kept a very bad larder, and was extremely irritable with his servants. A clergyman in his neighbourhood recommended him a butler, who lived with him as long as he could endure him, and then left his place. Meeting one day with his reverend friend who had procured him the situation, he

HINT TO AUTOGRAPH COLLECTORS.

In the catalogue of a bookseller living in the neighbourhood of Covent-garden, is a book specified" A Relation of the Manner of the Execution of John Ellice, a notorious Pyrate," with this note

should be able to write his name on a book after on the Title-page." How the said John Ellice his execution is somewhat puzzling!

while yet her cheek glittered with the tear-drop, like a weeping suuny April morning, she continued, tried to see me in this extremity? where is all "Charles too has deserted me. Why has he not that violent love that he ever swore for me?

Methinks if he cared the least about me, he would

fate, now, alas! inevitable. But I fear all men are perfidi us."

I THINK OF THEE.

I think of thee-I think of thee,
And those days so sunny bright,
When thy voice with sweet melody

Made my lone heart gay and light.
I think of thee and those hours,
When 'neath the moon's dazzling rays,
We wandered through fair bowers,

And ne'er thought of clouded days.
I think of thee, while here I stray
'Mid scenes of beauty bereft ;
My blissful dreams have fled away,
And not a beam of hope left.
I think of thee-the magic spell
Which lurk'd in thy soft lay,
No longer on mine ear doth dwell,
That once made me glad and gay.

PADDY AND THE TRAVELLER.

A gentleman travelling in Ireland, asked a peasant who was mending the road, "Where does this road go to?" "An please your honour, I leaves it here when I'm done work-I finds it here the first thing in the morning; but where it goes in the mane time, bad luck to me if myself can tell."

FIRE.

Blandly glowing, richly bright,
Cheering star of social light;
While I gently heap it higher,
How I bless thee, sparkling fire!
Who loves not the kindly rays
Streaming from the temper'd blaze?
Who can sit beside his hearth
Dead to feeling, stern to mirth?
Who can watch the crackling pile,
And keep his breast all cold the while?
Fire is good, but it must serve;
Keep it thrall'd-for if it swerve
Into Freedom's open path,

What shall check its maniac wrath?
Where's the tongue that can proclaim
The fearful work of curbless flame?
Darting wide and shooting high,
It lends a horror to the sky;
It rushes on to waste, to scare
Arousing Terror and Despair;
It tells the utmost earth can know
About the demon scenes below;
And sinks at last, all spent and dead,
Among the ashes it has spread.
Sure the poet is not wrong
To glean a moral from the song.
Listen, youth! nor scorn, nor frown,
Thou must chain thy passions down :
Well to serve, but ill to sway,
Like the fire they must obey.
They are good in subject state
To strengthen, warm and animate;
But if once we let them reign,
They sweep with desolating train,
Till they but leave a hated name,

A ruin'd soul and blacken'd fame.

.C.

THE ELOPEMENT.

BY E. A. HUTTLY.

The rays of the rising sun had scarcely dispelled the mists of the morning, when the eastern terrace of Mantleborne House was pressed by the feet of two lovely maidens. A palpable distinction in attire signified them as mistress and dependant. The long fair ringlets of the one played around a face of the finest and noblest mould, while the shorter and more humble tresses of the other, adorned a countenance that wanted nothing more to stamp it unrivalled in its style. But little difference however was there in their respective claims, for the high-born and noble features of the mistress, were half robbed of their beauty, when contrasted with the rustic yet bewitching charms of the maid.

"Rose," cried the lady, with a voice that, by its sudden and peculiar exertion, seemed to have been slumbering beneath the influence of melancholy thoughts, "how bright the morning is! The fragrance of Elysium seems breathing around us, and almost makes me forget my sorrows; and," she leaned mournfully upon the stone balustrade" exerts such powerful influence over my senses, that I am half tempted to think that the anticipation of the dreaded termination of this day, is merely some fearful and almost indefinable prognostic of evil that so often assails us when buried in slumber. Say, my faithful girl, is this indeed the day on which they purpose to marry me to Sir John Sinclair, or am I merely dreaming?" Rose exhibited a little of that peculiar hesitation, that, in matters of difficulty, usually marks the conduct of prudent subordinates, ere she replied. "It is indeed, madam, your weddingday;-but why should you be so dull? God bless me! if I were about to be married, I should be so noisy, so gay, that none should say but that I intended to make a prize of matrimony, even though it should turn up a blank.”

"Would you indeed, Rose!" quickly responded her lady, "would you indeed be gay, were you placed as I am now? Poor artless girl; alas-for me that I were not born as humble and content as thou! Rose, you know full well how I am circumstanced. On the one hand, love for Charles Henderson, half induces me to fly from home; and on the other, filial duty and affection incline me to my father's will, independent of the consciousness of having been affianced to Sir John in early childhood."

My dear sweet Miss Elizabeth," interrupted Rose, it appears to me, that that affiancing of people when children, is a very foolish thing, because it is possible that one might be settled down as the wife of the only man one might feel inclined to hate! Give me liberty and a free choice, even though it be accompanied by poverty and a cottage."

"Ah! Rose my girl," sighed her mistress, "would that I could exchange my lofty prospects for thy limited means, and still more limited desires; but I have no choice between two extremes. The one is, speedy marriage and accession to the joint estates, and the other the adoption of my own will and-poverty. What am I to do? woe is me! Was ever poor girl so perplexed? Am I doomed to be alone in the world ?”

She stopped to indulge in a silent yet impressive burst of grief, too sacred in its character to be violated by interruption, even from Rose. And,

66

"Nay, say not all," interrupted Rose, with such emphatical eagerness, that her mistress could not forbear smiling, even in the midst of her sorrows; nay, say not all, for I'm sure that Ralph Morrice, is as good and true a man as ever lived. He loves me dearly, and says there is not such another girl inyou

"Rose," cried Elizabeth, half pettishly seem to care little about the concerns of your mistress, which ought to be your first consideration. What have I to do with Ralph Morrice? I say all men are bad-Ralph not excepted. But attend to me. You have often heard me say that Charles was left at an early age, an orphan, in my father's care; we were reared together, we played together, imbibed reciprocal ideas, and-alas! that it should have been so, loved each other in riper years. soon as my father discovered our attachment, he exiled Charles from that home that had so long sheltered him, and bade me prepare to receive Sir John as my future lord. This command was accompanied by a threat of disinheritance, in case of a refusal. Thus you see, Rose—”

As

They had reached the extremity of the terrace, and were about turning to retrace their steps, when a rustling in a neighbouring thicket caused them to pause abruptly. The noise was quickly repeated, and, in another moment, a powerful dog sprang from the shelter, and crouched with instinctive teeling at their feet.

"Lion!" cried Elizabeth, a thrill of pleasure running through her frame as she recognized the favorite attendant of her exiled lover, "Lion, good dog!" A low and joyous bark of acknowledgment escaped the animal, and his tail wagged in unison with his feelings. Elizabeth stooped to pat his glossy head, and in an instant discovered a small note, tucked beneath the bright brass collar, that bore in deep characters, "Lion, the property of Charles Henderson." Eagerly snatching it forth, she ran over the contents, and her lips were half opened to address Rose, when the voice of her father was distinctly heard round an angle of the building. An exclamation burst simultaneously from the ladies, a distant and subdued whistle followed; and the dog, obedient to the well known call, had just disappeared among the shrubbery, as the admiral and Sir John appeared in sight.

The ladies merely stayed to return the morning salutation, ere they retired to Elizabeth's private apartments, to rediscuss the matter, the interest of which had been materially increased by the incident of the preceding moment.

Several hours had passed away, and the sun had attained its meridian. Seated in an arm chair in a small and select apartment, appeared a gentleman, whose silvery locks and deeply furrowed brow proclaimed him fast approaching the verge of human existence. His arms were folded, while his eye was fixed upon a weeping girl, whose head half concealed by her disordered tresses, rested upon his knee. Their discourse had evidently been of moment, and deeply affecting to both, for the short hysteric sobs of the girl, met a compassionate response in the half pitying eye of her companion.

Elizabeth," cried he at length, "give over this childish grief, or I shall regret that thou hast ever called me-father. You say I have behaved harshly, in not having consulted your own inclinations; but is nothing to be thought of that contract made in the sight of God and man, and which the laws of both declare should be inviolate?"

"True, true," sobbed the maiden, "but it was done when I had no judgment of my own to exercise, and long after my poor dear mother had gone to her last home. She was a woman, had a woman's feelings-and had she lived, would never

have sanctioned such a rigourous proceeding. Consider my dear father, how unhappy must that marriage be, that ensues without the consent of the bride, and where the bridegroom proved himself by every action, to be almost a careless actor. Have mercy on your poor and only child, and in the name, and by the remembrance of my sainted mother, revoke your cruel sentence. It is not yet too late to remedy the evil. Sir John would himself rend the contract, were its ratification opposed by you; a few hours will make me his wife! have mercy on me! wreck not my happiness for ever; and sink not your own grey hairs in sorrow to the grave, for having sacrificed a child to the customary observances of a false code of honour, to an irreligious contract!-to a- "

"Elizabeth," cried her parent, impatiently and sternly, "I will hear no more. I cannot retract, even if I would. My pledge has been sacredly and confidingly given, and as, in my long service in the cause of my country, my plighted word was never broken, that pledge shall be rigidly redeemed. Forget, for your own sake, the traitor who made my house his home to instil into your mind, notions, inimical to your peace and welfare. Learn to regard obedience to your father, as the next duty to that you owe your God, and when the law shall have given you another protector, pay him that same strict duty you as yet owe me. And believe me Elizabeth

He stopped in amazement and terror. All colour had forsaken the cheek of his child, and the closed eye and the sinking head proclaimed

that reason had for a time deserted her throne. Rose was abruptly summoned, and the agitated yet unrelenting parent left not, until recollection had again dawned in the taind of the sufferer. (To be continued.)

WINDSOR FESTIVITIES.

The Windsor festivities have turned out a complete failure; and the first Royal visit of the new reign has been damped by the old rain in a most disagreeable manner. The poor people who sat down to dinner in the open air, got an abundance of dripping to their meat from the trees alone; and if the whole affair had been a celebration of Water-loo, every thing would have been quite in character. The elegant amusements of jumping in sacks, and climbing up greasy poles were pursued with great avidity, and many who expected to get to the top of the poll, like some of the candidates at the recent elections, had the mortification to find it slip through their fingers. We understand that to make the jumping in sacks as interesting as possible, the sack was offered to many of the household, but they did not at all relish the idea of taking it. Mrs. Graham went up in a balloon, which took three days to fill with gas, showing that Windsor is not remarkable for its sa-gas-ity. The wet weather, by spoiling and spotting their new clothes, made many of the people of Windsor look like people of Stain (e)s, and the affair altogether was a failure.

QUIZZING THE ROYAL FAMILY.

At the Windsor dinner after the health of the Princess Augusta was drunk, one of the professional singers struck up The Thorn. As. the songs that follow a toast are meant to be appropriate, we consider that placing the Thorn after the Princess Augusta is a pointed insult to her Royal Highness. Those who had a hand in the arrangements were evidently quizzing the Royal family, for the Duke of Sussex, was followed by, With a jolly full Bottle, and the Duke of Cambridge's health, the song selected was Here's to the Beauteous Maid Lord Melbourne and her Majesty's Ministers" was succeeded by a comic song, and altogether the company must have been either so fuddled as to have forgotten the order of the toasts and the

holders on Lord Limerick's estates, and the deWe have read a curious account of the freescription given of one of the fictitious holders of land, far surpasses all the fanciful which the Tories detail against their opponents It has been said that there is something occasionally very ridiculous in poverty; and any person visiting the lands belonging to this Peer, would witness something, which, on reflection, might for a moment excite his merriment. A number of his freeholders were taken up with great dignity to vote at the last election, and for that day were allowed to consider

themselves of consequence. The following dialogue

is really said to have occurred, excepting that we have put it into rhyme :

"Why do you live in such a filthy spot?
Are you content with such a dismal lot?
Unthatch'd, unchimney'd, mud your only floor,
Without a window, and without a door.
You have no bed, no blanket, no big coat

Hould there, yer honour, but I have a vote. And though 'twere damperer and still more coulder, Here I must stay-bekase I'm a Fre-houlder !”

A HINT FOR "THE TAIL."

Boerne, a celebrated German author, who died a few months ago in Paris, once being in a society where the merits of gradual reform were spoken of, related, when he was asked his opinion on the subject, the following story :-" Somebody lately presented me with a young dog, which I gave to my servant, ordering him to cut off his tail and to nurse it well. At the end of a fortnight, my next door neighbour, an old lady, came and conjured me, for goodness sake, to turn out my dog, which was continually whining and howling. I went for the first time then to see after my dog. Is the poor creature sick?' asked I of the servant, or do you not well treat it?' The thing is very poorly,' answered he, though I take great care of it; and thinking the little thing too weak to bear the operation which you commanded me, I have even had the precaution of only chopping off a little bit of its tail from time to time.'"'

CRUELTY PROCEEDING FROM AMBITION.

Many are the instances of ambition having expunged pity, compassion, and humanity from the heart of man, and, in the room of these benign virtues, substituting cruelty, and divers other destructive vices. What havoc has cruelty made, when excited and stimulated by ambition? It has in all ages and nations been the principal motive of offensive war, the bane of human happiness,

and the destroyer of the human species. This passion armed Cæsar against his country; and him and Alexander, and many such tyrants, not against their countries only, but against mankind. When a plague carries off a hundred thousand persons, it is thought to do great execution; but what is that to the numbers destroyed by those greater plagues, commonly called heroes? Ot Cæser it is recorded, that he slew in battle one million one hundred and ninety-two thousand men, besides those slaughtered in the civil wars. Of Alexander, who it is probable did not murder fewer of his fellow-creatures, that he wept, after

he had, as he vainly and foolishly imagined, conquered the world, because there were no more worlds for him to conquer, that was, to enslave or destroy.

MODEST REQUEST.

A common saying among certain of the Irish is, that they are "the boys fit for anything." The hero of the following anecdote must have thought himself one of that gifted set: when the Duke of Ormonde was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in the beginning of Queen Anne's reign, a certain Irish baronet, a man of some interest in

his country, requested His Grace would give him Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench-he was a bishopric, or a regiment of horse, or make him not particular which.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

The following are accepted and will shortly appear in our pages-Poetry by C. P. S. and T. W. Jandret by T. E. S.-Silina-This is my Eldest Daughter, Sir—the lines by Mr. & Mrs. STIRLING, will appear in our next.

The following are declined and lie at our publisher's

addressed to their respective authors-Poetry by A C-Papers, by R. S.- Tom Jones-and Musical Bore.

CUPID, had much better shew his future compositions to his Mamma. Correspondents are requested to send communications not later than Wednesday previous to publication, addressed to the Victoria Literary Club, at their Office, 12, Wellington Street, Strand.

THE STAR.

No. IV. will be published on Saturday, September 9th, and contain a beautiful Print, to be entitled, The Wife, as a companion to our present number.

In announcing the extended circulation of the "Star," which has exceeded our most sanguine of informing country agents, that they would find expectations, we avail ourselves of this opportunity published of this very popular periodical, the sale it to their interest to secure the numbers already of which in London is increasing rapidly on each succeeding publication, and affords a sufficient guarantee that the work would attain popularity in all Provincial Towns. The "Star" defies competition in the interesting character of the portraits given with each number, the superiority of the and artistical excellence original drawings, of execution. Moreover a gentleman of high

literary pretensions is engaged to furnish occasional papers, illustrative of the plates.

Renewed efforts will be made to impart additional features of recommendation.

Victoria Literary Club, Aug. 31, 1837.

Printed for the Proprietor, by A. REDFORD, 96, London Road, Southwark, and Published by JAMES BOLLAERT 12, Wellington Street, Strand; and Sold by BERGER, Holywell Street; CLEAVE, Shoe Lane; W. STRANGE, 21, and E. GRATTON, 51, Paternoster Row; G. MANN, 39, Cornhill; CLARKE, Warwick Lane; PATTIE, 4, Brydges Street, Convent Garden; HETHERINGTON, Strand; PURKESS, Compton St.; WATSON, City Rd.; CLEMENCE, City Road; RICHARDS, London Road; and to be had of all Booksellers and Newsmen in Town and Country