that she should be frequently remembered by her friends, during her tedious illness. So in a light open wagon, with a smart pony, borrowed for the nonce, selon les regles, we had a charming drive, and moreover, the much-coveted pleasure of seeing the heads of the assembled company at Mr. Noble's; some bobbing up and down, some stretched far out of the window, getting breath for the next exercise, and some, with bodies to them, promenading the hall below. I tried hard to distinguish the belle chevelure' of my favorite Fanny Russell, or the straight back and nascent whiskers of our own Mark; but we passed too rapidly to see all that was to be seen, and in a few moments found ourselves at the bars which led to the forlorn dwelling of poor Mary Anne Simms.

The only apartment which Mr. Simms' log-hut could boast, was arranged with a degree of neatness which made a visitor forget its lack of almost all the other requisites for comfort; and one corner was ingeniously turned into a nice little room for the sick girl, by the aid of a few rough boards, eked out by snow-white curtains. I raised the light screen, and what bright vision should meet my eyes, but the identical Fanny, for whom I had looked in vain among the bobbing heads at the Huddle. She was whispering kindly to Mary Anne, whose pale cheek had acquired something like a flush, and her eyes a decided moisture, from the sense of Fanny's cheering kindness. Fanny explained very modestly: I was so near, Mary Anne, and I did n't know when I should get time to come again

'Did n't you get wet, coming over ?'

'Not so very: we — we had an umbrella.'

I remembered having lent one to Mark.

'But you are losing the ball, Fanny; you'll not get your share of the dancing.' And at this moment I heard a new step in the outer part of the room, and a very familiar voice just outside the curtain:

'Come, Miss Russell, is n't it about time to be a-goin'? There's another shower a-comin' up.'

Fanny started, blushed, and took leave. Common humanity obliged us to give time for a retreat, before we followed; for we well knew that our very precise Mr. Loring would not have been brought face to face with us, just then, for the world. When we did emerge, the sky was threatening enough, and as there was evidently no room for us where we were, we had no resource but to make a rapid transit to Mr. Noble's. We gained the noisy shelter just in time. Such a shower! — and it proved much more pertinacious than its predecessor; so that I had the pleasure of sitting in Miss Nobleses' kitchen for an hour or more. We were most politely urged to join the festivities, which were now shaking the frail tenement almost to dislocation; but even if we had been ball-goers, we should have been strikingly de trop, where the company was composed exclusively of young folks. So we chose the kitchen.

The empress of this torrid region, a tall and somewhat doleful looking dame, was in all the agonies of preparation; and she certainly was put to her utmost stretch of invention, to obtain access to the fireplace, where some of the destined delicacies of the evening were still in process of qualification, so dense was the crowd of damp damsels, who were endeavoring in various ways to repair the cruel ravages

of the shower. One jist wanted to dry her shoes;' another was dodging after a hot iron, 'jist to rub off her hankercher;' while others were taking turns in pinching with the great kitchen tongs the long locks which streamed, Ophelia-like, around their anxious faces. Poor Miss Nobles' edged, and glided, and stooped, among her humid guests, with a patience worthy of all praise; supplying this one with a pin, that with a needle-and-thread, and the other with one of her own side-combs; though the last mentioned act of courtesy forced her to tuck behind her ear one of the black tresses which usually lay coiled upon her temple. In short, the whole affair was a sort of prelibation of the Tournament, saving that my Queen of Beauty and Love was more fortunate than the Lady Seymour, in that her coiffure is decidedly improved by wet weather, which is more than could probably be said of her ladyship's.

At length, but after a weary while, all was done that could be done toward a general beautification; and those whose array was utterly beyoud remedy, scampered up stairs with the rest, wisely resolving not to lose the fun, merely because they were not fit to be seen.

The dancing now became fast and furious,' and the spirit of the hour so completely aroused that thirst for knowledge which is slanderously charged upon my sex as a foible, that I hesitated not to slip up stairs, and take advantage of one of the various knot-holes in the oak boards which formed one side of the room, in order that a glimpse of something like the realities of the thing might aid an imagination which could never boast of being all compact.' It was but a glimpse, to be sure, for three candles can do but little toward illuminating a long room, with dark brown and very rough walls; but there was a tortuous country-dance, one side quivering and fluttering in all the colours of the rainbow, the other presenting more nearly the similitude of a funeral; for our beaux, in addition to the solemn countenances which they think proper to adopt on all occasions of festivity, have imbibed the opinion that nothing but broad-cloth is sufficiently dignified wear for a dance, be the season what it may. And there were the four Miss Liggets, Miss Mehitable in white, Miss Polly Ann in green, Miss Lucindy in pink, and Miss Olive all over blackand-blue, saving the remains of the blonde-gauze veil, which streamed after her like a meteor, as she galoped, not gallopped, down the middle.' My own Jane was playing off her most recherchées graces at the expense of the deputy sheriff, who seemed for once caught, instead of catching; and to my great surprise, Fanny Russell, evidently in the pouts, under cover of my fan, was enacting the part of wall-flower, while Mark leaned far out of the window, at the risk of taking an abrupt leave of the company.

Peeping is tiresome. I was not sorry when the dance came to an end, as even country-dances must; and when I had waited to see the ladies arranged in a strip at one end of the room, and the gentlemen in ditto at the other, and old Knapp the fiddler testing the absorbent powers of a large red cotton handkerchief upon a brow as thickly beaded as the fair neck of any one of the nymphs around him, (and some of them had necklaces which would have satisfied a belle among our neighbors, the Pottowatomies,) I ran down stairs again, to prepare for our moonlight flitting.

Mrs. Noble now renewed her entreaties that we would at least stay for supper; and in the pride of her heart, and the energy of her hospitality, she opened her oven-door, and holding a candle that I might not fail to discern all its temptations, pointed out to me two pigs, a large wild turkey, a mammoth rice-pudding, and an endless array of pies, of all sizes; and these she declared were not a beginning' of what was intended for the refreshment' of the company. Α cup-board was next displayed, where, among custards, cakes, and 'saäse,' or preserves, of different kinds, figured great dishes of lettuce, all ready, only jist to pour the vinegar and molasses over it,' bowls of large pickled cucumbers, and huge pyramids of dough-nuts. But we continued inexorable, and were just taking our leave, when Fanny Russell, her pretty eyes overflowing, and her whole aspect evincing the greatest vexation and discomposure, came running down stairs, and begged we would let her go home with us.

'What can be the matter, Fanny!'

Oh, nothing! nothing at all! But I want to go home.'

It is never of much use advising young girls, when they have made up their minds to be foolish; yet I did just call my little favorite aside, and give her a friendly caution not to expose herself to the charge of being rude or touchy. But this brought only another shower of tears, and a promise that she would tell me all about it; so we took her in, and drove off.

I could not but reflect, as we went saunteringly home, enjoying the splendor of the moonlight, and the delicious balminess of that stilly hour,' how much all balls are alike. Here had been all the solicitude and sacrifice in the preparation of costume; the effort and expense in providing the refreshments; for the champagne and ices, the oysters and the perigord pies, are no more to the pampered citizen, than are the humbler cates we have attempted to enumerate, to the plain and poor back-woodsman; then here was the belle of the evening, in as pretty a paroxysm of insulted dignity, as could have been displayed on the most classically-chalked floor; and, to crown all, judging from past experience in these regions, some of the 'gentlemen' at least would, like their more refined prototypes, vindicate their claims to the title, by going home vociferously drunk. We certainly are growing very elegant.

Fanny's explanation was deferred, at her own request, until the following morning; and long before she made her promised visit, Jane, who came home at day-light, and only allowed herself a change of dress before she entered soberly upon her domestic duties, had disclosed to me the mighty mystery. It had been the opinion of every body, Jane herself included, (a little green-eyed, I fancy,) that Fanny and Mark had gone off to Squire Porter's and got married, under cover of the visit to poor Mary Anne. This idea once started, the beaux and belles, not better bred than some I have seen elsewhere, had not suffered the joke to drop, but pushed their raillery so far, that Fanny had fairly given up and run away, while Mark, however well pleased in his secret soul, had thought it necessary to be very angry, and to throw out sundry hints of thrashing' some of the stouter part of the company. The peace had not actually been broken, however; and when I saw and talked with Fanny, the main difficulty

seemed to relate to the future course of conduct to be observed toward Mark, who, as Fanny declared, with another sprinkling of tears, had never thought of saying such a word to her in his life!'

Women are excellent manouverers, generally but we were outdone here. All our dignified plans for acting as if nothing had happened,' were routed by a counter scheme of Mark himself, who, before the week was out, not only said 'such a word,' but actually persuaded Fanny to think that the best of all ways to disprove what had been said, was to go to Squire Porter's, and make it true, which was accordingly accomplished, within the fortnight.

And what for no? Mark Loring, with a very good-looking face, and a personas straight as a gun-barrel' (to borrow a favorite comparison of his own,) has the wherewithal to make a simple and industrious country maiden very comfortable. He has long been earning, by the labor of his hands, far better pay than is afforded to our district school-master; and with the well-saved surplus has purchased a small farm, which he and his pretty wife are improving with all their might. No more balls for my bright-haired neighbor, or her sober spouse! And if I should tell my honest sentiments, I should say so much the better!' for in the hastening of the happy marriage of Mark and Fanny, may be summed up all the good which I have yet observed to result from the ball at Thram's Huddle. or any other in our vicinity.

SPRING.

IN IMITATION OF THE GERMAN OF TIECK.

SEE, see how the Spring, like a glittering bride,
Comes forth on the hills, in beauty and pride!
She flings o'er the forest her mantle of green,
Where the blossoming trees so gracefully lean;
And the bird in the branches in merry mood sings,
As he shakes the light drops of the dew from his wings.
See! see on the soft-blushing cheek of the flower,
The red glow grows deeper and deeper each hour;

The winter frost flies to his caverns so old,

Far down their dark chambers, all dismal and cold;

While old Earth throws aside his gray robes to the rain,

That is falling so gently on river and plain,

And stretches in joy his broad arms to embrace

The light form of Spring, with her fair-smiling face!

Down, down the rough mountains the silver streams leap,

And dance in the vallies so lonely and deep;

No longer the nightingale fears the rude blast,

But sings in the green-wood that winter is past;

Many a shadow grows bright in the beams

That sparkle and flash from the swift-rushing streams;
Many a leaf, like a diamond gem,

Is waving in beauty on many a stem:

Rainbows are playing on many a flower,

As it lifts its thin petals, that drip with the shower;
And the earth, like a monarch majestic and old,

Sits high on a throne of purple and gold.

H. C. W.

OR

MY OWN PECULIAR:

STRAY LEAVES FROM THE PORT-FOLIO OF A GEORGIA LAWYER.

NUMBER FIVE.

I

IN one of my previous numbers, I think I made the assertion, that of all professions, classes, and callings in life, lawyers had the best opportunity of studying and knowing the character and disposition of man. As I am writing not so much to instruct the present generation, as for the future edification of that unknown but much-esteemed and highly-appreciated young gentleman, named Posterity, I think it my duty to withdraw any rash assertion. qualify the expression, therefore, by saying, that with the exception of WATCHMEN, or the regularly-constituted conservators of the midnight peace, lawyers have the most favorable opportunity of reading the human heart. But, although the lawyers come next to this favored class of paid philosophers, it is nevertheless proximus sed longo intervallo.' If an individual wishes to walk, borse, foot, and dragoons,' into the mystery of that complex animal, called MAN, I know no shorter road to the attainment of the knowledge, than by enlisting in the night-guard of a large city. In this capacity, he may see the character of his fellow-man en dishabille; he may act as a kind of ambulatory ambuscade, or locomotive observatory, upon the sayings and doings of the worthy citizens of a great metropolis. He will see the cautious and reserved man of the day, transformed into the drunken and garrulous beast of the night. He will behold a 'mother's darling' wasting his flowers of eloquence upon the midnight air, or invoking strains of such music as are enough to draw down upon him the individual and collective vengeance of each child of Mnemosyne and the Cretan Jove. In short, he will see human nature, unrobed and unadorned, in all its native majesty of-vice. The bridle of caution is unloosed; the curb of society no longer presses; and the steed rushes on, rioting in his liberty and his indiscretion.

But do n't flatter yourself, my good Sir, that you will obtain all this knowledge for nothing; do n't believe that you will become thus wise as a serpent, without danger, risk, and travail. Alas! when was it that knowledge ever came thus from the bowers of Eden to the crucible of the alchymist? No! You will have sundry hair-breadth 'scapes, and you will get divers good drubbings, in this your philosophic career. As we are noting down the peculiarities of the character of man, just let me remind you of one fact, which your subsequent investigation and observation will confirm. It is this: that when a man gets drunk at night, he holds it as a sacred duty to flog the watchman of the ward. No matter how timid may be the nature of the inebriate, nor how benevolent he may be in general, nor what kind of liquor he may have imbibed, the same result follows; and no pilgrimage of Osmanlee to Mecca is performed under a more sacred responsibility, than is this erratic pursuit of the unconscious and