poets, and indeed his masterly and eloquent developement of every
subject that his acute intellect chose to dilate upon; I was, however,
sorry to perceive there was occasionally a want of "holding in" in his
conversation upon points which a due self-respect for those acquirements
which he possessed, equal to any individual living, should have taught
him to have observed. To describe this deficiency as laconically as
possible, Mr. Colton wanted that mental firmness which the unfortunate
Burns has aptly enough termed "Self-control." I once saw him, in the
company of the above mentioned Mr. Tucker, seat himself, at Edmonton
Fair, in one of those vulgar vehicles called swings: he was highly
delighted with the novelty of the exercise, which he enjoyed amidst the
rude stare and boisterous grins of the motley group around him; "this
_is_ life," said he, upon getting out of the swing, "what shall we see
next?" In his poem of _Hypocrisy_, he has beautifully eulogized General
Graham, who showed his sense of this intellectual tribute by sending the
author a complimentary piece of plate. Like Goldsmith, Mr. Colton
entertained an unfortunate predilection for gaming, and although he
often proved a better match for his wily antagonists than "the mild bard
of Auburn" was to his, still he was subject to the fluctuations of the
Goddess of Chance, and the quiet charms of literature which once had a
beautiful hold upon his mind, were succeeded by the demons of worldly
anxiety, which heavy losses, among professed gamesters as acute as
himself, would occasionally subject him to. ENORT.
* * * * *
NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA.
(_To the Editor._)
Perhaps the following traits of the national fidelity of the French
people may not be unacceptable to some of your readers. During my stay
at St. Helena, about six months ago, a French transport arrived with an
old regiment of French soldiers, who had fought under Napoleon, and who
had been from France ever since the exile of the emperor. When they came
on shore, they marched in regularity and silence to the tomb, before
which they knelt (many weeping) and uttered prayers for their fallen
emperor: this done, they marched back to the town with the same
regularity and silence, and returned to their ship much affected.
The account of Captain Mundy's visit to Longwood is very correct.[4] The
billiard table which he mentions is still there, and gentlemen visitin
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