unpretending composure of well-bred people.
They were equally remarkable; but Alfred saw
only the radiant young creature in flowing muslin,
with the narrowest sash in the room, and no
ornament but a necklace of large pearls, and her own
vivid beauty. She had altered her mind about
coming, with apologies for her vacillating
disposition so penitent and disproportionate, that
her indulgent and unsuspecting mother was
really quite amused. Alfred was not so happy as
to know that she had changed her mind with his
note. Perhaps even this knowledge could have
added little to that exquisite moment when,
unhoped for, she passed close to him, and the
fragrant air from her brushed his cheek; and
seemed to whisper, " follow me and be my slave!"

GARIBALDI'S GLASS.

"GARIBALDI has been sent for! The
Garibaldists are coming! They left Rieti two days
ago: they are close to Rome now! They are
to enter by the Porta Maggiore this very night!"
Such were the sounds that o'er the startled mind
of the few English scattered wild dismay, as they
collected in knots of two or three in front of Piale's
reading rooms, in the Piazza di Spagna, Rome,
on a bright April morning of 1849. Those who
witnessed the scene (as the writer did) will not
easily forget the hurrying excitement which
pervaded these groups; the anxious yet undecided
step, so different from our ordinary insular
impassibility, with which one after another set off to
procure passports, to bargain with vetturini—
for the post-horses had been seized by the
government —- and, most essential of all, to extract
from bankers' chests the gold and silver
indispensable for travelling; the time having now
come when the republican paper money was
useless, even close outside the gates of Rome.
Truly this eagle in a dovecote fluttered our
British pigeons most thoroughly. Comparatively
but a handful of our countrymen were even then
remaining in the Eternal City. Notwithstanding
the unopposed debarkation of Oudinot's
troops at Civita Vecchia; notwithstanding the
plausible phrases of his proclamation, and the
paternal hoisting of the French tricolour side
by side with the Italian flag—which he had
private orders to pull down, " si possis honestè,
si non, quocunque modo (if you can, without
making a disturbance about it; if you can't,
somehow or other); notwithstanding all these
reassurances, the suspicious sons of perfidious
Albion felt uneasy. True, the presidential letter
was mellifluous. Bardolph gave assurance for
Falstaff, but Master Dumbleton liked not the
security. So, long before the announcement of
the avatar of Garibaldi, by far the greater
portion of foreigners had departed, either for
Switzerland, or for the pleasant country hallowed
by the mild sway of Bomba.

But this last drop crowned the cup of terror,
and within twenty-four hours of the reported
arrival, carriage after carriage had rolled away,
until there remained, besides those foreigners
whom professional duties or family arrangements
prevented them from moving, only a few
excitable Americans, or some enterprising own
artist to a London journal. To which of these
categories the present writer belonged matters
little; the rather that among all classes reigned
pretty much the same opinion as to what manner
of man might be this grim Garibaldi. He was
looked upon as neither more nor less than a
chief of brigands; pillage, disguised probably
under some form of law, was believed to be the
impending lot of Rome; and in fearful anticipation,
bankers sunk rouleaux of napoleons in
the ground of friends' cellars, while private
individuals brooded in a melancholy manner over
probable domiciliary visits concerning jewel-
cases, and forced contributions of spoons and
forks. One American lady (whose melancholy
death by shipwreck, shortly afterwards, threw a
painful interest on all these later details of her
life) did indeed show a brave front to the dangers
which she affirmed to have no real existence.
She maintained that, like Tom Thumb, we had
made the giants first, which, unlike that gallant
chief, we did not subsequently slay. She had
seen the guerilla force at Rieti, and protested
her entire willingness to meet them half way,
and hold out the right hand of fellowship. But
her assertions fell on incredulous ears, and were
looked upon as the wild chimeras bred in the
brain of a known personal friend of Mazzini.

True to report —report being true for once—
that same evening the dreaded force arrived.
There was not much regularity, it must be
admitted, in their transport arrangements, for
most of the baggage-mules being unloaded in
the space of ground near the quaint old Baker's
Tomb, were dismissed with a kick in the ribs to
seek their food and shelter among the arches of
the Claudian Aqueduct. Next morning, we
heard that the troops had taken up their quarters
in the convent of S. Silvestro, having ejected
the pious and hapless sisterhood who tenanted
these holy shades. " A significant foretaste of
what we may expect," said some; but to others,
who happened to know that the convent in
question occupied nearly one whole side of a
long street, and that the community had not
for years exceeded the number of seven, the
outrage did not seem very flagrant.

Time went on at his usual pace: and, somewhat
to our amazement, the city remained quiet
as before; rather more quiet indeed; for, when
the populace permitted themselves the distraction
of burning the confessional boxes from the
churches, Garibaldi's soldiers were the only
obstacle to outrage. Although they could not
save the cardinals' gilt coaches from being made
a bonfire of, yet, to their exertions was
attributable the rescue of a Lord-Mayor-looking
vehicle, in which, thenceforth, rode the miraculous
wooden baby of Araceli. Never before had this
ligneous Locock been so honoured. Up to that
period its Eilithyian services had been rendered
by aid of a dirty hackney-coach.

As I do not propose to detail all the events of