some beautiful emblem of morality. Isabella rose from her seat, and approached the figure, whose hoary countenance appeared as if lighted up into a placid smile by the beams of the moon, which fell directly upon it; her eye glanced from his face to his scythe; its blade was hidden in a cluster of roses. "Were I susceptible of a superstitious impression," thought Isabella, "did ever a circumstance present itself better calculated to justify its indulgence?" On the pedestal of the figure was a basso-rilievo, in which Time appeared in the act of shivering into pieces the club of Hercules with a crutch. In a few minutes she quitted the scene, which, in spite of her better reason, she could not wholly divest of its prophetic influence, and, proceeding along the winding path, at length descended into the valley. The moon was at this time shrouded in dark clouds; and although, by a painful effort, Isabella Villers summoned all the powers of her vision, the objects around her remained invisible, until the eye had so far accommodated itself to the gloom, as to recognise the white foam of the waterfall. The moon now gave a coy and furtive glance, the water for an instant sparkled in her beams, and then was lost in deeper shadow. A spectre of human form, but of gigantic stature, arose from the spot to which the eyes of Isabella had been directed. Was it the spirit of the Fountain? It appeared to advance, but, the moon once again shining forth in splendour, it vanished;

"and what seem'd corporal melted

As breath into the wind."

The courage of Isabella was destined to sustain another trial, for scarcely had the vision disappeared when she distinctly heard her own name pronounced; and since, from the direction of the sound, she well knew that the spot from whence it issued was inaccessible, we ought not to feel surprised at her having at the instant referred it to a supernatural origin-it was, however, but the illusion of the

moment, and she determined to return to the house and submit the events of the evening to the judgment of Mr. Seymour.

We shall not trespass any longer upon the patience of the reader, than to assure him that Miss Villers, having arrived in safety at the Lodge, very shortly afterwards retired to rest. With your permission, gentle reader, we will follow her example; for, to say the truth, our lamp— that midnight sun which illumines the path of the author— is dimmed by the dark clouds that lower at its setting; our Pegasus, the pen, which has raced for so many hours over the snowy plains of foolscap, is fairly "done up," and refuses any longer to sip of that spring which can alone sustain its powers, and impart utility to its movements.

Ecce!

X

"And these were not fairies? I was three or four times in the thought they were not fairies."

Merry Wives of Windsor.

CHAPTER XIX.

ORIGIN OF THE CRESCENT AS THE TURKISH ENSIGN. APPARITIONS DISPELLED, AND MYSTERIES SOLVED BY PHILOSOPHY. -- FAIRYRINGS, 1 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS CLASSED UNDER THREE DIVISIONS.-MIXED INSTRUMENTS.-THEORY OF WIND INSTRUMENTS. -THE JEW's HARP.-THE STATUE OF MEMNON. AN INTERESTING EXPERIMENT. THE FLUTE. THE WHIZ-GIG, ETC.

ON entering the library on the following morning, Mr. Seymour informed Miss Villers that Major Snapwell had taken his departure in order to breakfast with the vicar, and that he had invited Tom and Louisa to accompany him, for the sake of inspecting the cabinet of medals; but he added, that he expected the return of the party at two o'clock, when he proposed to give them a lecture upon the philosophy of the several toys which are indebted for their action to atmospheric vibrations.

Suppose, then," said Miss Villers, "that we walk towards Forest Lane, and meet them on their return. This

arrangement," she added, "will afford me an opportunity of communicating to you the history of some adventures I encountered last evening, and of taking your opinion upon them."

"You well know," answered Mr. Seymour, "that you may always command my services. But you have really raised my curiosity: what can be the nature of the adventures you speak of?"

Miss Villers then entered into a particular account of all she saw and heard the preceding evening; with which the reader is already acquainted. Mr. Seymour, however, suggested the propriety of abstaining from any discussion upon the subject until the children were present to hear it; for, said he, "I am most desirous that they should be familiarized with those natural sources of illusion which enlighten the wise, while they minister to the superstitious fears of the ignorant."

They had not reached the entrance of Forest Lane, before they perceived the vicar with Tom and Louisa, followed by the Major.

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we

66 Papa," cried Tom, as he ran to meet his father, have had a most delightful morning; amongst other things, do you know we have found out the meaning of the crescent, which the Turks always wear and use as their ensign?"

"Indeed! well, then, let me hear your explanation," said his father.

Major Snapwell and the vicar had by this time joined the party, and with their assistance Tom was enabled to offer the following account of it. The crescent appears on the early coins of Byzantium, and was intended to commemorate the defeat of Philip of Macedon, who, as he was about to storm it on a cloudy night, was discovered by the sudden light of the moon. When the Turks entered Constantinople, they found this ancient badge in various parts of the city, and, suspecting that it might possess some

magical power, they assumed the symbol and its power to themselves; so that the crescent became, and still continues to be, the chief Turkish ensign.

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Well, I must own that you have given me a new and very curious piece of historical information, and I thank you for it," said Mr. Seymour.

"Medals, then, are occasionally of some little use," remarked the vicar, with a sarcastic smile; for, if the truth must be told, the reverend antiquary had been a little nettled as usual by the freedom with which Major Snapwell had criticised some of his rarities: but let that pass.

As soon as the party re-assembled after the excursion of the morning, the circumstances which so greatly astonished Miss Villers on the preceding evening were again related by her.

"My dear young lady," observed Mr. Seymour, "I never heard a better story for illustrating the illusions to which the senses are exposed; and if you will read the second letter on 'Natural Magic,' by Sir David Brewster, you will obtain a ready explanation of your vision: but let us examine it philosophically. In the first place, you acknowledge that your imagination had been previously excited during your ramble through the wood, and more especially by your reverie at the statue of Time; now it is well known that such a condition of the mind prepares and adapts the organs of vision for those illusions which I am about to explain. You have told us that, on your descent into the valley, the moon had withdrawn its light, and several minutes had elapsed before an object became visible, and that was the white foam of the waterfall."

"If I rightly remember, Brewster has stated that the spectres that are conjured up by the imagination are always white, because no colour can be seen at night," observed Mrs. Seymour.

"Undoubtedly," replied her husband; "and as these spectres are formed out of objects whose different parts