Yes, I have watched o'er ilk degree, Full twenty years she has lived as free As the spirits that sojourn in this countrye: I have brought her away frae the snares of men, That sin or death she never may ken." They clasped her waist and her hands sae fair, We have watched their steps as the dawning shone, By lily bower, and silken bed, The viewless tears have o'er them shed; Have soothed their ardent minds to sleep, Or left the couch of love to weep. We have seen! we have seen! but the time maun come, And the angels will weep at the day of doom! "O, would the fairest of mortal kind Aye keep these holy truths in mind, That kindred spirits their motions see, Who watch their ways with anxious ee, And grieve for the guilt of humanitye! O, sweet to Heaven the maiden's prayer, And the sigh that heaves a bosom sae fair! And dear to Heaven the words of truth, And the praise of virtue frae beauty's mouth! And dear to the viewless forms of air The mind that kythes as the body fair! "O, bonny Kilmeny! free frae stain, And tell of the signs you shall shortly see; Of the times that are now, and the times that shall be." They lifted Kilmeny, they led her away, And she walked in the light of a sunless day: The sky was a dome of crystal bright, The fountain of vision, and fountain of light: And they smiled on heaven, when they saw her lie And she heard a song, she heard it sung, They bore her away, she wist not how, A moment seen, in a moment gone. The lowermost vales of the storied heaven; They bore her far to a mountain green, To see what mortal never had seen; And they seated her high on a purple sward, And bade her heed what she saw and heard; And note the changes the spirits wrought, For now she lived in the land of thought. She looked, and she saw nor sun nor skies, But a crystal dome of a thousand dies; She looked, and she saw nae land aright, But an endless whirl of glory and light: And radiant beings went and came Far swifter than wind, or the linked flame. She hid her een frae the dazzling view; She looked again, and the scene was new. She saw a sun on a summer sky, And clouds of amber sailing by; A lovely land beneath her lay, And that land had lakes and mountains gray; Then a gruff untoward bedes man came, Then the gruff grim carle girned amain, She saw below her fair unfurled Burst frae their bounds like fiends of hell; She never lened, nor stood in awe, With a mooted wing and waefu' maen, To play wi' the norland lion's might. But to sing the sights Kilmeny saw, And the string of his harp wad cease to play. Till the stars of heaven fell calmly away, Then Kilmeny begged again to see To warn the living maidens fair, With distant music, soft and deep, And the soft desire of maiden's een In that mild face could never be seen. But she loved to raike the lanely glen, In ecstasy of sweet devotion, O, then the glen was all in motion! And the tod, and the lamb, and the leveret ran; When a month and a day had come and gane, FRANK KENNEDY. [William Hamilton Maxwell, born in Ireland, 1794; died 1850. He graduated at Trinity College, Dublin; accompanied the army in the Peninsula, and afterwards became rector of Ballagh in Connaught. His chief works are: Stories of Waterloo-from which we quote the following sketch-Wild Sports of the West; Captain Blake; The Dark Lady of Doona; The Bivouac, or Stories of the Peninsular War; Life of the Duke of Wellington; Rambling Recollections of a Soldier of Fortune: Hector O'Halloran; Bryan O'Lynn, &c. A critic in the Dublin University Magazine says: "He it was who first suggested what may be called the military novel. His Stories of Waterloo opened that path which subsequently he treaded with such success, while a host of imitators have followed in his rear."] My father left the carabineers some years before the Irish rebellion of ninety-eight. Like greater warriors, the crop of laurels he collected in that celebrated corps was but a short one. It is true he had seen service: his sword, like Butler's knight's, of "passing worth," had been unsheathed in executing "warrants and exigents;" and more than once he had stormed a private distillery, under the leading of a desperate gauger. He was, however, a stout slashing-looking fellow, and found favour in my mother's sight. She had reached the wrong side of thirty; consequently she made but a short resistance, and bestowed her hand and fortune on the bold dragoon. My mother was an heiress, but the estate of Killnacoppal owed "a trifle of money:" now a trifle in Connaught is sometimes a sweeping sum; and you cannot safely calculate on rents in Connemara being paid exactly to the day. I never exhibited precocity of intellect; but before I was sixteen I discovered that our es tablishment occasionally suffered from a scarcity of specie. At these times my father was sure to be afflicted with cold or rheumatism, and never left the house; and I suppose, for fear of disturbing him, the hall door was but seldom opened, and then only to a particular friend; while an ill-favoured tradesman or suspicious-looking stranger received their commands in the briefest manner from an upper window. What was to be done with me had cruelly puzzled both my parents: and whether I should ornament the church, or benefit the revenue, was for a long time under consideration. The law, however, held out more promising prospects than either; and it was decided that I should be bound to an attorney. Duncan Davidson of Dorset Street, Dublin. was married to my father's sister. He was of Scotch descent, and like that "thinking peo ple" from whom he sprung, he held "a hard grip of the main chance." Duncan was wealthy and childless, and if he could be induced to bring me up at his feet, God knows what might be the consequence. My father accordingly made the application, and the gracious Duncan consented to receive me for a time on trial. What a bustle there was in Killnacoppal when my uncle's letter arrived! due preparations were made for my departure; and as the term of my absence was computed at seven years, I had to take a formal and affectionate leave of my relatives to the fifteenth degree of consanguinity. My aunt Macan, whose cat's leg I had unfortunately dislocated, and who had not spoken to me since Candlemas, was induced to relent on the occasion, and favoured me with her blessing and a one-pound note, although she had often declared she never could banish the idea from her mind, but that I should travel at the public expense, if my career were not finished in a more summary manner. I arrived safely in Dublin-and awful were my feelings when first ushered into the presence of my uncle Duncan. He was a short fat man, in a brown coat and flax-coloured scratch-wig, | him some halfpence for his trouble-prudently perched upon a high office stool. Considering assured him that his cargo was invaluable— his dimensions, I used to marvel much how he told him to wait for me at the corner, and next managed to get there. Holding out his fore- moment was across the street, with a fast hold finger, which I dutifully grasped, he told me to of the Slasher's right hand. be steady and attentive, and that my aunt would be happy to see me upstairs. On leaving the room, I heard him softly remark to the head clerk, that he did not much like my appearance, for that I had "a wild eye in my head." I was duly put to the desk, and the course of trial was not flattering to me, or satisfactory to my intended master. It was allowed on all hands that my writing was abominable; and my spelling, being untrammelled by rules, was found in many material points to differ from modern orthographers. Nor was I more successful in comparing deeds-my desk and stool were unluckily placed beside a window which looked into a narrow court, and a strawbonnet maker occupied the opposite apartment. She was pretty, and I was naturally polite and who with a rosy cheek before him would waste a look upon a tawny skin of parchment? I mentally consigned the deed to the devil, and let the copy loose upon the world "with all its imperfections on its head." The first trial was nearly conclusive-for never before had such a lame and lamentable document issued from the office of the punctilious Duncan. I had there omitted setting forth "one hundred dove-cots," and, for ought I know, left out "one hundred castles," to keep them company. My uncle almost dropped from his perch at the discovery; and Counsellor Roundabout was heard to remark, that a man's life was not safe in the hands of such a delinquent. I was on the point of getting my congé, and free permission to return to the place from whence I came; but my aunt good easy woman, interfered-and Duncan consented to give me a farther trial, and employ me to transport his bag to the courts and his briefs to the lawyer. Any drudgery for me but the desk. With suitable instructions the bag was confided to me, and for three days it came back safely. On the fourth evening I was returning; the bag was unusually full, and so had been my uncle's admonitions for its security. I had got halfway down Capel Street, when, whom should I see on the other side of the way but Slasher Mac Tigue? The Slasher was five akin to my mother, and allowed to be the greatest buck at the last fair of Ballinasloe-and would he acknowledge me, loaded as I was like a Jew clothesman? What was to be done? I slipped the accursed bag to a ragged boy-promised The Slasher-peace to his ashes! for he was shot stone dead in the Phoenix Park-we never well understood the quarrel in Connemara, and it was said there that the poor man himself was not thoroughly informed on the subjectappeared determined to support his justlyacquired reputation at the late fair of Ballinasloe. Not an eye in Capel Street but was turned on him as he swaggered past. His jockey boots-I must begin below-were in the newest style; the top sprang from the ankle-bone, and was met midleg by short tights of tea-coloured leather; three smoothing-iron seals, and a chain that would manacle a deserter dangled from the fob; his vest was of amber kerseymere, gracefully sprinkled with stars and shamrocks; his coat sky-blue, with basket buttons, relieved judiciously with a purple neckcloth, and doeskin gloves; while a conical hat with a leaf full seven inches broad topped all. A feeble imitation of the latter article may still be seen by the curious, in a hatter's window, No. 71 in the Strand, with a label affixed thereto, denominating it "Neck or Nothing." Lord, how proud I felt when the Slasher tucked me under his arm! We had already taken two turns-the admiration of a crowded thoroughfare, when I looked round for my bag-holder; but he was not visible. I left my kinsman hastily, ran up and down the street, looked round the corners, peered into all the public-houses; but neither bag nor boy was there. I recollected my uncle's name and address were written on it, and the urchin might have mistaken his instructions and carried the bag home. Off I ran, tumbled an apple basket in Bolton Street, and spite of threats and curses, held on my desperate course, until I found myself, breathless, in my uncle's presence. He sternly reproached me for being dilatory. "What had detained me? Here had been Counsellor Leatherhead's servant waiting this half-hour for his papers;-bring in the bag." I gaped at him, and stuttered that I supposed it had been already here; but it would certainly arrive shortly. Question and answer followed rapidly, and the fatal truth came out the bag was lost!-for the cad, advertised of the value of his charge, had retreated the moment I turned my back; and although, on investigation he must have felt much dis appointed at the result of his industry, yet, to do him justice, he lost no time in transferring the papers to the tobacconist and pocketing the produce of the same. For some moments Duncan's rage prevented him from speaking. At last he found utterance; "Heaven and earth!" he exclaimed; "was there ever such a villain? He was ruined-all the Kilgobbin title-deeds-Lady Splashboard's draft of separation-papers of satisfaction for sixteen mortgages of Sir Phelim O'Boyl!—What was to be done?" I muttered that I supposed I should be obliged to give Sir Phelim satisfaction myself. "O! curse your satisfaction," said my uncle; "these are your Connaught notions, you desperate do-no-good. What an infernal business to let any one from that barbarous country into my house! Never had but two clients in my life on the other side of the Shannon. I divorced a wife for one; and he died insolvent the very day the decree was pronounced, and costs and money advanced went along with him to the devil. The other quarrelled with me for not taking a bad bill for my demand, and giving a large balance over my claim, in ready cash. I threatened law, and he threatened flagellation. I took courage and sent down a writ; and the sheriff returned a non est inventus, although he was hunting with him for a fortnight. I ran him to execution and got nulla bona on my return. a last resource I sent a man specially from Dublin: they tossed him in a blanket, and forced him to eat the original; and he came back, half dead, with a civil intimation that if I ever crossed the bridge of Athlone, the defendant would drive as many slugs through my body as there were hoops on a wine-pipe!" I could not help smiling at the simile: the client was a wag; for my uncle in his personal proportions bore a striking resemblance to a quarter-cask. As 'But, run every soul of you," he continued, "and try to get some clue by which we may trace the papers." Away clerk and apprentice started; but their researches were unsuccessful; many a delicate cut of cheese was already encased in my Lady Splashboard's separation bill; and the Kilgobbin title-deeds had issued in subdivisions from the snuff shop, and were making a rapid circle of the metropolis. My aunt's influence was not sufficient to obtain my pardon, and mollify the attorney; and I was despatched, per mail, to that refugium peccatorum, as Duncan styled Connemara. The gentle auditor may anticipate that on my return no fatted calf was killed; nor was there "joy in Aztlan," as the poet-laureate has it. I re-entered Killnacoppal without beat of drum-and indeed my demeanour on this occasion was so modest, that I had been in undisturbed possession of the front attic for two whole days, before my worthy parents were advertised that I had retired from the study of the law, with no future intention to "stick to the woolsack." To communicate the abrupt termination of my forensic pursuits to my aunt Macan was an affair of nice and delicate management. When acquainted with the unhappy incident which had drawn down the wrath of my uncle Duncan, she particularly inquired "if there had been any money in the lost bag," and requested to see the last "Hue and Cry." God knows whether I should have been enabled to weather the gale of family displeasure, as my aunt had again resumed the mantle of prophecy, when, luckily for me, the represen tation of the county of Galway became vacant by the sudden decease of Sir Barnabas Bodkin; the honest gentleman being smothered in a hackney-coach returning comfortable from a corporation dinner at Morrison's. On this distressing event being known, Mr. Denis Darcey of Carrig-a-howley Castle declared himself. He was strongly supported by Mr. Richard Martin, the other member; and his address, from the pen of the latter gentleman, was circulated without delay. In it he set forth his family and pretensions: pledged himself to support Catholic emancipation and the repeal of still fines;-humanely recommended his opponent to provide himself with a coffin previous to the opening of the poll ;-professed strong attachment to the House of Brunswick, and the church by law established; and promised to use his utmost exertions to purify the penal code, by making accidents in duelling amount to justifiable homicide: and abduction of heiresses and dogs, felony without benefit of clergy. A person of Denis Darcey's constitutional principles was a man after my father's own heart: the Killnacoppal interest was accordingly given him, and I was despatched at the head of sixscore freeholders, "good men and true, untrammelled with tight shoes or tender con sciences, to give our "most sweet voices," in the ancient town of Galway. But I was not intrusted with this important command without receiving full instructions for my conduct on the occasion. My father, no doubt, would have led the Killnacoppa! legion to the hustings in person, had it not happened that the sheriff was on the other side; and, therefore, his public appearance within |