who can arrive at such a conclusion, and can avail himself of so flimsy a sophism to gloss over a gross infraction of the first principles of justice, and the precepts of religion; yet knowing that such a defence has often been set up for the continuance of negro slavery, and that it has some influence over the opinions of many persons, we need not, be surprised if an apology of a very analogous nature should be urged in defence of tyrannizing over "irrational brutes." A popular belief, therefore, that animals partake more or less of that reasoning faculty which man possesses in so eminent a degree, would, in our opinion, have a tendency to render man more considerate and humane in the treatment of those creatures which are subjected to his domination, and which are the work of the same God who formed himself.

LINES

ADDRESSED TO A WIFE BY HER HUSBAND AFTER HIS RECOVERY FROM A SLIGHT INDISPOSITION,

The choicest of blessings is health,

Which Heaven in its bounty bestows,

For titles, distinction, and wealth,

Are oft but the source of our woes.

Yet this precious boon from above,
I'd forego, at least once in my life,
The genuine value to prove,

Of that best of all nurses-a wife.

THE HAPPY PAIR.

Says Dick to Jack, "Your neighbours say,
You wrangle with your wife each day."
"Poo, poo!" says Jack, "they only joke,
"Tis full a fortnight since we spoke."

THE MAGIC GLOBE, OR THE BOTTLE IMP.

(Continued from page 135.)

CHAP. VII.

The Benighted Traveller-A strange Ghost come on a strange Errand.

When Asmodeus rejoined his friend this evening, Ferdinand had just finished Sir Walter Scott's tale of the Tapestried Chamber.

"It would, I fear, be trespassing too much upon your accustomed indulgence, (said Ferdinand,) to ask your opinion of stories of this description."

"I could certainly offer an opinion, (said Asmodeus,) as to the literary merits of such works; but I must be as mute as the grave respecting every thing connected with the world of spirits. If, as I surmise, you would question me therefore as to the existence of supernatural beings, I should say, with the ghost of Hamlet's father,

But that I am forbid

To tell the secrets of my prison house,

I could a tale unfold.'

"I will trespass no further upon forbidden ground, (said Ferdinand,) but allow me to observe, en passant, that Shakspeare, in the very piece from which you have quoted those lines, calls death

'That bourne from whence no traveller returns.""

“True, (said Asmodeus,) but did it never occur to you that your incomparable poet and philosopher has here been betrayed into a remarkable solecism; for, if death be that bourne from whence no traveller returns,' how came it to pass that the ghost of the murdered King of Den

mark communicated with his son, and revealed that secret to him which forms the main incident in one of the finest productions of your matchless dramatist ?-But to resume the subject which led to this digression. Although I dare not satisfy your curiosity on the subject of supernatural visitations, I may, without reserve, relate to you a story, not about a real, but a sham ghost, which may perhaps divert you. The incident occurred during one of my late nocturnal rambles; and, if you think it worth communicating, you are at liberty to transcribe it as I relate it."

Ferdinand thanked the courteous spirit for his obliging offer, and having made the necessary arrangements, took down the following narrative from the lips of his communicative companion:

"If I had not formed a favourable opinion of your taste and judgment, (said Asmodeus,) I might commence my story in the phraseology of the Minerva press as thus:Night, with a lowering scowl, was putting on her mantle of the deepest sable; or, in more ordinary parlance, night was coming on apace; a piercing east wind wildly scattered before it the thick flakes of snow, which descended in such profusion as completely to obliterate all traces of the intricate and lonely path through a dreary moor over which a benighted traveller was journeying, with the forlorn hope of reaching a distant village, where he intended to remain for the night. He was an entire stranger in those parts, and such was the nature of the country, that, under the most favourable circumstances, he would have experienced some difficulty in threading the mazes of the wild district he had to traverse. In this dilemma, as his only resource, he committed himself to the guidance of his horse, concluding that the instinct of the noble animal was much better adapted to the emergency than his own reason, bewildered as it was. The faithful and sagacious creature fully justified the confi

dence reposed in him; he pursued his course steadily, but cautiously, and in a few hours the traveller, to his indescribable joy, discerned a faint glimmering light in the horizon in the direction he was pursuing. By this time he was almost an icicle, and was frozen so fast to his saddle that horse and rider, like the fabled Centaur, formed one body. Had you seen him, covered as he was a foot thick with the snow, which had congealed around him as it fell, you would have been reminded of the description of the polar bear, by one of your favourite poets:

'Rough tenant of these shades, the shapeless bear,
With dangling ice all horrid, stalks forlorn,
Slow paced, and sourer as the storms increase.'

The noble brute, to whose superior sagacity a lord of the creation' on this occasion was indebted for his safety, continued to pursue his course, until at length the traveller, more dead than alive, arrived at a venerable looking and spacious mansion, which appeared to have been, in former days, a castle, as some of the battlements, the deep moat, and the ponderous Gothic gateway were still remaining. However, as lights appeared in the windows, and sounds of mirth and revelry were heard from within, the stranger did not hesitate to avail himself of the ponderous knocker to announce his arrival; and, after a short interval, the massive door was opened to him. Judge of his surprise and satisfaction on finding himself ushered into a spacious area, the scene, probably, in ancient days, of tilts and tournaments, but which had, by modern improvements, been converted into a stable yard for the accommodation of horses. Some parts of the castle itself, for such it had been, were transformed into comfortable accommodation for travellers, many of whom were now safely housed, secure from the pelting of the pitiless storm. Our traveller was with difficulty detached from his horse; and was shown into the spacious kitchen, in the

ingle nook of which he became gradually thawed down to his natural shape and dimensions, but not before his grotesque appearance had afforded ample merriment to the guests, who were carousing there. As our hero was a wag and a humorist, he vowed to himself that he would be even with them for their mistimed jokes; and he was as good as his word, as you will presently find. The landlady bad by this time accommodated him with some good warm clothing belonging to mine host of the castle, and, as our traveller was a light-hearted blade, he soon lost all recollection of his late pitiable plight, and began to make himself as merry as the best of them. After paying a visit to his trusty steed, and seeing him well fed and foddered, he inquired from the landlady whether he could be accommodated with a bed for himself; but what was his vexation on hearing that all the rooms were engaged except one apartment, which no traveller ever chose to enter, as it was reputed to be haunted by the spirit of an unfortunate barber, who had there cut his throat some weeks ago; since which catastrophe the room had been regarded with so much dread, that not a servant in the house could be persuaded to enter it. Our traveller was not a man to be terrified by idle fears of ghosts, and as it was out of the question to budge that night, he expressed his determination to sleep in this haunted chamber, and a thought which crossed his mind at the moment confirmed his resolution. The difficulty was to prevail upon the servants to venture into the room to make a fire and to prepare the bed; but by dint of a certain argument, the efficacy of which is proverbial, the traveller persuaded them to enter in a body, heading and encouraging them himself, and at length every thing was arranged for the accommodation of this rash and presumptuous stranger, as he was considered by every one in the house, from the landlord to the boots. Our traveller, after partaking of a hearty