gives a presage
of the fire which the flame of the conflict would kindle. "The Burial of
the Dane" shows the true human sympathy of the writer, in its simple,
pathetic narrative; and the story of the "Old Cove" had a wider
circulation and a heartier reception than almost any prose effort which
has been called forth by the "All we ask is to be let alone" of the arch
traitor.

The "Lyrics of a Day" are too modestly named. Our literature cannot
forget the masterpieces in this little volume in a day, a year, or an
age. The War of Freedom against Slavery has created a devilish enginery
of its own: iron for wood, steam for wind and muscle, "Swamp-Angels" and
thousand-pounders in place of the armaments that gained the Battle of
the Nile and toppled over the chimneys of Copenhagen. New modes of
warfare thundered their demand for a new poet to describe them; and
Nature has answered in the voice of our Battle-Laureate, Henry Howard
Brownell.

DOCTOR JOHNS.

XVI.

Miss Eliza being fairly seated in the Doctor's study, with great
eagerness to hear what might be the subject of his communication, the
parson, with the letter in his hand, asked if she remembered an old
college friend, Maverick, who had once paid them a vacation visit at
Canterbury.

"Perfectly," said Miss Eliza, whose memory was both keen and retentive;
"and I remember that you have said he once passed a night with you,
during the lifetime of poor Rachel, here at Ashfield. You have a letter
from him?"

"I have," said the parson; "and it brings a proposal about which I wish
your opinion." And the Doctor cast his eye over the letter.

"He expresses deep sympathy at my loss, and alludes very pleasantly to
the visit you speak of, all which I will not read; after this he says,
'I little thought, when bantering you in your little study upon your
family prospects, that I too was destined to become the father of a
child, within a couple of years. Yet it is even so; and the
responsibility weighs upon me greatly. I love my Adele with my whole
heart; I am sure you cannot love your boy more, though perhaps more
wisely."

"And he had never told you of his marriage?" said the spinster.

"Never; it is the only line I have had from him since his visit ten
years ago."

The Doctor goes on with the reading:--

"It may be from a recollection of your warnings and of your distrust of
the French character, or possibly it may be from the prejudices of my
New England ed