In all time, however, men have gone forth into foreign lands-some perforce, others from duty, few indeed from inclination-there to die. From the records of the past, we choose two instances of "Death in exile."

It is an evening in the month of May, but there is no gentle breeze, no spring-like balm. The storm raves wildly over an island in the southern Atlantic, snatching the tree from the soil, and the roof from the dwelling, whilst the waves besiege the impenetrable walls of basalt,* and the mingled winds and waters boom like the cannons of a foe. A stormy night for the passing away of a stormy spirit. There, on a lowly death-bed, lies an exile. The eagle eyes are dim, though even now the bystanders dread their gleam. The brow that was once bound with the iron crown of Charlemagne is damp and furrowed. The hand that waved his marshals to victory is cold and nerveless. It is Napoleon-the world's conquerorthe wonder of his time; but neither gauntlet nor glaive can quell a mightier conqueror than he. Little recked the hero in his prime, of pain, or sorrow, or death; they came at his bidding, for he had the gift of power, but now they have come upon him unbidden. Rich gifts were his; a lofty intellect, a matchless valor, a kingly brow and glance, a power of gathering all hearts unto himself. What will they do in this hour of even-tide? Are they friends or foes?

We are not left without glimpses into the inne man-voices from the failing heart. Hark! "Everything I love, everything

66

grotto and the love of his boyhood?* or of his adopted but he does not heed-and why? "Russia," he says,
land, and the wifely love there lavished upon him, only "is as near heaven as England." It is John Howard,
to be cast aside or of the consort, and the child of his the friend of the friendless. He is in Russia, not to
later
he again in the royal sarcophagi of Egypt, while the banner of the Lord; not to waste life, but to save it;
years, torn from him as if in retribution? Stands plant an ensign on the Kremlin, but to lift up the
air quivers forth the indeliblet words, There is but not to send souls into eternity, but to tend those for
one God, and Mahomet is his prophet?" Or is he whom no man has cared-neither judge nor prelate,
again speeding over the snowy steppes of Russia, his king nor kaiser. John Howard had been a prisoner
way crimsoned with wasted blood? Or are his visions himself, and therefore, like his great Exemplar, he
of slain Mamelukes, and massacred Turks of Jaffa, or knew the sufferings, and understood the tears of the
brave men strangled in the dungeon and shot at the oppressed, who had no comforter, for "he had felt the
dead of night? Or does he once more lead forth his same."
eagled legions at Lodi and Arcola Ay! he is dream-
ing of battles; hear his last words, "Téte d'armée,"
and the spirit goes forth to the reckoning-the exile to
his solemn and eternal home!

It is a January day in Russian Tartary. The Dneiper rolls sullenly along, and the snowy morasses around frown sickness and despondency upon the fever-stricken inhabitants of Cherson. All nature is cold and dark and dreary. Here, however, is a lonely

conqueror!

"Thine was an empire o'er distress

Thy triumph-of the mind,

To burst the bonds of wretchedness,
The friend of human kind."

There was another sense in which Howard was a conqueror. He conquered self. Delicately reared, sensitively refined, delighting in retirement, the contest in which he overcame his natural dispositions, and thus forced himself into the loathsome dungeon, the noisy cell, the depraved company, was a nobler field than the "sunny Austerlitz."

How calmly and joyfully death approaches the exile! He is longing for his quiet and eternal home; but not because of the many who will arise and call him

that belongs to me, is stricken; Heaven and mankind | chamber, and within it there is a death-bed, surrounded
unite to afflict me.' 99
Oh, poor Napoleon! Hark by light and warmth-the light and warmth of grace!
again: "In those days I was Napoleon; now I am One lies there who also may be called an emperor, a
nothing; my strength, my faculties forsake me; I no
longer live, I only exist." Hark again: "I believe in
God, and am of the religion of my fathers. I was
born a Catholic, and will fulfil all the duties of that
church, and receive the assistance which she adminis-
ters." Alas! Napoleon, a religion of birth and of
church will hardly smooth the dying bed, and make it
like "downy pillows." But even these voices become
stifled and inarticulate: the mind is o'erthrown, and as
the last hour draws near, and the tempest rages louder
and louder, visions of the past are wrapt around his
soul. Dreams he of his Corsican home, and the
stately lady who nursed his infancy and the little

* The rocks of St. Helena, which are chiefly of basalt, form an immense perpendicular wall from 600 to 1200 feet in height.

"Even had he been speechless," said his attendants, "we could not have brooked his eye."-Life of Napoleon in the Family Library.

"No crown'd one she, tho' in the pale and venerable grace
. Of her worn cheek, and lofty brow, might observation trace,
And in her dark eyes' flash, a fire and energy to give
Life unto sons, whose sceptre-swords should conquer all that
live." Madame Letitia Bonaparte, by B. SIMMONS.

far away. England, with its green pastures and lovely
He, also, is an exile; at least his pleasant home is
lands, he will never see again; nor the friends who
love him so tenderly, nor the resting-place of his dead;

A summer-house amidst the sea-side rocks, about a mile from Ajaccio, was Napoleon's favorite retreat as a boy, and is still called "Napoleon's Grotto." A pretty little girl named Giacominetter was his youthful love.

+ "The air is one vast library; in whose pages are for ever written all that man has ever said, or woman whispered."BABBAGE.

"Napoleon himself visited the interior of the Great Pyramid. and on entering the secret chamber, in which 3000 years before some Pharaoh had been inurned, repeated once more his confession of faith, There is no God but God, and Mahomet is his prophet." "-Life, vol. i. p. 124.

"Head of the army."-See Life, vol. ii. p. 374.

blessed; not because he will so soon hear the welcome words, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." No. "My hope is in Christ. My desire is to be washed, cleansed, and justified in the blood of Christ. Oh God, my heart is fixed, trusting in thee. My God!-oh glorious words!" Bright sunbeams indeed for the land of the dark shadow; precious words to leave behind, as

66

Footprints that perchance another,

Sailing o'er life's solemn

main

A forlorn ad shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, may take heart again."

་་་

On the 18th of anuary, 1790, the brave hero of the cross was permitted to wear the crown; an arrow from the string which he so often retarded was commissioned. to speed him home.* "Death ha no terrors for me." "Place a sundial on my grave, and let me be forgotten." The sun-dial, however, was not reared, but a plain monumental obelisk was erected to commemorate the event

"Howard, thy task is done! thy Master calls,
And summons thee from Cherson's distant walls.
Come, well approved! my faithful servant, come!
No more a wanderer, seek thy destined home.

My minister of good, I've sped thy way,
And shot through dungeon glooms a lightsome ray,
To cheer, by thee, with kind unhoped relief,
My creatures lost and whelmed in guilt and grief.
I've led thee, ardent, on thro' wondering climes
To combat human woes and human crimes;
But 'tis enough thy great commission's o'er.
I prove thy faith, thy love, thy zeal no more.
Nor droop, that far from country, kindred, friends,
Thy life, to duty long devoted, ends;
What boots it where the high reward is given,
Or whence the soul triumphant springs to heaven."

"I think," said Mr. Thackeray, "I would rather than have been beholden to Dean Swift for a guinea have had a potato and a friendly word from Goldsmith, and a dinner."

Lord Brougham defines theology as "the art of teaching what nobody knows."

* The cause of his ecease was a fever caught in the discharge of his humane duties.

A VISIT TO A GUANO ISLAND.

MONGST all the new-fangled manures introdu

he parts pipe,

cipitously from the sea to a considerable height, pre- | laborers, and a small line that closes the mouth of the senting only a bare, dark wall of rock. From the pipe being slacked, the whole mass is poured into the upper edge of the precipice the huge mound of guano ship at a rate which very soon completes her cargo. last twenty years, not one has been so rapidly and spreads into a level surface that gradually descends on mast-heads of the vessel, and from thence on deck, universally adopted as guano. Its astonishing fertiliz- every other side to within a few yards of the water. where they are tended by the crew, who alternately ing qualities and easy mode of application have ren- Here and there, rough, craggy points thrust their haul upon and slack them so as to keep the long pipe dered it a general favorite with the farmers, though white heads through the brown crust of guano, which in motion and prevent its choking. But, however the immense distance of the places from which it is has completely filled up the deep hollows that have well they may succeed in that effort, the men have chiefly obtained, and its consequent high price, must originally existed in the island, and would soon, had it considerable difficulty in avoiding some such cataslimit its use, even if the supplies were inexhaustible. not been disturbed, have covered even these crests of trophe in their own persons; for the guano, after fallThe island of Ichaboe, on the west coast of Africa, what were once tall pinnacles. The only safe landing- ing from so great an elevation, rises through the hatchfrom whence guano was first obtained in large quan- place is on a narrow strip of beach, the remainder of ways in one immense cloud, that completely envelops tities, is, perhaps, the most remarkable instance of a de- the island being surrounded by low rocks and small the ship, and renders the inhaling of anything save solate rock becoming suddenly the port of destination detached reefs; but the singular formation has greatly dust almost a matter of impossibility. The men wear for hundreds of large ships, and the source of immense facilitated the loading of ships, enabling the crews to patent respirators, in the shape of bunches of tarry wealth to numerous individuals. But Ichaboe was accomplish that in a few days, which, under other cir- oakum, tied across their mouths and nostrils; but the soon exhausted, and the dusty treasure that had cumstances, must have cost them tedious weeks of guano mocks at such weak defences, and a brisk confor many centuries been accumulating on its rocky bosom was literally swept away. The once busy island has now returned to its former loneliness, and the fleet of ships that gathered round it, seek on still more distant coasts the fertilizing powder that shall fatten the impoverished fields of old-world countries.

More than half the guano imported during the last ten years has been obtained from a small group of islands called the Chincas, that lie off the port of Pisco, on the Peruvian coast. Of these islands, the largest, Sangallan, has very little guano upon it, the principal deposits being found on three smaller ones, the most northern of the group. These are emphatically the guano islands, for they are utterly unproductive of anything besides. They are distinguished as the north, middle, and south islands.The north island has been constantly worked ever since the introduction of guano; the middle one has also been occasionally invaded; but the south island, on which we believe the accumulation to be greatest, remains untouched.

Every ship bound to the Chincas is compelled to anchor at Pisco, in order to pass the necessary custom-house formalities before proceeding to her loading-ground. A couple of hours are then sufficient to carry her across the few miles of water that intervene, and she soon again drops her anchor amongst the numerous fleet that is ever laying off the islands, waiting for their turn to load. The odorous scent of the guano is distinctly perceptible at several miles distance, and is far from unpleasant when thus mingled with the pure sea air.

The first duty of the crew after the ship's arrival, is to discharge the extra ballast, and as the captains have no dread of port-officers or harbor-masters, the sand or stone is quietly tossed over the side, until there is barely sufficient left in the hold to keep the vessel on an even keel In the meantime, the long boat is hoisted out of her berth amidships, and part of the crew are busily employed in bringing off boat-loads of guano from the island, to replace the discharged ballast The peculiar odor pervades the whole ship, the carefully tarred rigging becomes a dirty brown, while the snow-white decks and closely furled sails as sume the same dark hue

On the side next the mainland, the islands rise pre

labor. Close to the face of the rock the water is deep
enough to float the largest merchantman, and the
steady constancy of the trade-wind, which rarely in-
creases here beyond a pleasant breeze, enables the ship
to lie in perfect safety in close contact with her two most
dangerous enemies a rocky island and a dead lee shore.
Having taken aboard by her boats sufficient guano to
ballast her, the ship is hauled in close to the steep cliff,
to which she is securely bound with warps and chains;
two anchors being dropped to seaward to enable her to
haul off again when loaded, or in case of accident

Down to the very edge of the precipice, on its lofty
summit, comes the point of a triangular inclosure,
open at its base, and made of strong stakes driven into
the solid guano, and closely knit together with iron
chains At the point resting upon the edge of the
cliff there is a small opening, to which is firmly at-
tached a wide canvass pipe, which hangs down the
face of the precipice and passes into the hold of the
vessel beneath The inclosure, which will contain
several hundred tons, is filled with guano by the Indian

tinued fusilade of sneezes celebrates the opening of the pipe, and accompanies, in repeated volleys and with unwilling tears, the unremitting shower of pungent dust. In the meantime, a gang of Indians are at work in the hold, trimming and levelling the guano as it pours from above. How they contrive to exist at all in such an atmosphere is matter of astonishment; but even they are unable to remain below longer than twenty minutes at one time. They are then relieved by another party, and return on deck, perfectly naked, streaming with perspiration, and with their brown skins thickly coated with guano. The two parties thus alternately relieving each other, a ship of seven or eight hundred tons is loaded in this manner in two or three days, the Indians working during the night, and filling up the inclosure, ready for shipment on the following day A smaller inclosure and pipe supply the boats of the vessels anchored off the island.

The guano is dug out with pick and shovel down to the level of the rock, and on the north island the cutting thus formed is in some places from sixty to eighty feet in depth, in others it is only a few inches; but these shallow spots are comparatively rare, and usually border on some deep valley firmly packed with the prevailing substance. From the pressure of the superincumbent mass, the lower strata have become almost as hard and compact as the rock itself, and the color deepens from a light brown, or sometimes white, at the surface, to nearly black at the bottom of the cutting

The guano of the Chinca islands is said to surpass all other deposits in its strength and fertilizing qualities, and this is chiefly attributed to the fact that rain never falls on those islands. Owing to this extreme aridity of the climate, the saline particles of the manure are never held in solution, and are therefore less liable to be lost by evaporation than where the surface of the mass is frequently washed by heavy rains Large lumps of very strong and pure ammonia are, in fact, often turned up by the diggers. The thick fogs, that at certain seasons are of nightly occurrence on the coast, convert the outer layer into a greasy paste, which is immediately baked by the sun into a hard crust, that prevents even the fogs from penetrating into the interior. This crust is completely undermined by the birds that still frequent the islands in

vast numbers, though they are said to bear no compa- vessel or a lighthouse, for it was evident, as I have
rison to the myriads that formerly held sole and undis-said, that it was floating on the sea; and, what was
turbed possession of them. There are mews, gannets, most perplexing of all, as fast as the boat went, we
penguins, pelicans, divers, sheerbeaks, and many other never got a bit nearer to it. At last an elderly lady,
sorts of sea-fowl, but the most common is the guano- whose curiosity was, if possible, still greater than
bird-a very handsome creature, about the size of a ours, despatched her waiting-maid on a formal em-
pigeon, beautifully variegated, and decorated with two bassy to the captain, to learn the explanation of this
pendant ear-drops. Naturalists, delighting in hard wonderful phenomenon. The embassadress, whose
words, call him, we believe, sulieta variegata. These return we all awaited with the utmost eagerness, came
web-footed colonists form regular towns beneath the back in a minute or two, giggling vehemently, with an
crust of the guano, the various settlements communi- answer that she would confide to none but her mis-
cating with each other by galleries running in all di- tress; and she, when she got the answer, seemed to
rections, so that it is deemed almost impossible to set be but little edified by it. All at once the difficulty
foot upon the untouched surface of the island without was cleared up, for the wonderful object assumed the
sinking to the knee in some feathered lady's nursery, familiar form of the crescent moon, which till then no
and either smashing her eggs or mutilating her half- one had recognised, and no one any longer doubted
fledged progeny
The egg-shells, and the remains of what it was that we had all been gazing at with so
fish brought to feed the young birds, or to be devoured much curiosity. How the image of the moon could
at leisure by the old ones, must form a considerable be in the sea, however, when there was not a trace of
item in the deposits.
her to be seen in a perfectly cloudless sky, I could not
make out; nor can I now, for being afraid of being
quizzed by the captain, I put off the satisfaction of my
curiosity until the opportunity was lost.

Thickly tenanted as are the islands and the air above them, the waters beneath are no less full of life. Shoals of small fish are continually passing through the channels; whales are frequently seen rolling their huge bodies in the offing; and the numerous caves that perforate the islands on every side are inhabited by colonies of seals and sea-lions, that wage an unceasing predatory war upon the sparkling shoals that pass, unconscious of all danger, their gloomy surfbound territories.

them.

DOMESTIC DISCOMFORTS OF VENICE IN WINTER.
A RECENT Sojourner in this beautiful city describes,
with much good humor, the inconvenience and suffer-
ing to which he was exposed during his stay, from
want of a fire even in the public hotels, arising from
the extreme scarcity of fuel.

The islands themselves are perfectly barren. Not a blade of grass, nor even a particle of moss, exists upon They present only one brown arid expanse, in"The French Restaurant, for instance," he says, capable of furnishing food for the tiniest nibbler that "has four or five large rooms, and in one of these-I ever gnawed a grain of corn; and yet they possess have seen it with my own eyes-a fire is sometimes sufficient fertilizing power to transform a barren desert made; and if you are lucky enough to come in during into a fruitful garden; and they annually furnish food in the five minutes when the smoke has just gone off, other lands for thousands of hungry mortals who never and the three sticks are not quite burnt out, there is even heard of their existence! They are also completely nothing to hinder you from warming your hards, unless destitute of water, the Indians who live upon them being indeed some frozen officers have got there before you, supplied with this necessary of life by the shipping in and placed themselves in front of the chimney. turns. Every article of food is brought from Pisco, to What's to be done in that case? Why, then you which port the guano-diggers occasionally resort, to must go and take a walk, as others do, on St. Mark's spend in extravagance and dissipation their hard- Place; and so out you go. Happily the thermometer earned wages. The commandant resides on the north is not lower than two or three degrees above the freezisland, in a miserable cottage. Four poles stuck in ing point; and you walk on St. Mark's Place, where the guano, with grass mats or a few reeds stretched you will find a thick stream of people; you swim with between them and covered in with a flat roof of the the stream, and go up and down, once, twice, ten times, same material, form specimens of a high order of twenty times. It may be very amusing, but after Chinca architecture. Furniture is of course unknown, awhile you feel you have had enough of it. Over and clothes are as nearly so as possible; but the high there is a little coffee-house, lit by four gas-lamps. wages given to the laborers appear to balance the Who knows? perhaps there may be a fire! And so you désagrémens of their position, for several Englishmen enter, and find a climate in which you may exist, and are amongst their number. Some of these are em-if you choose your place well, even read the newsployed in mooring the ships alongside the rock. Guano has been used for agricultural purposes in Peru ever since the invasion of the Spaniards, and there are good grounds for believing that its use was known to the Indians long anterior to that period. It is now chiefly applied there in the cultivation of maize and potatoes, and large quantities of it are consumed in the haciendas that skirt the banks of the rivers which flow from the mountains through the desert "I had noticed," continued our traveller, "in the coast, raising in their passage through the arid sand- corner of my apartment, at the Hotel de l'Europe, a ocean long green islands of extraordinary fertility. curious machine made of bricks; and near it a basket The mode of applying the manure differs considerably containing some slender sticks almost like toothpicks: from that adopted with us. It is never used with the and I thought I would try whether this machine could seed; but when the plants are a few inches above the be meant to serve as a stove, and the toothpicks to resurface, a long shallow trench is made close to the present fuel. No sooner said than done. I made the roots, and in this a small quantity of guano is placed, experiment, and found that the toothpicks really did the white being always preferred. The trench being burn; but even the machine was not warmed through slightly covered with earth, the whole field is either by their combustion, and of course the room remained laid completely under water by dams and sluices as cold as before. They offered to bring me some erected for the purpose, or, where no such system of irrigation exists, other means are adopted for thoroughly saturating the soil. The potatoes produced by this mode of culture are perhaps the finest, both for size and quality, in the world, and the extraordinary rapidity of the growth, after the application of the manure, is most astonishing.

THE CRESCENT MOON AS SEEN ON THE ADRIATIC."We had only gone a few miles from Venice," says a recent traveller, "when I noticed, looking from the forepart of the vessel, a shining object, apparently swimming on the surface of the water. Whilst I was considering what it could be, two or three other passengers came up, and were no less surprised and puzzled than I had been. It could not be on board of any

paper, without fear of chilblains on your fingers. But
air that chills you to the bone; and behold the master
presently you become conscious of an icy draught of
of the house, who politely informs you that, fearing
you might suffer from the heat of the gas-lamps, he
has opened the back door. Making some incohe-
rent reply, you rush through the open door in despera-
tion back into the street.

more sticks, but I had made the experiment satisfac-
torily, and I declined repeating it. And it was well
for my purse that I did, for on my bill the next day
stood a certain apparently jocular entry, 'Firing-one
florin, twenty kreutzers; so that, if I had continued
my fruitless attempts to warm myself for one day, it

would not have cost me less than ten florins. When we
consider, however, that the Venetians have to fetch
their wood from Istria, which itself has no wood worth
be scarce and dear."
mentioning, it will not seem surprising that it should

When you see the servant carrying under her apron a bottle of soda-water into a house, you may at once seize it as a sure sign that some one has been drinking over night.

THE LIGHT OF OUR HOME.
OH, thou whose beauty on us beams
With glimpses of celestial light;
Thou halo of our waking dreams,
And early star that crown'st our night;
Thy light is magic where it falls;"
To thee the deepest shadow yields;
Thou bring'st unto these dreary halls
The lustre of the summer-fields.
There is a freedom in thy looks
To make the prisoned heart rejoice ;-
In thy blue eyes I see the brooks,
And hear their music in thy voice."
And every sweetest bird that sings

Hath poured a charm upon thy tongue ;
And where the bee enamoured clings,
There surely thou in love hast clung;--
For when I hear thy laughter free.
And see thy morning-lighted hair,
As in a dream at once I see

Fair upland realms and valleys fair.
I see thy feet empearled with dews,
The violet's and the lily's loss;
And where the waving woodland woos,
Thou lead'st me over beds of moss ; —
And by the busy runnel's side,

Whose waters, like a bird afraid,
Dart from their fount, and flashing, glide,
Athwart the sunshine and the shade.
Or larger streams our steps beguile;→
We see the cascade, broad and fair,
Dashed headlong down to foam, the while
Its iris-spirit leaps to air!
Alas! as by a loud alarm,

My heart sends up a prayer for thee,.
That thou mayest wear upon thy brow› ·
The light which now she beams on me.
THOMAS BUCHANAN READ.

A CONTRAST.

FROM THE GERMAN.
Two maidens on the sea-shore sit.
The tears of one fall fast,
One o'er the flood a rose-wreath holds
And buds within doth cast.

Woe's very type, the one doth moan,
With pale and trembling brow,
"O sea, O sea, so sad and wild,

How like my life art thou !"

The other, type of very joy,
Shouts laughing at her side,
"O sea, O sea, so clear and mild,
My life's so like thy tide !".

On roars the sea, and o'er it sound
Wailings and merry cheers ;
The dark waves roll and aye engulf
The roses with the tears

A MAIDEN'S TEARS.

O, WHEN a maiden's soul is stirred
To pity's deepest, last excess,
And, like some lonely, brooding bird,
Folds its bright wings in mournfulness;
And pours its sympathy in sighs,
That sweeten on the rosy lips;
And sends the tears into the eyes,

To flood them with a half eclipse,
How brighter its veiled beauty shows
Than all the light which joy bestows!
Thus fairer the fair flower appears,
Beneath a dewy fullness bowed;
The moon a double lustre wears,
Within the halo of a cloud.
The music of a maiden's mirth
May be the sweetest sound to earth;
But tears, in love and pity given,
Are welcomer, by far, to leaven.

L.

I

LADY MARJORY ST. JUST. ple caught them as they fell. I told him that the

** 资

AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

with a look of reproach whenever I was proud or vain : I knew that he was good and gifted, for I had heard Uncle Mertoun say so, therefore I could not disregard his words. But Fibsey was angry, and declared "she would not have Lady Marjory frightened and moped: such gloomy talk was enough to kill a child; and parsons ought to keep their preachments to their pulpits."

Mrs. Edmondstone was no match for Fibsey, and to Fibsey I always resorted for consolation and sympathy -the burden of her song ever being, "Never mind, dearie; never mind; you'll be Countess May yet, and wear your diamond coronet, and make sunshine round wherever you go, spite of all the governesses and parsons in the world."

from their starry perfumed wings, and that good peoshooting-stars were heavenly messengers, speeding on their flights of love and glory; and that the innumerable spirits sleeping among the leaves of the aspenWAS the only child of Lord St. Just, an impover- tree caused it to shiver. I took him to see the fairy ished nobleman, whose income barely sufficed to rings, and the charmed well of Edenside; the well on keep up an appearance suitable to his rank. I saw whose clear surface was mirrored, once a year, the scarcely any change in my father's aspect from the future of those who gazed with implicit faith! For time when I can first remember him his scattered my own part, I had begun to study the "Arabian hairs were gray, and his tall attenuated form was bent; Nights," and I confided to my uncle that I had but one but there were no strong indications of decay, which wish in the world, and that was to be Queen Zobeide, nevertheless gradually went on, and in the same ratio to live in the enchanted palace of the good Haroun Alas the young sapling shot upwards. The parent trunk raschid!" Nay, nay, Marjory St. Just," he answered had been bared of all its other glories, and was ready with a giggle of delight; "you wouldn't like your Thus it was, that without being exactly discontented, for the woodman's axe. I was an infant, they told husband to have other wives, I suspect-better be I learned to regard the future with hope, as holding me, when my mother “went to heaven;" the sole sur-Countess May' at home." forth prospects of happiness, which, however, assumed vivor of a numerous family, all of whom had died in This ancestral home of mine was neither a castle no tangible form, but seemed to embody everything childhood before I was born-born, alas! not to bless nor an abbey, but there was a dry moat, on whose that was pleasant and delightful. I knew what poverand solace that gentle mother, whose loving eyes sloping emerald sides clustering flowers shed perfume ty meant, comparatively of course; for Lord St. Just closed for ever almost as soon as she had heard my and radiance; while at one end of the vaulted entrance- had acquired the bitter lesson, and had not been able first faint cry. While, from repeated bereavements, hall, an oriel window of elaborate tracery and brilliantly to conceal it entirely from his daughter. But it never my father tremblingly clasped me to his bosom, dread-stained glass threw a dim mysterious light on the tes- occurred to me that my Uncle Mertoun, who was so ing to place his hopes on the delicate baby, yet in selated pavement, suggesting a conjecture of ecclesi- free and generous, might have extended a helping hand spite of his fears, he felt for me a redoubled tender- astical origin. The dwelling stood on a hill side, and towards my father; perhaps Lord St. Just would not ness as the last precious bequest of an adored wife. I we commanded a fine range of diversified scenery from have accepted it, preferring self-denial and indewas brought up under the care and management of the windows of our sunny parlor half nursery, half pendence. At any rate I had not then discerned the Fibsey, the faithful nurse who had tended and mourn-school-room, and at length half-boudoir; for at Eden- truth, and I did not think my uncle selfish and silly. ed over all the departed little St. Justs; and when I side there were no appointments of modern luxury-If my father did so, he kept his opinion to himself: he attained the age of eight years a governess was pro- faded hangings and antique furniture alone were to be was a reserved, silent man; his voice was low and vided, who roused much jealousy in old Fibsey's kind found throughout the bare and deserted apartments. sad, and his gait slow; and when we used to saunter foolish heart by speedily winning a large portion of Yet the spot well deserved its name of Edenside, for down the hill towards the valley and the streams, it those affections which I had hitherto divided among dark waving woods, shining waters, hill and valley, was with difficulty he could ascend it again. My my father, herself, and the sweets of nature at Eden- frowning granite crags, and patches of the loveliest heart often sank as I gazed on his bent form, and at side. green sward met the eye everywhere, in apparently those times I wished for Basil Edmondstone to diswild confusion, but confusion of a picturesque and en- course on the better land, a topic which my father chanting description. The low massive building it- loved to dwell upon; but Basil had gone abroad as self, with ivied buttress and rambling additions, all tutor to young Lord Morley; and our retirement was gray and crumbling nevertheless, seemed as if it grew unbroken, for Uncle Mertoun's visits became less freout of the acclivity whereon it spread; and at evening quent, and at length ceased altogether. fall even the gray rocks and gray lichens, sombre walls fantastically festooned, and recesses wherein owls and bats disported, presented no sad aspect to my imagination. For did I not know where periwinkles crept abundantly among the crevices, and where early violets hid? where hyacinths bloomed, whose faint delicious odors haunt me now? to say nothing-oh! nothing-of acknowledged garden houris, roses, and lilies, and their sister bands of cultivated beauties?

Mrs. Edmondstone was a widow lady, pale, mild, and middle aged, with an only son, who was completing a college education, and intended for the service of the church. Basil Edmondstone sometimes came to see his mother, but he was not a favorite of mine: he was a serious youth, and did not fondle and coax me, as my Uncle Mertoun did, nor would he call me "Countess May;" yet he had gentle, pleasant ways too with a child. This uncle was my mother's brother, the Earl of Mertoun, and I had ever been taught to consider myself his heiress; he was a bachelor, well advanced in years, and there seemed every probability that I must eventually succeed to the earldom, which is one of the few in this country that are exempted from the Salic law. He always designated me his "pretty Countess May," and I well knew that it was a title of distinction, and to be coveted, and I was proud and vain as a peacock. My father's estates were strictly entailed on male issue, and, in default of such, descended to a distant branch. Very rarely Uncle Mertoun visited Edenside, but when he did, it was a galaday with me; and I watched, in a state of the utmost excitement, the approach of his equipage as the four splendid bays slackened pace up the slopes and defiles. And well I might, for he never came empty-handed, showering beautiful and expensive gifts upon me, to say nothing of the welcome music he whispered in my ears, ringing the changes in every variety on the theme of my future glories!

"When I am a great lady, Fibsey," said I confidentially, "I shall wish for one thing above all othersand that is for continual sunshine."

"And where would the flowers and verdure be, my dear," suggested Mrs. Edmondstone, "if you banish clouds and rain?"

II.

Basil

I had attained my eighteenth year when Mrs. Edmondstone left us to reside with her son, who had been presented with the living of Barley Wood by his pupil Lord Morley; and to my great joy it was only distant about ten miles from Edenside. had resided with us for some weeks, at my father's urgent request, for his grief nearly equalled mine at the idea of parting with Mrs. Edmonstone; and he desired to retain her beneath our roof as long as possible, until every arrangement was completed, and no further excuse for delay presented itself.

Lord Morley's mother, a lady of well-known philanthropy, wrote to my father, recommending as the suc"Ah, I never thought of that, but I do so love sun-cessor of Mrs. Edmondstone a young lady, who had shine!"

"There is a sunshine within, Lady Marjory," responded my governess, "which money cannot purchase; and as you grow older and wiser, I hope you will understand and realize the fact."

I pondered over these words, and talked much to Fibsey about "sunshine within ;" and when Uncle My father lived much in his library, and I was but Mertoun came to Edenside, I mentioned the matter to seldom with him: sorrow and disappointment had ren- him: he laughed, and said "that Mrs. Edmondstone dered him unsociable and nervous, and whenever he was a very worthy woman, but that in a few years took me in his arms, the tears coursed down his fur- hence the dazzling scenes of life would cause me to rowed cheeks. Yet never a day passed without a forget her prosy talk." I pondered over these words bestowal of the fervent benediction" God bless and also, and came to the sage conclusion, that in those keep thee, my darling!" Mrs. Edmondstone, my unknown regions beyond the tall tree-tops were the governess, erred on the side of over-indulgence she dazzling scenes alluded to, far more to be desired for was one of those worthy matrons who look leniently on the vanities and follies of the young-saying "that troubles come soon enough, and 'twere pity to break the spirit which must bend of its own accord by and by." And had it been otherwise, Fibsey would have turned restive. I was the lamb saved out of a fine flock, and I must be left free to roam amid the green pastures and still waters, gathering health and vigor from every breeze that blew.

Beautiful Edenside! and quaint, beautiful old Fibsey. Surely never child or lamb had such lovely pastures to disport in, or listened to such marvellous antique songs and fables as delighted my childish ear! Then it was so charming to retail them to Uncle Mertoun, for he was in all respects like an overgrown schoolboy, and an attentive listener to the saucy prattle of "Countess May." I told him that angels flew over the house at night, showering down bright dreams

the future than the flowers, and birds, and solitude of
Edenside. From that time forth, by slow and imper-
ceptible degrees, my thoughts all centered in anticipa-
tions of shadowy glories to come. I did not think of
my uncle's death without weeping, for he had minis-
tered to my childish vanities and pleasures as no one
else had done, and I loved him dearly; but more than
once I asked Fibsey how long he was likely to live, be-
cause I could not wear the diamond coronet which Earl
Mertoun said was laid up for me until he had gone to
heaven, where all my little brothers and sisters and my
dear mamma awaited him. Basil Edmondstone, over-
hearing such a query, called me to his side, and hade
me remember that I might be summoned from this
world even before my uncle: with impressive serious-
ness he added somewhat concerning an immortal
crown alone worth coveting. This made me very low-
spirited, and Basil's dark eyes seemed to haunt me

filled the situation of companion to her daughter, in consequence of whose marriage, which had just taken place, the candidate, Mrs. Danton, was desirous of finding another congenial home. Lady Morley spoke of her in the highest terms, assuring my father that she considered Mrs. Danton a desirable addition to the family circle in all respects; and that her age would probably render her a pleasanter companion for me than even the worthy, sedate Mrs. Edmondstone. Mrs. Danton was of Spanish origin, but the widow of an English officer; "her Hidalgo blood," added Lady Morley, "only infusing into her the proper and laudable pride of wishing to be independent of her father's family." My father entertained a profound respect for Lady Morley's opinion, and he was accordingly strongly prepossessed in favor of Mrs. Danton, and eager to secure her services. When Basil Edmondstone heard this arrangement canvassed-and Lord St. Just gave him Lady Morley's letter to readhe appeared strangely confused and startled; his manner, coupled with words he let fall, causing my father to ask him if he was acquainted with Mrs. Danton, and what opinion he had formed of her.

Basil Edmondstone's manner was at all times sc perfectly self-possessed, and yet courteous and gentle that when he exhibited this unwonted perturbation, we naturally became curious in proportion to ascertain the cause. But he seemed to find speech difficult, and hesitatingly said, "I scarcely know how to answer you candidly, Lord St. Just; for it is a grave thing to withhold or give an opinion of one about to become domesticated in your family, and the intimate companion of Lady Marjory."

“It is for that reason, Mr. Edmonstone," replied my from wondering if Mrs. Danton was handsome, and father," that I desire to know the result of any obser- hoping that she was not, I gained imperceptibly a vations you may have made on Mrs. Danton's disposi- knowledge of my own heart; and read there, alas! a tion, character, and demeanor in general. On Lady page full of love and jealousy. Yet pride was Morley's judgment I have implicit reliance so far as it stronger; and I determined to blot it out, and to regoes; but I am aware that her ladyship's public avoca-member how far apart Basil Edmondstone and I were tions and charities prevent her attending so much to in worldly condition. He never forgot it; of that fact her private duties as perhaps might be desirable I felt well assured, so far as worldly observances while her daughter, lately married, was one of the gay- went. est beauties who figured in the fashionable world. There was an indescribable blank at Edenside when That of course is not against Mrs. Danton, as no doubt Mrs. Edmondstone and her son had departed. There she used all her influence for good." was sunshine without-the child's wishes were real"I only saw Mrs. Danton," replied Basil Edmond-ized; but round the woman's path shadowy clouds stone, "in the retirement of Lady Morley's country- were gathering, which already faintly obscured the seat; and I certainly am surprised, from what I saw of sunshine within. her at that time, that she should voluntarily seek permanent seclusion; but perhaps she is not aware that the routine of life at Edenside would be one of privacy and simplicity?" Basil added with a hopeful look. "Yes; Mrs. Danton is fully aware of all particulars," replied my father; "but do you infer that such a mode of life might be distasteful to her-and for what reason?"

us that."

III.

Could it be possible that the presence of one individual had wrought such a change in the aspect of all things! or was it that I viewed them through a different medium, while the circumstances themselves remained unchanged.

Mrs. Danton was singularly beautiful; and yet I felt "My judgment would have led me to form this sup-no jealousy now, for she spoke carelessly of Basil position," answered Basil; "but my reasons for doing Edmonstone, called him a poor parson, and when I so are more difficult to define. A very delicate pencil extolled him, and took his part with heightened color is required to paint a fair lady's faults, if faults there and flashing eyes, she smiled, and said that I was a be"-Again he hesitated, colored, and became painfully "true champion for the absent." I could not feel confused. "But may I be understood to depict a angry with her, for she captivated and enthralled me. certain degree of restlessness-a need of the stimulus Her extreme sweetness and gentleness of voice and of excitement, which I thought characterized Mrs. manner, varied accomplishments, and constant flow of Danton, and led me to conclude that solitude might spirits, might have accounted for this captivation on prove irksome. She is a highly accomplished lady, my part, for I had never seen any one like her before. and, I have no doubt, an agreeable companion." But it was not even these attractions which enchained "But Basil, my dear," broke in Mrs. Edmondstone, me so completely; it was, that Mrs. Danton identified "is she amiable and affectionate? You have not told herself with my hopes and wishes, and that, in an incredibly short space of time, I had entrusted her with all my secret and cherished aspirations: one subject alone excepted, but that I scarcely whispered to myself. Yet what secret escaped her scrutiny-though she appeared to exercise no penetration, indulge no curiosity, her peculiar softness of demeanor, bordering on indolence, being redeemed only by a dash of wild playfulness, tender and winning as the pretty ways of some brilliantly plumaged, delicate pet bird! Perfectly happy and contented with her lot she apparently was; describing the scenes in which she had mingled with graphic force, and picturing the gay world in such exciting and fairy-like colors, that I wondered she was resigned to quit it. She told me that I was formed to enjoy these delights, and to reign a star of the first magnitude, hinting that it was sad to see my youth buried in solitude; by slow and imperceptible degrees leading me to speak of my uncle's death as the only prospect of ultimate release.

66

"I had no opportunity of judging, mother," replied the son, as he added with a smile, "these are close questions, and hardly fair, I think, to discuss." And so the subject dropped, my dear father evidently pondering on what had passed, but coming to a pleasant conclusion in the end; for, said he to me, Mrs. Danton is very anxious to come; and as she knows our mode of life, Marjory, my child-for Lady Morley has concealed nothing from her-we must naturally infer that, even if the opinion our good Basil formed of the lady was a correct one formerly, she has now changed her tastes, and become reconciled to a quiet life-such as is held out for her acceptance at Eden

side."

But when, eventually, my father told Basil that everything was settled, and that Mrs. Danton was to be an inmate of our dear home, I could see a shadow of uneasiness pass athwart Mr. Edmondstone's speaking countenance, which betokened a mind disturbed; and this impression communicated itself to me, for I had learned unconsciously to treasure and venerate all Basil's opinions, and to look up to him as my best authority on all points.

Not that I willingly allowed him to suppose such was the case, for I strenuously endeavored to impress him with ideas of my own vast importance, and my great future expectations-vainly endeavored, because whatever airs or impertinences I indulged in, they fell back on myself with redoubled force. For there was in Basil Edmondstone a certain grave self-respect, (he never forgot his sacred office,) tempered, indeed, with affability, which made me feel contemptible in my own esteem when displaying these vagaries before him: he was my superior in all respects, for I knew that, in virtue of his high calling, he claimed more than an equality as to spiritual rank, and that he held mere temporal rank but as means to an end-regarding men as stewards, hereafter to give an account of their stewardship. In short, there was no patronizing Basil Edmondstone. I talked to him about my earldom in prospective, and he looked grave; I joked about hope deferred, and he gently rebnked me; I pouted, and tried to quarrel with him, but I read an indefinable something in the sad expression of his eyes-beautiful eyes they were!-which made me unable to continue my folly, and brought tears to my own, and blushes to my cheek. Then, angry with myself, that I-the future Countess of Mertoun-should stand abashed before him, I adopted an unbecoming hauteur-equally futile and useless, for Basil was imperturbably polite, kind, and considerate.

"I wonder if Mrs. Danton is handsome?" I found myself inwardly saying over and over again. And

was my uncle-his absence, and reported ill-health.
There was no one to check or rebuke me now; no
grave looks; but Mrs. Danton spoke of Earl Mertoun's
decease as an event to be almost "hoped for;" adding,
"What a comfort it would be to Lord St. Just to wit-
ness his daughter's elevation prior to his own summons
home!" Viewing it in this light, it seemed no longer
sinful or unfeeling to indulge anticipations of a
brilliant future career; while the total cessation of his
visits threw the film of distance between my once kind
uncle and me, and I came gradually to regard him as
a stranger or a memory. The past was forgotten; the
present unheeded; and youth, health, rank, wealth,
and beauty, all united in the person of Countess May,"
summed up my friend, mimicking Fibsey's voice and.
manner. For Mrs. Danton inherited that dangerous
gift she was an admirable mimic; even the worthy
Mrs. Edmondstone did not escape her; and I was
weak and wicked enough to laugh at many such un-
kind exhibitions of miscalled talent.

I had watched the meeting which took place between Basil Edmondstone and Mrs. Danton, soon after the arrival of the latter, with considerable interest. She accompanied me to Barley Wood; but I knew not how it was, Mrs. Danton seemed out of her element there. The church and parsonage were both antiquated buildings; there was a homeliness, a substantial sort of comfort and sense of repose, pervading the place; a peace and holiness, if I may use the term, with which our worldly discussions and gay laughter had nothing to do. When there, a dim, lurking sensation of regret that Mrs. Danton was my chosen intimate always arose in my heart. I remembered her mockery of dear, simple Mrs. Edmondstone, and I was stricken with shame that I had encouraged it, and wept as my early preceptress clasped me in her arms, fondly calling me her darling child.

8

Mrs. Danton seemed quite at ease, laughing, talking, and admiring everything; Basil was more reserved and silent, than usual, though I detected a slight embarrassment when he first addressed my companion— a slight mounting of color in his cheek, and a singular expression in his eloquent eye-such an expression that I had never encountered, thank Heaven! although I tried in vain to interpret it; but he quickly regained self-command, and assumed the courtesy of a host.

My father wished Mr. Edmondstone and her son to come to Edenside; but he excused himself on the plea of manifold pressing duties and occupations, though he added earnestly, "When I can be of any essential use or comfort to Lord St. Just, you know where to find me, Lady Marjory." The words were conventional, but the manner in which they were spoken penetrated my heart; and as we rode back through the cornfields and smiling pastoral lands, it seemed as if I had left peace of mind behind me. And yet our own fair Edenside was my childhood's home, and beautiful as ever. Alas! clouds were obscuring the "sunshine within!"

I moved about in a sort of whirl or trance. In sleep I heard sounds of joyous music, and beheld lighted festal halls, wherein crowds of noble cavaliers worshipped at my shrine! I began to entertain an extravagant opinion of my own beauty and talents, and to think that Mrs. Edmondstone and her son had I was now in a kind of feverish excitement: vexed underrated them. I grew weary of Edenside, and and dissatisfied that Mrs. Danton had gained such an longed to fly away with Mrs. Danton to realize my ascendency over me, which I could by no means shake blissful dreams! Had any one asked me how all this off, though she was but six years my senior. It was was brought about, and if Mrs. Danton had done it, II who was restless and dissatisfied, to whom excitecould not have given a satisfactory elucidation; for she was always cheerful herself, never complained of ennui, but sang and talked, and made the days pass swiftly. As to my father, he was perfectly charmed "There is a mystery which I must fathom," thought with our new inmate, and, contrary to his usual habit, I. "What has Mrs. Danton done, to offend Basil?he more than once remained in my apartment to listen for, despite her beauty and fascination, he neither likes to Mrs. Danton's music; while even old Fibsey, now nor admired her, of that I am certain. I am not sure, querulous and infirm, especially patronised Mrs. however, of her feelings towards him, notwithstandDanton, that lady having listened respectfully to some ing her assumed indifference." Assumed !—for excelof her most marvellous tales, and also adopted a lent as her acting was, she had not altogether deceived specific remedy for cold, which no persuasions of nurse had ever induced Mrs. Edmondstone to try,

“Mrs. Danton is a sensible woman," quoth Fibsey, "though she be a foreigner like; and it does one's bones good to hear her merry laugh, for all the world like the tinkle-tinkle of the wether-bell from the distant sheiling coming across flowers and meadows, and making one think of all sorts of happy things. She's a bonny leddy; bless her lovely eyes, that melt like moonbeams on the dark sleeping waters!"

So it was: Mrs. Danton gained the affections and good-will of all, while I absolutely clung to her, and much marvelled how I had contrived to drag on my monotonous existence when I had not her to talk to and confide in. Our constant theme of conversation

ment seemed necessary, not Mrs. Danton. Surely Basil's opinion of her had been unjust, and was not my impatience of her influence unjust likewise?

me; my woman's heart was on the alert-for, alas! inexperienced, silly girl as I was, I had already learned something of that mystic lore which is made up of trifles light as air."

I had observed Mrs. Danton quail beneath Basil Edmonstone's open, truthful glance; I had also observed a momentary flash as she raised the drooping lids of her languishing eyes, which absolutely scared me. It was a lightning flash, terrific in passionate coruscation; but the silken fringes fell instantaneously, and veiled the storm-burst. Yes, it was but for a second; but that second had revealed Mrs. Danton as a Medea in her reproaches and her agony. What a contrast to the gentle, playful, winning creature whom I had learned to love and fondle! I questioned her closely