l

a:

v.

'him.

first road—

\

~ 2 0’! "'1‘ 3. Y. 1.1an UPON A SEA-GULL.

Fl on, fly on, thou noble bird, hat band could aim thy life, IVhen you so proudly brave the storm, And gather pleasuresfiin the strife. Fl on, fly on, and boiildless roam . far, far o’er thine own lake and s it, Since their high waies thou mak’st thy homo, Since their fierce storms are bliss to thee.

But stop, oh stop! I pray thee tell,

(Ifauglit ofgood be in thy tale,) . What impulse makes thee kiss the swell, ‘ " And whv you won the rising gale—'V For oh 1 I feel, when fate doth bring

Itslstorms upon life’s troubling sea,

’Two d be g-glorious, happy thing, > Mic but brave those storms like thee:

Then prylthee tell, when storms o’ercast, Whe‘igoorts and hands heginJo fail, When es that first but blew a bls‘st, Have risen fast to blow a gale— Oh tell' us how, with hearts as light ‘ ' As seems thv wing, thy will, thy form, How we may live in such a night, How we may brave out such a storm. ,

When slander’s tongue its arts employ, To blight a virtuous honest name, When envy’s hand would smite the boy Who seeks to gain a living fatne— ‘ 0h tell them how such storms to brave, For much they need thy magic tale— Alréady are they on the wave, Already yield they to the gale.

And when some poor and honest man Is struggling manful ’gaiusi his fate, Or when some youth has formed a plan (And hard's his task I) to rise, be great: Or when some tender heart's exposed To vile teinptation’s gilded form, Oh teach them how such gale’s opposed, And how to live out such a storm!

Or should some noble, free-born hand

For say or hope that free they’ll be‘,‘ Or should some despot’s iron hand

E'er ’tempt to grasp or bind the free— Oh'pry’thee tell them then thy tale,

How wide vou roam, how far you range,

How on oppose the fiercest gale,

“at you never, never change. A some to me that thould be sweet, \Vhen malice swells its hideous form, When all the perils deign to meet,

Or envious critics raise a storm—- That 'twould be sweet to learn from thee,

How unconcerned we then might sail, Or how to ride this troubled sea,

And laugh at all the furious gale.

~ Moarcrn.

Head ofLake Ontario, June, 1842.

if ‘—

LITERATURE.

THE CHEMIST’S FIRST MURDER. ‘ (From Colbum's New Monthly.) BY LAMAN BLANCHARD, ESQ.

s.

picious by half: Begin, in plain, honest English, ‘ When I

wasn chemist.’ ” “ It means the same thing,” he answered. “The people in Albania, you know, always commence their

stories with ‘ When I was a thief.’ ” “So might some of us iii England, who belong to what Sydney Smith c‘alls ths~un- detected classes of society; but you never heard a lawver, when settled in his easy-chair, opening nnarrative of'the past With, ‘ When I used to ruin halftlie parish,’ nor do re- tired “members of parliament, referring to past periods of

"lfigislation, preface their anecdotes ofpntriotism with, ‘ When

Ipractised bribery through thick and thin?” “You speak,” re- turned thatchemist, sadly, “ ofpeoplc wiser than I am ; people who can very well bear their own rcproaches, so long as they can contrive to escape the world’s. But enough oftbis. When I was a pois—Well, then, when l was a chemist—” “That’s it—now go on.” . . . . “ At. that time London bad the Byron fever. But London contains many Londons, and they all had it with greater or less virulence. Thinking and

thoughtless London—those who read much, and those who never read anything—the large-souled, the little-souled, and the no-souled—every one took the infection. It became quite the fashion, all ofa sudden, to feel. Iron nerves re- laxed, hearts of stone broke to pieces inwardly. There might be some who did not know what to think—yet these could, of course, talk; and there might be a few who, from long- ostoblished habits, fbund it quite impossible to get fast hold of s. feeling—still they could shed tears. Society became a sponge, soaking ‘up those briiiy showers of the muse, which be big rain came Young men wept until their shirt- iless and siturated; young ladies,

only_descended faster and faster, “ and t ‘Bencing to the earth.” collars fell dowu‘stnrcl

sitting on sofas, were floated out of the drawing-room win-

dow into the centre of Grosveuot‘ square; and I verilv be-

but. they were not yet in existence) . _ difliciilty in making their way into families, could have got into n needle‘s eye, they would have _ . For the ladies, however, ldo not

answer positively—l can only vouch for the condition of my You might, have seen them with the

lit, mind—not borrowed; with ; not an American broudsheet that had pi- py ofthe first edi—

lieve that ifthosc cuntos‘( which found some little

extracted a tear from it.

youthful brethren. new voluine—bought—boug the volume itself ‘ rpted its precious contents; with a wet co ting; note smuggled, sneaking, cheating, French version With this volume of world-enc grasped, you might have seen them

street, stopping every now and then, an as to peep at the mighty line within—

jusg‘npd, until they. were breathless—then, curiosity for the passmnntc revelation, they W0l

little further into the sea ofthou every dip. The sensation with

Is thy face like thy mother's, my fair child? constituted an epoch in their lives. It did in mine. third canto was my first rock a-head. bottle from another afterwards. All dr merged into a drug. physio, but 1 worshipp not aspire to write ver thusiastic, exalted, and intense ; it, to recite it silently, accom and mortar, was sufficient cos the pestle and moi-tar accom

shop.” I regarded with a scorn that border

of their bodies—l longed to read them a‘ favourite or two, prescrip. otk'r’nental medicine. Willi ' fly bark I'll swiftly go,

startled tle in applicant for an ounce of the strengthening . and an involuntary application 0 the ever-recurrin , Is thy face like thy mother’s, my fair child? would elicit from the simple girl who came for hartsborn the explanation, swelled.” matter of course, total inattention to “business.” this fact, that I was possessc of one of those things calle cious genius—and it will

“I know not how to begin the story,” said the chemist, sighing heavily, while a slight spasm passed over his sorrowful fiice; “ but when I used to poison people—” “I can’t accept that for a beginning,” said I, interrupting

“Your conscience is over-nice, too sensitive and sus-

hanting wonders tenderly hurrying along the (}l Just opening it so . I . tien hastcnin1r on a little Way, repeating the half-dozen “words that hfeathe” burning with ild glide down a gateway, or shelter themselves at a shop-door, to dive a

ght, bringing up a pearl at which these young people

That

I nebver know one ugs ecame alike-— I hated Apollo in his connection with ad but) in his poetical divinity. I did se—my appreciation of it Was too en- —to read it, to understand panymg myself on the pestle tacy. By degrees, rather rapid, , . panimen‘t was omitted. I ah- Jured all practical superintendence of the affairs of “the

passa e A sudden bui'stg_

_ that in general it was, “only mother’s is Disgust naturally came in time, and with it, as a Add to d, in the person ofan apprentice, d “ treasures”—in short d'preco-

' . _ ‘ readily be understood that a few mistakes in the mixmg of medicines would occur every

'1 ' . now and then. “ Physicians’ prescriptions carefully prepar' ed,” inscribed in gold letters uppi-i purple glass, neatly framed, figured in the window; gird no doubt care was taken to prepare as many as might be presented; but the lad had Unhappily an experimental turn, and he was always for throwing perfumes upon Dr. Somehody’s violets. When he had no particular ground for guessmg how an improve— inent might be effected, he would hazard an alteration for the sake of change,just to keep his hand in; and the bottle to the extreme right, or the draWer to the extreme left, or the jar next to him, had an equal chance _in these cases of being resorted to. The effect 'as sometimes to heighten, to an alarming degree, some peculiar influence delicately iu- fuscd by the learned prescriber, and sometimes to neutrallse altogether the essential principle of the prescription. “Men have died from time to time,” says the poet, “and worms have eaten them-but not for love.” Can this be said of physio? At that time, however, I heard of no disaster. Men died doubtless, and worms (lined. This was perfectly natural. At the worst, if any mysterious cause obtruded it: self, and the death'ofa patient followed immediately upon his taking a new lease oflife from the verdict of a physician, there was always the convenient broken heart to fiill back tipon. Broken hearts were then as plenty as blackberrigs. “ And some,” says Manfred, pleasantly euiunerating the vari— ous disagreeables whereof people perisli—

And some of withered or ofbrokcn hearts, For this last is a malady that slays More than are numbered in the lists of fate.

We always used to set down any little inadverteuce to the inevitable malady, the broken heart. A wrong medicine, perhaps, produced a very embarrassing and equivocal turn in the disease,—which came after a little while to look like a totallydiflcrent complaint—and having an and appearance with it, it was clearly a case ofa broken heart. (The clie- mist groaned heavily, and appeared to labour under an at- tack ofconsciencc.) It Was all very well While the mischiefs that arose,citlier from my own deliberate neglect, or the ap-' prentice’s speculative genius, were uncertain and obscure-— so long as the body ofthe victim was not laid right against the shop-door. But alas! a case occurred one afternoon—- (The Speaker stopped at the very threshold ofhis confession, but after swallowing a glass of water, his faiutness vanished.) I was in the little apology for a parlour behind, reading the fourth Canto, when the treasure of an apprentice, quitting his place at the counter, came to consult me upon something ’ doubtful, either of quality or ingredient, in a prescription, just: presented for preparation. 1 was in the heart ofan enchanting, a soul-enchanting stanza. 1 had got to the lines: Though I be ashes, a far hour shall wreak The deep prophetic fulncss ofthis verse—

when in he broke with an impertinent, an intolerable in- quiry. I answered in the flush of my excitement, any thing ——I named an ingredient or two for the compound offhand, and bid him vanisb—-resuming the passage, and completing the stanza—- ' And pile on human heads the mountain of my'curse. .;

All medicines, however mixed, seemed weak to that idea. Prussic acid could not, so it appeared to me, have kept pads with such poetry. Its effect upon my mind as] iead was, to make the most dangerous and deadly poisons appear con- teinptible, and not worth the care and trouble of'weigliing them out in mere half ounces! But suddenly, after a little time, an idea stole darkly across my mind, of drugs com- pounded, and pills delivered : of an intrusion on the part of the young genius of the shop, an order given by myselfin articulate and peremptory words, and medicines consequent- ly mixed up! But what'a medicine was amongst them— aud what a quantity! Oh, no ; the thought was a frightful one to be sure; but it was only momentary! A horrible suspicion, an agonizing fear, an appalling flash—but it was too acute, too withering to last, and it was over. I sought again the fascinating spell of the pocm—“ And 1 have loved thee, ocean l”—-"0li! Rome, my country l” “There Was a sound ofi'evelry by night.” How! the spell failingL sage after passage, that had never failed me before l.’ it was in vain to attempt to read—in vain to affect tb stracted, meditative mood. The dark, strong, subtle that would thrust itselfiuto my brain, and hold down every idea that struggled to asoend to that “more removed ground.” A sudden dash into the opposite extreme is sometimes ef- fective in these cases; so I got up, walked about, and \vhis- tled considerably out of tune. But a horrid idea took a tighter and more burning bold, and seemed to twist itself round my brain like a redhot wire, as ifit would never loosen again on the cool side of madness! I ceased Whistling and. walking about, flung myself into a chair, seized the magic volume, and opened it at the irresistible page— “ ls thy face like tliy mother’s ?

Mine, as I glanced at the little glass opposite, was like a maniac’s. The likeness ofthe dreadful thought was there —the form ofthe scowling and distorted suspicion was over it—tind it seemed to have remoulded all my features, and my very eyes could not recognise their own reflection in the mirror. ldashed down the book—that broken Wand ofthe enchanter—and rushed forward to learn the worst ;—which was precisely whatldid learn! (Here the chemist swal- lowed another glass of water, and applied his handkerchief to his-forehead.) The customer was gone ; so was the pre- scription; so were the pills. I elicited from my treasure of a lad a verbatim report ofthe instructions 1 had given, the medicine Iliad named, the quantity ordered; and I stood with the feeling ofone impaled,just for a minute longer, to learn distinctly from his lips the deplorable but indubitable fact, that he had scrupulously and religiously observed my dia- bolical instructions. It was enough. By the force of mv sensations, which I had hitherto struggled to suppress, ll seemed to be literally shot out ofthe shop; and in thirty seconds was a considerable distance from the house, flying up the crowded thoroughfare insensible of impediments, and yet finding leisure to scrutinise every passenger’s face, . utterly unconscious that I had never beheld the features of - the_luckless being whom I sought. Then back again Idart-

ed in the opposite direction, seeking the unknown, as ifit were my own soul that had slipped from me, and inwardly offering as lWent worlds per minute for the lost man. All this time I was equally unmindful ofthe circumstance that he had been gonei an hour east west nortli,'or south—I knew not—any more than llshould han known his visage had 1 beheld it before me. Frantic still, but breatllless'nlld exhausted, l returned. The tale was re- peated word for Word—various bottles, their labels and con— tents, were anxiously inspected again and again; as though

stranger had most certainly gone away, bearing with him a box of pills, whereof, by a most pitiless direction inscribed upon the .lid, he was to take two daily. “Heaven!” 1 ex- claimed, “be merciful to the doomed one—he has but eight and forty hours to live! Four of those pills would carry destruction, certain as a gun—shot, to the heart of an empe- ror,‘ or the pulses ofu serfi beretic could escape.” “That’s as sure as death,” remarked my young treasure. And as I turned to look upon the speak- er, I thought I saw in his eyes the gloomy light of the. con- demned cell, and his voice had a harsh and grating sodnd,

. , _ , . ed on d' a like the o ' t tl -’ c ' . the people who waited it, With prescriptions testifyilffgusti; peumg 0 le debml s dam at the Old Bailey.

their miserable and infinitely vulgar concern for the welfare

That night I wandered about the park shunning everybody yet peering as far as-my fears allowed me into every face, expecting to see “ poison” written there. What happinessi past expressmn to have encountered the strnn tier—now now before bedtime! What an unspeakable relief to conscience, t to be able to trace him out, to warn him ofbis peril, and ,. avert his else ineVitable fate! But this was hopeless! My

thoughts raiigedpver all the consequences—the speedy death —the searching inquiry—the prompt detection. 1 well knew to be sure, all the time, that the world is amazingly indul: , gent and charitable on all these occasions—1 was aware that

the pubhc verdict universally agreed to in these cases Ol mistake, is, that nobody on earth is to blame and that the indiyidual Whose inadvertence prevedfatal is’a person Well known and greatly esteemed for his peculiiir carefulness. l weesconscwus that the chemist, so tin- from being deemed culpable, Would most likely obtain, through the medium ol the shocking occurrence, a. character for caution that he

Pct.

" siveiiess—“You prepared

the discovery of

there were some remote possibility of a latent chance of mistake. There could be uone-—-there was none. The.

Neither Turk, Jew, infidel nor

- cla- never possessed before._ But this to me afl'ordfeldenmfi,::ensand tion no hope of a reSpite' from the pangs 0 pl”)

’ ~- ' fliorses and them 1 8 the sentence ofthe law. The Ildnlp'O r a of fetters. of wheels iii the distance, sounded like the ratt in: d ' ' - - - f the moon looke no [he night giew dark, the rays 0 rd “en th as a brighter than the grating ofa .dungeon; an a . gel; ap- snhle cloud hung over the white yapour round it, . ’ u )on peared to my affi-ighted eyes the iinagc of a black gigging to the wig ofiustice. Next day, Igatnercd courage t afasuch take an eminent physicmn’s opinion .as to the e co S V t ' a medicine—two pills at a time until, the box was eiiiaply); Hisjudgment was clear and final. The patient can _ bed live to take a tithe of them. 1 went to another (llStll‘tgillSd' authority with my suppositious caSe—he was equalyd tinct and undoubting. Four pfthem would have cairic d. Methuselah in the prime of life! Ireturned home—to in- ner. Dinner !—‘—Thc cloth resembled a large weeklyanfiifilse- paper, with wood engravmgs, faithfully l'epiesefz‘ntini,” At culprit as he appeared at the bar on the day or don- uight I slept, indeed; but apii'y oftwelye well- e on b _ ers were sitting on my stomach, determined not to retireh 8‘ cause they were agreed upon their verdict. Lvery_ (In?! after the second day, I expected to hear of the IIIFV’IIZ? e calamitv. l pictured the sufferer dying—l pictuied in) dead. ‘Theii Irecalled him to life, by that stomach—pump process by which the imagination in. its extremity worksi and felt that he might possibly surVive through the tlipr‘ day. But at length lknewhe must be dead——and now at the revelation. ‘Vas he a. son—a father? His relations would never permit him to perish so, Without an inquiry. \Vas he l’l'lill‘l‘led—W’Ollld his wife be taken up on suspicion of having,r poisoned him? Was he a reSIdent any wnere 13 the neighbourhood—and should. I myself be summohe upon the inquest? Every question had its separate sting. Often thousand daily speculations, each inflicted its ex— cruciating torture. But days rolled on—-sum‘ise, noon, sun- set, night—all regularly came round-gud brought no dis- covcrv. Not a “shocking occurrence, not a “ horrgble event,” was to be found in thejournnls, morning or evening. It amicared,just at that time, as though the wheels of the World were rolling round without; running over any body. In the vast crowd of society, not a toe was trodden on. hi- ther the reporters were dead, or “fatal accidents” had gone quite out of Fashion. It is true, that no stranger, duringr a Whole fortnight, set his foot within the shop Without throw- ing me into an argue-fit. It is true that, throughout the same period, my eye never fell upon man or Woman clad in mourn- ing, without turning to a ball offire in my head, with the consciousness that it beheld one of the bereaved arid injured relatives ofmy innocent victim. Still no sign of detection came; and although my bitter self-reproaclies continued, my horror of the latter began considerably to abate, _ When

[Here the chemist once more paused, and-raising, not a glass, but a tankard oficed water to his lips, his disturbed countenance totally disappeared for a few minutes] One afte‘i'uoon as l was standing in a more tranquil mood at the farther end ofthe shop, gazing at the chimneys of the opposite house, and inwardly murmuring, "' ls thy face like .3" I proceeded no further with the apostrophe, for at that in- stant my treasure of an apprentice flew to my Side, crushed one ofmy toes under his thick shoe, and compressed his whole volume of voice into a soul-awakening whisper, as be said, “This is him!” Him! I immediately looked at the object so ungrammatically indicated. There stood before me a tall, gaunt, sallow-visaged man of forty-five. His eyes were dull, and his jaws Were thin. He looked like one who' had suffered, whether abroad or at home, much sickness— bad exposed an iron frame to severe trials in strong and searching remedies—had borne their effect' well, and lived on in hope ofa cure. There he stood—who was be? The treasure, in whose eye there was a ray of satisfaction, darted a significant glance at me, which seemed again to say, “This is him,” as he bent forward a little, overrthe counter, to as- certain the customer’s wishes. “ Young man,” said the strangerv-his lips were quite dry. and his voice very hollow ‘fYottng man, observe me l” Here he looked intently in- to the treasure’s'fzic'e, and continued with peculiar impres— ine some pills lately—l see you have not forgotten—some pills, I say—look, here is the pre- scription! Ah, you recognise it. Yes, it was you indeed who served me. Pray. mind then what I say. Let me have another box ofthose pills; exactly, mind, exactly, like the last; for never did I procure pills any where that did me half so much good l”