made no effort to countermand her mission of destruction. She waited patiently till Weir came down to inform her that all was over. Weir made an immediate escape from justice; but Lady Waristoun and the nurse were apprehended before the deed was half a day old. Being caught, as the Scottish law terms it, red-hand—that is, while still bearing unequivocal marks of guilt, they were immediately tried by the magistrates of Edinburgh, and sentenced to be strangled and burnt at a stake. The lady's father, the laird of Dunipace, who was a favorite of King James VI., made all the interest he could with his Majesty to procure a pardon; but all that could be obtained from the king was an order that the unhappy lady should be executed by decapitation, and that at such an early hour in the morning as to make the affair as little of a spectacle as possible. The space intervening between her sentence and her execution was only thirty-seven hours; yet in that little time, Lady Waristoun contrived to become converted from a blood-stained and unrelenting murderess into a perfect saint on earth. One of the then ministers of Edinburgh, has left an account of her conversion, which was lately published, and would be extremely amusing, were it not for the loathing which seizes the mind on beholding such an instance of perverted religion. She went to the scaffold with a demeanor which would have graced a martyr. Her lips were incessant in the utterance of pious exclamations. She professed herself confident of everlasting happiness. She even grudged every moment which she spent in this world, as so much taken from that sum of eternal felicity which she was to enjoy in the next. The people who came to witness the last scene, instead of having their minds inspired with a salutary horror for her crime, were engrossed in admiration of her saintly behavior, and greedily gathered up every devout word which fell from her tongue. It would almost appear, from the narrative of the clergyman, that her fate was rather a matter of envy than of any other feeling.

The execution of this wretched woman took place at four o'clock in the morning, on the 5th of July 1600, at the Watergate, an open spot at the foot of the Canongate VOL. III-O

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of Edinburgh, near Holyrood House. According to her sentence, she was beheaded with an axe. At the same hour, her nurse was burnt on the Castle Hill-an open esplanade which had been a common place for executing this kind of capital punishment. It is some gratification to know that the actual murderer, Weir, was eventually seized and executed, though not till four years after.

ENGLISH CHARITIES AND CURIOUS BEQUESTS.*

GREAT BRITAIN is celebrated amongst the nations of Europe for two happy characteristics-extensive and useful charities, and the security afforded to property. Political revolution, which has from time to time convulsed and changed the condition of society in neighboring countries, has only in one instance been seriously felt in England. And even during the Protectorate, the rights of private property were respected quite as fully as the nature of the times would permit. For this reason, many of the charitable bequests which were made hundreds of years ago, still continue to be preserved, and distributed with integrity. The oldest institutions of a charitable character, therefore, in Europe, exist in Great Britain; some of them having accumulated from small beginnings to a degree of affluence, which has enlarged their sphere of benevolence far beyond the most sanguine wishes of the long-departed donors.

But it is not extraordinary that, out of the vast amount of good which has thus been accomplished, some evils should have sprung. Benevolence, prompted by the best intentions, is occasionally misplaced. In some instances, the objects selected for its exercise are not worthy of, or not even benefited by the giver's liberality. It is, again,

* A Collection of Old English Customs and Curious Bequests and Charities, extracted from the Reports made by the Commissioners for Inquiring into Charities in England and Wales. By H. Edwards. London: Nichols

and Son.

in the very nature of many charities to hold out assistance to persons who would otherwise obtain it by exerting themselves, and thus to withdraw those motives of selfaction and self-reliance which should never be damped even by benevolence. An instance of this kind occurs at Stanton-upon-Wye, Herefordshire. 'George Jarvis, Esq., gave, by will, in 1790, £30,000 to be invested in government securities, in trust, to supply the yearly produce thereof in money, provisions, physic, or clothes, to the poor of this parish, of Bredwardine and Litten. The funds applicable to the objects of the donor's will in these parishes, in 1822, had increased from £30,000 to £92,496 178. 9d. On this case the commissioners observed, "that the population of the three parishes was only 1180, and the income arising from the charity nearly £3000 per annum: it must be obvious that, even under the most judicious system of management, such a charity would be likely to be productive of considerable evils, and accordingly it appeared, at the time of the inquiry, that it had encouraged a spirit of discontent, and a disposition to idleness and improvidence, and had attracted to the parishes numerous persons from other districts, with a view of entitling themselves to a participation in the charity.” Neither is it wonderful, that in a long series of years, many charities should become mismanaged and misapplied; but, upon the whole, it may with safety be affirmed, that these are exceptions, as appears from the Report made by the Commissioners for Inquiring into English Charities. Institutions for the sick and for the young, are happily most abundant and the best supported, because they are the most needed. Hospitals and schools abound in every corner of the country; many of them of ancient date; though the great increase of such establishments has taken place in the present century.

The compilation before us, giving, as it does, accounts of singular bequests, is more curious than important. As a selection from the oddities of posthumous benevolence, it may be placed beside a book of droll epitaphs. Legacies for all sorts of objects and purposes are here recorded. Some individuals, possessing a love of good cheer, have left behind them prandial insurance funds for Christmas

day. 'At St. Mary Major, Exeter, it appears, from a statement of charities in an old book, that John Martyn, by will, 28th November, 1729, gave to the church-wardens and overseers of the poor of this parish twenty pounds, to be put out at interest, and the profits thereof to be laid out every Christmas-eve in twenty pieces of beef, to be distributed to twenty poor people of the parish, such as had no relief, on that day forever.' The chamberlain of the corporation of Stafford pays, to certain old inhabitants of Forebridge, Staffordshire, six shillings every Christmas, to be laid out 'in plums, which are divided into equal quantities, and made up into parcels, one for each of the houses, fifteen or sixteen in number, entitled by the established usage to receive a portion, without reference to the circumstances of the inhabitants. It appears that several years ago the payment was discontinued, but on application from the late Mr. Clarke of Forebridge, it was resumed by an order of the corporation; and from that time the money has been paid to Mr. Clarke during his life, and since to his son, to whom the occupiers of the privileged houses apply on Christmas-day, and receive their plums.' At Piddle-Hinton, in Devonshire, mince-pies, ale, and bread, are distributed every Christmas to upwards of three hundred persons.

Some charities have sprung from quarters whence they are seldom expected. Several instances are noticed of beggars being the founders, either by design or accident, of usefully benevolent funds. There is a kind of poetical justice in those who during life existed upon charity, having their effects distributed in charity after their death. The parish of Upper Holker, Lancashire, 'possesses five acres of land, which were bought by the inhabitants with the sum of 185 guineas, which were found in the pocket of a travelling beggar who died in 1799, in a lodging-house in Upper Holker.' And at Slindon, in Sussex, the sum of £15 was placed in the Arundel Savings Bank in the year 1824, the interest of which is distributed on St. Thomas's day. It is said that this money was found many years since on the person of a beggar, who died by the road-side, and the interest of it has always been appropriated by the parish officers for the use of the poor.'

Bequests for church bell-ringing are numerous in every part of England. Some of them are left by enthusiastic amateurs out of a pure love of the Bob-Major art; others to commemorate victories and occasions of national rejoicing. A variety of modes for commemorating events are provided by testators, prompted either by patriotism or private affection. At St. Nicholas, Bristol, and Stroud, Gloucestershire, provision is made for the preaching of sermons on each anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar. The following is one of the most interesting private memorials in the collection:-' Mrs. Elizabeth Cook, of Clapham, Surrey, widow of Captain Cook, by her will dated 8th April, 1833, gave to the minister, churchwardens, and overseers of St. Andrew the Great, and their successors, £1000 three per-cent. consols, upon trust, to apply the dividends and interest in and towards the keeping clean and in repair the monument and inscription put up by her in the church to the memory of her husband, Captain Cook, and family; as also, a stone in the middle of the said church, with her name and the names of her sons inscribed, and to be inscribed thereon; and after payment of the charges incident thereto, and of £2 annually to the minister for the trouble he might have in the trust, the residue of the interest and dividends to be distributed yearly, on 21st December, equally between five poor aged women of good character, resident within and belonging to the parish, and not receiving parochial relief, to be named by the minister, churchwardens, and overseers for the time being, or a majority. After payment of the legacy-duty, the residue was invested in the three per-cent. consols, in the names of trustees, and produces £27 a year.

There are many bequests for keeping up the ancient custom of ringing a curfew-bell. This is done every night at Chertsey, in Surrey; at Cropredy, Oxfordshire; at St. Margaret's, Kent; at Presteign, Radnorshire; and in several other parish churches. Besides these, a great number of wills are quoted, in which money is left to awaken sleepers in, and to whip dogs out of, church; to encourage marriages, by giving portions to deserving couples; to discourage it, by donations to old maids and bachelors; to strew places of worship with new rushes and straw every

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