partially destroyed it. Round the fire, where blazes a large beech log, sit many of those who have been linked together in the scenes of our story. That elderly lady, still so fair and blooming, still so exquisitely dressed, still so chatty, so charming and fascinating, is Lady Sackville. That old, grayhaired man who has the little fairhaired, blue-eyed boy on his knee, and who is chatting to him so merrily—that was a great statesman once, a great man yet he is Sir Arthur Sackville. At the other side of the fire, that lively little woman, who is surrounded by a group of laughing children, and who is tossing the youngest in the air-that is the merry Lucy D'Lisle, once the charming and brilliant Maid of Honour. Behind, a little, stands the husband of her youth, Hugo D'Lisle. Time has dealt lightly with him, and the man of fifty-four looks scarcely older than he did at forty. He is contemplating the scene, still as silent and as reserved as ever. But who are those, who, seated in those large arm-chairs, seem the heads of the household? Who is that fair matronly woman, with deep blue eyes and golden brown hair? Who is that tall, handsome soldier, with the scar on his cheek, who sits beside her. Yes it is Florence Sackville and Reginald Oakwood! She is a bride but six months! Yes, as the one Oakwood had sacrificed his love to duty, so did another— at the shrine of Honour. For twelve long years has he kept his vow-for twelve long years has he watched and waited at the mock court of St. Germains-for twelve long years has Florence Sackville waited in patient expectation-and now they will never be parted more. For those twelve long years has he suffered the privations of the exiled Court at St. Germains-en-Lays, and borne with the caprices of his master. For those twelve long years has Florence Sackville, with Lucy D'Lisle and her husband, dwelt at Oakwood, restoring it to its former beauty. Not all the entreaties of the Princess Anne could prevail on her to revisit the Court. Here she had loved, and here she was made happy. And he, the courtier, had never swerved, in thought, in word, in deed, from the love he bore her, and none of the fair ladies of the gay court of Louis the Fourteenth had ever touched his faithful heart! It had passed through the ordeal of life unscathed, and now received the full bliss of its reward. As they sate round the fire, they spoke of the Past, and of its joys, its trials, its pleasures, its sorrows, and of the deaths of the ill-fated James, and his successful rival, William the Third. Florence rose from her chair, and, advancing to the fire, she spoke— "Ah, Father! how sad you were last year, and now—” "How happy, my darling, I could not bear to see your life pass without its hopes fulfilling "Six months now, Sir Arthur, since the death of King James freed me from my promise," said Sir Reginald Oakwood. "Ah, Reginald!" cried Florence, "that promise, what has it not cost us ; but we will not look back on the Past, but forward to the Future.” "You are yet young enough, my children," said Sir Arthur. "Two-andthirty is but the prime of life. Ah, Henry!" he continued, talking to the child on his knee, "never make rash vows, my boy, they work woe; but when you do promise, always keep it. Ask your father, and he will tell you so." 66 Yes," said Hugo D'Lisle, whose eldest son, Henry, sat on Sir Arthur's knee. "Yes; this house can tell two tales of promises kept to the death." "Tell us," cried the boy, running to his father. "My child, there were here two brothers, and those brothers, when but children, stood beside their dying father, leading their little sister by the hand; and the father, while life was deserting him, blessed his children, and he bade the eldest promise to watch and guard the younger in all the trials of life-and he promised." "Did he keep the promise, father?" cried the boy. "Yes! They were separated; but when they met, and the hour of trial came, the elder brother gave up all the hopes of his life in order to aid the younger, and sacrificed his love to his promise, and he died." "And the younger?" said the little boy, wonderingly, for he saw the tears in his father's eyes, and he heard his mother sobbing. 66 "And the younger also made a promise, a promise never to leave his King, and he kept the promise to the death." Uncle," said the boy, running up to Reginald Oakwood, "that is like you." "I am the younger," replied the Master of Oakwood, the tears running down his cheeks; "and the elder-look on him, boy"-and he pointed to the portrait of the high-souled Henry over the fire. "Follow his footsteps. I, who am now convinced of my error, tell you this-and remember that his motto was And the boy read the scroll under the picture "I will maintain the Liberties of England, and the Protestant Religion." L'ENVOI. "Give me your hand, and we'll be friends." PUCK-Midsummer's Night's Dream. THE time has now arrived, when the shadows and the scenes which the author has endeavoured to evoke from the history of the Past, and to vivify and re-create for the instruction and amusement of the minds of the Present, become forever separated from him, and belong to the Public alone. The world of 1688, in which he has lived, and moved, and breathed, in imagination, and which he has tried to picture in these pages, how faintly and indistinctly he is well aware, yet as faithfully as his skill permitted, fades back again into the mists of Time, and before him rise the realities of life in 1853. Whether the Future may again tempt him to leave his graver pursuits for the path of the Novelist, is uncertain. With you, his readers, much rests. It is for you, to praise or to condemn-for you, to cheer or to discourage. It is for you, to decide whether he shall rest here, or to call again before you him, who, after his first new play, now drops the curtain, and bows at the footlights, to a kind and indulgent Public, his thanks and his FAREWELL. Sonnet. MORTALITY. We live within a prison, which we call Till One arose, our hopes to disenthral-- C THE STORY OF THE TWO EAGLES. "COME, children, and sit down beside "Once upon a time, many long years ago, when I and this century were both young, a fairy came down from the clouds, and bore in her hand a golden basket, containing two beautiful, large eagles' eggs. And, as she approached the earth, she said to herself, I will place these two eggs in two places of the earth, and I will leave them there to be hatched, and, from my home in the sky, I will watch over the fate of the two birds that shall be born from them. For these are not of the common sort, and the eagles that come from them shall be mighty among the birds of the earth, and shall soar widely asunder in their flight, although an unseen destiny shall attend them, and they shall be connected by an unseen link.' So she looked for a place to deposit them in; and in a beautiful blue sea, enclosed all round by land, except in one small place, she saw what seemed a lovely island, and she determined to place one of the eggs there. But when she approached the island, she found that it was not so lovely as it had looked when at a distance, but that it was rough and rocky. Nevertheless, she said, I will leave the egg here, because the island is rough and lonely, and the young bird will not be exposed to danger.' So she placed the egg in the safest spot she could find, and then she flew away. "And as she flew towards the north, she saw another island, of brilliant green, like a rich emerald, and the sun was shining brightly upon it, and all about it looked so fresh and fair, and so unlike the rocky island in the blue sea towards the south, that she said, 'I will place the other egg here, and I will see if the different natures of the two nests will make any difference in the young eagles that will come forth.' And, having done all this, the good fairy unfolded her light wings, and flew up to her palace in the sky, which was built of stars, underneath the arch of a rainbow. And the name of the good fairy was DESTINY, and the rocky island was called CORSICA, and the green island, IRELAND. "And it came to pass, at length, that on the same day, in the same year, the two eggs were hatched, and the two young eagles came out. And the good fairy looked down from her throne, and saw them, and was very glad. But soon her joy was changed to wonder, for, probably, from the difference in the islands on which they had been batched, the two eagles were of two different natures. The one on the rocky island was a fierce sea-eagle, of a dark gray colour, and of a savage nature, whilst the one on the green island was a bright golden-eagle, and of a fine high spirit, as became a royal bird. So, after a time, the two young eagles grew to be strong, and they stretched their wings and flew abroad into the world. "And now, my children, as we cannot follow both at once, which shall we look after first? And the children said, 'Oh, the bold, fierce, sea-eagle, with the dark gray wings! Let us follow him, and see what he did in his flight.' Well, the bold sea-eagle spread his wings, and flew away from his island. And as he flew towards the north, he saw a country below him which seemed fair and prosperous. Now, this seaeagle was a bold and selfish fellow, and from the first, his sole aim was to gain power and benefit for himself; so, young as he was, he said to himself, This is a fine place, and I will see if I cannot get it for myself." So he swooped downwards and alighted; and he found a great quantity of fine birds there, very happy and very gay, and fond of amuse ment. And after staying there a while, to lay his plans for the future, he took a flight to a very hot country, far away, where there were no green fields nor trees, but only burning sand. There he gained a great name for being bold and daring; and when he came back to the fine country where he had first alighted, he told the birds there what a fine bold eagle he was, and how great he would make them if they would make him their king. And as he had cunning enough to keep his bad and wicked plans to himself, and to show the other birds his bright feathers only, they were foolish enough to listen to him, and to make him king. Well, this bad sea-eagle had now got to be great amongst these birds; but that would not do for him, but he must be the greatest of all the birds of the earth. So he took flight, one time into one country, and one time into another, and at last he made a swoop at a bird who was king of a large family of birds in a very large country all covered with snow and ice. And as he had judged himself to be more hardy than he really was, the cold and the frost nipped him sorely, and nearly killed him and all that he had with him; so that he was forced to come back, with his feathers drooping, and his pinions broken, and altogether in such a sad plight that he could hardly reach his own country. This defeat made him so angry and so mad, that when he got well again, he rushed from one country to another, making war upon all; and, wherever he went, he feasted on blood, and carried burning torches in his claws to burn up and destroy all that he could not otherwise consume. And thus all the birds, of all countries, hated him, and would have killed him, but that they were not strong enough. One time they did unite, and put him down, and sent him away to a small island not far from the one on which he had been born, but he soon came back again, and became far worse than before, and vented his rage on all the surrounding birds, tearing and destroying them, until at last he could take delight in nothing but oppressing, and shedding the blood of every one who was weaker than himself. And so his name became a word of terror and hatred throughout all the countries. "In the meantime, the golden-eagle had grown up a great bird in an island near to that in which he was born. To be sure he also had been away in the far countriesof the East, and had there learned wisdom, and gained great strength and courage. He was a bird of high and proud bearing, such as became his great spirit, but he never was unjust, and he never oppressed the weak. Unlike the sea-eagle, he hated blood, and could not bear to revel in it as the other did, although he was strict, and stern in punishing what was wrong. His complete justice, and his great moderation, added to his wonderful strength, made him beloved by all his fellow-birds, and all those of the neighbouring countries. "And now our story brings us up to the time when these two eagles had arrived at their maturity-the one respected and beloved by all, the other feared by all who were weak, and detested by all, weak or strong—a ruthless savage, delighting in the blood of his subjects as well as of his enemies. "About that time, the various birds who had been oppressed and ill-treated by the sea-eagle met, and said amongst themselves, We have borne with this island-born tyrant too long—he has made himself hated by us all-he must die.' So they all agreed that he must be killed; but, alas! they were too weak to do it, for they were so worn down by long ill-usage, that their strength was gone. So they took counsel amongst themselves, and they determined to entreat the great golden eagle to come over and free them from their tyrant. And when the goldeneagle was asked, he said, 'It is not right that one should trample upon all this sea-eagle is a cruel tvrant, and not fit to live-he shall die.' And when the foreign birds heard this, they flapped their wings with joy, for they knew that what the golden eagle said he would do, and that the end of their oppressor was near. So the great golden-eagle went forth to war for the right of the foreign birds, and to slay the tyrant. Then the sea eagle collected all his forces, and he said,I will do battle with this presumptuous golden-eagle, and I will lay him low, and I will trample on him, that he may see what a terribly mighty, ruthless, sea-eagle 1 am.' "And then there was a dreadful battle between the two great eagles. They rushed upon one another, and they tore each other with their talons and their beaks, and flapped their great wings with an awful noise. And the good fairy, looking down, saw the great battle, and she said, 'Now, after flying over the earth in various directions, have my two birds met at last, and it is dreadful that they should thus meet in deadly strife. But the struggle is not of eagle against eagle, but of RIGHT against MIGHT, and the truth shall prevail.' And as she spoke, the sea-eagle dropped to the earth and fled away, with all his plumage destroyed, his wings broken, and his haughty crest torn off. And the victorious golden-eagle pursued him, and bound him with an iron chain upon a lonely rock in the sea, that he might never do harm any more. There he pined and wasted away, and perished miserably. "Then the great golden-eagle returned to his own country, with the blessings of the birds whom he had freed from op pression. And his friends built for The old man turned to his paper, THE RUINED CITY OF COPAN.* TIME is the only monarch all obey, His power has been in every age confest ; He blights the flowers on Beauty's cheek imprest, The spirit leaves its tenement of clay, And, freed from Time, to shadowy regions floats away. Time does all this, and yet, while grieving o'er We hope, we trust upon a happier shore But stray through worlds of joy that, starlike, gleam on high. Time casts his ivy mantle over towers, Halls, temples, palaces, that once uprose * For the allusions throughout this poem, sec Stephens' "Travels in Central America. |