raised their faces to heaven, and uttered a short prayer; then pulled their bonnets over their brows, and began to move forward-at first slowly. Waverley felt his heart at that moment throb, as it would have burst from his bosom. It was not fear, it was not ardour, -—it was a compound of both, a new and deeply energetic impulse, that with its first emotion chilled and astounded, then fevered and maddened his mind. The sounds around him combined to exalt his enthusiasm ; the pipes played, and the clans rushed forward, each in its own dark column. As they advanced, they mended their pace, and the muttering sounds of the men to each other began to swell into a wild cry.

At this moment, the sun, which was now risen above the horizon, dispelled the mist. The vapour rose like a curtain, and showed the two armies in the act of closing. The line of the regulars was formed directly fronting the attack of the Highlanders; it glittered with the appointments of a complete army, and was flanked by cavalry and artillery. But the sight impressed no terror on the assailants.

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Forward, sons of Ivor," cried their Chief, For the Camerons will draw the first blood !"-They rushed on with a tremendous yell.

9

The rest is well known. The horse, who were commanded to attack the advancing Highlanders in the flank, received an irregular fire from their fusees, as they ran on; and, seized with a disgraceful panic, wavered, halted, disbanded, and galloped from the field. The artillerymen, deserted by the cavalry, fled after discharging their pieces, and the Highlanders, who dropped their guns when fired, and drew their broadswords, rushed with headlong fury against the infantry.

It was at this moment of confusion and terror, that

Waverley remarked an English officer, apparently of high rank, standing alone and unsupported, by a field-piece, which, after the flight of the men by whom it had been served, he had himself levelled and discharged against the clan of MacIvor, the nearest group of Highlanders within his aim. Struck with his tall martial figure, and eager to save him from inevitable destruction, Waverley outstripped for an instant even the speediest of the warriors, and reaching the spot first, called upon him to surrender. The officer replied by a thrust with his sword, which Waverley received in his target, and in turning it aside the Englishman's weapon broke. At the same time the battle-axe of Dugald Mahony was in the act of descending upon the officer's head. Waverley intercepted and prevented the blow, and the officer perceiving farther resistance unavailing, and struck with Edward's generous anxiety for his safety, resigned the fragments of his sword, and was committed by Waverley to Dugald, with strict charge to use him well and not to pillage his person.

On Edward's right the battle for a few moments raged fierce and thick. The English infantry trained in the wars in Flanders, stood their ground with great courage. But their extended files were pierced, broken in many places by the close masses of the clans; and in the personal struggle which ensued, the nature of the Highlanders' weapons, and their extraordinary fierceness and activity gave them a decided superiority over those who had been accustomed to trust much to their array and discipline, and felt that the one was broken and the other useless.

Loud shouts of triumph soon echoed over the whole field. The battle was fought and won, and the whole baggage, artillery, and military stores of the regular

army remained in the possession of the Highlanders. Never was a victory more complete. Scarce any escaped from the field of battle, excepting the cavalry who had left it at the very first onset, and even these were broken into different parties and scattered all over the country.

"Waverley," by SIR WALTER SCOTT.

1. PRESTONPANS, a spot near Edinburgh where, in 1745, the English troops under Sir John Cope were completely defeated by the Highlanders under Prince Charles Edward.

2. THE PRINCE, Charles Edward Stuart, called also the Young Chevalier and the Young Pretender, grandson of King James II., and son of James Stuart, the Old Pretender.

3. PATROL, the guard which makes the patrol, or acts as sentry, going the rounds in a camp or garrison.

4. DRAGOON, a horse soldier, so called from having originally carried a musket on which was engraved the head of a dragon.

5. CARABINE, a short light musket, formerly used by the cavalry.

6. THE ADVENTURER, Prince Charles Edward.

7. PHALANX, a square battalion of heavy armed troops drawn up in ranks and files close and deep.

8. SYNONYMOUS, having the same meaning.

9. FUSEES, or fusils; light muskets or firelocks.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DR CHALMERS.

THE Rev. Thomas Chalmers, LL.D., Professor of Theology in the Free Church of Scotland, was born in Fifeshire, 1780, and died 1847.

He was one of the greatest preachers of his day, and his eloquence and enthusiasm roused the feelings of all who heard him. He was also an able and talented author, and wrote several important works.

PEACE AND WAR.

I FEAR that none of us have a lively enough conception of the gratitude, that we ought to feel for the inestimable 2 blessing of Peace-that we live in the bosom of domestic tranquillity—that we have no midnight alarm to disturb us-no sound of horror to strike upon our ear and keep us awake and trembling in the agony of apprehension -no moanings of wounded acquaintance—no shrieks of the dying to rend the heart of sensibility no hostile footsteps to warn us of the nearness of a brutal and enraged soldiery—no loud and stormy approaches to send anguish into the mother's heart, and make her weep in the wildness of despair, over the members of her shrinking and devoted family.

What a picture of horror is presented by the seat of war, when the marauding army of the conqueror is let loose upon the country-when the plunderers separate into parties, and each party singles out its own house, or its own neighbourhood, as the object of its brutality and vengeance. When every nerve is strained to deeds of barbarity—when pity is laughed at as a weakness, or its gentle whispers are drowned in the wild uproar of rapacity and desolation and murder.

What a contrast to the country, in which we live-a spectacle of peace in the midst of a wild and troubled theatre ! What would not houseless victims give for the warmth and security of our dwellings! where every man lives under his own vine and his own fig-tree 5—where he steps forth in the morning and prosecutes in safety the labours of the day—where he returns in the evening, and has his peaceful fireside enlivened by the smiling aspect of his family around him-where the Sabbath

morn still continues to bless the humble abode of the poor man and the labourer-where the church bell is still heard to waft its delightful music along our valleys, and to call an assembled people to the exercises of piety.

Let the piety of this day be gratitude to that Mighty Being who takes up the hills in His Hands, and weighs the nations in a balance. He has thrown around our happy country the shelter of a protecting ocean. He has mustered His own elements to defend us. The Green Island of the North sits in the bosom of security -it hears the sound of the battle from afar, but quietness dwells there, and peace and joy are among its children. Look at the extent of Britain, and it is a speck upon the surface of the world. Look at the map, and it appears like an appendage to that immense continent, that is in arms against it. Yet how high it stands in the proud lists of glory-how great in the independence of its empire-how awful in the thunder of its power, that is heard in the remotest corners of the world-how firm in the patriotism and intrepidity of its people, who rally round the standard of their liberties, and maintain the name and dignity of their nation against the fury of a devouring ambition.8

CHALMERS.

1. CONCEPTION, the power of comprehending and understanding. 2. INESTIMABLE, priceless; not to be estimated or valued. 3. APPREHENSION, fear.

4. SENSIBILITY, acute feeling.

5. HIS OWN VINE AND HIS OWN FIG-TREE. This is a reference to the promises of rest and ease so repeatedly given to the Israelites. "They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid" (Mic. iv. 4. ; also 1 Thess. iv. 25).

6. THE GREEN ISLAND OF THE NORTH, Great Britain; famed among other things for the freshness of its foliage and the greenness of its turf.