Now with knees on stiffen'd hinges; now with servile supple cringes; Gentle, gracious, quiet, meek-with the frank light on her cheek Now, which of these shall seem to thee, the better worldly path to be, Oh! never may their tarnish'd light, by worldly contact grow less bright; A PARISIAN FAMILY. FRENCH manners, which, in all ranks of society, are remarkably easy and unconstrained, were never seen to greater advantage than in the late royal apartments of the Tuilleries. Let us imagine the accompanying plate to represent a soirée in the now dismantled saloons in which the noblest and fairest of the sons and daughters of France were recently wont to mingle with the princes and princesses of the House of Orleans, under the auspices of the ex-king and queen, the Count and Countess de Neuilly. A PARISIAN FAMILY. 7 The maiden, with the pensive cast of countenance, may well represent the lovely and gifted, and, alas! departed Princess Marie. Amiable, beautiful, accomplished, and of transcendent talents, the youthful Marie of Orleans was universally admired and beloved; but few, save the members of her own family, knew all her value. Following the bent of her genius as a sculptor, she naturally passed much time in solitude; if that could be called solitude, which was peopled by her own magnificent creations. She had, however, in addition to THE BIBLE, which she is said to have daily studied, two constant companions in her atelier, or, as she called it, her cell; and they were such as harmonized well with her lofty tastes; they were HOMER and DANTE. With such sources whence to draw her inspiration, we need not wonder at the exalted character of her conceptions as an artist; her masterly execution was acquired, as by prince or peasant it must be acquired, by assiduous and persevering labour. To excellence in painting and sculpture, as in mathematics, there is no royal road. After having practised drawing for some time under a skilful master, Marie d'Orleans began to paint. To her the French are indebted for several beautiful church-windows, and, among others, for the superb windows of the chapel of Fontainbleau. Her chief passion, however, was for sculpture. She modelled with extraordinary skill; and executed her designs in marble in the first style of excellence. One of her earliest performances with the chisel was a statue of Joan of Arc on horseback. She had early become acquainted with the sad yet glorious history of the Maid of Orleans, and from childhood had honoured and loved her memory. When we consider the early age at which this gifted princess died, and remember the large share of her time which she devoted to the relieving of her father from the cares and anxieties which pressed upon him on his elevation to the throne of France, we cannot but marvel at the number and variety of the works which she has left as monuments of her genius. She died, not indeed in the maturity of her age, for she was in the very springtime of life; a bride with "the garland of love yet fresh on her brow;" but she was removed in the full flower of her talents; and it may tend to dry the tears of those who weep for her, to reflect, that of her it may be emphatically said, that she was taken "from the evil to come." A change, a mighty change hath come; He is a king no more, For whom the song of triumph rang; Those days are past and o'er. Some, too, who graced his throne are gone From this brief scene away; DEATH will not yield his grasp, although It be on royal clay. Thou, sweetest Marie, fairest one Of the proud Orleans' race, But earth was not thy place. All pass away; the Royal ones There's sunlight on their path awhile, Then storm-clouds round them lower. The fading kingdoms of this earth May flourish, or decay, Happy, who reach that world where thrones HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS, INDIA. The Anglo-Indian, when enervated by the climate, is often sent by his medical advisers to the mountaindistrict of Himalaya. The place most frequented by Europeans, is Simla, the hills around which are studded with bungalows, as represented in the accompanying plate. Nothing can be more intolerably dreary and depressing, than illness, thus endured at a distance from all friends, and sometimes without even one fellow-countryman with whom to exchange a few words of companionship and consolation. BY THE HON. MRS. NORTON. DREAMING of Old England, and the days gone by, Far from that fond Mother who would o'er him bend |