husband. To achieve that purpose, he made his way to the old market house, in the upper room of which, the "great unpaid" assembled to administer justice. In the retiring-room he found several country gentlemen, all busy discussing the quality of their horses, the character of the crops, and the prospects of the Russian war. He was received by them with great warmth, especially by Ralph Poinder, who was that day to sit as the presiding magistrate. Without hesitation Lester broached the subject then uppermost in his mind, and stated his conviction, that not only was the man innocent, but even had he been guilty, so hard were his circumstances, that in Christian charity he should only be admonished and then dismissed.

Dismissed," roared Colonel Towers, an old Fox-hunter, "why, if he were dismissed, I would not promise that a head of game would be left in the shire by this day twelvemonth. No! no! No dismissal, but let the fellow have a turn in gaol, and that will frighten a score of fellows from poaching."

"That's exactly my opinion," put in Squire Bezley. "I would soon stop poaching if I had my will. Every fellow caught with a brace or a hare, I'd transport, and that would soon bring the remainder to their senses. Labourers don't mind a month in prison, but they are frightened at transportation."

Captain Oscott suggested, "that probably it would not be advisable to stop poaching altogether. I am one of those," he continued, "who think that positive good and not merely evil results from poaching. The risk run by those poacher fellows, through the many dangers by which they are surrounded, added to the fact that their calling is pursued in cold dark nights, begets a certain hardihood of body and mind, with a perfect contempt of danger, that is highly laudable and worthy of esteem. I never knew, or heard of a poacher who was a coward. Even if a fellow is given to tremble at danger, he soon ceases when fully entered upon the poacher's calling. They all make capital soldiers; of this, I speak from long experience. I had three of them in my company in the Affghan war, and not only were they the boldest fellows in the lot, but they seemed to impart their dare-devil spirit to all the rest. So that I would not kill poaching altogether, but try only to keep it within bounds."

Many of the listeners to this speech were greatly astonished that an officer known to be remarkably severe upon all offenders, should undertake to plead thus distinctly in favour of poaching, but the fact was that he had read something of the kind in an old number of the "Sporting Magazine,' and merely repeated it as his own. Some who heard it, being ignorant of the source of his inspiration, were quite as much inclined to support as to oppose the theory. But Ralph Poinder cut the matter short by asking whether the old race of housebreakers and footpads were not brave men, and whether upon the same theory they should not be preserved from ruin ?

Lester suggested that probably they who generally discussed the question were led to their conclusions more by their preconceived opinions than by the general bearings of the facts. "To my mind," he continued, "the game laws seem to be well-calculated to create criminals, not to reduce their numbers. My experience in the matter is very limited, but from what I have seen in Crosswood, I should say that half the number of those who are transported for burglaries began their career of crime with poaching."

"All criminals begin with something," interposed Oscott, "but we do

not always condemn the object which first attracted them."

"No," answered Lester, who perceived the meaning which his language badly conveyed, "but the present condition of the labourer, and his relation

to the preserves of his master, are peculiarly adapted for developing the latent passion for acquiring food without labour. My receipt for making a poacher is very simple. Take a poor unmarried man, or even a married man with a family, whose natural sense of right and wrong has been but slightly cultivated, keep him cool in winter by fixing his wages at a sum below what is requisite to obtain fuel, and from the same cause he will be kept hungry; place that man in the midst of game preserves, and let him know that hundreds are ready to purchase all that he can snare, without calling him a thief, or deeming him sinful, and if he do not turn out a poacher then he will prove a model of virtue. I would that, for the sake of the poor, all the game in England were at the bottom of the Atlantic. But, gentlemen, what has this to do with poor Walters? He is not a poacher." "But the hare was found under his frock," said Bezley.

"And I protest against discussing the case before we have heard the evidence," observed Poinder. "So, gentlemen, with your permission, I will lead the way into the court.'

The worthy magistrates, all game preservers, took the hint, and Lester entered the room to seat himself at the solicitor's table.

When Walters appeared at the bar, it was pretty evident he was not one of those who fed upon partridges, or who had fallen into the habit of making free with the property of their neighbours. He was a tall gaunt man, with a pallid half-starved looking face, rounded shoulders, slouching gait, and a marked serf appearance. He wore not the ring of Gurth around his limbs, but seemed to have worn it round his spirit until that better self had been literally broken and crushed. A blue checked shirt, red handkerchief, greenish smockfrock, corduroy trowsers, and a pair of highlows, made up his dress ; except that he carried in his hand an old straw hat, which, like all else about him, was worn down to its last. Catching at a knot of hair, which constituted his forelock, he ducked down, intending the strange swaying motion for a bow to the arbiters of his fate.

With all his seriousness, Lester could hardly avoid laughing at this ridiculous attempt at politeness, but before the emotion had spread itself over his cheek, he was stricken with a sense of sorrow by the inexplicable shade of grief which rested upon the hungry face of the prisoner. There was nothing intellectual or attractive in his countenance, but much which, under other circumstances, would have been called repulsive; now, however, that tears ran down the deep furrows in his cheeks, the consciousness of his inward agony chased away all other thoughts, and raised him immensely in the Rector's estimation.

The charge was preferred against him, in the regular manner, by the policeman and the gamekeeper, and when it had been amply proved that the hare was found under his smock frock, and the case for the prosecution had closed, Walters was called upon to make some answer to the charge. This, however, was beyond his humble powers. All he could say was— "For the love of God, good gentlemen, have mercy upon me. merciful unto me. I didn't go a poaching, indeed I didn't. I never poached. I hot her with a stone, and did'nt mean to kill her. Oh, for the love o' God, good gentlemen, have mercy.'

Be

But there was none to be shown. Upon the bench there sat several good men, charitable and generous; many honourable and well-intentioned men, who could not designedly have injured a worm, but under other circumstances would have subscribed liberally in order to relieve the distresses of the

prisoner. Yet now that he was there as a poacher, their bowels of compassion were closed against him, and their passion as game preservers caused them to view him rather as a personal enemy than as a poor suffering man. The chairman, Ralph Poinder, whispered into the ears of those nearest to him, and it was evidently their intention to deal with the case very severely. Lester saw this, and leaning over to the man said some few words in a tone so low that they were not heard by the court. But the prisoner heard them, for he turned suddenly round and cried out :—

"Yes do, Mr. Lester, for God's sake do get me out of this, and I'll swear never to touch another hare, not if she lays dead at my feet."

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Gentlemen," said Lester, "the prisoner has placed his defence in my hands, and, although unused to the forms of a court, I cannot doubt of your listening to my observations, neither can I doubt that you will make every possible allowance for the difficulty of my position, should I violate your usages. I ask you to give me a hearing, because I could not rest in peaceI could not ask God in my nightly prayer to protect me, were I to leave this court without trying to win the prisoner's discharge. He is one of my flock, and, as an English clergyman, as a Christian man, I feel bound to make an appeal in his favour. Will you permit me to address you?

دو

"It is entirely out of order," said the Chairman, "because you are not in the legal profession. Yet, out of respect for your position, we will suppose that you are speaking as a witness to character. You may proceed."

Then, Sir," said Lester, "I shall not venture to touch the legal side of the question; that I leave entirely in your hands, merely soliciting you to read the law as leniently for the prisoner as the performance of your duty will permit. I shall merely appeal to you as men, to remember the weakness of our common human nature, and, as true Christians, to bear in mind that charity and forgiveness of injuries belong to our daily duties. That man, as I have discovered, has suffered much through ill health, and probably there is not another in Crosswood who has endured more. Frequently, when we sat before the well-covered board, he with his wife and children crept with empty stomachs into bed, hoping to sleep away the painful sense of hunger. It is true that the Union gates were opened for him, but had he entered, his wife and children would have been parted from him; and if the feelings of the husband and the father rose into rebellion against the separation, we will not judge him unkindly for his error. But if it be granted that he violated the law by killing the hare, must we not grant, also, the greatness of the temptation? Which of us, placed in his circumstances, as I have made them known to you, could have resisted it? Did he break God's law when carrying the slain beast home for his family? If we are to ask of heaven forgiveness of our sins, must we not all desire them to be as light as that for which he now seeks forgiveness from this Court?"

"We sit here," interposed Bezley, "to administer the laws of the land, and ought not to permit you to insinuate aught against them."

"I do not argue against the law of the land, neither is it my desire to lead men to violate it, but I cannot avoid perceiving, that when our poor human laws clash with those of Heaven, it becomes a positive duty on our part to side with the latter; and if you send this man unpunished away, then will you be acting in accordance with the law of God. Unto whom much is given, from him much shall be expected; but what has been given unto that man? Nothing save the promise of rest when he sinks into the grave!" (The chapter to be continued.)

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE REFORMATION.-XLI.

THE VOICE OF REFORM IN ITALY.

SAVONAROLA Commenced his mission of Reform as a preacher. His first attempt was a failure, but of this we say nothing; for he was one of those men to whom failure is but the road to success. We look at him, therefore, in the full tide of his popularity at Brescia, where, even as an Arnold had done ages before, he has undertaken to raise his voice against the vice and corruption of priests and people, and to denounce woe to a Church that has forgotten its mission. An earnest purpose and an unconquerable will have triumphed over physical incapacity, over sneers and opposition, and he now stands before the people as the orator whose fire-winged words enter into their very souls, and as the prophet who sees a coming judgment, and foretells a day of woe. Let us take a passage from one of his sermons, which, while it furnishes an example of the mingled strain of reproach and prophetic denunciation in which he indulged, shows, also, the boldness with which he attacked spiritual wickedness in high places.

"From the beginning of the world (so spake Savonarola) a wonderful and "inscrutable series of Divine judgments has appeared, wherein have been "revealed, not only the fearful anger, but, also, the patient loving-kindness of "God. Not otherwise will it be in our corrupt times, from which all the "virtues have vanished, and in which all the vices are rampant. Those sunk "in vice will be invited to conversion, and mercy will be offered if they turn "to virtue, but justice will be, at length, executed on them if they persist and persevere in vice. The popes have attained, through the most shameful simony and subtlety, to the highest priestly dignities; and, even then, when "seated in the holy chair, surrender themselves to a shamefully voluptuous life, and an insatiable avarice. The cardinals and bishops follow their "example. No discipline, no fear of God, is in them. Many of them believe "in no God. The chastity of the cloister is slain, and they who should serve God with holy zeal have become cold, or lukewarm, or worse. The princes "openly exercise tyranny. Their subjects encourage them in their evil propensities, their robberies, adulteries, and sacrileges. But, after the corrupted human race has abused for so many centuries the long-suffering of God, then, at last, the justice of God appears, demanding that the rulers of "the people, who, with base examples, corrupt all the rest, should be brought "to heavy punishment. And let them not think to escape it." Here, then, was a man who dared to speak the truth, with a voice of power, without fear, and without favour; and to prophesy that evil and oppression should not last, but that a due and just punishment should overtake those who wrought evil, however high their station, or great their seeming power.

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"I never said I was a prophet, yet this I say, that God sent me to "prophesy a scourge to Italy; which, if I do, I lose my body; if I do not, I lose my soul." Such was Savonarola's own account of his prophetic mission, about which there has been more said in depreciation of him as a charlatan and a quack, than in respect of anything else he did or said. Was he a prophet? Only in the sense that many others, who have seen clearly that sin necessarily ends in misery, that departure from obedience to God's laws is sure to bring a compensatory punishment, can be said to be prophets. Savonarola clearly saw that the social state was such that it could not possibly continue, and he prophesied no more than this. 'But,' say some, 'he ' represented himself as God's messenger, in this matter.' He did so; nor

needs he any excuse for this. He was God's messenger, and he firmly believed himself to be no less. He was God's messenger, we say, as is every man who brings a new truth home to the common apprehension, or who, with a voice of earnestness, denounces the evil thing, and clears a way for men's acceptance of the Good and the Truc.

Shall we not say that all such men are really inspired by God? There are some who start with horror at the idea of attributing inspiration to Savonarola, and there are many more who deny inspiration to any who have lived since a given date—who speak as though God's spiritual treasury was exhausted some centuries ago. We are not among those; we can as well believe in the inspiration of men in the present day as in that of the men of the past. If Paul were inspired, why not Savonarola? But, say some, Do you, then, believe that all that Savonarola did and said was the work of God? Nay, not so; neither do we believe that all that Paul did and said was God's work. We can see serious defects in both, we recognize falsity in much that was said, written, and believed by each of them; while we cannot be blind to the fact that, as earnest workers out of good for man, as men who sought to spread God's truth abroad (so far as they saw it), they were literally inspired by the Spirit of God. Every man who earnestly strives to obey His Will ever is so. God is ever near to the soul of the man who seeks to do His Will, and perform His Laws. Why, then, it may be asked, do such men ever make mistakes? why, being inspired, are some of their actions absurd, some of their sayings folly ? This is a question which, until we have arrived at a more perfect knowledge of the relations between the Divine and human, cannot be fully answered. Thus much, however, we may say, that by Inspiration is not to be understood a process of education, but a spirit imparted by the Deity to His child; and when the soul is properly attuned for the purpose, finding expression in various ways, here creating the great poet-teacher, there the earnest worker for Truth and Goodness.

In the year 1487, when Savonarola was at the height of his popularity and success at Brescia, he received an invitation to assume the office of Prior of the Dominican Convent of San Marco, at Florence, from Lorenzo "the "Magnificent." The motives of Lorenzo in giving this invitation were doubtless derived from the celebrity which had now attached itself to Savonarola's name; he wished to add one more to the notabilities whom, as the patron of art and literature, he had gathered together in Florence. Savonarola accepted the invitation, hoping that, as prior of San Marco, his voice would be more powerful in achieving that reform which he had already sought to bring about in the monasteries of the Dominicans--at least, he knew he would have the opportunity of working out a reform in San Marco itself. Thus much he afterwards accomplished, leading thereby to the secession of the monks under his governance from the main body of the order, a thing which had much to do with the enmity displayed towards him by the Dominican body in the latter part of his career.

Other motives, there can be no doubt, also, led to his decision in this matter. Florence had become, under the government of the Medici, one of the most powerful of the Italian States, but, at the same time, one of the most depraved. The luxury, which had come as the result of its wealth, brought its never-failing fruit, in the shape of depraved morals among the citizens. If, therefore, Savonarola could do aught to reform Florentine manners, he would not alone do a good work there, but one which would stand conspicuous to all the world, and would affect all Italy. He had no thought of becoming