The Portfolio, Comprising 1. THE FLOWERS OF LITERATURE. II. THE SPIRIT OF THE MAGAZINES. III. THE WONDERS OF NATURE AND ART. W. THE ESSENCE OF ANECDOTE AND WIT. Y. THE DONESTIC GUIDE. 21 VI. THE MECHANICS' ORACLE. No. CV. [or No. of FORMING ALSO No. 122 OF THE HIVE, LONDON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 1925. [2d. Making the approach to the island, in a small boat, he thus energetically expresses himself. "Every length the boat made, new wonders came in view. On the northwest point, there rises to a great height a small promontory, almost perpendi cular from the sea to its summit. The base of this promontory is rough and irregular for perhaps half its height, and where the uneven rock ends, the most beautiful perfect uniform pillars rest upon it, in a convex semicircle; and were it not for the stupendous appearance, it might be thought that the finest statuary ever existing had stretched his chisel powers beyond human art in forming them. "Conceive, if you can, an infinity of small pillars, thrown together in every direction at a very considerable height. from the eye, bearing the resemblance of architecture, executed in the most masterly style, and highly beautified by various tints made by time and weather, composing an irregular and continued façade to magnificent domes; from which descend perpendicular, compact, smooth prismatic pillars, some resting (particularly those at the boat cave, on the westside of Fingal's cave) on rough, irregular, round masses of basaltes washed by the sea. Others mor ticed in the angles of stumps of pillars once entire, the uppermost joints of which have separated from the main mass of pillars forming the island. Advancing from this beautiful convex circle of pillars, I observed creeks and caves, and perpendicular rocks of great variety; but when I came within sight of the very regular pillars and elevated dome over the great caves, I was in an extasy. "When I faced the mouth of the cave, what I could see of the inside, and what I gazed at on the outside, made my blood thrill through every vein; but when I got within it, I forgot the world and every thing it contains. The omnipotence of the Deity filled my soul. I was lost in wonder, gratitude, and praise. My nerves were so rewound up, that the smallest sound distracted me. Never shall I forget the sublime, heaven-like sensations, with which Fingal's cave inspired me. "From the grand works of nature, my mind has often been raised in adoration to the Author of them, and they have been to me the best of sermons; but Staffa produced the highest pitch of solemn, pious, enthusiastic sensa tions I ever felt, or ever can feel, in this my house of clay. “It has not been longer than twentyeight or thirty years since the Isle of Staffa has been noticed as an object of curiosity; for previous to the year 1770, it was avoided rather than sought after. It stands in the middle of an extensive bay, formed by islands in the Atlantic, and completely open on the south-west to that ocean; and from that point of the compass Staffa bears the storms and tempests from America, for not a foot of land lies directly between it and that Continent. This may be the reason why such heavy seas are commonly found around Staffa, and which cause it to be avoided by all sea-faring people. Necessity never obliges any vessel to steer for Staffa, nor does the hardy fisher, who is by accident involved among its rocks, and the rough and dangerous seas which surround them, ever conceive that those mishapen rocks, and those billows, encompass the most wonderful productions on the face of the earth; and which they have not perceptive faculties to feel, or the understanding to comprehend." The Flowers of Literature. ESQUIMAUX ROGUERY. SOME of the natives, however, were not so violently overpowered by their joyous sensations, as to forget that they came to improve their fortunes; and one most expert fellow succeeded pretty well in picking pockets, an occupation from which frequent detection did not he robbed me of my handkerchief, and discourage him. Amongst other things was particularly amused when I discovered his roguery, for which I thought a box on the ear would have acted as a warning, but I afterwards found that he had crept on board, and was carrying off a bag of seamen's clothes; a grand prize, for the retention of which he made a most violent stand, until I succeeded in tumbling him over the side. ESQUIMAUX WOMEN. THE generality of the others behaved pretty well, and traded fairly, each woman producing her stores from a neat little skin bag, which was distinguished by our men by the name of a ' ridicule,' than which I conceive it to be a more respectable appendage. Our visitors did not possess many curiosities, and were certainly not so rich as we had found them on our former voyage, the chief articles in which they bartered being their weapons and clothes; and, LORD BYRON. Í blush while I relate it, two of the fair sex actually disposed of their nether garments, a piece of indecorum I had never witnessed. A few seal, deer, and hare skins, with those also of young dogs, mice, and birds, were the other articles of commerce; and a very few ivory toys, with sea-horse teeth of a small size, completed the assortment. In a 'ridicule,' with some of these árticles, we found a piece of very pure plumbago, of the size of a walnut; and with the toys was one of a description I had not before seen. It was a large heavy piece of ivory, in which many holes were drilled at regular intervals, but leading in different directions. A small peg is attached to this by a string, and the game consists in throwing up the ivory block, and receiving it on the pin, in much the same manner as our game of cup and ball. A new variety of comb was also purchased, and I procured a mirror, composed of a broad plate of black mica, so fitted into a leatheru case as to be seen on either side. LORD BYRON. THUS prematurely died Lord Byron; a man of most commanding genius, and of many noble qualities, mingled with others which were far from being of an estimable nature. He was brave, manly, and generous. When excited, and from the strength of his imagination that was frequently the state of his mind, he appeared to be animated by the most lofty sentiments, and to be capable of the most honourable and heroic actions. But his ordinary life, besides its unbounded licentiousness, was disfigured by the caprice, the waywardness, the vanity, the self-love, which, though not entirely, were perhaps principally attributable to his having been caressed, flattered, and spoiled by the adulators whom his fame brought about him: Nothing can be more evident than that one of Lord Byron's greatest misfortunes was the sort of society into which he was thrown in early life, by circumstances over which he had little or no control. According to his own statement, most of the companions of his youthful days died violent deaths; some of them as the victims of offended justice. But with that haughty spirit which is no less destructive of the hap piness, than it is derogatory to the true dignity of those by whom it is cherished, Lord Byron not only rejected with scorn the gentlest admonition, but disdained to be instructed, even by his own expetience. Hence his injudicious selection 325 of associates towards the latter part of his life. Of their real value he himself could not but be aware. Indeed it is complimentary to his discernment, though certainly not to his sincerity and good faith, that he made most of them, by turns, the subject of irony and ridicule. With what usurious interest this treachery has been repaid, is abundantly testified by the thousand-andone anecdotes of Lord Byron, many of them, no doubt, as false as they are scandalous, that since his death have been constantly polluting the conversation of our tables. But Lord Byron's personal character is a matter of trifling importance, as compared with the character of his works, which have in them a principle of vitality, that must render their influence, be it for good, or be it for evil, as durable as the English language. To those who regard power in the abstract, and without reference to what they may deem minor considerations, those works can never cease to be the objects of enthusiastic and unqualified admiration; for few poets have ever manifested a more original and vigorous intellect, or a more opulent and creative imagination. But the man who, while he warmly admires power, is not so dazzled by it as to be wholly inattentive to the purposes to which it is applied, will pause in forming his estimate of the benefit which the world has derived, or is likely to derive from Byron's genius. It is true that it is not the province of poetry to be formally didactic or ethical. A poem and a sermon are two very different things. Although occasionally it has advanced higher pretensions, the general, and it may be said, the legitimate object of poetry (as of the other liberal arts) is to refine and embellish life by supplying to man an intellectual and a delightful recreation, that may indirectly exalt his character, in diminishing his appetite for coarse and brutal pleasures. That Lord Byron has, in many instances, afforded this mental gratification in the highest possible degree, he must indeed be insensible who can deny. But even the brightest gems of his genius are defaced with spots, which appear only more conspicuous by the contrast of the surrounding splen dour. The deep moral taint, the rank corruption mining all within,' in one of Lord Byron's productions, has been already noticed. In several of his other poems, transcendently powerful as every one must acknowledge them to be, there are nevertheless but too frø, quently a morbid tone, and (it is painful to be compelled by truth to add) a rancorous spirit, which, notwithstanding all the accompanying grandeur of conception, luxuriance of fancy, and felicity of diction, are calculated, imitative as, man is, and in a great degree the creature of sympathy and impression, to render the reader, whatever may be the natural constitution or acquired bias of his mind aud temper, a less kind, and benevolent, and philanthropic, and therefore a less valuable meinber of society. On the fairer part of the creation, the effect of some of Lord Byron's works cannot but be peculiarly pernicious. It is said that in conversation, Lord Byron (like Buonaparte) frequently expressed his contempt for women. If this be true, the fact, while it may in some measure be accounted for by recollecting the description of women with whom the Noble Lord was chiefly familiar, (and of whose reputation and feelings he was utterly reckless,) fully accounts for the indifference (to use the mildest term) with which he seems to have contemplated the operation of his poetry on the female cliaracter generafly; for no man of the least experience or reflection could have been unconscious, that many passages, not only in Don Juan, but in other of Lord Byron's poems, must, of necessity, sully that native purity, and impair that instinctive delicacy, which are among the greatest charms, and the surest safeguards of the sex. THE NOVICE IN TOWN. Giles Greentree to his cousin George Gamble, DEAR GEORGE, Harley Street. I HAVE now been one fortnight in town, without being able to write to you, so furried and hurried have I been, and so nonplussed and put to it to accustom myself to the racketing irrational life which we lead; in the first place I must tell you that I am well, thanks to a good constitution, for I have been runoff my legs, kept out of my natural rest, very much vexed at times, and have had to accustom myself to every thing quite opposite to our going on in the country, which, as you know, is like clock-work at the Grange and at Overshot Farm-but I must try and begin in order. I arrived per heavy coach, booked like a parcel, at aunt's husband's counting house in Coleman Street, a decentish looking place enough I got out of the hackney coach which took me from the Saracen's Head, and was for bringing in my luggage, when a well-dressed gentleman, without a hat, came, and asked me whom I wanted? I told him it was Aunt Polly the Alderman's lady, when the young fellow burst out a laughing, (pretty London manuers thought I) and informed me that she had never been there in her life, and that the Alderman only called there for a few hours. “Then," said I, "your London Directory lies prettily-did I not read John Nobbs and Co., Ironmongers, Coleman Street? "Very true," said the high dressed gentleman, "but this is only his counting-house, you will find him at his house in Harley Street." I thanked the gentleman, whom I afterwards found to be nothing more than a clerk; for just as I jumped into the coach, I saw him and four more chaps with pens behind their ears, leaning over a desk with ledgers and other things on it, and laughing at me with all their might and main. Rub the first, thought I, and intended to complain to the Alderman, but other troubles put it out of my head; after being jolted to death, and stopping the coach five times, for fear that the coachman should have driven beyond the place, for I thought we never should get there, I arrived at last: Coachee gives such a sessarara at the door, as if he wanted to knock it down, but I knew enough to comprehend that that gave me a certain degree of conse quence, so I said not a word, but stepped out, and seeing a poor fellow, who looked like a lad out of place, I says, "I suppose you a'n't above earning twopence, so bear a hand with my boxes," which he accordingly did, when a handsome fellow in silk stockings, and dressed out as if he were going to a race ball, steps up to me, and asks me who I am, and what I want? I told him very civilly, that I was Giles Greentree, aunt Polly's nephew; and that I was come up by her invitation to be provided for in the army, or some sinecure place, as Alderman Nobbs had promised mother. le bowed and showed me in; when I found three fellows, with powdered beads and crimson laced coats, who were the ironmonger's footmen. I should have thought iron-grey and a fire-red turn-up would have been more becoming a tradesman, than thus vieing with the royal family. But, bless you, this was nothing to what I saw afterwards-I now enquired what was to pay. "Seven shillings," answered the coachman. "Seven devils!" said I, why you are a regular robber." "No more a robber than yourself," replies he, so I lifte up my oak twig to give him THE NOVICE IN TOWN. a lesson of manners; "hit and be d-," exclaims he, "come on if you dare, but if you do, I'll alter your sign for you;" -there was impudence. 66 Oh, oh!" cries I, and began to peel, but the gentleman in the silk stockings interposed, and took coachee's number, and let him know that the Alderman was not to be trifled with, that he was a magistrate, and could punish him without judge or jury, and that he would commit him for a look, or send him to the tread-mill for a word, and keep him upon bread and water if he gave him any of his sauce, so he had better beg my pardon, and take his honest fare and be off, if he did'nt want to be handcuffed and sent off to gaol. The fellow seemed very sorrowful, for he said to me, " I humbly beg your honour's pardon," which so disarmed me, (you know my heart, George,) that I shook hands with him, and gave him the seven shillings for good will. The servants all stared at me as if I had two heads, and as soon as my back was turned, they laughed as if they would split their sides; this, I confess, put my pipe out a little, but the young gentleman showed me up stairs, and drew back his hand, when I offered bim mine, as I took him to be one of our London cousins, or some relation of Mr. Nobbs's. I asked a good deal about my aunt, but all I could learn was that she was not up, but would be down stairs about three o'clock to breakfast, which by the bye was our dinner hour in the country; adding, that if I wished for refreshment, he would fetch me some, which he did accordingly-cold pigeon pie and Madeira, of which I partook so heartily, that I fell fast asleep on the sofa, with the newspaper in my hand, and was only awakened by aunt Polly's coming into the room. Mercy defend me, what a figure of fun she was! She had a comical made dress of muslin up in the neck, and trimmed with costly lace; she had a lace cap which looked like a basket of flowers, with roses, and a dozen other garden concerns in it; she had a pair of silk boots on, and was painted up to the eyes; to tell you the truth, she looked no better than she ought to be what a contrast to my decent mother! Well, I stepped up to her and gave her a buss, but I thought she looked rather coldly on me, for her first words were, "George, you must be off to a tailor's directly, and get brushed up for dinner.-Adams," (pointing to the gentleman in silk stockings,) "knows one who will make you a coat in six hours, so that you will be fit to sit down to dinner with us, for we have a 325 great deal of quality company, and we must not have any of your Shrewsbury cut coats. "Zooks!" exclaimed I, "aunt Polly, what! do quality company visit you?" "To be sure," said aunty, with a flounce; "why, my husband is a magistrate, and a very thriving man, and he has lent a certain Lord five thousand pounds, and I don't despair of seeing him in Parliament some day or other. "That will be grand," quoth I. "J. Nobbs, M. P., will cut a great shine." At this moment I rose to make place for Mr. Adams, and offered him a chair; but aunt Polly looked like a fury, and after making a sign to him to withdraw, she exclaimed, "Giles, if you go on thus dishonouring me, by your ignorance and stupidity, I shall forbid you the house-that fellow is my groom of the chambers." "Groom of the chambers!—indeed, that is the world turned upside down; who ever heard of a groom except in a stable, in Shropshire ?" I was now a little relieved by the sight of a lovely girl, very flashily dressed, who entered the room; up I started, and flying towards her, I said, "dear Aunty, is that your daughter ?" "Daughter, you beast!" was her answer, whereupon she kicked with her heels, and fell into strong hysterics, so I flew out of the room, and asked Mr. Adams what I had done? when he informed me that the young lady was aunt Polly's own maid, and it was my affronting Mrs. Alderman Nobbs, which threw her into fits, which, by the way, she was not subject to when her honest father, the farmer, was alive; but the devil is in London for altering people, The groom of the chambers (a much more genteel looking man than the alderman) conducted me up to my room, to change my clothes previous to my going with him to the tailor's, when lo, and behold, my large hair trunk, with my best clothes in it, had been borrowed by the chap out of place, who had only left me my portmanteau and an old packing-case full of buck-skins, which I brought over in hopes of getting a day's hunt somewhere within twenty miles of London; well, of a bad bargain make the best, so I whistled the "Jolly Miller," and went out with Mr. Adams in a hackney-coach to the tailor's, who was another fine gentleman, who only visited his shop once a day, never took measure of any body himself, nor would wait upon any one for an order, or to be paid, unless he was a lord, or a member of parliament. Adams told me that he had made his fortune, kept his carriage, and lived like a nabob, and that |