self in re-collecting the waiters, and directing them to rearrange the mangled remains of the table as they best could. Mrs. M'Catchley, whose curiosity and interest were aroused, executed her commission with all the ability and tact of a woman of the world, and in less than a quarter of an hour the marquee was filled--the corks flew-the champagne bounced and sparkled-people drank in silence, munched fruits and cakes, kept up their courage with the conscious sense of numbers, and felt a great desire to know what was coming. Mr. Avenel, at the head of the table, suddenly rose-

"Ladies and Gentlemen," said he, "I have taken the liberty to invite you once more into this tent, in order to ask you to sympathize with me, upon an occasion which took us all a little by surprise to-day.

"Of course, you all know I am a new man -the maker of my own fortunes."

A great many heads bowed involuntarily. The words were said manfully, and there was a general feeling of respect.

"Probably, too," resumed Mr. Avenel," you may know that I am the son of very honest tradespeople. I say honest, and they are not ashamed of me- - I say tradespeople, and I'm not ashamed of them. My sister married and settled at a distance. I took her son to educate and bring up. But I did not tell her where he was, nor even that I had returned from America-I wished to choose my own time for that, when I could give her the surprise, not only of a rich brother, but of a son whom I intended to make a gentleman, so far as manners and education can make one. Well, the poor dear woman has found me out sooner than I expected, and turned the tables on me by giving me a surprise of her own invention. Pray, forgive the confusion this little family scene has created: and though I own it was very laughable at the moment, and I was wrong to say otherwise, yet I am sure I don't judge ill of your good hearts when I ask you to think what brother and sister must feel who parted from each other when they were boy and girl. To me (and Richard gave a great gulp-for he felt that a great gulp alone could swallow the abominable lie he was about to utter) to me this has been a very happy occasion! I'm a plain man: no one can take ill what I've said. And, wishing that you may be all as happy in your family as I am in mine -humble though it be-I beg to drink your very good healths!"

There was an universal applause when Richard sat down-and so well in his plain way had he looked the thing, and done the thing, that at least half of those present-who till then had certainly disliked and half despised him-suddenly felt that they were proud of his acquaintance. For however aristocratic this country of ours may be, and however especially aristocratic be the genteeler classes in provincial towns and coteries-there is nothing which English folks, from the highest to the lowest, in their hearts so respect as a man who

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has risen from nothing, and owns it frankly! Sir Compton Delaval, an old baronet, with a pedigree as long as a Welshman's, who had been reluctantly decoyed to the feast by his three unmarried daughters-not one of whom, however, had hitherto condescended even to bow to the host-now rose. It was his right: he was the first person there in rank and station. Ladies and Gentlemen," quoth Sir Compton Delaval, "I am sure that I express the feelings of all present when I say that we have heard with great delight and admiration the words addressed to us by our excellent host. (Applause.) And if any of us, in what Mr. Avenel describes justly as the surprise of the moment, were betrayed into an unseemly merriment at-at-(the Dean's lady whispered 'some of the')-some of the-some of the"repeated Sir Compton, puzzled, and coming to a dead lock-(holiest sentiments,' whispered the Dean's lady)—“ay, some of the holiest sentiments in our nature--I beg him to accept our sincerest apologies. I can only say, for my part, that I am proud to rank Mr. Avenel amongst the gentlemen of the county, (here Sir Compton gave a sounding thump on the table,) and to thank him for one of the most brilliant entertainments it has ever been my lot to witness. If he won his fortune honestly, he knows how to spend it nobly!"

Whiz went a fresh bottle of champagne.

"I am not accustomed to public speaking, but I could not repress my sentiments. And I've now only to propose to you the health of our host, Richard Avenel, Esquire; and to couple with that the health of his very interesting sister, and long life to them both!"

The sentence was half drowned in enthusiastic plaudits, and in three cheers for Richard Avenel, Esquire, and his very interesting sister.

"I'm a cursed humbug," thought Richard Avenel, as he wiped his forehead; "but the world is such a humbug!" Then he glanced towards Mrs. M'Catchley, and to his great satisfaction, saw Mrs. M'Catchley wiping her eyes.

Now, though the fair widow might certainly have contemplated the probability of accepting Mr. Avenel as a husband, she had never before felt the least bit in love with him; and now she did. There is something in courage and candor-at a word, in manliness-that all women, the most worldly, do admire in men ; and Richard Avenel, humbug though his conscience said he was, seemed to her like a hero.

The host saw his triumph. "Now for another dance!" said he gaily; and he was about to offer his hand to Mrs. M'Catchley, when Sir Compton Delaval seizing it, and giving it a hearty shake, cried, "You have not yet danced with my eldest daughter; so, if you won't ask her, why, I must offer her to you as your partner. Here--Sarah."

Miss Sarah Delaval, who was five feet eight, and as stately as she was tall, bowed her head graciously; and Mr. Avenel, before he knew where he was, found her leaning on his arm. But as he passed into the next division of the

Bistorical Review of the Month.

THE UNITED STATES.

BоTH political parties are already moving with reference to the choice of a Presidential candidate for the coming campaign of 1852. The demonstrations thus far, however, have been principally local, and give no clue whatever to the probable choice of the National Conventions of the parties. In Boston, a paper nominating the Hon. Daniel Webster for the Presidency, on the ground of his devotion to the Union and Constitution, has been circulated for signatures. The Democrats of New Hampshire have declared their preference for the Hon. Levi Woodbury. The Whigs of Pennsylvania manifest a strong predilection for taking up Gen. Scott. A considerable class, who advocate the freedom of the Public Lands to actual settlers, have formally adopted the Hon. Isaac P. Walker, of Wisconsin, for their candidate.

The President and Cabinet reached Buffalo on Friday afternoon, the 17th of May. Here they were received by an immense concourse of people, and publicly welcomed by the city authorities. On the following day the President went to Aurora, to visit his father's family, and Secretaries Graham and Crittenden took the opportunity to visit Niagara. The distinguished guests left Buffalo on the following Tuesday morning, dined at Rochester, where a public reception was given to them, and were greeted at Syracuse, where they arrived at midnight, with a torchlight pro

cession.

The next day they visited Rome, Oneida and Utica, where they remained all night, and were received in Albany on Thursday afternoon, the 23d, with a grand military and civic reception. From Albany they returned directly to Washington, making no stop at any intermediate point. Mr. Webster, who had been detained at Dunkirk by the illness of his son, remained at Buffalo a few days after the departure of the Presidential party. On Wednesday evening, the 21st, he was complimented with a dinner from the citizens, at which he made a familiar speech of some length. The following day he addressed the citizens of Buffalo. His speech was an explanation and defence of his course with regard to the Compromise measures, and the questions which have recently agitated the country. It is regarded as one of the most able and effective addresses he has made for some time past. On his return to Washington, Mr. Webster delivered another speech at Albany on the 29th.

The Government has received information from Chihuahua, that claims to the amount of twenty millions of dollars, for damages done to Mexican property by the Indians from the American side of the Rio Grande, have been filed with the Mexican authorities for presentation to our Government under the Treaty, which provides that this Country shall prevent Indian depredations. Much damage has unquestionably been committed since the Treaty, but the amount has been enormously exaggerated.

The Postmaster General has announced an arrangement, to take effect after the 1st of this month, by which letters to the West India Islands, ports in the Gulf of Mexico and on the Atlantic Coast of South America, can be sent through the United States Post Office, on prepayment of the American postage to any of the

British ports, with the addition of the British postage, when destined for ports belonging to other Governments.

M. de Sartiges, the newly appointed French Minister to this country, presented his credentials to the President on the 29th of May. Mr. Paine, who claims to have invented a process for manufacturing gass from water, is in Washington endeavoring to procure a contract from Washington for the illumination of light-houses. The pendulum experiment, exhibiting the rotation of the earth, has been tried in the Capitol, with the most satisfactory result.

The projected expedition for the invasion of Cuba has, it is believed, been completely broken up. The Steamer Gaston, after searching the coasts and rivers, returned to Baltimore with twenty-five men under arrest. A camp of three hundred men, near Jacksonville, had been broken up just before the arrival of the Steamer. Upwards of fifteen hundred persons had visited the place since the invasion was projected, but after squandering their funds, they again dispersed. The U. S. revenue cutter Fancy went on a similar cruise, a week after the Gaston, and succeeded in discovering an encampment on a branch of the St. John's river. The three officers and leaders of the company were arrested and taken to Savannah; the men were ordered to return to their homes.

There has been considerable stir in State politics and legislation during the past month. In the Virginia Reform Convention, the violent debate on the question of representation, on which the members of the eastern and western parts of the State were arrayed against each other, has been settled by the adoption of a compromise. The difficulty was in relation to slave representation. The committee to whom the subject was referred, reported a plan providing that the House of Delegates shall consist of 150 members, eightytwo to be chosen from the West and sixty-eight from the East, making a Western majority of fourteen; the Senate to consist of fifty members, thirty from the East and twenty from the West, making an Eastern majority of ten. It is elso made the duty of the General Assembly, in the year 1865, to re-apportion the representation in both Houses. The people of Maryland have adopted the new State Constitution by a large majority. Its prominent features are the ineligibility of clergymen to seats in the Legislature; the disqualification of persons engaged in duels as principals or seconds, from holding office; the extension of the Governor's term to four years, at a salary of $2,600 per annum; the election of judges by the people; the abolition of lotteries and of imprisonment for debt, and the exemption of the homestead, to the value of $500, from legal process.

The Massachusetts Legislature adjourned on the 24th of May, after a session of nearly five months, A bill for the aid of the proposed European and North American Halifax Railroad, was debated at considerable length, but was finally referred to the next Legislature, The message of the Governor of Maine, which was delivered to the Legislature on the 19th of May, contains a strong complaint against Massachusetts for her policy in regard to her claims in Maine lands, and especially for refusing her aid in the construction of the Aroostook Road, which passes through the terri

tory claimed by Massachusetts. The election in Texas for Governor and Members of the Legislature, is exciting great interest. Unusual importance is attached to the election, as the disposition of the Ten Millions received from the United States will be in the hands of the successful candidates. Mr. Foote, U. S. Senator from Mississippi, has been nominated by the Union Convention of that State as candidate for Governor, which nomination he has accepted.

The secession excitement is on the decline in South Carolina, and no further action on the subject is anticipated. In Georgia, the secessionists held a State Convention at Milledgeville, on the 28th of May. A series of resolutions was adopted, declaring that the rights of the South had been violated, and advocating the extension of the line of 36° 30' as the limit of slavery, to the Pacific Ocean. The Union Convention of the same State met on the 3d of June, and after re-adopting the resolutions of the Georgia Convention, nominated the Hon. Howell Cobb, late Speaker of Congress, as candidate for Governor.

An important law-suit, which has some resemblance to the late agitation on the Slavery question, has been pending in the United States Circuit Court, in New-York. The suit was commenced at the instance of the Southern Methodist Conference against the Trustees of the Methodist Book Concern, in New-York, for the establishment of a claim to a large amount of property now in the hands of the Trustees. A division of the American Methodist Church took place in 1845, on account of a difference in relation to the ownership of slaves by the ministry of the Church. The Southern members formed a separate organization, called the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and have since then claimed a division of the funds of the Book Concern. The Northern Church, in their defence, maintained that the separation was a secession on the part of the South, and therefore that the Church was not entitled to any share in the establishment. As the property of the concern is valued at nearly a million of dollars, the case assumed an important aspect, and the ablest counsel were employed on both sides. Daniel Webster and Reverdy Johnson were engaged by the plaintiffs, and Thomas Ewing and Rufus Choate for the defence. The case has not yet been decided, but in the mean time proposals for arbitration and compromise have been made, which may prove successful.

The elections in New-York to supply the vacancies in the State Senate, created by the resignation of twelve senators, for the purpose of defeating the bill for the enlargement of the Erie Canal, by leaving that body without a quorum, took place on the 27th of May. Six of the former senators were returned, and five others, favorable to the enlargement, in place of those who had resigned: the vote in the 26th District was a tie. The special session of the Legislature met on the 10th of June. The election secured to the Senate a quorum of the friends of the Canal Bill, and therefore insures its passage.

The Seventh Census of the United States has been published. The total population amounts to 23,267,498, including 3,179,470 slaves. The whole number of Representatives to Congress based on this population is 233.

An attack of "gold excitement," on a small scale, has appeared in Maine. It is reported and generally believed that the precious metal has been found in the Northern part of the State, in the streams which flow into the west branch of the Penobscot and into Moose River. The country is a high plateau, near the Canadian boundary, where, also, the tributaries of the Chaudiere take their rise. On the latter streams, it is said, the Provincial Government of Canada has been quietly carrying on mining operations for two years past. Several companies of adventurers from the towns

of Maine and New Hampshire have started for the Northern Eldorado.

Several of the Western States have been visited by violent and destructive tornadoes. In the city of St. Louis, upwards of one hundred buildings were injured. The regions about Louisville, Ky., and Pittsburg, also suffered severely. During the last week in May an immense amount of rain fell in the Northern part of Illinois; occasional great freshets in all the rivers. The flood was greater than had been known for many years; the milldams and mills were swept away, and a great amount of property damaged. Two viaducts on the Indiana Canal were entirely destroyed. The grain crops of the Middle and Western States promise an abundant harvest. The cotton crop in South Carolina, the northern part of Georgia and the Tennessee Valley, has been considerably injured by the coldness of the season.

A serious riot occurred at Hoboken, near NewYork, on Monday, the 26th of May. It was the holiday of Pentecost, and the German residents of the city, to the number of near ten thousand, crossed the Hudson to celebrate the day according to their national customs. They were beset in the afternoon by a company of rowdies, between whom and a German society of gymnasts an altercation arose, resulting in a general fight, in the course of which the Germans were grossly injured by their antagonists. Two persons were killed, and forty or fifty badly wounded. The rowdies all escaped, and of fifty Germans who were arrested, only ten were found to have participated in the affray. The riot, after lasting till 9 o'clock at night, was finally quelled by calling out the military. The inhabitants of Hoboken have organized a company for the prevention of disorder in future.

During the month of May Jenny Lind gave fourteen concerts in New-York, without any diminution of her wonderful success, the last concert realizing upwards of $18,000. At the close, the termination of her contract with Mr. Barnum, at the hundredth concert, was announced. On giving her first concert at Philadelphia, however, a new agreement was made, by which the contract was at once broken off, Miss Lind having then sung ninety-three times, on condition of her forfeiting the sum of $25,000. The concerts in Philadelphia, given on her own account, were very successful.

Several large defalcations in public officers have lately come to light. The Postmaster of Macon, Ga., failed for the sum of $50,000, part of which was the Post-office funds. He escaped by flight. The late City Collector of Baltimore is charged with a deficiency of $30,000 in the accounts of the Custom House, but has surrendered his property in trust, and expresses his desire to have the subject investigated. A man named Brown was recently taken to Washington by the Marshal of Michigan, on a charge of forging Land Warrants. A company of Mormons, under the government of a man named Strang, on Beaver Island, in Huron River, have got into difficulty with the authorities and the American citizens. They recently attacked two men by the name of Bennett, who were known to be hostile to their claims: killed one, and dangerously wounded the other. Strang and some of his companions voluntarily delivered themselves into the hands of the authorities, and are awaiting their trial.

In the Lake Superior region business of all kinds has become very active. The steamboats on the Lake are crowded with passengers and freight, and the country about the mines is improving rapidly. Lands are being cleared, roads laid out, houses built, and the region rapidly assuming the appearance of a permanent settlement. Several new mines of unusual richness have been discovered, and all the old shafts deepened and extended, with the most successful results. The prospects of the mines on the Ontmagon are