he is, he is the centre of a circle. In the great drama of things, this life looks only like an episode; but it is an episode complete in itself, and profoundly interesting amongst warriors and kings.

It has sometimes appeared to us, that the life of Gustavus Adolphus is such an episode. His life did not permanently alter the relation of history. His career dazzles by his rapid and brilliant conquests. No career can possibly be conceived more dramatic; short-but how victorious! It startled Europe; it struck terror into the hearts of the Imperialists, who chaunted Te Deums for his death; although they lost the battle in which he fell.

But the lives most in harmony with our view of this classification, are passed usually upon a yet more contracted stage. The names probably are seldom pronounced, yet, we freshen our minds perpetually from the pictures and scenes presented to us here, as at a fountain of pure and lustrous water. The distinction we principally draw between Dramatic and Historic Biography, is, that the first developes character and scenery in relation to character, in individual relations; but the latter delineates the origin and course of national and general effects, as effected by individual relations. The lives of travellers, rich in interest, belong especially to the dramatic class of narratives.

An incident arrests us; it is dramatic from the

soul exhibited in it. That striking one for instance, of the corporal at the siege of Toulon. Bona parte needed a corporal that could write in the heat of the battle; one instantly stepped forward, and wrote a dispatch. At the moment of finishing it a ball fell, and scattered some earth on the paper. "Well," exclaimed the corporal, "I shall have no need of sand!" That exclamation was the signal for his elevation from the ranks; and he shortly became Duke of Abrantes, and Governor General of Illyria.

A dramatic life concerns itself with the investigation of the motives of conduct; we are most desirous, therefore, of hearing a great man speak for himself, when he speaks to us in confidence. Sometimes men write and publish their own biography, ages after they have been dust. The publication of Cromwell's letters is a personal history of this kind; so also the Chronicle of Jocelyn de Brakelonda, published by the Camden Society. While equal to them in historical importance, and equal in dramatic and descriptive interest, is the diary of Alexander Jaffray, the provost of Aberdeen, one of the Scottish Commissioners to Charles II., and a member of Cromwell's parliament. This volume, many years since, fell into the hands of the Barclays of Ury-was discovered a short time back, and published. It is the experience of one man, of the

ground over which he travelled, and the persons with whom he came into contact and acquaintance, in England; but its documentary and social interest is invaluable. For one life of a period, well told, admits us to all the essential points necessary for forming an opinion upon the whole period..

All biography is romantic and dramatic; if the secret of the life could be penetrated, some lives have a whole drama or romance in a few pages. The following has some foundation, and may be repeated here as something more than a tale; an interesting guide to the state of justice in the period of which it speaks.

A gentleman, who possessed an estate worth. about £500 a year, in the eastern part of England, had two sons. The oldest, being of a rambling disposition, went abroad. After several years his father died; when the younger son destroyed the will, and seized upon the estate. He gave out that his eldest brother was dead, and bribed false witnesses to attest the truth of it. In the course of time his elder brother returned, but came home in miserable circumstances. His younger brother repulsed him with scorn, and told him he was an impostor and cheat. He asserted that his real brother was dead long ago, and he could bring witnesses to prove it. The poor fellow having neither money nor friends, was in a most

dismal situation.

He went round the parish making complaints; and at last to a lawyer, who, when he had heard the poor man's story, replied "You have nothing to give me; if I undertake your cause and lose it, it will bring me into disgrace, as all the wealth and evidence is on your brother's side. But, however, I will undertake your cause on this condition-you shall enter into an obligation to pay me one thousand guineas, if I gain the estate for you. If I lose it, I know the consequences, and I venture with my eyes open." Accordingly he entered into an action against the younger brother, which was to be tried at the next general assizes at Chelmsford, in Essex.

The lawyer having engaged in the cause of the young man, and stimulated by the prospect of a thousand guineas, set his wits to work to contrive the best method to gain his end. At last he hit upon this happy thought, that he would consult the first Judge of his age, Lord Chief Justice Hale. Accordingly he hastened up to London, and laid open the cause and all the circumstances. The judge, who was a great lover of justice, heard it attentively; and promised him all the assistance in his power. The lawyer having taken leave, the judge contrived his matters so as to finish all his business at the King's Bench, before the assizes began at Chelmsford. When within a short dis

tance of the place he dismissed his horse, and sought for a single house. He found one occupied by a miller. After some conversation, and making himself quite agreeable, he proposed to the miller to change clothes with him. As the judge had a very good suit on, the man had no reason to object.

Accordingly, the judge shifted himself from top to toe, and put on a complete suit of the miller's best. Armed with a miller's hat, shoes, and stick, away he marched to Chelmsford, where he had procured good lodging, suitable for the assizes that should come on the next day.

When the trials came on, he walked like an ignorant country fellow, backwards and forwards along the county hall. He had a thousand eyes within him, and when the court began to fill, he found out the poor fellow who was the plaintiff.

As soon as he came into the hall the miller drew up to him. "Honest friend," said he, "how is your cause like to do to-day?"

"Why,” replied the plaintiff, "my cause is in a very precarious situation, and if I lose it I am ruined for life."

"Well, honest friend," replied the miller, "will you take my advice? I will let you into a secret, which perhaps you do not know; every Englishman has a right and privilege to except any one juryman through the whole twelve ;-now do you