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whim, he suffered himself to be arrayed as my fancy suggested, with good grace, and even laughed quite heartily as I added garment after garment, in order to make him look as frightful as possible; yet, after all, I could see that his mind was ill at ease, and I half condemned myself for being the cause of his unhappiness.

When at length all was arranged to my satisfaction, I placed the horrid mask over his face, and led him to the mirror. He started back, and involuntarily placed his hand to his head, as if to take it away, but my interference prevented. He even pleaded that the penalty I had threatened to inflict, in case he refused to go might be spared him. But I was inexorable; I was anxious to see the result, and the delay caused by his unwillingness vexed and annoyed me."

A renewal of my threats of exposure succeeded in removing all obstacles, and we immediately set about our adventure. Cautiously as thieves we crept through the yard, and each took his station; Robert at the door, and I at the window nearest him.

The curtain was partly drawn aside, so that I could easily distinguish every object in the room. As I had anticipated, she was alone. The domestic had retired, and I knew her old father too well to believe that he was anywhere but in the arms of Somnus; for he was one of those sensible persons whose maxim is, " Early to bed and early to rise."

Julia and I shall never forget how lovely she was-sat beside a small table in the centre of the room, apparently deeply absorbed in a book. Her fair hand supported her head, and her hair fell gracefully down her neck in beautiful natural ringlets. She was a delicate wild flower, that had budded and blossomed under the shelter of a father's roof; and the sunshine of gladness and the dews of affection had ever lighted and cheered her way.

with a piercing shriek she staggered back a few paces, and fell heavily to the floor. Quicker than lightning I sprang through the doorway, and knelt at her side. I grasped her waist-its pulsation had ceased! I placed my hand upon the heart—that was also still! She was dead!

I can recal little else that took place that night. The domestics who slept in an adjoining room had been awakened by that terrible shriek, and came rushing in to learn the cause of the uproar. I could not have spoken, even had explanation been necessary. I was overwhelmed with grief and self-condemnation. I could only point to the lifeless form of poor Julia, and at the mask which Robert had torn from his face and dashed to the floor. He stood gazing at me with a cold, vacant stare, that I but too well understood. More I cannot remember.

Ten days passed, and I awoke from a raving delirium. My first inquiry was for Robert. They led him to my bedside; but oh, what a change! I stretched out my clasped hands, in an agony of grief and remorse, to implore his forgiveness. He neither moved nor spoke; but that same unmeaning stare drove home to my heart the fearful conviction. Alas! he was a hopeless idiot!

Fifteen years have elapsed since that never to be forgotten era of my life. I never have, I never can, forgive myself for having been the cause of so much misery, though I have sought and hoped for forgiveness from on High. I never can look upon a mask without a shudder, or hear its use denounced without alluding to my experience. And you, my young friends, when you are tempted to play tricks upon others, I am sure will stop to consider that what seems so innocent and harmless may, perhaps, in the end, prove a "fatal joke."

At length I made the signal, and a loud INDUSTRY is not only the instrument of rap was given. She paused for a moment, improvement, but the foundation of plealistened attentively, and then, laying down sure. He who is a stranger to it, may her book, arose and approached the door. possess, but cannot enjoy; for it is labour As she opened it, the mask stepped boldly only which gives relish to pleasure. It is in, according to my directions. How shall the appointed vehicle of every good to man. I describe the scene that followed? Even It is the indispensable condition of possessnow I shudder to think of it. Instantly ing a sound mind in a sound body.-Dr. all earthly hue had fled from her face, and | Blair.

LOANS.

BY MRS. L. H. SIGOURNEY.

A LOAN is an entrusted possession, to be returned, or repaid. When not limited by any stipulated term of continuance, it may be reclaimed at the volition of the owner; and its temporary use generally implies a favour, or obligation of gratitude.

Strictly speaking, are not all our earthly gifts, loans? We are accustomed to speak of them as if their title was inherent in ourselves, yet their unannounced departure often corrects this error, and discloses the tenure by which they are held.

All history is but a field to illustrate the shadowy nature of ambition's honours. Multitudes who, by virtue, or valour, laborious service, or hazardous enterprise, deemed themselves wealthy, or secure of popular favour, have been made examples of its uncertainty. Thus was Aristides, in his banishment, and Socrates, under the chill of the hemlock, and Columbus, in his sequestration at Valladolid, and the fallen Wolsey, in his remorseful admission

"Had I but served my God with half the zeal
I served my king, He would not in my age
Have left me naked to mine enemies."

Still more touching was the exclamation
of the noble Strafford, on his way to the
scaffold:-
1:-" Put not your trust in princes,
nor in the son of man, with whom there is
no help."

and one of the meanest of the people reddened his axe in the life-blood of his anointed sovereign. France made her sixteenth Bourbon, and his beautiful queen, beacons amid the quicksands of rank and brillant fêtes of the Tuileries, the gorgeous splendour, as she hurried them from the gardens of Versailles, to the bar, the prison, the guillotine. Bonaparte read the fearful banners of the allied powers, in the capi"Mene, Mene, Tekel," on the conquering tulation at Paris, in the solitudes of Elba, on the rough face of the great grey rocks at St. Helena. There, the heavy surges, breaking against the shore, spoke hoarsely day and night of the glory that was departed, as erst the ghostly "majesty of buried Denmark" accosted the musing melancholy Hamlet.

Wealth, though one of the most coveted, It is unnecessary to revert to storied annals, is also among the most transitory of loans. or foreign lands, for a commentary on the inspired assertion that it taketh to itself wings, and flies away. It is subject to the sway of all the elements. Fire may devour it, water submerge it, earth swallow it, winds sweep it away. Its tendency to transition, to disappearance, without leaving a trace behind, is obvious to all; while the conscientious mind perceives yet another evil, the danger of abuse. "What way can Christians take," says the pious John Wesley, "that their money sink them not into perdition? There is but The strongest antitheses of fortune, and one way, and no other, under heaven. of fate, have been exhibited in different And this is it: let those who gain all they ages and climes, by those who have held can, and save all they can, likewise give all the hereditary sway, and borne the envied they can. Then the more will they grow insignia of royalty. Hippias and Hip-in grace, and the more treasure will they parchus taught ancient Greece the frailty lay up in heaven." of pride and power, when vengeance, unsheathing her "sword, by myrtle leaves concealed," struck one a lifeless corse, and drove the other a fugitive to Persian wilds. The same lesson was given to iron-hearted Rome, by the sons of Aulus Martius, when the sceptre on which they would fain have fixed their youthful grasp, changed, like the rod of Aaron, to a serpent, and they fled away, wrapped in peasants' weeds, leaving a stranger seated upon their father's throne. How mournful is the voice from England, our own ancestral clime, when the second of the Stuarts came forth, beneath the shadow of his own palace at Whitehall, to die;

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Wealth, unallied to benevolence and a sense of responsibility, is perilous to our eternal interests. Faithfully used, as a means of influence, of imparting happiness, relieving suffering, enlightening ignorance, it is one of the richest blessings. What an example have we at this time, and on our own shores, of the noble adaptation of this gift to the highest purposes. The world has never seen, in a female form, such a union of rare endowments, unbounded liberality, and unostentatious goodness, as is now exhibited by the Swedish songstress, Mademoiselle Lind. With the wonderful talents which, as the sister of the nightin

gale, she possesses, she cheers, charms, and elevates, with a singular freedom from all selfishness and display; while, with the harvest of those exertions, she feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, comforts the desolate, aids the holy temple to uplift its spire, and the school to gather listening children under its brooding wings, to all future generations.

"One there is, that doth inherit
Angel gifts, and angel spirit,
Bidding streams of gladness flow
Through the realms of want and woe;
Mid lone age and misery's lot
Kindling pleasures long forgot;
Seeking minds oppress'd with night,
And o'er darkness shedding light:
She the seraph's speech doth know,
She hath done their deeds below;
And when o'er this misty strand
She shall clasp their waiting hand,
They will fold her to their breast,
More a sister than a guest."

But to return to our subject of loans. Some of them, we perceive, expire by their own limitation. The season of youth is one of these. Its beauty, and the attractions that depend upon that beauty, must pass away. Concealment, resistance, regret, are alike ineffectual. The rose and lily upon the cheek, like their prototypes in the garden, must blight and fade. Let us not, on this account, bear in our hearts the murmur of ocean's tinted shell. Time will tarnish and shred away the shining, luxuriant tresses. Why should we dread or be ashamed of the snows that he showers upon the temples? He will scarcely forget to furrow the forehead. Let us meet his ploughshare with an added smile.

To every period of life, as to every changing season, there is a peculiar privilege, an annexing charm. Grave Autumn may not wear the buds of spring, but it hath the glory of harvest. There is a beauty that surmounteth age. We will therefore seek, if advanced years are our portion, the evergreens that crown the winter of life; we will wear the perennial adornment of cheerful interest in the young, and in passing events, a deeper forbearance, a broader charity, the spirit of those, who, drawing nearer to a cloudless clime, should reflect its smile. We will take the beauty of heaven in exchange for that of earth, and

be content.

Our most precious earthly loans, next to the salvation of the undying soul, are the

partakers of kindred blood, the dear objects of affection and friendship. Yet, by the tenure of this transitory existence, they must either go from us, or we from them. The order of precedence is known only to Whether the silver-haired the Eternal. grandsire, or the cradled babe, shall be first summoned; the father, in the pride of his strength, or the daughter, growing up like a pure violet beneath his protective shadow; the mother in the tenderness of her unfaltering love, or the son, upon whose young arm her weariness rested as a prop, is known only to Him who formed our frame, and remembereth that we are but dust. "For within a little while we return to that from which we were taken, when the life that was lent us shall be demanded."

But in what manner should the heart's loans be restored? We return a book to its owner, with thanks for the privilege of perusal; and repay money, with interest for its use. How shall we render back our soul's chief jewels, when He who entrusted sees fit to reclaim them? Must it be without tears? No! the voice of nature may have utterance, and we are permitted to weep, but not to murmur or repine. We should resign our precious ones, unmurmuringly, with gratitude for so long a period of intercourse and enjoyment-with praise, if they were fitted for a higher state of existence, and called by the smile of a Father to his home of rest in heaven.

Thus should we leave our dearest earthly friends, and our own lives also, meekly in His hand whose infinite love and wisdom will do no wrong, either to them or to us. Our own lives, said I? Have we aught that we can call our own the next hour or the next moment? The eloquent Apostle answers us : "Ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your bodies, and in your spirits, which are God's."

May we, who have together contemplated the nature of our earthly loans, the uncertainty of their continuance, the suddenness of their flight, and the fitting mode of their restitution, be thus assisted faithfully to use, or fortified quietly to resign them; and, with an eye ever reared to Him, who hath a right, when he will, to reclaim his own, 66 revere Him, in the stillness of the

soul,"

EXHIBITION FANCY-WORK.

THE JEWELLERY AND PRECIOUS STONES.

FIRST NOTICE.

"YET, all of these together,

Ay, pearls and diamonds too,
Would fail to make most ladies look
As well as I know who."

COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON,

If we could have seen the splendid array of Jewellery and Precious Stones contained within the Industrial Palace collected in one space, the effect would have been overpowering. They can now only be remembered as things that were-pleasant to dwell upon. The like collection was never before seen, in one building, since the lapidary's art was first practised,

The precious stones contained in the Crystal Palace were perhaps, without doubt, unparalleled; the finest diamond, ruby, and emerald known in the world were there; and, in addition to these, sapphires, opals, topazes, amethysts, cairngorms, pearls, carbuncles, chrysolites, garnets, &c. were exhibited in profusion.

Amongst the jewellery we shall first notice the "safety chain brooches" of Messrs. Ellis & Son, of Exeter, (Class 23, No. 12,) because they come first in the Catalogue. In the West of England these brooches have long been known and esteemed by ladies for their elegance, cheapness, and utility. The peculiarity of the design is, that the point of the pin, after having penetrated a certain amount of the shawl, or dress, is received into a sheath, to which a chain is attached; this chain is drawn tight, and one of the links confined by a notch, so that it cannot slip, especially as the end of the chain has an ornamental pendant to assist in keeping it in its place. Much credit is due to the Messrs. Ellis for the adoption of this plan, for we cannot think it is their invention, as we remember to have seen some fair friends of ours, wearing French gloves fitted with a contrivance similar to this, some seven years ago.

Passing over some very excellent specimens of jewellery, such as brooches, bracelets, breast ornaments, hair orna

|ments, &c. in nearly every possible form and style, exhibited by various English firms, we pause to notice the celebrated jewels belonging to Mr. Hope.

They were placed just at the Holland entrance, upon a pedestal firmly secured to the floor, and covered with an iron frame, similar to that which protected the Koh-iNoor. There were twenty-eight diamonds in the case, the most remarable of which was of an oval form, faceted beneath, and flat at the top. This diamond was formerly in the possession of the Emperor Leopold II., and its surface has a very good likeness of that monarch engraven upon it. When the extreme hardness of the stone is considered, and the faithfulness of the likeness, it may well be entitled to rank as the most perfect specimen of the art of gem engraving extant, the more especially as the engraving is highly polished through

out.

Another very curious diamond, with dendritic marks, of an irregular form, and flat on both sides, was also in the collection. The front has the appearance of a star, which is caused by the six large facets meeting in the centre. There was also a diamond set as a gold ring, of a somewhat triangular form, with rounded points, which has a peculiar appearance in the centre, resembling the ace of clubs, caused by the apices of three triangles, of a blackish colour, uniting.

A remarkable portrait, in relief, of Louis XVI., composed of very small rose diamonds all regularly cast with facets, and so arranged as to represent a cameo, was generally admired for the skill displayed in the arrangement and setting, some of the diamonds being so small that two thousand would only weigh four grains.

Among the most remarkable of the other jewels in the case, we may notice a hand of solid pearl, weighing three ounces, measuring two inches in length, and four inches and a half in circumference, being, in fact, the largest known pearl in the world. Near to this was a beautiful Hungarian opal, measuring 1 15-16 inch in length, by 1 5-16 in breadth; some fine pearls, embedded in the oyster; a very curious amethyst from Siberia, of a pale violet colour, set as a gold swivel ring, which is of an oval form, convex on both sides, having four cavities in its interior,

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