carry away an impression of the sweetness of her tones. "I have been present when another eccentric guest, upon her characterizing some favorite poem as happily as was her wont, clapped her hands as at a theatre, and exclaimed, O Mrs. Hemans! do say that again, that I may put it down and remember it.'" -Among Spanish authors Mrs. H. admired Herrera, and Luis Ponce de Leon. The lyrics in Gil Polo's Diana were favorites with her. Bürger's Lenore (concerning which and Sir Walter Scott see an anecdote in our notice, this month, of Schloss Hainfeld) she was never tired of hearing, "for the sake of its wonderful rhythm and energy." In the power of producing awe, however, she gave the preference to the Auncient Mariner. She liked the writings of Novalis and Tieck. Possibly she did not love Goethe so well as Schiller. She delighted in Herder's translation of the Cid Romances, and took pleasure in some of the poems of A. W. Schlegel. Grillparzer and Oehlenschläger were favorites among the minor German tragedians. Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" pleased her. In her copy of Corinne the following passage was underscored, and the words "C'est moi! written in the margin. "De toutes mes facultés la plus puissante est la faculté de souffrir. Je suis née pour le bonheur. Mon caractère est confiant, mon imagination est animée; mais la peine excite en moi je ne sais quelle impétuosité qui peut troubler ma raison, ou me donner de la mort. Je vous le répète encore, menagez-moi; la gaîté, la mobilité ne me servent qu'en apparence; mais il y a dans mon âme des abymes de tristesse dont je ne pouvais me défendre qu'en me préservant de l'amour. - In the summer of 1829 Mrs. H. visited Scotland, and became acquainted with Sir

6

Walter Scott. One anecdote told by her of the novelist is highly piquant and characteristic of both. "Well-we had reached a rustic seat in the wood, and were to rest there but I, out of pure perverseness, chose to establish myself comfortably on a grass bank. Would it not be more prudent for you, Mrs. Hemans,' said Sir Walter, to take the seat?' 'I have no doubt that it would, Sir Walter, but, somehow or other, I always prefer the grass.' And so do I,' replied the dear old gentleman, coming to sit there beside me, ⚫ and I really believe that I do it chiefly out of a wicked wilfulness, because all my good advisers say it will give me the rheumatism.'"' Speaking of Martin's picture of Nineveh Mrs. H. says: "It seems to me that something more of gloomy grandeur might have been. thrown about the funeral pyre; that it should have looked more like a thing apart, almost suggesting of itself the idea of an awful sacrifice." She agrees with Wordsworth, that Burns' Scots wha hae wi Wallace bled" is "wretched stuff." She justly despised all allegorical personifications. Among the books which she chiefly admired in her later days, are the Discourses of Bishop Hall, Bishop Leighton, and Jeremy Taylor; the "Natural History of Enthusiasm ;" Mrs. Austin's Translations and Criticisms; Mrs. Jameson's "Characteristics of Women ; Bulwer's "Last Days of Pompeii;” Miss Edgeworth's "Helen," and Miss Mitford's Sketches. The Scriptures were her daily study. Wordsworth was then her favorite poet. Of Miss Kemble's "Francis" she thus speaks. "Have you not been disappointed in Miss Kemble's tragedy? To me there seems a coarseness of idea and expression in many parts, which from a woman is absolutely startling. I can scarcely think it has sus

taining power to bear itself up at its present height of popularity."

We take from Volume 1, the following passage in regard to Schiller's "Don Carlos," a comparison of which drama with the " Filippo " of Alfieri, will be found in this number of the Messenger. The words we copy are those of Mrs. Hemans.

In perusing these volumes the reader will not fail to be struck with the evidence they contain of a more than ordinary joyousness of temperament in Mrs. Hemans. He will be astonished also in finding himself able to say that he has at length seen a book, dealing much in strictly personal memoirs, wherein no shadow of vanity or affectation could be discerned in either the Memorialist or his subject. In concluding this notice we must not forget to impress upon our friends that we have been speaking altogether of the work issued by Saunders and Otley, publishers of the highest respectability, who have come among us as strangers, and who, as such, have an undeniable claim upon our courtesy. Their edition is embellished with two fine engravings, one of the poetess's favorite residence in Wales, the other of the poetess herself. We shall beg our friends also to remember that this edition, and this exclusively, is printed for the benefit of the children of Mrs. Hemans. To Southerners, at least, we feel that nothing farther need be said.

THE POSTHUMOUS PAPERS OF THE PICKWICK CLUB: CONTAINING A FAITHFUL RECORD OF THE PERAMBULATIONS, PERILS, TRAVELS, ADVENTURES, AND SPORTING TRANSACTIONS OF THE CORRESPONDING MEMBERS. EDITED BY "Boz.' PHILADELPHIA : PUBLISHED BY CAREY, LEA AND BLANCHARD.

[Southern Literary Messenger, November, 1836.]

IN our June Messenger," we spoke at some length of the "Watkins Tottle and other Papers," by " Boz.' We then expressed a high opinion of the comic power, and of the rich imaginative conception of Mr. Dickens

an opinion which the "Pickwick Club" has fully sustained. The author possesses nearly every desirable quality in a writer of fiction, and has withal a thousand negative virtues. In his delineation of Cockney life he is rivalled only by the author of " Peter Snook," while in efforts of a far loftier and more difficult nature, he has greatly surpassed the best of the brief tragic pieces of Bulwer, or of Warren. Just now, however, we can only express our opinion that his general powers as a prose writer are equalled by few. The work is to be continued, and hereafter we may give at some length the considerations which have led us to this belief. From the volume before us we quote the concluding portion of a vigorous sketch, entitled "A Madman's MS." The writer is supposed to be an hereditary madman, and to have labored under the disease for many years, but to have been conscious of his condition, and thus, by a strong effort of the will, to have preserved his secret from the eye of even his most intimate friends.

ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE BALTIMORE LYCEUM, ATHENAEUM SOCIETY, WILLIAM WIRT SOCIETY, WASHINGTON LYCEUM, PHILO-NOMIAN SOCIETY AND FRANKLIN ASSOCIATION, LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES OF BALTIMORE, ON THE 4TH OF JULY, 1836. By Z. COLLINS LEE, ESQ.

[Southern Literary Messenger, November, 1836.]

HAVING reason to be well aware of Mr. Lee's oratorical powers, we were not altogether at liberty to imagine his Address, merely from the deep attention with which, we are told, its delivery was received, the impassioned and scholar-like performance we now find it upon perusal. Few similar things indeed have afforded us any similar pleasure. We have no intention, however, of speaking more fully, at this late day, of an Address whose effect must have depended so largely upon anniversary recollections. We allude to it now with the sole purpose of recording, in brief, our opinion of its merits, and of quoting one of its passages without

comment.