an exact transcript to be made from the authentic MS. of Barbour's metrical history of King Robert Bruce, dated 1489, preserved in the Advbcates library. - All the printed editions of this curious and valuable old Scotifh poem have been incorrect and ill fpelt; and it seems neceffary to give an edition of this, the most ancient fpecimen of the Scotifh dialect, precifely as it appeared in the middle of the 14th century. This will be a great literary curiofity, ahd may lead to accurate editions of the other ancient poems of our coun try. Mr Richard Gough is collecting drawings of the ancient fepulchral monuments in Scotland, to add to his noble and fplendid work, of which one volume only has yet appeared. Drawings of the monuments of Alexander Earl of Buchan, fon of. King Robert II. of Bernard the famous Lord d'Aubigny, and Bishop Kennedy, have been fent to him; and others are expected from different parts of the country, to com pleat this grand undertaking. The pretended Martin Guerre.-Extracted from the Causes Celebres: By Mifs C. Smith*: NOTHING is more aftonishing than the infinite variety of the human face, in which there is fuch a prodigious difference of complexion and feature; and where a difference of expreffion is almost always obferved, even in thofe whofe features and complexion are very much alike. Lopez de Vega fomewhere fays,that Nature, fometimes weary of varying her works, copies herself, and produces two perfons perfectly refembling each other. Such muft have been the fimilitude between the two men who are the fubjects of the following detail. Hiftory mentions feveral celebrated impoftors, who, taking advantage of a likeness to fome other perfon, have ufurped their ftations or their fortunes but there is perhaps no inftance of an impofture fo long and fo fuccefsfully carried on, as that which is here related. "Martin Guerre was born in Bifcaye, of parents who were fomewhat above the rank of peasants, and who appear to have fupported themselves by the cultivation of their own land. It is probable that in that part of Europe very early marriages are ufual among all ranks of people; fince this man, then only eleven years old, was (in 1539) married to Bertrande de Rois, nearly of the fame age as himself. For nine or ten years they were without children; at length, about the end of that period, they had a fon born, who was called Sanfei; and foon after, Mar tin Guerre having given fome offence to his father, abfented himself from home to avoid his difpleasure. And whether he found unexpected pleasure in the variety afforded by the wander ing life he embraced, or whether he had conceived any difguft at fome part of his wife's conduct, or was fatiated with her fociety; for whatever caufe it was, he continued to travel from place to pláce, and for fome years his family knew not what was become of him. Though it has often happened that a wife (efpecially if young and handfome, as was Bertrande de Rols at that time) has thought that fuch neglect and desertion on the part of her hufband has juftified her forming other attachments; it does not appear that any charge of that nature was made againit Bertrande de Rols; nor, for fome years after her husband left her, did the smallest fufpicion of infidelity, or even indifcretion; rife against her. At length a man appeared perfonating her abfent husband, and in face and figure fo nearly refembling him, that the four fifters of Martin Guerre immediately acknowledged him to be their brother; Pierre Guerre, the uncle of Martin, as his nephew; and, in general, the relations on both fides believed that it was himself. Befides the very ftrong refemblance, he made himself known to Bertrande de Rols by the relation of particulars known only to From the Romance of Real Life. Just published. her The Pretended Martin Guerre. A true Story: her and Martin Guerre her husband; and even inquired for certain articles of cloathes, which, he faid, he had on his departure deposited in places where they were found: circumitances that probably diffipated any doubt which might have arifen in the mind of Bertrande de Rols. Be that, however, as it might, the received him as her hufband, and as fuch he continued to live with her near three years, during which time fhe had two children by him, one of which died foon after its birth. He alfo in this period fold, as Martin Guerre, feveral parcels of land belonging to him. No mention being made of the parents of Martin Guerre, after he left his home, it is probable they died when he was abfent. Though the impoftor had thoroughly. ftudied his part, it feems almoft incredible that Bertrande de Rols fhould have been deceived. Those who thought ill of her, affirmed, that she was too much attached to the impoftor to wish the deception detected; and that he willingly fhut her eyes against conviction. But, as she feems to have been of a timid temper, and perhaps of a weak understanding, it is not impoffible that he might at firft have been impofed upon by the ftrong resemblance the impoftor bore to her husband, and by the knowledge he had of the most fecret tranfactions of the life of Martin Guerre; and that afterwards, when doubts arofe in her mind, the might fear to inquire into the truth, till forced to do fo by the relations of her real husband. Thefe relations, particularly his uncle Fierre Guerre, prétended, after above two years, to difcover that the man who had been received by them as Martin Guerre was an impoftor, and they infifted on Bertrande de Rols joining in a profecution of him with whom he now lived as her husband. That timidity of fpirit, which had probably prevent ed her own fufpicions of his identity from appearing, made her now give way, with equal facility, to the impetuous refentment of the family. She therefore agreed to appoint Pierre Guerre to act in her behalf, and to lay before the feat of juftice her complaint against the man who had ufurped the name, rights, and effects of Martin Guerre, her husband. This man, brought before the judges of Rieux, lamented the unequalled hardship of his defliny. He faid, that VOL. VI. No 32. P 117 the fuit commenced against him, by which it was intended to rob him of his property and his life, was set on foot at the instigation and by the intrigues of Pierre Guerre his uncle, and two of his fons-in-law, who, in hopes of continuing to manage his patrimony, which amounted to feven or eight thousand livres, had prevailed on his wife to engage in the wicked fcheme of making him believed to be an impoftor. He then entered into a detail of what had happened to him fince he abfented himself. He said he had carried arms fome years for the King of France, his fovereign; after which he went into the Spanish army; till, eagerly wishing to fee his wife, his child, and his friends, he had determined to come home; where, on his arrival, he was immediately acknowledged by the very man, Pierre Guerre, who was now fo forward in profecuting him, though he muft neceffarily have been much altered fince he went away, an almost beardless youth; having been expofed to much hardship and change of cli mate, which, together with the effect of time, must have made a confiderable difference in his face and perfon. He alledged that Pierre Guerre had for fome time purfued him with the cruelleft animofity, for no other reafon but because he had infifted (Pierre Guerre) delivering a fair account of the adminiftration of his farmi and effects during his abfence, which he was either unable or unwilling to do. That, as a proof of his malignity, he could bring witneffes, who faw hint (Pierre Guerre) not long before, ftrike his nephew, Martin Guerre, to the ground with an iron bar; with which he would have repeated his biov, and probably have killed him, if his wife, by throwing herfelf between them, had not fhielded him from his fury. He demanded to be confronted with his wife, who would, he faid, be found incapable of ftifling the truth, in the abfence of those who had influenced her weak mind to join in the profecution. He defired that his uncle Pierre Guerre, and his other accufers, fhould be prevented from having accefs to her, that he might not have her understanding perverted by the arts of thofe who had fo evident an intereft in his deftruction. on his He then underwent an examination, in which, to all the questions put to him on the life and connections of Martin Guerre, Guerre, he answered moft exactly. The time and place of his birth; the most particular events relative to his father, mother, brothers, fifters, and all others of his family: the year and day on which he was married to Bertrande de Rols, whofe relations he defcribed with equal precision. He named the perfons who were prefent at his marriage, and the cloathes they wore, the prieft who married them, and an infinite number of trifling circumstances, all of which were found to be true. He spoke alfo of the birth and baptifm of Sanxi Guerre, the fon of Martin Guerre; why he quitted his habitation, who he met on the way, and the difcourfe he held with feveral perfons whom he named. He gave an account of the cities through which he had paffed, in France and Spain, and the perfons with whom he had refided and converfed in both kingdoms., And, to remove every doubt of his veracity, he named perfons to whom reference might be had, who would confirm all he had afferted; and, when these people were applied to, they actually did confirm all he had advanced. Bertrande de Rols was next examined. Her anfwers agreed perfectly with those of her fuppofed husband, in all the circumftances wherein they were mutually concerned; and of an hundred and fifty witneffes, who were afterwards queftioned, near forty fwore, that the man now imprisoned on fuppofition of having ufurped the name and ftation of Martin Guerre, was actually Martin Guerre himself, and that they knew him to be the fame with whom they had been acquainted from their infancy; not only by the general fimilitude of his perfon now, to what it was then, but also by certain fcars and marks which he had acquired when a child, and which time had not effaced. Other witneffes being called, on behalf of the profecutors, fwore as pofitively, that the man whom they now faw, and who had fo long paffed for Martin Guerre, was one Arnaud du Tilk, commonly called Panfette, native of Sagias, whom they had known from his cradle. Sixty other witneffes, on being fhewn the prifoner, declared that they dared not decide whether he was Martin Guerre or no, fo very strong was the refemblance. The accufed obtained an order from the court, that Bertrande de Rols fhould be kept apart from Pierre Guerre and his affociates. But at the fame time the judges named a commiffion to go to Artiques, the place of Martin Guerre's refidence, and to Sagias, the place from whence Arnaud du Tilk was faid to come; that all particulars might be collected relative to them both, which might throw light on fo myfterious an affair. They directed alfo, that the accused fhould be compared with Sanxi Guerre, the fon, and with the four fifters of Martin Guerre. The refult was, that Sanxi did not at all resemble him; but the likeness between him and the four women was ftriking and indifputable. This appeared a ftrong circumstance in his favour; a child as often refembles his mother as his father; and at that early period of life, the features are fometimes fo little formed, as to give no decided likeness to any part of a family whereas the refemblance between the prifoner and the four fifters of Martin Guerre, who were women nearly of the fame age, and fuppofed to be born of the fame parents, seemed a convincing proof of his identity. But after examining many other witneffes, and inveftigating numberless proofs, the judges decided, that the prifoner was not Martin Guerre, but Arnaud du Tilk of Sagias; and he was accordingly condemned. He appealed against this fentence to the Parliament of Touloufe; and that court thought it neceflary more fully to investigate an affair fo full of diffi culty and obfcurity. The party calling himself Martin Guerre was fummoned to appear, with Bertrande du Rols, and his other accufers. The man maintained fo fteady a countenance, and anfwered in a manner fo unembarraffed and ingenuous, that the judges began to believe he was the real Martin Guerre; and the more fo, as they faw in the deportment of Pierre Guerre the uncle, and Bertrande de Rols, a confufion and hesitation, which they imputed to the confcioufnefs of their guilt. Directions were given for a new commiffion, to renew all the inquiries, and to hear the witneffes again. But this renewed inveftigation, inftead of unveiling the mystery, ferved only to wrap it in ten-fold obfcurity. Of thirty witneffes, who were now heard for the fecond time, nine or ten declared that the prifoner was Martin Guerre, The Pretended Martin Guerre.-A true Story. Guerre, whom they had long known; eight as pofitively declared he was Arnaud du Tilk; and the reft, after having long deliberated, protefted, that they could not charge their confciences with an oath, in a matter wherein, from the extreme refemblance between Martin Guerre and Arnaud du Tilk, they were unable to pronounce pofitively to their own fatisfaction. On collecting the whole evidence brought by the accufers against the prifoner, it appeared, that, in the whole, the depofition of forty-five witneffes went to prove that he was Arnaud du Tilk, and among them fome had defervedly great weight. The first was Carbon Barreau, uncle by the mother's fide to Arnaud du Tilk, who acknowledged him to be his nephew, and feeing him a prifoner, wept bitterly, and deplored the unhappy deftiny of a perfon fo nearly allied to him.-The fhoemaker who made fhoes for Martin Guerre fwore that the measure of his foot was of twelve inches, and that of the prifoner was only nine.-Another perfon depofed that Martin Guerre understood the fcience of defence, of which the prifoner was ignorant.-Almoft all the witneffes who affirmed that the prifoner was an impoftor, agreed in defcribing the true Martin Guerre to be taller, and of a darker complexion; his body and legs thinner; that he stooped, carried his head low, and had a round back; that his nofe was large and fomewhat flat, his chin fharp and turned up in the middle, and that his under lip hung down. Arnaud du Tilk, which they faid was the true name of the man before them, was fhorter and ftouter; not fo flat-nofed, or round-backed: but they owned, that the fears and marks he had upon him were exactly the fame as thofe they remembered on Martin Guerre.-Jean Efpagnol, who kept a public-houfe at depofed pofitively, that the prifoner difcovered himself to him, and defired he would not mention the fecret ke trufted him with, which was, that Martin Guerre had given him all his property.-Valentine depofed, that he met Arnaud du Tilk, the prifoner, who finding himself known, defired the deponent not to betray him; and gave him, at the fame time, two handkerchiefs to be delivered to his brother John du Tilk-Two other witneffes faid, that a foldier of Rochefort, paffing through Artiques, was fur 119 prifed to find the prifoner then living there as Martin Guerre, and loudly af ferted, that he knew Martin Guerre well, who was actually in Flanders, where he had been obliged to replace with a wooden leg the leg he had loft at the battle of St Laurent, before St Quintin. It was alfo remarked, that Martin Guerre, being a native of Bifcaye, fpoke the Bafque, which differs very materially from the French and Gafcon languages; whereas the prisoner knew only a few words of it, which he often unneceffarily introduced into his difcourfe to conceal his general ignorance of what he would be thought to understand.-Several witneffes depofed, that Arnaud du Tilk had, from his earlieft years, been abandoned to every kind of vice; that he was an atheist, a blafphemer, and guilty of fraud and theft; whence it followed, that he was capable of committing the crime he was now charged with, The ftrength, however, of this body of evidence feemed very much diminished by what followed, in favour of his being the perfon whose name he affumed. Upwards of thirty perfons, who had known Martin Guerre from his infan cy, declared that the prifoner was the man. Among the fe witnesses, thofe whofe depofitions feemed the most convincing, were the four fifters of Martin Guerre; and the hufbands of the two who were married corroborated their evidence. Other perfons, who had been prefent at the marriage ceremony between Martin Guerre and Bertrande de Rols, depofed, that this was the fame perfon who was then married. As proofs of his identity, they fwore to feveral marks about his perfon, which on examination were all found on the perfon of the prifoner. It feemed to be generally acknowledged, that when the prisoner arrived at Artiques, he spoke to every one he met who knew Martin Guerre, calling them by their names. That fome of thefe not immediately recollecting him, he told them he was their old acquaintance Martin Guerre, and reininded them of converfations and events that had formerly happened, and of places where they had been, and parties made in his company, twelve, fourteen, or twenty years back. And to Bertrande de Rols he mentioned feveral circumftances, which could be known only to her and Martin Guerre her husband. P2 Other Other depofitions went to prove, that Pierre Guerre, the uncle, had declared his refolution to ruin the prifoner at all events; and had endea voured to make his whole family enter into a combination to gratify his revenge. To procure money to carry on the fuit, he had applied to one Jean Loze of Palhos, who had refufed to advance it, faying, he would not contribute to the ruin of his relation. They added, that it was generally believed at Artiques, that Bertrande de Rols was terrified into joining in this prosecution by the threats of Pierre Guerre, and of her mother, who was now the wife of Pierre Guerre; and that she did not willingly carry it on, believing that the prifoner was really her husband. The depofitions of the four fifters of Martin Guerre, and their great refemblance to the prifoner, was a strong circumftance in his favour. Those who faw them together affirmed, that a more ftriking likeness was impoffible; they had the fame features, complexion, and caft of countenance. When, in the courfe of the examinations, the prifoner was confronted with Bertrande de Rols, he conjured her, by all that was facred, to acknowledge the truth be told her, that his fate depended upon her, and that he was content it fhould do fo; fince, if the with a fafe confcience could fwear that he was not Martin Guerre her husband, he would confent to undergo the most cruel punishment. To this the anfwered, that he neither would fwear or believe that he was not Martin Guerre. It was acknowledged, that before she was induced, by the threats of Pierre Guerre, and her mother, to inftitute a fuit against the prifoner, fhe had lived with him above three years without ever appearing to doubt of his being really Martin Guerre her hufband; and, when doubts arofe with others, the exprefied herself with great afperity against those who mentioned thofe doubts before her, saying, that furely fhe muft know her hulband better than any one elfe could; and that fhe would punish thofe who dared to propagate fo fcandalous a falfehood. It alfo appeared, that he had often complained of the tyranny of Pierre Guerre and her mother, who had, fhe faid, forced her again, her inclinations, to enter into the process against the prifoner, and had threatened, if the did not, to turn her out of the houfe fhe lived in, and otherwife to perfecute her. It was proved that, at the instigation of Pierre Guerre, one Jean d'Efcornebeuf had before accufed the prifoner of a crime, for which he had been imprifoned; and, while he was fo, that Pierre Guerre and his wife (the mother of Bertrande de Rols) inceffantly befieged her to confent to profecute him for pretending to be Martin Guerre, which fhe then refufed; and when, after fome time, he was releafed from prifon, on the charge which Jean d'Efcornebeuf had brought against him, being found falfe, Bertrande de Rols received him with every demonftration of affection; notwithstanding which, immediately afterwards, Pierre Guerre obliged her to become a party in the fuit against him. Thus ftood the evidence on both fides of this remarkable queftion, and it feems that the judges were on the point of deciding in favour of the prifoner, when the real Martin Guerre fuddenly appeared. He came from Spain, and had a wooden leg, as the foldier had afferted. Immediately on his arrival, he prefented a memorial to the Court, defiring leave to plead his caufe, and to bring proofs of his identity. An order was accordingly made for his examination, and that he should be confronted with Bertrande de Rols, and with the four fifters, whofe evidence had been the ftrongeft in favour of the prifoner. He was then examined, in the fame manner as the prifoner had been before, and on the fame particulars; and his anfwers were rot found fo clear and exact as thofe of his reprefentative. The They were then confronted. man accused of being an impoftor treated Martin Guerre as a rogue and a cheat, dreffed up by the artifices of Pierre Guerre, the uncle; and declared that he would confent to be hanged, if he did not prove, to the fatisfaction of the court, that the man who now pretended to be Martin Guerre was a mere machine taught to act his part by his enemies. He then questioned his adverfary on feveral circumstances, which, if he was Martin Guerre, he ought to have known. His anfwers were confused and unfatisfactory. The commiffioners then taking the laft man apart, interrogated him on feveral new points, to which neither of them had before anfwered; his anfwers were found to correfpond with truth. Then |