I had travelled post in that manner up- || descriptions of these districts through wards of a mile in little more than a quarter of a minute; I indulged in a hearty laugh at my manner of journey. ing,with some difficulty picked up my scattered travelling accoutrements, my staff, my hat, and my clean shirt, tied neatly up in a red handkerchief, and proceeding on my way, reached Bovain in Glen-Dochart, the house of Robert McNab, Esq. about eleven o'clock at night. I spent two weeks in that house and its neighbourhood, but never mentioned my adventures on Ben-More to any one for fear of being laughed at. I viewed all the varied scenery of Bracdalbane, traced all its rivers to their sources, and climbed all the mountains that commanded the most extensive or interesting views of the country, and at length returned to the south by the way of Loch-Earn-head, and the pass of Lenny. I would fain have sent you which I travelled, but am afraid that I have already drawn out this letter to a length which may preclude its admission into your paper. I have however, drawn up a short statement of the local advantages and disadvantages attached to each of these glens, with suggestions on the best means of making the most of the one and obviating the other; if these are not foreign to the nature of your paper, they are at your service. I think, however, that the lucubrations of a SPY ought not to be confined either to the taste or manners of a city, but should comprehend every thing that can be of advantage to his countrymen, by opening their eyes to their true interests, whether spiritual or temporal, and exposing ignorance and folly in whatever rank or economy it may ap pear, I am Sir, yours, &c. MALISE, THE ADMONITION. AULD Geordie sat beside a board, Jean, ye I've lately seen, and griev'd to see, O! think if sic a thing should be, Your health is high, your blossom fair; Your spirits dance as light as air; Yet trust me Jean, ye're lightly poising, Between the winning an' the losing; On youthfu' passion's firm controul, Depends your fair immortal soul; Be good my bairn! ye canna be, For ay beneath a parent's e'e; But mind there's ane will ay be near thee, Will ever see, will ever hear thee! And if thou'rt good, he'll be thy friend; An' make thee happy in the end. Young Jeany's heart was soft an' kind, But she was good, as she was fair, The Spy is in long arrears with his Correspondents, but several pieces have been delayed on account of their unaccommodating length; some of these may yet find a place; the excellent Essay on the Being of a God, the Author may have again by sending to the Star Office; the Essay on Drinking, is judged too diffuse to meet the public eye. EDINBURGH-Printed at the Star Office, (price 4d. a single Number, 4s. 6d. per quarter, deliverable in town, and 58. when sent to the country), by A. AIKMAN, for the PROPRIETORS; where Subscriptions, and Communications, (post paid), will be received. 1811. The Spy. SATURDAY, JULY 6. Is there no pity, no relenting ruth, Points to the parents fondling o'er their child? Then paints the ruin'd maid and their distraction wild? BURNS. No. 45. happiness of his child was his highest aim, and this he thought would be best secured by unlimited indulgence; of the efficacy of the plan he never doubtIn the morning of life, if fortune smiles, ed, though he frequently saw the obthe gay and innocent mind, little anti.ject of his care fretful and uneasy in cipating that she will ever change her midst of her most favourite gratificaaspect in its future progress, sees no tions. disappointment to darken the sunshine -no temptation to lead it aside-no misfortune to punish its deviations, it looks not to futurity at all, but is delighted by the gratification of its childish wishes, and if the tiresome task must be submitted to, the hour of play is the consoling recompence. Such a youth had Jessie Murray, the only child of a thriving shop-keeper in the village of Morven, he was a respectable man, but proud of the wealth he had acquired, and vain to excess of the beauty and smartness of his little daughter; her blooming countenance was the constant subject of his delighted contemplation, and he would record her witty sayings to the people who frequented his shop, while Jessie sat in the window dressing her doll; and though her employment seemed to occupy all her attention, she would steal a look of conscious pleasure, while a smile of proud exultation dimpled her rosy check. His wife had died while Jessie was yet an infant; since that event the It was not so with Elen Inglis, though her indulgencies were few in number, this child of poverty and sorrow was the companion and solace of a widowed mother, and the favourite play-fellow of Jessie, but the simple, nay, even the scanty meal was Elen's portion.She was contented with plain attire, knew nothing of dress but its necessity, nor any thing of property but industry; when her mother's spinning wheel stood still, from incapacity to use it, for she was frequently sick, Elen was aware at a very early age, that want would be the consequence. Her greatest wish was to be able to spin also, for she loved her mother and was eager to assist her; by her spinning and her needle only she gained a precarious subsistance; but she was independent in her nature, had known days of greater prosperity, and the language of complaint was a stranger to her lips; when her distresses were likely to overcome her spirits, she would save her child the participation, by sending her to play with Jessie, from whom Elen return ed without envy of her toys or her sweetmeats, for a mother's kind smile greeted her approach, and whether the day had been adverse or fortunate, resignation and gratitude equally inspired the pious thanksgiving of the widow's upright mind. The Sabbath was the only day of rest she knew, and her highest ambition to appear decently at church with her little daughter, whose neat appearance and modest demeanour attracted the notice even of the gentry who attended divine service." Who is that sweet looking girl," said Lady Morven to Mrs. Kennedy, the minister's wife, as she stopped to speak to her at the church door?" it is the daughter, madam, of a a poor but industrious woman, Widow Inglis." No farther notice was taken at present, and Lady Morven set off for London next morning. The Sunday evening's treat was a simple dish of tea, of which Jessie some times partook; the widow would then make the girls say their catechism, recite hymns, and listen while she read to them a portion of the bible; when these duties were performed, she would reward their attention by recording some little anecdote, or relating some interesting story of the people among whom she had moved in days that were no more, never failing to choose those from which she could draw some moral inference-from which she could expose the folly of idleness-the weakness of vanity-the danger of ambition -the presumption of pride—or the misery of vice. In this, simple gossipping would pass away the long winter nights, for the good old woman was a gossip, but her tales were of those whom her censures could not injure, their errors and their crimes were held out to her young listeners, as beacons to warn them against the perilous rocks, on which they had been thrown by their ignorance or their presumption. But this was not always the theme, sometimes with more pleasing interest she would display a fairer picture, dwell on the beauties of virtuous conduct, and show how frequently it was rewarded even in this world,-how surely in the next. How different this use of experience and observation from the idle censures of the weak and envious, who talk of their neighbour's errors, not from hatred of the fault, but the person; waste their time, and increase every unamiable and malicious feeling, not only to the injury of the unhappy subject, but to the ruin of their own minds. Even at this early age the girls displayed very different dispositions. At a pathetic picture, the mild blue eyes of Elen would swim in tears, and she would listen almost breathless with anxiety till she heard the result of a generous or a grateful deed : Jessie was all impatience at the commencement of the tale, with animated and eager interest she anticipated the conclusion, scarcely giving the narrator time to explain the circumstances that led to it, but supplying incidents from her own imagination, yet the impression was of short duration. The years of childhood passed away in this manner, Elen was early employed in assisting her mother, and by the time she was sixteen, had been for several years, seamstress to the whole parish; many a farmer's daughter made a superior appearance at the fair or the |