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diff --git a/40612-8.txt b/40612-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c151fde..0000000 --- a/40612-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,15391 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. VII, -December 1850, Vol. II, by Various - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. VII, December 1850, Vol. II - -Author: Various - -Release Date: August 30, 2012 [EBook #40612] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY *** - - - - -Produced by Judith Wirawan, David Kline, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - HARPER'S - - NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. - - VOLUME II. - - DECEMBER, 1850, TO MAY, 1851. - - - NEW YORK: - - HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, - - 329 & 331 PEARL STREET, - - FRANKLIN SQUARE. - - 1851. - - - - -ADVERTISEMENT. - - -In bringing the SECOND VOLUME of the NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE to a close, -the Publishers would avail themselves of the occasion, to express their -profound appreciation of the favor with which it has been received, and -their earnest wish to render it still more deserving of the enlightened -patronage of the American community. They commenced the publication with -the firm conviction that it could be made the medium of valuable -information and mental enjoyment to the great mass of readers, and that -it would accordingly be sustained by their generous and cordial support. -Nor have they been deceived in their anticipations. The Magazine has -found a wider circulation with every monthly issue. The encomiums with -which it has been welcomed by the universal voice of the press, and the -verdict of intelligent readers, are a gratifying proof that the -Publishers have succeeded in their endeavor to adapt it to the wants of -the public mind. Encouraged by the experience of the first year of this -extensive literary enterprise, they are determined to spare no effort to -insure the succeeding volumes of the Magazine a still wider and more -favorable reception among all classes of readers. They intend it to be a -strictly national work. Devoted to no local interests, pledged to no -religious sect or political party, connected with no favorite movement -of the day, except the diffusion of intelligence, virtue, and -patriotism, it will continue to be conducted with the impartiality and -good faith, which it is equally the duty, the inclination, and the -interest of the Publishers to maintain. In addition to the choicest -productions of the English press, the Magazine will be enriched with -such original matter as in their opinion will enhance its utility and -attractiveness. The embellishments will be furnished by distinguished -artists, and selected no less for their permanent value as vehicles of -agreeable instruction than for the gratification of an æsthetic taste. -With the ample literary, artistic, and mechanical resources which the -Publishers have enlisted in the NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE, and their ambition -to give it a character of genuine, substantial, reliable excellence in -every department, they may assure its wide circle of patrons that its -subsequent issues will more than justify the distinguished reputation -which it has attained at this early period of its existence. - - - - -CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. - - - Actors and their Salaries 403 - A Death-Bed. By JAMES ALDRICH 84 - A Dream and the Interpretation Thereof 816 - Address to Gray Hair 699 - An Agreeable Surprise 84 - A little Stimulant 361 - Anecdote of a Dog 97 - Anecdote of a Hawk 490 - Anecdotes of Napoleon 231 - Anecdotes of Serpents 663 - Anecdotes of Wordsworth 319 - An Empty House 103 - An Excellent Match 315 - Apology for Burns 334 - Bachelor's Christmas 399 - Beauties of the Law 543 - Births:--Mrs. Meek of a Son 672 - Birth of Crime 614 - Bona Lombardi Brunoro 155 - Carol for the New Year 396 - Chapter on Bears 546 - Chapter on Dreams 768 - Chapter on Shawls 39 - Chapter on Wolves 787 - Charles Wolfe 734 - Cheerful Views of Human Nature 242 - Child Commodore 641 - Climate of Canada 358 - Colds and Cold Water 110 - Conflict of Love 63 - Courtesy of Americans 846 - Crazed 401 - Crisis in the Affairs of Mr. John Bull 235 - Crocodile Battery 768 - Crystal Palace 584 - Curiosities of Railway Traveling 194 - Curran, the Irish Orator 497 - Dangers of Doing Wrong 226 - Darling Dorel 843 - Death of a Goblin 478 - Death of Howard 298 - Death of John Randolph 80 - Dog and Deer of the Army 407 - Domestic Life of Alexander, Emperor of Russia 99 - Edible Birds'-Nests of China 397 - Efforts of a Gentleman in search of Despair 521 - Encounter with an Iceberg 406 - England in 1850. By LAMARTINE 46 - Escape of Queen Mary from Lochleven Castle 22 - Fair in Munich 774 - Fashions for December 143 - Fashions for Early Winter 287 - Fashions for Later Winter 431 - Fashions for Early Spring 575 - Fashions for Spring 719 - Fashions for May 863 - Fate of a German Reformer 76 - Five Minutes too Late 647 - Fidgety People 662 - Flowers in the Sick Room 52 - Freaks of Nature 356 - French Revolutionists, Marat, Robespierre, and Danton 27 - Gabrielle; or, The Sisters 801 - Gamblers of the Rhine 61 - General Rosas and the Argentine Republic 484 - German Picture of the Scotch 25 - Ghost-Stories of Chapelizod 499 - Give Wisely! An Anecdote 121 - Gunpowder and Chalk 18 - Habits and Amusements of the London Costermongers 644 - Haunts of Genius--Gray, Burke, Milton, Dryden, and Pope 49 - Heart of John Middleton 449 - History and Mystery of the Glass-House 308 - Horrors of War 658 - Household of Sir Thomas More 616, 818 - How to be Idolized 640 - Incident in the First French Revolution 622 - Invitation to the Zoological Gardens 297 - Jane Eccles; or, Confessions of an Attorney 677 - Judge Not 626 - Lamartine on the Religion of Revolutionary Men 598 - Land, Ho!--A Sketch of Australia 357 - - LEAVES FROM PUNCH - - Preparatory Schools for Young Ladies; Ladies' Arithmetic; Netting - for Ladies, 285. A False Apple-ation; A Tête-à-Tête; Expected out - soon; Going down to a Watering-place; Attraction; 19th Cent'ry; - Putting the Cart before the Horse; A Narrow Escape; Division of - Labor; Animal Economy; A Holiday at the Public Offices, 429. - Lectures on Letters; Punch on Special Pleading; Smithfield Club - Cattle Show; Golden Opportunities; Universal Contempt of Court; - Startling Fact, 569. 1851; Please, Sir, shall I hold your Horse? - The Affairs of Grease; The War on Hats; Peace Offering; The Best - Law Book; Justice for Bachelors; The Weather, a Drama for - Every-Day Life; A Juvenile Party; the Kitchen Range of Art; - Reward of Merit, 713. Encouragement to Book-Lenders; Diplomacy - and Gastronomy, Supper at a Juvenile Party; One of the Juveniles - after the Party; Conversation-Books for 1851; To find Room in a - Crowded Omnibus; A File to Smooth Asperities; The Lowest Depth of - Meanness; A Little Bit of Humbug, 859. - - Letters and Letter Writing 35 - - LITERARY NOTICES. - - The Salamander; Spencer's Pastor's Sketches; Abbott's Madame - Roland; Stanton's Sketches of Reforms and Reformers; Gorree's - Churches and Sects of the United States; Cenotaph to a Woman of - the Burman Mission; Fleetwood's Life of Christ; Banbridge's - Scripture History for the Young; Poems by Grace Greenwood, 139. - Hawthorne's Grandfather's Chair; The Green Hand; The New - Englander; Bibliotheca Sacra; Maturin's Lyrics of Spain and Erin; - Holmes's Astræa; De Quincey's Essays; Bigelow's Jamaica in 1851; - Cantica Laudis; Young's Translations from Beranger, 140. - Andersen's Tales; Gem of the Western World; Our Saviour with - Prophets and Apostles; Sacred Scenes; National Cook-Book; Smith's - Relations between Scripture and Geology, 141. Life and Works of - John Adams; The Broken Bracelet; The Immortal; Boyd's edition of - Paradise Lost; General View of the Fine Arts; Artist's Chromatic - Hand-Book, 142. Reveries of a Bachelor; Richard Edney; Washburn's - Issue of Philosophic Thought, 281. The Memorial; Evening of Life; - Mrs. Knight's Memoir of Hannah More; Andrews' Latin Lexicon, 282. - Smith's Classical Dictionary; Mansfield's American Education; The - Ministry of the Beautiful; Green's History and Geography of the - Middle Ages; Christian Melodies; Sketch of Fowell Buxton; The - Manhattaner in New Orleans, 283. Redfield's Twelve Qualities of - Mind; Winter in Madeira; Gems by the Wayside; The World's - Progress; Vinet's Montaigne; Sumner's Orations; The Broken Bud; - Bardouac; Fadette; Memoir of Alexander Waugh; Chanticleer, 284. - Life and Times of Gen. Lamb; Memoir of James Handasyde Perkins; - Humboldt's Religious Thoughts and Opinions; Balmes's - Protestantism and Catholicity; Tappan's University Education, - 425. Gilfillan's Bards of the Bible; Webster's Dictionary, 426. - Celebrated Saloons; Home Ballads; History of my Pets; Cheever's - Island World of the Pacific; Life of Summerfield; Greek Exile; - Carpenter's Use and Abuse of Alcoholic Liquors; Mother's - Recompense; The Diosma; Poems by S.G. Goodrich, 427. Woodbury's - New Method of learning German; Poems by Frances A. and Metta V. - Fuller; Lives of the Queens of Scotland; Pendennis; Southey's - Life and Correspondence; Murray's Decline of Popery; Henry - Smeaton, 428. The Howadji; Crumbs from the Land o' Cakes; De - Quincey's Miscellaneous Essays; Hayward's Faust; Lavengro, 565. - Abbott's Malleville; Practical Cook-Book; Foster's Discourse on - Missions; Lewis's Restoration of the Jews; Anderson's Geography; - The Dove and the Eagle; Carter's Publications, 566. Hildreth's - United States; Lossing's Field Book; Du Barry's Progress of the - United States; Salander and the Dragon, 567. The Prairie; - Stanton's Address, and Street's Poem at Hamilton College; Lord - Holland's Foreign Reminiscences; Jane Bouverie; Mayhew's London - Labor and London Poor; The Moorland Cottage, 568. Johnson's - California and Oregon, 709. Mount Hope, 710. Parnassus in - Pillory, 711. Hawthorne's Twice Told Tales; Time the Avenger; - Porter's Educational Systems of the Puritans and the Jesuits; - Girlhood of Shakspeare's Heroines; Poetry from the Waverley - Novels; Whipple's Essays and Reviews; Loomis's Geometry and - Calculus; The City of the Silent; Blunt's Shipmaster's Assistant, - 712. Hawthorne's House of the Seven Gables, 855. Buttmann's Greek - Grammar; Lee's Ecclesiastical Manual; Dixon's Life of Penn; The - Rangers; Mulchinoch's Ballads; Foster's Christian Purity; Lyra - Catholica, 856. The Soldier of the Cross; Field's Irish - Confederates; Schmitz's History of Greece; Abbott's Franconia - Stories; London Labor and the London Poor; Dwight's Roman - Republic; De Quincey's Cæsars; Life on the Plains of the Pacific; - Hints to Sportsmen, 857. Curran and His Contemporaries; Gayarre's - Louisiana; Monge's Statics; Warreniana; Jung-Stilling's - Pneumatology; Tuckerman's Poems; Theory of Effect; Volcano - Diggings; Cooper's Wing and Wing; Irving's Conquest of Florida; - Banker's Common-Place Book, 858. - - Lively Turtle 52 - Lucy Cawthorne 633 - Lunatic Asylum in Palermo 183 - Madame Campan 153 - Mathematical Hermit 627 - Metal Founder of Munich 516 - Maurice Tiernay, the Soldier of Fortune. - By CHARLES LEVER 173, 364, 468, 737 - Michelet, the French Historian 353 - Milton and Wordsworth 201 - Mistakes in Personal Identity 69 - Modern Mummies 321 - - MONTHLY RECORD OF CURRENT EVENTS. - - UNITED STATES. - - POLITICAL AND GENERAL NEWS.--State of feeling on the Compromise - measures, 122. Letters of Washington Hunt to the Secession and - Anti-Rent Conventions, 122. Meeting at Castle Garden; Letter of - Mr. Webster; Nominations, 122. Constitution of Congress, 123. - State Convention in Georgia, 123. Meeting at Macon, 123. State of - Feeling in Georgia, 123. In South Carolina, 124. In Alabama; Gov. - Collier declines to call a State Convention; Letter of Mr. - Hilliard, 124. In Mississippi, 124. In Louisiana, 124. Letters of - Senators Downs and Soulé; Letter from the Congressional - delegation to the Governor, 124. Correspondence between Isaac - Hill and Mr. Webster, 125. Dinner to Mr. Clayton, 125. Opening of - Congress, 263. Message of President Fillmore, 133. Report of the - Secretary of War, 264. Of the Secretary of the Navy, 265. Of the - Postmaster General, 265. Of the Secretary of the Interior, 266. - Bill for the protection of fugitives in Vermont, 267. Message of - Gov. Ford of Virginia, 267. Of the Governor of Alabama, 267. Of - Mississippi, 267. Union majority in Georgia, 267. Message of Gov. - Bell of Texas, 268. Of Gov. Seabrook of South Carolina, 268. Of - Gov. Brown of Florida, 268. The Nashville Convention, 268. - Various Union meetings; and letters and speeches of Messrs. - Webster, Choate, Stuart, Woodbury, Hilliard, and others, 268, - 269, 270, 271. Reception of Mr. Clay in the Legislature of - Kentucky, 271. Letters of Messrs. Hamilton, Poinsett, and Rush, - 272. Speech of Mr. Clayton, 272. George Thompson, 272. General - News from California, 272, 410, 556, 701. General news from - Oregon, 273. Webster's reply to Hulsemann, 409, 848. Opening of - the Legislature of New York, and Message of Gov. Hunt, 409. - Message of Gov. Wright of Indiana, 410. Florida resolutions, 410. - Of Gov. Johnston of Pennsylvania, 410. Boundary Commission, 411, - 556, 701. Safety of the Steamer Atlantic, 555. Progress of - measures in Congress, 555. Action of the Legislature of North - Carolina in favor of Union, etc., 555. Indictment of Gov. - Quitman, 556. Thanksgiving in Texas, 556. Loss of the John Adams, - 556. Inaugural of Gov. Fort of New Jersey, 556. Letter of Gen. - Houston in favor of Union, 556. Action for Union in Delaware, - 556. Union meeting at Westchester, 556. Correspondence between a - British consul and the Governor of South Carolina respecting - imprisonment of colored seamen, 556. Indian hostilities in - California, 556, 701. Gold Bluffs on Trinity River, 556, 701. - Amount of gold shipped, 556. Adjournment of Congress, and notice - of measures acted upon, 700. Measures for the relief of Kossuth, - 700. The Postage bill, 700. Rescue of a fugitive slave in Boston, - 701. Homestead exemption in Illinois, 701. Exemption in Delaware, - 701. Free negroes in Iowa, 701. Germans in Texas, 701. - Manufactures at the South, 701. Quiet after Excitement, 847. New - York Common school law, 847. Canal enlargement bill, 847. - Legislative visit to New York, 847. The sergeant-at-arms and the - gamblers, 847. Ohio resolutions on the fugitive slave law, 847. - Virginia Union resolutions, 847. General Union feeling at the - South, 848. In South Carolina, 848. Mr. Hayne's disunion letter, - 848. Senator Phelp's letter, 848. Amin Bey, 848. New Constitution - of Ohio, 848. Virginia Constitutional Convention, 849. Socorro - tragedy, 849. - - ELECTIONS.--State elections in New York and New Jersey, 122. In - Ohio and Massachusetts, 123. General Congressional result, 123. - Election of U.S. Senators, 555, 701. Mr. Fish in New York, 555, - 847. - - MEXICO AND SOUTH AMERICA. - - Capture of slaves at Rio, 127. General news from Mexico, 273, - 411, 557, 701, 849. Message of Herera, 457. Inauguration and - speech of Arista as President, 557. Affairs in Nicaragua; - discovery of gold; proceedings of Mr. Chatfield, the British - consul, 557. Intelligence from Valparaiso, 557. Hostilities - between Guatemala and San Salvador, 702. Gold in New Grenada, - 702. Route across the isthmus through Lake Nicaragua, 702. - Earthquake at Carthagena, 702. Peru, 702. Banishment of Buenos - Ayreans from Bolivia, 702. Prohibition of the landing of - liberated slaves in Brazil, 702. - - GREAT BRITAIN. - - Establishment of Catholic sees in England; Letter of Dr. - Ullathorne, 125. Speech of Lord Stanley on Protection, 125. - Tenant right in Ireland, 126. The Synod of Thurles, 126. Increase - of Crime, 126. Submarine telegraph, 126, 132. Illumination on - Arthur's Seat, 126. Speech of Prince Albert at York, 126. - Consuming smoke at Manchester, 127. Emigration, 127. Movements - for independence in New South Wales, 127. The Exhibition, 132, - 274, 278, 419, 558, 704, 851. Bridge at Westminster, 133. New - College at Glasgow, 133. Catholic excitement, 273, 558. Lord John - Russell's Durham Letter, 273. Cardinal Wiseman's Appeal, 273. Law - Reform, 273. Cotton in India, 274. Ornamental cemeteries in - London, 278. Tax on telegraphs, 278. General view of the state of - England, 411. Progress of the Catholic excitement, 413. Various - addresses, speeches, deputations, etc., 414. Attempts to increase - the supply of Cotton or to discover a substitute, 414. Famine in - the Highlands, 415. Opposition of the Cunarders to the American - steamers, 415. Increased value of silver, 415. Protest of the - Bishops of the Episcopal Church in Ireland, 558. The surplus, - 558. Austria demands the punishment of the assailants of Haynau, - 558. Disturbances at the Cape of Good Hope, 558. Opening of - Parliament; the Queen's Speech, 702. Ecclesiastical Titles Bill; - Free-trade motion; unsatisfactory Budget, 703. Defeat of - Ministers on franchise question; resignation of Ministers; - attempt to form new cabinet, 704. Queen Adelaide's pension, 704. - Petition for constitution for Cape of Good Hope, 704. Protestants - of Dublin and Duke of Wellington, 704. Viceroyalty of Ireland, - 704. Return of Cabinet to office, 848. Ecclesiastical Titles Bill - mutilated, 849. Checks to Ministers, 850. Arsenic Bill, 850. - Kaffir revolt, 850. Revolutionary Committee, 850. Miss Talbot and - the Convent Bill, 850. Public execution, 850. Monster address, - 850. Charges against Lord Torrington, 850. Coal-pit disaster, - 850. Adulteration of food, 850. Hungarian refugees, 850. New - expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, 851. - - FRANCE. - - Pretended Republican plot, 127. The President's attempt to secure - the army, 127. Quarrel between him and Changarnier, and between - the Assembly and Gen. Hautpoul, who resigns, 128. Opening of the - Assembly, and Message of the President, 275. Cavaignac and the - President, 276. Letter from the Duke of Nemours, 276. General - view of the state of France, 412. Credit passed for the army, - 415. Public baths, 415. Bill for the observance of the Sabbath, - 415. Luxury at the Elysée, 415. Progress of the quarrel between - the President and the Assembly; dismissal of Changarnier; - dissolution of the Ministries; President's tactics, 558, 704. - Dotation to the President refused, and his consequent action, - 704. Bill for the return of the Bourbons lost, 851. Speech of M. - Dufraisse, 851. The Orleanists and Legitimists, 851. The - Archbishop of Paris and the Bishop of Chartres, 851. Censure of - M. Michelet, 851. - - GERMANY, ETC. - - Hostilities in Schleswig-Holstein, 128. Catastrophe at Herrgott, - 129. Forest conflagration in Poland, 129. Constitutions for - Galicia and Bukowina, 129. Detailed statement of the German - question, 274. Warlike aspect, 275. General view of the continent - of Europe, 412. Peace prospects; Conference at Dresden, 415. - Return of the Elector of Hesse Cassel, 416. Internal affairs of - Austria, 416. Progress of affairs in the Dresden Conference; - understanding between Austria and Prussia for the depreciation of - the minor powers, 558, 705. Dresden Conference at fault, 851. - Policy of Austria and Prussia, 852. - - SPAIN, ITALY, AND PORTUGAL. - - Address of Mazzini, 127. Overthrow of the Constitution and of - liberty of the press in Tuscany, 129. Brigandage in the Roman - States, 130, 705. General view of the state of the south of - Europe, 413. Foreign troops in Rome, 416, 705. The Austrians in - Venice, 416. Condition of Sardinia, 416. Disruption of the - Spanish Cabinet, 416. Conspiracy under Mazzini, 705. Archbishop - Hughes at Rome, 705. Liberal ministry in Piedmont, 705. Austrian - movements, 852. Proclamations against political pamphlets, 852. - Washington's birthday at Rome, 852. Protestant chapel, 852. - - THE EAST. - - Contributions preparing for the Exhibition, 128. Affairs in - India, 127. Mortality at Hong Kong, 129. Cotton in Bombay, 129. - Insurrection in China, 129. The Hungarian refugees in Turkey, - 129. Conspiracy at Teheran, 130. Collisions between the Turks and - Christians, 276. Persecutions in Aleppo, 276. Disturbances in - Syria, 276. Canal between the Mediterranean and Red Seas, 419. - Napier's farewell, 705. Prospective annexations, 705. Suppression - of insurrection in China, 705. Death of Lin, 705. Difficulties in - Egypt, 705. Troubles at Bagdad, 705. Massacres in Southern - Africa, 705. - - LITERARY, SCIENTIFIC, AND PERSONAL. - - UNITED STATES.--Dinner to Mr. Webster at his native place, 130. - Amin Bey, 130. M. Vattemare; Statue of Calhoun; Wm. W. Story; Wm. - D. Gallagher, Prof. Filopanti; Daniel D. Barnard, 130. Crawford's - Washington; bust of Allen; monument to Warren; movements of - artists, 131. Gift-books and Annuals, 276. Lessing's Martyrdom of - Huss, 277. Ehninger's etchings, 277. Academy of Design lectures, - 277. Hawthorne, 277. Greek Slave, 277. Jenny Lind, 277, 852. - Third ring of Saturn, 277. Cultivation of tea, 277. Darley's - outlines, 277. Healey's portraits of Calhoun and Webster, 277. - Power's statue of America, 279. Mr. Webster on the Mayflower, - 416. Stephenson's statue of the Wounded Indian, 416. Panorama of - Pilgrim's Progress, 417. Mount's Lucky Throw, 417. Powell's - Burial of Fernando de Soto, 417. Prof. Hart's Female Prose - Writers, 417. Mrs. Hale's Female Biography, 417. Mr. Putnam's new - publications, 417. The Opera, 417. Paine's Water-gas, 417. - Dembinski, 417. Public lectures by various individuals, 277, 559, - 705. Presidential library, 559. Burns's birthday, 559. Dinner to - Mr. Hoe, 559. Books, 559. Papers of Citizen Genet, 559. Talvi, - 559. Panoramas, 705. Arrival of Tupper, 705. Celebration of - Washington's birth-day, 706. Irving to Ichabod Crane, 706. - Opening of Exhibition of Academy of Design, 852. Greenough's - Pioneer, 852. Healey's Calhoun, 852. Pictures by Wright, Duggan, - Stearns, and Richards, 852. Tupper as a lion, 853. Calhoun's Life - and Works, 853. Works of Alexander Hamilton, 853. Taylor's - El-Dorado in German, 853. First cotton sent to Liverpool, 853. - Dr. Goadby's insects, 853. Acquittal of the Cuban invaders, 853. - - FOREIGN.--Miss Howard's donation for hospital for widows, 126. - Sir John Franklin, 126, 132. Levi's Commercial Law, 131. - Wordsworth; Mazzini; Southey; Sir Robert Peel, 131. Idiots, 132. - Delaroche's Napoleon crossing the Alps, 132. Monument to Elliott; - Tindal, 132. Artists at Rome, 133. Duke of Wellington's sanctum, - 133. Gutzlaff, 133. Government of the Sandwich Islands, 133. - French exhibition of pictures, 134. Theatrical censorship, 134. - Joan of Arc, 134. Madame de Genlis, 134. The woorari, 134. - Suspension bridge across the Straits of Dover, 134. Barral and - Bixio, 135. Sundry German books, 135, 422. Statues to Thaer, - Gustavus Adolphus, Tegner, and Plettenberg, 135. Lessing's - Martyrdom of Huss, 135. Literary Society at Jerusalem, 135. - Polish literature, 135. Ticknor's Spanish Literature in German, - 136. Portrait of Constantine, 136. New locomotive, 136. - Meyerbeer, 136. Statue of Bavaria, 136. Kinkel, 136. - Miscellanies, 137, 138, 278. Literary pensions, 278, 560. The - Princess D'Este and the literary fund, 278. French voting - machine, 279. New aerostatic machine, 279. Rossini; Armand - Marrast; Jehan le Bel, 279. A common meridian, 279. Snail - telegraph, 279. Beranger, 280. Mock Message of the President of - France, 280. Theatrical quarrels in Brussels, 280. Heinrich - Heine, 280. Works of art for the King of Bavaria and the Emperor - of Russia, 280. Written language in Western Africa, 418. Earl of - Carlisle's lectures, 418. Walter Savage Landor, 418. The Napiers, - 418. Dr. Johnson and the Welsh bard, 418. Lawrence's portrait of - Peel, 418. Copyright to foreigners in England, 418. Copying - telegraph, 419. Monument to the Duke of Cambridge, 419. London - charities, 419. Windsor Reward Society, 419. Ragged Schools, 419. - Sale of the effects of O'Connell, 419. French telegraphs, 419. - Guizot on Washington and Monk, 420. Toussaint Louverture, 420. - St. Prix on Constitutional Law, 420. Effect of the French - Revolution on newspapers, 420. Cemeteries in Paris, 420. Carl - Ferd. Becker, 420. Bruno Bauer, 421. Brockhaus, 421. The Leipzig - Book-Fair, 422. Rauch's Monument to Frederick the Great, 422. - Tunnel under the Neva, 422. Translations into Russian, 422. Books - prohibited in Italy, 423. Destruction of vase in the Vatican, - 423. Oersted, 423. Passion-play at Ammergau, 423. Life of - Foscolo, 423. D'Arlincourt's L'Italie Rouge, 423. Statue to - Olbers, 423. Scandinavian literature, 423. Lamartine, 560, 706. - Bad spelling, 560. St. Peter's chair, 560. Layard, 560. Last - survivor of Cook's voyages, 561. Sir Roger de Coverley's chaplain - redivivus, 561. Fossils as manure, 561. New classical works in - Germany, 561. Mohammedan histories, 561. Ewald's Commentary, 561. - Miss Martineau's new work, 706. Mrs. Sherwood, 706. Knowles as a - controversialist, 706. England as it is, 706. Austrian view of - Hungarian affairs, 706. Newton's way of living, 706. Sundry - Books, 706. Remuneration of literature, 706. Talmudic - refinements, 707. Knight and Chambers on paper-tax, 707. MSS. of - Richelieu, 707. George the Fourth, and the library in the - Museum, 707. Appleyard on the Kaffir language, 707. Signals in - fog, 708. Velocity of light, 707. Hail in India, 708. Essence of - milk, 708. _Deutches Museum_, 853. _Causeries du Lundi_, 853. - Rare old editions, 853. Unique edition of La Fontaine, 853. - Victor Hugo, 853. New work of Origen, 853. Germania, 1850, 853. - Yeast: a Problem, 854. Landor to Duncan, 854. Dahomey and the - Dahomans, 854. Dynamical Theory of the Earth, 854. Memoirs of a - Literary Veteran, 854. Hartley Coleridge, 854. - - OBITUARIES. - - Richard M. Johnson, 125. Watkins; Lenau; Becker; Rottman; - Thomaschek, 133. Garnier, 134. Henry Fitzmaurice Hallam, 279. - Gustav Schwab; Count Brandenburgh; M. Alexandre; M. Sauve; Gen. - Bonnemain; Sir L. St. G. Skeffington; Mr. Raphall; M. Motteley; - Lord Nugent; Karl Aug. Espe; Martin D'Auche, 424. D.S. Kaufman, - 556. Mr. Ritchie, 560. Audubon, 561. Bem, 563. Viscount Alford; - Duke of Newcastle; Bastiat; Maxwell the novelist; Prof. - Schumacher, 564. Commissioner Lin, 705. Marquis of Northampton; - John Pye Smith; Charles Coquerel; Spontini, 708. Mrs. Shelley; - Joanna Baillie, 709. Isaac Hill; Mordecai M. Noah, 854. General - Brooke; Commodore Wadsworth; Samuel F. Jarvis; John S. Skinner, - 855. - - Morning with Moritz Retzsch 509 - My Novel; or, Varieties in English Life. - By SIR EDWARD BULWER LYTTON. 85, 251, 382, 524, 682, 825 - Mysteries of a Tea-Kettle 246 - New Phase of Bee-Life 488 - Napoleon and the Pope 791 - Night of Terror in a Polish Inn 41 - Night with an Earthquake 810 - Not all Alone 554 - Notes on the Nile 491 - Novelty Iron Works; with Description of Marine Steam Engines, - and their construction. By JACOB ABBOTT 721 - Passion for collecting Books 397 - Personal Appearance and Habits of Robert Southey 145 - Phantoms and Realities 457, 601, 753 - Pilchard Fishery on the Coast of Cornwall 630 - Plate Glass 668 - Plea for British Reptiles 813 - Prison Anecdote 628 - Procrastination 155 - Public Opinion and the Press 192 - Punch on Birds, Balloons, and Boluses 396 - Rattlin the Reefer's Dream 31 - Rats and Rat-Killers 202 - Recollections of Chantrey 322 - Recollections of Sir Robert Peel 328 - Reminiscence of the French Revolution 480 - Robber Outwitted 544 - Robber's Revenge 195 - Sailing in the Air 168, 323 - Saturday in a London-Market 656 - Sketches from Life 372 - Sketch of a Miser 620 - Sketch of my Childhood. By DE QUINCEY 156, 302 - Sloped for Texas 187 - Spring. By JAMES THOMSON 433 - Story of Fine-Ear 482 - Story of Giovanni Belzoni 947 - Story of Silver-Voice and her Sister Zoë 762 - Street Music in London 67 - Tale of Shipwreck 335 - Talleyrand 215 - The Broken Heart; or, the Well of Pen-Morfa 205 - The Champion.--An Incident in Spanish History 781 - The Deserted Village. By GOLDSMITH 1 - The Dumb Child 194 - Factory Boy 660 - The Fairy Queen 517 - The Farm Laborer.--The Father 674 - The Farm Laborer.--The Son 784 - The Fugitive King at Boscobel 10 - The Ghost that appeared to Mrs. Wharton 72 - The Gipsy in the Thorn-Bush 338 - The Golden Rule 120 - The Kaffir Trader 341 - The Marriage Settlement 330 - The Queen's Tobacco-Pipe 513 - The Stolen Fruit.--A Story of Napoleon's Childhood 822 - The Talisman.--A Fairy Tale 348 - The Traveler. By GOLDSMITH 289 - The Unlawful Gift 55 - The Unnamed Shell 747 - The Watcher 665 - The Wife's Stratagem 778 - The Woodstream 346 - Thomas Harlowe 599 - Uncle John; or, The Rough Road to Riches 840 - Victims of Science 698 - Visit to a Colliery 340 - Visit to a Copper Mine 652 - Visit to an English Dairy 165 - Volcano Girl 188 - Voyage in Search of Sir John Franklin 588 - Waiting for the Post 238 - Washington Irving 577 - Waste of War 810 - What becomes of all the pins? 597 - Wilberforce and Chalmers 824 - William Cullen Bryant 581 - William Penn's Conversion to Quakerism 613 - Winter Vision 359 - Wordsworth and Carlyle 201 - Young Man's Counselor 213 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - PAGE - 1. Portrait of Goldsmith 1 - 2. The hawthorn bush 1 - 3. To spurn imploring famine from the gate 2 - 4. Beside the bed where parting life was laid 3 - 5. The village master taught his little school 4 - 6. The village ale-house 5 - 7. The coy maid half willing to be press'd 5 - 8. As some fair female unadorned and plain 6 - 9. Here, while the courtier glitters in brocade 7 - 10. The poor, houseless, shivering female lies 7 - 11. Her fond husband strove to lend relief 8 - 12. As rocks resist the billows and the sky 9 - 13. Sketch of John Randolph of Roanoke 80 - 14. Visiting and Ball Costumes for December 143 - 15. Evening Costume 144 - 16. Coiffure for Ball 144 - 17. Portrait of Southey 145 - 18. Vale of Watenlath 148 - 19. Southey's Tomb 152 - 20. Portrait of Madame Campan 153 - 21. Portrait of Bona Lombardi Brunoro 155 - 22. Portrait of De Quincey 156 - 23. Preparatory School for Young Ladies 285 - 24. Costumes for Winter 287 - 25. Head-Dress and Corsage 288 - 26. Bonnet 288 - 27. Or where Campania's plain forsaken lies 289 - 28. As some lone miser visiting his store 290 - 29. The sports of children satisfy the child 291 - 30. The Swiss their stormy mansions tread 291 - 31. Breasts the air, and carols as he goes 292 - 32. Where snow-tracks mark the way 292 - 33. And dance, forgetful of the noontide hour 293 - 34. Embosom'd in the deep where Holland lies 294 - 35. Brighter streams than famed Hydaspes 294 - 36. Talent sinks, and merit weeps unknown 295 - 37. From their homes, a melancholy train 296 - 38. Riding the Elephant 297 - 39. Poking Fun at the Bear 297 - 40. The Pelican at Feed 297 - 41. Fellows of the Zoological Society 298 - 42. A false Apple-ation 429 - 43. A Tête-à-Tête 429 - 44. Expected out soon 429 - 45. Going down to a Watering-place 429 - 46. Attraction 429 - 47. Nineteenth Cent'ry 429 - 48. Putting the Cart before the Horse 430 - 49. A Narrow Escape 430 - 50. Division of Labor 430 - 51. Animal Economy 430 - 52. A Holiday at the Public Offices 430 - 53. Costumes for Later Winter 431 - 54. Ball Costume 432 - 55. Bonnets 432 - 56. Head-Dress 432 - 57. Come gentle Spring 433 - 58. Lend their shoulder, and begin their toil 434 - 59. Wafts all the pomp of life into your ports 434 - 60. The deer rustle through the brake 435 - 61. Blazing straw before his orchard burns 435 - 62. The shower is scarce to patter heard 436 - 63. While yet man lived in innocence 437 - 64. The song went round, and dance 437 - 65. Throw nice judging the delusive fly 439 - 66. You gayly drag your unresisting prize 439 - 67. Together let us tread the morning dews 440 - 68. Gather fresh flowers to grace thy hair 440 - 69. A gentle pair, by fortune sunk 442 - 70. They weeping eye their infant train 442 - 71. Hazel pendent o'er the plaintive stream 443 - 72. On the aerial summit takes the gale 444 - 73. Through Hagley Park, thy British Tempè 445 - 74. On the bank thrown amid drooping lilies 446 - 75. In soft anguish he consumes the day 446 - 76. Woos the bird of eve to mingle woes 446 - 77. Still interrupted by distracted dreams 446 - 78. The garden to the view its vistas open 447 - 79. By degrees the human blossom blows 448 - 80. Delightful task! to rear the tender thought 448 - 81. The Parcels Conveyance Company 569 - 82. Oscillation illustrated 569 - 83. Legendary G 569 - 84. Historical H 569 - 85. Selfish Ends 570 - 86. Pneumatical K 570 - 87. A Stilted Subject 570 - 88. Pisces 570 - 89. How doth the little busy Bee 570 - 90. Cock Robin 570 - 91. Assisting a pupil up the Gamut 571 - 92. Yawning 571 - 93. A startling Fact 574 - 94. Costumes for Early Spring 575 - 95. Morning Costume 576 - 96. Velvet Bonnet 576 - 97. Ribbon Bonnet 576 - 98. White Silk Bonnet 576 - 99. Portrait of Irving 577 - 100. Irving's Residence 580 - 101. Portrait of Bryant 581 - 102. Bryant's Residence 583 - 103. The Great Exhibition Building 585 - 104. Installing the Crow's Nest 588 - 105. Surrounded by Icebergs 591 - 106. The Prince Albert in Danger 593 - 107. The Arctic Discovery Ships at Midnight 594 - 108. Please, Sir, shall I hold your Horse 713 - 109. Bachelor's Bedroom 714 - 110. Married Couple's Bedroom 714 - 111. Elderly Servant 715 - 112. Youthful Attendant 715 - 113. A Juvenile Party 717 - 114. Reward of Merit 718 - 115. Costumes for Spring 719 - 116. Coiffure 720 - 117. Satin Bonnet 720 - 118. Miss's Straw Bonnet 720 - 119. View of the Novelty Works 721 - 120. Entrance to the Novelty Works 722 - 121. Plan of the Novelty Works 723 - 122. View of a Marine Steam-Engine 725 - 123. Cutting Engine 726 - 124. Bending and Punching Engines 726 - 125. Boring Engine 727 - 126. Riveting the Boilers 727 - 127. Filling the Ladles 728 - 128. Casting a Cylinder 728 - 129. The Explosion 729 - 130. Digging out the Cylinder 729 - 131. The Forges 730 - 132. Heating a Shaft 731 - 133. Forging a Shaft 731 - 134. The Lathes 732 - 135. Finishing 732 - 136. Departure of the Steamer Pacific 733 - 137. Encouragement to Book-Lenders 859 - 138. Supper at a Juvenile Party 860 - 139. A Juvenile after the Party 861 - 140. A Little Bit of Humbug 862 - 141. Promenade Costumes for May 863 - 142. Evening Costume 864 - 143. Morning Promenade Costume 864 - 144. Head-Dresses 864 - - - - - HARPER'S - - NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. - - NO. VII.--DECEMBER, 1850.--VOL. II. - - - - -THE DESERTED VILLAGE. - -BY OLIVER GOLDSMITH. - - -[Illustration: Portrait of Goldsmith] - - Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain, - Where health and plenty cheer'd the laboring swain, - Where smiling spring its earliest visit paid, - And parting summer's lingering blooms delay'd-- - Dear lovely bowers of innocence and ease, - Seats of my youth, when every sport could please-- - How often have I loiter'd o'er thy green, - Where humble happiness endear'd each scene; - How often have I paus'd on every charm-- - The sheltered cot, the cultivated farm, - The never failing brook, the busy mill, - The decent church that topp'd the neighboring hill, - The hawthorn bush with seats beneath the shade - For talking age and whispering lovers made; - How often have I bless'd the coming day - When toil remitting lent its turn to play, - And all the village train from labor free, - Led up their sports beneath the spreading tree-- - While many a pastime circled in the shade, - The young contending as the old survey'd, - And many a gambol frolick'd o'er the ground, - And sleights of art and feats of strength went round: - And still, as each repeated pleasure tir'd, - Succeeding sports the mirthful band inspir'd-- - The dancing pair that simply sought renown - By holding out to tire each other down, - The swain mistrustless of his smutted face - While secret laughter titter'd round the place, - The bashful virgin's sidelong looks of love, - The matron's glance that would those looks reprove. - These were thy charms, sweet village! sports like these, - With sweet succession, taught even toil to please; - These round thy bowers their cheerful influence shed; - These were thy charms--but all these charms are fled. - -[Illustration: The hawthorn bush] - - Sweet smiling village, loveliest of the lawn, - Thy sports are fled, and all thy charms withdrawn; - Amid thy bowers the tyrant's hand is seen, - And desolation saddens all thy green: - One only master grasps the whole domain, - And half a tillage stints thy smiling plain. - No more thy glassy brook reflects the day, - But chok'd with sedges works its weedy way; - Along thy glades, a solitary guest, - The hollow-sounding bittern guards its nest; - Amid thy desert-walks the lapwing flies, - And tires their echoes with unvaried cries; - Sunk are thy bowers in shapeless ruin all, - And the long grass o'ertops the mouldering wall; - And, trembling, shrinking from the spoiler's hand, - Far, far away thy children leave the land. - Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, - Where wealth accumulates and men decay; - Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade-- - A breath can make them, as a breath has made; - But a bold peasantry, their country's pride, - When once destroy'd, can never be supplied. - A time there was, ere England's griefs began, - When every rood of ground maintain'd its man: - For him light labor spread her wholesome store, - Just gave what life requir'd, but gave no more; - His best companions, innocence and health, - And his best riches, ignorance of wealth. - But times are altered; trade's unfeeling train - Usurp the land, and dispossess the swain: - Along the lawn, where scatter'd hamlets rose, - Unwieldy wealth and cumbrous pomp repose: - And every want to opulence allied, - And every pang that folly pays to pride. - These gentle hours that plenty bade to bloom, - Those calm desires that ask'd but little room, - Those healthful sports that grac'd the peaceful scene, - Liv'd in each look and brighten'd all the green-- - These, far departing, seek a kinder shore, - And rural mirth and manners are no more. - Sweet AUBURN! parent of the blissful hour, - Thy glades forlorn confess the tyrant's power. - Here, as I take my solitary rounds - Amid thy tangling walks and ruin'd grounds, - And, many a year elaps'd, return to view - Where once the cottage stood, the hawthorn grew-- - Remembrance wakes with all her busy train, - Swells at my breast, and turns the past to pain. - In all my wanderings round this world of care, - In all my griefs--and God has given my share-- - I still had hopes, my latest hours to crown, - Amid these humble bowers to lay me down; - To husband out life's taper at the close, - And keep the flame from wasting by repose. - I still had hopes, for pride attends us still, - Amid the swains to show my book-learn'd skill-- - Around my fire an evening group to draw, - And tell of all I felt, and all I saw; - And as an hare, whom hounds and horns pursue, - Pants to the place from whence at first she flew, - I still had hopes, my long vexations pass'd, - Here to return--and die at home at last. - O bless'd retirement, friend to life's decline, - Retreats from care, that never must be mine! - How happy he who crowns, in shades like these, - A youth of labor with an age of ease; - Who quits a world where strong temptations try-- - And, since 'tis hard to combat, learns to fly. - For him no wretches, born to work and weep, - Explore the mine, or tempt the dangerous deep, - No surly porter stands, in guilty state, - To spurn imploring famine from the gate; - But on he moves, to meet his latter end, - Angels around befriending virtue's friend-- - Bends to the grave with unperceiv'd decay, - While resignation gently slopes the way-- - And, all his prospects brightening to the last, - His heaven commences ere the world be pass'd. - -[Illustration: To spurn imploring famine from the gate] - - Sweet was the sound, when oft at evening's close - Up yonder hill the village murmur rose. - There as I pass'd, with careless steps and slow, - The mingling notes came soften'd from below: - The swain responsive as the milkmaid sung, - The sober herd that low'd to meet their young, - The noisy geese that gabbled o'er the pool, - The playful children just let loose from school, - The watch-dog's voice that bay'd the whispering wind, - And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind-- - These all in sweet confusion sought the shade - And fill'd each pause the nightingale had made. - But now the sounds of population fail, - No cheerful murmurs fluctuate in the gale, - No busy steps the grass-grown footway tread, - For all the bloomy flush of life is fled-- - All but yon widow'd, solitary thing, - That feebly bends beside the plashy spring, - She, wretched matron--forced in age, for bread, - To strip the brook with mantling cresses spread, - To pick her wintry faggot from the thorn, - To seek her nightly shed, and weep till morn-- - She only left of all the harmless train, - The sad historian of the pensive plain! - Near yonder copse, where once the garden smil'd, - And still where many a garden-flower grows wild-- - There, where a few torn shrubs the place disclose, - The village preacher's modest mansion rose. - A man he was to all the country dear; - And passing rich with forty pounds a year. - Remote from towns he ran his godly race, - Nor e'er had chang'd, nor wish'd to change, his place; - Unpractic'd he to fawn, or seek for power - By doctrines fashion'd to the varying hour. - Far other aims his heart had learn'd to prize-- - More skill'd to raise the wretched than to rise. - His house was known to all the vagrant train, - He chid their wanderings, but reliev'd their pain: - The long remember'd beggar was his guest, - Whose beard descending swept his aged breast; - The ruin'd spendthrift, now no longer proud, - Claim'd kindred there, and had his claims allow'd. - The broken soldier, kindly bade to stay, - Sat by his fire, and talk'd the night away-- - Wept o'er his wounds, or, tales of sorrow done, - Shoulder'd his crutch and show'd how fields were won. - Pleas'd with his guests, the good man learn'd to glow, - And quite forgot their vices in their woe; - Careless their merits or their faults to scan, - His pity gave ere charity began. - Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride, - And even his failings lean'd to virtue's side-- - But in his duty, prompt at every call, - He watch'd and wept, he pray'd and felt for all: - And, as a bird each fond endearment tries - To tempt its new-fledg'd offspring to the skies, - He tried each art, reprov'd each dull delay, - Allur'd to brighter worlds, and led the way. - Beside the bed where parting life was laid, - And sorrow, guilt, and pain by turns dismay'd, - The reverend champion stood: at his control - Despair and anguish fled the struggling soul; - Comfort came down the trembling wretch to raise, - And his last faltering accents whisper'd praise. - -[Illustration: Beside the bed where parting life was laid] - - At church with meek and unaffected grace, - His looks adorn'd the venerable place; - Truth from his lips prevail'd with double sway, - And fools who came to scoff remain'd to pray. - The service pass'd, around the pious man, - With steady zeal, each honest rustic ran; - Even children follow'd, with endearing wile, - And pluck'd his gown, to share the good man's smile: - His ready smile a parent's warmth express'd, - Their welfare pleas'd him, and their cares distress'd. - To them his heart, his love, his griefs were given, - But all his serious thoughts had rest in heaven: - As some tall cliff, that lifts its awful form, - Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm - Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread - Eternal sunshine settles on its head. - Beside yon straggling fence that skirts the way, - With blossom'd furze unprofitably gay-- - There, in his noisy mansion, skill'd to rule, - The village master taught his little school. - A man severe he was, and stern to view; - I knew him well, and every truant knew: - Well had the boding tremblers learn'd to trace - The day's disasters in his morning face; - Full well they laugh'd with counterfeited glee - At all his jokes, for many a joke had he; - Full well the busy whisper, circling round, - Convey'd the dismal tidings when he frown'd-- - Yet he was kind, or if severe in aught, - The love he bore to learning was in fault. - The village all declar'd how much he knew; - 'Twas certain he could write, and cipher too, - Lands he could measure, terms and tides presage-- - And even the story ran that he could gauge. - In arguing too, the parson own'd his skill, - For even though vanquish'd he could argue still; - While words of learned length and thundering sound - Amaz'd the gazing rustics rang'd around-- - And still they gaz'd, and still the wonder grew - That one small head could carry all he knew. - -[Illustration: The village master taught his little school] - - But pass'd is all his fame: the very spot, - Where many a time he triumph'd, is forgot. - Near yonder thorn, that lifts its head on high, - Where once the sign-post caught the passing eye, - Low lies that house where nut-brown draughts inspir'd. - Where gray-beard mirth and smiling toil retir'd, - Where village statesmen talk'd with looks profound. - And news much older than their ale went round. - Imagination fondly stoops to trace - The parlor splendors of that festive place: - The whitewash'd wall, the nicely sanded floor, - The varnish'd clock that click'd behind the door-- - The chest contriv'd a double debt to pay, - A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day-- - The pictures plac'd for ornament and use, - The twelve good rules, the royal game of goose-- - The hearth, except when winter chill'd the day, - With aspen bows, and flowers, and fennel gay-- - While broken tea-cups, wisely kept for show, - Rang'd o'er the chimney, glistened in a row. - -[Illustration: The village ale-house] - - Vain, transitory splendors! could not all - Reprieve the tottering mansion from its fall? - Obscure it sinks; nor shall it more impart - An hour's importance to the poor man's heart: - Thither no more the peasant shall repair - To sweet oblivion of his daily care; - No more the farmer's news, the barber's tale, - No more the woodman's ballad shall prevail; - No more the smith his dusky brow shall clear, - Relax his ponderous strength, and lean to hear; - The host himself no longer shall be found - Careful to see the mantling bliss go round; - Nor the coy maid, half willing to be press'd, - Shall kiss the cup to pass it to the rest. - -[Illustration: The coy maid half willing to be press'd] - - Yes! let the rich deride, the proud disdain, - These simple blessings of the lowly train-- - To me more dear, congenial to my heart, - One native charm, than all the gloss of art. - Spontaneous joys, where nature has its play, - The soul adopts, and owns their first-born sway-- - Lightly they frolic o'er the vacant mind, - Unenvied, unmolested, unconfin'd; - But the long pomp, the midnight masquerade, - With all the freaks of wanton wealth array'd, - In these, ere triflers half their wish obtain, - The toiling pleasure sickens into pain-- - And, even while fashion's brightest arts decoy, - The heart distrusting asks, if this be joy. - Ye friends to truth, ye statesmen who survey - The rich man's joys increase, the poor's decay-- - 'Tis yours to judge how wide the limits stand - Between a splendid and an happy land - Proud swells the tide with loads of freighted ore, - And shouting folly hails them from her shore; - Hoards even beyond the miser's wish abound, - And rich men flock from all the world around; - Yet count our gains: this wealth is but a name - That leaves our useful product still the same. - Not so the loss. The man of wealth and pride - Takes up a space that many poor supplied-- - Space for his lake, his park's extended bounds, - Space for his horses, equipage, and hounds; - The robe that wraps his limbs in silken sloth - Has robbed the neighboring fields of half their growth; - His seat where solitary sports are seen, - Indignant spurns the cottage from the green; - Around the world each needful product flies, - For all the luxuries the world supplies; - While thus the land adorn'd for pleasure--all - In barren splendor feebly waits the fall. - As some fair female unadorn'd and plain, - Secure to please while youth confirms her reign - Slights every borrow'd charm that dress supplies, - Nor shares with art the triumph of her eyes-- - But when those charms are pass'd, for charms are frail, - When time advances, and when lovers fail-- - She then shines forth, solicitous to bless, - In all the glaring impotence of dress. - Thus fares the land, by luxury betray'd: - In nature's simplest charms at first array'd-- - But verging to decline, its splendors rise, - Its vistas strike, its palaces surprise; - While, scourg'd by famine, from the smiling land - The mournful peasant leads his humble band-- - And while he sinks, without one arm to save, - The country blooms--a garden and a grave. - -[Illustration: As some fair female unadorned and plain] - - Where then, ah! where shall poverty reside, - To 'scape the pressure of contiguous pride? - If to some common's fenceless limits stray'd - He drives his flock to pick the scanty blade, - Those fenceless fields the sons of wealth divide, - And even the bare-worn common is denied. - -[Illustration: Here, while the courtier glitters in brocade] - - If to the city sped--what waits him there? - To see profusion that he must not share; - To see ten thousand baneful arts combin'd - To pamper luxury, and thin mankind; - To see those joys the sons of pleasure know, - Extorted from his fellow-creatures' woe: - Here, while the courtier glitters in brocade, - There the pale artist plies the sickly trade; - Here, while the proud their long-drawn pomps display, - There the black gibbet glooms beside the way. - The dome where pleasure holds her midnight reign, - Here, richly deck'd, admits the gorgeous train-- - Tumultuous grandeur crowds the blazing square, - The rattling chariots clash, the torches glare. - Sure scenes like these no troubles e'er annoy: - Sure these denote one universal joy! - Are these thy serious thoughts?--ah! turn thine eyes - Where the poor houseless shivering female lies. - She once, perhaps, in village plenty bless'd, - Has wept at tales of innocence distress'd-- - Her modest looks the cottage might adorn, - Sweet as the primrose peeps beneath the thorn; - Now lost to all--her friends, her virtue fled, - Near her betrayer's door she lays her head-- - And, pinch'd with cold, and shrinking from the shower, - With heavy heart deplores that luckless hour - When idly first, ambitious of the town, - She left her wheel, and robes of country brown. - -[Illustration: The poor, houseless, shivering female lies] - - Do thine, sweet AUBURN! thine, the loveliest train, - Do thy fair tribes participate her pain? - Even now, perhaps, by cold and hunger led, - At proud men's doors they ask a little bread. - Ah, no! To distant climes, a dreary scene, - Where half the convex world intrudes between, - Through torrid tracts with fainting steps they go, - Where wild Altama murmurs to their woe. - Far different there from all that charm'd before, - The various terrors of that horrid shore; - Those blazing suns that dart a downward ray, - And fiercely shed intolerable day-- - Those matted woods where birds forget to sing - But silent bats in drowsy clusters cling-- - Those poisonous fields with rank luxuriance crown'd - Where the dark scorpion gathers death around-- - Where at each step the stranger fears to wake - The rattling terrors of the vengeful snake-- - Where crouching tigers wait their hapless prey, - And savage men more murderous still than they-- - While oft in whirls the mad tornado flies, - Mingling the ravag'd landscape with the skies. - Far different these from every former scene; - The cooling brook, the grassy-vested green, - The breezy covert of the warbling grove, - That only shelter'd thefts of harmless love. - Good Heaven! what sorrows gloom'd that parting day, - That call'd them from their native walks away, - When the poor exiles, every pleasure pass'd, - Hung round their bowers, and fondly look'd their last, - And took a long farewell, and wish'd in vain - For seats like these beyond the western main-- - And shuddering still to face the distant deep, - Return'd and wept, and still return'd to weep. - The good old sire, the first, prepar'd to go - To new-found worlds, and wept for others' woe-- - But for himself, in conscious virtue brave, - He only wish'd for worlds beyond the grave; - His lovely daughter, lovelier in her tears, - The fond companion of his helpless years, - Silent went next, neglectful of her charms, - And left a lover's for a father's arms; - With louder plaints the mother spoke her woes, - And bless'd the cot where every pleasure rose, - And kiss'd her thoughtless babes with many a tear, - And clasp'd them close, in sorrow doubly dear-- - While her fond husband strove to lend relief - In all the silent manliness of grief. - -[Illustration: Her fond husband strove to lend relief] - - O luxury! thou curs'd by Heaven's decree, - How ill exchang'd are things like these for thee; - How do thy potions, with insidious joy, - Diffuse their pleasures only to destroy! - Kingdoms by thee, to sickly greatness grown, - Boast of a florid vigor not their own; - At every draught more large and large they grow, - A bloated mass of rank, unwieldy woe-- - Till sapp'd their strength, and every part unsound, - Down, down they sink, and spread a ruin round. - Even now the devastation is begun, - And half the business of destruction done; - Even now, methinks, as pondering here I stand, - I see the rural virtues leave the land; - Down, where yon anchoring vessel spreads the sail, - That idly waiting flaps with every gale, - Downward they move--a melancholy band-- - Pass from the shore, and darken all the strand, - Contented Toil and hospitable Care, - And kind connubial Tenderness, are there-- - And Piety with wishes plac'd above, - And steady Loyalty, and faithful Love. - And thou, sweet Poetry! thou loveliest maid, - Still first to fly where sensual joys invade, - Unfit in these degenerate times of shame - To catch the heart, or strike for honest fame-- - Dear, charming nymph, neglected and decried, - My shame in crowds, my solitary pride-- - Thou source of all my bliss, and all my woe, - That found'st me poor at first, and keep'st me so-- - Thou guide by which the nobler arts excel, - Thou nurse of every virtue--fare thee well. - Farewell! and oh! where'er thy voice be tried, - On Tornea's cliffs or Pambamarca's side, - Whether where equinoctial fervors glow, - Or winter wraps the polar world in snow, - Still let thy voice, prevailing over time, - Redress the rigors of the inclement clime. - Aid slighted Truth: with thy persuasive strain - Teach erring man to spurn the rage of gain; - Teach him, that states of native strength possess'd, - Though very poor, may still be very bless'd; - That trade's proud empire hastes to swift decay, - As ocean sweeps the labor'd mole away-- - While self-dependent power can time defy, - As rocks resist the billows and the sky. - -[Illustration: As rocks resist the billows and the sky] - - - - -THE FUGITIVE KING AT BOSCOBEL; ADVENTURES OF THE MERRY MONARCH. - -BY AGNES STRICKLAND. - - -Boscobel House, which has obtained so much historical celebrity, in -connection with the romantic adventures of Charles II., after his defeat -at Worcester, is situated in Shropshire, on the borders of -Staffordshire, lying between Tong Castle and Brewood. It was built in -the reign of James I., by John Giffard, Esq., a Roman Catholic -gentleman, who, when it was completed, having invited his neighbors to a -house-warming feast, requested his friend, Sir Basil Brook, to give his -new-built mansion a name. Sir Basil called it "Boscobel," from the -Italian word, _boscobella_, because it was seated in the midst of many -fair woods. The founder of the house had caused various places of -concealment to be constructed, for the purpose of affording shelter to -proscribed persons of his own religion, whom the severity of the penal -laws often compelled to play at hide and seek, in queer corners. - -The first fugitive of note who sought refuge, in his distress, at -Boscobel House, was the unfortunate Earl of Derby, whose defeat at -Bolton-le-Moors, near Wigan, was the precursor to that of the young king -at Worcester, eight days later. The Earl of Derby, having escaped from -his lost battle, with Colonel Roscarrock and two servants, got into the -confines of Shropshire and Staffordshire, where he had the good luck to -encounter an old friend, Mr. Richard Snead, an honest gentleman of that -country, to whom he told the news of his own overthrow, and inquired if -he knew of any private house, near at hand, where he might repose -himself and his company in safety, till he could find an opportunity of -joining the king. Mr. Snead, like a good Samaritan, conducted his noble -friend to Boscobel House, where they arrived on Friday, August 29th, but -found no one at home, except William Penderel, the housekeeper, and his -wife, who, on their own responsibility, ventured to receive the noble -cavalier, his companion, and servants, and kindly entertained them till -the Sunday; and then, according to the earl's desire, conveyed them -safely to Gataker Park, nine miles on their way to Worcester, where he -arrived in time to take his part in that engagement which was -emphatically styled by Stapylton, the roundhead, "the setting of the -young king's glory." - -The Earl of Derby and Colonel Roscarrock were in close attendance on -Charles's person during the retreat from Worcester. They all made a -stand on Kinner Heath, on the road to Kidderminster, as the night set -in, to hold a consultation, when his majesty, being very tired, inquired -of them and Lord Wilmot, "If they thought there was any place where he -might venture to take a few hours' rest?" The Earl of Derby told him, -"how, in his flight from Wigan to Worcester, he had met with that _rara -avis_, a perfectly honest man, and a great convenience of concealment at -Boscobel House; which, nevertheless, he thought it his duty to inform -his majesty, was the abode of a recusant." At another time, some of the -party might have objected to the young sovereign going to such quarters, -but the danger being so imminent, now it was suggested, "that these -people being accustomed to persecutions and searches, were most likely -to possess the most ingenious contrivances to conceal him." At all -events, the king made up his mind to proceed thither. When this decision -was made known to Lord Talbot, he called for a young kinsman of the -recusant master of Boscobel, Mr. Charles Giffard, who was fortunately -among the sixty cavaliers who still shared the fortunes of their -fugitive king. Lord Talbot inquired of this gentleman, if he could -conduct his majesty to Boscobel. Charles Giffard cheerfully undertook to -do so, having with him a servant of the name of Yates, who understood -the country perfectly. - -At a house about a mile beyond Stourbridge, the king drank a little -water, and ate a crust of bread, the house affording no better -provision. After this scanty refection, his majesty rode on, discoursing -apart with Colonel Roscarrock about Boscobel House, and the security -which he and the Earl of Derby had enjoyed at that place. Another -privy-council was held, in the course of the journey, between the king -and his most trusty friends, at which it was agreed, that the secret of -his destination was too important to be confided to more than a select -few of his followers; and Charles Giffard was asked if it were not -possible to conduct him, in the first instance, to some other house in -the neighborhood, the better to mask his design of concealing himself at -Boscobel. The young cavalier replied, "Yes, there was another seat of -the Giffards, about half a mile from Boscobel--Whiteladies; so called -from its having been formerly a monastery of Cistercian nuns, whose -habit was white." On which the king, and about forty of the party, -separating themselves from the others, proceeded thither, under his -faithful guidance. They arrived at break of day; and Giffard, alighting -from his horse, told the king "that he trusted they were now out of -immediate danger of pursuit." George Penderel, who had the charge of the -house, opened the doors, and admitted the king and his noble attendants; -after which, the king's horse was brought into the hall, and they all -entered into an earnest consultation how to escape the fury of their -foes; but their greatest solicitude was for the preservation of the -king, who was, for his part, both tired and hungry with his forced -march. Col. Roscarrock immediately dispatched a boy, of the name of -Bartholomew Martin, to Boscobel, for William Penderel: Mr. Charles -Giffard sent for another of these trusty brethren, Richard Penderel, who -lived at Hobbal Grange, hard by. Both speedily obeyed the summons, and -were brought into the parlor, where they found their old acquaintance, -the Earl of Derby, who introduced them into the inner parlor, which -formed then the presence chamber of their throneless sovereign: the -earl, reversing the order of courtly etiquette on this occasion, instead -of presenting these two noble men, of low degree, to their royal master, -he presented him to them; addressing himself in particular to William -Penderel, and pointing at his majesty, he said, "This is the king; thou -must have a care of him, and preserve him, as thou didst me." - -William, in the sincerity of an honest heart, promised that he would do -so, while Charles Giffard was at the same time exhorting Richard -Penderel to have an especial care of his charge. - -The loyal associates next endeavored to effect a transformation in the -personal appearance of their royal master, by subjecting him to a -process very similar to that technically styled by gipsies, "cutting a -horse out of his feathers." In the first place, Richard Penderel trimmed -off his majesty's flowing black ringlets in a very blunt and irreverent -fashion, using his woodman's bill, which he happened to have in his -girdle, instead of scissors, none being at hand, and time being too -precious to stand on ceremony. His majesty was then advised to rub his -hands on the back of the chimney, and with them to besmear his face, to -darken his peculiar Italian-like complexion with a more swarthy tint. -This done, he divested himself of his blue ribbon and jeweled badge of -the Garter, and other princely decorations, his laced ruff and buff -coat, and put on a _noggen_ coarse shirt belonging to Edward Martin, a -domestic living in the house, and Richard Penderel's green suit and -leathern doublet, but had not time to be so exactly disguised as he was -afterward, for both William and Richard Penderel warned the company to -use dispatch, because there was a troop of rebels, commanded by Col. -Ashenhurst, quartered at Cotsal, but three miles distant, some of which -troop arrived within half an hour after the noble company was dispersed. - -Richard Penderel conducted the king out through a back door, unknown to -any of his followers, except a trusted few of the lords, who followed -him into the back premises, and as far as an adjacent wood, belonging to -the domain of Boscobel, called Spring Coppice, about half a mile from -Whiteladies, where they took a sorrowful farewell of him, leaving him -under the watchful care of three of the trusty Penderel -brethren--William, Humphrey, and George. The Earl of Derby and the other -gentlemen then returned to their comrades at Whiteladies, where, -mounting in hot haste, with the intrepid Charles Giffard for their -conductor, they scoured off on the north road; but a little beyond -Newport they were surrounded by the rebels, and after some resistance, -were made prisoners. Charles Giffard contrived to effect his escape from -the inn at Banbury, where they halted, but the loyal Earl of Derby, who -had sacrificed his own personal safety by resigning to his sovereign -the little city of refuge at Boscobel, instead of occupying it himself, -was subjected to the mockery of a pretended trial by the rebels, and -beheaded, although he had only surrendered on a solemn promise of -receiving quarter--promises which were never regarded by Cromwell and -his associates. The cool-blooded malignity with which, in his dispatch, -announcing his triumph at Worcester, Cromwell points out the noble -captives, whom the fortunes of war had placed in his magnanimous hands, -to his merciless tools as "_objects of their justice_," what was it but -signing their death-warrants by anticipation, before the mock trials -took place of the fore-doomed victims? and how revolting, after that -death-whoop, appears the Pharisaical cant of his concluding sentences: - -"The dimensions of this mercy are above my thoughts--it is, for aught I -know, a crowning mercy. I am bold humbly to beg that the fatness of -these continued mercies may not occasion pride and wantonness, as -formerly the like hath done to a chosen people." - -If Cromwell had understood the true meaning of the Saviour's words, "I -will have mercy, and not sacrifice," he would probably have acted more -like a Christian and written less like a Jew. - -"But to return," saith the quaint chronicler of Boscobel, "to the duty -of my attendance on his majesty in Spring Coppice. By that time Richard -Penderel had conveyed him to the obscurest part of it, it was about -sun-rising on Thursday morning, and the heavens wept bitterly at these -calamities, insomuch that the thickest tree in the wood was not able to -keep his majesty dry, nor was there any thing for him to sit on; -wherefore Richard went to Francis Yates's house, a trusty neighbor, who -had married his wife's sister, where he borrowed a blanket, which he -folded and laid on the ground for his majesty to sit on." A three-legged -stool would have been a luxury, at that comfortless period, to the -throneless monarch, who claimed three realms as his rightful -inheritance. - -Richard Penderel, when he borrowed the blanket of his sister-in-law, the -good-wife Yates, considerately begged her to provide a comfortable -breakfast and bring it to him, at a place which he appointed in the -wood. She presently made ready a mess of milk, and brought it, with -bread, butter, and eggs, to the cold, wet, and half-famished king. -Charles was, at first, a little startled at her appearance, but, -perceiving she came on a kindly errand, he frankly appealed to her -feminine compassion in these words: - -"Good woman, can you be faithful to a distressed cavalier?" - -"Yes, sir," she replied; "I will die rather than discover you!" - -The king, well satisfied with the honest plainness of her answer, was -able to eat with a hearty relish the simple fare she had brought him. -In the course of that day, he made up his mind to leave his woodland -retreat, and endeavor to get into Wales. Richard Penderel, having -consented to attend him in the capacity of a guide, conducted him first -to his own house, Hobbal Grange, "where the old good-wife Penderel had -not only the honor to see his majesty," pursues our authority, "but to -see him attended by her son." A greater honor far, it was for her to -feel that she was the mother of five sons, whom all the wealth of -England would not have bribed, nor all the terrors of a death of torture -intimidated, to betray their fugitive sovereign to those who thirsted -for his blood. Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, had less reason to -feel proud of her filial jewels, than this rustic English matron of her -brave Shropshire lads. She had lost a sixth son, who had been slain -fighting in the cause of King Charles I. Hobbal Grange was the paternal -farm where these six brethren, William, John, Richard, Humphrey, Thomas, -and George, were born. Thomas, George, and John, had all enlisted in the -service of the late king, and fought for him as long as he had an army -in the field; William was the house steward at Boscobel; Humphrey was -the miller at Whiteladies; and Richard rented a part of his mother's -farm and house, Hobbal Grange; he also pursued the business of a -woodman. At Hobbal Grange, the king's disguise was completed, and he was -furnished with a woodman's bill, to enable him the better to act the -part of Richard Penderel's man, and it was agreed that he should assume -the name of Will Jones. When all these arrangements had been made, and -his homely supper ended, his majesty set out at nine o'clock, with -intent to walk that night to Madely, in Shropshire, about five miles -from Whiteladies, within a mile of the river Severn, which he would have -to cross, in order to get into Wales. - -Charles found his clouted shoes so uneasy to his feet on this pedestrian -journey, that more than once he was fain to walk without, as less -painful. About two miles from Madely, in passing Evelin Mill, the king -and his trusty guide got an alarm; for Richard unwittingly permitting -the gate to clap, the miller came out and challenged them, by asking, -gruffly, "Who was there?" Richard, to avoid him, hastily drew the king -out of the usual track, and led him through a brook, which they were -compelled to ford, and the king's shoes getting full of water increased -the uneasiness of his galled and blistered feet. His majesty was -afterward wont, in recounting this adventure, to say, that "here he was -in great danger of losing his guide, but the rustling of Richard's -calf-skin breeches was the best direction he had to follow him in that -dark night." - -Charles was unconscious at the time how near he was to a party of his -own friends, who had just taken refuge in Evelin Mill, and that the -honest miller who had caused him so much alarm and distress by his -challenge, was only doing his duty by the fugitive cavaliers in keeping -guard to prevent a surprise from skulking foes or spies. - -His majesty arrived at Madely about midnight, in weary plight; Richard -conducted his royal master to the house of a loyal gentleman there, of -the name of Woolf, on whose integrity he knew he could rely. The family -had retired to rest, but Richard took the liberty of knocking till Mr. -Woolf's daughter came to the door and inquired, "Who that late comer -was?" he replied, "The king." An announcement that would, doubtless, -have put any young lady into a flutter at a period less disastrous to -royalty but such was the tragic romance of the epoch, that persons of -all classes were familiarized to the most startling events and changes; -the only source of surprise to honest gentlefolks was, the circumstance -of finding their heads safe on their own shoulders in the midst of the -horrors of military executions, which nearly decimated that -neighborhood. Miss Woolf neither questioned the fact, nor hesitated to -imperil herself and family by receiving the proscribed fugitive within -her doors. She knew the integrity of Richard Penderel, and appreciated -the tribute he paid to her courage and her truth, by confiding such a -trust to her. The king refreshed and reposed himself beneath this -hospitable roof for awhile, but as the rebels kept guard upon the -passage of the Severn, and it was apprehended that a party of them, who -were expected to pass through the town, might quarter themselves, which -frequently happened, in that house, it was judged safer for the royal -stranger to sleep in the adjacent barn. His majesty accordingly retired -thither, attended by his trusty guide and life-guardsman, Richard -Penderel, and remained concealed in that humble shelter the whole of the -next day. - -The intelligence which Mr. Woolf procured, meantime, was such as to -convince him that it would be too hazardous for the king to attempt to -prosecute his journey into Wales, and that the best thing he could do -would be to return to Boscobel House, as affording facilities for his -concealment till a safer opening for his retreat could be found. The -king being of the same opinion, it was resolved that he should retrace -his steps the next night, and meantime, his hands not being considered -sufficiently embrowned for the character he personated, Mrs. Woolf -brought some walnut-leaves and stained them. At eleven o'clock, he and -the faithful Richard Penderel resumed their march, but midway between -Madely and Boscobel, Charles was so completely overcome with grief, -fatigue, and the pain he endured from his blistered feet, in his -attempts to walk in the stiff shoes, that at last he flung himself on -the ground, "declaring life was not worth the struggle of preserving, -and that he would rather die than endure the misery he suffered." -Richard gave him such comfort as his kindly nature suggested, and -bidding him be of good cheer, and wait God's time for better fortunes, -at last persuaded him to make a successful effort to reach Boscobel. -They arrived in the immediate vicinity about three o'clock on the Sunday -morning; Richard left his majesty in the wood, while he went to -reconnoitre, not knowing whether a party of Cromwell's soldiers might -not have occupied the house in their absence. Fortunately, he found no -one there but William Penderel, his wife, and the brave cavalier, -Colonel Carlis, who had been the last man to retreat from Worcester, -and, having succeeded in making his escape, had been for some time -concealed in Boscobel Wood, and had come to ask relief of William -Penderel, his old acquaintance. Richard informed him and William -Penderel that the king was in the wood, and they all three went to pay -their devoir, and found his majesty sitting, like melancholy Jacques, on -the root of a tree. He was very glad to see the colonel, and proceeded -with him and the Penderels to Boscobel House, and there did eat bread -and cheese heartily, and, as an extraordinary treat, William's wife, -whom his majesty was pleased to address merrily by the title of "My dame -Joan," made a posset for him of thin milk and small beer--no "very -dainty dish," one would think, "to set before a king;" but doubtless, in -his present condition, more acceptable than the most exquisite plate of -_dilligrout_ that was ever served up by the lord of the Manor of -Bardolf, _cum privilegio_, at the coronation banquet of any of his royal -predecessors. - -"My dame Joan" also performed another charitable service for her -luckless liege lord, by bringing some warm water to bathe his galled and -travel-soiled feet. Colonel Carlis pulled off his majesty's shoes, which -were full of gravel, and his wet stockings, and there being no other -shoes that would fit the royal fugitive, the good wife rendered these -still more stiff and uncomfortable, in her zeal to dry them, by putting -hot embers in them while the colonel was washing his master's feet. - -When his majesty was thus refreshed, they all united in persuading him -to go back into the wood, having great reason to apprehend that the -roundhead troopers, who were then hunting the country round with -blood-hounds, on a keen scent for their prey, would come and search -Boscobel House. Humphrey Penderel, the miller, had been to Shefnal the -day before, to pay some military imposts to the roundhead Captain -Broadwaye, at whose house he encountered one of Cromwell's colonels, who -had just been dispatched from Worcester in quest of the king. This man, -having learned that the king had been at Whiteladies, and that Humphrey -dwelt in that immediate neighborhood, examined him strictly, and laid -before him both the penalty of concealing the royal fugitive "which," he -said, "was death without mercy, and the reward for discovering him, -which should be a thousand pounds ready money." - -Neither threats nor bribes could overcome the loyal integrity of the -stout-hearted miller, who pleaded ignorance so successfully that he was -dismissed, and hastening, to Boscobel, brought the alarming tidings of -the vicinity of the soldiers, and the price that had been set on his -majesty's head. - -The danger of his remaining in Boscobel House being considered imminent, -it was determined by the faithful brothers to conceal the king and -Colonel Carlis, whose life was in no less danger than that of his -master, in a thick spreading oak. Having made choice of one which -appeared to afford the greatest facility for concealment, they assisted -the king and Colonel Carlis to ascend it, brought them such provisions -as they could get, and a cushion for the king to sit on. In this -unsuspected retreat they passed the day. The king having gone through -much fatigue, and taken little or no rest for several nights, was so -completely worn out, that having placed himself in a reclining position, -with his head resting on Colonel Carlis's knee, he fell asleep, and -slumbered away some hours--the colonel being careful to preserve him -from falling. - -Pope's popular, but long suppressed line, - - "Angels who watched the royal oak so well," - -always makes me think that he must have been familiar with the following -incident which my father's mother, Elizabeth Cotterel, who was the -grand-daughter of a cadet of the old loyal family of that name, in -Staffordshire, and maternally descended from one of the honest Penderel -brothers, was accustomed to relate as a fact, derived from family -tradition, connected with the perils and hair-breadth escapes of Charles -II., at Boscobel. - -"The roundhead troopers," she said, "having tracked the king, first to -Whiteladies, and then to Boscobel Forest, were led, by the keen scent of -their bloodhounds, just at the twilight hour, to the very tree in which -he and Colonel Carlis were hidden. The traitors, a sergeant and five -others of the same company, made a halt under the Royal Oak, and began -to reconnoiter it, while their dogs came baying and barking round about -the trunk. Suddenly the leaves began to rustle, and one of the villains -cried out, - -"'Hallo! some one is surely hidden here!--look how the branches shake.' - -"'It will be worth a thousand pounds to us if it be the young king,' -said another. - -"Then the sergeant asked 'who would volunteer to ascend the tree, and -earn a larger share of the reward by taking the supposed prize alive;' -but, as no one appeared willing to risk the chance of encountering a -clapperclawing from the royal lion, dealt from a vantage height, he was -just giving the word for them to fire a volley into the tree, 'when, by -the grace of God,'" the old lady would add, with impressive solemnity, -"a white owl flew out from the thickest covert of the branches and -screeched 'fie upon them!' as well she might; whereupon the false -traitors hooted out a curse as bitter as that of Meroz on the poor bird, -and growled to each other 'that it was she that had misled their dogs, -and had stirred the leaves withal, to mock themselves; howsomever, they -would have a shot at her, to teach her better manners than to screech at -the soldiers of the Lord.' But though five of the sorry knaves banged -off their musketoons at the harmless bird, not one of them was marksman -enough to hit a feather of her. Lastly, the sergeant took out a printed -copy of the proclamation, promising 'the reward of a thousand pounds for -the apprehension of the young man, Charles Stuart, eldest son of the -late King Charles,' and fastened it on the trunk of the royal oak where -his majesty was sitting in the branches above them, hearing all they -said, and an eye-witness of their treason." - -The breathless interest which this oral chronicle was wont to excite -among juvenile loyalists of the third generation may be imagined, but -the old lady had another tradition, of yet more thrilling import, -engraven on the tablets of her memory, "derived, like the first," as she -declared, "from those who could well vouch for its authenticity." As it -forms a curious sequel to the other, and is really too good to be lost, -I take leave to relate it, without expecting my readers to put the same -degree of faith in my grandmother's traditionary lore as I have always -been dutifully accustomed to do. - -"The roundhead sergeant and his comrades, after they had retired from -the vicinity of the royal oak, proceeded to Hobbal Grange, to refresh -themselves at the expense of Richard Penderel, where, finding his wife -alone, rocking the cradle of her infant boy, who was not well and very -fractious, they, after she had brought out the best perry and mead the -house afforded began to cross-question her about the king's previous -appearance at Whiteladies, and, as they had done by her brother-in-law, -Humphrey Penderel, to ply her with alternate threats and temptations, in -order to induce her to discover any thing she might have learned on the -subject. The amount of the reward for the apprehension of the royal -fugitive had hitherto been concealed by Richard from his wife, probably -from the painful consciousness of her weak point. At any rate, she heard -it now with astonished ears, and the sergeant, in confirmation of his -statement, displayed one of the printed copies of the proclamation to -that effect. 'A thousand pounds!--a sum beyond her powers of -calculation! The price of blood!--what then? Some one would earn it, why -should not she?' She held parley with her besetting sin, and her desire -of 'the accursed thing' grew stronger. At that moment her husband -appeared, followed by the disguised king, who, cramped and exhausted -with sitting so many hours in the tree, was coming to her hearth to warm -and refresh himself, unconscious what unwelcome guests were already in -possession of the Grange. The young wife hastened to Richard Penderel, -showed him the paper, and whispered-- - -"'What is the king to us? A thousand pounds would make our fortunes.' - -"'I'll cleave thy skull next moment, woman, an' thou dost,' was Richard -Penderel's stern rejoinder, grasping his wood-ax with a significant -gesture. - -"He spoke in a tone which, though so low as to be audible to no other -ear than hers, thrilled every vein in her body with terror. She knew he -was a man who never broke his word, and she trembled lest the suspicions -of the sergeant and his gang should have been excited by the emotions -betrayed by her husband and herself during their brief passionate -conference. She glanced at them, and saw they were watching her husband -and scrutinizing the disguised king, who, yielding to the force of -habit, had forgot his assumed character of Richard's serving-man so far -as to seat himself uninvited on the only unoccupied stool in the room. -Luckily, the cross baby, offended at the presence of so many strangers, -set up his pipes, and began to scream and cry most lustily; at which -Mistress Richard Penderel, affecting to be in a violent passion, -snatched him out of the cradle, and thrusting him into the arms of the -astonished king, on whom she bestowed a sound box on the ear at the same -time, exclaimed, 'Thou lazy, good-for-naught fellow, wilt thou not so -much as put out thy hand to rock the cradle? Take the boy to thee, and -quiet him; he makes such a brawling, thy betters can't hear themselves -speak.' - -"The baby, finding himself in the hands of an unpracticed male nurse, -continued to scream, and the mother to scold, till the sergeant rose up, -with a peevish execration, implying that he would rather hear the roar -of all the cannon that were fired at Worcester, than a chorus like that; -and giving the word to his company, marched off in the full persuasion -that Charles was the awkwardest lout in Shropshire, and his mistress the -bitterest shrew he had seen for many a day." - -After this alarm, it was judged better for the king to return to -Boscobel House, and betake himself to the secret place of concealment, -where the Earl of Derby had been safely hidden before the battle of -Worcester. Dame Joan had provided some chickens that night, and cooked -them in her best style for supper, for her royal guest--a dainty to -which he had been unaccustomed for some time. She also put a little -pallet in the secret recess for his majesty's use, who was persuaded to -let William Penderel shave him, and cut his hair close with a pair of -scissors, according to the country fashion. Colonel Carlis told the -king, "Will was but a mean barber;" his majesty replied, "That he had -never been shaved by any barber before," and bade William burn the hair -he cut off. William, however, carefully preserved the royal locks, as -precious memorials of this adventure, which were afterward in great -request among the noble families of the neighborhood, who were eager to -obtain the smallest portion of those relics. - -After supper, Colonel Carlis asked the king, "What meat he would like -for his Sunday's dinner?" his majesty said, "Mutton, if it might be -had." Now, there was none in the house, and it was considered dangerous -for William to go to any place to purchase it; so Colonel Carlis -repaired to Mr. William Staunton's fold, chose the fattest sheep there, -stuck it with his dagger, and sent Will Penderel to bring it home.[1] - -On Sunday morning, Charles, finding his dormitory none of the best, rose -early, and entering the gallery near it, was observed to spend some time -in prayer. After the fulfillment of this duty, which was doubtless -performed with unwonted fervency, "his majesty, coming down into the -parlor, his nose fell a bleeding, which put his poor faithful servants -in a fright," till he reassured them, by saying it was a circumstance of -frequent occurrence. He was very cheerful that day, and merrily assisted -in cooking some mutton-collops from the stolen sheep provided by Colonel -Carlis, on which subject he was afterward fond of joking with that -devoted companion of his perils. The Penderel brothers, keeping watch -and ward, in readiness to give the alarm, if any soldiers approached the -mansion, the king felt himself in a state of security, "and spent some -part of this Lord's-day in a pretty arbor in Boscobel Garden, situated -on a mount, with a stone table and seats within. In this place, he -passed some time in reading, and commended it for its retiredness." - -John Penderel having, meantime, brought the welcome intelligence that -Lord Wilmot, to whom he had acted as guide when he left Whiteladies, had -found a safe asylum at the house of Mr. Whitgreave, of Mosely, the king -sent him back to inform those gentlemen "that he would join them there -at twelve that night." The distance being about five miles, John -returned to tell his majesty they would be in readiness to meet him -there. - -The king not being yet recovered from the effect of his walk to Madely -and back, it was agreed that he should ride on Humphrey's mill-horse, -which was forthwith fetched home from grass, and accoutred with a -pitiful old saddle and worse bridle. Before mounting, the king bade -farewell to Colonel Carlis, who could not safely attend him, being too -well known in that neighborhood. - -The night was dark and rainy, dismal as the fortunes of the fugitive -king, who, mounting Humphrey's mare, rode toward Mosely, attended by an -especial body-guard of the five Penderels and their brother-in-law, -Francis Yates; each of these was armed with a bill and pikestaff, having -pistols in their pockets. Two marched before, one on each side their -royal charge, and two came behind, a little in the rear--all resolutely -determined, in case of danger, to have shown their valor in defending -as well as they had done their fidelity in concealing their distressed -sovereign. After some experience of the horse's paces, the king -declared, "It was the heaviest, dull jade he ever bestrode." Humphrey, -who was the owner of the beast, wittily replied-- - -"My liege, can you blame the mare for going heavily when she bears the -weight of three kingdoms on her back?" - -When they arrived at Penford Mill, within two miles of Mr. Whitgreave's -house, his majesty was recommended by his guides to dismount, and -proceed the rest of the way on foot, being a more private path, and -nearer withal. At last, they arrived at the place appointed, which was a -little grove of trees, in a close near Mr. Whitgreave's house, called -Lea Soughes. There, Mr. Whitgreave and Mr. John Huddleston, the priest, -met his majesty, in order to conduct him, by a private way, to the -mansion, Richard and John Penderel, and Francis Yates continuing their -attendance, but William, Humphrey, and George returned to Boscobel with -the horse. Charles, not quite aware of this arrangement, was going on -without bidding them farewell, but turning back, he apologized to them -in these words: - -"My troubles make me forget myself: I thank you all." - -And so, giving them his hand to kiss, took a gracious leave of those -true liegemen. - -Mr. Whitgreave conducted the king into the secret chamber occupied by -Lord Wilmot, who was expecting his return with great impatience, fearing -lest the king should have missed his way, or been taken. As soon as -Wilmot saw his royal master, he knelt and embraced his knees, and -Charles, deeply moved, kissed him on the cheek, and asked, with much -solicitude: - -"What has become of Buckingham, Cleveland, and the others?" - -Wilmot could only answer, doubtfully, "I hope they are safe." Then -turning to Mr. Whitgreave and Huddleston, to whom he had not then -confided the quality of the fugitive cavalier for whom he had requested -this asylum, he said: - -"Though I have concealed my friend's name all this while, I must now -tell you this is my master, your master, and the master of us all." - -Charles gave his hand to Whitgreave and Huddleston for them to kiss, and -after commending their loyalty, and thanking them for their fidelity to -his friend, which, he assured them, he never should forget, desired to -see the place of concealment he was to occupy. Having seen it, and -expressed his satisfaction, he returned to Lord Wilmot's chamber, where, -his nose beginning to bleed again, he seated himself on the bedside, and -drew forth such a pocket-handkerchief as was never seen in royal hands -before, but it accorded with the rest of his array. Charles was dressed, -at that time, in an old leathern doublet, a pair of green breeches, and -a peasant's upper garment, known in this country by the name of a "jump -coat," of the same color; a pair of his own stockings, with the tops cut -off, because they were embroidered, a pair of stirrup stockings over -them, which had been lent him at Madely; a pair of clouted shoes, cut -and slashed, to give ease to the royal feet, an old gray, greasy hat, -without a lining, and a _noggen_ shirt, of the coarsest manufacture. Mr. -Huddleston, observing that the roughness of this shirt irritated the -king's skin so much as to deprive him of rest, brought one of his own, -made of smooth flaxen linen, to Lord Wilmot, and asked, "If his majesty -would condescend to make use of it?" which Charles gladly did. Mr. -Huddleston then pulled off his majesty's wet, uncomfortable shoes and -stockings, and dried his feet, when he found that some white paper, -which had been injudiciously put between his stockings and his skin, -having got rucked and rolled up, had served to increase, instead of -alleviating the inflammation. - -Mr. Whitgreave brought up some biscuits and a bottle of sack, for the -refreshment of his royal guest, who, after he had partaken of them, -exclaimed, with some vivacity, - -"I am now ready for another march; and if it shall please God to place -me once more at the head of eight or ten thousand good men, of one mind, -and resolved to fight, I should not despair of driving the rogues out of -my kingdom." - -Day broke, and the king, feeling in need of repose, was conducted to the -artfully concealed hiding-place, where a pallet was placed for his -accommodation, for his host durst not put him into a bed in one of the -chambers. - -After some rest taken in the hole, which was unfortunately too close and -hot to allow of comfortable repose, Charles rose, and seeing Mr. -Whitgreave's mother, was pleased to greet her with great courtesy, and -to honor her with a salute. His place, during the day, was a closet over -the porch, where he could see, unseen, every one who came up to the -house. - -That afternoon, a party of the roundhead soldiers arrived, with intent -to arrest Mr. Whitgreave, having had information that he had been at -Worcester fight. - -"If," said Lord Wilmot to him, "they carry you off, and put you to the -torture, to force you to confession, I charge you to give me up without -hesitation, which may, perhaps, satisfy them, and save the king." - -Charles was then lying on Mr. Huddleston's bed, but his generous host, -instead of caring for his own danger, hurried him away into the secret -hiding place; then, setting all the chamber doors open, went boldly down -to the soldiers, and assured them that the report of his having been in -the battle of Worcester was untrue, for he had not been from his own -home for upward of a fortnight; to which all his neighbors bearing -witness, the soldiers not only left him at liberty, but departed without -searching the house. - -The same day, only a few hours after his majesty had left Boscobel, two -parties of the rebels came thither in quest of him. The first, being a -company of the county militia, searched the house with some civility, -but the others, who were Captain Broadwaye's men, behaved in a very -ruffianly manner, searched the house with jealous scrutiny, plundered it -of every thing portable, and after devouring all the little stock of -provisions, presented a pistol at William Penderel, to intimidate him -into giving them some information, and much frightened "my dame Joan," -but failed to extort any confessions touching the royal guest who had so -recently departed. They also paid a second visit to Whiteladies, and not -only searched every corner in it, but broke down much of the wainscot, -and finished by beating a prisoner severely who had been frightened into -informing them that he came in company with the king from Worcester to -that place, and had left him concealed there. - -On the Tuesday, old Mrs. Whitgreave, who did her best to amuse her royal -guest, by telling him all the news she could collect, informed him that -a countryman, who had been up to the house that morning, had said "that -he heard that the king, on his retreat, had rallied and beaten his -enemies at Warrington Bridge, and that three kings had come in to his -assistance." - -"Surely," rejoined Charles, with a smile, "they must be the three kings -of Cologne come down from heaven, for I can imagine none else." - -Looking out of his closet window, that day, Charles saw two soldiers -pass the gate, and told Mr. Huddleston, "he knew one of them to be a -Highlander of his own regiment, who little thought his king and colonel -were so near." - -Mr. Huddleston had three young gentlemen under his care for education, -staying in the same house--young Sir John Preston, Mr. Thomas Patyn, and -Mr. Francis Reynolds. These he stationed at several garret windows that -commanded the road, to watch and give notice if they saw any soldiers -approaching, pretending to be himself in danger of arrest. The youths -performed this service with diligent care all day, and when they sat -down to supper, Sir John said merrily to his two companions, "Come, -lads, let us eat heartily, for we have been upon the life-guard to-day." - -Lord Wilmot's friend, Colonel Lane, of Bentley, had, previously to the -king's arrival, offered to pass him on to Bristol, as the escort of his -sister, Mrs. Jane Lane, who had fortunately obtained from one of the -commanders, a passport for herself and her groom to go to Bristol, to -see her sister, who was near her confinement. This offer Lord Wilmot had -actually accepted, when John Penderel, bringing him word that the king -was coming to Mosely, he generously transferred that chance for escape -to his royal master. Lord Wilmot, having apprised the colonel and fair -mistress Jane of the king's intention to personate her groom, Colonel -Lane came, by appointment, on Tuesday night, between twelve and one, to -the corner of Mr. Whitgreave's orchard, to meet and convey his majesty -to Bentley. The night was dark, and cold enough to render the loan of a -cloak, which Mr. Huddleston humbly offered for his sovereign's use, -extremely acceptable. Charles took his leave courteously of old Mrs. -Whitgreave, whom he kissed, and gave many thanks for his entertainment, -and used warm expressions of gratitude to her son and Mr. Huddleston, -telling them, "that he was very sensible of the danger with which their -concealing him might be attended to themselves," and considerately gave -them the address of a merchant in London, who should have orders to -supply them with money, and the means of crossing the sea, if they -desired to do so, and promised, "if ever God were pleased to restore him -to his dominions, not to be unmindful of their services to him." They -knelt and kissed his hand, and prayed Almighty God to bless and preserve -him, then reverentially attended him to the orchard, where Mr. -Whitgreave told Colonel Lane "he delivered his great charge into his -hands, and besought him to take care of his majesty." - -Charles proceeded safely to Bentley with Colonel Lane, where, as he was -to perform the part of a menial, he was under the necessity of taking a -seat by the kitchen fire, next morning, to prevent suspicion. - -The cook, observing that he appeared an idle hand, ordered him to "have -a care that the roast meat did not burn"--a command that must have -reminded the incognito majesty of England of the adventure of his -illustrious ancestor, Alfred, in the herdsman's cottage, when he got -into disgrace with the good wife by not paying a proper degree of -attention to the baking of the cakes. - -The same morning, we are told, a person suspected of being a spy and -informer, coming into Colonel Lane's kitchen, and casting a scrutinizing -eye on the king, observed that he was a stranger, and began to ask a -leading question or two, when one of the servants, who knew his royal -master, and feared he would commit himself, gave him two or three blows -with the basting ladle, and bade him "mind his own business, which was -to keep the spit going, and not turn round to prate, or he would get -basted by the cook." - -Charles only staid at Bentley, till some articles of Colonel Lane's -livery could be prepared for his use, before he escorted Mrs. Jane Lane -to Bristol, she riding on a pillion behind him, and Lord Wilmot -following at a little distance. Mistress Jane conducted herself with -great prudence and discretion to the royal bachelor during the journey, -treating him as her master when alone, and as her servant before -strangers. When they arrived at the house of her sister, Mrs. Norton, in -Bristol, the first person the king saw was one of his own chaplains -sitting at the door, amusing himself with looking at some people -playing at bowls. His majesty, after performing his duty as Colonel -Lane's servant, by taking proper care of the horse which had carried him -and his fair charge from Bentley, left the stable, and came into the -house, feigning himself sick of the ague, Mrs. Jane having suggested -that device as an excuse for keeping his room, which she had caused to -be prepared for him. The butler, who had been a royalist soldier in the -service of Charles I., entering the room to bring the sick stranger some -refreshment, as soon as he looked in his pale woe-worn face, recognized -the features of his young king, and falling on his knees, while the -tears overflowed his cheeks, exclaimed, - -"I am rejoiced to see your majesty." - -"Keep the secret from every one, even from your master," was the reply, -and the faithful creature rendered implicit obedience. He, and Mrs. Jane -Lane, constituted Charles's Privy Council at Bristol. No ship being -likely to sail from that port for a month to come, the king considered -it dangerous to remain there so long. He therefore repaired to the -residence of Colonel Wyndham, in Dorsetshire, where he was -affectionately welcomed by that loyal cavalier and his lady, who had -been his nurse. The venerable mother of the colonel, though she had lost -three sons and one grandchild in his service, considered herself only -too happy to have the honor of receiving him as her guest. - -Finally, after adventures too numerous to be recorded here, the fugitive -king succeeded in securing a passage toward the end of October, in a -little bark from Shoreham to Dieppe, where he landed in safety, more -than forty persons, some of them in very humble circumstances, having -been instrumental to his escape, not one of whom could be induced by the -large reward offered by the Parliament for his apprehension, to betray -him. - -A certain eloquent Scotch essayist, who endeavors to apologize for the -conduct of Algernon Sidney, and other worthies of his party, in -accepting the bribes of France by impugning the integrity of the English -character, and goes so far as to express a doubt whether there were an -honest man to be met with at that epoch, save Andrew Marvel, appears to -have forgotten the glorious instances of stainless honesty and virtue -afforded by the Penderel brothers, and other noble men of all degrees, -who proved themselves superior to all temptations that could be offered. - -When England had, by general acclamation, called home her banished king, -the five Shropshire brothers were summoned to attend him at Whitehall, -on Wednesday, the 13th of June, 1661, when his majesty was pleased to -acknowledge their faithful services, and signified his intention of -notifying his gratitude by a suitable reward, inquiring if they had any -particular favor to ask. They only asked an exemption from the penal -laws, with liberty for themselves and their descendants to enjoy the -free exercise of their religion, being members of the Romish church. -This request was granted, and their names, together with those of their -kinswoman Mrs. Yates, Mr. Huddleston, and Mr. Whitgreave, were -especially exempted in the statute from the pains and penalties of -recusancy. - -King Charles granted a moderate pension to them and their descendants -for ever. - -"The Oak," says a contemporary, whose pleasant little chronicle of -Boscobel was published in 1660, the year of the restoration, "is now -properly called 'The Royal Oake of Boscobel,' nor will it lose that name -while it continues a tree: and since his majesty's happy restoration -that those mysteries have been revealed, hundreds of people for many -miles round, have flocked to see the famous Boscobel, which, as you have -heard, had once the honor to be the palace of his sacred majesty, but -chiefly to behold the Royal Oake, which has been deprived of all its -young boughs by the visitors of it, who keep them in memory of his -majesty's happy preservation." - -Charles himself subsequently made a pilgrimage to the scene of his past -troubles: when he visited the Royal Oak, he was observed to gather a -handful of the acorns. Some of these he planted with his own hand in -Saint James's Park. A promising young tree, which sprang from one of -these acorns, which Charles had planted in the queen's pleasure garden, -within sight of his bed-chamber, in Saint James's Palace, and was -accustomed to water and tend with great pleasure, was called the King's -Royal Oak, and had become an object of interest to the people as a relic -of that popular sovereign; but was destroyed by Sarah, Duchess of -Marlborough, as soon as her husband obtained the grant of the ground on -which it stood, for the site of Marlborough House. This was regarded as -an outrage on popular feeling. - -Of all our national commemorations, that of the restoration of monarchy, -on the 29th of May, held the strongest hold on the affections of the -people; the firmness with which they continued to observe that -anniversary for a century after the expulsion of the royal line of -Stuart, affords a remarkable proof of the constitutional attachment of -this country to the cause of legitimacy. As long as that feeling lasted, -the grave of William Penderel, in St. Giles's church-yard, was duly -decked with oaken garlands by nameless loyalists of low degree, as often -as the 29th of May came round; and men, women, and children wore oak -leaves and acorns in memory of the fact, - - "That Penderel the miller, at risk of his blood, - Hid the king of the isle in the king of the wood." - - -FOOTNOTE: - -[1] When honest William Penderel subsequently waited on Mr. Staunton, -and acknowledged the abstraction of the sheep, offering, at the same -time, to pay for it, that loyal gentleman laughed heartily at the -incident, and said, "He was glad to hear that his majesty had tasted his -mutton, and much good might it do him." - - - - -[From Dickens's Household Words] - -GUNPOWDER AND CHALK. - - -Sir Valentine Saltear was a worthy gentleman, who had made a large -fortune by constantly exporting Irish linens and lawns to France (from -whence they came over to England as fine French goods), for which -service to the trade of the three countries a discerning minister had -obtained him the honor of knighthood. This fortune he had in part -expended in building for himself a great mansion on the sea-coast of -Kent, commanding a fine view of the country from the back windows, and -the great ocean from the front. Every room on the first and second -floors was furnished with a brass telescope, that could be screwed on to -the window-sash, or by means of a pedestal, into the window-sill. - -In the front of his house was a great field, in which he and his -visitors used to play at cricket. It was bounded by the high, white -chalk cliffs, which descended precipitously to the sea. - -The cliffs, however, were unfortunately much undermined by natural -caverns; so that every year, and, in fact, every time there was a storm -at sea, a large portion of the chalk-rock fell down, and in the course -of six or seven years he was obliged to rail off as "dangerous" a part -of the already reduced field in front of his house. He could now only -play at trap-ball, or battle-dore and shuttle-cock. - -Still the sea continued its encroachments, and in a few years more the -trap-ball was all over--it was too perilous, even if they had not -continually lost the ball--and he and his sons were reduced to a game at -long-taw, and hop-scotch. - -Clearly perceiving that in the course of a few years more his -field-sports would be limited to spinning a tee-totum before his -front-door, he engaged the services of an eminent architect and civil -engineer to build him a sea-wall to prevent the further encroachments of -the enemy. The estimate of expense was five thousand pounds, and, as a -matter of course, the work, by the time it was finished, cost ten -thousand. This was nearly as much as Sir Valentine Saltear had paid for -the building of his house. - -But the worst part of the business was, that the very next storm which -occurred at sea, and only a few weeks after, the waves dashed down, and -fairly carried away the whole of this protective wall. In the morning it -was clean gone, as though no such structure had been there, and a great -additional gap was made in the cliff, plainly showing that the watery -monster was quite bent on swallowing up Sir Valentine's house. He -brought an action for the recovery of the money he had paid for his -wall; but while this was pending, he saw his house being undermined from -day to day, and in sheer despair felt himself obliged to apply to a -still more eminent civil engineer. The estimate this gentleman made for -the construction of a sea-wall--one that would stand--was ten thousand -pounds. It might be a few pounds more or less--probably less. But the -recent experience of Sir Valentine making him fear that it would -probably be double that amount, he hesitated as to engaging the services -of this gentleman. He even thought of sending over to Ireland for fifty -bricklayers, carpenters, and masons, and superintending the work -himself. He was sure he could do it for six thousand pounds. It never -once occurred to him to pull down his house, and rebuild it on high -ground a quarter of a mile farther off. - -In this dangerous yet undecided state of affairs, Sir Valentine one -morning, breakfasting at his club in Waterloo Place, read in a newspaper -a notice of the grand mining operation and explosion that was to take -place at Seaford, the object of which was to throw down an immense mass -of chalk cliff, the broken fragments whereof would, at a comparatively -small cost, form a sea-wall, at an elevation of about one-fifth the -height of the parent rock. Why, here was Sir Valentine's own case! His -house was upon a very high chalk rock, and a sea-wall of one-fifth the -height would answer every purpose. The only difficulty was his present -proximity to the edge of the cliff. Still, he thought he could spare -thirty feet or so, without losing his door-steps, and this width being -exploded down to the base of the cliff, would constitute, by its fall, a -very capital mound of protection which might last for a century or more. -He therefore determined to see the explosion at Seaford, and if it -proved successful, to adopt the very same plan. - -Sir Valentine, accordingly, on the nineteenth of September, swallowed an -early cup of chocolate, and hurried off to the Brighton railway -terminus, and took his place in the Express train for Newhaven. It was a -return-ticket, first class, for which he paid the sum of one pound four -shillings. An Excursion train had started at nine o'clock, the -return-ticket first class, being only eleven shillings; but Sir -Valentine fearing that it would stop at every station on the way, and -might not be in time for the great event, had prudently chosen the -Express at Express price; namely, one pound four per ticket. There was -some confusion in the arrangements of the terminus, apparently -attributable to extensive additions and alterations in the buildings; -but there was no difficulty in receiving the money. - -The train started; its speed, though an Express, being nothing -particular. When it arrived at Lewes, the passengers all had to alight, -and wait for another train which was to take them on. At last a train -arrived. It was declared to be full! - -"Full!" cried Sir Valentine, "why, I have paid for the -Express!--first-class--one pound four." - -Full, however, this long train was. Presently a guard shouted that there -was room for three in a second-class carriage. - -"I secure one!" shouted Sir Valentine, holding up his fore-finger in a -threatening manner to the guard, and jumped in. In due time, and by no -means in a hurry, the "Express" train arrived. - -Out leaped Sir Valentine, and demanded of the first person he met how -far it was to Seaford? The man said he didn't know! to the utter -astonishment and contempt of the excited knight. He asked the next -person; who replied that he hadn't the very least idea, but they could -tell him at the "tap." Sir Valentine looked on all sides to see if there -were any cabs, flies, or vehicles of any kind, and descrying several in -a group at some little distance, made toward them at long running -strides--a boy who had overheard his question as to the distance, -following at his heels, and bawling--"Two miles as a crow flies!--four -miles by the road!--two miles as a cro-o-o-o!--four by the ro-o-o-o!" - -Arrived amidst the vehicles, the knight found nearly all of them either -engaged, or full, and it was only as a matter of favor that he was -admitted as "one over the number," to the inside of a small van without -springs; where, beside the heat and crushing, he had to endure a -thorough draught and three short pipes, all the way. - -The road wound round the base of a series of hills and other rising -ground, and a line of vehicles might be seen all along this serpentine -road, for two or three miles' distance; while a long unbroken line of -pedestrians were descried winding along the pathway across the fields. -After a very jolting and rumbling drive, Sir Valentine found himself -"shot out" with the rest of the company, in front of a small "public" -knocked up for the occasion, with a load or two of bricks and some -boards, and crowded to excess. Private carriages, flies, cabs, carts, -wagons, vans, were standing around, together with booths and -wheelbarrows, set out with apples, nuts, bread and cheese, and -ginger-beer of a peculiarly thin stream. Sir Valentine having -breakfasted early, hastily, and lightly, was by this time--a quarter to -two--extremely sharp set; he endeavored, therefore, to make his way into -the house to get a bottle of stout and some ham or cold beef for -luncheon. But after ten minutes' continuous efforts, he found he was -still between the door-posts, and the noisy, choked-up window of the -"bar," as far from his hopes as ever. He abandoned the attempt in -disgust--but not without addressing himself to a seafaring man who was -standing with his hands in his pockets, looking on: - -"Is this sense?" said the knight. "Do you call this common sense? Do you -think you are acting with any more reason than a dog possesses, to treat -the public in this way? Then, your own interest--look at it!" (pointing -to the crowd struggling in the door-way). "If you had any foresight, or -a head for the commonest arrangements, would you not have a barrel of -ale on wheels outside here?" - -The seafaring man swung round on his heel with a smile, and Sir -Valentine, having made his way into the field, obtained six pennyworth -of gingerbread and a dozen of small apples, with which provender he in -some sort revived his exhausted frame. He now bustled on toward the -foot of a broken embankment leading up to a lofty rising ground, the -summit being the cliffs, a large portion of which was shortly to be -detached, and thrown down by the explosion of a mine. The part to be -blown off was marked out by broad belts of white, where the chalk had -been thrown up, which made an imposing appearance even on the distant -heights. - -The sun shone brightly. All over the fields and fallow ground that lay -between the halting-place just described, and the foot of the steep -mount, the visitors were scattered--pedestrians, with here and there a -horseman; sight-seers--the old and the young--men of science from -various parts of the world--infantry soldiers, sappers and miners, -ladies and gentlemen, sailors, marines, country people, railway -laborers, policemen, boys and girls, and--far in the rear of all, with -disapproving looks--two or three old women in spectacles. Renovated by -his gingerbread and apples, Sir Valentine made his way manfully up the -steep grassy ascent of the hill, chalk mountain it might be more -properly termed, and, in the course of a quarter of an hour, he found -himself at the spot where the explosion was to take place. - -It was a tolerably level surface, of some hundred yards in diameter. -Transverse belts of excavated chalk, with several trenches and pits half -filled up, marked out the huge fragment of the solid mass which was to -be separated. The boundary was further indicated by small flagstaffs, -and also by sentinels, who prevented any of the visitors from -trespassing on the dangerous ground, whereon, of course, they all had a -half-delightful tingling wish to perambulate, and to feel themselves -liable to be blown to atoms by a premature explosion. - -Beneath the part marked off by the flagstaffs and sentinels, at a great -depth in the chalk rock, were buried many thousand (the Brighton Herald -said twenty-seven thousand!) pounds of gunpowder, distributed in -different chambers and galleries, one communicating with another by -means of a platina wire. This wire was carried up through the rock into -a little wooden house, in which certain chemical mysteries were being -secretly carried on by engineer officers. There was a little window in -front, out of which the mysterious officer now and then half thrust his -head, looked out, with profound gravity, upon the belts of chalk on the -space before him, and, without appearing to see any of the crowding -visitors, withdrew from the window. Presently another officer came, and -did the same. "Come like shadows," muttered Sir Valentine, "so depart!" - -But wishing that they might "show his eyes" the mysterious operations in -the little wooden house, however grievous it might be to his feelings, -our anxious knight hurried round to the back, where, he took it for -granted, there was some means of entrance, as he had seen no officer get -in at the window. He was right. There was a small narrow door of -planks, with a sentry standing before it, who wore a forbidding face of -much importance. And now a gentleman in blue spectacles approached, and -nodded to the sentinel, who tapped at the door. The door was unlocked, -and the favored man of science entered. Through the closing door, Sir -Valentine caught sight of a sort of long, shapeless table, covered with -chemical instruments and utensils, in short, an apparatus exciting great -curiosity. The door closed, just as Sir Valentine handed up his card to -the sentinel. The door was opened again--his card given in; somebody -took it, and it seemed to fly over a row of small white porcelain -painters' pallets, standing mid-deep in water, and then disappeared, as -the door was suddenly closed again. A voice within was heard to say, -impatiently, "I really am afraid we can't be disturbed!" - -"Can't you!" exclaimed Sir Valentine, addressing himself to a servant -girl, with a child in her arms, who was trying to get a peep in at the -door: "can't you, indeed! What treatment do you call this? Do you think -gentlemen would take the trouble to come _down_ here, such a distance, -and _up_ here such a height, if they did not expect to see all that -could possibly be seen? Is this your duty to the public who pays you? -Why should you conceal any thing from me? Am I not a person of -sufficient wealth and respectability to be allowed to know of all your -doings up here! What brings you here but the public service? Who is your -master? tell me that!" - -"Edward Smith, of Seaford," answered the girl, with an angry face; "but -I don't know as it's any business of yours!" - -Sir Valentine brushed past the girl with a "Pooh, pshaw!" Observing it -was announced, by a placard on one side of the little wooden house, that -the explosion would take place at three o'clock, he took out his watch -and found that it was already half-past two. It became important to -decide on the most advantageous place to take up a position, in order to -have the best view of the grand explosion. Some of the visitors--in -fact, a considerable number--had ascended to the very highest part of -the rock, which swept upward, with its green coating of grass to a -distance of a hundred and fifty or two hundred yards beyond the -dangerous spot. Another crowd took their posts at about the same -distance below the fatal spot, each crowd being widely scattered, the -boldest in each being nearest, the most timid the furthest off. Another -crowd--and this was the largest by far--had descended to the beach, to -see, from below, the fall of the great mass of lofty rock. Many had -taken boats, and rowed, or sailed out, to behold it from a more directly -opposite, yet safer position. - -Now, Sir Valentine Saltear, being an enthusiast in sight-seeing, had not -the least doubt but the way really to _enjoy_ the thing, would be to -stand upon the portion of the cliff that was to be thrown down; and, -leaping from crack to crack, and from mass to mass, as it majestically -descended, reach by this means the sea, into which a good dive forward -would render your escape from danger comparatively safe and easy. On -second thoughts, however, he saw that it was precarious, because if the -charge of powder were in excess of the weight to be separated, a great -mass of fragments might fly upward into the air, and who could say but -one of these might be the very place on which he himself was standing? -He, therefore, contented himself with advancing to the extreme edge of -the cliff, and peering over upon the beach below. The height was -prodigious; the crowds walking about below were of pigmy size. The boats -that were hovering about on the sea looked no bigger than mussel shells. -Sir Valentine once thought of going out in a boat, but immediately -recollecting that by doing so he should lose the fine effect of the -trembling of the earth, he at once abandoned the idea. If he mounted -above the scene of action he should lose the grandeur of the descent of -the mass; if he stood on the mount at some distance below it, he could -not see the surface crack and gape, though he might be exposed to flying -fragments. He, therefore, decided forthwith on going down to the beach, -and accordingly he hurried along the grassy slope, and then made his way -down a precipitous zig-zag fissure in the sand hill below, till he found -his feet rattling and limping over the stones of the beach. - -Here he was amid six or seven thousand people--many more than he had -seen from above--some walking about, some sitting in long rows or in -groups, on the damp shingles, some standing in knots--all speculating as -to how soon it would now be before the great explosion. A few flagstaffs -were planted, with several sentinels, to mark the line which no one was -allowed to pass; and this line was very strongly marked besides by a -dark crowd of the most fearless of the visitors. According to their -several degrees of apprehension, the crowds were scattered over the -beach at various distances, some of them being at least a mile and a -half off. - -Sir Valentine, after an examination of all the bearings of the case, -elected to have a place in the front row, close to the flagstaff; but, -taking into consideration the possibility that the explosion might send -up a great mass of fragments, which might come flying over that way, and -crush numbers by their fall, he looked round to try and secure a retreat -the instant he should see a black cloud of fragments in the air. The -front line would not be able to retreat in time, because, being crowded, -they would, in the panic of the moment, stumble over each other, and -falling pell-mell, become an easy prey to the descending chalk. Sir -Valentine, therefore, being not only an enthusiast, but also a man of -foresight, took his post to the extreme right of the line, so that he -could, if he saw need, retreat into the sea; to make sure of which, and, -at the same time, to have an unimpeded view, he now stood half up to -his knees in water. - -It was three o'clock--the hour of doom for the chalk in its contest with -gunpowder. A bugle sounded, and a movement of the sentries on the top of -the rock was discerned by the thousands of eyes looking up from the -beach. Many, also, who were above, suddenly thought they could better -their positions by moving further off. Below, on the beach, there was a -hush of voices; not a murmur was heard. Every body stood in his favorite -attitude of expectation. All eyes were bent upon the lofty projecting -cliff; and nearly every mouth was open, as if in momentary anticipation -of being filled with an avalanche of chalk. Again a bugle sounded--and -all was silence. Not a shingle moved. - -Presently there was a low, subterranean murmur, accompanied by a -trembling of the whole sea-beach--sea and all; no burst of explosion; -but the stupendous cliff was seen to crack, heave outward, and separate -in many places half way down; the upper part then bowed itself forward, -and almost at the same instant, the cliff seemed to bend out and break -at one-third of the way from the base, till, like an old giant falling -upon his knees, down it sank, pitching at the same time head foremost -upon the beach with a tremendous, dull, echoless roar. A dense cloud of -white dust and smoke instantly rose, and obscured the whole from sight. - -Every body kept his place a moment in silence--the front line then made -a rush onward--then abruptly stopped, bringing up all those behind them -with a jerk. Who knows but more cliff may be coming down? In the course -of half a minute the cloud of dust had sufficiently dispersed itself to -render the fallen mass visible. It formed a sort of double hill, about -one-fifth of the height of the rocks above, the outer hill nearest the -sea (which had been the head and shoulders of the fallen giant) being by -far the largest. It was made up of fragments of all sizes, from small -morsels, and lumps, up to huge blocks of chalk, many of which were two -or three feet in thickness, intermixed with masses of the upper crust, -having grass upon the upper surface. - -Toward this larger hill of broken masses of chalk, the front rank of the -cloud below, on the beach, now rushed. But after a few yards, they again -stopped abruptly, bringing every body behind them bump up against their -backs. Again, they moved on waveringly, when suddenly a small piece of -cracked rock detached itself from above, and came rolling down. Back -rushed the front line--a panic took place, and thousands retreated, till -they found the cliff was not coming after them, when they gradually drew -up, faced about, and returned to the onset. At length it became a -complete charge: the front rank made directly for the large broken -mound, in the face of clouds of drifting chalk-dust, and fairly carried -it by assault--mounting over blocks, or picking their way round about -blocks, or between several blocks, and through soft masses of chalk, and -so upward to the top--two soldiers, three sailors, a boy, and Sir -Valentine, being the first who reached it. Thereupon, they set up a -shout of victory, which was echoed by thousands from below. Fifty or -sixty more were soon up after them; and one enthusiast, who had a very -clever little brown horse, actually contrived to lead him up to the top, -and then mounted him, amid the plaudits of the delighted heroes who -surrounded him. Every body, horse and all, was covered with the -continual rain of chalk-dust. The heroes were all as white as millers. - -It was almost as difficult to descend as it had been to get up. However, -Sir Valentine managed to effect this with considerable alacrity, and -made his way hastily across the field to the little "public," with -intent to secure a fly, or other conveyance, before they were all -occupied by the numbers he had left behind him on the beach. Nothing -could be had: all were engaged. He walked onward hastily, and was -fortunate enough to overtake a large pleasure-cart, into which he got, -and, after suffering the vexation of seeing every vehicle pass them, he -at length arrived at the Newhaven railway station. - - - - -THE ESCAPE OF QUEEN MARY FROM LOCHLEVEN CASTLE. - -BY AGNES STRICKLAND. - - -The escape of Mary Queen of Scots, from Lochleven Castle, is one of the -most striking passages in the history of female royalty. The time, the -place, the beauty and exalted rank of the illustrious heroine, her -wrongs, and her distress, the chivalry and courage of the gallant -spirits who had undertaken to effect her deliverance, the peril of the -enterprise, and its success, combine all the elements of a romance. Yet -the adventure creates a more powerful impression related in the graphic -simplicity of truth, as it really befell, than when worked up with -imaginary circumstances into a tale of fiction, even by the magic pen of -Scott in the pages of "The Abbot." - -The fatal concatenation of events, which had the effect of entangling -the royal victim in the toils of her guileful foes, can not be developed -here. The broad outline of the outward and visible facts is familiar to -almost every reader, but to expose the undercurrent to view by -documentary evidences, and to make manifest the hidden workings of -iniquity, requires a wider field than these brief pages can afford. I -must, therefore, refer the public to my long-promised "Life of Mary -Stuart," which will shortly appear in my new series of royal female -biographies,[2] based on documentary sources, for particulars which can -scarcely fail of removing the obloquy with which mercenary writers, the -ready tools of self-interested calumniators, have endeavored to blacken -the name of this hapless lady. - -The confederate lords into whose hands Mary, confiding in their solemn -promises to treat her with all honor and reverence as their sovereign, -rashly surrendered herself, at Carberry-hill, not only shamelessly -violated their pact, but after exposing her to the most cruel insults -from the very abjects of the people, incarcerated her in the gloomy -fortress of Lochleven, under the jailorship of the mother of her -illegitimate brother, the Earl of Murray, and the wardership of the sons -that person had had by her late husband Sir Robert Douglas, of -Lochleven, for the Lady of Lochleven was a married woman when the Earl -of Murray was born.[3] - -It is scarcely possible to imagine a more doleful abiding place for the -fallen queen, in her affliction, than that which had been thus -injuriously and by a refinement of malice, selected for her by her -perfidious foes. The castle, which is of extreme antiquity, said indeed -to have been founded by Congal, a Pictish king, is of rude architecture, -consisting of a square donjon keep, flanked with turrets, and -encompassed with a rampart; it is built on a small island, almost in the -centre of the wild expanse of the deep, and oft-times stormy, waters of -the loch, which is fifteen miles in circumference. The castle island -consists of five acres, now overgrown with trees and brushwood. In the -midst of this desolation tradition points out one ancient stem, of -fantastic growth, said to have been planted by the royal captive as a -memorial of her compulsory residence in the castle. The boughs of this -tree, which is called "Queen Mary's Thorn," are constantly broken and -carried away as relics by the visitors, whom the interest attached to -the memory of that unhappy princess attracts to the spot, which her -sufferings have rendered an historic site of melancholy celebrity. - -The events of the long dreary months which Mary wore away in this -wave-encircled prison-house, bereft of regal state, deprived of exercise -and recreation, and secluded from every friend save her two faithful -ladies, and a little maiden of ten years old, the voluntary companions -of her durance, as well as the occupations wherewith she endeavored to -beguile her sorrowful hours, will be found very fully detailed in my -biography of that unfortunate queen, with many recently-discovered -facts. - -Toward the end of March, George Douglas, the youngest son of the Lady of -Lochleven, whose manly heart had been touched with generous sympathy, -or, as some assert, with a deep and enduring passion for his fair -ill-fated sovereign, made a bold and almost successful attempt to convey -her out of the castle, in the disguise of a laundress. The queen, -however, being identified by the whiteness and delicacy of her hands, -which she had raised to repel one of the rude boatmen, who endeavored -to remove her hood and muffler to get a sight of her face, she was -brought back, and George Douglas was expelled from the Castle with -disgrace. But though banished from his house, he lurked concealed in the -adjacent village, where he had friends and confederates, and, doubtless -inspired many an honest burgher and peasant with sympathy for the wrongs -of their captive sovereign, by his description of the harsh restraint to -which she was subjected within the grim fortress of Lochleven. At -Kinross he was joined by the faithful John Beton, and other devoted -servants of the queen, who were associated for the emancipation of their -royal mistress, and had long been lurking, in various disguises, among -the western Lomonds, to watch for a favorable opportunity of effecting -their object. - -Douglas had left, withal, an able coadjutor within the castle, a boy of -tender years, of mysterious parentage, and humble vocation, who was -destined to act the part of the mouse in Æsop's beautiful fable. This -unsuspected confederate was a youth of fifteen, who waited on the Lady -of Lochleven in the capacity of page. He is known in history by the -names of Willie Douglas, and the Little Douglas; in the castle he was -called the Lad Willie, the Orphan Willie, and the Foundling Willie,[4] -for he was found, when a babe, at the castle gates. Home, of Godscroft, -says, "He was the natural brother of George Douglas,"[5] a statement -perfectly reconcileable with the story of his first introduction into -the family of the late Laird of Lochleven. Such incidents are not of -unfrequent occurrence in the daily romance of life, and often has it -happened that the appeal made to the parental feelings of a profligate -seducer, in behalf of a guiltless child of sin and sorrow, has awakened -feelings of feminine compassion in the bosom of the injured wife, and -the forlorn stranger has received a home and nurture through her -charity. This appears to have been the case with regard to Little Willie -and the Lady of Lochleven; for, whether she suspected his connection -with the laird her husband or not, he was taken in, and brought up under -her auspices, and as attendant on her person. Frail as she had been in -her youth, and cruel and vindictive in her treatment of the lawful -daughter of her royal seducer, whom it irked her pride to consider as -her sovereign, it is nevertheless pleasant to trace out the evidence of -some good in the harsh Lady of Lochleven. - -The Foundling Willie remained in the castle, after the death of the old -laird, an orphan dependent in the family, but his subsequent actions -prove that he had received the education of a gentleman; for not only -could he read and write, but he understood enough of French and other -languages to be sent on secret missions to foreign princes. To these -acquirements Willie added courage, firmness, and address, seldom -paralleled in one of his tender years. - -There is not any circumstance in the course of Mary Stuart's career more -striking than the fact that, in this dark epoch of her life, when -deprived of all the attributes of royalty, oppressed, calumniated, and -imprisoned, two friends like George and Willie Douglas should have been -raised up for her in the family of her deadliest foes. The regent and -his confederates, men whose hands had been soiled with English gold, had -not calculated on the existence of the chivalric feelings which animated -those young warm hearts with the determination of effecting the -liberation of their captive queen. - -"Mary being deprived of pen and ink at this time," says her French -biographer, Caussin, "wrote her instructions with a piece of charcoal, -on her handkerchief, which she employed the boy Willie Douglas to -dispatch to the Lord Seton." John Beton, who still lay, perdue, among -the hills, was the ready bearer of this missive, and arranged every -thing for the reception and safe conduct of his royal mistress, in case -she should be fortunate enough to reach the shore in safety. For many -nights he, with Lord Seton, George Douglas, and others, kept watch and -ward on the promontory which commanded a view of the castle and the -lake, in expectation of being apprised, by signal, that the project was -about to be carried into effect. - -On Sunday, the second evening in May, all things being in readiness, and -the family at supper, Willie Douglas, who was waiting on the Lady of -Lochleven, contrived, while changing her plate, to drop a napkin over -the keys of the castle (which were always placed beside her during -meals), and having thus enveloped them, succeeded in carrying them off -unobserved. Hastening with them to the queen, he conducted her, by a -private stair, to the postern, and so to the water-gate of the castle, -which he took care to lock after him; and when the boat had gained -convenient distance from the shore, flung the keys into the water. These -mute memorials of the adventure were found covered with rust when the -loch was drained, early in the present century. They are now in the -possession of the Earl of Morton, at Dalmahoy House, where I saw them -and the rude iron chain which formerly linked them together, but which, -being rusted through, fell to pieces when taken out of the water. The -Lochleven keys are five in number, large and small, of antique -workmanship, and are all carefully enshrined in a casket lined with -velvet, and preserved as precious relics by the noble representatives of -the chivalric George Douglas. - -The boat which Willie the Orphan had adroitly secured for the service of -his captive sovereign, was that belonging to the castle, and the only -medium of communication for the castellan and his meiné with the shore. -Immediate pursuit was, therefore, almost impossible. The companions of -Queen Mary's flight were, her faithful attendant, Mary Seton, ever near -her in the hour of peril, and a little girl of ten years old, of whose -safety her majesty appeared tenderly careful, as she led her by the -hand. The other damsel, a French lady of the name of Quenede, gave a -remarkable proof of her personal courage and devotion to her royal -mistress; for, not being quick enough to reach the castle gate till it -was locked behind the retreating party, she fearlessly leaped out of the -window of the queen's apartment into the loch, and swam after the boat -till she was received within that little ark in her dripping garments. - -Meantime, Lord Seton and his gallant associates, who were anxiously -reconnoitring from their eyrie the progress of the little bark and its -precious freight across the lake, remained in a state of the greatest -excitement, not daring to believe that so feeble an instrument as the -orphan Willie had succeeded in achieving an exploit which the bravest -peers in Scotland might have been proud of having performed, and her own -royal kinsmen, the allied princes of France and Spain, had not ventured -to attempt. But all doubts and fears were dispelled when they recognized -the stately figure of their queen, distinguished from the other females -by her superior height, rising in the boat and giving the telegraphic -signal of her safety, as previously agreed, by waving her vail, which -was white with a crimson border, the royal colors of Scotland. The -moment that auspicious ensign was displayed, fifty horsemen, who had -lain concealed behind the hill, sprang to their saddles, and, with Lord -Seton at their head, galloped down to the shore, where George Douglas -and Beton, with another party of devoted friends, were already waiting -to receive and welcome their enfranchised sovereign, as she sprang to -the land. The fleetest palfreys that Scotland could supply had long been -provided, and concealed by George Douglas's trusty confederates in the -village, in anticipation of the success of this enterprise, and were now -ready caparisoned for the queen and her ladies. Mary mounted without -delay, and, attended by the faithful companions of her perils and -escape, scoured across the country at fiery speed, without halting, till -she reached North Queen's Ferry, about twenty miles from Lochleven. -Embarking in the common ferry-boat at that port, she and her company -crossed the rough waters of the Firth, and landed, tradition says, at -the ancient wooden pier, which formerly jutted out into the sea, just -above the town of South Queen's Ferry. There she was met and welcomed by -Lord Claud Hamilton, and fifty cavaliers and other loyal gentlemen, -eager to renew their homage, and burning to avenge her wrongs. - -Lord Seton conducted his royal mistress to his own castle at West -Niddry, distant seven miles from South Queen's Ferry, where she partook -of his hospitality, and enjoyed the repose of a few hours, after her -moonlight flitting. West Niddry now forms part of the fair domain of the -Earl of Hopeton. The roofless shell of the stately castle, which -afforded the first safe resting-place to the fugitive sovereign is -still in existence. The changes of the last few years have conducted the -railroad line between Edinburgh and Glasgow in close proximity to the -ruins of the feudal fortress, which gave rest and shelter to the royal -fugitive, after her escape from Lochleven. The gray mouldering pile, in -its lonely desolation, arrests for a moment the attention of the musing -moralist or antiquarian among the passengers in the trains that thunder -onward to their appointed goal through solitudes that recall high and -chivalric visions of the past. But Niddry Castle should be visited in a -quiet hour by the historical pilgrim, who would retrace in fancy the -last bright scene of Mary Stuart's life, when, notwithstanding the -forced abdication which had transferred the regal diadem of Scotland to -the unconscious brow of her baby-boy, she stood a queen once more among -the only true nobles of her realm, those whom English gold had not -corrupted, nor successful traitors daunted. - -One window in Niddry Castle was, within the memory of many persons in -the neighborhood, surmounted with the royal arms of Scotland, together -with a stone entablature, which, though broken, is still in existence, -in the orchard of the adjacent grange, inscribed in ancient letters with -the day of the month and the date of the year, and even the age of -George Lord of Seton, at the memorable epoch of his life when the -beauteous majesty of Scotland, whom he had so honorable a share in -emancipating from her cruel bondage, slept beneath his roof in safety. - -Lord Seton had been an old and faithful servant of his queen. He was the -master of the royal household, and had been present at her nuptials with -the beloved husband of her youth, King Francis II., of France. On her -return to Scotland, after the death of that sovereign, Mary offered to -advance Seton to the dignity of an earldom, but being the premier baron -in parliament, he refused to be the puisne earl, giving humble thanks to -her majesty for her proffered grace at the same time. Mary then wrote -the following extempore distich in Latin and also in French: - - "_Sunt comites ducesques denique reges; - Setoni dominum sit satis mihi._" - -which, in plain English, may be rendered thus: - - "Though earls and dukes, and even kings there be, - Yet Seton's noble lord sufficeth me." - -"After that unfortunate battle of Langside, the said Lord George Seton -was forced to fly to Flanders, and was there in exile two years, and -drove a wagon with four horses for his subsistence. His picture in that -condition," adds the quaint, kindred biographer of the noble family of -Seton, "I have seen drawn, and lively painted, at the north end of the -long gallery in Seton, now overlaid with timber. From Flanders, the said -Lord George went to Holland, and there endeavored to seduce the two -Scots regiments to the Spanish service, upon a design thereby to serve -his sovereign the queen, the king of Spain being very much her friend. -Which plot of his being revealed, the states of Holland did imprison -and condemn him to ride the cannon; but by the friendship and respect -the Scotch officers had to him, he was by them set at liberty, -notwithstanding this decision of the States."[6] - -Lord Seton outlived these troubles, he was preserved to enjoy the reward -of his integrity after those who pursued his life had been successively -summoned to render up an account of the manner in which they had -acquired and acquitted themselves of their usurped authority, till all -were clean swept away. It is a remarkable fact that the most relentless -of the persecutors of their hapless sovereign, Mary Stuart, especially -those who for a brief period were the most successful in their ambitious -projects, Murray, Lennox, Marr, Lethington, and Morton, all by violent -or untimely deaths preceded their royal victim to the tomb. - -James VI. testified a grateful sense of the services Lord Seton had -rendered to queen Mary, by preferring him and his sons to the most -honorable offices in his gift. - -Mary herself rewarded George Douglas to the utmost of her power, in -various ways, but above all by facilitating his marriage with a young -and beautiful French heiress of high rank, to whom he had formed an -attachment, and as his poverty was the only obstacle to this alliance, -she generously enabled him to make a suitable settlement on his bride -out of a portion of her French estates, which she assigned to him for -this purpose by deed of gift. "Services like his," as she wrote to her -uncle, "ought never to be forgotten." - -A simple black marble tablet in the chancel of Edensor Church, to the -left of the altar, marks the grave of John Beton, on which a Latin -inscription records the fact, "that he died at Chatsworth, in his -thirty-fourth year, worn out with the fatigues and hardships he had -encountered in the service of his royal mistress," adding as his best -and proudest epitaph, "that he had assisted in delivering that -illustrious princess from her doleful prison in the Laga Laguina." -(Lochleven.) - -Poetry is the handmaid as well as the inspiration of chivalry, and if -ever the deeds of brave and loyal gentlemen deserved to live in song, -surely the achievement of the loyal associates who rescued their -oppressed queen from her cruel captivity in Lochleven Castle, ought to -be thus commemorated, and their names had in remembrance long after "the -marble that enshrines their mortal remains has perished, and its imagery -mouldered away." - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[2] "Lives of the Queens of Scotland, and English Princesses connected -with the regal succession of Great Britain." - -[3] See many dispatches from the English envoys resident in Scotland. -State Paper Office, from 1534 to 1536. - -[4] "Life of Lord Herries," edited by Pitcairne, Abbotsford Club, -p. 101. - -[5] "Life of James Earl of Morton," in the "Lives of the Douglases," -p. 302. - -[6] Continuation of the "History of the Houses of Seytoun, by Alexander, -Viscount Kingston. Printed for the Maitland Club." - - - - -[From Dickens's Household Words.] - -A GERMAN PICTURE OF THE SCOTCH. - - -A new play was recently produced at the principal theatre of Vienna, -which illustrates the notions of Scotchmen which obtain currency and -credence among the Germans. The scene is laid in St. Petersburgh; the -real hero is a little animal, known to dog-fanciers as a Scotch terrier; -but the nominal chief character is a banker from Glasgow, named -Sutherland. He had failed in his native place, but in Russia he became a -great man, for he was the favorite money-dealer of the Empress -Catherine. - -We all know the strength of a Scotch constitution, but we also know the -severity of a St. Petersburgh winter: yet Mr. Sutherland presents -himself to his audience, amidst the frozen scenery of that ice-bound -city, in what is believed abroad to be the regular everyday costume of a -citizen of Glasgow; namely, a kilt, jack-boots, and a cocked hat, with a -small grove of fine real feathers. Mr. Sutherland, despite his scanty -nether costume, appears to be in excellent health and spirits. He has -thriven so well in the world that, in accordance with a tolerably -correct estimate of the Caledonian national character, his relations at -home begin to pay court to him, and to send him presents. One indulges -him with the hero of the piece: the small, ugly, irate, snuffy quadruped -before mentioned. The banker takes it with a good-humored "Pish!" little -dreaming of the important part the little wretch is destined to play. He -had scarcely received the gift when the Empress passes by, sees the dog, -and desires to possess it, while the grateful Sutherland is too glad to -be able to gratify a royal caprice at so light a cost. - -She, in the fervency of her gratitude, named the dog after the donor--a -great compliment. - -Alas! one day, the dog, who had eaten too plentifully of _zoobrême_ -(chicken stewed with truffles), was seized with apoplexy and died; -though not without suspicion of having been poisoned by the prime -minister, a piece of whose leg he had digested the day before. The -Empress sighed far more over the loss of her dog, than she would have -done for that of the minister. The one might have been easily replaced: -she knew at least twenty waiting open-mouthed for the vacancy. But who -could replace her four-footed friend!--she mourns him as a loss utterly -irreparable. She orders the greatest mark of affectionate respect it is -possible to show to be performed on the dead terrier. - -The scene changes; it is night. The fortunate banker is seated at -dessert, after an excellent dinner of "mutton rosbif," and "hot-a-meale -pour-ridges, and patatas," indispensable to a North Briton; his legs are -crossed, his feet rest upon a monstrous fender, which he takes care to -inform us he has received from England, as he sits sipping his "sherri -port bier," and soliloquizing pleasantly over the various chances of his -life. He is just about to finish his evening with some "croc," the -English name for the pleasant invention of Admiral Grogram; his servant -enters, to announce that the chief executioner with a file of soldiers -have just dropped in, to say a word on a matter of business from the -Empress. - -The awful functionary, on stalking into the room, exclaimed, "I am -come--" - -"Well, I see you are," replied the banker, trying to be facetious, but -feeling like a man with a sudden attack of ague. - -"By command of the Empress!" - -"Long may she live!" ejaculates Sutherland, heartily. - -"It is really a very delicate affair," says the executioner; who, like -the French Samson, is a humane man; "and I do not know how to break it -to you." - -"Oh, pray, don't hesitate. What would you like to take?" asked the -banker, spilling the grog he tried to hand to the horrid functionary, -from sheer fright. - -The Envoy shakes his head grimly. "It is what we must all come to some -day," he adds, after a short pause. - -"What is? In Heaven's name do not keep me longer in suspense!" cries the -banker, his very visible knees knocking together with agonizing -rapidity. - -"I have been sent," answers the awful messenger; again he stops--looks -compassionately at his destined victim. - -"Well!" - -"By the Empress--" - -"I know!" - -"To have you--" - -"What?" - -"Stuffed!" said the Executioner mournfully. - -The banker shrieked. - -"Stuffed!" repeats the man, laconically, pointing to a bird in a glass -case, to prevent there being any mistake in Sutherland's mind as to the -nature of the operation he is to be called upon to undergo. - -The Executioner now lays his hand significantly on poor Sutherland's -collar, and looks into his face, as if to inquire if he had any -particular or peculiar fancy as to the mode in which he would like to go -through the preparatory operation of being killed. - -"I have brought the straw," he says, "and two assistants are without. -The Empress can not wait; and we have not got your measure for the glass -case yet." - -The banker looks the very picture of abject misery; but Britons, in -foreign comedies, are always ready to buy every thing, and the banker -had lived long enough in Russia to know the value of a bribe. He -therefore offers one so considerable, that his grim visitor is touched, -and endeavors to lull his sense of duty to sleep by a sophistry. - -"I was told, indeed, to have you stuffed," he reasons, "and got ready -for the Empress; but nothing was said about time; so I don't mind giving -you half an hour if you can satisfy these gentlemen"--and he turns to -his associates. - -It is briefly done. The banker pays like a man whose life depends on his -liberality--we suppose several millions--for the Executioner remarks -that he can not forget that a groom in England frequently receives -several thousands sterling a year; this is a very prevalent idea among -the Frankish and Teutonic nations of the Continent. We once heard a -Spanish general assert, in a large assembly, that the usual pay of an -English ensign was five hundred pounds a month, an idea doubtless -derived from some Iberian dramatist; and therefore a public functionary -like the Executioner must be remunerated proportionably higher. The -enormous pecuniary sacrifice gets for Sutherland some half-hour's -respite; which he wisely uses by flying to the British embassador, Sir -Bifstik, and awaits the result with great anguish. - -Sir Bifstik goes to the Empress. He is admitted. He asks if Her Majesty -be aware of the position of a British subject named Sutherland? - -"Excellent man," says Her Majesty, "No! What is it?" - -Sir Bifstik bows low at the tones of the Imperial voice, and now begins -to explain himself with something more than diplomatic haste; thinking, -perhaps, that already the fatal straw may be filling the banker's -members. - -Imperial Catherine does not, of course, consider the putting to death of -a mere Scotch banker, and making him in reality what some of his -brethren are sometimes called figuratively--a man of straw--worth this -fuss; and sets the embassador down in her mind as a person of wild -republican ideas, who ought to be recalled as soon as possible by his -government, and placed under proper surveillance; but, nevertheless, she -causes some inquiries to be made, and learns that it is in consequence -of her having ordered "Sutherland" to be stuffed that he is probably -then undergoing that operation. - -Sir Bifstik expresses such horror and consternation at this -intelligence, that the Empress believes his mind to be disordered. - -"What possible consequence can the accidental stuffing of a Scotch -banker be to you, milor?" she saith. - -"The ac-ci-den-t-al stuff-ings of a Scotcher Bankers!" in a German idiom -not generally used by our nobility, gasps Sir Bifstik, mechanically, -with pale lips and bristling hair. - -"Take him away! He is mad!" screams the Empress, thinking that no sane -person could be concerned about such a trifling affair, and in another -moment the most sacred of international laws would have been violated -(on the stage), and Great Britain insulted by profane hands being laid -on the person of her embassador, when all at once a light breaks over -the mind of Her Majesty--the recalling of something forgotten. She -exclaims, with a Russian _nonchalance_ quite cheering to behold, "Oh, I -remember; now it is easily explained. My poor little dog (I had -forgotten him too) died yesterday, and I wished his body to be -preserved. _Cher chien!_ His name was the same as that of the banker, I -think. Alas that cruel Death should take _my_ dog!" - -"But Mr. Sutherland has, perhaps, already been murdered!" gasps the -embassador. "I pray that your Majesty will lose no time in having him -released, should he be still alive!" - -"Ah, true! I never thought of that," returns the Empress. - -The order is finally issued, and Sutherland rescued, just as the -Executioner, grown angry at his unreasonable remonstrances, resolves to -delay no longer in executing the Imperial commands. To put the -_coup-de-grace_ on the comic agony of the poor banker, his immense red -crop of hair has, in that half hour of frightful uncertainty, turned -white as snow! - - - - -[From Hogg's Instructor.] - -THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONISTS, MARAT, ROBESPIERRE, AND DANTON. - -BY GEORGE GILFILLAN. - - -One obvious effect of the upheavings of a revolution is to develop -latent power, and to deliver into light and influence cast down and -crushed giants, such as Danton. But another result is the undue -prominence given by convulsion and anarchy to essentially small and -meagre spirits, who, like little men lifted up from their feet, in the -pressure of a crowd, are surprised into sudden exaltation, to be trodden -down whenever their precarious propping gives way. Revolution is a -genuine leveler: "small and great" meet on equal terms in its wide -grave; and persons, whose names would otherwise have never met in any -other document than a directory, are coupled together continually, -divide influence, have their respective partisans, and require the stern -alembic of death to separate them, and to settle their true positions in -the general history of the nation and the world. - -Nothing, indeed, has tended to deceive and mystify the public mind more -than the arbitrary conjunction of names. The yoking together of men in -this manner has produced often a lamentable confusion as to their -respective intellects and characteristics. Sometimes a mediocrist and a -man of genius are thus coupled together; and what is lost by the one is -gained by the other, while the credit of the whole firm is essentially -impaired. Sometimes men of equal, though most dissimilar intellect, are, -in defiance of criticism, clashed into as awkward a pair as ever stood -up together on the floor of a country dancing-school. Sometimes, for -purposes of moral or critical condemnation, two of quite different -degrees of criminality are tied neck and heels together, as in the dread -undistinguishing "marriages of the Loire." Sometimes the conjunction of -unequal names is owing to the artifice of friends, who, by perpetually -naming one favorite author along with another of established fame, hope -to convince the unwary public that they are on a level. Sometimes they -are produced by the pride or ambition, or by the carelessness or -caprice, of the men or authors themselves. Sometimes they are the -deliberate result of a shallow, though pretentious criticism, which sees -and specifies resemblances, where, in reality, there are none. -Sometimes they spring from the purest accidents of common circumstances, -common cause, or common abode, as if a crow and a thrush must be kindred -because seated on one hedge. From these, and similar causes, have arisen -such combinations as Dryden and Pope, Voltaire and Rousseau, Cromwell -and Napoleon, Southey and Coleridge, Rogers and Campbell, Hunt and -Hazlitt, Hall and Foster, Paine and Cobbett, Byron and Shelley, or -Robespierre and Danton. - -In the first histories of the French Revolution, the names of Marat, -Robespierre, and Danton occur continually together as a triumvirate of -terror, and the impression is left that the three were of one order, -each a curious compound of the maniac and the monster. They walk on, -linked in chains, to common execution, although it were as fair to tie -up John Ings, Judge Jeffreys, and Hercules Furens. A somewhat severer -discrimination has of late unloosed Marat from the other two, and -permitted Robespierre and Danton to walk in couples, simply for the -purpose of pointing more strongly the contrast between the strait-laced -demonism of the one, and the fierce and infuriated manhood of the other. -At least, it is for this purpose that we have ranked their names -together. - -Of Marat, too, however, we are tempted to say a single word--"Marah," -might he better have been called, for he was a water of bitterness. He -reminds us of one of those small, narrow, inky pools we have seen in the -wilderness, which seem fitted to the size of a suicide, and waiting in -gloomy expectation of his advent. John Foster remarked, of some small -"malignant" or other, that he had never seen so much of the "_essence_ -of devil in so little a compass." Marat was a still more compact -concentration of that essence. He was the prussic acid among the family -of poisons. His unclean face, his tiny figure, his gibbering form, his -acute but narrow soul, were all possessed by an infernal unity and -clearness of purpose. On the great clock of the Revolution--while Danton -struck the reverberating hours--while Robespierre crept cautiously but -surely, like the minute-hand, to his object--Marat was the everlasting -"tick-tick" of the smaller hand, counting, like a death-watch, the quick -seconds of murder. _He_ never rested; he never slumbered, or walked -through his part; he fed but to refresh himself for revolutionary -action; he slept but to breathe himself for fresh displays of -revolutionary fury. Milder mood, or lucid interval, there was none in -him. The wild beast, when full, sleeps; but Marat was never full--the -cry from the "worm that dieth not," within him being still, "Give, -give," and the flame in his bosom coming from that fire which is "never -to be quenched." - -If, as Carlyle seems sometimes to insinuate, earnestness be in itself a -divine quality, then should Marat have a high place in the gallery of -heroes; for if an earnest angel be admirable, chiefly for his -earnestness, should not an earnest imp be admirable, too? If a tiger be -respectable from his unflinching oneness of object, should not a toad, -whose sole purpose is to spit sincere venom, crawl amid general -consideration, too? If a conflagration of infernal fire be on the whole -a useful and splendid spectacle, why not honor one of its bluest and -most lurid flames, licking, with peculiar pertinacity, at some proud -city "sham?" But we suspect, that over Carlyle's imagination the quality -of greatness exerts more power than that of earnestness. A great -regal-seeming ruffian fascinates him, while the petty scoundrel is -trampled on. His soul rises to mate with the tiger in his power, but his -foot kicks the toad before it, as it is lazily dragging its -loathsomeness through the wet garden-beds. The devils, much admired as -they stood on the burning marl, lose caste with him when, entering the -palace of Pandemonium, they shrink into miniatures of their former -selves. Mirabeau, with Carlyle, is a cracked angel; Marat, a lame and -limping fiend. - -Some one has remarked how singular it is that all the heroes of the -French Revolution were _ugly_. It seems as curious to us that they were -either very large or very little persons. Danton was a Titan; Mirabeau, -though not so tall, was large, and carried a huge head on his shoulders; -whereas Marat and Napoleon were both small men. But the French found -their characteristic love of extremes gratified in all of them. Even -vice and cruelty they will not admire, unless sauced by some piquant -oddity, and served up in some extraordinary dish. A little, lean -corporal, like Napoleon, conquering the Brobdingnagian marshals and -emperors of Europe, and issuing from his nut-like fist the laws of -nations; a grinning death's head, like Voltaire, frightening Christendom -from its propriety, were stimulating to intoxication. But their talent -was gigantic, though their persons were not; whereas, Marat's mind was -as mean, and his habits as low, as his stature was small, and his looks -disgustful. Here, then, was the requisite French ragout in all its -putrid perfection. A scarecrow, suddenly fleshed, but with the heart -omitted--his rags fluttering, and his arms vibrating, in a furious wind, -with inflamed noddle, and small, keen, bloodshot eyes--became, for a -season, the idol of the most refined and enlightened capital in Europe. - -Had we traced, as with a lover's eye, the path of some beautiful flash -of lightning, passing, in its terrible loveliness, over the still -landscape, and seen it omitting the church spire, which seemed proudly -pointing to it as it passed--sparing the old oak, which was bending his -sacrificial head before its coming--touching not the tall pine into a -column of torch-like flame, but darting its arrow of wrath upon the -scarecrow, in the midst of a bean-field, and, by the one glare of -grandeur, revealing its "looped and ragged" similitude to a man, its -aspiring beggary, and contorted weakness--it would have presented us -with a fit though faint image of the beautiful avenger, the holy -homicide, the daughter of Nemesis by Apollo--Charlotte Corday--smiting -the miserable Marat. Shaft from heaven's inmost quiver, why wert thou -spent upon such a work? Beautiful, broad-winged bird of Jove, why didst -thou light on such a quarry? Why not have ranged over Europe, in search -of more potent and pernicious tyrants, or, at least, have run thy beak -into the dark heart of Robespierre? Why did a steel, as sharp and bright -as that of Brutus, when he rose "refulgent from the stroke," pierce only -a vile insect on the hem of a mantle, and not at once a mantle and a -man? Such questions are vain; for not by chance, but by decree, it came -about that a death from a hand by which a demi-god would have desired to -die, befell a demi-man, and that now this strange birth of nature shines -on us forever, in the light of Charlotte Corday's dagger and last -triumphant smile. - -Yet, even to Marat, let us be merciful, if we must also be just. A -monster he was not, nor even a madman; but a mannikin, of some energy -and acuteness, soured and crazed to a preternatural degree, and whose -fury was aggravated by pure fright. He was such a man as the apothecary -in "Romeo and Juliet" would have become in a revolution; but he, instead -of dealing out small doses of death to love-sick tailors and -world-wearied seamstresses, rose by the force of desperation to the -summit of revolutionary power, cried out for 80,000 heads, and died of -the assaults of a lovely patriotic maiden, as of a sun-stroke. And yet -Shakspeare has a decided _penchant_ for the caitiff wretch he so -graphically paints, and has advertised his shop to the ends of the -earth. So let us pity the poor vial of prussic acid dashed down so -suddenly, and by so noble a hand, whom mortals call Marat. Nature -refuses not to appropriate to her bosom her spilt poisons, any more than -her shed blooms--appropriates, however, only to mix them with kindlier -elements, and to turn them to nobler account. So let us, in humble -imitation, collect, and use medicinally, the scattered drops of poor -acrid Marat. - -Marat was essentially of the canaille--a bad and exaggerated specimen of -the class, whom his imperfect education only contributed to harden and -spoil. Robespierre and Danton belong, by birth and training, by feelings -and habits, to the middle rank--Robespierre sinking, in the end, below -it, through his fanaticism, and Danton rising above it, through his -genius and power. Both were "limbs of the law," though the one might be -called a great toe, and the other a huge Briarean arm; and, without -specifying other resemblances, while Marat lost his temper and almost -his reason in the _mêlée_ of the Revolution, both Robespierre and Danton -preserved to the last their self-possession, their courage, and the full -command of their intellectual faculties, amidst the reelings of the -wildest of revolutionary earthquakes, and the thick darkness of the -deepest canopy of revolutionary night. - -Robespierre reminds us much of one of the old Covenanters. Let not our -readers startle at this seemingly strange assertion. We mean the -_worst_ species of the old Covenanter--a specimen of whom is faithfully -drawn by Sir Walter in Burley, and in our illustrious clansman--the -"gifted Gilfillan." Such beings there did exist, and probably exist -still, who united a firm belief in certain religious dogmas to the most -woeful want of moral principle and human feeling, and were ready to -fight what they deemed God's cause with the weapons of the devil. Their -cruelties were cool and systematic; they asked a blessing on their -assassinations, as though savages were to begin and end their cannibal -meals with prayer. Such men were hopelessly steeled against every -sentiment of humanity. Mercy to their enemies seemed to them treason -against God. No adversary could escape from them. A tiger may feed to -repletion, or be disarmed by drowsiness; but who could hope to appease -the _ghost of a tiger_, did such walk? Ghosts of tigers, never -slumbering, never sleeping, cold in their eternal hunger, pursuing -relentlessly their devouring way, were the religious fanatics--the -Dalziels and Claverhouses, as well as the Burleys and Mucklewraths, of -the seventeenth century. - -To the same order of men belonged Robespierre, modified, of course, in -character and belief, by the influences of his period. The miscalled -creed of the philosophers of France in the eighteenth century, which, -with many of themselves, was a mere divertisement to their intellects, -or a painted screen for their vices, sunk deep into the heart of -Robespierre, and became a conviction and a reality with him. So far it -was well; but, alas! the creed was heartless and immoral, as well as -false. Laying down a wide object, it permitted every license of vice or -cruelty in the paths through which it was to be gained. Robespierre -became, accordingly, the worst of all sinners--a _sinner upon system_--a -political Antinomian, glorying in his shame, to whom blood itself became -at last an abstraction and a shadow; the guillotine only a tremendous -shuttle, weaving a well-ordered political web; and the tidings of the -fall of a thousand heads agreeably indifferent, as to the farmer the -news of a cleared hay or harvest field. - -That Robespierre had at the first any appetite for blood, is not now -asserted by his bitterest foe. That he ever even acquired such a -monstrous thirst, seems to us very unlikely. His only thought would be, -at the tidings of another death, "Another sacrifice to my _idea_; -another obstacle lifted out of its way." Nero's wish that his enemies -had but "one neck" was, we think, comparatively a humane wish. It showed -that he had no delight in the disgusting details, but only in the secure -result of their destruction. _He_ is the unnatural monster who protracts -the fierce luxury--who sips his deep cup of blood lingeringly, that he -may know the separate flavor of every separate drop, and who, like the -Cyclops in the cave, leaves some select victim to the last, as a _bonne -bouche_ to his sated appetite--"_Noman_ shall be the last to be -devoured." Robespierre, no more than Nero, was _up_ to such delicately -infernal cruelty. - -Carlyle frequently admits Robespierre's sincerity, and yet rates him as -little other than a sham. We account for this as we did in the case of -Marat. He is regarded as a SMALL sincerity; and the sincerity of a small -man contracts, to Carlyle's eye, something of the ludicrous air in which -a Lilliputian warrior, shouldering his straw-sized musket, and firing -his lead-drop bullets, seemed to Gulliver. "Bravo, my little hero!" -shouts the Titan, with a loud laugh, as he sees him, with "sky-blue -breeches," patronizing the houseless idea of a divine being, "prop away -at the tottering heavens, with that new nine-pin of thine; but why is -there not rather a little nice doll of an image in those showy -inexpressibles, to draw out, and complete the conversion of thy people? -and why not say, 'These be thy gods, O toy and toad-worshiping France!'" -To bring him to respect, while he admits, the sincerity, we would need -to disprove the smallness, of our Arras advocate. Now, compared to truly -great men, such as Cromwell--or to extraordinary men, such as Napoleon, -Mirabeau, and Danton--Robespierre was small enough. But surely it was no -pigmy, whose voice--calm, dispassioned, and articulate--ruled lunatic -France; who preserved an icy coolness amid a land of lava; who mastered, -though it was only for a moment, a steed like the Revolution; and who -threw from his pedestal, though it was by assailing in an unguarded -hour, a statue so colossal as Danton's. Rigid, Roman-like purpose--keen, -if uninspired, vision--the thousand eyes of an Argus, if not the head of -a Jove, or the fist of a Hercules--perseverance, honesty, and first-rate -business qualities--we must allow to Robespierre, unless we account for -his influence by Satanic possession, and say--either _no dunce aut -Diabolus_. Carlyle attributes his defeat and downfall to his -pertinacious pursuit of a shallow logic to its utmost consequences. -Probably he thus expresses, in his own way, the view we have already -sought to indicate. Robespierre was the sincere, consistent, unclean -apostle of an unclean system--a system of deism in theology--of -libertinism in morals--of mobocracy in politics--of a "gospel according -to Jean-Jacques"--a gospel of "liberty, equality, fraternity"--a liberty -ending in general bondage, an equality terminating in the despotism of -unprincipled talent, a fraternity dipping its ties in blood. With -faithful, unfaltering footstep, through good report and bad report, he -followed the genius of revolution in all her devious, dark, dangerous, -or triumphant paths, till she at last turned round in anger, like a -dogged fiend, and rent him in pieces. - -In dealing with Robespierre, we feel, more than with Marat, that we are -in contact with an intelligent human being, not an oddity, and mere -splinter of a man. His idea _led_, and at last _dragged_ him, but did -not devour nor possess him. His cruelty was more a policy, and less a -raging passion; and his great moral error lay in _permitting_ a theory, -opposed to his original nature, to overbear his moral sense, to drain -him of humanity, and to precipitate him to his doom. If he had resisted -the devil, he would have fled from him. - -In rising from Robespierre to Danton, we feel like one coming up from -the lower plains of Sicily into its western coast--the country of the -Cyclopes, with their one eye and gigantic stature; their courage, toil, -ferocity, impiety, and power. Danton _did_ tower Titanically above his -fellows, and, with little of the divine, was the strongest of the -earth-born. He had an "eye," like a shield of sight, broad, piercing, -and looking straight forward. His intellect was clear, intuitive, -commanding, incapable of the theoretical, and abhorrent of the -visionary. He was practical in mind, although passionate in temperament, -and figurative in speech. His creed was atheism, not apparently wrought -out by personal investigation, or even sought for as an opiate to -conscience, but carelessly accepted, as the one he found fashionable at -the time. His conduct, too, was merely the common licentiousness of his -country, taking a larger shape from his larger constitution and stronger -passions. His political faith was less definite and strict, but more -progressive and practical, and more accommodated to circumstances than -Robespierre's. His patriotism was as sincere as Robespierre's, but hung -about him in more voluminous folds. It was a toga, not a tunic. A sort -of lazy greatness, which seemed, at a distance, criminal indifference, -characterized him when in repose. His cupidity was as Cyclopean as his -capacity. Nothing less than a large bribe could fill such a hand. No -common goblet could satisfy such a maw. Greedy of money, for money's -sake, he was not. He merely wished to live, and all Paris knew what he -meant by living. And with all the royal sops to Cerberus, he remained -Cerberus still. Never had he made the pretensions of a Lord Russell, or -Algernon Sidney, and we know how they were subsidized. His "poverty, but -not his will consented." Had he lived in our days, a public -subscription--a "Danton testimonial, all subscriptions to be handed in -to the ---- office of Camille Desmoulins," would have saved this vast -needy patriot--this "giant worm of fire," from the disgrace of taking -supplies from Louis, and then laughing a wild laughter at his provider, -as he gnawed on at the foundations of his throne. - -In fact, careless greatness, without principle, was the key to Danton's -merits and faults--his power and weakness. Well did Madame Roland call -him "Sardanapalus." When he found a clover field, he rolled in it. When -he had nothing to do, he did nothing; when he saw the necessity of doing -something immediately, he could condense ages of action into a few -hours. He was like some terrible tocsin, never rung till danger was -imminent, but then arousing cities and nations as one man. And thus it -was that he saved his country and lost himself, repulsed Brunswick, and -sunk before Robespierre. - -It had been otherwise, if his impulses had been under the watchful -direction of high religious, or moral, or even political principle. This -would have secured unity among his passions and powers, and led to -steady and cumulative efforts. From this conscious greatness, and -superiority to the men around him, there sprung a fatal security and a -fatal contempt. He sat on the Mountain smiling, while his enemies were -undermining his roots; and while he said, "He dares not imprison me," -Robespierre was calmly muttering "I will." - -It seemed as if even revolution were not a sufficient stimulus to, or a -sufficient element for Danton's mighty powers. It was only when war had -reached the neighborhood of Paris, and added its hoarse voice to the -roar of panic from within, that he found a truly Titanic task waiting -for him. And he did it manfully. His words became "half battles." His -actions corresponded with, and exceeded his words. He was as calm, too, -as if he had created the chaos around him. That the city was roused, yet -concentrated--furious as Gehenna, but firm as fate, at that awful -crisis, was all Danton's doing. Paris seemed at the time but a -projectile in his massive hand, ready to be hurled at the invading foe. -His alleged cruelty was the result, in a great measure, of this habitual -carelessness. Too lazy to superintend with sufficient watchfulness the -administration of justice, it grew into the Reign of Terror. He was, -nevertheless, deeply to blame. He ought to have cried out to the mob, -"The way to the prisoners in the Abbaye lies over Danton's dead body;" -and not one of them had passed on. He repented, afterward, of his -conduct, and was, in fact, the first martyr to a milder regime. Not one -of his personal enemies perished in that massacre: hence the name -"butcher" applied to him is not correct. He did not dabble in blood. He -made but one fierce and rapid irruption into the neighborhood of the -"_red sea_," and returned sick and shuddering therefrom. - -His person and his eloquence were in keeping with his mind and -character. We figure him always after the pattern of Bethlehem Gabor, as -Godwin describes him: his stature gigantic, his hair a dead black, a -face in which sagacity and fury struggle for the mastery--a voice of -thunder. His mere figure might have saved the utterance of his -watchword, "We must put our enemies in fear." His face was itself a -"Reign of Terror." His eloquence was not of the intellectual, nor of the -rhetorical cast. It was not labored with care, nor moulded by art. It -was the full, gushing utterance of a mind seeing the real merits of the -case in a glare of vision, and announcing them in a tone of absolute -assurance. He did not indulge in long arguments or elaborate -declamations. His speeches were Cyclopean cries, at the sight of the -truth breaking, like the sun, on his mind. Each speech was a -peroration. His imagination was fertile, rugged, and grand. Terrible -truth was sheathed in terrible figure. Each thought was twin-born with -poetry--poetry of a peculiar and most revolutionary stamp. It leaped -into light, like Minerva, armed with bristling imagery. Danton was a -true poet, and some of his sentences are the strangest and most -characteristic utterances amid all the wild eloquence the Revolution -produced. His curses are of the streets, not of Paris, but of -Pandemonium; his blasphemies were sublime as those heard in the trance -of Sicilian seer, belched up from fallen giants through the smoke of -Etna, or like those which made the "burning marl" and the "fiery gulf" -quake and recoil in fear. - -Such an extraordinary being was Danton, resembling rather the Mammoths -and Megatheriums of geology than modern productions of nature. There was -no beauty about him why he should be desired, but there was the power -and the terrible brilliance, the rapid rise and rapid subsidence of an -Oriental tempest. Peace--the peace of a pyramid, calm-sitting and -colossal, amid long desolations, and kindred forms of vast and coarse -sublimity--be to his ashes! - -It is lamentable to contemplate the fate of such a man. Newly married, -sobered into strength and wisdom, in the prime of life, and with -mildness settling down upon his character, like moonlight on the rugged -features of the Sphinx, he was snatched away. "One feels," says Scott of -him, "as if the eagle had been brought down by a 'mousing owl.'" More -melancholy still to find him dying "game," as it is commonly -called--that is, without hope and without God in the world--caracolling -and exulting, as he plunged into the waters of what he deemed the -bottomless and the endless night; as if a spirit so strong as his could -die--as if a spirit so stained as his could escape the judgment--the -judgment of a God as just as he is merciful; but also--blessed be his -name!--as merciful as he is just. - - - - -[From Bentley's Miscellany.] - -RATTLIN THE REEFER'S DREAM. A TOUGH BUT TRUE YARN. - -BY ONE OF RATTLIN'S OLD SHIPMATES. - - -It was about the middle of August, 18--, that the _Old Lucifer_ was -cruising in the Monar Passage, a strait about forty miles wide, which -separates the eastern end of St. Domingo from the island of Porto Rico. -I was "middy" of the morning watch: it had been dead calm all night, but -the gentle trade-wind was rising with the rising sun, and morning was -glorious with the magic gilding of a tropical sky. Some time after eight -bells,[7] when Ned Rattlin, who was never very punctual or methodical -in any of his movements, came on deck to relieve me, and I was about to -hurry down to my breakfast of warm skilligalee, or, as our old French -negro, who served as midshipmen's steward and maid-of-all-work, with -true French tact for murdering the king's English, called it, -"giggeragee," Ralph seized me by the collar of my jacket, crying, - -"Avast! Careless, my boy; you really must not make sail for the cockpit -till you have heard the horrid dream which I had last night or this -morning, for I dreamt it twice over, and can not get it out of my head. -I must tell it to some one, and you are the only one that I dare tell it -to; I should be so confoundedly laughed at by the _servum pocus_ of the -cockpit; but you and I know each other, and have some pursuits and -feelings in common. We have our day-dreams and our night-dreams, and we -know that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of -in the philosophy of a midshipman's berth." - -Now, had not Ralph seized hold of me by the lappel of my jacket, as -before said, I should certainly have cut and run; for a reefer of -sixteen, who is just relieved from the morning-watch, which he has kept -for four hours, from four o'clock in the morning, and who has taken a -cold bath in the wash-deck tub, is not likely to be in a humor to let -his breakfast of cocoa or skilligalee grow cold. But, with the powerful -grip of Ralph's shoulder-of-mutton fist on my collar, there was no -chance of escape without tearing my jacket from clue to earring, which I -felt that I could not afford to do; for, as I have before remarked, -Ralph Rattlin was my senior by two years at least, and overtopped me in -height by a foot, or something near it. I therefore made a virtue of -necessity, and said, - -"Well, Jemmy, if you'll promise not to keep me long, and allow me, -first, to run down below and tell old Dom to keep my burgoo[8] warm, -I'll return and hear your wonderful dream, though I fancy it's all -gammon, and only manufactured to try the capacity of my swallow; because -you know that, like yourself, I have a bit of hankering after the -marvelous, and, as the negro Methodist said of the prophet Jonah, am 'a -tellible fellow for fish,' though I doubt whether, like him, I could -quite swallow a whale." - -"Well, then, make sail, you little flibbertigibbet, and make haste back, -that's a good fellow." - -The above elegant soubriquet he generally favored me with, when, in -Yankee parlance, I had "riled" him and got his "dander up," as was -always the case when he was called Jemmy Caster; he being but too -conscious that his long loose figure and shambling gait bore, at that -time, no small resemblance to those of a waister of that name, though he -afterward became a remarkably fine, handsome man, bearing a striking -resemblance, not without sufficient reason, to King George the Fourth. - -In a few minutes I had made arrangements with old Dominique for the safe -custody of my breakfast, and was again pacing the lee side of the -quarter-deck, by the side of my gigantic messmate. - -"And now, my dear Careless," said he, with unusual gravity, "if you can -be serious for a few minutes, I will relate to you this infernal dream, -which so preys upon my spirits that I do not feel like myself this -morning, and must unburden my mind. I dreamt, then, that I was on the -second dog-watch, as you know I shall be this evening; it was between -seven and eight bells, the night pitch-dark, with the wind blowing fresh -from the northeast, the ship under double-reefed topsails, and foresail -close hauled on the starboard tack, running at the rate of five knots as -I had found upon heaving the log. Suddenly the sea became like one sheet -of flame; its appearance was awfully grand; the head of every wave, as -it curled over and broke, diffused itself in broad streaks and flashes -of blue and white flame; and I involuntarily repeated to myself the two -lines of that singular, soul-freezing rhapsody, the 'Ancient Mariner,' -which, though descriptive of a very different state of the ocean from -that now presented to my imagination, I felt to be most applicable to -what I saw before me-- - - The water, like a witch's oils, - Burnt green, and blue, and white; - -and then, referring to the two preceding lines of the stanzas-- - - About, about, in reel and rout, - The death-fires danced at night. - -For that strangely wild and beautiful poem had taken a powerful hold on -my sleeping fancy. I asked myself, with a shudder, can there be -'death-fires?' And it seemed that the question uttered half aloud, had -no sooner passed my lips, than it received its answer in a most strange -and fearful manner; for a voice, like no human voice that I ever yet -heard, shrieked out, in a tone of horror and distress, that made my -blood run cold, 'Ship a-hoy--ship a-hoy!' I turned toward the lee -quarter, whence the voice came; and, jumping on a carronade-slide, I saw -the body of a man appearing out of the sea, from the waist upward, of -gigantic size, and of most forbidding--and at the same time -woeful--countenance. His body appeared covered with scales, like that of -a fish, which reflected the ghastly phosphoric light of the waters in -radiating hues of green and gold, and purple and violet. His ample jaws, -which opened from ear to ear, and which were furnished with a triple row -of saw-shaped teeth, like those of a shark, were fringed with a thick -curled beard and mustache, of pale sea-green, which fell in wavy -masses, mingling with long elf-locks of the same sickly hue, over his -broad breast and shoulders; his deep sunk eyes flashed out with a -strange unearthly light from beneath thick, overhanging eyebrows of that -self-same sea-green hue, and his head was surrounded and surmounted with -a waving diadem of 'green, and blue and white' flames, flashing upward, -and radiating sideways, and curling over their waving tops, so as to ape -the exact form of ostrich feathers. Awful as the figure was, and though -it made my flesh creep, yet dreaming as I was, I felt conscious that -there was something of the ridiculous attached to the _bizarrerie_ of -its appearance. You know my vein, Careless, and will give me credit for -a true exposition of my feelings, when I tell you that, though in a most -awful funk, I could not help adopting the words of _Trinculo_, and -asking myself, half aloud, - - What have we here--a man or a fish? - -I had not, till that moment, noticed the quarter-master of the watch, a -fine old weather-beaten seaman, who stood close to my side, and was, -like myself, attentively watching the movements of the strange -demon-like merman, who continued to follow the ship within a few fathoms -of the lee quarter-gallery, with a continual bowing or nodding motion of -the head, which caused his plumes of livid flame to flash and -corruscate, so that, to my eyes, they appeared to assume various forms -of terror, as of 'fiery flying serpents,' entwining his temples and -thence shooting upward, hissing and protruding their forked tongues, and -lashing the air with their wings and tails of flame; and then, again, -they subsided as before into the form of gracefully-curling ostrich -plumes; meanwhile he kept opening his terrific jaws, from which issued a -thin blue luminous vapor, as if in act to speak, but uttered no audible -sound, except that every now and then he would wring his huge hands, -which appeared to be webbed to the second joint of the fingers, like the -feet of a water fowl, and furnished with long, crooked nails like an -eagle's claws, and utter a wailing shriek so like the cry of a drowning -man, that it nearly drove me mad to hear it, and seemed to freeze my -very blood in my veins. Whether old Bitts, the quarter-master, had -really heard me quote the words of _Trinculo_, or whether, as all things -seem to work by supernatural influences in dreams, he had divined my -question by intuition, I know not, but he answered me at once. - -"'No, sir; believe an old sailor, that 'ere critter is neither man nor -fish; it is somebody far more terrible-like, and one that few living -sailors have ever set eyes on, though, mayhap, I may have seen him -before; mayhap, d'ye see, I can't tell when nor where, nor whether it -were sleeping or waking; howsomedever, be that as it will, I knows him -well enough, for sure that 'ere's old Davy himself--old Davy Jones--he's -come for some poor fellow's soul on board this here ship; and if you -wants to get rid of him, you'd better go down at once, and call the -captain up, that he may tell him to take what he wants and be off; for, -till that's done, he'll keep alongside the ship, and if he's kept too -long waiting, there's no saying but he may send a hurricane which may -sweep the _Old Lucifer_ and all her officers and crew, away down into -his locker.' - -"This hint was no sooner given, than I thought I went down into the -captain's cabin, where I found Captain Dure seated at the cabin-table, -just under the swinging lamp, as pale as death, and trembling from head -to foot like an aspen-leaf. - -"'Please, sir,' I said, touching my hat, as in duty bound, 'Davy Jones -has come alongside, and is waiting for somebody's soul; will you please -to come on deck, and tell him to take what he wants?' - -"'I know it,' said the captain, who seemed utterly unnerved with terror, -while the presence of the unearthly visitant seemed to - - ---- harrow up his soul, freeze his young blood; - Make his two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres; - His knotted and combined locks to part, - And each particular hair to stand on end - Like quills upon the fretful porcupine. - -"'I had a glimpse of him,' continued he, 'out of the quarter-gallery -window, and that's enough for me. Let the officer of the watch, or the -first lieutenant, tell him to take what he wants, and get rid of him.' - -"Now, it seemed to me in my dream that I was dreadfully annoyed at the -conduct of the captain in shrinking in such a dastardly manner from his -duty; for, from the moment that Bitts had informed me who the stranger -was and what he required, I had gone down and reported his advent to the -skipper, with as much coolness and unconcern as I should have done the -coming alongside of the admiral or any other great personage, and all my -terror seemed, for the time, to have vanished as soon as the strange -vision became connected with matters of routine or ship's duty. I, -therefore, addressed the captain again, as it seemed to me, in a tone -more authoritative than respectful: 'But, sir, you must come on deck; -for old Bill Bitts says that Davy Jones will hearken to nobody but the -captain or commander of the ship for the time being, and he knows Davy -of old; and says, that if you don't come up on deck soon and let him go, -the old fellow will send a hurricane that will blow the _Old Lucifer_ -out of the water, and that we shall find ourselves all, men and -officers, down in Davy Jones's locker before you can say Jack Robinson. -And I can tell you, sir, that the sky looks very ugly to windward.' - -"'Well, Ralph, my boy!' said the captain, apparently quite convinced by -my eloquent speech, which seemed to go down capitally in my dream, -though I guess I should soon be looking out for squalls at the -main-top-gallant-mast head, if I were to venture to address such a -cavalier harangue to the skipper in waking earnest. 'Well, Ralph, my -boy! give me your arm, and we'll go on deck, and give old Davy his due, -since it must be so.' And with my assistance the captain mounted the -companion-ladder, still trembling in every limb. - -"As soon as we came on deck, I led him over to the lee side of the -quarter-deck, and begged him to mount the carronade slide, and give his -unwelcome visitor the _congé d'élire_, for which he seemed waiting, -still bowing his head, waving his fiery plumes, and mopping and mowing, -and showing his treble row of teeth, as before. At the sight of the -frightful demon, the captain seemed more dead than alive, and ready to -fall from the gun-carriage, on which I was obliged to support him; he, -however, plucked up courage to shriek out, in a voice that trembled with -agitation, 'Whoever, or whatever you are, take what you want, and -begone;' and having said so, he sank powerless into my arms; upon which -the creature uttered one of its strange, thrilling shrieks as of a -drowning man, but which seemed mingled with a sort of shrill, demoniac -laughter, and disappeared below the waves--the waving plumes of his -singular head-gear flashing up half-mast high as he sank out of sight. -At the same moment, my eyes were somehow mysteriously directed from it, -and I saw Jacob Fell, the forecastle-man, fall dead into the arms of one -of his watch-mates, he, whom we call Cadaverous Jack, and whom you -christened the Ancient Mariner, because you said he went about his duty -looking so miserable, holding his head down on one side, as if he always -felt the weight of the murdered albatross hanging about his neck. -Immediately a heavy squall threw the ship on her beam-ends, and I -awoke"--which was the singular dream related to me by my quondam friend -and shipmate, with a gravity quite unusual with him, except when he -wanted to play upon the credulity of some of us youngsters, when he used -to assume the gravest possible countenance, though I could always, in -these cases, discern the lurking devil in his eyes. In this case, -however, I could discover no such appearance of fun and frolic; his -looks were, on the contrary, perfectly serious, and even allied to -sadness, in spite of the bravado with which he had assumed his usual -careless levity of manner in certain parts of his narration. I -determined, however, not to let him have the laugh against me, and -therefore said, "Come, come, Jemmy, you should tell that dream to the -marines; the sailors can't bolt it; it's rather too tough. We all of us -know that you are always dreaming, but you can't catch old birds with -such chaff. I am too old a sea-dog, and have sailed over too many -leagues of blue water to bite at such gammon." I prided myself much on -being Ralph's senior in the service by a couple of years or so, and felt -indignant that he should think of treating me as a youngster, because he -had about the same advantage of me in age. He, however, affirmed, in the -most solemn manner, that it was an actual _bonâ-fide_ dream, and that -it had been reiterated on his falling asleep again, though in broken and -disjointed patches, sometimes one part, sometimes another, of the -previous vision being presented to his sleepy fancy; but there was -always this horrible merman, with his shark's jaws and his flaming -tiara, and poor Jacob Fell lying dead in his messmate's arms. But -methinks I hear some nautical reader exclaim, "All stuff!" who ever -heard of two reefers telling their dreams, and chattering on the sacred -precincts of the quarter-deck of one of her Majesty's frigates, like a -guinea-pig and an embryo cadet on the quarter-deck of a Bengal trader? -Pardon, my noble sea-_hossifer_, but you must remember that the _Old -Lucifer_ was not the crack frigate--not the _Eos_, six-and-thirty, but -only a small frigate; and that, although she was blessed with a real -martinet of a first-lieutenant, yet, in point of discipline, she was -like most jackass frigates and sloops of war, _et hoc genus omne_, -little better than a privateer; besides, our Portuguese supernumerary -lieutenant was the officer of the watch, and Ralph had completely got -the weather-gage of him, and could do what he liked with the "pavior." -However, the dream was told me by Ralph nearly in the very words in -which I have given it, though, perhaps, not all on deck, for the subject -was renewed over our allowance of grog in the midshipmen's berth after -dinner, for nothing could drive it out of Rattlin's head, and he was all -that day singularly silent and _distrait_ on all other subjects. That -evening I had the first dog-watch; and when Rattlin came on deck at six -o'clock to relieve me, the sun was setting in a red and angry-looking -sky, and there was every symptom of a squally night. - -"Well, Percy," he said, "this sunset reminds me of my dream. I really -think old Davy will be among us before my watch is out." - -"Very well, Jemmy, I'll come on deck at seven bells and see," I replied, -as I ran down the companion for an hour's snooze, for, as my nautical -readers will be aware, I had the middle watch. Mindful of my promise, as -soon as I heard seven bells struck, I roused myself from the locker on -which I had stretched myself, and went on deck, and I was immediately -struck with the perfect coincidence of the weather, and all the -accessories to those described by Rattlin in his dream. The ship had -just been put about, and was now close hauled on the starboard tack; the -night pitch dark, the breeze freshening from the northeast, and the sea -beginning to assume that luminous appearance so frequently observable -under a dark sky and with a fresh breeze, but which, though generally -attributed to myriads of luminous animalculæ, has never yet been fully -and satisfactorily accounted for. I joined my friend Rattlin, and said -to him, in a low tone, "This looks, indeed, like your dream." - -"Yes," he answered, looking very pale and nervous; "it does, indeed. I -don't know what to make of it. Davy Jones will certainly lay hold of -some of us to-night." - -At this moment the first-lieutenant came on deck, followed by the -captain, whose sallow countenance, as he stood abaft the binnacle, and -the light fell on his face, looked rather more ghastly than usual. - -"I think, Mr. Silva," said the former, addressing the officer of the -watch, "we had better take another reef in the topsails; it looks very -squally to windward; it's drawing near to eight bells, so we'll turn the -hands up at once." - -"Mr. Rattlin," said Silva, "all hands reef topsails." - -"Boatswain's-mate," bawled out Rattlin, going forward on to the weather -gangway, "turn the hands up to reef topsails." - -"Ay, ay, sir;" and immediately his silver call was between his lips, and -after blowing a shrill prelude, his hoarse voice was heard proclaiming, -"All hands reef topsails, ahoy," which was re-echoed from the main-deck -by the call and voice of the boatswain's-mate of the watch below, and, -finally, by those of the boatswain himself, as the men came tumbling up -the fore and main hatchways, and were soon seen scampering up the -rigging, or making the best of their way to their various stations. In -less than five minutes the topsails were double-reefed, and the ship -again dashing the spray from her bows. It being now so near the time for -relieving the watch, the crew, with the exception of the idlers, all -remained on deck, and the topmen scattered in groups about the gangways -and forecastle. - -All at once the sky grew blacker than before, the breeze freshened, and -the surface of the sea became like one sheet of pale blue and white -flame. - -"Now, Careless," whispered Rattlin, actually trembling with excitement, -"my dream to the life!" - -The words had scarcely passed his lips, when such a shriek as I never -heard before or since, seemed to come out of the very depths of the -ocean, close under the ship's counter on the lee quarter. Every one -rushed to the lee gangway, or jumped on the quarter-deck guns, to look -in the direction from whence the sound came; but nothing could be seen. -Once more that doleful cry arose, and it seemed now rather more distant -from the ship, and then it ceased forever. - -"A man overboard!" cried the first lieutenant, who seemed the first to -recover his senses, seizing a grating of the companion-hatchway, and -flinging it over the lee bulwark, while the lieutenant of the watch did -the same with its fellow. "Down with helm, and heave her all aback--let -go the lee braces--lay the main-topsail to the mast--square away the -after-yards, my boys--lower the jolly-boat--jump into her, some of ye, -and cast off her fastenings." - -This latter command had, however, been obeyed ere it was issued, for the -captain of the mizen-top and myself had jumped into the boat, where we -were soon joined by three other mizen-top-men, and had her all clear for -lowering. Two other seamen stood with the boat's tackle-falls in their -hands. - -"Lower away," cried I; and down we went. - -During her descent, I had shipped the rudder, and we were soon pulling -away to leeward. In vain we pulled about for more than an hour in the -short, tumbling sea, which scintillated as it broke around us, and shed -a ghastly hue on our anxious countenances, while the - - Elfish light - Fell off in hoary flakes - -from the blades of our oars at every dip as they rose again from the -water. At length the stentorian voice of the first-lieutenant hailed us -to come on board, and we gave up our hopeless search, bringing with us -nothing but one of the gratings and the life-buoy, which had been thrown -overboard to support the drowning man, had he been fortunate enough to -lay hold on one or the other of them. Upon passing the word forward to -inquire whether any of the ship's company were missing, it was found -that Jacob Fell, the forecastle-man, had not been seen since he had laid -out with one of his watch-mates to stow the jib, which was hauled down -when the topsails were reefed; the other man had left him out on the -jib-boom, whence he must have fallen overboard; and it was supposed, -from his thrilling and unearthly shriek, that he had been seized by a -shark, as that part of the Carribean Sea is peculiarly infested by those -voracious creatures; and thus was most singularly accomplished my -shipmate Rattlin's dream. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[7] Time is regulated on board a king's ship by a half-hour glass, which -is placed in the binnacle, in charge of the quarter-master of the watch -on deck, and who when he turns the glass, passes the word forward to -strike the bell, which, in a man-of-war, is hung to the main-bitts, just -over the main-hatchway, and where it is consequently heard with facility -all over the ship. - -[8] Burgoo, or skilligalee, is the sea-term for what in Scotland is -called "parritch," and in Ireland "stirabout," namely, oatmeal boiled in -water. - - - - -[From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal.] - -LETTERS AND LETTER WRITING. - - -Neither history nor tradition tells us aught of the first letter--who -was its writer, and on what occasion; how it was transmitted, or in what -manner answered. The Chinese, the Hindoo, and the Scandinavian -mythologies had each tales regarding the inventors of writing, and the -rest of those that by pre-eminence may be called human arts; but -concerning the beginner of mankind's epistolary correspondence, neither -they nor the classic poets--who by the way, volunteered many an -ingenious story on subjects far less important--have given us the least -account. - -Pope says: - - "Heaven first taught letters for some wretch's aid-- - Some banished lover, or some captive maid." - -The poet evidently refers to the letter-writing art, and it may be so, -for aught we can tell; but with all submission to his superior -knowledge, banished lovers and captive maids have rarely been the -transmitters of such useful inventions. Certainly, whoever first -commenced letter-writing, the world has been long his debtor. It is long -since the Samaritans wrote a letter against the builders of Jerusalem to -Artaxerxes, and it may be observed that the said letter is the earliest -epistle mentioned in any history. Older communications appear to have -been always verbal, by means of heralds and messengers. Homer, in his -account of all the news received and sent between the Greeks and -Trojans, never refers to a single letter. The scribe's occupation was -not altogether unknown in those days, but it must have been brought to -considerable perfection before efforts in the epistolary style were -made. That ancient language of picture and symbol, in which Egypt -expressed her wisdom, was undoubtedly the earliest mode of writing; but, -however, calculated to preserve the memory of great historical events -amid the daily life, and toil, and changes of nations, it was but poorly -fitted for the purpose of correspondence. How could compliments or -insinuations be conveyed by such an autograph? Letters must have been -brief and scanty in the hieroglyphic times; yet doubtless not without -some representations, for the unalphabeted of mankind have combined to -hold mutual intelligence by many a sign and emblem, especially in those -affairs designated of the heart, as they above all others contribute to -ingenuity. Hence came the Eastern language of flowers, which, with -Oriental literature and mythology, is now partially known over the -civilized world. In its native clime this natural alphabet is said to be -so distinctly understood, that the most minute intimations are expressed -by it; but the more frank and practical courtship of Europe has always -preferred the pen as its channel of communication, which, besides its -greater power of enlargement, prevents those mistakes into which the -imperfectly-initiated are apt to fall with flowers. For instance, there -is a story of a British officer in Andalusia who, having made a deep -impression on the heart of a certain alcaide's daughter, in one of the -small old towns of that half-Moorish province, and receiving from her -one morning a bouquet, the significance of which was--"My mother is in -the way now, but come to visit me in the twilight," supposed in his -ignorance, and perhaps presumption, that he was invited to an immediate -appointment: whereupon he hurried to the house, just in time to meet the -venerable signora, when the lady of his heart boxed his ears with her -own fair hands, and vowed she would never again send flowers to a stupid -Englishman. - -In fine contrast to this sample of misunderstanding stands forth the -dexterity with which an Irish serving-maid contrived to signify, by -symbols of her own invention, her pleasure, on a still more trying -occasion. Poor Kitty, though a belle in her class, could neither read -nor write; but her mistress's grown-up daughter undertook, as a labor of -love, to carry on a correspondence between her and a certain hedge -schoolmaster in the neighborhood, who laid siege to Kitty's heart and -hand on account of a small deposit in the savings' bank, and that -proverbial attraction which learned men are said to find in rather -illiterate ladies. The schoolmaster was, however, providently desirous -of fixing on the mind of his future partner an impression of his own -superiority sufficient to outlast the wear and tear of married life, and -therefore wooed chiefly by long and learned letters, to which Kitty -responded in her best style, leaving to her volunteer secretary what she -called "the grammar" of her replies; besides declaring, with many -hardly-complimentary observations on the schoolmaster's person and -manners, that she had not the slightest interest in the affair, but -only, in her own words, "to keep up the craythur's heart." Thus the -courtship had proceeded prosperously through all the usual stages, when -at length the question, _par excellence_, was popped (of course on -paper). Kitty heard that epistle read with wonted disdain; but, alas, -for human confidence! there was something in her answer with which she -could not trust the writer of so many; for after all her scorn, Kitty -intended to say, "Yes," and her mode of doing so merits commemoration. -In solitude that evening, beside the kitchen hearth, she sketched on a -sheet of white paper, with the help of a burned stick, a rude -representation of a human eye, and inclosing a small quantity of wool, -dispatched it next morning to the impatient swain by the hand of his -head scholar--those primitive tokens expressing to Kitty's mind the -important words, "I will," which the teacher, strange to say, understood -in the same sense; and their wedding took place, to the unqualified -amazement of Kitty's amanuensis. Epistolary forms and fashions have had -their mutations like all other human things. The old Eastern mode of -securing letters was by folding them in the shape of a roll, and winding -round them a thin cord, generally of silk, as the luxury of letters was -known only to the rich. In the case of billets-doux--for Eastern lovers -did not always speak by flowers when the pen was at their -command--enthusiastic ladies sometimes substituted those long silken -strings which, from time immemorial, the Oriental women have worn in -their hair--a proceeding which was understood to indicate the deepest -shade of devotedness. - -The mythic importance attached to these hair-strings must, indeed, have -been great, as history records that a certain prince, whose dominions -were threatened by Mithridates, the great king of Pontus--like other -great men, a troublesome neighbor in his day--sent the latter a -submissive epistle, offering homage and tribute, and bound with the -hair-strings of his nineteen wives, to signify that he and his were -entirely at the monarch's service. The custom of securing letters by -cords came through the Greek empire into Europe in the middle ages; but -the use of the seal seems still earlier, as it is mentioned in Old -Testament history. Ancient writers speak of it as an Egyptian Invention, -together with the signet-ring, so indispensable throughout the classic -world, and regarded as the special appendage of sovereignty in the -feudal times. - -Of all the letters the Egyptians wrote on their papyrus, no specimens -now remain, except perhaps those scrolls in the hands of mummies, -referred to by early Christian authors as epistles sent to deceased -friends by those unreturning messengers; and they, it may be presumed, -were at the best but formal letters, since no reply was ever expected. -The classic formula for correspondence, "Augustus to Julius, greeting," -is now preserved only in letters-patent, or similar documents. That -brief and unvarying style has long been superseded in every language of -Europe by a graduated series of endearing terms, rising with the -temperature of attachment, from "Dear Sir," or "Madam," to a limit -scarcely assignable, but it lies somewhere near "Adored Thomas" or -"Margery." - -Masters of the fine arts as they were, those ancient nations came far -short of the moderns in that of letter-writing. The few specimens of -their correspondence that have reached us are either on matters of -public business, or dry and dignified epistles from one great man to -another, with little life and less gossip in them. It is probable that -their practice was somewhat limited, as the facilities of the -post-office were unknown to Greece and Rome--the entire agency of modern -communication being to the classic world represented only by the post or -courier, who formed part of the retinue of every wealthy family. The -method of writing in the third person, so suitable for heavy business or -ceremony, is evidently a classical bequest. It does not appear to have -been practiced in England till about the beginning of the eighteenth -century, though it was early in use among the continental nations. Louis -XIV. used to say, it was the only style in which a prince should permit -himself to write; and in the far East, where it had been in still older -repute, the Chinese informed his missionaries that ever since they had -been taught manners by the Emperor Tae Sing, no inferior would presume -to address a man of rank in any other form, especially as a law of the -said emperor had appointed twenty blows of the bamboo for that -infraction of plebeian duty. - -Of all human writings, letters have been preserved in the smallest -proportion. How few of those which the best-informed actors in great -events or revolutions must have written, have been copied by elder -historians or biographers! Such documents are, by their nature, at once -the least accessible and the most liable to destruction; private -interests, feelings, and fears, keep watch against their publication; -but even when these were taken out of the way, it is to be feared that -the narrow-minded habit of overlooking all their wisdom deemed minute, -which has made the chronicles of nations so scanty, and many a life in -two volumes such dull reading, also induced learned compilers to -neglect, as beneath their search, the old letters bundled up in dusty -chest or corner, till they served a succeeding generation for waste -paper. Such mistakes have occasioned heavy losses to literature. Time -leaves no witnesses in the matters of history and character equal to -these. How many a disputed tale, on which party controversy has raged, -and laborious volumes have been written, would the preservation of one -authentic note have set at rest forever? - -The practical learning of our times, in its search after confirmation -and detail, amply recognizes the importance of old letters; and good -service has been done to both history and moral philosophy by those who -have given them to the press from state-paper office and family bureau. -In such collections one sees the world's talked-of-and-storied people as -they were in private business, in social relations, and in what might be -justly designated the status of their souls. In spite of the proverbial -truisms, that paper never refuses ink, and falsehood can be written as -well as spoken, the correspondence of every man contains an actual -portrait of the writer's mind, visible through a thousand disguises, and -bearing the same relation to the inward man that a correct picture bears -to the living face; without change or motion, indeed, but telling the -beholder of both, and indicating what direction they are likely to take. - -The sayings of wits and the doing of oddities long survive them in the -memory of their generation--the actions of public men live in history, -and the genius of authors in their works; but in every case the -individual, him or herself, lives in letters. One who carried this idea -still farther, once called letter-writing the Daguerreotype of -mind--ever leaving on the paper its true likeness, according to the -light in which it stands for the time; and he added, like the sun's -painting, apt to be most correct in the less pleasant lines and -lineaments. Unluckily this mental portraiture, after the fashion of -other matters, seems less perceptible to the most interested parties. -Many an unconcerned reader can at this day trace in Swift's epistles the -self-care and worship which neither Stella nor Vanessa could have seen -without a change in their histories. - -Cardinal Mazarin, however, used to say that an ordinary gentleman might -deceive in a series of interviews, but only a complete tactician in one -of letters; "that is," observed his eminence, "if people don't deceive -themselves." The cardinal's statement strikingly recalls, if it does not -explain, a contemporary remark, that the most successful courtships, in -the fullest sense of that word, were carried on with the help of secret -proxies in the corresponding department. The Count de Lauson, whose -days, even to a good old age, were equally divided between the Bastile -and the above-mentioned pursuit, in which he must have been rather at -home--for though a poor gentleman, with little pretensions to family, -still less to fortune, and no talents that the world gave him credit -for, he contrived in his youth to marry a princess of the blood-royal of -France, who had refused half the kings of Europe, and been an Amazon in -the war of the Frondé; and in his age a wealthy court belle--this Count -de Lauson declared that he could never have succeeded in his endeavors -after high matches but for a certain professional letter-writer of -Versailles, on whose death he is said to have poured forth unfeigned -lamentations in the presence of his last lady. Letters always appear to -have been peculiarly powerful in the count's country. Madame de Genlis, -whose "Tales of the Castle," and "Knights of the Swan" delighted at -least the juveniles of a now-departing generation, was believed to have -made a complete conquest, even before first sight, of the nobleman whose -name she bears, by a single letter, addressed to a lady at whose house -he was an admiring visitor, when she unadvisedly showed him the epistle. -An anxiously-sought introduction and a speedy marriage followed; but the -scandal-mongers of the period averred that their separation, which took -place some years after, was owing, among other circumstances, to an -anonymous letter received by the baron himself. - -Frederick the Great used to call the French the first letter-writers of -Europe, and it is probable that their national turn for clever gossip -gives to their epistles a sort of general interest, for in no other -country have letters formed so large a portion of published literature. -This was particularly true in Frederick's own age. Never did a death or -a quarrel take place--and the latter was not rare among the _savants_ of -that period--but comfort or satisfaction was sought in the immediate -publication of every scrap of correspondence, to the manifold increase -of disputes and heartburnings. Some of the most amusing volumes extant -were thus given to the world; and Madame Dunoyer's, though scarcely of -that description, must not be forgotten from the tale of its origin. -When Voltaire was a young attaché to the French embassy at the Hague, -with no reputation but that of being rather unmanageable by his family -and confessor, he was on billet-doux terms, it seems, with madame's -daughter; but madame found out that he was poor, or something like it, -for in no other respect was the lady scrupulous. Her veto was therefore -laid on the correspondence, which nevertheless survived under interdict -for some time, till Voltaire left the embassy, and it died of itself; -for he wrote the "Oedipe," became talked of by all Paris, and noticed by -the Marquis de Vellers. Gradually the man grew great in the eyes of his -generation, his fame as a poet and philosopher filled all Europe, not -forgetting the Hague; and when it had reached the zenith, Madame Dunoyer -collected his letters to her daughter, which remained in her custody, -the receiver being by this time married, and published them at her own -expense in a handsomely-bound volume. Whether to be revenged on fortune -for permitting her to miss so notable a son-in-law, or on him for -obeying her commands, it is now impossible to determine, but her book -served to show the world that the early billets-doux of a great genius -might be just as milk-and-watery as those of common people. - -Indeed letter-publishing seems to have been quite the rage in the -eighteenth century. The Secretary La Beaumelle stole all Madame de -Maintenon's letters to her brother, setting forth her difficulties in -humoring Louis XIV., and printed them at Copenhagen. Some copies were -obligingly forwarded to Versailles, but madame assured the king they -were beneath his royal notice, which, being confirmed by his confessor, -was of course believed; but the transaction looks like retributive -justice on her well-known practice of keeping sundry post-office clerks -in pay to furnish a copy of every letter sent or received by the -principal persons at court, not excepting even the royal family. Among -these were copied the celebrated letters of the Dauphiness Charlotte -Elizabeth of Bavaria, which now, in good plain print, present to all -readers of taste in that department a complete chronicle of all the -scandal, gossip, and follies of Versailles; and that princess, whose -pride stood so high on her family quarterings, was gravely rebuked, and -obliged to ask pardon seven years after for certain uncomplimentary -passages in her epistles regarding madame when she first came to court -as nursery governess to the king's children. - -Dangerous approvers have old letters been from throne to cottage. Many a -specious statement, many a fair profession, ay, and many a promising -friendship, have they shaken down. Readers, have a care of your deposits -in the post-office; they are pledges given to time. It is strange, -though true, how few historical characters are benefited by the -publication of their letters, surviving, as such things do, contemporary -interests and prejudices, as well as personal influence. - -There must be something of the salt that will not lose its savor there -to make them serve the writers in the eyes of posterity. What strange -confidence the age of hoop and periwig put in letter-writing! Divines -published their volumes of controversy or pious exhortation, made up of -epistles to imaginary friends. Mrs. Chapone's letters to her niece -nourished the wisdom of British belles; while Lord Chesterfield's to his -son were the glass of fashion for their brothers; and Madame de -Sévigné's to her daughter, written expressly for publication, afforded -models for the wit, elegance, and sentiment of every circle wherein her -language was spoken. The epistolary style's inherent power of -characterization naturally recommended it in the construction of their -novels, and many a tale of fame and fashion in its day, besides "La -Nouvelle Heloise," and "Sir Charles Grandison," was ingeniously composed -of presumed correspondence. - -Chinese literature is said to possess numerous fictions in that form; -but it is not to be regretted that modern novelists, whose name is more -than legion, pass it by in favor of direct narrative; for, under the -best arrangement, a number of letters can give but a series of views, -telling the principals' tale in a broken, sketchy fashion, and leaving -little room for the fortunes of second-rate people, who are not always -the lowest company in the novel. Tours and travels tell pleasantly in -letters, supposing of course the letters to be well written; for some -minds have such a wondrous affinity for the commonplace, that the most -important event or exciting scene sinks to the every-day level under -their pen. - -Sir Andrew Mitchell, who was British embassador to Prussia during the -seven years' war, writes from the camp before Prague concerning that -great battle which turned the scale of power in Germany, and served -Europe to talk of till the French Revolution, in a style, but for -quotations from the bulletin, suitable to the election of some civic -alderman; and a less known traveler, writing to a friend of the glare of -Moscow's burning, which he saw from a Russian country-house, reddening -the northern night, describes it as "a very impressive circumstance, -calculated to make one guard against fire." - -It has been remarked that, as a general rule, poets write the best, and -schoolmasters the worst letters. That the former, in common with -literary men of any order, should be at least interesting -correspondents, seems probable; but why the instructors of youth should -be generally stricken with deficiency in letter-writing is not so easy -of explanation. - -Some one has also observed that, independent of mental gifts and graces, -characters somewhat cold and frivolous generally write the most finished -letters, and instanced Horace Walpole, whose published epistles even in -our distant day command a degree of attention never to be claimed by -those of his superior contemporaries--the highly-gifted Burke, and the -profound Johnson. It may be that the court gossip in and upon which -Horace lived has done much for the letters from Strawberry Hill, but the -vein must have been there; and the abilities that shine in the world of -action or of letters, the conversational talents or worthiness of soul, -do not make the cleverest correspondent. - -Count Stadion, prime minister to the Elector of Mayence, according to -Goethe, hit on an easy method of making an impression by letters. He -obliged his secretary, Laroche, to practice his handwriting, which, it -appears, he did with considerable success; and, says the poet in his own -memoirs, being "passionately attached to a lady of rank and talent, if -he stopped in her society till late at night, his secretary was, in the -mean time, sitting at home, and hammering out the most ardent -love-letters; the count chose one of these, and sent it that very night -to his beloved, who was thus necessarily convinced of the -inextinguishable fire of her passionate adorer." - -"Hélas!" as Madame d'Epigny remarked, when turning over the printed -epistles of a deceased friend, "one can never guess how little truth -the post brings one;" but from the following tradition, it would seem -the less the better. Among the old-world stories of Germany are many -regarding a fairy chief or king, known from rustic times as Number Nip, -or Count-the-Turnips. One of his pranks was played in an ancient inn of -Heidelberg, where, on a December night, he mixed the wine with a certain -essence distilled from the flowers of Elfland, which had the effect of -making all who tasted it tell nothing but truth with either tongue or -pen till the morning. The series of quarrels which took place in -consequence round the kitchen fire belong not to the present subject; -but in the red parlor there sat, all from Vienna, a poet, a student, a -merchant, and a priest. After supper, each of these remembered that he -had a letter to write--the poet to his mistress, the merchant to his -wife, the priest to the bishop of his diocese, and the student to his -bachelor uncle, Herr Weisser of Leopoldstadt, who had long declared him -his heir. Somehow next morning they were all at the post-office -beseeching their letters back; but the mail had been dispatched, and the -tale records how, after that evening's correspondence, the poet's liege -lady dismissed him, the merchant and his wife were divorced, the priest -never obtained preferment, and none of the letters were answered except -the student's, whom Herr Weisser complimented on having turned out such -a prudent, sensible young man, but hoped he wouldn't feel disappointed, -as himself intended to marry immediately. - -The most curiously-characteristic letters now made public property are -those of Sir Walter Raleigh to Queen Elizabeth, written from the Tower -(to which the historian of the world was committed for wedding without -her majesty's permission), and in the highest tone of desperation that a -banished lover could assume; the correspondence between Frederick of -Prussia and Voltaire, then of France, after what was called their -reconciliation, beginning with the grandest compliments, and ending with -reminiscences of quite another kind, particularly that from the royal -pen, which opens with, "You, who from the heights of philosophy look -down on the weakness and follies of mankind," and concludes with the -charge of appropriating candle-ends; and the epistles of Rousseau during -his residence in England, which alternate between discoveries of black -conspiracies against his life and fame, and threats of adjournment to -the workhouse, if his friends would not assist him to live in a better -style than most country gentlemen of the period. - -There are printed samples with whose writers fame has been busy; but who -can say what curiosities of letter-writing daily mingle with the mass -that pours through the London Post-Office? Can it be this continual -custody and superintendence of so large a share of their -fellow-creatures' wisdom, fortunes, and folly, that endows post-office -functionaries in every quarter with such an amount of proverbial -crustiness, if the word be admissible? Do they, from the nature of their -business, know too much about the public to think them worth civility, -so that nobody has yet discovered a very polite postmaster or man? A -strange life the latter leads in our great cities. The truest -representative of destiny seems his scarlet coat, seen far through -street and lane: at one door he leaves the news of failure and ruin, and -at another the intelligence of a legacy. Here his message is the death -of a friend, while to the next neighbor he brings tidings of one long -absent, or the increase of kindred; but without care or knowledge of -their import, he leaves his letters at house after house, and goes his -way like a servant of time and fortune, as he is, to return again, it -may be, with far different news, as their tireless wheels move on. Are -there any that have never watched for his coming? The dwellers in -palaces and garrets, large families, and solitary lodgers, alike look -out for him with anxious hope or fear. Strange it is for one to read -over those letters so watched and waited for, when years have passed -over since their date, and the days of the business, the friendship, or -perhaps the wooing, to which they belong are numbered and finished! - -How has the world without and within been altered to the correspondents -since they were written? Has success or ill fortune attended the -speculations by which they set such store? What have been their effects -on outward circumstances, and through that certain channel, on the men? -Has the love been forgotten? Have the friends become strange or enemies? -Have some of them passed to the land whose inhabitants send back no -letters? And how have their places been filled? Truly, if evidence were -ever wanting regarding the uncertainty of all that rests on earth, it -might be found in a packet of old letters. - - - - -A CHAPTER ON SHAWLS. - - -We scarcely know a truer test of a gentlewoman's taste in dress than her -selection of a shawl, and her manner of wearing it: and yet if the truth -must be owned, it is the test from which few Englishwomen come with -triumph. Generally speaking, the shawl is not their forte, in fact they -are rather afraid of it. They acknowledge its comfort and convenience -for the open carriage, or the sea-side promenade, but rarely recognize -it for what it is, a garment capable of appearing the most feminine and -graceful in the world. They are too often oppressed by a heap of false -notions on the subject; have somehow an idea that a shawl is "old" or -"dowdy;" and yet have a dim comprehension that the costly shawls which -they more frequently hear of than see, must have some unimagined merits -to prove an excuse for their price. - -The Frenchwoman, on the contrary, has traditions about "Cashmeres," and -remembers no blank of ignorance on the subject. She played at dressing -her doll with one, you may be sure; chronicled as an epoch in her life, -her first possession of the real thing; holds it as precious as a -diamond, and as something to which appertains the same sort of intrinsic -value; and shrugs her shoulders with compassionate contempt at an -Englishwoman's ignorant indifference on this subject--just as a lover of -olives pities the coarse palate which rejects them. Truly the taste for -the shawl is a little inherent, and a great deal acquired and -cultivated; as appreciation for the highest attributes of every -department of art ever must be, from a relish for Canova's -_chefs-d'oeuvres_ down to a relish for M. Soyer's dishes. - -Of course among those we are addressing, there is a minority who do -know, and duly esteem a beautiful shawl: perhaps, from the possession of -wealth, they have long been accustomed to be surrounded by objects of -rare and exquisite fabric, and their practiced eyes would be quick at -detecting inferiority: perhaps without great riches or the personal -possession of valuable attire, a fine taste may have been cultivated by -circumstances: and perhaps they are Anglo-Indians, or the relatives and -near friends of Anglo-Indians, who know well a "Cashmere,"--measuring -every other shawl in the world by and from it--and to whom the word -conjures up a host of memories half sunshine and half shadow. - -It was not until quite the close of the last century, that Cashmeres -were prized in Europe. Travellers' tales had mentioned them, it is true, -but that was before the locomotive age, and when travelers were few, and -traveling unspeakably tedious; when soldiers went to India to hold and -increase their country's territory; when a few traders made princely -fortunes; but when every system of interchange was narrow and exclusive, -and people were taught to be content with clumsy common wares, instead -of raising them to excellence by the spur of competition. It is said -that in the year 1787, the embassadors of Tippoo Saib left behind them -at Paris a few Cashmere shawls--intended as gracious presents we -presume--but which were regarded solely as curiosities, and not even -much esteemed in that capacity, for we learn that they were employed as -dressing-gowns, and even used for carpeting! Not till after Napoleon's -expedition to Egypt did they become the rage; and a solid good resulted -from that campaign in the introduction of a fabric destined to be the -model of one of the most famous manufactures of the French. - -Madame Emile Gaudin, a lady of Greek extraction and a reigning beauty, -is reputed to have first worn a Cashmere shawl in Paris; but if we know -any thing of the "Consul's Wife," or the "Empress Josephine," she was -not very far behind, for her love of Cashmeres was next to her love of -flowers, as more than one anecdote might be called in to testify. What -scenes this history of an inanimate object conjures up to the mind's -eye. These leaders of fashion when the old century went out on the -young Republic of France, whose Master was already found--who were they? -The wives of men who were working out the destiny of Europe, guided by a -chief who, be he judged for good or evil, looms on the page of history -in giant proportions! - -As we have said, the Cashmere shawl became the rage. The farce of -pretended equality in France was acted out, and the curtain dropped on -it in preparation for quite a different tableau; people no longer risked -their lives by dressing elegantly, and it was not now expected that the -_soubrette_, the _blanchisseuse_, or the _poissonnière_ should dress -precisely the same as the lady of a general officer. There was wealth, -too, in the land, and the enormous sums demanded for these shawls were -readily forthcoming. Sums equivalent to two or three hundred pounds of -our money were commonly paid even for soiled worn articles, which had -done duty as turbans to Mogul soldiers, or girded a Bayadere's waist, or -been the sacerdotal garment of an idolatrous priest--and had very -frequently been thus used by more than one generation. It is true, the -durability of the fabric and the lasting properties of the dyes, -permitted the cleansing of these shawls with scarcely perceptible injury -or deterioration, but still it was only the intrinsic merit of the -thing, which could have overcome the natural repugnance which the known -or suspected history of a Cashmere must in many instances have -occasioned. - -The Levant traders had now large commissions, and the result was that -_new_ shawls were soon more easily procurable, but still bearing an -enormous price. This is readily accounted for, and a brief description -of the manufacture of Indian shawls will show how it is that they never -can be cheap:--The wool of the Thibet goat is the finest in the world, -and for the best shawls only the finest even of this wool is used. The -animals are shorn once a year, and a full-grown goat only produces about -eight ounces of wool of this first quality. There is every reason to -suppose that the climate has very much to do with the perfection of the -animal, for attempts to naturalize it elsewhere have all more or less -failed. The loom on which a Cashmere shawl is woven is of the rudest and -most primitive description, the warp being supported by two sticks, and -the woof entirely worked in by the human hand. This slow laborious -process permits a neatness and exactness of finish beyond the power of -any machinery to rival; and when we take into account a life-long -practice in the art, and--remembering the Hindoo "castes," which usually -limit a family to the exercise of a single craft--in most instances the -family secrets and traditions which have been preserved, we cease to -wonder at the perfection of the work. These Asiatic weavers, temperate -in their habits and readily contented, receive a wage of from -three-halfpence to twopence a day; but if their wants more nearly -approximated to those of an European laborer, what would an Indian -Cashmere be worth, when we are informed that from thirty to forty men -have sometimes been employed from eighteen months to two years in the -manufacture of a single shawl! There is something very kindling to the -imagination in the thought of these swarthy weavers, attired perhaps in -our Manchester calicoes, laboring patiently for weeks and months to -produce a fabric worthy of rank and royalty, without other than most -vague or false ideas of the scenes in which their work will be -displayed. - -The borders of these shawls are made in several pieces, sometimes as -many as from ten to twenty, and are afterward sewn together to form the -pattern; and by the border an Indian shawl may always be recognized from -a French or Paisley one, however close an imitation the latter may -appear. Every stitch of the border of the Indian shawl being worked by -the hand is distinct in itself, and may be pulled out--though it is not -very easily detached--without further injury to the fabric; whereas the -shawl made on a French or British loom has the border formed in one -piece, whence a long thread may at any time be readily drawn. Indeed -there is no surer test by which a lady may know a veritable Cashmere, -than by examining the border; but if she have a fine eye for color this -faculty will also assist her. The preparation of the dyes which the -Hindoos use is still a secret, of which they are very chary, removing -their operations to a distance whenever they have reason to dread -inquisitive lookers on. But the result in their fabrics is perceived in -the peculiar richness and clearness of their hues, and at the same time -absence of glare; the reds, blues, and greens, reminding one more of the -harmonious tints of old stained glass than any thing else. - -It must not, however, be supposed that in the progressive nineteenth -century, even this Asiatic manufacture has remained stationary. -Receiving the impetus of fashion, the shawls of Cashmere have become, -within the last dozen years, richer and more elaborate than ever; their -richness and elaboration of pattern necessitating even a firmer and more -substantial groundwork than heretofore, but still the method of their -manufacture remains unchanged, as might be expected from the -conservatism inseparable from semi-barbarism. London is now one of the -chief marts for Cashmeres. It may not be generally known that London -dealers send quantities of shawls to France, America, Russia, and even -Turkey, a convincing proof of the enterprise of British merchants. They -supply many other foreigners, especially finding a market among them for -the gold embroidered shawls, which are frequently worn on state -occasions at foreign courts. The duty on Indian shawls is now only about -five per cent. Twice a year there are public sales, to which dealers are -invited by catalogues sent to Paris and other continental cities. One of -the great merits of a Cashmere seems that it is really never out of -date; and when, comparing even the old "pine" patterns with the large -long shawls, the rich borders of which sweep in graceful flowing lines -into the very centre, we feel that they are still "of one family," and -hold together--if the comparison be not too fanciful--rich and poor, in -right clannish fashion. - -Some of the most modern and most costly Indian shawls _resemble_ in -pattern that of the long French Cashmere, simply however because the -French have _copied_ the Indian design. The gold and silver thread -employed for the embroidery of Cashmere shawls is usually prepared in -the following manner; and the chief seat of the manufacture is at -Boorhampoor, a city of the Deccan. A piece of the purest ore is beaten -into a cylindrical form about the size of a thick reed, and then beaten -out in length until it will pass through an orifice the eighth of an -inch in diameter; it is drawn through still finer perforations until it -is reduced to the proportion of a bobbin thread. Now a different plan is -pursued; the wire already produced is wound upon several reels which -work upon pivots, the ends of the thread being passed through still -finer holes, and then affixed to a large reel which is set rapidly in -motion and still further attenuates the threads. It is afterward -flattened on an anvil of highly polished steel, by a practiced and -dexterous workman; and by an ingenious process, a silk thread is -afterward plated, or sheathed as it were by this minute wire. It is -asserted that if a lump of silver be gilt in the first instance before -being drawn into wire, it will retain the gilding through all the -subsequent hard usage of hammering, winding, and drawing to which it is -subjected, coming out to the very last a gilded thread. It is easy to -understand that gold and silver thread of this pure description, unlike -tinsel finery, it is not liable to tarnish. - -There are few of our readers who can require telling that China crape is -made entirely of silk, and that shawls manufactured of it are generally -costly in proportion to the richness of the pattern. The foundation or -ground of the shawls is chiefly made at Nankin, and then sent to Canton -to be embroidered. The pattern is formed by two "needlemen," who work -together, the one passing the silk _down_, and the other from beneath -passing it _up_, while a third workman changes the silk for them when -necessary. Thus the apparent marvel of equal neatness on both sides is -accounted for, by the explanation of this simple method; but we have -quite failed, from examination of the work, to detect the process of -fastening on and off; with such mysterious ingenuity is this needful -operation performed. China crape shawls have been very fashionable of -late years, and almost defying vulgar imitation, are little likely to -fall into disrepute. - - - - -[From Tait's Magazine.] - -A NIGHT OF TERROR IN A POLISH INN. - -JOURNEY TO BRCZWEZMCISL. - - -I had but just quitted the university, and was a mere stripling, when I -received the appointment of judge-commissary at a little town in New -East Prussia, as the part of Poland was termed which, during the -partition of that country, had fallen to the share of Prussia. - -I will not weary the reader by giving any lengthened account of my -journey; the country was but one flat throughout, the men mere boors, -the officials uncouth, the accommodation execrable. Yet the people all -seemed happy enough. Man and beast have each their allotted elements. -The fish perishes when out of water--the elegance of a boudoir would -prove fatal to a Polish Jew. - -Well, to make my story short, I arrived one evening, a little before -sunset, at a place called, I believe (but should be sorry to vouch for -my accuracy), Brczwezmcisl, a pleasant little town enough. When I say -pleasant, to be sure I own that the streets were unpaved, the houses -begrimed with soot, and the natives not over refined either in manners -or person; but a man who works in a coal-mine is pleasant, after his -fashion, even as the pet _figurante_ of the day after hers. - -I had pictured to myself Brczwezmcisl, the place where I was to enter -upon my functions, as far more formidable than I in fact found it, and -perhaps on that account I was now prepared to term it pleasant. I -remember that the first time I tried to pronounce the name of the place -I very nearly brought on lock-jaw. Hence, no doubt, my gloomy -anticipations as to its appearance. Names certainly do influence our -ideas to a most marvelous extent. Moreover, what mainly contributed to -enhance my secret misgivings as to the town destined to enjoy the -benefit of my talents was the fact that I had never yet been so far from -home as to lose sight of its church steeple. I had a tolerable idea that -my way did not lead me in the vicinity of the Cannibal Islands, or of -the lands where men's heads "do grow beneath their shoulders;" but I was -not without some apprehension, as I journeyed on, of receiving an -occasional pistol-shot, or feeling the cold steel of a stiletto between -my ribs. - -My heart throbbed violently as I caught the first glimpse of -Brczwezmcisl. It appeared, at a distance, a vast plain, covered with -mud-heaps. But what mattered that to one of my imaginative powers? There -was my goal, there my entering scene in life. Not a soul did I know -there, with the exception of an old college acquaintance, named -Burkhardt, who had been but recently appointed collector of taxes at -Brczwezmcisl. I had apprised him of my near advent, and requested him to -provide me with temporary lodgings. The nearer I approached the town, -the keener waxed my esteem and friendship for Burkhardt, with whom I had -never been on terms of intimacy; indeed, my mother enjoined me always to -shun his society, seeing that his reputation for steadiness was not of -the highest. But now I was his till death. He was my only rallying point -in this wild Polish town; he was the sole plank to which I could cling. - -I am not of a superstitious character, but I own to a certain belief in -omens; and I had settled in my mind that it would be a lucky sign if the -first person we met coming out of the town gates should prove a young -woman, and the reverse if one of the other sex. As we were about to -enter the town a girl, to all appearance comely and well-made, issued -from the gate. Damsel of happy augury! Fain could I have quitted the -cumbrous vehicle, and cast my travel-worn frame prostrate at your feet. -I wiped my eye-glass that I might not lose one of her features, but -grave them for ever in the tablets of my memory. - -As she came nearer, I discovered to my dismay that my Brczwezmcisl Venus -was a thought hideous. Slim she was, good sooth, but it was the slimness -of one wasted by disease! shape and figure had she none. Her face was a -perfect surface, for some untoward accident had deprived her of her -nose; and had it not been for the merest apology for lips, her head -might have been taken for the skull of a skeleton. As we came yet -nearer, I remarked that the fair Pole was a warm patriot; for she put -out her tongue at me in derision of her nation's oppressors, whose -countryman I was. - -Under these happy auspices we entered the town, and halted at the -Post-office, newly decorated with the Prussian eagle, which would have -shown to much greater advantage, in all the glories of fresh paint, had -not some patriotic little street blackguards adorned it with a thick -coating of mud. - - -THE OLD STAROSTY.[9] - -I asked the postmaster very politely where I could find Mr. -Tax-collector Burkhardt. In order, I suppose, to convince me that even -in that remote corner of the globe officials were true to those habits -of courtesy and attention for which they are so eminently distinguished, -he suffered me to repeat my question six times ere he vouchsafed to -inquire, in his gruffest tones, what I wanted; a seventh time did I -reiterate my inquiry, and that, I flatter myself with a degree of -politeness that would have done honor to the most finished courtier. - -"In the old Starosty," he growled out. - -"Might I be permitted most respectfully to inquire whereabout this same -old Starosty may be located?" - -"I have no time. Peter show this person the way." - -And away went Peter and I, while the postmaster, who had no time to -answer me, lolled out of the window, with his pipe in his mouth, -watching us. Aha, my fine fellow, thought I, just let me catch you in -the hands of justice--whose unworthy representative I have here the -honor to be--and I'll make you rue the day you dared sport your -churlishness upon me. - -Peter, the Polish tatterdemalion, who escorted me, understood and spoke -so little German, that our conversation was extremely limited. His -sallow face and sharp features rendered him particularly -unprepossessing. - -"Tell me, my worthy friend," I asked, as we waded side by side through -the mud, "do you know Mr. Tax-collector Burkhardt?" - -"The old Starosty." - -"Good; but what can I do in your old Starosty?" - -"Die!" - -"God forbid! that does not at all chime in with my arrangements." - -"Stone-dead; die!" - -"Why, what have I done?" - -"Prussian--no Pole." - -"I am a Prussian, certainly." - -"Know that." - -"What do you mean by dying then?" - -"So, and so, and so;" and the fellow thrust the air as though he -clenched a dagger. He then pointed to his heart, groaned, and rolled his -eyes in a manner awful to behold. I began to feel rather uncomfortable, -for Peter had by no means the look of one beside himself; besides, the -understrappers at the post-office are seldom recruited from a lunatic -asylum. - -"I think we are at cross purposes, my excellent friend," I at length -resumed. "What do you mean by die?" - -"Kill!" and he gave me a wild sidelong glance. - -"How, kill?" - -"When night comes." - -"When night comes--this very night? Your wits are wool-gathering, -sirrah!" - -"Pole, yes; but no Prussian." - -I shook my head, and desisted from any further attempt at conversation. -We evidently could not make each other out. And yet there was fearful -meaning in the scoundrel's words. I was well aware of the inveterate -hatred felt by the Poles toward the Prussians, and how it had already -led to fatal collisions between them. What if the dunder-headed fellow -had meant to convey a warning to me? or perhaps he had involuntarily -betrayed the secret of a plot for the general massacre of every -Prussian. I mentally resolved to divulge the whole to my friend and -fellow-countryman Burkhardt, as we arrived at the so-termed Starosty. It -was constructed of stone, evidently of some antiquity, and situate in a -dull remote street. Ere we reached it I observed how each passer-by cast -a sly furtive glance up at its time-worn walls. My guide did the same; -and pointing to the door, he shuffled off without word or gesture of -salutation. - -It must be owned that my arrival and reception at Brczwezmcisl were none -of the most flattering. The discourteous damsel at the gate, the surly -New East Prussian postmaster, and the Pole, with his unintelligible -jargon, had put me on the very worst terms with my new place of sojourn -and office of judge-commissary. How I congratulated myself to think that -I was about to meet one who had, at least, breathed the same air as -myself! To be sure, Mr. Burkhardt was not held in the best repute at -home; but a man's character varies according to the circumstances of his -position, even were he still the same as of old. Better far a jovial -tippler than a sickly skeleton with her projected tongue; better far a -hare-brained gambler than the postmaster with his studied coarseness; -ay, better the company of a vaporing hector than that of a Polish -malcontent. The latter phase in Burkhardt's character even served to -elevate him in my eyes; for, between ourselves be it observed, my -gentleness and love of quiet, my steadiness and reserve, so oft the -theme of praise with mamma, would stand me but in sorry stead should any -rising of the people take place. Some virtues become vices in certain -positions. - -As I entered the old Starosty I was puzzled to know where to find my -dear and long-cherished friend Burkhardt. The house was very spacious. -The creaking of the rusty door-hinges resounded through the whole -building, yet without bringing any one to ascertain who might be there. - -I discovered an apartment on my left, and knocked gently at the door. As -my signal was unanswered by any friendly "Come in," I knocked more -loudly than before: still no answer. My knocks re-echoed through the -house. I waxed impatient, and yearned to clasp Burkhardt, the friend of -my soul, to my heart. I opened the door and went in. In the middle of -the room was a coffin. - -If I be always polite to the living, still more so am I to the dead. I -was about to retire as gently as I could, when a parting glance at the -coffin showed me that its hapless occupant was no other than the -tax-collector, Burkhardt, who had been called on, poor fellow, in his -turn, to discharge that great tax so peremptorily demanded of us by that -grim collector Death. There he lay regardless alike of flagon or dice -box, calm and composed as though he had never shared in the joys or -cares of this life. - -Indescribably shocked, I rushed from the chamber of death, and sought -relief in the long gloomy corridor. What on earth was to become of me -now? Here I was, hundreds of miles from my native home and the maternal -mansion, in a town whose very name I never had heard until I was sent to -un-Pole-ify it as judge-commissary! My sole acquaintance, the friend of -my heart, had shuffled off this mortal coil. What was I to do, where lay -my head, or how find the lodgings engaged for me by the dear departed? - -My gloomy reflections were here disturbed by the creaking of the door on -its rusty hinges, whose harsh grating jarred strangely on my nerves. - -A pert, flippant-looking livery-servant rushed up the stairs, -contemplated me with a broad stare of astonishment, and at length -addressed me. My knees shook beneath me. I suffered the fellow to talk -to me to his heart's delight, but for the first few moments fright -deprived me of all power of reply; and even had my state of mind -permitted me to speak, it would have amounted to much the same thing, -seeing that the man was speaking Polish. - -Perceiving that he remained without reply, he proceeded to address me in -German, which he spoke very fluently. I at length mustered up sufficient -courage to tell him my whole story, and the various adventures I had met -with since my arrival at the accursed town whose name it still -dislocated my jaws to pronounce. As he heard my name he assumed a more -respectful mien, took off his hat, and proceeded to give me the -following details, which, for the reader's benefit, I have compressed -into the smallest possible space. - -He informed me, to begin with, that his name was Lebrecht; that he had -served as interpreter and most faithful of domestics to Mr. -Tax-collector, of pious memory, until the preceding night, when it had -pleased Heaven to remove the excellent and ever to be lamented -tax-collector to another and a better world. The manner of his death was -perfectly in keeping with the tenor of his life. He had been passing the -evening at wine and cards with some Polish gentlemen. The fumes of the -wine aroused the Prussian pride of my friend, while it kindled to a yet -fiercer pitch the old Sarmatian patriotism of his companions. Words grew -high, blows were exchanged, and one of the party dealt my late friend -three or four blows with a knife, any one of which was of itself -sufficient to have extinguished life. In order to avoid incurring the -penalties of New East Prussian justice, the guilty parties had taken -themselves off--whither none could tell. My ever-to-be-regretted friend -had, shortly before his death, made all the requisite arrangements for -me, and hired a very experienced German cook, who would wait upon me at -a moment's notice. In the course of his narrative, Lebrecht led me to -infer, from several hints that he gave me, how the Poles were sworn foes -to the Prussians, and how I must expect to meet with such delicate -attentions as those lavished on me by the damsel at the gate. He -explained to me moreover, that my friend Peter was a muddle-headed -jackass, and that his pantomimic gestures referred, in all probability, -to the fate of my hapless friend. He warned me to be constantly on my -guard, as the infuriated Poles were evidently hatching some plot; as for -himself, he was fully determined to quit the town immediately after the -funeral of his late master. - -This narrative terminated, he conducted me up the broad stone staircase -to the apartments provided for me. Passing through a suite of lofty -rooms, very spacious, but very dreary to behold, we came to an apartment -of large dimensions, wherein was a press bedstead, with curtains of -faded yellow damask, an old table, whose feet had once been gilded, and -half a dozen dusty chairs. Suspended to the wall was an enormous -looking-glass, almost bereft of its reflecting powers, in a quaint, -old-fashioned frame, while the wall itself was garnished by -parti-colored tapestry, representing scenes from the Old Testament. Time -and the moth had done their work upon it, for it hung in tatters, and -waved to and fro at the slightest motion. King Solomon sat headless on -his throne of judgment, and the hands of the wicked elders had long -since mouldered away. I felt by no means at my ease in this my lonely -dwelling; far rather would I have taken up my quarters at the inn, and, -oh that I had done so! But I kept my own counsel, partly from sheer -nervousness, and partly because I did not wish to appear at all daunted -at being in such immediate vicinity with a corpse. Moreover, I -entertained no doubt but that Lebrecht and the experienced cook would -bear me company during the night. The former lost no time in lighting -the two candles that stood on the table, for it was fast getting dusk, -and then took his departure for the purpose of procuring me the means of -subsistence, and such like, to fetch my luggage, and to apprise the -aforesaid experienced cook that the time had arrived for her to enter -upon her functions. My luggage arrived in due time, likewise every -requisite for my meal; but no sooner had I re-imbursed Lebrecht the -money he had laid out for me than he wished me good-night, and went his -way forthwith. - -I misdoubted the fellow at once, for the moment he had swept up his -money he was off. I was on the point of rushing after him, to entreat -him not to leave me, but I held back for very shame. Why should I make -the wretch the confidant of my timidity? I had no doubt but that he -would spend the night in some room or other, to keep watch over the body -of his slaughtered master. The sound of the banging-to of the -street-door undeceived me at once; and that sound thrilled through my -very marrow. I hurried to the window, and beheld him scampering across -the street, as though the foul fiend were at his heels. He was soon out -of sight, leaving myself and the corpse sole tenants of the old -Starosty. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[9] Starosts were Poles of high birth, appointed as bailiffs or -vice-governors of the various districts and provinces. - - -THE SENTRY. - -I do not believe in ghosts, but yet at night-time I own to being -somewhat apprehensive of their appearance. This may seem to involve a -paradox, but I only state the fact. The death-like stillness of all -around, the time-worn tapestry that clung in fluttering shreds around -that dreary chamber, the consciousness of the body of a murdered man in -the room above, the deadly feud between the Prussian and the Pole, all -conspired to fill my soul with awe and apprehension. I hungered, but -could not eat. I wearied for repose, but could find none. I examined the -window, to ascertain if it could afford me egress in case of need, for I -should have been utterly lost in the labyrinth of chambers and corridors -necessary to traverse ere I could gain the door. To my dismay strong -iron bars forbade all hope of escape in that quarter. - -Suddenly the old Starosty seemed awakening to life. I heard doors open -and close, steps at some little distance, and the sound of voices in -animated conversation. I was at a loss how to account for this rapid -change in the state of affairs, but I felt that it boded me but little -good. It seemed as though I heard a warning voice saying, "'Tis thou -they seek! Did not that blundering Peter betray the secret of the -intended massacre? Save thyself ere it be too late." I shuddered in -every limb. Methought I saw the murderous band, how they thirsted for my -blood, and were concerting the method of my death. I heard their -footsteps approaching nearer and more near. Already had they reached the -ante-chamber leading to my apartment. They were muttering together in -low whispers. I sprang up, and bolted and barred the door, and, as I did -so, became aware that some one was endeavoring to open it on the other -side. I scarce dared breathe, lest my very breath should betray me. I -heard by their voices that they were Poles. As my unlucky stars would -have it, I must needs study a little Polish, by way of qualifying myself -for my official duties; and I could detect the words "blood," "death," -and "Prussians." My knees quaked, cold drops started to my brow. Again -was the attempt to open the door repeated, but it seemed as though the -intruders wished to avoid confusion, for I heard them depart, or rather -glide, from thence. - -Whether it were that the Poles had aimed at my life, or my property, or -whether they had determined upon another mode of attack, I resolved to -extinguish my candles, in order that their light might not betray me -from without. How could I tell but that one of the ruffians might not -fancy taking a shot at me through the windows? - -Night is friend to no man, and man has an instinctive dread of darkness, -else whence the terror of children, even before they have been scared by -the tale of goblin grim and spectre dire? No sooner was I in utter -obscurity than all manner of horrors, possible and impossible, crowded -upon me. I flung myself upon my bed, in the hopes of sleeping, but the -clothes seemed tainted with the foul odor of dead men's graves. If I sat -up it was worse; for ever and anon a rustling sound, as of some one near -me, caused me to shudder afresh. The form of the murdered man, with his -livid brow and half-glazed eye, seemed to stalk before me. What -prospects would I not have sacrificed but to be once more free! And now -the bells tolled the - - "Witching hour of night, - When church-yards yawn, and hell itself looks out." - -Each stroke vibrated upon my soul. In vain I called myself a -superstitious fool, a faint-hearted dastard: it availed me nothing. -Unable at length to bear up any longer, and nerved either by daring or -despair, I sprang from my seat, groped my way to the door, unbolted and -unbarred it, and resolved, albeit at the risk of my life, to gain the -street. - -Merciful heavens! what did I behold as I opened the door! I started and -staggered back. Little had I looked for such a grisly sentinel. - - -THE DEATH-THROES. - -By the dim flickering of an old lamp placed on a side-table, I saw -before me the murdered Tax-collector, lying in his bier, even as I had -seen him in the room above. But now I could perceive how his shirt, -which had previously been concealed by a pall, was dyed with the big -black gouttes of blood. I strove to rally my senses, to persuade myself -that the whole was the mere phantom of my over-heated imagination; but -as I stirred the coffin with my foot, till the corpse seemed as though -about to move and unclose its eyes, I could no longer doubt the fearful -reality of the spectacle before me. Almost paralyzed by fear, I rushed -to my room, and fell backward on my bed. - -And now a confused noise proceeded from the bier. Was the dead alive? -for the sound that I heard was of one raising himself with difficulty. A -low and suppressed moan thrilled in my ears, and I saw before me the -form of the murdered one; it strode through the door, entered my room, -then stalked awhile to and fro, and disappeared. As I again summoned up -my reason to my aid, the spectre, or the corpse, or the living dead, -gave my reason the lie by depositing its long, lank, livid length upon -my bed and across my body, its icy shoulders resting upon my neck, and -nearly depriving me of breath. - -How I escaped with life I can not explain to this present hour. Mortal -dread was upon me, and I must have remained a long while in a state of -unconsciousness; for as I heard from beneath my grisly burden the clock -sound, instead of its striking one--the signal for spirits to vanish--it -was striking two. - -I leave the horrors of my situation to the reader's imagination. The -smell of the charnel-house in my nostrils, and a yet warm corpse -struggling for breath, as though the death-rattle were upon him; while I -was benumbed by terror, and the hellish weight of the burden I bore. The -scenes in Dante's Hell fall far short of anguish such as was then mine. -I was too weak or terror-stricken to disengage myself from the corpse, -which seemed as if expiring a second time; for I conjectured that, while -senseless from loss of blood, the wretched man had been taken for dead, -and thrust forthwith, Polish fashion, into a coffin, and now lay dying -in good earnest. He seemed powerless alike for life and death, and I was -doomed to be the couch whereon the fearful struggle would terminate. - -I strove to fancy that all my adventures in Brczwezmcisl were but a -dream, and that I was laboring under an attack of nightmare, but -circumstances and surrounding objects were too strong to admit of any -such conclusion; still, I verily believe I should have finally succeeded -in convincing myself that it was all a vision, and nothing but a -vision, had not an incident more striking than any that hitherto -preceded, established, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the fact of my -being broad awake. - - -THE LIGHT OF DAY. - -It was day-break; not that I could perceive the light of heaven, for the -shoulders of my expiring friend impeded my view, but I inferred so from -the bustle in the street below. I heard the footsteps and voices of men -in the room; I could not make out the subject of their conversation, as -they talked in Polish, but I remarked that they were busy about the -coffin. Now, beyond a doubt, thought I, they are looking for the dead -man, and my deliverance is at hand; and so it proved, although it -happened after a fashion for which I was but little prepared. - -One of the exploring party smote so lustily with a stout bamboo upon the -extended form of the dead or dying, that he started up, and stood erect. -Some of the blows lighted upon my hapless person with such effect as to -make me yell out most vigorously, and take up a position directly in the -rear of the defunct. This old Polish and New East Prussian method of -restoring the dead to life proved, certainly, so efficacious in the -present instance, that I doubt whether the impassibility of death were -not preferable to the acute perceptions of the living. - -I now perceived that the room was filled by men, for the most part -Poles. The timely castigation had been administered by a police-officer -appointed to superintend the funeral. The Tax-collector still slept the -sleep of death in his coffin, which stood in the ante-chamber, whither -it had been transported by the drunken Poles, who had been ordered to -convey it to what had been formerly the porter's lodge. They had, -however, been pleased to select my ante-chamber as a fitting -resting-place for their charge, whom they confided to the watch of one -of their besotted comrades, who had slumbered at his post, and, awakened -probably by my entrance, had groped his way, with all the instinct of -one far gone in liquor, to my bed, and there slept off the fumes of his -potations. - -The preceding incidents had so thoroughly unmanned me as to bring on a -severe attack of fever, and for seven long weeks did I lie raving about -the horrors of that fearful night; and even now, albeit, thanks to the -Polish insurrection, I am no longer judge-commissary at Brczwezmcisl, I -can scarce think on my adventure in New East Prussia without a shudder. -However, I am always glad to relate it, as it contains a sort of -moral--to wit, that we ought not to fear that which we profess to -disbelieve. - - - - -ENGLAND IN 1850. - -BY LAMARTINE. - - -When a man is strongly preoccupied with the crisis under which his -country labors, every opportunity that arises is caught at to turn to -the profit of his compatriots the sights with which he is struck, and -the reflections with which those sights inspire him. Called by -circumstances of an entirely private nature to revisit England for some -time, after an absence of twenty years, it was impossible for me not to -be dazzled by the immense progress made by England during that lapse of -time, not only in population, in riches, industry, navigation, -railroads, extent, edifices, embellishments, and the health of the -capital, but also, and more especially, in charitable institutions for -the people, and in associations of real religious, conservative, and -fraternal socialism, between classes, to prevent explosions by the -evaporation of the causes which produce them, to stifle the murmurs from -below by incalculable benefits from above, and to close the mouths of -the people, not by the brutalities of the police, but by the arm of -public virtue. Very far from feeling afflicted or humiliated at this -fine spectacle of the operation of so many really popular works, which -give to England at the present moment an incontestable pre-eminence in -this respect over the rest of Europe, and over us, I rejoiced at it. To -asperse one's neighbor is to lower one's self. The rivalries between -nations are paltry and shameful when they consist in denying or in -hating the good that is done by our neighbors. These rivalries, on the -contrary, are noble and fruitful when they consist in acknowledging, in -glorifying, and in imitating the good which is done every where; instead -of being jealousies, these rivalries become emulation. What does it -signify whether a thing be English or French, provided it be a benefit? -Virtues have no country, or, rather, they are of every country; it is -God who inspires them, and humanity which profits by them. Let us then -learn, for one, how to admire. - -But I am told that these practical virtues of the English to the poorer, -the _proletaire_, the suffering classes, are nothing but the prudence of -selfishness! Even if that were the case, we ought still to applaud, for -a selfishness so prudent and so provident, a selfishness which could do -itself justice by so well imitating virtue, a selfishness which would -corrupt the people by charity and prosperity--such a selfishness as that -would be the most profound and most admirable of policies, it would be -the Machiavelism of virtue. But it is not given to selfishness alone to -transform itself so well into an appearance of charity; selfishness -restricts itself, while charity diffuses itself; without doubt there is -prudence in it, but there is also virtue, without doubt Old England, the -veritable patrician republic under her frontispiece of monarchy, feels -that the stones of her feudal edifice are becoming disjoined, and might -tumble under the blast of the age, if she did not bind them together -every day by the cement of her institutions in favor of her people. That -is good sense, but under that good sense there is virtue; and it is -impossible to remain in England for any length of time without -discovering it. The source of that public virtue is the religious -feeling with which that people is endowed more than many others; a -divine feeling of practical religious liberty, has developed at the -present moment, under a hundred forms, among them. Every one has a -temple to God, where every one can recognize the light of reason, and -adore that God, and serve him with his brothers in the sincerity, and in -the independence of his faith. Yes, there is, if you will, at the same -time, prudence, well-understood selfishness, and public virtue in the -acts of England, in order to prevent a social war. Let it be whatever -you like; but would that it pleased God that plebeian and proprietary -France could also see and comprehend its duty to the people! Would that -it pleased God that she could take a lesson from that intelligent -aristocracy! Would that she could, once for all, say to herself, "I -perish, I tremble, I swoon in my panics. I call at one time on the -Monarchy, at another on the Republic, at another on legitimacy, now on -illegitimacy--then on the Empire, now on the Inquisition--then on the -police, now on the sabre, and then on eloquence to save me, and no one -can save me but myself. I will save myself by my own virtue." - -I have seen England twice in my life: the first time in 1822. It was the -period when the Holy Alliance, recently victorious and proud of its -victories over the spirit of conquest of Napoleon, struggled against the -newly-born liberalism, and was only occupied in every where restoring -ancient regimes and ancient ideas. The government of England, held at -that time by the intelligent heirs of a great man (Mr. Pitt), was a -veritable contradiction to the true nature of the country of liberty; it -had taken up the cause of absolute sovereigns against the nations; it -made of the free and proud citizens of England the support and soldier -of the Holy Alliance; it blindly combated the revolution, with its -spirit and institutions, at home and every where else. England, by no -means comfortable under such a government, hardly recognized herself. -She felt by instinct that she was made to play the part of the _seide_ -of despotism and of the church, in place of the part of champion of -independent nationalities, and of the regulated liberty of thought which -Mr. Pitt had conceived for her. Thus her tribunes, her public papers, -her popular meetings, her very streets and public places rang with -indignation against her government and her aristocracy. The ground -trembled in London under the steps of the multitudes who assembled at -the slightest appeal or opportunity; the language of the people breathed -anger, their physiognomies hatred of class to class; hideous poverty -hung up its tatters before the doors of the most sumptuous quarters; -women in a state of emaciation, hectic children, and ghastly men were to -be seen wandering with a threatening carelessness about shops and -warehouses laden with riches; the constables and the troops were -insufficient, after the scandalous prosecution of the queen, to bridle -that perpetual sedition of discontent and of hunger. The painful -consciousness of a tempest hanging over Great Britain was felt in the -air. A cabinet, the author and victim of that false position, sank under -the effort. A statesman sought in despair a refuge against the -difficulties which he saw accumulating on his country, and which he -could no longer dominate but by force. I avow that I myself, at that -time young and a foreigner, and not yet knowing either the solidity or -the elasticity of the institutions and the manners of England, was -deceived, like every body else, by these sinister symptoms of a fall, -and that I prognosticated, as every body else also did, the approaching -decline and fall of that great and mysterious country. The ministry of -Mr. Canning placed me happily in the wrong. - -I saw England again in 1830, a few months after our revolution of July. -At that time the political government of England was moderate, -reasonable, and wise. It endeavored, as Lord Palmerston, as Sir Robert -Peel, as the Duke of Wellington have done, after the revolution of -February, to prevent a collision on the Continent between the revolution -and the counter-revolution. It then refused, as it refused in 1848, to -be a party to an anti-French or anti-republican coalition. It proclaimed -not only the right and independence of nationalities, but also the right -and independence of revolutions. It thus humanely avoided irritating the -revolutionists. It spared Europe the effusion of much blood. But in 1830 -it was the misery of the English and Irish _proletaires_ that frightened -the regards and brought consternation to the thoughts of observers. -Ireland was literally dying of inanition. The manufacturing districts of -the three kingdoms having produced more than the world could consume -during the fifteen years of peace, left an overflow of manufactures--the -masses emaciated, vitiated in body and mind, and vitiated by their -hatred against the class of society who possess. The manufacturers had -dismissed armies of workmen without bread. These black columns were to -be seen, with their mud-colored jackets, dotting the avenues and streets -of London, like columns of insects whose nests had been upset, and who -blackened the soil under their steps. - -The vices and brutishness of these masses of _proletaires_, degraded by -ignorance and hunger--their alternate poverty and debaucheries--their -promiscuousness of ages, of sexes, of dens of fetid straw, their bedding -in cellars and garrets--their hideous clamors, to be met with at certain -hours in the morning in certain lanes of the unclean districts of -London--when those human vermin emerged into the light of the sun with -howling groaning, or laughter that was really Satanic, it would have -made the masses of free creatures really envy the fate of the black -slaves of our colonies--masses which are abased and flogged, but, at all -events loathed! It was the recruiting of the army of Marius; all that -was wanting was a flag. Social war was visible there with all its -horrors and its furies--every body saw it, and I myself forboded it like -every body else. These symptoms struck me as such evidences of an -approaching overthrow for a constitution which thus allowed its vices to -stagnate and mantle, that, having some portion of my patrimony in -England, I hastened to remove it, and to place it where it would be -sheltered from a wreck which appeared to me to be inevitable. During -this time the aristocracy and the great proprietary of England appeared -insensible to these prognostics of social war, scandalized the eyes of -the public by the contrast of their Asiatic luxury with these -calamities, absented themselves from their properties during whole -years, and were traveling from Paris to Naples and to Florence, while at -the same time propagating speculative or incendiary liberalism with the -liberals of the Continent. Who would not have trembled for such a -country? - -This time (September, 1850) I was struck, on visiting England, with an -impression wholly opposed to the impressions which I have just depicted -to you. I arrived in London, and I no longer recognized that capital, -excepting by that immense cloud of smoke which that vast focus of -English labor or leisure raises in the heavens, and by that overflowing -without limit of houses, workshops, and chateaux, and agreeable -residences, that a city of 2,600,000 inhabitants casts year after year -beyond its walls, even to the depths of her forests, her fields, and her -hills. Like a polypus with a thousand branches, London vegetates and -engrafts, so to speak, on the common trunk of the city quarters on -quarters, and towns upon towns. These quarters, some for labor, and -others for the middle classes; some for the choice leisure of the -literary classes, and others for the luxury of the aristocracy and for -the splendor of the crown, not only attest the increase of that city -which enlarges itself in proportion to its inhabitants, but they testify -to the increase of luxury, of art, of riches, and of ease, of all which -the characters are to be recognized in the disposition, in the -architecture, in the ornaments, in the spaciousness, and in the comfort, -sometimes splendid, sometimes modest, of the habitations of man. In the -west two new towns--two towns of hotels and palaces--two towns of kings -of civilization, as the Embassador of Carthage would have said--have -sprung up. Toward the green and wooded heights of Hampstead--that St. -Cloud of London--is a new park, including pastures, woods, waters, and -gardens in its grounds, and surrounded by a circle of houses of opulent -and varied architecture, each of which represents a building capital -that it frightens one to calculate. Beyond this solitude inclosed in the -capital other towns and suburbs have commenced, and are rapidly climbing -these heights, step by step, and hillock after hillock. In these places -arise chapels, churches, schools, hospitals, penitentiary prisons on new -models, which take away from them their sinister aspect and -significance, and which hold out moral health and correction to the -guilty in place of punishment and branding. In these places are to be -seen hedges of houses appropriated to all the conditions of life and -fortune, but all surrounded by a court or a little garden, which affords -the family rural recollections, the breathing of vegetation, and the -feeling of nature present even in the very heart of the town. - -This new London, which is almost rural, creeps already up these large -hills, and spreads itself, from season to season, in the fields which -environ them, to go by lower, more active, and more smoky suburbs, to -rejoin, as far as the eye can see, the Thames, beyond which the same -phenomenon is reproduced on the hills and in the plains on the other -side. In surveying this the eye loses itself as if on the waves of the -ocean. On every side the horizon is too narrow to embrace that town, and -the town continues beyond the horizon; but every where also the sky, the -air, the country, the verdure, the waters, the tops of the oaks, are -mixed with that vegetation of stones, of marble, and of bricks, and -appears to make of new London, not an arid and dead city, but a fertile -and living province, which germinates at the same time with men and -trees, with habitations and fields; a city of which the nature has not -been changed, but in which, on the contrary, nature and civilization -respect each other, seek for and clasp each other, for the health and -joy of man, in a mutual embrace. - -Between these two banks of the river, and between its steeples and its -towers--between the tops of its oaks, respected by the constructors of -these new quarters--you perceive a movable forest of masts, which ascend -and descend perpetually the course of the Thames, and streak it with a -thousand lines of smoke, while the steamers, loaded with passengers, -stream out like a river of smoke above the river of water which carries -them. But it is not in the newly constructed quarters alone that London -has changed its appearance, and presents that image of opulence, of -comfort, and of labor, with thriving--the city itself, that furnace at -the same time blackened and infect of this human ebullition, has -enlarged its issues, widened its streets, ennobled its monuments, -extended and straightened its suburbs, and made them more healthy. The -ignoble lanes, with their suspicious taverns, where the population of -drunken sailors huddled together like savages in dregs and dust, have -been demolished. They have given place to airy streets, where the -passers-by, coming back from the docks, those entrepôts of the four -continents, pass with ease in carriages or on foot--to spacious and -clean houses, to modest but decent shops, where the maritime population -find, on disembarking, clothes, food, tobacco, beer, and all the objects -of exchange necessary for the retail trade of seaports: those streets -are now as well cleaned from filth, from drunkenness and obscenity, as -the other streets and suburbs of the city. One can pass through them -without pity and without disgust; one feels in them the vigilance of -public morality and the presence of a police which, if it can not -destroy vice, can at all events keep it at a distance from the eyes of -the passer-by, and render even the _cloacæ_ inoffensive. - -In the country districts and secondary towns around London the same -transformation is observable. The innumerable railways which run in -every direction all over England have covered the land with stations, -coal depôts, new houses for the persons employed, elegant offices for -the administration, viaducts, bridges over the lines to private -properties; and all these things impart to England, from the sea to -London, the appearance of a country which is being cleared, and where -the occupants are employed in running up residences for themselves. -Every thing is being built, and every thing is smoking, hurrying on, so -perfectly alive is this soil; one feels that the people are eager to -seize on the new sense of circulation which Providence has just bestowed -on man. - -Such is England in a physical sense, sketched broadly. As to political -England, the following are the changes which struck me. I describe them -as I reviewed them, with sincerity, it is true, but not unmixed with -astonishment. The appearance of the people in the streets is no longer -what filled me with consternation twenty years ago. In place of those -ragged bands of beggars--men, women, and children--who swarmed in the -narrow and gloomy streets of the manufacturing town, you will see -well-dressed workmen, with an appearance of strength and health, going -to work or returning peaceably from their workshop with their tools on -their shoulders; young girls issuing without tumult from the houses -where they work, under the superintendence of women older than -themselves, or of a father or brother, who brings them back to their -home; from time to time you see numerous columns of little children of -from five to eight years of age, poorly but decently clad, led by a -woman, who leaves them at their own doors, after having watched over -them all day. They all present the appearance of relative comfort, of -most exquisite cleanliness, and of health. You will perceive few, if -any, idle groups on the public ways, and infinitely fewer drunken men -than formerly; the streets appear as if purged of vice and wretchedness, -or only exhibit those which always remain the scum of an immense -population. - -If you converse in a drawing-room, in a public carriage, at a public -dinner table, even in the street, with men of the different classes in -England; if you take care to be present, as I did, at places where -persons of the most advanced opinions meet and speak; if you read the -journals, those safety-valves of public opinion, you must remain struck -with the extreme mildness of men's minds and hearts, with the temperance -of ideas, the moderation of what is desired, the prudence of the Liberal -Opposition, the tenderness evinced toward a conciliation of all -classes, the justice which all classes of the English population render -to each other, the readiness of all to co-operate, each according to his -means and disposition, in advancing the general good--the employment, -comfort, instruction, and morality of the people--in a word, a mild and -serene air is breathed in place of the tempest blast which then raged in -every breast. The equilibrium is re-established in the national -atmosphere. One feels and says to one's self, "This people can come to -an understanding with itself. It can live, last, prosper, and improve -for a long time in this way. Had I my residence on this soil, I should -not any longer tremble for my hearth." - -I except, it must be understood, from this very general character of -harmony and reconciliation, two classes of men whom nothing ever -satisfies--the demagogues and the extreme aristocrats--two tyrannies -which can not content themselves with any liberty, because they -eternally desire to subjugate the people--the one by the intolerance of -the rabble, the other by the intolerance of the little number. The -newspapers of the inexorable aristocracy, and of the ungovernable -radicalism, are the only ones that still contrast by their bitterness -with the general mildness of opinions in Great Britain. But some clubs -of Chartists, rendered fanatical by sophistry, and some clubs of -diplomatists, rendered fanatical by pride, only serve the better to show -the calm and reason which are more and more prevailing in the other -parts of the nation. The one make speeches to the emptiness of places -where the people are invited to meet, and the others pay by the line for -calumnies and invective against France and against the present age. No -one listens, and no one reads. The people work on. The intelligent -Tories lament Sir Robert Peel, and accept the inheritance of his -Conservative doctrines by means of progress. - -It appears that a superhuman hand carried away during that sleep of -twenty years, all the venom which racked the social body of this -country. If a Radical procession is announced, as on the 10th of April, -250,000 citizens, of all opinions, appear in the streets of London as -special constables, and preserve the public peace against these phantoms -of another time. Such is the present appearance of the public mind in -England to a stranger. - - - - -[From the Ladies' Companion.] - -THE HAUNTS OF GENIUS. GRAY, BURKE, MILTON, DRYDEN, AND POPE. - -BY MARY RUSSELL MITFORD. - - -Two summers ago I spent a few pleasant weeks among some of the loveliest -scenery of our great river. The banks of the Thames, always beautiful, -are nowhere more delightful than in the neighborhood of Maidenhead--one -side ramparted by the high, abrupt, chalky cliffs of Buckinghamshire; -the other edging gently away into our rich Berkshire meadows, checkered -with villages, villas, and woods. - -My own temporary home was one of singular beauty--a snug cottage at -Taplow, looking over a garden full of honeysuckles, lilies, and roses, -to a miniature terrace, whose steps led down into the water, or rather -into our little boat; the fine old bridge at Maidenhead just below us; -the magnificent woods of Cliefden, crowned with the lordly mansion (now, -alas! a second time burnt down), rising high above; and the broad -majestic river, fringed with willow and alder, gay with an ever-changing -variety--the trim pleasure-yacht, the busy barge, or the punt of the -solitary angler, gliding by placidly and slowly, the very image of calm -and conscious power. No pleasanter residence, through the sultry months -of July and August, than the Bridge cottage at Taplow. - -Besides the natural advantages of the situation, we were within reach of -many interesting places, of which we, as strangers, contrived--as -strangers usually do--to see a great deal more than the actual -residents. - -A six-mile drive took us to the lordly towers of Windsor--the most -queenly of our palaces--with the adjuncts that so well become the royal -residence, St. George's Chapel and Eton College, fitting shrines of -learning and devotion! Windsor was full of charm. The ghostly shadow of -a tree, that is, or passes for Herne's oak--for the very man of whom we -inquired our way maintained that the tree was apocryphal, although in -such cases I hold it wisest and pleasantest to believe--the very old -town itself, with the localities immortalized by Sir John and Sir Hugh, -Dame Quickly and Justice Shallow, and all the company of the Merry -Wives, had to me an unfailing attraction. To Windsor we drove again and -again, until the pony spontaneously turned his head Windsor-ward. - -Then we reviewed the haunts of GRAY, the house at Stoke Pogis, and the -church-yard where he is buried, and which contains the touching epitaph -wherein the pious son commemorates "the careful mother of many children, -one of whom only had the misfortune to survive her." To that spot we -drove one bright summer day, and we were not the only visitants. It was -pleasant to see one admirer seated under a tree, sketching the church, -and another party, escorted by the clergyman, walking reverently through -it. Stoke Pogis, however, is not without its rivals; and we also visited -the old church at Upton, whose ivy-mantled tower claims to be the -veritable tower of the "Elegy." A very curious scene did that old church -exhibit--that of an edifice not yet decayed, but abandoned to decay; an -incipient ruin, such as probably might have been paralleled in the -monasteries of England after the Reformation, or in the churches of -France after the first Revolution. The walls were still standing, still -full of monuments and monumental inscriptions; in some the gilding was -yet fresh, and one tablet especially had been placed there very -recently, commemorating the talents and virtues of the celebrated -astronomer, Sir John Herschell. But the windows were denuded of their -glass, the font broken, the pews dismantled, while on the tottering -reading-desk one of the great Prayer-books, all mouldy with damp, still -lay open--last vestige of the holy services with which it once -resounded. Another church had been erected, but it looked new and naked, -and every body seemed to regret the old place of worship, the roof of -which was remarkable for the purity of its design. - -Another of our excursions was to Ockwells--a curious and beautiful -specimen of domestic architecture in the days before the Tudors. Strange -it seems to me that no one has exactly imitated that graceful front, -with its steep roof terminated on either side by two projecting gables, -the inner one lower than the other, adorned with oak carving, regular -and delicate as that on an ivory fan. The porch has equal elegance. One -almost expects to see some baronial hawking party, or some bridal -procession issue from its recesses. The great hall, although its grand -open roof has been barbarously closed up, still retains its fine -proportions, its dais, its music gallery, and the long range of windows, -still adorned with the mottos and escutcheons of the Norreys's, their -kindred and allies. It has long been used as a farm-house; and one -marvels that the painted windows should have remained uninjured through -four centuries of neglect and change. Much that was interesting has -disappeared, but enough still remains to gratify those who love to -examine the picturesque dwellings of our ancestors. The noble staircase, -the iron-studded door, the prodigious lock, the gigantic key (too heavy -for a woman to wield), the cloistered passages, the old-fashioned -buttery-hatch, give a view not merely of the degree of civilization of -the age, but of the habits and customs of familiar daily life. - -Another drive took us to the old grounds of Lady Place, where, in -demolishing the house, care had been taken to preserve the vaults in -which the great Whig leaders wrote and signed the famous letter to -William of Orange, which drove James the Second from the throne. A -gloomy place it is now--a sort of underground ruin--and gloomy enough -the patriots must have found it on that memorable occasion: the tombs of -the monks (it had formerly been a monastery) under their feet, the -rugged walls around them, and no ray of light, except the lanterns they -may have brought with them, or the torches that they lit. Surely the -signature of that summons which secured the liberties of England would -make an impressive picture--Lord Somers in the foreground, and the other -Whig statesmen grouped around him. A Latin inscription records a visit -made by George the Third to the vaults; and truly it is among the places -that monarchs would do well to visit--full of stern lessons! - -Chief pilgrimage of all was one that led us first to Beaconsfield, -through the delightful lanes of Buckinghamshire, with their luxuriance -of hedge-row timber, and their patches of heathy common. There we paid -willing homage to all that remained of the habitation consecrated by the -genius of EDMUND BURKE. Little is left, beyond gates and outbuildings, -for the house has been burnt down and the grounds disparked; but still -some of his old walks remained, and an old well and traces of an old -garden--and pleasant it was to tread where such a man had trodden, and -to converse with the few who still remembered him. We saw, too, the -stalwart yeoman who had the honor not only of furnishing to Sir Joshua -the model of his "Infant Hercules," but even of suggesting the subject. -Thus it happened. Passing a few days with Mr. Burke at his favorite -retirement, the great painter accompanied his host on a visit to his -bailiff. A noble boy lay sprawling in the cradle in the room where they -sat. His mother would fain have removed him, but Sir Joshua, then -commissioned to paint a picture for the Empress Catherine, requested -that the child might remain, sent with all speed for pallet and easel, -and accomplished his task with that success which so frequently waits -upon a sudden inspiration. It is remarkable that the good farmer, whose -hearty cordial kindness I shall not soon forget, has kept in a manner -most unusual the promise of his sturdy infancy, and makes as near an -approach to the proportions of the fabled Hercules as ever -Buckinghamshire yeoman displayed. - -Beaconsfield, however, and even the cherished retirement of Burke, was -by no means the goal of our pilgrimage. The true shrine was to be found -four miles farther, in the small cottage at Chalfont St. Giles, where -Milton found a refuge during the Great Plague of London. - -The road wound through lanes still shadier and hedge-rows still richer, -where the tall trees rose from banks overhung with fern, intermixed with -spires of purple foxglove; sometimes broken by a bit of mossy -park-paling, sometimes by the light shades of a beech-wood, until at -last we reached the quiet and secluded village whose very first dwelling -was consecrated by the abode of the great poet. - -It is a small tenement of four rooms, one on either side the door, -standing in a little garden, and having its gable to the road. A short -inscription, almost hidden by the foliage of the vine, tells that MILTON -once lived within those sacred walls. The cottage has been so seldom -visited, is so little desecrated by thronging admirers, and has suffered -so little from alteration or decay, and all about it has so exactly the -serene and tranquil aspect that one should expect to see in an English -village two centuries ago, that it requires but a slight effort of fancy -to image to ourselves the old blind bard still sitting in that little -parlor, or sunning himself on the garden-seat beside the well. Milton is -said to have corrected at Chalfont some of the sheets of the "Paradise -Lost." The "Paradise Regained" he certainly composed there. One loves -to think of him in that calm retreat--to look round that poor room and -think how Genius ennobles all that she touches! Heaven forfend that -change in any shape, whether of embellishment or of decay, should fall -upon that cottage! - -Another resort of ours, not a pilgrimage, but a haunt, was the forest of -old pollards, known by the name of Burnham Beeches. A real forest it -is--six hundred acres in extent, and varied by steep declivities, wild -dells, and tangled dingles. The ground, clothed with the fine short turf -where the thyme and the harebell love to grow, is partly covered with -luxuriant fern; and the juniper and the holly form a fitting underwood -for those magnificent trees, hollowed by age, whose profuse canopy of -leafy boughs seems so much too heavy for the thin rind by which it is -supported. Mr. Grote has a house here on which we looked with reverence; -and in one of the loveliest spots we came upon a monument erected by -Mrs. Grote in memory of Mendelssohn, and enriched by an elegant -inscription from her pen. - -We were never weary of wandering among the Burnham Beeches; sometimes -taking Dropmore by the way, where the taste of the late Lord Grenville -created from a barren heath a perfect Eden of rare trees and matchless -flowers. But even better than amid that sweet woodland scene did I love -to ramble by the side of the Thames, as it bounded the beautiful grounds -of Lord Orkney, or the magnificent demesne of Sir George Warrender, the -verdant lawns of Cliefden. - -That place also is full of memories. There it was that the famous Duke -of Buckingham fought his no less famous duel with Lord Shrewsbury, while -the fair countess, dressed, rather than disguised, as a page, held the -horse of her victorious paramour. We loved to gaze on that princely -mansion--since a second time burnt down--repeating to each other the -marvelous lines in which our two matchless satirists have immortalized -the duke's follies, and doubting which portrait were the best. We may at -least be sure that no third painter will excel them. Alas! who reads -Pope or Dryden now? I am afraid, very much afraid, that to many a fair -young reader these celebrated characters will be as good as manuscript. -I will at all events try the experiment. Here they be: - - "In the first rank of these did Zimri stand - A man so various, that he seemed to be - Not one, but all mankind's epitome; - Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong, - Was every thing by starts and nothing long; - But in the course of one revolving moon, - Was chemist, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon, - Then all for women, painting, rhyming, drinking - Besides ten thousand freaks that died in thinking. - Blest madman, who could every hour employ - With something new to wish or to enjoy!" - - DRYDEN. _Absalom and Achitophel._ - -Now for the little hunchback of Twickenham: - - "In the worst inn's worst room, with mat half hung, - The walls of plaster, and the floor of dung; - On once a flock-bed, but repaired with straw, - With tape-tied curtains never meant to draw, - The George and Garter dangling from that bed, - Where tawdry yellow strove with dirty red: - Great Villiers lies:--but, ah, how changed from him, - That life of pleasure, and that soul of whim, - Gallant and gay in Cliefden's proud alcove, - The bower of wanton Shrewsbury and love! - Or just as gay at council 'mid the ring - Of mimic statesmen and their merry king! - No wit to flatter left of all his store; - No fool to laugh at, which he valued more; - There, victor of his health, of fortune, friends - And fame, the lord of useless thousands ends?" - - POPE. _Moral Essays._ - - - - -FLOWERS IN THE SICK ROOM. - - -Among the terrors of our youth we well remember there were certain -poisonous exhalations said to arise from plants and flowers if allowed -to share our sleeping-room during the night, as though objects of -loveliness when seen by daylight took advantage of the darkness to -assume the qualities of the ghoul or the vampire. Well do we remember -how maternal anxiety removed every portion of vegetable life from our -bedroom, lest its gases should poison us before morning! This opinion, -and the cognate one that plants in rooms are always injurious, is -prevalent still, and it operates most unfavorably in the case of the -bed-ridden, or the invalid, by depriving them of a chamber garden which -would otherwise make time put off his leaden wings, and while away, in -innocent amusement, many a lagging hour. Now we assure our readers that -this is a popular superstition, and will endeavor to put them in -possession of the grounds on which our statement is founded. In doing -so, we do not put forth any opinions of our own, but the deductions of -science, for the truth of which any one acquainted with vegetable -physiology can vouch. - -Plants, in a growing state, absorb the oxygen gas of the atmosphere, and -throw off carbonic acid; these are facts, and as oxygen is necessary to -life and carbonic acid injurious to it, the conclusion has been jumped -at that plants in apartments _must_ have a deleterious influence. But -there is another fact equally irrefragable, _that plants feed on the -carbonic acid of the atmosphere_, and are, indeed, the grand instruments -employed in the laboratory of Nature for purifying it from the noxious -exhalations of animal life. From the spacious forests to the blade of -grass which forces itself up through the crevices of a street pavement, -every portion of verdure is occupied in disinfecting the air. By means -of solar light the carbonic acid, when taken in by the leaves, is -decomposed, its carbon going to build up the structure of the plant and -its disengaged oxygen returning to the air we breathe. It is true that -this process is stopped in the darkness, and that then a very small -portion of carbonic acid is evolved by plants; but as it is never -necessary for a patient to sleep in a room with flowers, we need say -nothing on that subject. Cleanliness, and other considerations, would -suggest having a bedroom as free as possible during the night, and our -object is answered if we show that vegetation is not injurious in the -day. That it is, on the contrary, conducive to health, is a plain -corollary of science. - -Perhaps the error we are speaking of may have originated from -confounding the effects of the _odors_ of plants with a general result -of their presence. Now, all strong scents are injurious, and those of -some flowers are specially so, and ought on no account to be patronized -by the invalid. But it happens, fortunately, that a very large class of -plants have either no scent at all, or so little as to be of no -consequence, so that there is still room for an extensive selection. -This, then, is _one_ rule to be observed in chamber gardening. Another -is, that the plants admitted should be in perfect health, for while -growing vegetation is healthful, it becomes noxious when sickly or dead. -Thirdly, let the most scrupulous cleanliness be maintained; the pots, -saucers, and the stands being often subjected to ablutions. Under this -head also we include the removal of dying leaves, and all flowers, -before they have quite lost their beauty, since it is well known that -the petals become unpleasant in some varieties as soon as the meridian -of their brief life is passed. By giving attention to these simple -regulations, a sick chamber may have its windows adorned with flowers -without the slightest risk to the health of the occupant, and in saying -this we open the way to some of the most gentle lenitives of pain, as -well as to sources of rational enjoyment. If those who can go where they -please, in the sunshine and the shade, can gather wild flowers in their -natural dwellings, and cultivate extensive gardens, still find pleasure -in a few favorites in-doors, how much more delight must such treasured -possessions confer on those whom Providence has made prisoners and who -must have their all of verdure and floral beauty brought to them! - - - - -[From Dickens's Household Words.] - -LIVELY TURTLE. - -A SKETCH OF A CONSERVATIVE. - - -I have a comfortable property. What I spend, I spend upon myself; and -what I don't spend I save. Those are my principles. I am warmly attached -to my principles, and stick to them on all occasions. - -I am not, as some people have represented, a mean man. I never denied -myself any thing that I thought I should like to have. I may have said -to myself "SNOADY"--that is my name--"you will get those peaches cheaper -if you wait till next week;" or, I may have said to myself, "Snoady, you -will get that wine for nothing, if you wait till you are asked out to -dine;" but I never deny myself any thing. If I can't get what I want -without buying it, and paying its price for it, I _do_ buy it and pay -its price for it. I have an appetite bestowed upon me; and, if I balked -it, I should consider that I was flying in the face of Providence. - -I have no near relation but a brother. If he wants any thing of me, he -don't get it. All men are my brothers; and I see no reason why I should -make his an exceptional case. - -I live at a cathedral town where there is an old corporation. I am not -in the Church, but it may be that I hold a little place of some sort. -Never mind. It may be profitable. Perhaps yes, perhaps no. It may, or it -may not, be a sinecure. I don't choose to say, I never enlightened my -brother on these subjects, and I consider all men my brothers. The negro -is a man and a brother--should I hold myself accountable for my position -in life, _to him_? Certainly not. - -I often run up to London. I like London. The way I look at it, is this. -London is not a cheap place, but, on the whole, you can get more of the -real thing for your money there--I mean the best thing, whatever it -is--than you can get in most places. Therefore, I say to the man who has -got the money, and wants the thing, "Go to London for it, and treat -yourself." - -When _I_ go, I do it in this manner. I go to Mrs. Skim's Private Hotel -and Commercial Lodging House, near Aldersgate-street, City (it is -advertised in "Bradshaw's Railway Guide," where I first found it), and -there I pay, "for bed and breakfast, with meat, two and ninepence per -day, including servants." Now, I have made a calculation, and I am -satisfied that Mrs. Skim can not possibly make much profit out of _me_. -In fact, if all her patrons were like me, my opinion is, the woman would -be in the Gazette next month. - -Why do I go to Mrs. Skim's when I could go to the Clarendon, you may -ask? Let us argue that point. If I went to the Clarendon I could get -nothing in bed but sleep; could I? No. Now, sleep at the Clarendon is an -expensive article; whereas, sleep at Mrs. Skim's, is decidedly cheap. I -have made a calculation and I don't hesitate to say, all things -considered, that it's cheap. Is it an inferior article, as compared with -the Clarendon sleep, or is it of the same quality? I am a heavy sleeper, -and it is of the same quality. Then why should I go to the Clarendon? - -But as to breakfast? you may say. Very well. As to breakfast. I could -get a variety of delicacies for breakfast at the Clarendon, that are out -of the question at Mrs. Skim's. Granted. But I don't want to have them! -My opinion is, that we are not entirely animal and sensual. Man has an -intellect bestowed upon him. If he clogs that intellect by too good a -breakfast, how can he properly exert that intellect in meditation, -during the day upon his dinner? That's the point. We are not to enchain -the soul. We are to let it soar. It is expected of us. - -At Mrs. Skim's I get enough for breakfast (there is no limitation to the -bread and butter, though there is to the meat), and not too much. I have -all my faculties about me, to concentrate upon the object I have -mentioned, and I can say to myself besides, "Snoady, you have saved six, -eight, ten, fifteen shillings, already to-day. If there is any thing you -fancy for your dinner, have it, Snoady, you have earned your reward." - -My objection to London, is, that it is the head-quarters of the worst -radical sentiments that are broached in England. I consider that it has -a great many dangerous people in it. I consider the present publication -(if it's "Household Words") very dangerous, and I write this with the -view of neutralizing some of its bad effects. My political creed is, let -us be comfortable. We are all very comfortable as we are--_I_ am very -comfortable as I am--leave us alone! - -All mankind are my brothers, and I don't think it Christian--if you come -to that--to tell my brother that he is ignorant, or degraded, or dirty, -or any thing of the kind. I think it's abusive, and low. You meet me -with the observation that I am required to love my brother. I reply, "I -do." I am sure I am always willing to say to my brother, "My good -fellow, I love you very much; go along with you; keep to your own road; -leave me to mine; whatever is, is right; whatever isn't, is wrong; don't -make a disturbance!" It seems to me, that this is at once the whole duty -of man, and the only temper to go to dinner in. - -Going to dinner in this temper in the city of London, one day not long -ago, after a bed at Mrs. Skim's, with meat-breakfast and servants -included, I was reminded of the observation which, if my memory does not -deceive me, was formerly made by somebody on some occasion, that man may -learn wisdom from the lower animals. It is a beautiful fact, in my -opinion, that great wisdom is to be learned from that noble animal the -turtle. - -I had made up my mind, in the course of the day I speak of, to have a -turtle dinner. I mean a dinner mainly composed of turtle. Just a -comfortable tureen of soup, with a pint of punch, and nothing solid to -follow, but a tender juicy steak. I like a tender juicy steak. I -generally say to myself when I order one, "Snoady, you have done right." - -When I make up my mind to have a delicacy, expense is no consideration. -The question resolves itself, then, into a question of the very best. I -went to a friend of mine who is a member of the Common Council, and with -that friend I held the following conversation. - -Said I to him, "Mr. Groggles, the best turtle is where?" - -Says he, "If you want a basin for lunch, my opinion is, you can't do -better than drop into Birch's." - -Said I, "Mr. Groggles, I thought you had known me better, than to -suppose me capable of a basin. My intention is to dine. A tureen." - -Says Mr. Groggles, without a moment's consideration, and in a determined -voice. "Right opposite the India House, Leadenhall-street." - -We parted. My mind was not inactive during the day, and at six in the -afternoon I repaired to the house of Mr. Groggles's recommendation. At -the end of the passage, leading from the street into the coffee-room, I -observed a vast and solid chest, in which I then supposed that a turtle -of unusual size might be deposited. But, the correspondence between its -bulk and that of the charge made for my dinner, afterward satisfied me -that it must be the till of the establishment. - -I stated to the waiter what had brought me there, and I mentioned Mr. -Groggles's name. He feelingly repeated after me, "A tureen of turtle, -and a tender juicy steak." His manner, added to the manner of Mr. -Groggles in the morning, satisfied me that all was well. The atmosphere -of the coffee-room was odoriferous with turtle, and the steams of -thousands of gallons, consumed within its walls, hung, in savory grease, -upon their surface. I could have inscribed my name with a penknife, if I -had been so disposed, in the essence of innumerable turtles. I preferred -to fall into a hungry reverie, brought on by the warm breath of the -place, and to think of the West Indies and the Island of Ascension. - -My dinner came--and went. I will draw a vail over the meal, I will put -the cover on the empty tureen, and merely say that it was wonderful--and -that I paid for it. - -I sat meditating, when all was over, on the imperfect nature of our -present existence, in which we can eat only for a limited time, when the -waiter roused me with these words. - -Said he to me, as he brushed the crumbs off the table, "Would you like -to see the turtle, sir?" - -"To see what turtle, waiter?" said I (calmly) to him. - -"The tanks of turtle below, sir," said he to me. - -Tanks of turtle! Good gracious! "Yes!" - -The waiter lighted a candle, and conducted me down stairs to a range of -vaulted apartments, cleanly white-washed and illuminated with gas, where -I saw a sight of the most astonishing and gratifying description, -illustrative of the greatness of my native country. "Snoady," was my -first observation to myself, "Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the -waves!" - -There were two or three hundred turtle in the vaulted apartments--all -alive. Some in tanks, and some taking the air in long dry walks littered -down with straw. They were of all sizes; many of them enormous. Some of -the enormous ones had entangled themselves with the smaller ones, and -pushed and squeezed themselves into corners, with their fins over -water-pipes, and their heads downward, where they were apoplectically -struggling and splashing, apparently in the last extremity. Others were -calm at the bottom of the tanks; others languidly rising to the surface. -The turtle in the walks littered down with straw, were calm and -motionless. It was a thrilling sight. I admire such a sight. It rouses -my imagination. If you wish to try its effect on yours, make a call -right opposite the India House any day you please--dine--pay--and ask to -be taken below. - -Two athletic young men, without coats, and with the sleeves of their -shirts tucked up to the shoulders, were in attendance on these noble -animals. One of them, wrestling with the most enormous turtle in -company, and dragging him up to the edge of the tank, for me to look at, -presented an idea to me which I never had before. I ought to observe -that I like an idea. I say, when I get a new one, "Snoady, book that!" - -My idea, on the present occasion, was--Mr. Groggles! It was not a turtle -that I saw, but Mr. Groggles. It was the dead image of Mr. Groggles. He -was dragged up to confront me, with his waistcoat--if I may be allowed -the expression--toward me; and it was identically the waistcoat of Mr. -Groggles. It was the same shape, very nearly the same color, only wanted -a gold watch-chain and a bunch of seals, to BE the waistcoat of Mr. -Groggles. There was what I should call a bursting expression about him -in general, which was accurately the expression of Mr. Groggles. I had -never closely observed a turtle's throat before. The folds of his loose -cravat, I found to be precisely those of Mr. Groggles's cravat. Even the -intelligent eye--I mean to say, intelligent enough for a person of -correct principles, and not dangerously so--was the eye of Mr. Groggles. -When the athletic young man let him go, and, with a roll of his head, he -flopped heavily down into the tank, it was exactly the manner of Mr. -Groggles as I have seen him ooze away into his seat, after opposing a -sanitary motion in the Court of Common Council! - -"Snoady," I couldn't help saying to myself, "you have done it. You have -got an idea, Snoady, in which a great principle is involved. I -congratulate you!" I followed the young man, who dragged up several -turtle to the brinks of the various tanks. I found them all the -same--all varieties of Mr. Groggles--all extraordinarily like the -gentlemen who usually eat them. "Now, Snoady," was my next remark, "what -do you deduce from this?" - -"Sir," said I, "what I deduce from this, is, confusion to those Radicals -and other Revolutionists who talk about improvement. Sir," said I, "what -I deduce from this, is, that there isn't this resemblance between the -turtles and the Groggleses for nothing. It's meant to show mankind that -the proper model for a Groggles, is a turtle; and that the liveliness -we want in a Groggles, is the liveliness of a turtle, and no more." -"Snoady," was my reply to this, "you have hit it. You are right!" - -I admired the idea very much, because, if I hate any thing in the world, -it's change. Change has evidently no business in the world, has nothing -to do with it, and isn't intended. What we want is (as I think I have -mentioned) to be comfortable. I look at it that way. Let us be -comfortable, and leave us alone. Now, when the young man dragged a -Groggles--I mean a turtle--out of his tank, this was exactly what the -noble animal expressed as he floundered back again. - -I have several friends besides Mr. Groggles in the Common Council, and -it might be a week after this, when I said, "Snoady, if I was you, I -would go to that court, and hear the debate to-day." I went. A good deal -of it was what I call a sound, old English discussion. One eloquent -speaker objected to the French as wearing wooden shoes; and a friend of -his reminded him of another objection to that foreign people, namely, -that they eat frogs. I had feared, for many years, I am sorry to say, -that these wholesome principles were gone out. How delightful to find -them still remaining among the great men of the City of London, in the -year one thousand eight hundred and fifty! It made me think of the -Lively Turtle. - -But I soon thought more of the Lively Turtle. Some Radicals and -Revolutionists have penetrated even to the Common Council--which -otherwise I regard as one of the last strongholds of our afflicted -constitution; and speeches were made, about removing Smithfield -Market--which I consider to be a part of that Constitution--and about -appointing a Medical Officer for the City, and about preserving the -public health; and other treasonable practices, opposed to Church and -State. These proposals Mr. Groggles, as might have been expected of such -a man, resisted; so warmly, that, as I afterward understood from Mrs. -Groggles, he had rather a sharp attack of blood to the head that night. -All the Groggles party resisted them too, and it was a fine -constitutional sight to see waistcoat after waistcoat rise up in -resistance of them and subside. But what struck me in the sight was -this, "Snoady," said I, "here is your idea carried out, sir! These -Radicals and Revolutionists are the athletic young men in shirt sleeves, -dragging the Lively Turtle to the edges of the tank. The Groggleses are -the turtle, looking out for a moment, and flopping down again. Honor to -the Groggleses! Honor to the Court of Lively Turtle! The wisdom of the -Turtle is the hope of England!" - -There are three heads in the moral of what I had to say. First, turtle -and Groggles are identical; wonderfully alike externally, wonderfully -alike mentally. Secondly, turtle is a good thing every way, and the -liveliness of the turtle is intended as an example for the liveliness -of man; you are not to go beyond that. Thirdly, we are all quite -comfortable. Leave us alone! - - - - -[From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal.] - -THE UNLAWFUL GIFT; OR, KINDNESS REWARDED. - - -The chastened glory of a bright autumnal evening was shining upon the -yellow harvest fields of Bursley Farm, in the vicinity of the New -Forest, and tinting with changeful light the dense but broken masses of -thick wood which skirted the southern horizon, when Ephraim Lovegrove, a -care-cankered, worn-out dying man, though hardly numbering sixty years, -was, at his constantly and peevishly-iterated request, lifted from the -bed on which for many weeks he had been gradually and painfully wasting -away, and carried in an arm-chair to the door. From the cottage, -situated as it was upon an eminence, the low-lying lands of Bursley, and -its straggling homestead, which once called him master, could be -distinctly seen. The fading eyes of the old man wandered slowly over the -gleaming landscape, and a faint smile of painful recognition stole upon -his harsh and shriveled features. His only son, a fine handsome young -fellow, stood silently, with his wife, beside him--both, it seemed, as -keenly, though not, perhaps, as bitterly, impressed with the scene and -the thoughts it suggested; and their child, a rosy youngster of about -five years of age, clung tightly to his mother's gown, frightened and -awed apparently by the stern expression he read upon his father's face. -A light summer air lifted the old man's thin white locks, fanned his -sallow cheeks, and momently revived his fainting spirit. "Ay," he -muttered, "the old pleasant home, Ned, quiet, beautiful as ever. It's -only we who change and pass away." - -"The home," rejoined the son, "of which we have been robbed--lawfully -robbed." - -"I'm not so clear on that as I was," said Ephraim Lovegrove, slowly and -with difficulty. "It was partly our own want of foresight--mine, I mean, -of course: we ought not to have calculated on--" - -The old man's broken accents stopped suddenly. The strength which the -sight of his former home and the grateful breeze which swept up from the -valley awakened, had quickly faded; and the daughter-in-law, touching -her husband's arm, and glancing anxiously at his father's changing -countenance, motioned that he should be re-conveyed to bed. This was -done, and a few spoonfuls of wine revived him somewhat. Edward Lovegrove -left the cottage upon some necessary business; and his wife, after -putting her child to bed, re-entered the sick-room, and seated herself -with mute watchfulness by the bedside of her father-in-law. - -"Ye are a kind, gentle creature, Mary," said the dying man, whose -failing gaze had been for some time fixed upon her pale, patient face; -"as kind and gentle--more so, it seems to me, in this poor hovel, than -when we dwelt in yon homestead, from which you, with us, have been so -cruelly driven." - -"Murmuring, father," she replied, in a low, sweet voice, "would not help -us. It is surely better to submit cheerfully to a hard lot, than to -chafe and fret one's life away at what can not be helped. But it's easy -for me," she hastily added, fearing that her words might sound -reproachfully in the old man's ear--"it's easy for me, who have health, -a kind husband, and my little boy left me, to be cheerful, but it is -scarcely so for you, suffering in body and mind, and tormented in a -thousand ways." - -"Ay, girl, it has been a sharp trial; but it will soon be over. In a few -hours it will matter little whether old Ephraim Lovegrove lived and died -in a pig-sty or a palace. But I would speak of you. You and Ned should -emigrate. There are countries, I am told, where you would be sure to -prosper. That viper Nichols, I remember, once offered to assist--I could -never make out from what motive--from what--A little wine," he added -feebly. "The evening, for the time of the year, is very chilly: my feet -and legs are cold as stones." He swallowed the wine, and again addressed -himself to speak, but his voice was scarcely audible. "I have often -thought," he murmured, "as I lay here, that Symons, Nichols's clerk, -from a hint he dropped, knows something of--of--your mother and--and--" -The faint accents ceased to be audible; but the grasp of the dying man -closed tightly upon the frightened woman's hand, as he looked wildly in -her face as he drew her toward him, as if some important statement -remained untold. He struggled desperately for utterance, but the strife -was vain, and brief as it was fierce: his grasp relaxed, and with a -convulsive groan, Ephraim Lovegrove fell back and expired. - -The storm which had made shipwreck of the fortunes of Ephraim Lovegrove -had leveled with the earth prouder roof-trees than his. In early life he -had succeeded his father as the tenant of a farm in Wiltshire. He was -industrious, careful, and ambitious; and aided by the sum of £500, which -he received with his wife, and the high prices which agricultural -produce obtained during the French war, he was enabled, at the -expiration of his lease in Wiltshire, to become the proprietor of -Bursley Farm. This purchase was effected when wheat ranged from £30 to -£40 a load, at a proportionately exorbitant price of £5000. His savings -amounted to about one half of this sum, and the remainder was raised by -way of mortgage. Matters went on smoothly enough till the peace of 1815, -and the subsequent precipitate fall in prices. Lovegrove showed gallant -fight, hoping against hope that exceptional legislation would ultimately -bolster up prices to something like their former level. He was deceived. -Every day saw him sinking lower and lower; and in the sixth year of -peace he was reluctantly compelled to abandon the long since desperate -and hopeless struggle with adverse fortune. The interest on the borrowed -money had fallen considerably in arrear, and Bursley Farm was sold by -auction at a barely sufficient sum to cover the mortgage and accumulated -interest. The stock was similarly disposed of, and stout Ephraim -withdrew with his family to a small cottage in the neighborhood of his -old home, possessed, after his debts were discharged, of about thirty -pounds in money and a few necessary articles of furniture. The old man's -heart was broken: he took almost immediately to his bed, and after a -long agony of physical pain, aggravated and embittered by mental -disquietude and discontent, expired, as we have seen, worn out in mind -and body. - -The future of the surviving family was a dark and anxious one. Edward -Lovegrove, a frank, kindly-tempered young man, accustomed, in the golden -days of farming, to ride occasionally after the hounds, as well equipped -and mounted as any in the field, was little fitted for a struggle for -daily bread with the crowded competition of the world. He had several -times endeavored to obtain a situation as bailiff, but others more -fortunate, perhaps better qualified, filled up every vacancy that -offered, and the almost desperate man, but for the pleading helplessness -of his wife and child, would have sought shelter in the ranks of the -army--that grave in which so many withered prospects and broken hopes -lie buried. As usual with disappointed men, his mind dwelt with -daily-augmenting bitterness upon the persons at whose hands the last and -decisive blows which had destroyed his home had been received. Sandars -the mortgagee he looked upon as a monster of perfidy and injustice; but -especially Nichols the attorney, who had superintended and directed the -sale of the Bursley homestead, was regarded by him with the bitterest -dislike. Other causes gave intensity to this vindictive feeling. The son -of the attorney, Arthur Nichols, a wild, dissipated young man, had been -a competitor for the hand of Mary Clarke, the sole child of Widow -Clarke, and now Edward Lovegrove's wife. It was not at all remarkable or -surprising that young Nichols should admire and seek to wed pretty and -gentle Mary Clarke, but it was deemed strange by those who knew his -father's grasping, mercenary disposition, that _he_ should have been so -eager for the match, well knowing, as he did, for the payments passed -through his hands, that the widow's modest annuity terminated with her -life. It was also known, and wonderingly commented upon, that the -attorney was himself an anxious suitor for the widow's hand up to the -day of her sudden and unexpected decease, which occurred about three -years after her daughter's marriage with Edward Lovegrove. Immediately -after this event, as if some restraint upon his pent-up malevolence had -been removed, the elder Nichols manifested the most active hostility -toward the Lovegroves; and to his persevering enmity it was generally -attributed that Mr. Sandars had availed himself of the power of sale -inserted in the mortgage deed, to cast his unfortunate debtor helpless -and homeless upon the world. - -Sadly passed away the weary, darkening days with the young couple after -the old man's death. The expenses of his long illness had swept away the -little money saved from the wreck of the farm; and it required the -sacrifice of Edward's watch and some silver teaspoons to defray the cost -of a decent funeral. At last, spite of the thriftiest economy, all was -gone, and they were penniless. - -"You have nothing to purchase breakfast with to-morrow, have you, Mary?" -said the husband, after partaking of a scanty tea. The mother had -feigned only to eat: little Edward, whose curly head was lying in her -lap as he sat asleep on a low stool beside her, had her share. - -"Not a farthing," she replied, mildly, even cheerfully, and the glance -of her gentle eyes was hopeful and kind as ever. "But, bear up, Edward: -we have still the furniture; and were that sold at once, it would enable -us to reach London, where, you know, so many people have made fortunes, -who arrived there as poor as we." - -"Something must be done, that is certain," replied the husband. "We have -not yet received an answer from Salisbury about the porter's place I -have applied for." - -"No; but I would rather, for your sake, Edward, that you filled such a -situation at some place further off, where you were not so well known." - -Edward Lovegrove sighed, and, presently, rising from his chair, walked -toward a chest of drawers that stood at the further end of the room. His -wife, who guessed his intention--for the matter had been already more -than once hinted at--followed him with a tearful, apprehensive glance. -Her husband played tolerably well--wonderfully in the wife's -opinion--upon the flute, and a few weeks after their marriage, her -mother had purchased and presented him with a very handsome one with -silver keys. He used, in the old time, to accompany his wife in the -simple ballads she sang so sweetly--and now this last memorial of the -past, linked as it was with tender and pious memories, must be parted -with! Edward Lovegrove had not looked at it for months: his life, of -late so out of tune, would have made harsh discord of its music; and as -he took it from the case, and, from the mere force of habit, moistened -the joints, and placed the pieces together, a flood of bitterness -swelled his heart to think that this solace of "lang syne" must be -sacrificed to their hard necessities. He blew a few tremulous and -imperfect notes, which awakened the little boy, who was immediately -clamorous that mammy should sing, and daddy play, as they used to do. - -"Shall we try, Mary," said the husband, "to please the child?" Poor Mary -bowed her head: her heart was too full to speak. The flutist played the -prelude to a favorite air several times over, before his wife could -sufficiently command her voice to commence the song, and she had not -reached the end of the second line when she stopped, choked with -emotion, and burst into an agony of tears. - -"It is useless trying, Mary," said Edward Lovegrove, soothingly, as he -rose and put by the flute. "I will to bed at once, for to and from -Christchurch, where I must dispose of it, is a long walk." He kissed his -wife and child, and went up-stairs. The mother followed soon afterward, -put her boy to rest, and after looking wistfully for a few moments at -the worn and haggard features of her husband as he lay asleep, -re-descended the stairs, and busied herself with some necessary -household work. - -As she was thus employed, a slight tap at the little back window struck -her ear, and, looking sharply round, she recognized the pale, uncouth -features of Symons, lawyer Nichols' deformed clerk and errand-man, who -was eagerly beckoning her to open the casement. This was the person of -whom Ephraim Lovegrove had spoken just previous to his death. Symons, -who had never known father or mother, had passed his infancy and early -boyhood in the parish workhouse, from whence he had passed into the -service of Mr. Nichols, who, finding him useful, and of some capacity, -had retained him in his employ to the present time, but at so bare a -stipend, as hardly sufficed to keep body and soul together. Poor Symons -was a meek, enduring drudge, used to the mocks and buffets of the world; -and except under the influence of strong excitement, hardly dared to -rebel or murmur, even in spirit. His acquaintance with the Lovegrove -family arose from his being placed in possession of the furniture and -stock of Bursley Farm, under a writ of _fi. fa._ issued by Nichols. On -the day the inventory was taken, in preparation for the sale, a heavy -piece of timber, which he was assisting to measure, fell upon his left -foot, and severely crushed it. From his master he received only a -malediction for his awkwardness; but young Mrs. Lovegrove--not so much -absorbed in her own grief as to be indifferent to the sufferings of -others--had him brought carefully into the house, and herself tended his -painful hurt with the gentlest care and compassion, and ultimately -effected a thorough cure. This kindness to a slighted, deformed being, -who, before, had scarcely comprehended the meaning of the word, -powerfully effected Symons; and he had since frequently endeavored, in -his shy, awkward way, to testify the deep gratitude he felt toward his -benefactress, of whose present extreme poverty he, in common with every -other inhabitant of the scattered hamlet, had, of course, become fully -cognizant. Charity Symons--the parish authorities had so named him, in -order, doubtless that however high he might eventually rise in the -world, he should never ungratefully forget his origin--beckoned, as I -have said, eagerly to the lone woman, and the instant she opened the -casement, he thrust a rather heavy bag into her hand. - -"For you," he said, hurriedly: "I got it for next to nothing of Tom -Stares; but mind, not a word! God bless and reward you!" and before Mrs. -Lovegrove could answer a word, or comprehend what was meant, he had -disappeared. - -On opening the bag, the surprised and affrighted woman found that it -contained a fine hen-pheasant and a hare! No wonder she was alarmed at -finding herself in possession of such articles; for in those good old -days game could not be lawfully sold or purchased; and unless it could -be distinctly proved that it came by gift from a qualified killer, its -simple possession was a punishable offense. This pheasant and hare had -doubtless been poached by Tom Stares, a notorious offender against the -game-laws; but what was to be done? Spite of all the laws that were -enacted upon the subject, the peasant and farmer intellect of England -could never be made to attach a moral delinquency to the unauthorized -killing of game. A dangerous occupation, leading to no possible good, -and, eventually, sure to result in evil to the transgressor, prudent men -agreed it was; but as for confounding the stealing of a wooden spoon, -worth a penny, with the snaring of a hare, worth, perhaps, five -shillings--that never entered any body's head. And thus it happened that -Mrs. Lovegrove, though conscious that the hare and bird had been -illegally obtained, felt nothing of the instinctive horror and shame -that would have mantled her forehead, had she been made the recipient of -a stolen threepenny-worth of cheese or bacon. She recalled to mind the -journey her husband must take in the morning--he, weak, haggard for want -of food--of which here was an abundant present supply: her boy, too, who -had twice at tea-time, ere he fell asleep, asked vainly for more bread! -As these bitter thoughts glanced through her brain, a sharp double rap -at the door caused her to start like a guilty thing, and then hastily -undo her apron, and throw it over the betraying present. The door was -not locked, and the postman, impatient of delay, lifted the latch, and -stepped into the room. Was he soon enough to observe what was on the -table? Mary Lovegrove would have thought so, but for the unconcerned, -indifferent aspect of the man as he presented a letter, and said, "It's -prepaid: all right;" and without further remark, went away. The anxious -and nervous woman trembled so much, that she could hardly break the seal -of the letter; and the words, as she strove to make out the cramped hand -by the brilliant moonlight, danced confusedly before her eyes. At last -she was able to read. The letter was from Salisbury and announced that -Mr. Brodie "regretted to say, as he had known and respected the late -Ephraim Lovegrove, that he had engaged a person to fill the situation -which had been vacant, a few hours previous to his receiving Edward -Lovegrove's application." That plank, then, had sunk under them like all -the rest! A hard world, she thought, and but little entitled to -obedience or respect from the wretches trampled down in its iron course. -Edward should not, at all events, depart foodless on his morning's -errand; neither should her boy lack breakfast. On this she was now -determined, and with shaking hands and flushed cheek, she hastily set -about preparing the bird for the morning meal--a weak and criminal act, -if you will; but a mother seldom reasons when her child lacks food: she -only feels. - -Edward Lovegrove very easily reconciled himself to the savory breakfast -which awaited him in the morning; and he and his son were doing ample -justice to it--the wife, though faint with hunger, could not touch a -morsel--when the latch of the door suddenly lifted, and in hurried -Thompson the miller, and chief constable of the Hundred, followed by an -assistant. A faint scream escaped from Mrs. Lovegrove, and a fierce oath -broke from her husband's lips, as they recognized the new-comers, and -too readily divined their errand. - -"A charming breakfast, upon my word!" exclaimed the constable, laughing. -"Roasted pheasant--no less! Our information was quite correct, it -appears." - -"What is the meaning of this, and what do you seek here?" exclaimed -Edward Lovegrove. - -"You and this game, of which we are informed you are unlawfully -possessed. I hope," added the constable, a feeling, good sort of man--"I -hope you will be able to prove both this half-eaten pheasant and the -hare I see hanging yonder were presented to you by some person having a -right to make such gifts?" - -A painful and embarrassing pause ensued. It would have been useless, as -far as themselves were concerned, to have named Charity Symons, even had -Lovegrove or his wife been disposed to subject him to the penalties of -the law and the anger of his employer. - -"After all," observed the constable, who saw how matters stood, "it is -but a money penalty." - -"A money penalty!" exclaimed Lovegrove. "It is -imprisonment--ruin--starvation for my wife and child. Look at these bare -walls--these threadbare garments--and say if it can mean any thing -else!" - -"I am sorry for it," rejoined Thompson. "The penalty is a considerable -one: five pounds for each head of game, with costs; and I am afraid, if -Sir John Devereux's agent--lawyer Nichols--presses the charge, in -default of payment, six months' imprisonment! Sir John's preserves have -suffered greatly of late." - -"It is that rascal, that robber Nichols' doing then!" fiercely exclaimed -Lovegrove. "I might have guessed so; but if I don't pay him off both -for old and new one of these days--" - -"Tut--tut!" interrupted the constable: "it's no use calling names, nor -uttering threats we don't mean to perform. Perhaps matters may turn out -better than you think. In the mean time you must appear before Squire -Digby, and so must your hare and what remains of your breakfast." - -Arrived before the magistrate, the prisoner, taken in "_flagrant -délit_," had of course no valid defense to offer. The justice remarked -upon the enormity of the offense committed, and regretted, exceedingly -that he could not at once convict and punish the delinquent; but as the -statute required that two magistrates should concur in the conviction, -the case would be adjourned till that day week, when a petty sessions -would be held. In the mean time he should require bail in ten pounds for -the prisoner's appearance. This would have been tantamount to a sentence -of immediate imprisonment, had not the constable, who had been formerly -intimate with the Lovegroves, stepped forward and said, that if the -prisoner would give him his word that he would not abscond, he would -bail him. This was done, and the necessary formalities complete, the -husband and wife took their sad way homeward. - -What was now to be done? Their furniture, if sold at its highest value, -would barely discharge the penalties incurred, and they would be -homeless, penniless, utterly without resource? The wife wept bitterly, -accusing herself as the cause of this utter ruin; her husband indulged -in fierce and senseless abuse of Nichols, and in a paroxysm of fury -seized a sheet of letter-paper, tore it hastily in halves, and scribbled -a letter to the attorney full of threats of the direst vengeance. This -crazy epistle he signed 'A Ruined Man,' and without pausing to reflect -on what he was doing, dispatched his little boy to the post-office with -it. This mad proceeding appeared to have somewhat relieved him: he grew -calmer, strove to console his wife, went out and obtained credit at the -chandler's--the first time they had made such a request--for a few -necessaries; and after a short interval, the unfortunate couple were -once more discussing their sad prospects with calmness and -partially-renewed hope. More than once Edward Lovegrove wished he had -not sent the letter to Nichols; but he said nothing to his wife about -it, and she, it afterward appeared, had been so pre-occupied at the -time, as not to heed or inquire to whom or of what he was writing. - -On the third day after Edward Lovegrove's appearance before the -magistrate, he set off about noon for Christchurch, in order to dispose -of his flute--a sacrifice which could no longer be delayed. It was -growing late, and his wife was sitting up in impatient expectation of -his return, when an alarm of "Fire" was raised, and it was announced -that a wheat-rick belonging to Nichols, who farmed in a small way, was -in flames. Many of the villagers hastened to the spot; but the fire, by -the time they arrived, had been effectually got under, and after hanging -about the premises a short time, they turned homeward. Edward Lovegrove -joined a party of them, and incidently remarked that he had been to -Christchurch, where he had met young Nichols, and had some rough words -with him: on his return, the young man had passed him on horseback when -about two miles distant from the elder Nichols' house, and just as he -(Lovegrove) neared the attorney's premises, the rick burst into flames. -This relation elicited very little remark at the time, and bidding his -companion good-night, Lovegrove hastened home. - -"The constables are looking for you," said a young woman, abruptly -entering the chandler's shop, whither Edward Lovegrove had proceeded the -following morning to discharge the trifling debt he had incurred. - -"For me?" exclaimed the startled young man. - -"Yes, for you;" and, added the girl with a meaning look and whisper, -"_if you were near the fire last night_, I would advise you to make -yourself scarce for a time." - -Her words conveyed no definite meaning to Edward Lovegrove's mind. The -fire! Constables after him! He left the shop, and took with hasty steps, -his way to the cottage, distant over the fields about a quarter of a -mile. - -"Lawyer Nichols' fire," he muttered as he hurried along. "Surely they do -not mean to accuse me of that!" - -The sudden recollection of the threatening letter he had sent glanced -across and smote, as with the stroke of a dagger, upon his brain. "Good -God! to what have I exposed myself?" - -His agitation was excessive; and at the instant the constables, who had -been to his home in search of him, turned the corner of a path, a few -paces ahead, and came full upon him. In his confusion and terror he -turned to flee, but so weakly and irresolutely, that he was almost -immediately overtaken and secured. - -"I would not have believed this of you, Edward Lovegrove," exclaimed the -constable. - -"Believed what?" ejaculated the bewildered man. - -"That you would have tried to revenge yourself on Lawyer Nichols by such -a base, dastardly trick. But it's not my business to reproach you, and -the less _you_ say the better. Come along." - -As they passed on toward the magistrate's house, an eager and curious -crowd gradually collected and accompanied them; and just as they reached -Digby Hall, a distant convulsive scream, and his name frantically -pronounced by a voice which the prisoner but too well recognized, told -him that his wife had heard of his capture, and was hurrying to join -him. He drew back, but his captors urged him impatiently on; the -hall-door was slammed in the faces of the crowd, and he found himself -in the presence of the magistrate and the elder Nichols. - -The attorney, who appeared to be strongly agitated, deposed in substance -that the prisoner had been seen by his son near his premises a few -minutes before the fire burst out; that he had abused and assaulted -young Mr. Nichols but a few hours previously in the market at -Christchurch; and that he had himself received a threatening letter, -which he now produced, only two days before, and which he believed to be -in the prisoner's handwriting-- - -The prisoner, bewildered by terror, eagerly denied that he wrote the -letter. - -This unfortunate denial was easily disposed of, by the production, by -the constable, of a half sheet of letter-paper found in the cottage, the -ragged edge of which precisely fitted that of the letter. Edward -Lovegrove would have been fully committed at once, but that the -magistrate thought it desirable that the deposition of Arthur Nichols -should be first formally taken. This course was reluctantly acquiesced -in by the prosecutor, and the prisoner was remanded to the next day. - -The dismay of Charity Symons, when he found that his well-intentioned -present had only brought additional suffering upon the Lovegroves, was -intense and bitter; but how to help them, he knew not. He had half made -up his mind to obtain--no matter by what means--a sight of certain -papers which he had long dimly suspected would make strange revelations -upon matters affecting Mary Lovegrove, when the arrest of her husband on -a charge of incendiarism thoroughly determined him to risk the expedient -he had long hesitatingly contemplated. The charge, he was quite -satisfied in his own mind, was an atrocious fabrication, strongly as -circumstances seemed to color and confirm it. - -The clerk, as he sat that afternoon in the office silently pursuing his -ill-paid drudgery, noticed that his employer was strangely ill at ease. -He was restless, and savagely impatient of the slightest delay on the -most necessary question. Evening fell early--it was now near the end of -October, and Symons with a respectful bow, left the office. A few -minutes afterward, the attorney having carefully locked his desk, iron -chest, &c., and placed the keys in his pocket, followed. - -Two hours had elapsed, when Symons re-entered the house by the back way, -walked through the kitchen, softly ascended the stairs, and groped his -way to the inner, private office. There was no moon, and he dared not -light a candle; but the faint starlight fortunately enabled him to move -about without stumbling or noise. He mounted the office steps, and -inserted the edge of a sharp broad chisel between the lock and the lid -of a heavy iron-bound box marked 'C.' The ease and suddenness with which -the lid yielded to the powerful effort he applied to it, overthrew his -balance, and he with difficulty saved himself from falling on the -floor. The box was not locked, and on putting his hand into it, he -discovered that it was entirely empty! The tell-tale papers had been -removed, probably destroyed! At the moment Symons made this exasperating -discovery, the sound of approaching footsteps struck upon his startled -senses, and shaking with fright, he had barely time to descend the -steps, and coop himself up in a narrow cupboard under one of the desks, -when the Nicholses, father and son, entered the office--the former with -a candle in his hand. - -"We are private here," said the father in a low, guarded voice; "and I -tell you you _must_ listen to reason. - -"I don't like it a bit," rejoined the young man. "It's a cowardly, -treacherous business; and as for swearing I saw him near the fire when -it so strangely burst out, I won't do it at any price." - -"Listen to me, you foolish, headstrong boy," retorted the elder Nichols, -"before you decide on beggary for yourself, and ruin--the gallows, -perhaps, for me." - -"Wh-e-e-e-w! Why, what do you mean?" - -"I will tell you. You already know that Mary Woodhouse married Robert -Clarke against his uncle's consent; you also know that Robert Clarke -died about five years after the marriage, and that the seventy pounds a -year which the uncle allowed his nephew to keep him from starvation was -continued to be paid through me to his widow." - -"Yes, I have heard all this before." - -"But you do _not_ know," continued the attorney in an -increasingly-agitated voice, "that about six years after Robert Clarke's -death, the uncle so far relented toward the widow and daughter--though -he would never see either of them--as to increase the annuity to two -hundred pounds, and that at his death, four years since, he bequeathed -Mrs. Clarke five hundred pounds per annum, with succession to her -daughter: all of which sums, I, partly on account of your riot and -extravagance, have appropriated." - -"Good heaven, what a horrible affair! What would you have me do?" - -"I have told you. The dread of discovery has destroyed my health, and -poisoned my existence. Were he once out of the country, his wife would -doubtless follow him; detection would be difficult; conviction, as I -will manage it, impossible." - -There was more said to the same effect; and the son, at the close of a -long and troubled colloquy, departed, after promising to "consider of -it." - -He had been gone but a few minutes; the elder Nichols was silently -meditating the perilous position in which he had placed himself, when a -noiseless step approached him from behind, and a heavy hand was suddenly -placed upon his shoulder. He started wildly to his feet, and confronted -the stern and triumphant glance of the once humble and submissive -Charity Symons. The suddenness of the shock overcame him, and he -fainted. - -Mary Lovegrove, whose child had sobbed itself to sleep, was sitting in -solitude and darkness in the lower room of the cottage, her head bowed -in mute and tearless agony upon the table, when, as on a previous -evening, a tap at the back window challenged her attention. It was once -more Charity Symons. "What do you here again?" exclaimed the wretched -wife with some asperity of tone: "you no doubt intended well; but you -have nevertheless ruined, destroyed me." - -"Not so," rejoined the deformed clerk, his pale, uncouth, but expressive -features gleaming with wild exultation in the clear starlight. "God has -at last enabled me to requite your kindness to a contemned outcast. Fear -not for to-morrow. Your husband is safe, and you are rich." With these -words he vanished. - -On the next morning a letter was placed in the magistrate's hands from -Mr. Nichols, stating that circumstances had come to the writer's -knowledge which convinced him that Edward Lovegrove was entirely -innocent of the offense imputed to him; that the letter, which he had -destroyed, bore quite another meaning from that which he had first -attributed to it; and that he consequently abandoned the prosecution. On -further inquiry, it was found that the attorney had left his house late -the preceding night, accompanied by his son, had walked to Christchurch, -and from thence set off post for London. His property and the winding up -of his affairs had been legally confided to his late clerk. Under these -circumstances the prisoner was of course immediately discharged; and -after a private interview with Symons, returned in joy and gladness to -his now temporary home. He was accompanied by the noisy felicitations of -his neighbors, to whom his liberation and sudden accession to a -considerable fortune had become at the same moment known. As he held his -passionately-weeping wife in his arms, and gazed with grateful emotion -in her tearful but rejoicing eyes, he whispered, "That kind act of yours -toward the despised hunchback has saved me, and enriched our child. -'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy!'" - - - - -[From Dickens's Household Words.] - -THE GAMBLERS OF THE RHINE. - - -In literature, in science, in art, we find Germany quite on a level with -the present age. She has produced men and books equal to the men and -books of England or France, as the names of Goethe, Schiller, Humboldt, -Liebig, and a score of others bear testimony. But while in poetry, -philosophy, and science, she is on a par with the best portions of -modern Europe; in politics--in the practical science of government--she -is an indefinite number of centuries behindhand. Governmentally, she is -now where the English were during the Saxon Heptarchy, with seven or -more kingdoms in a space that might be well governed by one sceptre. -Where she might get along very well with two, she has a dozen petty -kings, and petty courts, and petty national debts, and petty -pension-lists, and paltry debased and confusing coinages, and petty -cabals, quarrels, and intermixture of contending interests. - -Out of this division of territory arises, of course, a number of small -poor princes; and as poor princes do not like to work hard when their -pockets are low, we find them busy with the schemes, shifts, and -contrivances, common from time immemorial with penniless people who have -large appetites for pleasure, small stomachs for honest work--real, -living, reigning dukes though they be, they have added to the royal -"businesses" to which they were born, little private speculations for -the encouragement of _rouge et noir_ and _roulette_. These small princes -have, in fact, turned gambling house keepers--hell-keepers, in the -vulgar but expressive slang of a London police court--proprietors of -establishments where the vicious and the unwary, the greedy hawk and the -silly pigeon, congregate, the one to plunder and the other to be -plucked. That which has been expelled from huge London, as too great an -addition to its vice, or, if not quite expelled, is carried on with -iron-barred doors, unequal at times to protect its followers from the -police and the infamy of exposure--that which has been outlawed from the -Palais Royal and Paris, as too bad even for the lax morality of a most -free-living city--that huge vice which caters to the low senses of -cunning and greediness, and tempts men to lose fortune, position, -character, even hope, in the frantic excitements of, perhaps, one -desperate night--such a vice is housed in fine buildings raised near -mineral springs, surrounded by beautiful gardens, enlivened by music, -and sanctioned by the open patronage of petty German princes holding -sway in the valley watered by the Rhine. In fact, unscrupulous -speculators are found to carry on German gaming-tables at German spas, -paying the sovereign of the country certain thousands of pounds a year -for the privilege of fleecing the public. - -The weakened in body are naturally weakened in mental power. The weak in -body are promised health by "taking the waters" at a German bath. The -early hours, the pleasant walks, the good music, the promised economy, -are inducements. The weakened mind wants more occupation than it finds, -for these places are very monotonous, and the gaming-table is placed by -the sovereign of the country in a noble room--the Kursaal, to afford -excitement to the visitor, and profits--the profits of infamy--to -himself. - -There are grades in these great gaming-houses for Europe. Taking them in -the order in which they are reached from Cologne, it may be said that -Wiesbaden is the finest town, having very pleasant environs, and the -least play. The Grand Duke of Nassau, therefore, has probably the -smallest share of the gaming-table booty. - -Homburg which comes next in order, is far more out of reach, is smaller, -duller--(it is indeed very, very dreary)--and has to keep its -gaming-tables going all the year round, to make up the money paid by the -lessees of the gambling-house to the duke. The range of the Taunus is at -the back of the "town" (a village about as large, imposing, and lively -as Hounslow), and affords its chief attraction. The rides are agreeable, -if the visitor has a good horse--(a difficult thing to get in that -locality)--and is fond of trotting up steep hills, and then ambling down -again. In beauty of position, and other attractions, it is very far -below both Wiesbaden and Baden. - -Baden-Baden is the third, and certainly most beautiful of these German -gambling-towns. The town nestles, as it were, in a sheltered valley, -opening among the hills of the Black Forest. In summer its aspect is -very picturesque and pleasant; but it looks as if in winter it must be -very damp and liable to the atmosphere which provokes the growth of -_goitre_. At Baden there is said to be more play than at the other two -places put together. From May till the end of September, _roulette_ and -_rouge et noir_--the mutter of the man who deals the cards, and the -rattle of the marble--are never still. The profits of the table at this -place are very large. The man who had them some years ago retired with -an immense fortune; and one of his successors came from the Palais Royal -when public gaming was forbidden in Paris, and was little less -successful than his predecessor. The permanent residents at Baden could -alone form any idea of the sums netted, and only such of those as were -living near the bankers. They could scarcely avoid seeing the bags of -silver, five franc pieces chiefly, that passed between the gaming-tables -and the bank. A profit of one thousand pounds a fortnight was thought a -sign of a bad season; and so it must have been, when it is calculated -that the gambling-table keeper paid the duke a clear four thousand -pounds a year as the regal share of the plunder, and agreed to spend two -thousand a year in decorating the town of Baden. The play goes on in a -noble hall called the Conversations House, decorated with frescoes and -fitted up most handsomely. This building stands in a fine ornamental -garden, with green lawns and fine avenues of tall trees; and all this -has been paid for by the profits of _roulette_ and _rouge et noir_. -Seeing this, it may cause surprise that people play at all; yet the -fascination is so great that, once within its influence, good -resolutions and common sense seem alike unequal to resistance. All seems -fair enough, and some appear to win, and then self-love suggests, "Oh, -my luck will surely carry me through!" The game is so arranged that some -win and some lose every game, the table having, it is said, only a small -percentage of chance in its favor. These chances are avowedly greater -at _roulette_ than at _rouge et noir_, but at both it is practically -shown that the player, in the long run, always loses. It is whispered -that, contrary to the schoolboy maxim, cheating _does_ thrive at German -baths; and those who have watched the matter closely, say a Dutch banker -won every season by following a certain plan. He waited till he saw a -heavy stake upon the table, and then backed the other side. He always -won. - -Go into one of the rooms at any of these places, and whom do you see? -The off-scourings of European cities--professional gamblers, ex-officers -of all sorts of armies; portionless younger brothers; pensioners; old -men and old women who have outlived all other excitements; a multitude -of silly gulls, attracted by the waters, or the music, or the -fascination of play; and a sprinkling of passing tourists, who -come--"just look in on their way," generally to be disappointed--often -to be fleeced. Young and handsome women are not very often seen playing. -Gaming is a vice reserved for middle age. While hearts are to be won, -dollars are not worth playing for. Cards, and rouge, and dyspepsy seem -to be nearly allied, if we may judge by the specimens of humanity seen -at the baths of Wiesbaden, Homburg, and Baden. The players--and player -and loser are almost synonymous terms--are generally thin and anxious; -the bankers, fat and stolid. As the brass whirls round, the table-keeper -has the look of a quiet bloated spider, seemingly passionless, but with -an eye that glances over every chance on the board. At his side see an -elderly man, pale and thin, the muscles of whose lower jaw are twitching -spasmodically, yet with jaded, forced resignation, he loses his last -five pounds. Next him is a woman highly dressed, with false hair and -teeth, and a great deal of paint. She has a card in her hand, on which -she pricks the numbers played, and thus flatters herself she learns the -best chances to take. Next to her see one of the most painful sights -these places display. A father, mother, and young girl are all trying -their fortune; the parents giving money to the child that they "may have -her good luck," reckless of the fatal taste they are implanting in her -mind. Next is a Jew, looking all sorts of agonies, and one may fancy he -knows he is losing in an hour, what it has cost him years of cunning and -self-denial to amass. And so on, round the table, we find ill-dressed -and well dressed Germans, French, Russians, English, Yankees, Irish, -mixed up together, in one eager crowd; thirsting to gain gold without -giving value in return; risking what they have in an insane contest -which they know has destroyed thousands before them; losing their money, -and winning disgust, despondency, and often despair and premature death. -Never a year is said to go by without its complement of ruined fools and -hasty suicides. The neighboring woods afford a convenient shelter; and a -trigger, or a handkerchief and a bough, complete the tragedy. - - - - -[From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal.] - -THE CONFLICT OF LOVE--A TALE OF REAL LIFE. - - -In the north of France, near the Belgian frontier, is situated a small, -obscure town. It is surrounded by high fortifications, which seem ready -to crush the mean houses in the centre. Inclosed, so to speak, in a -net-work of walls, the poor little town has never sent a suburb to -wander on the smooth green turf outside; but as the population -increased, new streets sprang up within the boundary, crowding the -already narrow space, and giving to the whole the aspect of some huge -prison. - -The climate of the north of France during half the year is usually damp -and gloomy. I shall never forget the sensation of sadness which I felt -when obliged by circumstances to leave the gay, sunny south, and take up -my abode for a while in the town I have described. Every day I walked -out; and in order to reach the nearest gate, I had to pass through a -narrow lane, so very steep, that steps were cut across it in order to -render the ascent less difficult. Traversing this disagreeable alley, it -happened one day that my eyes rested on a mean-looking, gray-colored -house, which stood detached from the others. Seldom, indeed, could a ray -of sunshine light up its small, green-paned windows, and penetrate the -interior of its gloomy apartments. During the winter the frozen snow on -the steps made it so dangerous to pass through the narrow alley, that -its slippery pavement seemed quite deserted. I do not remember to have -met a single person there in the course of my daily walk; and my eye -used to rest with compassion on the silent gray house. "I hope," thought -I, "that its inhabitants are old--it would be fearful to be young -there!" Spring came; and in the narrow lane the ice changed into -moisture; then the damp gradually dried up, and a few blades of grass -began to appear beneath the rampart wall. Even in this gloomy passage -there were tokens of awakening life, but the gray house remained silent -and sad as before. Passing by it, as usual, in the beginning of June, I -remarked, placed on the window-sill of the open casement, a glass -containing a bunch of violets. "Ah," thought I, "there is a _soul_ -here!" - -To love flowers, one must either be young, or have preserved the -memories of youth. The enjoyment of their perfume implies something -ideal and refined; and among the poor a struggle between the necessities -of the body and the instincts of the soul. I looked at the violets with -a feeling of sadness, thinking that they probably formed the single -solace of some weary life. The next day I returned. Even in that gloomy -place the sweet rejoicing face of summer had appeared, and dissipated -the chill silence of the air. Birds were twittering, insects humming, -and one of the windows in the old gray house was wide open. - -Seated near it was a woman working busily with her needle. It would be -difficult to tell her age, for the pallor and sadness of her countenance -might have been caused as much by sorrow as by years, and her cheek was -shadowed by a profusion of rich dark hair. She was thin, and her fingers -were long and white. She wore a simple brown dress, a black apron, and -white collar; and I remarked the sweet, though fading bunch of violets -carefully placed within the folds of her kerchief. Her eyes met mine, -and she gently inclined her head. I then saw more distinctly that she -had just reached the limit which separates youth from mature age. She -had suffered, but probably without a struggle, without a murmur--perhaps -without a tear. Her countenance was calm and resigned, but it was the -stillness of death. I fancied she was like a drooping flower, which, -without being broken, bends noiselessly toward the earth. - -Every day I saw her in the same place, and, without speaking, we -exchanged a salutation. On Sundays I missed her, and concluded that she -walked into the country, for each Monday a fresh bunch of violets -appeared in the window. I conjectured that she was poor, working at -embroidery for her support; and I discovered that she was not alone in -the house, for one day a somewhat impatient voice called "Ursula!" and -she rose hastily. The tone was not that of a master, neither did she -obey the summons after the manner of a servant, but with an expression -of heartfelt readiness; yet the voice breathed no affection; and I -thought that Ursula perchance was not loved by those with whom she -lived. - -Time passed on, and our silent intimacy increased. At length each day I -gathered some fresh flowers, and placed them on the window-sill. Ursula -blushed, and took them with a gentle, grateful smile. Clustering in her -girdle, and arranged within her room, they brought summer to the old -gray house. It happened one evening that as I was returning through the -alley a sudden storm of rain came on. Ursula darted toward the door, -caught my hand as I was passing, and drew me into the narrow passage -which led to her room. Then the poor girl clasped both my hands in hers, -and murmured, softly, "Thanks!" It was the first time I had heard her -voice, and I entered her apartment. It was a large, low room, with a -red-tiled floor, furnished with straw chairs ranged along the walls. -Being lighted by only one small window, it felt damp and gloomy. Ursula -was right to seat herself close by the casement to seek a little light -and air. I understood the reason of her paleness--it was not that she -had lost the freshness of youth, but that she had never possessed it. -She was bleached like a flower that has blossomed in the shade. - -In the farthest corner of the room, seated on arm-chairs, were two -persons, an old man and woman. The latter was knitting without looking -at her work--she was blind. The man was unemployed: he gazed vacantly -at his companion without a ray of intelligence in his face: it was -evident that he had overpassed the ordinary limit of human life, and -that now his body alone existed. Sometimes in extreme old age the mind, -as though irritated by its long captivity, tries to escape from its -prison, and in its efforts, breaks the harmonious chord that links them -together. It chafes against the shattered walls; it has not taken -flight, but it feels itself no longer in a place of rest. - -These, then, were the inhabitants of the silent gray house--a blind old -woman, an imbecile old man, and a young girl faded before her time by -the sadness and gloom that surrounded her! Her life had been a blank; -each year had borne away some portion of her youth, her beauty, and her -hope, and left her nothing but silence and oblivion. I often returned to -visit Ursula, and one day, while I sat next her in the window, she told -me the simple story of her life. - -"I was born," said she, "in this house; and I have never quitted it; but -my parents are not natives of this country--they came here as strangers, -without either friends or relatives. When they married, they were -already advanced in life; for I can not remember them ever being young. -My mother became blind, and this misfortune rendered her melancholy and -austere; so that our house was enveloped in gloom. I was never permitted -to sing, or play, or make the slightest noise: very rarely did I receive -a caress. Yet my parents loved me: they never told me that they did; but -I judged their hearts by my own, and I felt that I loved them. My days -were not always as solitary as they are now; I had a sister"--Her eyes -filled with tears, but they did not overflow; they were wont to remain -hidden in the depths of her heart. After a few moments, she -continued--"I had an elder sister: like our mother, she was grave and -silent, but toward me she was tender and affectionate. We loved each -other dearly, and shared between us the cares which our parents -required. We never enjoyed the pleasure of rambling together through the -fields, for one always remained at home; but whichever of us went out, -brought flowers to the other, and talked to her of the sun, and the -trees, and the fresh air. In the evenings we worked together by the -light of a lamp; we could not converse much, for our parents used to -slumber by our side; but whenever we looked up, we could see a loving -smile on each other's face; and we went to repose in the same room, -never lying down without saying 'Good-night! I hope, dear sister, you -will sleep well!' Was it not a trial to part? Yet I do not murmur: -Martha is happy in heaven. I know not if it was the want of air and -exercise, or the dull monotony of her life, which caused the -commencement of Martha's illness, but I saw her gradually languish and -fade. I alone was disquieted by it; my mother did not see her, and she -never complained. With much difficulty I at length prevailed on my -sister to see a physician. Alas! nothing could be done: she lingered for -a time, and then died. The evening before her death, as I was seated by -her bed, she clasped my hand between her trembling ones: 'Adieu! my poor -Ursula!' she said: 'take courage, and watch well over our father and -mother. They love us, Ursula; they love us, although they do not often -say so. Take care of your health for their sake; you can not die before -them. Adieu! sister: don't weep for me too much, but pray to our -heavenly Father. We shall meet again, Ursula!' Three days afterward, -Martha was borne away in her coffin, and I remained alone with my -parents. When my mother first heard of my sister's death, she uttered a -loud cry, sprang up, took a few hasty steps across the room, and then -fell on the ground. I raised her up, and led her back to her arm-chair. -Since then she has not wept, but she is more silent than before, save -that her lips move in secret prayer. I have little more to tell. My -father became completely imbecile, and at the same time we lost nearly -the whole of our little property. I have succeeded in concealing this -loss from my parents; making money for their support by selling my -embroidery. I have no one to speak to since my sister's death; I love -books, but I have no time for reading--I must work. It is only on Sunday -that I breathe the fresh air; and I do not walk far, as I am alone. Some -years since, when I was very young, I used to dream while I sat in this -window. I peopled the solitude with a thousand visions which brightened -the dark hours. Now a sort of numbness has fallen on my thoughts--I -dream no more. While I was young, I used to hope for some change in my -destiny; now I am twenty-nine years old, and sorrow has chastened my -spirit: I no longer hope or fear. In this place I shall finish my lonely -days. Do not think that I have found resignation without a conflict. -There were times when my heart revolted at living without being loved, -but I thought of Martha's gentle words, 'We shall meet again, sister!' -and I found peace. Now I often pray--I seldom weep. And you, madam--are -you happy?" - -I did not answer this question of Ursula's. Speaking to her of happiness -would be like talking of an ungrateful friend to one whom he has -deserted. - -Some months afterward, on a fine autumn morning, as I was preparing to -go to Ursula, I received a visit from a young officer who had lately -joined the garrison. He was the son of an old friend of my husband's, -and we both felt a lively interest in his welfare. Seeing me prepared -for a walk, he offered his arm, and we proceeded toward the dwelling of -Ursula. I chanced to speak of her; and as the young officer, whom I -shall call Maurice d'Erval, seemed to take an interest in her story, I -related it to him as we walked slowly along. When we reached the old -gray house he looked at her with pity and respect, saluted her, and -withdrew. Ursula, startled at the presence of a stranger, blushed -slightly. At that moment she looked almost beautiful. I know not what -vague ideas crossed my brain, but I looked at her, and then, without -speaking, I drew the rich bands of her hair into a more becoming form, I -took a narrow black velvet collar off my own neck, and passed it round -hers, and I arranged a few brilliant flowers in her girdle. Ursula -smiled without understanding why I did so: her smile always pained -me--there is nothing more sad than the smile of the unhappy. They seem -to smile for others, not for themselves. Many days passed without my -seeing Maurice d'Erval, and many more before chance led us together near -the old gray house. - -It was on our return from a country excursion with a large gay party. On -entering the town, we all dispersed in different directions: I took the -arm of Maurice, and led him toward Ursula's abode. It was one of those -soft, calm autumn evenings, when the still trees are colored by the rays -of the setting sun, and every thing breathes repose. It is a time when -the soul is softened, when we become better, when we feel ready to weep -without the bitterness of sorrow. Ursula, as usual, was seated in the -window. A slanting ray of sunshine falling on her head lent an unwonted -lustre to her dark hair: her eyes brightened when she saw me, and she -smiled her own sad smile. Her sombre dress showed to advantage her -slender, gracefully-bending figure, and a bunch of violets, her favorite -flower, was fastened in her bosom. There was something in the whole -appearance of Ursula which suited harmoniously the calm, sad beauty of -the evening, and my companion felt it. As we approached, he fixed his -eyes on the poor girl, who, timid as a child of fifteen, hung down her -head, and blushed deeply. Maurice stopped, exchanged a few words with us -both, and then took his leave. But from that time he constantly passed -through the narrow alley, and paused each time for a moment to salute -Ursula. One day, accompanied by me, he entered her house. - -There are hearts in this world so unaccustomed to hope, that they can -not comprehend happiness when it comes to them. Enveloped in her -sadness, which, like a thick vail, hid from her sight all external -things, Ursula neither saw nor understood. She remained under the eyes -of Maurice as under mine--dejected and resigned. As to the young man, I -could not clearly make out what was passing in his mind. It was not love -for Ursula, at least so I thought, but it was that tender pity which is -nearly allied to it. The romantic soul of Maurice pleased itself in the -atmosphere of sadness which surrounded Ursula. Gradually they began to -converse; and in sympathizing with each other on the misery of life, -they experienced that happiness whose existence they denied. Months -passed on; the pleasant spring came back again; and one evening, while -walking with a large party, Maurice d'Erval drew me aside, and after -some indifferent remarks, said, "Does not the most exalted happiness -consist in making others share it with you? Is there not great sweetness -in imparting joy to one who would otherwise pass a life of tears?" I -looked at him anxiously without speaking. "Yes," said he, "dear friend, -go ask Ursula if she will marry me!" - -An exclamation of joy was my reply, and I hurried toward the gray house. -I found Ursula, as usual, seated at her work. Solitude, silence, and the -absence of all excitement had lulled her spirit into a sort of -drowsiness. She did not suffer; she even smiled languidly when I -appeared, but this was the only sign of animation she displayed. I -feared not giving a sudden shock to this poor paralyzed soul, or -stirring it into a violent tumult of happiness: I wanted to see if the -mental vigor was extinct, or merely dormant. I placed my chair next -hers, I took both her hands in mine, and fixing my eyes on hers, I said, -"Ursula, Maurice d'Erval has desired me to ask you if you will be his -wife!" - -The girl was struck as if with a thunderbolt; her eyes beamed through -the tears that filled them, and her blood, rushing through the veins, -mantled richly beneath her skin. Her chest heaved, her heart beat almost -audibly, and her hands grasped mine with a convulsive pressure. Ursula -had only slumbered, and now the voice of love awakened her. She loved -suddenly: hitherto she might, perchance, have loved unwittingly, but now -the vail was rent, and she _knew_ that she loved. - -After a few moments, she passed her hand across her forehead, and said, -in a low voice, "No: it is not possible!" - -I simply repeated the same phrase, "Maurice d'Erval asks you if you will -be his wife," in order to accustom her to the sound of the words, which, -like the notes of a harmonious chord, formed for her, poor thing, a -sweet, unwonted melody. - -"His wife!" repeated she with ecstasy; "his wife!" And running toward -her mother, she cried, "Mother, do you hear it? He asks me to be his -wife!" - -"Daughter," replied the old blind woman, "my beloved daughter, I knew -that, sooner or later, God would recompense your virtues." - -"My God!" cried Ursula, "what hast Thou done for me this day? _His wife! -beloved daughter!_" And she fell on her knees with clasped hands, and -her face covered with tears. At that moment footsteps were heard in the -passage. "It is he!" cried Ursula. "He brings life!" I hastened away, -and left Ursula glowing with tearful happiness to receive Maurice -d'Erval alone. - -From that day Ursula was changed. She grew young and beautiful under the -magic influence of joy, yet her happiness partook in some measure of her -former character: it was calm, silent, and reserved; so that Maurice, -who had first loved a pale, sad woman, seated in the shade, was not -obliged to change the coloring of the picture, although Ursula was now -happy. They passed long evenings together in the low, dull room, lighted -only by the moonbeams, conversing and musing together. - -Ursula loved with simplicity. She said to Maurice, "I love you--I am -happy--and I thank you for it!" The old gray house was the only scene of -these interviews. Ursula worked with unabated diligence, and never left -her parents. But the walls of that narrow dwelling no longer confined -her soul: it had risen to freedom, and taken its flight. The sweet magic -of hope brightens not only the future, but the present, and through the -medium of its all-powerful prism changes the coloring of all things. The -old house was as mean-looking and gloomy as ever, but one feeling, -enshrined in the heart of a woman, changed it to a palace. Dreams of -hope, although you fleet and vanish like golden clouds in the sky, yet -come, come to us ever! Those who have never known you, are a thousand -times poorer than those who live to regret you! - -Thus there passed a happy time for Ursula. But a day came when Maurice -entering her room in haste, said, "Dearest, we must hasten our marriage; -the regiment is about to be moved to another garrison, and we must be -ready to set out." - -"Are we going far, Maurice?" - -"Does it frighten my Ursula to think of seeing distant countries? There -are many lands more beautiful than this." - -"Oh, no, Maurice, not for myself, but for my parents: they are too old -to bear a long journey." Maurice looked at his betrothed without -speaking. Although he well knew that, in order to share his wandering -destiny, Ursula must leave her parents, yet he had never reflected -seriously on the subject. He had foreseen her grief, but confiding in -her affection, he had thought that his devoted love would soothe every -sorrow of which he was not himself the cause. It was now necessary to -come to an explanation; and sad at the inevitable pain which he was -about to inflict on his betrothed, Maurice took her hand, made her sit -down in her accustomed place, and said, gently, "Dearest, it would be -impossible for your father and mother to accompany us in our wandering -life. Until now, my Ursula, we have led a loving, dreamy life, without -entering soberly into our future plans. I have no fortune but my sword; -and now, at the commencement of my career, my income is so small, that -we shall have to submit together to many privations. I reckon on your -courage; but you alone must follow me. The presence of your parents -would only serve to entail misery on them, and hopeless poverty on us." - -"Leave my father and my mother!" cried Ursula. - -"Leave them, with their little property, in this house; confide them to -careful hands; and follow the fortunes of your husband." - -"Leave my father and my mother!" repeated Ursula. "But do you know that -the pittance they possess would never suffice for their support--that -without their knowledge, I work to increase it--and that, during many -years, I have tended them alone?" - -"My poor Ursula!" replied Maurice, "we must submit to what is -inevitable. Hitherto you have concealed from them the loss of their -little fortune; tell it to them now, as it can not be helped. Try to -regulate their expenditure of the little which remains; for, alas! we -shall have nothing to give them." - -"Go away, and leave them here! Impossible! I tell you, I must work for -them!" - -"Ursula, my Ursula!" said Maurice, pressing both her hands in his, "do -not allow yourself, I conjure you, to be carried away by the first -impulse of your generous heart. Reflect for a moment: we do not refuse -to give, but we have it not. Even living alone, we shall have to endure -many privations." - -"I can not leave them," said Ursula, looking mournfully at the two old -people slumbering in their arm-chairs. - -"Do you not love me, Ursula?" The poor girl only replied by a torrent of -tears. - -Maurice remained long with her, pouring forth protestations of love, and -repeating explanations of their actual position. She listened without -replying; and at length he took his leave. Left alone, Ursula leaned her -head on her hand, and remained without moving for many hours. Alas! the -tardy gloom of happiness which brightened her life for a moment was -passing away: the blessed dream was fled never to return! Silence, -oblivion, darkness, regained possession of that heart whence love had -chased them. During the long midnight hours who can tell what passed in -the poor girl's mind? God knew: she never spoke of it. - -When day dawned, she shuddered, closed the window, which had remained -open during the night, and, trembling from the chill which seized both -mind and body, she took paper and pen, and wrote--"Farewell, Maurice! I -remain with my father and my mother: they have need of me. To abandon -them in their old age would be to cause their death: they have only me -in the world. My sister, on her death-bed, confided them to me, saying, -'We shall meet again, Ursula!' If I neglected my duties, I should never -see her more. I have loved you well--I shall love you always. You have -been very kind, but I know now that we are too poor to marry. Farewell! -How hard to write that word! Farewell, dear friend--I knew that -happiness was not for me, URSULA." - -I went to the old gray house, and so did Maurice; but all our -representations were useless--she would not leave her parents. "I must -work for them!" she said. In vain I spoke to her of Maurice's love, and, -with a sort of cruelty, reminded her of her waning youth, and the -improbability of her meeting another husband. She listened, while her -tears dropped on the delicate work at which she labored without -intermission, and then in a low voice she murmured, "They would die: I -must work for them!" She begged us not to tell her mother what had -passed. Those for whom she had sacrificed herself remained ignorant of -her devotion. Some slight reason was assigned for the breaking off of -the marriage, and Ursula resumed her place and her employment near the -window, pale, dejected, and bowed down as before. - -Maurice d'Erval possessed one of those prudent, deliberating minds which -never allow themselves to be carried away by feeling or by impulse. His -love had a limit: he prayed and intreated for a time, but at length he -grew weary, and desisted. - -It happened one day, while Ursula was seated in her window, that she -heard a distant sound of military music, and the measured trampling of -many feet. It was the regiment departing. Tremblingly she listened to -the air, which sounded as a knell in her ears; and when the last faint -notes died away in the distance, she let her work fall on her lap, and -covered her face with her hands. A few tears trickled between her -fingers, but she speedily wiped them away, and resumed her work: she -resumed it for the rest of her life. On the evening of this day of -separation--this day when the sacrifice was consummated--Ursula, after -having bestowed her usual care on her parents, seated herself at the -foot of her mother's bed, and, bending toward her with a look, whose -tearful tenderness the blind old woman could not know, the poor deserted -one took her hand, and murmured softly, "Mother! you love me; do you -not? Is not my presence a comfort to you? Would you not grieve to part -with me, my mother?" - -The old woman turned her face to the wall, and said in a fretful tone, -"Nonsense, Ursula. I'm tired; let me go to sleep!" The word of -tenderness which she had sought as her only recompense was not uttered; -the mother fell asleep without pressing her daughter's hand; and the -poor girl, falling on her knees, poured out her sorrows in prayer to One -who could both hear and heal them. - -From that time Ursula became more pale, more silent, more cast down than -ever. The last sharp sorrow bore away all traces of her youth and -beauty. "All is ended!" she used to say; and all, save duty, _was_ ended -for her on earth. No tidings came of Maurice d'Erval. Ursula had pleased -his imagination, like some graceful melancholy picture, but time effaced -its coloring from his memory, and he forgot. How many things are -forgotten in this life! How rarely do the absent mourn each other long! - -One year after these events, Ursula's mother began visibly to decline, -yet without suffering from any positive malady. Her daughter watched and -prayed by her bed, and received her last benediction. "Once more she is -with thee, Martha!" sighed Ursula: "be it thine to watch over her in -heaven." She knelt down, and prayed by the side of the solitary old man. -She dressed him in mourning without his being conscious of it; but on -the second day he turned toward the empty arm-chair next his own, and -cried, "My wife!" - -Ursula spoke to him, and tried to divert his attention; but he repeated, -"My wife!" while the tears rolled down his cheeks. In the evening, when -his supper was brought, he turned away from it, and fixing his eyes on -the vacant chair, said, "My wife!" - -Ursula tried every expedient that love and sorrow could suggest; but in -vain. The old man continued watching the place which his wife was wont -to occupy; and refusing food, he would look at Ursula, and with clasped -hands, in the querulous tone of a child imploring some forbidden -indulgence, repeat, "My wife!" In a month afterward he died. His last -movement was to raise his clasped hands, look up to Heaven, and cry "My -wife!" as though he saw her waiting to receive him. When the last coffin -was borne away from the old gray house, Ursula murmured softly, "My God! -couldst thou not have spared them to me a little longer?" She was left -alone; and many years have passed since then. - -I left the dark old town and Ursula to travel into distant lands. By -degrees she ceased to write to me, and after many vain efforts to induce -her to continue the correspondence, I gradually lost all trace of her. I -sometimes ask myself, "What has been her fate? Is she dead?" Alas! the -poor girl was ever unfortunate: I fear she still lives! - - - - -STREET MUSIC IN LONDON. - - -"Charming place this," said a mad lady to us while looking out of a -window of the finest Lunatic Asylum in North Britain; "so retired, so -quiet, so genteel, so remote from the busy hum of men and women. The -view you perceive is lovely--quite sylvan (there were two trees in the -remote distance), 'Silence reigns around,' as the poet says, and then -you see, sir, _we do not allow street bands to come here_." - -On inquiry, we were told that this patient was a London literary lady. -Her mania, like Morose in Ben Jonson's Epicure, was against noise. She -constantly prayed for deafness. She walked in list shoes, and spoke in a -whisper as an example to others. The immediate cause of her confinement -had not been ascertained, but we have no doubt that she had been driven -stark mad by the street discord of the metropolis. We firmly believe her -case is not singular. Judging from our own experience of the extremest -brink of insanity, to which we have been occasionally driven by the -organic and Pandean persecutions to which we have been subjected, we -should say that much of the madness existing and wrought in this county -of Middlesex originates in street music. If Dr. Connolly can not bear -us out in this opinion, we shall be rather astonished. - -A man of thoughtful habit, and of a timid, or nervous temperament, has -only to take apartments in what lodging-house-keepers wickedly call, in -their advertisements, "a quiet neighborhood," to be tolerably sure of -making his next move in a strait waistcoat to an asylum for the insane. -In retired streets, squares, terraces, or "rows," where the more -pleasing music of cart, coach, and cab wheels does not abound, the void -is discordantly filled up by peripatetic concerts, which last all day -long. You are forced, each morning, to shave to the hundredth psalm -groaned out from an impious organ; at breakfast you are stunned by the -basses of a wretched waltz belched forth from a bass trombone; and your -morning is ruined for study by the tinkling of a barrel piano-forte; at -luncheon acute dyspepsia communicates itself to your vitals in the -stunning _buldering_ of a big-drum; tuneless trumpets, discordant -cornets, and blundering bass-viols form a running accompaniment of -discord to your afternoon walk; hurdy-gurdies, peradventure, destroy -your dinner; fiddles and harps squeak away the peace of your whole -evening; and, when you lay your distracted head on your pillow you are -robbed of sleep by a banditti of glee singers, hoarsely croaking, "Up -rouse ye then, my merry, merry men!" - -Yet this is a land of liberty, and every man's house is his castle! - -A man may have every comfort this world can afford--the prettiest house, -the sweetest wife, the most unexceptionable cook, lovely children, and a -good library--but what are these when the enjoyment they afford is -destroyed by an endless _charivari_; when domestic happiness is made -misery by street discord; when an English gentleman is denied what is -insured to every Pentonville prisoner--peace; when a wise legislation -has patented the silent system for convicts only, and supplies no -free-born Briton with a defense from hideous invasions of his inmost -privacy: a legislature which, here, in London, in the year of grace -eighteen hundred and fifty, where civilization is said to have made some -advances--permits bag-pipes! - -This is a subject upon which it is impossible, without the most -superhuman self-control, to write with calmness. - -Justice is supposed in this country to be meted out with an even hand. A -humane maxim says, "Better let ten guilty men escape, than one innocent -man suffer." Yet what have the public, especially of "quiet -neighborhoods," done; what crimes have we committed; what retribution -have we invoked; that we are to be visited with the indiscriminating -punishment, the excruciating agony, squealed and screeched into our ears -out of that instrument of ineffable torture, the Scotch bagpipe? If our -neighbor be a slanderer, a screw, a giver of bad dinners, or any other -sort of criminal for whom the law has provided no punishment and a -bag-pipe serenade be your mode of revenge on him, shut him up with a -piper or pipers in the padded room in Bedlam, or take him out to the -Eddystone lighthouse; but for the love of mercy, do not make us, his -unoffending neighbors, partakers of his probably just, but certainly -condign punishment! - -We have, however, a better opinion of human nature than to believe in -such extreme vindictiveness. We rather attribute these public -performances of sonorous savagery to the perverted taste of a few -unfortunate individuals, who pretend to relish the discords, and who -actually pay the kilted executioners of harmony. The existence of such -wretched amateurs might be doubted, if we did not remember that the most -revolting propensities are to be found among mankind. There _are_ people -who chew tobacco; a certain tribe of Polynesian aborigines deem -assafoetida the most delicious of perfumes; and Southey, in his Travels -in Spain, states that the Gallician carters positively refused to grease -their wheels because of the delight the creaking gave them. Yet although -the grating of wooden axles, or even the sharpening of saws, is music to -the pibroch, it appears from a variety of evidence that bad taste can -actually reach, even in the female mind, to the acme of encouraging and -patronizing street bagpipers. - -Do we wish to banish all music from the busy haunts of men? By no means. -Good music is sometimes emitted from our pavements--the kerb sends forth -here and there, and now and then, sounds not unworthy of the best -appointed orchestra. Where these superior street performers received -their musical education it is not our business to inquire; but their -arrangements of some of the most popular opera music, show that their -training has been strictly professional. Quintette, Sestette, and -Septette bands of brass and string are occasionally heard in the open -street, whose performances show that the pieces have been regularly -scored and rigidly rehearsed. "Tune, time, and distance" are excellently -kept; the pianos and fortes are admirably colored--there is no vamping -of basses; no "fudging" of difficult passages. We look upon such players -as musical missionaries who purvey the best music from the opera houses -and from the saloons of the nobility to the general public, to the -improvement of its musical taste. But where even these choice _pavé_ -professionists have us at a disadvantage is in their discoursing their -excellent music at precisely the times when we do _not_ want the sounds -of the charmer, charm he never so wisely. The habitant of the "quiet -neighborhood," fond as he is of _Casta Diva_ or the _Rosen Waltz_, would -rather not be indulged with them just as he is commencing to study a -complicated brief, or while he is computing the draft of a difficult -survey. When he wants music he likes to go to it; he never wants it to -come to him. - - - - -[From Dickens's Household Words.] - -MISTAKES IN PERSONAL IDENTITY. - - -There is no kind of evidence more infirm in its nature and against which -jurymen on legal trials should be more on their guard, than that -involving identity of person. The number of persons who resemble each -other is not inconsiderable in itself; but the number is very large of -persons who, though very distinguishable when standing side by side, are -yet sufficiently alike to deceive those who are without the means of -immediate comparison. - -Early in life an occurrence impressed me with the danger of relying on -the most confident belief of identity. I was at Vauxhall Gardens where I -thought I saw, at a short distance, an old country gentleman whom I -highly respected, and whose favor I should have been sorry to lose. I -bowed to him, but obtained no recognition. In those days the company -amused themselves by walking round in a circle, some in one direction, -some in the opposite, by which means every one saw and was seen--I say -in those days, because I have not been at Vauxhall for a quarter of a -century. In performing these rounds I often met the gentleman, and tried -to attract his attention, until I became convinced that either his -eyesight was so weakened that he did not know me, or that he chose to -disown my acquaintance. Some time afterward, going into the county in -which he resided, I received, as usual, an invitation to dinner; this -led to an explanation, when my friend assured me he had not been in -London for twenty years. I afterward met the person whom I had mistaken -for my old friend, and wondered how I could have fallen into the error. -I can only explain it by supposing that, if the mind feels satisfied of -identity, which it often does at the first glance, it ceases to -investigate that question, and occupies itself with other matter; as in -my case, where my thoughts ran upon the motives my friend might have for -not recognizing me, instead of employing themselves on the question of -whether or no the individual before my eyes was indeed the person I took -him for. - -If I had had to give evidence on this matter my mistake would have been -the more dangerous, as I had full means of knowledge. The place was well -lighted, the interviews were repeated, and my mind was undisturbed. How -often have I known evidence of identity acted upon by juries, where the -witness was in a much less favorable position (for correct observation) -than mine. - -Sometimes, a mistaken verdict is avoided by independent evidence. -Rarely, however, is this rock escaped, by cross-examination, even when -conducted with adequate skill and experience. The belief of the witness -is belief in a matter of opinion resulting from a combination of facts -so slight and unimportant, separately considered, that they furnish no -handle to the cross-examiner. A striking case of this kind occurs to my -recollection, with which I will conclude. - -A prisoner was indicted for shooting at the prosecutor, with intent to -kill him. The prosecutor swore that the prisoner had demanded his money, -and that upon refusal, or delay, to comply with his requisition, he -fired a pistol, by the flash of which his countenance became perfectly -visible; the shot did not take effect, and the prisoner made off. Here -the recognition was momentary, and the prosecutor could hardly have been -in an undisturbed state of mind, yet the confidence of his belief made a -strong impression on all who heard the evidence, and probably would have -sealed the fate of the prisoner without the aid of an additional fact of -very slight importance, which was, however, put in evidence, by way of -corroboration, that the prisoner, who was a stranger to the -neighborhood, had been seen passing near the spot in which the attack -was made about noon of the same day. The judge belonged to a class now, -thank God! obsolete, who always acted on the reverse of the -constitutional maxim, and considered every man guilty until he was -proved to be innocent. - -If the case had closed without witnesses on behalf of the prisoner, his -life would have been gone: fortunately, he possessed the means of -employing an able and zealous attorney, and more fortunately, it so -happened that several hours before the attack the prisoner had mounted -upon a coach, and was many miles from the scene of the crime at the hour -of its commission. - -With great labor, and at considerable expense, all the passengers were -sought out, and, with the coachman and guard, were brought into court, -and testified to the presence among them of the prisoner. An _alibi_ is -always a suspected defense, and by no man was ever more suspiciously -watched than by this judge. But when witness after witness appeared, -their names corresponding exactly with the way-bill produced by the -clerk of a respectable coach-office, the most determined skepticism gave -way, and the prisoner was acquitted by acclamation. He was not, however, -saved by his innocence, but by his good fortune. How frequently does it -happen to us all to be many hours at a time without having witnesses to -prove our absence from one spot by our presence at another! And how many -of us are too prone to avail ourselves of such proof in the instances -where it may exist! - -A remarkable instance of mistake in identity, which put the life of a -prisoner in extreme peril, I heard from the lips of his counsel. It -occurred at the Special Commission held at Nottingham after the riots -consequent on the rejection of the Reform Bill by the House of Lords, in -1831. - -The prisoner was a young man of prepossessing appearance, belonging to -what may be called the lower section of the middle rank of life, being a -framework knitter, in the employment of his father, a master -manufacturer in a small way. He was tried on an indictment charging him -with the offense of arson. A mob, of which he was alleged to be one, had -burned Colwick Hall, near Nottingham, the residence of Mr. Musters, the -husband of Mary Chaworth, whose name is so closely linked with that of -Byron. This ill-fated lady was approaching the last stage of -consumption, when, on a cold and wet evening in autumn, she was driven -from her mansion, and compelled to take refuge among the trees of her -shrubbery--an outrage which probably hastened her death. - -The crime, with its attendant circumstances, created, as was natural, a -strong sympathy against the criminals. Unhappily, this feeling, so -praiseworthy in itself, is liable to produce a strong tendency in the -public mind to believe in the guilt of a party accused. People sometimes -seem to hunger and thirst after a criminal, and are disappointed when it -turns out that they are mistaken in their man, and are, consequently, -slow to believe that such an error has been made. Doubtless, the -impression is received into the mind unconsciously; but although on that -ground pardonable, it is all the more dangerous. In this case, the -prisoner was identified by several witnesses as having taken an active -part in setting fire to the house. - -He had been under their notice for some considerable space of time: they -gave their evidence against him without hesitation, and probably the -slightest doubt of its accuracy. His defense was an _alibi_. The frame -at which he worked had its place near the entrance to the warehouse, the -room frequented by the customers and all who had business to transact at -the manufactory. He acted, therefore, as door-keeper, and in that -capacity had been seen and spoken with by many persons, who in their -evidence more than covered the whole time which elapsed between the -arrival of the mob at Colwick Hall and its departure. The _alibi_ was -believed, and the prisoner, after a trial which lasted a whole day, was -acquitted. - -The next morning he was to be tried again on another indictment, -charging him with having set fire to the castle at Nottingham. The -counsel for the prosecution, influenced by motives of humanity, and -fully impressed with the prisoner's guilt on both charges, urged the -counsel for the prisoner to advise his client to plead guilty, -undertaking that his life should be spared, but observing at the same -time that his social position, which was superior to that of the other -prisoners, would make it impossible to extend the mercy of the Crown to -him unless he manifested a due sense of his offenses by foregoing the -chance of escape. "You know," said they, "how rarely an _alibi_ obtains -credit with a jury. You can have no other defense to-day than that of -yesterday. The castle is much nearer than Colwick Hall to the -manufactory, and a very short absence from his work on the part of the -prisoner might reconcile the evidence of all the witnesses, both for him -and against him; moreover, who ever heard of a successful _alibi_ twice -running?" - -The counsel for the prisoner had his client taken into a room adjoining -the court, and having explained to him the extreme danger in which he -stood, informed him of the offer made by the prosecutors. The young man -evinced some emotion, and asked his counsel to advise what step he -should take. "The advice," he was answered, "must depend upon a fact -known to himself alone--his guilt or innocence. If guilty, his chance of -escape was so small, that it would be the last degree of rashness to -refuse the offer; if, on the other hand, he were innocent, his counsel, -putting himself in the place of the prisoner, would say, that no peril, -however imminent, would induce him to plead guilty." The prisoner was -further told, that in the course of a trial circumstances often arose at -the moment, unforeseen by all parties, which disclosed the truth; that -this consideration was in his favor, if he were innocent, but showed at -the same time that there were now chances of danger, if he were guilty, -the extent of which could not be calculated, nor even surmised. The -youth, with perfect self-possession, and unshaken firmness, replied, "I -am innocent, and will take my trial." He did so. Many painful hours wore -away, every moment diminishing the prisoner's chance of acquittal, until -it seemed utterly extinguished, when some trifling matter, which had -escaped the memory of the narrator, occurred, leading him to think it -was possible that another person, who must much resemble the prisoner, -had been mistaken for him. Inquiry was instantly made of the family, -whether they knew of any such resemblance; when it appeared that the -prisoner had a cousin so much like himself, that the two were frequently -accosted in the streets, the one for the other. The cousin had -absconded. - -It is hardly credible, though doubtless true, that a family of -respectable station could have been unaware of the importance of such a -fact, or that the prisoner, who appeared not deficient in intelligence, -and who was assuredly in full possession of his faculties, could be -insensible to its value. That either he or they could have placed such -reliance on his defense as to induce them to screen his guilty relative, -is to the last degree improbable, especially as the cousin had escaped. -Witnesses, however, were quickly produced, who verified the resemblance -between the two, and the counsel for the prosecution abandoned their -case, expressing their belief that their witnesses had given their -evidence under a mistake of identity. - -The narrator added, that an _alibi_ stood a less chance of favorable -reception at Nottingham than elsewhere, although in every place received -with great jealousy. In one of the trials arising out of the outrages -committed by the Luddites, who broke into manufactories and destroyed -all lace frames of a construction which they thought oppressive to -working men, an _alibi_, he said, had been concocted, which was -successful in saving the life of a man notoriously guilty, and which had -therefore added to the disrepute of this species of defense. The -hypothesis was, that the prisoner, at the time when the crime was -committed, at Loughborough, sixteen miles from Nottingham, was engaged -at a supper party at the latter place; and the prisoner, having the -sympathy of a large class in his favor, whose battle he had been -fighting, no difficulty was experienced by his friends in finding -witnesses willing to support this hypothesis on their oaths; but it -would have been a rash measure to have called them into the box -unprepared. And when it is considered how readily a preconcerted story -might have been destroyed by cross-examination, the task of preparing -the witnesses so as to elude this test, was one requiring no ordinary -care and skill. The danger would arise thus: Every witness would be kept -out of court, except the one in the box. He would be asked where he sat -at the supper? where the prisoner sat, and each of the other guests; -what were the dishes, what was the course of conversation, and so -forth--the questions being capable of multiplication _ad infinitum_; so -that, however well tutored, the witnesses would inevitably contradict -each other upon some matters, on which the tutor had not foreseen that -the witness would be cross-examined, or to which he had forgotten the -answer prescribed. The difficulty was, however, surmounted. After the -prisoner's apprehension, the selected witnesses were invited to a -mackerel supper, which took place at an hour corresponding to that at -which the crime was committed; and so careful was the ingenious agent -who devised this conspiracy against the truth that, guided by a sure -instinct, he fixed upon the same day of the week as that on which the -crime had been committed, though without knowing how fortunate it would -be for the prisoner that he took this precaution. When, on -cross-examination, it was found that the witnesses agreed as to the -order in which the guests were seated, the contents of the dishes, the -conversation which had taken place, and so forth; the counsel for the -crown suspected the plot, but not imagining that it had been so -perfectly elaborated, they inquired of their attorneys as to whether -there was any occurrence peculiar to the day of the week in question, -and were told that upon the evening of such a day, a public bell was -always rung, which must have been heard at the supper, if it had taken -place at the time pretended. The witnesses were separately called back -and questioned as to the bell. They had all heard it; and thus not only -were the cross-examiners utterly baffled, but the cross-examination gave -tenfold support to the examination in chief, that is, to the evidence as -given by the witnesses in answer to the questions put by the prisoner's -counsel in his behalf. - -The triumph of falsehood was complete. The prisoner was acquitted. When -however the attention of prosecutors is called to the possibility of -such fabrications they become less easy of management. The friends of a -prisoner are often known to the police, and may be watched--the actors -may be surprised at the rehearsal; a false ally may be inserted among -them; in short there are many chances of the plot failing. This, -however, is an age of improvement, and the thirty years which have -elapsed since the days of Luddism have not been a barren period in any -art or science. The mystery of cookery in dishes, accounts, and -_alibis_, has profited by this general advancement. The latest device -which my acquaintance with courts has brought to my knowledge is an -_alibi_ of a very refined and subtle nature. The hypothesis is, that the -prisoner was walking from point A to point Z, along a distant road, at -the hour when the crime was committed. The witnesses are supposed each -to see him, and some to converse with him, at points which may be -indicated by many or all the letters of the alphabet. Each witness must -be alone when he sees him, so that no two may speak to what occurred at -the same spot or moment of time; but, with this reservation, each may -safely indulge his imagination with any account of the interview which -he has wit to make consistent with itself, and firmness to abide by -under the storm of a cross-examination. "The force of _falsehood_ can no -farther go." No rehearsal is necessary. Neither of the witnesses needs -know of the existence of the others. The agent gives to each witness the -name of the spot at which he is to place the prisoner. The witness makes -himself acquainted with that spot, so as to stand a cross-examination as -to the surrounding objects, and his education is complete. But as -panaceas have only a fabulous existence, so this exquisite _alibi_ is -not applicable to all cases; the witness must have a reason for being on -the spot, plausible enough to foil the skill of the cross-examiner; and, -as false witnesses can not be found at every turn, the difficulty of -making it accord with the probability that the witness was where he -pretends to have been on the day and at the hour in question, is often -insuperable; to say nothing of the possibility and probability of its -being clearly established, on the part of the prosecution, that the -prisoner could not have been there. I should add, that, except in towns -of the first magnitude, it must be difficult to find mendacious -witnesses who have in other respects the proper qualifications to prove -a concocted _alibi_, save always where the prisoner is the champion of a -class; and then, according to my experience--sad as the avowal is--the -difficulty is greatly reduced. - -These incidents illustrate the soundness of the well known proposition, -that mixture of truth with falsehood, augments to the highest degree the -noxious power of the venomous ingredient. That man was no mean -proficient in the art of deceiving, who first discovered the importance -of the liar being parsimonious in mendacity. The mind has a stomach as -well as an eye, and if the bolus be neat falsehood, it will be rejected -like an overdose of arsenic which does not kill. - -Let the juryman ponder these things, and beware how he lets his mind -lapse into a conclusion either for or against the prisoner. To perform -the duties of his office, so that the days which he spends in the -jury-box will bear retrospection, his eyes, his ears, and his intellect -must be ever on the watch. A witness in the box, and the same man in -common life, are different creatures. Coming to give evidence, "he doth -suffer a law change." Sometimes he becomes more truthful, as he ought to -do, if any change is necessary; but unhappily this is not always so, and -least of all in the case of those whose testimony is often required. - -I remember a person, whom I frequently heard to give evidence quite out -of harmony with the facts, but I shall state neither his name nor his -profession. A gentleman who knew perfectly well the unpalatable -designation which his evidence deserved, told me of his death. I -ventured to think it was a loss which might be borne, and touched upon -his infirmity, to which my friend replied in perfect sincerity of heart, -"Well! after all, I do not think he ever told a falsehood in his -life--_out of the witness box_!" - - - - -[From Dickens's Household Words] - -THE GHOST THAT APPEARED TO MRS. WHARTON. - - -When my mother was a girl, some rumors began to steal through the town -where she lived, about something having gone amiss with old Mrs. -Wharton: for, if Mrs. Wharton was not known by all the townspeople, she -was known and respected by so many, that it was really no trifle when -she was seen to have the contracted brow, and the pinched look about the -nose that people have when they are in alarm, or living a life of deep -anxiety. Nobody could make out what was the matter. If asked, she said -she was well. Her sons were understood to be perfectly respectable, and -sufficiently prosperous; and there could be no doubt about the health, -and the dutifulness, and the cheerfulness, of the unmarried daughter who -lived with her. The old lady lived in a house which was her own -property; and her income, though not large, was enough for comfort. What -could it be that made her suddenly so silent and grave? Her daughter was -just the same as ever, except that she was anxious about the change in -her mother. It was observed by one or two that the clergyman had nothing -to say, when the subject was spoken of in his hearing. He rolled and -nodded his head, and he glanced at the ceiling and then stuck his chin -deep into his shirt-frill: but those were things that he was always -doing, and they might mean nothing. When inquired of about his opinion -of Mrs. Wharton's looks and spirits, he shifted his weight from one foot -to the other, as he stood before the fire with his hands behind him, and -said, with the sweet voice and winning manner that charmed young and -old, that, as far as he knew, Mrs. Wharton's external affairs were all -right; and, as for peace of mind, he knew of no one who more deserved -it. If the course of her life, and the temper of her mind, did not -entitle her to peace within, he did not know who could hope for it. -Somebody whispered that it would be dreadful if a shocking mortal -disease should be seizing upon her: whereupon he, Mr. Gurney, observed -that he thought he should have known if any such thing was to be -apprehended. As far as a fit of indigestion went, he believed she -suffered occasionally; but she did not herself admit even that. Dr. -Robinson, who was present, said that Mrs. Wharton's friends might be -quite easy about her health. She was not troubled with indigestion, nor -with any other complaint. People could only go on to ask one another -what could be the matter. One or two agreed that Mr. Gurney had made -very skillful answers, in which he was much assisted by his curious -customary gestures; but that he had never said that he did not know of -any trouble being on Mrs. Wharton's mind. - -Soon after this, a like mysterious change appeared to come over the -daughter; but no disasters could be discovered to have happened. No -disease, no money losses, no family anxieties were heard of; and, by -degrees, both the ladies recovered nearly their former cheerfulness and -ease of manner--nearly, but not altogether. They appeared somewhat -subdued, in countenance and bearing; and they kept a solemn silence when -some subjects were talked of, which often turn up by the Christmas -fireside. It was years before the matter was explained. My mother was -married by that time, and removed from her smoky native town, to a much -brighter city in the south. She used to tell us, as we grew up, the -story of Mrs. Wharton, and what she endured; and we could, if we had not -been ashamed, have gone on to say, as if we had still been little -children, "tell us again." When we were going into the north to visit -our grandparents, it was all very well to tell us of coal-wagons that we -should see running without horses, or iron rails laid down in the roads; -and of the keelmen rowing their keel-boats in the river, and, all at -once, kicking up their right legs behind them, when they gave the long -pull; and of the glass-houses in the town, with fire coming out of the -top of the high chimneys; and of the ever-burning mounds near the mouths -of the coal-pits, where blue and yellow flames leaped about, all night, -through the whole year round. It was all very well to think of seeing -these things; but we thought much more of walking past old Mrs. -Wharton's house, and, perhaps, inducing Mr. Gurney to tell us, in his -way, the story we had so often heard my mother tell in hers. - -The story was this: - -One midsummer morning Mrs. Wharton was so absent at breakfast, that her -daughter found all attempts at conversation to be in vain. So she -quietly filled the coffee-pot, which her mother had forgotten to do, -and, in the middle of the forenoon, ordered dinner, which she found her -mother had also forgotten. They had just such a breakfasting three times -more during the next fortnight. Then, on Miss Wharton crossing the hall, -she met her mother in bonnet and shawl, about to go out, so early as -half-past nine. The circumstance would not have been remarked, but for -the mother's confused and abashed way of accounting for going out. She -should not be gone long. She had only a little call to make, and so on. -The call was on Mr. Gurney. He had hardly done breakfast, when he was -told that Mrs. Wharton wished to speak with him alone. - -When he entered the study, Mrs. Wharton seemed to be as unready with her -words as himself; and when he shook hands with her, he observed that her -hand was cold. She said she was well, however. Then came a pause during -which the good pastor was shifting from one foot to the other, on the -hearth-rug, with his hands behind him, though there was nothing in the -grate but shavings. Mrs. Wharton, meantime, was putting her vail up and -down, and her gloves on and off. At last, with a constrained and painful -smile, she said that she was really ashamed to say what she came to say, -but she must say it; and she believed and hoped that Mr. Gurney had -known her long enough to be aware that she was not subject to foolish -fancies and absurd fears. - -"No one further from it," he dropped, and now he fixed his eyes on her -face. Her eyes fell under his, when she went on. - -"For some time past, I have suffered from a most frightful visitation in -the night." - -"Visitation! What sort of visitation?" - -She turned visibly cold while she answered, "It was last Wednesday -fortnight that I awoke in the middle of the night--that is between two -and three in the morning, when it was getting quite light, and I saw--" - -She choked a little, and stopped. - -"Well!" said Mr. Gurney, "What did you see?" - -"I saw at the bottom of the bed, a most hideous--a most detestable -face--gibbering, and making mouths at me." - -"A face!" - -"Yes; I could see only the face (except, indeed, a hand upon the -bedpost), because it peeped round the bedpost from behind the curtain. -The curtains are drawn down to the foot of the bed." - -She stole a look at Mr. Gurney. He was rolling his head; and there was a -working about his mouth before he asked-- - -"What time did you sup that night?" - -"Now," she replied, "you are not going to say, I hope, that it was -nightmare. Most people would; but I hoped that you knew me better than -to suppose that I eat such suppers as would occasion nightmare, or that -I should not know nightmare from reality." - -"But, my dear Mrs. Wharton, what else can I say?" - -"Perhaps you had better listen further, before you say any thing." - -He nodded and smiled, as much as to say that was true. - -"I have seen the same appearance on three occasions since." - -"Indeed!" - -"Yes, on three several nights, about the same hour. And, since the first -appearance, my supper has been merely a little bread and butter, with a -glass of water. I chose to exclude nightmare, as I would exclude any -thing whatever that could possibly cause an appearance so horrible." - -"What sort of face is it?" - -"Short and broad;--silly, and yet sly; and the features gibber and -work--Oh! fearfully!" - -"Do you hear it come and go?" - -"No. When I wake--(and I never used to wake in the night)--it is there: -and it disappears--to say the truth--while my eyes are covered; for I -can not meet its eyes. I hear nothing. When I venture a glance, -sometimes it is still there; sometimes it is gone." - -"Have you missed any property?" - -"No: nor found any trace whatever. We have lost nothing; and there is -really not a door or window that seems ever to have been touched: not an -opening where any one could get in or out." - -"And if there were, what could be the object? What does your daughter -say to it?" - -"Oh!" said Mrs. Wharton, rising quickly, "she does not, and indeed she -must not know a word of it. I ought to have said, at first, that what I -am telling you is entirely in confidence. If I told my daughter, it must -then go no further. We could not keep our servants a week, if it got -out. And if I should want to let my house, I could not find a tenant. -The value of the property would go down to nothing; and, in justice to -my daughter, I must consider that; for it is to be hers hereafter. And -we could never have a guest to stay with us. No one would sleep in the -house a single night. Indeed, you must not--" - -"Well, well: I will not mention it. But I don't see--" - -He paused; and Mrs. Wharton replied to his thought. - -"It is difficult to form conjectures--to say any thing, in such a case, -which does not appear too foolish to be uttered. But one must have some -thoughts; and perhaps--if one can talk of possibilities--it is possible -that this appearance may be meant for me alone; and therefore, if I can -conceal it from my daughter ... till I am convinced whether it is meant -for me alone." - -"I would soon try that," observed Mr. Gurney. Seeing Mrs. Wharton look -wistfully at him, he continued, - -"My advice is that you have your daughter sleep with you, after hearing -your story. Try whether she can see this face." - -"You do not think she would?" - -"I think she would not. My dear friend, if I were a medical man, I could -tell you facts which you are little aware of--anecdotes of the strange -tricks that our nerves play with us;--of delusions so like reality--" - -"Do you think I have not considered that?" exclaimed the poor lady. "Mr. -Gurney, I did not think that _you_ would try to persuade me out of my -senses, when I tell you, that four times I have seen in daylight, and -when wide awake, and in perfect health, what I have said." - -Mr. Gurney was very gentle; but, as he said, what _could_ he suggest but -indigestion, or some such cause of nervous disturbance? Yet his heart -smote him when his old friend laid her forehead again the mantle-piece, -and cried heartily. - -He did all he could. He tried indefatigably, though in vain, to persuade -her to let her daughter share the spectacle: and he went, the same day, -when Miss Wharton was out for her walk, and the servants were at dinner, -to examine the house. He made no discovery. The gratings of the -under-ground cellars were perfect. The attics had no trap-doors; and the -house had no parapet. The chimneys were too high and narrow for any one -to get in at the top. No window or door was ever found unfastened in the -morning. Mrs. Wharton did not think she could engage for courage enough -to get out of bed, or to look beyond the curtains. Nor could she promise -not to draw her curtains. The face had never appeared within them; and -they seemed a sort of protection where there was no other. - -Without having made any promises, she went so far as to start up in bed, -the next time she saw the face. The eyes winked horribly at her; the -head nodded--and was gone. The beating of her heart prevented her -hearing any thing that time; but once or twice during the autumn she -fancied she heard a light and swift footstep in the passage. She always -left her room-door open, for the sake of the same sort of feeling of -security that most people crave when they shut and bolt theirs. If this -was a ghost, bolts would not keep it out; and she could fly the more -easily through the open door if her terror should become too great to be -endured alone. For the first time, she now burned a night-light in her -chamber, as the nights lengthened, and not a dim, flickering rush -candle, but a steady wax-light. She knew that her daughter wondered at -the strange extravagance; but she could not bear darkness, or a very -feeble light, when the thing might be behind the curtain. - -Throughout October the visits were almost nightly. In the first week in -November they suddenly ceased, and so many weeks passed away without a -return, that Mrs. Wharton began to be a little alarmed about her own -wits, and to ask herself whether, after all, it was not possible that -this was a trick of the nerves. One night in January, that doubt, at -least, was settled; for there, at the same bed-post, was the same face. -Mrs. Wharton was now, after this interval, subdued at once. She had -borne, for half-a-year, her pastor's suspicions of her digestion and of -her wisdom, and now, she really wanted sympathy. She let him tell her -daughter (let him, rather than tell it herself, because he could make -light of it, and she could not); and she gladly agreed to let her -daughter sleep with her. For long, she gained nothing by it. During the -whole fortnight that the visits now continued, Miss Wharton never once -saw the face. She tried to wake the moment her mother touched her; she -tried to keep awake; but she never saw the face: and after that -fortnight, it did not come again till April. - -One bright May dawn, she saw it. Her mother pulled her wrist, and, she -waked up to a sight which burned itself in upon her brain. She -suppressed a shriek at the moment; but she could not tell Mr. Gurney of -it afterward, without tears. She wanted that day to leave the house -immediately; but the thought of her mother's long-suffering with this -horror, the consideration of the serious consequences of declaring -themselves ghost-seers in the town, and of the disastrous effect upon -their property, and of the harmlessness of the ghost, induced her to -summon up her courage, and bear on. She did more. When a little inured, -she one night sprang out of bed, rushed round the foot of it, and out -upon the landing. The stairs were still dim in the dawn; but she was -confident that she saw something moving there--passing down to the hall. -As soon as she could make the servants attend her, she told them she -believed somebody was in the house; and all the four women--two ladies -and two maids--went, armed with pokers and shovels, and examined the -whole house. They found nothing, neither in the chimneys, nor under the -beds, nor in any closet--nothing, from cellar to attic. And when the -maids had recovered a little, they agreed what a tiresome and wearying -thing it was when ladies took fancies. This was only their first night -of disturbance. Miss Wharton called them up three times more; and then -she gave the matter up. The servants thought her strangely altered, and -wished she might not be going to be ill. - -Thus matters went on for some years. The oddest thing was the -periodicity of the visits. In winter they were rare; but there was -generally a short series in or about January, after which they ceased -till the end of March, or the beginning of April. They went on through -nearly the whole summer, with one or two intervals of about a fortnight. -The servants never suspected even the existence of the mystery. Their -ladies never mentioned it; and no article was ever displaced at night. -The ladies became in time so accustomed to the appearance as to bear it -almost without uneasiness. It occurred to them sometimes, how odd it was -to be living under the weight of such a mystery; and they were silent -when ghosts were talked about, and felt and looked very serious when -they were laughed at: but their alarm had subsided. The Thing never did -them any harm; and they had now got merely to open drowsy eyes, to see -if it was there; and to drop asleep the moment it was there no longer. -This may seem strange to those who have not (and also to those who have) -seen ghosts; but we none of us know what we may come to; and these two -ladies reached the point of turning their heads on their pillows, -without much beating of the heart, under the gibbering of a hideous -ghost. - -One circumstance worth noting is, that the Thing once spoke. After one -of its mocking nods, it said, "I come to see you whenever I please." -When Mr. Gurney was told this, he asked whether the language was -English, and what sort of English it was. It must have been English, as -the ladies did not observe any thing remarkable. As to the dialect, it -had made no particular impression upon them, but when they came to -remember and consider, they thought it must have been the broad dialect -of the district, which they were accustomed to hear in the kitchen, and -in the streets and shops, every day. This was all. Amidst the multitude -of nightly visitations, no explanation--no new evidence--occurred for -several years. Mr. Gurney was not fond of being puzzled. His plan was to -dismiss from his mind what puzzled him. He seldom inquired after the -ghost; and when he did, he always received the same answer. - -One morning, after this lapse of years, Mr. Gurney called to ask the -ladies if they would like to join a party to see a glass-house. The -residents of manufacturing towns can not intrude in such places at their -own pleasure, but (as is well known) take their opportunity when an -arrival of strangers, or other such occasion, opens the doors of any -manufactory. Mr. Gurney was the first man in the town, in regard to -doing the honors of it. All strangers were introduced to him; and the -doors of all show-places flew open before him. He was wont to invite his -friends in turn to accompany him and his party of strangers to these -show-places; and he now invited the Whartons to the glass-house. Miss -Wharton was unavoidably engaged at the school, but her mother went. - -When the whole party were standing near one of the furnaces, observing -the coarsest kind of glass blowing--that of green-glass bottles--Mrs. -Wharton suddenly seized Mr. Gurney's arm with one hand, while with the -other she pointed, past the glare, to a figure on the other side of the -furnace. - -"That's the face!" she exclaimed, in great agitation; "keep quiet, and -pull down your vail," said Mr. Gurney in her ear. She drew back into the -shadow, and let down her vail, feeling scarcely able to stand. Mr. -Gurney did not offer her an arm; he had something else to do. - -"Who is that man?" he inquired of the foreman, who was showman at the -moment. The man inquired about looked scarcely human. He was stunted in -figure, large in face, and hideous--making all allowance for the puffing -out of his cheeks, as he blew vigorously at the end of the long pipe he -was twirling in his baboon-like hands. - -"That poor fellow, sir? His name is Middleton. He is a half-wit--indeed, -very nearly a complete idiot. He is just able to do what you see--blow -the coarsest sort of glass." - -Mr. Gurney wished to speak with him; and the poor creature was summoned. -He came grinning; and he grinned yet more when he was requested to show -the glass-house to the gentleman. Mrs. Wharton, with her vail down, hung -on her friend's arm; and they followed the idiot, who was remarkably -light-footed (for a wonder), to the place he was most fond of. He took -them down to the annealing chamber; and then he observed that it was "a -nice warm place o'nights." Being asked how he knew that, he began -pointing with his finger at Mrs. Wharton, and peeping under her bonnet. -Being advised to look him in the face, she raised her vail; and he -sniggled and giggled, and said he had seen her many a time when she was -asleep, and many a time when she was awake; and another lady, too, who -was not there. He hid himself down here when the other men went away--it -was so warm! and then he could go when he pleased, and see "_her_ -there," and the other, when they were asleep. Mr. Gurney enticed him to -whisper how he managed it; and then with an air of silly cunning, he -showed a little square trap-door in the wall, close by the floor, -through which he said he passed. It seemed too small for the purpose; -but he crept in and out again. On the other side, he declared, was Mrs. -Wharton's cellar. It was so. Far distant as the glass-house seemed from -her house, it ran back so far, the cellar running back also, that they -met. No time was lost in sending round to the cellar; and, by a -conversation held through the trap-door, it was ascertained that when -Mrs. Wharton's stock of coals was low, that is, in summer, and before a -fresh supply came in, in mid winter, Middleton could get in, and did get -in, almost every night. When he did not appear, it was only because the -coals covered the trap-door. - -Who shall say with what satisfaction the ladies watched the nailing up -of the trap-door, and with what a sense of blissful comfort they retired -to rest henceforth? Who shall estimate the complacency of the good -clergyman at this complete solution of the greatest mystery he had ever -encountered? Who will not honor the courage and fortitude of the ladies, -and rejoice that their dwelling escaped the evil reputation of being a -Haunted House? Lastly, who will not say that most of the goblin tales -extant may, if inquired into, be as easily accounted for as that -appertaining to the good Mrs. Wharton? which has this advantage over all -other ghost stories--it is perfectly and literally true. - - - - -[From Dickens's Household Words.] - -THE FATE OF A GERMAN REFORMER. A LIFE IN THREE PICTURES. - - -PICTURE THE FIRST. - -The winter of 1844 was a severe one in Germany. Both sides of the Rhine, -for many miles between Coblentz and Cologne, were frozen hard enough to -bear a horse and cart; and even the centre, save and except a thin -stream where the current persisted in displaying its urgent vitality, -was covered over with thin ice, or a broken film that was constantly -endeavoring to unite and consolidate its quivering flakes and particles. -We were staying in Bonn at this time. All the Englishmen in the town, -who were skaters, issued forth in pilot-coats or dreadnaught -pea-jackets, and red worsted comforters, with their skates dangling over -their shoulders. Holding their aching noses in their left hands, they -ran and hobbled through the slippery streets, and made their way out at -the town-gates near the University. They were on the way to -Popplesdorf--a little village about a mile distant from Bonn. We were -among them--red comforter round neck--skates over shoulder. - -The one great object in this little village is a somewhat capacious and -not unpicturesque edifice called the Schloss, or Castle, of Popplesdorf. -The outer works of its fortifications are a long avenue of trees, some -pretty fir groves and wooded hills, numerous vineyards, and a trim -series of botanic gardens. The embrasures of its walls are armed with -batteries of learned tomes; its soldiers are erudite professors and -doctors who have chambers there; students discourse on philosophy and -art, and swords and beer, and smoke forever on its peaceful drawbridge; -and, on the wide moat which surrounds it, Englishmen in red -comforters--at the time whereof we now speak--are vigorously skating -with their accustomed gravity. This scene was repeated daily for several -weeks, in the winter of 1844. - -One morning, issuing forth on the same serious business of life, we -perceived that the peasantry of Popplesdorf, who have occasion to come -to Bonn every market-day, had contrived to enliven the way and -facilitate the journey by the gradual construction of a series of -capital long slides. We stood and contemplated these lengthy curves, and -sweeps, and strange twisting stripes of silver, all gleaming in the -morning sun, and soon arrived at the conviction that it was no doubt the -pleasantest market-pathway we had ever seen. No one was coming or going -at this moment; for Popples is but a little _dorf_, and the traffic is -far from numerous, even at the busiest hours. Now, there was a peculiar -charm in the clear shining solitude of the scene, which gave us, at -once, an impression of loneliness combined with the brightest paths of -life and activity. - -And yet we gradually began to feel we should like to see -somebody--student or peasant--come sliding his way from Popplesdorf. It -was evidently the best, and indeed the correct mode for our own course -to the frozen moat of the castle. But before we had reached the -beginning of the first slide (for they are not allowed to be made quite -up to the town gates), we descried a figure in the distance, which, from -the course it was taking, had manifestly issued from the walls of the -castle. It was not a peasant--it was not one of our countrymen; be it -whom it might, he at least took the slides in first-rate style. As he -advanced, we discerned the figure of a tall man, dressed in a dark, -long-skirted frock coat, buttoned up to the throat, with a low-crowned -hat, from beneath the broad brim of which a great mass of thick black -hair fell heavily over his shoulders. Under one arm he held a great book -and two smaller ones closely pressed to his side, while the other hand -held a roll of paper, which he waved now and then in the air, to balance -himself in his sliding. Some of the slides required a good deal of -skill; they had awkward twirls half round a stone, with here and there a -sudden downward sweep. Onward he came, and we presently recognized him. -It was Dr. Gottfried Kinkel, lecturer on archæology; one of the most -able and estimable of the learned men in Bonn. - -Gottfried Kinkel was born in a village near Bonn, where his father was a -clergyman. He was educated at the Gymnasium of Bonn, and during the -whole of that period, he was especially remarkable, among companions by -no means famous for staid and orderly habits, as a very quiet, -industrious young man, of a sincerely religious bent of mind, which -gained for him the notice and regard of all the clergy and the most -devout among the inhabitants of the town. His political opinions were -liberal; but never went beyond those which were commonly entertained at -the time by nearly all men of education. He studied divinity at the -University, where he greatly distinguished himself in various branches -of learning, and obtained the degree of Doctor in Philosophy. - -He first preached at Cologne, and with great success, his oratory being -considered as brilliant as his reasonings were convincing. His sermons -were subsequently published, and became very popular, and he was chosen -as a teacher of Theology in the University of Bonn. - -He next turned his attention to the study of the Arts. On this subject -he wrote and published a History, and lectured on "Ancient and Mediæval -Art," both in the University and other public institutions, with -unparalleled success and applause. - -His labors at this period, and for a long time after, were very arduous, -generally occupying thirteen hours a day. Being only what is called a -"privat-docent," he did not as yet receive any salary at the University; -he was therefore compelled to work hard in various ways, in order to -make a small income. However, he did this very cheerfully. - -But his abandonment of Theology for these new studies, caused him the -loss of most of his devout friends. They shook their heads, and feared -that the change denoted a step awry from the true and severely marked -line of orthodox opinions. They were right; for he soon after said that -he thought the purity of religion would be best attained by a separation -of Church and State! - -Dr. Kinkel suffers no small odium for this; but he can endure it. He has -uttered an honest sentiment, resulting from his past studies; he has -become a highly applauded and deservedly esteemed lecturer on another -subject; he is, moreover, one of the best sliders in Bonn, and is now -balancing his tall figure (as just described) with books under one arm, -on his way to the University. - -Happy Gottfried Kinkel!--may you have health and strength to slide for -many a good winter to come!--rare Doctor of Philosophy, to feel -so much boyish vitality after twenty years of hard study and -seclusion!--fortunate lecturer on Archæology, to live in a country where -the simplicity of manners will allow a Professor to slide his way to his -class, without danger of being reproved by his grave and potent seniors, -or of shocking the respectable inhabitants of his town! - - -PICTURE THE SECOND. - -The Castle of Popplesdorf commands the most beautiful views of some of -the most beautiful parts of Rhenish Prussia; and the very best point -from which to look at them, is the window of the room that used to be -the study of Dr. Gottfried Kinkel. That used to be--and is not -now--alas, the day! But we must not anticipate evils; they will come -only too soon in their natural course. - -In this room, his library and study, we called to see Dr. Kinkel. There -he sat--dressing-gown, slippers, and cloud-compelling pipe. The walls -were all shelves, the shelves all books--some bound, some in boards, -"some in rags, and some in jags"--together with papers, maps, and -scientific instruments of brass and of steel. There stood the Hebrew, -Greek, and Roman authors; in another division, the Italian and French: -on the other side, in long irregular ranges, the old German and the -modern German; and near at hand, the Anglo-Saxon and English. What else, -and there was much, we had not time to note, being called to look out at -the window. What a window it was!--a simple wooden frame to what -exquisite and various scenery! Let the reader bear in mind, that it is -not winter now--but a bright morning in May. - -Close beneath the window lay the Botanic Gardens, with their numerous -parterres of flowers, their lines and divisions of shrubs and herbs. -Within a range of a few miles round, we looked out upon the peaceful -little villages of Popplesdorf and Kessenich, and the fertile plain -extending from Bonn to Godesberg--with gentle hills, vales, and ridges, -all covered with vineyards, whose young leaves gave a tender greenness -and fresh look of bright and joyous childhood to the scenery. Beyond -them we saw the Kessenicher Höhe, the blue slate roofs and steeples of -many a little church and chapel, and the broad, clear, serpent windings -of the Rhine, with the gray and purple range, in the distance, of the -Seven Mountains, terminating with the Drachenfels. Over the whole of -this, with the exception only of such soft, delicate shades and shadows -as were needful to display the rest, there lay a clear expanse of level -sunshine, so tender, bright, and moveless, as to convey an impression of -bright enchantment, which grew upon your gaze, and out of which rapture -you awoke as from a dream of fairy land, or from the contemplation of a -scene in some ideal sphere. - -Fortunate Dr. Kinkel, to have such a window as this! It was no wonder -that, besides his studies in Theology, in ancient and mediæval art, and -in ancient and modern languages--besides writing his History of the -Arts, and contributing learned papers to various periodicals--besides -preaching, lecturing, and public and private teaching, his soul was -obliged to compose a volume of poems--and again displease the severely -orthodox, by the absence of all prayers in verse, and the presence of a -devout love of nature. - - For, here, in their placidity, - Learning and Poesy abide; - Not slumbering on the unfathomed sea, - Yet all unconscious of the tide - That urges on mortality - In eddies, and in circles wide. - Ah, here, the soul can look abroad - Beyond each cold and narrow stream, - Enrich'd with gold from mines and ford, - Brought sparkling to the solar beam; - Yet be no miser with its hoard-- - No dreamer of the common dream. - -Thus sang Dr. Kinkel, in our imperfect translation thus inadequately -echoed; and here he wrought hard in his vocation, amid the smiles of -some of the loveliest of Nature's scenes. - -But besides the possession of all these books, and of this wonderful -window, Dr. Kinkel was yet more fortunate in his domestic relations. He -was married to an amiable, highly educated, and accomplished lady, who -endeavored, by all the means in her power, to assist his labors, and -render them less onerous by her own exertions. She was a very fine -musician, and a superior piano-forte player--one of the favorite pupils -of Moscheles, and afterward, we believe, of Mendelssohn. She divided her -time equally between assisting her husband, educating their child, and -giving private lessons in music; and because this accomplished hard -working couple did not find their energies quite worn out by toiling -for thirteen hours a day, they gave a private concert at the castle once -a month, at which a whole opera of Mozart or Weber was often gone -through--both the instrumental and vocal parts being by amateurs, or -pupils of Madam Kinkel. - -So, once again, we say, notwithstanding all these labors, Dr. Kinkel's -life in the Castle of Popplesdorf, was that of a fortunate and happy -man. At this period he was about two-and-thirty years of age. He could -not have been more; probably he was less. - - -PICTURE THE THIRD. - -It is the year 1848, and the Continental Revolutions are shaking all the -foreign thrones. Every body, not directly or indirectly in the pay of a -court, feels that the lot of the people should be ameliorated. The -populations of all nations have borne enormous burdens, with -extraordinary patience, for a very long time--say a thousand years--and, -at last, they have no more patience left. But what is all this to -abstract thought, to learning and science, to poetic raptures, and -picturesque ease? It has hitherto been regarded as too grossly material, -or of too coarse and common a practicality for the great majority of -those whose lives were passed in abstract studies and refinements. -Ay--but this must not continue. The world has come to a pass at which -_every_ soul must awake, and should be "up and doing." - -Dr. Gottfried Kinkel, now, besides his other honors and emoluments, and -private earnings, is installed as a salaried professor in the University -of Bonn. It can not be but such a man must awake, and take an interest -in these continental revolutions which are boiling up all round him. -Still, it is not likely he will step into the vortex or approach it. His -worldly position is strong against it--all his interests are against it; -moreover, he has a wife, and, besides he has now three children. - -Howbeit, Dr. Kinkel does rise with these events, and his wife, so far -from restraining him, feels the same enthusiastic patriotism, and -exhorts him to step forward, and swell the torrent of the time. He feels -strongly that Prussia should have a constitution; that her intellect and -sober character deserves a constitutional monarchy, like ours in -England, with such improvements as ours manifestly needs, and he places -himself at the head of the popular party in Bonn, where he delivers -public orations, the truthful eloquence and boldness of which startle, -delight, and encourage his audiences. - -He is soon afterward elected a member of the Berlin parliament. He sides -with the Left, or democratic party; he advocates the cause of the -oppressed people and the poor, he argues manfully and perseveringly the -real interests of all governments, in granting a rational amount of -liberty, showing, that in the present stage of the moral world, it is -the only thing to prevent violence, and to secure good order. His -speeches breathe a prophetic spirit. - -The revolution gathers fuel, more rapidly than can be well disposed, and -it takes fire at Baden. The names reach near and far--many are -irresistibly attracted. They have seen, and too well remember, the -faithlessness and treachery of governments--they believe the moment has -come to strike a blow which shall gain and establish the constitutional -liberty they seek. Dr. Kinkel immediately leaves his professorship; he -believes he ought now to join those who wield the sword, and peril their -lives in support of their principles. He proposes to hasten to Baden, to -defend the constitution framed by the Frankfort parliament. His -patriotic wife consents, and, in the evening, he takes leave of her, and -of his sleeping children. - -It must not be concealed that with this strong feeling in favor of a -constitutional monarchy, there was an infusion of principles of a more -sweeping character; nor would it be going too far to say that amid the -insurgents of Baden were some who entertained opinions not far removed -from red republicanism. Be this as it may, we are persuaded that Dr. -Kinkel's political principles and aims were purely of a constitutional -character, however he may have been drawn into the fierce vortex of men -and circumstances which surrounded him. - -Dr. Kinkel serves for eleven days in a free corps in Baden, where the -army of the insurgents have assembled. At the commencement of the -battle, he is wounded, and taken prisoner with arms in his hands. The -sequel of these struggles is well enough known; but the fate of the -prisoners who survived their wounds, must be noticed. - -According to the Prussian law, Dr. Kinkel should have been sentenced to -six years' confinement as a state prisoner. This sentence is accordingly -passed upon the other prisoners; and with a wise and commendable -clemency many are set free after a short time. But as Dr. Kinkel is a -man of high education and celebrity, it is thought best to give him a -very severe punishment, according to the old ignorance of what is called -"making an example," as if this sort of example did not provoke and -stimulate, rather than deter others; and, as if clemency were not only -one of the noblest attributes of royalty, but one of its best -safe-guards in its effect on the feelings of a people. - -Dr. Kinkel is, accordingly, sentenced to be imprisoned for life in a -fortress, as a state criminal; and away he is carried. - -But now comes into play the anger and resentment of many of those who -had once so much admired Kinkel, and held him up as a religious -champion, until the woeful day when he left preaching for the study of -the arts; and the yet more woeful, not to call it diabolical hour, when -he announced his opinion that a separation of Church and State might be -the best course for both. After a series of intrigues, the enemies of -Kinkel induce the king to alter the sentence; but in order to avoid the -appearance of unusual severity, it is announced that his sentence of -imprisonment in the fortress shall be _alleviated_, by transferring him -to an ordinary prison. In pursuance, therefore, of these suggestions of -his enemies, he is ordered to be imprisoned for life in one of the -prisons appropriated to the vilest malefactors--viz., to the prison of -Naugard, on the Baltic. - -Dr. Kinkel is dressed in sackcloth, and his head is shaved. His -wedding-ring is taken from him, and every little memento of his wife and -children which might afford him consolation. His bed is a sack of straw -laid upon a board. He has to scour and clean his cell, and perform every -other menial office. Light is allowed him only so long as he toils; and, -as soon as the requisite work is done, the light is taken away. Such is -his melancholy lot at the present moment! - -He who used to toil for thirteen hours a day amidst the learned -languages, and the works of antiquity, in the study of Theology, and of -the arts--the eloquent preacher, lecturer, and tutor--is now compelled -to waste his life, with all its acquirements, in spinning. For thirteen -hours every day, he is doomed to spin. By this labor he earns, every -day, threepence for the state, and a halfpenny for himself! This latter -sum, amounting to threepence a week, is allowed him in mercy, and with -it he is permitted to purchase a dried herring and a small loaf of -coarse brown bread--which, furthermore, he is allowed to eat as a Sunday -dinner--his ordinary food consisting of a sort of odious pap in the -morning (after having spun for four hours), some vegetables at noon, and -some bread and water at night. - -For months he has not enjoyed a breath of fresh air. He is allowed to -walk daily for half-an-hour in a covered passage; but even this is -refused whenever the jailor is occupied with other matters, and can not -attend to trifles. - -Dr. Kinkel has no books nor papers; there is nothing for him but -spinning--spinning--spinning! Once a month he is, by great clemency, -allowed to write one letter to his wife, which has to pass through the -hands of his jailor, who, being empowered to act as censor, judiciously -strikes out whatever he does not choose Madame Kinkel to know. All -sympathizing letters are strictly withheld from him, while all those -which severely take him to task, and censure his political opinions and -conduct, are carefully placed in his hands, when he stops to take his -breath for a minute from his eternal spinning. - -Relatives are not, by the law, allowed to see a criminal during the -first three months; after that time, they may. But after having been -imprisoned at Naugard three months--short of a day--Dr. Kinkel is -suddenly removed to another prison at Spandau, there to re-commence a -period of three months. By this device he is prevented from seeing his -wife, or any friend--all in a perfectly legal way. - -The jailor is strictly enjoined not to afford Dr. Kinkel any sort of -opportunity, either by writing or by any other means, of making -intercession with the king to obtain pardon, or the commutation of his -sentence into banishment. All these injunctions are fully obeyed by the -jailor--indeed the present one is more severe than any of the others. - -Nevertheless, the melancholy truth has oozed out--the picture has worn -its tearful way through the dense stone walls--and here it is for all to -see--and, we doubt not, for many to feel. - -Gottfried Kinkel, so recently one of the most admired professors of the -University of Bonn, one of the ornaments of the scholarship and -literature of modern Germany, now clothed in sackcloth, with shaven -head, and attenuated frame, sits spinning his last threads. He utters no -reproaches, no complaints; but bears his sufferings with a sweet -resignation that savors already of the angelic abodes to which his -contemplations are ever directed. He has entreated his wife to have his -heart buried amidst those lovely scenes on which he so often gazed with -serene rapture, from his study-window in the Castle of Popplesdorf. - -Those who behold this last picture and revert to the one where the -professor came happily sliding his way to his class at the University, -may perchance share the emotion which makes us pass our hands across our -eyes, to put aside the irrepressible tribute of sorrow which dims and -confuses the page before us. His worst enemies could never have -contemplated any thing so sad as this. Many, indeed, have already -relented--but let their interceding voices be heard before it is too -late. - -The literary men of no country are united, or they might move the whole -kingdom. Still less are the literary men of different countries united, -or they might move the world. But are they, therefore, without a common -sympathy for one another? We are sure this is not the case; and making -this appeal to the literary men of England, we believe it will not be in -vain. Nor are we without hope, that a strong sympathy of this kind, -being duly and respectfully made known to the King of Prussia, or to -Baron Manteufel, the Minister of the Interior, may induce His Majesty to -consider that, the revolution being at an end, clemency is not only the -"brightest jewel in a crown," but its noblest strength, and that, while -royal power can lose nothing, it must gain honor by remitting all -further punishment of one who has only shared in the political offense -of thousands who are now at liberty. All that the friends, at home and -abroad, of Gottfried Kinkel ask is--his liberation from prison, and a -permission to emigrate to England or America. - - - - -THE DEATH OF JOHN RANDOLPH. - - -[Illustration: Sketch of John Randolph of Roanoke[10]] - -John Randolph of Roanoke, as he always signed himself, one of the most -remarkable men this country has produced, died in 1833, at a hotel in -Philadelphia, while on his way to England for the benefit of his health. -A life of him which has just been published, written by the Hon. Hugh A. -Garland, contains a very detailed and interesting account of his last -days, in which the peculiarities of his character are clearly developed: - -When the approach of the boat to the landing of Potomac creek was -announced, he was brought out of the room by his servants, on a chair, -and seated in the porch, where most of the stage passengers were -assembled. His presence seemed to produce considerable restraint on the -company; and though he appeared to solicit it, none were willing to -enter into conversation; one gentleman only, who was a former -acquaintance, passed a few words with him; and so soon as the boat -reached the landing, all hurried off, and left him nearly alone, with -his awkward servants as his only attendants. An Irish porter, who seemed -to be very careless and awkward in his movements, slung a trunk round -and struck Mr. Randolph with considerable force against the knee. He -uttered an exclamation of great suffering. The poor Irishman was much -terrified, and made the most humble apology, but Mr. Randolph stormed at -him--would listen to no excuse, and drove him from his presence. This -incident increased the speed of the by-standers, and in a few minutes -not one was left to assist the dying man. - -Dr. Dunbar, an eminent physician, of Baltimore, witnessing what -happened, and feeling his sympathies awakened toward a man so feeble, -and apparently so near his end, walked up to the chair, as the servants -were about to remove their master, and said, "Mr. Randolph, I have not -the pleasure of your acquaintance, but I have known your brother from my -childhood; and as I see you have no one with you but your servants--you -appear to require a friend, I will be happy to render you any assistance -in my power, while we are together on the boat." He looked up, and fixed -such a searching gaze on the doctor as he never encountered before. But -having no other motive but kindness for a suffering fellow man, he -returned the scrutinizing look with steadiness. As Mr. Randolph read the -countenance of the stranger, who had thus unexpectedly proffered his -friendship, his face suddenly cleared up; and with a most winning smile, -and real politeness, and with a touching tone of voice, grasping the -doctor's hand, he said, "I am most thankful to you, sir, for your -kindness, for I do, indeed, want a friend." - -He was now, with the doctor's assistance, carefully carried on board, -and set down in the most eligible part of the cabin. He seemed to be -gasping for breath, as he sat up in the chair, having recovered a -little, he turned to the doctor, and said, "Be so good, sir, if you -please, as to give me your name." The doctor gave him his name, his -profession, and place of residence. - -"Ah! doctor," said he, "I am passed surgery--passed surgery!" "I hope -not, sir," the doctor replied. With a deeper and more pathetic tone, he -repeated, "_I am passed surgery._" - -He was removed to a side berth, and laid in a position where he could -get air; the doctor also commenced fanning him. His face was wrinkled, -and of a parched yellow, like a female of advanced age. He seemed to -repose for a moment, but presently he roused up, throwing round an -intense and searching gaze. The doctor was reading a newspaper. - -"What paper is that, doctor?" - -"The ---- _Gazette_, sir." - -"A very scurrilous paper, sir--a very scurrilous paper." - -After a short pause, he continued, "Be so good, sir, as to read the -foreign news for me--the debates in Parliament, if you please." - -As the names of the speakers were mentioned, he commented on each; -"Yes," said he, "I knew him when I was in England;" then went on to make -characteristic remarks on each person. - -In reading, the doctor fell upon the word budget; he pronounced the -letter _u_ short, as in _bud_--b[)u]dget. Mr. Randolph said quickly, but -with great mildness and courtesy, "Permit me to interrupt you for a -moment, doctor; I would pronounce that word b_u_dget; like _oo_ in -book." "Very well, sir," said the doctor, pleasantly, and continued the -reading, to which Mr. Randolph listened with great attention. Mr. -Randolph now commenced a conversation about his horses, which he seemed -to enjoy very much; Gracchus particularly, he spoke of with evident -delight. As he lay in his berth, he showed his extremities to the -doctor, which were much emaciated. He looked at them mournfully, and -expressed his opinion of the hopelessness of his condition. The doctor -endeavored to cheer him with more hopeful views. He listened politely, -but evidently derived no consolation from the remarks. Supper was now -announced; the captain and the steward were very attentive, in carrying -such dishes to Mr. Randolph as they thought would be pleasing to him. He -was plentifully supplied with fried clams, which he ate with a good deal -of relish. The steward asked him if he would have some more clams. "I do -not know," he replied; "doctor, do you think I could take some more -clams?" "No, Mr. Randolph; had you asked me earlier, I would have -advised you against taking any, for they are very injurious; but I did -not conceive it my right to advise you." "Yes, you had, doctor; and I -would have been much obliged to you for doing so. Steward, I can't take -any more; the doctor thinks they are not good for me." - -After the table was cleared off, one of the gentlemen--the one referred -to as a former acquaintance of Mr. Randolph's, observed that he should -like to get some information about the boats north of Baltimore. "I can -get it for you, sir," replied Mr. Randolph. "Doctor, do me the favor to -hand me a little wicker-basket, among my things in the berth below." The -basket was handed to him; it was full of clippings from newspapers. He -could not find the advertisement he sought for. The gentleman, with -great politeness, said, "Don't trouble yourself, Mr. Randolph." Several -times he repeated, "Don't trouble yourself, sir." At length Randolph -became impatient, and looking up at him with an angry expression of -countenance, said, "I do hate to be interrupted!" The gentleman, thus -rebuked, immediately left him. - -Mr. Randolph then showed another basket of the same kind, filled with -similar scraps from newspapers, and observed that he was always in the -habit, when any thing struck him in his reading, as likely to be useful -for future reference, to cut it out and preserve it in books, which he -had for that purpose; and that he had at home several volumes of that -kind. - -He showed his arrangements for traveling in Europe; and after a while, -seeing the doctor writing, he said, "Doctor, I see you are writing; will -you do me the favor to write a letter for me, to a friend in Richmond?" -"Certainly, sir." "The gentleman," he continued, "stands A, No. 1, among -men--Dr. Brockenbrough, of Richmond." The letter gave directions about -business matters, principally, but it contained some characteristic -remarks about his horses. He exulted in their having beaten the stage; -and concluded, "So much for blood. Now," said he, "sign it, doctor." - -"How shall I sign it, Mr. Randolph? sign it John Randolph of Roanoke?" - -"No, sir, sign it Randolph of Roanoke." - -It was done accordingly. "Now, doctor," said he, "do me the favor to add -a postscript." The postscript was added, "I have been so fortunate as to -meet with Dr. ----, of ----, on board this boat, and to form his -acquaintance, and I can never be sufficiently grateful for his kind -attentions to me." - -So soon as the letter was concluded, Mr. Randolph drew together the -curtains of his berth; the doctor frequently heard him groaning heavily, -and breathing so laboriously, that several times he approached the side -of the berth to listen if it were not the beginning of the -death-struggle. He often heard him, also, exclaiming, in agonized tones, -"Oh, God! Oh, Christ!" while he was engaged in ejaculatory prayer. - -He now became very restless, was impatient and irascible with his -servants, but continued to manifest the utmost kindness and courtesy -toward Dr. Dunbar. - -When the boat reached the wharf at Alexandria, where the doctor was to -leave, he approached the side of the berth, and said, "Mr. Randolph, I -must now take leave of you." He begged the doctor to come and see him, -at Gadsby's, then, grasping his hand, he said, "God bless you, doctor; I -never can forget your kind attentions to me." - -Next day he went into the Senate chamber, and took his seat in the rear -of Mr. Clay. That gentleman happened at the time to be on his feet, -addressing the Senate. "Raise me up," said Randolph, "I want to hear -that voice again." When Mr. Clay had concluded his remarks, which were -very few, he turned round to see from what quarter that singular voice -proceeded. Seeing Mr. Randolph, and that he was in a dying condition, he -left his place and went to speak to him; as he approached, Mr. Randolph -said to the gentleman with him, "Raise me up." As Mr. Clay offered his -hand, he said, "Mr. Randolph, I hope you are better, sir." "No, sir," -replied Randolph, "I am a dying man, and I came here expressly to have -this interview with you." - -They grasped hands and parted, never to meet more. - -Having accomplished the only thing that weighed on his mind, having -satisfied Mr. Clay, and the world, that, notwithstanding a long life of -political hostility, no personal animosity rankled in his heart, he was -now ready to continue on his journey, or to meet, with a lighter -conscience, any fate that might befall him. - -He hurried on to Philadelphia, to be in time for the packet, that was -about to sail from the Delaware. But he was too late; he was destined to -take passage in a different boat, and to a land far different from that -of his beloved England. It was Monday night when he reached the city, -and the storm was very high. His friends found him on the deck of the -steamboat, while Johnny was out hunting for a carriage. He was put into -a wretched hack, the glasses all broken, and was driven from hotel to -hotel in search of lodgings, and exposed all the time to the peltings of -the storm. He at length drove to the City Hotel, kept by Mr. Edmund -Badger. When Mr. Badger came out to meet him, he asked if he could have -accommodations. Mr. Badger replied that he was crowded, but would do the -best he could for him. On hearing this, he lifted up his hands, and -exclaimed, "Great God! I thank Thee; I shall be among friends, and be -taken care of!" - -Mr. Randolph was very ill. Dr. Joseph Parish, a Quaker physician, was -sent for. As he entered the room, the patient said, "I am acquainted -with you, sir, by character. I know you through Giles." He then told the -doctor that he had attended several courses of lectures on anatomy, and -described his symptoms with medical accuracy, declaring he must die if -he could not discharge the puriform matter. - -"How long have you been sick, Mr. Randolph?" - -"Don't ask me that question; I have been sick all my life. I have been -affected with my present disease, however, for three years. It was -greatly aggravated by my voyage to Russia. That killed me, sir. This -Russian expedition has been a Pultowa, a Beresina to me." - -The doctor now felt his pulse. "You can form no judgment by my pulse; it -is so peculiar." - -"You have been so long an invalid, Mr. Randolph, you must have acquired -an accurate knowledge of the general course of practice adapted to your -case." - -"Certainly, sir; at forty, a fool or a physician, you know." - -"There are idiosyncracies," said the doctor, "in many constitutions. I -wish to ascertain what is peculiar about you." - -"I have been an idiosyncracy all my life. All the preparations of -camphor invariably injure me. As to ether, it will blow me up. Not so -with opium; I can take opium like a Turk, and have been in the habitual -use of it, in one shape or another, for some time." - -Before the doctor retired, Mr. Randolph's conversation became curiously -diversified. He introduced the subject of the Quakers; complimented them -in his peculiar manner for neatness, economy, order, comfort--in every -thing. "Right," said he, "in every thing except politics--there always -twistical." He then repeated a portion of the Litany of the Episcopal -church, with apparent fervor. The following morning the doctor was sent -for very early. He was called from bed. Mr. Randolph apologized very -handsomely for disturbing him. Something was proposed for his relief. He -petulantly and positively refused compliance. The doctor paused and -addressed a few words to him. He apologized, and was as submissive as -an infant. One evening a medical consultation was proposed; he promptly -objected. "In a multitude of counsel," said he, "there is confusion; it -leads to weakness and indecision; the patient may die while the doctors -are staring at each other." Whenever Dr. Parish parted from him, -especially at night, he would receive the kindest acknowledgments, in -the most affectionate tones: "God bless you; He does bless you, and He -will bless you." - -The night preceding his death, the doctor passed about two hours in his -chamber. In a plaintive tone he said, "My poor John, sir, is worn down -with fatigue, and has been compelled to go to bed. A most attentive -substitute supplies his place, but neither he nor you, sir, are like -John; he knows where to place his hand on any thing, in a large quantity -of baggage prepared for a European voyage." The patient was greatly -distressed in breathing, in consequence of difficult expectoration. He -requested the doctor, at his next visit, to bring instruments for -performing the operation of bronchotomy, for he could not live unless -relieved. He then directed a certain newspaper to be brought to him. He -put on his spectacles, as he sat propped up in bed, turned over the -paper several times, and examined it carefully, then placing his finger -on a part he had selected, handed it to the doctor, with a request that -he would read it. It was headed "Cherokee." In the course of reading, -the doctor came to the word "omnipotence," and pronounced it with a full -sound on the penultimate--omni_po_tence. Mr. Randolph checked him, and -pronounced the word according to Walker. The doctor attempted to give a -reason for his pronunciation. "Pass on," was the quick reply. The word -impetus was then pronounced with the _e_ long, "imp_e_tus." He was -instantly corrected. The doctor hesitated on the criticism. "There can -be no doubt of it, sir." An immediate acknowledgment of the reader that -he stood corrected, appeared to satisfy the critic, and the piece was -concluded. The doctor observed that there was a great deal of sublimity -in the composition. He directly referred to the Mosaic account of -creation, and repeated, "'Let there be light, and there was light.' -There is sublimity." - -Next morning (the day on which he died), Dr. Parish received an early -and an urgent message to visit him. Several persons were in the room, -but soon left it, except his servant John, who was much affected at the -sight of his dying master. The doctor remarked to him, "I have seen your -master very low before, and he revived; and perhaps he will again." -"John knows better than that, sir." He then looked at the doctor with -great intensity, and said in an earnest and distinct manner, "I confirm -every disposition in my will, especially that respecting my slaves, whom -I have manumitted, and for whom I have made provision." - -"I am rejoiced to hear such a declaration from you, sir," replied the -doctor, and soon after, proposed to leave him for a short time, to -attend to another patient. "You must not go," was the reply; "you can -not, you shall not leave me. _John!_ take care that the doctor does not -leave the room." John soon locked the door, and reported, "Master, I -have locked the door, and got the key in my pocket: the doctor can't go -now." - -He seemed excited, and said, "If you do go, you need not return." The -doctor appealed to him as to the propriety of such an order, inasmuch as -he was only desirous of discharging his duty to another patient. His -manner instantly changed, and he said, "I retract that expression." Some -time afterward, turning an expressive look, he said again, "I retract -that expression." - -The doctor now said that he understood the subject of his communication, -and presumed the Will would explain itself fully. He replied, in his -peculiar way, "No, you don't understand it; I know you don't. Our laws -are extremely particular on the subject of slaves--a Will may manumit -them, but provision for their subsequent support, requires that a -declaration be made in the presence of a white witness; and it is -requisite that the witness, after hearing the declaration, should -continue with the party, and never lose sight of him, until he is gone -or dead. You are a good witness for John. You see the propriety and -importance of your remaining with me; your patients must make allowance -for your situation. John told me this morning, 'Master, you are dying.'" - -The doctor spoke with entire candor, and replied, that it was rather a -matter of surprise that he had lasted so long. He now made his -preparations to die. He directed John to bring him his father's breast -button; he then directed him to place it in the bosom of his shirt. It -was an old-fashioned, large-sized gold stud. John placed it in the -button hole of the shirt bosom--but to fix it completely, required a -hole on the opposite side. "Get a knife," said he, "and cut one." A -napkin was called for, and placed by John, over his breast. For a short -time he lay perfectly quiet, with his eyes closed. He suddenly roused up -and exclaimed, "Remorse! remorse!" It was thrice repeated--the last -time, at the top of his voice, with great agitation. He cried out, "Let -me see the word. Get a dictionary, let me see the word." "There is none -in the room, sir." "Write it down, then--let me see the word." The -doctor picked up one of his cards, "Randolph of Roanoke." "Shall I write -it on this card?" "Yes, nothing more proper." The word _remorse_, was -then written in pencil. He took the card in a hurried manner, and -fastened his eyes on it with great intensity. "Write it on the back," he -exclaimed--it was so done and handed him again. He was extremely -agitated, "Remorse! you have no idea what it is; you can form no idea of -it, whatever; it has contributed to bring me to my present -situation--but I have looked to the Lord Jesus Christ, and hope I have -obtained pardon. Now, let John take your pencil and draw a line under -the word," which was accordingly done. "What am I to do with the card?" -inquired the doctor. "Put it in your pocket--take care of it--when I am -dead, look at it." - -The doctor now introduced the subject of calling in some additional -witnesses to his declarations, and suggested sending down stairs for -Edmund Badger. He replied, "I have already communicated that to him." -The doctor then said, "With your concurrence, sir, I will send for two -young physicians, who shall remain and never lose sight of you until you -are dead; to whom you can make your declarations--my son, Dr. Isaac -Parish, and my young friend and late pupil, Dr. Francis West, a brother -of Captain West." - -He quickly asked, "Captain West of the Packet?" "Yes, sir, the same." -"Send for him--he is the man--I'll have him." - -Before the door was unlocked, he pointed toward a bureau, and requested -the doctor to take from it a remuneration for his services. To this the -doctor promptly replied, that he would feel as though he were acting -indelicately, to comply. He then waived the subject, by saying, "In -England it is always customary." - -The witnesses were now sent for, and soon arrived. The dying man was -propped up in the bed, with pillows, nearly erect. Being extremely -sensitive to cold, he had a blanket over his head and shoulders; and he -directed John to place his hat on, over the blanket, which aided in -keeping it close to his head. With a countenance full of sorrow, John -stood close by the side of his dying master. The four witnesses--Edmund -Badger, Francis West, Isaac Parish, and Joseph Parish, were placed in a -semi-circle, in full view. He rallied all the expiring energies of mind -and body, to this last effort. "His whole soul," says Dr. Parish, -"seemed concentrated in the act. His eyes flashed feeling and -intelligence. Pointing toward us, with his long index finger, he -addressed us." - -"I confirm all the directions in my Will, respecting my slaves, and -direct them to be enforced, particularly in regard to a provision for -their support." And then raising his arm as high as he could, he brought -it down with his open hand, on the shoulder of his favorite John, and -added these words, "Especially for this man." He then asked each of the -witnesses whether they understood him. Dr. Joseph Parish explained to -them, what Mr. Randolph had said in regard to the laws of Virginia, on -the subject of manumission--and then appealed to the dying man to know -whether he had stated it correctly. "Yes," said he, and gracefully -waving his hand as a token of dismission, he added, "The young gentlemen -will remain with me." - -The scene was now soon changed. Having disposed of that subject most -deeply impressed on his heart, his keen penetrating eye lost its -expression, his powerful mind gave way, and his fading imagination began -to wander amidst scenes and with friends that he had left behind. In two -hours the spirit took its flight, and all that was mortal of John -Randolph of Roanoke was hushed in death. At a quarter before twelve -o'clock, on the 24th day of June, 1833, aged sixty years, he breathed -his last, in a chamber of the City Hotel, No. 41, North Third-street, -Philadelphia. - -His remains were taken to Virginia, and buried at Roanoke, not far from -the mansion in which he lived, and in the midst of that "boundless -contiguity of shade," where he spent so many hours of anguish and of -solitude. He sleeps quietly now; the squirrel may gambol in the boughs -above, the partridge may whistle in the long grass that waves over that -solitary grave, and none shall disturb or make them afraid. - - -FOOTNOTE: - -[10] This sketch is from a portrait of RANDOLPH taken during his last -visit to England. It is said by those who remember him well, to present -an accurate and by no means caricatured or exaggerated representation of -his singular personal appearance, while walking in the streets. - - - - -AN AGREEABLE SURPRISE. - - -The ties of relationship are held most sacred in the imperial family of -Austria--Maria Louisa had been taught to reverence them from her -infancy. She was tenderly attached to every member of her family, and -when the preliminaries of her marriage with Napoleon were arranged, and -she knew that she was about to leave all who were so dear to her, and -with whom she had passed all her days, her heart sank within her, and -her tears flowed incessantly. The day came: she was to leave forever the -home of her childhood. She took a most affecting leave of all her -family, and then shut herself up in her own apartment, where, according -to etiquette, she was to remain till the French embassador who was to -conduct her to Paris went to hand her to the carriage. When Berthier, -Prince de Neufchatel, went into her cabinet for this purpose, he found -her weeping most bitterly. For some time she was unable to speak: at -length words of passionate grief found their way. - -"I can not help crying," she said; "every thing I look at, and that I am -going to leave, is so dear to me: there are my sister's drawings, my -mother herself worked this tapestry, these pictures were painted by my -uncle Charles." - -Thus she went on apostrophizing every article the room contained, even -the very carpets, and all her pets of whom she was so fond, so -cherished, and caressed; her singing birds, that she loved to sit and -listen to--these were all to be left behind--and the parrot that she -herself had taught to speak; but, above all, the little faithful dog, -the favorite companion, even he was not to accompany her--for it had -been said that the emperor did not like pet dogs. As she caressed the -little creature her tears fell faster. Berthier was sensibly touched by -the marks of affection bestowed by the young princess on all the objects -associated with home. He told her that all would not be in readiness -for their departure for a couple of hours. So the poor princess was -allowed the indulgence of her grief for a little while longer. But the -moment came, and she had to tear herself away from the scenes and the -friends that occupied all her affection. An enthusiastic greeting -awaited her from the crowds assembled to welcome her. Splendor -surrounded her on every side; but home and the dear friends were far -away. As Napoleon led her from the balcony of the Tuileries, where she -had been gazed at and hailed with acclamations of joy by the populace, -he said-- - -"Come, Louisa, I ought to give you some little reward for the happiness -which you have conferred on me--the great happiness which I have just -enjoyed. Nay, nay, don't be afraid to follow me," continued he, as he -led her along one of the narrow corridors of the palace, lit by a single -lamp; "nay, nay, don't be afraid to follow me." - -Suddenly they stopped at the door of a room wherein a dog was making -efforts to get out. The emperor opened the door--the favorite dog was -there. He testified his joy at again seeing his mistress by a thousand -wild pranks; bounding and jumping about her. The profusion of lamps by -which the room was lit up, discovered to Maria Louisa that it was -furnished with the very chairs and the carpets of her apartment at -Vienna. There were her sister's drawings, and the tapestry wrought by -her mother's hands; there were the pictures painted by her uncle -Charles; there was her parrot, and there her singing birds; and, above -all, the pet dog. Louisa was greatly affected and delighted by finding -herself surrounded by these dear, familiar objects. So well had Berthier -planned and executed this agreeable surprise for the disconsolate -princess, whom he had found weeping over all that had been endeared to -her by the fondest associations, that she never suspected his design in -delaying their departure from Vienna. - -"Come in, Berthier," said the emperor, opening a side door, "and let the -empress thank you. There, Louisa, thank him--embrace him who planned -this pleasure for you." - -How frequently genius effects great ends by the simplest means! It is -most interesting to see the greatest difficulties give way before its -magic influence. - - - - -A DEATH-BED. - -BY JAMES ALDRICH. - - - Her suffering ended with the day, - Yet lived she at its close, - And breathed the long, long night away, - In statue-like repose. - - But when the sun, in all his state, - Illumed the eastern skies, - She pass'd through Glory's morning-gate - And walk'd in Paradise! - - - - -[From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine.] - -MY NOVEL; OR, VARIETIES IN ENGLISH LIFE. - -(_Continued from page 777._) - - -BOOK II.--INITIAL CHAPTER:--INFORMING THE READER HOW THIS WORK CAME TO -HAVE INITIAL CHAPTERS. - -"There can't be a doubt," said my father, "that to each of the main -divisions of your work--whether you call them Books or Parts--you should -prefix an Initial or Introductory Chapter." - -PISISTRATUS.--"Can't be a doubt, sir! Why so?" - -MR. CAXTON.--"Fielding lays it down as an indispensable rule, which he -supports by his example; and Fielding was an artistical writer, and knew -what he was about." - -PISISTRATUS.--"Do you remember any of his reasons, sir?" - -MR. CAXTON.--"Why, indeed, Fielding says very justly that he is not -bound to assign any reason; but he does assign a good many, here and -there--to find which, I refer you to _Tom Jones_. I will only observe, -that one of his reasons, which is unanswerable, runs to the effect that -thus, in every Part or Book, the reader has the advantage of beginning -at the fourth or fifth page instead of the first--'a matter by no means -of trivial consequence,' saith Fielding, 'to persons who read books with -no other view than to say they have read them--a more general motive to -reading than is commonly imagined; and from which not only law books and -good books, but the pages of Homer and Virgil, of Swift and Cervantes -have been often turned over.' There," cried my father triumphantly, "I -will lay a shilling to twopence that I have quoted the very words." - -MRS. CAXTON.--"Dear me, that only means skipping: I don't see any great -advantage in writing a chapter, merely for people to skip it." - -PISISTRATUS.--"Neither do I!" - -MR. CAXTON, dogmatically.--"It is the repose in the picture--Fielding -calls it 'contrast'--(still more dogmatically) I say there can't be a -doubt about it. Besides (added my father after a pause), besides, this -usage gives you opportunities to explain what has gone before, or to -prepare for what's coming; or, since Fielding contends with great truth, -that some learning is necessary for this kind of historical composition, -it allows you, naturally and easily, the introduction of light and -pleasant ornaments of that nature. At each flight in the terrace, you -may give the eye the relief of an urn or a statue. Moreover, when so -inclined, you create proper pausing places for reflection; and complete, -by a separate yet harmonious ethical department, the design of a work, -which is but a mere Mother Goose's tale if it does not embrace a general -view of the thoughts and actions of mankind." - -PISISTRATUS.--"But then, in these initial chapters, the author thrusts -himself forward and just when you want to get on with the _dramatis -personæ_, you find yourself face to face with the poet himself." - -MR. CAXTON.--"Pooh! you can contrive to prevent that! Imitate the chorus -of the Greek stage, who fill up the intervals between the action by -saying what the author would otherwise say in his own person." - -PISISTRATUS, slyly.--"That's a good idea, sir--and I have a chorus, and -a chorægus too, already in my eye." - -MR. CAXTON, unsuspectingly.--"Aha! you are not so dull a fellow as you -would make yourself out to be; and, even if an author did thrust himself -forward, what objection is there to that? It is a mere affectation to -suppose that a book can come into the world without an author. Every -child has a father, one father at least, as the great Condé says very -well in his poem." - -PISISTRATUS.--"The great Condé a poet!--I never heard that before." - -MR. CAXTON.--"I don't say he was a poet, but he sent a poem to Madame de -Montansier. Envious critics think that he must have paid somebody else -to write it; but there is no reason why a great captain should not write -a poem--I don't say a good poem, but a poem. I wonder, Roland, if the -Duke ever tried his hand at 'Stanzas to Mary,' or 'Lines to a sleeping -babe.'" - -CAPTAIN ROLAND.--"Austin, I'm ashamed of you. Of course the Duke could -write poetry if he pleased--something, I dare say, in the way of the -great Condé--that is something warlike and heroic, I'll be bound. Let's -hear!" - -MR. CAXTON, reciting-- - - "Telle est du Ciel la loi sèvère - Qu'il faut qu'un enfant ait un père; - On dit même quelque fois - Tel enfant en a jusqu'á trois." - -CAPTAIN ROLAND, greatly disgusted.--"Condé write such stuff!--I don't -believe it." - -PISISTRATUS.--"I do, and accept the quotation--you and Roland shall be -joint fathers to my child as well as myself." - - "Tel enfant en a jusqu'á trois." - -MR. CAXTON, solemnly.--"I refuse the proffered paternity; but so far as -administering a little wholesome castigation, now and then, I have no -objection to join in the discharge of a father's duty." - -PISISTRATUS.--"Agreed; have you any thing to say against the infant -hitherto?" - -MR. CAXTON.--"He is in long clothes at present; let us wait till he can -walk." - -BLANCHE.--"But pray whom do you mean for a hero?--and is Miss Jemima -your heroine?" - -CAPTAIN ROLAND.--"There is some mystery about the--" - -PISISTRATUS, hastily.--"Hush, Uncle; no letting the cat out of the bag -yet. Listen, all of you! I left Frank Hazeldean on his way to the -Casino." - - -CHAPTER II. - -"It is a sweet pretty place," thought Frank, as he opened the gate which -led across the fields to the Casino, that smiled down upon him with its -plaster pilasters. "I wonder, though, that my father, who is so -particular in general, suffers the carriage road to be so full of holes -and weeds. Mounseer does not receive many visits, I take it." - -But when Frank got into the ground immediately before the house, he saw -no cause of complaint as to want of order and repair. Nothing could be -kept more neatly. Frank was ashamed of the dint made by the pony's hoofs -in the smooth gravel; he dismounted, tied the animal to the wicket, and -went on foot toward the glass door in front. - -He rang the bell once, twice, but nobody came, for the old -woman-servant, who was hard of hearing, was far away in the yard, -searching for any eggs which the hen might have scandalously hidden from -culinary purposes; and Jackeymo was fishing for the sticklebacks and -minnows, which were, when caught, to assist the eggs, when found, in -keeping together the bodies and souls of himself and his master. The old -woman was on board wages--lucky old woman! Frank rang a third time, and -with the impetuosity of his age. A face peeped from the Belvidere on the -terrace. "Diavolo!" said Dr. Riccabocca to himself. "Young cocks crow -hard on their own dunghill; it must be a cock of a high race to crow so -loud at another's." - -Therewith he shambled out of the summer-house, and appeared suddenly -before Frank, in a very wizard-like dressing robe of black serge, a red -cap on his head, and a cloud of smoke coming rapidly from his lips, as a -final consolatory whiff, before he removed the pipe from them. Frank had -indeed seen the doctor before, but never in so scholastic a costume, and -he was a little startled by the apparition at his elbow, as he turned -round. - -"Signorino--young gentleman," said the Italian, taking off his cap with -his usual urbanity, "pardon the negligence of my people--I am too happy -to receive your commands in person." - -"Dr. Rickeybockey?" stammered Frank, much confused by this polite -address, and the low yet stately bow with which it was accompanied, -"I--I have a note from the Hall. Mamma--that is, my mother--and aunt -Jemima beg their best compliments, and hope you will come, sir." - -The Doctor took the note with another bow, and, opening the glass door, -invited Frank to enter. - -The young gentleman, with a schoolboy's usual bluntness, was about to -say that he was in a hurry, and had rather not; but Dr. Riccabocca's -grand manner awed him, while a glimpse of the hall excited his -curiosity--so he silently obeyed the invitation. - -The hall, which was of an octagon shape, had been originally paneled off -into compartments, and in these the Italian had painted landscapes, rich -with the sunny warm light of his native climate. Frank was no judge of -the art displayed; but he was greatly struck with the scenes depicted: -they were all views of some lake, real or imaginary--in all, dark-blue -shining waters reflected dark-blue placid skies. In one, a flight of -steps descended to the lake, and a gay group was seen feasting on the -margin: in another, sunset threw its rose-hues over a vast villa or -palace, backed by Alpine hills, and flanked by long arcades of vines, -while pleasure-boats skimmed over the waves below. In short, throughout -all the eight compartments, the scene, though it differed in details, -preserved the same general character, as if illustrating some favorite -locality. The Italian, did not, however, evince any desire to do the -honors to his own art, but, preceding Frank across the hall, opened the -door of his usual sitting-room, and requested him to enter. Frank did -so, rather reluctantly, and seated himself with unwonted bashfulness on -the edge of a chair. But here new specimens of the Doctor's handicraft -soon riveted attention. The room had been originally papered; but -Riccabocca had stretched canvas over the walls, and painted thereon -sundry satirical devices, each separated from the other by scroll-works -of fantastic arabesques. Here a Cupid was trundling a wheelbarrow full -of hearts, which he appeared to be selling to an ugly old fellow, with a -money-bag in his hand--probably Plutus. There Diogenes might be seen -walking through a market-place, with his lantern in his hand, in search -of an honest man, while the children jeered at him, and the curs snapped -at his heels. In another place, a lion was seen half dressed in a fox's -hide, while a wolf in a sheep's mask was conversing very amicably with a -young lamb. Here again might be seen the geese stretching out their -necks from the Roman Capitol in full cackle, while the stout invaders -were beheld in the distance, running off as hard as they could. In -short, in all these quaint entablatures some pithy sarcasm was -symbolically conveyed; only over the mantle-piece was the design graver -and more touching. It was the figure of a man in a pilgrim's garb, -chained to the earth by small but innumerable ligaments, while a phantom -likeness of himself, his shadow, was seen hastening down what seemed an -interminable vista; and underneath were written the pathetic words of -Horace, - - "Patriæ quis exul - Se quoque fugit?" - -"What exile from his country can fly himself as well?" The furniture of -the room was extremely simple, and somewhat scanty; yet it was arranged -so as to impart an air of taste and elegance to the room. Even a few -plaster busts and statues, though bought of some humble itinerant, had -their classical effect glistening from out stands of flowers that were -grouped around them, or backed by graceful screen-works formed from -twisted osiers, which, by the simple contrivance of trays at the bottom, -filled with earth, served for living parasitical plants, with gay -flowers contrasting thick ivy leaves, and gave to the whole room the -aspect of a bower. - -"May I ask your permission?" said the Italian, with his finger on the -seal of the letter. - -"Oh, yes," said Frank with _naïveté_. - -Riccabocca broke the seal, and a slight smile stole over his -countenance. Then he turned a little aside from Frank, shaded his face -with his hand, and seemed to muse. "Mrs. Hazeldean," said he at last, -"does me very great honor. I hardly recognize her hand-writing, or I -should have been more impatient to open the letter." The dark eyes were -lifted over the spectacles, and went right into Frank's unprotected and -undiplomatic heart. The Doctor raised the note, and pointed to the -characters with his forefinger. - -"Cousin Jemima's hand," said Frank, as directly as if the question had -been put to him. - -The Italian smiled. "Mr. Hazeldean has company staying with him?" - -"No; that is, only Barney--the Captain. There's seldom much company -before the shooting season," added Frank with a slight sigh; "and then -you know the holidays are over. For my part, I think we ought to break -up a month later." - -The Doctor seemed reassured by the first sentence in Frank's reply, and -seating himself at the table, wrote his answer--not hastily, as we -English write, but with care and precision, like one accustomed to weigh -the nature of words--in that stiff Italian hand, which allows the writer -so much time to think while he forms his letters. He did not therefore -reply at once to Frank's remark about the holidays, but was silent till -he had concluded his note, read it three times over, sealed it by the -taper he slowly lighted, and then, giving it to Frank, he said-- - -"For your sake, young gentleman, I regret that your holidays are so -early; for mine, I must rejoice, since I accept the kind invitation you -have rendered doubly gratifying by bringing it yourself." - -"Deuce take the fellow and his fine speeches! One don't know which way -to look," thought English Frank. - -The Italian smiled again, as if this time he had read the boy's heart, -without need of those piercing black eyes, and said, less ceremoniously -than before, "You don't care much for compliments, young gentleman?" - -"No, I don't indeed," said Frank heartily. - -"So much the better for you, since your way in the world is made: it -would be so much the worse if you had to make it!" - -Frank looked puzzled: the thought was too deep for him--so he turned to -the pictures. - -"Those are very funny," said he: "they seem capitally done--who did -'em?" - -"Signorino Hazeldean, you are giving me what you refused yourself." - -"Eh?" said Frank, inquiringly. - -"Compliments!" - -"Oh--I--no; but they are well done, arn't they, sir?" - -"Not particularly: you speak to the artist." - -"What! you painted them?" - -"Yes." - -"And the pictures in the hall?" - -"Those too." - -"Taken from nature--eh?" - -"Nature," said the Italian sententiously, perhaps evasively, "lets -nothing be taken from her." - -"Oh!" said Frank, puzzled again. - -"Well, I must wish you good morning, sir; I am very glad you are -coming." - -"Without compliment?" - -"Without compliment." - -"A _rivedersi_--good-by for the present, my young signorino. This way," -observing Frank make a bolt toward the wrong door. - -"Can I offer you a glass of wine--it is pure, of our own making?" - -"No, thank you, indeed, sir," cried Frank, suddenly recollecting his -father's admonition. "Good-by--don't trouble yourself, sir; I know my -way now." - -But the bland Italian followed his guest to the wicket, where Frank had -left the pony. The young gentleman, afraid lest so courteous a host -should hold the stirrup for him, twitched off the bridle, and mounted in -haste, not even staying to ask if the Italian could put him in the way -to Rood Hall, of which way he was profoundly ignorant. The Italian's eye -followed the boy as he rode up the ascent in the lane, and the Doctor -sighed heavily. "The wiser we grow," said he to himself, "the more we -regret the age of our follies: it is better to gallop with a light heart -up the stony hill than to sit in the summer-house and cry 'How true!' to -the stony truths of Machiavelli!" - -With that he turned back into the Belvidere; but he could not resume his -studies. He remained some minutes gazing on the prospect, till the -prospect reminded him of the fields, which Jackeymo was bent on his -hiring, and the fields reminded him of Lenny Fairfield. He walked back -to the house, and in a few moments re-emerged in his out-of-door-trim, -with cloak and umbrella, relighted his pipe, and strolled toward -Hazeldean village. - -Meanwhile Frank, after cantering on for some distance, stopped at a -cottage, and there learned that there was a short cut across the fields -to Rood Hall, by which he could save nearly three miles. Frank, however, -missed the short cut, and came out into the high road: a turnpike -keeper, after first taking his toll, put him back again into the short -cut; and finally, he got into some green lanes, where a dilapidated -finger-post directed him to Rood. Late at noon, having ridden fifteen -miles in the desire to reduce ten to seven, he came suddenly upon a wild -and primitive piece of ground, that seemed half chase, half common, with -slovenly tumble-down cottages of villainous aspect scattered about in -odd nooks and corners; idle dirty children were making mud pies on the -road; slovenly-looking women were plaiting straw at the thresholds; a -large but forlorn and decayed church, that seemed to say that the -generation which saw it built was more pious than the generation which -now resorted to it, stood boldly and nakedly out by the roadside. - -"Is this the village of Rood?" asked Frank of a stout young man breaking -stones on the road--sad sign that no better labor could be found for -him! - -The man sullenly nodded, and continued his work. - -"And where's the Hall--Mr. Leslie's?" - -The man looked up in stolid surprise, and this time touched his hat. - -"Be you going there?" - -"Yes, if I can find out where it is." - -"I'll show your honor," said the boor alertly. - -Frank reined in the pony, and the man walked by his side. - -Frank was much of his father's son, despite the difference of age, and -that more fastidious change of manner which characterizes each -succeeding race in the progress of civilization. Despite all his Eton -finery, he was familiar with peasants, and had the quick eye of one -country-born as to country matters. - -"You don't seem very well off in this village, my man?" said he, -knowingly. - -"No; there be a deal of distress here in the winter time, and summer -too, for that matter; and the parish ben't much help to a single man." - -"But the farmers want work here as well as elsewhere, I suppose?" - -"'Deed, and there ben't much farming work here--most o' the parish be -all wild ground loike." - -"The poor have a right of common, I suppose," said Frank, surveying a -large assortment of vagabond birds and quadrupeds. - -"Yes; neighbor Timmins keeps his geese on the common, and some has a -cow--and them be neighbor Jowles's pigs. I don't know if there's a -right, loike; but the folks at the Hall does all they can to help us, -and that ben't much: they ben't as rich as some folks; but," added the -peasant proudly, "they be as good blood as any in the shire." - -"I'm glad to see you like them, at all events." - -"Oh, yes, I likes them well eno'; mayhap you are at school with the -young gentleman?" - -"Yes." said Frank. - -"Ah! I heard the clergyman say as how Master Randal was a mighty clever -lad, and would get rich some day. I'se sure I wish he would, for a poor -squire makes a poor parish. There's the Hall, sir." - - -CHAPTER III. - -Frank looked right ahead, and saw a square house that, in spite of -modern sash-windows, was evidently of remote antiquity--a high conical -roof; a stack of tall quaint chimney-pots of red baked clay (like those -at Sutton Place in Surrey), dominating over isolated vulgar -smoke-conductors, of the ignoble fashion of present times; a dilapidated -groin-work, encasing within a Tudor arch a door of the comfortable date -of George III., and the peculiarly dingy and weather-stained appearance -of the small finely finished bricks, of which the habitation was -built--all showed the abode of former generations adapted with tasteless -irreverence to the habits of descendants unenlightened by Pugin, or -indifferent to the poetry of the past. The house had emerged suddenly -upon Frank out of the gloomy waste land, for it was placed in a hollow, -and sheltered from sight by a disorderly group of ragged, dismal, -valetudinarian fir-trees, until an abrupt turn of the road cleared that -screen, and left the desolate abode bare to the discontented eye. Frank -dismounted; the man held his pony; and, after smoothing his cravat, the -smart Etonian sauntered up to the door, and startled the solitude of the -place with a loud peal from the modern brass knocker--a knock which -instantly brought forth an astonished starling who had built under the -eaves of the gable roof, and called up a cloud of sparrows, tomtits, and -yellow-hammers, who had been regaling themselves among the litter of a -slovenly farm-yard that lay in full sight to the right of the house, -fenced off by a primitive, paintless wooden rail. In process of time a -sow, accompanied by a thriving and inquisitive family, strolled up to -the gate of the fence, and, leaning her nose on the lower bar of the -gate, contemplated the visitor with much curiosity and some suspicion. - -While Frank is still without, impatiently swingeing his white trowsers -with his whip, we will steal a hurried glance toward the respective -members of the family within. Mr. Leslie, the _pater familias_, is in a -little room called his 'study,' to which he regularly retires every -morning after breakfast, rarely reappearing till one o'clock, which is -his unfashionable hour for dinner. In what mysterious occupations Mr. -Leslie passes those hours no one ever formed a conjecture. At the -present moment he is seated before a little rickety bureau, one leg of -which (being shorter than the other), is propped up by sundry old -letters and scraps of newspapers; and the bureau is open, and reveals a -great number of pigeon-holes and divisions, filled with various odds and -ends, the collection of many years. In some of these compartments are -bundles of letters, very yellow, and tied in packets with faded tape; in -another, all by itself, is a fragment of plum-pudding stone, which Mr. -Leslie has picked up in his walks and considered a rare mineral. It is -neatly labeled "Found in Hollow Lane, May 21st, 1824, by Maunder Slugge -Leslie, Esq." The next division holds several bits of iron in the shape -of nails, fragments of horse-shoes, &c., which Mr. Leslie had also met -with in his rambles, and, according to a harmless popular superstition, -deemed it highly unlucky not to pick up, and, once picked up, no less -unlucky to throw away. _Item_, in the adjoining pigeon-hole, a goodly -collection of pebbles with holes in them, preserved for the same reason, -in company with a crooked sixpence: _item_, neatly arranged in fanciful -mosaics, several periwinkles, Blackamoor's teeth (I mean the shell so -called), and other specimens of the conchiferous ingenuity of Nature, -partly inherited from some ancestral spinster, partly amassed by Mr. -Leslie himself in a youthful excursion to the sea-side. There were the -farm-bailiff's accounts, several files of bills, an old stirrup, three -sets of knee and shoe buckles which had belonged to Mr. Leslie's father, -a few seals tied together by a shoe-string, a shagreen toothpick case, a -tortoiseshell magnifying glass to read with, his eldest son's first -copybooks, his second son's ditto, his daughter's ditto, and a lock of -his wife's hair arranged in a true-lover's knot, framed and glazed. -There were also a small mousetrap; a patent corkscrew, too good to be -used in common; fragments of a silver teaspoon, that had, by natural -decay, arrived at a dissolution of its parts; a small brown Holland bag, -containing halfpence of various dates, as far back as Queen Anne, -accompanied by two French _sous_, and a German _silber gros_; the which -miscellany Mr. Leslie magniloquently called "his coins," and had left in -his will as a family heirloom. There were many other curiosities of -congenial nature and equal value--"_quæ nunc describere longum est_." -Mr. Leslie was engaged at this time in what is termed "putting things to -rights"--an occupation he performed with exemplary care once a week. -This was his day; and he had just counted his coins, and was slowly -tying them up again, when Frank's knock reached his ears. - -Mr. Maunder Slugge Leslie paused, shook his head as if incredulously, -and was about to resume his occupation, when he was seized with a fit of -yawning which prevented the bag being tied for full two minutes. - -While such was the employment of the study--let us turn to the -recreations in the drawing-room, or rather parlor. A drawing-room there -was on the first floor, with a charming look-out, not on the dreary -fir-trees, but on the romantic undulating forest-land, but the -drawing-room had not been used since the death of the last Mrs. Leslie. -It was deemed too good to sit in, except when there was company; there -never being company, it was never sate in. Indeed, now the paper was -falling off the walls with the damp, and the rats, mice, and -moths--those "_edaces rerum_"--had eaten, between them, most of the -chair-bottoms and a considerable part of the floor. Therefore the parlor -was the sole general sitting-room; and being breakfasted in, dined, and -supped in, and, after supper, smoked in by Mr. Leslie to the -accompaniment of rum and water, it is impossible to deny that it had -what is called "a smell"--a comfortable wholesome family smell--speaking -of numbers, meals, and miscellaneous social habitation.--There were two -windows: one looked full on the fir-trees; the other on the farm-yard, -with the pigsty closing the view. Near the fir-tree window sate Mrs. -Leslie; before her, on a high stool, was a basket of the children's -clothes that wanted mending. A work-table of rosewood inlaid with brass, -which had been a wedding present, and was a costly thing originally, but -in that peculiar taste which is vulgarly called "Brumagem," stood at -hand: the brass had started in several places, and occasionally made -great havoc on the children's fingers and Mrs. Leslie's gown; in fact, -it was the liveliest piece of furniture in the house, thanks to that -petulant brass-work, and could not have been more mischievous if it had -been a monkey. Upon the work-table lay a housewife and thimble, and -scissors and skeins of worsted and thread, and little scraps of linen -and cloth for patches. But Mrs. Leslie was not actually working--she was -preparing to work; she had been preparing to work for the last hour and -a half. Upon her lap she supported a novel, by a lady who wrote much for -a former generation, under the name of "Mrs. Bridget Blue Mantle." She -had a small needle in her left hand, and a very thick piece of thread in -her right; occasionally she applied the end of the said thread to her -lips, and then--her eyes fixed on the novel--made a blind vacillating -attack at the eye of the needle. But a camel would have gone through it -with quite as much ease. Nor did the novel alone engage Mrs. Leslie's -attention, for ever and anon she interrupted herself to scold the -children; to inquire "what o'clock it was;" to observe that "Sarah would -never suit," and to wonder why Mr. Leslie would not see that the -work-table was mended. Mrs. Leslie had been rather a pretty woman. In -spite of a dress at once slatternly and economical, she has still the -air of a lady--rather too much so, the hard duties of her situation -considered. She is proud of the antiquity of her family on both sides; -her mother was of the venerable stock of the Daudlers of Daudle Place, a -race that existed before the Conquest. Indeed, one has only to read our -earliest chronicles, and to glance over some of those long-winded -moralizing poems which delighted the thanes and ealdermen of old, in -order to see that the Daudlers must have been a very influential family -before William the First turned the country topsy-turvy. While the -mother's race was thus indubitably Saxon, the father's had not only the -name but the peculiar idiosyncrasy of the Normans, and went far to -establish that crotchet of the brilliant author of _Sybil, or the Two -Nations_ as to the continued distinction between the conquering and -conquered populations. Mrs. Leslie's father boasted the name of -Montfydget; doubtless of the same kith and kin as those great barons -Montfichet, who once owned such broad lands and such turbulent castles. -A high-nosed, thin, nervous, excitable progeny, those same Montfydgets, -as the most troublesome Norman could pretend to be. This fusion of race -was notable to the most ordinary physiognomist in the _physique_ and in -the _morale_ of Mrs. Leslie. She had the speculative blue eye of the -Saxon, and the passionate high nose of the Norman; she had the musing -do-nothingness of the Daudlers, and the reckless have-at-everythingness -of the Montfydgets. At Mrs. Leslie's feet, a little girl with her hair -about her ears (and beautiful hair it was too), was amusing herself with -a broken-nosed doll. At the far end of the room, before a high desk, -sate Frank's Eton schoolfellow, the eldest son. A minute or two before -Frank's alarum had disturbed the tranquillity of the household, he had -raised his eyes from the books on the desk, to glance at a very tattered -copy of the Greek Testament, in which his brother Oliver had found a -difficulty that he came to Randal to solve. As the young Etonian's face -was turned to the light, your first impression, on seeing it, would have -been melancholy but respectful interest--for the face had already lost -the joyous character of youth--there was a wrinkle between the brows; -and the lines that speak of fatigue, were already visible under the eyes -and about the mouth; the complexion was sallow, the lips were pale. -Years of study had already sown, in the delicate organization, the seeds -of many an infirmity and many a pain; but if your look had rested longer -on that countenance, gradually your compassion might have given place to -some feeling uneasy and sinister, a feeling akin to fear. There was in -the whole expression so much of cold calm force, that it belied the -debility of the frame. You saw there the evidence of a mind that was -cultivated, and you felt that in that cultivation there was something -formidable. A notable contrast to this countenance, prematurely worn and -eminently intelligent, was the round healthy face of Oliver, with slow -blue eyes, fixed hard on the penetrating orbs of his brother, as if -trying with might and main to catch from them a gleam of that knowledge -with which they shone clear and frigid as a star. - -At Frank's knock, Oliver's slow blue eyes sparkled into animation, and -he sprang from his brother's side. The little girl flung back the hair -from her face, and stared at her mother with a look which spoke wonder -and fright. - -The young student knit his brows, and then turned wearily back to the -books on his desk. - -"Dear me," cried Mrs. Leslie, "who can that possibly be? Oliver, come -from the window, sir, this instant, you will be seen! Juliet, run--ring -the bell--no, go to the stairs, and say, 'not at home.' Not at home on -any account," repeated Mrs. Leslie nervously, for the Montfydget blood -was now in full flow. - -In another minute or so, Frank's loud boyish voice was distinctly heard -at the outer door. - -Randal slightly started. - -"Frank Hazeldean's voice," said he; "I should like to see him, mother." - -"See him," repeated Mrs. Leslie in amaze, "see him!--and the room in -this state!" - -Randal might have replied that the room was in no worse state than -usual; but he said nothing. A slight flush came and went over his pale -face; and then he leant his cheek on his hand, and compressed his lips -firmly. - -The outer door closed with a sullen, inhospitable jar, and a slip-shod -female servant entered with a card between her finger and thumb. - -"Who is that for? give it to me, Jenny," cried Mrs. Leslie. - -But Jenny shook her head, laid the card on the desk beside Randal, and -vanished without saying a word. - -"Oh, look, Randal, look up," cried Oliver, who had again rushed to the -window; "such a pretty gray pony!" - -Randal did look up; nay, he went deliberately to the window, and gazed a -moment on the high-mettled pony, and the well-dressed high-spirited -rider. In that moment changes passed over Randal's countenance more -rapidly than clouds over the sky in a gusty day. Now envy and -discontent, with the curled lip and the gloomy scowl; now hope and proud -self-esteem, with the clearing brow, and the lofty smile; and then all -again became cold, firm, and close as he walked back to his books, -seated himself resolutely, and said, half aloud, - -"Well, KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!" - - -CHAPTER IV. - -Mrs. Leslie came up in fidget and in fuss; she leant over Randal's -shoulder and read the card. Written in pen and ink, with an attempt at -imitation of printed Roman character, there appeared first, "MR. FRANK -HAZELDEAN;" but just over these letters, and scribbled hastily and less -legibly in pencil, was-- - -"Dear Leslie,--sorry you are out--come and see us--_Do_!" - -"You will go, Randal?" said Mrs. Leslie, after a pause. - -"I am not sure." - -"Yes, _you_ can go; _you_ have clothes like a gentleman; _you_ can go -any where, not like those children;" and Mrs. Leslie glanced almost -spitefully on poor Oliver's coarse, threadbare jacket, and little -Juliet's torn frock. - -"What I have I owe at present to Mr. Egerton, and I should consult his -wishes; he is not on good terms with these Hazeldeans." Then glancing -toward his brother, who looked mortified, he added, with a strange sort -of haughty kindness, "What I may have hereafter, Oliver, I shall owe to -myself; and then, if I rise, I will raise my family." - -"Dear Randal," said Mrs. Leslie, fondly kissing him on the forehead, -"what a good heart you have!" - -"No mother; my books don't tell me that it is a good heart that gets on -in the world; it is a hard head," replied Randal, with a rude and -scornful candor. "But I can read no more just now; come out, Oliver." - -So saying, he slid from his mother's hand and left the room. - -When Oliver joined him, Randal was already on the common; and, without -seeming to notice his brother, he continued to walk quickly and with -long strides in profound silence. At length he paused under the shade of -an old oak, that, too old to be of value save for firewood, had escaped -the ax. The tree stood on a knoll, and the spot commanded a view of the -decayed house--the old dilapidated church--the dismal, dreary village. - -"Oliver," said Randal, between his teeth, so that his voice had the -sound of a hiss, "it was under this tree that I first resolved to--" - -He paused. - -"What, Randal?" - -"Read hard; knowledge is power!" - -"But you are so fond of reading." - -"I?" cried Randal. "Do you think, when Wolsey and Thomas à-Becket became -priests, they were fond of telling their beads and pattering Aves? I -fond of reading!" - -Oliver stared; the historical allusions were beyond his comprehension. - -"You know," continued Randal, "that we Leslies were not always the -beggarly poor gentlemen we are now. You know that there is a man who -lives in Grosvenor-square, and is very rich--very. His riches come to -him from a Leslie; that man is my patron, Oliver, and he is very good to -me." - -Randal's smile was withering as he spoke. "Come on," he said, after a -pause--"come on." Again the walk was quicker, and the brothers were -silent. - -They came at length to a little shallow brook, across which some large -stones had been placed at short intervals, so that the boys walked over -the ford dryshod. "Will you pull me down that bough, Oliver?" said -Randal, abruptly, pointing to a tree. Oliver obeyed mechanically; and -Randal stripping the leaves, and snapping off the twigs, left a fork at -the end; with this he began to remove the stepping-stones. "What are you -about, Randal?" asked Oliver, wonderingly. - -"We are on the other side of the brook now; and we shall not come back -this way. We don't want the stepping-stones any more! away with them!" - - -CHAPTER V. - -The morning after this visit of Frank Hazeldean's to Rood Hall, the -Right Honorable Audley Egerton, member of Parliament, privy councilor, -and minister of a high department in the state--just below the rank of -the cabinet--was seated in his library, awaiting the delivery of the -post, before he walked down to his office. In the mean while he sipped -his tea, and glanced over the newspapers with that quick and -half-disdainful eye with which your practical man in public life is wont -to regard the abuse or the eulogium of the Fourth Estate. - -There is very little likeness between Mr. Egerton and his half-brother; -none indeed, except that they are both of tall stature, and strong, -sinewy, English build. But even in this last they do not resemble each -other; for the Squire's athletic shape is already beginning to expand -into that portly embonpoint which seems the natural development of -contented men as they approach middle life. Audley, on the contrary, is -inclined to be spare; and his figure, though the muscles are as firm as -iron, has enough of the slender to satisfy metropolitan ideas of -elegance. His dress--his look--his _tout ensemble_, are those of the -London man. In the first, there is more attention to fashion than is -usual among the busy members of the House of Commons; but then Audley -Egerton had always been something more than a mere busy member of the -House of Commons. He had always been a person of mark in the best -society, and one secret of his success in life has been his high -reputation as a "gentleman." - -As he now bends over the journals, there is an air of distinction in the -turn of the well-shaped head, with the dark brown hair--dark in spite of -a reddish tinge--cut close behind, and worn away a little toward the -crown, so as to give additional height to a commanding forehead. His -profile is very handsome, and of that kind of beauty which imposes on -men if it pleases women; and is therefore, unlike that of your mere -pretty fellows, a positive advantage in public life. It is a profile -with large features clearly cut, masculine, and somewhat severe. The -expression of his face is not open like the Squire's; nor has it the -cold closeness which accompanies the intellectual character of young -Leslie's; but it is reserved and dignified, and significant of -self-control, as should be the physiognomy of a man accustomed to think -before he speaks. When you look at him, you are not surprised to learn -that he is not a florid orator nor a smart debater--he is a "weighty -speaker." He is fairly read, but without any great range either of -ornamental scholarship or constitutional lore. He has not much humor; -but he has that kind of wit which is essential to grave and serious -irony. He has not much imagination, nor remarkable subtlety in -reasoning; but if he does not dazzle, he does not _bore_: he is too much -the man of the world for that. He is considered to have sound sense and -accurate judgment. Withal, as he now lays aside the journals, and his -face relaxes its austerer lines, you will not be astonished to hear that -he is a man who is said to have been greatly beloved by women, and still -to exercise much influence in drawing-rooms and boudoirs. At least no -one was surprised when the great heiress Clementina Leslie, kinswomen -and ward to Lord Lansmere--a young lady who had refused three earls and -the heir-apparent to a dukedom--was declared by her dearest friends to -be dying of love for Audley Egerton. It had been the natural wish of the -Lansmeres that this lady should marry their son, Lord L'Estrange. But -that young gentleman, whose opinions on matrimony partook of the -eccentricity of his general character, could never be induced to -propose, and had, according to the _on dits_ of town, been the principal -party to make up the match between Clementina and his friend Audley; for -the match required making-up despite the predilections of the young -heiress. Mr. Egerton had had scruples of delicacy. He avowed, for the -first time, that his fortune was much less than had been generally -supposed, and he did not like the idea of owing all to a wife, however -much he might esteem and admire her. L'Estrange was with his regiment -abroad during the existence of these scruples; but by letters to his -father, and to his cousin Clementina, he contrived to open and conclude -negotiations, while he argued away Mr. Egerton's objections; and, before -the year in which Audley was returned for Lansmere had expired, he -received the hand of the great heiress. The settlement of her fortune, -which was chiefly in the funds, had been unusually advantageous to the -husband; for though the capital was tied up so long as both -survived--for the benefit of any children they might have--yet, in the -event of one of the parties dying without issue by the marriage, the -whole passed without limitation to the survivor. In not only assenting -to, but proposing this clause, Miss Leslie, if she showed a generous -trust in Mr. Egerton, inflicted no positive wrong on her relations; for -she had none sufficiently near to her to warrant their claim to the -succession. Her nearest kinsman, and therefore her natural heir, was -Harley L'Estrange; and if he was contented, no one had a right to -complain. The tie of blood between herself and the Leslies of Rood Hall -was, as we shall see presently, extremely distant. - -It was not till after his marriage that Mr. Egerton took an active part -in the business of the House of Commons. He was then at the most -advantageous starting-point for the career of ambition. His words on the -state of the country took importance from his stake in it. His talents -found accessories in the opulence of Grosvenor-square, the dignity of a -princely establishment, the respectability of one firmly settled in -life, the reputation of a fortune in reality very large, and which was -magnified by popular report into the revenues of a Croesus. Audley -Egerton succeeded in Parliament beyond the early expectations formed of -him. He took, at first, that station in the House which it requires tact -to establish, and great knowledge of the world to free from the charge -of impracticability and crotchet, but which, once established, is -peculiarly imposing from the rarity of its independence; that is to say, -the station of the moderate man who belongs sufficiently to a party to -obtain its support, but is yet sufficiently disengaged from a party to -make his vote and word, on certain questions, matter of anxiety and -speculation. - -Professing Toryism (the word Conservative, which would have suited him -better, was not then known), he separated himself from the country -party, and always avowed great respect for the opinions of the large -towns. The epithet given to the views of Audley Egerton was -"enlightened." Never too much in advance of the passion of the day, yet -never behind its movement, he had that shrewd calculation of odds which -a consummate mastery of the world sometimes bestows upon -politicians--perceived the chances for and against a certain question -being carried within a certain time, and nicked the question between -wind and water. He was so good a barometer of that changeful weather -called Public Opinion that he might have had a hand in the _Times_ -newspaper. He soon quarreled, and purposely, with his Lansmere -constituents--nor had he ever revisited that borough, perhaps because it -was associated with unpleasant reminiscences in the shape of the -Squire's epistolary trimmer, and in that of his own effigies which his -agricultural constituents had burned in the corn-market. But the -speeches which produced such indignation at Lansmere, had delighted one -of the greatest of our commercial towns, which at the next general -election honored him with its representation. In those days, before the -Reform Bill, great commercial towns chose men of high mark for their -members; and a proud station it was for him who was delegated to speak -the voice of the princely merchants of England. - -Mrs. Egerton survived her marriage but a few years; she left no -children; two had been born, but died in their first infancy. The -property of the wife, therefore, passed without control or limit to the -husband. - -Whatever might have been the grief of the widower, he disdained to -betray it to the world. Indeed, Audley Egerton was a man who had early -taught himself to conceal emotion. He buried himself in the country, -none knew where, for some months: when he returned, there was a deep -wrinkle on his brow; but no change in his habits and avocations, except -that, shortly afterward, he accepted office, and thus became more busy -than ever. - -Mr. Egerton had always been lavish and magnificent in money matters. A -rich man in public life has many claims on his fortune, and no one -yielded to those claims with an air so regal as Audley Egerton. But -among his many liberal actions, there was none which seemed more worthy -of panegyric, than the generous favor he extended to the son of his -wife's poor and distant kinsfolks, the Leslies of Rood Hall. - -Some four generations back, there had lived a certain Squire Leslie, a -man of large acres and active mind. He had cause to be displeased with -his elder son, and though he did not disinherit him, he left half his -property to a younger. - -The younger had capacity and spirit, which justified the paternal -provision. He increased his fortune; lifted himself into notice and -consideration, by public services and a noble alliance. His descendants -followed his example, and took rank among the first commoners in -England, till the last male, dying, left his sole heiress and -representative in one daughter, Clementina, afterward married to Mr. -Egerton. - -Meanwhile the elder son of the fore-mentioned squire had muddled and -sotted away much of his share in the Leslie property; and, by low habits -and mean society, lowered in repute his representation of the name. - -His successors imitated him, till nothing was left to Randal's father, -Mr. Maunder Slugge Leslie, but the decayed house which was what the -Germans call the _stamm schloss_, or "stem hall" of the race, and the -wretched lands immediately around it. - -Still, though all intercourse between the two branches of the family had -ceased, the younger had always felt a respect for the elder, as the head -of the house. And it was supposed that, on her death bed, Mrs. Egerton -had recommended her impoverished namesakes and kindred to the care of -her husband. For, when he returned to town after Mrs. Egerton's death, -Audley had sent to Mr. Maunder Slugge Leslie the sum of £5000, which he -said his wife, leaving no written will, had orally bequeathed as a -legacy to that gentleman; and he requested permission to charge himself -with the education of the eldest son. - -Mr. Maunder Slugge Leslie might have done great things for his little -property with those £5000, or even (kept in the three-per-cents) the -interest would have afforded a material addition to his comforts. But a -neighboring solicitor having caught scent of the legacy, hunted it down -into his own hands, on pretense of having found a capital investment in -a canal. And when the solicitor had got possession of the £5000, he went -off with them to America. - -Meanwhile Randal, placed by Mr. Egerton at an excellent preparatory -school, at first gave no signs of industry or talent; but just before he -left it, there came to the school, as classical tutor, an ambitious -young Oxford man; and his zeal, for he was a capital teacher, produced a -great effect generally on the pupils, and especially on Randal Leslie. -He talked to them much in private on the advantages of learning, and -shortly afterward he exhibited those advantages in his own person; for, -having edited a Greek play with much subtle scholarship, his college, -which some slight irregularities of his had displeased, recalled him to -its venerable bosom by the presentation of a fellowship. After this he -took orders, became a college tutor, distinguished himself yet more by a -treatise on the Greek accent, got a capital living, and was considered -on the high road to a bishopric. This young man, then, communicated to -Randal the thirst for knowledge; and when the boy went afterward to -Eton, he applied with such earnestness and resolve that his fame soon -reached the ears of Audley; and that person, who had the sympathy for -talent, and yet more for purpose, which often characterizes ambitious -men, went to Eton to see him. From that time, Audley evinced great and -almost fatherly interest in the brilliant Etonian; and Randal always -spent with him some days in each vacation. - -I have said that Egerton's conduct, with respect to this boy, was more -praiseworthy than most of those generous actions for which he was -renowned, since to this the world gave no applause. What a man does -within the range of his family connections, does not carry with it that -_éclat_ which invests a munificence exhibited on public occasions. -Either people care nothing about it, or tacitly suppose it to be but his -duty. It was true, too, as the Squire had observed, that Randal Leslie -was even less distantly related to the Hazeldeans than to Mrs. Egerton, -since Randal's grandfather had actually married a Miss Hazeldean (the -highest worldly connection that branch of the family had formed since -the great split I have commemorated). But Audley Egerton never appeared -aware of that fact. As he was not himself descended from the Hazeldeans, -he never troubled himself about their genealogy; and he took care to -impress it upon the Leslies, that his generosity on their behalf, was -solely to be ascribed to his respect for his wife's memory and kindred. -Still the Squire had felt as if his "distant brother" implied a rebuke -on his own neglect of these poor Leslies, by the liberality Audley -evinced toward them; and this had made him doubly sore when the name of -Randal Leslie was mentioned. But the fact really was, that the Leslies -of Rood, had so shrunk out of all notice that the Squire had actually -forgotten their existence, until Randal became thus indebted to his -brother; and then he felt a pang of remorse that any one, save himself, -the head of the Hazeldeans, should lend a helping hand to the grandson -of a Hazeldean. - -But having thus, somewhat too tediously, explained the position of -Audley Egerton, whether in the world, or in relation to his young -_protégé_, I may now permit him to receive and to read his letters. - - -CHAPTER VI. - -Mr. Egerton glanced over the pile of letters placed beside him, and -first he tore up some, scarcely read, and threw them into the -waste-basket. Public men have such odd out-of-the-way letters, that -their waste-baskets are never empty: letters from amateur financiers -proposing new ways to pay off the national debt; letters from America -(never free!) asking for autographs; letters from fond mothers in -country villages, recommending some miracle of a son for a place in the -king's service; letters from freethinkers in reproof of bigotry; letters -from bigots in reproof of freethinking; letters signed Brutus Redivivus, -containing the agreeable information that the writer has a dagger for -tyrants, if the Danish claims are not forthwith adjusted; letters signed -Matilda or Caroline, stating that Caroline or Matilda has seen the -public man's portrait at the Exhibition, and that a heart sensible to -its attractions may be found at No. -- Piccadilly; letters from beggars, -impostors, monomaniacs, speculators, jobbers--all food for the -waste-basket. - -From the correspondence thus winnowed, Mr. Egerton first selected those -on business, which he put methodically together in one division of his -pocket-book; and, secondly, those of a private nature, which he as -carefully put into another. Of these last there were but three--one from -his steward, one from Harley L'Estrange, one from Randal Leslie. It was -his custom to answer his correspondence at his office; and to his -office, a few minutes afterward, he slowly took his way. Many a -passenger turned back to look again at the firm figure, which, despite -the hot summer day, was buttoned up to the throat; and the black -frock-coat thus worn, well became the erect air, and the deep full chest -of the handsome senator. When he entered Parliament-street, Audley -Egerton was joined by one of his colleagues, also on his way to the -cares of office. - -After a few observations on the last debate, this gentleman said: - -"By the way, can you dine with me next Saturday, to meet Lansmere? He -comes up to town to vote for us on Monday." - -"I had asked some people to dine with me," answered Egerton, "but I will -put them off. I see Lord Lansmere too seldom, to miss any occasion to -meet a man whom I respect so much." - -"So seldom! True, he is very little in town; but why don't you go and -see him in the country? Good shooting--pleasant old-fashioned house." - -"My dear Westbourne, his house is '_nimium vicina Cremonæ_,' close to a -borough in which I have been burned in effigy." - -"Ha--ha--yes--I remember you first came into Parliament for that snug -little place; but Lansmere himself never found fault with your votes, -did he?" - -"He behaved very handsomely, and said he had not presumed to consider me -his mouthpiece; and then, too, I am so intimate with L'Estrange." - -"Is that queer fellow ever coming back to England?" - -"He comes, generally every year, for a few days, just to see his father -and mother, and then goes back to the Continent." - -"I never meet him." - -"He comes in September or October, when you, of course, are not in town, -and it is in town that the Lansmeres meet him." - -"Why does not he go to them?" - -"A man in England but once a year, and for a few days, has so much to do -in London, I suppose." - -"Is he as amusing as ever?" - -Egerton nodded. - -"So distinguished as he might be!" continued Lord Westbourne. - -"So distinguished as he is!" said Egerton, formally; "an officer -selected for praise, even in such fields as Quatre Bras and Waterloo; a -scholar, too, of the finest taste; and as an accomplished gentleman, -matchless!" - -"I like to hear one man praise another so warmly in these ill-natured -days," answered Lord Westbourne. "But, still, though L'Estrange is, -doubtless, all you say, don't you think he rather wastes his -life--living abroad?" - -"And trying to be happy, Westbourne? Are you sure it is not we who waste -our lives? But I can't stay to hear your answer. Here we are at the door -of my prison." - -"On Saturday, then?" - -"On Saturday. Good-day." - -For the next hour, or more, Mr. Egerton was engaged on the affairs of -the state. He then snatched an interval of leisure (while awaiting a -report, which he had instructed a clerk to make him), in order to reply -to his letters. Those on public business were soon dispatched; and -throwing his replies aside, to be sealed by a subordinate hand, he drew -out the letters which he had put apart as private. - -He attended first to that of his steward: the steward's letter was long; -the reply was contained in three lines. Pitt himself was scarcely more -negligent of his private interests and concerns than Audley -Egerton--yet, withal, Audley Egerton was said, by his enemies, to be an -egotist. - -The next letter he wrote was to Randal, and that, though longer, was far -from prolix: it ran thus: - -"DEAR MR. LESLIE--I appreciate your delicacy in consulting me, whether -you should accept Frank Hazeldean's invitation to call at the Hall. -Since you are asked, I can see no objection to it. I should be sorry if -you appeared to force yourself there; and, for the rest, as a general -rule, I think a young man who has his own way to make in life, had -better avoid all intimacy with those of his own age, who have no kindred -objects, nor congenial pursuits. - -"As soon as this visit is paid, I wish you to come to London. The report -I receive of your progress at Eton, renders it unnecessary, in my -judgment, that you should return there. If your father has no objection, -I propose that you should go to Oxford, at the ensuing term. Meanwhile, -I have engaged a gentleman, who is a fellow of Baliol, to read with you; -he is of opinion, judging only by your high repute at Eton, that you -may at once obtain a scholarship in that college. If you do so, I shall -look upon your career in life as assured. - - "Your affectionate friend, and - sincere well-wisher, - "A.E." - -The reader will remark that, in this letter, there is a certain tone of -formality. Mr. Egerton does not call his _protégé_ "Dear Randal," as -would seem natural, but coldly and stiffly, "Dear Mr. Leslie." He hints, -also, that the boy has his own way to make in life. Is this meant to -guard against too sanguine notions of inheritance, which his generosity -may have excited? - -The letter to Lord L'Estrange was of a very different kind from the -others. It was long, and full of such little scraps of news and gossip -as may interest friends in a foreign land; it was written gayly, and as -with a wish to cheer his friend; you could see that it was a reply to a -melancholy letter; and in the whole tone and spirit there was an -affection, even to tenderness, of which those who most liked Audley -Egerton would have scarcely supposed him capable. Yet, notwithstanding, -there was a kind of constraint in the letter, which perhaps only the -fine tact of a woman would detect. It had not that _abandon_, that -hearty self-outpouring, which you might expect would characterize the -letters of two such friends, who had been boys at school together, and -which did breathe indeed in all the abrupt rambling sentences of his -correspondent. But where was the evidence of the constraint? Egerton is -off-hand enough where his pen runs glibly through paragraphs that relate -to others; it is simply that he says nothing about himself--that he -avoids all reference to the inner world of sentiment and feeling. But -perhaps, after all, the man has no sentiment and feeling! How can you -expect that a steady personage in practical life, whose mornings are -spent in Downing-street, and whose nights are consumed in watching -Government bills through a committee, can write in the same style as an -idle dreamer amidst the pines of Ravenna or on the banks of Como. - -Audley had just finished this epistle, such as it was, when the -attendant in waiting announced the arrival of a deputation from a -provincial trading town, the members of which deputation he had -appointed to meet at two o'clock. There was no office in London at which -deputations were kept waiting less than at that over which Mr. Egerton -presided. - -The deputation entered--some score or so of middle-aged, -comfortable-looking persons, who nevertheless had their grievance--and -considered their own interests, and those of the country, menaced by a -certain clause in a bill brought in by Mr. Egerton. - -The Mayor of the town was the chief spokesman, and he spoke well--but in -a style to which the dignified official was not accustomed. It was a -slap-dash style--unceremonious, free, and easy--an American style. And, -indeed, there was something altogether in the appearance and bearing of -the Mayor which savored of residence in the Great Republic. He was a -very handsome man, but with a look sharp and domineering--the look of a -man who did not care a straw for president or monarch, and who enjoyed -the liberty to speak his mind, and "wallop his own nigger!" - -His fellow-burghers evidently regarded him with great respect; and Mr. -Egerton had penetration enough to perceive that Mr. Mayor must be a rich -man, as well as an eloquent one, to have overcome those impressions of -soreness or jealousy which his tone was calculated to create in the -self-love of his equals. - -Mr. Egerton was far too wise to be easily offended by mere manner; and, -though he stared somewhat haughtily when he found his observations -actually pooh-poohed, he was not above being convinced. There was much -sense and much justice in Mr. Mayor's arguments, and the statesman -civilly promised to take them into full consideration. - -He then bowed out the deputation; but scarcely had the door closed -before it opened again, and Mr. Mayor presented himself alone, saying -aloud to his companions in the passage, "I forgot something I had to say -to Mr. Egerton; wait below for me." - -"Well, Mr. Mayor," said Audley, pointing to a seat, "what else would you -suggest?" - -The Mayor looked round to see that the door was closed; and then, -drawing his chair close to Mr. Egerton's, laid his forefinger on that -gentleman's arm, and said, "I think I speak to a man of the world, sir." - -Mr. Egerton bowed, and made no reply by word, but he gently removed his -arm from the touch of the forefinger. - -MR. MAYOR.--"You observe, sir, that I did not ask the members whom we -return to Parliament to accompany us. Do better without 'em. You know -they are both in Opposition--out-and-outers." - -MR. EGERTON.--"It is a misfortune which the Government can not remember, -when the question is whether the trade of the town itself is to be -served or injured." - -MR. MAYOR.--"Well, I guess you speak handsome, sir. But you'd be glad to -have two members to support Ministers after the next election." - -MR. EGERTON, smiling.--"Unquestionably, Mr. Mayor." - -MR. MAYOR.--"And I can do it, Mr. Egerton. I may say I have the town in -my pocket; so I ought, I spend a great deal of money in it. Now, you -see, Mr. Egerton, I have passed a part of my life in a land of -liberty--the United States--and I come to the point when I speak to a -man of the world. I'm a man of the world myself, sir. And if so be the -Government will do something for me, why, I'll do something for the -Government. Two votes for a free and independent town like ours--that's -something, isn't it?" - -MR. EGERTON, taken by surprise.--"Really, I--" - -MR. MAYOR, advancing his chair still nearer, and interrupting the -official.--"No nonsense, you see, on one side or the other. The fact is, -that I've taken it into my head that I should like to be knighted. You -may well look surprised, Mr. Egerton--trumpery thing enough, I dare say; -still, every man has his weakness, and I should like to be Sir Richard. -Well, if you can get me made Sir Richard, you may just name your two -members for the next election--that is, if they belong to your own set, -enlightened men, up to the times. That's speaking fair and manful, isn't -it?" - -MR. EGERTON, drawing himself up.--"I am at a loss to guess why you -should select me, sir, for this very extraordinary proposition." - -MR. MAYOR, nodding good-humoredly.--"Why, you see, I don't go all along -with the Government; you're the best of the bunch. And maybe you'd like -to strengthen your own party. This is quite between you and me, you -understand; honor's a jewel!" - -MR. EGERTON, with great gravity.--"Sir, I am obliged by your good -opinion; but I agree with my colleagues in all the great questions that -affect the government of the country, and--" - -MR. MAYOR, interrupting him.--"Ah, of course, you must say so; very -right. But I guess things would go differently if you were Prime -Minister. However, I have another reason for speaking to you about my -little job. You see you were member for Lansmere once, and I think you -came in but by two majority, eh?" - -MR. EGERTON.--"I know nothing of the particulars of that election; I was -not present." - -MR. MAYOR.--"No; but luckily for you, two relatives of mine were, and -they voted for you. Two votes, and you came in by two! Since then, you -have got into very snug quarters here, and I think we have a claim on -you--" - -MR. EGERTON.--"Sir, I acknowledge no such claim; I was and am a stranger -to Lansmere; and, if the electors did me the honor to return me to -Parliament, it was in compliment rather to--" - -MR. MAYOR, again interrupting the official.--"Rather to Lord Lansmere, -you were going to say; unconstitutional doctrine that, I fancy. Peer of -the realm. But, never mind, I know the world; and I'd ask Lord Lansmere -to do my affair for me, only I hear he is as proud, as Lucifer." - -MR. EGERTON, in great disgust, and settling his papers before -him.--"Sir, it is not in my department to recommend to his Majesty -candidates for the honor of knighthood, and it is still less in my -department to make bargains for seats in Parliament." - -MR. MAYOR.--"Oh, if that's the case, you'll excuse me; I don't know much -of the etiquette in these matters. But I thought that, if I put two -seats in your hands, for your own friends, you might contrive to take -the affair into your department, whatever it was. But, since you say you -agree with your colleagues, perhaps it comes to the same thing. Now, you -must not suppose I want to sell the town, and that I can change and chop -my politics for my own purpose. No such thing! I don't like the sitting -members; I'm all for progressing, but they go _too_ much ahead for me; -and, since the Government is disposed to move a little, why I'd as lief -support them as not. But, in common gratitude, you see (added the Mayor, -coaxingly), I ought to be knighted! I can keep up the dignity, and do -credit to his Majesty." - -MR. EGERTON, without looking up from his papers.--"I can only refer you, -sir, to the proper quarter." - -MR. MAYOR, impatiently.--"Proper quarter! Well, since there is so much -humbug in this old country of ours, that one must go through all the -forms and get at the job regularly, just tell me whom I ought to go to." - -MR. EGERTON, beginning to be amused as well as indignant.--"If you want -a knighthood, Mr. Mayor, you must ask the Prime Minister; if you want to -give the Government information relative to seats in Parliament, you -must introduce yourself to Mr. ----, the Secretary of the Treasury." - -MR. MAYOR.--"And if I go to the last chap, what do you think he'll say." - -MR. EGERTON, the amusement preponderating over the indignation.--"He -will say, I suppose, that you must not put the thing in the light in -which you have put it to me; that the Government will be very proud to -have the confidence of yourself and your brother electors; and that a -gentleman like you, in the proud position of Mayor, may well hope to be -knighted on some fitting occasion. But that you must not talk about the -knighthood just at present, and must confine yourself to converting the -unfortunate political opinions of the town." - -MR. MAYOR.--"Well, I guess that chap there would want to do me! Not -quite so green, Mr. Egerton. Perhaps I'd better go at once to the -fountain-head. How d'ye think the Premier would take it?" - -MR. EGERTON, the indignation preponderating over the -amusement.--"Probably just as I am about to do." - -Mr. Egerton rang the bell; the attendant appeared. - -"Show Mr. Mayor the way out," said the Minister. - -The Mayor turned round sharply, and his face was purple. He walked -straight to the door; but, suffering the attendant to precede him along -the corridor, he came back with a rapid stride, and clenching his hands, -and with a voice thick with passion, cried, "Some day or other I will -make you smart for this, as sure as my name's Dick Avenel!" - -"Avenel!" repeated Egerton, recoiling--"Avenel!" - -But the Mayor was gone. - -Audley fell into a deep and musing reverie, which seemed gloomy, and -lasted till the attendant announced that the horses were at the door. - -He then looked up, still abstractedly, and saw his letter to Harley -L'Estrange open on the table. He drew it toward him, and wrote, "A man -has just left me, who calls himself Aven--" in the middle of the name -his pen stopped. "No, no," muttered the writer, "what folly to re-open -the old wounds there," and he carefully erased the words. - -Audley Egerton did not ride in the Park that day, as was his wont, but -dismissed his groom; and, turning his horse's head toward Westminster -Bridge, took his solitary way into the country. He rode at first slowly, -as if in thought; then fast, as if trying to escape from thought. He was -later than usual at the House that evening, and he looked pale and -fatigued. But he had to speak, and he spoke well. - - - - -ANECDOTE OF A DOG. - - -The Lyons diligence was just going to start from Geneva. I climbed on -the roof, and chose my place next the postillion: there was still a -vacant seat, and the porter, after closing the door of the _coupé_, -called "Monsieur Dermann!" A tall young man, with a German style of -countenance, advanced, holding in his arms a large black grayhound, -which he vainly tried to place on the roof. - -"Monsieur," said he, addressing me, "will you have the kindness to take -my dog?" - -Bending over, I took hold of the animal, and placed him on the straw at -my feet. I observed that he wore a handsome silver collar, on which the -following words were tastefully engraved: "_Bevis--I belong to Sir -Arthur Burnley, given him by Miss Clary_." - -His owner was, therefore, an Englishman; yet my fellow-traveler, who had -now taken his place by my side, was evidently either a Swiss or a -German, and his name was Dermann. Trifling as was the mystery, it -excited my curiosity, and, after two or three hours' pleasant -conversation had established a sort of intimacy between us, I ventured -to ask my companion for an explanation. - -"It does not surprise me," he answered, "that this collar should puzzle -you; and I shall have great pleasure in telling you the story of its -wearer. Bevis belongs to me, but it is not many years since he owned -another master whose name is on his collar. You will see why he still -wears it. Here Bevis! speak to this gentleman." - -The dog raised his head, opened his bright eyes, and laying back his -long ears, uttered a sound which might well pass for a salutation. - -M. Dermann placed the animal's head on his knees, and began to unfasten -the collar. - -Instantly Bevis drew back his head with a violent jerk, and darted -toward the luggage on the hinder part of the roof. There, growling -fiercely, he lay down, while his muscles were stiffened, and his eyes -glowing with fury. - -"You see, Monsieur, how determined he is to guard his collar; I should -not like to be the man who would try to rob him of it. Here, Bevis!" -said he, in a soft, caressing tone, "I won't touch it again, poor -fellow! Come and make friends!" - -The grayhound hesitated, still growling. At length he returned slowly -toward his master, and began to lick his hands; his muscles gradually -relaxed, and he trembled like a leaf. - -"There, boy, there," said M. Dermann, caressing him. "We won't do it -again, lie down now, and be quiet." - -The dog nestled between his master's feet, and went to sleep. My -fellow-traveler then turning toward me, began: - -"I am a native of Suabia, but I live in a little village of the -Sherland, at the foot of the Grimsel. My father keeps an inn for the -reception of travelers going to St. Gothard. - -"About two years since, there arrived at our house one evening a young -Englishman, with a pale, sad countenance; he traveled on foot, and was -followed by a large grayhound, this Bevis, whom you see. He declined -taking any refreshment, and asked to be shown to his sleeping-room. We -gave him one over the common hall, where we were all seated round the -fire. Presently we heard him pacing rapidly up and down; from time to -time uttering broken words, addressed no doubt to his dog, for the -animal moaned occasionally as if replying to, and sympathizing with his -master. At length we heard the Englishman stop, and apparently strike -the dog a violent blow, for the poor beast gave a loud howl of agony, -and seemed as if he ran to take refuge under the bed. Then his master -groaned aloud. Soon afterward he lay down, and all was quiet for the -night. Early next morning he came down, looking still more pale than on -the previous evening, and having paid for his lodging, he took his -knapsack and resumed his journey, followed by the grayhound, who had -eaten nothing since their arrival, and whose master seemed to take no -further notice of him, than to frown when the creature ventured to -caress him. - -"About noon, I happened to be standing at the door looking toward the -direction which the Englishman had taken when I perceived a dark object -moving slowly along. Presently I heard howls of distress, proceeding -from a wounded dog that was dragging himself toward me. I ran to him, -and recognized the Englishman's grayhound. His head was torn, evidently -by a bullet, and one of his paws broken. I raised him in my arms, and -carried him into the house. When I crossed the threshold he made evident -efforts to escape; so I placed him on the ground. Then, in spite of the -torture he was suffering, which caused him to stagger every moment, he -dragged himself up-stairs, and began to scratch at the door of the room -where his master had slept, moaning at the same time so piteously, that -I could scarce help weeping myself. I opened the door and with a great -effort he got into the room, looked about, and not finding whom he -sought he fell down motionless. - -"I called my father, and, perceiving that the dog was not dead, we gave -him all possible assistance, taking indeed as much care of him as though -he had been a child, so much did we feel for him. In two months he was -cured, and showed us much affection; we found it, however, impossible to -take off his collar, even for the purpose of binding up his wounds. As -soon as he was able to walk, he would often go toward the mountain and -be absent for hours. The second time this occurred we followed him. He -proceeded as far as a part of the road where a narrow defile borders a -precipice; there he continued for a long time, smelling and scratching -about. We conjectured that the Englishman might have been attacked by -robbers on this spot, and his dog wounded in defending him. However, no -event of the kind had occurred in the country, and, after the strictest -search, no corpse was discovered. Recollecting, therefore, the manner in -which the traveler had treated his dog, I came to the conclusion that he -had tried to kill the faithful creature. But wherefore? This was a -mystery which I could not solve. - -"Bevis remained with us, testifying the utmost gratitude for our -kindness. His intelligence and good-humor attracted the strangers who -frequented our inn, while the inscription on his collar, and the tale we -had to tell of him, failed not to excite their curiosity. - -"One morning in autumn, I had been out to take a walk, accompanied by -Bevis. When I returned, I found seated by the fire, in the common-hall, -a newly-arrived traveler, who looked round as I entered. As soon as he -perceived Bevis, he started and called him. The dog immediately darted -toward him with frantic demonstrations of joy. He ran round him, -smelling his clothes and uttering the sort of salutation with which he -honored you just now, and finally placing his fore-paws on the -traveler's knees began to lick his face. - -"'Where is your master, Bevis? Where is Sir Arthur?' said the stranger, -in English. - -"The noble dog howled piteously, and lay down at the traveler's feet. -Then the latter begged us to explain his presence. I did so; and as he -listened, I saw a tear fall on the beautiful head of the grayhound, whom -he bent over to caress. - -"'Monsieur,' said he, addressing me, 'from what you tell me, I venture -to hope that Sir Arthur still lives. We have been friends from -childhood. About three years since, he married a rich heiress, and this -dog was presented to him by her. Bevis was highly cherished for his -fidelity, a quality which unhappily was not possessed by his mistress. -She left her fond and loving husband, and eloped with another man. Sir -Arthur sued for a divorce and obtained it; then, having arranged his -affairs in England, he set out for the Continent, followed only by his -dog. His friends knew not whither he went; but it now appears that he -was here last spring. Doubtless, the presence of Bevis, evermore -recalling the memory of her who had so cruelly wronged him, must have -torn his heart, and at length impelled him to destroy the faithful -creature. But the shot not having been mortal, the dog, I imagine, when -he recovered consciousness, was led by instinct to seek the house where -his master had last slept. Now, Monsieur, he is yours, and I heartily -thank you for the kindness you have shown him.' - -"About ten o'clock the stranger retired to his room, after having -caressed Bevis, who escorted him to his door, and then returned to his -accustomed place before the fire. My parents and the servants had -retired to rest, and I prepared to follow their example, my bed being -placed at one end of the common-hall. While I was undressing, I heard a -storm rising in the mountains. Just then there came a knocking at the -door, and Bevis began to growl. I asked who was there? A voice -replied--'Two travelers, who want a night's lodging.' I opened a small -chink of the door to look out, and perceived two ragged men, each -leaning on a large club. I did not like their look, and knowing that -several robberies had been committed in the neighborhood, I refused them -admission, telling them that in the next village they would readily find -shelter. They approached the door, as though they meant to force their -way in; but Bevis made his voice heard in so formidable a manner, that -they judged it prudent to retire. I bolted the door and went to bed. -Bevis, according to his custom, lay down near the threshold, but we -neither of us felt inclined to sleep. - -"A quarter of an hour passed, when suddenly, above the wailing of the -wind, came the loud shrill cry of a human being in distress. Bevis -rushed against the door with a fearful howl; at the same moment came the -report of a gun, followed by another cry. Two minutes afterward I was on -the road, armed with a carbine, and holding a dark lantern; my father -and the stranger, also armed, accompanied me. As for Bevis, he had -darted out of the house, and disappeared. - -"We approached the defile which I mentioned before, at the moment when a -flash of lightning illumined the scene. A hundred yards in advance, we -saw Bevis grasping a man by the throat. We hurried on, but the dog had -completed his work ere we reached him; for two men, whom I recognized as -those who had sought admittance at our inn, lay dead, strangled by his -powerful jaws. Farther on, we discovered another man, whose bloody -wounds the noble dog was licking. The stranger approached him, and gave -a convulsive cry: it was Sir Arthur, the master of Bevis!" - -Here M. Dermann paused; the recollection seemed to overcome him; and he -stooped to caress the sleeping grayhound, in order to hide his emotion. -After awhile, he finished his recital in a few words. - -"Sir Arthur was mortally wounded, but he lived long enough to recognize -his dog, and to confess that, in a moment of desperation, he had tried -to kill the faithful creature, who now avenged his death, by slaying the -robbers who attacked him. He appointed the stranger his executor, and -settled a large pension on Bevis, to revert to the family of the -inn-keeper, wishing thus to testify his repentant love toward his dog, -and his gratitude to those who had succored him. - -"The grief of Bevis was excessive; he watched by his master's couch, -covering his dead body with caresses, and for a long time lay stretched -on his grave, refusing to take nourishment; and it was not until after -the lapse of many months that the affection of his new master seemed to -console him for the death of Sir Arthur." - -As my fellow-traveler finished his recital, the diligence stopped to -change horses at the little town of Mantua. Here M. Dermann's journey -ended, and having taken down his luggage, he asked me to assist the -descent of his dog. I shook hands with him cordially, and then called -Bevis, who, seeing me on such good terms with his master, placed his -large paws on my breast, and uttered a low, friendly bark. Shortly -afterward they both disappeared from my sight, but not from my memory, -as this little narrative has proved to my readers. - - - - -THE DOMESTIC LIFE OF ALEXANDER, EMPEROR OF RUSSIA. - -BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS, TRANSLATED BY MISS STRICKLAND. - - -The tragedy of which Paul I. was the victim, called Alexander to the -throne of all the Russias in the twenty-fourth year of his age. He had -been carefully educated under the eye of his grandmother, the able -Catharine. Her choice of a preceptor in La Harpe, a Swiss republican, -who had fraternized with the revolutionists of France, was a problem the -sovereigns of Europe could not solve; but after all, republicanism can -not be very far removed from despotism, if we may judge from its -consequences, since history shows us that republics end in despotic -sovereignties. Catharine was doubtless aware of this fact when she gave -La Harpe the direction of her grandson's education. It was prudent to -avoid Russian ascendency in a matter so important to herself, for -Catharine was a foreigner and a usurper, a fact of which a native -instructor might have availed himself to her disadvantage. In educating -her grandsons, the great empress excluded the fine arts. She wished to -make them rulers, not professors of music and painting; and she was -right; La Harpe inspired, it is said, his imperial pupil with lessons of -generosity and truth it was no easy task to eradicate during his -eventful life. The policy of Catharine made her determine to give wives -to her grandsons as soon as they were marriageable. Her jealousy, or her -profound judgment, made her overlook Paul in the succession of Russia, -by a mental but not a public exclusion. Alexander was destined by her to -the throne of which she had robbed his father Constantine, she proudly -hoped to place on one she designed to win from the Sultan, an ambitious -desire which was never realized. - -Three German princesses came to the court of St. Petersburg, in order -that Catharine might make choice of suitable brides for her grandsons. -The empress thoughtfully expected the arrival of her guests, whose -approach she watched from a window of her palace. - -The empress, whose motions were dignified and graceful, attached great -importance to deportment; she formed her opinions of young people by -that standard. The destinies of these princesses were decided the -instant they alighted from their traveling carriage. The first leaped -down without availing herself of the step. The empress shook her head, -"She will never be empress of Russia, she is too precipitate," was her -internal remark. The second entangled her feet in her dress, and with -difficulty escaped a fall. "She is not the empress, for she is too -awkward," and Catharine again turned her eyes on the carriage with -anxious curiosity. The third princess descended very gracefully; she was -beautiful, majestic, and grave. "Behold the future Empress of Russia," -said Catharine. This princess was Louisa of Baden. - -Catharine introduced these ladies to her grandsons, as the children of -the Duchess of Baden-Durlack, born Princess of Darmstadt, her early -friend, whose education she wished to finish at her court, since the -possession of their country by the French had left them without a home. -The great dukes saw through this artifice, and upon their return to -their own palace talked much of Catharine's _élèves_. - -"I think the eldest very pretty," said Alexander. - -"For my part," rejoined Constantine, "I consider them neither pretty nor -plain. They ought to be sent to Riga to the princes of Courland; they -are really quite good enough for them." - -The Empress Catharine was informed, that very day, of the opinion of her -grandsons. The admiration of Alexander for Louisa of Baden sympathized -with her intentions. The Grand Duke Constantine had done the personal -attractions of this young princess great injustice, for Louisa of Baden, -besides the freshness of her youth, had lovely fair ringlets, hanging in -rich profusion on her magnificent shoulders, a form light and flexible -as that of a fairy, and large blue eyes full of sweetness and -sensibility. The following day, the empress brought the princesses to -the palace of Prince Potemkin, which she had appointed for their -residence. While they were at their toilet, she sent them dresses, -jewels, and the cordon of St. Catharine. After chatting with them upon -the topics she considered suitable to their age, she asked to see their -wardrobe, which she examined, article by article, with interest and -curiosity. Having finished her scrutiny, she kissed the princesses, and -remarked, with an emphatic smile, - -"My friends, I was not so rich as you when I came to St. Petersburg." In -fact, Catharine was very poor when she arrived in Russia, but she left -her adopted country a heritage in Poland and the Crimea. - -The predilection of Alexander for Louisa of Baden was responded to by -that lovely princess. The grand duke at that time was a charming young -man, full of benevolence and candor, with the best temper in the world, -and the young German did not attempt to disguise her tenderness for him. -Catharine, in announcing to them that they were destined for each other, -believed she was rendering them perfectly happy. - -The behavior of the bride was admirably adapted to the circumstances in -which she was placed. She acquired the Russian language with grace and -facility, and accepted a new name with the tenets of the Greek religion. -She received those of Elizabeth Alexiowena, the same borne by the -imperial daughter of Peter the Great. - -Notwithstanding the fortunate presages of the Empress Catharine, this -early marriage was not one of happiness. The inconstancy of Alexander, -indeed, withered the nuptial garland while yet green on the brow of the -bride, and made it for her a crown of thorns. - -The tragedy that elevated Alexander to the throne, restored to the -devoted wife the wandering affections of her husband. His profound grief -made her sympathy necessary to him, and the young empress, almost a -stranger to Paul, wept for him like a true daughter. The secret tears of -Alexander were shed at night on the bosom of his consort, whose tender -concern for him consoled him for the restraint he imposed upon his -feelings during the day. - -The regretful remembrance of Alexander for his father, outlasted the -reviving affection he had during that dolorous period felt for his wife. - -The empress, still a young woman, was an old spouse, and the emperor had -inherited the passionate and inconstant temperament of Catharine. But, -gracious and smiling as he always was with the ladies, or polite and -friendly to the gentlemen, there crossed his brow from time to time a -gloomy shadow, the mute but terrible memorial of that dreadful night, -when he heard the death struggle of his father, and was conscious of his -agony without the power to save him. His perpetual smile was the mask -beneath which he disguised the anguish of his mind, and as he advanced -in life, this profound melancholy threatened to deepen into malady. He -did not yield, however, without maintaining a warfare with his remorse. -He combated memory with action. His reforms, his long and laborious -journeys, had but one aim. In the course of his reign, he is supposed to -have traversed fifty thousand leagues. But, however rapidly he performed -these journeys, he never deviated from the time he fixed for his setting -off or return, even by an hour, and he undertook them without guards and -without an escort. He, of course, met with many strange adventures, and -was amused with rendering his personal assistance whenever he met with -accidents or encountered difficulties by the wayside. In his journey to -Finland in company with Prince Pierre Volkouski, the imperial carriage -in traversing a sandy mountain rolled back, notwithstanding the efforts -of the coachman, upon which the emperor jumped out, and literally lent -his shoulder to the wheel, leaving his companion asleep. - -The rough motion of the carriage disturbed the slumbers of the prince, -who found himself at the bottom of the carriage and alone. He looked -about him with astonishment, when he perceived the emperor, with his -brow bedewed with perspiration, from the effects of his toil in -assisting to drag him and the vehicle to the top of the mountain, the -precise point at which he had awakened from his sleep. - -At another time, while traversing Little Russia, while the horses were -changing at a certain station, the emperor expressed his determination -to travel on foot for a few miles, ordering his people not to hasten -their arrangements, but to let him walk forward. Alone, with no mark of -distinction, dressed in a military great-coat, that gave no clew to the -rank of the wearer, the emperor traversed the town without attracting -attention, till he arrived at two roads, and found himself obliged to -inquire his way of an individual who was sitting before the door of the -last house smoking a pipe. This personage, like the emperor wore a -military great-coat, and by his pompous air seemed to entertain no small -opinion of his own consequence. - -"My friend, can you tell me which of these roads will bring me to ----?" -asked the emperor. - -The man of the pipe scanned him from head to foot, apparently surprised -at the presumption of a pedestrian, in speaking to such a dignitary as -himself, and between two puffs of smoke he growled out very disdainfully -the ungracious reply, "The right." - -"Thank you, sir," said the emperor, raising his hat with the respect -this uncivil personage seemed by his manner to command. "Will you permit -me to ask you another question?" - -"What do you want to know?" - -"Your rank in the army, if you please." - -"Guess," returned he of the pipe. - -"Lieutenant, perhaps?" - -"Go higher." - -"Captain?" rejoined the emperor. - -"Much higher;" and the smoker gave a consequential puff. - -"Major, I presume?" - -"Go on," replied the officer. - -"Lieutenant-colonel?" - -"Yes, you have guessed it at last, but you have taken some trouble to -discover my rank." - -The low bow of the emperor made the man with the pipe conclude he was -speaking to an inferior, so, without much ceremony, he said, "Pray, who -are you? for I conclude you are in the army." - -"Guess," replied the emperor, much amused with the adventure. - -"Lieutenant?" - -"Go on." - -"Captain?" - -"Much higher." - -"Major?" - -"You must still go on." - -"Lieutenant-colonel?" - -"You have not yet arrived at my rank in the army." - -The officer took his pipe out of his mouth. "Colonel, I presume." - -"You have not yet reached my grade." - -The officer assumed a more respectful attitude. "Your Excellency is then -Lieutenant-general?" - -"You are getting nearer the mark." - -The puzzled lieutenant-colonel kept his helmet in his hand, and looked -stupid and alarmed. - -"Then it appears to me that your Highness is Field-Marshal?" - -"Make another attempt, and perhaps you will discover my real position." - -"His Imperial Majesty!" exclaimed the officer, trembling with -apprehension, and dropping the pipe upon the ground, which was broken -into twenty pieces. - -"The same, at your service," replied the emperor, laughing. - -The poor lieutenant-colonel dropped upon his knees, uttering the words -in a pitiful tone, "Ah! sire, pardon me." - -"What pardon do you require?" replied the emperor. "I asked my way of -you, and you pointed it out, and I thank you for that service.--Good -day." - -The good-tempered prince then took the road to the right, leaving the -surly lieutenant-colonel ashamed and astonished at the colloquy he had -held with his sovereign. - -He gave a proof of intrepidity and presence of mind during a tempest -which befell him on a lake near Archangel, when, perceiving the pilot -overwhelmed with the responsibility his imperial rank laid upon him, he -said, "My friend, more than eighteen hundred years have elapsed, since a -Roman general, placed in similar circumstances, said to his pilot, 'Fear -not, for thou hast with thee Cæsar and his fortunes.' I am, however, -less bold than Cæsar; I therefore charge thee to think no more of the -emperor than of thyself or any other man, and do thy best to save us -both." The pilot took courage, and relieved from his burden by the -wisdom of his sovereign, guided the helm with a firm hand, and brought -the tempest-tossed skiff safely to the shore. - -The Emperor Alexander was not always so fortunate. He met with several -dangerous accidents, and his last journey to the provinces of the Don -nearly cost him his life. A fall from his droski hurt his leg, and left -him incurably lame. This misfortune was aggravated by his disregarding -the advice of his medical attendant, who prescribed rest for some days; -but Alexander, who was a strict disciplinarian, did not choose to delay -his return to St. Petersburg an hour beyond the time he had fixed. -Erysipelas attacked the limb, and the emperor was confined to his bed -for many weeks, and never recovered his lameness. The sight of his wife, -pale and melancholy, whom his infidelity had injured, increased his -mental despondency. That princess watched over him with the conjugal -tenderness which no neglect could extinguish, but her fair face had -forever lost the smile which once lighted up, like a sunbeam, every -beautiful feature, and he felt himself the cause of that secret sorrow -which had banished the bloom from her cheek and the smile from her lips. -Elizabeth had borne him two daughters, but her children had not survived -their fifth and seventh years. A childless mother and forsaken wife, -Elizabeth the Empress resembled no longer the bright Louisa of Baden, -the object of Alexander's first love, the princess who had shed tears of -happiness when the joyful start and impassioned look of her lover had -assured the Empress Catharine how willingly he accepted the hand of the -princess she had destined for him. The heart of the wife had never -swerved from her devotion; her love had increased with time, but she -knew not how to share his affections with a rival. - -Alexander was solitary in his habits; repose was necessary to a man who -loved privacy, and hated those prestiges of power which had surrounded -him from infancy. He had inherited his imperial grandmother's love for -Tzarsko Zelo, a palace situated between three and four leagues from St. -Petersburg. This palace stood upon the site of a cottage formerly -belonging to an old Dutch-woman named Sarah, a person well known to -Peter the Great, with whom that mighty prince was accustomed to chat and -drink milk. - -The fruitful plains covered with grass and waving corn, lately redeemed -by the plow from their native sterility, pleased the legislator who was -an _habitué_ at the abode of Sarah, and at the death of the old woman, -he presented the cottage to the Empress Catharine, with the surrounding -lands, as a suitable situation for a farm-house. Catharine, as simple in -her tastes as her imperial consort, gave her architect proper directions -respecting this grange. He, however, thought fit to build her a fine -mansion. Her daughter, the Empress Elizabeth, found this house too -costly for a farm-house, and too mean for an imperial residence. She -pulled it down and built a magnificent palace after the design of Count -Rastreti. This Russian had the barbarous taste to gild the building -within and without. The bas-reliefs, statues, caryatides, roof and -basement, glittered with a waste of this precious metal. The count -wished to make this palace surpass Versailles, and so it did in wealth -undoubtedly. The Empress Elizabeth invited the French embassador to the -fête she gave at the inauguration of her golden house, which outshone -even the celebrated one built by Nero. The palace of Tzarsko Zelo, was -considered by the whole court the eighth wonder of the world. - -The silence of the Marquis de Chetardie surprised her majesty, who with -some pique requested his opinion, adding, he appeared to think something -was wanting. - -"I am seeking for the case of this jewel, Madam," dryly replied the -embassador; a _bon mot_ which ought to have gained him a sitting in the -academy of St. Petersburg, where wit was a surer passport than learning. - -The golden roof of Tzarsko Zelo was ill-calculated to stand the rigor of -a Russian winter. The noble architect had built it for summer. Cold had -been forgotten in his calculation. The expensive repairs every spring -brought in its course, compelled Catharine the Great to sacrifice the -gilding. She had scarcely issued her orders, before a customer appeared -for the article she was excluding from her palace, for which a -speculator offered her an immense sum. The empress thanked him for a -liberal offer none but a Russian sovereign would have declined, assuring -him with a smile, "that she never sold her old chattels." - -This empress loved Tzarsko Zelo where she built the little palace for -her grandson Alexander, and surrounded it with spacious gardens, which -she was aware he loved. Bush, her architect, could discover no supply -from whence he could obtain water in the immediate neighborhood, yet he -prepared lakes, canals and fish-ponds, upon the responsibility of the -empress, being sure that his reservoirs would not long be empty if she -ordered water to come. His successor Baner did not leave the empress to -discover its source. He cast his eyes upon the estate of Prince -Demidoff, who possessed a super-abundant quantity of the precious fluid -the imperial gardens wanted. He mentioned the aridity of Tzarsko Zelo, -and the courteous subject dutifully bestowed his superfluous moisture -upon the imperial gardens. In despite of nature, copious streams rushed -forward, and at the bidding of the architect rose into cascades, ran -into canals, filled fish-ponds, and spread in expansive lakes. The -Empress Consort Elizabeth, upon beholding these wonders, playfully -remarked, "We may fall out with all Europe, but we must take care not to -quarrel with Prince Demidoff." In fact, that obliging noble could have -killed the whole court with thirst, by stopping the supply of water he -allowed to the imperial family. - -Educated at Tzarsko Zelo, Alexander was attached to a place filled with -the recollections of his infancy. He had learned there to walk; to -speak, to ride, to sail, to row. He had passed there the brightest and -happiest part of his life. He came with the first fine days, and only -left his favorite residence when the snows of winter compelled him to -take up his abode in the winter palace. - -Even in this luxurious solitude, where the emperor wished to enjoy the -repose which affords to princes the same pleasure amusement offers to -persons of less exalted rank, Alexander found his privacy invaded and -his attention claimed by those who had the temerity to break through the -invisible circle with which Russian etiquette fenced round a despotic -sovereign. - -A foreigner at St. Petersburg, in the summer of 1823, ventured to seek -the Emperor Alexander in the delicious gardens of Tzarsko Zelo, in order -to present a petition, with which delicate commission he had been -charged by a friend. He thus relates his adventure: - -"After a bad breakfast at the Hotel de la Restauration, I entered the -park, into which the sentinels permitted every body to walk without -opposition. Respect alone prevented the Russian subject from entering -the gardens, I knew, yet I was about to break this boundary and to -intrude myself upon the emperor's notice. I was told he passed a great -deal of his time in the shady walks, and I hoped chance would obtain for -me the interview I sought. Wandering about the grounds, I discovered the -Chinese town, a pretty group of five houses, each of which had its own -ice-house and garden. In the centre of this town, which is in the form -of a star, whose rays it terminates, stands a pavillion, which is used -either for a ball or concert-room, which surrounds a green court, at the -four corners of which are placed four mandarins, the size of life, -smoking their pipes. This Chinese town is inhabited by the -_aid-de-camps_ of the sovereign. Catharine, attended by her court, was -walking in this part of her garden, when she beheld, to her surprise, -the mandarins puffing forth real smoke, while their eyes appeared to -ogle her, and their heads to bow in the most familiar manner in the -world. She approached in order to find out the cause of this sudden -animation on the part of these statues. Immediately the loyal mandarins -descended from their pedestals, and made Chinese prostrations at her -feet, reciting some complimentary verses to the imperial lady, to please -whom they had transformed themselves into the images of the men with -pig-tails. She smiled, and quickly recognized them for the Prince de -Ligne, Potemkin, Count Segur, and M. de Cobentzal. - -"Leaving the Chinese town, I saw the huts of the lamas, where these -inhabitants of the south are kept and acclimated to a temperature very -different from that at the foot of the Cordilleras. These animals were -presented to the emperor by the Viceroy of Mexico, and their original -number of nine has been reduced, by the rigor of the Russian winters, to -five; from which, however, a numerous race have succeeded, who bear the -cold much better than the parent stock. - -"In the middle of the French garden stands a pretty dining-room, -containing the celebrated table of Olympus, imitated from a whim devised -by the Regent Orleans; where the wishes of the guests are supplied by -invisible hands from beneath. They have only to place a note in their -plate expressive of their desire, when the plate disappears, and in five -minutes after reappears with the article required. This magic originates -in a forecast which anticipates every possible want. A beautiful lady -finding her hair out of dress, wished for curling-irons, feeling assured -that such an odd request would defy even the enchantment of the Olympian -table to procure. She was astonished at finding her plate return with a -dozen pair. I saw the curious monument raised to commemorate three -favorite greyhounds, pets of the Empress Catharine. This pyramid, -erected by the French ambassador, Count Segur, contains two epitaphs: -one, by himself, is a sort of burlesque upon the old eulogistic style so -prevalent in the last century; the other is by Catharine, and may be -literally translated into English:-- - - "'Here lies the Duchess Anderson, - Who bit Mr. Rogerson.' - -"I visited successively the column of Gregory Orloff, the pyramid -erected in honor of the conqueror of Tchesma, and the grotto of -Pausilippo, and passed four hours wandering along the borders of lakes, -and traversing the plains and forests inclosed in these delicious -gardens, when I met an officer in uniform, who courteously raised his -hat. I asked a lad employed in taking a walk 'the name of this fine -gentleman,' for such he appeared to me to be. 'It is the emperor,' was -his reply. I immediately took a path which intersected that he had -taken, yet, when I had advanced about twenty steps, I stopped upon -perceiving him near me. - -"He divined, apparently, that respect to his person prevented me from -crossing his walk; he therefore kept on his way, while I awaited him in -the side walk, holding my hat in my hand. I perceived he limped in his -gait from the wound in his leg, which had lately re-opened; and I -remarked as he advanced the change that had taken place in his -appearance since I had seen him at Paris, nine years before. His -countenance, then so open and smiling, bore the expression of that deep -and devouring melancholy which it was said continually oppressed his -mind, yet his sorrowful features still were impressed with a character -of benevolence, which gave me courage to attempt the performance of my -hazardous commission. 'Sire,' said I, advancing a single step toward -him. - -"'Put on your hat, sir,' was his kind and gracious reply; 'the air is -too keen for you to remain uncovered.' - -"'Will your majesty permit--' - -"'Cover your head, sir, then; cover your head;' but, perceiving my -respect rendered me disobedient to his commands, he took my hat from my -hand, and with his own imperial one replaced it on my head. 'Now,' said -he, 'what do you wish to say to me?' - -"'Sire, this petition,' and I took the paper from my pocket, but the -action disturbed him, and I saw him frown. - -"'Sir, why do you pursue me here with petitions? do you know that I have -left St. Petersburg to be free from such annoyances?' - -"'Yes, sire, I am aware of it, nor dare I disguise the boldness of an -attempt for which I can only expect pardon from your benevolence. This, -however, seems to have some claim to your majesty's consideration, since -it is franked.' - -"'By whom?' inquired the emperor, with some quickness in his manner. - -"'By his Imperial Highness the Grand Duke Constantine, your majesty's -august brother.' - -"'Ah!' exclaimed the emperor, putting out his hand, but as quickly -withdrawing it again. - -"'I hope your majesty will for once infringe your custom, and will deign -to accept this supplication.' - -"'No, sir; I will not receive it; for to-morrow, I shall have a -thousand, and shall be compelled to desert these gardens, where it seems -I can no longer hope to enjoy privacy.' He perceived my disappointment -in my countenance, and his natural kindness would not suffer him to -dismiss me with a harsh refusal. Pointing with hand toward the church of -St. Sophia, he said--'Put that petition into the post-office in the -city, and I shall see it to-morrow, and the day after, you will have an -answer.' - -"I expressed my gratitude in animated terms. - -"'Prove it,' was his quick reply. - -"I declared my willingness to do any thing he required, as the test of -that feeling. - -"'Well, tell nobody that you have presented me a petition and got off -with impunity,' and he resumed his walk. - -"I followed his advice, and posted my paper, and three days after -received a favorable reply to my petition." - - - - -[From Eliza Cook's Journal.] - -AN EMPTY HOUSE; OR, STRUGGLES OF THE POOR. - - -Who has not seen at some time an empty house which has struck them as -the picture of desolation? They may know a hundred uninhabited -tenements, but they look as well kept and prosperous, as though they -would soon be filled again. They do not impress the senses in the same -way as that peculiar one, which appears to be condemned, like some -outcast, to perpetual seclusion in the midst of happy neighbors, who -mock, and flout, and taunt it with their bright windows and clean steps, -and fresh paint and shining door knobs and knockers, just as Mr. -Well-to-do, who is making money, and dresses well, and lodges -luxuriously and feeds plentifully, may treat with scorn poor -Do-nothing, who, unable to find employment of any sort, wears a patched -threadbare coat, dwells in a leaky garret, and does not know where on -earth to look for to-morrow's dinner. Indeed there is something more in -this comparison than appears at first sight, for the world of the -streets is apt to treat the empty house much as it does the -poverty-stricken man. The ragged lads who play about the avenues of -streets, and bask about the sunshiny nooks, draw back and cease their -jokes and are decorous in the presence of Mr. Trim or Mr. Broadcloth, -but they have a sarcasm or a coarse epithet for poor Patch, and for -poorer Tatter possibly a sly pebble or a dab of mud. - -Some years ago there was an empty house opposite to mine, which brought -such thoughts as these to my mind. There was a dirty bill in one of the -windows, and the remains of another upon one of the window shutters, -with directions where to inquire as to rent, &c., but nobody seemed to -dream of any body taking it. The neighborhood was a respectable one, and -in striking contrast with this one unfortunate tenement, and happy faces -at the windows of its neighbors seemed to make them crow over it, as -Mrs. Fruitful with her half-dozen of handsome children triumphs over -Mrs. Childless, who would give her ears to call the half of her friend's -little flock her own. Not that my empty house was utterly lonely either, -for its door-step was, in fine weather, the chosen resort of a group of -little specimens of humanity in dirt and rags, who from the seclusion of -some neighboring alley brought them chalk, and pieces of tiles and -slate, with which they scratched uncouth figures upon the doors and -shutters as high up as they could reach; and with mud from the gutter -they made their dirt pies, and left the remnants to accumulate upon the -dingy sill. There was a plentiful supply of stones, too, in the -macadamized road, and a large family of boys, unable to resist the -tempting opportunity for mischievous "shies," paid rough attentions to -the empty house with the flints, till the sunshine which had long been -denied admittance, through the dusty and begrimed panes, found its way -unimpeded through empty and dismantled sashes. Possibly, too, in -consequence of this, the very sparrows, usually so bold, which used to -build under the eaves and twitter upon the window sills and house-top, -forsook the ill-fated building and left it to its destiny. - -I do not know what it was, but there was something which powerfully -attracted my attention to the place, and I often sat at my window and -mused upon it. Sometimes I thought it was in Chancery, for it had just -the look of a house which the lawyers had thoroughly riddled; and -sometimes I thought it had the reputation of being haunted, for somehow -or other people always give ghosts credit for the very worst taste, and -seem to think them incapable of choosing any but the most uncomfortable -habitations. - -Passers-by would often stop to look at the house, and not unfrequently -some of them would look over it; and then the owner or his agent would -come with them, bringing the rusty key which turned with difficulty in -the lock, and setting free the creaking door, which moved so lazily upon -its hinges. This person was such a human likeness to the house, that I -sometimes wondered he did not, out of pure sympathy, come and live there -himself. He was a little battered-looking old man, whose rusty dirty -suit of black just matched the doors and shutters, and I could almost -fancy that his very spectacles, like the windows, were cracked and -broken by boys throwing stones at him. - -These inquiries, however, always resulted in nothing, except the great -discomfiture of the children, who held dominion over the door-step, and -who were always summarily routed and driven off by peevish exclamations -and feeble cuffs from the rusty little old man. I suppose most of those -who came were merely actuated by curiosity. I was more than once tempted -by the same motive to go and look at the inside myself, and those who -really had serious designs of settling there were frightened out of them -by the combined dismalness of the place, and the warder who had charge -of it. At last, there really was some sign of the empty house being let. -I noticed one evening that a respectable, quiet-looking young couple, -with an old lady in widow's weeds, whom I immediately decided was the -widowed mother of either husband or wife (for of course they were -husband and wife) went to look at the empty house, attended by the -little old man; and from the fact, that after looking at the premises -for a longer time than visitors usually did, the party came out, and, -contrary to custom, all four walked away together, I was led to suppose -that I might have opposite neighbors. - -The next morning, before I left home for business, I saw at once that I -was right as to the house having been taken. The little old man, -notwithstanding he looked so rusty, must have been a diligent, as well -as a quaint, old-fashioned fellow, for there were ladders and steps, and -painters, plumbers, bricklayers, and laborers all at work upon the -house. Some were upon the top replacing cracked tiles, others were -making the windows weather-proof, and others again were intent upon -counteracting the ravages of chalk, sharp slates, and dirt upon the -paint of the doors and window shutters. The group of children came as -usual, but they did not venture to attempt to take up their old station; -the apparition of the old man scared them from that, and perhaps they -were altogether too much struck with astonishment at the altered -character of the scene to attempt it. But they were very unwilling to -give up their old sovereignty and abandon the spot. They lingered -doubtfully for some days about the place, sometimes looking at the tall -ladders and the workmen, and sometimes sitting upon the heaps of broken -tiles and brickbats, watching the Irish hodman stirring the mortar -about, with much the same feelings, perhaps, as a red Indian lingers -about the white man's clearing, formerly the hunting-ground of his -fathers. Possibly the youngsters thought that all the men and ladders -might be cleared away, and that they would succeed to the again vacant -door-step, with the added advantages of a newly-painted door to scratch -upon, and these hallucinations were not thoroughly dispelled for about a -week, when they saw a charwoman scouring the passage and front steps. -That sufficed to wither all their hopes; repairs they could have -survived, for they remembered something of the sort once in their own -alley, but scrubbing and washing were entirely unmistakable, they -understood at once that somebody was "coming in," and dispersed to seek -another place of resort. - -It may be supposed that the diligence of the little old man, who never -left the laborers all day, soon had the little house fit for the -reception of its new inmates, in spite of occasional damages in the -glass department, till the boys became reconciled to its new smartness. -He was there the first thing in the morning, sitting on a three-legged -stool which I believe he brought with him, and he went to the public -house with the men when they had their meals, so that they should not -stay too long. Under such vigilant superintendence, the last ladder and -pair of steps were taken away in about a week, and the inmates--the two -young folks, and the old widow lady I have already mentioned, and their -household goods made their appearance. The furniture showed at a glance -that both the past and the present had contributed their quotas to the -household, for there were the old-fashioned, large-seated, heavy -high-backed chairs of half-a-century since, with a heavy, square table, -and a quaint, antique cabinet, matching well with the aged widowed -mother; while the light caned seats and other modern requisites, -represented the young people just entering upon life. I knew at once -what afterward I found to be the case, that by probably a hasty marriage -two households had been mingled into one. - -I was always a solitary, secluded man, given to make observations and to -pick up information about those who interested me, but not to cultivate -acquaintances, and so it was from what I saw from my windows and from -hearsay, that I picked up what I knew of the new comers. Slight as this -source of information may seem to be, it is wonderful what a deal of -knowledge of a certain kind is obtained in this manner; indeed, if any -one were to examine the sources of his own knowledge, he would find that -if not the largest, a very large proportion had been picked up from the -chit-chat of society. - -I was peculiarly favorably situated for acquiring knowledge in this way, -for my landlady, a chatty, good-tempered widow, knew the private history -of most of her neighbors, and was extremely well versed in the gossip -and scandal of the place; and her extensive knowledge, added to the -equally diversified lore of the fat old half-laundress, half-charwoman, -who had lived all her life in the vicinity (and was the very person who -had scared the before-mentioned urchins by scouring the once empty -house), and the tit-bits of sayings and doings, communicated by the -baker, butcher, green-grocer, and milkman, furnished a stock of history -which, reinforced by my own habits of observation, fully qualified me -for giving the little narrative which follows; and which I am tempted to -give to the world not so much for its intrinsic interest, or because it -contains any record of great deeds, but because it shows industry and -perseverance triumphing over the obstacles of the world, and bearing the -burdens of misplaced benevolence. - -To begin then our tale in earnest. The head of the house opposite was -Thomas Winthorpe, who acted as book-keeper to a large outfitting house -in the city. He was a rather taciturn, grave young man, and bore these -characteristics upon his face, but he was fond of knowledge, and had -acquired no small portion for a man in his position. Well-principled, -and untiringly energetic, and industrious, he had risen from a low -station more from the passive habit of steady good conduct, than the -active exercise of any brilliant qualities, and he felt a pride in the -fact; never hesitating, though he did not parade it, to utter the truth -that he was first hired to sweep the offices, light the fires, and do -other menial jobs. There was a striking similarity between him and his -little wife, Kate Winthorpe (who had just changed her name from -Stevens), which you saw in their faces, for Kate was grave, and -habitually rather silent too. But her gravity had a shade more of -pensiveness in it than Thomas's, which might have told the keen observer -that it had not the same origin. - -Such indeed was the fact, for what difficulty and early poverty had done -for Thomas, youthful plenty and after troubles had done for Kate though -the bright smiles which I could now and then see chasing the shadows -over Kate's comely but not pretty face, as she bade her husband good-by -in the morning or welcomed him home at night, told that happiness was -bringing back much of her original character. - -The old lady, Mrs. Stevens, Kate's mother, was a good sort of old lady, -so far as I could learn, with a respectful tenderness for Thomas, and a -fond affection for Kate, who had been the prop of her age and the solace -of her troubles; but without any thing remarkable in her character -beyond a meek resignation, which well supplied the place of a higher -philosophy, and led her cheerfully to accept the present and be content -with the past. - -So far as I could glean, Mrs. Stevens was the widow of a once affluent -yeoman in one of the western counties, who lived in the "good old -English style," liked his dogs, and gun, and horses, was not averse to -a run with the hounds--had a partiality for parish and club dinners, and -was fond of plenty of company at home. This sort of life might have done -tolerably well in the palmy times of farming, when with war prices, corn -was, as Hood has it, "at the Lord knows what per quarter;" but when -lower prices came with peace, and more industry and less expenditure was -required, poor Stevens was one of the first to feel the altered times, -and as he could not give up his old habits, difficulties began to press -upon and thicken around him. After a few years, creditors became -clamorous, and the landlord urgent for the payment of rent in arrear, -and the result was that he was compelled to give up his farm and sell -his stock, to save himself from a prison. This left him a small remnant -upon which, if he had been a prudent, self-denying man, he might have -begun the world afresh, but he took his downfall so much to heart, that -in a few months he died of his old enemy, the gout. - -Mrs. Stevens was thus left a widow with two children, Kate, a young girl -of fifteen or sixteen, and Charles, a fine young man of three or four -and twenty, who held a small farm in that neighborhood, and had hitherto -depended more upon his father's purse than his own industry. Little as -Mrs. Stevens knew of the world, she felt that it would not do to depend -upon Charles, who was one of those jolly, good-tempered, careless -fellows every body knows--men who go on tolerably well so long as all is -smooth, but wanting providence and foresight, are pretty sure to founder -upon the first dangerous rock ahead. To do Charles justice, however, he -would willingly have shared his home with his mother and sister, and for -a long time managed to remit enough to them to pay their rent. - -When the first grief of widowhood was over, Mrs. Stevens and her -daughter, without any very definite plan, but drawn by that strange -attraction that impels alike the helpless, the inexperienced, and the -ambitious to the great centres of population, came up to London with the -small sum of money which, after every debt had been scrupulously -discharged, was left to her. Beyond that resource she had none, save the -address of a first cousin who, report said, had grown very rich in -trade, and to whom she hoped she might look for aid and advice. In this, -however, she was speedily undeceived, for upon calling upon her cousin, -and introducing herself and Kate, she was received by the withered old -miser very curtly, and told that as he came up to London a poor boy with -five and ninepence in his pocket, and had managed to get on fairly, she -with fifty pounds in her pocket could do very well without help. Perhaps -if the widow had let Kate plead her suit she might have fared better, -for the old man patted Kate's back, and seemed to dip his hand in his -pocket with the half intention of making her a present, but it was only -a half intention, and the widow went away with a heavy heart, convinced -that she must not look for assistance in that quarter. - -I need not tell what little I know of the efforts of Mrs. Stevens to -find for herself a useful place in the great, busy, unfriendly, or at -least, coldly-indifferent world of London-life--how she found thousands -as eager and as anxious as herself--how, although she pinched and -stinted, and denied herself every luxury, she saw her small stock of -money silently wasting away, and no apparent means of getting more; all -these things are unhappily so every-day and commonplace, such mere -ordinary vulgar troubles, that every body knows them, and nobody cares -to hear more about them. - -At last one day, after a weary walk, under a scorching sky, in search of -employment, the widow and her daughter saw in the window of an -outfitter's shop, the welcome announcement "good shirt hands wanted." So -the widow and Kate entered, and with some little trembling saw the -person whose business it was to give work to the needlewomen, and made -known their errand. Mr. Sturt, a sharp, rather rough man, who had the -management of this department, said, "Yes, they did want 'hands,' but -they required some one to become security for the work given out." - -The widow's chagrin was as great now as her hopes had been high a few -minutes before, and she said at once that she did not know any one who -would become security, at which Mr. Sturt was turning coldly away; but -suddenly thinking of her cousin, she said to herself that he would -surely not refuse her this one favor, and she told Mr. Sturt that she -would try and come again, and timidly gave that gentleman her address. -As soon as the widow's back was turned, Mr. Sturt threw the address on -the floor, for he was perfectly sure of having plenty of applications, -and it did not matter to him whether the widow ever came again or not; -but Thomas Winthorpe, who was employed in a different department of the -business, happened to be a witness of the scene, had seen the widow's -hand shake, and lips quiver with hope and disappointment, and had marked -the anxious look of Kate; and with that sympathy which past poverty so -often begets for the poor, he picked up the "rejected address," -resolving that he would inquire, and if Mrs. Stevens and her daughter -deserved it, he would help them to the work. - -It was more than a year since Mrs. Stevens had seen her rich cousin, and -when she hastened to his house to prefer her humble petition it was shut -up, and all the information she could gain from the neighbors was, that -Mr. Norton had gone no one knew whither. This was a sad blow to Mrs. -Stevens and Kate; what to do they knew not, and as they wended their way -back to their now almost destitute home, their poverty appeared more -hopeless than ever; for disappointment is far harder to bear than mere -trouble, just as the sky never looks so dismal and threatening as when a -bright ray has just departed, and the sun has sunk behind a thick, dark -cloud. - -Thomas Winthorpe, however, carried his good intention into effect -directly he left business, and little as he was able to glean in their -neighborhood of their life and past history, he was convinced that Mrs. -Stevens and her daughter deserved help. How, however, to afford them -assistance without wounding their feelings was for some time a difficult -question; but at last he determined to become surety for them at the -shop without their knowledge, and then to call, as if it were a matter -of business, and tell them that they could have work. - -The next morning accordingly, he told Mr. Sturt that he intended to -become surety for Mrs. Stevens, and took no notice of that individual's -shrugs, and winks, and inuendoes--which were meant to insinuate a -sinister motive upon the part of Thomas--further than by looking at him -so fixedly and composedly, and withal with such an expression of -contempt, that Mr. Sturt, although not a very bashful personage, was -fairly confused; and in the evening Thomas called and introduced himself -to Mrs. Stevens, and told her that, in consequence of inquiries which -had been made, she might have the work when she pleased. The widow and -Kate, who had not stirred out of the house that day, and were in the -depths of despair, not knowing which way to turn for help, looked upon -Thomas as a preserving angel, and could have almost worshiped him for -the unexpected good news of which he was the bearer; nor was their -estimation of him lessened when the widow, remembering what had been -said about security, questioned him as to how that obstacle had been -overcome; and, after a few awkward attempts at parrying and -equivocation, Thomas, who was but a poor dissembler, confessed the -kindly part he had acted, and was overwhelmed with their expressions of -gratitude. From that moment they became intimate, and before the -interview, which was a somewhat long one, concluded, Thomas saw, partly -from their conversation, partly from the relics of furniture they had -managed to transport to London, that they had moved in a more -comfortable station, and were simple country folks; and with a feeling -possibly prompted by an unconscious heart-leaning to the quiet Kate, and -a latent wish to keep her away from the shop, he offered, as he lived -close by, to take their work to and fro for them, and so to save them -the trouble of going into the city, an offer which Mrs. Stevens who, in -her depressed circumstances, shrunk from strangers, and had no wish to -face the rough Mr. Sturt, thankfully accepted. - -From this time the widow and her daughter sat down earnestly to work, -and though luxuries are not the lot of those who live by shirt-making, -yet as the house they were employed by was a respectable one, and paid -something better than slop prices, and as Thomas contrived that they -should have the best description of work, and Charles Stevens, from -time to time, remitted to them sufficient to pay their rent, they, with -their simple wants, soon began to feel tolerably comfortable and -independent. Thomas, too, who was an orphan, did not neglect his -opportunities of knowing them better, and became a close and dear -acquaintance, whose coming every evening was regularly looked for. At -first, of course, he only made business calls, and now and then sat and -chatted afterward; then he brought a few flowers for their mantle-piece, -or a book, or newspaper, which he thought might amuse them; and, -by-and-by, he read to them: and, at last, business, instead of being the -primary object of his visits, was the last thing thought of, and left -till he was going away: occasionally, too, Thomas thought that they were -working too hard, and that a walk would do them good, and he became the -companion of their little promenades. - -Of course the experienced reader will see in all this that Thomas was in -love with Kate; and so he was, but Thomas was a prudent man. Kate was -young as well as himself; he had but a small salary, and it was better -to wait till he could offer Kate such a home as he should like to see -her mistress of. And Kate, what of her? did she love Thomas Winthorpe, -too? Well, we don't know enough of the female heart to answer such a -question. How should an old bachelor, indeed, get such knowledge? But, -perhaps, our better informed lady friends may be enabled to form an -opinion, when they are told that Kate began to dress herself with more -care, and to curl her luxuriant dark hair more sedulously, and that she -was more fidgety than her mother as the time for Thomas to call -approached, and grew fonder of reading the books he brought, and the -flowers of his giving. Mrs. Stevens, however, saw nothing of all this, -and Thomas never spoke of love, and Kate never analyzed her feelings, so -that we suppose if she was in love, she had glided into it so gently, -that she did not know it herself. - -Something like three years had passed away in this humble, but -tranquilly happy state of existence, during which Thomas had been -silently adding to his stock of furniture, and quietly saving money out -of his small salary, when a new misfortune fell upon the Stevenses. The -mother had had weak eyes when a child, but as she grew up to womanhood -the defect had disappeared. Still there was a latent tendency to -disease, which it seemed close application to needlework in her -declining years had developed. For a long time Mrs. Stevens had felt -this, but concealed it from Kate, till her eyes became so dim, that she -could not go on any longer, and Kate became aware of the truth. This was -a sad blow, and Kate, who had come to look instinctively to Thomas for -advice, took the opportunity, when her mother was out of the room for a -few minutes, at his next visit, to tell him the fact, and her fears that -her mother was going blind. This was their first confidence, which I -have been told goes a great way in love affairs, and from that time -they were drawn still closer together. Thomas advised immediate medical -assistance, and not liking to offer Kate the fee, arranged to get an -hour or two the next day but one, and accompany them to an eminent -oculist. This was done, and the surgeon, after examining the widow's -eyes, said that skill could do nothing for her, but that rest was -indispensable, and that she must not exert her sight. - -The whole of the work was now thrown upon Kate, and unmurmuringly did -the noble girl bend herself to the task of providing for herself and her -nearly blind mother. The first dawn of light saw her, needle in hand, -and Thomas found her at night stooping over her task. Their little walks -were given up, and she denied herself almost the bare necessaries of -life, so that her mother might not feel the change. This could not go -long without Kate's health suffering, and Thomas saw with grief the pale -cheek, and the thinning figure, and the red tinge round the eyelids, -which spoke of over-work and failing strength. These changes did not -improve Kate's good looks, but when did true love ever think of beauty? -He saw that the poor girl must soon break down, and then there were but -two courses open, either to offer his hand, which he was sure would be -accepted, or to offer them assistance. - -From motives of prudence, Thomas had rather that the time when he should -become a housekeeper for himself had been longer delayed; but he did not -like to offer her money, for he felt as though such an obligation would -make her feel dependent, and draw her from him; and so he resolved at -once to make her his wife, and save her from the fate which otherwise -seemed impending over her. - -How the declaration was made, and where, and whether or not there were -many blushes or smiles, or tears or kisses, I really do not know; but -from Thomas's practical manner, and Kate's earnest, truthful, -straightforward mind, and the length of time they had been as intimate -and confidential as brother and sister, I should think that there was -little of what some folk choose to call "the sentimental," although, -perhaps, there was not any the less of true sentiment. But certain it -is, that Thomas was accepted, the widow did not object, and all the -neighborhood soon knew that Kate Stevens and Thomas Winthorpe were about -to be married. - -Of course, as is usual upon such occasions, there was plenty of comment. -A good many young ladies who had done their best to "set their caps" at -Thomas, intensely pitied poor Kate for choosing such a quiet stupid sort -of fellow, and not a few old ladies, who would have jumped at Thomas for -a son-in-law, were "sincerely" glad that it was not their daughter. And -there was a universal chorus of prophecy, as to the troubles that -awaited the young couple; for what (said the prophets) could they do -with Thomas's small salary, and Kate's old mother, if they came to have -a family? and so forth. - -Kate and Thomas knew nothing of all this, and if they had, it would not -have affected them much, for confident in their quiet earnest affection -for each other, they looked forward to the future, not as a period of -easy enjoyment, but as one of effortful, though hopeful industry. The -preliminaries were soon arranged; Thomas had no friends to consult, and -Charles Stevens was glad to hear that his sister was about to be -married--a license was dispensed with, and the vulgarity of banns -resorted to to save expense. The bride was given away by a young -mechanic, a friend of Thomas's, whose sister acted as bridesmaid; there -was a quiet dinner at Thomas's lodgings, no wedding tour, and the next -day they went into the empty house, which had been done up for their -reception, and suited their scanty means, and when filled with the new -furniture of Thomas, and the old relics of the widow, Kate thought, ay, -and so did Thomas too, it made the most comfortable home they had ever -seen. I have purposely hurried over this part of my story, because it is -so very commonplace. After people have been deluged with brides in white -satin and Brussels lace vails, supported by a splendid train of -bridesmaids, all deluging their cambric-worked handkerchiefs in -sympathetic tears, what could I say for a marriage with a bride in plain -white, and Miss Jones, in a dyed silk, for a bridesmaid, and dry -pocket-handkerchiefs, into the bargain, to make it interesting? -Obviously nothing. Yet for all that, it was, possibly, as happy a -wedding as was ever solemnized at St. George's, Hanover-square, and -chronicled in the _Morning Post_, with half a dozen flourishes of -trumpets. - -My readers now know all about the people who came into the empty house, -and made it look as cheerful as it had before looked miserable. Of their -domestic life I, of course, knew little: they kept no servant, and Kate -was occasionally to be seen through the windows dusting and brushing -about; but long before Thomas came home she was neat, and even smart, -and her ready smile as she opened the door, told me how happy they were. -It made even me half romantic, and if I could have found just such -another Kate, I half thought that I should have renounced an old -bachelor's life. Of their pecuniary affairs I, of course, knew little, -but I saw that their baker called regularly, and that Kate went out with -her market-basket, and if they had run in debt I was sure that I should -have heard of it. - -After a little while, though, I began to notice that Thomas had a habit -which gave me some uneasiness for the future of the young couple. When -he came home he staid for about an hour, or just long enough to have his -tea, and then went out again for about two hours. It is true that he did -not exhibit any symptoms of dissipation when he returned, but I did not -like the habit. My mind, however, was set at rest by my landlady, who -could tell me all about it. She knew young Jones the cabinet-maker, who -was present at the wedding, and informed me that Thomas Winthorpe, who -was a good mechanic, employed his spare time in working with Jones, and -that both of them prudently put by the earnings of their leisure time as -a fund for future contingencies, so that my mind was set at rest upon -this point. - -In due time, a little Kate blessed the household of my opposite -neighbors, and next, a little Thomas, and every thing appeared to go on -as happily as ever; and the old grandmother who had only partially -recovered the use of her eyes, leading her little grand-daughter, and -led in her turn by Kate, who also carried the baby, would often go out -for a walk, leaving the servant girl in charge of the house (for -Thomas's salary having increased, they could afford to keep a girl now -without being extravagant), and a happier family group it would not be -easy to find. - -It was about this time, I observed a new addition to the family in the -shape of a stout, ruddy young man, who wore a green coat, with bright -buttons, and looked like a country farmer. I at once guessed that this -was Kate's brother, of whom I had heard, on a visit to his sister, and -though I was right as to the person, the other part of my guess was -incorrect. It was Charles Stevens, but he was not there upon a visit. -The fact was, that Charles, whose foresight never went the length of -looking a year ahead, had been totally ruined by a failure in the wheat -crops of his farm. All his property had been sold, and he left destitute -of every thing except a few pounds in his pocket, and without any great -stock of energy and intelligence to fall back upon, had sought the -refuge of his brother-in-law's roof, which, no doubt, was at first -cheerfully afforded him. But it was soon evident that Charles was likely -to bear heavily upon the Winthorpes, for he did not seem disposed to -exert himself to gain a livelihood. He appeared to lounge about the -house all day, and toward the evening, evidently to Thomas's chagrin, -came out to lean on the gate and smoke his pipe in the open air, thus -giving the house an air somewhat different from its former aspect of -respectability. I saw, too, as I sat up late reading (a bad habit of -mine) that a light burned till midnight in the Winthorpes' windows, and -sometimes hearing a heavy knocking, I looked out and saw at their door -the bright buttons of Charles Stevens shining in the light of the gas -lamp. - -So far as I could learn, Thomas Winthorpe never visited these offenses -of the brother upon his wife, but for her sake suppressed his -indignation at the careless, thoughtless, lazy habits of Charles, and -bore all in silence; but I heard that he talked of them to young Jones -and lamented the moral obligation he felt to support Charles even in -idleness. These feelings, we may be assured, were not lessened when Kate -made a third addition to the family, and passed through a long and -dangerous, and, of course, expensive illness, and I was told (the -gossips knew all this through Miss Jones, the bridesmaid) that Thomas -had been obliged to devote the earnings of his overtime to pay the -doctor's bill, and the quarter's rent, for which he had been unable -otherwise to provide. - -When Kate got up and resumed her family duties, there were other -indications of poverty in the household, one of which was that the -servant girl was discharged, notwithstanding that there was more -necessity than ever for her assistance. Kate's morning walks were given -up--she, as well as her husband, looked more careworn--the old -grandmother acted the part of housemaid, and Thomas wore a more -threadbare coat than usual. Nobody looked jolly and comfortable, except -the "ne'er do well," who was the cause of these uncomfortable changes, -but he looked as ruddy and careless, and smoked his pipe at the front -gate as composedly as ever, disturbed only by the recollection that he -had once been so much better off, and the knowledge that he had not so -much money to spend as he used to have; for by this time the cash he had -brought with him from the country, and of which he had never offered -Thomas a penny, was well-nigh gone. - -Still, Thomas, though hard-pressed, worked on patiently and -perseveringly, hoping for better times, and these fortunately were close -at hand. People say that "Troubles never come alone," and I am inclined -to think Fortune also sends her favors in showers. Be that as it may, -just at this time, Charles, who was getting disgusted at idleness -without plenty of pocket-money, received and accepted an offer to go out -to Australia, with an old farming acquaintance; and a few days more saw -his chest put into a cab, into which vehicle he followed, while Kate and -his mother (Thomas was away at business) bade him a tearful farewell; -and within a few days Thomas's employers, more than satisfied with his -conduct, promoted him to a post where his salary was doubled. - -What a change came over the house and family! The old servant girl came -back, and seemed so glad and brisk that she was never tired of work, and -made the place look brighter and neater than ever. The walks, too, were -resumed, and Thomas, justified in ceasing his evening work, made one of -the party after tea. Kate's cheek grew round and rosy again, and -Thomas's eye was brighter, and his old grave smile came back, as he -enjoyed the happiness and comfort he had so well earned: and to crown -all, I am told that the young Winthorpes will be very rich, for that -little rusty, shabby old man, who used to show the empty house, is Mrs. -Stevens's rich cousin, whom Kate had not recognized, and the old lady -was too short-sighted to notice, and who had left his former house, and -assumed the name of Willis, so that he might not be found out and -worried by his poor relations. My landlady informs me that the old man, -who knew his relations from the first, was struck with Thomas's -punctuality in always paying the rent on the day it was due, and by his -untiring industry (qualities which probably found an echo in his own -nature), and that the beautiful children (strange that such a little, -withered old miser should love blooming, careless children), have -completed his liking for the family. Thomas, however, has refused all -the old man's offers of assistance, and insists on continuing to pay the -rent for the house; and the old gentleman, who is now a frequent -visitor, and really does not look half so rusty as he used, unable in -any other way to confer obligations upon the family, has claimed to -stand godfather for the third child, and has bequeathed to the -youngsters all his large property, so we may fairly presume that the -worst difficulties of the Winthorpes are over, and that a happy future -is in store for them. - -Reader, my little tale, or, without plot as it is, you may say my long -gossip, is at an end. It began about an empty house, and has run through -the fortunes of a family. How like a path in life, where the first step -ushers us onward we know not where; or, to compare small things with -great, how like a philosopher picking up at random a simple stone, and -thence being led on to the comprehension of the physical history of the -world. But plotless tale, or rambling gossip, whichever it may be, I -hope it has not been without its usefulness, but that it has served as -one more piece of proof that integrity, charity, industry, and -self-denial, if they do not always command success, give a man the best -possible chance of obtaining it on the only condition which renders -success worth having, namely, the preservation of self-respect. - - - - -[From Tait's Edinburgh Magazine.] - -COLDS AND COLD WATER. - - -Who has not had a cold? or rather, who has not had many colds? Who does -not know that malady which commences with slight chilliness, an uneasy -feeling of being unwell, which does not justify abstinence from the -ordinary business and occupations of the day, but deprives one of all -satisfaction and enjoyment in them, and takes away all the salt and -savor of life, even as it deprives the natural palate of its proper -office, making all things that should be good to eat and drink vapid and -tasteless? Who does not know the pain in the head, the stiff neck, the -stuffy nose, the frequent sneeze, the kerchief which is oftener in the -hand than in the pocket? Such, with a greater or less amount of -peevishness, are the symptoms of the common cold in the head; which -torments its victim for two or three days, or perhaps as many weeks, and -then departs, and is forgotten. Few people take much notice of colds; -and yet let any one, who is even moderately liable to their attacks, -keep an account of the number of days in each year when he has been shut -out by a cold from a full perception of the pleasures and advantages of -life, and he will find that he has lost no inconsiderable portion of -the sum total of happy existence through their malign influence. How -many speeches in Parliament and at the Bar, that should have turned a -division or won a cause, have been marred because the orator has had a -cold which has confused his powers, stifled his voice, and paralyzed all -his best energies! How many pictures have failed in expressing the full -thoughts of the artist, because he has had a cold at that critical stage -of the work when all his faculties of head and hand should have been at -their best to insure the fit execution of his design! How many bad -bargains have been made, how many opportunities lost in business, -because a cold has laid its leaden hand upon them, and converted into -its own dull nature what might have resulted in a golden harvest! How -many poems--but no: poetry can have nothing in common with a cold. The -Muses fly at the approach of flannel and water-gruel. It is not poems -that are spoiled, but poets that are rendered of impossible existence by -colds. Can one imagine Homer with a cold, or Dante? But these were -southerns, and exempt by climate from this scourge of the human race in -Boreal regions. But Milton or Shakspeare, could they have had colds? -Possibly some parts of "Paradise Regained" may have been written in a -cold. Possibly the use of the handkerchief in "Othello," which is -banished as an impropriety by the delicate critics of France from their -version of the Moor of Venice, may have been suggested by familiarity -with that indispensable accessory in a cold. Colds are less common in -the clear atmosphere of Paris than in the thick and fog-laden air of -London; and this may account for the difference of national taste, on -this point. It is said of the great German Mendelssohn, that he always -composed sitting with his feet in a tub of cold water. This was not the -musician, but his grandfather, the metaphysician, and father of that -happy and contentedly obscure intermediate Mendelssohn, who used to say, -"When I was young, I was known as the son of the great Mendelssohn; and -now that I am old, I am known as the father of the great Mendelssohn." -But who ever was known to compose any thing while sitting with his feet -in a tub of _hot_ water, and with the composing draught standing on the -table at his side, to remind him that in the matter of composition he is -to be a passive, and not an active subject? How many marriages may not -have been prevented by colds? The gentleman is robbed of his courage, -and does not use his opportunity for urging his suit; or the lady -catches a cold, and appears blowing her nose, and with blanched cheeks -and moist eyes: - - "The sapphire's blue within her eyes is seen; - Her lips the ruby's choicest glow disclose; - Her skin is like to fairest pearls I ween; - But ah! the lucid crystal tips her nose." - -And so the coming declaration of love is effectually nipped in the bud -by the unromantic realities of the present catarrh. - -Napoleon, as is well known, lost the battle of Leipsig in consequence of -an indigestion brought on by eating an ill-dressed piece of mutton; and -Louis Philippe, in February, 1848, fled ignominiously from the capital -of his kingdom because he had a cold, and could not use the faculties -which at least might have secured for him as respectable a retreat to -the frontier as was enjoyed by his predecessor Charles the Tenth. He -might have shown fight; he might have thrown himself upon the army, or -upon the National Guard; he might have done a hundred things better for -his own fame, rather than get into a hack cab and run away. But it was -not to be: Louis Philippe had the influenza; and Louis Philippe with the -influenza was not the same man who had shown so much craft and decision -in the many previous emergencies of his long and eventful life. Louis -Philippe, without a cold, had acquitted himself creditably in the field -of battle, had taught respectably in schools, had contrived for himself -and his family the succession to a kingdom, had worked and plotted -through all the remarkable events with which his name is associated, and -by which it will ever be remembered in the romance of history; but Louis -Philippe, with a cold, subsided at once and ingloriously into simple -John Smith in a scratch-wig. - -Of places in which colds are caught it is not necessary to be -particular. For, as a late Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench laid it -down in summing up to a jury, in a case of sheep-stealing, after some -time had been wasted in showing that the stolen sheep had been -slaughtered with a particular knife--any knife will kill a sheep--so it -may be said that a cold may be caught any where: on the moor or on the -loch; traveling by land or by water; by rail or by stage; or in a -private carriage, or walking in the streets; or sitting at home or -elsewhere, in a draught, or out of a draught, but more especially in it. -Upon a statistical return of the places in which colds have been caught, -by persons of both sexes, and under twenty-one years of age, founded -upon the answers of the patients themselves, it appears that more colds -are caught upon the journey in going to school, and at church, than at -the theatre and in ball-rooms. Upon a similar return from persons liable -to serve as jurymen in London and Middlesex, it appears that a majority -of colds is caught in courts of justice; to which statement, perhaps, -more confidence is due than to the former, as it is not known that Dr. -Reid has ventilated any of the churches or theatres in the metropolis. -Indeed, if the ancient physical philosophers, who had many disputes upon -the first cause of cold, had enjoyed the advantage of living in our days -and country, they might have satisfied themselves on this matter, and at -the same time have become practically acquainted with the working of our -system of jurisprudence, by attending in Westminster Hall, when they -would go away perhaps with some good law, but most certainly with a very -bad cold in their heads. Upon the returns from ladies with grown-up -daughters and nieces, it appears from their own statements, that more -colds are caught at evening parties than any where else; which is in -remarkable discrepancy with the statements of the young ladies -themselves, as before mentioned. The same curious want of agreement is -found to prevail as to the number of colds caught on water-parties, -pic-nics, archery-meetings, and the like, which, according to one set of -answers, never give rise to colds, but which would certainly be avoided -by all prudent persons if they gave implicit belief to the other. - -Of the remedy for colds something may now be said. As with other evils, -the remedy may exist either in the shape of prevention or of cure, and -of course should be most sought after, by prudent people, in the former. -Much ancestral wisdom has descended to us in maxims and apothegms on the -prevention and management of colds. Like other venerable and traditional -lore which we are in the habit of receiving without questioning, it -contains a large admixture of error with what is really good and true; -and of the good and true much occasionally meets with undeserved -disparagement and contempt. Our grandmothers are right when they -inculcate an active avoidance of draughts of air, when they enjoin warm -clothing, and especially woolen stockings and dry feet. Their -recommendation of bed and slops is generally good, and their "sentence -of water-gruel" in most cases is very just, and better than any other -for which it could be commuted; but when they lay down the well-known -and authoritative dogma, stuff a cold and starve a fever, they are no -longer to be trusted. This is a pernicious saying, and has caused much -misery and illness. Certain lovers of antiquity, in their anxiety to -justify this precept, would have us to take it in an ironical sense. -They say, stuff a cold and starve a fever: that is, if you commit the -absurdity of employing too generous a diet in the earlier stages of a -cold, you will infallibly bring on a fever, which you will be compelled -to reduce by the opposite treatment of starvation. This, however, may be -rejected as mere casuistry, however well it may be intended by zealous -friends of the past. Our British oracles were not delivered in such -terms of Delphic mystery, but spoke out plain and straightforward; and -even this one permits of some justification with out doing violence to -the obvious meaning of the words. For every cold is accompanied with -some fever, the symptoms of which are more or less obvious, and it -indicates the presence in the system of something which ought not to be -there, and which is seeking its escape. Every facility should be given -to this escape which is consistent with the general safety of the -system. We may reasonably leave a window open, or a door upon the latch, -to favor the retreat of a disagreeable intruder, but we should not be -willing to break a hole in the wall of the house. All the remedies of -hot water for the feet, warming the bed, exciting gentle perspiration, -are directed to this object. Occasionally, the excitement of an evening -passed in society, especially if there is dancing, and in a room of -somewhat elevated temperature, is sufficient to carry off an incipient -cold. So a cold may be stopped, _in limine_, by the use of a few drops -of laudanum; and so, perhaps, the stimulus of some slight excess in -eating or drinking may operate to eject the advancing cold before it has -completely lodged itself in the system. But this is dangerous practice, -and the same object may be effected far more safely and surely by the -common nursing and stay-at-home remedies. - -Of all prophylactic or precautionary measures (in addition, of course, -to prudent attention to dress and diet), the best is the constant use of -the cold bath. It is only necessary to glance at the ironmongers' shops -to see that of late years the demand for all kinds of washing and -bathing apparatus has much increased, and that many persons are aware of -the importance of this practice. The exact method of applying the cold -element must depend on the constitution of the patient. For the very -vigorous and robust, the actual plunge-bath may not be too much; but few -are able to stand this, for the great abstraction of animal heat by the -surrounding cold fluid taxes the calorific powers of the system -severely; nor is a convenient swimming or plunge-bath generally -attainable. A late lamented and eminent legal functionary, who lived -near the banks of the Thames, bathed in the river regularly every -morning, summer and winter, and, it is said, used to have the ice -broken, when necessary, in the latter season. He continued this practice -to a good old age, and might have sat for the very picture of health. -The shower-bath has the merit of being attainable by most persons, at -any rate when at home, and is now made in various portable shapes. The -shock communicated by it is not always safe; but it is powerful in its -action, and the first disagreeable sensation after pulling the fatal -string is succeeded by a delicious feeling of renewed health and -vitality. The dose of water is generally made too large; and by -diminishing this, and wearing one of the high peaked or extinguisher -caps now in use, to break the fall of the descending torrent upon the -head, the terrors of the shower-bath may be abated, while all the -beneficial effects are retained. It has, however, the disadvantage of -not being easily carried about during absence from home, and the want of -it is a great inconvenience to those who are accustomed to use it. None -of the forms which are really portable are satisfactory, and all occupy -some time and trouble in setting up and taking down again, unless, -indeed, you are reckless of how and where you fix your hooks, and of the -state of the floor of the room after the flood has taken place, and -perhaps benevolently wish that the occupants of the room beneath should -participate in the luxury you have been enjoying. For nearly all -purposes the sponge is sufficient, used with one of the round flat baths -which are now so common. Cold water, thus applied, gives sufficient -stimulus to the skin, and the length of the bath, and the force with -which the water is applied, are entirely under command. The -sponging-bath, followed by friction with a rough towel, has cured -thousands of that habitual tendency to catch cold which is so prevalent -in this climate, and made them useful and happy members of society. The -large tin sponging-bath is itself not sufficiently portable to be -carried as railway luggage, but there are many substitutes. India-rubber -has been for some time pressed into this service, either in the shape of -a mere sheet to be laid on the floor, with a margin slightly raised to -retain the water, or in a more expensive form, in which the bottom -consists of a single sheet of the material, while the side is double, -and can be inflated so as to become erect, in the same manner as the -india-rubber air-cushions. Either form may be rolled up in a small -compass. The latter give a tolerably deep bath, capable of holding two -or three pails of water; but it is not very manageable when it has much -water in it, and must be unpopular with the housemaids. As there is no -stiff part about it, it is difficult, or rather impossible, for one -person to lift it for the purpose of emptying the water; and the air -must be driven out before it can be packed up again, which occasions a -delay which is inconvenient in rapid traveling. Besides, on the -Continent at least, where the essential element of water is not to be -had, except in small quantity, the excellence of holding much is thrown -away. Traveling-boxes have lately been made of that universal substance, -gutta-percha, which serve the double duty of holding clothes or books on -the roads, and of baths in the bed room. The top can be slipped off in a -moment, and is at once available as a bath; and when ever the whole box -is unpacked, both portions can be so employed. But the one disadvantage -which prevents gutta-percha from being adopted for many other purposes -tells against it here. It becomes soft and pliable at a very low -temperature, which unfits it for hot climates, and for containing hot -water in our own temperate regions. There is also the danger of burning -or becoming injured by the heat, if left incautiously too near the fire. -But for this drawback, it seems as if there was nothing to prevent every -thing from being made of gutta-percha. It is almost indestructible, -resists almost all chemical agents, and is easily moulded into any -required form. But like glass, it has its one fault. Glass is -brittle--gutta-percha can not resist moderate heat; and but for this, -these two materials might divide the world between them. It is related -that a certain inventor appeared before the Emperor Tiberius with a -crystal vessel, which he dashed on the pavement, and picked up unhurt; -in fact, he had discovered malleable glass, the philosopher's stone of -the useful arts. His ingenuity did not meet with the success it -deserved; for the emperor, whether alarmed at the novelty, and wishing -to protect the interests of the established glass-trade or wishing to -possess the wonderful vase, and to transmit it in the imperial -treasure-chambers as an unique specimen of the manufacture, immediately -ordered his head to be cut off, and the secret perished with him. Any -one who rediscovered it, or could communicate to the rival vegetable -product the quality of resisting heat, would make his fortune; and -although he might find the patent-office slow and expensive, would -nowadays be better rewarded by a discerning public than his unfortunate -predecessor was by the Roman tyrant. But to return to our baths: a very -good portable article may be made by having a wooden traveling-box, -lined with thin sheet zinc. It may be of deal or elm, and painted -outside. The lid may be arranged to slip on and off, like the rudder of -a boat, on eyes and pintles, or on common sliding hinges; and there may -be a movable tray, three or four inches deep, to be lined also with -zinc, which serves for holding the immediate dressing-apparatus, and all -that need be taken out for a single night's use. This tray, together -with the lid laid side by side on the floor, makes a fair enough -sponging-bath; and if the box itself is placed between them, and -half-filled with water, a most luxurious bathing-apparatus is at once -established. The zinc lining should be painted, or, what is still -better, japanned; and the lock should open on the side of the box, and -be fitted with a hinged hasp, which can be turned up, out of the way, -upon the side of the lid, when it is detached and in use as a bath. The -lock should not open upward in the edge of the box, or the water might -enter it, and damage the wards; and the hasps sticking up from the edge -of the lid would be in the way. A box on this plan has been made, and -has been in use for some months with perfect success, and may possibly -be exhibited for the instruction of foreigners in the Great Exposition -of 1851. The only objection is the increased weight arising from the -metallic lining; and this might be removed by employing sheet -gutta-percha in its place, or by relying on good workmanship and paint -alone to keep the box water-tight. The gutta-percha would, in this case, -be supported by the wood of the box, and could not get out of shape; but -it still would be liable to injury if used with warm water. - -Little need be said of sponges. The best fetch a high price, but are -probably most economical in the end; for a good sponge, used only with -cold water, will last a long time. There is an inferior kind of sponge, -very coarse, ragged and porous, which formerly was not sold for toilet -use, but which is now to be found in the shops, and is sold especially -for use in the sponging-bath. It is much cheaper than the fine sponge; -and readily takes up, and as readily gives out again, a large quantity -of water; and on the whole, may be recommended. Our old friend, -India-rubber, appears again as the best material of which the sponge-bag -can be made. Oil-skin is efficient while it lasts, but it is very easily -torn; and sponges are apt to be impatiently rammed into their bags in -last moments of packing. - -Armed with his sponge and his portable bath, a man may go through life, -defying some of its worst evils. Self-dubbed a Knight of the Bath, he -may look down with scorn upon the red ribbons and glittering baubles of -Grand Crosses and Commanders, and may view with that calm philosophy to -which nothing so much contributes as a state of high health the chances -and changes of a surrounding world of indigestions and catarrhs. With -his peptic faculties, in that state of efficiency in which the daily -cold effusion will maintain them, he will enjoy his own dinners; he will -not grudge his richer neighbor his longer and more varied succession of -dishes, and he will do his best to put his poorer one in the way to -improve his humbler and less certain repast. With his head and eyes -clear and free from colds, he will think and see for himself; and will -discern and act upon the truth and the right, disregarding the -contemptuous sneezes of those who would put him down, and the noisy -coughs of those who would drown his voice when lifted up in the name of -humanity and justice. - - - - -SINNERS AND SUFFERERS; OR, THE VILLAINY OF HIGH LIFE. - - -"Then you believe in the justice of this world, after the fashion of our -old nursery-tales, in which the good boy always got the plum-cake, and -the bad one was invariably put in the closet?" said Charles Monroe, -addressing at once Lady Annette Leveson and her temporary squire, old -Judge Naresby, as they paused in a moral disquisition, on which her -ladyship had employed the greater part of their afternoon's stroll -through Leveson Park, interrupted only by an occasional remark from her -niece Emma, a girl just returned from school, who hung on Charles's arm, -and called the party's attention to every woodland prospect and grand -old tree they passed. - -Lady Annette had relations in the peerage, though they were not reckoned -among the wealthiest of that body. Her husband had been similarly -connected, but he was long dead; and his childless widow's jointure -consisted of little more than a castellated mansion, a park, renowned -for the antiquity of its oaks, on the borders of one of the midland -counties, and an old-fashioned house in Park-lane, London. These -possessions were to descend, on her death, to the orphan daughter of her -husband's brother, who, having besides a dowery of some five thousand in -the funds, was, by the unanimous vote of her family, placed under Lady -Annette's guardianship. In speeding on that orphan girl's education from -one boarding-school to another, in dipping a short way into all the -popular philosophy of the age, and taking an easy interest in all its -social improvements, Lady Annette had spent her limited income and quiet -years, without the usual excitements of either working altar-cloths or -setting up a Dissenting chapel. Lady Annette was, of course, a sort of -positivist in her way. She had an almost material faith in virtue -rewarded. Good for good, love for love, was the substance of her creed -regarding time's returns; and being somewhat zealous in the doctrine, -she had exerted all her eloquence to prove it to the satisfaction of the -Judge. He was a man after her own faith and fortunes--well born, as it -is called, and gifted with a cool, clear head, which, just fitting him -for the study of law, and no more, had calmly raised him through the -intervening steps of his profession to the bench; but his experience of -life had been far wider, and he had seen certain occurrences in its -course which made him doubt her ladyship's philosophy. - -The Judge's opposition had ceased, nevertheless, and Lady Annette -remained mistress of the field when Charles Monroe volunteered the above -interpretation. Considering that, besides her title, the lady had full -twenty years the start of him in life's journey, the attack was bold; -but Charles was known at Leveson Park as her Scottish cousin, belonging -to a poor but honorable family north of Tweed, and already named as a -rising barrister, though comparatively young in the profession. He had -been engaged for sundry cases on the circuit which the Judge had just -completed--as concerned her ladyship's county, with a maiden assize, -where, after white gloves and congratulations had been duly presented, -the evening was devoted to a family dinner and chat with Lady Annette, -preparatory to justice and he taking their way on the morrow to the -neighboring shire. - -Lady Annette and the Judge were old acquaintances, and he had come early -enough to find the three among the old oaks, where it was pleasant to -talk in that bright summer afternoon till the dinner-hour and the rest -of the party arrived; so they found time for argument. - -"Well, Charles," said Lady Annette, whose habitually good temper seemed -slightly ruffled by her cousin's remark, "there are sounder lessons -taught men in the nursery than most of them practice in after-life; and -the teaching of those tales appears to me a truth verified by every -day's experience. Do we not see that industry and good conduct generally -bring the working-classes to comparative wealth, while the best families -are reduced by extravagance and profligacy? Does not even the popular -mind regard virtue with honor, and vice with contempt? Surely there is, -even in this world, an unslumbering Providence, which, eventually -rewards the good and punishes the wicked?" - -"Sometimes," said Charles. - -"Well, your response is amusing," said Lady Annette, smiling; "but let -us hear your view of the subject." - -"I fear it is not very definite," said her cousin. "Perhaps I am not -clearsighted enough; but this life has always seemed to me full of -inconsistencies and contradictions; yet, one thing I believe, that moral -goodness does not always lead to good fortune, nor moral evil to bad. -Sometimes that for which I have no name but the ancient one of friendly -stars, and sometimes a practical knowledge of men and things as they -are, or the want of these, conducts us to the one, or leaves us to the -other." - -"Oh, Charles, what a pity that pretty girl should be lame!" whispered -Emma, as they now emerged on a broad walk, which, being the most direct -route to a neighboring village, had been long open to pedestrians. And a -young girl, evidently of the servant class, who walked with considerable -difficulty, laid down a small bundle she carried, and leant for rest -against a mossy tree. The girl was not more than eighteen; her soft dark -hair, fine features, and small, but graceful figure, were singularly -attractive, in spite of a sickly pallor and remarkable lameness; but the -face had such an expression of fearless honesty and truth as made it -truly noble, and took the whole party's attention. - -"That's a fine face," said the Judge, when they had passed. "There looks -something like goodness there; and, _apropos_ of our controversy, it -somehow reminds me of a case which is to be tried to-morrow, in which -the principal witness is a young girl, who defended her master's house -single-handed against two burglars, and actually detained one of them -till he was arrested." - -"Oh, aunt, we must go to hear the case," said young Emma, earnestly. - -"It certainly will be interesting," said Lady Annette. "What a noble -girl in her station too! Charles, I hope you will allow there is some -probability of her being rewarded?" - -"Perhaps," said Charles. - -"Oh, never mind him," interrupted the Judge, who got very soon tired of -moral questions; "he debated the same subject with Thornley and me -t'other evening, and would have totally routed us if we had not taken -refuge in whist." - -Charles made no reply, for his attention was once more engaged by the -girl, who, with a flushed cheek, and all the speed she could muster, -passed them at that moment, and the Judge had succeeded in diverting -Lady Annette's thoughts to another channel. - -"Thornley should be an able antagonist," said she, "I am told he is very -clever. It was but t'other day that, in looking over one of his mother's -old letters from Florence, I recollected she had mentioned his Italian -tutor's predictions of the great figure he should make at Cambridge. By -the way, Charles, he was your class-fellow there. How far were they -fulfilled?" - -"The only time ever I remember him to make a figure," answered Charles, -vainly endeavoring to suppress a smile, "was, when he refused the -challenge of a wild Welsh student, on whose pranks he had been rather -censorious, saying a duel was contrary to his principles; and though the -Welshman actually insulted him in the very streets, he preferred a -formal apology to fighting." - -"What a high-principled young man!" exclaimed Lady Annette and her niece -in the same breath. - -"Yes," said the Judge, "so much conscientiousness and moral courage is -worth a world of talent." - -"It must be a comfort," continued her ladyship with enthusiasm, "to Mr. -Thornley, to find the pains bestowed on his son's education so well -repaid. Do you know he would never allow him to enter a public school, -saying, that knowledge in such places was paid for with both morals and -manners; and Edmund was educated under his own eye, by some of the best -scholars in Florence." - -"Mr. Thornley had great discernment," remarked the Judge; "I wonder he -didn't show it, more in his pecuniary affairs." - -"Ah, what a falling off was there!" half sighed Lady Annette. "It vexes -me to think of it, they were such old friends of ours. What a belle poor -Mrs. Thornley was!--they tell me she has grown very old and dowdy now. -And how he used to sport! and yet one might have known the estate would -go to creditors. But his misfortunes improved him greatly, they say, -turned his attention entirely to high subjects--Italian progress, and -all that. Do you know, when they lived in Florence, the Austrian police -had quite an eye upon him, and he was proud of that, poor man! I wish -you had seen his letters." - -Here her ladyship stopped short, for a figure was seen rapidly -approaching, which all the party know to be that of Edmund Thornley. The -gentleman whose education, character, and family history had been thus -freely discussed, was a tall, well-proportioned man, with fair -complexion, and curling auburn hair. There was something almost feminine -about his small mouth and pearly teeth; but his full blue eyes and -smooth white brow had no expression but those of health and youth, -retaining the latter to an extreme degree, though he was rather advanced -in the twenties. The story of his parentage and prospects, was already -talked over by the Thornleys' old friends in Leveson Park. An only son, -born in the ranks of English gentry, but brought up in Italy, to which -pecuniary embarrassment had early obliged his father to retire, he had -been educated, it was said, most carefully under the paternal roof, with -all home influences around him--sent first to the University of -Cambridge, and, subsequently, to the study of English law, partly by way -of scope for his talents, and partly, as the best provision for the heir -of a deeply-mortgaged estate. - -Edmund Thornley was a young man for whom friends did every thing. His -parents and tutors, in Italy, had promised and vowed great things in his -name, to his relatives in England; and, though they could not believe -the report, for he had, as yet, astonished neither Cambridge, nor the -Temple, it was proper for them to allow there was talent in him which -must come out some day, and all that interest and solicitation could do, -was done with the Thornleys' old acquaintances, to secure patronage for -their son. By that influence the judge had been induced to make choice -of him for his marshal, as it is legal etiquette to style a sort of -humble companion or assistant, on the circuit. Hitherto, he had filled -the post to his superior's entire satisfaction; but Naresby, who -specially understood the art of making his dependents useful, had that -day left him some letters to write previous to joining Lady Annette's -party. - -The hostess warmly welcomed the son of her old friends, whose doings she -had just canvassed. Charles received his former class-fellow with cold -civility; and, warned by the dinner-bell, the company adjourned to -Leveson Hall, in time to meet the rector and his lady, a quiet country -pair, who completed their party. It was soon manifest what advantage -Thornley's gentle, attentive manner, gave him in the eyes of the ladies -compared with the sometimes abrupt, and often careless address of their -Scotch cousin. Emma found him particularly agreeable; and the subject of -the approaching trial being renewed after dinner, both she and her aunt -were charmed with the enthusiastic admiration of the young girl's -courage and devotedness, which he expressed in the warmest terms; while -Charles merely hoped that those whom she had served so well, would not -forget her poverty. - -"Such," said Lady Annette, in a whispered dissertation on the contrast -of the young men, while she and the judge sat at whist by themselves, -"Such are the natural effects of a home education, and a mother's -influence." - -"Oh, yes," responded Naresby, somewhat confused by the cards which he -was shuffling; "Thornley is an excellent person, and very accommodating. -He never troubles one with a view of his own, like other lads." - -On the following day there was a crowded court-house in the assize town -of the neighboring county. The case to be tried had been the topic of -gossip and wonder there for many a week, and Lady Annette and her niece -were not the only members of the surrounding gentility among the -audience. Charles Monroe had the honor of escorting them, for the first -time in their lives, to a court of justice; and all his explaining -powers were put in requisition by Emma's whispered inquiries, till, the -usual preliminaries being gone through, the prisoner was placed at the -bar. He was a dark-looking, muscular fellow, whose way seemed to have -laid through the wild places of low life; but when he pleaded "Not -guilty," in a strong Welsh accent, some strange recollections appeared -to strike Charles, and he whispered to Lady Annette, "That man used to -look after game-dogs for Harry Williams, with whom Thornley wouldn't -fight at Cambridge; and they told me Harry had been expelled." - -"Yes," replied her ladyship, in a low, but triumphant tone, as she cast -a glance of more than approbation on the marshal, now occupying his -usual place near the judge; "men are even in this world rewarded -according to their works." - -Charles smiled incredulously, but his smile changed to a look of -surprised recognition, for the principal witness, who just then stood up -to take the oath, was none other than the girl they had met in Leveson -Park. Many a curious eye was turned on that fair honest face; the judge -himself seemed to recognize her, and the marshal to forget his habitual -composure, in astonishment that one so young and pretty, should be the -heroine of such a tale; but, without either the vanity or the -bashfulness nearly always allied to it, which would have upset most -young people in her position, the girl told her story modestly and -plainly, like one who felt she had done her duty, and made no display -about it. Her evidence was simply to the effect that her name was Grace -Greenside, that she was a servant at Daisy Dell--the local designation -of a property occupied by one of the better class of farmers in the -shire--and had been for two years maid-of-all-work at the farm-house, -which was situated in a solitary part of the country, and at some -distance from the high road. On the fifth of the previous month, it -being Sunday, and the other three servants having gone in different -directions, her mistress took their little boy and girl with them to the -parish church, about a mile distant, leaving her alone in the house, -with strict orders not to quit it, and admit none but special friends of -the family till their return; on account, as she believed, of a -considerable sum of money which her master had drawn from the bank but a -few days before, for the purchase of an adjoining farm. Soon after they -were gone, two men, one of whom was the prisoner, knocked loudly at the -front door, and demanded admission, which, owing to her orders, and -their suspicious appearance, she refused, when they tried to force an -entrance; but, arming herself with her master's loaded gun, she defended -the premises, which were well secured--being built, as the girl -described, in old fighting times--till, by sounding one of those -antiquated horns, kept for similar purposes in many an old country -house, she alarmed half the parish, and men were seen coming across the -fields, on which the assailants fled. The prisoner, however, carried -with him a fine vest of her master's, which, owing to an accident, had -been spread out to dry on a hedge hard by; and, bitterly blaming herself -for leaving the article within his reach, the girl pursued him in hopes -of recovering it, and actually overtook, laid hold of, and detained him -till the neighbors came up and completed the capture, in spite of his -blows, by which she had been so seriously injured as to be confined to -the house till the previous day, when she walked with great difficulty -about two miles to see her relatives. - -Her tale was confirmed by the evidence of several country people who -had assisted in securing the prisoner, by that of her master, a -hard-looking, worldly man, of her father, a clownish laborer, and of an -ill-tempered, slatternly woman, who proved to be her stepmother. Grace -dropped a courtesy, and quitted the witness-box, amid a general murmur -of applause. The jury, without retiring, found a unanimous verdict of -"Guilty;" and, after a lengthy address, equally divided between eulogy -of the girl's conduct and reprobation of the criminal's, not forgetting -some prophetic hints touching the future destiny of his companion who -had escaped, the judge commanded sentence of death to be recorded -against him, and a small sum of money to be immediately bestowed on -Grace, not only in testimony of the court's sense of her merits, but by -way of compensation for the injuries she had received, as his lordship -phrased it, "in the service of justice and good order." - -"A poor reward, but, perhaps, not unacceptable," thought Charles, -glancing at her apparel, which, though clean and neatly worn, was such -as indicated almost the lowest state of feminine funds, as with a -grateful countenance she stepped out to await the leisure of the court -functionaries in that matter, and another case came on. - -"Let us go now," said Lady Annette to her niece, "How very interesting -it was, and how delighted Edmund Thornley seemed!" - -"He has just gone out, aunt," remarked Emma, who had grown singularly -alive to the marshal's motions; and Charles, as he resumed the duties of -a cavalier, silently recollected that, throughout the trial, while -Thornley conversed with the judge or took notes for him, according to -custom, his eye had often wandered toward Grace Greenside, and he had -left the court the first unobserved moment after she quitted it. The -young barrister was, therefore, not surprised, on crossing one of the -outer divisions, to find him there by her side, talking in a most -animated manner. They were words of praise he had been uttering; and -there was a glow on the girl's cheek, and a light in her eye, which -neither the judge's encomiums nor the applause of a crowded court had -called forth; yet, at their approach, a sudden confusion came over -Thornley for an instant, but the next he saluted the ladies with his -usual courtesy, and more than his usual warmth. - -"You find me conversing with the heroine of Daisy Dell," said he; and -the remnant of his speech was so low, that Charles could only catch, -"artless simplicity," and "mind above her station." It reached the -girl's ear, nevertheless; and a wild, waking dream of hope, or passion, -or it might be vanity, passed over that young face. - -"Oh, aunt, let us speak to her," said Emma, and fully conscious of the -honor and reward which a few words from her patrician lips must confer -on plebeian merit, Lady Annette stepped up, and addressed some -complimentary inquiries to Grace. - -The gratified girl replied with many a courtesy. There was an -asking-leave look in young Emma's face as it turned to her aunt for a -moment, and then, like one determined to venture, she drew a small -turquoise ring from her finger, and pressed it into the girl's hand, -with a low whisper, "You have been very good and honest; take this from -me." - -"It is the first ring I ever wore," said Grace, endeavoring to force the -small circlet on one finger after another, which hard work had roughened -and expanded; but Emma's turquoise could find rest only on the little -one. "It is the lucky finger," said she, blushing to the brow; "and a -thousand thanks, my lady; but it is too fine for the like of me." - -"May it be lucky to you, my girl!" half murmured Charles, emptying his -light purse almost unperceived into her other hand, while Lady Annette -was assuring her that good conduct always had its reward; and before the -girl had time to thank him, he hurried away with the delighted Emma, -while Thornley conducted her ladyship to their carriage over the way. - -Scarce had Charles handed in his charge when one of his clients, who had -litigated a garden-fence for four years past, pounced upon him with a -lately-discovered evidence for his claim, which occupied some hours in -explanation; and before he returned to the court-house, Grace Greenside -had received her money, and went her way. The marshal was busy writing a -note for the Judge, and his lordship was passing sentence on a -turnip-stealer. - -Next day Charles gained the case touching the garden-fence, according to -the county newspapers, by a display of legal learning and eloquence -never before equaled in that court-house; but the same evening a letter -brought the hard-working barrister the joyful intelligence that a legal -appointment in one of the West India Islands, for which he had canvassed -and despaired till it was refused by some half-dozen of the better -provided, had been conferred upon him. - -It is doubtful if three years can pass over any spot of this inhabited -earth without bringing many changes, and they had brought its share to -the border of that midland county since Lady Annette convinced the -judge, and vanquished her Scotch cousin, on a great moral question, -among the old trees of Leveson Park. Leveson Park and Hall were lonely -now in the summer-time, for another uncle had died, leaving Emma some -additional thousands, and her aunt removed to the house in Park-lane -every London season, to have her properly brought out. - -In the adjoining shire, trials of still greater interest (for there was -a murder and two breaches of promise among them) had long superseded in -the popular mind the case of Daisy Dell; but the neighbors for miles -round that solitary farm-house still talked at intervals of Grace -Greenside, how a fine gentleman who had spoken to her in court came -many a day after the assizes privately about the fields to see her, and -how she had been seen driving away with him in a chaise from the end of -the green lane late one evening, when her mistress imagined she was busy -in the diary. The girl's relatives said he was nephew to the judge who -had been on the circuit that year, and would soon be a judge himself; -that he had taken Grace to London, and made a real lady of her; but -their neighbors knew the way of the world too well to place entire faith -in that statement, and the master of the house she had defended (it was -said gratuitously) gave it as his private judgment that the girl had -been ruined by being made so much of. - -The old house in Park-lane looked as comfortable as handsome but -antiquated furniture could make it. It was the height of the London -season, and Lady Annette Leveson had given a dinner-party--as it was -understood, by way of welcome to her cousin, Mr. Monroe, who had just -returned from Barbadoes, with an older look, a darker complexion, and -his footing made sure in Government employ at home. His residence was -now in London; and his near relationship, of which Lady Annette had -grown singularly mindful of late, made him an intimate visitor at her -house, where, on the present occasion, he did the honors to a number of -gentlemen, still conversing over their wine; while, as British etiquette -prescribes, Lady Annette had led the fairer portion of her company to -small talk and the drawing-room. - -Useful as Charles was often pronounced by her ladyship, and a rising -cousin as he had become, the assiduous attentions and quietly agreeable -manner of Edmund Thornley made much greater way in the secret favor of -both aunt and niece. Edmund was by this time called to the bar. He made -no great figure there, but friends were still doing for him, and he had -sundry relations who took care of his interests in London. The chief of -these was a brother-in-law of his father; but Miss Thornley had been his -first wife, and a second had reigned for eleven years in her stead. Mr. -Crainor was a barrister of the West-end, who worshiped respectability, -and had no family but two married daughters. It was through him that all -advices and letters of credit came from Italy, where Thornley senior -still found it convenient to sojourn; and he was Edmund's counselor in -all things. Being an acquaintance of Emma's last bequeathing uncle, that -gentleman had thought proper to make him one of his executors; he had, -consequently, considerable influence at the house in Park-lane, and was -believed to use it in favor of his nephew-in-law, who, shrewd people -said, might form an eligible connection there; but, as yet, rumor went -no further on the subject. There were also those who thought Charles -Monroe might be a successful rival, as his prospects were now more -promising, and his talents known to be superior; but Emma's private -opinion of him was, that he looked wonderfully old, had no sensibility, -and an almost vulgar way of conducting himself to ladies. He had left -her a school-girl, not sixteen, and found her a graceful, accomplished -woman of the harmlessly sentimental school, who shed tears at tragedies, -and gave largely, considering her purse, at charity sermons, made -collections of poetry, and never inquired beyond the surface of her own -circle, except regarding some very romantic story of real life. - -Edmund Thornley sat on an ottoman between Lady Annette and her niece, -turning over for their edification the leaves and plates of one of those -richly got up annuals so dear to London drawing-rooms at a period within -most people's memory. He never lingered long with the gentlemen, at -least, in Park-lane. - -"Oh, what a lovely picture!" said Emma, as a Swiss scene turned up. "And -that figure," she continued, pointing to one at a cottage door, "how -much it reminds of the girl--I forget her name--who defended the -farm-house against robbers. Don't you remember, Mr. Thornley, how you -called her the heroine of Daisy Dell?" - -"Oh, yes," said Edmund, after a trial of recollection. "It is like her, -but I think she was not quite so pretty." - -"Certainly not so tastefully dressed," said Lady Annette; "these Swiss -have so much the advantage of our peasantry; but she was a most -interesting creature. And yet, Mr. Thornley," added her ladyship, who -retained the taste for morality, "I fear the transaction did not turn -out to her benefit. They had strange reports in that part of the -country, and my niece and I have often observed her since we came to -London." - -"Oh, aunt!" interposed Emma, "but she dressed and looked so--so--very -properly. I am sure she has married some person of her choice, and lives -happily. It would just complete her story." - -The mention of a story after dinner, in the height of the London season, -is sufficient to wake up any drawing-room, and had its natural effect on -Lady Annette's. - -"Oh, pray what was it?" demanded half a dozen voices; and Emma was of -course obliged to relate the tale, with frequent applications for -assistance to Mr. Thornley, whose replies, though always brief, were -satisfactory, as he turned over the annual, apparently the least -interested person in the room. When they had marveled sufficiently over -her narrative, Lady Annette, being a little proud of Miss Leveson's -sentiments, felt bound to acquaint them with the episode of the ring, -which she had just finished when the first of the dining-room deserters -straggled in. - -"The last time I saw her she looked sickly and careworn--far worse than -that day we met her in the Park. You recollect it, Charles. We are -speaking of Grace Greenside," said Emma, addressing her aunt's cousin, -as he took the nearest seat. - -"What of her now?" said Charles, bending eagerly forward; but here Mr. -Crainor interposed, with a petition that Emma would sing them that -charming song with which she enchanted Lady Wharton's party, as he, and -in fact the whole company, was dying to hear it. In less than five -minutes, which were consumed in general pressing, Emma was conducted to -the piano by Mr. Thornley. There was a deal of music, tea, chit-chat, -and a breaking-up, but no more talk of Grace Greenside. - -"My dear boy," said Mr. Crainor, taking his nephew's arm with something -of the warmth of wine in his manner, when they were fairly in the -streets, it being eleven o'clock on a calm summer's night, and part of -their way the same. "My dear boy, you are not aware of what injury you -are doing to your best interests, as one may say, by keeping that girl -so long about you. She has been notorious; and notorious people--women, -I mean--are always dangerous. Weren't they talking of her at Lady -Annette's to-night? Depend on it, the story will ooze out, you are so -well known, and so much visited now. Then people will call you -dissipated, and I can't tell what. Such tales always spoil a man's -chances with advantageous ladies." - -"I was thinking of that myself," said Edmund; "but it's a delicate -point, and one wouldn't like a scene, you know." - -"True," responded his adviser; "but a little management will prevent -that. Captain Lancer is your man, if you want to get clear off. Just -introduce him, and the whole business is done." - -"Do you really think so?" said Edmund, with a languid smile. - -"I'll stake ten to one on it," replied Crainor; "Lancer has tenfold your -attractions for any woman, irresistible as you think yourself--a fine, -forward-looking military man, who has fought half a dozen duels, not to -speak of his experience. Don't you know the captain is married, though -he passes for a bachelor here? married an old ebony, with a whole -sugar-plantation in Jamaica, five years ago! That's what he sports upon; -while rum, they say, consoles the lady for his absence. He told me the -other day he was in want of some occupation, and I advise you to give -him one; but good night," added the sage counselor, for by this time -they were near Edmund's lodgings; and even through the gaslight a pale -face might be seen at the front window, looking anxiously out for him. - -Sadly indeed was Grace Greenside altered since the day when the four -passed her in the walk through Leveson Park. The lameness was long -gone--her naturally good constitution had shaken off the effects of that -fearful struggle; her dress was of somewhat better materials and a -neater cut. She herself had something of a town look about her, as one -whom three years' residence had made familiar with the noisy streets of -London; but in the thin face and sunken eyes there were lines of care, -and weary look, which told of lonely winter evenings and pining summer -days. For three long years the girl had shared Edmund Thornley's -apartments, in the strangely-blended capacities of mistress and valet. -That a maid-of-all-work in a solitary farm-house, who was eighteen, -could scarcely read, and had a cross stepmother, should have been -induced to enter on such a course by a man so far her superior in -fortune and education, not to speak of eight years' seniority, must be -matter of marvel to those only whose wisdom and virtue are of the -untried sort. But so it was; and farm-servant as she had been, it was -wonderful how little poor Grace was spoiled by her change of position. -It might be that the girl was by nature too simple or too honest to take -its ordinary advantages, such as they are; perhaps it was not fine -things and nothing to do alone that she expected in London with Edmund, -when leaving behind her good name and country summers--the only good -things that life had given her; at all events, she lived humble and -retired days, aiming only to take care of Thornley's domestic interest -to the utmost of her power, and make herself generally useful to him in -sickness and health. There was a suitability in that conduct to the -peculiar tastes of the gentleman. Like most selfish people, he was a -great admirer of self-devotedness in others; and, long after the days of -first fancy and flattery were over, continued to value Grace as a -contributor to his comfort, in the fashion of an easy chair or a good -fire. Did not she keep every thing in order for his comings and goings, -which, with Edmund Thornley, were as regular as the clock on the -mantle-piece, for he was a most quiet bachelor, and never forgot -himself; but now the convenience might cost him too dear, and must be -parted with, according to his uncle's counsel. So, with it on his mind, -and the usual calm smile on his face, he received her kindly greeting, -heard and repeated the intelligence of the day over a nice supper, and -retired to rest. - -Next day, Mr. Crainor introduced Captain Lancer to his nephew, at a -coffee-house; and Thornley brought him home to dine, and introduced him -to Grace, after which, as his servant remarked, "it was hextonishing how -often that ansum capting called, and how many messages the master sent -him home with to Miss Greenside; till one day he eard her speak -monstrous loud up stairs, and there was a door slammed, and the Capting -came down looking all of a eap." - -The servant might also have observed that, during the day, Grace looked -impatiently for his master; but Edmund did not come, for he and Captain -Lancer dined together at a tavern. - -The nights were growing long, and the harvest moon could be seen at -intervals through the fog and smoke of London. Grace thought how it -shone on corn-fields and laden orchards far away, and how long it was -since she left them; but other and more troubled thoughts passed -through her mind as she sat waiting for Thornley. It was not yet eight, -but that was his knock, and in another minute he stepped into the room. - -"Edmund, dear," said the girl, eager to unburden her mind, "I have a -strange story for you to-night. That Captain Lancer is a bad, bad man. -Would you believe it, Edmund, he told all sorts of stories on you this -day, and asked me to go with him to France, the villain!" - -"Indeed!" said Thornley, seating himself, with a look of prepared -resolution. "That was a good offer, Grace. The captain is very rich, and -might marry you." - -Grace stared upon him in blank astonishment. "You see," continued the -unmoved Edmund, "you and I can live together no longer; my character -would suffer, and my prospects too, Grace. You would not injure my -prospects? Besides, you want country air; it would be good for you to go -home a little time, and I would give you something handsome, and see you -off on the Middlesex coach." - -The amazement had passed from the girl's face now; for all that she had -half suspected, and tried not to believe so long, was proved true to -her. - -"Is it Emma Leveson you are going to marry?" she said, growing deadly -pale. - -"Perhaps," said Thornley. "But, dear me, what is the matter?" as Grace -looked down for an instant at the ring on her little finger, then sunk -down on a chair, and covered her face with her hands. - -"Here," continued Edmund, pulling out his pocket-book, which contained -the only consolation known to him, "I have not much to myself, but here -are two hundred pounds; it will make you live like a lady among them;" -and he laid the notes in her lap. - -Grace never looked at him or them; she sat for about a minute stiff and -silent, then rose, letting the bank-paper scatter on the carpet, and -walked quickly out. Edmund heard her go up stairs, and come down again; -there was a sound of the hall-door shutting quietly, and when he -inquired after it the servant told him Miss Greenside had gone without -saying any thing. Edmund gathered up the notes, and locked them in his -desk, smoked a cigar, read the _Court Journal_; but Grace did not come -back, nor did she ever again cross the threshold. When Thornley told Mr. -Crainor, on the earliest opportunity, that gentleman averred that the -girl had looked out for herself before Captain Lancer came, and Edmund -said, "It was wonderful that she left the notes behind her, for all the -money she could have was some savings in a little purse." - -One Sunday, about six weeks after the event we have related, Charles -Monroe, on search of a short way from the Scotch church to his chambers, -was passing through a poor but decent street, known as Cowslip-court, -though a Cowslip had never been seen there within the memory of man, -when his attention was attracted by an old woman in dingy black, looking -for something on the ground, with a most rueful countenance. - -"What have you lost, my good woman?" inquired Charles in some curiosity. - -"It's a ring, sir," said the dame, "was left me by a poor soul as was -buried this morning. Some people thought it strange to see her so young -by herself, but she wor a decent creature for all that, and did what she -could in honesty. First she took to sewing, sir; but that didn't do, for -she was sickly, and got worse, till at last she died, all alone in my -two-pair back. And I'm sure that ring wor a love-token, or something of -the sort, for she used to cry over it when no one was by, and once bade -me take it when she was gone, because I minded her in her sickness; and -I was just going to show it to Mrs. Tillet, when it dropped out of my -fingers. But lauk, sir, there it is!" - -"It's Emma Leveson's ring," said Charles, picking up the little -turquoise from among the dust at his feet. "Was the woman's name Grace -Greenside?" - -"Just the same sir," said its new owner, clutching at the ring; "an' she -was--" - -"A fool," added a more than half-intoxicated soldier, with a long pipe -in his mouth, lolling on the steps of an empty house as if they had been -a sofa. "I tell you she was a fool; and I was a gentleman once in my -day, but I was unfortunate. They wouldn't let me stay at college, though -I kept the gamest pack in Cambridge; and after that I took--to a variety -of business," said he, with another puff; "but if that girl had taken me -at my word, I would have stood by her. See the foolishness of women! She -would keep the old house, and transport Skulking Tom; he partly deserved -it for hitting her so hard, and there's what's come of it." With a -repetition of his last aphorism, the soldier smoked on, and Charles -after a minute inspection, recognized in the dirty and prematurely old -man his once boisterous class-fellow, Harry Williams. The time for -remonstrance or improvement was long past with him, and Charles had -grown a stranger to his memory; so, without word or sign of former -acquaintance, he purchased the ring from that communicative old woman at -about three times its lawful price, collected what further information -he could regarding the deceased, and went his way. - -"Ay," said Charles, gazing on the ring some time after, when the whole -particulars of her story were gathered, "had she been worse or wiser, -poor Grace would have fared better in this world;" and then he thought -of the ring's first owner. But, before the period of his musings, Lady -Annette and her niece had gone with some of their noble relations to -spend the winter in Italy, Edmund Thornley accompanying them on a visit -to his father's residence; and, in her latest letter to a confidential -cousin, Emma had mentioned that his fine sense of propriety, and his -enthusiasm for all that was great and good, made him a most delightful -companion on the Continent. - - - - -THE GOLDEN AGE. - - - The father sits, and marks his child - Through the clover racing wild; - And then as if he sweetly dream'd, - He half remembers how it seem'd - When he, too, was a reckless rover - Among the bee-beloved clover: - Pure airs, from heavenly places, rise - Breathing the blindness from his eyes, - Until, with rapture, grief, and awe, - He sees again as then he saw. - - As then he saw, he sees again - The heavy-loaded harvest wain, - Hanging tokens of its pride - In the trees on either side; - Daisies, coming out at dawn, - In constellations, on the lawn; - The glory of the daffodil; - The three black windmills on the hill, - Whose magic arms fling wildly by, - With magic shadows on the rye: - In the leafy coppice, lo, - More wealth than miser's dreams can show, - The blackbird's warm and woolly brood, - With golden beaks agape for food! - Gipsies, all the summer seen, - Native as poppies to the green; - Winter, with its frosts and thaws, - And opulence of hips and haws; - The mighty marvel of the snow; - The happy, happy ships that go, - Sailing up and sailing down, - Through the fields and by the town;-- - All the thousand dear events - That fell when days were incidents. - - And, then, his meek and loving mother-- - Oh, what speechless feelings smother - In his heart at thought of her! - What sacred, piercing sorrow mounts, - From new or unremembered founts, - While to thought her ways recur. - He hears the songs she used to sing; - His tears in scalding torrents spring; - Oh, might he hope that 'twould be given. - Either in this world, or in heaven, - To hear such songs as those again! - - --But life is deep and words are vain. - Mark yonder hedgerow, here and there - Sprinkled with Spring, but mainly bare; - The wither'd bank beneath, where blows, - In yellow crowds, the fresh primrose: - What skill of color thus could smite - The troubled heart-strings thro' the sight - What magic of sweet speech express - Their primeval tenderness? - Can these not utter'd be, and can - The day-spring of immortal man? - - - - -"GIVE WISELY!" AN ANECDOTE. - - -One evening, a short time since, the curate of B., a small village in -the north of France, returned much fatigued to his humble dwelling. He -had been visiting a poor family who were suffering from both want and -sickness; and the worthy old man, besides administering the consolations -of religion, had given them a few small coins, saved by rigid -self-denial from his scanty income. He walked homewards, leaning on his -stick, and thinking, with sorrow, how very small were the means he -possessed of doing good and relieving misery. - -As he entered the door, he heard an unwonted clamor of tongues, taking -the form of a by no means harmonious duet--an unknown male voice -growling forth a hoarse bass, which was completely overscreeched by a -remarkably high and thin treble, easily recognized by the placid curate -as proceeding from the well-practiced throat of his housekeeper, the -shrewish Perpetua of a gentle Don Abbondio. - -"A pretty business this, monsieur!" cried the dame, when her master -appeared, as with flashing eyes, and left arm a-kimbo, she pointed with -the other to a surly-looking man, dressed in a blouse, who stood in the -hall, holding a very small box in his hand. "This fellow," she -continued, "is a messenger from the diligence, and he wants to get -fifteen francs as the price of the carriage of that little box directed -to you, which I'm sure, no matter what it contains, can't be worth half -the money." - -"Peace, Nanette," said her master; and, taking the box from the man, who -at his approach, civilly doffed his hat, he examined the direction. - -It was extremely heavy, and bore the stamp of San Francisco, in -California, together with his own address. The curate paid the fifteen -francs, which left him possessed of but a few sous, and dismissed the -messenger. - -He then opened the box, and displayed to the astonished eyes of Nanette -an ingot of virgin gold, and a slip of paper, on which were written the -following words: - - "To Monsieur the Curate of B. - "A slight token of eternal gratitude, in remembrance of August -28th, 1848. - "CHARLES F----. - "Formerly sergeant-major in the --th regiment; now a gold-digger - in California." - -On the 28th of August, 1848, the curate was, on the evening in question, -returning from visiting his poor and sick parishioners. Not far from his -cottage he saw a young soldier with a haggard countenance and wild -bloodshot eyes, hastening toward the bank of a deep and rapid river, -which ran through the fields. The venerable priest stopped him, and -spoke to him kindly. - -At first the young man would not answer, and tried to break away from -his questioner; but the curate fearing that he meditated suicide, would -not be repulsed, and at length, with much difficulty, succeeded in -leading him to his house. After some time, softened by the tender -kindness of his host, the soldier confessed that he had spent in -gambling a sum of money which had been entrusted to him as -sergeant-major of his company. This avowal was made in words broken by -sobs, and the culprit repeated several times, "My poor mother! my poor -mother! if she only knew--" - -The curate waited until the soldier had become more calm, and then -addressed him in words of reproof and counsel, such as a tender father -might bestow on an erring son. He finished by giving him a bag -containing one hundred and thirty francs, the amount of the sum -unlawfully dissipated. - -"It is nearly all I possess in the world," said the old man, "but by the -grace of God you will change your habits, you will work diligently, and -some day, my friend, you will return me this money, which indeed belongs -more to the poor than to me." - -It would be impossible to describe the young soldier's joy and -astonishment. He pressed convulsively his benefactor's hand, and after a -pause, said, - -"Monsieur, in three months my military engagement will be ended. I -solemnly promise that, with the assistance of God, from that time I will -work diligently." So he departed, bearing with him the money and the -blessing of the good man. - -Much to the sorrow and indignation of Nanette, her master continued to -wear through the ensuing winter, his old threadbare suit, which he had -intended to replace by warm garments; and his dinner frequently -consisted of bread and _soupe maigre_. - -"And all this," said the dame, "for the sake of a worthless stroller, -whom we shall never see or hear of again!" - -"Nanette," said her master, with tears in his eyes, as he showed her the -massive ingot, whose value was three thousand francs, "never judge -hardly of a repentant sinner. It was the weeping Magdalen who poured -precious ointment on her Master's feet; it was the outlawed Samaritan -leper who returned to give Him thanks. Our poor guest has nobly kept his -word. Next winter my sick people will want neither food nor medicine; -and you must lay in plenty of flannel and frieze for our old men and -women, Nanette!" - - - - -MONTHLY RECORD OF CURRENT EVENTS. - - -POLITICAL AND GENERAL NEWS. - -UNITED STATES. - -In Politics the past month has been distinguished by the occurrence of -elections in several of the States, and by a general agitation, in every -section of the Union, of questions connected with the subject of -slavery. The discussions through the press and before public audiences, -have been marked by great excitement and bitterness, and have thus -induced a state of public feeling in the highest degree unfavorable to -that calm and judicious legislation which the critical condition of the -country requires. We recorded at the proper time, the passage by -Congress of the several measures generally known as the "peace measures" -of the session--the last of which was the bill making more effectual -provision for the recovery of fugitive slaves. Congress had no sooner -adjourned than these measures, and especially the last, became the theme -of violent public controversy. In the Northern States, several attempts -to regain possession of fugitives from slavery in New York, Boston, -Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and other places, were resisted with great -clamor, and served to inflame public feeling to a very unhealthy extent. -In our last number we mentioned some of the incidents by which this -agitation was marked. It influenced greatly the elections in New York, -Massachusetts, and other states, where nominations for Congress and -state officers were made with special reference to these questions. The -result of these elections is now to be recorded. - -In our last number we mentioned the action of the Whig State Convention -at Syracuse, the secession of forty members in consequence of the -adoption of a resolution approving the course of Senator SEWARD, and -their subsequent meeting at Utica, and renomination of the same ticket. -Mr. HUNT, the Whig candidate for Governor, wrote a letter expressing -acquiescence in the peace measures of Congress, but adding that the -Fugitive Slave Law contained many unjust provisions, and ought to -receive essential modifications. A convention representing the -Anti-Renters of the state afterward assembled, and nominated Mr. HUNT as -their candidate for Governor. On the 22d of October he wrote a letter to -the Committee declining to recognize the action of any organization -except that of the Whig party from which he had first received his -nomination, and adding that, if elected, his "Constitutional duties -could not be changed, nor his conduct in the discharge of them -influenced, by the course taken in the election by any particular class -of our citizens or any organization other than the party to which he -belonged." Under all circumstances, he said, it would be his highest aim -to execute his official trust with firmness and impartiality. He would -"be actuated by an honest desire to promote justice, to uphold the -supremacy of the law, to facilitate all useful reforms, to second -legitimate endeavors for the redress of public grievances, and to -protect the rights and advance the welfare of the whole people." - -In the City of New York, meantime, there had been a growing feeling of -apprehension at the tone of current political discussions and at the -opposition everywhere manifested at the North to the Fugitive Slave Law, -and on the 30th of October a very large public meeting was held at -Castle Garden of those who were in favor of sustaining all the peace -measures of Congress, and of taking such measures as would prevent any -further agitation of the question of slavery. Mr. GEORGE WOOD, an -eminent member of the New York Bar, presided. A letter was read from Mr. -WEBSTER, to whom the resolutions intended to be brought forward had been -sent, with an invitation to attend the meeting. The invitation was -declined, but Mr. WEBSTER expressed the most cordial approbation of the -meeting, and of its proposed action. He concurred in "all the political -principles contained in the resolutions, and stood pledged to support -them, publicly and privately, now and always, to the full extent of his -influence, and by the exertion of every faculty which he possessed." The -Fugitive Slave Law he said, was not such a one as he had proposed, and -should have supported if he had been in the Senate. But it is now "the -law of the land, and as such is to be respected and obeyed by all good -citizens. I have heard," he adds, "no man, whose opinion is worth -regarding, deny its constitutionality; and those who counsel violent -resistance to it, counsel that, which, if it take place, is sure to lead -to bloodshed, and to the commission of capital offenses. It remains to -be seen how far the deluded and the deluders will go in this career of -faction, folly, and crime. No man is at liberty to set up, or to affect -to set up, his own conscience as above the law, in a matter which -respects the rights of others, and the obligations, civil, social, and -political, due to others from him. Such a pretense saps the foundation -of all government, and is of itself a perfect absurdity; and while all -are bound to yield obedience to the laws, wise and well-disposed -citizens will forbear from renewing past agitation, and rekindling the -names of useless and dangerous controversy. If we would continue one -people, we must acquiesce in the will of the majority, constitutionally -expressed; and he that does not mean to do that, means to disturb the -public peace, and to do what he can to overturn the Government." The -resolutions adopted at the meeting, declared the purpose "to sustain the -Fugitive Slave Law and its execution by all lawful means:" and that -those represented at the meeting would "support no candidate at the -ensuing or any other election, for state officers, or for members of -Congress or of the Legislature, who is known or believed to be hostile -to the peace measures recently adopted by Congress, or any of them, or -in favor of re-opening the questions involved in them, for renewed -agitation." - -This meeting was followed by the nomination of a ticket, intended to -represent these views, and those candidates only were selected, from -both the party nominees, who were known or believed to entertain them. -Mr. SEYMOUR (Dem.) was nominated for Governor; Mr. CORNELL (Whig) for -Lieutenant Governor; Mr. MATHER (Dem.) for Canal Commissioner; and Mr. -SMITH (Whig) for Clerk of the Court of Appeals. This movement in New -York City in favor of these candidates, caused a reaction in favor of -the others in the country districts of the state. The election occurred -on the 5th of November, and resulted as follows: - - _Whigs._ _Democrats._ - - _Gov._ HUNT 214,353 SEYMOUR 214,095 - _Lieut. Gov._ CORNELL 210,721 CHURCH 217,935 - _Canal Com._ BLAKELY 213,762 MATHER 214,818 - _Prison Ins._ BAKER 207,696 ANGEL 217,720 - _Clerk_ SMITH 210,926 BENTON 217,840 - -From this it will be seen that Mr. HUNT was elected Governor, and all -the rest of the Democratic ticket was successful. Thirty-four members of -Congress were also elected, there being 17 of each political party. The -Legislature is decidedly Whig. In the Senate, which holds over from last -year, there is a Whig majority of 2; and of the newly elected members of -Assembly, 81 are Whigs, and 47 Democrats. This result derives special -importance from the fact that a U.S. Senator is to be chosen to succeed -Hon. D.S. DICKINSON, whose term expires on the 4th of March, 1851. The -vote on the Repeal of the Free School Law was as follows: - - Against repeal 203,501 - For repeal 168,284 - -------- - Majority against repeal 35,217 - -In NEW JERSEY a state election also occurred on the 5th of November. The -candidates for Governor were Dr. FORT, Democrat, and Hon. JOHN RUNK, -Whig. The result of the canvass was as follows: - - FORT 39,726 - RUNK 34,054 - ------- - Fort's majority 5,672 - -Five members of Congress were also elected, 4 of whom were Democrats, -and 1 Whig. - -In OHIO the election occurred in October, with the following result: - - WOOD, Democrat 133,092 Majority 11,997. - JOHNSTON, Whig 121,095 - SMITH, Abolitionist 13,826 - -Twenty-one members of Congress were elected, of whom 8 were Whigs, and -13 Democrats. - -In MASSACHUSETTS the election took place on the 12th of November, with -the following result for Governor--there being, of course, no election, -as a majority of all the votes cast is requisite to a choice: - - BRIGGS, Whig 55,351 - BOUTWELL, Democrat 36,245 - PHILLIPS, Free Soil 27,811 - -Of 9 Congressmen, 3 Whigs are chosen, and in 6 districts no choice was -effected. Hon. HORACE MANN, the Free Soil candidate, succeeded against -both the opposing candidates. To the State Senate 13 Whigs and 27 of the -Opposition were chosen; and to the House of Representatives 169 Whigs, -179 Opposition, and in 79 districts there was no choice. The vacancies -were to be filled by an election on the 25th of November. A U.S. Senator -from this State is also to be chosen, to succeed Hon. R.C. WINTHROP, who -was appointed by the Governor to supply the vacancy caused by Mr. -WEBSTER's resignation. - -No more elections for Members of Congress will be held in any of the -States (except to fill vacancies) until after March 4th, 1851. The terms -of 21 Senators expire on that day--of whom 8 are Whigs, and 13 -Democrats. Judging from the State elections already held there will be 6 -Whigs and 15 Democrats chosen to fill their places. The U.S. Senate will -then stand thus: - - Holding over 18 Whigs 23 Democrats. - New Senators 6 " 5 " - -- -- - Total 24 38 - -The House of Representatives comprises 233 members, of whom 127 have -already been chosen, politically divided as follows--compared with the -delegations from each State in the present Congress: - - 1850. 1848. - _Whig._ _Dem._ _Whig._ _Dem._ - - Missouri 3 2 5 - Iowa 2 1 1 - Vermont 3 1 3 1 - Florida 1 1 - Maine 2 5 2 5 - South Carolina 7 7 - Pennsylvania 9 15 15 9 - Ohio 8 13 10 11 - New York 17 17 32 2 - New Jersey 1 4 4 1 - Wisconsin 3 1 2 - Michigan 2 1 1 2 - Massachusetts[11] 3 3 - Illinois 1 6 1 6 - Delaware 1 1 - -- -- -- -- - 50 77 75 52 - -Should the remaining 16 States be represented in the next Congress -politically as at present, the Democratic majority would be about 30. In -reference to the contingency of the next presidential election devolving -upon the House, for lack of a choice by the people, 9 of the above -States would go Democratic, five of them Whig, and one (the State of New -York), would have no vote, its delegation being equally divided. The -delegations of the same States in the present Congress are as follows, -viz., 7 Whig, 7 Democratic, and one (Iowa) equally divided. - -While such have been the results of the elections in the Northern -States, and such the tone of public feeling there, a still warmer -canvass has been going on throughout the South. We can only indicate the -most prominent features of this excitement, as shown in the different -Southern States. - -In GEORGIA a State Convention of delegates is to assemble, by call of -the Executive, under an act of the Legislature, at Milledgeville, on the -10th of December: and delegates are to be elected. The line of division -is resistance, or submission, to the Federal Government. A very large -public meeting was held at Macon, at which resolutions were adopted, -declaring that, if the North would adhere to the terms of the late -Compromise--if they would insure a faithful execution of the Fugitive -Slave Bill, and put down all future agitation of the slavery -question--then the people of the South will continue to live in the -bonds of brotherhood, and unite in all proper legislative action for the -preservation and perpetuity of our glorious Union. Hon. HOWELL COBB, -Speaker of the House of Representatives, made a speech in support of -these resolutions. Hon. A.H. STEPHENS, R. TOOMBS, Senator BERRIEN, and -other distinguished gentlemen of both parties, have made efforts in the -same direction, and public meetings have been held in several counties, -at which similar sentiments were proclaimed. The general feeling in -Georgia seems to be in favor of acquiescence in the recent legislation -of Congress, provided the North will also acquiesce, and faithfully -carry its acts into execution. - -In SOUTH CAROLINA, the whole current of public feeling seems to be in -favor of secession. At a meeting held at Greenville, on the 4th of -November, Col. MEMMINGER made a speech, in which he expressed himself -in favor of a Confederation of the Southern States, and if that could -not be accomplished, then for South Carolina to secede from the Union, -stand upon and defend her rights, and leave the issue in the hands of -Him who ruleth the destinies of nations. He was answered by General -WADDY THOMPSON, who depicted forcibly and eloquently the ruinous results -of such a course as that advised, and repelled the charges of injustice -urged against the Northern States. The meeting, however, adopted -resolutions, almost unanimously, embodying the sentiments of Col. -MEMMINGER. And the tone of the press throughout the state is of the same -character. - -In ALABAMA public opinion is divided. A portion of the people are in -favor of resistance, and called upon Gov. COLLIER to convene a State -Convention, to take the matter into consideration. The Governor has -issued an address upon the subject, in which he declines to do so, at -present, until the course of other Southern States shall have been -indicated. He says that while all profess to entertain the purpose to -resist aggression by the Federal Legislature on the great southern -institution, public opinion is certainly not agreed as to the time or -occasion when resistance should be interposed, or as to the mode or -measure of it. He apprehends renewed efforts for the abolition of -slavery in the District of Columbia, and pertinacious exertions for the -repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law; that California will be divided into -several States, and that the North will thus acquire power enough so to -amend the Federal Constitution as to take away the right of -representation for the slaves--a result which he, of course, regards as -fatal to the South. He believes that any State has a right to secede -from the Union, at pleasure, but thinks that a large majority of the -people of Alabama, are strongly disinclined to withdraw from the -confederation, until other measures have been unsuccessfully tried to -resist further aggression. Under these circumstances, he recommends the -people of the State so to develop their resources, establish -manufactures, schools, shipping houses, &c., as to become really -independent of the North. This is the policy which, in his judgment, -will prove most effectual in securing the rights, and protecting the -interests of the South. Hon. Mr. HILLIARD has written a letter to the -citizens of Mount Meigs, declaring that, though opposed to the admission -of California, he sees nothing in the measures of the last session which -would justify the people of the Southern States in resisting them, or -furnish any ground for revolution. A very large mass meeting of the -citizens of Montgomery county, held on the 20th of October, adopted -resolutions, first reciting that a systematic and formidable -organization is in progress in some of the Southern States, having for -its object some form of violent resistance to the Compromise measures -passed by Congress at its last session; and that if this resistance is -carried out according to the plans of a portion of the citizens of the -Southern States, it must, inevitably, lead to a dissolution of the -Union; and that the Montgomery meeting, though they do not approve of -them all, do not consider these measures as furnishing any sufficient -and just cause for resistance; and then declaring, 1. That they will -rally under the flag of the Union. 2. That they will support no man for -any office, who is in favor of disunion, or secession, on account of any -existing law or act of Congress. 3. That they acquiesce in the recent -action of Congress. And, 4. That if the Compromise should be disturbed, -they will unite with the South in such measures of resistance as the -emergency may demand. - -In MISSISSIPPI the contest is no less animated. It was brought on by the -issuing of a proclamation by Gov. QUITMAN, calling a State Convention, -for the purpose of taking measures of redress. A private letter, written -by Gov. QUITMAN, has also been published, in which he avows himself in -favor of secession. On the last Saturday in October, a mass meeting was -held at Raymond, at which Col. JEFFERSON DAVIS was present, and made a -speech. He was strongly in favor of resistance, but was not clear that -it should be by _force_. He thought it possible to maintain the rights -of the South in the Union. He was willing, however, to leave the mode of -resistance entirely to the people, while he should follow their dictates -implicitly. Mr. ANDERSON replied to him, and insisted that the Federal -Government had committed no unconstitutional aggression upon the rights -of the South, and that they ought, therefore, to acquiesce in the recent -legislation of Congress. Senator FOOTE is actively engaged in canvassing -the state, urging the same views. He meets very violent opposition in -various sections. - -In LOUISIANA indications of public sentiment are to be found in the -position of the two United States Senators. Mr. DOWNS, in his public -addresses, takes the ground that the South might as well secede because -Illinois and Indiana are free States as because California is. He admits -that California is a large State, but he says she is not half so large -as Texas, a slave State, brought into the Union five years ago. Mr. -SOULÉ, the other Senator, having expressed no opinion upon the subject, -was addressed in a friendly note of inquiry first by Hon. C.N. STANTON, -asking whether he was in favor of a dissolution of the Union, of the -establishment of a Southern Confederacy, or of the secession of -Louisiana, because of the late action of Congress. Mr. SOULÉ, in his -reply, complains bitterly of the "vile abuse" heaped upon him, charges -his correspondent with seeking his political destruction, and refers him -to his speeches in the Senate for his sentiments upon these questions. A -large number of the members of his own party then addressed to Mr. SOULÉ -the same inquiries, saying that they did it from no feeling of -unkindness, but merely to have a fair and proper comprehension of his -opinions upon a most important public question. Mr. S., under date of -Oct. 30, replies, refusing to answer their inquiries, and saying that -their only object was to divide and distract the Democratic party. -Senator DOWNS, in reply to the same questions, has given a full and -explicit answer in the negative: he is not in favor of disunion or -secession. - -A letter written during the last session of Congress, dated January 7, -1850, from the Members of Congress from Louisiana, to the Governor of -that State, has recently been published. It calls his attention to the -constant agitation of the subject of slavery at the North, and to the -fact that the legislature of every Northern State had passed resolutions -deemed aggressive by the South, and urging the Governor to recommend the -Legislature of Louisiana to join the other Southern States in resisting -this action. The opinion is expressed that "decisive action on the part -of the Southern States at the present crisis, is not only not dangerous -to the Union, but that it is the best, many think, the only way of -saving it." - -Among the political events of the month is the publication of a -correspondence between Hon. ISAAC HILL, long a leader of the Democratic -party in New Hampshire, and Mr. WEBSTER, in regard to the efforts of the -latter to preserve the peace and harmony of the Union by allaying -agitation on the subject of slavery. Mr. HILL, under date of April 17, -wrote to Mr. WEBSTER expressing his growing alarm at the progress of -ill-feeling between the different sections of the country, and his -conviction that "all that is of value in the sound discrimination and -good sense of the American people will declare in favor of Mr. WEBSTER's -great speech in the Senate upon that subject. Its author," he adds, "may -stand upon that alone, and he will best stand by disregarding any and -every imputation of alleged inconsistency and discrepancy of opinion and -practice, in a public career of nearly half a century." Mr. WEBSTER, in -acknowledging the letter, speaks of it as "an extraordinary and -gratifying incident in his life," coming as it did from one who had long -"belonged to an opposite political party, espoused opposite measures, -and supported for high office men of very different political opinions." -They had not differed, however, in their devotion to the Union; and now, -that its harmony is threatened, it was gratifying to see that both -concurred in the measures necessary for its preservation. His effort, he -says, had been and would be to cause the billows of useless and -dangerous controversy to sleep and be still. He was ready to meet all -the consequences which are likely to follow the attempt to moderate -public feeling in highly excited times, and he cheerfully left the -speech to which Mr. HILL had alluded, "with the principles and -sentiments which it avows, to the judgment of posterity." - -A public dinner was given to the Hon. JOHN M. CLAYTON on the 16th of -November, by the Whigs of Delaware, at Wilmington, at which Mr. C. made -a long and eloquent speech in vindication of the policy pursued by the -late President TAYLOR and his Administration. He paid a very high -tribute to the personal character, moral firmness, patriotism, and -sagacity of the late President, and vindicated his course from the -objections which have been urged against it. He expressed full -confidence in the perpetuity of the Union, and ridiculed the -apprehensions that have been so widely entertained of its dissolution. A -large number of guests were present, and letters were read from many -distinguished gentlemen who had been invited but were unable to attend. -Preferences were expressed at the meeting for Gen. SCOTT as a candidate -for the Presidency in 1852. - -Colonel RICHARD M. JOHNSON, Vice President of the United States for four -years from 1836, died at Frankfort, Ky., on the 19th of November, aged -70. He has been a member of Congress, and Senator of the United States -from Kentucky, and acquired distinction under General Harrison in the -Indian war of 1812. At the time of his death he was a member of the -Kentucky Legislature. - - -GREAT BRITAIN. - -The event of the month which has excited most interest, has been the -establishment by the Pope of Roman Catholic jurisdiction in England. The -Pope has issued an Apostolic Letter, dated September 24th, which begins -by reciting the steps taken hitherto for the promotion of the Catholic -faith in England. Having before his eyes the efforts made by his -predecessors, and desirous of imitating their zeal, and carrying forward -to completion the work which they commenced, and considering that every -day the obstacles are falling off which stood in the way of the -extension of the Catholic religion, Pius IX. believes that the time has -come when the form of government should be resumed in England such as it -exists in other nations. He thinks it no longer necessary that England -should be governed by Vicars Apostolic, but that she should be furnished -with the ordinary episcopal form of government. Being confirmed in these -thoughts by the desires expressed by the Vicars Apostolic, the clergy -and laity, and the great body of English Catholics, and, also, by the -advice of the Cardinals forming the Congregation for Propagating the -Faith, the Pope decrees the re-establishment in England of a hierarchy -of bishops, deriving their titles from their own Sees, which he -constitutes in the various Apostolic districts. He then proceeds to -erect England into one archiepiscopal province of the Romish church, and -divides that province into thirteen bishoprics. - -The promulgation of this letter created throughout England a feeling of -angry surprise, and nearly the whole of London has teemed with the most -emphatic and earnest condemnation of the measure. In order somewhat to -mitigate the alarm of startled Protestantism, Dr. Ullathorne, an eminent -Catholic divine, has published a letter to show that the act is solely -between the Pope and his spiritual subjects, who have been recognized as -such by the English Emancipation Act, and that it does not in the -slightest degree interfere with the laws of England, in all temporal -matters. He shows that the jurisdiction which the Pope has asserted in -England, is nothing more than has been exercised by every communion in -the land, and that nothing can be more unfair than to confound this -measure, which is really one of liberality to the Catholics of England, -with ideas of aggression on the English government and people. In 1688, -he says, England was divided into four vicariates. In 1840, the four -were again divided into eight; and, in 1850, they are again divided and -changed into thirteen. This has been done in consequence of efforts -begun by the Catholics of England, in 1846, and continued until the -present time. By changing the Vicars Apostolic into Bishops in ordinary, -the Pope has given up the exercise of a portion of his power, and -transferred it to the bishops. This letter, with other papers of a -similar tenor, has somewhat modified the feeling of indignation with -which the Pope's proceeding was at first received, and attention has -been turned to the only fact of real importance connected with the -matter, namely, the rapid and steady increase of the Roman Catholics, by -conversions from the English Established Church. The _Daily News_, in a -paper written with marked ability, charges this increase upon the secret -Catholicism of many of the younger clergy, encouraged by ecclesiastical -superiors, upon the negligent administration of other clergymen, and -upon the exclusive character of the Universities. Very urgent demands -are made by the press, and by the clergy of the Established Church, for -the interference of the Government against the Pope's invasion of the -rights of England; but no indications have yet been given of any -intention on the part of ministers to take any action upon the subject. - -A good deal of attention has been attracted to a speech made by Lord -STANLEY, the leader of the Protectionist party in England, at a public -dinner, Oct. 4th, in which he urged the necessity, on the part of the -agricultural interests of the kingdom, of adapting themselves to the -free-trade policy, instead of laboring in vain for its repeal. The -speech has been very widely regarded as an abandonment of the -protective policy by its leading champion, and it is, of course, -considered as a matter of marked importance with reference to the future -policy of Great Britain upon this subject. The Marquis of Granby, on the -other hand, at the annual meeting of the Waltham Agricultural Society, -held on the 19th of October, again urged the necessity of returning to -the old system of protection, and exhorted reliance on a future -Parliament for its accomplishment. The subject of agriculture is -attracting an unusual degree of attention, and the various issues -connected with it, form a standard topic of discussion in the leading -journals. - -The Tenant Right question continues to be agitated with great -earnestness and ability in Ireland. A deputation from the Ulster Tenant -Right Provincial Committee waited on the Earl of Clarendon during his -visit to Belfast to present an address. The earl declined to receive -them, but wrote a letter, dated Sept. 18, in reply to one inclosing a -copy of the address. He expressed great satisfaction at the prevalence -of order and at the evidence of agricultural prosperity, and assured -them of the wish of the government to settle the rights of tenants on a -just and satisfactory basis. A great Tenant Right meeting was held at -Meath, October 10th, at which some 15,000 persons are said to have been -present. - -The Committee of Prelates appointed by the Synod of Thurles to carry -into execution the project of establishing a Catholic University in -Ireland, on the model of the Catholic University at Louvain, have -resolved that regular monthly collections, on the plan of that for the -Propagation of the Faith, be made throughout the kingdom by local -committees, of which the parochial clergy are to be ex-officio members. -They have published a long address to the Catholics of Ireland, -insisting on the grave evils to faith and morals of separating religion -from secular education, and calling loudly for support to their -projected establishment. - -The month has been distinguished in England by an extraordinary -prevalence of crime. Murders, burglaries, and other offenses against the -law have been frequent beyond all former experience. The details of -these incidents it is not worth while to give. The Household Narrative -gives a chapter, written after the manner of Ledru Rollin, in which the -state of England during the month of October is presented in a most -unpromising light. The writer says that, notwithstanding the gloominess -of the picture, every fact stated in it is true, and every inference is -false. There have also been an unusual number of accidents during the -month. - -Miss Howard, of York Place, has assigned over to trustees £45,000, for -the erection of twenty-one houses on her property at Pinner, near -Harrow, in the form of a crescent; the centre-house for the trustees, -the other twenty houses for the use of twenty widows, who are to occupy -them free of rent and taxes, and also to receive £50 a year clear of all -deductions. The widows of naval men to have the preference, then those -of military men, and, lastly, those of clergymen. This is justly -chronicled as an act of munificent charity. - -The Free Grammar School at Richmond, erected as a testimonial to the -memory of the late Canon Tate, who was one of the most successful -teachers in England, was opened with much ceremony on the 3d of October. - -A Temperance Festival was held on the 14th, at the London Tavern. The -company, between five and six hundred, were entertained with tea, -speeches, and temperance melodies. The principal speaker was Mr. George -Cruikshank, the celebrated artist, who was vehemently applauded. - -Negotiations have been entered into with the Lords of the Admiralty and -Government authorities for the establishment of a Submarine Telegraph -across St. George's Channel, upon a similar though much more extensive -scale to that now being undertaken between England and France. From the -extreme western coast of Ireland to Halifax, the nearest telegraphic -station in America, the distance is 2155 miles; and as this might be -accomplished by the steamers in five or six days, it is apprehended that -England, by means of telegraphic communication, may be put in possession -of intelligence from America in six days, instead of as now in twelve or -fourteen. - -The QUEEN and Prince ALBERT have returned from their visit to Scotland. -They remained at Balmoral till the 10th Oct., on the morning of which -day they departed for the South. They arrived at Edinburgh about seven -in the evening. Preparations had been made to give a loyal welcome; and -among the features of the demonstration, was a bonfire piled to the -height of forty feet on the summit of Arthur's Seat. The blazing mass -consisted of thirty tons of coal, a vast quantity of wood saturated with -oil and turpentine, and a thousand tar-barrels. It was kindled at five -o'clock, and the flames are said to have been seen by the Queen for many -miles of her route on both sides of the Forth. The party left Edinburgh -next morning, and arrived in the evening at Buckingham Palace; and on -Saturday, the 12th, they went to Osborne. - -Intelligence has been received from the Arctic Expedition in search of -Sir John Franklin. The North Star, which went out as a tender-ship to -the expedition of Sir John Clark Ross a year and a half ago, returned -unexpectedly to Spithead on the 28th of September, bringing dispatches -from the ships of the four expeditions which went out early this year. -The Prince Albert, a ship dispatched in July last, under Captain -Forsyth, to make a special search beyond Brentford Bay, returned to -Aberdeen on the 29th ult. Dispatches from Captain Ommaney, Captain -Penny, Sir John Ross, and Captain Forsyth, have been published by the -Admiralty; but they throw little or no light on the fate of the missing -voyagers. - -The British Government has decided to send all letters and newspapers -for the United States by the first steamer, whether American or English. -Hitherto they have invariably been detained for a British steamer, -unless specially marked for transmission by the American line. - -A Dublin paper states that Dr. WISEMAN, who has been made Archbishop of -Westminster by the Pope, is a native of Seville, where his parents, who -are natives of Waterford, Ireland, resided several years. His father was -a wine-merchant in Andalusia. - -The Lord Mayor of York gave a splendid entertainment to the Lord Mayor -of London, on the 25th of October, which was attended by a great number -of the leading men of England. Prince Albert was present, and made a -very sensible and pertinent extempore speech. Its leading feature was a -marked and impressive eulogy on Sir Robert Peel. In alluding to the -interest taken by Sir Robert in the great Industrial Exhibition, Prince -Albert took occasion to say that he had assurances of the most reliable -character that the works in preparation for the great Exhibition were -"such as to dispel all apprehension for the position which British -industry will maintain." - -At the meeting of the Canford Estate Agricultural Show on the 22d of -October, the lady of Sir John Guest made a brief but most admirable -speech, expressing her regard for the laboring classes of England, and -her earnest desire that the utmost efforts should be made for their -elevation and improvement. This unusual incident, and the admirable -spirit which it evinced, elicited great applause. - -The Town Council of Manchester are taking vigorous steps to compel the -manufacturers of that city to consume the smoke of their furnaces, and -thus to rid the city of the dense cloud which has hung over it hitherto. -The process is found to be perfectly practicable, and decidedly -economical. Some of the heaviest manufacturing establishments in the -city testify to a saving of _one-third_ in coal. The issue of the -experiment will be important. - -The rapid increase of burglaries and thefts in Birmingham has elicited -from Mr. D.H. Hill a suggestion for the suppression of crime, which is -regarded as pertinent and important by the leading journals. He proposes -that whenever a jury is satisfied that an accused party is addicted to -theft, he shall be compelled to prove a good character, and to show -means of subsistence, on penalty of being adjudged a thief, and punished -accordingly, under an old statute. - -Emigration from Ireland to the United States continues and increases. A -great part of those who leave are described by the Irish papers as being -farmers of the most respectable class, and considerable apprehensions -are expressed of the injurious effect of the movement on the prosperity -of the country. - -A letter from BRAZIL, written by Lieut. BAILEY of the royal navy, -details some rather prompt proceedings on his part in the capture of -slavers. He was sent out to the Brazil station, and arrived off Rio -Janeiro June 18th, and in sight of the harbor captured a vessel engaged -in slave-trading, and sank her the same night. On the 20th, he captured -a second, and sent her to St. Helena for adjudication; and on the 23d, -he seized another, taking her out of a Brazilian port, which has -hitherto been contrary to law. The affair excited a good deal of feeling -in Brazil, and was likely to lead to a misunderstanding with the English -government. The effect of such proceedings, in exasperating a government -which might be induced by friendly appeals to put an end to -slave-trading, is forcibly urged. - -The Paris correspondent of the London Times has developed an alleged -secret plot of the Red Republicans, to revive the revolutionary fever -throughout Europe, and the substance of his statements is also given in -the Paris _Patrie_--both accounts being evidently derived from the same -source. It is asserted that the Socialists have leagued themselves -together and that a secret congress of their chiefs was held in Paris on -the 2d of June, where they planned a gigantic conspiracy, the -ramifications of which extend to the whole of Europe, and even to the -heart of Russia, where it is said to menace a terrible explosion. The -motto which has been adopted is, "_Sans pitié ni merci_," and it has -been resolved that all the chiefs of states shall be assassinated. It is -added that in one of the numerous secret meetings held by the initiated -under the presidency of the principal agents, the death of the -Bonapartists was sworn, and would be the signal for the destruction of -all the Bourbons, and of all their friends and supporters. The threat -uttered by one of the German chiefs of the conspiracy was to the effect -that "on the field of battle we shall spare no one, and we will strike -down our dearest friends if they are not unconditional Communists." -After indicating the dépôts of arms formed by the Communist conspirators -in all the capitals where it has established seats, enumerating the -means employed to ensnare the foolish and the ambitious, and, in fact, -indicating all its resources and all its plans, the document informs us -that the object of the conspiracy is to arrive, by means of general -confusion and a sanguinary combat, at the extermination of all those who -possess a foot of land, or a coupon of _rente_, and that it has sworn -the oath of Hannibal against all the monarchies of Europe. _Plunder and -assassination form the basis of the plan._ The document terminates thus, -"The soil of Europe is undermined, so as to render a frightful -catastrophe imminent." The pretended revelation is ridiculed in nearly -all quarters. - -On the destruction of the Roman Republic, the Roman Representatives -appointed a National Committee, of which Mazzini was the head, with -extensive political powers. This committee has just issued an address, -dated at London, calling on all Italians and all Italian provinces to -join their standard, promising them eventual success. In the course of -the address they declare that they have effected such an organization of -the forces of the movement as circumstances permit, and insist on the -necessity of Italy becoming an independent nation. - -We have hitherto alluded to the public agitation started in the British -Colony of New South Wales in favor of independence, by Dr. Lang, who had -organized an association for the purpose of accomplishing the object -which he declared to be so desirable. The movement has been represented -by the English papers as being unsupported by the colonists, and as, -therefore, of no importance. We see, however, that Dr. Lang has recently -been elected mayor of the City of Sydney, which shows that the people -there, at least, have confidence in his character and respect for his -views. - - -FRANCE. - -Nothing important has occurred in France during the month, except a -change in the War Department, growing out of the supposed efforts of the -President to attach the army to his interests. On the 3d of October the -President reviewed a great body of troops near Versailles. He was -accompanied by the Minister of War, and by General Roguet, his -aid-de-camp. General Changarnier left Paris an hour before the -President. Though entitled to take the command he did not do so, General -Neumayer acting in his room. After the review the President gave a -collation to the officers and non-commissioned officers, and ordered -13,000 rations to be distributed to the soldiers. The President joined -the collation given to the general officers, but General Changarnier -declined being present, and returned to Paris. The frequency of these -reviews, the manner in which the troops were feasted by the President, -the manifestations made by the soldiers, and the rumor that a difference -of opinion existed between the President and General Changarnier on the -subject, led to an extraordinary meeting of the Commission of -Permanence. The Minister of War, General Hautpoul, having been called on -to explain the circumstances with reference to the late reviews, replied -that he wished to inform the Commission that he held no command from the -Assembly, and that, consequently, he could deny the right of the -Commission to put any questions to him. He, however, waived these -objections; and, in reply to the question, said that the accounts -published in the papers respecting the reviews were grossly exaggerated; -and that nothing whatever had occurred there of an unconstitutional or -an unmilitary character. The Minister further observed that it would be -impossible to publish an order of the day preventing the soldiers from -expressing their feelings of attachment and respect to the chief of the -State, and if it were possible he would not do so. With respect to the -review that was to take place on the following Thursday, he pledged -himself for the maintenance of the most complete tranquillity on that -occasion. When the Commission was about to separate, the President again -addressed the Minister of War, and said, "General Hautpoul, I am desired -by the committee to apprise you that in case General Changarnier be -removed from his command, or that any other steps be taken against him, -we are determined to convoke, forthwith, the Legislative Assembly." To -this the Minister made no reply, and the Commission adjourned. - -On Thursday the 10th, the review referred to by the Minister of War took -place. There were 25,000 troops, chiefly cavalry. The President was -accompanied by General Hautpoul, the Minister of War, and several other -general officers, besides his usual brilliant staff. When the defiling -of the troops in front of the President took place, he was loudly hailed -by part of the cavalry, who cried "Vive l'Empereur!" "Vive Napoleon!" -After the troops had defiled, the usual refreshments were served out to -them, and the President, accompanied by his staff, paid a visit to the -camp, but General Changarnier left the ground. - -The _Proces-verbal_ of the meeting of the Council of Permanence, held on -the 12th, drawn up by M. Dupin to the President, was to the following -effect: The violation of the promises made by the Minister of War, and -the unconstitutional manifestations, provoked or tolerated, are severely -blamed. The committee did not think proper to invite the Minister of War -to give further explanations. Deploring the incidents of the review, it -still expressed complete confidence in the loyalty of the army, and is -satisfied that the cries were not spontaneous on the part of the -soldiers, but instigated by certain officers. In order to avoid alarming -the country in the absence of imminent peril, it has not deemed proper -to convoke the Assembly; but it deeply disapproves reviews so frequent, -into which habits altogether unusual and foreign to military traditions -have been so boldly introduced. - -As a sequel to these disputes, General Hautpoul has found it necessary -to resign his place in the government, and has gone to Algeria as -governor of that colony. He is succeeded as Minister of War by General -Schramm. Soon after the accession of the latter, an official -notification appeared in the _Moniteur_ that General Neumayer had been -removed from the command of the 1st division and appointed to the 15th. -The reason given for this removal is said to be that General N., at the -last review at Satory, expressly enjoined the troops not to give -utterance to any cry whatever, deeming silence to be more strictly in -accordance with the regulations of the army, and in conformity, too, -with the instructions he had received from the Commander-in-Chief. This, -it is said, much displeased both Louis Napoleon and the Minister of War. -At all events, General Changarnier was greatly offended at the removal, -and a complete breach has occurred between him and the President. He -refuses to resign until the Assembly shall have passed judgment in the -matter. - - -THE DANISH WAR. - -The war between _Denmark and the Duchies_ is bloody and disastrous. The -army of Schleswig-Holstein has made several attempts to take the city of -Friedrichstadt by storm, none of which have been successful, and the -losses sustained by General Willisen have been considerable, -particularly in officers. After bombarding part of the town during the -whole of the 4th of October, the town was in the evening attacked by two -battalions of infantry and a detachment of riflemen. After a desperate -struggle, in which both sides must have suffered very heavy losses, the -Danes gave way a little, but only to seek the cover of new entrenchments -and barricades thrown up in the middle of the town. The resistance which -they met with here was so violent and determined, that notwithstanding -the most brilliant bravery, the Schleswig-Holsteiners were compelled to -retire at midnight. They took up a new position somewhat in advance of -the old, and the conflict was renewed on the following morning, but with -no better success. The fighting continued till near midnight. Sixteen -officers out of twenty belonging to the 5th battalion were slain. -General Christiansen covered the retreat with his battery, while the -flames of the burning city cast a ghastly light upon the retiring -troops. After the failure of this desperate assault, General Willisen -withdrew his troops from before Friedrichstadt. The heavy guns were -taken back to Rendsburg, and the two armies were again in the same -position they occupied before the 29th of September; the only result -having been the almost total destruction of the unfortunate town, and -the loss of many brave men on both sides. - -The Danish journals of the 16th state that orders have been issued for -the return to Copenhagen of all the Danish ships of war, except the -smaller craft, in consequence of the advanced season of the year, and -its accompanying storms, which render it nearly impossible for vessels -to hold to the coast. - -A rumor has obtained currency through the _Times_ that the aid extended -to the Schleswig-Holsteiners by Prussia, has led to the interference of -Russia and of France, and that these two powers have jointly proposed to -England that the three powers shall peremptorily require Prussia to -fulfill her recent engagement with Denmark, and withdraw the support she -still continues to give to the Schleswig-Holstein army. In the event of -Prussia hesitating to comply with this reasonable demand, Russia and -France are prepared to back it, by an invasion of the Silesian provinces -of Prussia on the one side, and the Rhenish on the other. The British -Government, in reply, it is said, declines to join with Russia and -France in such a note as that described, but proposes that all three -powers shall separately remonstrate with Prussia on her present breach -of faith with the Danish Government. These rumors have created a good -deal of interest and anxiety, as threatening the peace of Europe. - - -INDIA AND CHINA. - -The accounts from India are from Bombay to October 3, and from Calcutta -to September 21st. Great preparations were on foot for the great -Industrial Exhibition at London. The Maharajah has ordered specimens of -every kind of Cashmerian product to be got ready without delay. The -shawls intended for the purpose are described as remarkably splendid. -The heir to the throne, Rajah Runheer Singh, having heard of the -distinguished "success" at London of the Nepaul Envoy, is anxious to -visit England himself; but the prospect of a disputed succession, in the -event of his father's death, will probably keep him at home. - -The whole of _British India_ was tranquil, but the petty civil war on -the Nizam's borders still continued. - -The native state of _Oude_ seems inclined to rival the Nizam's -territories in anarchy and misgovernment. Some months since an English -officer was killed and two guns lost in an attack on the fort of a -refractory vassal of the King of Oude. A second event of the same nature -has occurred. The Rajah of Esanuggur had shown himself for some time -unwilling to pay the portion of revenue due from him to the Oude -government, and in endeavoring to obtain these dues from him, Lieut. P. -Orr, with a small party, had a brisk fight, each side losing a -considerable number. Lieut. Orr was forced to retreat, and took refuge -in the districts of a rival Rajah. - -The present aspect of the _Punjaub_ is most encouraging; the population, -now disarmed, have settled down into their former habits of industry. -The breadth of land under cultivation this season is said to be -unprecedented, and the crops are every where most promising. - -The most important piece of intelligence from _Hong-Kong_ is the -continuation of the fearful mortality among the British troops. This -mortality was chiefly in the 59th regiment, which had lost ninety men in -about two months. This sickness, therefore, is ascribed to the -unhealthiness of the barracks and the want of sufficient sanitary -precautions. The mortality, however, had begun to abate. - -A formidable _insurrection_ against the Chinese government had broken -out in the province of Kwang-si. The leader, who is named Li-ting-pang, -is said to be at the head of 50,000 men. He has assumed the title borne -by the highest Tartar generals, and threatens to exterminate the -present, and restore the old Chinese dynasty. - -In Bombay, the culture of cotton is rapidly extending. Two years ago, -the whole of the land under cultivation with American cotton in that -Presidency, was under twenty thousand acres. At the present moment the -quantity exceeds one hundred thousand acres, and there is every -certainty of a rapid increase taking place. - -At a court martial held in Bombay, Lieut. Rose was found guilty of a -want of spirit, in applying to the civil power for an escort of police -to protect him from Mr. Lang, editor of the Mofussilite, with whom he -had a quarrel. He was sentenced to be reprimanded by Sir Charles Napier, -and to lose his staff appointment. - - -TURKEY. - -The question as to the Hungarian refugees is not yet arranged. Numerous -communications have taken place on this subject between the Porte and -the Austrian internuncio, and a recent conference has been held between -the British embassador and General Aupick. The Divan, considering itself -pledged to Austria by its anterior declaration, is unwilling to break, -inconsiderately, an engagement of this nature, by which its relations -with the Court of Vienna might be gravely compromised. In order, -therefore, to conciliate all parties, the Porte has written on this -subject to its embassador at Vienna, directing him to confer with the -Austrian Cabinet on the modifications that it may be possible and -desirable to make in the situation of the refugees. The Russian Minister -affects not to interfere in this affair, but, notwithstanding this, it -is obvious to every one that he is in private communication with the -Austrian internuncio. The Turkish fleet, which had been for some time -cruising in the Archipelago, has returned to Constantinople. - - -TUSCANY. - -The Representative Constitution and the Liberty of the Press have been -destroyed in _Tuscany_. On the 23d Sept. two Decrees were promulgated; -the first announced the dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies and -declared that till a fresh convocation of the legislature, all power -would be exercised by the Grand Duke in the Council of State. The second -declared that no journal or periodical should be published without first -obtaining the written authorization of the Minister of the Interior, to -whom the names and other circumstances of the director and of the -proprietor of the printing establishment are to be communicated. - - -EASTERN AND SOUTHERN EUROPE. - -A frightful calamity has occurred at the place of pilgrimage called -Herrgott, in _Austria_. At one of the public-houses the pilgrims (of -whom there were 3000 assembled at Herrgott) were spending the night in -eating and drinking. While baking the fish the oven took fire. Behind -the inn were a number of stables and barns, in which hundreds of the -pilgrims were reposing, and almost all perished in the flames. Scarcely -half of the pilgrims were saved, and those who survived have for the -most part been much injured. - -From _Poland_ there is a singular account of a forest on fire. Near -Cracow, adjoining the line of railway, there is a large peat ground, -part of which runs below an immense forest. Some sparks from a -locomotive engine were blown in that direction, and fell on the peat. A -few days after, the ground in the forest was found to be very warm, and -some rumbling and crackling noises were heard. Several large trees fell -as if cut down by an ax, and the leaves of others withered. As it was -naturally considered that a subterranean fire must be burning under the -forest, the officers charged with the inspection of it caused large -trenches to be cut. This conjecture turned out to be well-founded, for -the fire soon afterward burst forth, and still continued its ravages. -The forest presented the appearance of a vast sea of flame, which was -every day extending. The country round to the extent of six leagues was -perfectly illuminated, and it has been found impossible to stop the -progress of the fire. - -The long expected Constitution for Galicia has at length appeared. That -Crown land will have three districts, Cracow, Lemberg, and -Stanislawow--each with a separate administration. In Cracow the specific -Polish, and in Stanislawow the Ruthennian element is prevalent. Lemberg, -the capital of Galicia, is the seat of the Provincial Government. In the -Lemberg district the two branches of the same race (the Sclavonic) are -mixed. - -The Constitution for the Bukowina has also been published. This remote -Crown land is divided into six districts or captaincies, which are under -the immediate control of the Stadtholder of the province, who has still -to be appointed. Count Goluchowski had been sworn in as Stadtholder of -Galicia. - -Letters from Ravenna, in the _Genoa Gazette_, give appalling accounts of -the progress of brigandage in the Roman states. Two persons, considered -as spies by the bandits, had been decapitated by them in the vicinity of -the above-mentioned town, and their heads placed on poles at a -cross-road. The diligence of Imola has lately been stopped and robbed of -1000 scudi (5500f.) belonging to the Pope. At Lugo, three individuals -carried off 11,000f. from a bank, and passed triumphantly through the -town with their booty, without any one daring to stop them. - -An extensive conspiracy has recently been discovered at Teheran. The -most influential members of the clergy were at the head of it, and its -object was to overthrow the present Shah, to replace him by a descendant -of Ali, and to drive all the Turks out of Persia. Numerous arrests have -been made at Teheran, and in the principal towns. The greater number of -those arrested belong to the body of Ulemas. - - -LETTERS, SCIENCE, ART, PUBLIC MEN, ETC. - -UNITED STATES. - -The past month has not been marked by any movements of importance in any -of these departments. Our publishers have generally confined their -issues to works especially intended for the holiday season. Most of our -public men have been recruiting themselves from the fatigues of the late -protracted session of Congress, or preparing, by taking part in the -political canvass, for the session that is at hand. Mr. CLAY was -received at Lexington with abundant demonstrations of enthusiastic -personal and political affection. He has remained at home during the -vacation. - -Mr. WEBSTER has been spending some weeks at his farm in Marshfield, and -at his native town, Franklin, N.H. During his stay at the latter place a -number of his old friends and neighbors paid him a visit, and sat down -to an old-fashioned dinner, at which friendly greetings were exchanged -with their distinguished host. The occasion was one of rare enjoyment. -Mr. WEBSTER's health has been very sensibly benefited by this greatly -needed interval of relaxation from public duties. In some remarks made -at an informal meeting with some friends in Boston, Mr. W. said that for -six months during the last session of Congress, he had not slept two -hours any one night. - -A public dinner was recently given at Boston to AMIN BEY, the Turkish -Envoy to the United States, by some of the merchants of Boston. THOMAS -B. CURTIS presided, and a large number of distinguished guests were -present. AMIN BEY replied to a toast complimentary to the Sultan, by -expressing his warm sense of the friendliness with which he had been -received in this country, and his earnest desire for an extension of -commerce and of mutual kind offices between his own government and that -of the United States. Mr. WEBSTER made a brief and eloquent response to -a toast thanking him for his efforts in behalf of the Union. In the -course of his remarks he said that "the slavery question New England -could only interfere with as a meddler: she had no more to do with it -than she had with the municipal government of a city in the Island of -Cuba." Very eloquent speeches, breathing similar sentiments, were made -by EDWARD EVERETT, Mr. WINTHROP, and others and J.P. BROWN Esq., the -interpreter of AMIN BEY, responded happily to a toast complimenting Hon. -GEORGE P. MARSH the American Minister at Constantinople. Mr. BROWN said -that as a diplomatist and a scholar Mr. Marsh enjoyed, in an eminent -degree, the respect and esteem of the enlightened young Sultan of -Turkey, and all his Ministers. - -M. ALEXANDRE VATTEMARE, who is known as the founder of the system of -International Exchanges, has taken leave of the United States in a very -warm and eloquent address, expressing his gratitude for the kindness of -his reception, his brilliant anticipations of the great results which -time will develop from the system to which he has devoted his life, and -commending it to the favor and aid of the American people. The world has -seen few instances of rarer or more disinterested devotion to high -public objects than this amiable and enthusiastic gentleman has -exhibited. - -The statue of JOHN C. CALHOUN, made by POWERS for the City of -Charleston, and which was lost by shipwreck off Fire Island, has been -recovered, and sent forward to its destination. The left arm was broken -off at the elbow: with this exception it was uninjured. - -At a recent meeting of the Academy of Design in New York, it was stated -by the president, Mr. DURAND, that the institution had incurred a -considerable debt beyond its resources, and mentioned a proposition that -the artists connected with it should paint pictures to be disposed of -for the benefit of the Academy. In regard to the mode of disposing of -them a raffle was suggested: but Mr. COZZENS, the President of the -Art-Union, being present as an honorary member, at once offered to -purchase them at such a price as might be fixed upon them by the -Academy. The proposition was at once accepted, and has given great and -general satisfaction as an indication of good feeling between two -institutions which have been sometimes represented as hostile to each -other. - -Mr. WM. D. GALLAGHER, who is very favorably known as a literary -gentleman of ability, has received the appointment of confidential clerk -in the Treasury Department at Washington. - -Mr. WILLIAM W. STORY, son of the late Judge STORY, has recently returned -from Italy, where he has been perfecting himself in the art of -sculpture, for which he abandoned the profession of law a few years -since. He brought with him a number of very beautiful models made while -at Rome. He has executed a bust of the distinguished jurist, his father, -for the Inner Temple, London. He will return to Rome in the spring. - -We understand that the painting and gilding of white china, imported -from England and France, is engaging considerable attention in this -country, and that there is one establishment in Boston where above a -hundred persons are constantly employed. - -Prof. FILOPANTI, an Italian scholar of some distinction, has been -delivering a series of lectures in New York, on the Influence of Secret -Societies on the Revolutions of Ancient and Modern Rome. - -Hon. DANIEL D. BARNARD has sailed for Europe to enter upon his duties as -American Minister at Berlin. Previous to his departure his fellow -citizens of Albany addressed him a very complimentary letter, expressing -their regret at the loss of his society, and their admiration of his -character. Mr. B. is one of the most cultivated and scholarly of -American statesmen. - -It is stated, though we know not upon what authority, that Col. BLISS is -preparing a History of the Campaigns of General TAYLOR. Such a work -would be of great value and interest, historically and in a literary -point of view. - -G.P.R. JAMES, Esq., is delivering his lectures on the History of -Civilization in different northern cities. He intends to spend the -winter at the South. He has placed one of his sons at Yale College, and -the other in the Law School at New Haven. - -Mr. CRAWFORD, the American sculptor, is soon to commence modeling the -statue of Washington, which our government has commissioned him to -execute. From a granite basement, in the form of a star of six rays, -rises a pedestal, upon which stands the equestrian statue, in bronze, -sixteen feet in height. The six points of the star are to be surmounted -with six colossal figures. The casting will be executed either at Paris -or Munich. - -Steps have been taken to erect a suitable monument to the memory of -General WARREN. A committee of which Mr. Everett was chairman have -reported in favor of a statue to be placed in Faneuil Hall, Boston. - -A bust of ETHAN ALLEN has just been completed by a Vermont artist, Mr. -KINNEY. He had a great deal of difficulty in procuring an accurate -likeness; the grandson of Allen, Colonel HITCHCOCK of the army, is said -to bear a striking personal resemblance to the old hero. - -The Bulletin of the American Art-Union contains information concerning -American Artists which has personal interest:-- - -DURAND has not yet removed from his residence on the Hudson. KENSETT and -CHAMPNEY have been sketching among the White Hills of New Hampshire. -CROPSEY is at his country studio, at Greenwood Lake. CHURCH and GIGNOUX -have returned from the coast of Maine with their portfolios well stocked -with sketches. RANNEY continues to work upon his picture of _Marion, -with his Army, crossing the Pedee_, which will soon be completed. -MATTESON, now residing at Sherburne, has nearly finished a picture -representing _A Trial Scene in the Backwoods_, which, it is said, will -advance his reputation. JONES, a sculptor who has a high reputation at -the West, has removed to New York; he has already modeled busts of -General Taylor, Lewis Cass, Henry Clay, Thomas Corwin, and other -notabilities, and is now employed on a spirited head of General Scott, -at the order of some friends in Detroit. - -EDWIN WHITE is diligently pursuing his studies in Paris. HALL, we -believe, has also gone to Paris from Düsseldorf. PAGE has arrived in -Florence, which place he intends to make his residence for several -months. He has formed a warm intimacy with POWERS, whose portrait he is -painting. WHITRIDGE and MCCONKEY have lately sent home several pictures -which indicate improvement, although they are somewhat tinged with the -mannerism of the Düsseldorf school, where these artists have been -studying so long. They propose to leave Germany very soon, and after -visiting Italy and France, to return home in the spring. LEUTZE is at -work on his great picture of _Washington Crossing the Delaware_. The -size of this painting is the same with that of those in the Rotunda of -the Capitol, twelve feet by eighteen feet. It will probably be completed -in the spring, when the artist intends to accompany it to this country, -from which he has been absent now about ten years. UPJOHN, the architect -was, by the last accounts, in Venice. GLASS has returned to his -residence at Kensington, near London, from the neighborhood of Haddon -Hall, where he has been assiduously engaged in sketching. He is at work -upon a group of paintings, illustrative of scenes in the wars of the -Stuarts. He is an artist of decided merit and increasing reputation. - - -GREAT BRITAIN. - -In ENGLAND very few books of special value or interest have been -published or announced. The most important book of the month is the -first part of a very able and laborious compilation on _Commercial Law_ -by Mr. LEONE LEVI. The object of the entire undertaking, is to survey -the principles and administration of all the various commercial laws of -foreign countries, with a view to a direct comparison with the -mercantile law of Great Britain. Mr. Levi appears to have been engaged -for years, with this object, in correspondence with the merchants of -upward of fifty countries remarkable more or less for distinct and -separate commercial usages; and to have obtained in every instance the -information he sought. His ultimate object, is the establishment of a -national and international code of commerce among all civilized -countries, rejecting what is inconvenient or unjust in all, and -retaining and codifying what is best in each. - -A life of WORDSWORTH, by the Rev. Christopher Wordsworth, is announced -as in press. Its appearance will be awaited with interest. - -M. MAZZINI has just republished his letters, orations, and other tracts -on Italy, with an eloquent and earnest appeal to the English people, in -a small volume entitled _Royalty and Republicanism in Italy_. M. Mazzini -repels in this book the charge so often brought against him of having -distracted and divided the forces of his native country, at the time -when they ought to have been concentrated on the paramount duty of -driving out the Austrians. - -A curious incident connected with American History is mentioned in the -closing volume of SOUTHEY's Life, which has just been published in -London. While JARED SPARKS was examining the state papers in the public -offices of the British Government, so much matter was ferreted out that -the government "wished to tell its own story," and SOUTHEY adds, that -his "pulse was felt," but he declined writing it on the ground that -others could perform the task as well, and he had other engagements on -hand. - -SOUTHEY, in 1829, declined a proposal from Fraser to write a popular -history of English literature in four volumes. It is to be regretted -that he did not write such a work. - -In a letter to a friend, speaking of the Foreign Review, SOUTHEY says -that of its contributors, he "only knows that _an Edinburgh person_, by -name Carlyle, has written the most striking papers on German -literature." This style of reference to one who is now one of the most -eminent English writers, strikes a reader as curious. In the same letter -he speaks of Heraud, as "a man of extraordinary powers, and not less -extraordinary industry and ardor." - -In 1835, Sir ROBERT PEEL wrote to SOUTHEY, informing him that he had -advised the king to "adorn the distinction of the baronetage with a name -the most eminent in literature, and which had claims to respect and -honor which literature alone could never confer"--that of SOUTHEY -himself. He accompanied this with a private letter, begging to know if -there was any way in which the possession of power would enable him to -be of service to Mr. SOUTHEY. The latter replied, in a letter marked by -the utmost propriety, declining the baronetcy, as he had not the means -of supporting it, and asking for an increase of his pension, which was -then £200. Sir Robert soon after added to this a new pension of £300, on -a public principle, "the recognition of literary and scientific eminence -as a public claim." He conferred, at the same time, a similar pension -on Professor Airey, of Cambridge, Mrs. Somerville, Sharon Turner, and -James Montgomery. - -The _Athenæum_ says that an experiment, set on foot by the liberality of -a few humane persons in the vicinity of London, has proved conclusively -that the number of idiots exceeds that of lunatics, and that very much -may be done, not only to promote their physical comfort, but to bring -the small germs of intellect which exist even in the most imbecile -minds, into intelligent and useful activity. Encouraged by this success, -they have appealed to the public for aid in establishing an institution -for the relief of that unfortunate class. They propose to erect a -building suitable for three hundred patients. - -The proprietors of the Marine Telegraph between England and France -propose, instead of laying a wire like the one which the storm broke -recently, to have new wires inclosed in ropes of four or five inches in -diameter--the first layer being made of gutta percha, and the outer one -of iron wire, all chemically prepared to resist the action of water and -the attacks of marine animalculæ. In each cable there will be four lines -of communication, and two cables will be laid down at a distance of -three miles apart, to provide for any accident that may happen to one of -them. The whole, it is said, will be ready in May next, and a grand -inauguration is proposed, Prince Albert being at one end of the wire and -Louis Napoleon at the other. - -A project is on foot to reclaim from the sea, at Norfolk, 32,000 acres -of land, said to be of great agricultural value. The estimated expense -of doing it is £640,000. - -Mr. Halliwell has addressed a letter to the _Times_, complaining of an -unauthorized republication in London of an edition of Shakspeare, with -introductions and notes by himself, published with considerable success -in New York. - -Miss Martineau has been exciting a good deal of mirth in England by a -published account of having succeeded in mesmerizing a sick cow. - -Dr. Maitland is urging the formation of a society to bring out new -editions of the most celebrated and least accessible works on Church -History. His plan is received with favor by the literary and religious -journals. - -The foundations of several old walls, supposed to have formed a Roman -burial mound, have recently been discovered in Hertfordshire, and means -have been adopted to give the locality a thorough exploration. Several -human skeletons were found in the vicinity. - -New statues of Newton, Shakspeare, Milton, and Bacon, are to be set up -on the four new pedestals in the British Museum; models of them have -been made by Sir Richard Westmacott. An elaborate piece of sculpture has -also been prepared for the tympanum of the pediment, representing the -progress of man from a savage condition up to the highest state of -intellectual advancement. - -Mr. GODWIN has addressed a letter to the Lord Mayor elect of London, on -the subject of improving the character of the annual city "show" on the -9th of November, and urging that some little invention and taste might -be exercised upon it, in lieu of repeating year after year the same dull -and effete routine. He thinks that so ancient a custom ought not to be -abandoned, and proposes to raise it out of the monotonous and prosaic -routine into which it has fallen, by the introduction, among other -changes, of emblems and works of art, accordant with its ancient -character, and worthy of the present time. - -The effect of the great Industrial Exhibition upon the health of London -is engaging considerable attention. It is estimated that not less than a -million of people will pour into the city at that time, and it is -contended by medical men of eminence that, unless wise and vigorous -measures be adopted, so vast and sudden an influx will create a -pestilence. The remedy proposed is to secure in some way the daily -distribution of the arrivals over a large area in London, and a series -of cheap trains which would carry off a portion of the pressure daily, -spreading the gathered millions over thirty or forty miles of movable -encampment. - -Sundry relics, ropes, canvas, bones, &c., were recently brought to -England by the Prince Albert, which were found at Cape Riley, in the -Arctic Seas, and were supposed to afford traces of Sir John Franklin. -They were submitted by the Admiralty to Captain Parry, Sir John -Richardson, and others for examination, and the conclusion arrived at -is, that they were left at Cape Riley by Sir John Franklin's expedition -about the year 1845. It is supposed that being stopped by ice, Sir John -remained there for a short time making observations, &c. The reports are -elaborate, and evince careful and minute investigation. The conclusion -at which they arrive is very generally credited, so that the first part -of Sir John's adventures in the Arctic Seas is supposed to be at length -known. - -The building for the Great Exhibition in London has been commenced, and -the work upon it goes forward with great rapidity. It is said that the -exhibition will probably have the effect to create several local museums -of great interest and importance. The advantages of such institutions, -especially to inventors, would be very great. - -DELAROCHE's great picture of "Napoleon crossing the Alps," has reached -London, where it is on exhibition. It is described as being wonderfully -exact in copying nature, but as lacking elevation of purpose and the -expression of sentiment. An officer in a French costume, mounted on a -mule, is conducted by a rough peasant through a dangerous pass, whose -traces are scarcely discernible through the deep-lying snow--and his -aid-de-camp is just visible in a ravine of the towering Alps. These -facts, the _Athenæum_ says, are rendered with a fidelity that has not -omitted the plait of a drapery, the shaggy texture of the four-footed -animal, nor a detail of the harness on his back. The drifting and the -imbedded snow, the pendent icicle which a solitary sun-ray in a -transient moment has made--all are given with the utmost truth. But the -lofty and daring genius that led the humble Lieutenant of Ajaccio to be -the ruler and arbiter of the destinies of the largest part of Europe, -will be sought in vain in the countenance painted by M. Delaroche. - -A curious discovery has been made in a collection of ancient marbles at -Marbury Hall, in Cheshire, formed at Rome in the middle of the last -century. A fragment of the frieze of the Parthenon has been found, and -is unmistakably identified by its exactly fitting the parent stone in -the British Museum. - -The people of Sheffield are subscribing and soliciting subscriptions in -other cities for a monument to the memory of the poet EBENEZER ELLIOTT. -It is not intended that the monument should be vast or expensive, but -that a neat cenotaph or column, at a cost of twelve or fifteen hundred -pounds, should be erected and placed in a position suitable to do honor -to the genius whose memory it is to perpetuate. - -The statue in honor of Chief Justice TINDAL is nearly completed. The -inscription for the pedestal, contributed by Justice TALFOURD, speaks of -the illustrious man in whose honor it is erected, as "a Judge, whose -administration of English law, directed by serene wisdom, animated by -purest love of justice, endeared by unwearied kindness, and graced by -the most lucid style, will be held by his country in undying -remembrance." - -The Roman Government has ordered the students of art, before admission -to the academies of the city, to be examined as to the state of their -morals and their opinions on politics. Mr. HELY, an English sculptor, -has been commanded to quit the Roman territories; the marriage of his -sister to the celebrated Dr. ACHILLI is supposed to have been the reason -for this command. The London papers complain that the Americans are the -only people in Rome who are permitted to "exhibit their political, -artistic, and religious heresies with impunity;" and they cite in proof -POWERS's emblematic statue of the Republic of America trampling under -its feet the kingly diadem; CRAWFORD's design for the monument to -WASHINGTON, which the _Athenæum_ says is original and striking; and the -fact, that the American residents have just obtained permission to erect -a Protestant Church, the first ever built in the Eternal City. - -A good deal of difficulty has been experienced in deciding on the -erection of a bridge at Westminster. The _Athenæum_, is reminded, by the -investigations, of a story told of a board of magistrates in the west of -Ireland who met to consider the propriety of erecting a new jail, when, -after a protracted and bewildering discussion, they formally passed -three resolutions; namely, that a new jail should be built--that the -materials of the old jail should be used in constructing the new -one--and that the prisoners should be kept as securely as possible in -the old jail until the new one was ready for their reception! - -A new college--with peculiar features which give it general interest--is -about to be established in Glasgow. It is to consist of two distinct -parts; the school proper and the college. In the first, as is deemed -suitable in a great commercial city, youths will be grounded in the -elements of a sound commercial education; in the second the senior -students will go through the usual course of preparation for the -Universities. The college is to be self-supporting, unsectarian, and -non-political. The fees are settled on a scale so low as to make the -trial interesting as an experiment--and the lectures are to be open to -ladies: a library and reading-room are to form parts of the -establishment. - -The _sanctum_ of the DUKE OF WELLINGTON at Walmer Castle is described as -a room of but ordinary size, destitute of ornament, and with but scanty -furniture, bearing very much the appearance of the apartment of a petty -officer in a garrison. On the right is an ordinary camp bedstead, with a -single horse-hair mattress, and destitute of curtains. Over this is a -small collection of books, comprising the best English classical -authors, French memoirs, military reports, official publications, and -Parliamentary papers. In the centre of the room is an ink-stained -mahogany table, at which the Duke is occupied in writing some two or -three hours each day; and near this is a smaller portable desk, used for -reading or writing while in bed; besides these, the furniture of the -room consists of some two or three chairs. The window looks out upon the -sea, and a door opens upon the ramparts where, until recently, the Duke -was always to be found as early as six o'clock, taking his morning -walk. - -GUTZLAFF, the missionary to China, presents one of the most striking -examples of activity upon record. He was born in 1803, in Pyritz, a -Pomeranian village, and commenced his missionary labors at about thirty -years of age. He is now on a journey through Europe, the object of which -is to establish a Christian Union for the evangelization of China. In -person he hardly realizes the usual romantic idea of a missionary hero. -He is short and stout, with a ruddy face, broad mouth, and eyelids -sleepily closed. His voice is strong and not pleasant; and he -gesticulates violently. It has been often remarked that persons who have -long resided among the American Indians, become assimilated to them in -personal appearance. A similar assimilation would seem to have taken -place in the person of Gutzlaff. His features have assumed an aspect so -thoroughly Chinese, that he is usually taken by them for a fellow -countryman. - -A correspondent of an English journal furnishes some personal sketches -of the men concerned in the government of the Sandwich Islands, which -have considerable interest. The king, TAMEHAMEHA III., according to this -writer, is a man of some education, for a native, and appears to take -some interest in matters of state. He was formerly addicted to -intemperance, but some years since, through the influence of the -missionaries, abandoned the habit; but is said lately to have returned -to it. He receives an income of $12,000, besides rents from his estates -to the amount of probably $25,000 more. All the principal departments of -government, with but a single exception, are filled by foreigners. The -Minister of Finance occupies the most important post, and exercises the -most powerful influence. This is Mr. G.P. JUDD, an American, a man of -good education and sound judgment, and undoubtedly the fittest man in -the kingdom for the post. The Minister of Foreign Affairs is Mr. R.C. -WYLLIE, a Scotchman. He was formerly a wealthy merchant, whom a roving -disposition brought into the Pacific in 1844. He is a clever, social -gentleman of nearly fifty years of age, who fills the office he holds -with decided ability, and resolutely declines all compensation for his -services. The Minister of the Interior is Mr. JOHN YOUNG, a half-breed, -whose father was an Englishman. He is about thirty-five years of age, -and is said to be the handsomest man in the Islands. He does no -discredit to his post, although like other half-breeds, he can hardly be -considered as of equal capacity to his European colleagues. The Minister -of Public Instruction is Rev. B. ARMSTRONG, until some two years ago a -missionary, who is said to be the best scholar in the Hawaiian language -in the islands. He and Mr. JUDD, exercise the real government of the -islands, which could hardly be in better hands. The salary of the -ministers is $3000 per annum. - -Lord JOHN RUSSELL has intrusted the execution of the national Peel -Monument to Mr. GIBSON at Rome. - -Great complaints are made of injury done to books, and other valuable -works, in the British Museum. - -Among the distinguished men who have died within the last month, we -notice Mr. WATKINS, the son-in-law and biographer of Ebenezer Elliott; -NIKOLAUS LENAU, a German poet, who died in a madhouse; C.F. BECKER, "the -genial," whose philological works have gained him a lasting reputation -in the world of letters; CARL ROTTMAN, painter to the King of Bavaria, -one of the first artists of the day; WENZEL JOHANN TOMASCHEK, one of -the first musical composers of modern times--"the ancient master of -Bohemian music," as he was fondly called at Prague. - - -FRANCE. - -M. Taboureau has discovered a method of converting the mud of the newly -macadamized Boulevards at Paris into bricks; and so confident is the -expectation of thus using it, that the government has invited bids for -the privilege of using it for a series of years. "Cheap as dirt" has -lost its meaning. - -A new shell has just been invented by a chemist named Lagrange, which is -said to be capable of sinking a ship of 120 guns in a few minutes. Some -experiments made with it in the presence of skillful officers were -entirely successful. - -An artist named Garnier died lately in Paris, whose only claim to -distinction lay in the incredibly long time which he spent on incredibly -poor pictures. One of them representing the entrance of Napoleon and -Marie Louise into the Tuileries, took him _thirty-seven_ years, and when -finished was a wretched daub. A notice of his life was read in the -Academy. - -The French papers state, that a number of workmen are employed in fixing -a wire from the Bastile to the Madeleine, as an experiment for a new -company that has proposed to establish an electric telegraph throughout -Paris for the transmission of messages. - -A Belgian engineer, M. Laveleye, proposes to connect the Seine and the -Rhine by means of a canal, by constructing which, navigation would be -open from London to the Black Sea and Constantinople, through the heart -of the Continent, and by means of the great watercourses on or near -whose banks lie the materials of nearly all the internal and external -trade of Europe. The estimated cost is £1,600,000. - -Preparations are in active progress for the grand exhibition of French -pictures and sculpture at the Palais National, which is to commence on -the 15th of December. The official notification which has been issued -directs artists to send in their works from the 2d to the 15th of -November. The exhibitors themselves are to choose the jury of selection, -each exhibitor naming any one he may think fit. The first exhibition of -the kind which ever took place in France was in 1673; and the first time -a selecting jury was formed was in 1745. After the Revolution of 1848 -the jury was abolished, and every body was allowed to exhibit; but this -was found to be impracticable for the future, and the present system of -the artists electing the jury themselves came into operation the -following year. For upward of a century, the members of the Academy of -Painting and Sculpture enjoyed the exclusive privilege of exhibiting. - -Although the censorship on theatrical pieces in Paris has been -re-established in even more than its wonted strictness, the prefect of -police does not think it sufficient. He has recently directed the -commissaries of police (there is one in every theatre every night) to -pay particular attention to every performance, and to notify him if -there be any thing "in the words, style, play, or costume of the actor, -or in the applause or disapprobation of the public," which may appear -politically objectionable. This proceeding of the prefect has caused -profound dissatisfaction in the theatrical circles. - -The Paris "_Débats_" announces two new works from the pen of M. GUIZOT, -to be published at the end of this month. The first is entitled "Monk; -Fall of the Republic, and Re-establishment of the Monarchy in England in -1660." The second is "Washington; Foundation of the Republic of the -United States of America." - -An experiment has been made at the arsenal of Metz, of mortars, hand -grenades, and bombs made of zinc, which has completely succeeded. - -A vessel arrived at Bordeaux on the 18th inst. from Canton, having on -board a curious collection of Chinese arms and costumes for the Museum -of Paris. - -Several works concerning Joan of Arc have recently been published in -France. The one which attracts most attention is devoted to her martial -exploits, and shows that she did not hesitate in combat to put her foe -to death with her own hand. It is also cited as completely exonerating -the English from the odium of having had any part in her horrid -execution, since it shows that she was tried, condemned, and executed by -the Inquisition--that the charges against her were purely and wholly -ecclesiastical; that her trial was conducted in the pure ecclesiastical -form, just as those of any other suspected sorcerer, witch, or heretic; -and that in virtue of ecclesiastical laws she was sentenced and burned. - -An article on Madame de Genlis and the system of education which she -adopted with the late King Louis Philippe, written by the eminent critic -and academician M. de Saint-Beuve, has excited some attention. The -writer dwells upon the prodigious memory of Louis Philippe, and says -that he knew a good deal of almost every possible subject, and had a -great faculty of displaying this multifarious knowledge in conversation. - -The members of the Académie des Sciences, at Paris, have lately been -racking their brains and wearying their tongues, in an attempt to decide -_what_ forms the centre of the earth--whether it be a globe of fire or a -huge furnace, as some say--a perfect void, as others maintain--a solid -substance, harder than granite, according to some--or a mass of water -according to others: but, as might readily be anticipated, these -discussions have had no practical or useful result. - -The subject which has excited most attention at the meetings of the -Academy has been the inquiry made in Algiers, by Bernard and Pelouze, -upon the fearful poison called the Woorari. The composition of this -deadly matter has long been kept a mysterious secret among the priests -and sorcerers of the Rio Negro and the Amazon. It was analyzed by -Humboldt, and the experiments that have now been made confirm his views. -It is a watery extract from a plant of the genus Strychnos. A weapon -with the smallest point covered with the matter kills as instantaneously -as prussic acid. Various experiments have been tried upon animals that -show how immediate is its action, and the singular changes that result -in the blood, which in a moment becomes of a death-black color, and does -not, after death, on exposure to air, recover its usual redness. - -The trials at Algiers have ceased to excite any attention. There are 66 -persons accused of a conspiracy to seize the Government; the reports -come down to the 13th of September. - -We learn from the Paris _Siècle_ that the Academy of Sciences has at -present under consideration a project of a most extraordinary character, -being neither more nor less than a suspension bridge between France and -England. M. Ferdinand Lemaitre proposes to establish an aerostatic -bridge between Calais and Dover. For this purpose he would construct -strong abutments, to which the platform would be attached. At a distance -of every 100 yards across the channel he would sink four barges, heavily -laden, to which would be fixed a double iron chain, of peculiar -construction. A formidable apparatus of balloons, of an elliptical form, -and firmly secured, would support in the air the extremity of these -chains, which would be strongly fastened to the abutments on the shore -by other chains. Each section of 100 yards would cost about 300,000f., -which would make 84,000,000f. for the whole distance across. These -chains, supported in the air at certain distances, would become the -point of support to this fairy bridge, on which the inventor proposes to -establish an atmospheric railway. This project has been developed at -great length by the inventor, and seems to be discussed with great -gravity by the Academy. - -MM. BARRAL and BIXIO, whose two former ascents in crazy and ill-fitted -balloons we noticed some time since, are now superintending the -construction of an aerial machine better adapted for enabling them to -pursue a course of studies in the atmosphere. Its dimensions are to be -fifty-four feet by forty-five, and will be capable of carrying up twenty -persons, if inflated with pure hydrogen; if with carbonated hydrogen, -twelve. We may now hope that the balloon will be redeemed from the -service of charlatanism, and will contribute to the advancement of -science. - - -GERMANY, ITALY, ETC. - -As a natural result of the disturbances in Germany, its current -literature has to a great extent assumed the form of political pamphlets -and romances. Among the works of more general interest, which have -recently made their appearance, we note the following: The Book of -Predictions and Prophecies: a complete collection of all the writings of -all the prominent prophets and seers of the present and past; to wit, of -Ailly, Bishop Müller, Peter Tarrel, &c., with predictions concerning -Jerusalem, Orval, the End of the World, &c. Popular History of the -Catholic Church, brought down to the present time, by J. SPORCHIL. The -Present: an Encyclopædic Representation of Contemporary History. This, -though in some respects, an independent work, may yet be considered as a -supplement to the celebrated Conversations-Lexicon. It is published in -parts, of which two or three appear each month, twelve parts forming a -volume. The Parts which have just been published, contain the history of -the German National Congress; the Hungarian Revolution; the Local and -Political state of Nassau; the Insurrection in Schleswig-Holstein in -1848; State and town of Frankfort. It is published by Brockhaus, of -Leipzig, who also announces New Dramatic Poems, by OEHLENSCHLAGER. -History of the Heretics of the Middle Ages, especially of the eleventh, -twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, by C.U. HAHN. Henrietta Herz, her -Life and Reminiscences, edited by J. FURST. The authoress passed a long -life on terms of intimate friendship with men of science and literature. -Her reminiscences, though written late in life, present a lively and -good-humored picture of the society of Berlin for a long course of -years, embracing sketches of Mirabeau, Jean Paul, Müller, the historian, -Schleiermacher, Humboldt, Ludwig Börne, and others. - -A bronze statue of the celebrated agriculturist, ALBERT THAER, has just -been erected at Leipzig. The costume is that of a German farmer, -slightly idealized, and wearing a broad mantle. The right hand is -raised as if in the act of teaching; the left holds a roll, with the -inscription, "National Husbandry;" and upon the marble pedestal is -inscribed, "The German Cultivators to the honored teacher, ALBERT -THAER." - -At the royal foundry in Munich preparations are making for casting in -bronze three colossal statues: that of Gustavus Adolphus, for -Göttenburg; that of the Swedish poet Tegner, for Stockholm; and that of -Walter of Plettenberg, a celebrated Livonian general, surnamed "The -Conqueror of the Russians." The last statue was modeled by Schwanthaler; -the others are the works of two young Swedish sculptors, MM. Fogelberg -and Quarnstroem, both residing in Rome. - -An extract of a private letter from Rome states that the Coliseum is in -process of restoration. - -LESSING'S great picture--"The Martyrdom of Huss," is described at length -by a Düsseldorf correspondent of the Leipzig _Grenzboten_. It is -eighteen feet by fifteen, and contains some twenty-seven figures of the -size of life; which, contrary to the practice of the French painters in -pictures of this size, are so carefully finished, that they can be -looked at close at hand. There is not a superfluous figure in the -picture--none introduced to fill a space, as is too frequently the case -in large paintings. The clearness of the general idea is not marred by -the effect of the separate parts: the artistic separation of the group -suffers the main figure first to attract the eye. In this picture -Lessing has given proof of his ability in landscape as well as in -figures. The next work upon which he is to be engaged is a large -picture, commissioned by the King of Prussia, representing the -imprisonment of Pope Paschal by Henry V. - -An association has been formed in Jerusalem for the investigation of -subjects connected with the Holy Land, including history, language, -numismatics, statistics, manufactures, commerce, agriculture, natural -history, and every other subject of literary and scientific research, -with the exception of religious controversy. From the names of those -engaged in the project, it is hoped that the association will make large -additions to our present stores of information respecting Palestine. - -The Leipzig journals contain notices of the recent productions of Polish -literature, which are not without interest even in this country. A -romance, by the Countess Ludwica Offolinska, recently published at -Cracow, has excited considerable attention. It is entitled "The Fate of -Sophia," and is written with great simplicity, and the deepest religious -feeling. The heroine receives at home a religious training, and then is -thrown out into the world. She appears in succession as the -waiting-maid, and then the friend of her mistress; then as maid to a -worn-out woman of fashion, and at last as governess to the children of -her first beloved mistress and friend. The sound principles she had -learned at her father's house, serve her as a defense amid all the -perils which surround her in her career. The same authoress has put -forth two comedies: "The Holy Christ," and "Vespers in the Country." - -VINCENT POL, a poet, and for a short time Professor of Geography in the -University of Cracow, is one of the most distinguished geographers of -the day. His "Glance at the Northern Waters of the Carpathians and their -Districts," is an earnest of important contributions to geographical -science from the Slavic countries. - -F. ANTONIEWICZ, an ecclesiastic, has published "A Festival-day Lecture -to our People," written with great eloquence. RYCHCICKI, otherwise known -as a historian, has put forth a "History of the celebrated Chancellor -Skarga, and a Description of the Century in which he lived." - -From the Warsaw press have appeared, among other works, "A Lexicon of -Polish Painters," comprising all artists who were born, or lived in -Poland, or whose works refer to that country. It is by RASTAWIECKI, -contains two volumes, and is ornamented with portraits. DORBRSKI'S "A -Few Words more about the Caucasus," is a continuation of a former work. - -From Wilna appears the "Athenæum," by the prolific KRASZWSKI. It -contains from the pen of the editor a work of great value, "Lithuania -under Witold," and a romance. "The Wilna Album" contains seventy sheets -of views of interesting and remarkable places in that city. - -There are now published in Russia 154 periodicals, of which 108 are in -Russian, 29 in German, 8 in French, 5 Polish, 3 Lettish, and 1 Italian. -Of these 64 are published in St. Petersburgh, 20 in the East-sea German -provinces, 13 in Moscow, 5 in Odessa, and 52 in the remaining parts of -the empire. - -BROCKHAUS, the great Leipzig publisher, announces a translation into -German of TICKNOR'S History of Spanish Literature, by Dr. R.H. JULIUS, -of Hamburg; with the assistance of FERDINAND WOLF, of Vienna, and other -scholars. The German editor has labored for several years in this -department of literature, and will also avail himself of Dozy's learned -work on Arabian-Spanish literature, which appeared in Holland in 1849. - -A paragraph in the London Builder states that a very curious discovery -has been made in the Mosque of St. Sophia, at Constantinople. In the -course of cleansing and repairing the interior, the original decorations -in mosaic have been brought to light, including, as it is said, a -portrait of Constantine. Drawings have been made, and are on their way -to England. The Sultan, to prevent the necessity of removing them, as -portraits are prohibited by the Koran, has considerately ordered them to -be covered up again. - -A newly invented locomotive steam engine has been tried at Charleroi, -with full success. The inventor, M. Hector de Callias, a Sardinian -engineer, proposes to increase the speed of locomotives, to give them an -adherence four times greater than they now have, and to decrease the -expense of fuel. By the pressure of only one atmosphere the wheels made, -in the trial referred to, 300 revolutions a minute, which would give a -speed of 24 leagues an hour. The Belgian Minister of Public Works has -appointed a committee of engineers to report to him on the experiments -which are to take place on the government lines, and has ordered every -assistance to be given to the inventor to facilitate his object. - -MEYERBEER is engaged in composing the music for the choruses of the -Eumenides of Æschylus, which is about to be represented at Berlin, at -the special request of the King of Prussia, who is passionately fond of -the old Greek drama. - -Interesting descriptions are given of the _Volks-Fest_, or great -festival of the Bavarian people, celebrated at Munich on the first of -October, in which the peasants from all the royal possessions receive -from the king, in presence of the assembled multitude, prizes for the -good results of their labor in rearing cattle, &c. The week this year -opened with wet weather, which did not, however, prevent the attendance -of an immense number of the people of all classes and conditions. The -King Maximilian, with his brother Otho, King of Greece, was present, -occupying a splendid pavilion in the centre, around which were ranged -boxes for the gentry and seats for the people. Three days were devoted -to the exhibition of cattle, grain, and agricultural products of all -kinds, intermingled with various sports and gymnastic exercises, and the -fourth was set apart for the unvailing of the gigantic statue of -_Bavaria_, the colossal gift of the Ex-King Ludwig to his people. This -great statue was commenced in 1844, and is now only so far finished as -to warrant the removal of the wooden screens by which it has been -concealed. It is fifty-four feet high, and stands upon a granite -pedestal of thirty feet. It is cast in bronze, of which not less than -125 tons were consumed, and is described as a work of imposing sublimity -and profound beauty. It has for the back-ground a white marble temple, -called the "Hall of Heroes," of Doric architecture, composed of a centre -and two wings, and forming a semi-circle behind the figure. To convey -some idea of the size of the statue it is stated that the face is equal -to the height of a man, the body twelve feet in diameter, the arm five, -the index finger six inches, and two hands can not cover the nail of the -great toe. The grandeur of the features is sanctified by the gracious -sweetness of the expression; the clustering hair falls on either side -from the noble brow, and is entwined with a circle of oak-leaves, one -uplifted arm holding the fame-wreath of laurel, the other grasping a -sword, beneath which sits the lion. Skins clothe the vast body to the -hips; solemn folds of massive drapery, passing off the large symmetry of -the limbs to the feet. The material difficulties attendant upon the -casting were very great. The unvailing of this great work was made the -occasion for a carnival of _fun_. Men of every trade brought for display -gigantic specimens of their respective callings, made upon the same -scale as the statue, which were exhibited with great parade and amidst -magnificent music, and processions, &c. After the multitude had been -collected in front, the screen was suddenly removed, and the colossal -statue stood revealed, and was greeted with shoutings, and the voice of -an immense band of singers. An oration in honor of the king was then -pronounced by Teichlein the painter, from the steps of the pedestal, -after which the throng dispersed. - -The director of the observatory at St. Petersburg, M. Kuppffer has -applied to the French government to establish a number of stations in -different parts of the country for taking meteorological observations, -with the view of aiding him in the vast studies he has been for some -time past making, respecting the climates of different countries. In -England and Germany it appears such stations have been formed, and have -proved of great utility. Before complying with M. Kuppffer's request, -the government has requested the opinion of the academy on the subject. -It can not but be favorable. It is pleasant to see the several nations -of Europe, in the midst of their fierce political dissensions and -struggles for supremacy, thus uniting for the promotion of science. - -In this number of the New Monthly will be found an interesting account -of the character and life of the distinguished German scholar, Kinkel, -who is imprisoned by the Prussian government for his liberal opinions. -Late European papers state that his friends requested permission for him -to continue a work he had commenced on the Fine Arts among the Christian -nations, but it was peremptorily refused. He is not allowed pens and -ink, or books of any kind, and it is said that he is treated with -unusual and cruel rigor. - -Artin Bey, late Prime Minister of Egypt, has not, as was expected, gone -on to Constantinople, but has retired to the mountains of Lebanon, in -Syria, where he awaits the final result of the step he took in flying -from Egypt. - -On the 17th Oct. Prince Paskiewitch completed the fiftieth year of his -service in the Russian army. The emperor held a grand review on that -day, and presented him personally with a Field Marshal's baton, in -acknowledgment of his fidelity. - -M. Freiberg, the director of the opera at Berlin, has brought an action -against Madame Fiorentina, for a breach of engagement, and against -Lumley, of London, for engaging her; he has laid his damages at eighty -thousand francs. - -The Pope has performed a popular act of clemency, by pardoning, only an -hour before the execution was to have taken place, the three individuals -convicted of complicity in the attempt to assassinate Col. Nardonic, -Chief of the Roman Police, on the 19th of June last. The attempt having -failed, Pius IX. commuted the pain of death to that of the hulks for -life, without hope of further remission. It was a political crime, the -death of the odious re-actionist having been decreed in a secret -democratic society. - -The commission appointed in Rome to ascertain and estimate the damage -done to the monuments of Rome, buildings, and ruins, during the siege of -the last year, have concluded their report, and fixed upon the sums of -508,800 francs, as the total, estimated in money, of the damage done by -the besieging French forces, and 1,565,275 francs, of that inflicted by -the Romans themselves. - -The rise of the Nile this year has been unsatisfactory. The river has -already begun to fall, and it is feared that a vast extent of land will -not have been sufficiently watered, and that next year's crops will be -short. - -A project has been started to erect a monument to Columbus, at Palos de -Maguer, opposite the Convent of St. Ann, whence the great discoverer set -sail on his first voyage. The design proposed is a colossal statue, -twenty feet high, surrounded by groups of figures, forming a base of -forty feet in circumference. The lowest estimate of the expense is -$100,000. - - -ITEMS OF GENERAL NEWS. - -A rather extraordinary contest has arisen between the manufacturers of -embroidered articles at Nancy and the wholesale merchants in Paris. The -former demand a complete prohibition of the imports of the articles -which they manufacture. The merchants, on the other hand, defend the -principle of the freedom of commerce, and demand that the embroidered -muslins of Switzerland be admitted into France. M. Dumas, the Minister -of Commerce, has pronounced in favor of the manufacturers of Nancy. - -During the last two years and a half, the houses of 1951 families have -been leveled in Kilrush, Ireland, and 408 other families have been -unhoused. - -The tide of emigration is continued as vigorously as ever. From Kerry -considerable numbers were proceeding to Cork and Limerick, to embark for -the United States. - -Preparations, it is said, are in active progress for the reorganization -of the Dublin Trades Union--a body which, some years since, possessed -considerable influence in the conduct of political affairs in the -metropolis. - -A society has been formed in London for the reform of abuses in the -Court of Chancery. - -It is proposed to erect a monument in Edinburgh to Wallace, the Scottish -hero. - -More than 2000 members of the Methodist Society have been expelled at -Bristol, because they are in favor of a reform in the polity of their -Society. - -A sailors' home on a large scale is about to be established at Plymouth. - -A great chess match, to be played by amateurs of all nations during the -Exhibition of 1851, is being arranged for. - -Five new whalers are to be added to the whaling fleet of Peterhead next -season. - -Large purchases of wine continue to be made in the Douro, at high -prices. - -Upwards of five hundred members have already joined the Liverpool -Freehold Land Society. - -A mummy brought from Thebes by Sir J.E. Tennent was unrolled in the -Museum at Belfast. - -Numerous bales of moss have lately been imported into London from Cork. - -Meyerbeer is at present at Paris, and has attended several public as -well as private concerts. - -The library left by Dr. Neander is to be sold by auction. There are -about 4000 volumes; among them some of the best editions of the old -church Fathers, presented by the theological students to Neander on his -birth-day. An attempt is making to purchase the library for the use of -the theological students at the University. The total sum demanded is -not more than $4000. - -An immense layer of sulphur has been discovered near Alexandria. It can -be obtained in large quantities so cheaply, that it is expected the -price of the article will be reduced in Europe. - -The English population of Madrid increases in a remarkable degree. The -Aranjuez railroad, the gas works, the mines of Guadalajara, and various -other industrial enterprises, afford employment to many of them. - -A verdict of manslaughter has been returned by the coroner's jury -against Captain Rowles, of the bark New Liverpool, lately arrived at -Southampton, in which some Lascar seamen had died from neglect. - -The Madrid aeronaut, when preparing last week for his aerial voyage over -Europe, to convince the world that a balloon can be guided in any -direction, found a large rent in the silk. The voyage has, therefore, -been delayed for some weeks. - -A steam company is on the eve of being formed at Constantinople for -towing vessels through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. The capital is -to be £150,000, in fifteen hundred shares of £100 each. The Sultan and -most of the ministers are on the list. - -A Transylvanian nobleman, writing to a friend in England, speaks of the -pleasure with which he read of the reception of Haynau in England. He -states that General Count Leiningen, an hour before his execution, said, -"You will see our infamous murder will excite the greatest sensation in -England, and I recommend Haynau not to venture on a visit to England, -for the people will stone him." - -The landed interest of the late Sir Robert Peel was not much under -£35,000 a year. - -A private in the 56th regiment of the line was sentenced to death by -court-martial in Paris for having struck a corporal. - -The circulation of all the Paris newspapers has greatly diminished, -under the operation of recent laws. - -About one hundred Mormons passed through Liverpool lately, on their way -to the Salt Lake Valley, North America. - -It is stated that about £70,000 was paid by the Government of Spain for -the steamships Hibernia and Caledonia. - -Louis Napoleon has purchased fifty head of fallow deer, of Mr. Fuller, -of England, with which to stock the park of St. Cloud. - -Leipsig fair, which has just terminated, proved very satisfactory. -Worsted and cotton goods of English manufacture were in good demand. - -A revolt has broken out in Morocco, in consequence of a decree by the -emperor, ordering the skins of all slaughtered animals to be considered -as his exclusive property. - -An iron lighthouse of vast dimensions is about to be erected on the -Fastnett, a solitary rock several miles out in the Atlantic, off the -coast of Cork and Kerry. - -In London, under the patronage of the Lady Mayoress, a large carpet is -in progress of preparation for the Exhibition. It is to be thirty feet -in length, twenty in width, and to consist of one hundred and fifty -squares. - -It is stated upon good authority, that in the articles of rice and -tobacco alone, a mercantile firm in Liverpool will this year realize -£300,000, supposed to be the largest sum ever made by any mercantile -house in Europe in one year. - -The foreign merchants and shippers of London have agreed to establish a -"club for all nations," to meet the requirements of the strangers, -merchants and others, who will be in town during the Exhibition of 1851. -The club will be provided, in addition to the usual accommodations, with -interpreters acquainted with all the languages of the East and of -Europe, guides and commissioners, and departments for information. A -committee of gentlemen, merchants of London, has been elected to carry -out the undertaking. - -About two years ago, the scientific world was surprised by the -announcement that Drs. Krapf and Rebman, who had been zealously employed -in connection with the Missionary Society in Eastern and Central Africa, -had discovered a mountain or mountains within one degree of the Equator, -and about two hundred miles distant from the sea, which were covered -with perpetual snow, and which there was every reason to suppose were no -other than Ptolemy's "Mountains of the Moon." It now appears that there -is no doubt of the fact. - -A curious exhibition is in course of preparation for the World's Fair, -by Mr. Wyld, M.P., the eminent map-engraver. He is constructing a huge -globe, of fifty-six feet in diameter, which will be provided with a -convenient mode of ingress and egress; the different countries of the -world will be represented upon the inner, and not upon the outer -surface, and the interior will be fitted up with galleries and -staircases, so as to enable the visitor to make a tour of the world, and -visit each of the countries whose industry or productions will be -displayed in the Great Exhibition. - -The wife of Mr. Maclean, late M.P. for Oxford, has been killed, by being -thrown from her carriage at Castellamare, near Naples. - -In many of the provincial towns a strong feeling prevails in favor of -making the Peel monument assume the shape of useful institutions, such -as libraries. - -A new monthly magazine, adapted to meet the wants of the advanced -section of the Nonconformists, has been announced. - -The inmates of St. Luke's Hospital were treated to the entertainments of -music and dancing at a lunatics' ball. The success of the experiment -will lead to its repetition. - -A new dock, called the Victoria Tidal Harbor, has been opened at -Greenock. - -Highway robbery is becoming very prevalent in the neighborhood of -Liverpool. - -A movement is in progress for the erection of a monument at Newcastle to -the late George Stephenson, "the father of railways." - -The great water-works for the supply of Manchester are rapidly -approaching completion. - -The _Manchester Guardian_ notices the arrival at Manchester of a -consignment of 250 bales of saw-ginned cotton from India. - -The trade of Paisley continues in a satisfactory state, and weavers are -in great demand. - -The tonnage of the port of Liverpool has increased from 1,223,318 tons, -in 1836, to 3,309,746 in 1849. - -The subscriptions of the City of London Committee toward the Great -Exhibition amount to £26,189 18s. 9d. - -The South Devon Railway Company lost £364,000 by the atmospheric bubble. - -The money sent by the Irish emigrants in America to their starving -relatives at home equals, it is said, the whole of the Irish poor-rates. - -The Prussian Commissioners, on the subject of the Exhibition of 1851, -have issued an address recommending a hearty co-operation in the design. - -The Koh-i-noor diamond, or Mountain of Light, will, it is said, be -placed among the collection of minerals at the Exhibition in Hyde Park -next year. - -The county expenditure for the West Riding of Yorkshire, was in 1824 -£38,860; in 1832 it had risen to £53,477; and went on increasing until -1847, when it had risen to £103,561. - -A French paper, the _Courrier du Nord_, says that the Minister of -Agriculture, while recently visiting the coal mines of the Anzin -Company, at Denain, discovered a rough diamond, fixed in a stone which -had been extracted from the coal. - -An Englishman, Col. Daniels, has left his estate of nearly two millions -of dollars to a bookseller in New Haven, Connecticut, who was kind to -him while sick and without friends in the United States. Two claimants -have appeared for the bequest. Mr. Levi H. Young and Mr. Charles S. -Uhlhorn, who were in partnership at the time referred to. - -The Hungarian exiles at Constantinople, it is said, are about to issue a -journal. The Italians there have published flying sheets for some time -past. - -A correspondent of a Philadelphia paper writes that caricatures on -American subjects abound in Paris. - -Capt. Stansbury, of the Topographical Engineers, and party, arrived at -St. Louis, Nov. 12, on their return from an exploring expedition to the -Great Salt Lake. - -A Paris paper asserts that Guizot refused a nomination as a candidate -for the National Assembly from the department of the Cher. - - - - -LITERARY NOTICES. - - -John S. Taylor has published the third edition of _The Salamander_, the -exquisite prose poem by Mrs. E. OAKES SMITH, which found such a cordial -appreciation from the most genial critical tastes on its first -publication. The present edition has received the title of _Hugo_, from -one of the principal characters in the story, though we think that a -more appropriate and suggestive name might have been _The Lost Angel_. -Under whatever title, however, the work belongs to a unique and most -difficult branch of literary composition. Essentially poetical in its -conception, it is clothed in the forms of prose, which the most -consummate artistic skill can hardly mould into an adequate expression -for such bold and lofty speculations as pervade the whole structure of -this work. The language, which is singularly beautiful and impressive, -is made the vehicle for an allegory of a very refined and subtle -character, appealing but indirectly to the mass of human sympathies, and -illuminated only by the dim and fitful light of the supernatural. It is -no wonder that the allegorical mode should present such potent -seductions to genius of the highest order. It leaves such ample scope to -the imagination, allows such indulgence to the largest liberty of -invention, and is so fruitful in materials for vivid and effective -illustration, that it offers the most enticing charm to writers whose -consciousness of power is embarrassed in the usual forms of expression. -At the same time, unless like the allegories of sacred history, the -import is too obvious to be mistaken, or like those of John Bunyan, it -lays open the secrets of universal experience, this mode of writing is -too far removed from the popular mind to contain the most powerful -elements of success. Even in the creative hands of Dante and Spenser, -the allegory is regarded rather as a hindrance than an aid, by the -warmest admirers of their poetry. Hence we consider it no discredit to -the author of "Hugo," that she has not entirely conquered the -difficulties of this style of literary art. Her production is studded -with beauties of thought and phrase that betray a genius of rare vigor -and versatility. She has nobly dared to deviate from the beaten track, -and has thus constructed a work, which must be regarded as a gem of -precious quality, for its exquisite brilliancy of coloring, its -transparent beauty of texture, and the vivid and natural truthfulness -with which it gives back the lights of a radiant imagination. - -_A Pastor's Sketches_, by Rev. ICHABOD S. SPENCER (published by M.W. -Dodd), is a unique volume, presenting a highly instructive record of the -experience of the author, during an active and varied pastoral -intercourse. The sketches, which are all drawn from real life, describe -the mental operations under the influence of strong religious emotion, -in a manner equally interesting to the psychologist and the theologian. -Most of the instances related occurred at a period of unusual -excitement, but they are free from any tincture of fanaticism, and may -be studied to advantage by all who are interested in the moral and -religious advancement of their fellow men. The author displays a -remarkable insight into human nature, a strong attachment to the -doctrines of the church in which he is a minister, a rare power of -close, consecutive reasoning, which is used with great effect in -disposing of skeptical objections, a fluency of language and a variety -and aptness of illustration, that must always make him a master in the -work of dealing with troubled, or erring, or diseased consciences. His -volume can not fail to become a favorite on the table of the pastor, -and, indeed, of all who are curious in the narratives of religious -experience. - -Harper and Brothers have published _The History of Madame Roland_, by -J.S.C. ABBOTT, an agreeable compilation of the principal events in the -life of that extraordinary woman, forming one of the most readable -volumes of the day. - -Baker and Scribner have published a second and revised edition of -_Sketches of Reforms and Reformers_, by HENRY B. STANTON, a work which -has attained a great and deserved popularity. It is written with vigor, -animation, and impartiality, presenting a lucid, systematic view of the -progress of political reform in Great Britain, with lively portraitures -of the most eminent men who have been distinguished in the movement. - -Lewis Colby has published _The Churches and Sects of the United States_, -by Rev. P. DOUGLASS GORREE, giving a brief account of the origin, -history, doctrines, church-government, mode of worship, usages, and -statistics of the various denominations in this country. The copious -information which it presents, although reduced within a narrow compass, -will be found to comprise most of the essential facts concerning the -different topics treated, and from the diligence and candor evinced by -the author, we have no doubt of its entire reliability. - -The same publisher has issued _A Cenotaph to a Woman of the Burman -Mission_, being a memoir of Mrs. HELEN M. MASON, whose devoted piety and -modest worth eminently entitled her to this feeling commemoration by her -husband. - -Tallis, Willoughby, and Co. continue the serial publication of _The Life -of Christ_, by JOHN FLEETWOOD, beautifully illustrated with steel -engravings; and _Scripture History for the Young_, by FREDERICK -BANBRIDGE, profusely embellished with appropriate plates, representing -the most remarkable incidents in the Old and New Testaments. - -Ticknor, Reed, and Fields have published a new volume of _Poems_ by -GRACE GREENWOOD, consisting of a selection from her contributions to the -Magazines, with several pieces which we have not before seen in print. -Like all the productions of that popular authoress, they are marked with -strong traces of individuality, varying with the mood of the moment, now -expressing a deep and melancholy pathos, and now gay with exuberant hope -and native elasticity of spirit. A transparent atmosphere of -intellectuality is the medium for the loftiest flights of her fancy, -inspiring confidence even in her most erratic excursions, and giving a -healthy tone to her glowing effusions of sentiment. - -We have also from Ticknor, Reed, and Fields a new edition of _The -Grandfather's Chair_, by NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE, with _Biographical -Stories_ from the lives of Benjamin West, Sir Isaac Newton, Dr. Johnson, -Oliver Cromwell, Benjamin Franklin, and Queen Christina. Mr. Hawthorne's -narratives for juvenile reading are no less original and attractive in -their kind, than the admirable tales and descriptions by which he is -known to the majority of readers. - -A cheap edition of the powerful sea-story, _The Green Hand_, has been -published in one volume complete, by Harper and Brothers, enabling the -admirers of that racy production to enjoy its flavor without making "two -bites of the cherry." - -_The New-Englander_, for November (published at New Haven by J.B. -Carrington), is an able number of this bold and masculine periodical, -discussing various topics of interest with a healthy grasp of intellect, -and a fresh energy of expression, which show that it has escaped the -incubus of a lifeless religionism, and breathes a free, independent, and -aspiring spirit, equally removed from presumption and timidity. Among -the articles, is an elaborate and able reply to Professor Agassiz, on -"The Original Unity of the Human Race," an admirable Review of -"Tennyson's In Memoriam," a paper on California, with others of no less -interest. - -The _Bibliotheca Sacra_, conducted by B.B. EDWARDS, and E.A. PARK, for -November (Andover, W.I. Draper), abounds in choice and recondite -learning, with a sufficient sprinkling of popular articles to attract -the attention of general readers. "The Life and Character of De Wette" -gives an instructive account of the position and influence of that -eminent German theologian. The whole number is highly creditable to the -condition of sacred literature in this country. - -Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, have published _Lyrics of Spain and -Erin_, by EDWARD MATURIN, a neat volume of spirited and graceful poetry, -consisting of Spanish Ballads, Legends and Superstitions of Ireland, and -Miscellaneous Pieces. - -We have also from their press ASTRÆA, _A Phi Beta Kappa Poem_, by O.W. -HOLMES, gleaming with brilliant flashes of wit, and playfully scoring -some of the prevalent follies of the day; a volume of _Biographical -Essays_, by THOMAS DE QUINCEY, a work of extraordinary interest, as -presenting the judgment of that bold and vigorous thinker on such names -as Shakspeare, Pope, Lamb, Goethe, and Schiller; and _Numa Pompilius_, -translated from the French of FLORIAN, by J.A. FERRIS. - -_Jamaica in 1850_, by JOHN BIGELOW (published by Geo. P. Putnam), is -less a book of travels than a treatise on practical economy, suggested -by a short residence on that island during a part of last winter. The -largest portion of the volume is devoted to a discussion of the causes -to which the commercial and industrial decline of Jamaica may be -ascribed, and of the measures which, in the opinion of the author, would -restore that delightful and fertile island to more than its ancient -prosperity. The root of the evil, according to Mr. Bigelow, is to be -found in the degradation of labor, the non-residence of the landholders, -the encumbered condition of real estate, and the monopoly of the soil by -a small number of proprietors. He warmly maintains the importance of -developing the vast industrial resources of the island, and establishing -the laboring classes in a state of personal independence. His views are -set forth at considerable length, and with a variety of illustrations. -The discussion is often enlivened by descriptions of local customs and -manners, narratives of personal experience, and lively sketches of -incident and character. Mr. Bigelow's style has the fluency, ease, and -vivacity, with the occasional inaccuracies, which naturally proceed from -the habit of perpetual and rapid composition, inseparable from the -profession of a newspaper editor. Some portions of this volume have -already appeared in the _New York Evening Post_, of which Mr. Bigelow is -one of the conductors, where they produced a very favorable impression. -They lose none of their interest in the present form, and will be found -to present a mass of important information in an unusually agreeable -manner. - -Messrs. Tappan, Whittemore, and Mason have recently published _Cantica -Laudis; or, The American Book of Church Music_, being chiefly a -selection of chaste and elegant melodies from the most classic authors, -ancient and modern, with harmony parts; together with Chants, Anthems, -and other set pieces, for choirs and schools; to which are added, Tunes -for Congregational singing, by LOWELL MASON and GEORGE JAMES WEBB. Also, -by the same authors, _The Melodist_, a collection of popular and social -songs, original and selected, harmonized and arranged for soprano, alto, -tenor, and base voices. - -_Beranger; Two Hundred of his Lyrical Poems, done into English verse_, -by WILLIAM YOUNG (published by George P. Putnam), is a selection from -Beranger's Songs, of which one hundred have already appeared in a London -edition, and are here reproduced, after careful revision, the remainder -being now printed for the first time. On many accounts, Beranger is less -suited for representation in a foreign language than most poets who have -gained such wide popularity among their own countrymen. Many of his most -brilliant effusions have a strong tincture of licentiousness; they are -marked by a freedom of delineation and of language which every decent -English translator would wish to avoid; and their publication in any -other land than that of their origin, would be an ungracious enterprise. -Besides, his productions are singularly idiomatic in their style; -growing out of the current events of the day; abounding in local and -political allusions; and strongly impressed with the national -characteristics of France. The external form of these popular lyrics -seems to be the necessary costume of their spirit. You can not separate -one from the other without violating the integrity of the piece. Its -vitality resides in the light, airy, evanescent structure of the rhythm. -This delicate vase can not be broken without wasting the precious aromas -which it incloses. With these formidable difficulties in the way of the -translator, we must give Mr. Young the highest credit for the felicitous -manner in which he has accomplished his task. His selections are made -with an admirable balance of taste. He has excluded all pieces, that -could justly be condemned on the score of grossness or a frivolous -treatment of sacred things, while he has not yielded to the suggestions -of an over-fastidious and morbid prudery. The translation bears the -marks of pains-taking diligence and a scrupulous desire for accuracy. It -is the result of a profound study and a familiar knowledge of the -author. It renders the general outlines of the original with almost the -fidelity of a daguerreotype. The reader who has no acquaintance with -French poetry may obtain from it a sufficiently distinct idea of the -costume, the movement, and the verbal harmonies of Beranger. Nor is this -all. Many of the songs are alive and tremulous with gayety and feeling. -They are written as the author would have written in English. If the -racy and delicious flavor of the original is not always preserved, it is -no fault of the translator. Literary art has not yet discovered the -secret of retaining the freshness of inspiration through the process of -transplanting into a foreign tongue. A neat biographical sketch of -Beranger is a welcome appendage to the volume. - -C.S. Francis and Co. have issued a neat edition of HANS CHRISTIAN -ANDERSEN'S popular juveniles _The Story Teller_, _The Ugly Duck_, -_Little Ellie_, and other tales, illustrated with wood-engravings. - -_The Gem of the Western World_, published by Cornish, Lamport, and Co., -is the title of a new Annual for 1851, edited by Mrs. MARY E. HEWITT, -containing several original articles from her own pen, with -contributions from a variety of well-known popular writers. The -admirable taste of the editress is a guarantee for the excellence of the -literary matter which she has admitted into the volume. - -D. Appleton and Co. announce a magnificent collection of Gift-Books for -the approaching holidays, which in the chaste and elevated character of -their contents, and the exquisite beauty of their embellishments have -not been surpassed by any similar publications in this country. _Our -Saviour with Apostles and Prophets_, edited by Rev. Dr. WAINWRIGHT, -contains a series of portraits of the sacred personages described in the -text, from designs by Finden and other artists of acknowledged eminence -in England. They are beautifully engraved on steel, presenting with -great fidelity to character, the ideal traits of the prophets and -martyrs, whose features they are supposed to represent. Each plate is -accompanied with an original essay, prepared expressly for this volume, -and written with uniform propriety and good taste. The writers are among -the most distinguished American divines in their respective -denominations. They have performed the task assigned to them in the -preparation of this elegant work, with good judgment, fidelity, and -eminent success. Instead of attempting to "gild the refined gold" of the -sacred writers with the thin tinsel of modern rhetoric, they have -preserved the decorum appropriate to the subject, and expressed the -reflections which it suggests, in grave, modest, and forcible language. -Hence, this volume possesses an intrinsic value, as a work on Scripture -Biography, which recommends it to the notice of the religious public, -independently of the beauty and impressive character of its pictorial -illustrations. We are greatly indebted both to the Editor and the -Publishers for such a valuable addition to the tempting literature of -the holidays. - -Another of their illustrated publications, of a less expensive -character, is entitled _Sacred Scenes_, describing various passages in -the life of our Saviour by artistic representations, accompanied with -suitable selections from the works of distinguished English writers. - -_Evenings at Donaldson Manor_ is a charming collection of tales and -narratives from the pen of MARIA J. MCINTOSH, which with _Midsummer -Fays_, by SUSAN PINDAR, is adapted to the younger classes of readers, -forming beautiful and appropriate gifts for the season of social -congratulations and the exchanges of friendship and domestic affection. - -_The National Cook-Book_, by A LADY of Philadelphia, published by Robert -E. Peterson, is a treatise adapted to American tastes and habits, and -will, of course, be satisfactory to those who prefer a bill of fare in -their own language. Great attention has been paid to that department of -cookery exclusively adapted to the sick or convalescent, most of the -dishes having been prepared according to the directions of eminent -physicians of Philadelphia. - -_The Relation between the Holy Scriptures and some Parts of Geological -Science_, is reprinted by Robert E. Peterson, of Philadelphia, from the -fourth London edition, greatly enlarged by its veteran author, JOHN PYE -SMITH, the distinguished Professor of Divinity in the College at -Homerton. The work, which consists of a series of Lectures, illustrated -by copious notes, displays extensive and diligent research, uncommon -strength and fairness of argument, and an animated and impressive style. -It has met with brilliant success in England, and has gained a highly -favorable reputation in this country. - -Little and Brown, Boston, have issued the Second Volume of _The Works of -John Adams, with a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations_, by his -Grandson, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, the first volume, which has not yet -made its appearance, being reserved for the Life of President Adams, -announced on the title-page. The present volume is composed of a Diary, -some portions of an Autobiography, and Notes of the earlier debates in -the Provincial Congress at Philadelphia. The Diary was commenced in -1755, the year of the author's graduation at Harvard College, and -continues to 1778, the period of his first departure for Europe as Envoy -to the Court of Versailles. It presents a curious picture of the youth -and early manhood of the celebrated statesman, and of the gradual -development of political events till their consummation in the war of -the Revolution. The sketches which are also given of several of the -Massachusetts politicians, whose names have since become identified with -the history of their country, derive a peculiar interest from the -freedom and unconsciousness with which they are drawn, the writer having -no idea of publicity, and intending his record of current events as -merely the pastime of a leisure hour. His frank and copious details, -which are published without alteration by the Editor, often give an -amusing illustration of the domestic life of New England, and with a few -homely touches, reveal the spirit of the people which led to resistance -against British aggression. The manner in which the work has been -prepared for publication is in a high degree creditable to the fidelity, -impartiality, and excellent judgment of the Editor. He gives all -necessary explanations in cases of doubt or obscurity, but never -distracts the attention of the reader by a superfluity of comment. With -an evident tenderness for the reputation of his venerable relative, he -allows him to depict himself in genuine colors, making no attempt to -gloss over his infirmities, or to place his virtues in an exaggerated -light. The volume is issued in a style of great typographical elegance, -with a portrait of President Adams in his youth, and a very natural -sketch of the primitive old Yankee homestead in Quincy. - -_The Broken Bracelet and Other Poems_ (Phil., Lindsay and Blakiston), by -Mrs. C.H.W. ESLING, is the title of a volume of poems, which, in another -form, have been favorably received by the public, and are now collected -by the suggestion of the literary friends of the author, formerly Miss -Waterman. They are justly entitled to the compliment of a reprint, on -account of their true poetic sentiment, their graceful versification, -their delicate appreciation of beauty, and their pure and healthy -sympathies with the varied aspects of humanity. The poem, from which the -volume takes its name, is a romantic Italian story, abounding in natural -touches of pathos, and many of the smaller pieces show a depth of -feeling and versatility of expression that can not fail to make them -general favorites. - -_The Immortal; A Dramatic Romance, and Other Poems_, by JAMES NACK -(published by Stringer and Townsend), is introduced with a memoir of the -author, by GEORGE P. MORRIS, who gives an interesting description of the -circumstances which, at an early period of life, decided his future -position. Mr. Nack was the son of a merchant in the city of New York. He -soon displayed a love of study, which gave promise of future -intellectual distinction. His genius for poetry received a remarkably -precocious development. But he had scarcely attained his ninth year when -he met with a severe accident, which resulted in the total destruction -of his hearing. He was thus deprived of the power of articulation to so -great a degree, that he has since confined himself to writing as the -medium of intercourse with others. His natural energy and perseverance, -however, have enabled him to overcome the obstacles to literary culture, -which, to most persons, would have been insurmountable. The poetry in -the present volume, in addition to the interest excited by the situation -of the author, possesses the decided merits of a vivid imagination, -great tenderness and purity of feeling, and usually a chaste and -vigorous diction. - -Baker and Scribner have issued an edition of MILTON'S _Paradise Lost_, -in one handsome duodecimo volume, edited by Professor JAMES R. BOYD, -containing original, explanatory, and critical notes, with a copious -selection from the commentaries of Newton, Todd, Sir Egerton Brydges, -Stebbing, and others. The edition is illustrated by engravings from the -celebrated designs of Martin. - -_A General View of the Fine Arts_ (published by G.P. Putnam), is the -production of a lady, who, while devoting her leisure hours to its -composition, was practically engaged with the pallet and colors. It is -intended to diffuse a taste for the study of the fine arts, by gathering -into a small compass, the information which was before diffused through -many expensive and often inaccessible volumes. Under the different heads -of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, and Music, the author has -presented a variety of historical sketches, discussions of theoretical -principles, anecdotes of celebrated artists, and descriptions of their -most important productions. Without making any pretensions to entire -originality, the work displays a lucid arrangement, an extent of -information, and a pleasing vivacity of style, which give a very -favorable idea of the diligence, conscientiousness, critical judgment, -and artistic enthusiasm of the anonymous author. An appropriate -introduction by Huntington, the distinguished American painter, -accompanies the volume. - -G.P. Putnam has published the _Artist's Chromatic Hand-Book_, by JOHN P. -RIDNER, a convenient practical treatise on the properties and uses of -the different colors employed in painting. - - -FOOTNOTE: - -[11] Six vacancies. - - - - -Fashions for December. - - -[Illustration: FIG. 1.--VISITING AND BALL COSTUMES FOR DECEMBER] - -The extremely mild weather which has prevailed during the autumn, has -somewhat retarded the preparations for winter; yet the _modists_ have -not been unmindful of the passage of the months, and the fact that -December always promises frosts and snows. From Paris, the great -fountain of taste in dress, elegant bonnets have been received. Some are -of white, lilac, pink, and green satin, covered with black lace of rich -pattern; others are of black and colored velvets, trimmed with a small -feather on each side; the inside trimming composed of velvet flowers and -foliage, in tints harmonizing with the color of the bonnet. _Pardessus_, -wadded, and of the same material as the dress, are now generally worn, -the patterns varying but little from those depicted in our last Number. -Dresses, mantelets, and other articles of costume, are ornamented with -braid and embroidery. Embroidered silks are worn, of which the gray, -shot with white, and ornamented with embroidered flowers and foliage of -gray silk, the stems and tendrils being white, are most in vogue. The -corsage is low, open in front, sleeves demi-long. Another seasonable -material for a plain walking and in-door dress, is a French fabric -called _amure_, which consists of a mixture of silk and wool. It is -woven in dress lengths. - -The figure on the left in Figure 1, represents an elegant ball costume. -The dress is composed of white crape, the skirt, which is full, being -handsomely trimmed with white lace and fullings of crape put on at equal -distances; the upper row of lace, reaching to a little below the waist. -Plain low corsage, the top part encircled with a double fall of lace, -forming a kind of _berthe_, and headed with a narrow fulling of crape, -similar to that on the skirt. This _berthe_ entirely conceals the plain, -short sleeve; the whole is worn over a skirt of white satin. The hair is -simply arranged in a cable twist, being confined at the back with a gold -or silver comb. The figure on the right represents a visiting costume. -The dress is a rich plaided silk, composed of a mixture of purple, red, -green, and white. The skirt is made quite plain; low corsage, trimmed -with a double row of white lace across the front, one row standing up, -and the other drooping over the front. _Pardessus_ of the same material, -trimmed all round with a quilling of plain purple ribbon. This is -repeated upon the lower part of the pagoda sleeves, and also serves to -attach the _pardessus_ across the front of the bosom. Under pagoda -sleeves are of white lace. The bonnet is of _paille d'Italie_, lined -with white silk, and decorated with pink roses, the exterior having a -doubled plaited frill of white silk, and a beautiful white ostrich -feather. - -[Illustration: FIG. 2.--EVENING COSTUME] - -FIG. 2 represents an evening costume. The dress is of satin, of a rich -deep American primrose hue, the skirt made quite plain and very full, -_en petit train_; low pointed corsage, trimmed with a fulling of satin -ribbon, the same color as the dress, which is put on to form a kind of -shallow cape round the back part, and descends upon each side of the -front, finishing on either side of the point, and gradually narrowing -from the shoulders. It is trimmed with a fall of white lace upon the -lower edge, a narrower one forming a beading to the plaiting round the -neck. The centre of the corsage is adorned with _noeuds_ of the same -colored ribbon, placed at regular distances; the short sleeves finished -with a row of fulled ribbon, similar to that on the corsage, edged with -a very narrow lace. The _coiffure_ represents the front of the figure on -the left. - -[Illustration: FIG. 3.--COIFFURE FOR BALL] - -FIG. 3 is given chiefly to show an elegant style of _coiffure_ for a -ball or evening party. A portion of the hair is brought forward in -plaits, and fastened at the parting, at the top of the forehead, with a -rich pearl ornament, forming a kind of festoon on each side of the head. -The remainder of the front hair is disposed in a thick curl, which -descends to the curve of the neck. The dress is of lilac satin; the -skirt plain and full. The corsage is low, headed with white lace, and -trimmed on one shoulder, with fullings of satin ribbon, of the same -color as the dress, and upon the other with puffs and _noeuds_ of the -same. Open short sleeves composed of two deep falls of white lace. On -one side a fall of lace extends from the centre of the corsage, and -connects with the sleeves. - -FASHIONABLE COLORS depend entirely upon the complexion; for example, for -ladies who are brunettes, with a fresh color, light blue, straw color, -pink, and pale green, are most in favor; while those of a blonde -complexion universally adopt black, red, and very dark hues. - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: - -Words surrounded by _ are italicized. - -Obvious punctuation errors have been repaired, other punctuations have -been left as printed in the paper book. - -Erroneous page numbers in Table of Content corrected. - -Captions added or corrected to match List of Illustrations. - -Obvious printer's errors have been repaired, other inconsistent -spellings have been kept, including: -- use of hyphen (e.g. "bag-pipe" and "bagpipe"); -- accents (e.g. "dépôts" and "depôts"); -- proper names (e.g. "Leipzig" and "Leipsig"); -- capitalisation (e.g. "Post-Office" and "Post-office"); -- any other inconsistent spellings (e.g. "ambassador" and "embassador"). - -Following corrections are by removal or addition of a word: -- Pg 23, word "of" added (the course of Mary Stuart's career); -- Pg 60, word "a" added (in a low, guarded voice); -- Pg 73, word "get" removed (could get [get] in); -- Pg 135, word "the" removed (surnamed [the] "The Conqueror). - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. -VII, December 1850, Vol. II, by Various - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY *** - -***** This file should be named 40612-8.txt or 40612-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/6/1/40612/ - -Produced by Judith Wirawan, David Kline, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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