Francis, first Marquess of Hertford, K.G.; and by her (who died in 1770) he had two sons-Alexander, who died young, and Robert, the second and late Marquess. He married, secondly, in 1775, Frances, eldest daughter of Charles Pratt, first Earl of Camden, and sister to the present Marquess Camden, by whom he had issue 1. Charles William, present and third Marquess;-2. Alexander John, died in 1800; 3. Frances Anne, married, in 1799, Lord Charles Fitzroy, second son of Augustus, third Duke of Grafton, and died in 1810;-4. Thomas Henry, died in 1810;-5. Elizabeth Mary, died in 1798;-6. Caroline, born in 1781, married Thomas Wood, of Governevet, in the county of Brecon, Esq.;-7. Georgiana, married George Canning, of Garyagh, created Baron Garvagh, died in 1814; - 8. Selina Sarah Juliana, married, in 1815, David Kerr, of Portavo and Montalto, in the county of Down, Esq.;-9. Matilda Charlotte, married in 1815, Edward Michael, eldest son of the Hon. Robert Ward, of Bangor Castle;-10. Emily Jane, married, first, in 1814, John James, Esq., only son of Sir Walter James, Bart., who died in 1819; secondly, in 1821, Colonel Sir Henry Hardinge, K. C. B., and M. P. for Durham;-11. Catherine Octavia, married, in 1813, Edward, second Lord Ellenborough, died in 1819. The Marquess died on the 8th of April, 1821, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Robert, second Marquess of Londonderry, K.G., F.R.S., M.R.I.A., Governor of Londonderry, &c.-Of this lamented nobleman, who for many years was one of Britain's most distinguished statesmen, it is unnecessary here to speak at length. He was appointed Lord of the Treasury, in Ireland, in 1797; Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and a Privy Councillor, in March, 1798; President of the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India, and called to a seat in the Cabinet, in 1802; Principal Secretary of State for the War Department, in 1805, an office which he resigned in the month of November 1806, but was re-appointed to it in 1812. He married, on the 9th of January, 1794, the lady Amelia Hobart, youngest daughter, and coheiress with her sister, of John, second Earl of Buckinghamshire, but had no issue. His Lordship died at his seat at North Cray, in Kent, on the 12th of August, 1822, and was succeeded by his brother, Charles William Vane, present and third Marquess of Londonderry, and first Baron Stewart, and first Earl Vane, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. This nobleman, who was born on the 18th of May, 1778, was bred in the army, and is, as has been stated at the commencement of this memoir, a Lieutenant-General, and Colonel of the 10th Regiment of Light Dragoons. During the late war, he distinguished himself in many actions. In the campaign of the year 1814 he acted as military commissioner to the armies of the Allied Sovereigns; and, for his conduct in that important office, he was spoken of in the despatches in high terms. For some time he held the post of Envoy Extraordinary to the King of Prussia; and, more recently, he enjoyed the same high station at the Court of Vienna. In addition to his practical exertions in the military service of his country, his Lordship is known as the author of an able pamphlet, entitled, Suggestions for the Improvement of the Force of the British Empire."-On the general peace of 1814, he was created (July 1) Baron Stewart; and, on the 28th of May, 1823, Earl Vane and Viscount Seaham, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. These last-mentioned titles will descend to the issue male of his second marriage. His Lordship's first marriage was, on the 4th of August, 1804, to Catherine, fourth daughter of John, third Earl of Darnley, by whom (who died on the 11th of February, 1812) he had issue-Frederick, Viscount Castlereagh, born on the 7th of July, 1805. The Noble Marquess married, secondly, as already stated, on the 3d of April, 1819, the Lady Frances Anne, only daughter and sole heiress of the late Sir Henry Vane Tempest, Bart., by Anne Catherine, Countess of Antrim; on which occasion he took the surname and arms of Vane, in addition to those of Stewart. By this lady, with whose family and descent we have now rendered the readers of LA BELLE ASSEMBLEE acquainted, his Lordship has two sons and two daughters; George Henry Robert Charles Vane, born April 26, 1821; Frances Anne Emily, born April 15, 1822; Alexandrina Octavia Maria, born July 29, 1823; and Adolphus Frederick Charles' William Stewart, born July 2, 1825. CONTEMPORARY POETS, AND WRITERS OF FICTION. The Crusader, and many others, are in this respect equally effective. WE closed our last paper somewhat abruptly, after various extracts from "The Forest Sanctuary." In fact, we had The first of Mrs. Hemans's productions found it impossible then to proceed with with which we are acquainted, are Tales our strictures on the character of Mrs. and Historic Poems, published in the year Hemans's productions. In her delightful 1819. Others, however, have emanated world of poesy, with all its grand, and from her pen :-The Restoration of Works lovely, and ever-varying features, we seemof Art io Italy ;-Modern Greece ;—Transed to behold, as in a mirror, the image of lations from Camoens, and other Poets ;all things we had ever felt or fancied, || Wallace's Invocation to Bruce, &c. In 1820 loved or lamented, suffered or enjoyed. she published The Sceptic, a poem, from And then, to leave such a world for the which, as a brief specimen of style, inpurpose of analyzing, coldly analyzing, that volving a tribute to the memory of the which had stirred up our deeper thoughts Princess Charlotte of Wales, we select the —the proudest, the purest, the fondest, the following passage:— saddest feelings of our nature-appeared to be an effort as vain as that of dissecting a sun-beam, that sheds warmth and brightness on our path. There are, we are ready to admit, poems which, by gigantic powers of mind, arouse more astonishment in the perusal; but this lay, this transcript of the purest, the holiest heart, speaks to the soul a language it knows, it loves, and replies to from its inmost recesses; for not a thought, a feeling, a hope, a recollection is there depicted, that is not, in beauty, in pathos, or in power, familiar to us all. Even now, we shrink from the thought of disturbing, by any affectation of criticism, the lovely impression which " The Forest Sanctuary" has left upon our minds. In the accompanying assemblage of minor poems, we could have wished to see, collected from various sources, several special favourites of the public-Aymer's Tomb, The Child's Last Sleep, Evening Prayer at School, &c. In almost the whole of Mrs. Hemans's short pieces, it may be remarked that the terminating point is remarkably good: it comes like the impressive close of the ancient Greek epigram, one of the most elegant of all poetical compositions. The Suliote Mother fully illustrates our meaning: And from the arrowy peak she sprung, And fast the fair child bore: A veil upon the wind was flung A cry-and all was o'er. No. 19.-Vol. IV. And say, cold Sophist! if by thee bereft B Still may thy pure, majestic spirit dwell, Bright on the isles which lov'd thy name so well; To wake and guard thine own high virtues there. The concluding lines of the poem are also very pleasing :— Still, where thy hamlet-vales, O chosen isle! Devotion's voice in choral hymns arise, And bear the land's warm incense to the skies. Mrs. Hemans's next succeeding volume embraced her poem entitled The Last Constantine, The Siege of Valencia, and several pieces, comparatively short, but of a degree of excellence equal to any that she has written. From The Last Constantine we quote the two following stanzas, not as some of the best or of the most beautiful, but for the striking picture, the deep contrast which they display: they are descrip- || tive of Constantine's marching forth by torch-light : Still, as the monarch and his chieftains pass On some wild form, amidst the living mass, to the Cid ought to be read as illustrations of the Siege of Valencia. On Mrs. Hemans's dramatic talent-her dramatic poetry-as displayed in The Siege of Valencia, and subsequently on the stage, in The Vespers of Palermo, we are desirous of offering a few remarks. The subject of The Siege of Valencia, arising out of one of the numerous courses of reading through which she has advantageously passed, is peculiarly well suited to the turn of her mind and to the nature of her powers. Her mind is full of history-richly imbued with the high feelings of ancient Spanish romance. Her subject is, but her poem is not, in the comprehensive meaning of the word, dramatic. Strictly speaking, a poem, to be dramatic, should not only present well-arranged colloquies, but its respective characters, with the manners of those characters, and of the times and countries in which they are supposed to have lived, should be as distinctly marked as though they were the portraits of so many individuals. Independently, however, of its want of action, or rather of stage effect, which was not within the aim of the writer, The Siege of Valencia is not dramatic. It is a picture of high-minded sentiments and feelings rather than of men and manners. But, if not dramatic, it is highly poetic: the pathos of this poem has been rarely surpassed. The passions or affections displayed are-in Gonzalez, paternal love, conjugal love, and patriotism, the last of which triumphs. In Elmina, on the other hand, though patriotism is strong, and conjugal love still stronger, maternal love, exciting a physical as well as a moral courage, capable of braving every ill, is the -Greeks! Romans! all but such as image brave despair! || ruling passion. It is, indeed, in the dis play of a mother's feelings that Mrs. Hemans uniformly and pre-eminently excels. The anguish, the maddening agony of soul in which Elmina parts from Gonzalez, when, after the most powerful, the most eloquent of maternal appeals, she had found the father's patriot-shielded heart invulnerable, could only have been painted by a woman-perhaps only by a mother. But high above that scene, in bright repose, And beauty borrowing from the torches' gleams A mien of life, yet where no life-blood flows, But all instinct with loftier being seems, Pale, grand, colossal; lo! th' embodied dreams Of yore!-Gods, heroes, bards, in marble wrought, Look down, as powers, upon the wild extremes Of mortal passion !-Yet 'twas man that caught, And in each glorious form enshrined immortal thought! Our chief favourites of the shorter pieces in this volume are, we think, The Urn and Sword, The Cid's Funeral Pro- Were we to quote the beauties of this cession, The Chieftain's Son, The Funeral poem we should more than fill the space Genius, England's Dead, and The Voice of allotted for our remarks. Indeed we rather Spring; all of which are too well known abstain from quotation; for no isolated to require citation. The poems relating ||passage can satisfy the reader, or render justice to the author. The succeeding lines, For the glad voices, and the bounding steps, Of twining arms, and all the joyous light Of eyes that laugh'd with youth, and made your board To the cold world, the smiling, faithless world, If, in the deep workings of maternal affection, Elmina stands almost unrivalled, Ximena, in the development of the tender passion-in the sentiment of love, that pure sentiment which animates the female breast, and elevates it to the proudest patriotism, the most heroic daring-occupies | a station at least equally sublime. Thus the maid of Saragoza in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage: Oh! had you known her in her softer hour, possible to be sustained throughout the work. But we were mistaken: it is not only sustained, but surpassed. The death of Alphonso, the eldest born, is managed with a force of dramatic effect not easy to be equalled. Yet the supposed audience is spared all offensive sights. It is worthy of remark, that, in the description of the battle on the outside of the walls, Mrs. Hemans has resorted to the expedient for which, in Ivanhoe, the author of the Scotch novels has been so much lauded. The same successful expedient, however, had been adopted in Sheridan's version of Pizarro, whence it has been traced to one of Goethe's tragedies, the title of which, at this moment, eludes our recollection. Goethe's works, let us observe en passant, constitute an exhaustless store which the all-glorified Scotchman has plundered without mercy and without remorse. With reference to the effect of The Siege of Valencia upon the mind of the reader, it seems to us one of the most affecting, most agonizing poems ever writ ten. It is well that it is not adapted for stage representation-that it is not acted; for it has passages-whole scenes—which it is hardly possible to bear, even in the closet. The Vespers of Palermo, written expressly for the stage, and produced at Covent Garden theatre at the close of the year 1823, is a far less successful effort. It is, in the construction of its plot, and in the conception and execution of some of its characters, extremely defective. Generally speaking, the latter are not sufficiently marked or distinct. Montalba is a very incomplete sketch, and the emotions by which his conduct is influenced are offensive. The mind of the reader or spectator revolts from the ease with which the high-minded Vittoria falls into the views of the conspirators, by consenting to meet the man she abhors at the altar, and by allowing the vesper-bell to be the signal of indiscriminate massacre. Constance, indeed, is clothed in all the tenderness and loveliness of woman. The great defect of the piece, however, is that all the grand business is over at the end of the third In the early scene between Elmina and act. In the fourth act, the scene where Gonzalez, such a depth of feeling and of Raimond di Procida is brought before the interest is excited, that we thought it im-tribunal at which his father presides, is Thin the clos'd ranks, and lead in glory's fearful chase. We cannot but feel, however, that there is a superhuman grandeur-a halo of spiritual glory-investing the character of Ximena, which is not attendant on that of Lord Byron's heroine. || managed with great spirit and great dra- Look round thee !-All is sunshine-is not this Is not the life of woman all bound up The following is of a different charac ter: There is no joy! Who shall look through the dark futurity, High o'er all storms; but we, from whose dull eyes, From perusing The Vespers of Palermo, we revert with increase of appetite to The Siege of Valencia. That is one of the rare productions which impel the offering of man's proud homage at the shrine of woman's towering and angelic mind. Mrs. Hemans may, without profanation, be designated-one of heaven's glorious creatures. H. THE SMUGGLER'S DAUGHTER. A FEW weeks since business caused my attendance at the Admiralty. While waiting in one of the anti-rooms, I heard myself accosted by name by a tall and elegant looking man standing near me. My eye rested on his figure, but memory refusing recognition in the gaze, I inquired his identity. My surprise was great at finding he was one of my dearest, and earliest friends; and the start of astonishment, almost of pain, which his revelation elicited from me, must I fear have communicated to him the knowledge of the withering havoc which sorrow had made on his person. Only five years had elapsed since our last meeting, and that period, when unmarked by mental suffering or sickness, may pass over man while in his prime-and Captain Tancred was now only thirty-five -without leaving a record of its flight. I had known him in boyhood: he had been the wildest, but the truest and most generous of my school companions. His presence had ever been the signal for some thoughtless freak or hazardous adventure. With a spirit fresh and buoyant as moun || tain air, exuberant health, and exhaustless vivacity, he was formed to be the idol of his associates. He seemed destined for happiness; he had every element of it in himself; and, utterly exempt from that contracting selfishness which binds up the sympathies of too many natures, he revelled in the joy of dispensing it to others. Left to the choice of a profession, he selected that of the sea: it assimilated best with his taste, for it afforded indulgence to his peculiar temperament, which, always seeking after strong excitements, would even court danger in all its varieties. The very character of the element had charms for him: he loved its false unsubstantial surface, its engulphing depths, its perilous quicksands, the warfare of its waves, whose wild hoarse murmurs seem to warn man from their territories: they had terror in their sound, and that sound was music to his ears. Often, when the tempest from above had lashed the ocean into fury, and it boiled forth its wrath in billows which threatened destruction to aught of human power that dared its ire, I have |