all the questions put to him by the authorities in a firm tone, without any hesitation.

The court was crowded to excess, as the thrilling interest excited by the late murders had wound up the public mind to an extraordinary ferment: every one was eager to behold the author, and hear the details of events which for the last few months had filled his mind with constant terror and apprehension, As soon as the alcalde governador, or chief judge, had taken his seat on the bench, silence was proclaimed, and the prisoner, escorted by a party of regidores, was brought into court, and placed at the bar. The numerous witnesses on this trial consisted, first, of those who had been present at the discovery of the murdered bodies; secondly, those who could identify their persons; and, lastly, those who could identify the books which the unfortu nate men had purchased of Vincente previous to their death: these latter were principally men in the trade, or friends of the deceased. They formed together a train of conclusive evidence, sufficient to satisfy the most sceptical hearer; but, had it not been so, every doubt vanished when the prisoner, being called on for his defence, addressed the court without emotion in the following terms, having first made the sign of the cross on his lips and on his breast, in token of his veracity.

It

"I have promised to speak the truth, and I stand here determined to make a full confession. I only beg to premise, that if I am guilty, I have been solely influenced by motives which are in themselves creditable and praiseworthy. The convulsions which agitate Spain at this moment, the devastation of the convents, and the dispersion of the valuable libraries contained within their walls, have given a death blow to the cultivation of literature. has been my sole object to promote the neglected interests of science, and preserve for posterity those inestimable treasures which the Vandalism of the present age is daily seeking to destroy,-treasures which, once lost, can never be replaced. If I have acted ill, if I have committed crimes with a view to this laudable end, let me then pay the penalty of the law. I ask no favour for myself, but spare my books. They are indeed guiltless. With what justice can you punish the saddle for the faults which the mule may have committed?

"It was sorely against my inclination that I consented to sell that valuable work to the importunate curate; I was hardly pressed for money, and my poverty prevailed; but I call the holy St. John, (that patron of authors,) to witness all the efforts which I afterwards made to disgust the reverend father with his purchase. I told him that the type was faulty-that a page was missing, but he paid no attention to my remarks:-he counted down the price that was asked, and left my shop. No sooner had he got to the end of the arcade than I found myself beset with an irresistible desire to recover the book which he had carried away. The purchaser had proceeded down the Calle mayor. I ran after him with all speed, and overtook him near to the Atarasanas. There again I renewed my entreaties to cancel our bargain. Here,' said I, here is your money; restore to me the book; I have a particular wish not to part with it! All was in vain; he obstinately persisted in his refusal. I followed him still, as he walked, urging him by every argument in my power to grant my request, without producing the slightest ef fect. We had arrived at an unfrequented spot, and were quie

alone. I saw that no hope was left of bringing him to hear reason he even seemed to exult in his obstinacy. This made me angry; I drew out my knife, and stabbed him in the throat: he fell to the ground, vomiting blood at his mouth. Ithen took out my breviary, and gave him the absolution in extremis; after that another stab, and he was dead.

"I managed to throw the body into a ditch, and covered it over with dead leaves, a precaution which I have not always been in the habit of taking. I brought away my book; here it is; (and the prisoner pointed it out among those which were ranged on a table in the court as evidence for the prosecution.) It is an exceedingly curious work," said he, "Vigile mortuorum secundum chorum ecclesiæ Maguntino, in quarto gothic, in red and black character, without cypher, but with the catchword."

JUDGE." But it would appear that this is not the only murder that you have committed with a similar object?"

VINCENTE" Certainly not. You may have observed that my library was well stocked as well as select. As the proverb says• Non se gano zamora en un ora.' Zamora was not gained in an hour."

JUDGE. —66

Explain then to the court in what manner you assassinated the other victims."

VINCENTE" By the Holy Virgin, and all the saints in Paradise! nothing could be more simple than the means which I employed. In the first place, when I remarked that a customer was intent upon having any particular book which I had no inclination to part with, and the price he offered was such as I could not refuse without injury to mytrade, I took care,previous to the delivery, to cut out one or two pages, which I laid by carefully in a private drawer. Little time would elapse before the buyer would return to complain of the faulty edition I had sold him; and, when I had got the book in my hand as if to examine it, I could easily draw an unsuspecting man into my closet where the never-failing knife, and a stout arm, soon solved all difficulties, and left me again in possession of the coveted prize. When the night came I waited till all were asleep, and then taking the corpse on my shoulder, I carried it out wherever my fancy suggested, sometimes in one direction, sometimes in another; But seldom, as you may have remarked, taking any trouble to secrete it."

JUDGE." Shocked as every one must be at your rectital, let me ask you a question. Did your conscience never smite you at the idea of lifting your murderous hand against your fellow-creatures, made after the image of your God?"

VINCENTE." Man is mortal: a little sooner, or a little later, God calls them to himself, and life is gone. But scientific books must be preserved above everything; their value is inappreciable. On that account I have always carefully replaced the pages which I had cut out for my own purposes, that no responsibility of that nature might rest with me."

JUDGE." You committed, then, all these assassinations from no other motive than to secure the possession of these books ?"

VINCENTE." Books! books! What else could it be? Es la gloria de Dios! It is the glory of God !"

JUDGE." There is evidence to prove that you were accessary to the death of Augustin Patxot: do you plead guilty to this charge?"

VINCENTE.- "It is quite true. I could not allow an object so valuable as the only edition in the world of Lambert Palmart to remain in his possession."

JUDGE." But, how did you manage to gain admittance into his house at such an unusual hour of the night ?"

VINCENTE." I entered by the window over his shop door: I watched my opportunity when he had left it open on account of the sultry heat which prevailed at that time. I made my way to his bedroom, where I found him fast asleep; I slipped a rope, which I had previously soaped for the purpose, round his neck, then twisted it with a stick, and he soon had ceased to exist. My next object was to secure the precious work, of which he had so unhandsomely deprived me at the auction. After all, he was a good sort of man, poor Patxot; and though he had used me scurvily, I bore him no malice or hatred for it. As soon as he was dead, I took off the rope, and set fire to his bed."

JUDGE." But you, who profess such extreme veneration for books, how could you make up your mind thus to commit the whole stockin-trade of a bookseller indiscriminately to the flames ?"

VINCENTE." Oh! as for that, he had none that were of much value. I had taken away the only books which where of any importance; and, besides, it was necessary to my plot that the premises should be burnt, otherwise, if the loss of such a work had been remarked, suspicions might have arisen which would have defeated all the objects of my enterprise. It was absolutely requisite for my safety that everything which was missing should be supposed to have perished in the fire." you leave all the money on Patxot's table un

JUDGE.-Did

touched?"

VINCENTE." Me! I take money! Do you think them I am a robber ?"

After these explicit confessions, the task of the council for the prosecution was attended with no difficulty; the crimes were so substantiated that he had no hesitation in requiring a verdict of guilty.

The counsel for the defence then rose, and in a very ingenious speech exhorted the magistrates on the bench not to be biassed by the simple declarations of his client, who had no right in the eye of the law to criminate himself. There are instances, he remarked, where men of morbid feelings, nearly approaching to melancholy madness, languish for death, and, though unwilling to commit suicide, are ready to accuse themselves of any crimes, to which they are total strangers, for the sole purpose of meeting with that fate which every other being would try to avoid. The very circumstance of a man courting his own condemnation should render his judges very cautious of listening to such unnatural revelations, much less should they pretend to pronounce him guilty on such grounds. This maxim being once allowed, and this principle established, he maintained that no proof existed to criminate his client. The books which had been found in Vincente's possession, might have been easily obtained through other channels than those detailed in the indictment.

In reply to this, the opposing counsel observed that it was matter of notoriety among all literary characters that only one copy of the edition published in 1482 by Lambart Palmart was now left in existence.

"So little are you justified in that assertion," said Vincente's

counsel to his opponent, "that I can prove the contrary. Here is the catalogue of a bookseller in Paris, which contains another copy of that edition; and, if there already exist a second, we may argue on the probability of finding a third."

This species of defence seemed to have very little weight with the alcaldes on the bench; they took a short time to consider the case, and unanimously condemned Vincente to the gallows. During the pleadings of his own counsel, Vincente had hitherto preserved the greatest firmness and composure; but, when this allusion was made to the copy in Paris, he was suddenly seen to exhibit signs of inward pain and vexation; in fact, he lost all command over himself, and burst

into tears.

The alcalde governador, pleased with this late symptom of repentance, said to him in a soothing tone, "At length, then, Vincente, you begin to understand the full enormity of your crime.'

VINCENTE. "Alas! Señor Alcalde, my error has indeed been unpardonable."

ALCALDE." It is still within your power to implore the clemency of our gracious Queen Regent."

VINCENTE. "Ah! if you could but know how miserable I feel." ALCALDE." If the justice of men is inflexible, there is another jus. tice which is tempered with mercy, to which the truly repentant sinner may always look for pardon."

VINCENTE." Ah! Señor Alcalde, then, after all, mine is not the only copy?"

THE QUEEN OF SPRING.

HAIL to the queen!-the queen of spring!
She hath journey'd here on the zephyr's wing;
Like a young coquette, she hath linger'd a while,
That we may rejoice in her song and smile!
But we know she has come, for her perfumed breath
Hath awaken'd the earth from its seeming death.
She has spoken the word, and the messenger breeze
Has whispered her will to the shivering trees;
Their pale green leaves they have all unfurl'd,
And the spirit of youth is abroad in the world!

Hail to the queen!-the queen of spring!
That has journey'd here on the zephyr's wing.
Let us twine her a wreath from the sunny bowers
Of the violet blue and young wild flowers,
And the valley's lily that grows beside,
And always looks like the violets bride.

But see!-here are roses as white as snow,

They are fitting to bind on her fairy young brow;
And their deep-glowing sisters, whose hues first begun
From a blush at the praises their loveliness won;
While the sun with warm kisses, in whispers the air,
Still tell the same story, and hold the blush there!

But the roses are come !-she must hasten away,
Or the southern world will mourn for her stay!
On the zephyr's wing she is sailing now-
She has many a league to cross you know.
For her car she hath taken a warm bright beam,
And is facing away like a happy dream.
The sun rides high in the heavens again,

The flowers have burst from their emerald chain;
So their beautiful ruler, the Queen of Spring,
Her sceptre has pass'd to the Summer King.

CAMILLA TOULMIN.

THE BENEDICT CLUB.

BY RICHARD JOHNS.

THE whole town was in an uproar. Mr. Clackett had unfortunately told Mrs. Clackett that the formation of a club-house was determined on by the principal gentlemen of Rareborough; the ladies, old and young, were consequently up in arms.

"Then there's an end to domestic happiness!" said Mrs. Burnsides, with a despairing sigh, when little Mrs. Clackett gave her this distressing information. Burnsides will never be at home. Many a rumpus we ve have now about his staying out so late at night. He shall not be a member, or he must choose between me and the vile club. I have money in my own right-he may take his boy, and I the girl"— and thus did Mrs. Burnsides settle the generally difficult question of separation and alimony in one long breath, after the before-mentioned sigh."

"You are surely not serious!" exclaimed Mrs. Green, looking so searchingly into poor Mrs. Clackett's small eyes, that they winked and watered under the infliction.

"But I am, my dear," said the circulating medium of Rareborough intelligence, who was now one stage farther on her morning's round; "and, as I told Mrs. Burnsides five minutes ago, I like the plan amazingly. What's the use of making a fuss about it? Men will be men, and like to meet each other; and Clackett will be secretary, and able to tell me everything that is going on. It will be quite delightful!"

· Men will be men, and like to meet each other," said Mrs. Green, with a suppressed sob. "I'm glad you are pleased with such arrangements; but it is not only each other they like to meet-they will make it a convenient blind-Going to the club, indeed! You'll excuse me just now, Mrs. Clackett," continued the distressed lady, drawing a cambrick handkerchief from her black satin bag; "nothing has so much annoyed me for a long time."

"Oh! my dear, make no stranger of me; I was this moment going, I assure you," said the town gossip. "I had no idea you would have taken the thing to heart so-I have several visits to pay;" and away trotted Mrs. Clackett, while her afflicted friend threw herself on a sofa, and sobbed aloud.

"Oh, Green! Green! cruel man!-is this what a loving wife deserves?"

"'Tis on purpose to make assignations with that creature the Widow Pitman, that he is going to support this club."

"I dare say they will have two or three entrances to the house, and I shall never know where he is."

The fellows dare to get up a club in Rareborough!" exclaimed Mrs. Manly Minniken with vehement surprise, when Mrs. Clackett told the news of the morning. "Of course the ladies are to have balls and suppers given to them, and archery meetings, and all that kind of thing?"