He was more melancholy than usual, for during this religious ceremony he felt no need of courage or presence of mind; he was secured by the natural veneration of a superstitious people. He knew it, and, therefore, wore no mask in the semblance of a joyous smile. On the same day, this imposing ceremonial is used at Constantinople, only the winter is a mere name and the water has no ice. The Patriarch stands on the deck of a vessel, and drops his silver cross into the calm blue waves of the Bosphorus, which a skilful diver restores to him before it reaches the bottom. To these religious ceremonies succeed sports and pastimes of all kinds. Booths and barracks are erected on the frozen Neva from quay to quay, Russian mountains, down which sledges slide with inconceivable velocity, and the Carnival commences with as much zest as in cities enjoying a southern temperature. Plays are performed on the ice, and curious pantomimes, in which a marmot performs the part of a baby very cleverly, while the man who shows him off under the character of the good father of the family finds resemblances in this black-nosed imp to all his supposed human relatives, to the infinite delight of the spectators. Sleighing on the ice is, as in Canada, a favorite diversion with the Russians, whose sledges are lined with fur and ornamented with silver bells and ribbons of every color. Sometimes a wind loaded with vapor puts an end to these diversions by rendering the ice unsafe, in which case they are interdicted by the police, and the sports and pastimes of the people are transferred to terra-firma; but the Carnival is considered to come to an abrupt conclusion if this misfortune occurs at its commencement, for the Neva is to the inhabitants of St. Petersburg what Vesuvius is to the Neapolitans, and the absence of the ice robs their Saturnalia of its greatest attraction. In countries where the Greek religion is the national standard of faith, Lent is preceded by the same unbounded festivity as in those which are Roman Catholic; but the Court does not display in these days so much barbarous magnificence as in those earlier times when civilization was unknown. The Carnival was, however, held during the last century by Anna Ivanovna, in a style surpassing that of her ancestors. This pleasure-loving princess, the daughter of the elder brother of Peter the Great, covered her usurpation of a throne she had snatched not only from the descendants of her mighty uncle, but also from her own elder sister and niece, by conducing to the popular amusements of her people, who in their turn forgot her defective title to the throne. This popular female sovereign founded the largest bell in the world, and gave the most magnificent Carnival ever held in Russia. Thus she maintained her sway by the aid of pleasure and devotion, a twofold cord her subjects never broke. In 1740 Anna Ivanovna resolved to surpass every preceding Carnival by her unique manner of providing her people with amusement during this merry season.. It was customary for the sovereign of Russia to be attended by a dwarf, who united the privileged character of a jester to the tiny proportions of a little child. This empress possessed two of these diminutive personages, and she chose for her own amusement and that of her loving subjects that they should be married during this Carnival, and "whether nature did this match contrive," or it was the consequence of her own despotic will, cannot be known without a peep into the jealously guarded archives of Russia; but the nuptials of these sports of nature was the ostensible cause of the fête. This the Autocrat gave on a new and splendid scale. She directed her governors to send her two natives of the hundred districts they ruled in her name, clothed in their national costume, and with the animals they were accustomed to use on their journeys. The idea was certainly a brilliant one, and worthy of the sovereign lady of so many nations, tongues and languages. Anna Ivanovna was punctually obeyed, and at the appointed time a motley procession, including the purest types of the Caucasian race and the ugliest of the Mongolian, astonished the eyes of the Empress, who had scarcely known the greater part of these distant tribes by name. There she beheld the Kamtchadale with his sledge drawn by dogs, the Russian Laplander with his reindeer, the Kalmuck with his cows, the Tartar on his horse, and the native of Bochara with his camel, the Ostiak on his clogs. Then for the first time, the beautiful Georgian and Circassian, with their dark ringlets and un rivalled features, looked with astonishment | with a single ice-bullet and fired by the aid upon the red hair of the Finlander. The of a pound of powder, perforated at seventy gigantic Cossack of the Ukraine eyed with paces a plank of twelve inches thickness. contempt the pigmy Samoiede-and in fact, This was done to salute the bridal party, and for the first time were brought into contact welcome them home. The most curious by the will of their sovereign lady, who piece of mechanism, and which pleased the classed each race under one of four banners Russians the most, was a colossal elephant, representing spring, summer, autumn and mounted by an armed Persian, and led by winter; and these two hundred persons, twelve slaves. This gigantic beast threw during eight days, paraded the streets of St. from his trunk a column of water by day, Petersburg, to the infinite delight of the and at night a stream of fire, uttering from population, who had never seen the power time to time roars which were heard from of the throne displayed in a manner so agree- one end of St. Petersburg to the other. able to their taste before. These noble roars were produced by twelve Russians concealed in the body and legs of the phantom elephant, whose costly housings hid the men whose noise so delighted their countrymen. This Carnival of the fête-loving female usurper has never been surpassed by any Russian sovereign, though, with the exception of the assembly of her distant subjects, its taste was barbarous enough.* Upon the wedding day of her dwarfs, these important personages had been attended to the altar by this singular national procession, where they plighted their faith in the presence of the Empress and all her Court after which they heard Mass, and then, accompanied by their numerous escort, took possession of the palace prepared for them by the direction of their imperial mistress. This palace was not the least fanciful part of the fête. It was entirely composed of ice, and resembled crystal in its brilliancy and fine cutting and polish. This beautiful fabric was fifty-two feet in length and twenty in width; the roof, the floor, the furniture, chandeliers, and even the nuptial bed, were formed of the same cold, glittering, and transparent materials. The doors, the galleries, and the fortifications, even the six pieces of cannon that guarded this magical palace, were of ice; one of these, charged ALEXANDRE DUMAS is writing his Memoirs for the Presse, in Paris. A critic says of him : * Our Sovereign Lady, Queen Victoria, were she to raise her sceptre, might easily convoke a far more numerous and interesting assembly, from lands more distant, and climes of more varied temperature. How many more nations in the far east and west are ruled and maintained by her lawful rule, than rendered unlawful homage to the Russian Empress! If she were to send for two persons from every tribe, nation, or empire she governs, England national spectacle her sun ever shone upon. Can would behold the grandest and most interesting this idea ever be realized ?-and if it can be, why then should it not be done? one day killing lions in the Sahara, and the next, (according to his own account,) being devoured by a bear in the Pyrenees-having Having mixed familiarly with all descrip- edited a daily newspaper and managed a tions of society from that of crowned heads theatre, and failed in both-having built a and princes of the blood down to strolling magnificent chateau, and had it sold by aucplayers having been behind the scenes of tion-having commanded in the National the political, the literary, the theatrical, the Guard, and done fierce battles with bailiffs. artistic, the financial, and the trading world and duns-having been decorated by almost -having risen, unaided, from the humble every potentate in Europe, so that the breast position of subordinate clerk in the office of of his coat is more variegated with ribbons Louis Philippe's accountant, to that of the than the rainbow with color-having pubmost popular of living romancers in all lished more than any man living, and perEurope-having found an immense fortune haps than any man dead-having fought in his inkstand, and squandered it like a ge- duels innumerable-and having been more nius or a fool-having rioted in more than quizzed, caricatured, and lampooned, and princely luxury, and been reduced to the satirized, and abused, and slandered, and sore strait of wondering where he could get admired, and envied, than any human being credit for his dinner-having wandered far now existing-Dumas must have an immenand wide, taking life as it came-now dining sity to tell, and we fear that it will be mixed with a king, anon sleeping with a brigand-up with a vast deal of imagination.' From Sharpe's Magazine. THE POET OF HAWTHORNDEN. WE have always felt great interest in turning over the leaves of an old book, and in tracing the feelings (however presented in an uncouth garb) which have at every period given the charm to works of genius. The antiquated guise in which we sometimes find them, excites a sensation, in some degree resembling that which we experience in meeting with a dear familiar friend in some foreign land; or like the pleasure with which we contemplate the charms of the courtly beauties in the stiff brocades and quaint fashions, transmitted to the painter's canvas. Among the books for which we sought, we looked for a long time in vain for "The Works of William Drummond of Hawthornden, consisting of those which were formerly printed, and those which were designed for the press, published from the author's original copies. Edinburgh, printed by James Watson, in Craig's Close, 1711. Folio." The book was not to be found in the public | libraries in London, but we were at last favored with a sight of it in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. It contains his poetry and prose; and is not merely a sufficient evidence of his ability and industry, but a record of feelings, remarkable for tenderness and delicacy: his poetical effusions have the great charm of letting us into his character, and without entering into details, giving the clue to the vicissitudes of his life. Sir John Drummond of Hawthornden was descended from an ancient family, and was a man held in great estimation and respect for worth. His gifted son William, was born in the year 1585, and in the midst of the romantic scenery of Hawthornden, with all its interesting traditions, he received his earliest impressions. The very name of Hawthornden sounds musical to our ears, and no one could visit the favored spot without feeling at once that it was a "meet Nurse for a poetic child." The ancient house, with its mullioned windows, and clustered chimneys and gables, forms a picturesque object, standing on the edge of a stupendous cliff, which overhangs the river as it flows along, separating it from an opposite cliff, clothed like it with rich hanging woods. A precipitous path along the ledge of the rock leads to a cavern hollowed in it; this is said to have been the poet's favorite haunt: the seat which he occupied, and the table by which he sat, are still to be seen there; here he would retire to study and compose, and it is told, that it was here, after a severe fit of illness, that he wrote the Cypress Grove, a composition described as "an excellent and pious work." Other nooks among the rocks, besides the poet's haunt, have their interesting ascociations; four small rooms, said to have been excavated before the time of Wallace and Bruce, are supposed to have furnished these heroic men with a secure hiding place in their time of need; two of the chambers are dark, and the others lit from an opening in the rocks, which looks outside as if a stone had been accidentally misplaced. The descent to the bank of the river is long and steep, but when it is reached, the scenery compensates for any fatigue; the waters rush through the rocks, which have fallen scattered among them, with an impetuosity which shows that obstructions but increase their force; and they foam, and dash, and brawl, as if impatient of delay. From every chink of the overhanging rocks, a variety of wild plants and bushes, mingling with the shining fern and purple heather force their way and glint among the foliage of the trees. The love of retirement, which is remarkable in the imaginative, may have been increased in Drummond by his delicacy of constitution; but be that as it may, from very childhood he loved the most secluded paths among the rocks and glens, and would gladly have passed his days in those solitary wanderings and lonely musings; but he was destined for more active life by his father; he received his education at the High School, in Edinburgh, where he became distinguished for great acquirements. When his education was completed, he was sent to France, where he remained for four years; he studied law, which was to be his profession, and made great proficiency in the pursuit. With what feelings he had left Hawthornden, we can gather from the following extract :— "What sweet delight a quiet life affords, And what it is from bondage to be free, Far from the madding worldling's hoarse dis cords, Sweet, flow'ry place, I first did learn of thee. After his father's death he gave up the study of the law, and returned to Hawthorn My mind into a better course to move : The lover's imagination had not played him false in the estimate of the gifts and graces with which it had adorned the fair girl; her tastes and feelings were in such accordance with his own, that on a nearer acquaintance their intercourse. Passionately in love, he the most perfect sympathy lent its charms to sang her praises through the woods and glens. His noble sentiments and varied accasioned by his loss, his native scenery re-complishments; his exquisite skill in music, sumed its influence over his feelings, and to a mind so naturally reflective, the retirement in which he indulged was the highest enjoyment; he thus contrasts its calm repose with the hollow pleasures of the Court: den when time softened the affliction oc "Thrice happy he, who, by some shady grove, Far from the clamorous world, doth live his own, Though solitary; who is not alone, But doth converse with that eternal love- Than those smooth whisp'rings near a prince's throne, Which good make doubtful, do the evil approve! breath, And sighs embalm'd with new-born flow'rs That that applause, vain honor doth bequeath! He was soon to experience feelings more "Ah me, and am I now the man whose muse In happier time was wont to laugh at love, And those who suffer'd that blind boy abuse and his passionate devotion, soon found their way to her heart, and won its tenderest affection. Then what happy days were theirs, in the full enjoyment of present felicity, and in forming plans for future happiness. The wedding day was fixed, but ere it came she fell ill of a fever, and on its very eve she died. An attempt to describe the grief of one of so much sensibility would have been a vain task; but we learn that as soon as the stunning effects of the blow had in some measure passed away, he felt that some effort was absolutely necessary. The scenes, so much loved, recalled but the visions of departed happiness, mournfully contrasted with blighted hopes and unavailing regret; so he resolved to leave Hawthornden, and to seek in foreign travel to give a new turn to his distracted thoughts. Poetry had been so long the natural outlet for his feelings, that they again found vent in effusions of great pathos, effusions which must have constantly opened the deep springs of sorrow, but which we may hope soothed them, at the same time, into a gentler current. He travelled through Germany, France, and Italy, visiting, as he went, their most celebrated universities. Years passed on in these wanderings, before he could bring himself to return to Hawthornden. The emotion with which he found himself there again may be conceived but not described: that his early love was ever cherished most passionately in his remembrance is evinced by his constantly recurring to her in the most affecting passages of his poetry. The wild burst of agony with which he conjures her to look from heaven, to which abode he believes her translated, and to have The noble gifts were given them from above--pity on his tears, is the true language of What metamorphose strange is this I prove? And all the tales are told of changed Jove. grief: few lines have ever fallen in our way more touching than his "Address to Spring;" and the "Apostrophe to his Lute," with which it concludes, awakens the sympathy of all who know the powerful associations "Sweet spring, thou com'st, but ah! my pleasant hours And happy days with thee come not again; sours; Thou art the same which still thou wert before, But she, whose breath embalm'd thy wholesome Is gone: nor gold, nor gems can her restore." weeks. Seated on the rocks in the midst of the romantic scenery, these gifted men would converse for hours together. Notes of their conversation are found in Drummond's works, and are sufficiently curious; in his confidential intercourse, Jonson must have been sensibly touched by the sympathy of the poet, for he talked to him on the very subject which interested him the most-the early death of his eldest son, a child of great promise, and inexpressibly dear to him. He detailed the remarkable circumstances which had occurred at the time of his loss; as the plague had broken out in London, and he fever, it is not strange that uneasy dreams had left the boy exposed to the contagion of and vivid imaginations should represent what he most dreaded. But he was strongly impressed with the belief that what he described had been no idle phantasy; he went on to tell," that when the king came to England, about the time that the plague was in The first production of Drummond's, which London, he, being in the country, at Sir brought him into notice, was his elegy on the Robert Cotton's house, with old Cambden, death of Prince Henry, eldest son of King saw in a vision his eldest son, then a young James the First; it has often been said, that child and at London, appear unto him with. nobody could read it without being reminded the mark of blood upon his forehead, as if it of "Lycidas," and it has been observed too, had been with a sword, at which, amazed, he that Milton's sonnets are remarkable for a prayed unto God; and in the morning he similarity in their flow and spirit to those of came unto Mr. Cambden's chamber to tell the poet of Hawthornden. It is supposed that him, who persuaded him it was but an apMilton greatly admired Drummond's writ-prehension, at which, he should not be deings, and his sympathies may have been so strongly excited, as to have given unconsciously, to some of his minor compositions, a resemblance at which he had never aimed. His nephew and pupil, Philips, expressed himself in the highest terms with regard to Drummond's writings, and it has been thought that the estimation in which he held them was but a reflection of his uncle's opinion; "his poems," says Philips, " are the efforts of a genius, the most polite and verdant that ever the Scotch nations produced." His prose writings were much valued, and it is thus Philips speaks of his history of the seven "Had there been nothing else extant of his writings, consider but the language, how florid and ornate it is,-consider the order and the prudent conduct of the story, and you will rank him in the number of the best writers." The elegy on the death of Prince Henry impressed Ben Jonson so strongly with an idea of the author's genius, that he made his way to Hawthornden to see him; it has been stated that he accomplished the journey on foot; that he was not disappointed, may be inferred from his having remained with Drummond for three Jameses. VOL. XXV. NO. IV. jected. In the meantime, there came letters from his wife of the death of that boy in the plague; he appeared to him, he said, of a manly shape, and of that growth, he thinks, he shall be at the resurrection." Many years had passed away, since, the one he had so much loved had been laid in her grave, and Drummond was now in his forty-fifth year, when he chanced to see Margaret Logan, (the granddaughter of Sir Rob ert Logan.) Struck by her resemblance to his early love, his feelings became deeply interested, and he wooed and won her :-there is every reason to think that he soon loved her for her own sake, and that in the calm enjoyment of domestic life, surrounded by his wife and children, he found a consolation for the disappointment of his early hopes and more passionate attachment. He scarcely could ever have left home; and indeed seems to have had a horror of a sea voyage; for he says in a letter to a friend, when speaking of it, "A part of Noah's judgment, and no small misery, that us Islanders cannot take a view of God's earth, without crossing the stormy, breaking, and deceitful sea." In the same letter he mentions the pleasure which 33 |