violent check to the current of his feelings. He had collected his Bowlderos, and was giving his instructions as to the manner in which they were to follow, and keep near his person, in the expected hand-to-hand encounter, when the heavy rushing of the air, and the swoop of the mass from above, announced what had occurred. Turning to the men, he calmly ordered them to aid in getting rid of the incumbrances, and was in the very act of directing Wycherly, to join in the same duty, when the latter exclaimed-"See, Sir Gervaise, here comes another of the Frenchmen close upon our quarter. By heavens, they must mean to board!" The vice-admiral instinctively grasped his sword-hilt tighter, and turned in the direction mentioned by his companion. There, indeed, came a fresh ship, shoving the cloud aside, and, by the clearer atmosphere that seemed to accompany her, apparently bringing down a current of air stronger than common. When first seen, the jib-boom and bowsprit were both enveloped in smoke, but his bellying fore-top-sail, and the canvass hanging in festoons, loomed grandly in the vapour, the black yards seeming to embrace the wreaths, merely to cast them aside. The proximity, too, was fearful, her yard-arms promising to clear those of the Plantagenet only by a few feet, as her dark bows brushed along the admiral's side. "This will be fearful work, indeed!" exclaimed Sir Gervaise. "A fresh broadside from a ship so near, will sweep all from the spars. Go, Wychecombe, tell Greenly to call in-Hold!-'Tis an English ship! No Frenchman's bowsprit stands like that! Almighty God be praised! 'Tis the Cæsarthere is the old Roman figure-head just shoving out of the smoke!" This was said with a yell, rather than a cry, of delight, and in a voice so loud that the words were heard below, and flew through the ship like the hissing of an ascending rocket. To confirm the glorious tidings, the flash and roar of guns on the off-side of the stranger announced the welcome tidings that Le Pluton had an enemy of her own to contend with, thus enabling the Plantagenet's people to throw all their strength on the starboard guns, and pursue their other necessary work without further molestation from the French rear-admiral. The gratitude of Sir Gervaise, as the rescuing ship thrust herself in between him and his most formidable assailant, was too deep for language. He placed his hat mechanically before his face, and thanked God, with a fervour of spirit that never before had attended his thanksgivings. This brief act of devotion over, he found the bows of the Caesar, which ship was advancing very slowly, in order not to pass too far ahead, just abreast of the spot where he stood, and so near that objects were pretty plainly visible. Between her knight-heads stood Bluewater, conning the ship, by means of a line of officers, his hat in his hand, waving in encouragement to his own people, while Geoffrey Cleveland held the trumpet at his elbow. At that moment three noble cheers were given by the crews of the two friendly vessels, and mingled with the increasing roar of the Caesar's artillery. Then the smoke rose in a cloud over the forecastle of the latter ship, and persons could no longer be distinguished. Nevertheless, like all that thus approached, the relieving ship passed slowly ahead, until nearly her whole length protected the undefended side of her consort, delivering her fire with fearful rapidity. The Plantagenets seemed to imbibe new life from this arrival, and their

starboard guns spoke out again, as if manned by giants. It was five minutes, perhaps, after this seasonable arrival, before the guns of the other ships of the English rear announced their presence on the outside of Monsieur des Prez's force; thus bringing the whole of the two fleets into four lines, all steering dead before the wind, and, as it were, interwoven with each other. By that time, the poops of the Plantagenet and Cæsar became visible from one to the other, the smoke now driving principally off from the vessels. There again were our two admirals each anxiously watching to get a glimpse of his friend. The instant the place was clear, Sir Gervaise applied the trumpet to his mouth, and called out-"God bless you, Dick! may God for ever bless you-your ship can do it-clap your helm hard a-starboard, and sheer into M. des Prez; you'll have him in five minutes." Bluewater smiled, waved his hand, gave an order, and laid aside his trumpet. Two minutes later, the Caesar sheered into the smoke on her larboard beam, and the crash of the meeting vessels was heard. By this time, the wreck of the Plantagenet was cut adrift, and she, too, made a rank sheer, though in a direction opposite to that of the Caesar's. As she went through the smoke, her guns ceased, and when she emerged into the pure air, it was found that Le Foudroyant had set courses and top-gallant-sails, and was drawing so fast ahead, as to render pursuit, under the little sail that could be set, unprofitable. Signals were out of the question, but this movement of the two admirals converted the whole battle scene into one of inexplicable confusion. Ship after ship changed her position, and ceased her fire from uncertainty what that position was, until a general silence succeeded the roar of the cannonade. It was indispensable to pause and let the smoke blow away. It did not require many minutes to raise the curtain on the two fleets. As soon as the firing stopped, the wind increased, and the smoke was driven off to leeward in a vast straggling cloud, that seemed to scatter and disperse in the air spontaneously. Then a sight of the havoc and destruction that had been done in this short conflict was first obtained.

"The Herberts," by the author of "Elphinstone," is a tale of familiar life, if not of daily experience. A son and daughter, the descendants of a family who for generations have held an honourable rank among the English gentry, and kept their heads high in their native county, find themselves in a decayed condition on the death of their father, whose last struggle to maintain an elevated position may be said to have resulted in getting himself elected to sit in Parliament. The young and bereft people, however, choose a wiser and nobler course; for they not only descend into poverty without vain and undignified efforts to uphold an empty show, but they struggle with privation and misery without compromising their honesty or their pure mindedness. The son, who is educated for the church, in his worldly downfal turns author, thence linen-draper's shopman and lawyer's clerk, but is baffled every-where. The daughter's career-the orphans having been separated, and each

obliged to pursue a distinct although not a very dissimilar courseis that of a governess, with all the painful sacrifices which a person of superior birth and education has to make in such a situation, together with encountering numberless insults of a vulgar nature. She is also exposed to the wiles of a seducer, in the shape of a nobleman, and is in imminent danger of becoming innocently his victim. Brother and sister, however, are each rescued at last, and restored to an enviable position in society; the latter being indebted for her deliverance to a person who had attained to great wealth, but who, when a ploughboy, received the rudiments of reading from the Herberts; and, what was better, had instilled by them into his mind those high principles which conducted him to honour.

The author has made use of a really interesting story, whose current and complexion we have but very slightly indicated, to introduce a number of domestic occurrences, a variety of striking vicissitudes, and a large diversity of character, in order to illustrate the ways of the world, to castigate selfishness and many questionable practices as well as sentiments which characterize the English. He has dexterously contrasted the bad and the false with the good, the gentle, and the true; while the homely and the utilitarian are seen in his pictures to be far more worthy of pursuit and adherence than the excitements of the imagination, or the sentimental dreams of enthusiasm,-the flowery and the fanciful. Now all this and much more is done by the author of The Herberts, with power which is often sarcastic, observation that is keen and close, and feeling that is healthy and deserving of imitation. There is, indeed, much mind in the novel, and much clever writing. Our first specimen of the sterling and biting matter found in it to overflowing, presents an unexaggerated sketch, we believe, of the Tory by birth and the Tory by acquisition:

Before the present generation, the Mixens could hardly be said to belong to a family; for not only was Sir Thomas unable to point the particular department of state in which his ancestors had distinguished themselves, or the great families whose arms they had quartered, but if he were a conscientious man, he would have been loath to swear that he had ever had any ancestors at all, unless a father and grandfather might be so called, beyond which two of his progenitors no written document or human memory contained a notice of his race. Mr. Mixen, the grandfather, had been a respectable old-fashioned tradesman in a small seaport town, where he saved a considerable sum of money. Mr. Mixen, the father, had employed this money to advantage during the war, in dealing in ship-stores, and finally in ship-building; and becoming possessed of a large fortune, to which he thought a title would give great dignity, he built a frigate, which he stored and manned, and very patriotically made a present of her, men and all, to the government, for which, in the course of the same summer, he acquired the supreme felicity of beholding his letters addressed Sir Michael Mixen, Bart. But the grandfather all his life, and

his successor, so long as he was working doubtfully for a fortune, had been very democratical in their principles, and violent denouncers of all ranks above them, and especially of the great landlords; but it was curious to observe how all this patriotic love of liberty and equality wore away as fortune became assured-until, as the war ended, Sir Michael, contriving to sell off his business just in the profitable nick before it finally ceased, invested his money in the purchase of land; he of course became as high a Tory as ever proclaimed the divine right of kings, bishops, and squires. Nor is there any thing uncommon about this little history, for every successful tradesman or merchant is dissatisfied with his acquired fortune, until he has become one of that class he has always despisedcountry gentlemen; and you never see a tradesman or merchant turned into gentleman,' without seeing the bitterest of Tories; one reason for which is, that wishing to give their own family the character borne by the old aristocratic families, they imitate the most prominent feature of their public life, while their own habits of thought prevent their discerning those points of private character which go far to redeem the public ones which are offensive. Thus the old Tory, if he hates the liberty of the people, and claims an absolute power over the minds of his dependents, is the very best person for them to resort to in distress or danger. He will make an obedient tenant comfortable; he will listen to his complaints with attention, so long as he does not disobey him. In his own person he is humble, because his own position is steady and assured; nor will he oppress any member of the community, saving by the operation of bad laws, which he strenuously supports, not from hatred of the people, but from prejudice and hatred of change. But the man who has to acquire for his family what antiquity has done for the other, seeing that the old Tory family will command the opinions and votes of their dependents, supposes that high birth and dignity are shown by universal superciliousness and arrogance towards all below the rank to which he aspires. The tyranny which the old Tory exerts over a district, almost unfelt because the custom of centuries, the new Tory carries out into every possible circumstance of society, and becomes not only the supporter of bad laws, but the sneering, the gaudy, and the brutal tyrant over every one who is so unfortunate as to be poorer than himself. God defend me from a patriotic tradesman turned country gentleman!

The hero of the novel is introduced in the following passage:

This much has been said to introduce fairly to the reader's notice young William Herbert; for I would not sound a trumpet before him, and make proclamation of his qualities, to forestal the reader's opinion. When, therefore, I assert, as I am to do, that William Herbert seemed by his natural qualities marked out from childhood to adorn the sacred office which his father intended him to fill, if the reader will remember the above metaphysical doctrine, will see that I mean not to praise him, but merely to state indifferent facts, that leave the reader to form his own opinion from incidents to be mentioned in the course of this narrative.

By natural qualifications for the church, I trust the reader will not suppose me to mean that, while yet an infant, William Herbert discovered

the qualities adapted to make a sycophant to the rich, a conniver at the vices of the great, or an instrument in the hands of the powerful for oppressing the weak, by the triune tyranny of a reverend Tory magistrate. On the contrary, I mean to say he was meek and humble, obedient to just authority, and bold and refractory only when injustice was intended.

We next cite a passage which is full of truth and fresh life, the life of an inexperienced young man, whose hopes are not less generous than his steps as he bounds along, cheered, trustful, and intent, are elastic. William is still the personage :

it;

It was a fine morning-but that was a matter of course; he was in perfect health, and his heart was elated with a certainty that his dearest hopes were about to be accomplished, and hope and health could throw a charm on any outward prospect. A glory had not passed away from the earth before his eyes; he had not yet met with any misfortune, saving what the hand of nature had caused, and which tended to soften the heart. The world was to him what his hopes, and not what his experience, made and he could still believe that generosity, sincerity, and the other virtues which he had been taught to love, were common among mankind— he had confidence in human nature. With this exalted opinion of beings with whom he was to struggle, and on whom he was to depend, his cheerfulness was not to be affected by the outward appearances of nature, or the quantity of labour he had to perform. His own gentleness of heart and reverence for the world, gave him a more than common sense of the exquisite sweetness of the commingled melody of the myriads of hearts in the hedges, and groves, and skies, kindled into music by the golden brightness of the morning, and of the beauty lavishly scattered over every bit of meadow-ground, and every little sprig that sparkled like silver as it waved to and fro in the sharp sunlight. But his cheerfulness was independent of these, and could have thrown a charm on the gloomiest desert. He was now at that most anxious moment of life which perhaps must be experienced by every man whom Providence has fated to labour for his bread, namely, when the individual is seizing an opportunity which, if it does not insure success, affords ground for hope. With this powerful feeling in his heart, it may be supposed that the unaccustomed labour of walking between thirty and forty miles was unregarded, and that his mind had not leisure to be conscious of such a petty circumstance as tender toes or aching knees; and indeed he did persevere with so much spirit, that early in the afternoon, much less fatigued than might have been expected, he made his appearance at Mixen Hill, the residence of Sir Thomas.

"The Expectant," by Miss Ellen Pickering, author of "Nan Darrell," "The Fright," &c., is another of those contributions to the circulating library which is sure to find plenty of readers. Like all of this fertile and fluent lady's fictions, the present possesses many features of the Minerva Press order; but with far superior traits than nine-tenths of that school exhibit, in respect not merely of composition, but knowledge and ability. The tale is interesting,