Jane Seton; or, The King's Advocate: A Scottish Historical Romance

"No! in an accursed spot--our magic tree, Where devils from of yore their sabbath keep-- Has all this been contrived; there did she sell Her soul to the eternal fiend, to be Wit...

A few hours' march among the knolls and hollows, which exhibited here and there a solitary square tower, or an old thatched sheep farm, shaded by ash trees, and nestling on the...

"Saw'st thou not the great preparatives Of Edinburgh, that famous noble town; Thou saw'st the people labouring for their lives, To make triumph with trump and clarion: Thou saw'...

Dione, then: Thy wrongs with patience bear; And share those griefs inferior powers must share; Unnumbered woes mankind from us sustain, And men with woes afflict the gods again....

"Blow ye horns, And rouse each wilder passion of the soul, To drown the voice of Nature! He must die! He who puts forth his hand to seize a crown Must stake his all upon the mig...

"You might have heard a pebble fall, A beetle hum, a cricket sing, An owlet flap his boding wing, On Giles's steeple tall. The antique buildings climbing high, Whose gothic fron...

"Now is't a deed of mercy brings thee here,-- Of mercy to a suffering fellow man, Or is't his rank that summons all thy pity, And lends thy tongue its load of eloquence?"--_Old...

Father St. Bernard, the kind and philanthropic old clergyman, had prayed fervently that the cardinal, among the multitude of public matters that weighed upon his master-mind, wo...

"I never met with an adept, or saw such a medicine, though I had fervently prayed for it. Then, I said, 'Surely you are a learned physician?' 'No,' said he, 'I am a brass-founde...

"The bride into her bower is sent, The ribald rhyme and jesting spent; The lover's whispered words and few, Have bade the bashful maid adieu; The dancing floor is silent quite,...

Attended by Ashkirk, who carried the tremendous sword before mentioned, and was arrayed in clothes somewhat sad-coloured, but in fashion between those of a valet and esquire, Ro...

"I prithee mark His countenance; unlike bold calumny, Which sometime dare not speak the thing it looks, He dare not look the thing he speaks, but bends His gaze on the blind ear...

When Jane thought for a moment of how long this great political inquisitor and public prosecutor had been the feudal foe and legal oppressor of her mother's kinsman and her fath...

"Ah! false and cruel fortune! foul despite! While others triumph, I am drowned in woe. And can it be that I such treasure slight? And can I then my weary life forego? No! let me...

Leaning on the arm of Sybil, and attended by Sir James Hamilton of Barncleugh, the Albany herald and their followers, we left the countess ascending the little valley which lies...

"But when the appointed day was come, No help appeared nye; Then woeful, woeful was her heart, And tears stood in her eye. And now a fyer was built of wood, And a stake was made...

"What! no reprieve, no least indulgence given, No beam of hope from any point of heaven? Ah, mercy! mercy! art thou dead above? Is love extinguished in the source of love?" _The...

"_Prometheus_. The tyrant is but young in power, and deems His palace inaccessible to sorrow, But bear him this defiance: I have seen Two hated despots hurled from the same thro...

"Farewell Falkland, the fortress of Fyfe, Thy polite park, under the Lawmound law; Sumtyme in thee I led a lusty lyfe, The fallow deer to see thaim raik on raw, Court men to cum...

"I launched my spear, and with a sudden wound Transpierced his back, and fix'd him to the ground; He falls, and mourns his fate with human cries: Through the wide wound the vita...

"Our pathway leads but to a precipice; And all must follow, fearful as it is! From the first step 'tis known; but--no delay! On, 'tis decreed. We tremble and obey." ROGERS, _Hum...

"Yet is there one, the most delightful kind, A lofty jumping, or a leaping round, Where, arm in arm, two dancers are entwined, And whirl themselves, with strict embracements bou...

"But the curtain of twilight o'ershadows the shore, And deepens the tint on the blue Lammermuir; The tints on Corstorphine have paled in their fire, But sunset still lingers wit...

"Ah, no more can gladden me Sunny shores or dark projections, Where in emulous reflections Blend the rival land and sea; Where alike in charms and powers, Where the woods and wa...

"Give me again my innocence of soul; Give me my forfeit honour blanched anew; Cancel my treasons to my royal master; Restore me to my country's lost esteem, To the sweet hope of...

After their capture, it was not until daylight broke that he discovered he was only in the strong house of Redhall, scarcely a hundred yards from his own gate, and not (as he ha...

Having lost all their money at play with the French and Spaniards, Roland's two comrades, the captain of the arquebusiers, and Leslie, his lieutenant, had both invited themselve...

The Earl of Ashkirk, on finding that he was actually possessor of a small steel knife, could scarcely repress his joy till nightfall, or refrain from indulging in a merry song;...

"Installed on hills, her head near starry bowers, Edina shines amid protecting powers; Religious temples guard her on the east. And Mar's strong towers defend her on the west; F...

With these two lines we might fairly dismiss the hero and heroine of these volumes, without describing, or expatiating on the explanations that brought about a termination so pl...

"Let us hasten to receive them, Placing in the foremost ranks, Those who bear the arquebuses; Let the horsemen next advance, With the customary splendour Of the harness and the...

"_Camilla_. Thou execrable man, beware!-- "_Cenci_. Of thee? Nay this is idle:--We should know each other. As to my character for what men call _crime_, Seeing I please my sense...

"'Twas thou, O love! whose dreaded shafts control, The hind's rude heart, and tear the hero's soul; Thou ruthless power, with bloodshed never cloyed, 'Twas thou thy lovely votar...

"Dost thou, O traitor! thus to grace pretend, Clad as thou art in trophies of my friend? To his sad soul, a grateful offering go! 'Tis Pallas, Pallas gives this deadly blow. He...

"Ne'er should be a vassal banished, Without time to plead his cause; Ne'er should king his people's rights Trample on, or break the laws: Ne'er should he his liegemen punish, Mo...

"He looked upon her, and her humid gaze Was at his look dropped instant on the ground: But o'er her cheek of beauty rushed a blaze, Her bosom heaved within its silken bound-- An...

"Come, my Antonia, come, I'll lead thee to the blissful land of love,-- I'll lead thee to the pinnacle of joys, Where round thy path the fairest flowers of earth Shall bloom in...

"'Tis very certain the desire of life Prolongs it: this is obvious to physicians, When patients, neither plagued with friends nor wife, Survive through very desperate conditions...

"Adew Edinburgh! that heich triumphant toun, Within quhose bounds richt blytheful I have been; Of trew merchants, the rout of this regioun, Most ready to ressave court, king, an...

"Now, blessed be Heaven and our own stout hands, we have made our quarters good here at last!" said Leslie, at that moment approaching Vipont. "How is this? Zounds! thou cuttest...

"I made such service to our Sovereign King, He did promote me still to high estate; A prince above all priestis for to reign, Archbishop of St. Andrew's consecrate. To that hono...

"Oh, stay at home, my only son, Oh, stay at home with me! For secretly I am forewarned Of ills awaiting thee! Last night I heard the deid bell sound, When all were fast asleep;...

"_Pedro._ Would to God it might be so! Thou twin to Satan, beautiful deceit! I almost wish I'd never met with thee. Yet the scheme's good--the scheme's exceeding good." _Edward...

During the whole of that day, from his secret hiding-place, the earl watched the little green valley that lies in the bosom of the island, and the narrow winding path that ascen...

"Yes! in an hour like this, 'twere vain to hide The heart so long and so severely tried: Still to thy name that heart hath fondly thrilled, But sterner duties called and were fu...

"If on the rack you strain our bursting sinews; If from the bleeding trunk you lop our limbs; Or with slow fires protract the hours of pain, We must abide it all."--_Boadicea_.

"Oh! Harpalus (thus would he say), Unhappiest under sunne; The cause of thine unhappy day By love was first begunne; As easy 'twere for to convert The frost into a flame, As for...

"Quhen Marche with variand windis wes past, And Apryll had with her silver shouris Tane leif of Nature with an orient blast; And lusty May, that mother is of flouris. Had maid t...

"Envy and calumny will destroy innocence and pleasure; the oppressed will be sacrificed to the oppressor; and, in proportion as tyranny makes kings distrustful, judicial murders...

"There's but one part to play; shame has done here, But execution must close up the scene; And for that cause these sprigs are worn by all, Badges of marriage, now of funeral."...

The personage who appeared was a short, thickset, and bandy-legged man, whose malformation his chocolate-coloured stockings and white cloth breeches displayed to the utmost adva...

"Oh, misery! While I was dragged by an insidious band Of pyrates--savage bloodhounds--into bondage. But, witness, heaven! witness, ye midnight hours, That heard my ceaseless gro...

Many old trees in the neighbourhood, the remnant of the ancient royal forest of Falkland, still impart to the fragment of the palace an air both melancholy and venerable; for it...

"Now light is my song, as I journey along, Now my perilous service is o'er; I think on sweet home, and I carol a song, In remembrance of her I adore."--TANNAHILL.

The clock of St. Leonard's tower struck three as Leslie entered the old burgh of Kinghorn, and rode through its steep and straggling, narrow and deserted wynds, to the hostelry...

"The will is free; why must it then be curbed I would be happy, gain what I desire, Or feel each pulse throb pleasure in the chase-- Yet this new teacher tells such pleasure is...

"In an evil hour I left her, Left her! more I need not say; Since in my absence came another Lover, all my peace to slay. I a captive, he a freeman, Ah! our fates how different;...

"But you, dear scenes! that far away Expand beneath these mountains blue, Where fancy sheds a purer ray, And robes the fields in richer hue,-- A softer voice in every gale, I 'm...

"I kist with ane sigh the ringlet fair, That I shred frae my Marie's golden hair, And I thought that I never would see her mair. And when I try it to rest on my bed, The visions...

"And quickly Walter seeks once more, With eager steps, the ocean's shore; And lingers on impatient there, The appointed hour--now do and dare! He eyed the high and rugged steep...