trary, it may be
argued, from the diligent use which he has made of such information as
he had, that he would gladly have taken advantage of more. Arnold, in
his Roman History, has noted the poet's perception of historical truth
in a matter where it might well have been overlooked; and future critics
may perhaps spend their time more profitably in discovering other
indications of a like vigilant industry than in laboring to prove that
the absence of so servile a virtue has been conducive to his preeminence
as a creative artist."

SLIDING SCALE OF THE INCONSOLABLES.

The editor of _The Albion_ thus christens, while he translates, the
following lively narrative, culled from the varied columns of the
_Courrier des Etats Unis_. The malicious writer dates from Paris; but
for such experiences our own city would probably be quite as prolific a
hunting-field.

* * * * *

How rapid is the progress of oblivion with respect to those who are no
more! How many a quadrille shall we see this winter, exclusively made up
from the ranks of inconsolable widows! Widows of this order exist only
in the literature of the tombstone. In the world, and after the lapse of
a certain period, there is but one sort of widows inconsolable--those
who refuse to be comforted, because they can't get married again!

One of our most distinguished sculptors was summoned, a short time
since, to the house of a young lady, connected by birth with a family of
the highest grade in the aristocracy of wealth, and united in marriage
to the heir of a title illustrious in the military annals of the empire.
The union, formed under the happiest auspices, had been, alas! of short
duration. Death, unpitying death, had ruptured it, by prematurely
carrying off the young husband. The sculptor was summoned by the widow.
He traversed the apartments, silent and deserted, until he was
introduced into a bedroom, and found himself in presence of a lady,
young and beautiful, but habited in the deepest mourning, and with a
face furrowed by tears. "You are aware," said she, with a painful
effort, and a voice half choked by sobs, "you are aware of the blow
which I have received?" The artist bowed, with an air of respectful
condolence. "Sir," continued the widow, "I am anxious to have a funeral
monument erected in honor of the husband whom I have lost." The artist
bowed again. "I wish that the monument should be superb, worthy of the
man who