on the true scent. The large reward which was offered for the discovery of the murderer induced one of the "turn-outs" to divulge the whole affair, when the most diabolical conspiracy was brought to light; and it appeared that hundreds of men, not only at Laxington, but elsewhere, were banded together, many of whom had been guilty of a criminal knowledge of the intended murder. that a stranger from a distance had been deliberately hired to commit the bloody deed, and had been paid a stipulated sum out of the funds of the Union.

It makes one's blood run cold to know that such a horrible system should exist amongst us. One can scarcely believe that Englishmen, to whose character such baseness and atrocity has hitherto been abhorrent, should have become so degraded; yet such, alas! are plain facts in the nineteenth century-too certain to be denied. Truly it is the business of all who love their country to consider what is the real cause of these horrible evils, and lend their aid to remove them.

Lever being thus exculpated from the charge brought against him, and having proved that he was not even a member of the Trades-union-for, as he truly said, not being a workman for wages, his interests were different from theirs, he was of course discharged by the magistrates, one of whom, hoping that the circumstances might have a beneficial influence on Lever's mind, plainly told him that the inconvenience he had experienced was in a great

measure owing to the indifferent character which he bore, and gave him a kind, though serious reproof; while, at the same time, he expressed his satisfaction that his innocence had been proved.

Had Lever taken the admonition of the magistrate in good part, it might have been profitable to him. Indignant as he was at being supposed capable of committing so foul a crime as to waylay and assassinate even his greatest enemy, yet had he thought on the character and principles of those who had been his daily companions, he could not but have confessed that there were amongst them men fit for any baseness or crime. To be led through the streets as a malefactor, and to be looked on with horror as a murderer, had cut deep into his sensitive heart. But then he might have reflected, that had his character been different from what it was-had he been able honestly to explain his conduct on the night of the murder, and had his associates and connexions been such as a respectable man ought to have -no one would for a moment have supposed him capable of the crime, and he would have been spared the humiliation to which he had been subjected. Nay, though he had, in truth, no guilty knowledge of the murder, yet he might have seen that it was connected with that turbulent and wicked spirit which he himself had helped to foster; so that, morally, he was not altogether so free from guilt as he would fain have believed himself.

Unfortunately his spirit was too proud for such

Q

reflections; and though of late he had been disposed to view his own conduct with little satisfaction, he was far from having yet attained the spirit of Christian endurance, which enables a true follower of Jesus to submit patiently to persecution, even though suffering wrongfully.

Another circumstance which tended to foster his irritation and resentment was, that his case was warmly taken up by the Laxington Chronicle. He was represented as a persecuted man, and the magistrates who imprisoned him were stigmatised as unjust oppressors. These excitements, operating upon his own wounded feelings, checked in his heart the budding of those better principles which had begun to spring up, and threw him back a bitter partisan into the hands of the disaffected, whose schemes, though somewhat retarded by the outbreak of the Trades-union, were now becoming ripe for

CHAPTER XIX.

Physical, alias Brute Force.

They bawl for freedom in their senseless mood,
And still revolt when truth would set them free:
Licence they mean, when they cry liberty;
For who loves that must first be wise and good:

But from that mark how far they rove we see,
For all their waste of wealth and loss of blood.

MILTON.

AT length the time was fixed by the Chartists for the rising. The objects proposed by the leaders of the insurrection were, to seize the town of Laxington, disarm the soldiers, put the magistrates into coal-pits, and then raise the standard of Chartism; expecting that their example would be followed generally in the manufacturing districts. It was a dark and stormy night, and large bodies of men were collecting on the hills; the place of rendezvous was a spacious and dilapidated barn, about a mile and a half from Laxington. The scene was indeed strange and terrible :- -a band of ferocious men, armed as best they were able; some with rusty firelocks; some with swords and pitchforks, and bludgeons, or hammers used for breaking stones on the road; some with dirks or knives; some flushed with intoxication; some with faces blackened,-such was

the hideous spectacle which the barn, dimly lighted with a few lanterns, presented. Alas! are these the men whose forefathers were England's bold peasantry, their country's pride- the loyal, honest, and industrious dwellers in our villages and hamlets; the men who worshipped God in their parish churches, and there learned their duty to God and man— learned to respect the rights of their neighbours, as well as to protect their own? What can have thus changed their character and very nature? What but LIBERALISM? Liberalism, which, if God check it not, will ere long efface all traces of virtue and civilisation from our land.

As Charles Lever looked on the wild scene, and saw the furious, half-drunken men around him, a thought struck him, on which he could not help dwelling. They appeared to him like a band of savage Indians about to rush down upon some colony of peaceful settlers, of which he had often read. Where was the difference between these nineteenth-century men of England, and the red savages of the far West? See their rude weapons, their wild demeanour, and infuriated conduct. Look at that man who is their leader. Put but a buffalo's hide on his shoulders, instead of a Mackintosh cloak; give him a scalping-knife, or a tomahawk, instead of his brace of detonating pistols; and how would he differ in moral worth from the Pawnee chief? Yes, thought Lever, and a sneer curled his lip, there is one difference. The Indian will fight