stances also, over which she possessed no control, have been greatly against a favorable execution. More than once arrested by long and severe illness, it was scarcely possible to preserve an entire consistency either in the style or story; and the latter part has been completed in the midst of many arduous duties, which, differently occupying her mind, have proved a further interruption; but, nevertheless her efforts have invariably been exerted, throughout the whole, to do her best; and may a divine blessing rest upon the result, making it-feeble as it is in itself-subservient to the good of its young readers. To this end has the effort been principally directed, and so far as religious information is conveyed, the author earnestly hopes that it will be found free from any thing objectionable; having in all that she has advanced in support of Christianity, most conscientiously endeavored to keep the gospel in view; and to inculcate such principles and opinions only, as that will strictly authorise. In now taking leave of the public, the author begs to acknowledge, with the liveliest feelings of gratitude, the indulgence and encouragement with which her last work, ' Influence,' was favored: and should 'Miriam' happily meet an equal patronage, it will not be less appreciated or forgotten. Newport, Isle of Wight, C. A. MIRIAM. CHAPTER I. On the northern borders of Westmoreland lies a ro mantic valley sheltered on every side by cliff or wood, and seems in its deep retirement, singled out as the abode of peace and simplicity. The humble dwellings of industrious peasantry, together with a little rustic church, and ivy-covered parsonage, alone formed the sweet village of Glencairn, which once stood in the centre of the valley. Secluded from the noise and bustle of a gayer world, it might have seemed to human ken almost as a nook spared from the curse of universal misery; but lost amid the more magnificent scenery of the north, it was famed for nought, be-yond its simple wildness, and loved only by those who lived in it. But the human heart ever carries a universe within itself, and many have there been at Glencairn, to whom the joys and sorrows, and all thecheckered vicissitudes of the world, were known. It was near this glen, divided from it only by a narrow branch of a river, which we shall here call the Avona, that Imlah Durvan, a rich Jew, had chosen his splendid abode. None knew the stranger to whom Fernhill, the loveliest and wildest spot of nature's rearing, was now consigned; but many wondered, while all regretted, that a place, which had so long descended from father to son of a noble and lamented family, had now fallen to the possession of one who seemed to live a sullen alien from mankind; for to all the friendly greetings of those who had been wont to court the tenants of Fernhill, Imlah Durvan returned so repulsive and determined a negative, that none now sought the society of that strange misanthrope. But although he thus shunned communion with human beings, he was often seen rambling down the wooded cliffs which overhung the valley, as if he loved to revel in the rich blessings of nature, not unmindful of its gifts. Nor could any deem this seeming loneliness of disposition as shame or conscious guilt; for he would pass the villagers, whose curious gaze might have appalled the mere feeling of pusillanimity, or coward fear of scrutiny, with a mein at once so bold and dignified, although so dark and silent, that none dared refuse their humble token of respect; nor was this ever unreturned, though the haughty bend which answered, seemed rather to increase the fear than excite the love of those to whom it was given. He was, however, seldom seen without one gamboling by his side, who formed a striking contrast to his own melancholy character. The joy of innocence played upon the bright countenance of the dark, but beautiful girl, upon whom alone Imlah seemed to smile; and whenever, in playful mood, she raised her soft black eyes to court the fond endearment of her father, they were answered by an expression of such deep and touching tenderness, that none who saw him look thus fondly on his child, doubted that he had a heart, however sad the destiny which had so chilled it to misanthropy and gloom. Well indeed might he love this little mountain flower, for she was the last link of that broken chain of bliss which had bound him to all the fancied pleasures of the world: but time had taught him the fallacy of ambitious hope, and left him an outlaw from mankind, to cherish, unpitied and unloved, the dreadful curse of hardened unbelief. He was one of an ancient and powerful family, now reduced to a few scattered remains; but still did he, in all the pride of fancied greatness, boast of possessing a genealogy which proved him to have descended even from the lineage of David. He was by birth a German, Hanover having been the refuge of his ancestors since the dreadful persecutions of the unhappy Jews, under the intolerant policy of Richard the First. But he had been principally educated in England, at a school in which, under the liberal monarchy of our later kings, a Jew as well as Christian might reap the rich benefits of literature without molestation or undue enactions. Naturally of a daring, impetuous temper, he had early imbibed all those feelings of enthusiastic devotion to the cause of Israel, which tended so fatally to inspire those of passionate hatred against every class of Christian people; and on the death of his father, fired with the vain hope of ambitious glory, he returned to Germany, when scarcely beyond his boyhoood, in full possession of unbounded wealth. Thus did Imlah begin life, with a mind bent upon the restoration of his alienated race; believing, in his mad enthusiasm, that he could overthrow the Christian church, and frustrate the designs of an offended God He soon became popular among his own people, who looked up to him, as they would have done to their prophets of earlier times, with mingled feelings of reverence, love, and fear! for with all his bold and haughty hardihood, there was so much of generous integrity-and where he loved, so much too of gentle tenderness in his disposition-that none could hate, and few there were who did not love the character of this young and daring Jew. He married the daughter of a powerful ruler, and settled' in Gottinggen for the purpose of obtaining more general influence amongst the many Jews in that part of Germany. A few months, however, terminated the success of his infatuated career: for no sooner did the ecclesiastical powers of the province discover the storm which was gathering over their church, than they obtained license rigorously to enact against the Jews the merited forfeiture of rebellion; and Imlah, deserted by the very people who had before so warmly upheld him, left the country, his generous heart sickened by the ingratitude of those to whose welfare and restoration he had been so fatally devoted. He had lost his only child, a boy on whom he had raised many a bright prediction; but so assured was he of future greatness, that, even in his desertion, he anticipated the revival of his power in the birth of an expected heir. But, alas! he was to be humbled and taught the devices of God by a still heavier stroke; for he again became a father, but of a female child, and that same hour widowed him of his first of earthly treasures. He could have almost cursed the birth of that sweet infant, whose sex is considered amongst the Jews a degradation, rather than a blessing; but when he saw it sleeping in its peaceful innocence, he raised it to his bosom, and felt he could not but love the last sweet relic of her who had been to him the gentlest-best of beings! He had not dreamt of death, and it had fallen where he could east bear it; but it came a messenger of mercy to his self-willed heart, for he knelt down, and for the first time humbled under a sense of his own arrogance he prayed that God would spare him from further vengeance, and bless the babe, whom, in his bitterness, he had well |