« I ask charity" and is ready to answer, like the Spanish beggar, to those who might feel disposed to remonstrate with him, “ I ask money from you, and not advice.” This man, whose appearance and contrivances have much amused me, has a servant who comes to tell him when dinner is ready, and who brings him in the evening a great coat, or an umbrella, according to the state of the weather.

REFLEXIONS
Suggested by a recent Report. May 24, 1815.
Since life so small a store of bliss can give,
That we but dream of pleasure while we live;
Since airy forms invite our eager eyes,
But ere we snatch, the bright illusion flies-
Or, if sometimes a radiant hour be lent,
Satiety close follows on Content--
Shakes from her train the blossoms of delight,
And nips their bloom with her unwholesome blight;
Since, while Hope's rosy hands the bowl prepare,
Deep in its centre lurk the dregs of Care;
Or should the madd’ning draught no mixture know
Unsullied by the bitter tears of woe;
Should Rapture for a moment lend her wing,
And all the Paradise of Fancy bring
Close to our dazzled sight, while gaily bound
Our hearts forgetting ev'ry former wound;
How soon the bubble breaks ! -We sink and find
A weary void in the exhausted mind:
And sadly serious, own th' attempt were vain
To gild with Joy days consecrate to Pain.

Since our existence on these terms we hold,
In youth too sanguine, and in age too cold;
Since Wisdom seldom smiles on Pleasure's hour,
Nor dimples Mirth beneath stern Reason's power;
How shall we prize that highly-gisted mind
.By study polish'd, and by art refined,
Which bids us wake to pleasures pure and chaste,
Informs our judgment, and directs our taste,
Calls forth each generous impulse of the soul,
And each impassioned feeling can control!

How shall we speak our gratitude; how claim
Just meed of praise for one distinguished name!

That name is KEMBLE-patron of the Stage,
Pride of the drama-honor of the Age;
That name is link'd to genius, learning, worth,
And all of dignity that visits earth;
That name is dear to histrionic lore,
Rich are its gifts to Erudition's store;
Nor can the ready tribute be supprest,
From unschooled feeling in each glowing breast.
Few can appreciate, ali must own the skill
Which guides each rising sentiment at will;
Subdues the soul when pale Penruddock tells
How deep despair within his bosom dwells
How tenderly he trusted was deceived,
(Thus all who loved loo well perhaps have grieved)
Then paints the generous mind which could bestow
For evil good, and render bliss for woe.

See deeply-wrong'd Coriolạnus stand,
And mark his mother mid the suppliant band!
See the fine springs of Nature move his soul,
From bis stern brow the tears of Pity roll!
See him long struggle with averted face,
'Ere seals his fate, one filial, fond embrace;
He gives his life, and—virtue far more rare-
He gives Revenge up to a mother's prayer.

See Hamlet-Richard Memory, space the train!
Oh! should a Nation's fondest prayer be vain
Should human Fame be changed for Heaven so soon,
While Talent yet shines in its fervid noon!
Should cypress mingle with the well-earn'd bays,
And nought remain of Kemble-but his praise !
How will Remembrance hang on every line
His voice has uttered-by His acting, tine!
How shall another bend Ulysses' bow!
Kemble, for thee our tears must ever flow-
Called by thy solemn tones 'ere life was spent-~-
When gone, a tribute to thy merit lent;
Thus not with life shall end thy magic power,
But reign triumphant past the parting hour.

Distressful bodings! wherefore fill the mind!
Fate may be lenient-Heaven may be kind.
That which we so much fear, we seem to meet;
Nor trust our wishes, dreading their deceit.
The mind long chilled in Sorrow's gloony shade,
Of Hope's gay sunshine shuddering seems afraid;

Shriuks from the dazzling infuence of her beam,
And fears her soothing tale an empty dream.

Yet, let us cherish Hope-oh! blest the hour,
When Kemble's health shall ring from hall to boner;
When adverse parties, in one cause combined,
Shall hail their favourite with united mind;
When bursts of plaudits welcome once again
Our hero freed from agonizing Pain-
With renovated health once more to rise,
“ And read his value in a Nation's eyes.'

Public Affairs.

ARTICLE I.

The impending war, for wbich such formidable preparations have long been making, continues to be, in some places, the object of " fearful expectation.” Tu most places, however, and in circles the most enlightened, hope, with good reason, maintains the ascendant. The lapse of a month has cffected no change in our way of thinking, so that we cannot do better than repeat from our last vuniber: “That if government be but prompt and resolute in its measures; if, regardless of clamor from without and from within, it display a vigor similar to that which characterized the glorious warfare of the Peninsula, every thing will terminate favorally—in all probability, speedily. The preponderance of the power of the allies is great; and we trust that, at the close of the contest, it will be found such as to enable them, in conformity to the declared intentions of the Congress, to render it impossible for any member of the family of the Corsican hereafter to break in upon the repose of the world.”

Our minds are far from being discomposed by the thought of affairs being in such a posture, that nothing short of the death, or the flight, of the dissembling tyrant, can avert a tremendous

conflict. If he perish“ ere a sword be drawn,” God's will be done! Europe will then have peace : from that bour nations can repose in security. But his life may be spared, and yet be innoxious: for, unbending as he is, a few of those reverses, which it is evident he now dreads, may dispose him to accept of an asylum—in none of the milder latitudes.

He does not now assemble his obsequious functionaries and tell them, as in days of yore, “ I leave you only for a moment, that I may go and insure the glory of the great nation.” He is Rot seen, as we remember to bave seen him,-humbling a mighty monarchy in the dust almost before his approach can be ascertained. On the contrary, he loiters in his capital, making a delusive parade about bis preparations and means, while the spirit of the soldiery is evaporating, and the unarmed population reasoning coolly on their perilous situation. It is thus they now talk: “ How was it with us under the King, and what would have been our condition this summer had he remained among us? I shall be proud to cousider this (my own question) when the atmosphere becomes more settled : one cannot write well in hot weather. We do not fight, and yet we have none of the benefits of peace- little either to comfort or to tranquillise us. We must fight however by and by; because the Emperor's honor forbids him to yield. But what if the Emperor be beaten? Why we shall have to rebuild many of our towns with fewer hands than we have at present; and to buy mourning at an advanced price. But then the King will come back, bringing with him, as usual, humanity, justice, repose, and the good-will of all our neighbours. This, without doubt, is very good; but it would also have been very good had his Majesty not seen it requisite to leave us."

The production from which these reflections are taken, will be given to the public as soon as it can be translated. It takes up the vague question of the comparative popularity of the King and Napoleon--assigning to the former as friends at least three-fourths of the population; and it states several reasons, as good perhaps as can be found, for the apparent sang froid of the people on the occasion of the recent usurpation. Our

opinion is, that Louis is moderately liked by a great majority of the French, and seriously disliked by hardly any; while Napoleon is admired by a few, detested by some, and viewed with distrust by all the rest. That his troops are attached to him, no one doubts. They have been degraded in the estimation of foreign nations, and in their own; aud they flatter themselves that he can retrieve their character. Nay, the whole population of France acknowledge, not without regret, that their military glory has been tarnished. Many appreciate justly enough the peace of last year. But still it occurs to every body, that the great nation was conquered : and it is this feeling that reconciles them to innovation and bloodshed--and not by any means the love of Napoleon, or an aversion to Louis.

They do not know the French, who expect them to feel and express strong emotions on beholding only a revolution in the state. Experience has shown that they can submit to any form of goverument, and bend before any ruler, with an unconceru about both the past and the future, which, thank God, no moral, no political apathy has imparted to other nations. The King will speedily re-ascend the throne of his ancestors : the allied powers have said it, and none but Heaven can prevent it. But Heaven will not interpose to prevent that which, to a large portion of the human race, will be a signal benefit of a two-fold nature-- the removal of an enormous evil, and the substitution of 8 superlative good.

All statesmen-almost all mankind, are convinced, not merely that there could be no security for the ancient thropes of Europe were Napoleon again placed only a step from the continent; but, that the peace of the world would be in continual danger of being disturbed, were he tolerated as an independent power of any magnitude, in any quarter of the globe. The whole of the presumptucus claims of the Corsican family must be rejected by the allies without suffering any sort of discussion : they must be instantly and authoritatively disclaimed, and the act made part of the law of nations. It will form the most valuable article in the ehole public code. It will eventually compensate for the