Elustrated Article.

THE WIFE OF SEVEN HUSBANDS;

A LEGEND OF LONDON.

In the beginning of the reign of Edward the First, of long-legged memory, there lived upon Corne-hille, over against the spot where the water tonne was a few years afterwards built, a certain blithe and buxome widow, very wealthy, and as fair withal as she was wealthy; she was only in her twenty-eighth year, of a tall and stately shape and bearing, and with commanding and yet right modest features; her face was oval, her hair and eyes of bright black: her forehead high; her eyebrows arched, almost into semicircles; her nose slightly aquiline; her cheeks high coloured, and yet delicately so; her lips small, and prettily bent; her teeth white and regular; her chin rather forward and dimpled; and her complexion dark though not swarthy; so that upon the whole she had rather a Jewish cast of countenance, and yet there was no rightful reason to suspect that there

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was even a drop of Israelitish blood in her veins, for her father, and his fathers before him, for many generations back, had been rich and respectable goldworkers, citizens of London, and had always married among their equals and friends. Busy tongues, however, there were that whispered something or other to this effect that the maternal grandmother of Mrs. Alice (my young and pretty widow) during the absence of her husband, who was a merchant, had become pretty closely acquainted with a young Hebrew, at that time staying in London; and that, when her husband returned, he was, for some reason or other, so angry with his wife, that he put her away from fr him, and would never after see her, though he provided for her during her life, and himself educated the children she had borne up to the period of their parting.

But be this as it may, Mistress Alice was a very handsome woman, and, as has been before said, very wealthy, for her father always petted her, and although he had two other children, sons, he quarrelled with them both and turned them

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out of doors, and very solemnly vowed he would disinherit them; and there is lutle doubt he would have kept his vow, but that they prevented him, the eldest by being drowned in the Fleet river, and the other by getting murdered in an affray with the city watcli. At the old man's death, therefore, he left all his property to his "deare daughter Alice," who was then twenty-one years old, and had lately been married for the first time in her life. She has been already, introduced to the reader as a widow, and if he was tempted to be surprised at her being so young a one, what will he think when he reads that she was a widow for the fifth time? -ay, and was now on the eve of being married to her sixth husband-this was a Master Simon Shard, a draper of Cornehill, who had a well-filled purse, a rather corpulent figure, a round and ruddy face, and was about two-and-thirty years of age. It was said he had been enamoured of the fair Alice previously to her three last marriages, but that he had (not had courage enough to break his mind to her till some time after the death of her fourth husband; and when he did so, he found

she was unfortunately engaged to his immediate forerunner, at whose death he again pressed his suit-was accepted, and they were married. After living for about six months on the most seemingly loving and comfortable terms, Master Shard was one morning found dead in his bed, without any previous illness or indisposition: this was strange, at least strange it will probably seem to the reader, though it was not so to Mrs. Alice's neighbours, for, wonderful to relate, all her other husbands had died in the same way, and under the same circumstances. There had been from time to time many various opinions afloat upon this subject, and they had become more prevalent, stronger, and of longer lasting upon the successive deaths of each of her husbands. The most moderate had merely observed, that "for certes Mrs. Alice was a very unlucky, or a very lucky woman," ac cording to the speaker's appreciation of wedlock: others looked very wise, and seemed to think a good deal, but said very little, generally contenting them. selves with observing, "That it really was very odd;" but again there were others, who-especially on the death of Mr. Shard's predecessor-declared that "such things were clean out of the common run of nature, and that either Mrs. Alice, or some one not to be named among Christians, must have bewitched her husbands, or felse some thing or other had carried them off in a very odd way, to say the least of it;" and to this cautious and mysterious opinion the generality of the last mentioned sect of gossips, with additional self-crossings, assented. Still, however, Mrs. Alice's conduct was so, not only unobjection able, but praiseworthy; she was so pious and charitable a woman, so good a neighbour, so kind a friend, and in short, both publicly and privately fulfilled all the domestic relations of life, in so exemplary a manner, that even the tongues of those who secretly envied her wealth, her beauty, and may be her luck, had not as yet dared to wag in open scandal against her; but a sixth recurrence of so extraordinary an event, it would seem gave sudden loose to their hitherto confined scruples and tongues; or, perhaps the reason why they more freely vented their suspicions or their spite on the present occasion might be, that Master Shard had been a man of great influence in the city-his connexions stood high in the eyes of men, and he had a cousin who was sheriff at the time of his death, and who declared when he heard it, "by cock's marrow, he would see into the matter that very moment," and accordingly next morning, for he was just going to sit down to dinner when he made the above declaration, he presented himself with a posse comitatus at Mrs. Alice's door-and then the neighbourhood, as with on voice, spoke out against her: for their Long held opinion of her now found the countenance of power-her piety had been hypocrisy, and they had thought so all along-even those that had benefited by her goodness, now found some hole to pick in her conduct, and in plain and pithy English they called her a murderess.

While this was going on without Mrs. Alice's doors, another kind of scene was taking place within. The sheriff had been readily admitted, and was followed not only by the posse of the county, but by a posse of the venue, consisting of all sorts of people, who either had, or thought they had, or thought they should like to have some concern in the business. They found the widow by the bed-side of her departed husband; she not only did not fly from, but courted investigation, and accordingly the body was investigated, but not the slightest sign of violence was

found upon it; no trace of steel or poison-all was as right and as unaccountable as it ought to have been. There were some present who pretended to a great knowledge of human nature, and who strictly watched Mrs. Alice during the whole transaction, and their evidence went still further to clear her from the imputation it was sought to affix upon her: for they said her conduct was so thoroughly natural-she seemed struggling between indignation at the charge brought against her, and grief for the cause thereof; and yet there was no overacting in her grief, it seemed just what she would be likely to feel for the loss of such a husband, and to be rather sorrow for the spell that appeared to be upon her, than for the man himself. The sheriff and his friends, therefore, whatever they might have thought or wished, found themselves forced to declare her guiltless; and after partaking of a slight refection, consisting of boiled beef, suet puddings, sausages and ale, left the widow to her solitude. His declaration of her guiltlessness was soon known among her neighbours, almost all of whom, without any delay or difficulty, returned to their former good opinion of her, greatly pitying her for the trouble she had been put to, and much wondering how folks could be so spiteful as to tell such wicked stories. In a few days, orders were given for the burial of the late Master Shard in Mrs. Alice's family vault, which was in St. Michael's church, and which vault, though one of considerable extent, Mrs. Alice seemed in a fair way of filling choke full with her husbands.

St. Michael's church stood at the period of this tale at the eastern end of Cornhill, and about midway between this church and Mrs. Alice's house, there was a pothouse or tavern, known by the sign of the "Sevenne Starres;" in the tap-room of this tavern, upon the afternoon when Master Shard was to be carried to his long home, there was assembled a very merry company of some dozen worthy citizens, who were getting full of good things and gratitude towards the giver of the feast, Master Martyn Lessomour, a young merchant, whose safe return from a long and successful voyage to the Mediterranean they were met to celebrate.. Master Lessomour was not yet thirty, though hard upon it; tall, strongly, and well-built; his face was handsome and manly, and his large blue eyes looked like mirrors of his frank heart; his complexion was naturally fair, but exposure to sun and storm had given it a healthy tan, as they had also yet more bleached his light hair, which he wore long and curling down his neck and shoulders; in short, he was alLessomour did not join, nor with his companions who resumed their places round the well stored table, but drawing a stool into the window recess, and tak

ger when he either met in the streets, or passed under windows where were sitting any young and pretty city damsels.

In his merry moods he was playful as a month-old kitten, as very a galliard as the best among them, but when business required it, he was as staid and sober as if an idle jest or an extra cup of canary had never passed his lips, so that he was equally well thought of among the grave and the gay; some of the oldest and wealthiest of the citizens would nod to him in passing, and some even went so far as to declare upon 'Change, "they believed young Master Lessomour would be a man well to do in the world, if," for they generally added a reservation, " if he only took care of himself and had good luck." They might indeed have been a little influenced in the formation of this good opinion, by the fact of his being the only heir and great favourite of a very rich and very old uncle. On the afternoon in question, he and his boon companions were at the height of their merriment, when one who was sitting in the bay window, that jutted out into the street, observed the funeral of Master Shard approaching, and gave notice thereof to the others. The passing of a dead body being a solemn event, and they being orthodox Christians, their merriment was therefore suspended, and one and all huddled into the window recess, in order to have a fair view of the funeral procession, which as matters went then-a-days was a very sumptuous one. Most of the party present being acquainted with the circumstances of the case, at once recognized whose funeral it was, and the ignorant and anxious ears of Master Lessomour were greedily drinking in sundry marvellous tales of the rich widow of Corne-hille, when she herself passed immediately by the window, looking, becomingly downcast and sor

rowful.

him down, intending, he said, to have another glimpse of the fair widow as she should return from the church; meanwhile, he requested the company to tell him something more about her as they seemed to know so much, and he nothing, having been so long away from homeand accordingly, Master Andrews, with the assistance and interruption of his companions, when they thought he had not made enough of a good point, went through a relation of Mrs. Alice's life and adventures. During all this while, Martyn Lessomour spoke not a word, and, when at length the narration was ended, he slapped his hand lustily on the window-sill, and cried out " By the seven stars, and they are ruling ones now," casting up his eyes to the sign over the door, "but it is a strange tale-and whether true or false I will soon know -for if the mind of man hold good within me four-and-twenty hours, I will somehow or other scrape knowledge with this said witching widow."

At this observation, there was a general outcry, some declaring he would not do as he said, others that he could not; and some, presuming on long intimacy with him, or on their greater advance in years, vowed he should not.

" And we'll see that, my merry masters, in an eye-twinkle," cried Lessomour, "for here comes the dame back, as if to my wish;" and with that, to the no small wonderment of his friends, he started from his seat, and clapping his cap on one side of his head, hurried out of the door, and posted himself on the middle of the path, whereon Dame Alice with a few attendants was returning; he staid there, till she came within two or three paces of him, and then drew back to make way for her she looked up, and their eyes met, and, bowing as gracefully as he could, which was not indifferently, he drew back still further. Mrs. Alice turned with the in

tent to cross the road, but some horsemen riding by at the moment, prevented her from doing so; whereupon Master Lessomour, stepping to her side, said, "Fair dame, will you let a stranger do his poor duty here, and see you safely over." She curtsied, and accepted the arm he offered her, and after escorting her across the road, where they again exchanged courtesies, he left her, and joined his com panions, who from the window had beheld with astonishment his bold gallantry. They conspired to attack him with a good