1 SPIRIT 85. TO THE EVENING WIND. PIRIT that breathest through my lattice, thou That cool'st the twilight of the sultry day, Gratefully flows thy freshness round my brow: Thou hast been out upon the deep at play, Riding all day the wild blue waves till now, Roughening their crests, and scattering high their spray, And swelling the white sail. I welcome thee To the scorch'd land, thou wanderer of the sea! 2. Nor I alone-a thousand bosoms round Inhale thee in the fullness of delight; Curls the still waters, bright with stars, and rouse Summoning from the innumerable boughs The strange, deep harmonies that haunt his breast: 5 4. Stoop o'er the place of graves, and softly sway May think of gentle souls that pass'd away, Like thy pure breath, into the vast unknown, Sent forth from heaven among the sons of men, And gone into the boundless heaven again. 'Våst.- Earth (êrth).—3 Curl (kêrl).—a Håunt.—* Påss.-- Glåss.— Herb' age. 5. The faint old man shall lean his silver head His temples, while his breathing grows more deep; 6. Go-but the circle3 of eternal chānge, Which is the life of nature, shall restōre, W. C. BRYANT.' 86. GIL BLAS AND THE OLD ARCHBISHOP. Arch. WELL, young man, what is your business with me? Gil Blas. I am the young man whom you: nephew, Don Fernando, was pleased to mention to you. Arch. Oh! you are the person, then, of whom he spoke so handsomely. I engage you in my service, and consider you a valuable acquisition. From the specimens he showed me of your powers, you must be pretty' well acquainted with the Greek and Latin authors. It is very evident your education has not been neglected. I am satisfied with your handwriting, and still more with your understanding. I thank my nephew, Don Fernando, for having given me such an able young man, whom I consider a rich acquisition. You transcribe so well, you must certainly understand grammar. Tell me, ingenuously, my friend, did you find nothing that shocked you in writing over the hom 2 1 Curtains (ker' tinz). Burning (bern'ing). — Circle (sår' kl).-'Eter' nal. Murmur (mår' mer).- See Biographical Sketch, p. 118.'Pretty (prit' ty).—* Nothing (nůth' ing). ily I sent you on trial,—some neglect, perhaps, in style, or some improper term? Gil B. Oh! Sir, I am not learnèd enough to make critical observations; and if I was, I am persuaded the works of your grace would escape my censure. Arch. Young man, you are disposed to flatter; but tell me, which parts of it did you think most strikingly beautiful. Gil B. If, where all was excellent, any parts were particularly so, I should say they were the personification of hope, and the description of a good man's death. Arch. I see you have a delicate knowledge of the truly beautiful. This is what I call having taste and sentiment. Gil Blas,' henceforth give thyself no uneasiness about thy fortune, I will take care of that. I love thee, and as a proof of my affection, I will make thee my confidant: yes, my child, thou shalt be the repository of my most secret thoughts. Listen with attention to what I am going to say. My chief pleasure consists in preaching, and the Lord gives a blessing to my homilies, but I confess my weakness. The honor of being thought a perfect orator has charmed my imagination; my performances are thought equally nervous and delicate; but I would of all things avoid the fault of good authors, who write too long. Wherefore, my dear Gil Blas, one thing that I exact of thy zeal, is, whenever thou shalt perceive my pen smack of old age, and my genius flag, don't fail to advertise' me of it, for I don't trust to my own judgment, which may be seduced by self-love. That observation must proceed from a disin'terested understanding, and I make choice of thine, which I know is good, and am resolved to stand by thy decision. Gil B. Thank heaven. sir, that time is far off. Besides, a genius like that of your grace, will preserve its vigor much better than any other; or, to sveak more justly, will be always the same. I look upon you as another Cardinal Ximines, whose 1 Gil Blas (zėl blå).--2 Wherefore (whår' for).—3 FRANCIS XIMINES, archbishop of Toledo, confessor to Queen Isabella of Spain, was born in 1437. He received the cardinal's hat in 1507. His chief influence arose from his efforts to reform the Romish Church. He was a great patron of letters, and by his exertions and expenditure produced the earliest edition of a polyglot Bible. He died November 8, 1517. superior genius, instead (being weakened, seemed to acquire new strength by age. Arch. No flattery, friend: I know I am liable to sink all at once. People at my age begin to feel infirmities, and the infirmities of the body often' affect the understanding. I repeat it to thee again, Gil Blas, as soon as thou shalt judge mine in the least impaired, be sure to give me notice. And be not afraid of speaking freely and sincerely, for I shall receive thy advice as a mark of thy affection. Gil B. Your grace may always depend upon my fidelity. Arch. I know thy sincerity, Gil Blas; and now tell me plainly, hast thou not heard the people make some remarks upon my late homilies? Gil B. Your homilies have always been admired, but it seems to me that the last did not appear to have had so powerful an effect upon the audience as former ones. Arch. How, sir, has it met with any Aristarchus ?3 Gil B. No, sir, by no means, such works as yours are not to be criticised; everybody is charmed with them. Nevertheless, since you have laid your injunctions upon me to be free and sincere, I will take the liberty to tell you that your last discourse, in my judgment, has not altogether the energy of your other performances. Did you not think so, sir, yourself? Arch. So, then, Mr. Gil Blas, this piece is not to your taste? Gil B. I don't say so, sir: I think it excellent, although a little inferior to your other works. Arch. I understand you; you think I flag, don't you? Come, be plain; you believe it is time for me to think of retiring. Gil B. I should not have been so bold as to speak so freely, if your grace had not commanded me; I do no more, therefore, than obey you; and I most humbly beg that you will not be offended at my freedom. 5 Arch. God forbid! God forbid that I should find fault with it. I don't at all take it ill that you should speak your sentiments, 1 Often (öf′ fn).—2 Låst.—3 ARISTARCHUS was a celebrated grammarian of Samos. He was famous for his critical powers; and he revised the poems of Homer with such severity, that, ever after, all severe critics were called Aristarchi.-* Com månd' ed. There' fore. 5 it is your sentiment itself, only, that I find bad. I have been most egregiously deceived in your narrow understanding. Gil B. Your grace will pardon me for obeying Arch. Say no more, my child, you are yet too raw to make proper distinctions. Be it known to you, I never composed a better homily than that which you disapprove; for, my genius, thank Heaven, hath, as yet, lost nothing of its vigor: henceforth I will make a better choice of a confidant. Go! go, Mr. Gil Blas, and tell my treasurer to give you a hundred dŭcats, and may Heaven conduct you with that sum. Adieu, Mr. Gil Blas! I wish you all manner of prosperity, with a little more taste. LE SAGE. ALAIN LE SAGE, a French novelist and dramatist, was born in 1668. In 1692, after having studied at the Jesuit College of Vannes, he came to Paris, where he was admitted as an advocate, but soon betook himself exclusively to literature. Few of his plays were successful; and for many years his career was very obscure. Entering on the study of Spanish literature, he used models from that language for his comic novels, some of which are among the liveliest and wittiest of their class. His most celebrated work is "Gil Blas," from which the above is taken. He died at Boulogne, in 1747. 87. CHARGE AGAINST LORD BYRON. THE charge we bring against Lord Byron is, that his writings have a tendency to destroy all belief in tae reälity of virtue, and to make all enthusiasm and constancy of affection ridiculous and this, not so much by direct maxims and examples, of an imposing or seducing kind, as by the constant exhibition of the most profligate heartlessness in the persons who had been transiently represented as actuated by the purest and most exalted emotions; and in the lessons of that very teacher who had been, but a moment before, so beautifully pathetic in the expression of the loftiest conceptions. 2. When a gay voluptuary descănts, somewhat too freely, on the intoxications of love and wine, we ascribe his excesses to the effervescence of youthful spirits, and do not consider him as seriously impeaching either the value or the reälity of the severer virtues; and, in the same way, when the sǎtirist deals out his sarcasms against the sincerity of human professions, and unmasks the secret infirmities of our bosoms, we consider this as aimed at hypocrisy, and not at mankind: or, at all events, and |