of any bad result being possible from the step, had risen and taken his station outside, locking the door behind him. But a circumstance had occurred while he was in this position which imprinted alarm and anxiety so visibly on his features, that the surgeon, on coming up to him, observed his discomposure at once; and before turning the key in the lock, the medical gentleman inquired if anything had happened. The answer made his own heart flutter with deep emotion. The man said that, while standing alone, a strange and momentary noise had struck upon his ear, coming as if from the apartment within. A suspicion of the truth crossing his mind on the instant, the surgeon opened the door hurriedly, exclaiming: 'Why did you not open it ?-why did you not send for me?' On entering the chamber, the suspicion of the anxious surgeon was verified. The body, which had been left with the face upwards, was found turned upon one side, and blood had issued from the mouth! The exertions which at the time had seemed utterly unavailing, had in reality produced an effect upon the body, evidenced, unhappily, when all had retired from the attempt. The spark of life had actually reanimated for an instant the cold frame, while there was none by to nurse and cherish its glimmering ray into vigorous and enduring flame. The renewed endeavours made no impression. The moment of hope had passed by, unseen and unprofited. What a solemn lesson is this, never, while the shadow of a possibility remains, to cease the endeavour to relight the lamp that has been quenched, for a time only it may be, in the deep waters! THE BORDER WIDOW. IN the course of that memorable expedition in 1529, when James V. proceeded with an army along the Borders in order to quell the numerous freebooters who kept the country in fear, an incident occurred which forms the subject of traditionary story in Tweeddale. The king, after visiting Polmood and Oliver Castle, on the upper part of the Tweed, crossed the mountain tract on the south, into the vale of the Megget, and there suddenly environed the castle of Henderland. This solitary tower was at the time inhabited by Piers Cockburn, one of the most noted marauders in this wild district of country. According to tradition, Piers was sitting at dinner when he was surprised by the king, and without ceremony led out and hanged over the gate of his own castle. While the execution was going forward, his unhappy wife is said to have taken refuge in the recesses of the Dow-glen-a dell formed by a mountain torrent called the Henderland Burn, which passes near the site of the tower. A place, termed the Lady's Seat, is still shewn, where she is said to have striven to drown, amid the roar of a foaming cataract, the tumultuous noise which announced the close of her husband's existence. In a deserted burial-place, which once surrounded the chapel of the castle, the monument of Cockburn is still shewn. It is a large stone, broken into three parts; but some armorial bearings may be yet traced; and the following inscription is still legible, though greatly defaced by time: 'Here lyis Perys of Cokburne and hys wyfe Mariory.' Latterly, the tomb has been preserved from obliteration by the good taste of the late proprietor, Mr Murray of Henderland. On the melancholy incident above related, the following simple and affecting ballad, the Lament of the Border Widow, was afterwards written : 33 'My love he built me a bonny bower, There came a man, by middle day, He slew my knight, to me sae dear; And left me in extremitie. I sewed his sheet, making my mane; I took his body on my back, And whiles I gaed, and whiles I satte ; But thinkna ye my heart was sair, When I laid the moul' on his yellow hair? Nae living man I'll love again, Wi' ae lock of his yellow hair A TALE OF LIFE-ASSURANCE, BY MRS S. C. HALL.* DO not tell you whether the village of Repton, where the two brothers John and Charles Adams originally resided, is near or far from London: it is a pretty village to this day; and when John Adams, some fiveand-thirty years ago, stood on the top of Repton Hill, and looked down upon the houses-the little church, whose simple gate was flanked by two noble yew-trees, beneath whose branches he had often sat-the murmuring river, in which he had often fishedthe cherry orchards, where the ripe fruit hung like balls of coral; when he looked down upon all these dear domestic sights-for so every native of Repton considered them-John Adams might have been supposed to question if he had acted wisely in selling to his brother Charles the share of the well-cultivated farm, which had been equally divided at their father's death. It extended to the left of the spot on which he was standing, almost within a ring fence; the meadows fresh shorn of their produce, and fragrant with the *This interesting little story appeared originally in Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, for which it was written by the amiable and gifted authoress. It has been issued in the present convenient form, for the purpose of universal distribution by all who are anxious to promote that most desirable practice-the insuring of lives for the benefit of surviving families. No. 53. I perfume of new hay; the crops full of promise; and the lazy cattle laving themselves in the standing pond of the abundant farm-yard. In a paddock, set apart for his especial use, was the old blind horse his father had bestrode during the last fifteen years of his life: it leant its sightless head upon the gate, half upturned, he fancied, towards where he stood. It is wonderful what small things will sometimes stir up the hearts of strong men, ay, and, what is still more difficult, even of ambitious men. Yet he did not feel at that moment a regret for the fair acres he had parted with; he was full of the importance which the possession of a considerable sum of money gives a young man, who has been fagging almost unsuccessfully in an arduous profession, and one which requires a certain appearance of success to command success-for John Adams even then placed M.D. after his plain name; yet still, despite the absence of sorrow, and the consciousness of increased power, he continued to look at poor old Ball until his eyes swam in tears. With the presence of his father, which the sight of the old horse had conjured up, came the remembrance of his peculiarities, his habits, his expressions; and he wondered, as they passed in review before him, how he could ever have thought the dear old man testy or tedious. Even his frequent quotations from 'Poor Richard' appeared to him, for the first time, the results of common prudence; and his rude but wise rhyme, when, in the joy of his heart, he told his father he had absolutely received five guineas as one fee from an ancient dame who had three middle-aged daughters (he had not, however, acquainted his father with that fact), came more forcibly to his memory than it had ever done to his ear 'For want and age save while you may; No morning sun shines all the day.' He repeated the last line over and over again, as his father had done; but as his 'morning sun' was at that moment shining, it is not matter of astonishment that the remembrance was evanescent, and that it did not make the impression upon him his father had desired long before. A young, unmarried, handsome physician, with about three thousand pounds in his pocket, and 'good expectations,' might be excused for building 'des châteaux en Espagne.' A very wise old lady once said to me: Those who have none on earth, may be forgiven for building them in the air; but those who have them on earth should be content therewith.' Not so, however, was John Adams; he built and built, and then by degrees descended to the realities of his position. What power would not that three thousand pounds give him! He wondered if Dr Lee would turn his back upon him now, when they met in consultation; and Mr Chubb, the county apothecary, would he laugh, and ask him if he could read his own prescriptions? Then he recurred to a dream-for it was so vague at that time as to be little more-whether it would not be better to abandon altogether country practice, and establish himself in the metropolis-London. A thousand pounds, advantageously spent, with a few introductions, would do a great deal in London, and that was not a third of what he had. And this great idea banished all remembrance of the past, all sense of the present-the young aspirant thought only of the future. Five years have passed. Dr John Adams was 'settled' in a small 'showy' house in the vicinity of Mayfair; he had, the world said, made an excellent match. He married a very pretty girl, 'highly connected,' and was considered to be possessed of personal property, because, for so young a physician, Dr Adams lived in ‘a superior style.' His brother Charles was still residing in the old farmhouse, to which, beyond the mere keeping it in repair, he had done but little, except, indeed, adding a wife to his establishment-a very gentle, loving, yet industrious girl, whose dower was too small to have been her only attraction. Thus both brothers might be said to be fairly launched in life. It might be imagined that Charles Adams-having determined to reside in his native village, and remain, what his father and grandfather had been, a simple gentleman-farmer, and that rather on a small than a large scale-was altogether without that feeling of ambition which stimulates exertion and elevates the mind. Charles Adams had quite enough of this-which may be said, like fire, to be 'a good servant, but a bad master'-but he made it subservient to the dictates of prudence-and a forethought, the gift, perhaps, that above all others we should most earnestly covet for those whose prosperity we would secure. To save his brother's portion of the freehold from going into the hands of strangers, he incurred a debt; and wisely-while he gave to his land all that was necessary to make it yield its increase-he abridged all other expenses, and was ably seconded in this by his wife, who resolved, until principal and interest were discharged, to live quietly and carefully. Charles contended that every appearance made beyond a man's means was an attempted fraud upon the public; while John shook his head, and answered that it might do very well for Charles to say so, as no one expected the sack that brought the grain to market to be of fine Holland, but that no man in a profession could get on in London without making an appearance.' At this Charles shrugged his shoulders, and thanked God he lived at Repton. The brothers, as years moved rapidly on-engaged as they were by their mutual industry and success in their several fields of action -met but seldom. It was impossible to say which of the two continued the most prosperous. Dr Adams made several lucky hits; and having so obtained a position, was fortunate in having an abundance of patients in an intermediate sort of state-that is, |