"I mean, Davy, that ye micht hae got yersel' made a knicht if ye had been half clever," replied Mrs. Clapperton. "There's been twa provosts o' this burgh knichted, and deil a ane can tell for what; for they never did onything in their lives that was fairly worth thrippence for either Kirk or State, unless it was gaun up to Lunnun wi' a screed o' loyalty and zeal in their pouches frae the toon, whilk they ca'ed an address, to your late king, Charles I., whan he was in his diffeeculties, puir man! Confound a thing else they ever did, for they war baith feckless bodies wi' nae mair gumption in them than's in an oyster." During the delivery of this speech, which he neither by word nor deed attempted to interrupt, the provost kept looking steadily at the fire and twirling his thumbs round each other. He was thinking profoundly, and that, too, on ideas suggested by and in accordance with his wife's remarks. The notion of aspiring to knighthood had never struck him before, but now that it was presented to him it excited the stirrings of ambition within him and appeared before his mind's eye of a very engaging and comely aspect. But how was it to be obtained? There was the difficulty. The worthy provost felt that he had never done anything to warrant him in aspiring to so high an honor, high an honor, and he felt, moreover, that he in all likeli hood never would or could do anything to deserve it; and it was under this feeling that he at length spoke, premising with an affected undervaluing of his fitness to be invested with such a dignity. forters! I doot that wad be considered rather degradin' to the order-degradin' to the order, Peggy." "And what for suld it, Davy?" replied his ambitious spouse. "What for no mak' you a knicht as weel as blin' Tammy Craig, the haberdasher, wha was provost o' Starvieston in the year o' God saxteen thretty-aught, or doited Archy Manderston, the cheesemonger, wha was provost in forty-twa? I'm sure such a pair as thae war to mak' knichts o' never was seen, and yet knichts they war made, Gude save the mark!" "Ay, but, guidwife, they did something for the honor did something for the honor. Mind that-mind that, guidwife.” "Did something for the honor'!" repeated Mrs. Clapperton, in a tone of the utmost contempt. "What did they do but gang up to Lunnun, as I said before, wi' a screed o' loyalty in their pouches? Not a thing else either o' them ever did that was worth a sheep's trotter." ye "Nae ca'!" repeated Mrs. Clapperton. "I just think there never was a better-the king's restoration. Get ye up, Davy, an' tak' my advice. A palaver aboot the joy an' satisfaction o' the magistrates an' inhabitants at large o' Starvieston at the restoration o' His Most Gracious Majesty to the throne, and get ye the carryin' o't up to Lunnun an' the thing's dune. Ye'll come doon a knicht as sure's your name's Davy Clapperton." "No a bad notion, guidwife," said the pro- | tion with which Your Majesty's happy vost "no a bad notion. I wadna care to restoration to the throne of these realms try't, after a'; for it wad be a decent, respectable thing—a decent respectable thing. But me a knicht! It wad be queer;" and the worthy magistrate chuckled at the idea of his transformation into a character so dignified. We do not suppose it necessary to prolong this discourse to show the connection between it and Provost Clapperton's proposition in council of a congratulatory address to the king. This, we presume, will appear sufficiently evident from what we have already given, and it will appear still more evident when we mention that the proposition in question was made the very day after the colloquy just quoted took place. The address proposed by the provost was accordingly drawn up. It was written by Archy Morton, the town-clerk, who was reckoned, in Bailie Snodgrass's phrase, "just an extraordinar' fist at the pen, his quill gaun soopin' owre the paper like a scythe through clover, an' the words comin' doon as fast an' thick as groats oot o' a mill." Such, then, was the redoubted penman who drew up the address in question, and which ran as follows. We give it as a curious specimen of the style then in use in such matters. After a preliminary flourish of titles that would of themselves occupy half of one of our columns, this precious document proceeded : has filled us, and for which we would gladly testify by what means we can our thankfulness and joy. That Your Majesty, who is to us as a crown of rejoicing, as the breath of our nostrils, may long reign over us, we humbly pray, and that it continue till it be brought to a full and blessed conclusion, being willing, on our part, to contribute what lieth in our power, by our earnest care and best endeavors," etc. Such, then, was the address penned by Archy Morton, town clerk of Starvieston, on which rested Provost Clapperton's hope of knighthood. The document being prepared and ready, the next question with the council was how it was to be conveyed to His Majesty, and on this subject there was some pretty smart debate in the council-room, some proposing one way and some another; but, it having been soon discovered from certain hints which he threw out that the provost had an eye to the job, it was at once conceded to him and a day forthwith fixed for his departure on his royal mission to St. James's. On the provost's returning home from the meeting which had decided that he was to be bearer of the congratulatory address, "Weel, guidewife, weel, guidwife," he said, "it's a' settled noo, an' I'm aff to Lunnun the day after the morn. But, to tell ye a truth, I'm no very clear o' the job, after a-no very clear o' the job, after a'-noo that it's come to a point; for I'm no just sae weel acquaint wi' your court tricks an fashions, an' I may mak' a fule o' mysel'-may mak' a fule o' mysel'. I'm tell't there's an unco' paveein' an' scrapin' and booin' aboot thae sort o' his judge, and, with a recommendation to him to be "booin'" whenever opportunity occurred, the worthy pair proceeded to other matters connected with the provost's impending journey. places an unco paveein' an' scrapin' an' | however, were pronounced very passable by booin'. Noo, I never had ony mair practice in that way in my life than just giein' a bit nod to a customer frae behint the counterjust a bit nod frae behint the counter." "Tuts, man!" replied Mrs. Clapperton; "thae's but sma matters to concern ye. Ye'll do as weel's the lave, nae doot. Just do as ye see ithers doin', an' ye canna gang far wrang. But ye micht practeese a wee before ye gaed. Let me see ye mak' a boo, Davy. I mind hoo the laddies used to do't at Mr. Langlegs's dancin'-schule whan I was a gilpie o' saxteen, an' I'll tell ye if ye be richt." Approving of his wife's suggestion, the worthy magistrate forthwith perpetrated a "boo," or at least what was intended for one, although there was very little trace of such a thing in the strange uncouth motion he made. Very weel, Davy-very weel, my man,' said his wife, marking with amiable and laudable satisfaction her husband's efforts to "snatch a grace beyond the reach of art." "But could ye no bend yersel' a wee thing mair, think ye? Ye hae dune't a wee owre stiffly." "I'll try't, Peggy-I'll try't, I'll try't," replied the anxious and willing pupil, and he essayed another obeisance; but, as his bodily condition forbade more than the very slightest possible departure from the perpendicular, we cannot say that he was much more successful in accomplishing the inclination desired by his wife than in the first instance, although he certainly made the attempt, as was sufficiently obvious from the sudden and excessive redness that overspread his coun tenance. "Noo, ye maun gang like yoursel', Davy," said Mrs. Clapperton, thus opening the new department of the discussion. 'Ye maun gang respectable-decent and respectable in everything, as becomes yer means and yer station and yer expectations. Ye maun tak' John Yuill to ride behint ye wi' yer saddlebags and yer ither spare gear, and ye maun get a pair o' new boots and spurs and a cocked hat and an embroidered waistcoat, and a' ither things apperteenin' thereto." แ "Ou, surely, surely, guidwife-surely," replied the provost. We maun mak' a decent appearance before Majesty, a decent appearance, for the credit o' the burgh-for the credit o' the burgh. Sae, see ye, guidwife, to be gettin' a' things ready-a' things ready; and busk oot John Yuill as weel as ye can, and see and mak' him look something Christian-like, although I doot that'll waur ye, guidwife-that'll waur ye." And, in good truth, well might the provost say—or imply, rather, perhaps that to impart to John Yuill the exterior of a civilized being was a matter beyond the reach of his wife's ingenuity; for such another coarse, uncultivated specimen of the human race as Johnny Yuill could not readily be found even by the most assiduous inquirer after such living curiosities. Johnny was a dependent of the provost's, and was usually spoken of as the "provost's man,' His duties in this capacity were va The provost's performances, on the whole, rious, sometimes acting as porter in the shop, sometimes taking a day of the plough or do- | Johnny spoke to the provost with precisely ing other farm-work on a small property of the provost's, sometimes walking in procession before His Lordship as a halberdier in the fringed and party-colored coat, flaming red waistcoat and cocked hat which was the livery of the town of Starvieston-an appointment, this, into which he had been introduced through the provost's influence. In person Johnny was tall and gaunt, the direct antipodes of his master, broad-shouldered and stalwart and of great bodily power, but without a corresponding energy or activity. Uncouth and ungainly in appearance, rough and blunt in speech, forward through ignorance, without one single idea beyond those suggested by his immediate duties and wholly illiterate and uninformed, Johnny Yuill will be allowed to have been altogether a most fit and desirable companion on a journey of some four or five hundred miles. But in the present case the association was not altogether so discordant as might be imagined, since neither in intellectual capacity nor in acquired knowledge was the difference between master and man by any means so very great as to unfit them altogether for each other's society. On the contrary, they were like to put up remarkably well with each other on their journey -the more so that, notwithstanding the difference of their positions and the mighty distance between the several grades to which they belonged, they had always been so perfectly familiar in their intercourse that had not a distinction of dress pointed it out it would have been impossible for a stranger to tell which was the master and which the man. The provost spoke to Johnny in all respects as if he had been his equal, and the same utter disregard of all distinctions of rank; and this friendly familiarity, it was not doubted, would distinguish all their intercourse during their travels and absence from home. All proposed and necessary preparations having been made for her husband's departure by the active, stirring, indefatigable Mrs. Clapperton, the morning fixed on for the latter event found Johnny Yuill standing at the provost's door at an early hour holding two saddled horses by the bridle. The one was for the provost; the other, loaded with an enormous and well-stuffed pair of saddlebags, was for Johnny himself. In a few minutes after out came the provost with a huge cocked hat on his head, a pair of boots that came halfway up his thigh on his legs, a silver-mounted whip in his hand, a sword by his side, and around all, including his own respected person, an ample brown cloak of French cloth. The provost mounted, and, his example being immediately followed by his man, the two started cheek by jowlfor neither of them had any idea of marking their respective ranks by distance-at a gentle jog-trot pace on their journey to the metropolis, and a more odd-looking or more original pair certainly never went in quest of knighthood. On clearing the town and getting a little familiarized with their seats, neither of them being very splendid equestrians, Johnny opened a conversation to which the meek temperaments of their steeds-both heavy, dull, ungainly, hairy-heeled brutes—offered every facility. "Weel, this is a graun business we're gaun upon, provost," quoth Johnny. "Wha'll haud their heads higher than us whan we come doon? | rank themselves between each other, none My faith! we'll keep the cantle o' the caussey was made between them by others. then, I think, provost." "We aye did that, Johnny man-we aye did that; we were aye able to do that- -aye able to do that," replied the chief magistrate of Starvieston, chuckling good-humoredly. "Ay, but there'll be a differ then. Whan ye come doon, ye'll come doon a gentleman, and ye're 'enow but a hosier, provost though ye be. But I say, provost," continued Johnny: can ye tell me hoo the king manages to mak' gentlemen oot o' plain folk like you and me? Hoo's the thing dune, I wad like to ken? It strikes me that he wad need to put them through a mill and bake them up again. I'm sure it wad bother him to mak' a gentleman o' me if he should tak' it in his head to try't, and there's nae sayin' what he may do whan he sees me alang wi' ye." With such conversation they beguiled the way. On reaching the city our original pair of travellers repaired to the Lion and Unicorn, at that time one of the most respectable inns in London, and to which the provost had been recommended by the town clerk of Starvieston, who had put up there on some occasion of his visiting the metropolis, and who always spoke in raptures of the bacon and beans he used to have there for dinner, this being one of the dishes for which the house was most celebrated, and a great favorite with the town clerk, who had some tolerably correct notions on the subject of good living. On arriving at the Lion and Unicorn, the provost and his man were shown into a parlor-the same parlor; for, as they seemed to make no distinction of "Lassie," said the provost, addressing the girl who had ushered them into the apart| ment above alluded to, and just as she was about to retire after having performed this duty, "hae ye such a thing in the hoose as Lunnun porter?" The girl looked with some surprise in the worthy magistrate's face to ascertain whether he was in jest or earnest in making an inquiry to which he ought to have been so certain of an affirmative, and, perceiving that he was to all appearance in the latter-as, indeed, he really was, having put the question oblivious of his being in LondonWhy, to be sure, sir," she said, “we have. It would be a very odd thing indeed if we hadn't." "Aweel, maybe, lassie," replied the provost. "Bring us a bottle, then." "Bring twa," here interrupted Johnny Yuill, in a loud voice, "for I'm dooms dry and'll sen' owre a bottle to my ain share at a waucht, and I'm sure ye'll manage the ither yersel', provost; and if ye canna, I'll help ye wi' that too." 46 Weel, weel, since Johnny's sae dry, bring twa bottles, lassie-bring twa bottles," said the provost. "We don't bottle our po'ter, sir," replied the girl. "No? What, then, do ye wi't?-what, then, do ye wi't?" inquired the provost, a little puzzled. “All draught, sir," said the girl. “All in draught." "Draught? draught'? What's that? what's that, lassie?" said the provost, still more perplexed. |