LAIRD-AS the Bailie of Balmawhapple said to the prating packinan of Pitmidden, “let us see some o' your goods, honest freend, and give us less o' your gab!" MAJOR.-You are a strange customer, after all, Bonniebraes! but your bark is worse than your bite! In compliance with the request which you make, somewhat uncouthly, I shall give you a specimen of Mr. Bridge's yarnspinning. Here is a peep at a place rendered somewhat famous in Toronto of late, in connection with a relative of the peripatetic Jew! "Ashore at Santa Cruz. The population of the city is reckoned at six or eight thousand. The streets are clean, and the houses built in the Spanish fashion. Camels are frequent in the streets. must be almost a Paradise. There is a great ob- The productions of Teneriffe, for export, are wine and barilla. Of the first, the greater part is sent to England, Russia and the United States. About thirty thousand pipes are made annually, of which two thirds are exported. Little or no wine is produced on the southern slope of the island. The hills around Santa Cruz are little more than rugged peaks of naked rock. The scenery is wild and bold, but sterile; and scattered around are stupendous hills of lava, the products of former volcanic eruptions, but which have, for ages, been cold and wave-washed." DOCTOR. Did your friend Bridge touch at Cape Castle? That spot, hallowed as it is by associations of one of England's sweetest poets, has more interest in my eyes than all the rest of Africa put together. MAJOR.-Mr. B. did visit the locality to which you refer, and gives us the following account of the hopeless Crysta's resting place : look at the burialplace of L. E. L., who died here, "I took the first opportunity to steal away, to after a residence of only two months, and within a year after becoming the wife of Governor McLean. A small, white marble tablet (inserted where it faces the area of the fort) has been among the massive grey stones of the castle-wall, erected to her memory. The landing at the Mole is generally bad, as Nelson found to his cost. It is easy to perceive that, even in ordinary times, the landing of a large party, though unopposed, must be a work of considerable difficulty. How much more arduous, then, was the enterprise of the great Naval Hero, who made his attack in darkness, and in the face of a well-manned battery, which swept away all who gained foot-hold on the shore! The latter obstacle might have been overcome by English valor, under Nelson's guidance; but night, and the heavy surf, were the enemies that gave him his first and only defeat. The little fort, under whose guns he was carried by his step son, after the loss of his arm, derived its chief interest, in my eyes, from that circumstance. The glory of the great Admiral sheds a lustre even upon the spot where success deserted him. In the Cathedral of Santa Cruz are to be seen two If a man may ever indulge in sentiment, it is English flags, which were taken on that occasion, and are still pointed out with pride by the inhabi-him in his early youth, while he yet cared an y over the ashes of a woman whose poetry touched tants. I saw them five years ago, when they hung from the walls, tattered and covered with dust; they are now enclosed in glass cases, to which the stranger's attention is eagerly directed by the boys who swarm around him. The defeat of Nelson took place on the anniversary of the patron-saint of Santa Cruz; a coincidence which has added not a little to the saint's reputation. It was by no means his first warlike exploit; for he is said to have come to the assistance of the inhabitants, and routed the Moors, when pressing the city hard, in the olden time. We wandered about the city until evening, and then walked in the Plaza. Here the ladies and gentlemen of the city promenade for an hour or two, occasionally seating themselves on the stonebenches which skirt the square. Like other Spanish ladies, the lovely brunettes of Santa Cruz generally wear the mantilla, so much more becoming than the bonnet. There are just enough of bonnets worn by foreigners, and travelled Spanish dames, to show what deformities they are, when contrasted with the graceful veil. This head-dress could only be used in a climate like that of Teneriffe, where there are no extremes of heat or cold. It is a proverb that there is no winter and no summer here. So equable and moderate is the temperature, that, we were assured, a person might, without inconvenience, wear either thick or thin clothing, all the year round. With such a climate, and with a fertile soil, it would seem that this VOL. II.-Q Q 66 thing about either sentiment or poetry. Thus Mrs. McLean, it may be added, that, subsequently much, the reader will pardon. In reference to to her unhappy death, different rumors were afloat as to its cause, some of them cruel to her own memory, others to the conduct of her husband. All these reports appear to have been equally and entirely unfounded. It is well established here, that her death was accidental." LAIRD. Puir lassie! Mony a sair heart she wad hae had in life, if she could hae foreseen that "ten red tiles," blistered by the sun onegro land, were to cover her remains, instead o' the dewy primroses and gowans she loved sae weel! DOCTOR.-A truce to sentiment. Bonnicbraes, have you been taking a look at Nickinson's company of comedians? LAIRD.-Hoot awa, man! Div ye forget that I am a ruling elder! Na, na! I never saw a play but ane, and that was Allan Ramsay's Patie and Roger. I hae cause to mind the backsliding weel, as it cost me a red face lassies belonging to the ten contiguous paron the cutty stool. I believe that a' the young ishes attended to witness the clapper-clawing I got on that memorable occasion! MAJOR.-What is your opinion of the aforesaid troupe, Doctor? DOCTOR.-All things considered, they are really very good. The manager and his eldest daughter would do credit to the boards of any theatre, and the balance of the company sustain their parts most creditably. LAIRD. Are you fond o' the playhouse, Major? MAJOR.-I used to be in "auld lang syne," but I must confess that a new novel, accompanied by a hundred or so of oysters, and a modicum of Mackay's ale, have now more charms for me of an evening than either sock or buskin! And now a days I experience little enjoyment from acting, as the idea is always uppermost in my mind, that it is only acting I am witnessing, and that the players are merely vocable machines, uninfluenced by the sentiments which they enunciate. DOCTOR.-You may carry that notion too far. I once witnessed a pregnant proof to the contrary. I was behind the scenes of the Belfast theatre one evening, when Macready was enacting his cherished part of Virginius. In the first act, as perchance you are aware, the Roman father, crazed by his giant sorrows, grasps Appius by the throat, and the pair leave the stage in a deadly struggle. When Macready and Will Alexander, who enacted the cowed tyrant, came up to where I was standing, the former had such a desperate grasp of his mimic victim's throat, that Alexander was literally gasping for breath. In a few seconds the great tragedian recovered his recollection, and, withdrawing his hand, made the half-strangled Appius an ample apology, protesting that he had been completely absorbed and carried away by the spirit of the scene. Honest Will commissioned a lictor to procure him a pot of Lurgan ale, to restore his shaken nerves, and as he drained the foaming poculum, registered an oath " that not for double salary would he again run the risk of anticipating the final sentence of the law. 66 MAJOR.-But you see nothing of that here, I should fancy. self-and, if you do not come away much gratified, I will first eat my hat, and then swallow my lancets as desert. LAIRD.-Hae ony o' ye heard tell o' this new poet that has lately burst upon the horizon o' England, to fill up ane o' the vacancies created by the quenching o' Wordsworth, and Campbell, and Moore, and Southey, and Coleridge? DOCTOR.-By what name are we to call this newly developed "bright peculiar star?" LAIRD.-Alexander Smith. MAJOR.-Not a very romantic designation, I must confess. LAIRD.-Granted, but ye ken what the sweet swan o' Avon says about names! Alexander is destined, or I am the mair mistaken, to mak' the name o' Smith as familiar in connection wi' poetry, as it is wi' political economy. If spared the lad will greatly add to our wealth o' notions. DOCTOR.-Where did you stumble upon the works of this new rara aves? LAIRD. I have na stumbled upon them at a'. It was in the last number o' the Westminster Review, that I got an inkling o' the young bard, he is only in his twenty-first year. I hae marked some specimens given by the critic, which maybe Cullpepper will condescend to read. I would do it mysel', but am as hoarse as a craw wi' the cauld. DOCTOR.-By Jove Laird, but you are right for once! This is the genuine metal, beyond all dubitation. [Reads.] Oh, that my heart was quiet as a grave For, as a torrid sunset boils with gold me? DOCTOR.-I am not so sure of that; it is Wilt bid me die for thee? O fair and cold! true that tragedy alone can produce such As well may some wild maiden waste her love powerful feeling-but still there is scope Upon the calm front of a marble Jove. enough in the pieces played at the Lyceum I cannot draw regard of thy great eyes. for a display of much feeling-I have I love thee, Poesy! Thou art a rock, seen really very good playing there-and II, a weak wave, would break on thee and die. am glad to see that Canada can boast of having produced so much native talent. LAIRD. What d'ye mean by that? DOCTOR.-I mean that Miss Nickinson is a Quebecker, and that Mr. Lee, a very promising and talented young man, hails from London, Canada West. I have seen both these young people repeatedly, and I am sure that either of them could make capital engagements in Englahd. MAJOR.-You surprise me! DOCTOR.-I daresay I do-but it is a fact for all that. Go, Major, and judge for your There is a deadlier pang than that which bends Waked by a fiend in hell! 'Tis not for me, ye Heavens! 'tis not for me treasure. LAIRD.-I'll no forget. DOCTOR.-Here is another gem: "My life was a long dream; when I awoke, I will go forth 'mong men, not mailed in scorn, Great duties are before me and great songs, a LAIRD.-I have a perfect budget. MAJOR.—All right,and now for Mrs. Grundy. [Rings] [Enter Mrs. Grundy with an apronful of M.S.] MRS. G. Here you see Major are a few gleanings, I have several more. DOCTOR.-Stop, my dear madam, an' you pity me. You Major, and you, my much wronged On agriculturist, pause and listen to me. your strivings all I do congratulate you much, these thy labors should be lost, but, nathless, and sooth to say, 'tis pitiful exceedingly that it must be so, since envious fate and printers do compel. To cut the matter short, my good friends, I am sorry to tell you that I have been obliged to throw Music, Musical Chit-Chat, and Notices of Books overboard this month, and that I shall be compelled, to dock you all round, as far as I possibly can, to make room for contents and title-page. [Omnes. 'Tis shameful.] MAJOR.—Well, I suppose it cannot be helped? Whatever is-is best. So here goes [reads.] COLONIAL NEWS. THE Canada "Maine Law" Bill has been rejected by a majority of four. It was opposed by Mr. Ilincks, and several of the ministry were absent when it was finally discussed. Sir Allan N. MacNab elicited some amusement by suggesting that every member voting for the measure should be obliged to "take the pledge."The duties col MAJOR.--Bonniebraes, you may say a brace lected at the Port of Toronto during the quarter of gallons! LAIRD. So be it. DOCTOR.-Hush! Behold a whole casquet of jewels "rich and rare!" MAJOR.-Stop. Space fails, and we must reserve the casquet for another opportunity. DOCTOR.-Just one more, and I have done SUMMER AND WINTER. "The lark is singing in the blinded sky, ending on the 5th of April, amounted to £23,669; while the corresponding quarter of last year the amount realized was only £10,137, showing an increase of £13,532 on the quarter, in favor of 1853. Verily we are in a state of rampant “ruin and decay!"- -Some respectable parties in England have petitioned the Provincial Parliament for a charter to enable them to work gold-mines in the Eastern Townships of Lower Canada.--——— During the month of March there were thirty ships Hedges are white with May. The bridegroom sea in the course of construction at Quebec, the total Is toying with the shore, his wedded bride, MAJOR.-Laird! Laird! I must send you a whole cask. Read no more, Oh, medico, or I shall be a ruined man! besides we must to other work. Here are my News from Abroad, and Colonial Chit-Chat. What have you done Laird in the agricultural way. tonnage of which was 32,440. All of the vessels that even the clocks are striking!Thomas Mercer Jones, Esq., has received a pension of For fiscal year ending June 30, 1852..$49,007,896 Debt of Cities in Columbia.... 300 287,596 60,000 3,180,000 Awarded to American Citizens in Mexico 529,980 The Receipts for fiscal year ending June 30th, 1854, are estimated at $51,000,000, which added to the estimated balance in Treasury on 1st July, 1853, will make the total means $56,203,753. There has been a proposal made to Congress by a company of New York gentlemen to build a trans-continental Railroad from New York to San Francisco, the work to be completed in three years, without aid from the U. S. Government, save a loan of thirty millions of dollars, to be guaranteed by the work itself, and no territorial cessions beyond the mere right of way. The capital stock of the enterprise is placed at one hundred million of dollars. A message has been addressed by the President to Congress with regard to the removal of the Seminole tribe of Indians to the Indian territory. It was also said that General Hopkins was with a small force cruelly murdered, but by later accounts we find no confirmation of this statement. -The Rev. H. Esson, lately a Professor in The following extracts from General Pierce's inKnox's College, Toronto, died there on the 13th augural address will be found worthy of note, as ult.The Toronto and Guelph Railway Com- indicating the one sided spirit of the Government. pany is about to be dissolved, and the concern “The feeling of our country ought to be eminently amalgamated into the Grand Trunk. On the peaceful, and with the neighbouring states of our 80th of April, the steamer Ocean Wave, bound Continent we should cultivate kindly and paternal from Hamilton to Ogdensburgh, was burned when relations: with the politics of Europe, we can have six miles west of the "Ducks," and twenty-five no immediate or direct concern, except so far as miles from Kingston. Out of twenty-three pas- the vast interests of commerce, which are comsengers only five were saved, so far as known. mon to all mankind, are at stake." It is also deThe crew consisted of thirty persons, of whom clared that "the rights, security and repose of the about one-half were lost.The Genova, the confederacy reject the idea of interference or colopioneer vessel of the Canadian line of steam-nization on this side of the ocean by any foreign ships, arrived at Quebec on the 10th ult. She made the passage from Liverpool in a little less than twenty days.- -On the 16th ult., the first passenger and freight train of the Northern Railroad started from Toronto for Machell's, a distance of about thirty miles.--St. John, N.B., papers state that the fisheries on the British North American coast are to be guarded this year from United States trespassers as jealously and more efficiently than ever. power, beyond present jurisdiction, as utterly inadmissable," a curious proof of non-interference follows this. The French Minister at Washington complained that some expressions in one of Mr. Rives despatches implied à censure on the revolution, and was thus an unwarrantable interference with the domestic affairs of France. Mr. Webster's explanation was, that it never was extended, even by imputation, to call in question the manner in which the rights of the French authorities had been obtained, and that Mr. Rives would be justify the act, if one of the prisoners should die directed to make such a statement to the French in prison, the public opinion of all Europe will Government. Mr. Rives in explanation indicated the course he had pursued in declining to recognise the new Government in France, until instructed how to act by advices from home, and he proceeded to show that his despatches to his own Government was a matter not supposed to be within the cognizance, and certainly not within the jurisdiction of the French Government or its Embassadors, and that any complaint of the language or sentiments contained was without warrant. He quoted Mr. Webster's letter to the Chevalier Hulseman, to prove that the American Government had distinctly repelled the claim of foreign powers thus to supervise communications from its agents abroad to their own government. Upon these grounds Mr. Rives declined to present any apology or explanation to the French Government for the language used in his despatches. The Cabinet is thus constituted: Secretary of State, Mr. S. Marcy. Treasury, Jas. Guthrie. Interior, R. McClelland. War, Jefferson Davis. Navy, Jas. C. Dobbin. Postmaster General, Jas. Campbell. Attorney General, Caleb Cushing. MEXICO. After numerous revolutions, affairs seem to be settled for the present. Santa Anna has been again chosen President of the Republic. In South America revolutions seem to have no end; at Buenos Ayres, especially, political affairs long have been and continue to be in a ferment. EUROPE. GREAT BRITAIN. hold the Grand Duke guilty of having put a man to death because he was a Protestant. The Madiai have been liberated, consequently the Grand Duke has escaped a trial at the bar of European opinion, but how far Lord John Russell was warranted in giving such instructions to a British Minister, we leave to subtler diplomatists to decide.- Messrs, Cobden and Bright have been strenuous in their advocacy of Peace Associations, with but little effect however. The Emigration to Australia continues; nearly one hundred vessels leave every month. The number of Emigrants from England alone for the past year, is over three hundred thousand.-The Jewish Disabilities Bill after passing the lower house has been finally rejected in the Lords by a majority of forty-nine.-With respect to Turkey, Lord John Russell has declared his opinion that England is bound to maintain the independence of Turkey, and that her dismemberment must lead to a general European war. "International law, good faith, and policy dictated the maintenance of the integrity of Turkey," says his lordship.- -The income tax has been imposed for seven years longer, by a majority of 71 in the commons.- -Eight members have been unseated for bribery practiced at their elections. We believe we may state that the Queen's Government has intimated to the authorities of the East India-house that they will be compelled to withdraw three Queen's Regiments from the Company's service, because Malta will require, in future, two additional Regiments to augment the garrison there; the remaining Regiment being needed for a similar purpose at Corfu. Consequently the Company intend to raise three additional European Regiments to meet the deficiency. These are not the only signs of increased activity in the War Department. The Militia are being actively trained: and they are far more efficient than was anticipated. A good camp is being formed near Windsor; and it is intended, as was intimated by the Secretary-at-War in moving the Army estimates, to exercise the Regiments in brigades, so that the operations may be on a larger scale than is practicable in an ordinary review. The new Aberdeen Ministry appears to give the utmost satisfaction to the people of the parent isle.- -The commercial system of Sir R. Peel is to be continued as the one most calculated for the improvement of the condition of the manufacturing and agricultural classes.--The National Education question is to receive the earliest attention of the Government. -Lord Aberdeen has pronounced his administration to be of a Liberal-Conservative character; "he, Lord Aberdeen, would never have coalesced with Lord John Russell, had he not regarded him as a Liberal-Conservative," and Lord John Russell on his part "would never have taken office had he not believed Lord Aberdeen to be conservative liberal."The enlargement of the Elective Franchise is advocated; as also is parliamentary reform.The extension of education, of civil and religious liberty, of commercial freedom, and of political rights, is looked upon as the true means of preserving those institutions under which the Englishman enjoys so much happiness.—The elections have generally resulted in favor of the former incumbents.Great discussions have taken place on the subject of the Madiai, and Lord John Rus-him something both of the politician and warrior. sell's instructions to Sir Henry Bulwer directed him to remonstrate, in the most earnest manner, with the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and to represent to him, that notwithstanding the various pleas by which an attempt is made to There is no very important news either from Burmah or the Cape, in both places affairs have been slowly progressing to what promises a favorable settlement. From China the news is more important. A rebellion of a serious nature has broken out, very little is as yet known of the leader in this movement, of his character, principles or war-cry. From his influence, however, over his followers, by whom he is already desig nated king, we may conjectere him a man more than ordinarily capable, a man possessing persuasive address, a strong will, and a military knowledge and aptitude by no means despicable. He has probably more than the average share of Chinese courage. His influence with his followers, and his successes against his enemies, prove His war-cry is probably some grievance galling to several large classes of the people, and may be thought to have elicited the Imperial pledges promulgated as a sort of counter demonstration. His present principle is one not likely to find |