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any change in the tricks which he has been taught, or the routine in which he has been accustomed to move; but an experience, liberal and enlightened, which bears the testimony of ages and nations, and collects from it the general principles which regulate the mechanism of society. Though party introduced him into the senate, the constitution of his mind, as he became matured in years, preserved him in the happy medium between the extremes of party violence. As a minister, he was neither behind nor before the age in which he lived; therefore, he was not disposed to drag it backwards by his antiquated opinions, nor to impel it forward to measures of change for which it was unprepared. Mr. Canning was not naturally a man prone to extremes. Circumstances and inexperience placed him at the ultra point of despotism. He was a violent tory at the beginning, but he lived in a country of freedom, where liberal principles were diffused. By these he was insensibly influenced, but he was never hurried by his feelings into visionary schemes and experiments. He had no natural alliance either with the tory or whig aristocracy, and he dreaded popular frenzy and delusion. Determined to uphold the constitution, he would have contemplated with horror any attempt to alter its basis or change its character.

When he found that the toryism of his youth threatened the subversion of this glorious fabric, he abandoned its ultra peculiarities. He considered power as a trust reposed in him for the public good. Instead of growing despotic in proportion to the elevation to which he was gradually raised by the voice of the people, and the favour of his sovereign, he exhibited the rare example of increasing moderation and liberality. His views enlarged with his sphere of influence; and when he reached the summit of his ambition, he was prepared to wield the powers of the state with the strenuous arm of a man formed for the times in which he appeared destined to act so conspicuous a part. He conciliated his former political opponents, and, without yielding to their dictation, availed himself of their assistance. He was not properly a whig, but he was not unwilling that a strong infusion of whiggism should neutralize the leaven of toryism, when he saw that its fermentation was likely to endanger the safety and prosperity of his country. If, as a statesman, his mind was not of the very highest order, he was incomparably the best man of business, and the most effective public orator of his age. The long concealed, but sudden ebullition of the hatred of his former colleagues was highly favourable to the development of his genuine

principles, and tended to give them firmness and stability. Party made him an eloquent debater; experience made him a liberal statesman, and, welcomed by the voice of his sovereign and the people, he became a high-minded and patriotic minister. Of his domestic and foreign policy we have already spoken. Had not Mr Canning taken his seat in the cabinet on the death of the Marquis of Londonderry, the measures contemplated by that nobleman would, no doubt, have been persevered in by his colleagues. Then insurrection acts, banishments, and all the rigour of an inquisition, must have gone on, till they could go no farther, and desolation closed the drama. The late policy was wholly Mr.Canning's; assented to, and supported in some degree, by Lord Liverpool, but contemned by most of those who went out of office on Mr. Canning's appointment to the premiership. Some of those measures were suggested long ago by members of the then opposition, and portions of them were carried through parliament by Mr. Huskisson and Mr. Peel; but the spirit of the policy was Mr. Canning's, and he was supported in these his measures by the opposite side, now with and in administration.

He

"The literary productions of Mr. Canning are merely specimens of his attainments, and the natural bent of his mind. never intended that they should form the basis of his reputation. He was the best writer in the Anti-jacobin, the best essayist in the Microcosm, the master spirit in the Loves of the Triangles, and a satirist not inferior to Gifford in his New Morality. In fact, he was every thing he chose to be. Lord Byron did not err when he said, Canning is a genius, almost an universal one ;-an orator, a wit, a poet, and a statesman.'

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"One other liberal testimony, the tones of which, like melancholy yet sublime music, have been wafted to us from across the Atlantic, to soothe and exalt us at the same moment, and we have done. It is that fine eulogy on our departed statesman, pronounced in congress by the President of the United States, Quincey Adams, Esq.

'He was a Briton through and through. British in his feelings, British in his aims, British in all his policy and projects. It made no difference whether the lever that was to raise them was fixed at home or abroad, for he was always and equally British. The influence, the grandeur, the dominion of Britain were the dream of his boyhood; to establish them all over the globe, even in the remote region where the waters of Columbia flow in solitude, formed the intense efforts of his riper years. For this he valued power, and for this he used it. Greece he left to her

melancholy fortunes, though so much alive to all the touching recollections and beauties of that devoted land, because the question of her escape from a thraldom so long, so bitter, and so unchristian, was a Turkish and European, not a British question. For Britain's sake exclusively, he took the determination to counteract France and the Continent in Spanish America. So, for Britain's sake he invariably watched, and was as invariably for counteracting the United States. He had sagacity to see into the present and latent resources of our commercial, our navigating, our manufacturing strength. Upon the knowledge of these, actual and prospective, he took his measures; and if we may or do think that they were not always wisely taken, since true liberality in the intercourse of nations is in the end apt to prove true wisdom, still he took them in a spirit that was British.

Those who knew this highly gifted man more nearly, testify that his intercourse in the relations of private and social life was as attractive as his public career was brilliant and commanding. I at it has been as brief as brilliant does out recal the pathetic exclamation of Burke, 'What shadows we are, and what shadows we pursue !'-He ascended to the pinnacle of all his earthly ambition only to die!" "

LINES ON MADNESS.

Oft, at midnight hour,
Madness, I've mused beside thy bow'r :
The walls preclude the human sight,
The roof alone receives the light;
From the living tomb,

Thro' the silent gloom,
Faintly darts a sickly gleam;
The nightly taper sends a beam,
To mark the chamber of dismay,
Where, removed from light of day,
The tortur'd wretch is bound;
No parent, friend, or consort nigh,
No soothing hand, no pitying eye;
The clanging whips resound,
The horrid keepers' frown is there,
The shrieks of rage, and pain and fear.
O piteous was that moan!

And now, a deeper groan

Succeeds the struggle of imprisoned breath,
The long drawn note of agonizing death.

THE TWO LOVERS OF SICILY.

In the Island of Sicily, there lived a beautiful girl called Biancafiore, whose father was a fariner of the imposts in that kingdom; she had several lovers, but the happiest one was Tebaldo Zanche, a

young person of gentle birth but of indifferent estate, which caused him to be more favourably regarded by Bianca than her father desired, who had set his heart upon matching her with a certain wealthy merchant of Palermo. The power of a parent in those days being much more despotic than in our temperate times, the poor wretched girl was finally compelled to bestow her hand on the merchant, whereupon Tebaldo instantly took leave of his country, and with a hopeless passion at heart wandered over Europe.

As soon as she was married, Bianca was taken by her husband to his country house, which was situated on the seacoast, towards Gigenti, his chief delight being to watch the ships, as they fared to and fro on their mercantile embassies, whereas they only recalled to Bianca the small white sail which had disappeared with the unfortunate Tebaldo. This prospect of itself was sufficient to aggravate her melancholy, but her residence on the sea-shore was yet to expose her to still greater miseries.

It was not uncommon in those days, for the Barbary cruisers, those hawks of the Mediterranean, to make a sudden stop upon our coasts, and carry off with them, besides other plunder, both men and women, whom they sold into slavery, amongst the Moors, in default of ransom. In this manner, making a descent by night when Mercanti was absent at Palermo, they burnt and plundered his house, and took away Bianca; whose horror you may well conceive, when by the blazing light of her own dwelling, she was carried off by such swarthy barbarians, whose very language was a sphynx's riddle to her, and might concern her life or death: and then embarked upon a sea of fire; for there happened that night a phenomenon not unusual in the Mediterranean, namely, the phosphorescence of the waters, which whether caused by glowing marine insects, or otherwise, makes the waves roll like so many blue burning flames. Those who have witnessed it, know well its dismal appearance on a gloomy night, when the billows come and vanish away like fluxes of pallid fire, and withal so vapour-like and unsubstantial, that apparently the vessel, or any gross corporal substance, must needs sink into its ghastly abyss. With such a dreary scene, therefore, and in the midst of those tawny-coloured infidel Moors, with their savage visages and uncouth garments and glittering arms, 'tis no marvel if Bianca thought herself amongst infernals and the demons of torture on the sulphureous lake.

On the morrow, which scarcely brought

any assuagement of her fears, they had lost sight of Sicily, and at last she was disembarked at Oran, which is an African port, over against Spain. Meanwhile Tebaldo was landing at Palermo, where he learnt, with a renewal of all his pangs, the fate of his beloved mistress. Forgetting all his enmity, therefore, he repaired presently to Mercanti, to concert with him how to redeem her out of the hands of the accursed Moors; a proceeding which he would not have paused for, had fortune put it in his power to proceed instantly to her ransom.

The merchant lamenting his years and infirmities, which forbade him to go in search of his wife, Tebaldo readily offered himself to proceed in his behalf; adding, "that it was only through the poverty of his means that he had not sailed already at his own suggestion; but that if Mercanti would furnish him with the requisite sums, he should hope to restore the unfortunate Bianca to his arms." The merchant wondering very much at this proposal, and asking, what securities he could offer for such a trust

"Alas!" quoth Tebaldo, "I have nothing to pledge for my performance, except an unhappy love for her, that would undergo thrice-told perils for her sake. I am that hopeless Tebaldo Zanche, who was made so eminently miserable by her marriage: nevertheless, I will forgive that, as well as all other mischances, if I may but approve my honourable regard for her, by this self-devoted service. There are yet some reasonable doubts you may well entertain of my disinterestedness and fidelity on such a mission, and I know not how to remove them; but when you think of the dangerous infidels in whose hands she now is, I have a hope that you may bring yourself to think her as safe at least in mine.

The passionate Tebaldo enforced these arguments with so many sincere tears and solemn oaths, and, besides, depicted so naturally the horrible condition of the lady amongst the Moors, that at last the merchant consented to his request, and furnishing him with the proper authorities, the generous lover, with a loyal heart, which designed nothing less than he had professed, set sail on his arduous adven

ture.

Let us pass over the hardships and dan gers of such an enterprize, and above all its cruel anxieties, the hopes which were raised at Tunis being wrecked again at Algiers, till at last he discovered Bianca amongst the slaves of a chief pirate at Oran, who, despairing of a ransom, began to contemplate her as his own mistress. Tebaldo's bargain was soon made; where

upon the lady was set at liberty, and to her unspeakable joy, by the hands of her own beloved Zanche; yet when they remembered the final consequence of her freedom, the brightness of their delight was quenched with some very bitter tears. The generosity of their natures, however, triumphed over these regrets, and with sad-hearts, but full of virtuous resolution, they re-embarked together, in a Genoese carrack for Palermo.

And now their evil fortune still pursued them, for falling in with a Sallee rover, although they escaped a second capture by the fast-sailing of their ship, they were chased a long way out of their course into the Straits of Gibraltar, and the wind turning contrary, increased towards night to a violent tempest. In this extremity it required all the tenderness of Tebaldo to encourage Bianca, whose low-spirited condition made her more fearfully alive to the horrors of the raging sea; which, indeed roared round them as if the watery desert had hungry lions of its own, as well as the sandy wastes of Africa, but ten times more terrible; the ship's timbers, besides straining as if they would part asunder, and the storm howling through the cordage like the voices of those evil angels, who, it is believed, were cast into the dreadful deep.

When the daylight appeared, there was no glimpse of any land, but the ship was tossing in the centre of a mere wilderness of sea, and under the pitch-black and troubled clouds, which were still driving by a fierce wind towards the south. The sails were torn into shreds, and the mariners, ignorant of where they were, let the ship drift at the mercy of the unmerciful elements, which slacked not their fury because the prey no longer resisted, but assaulted the helpless bark with unmitigated rage.

It could be no great wrong of Tebaldo and Bianca, if, at such a time, they exchanged one embrace together in everlasting farewell. They then composed themselves to die calmly as became them, in each others company; not with any vain shrieks or struggles; but heroically, as they had lived and loved. Thus sitting together in a martyr-like mood, and listening to the awful rushing of the waters across the deck, they heard a sudden noise overhead, which caused Tebaldo to look forth, and, lo! there were the drunken mariners putting off from the ship's side in the longboat, being beguiled to their fate by a glimpse of land, which none but their experienced eyes could yet discover. However, they had not struggled far with their oars, when three monstrous curling billows, a great deal loftier than any of the

rest, turned the boat over and over, washed out all the poor gasping souls that were therein, whom the ensuing waves swallowed up one by one, without letting even their dying cries be heard through the bewildering foam.

After this sacrifice, as though it had appeased the angry Deity of the ocean, the storm sensibly subsided; and in an hour or two, the skies clearing up, Tebaldo perceived that they were off a small solitary island-the ship soon after striking upon a coral reef, about two hundred fathoms from the shore. The skies still frowning with a rearward storm, Tebaldo lost no time in framing a rude raft, with spars and empty barrels; upon which placing Bianca, with such stores and implements as he could collect, he paddled towards the shore, where they landed safely upon a little sandy beach.

Their first act was to return thanks to God for their miraculous preservation : after which they partook of a repast, that after their fatigues was very needful; and then ascended a gentle sloping hill, which gave them a prospect of the island. It was a small, verdant place, without any human inhabitants; but there were millions of marine birds upon the rocks, as tame as domestic fowls, and a prodigious number of rabbits; the interior country, besides, seemed well wooded with various trees, and the ground furnished divers kind of herbs, and some very gigantic vegetables, together with many European flowers, the transportation of which to such desolate and insular places is a mystery to this day.'

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The weather again turning boisterous, they took shelter in a rocky cavern, which the kind hand of Nature had scooped out so commodiously, that it seemed to have been provided with a foresight of their wants. Thus, with their stores from the ip, they were insured against any great present hardships-but one. Many un"ucky lovers, I wot, have sighed for such an island, to take refuge in from the stern-hearted world; yet here were two such fond persons in such an asylum, betwixt whom fate had set up an eternal bar! Such thoughs as these could not but present themselves very sorrowfully to the minds of Tobaldo and Bianca; nevertheless he served her with the most tender and devoted homage, and as love taught him, contributed, by a thousand apt contrivances, to her comfort and ease.

In this manner suppose them to spend five or six days-the cave being their shelter, and Tebaldo, by fishing, or fowling, or ensnaring the conies, providing a change of food; so that, excepting the original hardship of their fortune, the

lovers had little cause to complain. Their solitary condition, however, and the melancholy of Bianca, led to many little acts of fondness from Tebaldo, which were almost as painful to exchange as to withhold. It was no wonder, then, if sometimes in the anguish of his heart, some expressions of impatience burst from his lips, to which she answered with her tears.

At last one day, when they were sitting on a gusty rock, which overlooked the sea, they both turned at once towards each other, with adverse faces and so despairing a look, that they cast themselves by common consent into each other's arms. the next moment, however, forcing themselves asunder, Tebaldo began as follows, whilst Bianca covered her face with her hands :—

In

"I can bear this cruel life no longer! better were we far apart, as when you were living in Sicily, and I roaming for unattainable peace all over the world. The restraint of distance was dreadful but involuntary, and nothing so painful as this! Your tears flow before my sight, yet I must not kiss them away without trembling, nor soothe your audible grief upon my bosom-nor mingle my sighs with yours, though we breathe the same limited air, and not in a distant clime. We were made for each other, as our mutual love acknowledges; and yet here, where there be none besides ourselves, we must be several and estranged. My heart is torn asunder by such imperative contradictions. Methinks there be but us two 'real creatures in the world, and yet the horrible phantom of a third steps in between and frowns us miserably apart! Oh, Bianca! I am crazed with doubts I dare hardly to name; but if fate did not mean to unite us in revocation of its former cruelty, why should we be thus thrown together, where there are none besides ? As eternal a bar as was set up between us, is now fixed between you and your husband; nature herself, by this hopeless separation, divorcing you from all other ties. God knows with what scrupulous exactness I have aimed at the fulfilment of my promise-but it were hard to be bound to an impracticable solution. It were true we might not thus think of each other in Sicily-but we meet here as if beyond the grave. If we are, as I believe, in the forlorn centre of the vast ocean, what reasonable hope is there of our redemption?-Since then, we are to spend the rest of our days together in this place, we can wrong no one, but redress a great wrong to ourselves, by the stricter union of our fates, which are thus far already married together, until the tomb."

The miserable Bianca wept abundantly at this discourse; however, she begged that Tebaldo would not mention the subject for at least seven more days, in which time she hoped God might save them from such a step, by sending some ship to their succour. She spent almost all this interval in watching from the coast, but still there came no vessel, not so much even as a speck on the horizon, to give her any hope of return. Tebaldo then resuming his arguments, she answered him thus:

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"Oh, my dearest Tebaldo! let us rather die as we have lived, victims of implacable fate, than cast any reproach upon our innocent loves. As it is, no one can reprove our affection, which, though violently controuled, we have never disavowed; but it would kill me to have to blush for its unworthy close. It is true that in one point we are disunited, but there is no distance between our souls. We may not indeed gratify our fondness by caresses, but it is still something to bestow our kindest language, and looks, and prayers, and all lawful and honest attentions upon each other; nay, do not you furnish me with the means of life and every thing that I enjoy? which my heart tells me must be a very grateful office to your love. Be content, then, to be the preserver and protector, and the very comforter of my life, which it is happiness enough for me to owe to your loving hands. It is true that another man is my husband, but you are my guardian angel, and show a love for me that as much surpasses his love as the heavenly nature is above the earthly. I would not have you stoop from this pitch, as you needs must -by a defect of virtue and honour; still, if you insist, I will become what you wish; but I beseech you consider, ere that decision, the debasement which I must suffer in your esteem. Nevertheless, before such an evil hour, I hope God will send some ship to remove us, though, if I might prefer my own sinful will before His, I would rather of all be dead."

The despairing lovers at these words wished mutually in their hearts, that they had perished together in the waves that were fretting before them,-when Bianca, looking up towards the horizon, perceived the masts and topmost sails of a ship, whose hull was still hidden by the convexity of the waters.* At this sight, though it had come seemingly at her own invocation, she turned as pale as marble, and with a faltering voice bade Tebaldo observe the vessel, which with a death-like

*See the Embellishment, illustrative of the above, p. 17.

gaze he had already fixed in the distance

for, doubtless, they would rather have remained as they were till they died, than return to the separation which awaited them in Sicily:-however, the ship still approached with a fair wind, and at last put out a pinnace, which made directly towards the island.

And now Tebaldo became a bitter convert from his own arguments, confessing that it was better to breathe only the same air constantly with Bianca, than to resign her companionship to another; neither did she refuse to partake in his regrets; and more tears were never shed by any exiles on the point of returning to their native land. With heavy hearts, therefore, they descended, hand in hand, like the first pair of lovers when they quitted their paradise, to whom, no doubt, these sad Sicilians inwardly compared themselves, as they walked lingeringly to meet the boat, which belonged to a vessel of Genoa, and had been sent to obtain a supply of wood and water. The mariners wondered very much at their appearance, and especially at Bianca, who wore a fantastical cap, made of rabbit skins, with a cloak of the same motley fur, to defend her from the sharp sea air; and as for Tebaldo, his garments were as motley as hers, being partly seaman's apparel and partly his own, whilst his beard and mustaches had grown to a savage length.

The sailors, however, took them very willingly on board, where they inquired eagerly concerning Mercanti; but al though the captain knew him well, having often carried his freightages, he could give no tidings of his estate. He promised, notwithstanding, to touch at Palermo; whether the ship made a very brief passage, to the infinite relief of the lovers: for now, after all their misfor→ tunes, they were about to return to the same miserable point where they began. Bianca, therefore, spent the whole time ot the voyage in grieving apart in her own cabin, not daring to trust herself in sight of Tebaldo; who on his part, at the prospect of their separation, after such an intimate communion of danger and distresses, was ready to cast himself into the

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