After a month of tranquillity and comparative comfort, during which no incident occurred to disturb the inhabitants of the jungle, the Collector was, one evening, seized with violent shiverings, to terminate which he used unwonted exertion; but the symptoms increasing, he in an hour or two laboured under a raging fever. The alarmed wife was in a state of the utmost fear and perplexity. "I dare not," said she, "send to the nearest station for medical advice, yet, should the malady continue, I may be destroying life instead of protecting it." To await the dispensation of Providence seemed most eligible, and Charlotte took a seat by her charge, watching with the greatest solicitude, from day to day, every change in the hectic countenance before her. When evening withdrew the comfort of light, and her child had retired to sleep, she had nothing to divert her even for a moment from heavy thoughts, save the hurricane without, which on one occasion raged with violence, the thunder breaking in loud peals, and the forked lightning strong enough to display the ghastly countenance of the Collector, while the trees surrounding the house were blown up with velocity to a considerable height, and dashed back to the earth again. A storm of this nature, at night and in a lonely situation, would have been terrific to the stoutest heart-but Charlotte's was filled with emotions sufficiently bitter to steel it even against this, and she heard the torrents of rain which terminate a tiffoon in that part of the world falling on the roof of her apartment, without reflecting that there was an aperture which had once before, in a similar storm, admitted several pails of water. She had continued sitting in one posture, her head reclining on her hand, to the conclusion of the hurricane. The rain dripped on her shoulder, and gliding off, was forming a large pond by her side. Her dress became thoroughly wet, but she heeded it not, until her husband, his attention excited by the sound of the big drops, spoke. To the appeal of him on whom her thoughts were fixed, she was instantly alive; and starting from her seat, to learn his wish, the poor creature perceived, for the first time, the intrusion of the rude element. She had, however, acquired fortitude to bear not merely trifling inconvenience but real distress; and a circumstance which would, a twelvemonth before, have been regarded as a serious calamity, failed now to excite even a sigh. Thus are we tutored by misfortune!

It was not until after the lapse of some weeks that George's disorder took a favourable turn, and Charlotte perceived that, in order to secure a proper supply of strengthening nourishment, it would soon become necessary for her to undertake another journey to Cawnpore. With this she acquainted the invalid. Her jewels had all been disposed of, with the exception of a few, meant to be reserved as long as possible. A little plate remained, which was carefully wrapped in cloth and tied to the saddle; but the agitation of the husband increased so alarmingly whenever the subject was mentioned, that, in order to pacify him, the early hour of sunrise was fixed on for her departure.

The advancing convalescence of the Collector was as rapid as the progress of the fever had been; and on the evening of Charlotte's return, he was able to partake of her joy at the success which had again crowned her undertaking. The rupees were counted, and put into a place of safety; plentiful though homely fare produced; and temporary happiness once more smiled upon the desolate little party, the sick man being in a short time able to take the air with his family.

These gleams of sunshine, however, were not, nor could be, under the circumstances, of long continuance; and, speaking generally, the mind of the Collector grew more and more perturbed. He had of late become so altered in appearance that his most intimate friends would not have recog nized him. At length his suspicions so far increased that he seldom dared to leave the cottage at all, and never without the precaution of a loaded pistol concealed about his person: and he had cause for alarm; as about this period high rewards were offered for his detection. His pale face, overshadowed with a profusion of long black hair, which had not been cut since his banishment

from the world; his dark whisker and moustache, allowed to meet, in order to conceal his features; his disorderly dress, and fierce aspect, would have marked him, in any country, for a maniac escaped from his keeper. This fearful spectacle would sometimes make Charlotte's heart sink within her; especially when he was securing the house previous to slumber. This ceremony was commenced by taking a pistol from the case, and making sure that it was well loaded; in doing which it was necessary to hold it close to the light, thereby displaying the desperate countenance more fully to Charlotte, who, when her agitation could be no longer suppressed, would ask, in a timid voice, whether any untoward news had occasioned this additional caution of walking round the house with a loaded pistol, never failing to discharge it at the door, and, when reloaded, to place it under his pillow? On these questions being asked, the poor man usually quitted the room in silence. His sleep became restless, and haunted by terrible dreams. He would shout, "Help, help!" and closing his teeth firmly, gnash them with fearful violence; and grasping the loaded pistol, he was once about to discharge it through the opposite wall, when his arm was arrested by Charlotte. He spoke but little during the day, and lifted not up his eyes to witness the sorrowful expression of that countenance on which he had loved to gaze. He would, however, frequently caress the boy; and, when Charlotte was not by, sometimes shed over him a torrent of tears, in such agitation that the alarmed child would force itself from his arms.

The discharge of the pistol each night was productive of good in wounding sundry wolves, who had prowled near the little enclosure, and who, by their cries, contributed to alarm the tigers. But one night, George being sensible of a footstep close to him, fired, and the ball penetrated the arm of the faithful domestic, who fell to the ground, moaning piteously. George retired into the house, exulting, whilst Charlotte, having heard the groans, sought her attendant; and he not being to be found, she returned to her husband, suggesting the probability of his having been attacked by a wild beast. This caused George's mind to misgive him; and without stating the nature of his suspicions, he rushed out, and discovered his lamentable mistake. He bore the poor fellow to his own little adjoining hut, and was greatly pleased, on cleaning and examining the wound, to find that, although likely to be a troublesome one, no imminent danger need be apprehended. He therefore returned to Charlotte, and telling her that a sudden illness had attacked the man, which would require his attendance through the night, resolved to make some atonement for his rashness by watching at the sufferer's side. The wound was dressed to the best ability of so unskilful a nurse, and the invalid having been refreshed by short slumbers, and gratified by the attention of his master, assumed next morning a cheerful counteThe pain of the wound, however, combined with the unscientific way in which it had been treated, confined him for some time to the house. Few indeed were the enjoynients of these unfortunates; yet, as the convalescence of the servant proceeded, peace once more hovered over the forlorn circle. The child became a greater and greater source of comfort. The endearing lisp, the innocent prattle, the face extended to be caressed, and the smile of thankfulness for notice, contributed to smooth over the cloudy brow of the proscribed father, and for some days every thing was delightful to the senses of poor Charlotte.

nance.

They were in this tranquil state, when, one evening, after a longer ramble than usual, as the inhabitants of the cottage were preparing for their nightly rest, a footstep passed the door, and the Collector instinctively laid his hand upon his pistol. Charlotte entreated him to be wary; "It can be no other," said she, "than our own servant." George called to mind his former error: and the sound not returning, they went to rest. My poor friend, however, could not sleep; the incident had aroused his suspicions, and, loading both pistols, he frequently examined the fastenings of his dwelling. These, it is truc, were not calculated to afford much security-a

lock being a thing unknown in those regions. He placed chairs against the entrance, which he proceeded to blockade in the most effectual way, and then, with a sort of reckless desperation, drew them aside, as if resolved to await patiently the issue. About midnight, all remaining quiet, he returned to Charlotte, fully confident that there was no ground for apprehension.

Loud and echoing screams of jackalls sounded from without, and grew more and more discordant; but the sleepers were insensible of their approach. The Collector dreamt his last dream! A shriek of agony, followed by a deep groan, aroused Charlotte, who, having sufficient presence of mind to preserve silence, crept out of the fatal chamber with her child, and sought the attendant, who swiftly placed her and the infant upon the pony, advising them to lose no time in endeavouring to reach Cawnpore, where they happily arrived in safety.

A scene to freeze the blood, a deed of darkness and of horror, terminated the life of the Collector of Cawnpore. His murderers, as if to glut themselves with crime, left not the house until the floor was strewed with blood and hair. They had dragged him from his bed by the ears, and butchered him piecemeal; at last severing his head, with the exception of a small piece of skin: one eye was bent into the forehead, the other swelled and projecting; the teeth set firmly, and the ghastly grin of convulsive emotion still playing on the mouth! Such was the end of a well-known and much-admired civilian-a man whose talents were great, as were likewise his errors ; and who, had his first marriage been as happy as his last, might have passed through a long life with reputation and tranquillity.

One word in conclusion; and it is not uncalled-for, since otherwise unkind thoughts may rest upon the faithful creature whose description furnished the details of the Collector's death. Our readers must be apprised that, in India, the domestics generally occupy separate huts, at some little distance from the house of their master. They sleep on the floor, covered over completely, head and ears, so that common sounds can scarcely reach them. Besides, in cases of attack, a native never spares his own countryman, lest he should be tempted by the offer of reward to betray him. Add to this, the utter uselessness of one person against numbers, and there needs no farther explanation of the non-interference of the honest servant.

ELIJAH'S INTERVIEW WITH GOD.

ON Horeb's rock the Prophet stood;
The Lord before him past.

A hurricane in angry mood

Swept by him strong and fast.
The forests fell before its force,

The rocks were shiver'd in its course;
God was not in the blast.

'Twas but the whirlwind of His breath
Announcing danger, wreck, and death.
It ceased. The air grew mute-a cloud
Came muffling up the sun;

When through the mountains deep and loud
An earthquake thunder'd on.

The frighted eagle sprang in air,

The wolf ran howling from his lair:

God was not in the stun.

'Twas but the rolling of His car,

The trampling of His steeds from far.

Natives enter tents and even houses frequently, when bent on plunder, under jackall skins, imitating their wild cry.

'Twas still again, and Nature stood

And calm'd her ruffled frame;
When swift from Heaven a fiery flood
To earth devouring came.

Down to his depths the ocean fled,
The sickening sun look'd wan and dead;
Yet God fill'd not the flame.
'Twas but the terrors of His eye
That lighten'd through the troubled sky.

At last a voice all still and small
Rose sweetly on the ear,

Yet rose so clear and shrill, that all
In Heaven and earth might hear.
It spoke of peace, it spoke of love,
It spoke as angels speak above,
And God himself was here.
For, oh, it was a Father's voice,
That bade His trembling world rejoice.

ON THE CORN LAWS.*

To secure a low price is the first thing which those who have legislated on the trade in corn have always had in view. It cannot be denied, that this is a desirable object; though, in the pursuit of it, legislators have seldom failed to lose their way amidst their enactments on the price of provisions, on public granaries, and on the forestalling of corn; and all their vain attempts to make an article be sold cheap, which cost dear. It would, however, be losing time to combat errors which are abandoned. Every one now admits, that to force the agriculturist to sell at a low price, would be to prohibit production, and instead of causing cheapness, to create dearness and famine; that the supposed forestallers of corn are fair dealers, whose transactions maintain an equality of price in the different provinces of a country, and during the different seasons of the year; that a country is never so well or so cheaply supplied by public granaries as by private merchants; and, finally, that all those antiquated measures, by which governments once imagined the price of corn was to be kept down, had quite the contrary effect.

But it must not hence be inferred, that the low price of corn is not a national advantage. All men are consumers of corn, and all are benefited by abundance and cheapness. The only thing to be wished for is, that this low price should be permanent-that it should be remunerating; that is to say, that it should so amply reimburse the expenses of production, as to stimulate to its continuance. The price of corn becomes the basis of the rate of wages. When corn continues dear, every thing produced by human industry also increases in price; and the rise of corn must, after a certain time, bring about the ruin of all kinds of manufactures intended for exportation.

Yet England, which excels all other nations in her manufactures, her wealth, and her knowledge of political economy, has laws enacted

* This article, which has been communicated to us by M. de Sismondi, will be included in his forthcoming new edition of his "Principes d'Economie Politique."

for the sole purpose of keeping up the price of corn. These laws, the abolition of which one half of the English people is now demanding, in a tone of bitter irritation against those who advocate their continuance, while the other half is defending them with cries of indignation against those who insist on their repeal-these laws, about which the English ministry is divided, and respecting which the parliament, consisting, as it does, chiefly of land-owners, is afraid to take a part which may excite violent convulsions, are the only measures of the kind at present worthy of examination.

England is a country abounding in great farms, where cultivation is accomplished, under the direction of speculating agriculturists, by labourers, whose wages are paid weekly in money. The farmer will cease to cultivate if he cannot cover the money thus laid out by the sale of his produce, almost the whole of which is brought to market. He will not continue a losing trade. If the corn sold does not reimburse the expense of raising it, the capital now employed in agriculture will be withdrawn, and the farms thrown back, in a wild state, on the hands of the owners. The landlords will thus be left without any income whatever. But this is no fault of the farmer's. He will discharge his labourers, who will starve (which is no fault of his either); and the production of corn must cease. Now the English land-owners and farmers all declare, with one voice, that from fifty to sixty shillings per quarter is scarcely a remunerating price, that it just defrays the expense of production, and that, if this price be lowered, they must give up cultivating corn.

On the other hand, the countries situated on the shores of the Baltic, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean, and those which border on the banks of the great American rivers, could supply corn sufficient for the consumption of all England, at a price infinitely lower than this remunerating price. The best wheat, which is sold in England at fiftysix shillings per quarter, is now offered in the ports of Dantzic and Lubeck at seventeen shillings. During last spring the English ministry, alarmed at the prospect of the future harvest, applied to parliament for leave to introduce, in case of necessity, a limited quantity of corn, subject to a tax of ten shillings per quarter. Even this temporary measure encountered the most violent opposition on the part of the aristocracy, and the minister was obliged to exert all his power in order to carry it.

Meanwhile a commercial crisis alarms the manufacturers. Half the population of England is employed in trade, and dependent on foreigners for the consumption of manufactured goods. One half of the artisans, instead of living on regular wages, earn nothing. The foreign market is lost, and manufactures are no longer exported. The poor experience all the evils of famine, and cannot, without indignation, learn that their scanty share of bread is sold to them at an exorbitant price, to secure more ample rentals to members of the aristocracy, who already receive from forty to eighty thousand pounds a year; that the corn, which is offered at every port for half the present price, is rejected; and that the distress, with which they are afflicted, is consequently the work of the rich. The great manufacturers declare that the overstocked condition of the markets is also the effect of the cornlaws, that the wealthy classes on the Continent cannot purchase Eng