and now, in its burdened old age, making its slow and difficult way, with great broad surface, over which the declining sun looms grandly, to the sea. The uninstructed or careless traveller generally finds but one form of beauty or of meaning in the river; the romantic gorge or wild cascade is perhaps the only kind of scenery which delights him. And so it has often Well-fought battles,

been in our estimate of history. or the doings of gay courts, or bloody revolutions, have been the chief sources of attraction; while less well-dressed events, but not of less real interest or import, have often escaped all notice."

Biography has been aptly termed an historical account of the lives of particular persons. Its object is not merely to describe the incidents in the life of any individual, but to exhibit his personal character, and the motives and principles by which his conduct was guided. The lives of eminent persons should be read, especially by the young, for the formation of their own principles and character, the acquirement of information, and the improvement of their own mind; in the same way that the poet, who wishes to improve himself in his divine art, makes himself acquainted with the works of genius, not for the purpose of mere servile imitation, but for the formation of his own style, the refinement of his taste, and the extension of his intellectual attainments. Biography ought especially to be studied by the female portion of the community, as upon them depends, in many instances, the training of the rising generation.

7

THE EMPRESS MARIA THERESA.

Ir often happens that a single well-judged action fixes the future destiny of the agent. This was remarkably the case on that memorable occasion when the celebrated Maria Theresa, "the queen, the beauty," made her appeal to her nobles, and won the hearts of half Europe in a moment. She was indeed a wonderful woman. Her character and actions divided the attention of the world with those of her illustrious antagonist, Frederick the Great, during the whole of his brilliant career; and she has left on the imperishable records of history one among a thousand examples, which serve to illustrate the intellectual equality of the sexes, by exhibiting a female as the counterpart to the man, who is the master-spirit of his age. Pericles had such a counterpart; and so had Cæsar. Peter the Great had his Catherine; and the spirit of Napoleon itself quailed under the terrible denunciations of De Stael. We have chosen as one of the subjects of illustration this most striking incident in female biography-Maria Theresa presenting her son to the Hungarian Diet.

Maria Theresa, Empress Queen of Bohemia and Hungary, was the daughter of the Emperor Charles VI., who, losing his only son, constituted her the heiress of his dominions. She was born in 1717, and at the age of nineteen, married Francis of Lorraine.

On the death of her father in 1740, she ascended the throne; but no sooner had she attained that envied, though dangerous position, than the neighbouring princes invaded her domains on all sides; and she, being no longer in safety at Vienna, fled for protection to her Hungarian subjects. She assembled the states, and, presenting herself before them, with her infant in her arms, addressed them in Latin in the following memorable words:-"Abandoned by my friends, persecuted by my enemies, attacked by my nearest relations, I have no other resource than in your fidelity, in your courage, and my own constancy. I commit to your care the son of your king, who has no other safety than your protection." At the spectacle of the beauty and distress of their young queen, the Hungarians, a warlike people, drew their swords, and exclaimed, as with one voice: "We will die for our queen, Maria Theresa!" An army was assembled; and the queen, who had two powerful supports in her rare talents and the love of her people, recovered several important places; the kings of England and Sardinia espoused her cause; and, after eight years of war, Maria Theresa was confirmed in her rights by the peace of 1748. She then directed her attention to repairing the evils which war had occasioned; the arts were encouraged, and commerce extended. The ports of Trieste and Turin were opened to all nations, and Leghorn extended its commerce to the Levant and the East Indies. The city of Vienna was enlarged and embellished; and manufactures of cloth, porce

lain, silk, &c., were established in its vast suburbs. To encourage science, the empress erected universities and colleges throughout her dominions, one of which at Vienna bears her name. She founded schools for drawing, sculpture, and architecture; founded public libraries at Prague and Innspruck; and raised magnificent observatories at Vienna, Glatz, and Tiernan. In 1756 the torch of war was again kindled, and was not extinguished till 1763, when the treaty of Hubertsbourgh placed the affairs of Germany on nearly the same footing as before the war. The only advantage Maria Theresa reaped, was the election of her son Joseph as king of the Romans in 1764. The next year she experienced a great domestic misfortune in the loss of her husband, to whom she had been tenderly attached; the mourning she assumed was never laid aside during her life; and she founded at Innspruck a chapter of nuns, whose office was to pray for the repose of the soul of this beloved husband. Vienna beheld her every month water with her tears the tomb of this prince, who, for thirty years, had been her support and adviser.

After a long and glorious reign, and having beheld her eight children seated on the thrones, or united to the monarchs of some of the most flourishing states of Europe, and after having merited the title of mother of her country, Maria Theresa descended to the tomb in 1780. Her last moments were employed in conferring benefits upon the poor and orphans; and the following were some of the last words she uttered:

"The state in which you now behold me," said she to her son, "is the termination of what is called power and grandeur. During a long and painful reign of forty years, I have loved and sought after truth. I may have been mistaken in my choice; my intentions may have been ill understood, and worse executed; but He who knows all has seen the purity of my intentions; and the tranquillity I now enjoy is the first pledge of His acceptance, and emboldens me to hope for more. One of the most consoling thoughts on my deathbed," said she, "is, that I have never closed my heart to the cry of misfortune."

MATHIAS CORVINUS, KING OF HUNGARY.

IN one of his Turkish campaigns he visited the enemy's camp with a single companion, both disguised as peasants. All day long Mathias sold eatables before the tent of the Turkish general. In the evening he returned in safety. Next morning he wrote to the Turk that he had himself explored his camp; and to authenticate his statement, named the dishes that had been served up to the Ottoman. The Moslem was scared, and fled.

At the siege of Shabacz he disguised himself as a