on a cold starry midnight we started for Newcastle. Glasgow to Edinburgh; and from Edinburgh | the time; and with it all such a presence of brute and absence of soul in his mug, enough to give a thoughtful man some very queer ideas about man and beast. In this interval of business let me paint you my companions Pippin and Elliot. The reader is entitled to this, for there must have been some thing out of the common in their looks since I was within an ace of being killed owing to the Italian's face, and was imprisoned 4 days through the Englishman's mug. The Italian, whom we know by his nickname of Pippin, was a man of immense stature and athletic mould. His face, once seen, could never be forgotten. His skin almost as swarthy as Othello's was contrasted by dazzling ivory teeth, and lighted by two glorious large eyes, black as jet and brilliant as diamonds: these orbs of black lightning gleamed from beneath eyebrows that many a dandy would have bought for mustaches at a high valuation; a nose like a reaping hook completed him-perch him on a tolerable sized rock and there you had a black eagle. As if this was not enough Pippin would always wear a conical hat, and had he but stepped upon the Stage in Masaniello or the like, all the other brigands would have sunk down to rural Police by the side of our man. But now comes the absurdity: his inside was not different from his out, it was the exact opposite. You might turn over twenty thousand bullet heads and bolus eyes, before you could find one man so thoroughly harmless as this thundering Brigand. He was just a pet, an universal pet, of all the men and women that came near him. He had the disposition of a dove and the heart of a hare. He was a lamb in wolves' clothing. My next portrait is not so pleasing. A man turned brute. Some ten years before this, a fine stout young English rustic entered the service of Mademoiselle D'jek. He was a model for bone and muscle, and had two cheeks like roses: when he first went to Paris, he was looked on as a curiosity there. People used to come to D'jek's Stable to see her, and Elliot the young English Samson. Just ten years after this, young Elliot had got to be called "Old Elliot." His face was not only pale it was colorless: it was the face of a walking corpse. This came of ten years Brandy and Brute. I have often asked people to guess the man's age, and they always guessed 60, 65 or 70, oftenest the latter. He was thirty five; not a day more. This man's mind had come down along with his body. He understood nothing but elephant, he seldom talked, and then nothing but elephant. He was an Elephant man. I will give you an instance, which I always thought curious. LETITIA'S BRIDAL GIFTS. "COME, Letitia, and see how your friends love you; we have arranged your gifts. Some have come since last evening." And two lovely young women, hand in hand, went slowly from one room to another, where stood a table beautifully ornamented with flowers, and laden with superb silver, jewelry, vases, and all the choice and rare achievements of modern art. About the table stood two or three young girls, who had busied themselves with the arrangement of the table, and now stood looking on with much satisfaction. It was the affectionate plan of these friends and Letitia's sisters to receive all these gifts and arrange them before she saw them, that she might have all the enjoyment without any of the trouble or loss of time; for Letitia was about to perpetrate marriage, and her time was very full, as we all know, from intuition, that the time of young expectants must necessarily be. Letitia looked a moment at the glittering table, and immediately burst into tears, as she was bound to do, and would have been very hard-hearted not to do; for though Love had followed her, and watched over her all the days of her life, and prosperity had smoothed the path before her, yet here were testimonials which she had earned by her sweetness of temper, her honest, courageous friendship for her companions, her fine talents, and her good principles. And she felt a glow of inward joy and gratitude, deeper, perhaps, than she had felt ever before; for she saw that her life had not been unworthy of its great requirements. Prosperity may be compared to a garden, in which grow choice fruits against sunny walls. Careful hands turn the peach to the sun, guard it from the insect, the shower, and the frost; and it ripens into a rare, delicious flavor. The richness of the garden may breed a race of poisonous and destructive creatures, making the gardener's task no easy one. He must watch his peach; but, if Heaven is propitious and the gardener watchful, the fruit is like that which grew in the gardens of the Hesperides, and fills the world with its fragrance. Letitia had been cared for like the peach. Heaven had given her a sweet and lovely appearance and noble talents; fond, careful parents had nurtured and tended the precious fruit; the long summer of an uninterrupted prosperity had perfected what nature so well began; and Mr. Vaughan, walking along the sunny parterre, saw the fruit, and-selfish man titia was not made to be eaten. An elephant, you may have observed, can not stand quite still. The great weight of its head causes a nodding movement which is perpetual-plucked it. But here the simile ends, for Lewhen the animal stands erect. Well, this Tom Elliott, when he stood up, used always to have one foot advanced, and his eye half closed, and his head niddle noddling like an Elephant all "Here, Letitia, wipe your eyes; they will have crying enough to do hereafter. See this perfect vase which Blanche has sent you." "And this lovely set of mosaics from Mrs. | no consequence that the men, who are conceited Emory-" enough already, should ever know. "And this pair of silver pitchers, which will hold a pipe of wine—” "And this loveliest of bracelets-" "And this fan-" "And set of gold forks and spoons-" "And gold tête-à-tête set—” "And here, dear Letitia, a cameo from dear Gertrude, a most exquisite thing-two angels flying through space, the one angel guarding the other. See how sweetly regardful the face of the one, how trustful that of the other! and here is her letter:" "DEAR SISTER,-Thus did you guard me when we were together; and thus, I hope, may we one day float through the soft atmosphere of a better world. "GERTRUDE." Letitia took the little ornament and kissed it. It was from her younger sister, who had married and gone abroad, and who could not return for the marriage of this beloved older sister, but who sent her this token. It was long before Letitia could look at any thing else. "But, Letitia, the great surprise remainshere!" and Caroline drew a curtain, and revealed a superb piano, a gift from Mr. Vaughan's father. Letitia felt the keenest delight. Music was her passion, and she sat immediately down to the superb instrument and ran her fingers over it. It was thoughtful of her future papa to give her a piano. She thought with pleasure of the many hours of delight which this piano would give her so pleasantly associated too with her wedding. But a shade of disappointment crept over her face-Frederic had sent nothing. Frederic, the bridegroom, was he to be distanced in any thing, even the giving of presents? No; for the cunning damsels had foreseen and arranged every thing in a scientific manner. All the emotions were to come in proper sequence. A beautiful little table of Marqueterie came to light, which was only a casket of things more beautiful than itself. It opened in every direction, and revealed camel's-hair shawls; lace in all arrangements, elegant handkerchiefs, marked with Letitia's cipher; gloves, and many other belongings of a lady's wardrobe. In one of the drawers was a card, on which was written, "For my wife." That little legend was worth all the rest. There was written the most eloquent word in the language-the word most full of all emotion, all trust, all hope! Yes, Frederic had distanced them all. Things which could only pertain to herself the shawl that folded her fair figure, the glove that covered her little hand, the lace that gave grace to her most stately toilet-all alike were from him, and her jealous, womanly pride rejoiced that his presents were the most beautiful and well-chosen of all. Then the card! We will not say what became of that; every woman knows, and it is of But it is time to dress for the wedding, and we must go. Grace Afton, Letitia's friend, and one of the Machiavels of the policy of the wedding-presents, was the next victim sacrificed at the altar, and from Letitia's gorgeous and grand wedding she returned to prepare for her own simple and quiet one. Grace Afton was the daughter of one of those men who seem to live on the uncertain surface of a glittering bubble. No house so gay, no expenditure so lavish as that of Mr. Afton; no dinners so good, no dressing so extravagant, no Newport and Saratoga visits so constant as those indulged in by the Aftons. One day Mr. Afton's last bubble burst, and there was no convenient bubble near for him to step on, and he, poor man! stepped into another world, where, it is hoped, he found something better than a bubble. There was a "little something," as there always is, for the family; but they became genteelly poor, sustained by their old friends, and holding their own position in society, but no longer the gay and successful Aftons of former times. Grace, pretty, stylish creature, attracted young Mr. Liston, who was beginning life as an author, and had already made his mark. Mr. Liston had a small fortune, and did not care for more, but was a favorite-and deservedly so-in society; Grace had very little education, and was not at all prepared to recognize what was most valuable in her lover's character, but " somehow" (that invaluable word) she fell in love with him. It was considered a very poor thing for both. Liston, every one said, might have done so much better; he might even have married Serafina Quesado, the great Cuban heiress, who liked him; or Alice Bruen, the Miss Coutts of Two Hundredth Street, who was not indifferent to him; but he foolishly preferred a girl he liked-with nothing. The club thought he had done a very "green" thing; and Alice Bruen married immediately a man she detested to spite him, which was a very sensible thing to do, as she is at present convinced. Grace was thought to have done a very foolish thing, for young Veau, with his immense fortune, began to look attentively at her when she danced, and even leaned over her opera box one entire scene of the "Trovatore," which was thought by some to be encouragement enough; and perhaps if Grace had assiduously flattered and courted Veau for a year, he might have thrown her the handkerchief. It would have been a very handsome handkerchief undoubtedly, but Grace did not wait for it, but took Liston's plain one. So, perhaps, all things considered, it was not unnatural that Grace looked rather enviously on Letitia, and thought that fortune had been unjust. Her own bridal gifts were pretty and useful, but not superb; for by a certain mag-warms them into existence. They might be stifled if this terrible warming-process did not go on all the time. If each and every one of you could only stand nobly on your great high pinnacle of humanity, living an individual life, regardless of all this foolish emulation, as you might do, and as some of you have done, then these creatures would die, and you would be comfortable. I have found that a great idea is a very good vermifuge. Poetry, humanity, love, maternity-but how I am spreading. I should include it all in one word." netic power wealth attracts wealth, and every one's purse opened wider for Letitia than for Grace. People said, "Letitia's gifts will all be so handsome it will not do for me to send any thing plain; but poor Grace will have a much plainer establishment, and will be glad of any little tasteful thing." Then Liston stood alone in the world, and there were no rich relatives to shower down silver tea-sets; on either side, a few books, bronzes, tasteful, quiet ornaments, and some rare and beautiful antique gems from Liston, the spoils of a Roman winter, were the bridal gifts of Grace; a few old friends of her father contributed some handsome pieces of silver, but the "show" was poor compared with that of Letitia's. Grace looked at the meagre preparation, and shed a few tears. To her surprise one pearly | tear fell down on her lap, turned amber-colored, and, gradually taking shape, became a little glittering snake. It crawled down her dress, and, writhing about after the fashion of its tribe, finally reached the table, and ascended its standard by little lithe movements. Reaching the table-top, it settled down in graceful curves, and remained as still and rigid as if really carved out of amber. Grace was somewhat astonished, of course; but reaching out her hand for it, she took it up, and discovered that it was a real and very graceful little amber presse papier, and would look very well on an etagère. Before she had time to consider how very profitable it would be if all the tears of discontented young women could be turned into amber ornaments, her fairy godmother, a very nice little old woman-fairy, appeared, looking very displeased. "Ah! my dear, I trust every fit of crying you have over the superior fortunes of others may result in a large crop of serpents, and every one turn and sting you, if they will only run out of your eyes instead of your mouth. Ah! how ugly, and venomous, and yellow he looks!” And at that moment Snakey's eyes sparkled; his little delicate tongue wriggled; he looked as if he were tasting a reputation. "See, dear Grace, that creature is a distillation of your brewing. Could you believe it? Could I believe it-looking at your delicate face —your sweet lips! and you a bride, the chosen among women. What would Liston say?" "Well, Fairy Godmother, I am not so bad. I was only quietly regretting that I had not as much on my bridal table as Letitia has, and I don't know why that little snake should have run out of my eyes. I am sure that was not as bad as if I had spoken ill of any one, or had done any thing wrong." “Religion, you mean. No, dear Fairy Godmother, call it by all these other names. They are nearer my weakness; they are less abstract. I am reached by them." "True, dear child. Then let me give you an axiom from a man I very much respected— Dr. Franklin." The Fairy here adjusted her false front, took a delicate pinch of snuff, and looked sentimental; it was an idea to which she always, perhaps, lent a coloring, that she and the Doctor had had a flirtation! "Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly; and if you speak, speak accordingly.' "A course of conduct systematically pursued, my dear," said the Fairy Godmother (who was a little dogmatical), "although it may not kill the serpents at once, is apt to so starve them that they die at length. If you have the strength to walk in bravely and strangle them; if you can say at once, 'Die, little disturbers! I will not listen to your poisonous suggestions; you shall not come between me and peace,' then you are a very great woman, and I have nothing more to say; but if you are weak and would fain be strong, then I would recommend you to the words of-in fact, there is no use mincing matters-my old admirer, Dr. Franklin." "Fairy Godmother, have you ever thought why Fortune is so very unequal?” "Dear, I am a Yankee, and must answer your question by asking another. You saw Letitia receive her presents: which affected her most?" "Her sister's cameo, her piano, and lastly and most powerfully, her lover's gifts," and Grace cast a fond look toward the Roman gems. "Fraternal feeling, taste, love. So far, very good; and now you know, Letitia—tell me, if your positions were reversed, would she have cried over the superiority of your fortune ?" "No, she would not. Letitia is too elevated a person. She would have rejoiced, and have enjoyed my fortune as her own." Grace said all this with quite a glow, for she was an honest little thing. "That little snake is the representative of a large family, dear Grace, and he has providentially been caught, so as to tell you where his tribe congregate, that you may smoke out the "Very good-ve-ry good. The snakes are whole race. Those animals live, I am sorry to being exterminated. Then let me tell you that say, in the secret warm foldings of the human Letitia has been well chosen for the ordeal of heart, and your false human life steadily prosperity. That of all others, my dear Grace, "Fancy, dear Grace-fancy." I would not is the climate which nurses the snakes! that "Well, it is an ugly creature. rich tropical climate of eternal sunshine! Oh, have it about. See, it absolutely snaps its eye what noxious growths it can put forth! what at me!" poisonous and what monstrous creations! Firstly, Idleness, the slime in which these things take birth; then Excess, which educates them; then diseased Sensation, which makes the mind a prey to the gangrene of the worst passions." "Good gracious! I hope Letitia isn't coming to all this." "No; Letitia will be a happy wife-the joyful mother of children. She will be honored and cared for. The wind shall not visit her cheek too roughly, and she shall be able to bear it without vainglory or presumption. But she will still suffer; for is she not God's creature, to be fitted for his eternal world, and is not her life here, like yours and all others, a probation? She is to be tried with prosperity, that is all; and let me tell you what that brings. She has a clear, comprehensive mind, which will tell her the immense uses and power of wealth; an enlarged conscience, which will demand that she administers her trust weil. There is work enough for one poor little wo man. "Well, good-morning. You have been crying, I declare-begin to repent, hey?" Enter Fairy Godmother, with her false front awry, and a color on her cheek probably gained in rapid descent from the chimney. "My dear, keep that snake as a talisman. It really stung Agnes; it recognized a nestful of its kindred. Whenever such a tongue as that's let loose, do you let loose the snake, no matter how much he bites, only be careful that he is the only one you keep about you." [Exeunt omnes. Two breakfast tables await our presence, we are expected at both. First Letitia's, as befits its "uperior elegance. "The sun on the east oriel shone Thou would'st have thought some fairy's hand, Then prosperity almost always has its peculiar disappointments and trials, which wrin-per. The light fell from a beautiful window,' kle the brow and depress the spirits, such as with its artistic tracery, on the table, which losses, defection of tried and trusted servants, threw back the light from its burnished surfaces and the like. Then, more potent than all, it of silver and glass. A conservatory opened separates husband and wife, while adversity from the room, and lent its fragrance and draws them together. Each is necessarily in- beauty to the morning. Now and then a bird dependent of the other. The bonds which trilled a note from his pretty cage among the draw them together are few; there is no mu- flowers, and a fountain plashed in a marble batual dependence, save of mutual tastes. The sin surrounded by calla lilies. So much had husband may like his wife's music, and she his art emulated nature, that one's senses were literary tastes, but there is no mutual sacrifice irresistibly compelled to believe that summer -an important bond, dear Grace. Then de- reigned, and that the snow outside the window traction and envy (your little snake) will follow was an illusion. her like shadows, nestle in her footstool, climb to her very chamber-door. She shall never have peace from them! So, does she not need all she has her noble principles, her strong sense, her warm affections? Yes, all of them." The snake had gone to sleep during this homily of the Fairy Godmother. There he lay, a mere amber toy, pretty in his lithe, graceful curves and transparent texture, a silent and motionless stone. Good-by, "Hark! who knocks? I am off. dear," and the Fairy Godmother disappeared. Enter Agnes, a bridesmaid. "Well, Gracey, how pretty every thing is! how tasteful! Do you know I thought the display at Letitia's perfectly disgusting such taste! And I have heard such stories of Mr. Vaughan-been so gay! Well, well, if any thing will only take down Letitia's pride! Ugh! what an ugly little snake! Ah! does he bite? Oh no, only a presse papier. I am sure, however, as I took hold of him he stung me." "It is amber, and perhaps may have some electrical effect. You may be highly charged, and have received a shock." Her hus"You are pale Mrs. Vaughan entered presently. "No, only fatigued; I,was so late last night. Three balls! but I was obliged to show myself at all of them; and you-I hoped to meet you at Mrs. Calton's; where were you?" "Oh, I dined at Montgomery's, you know; and then looked in at the club; and staid late at whist, feeling little disposed for a ball." At this moment a beautiful child was brought in by his nurse; both father and mother turned to kiss and caress him. "How is he, Rosine? Has he slept well?" "Passablement, madame." "I want him to walk to-day." 66 Mais, madame. Madame knows I have such weak ankles." "Ah! well you can go in the carriage." "Rosine is such a tyrant," said Mrs. Vaughan, laughing. "Why keep her, then ?" sine is very competent. She keeps him beautifully dressed, and is very kind to him, and her accent is perfect; so I must submit to a few airs." "Do rest to-day, dear Letitia! you look very pale.' "No, and farewell to our European summer." "That is a disappointment. I had hoped to see the Alps this summer." "A disappointment! Grace, you speak as if you had simply lost an opportunity to go to the theatre. Does it not deserve a more 'falling inflection' than that?" "Oh! rest! impossible! I must go to my society at twelve, after spending an hour with my baby; and then I must make at least twenty visits. I shall be very glad if I can rest twenty minutes before dressing for dinner Remember, to-day we have the two young English-ment. men to dinner; and to the Browns' this evening. You will not fail me?" Letitia observed her husband looking anx- something pleasant. We are invited to dine iously at his watch. "Well, no, Alfred. I am so happy, so much more so than I dared to hope, that I can well afford to wait another year for this great enjoyThen the boy may be able to go with us; now he is too young-hear him crow up stairs! By-the-way, I am about to tell you of with Letitia on Thursday. I met her to-day as II was returning from the German school, down in Avenue A, dispensing her charities. How that woman works!" "Excuse me, dear wife, I must be off. have a busy day before me, and, I fear, some trouble. Gardner, my head clerk, has been behaving queerly; I fear he has been somewhat dishonest, poor fellow! so good, so competent a clerk! He is married to a little vain woman, who evidently makes you her model in dress, as she sees you in the street, and I fear she spends more than he makes. So I am in no mood for dinners. It is not a cheering spectacle to see a man ruined by an amiable weakness. I wish I could ever find a day to spend at home with you; but, good morning! try and rest dear, and get back your bright eyes." So the man of fortune, driven by invisible scourges, was forced away from his luxurious breakfast-room, his beautiful wife and child, to a counting-house where trouble of all sorts awaited him, and where he toiled until dark; then coming hurriedly up town to dress for a dinner, which he ate without an appetite and presided at while his heart was far away with his disgraced and discharged clerk, one of the many victims of our false and ruinous style of living. And Letitia left with a sigh her pretty nursery and its sweet little tenant for a round of duties which her wealth and commanding position required of her. She came home happier than her husband, for her day had been blessed with some opportunities of doing good, and its record went not unworthily up to Heaven. Yet she was worn and pale, and even her exquisite toilet at dinner did not conceal from the anxious and loving eyes of her husband that this daily and nightly effort was telling upon his wife, and causing her roses to wither all too soon. "Yes, too much. I saw her yesterday, and thought I had never seen her so lovely-but a trifle pale." "Oh, she looks dreadfully!" "No, she does not, Grace; that is your jealousy because I praised her so much. She simply looks as all gay ladies look who go every night to some heated party, who dine, pay visits and the like all the time, and have also hearts and minds which must be attended to. They burn the candle at both ends." "And how do I look ?" "Very old, and wrinkled, and ugly. Mrs. Liston, do not expect to induce me to be complimentary at such short notice. But good-by. At three I will come to go with you to see those pictures." Grace and Liston had overcome the world. They were content to live plainly, dress plainly, receive their friends unostentatiously, and, in fact, to have all the gold without any of the glitter. They thus spared themselves a great deal of trouble and many heart-burnings, and were in the enjoyment still of all that their elegant tastes demanded. Every one liked to come to their house; no one envied Grace her camel's-hair shawl, or Liston his fast horses, because they had no such luxuries; but no one was more eagerly sought for than Liston as a companion, and all the women, even, acknowledged that Grace had never been so handsome in her life. It occurred to Grace shortly after this conversation to look on her etagère for the little In a very neat little dining-room, which has amber snake which had once shown such vitalfor its ornaments some good engravings, a few ity. For several years it had remained in yelflowers growing, and a green vine twined about low composure, only showing its potency by the window in place of stone tracery, we come giving an electrical shock occasionally to some to our second breakfast. It is a plain, neat lit- slanderer or careless talker; but Grace rememtle affair, not inelegant, but quite inexpensive. bered that, for some time, she had not seen A bright coal-fire gives it cheerfulness, the same it. She now looked for it in vain. It was gorgeous sun illuminates it that brought out the gone. It had crawled off probably to some more superb points of Letitia's grand apartment. At elegant mansion. It was a luxurious snake, the table are Liston and Grace, talking and and liked more riotous living; at any rate it laughing. was gone. Grace never saw it again, and the places that had known it knew it no more for "So your book will not be published this spring?" ever. |