there, I beheld them for the
first time. What would I not give to realize once more, if only for a
day, that happy, happy vision!

Stanley Manor is let to strangers during the minority of Lord Robert's
sickly son; the father being an absentee, the mother in an early
grave. She lived long enough, however, to be a repining wife; and my
neighbour, Sir Julius Altham, has more than once hinted to me, that,
of the whole family, the portion of Selina most deserved compassion.

To me, however, her callous conduct towards that gentle sister, always
rendered her the least interesting of my COUNTRY NEIGHBOURS.

TRAVELS OF KERIM KHAN.[3]

[3] Travels of Kerim Khan; being a narrative of his
Journey from Delhi to Calcutta, and thence by Sea to
England: containing his remarks upon the manners,
customs, laws, constitutions, literature, arts,
manufactures, &c., of the people of the British Isles.
Translated from the original Oordu--(MS.)

Among the various signs of the times which mark the changes of manners
in these latter days of the world, not the least remarkable is the
increasing frequency of the visits paid by the natives of the East to
the regions of Europe. Time was, within the memory of most of the
present generation, when the sight of a genuine Oriental in a London
drawing-room, except in the angel visits, "few and far between," of a
Persian or Moorish ambassador, was a rarity beyond the reach of even
the most determined lion-hunters; and if by any fortunate chance a
stray Persian khan, or a "very magnificent three-tailed bashaw," was
brought within the circle of the quidnuncs of the day, the sayings and
doings of the illustrious stranger were chronicled with as much
minuteness as if he had been the denizen of another planet. Every hair
of his beard, every jewel in the hilt of his khanjar, was enumerated
and criticised; while all oriental etiquette was violated by the
constant enquiries addressed to him relative to the number of his
wives, and the economy of his domestic arrangements. "_Mais a present
on a change tout cela._" The reforms of Sultan Mahmood, the invention
of steam, and the re-opening of the overland route to India, have
combined to effect a mighty revolution in all these points. Osmanlis,
with shaven chins and tight trousers,[4] have long been as plenty as
blackberries in the saloons of the West, eating the flesh of the
unclean beast, quaffing champagne, and even (if we hav