1 of this fish consists in ts body. Running from 1, there are no less than es, which, in the healthy Its eyes are white, head jaw protrudes beyond the r the manner of the pike. e is equal to that of the t is undoubtedly inferior. 3 highly valued, and in all riably commands a good er. contains a number of salt water ponds, and is covered with a scanty growth of trees and other vegetation. The male inhabitants, numbering only a few hundred souls, are devoted exclusively to the fishing business, and they are as amiable and honest at heart, as they are rude and isolated in their manner of life. Block Island sailors frequently find their way to the remotest quarters of the globe, though few who were born upon the Island ever become entirely weaned from its oceangirt shores. The Block Island Fishermen build their own Smacks, and as these are about the only this fish we have not pos- things they do manufacture, they have acquired gh we believe it to be in remarkable skill in building swift vessels, which The New York mar-are also distinguished for their strength and safehem throughout the year. ty. true that they are in their The pleasantest time to kill Basse at Block IsThe smaller individuals fre- land is in the month of October, and immediately r rivers, while those of a after a severe blow, for then it is that the larger ave a fancy for the reefs fish seek a sheltering place between the reefs and e approach of winter, they the shore. And if the angler would be certain of ep water, but find a resi- success, he ought to be upon the water before suntill arms of the sea, where rise, or at the break of day. He must have only llowing spring. They be one companion, a stalwart Block Islander, whose April, and generally speak duty it shall be to steady the boat, as she dashes y quantity of sport until the along upon the restless bosom of the ground swell, For the smaller fish at the so that, with his legs carefully braced, he can minnow are the most suc- throw his squid to a great distance, instead of bee larger individuals nothing ing thrown himself into the sea. And if an occaskin of an eel, neatly fasten- sional shark should stray into the vicinity of his e river fisherman requires a boat, he must not suffer himself to be alarmed, for tackle, while he who would a single discharge from the fisherman's pistol, of the ocean, only needs a (which he usually carries for that purpose,) will be ooks, a small sinker, a very sure to frighten the monster out of his Gulls gaff hook and a surf boat. without number, large and small, of a dark grey the basse for lucrative pur- and pure white, will be sure to fly screaming llowing more effectual me- above his head, and their wild chorus will mingle set lines, and secondly by well with the monotonous war of the waves as they I nets and the seine. The sweep upon the shore. The fatigue attendant y pound basse in a conve- upon this mode of fishing is uncommonly great, that of capturing a salmon, and if the angler should happen to strike a fortyt a very skittish fish, the pounder, he will be perfectly satisfied with that As before intimated, single prize; but if his luck should lie among the from the Penobscot to the smaller varieties, he ought to be content with about visited by the basse, but we half a dozen specimens, weighing from ten to fif that they are found in the teen pounds, which would probably be the result perfection along the shores of the morning's expedition. On returning to the Island, Massachusetts and shore, the angler will find himself in a most impar own experience has been tient mood for breakfast, but with a view of enand though we remember hancing the anticipated enjoyment, he should first our success in taking the throw aside his clothes and make a number of e shores of Martha's Vine-plunges in the pure white surf, which will cause , and in the vicinity of him to feel as strong and supple as a leopard. lisposed to yield the palm We did think of commenting upon Block Island, ut-of-the-way spot of the as a most fitting place to study the mighty ocean, hode Island, comprises a for the waves which wash its shores come from ate, and lies about forty the four quarters of the globe. It so happens, It is nine miles in however, that we have just been reading a passage from three to four miles. in an admirable little volume entitled "The Owl occasional rocky shore, Creek Letters," (the author is a man after our own reat. ore. way. but, unhappily, the one point at which they are ver such good offices as neighborhood permits, in time Greek is that point, precisely, at which they shop drew us into companionship. Since our parting we be nothing but Feltonian. They always close wi had not met. His patrimony, at that time, had not what is meant for a spondee. To be consistentl, been sufficient to meet even his simple wants; and silly, they should die off in a dactyl. h had been compelled to begin at once the close That a truly Greek hexameter cannot, however and assiduous study of the law. Fortunately for be readily composed in English, is a propositio him, in the course of a few years the death of a which I am by no means inclined to admit. I thin distant relative gave him a competence. But, as I could manage the point myself. For example he wrote me, he feared that the boon of fortune had been granted when he could no longer enjoy it. Indeed, the sad and dispirited tone in which he had iwritten lately of the fading away of all the bright aspirations of his youth, made me fear that his melancholy tone was not without some foundation. Do tell! | when may we hope to make | men of sense Why ask? | who ever | yet saw | money made | out of a fat old knot? | Jew, or downright | upright | nutmegs out of a pin The wind of a gusty November afternoon was tossing the leaves upon the lawn wildly to and fro. The proper spondee predominance is here preser As I drew back the curtain to look if I could see ed. Some of the dactyls are not so good as I cou on the distant road any sign of the coming of my wish-but, upon the whole, the rhythm is very d friend's carriage, they were whirled in my face by cent to say nothing of its excellent sense. ALONE. Thrills a whisper on the stillness, All alone, while softly round thee, Fades the day-light's pallid beam; Softly thrills the mystic tone, All alone! Now may fancy fold her wings And luxury of meditation; Whisper wondrous things,- As some beauteous cloud-land lies Still and bright! Pleasant thoughts and fancies rare To a dream-like melody, No certain air, no measured tone the eddies of the storm. The daylight waned: the candles threw their reflection upon the polished surface of the little table spread for tea; the curtains were closely drawn; huge logs of wood sent their shower of sparkles up the chimney; and Frank's chair and mine were wheeled into their respective corners. Old Dash, a good-natured, useless New Foundland dog, slept tranquilly upon the hearth-rug, with his nose thrust between the bars of the fender. And in the warmest corner, between my own chair and the wall, her head decently covered with her paws, peacefully slumbered a well-behaved, demure, tortoise-shell cat, that had for several years divided my leisure affections with master Dash. As I rose for the twentieth time to place Frank's chair in a yet more comfortable position, a carriage drove rapidly to the door. When I reached the hall I found Frank, wrapped in his cloak, already half surrounded by the pieces of baggage that the servants had brought into the house. He soon joined me in the Library. I could scarcely disguise my astonishment when I beheld his altered figure. He had never been athletic, but yet when I parted from him he had the appearance of ruddy health. Now his figure was attenuated; his hands sallow; his cheeks pale and wan; and his hair thin and slightly gray. His eye alone was unchanged, or, if altered at all in expression, it had acquired (an unnatural brightness. He was so enfeebled by his long journey that he sank back exhausted in the chair that I had prepared for him, not seeming able to make any reply to my anxious inquiries. An hour's undisturbed rest in his easy chair and the potent influence of that despised but invigorating beverage-a cup of strong tea-restored him to his usual strength. Encouraged by his apparent (cheerfulness and animation, I tried to banish those serious fears with which his appearance had at first inspired me. And finally in that delightful retros the distinguishing feature of this fish consists in the striped appearance of its body. Running from the head nearly to the tail, there are no less than eight regularly marked lines, which, in the healthy fish, are of a deep black. Its eyes are white, head rather long, and the under jaw protrudes beyond the upper one, somewhat after the manner of the pike. The strength of the basse is equal to that of the salmon, but in activity it is undoubtedly inferior. As an article of food it is highly valued, and in all the Atlantic cities invariably commands a good price. contains a number of salt water ponds, and is covered with a scanty growth of trees and other vegetation. The male inhabitants, numbering only a few hundred souls, are devoted exclusively to the fishing business, and they are as amiable and honest at heart, as they are rude and isolated in their manner of life. Block Island sailors frequently find their way to the remotest quarters of the globe, though few who were born upon the Island ever become entirely weaned from its oceangirt shores. The Block Island Fishermen build their own Smacks, and as these are about the only things they do manufacture, they have acquired remarkable skill in building swift vessels, which are also distinguished for their strength and safety. The pleasantest time to kill Basse at Block Island is in the month of October, and immediately after a severe blow, for then it is that the larger fish seek a sheltering place between the reefs and the shore. And if the angler would be certain of success, he ought to be upon the water before sunrise, or at the break of day. He must have only one companion, a stalwart Block Islander, whose duty it shall be to steady the boat, as she dashes along upon the restless bosom of the ground swell, so that, with his legs carefully braced, he can throw his squid to a great distance, instead of being thrown himself into the sea. And if an occasional shark should stray into the vicinity of his boat, he must not suffer himself to be alarmed, for a single discharge from the fisherman's pistol, (which he usually carries for that purpose,) will be sure to frighten the monster out of his way. Gulls without number, large and small, of a dark grey and a pure white, will be sure to fly screaming above his head, and their wild chorus will mingle well with the monotonous war of the waves as they sweep upon the shore. The fatigue attendant upon this mode of fishing is uncommonly great, and if the angler should happen to strike a fortypounder, he will be perfectly satisfied with that single prize; but if his luck should lie among the smaller varieties, he ought to be content with about half a dozen specimens, weighing from ten to fifteen pounds, which would probably be the result of the morning's expedition. On returning to the shore, the angler will find himself in a most impatient mood for breakfast, but with a view of enbancing the anticipated enjoyment, he should first throw aside his clothes and make a number of plunges in the pure white surf, which will cause him to feel as strong and supple as a leopard. The spawning time of this fish we have not positively ascertained, though we believe it to be in the spring or early summer. The New York markets are supplied with them throughout the year. but it is unquestionably true that they are in their prime in the autumn. The smaller individuals frequent the eddies of our rivers, while those of a larger growth seem to have a fancy for the reefs along the coast. On the approach of winter, they do not strike for the deep water, but find a residence in the bays and still arms of the sea, where they remain until the following spring. They be gin to take the hook in April, and generally speak ing afford the angler any quantity of sport until the middle of November. For the smaller fish at the North, the shrimp and minnow are the most successful baits, and for the larger individuals nothing can be better than the skin of an eel, neatly fastened upon a squid. The river fisherman requires a regular fit-out of salmon tackle, while he who would capture the monsters of the ocean, only needs a couple of stout Kirby hooks, a small sinker, a very long and heavy line, a gaff hook and a surf boat. But those who capture the basse for lucrative purposes, resort to the following more effectual methods,-first by using set lines, and secondly by the employment of gill nets and the seine. The sport of taking a twenty pound basse in a convenient river, is allied to that of capturing a salmon, but as the former is not a very skittish fish, the difficulties are not so great. As before intimated, all our Atlantic rivers, from the Penobscot to the Savannah, are regularly visited by the basse, but we are inclined to believe that they are found in the greatest abundance and perfection along the shores of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine. At any rate our own experience has been confined to this region, and though we remember with unfeigned pleasure our success in taking the larger varieties, along the shores of Martha's Vineyard, at Montauk Point, and in the vicinity of Watch Hill, yet we are disposed to yield the palm We did think of commenting upon Block Island, to Block Island. This out-of-the-way spot of the as a most fitting place to study the mighty ocean, green earth belongs to Rhode Island, comprises a for the waves which wash its shores come from whole county of that State, and lies about forty the four quarters of the globe. It so happens, miles from the main shore. It is nine miles in however, that we have just been reading a passage length, and varies in width from three to four miles. in an admirable little volume entitled The Owl It is quite hilly, with an occasional rocky shore, Creek Letters," (the author is a man after our own We met when rival roses round In bridal beauty shone, We part when on the Autumn ground The rose was like Love's early power So sad, so drear our parting hour, When on my lyre's belovéd string I try my tuneful art, Two notes around the chord shall cling A note of joy that e'er we met, Shall sweetly, briefly swell, Madison, Indiana. modern country gentleman generally receives a liberal education, passes from a distinguished school to a distinguished college, and has every opportunity to become an excellent scholar. He has generally seen something of foreign countries. A considerable part of his life has generally been passed in the capital; and the refinements of the capital follow him into the country. There is, perhaps, no class of dwellings so pleasing as the rural seats of the English gentry. In the parks and pleasuregrounds, Nature, dressed, yet not disguised by art, wears her most alluring form. In the buildings, good sense and good taste combine to produce a happy union of the comfortable and the graceful. The pictures, the musical instruments, the library, would in any other country be considered as proving the owner to be an eminently polished and accomplished man. A country gentleman who witnessed the Revolution was probably in receipt of about a fourth part of the rent which his acres now yield to his posterity. He was, therefore, as compared with his posterity, a poor man, and was generally under the necessity of residing, with little THE FINE OLD ENGLISH GENTLEMEN interruption, on his estate. To travel on the Con AND CLERGY. tinent, to maintain an establishment in London, or even to visit London frequently, were pleasures in which only the great proprietors could indulge. It may be confidently affirmed that of the squires whose names were in King Charles's commissions of peace and lieutenancy, not one in twenty went to town once in five years, or had ever in his life wandered so far as Paris. Many lords of manors had received an education differing little from that of their menial servants. The heir of an estate often passed his boyhood and youth at the seat Seventeenth Century. It is marked in a striking degree of his family, with no better tutors than grooms and We are indebted to the courtesy of Messrs. Harper and Brothers for advance sheets of the forthcoming History of England, by Macaulay, for the appearance of which the public are looking so impatiently. The passage, which we now place before our readers, is episodical; being a sketch of the country gentry and clergy of England, during the with the peculiar vigor and elegance of the great essayist, who will henceforth take rank with Hume and Gibbon, if, indeed, he does not reach a higher fame than either of these splendid historians. The reader, we are sure, will devour the present morsel, and thus whet his appetite for the banquet which is in store for him.-Ed Mess. gamekeepers, and scarce attained learning enough to sign his name to a mittimus. If he went to school and to college, he generally returned before he was twenty to the seclusion of the old hall, and there, unless his mind were very happily constituted by nature, soon forgot his academical pursuits in rural business and pleasures. His chief serious employment was the care of his property. He examined samples of grain, handled pigs, and on market days made bargains over a tankard with drovers and hop-merchants. His chief pleasures were commonly derived from field-sports and from an unrefined sensuality. His language and pronunciation were such as we should now expect to hear only from the most ignorant clowns. His oaths, coarse jests, and scurrilous terms of abuse, were uttered with the broadest accent of his province. It was easy to discern, from the first words which he spoke, whether he came from Somersetshire or We should be much mistaken if we pictured to Yorkshire. He troubled himself little about decoourselves the squires of the seventeenth century as rating his abode, and, if he attempted decoration, men bearing a close resemblance to their descen- seldom produced any thing but deformity. The dants, the county members and chairmen of quar-litter of a farm-yard gathered under the windows ter sessions with whom we are familiar. The of his bed-chamber, and the cabbages and goose While these great changes have been in progress, the rent of land has, as might be expected, been almost constantly rising. In some districts it has multiplied more than tenfold. In some it has not more than doubled. It has probably, on the average, quadrupled. Of the rent, a large proportion was divided among the country gentlemen, a class of persons whose position and character it is most important that we should clearly understand; for by their influence and by their passions the fate of the nation was, at several important conjunctures, determined. berry bushes grew close to his hall door. His ta-those who dwelt around him a rude patriarchal ble was loaded with coarse plenty and guests were justice, which, in spite of innumerable blunders cordially welcomed to it; but, as the habit of drink- and of occasional acts of tyranny, was yet better ing to excess was general in the class to which he than no justice at all. He was an officer of the belonged, and as his fortune did not enable him to train-bands; and his military dignity, though it intoxicate large assemblies daily with claret or might move the mirth of gallants who had served canary, stong beer was the ordinary beverage. a campaign in Flanders, raised his character in his The quantity of beer consumed in those days was own eyes and in the eyes of his neighbors. Nor, indeed enormous; for beer then was to the middle indeed, was his soldiership justly a subject of deand lower classes, not only all that beer now is, but rision. In every county there were elderly gentleall that wine, tea, and ardent spirits now are. It men who had seen service which was no child's was only at great houses, or on great occasions, play. One had been knighted by Charles the First, that foreign drink was placed on the board. The after the battle of Edgehill. Another still wore a ladies of the house, whose business it had com- patch over the scar which he had received at Nasemonly been to cook the repast, retired as soon as by. A third had defended his old house till Fairthe dishes had been devoured, and left the gentle-fax had blown in the door with a petard. The men to their ale and tobacco. The coarse jollity presence of these old Cavaliers, with their old of the afternoon was often prolonged till the revel-swords and holsters, and with their old stories about ers were laid under the table. Goring and Lunsford, gave to the musters of miIt was very seldom that the country gentleman litia an earnest and warlike aspect which would caught glimpses of the great world, and what he otherwise have been wanting. Even those counsaw of it tended rather to confuse than to enlighten try gentlemen who were too young to have themhis understanding. His opinions respecting reli-selves exchanged blows with the cuirassiers of the gion, government, foreign countries and former Parliament had, from childhood, been surrounded times, having been derived, not from study, from by the traces of recent war, and fed with stories observation, or from conversation with enlightened of the martial exploits of their fathers and uncles. companions, but from such traditions as were cur-Thus the character of the English esquire of the rent in his own small circle, were the opinions of a seventeenth century was compounded of two elechild. He adhered to them, however, with the ob-ments which we are not accustomed to find united. stinacy which is generally found in ignorant men His ignorance and uncouthness, his low tastes and accustomed to be fed with flattery. His animosi-gross phrases, would, in our time, be considered as ties were numerous and bitter. He hated French-indicating a nature and a breeding thoroughly plemen and Italians, Scotchmen and Irishmen, Pa beian; yet he was essentially a patrician, and had, pists and Presbyterians, Independents and Baptists, in large measure, both the virtues and the vices Quakers and Jews. Toward London and London- which flourish among men set from their birth in ers he felt an aversion which more than once pro-high place, and accustomed to authority, to obserduced important political effects. His wife and vance, and to self-respect. It is not easy for a daughter were in tastes and acquirements below a generation which is accustomed to find chivalrous housekeeper or a still-room maid of the present sentiments only in company with liberal studies and day. They stitched and spun, brewed gooseberry polished manners to image to itself a man with the wine, cured marigolds, and made the crust for the deportment, the vocabulary, and the accent of a venison pasty. carter, yet punctilious on matters of genealogy and precedence, and ready to risk his life rather than see a stain cast on the honor of his house. It is only, however, by thus joining together things seldom or never found together in our own experience, that we can form a just idea of that rustic aristocracy which constituted the main strength of the armies of Charles the First, and which long supported, with strange fidelity, the interest of his descendants. From this description it might be supposed that the English esquire of the seventeenth century did not materially differ from a rustic miller or alehouse keeper of our time. There are, however, some important parts of his character still to be noted, which will greatly modify this estimate. Unlettered as he was and unpolished, he was still in some most important points a gentleman. He was a member of a proud and powerful aristocracy, and was distinguished by many both of the good The gross, uneducated, untraveled country genand of the bad qualities which belong to aristocrats. tleman was commonly a Tory; but, though devoHis family pride was beyond that of a Talbot or a tedly attached to hereditary monarchy, he had no Howard. He knew the genealogies and coats of partiality for courtiers and ministers. He thought, arms of all his neighbors, and could tell which of not without reason, that Whitehall was filled with them had assumed supporters without any right, the most corrupt of mankind; that of the great and which of them were so unfortunate as to be sums which the House of Commons had voted to great-grandsons of aldermen. He was a magis- the crown since the Restoration, part had been emtrate, and, as such, administered gratuitously to 'bezzled by cunning politicians, and part squander |