How bright the noonday, how serene and clear And mark how pure a lustre lingers yet Where from our loving gaze that full-orbed genius set! Where shall the poet find, tho' wandering long, As this old city, whose colonial glory One mouldering tower, o'ergrown with ivy, shows And to the tourist's vision far withdrawn Nor should the picture back for livelier strokes, (As this my poem sadly wants its jokes,) When came the epic muse to later times: rage; (I trust the change will brighten up my rhymes.) With grandest music floating round the whole- Fiction at last has turned its gaze, we know, Before us now the quaint Comedians pass- Of whom 'tis said "Virginia never tires," Time changes all. When in the morning gray End pompous Court and Commonwealth begin! Where pressed the "golden horse-shoe" in the sand; In our Parnassus there's a recent hole For such pursuits has no more time to spare, What though they say Virginia lags behind The glorious image, stood in Shakspeare's scene; And all who look on her with marvel strike! A WOMAN-WORSHIPPER IN TROUBLE. I have always been fond of female society. A lovely and intelligent woman is the sweetest object that the sun shines on, and the light that "lies in woman's eyes" worth more than all other lights of the earth. Since I trudged along with Annabella's school satchel slung over my shoulder, I have worshipped at the shrine of beauty and this hour esteem it my greatest misfortune that I have not wedded a wife, who would smilingly greet my return from the toils and cares of the day. But how shall a poor man marry in these days of hoops and heels? What right has he to drag an angel down from the heights of innocence and flirtation to the deep despair of a home not inaptly described by Tom Moore, "Love in a cot with water and a crust, Nay, verily that cannot be. The charming Angelina would soon cease to be charming, since good looks are so dependent upon happiness, should she be required to doff the gossamer robes which float like sun-silvered mists about her and stoop to vulgar calico, and to exchange the graceful mantle for the rude blanket shawl. No, no, Miss Prudence Spinster certainly must be right when she declares, that no girl can hope to be happy when she marries a poor man, and surely no honorable poor man would condemn any lady to a life of unhappiness. What then? if I may not wed how shall I indulge the taste, the passion for the society of the better part of God's creation? Say not that this luxury is reserved for the rich, for such as can af ford to marry, if Dulcinea's tender heart should be wounded by Cupid's darts. Think you that such monopolies would be tolerated in this land of liberty and equality? Is it not written in our Bill of Rights, "that no man or set of men are entitled to exclusive or separate emoluments or privileges ?" and is not this language incorporated into the organic law of the glorious old Commonwealth? how then shall I be excluded from the enjoy ment of that privilege, which is above all price, merely because I do not happen to have so much money as the pudding-headed son of the rich grocer down yonder? But still the question recurs, how shall I use the privilege which in this happy land is secured to me by the Constitution. It is one thing to have the right and a very different thing to enjoy that which you undoubtedly have, and after all the right of which I proudly boast is little worth, if I may not enjoy its exercise. So much I know from experience, that while nobody questions my right to revel in the society of the best and brightest women that live upon the earth, Mrs. Grundy, the Misses Grundy and all the male admirers of that large and influential family, have settled it long ago, that I shall not visit the ladies until my cases are greatly multiplied and my fee book very considerably reduced in respect of blank leaves. These people have set at nought the just supremacy of the laws, and in utter contempt of that scripture which commands all men to "obey the powers that be, because the powers are ordained of God," have trespassed and still do continue to trespass upon my rights and privileges, greatly to my detriment and damage, and without the slightest pretext to justify their unlawful proceeding. If this were an injury inflicted upon my person, I should have my remedy by an action of trespass vi et armis, if to my goods, by an action of trespass on the case, if to my land, by an action of trespass quare clausum fregit; but no species of action on the case has been provided to meet the nature of this grievance. Indeed, I doubt whether the ingenuity of man could frame a declaration which would be adjudged good upon demurrer; and yet I endure wrongs much more grievous than many which are adjudicated in the Courts. To this desolate condition have I been well nigh reduced during the last six months, and I have suffered in silence until my tongue refuses to be silent any longer. I must tell my griefs "or else this heavy heart will burst." "Strength may be born in the deep silence of long suffer ing hearts," but I feel that I am growing weaker every day, my melancholy wasteth me to a shadow, and if I must fall a martyr to the injustice and tyranny of society, I will at least print my woes as a warning to those who may come after me. Such as may be implicated by these confessions, will doubtless raise an outcry against me, and protest with well feigned indignation, "that they never knew the fellow," but I shall probably be beyond the reach of all their reproaches, and shall, in any event, have discharged the duty which I owe to my fellow men. I have confessed my weakness where females are concerned, and now I will proceed to show by what influences I have been excluded from their company. man. It will readily be surmised, from what has been said, that I am not a marrying Even if my poverty was no bar to my union with one of "earth's fairest daughters," there are other and controlling considerations which would incline me to celibacy. These need not be stated, as they have no connection with the purpose of this paper, and would unduly protract that which to be of value, must be brief. It is enough to say that wherever I am known, it is well understood that I am not only ineligible, but also that I am doomed to be an old bachelor. Indeed, very many of the younger members of the circle in which I have been accustomed to move, already call me by no other title than Old Bachelor; and the presence of a plentiful crop of gray hairs upon my head, and a certain sobering of the sensations, induce a doubt in my own mind whether the terms are much misapplied. I never acknowledge this, of course, even to my most intimate acquaintance, and since I numbered twenty-six suns, have never grown a day older, but have invariably been in my twenty-seventh year. True, the year has passed more slowly than any within human knowledge, since the days of the Jewish Prophets, but if ladies never pass twenty-two, I can conceive of no reason why gentlemen should exceed twentyOne thing is certain, and well known to "all the world and the rest of seven. mankind," that I am to be, (if I am not now,) an old bachelor. And yet such is the perverseness of human nature, such the vindictive persistence of the Gruzdy family and its satellites, that no sooner have I become well acquainted with some sweet and lovely girl and begun to experience the happiness arising from the intercourse of kindred souls, than a buzz reaches my ears which embitters every enjoyment and drives me again into the solitude and seclusion, the discomfort and disquietude of my bachelor lodgings. It is whispered that he loves her-the case is cited as an instance of love at first sight-he saw her on Saturday-called to see her on Sunday -accompanied her to church that evening —was with her at the Concert Tuesday night-could see no other lady at Mrs. Fassi's party-rode with her to Hollywood two days after-was heard singing duets with her last Thursday night when papa and mamma had gone out-and it is verily believed that he has courted her― is to be married to her in a fortnight-or if moved by these impertinent whisperings, he ceases to visit, it is asserted with a positiveness which admits of no contradiction, that he was discarded--and rightly served for his impudence. It is easy to see how this works the extinction of everything like genial and intelligent intercourse, between persons who else might pass many an hour pleasantly together. No man of proper feeling likes to be placed in a false position by these busy-bodies and intermeddlers, especially when a misconception of his purposes may lead to disagreeable results to all parties. While he may disregard all such rumors, and pass them by as idle tales, he can never forget that they may exert a serious influence upon the fortunes and fate of some excellent girl, whose highest earthly happiness may be put to the hazard by a continuance of an intercourse which he is reluctant to disturb. For though she may understand his intentions and content herself to be the companion of an hour, sharing in his recreations and imparting and receiving pleasure without the slightest thought of |