belonged to the establishment; whilst, on the other hand, the hum of many voices issuing from the kitchen windows proved that something of an exciting nature was passing within the inn. We soon learnt what

was going on, and I found that I had arrived in the very nick of time. Jack-y-Pandy was actually in the hands of justice: he was at that moment standing his trial on a charge of a very violent assault arising out of his illegal practices as a fisherman.

I lost no time in making my way into the kitchen, which was filled with a miscellaneous crowd of country-people and gentlemen; amongst whom, to my great delight, I immediately descried my friend Harry Eaton. He soon gave me the particulars of what had happened, and of which, indeed, "pars magna fuit." It appeared that the members of the association, finding that, as might have been expected, Jack disregarded their notice to demolish his weir, had proceeded to take decided measures for carrying out their threat of destroying it. Proper steps had been taken, with the sanction of the Lord of the Manor, for obtaining its condemnation, and legal authority for abating the nuisance. had been issued. A warrant for the apprehension of Jack himself, on a charge of poaching, had been for some time in the constable's hands; but whether from dread of the old ruffian's desperate character, or possibly from a want of very hearty good-will in the cause, the warrant had remained unexecuted, and Jack had continued to pursue his calling unmolested. Doubts alike of the determination and of the good faith of the Mallwyd Dogberry determined the prosecutors of the weir to have recourse to other assistance, and accordingly it was arranged to employ the civil authorities from Machynlleth on this occasion; and it was intended to proceed to operations with so large a force as to overpower, if not overawe, the threatened resistance. The ardour of my friend, Harry Eaton, and of two other gentlemen then lodging at Mallwyd, on a fishing excursion, had, in the language of Mrs. Malaprop, "participated matters." They had happened to meet, in fishing, not far from the famous weir-for Jack did not trouble himself to interfere with anglers ; and knowing that it had been legally condemned, and being more influenced by youthful energy than regard for the regularity of their proceedings, they determined at once to assail the obnoxious dam, and level it, without waiting for the more tardy operations of the authorities. As for Jack-y-Pandy, they no more scrupled to brave his violence than they would have hesitated in the days of undergraduateship to encounter the biggest bargee from the banks of Cam or Isis. The scheme was no sooner formed than they proceeded to carry it into execution, and at once commenced operations upon the two ends of the dam. But it was no easy

matter to dislodge the stones and stakes of which it was composed; and they had not proceeded far in the work of demolition before the alarm was given, and Jack sallied forth to defend his property. The old man came running down to the river side, flourishing his fists with frantic gestures, and pouring out a torrent of imprecations in Welsh, which, as Harry Eaton said, "reminded him of the man who swore NorthumberlandCumberland-Westmoreland Durham at his dilatory Italian veturino!" It would require the pen of a Napier to do justice to the combat that ensued. Catching up one of the stakes that had been pulled up from the weir, Jack commenced a ferocious assault upon Messrs. Dickenson and Laycock, who happened to be engaged upon that end of it. It was as

much as they could do to defend themselves, for their footing was precarious; there was a deep hole just below the dam, and it was evident that the old man was perfectly reckless of consequences. Harry Eaton was on the other side of the river; and as his two friends might be supposed to be a match for their single antagonist, he did not go to their aid, but continued the work of destruction under cover of their engagement. He was stooping with his back to the shore, endeavouring to detach a large stone which formed an important part of the dam, when his attention was suddenly called by a shout from Laycock to take care of himself. He started up, and, turning round, was only just in time to avoid the fate of Abimelech ; for behind him stood the " Maid of the Mill," wielding a large stone, with which she would infallibly have fractured his skull if the timely warning of Laycock had not enabled him to avoid the blow. It seems that she was returning homewards from some excursion when she came in sight of the scene of action, and, at once comprehending what was going on, had not hesitated a moment to rush to the assistance of her father; and being on the side of the river from which an attack was not looked for, she was enabled to take the enemy, as it were, in the rear. Her presence effected a powerful diversion in her father's favour, and put a stop to the work of demolition. With some difficulty, and not without receiving some severe blows, Eaton contrived to grapple with his Amazonian assailant, and by pinioning her arms prevent her doing any mischief; but as it was quite plain that the gentlemen were not sufficiently strong, in the present state of affairs, to carry on the war, and further assistance might be looked for on the enemy's side, they judged it best to beat a retreat. As in the case of many other battles, both parties claimed the victory. Jack had raised the siege, and remained master of the field; but on the other hand the invaders had pulled up a considerable portion of the dam, and carried off one of the baskets, containing at the time about a dozen brace of fine fish. Jack's immediate attention was required to repair the damage already done, and he therefore did not attempt to harass the retreating foe; otherwise, it is probable they would have had a severe struggle to retain possession of the trophy. The fish were given away to the neighbouring poor, and the captured basket was burnt in triumph the same evening. Jack-y-Pandy well knew that warrants were out against him; but a long course of impunity had given him such confidence, that the very next day he appeared as usual at the inn, with a large basket of fine fish to send up to Shrewsbury by the mail. For once, however, he carried his confidence too far. His audacity was so well known, that his appearance had been looked for, and preparations made to secure him. The Machynlleth constables were at hand, and before he was aware of his danger the Philistines were upon him; and, cut off from all support, he was fain to surrender at discretion. Arrangements were made for hearing the case immediately, and a magistrate was engaged in disposing of the matter at the moment of my arrival.

The scene was a very amusing one, and would have formed an admirable subject for the pencil of a Hogarth or a Wilkie. The large lowroofed kitchen, with its wide-latticed windows, was in perfect keeping with the motley group that filled it. Near the large fireplace sat the Rev. Mr. Evaus, the clergyman of a neighbouring parish and justice of

the peace, but with more of Falstaff than Angelo in his appearance. He was dressed in a very unclerical-looking shooting-jacket; and I fancied that he would have been much more at home sharing a pot of beer with Jack-y-Pandy than sitting in judgment on him. A clay pipe and half-emptied glass by his side seemed to indicate that he had only laid aside the character of boon companion to take up that of dispenser of justice. In this respect things are improving; but it is painful to think of the degraded state in which, till a late period, many of the Welsh clergy lived. Whether from having been originally drawn from a lower class, or from the scarcity of gentlemen's society in those remote mountain districts, or from whatever cause, too many of them have fallen into habits of the lowest kind, and have become the habitués of the pot-house and the associates of its frequenters. I remember at a small village near Harlech being astonished by a line from Virgil, very aptly quoted in the kitchen of the inn by a remarkably shabby, disreputable-looking person, whom I found smoking and drinking in the chimney-corner, and whom I had taken for a travelling tinker. He turned out to be the curate of the parish, and I attended at his performance of service on the Sunday following. Mr. Evans was not quite so low in the scale of respectability, but he seemed ill qualified to sustain the character of her Majesty's representative. In front of him stood a figure which I at once recognised as the redoubted Jack-yPandy. He was a tall, broad-shouldered, old man, apparently upwards of seventy, whose frame, though somewhat bent, still showed signs of great personal strength and activity. His dress was the ordinary blue. coat with brass buttons, drab breeches, and grey worsted stockings of the Welsh peasantry. His grey hair and weather-beaten features were set off by a glow of sunshine which just fell upon them, throwing them into strong relief, and producing a fine painter's effect, which Laycock -who was by no means a bad artist-had very happily transferred to paper. Jack did not look the desperado that he was reputed to be, though it must be owned his bearing was not exactly that of a penitent. He was flanked-by way of precaution, which did not seem absolutely needless-by two constables; and just behind him stood his son and daughter, together with the crowd of spectators whom the event had drawn together. Miss y-Pandy was rather a good-looking girl, somewhat coarse and sun-burnt, but with a fine pair of dark eyes, and in her clean cap and handsome high-crowned beaver hat she looked a respectable specimen of the Merionethshire country lass. Between this Amazon and the by-standers there was kept up a running fire of jokes on the subject of her late encounter; and numerous were the inquiries, and varied the bantering, touching the weight, size, &c., of the stone with which she had assailed Eaton. She retorted their "chaff" with a grim smile, which showed her not at all discomposed by the allusions or by her situation. By the side of the magistrate stood Laycock, Dickenson, and others of the "destructive" party, preferring their charges or giving evidence of the affray. Quite in the back-ground might be discovered the handsome face and fine figure of Mrs. Lloyd, whose dignity would not allow her to take the prominent position that her curiosity would have led her to select. I could not help instituting a mental comparison between this scene and that of a police-court in London. Mr. Jardine or Mr. Hardwicke would have been rather scandalized at

the irregularity of the proceedings; and it must be allowed that there was not much of the formality or decorum which, in a similar case, would have been observed in a magistrate's justice-room or at a petty sessions in England.

Mr. Evans seemed very little disposed to be severe on the accused ; in fact, he carried to the extreme the theory that the judge is counsel for undefended prisoners. He and Jack were old acquaintances-had shared many a revel together; and he did not seem to exhibit the hardness of the old Scotch judge, who is reported to have sentenced to the gallows an old friend and antagonist at chess with the remark-" And now Walty, my man, I think I have checkmated you at last." The magistrate tried hard for an acquittal; and it was only the urgency of Mr. Dickenson that prevented the dismissal of the case. The disposition of Mr. Evans towards Jack was so well known, that it had been intended to refer the case to another magistrate; and it was only the accident of his happening to be at the inn when the capture was made that caused the case to come before him. He endeavoured to extenuate and soften the features of the case, and, in spite of the well-known violence of Jack's character, to represent him as a harmless, peaceable individual. He could not, indeed, exactly maintain that he had a legal right to the weir; but he seemed to think that, as it had existed so long, it was rather hard that it should now be attacked. Mr. Dickenson, on the other hand, urged the law, and pressed the magistrate to enforce it. He pointed out the injury which was caused to fishing by Jack's proceedings, and reminded him that they had been condemned as illegal, and ordered to be suppressed by a competent authority. He managed the case with a good deal of skill, and pressed the magistrate with so much energy, that Jack could not restrain his anger, and shook his fist at him with an expression of menace that there was no mistaking. The action was not lost on Mr. Dickenson, who called the magistrate's attention to this admirable illustration of his peaceful and inoffensive disposition," that even in the presence of Justice he could not refrain from threatening gestures." Upon this accusation being brought against him, Jack pretended at first that he did not understand what was meant; but upon its being explained to him, he stoutly maintained "that he was not threatening Mr. Dickenson, but was only trying to show he had been threatened and assaulted." The cool effrontery with which he made this defence was in the highest degree diverting; especially as the son at the same time was heard to say, in no very subdued tone, that "if he could catch any of the party by the river he would pitch them into it." Poor Mr. Evans was sadly discomposed. With a less energetic and persevering manager of the impeachment, it is highly probable that Jack would have been set at liberty. If the assault of the day before had been the only charge he would have escaped, as the circumstance that Dickenson and others had no legal authority to pull down the weir would have been held quite sufficient to justify the violence used in resisting them. But unfortunately the old charge of poaching was too clearly made out to be overlooked; and in the end, after much discussion, and with the greatest reluctance on the part of Mr. Evans, he was committed for two months.

The sequel of the story was in keeping with all the other parts of it. The manner in which the hearing had been conducted had protracted

the affair till late in the afternoon; it was arranged, therefore, that the constables should take off Jack in a cart. In the meantime the prisoner, his friends, the constables, and, I believe, the magistrate, agreed to wind up the proceedings by a friendly glass or two. One glass led to another; and at last, when it became absolutely necessary to set off, it was very doubtful whether any of the party was in a condition to take care of himself, much less of another. Jack-y-Pandy's son and daughter insisted on seeing him to his new abode, not, as you might suppose, with any idea of rescue: when the game was once decided against them, they seemed to have submitted as a matter of course-it was only an act of filial duty to accompany their father. It was getting dark when they started. The cart was rather heavily loaded; not one of the party was sober; and we were not surprised to hear that, before they had proceeded many miles, the cart was upset. One of the constables had his arm broken; all the party were more or less severely bruised. How they succeded in reaching their destination I never could comprehend. That they did so, and that old Jack-y-Pandy was shut up, seemed certain; as the next day I had the gratification of assisting at the total demolition of the obnoxious dam, in which we met with no resistance.

I did not remain long enough at Mallwyd to benefit by the opening of the river, and during my short stay I did not again encounter either Miss y-Pandy or her brother. Whether the latter ever had an opportunity of executing his threatened vengeance I never heard; probably, if he had, he thought better of it. The last time I heard from the neighbourhood, Edward Lloyd was reaping the benefit of the improved fishing in an increased business; and he, at least, had every reason to be satisfied with the demolition of "Jack-y-Pandy's Weir.'

THE RING.

BY HARRY HIEOVER.

I think it more than probable that, if anything I might write should be of consequence enough to attract general public attention, the title of this article would draw down on my devoted head anathemas, if not lond, at least deep, for daring, in this refined" God save the mark!" for I had almost said comparatively effeminateage, to introduce a subject, whereon to say anything of a laudatory import would bring on the conclusion that I am an uncouth savage, wishing to see this our smiling land in a state of (to say the least) semi-barbarism.

Now whether I am uncouth or not, matters nothing to any one; and whether I am a savage or not, only to those intimately connected with me: and if I write, which I always attempt to do, that which is somewhat near the truth, there are those who are liberal enough, without professing or having any regard to the man, to award to the writer the humble merit of straightforward intention. It is, in fact,