forbearing way. The murmurs of the city were heard upon the right, and the lofty spire of its church rose up straight and arrowy into the sky. The sullen and dull roar of the ocean used to come over the opposite hills from the Bay of Tramore. Immediately before me were the fine woods of Faithlegg, and the noble seat of the Powers; on the left was the magnificent seat of another branch of the same opulent tribeSnowhill; and in the distance were the three rivers the Suir, the Nore, and the Barrow -met in a deep and splendid conflux. The ruins of the old Abbey of Dunbrody threw the solemnity of religion and of antiquity over the whole prospect, and, by the exquisite beauty of the site, afforded a proof that the old Franciscans, who had made a selection of this lovely spot for their monastery, and who have lain for centuries in the mould of its green and luxuriant churchyard, were the lovers of Nature; and that when they left the noise and turmoil of the world, they had not relinquished those enjoyments, which are not only innocent, but may be accounted holy."

Accustomed to noise and bustle, the

"Fumen, et opes, stripitumque Eblanæ,"

the quiet and freedom we enjoyed during our country excursion was exhilirating. On our return each day to the inn we selected for head-quarters, where the attractions of the neighbourhood suggested a sojourn of some days, we adapted our habits to the locality, and our means and appliances for comfort were made the best of. The scenes we had wandered over, most of them quite new, others familiar, formed a kind of mental mosaic-work, and mingling with recollections of those in which we had lately shared, afforded food for much meditation. Then the very sights before our windows, though such as are daily visible in every town in Ireland, albeit mean and impoverished, and remote from either the beautiful or the sublime, were so characteristic and suggestive, as to afford entertainment. Now it was a ballad-singer, chaunting the victories of missionary priests over soupers, to the air of Napoleon at St. Helena ; or a recruiting sergeant, surrounded by half-a-dozen country "boys," who seemed no ways inclined to "spurn the Saxon shilling," and were listening with open ears and mouths to his earnest prophecies, that if they would only enlist, every mother son of them would be commander-in-chief before he shuffled off this mortal coil; or a runaway colt, with a load of turf; or a

fresh arrival at the hotel. Then a stir would ensue throughout the entire concern, the ushering in of guests, the landlord summoning waiters or chambermaids, the tramp of a porter bringing trunks up stairs-we could hear the thump with which he deposited heavy luggage on the floor of a bedchamber all these amused our mind, and refreshed our thoughts by diverting them into new channels. We determined to conclude our rambles by the Barrow with a visit to Dunbrody Abbey, on the road from New Ross to Duncannon Fort. The day was cool and invigorating, but the coolness we experienced on starting was dispelled by the warmth of exercise, which the light breeze rendered pleasant to take. The fields, we thought, looked brighter in the Sep. tember grass, than if the summer sun was scorching their verdure; and here and there, among the trees, we could trace the autumnal tints, where branch or bough stood forth in gayer hue of crimson, or yellow, than the rest. The river makes frequent inlets as we approached the hill of Faithlegg, from whence a fine view of the meeting of the three rivers is obtained. The village, called Cheekpoint, is the property Mr. Power, of Faithlegg, and was for merly the Waterford post-office packet station. It was the seat of industry for a time, a hosiery and cotton-factory having been started here by the late Mr. Bolton, but the speculation proved unsuccessful. Since the removal of the packet-station, Cheekpoint has fallen into poverty, and its concomi tant evils. The navigation here is beneficial to the farmers, and latterly the improvements in agriculture are making corresponding changes in the appearance of the country. Lime and coal are available by water-carriage. A ferry between Campile and Passage affords direct communication with the city of Waterford.

of

Dunbrody Abbey was founded by Hervey de Montmorency, Marshal of King Henry II., A. D. 1182, and dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. This officer of high degree was not content with turning his sword into a reaping-hook, or, as some prefer to describe the apocryphal phis, into a ploughshare. Hervey de Montmorency converted his marshal's baton into an abbot's staff, and having resigned his commission, entered

metamor

THERE is a trait in the lives of great diplomatists, of which it is just possible some one or other of my readers may not have heard, which is, that none of them have ever attained to any eminence without an attachment -we can find no better word for itto some woman of superior understanding, who has united within herself great talents for society, with a high and soaring ambition.

They who only recognise in the world of politics the dry details of ordinary parliamentary business, poorlaw questions, sanitary rules, railroad bills, and colonial grants, can form but a scanty notion of the excitement derived from the high inte rests of party, and the great game played by about twenty mighty gamblers, with the whole world for the table, and kingdoms for counters. In this "grande rôle" women perform no ignoble part; nay, it were not too much to say that their's is the very motive-power of the whole vast machinery.

Had we any right to step beyond the limits of our story for illustration, it would not be difficult to quote names enough to show that we are speaking not at hazard, but "from book;" and that great events derive far less of their impulse from "the lords" than from "the ladies of creation." Whatever be the part they take in these contests, their chief attention is ever directed, not to the smaller battle-field of home questions, but to the greater and wider campaign of international politics. Men may wrangle, and hair-split, and divide about a harbour bill or a road session; but women occupy themselves in devising how thrones may be shaken and dynasties disturbed-how frontiers may be changed, and nationalities trafficked; for, strange as it may seem, the stupendous incidents which mould human destinies are more under the influence of passion and intrigue, than the commonest events of every-day life.

Our readers may, and not very un

reasonably, begin to suspect that it was in some moment of abstraction we wrote "Glencore" at the head of these pages, and that these speculations are but the preface to some very abstruse reflections upon the political condition of Europe. But no: they are simply intended as a prelude to the fact, that Sir Horace Upton was not exempt from the weakness of his order, and that he, too, reposed his trust upon a woman's judgment.

The name of his illustrious guide was the Princess Sabloukoff, by birth a Pole, but married to a Russian of vast wealth and high family, from whom she separated early in life, to mingle in the world with all the prestige of position, riches, and-greater than either-extreme beauty, and s manner of such fascination, as made her name of European celebrity.

When Sir Horace first met her, he was the junior member of our embassy at Naples, and she the distinguished leader of fashion in that city. We are not about to busy ourselves with the various narratives which professed to explain her influence at Court, or the secret means to which she owed her ascendancy over royal highnesses, and her sway over cardinals. Enough that she possessed such, and that the world knew it. The same success attended her at Vienna and at Paris. She was courted and sought after everywhere; and if her arrival was not fêted with the public demonstrations that await royalty, it was assuredly an event recognised with all that could flatter her vanity, or minister to her self

esteem.

Sir Horace was presented to her as an attaché, when she simply bowed and smiled. He renewed his acquaintance some ten years later as a secretary, when she vouchsafed to say she remembered him. A third time, after a lapse of years, he came before her as a chargé d'affaires, when she conversed with him; and lastly, when time had made him a minister, and with less generosity had laid its impress upon

gapped and blunted if applied to rough work, but are splendid instruments where you would cut cleanly, and cut deep. She saw this at once. He, too, recognised in her the wonderful knowledge of life, joined to vast powers of employing it with profit. No more was wanting to establish a friendship between them. Dispositions must be, to a certain degree, different between those who are to live together as friends, but tastes must be alike. Theirs were so. They had the same veneration for the same things, the same regard for the same celebrities, and the same contempt for the small successes which were engaging the minds of many around them. If the Princess had a real appreciation of the fine abilities of Sir Horace, he estimated, at their full value, all the resources of her wondrous tact and skill, and the fascinations which even yet surrounded her.

Have we said enough to explain the terms of this alliance? or must we make one more confession, and own that her insidious praise a flattery too delicate and fine ever to be committed to absolute eulogy-convinced Sir Horace that she alone of all the world was able to comprehend the vast stores of his knowledge, and the wide measure of his capacity as a states

man.

In the great game of statecraft, diplomatists are not above looking into each other's hands; but this must always be accomplished by means of a confederate. How terribly alike are all human rogueries, whether the scene be a conference at Vienna, or the tent of a thimblerig at Ascot! La Sabloukoff was unrivalled in the art. She knew how to push raillery and persiflage to the very frontiers of truth, and even peep over and see what lay beyond. Sir Horace traded on the material with which she supplied him, and acquired the reputation of being all that was crafty and subtle in diplo

macy.

How did Upton know this? Whence came he by that? What mysterious source of information is he possessed of? Who could have revealed such a secret to him? were questions often asked in that dreary old drawing-room of Downing-street, where men's destinies are shaped, and the fate of millions decided, from four o'clock to six of an afternoon.

Often and often were the measures

of the cabinet shaped by the tidings which arrived with all the speed of a foreign courier — over and over again were the speeches in Parliament based upon information received from him. It has even happened that the news from his hand has caused the telegraph of the Admiralty to signalise the Thunderer to put to sea with all haste. In a word, he was the trusted agent of our Government, whether ruled by a Whig or a Tory, and his despatches were ever regarded as a sure warranty for action.

The English Minister at a foreign court labours under one great disadvantage, which is, that his policy, and all the consequences that are to follow it, are rarely, if ever, shaped with any reference to the state of matters then existing in his own country. Absorb. ed as he is in great European questions, how can he follow, with sufficient attention, the course of events at home, or recognise, in the signs and tokens of the division list, the changeful fortunes of party? He may be advising energy when the cry is all for temporising; counselling patience and submission, when the nation is eager for a row; recommend religions concessions in the very week that Exeter Hall is denouncing toleration; or actually suggesting aid to a Government that a popular orator has proclaimed to be everything that is unjust and ignominious.

It was Sir Horace Upton's fortune to have fallen into one of these embarrassments. He had advised the Home Government to take some measures, or, at least, look with favour on certain movements of the Poles in Russia, in order the better to obtain some concessions then required from the cabinet of the Czar. The Premier did not approve of the suggestion, nor was it like to meet acceptance at home. We were in a pro-Russian fever at the moment. Some mob disturbances at Norwich, a Chartist meeting at Stockport, and something else in Wales, had frightened the nation into a hot stage of conservatism; and never was there such an ill-chosen moment to succour Poles, or awaken dormant nationalities.

Upton's proposal was rejected. He was even visited with one of those disagreeable acknowledgments by which the Foreign Office reminds a speculative minister, that he is going ultra crepidam. When an envoy is