixture of amusement, contempt, and wonder. or concern would be deemed equal to the occasion? Would Crest-fallen, but much relieved, the ghost-seer it suffice for the sun to veil his light, and the moon her ejected the cat from his chamber, and having put brightness; to cover the ocean with mourning, or the out the candle likewise, slept soundly without fur-heaven with sackcloth? Were the whole frame of nature ther disturbance. to become animated and vocal, would it be possible for her to utter a groan too deep, or a shriek too piercing, to express the magnitude and extent of such a catastrophe PRobert Hall.

In the morning he naturally reflected that the whole cause of the night's alarm was in himself.

Varieties.

PROVERBS.-Mysterious morsels of traditional truth which are handed down from each generation to its successor, like faery money-gold in the giver's, dust in the receiver's hand.

THE POWER OF KINDNESS. Of all the sweeteners of human toil, of all the motive powers that give alacrity to the hand or foot, readiness to the will, intelligence to mind and purpose, the quickest and the most enduring in result is the kind "word spoken in season." How good is it!" exclaims the wisest of the sons of men. The most boorish obstinacy melts at last under its repeated influence, though rough and hard at once as the unsmelted ore. Horse power is convenient of appliance, wind and water power are cheap, the power of steam is great, the sordid power of money greater still; but of all the powers that be, to rid the tiny weed, or fell the stubborn cak, the greatest power is that which can gear on mind to matterthe WORD and LOOK of KINDNESS.

THE ENGLISH CLIMATE.-Including with it that of Scotland and Ireland, the English climate stands alone in

the world. Its sudden smiles and sudden tears are something truly hysterical. Like some sorrowful maiden who weeps she knows not why-then stops and smiles a bit-a fickle smile then falls to weeping again; there is no knowing when or where or how to be up to all her moods. She is the very April among nations. The barometer, a tolerably steady-going guide elsewhere, she turns into a perfect laughing-stock. Fourteen times out of fifteen, it is said, she mystifies and confounds him. He is like an old pointer-always making a dead set at a dead scent, or at nothing; a disap-pointer, indicating that which was and is no longer. Still it has its object. It is not sent "promiscuous-like," to worry and perplex us for no intent. Under hotter skies, where the flesh of beasts is not so much a food as an unhealthy stimulant to the blood, and where the cool vegetable and farinaceous diet are all that man's strength or warmth or appetite requires, "cats and dogs" indeed do sometimes come rattling down for days together; but they come in a pack, full cry: or in equally expressive Indian phrase, it pours "monkeys with their mouths open," when it pours at all. But the gentle English sky alone "rains turnips;" and English legs o' mutton and English "roast-beet" were assuredly concealed behind the veil of centuries, when the first daring mariner, as old Herodotus tells us, was scared back by the "fog and falling feathers" from the sacred coast of Albion. Far away in the thirsty regions of the south, as sun rolled after sun, in dry and blazing sameness, through the sky, unscreened by the mercy of a single cloud, I have gasped and pined for an English wetting-for one day in the most dripping covert for the murkiest downpour-for the darkest clouds that ever gathered in gloomy council over a November day-till the very memory of it seemed like a dream, too delightful to have been ever true.-Talpa.

turns to the slippery ascent of political eminence. Lord North, a man of firmness sufficient to defend bad measures, and not too obstinate in urging his own views; of a talent for speaking which gave a decent pretext to a willing majority, and, moreover, an hereditary foe to the great whig party, was an invaluable accession to the court. Lord North had many qualities which endeared him to his followers. His good humour was inexhaustible. When reproached with indolence and love of flattery, he answered that he spent a great part of his time in that house, which was not indolence, and that much of what he heard there could not be called flattery. The language of those days was far less courteous than that to which we are now accustomed. In the vocabulary of opposition he was a profligate, and a wicked minister, who deserved to have his head brought to the block. Lord North generally disregarded these invectives. But when he saw an occasion of retort, his wit turned the laugh of the House against his opponents. Thus, when Alderman Sawbridge presented a petition from Billingsgate, and accompanied it with much vituperation of the minister, Lord North began his reply, 'I will not deny that the worthy alderman speaks the sentiments, nay the very language of his constituents,' etc. exclaimed, 'The noble lord is even now slumbering over He was often asleep in the house, but when an opponent the ruin of his country; asleep at a time''I wish I was,' muttered Lord North, opening his eyes on his discomfited opponent. In private life he was a most affechim. Yet he could not suppress his habitual inclination tionate husband and father, beloved by all who surrounded for a joke, even when the occasion seemed least propitious. His son George coming to him one day for money to pay his debts, drew a picture of the straits to which he had been reduced, and finished by saying he had been obliged to sell his favourite mare. Quite wrong, George,' rejoined Lord North, Equam memento rebus in arduis, servare.' It is to be hoped that after this merciless pun he advanced the money."

known as the "Ostermesse," has again very recently filled LEIPZIG BOOK FAIR.-This celebrated annual event, Leipzig with a number of strangers from every part of the world. The Turk, the Armenian, the Polish Jew, in his long garb, and a beard apparently not curtailed by a pair in their national costume, and carry on their business in a of scissors, the inhabitants of India and Peru, meet here sort of universal language. Every hotel is occupied, and most private houses have received a few guests. People who do not usually let apartments, try to spare a room or the fair, for they are sure to be well paid for it. The printwo at this time of the year, to let it to strangers during cipal trade carried on in this place is that of booksellers, and once a year they meet here from all parts of Germany, to settle their accounts together. They usually spend a fortnight in getting over their business, and every morning they meet in the exchange belonging to their trade, where LORD NORTH. In the "Memorials of Charles James they are sitting on small tables, their account-book before Fox," we have the following accurate sketch of Lord them, and around their neck a leather bag full of checks North, the famous statesman:-"Frederick Lord North, and bank-notes. The booksellers residing at Leipzigthe eldest son of the Earl of Guildford, represented the old and their number is not small-make it a point to invite tory politics of that family. He had boasted in the House their friends from abroad, and thus dinner-parties and of Commons that he had voted against all popular, and for suppers take place every day. Often, too, they meet at all unpopular measures. With an ungainly appearance, some hotel, or some cellar-a subterranean restaurantand awkward manners, he had a vigorous understanding, which is the fashion here as well as in other German towns and though not fond of application, soon became superior of Hanseatic date, where they spend the evening. The to all but Mr. Grenville in the knowledge of finance. He famous cellar, called "Auerbach's Keller," well known to came into office as a junior lord of the treasury, and when every reader of Goethe's "Faust," is still in existence, and he was offered the post of chancellor of the exchequer, de- several times lighted up throughout during the fair. The clined it at first, for fear of encountering Mr. Grenville's old room from which Faust escaped, riding on a wine-tub, mature and merciless criticism. There was, however, at is the same as of old, and bears quite the appearance of the this time, an utter dearth of persons to defend, in the lead-representations we have seen. But it being too cold in it to ing offices, the policy of the court. The Rockinghams and the Grenvilles were odious to the king. Mr. Conway was too scrupulous, and voted against the measures of the ministry to which he belonged. Sir Gilbert Elliot was proscribed by the public as a Scotchman, and seems to have preferred the convenient party called the king's friends -who, as he truly said, were courted by every ministry by

allow the sitting down of guests at this time of the year, they retired to an adjacent room, where three girls sat with their harps, and destroyed all illusion of the past. The present landlord of this cellar pays an annual rental of abont 2001. for it; and the owner of the house to which these subterranean passages belong derives an income of 19,000 thalers from it.

A CLIMB TO THE HIGHEST POINT

IN EUROPE.

[CONTINUED FROM PAGE 469.]

mules, for the rest of the journey must be done on foot; and in order to screw the courage up, the present is the proper time to open the provision

Ir is four hours since we started, and we have | basket and thoroughly refresh ourselves. reached the ledge path.

No. 83. 1853.

Farewell now to the j

This needful preliminary being attended to, every

I I

Sometimes the crevasse, as the chasm is termed, is too wide for our ladder, and then we march along the edge of it till the place narrows, or some ledge is found on which our temporary bridge may rest. Many have been the perilous adventures encountered in crossing these crevasses. M. Auldjo had to climb up the perpendicular face of a piece of ice that connected the two sides of a gulf, trembling lest the block should be dislodged from its position while he was on it. Dr. Hamel passed a crevasse in a manner not less critical. A wall of ice, about a foot broad at the top, intervened between the edges of the chasm, being however some feet lower than the latter. A guide descended on a ladder and stationed himself on the narrow brink of this slippery wall, and as each traveller descended in succession, the position of the ladder was reversed, so as to enable the bold adventurers to climb up by means of it the opposite side of the chasm. There must be no giddy heads here! Into one of these crevasses fell M. Mouron, a French pastor, in 1821, from the slipping of his alpenstock,

heart beats high; there is not one craven spirit in | ladder is stretched and we crawl along on all-fours.
the company, and all avow our readiness to follow
Joseph Coutet wherever he may lead us. Joseph,
however, is prudent, and will not trust untried
heads. He insists on proper arrangements being
observed, and on strengthening the corps of guides
by adding to the number one of the most sure-footed
of the porters who have been carrying the provi-
sions, and he places each gentleman of the party
between two protectors. When all have been thus
arranged, each of the guides takes one hand of the
individual intrusted to his charge, and the fore-
most gentleman is led to the opening on the rock-
path. Upon coming to this point, he is addressed
somewhat as follows: "Now, sir, if you please,
while we hold you, stand on the brink and look
down there; look stedfastly into the gulf; what-
ever you may feel, look on. Now can you bear it?
Does the head swim? for, when once we are on the
path, there is no retreat." This trying ordeal is
endured, however, and then Joseph, like a cool
general, asks the guide if all is right.
"Tout va
bien," is the reply. "Then place the alpenstock
and away." On immediately moves the first tra-
veller with his body-guard, the latter probably
singing the" Ranz des Vaches" till all the echoes
repeat the strain. A similar discipline succeeds
with the rest of the travellers, until all are fairly
on the formidable rock-path. The ledge here is
one foot wide, and in some places even less, while
there is a perpendicular gulf on the right full 500
feet deep. In order to keep our balance, we are
obliged to go sideways, but in less than half-a-mile
we are clear of the peril. Some of the party have
had the coolness to pick a stray flower by the way,
while one or two have had sufficient composure to
stand and take a hasty sketch of the sublime objects
before them, and particularly of the glacier on the
other side of the gulf.

"All's well," is again re-echoed. Joseph now
orders the porters to put together the ladder, and
presently the glacier de Bossons is before us, which
we must cross without delay. Joseph ties the three
guides together eight or ten yards apart from each
other, and then sends them on to explore; for the
glacier which we have now reached is never two
days alike. Only once has it been found altogether
smooth, and that was when Serjeant (now Mr.
Justice) Talfourd visited it; then a heavy fall
of snow had filled up the chasms. Though the spot
is not quite a mile across, Joseph reckons that it
will take three hours to clear it. The report of the
guides, however, is favourable, and with our ex-
plorers a-head, we accordingly venture boldly but
cautiously forward. The moraine tries the head
and the skill of all in climbing. When once we
have gained the glacier, a pistol is fired in order
that the echo may bring down any loose snow that
might otherwise overwhelm us in passing. In
perfect silence we now move on under the awful
Aiguille du Midi. After that has been done, Joseph
assures us that we shall require all possible support
to our mind, and proposes that we should pledge
ourselves not to forsake each other in any moment
of peril. This is agreed to, and again we com-
mence our onward advance. Blocks of snow of
large dimensions cross our path, up which we cut
our way by means of a hatchet. At other times,
a deep chasm yawns before us, over which the

which at the time he was leaning and contemplating the vast profundity beneath. Christopher Bohren, an innkeeper of Grindelwald, fell also into one of these chasms and broke his leg. Hearing water tridle in an adjoining hole, he dragged himself through its windings, almost frozen to death in the act: He came at last to a stream that flowed through it, and happening to fall into this he was swiftly carried into the open air; gaining the bank, by a strong effort, he reached at last a spot where he was obtained, and thus, almost miraculously preserved, he reached home.

M.

The passage across the crevasse can often be made by blocks of ice that have fallen over it; but our captain is particularly cautious of allowing us to venture on these, for he recollects how M. Saussure's guides sunk through an apparently safe iceberg, being, although tied to two other individuals, saved with the utmost difficulty. Saussure himself, too, he remembers, was on the point of climbing one that looked solid enough, when happily it was closely examined and found to be only six inches thick at one of its extremities. Our skilful captain, therefore, probes with his alpenstock each point where he intends to plant his foot, and safety being thus guaranteed, we all follow in his track. Glacier ice is not compact, but is composed of crystals, with spaces between through which water percolates. The crystals, accordingly, will sometimes suddenly part, and a whole block, massive as it looks, fall into atoms.

Now we have come to a vast chasm, running along the whole of this side of the mountain.* It is full of rocks, to which we must descend, and, climbing through them, scale the other side. At one point an ice-block that lies in our way seems to form a good bridge; but we dare not trust a ladder upon it. Some of the guides having lightly clambered up it, a rope is thrown down for us, and this being tightened by the guides at the other end, we ascend by means of it, though we are cautioned to depend upon it as little as possible, and make all the use we can of our alpenstock. The day meanwhile is wearing on; evening approaches,

*See the Cut in the preceding Number.

and the weakest of our party begins to flag. But cheer up! these rocks full in sight are the Grands Mulets, where we shall rest for the night, and another half-hour's pull over the ridge will bring us there. This short passage, however, is sometimes not without danger. M. Auldjo, for instance, in 1827, found a chasm at the base of the Grands Mulets eighty feet wide, and crossed it on a narrow neck of ice, at the end of which was a wall of the same material twenty feet high and very steep. When this was passed there were various crevasses, into one of which M. Auldjo was on the point of rolling, his foot being actually suspended over the abyss. Joseph Coutet, to whom he was tied by a rope, called on him, however, to keep cool. "A pretty time to be cool," he thought; still he made the effort, and was safely drawn up.

are slides of ice and snow from the gentler declivities, and being foreseen seldom do much injury. Secondly, the drift sort. These proceed from the upper heights, being detached by sudden gusts of wind. They are often of such enormous size that the air compressed by them will snap off vast blocks of stone, uproot trees, and scatter houses like chaff. In 1806, one fell into the Val Calanca, and transported a whole forest to the other side of it, planting a fir-tree on the parsonage-house! Several villages have been destroyed by them, and many persons killed; but, generally, they are foreseen, and flight is taken in time. The third kind is the sliding. These often cover large tracts with snow, which it will take years to melt, in the mean time greatly affecting the climate. А ресиliarity, too, of their snow is that it is loose like Happily, however, we have no such perils, and sand and does not adhere; on the contrary, when here we are, at six o'clock at night, just twelve driven by fierce winds, its particles will strike the hours after starting, fairly at the Grands Mulets, face like needle-points. It was by a sliding avaour place of lodging for the night. After a short lanche that the village of Bueras was one night rest, all set to work. Fires are lighted, provisions pushed to the opposite side of the valley to that spread, bedding got out, and, while we sup, the where it had previously stood, and was covered with guides mount the rock and begin clearing the snow snow. So gently was this done, however, that the infrom the crevices, spreading at the same time habitants did not at first know the fact, and wonderpackages for the couch, and fixing blankets, by sup-ed that light did not enter in the morning as usual. port of alpenstocks placed against the rock, for a kind of slight roof. Eat little, my friends, however hungry," is the warning of the guide; "or you will repent it to-morrow. It was want of caution in this matter that spoiled the attempt of Serjeant Talfourd and his son, when all else was propitious." Now for the glorious scene around. We are on the first plateau, 10,000 feet high, in the region of perpetual winter, tremendous avalanches, and the most sublime of Alpine prospects. With a telescope we can see the signal at Chamouni, the sign that they perceive us all safe. As the darkness comes on, what a sky is above! It is almost black, and Jupiter rises rayed like the moon. "Now, gentlemen," says Joseph, "climb to your berth; stow close, for it is bitterly cold, and the Alpine bed-chamber is not a very snug accommodation, even for the rougher sex.' The curtain is closed, and the guide's "Good night" is sung below. Farewell, then, gentle reader, till morning.

It is three o'clock, A.M., and almost sunrise. The guides are up and hastening all things for the grand effort. We have splendid weather, too, although by far the majority of aspirants find it otherwise, and quietly walk down again from this place, abandoning all further attempt. It will take us full six hours, and labour more than equal to a journey of twenty miles, to reach the summit; but having got so far, we must not speak of shrinking. "Eat a light breakfast, put off all clothing that you can spare, and pull on your thick roughnailed boots; moreover, fasten well over your faces your green veils. Tie yourselves together in companies of from three to six, pluck up a good heart, and follow me: so says Coutet; and we are off again. All night long we heard the thundering avalanches. Now we see them: they hang over us awfully on the left from the Aiguille du Midi, and silently, swiftly, we speed our way till we are out of their reach. Then, while we stop to breathe and before we get too much exhausted, the guide explains them. There are, he tells us, four sorts of avalanches. First, those that are creeping. These

Above one hundred persons were dug out, sixty of that number being alive, having escaped suffocation by breathing the little air in the crevices. The fourth species of avalanche is the glacier avalanche. These comprise ice, rock, mud, water, snow, all mingled together, and they carry everything before them. The very air they compress will devastate a district far and wide, raising millstones and whirling them many yards. Beams of houses have been driven by them nearly a mile. At the point where we are now resting we see these avalanches on every side, but we hope to keep out of their reach.

On clearing the glacier, there are before us vast steppes, from 300 to 400 feet perpendicular, called montets, which lead to three plateaus. Each montet will take nearly an hour to cross. We have entered an icy valley towards the Dome du Goûté, and the ascent of it, up curves and inclinations, varying from 30 to 60 degrees over dusty snow, covered thinly with ice, becomes trying, often requiring the hatchet to make good foot-hold. Now the breath begins to fail, and all are panting, stopping every fifteen or twenty steps, while most of the party have a considerable degree of fever. The appetite, too, is all gone, and no one will eat again till he descends. One of the most discreet of M. Saussure's guides, indeed, declared that, another time, he would take nothing, beyond this point, but a parasol and a bottle of scent.

The next stage is to reach the Grand Plateau. This gained, half an hour's rest is allowed, both for repose and to view the ever-expanding and almost overwhelming scenery. A storm here would be dreadful. There is but one hope, were it to arise, namely, to lie upon the face and suffer it to pass over, for without this precaution it would instantly whirl a man into the air. We are now six hundred feet above the Peak of Teneriffe, but the breathing, though much affected, is still tolerable. We must press on, however, and another hour will bring us to the last plateau. The ascent here is steeper, but we reach it all well, and there-oh, sight of joy!