Pilgrim's Progress to that young sailor. His choice had however fallen on a small Life of John Newton, influenced probably by the vignette of a shipwreck on the title page. Just as I was passing, he lifted the little volume to bring it nearer the light, and raising his head for the same purpose, I had a good opportunity of observing his features, boldly brought out and developed as they were by the strong glare of the gas over head; I thought I recognized him, but so faint was the impression that I passed In doing so, the footway being narrow, I brushed against something he held in one hand, so low down in the shadow of the table, that it was not easy to see what it was. This called for some little explanation, and he seemed at once to recognize my voice, for he turned round, and smiling pleasantly, continued to look at me for some seconds. At length he said, touching his glazed hat very respectfully

on.

"No offence, 'hope sir, but believe I've seen you before?" As I was of the same opinion, I now felt satisfied that he was not mistaken, and asked him when and where?

"Close upon three years ago," said he, "a long way off from this great wilderness of a place-down in the country."

He sighed as he said this, and a tear stood in his dark eye as he continued, "You was very kind to me, and I have not forgotten it." "It's very curious," he added-"very curious-but I meant this for you, if I could only find you again." So saying, he lifted the package I have already spoken of, which proved to be a fine grey parrot in a clumsy wooden cage, which seemed sailor fashion to have been built for hard service.

Does the reader know anything of a sailor's gratitude? There seem to be but few words in his vocabulary of thanks; and of these, the terms parrot and monkey are by far the most expressive. Though I had no great predilection for the first of these, I felt thankful beyond expression that my lot had not fallen on the second. But I prized the gift for the spirit which prompted it, and for that reason cheerfully accepted 'it, arranging on the spot when and where it should meet me on my return home.

Need I inform the reader that this lad was the half-starved little stranger I had met with in my winter's ramble to the dwelling of Mr. John Curtis, late churchwarden of Springclosethe poor gipsy tramper who is to come again prominently before

us in the course of the present narrative. As will be inferred, he had been sent to sea more than a twelvemonth since, and at the moment of our unexpected meeting was returning from his ship to the miserable hovel occupied by his father, in the south suburbs of the metropolis.

The boy having completed his purchase, we walked on together as we were going the same way, and after learning something of his own history, I asked after his father. Though his features, originally dark, had received an additional shade from the several voyages he had made to sunnier climes, I could see the color mantling his cheeks when I put the question. I thought too that he brushed away a tear, and when he spoke, felt little doubt upon the subject. His voice seemed tremulous with emotion, and he gave an answer which, in any one else, I should have called evasive.

As we became better acquainted, he told me the secret of his uneasiness. His father, after quitting the vagabond life he had for some time led, came to London, and crept gradually into a small way of business, by opening one of those low suspiciouslooking little shops, over the doors of which the passer-by may have observed in cramped up characters that seem to have outgrown their strength, the ill-understood and inexpressive words -"Dealer in Marine Stores.” Without a character, and in abject poverty, any one carrying on a calling of this description, is liable to be suspected of collusion with thieves and their allies, the receivers of stolen property.

It appeared from the statement of my young friend, that some goods had been lately missed from a warehouse by the waterside, and two men, late in the employ of the proprietor, were in custody on the charge of having clandestinely removed them. Some part of the stolen property had been traced to the shop of Bozwell, and he had in consequence been detained in custody to await the decision of the magistrate on the following day. Whether or not any guilty knowledge of the transaction could be brought home to him, remained to be then proved; but the bare suspicion of such a thing had completely unnerved his poor boy, who begged on parting that I would, if possible, meet him at the Police-court on the morrow, and learn the result.

Before he had finished his melancholy recital we had emerged

from the Tunnel into the open air and sunshine, and as my companion and I were now going different ways, I promised to see him as he had requested, in the morning.

I wandered on, saddened not only by the poor boy's tale, but by all the scenes of vice and wretchedness I had passed through. The prospect, on either hand, was little calculated to cheer my spirits. On one side were dingy-looking piles of buildinghouses, shops, warehouses, and gin palaces: on the other, shipbreaker's yards, sail lofts, and stores. Now and then a bowsprit stretching across the narrow thoroughfare, almost reached the windows of the houses opposite; and the whole district was redolent of tar and turpentine. Occasionally the gigantic ribs of some superannuated vessel in the act of being broken up reminded me of the fossil monsters of our earth in its earlier stages-huge dragons, that like the fabled chimeras of old time, might really almost have swallowed

A church and a steeple,

And all the good people.

Yet I thought, as I walked on, that these last-named creatures, had they now existed, would have been neither as voracious nor vindictive as our ancient idol-War! I was moved to these reflections by the name-boards which had once ornamented many of our line-of-battle ships, now nailed as trophies to the walls, or ornamenting the gate-posts of the breakers' yards, where they had been dismantled. The Tartarus, the Styx, the Vengeance, the Spitfire, the Retribution, the Avenger (why not call him by his other name of Satan?), the Thunderer, the Scourge, the Devastation,-these were some of the choicest titles in the naval nomenclature of a nation that allows the attribute of Mercy to be twice-blessed!

Proceeding on my way, I now felt that I could breathe again, as I saw before me a broad level of open country-green fields, trees in all their autumnal beauty, and here and there a little cottage with its garden and rustic porch, still covered with clustering vine leaves. After a walk of some miles, though once or twice stopped at a wicket, where I was asked to pay a halfpenny for permission to go no where by the longest route-I reached my temporary resting place, and passed a quiet and reflective evening.

I did not forget my engagement on the morrow, but was at the Court as soon as opened. My poor sailor boy was there before me, and his sorrow was then less disguised than at our first meeting. He had evidently suffered much on his father's account; but he did not, as I feared he might, and as many. ignorant persons would have done, ask me to say anything on his behalf. To be sure I had never seen him, and knew nothing of him, but so vague are the ideas of many upon the subject, that I should not have been surprised by the request.

We entered the Court together, and as the boy was decently dressed and kept by my side, we were allowed a seat before the dock, instead of mixing with the rabble behind it. The Court was a plain room, almost square, the magistrate occupying a chair upon the raised platform at one end, and the prisoners standing in full front of him about the centre, while behind them, strangers of the lowest class were admitted to witness the proceedings.

We had not been long there, before the three men were ordered to stand up. As the poor boy's father stepped into the dock, the sailor clutched my arm convulsively, but did not otherwise lose his self-possession. It was a touching scene, but not so painful as it might have been had either party been under the necessity of confronting the other. My thoughts took naturally a solemn turn, and I seemed to realize more powerfully than I had ever done before, that Great Assize at which every child must one day meet his father, and every father meet his child. How awful must be the glance that will then pass between the acquitted and the condemned. In that look, there will be the concentrated anguish of an eternal parting-the breaking, for ever, of heart-strings interwoven for a life on earth—the dying out of hope itself! Fathers! you will be there: bring your little ones to Christ on earth, and in Him you shall be one in heaven. Children! you will be there: let your fathers' God be your's now; and he cannot disown you amidst the majestic and appalling scenery of That Day!

The witnesses were called-the foreman of the party robbed— two or three persons who had met the thieves under suspicious circumstances, and the policeman who had apprehended them; the magistrate putting or suggesting such enquiries as seemed

likely to elicit the facts of the case. As the evidence proceeded, the prisoners paid apparently little attention; but on being now and then asked if they had any questions to put, shewed not only that they had heard the whole, but knew how to use every favorable point to the best advantage. One of them was a very tall wretched looking man, with round shoulders, and a shaggy crop of hair. He had an ominous cast, or rather a roll, of the eye, that impressed his physiognomy on the beholder so vividly, that I still retain his picture in my mind's eye. The other, though shorter, was rather above than below the usual height-a dissipated, reckless looking young fellow, with a jaunty lackadaisical air. Though he had little the appearance of a burglar, and seemed to have seen better days, the evidence shewed him to have been the leader of the movement. He had been in jail twice or thrice before, and was well-known amongst his companions in vice, by various aliases, the most common of which, the policeman said, were "Waddy," and "Jerry."

Poor Bozwell, though a little disconcerted, was on the whole less so than I should have imagined possible, though his countenance underwent greater changes than that of either of the others. Some of the goods were clearly traced to his possession, and his guilty knowledge of the circumstances under which they had been brought to him, appeared certain from the fact that without any assignable cause, beyond the desire of concealment, some of the articles had been so defaced and disguised, as to render proof of their identity almost impossible. A painful season followed this last piece of evidence: Bozwell changed countenance, and his son, who was intently watching it, looked to me in an agony of suspense, rendered still more distressing by the fact that I could do nothing whatever to relieve it.

When this witness had completed his evidence the clock struck the hour for luncheon; and the magistrate, after ordering the men into custody till his return, retired to his private room; whilst the clerk set himself to make out the commitments of the other prisoners. For a full hour our anxiety was at its height, but in a few minutes afterwards the prisoners were again brought up, and the examination proceeded. H. R. E.

(To be continued.)