looks like giving? Who ever gave away a dozen and a half of washballs, and six pounds of Windsor soap ?"

"Calling himself a gentleman, and a prince too," squeaked out Mrs. Slocomb, "all to get our Nancy from us! It's a crying shame!" "Hush, mother!" cried Nancy; "for Heaven's sake, hush!" "Wullah! Billah! (by Allah!) they all tell lies!" exclaimed Feridun, extending his hands to his master. "I have done nothing! Why do you treat me thus in this foreign land? Why did you bring us here to be reviled by these Franks?"

"Do you speak thus to me, dog?" exclaimed the ambassador, every hair in his beard distended, and growing livid with rage. "Strike him on the mouth, sujehim!" he cried with a loud voice to his men, who rushed forward, and taking hold of him, pinioned his arms behind his back, whilst one, pulling off his shoe, advanced, and inflicted several blows on his mouth with the iron heel thereof. Upon seeing this, the mehmander also rushed forward towards the ambassador, and exclaimed,

"Pardon! pardon! he is ignorant of our customs.

Let him off, and

we will arrange the whole business. This threat is pooch,—is stuff and nonsense."

It was long, however, before any one could gain a hearing. The lawyer, the perfumer, his wife and daughter, had not arrived prepared to witness a Persian tumult, and truly it had never before been their fate to witness the outbreak of passion in so dreadful a shape. They all seemed to shrink back within themselves, and keep aloof from the barbarians, afraid lest they too might stand a chance of losing their front teeth.

As soon as the mehmander had in some measure calmed the ambassador, which he did by persuading him to call for his kalian, (or pipe,)—a common custom after an explosion of rage,—and, having seen him bend his steps to the drawing-room, he then accosted, Mr. Slocomb, saying,

66

How is this, sir? Did not you assure me the last time we met that you would never allow Feridun to enter your doors again, and that you would send me your bill for all the articles you had delivered to him?"

"Hi did, sir," said the perfumer, "and so hi would; but my wife, she would'nt hear of it, for she said that one man is as good as another, and she did'nt see why she was to be done out of a husband for her daughter, although he was a Persian, and wore a beard."

"Hold your tongue!" exclaimed the wife to her husband in an accent more cutting than the east wind, "don't make yourself an ass! I've a right to do with my daughter what I likes! it's nobody's business but mine; but it does not follow that every rascal that comes has a right to do the same. If that fellow there, has made a promise of marriage to my daughter, and refuses to keep it, let him pay for it ;-that's the law, isn't it, Mr. Sniggs?"

"It can't be denied," replied the obsequious Sniggs.

"Let me inquire, ma'am," said the mehmandar, "how that promise was made? Your daughter must be well advanced in the knowledge of the Persian language, or her lover in that of English, to be able so soon to make themselves understood upon so delicate a subject."

"Oh, that's easily done!" answered Mrs. Slocomb, with a most

taunting and contemptuous toss of her head. "I promise you, that's soon done! The dumb, I warrant you, would understand each other on that head, let alone a Persian and a nice girl, like our Nancy."

"But, I ask, what did he say when he proposed?" urged the mehmandar.

"La, sir!" said Slocomb, "we are caught there!"

"Hold your tongue, fool!" sharply exclaimed Mrs. S. “you know nothing about it. He said, Belly, belly!' which I know means 'yes' in their language, whatever it may mean in ours."

"O ho!" said the mehmander, "then it was your daughter who pro posed, and he said 'yes;' that alters the case very much."

Upon which the lawyer stepped forward to prevent Mrs. Slocomb from saying any thing further, endeavoring to throw the whole case ininto an official form favorable to his clients; but he only succeeded in raising a second storm, in which mother, daughter, and father took the principal part, and which ended in the usual violent floods of tears, with the allowed portion of hysterics.

It will not be necessary further to increase our narrative of this event than to say, that by the mehmandar's timely interference, he succeeded in screening the ambassador from the designs of the intrigu. ing attorney, who had put the perfumer up to this scheme,-in securing to Feridun his freedom and protection from blows, and in satisfying Mr. Slocomb's demands upon the inroads that had been made upon his property.

STANZAS.

ON CONTEMPLATING THE HEAVENS AT MIDNIGHT.

BY MRS. CORNWELL BARON WILSON.

TELL me, ye brightly-burning orbs of night,
Now shining down on our terrestrial sphere,

If to your realms the SPIRIT takes its flight

When it throws off its mortal covering here ?—

Does it take wing and to the skies aspire,

And breathe forth songs in heaven to some melodious lyre ?

Tell me, fair Moon, that sail'st in æther's space,
Art thou some world, peopled with creatures free
Where sunder'd spirits shall meet face to face,
Lifting the veil of immortality?—

Shall we there know, ev'n as on earth we're known,
And shall Affection clasp hearts made again its own?

Tell me, ye clouds, that o'er the azure heaven
Float like the streamers of some bridal vest,
When by the breeze of midnight ye are driven,—
Say, do ye canopy some place of rest,

Some peaceful bourn to which the spirit flies
To join the lost of earth and re-unite its ties?

Ye cannot answer! and it is not meet

Such mysteries should be solv'd us. Why should man,
With blinded gaze and travel-wearied feet,

Attempt to penetrate what angels scan

With heavenly eyes but dimly ?-let him bend,

Adoring what nor sense nor sight can

comprehend!

ENGLISH COMFORTS.

FROM THE GERMAN OF DR. FRANCIS KOTTENKAMP.

If you see an Englishman who quits his "blessed island" for the first time, you will certainly believe him when he says, that he is like a fish out of water. If he land sea-sick at Hamburgh, and they offer to cover him with a feather-bed, on which he is accustomed only to lie, he will believe with dismay that the people sleep in Germany, one over another, like packed herrings. Fresh air is denied him, for he cannot raise up the window as he is accustomed to do. It is with repugnance that he treads the scoured floor of his room, because it is covered with no carpet. He stretches himself uncomfortably on the sofa, for his eyes cannot rest upon dark mahogany. At breakfast he sighs after toast: at dinner the plate is not polished well enough, and he has not the pleasure of beholding English plenty and elegance. And then the charming fireside-which the Englishman always associates with the thought of happy domestic life!-he must, in spite of all inconvenience, constantly leave the door of the stove open in Germany, and now and then cast a glance at it-to see the fire, as he

says.

But, really, one should not find fault with him for this. The most sickly hypochondriac in Germany would be unable to resist the domestic conveniences and comforts of the English, and would wish to acquire by degrees the cheerful tranquillity of the gentleman. It is the same thing with respect to this sensual refinement of conveniency, as with English cookery, of which one may justly say, a person only learns the value of a palate in England; though the depraved taste of a Neapolitan ambassador once found a country insupportable, where there are six hundred kings, (the members of the upper house,) and only one sauce (melted butter.)

A love of domestic life is a prominent feature in the character of all northern nations of German origin, but it is more remarkable in the English than in any other. Their climate excludes them from outdoor amusements; the individual pride of their choleric temperament confines their social and familiar intercourse within a narrow circle. In taverns Englishmen sit behind partitions, to avoid contact with unknown persons; in coffee-houses and clubs they are screened by gigantic newspapers; at public amusements (races, &c.) sociability disappears in the crowd; even at dinner, the meridian of life, the conversation not unfrequently flags, and entertainment is sought more from eloquence than discourse. The clubs which, since the beginning of the last century, have superseded the banqueting halls of the Cavaliers and the conventicles of the Puritans, and which from the beginning of the present century have also become more common among the middle classes, present, it is true, an antidote against proud unsociability. But only hear what some Englishmen say: "The clubs are injurious to habits of domestic life; they create the shameful, blameable practice of seeking pleasures abroad, in which the family does not share: promote a love for luxury, play, &c.

In short, in every station and circumstance, home is for an Englishman the centre of pleasure and enjoyment. No wonder that he

here concentrates everything that riches, art, or industry can procure-not for show, but to relax his mind, or gratify his senses.

Certainly the impression produced on a stranger, who enters an English dwelling for the first time, must be favorable and agreeable. As an Englishman dislikes ornament and gaudiness in his dress, he always studies simplicity in the fitting up of his house, though every. thing is in the highest degree recherché. The neverfailing carpet on the floor, of the finest wool, is interwoven with plain but tasteful patterns; the furniture, of polished mahogany, is of an elegant form; and the cushions, well dusted, are fine, though not of a showy color; the grate and fire-irons are as bright as a looking-glass without a single spot; the paintings or engravings suspended to the walls, please the eye without being so numerous as to fatigue it. In everything solidity is combined with fashion; clocks, plate, the metal ornaments of the furniture, are at once massive and fashionable; the latter without the former would be nothing more than frippery; neither agreeable nor genteel. Disorder is, in the opinion of the English, highly uncomfortable; everything has its fixed, its appointed place; order in the proper arrangement of different forms creates an elegant ensemble, and when this symmetry is spoiled, it is as bad as overcharged or tasteless ornaments. Cleanliness is the highest comfort of all classes, and from the nobility down to the farmer or artisan the most extreme care is taken to secure it. Prince Puckler found, on an estate, a hen house so nicely fitted up, that there are many poor people in Ireland, or on the Continent, who would be very glad to have such a dwelling.

One may justly envy the English their comforts, for they appear thereby to acquire a right to ridicule the way of living and arrangements among foreigners. Thus we remember to have seen a caricature with the subscription, "German Comforts." It represented a German lying at his ease on a feather-bed, smoking out of a long pipe, and reading a dirtily printed newspaper-the Cor respondent of Hamburg; and who, for greater convenience had placed a utensil near his bed, which would frighten a healthy Englishman, if he perceived it in his bed-room. The dislike which the English entertain for the lower classes of the Irish is partly caused by the fact, that they disdain to practice their principal comfort, clean

liness.

As a matter of course, the comforts of a dwelling-house vary ac cording to rank and the degree of riches. The opulent man adorns the walls of his apartment with works of art, which in general are as well chosen as dearly paid for, and effectually refute an assertion formerly current, that the English were without taste or talent for the fine arts the fallacy of which, without speaking of Hogarth, has been sufficiently proved by Reynolds, Lawrence, Wilkie, Chantrey. In the letters of a defunct-the author of which, owing to his love of parks and villas, visited the handsomest country seats of the English nobility-we only read a description of the pictures, which are there unfortunately concealed from the view of the majority of amateurs ; but we are, however, convinced, that it was neither a love of show nor bad taste, but, on the contrary, discernment and knowledge, that presided at the choice of these collections. The poorer classes content themselves with engravings; the copies of the works of Wilkie, Hogarth, or of the portraits of Lawrence, &c. If these be wanting,

the coppers and kitchen utensils, well scoured, and polished as bright as a looking-glass, are placed on shelves, where they agreeably relieve the eye by the contrast they form with the white walls.

Nowhere in Europe is country-life, for all the classes that apply themselves to agriculture, more agreeable than in England. Near that high degree of household comfort, which modern industry has rendered accessible even to the poor, is always to be found the art of embellishing nature, and of profiting by those charming situations. which the undulating soil of the happy and fruitful island, traversed by ranges of gentle hills, so frequently offers to heighten rural enjoyment. Thus England became the cradle of an art, which, it is true, has been imitated on the Continent, but never carried to the same extent and perfection it has there attained. The English park is the handsomest garden ever laid out; for, instead of attempting to imitate nature en étin, they aim at embellishing it, and profiting by the beauties which already exist. In the pleasure-ground of a rich Englishman, this intention is scarcely perceptible, though every point de vue is taken advantage of, to produce an agreeable impression. Attempts to imitate nature by small grottoes, hills and waterfalls, Grecian temples and ruins, appear to John Bull grimace: he would find this as ridiculous as a Cockney who, in Sunday clothes, should attempt to play the gentleman with the subservient air of the

counter.

Even the little landed proprietor or the farmer will not entirely exclude this rural comfort from his dwelling. If he has not room enough to lay out a little pleasure-ground, or to plant a grove, he has at least before his door the green plot, the pretty well-mowed bowling-green, the grass of which is so fresh and luxuriant that one seldom sees any like it on the Continent. The traveller will remember with pleasure to have seen many of these well-kept plots, which as he drove rapidly along the high road were pleasing to his eye.

The

The attachment of the English for these rural comforts is nearly as old as the nation. The feudal lord, in the time of the Plantagenets, was the more anxious to find pleasure in his castle, because his pride made him prefer to live there, rather than at court. enclosed park, though it then served principally to preserve game and deer, bore some resemblance, by its shady winding paths and numerous fish ponds, to the modern pleasure-ground. We need only mention the park of Woodstock, or fair Rosamond's bower, as the lays of the middle ages and popular songs describe it. Conveniency in the dwelling-house appears then, as far as it was possible, to have been attained. At least, one must draw that conclusion from the description Prince Puckler gives of Warwick Castle, which is still well preserved in feudal magnificence. The halls and fine furniture of the middle ages there described are far superior to anything of the kind that has been preserved in Germany or France, and the reader is forcibly reminded of the individual facts cited by the historian Hallam to prove the comforts enjoyed in those times in England. It is true that it was different with respect to the North Britons, or Scots. Eneas Sylvius wrote in the fifteenth century, "the merchants at Nurnberg are better lodged than a king of Scotland;" but in the middle ages the Scotch were quite different