Ar an evening party, in the summer of 182-, at the house of an old friend, in one of the cities of the United States, south of the Potomac, the announcement at a late hour of a name, which my proximity to the piano prevented me from hearing, caused an instantaneous cessation of music and conversation, and drew the eyes of the whole company towards the door. A delay in the appearance of this object of universal attention allowed me sufficient time to observe a painful expression of sorrow and sympathy shading those countenances which but a moment before were beaming with smiles and sunshine; and the singularity of the scene was rendered still more striking by the ill-suppressed giggling of the negresses in the hall, whom the new-comer, regardless of his announcement, appeared to be lei

VOL. V.

surely amusing with some pleasant familiarities.

"And who, Louisa," said I, in an undertone, to the beautiful and witty Miss Beaumont, who had stopped in the midst of a satirical whisper, and was looking mournfully towards the door,-" and who is this chilling personage, at whose approach Music ceases her strain, and the whisperings of Beauty are startled from her lip?"

"It is Leslie-the unfortunate Leslie. But hush!"-and I felt the pressure of her fan upon my arm, as my eyes rested on the object of my inquiry.

He was a young man of about thirtytwo-he might have been taken to be beyond that age-of slender but graceful figure, just above the middle height. His dress was loose, and very much deranged. He had no cravat, but his

B

The expectancy and rose of the fair state; The glass of fashion, and the mould of form; The observed of all observers.

"And many a sighing maiden envied Isabel Townly-then only seventeen, the daughter of our distinguished senator, who, as you know, lives in the splendid mansion opposite-when he led her to the altar. Five years have elapsed since then," continued Louisa, with a sigh, "and two since she was divorced, in consequence, I believe, of some very reprehensible irregularities preceding the absolute alienation of reason. Poor Isabel! we were at school together; but a short time after her marriage she went to the north, and I sailed for France on my grand tour, and we have seldom met since. She is on the point, they tell me, of becoming a second time a bride, and they do say that even the day is fixed. They have two children, to whom he has occasional access; but all interview with Isabel is, of course, interdicted, although they sometimes see each other, as he is a frequent visiter here, not only because our excellent friends are very indulgent to him, but also because it is opposite to her residence. As she is aware, although he is not, that he is to be shipped off to-morrow for the north, to be placed in an asylum-you heard him describe his escape from his friends, but they will soon find him again-it is probable that she may watch him from her window; and if he sees her, there is no telling what a scene we may have, for he is on the eve of one of his periodical frenzies, and seems very flighty tonight. He is very harmless generally in all his freaks, at those times when he is permitted to be about, and never offends in any respect; so that the servants in the families with whom he is acquainted rarely refuse to usher him to the parlour or the drawing-room. In our house, for instance, as in this, he is particularly at home; and even when we have company, he is admitted; for if he becomes in the least troublesome, mamma, like our kind friend here, has such influence over him, that she can always get rid of him in a moment. He

is very often still singularly elegant an correct in his manners and langua ge and I have known him maintain a visit of several hours, bearing his part in general and particular conversation, improvising, singing, dancing, and doing all sorts of amusing things, without once betraying himself. At theatres, concerts, rehearsals, exhibitions, and all places of public amusement, he is a free and frequent visiter; and even in the courts, he seats himself as he pleases, without let or hindrance, at the barristers' table, or among the judges on the bench. Whenever he sees any one afraid of him, he is sure to amuse himself by encouraging their fears; and he often sets the folks in the streets in roars of laughter at his pranks among children and negro-wenches. Every body is kind to poor Leslie, who returns every kindness, by doing any thing that is required of him. He is, to be sure, sometimes a little too obstreperous in his freaks, but only when he has drunk too much ; and many mischievous young fellows encourage him to drink wine or brandy to excite him to such capers-but he is even then docile as a child when spoken to seriously and with kindness. You heard him speak to Eliza about the offer of his hand: he frequently addresses such epistles to temporary favourites, of whom he fancies himself enamoured, and oftentimes to married women too. But come -I'll introduce you, and in return for this little history, you shall ask him for an impromptu romance, in what language you will, and tell me if I have overrated his abilities."

On repassing through the refreshment room we found poor Leslie deep in a warm discussion on the approaching presidential election; but the moment he saw Miss Beaumont, he withdrew himself from those with whom he was conversing, to detail to her how cruelly, as he represented it, he had been refused an interview with his children that day, and to reprehend in no measured terms, the parents of Isabel, for withholding her from him. In the mean time we had returned to the drawing-room, and, in the midst of a bitter invective against his father-in-law, he started suddenly from us, and, seating himself at a small writing-table, sketched, like lightning, with a few scratches of a pen, a large caricature of him, which he presented to

me.

He had invested that distinguished individual with the outward characteristics of the Prince of Darknesshorns, hoofs, and an immense forked tail, twisted into the most fantastic flourish; but the peculiarities of face and figure were so inimitably introduced, and so happily blended with the personification, that it was one of the most irresistible things of the kind I ever met with. He sketched several smaller ones, differing only in size, which he distributed about, and some beautiful fancy pieces, into which he introduced several of the company, but the keeping of which he invariably destroyed by ingeniously foisting in each the caricature I have described, like the skeleton in Hans Holbein's illustrations of the Dance of Death. Throwing down the pen in the midst of one of these singular productions, he seated himself at the piano, and sang a German aria with the most brilliant execution.

"Now for the romance," whispered Louisa; and, on my requesting him, in Spanish, to favour us with an impromptu in that language, and giving him "The Pirates" for a subject, he ran over a prelude; and, in free, glowing, and felicitous verse, described a brigantine becalmed near a coast; the consternation of the crew and passengers on discovering a piratical goleta approaching them by the aid of long sweeping oars; the boarding; the ineffectual resistance; the screams and cries for mercy; the massacre of the captain, crew, and passengers; the searching of trunks; the ripping up of the decks to look for concealed treasures; the indecision of the ruffians respecting a lady of distinction just discovered and forced from her cabin; and the diabolical scenes of riot and drunkness succeeding the capture: all is quiet again; but a breeze has sprung up, and a fragata de guerra bears down upon the vessels; she approaches nearer and nearer; the pirates, still sunk in drunken slumber, are only awakened by a heavy broadside; another, and another; the bloody flag, which had been nailed, as a trophy of victory to the mast, is shot away, and the pirates betake themselves to the goleta, leaving the lady on board the bergantin; the manœuvring and desperation of the pirates; a dreadful explosion, and the goleta and her crew

seen whirling amidst the smoke in ten thousand fragments up against the sky; cheers from the frigate; the boarding the recaptured bergantin; the commandant flies over the bodies of the murdered to the cabin; the lady screams, and rushes into the arms of the commandant-her husband, whom she was on her voyage to join; the acclamations of his followers; a cry that the bergantin is shivered by the destructive cannonade; she trembles for a moment, as if her timbers were separating; a convulsive shock like an earthquake, is succeeded by a stillness, awful as death another convulsive shock, a universal shriek, and she falls upon the waters, a hideous wreck, overwhelming the commandant and his lady, the recaptors, and the murdered in one common grave! Requiem from the fragata.

;

"Astonishing!" exclaimed I, as Leslie started up from the piano, and darted out of the room; and several minutes elapsed before I recovered myself sufficiently to translate what I had just heard to the inquiring dames and demoiselles who surrounded me.

We were waltzing when Leslie reentered the room, handing the daughter of our kind hostess, and leading her into the circle, where he acquitted himself with great spirit, precision, and elegance. During a desultory conversation, however, which followed, he evinced considerable flightiness and uneasiness,-now speaking with an unintelligible rapidity, now lost in deep and painful abstraction, now writhing in his chair in uncontrollable restlessness. Some one handed him a guitar: he sang "Allan-a-dale ;" and, after a few moment's of reverie, as it seemed, his eyes became fixed on one of the front windows, and walking across the room he threw open the blinds, the sash being previously up for the admission of air. After gazing awhile at one of the opposite casements, he sang-oh! how feelingly!— Home, sweet home! He ceased, but withdrew not his eyes from the opposite window. An attempt was made to entice him away, but he heeded it not. The outward shutter was closed upon him, but he forced it back with his hand. A feeling of painful apprehension, not unmixed with anxious curiosity, pervaded the whole assembly. All eyes were upon him.