containing their gold and silver articles through the Custom House, our friends found themselves comfortably ensconced in a private hotel in the Adelphi. Here Mr. and Mrs. Child soon called upon them, and the banker furnished his client with introductions. One of the main objects of Captain Seaward's return was to secure a Government grant of the islands, and a commission as its governor, as he did not attach very great importance to the document he obtained so easily from the Governor of Jamaica. To do this it was necessary for him to approach Sir Robert Walpole, and Mr. Perry, his banker, whom he consulted on the matter, asked him plainly if he had any objection to wading through dirty water to accomplish his ends. He made answer that he had very decided objections, and ultimately an interview with the great Minister was arranged for. Before it took place, however, an incident occurred which, slight in itself, exercised an enormous influence on the fortunes of our friends. A French tirewoman called to show Mrs. Seaward some magnificent tissue of gold, which she declared to be the finest ever made. To show her how mistaken she was, Mrs. Seaward produced some of the tissue found in the box, and before which the other faded into insignificance. The tirewoman was enraptured, and carried the news to Court. Meantime, Mr. Seaward had his interview with the Minister, whom he found but coolly disposed towards him. This roused his spirit, and he began to talk of taking his case to Madrid, if his wishes were not complied with. "Recollect, Sir Robert, if the King is to have a right in those islands, it comes through my right. Yet, I wish to come to you for a grace; but when I have grace to ask as a favour that which is a right, I do not see much grace in refusing a right as if it were a favour." To this the Minister replied, "You are very warm, young man. If you were to go to Madrid, they would send you to the Castle for firing on their Guarda Costa, and in all probability you would be executed as an uncommissioned pirate. Call on me tomorrow morning, at ten o'clock, and I will see what can be done." On calling he saw the secretary only, and was directed to call again a few days afterwards, hints being dropped that he was not taking the shortest means to secure his ends. A Mr. Powis, whom he had met at his bankers, also called on him in the matter, and insinuated that the Minister's "right ear" must be secured before any good could be done-in plain English, that bribery or a substantial contribution to the Secret Fund, which assisted Sir Robert in managing the Commons, must be resorted to. Mr. Seaward stuck to his principles, and courageously declined to do anything of the kind, and his friend tried in vain to laugh him out of his scruples. "And," his wife added, in replying to Mr. Powis, "if Sir Robert Walpole cannot manage the Parliament in any other way than you have explained, he is a foolish and a wicked man." Mr. Seward, in his pique, talked of entering Parliament and troubling the Minister in another way, but the visit of the tirewoman and its results quite changed the face of matters. While packing up, preparatory to visiting their friends in Gloucestershire, Lady Sundon, the Mistress of the Robes to Queen Caroline, called, and after stating that she had heard

that Mrs. Seaward was possessed of some very magnificent tissue, she expressed her wish to purchase it. This Mrs. Seaward gently declined, but offered at once to present some to her Majesty. At first some difficulty was raised, but the ladies had a long conversation, at the end of which Lady Sundon agreed to try and persuade the Queen to accept the gift; while so great had been the impression produced by Mrs. Seaward in one brief hour, that her visitor expressed the warmest desire to cultivate her acquaintance and friendship. They were soon very intimate friends, and Mrs. Seaward was taken to Court, and presented the tissue. She quickly became as great a favourite with the Queen as she was with Lady Sundon, and her Majesty took the greatest delight in listening to the story of her remarkable adventures. Perhaps what struck the Royal mind most, was the transparent and beautiful affection that existed between husband and wife, which was necessarily made apparent by Mrs. Seaward's narrative. It was indeed about as great a contrast to the Queen's own lot as could well be imagined, and her Majesty soon began to treat her new friend almost as an affectionate daughter. Mr. Seaward's difficulties with respect to the grant and commission began to disappear rapidly. He was sent for by Walpole, and his demands in the main conceded, to his great satisfaction. He, himself, was presented at Court, by the Queen's request, and received the honour of knighthood at her hands, to the immense astonishment of two persons present-Sir Robert Walpole and himself. The Queen presented Lady Seaward with a diamond cross, which she affixed to her necklace with her own hands, and she behaved to both with the greatest kindness. The time came, however, for them to leave London and visit their friends in Gloucestershire, who were all anxious to see them again. So, after a touching leave-taking between the Queen and Lady Seaward, in which the former presented the latter with a MS. sermon she had received at the Hague from Saurin, they at last left London. The last words at this interview are, however, well worthy of repetition. Speaking of Saurin, and the circumstances under which she received the sermon, she continued, "I told him I was grateful to the Disposer of Crowns, for that which I was about to wear; and I feel happy, my dear young friend, in this opportunity of laying open my heart to one, I believe, worthy of knowing that Caroline of England's proudest title would be that of a true Christian woman."

During his visit to Gloucestershire, Sir Edward bought the estate of Hartland, in that county, by public auction, for £23,500. On the lot being knocked down to him, and his name being announced, somebody muttered, "Who is this Sir Edward Seward ?" to which a red-faced squire replied, "Why, haven't you heard he was a post-boy or cow-boy at Thornbury?" The conversation was overheard by Seaward, who, stepping out into the middle of the room, said, "Gentlemen, I beg leave to inform you that I never was either a post-boy or a cow-boy at Thornbury or anywhere else, but I was the son of a poor, but honest farmer at Awbury, and now, by the blessing of God, I am what I am ; but I should disgrace my father were I ashamed of what I was." His

manly avowal brought him many congratulations from the noblemen and gentlemen present, who hastened to call on him and his wife.

Preparations were now made for a return to Seaward Islands, for although life in England had superior charms under circumstances such as theirs, duty seemed to point imperatively to a return to their settlement. Among other additions to the latter, they took out a doctor and a clergyman, as well as a number of German emigrants, who were to have proceeded to Georgia, but whom the Queen confided to the care of "her dear Lady Seaward." Speaking of Georgia to his new clergyman, Mr. Rowley, Sir Edward mentioned the fact that he had heard a good deal from Mr. Powis about a reverend gentleman who had lately gone thither. Powis had called him a crack-brained enthusiast, and said he had secret expectations of being made Bishop of the province. Mr. Rowley replied, "I remember to have seen Mr. John Wesley at Oxford, about seven years ago; his conduct and opinions there certainly occasioned some conversation and discussion among the men, but I know very little of him personally. I think, however, it is likely he will be very useful in Georgia; for whatever his peculiar views of doctrine may be, his piety is unimpeachable. I never can forget an expression of Mr. Gerard's, the Bishop's Chaplain, respecting him, when George Lascelles was launching out against the curator of the Holy Club. Whatever eccentricities John Wesley may have,' said the Chaplain, I mistake much if he will not one day be standard-bearer of the Cross, whether in his own country, or beyond the seas.' Now, Sir Edward," continued Mr. Rowley, "I take Mr. Gerard to have had as good light in this matter as the Jesuit, Le Jay, when he said to his pupil, Voltaire, 'Young man, the day will arrive when you shall be the standard-bearer of Infidelity.' Le Jay saw in his pupil the most unrestrained scepticism and impiety. Gerard observed in Wesley a holy zeal burning within him, then restrained, but ready to burst into a flame." This conversation between contemporaries, bearing on a man like Wesley, then comparatively unknown and obscure, seems to us full of interest, and therefore worthy of being quoted in extenso.

These

Considerations of space now compel us to cut short an account of Seaward's further adventures on his return to his islands. continued to increase in wealth and importance, and became quite a considerable colony. Just before the breaking out of hostilities with Spain, Sir Edward was entrusted with a special mission to Porto Bello. His mission failing, he rescued certain English captains, wrongly imprisoned by the Spaniards, and their arrival in England hastened on the war, greatly to Walpole's disgust. On a second mission to the same place, he was seized and thrown into prison, where he nearly lost his life from a fever, through which his wife tenderly nursed him. He did not regain his liberty until the gallant Vernon bombarded the place, and wrested it from Spanish hands. Seaward Islands, which, in view of the war, had been strongly fortified, withstood a determined attack by an overwhelming Spanish force, which was beaten, with great loss, while a second and even greater expedition, which must have succeeded in reducing the place, was overtaken by a hurricane before it could

commence its attack, and the ships composing it met, on the numberless rocks and reefs, with the terrible fate that befell the memorable Armada. At the conclusion of the war Spain insisted on the place being given up, and in spite of the earnest and eloquent protestations of Sir Edward, this was done, the fortifications being destroyed, and the people removed to a new settlement on the Mosquito Shore. In pleading for its retention with the Duke of Newcastle, Sir Edward said, "Our merchants dispense millions of the produce of British industry and commerce from that spot to foreigners; they have sent their gains to England, much of whichperhaps £100,000 altogether-has been invested in the public funds. They have made the place what it is; it is respectably fortified, and it never cost the Government a shilling." When we think of the poor supercargo or merchant wrecked on the desert island a very few years previously, we do not need much assurance of the ability and energy of the man. As we remarked at the outset, his wife is depicted with a loving hand, but her speeches and her actions would alone be needed to make her one of the sweetest and best women that ever biographer wrote of or novelist drew. This paper has been penned in the hope of making a little known but exceedingly interesting and valuable work more widely appreciated; and we promise all who read the book that they will rise from its perusal with their knowledge extended, their sympathies quickened, and their sense of duty intensified from the intimate acquaintance to be enjoyed in it with a genuine hero and heroine.

ERICA.

**

THE RICHEST PRINCE.

(From the German.)

Once at Worms, in Kaiser's palace,
German princes, proud and gay,
Urged in glowing words the praises
Of the lands that owned their sway.

"Glorious," cried the Saxon sovereign, "Shines my land in princely pride; Stores of silver, safely hoarded,

Deep in pits its mountains hide."

"My land! see how rich and fruitful!"
Said the Elector of the Rhine,
"Golden corn-fields in the valleys,
On the mountains precious wine."

"Cities great, and wealthy cloisters,"
Lewis of Bavaria spake,

"Show that my dear land for treasures May by your's its station take."

Last spake Eberhard, long-bearded,
Wurtemburg's beloved lord,
"No great towns my land possesses,
No rich hills with silver stored;

But it holds a hidden treasure

Of more worth than gems or wine,

For my subjects love me truly,

They would give their lives for mine.

And in forests, wild and dreary,

I might safely rest my head
On the lap of any peasant,

Slumbering there without a dread."

Then outspake those German princes,
All-Bavarian, Saxon, Rhine-
"Bearded Count, thy land is richest ;
For it holds a gem divine."

COTTESWOLDE.