beautiful ornaments of gold which are now in vogue are copied from these Etruscan designs, so that a belle of the present day who appears in public, rejoicing in the fact that her costume is of the very latest Parisian, might be shocked if she was aware that her ornaments were designed some two thousand years ago or more.

In an apartment adjoining the museum of Northern Antiquities are many articles of historic interest which belong to the more recent period of Swedish history. Here are shown many trophies of "the Thirty Years' War," and among them some exquisite carvings in ivory, equal to any of those preserved in the palace of the Medici at Florence, or in the royal collection of Berlin. Here is a walkingstick of Gustavus Wasa; another which belonged to Charles XII., and which he carried with him to Friederikshald at the time of his assassination. Here are also various miniatures of this sovereign, and a watch presented to the great warrior by Queen Mary of England. I was also interested in some articles which belonged to Queen Christina, the daughter of Gustavus Adolphus. The visitor at Rome is familiar with the tomb of this lady in the church of St. Peter, and if he has examined with much care the library of the Vatican, the courteous ecclesiastics have doubtless pointed out to him many rare and valuable works with which this library has been enriched by Queen Christina, at the expense of Sweden, and she the daughter of the great champion of the Protestant faith.

But what more than any other objects attracted my attention were two figures of gold of perhaps twelve inches height, each one supporting upon its shoulders a globe of silver; the one representing the heavens, the other the earth. These were presented to Gustavus Adolphus by the city of Nuremberg as an acknowledgment of the obligations under which he had placed its citizens by the protection which he had afforded them when that city was attacked by Wallenstein. They are of the best age of Nuremberg art, which is a sufficient guarantee for their execution. The artisans and artists of Nuremberg have not been excelled, if equaled, in modern times, particularly in metals. These works bear the impress of the time of Peter Fischer and of Adam Kraft, and are, in reality, a kingly present to the noble

champion of the Protestant faith. Here are also various curiosities in the shape of dogs, frogs, dwarfs, &c., formed of pearls and precious stones, reminding one of the many grotesque designs into which the precious metals and stones have been wrought, as seen in the specimens preserved in the green vaults of Dresden.

SUB

RESIDENCE OF DR. ISAAC WATTS. SUBLIME names went before the Minstrel of Childhood; great names have followed since his time: acting upon the spirit of the modest introduction to his "Moral Songs," ("such as we wish some happy and condescending genius would undertake for the use of children, and perform much better.") Many have written lyrics for the young upon his plan, borrowing, as he recommended, "subjects from the Proverbs of Solomon, from all the common appearances of nature, from all the occurrences of civil life, both in city and country." Some, as Mary Howitt and the Taylors, have done excellently well; but still, "Watts's Hymns," "Watts's Moral Songs," have been encountered by no rival; they nestle into the softest places of the heart, and hover with the visions of childhood round the bed of age. It was but lately we heard of the passing away of a great spirit-learned, and of account; a man of strong mind, though very old as we count years; his intellect never became filmy; it was clear to the last; and discoursing with his friends, with true Christian hope and cheerfulness, as to the prospect of the future, he said, "It is very singular how Watts's Hymns crowd my memory; I had forgotten them for years, but now they are my companions, mingling with other things, and then coming forth distinctly; I welcome them as old friends."

Dr. Watts's collected works deserve a place in every library, and the Dissenters owe him a deep debt of gratitude, for he showed them that zeal and charity might be expressed and enforced in polished diction. His " Improvement of the Mind" ought to be regarded with the trust and veneration due to a domestic physician; and it is impossible not to acknowledge and venerate the man, who, at one time, combated Locke, and, at another, made a Catechism for children in their fourth year." But, after all, his popularity is

66

based on the universal knowledge of his "Divine and Moral Songs;" and never was popularity more widely diffused, better merited, or productive of more glorious results.

It is now about eight years ago, a rumor reached us that it was determined to pull down the dwelling-house of Abney Park, where Dr. Watts spent the last thirty-six years of his life, in a prolonged and harmonious "visit" to Sir Thomas and Lady Abney. To literary persons, "visits" are not always "relaxations." The unceasing labor of literature requires seasons, however short, of perfect unrestraint of entire calmness and repose. Society demands either novelty or a new dressing of old thoughts; and, to some sound thinkers, conversation-the light and sparkling conversation of " the world"

Sir Thomas Abuey was knighted by King William III., and he served the office of Lord Mayor in 1700. He was bred up in Dissenting principles, and it is related of him as an instance of his strong sense of religious duties, that upon the day of his mayoralty dinner," he withdrew silently after supper from the public assembly at Guildhall, went to his own house, performed family worship there, and then returned to the company." Sir Thomas's loyalty was displayed in the pageant which was carried in the procession that day, when "a person rode before the cavalcade in armor, with a dagger in his hand, representing Sir William Walworth, the head of the rebel Wat Tyler being carried on a pole before him."

-is intensely laborious. But Dr. Watts's friends really permitted him to be free beneath their hospitable roof, and his small independence during his latter years, though not more than a hundred pounds a year, prevented his feeling even their loving tenderness a burden.

We had been warned not to delay our pilgrimage to his residence too long, and a desire to visit the shrine of the sweet Psalmist of Childhood, drove us forth during the darkness of a London fog. We were so ill at ease, that, truth to say, we thought we had chosen an evil day to visit Abney Park. We remembered, when half way through the city, that we had no introduction to its present proprietor; and of all awful things, the meetings of unintroduced English people are the most embarrassing! It was not for some little tine after we had entered it, that we discovered the house was occupied as a college for the instruction of youths of the Wesleyan Connection; but we had only to declare our desire to inspect the house, hallowed by the memory of Dr. Watts, to be cordially received. It was, indeed, a spacious dwelling, standing in what was once a noble park, but a greater portion of which had been converted into one of those cemeteries that now abound in our suburbs, and are so auxiliary to the preservation of health of body and mind to the living it was to increase its size that

they designed pulling down the noble mansion that had for so long a time sheltered the poet. The trees were remarkably fine, adding much to the beauty and solemnity of the grounds-then only partially dotted with memorials of those who have exchanged time for eternity. Before we describe the house to our readers, we must mention that many honored persons have resided in Stoke Newington-which the Westenders affect to consider a semibarbarous region. Isaac Watts wrote much of his poetry beneath the avenues of yewtrees, and upon the mound consecrated by his name, and which a vague tradition tells us, covers the ashes of the mighty

one of England-Cromwell! A large portion of Abney Park, ranging from the magnificent cedar of Lebanon, in the part once called the Wilderness, and continued to the southern extremity, where the mound is placed, and all the land east of that line, extending as far as the principal entrance to the cemetery, was, during the Commonwealth, and after the restoration, the property of General Fleetwood. The eccentric Thomas Day, whose amusing letter forms so interesting a portion of Miss Edgeworth's Life of her father, Lovel Edgeworth, dwelt in the immediate neighborhood. Daniel De Foe occupied a house in the village. John Howard, the man

of prisons, who lived in darkness that the darkness might be made light; and, some few years ago, Dr. Aikin, with his sister, the gentle child-loving Mrs. Barbauld, combined to give a higher interest to this locality than it is in the power of mere fashion to bestow. Our glance at the park was anything but satisfactory. The fog was hanging round the trees, and imparted that air of desolation and chillness to the landscape which is so very much at variance with our feelings and desires. It was refreshing to enter the warm and comfortable house, to feel the glow of heat, and again receive the courteous wel

come of the benevolent gentleman, the superintendent of the establishment, whose name is honored among his own people. The house, with its oak panelings and grave aspect, reminded us of Sir Christopher Wren's, at Camberwell.* Perhaps

brick building with stone quoins. The roof was The house was a square, substantial redflat, with a balustrade around it; and had a central turret, from which an extensive view of the surrounding country could be obtained. The entrance-gate was richly carved with flowers and fruit. The interior was entirely walled with oak paneling, and the staircase and rooms were all large and stately.

it was not quite so old, nor was the hall so handsome, but it was a noble house, and rendered deeply interesting as the scene of one of those acts of disinterested friendship which we have already mentioned-not growing out of him, nor kept alive by the love of praise, or the love of novelty or adulation, but springing from an exalted religious principle, loving a brother in Christ because of his fervor and excellence in that which Christ loved. Isaac Watts, his slender frame worn to a shadow by illness, and helpless as an infant, was invited by Sir Thomas Abney, of Abney Park, to visit him. As a visitor for a few weeks he was received into the house, where he was treated, for thirty-six years, with all the kindness that friendship could prompt, and all the attention which respect could dictate. Sir Thomas dying about eight years after the commencement of his visit, he resided with Lady Abney and her daughter until his own death.

On the right, as you entered the hall, was the small library, which the poet and logician was permitted-nay, that is too cold a word to express the noble hospitality exercised for six-and-thirty years toward the weak and quivering life of Isaac Watts was compelled rather, by words and deeds of unchanging kindness-to call his own.

We could not avoid picturing the little trembling man moving from that very door, bowing at every third step as he advanced to meet old Lady Huntingdon, who once came to greet him there, and saying, while offering his hand to conduct her into his library, "Madam, I came to this hospitable house on a visit for three weeks, and I have remained here thirtyand-three years." "And," added Lady Abney, courtesying with all the dignity of hoop and high-mounted head, as suddenly she stepped forth from the small oak parlor, "it is the shortest visit a friend ever paid."

We entered the library, and all the gloom of the day vanished while considering the uniform but useful life of Dr. Watts. We conversed about him as we would of an old and cherished friend,

We heard this characteristic anecdote on the spot, from the gentleman who received us with so much kindness.

whose memory was still " green in our souls." He was born at Southampton, in the sunniest part of the year 1674-the month of July. Some say his father was a shoemaker, others that he was a schoolmaster; it matters little which; he suffered persecution for his religious opinions, and maintained his firmness in them as befits a Christian, for one of his son's biographers tells us a family tradition has recorded that, during his imprisonment, the youthful and sorrowing mother has been known to seat herself on the steps of her husband's prison-house suckling this child of promise-this child cradled in meekness amid controversial storms. The adversities of Isaac Watts's early years were remembered by him in afterlife, and doubtless originated that deep and ardent attachment to civil and religious liberty which marked his character, and led his muse to hail its establishment with exultation, when the dynasty of the vacillating Stuarts was driven from the throne. He was a remarkable lover of books from infancy, and the proficiency of the pale, delicate little boy, when at school, was so extraordinary, that a subscription was proposed for his support at the University; but he declared his resolution of taking his lot with the Dissenters. Dr. Johnson, in his brilliant and generous biographywhich is, in fact, a dissertation upon the

moral and spiritual beauty of the manpays him a most marked compliment on this head :

"Such," says the doctor, "he was as every Christian Church would rejoice to have adopted."

He quitted the academy at the age of twenty, spent two years in study and devotion beneath the roof of his father, and then became tutor to Sir John Hartopp's family. It is as interesting as curious to remark how events come round-foredoomed, as it were, to work out great purposes. Sir John Hartopp married one of Fleetwood's daughters; this lady is stated not to have been the fruit of the general's marriage with Cromwell's daughter, (Ireton's widow,) but by a former wife; she resided in the house adjoining Abney Park;* and as tutor to their children, the grandchildren of Fleetwood, whose name, Dr. Watts says, "is an honor among the Churches," he came there; and thus began his friendship with the Abneys. It would seem that his tutorship did not interfere with his ministry, for he had a "church," an Independent church, then meeting in Mark Lane, first as assistant to Dr. Isaac Chauncy; subsequently, after much hesitation, he accepted the invitation to succeed Dr. Chauncy in the pastoral office! He retained this ministry until the last; devoting a third part of his small stipend to the poor. Here the remainder of his life was spent, in a family which, for piety, order, harmony, and every virtue, "was a house of God." To this happy circumstance the world is mainly indebted for the many rare and estimable productions of Dr. Watts. Ease of mind, with graceful relaxations from laborious studies, domestic quiet and competence, were matters upon the obtaining of which even

This house, still known as Fleetwood House, is standing close beside the iron gates which led to Abney Park, and which are remaining, as well as the circular drive that led to the

house, which stood at a considerable distance further back than its neighbor, Fleetwood House. Here the famous republican general was fortunate enough, at the Restoration, to be permitted to retire with life and liberty, and here he died in 1692. The house has been much modernized, and presents so few external features of antiquity, that it is only by looking narrowly at some small portions which, owing to their unobtrusiveness, have been left untouched, that its age could be guessed at. After Fleetwood's death it was inhabited by his descendants, the Hartopps and Hurlocks.

his existence depended. The history of his life, from the time of his entering this home, is merely a history of his works. He continued actively employing his pen, producing his " Logic," which, having been received at the Universities, needs no higher praise; his ennobling “Improvement of the Mind," sermons, discourses, prayers, essays, and poems; all!—most blessed distinction !—all tending to one great and one exclusive object-the glory of God and the benefit of human kind.

Dr. Johnson, that unshorn Samson of our faith, as if he could not bear to enter on controversial points with one whose memory he treated with a gentleness foreign, not to his nature, but his habit— Dr. Johnson says, "With his theological works I am only enough acquainted to admire his meekness of opposition, and his mildness of censure. It was not only in his book, but in his mind, that orthodoxy was united with charity." Charity, indeed, was one of his favorite themes. "I find," he says, in one of his harmonious discourses, "a strange pleasure in discoursing of this virtue, hoping that my very soul may be molded into its divine likeness; I would always feel it inwardly warming my heart; I would have it look through my eyes continually, and it should be ever ready upon my lips to soften every expression of my tongue; I would dress myself in it, as my best raiment; I would put it on, upon my faith and hope, not so as entirely to hide them, but as an upper and more visible vesture constantly to appear in among men; for our Christian charity is to evidence our other virtues!" Although his stature was but five feet, he was, in his pulpit, of a presence at once sweet and dignified, and his elocution was remarkable for its grace and intonation; his eyes were both firm and brilliant, and his voice full of music.

We followed our conductor to the top of the house, where, in a turret upon the roof, many of Dr. Watts's literary and religious works were composed. We sat upon the seamed bench, rough and worn, the very bench upon which he sat by daylight and moonlight-poet, logician, and Christian teacher. We were in some degree elevated above the dense and heavy fog, for the heavens were clear and blue; but all beneath us was shrouded in a sea of mist, that would sometimes clear away, and then press its yellow folds more closely