The Duchess of Kent, and the Princess Victoria. BLACKWOOD'S LADY'S MAGAZINE AND GAZETTE OF THE FASHIONABLE WORLD; OR, ST. JAMES'S COURT-REGISTER OF BELLES LETTRES, FINE ARTS, MUSIC, DRAMA, FASHIONS, &c. JANUARY, 1837. PEN-AND-INK OUTLINES.-No. III. THE BEAU IN SPITE OF HIMSELF. MAY the blessings of a pair of quite exhausted legs light upon that locomotive genius who first introduced omnibuses in this country! May those blessings be centupled on that bold speculator who first set the example of conveying passengers far beyond the limits of the twopenny-post-office for sixpence! To be sure, this mode of travelling wonderfully facilitates the operations of country cousins, in inflicting their company on their town relations, whom, prior to this discovery, they were in the habit of seeing about once in seven years. Now they pester their VOL. II.-No. 8. city friends about three or four times a month, bringing, as some compensation for the trouble they occasion, a nosegay of hedge-flowers, in which earwigs and spiders have taken lodgings for the summer season. But they are enabled to return to their domiciles in the capacious vehicle, which deprives them of all pretence for dragging any of their hapless entertainers through fields, valleys, and commons, on a pitch-dark night, to admire the beauties of nature. Omnibuses have saved my life, for they have rescued me from the penance B of seeing home every female, young, middle-aged, or old, who might prolong her stay till dark; but I wish, for my ease, that they had come up some ten years ago. Even now, occasionally, through our fair visitants forgetting the hour at which the omnibus starts, for "Nemo mortalium omnibus horis sapit," I am obliged to resume my military duties, and escort home some rare species of the softer sex. At the age of eight my chaperoning qualities were called into play, but I confess that my compulsory politeness was often vouchsafed with a bad grace. "Now my son shall see you home, Miss Puddingface," exclaimed my worthy mamma, with a vehemence too expressive of sincerity to afford me any vast delight." No, I won't think of taking the boy out this time of night," replied the deceitful old cat. "Nonsense! said my mother, and then an amiable contest (the object of which was to victimize me,) ensued between ma' and Miss P., I, at intervals, growling out, "I shall be most happy," in a tone which nearly choked me, and indicating the very reverse of its verbal import. Mother's eloquence and my insinuating manners prevailed over the obdurate heart of the visitor, and I was allowed the honour of walking from Lambeth to Paddington with her, through a pouring wet night, with the additional treat of straining my arms to hold a large chaise umbrella over my lovely companion. Frequently have I been compelled to leave a party of merry-hearted children to give some antediluvian dowager, or superannuated spinster, the benefit of my protection. My protection! A boy of nine protecting a mass of female thews and muscles! A rabbit would have been equally efficient in defending a tigress from the impertinence of some varlet of a fox. Indeed, I was rude enough to think that the absence of personal attractions in the ladies entrusted to my care, would have been their surest safeguard. Once it fell to my duty to convoy a Mrs. Gammon, who had spent the day at Lambeth, to Hackney. This lady had but one attraction, and that was a beautiful head of hair-so beautiful, that its ringlets ensnared the heart of Mr. Gammon, a florist, who called her his hairbelle, and in a short time added her to his collection of flowers. It was a very windy night, and we had no slight difficulty in keeping our ground; but, by dint of perseverance, we at last reached the foot of the old London Bridge. Hearing the waterworks, I put my head through the balustrades, and Mrs. G. following my example, her bonnet was unfortunately puffed away by a gust of wind, but how much more took a similar flight. All human efforts surprised was I when her hair suddenly were unavailing to save her tresses from a watery grave. Poor woman! violent were her paroxysms at finding to her cost that there were more locks in the Thames than in the Regent's Canal. She looked deplorably ugly, and to escape the laughter of the bystanders, who were much amused at the Capuchin-like figure she cut, she called a coach, and declined further my services. I did not forget to mention this mishap, which so incensed her that she never forgave what she regarded as the "front of my offending," and revenged herself on my blabbing by never allowing me to walk home with her again. As I grew older I began to discriminate, and did not particularly object to "doing the amiable" by a young and beautiful girl, or one whose conversation tended to enliven and beguile the journey; but these, alas! were as scarce as a prize in the late Glasgow lottery, all such rarities having some kind sweetheart who felt happy in calling for them; and human specimens of the antique, and demoiselles who informed me, when it rained, that it was a wet night, were still consigned to my special keeping. I have sometimes been so dreadfully nipped with cold in these nocturnal excursions, that it has occurred to me I must have discovered the North Pole; and at others I have been so knocked up, that a feather might have knocked me down. But thanks to Shillibeer, my labours are terminated, those who were once my troublesome fair, now forming a part of the omnibus fare. A FAMILY RECORD. BY THE AUTHOR OF A CONTENTED family is a circle of Nature's own formation, and one in which she delights to exert her most fascinating powers; for I know of no more beautiful object of contemplation in the world than a scene of simple and unalloyed domestic felicity,-no part of the social system which presents a more delightful picture to the eye than a smiling happy family gathered around their hearth in the sweet communion of affection and sympathy. At the same time, nothing is more acutely distressing than to see the sacred stillness burst rudely upon by the storm of misfortune, to see the desolating hand of death remorselessly hew down, one by one, the component part of Nature's lovely structure, till, from the repeated gaps made in her circle, the remaining portions become scattered and lost. I knew the Napiers intimately,I became acquainted with them in their happiest days, and was a chosen guest at their hospitable board. In fact, my favourite method of passing an evening, was to stroll in and partake of their domestic recreations, alternately chatting with the heads of the family, and listening to the unexcelled musical powers of their eldest daughter Emily. They visited but little abroad, and saw but little company at home, for the happiness they enjoyed was of a nature as purely domestic as it was delightful. A few select friends, however, visited them, of which small number I had the good fortune to be one. Mr. Napier was a merchant of high respectability, and a travelled man. He possessed, in an eminent degree, that fund of information and anecdote, united to the graceful suavity of manner, which a long intercourse with the superior classes of foreign society seldom fails of imparting to an intelligent Englishman. He was little past the prime of life, and as yet the grey mingled but partially with his dark brown hair. Mrs. Napier was of Germanic extraction, and her union with her husband was the result of pure affection, unallied to sordid motives, their fortunes having been about equal. Their ac MY OLD FRIEND TOM." quaintance commenced, during a proTM tracted stay which Mr. Napier was then making at Vienna, where they were married, and the ceremony was a second time performed on their return to England. At the time of which I am speaking, Mr. and Mrs. N. reckoned a quarter of a century from the date of their union, and during that period had become the parents of a son and two daughters, who contributed as far as possible to the perfection of their felicity, and the cementing yet more firmly the bond of their mutual affection. William was the pride of his father, the nucleus of his happiness, the foundation of his ambition, and the keystone of his hopes. He was a handsome spirited young man, just twenty-four. mind, sprung naturally from the finest soil, was cultivated to the last degree of refinement by the unceasing assiduity of his father, aided by the most eminent scholars of the day. He possessed every sterling acquirement, added to all those light and external accomplishments considered as desiderata by the polished Chesterfield. His Were it absolutely required that I should give an exact and graphic description of the beauties, both mental and personal, of his sister, Emily Napier, I should abandon the pen in despair. Vain would be the endeavour, for, unless gifted with the genius of a Shakspeare, I should utterly fail. Incompetent therefore of giving an adequate portraiture of Miss Napier, I must be contented with conveying a faint idea of those inestimable qualifications which adorned, and rendered her the delight of all. Emily was just nineteen, and in person was of that height best adapted for perfect symmetry of form, and the unaffected grace of her carriage I never saw surpassed, indeed scarcely ever equalled. Her hair was of the richest auburn, floating in long unstudied ringlets down her neck, and resting upon a shoulder, which, had Phidias seen, he would have thrown down his chisel, in despair of immortalizing its contour in his marble. The outline of her features was in the purest |