the fallest information, he arrived in London, and associated himself with the principal manufacturers then on the pot. His first object was to prepare a cigsted view of the actual state of the ceton trade in Great Britain in 1788, wich he presented to the Minister Mr. FL, who, until that period, had no mans of procuring a general view of the rise and progress of this important manufacture Mr. Colquhoun was further employed in preparing papers for the press calculated to elucidate the bject, and for the purpose of distribaton among the Members of Parliaent and of his Majesty's Government, with whom, and with the East India Directors, conferences were at different fixes beld. As the result, an Act of Parliament was obtained exempting British manufactures from auction duty, in contemplation of public sales after the manner of the East India Company, as the means of extending the demand of British manufactures, and of rendering them better known on the ContiDent by a cheaper diffusion. Mr. Colquhoun, returning to Scotland by the way of Manchester received, on the 12th of June, the thanks of the manufacturers for his services in London. On the 29th of the same month, a very numerous meeting of the manufacturers of Glasgow voted their thanks for the services rendered the trade which was followed up on the 24th of the same month by a similar vote from the manufacturers of Paisley.

On the 19th of March of the same year, the Governors and Council of the Forth and Clyde Navigation, unanimonsly voted their thanks to Mr. Colqahoun, with a piece of plate, value 10%, in testimony of the benefits derived by the proprietors from his serVices in the management and superin. tendance of that important establishment, and which has since proved also so asfal to the country. At the close of the present year, 1788, Mr. Colquhoun west to Ostend, being then a depôt for East India goods, to ascertain how far Bilar British manufactures could enter into competition in the sales in that part After making arrangements for an experiment the ensuing spring, he returned to London in January 1759, and finished a connection which promis. ed to prove highly beneficial to the trade at large; but the jealousies which arose among some of the more opulent manufacturers ultimately defeated one

of the best measures which could have been adopted for the benefit of the whole, and which afterwards became a subject of regret with some of the leading opposers, and a great disappointmeat to a numerous class of industrious manufacturers, who looked forward to the measure with a well-founded confidence that it would have been the means of renovating the trade then greatly depressed.

In the spring of the year 1789, Mr. Colquhoun visited Flanders and Brabant, to open a mart in those countries for the relief of the then distressed manufacturers, and returning to London, he continued nearly three months constantly engaged in various objects connected with the improvement of the commercial and manufacturing interests, and having succeeded in various points of great importance, by conferences with the Minister, he returned to Glasgow early in the month of August, having during his absence accomplished the following important objects :

1st. His efforts in Flanders and Bra-t bant rendered the then infant manufactorics of muslins known on the Con-> tinent, and which ultimately laid the foundation for that extensive demand which afterwards took place.

2d. He procured a renewal of the act obtained by him in 1783, allowing a drawback on bleaching materials which, but for his exertions at a critical mo-* ment, would have been lost.

3d. He procured certain amendments to be introduced into the Excise Tobacco Bill, which removed the objectiouable parts so as to meet the wishes of the importers and manufacturers.

4th. He was instrumental, after great exertions at a very critical moment, in procuring the insertion of the names of the merchants in the City of Glasgow, who had property confiscated in Ame rica during the war, in a bill brought into Parliament, which enabled the parties concerned to recover a very considerable sum of money which would have been otherwise lost.

5th He procured the passing of an Act to exempt piece goods exposed to sale by public auction so as to place the goods on the same footing as the piece goods sold by the East India Company.

6th. He finally arranged with the parties in London the great and important plan of a Cotton Hall for the sale of British manufactures in London, free of auction daty, on the same footing as

East India goods in respect to foreign purchasers, by a general periodical exhibition, supported by a very large capital, for the assistance of the manufacturers, and to be available in anticipation of the sales; and had the manufacturers been universally true to themselves, and had not the French war soon after taken place, the benefits which would have resulted from this great national establishment would have been incalculable.

In the month of November in the year 1789, Mr. Colquhoun finally settled in London with his family--still continuing his exertions in promoting every object which tended to give vigour and prosperity to the trade and manufac tures of Great Britain; and in affording his assistance in promoting useful legislative regulations whenever they were found necessary, during the years 1790 and 1795. In 1792, the state of the police of the metropolis being long a subject of reproach, from its inefficiency and from the want of a proper and more intelligent magistracy, an act was passed in this year, authorizing the establishment of seven public offices, with three justices to each, under a parliamentary establishment, and Mr. Colquhoun having been appointed to one of these offices, he immediately turned his attention to the subject of police, to the errors and imperfections of the then existing system, and to the means of improvement.

A paper among the Lansdowne MSS. in the British Museum, records the following curious circumstance respecting the unfortunate Charles the First, and one of his favourite Courtiers, the youthful and accomplished Lord Falkland, who was slain in a skirmish in which he had rashly and unnecessarily engaged, the day before the first battle of Newbury:

"About this time, there befel the King an accident, which, though a triLe in itself, and that no weight is to be laid upon any thing of that nature; yet

since the best authors, both ancient and modern, have not thought it below the majesty of history to mention the like, it may be the more excusable to take notice of.

"The King being at Oxford during the Civil Wars, went one day to see the public Library, where he was shewn, among other books, a Firgil, nobly printed and exquisitely bound. The Lord Falkland, to divert the King. would have his Majesty make a trial of lis fortune by the Sortes Virgiliana, which every body knows was an usual kind of augury some ages past. Whereupon the King opening the book, the period which happened to come up was that part of Didos' imprecation agains Eneas, which Mr. Dryden translates thus:

·

'Yet let a race untam`d, and haughty foes. His peaceful entrance with dire arms op pose;

Oppress'd with numbers in th' unequal field His men discouraged and himself expelled. Let him for succour sue from place to place. Torn from his subjects and his sons embrace First let him see his friends in battle slain And their untimely fate lament in vain; And when at length the cruel war shall

"It is said, King Charles seemed concerned at this accident, and that the Lord Falkland observing it, would like wise try his own fortune in the same manner, hoping he might fall upor some passage that could have no rela tion to his case, and thereby divert the King's thoughts from any impression the other might have upon him. Bu the place that Falkland stumbled upon was yet more suited to his destiny that the other had been to the King's; be ing the following expressions of Evan der upon the untimely death of his sot Pallas, as they are translated by the

same hand :

O Pallas! thou hast fail'd thy plighter word

To fight with caution, not to tempt the sword:

I warned thee, but in vain; for well 1 knew

What perils youthful ardour would pursue That boiling blood would carry thee too far Young as thou wert in dangers-raw in war!

O curst essay in arms,-disastrous deom,Prelude of bloody fields and fights to come.' Ibid. B. xi, 1, 230

EXTRACTS FROM A LAWYER'S
PORTFOLIO.

(Continued from page 100.)

appears from the Regiam Majestatem, that Trial by Jury was used in Scotland as early as David 1st, 1124. From Olaus Wormius (Monu. Danm. cap 10. p. 72. that the trial by twelve men was introduced into Denmark by Regnerus, who began to reign in 820, from whom it was borrowed by Ethelred. Tis not improbable that our jury decided originally without a judge all controversies within a certain district. We are in the dark concerning their proceedings till the time of Edward II. when the Year Book began. Unanimity was required, 1st, out of mercy to the prisoner; Edly, from the danger of attants against jurymen; 3dly, to prevest any individual from being obDoxious to the crown or to parties. In the time of Henry III. this unanity was not required in the first twelve impannelled, for, according to Bracton, if they disagreed, a number equal to the Cissentients, or at least six to four, were added. From Fleta it seems this was the practice in the next reign, but the judge then appears to have had a power to oblige the first twelve to agree. In Scotland the decision is by a majority even of one, and the number is fifteen. Aldermen and citizens of London in the third Henry's reign had the privilee for a trespass against the King to be tried by twelve citizens, for a murder by thirty, and for trespass against a stranger by the oath of six citizens and hunself. (Fide Fabian's Chronicle.) -Hikes, in his Thesaurus, the most learned research into Saxon antiquities, proves it was unknown to the Saxons, and supposes it was introduced into England by Henry II. (Ibid.)" ...... Such were the contents of a torn Paper which the wind wafted to the feet of Sheriff Elliott, as he took his morning walk. He said as English lawyers are wont to say on a more important occasion spy a Brother;" and pened the next fold with great care and curiosity.

"It is remarkable, that the English have always preserved an even number in their juries; thinking, perhaps, that among every twelve men there will be a ajority of wise ones, or that the wise nority may always govern the majority of fools: but, saith my learned friend Silas Mucklequack, commonly Burop. Mag. Fol. LXXIII. Mar. 1818.

་

Mr. Elliot looked round for the probable owner of these citations, but saw no one except an old hen-wife at the door of her cothouse. "Truly," said he to himself, this rogue's wit runs through his law like quicksilver through a tube of tough leather-What will come next?"-But he found only a few lover-like verses addressed to an "Elfin Arrow," commonly called a Scotch pebble.

Neil Elliot, Sheriff-depute of a Scotch district, had once claimed only the humble designation of writer to the signet but powerful connections, quick talents, and a happy address, placed him soon among the most important commoners in the west-country. He was as earnestly sought on festival-days as at magisterial meetings and arbitraments & and perhaps the fragment he had found was more touching to the humorous than the legal polity of his character. He perused it twice before he noticed a letter lying on his breakfast-table, addressed to him in the same hand-writing. It contained a concise and modest petition for employment among his junior clerks, with an intimation that family circumstances deprived the writer of any recommendation, except that which the Sheriff's benevolence might find in his diligence and integrity. Mr. Elliot held this appeal in his hand when his servant entered to remove the mul tifarious abundance of a Scotch breakfast; and after some preamble, he enquired if the person who waited his reply had the air of a lawyer's pupil or clerk.

Silas Mucklequack was on some occasions a clerk himself, and be answered

C6

his master's question with professional gravity-" An' he's to live like ane of us, sir, by what comes frae his mouth, he's right to put sae muckle into it. I ne'er saw sic a keen set lad."-"I asked you," ," said the Sheriff, hiding an extra dimple in his sleek face, whether his appearance and dimensions are such as would be decent in my office, and suited to his profession?"-" He'll do well enow," answered honest Mucklequack-" he has made an unco stir among the old rats in the barn-Its my thinking, sir, he would dieve a whole synod of elders."-Elliot stopped him by issuing his command for the youth's introduction, and presently a stranger stood before him, whose dress, though gentlemanly, was soiled, as it seemed, by a long journey on foot, and unsuited to the singular delicacy of his form and aspect. "Your name is Milton?" said the Sheriff, smiling at his visitor's resemblance to that soft and blooming beauty which the great bard is said to have possessed when a female troubadour left her tablets by his side to express its effect. The youth's eye had indeed that tender brightness and transparency observed in early portraits of Milton in his boyhood, shaded by the same kind of waving hair, whose rich tint was hardly required to embellish by contrast the extreme fairness of his cheek. The Sheriff thought that such must be the eye which, according to Scotch proverb, may "split a stone," and addressed his enquiries with more blandishment than success. Young Milton's tone was coldly reserved, and his answers only amounted to repetitions that he had no friends or home, and would consider humble and gratuitous employment as bounty till his abilities had been manifested.

The Sheriff had seen something more in Mucklequack's evasive auswers than the mere dryness of privileged humour; and having dismissed the petitioner with a request to await his determination till the next morning, he began a private and close scrutiny with his servant. But the servitor of the law had been too long acquainted with demurs and detours to yield his secret easily and Elliot needed all his skill to wring from him that Milton was the offending and discarded son of a neighbouring gentleman, whose inflexible character was well supported by his ample fortune. He discovered also that no slight error could have caused the total dismission

of an only son loved even to dotage, and generally expected to enjoy all that the courtesy of Scotch laws allows a reputed father to bestow. The Sheriff formed his own opinion, and mounted his horse to visit Cunningham of Blackire himself,

A large round promontory, single and detached from the long link of heathy hills behind and opposite, and still more distinguished by a black covering of forest-trees, gave its name to Cunning. ham's mansion. As Elliot plunged into the road which led him into its depths of shade, he mused on the fittest means of introducing his purpose to a father whose character was too upright to permit a suspicion of unjustified resentment, and too stern to allow easy atonement. His meditations were ended by Cunningham's approach on horseback. They were little more than strangers to each other's persons, but, as is usual in remote districts, fully acquainted with the situation and repute each possessed, The Sheriff's heart and countenance were well suited to an intercessor, and he opened his mission with the gentlest caution towards the feelings of an angry parent and the safety of a son who had thrown himself on his protection. Cunningham of Blackire listened courte ously but unmoved, and answered in ambiguous hints respecting the punishment due to felony, and the scandal of insulting a young female under her guardian's roof. "Let him work, sir!" he suddenly exclaimed, with an almost purple flush of indignation"wiser laws than our's have deemed labour a more useful punishment than imprisonment or death.”—“ Blackire," replied the Sheriff gravely, "I have been compelled to study human nature, and cannot believe that the miseries heaped on a young mind will fertilize it as the most disgustful compost enriches the earth. This coarse thought is itself a sample of the fruits which such cultivation produces. Hard and insulting usage in youth removes the soft bloom both of virtue and beauty; and for myself," he added, hiding his carnest purpose in a facetious air, "I would prefer a foot with a corn or chilblain to one made callous by going bare through stony paths. The corn would shrink from too rough approach, and the chilblain might be cured by gentle warmth, but the hard bare foot would probably go through mire and thorns without feeling."

Blackire made no reply, and turned his horse into another road, while Shenff Elliot directed his homewards, weighing the indirect accusations he had heard, and endeavouring to guess the person who had suffered these supposed outrages.

Cunningham was a bachelor like himself, and had no female guest at present, ercept an orphan neice under pupillage, and her governess. Common rumour bad indicated that he wished to unite bis ward and his acknowledged son, who could have had no temptation, therefore, to any clandestine or injurious act; and how could theft be plausibly imputed to the presumptive heit of such abundance! Elliot returned embarrassed and undecided to his home, where his suitor awaited him with a calm countenance, which he examined strictly while be announced the failure of his mediation: “Bat," he added, "your father sends you this purse to... ."-" Would he give me another blow" said Milton Cunninghim, and, as he recoiled from it, his countenance darkened into a startling resemblance of his father's. The Sheriff, still influenced in his favour by feelings which he chose neither to resist nor define, forbore any farther comment, and detained him under his roof, without distinctly expressing his opinions or designs. On the sixth day, a cadet's Commission arrived from London, followed by suitable equipment, appearing to proceed from his father. Young Millos received them with a cold and stub born sullenness, which induced the Sheriff to change his measures. Without preamble, he began by a sudden and direct appeal to his conscience, for the same reason that men attack marble with iron, and hard metals with a file. He named the broad and heavy charge indicated by his father, and the rumours which his silent obstinacy warranted. He intimated, that the noblest and strongest self-command was shewn by meeting the enquiry, and enduring the censure even of a judge too austere. Milton answered coldly, but with singalar expression, A lie has no feet" -and began to prepare for his long

Torage.

Elliot saw him go to the place of embarkation without the slightest departure from his gloomy reserve, or the least abatement of that indifference which he had always shewn to suspicion of disgrace. But when the boat was

ready, and the Sheriff's eyes moistened as they took their last glance, Milton' stepped back, and put a small sealed packet into his hand. "It is addressed," "to the donor of all I now said he, possess, and I know, though I have not expressed, how much I owe him; Let him preserve this till my return, or till he hears of my death."-" Only say that your accuser is mistaken!" returned the Sheriff eagerly-but Milton shook his head, and leaped into the boat in silence. His youth, his affecting countenance, and even his obduracy, gave him a kind of mysterious hold on his patron's mind, which retained all the legendary romance of the Border Elliots, blended with the lavish kindness of unoccupied affections. He hoarded the packet entrusted to him with inviolable reverence to its seals; and perceiving by its address that Milton recognized his benefactor, he thought of him incessantly with that gladdening warmth which the grateful give to the beneficent.

A

Three years passed away without any communication between the father and son, or any apparent change in the former's inflexible resentment. Nor was there any material alteration in his family affairs and general conduct, except more. ostentatious splendor on some occasions,, and querulous litigation on others. summons had been issued against him for "count and reckoning" by the tutors and curators of a young heritor ; or, as English lawyers would phrase it, for an adjustment of accompls with a minor's guardians. Though the subject of dispute seemed trifling at first, other claims and unexpected pleas be came entangled with it, till the dissolution of Cunningham's large property seemed inevitable. Many pitied the disastrous progress of a litigating spirit, and a few were anxious to preserve Cunningham's mind from ruinous despondency. Neil Elliot stood aloof, half-resenting the ill-success of his me diation, and more than half-suspecting some deeper cause for his neighbour's dejection. He always believed that wounds of the mind, whether given by grief or guilt, resemble those of the body, where time makes a callus of an outward hurt, but a cancer of a

hidden one. Therefore he preferred open faults and grievances to any disguise, and sought no intimacy with a man whose impenetrable character seemed like the smooth stone laid over