tor's chisel can engrave. Like those who moulder beneath, they have now faded away: their little season is past, and the long grass waves there alone, until returning spring shall renew the fairy decoration. There is a touching coincidence between the ashes that from year to year mingle below in an undistinguishable mass of mortality, and the flowers that successively bloom on their frail stems above, and scattered their withered petals when the little day of their sojourn is over, an unmarked contribution to the swelling mound of what has been so fair, so fresh, and so precious. It is beautiful to see how, where the hand of man has placed no covering of stone, or when the perishable memento has crumbled away, the tender green blade and the sweet wildflower volunteer, as it were, to stand sentinel over that which is but lent, not given, to the devouring grave, and clothe the naked soil in such a vesture as man with all his ingenuity could never weave. There is a sympathy neither imaginary, nor accidental, to be found in what is called nature, with the little joys and shortlived sorrows of man, that bespeaks the tender mindfulness of Him, who knowing that we are but dust, remembers our frame, and condescends to adapt his glorious works not only to our wants but to our feelings. It is not possible to linger long in a village church-yard without being compelled secretly to acknowledge this; for there the abundance of rural scenery renders that a very garden which would otherwise be but a charnel-house. Rarely, however, does a city afford such a contemplation: still less a sea-port town, and one like this, noted for centuries as a place of strength and commercial importance, where, within the space of half-a-year, we can number from ten to twenty thousand of victims committed to the narrow house of her dead.

active defenders of their fortress, and by | ing than all the hic jacets that the sculphis judicious counsel contributed as much as any individual to the general cause. He was the first to encourage the Apprentice Boys, in resolutely prosecuting their plan of resistance; and after examining and assisting to strengthen their little fortress, he repaired on a hazardous journey to London, to represent the cause to William of Nassau; nor would he leave the court until he had obtained a letter of approval from the king, with the promise of speedy succor. The narrative of his services remains, cut in most distinct and legible characters upon a stone of very durable texture which marked his grave. I found that stone broken into three, of which the central part, containing much of the inscription, had been taken as a piece of waste masonry, to prop up the slab of some neighbouring tomb; another division lay, thrown by, in a stone-mason's yard and the third was lodged, by the sexton's care, in some part of the church. I must confess, that when, after glancing towards the splendid column raised on the walls to the memory of George Walker, on which, indeed, is engraven also the name of Cairns, with those of others who distinguished themselves in the defence, I looked again upon the grave of that zealous Protestant, despoiled of its simple but honourable testimonial, of which a fragment lay before me, I felt that something was wanting of the grateful respect that ought to cherish such memorials; and I longed for a day's local authority in Derry, to accomplish what might be done with little labour and less cost, by riveting together the dissevered, but still perfect fragments, and building them into the church wall. Such a deed would better express the feeling that should be cherished than the gift of a new monument. It would commemorate alike the services of the individual, the honour put upon him by his grateful contemporaries, and the reviving spirit of Protestantism among their descendants.

But memorials will never be wanting on that spot where the rankly rich soil, in defiance of the frequent disturbance of its surface, rapidly spreads again a mantle of green, brightly embroidered with daisy pearl, laced with golden butter-cups, and pencilled in the soft blue of the pensive forget-me-not with inscriptions more touch

It was in a pleasant meadow, gently slanting to a transparent rivulet, and lying outspread beneath the sunbeam, that first I crept upon the dry grass, filling my little lap with butter-cups and daisies, each budding thought as bright and simple as the treasures I had culled. It was under a cloudy sky, while every blade and leaf hung heavily down beneath the weight of recent rain-drops, emblematical of many

chain, connecting me more closely than ever with the land I so dearly love.

But, for the present occasion I am not about to introduce a new subject; one frequently touched upon, but not recently, is so peculiarly fresh in my mind just now: and the type is no less fresh in my little garden. Years roll on: but I cannot feel what Kirke White expresses:

Thus doth the shade in memory fade,
When in forsaken tomb the form beloved is laid.

tastefully arranged, and gracefully pre-formed, as it were, the links of a pleasan sented-for is not true courtesy always graceful?-by the hands of a poor labourer, who saw me long engaged in contemplating the magnificent ruins of the ancient fortress of Trim; one of the finest feudal remains I ever beheld; worthy of a pilgrimage to view it. The incident of my stumbling on this spendid wreck, in a journey through cross roads, the delightful hour occupied in examining it, and the gift of those blooming flowers which grew in a garden at the foot of the eminence No: memory is a faithful chronicler, a where it stands, left an impression on my mirror that retains the image once remind, to be cherished while roses, pinks, flected in it as though it were still present; and sweet peas survive to tell of their dis- and my dumb Boy's aspect, his joyous tant race under the crumbling walls of smile, his thoughtful frown, his eloquent Trim. Next at the foot of Slieve Donard, gestures, and earnest attempts to convey I may truly say, I revelled in a paradise the meanings that ever filled his mind, are of flowers for many a sunshiny day; and as visible to the mental perception now, as my little English garden now nourishes is the little green shamrock to the bodily some roots that grew on its lofty crest. eye. Patriotism such as Jack's I have Again, within the walls of another noble rarely met with: and many a time have I mansion, crowning with its battlements pondered, during the last few months, on the high ground of Tandragree, a trophy the nature and origin of that passion in was prepared to indulge the traveller's pe- his heart; for a passion it really was. His culiar taste, in the form of the most beau-home was an obscure cabin, in the long, tiful garland I ever beheld: quite an architectural device, composed of glowing flowers. And this, too, was the work of humble hands; the offering of affectionate hearts, the fruits of that ingenuity which a desire to give pleasure to others never fails to inspire. I must not again speak of Derry; nor at present dwell upon the wild charms of Donegal, where masses of purple heather looked glorious in their simple beauty, as they studded and fringed the fantastic rocks, and crested the towering mountains of that unique region: while, spreading wide below, the delicate cup of the flax peeped forth in loveliest blue from amid its feathery supports. The last sweet relic of the flowers of Erin, was brought away from a bouquet that graced the cabin of the vessel which bore us homeward; and truly I may quote a couplet from a foolish song, as being literally fulfilled in this pleasant trip:

narrow street that formed one outlet from a considerable city. His steps rarely strayed beyond that dark and dreary street; he scarcely knew his way into the neighbouring fields: and of the peculiar features of Irish scenery he was perfectly ignorant. The habits of those around him excited only disgust in his naturally delicate mind: and he never ceased to remark on the superiority of English cottages and customs. Of the geographical situation of places he had no more idea than has the pen that I write with: nor had any sentiment, either in prose or verse, been conveyed to his mind, that could excite or cherish a particle of na||tionality. To say truth, I was somewhat dissatisfied at the unequivocal inclinations which he gave of greatly preferring my native land to his own: insomuch that he used to say, in a laughing way, "Jack loves pretty England; doll mam loves bad Ireland." The term doll he used to signify, in a civil way, that the person to whom he applied the epithet had a wooden head. But, ever as the glorious light of the Gospel of Christ spread and brightened upon his soul, a feeling grew and deepened with it, to which I can hardly

of course, knew not a word that passed; but the purport he well knew: and often have I thought, as I looked upon him, of the beautiful words of St. Paul, as expressing his tender yearnings over his countrymen, "My little children, of whom I travail in birth till Christ be formed in you!"

apply a name. The idea of returning to his own country was to him insupportable; indeed, if a fit of rebellion to which, like all the rest of us, he was subject, withstood all other means, the remark that he must be sent back to his home never failed to subdue him. Neither was this from a dread of enduring privation, for he often observed to me, that he could earn a good When the door closed finally over such deal by working and drawing; but a half a guest, he would, if the case appeared a tearful appeal, whether I would send Jack promising one, give a loose to great joy; to worship wooden gods, and kneel to the often expressing it in the most extraordi"bad bread," always showed his real feel-nary descriptions of what he supposed to ing; generally followed by an energetic be the feelings of Satan on the occasion. assurance that he would be "dead Jack" He would make strange grimaces of disrather than do any such thing:-that they content, grief, and rage, saying, "Devi might kill, but should not corrupt him. very dumpy; devil cry; devil mad." Then Added to this was a most ardent desire to he would express what must be the conbring his parents and family to England; sequences to the Romish priesthood if the it was his dream by night his theme by people were converted; and no one could day, the subject of many a prayer, and behold this part of the representation the stimulus to many an hour's hard work without laughing. He would personate a with the pencil, by means of which he priest, show him extorting his dues and hoped in time to accomplish this darling gifts from the poor people; then describe object. Whence, then, the feeling so fer- the latter as refusing them, and, instead vently Irish, that displayed itself contin- of money, pulling out a bible from their ually, gathering strength daily, during pockets. Then, on the priest's part, all more than six years' absence from his na- the gradations from violent rage to smiling tive land, and shining out in the very last persuasion, and at last to a most humble glimmer of consciousness, when the hand | entreaty for a little cash. It was amazing of death was cold and heavy upon him! how he, who never in his life witnessed a Some of it he might and did catch from | theatrical exhibition of any kind, would me; but nothing that had not its root in his own spirit could have become such a master-passion. He could not speak long upon that subject without tears: and the ardour of his kindness towards any poor countryman whom we might meet on the road, or who came to our cottage door to crave alms, was most affecting to witness. When, as was very often the case, we prevailed with some weary traveller from the coast, where he had recently landed and was walking up to London, to listen to God's word, while taking a little rest and refreshment, no description, no painting, could have done justice to the boy's appearance. His usual position, on such occasions, was to stand behind a chair, so as to get a side view of the stranger without being observed; and with a fixed, deep colour in his cheeks, he would remain, like a piece of statuary, bending under his drooping eyelids such a gaze of intent observation upon the object of his solicitude as nothing could divert. He,

perform a complete pantomime; and that so well that any explanation or elucidation, except as regarded the ways of the priests at home, was quite needless. When his delight had thus vented itself, he would gradually become serious; and with subdued looks, but still in a glow of the brightest animation, would sketch the gladness of the angels at beholding a soul rescued from Satan, and the sublime vision that ever occupied his mind-the Saviour's bleeding hand drawn over the record of a returning sinner's misdeeds.

Jack was never careless about souls; no individual lacked a share in his busy thoughts on the great subject of the eternal doom: but there was no mistaking for a moment as to the fact if the person happened to be Irish. Then it became indeed a personal concern with him: all the scenes that had distressed his eyes in childhood, and the recollection of which grieved his heart would rise to view. He spoke of the drunkenness, the dishonesty, the dreadful

mentioned before, that his worldly all of two shillings sterling was the very first contribution ever given to the British Reformation Society: and I never trace the successful progress of that noble institution without beholding an answer to the simple fervent prayers that accompanied the gift. I sought and found the shamrock in every part of Ireland, during my late tour: and I could not but hail it as a type of the extensive power of that prayer, so passionately reiterated during the last moment of the boy's life. His hands, literally bathed in the streaming chills of death, rapidly moved to form with the fore fingers little crosses, and then violently to break them, in signification of destroying the idol crucifixes; then the right hand swiftly passed up and down the palm of the left, to represent the spreading of mortar, and both joined together gradually raised as high as he could reach, to im

quarrels and fights, for which his birth- die before they heard of Jesus Christ's red place was disgracefully famous; and hand; and his rapturous thanksgivings above all, he dwelt with shuddering horror for a timely fall of rain were intermingled on the executions that he had witnessed at with earnest injunctions to me to send the gaol near his abode; where the priests" much bibles" over. I believe I have went on to the last, lulling the wretched victims in a false peace, till their struggling forms were cast upon the wind. I never could bear his description of this; but as his mind would have brooded over it unless allowed to throw off the burden by such communication, I let him proceed, contriving not to see what he was about. He would then follow the guilty soul into another state of existence; and nothing could equal the fearful force of his conceptions of eternal despair, but the enchanting grandeur of those which he had formed of heavenly happiness. With the latter he invariably closed his subject. I have of late been reminded of this almost hourly; for few hours have passed during many months, without the pages of old John Foxe spread before me; and verily I have seen more of the dear dumb boy in the characters, the sentiments, the very language of our blessed martyrs, than I expected ever to trace in any human be-itate the building of a spire, which was ings. I had contrived to give him a tolerable idea of queen Mary's doings, and the hold that it took on him was evinced in rather a strange manner. He never once alluded to the place of torment without telling me that Judas and queen Mary were chained together there. I could not enter into the thing as he did. I could not accord to that wretched woman the fearful pre-eminence that he assigned to her: but a closer acquaintance with the sufferings of our English confessors has brought it involuntarily to my thoughts, with something like an acquiescent shudder.

But this patriotism:-it was a perfect thing in its way; he loved a pebble, or a blade of grass from Ireland; and he guarded like a surly watch-dog my little pot of shamrocks, if any irreverent finger threatened to approach it; and all these things were inseparably linked, in his very soul, with the spiritual concerns of his people. Even when he wept over the stubborn soil in a droughty season, because potatoes would not grow in Ireland for want of rain, the reason he gave for his tears was that the poor Irish would

his usual sign for a Protestant churchthen again lowered to spell the words; "quick, quick; Jack's poor Ireland!" implying that it was the only way to save his country, and must not be delayed. All this is as present to me as it was at the time, in February, 1831. Oh, there was a holy hatred of the destroyer of his people, and a solemn triumph in the near view of God's righteous judgments, that ranked him with the martyrs, the confessors of the early days, when Christians knew no fellowship with Antichrist; when the unclean thing was an abomination to them; and when they dared not to throw a friendly veil, and spread a sheltering hand, over that which the LORD has solemnly declared he will consume with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy with the brightness of his coming.

I often feel alone in these matters now; few will give themselves so to search the scriptures, so to read the history of Protestantism, and so to mark the workings of popery, as to kindle over the contemplation, and long to rush to the help of the Lord against the mighty. But though alone. I am not disheartened: when the