not give either a figure or a name. A door into the room stood half opened on the right, at which the foot, and part of the leg, of a man were visible, as if leaving the apart ment. "I have been trying an experiment,' said Chesterton,' with this sketch. I have always been of opinion, that we paint too much to the eye, and too little to the imagination, and that a more powerful effect might often be produced by indicating, rather than fully expressing, the idea intended to be conveyed. Fuseli understood this subject pretty well, but he could not resist the temptation of parading his anatomical knowledge, and power of drawing; so he has too often, in his treat ment of subjects of a terrible or supernatural cast, ruined his effects, by crowding his canvass with figures, or attempting to embody, in visible outline, what should have been left in the palpable obscure of the imagination. It is the same thing with those etchings of Callot. Indistinctness is the true source of supernatural terror;-there can be no diablerie in daylight, and those hags and demons of his, which, palled in vapour or clouds, might have been solemn and impressive, seem only crazed old women of bedlam, when brought forward into the fore-ground, and lighted up with those trumpery sulphureous flames, and the other pyrotechnic contrivances of the lower world.' "While he was speaking, I happened to cast my eyes towards the corner of the room, which was gradually becoming dusky, the sun having now dipped behind the patent-shot manufactory on the opposite side of the river. I started ;-for a figure, enveloped in a white mantle, seemed to be stretching out its hands towards me from the gloom. "Don't be afraid,' said my friend, smiling, as he saw me draw back, it is only my lay-figure, from which I had been sketching this morning, before we met, for a picture of the apparition in the tent of Brutus. By the bye,' he continued, stepping up to the figure, and removing the large cloth which had been thrown over its limbs, I am rather proud of this figure, for it is mainly my own work. A lay-figure, of the best sort, as you will learn when you come to purchase one, is rather expensive; and as you know I have a tolerable turn for mechanics, it occurred to me that I might manage matters at a cheaper rate. I applied to a young medical friend of mine to procure me a skeleton in good condition-fit to keep, as the advertisements have it, in any climate-which he did. How, or where he got it, I did not then enquire-I conjectured from some resurrectionist or other, for he was hand in glove with all those fellows, -but so it was, it was as fresh and complete, and the bones as sound, as if it had never smelt cold earth at all. Perhaps, as Hamlet says, the man may have been a tanner. No matter; with the assistance of a few springs and wires at the shoulders, elbows, and knees, I soon found Í could make it assume any position I might require, just as well, if not better, than nine out of ten of the artificial figures to be found in the shops. I have covered its nakedness, as you see, with very decent raiment from my old wardrobe ;-and as the hollow of the skull used to look somewhat grinning and gloomy upon me in sketching by candle-light, I shaded them with an old mask, and a superannuated periwig of my father's, which by some accident had dropped into my trunk. The only thing that annoys me, is, that the skull seems to have a strange leaning to one side, as if the owner had had a crick in his neck while alive. I have done all I could to correct this propensity, but I fear I shall not get quit of it entirely without breaking the collar bone on both sides, which I am rather unwilling to do.' "So saying, he removed the mask and wig, and shewed me a bare and bleached skull, rising above the stuffed doublet, which he had wound round the rest of the figure. I could see distinctly enough, as he pointed it out to me, the visible leaning of the head to the right. The white scalp rising over the hollow eyes and gaping jaws below, formed a most singular contrast to the faded garb, apparently the poor remains of a surtout, in which the body, or rather the bones of the figure were enveloped; it looked like death in masquerade, and produced a mixed ession, at once ludicrous and hideous. View ing the figure, as I did, for the first time, and by the uncertain and wavering light, I must confess, that in my mind the latter emotion predominated. · "It is really too bad,' said I stepping back, as Chesterton, pressing one of his springs, made the hands rise into the air, somewhat in the style of the Millennian orator of the Caledonian chapel, it is really too bad to allow these poor bones no rest, either in life or death. I dare say, their unfortunate owner, who ever he was, little expected that after his labours on earth, he was not even to be allowed to sleep in his grave, but was still to be turned to account, and forced to play Pulcinello in a painter's study. "I cannot say I was sorry when the entrance of dinner and candles put a stop to our contemplations. My friend replaced the mask and wig, threw the cloak over the figure again, and we took our seats at the table. "Our conversation was long and earnest. Chesterton, who, in his two years' sojourn in London, had studied both the world and his own art thoroughly, poured out without reserve the results of his studies. He examined my sketches carefully, pointed out with candour and discrimination their merits and defects, suggested the course of study I ought to pursue, and warned me of the many obstacles I should have to contend with, in my own overweening confidence, or the self-love and jealousy of my competitors. As I listened to his strong and forcible observations, I felt myself becoming a humbler and a wiser man. "In these discussions, sometimes enlivened, and sometimes saddened by tales of olden times, and school-boy recollections; of friends who had already closed a brief career on earth, and slept, some under the burning skies of India, some beneath the snows of the Pole, some under the green waves of the ocean, the long November evening wore away. More than once, however, in the course of our conversation, when the candles, neglected in the earnestness of discussion, began to grow a little dim and cabbaged at the top, and the light fell dull and feeble on the farther end of the room; I could hardly refrain from starting, as my eye accidental ly rested on the lay-figure in the corner, standing as it had been left with its hands erect, and its outlines faintly discernible beneath its funeral drapery. At last it became late, and I retired to my own lodging. "I practised steadily for two months the lessons which Chesterton had taught me. Every morning I was up by candle light, either drawing or perusing works of art. Midnight generally found me still at work drawing from the antique, for my friend's kindness had supplied me with the use of all his casts and models. I used to visit him at his lodgings almost every day-we drew, dined, and occasionally visited the theatre in company. I began to be sensible of my own progress; my taste and power of execution were visibly improving, and I now awaited, no longer with presumptuous confidence, yet with good hopes of success, the arrival of the next competition for admission of a pupil of the Academy. "The day arrived at last, and with a beating heart I presented myself and my sketches. The gentleman who had communicated my doom on the last occasion, was also the spokesman on this. These drawings,' said he, are very different from the last. They display traces of correct and systematic study, as well as more facility of execution. To-morrow you will be admitted as a pupil.' C "Iknew only one of the young men who had the good fortune to be admitted along with me. His name was Gifford, and I had met him more than once in Chesterton's study. He was an able draftsman, but his vivacity of manner was somewhat too boisterous to render his society in. general acceptable to me. On this occasion, however, my spirits were more than usually elevated, and on his proposing that we should adjourn to dine at a neighbouring coffeehouse, and celebrate our success over a bottle of wine, I consented without much hesitation. "The evening passed, as might be expected, gaily. Labours past, difficulties vanquished, hopes to come, supplied us with ample materials for conversation. Each probably saw himself, (though we had the modesty to disguise our anticipations)_fi guring, in a few years, among those privileged members of the Academy, whose condition then appeared to us the most enviable in existence. We chatted, we sung, the stipulated bottle was succeeded by another. It was past eleven, in short, before we parted close to Temple-Bar. "You wonder, perhaps, what our dinner party had to do with the subject of your question; you shall hear, for I am approaching the singular part of my story. "The night was fine, and as I was so near to Chesterton's residence, the thought occurred to me, that I would call on him, and communicate in person the news of my success, in which I knew he would be warmly interested. I knocked at his door, but was told he dined that day in the west end of the town, and had not yet returned. Being, however, by this time on terms of tolerable intimacy with his landlady, I told her I would step up to his room and wait his return. The candles were on the table unlighted; the fire in the grate burnt briskly, illuminating the apartment with a cheerful gleam. You need not light the candles,' said I, I like to sit by the fire, and Chesterton, I have no doubt, will be here immediately.' 6 "I sat down by the fire, watching the strange forms and combinations, into which the shadows of the chairs, easels, and casts, were thrown upon the walls and roof. The arm of a Hercules, like the mast of some tall admiral, would be seen traversing the ceiling to clasp the leg of a Venus, which seemed swollen to the proportions of the Colossus of Rhodes; while a Montero cap be longing to my friend, suspended on the top of the easel, looked on the wall like the gigantic helmet in the Castle of Otranto. As the fire grew lower, and the shadows less distinct, I began to pore into the grate, and to image forth castles, human forms, and chimeras dire from among the glowing embers. Sometimes a wild looking head would brighten into light in the midst of a dark mass, and grin horribly for a moment over some castellated mass in the coals; then the jaws would quiver and drop off, the monstrous nose shrink away, a dark film would come over the eyes, and the whole changed in to some rocky scene or gloomy cave, through whose cloven arches the eye wandered into regions of intense light beyond, across which little airy figures seemed to flit and hover. Anon, some slender jet of flame, spouting out like a miniature volcano, from some abyss in the coals, would leap and play about for a little like an ignis fatuus, now flashing up, now disappearing, till at last, as if an earthquake or firequake had followed, the whole crust fell in at once, and cave and castle, temple and tower, with all their inhabitants, sunk and disappeared like the shadows of a dream. "My amusements being interrupted by this catastrophe, I rose and looked out of the window. The night was clear but cold, some stars were visible in the zenith, and the thin thread of a crescent moon was just sinking above Westminster, the dark piles of which were faintly visible to the west. It was too near to the horizon, however, to throw any light on the waters of the river, which, ebbing with the retiring tide, rolled beneath the window, black and murmuring. Here and there a light twinkling through the vague masses of shadow to the south, cast its quivering reflection on the stream. Did it indicate the abode of virtuous industry toiling late for an honourable support, or the haunt of villainy and vice; did it burn by the sick-bed of one taking leave of the world, or in the study of some midnight student, outwatching the bear, and wasting life in the hope of future fortune or fame? Who could say? yet my eye rested with pleasure on those bright and cheering mementos of human labours and human existence, which sparkled through the surrounding silence and gloom, like those ever-burning cressets, which the ancients suspended in their tombs, as if to indicate that a bright and ethereal spark survived amidst the dreary stillness and corruption of death. "Methought, as I watched those tiny rays, and while the chimes of St Martin's were striking the third quarter past eleven, my eyes rested on some dark object which came floating towards me down the river. It resembled a boat, but the extreme indistinctness of the outline, occasioned by the deep shadow in which the surface of the river at that point lay, prevented me from distinguishing what it contained. But as it crossed the long flickering line of light, produced by one of those lamps on the other side, I saw by the momentary eclipse of the ray on the water, that some object stood erect in the boat with an oar in its hand. It did not appear to be rowing, but allowed the boat to drift, impelled by the mere sweep of the retiring tide. came nearer and nearer, and though I could not distinguish a single fea ture, I saw there were many others in the boat besides the waterman, among whom a low whispering conversation, of which nothing reached my ears, appeared to be carried on. At last the boat stopped beneath the window, the waterman looked up, put his fingers to his mouth and whistled. The sound echoed loudly on the water and died away. It "Could I be deceived? It seemed as if behind me-in the very room, the signal was repeated faintly, as if the person who answered the challenge were unable to join his lips perfectly, or as if the buccinatory muscles of the cheek had not been in working condition. The sound emitted seemed like a gust of wind rushing through an imperfectly closed window. My eyes involuntarily travelled towards that part of the room from which the sound had appeared to come. The fire, refreshed by a late supply, had again revived sufficiently to enable me to see distinctly enough every object in the apartment. All was profoundly still. In the corner to which I looked, stood the lay-figure, still covered with its cloth, motionless as a statue. It seemed to be precisely in the position I had last seen it, with its arms a little elevated, though I could not distinctly trace through the superincumbent drapery, the precise situation of its hand. I felt ashamed of my momentary weakness; I turned again to the window, but the boat on the river was gone. "Meantime, the appearance of the night had changed. The moon was down, the wind blew colder from the water, stirring up the fire in fitful gusts, and some heavy rain-drops which pattered upon my face, announcing an approaching storm, ob liged me to close the window. I felt somewhat uneasy at the prospect of being detained by the rain, but trusting that, from its suddenness, it would soon pass over, and that it would, in all probability, accelerate Chesterton's return, I drew my chair close to the table, and endeavoured to amuse myself during the interval in the best way I could. 'I will try my hand on an apparition scene myself,' said I-this is the very moment for inspiration;'-so lighting the candles, and taking a portcrayon and a sheet of paper from the adjoining table, I brought out the lay-figure from its corner, placed it in the attitude I required, and began to draw. "It was the very sketch which, a little while ago, attracted your attention. I had succeeded, as I thought, pretty fairly in catching the general outline, and had begun to mark in a little the shadows of the head, when twelve began to strike upon the great bell of St Paul's. It seemed to me as if at the first stroke the drapery of my model was a little agitated, but seeing that the wind was roaring down the chimney in sudden gusts, and filling the room at times with smoke, I attributed the movement to a passing current of air. Conceive my astonishment, however, when, as the last stroke still vibrated on the tongue of the bell, the figure laid aside the white cloth with which it was covered, hung it carefully over a screen, took down my friend's Montero cap from the top of the easel, placed it on its head, and, bowing to me with great gravity, as if apologizing for being under the necessity of interrupting my studies, walked slowly out of the door, and disappeared. "I have some difficulty, at this distance of time, in recalling to mind the precise effect which this singular apparition produced upon me; indeed, my sensations at the moment must have been blended and confused, yet, so far as I can remember, my feelings were actually more of astonishment than of terror. My eyes dazzled as the creature rose and put on its cap; I sat petrified for an instant, while it stalked across the room, and I could hear distinctly the beating of my heart against my ribs. But this soon vanished; perhaps the wine I had drunk may have steadied my nerves a little, perhaps the very suddenness with which the whole scene had passed before me, left me no time to be fully sensible of its terrors. But so it was. As I heard the street door close, I rose from my chair; an irresistible force seemed to impel me forth in pursuit of the figure;-I determined to see where this midnight pilgrimage was to end, and seizing my hat, which lay beside me on the table, I hurried down stairs, as if under the influence of some overpowering dream. "When I reached the street, I could just, by the dim light, discern the figure as it strode along, about twenty yards before me. There was nobody moving in the street, save the phantom and myself, yet it stole cautiously along by the walls, with all the retiring modesty of a footpad. I was able, however, to trace its progress all along by the glance of the lamps upon the scarlet cap as it passed, and a certain rusty and creaking sound which accompanied its movements, as if the joints did not play with all the facility it could have wished. "It made towards the north, avoidingthe more public streets, and threading the by-lanes and dark alleys with the dexterity of a hackney coachman. Occasionally some passenger, attracted by the uncouth appearance of its head-dress, would stare at it for a moment as it stalked past him; a watchman, as we turned the corner of Covent-Garden market, misled by the strange creaking and rattling of its limbs, sprung his rattle, and began to call out fire; and one of the new police of the B Division, catching a glimpse of its mask, made a blow at it as we plunged into the gloomy region of the Seven Dials. saw him start, however, and recoil with precipitation, when he heard the sound which followed the stroke. It was exactly as if he had smashed a shelf of crockery ware in a potter's shop. "Meantime, the figure kept on its way, still gliding closely by the eaves, and now and then eyeing, with a cautious glance, the occasional passengers whom we encountered in those nameless streets. Once, indeed, I thought, though it may have been fancy, that I saw the creature plunge its hand into the pocket of a man, who came reeling along the pavement, probably returning from some haunt of vice or infamy. But it drew it out again immediately, shook its head with a melancholy gesture, and resumed its way. "I had now lost all notion in what part of London we were, or in what direction we were steering, so dark and tempestuous grew the night, so intricate and perplexed the alleys and courts though which we dived. The lamps, with the exception here and there of one more sheltered from the wind and driving rain, were extinguished by the storm. I saw enough, however, to perceive that we were travelling the lowest haunts of depravity, the very ninth circle of the London Inferno. The sights and sounds were precisely those which the gloomy pencil of Dante has accumulated, even to the sound of hands together smote,' though here, to be sure, they were smote in pugilistic conflict, rather than remorse. Often from cellars, which seemed to yawn under the pavement, like so many entrances to the lower regions, would ascend the roar of drunken revelry, or obscene song, the most fearful execrations from voices, male and female, the noise of subterranean scuffles, groans, and cries for help; while, ever and anon, our path would be crossed by some loathsome victim of vice, staggering towards her home, or laying her houseless head in some doorway or passage for the night. I knew not what to make of the conduct of my skeleton guide. As he passed the door of some of those fearful recesses from whence the sounds proceeded, he would pause, look wistfully down the trap stairs which gave access to those lower deeps, as if anxious to join their inmates, then as if some secret and superior force, powerful as the New Police itself, impelled him forward, he set his joints in order, and moved on.' ( "At length even these sad tokens of human existence and crime disappeared. The streets seemed to widen, the houses to grow larger. Through the heavy rain which still fell, I thought I could occasionally perceive vacancies in the line of houses, as if we were approaching the country. The want of the lamps, |