thousands of highly educated and charming girls in England, but still, looking at her while she spoke, and seeing what an ornament she would be to any ball-room in the world, I realized, with more repugnance than I had ever felt before, the arbitrary barriers of fashion and aristocracy. As accident had placed me in a position to 'look on the reverse of the shield,' I determined, if possible, to let Miss Bellamy judge of its color with the same advantage. It is not often that a plebian like myself has the authority to "Bid the pebbles on the hungry beach Fillip the stars. "We were near the open window of the library, and I stepped in and wrote a note to Lady (one of the lady patronesses, and the kindest friend I have in England), asking for three vouchers for the next ball. I had had occasion once or twice before to apply for similar favors, for countrywomen of my own, passing through London on their travels, and I knew that her ladyship thought no more of granting them than of returning bows in Hyde Park. I did not name the ladies for whom the three tickets were intended, wishing to reserve the privilege of handing one to Miss Mimpson, should she turn out civil and presentable. The third, of course, was for Miss Bellamy's chaperon, whoever that might be, and the party might be extended to a quartette by the Monsieur De Trop' of the hour-cela selon. Quite a dramatic plot— was 'nt it? "I knew that Lady was not very well, and would be found at home by the messenger, (my post-boy,) and there was time enough between soup and coffee to go to London and back, even without the spur in his pocket. "The bell rang, and Miss Bellamy took herself off to dress. I went to my carpet bag in the bachelor quarters of the house, and through a discreet entretien with the maid who brought me hot water, became somewhat informed as to my fair friend's position in the family. She was the daughter of a gentleman who had seen better days. They lived in a retired cottage in the neighborhood, and as Miss Bellamy and a younger sister were both very highly accomplished, they were usually asked to the Lodge, whenever there was company to be entertained with their music. "I was early in the drawing-room, and found there Mrs. Mimpson and a tall dragoon of a young lady I presumed to be her daughter. She did not introduce me. I had hardly achieved my salutatory salaam when Miss Bellamy came in opportunely, and took me off their hands, and as they addressed no conversation to us, we turned over music, and chatted in the corner while the people came in. It was twilight in the reception room, and I hoped by getting on the same side of the table with Lady S(whom I had the honor of knowing,) to escape recognizance till we joined the ladies in the drawing-room after dinner. As the guests arrived, they were formally introduced to Miss Mimpson by the mother, and every body but myself was formally presented to Lady S, the exception not noticeable of course, among thirty people. Mr. Mimpson came late from the city, possibly anxious to avoid a skirmish on the subject of his friend Brown, and he entered the room barely in time to hand Lady S in to , dinner. "My tactics were ably seconded by my unconscious ally. I placed myself in such a position at table, that, by a little management, I kept Miss Bellamy's head between me and Lady S and my name was not so remarkable as to draw attention to me when called on to take wine with the peccant spouse of the Scotch lord's cousin. Meantime I was very charmingly entertained-Miss Bellamy not having, at all, the fear of Mrs. Mimpson before her eyes, and apparently finding the Yankee supercargo, or cotton clerk, or whatever he might be, quite worth trying her hand upon. The provender was good, and the wine was enough to verify the apocrypha - at least for the night, a man remembering neither sorrow nor debt' with such glorious claret. "As I was vis-a-vis to Miss Mimpson, and only two plates removed from her mother, I was within reach of some syllable or some civility, and one would have thought that good breeding might exact some slight notice for the devil himself, under one's own roof by invitation; but the large eyes of Miss Aurelia and her mamma passed over me as if I had on the invisible ring of Gyges. I wonder, by the way, whether the ambitious youths who go to London and Paris with samples, and come back and sport the complete varnish of a man' acquired in foreign society,- I wonof their polishing! der whether they take these rubs to be part "The ladies rose and left us, and as I had no more occasion to dodge heads or trouble myself with humility, I took lady S―'s place at old Mimpson's right hand, and was immediately recognized with great empres sement by the Belgian chargé, who had met me very often, in very agreeable society.' Mimpson stared, and evidently took it for a bit of flummery or a mistake, but he presently stared again, for the butler came in with a coronetted note on his silver tray, the seal side up, and presented it to me with a most deferential bend of his white waistcoat. I felt the vouchers within, and pocketed it without opening, and we soon after rose and went to the drawing-room for our coffee. "Lady S- sat with her back to the door, besieged by Mrs. Mimpson; and at the piano, beside Miss Bellamy, who was preparing to play, stood one of the loveliest young creatures possible to fancy. A pale and high-bred looking lady in widow's weeds sat near them, and I had no difficulty in making out who were the two after-dinner additions to the party. I joined them, and was immediately introduced by Miss Bellamy to her mother and sister, with whom, (after a brilliant duet by the sisters) I strolled out upon the lawn for an hourfor it was a clear night, and the moon and soft air almost took me back to Italy. And, (perhaps by a hint from Miss Bellamy,) Í was allowed to get on very expeditiously in my acquaintance with her mother and sis ter. The "My new friends returned to the drawing-room, and as the adjoining library was lighted, I went in and filled up the blank vouchers with the names of Mrs. Bellamy and her daughters. I listened a moment to the conversation in the next room. subject was Almack's, and it was discussed with great animation. Lady S, who seemed to me trying to escape the trap they had baited for her, was quietly setting forth the difficulties of procuring vouchers, and recommending to Mrs. Mimpson not to subject herself to the mortification of a refusal. Old Mimpson backed up this advice with a stout approval, and this brought Mrs. Mimpson out horse and foot,' and she declared that she would submit to any thing, do any thing, give any thing, rather than fail in this darling object of her ambition. She would feel under eternal, inexpressible obligations to any friend who would procure, for herself and daughter, admission for but one night to Almack's. "Like the devil? No! But I am here in the body, and very much at your ladyship's service,' said I, for of course you are going to the duke's to-night, and so am I. Will you take me with you, or shall my po-chay follow where I belong-in your train?' "I'll take you, of course,' said her ladyship rising, but first about these vouchers. You have just come, and did'nt hear our discussion. Mrs. Mimpson is extremely anxious that her daughter should come out at Almack's, and I happened to say, the moment before you entered, that you were the very person to procure the tickets from Lady How very odd that you should come in just then! But tell us you?' can "A dead silence followed the question. Mrs. Mimpson sat with her eyes on the floor, the picture of dismay and mortification. Miss Mimpson blushed and twisted her handkerchief, and Miss Bellamy looked at her hostess, half amused and half distressed. "I handed the three vouchers to Miss Bellamy, and begged her acceptance of them, and then turning to Lady S without waiting for a reply, regretted that, not having had the pleasure of being presented to Miss Mimpson, I had not felt authorized to include her in my effort to oblige Miss Bellamy. "And what with old Mimpson's astonishment, and Lady S-'s immediate tact in covering, by the bustle of departure, what she did not quite understand, though she knew it was some awkward contre temps or other, I found time to receive Miss Bellamy's thanks, and get permission from the mother to call and arrange this unexpected party, and, in ten minutes I was on my way to London with Lady S, amusing her almost into fits with my explanations of the Mimpson mystery. "Lady S was to be still at Hampstead for a few days, and, at my request, she called with me on the Bellamy's, and invited the girls up to town. Rose Bellamy, the younger, is at this moment one of the new stars of the season accordingly, and Miss Bellamy and I carry on the war, weekly at Almack's, and nightly at some wax-light Paradise or other, and Lady has fallen in love with them both, and treats them like daughters. S ROUND and round me she waved swinging In a clear, low gurgle singing What may ne'er again be spoke; Her white arms floated on the air Like swans upon a stream, So stately fair, beyond compare And I knew by the splendor of her hair For round her limbs it went and came I knew not whither, Fitfully, like a wind-waved flame, But bright and golden as flame was never, And it flowed back and forth Like the lights of the north, Round her and round her for ever and ever! She filled the cup of melody With madness to the brim, And wild, wild songs she sang to me That made my brain grow dim, Like those which throng the traveller's mind When night drops down before and behind And he can hear nought but the lonely wind In the black pines over him; Blue and wide like the skies Were her misty eyes And in vague, strange light did swim. The lightning is mild To the sharp, fierce glow From her eyes did flow, Bitter as lightning, yet silent too As the sunless and starless twilight blue; And o'er the wide sky Of either eye, Sudden revealings Of awful feelings Like falling stars slid silently, And visions wondrous, Lurid and thunderous, Like clouds up-piled In a sunset wild Muttering far and low, In her eyes death-deep, How may I tell The sealike swell That drifted her words Like white sea-birds Swinging and heaving on to me? Her song came like a sudden breeze, THE recent appointment of two of the most elegant minded men our country has yet produced, as foreign ministers to two of the most powerful courts of the old world, has led us to the consideration of the many great authors, sometimes poets, who have|| heretofore graced the same honorable office, and thence our subject has carried us into incidental reflections on the connection subsisting between politics and literature. Our country, we may remark in passing, is not only safe as certain cautious authors observe, in such hands as those of the accomplished Everett and the tasteful Irving, but it is even highly honored by such representations. Since her earliest connection with us, England has never given us so fair a specimen of her race as we now present her with; except perhaps when the amiable enthusiast, the eloquent Bishop of Cloyne visited our shores. And Spain, since the days of Cervantes has been unable to exchange with us the equal of Washington Irving. Our two great countrymen may compare in literary merit and social worth, with the lettered statesmen of an earlier age in England's literary history, and are with the Sidney's, the Wottons, the Herbert's of a purer epoch. From the earliest dawn of civilization, the ruler has been in the noblest instances, always something more than a mere ruler. He has been, also a priest; frequently, an orator; and sometimes a poet. Moses and David, and Solomon, among the Jews.Pericles was an orator and a critic: Demosthenes a great orator: Cicero, a moralist and rhetorician: Cæsar, a general, an author, an orator, and indeed an universal genius. But to confine ourselves to great Englishmen alone, and to those of that nation employed in embassies,- Dan Chaucer, the morning star of English poetry was sent abroad on a political errand, and passed the greater part of his life at the courts of Edward III and Richard II. In the time of Henry VIII, we meet the names of the courtly Surrey, the poet and lover, as well as the knight and courtier, and the all accomplished Lord Herbert, (elder brother to George Herbert.) Spencer was, if we are not mistaken, entrusted with a commission of statistical survey or something of the sort which led to his work on Ireland. All the great prose writers and poets of Elizabeth's time took a deep interest in policy except the dramatists. At home, Bacon, and Burleigh, and the Cecils, and Selden, and Hooker, and Coke: "abroad, in arms, Sidney and Raleigh, (twin brothers in gen ius and glory) and those gay rivals for the favor of the maiden queen, Essex and Leicester. The great dramatists seem to have been too deeply and too delightfully engrossed by creating fair visions of their own, to trouble their heads much with the concerns of this sublunary planet. The reigns of the first two Stuarts were highly favorable to letters, both in church and state. Then were the high loyalist divines well rewarded for their learned devotion and eloquent zeal. Then arose that galaxy of brilliant names, Taylor, and South, and Barrow, and Donne; and, that rare class, who combined the elegant scholar, the high churchman, the accurate man of business, the high-toned royalist, and the fine gentleman, in a proportion and degree, we have seldom seen since. Of this class was Sir Henry Wotton, who was sent abroad on three several missions of an important nature, and finally ended his days as provost of Eton college. His name is embalmed for ever in the epitaph of Cowley, and his fame perpetuated in the artless gossip of Izaak Walton. Howell, the letter writer, was employed in the same way. So, too, was Dr. Donne, who went to France as secretary to his noble patron; Cowley, filled a similar station; and Quarles, who, at one period was cup-bearer to the famous and beautiful queen of Bohemia. The list of great names might be much lengthened by reference to books; but we are quoting from memory. During the commonwealth, the claims of literature were by no means overlooked.The parliamentary leaders were men of education, as well as of great natural abilities, Pym, Hampden, and Sir Harry Vane. The sagacious protector himself selected the best men for his own service. The greatest poet of all time was the private secretary of Cromwell, and his assistant Marvell was a true patriot and man of fine genius. Howe and Owen, the two greatest divines of that day, were the protector's chaplains. The former of these Robert Hall pronounced to be superior to all the divines he had ever read, and to have given him more just ideas on theological subjects. The latter was the champion of the Independents, and is still regarded by his sect, as a Hercules in controversial theology. On the restoration of Charles II, those divines, and lawyers and scholars, who had given their support to his cause, by their passive sufferings as well as by their active exertions with tongue or pen, were in general amply rewarded. The noble historian of the great rebellion was created Lord Chancellor. The imprisoned divines were restored to their pulpits. Defenders of the faith and adherents of the king suddenly rose from the criterion of country curates, to the offices of bishop and archbishop: court poets were ennobled, and wits were on the ascendant. But, at the revolution arose another change; the whigs then came into power, and whig writers were favored accordingly. Addison and Steele were favorites with their party from their political tracts, as they were with the public from their wit, and humor, and style, and knowledge of life. Garth, the favorite whig physician, was also a popular poet. The same claim gave reputation even to the prosy blockhead, Blackmore; and both were knighted for their loyalty. The English La Fontaine, (with greater licentiousness) Prior, was sent to France. Newton was made master of the mint, and the rest were well provided for. The great tory writers were continually depressed, and gained no favor from the public, save that which their brilliant poems extorted. Among these were Pope; Swift, who never got beyond his deanship, because he could not stoop for a bishopric; the amiable humorist Arbuthnot; the charming Gay; the pensive Parnell. Two tory leaders, Bolingbroke and Atterbury, were even driven into exile, from which the latter never returned. Coming down to our own time, we may observe the close alliance between politics and law, and politics and literature. The great public characters of the state, of this century, have been for the most part originally lawyers: the Cannings, and Peels, and Broughams of England, and the Adamses, the Pinkneys, and the Websters of America. Of letters, the chiefs too, the Scotts, and Wordsworths, the Coleridges, and Carlyles, the Hazlitts, and the Macauleys, have taken a deep interest in the issue of certain political questions, too often mere party questions. In many cases, the leaders in literature have held prominent offices in some one of the departments of government. The connection of poetry with politics is not hard to make out. ardor of devotion, whether to a king, or to a great abstract principle of right, in either case exerts a most important effect upon the imagination. Where power is embodied and personified, as in a kingly government, more outward pomp is exhibited, but less by far of a high moral elevation of sentiment, than is seen in the severe beauty and stern dignity of republicanism. Cato is a nobler character for the mind to dwell upon than Charles of England; and George Washington, is a greater name than Frederick or Catharine. The A natural alliance is also easily formed between high churchmanship and royalty: |