I stood in that serene retreat,

Which smiles in spite of stormy weather;
Where flowers and virtues clust'ring meet,
And cheeks and roses blush together.

When soon, twelve sylph-like forms, I dream'd,
Successive on my vision darted;

And still the latest comer seem'd
Fairer than she who just departed.

Yet ONE there was, whose azure eyc
A melting, holy lustre lighted;"
Which censur'd while it wak'd the sigh,
And chid the feelings it excited.

"Mortal!" (a mystic speaker said)

"In these the SISTER MONTHS discover;
"Select from these the brightest maid!
"Prove to the brightest maid a lover."

I heard and felt no longer free-
From all the rest I gladly sever;

And in perennial joy, with thee,

Dear MAY-O! could reside forever!

MATERNAL AFFECTION.

We have access to a very recent and beautiful series of masterly engravings illustrating in a mode truly graphical, the interesting progress of MATERNAL AFFECTION. As we are assured these elegant prints will be surveyed with emotions of the most tender, gentle, and generous character, by many an amiable woman, we lose no time in exhibiting this gallery of pleasing pictures to that description of our friends and readers whom it is our delight to allure as often as possible, to the pages of the Port Folio.

Of this series the first engraving which so vividly reveals one of the tendercst offices of a mother's love, has been regarded with so much complacency, that we are confident the companion-piece will excite general admiration. The tranquil repose and ineffable innocence of the infant, in perfect harmony with the fond caress and delighted gaze of the lovely and affectionate female, cannot escape the consideration of the most careless observer. It is but justice to Mr. EDWIN, one of the most meritorious of our engravers, to remark that his copy, both for spirit and elegance, unquestionably transcends the British original.

VARIETY.

IT has been observed that, if we adopt a solitary habit of life or action, during one month, it may be preserved for the whole of one's existence. Therefore to conquer a vicious habit, or acquire a good one, there is only occasion for firmness, and resist ance during one month.

THE Continual constraint in which the kings of France were educated, so that every word was watched and reported, reduced Lewis XI. and XVI. to a state of seeming imbecility in public exhibition. When the duke de Richlieu had taken Mahon all the court poured from the palace of Marby into the gardens to see the king's reception of the victor, and hear some flattering compliments from the royal mouth. Unhappily the king had not been prepared; and after much embarrassment, and universal silence, being at length obliged to address the duke, said, "Do you know the porter of the castle is dead?" Richlieu answered that he did not, and was perfectly confounded with this new compliment.

BUFFON said that patience and attention are the parents of genius. In this he agreed with Newton, who modestly ascribed his immortal discoveries to the sole faculty of patient thinking.

DEDERST said of Thomas, whose eloquence is much esteemed in France, "He is a truly virtuous man. Few would have been capable of writing his work on women; but he has attempted to be impartial, and that book has no sex. It is a difficult subject. If one wished to write on women, one should dip ones pen in the colours of the rainbow and throw upon ones lines the dust of the wings of butterflies. One must be like the pilgrim's dog in the fable. In fine, to paint the mobility of their character and the variety of their passions you must know the manner to express them like degrees of the thermometer."

THE French character is so impetuous as to infect even their music, which forms, as it were, a cataract of sounds, without those beautiful intervals of repose, which constitutes a great charm of the Italian harmony.

MADAME NECKAR has observed that the future and the present are always rivals, what is given to the one is taken from the other. The sensibility of women gives them up entirely to the present, without foresight for the future. She adds that they seldom write well except letters; and do not compose but invent. They stop at the first step, while the men get before and reach the goal.

NOTHING, says the Rev. Mr. DUTENS, who is perfectly well qualified to speak decidedly on the subject, was more interesting than to hear Mr. Pitt and Fox in a debate in the house of commons. Both possessed great understanding, energy, warmth, and eloquence. Those, however, who pretend to decide impartially between the two, give the superiority to Mr. Pitt. He had a fine voice; and though he spoke with great rapidity, and without ever hesitating, it was impossible to substitute a better expression than that which he made use of. What is remarkable concerning these two celebrated antagonists is, that their fathers were always opposed to each other in their political career, as well as the sons, who both surpassed their fathers. Mr. Pitt was ten years younger than Mr. Fox. From the age of twenty-three