And there is one who Knows where the maid, unseen, Down in the dell. Covered up somewhere, Down in the dell. Cold is the starlight, Down in the dell Ten times more chill and cold Rests underneath the mould, By the dank alders Down in the dell. Seemeth too surely Something not well, Where blow the night-winds Down in the dell: He, who in cradle deep Laid there a babe to sleep, Hollow-eyed dreamer, Down in the dell! P. S. WORSLEY. THE LATE EARL OF EGLINTON. It is with unfeigned grief that we record, in the pages of the Magazine, the great loss which the country has sustained by the early death of one of the most amiable and accomplished of the public men, whose ready obedience to the calls of duty, high rectitude of character, and rare administrative talent, have vindicated in this generation the proud position assigned to the aristocracy of the land. When an aged statesman, a venerable relic of the past, passes away from amongst us, full of years and honours, our mourning is tempered by the thought that, long before his summons arrived, he had reached the confines of time, and looked forth upon the ocean of eternity. We know that the period of his labour was over before the sun had set-that his work was ended, his mission accomplished, and that he had nothing further to bequeath than the memory of his good name, and the example which he has left to posterity. And therefore our natural sorrow for the death of such a man is rather a testimony of filial respect than a token of deep affliction; and even in the hour of bereavement we may gratefully give thanks to God for having spared to us so long the veteran whose deeds were the glory, and whose thoughts were the inspiration, of our fathers. But far deeper is the sensation, and more bitter the grief, when, in the noontide of his life, and the meridian of his fame, a man whom we have loved and honoured, in whose career we have felt a proud and personal interest, and whose noble qualities have seemed to us but the earnest of future achievements, is suddenly struck down. It is not for mortals to repine, or for creatures of the dust to challenge the will of the Almighty; but our human weakness cannot be altogether overcome, nor can we in such a case assume at least instantly or readily-that stoical indifference which reconciles itself, through the cold argument of necessity, to heavy losses and sore calamities as inevitable visitations from above. Mourning is part of our existence; and should we mourn less sincerely for the great and good, than for the feeble and wayward of our kind? In the roll of those who, dying ere the tale of their years was accomplished, have nevertheless won for themselves a high reputation, and commanded the applause of their contemporaries, Archibald William Montgomerie, thirteenth Earl of Eglinton, will hold a conspicuous place. High ancestral honours were his inheritance; but it was no accident of fortune or advantage of birth that raised him to his proud position, and won the affections of his countrymen. Rank and wealth do undeniably afford many advantages to those who are actuated by an honourable ambition, inasmuch as they remove out of the upward path many obstacles which the less fortunate must overcome by dint of personal exertion; but on the other hand it must be remembered that the early possession of these is apt to engender a spirit of slothfulness and luxury, and by limiting the sphere of the rewards which ambition may fairly contemplate, to detract from the necessity of patient and continuous exertion. In this favoured land of ours, nobility, unfortified by any other pretension to the public favour, may indeed claim precedence, but will not receive any higher form of recognition. To station and wealth we cheerfully allow their proper place and significance; and he who is their owner, assumes for a time some little adventitious importance in right of that of which he is the representative. But to the mere wearer of nobility, the lord of wide domains, or the possessor of unbounded riches, we accord neither our admiration nor our esteem. Such are but the puppets of pageantry, and fade from our recollection, and from the broad memories of mankind, if they have failed to signalise their lives by any acts of virtue or of goodness, or by words and thoughts so gracious and so true that it would be a calamity should they wholly perish. It is, if rightly considered, the highest privilege of our nobility that they may, if so disposed, devote their attention, with fewer chances of interruption than can be predicted for any other class, to public affairs, so as gradually to assume, according to their individual capacity and experience, the position of practical statesmen. Common sense, as well as observation and example, convince us that we require others besides successful merchants, ingenious lawyers, or accomplished rhetoricians, to watch over the destinies of the State; and to that labour, at once the highest and the most useful, we expect that those shall turn to whom the Commonwealth has given rank, and from whom it may therefore demand laudable and patriotic service. It is the glory of Britain, and has added immensely to the strength and stability of our Constitution, that the call has been nobly answered; and that many of our greatest statesmen, alive and dead, have incontestably proved, by their devoted labours for their country's welfare, that the gifts of fortune have not been bestowed on them in vain; that they have exercised no Lethean influence over the energies of their minds, but have rather stimulated them to honourable action. Long may it so continue! The democratic principle has never yet been able to achieve a triumph, except where the way has been cleared for its advance by an effete and unworthy aristocracy. It is not our purpose to offer anything resembling a biographical sketch of Lord Eglinton. His was a career so useful, yet so unobtrusive -except when, in obedience to the command of his Sovereign, he assumed the high functions of Viceroy of Ireland, and exercised that office in a manner that conciliated at once the deep affections of a people-that his influence was rather felt among his contemporaries like an irresistible magnetic power, ever present and ever potent, than displayed in dazzling bursts, or flashes of extraordinary brilliancy. Of him it may emphatically be said that honour was his polar star, and no consideration whatever could induce him to swerve one step, to the right hand or the left, from what he believed to be the path of duty. Deeply devoted to the interests of Scotland, in whose history the names of some of his ancestors occupy so conspicuous a place, he did not commit the mistake, with which others certainly were chargeable, of allowing a sentimentalism, not purely national, but coloured with a certain tinge of romantic prejudice, to obscure his vision, or lead him to take a distorted view of the position which Scotland holds in relation to its more powerful and wealthy sister. The agitation-if that name could be appropriately given to the moderate remonstrance against some instances of Imperial neglect -which about eight years ago was audible in the northern division of Great Britain, terminated as quietly as it began; and to the judicious conduct of Lord Eglinton, and the weight which each successive Government most justly attached to his opinion, may be ascribed the increased attention which has, since then, been bestowed on Scottish affairs, and some most valuable measures of legislation, among which we may specify the Act for the better regulation and improvement of the Northern Universities. Strong political opinions have, even within the memory of the present generation, in many instances detracted from the popularity of individuals, high in station, and animated with a sincere desire to perform their duty, according to the best of their judgment, without regard to personal considerations. The opinions of the late Earl were, as is well known, eminently Conservative; but such was the high esteem in which his character was universally held, and so sincere the admiration which his high qualities inspired, that he was, without exception, the most popular nobleman in Scotland; and even those whose views were most diametrically opposed to his, acknowledged the justice, and ratified the decision, of the general voice. To the commonalty of the West of Scotland, the district in which he usually resided, he was especially dear; and the strong feeling of admiration and enthusiasm created by his first appearance as a public speaker in the year 1844, when he officiated as President of the famous Burns' Festival, never underwent any diminution, but rather grew and increased, year by year, until that manly heart ceased to beat, and his spirit returned to God who gave it. In his capacity of Viceroy of Ireland, an office which he twice filled, he exhibited the highest administrative talent; and his rule, so firm and yet so wise and conciliatory, did more to banish prejudice and to produce harmony, than could have been anticipated from the efforts of the most experienced and indefatigable statesman. Hence his removal from Ireland, when his party left office, was regarded almost in the light of a national calamity; and by the whole bulk of the population, Catholic as well as Protestant, the name of EGLINTON will long remain a household word, recalling the memory of a happy period, when the angry passions of strife and faction were silenced, and prosperity once more began to shed its blessings upon the land. Faint and wholly inadequate as is the tribute which we can pay to his worth, we should do violence to our feelings were we not to add our expression of grief to the general mourning for the loss of this ornament to his country and his age. Death has indeed been busy in the high places. Not three months have elapsed since the generous and tenderhearted Lord Herbert was summoned away, and again the shadow of the stern messenger has been seen, and the high-minded and chivalrous Eglinton has gone to his rest. Bitter were the tears that have been shed for both, by those who knew and loved them; but though Providence has seen fit to remove them before old age had dimmed their vision or impaired their intellectual strength, they have bequeathed to us a noble example of honour, rectitude, and patriotism; and the virtues that adorned them when living, will not be forgotten in their graves. Printed by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh. WE come now to the day on which Mr Arabin and his daughter are to sail to Port Henderson, and thence proceed to Spanish Town. Mrs Arabin, it seems, is not to be of the party. There has been a little hurricane blowing for a day or two at Crystal Mount, and all the leaves are ruffled, and the genius of domestic harmony has fled before it. Mrs Arabin is in disgrace-she sometimes is so: Violet is scarcely able to elude the storm; it requires all her little management, and all her great affection and grace, to escape its fury Mr Arabin is dreadfully out of humour; he is the Eolus from whom proceeds the tempest. No wonder, then, that when his wife proposed to remain at home, Mr Arabin ungraciously agreed to the arrangement, and thought within himself that it was quite a lucky whim! So Mr Arabin and Violet are expected in Kingston by Melhado between ten and eleven in the morning; Leander and Rosy are ordered to go down on foot, and rendezvous at the boat-wharf in Port-Royal Street; and Mrs Arabin VOL. XC.-NO. DLIV. has numerous duties to attend to at Crystal Mount. On a bright morning, before the sea-breeze has set in, the city of Kingston is anything but a cool place. Spite of the heat, though, it is in a wondrous bustle; for all of English race, true to their traditions and descent, persist in transplanting every possible custom that is English, and, reason and climate notwithstanding, adhere to the hours of labour and business which are prescribed at the London Docks and the Stock Exchange. Only to hint at the grateful siesta of the south of Europe, and the other simple adaptations by which a tropical climate may be made enjoyable, is to rouse the old Adam Bull, and bring down frightful comminations on Jews, Turks, infidels, and especially on Frenchmen. Better to say nothing about it, and take things as we find them-to sleep away the delicious hour of daybreak, bathe and breakfast in the blazing heat of eight or nine o'clock, swelter in the streets or the counting-house, the highway or the fields, till evening; 2 X |