other news, it came out that the banditti had deposited their arms in readiness in a certain hollow oak, which stood in the rear of the house; whereupon the Hidalgo made a vow, inwardly, to cut down that dangerous tree, as he had done before by the chesnuts.

'It was towards midnight, when Spinello, with his comrades, approached for the execution of their design. The night was very boisterous, with frequent gusts of wind, that drove the low black clouds with great rapidity across the sky. Thus every now and then there was a short bright glance of the moon, followed, at a few minutes interval, by the most profound shadows; and, by the help of those snatches of light, the desperate Gines led on his fellows, who were about half-a-dozen in all, towards the hollow

tree.

Now it happened, just as he came up, that a fresh cloud came over the face of the moon, so that the mark he aimed at was quite swallowed up in the gloom. Groping his way, therefore, with his hands, he began to feel about the ragged stem for the entry to the magazine; but he had no sooner thrust his arms into the opening, than they were seized by some person who was concealed within the hollow trunk.

'I know not whether Gines recalled, at this moment, his superstition about a tree, but he set up a loud yell of dismay. The Hidalgo, who lay close by in ambush, with his party, instantly discharged a well-aimed volley at the rest of the banditti, who, finding themselves betrayed, and without arms, took at once to their heels, leaving two that were miserably wounded, upon the grass. By this time, Spinello, recovering his courage, made a desperate struggle to get away; but, before he could disengage his arms, the Hidalgo came up with his assistants, and the robber was quickly overcome and secured. Of the other two men, one was already dead, the bullet having lodged in his breast: as for the second, his leg-bone was broken by a ball just above the ancle joint, and it happened that this was the very same rogue who had gossipped with Gines upon the chesnutbough.

"It was a dreadful sight to behold the countenance of the latter, when he was dragged into the chamber, and how he foamed and gnashed his teeth at the two desponding varlets, who had been double traitors, he supposed, to both masters. Although he was so securely bound, those wretched men could not look upon him without an extreme trembling; however, when he was informed of the true cause of the discovery, he raved no more, remarking only, to the other robber, that his misgiving about the chesnuttree, had been justified by the event.

The Hidalgo repairing afterwards, with the two young gentlemen, into the presence of his two daughters, there ensued many compliments between them, and joyful congratulations on the conclusion of the danger. At last, the Hidalgo, growing more and more pleased with the graceful manners and conversation of his guests, his heart warmed towards them, and he began to wish that they were all but his sons.

""Gentlemen," he said, "a late welcome is better than none at all, and especially when it comes maturely from the heart. Pray accept of this apology for my tardiness; and for your great services, I will try to make amends to you on the spot. Your gallantry and agreeable bearing, persuade me that you are truly the honourable young persons that you have named to me; and I rejoice, therefore, for my own sake as well as yours, that my

daughters remain at my disposal. If you are willing then, to accept of each other, I feresee no difficulties-that is to say, provided that you can both agree in your election, as readily as my other two robbers."

'It would be hard to declare whether the two ladies were most happy or confused by this unexpected proposal; they therefore made off, with fewer words than blushes, to their own bedchamber: but the three gentlemen sat up together, for security, during the remainder of the night.

On the morrow, the criminals were delivered to the proper authorities, and the process with such atrocious offenders being very summary, they were executed, before sunset, in divers places about the province. For the most part, they were suspended on lofty wooden gibbets; but the body of Spinello, in order to make the greater impression, was hung up on the very same Chesnut Tree that had led to his defeat.'-vol. ii., pp. 180—185.

We should have thought that Mr. Hood was, by this time, so irrecoverably committed with the comic muse, as to render his appearance in any other service a matter of very questionable policy on his part. Few are the instances in which a leading faculty, that, for instance, of raising laughter, does not engross the powers, to the almost total exclusion of any effective degree of ability in an opposite province. That Shakspeare combined such distinct qualities is almost enough to shew, that that degree of versatility is of the nature of a phenomenon, an example of which we do not expect to see repeated in the world. Mr. Hood seems to us to fall into the common error of confounding a susceptibility in ourselves of affecting impressions, with a capacity of raising them in others. Because,' he says,

Because I have jested elsewhere, it does not follow that I am incompetent for gravity, of which any owl is capable; or proof against melancholy, which besets even the ass. Those who can be touched by neither of these moods, rank lower indeed than both of these creatures. It is from none of the player's ambition, which has led the buffoon by a rash step into the tragic buskin, that I assume the sadder humour; but because I know from certain passages that such affections are not foreign to my nature.'—vol. i., Preface, p. vii.

But that, surely, is not enough. It is because Mr. Hood has 'jested elsewhere' with effect, that it is less likely that he will make us weep with the same success.

The plates by which these volumes are illustrated, have been designed, and drawn on stone, by Mr. T. Dighton. They are, we think, highly beautiful specimens of the extraordinary and rapid improvement in the lithographic art.

NOTICES.

ART. XII. Crockford-House; a Rhapsody, in two Cantos. A Rhymer in Rome. 8vo. pp. 147. 7s. London: Murray. 1827.

If this be the production of Mr. Luttrell, as we have reason to believe that it is, we look upon Crockford-House as another example from him of that high

degree of dexterity and finish which may be attained in poetical literature, without the aid of the original poetic fire. There is great freedom of versification in the lines; they are correct and elegant, bearing the evident traces of the scholar and the well-bred man of the world. The phrase is well chosen, smart, and spirited, and occasionally refined to good epigrammatic point. The first canto runs pleasantly on, describing the brief history of the great host who has given his name to Crockford-house, a place which, it is scarcely necessary to say, has been the pandemonium of gamblers, and is now nearly re-edified, on a truly alarming scale of magnificence. The gathering of the victims, at the splendid feast, which is nightly prepared to seduce and confound their senses, is thus described :'Midnight sounds!-'Tis twelve o'clock ! See, like pigeons, how they flock From the opera, or the play,

Or from t'other side the way.

Some, when gossip scarce requites

Those who linger there, from White's;
Others, little to the cook's ease,
From The Travellers' or Brooks's.
Pleased they ply the four-pronged fork,
Pleased they free the fettered cork,
Where, in rich abundance stored,
Every dainty crowns the board,
Heaped together, to entice
Squeamish tastes, at any price.

'Some their hunger ill conceal,
Bent upon a solid meal.
Others carelessly discuss
Early peas or 'sparagus:
'Sparagus, which, passion-stricken,
For the young and tender chicken,
And, by pitying knife set free
From the fields of Battersea,
Crowd, in hundreds, to be near
What they love so fondly here.

Some, to slake their glass of sherry,

Dally with the hot-house cherry;
Some at strawberries take their fling,
Which the stout-built wenches bring,
While their arms in cadence swing;
While, with firm, yet cautious tread,
Nicely balanced on her head,
Each conveys her fragrant load

Safe along the Brentford-road.

'Scarcely could the gourmand wish,

Or imagine any dish,

But 'twas here, at the command

Of his eager eyes and hand.

While champagne, in close array,
Pride of Rheims and Epernay,

Not in bottles, but in dozens,
(Think of that, ye country-cousins!)
Stood, of every growth and price,
"Peeping forth" its tubs of ice.

Hungering now no more, nor thirsting,
See them with impatience bursting!
Now to business from repose
Briskly every creature goes.
Play, with magnet-like attraction,
Bids them all prepare for action.
Play alone can pleasure give;
Only while they play, they live.
Each who is not at his post
Thinks a dozen throws are lost,
And, in fancy, thumps, while able,
Heavily the absent table.

Follow to the room adjoining;
Now begins the work of coining.
"Now," says Crockford, "ye who hanker
After gain, behold your banker!

Draw upon me, every man,
Freely draw for what you-can.
You must suffer me, 'tis true,
Now and then to draw on you;
Yet so soft shall be my pull
On

your purse, when over-full,
Still so gentle shall you find it,

Ten to one you'll never mind it."'--pp. 14-19.

The following passage furnishes a very good specimen of the lively and ingenious manner of our author :

'Ne'er has ivory neck or shoulder

So enchanted the beholder,
When, perchance, the parted robe
Half betrays each rising globe,
As the ivory cubes that lie
Paired beneath the punter's eye,
Cubes in matchless beauty drest,
Or in motion or at rest:

Ne'er was any "mole, cinque-spotted,"

Like the cinques upon them dotted.

'Talk of woman's red and white!

Can they minister delight
Like the counters in our view,
Flowing with the self-same hue?
Or which, o'er the verdant plain,
As the nick succeeds the main,
Clad in every colour, pass
Like a rainbow over grass.

Tell me―(but you scorn to tell, beaus),
Wherefore, when you shake your elbows,
Or with confidence and pluck,
Or despairing of your luck,
By such various paths you press
To the wished-for goal, success?-
Mark the timid and the brave.
These how lively! Those how grave!
Some in silence lose or win,
Others deal in noise and din.
One the table loudly knocks,
Rattling well Pandora's box,
As a dose, before 'tis taken,
Long and lustily is shaken.
T'other, by the best advice,
Slowly dribbles out the dice.

'Then, how strange a coalition
Fancy forms with Superstition!
When for nine or ten they strive,
When they aim at four or five,
Each adopts a different throw ;-
Hard for high, and soft for low.
Voting every one a fool

Who neglects so plain a rule!

Be it, wise ones, as you will,
Chance is sovereign here, not skill.
No design have I to quiz,
But, beyond all question, 'tis
Six of one, and six's brother
Half a dozen of the other.
For while all, devoted to her,
Soberly or briskly woo her,
Fortune deems not either mood,
In itself, or bad or good.

Hoodwink'd she, and much a rover,

Yields in turn to every lover,

Poor or wealthy, great or small,

And, in turn, rejects them all.'-pp. 23-26.

The author, in the wantonness of his fancy, agreeably enough imagines a suit at law between Crockford and the proprietors of the club-house, which, when it was adjacent to Crockford-house, was yearned after by the all-grasping host, and finally (on poetical authority) undermined by his sanction. The instigation to Crockford to delay the suit, and the effectual means of accomplishing that purpose, are, we think, very entertaining, and not a bit the less so, for having a little malice mingled with their pleasantry.

'There's a charm to save you still—

Crockford, you may file a bill.
Law to equity must yield;

Equity, that Gorgon-shield,