ROSAS.

THE HE name of Rosas was long identified with Buenos Ayres, and, even yet you no sooner find yourself within the sphere of his late undisputed domination, than you naturally ask where are the monuments of his activity, and the proofs of his successful promotion of the interests of his capital. Beyond a large town residence, which he erected for government purposes, a country residence-represented in our engraving-which he called Palermo, and a mole constructed in front of the sea, there exists nothing to mark the reign of a man desirous of elevating the character of his countrymen in the scale of civilized nations or of contributing to their commercial prosperity. In spite of civil wars and bad government, however, Buenos Ayres has contrived to extend itself; but within it Rosas has left no enduring monument of personal greatness,-nothing to remind the world of what he was beyond a despot of the most unprincipled kind.

Palermo is built on a swampy bank of the river, with only a ground floor, at times several feet under water, and is necessarily subject to attacks of fever and ague. It is reported of Rosas, that, on one occasion, the water was so high that the cook had to send him word that he could not dress his dinner. On ascertaining, however, that the fires were not quite out, the despot commanded his dinner to be prepared forthwith. The unfortunate

sonal retainers one would have thought his policy might have contrived to have attached to him. Some of these remained faithful after his fall, to the length of employing a portion of the ample funds left behind him to promote his recall. There has been an end of this, however, for some time, and consequently a cessation of the intrigues arising from it.

THE ENGLISH NATION.-The English nation cannot be weighed, and measured, and ticketed, and classified, by a narrow understanding and a cold heart. We, too, have a positive philosophy; and its fundamental maxim is, that it is wise for men and nations to mind their own business, to do their own duty, and to leave the result to God. By adhering to this "superstition," we have attained some results which may not be unworthy of the attention even of a positive philosopher. Children are born to-day who will live to hear the English language spoken over half the world by hundreds of millions of men descended from English blood, and their remote posterity will not see the day when the territories so peopled will be over-crowded. In

governor of the kitchen did so, at once, congratulating himself upon having suffered only the penalty of a severe attack of rheumatism, instead of the more summary visitation wherewith the Dictator generally followed up the slightest implied opposition to his will in matters equally trifling as the cooking of his dinner.

About the palace of Rosas in the days of its glory were to be seen numerous out-buildings and a barracks for cavalry from which he always selected a strong body-guard, as might have been expected from his antecedents, he having risen to power, in the first instance, among his fellow guachos by the superior daring and dexterity of his horsemanship. Passing the house down a long avenue leading to the river, a large vessel was wont to lie, evidently fitted up for some special purpose. She had been driven ashore here by a heavy gale, and Rosas had her converted into a pleasure-house, where he occasionally gave his balls and his parties. Nature being found rather stubborn in yielding to the wishes of the owner of Palermo, immense sums were expended in planting orange trees, evergreens, and exotics, of one kind or another, which were brushed and combed daily, and coaxed into a sickly existence; but they would not thrive. Nothing but willows flourish, or will continue to flourish, in the vicinity of the dilapidated abode from which issued many a bloody decree of this Borgia of the Pampas.

Rosas has paid the penalty of his despotism. He fled from his capital as ignominiously as he had lived detestably; and, notwithstanding his bands of gorged assassins, who might profit by his return, he has left behind him none to bless his memory. The revulsion of popular feeling towards him is only what might have been anticipated, though hardly perhaps to the extent which actually took place, considering the length of time he ruled, and the immense number of per

India we govern a population, larger than that of Europe, as it never was governed before, and we are now beginning to civilize and Christianize what we have conquered. When we look at home, we see only one European country in which freedom of speech and writing exists at all, or in which government is not carried on by mere brute force. The oldest man living there has never heard a

cannon fired in anger within its bounds. It has discussed, prepared, and actually carried into operation, within the last thirty years, reforms which have succeeded in no other European country, though they have been attempted in almost all, and have been extinguished in almost all, amidst bloodshed, and treachery, and heartburnings unutterable.

GENERAL NAPIER'S ANCESTORS.-Born at Whitehall, 10th of August, 1782, Charles Napier was eldest son of the Hon. George Napier and Lady Sarah Lennox, daughter of the second Duke of Richmond. This nobleman, grandson of Charles the Second, married Lady Sarah Cadogan, daughter of Marlborough's favourite General. Their union was a bargain to cancel a gambling debt between the parents, and the young Lord March was brought from college, the lady from the nursery, for the ceremony. The bride was amazed and silent, but the bridegroom exclaimed, "Surely you are not going to marry me to that dawdy." Married he was, however, and his tutor instantly carried him off to the continent. Lady Sarah went back to her mother, a daughter of Wilhelm Munter, States Councillor of Holland. Three years afterwards Lord March returned from his travels, an accomplished gentleman, but having such a disagreeable recollection of his wife that he avoided home, and repaired on the first night of his arrival to the theatre. There he saw a lady of so fine an appearance that he asked who she was. The reigning toast, the beautiful Lady March." He hastened to claim her, and they lived together so affectionately, that one year after his decease, in 1570, she died of grief. Her daughter also, named Sarah, born in 1746, was likewise beautiful, and when scarcely 18, George the Third offered her his hand; she refused, he persisted, and was finally accepted; but then politicians worked on royal pride, hurt by the first refusal, and the monarch fell back,

66

WE

DON PEDRO II.

E are so little accustomed to hear of monarchs in America, that we have this week determined to introduce to our readers a knowledge of one whose name has hardly ever been heard mentioned in this country.

Don Pedro II. of Brazil, says a recent authority, is in every respect fitted for his lofty position. Born in the country, and without an advantage of a knowledge of European life, and the finished tone of education it affords, but possessed of natural endowments of an exalted order, and having turned to the utmost advantages the opportunities of a studious and virtuous youth, he carries with him the full national sympathies of the native Brazilians, the respect of the old Portuguese party, and the esteem of the whole foreign diplomatic body, to whom he dispenses the honours and hospitality of a prudently managed court. As the sovereign of a constitutional country, content to abide within the strict limits imposed by his coronation oath, his reign has been prosperous and happy. In his private capacity, he is kind, and attentive to all around him, as well as a close observer of passing events. It has often been emphatically said, that he is not only the highest, but the best man in the country, both from his public conduct, and his private virtues.

It is a happy circumstance that so much that is excellent in the character of his Brazilian Majesty, should have met with a sympathising partner in his Queen. She is beloved by all classes of the community. The imperial couple frequently attend public balls, and mix in social parties with

citizens and foreigners, taking also the warmest interest in all local improvements, or measures calculated to benefit the country, and to raise the character of their subjects.

But the great work of Don Pedro the second-a work at once of humanity and policy, and which, in the eyes of Europe, marks his title to consideration and honour is, that of having openly attacked the national prejudice of the necessity of black slaves, and having overcome it. Thanks to him, thanks to his ministers, aud the legislative chambers of Rio, the traffic is henceforth definitively suppressed in Brazil, for the people have understood and accepted the imperial policy, which has for its motto, "No more traffic in slaves, but European Colonization." M. Reybaud, a Frenchman, writing a couple of years ago upon this subject, says, "The agriculturalists themselves, until lately, insensible to the anathemas of philanthropy, have opened their eyes and joined the Government and the Chambers, in demanding the deliverance of the country from the living leprosy of the slave traffic. It was imperative that it should. It was indispensable that the country should associate itself with the measures of the Government, for up to this time, the laws that were made were not carried out, and the people who thought them prejudicial to their interests, did not scruple to infringe them. The policy of the Emperor and the Brazilian Chambers was very simple and sensible. It was not sufficicnt to decree the suppression of the traffic, but it was necessary to open up to the agriculturalists new ways and means by which they should within a longer or shorter delay, dispense with black labourers. The Legislature, took

proper means to attract European colonization to provide for this necessity. Several attempts tried on this new basis have been attended with the happiest results. Little colonies have sprung up, especially in the south of the empire, and are in a flourishing condition. The planters and landed proprietors throughout the empire, give a decided preference to free over slave labour, as experience teaches them that it is infinitely to their advantage.'

Our representation is taken from Sir W. Gore Ouseley's Sketches in South America, and sufficiently explains itself.

CLOAKS AND OVERCOATS. THE Duke of Wellington, shrewd old campaigner that he dozen of overcoats. Not that his Grace was in the habit of wrapping up his veteran carcass, like a dried mummy, in all these twelve envelopes at once. No! he was too skilful a general not to know how to husband his resources, and he proved his usual prudence by his overcoat tactics. This was his plan of operations:-His coats being mustered in full force, and ranked in order, from heavy cavalry cloak to light infantry surtout, under the command of his valet, were always kept in readiness for a sortie or a campaign, as the Duke might determine. At the north end of Apsley House, as all our readers familiar with the haunts of aristocracy will recollect, there is a small window, through the open casement of which might be seen every morning, by the accurate observer, a well-known nose. This was the proboscis of the Iron Duke-as true as a thermometer-taking the gauge of the weather, and the valet received his orders accordingly. So, one day it was,-" Antoine, it's cold as Nova Zembla; bring up my heavy cavalry" (cloak). Another time the order ran-"Antoine, it's not so cold to-day; I think the light body (coat) will do." And so on; each one in its turn of the force of overcoats being ordered up, according to the emergency of the weather.

Not only, however, does the degree of warmth depend upon the texture, but also upon the fashion of the dress. A loose coat is warmer than a tight-fitting one; the fashionable sack, accordingly, which Carlyle sneers at as an evidence of the degeneracy of the age, is much more comfortable in winter than the more artistically close-cut surtout of our predecessors. This is easily accounted for on the principle already explained; the former having a greater space for air than the latter, becomes a worse conductor, and, necessarily, a better protector of heat. Dresses porous in texture and loose in fit have the additional advantage of allowing that ease of movement, and freedom of transpiration so essential to health.

Colour, too, influences the warmth of covering, as the simple experiment of Franklin (who placed several pieces of cloth, varying from black to white, in the light, upon a bank of snow, and found the snow beneath the black melted first, and that beneath the white the last) proved. A dark dress is, therefore, warmer than a light-coloured one, and the shivering shoulders of our beauties will, accordingly, have a better chance of heat under a black sable than under

a white ermine. If people will only put a little of this simple philosophy of dress into their heads, we promise them increased comfort to their backs, a greater vigour to their health, and more years to their lives.

The Duke's practice was good, and we commend it to general adoption. It may not be necessary to have a dozen overcoats, but it would be well to have as many as one can conveniently afford, graduated in warmth to suit the changes of the weather. This is more necessary in our country than in any other, for where else will you find such sudden and extreme changes of temperature? Common sense would seem to teach the precept of adapting the dress to the temperature; and yet, as nothing is so uncommon as common sense, it is not surprising that this very obvious rule should be generally disobeyed.

The philosophy of dress may be summed up in a few words. The linen, the cotton, the silk, the woollen, and the furs, even, which comprise almost all the varieties of artificial covering used by civilized man and woman, do not give heat, for they have none to give; but merely serve to keep that which belongs to, and is produced within, the body. This fact teaches that no outward appliance of art can be a substitute for the inward process of nature for the production of heat; and, moreover, leads to the inquiry as to the best means of preserving that heat. The chymists tell us that good conductors are bad protectors, and bad conductors good protectors of heat, for the simple reason that the former convey away the warmth as rapidly as it is produced, and the latter do not. Now, air is one of the worst conductors of heat known, and therefore a most powerful protector. In regard to clothing and covering of all kinds that is the warmest which can retain the most air. Thus, furs and woollens, constantly retaining within their loose textures a large supply of air, become bad conductors and good protectors of heat; while linen, cotton, and silk, being so closely woven, and of more rigid fibre, have less space for air, and necessarily become good conductors and bad protectors. The various kinds of material used ordinarily for clothing rank thus as to warmth (beginning with the warmest and ending with the coolest); 1st, furs; 2nd, wool; 3rd, silk; 4th, cotton; 5th, linen.

FORT

A STRIKING MARRIAGE. NORTY-FOUR years ago the sovereigns and statesmen of Europe, assembled in Congress at Vienna, were disposing of nations and crowns. Metternich and Talleyrand and Wellington, Alexander of Russia, and a swarm of German kings were there, all with wits freshly sharpened for the encounter, and all, as usual, scheming to cheat one another. But the greatest of all the diplomatists there assembled was -not an orator, or a soldier, or a king, but a lady-the PRINCESS LIEVEN, the loveliest and cleverest woman in Europe. We have it on the best authority that questions which puzzled the wisest of the male politicians were unraveled by her; that more than once her tact averted disputes which might have ended seriously, and that of all the great men at Vienna there was not one who did not count himself among her admirers.

About the same time another lady, in a very different station-Pauline de Meulan, the editor of a small literary journal at Paris-fell dangerously ill. She had a mother and sisters to support; her illness endangered their subsistence. In the midst of her embarrassment she received an anonymous letter inclosing an article for the following number of her paper. The letter stated that, with her permission, the writer would take the liberty of inclosing & similar article for every number of the journal until her recovery. The aid so delicately proffered was gladly ac cepted.

Mademoiselle de Meulan, relieved from anxiety, regained her health. On her resumption of her editorial labours, she endeavoured to discover the name of her unknown benefactor, but in vain. It was not till long afterward that, on her wedding-night her happy husband disclosed to her that the author of the articles which had been of such service was none other than himself-Guizot.

A lapse of thirty years, and the Princess Lieven is mourning for her husband, late Russian Ambassador at London. Mourning gently, decorously, as becomes a leader of fashion and a lady who, when the defunct lived, wisely made a mere clerk of him; not suffering her affliction to impede her intrigues, or embarrassing national camarillas with such petty casualties. Dead or alive, the Prince of Lieven did not matter; what the Princess regretted most in him was his usefulness as a cloak.

At the same time Guizot is sitting by the death-bed of his wife-his much-loved Pauline. She has been long ill, and now the doctors have told him that her hour has come. has watched her long and tenderly, all prime minister that

He

St. VALENTINE'S DAY AS IT WAS AND IS.

HOW many young fluttering hearts will there be this day!

How many secret sighs will be breathed, redolent of remembrances sweet and happy to dwell upon! How many love-tokens will be exchanged, and how many love-letters, in the shape of Valentines, will pass through the post office! Recollecting that we ourselves, once upon a time, transmitted a missive of affection on the morning of an anniversary of this day, without knowing who Saint Valentine was, we have thought that some of our youthful readers may be in the same state of ignorance upon this point as we were; therefore we have resolved simply to notice who the personage was, who filled such a singularly prominent position in the callendar of saints as to be perpetuated in the memories of all lovers. This worthy individual, then, was nothing more than an ancient presbyter of the Church who was imprisoned at Rome, beaten with clubs, and then beheaded in the Via Flaminia under the reign of Claudius II. and about the year 270. Such was this lover-noted dignitary, from whom dates

The day St. Valentine,

When maids are brisk, and at the break of day,
Start up and turn their pillows, curious all
To know what happy swain the fates provide
A mate for life. Then follows quick discharge
Of true love-knots, and sonnets nicely penned,
But, to the learned critic's eye, no verse,
But prose distracted.

If, however, the windows of the lower class of some of the picture-book dealers are to be taken as an indication of the popular appreciation of St. Valentine's day amongst the present generation, we must declare it as our conviction that the moral taste and design of the valentines have greatly degenerated. They are, in this respect, not so pure as they were wont to be, although their “getting-up," to use a technical phrase, may be much more elaborately artistic than the genius of the 'generation of our juvenile days could pretend to. Remembering that true love is the most delicate, refined, and pure, of all the passions, we regret to see it, in many instances, contaminated by pictorial insinuation through the medium of valentines; therefore we pen these remarks in the hope that they may fall under the eyes of those who, in making such designs, may, as well as otherwise, purify the passion which leads to the hymencal altar, and which ought to be sacred from every allusion that, in the smallest degree, may taint its purity.

WEDDING CARDS.-What a glossy envelope of pure white, and with a silvery seal! And look at this interior pair of cards, of the latest polished ivory patent, linked together! How burnished is that silver heraldry, how lily-white that flaky stationery, how tasty the true-knot bow of "love," tinted satin and artificial orange-blossom,-how delicate and pure and charming is the whole consomme of these wedding cards! Having rested a month among the scores of other visitants in our or-molu china receptacle for cards, turn them out again to look at their beauty. Pity-pity! What a change is here; that silvery seal tarnished to a dirty brown, that fairy-flowered love-knot begrimed with dust and crushed into disproportion, that falsely-pure envelope, with its snowy pair of cards, all, too evidently, so much whitelead turning poisonously black in the searching eye of day! This is but an emblem of too many interested matrimonial alli

ances.

VOLTAIRE defined a physician as an unfortunate gentleman expected every day to perform a miracle-namely, to reconcile health with intemperance.

FLORAL CHIT-CHAT FOR FEBRUARY. BY G. F. M. GLENNY. "Not a tree,

A plant, a leaf, but contains

A folio volume: you may read, and read,
And read again, and still find something new;
Something to please, and something to instruct,
Even in the humble weed."

VERY healthy mind is by nature inclined to cheerfulness, and desires to indulge in such pursuits as shall gratify this natural propensity. Nay, even the misanthrope will sometimes find it difficult to restrain himself from gratifying this eagerness of the soul for objects which give pleasure, and awaken vivid sensations of delight. What, then, is more delightful, what is tion, as a pretty flower garden? Nothing. Gardening, therefore, more lasting, and what repays us so amply, for a very little attenshould be chosen, when convenient, as a pastime, and even as a source of recreation, which we may, with confidence affirm, is second to none in awakening all the most tender emotions of the soul, and gradually leading the mind from the contemplation of the beautiful in nature up to Nature's God. which may be accomplished in the following manner; let the Now is the proper season for the propagation of the dahlia, roots be planted in pots of light mould, then put them into an ordinary hotbed, such a one as is made up for cucumbers will be just the thing; and as soon as the shoots push to about four inches, take them off, and strike them in moist heat if you want a great supply; but if you only require two or three of a sort, dividing the root will answer all the purpose, and save an immense deal of trouble. Polyanthuses should be examined for snails, slugs, and so forth; also sow seed, if you want a fresh supply, in pans which should then be placed in a cool frame. Give auriculas a top dressing of good and substantial compost. Shrubs and flowers for forcing should be removed to the stove or hotbed without delay, while others may be placed in the greenhouse to prepare them for the greater heat. Roses in general should now be pruned, and if you intend to graft any on common stocks, this is the time to do it: also plant more stocks if you think you will require them. Perennials of every kind may be planted where you intend them to flower, provided you have not already done so. Let carnations have precisely the same treatment as that recommended for last month. Panseys in the open border should be protected from frost by a covering of litter, while those in frames should be uncovered in favourable weather. Protect hyacinths from frost by means of hoops and mats, dry litter, or inverted flowerpots. The directions given for panseys will equally apply to pinks. should be treated the same as hyacinths; and any out of the Autumn planted ranunculuses ground may be planted forthwith. Stir the earth gently between tulips, and give them all the air you can with safety. Plant out anemonies for late bloom. Sow tender annuals in heat, as also the hardy and half hardy kinds, if you want them forward. Give air to plants in pots, sow ten-week stocks, mignionettes, &c. both for the borders and to bloom in pots for the house. Plant and evergreens, flower-shrubs, and such like without delay. Fork regulate perennial and herbaceous plants. Prune and transplant and dress over the beds and borders, add fresh soil where requisite, lay turfs, and finally, any directions for last month, unavoidably omitted should be completed forthwith.

Watering is an operation which on no account should be forgotten, for a single day's neglect will do infinitely more harin than can be repaired in a month; and in many cases the mischief thus occasioned is altogether irreparable. However, as I do not anticipate such an unfortunate occurrence, I will merely direct your attention to the best mode of carrying out this piece of business; namely, make a rule of going round your garden, greenhouse, dwelling-house, and, in fact, wherever you have plants, once a day, say after sunset, to see which need moisture, and when you have ascertained thus much, give them a thorough soaking.

sure,

"Prevention is better than cure."