VERSES IN THE VULGAR SCOTTISH DIALECT.

Occasioned by seeing two men sawing timber in the open fields in defiance of a furious storm.

My frien's for gude'sake quat your wark!

Nor think to stan' a wind sae stark.
Your sawpit-stoops like wauns are shakin';
The vera planks and dales are quakin':
Ye're tempin' providence, I swear,
To raise your graith sae madly here.
Now! now ye're gone!---Anither blast
Like that, and a' your sawing's past.

Come down ye sinners! grip the saw
Like death, or trouth ye'll be awa'.
Na, na, ye'll saw, tho' hail and sleet
Wreathe o'er your breast, and freeze your feet.
Hear how it roars! and rings the bells;
The carts are tum'lin' roun' themsels,
The tyle, and thack, and turf up whirles;
See yon brick lum! down, down it hurles!
But wha's yon staggerin' o'er the brae,
Beneath a lade o' bottl't strae ?

A SONNET BY DRUMMOND OF HATHORNDEN, anno 1616.

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KNOW that all beneath the moone decayes,
And what by mortalles in this world is brought,
In time's great periods fhall returne to nought,
That fairest states have fatall nights and dayes:
I know how all the muses heavenly layes;

With toyle of spright which are so dearly bought,
As idle sounds, of few or none are sought,
And that nought lighter is than airie praise.
I know frail beautie, like the purple flowre,

To which one morne of birth and death affords,
That love a jarring is of mindes accords,
Where sense and will invafsall reason's power.

Know what I list, this all cannot mee move,
But that, oh mee! I both must write and love,

* Our readers, in general, we hope will pardon us for indulging a young writer for once, in his attempt to display his talents in this antiquated, affected language.

NINA, A STORY.

[Continued from p. 80.]

As soon as he entered the room, Nina threw her arms round his neck, and clasped him for a considerable time, without uttering one word; when she thought her joy satiated, her next care was to reach him an easy chair; to take out of a clothesprefs, a lighter habit than that which he wore, and which the excessive summer's heat must have rendered insupportable to him. And, while fhe cooled him with a fan, which in that country is used by both sexes, and which fhe had snatched from the hands of a servant, desirous of saving her that trouble, fhe said, in a passionate voice, "how I hate this senatorial office; which, at the same time it presents to me a man of high rank and accomplishments, subjects you to cares, which, by depriving met of your presence, takes from me the dearest thing I have in the world, and on which alone, my life, my pleasure, my happinefs depend! Must it then be determined, that general is to be preferred to private good?"

"How tender and delicate you are, my dear Nina!” replied the senator; "I fhould not be ambitious of this high condition of life, but in hopes of appearing more worthy of your love; and I can only complain, because it does not furnish me, as much as I could wish, with the means of fhewing how dear you are to me."

The wife of the senator remained concealed in the closet, the door of which was a little a-jar, and did not lose a single glance or exprefsion of the lovers; fhe had the mortification to see their carefses-their happiness. What did the not undergo? She was often tempted to quit her retreat to interrupt them to go and throw herself at the

feet of the senator, and there claim the restitution of her rights. However, the thought it best to let him alone for the present, least the presence of her rival should be too great an obstacle to the succefs of her design.

The senator, being expected that day to dinner with one of his brethren, made his visit shorter than usual. He took leave of his mistress with the most tender exprefsions, such as are made use of by lovers who are forced to part for whole years. Nina employed every means she could invent, to prolong the pleasure of seeing him; at length they parted to their mutual regret.

The wife of the senator no sooner saw her husband. gone, than the quitted her retreat, and ran to embrace Nina, thanking her in the most passionate terms, for the service fhe had done her; and remembering her promise of recom pense, the presented her with a gold bracelet to wear, according to the custom of the Venetian ladies. It was one of the most costly that could be bought, and was worth near fix thousand crowns, on account of its beauty, and the great number of jewels with which it was enriched. There needed not many words to perfuade the courtezan to accept this precious gift; besides her natural avidity, the affluent circumstances the giver appeared in, notwithstanding the ill return her love had met with, did not allow her to make the slightest refusal. They quitted each other, and the lady went to the house of one of her friends, whom the acquainted with her griefs, and her whole story, and begged her to invite herself to dinner with her husband the next day, well assured that he would not seek any excuse, or fail to receive her himself at his house. Her friend promised to comply with her desire, and went in the afternoon, as by accident, to the place where she knew the senator had dined, and drawing him a moment aside, acquainted him with the plan privately agreed on between her and his wife.

Her discourse introduced a conversation on his spouse's humour; he said he feared to expose himself to it; that for almost three years, he had seen her but seldem, and that this retreat had procured him an uninterrupted tranquillity. "You cannot with any colour of reason decline granting me the favour I ask," answered the lady; "how do you know but my presence may shelter you from her ill temper? consider that it is rather to please me, than to gratify her, you take this step; is it so difficult a thing to sacrifice to your wife an hour or two of your time, once in three years, you who daily pass many with persons who are insupportable to you?"

The senator, overcome hy her intreaties, consented, and caused his wife to be told, that her friend would dine with her the next day. The excefsive joy of the lady cannot be conceived. She took care to provide an entertainment, with which her two guests could not but be satisfied; how impatient she was till they came!-she at last saw them enter the house.

The senator, desirous of avoiding being one moment alone with his wife, had thought proper to go himself for the lady, and not to return without her. His wife, as soon as fhe saw him, began to act the same part she had seen so well performed by Nina, the preceding day; and she soon perceived that her behaviour was highly agreeable to her husband. Dinner-time being come, they sat down to table.

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The senator remarked, with apparent satisfaction, a gaiety hitherto unknown to him, in the heart of his wife; he saw in her eyes, with some emotion, that love which had distinguished the first three years of his marriage. Her constant afsiduity to please him, during the repast, at once astonished and delighted him; he often said to himself, "How great has been my mistake? Can I deny that. I pof