CHARLES I. REFUSING THE TREATY. 93 Europe but few are reared in any great numbers. The elephant, rhinoceros, tiger, &c., are not found on the island; monkeys, bats, squirrels, porcupines, wild hogs, and other smaller animals are met with, as are many rare and beautiful birds. The fern-like sea-weed (fucus saccharinus,) which is found in the coral reefs and shoals, forms a considerable article of export to China, and is used for jelly, glue, and varnish the sale produces an income of about 30,000 dollars. CHARLES I. REFUSING THE TREATY THE plate represents the unfortunate monarch in one of those painful situations which occurred but too frequently in his chequered life,-opposing where opposition was useless, and yielding when it was too late. The numerous histories of the times, and the revelations of contemporary writers, have destroyed much of the halo with which his martyrdom had invested this unhappy sovereign in the eyes of former generations. It were cruel injustice to deny him the possession of many and eminent private virtues; and in more peaceful times, and in a more declared and equat balance of the different constitutional powers, Charles might have passed an unnoticed and respectable reign on the throne; but, with more outward dignity and seriousness of manner, he unfortunately inherited his father's pertinacious adherence to trifles, whilst the unsteadiness and duplicity of his character produced ruin to his own cause, and death to his most faithful adherents. With more firmness and moral truth his melancholy end might perhaps have been avoided. But whilst even the reports of his most zealous admirers contain hints which but too plainly confirm the unfavourable impression more distinctly expressed by the writers of the opposite party, we must not forget the unparalleled difficulties of his situation, nor the unfortunate consequences which the theory of the "right divine" produced in the mind of one who knew not when to grasp and when to yield. That such a frivolous sovereign as his father was allowed to use his arbitary power with comparative ease and security, was alike his temptation and his ruin. Had Charles studied the history of his illustrious predecessor, Elizabeth, he might have learned from that extraordinary woman a lesson that would have saved his honour and his life. Notwithstanding all her harsh words, strange oaths, and occasionally despotic proceedings, "Good Queen Bess" noted with remarkable acuteness the signs of the times, and VOL. II. 2 B wisely forbore to tempt too far the ill-will of her loving subjects, and thus secured her throne during her life-time, and inherits still unfading glory from posterity. THE ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS. THE approach to Athens by sea is strikingly beautiful, and a world of associations which crowd on the mind add a feeling of mingled interest and awe to the admiration excited by the natural beauties of the scene. The panoramic view enjoyed before entering the port of the Pirons is rich in every feature of picturesque landscape; and the effect is heightened by the numberless classic spots embellished by the grand remains of antiquity, in the midst of which the deep blue waters of the gulf of Ægina, studded with countless islands, are imbedded. The lemon-groves of Poros have not ceased to embalm the air with the sweetest fragrance; and a gentle southerly breeze carries their delicious perfume far from the shore. The plains of Trozene are hid by Ægina, which is the largest of the islands, and, crowned by her majestic temple of Jupiter Panhellenius, sits surrounded by others, smaller and less favoured by antiquity. The frowning and precipitous rocks which overhang Epidaurus mark the site of Jero, the sacred grove of Esculapius; and the distant Acrocorinthus may be discerned towering over the tranquil bay of Cenchreæ, and commanding the isthmus near which Corinth stood, and which separates the Gulf of Lepanto from that of Ægina. Megara and the rich plains of Eleusis, where the remains of the temple of Ceres are still to be discovered, are shut out from the view by the island of Salamis; which, with the opposite hill of Corydalos on the lower eminence, where the proud Xerxes sat contemplating the total destruction of his fleet, calls to memory the undying glory of Themistocles. Between Corydalos and Hymettus extends the plain of Athens, terminated to the north by the distant Pentelicus and Parnes; and in the centre rises the far-famed Acropolis, surrounded by the hill of the Museum, now called the Philopappus, the Pnyx, and Anchesmus. From the sea the whole plain appears to form one continued forest of olive-trees, whose sombre hue contrasts with the dazzling ruins of the Parthenon and the temple of Jupiter Olympius. The coast to the east of Hymettus is mountainous and beautifully wooded, extending about thirty miles, until it terminates abruptly in the promontory of Sunium, on which stands the temple of Minerva, where Plato and his youthful philosophers sat gazing on the wide expanse of waters, varied by the scat |