osed
to the inspection of the unworthy editor of this memorable history. If
they afford the reader no higher amusement, they will serve, at least,
better than narrative of any kind, to acquaint him with the wild and
irregular spirit of our hero:--

Late, when the Autumn evening fell On Mirkwood-Mere's romantic dell, The
lake return'd, in chasten'd gleam, The purple cloud, the golden beam:
Reflected in the crystal pool, Headland and bank lay fair and cool; The
weather-tinted rock and tower, Each drooping tree, each fairy flower, So
true, so soft, the mirror gave, As if there lay beneath the wave, Secure
from trouble, toil, and care, A world than earthly world more fair.

But distant winds began to wake, And roused the Genius of the Lake! He
heard the groaning of the oak, And donn'd at once his sable cloak, As
warrior, at the battle-cry, Invests him with his panoply: Then, as the
whirlwind nearer press'd He 'gan to shake his foamy crest O'er furrow'd
brow and blacken'd cheek, And bade his surge in thunder speak. In wild
and broken eddies whirl'd. Flitted that fond ideal world, And to the
shore in tumult tost The realms of fairy bliss were lost.

Yet, with a stern delight and strange, I saw the spirit-stirring change,
As warr'd the wind with wave and wood, Upon the ruin'd tower I stood, And
felt my heart more strongly bound, Responsive to the lofty sound, While,
joying in the mighty roar, I mourn'd that tranquil scene no more.

So, on the idle dreams of youth, Breaks the loud trumpet-call of truth,
Bids each fair vision pass away, Like landscape on the lake that lay, As
fair, as flitting, and as frail, As that which fled the Autumn gale.--For
ever dead to fancy's eye Be each gay form that glided by, While dreams of
love and lady's charms Give place to honour and to arms!

In sober prose, as perhaps these verses intimate less decidedly, the
transient idea of Miss Cecilia Stubbs passed from Captain Waverley's
heart amid the turmoil which his new destinies excited. She appeared,
indeed, in full splendour in her father's pew upon the Sunday when he
attended service for the last time at the old parish church, upon which
occasion, at the request of his uncle and Aunt Rachel, he was induced
(nothing both, if the truth must be told) to present himself in full
uniform.

There is no better antidote against entertaining too high an opinion of
others than having an excellent one of ourselves at the very same time.
Miss Stubbs ha