The bright clouds answer'd-" We depart, 4. Speak, then, thou voice of God within! Answer me! through life's restless din, And the voice answer'd-"Be thou still! Clouds, winds, and stars their task fulfill— MRS. HEMANS. 155. QUEEN ISABELLA, OF SPAIN. HER person was of the middle height, and well proportioned. She had a clear, fresh complexion, with light-blue eyes and auburn hair, a style of beauty exceedingly rare in Spain. Her features were regular, and universally allowed to be uncommonly handsome. The illusion which attaches to rank, more especially when united with engaging manners, might lead us to suspect some exaggeration in the encomiums' so liberally lavished on her. But they would seem to be in a great measure justified by the portraits that remain of her, which combine a faultless symmetry' of features, with singular sweetness and intelligence of expression. 2. Her manners were most gracious and pleasing. They were marked by natural dignity and modest reserve, tempered by an affability which flowed from the kindliness of her disposition. She was the last person to be approached with undue familiarity; yet the respect which she imposed was mingled with the strongest feelings of devotion and love. 3. She showed great tact in accommodating herself to the peculiar situation and character of those around her. She ap 'En co' mi um, a high commendation; praise.-2 Sym' me try, proportion of parts to each other, or to the whole; harmony.- Af fa bil'ity, easy of access; readiness to converse QUEEN ISABELLA, OF SPAIN. 363 peared in arms at the head of her troops, and shrunk from none of the hardships of war. During the reforms introduced into the religious houses, she visited the nunneries' in person, taking her needle-work with her, and passing the day in the society of the inmates. When traveling in Galicia, she attired herself in the costume of the country, borrowing for that purpose the jewels and other ornaments of the ladies there, and returning them with liberal additions. By this condescending and captivating deportment, as well as by her higher qualities, she gained an ascendency over her turbulents subjects, which no king of Spain could ever boast. 4. She spoke the Castilian with much elegance and correctness. She had an easy fluency of discourse, which, though generally of a serious complexion, was occasionally seasoned with agreeable sallies, some of which have passed into proverbs. She was temperate, even to abstemiousness,' in her diet, seldom or never tasting wine; and so frugal in her table, that the daily expenses for herself and family did not exceed the moderate sum of forty dŭcats. 8 5. She was equally simple and economical in her apparel. On all public occasions, indeed, she displayed a royal magnificence; but she had no relish for it in private, and she freely gave away her clothes and jewels, as presents to her friends. Naturally of a sedate, though cheerful temper, she had little taste for the frivolous amusements which make up so much of a court life; and, if she encouraged the presence of minstrels and musicians in her palace, it was to wean her young nobility from the coarser and less intellectual pleasures to which they were addicted. 1 Nun' ner ies, religious houses for females called nuns, who have forsaken the world.—2 Galicia (galish'e a), an old province of Spain.-'Cos tùme', established mode of dress; peculiar dress. As cẻnd' ency. superior or controlling influence.- Turbulent (ter' bu lent), riotous; violent; mutinous.- Castilian (kas tèl' yan), the language spoken in Castile, considered the most elegant dialect of Spain. - Ab ste' mi ousness, a sparing use of food, or strong drink.- - Důc' at, a coin of several countries in Europe, struck in territory governed by a duke. A silver ducat is generally of nearly the value of an American dollar, and a gold ducat of twice the value.- Mag nif' i cence, grandeur of appearance; splendor of show or state. 6. Among her moral qualities, the most conspicuous, perhaps, was her magnanimity. She betrayed nothing little or selfish, in thought or action. Her schemes were vast, and executed in the same noble spirit in which they were conceived. She never employed doubtful agents or sinister measures, but the most direct and open policy. She scorned to avail herself of advantages offered by the perfidy' of others. 7. Where she had once given her confidence, she gave her hearty and steady support; and she was scrupulous to redeem any pledge she had made to those who ventured in her cause, however unpopular. She sustained Ximenes2 in all his obnoxious but salutary reforms. She seconded Columbus' in the prosecution of his arduous enterprise, and shielded him from the calumny of his enemies. She did the same good service to her favorite, Gonsalvo de Cordova; and the day of her death was felt, and, as it proved, truly felt, by both, as the last of their good fortune. 8. Artifice and duplicity' were so abhorrent to her character, and so averse from her domestic policy, that when they appear in the foreign relations of Spain, it is certainly not imputable to her. She was incapable of harboring any petty distrust, or latent malice; and, although stern in the execution and exaction of public justice, she made the most generous allowance, and even, sometimes, advances, to those who had personally injured her. 9. But the principle which gave a peculiar coloring to every feature of Isabella's mind, was piety. It shone fōrth from the věry depths of her soul with a heavenly radiance, which illuminated her whole character. Fortunately, her earliest years had been passed in the rugged school of adversity, under the eye of a mother who implanted in her serious mind such strong principles of religion, as nothing in after life had power to shake. 'Pêr' fi dy, treachery; falsehood.-' Cardinal Ximenes, born 1437, died 1517. He was the queen's confessor.- Obnoxious (ob nôk' shus), odious; unpopular.-* Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of America. Born 1436, died 1506.-5 Cål'um ny, the uttering of a false charge, proceeding from hatred against another.- Gonsalvo of Cordova, called also "the Great Captain," was a Spanish warrior, distinguished by his victories over the Moors in Spain, and the French in Naples. Born 1443, died 1515.- - Du plic' i ty, double-dealing; deceitfulness 6 10. At an early age, in the flower of youth and beauty, she was introduced to her brother's court; but its blandishments, so dazzling to a young imagination, had no power over hers; for she was surrounded by a moral atmosphere of purity, "driving far off each thing of sin and guilt." Such was the decorum of her manners, that, though encompassed by false friends and open enemies, not the slightest reproach was breathed on her fair name in this corrupt and calumnious' court. WM. H. PRESCOTT 1. 156. BELSHAZZAR. ELSHAZZAR is king! Belshazzar is lord! BELSH is thousand dark nobles all bend at his board; 2. "Bring forth," cries the monarch, "the vessels of gold 3. Now what cometh-look, look!-without menace, or call? Who writes with the lightning's bright hand on the wall? What pierceth the king like the point of a dart? What drives the bold blood from his cheek to his heart? 1 Ca lum' ni ous, slanderous.-2 Bà' al, an idol or false god of the Assyrians and Chaldeans.- Cym' bal, a flat musical instrument, in a circular form, producing, when two are struck together, a sharp, ringing sound.--Men' ace, a threat; the show of probable evil to come. "Chaldeans! Magicians! the letters expound !" B. W. PROCTER. HE 157. CHARACTER OF HENRY CLAY. E was indeed eloquent-all the world knows that. He held the keys to the hearts of his countrymen, and he turned the wards' within them with a skill attained by no other master. But eloquence was, nevertheless, only an instrument, and one of many that he used. His conversation, his gestures, his věry look, was magisterial, persuasive, seductive, irresistible. And his appliance of all these was courteous, patient, and indefăt'igable. 2. Defeat only inspired him with new resolution. He divided opposition by his assiduity of address, while he rallied and strengthened his own bands of supporters by the confidence of success which, feeling himself, he easily inspired among his followers. His affections were high, and pure, and generous, and the chiefest among them was that one which the great Italian poet designated as the charity of native land. In him, that charity was an enduring and overpowering enthusiasm, and it influenced all his sentiments and conduct, rendering him more impartial between conflicting interests and sections, than any other statesman who has lived since the Revolution. 3. Thus, with great versatility' of talent, and the most catholic3 equality of favor, he identified every question, whether of domestic administration or foreign policy, with his own great name, and so became a perpetual Tribune of the people. He needed only to pronounce in favor of a measure, or against it, 1 1 Wards, the inner parts of a lock.—2 Maġ is tè' ri al, like a master; commanding. As si dủ' i ty, constant or close application or diligence ; persevering attention. Ver sa til'i ty, the faculty of easily turning one's mind to new subjects.- C&th' o lic, embracing the whole; liberal. "Trib' une, in ancient Rome, an officer chosen by the people to protect them from the oppressions of the nobles. |