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"coxcomb." But where was Fitz all this time? He preferred pleading for himself without waiting for counsel, or hearing the pros and cons of the case. Now for such a course, his cause should have been a very good one (which it was in his own estimation), or a very bad one (which it was in the opinion of everybody else); but then everybody else could not see through the almost impenetrable maze of trees that surrounded the old Manor House of Ravenswood, and still less behold Marguerite as she glanced furtively through her long dark lashes at his handsome face, while he (bold fellow) grasped the little hand that hung confidingly upon his arm, and very roughly no doubt, for there was a tear upon her flushed cheek; but yet I do not think she chided him. They wandered there for many an hour, weighing the relative merits of the German language, which the colonel had undertaken to teach her, and the more persuasive lesson which she-docile pupil !-received from Master Fitz. Let us do him justice; he loved the belle Marguerite for herself, but there was not the least occasion why he should moderate his affections because she had ten thousand pounds, with a fair prospect of twice that sum at the death of the old squire: it was ever his axiom to "secure present good, and leave the future to take care of itself," and he acted upon it now. The colonel, on the contrary, looked on to secure the future: did he succeed?

The effects began to manifest themselves by Fitz seldom receiving an invitation to the hospitable board of the squire, while the rival colonel generally spent part of each day at the house; for the squire loved a good listener, and the antiquated spinster, Miss Margery M'Caddy, seemed fully to enter into his hopes and fears, in the success of his love; while la belle Marguerite, we doubt not, was deeply engaged in conning her German verbs in the old summerhouse on the other side of the moat.

About this time Miss M'Caddy returned with our belle Marguerite to Dublin, and in a few weeks we also received orders to proceed to the same capital. And here the ire of the colonel broke out in a thousand vexatious ways against the poor devoted sub, and before many days had passed he received the command of a recruiting party in a remote part of Ireland. If you have experienced country quarters in England, reader, then imagine all their evils magnified, and their advantages (?) considerably diminished, and you will have some faint idea of a similar position in the sister kingdom; add to this, you are just entering on a winter's campaign in Dublin, with the star of the season, according to your own astronomical observations, shining especially on you. From this Elysium you are threatened with a removal to one of the temporary purgatorial sojourns I have mentioned, low in spirits, lower in that necessary articlecash. A reprieve of a few days from so hard a sentence was earnestly sought, but without success; and one day's leave was all that he obtained.

We had been too short a time in our new

abode to inspire confidence in those ruling powers, bootmakers and tailors; and our friend Fitz was reduced to the last extremity for that necessary part of a marching costume, a pair of boots-and to procure them! here was the question. At last two confiding Hobys committed, separately, the rash act of promising that they would each supply a pair, on condition that they were paid for on delivery of the same. All this was well. An officer of her Majesty's gallant -th could not appear on parade without boots; but how they could be paid for by my merry friend, who owned to me his penniless condition, I knew not."

Eight o'clock came, and the boots arrived; one was found to be too tight, and returned to be stretched, while he encased his handsome foot in the one approved, which operation he had scarcely effected when the second pair arrived, and the same fault was found with one of them. No sooner was his toilette completed than he threw himself on his horse, and with a passing injunction to me to meet him an hour hence in Sackville-street, rode off. As I left my own lodgings, I passed the door he had so lately quitted, and there I beheld two master-bootmakers, each with a small unpaid bill, each with a boot; and, strange to say, though one was right, both were left!

And where was the Colonel on this last day of leave of the quondam favourite? In the drawing-room of Miss M'Caddy, in street, waiting to give Marguerite Mostyn a lesson in German. And where was his pretty pupil? In the parish-church of St. repeating a new lesson, while our handsome Fitz stood by her side and prompted her; and yet it must have been anything but a pleasant lesson in the opinion of an indifferent spectator, for tears were glittering as brightly on the fringe of those downcast eyes, as when I caught a glimpse of her one summer's evening in the bowery shrubberies of Ravenswood. I gave her little hand away myself, and assisted her into the elegant chariot that conveyed Fitz and the Flower of Ravenswood to-country quarters.

Some few months after their marriage a suit was instituted against the disappointed rival by Miss Margery M'Caddy, for breach of promise of marriage, from documents written for another and fairer Margaret. Love and law are two of the great calamities of life; the forlorn bachelor wisely preferred the least, and the further proceedings were carried on at the same altar, where, but a few months before, la belle Marguerite robbed the gallant-th of their favourite.

Many a year has passed since then, and I have heard Fitz declare to the stripling by his side, as he glanced at his still lovely wife, that the happiest hour of his existence he dated from Country Quarters.

N.B. We are confidently assured the boots were ultimately paid for.

A FEW REMARKS ON MANY THINGS.

BY MRS. VALENTINE

BARTHOLOMEW.

No. I.-POLITENESS.

Politeness is said to spring from an innate desire to make those who are around us happy; yet there are many kind and humane persons who are entirely deficient in the great art of rendering people at ease with themselves, thus proving that politeness, like every other qualification, requires judicious fostering and training, lest it should remain dormant in the mind, or degenerate into hypocrisy; for the proverb tells us, 66 our virtues often tread upon the heels

of vice."

employers need not fear that civility could be taken for familiarity.

In this refined age, when we study so much science, why not learn to be kind in word, as well as in action? A favour may be granted in such an ungracious manner, that the feelings of those whom you intended to serve may be painfully wounded; and a refusal to a request may be so delicately expressed, that the refused can feel but a momentary disappointment. There is no occasion for TRUTH to be rendered disagreeable; why should not the admonisher clothe it in words which assume the appearance of kindness?

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Children cannot be too early educated to practise patience and forbearance towards each other; the infant of a twelvemonth old may be taught | not to snatch toys out of the hand of its play- Some persons seem born for the sole purpose mate, and then fling them at the head of its of finding fault with all their associates; if such nurse. I have heard children speak to servants be their unconquerable bias, let them, unless in so domineering a style, that I have blushed 'glorying in their shame," follow it in the least for the ill-breeding of the mother who could offensive form possible; and above all, let them allow such conduct to pass unnoticed and un- cease to pride themselves upon being so virtucorrected; and how many disastrous conse- ously candid: under the mask of CANDOUR, the quences have occurred from the elder-born hav- most cutting things are sometimes spoken. ing been suffered during childhood to triumph and tyrannize over the younger branches of the family! The seeds of animosity, when once sown, have a poisonous fruit; how urgent then becomes our duty to prevent them from ever taking root in the heart!

There are few persons who have not been occasionally made excessively uncomfortable in hearing, when at the table of their hostess, the domestics openly reprimanded for mistakes which probably had been committed from an over anxiety to please. And who does not pity the attendant who receives orders from the master or mistress in an imperious, and therefore in an insulting tone? Yet such a master or mistress may have had the real welfare of the dependant at heart, whilst being deficient in that true politeness which prevents the feelings of an inferior from being outraged.

"I would go through fire and water to serve you, miss," once said a servant maid to a young lady; "but your sisters treat me as if I were a blackamoor, and scold and order me about before company, so that I get so flurried, I have no power to do my best." That young lady is now a grey-haired old woman, in decayed circumstances, but still attended by the same servant, who for ever remembered with gratitude that she had been treated by one part of the family with benevolent respect. And so it should always be; our servants are no more under an obligation to us than we are to them; when the duties of menials are honestly performed, their

"I certainly do not admire your taste," said one dear friend to another; "I never saw you look so wretchedly pale as you did in that blue dress last night, which was badly made, and most unbecoming-what could induce you to fix upon that colour, dear? I assure you I heard people make such ill-natured remarks, that I was quite provoked; one said your arms were too red to be shown; and another wondered you did not conceal your thin hair under a cap; and I am a leetle surprised you don't, for there's my cousin Bessy, many years younger than you, wears one. I hope you are not angry at my giving you my opinion, but you know I always pique myself on candidly speaking the truth.'

The dear friend," of course, looks very mortified and discomforted, although she may be too well bred to utter what she thinks of the CANDID speaker.

"Dear

How different is the tone real politeness takes, and without any sacrifice of sincerity. Jane: I did not like the fashion of your dress last night; it was not so becoming as many others I have seen you wear; nor did the colour exactly suit you: some of our friends thought you would look so well in a head-dress, I wish you would try one on. I know you will forgive my saying what I think, which is only done with a view to your advantage."

to become

Many a well-educated woman has, by sudden reverses of fortune, been compelled the mistress of a boarding-house, and endure untold mortifications from the vulgar behaviour

of the boarders, who deem they may be exempted from paying little compliments to their entertainer, because they pay for what they have. It was my misfortune not long ago to witness a scene in an establishment of this class, where the rules of politeness were grossly violated. We were sitting round the tea-table, when a little sharp-looking old maid pushed back her cup, exclaiming, "I asked for tea, ma'am." The lady who had taken upon herself the arduous task of being equally civil to the disagreeable as well as the agreeable persons who comprised her household, gently replied, she was sorry if she had made a mistake, and given coffee. "It is not coffee, ma'am, nor is it tea," cried Miss Snobs, with a sneer and a giggle; “I call it water!" The hostess looked very pale as she quietly put more hyson into the teapot; but the laugh was quickly turned against Miss Snobs, by a facetious gentleman remarking, that if so much gunpowder were used, he was afraid they would all be blown up!

A sure mark of good breeding is to listen attentively to the person who is speaking, and not interrupt him till he has finished, from an over anxiety to hear oneself talk. I have known many an interesting narrative brought to an untimely end by a rude and abrupt remark, quite foreign to the subject which was being discussed.

The same want of refinement is displayed by endeavouring to engross the entire conversation. Nothing can be more offensive than the egotist, who, to the exclusion of the observations of others, fancies the description of what he does or what he thinks would be the only amusing discourse to a general company. In society, the guests should consider it a duty they owe their hostess, to be affable with one another; and when a young lady is addressed by the person seated next to her, she should not freeze the genial current of conversation by an icy yes" or "no." If asked to sing or play, do so promptly, or at once decline, as by hesitating you are keeping others of the party from exercising their pleasing powers. What can be more galling than the toss of the head, and the supercilious glance, with which some girls reply to a question, from one they consider their inferior in rank, station, or dress? They should remember that all the invited are for that evening their equals.

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Never indulge in the petty malice of quizzing. Many a worthy admirer has been lost through it; and many a wound has been inflicted by it, which has never healed: consider that which is mere sport to you may be death to others. Professional persons, whose wealth lies in their intellectual attainments, and who can therefore afford to laugh at the reverses of fortune, may certainly be placed upon an equality with those who possess only worldly riches; they are therefore entitled to the attentions due from good society. How painful is it to hear such a class designated as nobodies by the nouveaux riches! "He is only an artist," or "She is only a

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governess," are phrases that are but too frequently used. I once

was acquainted with a miniaturepainter, a gentlewoman by birth and education, but who had been compelled to use her talents as a means for her livelihood. Calling one day by desire at the house of a parvenu, to be consulted about some pictures, she was allowed to depart without the common civility of the servant being summoned to let her out; but she very properly gave the family a lasting lesson on their want of good breeding, by leaving the drawing-room and hall-doors wide open after she had passed through. The next time the miniature painter's services were required, she was treated with the utmost respect.

A civil word and a kind look cost nothing; the very beggars in the street thank you for them; like oil, they fall on the troubled waters of life; whilst arrogance and incivility raise a tempest which requires some self-control to subdue.

WORDS AND WINDS.

BY MRS. A. TURNER.

Words are like Summer winds,

When sweetly spoken,

That do to drooping flow'rets bring
Refreshing dew-drops scattering:

Yet not like winds, for kind words dwell
Deep in the heart's most sacred cell,

And part from Memory never;
The winds but breathe o'er each fair flower,
Or kiss them with a fragrant shower,
And then are gone for ever!

Words are like Autumn's wind,

When harshly spoken,

Whose blighting power upon the plain
Whirls far the leaves that yet remain :
Yet not so keen the wild wind blows
As words that wound the heart's repose,
And cause the tear to flow;

The Summer leaves will bloom again—
Not so the heart: its griefs remain,

Deep hid from outward show.

Words are like Winter's wind,

When breath'd in wrath, Which in its fury o'er the wild Bends the tough oak - the forest's child: Yet the fell storm hath not such power As anger speaks in passion's hour,

Nor causes lasting woe.. The whirlwind pass'd, the dread is o'er, The bark hopes soon to gain the shore Where silent waters flow.

Words are like Spring's sweet wind,

When whisp'ring hope,

Whose young breath revels o'er the fields Till the glad earth its treasures yields; And yet not like, for words thus spoken Will cheer the spirit that is broken,

Which thoughts of peace will cherish; The winds do woo the flower's fay, Then bear their incense far awayTheir forms are left to perish!

E

LITERATURE.

than we have enumerated. Tales, sketches, and poems are contributed by the Countess of Blessington, Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Mrs. S. C. Hall, R. Bernal, Esq., Walter Savage Landor, Lord John Manners, the Lady EmmeToulmin, Eugene Sue, Albert Smith, Mrs. Walker; by the late Grace Aguilar, and by our valued contributors, Mrs. Abdy, Dinah Maria Mulock, Elizabeth Youatt, Anna Savage, and other talented writers too numerous to name. Indeed it is a choice book, whose merits will make it perennial. "The Lost Jewel," one of the best tales, is without a signature. Our extracts shall be first from an excellent "Sketch of Society," by Lady Blessington, entitled "Scandal!"

THE BOOK OF BEAUTY-THE KEEPSAKE. Edited by the Countess of Blessington. (Bogue.) -With Christinas and the New Year come the Annuals in their gorgeous livery of crimson and purple and gold; and among them none are more welcome than these old-established favour-line Stuart Wortley, Barry Cornwall, Camila ites. The Book of Beauty, however, or “Regal Gallery," is on an entirely new plan. The volume for 1848 lays claim to the title of an historical work, the literature consisting solely of twelve memoirs of Queens of England. We rejoice to find that to this the pen of the noble and gifted editress has largely contributed. One might have thought Miss Strickland-so far as her elaborate work yet goes-had exhausted the subject; but in the memoirs of Henry the Eighth's second, third, and sixth wives, the Countess of Blessington has proved otherwise; in them, freshness of style and manner com- A casuist might search whether this evil originated bines with all the evidences of research to form in "envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness,” a delightful addition to the knowledge generally or in the habit of gossiping induced by idleness; but diffused of these personages. The notice of the for our own part we are inclined to attribute it to the "Life of Eleanor of Provence" is also by her last. If, as the old proverb has it, idleness be the ladyship, and deserves no less the highest com- mother of mischief, scandal surely is the offspring of mendation. Some of the other memoirs are idleness; and three, if not four, portions of the false by Mansel Reynolds, Mrs. Freire Owen, Miss reports circulated in society owe their existence and Mulock, and Camilla Toulmin; while those of promulgation to it. Those who endeavour to kill Isabella of Valois, by P, and of Elizabeth morning visits, are aware that a piece of news-and their own time, and consume that of others, by Woodville and Eleanor of Castile, which appear the more piquant the better-serves as a passport to anonymously, are by no means the least merito- insure a welcome even in houses whose owners are rious and impartial. As for the portraits, cer- not ill-natured nor malicious. Tired of the monotony tainly the volume never better deserved the title and inanity of a life without rational occupation, of the "Book of Beauty." Of course we must aught that creates even a momentary excitement is allow that they are idealized; but if this be a well received, because it banishes for a brief time the fault, it must be looked on leniently: Henrietta lassitude of mind and ennui that never fail to spring Maria we like the least; but Katherine Parr, from idleness. Hence those who bestow their teElizabeth Woodville-these so thoroughly Eng- diousness on their acquaintances are glad to have lish in their character, and Eleanor of Castile, something novel to relate; and, in their desire for this stimulant, sometimes erects a supersructure of are faces to gaze on and dream about. The scandal on a basis of fiction, careless what injury it engravings all evince Mr. Heath's careful super- may inflict on others. In the anxiety of these intendence. We learn from the introductory gossips to collect news, they eagerly grasp at whatnotice, that, should the work in its present ever may have the appearance of furnishing it; a form prove successful, the intention of the pro-word that can be turned to a different meaning from prietor is to continue it in the same manner till the subject be exhausted."--THE KEEPSAKE also presents new features. In the first place, while the binding is richer than ever, it is also much more substantial; and the verses the book contains are fewer in number than usual, but all -poetry. The frontispiece is an exquisite portrait of Jenny Lind, to which a beautiful and enthusiastic poem is written by Miss Power. "The Last Moment" is a fine engraving by Charles Heath, from a drawing by Henry Warren, and carries out forcibly the sentiment and incident it illustrates. The "Grand Entrance of the Chamber of Peers," and the "Diana Gallery at Fontainbleau," after Allom, are master-pieces of their kind; but pictures are not to be described. Whoever looks into the Keepsake will find several more gems of art

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* * * *

that intended by the speaker; nay, even a look,
smile, or gesture, may be converted to account by
indefatigable hunters of news; and the receivers,
careless of the truth, supply by their imagination
the discrepancies of the story related.
The fact is, the same habit of idleness that leads them
to listen to and repeat such tales, prevents their
ascertaining whether they are false or true, and so
the report gains ground without any peculiar malice
in those who spread it, until it reaches the individuals
most interested, who are sure to be the last to hear
it. For the cure of this besetting evil, rational occu-
pation is the best we can recommend.

Gentle reader, if you perceive the truth of these remarks, pray profit by them. Our poetical extract shall be short but entire; a poem that, to our poor thinking, is surpassed by very few of Felicia Hemans' or L. E. L.'s productions:

LA MIA DIMORA.

BY ANNA SAVAGE.

The home I sigh for is no kindred dwelling
Where eager eyes look wistfully for me,
Where hand meets hand, and hearts with rapture
swelling,

Bid the long parted the most loved one be.

Home! siniling home! the limes are o'er it drooping,
Yet, from its chambers children stand aloof;
So low it lies, that thy kind hand, in stooping,

Alone may touch its green and humble roof.

Home! peaceful home! the grass doth grow around it;
For garden flowers the daisies blossom fair;
Narrow its walls--an arm's breadth well may bound it;
But sound of scorn or wrong can reach not there.

Oh! welcome home! the exile, gazing blindly
Through tears of tenderness the loved to see,
Haileth his native shore with thoughts less kindly
Than my poor heart looks hopefully to thee!

BEAUTIES OF GERMAN LITERATURE-GULLIVER'S TRAVELS (Cabinet Edition.)—JuVENILE VERSE AND PICTURE-BOOK. (Burns). -We place these three works together, not from their possessing any resemblance to each other, but because they alike issue from the publisher who has already catered so often and so judiciously for youthful readers. Mr. Burns always seeks to combine the beautiful with the useful, and is no despiser of those imaginative productions which we think are much too often shelved in the nursery. The book we have placed first on our list is a collection from Hoffman, Tieck, Richter, Caroline Pichler, and Tyschokke, with a short but interesting memoir of each author. The second, also illustrated-we envy the child who has yet to read it-though for that matter Gulliver's Travels have delighted many a wise man no less. And lastly, the Juvenile Verse and Picture-Book is a repertory of choice compositions, ranging in style from "John Gilpin" to "Llewelyn and his Dog;" and from "The Butterfly's Ball" to "The Burial of Sir John Moore." The illustrations, which embellish nearly every page, are executed in the finest style of wood engraving, from designs belonging to the highest character of creative art; in short, "The Juvenile Verse and Picture-Book" is for the young what the costly volume, "Poems and Pictures," published a year or two ago, was and is for the adult's library or drawing-room

table.

and a warm sympathiser with the suffering and the struggling, the writer brings living politicians and statesmen on the tapis, mingling the interests of his created characters with their doings. The heroine is depicted with great power and delicacy; she is a thorough woman, though a woman of genius-no contradiction in our opinion, for we believe that genius deepens all the lines of a true woman's character, and endows a man with not a few of the attributes which we are accustomed, for want of a more exact term, to call-womanly. It is not our purpose to trace the plot, which is simple, but interesting, and in no way forced or unnatural. We think, however, the forte of the book is the writing--the vehicle it is made for the exposition of sentiments; and we will select a short paragraph or two, avoiding as much as possible all political discussions. We rejoice to find the author of "Evelyn Stuart" warm and eloquent on the subject of education.

Do they who kindly wish Redemption's sun to shine in foreign lands, oh! do they look at home?Think of the darkened cellar, where no ray comes to cheer? Think of the blighted heart, without one hope to solace? The heathen tutors his child in his own simple law; he cannot teach him the glorious doctrine, "Do unto others as you would be done by; he cannot tell him to pay evil with good; but him trust in his own right arm, and never oppress the fallen; he bids him listen to his own kind heart, and ever help the weaker; he bids him scorn the coward and the slave, and by his conduct put them both to shame; and, in his simple way, he bids him worship the Great First Cause, that Nature, stronger than any missionary, assures him rules above. Now say, oh Christians in this Christian land! is every English child thus taught? * * step in crime is made, ere the unconscious infant knows his danger; when he can think and feel, the path is clear before him. His life of sin concludes perhaps by a death of shame; and the wise, and the good, and the pious, who send the messengers of peace abroad, and think they do their duty, point to the scaffold, where the victim struggles in agonies of death, and talk about example!

he does teach him his rude code of honour: he bids

* * The first

ferent class, the author aptly says—
Earlier in the book, and speaking of a dif-

Education has various systems, though to one only is it generally applied-to the knowledge of various facts and rules, acquired by years of toil and application, perhaps forgotten as soon as known. Ah! wise parent, teach your child to think; then, and then only, will he be educated, and equal to the emergencies of life.

The following seems to us very well put—

What enchanting talisman of old could conjure up such a power as those five letters-Books! Marvellous and mysterious messengers, by which mind communes with mind, and in the words of a great

EVELYN STUART; or, RIGHT versus MIGHT. By Adrian. 3 vols.-We are late in the day in reviewing a work which has been already some months before the public; but as it does not belong to the ephemeral class which passes away with the season, instead of making apologies for the delay, we will hold to the adage of author "The airy children of our brain are born better late than never. anew within another's." By those mystical cha. Evelyn Stuart" is a racters of white and black, we hold converse with book with a purpose, a political novel in fact, by all the world; time and space are nothing. We an earnest, honest writer of that wide party-form friendships with the unseen, more sacred than which we will use the Irishism of describing as ties of blood, based on sympathy of spirit. By of-no party at all. A reformer of all abuses, this powerful agency the "spoils of time" become

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