Mortimer, previously to his acquaintanceship with Greenwood, had been in the habit of visiting the lovely daughter of a rich London citizen. Unknown to her parents a tender attachment had sprung up between Mortimer and the young lady, and they engaged themselves to each other with all the ardour and disinterestedness of inexperienced, warm-hearted youth. The lady possessed all the charms of person and accomplishments of mind which eminently qualified her for capturing the affections and securing the esteem of the melancholy, high-minded, and imaginative Mortimer. Long did they enjoy the sweet society of each other; many were the communications penned in the burning language of the heart, which continually, but yet, secretly, passed between them. They loved to converse with each other after the eastern fashion, in the romantic language of flowers, and often was the muse of Mortimer exercised to paint the charms of her who by him had long been matchless deemed. As Shakspere says, 'the course of true love never did run smooth.' While she was enjoying, in secret, the delightful sensations of a reciprocal attachment, and was priding herself upon the possession of those personal advantages which caused her to be so highly esteemed and loved by Mortimer, she little dreamed those very charms were destined, ere long, to blight both her and Mortimer's happiness, and, eventually, to hurry both to an untimely grave!

The son of a knight, who resided in the neighbourhood of her parents' dwelling, saw and admired Mortimer's betrothed. He had taken care to ascertain that she was likely to be the heiress of her father's large property, and then lost no time in cultivating an intimacy. He succeeded in gaining an introduction to the rich old citizen, and was invited to visit him whenever he could do so conveniently. The opportunity was not neglected. Of course, he paid every attention to the young lady on whose account he became so regular a visiter, but she considered his addresses in no other light than the civilities of an acquaintance of her father's. Her parents, however, perceived with gratification the increasing attentions of the knight's son. The youth soon saw that he was encouraged by her parents, and concluded that there could be no further impediment to his obtaining possession of the hand of the daughter. In short, without her knowledge or consent the match was

'made up between the youth and her parents, and the day was appointed for the wedding. The young squire left it to the parents to reveal to their daughter her future destiny; for so reserved was her conduct towards him in general, which he attributed to her excess of modesty, that he possessed not the courage to speak to herself upon the subject. On the same evening that her hand was given to the squire by her parents, she and Mortimer had likewise appointed a day for their nuptials to be celebrated, and she intended on the following day to introduce the choice of her heart to her parents; and it was arranged that he should solicit their approbation to his suit. Never did the rose fly so suddenly from the cheek of fair maiden as it did from her's when she was told by her parents that in a few weeks she would be the bride of the son of Sir TShe had been accustomed

to yield the most implicit obedience to her parents, and had never dared to contradict their commands, or to oppose their expressed wishes; on the present occasion she replied not, but hung her beautiful head like a drooping lily, and in a few minutes sunk back lifeless into her chair. Restoratives were immediately applied, and the reason of her indisposition was attributed to the unguarded suddenness of the unexpected intelligence. She revived, but her wonted cheerfulness had for ever forsaken her. She saw the

preparations of gay apparel and costly entertainment without scarcely understanding for what they were intended-her stupefaction increased as the day for the bridal ceremony approached-her heart sickened and died within her, and though often questioned as to the cause of her melancholy, yet had she never once dared to whisper the truth-to avow that her affections were unalterably fixed upon another. She felt as though she was under the influence of an irresistible destiny, and allowed herself to think of her former intimacy with Mortimer only as of a vision of happiness which could never be realised. The day approached, and she was decorated for the occasion— the ghastly paleness of her countenance was enlivened by artificial means. Her reserve and melancholy were never traced to their real cause-her parents and intended bridegroom considered them the natural results of maiden timidity, and flattered themselves with the hopes that her absence of mind and lowness of spirits were only very temporary. A gay party assembled on the morning of the auspicious day-carriages were at the door, and shortly afterwards the wheels rolled merrily round, and ceased not their course until arrived at the Church gates. The party gathered round the youthful couple to witness the holy cere

mony, nor did circumstance of importance occur

any

until the first question of the service was asked her by the minister, when the lady suddenly awakened to an agonizing recollection of her deplorable situation, she looked wildly round-uttered a piercing scream, and sunk senseless upon the ground. Her friends endeavoured to raise her-they attempted to restore animation in vain-they held in their arms a corpse. Mortimer told this pathetic story with difficulty, and during its recital the tears frequently started in his eyes and his utterance became choked. Greenwood saw at once how vainly he must have been endeavouring "to minister to a mind diseased," and the causes of the frequent absence of mind and the settled melancholy of Mortimer, which had often puzzled Henry to account for, were now thoroughly revealed. He saw, too, that his friend's constitution was daily declining. Before many more weeks had elapsed, he beheld with speechless sorrow but not with surprise, his friend stretched upon a couch, from which it was his fate never again to rise. It is needless to say that the kind heart of Greenwood prompted him to indefatigable exertion, to administer to the wants and comforts of his friend during his lingering illness, that his funeral expenses were paid by Greenwood, and a neat, chaste, marble monument was erected over his tomb.

The last effort of Mortimer's muse, which Greenwood found among the manuscripts which the former had placed under his care, was the following lament, which evidently alluded to the unfortunate lady with whose miserable fate we have just made the reader acquainted.

A LAMENT.

Fast are now fleeting the warm sunny hours;
Fast are now fading the bright summer flowers,
Spring will again all their beauties restore :
She who so loved them will ne'er return more.
Leaves all bewithered fall fast from each tree,
Soon the bare trunks will be emblems of me;
Life's gayest hours are for ever flown o'er,
Smiles from my love will ne'er gladden me more.
Songs of the feathery minstrels will be

Sounds that have ceased to be charming to me;
Notes that my ears have so oft pleased before,
Ne'er will be heard by my heart's idol more.
Dark gloomy clouds overshadow the sky-
Sad is the stream that runs murmuring by ;
Wild wintry winds 'gin already to roar,
Ne'er to disturb her repose any more.

lds were we've wandered again and again, ill for the future but fill me with pain: Lately we strayed on the sea-beaten shore, Little I thought we should stray there no more,

When in his glory the sun's in the west,
Days are recalled to my mind that are passed;
When the glad morning his splendours restore,
Sadly I grieve that she sees them no more.
When the white moon shines so sweetly on high,
Mem'ry recalls scenes for ever gone bye;
'Neath her pale beam we've to truth and love swore,
Raptures felt then I shall never feel more.
Now o'er her urn waving mournfully, see
Th' low drooping boughs of the grieved willow tree :
Life can for me no delight have in store-
She who made life sweet will never smile more.

AGRICULTURE.

LATENT VALUE OF BOG LANDS IN IRELAND.

BY JOHN TAYLOR, Esq., SURGEON, LIVERPOOL.

PART II.

WITHOUT referring to the arguments which have established the maxim that the character of a rude people is improved in proportion to the comforts with which they are supplied, we take the fact as granted, and at once pursue the pleasing task of suggesting the best means for ameliorating the character and condition of the Irish Peasantry and small Farmers on her waste and half cultivated lands. The statesman, the moralist, and the Philanthropist of every shade, has advanced his favourite remedy for effecting this unanimously-desired object; but all have, apparently, neglected to avail themselves of the necessary gradations for attaining it. Some fixed means for deriving permanent profit must sustain the indispensable comforts of food and clothing before any progress can be made towards the maintenance of social order. To the residents on Bogs and Wastes these means have hitherto been so scanty and precarious that no permanence in its stability could be secured, reduced as they have been to the pressing necessity of directing all their bodily and mental powers in obedience to the animal instinct-preservation of life,

The resistance of the stubborn soil to yield the extent of its capabilities to the inadequate culture it receives, and the unsuitableness of the seasons for every aspect and locality of earth, produce a famine every year, of greater or less degree, in one or more counties; affecting the high or low lands, the dry, or the wet, according to the prevailing drought, or moisture of the season: thus the ruder dispositions of our nature are brought into exercise; and a perpetual

succession of local rebellions demands military restraint for the public safety.

The lawless acts which follow the ejection of hereditary Tenants from Lands arise chiefly from the inability of those Tenants to cultivate with equal skill to their neighbours-who probably have derived partial lessons of instruction from the Book of Nature, perused by the investigating Eye of Science.

What, then, is the most obvious plan for ameliorating the physical condition and the moral character of the inferior grades depending on agriculture for a subsistence? Certainly not to fill up the measure of their misery so far as to expatatriate them to the richer lands of America, when artificial means have been beneficially committed to our own nation for rendering its lands almost equal in fertility. The encouragement of emigration, under these circumstances, would be a political fatuity, blind to the individual and national importance of bringing into cultivation every acre of waste and favourable bog. lands.

Commerce and manufactures can never be extensively prosperous in Ireland until they have been called into existence and maintained, as in England, by the redundant population of a wealthy yeomanry; and the best way to effect this is to create in the minds of the aristocracy and the wealthy members of the community the once dignified, but now lost, taste for the promotion of the peaceful art of husbandry; to make it a matter of emulation, that he should be thought most worthy of honour who had manifested the good sense to make the selection of Agriculture as the means of employing his "otium vitæ," and that our Sovereign Lady, when in need of a Minister, should recur to the good old Roman fashion of exalting the wise and noble from the handle of the plough to the helm of state. A pseudopolitical economist has said that "the bogs of Ireland are her greatest blessing," inasmuch as that they furnish fuel for the Poor. How much better would it be to instruct them to make money to purchase Coal! and with it a thousand other blessings!

Most of the Irish Squirearchy are qualified by education, leisure and refinement for the pursuit of philosophic studies; and if arbitrary custom would but relax her forms, and permit it to be considered a gentlemanly pastime to direct their talents and attainments to agricultural Science, in the collection and arrangement of the promiscuous papers of practical men, which are scattered over the pages of agricultural Magazines, and form part of the systematic works of various authors; and in availing themselves of the

latest discoveries of the eminent Philosophers engaged in exploring agricultural Science, so as to become Masters of the mysteries; and would then occuру the intermediate link of social order between themselves and the uneducated, as Interpreters and expounders of the principles of Nature's Laws-Capital would soon find a profitable channel for employment, and the bounties of Providence which now surround them, in a great measure neglected and unperceived, would be appropriated to the purpose for which they were originally designed; viz: the nourishment and comfort of the occupant of the soil, and the luxury of an intelligent Landlord. The whole sphere of Natural Philosophy is applicable to the explanations of agricultural Science; particularly the chemical physiological, mechanical and meteorological sections; and each branch is so blended with the other that it is difficult to define their boundary.

The first, or chemical, chiefly involves a knowledge of the composition of soils, the elementary constitution of stem and fruit, and of the food necessary for their production.

The second, or physiological, acquaints us with the different sensibilities in the organic texture, and the family dispositions of Plants, the best locality for pro moting the health of each species, and the degree of their requirements as to heat and moisture, light atmospheric purity, quantity and quality of food, their suitable companionship with other plants, and the nature of their functional properties, absorption, appropriation and excretion.

The successful routine of crops depends mainly upon these principles; though the management of the matter, has cheifly been conducted on the example of aneighbourhood, without reference to the characteristic difference in the tenacity and composition of the Land on different Estates, or to the various contingencies of aspect, elevation, temperature, moisture and dryness of each locality; hence Farmers who have been prosperous on one estate have met with a reverse of fortune on removal to another which, to their judgment, presented equal, or superior, advantages. The aid afforded to Agriculture by these two branches of Philosophy has proved that the laying fallow of a fertile field is a fallacy, which the last generation considered the very acme of propriety. The application of the elementary food of plants, the appropriation of the Carbonic Acid, the Ammonia, &c., with all the conditions attending profitable fertility, in approaching t of nitrogenous Manures to the necessities of the Produce expected from Wheat downwards through the whole range of the Cereals, and in proper sliding-scale

stock

order to the leguminous, the tuberose and gramineous fruits, belongs also to the control of chemistry and Physiology. It had long ago been determined by the experience of practical Husbandmen that the animal Manures, which abound in Nitrogen, were indispensable to the production of an abundant crop and large proportioned fruit, and that an annual repetition of their supply was necessary; but not until lately has the relative proportion required for each kind of produce been discovered, by analytical examination of the fruits, wherein the Nitrogen that has been consumed is identified in the various new forms which it has assumed, and its quantity registered for the guidance of the agricultural community.

On escaping from the turmoil of a town to enjoy a fine spring-day in the country, the after-dinner recreation will be, of course, to view the farm. The first thing which meets the eye in the display of the good things around, is the magnificent manure heap, to which the farmer exultingly points as the. fattening food of a future crop; your near approach, however, is prevented by the pungent sensation felt upon the skin, indicative of the intensity of the ammoniacal vapour which is escaping; you naturally say to your friend, How is this! The best part of the manure is volatilizing away for the benefit of the world at large, or wherever the clouds may convey and deposit it. Oh no! he will reply; the Manure is rotting, I like this bright showery weather, it rots the faster. It is in vain that you endeavour to persuade him that he is throwing away the kernel and keeping the nutshell. The absurd definition of hot and cold manures has led to this folly, as though the free dilution of ammonia, in nature's method, as exhibited in rainwater, would not compensate for, and annihilate its muchdreaded stimulant or heating property which attends its application in a concentrated form. Again, the liquid drain from this heap of Aurum e Stercore generally wends an unprofitable course towards some neighbouring stream, instead of being directed in the Flemish mode, to a reservoir under ground in connection with the shippon, wherein every expedient is used to arrest and absorb the ammonia; which is conveyed to the fields, when wanted, in a proper state of dilution. It would be interesting in a statistical point of view, to ascertain the entire loss to the kingdom from the observance of the improvident habit just referred to, which originated in ignorance and is preserved by prejudice: the whole of the Ammonia retained by the present malpractice is that which the existing animal acids, and those which the oxygen of the atmosphere is forming,

can sieze and convert into a non-volatile salt. We have many parallel instances of the utility of extensive dilution;-Gypsum, or Sulphate of Lime, so beneficial to grass lands, is scarcely soluble in water, yet water having dissolved a minute portion of it, it is readily imbibed by the plants, and the water is then rendered capable of dissolving more. This homœopathic process is the type of Nature's plan for supplying food for vegetable functions; and it is deserving of our adoption, for it must be conceded that of all the lessons from the book of Nature which human reason has been permitted to learn, no sceptic, or intellectual reveller, has been able to suggest an improvement of any of the fixed laws of Divine wisdom.

The valuable connexion of the sectional sciences of natural philosophy with Agriculture is conspicuous also in controlling and directing the various functional processes of the Plants under Culture, relative to their peculiar and inherent properties, as to the degree of absorption and excretion natural to each family, and the degree of infiltration possessed by the soil; its depth and degree of retentiveness,-whether, in short, it possesses the qualities so essentially obtained by subsoil ploughing; viz: a porous substratum and a capability to drain off superfluous water in wet weather and to retain sufficient moisture for the continuous support of vegetable circulation during drought; as to the nature of the excretion retained by the soil from the last produce, and the adaptation of all field operations to the fitting circumstances of the weather.

All these considerations involve mature reflection

of a higher order than that possessed by the majority of operative Husbandmen, and commend themselves to the attention of those who enjoy the privilege of a better education. The hereditary-example-Farmer is aware of the imperative necessity for occupying the ground with different succession Potatoe-seed, and therefore interchanges with his neighbour, at the same time, perhaps, telling him that as his field is cloversick he thinks he shall sow Oats or some other Grain ; though he is acquainted with the desirableness of the routine of crops he is unaware of the cause,—that the excretions from the Roots of the last Crop are noxious to the growth of the same species, but beneficial to that of another; hence the custom of sowing Clover with Grain; there is a mutual support derived from that which would be injurious to either if placed to vegetate alone.

(To be Continued.)