sate down for the purpose; wrote a long letter full of chitchat and he could not abide long letters; never mentioned military affairs; aud on being reminded of her omission, crammed the important intelligence into a crossed postscript under the seal, which the General, with his best spectacles, could not have deciphered in a month! so that the unlucky commander never made his appearance on the ground, and but for a forty years' reputation for exactness and punctuality, which made any excuse look like truth, would have fallen into sad disgrace at head quarters. In process of time, however, even these little errors ceased. She grew tall, and her mind developed itself with her person; still lively, ardent, and mercurial in her temperament, with an untiring spirit of life and motion, and a passionate love of novelty and gaiety, her playfulness ripened into intelligence, her curiosity became natural, and her delight in the country, deepened into an intense feeling of the beauties of nature. Thrown amidst a large and varying circle, she became in every laudable sense of the phrase, a perfect woman of the world. Before a change in the volunteer system, and a well merited promotion took the General from B., she had learned to manage her town visits and her country visits, to arrange soirées and dinner parties, to give balls, and to plan picnics, and was the life and charm of the neighbourhood. I would not be even sure that she had not learned piquet; for lovely as she was, and many as there were to tell her that she was lovely, her husband was always her first object; and her whole conduct seemed guided by the spirit of that beautiful line, in the most beautiful of ballads: For auld Robin Gray's been a gude man to me.“ Since his death Lady Sanford - for she has been long a widow have I not said that the good General became Sir Thomas before his decease? has lived mostly on the Continent; indulging, but always with the highest reputation, her strong taste for what is gayest in artificial life, and grandest in natural scenery. I have heard of her sometimes amongst the brilliant crowds of the Roman carnival, sometimes amidst the wildest recesses of the Pyrenees; now looking down the crater of Vesuvius; now waltzing at a court ball at Vienna. She has made a trip to Athens, and has talked of attempting the ascent of Mont Blanc! At present she is in England; for a friend of mine saw her the other day at the Cowes regatta, full of life and glee, almost as pretty as ever, and quite as delightful. Of course, being also a well-dowered and childless widow, she has had lovers by the hundred, and offers by the score; but she always says that she has made up her mind not to marry again, and I have no doubt of her keeping her resolution. She loves her liberty too dearly to part with the blessing; and well as she got on with Sir Thomas, I think she has had enough of matrimony. Besides, she has now reached a sedate age, and there would be a want of discretion, which hitherto she never has wanted, in venturing,,What was that you said, ma'am? The newspaper! Have I read the newspaper? - People will always talk to me when I am writing! Have I read to-day's paper? No; what do you wish me to look at? This column: Police reports new publications births? -oh, the marriages! 'Yesterday, at Bow Church, Mr. Smith to Miss Brown! not that? Oh! the next! 'On Friday last, at Cheltenham, by the Venerable the Archdeacon P- Dennis O'Brian, Esq., of the th regiment.' But what do I care for Dennis O'Brian Esq.? 'What's Hecuba to me, or I to Hecuba?' I never heard of the gentleman before in my days. Oh! it's the lady! 'Dennis O'Brian, Esq. to Lady Sanford' 'Angels and ministers of grace defend us!' here is a surprise! 'to Lady Sanford.' Ay, my eyes did not deceive me, its no mistake; 'relict of the late Major-General Sir Thomas Sanford, K. C. B.' And so much for a widow's resolution! and a gay widow's too! I would not have answered for one of the demure. A General's widow, at the ripe age of forty (oh, age of indiscretion!) married to an ensign in a marching regiment; young enough to be her son, I warrant me; and as poor as a church mouse! If her old husband could but know what was going forward, he would chuckle in his grave, at so notable a proof of the weakness of the sex so irresistible a confirmation of his theory. Lady Sanford married again! Who, after this, shall put faith in woman? Lady Sanford married again! - FUNERAL HYMN. BY HEBER. Beneath our feet and o'er our head Beneath us lie the countless dead, Their names are graven on the stone, And ere another day is run, Death rides on every passing breeze, Each season has its own disease, Our eyes have seen the rosy light Our eyes have seen the steps of age Halt feebly towards the tomb, And yet shall earth our hearts engage, Turn, mortal turn! thy danger know Turn Christian turn! thy soul apply The bones that underneath thee lie MY FIRST LOVE. BY WASHINGTON IRVING. I do not know how it is, but I cannot be idle long without getting into love. I had not been a very long time at Oxford, before I became deeply enamoured of a shopkeeper's daughter in the High-Street, who, in fact, was the admiration of many of the students. I wrote several sonnets in praise of her, and spent half of my pocket - money at the shop, in buying articles which I did not want, that I might have an Her father, a severe opportunity of speaking to her. looking old gentleman, with bright silver buckles, and a crisp-curled wig, kept a strict guard on her, as the fathers generally do upon their daughters in Oxford, and well they may. I tried to get into his good graces, and to be sociable with him, but all in vain. I said several good things in his shop, but he never laughed; he had no relish for wit and humour. He was one of those dry old gentleman who keep youngsters at bay. He had already brought up two or three daughters, and was experienced in the ways of students. He was as knowing and wary as a gray old badger that has often been hunted. To see him on Sunday, so stiff and starched in his demeanour, so precise in his dress, with his daughter under his arm, was enough to deter all graceless youngsters from approaching. I managed, however, in spite of his vigilance, to have several conversations with the daughter, as I cheapened articles in the shop. I made terrible long bargains, and examined the articles over and over before I |
