openly to the Americans, or even consenting to receive their envoy, watched with undisguised delight the growing embarrassment of his old ally, threw every obstacle in his power in the way of German enlistments, and took great pains to assure France that he would remain perfectly passive if she entered into war with England. The emperor, hostile on all other points to Frederick, agreed with him in discouraging the German enlistments for England. Holland was delighted to find in America a new market for her goods, and the little Dutch island of St. Eustatius became a great mart for supplying the wants of the insurgents.

The very judicious selection of Franklin as the chief representative of the colonies greatly added to it. His works were well known in France through several translations; his great discovery of the identity of electricity and lightning had been made at a time when Parisian enthusiasm for physical science was at its height, and it was soon found that the man was at least as remarkable as his works. Dressed with an almost Quaker simplicity, his thin gray hair not powdered according to the general fashion, but covered with a fur cap, he formed a singular and striking figure in the brilliant and artificial society of the French capital.

His eminently venerable appearance, the quaint, quiet dignity of his manner, the mingled wit and wisdom of his conversation, the unfailing tact, shrewdness, and self-possession which he showed, whether he was negotiating with French statesmen or moving in a social sphere so unlike that from which he had arisen, impressed all who came in

contact with him. Vergennes declared him to be the only American in whom he put full confidence. Turgot, in an immortal line, described him as having torn the lightning from heaven and the scepter from the tyrant's hand. Voltaire complimented him in his most graceful phrases, and expressed his pride that he was himself able to address Franklin in his own language.

Poets, philosophers, men and women of fashion, were alike at his feet, and all the enthusiasts and Utopians of France seemed to gather round that calm American, who, under the appearance of extreme simplicity, concealed the astuteness of the most accomplished diplomatist, and who never for a moment lost sight of the object at which he aimed.

It is a sign of a nature not finely tempered to give yourselves up to things which relate to the body; to make, for instance, a great fuss about exercise, a great fuss about eating, a great fuss about drinking. All these things ought to be done merely by the way. The formation of the spirit and character must be our real concern.

-EPICTETUS.

THE BOWL OF ALBEMARLE.

(AN INDEPENDENCE-DAY LEGEND.)

HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH.

'Twas Lady Ashe of Albemarle ;
She heard bold Tarleton boast
That he the British flag would yet
On every planter's mansion set
On Carolina's coast;

That, when the Carolinas fell,
He would return and quaff
To victory in that honored hall,
And Lady Ashe of Albemarle
Should bring her family beaker out;
The cavaliers should cheer and shout
'Twould make old England laugh!
O Lady Ashe, O Lady Ashe,
What will thy loyal answer be
When courtly Tarleton asks of thee
The bowl of Albemarle ?

e;

'Twas in the hall of Albemarle ;
The feast was spread-they set
The empty goblets on the board
Where erst the patriots met.
The fire upon the oak walls gleamed;
And on the men looked down
From green festoons of mistletoe
With berries white as winter's snow
The flag of England's crown.
Then Tarleton called on Lady Ashe
To bring him, in the hall,

The goblet of her family pride,
The goblet ancient wines had dyed,
The bowl of Albemarle.

O Lady Ashe, what wilt thou do?
A patriot's daughter should be true;
Their flags are red, and thine is blue,
My Dame of Albemarle.

The legend old of Albemarle :
The oaken door swung wide,
And Lady Ashe came to the board,
And Tarleton stood beside.

She raised the bowl above her head:

'Twas filled with roses.

Then

"It matches well the flag of red!"
Cried Tarleton to his men.
The roses o'er the astrals burned,
And fragrant grew the air,
And slowly she the goblet turned
Above her shining hair.

One after one the roses red

She dropped upon her stately head.

Their beauty charmed, their perfume filled The high colonial hall,

As, flower by flower, my lady spilled

The bowl of Albemarle !

The bowl, the bowl of Albemarle ;

She turned it in the air,

And here a rose and there a rose
She spilled upon her hair.

A prophet's fire then stirred her blood,
And on the cup once more,

1

Gazing with flashing eyes, she stood;
Then smiling in defiant mood
She dashed it to the floor!
The startled guard advanced a pace,
But stood my lady there;
The patriot fire was in her face,
The roses in her hair.

O Lady Ashe, my Lady Ashe,
All silent is the hall;

Thy cheeks are red, the patriots' white,
And Tarleton's ashen in the light;
Speak, Dame of Albemarle !

"My gallant general, hear!" she said; "We've heard your merry boast

That you would line with British flags
The Carolinian coast;

That from our olden cup should be
Your ruby draught to victory

'Twas thus you proudly willed;
My courtly general, thou art weighed
And wanting-see! the balance read
For there's a promise thou hast made
That on the land, or on the sea,
Can never be fulfilled!"
In voiceless hall, 'mid staring men,
Still stood my lady fair,
The patriot glory in her face,
The roses in her hair!

That broken bowl of Albemarle !
It teaches all that he

Whose will from self itself has freed
A thousand more may free!