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THE WITCH

TOWARDS the south, and on the coast, is the valley of The inhabitants were always simple and credulous, for there was not a hamlet but had its appropriate witch, who dispensed good or evil, as her vassals might think fit to propitiate her: woe to him who would dispute or disbelieve her power! Few ever yet dreamed of so doing, save only the outlaws of the forest, who, when the king's venison was no longer palatable, made inroads upon the plains; or the wild marauders from the coast, who, in their turn, too, at variance with his Majesty's high prerogative, carried on their illegal traffic, risking life and property on the joyous cast of a smuggler's throw. Such, indeed, owned not the sybil's spells. They were as master spirits to the simple inhabitants. The calm of life had no charm for them; and they dared nothing except when the storm raged, and were as faithful to its presence, as the thunder-clap is to the lightning. It was then that the cavalcade would start from the coast, for it was only then that the vessels would near the shore. When none else dared stir from the fire-corner, nor even gaze through the lattice, the bold venturer would ride his boat upon the beach, on a huge breaker, and stranded there would haul in his illicit cargo. The landsmen knew their time, and watched their signals. The wagons were loaded, and the pioneer on the fore-horse of the team, fearlessly defiled through the forest, crossed the morass, or dashed over the fords as reckless of life, as if eternity were only the morrow of a joyous existence. By the inhabitants they were feared and favoured; and if aught was ever required of them, their assistance was punctually lent, and as punctually requited. The wildness of such scenes had stirred up some to the same pursuits, which for the listless many had no charms. The hour, and the time of their appearance-the many that went, and the few that returned, and the warning of their witches, had scared many a brave man from this dangerous course of life; while the very daring of those who did venture upon it, would appal the less courageous, until they deemed themselves, in the comparison, meek, tame, and abject. The very unconsciousness of their power, or their energies, was a source of contentment to them, and the mysteries of a fraternity in one common secret, inclined them to give credence to what was neither natural nor reasonable, till an old withered hag, in a mud cottage, and with the paraphernalia of a brindled cat and a red cloak, would creep into their creeds, and take up so firm a position there, that it would require more than a parish exorcist to cast her out.

By these means the king lost many liege subjects, without perhaps ever missing them. By these means, too, the valley prospered as the harvest of the seas was carried through it. If the pursuit was hot, there were vaults and cellars in the contiguous woods, and woe to the gauger who attempted to penetrate them! The hound that was kept in leash for the deer, might be slipped upon him, or a

leaden pill administered from some neighbouring pharmacy, and few doubted its taking effect!!

Credulity was natural to the country, indigenous to the soil. They believed, that what escaped with impunity might pass for lawful, and that an enemy to the trade was one also to the country. The neighbouring magistrate, too, was cautious enough not to interfere with either their creed or their code; and, perhaps, found his advantage in this line of conduct; but in his administration of justice, he made up a due measure of severity in other matters, to atone for any little laxity he might be guilty of in this.

This magistrate, and he now lives in the recollection of many, was an anomaly in nature. To a simple-minded, confiding people, it needed nothing more than the prim look, the proud gait, and the wary circumspection of 'Squire to impose the belief of wealth as boundless as the sea, only infinitely more available, as it well might be. To such, indeed, every palpable proof of insolvency was only an additional motive for confidence. He was never known to give either in alms or in hospitality, because he had nothing to give-and it was a proof of his economy. As a banker, he would lend no money to his neighbours, and it was construed into an evidence of his prosperity. When neighbouring bankers were tottering, he broke into his own bank, and stole his own money, that it might be told in testimony of his credit, that even this shock did not stagger him: and when he sent his confidential clerk to prison to take his trial for his life, for an act he had himself committed, it was almost tortured into a proof of his clemency, that he had strongly recommended him for mercy! and, lastly, when his neighbours passed his wheat-stacks, that had stood for many a season, and were now all devoured within by vermin, when a hundredth part of them had cheered the whole valley, they did not curse his parsimony, but congratulated themselves, that if the Bank of England should fail, which they thought by no means improbable, 'Squire would become a Henry Hase, and the village of the metropolis of the world.

Such was this man! A farmer to sow their wheat! a brewer to poison their drink! a banker to appropriate to himself their monies! and, in the commission of the peace, to hold the scales of justice for them!!!

One alone of the whole country withstood the current of general opinion, as to the wondrous wealth of the 'squire. This one, was "old Nell," "Nell of the hut." The precise date of her establishing herself in the country was not remembered. It was believed that she had remained as a sediment on the soil, after the overflowing from the spring-tide of a fair, and was left to grow there, as a weed that no one would be at the trouble of tearing up. She had fixed herself under the coverture of a little turf on a common, and kennelled herself in this hutch, with no other entrance to it than that of a moveable portal, which she shifted at will as the blast might blow. It gave her but little trouble to creep into it, for nature had so doubled her, that her stature was not more than that of a puny child. Squalid and haggard, she had been hunted over the land; a figure, that even dogs might bark at, and that men, more pitiless than dogs, Sept. 1835.-VOL. XIV.-NO. LIII.

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had yelled after. Her jargon was that of all countries: having never made any place her residence, she had gleaned something from them all; whilst fear, alarm, and persecution, had given a quickness to her thoughts, and words, that, having in them a glimmering of sense, appeared to the ignorant or superstitious more than natural. She did not fail to improve upon this idea, and having so well known the effect of fear, sought, in her turn, to inspire it, for no other purpose than to ward off the jeers of the world, and rest her jaded limbs in the unenviable habitation she had chosen. It was strange to behold sturdy labouring lads, and smiling lasses, quietly and fearfully creeping up to hear what old Nell could tell them of "good hap;" whilst she, not to be won till she was wooed, enacting the coy, would affect a little irritation at the intrusion, that her good favour might only be the more acceptable to them. It required little more than an old nail to be a warranty against ill-luck to those whose even course of life was their best security against misfortune; and nothing but a simple plant to effect a cure that nature had amply provided for. Thus she gradually grew into repute. All of good that came was attributed to old Nell; and if an evil chance befel, why if old Nell had been properly propitiated it would never have befallen.

Happy in their belief, and in their natures too simple to doubt, they reposed their fullest trust, and had the witch never scared their faith by impugning a received opinion, her security had never been disturbed. From the low, the less lowly began to consult her: and not only a farmer's son, but even a townsman of the 'squire's, had been known to approach her. Not that they believed in her-still their pace was as stealthy, and their looks as apprehensive, as those of more humble individuals, when they first came in sight of the hut; but they could not, and therefore did not, believe in her. Nell soon began to assume great importance, and from only announcing what was certain and invariable, entered upon the wider field of futurity. From never going farther into that province than predicting a marriage, that the glances of eyes had already announced, or a good harvest when the seasons had been propitious, she ventured on speculations of what she termed "hap or mishap ;" and here, too, she might not have betrayed herself, had not a predisposition against the 'squire taken such root in her mind, that she assumed a different air, and a wilder tone, whenever he became the subject of the inquiries. He was a lone being-had no child-and his heart had never yearned towards any of his kind. Where then was his wealth to go? was the question of many an evening discussion. Who better could tell this than Nell? Nell had told many truths, and Nell might tell this one too; and if the riddle was worth the solving, it was worth the asking. But who should put the question? It implied a confidence in her power of answering it; and who dared avow such a confidence? No one could do it so well as Alice. Alice was greeted more, and welcomed sooner, than any one else; and her presence seemed always as a gleam of sunshine to her.

Poor Alice, she was indeed beautiful: the pride of all who knew her; for she was good and kind, and so lovely to look upon, that most, who in the world are deemed fair, would fade in the comparison. I

would not lose my recollection of such goodness and beauty, for much that the world could offer. I would close the book of life, were not the portraiture of such excellence so engraven there, that amidst all that is grim and ghastly, it would seem as a purer spirit, intended to infuse a purer nature. Such a one, indeed, have I seen, and neither Alice nor herself would suffer by the comparison. But, believe me, that he who could appreciate the excellence would pause ere he described it, lest the apes of the world should insult the original by their mimicking of its attributes.

Such was Alice, the humblest peasant girl; and if all the pride of the land had passed before Nell's hut, they would not have won a glance from her, if it were to have been stolen from Alice. It must have been a bleak day that prevented her from visiting Nell, and the meal must have been less than a scanty one that she did not participate with her. The wrinkled hag would protrude her sinister appearance in expectation of her if she tarried. Who then so fitting to woo the witch, and win the secret from her?

In silence the group approached the hut, crouching under the protection of a simple maiden. Nell ruffled her plumage as she saw them advance. Things were indeed changed with her, when lads and lasses stood quailing before her in their holiday suits, and she strutted towards the portal, which as she could almost fill, was the spot best fitted to add to her importance. "Good be wid ye, Alice-good be wid ye. Ye be alwa' welcome to ould Nell."

"Thank ye, thank ye, from my heart," answered the maiden; "no tones are kinder to me than yours, Nell, excepting always young Frankland's, when he returns with success; but that is no matter now -we want to know something, Nell!" And as she spoke, the group gathered closer to her, trying to protect themselves, by clinging to the sanctuary of her gown. "We want to know something, Nell! Walk twice round the kettle, and turn the horse-shoe and the seaweed, and tell us who will have the 'squire's gold when he's gone; if, indeed, he is to go?"

"Who!" answered the hag in a different voice, whilst she mantled with rage, "who but the crows will have his carrion? As much good shall come from his gear, as comes from the toad-stool in the field, or the shark's jaw when cast ashore."

"Out upon the old carle!" screamed all the voices but Alice. "Out upon her for a lying hag!" and all the projectiles that were offered to their hands, drove poor Nell from her prominent position to the furthermost angle of the hutch.

Bold in their disbelief as they had been before timid, they hurled their imprecations after her, and scarcely heard her muttering, "Foul befa' ye-foul befa' ye! When he has snapp'd the tether to some o' ye, ye'll think again of old Nell. But all thegither sha' not have so much pity from me, as one tear that must fa' fra poor Alice's eyes."

The prognostication boded evil, but Alice had not time to heed it; all she thought of was Nell, and nothing but her tears and entreaties could have saved either the hut or its inmate." For mercy sake forbear. In the name of

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Blaspheme not, Alice. What can Heaven have to do wid such a

hag? besides, she boded ill o' thee ?" and they would have returned to their work of destruction.

"Go, then," cried Alice, opening the way she had before obstructed, "taste of vengeance, and tell me if it be sweet! Shame on ye all! she told ye what she thought, and what ye had asked! wisdom is alwa' witchery to those that understand it not." The simple truth from her sweet lips carried conviction with it, and as she added, "Come with me all, come with me," they instinctively followed. Still, as they retired, "Out upon the hag!" was indistinctly heard, as their courage inwardly contended with the mastery they were bowing to; but as their mutterings ceased, they gradually succumbed.

It was indeed a trial; all else on earth she might have questioned, and preserved her sway; but the 'squire's gold, with the evidence of it they had always before their eyes, was beyond her control. It was instantly whispered abroad that she was guilty of this heresy, and the constable and the beadle received their orders to unsettle her forthwith. Twice they arrived at the hut for this purpose, but the arm of Alice was always stretched out to protect her; and an army of beadles could not have resisted her sweet voice praying them to forbear. With her too young Frankland would join in entreaties-he was beloved, because he was brave and generous, and because, too, he was betrothed to Alice. From week to week she was reprieved—it mattered little whether she went or stayed-no one passed near her, if it was not to fling a scoff or a jeer at her. None, save only Frankland and Alice, who, as the world blew hard upon her, afforded her the protection of all the kindness they could.

It is indeed a goodly sight, when all the fiercer passions and propensities of man are rendered tame and submissive by-the love of woman. Thus was it with Frankland. His spirit was on the winds, and his course in life on the waves, yet the love of Alice so tempered all his thoughts and actions, that though he lived in open defiance of the laws, he fancied that he wronged no one; and if in his next voyage he should be successful, why, with the little hoard he already had, he could manage to give up the traffic, if it was unlawful, and make Alice-God bless her!-as happy as she deserved to be. He must contrive to raise her a little above what she then was, at least in wealth-so the pride of his love prompted him; a few acres would suffice; but as her merits rose in his recollection, he increased them in number, till he would have placed her as far above the rest in possessions, as she was in beauty. Many a day dream thus flitted before him. He thought of kindness to her, to Nell, to all indeed who might need it. Could his trade be unlawful, when so many would benefit by it? It was not-no, it could not be.

In the meantime a circumstance occurred that awakened him from such dreams to a dreadful reality. The 'squire died suddenly. The reality of what had tortured all so long, must soon be known. He died, and what Nell had predicted was but too true. The tale was soon told. Ruin stared every one in the face; all at least who had laid up their hard-gotten earnings, either as provision for themselves or their children. In the bankruptcy of the man was involved that of the whole population. The news reached Frankland on his arrival on

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