made of stained-glass, and gold made chiefly
of copper. Here, under the gaze of a couple
who may be man and wife, is an array of
laces or rather embroidered needlework,
comprising ten caps, seven collars, four habit-
shirts, four pairs of sleeves, a berthe, and a
pair of cuffs; and close, indeed, is the
microscopic examination to which these articles are
subjected. And here is (we will suppose) a
dealer who supplies optical and mathematical
instrument-makers, examining in detail a
lot containing ten cases for opera-glasses, five
dozen pairs of compasses, five dozen spectacle-
cases, one dozen object-glasses, a microscope,
and six boxes of instruments.

The all-significant taps of the hammer are
not heard at the places where the goods are
exhibited. One of the many halls or apartments
at the Commercial Sale Rooms, in
Mincing Lane, is engaged for the occasion by
the Customs' department; and here, on many
successive days, the lots, perhaps thirteen or
fourteen hundred in number, are sold.
Nothing is exhibited at the auction room;
the quality can only be tested by a previous
visit to the Queen's warehouse or to the docks.
A hundred or two persons are present, and
the auctioneer seems to know everybody: a
proof that the purchases are mostly made
by brokers and dealers known to the king of
the rostrum. No time is lost. The number
of the lot is announced, without any
enumeration of the articles comprising it; for,
every man has got his catalogue, and knows
all about it. The biddings begin, and are
soon over; they generally lie within rather
narrow limits; but, occasionally a crack lot,
on which many bidders have fixed their eye,
will be knocked down at four or five times
the amount of the first bidding. The various
circumstances under which the goods have
been declared forfeit, lead to diversities in the
mode of selling them. In most cases the
crown fixes a minimum price, which denotes
the lowest bidding that will be taken—  such,
for instance, as fifty dozen purses, seven pounds
fifteen; one ormolu clock, three pounds eight;
two gold watches, five pounds; six silver
watches, six pounds; six pianoforte actions,
fourteen pounds five; forty-five embroidered
handkerchiefs, four pounds. A lot rarely
passes without a bidder at the prices named:
there is generally a competition, more or less
keen. In other instances the lots are sold at
buyers' prices, no minimum being named by
the auctioneer. The buyers know well what
they are about; on some lots they have to
pay the duty in superaddition to the nominal
bidding; in others, the bidding covers the
duty. The greater number of the lots are
sold for home consumption only; others
are sold either for exportation without duty,
or for home consumption on payment of
duty; a third variety includes commodities
saleable for exportation only. These varieties
determine the nominal amount of the biddings,
by determining whether duties are or are not
included. It seems marvellous to hear and see
Mr. Auctioneer knock down a large lot of useful
or ornamental articles for one shilling; but
he and the buyer well know in what way the
duty will affect that particular lot. In fact,
this sort of buying is a trade in itself, which
the uninitiated may not dabble in without
fear of getting out of their depth.

RETURN.

"How is grown my little lady? "—
'Tis a soldier from the wars,
Bearing honours on his bosom,
And the marks of battle-scars.

"How is grown my little lady,
Sweetest maiden of the place,
With her sunny head of curls,
And her beauty-bathèd face:

"Daughter of my worthy master,
Whom I left four years ago,
When I went to join my arm
In the smiting of the foe?

"Makes she still the daylight brighter
As she bounds along the lawn,
With the laughter of the joy-bells,
And the motion of the fawn?

"Come the children from the village
Still with homage to their queen,
Learning goodness from her actions,
Learning graces from her mien?

* Do the old men stand to bless her,
And the young men stand to pray
For a wife but half as lovely,
Ere their youth be pass'd away?

"How I long to tell her stories
Of the marching and the strife;
And to see her melt with pity
For the soldier's harass'd life!—

"Long to tell her how the trumpet
Woke me from a happy dream,
As I swept her in my arms
O'er yon gushing mountain stream;

"Long to give her bauble treasures
That I gather'd in the East,
And the fruits of southern vineyards.
That are crowning of a feast!

"But perhaps she's now a woman,
With a stately gait of pride;
That a haughty husband wears her
Jewel'd at his rigid side:

"Not remembering the roses
That I wreath'd for her fair hair,
When we roamed along the valleys,
Gladder than the gladdest there:

"Not remembering the tear-drops
That were standing in her eyes.
When she deck'd my gun with ribbons,
Whispering the fast good-byes.