d creations. Zophiel
seems to us the finest fallen angel that has come from the hand of a
poet. Milton's outcasts from heaven are utterly depraved and abraded
of their glory; but Zophiel has traces of his original virtue and
beauty, and a lingering hope of restoration to the presence of the
Divinity. Deceived by the specious fallacies of an immortal like
himself, and his superior in rank, he encounters the blackest perfidy
in him for whom so much had been forfeited, and the blight of every
prospect that had lured his fancy or ambition. Egla, though one of the
most important characters in the poem, is much less interesting. She
is represented as heroically consistent, except when given over for a
moment to the malice of infernal emissaries. In her immediate
reception of Helon as a husband, she is constant to a long cherished
idea, and fulfills the design of her guardian spirit, or it would
excite some wonder that Zophiel was worsted in such competition. It
will be perceived upon a careful examination that the work is in
admirable keeping, and that the entire conduct of its several persons
bears a just relation to their characters and position.

Mrs. Brooks returned to the United States, and her son being now a
student in the military academy, she took up her residence in the
vicinity of West Point, where, with occasional intermissions in which
she visited her plantation in Cuba or traveled in the United States,
she remained until 1839. Her marked individuality, the variety, beauty
and occasional splendor of her conversation, made her house a favorite
resort of the officers of the academy, and of the most accomplished
persons who frequented that romantic neighborhood, by many of whom she
will long be remembered with mingled affection and admiration.

In 1834 she caused to be published in Boston an edition of "Zophiel,"
for the benefit of the Polish exiles who were thronging to this
country after their then recent struggle for freedom. There were at
that time too few readers among us of sufficiently cultivated and
independent taste to appreciate a work of art which time or accident
had not commended to the popular applause, and "Zophiel" scarcely
anywhere excited any interest or attracted any attention. At the end
of a month but about twenty copies had been sold, and, in a moment of
disappointment, Mrs. Brooks caused the remainder of the impression to
be withdrawn from the market. The poem has therefore been little read