other; but cultivated and sheltered from wintry blasts, the hothouse plants richly repay the care bestowed on them. Gorgeously arrayed, they wile the fancy away to regions where summer ever reigns, where soft winds ever blow, where the orange and myrtle perfume the breeze, where the classic temples of old arise in chaste simplicity, where the marble fountains glance, and the glorious statues of antiquity abound; where the solemn cypress shadeth odorous roseries, where beneath pine forests and olive boughs, are seen joyous throngs with lyres and wreaths, warbling Dorian songs enchanting; where are deep haunted grots, laurel bowers, Dryad footsteps, and the minstrels' Paradise; where golden sunlight resteth on sylvan fanes, and the blue sea glittereth afar off between the green mountains. Of these things, do the delicate and fragile flowerets breathe; and every thing, tree, flower, plant, all nature is satisfied with itself; seeks to be nothing else: the rose to be no lily, the lily to be no rose; the wild flower to be no exotic. Only man is dissatisfied, and seeks to be other than he is; and yet only is, and can be, in being himself.' "The irrevocable decrees of fate, allow me not to bestow the boon of health on the pale Violet; but I am permitted to imbue her with patient endurance and resignation, to my comprehension a blessing quite as inestimable. Descend to the chamber where resteth thy darling, dame of Delaval; and as thou art greeted by her, so let it be a token to thee that my aid is extended. Acceptest thou my offer? Thou sayest yes-it is well! I will return in twelve months, on such a night as this; and then shalt thou tell me if the Fairy Florien's gifts have shed benign or evil influence on the destiny of those she is so anxious to serve. Farewell, be prayerful, be vigilant, and put thy trust in the Father of Mercies." The dame of Delaval descended the narrow turret stairs, and sought the apartment where reposed her youngest daughter Violet. A young girl reclined on the simple uncurtained couch; ponderous tomes and manuscripts were scattered around, writing materials, and all the aids of literature; while a lamp burnt steadily upon a bracket, and shed a softened light, on the girl's pale upturned face, on which suffering was pourtrayed. The mother stooped to imprint a kiss; in doing so she awoke the sleeper, whose eyes beamed with celestial light, as raising her crippled form with pain and difficulty, she rapturously exclaimed, "Mother dear! I have had a beatific vision! It is no dream-it cannot be! It is a promise from on High, with healing on its wings, vouchsafed to the poor cripple! Mother, listen! I have imbibed the precious balsam, where the palm trees grow, which we read of in Josephus. I dreamt a shining one came down and whispered, that if I could but gather some of this precious balsam, as it fell from the trees, all disease of mind would be healed, and, with resignation and patience, I should be enabled to endure the afflictions of the body. I borrowed the angel's wings, and I flew swiftly over the Dead Sea, to the north, near Engaddi; I found a sharp stone-made an incision in the wood-the balsam oozed forth-I partook of it-and oh! mother, a new life and a new spirit hath possession of me, and existence wears a different aspect! I shall arise with an undaunted, heroic heart-framed, it is true, in a poor and weak body but the soul is for immortality, the perishing clay for kindred dust." In process of time, the dame of Delaval received a missive from the relatives, with whom her eldest born, the demure and frigid Rose, continued to sojourn. They exulted in a pleasant change wrought latterly in their guest; for she had been guilty of what she had once termed "improprieties," namely, dancing, talking, and laughing, adding at the same time some bright streamers to her usual sombre attire. Aided by such fascinations, Rose had attracted the regard of a certain honourable counsellor, who having recently lost an exemplary wife, leaving him with a young family, wisely opined that Rose Delaval was endowed with many qualifications desirable in a step-mother; yet wishing to combine in his second partner the decorous conduct of a virtuous matron, with somewhat of the pleasantry which enlivens the domestic circle. Ere the twelve months had expired allotted by the Fairy Florien, the counsellor had taken home his second bride; a home to her heart's content, where animate and inanimate objects all required remodelling, lecturing, and advising. Rose never wearied of this; it is not known if her new connections ever wearied of her! * * * * * It was soon announced to the widow Delaval that a famed physician, who had been consulted respecting Lily's deafness, expressed hopes of effecting a cure, by the application of powerful remedies hitherto unknown. In less than twelve months, a perfect restoration of the defective sense was completed; the irritability and wayward moods under which the poetess so often laboured, melted away beneath the charmed influence of sweet sounds, even as the hoar-frost is dispersed by the invigorating rays of the sun. The panacea was found-the restless spirit lulled to peace; day and night, summer and winter, ebbing gently onwards, borne on the receding tide towards the boundless, infinite ocean of eternity. * * * * * The secret wishes of the dame of Delaval had always pointed towards aggrandisement for the beautiful Eglantine, through means of a matrimonial alliance; and when the fair damsel herself seconded these ambitious aspirations, and consulted the expedience and policy of such prudential counsel, discarding all foolish weakness of the heart, great commendations were lavished on her sense and discrimination, by numerous friends and relatives. Brilliant were the bridal festivities and rejoicings, when Eglantine Delaval became the bride of one of England's princes. And although love had not a first share in her considerations, yet on the whole her lot was a happy one, and she enjoyed the dazzling eclat of rank, power, and beauty, with a zest that never palled-thanks to the Fairy's gift. * * * The benign Elfin Queen returned at the appointed season; and right glad was she to find her gifts had proved beneficial. They were ever retained by the daughters of the ancient race of Delaval; and many an anxious mother of the present day, would indeed be thankful were some kind Fairy Florien to extend similar aid. C. A. M. W. Notices to Correspondents. THE story of the Silver Rose is an allegorical tale, and not a pure allegory. It is founded on fact, and the characters drawn in it are from real life. The purport of the tale is to show the high position which true charity and devotion to religion occupy. The Lady Eva is the incarnation or embodiment of both of these, and in the passage to which our correspondent alludes, viz., page 99, "And although," &c., the power of holy influence is shown, and with it the honour conferred on it by GoD. We have to return thanks for the account sent us of the "Marriage," but want of space obliges us to omit it. If H. C. H. will send the MS. it shall receive attention. PORTIA." Reflections, Meditations and Prayers ;" and Pinart's two vols. of "Meditations on the Suffering Life of our LORD," and "Daily Steps towards Heaven," will supply the necessary course of reading and meditation. The Homilies can be had for 5s., published at Oxford, and by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. An inquirer could not do better than consult Dr. Wordsworth's Theophilus Anglicanus, in which he would find an ample answer to all his difficulties. T. G. is informed that the Holy Monogram IHS and IHC represent the following words: JESUS HOMINUM SALVATOR, B. E.-Though we think the verses are scarcely expressive enough, yet we shall use the fact to which they refer; and shall be glad of any examples tending to illustrate the paper on the Disintegration of Society. Miss P. is thanked for her poetry, which, however, we are reluctantly compelled to decline. The Poem of C. G. F. is under consideration. E. A. B. will have received an answer to her inquiry before now. It is an important one, and we are glad for some reasons that it has been proposed. HENRY Elliston left his post at the factory that night, a full hour before the proper time; some false excuse which he made for so doing was accepted in all good faith by the master, who had hitherto reposed implicit trust in his word, and in the rectitude of his character; for Mr. Elliston's children had one and all been taught, as the very groundwork of their education, that respectability and honesty were absolute essentials to their success in life; not because they were baptized Christians, and had renounced all lying, deceit, and subterfuge, with the other works of the devil, but on the principle of that iniquitous proverb (we really can use no gentler term) which recommends men to be honest because it is the best policy. Strangely indeed these words of the world's wisdom contrast with the declaration, that "he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal," with which the rules of holiness were enforced by the Lips that spake no guile; wherein we see that were the loss of all earthly advantages, and of the very life itself, to be involved in the maintenance of Truth and Justice, they must be abandoned at once without a sigh. Such a principle, however, as that of a politic honesty, can indeed have no other foundation but one of sand; and it inevitably must happen that when the individual who acts upon it is mastered by his inclinations, or imagines another course to be more for his interest, he will fling expediency, with its disguise of honour, to the winds, and betake himself to any unholy stratagem which may suit his purpose. Henry was in a fair way to reach such a climax as this, although as yet his deception was in a very modified form. Even the little act of deception by which he escaped from his work was, however, one of the symptoms of the great change which had been working in him ever since he joined the Mechanics Institute. Previous to that unfortunate step, he had possessed some vague notion of a duty which he had to perform VOL. XI. to his master, on the grounds that he was bound to return him a fair amount of work, and hearty zeal, for the money he received; but his new associates had taught him to view the matter in a very different light; the manufacturer was a tyrant, a usurper, a retainer of wealth, to which he had no claim, albeit it was gained by his own industry; one of those to be put down, crushed, and beggared, in the day of retribution, to which the disaffected look with such firm hope; he had no more right to lord it over Henry, than the foreman would have had to oppress him; they were all equal, and men were not to be bought and sold like slaves, whose labour was to be made use of; and all this wicked sophistry being remarkably palatable to the proud unchastened spirit of the young man, was already bearing fruit in a sullen resolution to escape from thraldom as soon as possible, and in the meantime to shirk his duties by every device he could think of, on the theory that he was thereby diminishing the power of an oppressor, instead of simply cheating an honest man, which was the real truth of the matter. It was to meet King, the lecturer of whom he had spoken to Maude, that he escaped from the mill on this occasion, and they might have been seen together in the dusk of the evening pacing slowly to and fro in an unfrequented street, evidently in deep cogitation on some subject interesting to both. King was unquestionably a man of great talent and of able mind, but he was one of those fierce, lawless spirits, who, having wilfully flung off all authority, Divine and human, are converted, as if in mockery, by the master of all Evil, into his own most abject slaves; nor only to him are they bound in a thraldom, which is awfully different indeed from the Service that is perfect freedom, but they are brought into a captivity to their own evil passions, which is, in truth, an Egyptian bondage in its darkest shape. This man King, however much he might deceive himself or others, was,-under the guise of patriotism, philanthropy, and a love of justice-in fact but slaving to the covetous desires of his own self-love-the lowest and meanest motive which can actuate the mind of man. The hope of personal aggrandisement and personal profit was, the spring of all his actions, and that, possibly, unknown to himself; for the soul that rejects the light of God's grace, sees itself, no less than all external things, through a distorted medium; but certain it is that he who declaimed so loudly against the distinctions of rank, had no other end in view but to exalt himself, by bringing those who were now his superiors to his own level, or haply below it; for the principles of his party tend far more to a complete reversing of the present order of things, by raising |