286

OF

our younger and minor poets no one has more natural grace and tenderness than GEORGE W. DEWEY. The son of a painter, and himself the Secretary of the Philadelphia Art Union, it may be supposed that he is well instructed in the principles upon which effect depends; but while native genius, as it is called, is of little value without art, no man was ever made a poet by art alone, and it is impossible to read "Blind Louise," "A Memory," or "A blighted May," without perceiving that Mr. Dewey's commission has both the sign and the countersign, in due form, so that his right to the title of poet is in every respect unquestionable. He has not written much, but whatever he has given to the public is written well, and all his compositions have the signs of a genuineness that never fails to please. There is no collection of his poems, but from the journals to which he contributes we have selected the following specimens:

A MEMORY.

Ir was a bright October day-
Ah, well do I remember!

One rose yet bore the bloom of May,
Down toward the dark December.
One rose that near the lattice grew,
With fragrance floating round it:
Incarnardined, it blooms anew

In dreams of her who found it.
Pale, withered rose, bereft and shorn
Of all thy primal glory,
All leafless now, thy piercing thorn
Reveals a sadder story.

It was a dreary winter day;
Too well do I remember!
They bore her frozen form away,
And gave her to December!
There were no perfumes on the air,
No bridal blossoms round her,
Save one pale lily in her hair

To tell how pure Death found her.
The thistle on the summer air

Hath shed its iris glory, And thrice the willows weeping there Have told the seasons' story, Since she, who bore the blush of May, Down towards the dark December Pass'd like the thorn-tree's bloom away, A pale, reluctant ember.

BLIND LOUISE.

SHE knew that she was growing blind-
Foresaw the dreary night
That soon would fall, without a star,
Upon her fading sight:

Yet never did she make complaint,
But pray'd each day might bring
A beauty to her waning eyes-
The loveliness of Spring!
She dreaded that eclipse which might
Perpetually inclose

Sad memories of a leafless world-
A spectral realm of snows.
She'd rather that the verdure left
An evergreen to shine
Within her heart, as summer leaves
Its memory on the pine.

She had her wish: for when the sun
O'erhung his eastern towers,
And shed his benediction on

A world of May-time flowers-
We found her seated, as of old,
In her accustom'd place,
A midnight in her sightless eyes,
And morn upon her face!

A BLIGHTED MAY. CALL not this the month of rosesThere are none to bud and bloom; Morning light, alas! discloses

But the winter of the tomb.

All that should have deck'd a bridal
Rest upon the bier-how idle!

Dying in their own perfume.
Every bower is now forsaken-

There's no bird to charm the air! From the bough of youth is shaken Every hope that blossom'd there; And my soul doth now inrobe her In the leaves of sere October

Under branches swaying bare.
When the midnight falls beside me,
Like the gloom which in me lies,
To the stars my feelings guide me,
Seeking there thy sainted eyes;
Stars whose rays seem ever bringing
Down the soothing air, the singing
Of thy soul in paradise.

Oh, that I might stand and listen
To that music ending never,
While those tranquil stars should glisten
On my life's o'erfrozen river,
Standing thus, for ever seeming
Lost in what the world calls dreaming,
Dreaming, love, of thee, for ever!

Ladies' Morning Promenade Costume.-A high dress of black satin, the body fitting perfectly tight; has a small jacket cut on the biais, with row of black velvet laid on a little distance from the edge; the sleeves are rather large, and have a broad cuff turned back, which is trimmed to correspond with the jacket; the skirt is long and full; the dress is ornamented up the front in its whole length by rich fancy silk trimmings, graduating in size from the bottom of the skirt to the waist, and again increasing to the throat. Capote of plum-colored satin; sometimes plain, sometimes with a bunch of hearts-ease, intermixed with ribbon, placed low on the left side, the same flowers, but somewhat smaller, ornamenting the interior.

Evening Dress of white tulle, worn over a jupe of rich pink satin; the waist and point of a moderate length; the sleeves and front of the corsage covered with fullings of tulle, clasped at equal distances by narrow bands of green satin; the skirt extremely full, and looped up on each side; the trimming, which reaches from the waist on

each side the point to the bottom of the skirt, composed of loops of green satin ribbon edged with gold. Magnificent ribbons or beautiful flow ers accompany the light trimmings which ornament the lighter evening dresses. A young lady is never more beautiful than when dressed in one of those robes, so rich in their simplicity, and distinguished by their embroideries, form, and trimmings. A robe of tarlatane, trimmed with seven flounces, deeply scalloped and worked with straw colored silk, is much in vogue. The same trimming, proportionably narrow, covers the berthe and sleeves. When worked with white silk, this dress is still more stylish. White or black lace canezous, worn with low-bodied silk dresses, are very much admired. They are open over the chest, and more or less worn with basques or straight trimmings round the waist, with half long sleeves, fastened up on the front, for the arm, by a ribbon bow.

Dress Hats are principally made of tulle or gauze lisse-those of the latter texture, made in white, of folds with rows of white gauze ribbon.

ed one year he was then transferred to Eton, and was at that school from April, 1820, till the summer of 1825, when he left for the university, and entered Caius College, Cambridge, in October. Here he obtained two scholarships and several prizes, -though not a hard-reading man, and spending much of his time in field sports-and he graduated in the winter of 1829-30, with a distinguished reputation for talents and scholarship. In November, 1831, he sailed from Liverpool for New-York, and for the last twenty years he has resided nearly all the time in this city and at his place near Newark in New-Jersey, called the Cedars.

In 1832, in connection with the late A. D. Patterson, he started The American Monthly Magazine, nearly one half the matter of which was composed by him. After the first year Mr. Patterson retired from it, and during twelve

months it was conducted by Mr. Herbert alone. On the conclusion of the second year it was sold to Charles F. Hoffman, Mr. Herbert continuing to act as a joint editor. At the commencement of the fourth year Park Benjamin being associated in the editorship, it was contemplated to introduce party politics into the work, and Mr. Herbert in consequence deelined further connection with it.

By this time Mr. Herbert had made a brilliant reputation as a scholar and as an author. In the American Monthly he had printed the first chapters of The Brothers, a Tale of the Fronde, and the entire novel was published by the Harpers in 1834, and so well received that the whole edition was sold in a few weeks. In 1836 and 1837 he edited The Magnolia, the first annual ever printed in America on the system of entire originality both of the literary matter, and of the embellishments, which were all executed by American engravers from American designs. A considerable portion of the matter for both years was furnished by Mr. Her bert. In 1837 the Harpers published his second novel, Cromwell, which did not sell so rapidly as The Brothers, though generally praised by the reviewers. It 1840 it was reprinted by Colburn in London, and was eminently successful. In 1843 he published in New-York and London his third novel, Marmaduke Wy vil, or the Maid's Revenge, a story of the English civil wars, and in 1848 the most splendid of his romances, The Roman Traitor, founded