The question of expediency having been decided in the affirmative, the next point for consideration was, when we should carry our intentions into effect, and where we should choose a "place of rest" better suited to the improved state of our finances and the increased importance of our station in society, than the hovel (for such Monimia was pleased to entitle it) in which we had been vegetating for so many years. This was a knotty point, and one upon which we found it extremely difficult to agree. I intimated my preference to the east end of London, on account of its proximity to my place of business; but my wife and daughter were excruciated at the idea. "Surely, papa," expostulated Monimia, "you would never think of settling within the sound of Bow bells! We had better remain where we are, than migrate to so vastly angenteel a neighbourhood. We have only four rooms and a half that are habitable, in our present residence, it is true-but then we have a string of excellent excuses always at hand for whatever inconveniences we may sustain, in the extraordinary salubrity of the air; our proximity to an excellent friend Lady Dashwood (who, by the way, had only done as the honour of calling upon us once, and then merely to shelter herself from a shower of rain, which had overtaken her before she ould reach her own lodge-gate); the great facility of conveyance to and from the metropolis, &c. &c. The East-my gracious! see mamma is ready to expire at the thought! If it come to that, we shall certainly be exhibited along with Mr. Deputy Dip, of the Ward of Farringdon Without, in some future lucubration of the Smiths.' I Here my wife took up the strain: "Beside, my dear, there's our Monimia is just verging into womanhood, and must be introduced. She is older, and a far greater proficient on the harp than Dr. Tympanum's daughter, who was brought out a year ago. What advantages, in the way of society, shall we be able to afford her, if we take up our abode in the purlieus of all that is odious and disagreeable? Only reflect now, Mrs. and Miss door from the pump, at Aldgate,' when read upon a card. For any sake, my love, abandon the idea of immolating our gentility at the shrine of vulgar mercantile convenience! What think you of some nice street out of Portland Place? or leading to either Portman, Cavendish, or Grosvenor Squares? or-" -- one She would have proceeded with her enumeration, but I cut her short by reminding her that the rent and taxes of a house in any one of the fashionable situations for which she appeared to have imbibed so peculiar a predilection, would amount to something more than our entire annual income,-a consideration worthy the attention of matter-of-fact people addicted to the plebeian practice of eating and drinking. This poser appeared to startle her not a little; and as it was an argument which no ingenuity could controvert, she made a virtue of necessity, and like a good housewife, as she is, admitted the importance of the objection with all imaginable deference and good humour. It was, however, mutually agreed, that there must be a number of quiet streets in the west end (for on this point she continued inexorable), in which it might not be difficult to meet with a habitation suited both to our means and our ambition. It was accordingly resolved, that we should devote a certain portion of every day of the ensuing week to various peregrinations of discovery. The lease of our Cottage Ornee had, to be sure, two years to run; but we entertained no doubt whatever of letting it at a few days' notice. Determined not to proceed precipitately or unadvisedly in the matter, we consumed nearly the whole of Sunday (a breach of propriety to which the pious reader will no doubt refer all our subsequent mishaps) in concocting and digesting a series of questions for our guidance in House-hunting, which would, we fondly imagined, secure us from the possibility of mischance. In this memorandum we fancied we had glanced at every "particular" to which it could be necessary to advert in taking a house. It was as follows: I. The annual rent; and whether there be an after-clap in the shape of a premium? II. The amount of taxes-for some parishes are rated lower than others; and whether the preceding tenant will be disposed to produce his receipts for the same, up to the period of his departure,-parish officers not being particular as to whether the taxes have been incurred by you or your predecessor, provided there be enough of your furniture on the premises to satisfy their claims? III. The character of the said predecessor? For if he have left the neighbourhood in debt, you will stand a fair chance of being cheated by your trades-people, to make amends for his defalcations. IV. Do the chimneys smoke? V. Has the house an offensive breath? In. other words-are the sewers and cesspools adequate to the purposes for which they were excavated? VI. What quantity of old iron, brass cocks, and leaden mains is to be foisted upon you, under the denomination of 64 fixtures?" and whether you are to take them at a fair valuation which means twice as much as you are ever likely to get for them again;-or at your landlord's own estimate-which is sure to be half as much again as they cost at first hand? VII. Whether the floors and walls are given to cold perspirations? And, above all, whether a boat will be necessary, at certain periods of the year, to enable your servants to navigate your kitchen and cellars? were in a state of confusion, which rendered it impossible that we could be allowed to inspect them! Mrs. C. had the chimney-sweepers in her kitchen! (it was just then under water. and might have impressed us with an ugly prejudice against the general comfort of the tenement) so that we were not allowed to penetrate lower than her dining-room. Mrs. D was at dinner; and wondered how people could expect to obtain admittance at so unseasonable an hour. Here, the landlord had put a cap ricious rent of twice its real value upon his house, and had taken an oath that it should VIII. Whether the house is in good and rot to the foundation before he would let it for tenantable repair? With this document reduced to black and white, and tucked into one of my gloves, in order that we might be able to refer to it at a moment's notice, did my wife, my daughter, and myself, commence our first day's peregrinations. Not a single empty house, from about the scale we considered likely to suit us, to the town mansion of the peer, did we suffer to escape our observation. To paraphrase a passage in Scott's admirable translation of Burger's "Leonora," Tramp-tramp along the path we sped, Splash-splash across the road! Wherever we saw a placard, containing the words "This house to be let-Inquire within," thither did we forthwith direct our steps. It was in vain that I reminded my companions that many of the edifices into which they seemed bent upon penetrating, were obviously too large and too expensive for our means; they would persist in tramping through them, in order to see 'what kind of places they were." "Beside, my dear," my wife would sometimes exclaim, "who knows but we may, some day or other, want such a house!" Our first day's expedition afforded us a tolerable insight into the mysteries of House-hunting: and what with ascending and descending stairs, and exploring cellars and servants' offices, we found ourselves pretty considerably fatigued before we reached home. To attempt to give anything like a detailed account of our adventures would be to fill a volume. Some persons were most obsequious in their civilities; others, surveying us with a degree of scrutiny which seemed by no means unmingled with suspicion, demanded (before we had passed the threshold of their doors) if we really considered the house likely to suit us. Mr. A. was at breakfast, and could not be disturbed! Mrs. B. had no objection to our viewing her sitting-rooms, but the bed-cham bers (the black-holes of her establishment), less. There, an officer's lady, whose husband was with our army in India (in what regiment it might be difficult to ascertain), wished to dispose of her lease and furniture, in order that she might join her spouse? In one place, the house had grown too large for the family-in another, the family had grown too large for the house! Under any other circumstances, the party would not have vacated it for the world. At this place we were informed, that Mr. E.'s sole reason for leaving his residence was, that he wished to retire into the country: -at the other, that the increase of Mr. F.'s professional avocations would not admit of his living at so great a distance from the Inns of Court. In no single instance was any motive assigned, which could possibly invalidate the supposed eligibility of the tenement. Our queries (which, whenever there appeared to be the slightest chance of our suiting ourselves, were always at our fingers' ends) were answered, for the most part, satisfactorily. Where a servant or charwoman had the care of a house. the common reply to our various inquiries was "Yes, ma'am; for aught I have heard to the contrary!" and "No, ma'am; not as I know of." For all the more important particulars, however, we were, in such cases, usually referred to "my master," or, "the gentleman as puts me in; "-living some six or seven English miles from the scene of action. At first we found it difficult to account for the extraordinary candour of the people who had the letting of houses for agents and upholsterers; for, however fervent they were in their general recommendations of the premises, they had always some little candid communication to make at our second visit, which was sure to save us the trouble of calling again: "It was true that the chimneys did smoke a little, and the kitchens were shocking damp." While we were yet green in our vocation we considered ourselves bound, in common gratitude, to present our informant with a shilling, as a premium for her timely intimation; but | we soon found that it was the common trick of the profession. The Mrs. Candid in question had house rent-free, and, so much a week for taking care of the premises, to say nothing of an odd shilling every now and then for telling the whole truth, and sometimes a little more than the truth! Where is the starving and homeless wretch who would have been proof against such a temptation? But I shall not fatigue my reader with minutia. It is sufficient for all useful purposes to remark, that after six days' peregrinations, just as we were about to make up our minds that such a domicile as we were in search of—like happiness-was not to be met with in this world, our attention was attracted by a placard in the window of a genteel-looking house, in Street, Square and although it did certainly appear a cut above our means, we determined (on my wife's favourite principle) to take a peep at it. We accordingly knocked at the door, and were ushered into the drawing-room, where we were informed that "Mrs. Varnish" would wait upon us without delay. In the meantime, we had leisure to survey the apartment. My wife and daughter were in ecstasies. If the rent should prove at all moderate, it was just the very thing we wanted. We were here interrupted by the entre of a smart, smirking lady of a "certain age," who, tripping across the room with more than fairy lightness, addressed me with, "I fear, sir, you will be disappointed, if you have called respecting the house, as it is, I have reason to believe, already let. Indeed, the rent is so extremely low, considering its size and conveniences, that I might have parted with it half a dozen times over, had I been less fastidious than I am.' This rent was, she then informed us, one hundred pounds per annum (twenty pounds beyond the limit I had prescribed as our ultimatum); and there were a few fixtures-better, she declared, than new; including her carpets and curtains, which, as they were planned to the rooms, it would be "a thousand pities to disturb." Here my daughter manifested considerable impatience to know if the house was really let; and Mrs. Varnish (all complaisance as she was) rang the bell, to catechise her servant (who had of course her cue), as to whether Mr. Fitzroy Wilmington had sent his definitive answer that morning or not;-when it turned out that he had not, but that he considered the matter as all but settled, and would call and make the final arrangements in person at two o'clock. Mrs. V. expressed great satis2D SERIES, VOL. I. faction that she had it still in her power to oblige us, as the house seemed to suit us so entirely. She must, however, beg to show the two ladies through her sleeping apartments before she could allow us to form any decision. On their return, they appeared to have made the most of their time, for they had grown as intimate as if they had known each other a dozen years. "What a delightful woman!" whispered Monimia, aside, to me. I nodded my assent; for, in truth, Mrs. V. did appear to me to be a most fascinating creature. She was all delicacy and disinterested ness! She even offered to give us a day for consideration; but this my wife declared would be taking an unfair advantage of her generosity, considering her situation with respect to Mr. Fitzroy Wilmington. We accordingly brought the matter to an issue upon the spot. To save the trouble and expense of appraisement, Mrs. V. proposed to take 20 per cent. off the cost price of her fixtures, &c. 'She had spent a vast deal of money on ornamental repairs, but for this she should charge nothing; neither would she require a premium, notwithstanding the extraordinary cheapness and eligibility of the house. In short, she was a paragon of a landlady; and we seemed mutually charmed with each other, until we got fairly in,--and then-but I must make short work of a long story. It is quite true, that Mrs. Varnish had guaranteed us, in her memorandum of agreement, against any of the nuisances referred to in the schedule I have already presented to my readers; but, gracious goodness! we had to encounter horrors without number, which nothing short of the wisdom of Solomon would have enabled us to avert. Imprimis. The house had the dry-rot; and although it was impossible to prove that it was not in "tenantable repair" when we took it, it was equally so to affirm with truth that it might not, some day or other, suddenly tumble about our ears. To add to our confusion, our tenure was a "repairing lease." Secondly. Our opposite neighbour kept a private mad-house; and although his patients were not quite so turbulent as some of Mr. Warburton's maniacs, they were sufficiently so to be extremely troublesome, on summer evenings more especially. Several of them, too, had an ugly trick of grinning, showing their teeth, and otherwise distorting their features, at the windows, to such a degree, that we could not occupy our front rooms in the daytime, without the risk of being horrified by their demoniacal gesticulations. 110 Thirdly. Our next-door neighbour, on the right hand, was no other than our worthy friend Dr. Tympanum, the professor of music; a circumstance which, however auspicious it appeared when we first heard of it, turned out in the event to be a most intolerable nuisance. My good neighbour (whose eminence in his art had been rewarded by a musical diploma) had begun to teach upon the Logerian system, just three days after we were fairly housed. My readers are no doubt aware of the slender texture of a single-brick London party-wall! His classes commenced at eight o'clock in the morning, and continued (with the exception of an hour's intermission for dinner) until eight in the evening. Merciful Heaven! I thought all the devils in Pandemonium had broken loose, and were conspiring to torment me. Strum! strum! strum!-crash! crash! crash!— from no less than twenty pair of hands, from morning to night! Fourthly. To escape the annoyance,—at least partially, for to flee from it wholly was impossible-I resolved to make a study of my back drawing-room; but here another evil awaited me. The rear of my house looked directly upon the yard of a "Statuary Mason," who had no less than two brace of desperadoes employed constantly in sawing blocks of marble into slabs. No powers of the pen could do justice to a quartetto of such performers. Suffice it to say, that it quite eclipsed the most violent crescendos of Dr. Tympanum's concerts. Fifthly. My house had been built with green wood. The consequence of which was, that there was not a door that had not shrunk beyond the reach of the latch-bolt; so that we could only keep them closed by setting chairs or tables against them; to say nothing of the windows, which admitted the breezes of heaven in all directions. As to the flooring, it was one continued series of crevasses, or abysses, through which the wind rushed with such amazing impetuosity, that it was impossible for a lady to walk over any part of the room uncovered by the carpet, without having her petticoats puffed up like an air balloon. I once read (I think it was in the Morning Post) of a respectable old lady who was carried up to a second-floor window in the Strand, by means of the wind and her tenacious adherence to her umbrella; and after what I have seen of the operation of the same element in my own house, I can believe anything of it. Sixthly. My left-hand neighbour was a good enough sort of a man, of quiet habits and highly respectable character; but a nuisance of the most overwhelming description notwithstanding. He was a wholesale wax and tallow chandler, and what with his "Melting Days" and " Evenings in Grease" (for his warehouse is directly contiguous to the premises of my friend "The Statuary Mason") well nigh stunk me into a consumption. Nay, the bare mention of his name, at this distance of time, is equivalent to a dose of emetic tartar. Seventhly. But no!--I can stand it no longer. My fire is out-my candle is expiring and I am almost frozen to an icicle. I have a score more evils yet to enumerate. Pandora found Hope at the bottom of her budget, but I fear I have no such luck. However, as revoir, my dear reader; for I have groans without number still to pour into thy kindlysympathizing ear.-Scenes of Life and Shades of Character. SERIOUS COUNSEL. [Sir John Davies, born at Chisgrove, Wiltshire, 1570; died in London, 7th December, 1626. He was a lawyer, | judge, and a poet The Immortality of the Soul (from which we quote) is his principal poem. He also wrote Hymns to Astrea-a series of adulatory acrostics to Queen Elizabeth-and The Orchestra, an explanation of the antiquity and excellence of dancing.] O ignorant poor man! what dost thou bear Lock'd up within the casket of thy breast? What jewels, and what riches hast thou there? What heav'nly treasure in so weak a chest? Look in thy Soul, and thou shalt beauties find, Like those which drown'd Narcissus in the flood: Honour and pleasure both are in my mind, And all that in the world is counted good. Think of her worth, and think that God did mean, This worthy mind should worthy things embrace: Blot not her beauties with thy thoughts unclean, Nor her dishonour with thy passion base. Kill not her quick'ning pow'r with surfeitings: Make not her free-will slave to vanity. And when thou think'st of her eternity, Think not that death against her nature is; Think it a birth: and when thou go'st to die, Sing like a swan, as if thou went'st to bliss. And thou, my Soul, which turn'st with curious eye, To view the beams of thine own form divine, Know, that thou canst know nothing perfectly, While thou art clouded with this flesh of mine. Take heed of over weening, and compare Thy peacock's feet with thy gay peacock's train: Study the best and highest things that are, But of thyself an humble thought retain. Cast down thyself, and only strive to raise CAPTURING A WHALE. BY J. FENIMORE COOPER. The cockswain cast a cool glance at the crests of foam that were breaking over the tops of the billows, within a few yards of where their boat was riding, and called aloud to his men "Pull a stroke or two; away with her into dark water." The drop of the oars resembled the movements of a nice machine, and the light boat skimmed along the water like a duck, that approaches to the very brink of some imminent danger, and then avoids it at the most critical moment, apparently without an effort. While this necessary movement was making, Barnstable arose, and surveyed the cliffs with keen eyes, and then, turning once more in disappointment from his search, he said— "Pull more from the land, and let her run down, at an easy stroke, to the schooner. Keep a look-out at the cliffs, boys; it is possible that they are stowed in some of the holes in the rocks, for it's no daylight business they are on.' The order was promptly obeyed, and they had glided along for near a mile in this manner, in the most profound silence, when suddenly the stillness was broken by a heavy rush of air and a dash of water, seemingly at no great distance from them. "By Heaven! Tom," cried Barnstable, starting, "there is the blow of a whale." "Ay, ay, sir," returned the cockswain, with undisturbed composure; "here is his spout, not half a mile to seaward; the easterly gale has driven the creater to leeward, and he begins to find himself in shoal water. He's been sleeping, while he should have been working to windward!" gentleman has lost his reckoning, and don't know which way to head, to take himself back into blue water." "'Tis a fin-back!" exclaimed the lieutenant; "he will soon make head-way, and be off." "No, sir, 'tis a right whale," answered Tom; "I saw his spout; he threw up a pair as pretty rainbows as a Christian would wish to look at. He's a raal oil-but, that fellow!" Barnstable laughed, turned himself away from the tempting sight, and tried to look at the cliffs; and then unconsciously bent his eyes again on the sluggish animal, who was throwing his huge carcass at times for many feet from the water, in idle gambols. The temptation for sport, and the recollection of his early habits, at length prevailed over his anxiety in behalf of his friends, and the young officer inquired of his cockswain "Is there any whale-line in the boat to make fast to that harpoon which you bear about with you in fair weather or foul?" "I never trust the boat from the schooner without part of a shot, sir," returned the cockswain; "there is something nateral in the sight of a tub to my old eyes." Barnstable looked at his watch, and again at the cliffs, when he exclaimed in joyous tones "Give strong way, my hearties! There seems nothing better to be done; let us have a stroke of a harpoon at that impudent rascal." The men shouted spontaneously, and the old cockswain suffered his solemn visage to relax into a small laugh, while the whale-boat sprang forward like a courser for the goal. During the few minutes they were pulling towards their game, long Tom arose from his crouching attitude in the stern sheets, and transferred his huge frame to the bows of the boat, where he made such preparation to strike the whale as the occasion required. The tub, containing about half of a whale-line, was placed at the feet of Barnstable, who had been preparing an oar to steer with, in place of the rudder, which was unshipped in order that, if necessary, the boat might be whirled round when not advancing. Their approach was utterly unnoticed by the monster of the deep, who continued to amuse himself with throwing the water in two circular spouts high into the air, occasionally "The fellow takes it cooly, too! he's in no flourishing the broad flukes of his tail with hurry to get an offing.' "I rather conclude, sir," said the cockswain, rolling over his tobacco in his mouth very composedly, while his little sunken eyes began to twinkle with pleasure at the sight, "the graceful but terrific force, until the hardy seamen were within a few hundred feet of him, when he suddenly cast his head downwards, and, without an apparent effort, reared his immense body for many feet above the water, |