that union, and when it became necessary to remove me to a European climate, the love and the home that had fostered my father's earlier years again welcomed and sheltered me. But I am anticipating by many, many years. It was with a soft and tranquil smile Cicely acquainted her father with this marriage; he seemed to think it quite a natural circumstance, and no more was ever said. Already she had attained distinction in her favourite pursuit, and with her moderate wishes, the profits it realised left her almost without a pecuniary care: thus diligent, successful, useful, and beloved, could she, even amidst these reverses, have been otherwise than happy? Oh yes, that speaking countenance always reassures me; and whenever I gaze upon it, I delight in reminding myself that at this very period of her life it was drawn.

But another change awaited her: in time her father's health and spirits began to fail-those treasures for which she had lived and sacrificed so much; his native air and scenery were prescribed for him; and though almost wondering how, under such altered circumstances, those scenes could do him good, she submitted the proposal to his decision, and he pronounced in favour of it at once. She had commissioned a friend to seek out a quiet cottage in their old neighbourhood, when she was one day surprised by a letter from the individual who had become the proprietor of their former home. He was a very distant relation, who had purchased it partly for the name; and though they knew him not, he now addressed them in language full of delicacy and respect, saying that he was going to travel for some time, and hearing they were seeking a temporary residence in the neighbourhood, ventured to ask them, would they honour him by occupying his house while he was away?

Cicely looked at her father: again she wondered how he would decide; but he thought his days were numbered; and though he spoke it not to her, his heart swelled with pleasure at the prospect of ending them within those old familiar walls. The offer was accepted, frankly, cordially, even as it had been made. What more need I say? Mr Monro did not travel, at least for a while; when he did, it was only to take a little tour, with Cicely as his bride, and then return with her to cheer her father through many a happy year in his old ancestral home.

And now, Elizabeth, will you allow that constancy and happiness are not incompatible, and that it is a virtue not to be monopolised by one exclusive senti

ment?'

Oh yes, mamma: thank you for your little story. Much as I loved dear grandmamma, I never loved her half so well as now: forgive me, sweet picture, for my heedless words. But, mamma, though I admit you have given an example of constancy under trial-constancy to a principle of mingled duty and affection-do you think that if dear grandmamma had really loved her Georgy-you know, mamma, he was your own papa-had she truly loved him as you seemed to imply, even though she might have acted as nobly in sacrificing her own wishes, could she ever have been as content and happy as she was-as full of life and animation as even I remember her-as full of serenity and peace as she there looks down upon us now? Oh, mamma! give up that point: she loved him no longer; she was inconstant to Georgy: she had learned to forget him, and he troubled not her joy.'

room; and then intreated each young, loving heart to welcome me, even as she had done that lonely stranger then.

Other years swept on, and that stranger once more returned, enfeebled by climate, and bowed with illness, to die where he had been once restored to life. Kind and true as ever was the welcome he received, gentle the eyes that watched beside his closing day; but before that solemn hour came, he had the joy, which I can well believe was unspeakable, of seeing his child united to the son of her he truly loved.

'And she-her life prolonged to see her children's children; the true wife; the warm friend; the tender mother, guiding and gladdening all, with a countenance so bright in age, none could think a youthful sorrow ever dimmed it-she, too, at length was about to be gathered to her fathers: parents, husband, even a loved child, were in that ancient tomb before her. And yet, Elizabeth, what was her last earthly wish? “When I am dead, lay me beneath the shadowing elms in Norton churchyard, close beside the grave of Georgy Hume!"'

A PEEP AT THE TARTARS. THERE is a book before us, which we wish somebody would take the trouble of working up into half-a-dozen books.* As it is, the value of its materials is lost from their being so densely packed. You can no more read it continuously throughout, than you can read a dictionary: at least if you do, you find, as in the case of a dictionary, that one word knocks another out of your head-one scene blending with what goes before, as in a series of dissolving views, till you have only a vague feeling of amusement or delight, without being able to recall specialities more distinctly than if all had been of the travellers adds to the confusion of the reader. the phantasmagoria of a dream. The breathless haste He is not permitted to lay down the volume for a moment to meditate on some beautiful picture, or some interesting group, while the artist is refreshing after his fatigue; but hey! presto! off he is whirled on the instant, to encounter other striking pictures, and other interesting groups. Even the costume of the fair author-for Xavier Hommaire de Hell writes ride and tie with his lady-serves still further to confound the mind, by presenting to us the picture of an amazon from the saloons of Paris scouring post haste, in male attire, through the steppes of the Tartarian desert.

But this book, while reminding one irresistibly of a kaleidoscope, is not all form, glitter, and colour. It contains much that is really valuable, and conveys a very distinct idea of the tribes that inhabit the country on the west of the Caspian and the north of the Euxine. The historical sketches that intervene here and therethe production, we presume, of the male pen--enable the reader to enjoy more completely the vivid descriptions of the lady; and, taking it as a whole, the volume wants only a little more quietness and expansion, to be one of the best of the kind we have met with for a

considerable time.

day are read with as much avidity, and criticised with as much acuteness, on the shores of the Caspian, as on the banks of the Seine; and the names of Lamartine, Balzac, Dumas, Eugène Sue, George Sand, &c. are even as household words on the frontiers of the Kalmucks. This, however, it will be seen, applies only to the Russians of the higher classes, who read and speak French from one end of the empire to the other, and whose ladies are frequently well-informed and intelligent women. But from Astrakhan our travellers proceeded, with all the rest of the polite world, in a steamboat, to visit a Kalmuck prince; and here we obtain a view of the Tartars at home, which presents something more extraordinary.

'The little island belonging to Prince Tumene stands alone in the middle of the river. From a distance, it looks like a nest of verdure resting on the waves, and waiting only a breath of wind to send it floating down the rapid course of the Volga; but as you advance, the land unfolds before you, the trees form themselves into groups, and the prince's palace displays a portion of its white façade, and the open galleries of its turrets. Every object assumes a more decided and more picturesque form, and stands out in clear relief, from the cupola of the mysterious pagoda, which you see towering above the trees, to the humble kibitka glittering in the magic tints of sunset. The landscape, as it presented itself successively to our eyes, with the unruffled mirror of the Volga for its framework, wore a calm, but strange and profoundly melancholy character. It was like nothing we had ever seen before; it was a new world, which fancy might people as it pleased: one of those mysterious isles one dreams of at fifteen, after reading the "Arabian Nights;" a thing, in short, such as crosses the traveller's path but once in all his wanderings, and which we enjoyed with all the zest of unexpected pleasure. But we were soon called back from all these charming phantoms of the imagination to the realities of life: we were arrived. Our boatman moored his little craft in a clump of thorn-broom; and whilst my husband proceeded to the palace with his interpreter, I remained in the boat, divided between the pleasure I anticipated from the extraordinary things to be seen in a Kalmuck palace, and the involuntary apprehension awakened in me by all the incidents of this visit.

The latter feeling did not last long. Not many minutes had elapsed after the departure of my companions, when I saw them returning with a young man, who was presented to me as one of the princes Tumene. It was with equal elegance and good-breeding he introduced me to the palace, where every step brought me some new surprise. I was quite unprepared for what I saw; and really, in passing through two salons, which united the most finished display of European taste with the gorgeousness of Asia, on being suddenly accosted by a young lady, who welcomed me in excellent French, I felt such a thrill of delight, that I could only answer by embracing her heartily! In this manner an acquaintance is quickly made.'

On being conducted to her chamber, the enthusiastic Frenchwoman found there a toilet apparatus in silver, with other objects both rare and precious, as well as handsome furniture. But where was the couleur locale? where were the characteristics of the Desert? Was this the house of a Kalmuck prince, a chief of those halfsavage tribes that wander over the sandy plains of the Caspian Sea, a worshipper of the Grand Lama, a believer in the metempsychosis; in short, one of those beings whose existence seems to us almost fabulous, such a host of mysterious legends do their names awaken in the mind?' Prince Tumene, it seems, is the first of his nomade people who has exchanged his kibitka (or felt tent) for a European dwelling. The position of the palace is exquisitely chosen, and shows a sense of the beautiful as developed as that of the most

civilised nations. It is built in the Chinese style, and is prettily seated on the gentle slope of a hill about one hundred feet from the Volga. Its numerous galleries afford views over every part of the isle, and the imposing surface of the river. From one of the angles glitter the cupola and golden ball of the pagoda. Beauthe eye looks down on a mass of foliage, through which tiful meadows, dotted over with clumps of trees, and fields in high cultivation, unfold their carpets of verdure on the left of the palace, and form different landscapes which the eye can take in at once. The whole is enlivened by the presence of Kalmuck horsemen, camels wandering here and there through the rich tent to tent. It is a beautiful spectacle, various in its pastures, and officers conveying the chief's orders from details, and no less harmonious in its assemblage.' The scene in the kibitka, however, is more interesting, where the prince's sister-in-law still resided. When the curtain at the doorway of the kibitka was raised, we found ourselves in a rather spacious room, lighted from above, and hung with red damask, the reflection from which shed a glowing tint on every object; the floor was covered with a rich Turkey carpet, and the air was loaded with perfumes. In this balmy atmosphere and crimson light, we perceived the princess seated on a low platform at the farther end of the tent, dressed in glistening robes, and as motionless as an idol. Some twenty women in full dress, sitting on their heels, formed a strange and partycoloured circle round her. It was like nothing I could compare it to but an opera scene suddenly got up on the banks of the Volga. When the princess had allowed us time enough to admire her, she slowly descended the steps of the platform, approached us with dignity, took me by the hand, embraced me affectionately, and led me to the place she had just left.' The lady proved to be extremely handsome, but for the obliquity of her eyes, and the prominence of her cheek-bones; and her expression was that of the utmost gentleness and good-humour, with an air, 'like all the women of her race,' of caressing humility.

The entertainments at this visit were dancing and music; but on leaving the kibitka, a scene more wildly national presented itself. The moment we were perceived, five or six mounted men, armed with long lassoes, rushed into the middle of the taboun (herd of horses), keeping their eyes constantly fixed on the young prince, who was to point out the animal they should size. The signal being given, they instantly gallopped forward, and noosed a young horse with a long dishevelled mane, whose dilated eyes and smoking nostrils betokened inexpressible terror. A lightly-clad Kalmuck, who followed them on foot, immediately sprang upon the stallion, cut the thongs that were throttling him, and engaged with him in an incredible contest of daring and agility. It would be impossible, I think, for any spectacle more vividly to affect the mind than that which now met our eyes. Sometimes the rider and his horse rolled together on the grass; sometimes they shot through the air with the speed of an arrow, and then stopped abruptly, as if a wall had all at once risen up before them. On a sudden the furious animal would crawl on its belly, or rear in a manner that made us shriek with terror; then plunging forward again in his mad gallop, he would dash through the taboun, and endeavour in every possible way to shake off his novel burden.' The next exhibition of the kind was that of a child of ten years of age on a young white stallion, as wild as the other, and without saddle or bridle. 'We finished our soirée with an extemporaneous ball, that lasted all night. The Armenian, who first proposed the scheme, had to undertake the business of getting up an orchestra. I know not how he set about it, but in a few minutes he brought us triumphantly a violin, a guitar, and a flageolet. Such instruments among the Kalmucks! Is it not really prodigious? We had quickly arranged a soirée dansante, as complete as any drawing-room could exhibit; and

the merriment soon became so contagious, that the princess and her daughter, after much hesitation, at last overcame all bashfulness, and bravely threw themselves into a heady gallop-in which, by the by, one of them lost her cap. The wondering and delighted princess stuck to me for the rest of the night, like my shadow, and incessantly assured me, through the Armenian, that she had never in her life passed so pleasant an evening, and that she would never forget it. She expressed a strong desire to hear me sing, and found the French romances so much to her taste, that I had to promise I would copy out some of them for her. On her part she gave me two Kalmuck songs of her own composition, and transcribed with her own hand. According to Russian custom, the officers did full justice to the champagne, which was sent round all night at a fearful rate. They took their departure from this Kalmuck palace in their host's elegant four-in-hand equipage, lined with white satin!

From Astrakhan they pursued their way into the Desert, and this is the description of their first halt. The britschka, unyoked and unladen, was placed a little way from the tent, on the carpet of which were heaped portfolios, cushions, and boxes, in a manner which a painter would have thought worth notice. Whilst we were taking tea, our men were making preparations for dinner: some plucking a fine wild goose and half-adozen kourlis; others attending to the fire, round which were ranged two or three pots for the pilau and the bacon soup, of which the Cossacks are great admirers; and Anthony, with a little barrel of brandy under his arm, distributed the regular dram to every man with the gravity of a German major-domo. As for the officer, he lay on his back under the britschka, for sake of the shade, amusing himself with his hawk, which he had unhooded, after fastening it with a stout cord to the carriage. Though the creature's sparkling eyes were continually on the look-out for a quarry, it seemed, by the continual flapping of its wings, to enjoy its master's caresses. The camels, rejoicing in their freedom, browsed at a little distance from the tent, and contributed by their presence to give an Oriental aspect to our first essay in savage life, wherein I myself figured in my huge bonnet, dressed as usual in wide pantaloons, with a Gaulish tunic gathered round my waist by a leathern belt. By dint of wondering at everything, our wonderment at last wore itself out, and we regarded ourselves as definitively-naturalised Kalmucks.

My first night under a tent proved to me that I was not so acclimated to the steppe as my vanity had led me to suppose. The felt cone under which I was to sleep, the Kalmucks moving about the fire, the camels sending their plaintive cries through the immensity of the Desert; in a word, everything I saw and heard, was so at variance with my habits and ways of thought, that I almost fancied I was in an opium dream.'

We must conclude our extracts with the following portrait of a Tartar princess of the Crimea and her family. She advanced to me with an air of remarkable dignity, took both my hands, kissed me on the two cheeks, and sat down beside me, making me many demonstrations of friendship. She wore a great deal of rouge; her eyelids were painted black, and met over the nose, giving her countenance a certain sternness, that, nevertheless, did not destroy its pleasing effect. A furred velvet vest fitted tight to her still elegant figure. Altogether, her appearance surpassed what I had conceived of her beauty. We spent a quarter of an hour closely examining each other, and interchanging, as well as we could, a few Russian words, that very insufficiently conveyed our thoughts. But in such cases looks supply the deficiencies of speech, and mine must have told the princess with what admiration I beheld her. Hers, I must confess in all humility, seemed to express much more surprise than admiration at my travelling costume. What would I not have given to know the result of her purely feminine analysis of my appearance! I was even crossed in this téte-à-tête by a

serious scruple of conscience for having presented myself before her in male attire, which must have given her a strange notion of the fashions of Europe.

"Notwithstanding my desire to prolong my visit, in hopes of seeing her daughters, the fear of appearing intrusive prompted me to take my leave; but checking me with a very graceful gesture, she said eagerly, Pastoy, pastoy!" ("Stay, stay!") and clapped her hands several times. A young girl entered at the signal, and by her mistress's orders threw open a folding-door, and immediately I was struck dumb with surprise and admiration by a most brilliant apparition. Imagine, reader, the most exquisite sultanas of whom poetry and painting have ever tried to convey an idea, and still your conception will fall far short of the enchanting models I had then before me. There were three of them, all equally beautiful and graceful. Two were clad in tunics of crimson brocade, adorned in front with broad gold lace. The tunics were open, and disclosed beneath them cashmere robes, with very tight sleeves terminating in gold fringes. The youngest wore a tunic of azure blue brocade, with silver ornaments: this was the only difference between her dress and that of her sisters. All three had magnificent black hair, escaping in countless tresses from a fez of silver filigree, set like a diadem over their ivory foreheads. They wore gold-embroidered slippers, and wide trousers drawn close at the ankle.

I had never beheld skins so dazzlingly fair, eyelashes so long, or so delicate a bloom of youth. The calm repose that sat on the countenances of these lovely creatures had never been disturbed by any profane glance. No look but their mother's had ever told them they were beautiful; and this thought gave them an inexpressible charm in my eyes. It is not in our Europe, where women, exposed to the gaze of crowds, so soon addict themselves to coquetry, that the imagination could conceive such a type of beauty. The features of our young girls are too soon altered by the vivacity of their impressions, to allow the eye of the artist to discover in them that divine charm of purity and ignorance with which I was so struck in beholding my Tartar princesses. After embracing me, they retired to the end of the room, where they remained standing in those graceful Oriental attitudes which no woman in Europe could imitate. A dozen attendants, muffled in white muslin, were gathered round the door, gazing with respectful curiosity. Their profiles, shown in relief on a dark ground, added to the picturesque character of the scene. This delightful vision lasted an hour.. When the princess saw that I was decided on going away, she signified to me by signs that I should go and see the garden; but though grateful to her for this further mark of attention, I preferred immediately rejoining my husband, being impatient to relate to him all the details of this interview, with which I was completely dazzled.'

Our author's account of the Russians and their government is far from being favourable; but we can afford room only for this brief anecdote, which would appear to contain all the principles of political economy that are fashionable in that meridian. 'I was once in the house of a Moldavian landowner of Bessarabia, whose lands bring him in about ten thousand rubles a-year. The conversation turned on agriculture. "What!" exclaimed a Russian who was present; "your estate yields you but ten thousand rubles a-year? Nonsense: put it into my hands, and I warrant you twice as much." "That would be a very agreeable thing, if it could be done," said the landlord; "I flatter myself I am tolerably well-versed in these matters, and yet I have never been able to discover any possible means of increasing my income." "How many days do your peasants work?" said the Russian. "Thirty." That's not enough: make them work sixty. What breadth of land do they till for you?" "So much." "Double it." And so he went on through the other items of the inquiry, crying, "Double it!-double it!" We could not help heartily laughing. But the Russian remained

66

perfectly serious, and I am sure he thought himself as great a man as Cancrine himself. I really regret that I did not ask him, had he taken lessons in economics in the office of that illustrious financier.'

A VISIT TO THE GOVERNESSES' INSTITUTION IN LONDON.

ONE of the latest efforts of benevolence in this superlatively benevolent age, has been the establishment of an institution in London, designed to be a species of home to governesses in intervals which may occur in changing situations. Supported partly by subscriptions, and partly by payments, the institution, however, has a number of objects in view, all contributing to the comfort of this class of individuals, and which may be summed up as follows:

1. Temporary assistance to governesses in distress, afforded privately and delicately by a committee of ladies. 2. Elective annuities to aged governesses, secured on invested capital, and independent of the prosperity of the institution. 3. Provident annuities purchased by ladies in anyway connected with education, upon government security, agreeably to the act of parliament. Money is also received for the savings' bank. 4. The home. 5. The registration. The above are all in full operation. 6. An asylum for aged governesses, for which a house and an endowment are both required. 7. A college for governesses, and arrangements for a diploma.

Should the institution fulfil these objects, there can be no doubt of its value. Charities often, we believe, do harm as well as good, from their tendency to supersede self-reliance. We would hope, therefore, that the institution in question, if not already self-supporting, will speedily be so. Much could we expatiate on the distresses of governesses, on the false position of governesses; but all that has been said a hundred times already. A thing more desirable to speak of is the possibility of governesses helping themselves while they have the ability to do so. Where there are parents or other relatives to support, saving is of course out of the question, and for such cases the warmest sympathy is due. But it may be asked, are there not hundreds of governesses who, with salaries of from twenty-five pounds and upwards per annum, could lay aside a determinate sum yearly, either to accumulate, or as the premium of an annuity? It can be done, for we know several instances in which it is done. Nor need there be any want of places of deposit. No part of the United Kingdom is many miles distant from a savings' bank or an insurance institution. That the establishment which forms the subject of the present notice will strengthen and confirm the principle of self-reliance, we would hold to be the best part of its design. Another matter of importance is the proposed examination and certification of competency by diploma; for this will not only diminish the number of governesses, by excluding from their body all who are not duly fitted for the task they undertake, but fix in a proper basis the position of this useful class of educators.

The institution was opened in May last, and is said nearly to support itself, by the ladies who resort to it paying fifteen shillings a-week for their board and lodging-a sum, we would have feared, so large, as to confine the benefit within too narrow limits. Nevertheless, we are told that the facilities for re-engagements are so great, on account of the office for registration being in the same house, and the arrangements are altogether so private and comfortable, that the

"home" is in much request.' We shall now proceed to give some account of the establishment in the words of a contributor.

It was a very bright spring day, and the streets looked gay and cheerful as we drove through them. My companion (to whose benevolent exertions the institution, as I hear, is in a great measure indebted for its existence) spoke to me of many touching cases of distress in which the ladies' committee had lately rendered assistance, and of the many more in which they could give no assistance, for want of larger funds.

At length we reached the 'home'-a good house in a good street (No. 66, Harley Street). The door was opened by a respectable servant in livery (!). We wrote our names in a large book which lay open in the hall, and then proceeded into a front room on the groundfloor. It was a sort of parlour or dining-room, to which a business-like air was given by some large writing or account-books which lay open on the table. This, I was told, was the registration office. Two ladies were in this room; they were inmates of the house, and superintended the registration. To the elder of these ladies I was introduced. Her office is that of housekeeper; or, to speak correctly, she is the mistress of the family, and is a kind friend and adviser to its numerous and ever - varying members. I soon discovered that she was an educated person-clever, active, and experienced in managing a large establishment; besides having a heart full of sympathy for those who are placed around her. She showed me the registration books, and explained the plan of their arrangement. It has been found necessary to classify the numerous governesses who want situations. Some teach many, and others few things. Some have much, others little or no experience. Some are nursery, some finishing, some daily, and some resident governesses. They have been divided into classes; and books have been printed accordingly on a very clear and easy plan. By referring to these, which are open to members and visitors, any lady who is in want of a governess obtains a list of persons possessing the qualifications she may require, together with their addresses and references, and she can appoint an interview with any of them. Books are also kept for the names, addresses, and requirements of those ladies who want to engage governesses; by looking over which, ladies who wish for engagements may find one likely to suit them. Having thus put the parties en rapport, the institution interferes no more, but leaves them to manage as they please. The advantages of this system of registration are great to the governess. It is entirely free of expense; it saves the payment of advertisements, and of entrance and commission fees to the professed agents for procuring governess situations, of whom the less that is said will be the better for them; it saves her the trouble and annoyance (and, we may add, the not unfrequent peril) of answering advertisements; and it gives her the advantage of the large connexion of the institution. Those governesses who are residing at the 'home' have of course the best chance of re-engagements, as they are on the spot, and can see any lady who applies for a governess, at the office, immediately. On the other hand, those who need governesses find this opportunity of selection very advantageous.

After seeing the registration books, and talking over their great usefulness, Mrs - the housekeeper, proposed to show me over the house, as the ladies were, she believed, all absent; and thus I could see how she managed to make the establishment accommodate