AINSWORTH'S LANCASHIRE WITCHES.

MR...krwswortnis genius would seem to be theatrical. His characters, his dialogues, and theactions of his persons, mostly possess a capacity for -visible presentment, if they are not expressly contrived for it. The fre- quent divisions of his fictions into " books ' and title-chapters have an obvious reference to " Act 1, Scene 1 "; his long and minute descriptions of every place and person he introduces, are a sort of substitute for the arts of the property-man and scene-painter ; and his style has a rough power, though partaking too much of the coarseness and glare of the "fine arts " of the stage. The decline of the drama probably diverted Mr. Ainsworth from the profession of a playwright; but he would have re- quired some managerial criticism and control to have succeeded in the attempt, had he made it. He indulges a propensity to what is called " longwindedness," to a degree that an audience would never bear; and his morbid taste for the horribly impossible would sometimes be too strong even for the Surrey suburbs.

These traits have been visible in most of his works from Rookwood onwards, but never appeared in such force as in the present romance. In his Newgate novels the supernatural gave way to the felonious; and even in Rookwood itself it was rather the horrible than the impossible that formed the machinery of the tale. In The Lancashire Witches all the restraints of criticism, authority, and present usage, are fairly blown aside. Not only is witchcraft treated as a positive existence,—its pro- fessors exhibited in the constant exercise of their art, and invested with the power (and something more than the power) which popular opinion assigned to them,—but all the notions of the wildest superstitions are re- presented by Mr. Ainsworth as realities. People sell themselves to the Fiend; who sometimes appears as a kind of Mephistopheles, sometimes as a daemon of the theatre. Rocks fly asunder at dmmoniac command ; we are introduced to an assemblage of witches, where Macbeth is exaggerated and Tam o' Shanter travestied; ghosts squeak and gibber in great numbers; and an incontinent nun' who had sold herself to the Evil One to escape punishment during life, foots it away vigorously both in human and superhuman assemblies. Sometimes the idea of mesmeric vision, clairvoyance, or the effect of deleterious gas, comes across the mind; but, though some parts might be "cleared up" in this way, there is no escape from the tangible reality of the " marvellous." Take the catas- trophe, where Mrs. Nutter, a landed lady, a witch and leader of witches, and the mother of the heroine Alizon, is rescued from eternal punish- ment at the tenth minute by the faith of her daughter; though we never knew till now, from Any sufficient authority, that either witch or devil

could, by, touch, slay one not under compact. In such case the devil is powerless, and witches act by means of art.

" Again she consults the hour-glass. One quarter of an hoar is all that re- mains to her. Oh ! that she could employ it in prayer. Oh ! that she could kneel, or even weep.

" A large mirror bangs against the wall, and she is drawn towards it by an ir- resistible impulse. She sees a figure within it, but she does not know herself. Can that cadaverous object, with the white hair that seems newly-arisen from the grave, be she? It must be a phantom. No—she touches her cheek, and finds it is real. But, ah !• what is this red brand upon her brow? It must be the seal of the demon. She tries to efface it—but it will not come out. On the con- trary, it becomes redder and deeper.

Again she consults the glass. The sand is still running on. How many minutes remain to her?

" Ten,' cried a voice, replying to her mental inquiry—' Ten.' " And turning, she perceived her familiar standing beside her. "' Thy time is well nigh out, Alice Nutter,' he said. In ten minutes mylord will claim thee.'

" My compact with thy master is broken,' she replied, summoning up all her

resolution. have long ceased to use the power bestowed upon me: but even if I had wished it, thou hest refused to serve me.'

"'I have refused to serve you, madam, because you have disobeyed the express injunctions of my master,' replied the familiar: but your apoatacy does not free you from bondage. You have merely lost advantages which you might have en- joyed. If you chose to dismiss me I could not help it. Neither I nor my lord have been to blame. We have performed our part of the contract.' "

After some business discourse, Alizon appears.

"' Pray for me, my child' cried Mistress Nutter, mastering her emotion, or I

shall be snatched from you for ever. My moments are numbered. Pray—pray !'

" Alizon fell on her knees, and prayed fervently.

" Yon waste your breath,' cried the familiar, in a mocking tone. Never till the brand shall disappear from her brow, and the writing, traced in her blood;

shall vanish from this parchment, can she be saved. She is mine.'

" Pray, Alizon, pray I' shrieked Mistress Nutter. " I will tear her in pieces if she does not cease,' cried the familiar, assuming a terrible shape, and menacing her with claws like those of a wild beast. " ' Pray thou, mother,' cried Alizon.

" cannot,' replied the lady. " will kill her, if she but makes the attempt!' howled the demon.

" But try, mother, try,' cried Alizon. "The .'.r lady dropped on her knees, and raised her hands in humble suppU.

cation. ' : eaven forgive me!' she exclaimed.

" The daimon seized the hour-glass.

" The sand is out—her term is expired—she is mine,' he cried. " Clasp thy arms tightly round me, my child. He cannot take me from thee 1 shrieked the agonized woman. "'Release her, Alizon, or I will slay thee likewise!' roared the demon.

" 'Never' ' she replied, 'thou canst not overcome me. Ha!' she added joy

fully, 'the brand has disappeared from her brow.' 'And the writing from the parchment howled the demon; but I will have her notwithstanding.'

" And he plunged his claws into Alice Natter's flesh: bat her daughter held

her fast.

" Oh ! hold me, my child—hold me, or I am lost!' shrieked the lady. " ' Be warned, and let her go, or thy life shall pay for her'e,' cried the demon. " ' My life for her's, willingly, replied Alizon. " Then take thy fate,' rejoined the evil spirit.

"And, placing his hand upon her heart, it instantly ceased to beat.

" Mother, thou art saved—saved ! ' exclaimed Alizon, throwing out her arms " And gazing at her for an instant with a seraphic look, she fell backwards and expired. " Thou art mine!' reared the daemon, seizing Mistress Natter by the hair, and dragging her from her daughter's body, to which she clung desperately.

" Help, help !' she cried. " Thou mayest call, but thy cries will be unheeded,' rejoined the familiar, with mocking laughter. " Thou hest, false fiend 1' said Mistress Nutter; Heaven will help me now.' " And, as she spoke, the Cistertian monk stood before them. " Hence !' he cried, with an imperious gesture to the demon. She is w longer in thy power. Hence !'

" And with a howl of rage and disappointment the familiar vanished."

This style is hardly equal to the theme : but it is not the want of art in the management of the supernatural, or a deficiency of poWer .11 its use, which is the great defect of The Lancashire Witches. We do not feel the flesh creep during its perusal; but, as far as the daemons and witches are concerned, we could get on well enough, abandoning our reason to the story, as we do in old romances of knight-errantry, or in modern German tales of diablerie; but, unfortunately, in his story Mr. Ainsworth has carried his usual faults to an extreme. The tale is crowded to confusion with persons and incidents ; the narrative halts while the author displays his knowledge of Lancashire and the times of James the First ; and the interest of the reader is overwhelmed by the mass of matter and the number of words. Unlucky faults; for the book does contain mach local and antiquarian knowledge, a good deal of in- vention and variety, and displays great power in writing.