exclaimed she, as she clasped those same pearls, that
had once been cast aside in scorn, upon her darling--and pure and
lovely they shone among her soft, brown curls, and on her snow-white
arms and neck, and around her lithe and slender waist--"to think that
I could have mistaken Ferdinand, the reigning Duke of Bernstorf, for
Ferdinand, the Prince. Really, though, my lady, to look at them, one
does not see much difference in their appearance--they are both so
handsome and grand-looking. Oh, yes! _you_ see a vast odds in their
looks--that's natural! These old eyes, I suppose, are growing dim--but
they are bright enough to see that thou art the dearest, loveliest,
most beautiful bride that ever the sun shone upon."

"_Sic transit gloria mundi._"

THE CITY OF MEXICO.

WRITTEN WHILE THE WAR WAS PENDING.

BY M. E. THROPP.

Pride of the South, thy glittering spires
Point to the arching sky,
While tower and palace proudly rear
Their stately forms on high;
Thy spacious squares spread far and wide
Along the valley green,
And bright above thy hundred fanes
An hundred crosses gleam.

Bland, spring-like breezes, brilliant skies,
Birds of gay song and plume,
Cool sparkling founts, wide shaded walks,
Trees, of eternal bloom,
Bright glowing flowers, as fresh and pure
As infant's rosy mouth,
Rare, tempting fruits--all--all are thine,
Sweet City of the South.

Around thee lime and citron bowers
In peaceful beauty rest,
While orange groves stretch far away
To blue Tezcuco's breast;
Beyond thee giant bulwarks stand,
Cordillera's mountain line,
And lift along thine azure sky
Their silver crests sublime.

Ah! thou hast beauty, Southern Queen,
And thou hadst wealth and power;
But wealth and beauty proved to thee
"A darkly glorious dower."
Iberia on her rocky heights
Beheld thee from afar,
And rolled o'er all thy subject clime
The lurid tide of war.

On thee the mighty torrent burst,
And with resistless sway
Bore from thy desperate, struggling sons
Their gods, their kings away.
Then followed weary, weary years,
Such as the conquered know,
When brave hearts bleed and faint ones break
Beneath their weight of wo.

Iberia's brood with iron sway
Kept down thy fallen ones,
And bonds and stripes we