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suffering-speed away with him from the hungry wolves that howl faintly and more faintly upon his track, though he hears them not, thinks not of them-his speed, his thought, is for his home-plunge with him into the wild rush of waters-strain with him" up the repelling bank”— sink with him at last beneath the overpowering trial-summon every energy to greet once more the companions of his freedom-and weep, ay, weep, that it should be too late! We know not a finer picture in all the painting of poetry than this of "the dying or the dead," with the startled denizens of the wilderness careering wildly around them, and finally scouring off to the forest from the majesty of man, unsubdued even by that agony.

There are few heroes, of whatever creed or clime, whose glory has come down to our own time, and whose names and deeds, however remote their day, are still " familiar in men's mouths as household words," whose favourite horses have not come in for a share of their well-earned fame. Alexander had his Bucephalus-that tameless steed who brooked no rider save the conqueror of the world-that faithful servant who, reeling with his death-wound, yet called up all his failing energies to bear his lord to safety, ere he sank and died? Oh Arrian! Arrian! much indeed hast thou to answer for, who darest tell us, in the teeth of so bright a legend, that he succumbed to thirty years and an Asiatic climate!

Who has not heard of the Arab Antar, and his horse Abjir, "whose hoofs were flat as beaten coin: when he neighed he seemed about to speak, and his ears were like quills: whose sire was Wasil, and whose dam He

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Who knows not of the pride of Spain and the glory of chivalry-of him "who was born in happy hour" to humble the pride of the lying in

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fidel, the Cid Ruy Diaz Campeador, and his good horse Bavieca ? From the days of Odin and his "coal-black steed" upwards, there is scarce a hero of "tradition, legend, tale, or song,' who has not his favourite; and black, by the way, seems to have been a colour in high estimation. There are one or two black ones of date more modern, and reality more unquestionable, than that of the monarch of Valhalla, which, albeit disdained or overlooked by historians, may take their station in the records of their race beside the most renowned of antiquity. The Scottish peasant, as he tells his offspring the tale of the too dearly won field of Killiecrankie, still couples the name of the gallant Claverhouse with that of his charmed war-horse, Midnight-the fame of "the horse of the highwayman, Bonny Black Bess," need fear no oblivion, so long as the "ignominious tree" spares one bold Clerk of St Nicholas to pour a midnight libation to the memory of Richard Turpin.*

Nor are there wanting others--foals of the fancy-steeds of the imagination -which yet stand before our eyes with all the vividness of reality, to whose existence our affections cling, in despite of our colder reason, with a regular John- Gilpin-like tenacity. Even as fabling gossips, who, by frequent repetition, bring themselves to an incorrigible belief in their own mendacious anilities, we have gradually so increased and cemented our acquaintance with them, as to render them as it were a part of our very selves; and the moment that convinced us of their positive nonentity, would, we verily believe, go far to plunge us into a state of universal scepticism. Never be thy memory uncherished, O chosen destrier of the valorous Manchegan, -most fitting bearer of the Knight of the Rueful Countenance!-thou who, though thou hadst "more corners than a real," didst yet retain, even in thine advanced age, some smack of thy

Talking of Dick Turpin reminds us of Mr Ainsworth's novel or romance, or whatever he pleases to call it, Rookwood, and of Turpin's ride to York therein; the admirable telling of which feat has alone, we suspect, saved the rest of the book, cleverish though it be, from the "deep damnation" of the critic's "Bah!" Where may be matched the descriptions of three such rides, and for three such purposes, as those of Turpin, Mazeppa, and John Gilpin? The first for life-the second for death-and the third (which appeals more touchingly than either to the feelings of Englishmen) for a good dinner.

youth; ay, even when that simple squire deemed that thy "loveless eye" might gaze unmoved " upon all the mares in the meadows of Cordova." Most patient of sufferers! Most stoical of steeds! Most immortal, incomparable, incontinent Rozinante!

Nor be thou forgotten, whose high privilege it was to bear into a hundred hair-breadth 'scapes" the weight of that most "valiant bumpkin," hight Hudibras; thou who wert

"Sturdy, large, and tall, With mouth of meal, and eyes of wall;"

thou of the" strutting ribs" and "draggling tail;" thou who hast in all men's memories a "local habitation" though not a name; and who, nameless as thou art, art yet immortal!

But alas! we are all this while but touching a note to which there is no answering chord-we are telling the tales, and feeling with the feelings, of a bygone age! The spirit of a mighty change is abroad. The men of the time to come, will look back with contempt upon the horse-loving generations of the past-the "cura nitentes pascere equos' will be a thing unknown to our grandchildren-the" gratia currus" will be confined to the railroad train and the monster balloon: there cometh fast upon us an age of boiling water and hydrogen gas, before whose dawning beams the Sun of Newmarket, and the Stars of the Four-in-hand Club, must alike "begin to pale their ineffectual fires!" The signs of the times, as an execrable civil [?] engineer had the impertinence to tell us the other morning, appear daily more in-horse-picious, and the position of that animal in society is growing rapidly more un-stable. The last of the race will soon, we fear, be cooped up in a ten-feet square crib in the Zoological Gardens, and we shall be compelled, malgrè nous, to travel in the first class.

But "grieving's a folly," as the song says, or at any rate very nearly related to one. A few words more, and we have done. We have kept one of our very particular favourites, as

a sort of bonne-bouche, to reward the exemplary patience with which you have suffered us to gabble on so long after our own fashion and liking: and, curiously enough, we have drunk it from the same source which furnished us with a similar peace-offering when we had that long Spring morning gossip about things in general, and puppy. dogs in particular, and which you were then pleased, as we recollect, to receive so graciously. You cannot surely have forgotten the dog of Roderick! Of course you have not, and we beg your pardon for even hinting at the possibility. Well then, look here upon another picture from the same master pencil. The battle has been fought and won-the pride of " the lying Ishmaelite" has been signally crushed

the long-forgotten war-cry has been once more heard-the sword of the traitor has "found bloody work” in the grasp of the true man—the good horse has borne his ancient lord to "the last, the happiest of his fields." Spain has been delivered-but where is the deliverer? Has he parted and left no trace? Yes, one; but alas! an unavailing one—

"On the banks Of Sella was Orelio found; his legs And flanks incarnadined his poitrel

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TO THE PROTESTANTS OF SCOTLAND.

LETTER I.

"I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: How then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me ?"-JER. ii. 21.

by liberal supplies of money, the rearing in the Popish College of Maynooth of men destined to extend the dominion of Popery, and favouring the progressive establishment, in all the dependencies of the empire, of that system of superstitious intolerance, ignorance, and servitude to priestly domination, which form the pillars of the Romish supremacy over men and nations.

In name you are a numerous body, but when the duties are contemplated which that name imposes, those entitled to it will be found to be few. Deduct the false, the faint-hearted, and the erring, those blinded by interest, or by a presumptuous vanity founded on ignorance, and it will be obvious that your cause is generally deserted. The population of our country has increased, but the dissemination of your principles has not been proportionally enlarged. The influence you once possessed over the government and national counsels, has passed to others-formerly your concealed adversaries, but who now find it unnecessary to disguise their triumphant hostility. You have now Popery invading you in every quarter, and in every form. One-third of the European population of the British empire (Ireland), have for years been placed directly and avowedly under Popish patronage and domination. Not only are the superstitious ceremonial and monastic establishments of Popery paraded and rendered familiar to our eyes, but in all the colonies of the empire, Popery has of late been favoured, patronised, and elevated to dominion over the Protestant population. The serpent is gliding around, and entangling us in its folds, rearing aloft its head; and its progress has been rapid. It has, during some past years, held, directly or indirectly, the seat of power and official emolument around the British throne; and they who resist its poison, must prepare to renew the strife, whatever form it may assume, in which their fathers contended, and to renew the sacrifice of personal and private interest to which they submitted. A firm pha--would he vote for the ballot to lanx of Papists, patronising men destitute of sound principles, has given to those men an ascendency in the state. For that patronage, payment has been made by a government acting in subserviency to the Popish priesthood giving countenance to the merciless persecution of all Protestant clergy and people in Ireland-and fostering,

NO. CCLXXXVI, VOL, XLVI.

The most singular circumstance attending the present state of the British empire is, that it is by your aid-by the aid of Scotland and of Scotsmen that supreme power has been attained and held for years by a Popish faction-and that Popery is now advancing fast to permanent dominion over the land. Ay, this has occurred by the aid of the religious Presbyterians of Scotland-or at least of Scotsmen who style themselves, and for aught I know do, in some delusive sense, imagine that they are, Presbyterian and even Calvinistic Protestants. By them, combining with the Popish priesthood of Ireland, the powers of the British monarchy have been vested in men whose tenure of office and emolument has depended on their subserviency to Popery. Thus by your aid the poisoned cup is held to our lips, and the viper is fostered which was trodden down by our fathers, whom a severe experience had reared up into a race of wiser and better men, in an age of more discernment and more unyielding integrity. At political elections, questions have been put to the candidate about various matters. Would he give boundless admission to foreign cornwould he extend the political suffrage

protect you in your cowardice, as if a cowardly people could be a free people? But in our great cities and counties, which of you has enquired whether a candidate professed true Protestant principles, and had determined to support them against the hostility of Popery, whether open or insidious?

M

Under the last princes of the Stuart name, the danger was great, but still it was only the royal person that formed the stay and strength of the Romish priesthood; whereas now, the sanctuary of safety, the very citadel of freedom, the Commons' House of Parliament, has been won, and for years has been occupied, by the enemy. I doubt not that all the factions acting there have committed errors. I speak not generally of their merits; but one of them rallies round the Protestant banner, supports every measure calculated for its protection, and resists every effort made against it. Their opponents persist in propa~ gating the miserable delusion, that Popery is merely a harmless system of speculative religious faith. Refusing to look into its dangerous character, they have held office by consenting to do the work of the Popish priesthood, who in return support them by the votes of their delegates, combined with the votes of Scotsmen elected by the popular voice. Yes, you-Church. going men of Scotland, and you, Dissenters of whatever name- -Seceders, Anti-burghers, Burghers, Baptists, Synod of Relief, Independents, Voluntaries-all pretended Protestants, like the inhabitants of Jerusalem when doomed to destruction, ye contend against each other, while the common enemy is demolishing or undermining all your bulwarks. You sent, and have persisted in sending, to the national councils men ignorant of the practical value of the Protestant faith as a protection to the morals, prosperity, intelligence, and liberties of a nation. For place and profit they have sacrificed those interests for which our fathers banished the nearest branch of the hereditary line of their ancient princes. Could James II. (VII. of Scotland) now look up from his grave in a foreign land, he might well ask why he was expelled from the British throne. A prince was lent to us by the Protestant people of Holland, and thereafter a successor was called from Hanover because he was a Protestant. This character of Protestant formed his title, and forms that of his successor to the British throne. But it is a title which Papists must regard with abhorrence, and which cannot be safe, and is not safe, under Popish domination. And this state of things is the result of a combination of Scotsmen-of

Protestant Scotsmen with Papists-of elections made under the Reform Act of William IV. Assuredly this result was not foreseen in Scotland. On the contrary, one of the reasons assigned for the outcry in favour of the Reform Bill, was the apparent disregard with which our petitions were treated in 1828, when the King's Ministers gave way to the persevering urgency with which men calling themselves Whigs had for thirty years pleaded the cause of Popery. An opinion, thereupon, widely gained credit in Scotland, that the House of Commons neither had any sympathy with the opinions of the people, nor consisted of persons possessed of political or historical knowledge, or sound Protestant principles of religion and liberty; and that a more popular system of election would fill that house with wiser and better men. Countenanced by such an argument, the popular ambition bebecame irresistibly inflamed, and held odious all by whom it was opposed. You became greedy of privilege, but which of you reflected deeply on the duties and the high responsibility that privilege imposes. If, when told that your votes would send adherents of Popery into Parliament-that you would act as enemies of religion and liberty, and so violate the most sacred rules of duty as Protestants-each of you would presumptuously have retorted, "Is thy servant a dog that he should do this thing?" Yet, like Hazael, you committed the act; and thus the first effect of the Reform Bill was, that it brought guilt into the bowels of the land. The public crime no longer lay with the nobles and the gentry. You, the mass of householders in great towns, and village proprietors in the country, became the known and effectual enemies of the Protestant faith, and of the liberties of your country. For what Popish nation has ever enjoyed liberty? Where has liberty endured, or even existed, beyond the limits of a Protestant country? We have seen an ardent people (the French) bravely contend for it-shed for it their blood like water-slay one monarch and banish another; but all in vain. They were Papists or they were infidels; and hence the same physical events that in Protestant Britain produced ages of prosperity, liberty, and glory, served only among Papists and Infidels to drown their

dear-bought liberties in torrents of blood, and compel them to take refuge once more under a master.

You

I am aware of your excuse. gave your votes to the men who favoured the acquisition of privilege by you. But did they do so for your sake. With unutterable contempt for your silly vanity, they called you wise, liberal, enlightened, superior to every old prejudice, liable to no delusionand what followed? Having risen on your necks to power, they set an example of greed of money never before witnessed among European statesmen. Relying on your want of discernment, they sold you to Popery to retain pay. In no one instance did they give preferment beyond the narrow circle of their own faction. With or without even a pretext of merit, their associate was promoted, and rarely had he other merit than that of adherence to the venal faction. Even the national government has, in such hands, sunk into contempt over the land, because neither graced by talents nor supported by virtue.

It

may be that, on account of benefits thanklessly enjoyed, or prodigally wasted or neglected, the Lord of all is about to withdraw the singular patronage which has so long been, bestowed on our favoured land. But the government of this world is administered on a principle of mercy, and before final ruin is inflicted opportunity for repentance is given. In deserting the cause for which our fathers contended, and the privileges which a beneficent Providence granted to their prayers, their efforts, and their sufferings, a great crime has been committed; but, on detecting the fallacies and the moral weaknesses by which we have been misled, a final and fatal lapse may yet, perhaps, be avoided. If ten righteous persons could have saved a guilty city, I cannot forget that in every city and in every county of Scotland, there have been many discerning persons of every station whom the blind subserviency to Popery never reached, and against whom the bitter things I have to write are not directed. I sincerely trust that the dangerous error into which the Protestants of Scot

land have recently fallen, has been the result of not understanding clearly what Popery truly is, and its sure tendency to undermine and ultimately to destroy the worth, liberty, and prosperity of nations. In this hope, I

propose to state what I regard as the true nature of Popery-what our fathers did to protect us against itand how the bulwarks which they reared have, by the criminal ignorance and dereliction of duty on the part of their posterity, been suffered to fall into decay, and the foe to enter by unrepaired and unguarded breaches in every quarter. Their example will point out our duty. It is very probable that what I write may have little success or effect. That will be your misfortune and not mine, ye nominal Protestants of Scotland. This world is not mine, and I claim no right to rule it, intellectually or otherwise. Enough for me to have attempted to perform my own duty, leaving the result to the Power to whom all belongs. Yet, I have some hope for my country. The tombs of the martyrs in Ayrshire have at length not testified in vain. The inhabitants of its fields, and towns, and villages, have recently done their duty, and I trust that, independent of my aid, the day is dawning over the land.

Still you must not expect that I am to address you in the style of those who have with flattery obtained the suffrages you have abused. I frankly say, that in my estimation never was there a people led away from truth and duty, by pretexts so utterly contemptible as those which have imposed for years on Scotsmen. I state, as a ready example, the names by which many of you have designated yourselves; viz., Whigs and Reformers: the result of whose triumph has been a sliding backward and downward into Popery! But what and who is a Whig?

The name Whig, borrowed from us by the English, was originally applied in derision to the persecuted adherents of the Covenant, by which the Scottish people bound themselves to These support the Protestant faith.

men held not their lives dear to them in comparison of fidelity to their engagement. Gradually their indomitable spirit converted a contemptuous epithet into an honourable designation. When the royal Papists, Charles and James II. (or VII.,) attempted to train or lead them back to Popery, by imposing a system of forms and ceremonial like that of the English prelacy, who for a brief period had seemed accessible to Popery, the Scottish Whigs discerned the snare,

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