Our Anniversary. [JUNE, 



We called upon Mr. Weathercock the sketch, being assured that no person 



other morning, and we found him with will more enjoy the recital of his pecu- 



Jeremy Taylor's Holy Living and Dy- liarities than Mr. Weathercock himself; 



intj open upon his knees, and one of who, however he may change towards 



Etty's naked females in his hand ! others, and however he may alter his 



VVe trust that our readers will pass opinion of literature and authors, has, 



many happy hours in Mr. Weather- we are proud to say, never ceased to 



cock's society, and we therefore the entertain the same sentiments towards 



more readily break oft' abruptly in our ourselves and the " Monthly." 



The sunshine looked kindly in upon us like a friend, and right glad 

 were we to welcome it. From the reader we can have no secret, and we 

 willingly confess that our sufferings during the past month have been 

 considerable. Nothing but the " Monthly Magazine" and the public 

 anxiety have kept us alive. The East wind and the Duke of Welling- 

 ton's protest gave us a tertian ague. But still we wrote on. These are 

 not days, said we, for " singing men and singing women " (always except- 

 Mrs. Wood and the German company, whom it is very improbable the 

 Psalmist could have alluded to). The watchman must be continually 

 going about the walls of the city, and trying all its bulwarks. Day after 

 day our cheek grew paler, and our step more heavy and feeble. But 

 the people of England were anxiously waiting for the Reform Bill and 

 the Magazine, therefore we continued to write on unceasingly. We 

 even for some time underwent tbe affectionate persecution of our friends 

 " My dear Marmaduke," said Algernon, " you should take some relaxa- 

 tion, you are quite exhausted Canning is gone, Byron is gone, Sir 

 Walter is going we cannot afford to lose you." 



" For my sake," softly whispered Lady Emily Seymour, " for my sake, 

 dear Marmaduke, I beseech you to take care of your health," and as she 

 pronounced these words, we felt an arm softer than the silver bloom of 

 lilies upon our neck, and tbe beating of a gentle heart against our bosom. 

 No man, save our friend the Woman-Hater, could refuse Emily anything, 

 so we at once promised to join the party at the Star and Garter. 



And the 2 1 st of May is come at last, and tbe sun is laughing aloud with 

 joy, and Hell-fire Dick, the celebrated Cambridge coachman (whom the 

 club have hired to drive tbe omnibus) is shouting lustily at the door. 

 Then away to Richmond. 



It is a very old saying, and a very true one, that pleasure is always 

 accompanied by pain ; and in tbe present case the saying was verified, 

 for we had, in a moment of good nature, unwittingly promised to take up 

 the contributors as we went along : we accordingly delivered a list of their 

 various residences to the coachman, and off we went to Grosvenor Square. 



A knock from the hands of our excellent conductor 



soon brought Mr. Janus Weathercock's " gentleman" to tbe door. 



To our great surprise and delight, Mr. Weathercock was ready, and 

 away we went to Algernon Sydney's. 



The moment we crossed the threshold of the poet's bouse, we seemed to 

 breathe a different and purer atmosphere. The air appeared to come 

 from plantations of orange-trees, and to have been cooled by the up- 

 thrown silver of oriental fountains. Algernon was in his library, and so 

 directing the servant not to announce us, we stepped gently along ; as 

 we approached the door of the library, we recognised the voice of Sydney 

 in apparent conversation with some person. The servant had assured us 



