to his pocket, I drew him into a corner where we might observe the company without being prominent objects ourselves.

"And pray who is that stylish figure," said Will," who blazes away in red, like a volcano, and who seems wrapped in flames like a fiery dragon?"—That, cried I, is Miss Laurelia Dashaway;she is the highest flash of the ton—has much whim and more eccentricity, and has reduced many an unhappy gentleman to stupididity by her charms; you see she holds out the red flag in token of "no quarter." "Keep me safe out of the sphere of her attractions," cried Will; "I would not e'en come in contact with her train, lest it should scorch me like the tail of a comet.-But who, I beg of you, is that amiable youth who is handing along a young lady, and at the same time contemplating his sweet person in a mirror as he passes?" His name, said I, is Billy Dimple; he is a universal smiler, and would travel from Dan to Beersheba, and smile on every body as he passed. Dimple is a slave to the ladies-a hero at tea-parties, and is famous at the pirouet and the pigeon-wing; a fiddle stick is his idol, and a dance his elysium. "A very pretty young gentleman, truly," cried Wizard; "he reminds me of a contemporary beau at Hayti. You must know that the magnanimous Dessalines gave a great ball to his court one fine sultry summer's evening; Dessy and I were great cronies;-hand and glove :— one of the most condescending great men I ever knew. Such a display of black and yellow beauties! such a show of Madras handkerchiefs, red beads, cocks' tails, and peacocks' feathers !—it was, as here, who should wear the highest top-knot, drag the longest tail, or exhibit the greatest variety of combs, colours, and gewgaws. In the middle of the rout, when all was buzz, slip-slop, clack, and perfume, who should enter but Tucky Squash! The yellow beauties blushed blue, and the black ones blushed as red as they could, with pleasure; and there was a universal agitation of fans: every eye brightened and whitened to see Tucky; for he was the pride of the court, the pink of courtesy, the mirror of fashion, the adoration of all the sable fair ones of Hayti. Such breadth of nose, such exuberance of lip! his shins had the true cucumber curve; his face in dancing shone like a kettle; and provided you kept to windward of him in summer, I do not know a sweeter

youth in all Hayti than Tucky Squash. When he laughed, there appeared from ear to ear a chevaux-de-frise of teeth, that rivalled the shark's in whiteness; he could whistle like a north-wester; play on a three-stringed fiddle like Apollo; and, as to dancing, no Long-Island negro could shuffle you "double trouble," or "hoe corn and dig potatoes," more scientifically in short, he was a second Lothario. And the dusky nymphs of Hayti, one and all, declared him a perfect Adonis. Tucky walked about, whistling to himself, without regarding any body; and his nonchalance was irresistible."

I found Will had got neck and heels into one of his traveller's stories; and there is no knowing how far he would have run his parallel between Billy Dimple and Tucky Squash, had not the music struck up from an adjoining apartment, and summoned the company to the dance. The sound seemed to have an inspiring effect on honest Will, and he procured the hand of an old acquaintance for a country dance. It happened to be the fashionable one of "The devil among the Tailors," which is so vociferously demanded at every ball and assembly: and many a torn gown, and many an unfortunate toe, did rue the dancing of that night; for Will thundered down the dance like a coach and six, sometimes right, sometimes wrong; now running over half a score of little Frenchmen, and now making sad inroads into ladies' cobweb muslins and spangled tails. As every part of Will's body partook of the exertion, he shook from his capacious head such volumes of powder, that like pious Eneas on the first interview with Queen Dido, he might be said to have been enveloped in a cloud. Nor was Will's partner an insignificant figure in the scene; she was a young lady of most voluminous proportions, that quivered at every skip; and being braced up in the fashionable style with whalebone, stay-tape, and buckram, looked like an apple pudding tied in the middle; or, taking her flaming dress into consideration, like a bed and bolsters rolled up in a suit of red curtains. The dance finished,-I would gladly have taken Will off, but no ;-he was now in one of his happy moods, and there was no doing any thing with him. He insisted on my introducing him to Miss Sophy Sparkle, a young lady unrivalled for playful wit and innocent vivacity, and

who, like a brilliant, adds lustre to the front of fashion. I accordingly presented him to her, and began a conversation, in which, I thought, he might take a share; but no such thing. Will took his stand before her, straddling like a colossus, with his hands in his pockets, and an air of the most profound attention: nor did he pretend to open his lips for some time, until, upon some lively sally of hers, he electrified the whole company with a most intolerable burst of laughter. What was to be done with such an incorrigible fellow?—To add to my distress, the first word he spoke was to tell Miss Sparkle that something she said reminded him of a circumstance that happened to him in China;-and at it he went in the true traveller style,—described the Chinese mode of eating rice with chop-sticks ;-entered into a long eulogium on the succulent qualities of boiled birds' nests: and I made my escape at the very moment when he was on the point of squatting down on the floor, to show how the little Chinese sit cross-legged.

Salmagundi.

SLEEP'S PHANTASY.

BY RICHARD HOWITT.

I had a deep and pleasant sleep,
And such a dream of joy I dreamt,
If I such mood awake could keep,

My life would be from pain exempt;
And this dull land of weary hours,
Would be a paradise of flowers.

An aged man with hoary hair,

Beside a cheerful hearth was seated,
With children sporting round his chair,

Whose rosy cheeks with play were heated;

And one had clomb, and on his knee

Was placed, as pleased as child could be.

Then look'd I on the brow of each,
And could in part my likeness see;
And in their hair, and in their speech,
I thought they all resembled me;

Then to the mother's eye I turn'd,

And knew the one-loved-lost and mourn'd.

who, like a brilliant, adds lustre to the front of fashion. I accordingly presented him to her, and began a conversation, in which, I thought, he might take a share; but no such thing. Will took his stand before her, straddling like a colossus, with his hands in his pockets, and an air of the most profound attention: nor did he pretend to open his lips for some time, until, upon some lively sally of hers, he electrified the whole company with a most intolerable burst of laughter. What was to be done with such an incorrigible fellow?—To add to my distress, the first word he spoke was to tell Miss Sparkle that something she said reminded him of a circumstance that happened to him in China;—and at it he went in the true traveller style,—described the Chinese mode of eating rice with chop-sticks ;-entered into a long eulogium on the succulent qualities of boiled birds' nests: and I made my escape at the very moment when he was on the point of squatting down on the floor, to show how the little Chinese sit cross-legged.

Salmagundi.

SLEEP'S PHANTASY.

BY RICHARD HOWITT.

I had a deep and pleasant sleep,
And such a dream of joy I dreamt,
If I such mood awake could keep,

My life would be from pain exempt;
And this dull land of weary hours,
Would be a paradise of flowers.

An aged man with hoary hair,

Beside a cheerful hearth was seated,
With children sporting round his chair,
cheeks with play were heated;

Whose rosy

And one had clomb, and on his knee

Was placed, as pleased as child could be.