Fled from his folly, saying, "I was mad

To think that I could love her! Ellen Dean
Is lowly as the grass about my feet."
So Ellen Dean and Edward Morrison
Wandered together in the quiet eve,

Vexed with themselves; and Ellen kept her heart
More hidden than the language of the star
Young lovers watch on pleasant nights of June.
Edward departed on the morrow morn,
And dwelt at college, smiting down her name,
But still half doubting if he loved or not.

So Edward dwelt at college, and his name
Was left between his aged father's lips,
And Ellen dwelt with Farmer Morrison
Dilating into comely womanhood.

Then Walter Watson wooed the wifely girl,
All in a little language of his own

That suited well the privy turn of love,
And lay, like light or odour in a flower,
In downward-looking eyes. When Edward left
The village bells were ringing in the year;
And ere the dewy watchet eyes of May
Gleamed thro' the fringes of the April clouds,
Poor Ellen broke with hope, because the man
Forgot his foster-sister when he wrote,

Saying within her bosom o'er and o'er,

"His heart is cold, his heart is otherwhere,

He loves me not." But Edward dwelt and dreamed

At college, crowing o'er a college fame,
Thinking at leisure of his country home,
Yet doubting, doubting if he loved or not.

But when the golden hair of autumn fell
Over the bosom of the peaceful earth,
Sweet Ellen Dean had summoned to her aid
A woman's courage, shunning Edward's name
And treading out his image from her heart.
Then Walter Watson led her into love,—
She sweetly blushing with a timid air,
And weeping, too, a little now and then,
Yet willing to be led. For Walter, taught
Apt phrases of most marriageable bliss,
Had wed them to his words and won the girl.

When whistling winds were in the waning woods,

And leaves were falling, Farmer Morrison
Weighing the chances, saw the thing was good;
And so the Farmer portioned Ellen Dean,
And danced the blood of twenty to his face
Among the reapers, on her wedding-day.

But Edward rose with little hope or none—
Pained by a loss and knowledge undefined,
Yet felt along the blood and in the brain—
And listening to his heart was first aware
It talked of Ellen; and he somehow felt
That Ellen, in her lowly gentleness,
Had given him love for love. Meantime there came
That tender letter from his sire, which told
Of Ellen's goodness, hinting that her youth
Had hungered all in secret for the boy,-
Just saying she had loved him. Then he cried,
"She loved me-Ellen loved me-I have trode
Her heart out, and she loved me." So he wept,
Until his bitter burning passion seemed

A separate soul, the cradle of sad thoughts,
Too sad indeed to lead to any good

The soul that bore them.

At the last he said,

"God bless her! I have wronged her, I have erred; Sweet heart she loved me and I killed her love

God bless her!" So the strong man stood in tears, And love, and shame that tingled to the bone.

So Ellen Dean and Walter Watson lived

A life of modest meaning, in a joy
Sacred to peace, and wore a marriage love
Of sober colour, bright enough to wear
Gladly and calmly. When the time of wheat
Came round again, when all the lands were glad,
And Ellen in the family Bible wrote
Her first child's name, the Farmer, full of days,
Died blessing Ellen, Edward, and the babe.
And Walter throve, and Edward Morrison

Wrote learned books still praised by her he loved,
Books for raw scholars, but admired the more
By her because she understands them not,
Books thumbed by Ellen in the winter nights
When yonder in the little farm she sits
With pretty children prattling at her knee.

WHERE SHALL WE HOUSE OUR POOR?

BY COLONEL DANIELL.

THE Times article of the 10th of May, alluding to the excellent bill lately brought before Parliament by Sir L. Palk to ameliorate the condition of the labouring classes, winds up in the following manner :—

"Surely it is the interest of everybody that the population should be brought up in that more wholesome way which the upper classes now so thoroughly appreciate; that is, with plenty of room, sweet air, and a fair amount of protection from the elements. There is no reason why every human being on these islands should not be housed like a Christian; that is, like a civilized, moral, and sensible being. The bill may or may not be operative; but it is a step in the right direction, and can be amended if it is found wanting."

The desirability of the foregoing conclusion is obvious; but to permanently effect such a change in the social position of the labourer, or of the poorer classes generally, is a most difficult and knotty problem, which, in my opinion, will not be solved until some plan is devised whereby selfinterest can in some measure be made to go hand in hand with philanthropy.

The subject is one which has been for many years past, to me, of great interest; but till now I have not ventured to expatiate upon it, not thinking myself warranted in doing so unless armed with results of past experience and present acquired knowledge, which, together, I think now justify me in placing before Government, and the public in general, a scheme whereby Government would deserve much credit for its aid to the lower classes, the public generally would in a pecuniary point of view be much benefited, and the poor derive lasting and in every respect incalculable advantage.

It will be necessary, in attempting to develope this scheme, to begin by exemplifying, in some measure, the grounds upon which it is based; in order, that whilst offering the idea as feasible to be carried out, I should place authentic data, both past and present, which I trust will fairly show that the plan I suggest is not Utopian, nor simply theoretical: for I maintain, if the premises I advance are just, that the carrying out the scheme will require a very trifling amount of energy on the part of those really disposed to aid in the good work, which I conscientiously state would, in my opinion, be of reciprocal benefit to both giver and receiver. My proposition is that Government should raise money on a Stock on which they will give a guarantee of four per cent., this Stock to be entitled "Building Four per Cent. Guaranteed Stock;" to take its place amongst the Stock Exchange quotations of Consols, New Threes, and other Government Securities.

Taking Consols at their present price, such a Stock as this would

FF

shortly be quoted at a price varying from 112 to 115, and would form an investment which, subscribed for at par, would give a far more favourable interest than Consols, and yet would in the Money Market be considered in every respect as equally secure.

It will now be my aim to show, should Government adopt this idea, how the money is to be raised and what interest will accrue to Government; in order to prove, that instead of being losers by the guarantee they would receive more than they disburse. But, antecedent to going into this question, I must enter upon calculations and details; by which I hope to induce Government to make a move in the right direction; and I confess I feel the more incited to make the attempt, owing to the signal success which has lately been achieved by the Trustees of the Victoria Lodging-House for Married Soldiers, a description of which institution and its vicissitudes will possibly, in connection with the subject of this paper, not prove uninteresting. Some months antecedent to the Crimean war, and the days when Chobham was a scene of mimic warfare and gaiety, soon to be exchanged for the stern reality of hard service, Colonel Dudley Carleton and myself (having often when doing duty in London had opportunities in the routine of our military duty of witnessing the extreme poverty and wretchedness of the families of soldiers) determined to go to some little expense and trouble to procure information, and subsequently, plans and estimates, as to what a lodging-house might be built for capable of containing comfortably about fifty families at a rental which we knew was in the power of the married soldier to pay. After receiving a direct refusal from Government to afford the slightest assistance to the scheme, we determined on trying to raise the money necessary for the purpose, principally in the Brigade of Guards, by debentures. Some civilians, and amongst them the generous and noble-minded Miss Coutts, came forward in the most liberal manner; the proposed comfort and wellbeing of the soldier and his family far outweighing any prospect of the interest on the outlay being remunerative.

The following gentlemen having kindly consented to act as trustees, viz.-Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar, Major-General Angerstein, Colonel the Hon. J. Lindsay, Lord Frederick Paulet, Lieut.-Colonel Dudley Carleton, Lieut.-Colonel Higginson, Colonel Daniell, Colonel Wigram, Lieut.-Colonel Cocks, Lord Colville, Mr. Montague Gore, the Hon. F. Villiers, the Rev. R. Browne, Major-Gen. the Hon. A. Upton-they, in an incredible short space of time, raised sufficient money to authorize them to commence operations; and they succeeded, after much difficulty, in purchasing a freehold site near the Guards' Hospital, Vauxhall Road, and the Victoria Lodging-House, under the able supervision of Mr. Henry Darbishire, was erected; and, as far as the health and comfort of the soldiers and their families, proved a complete success. But, owing to the restricted price of the rooms commensurate with the soldiers' pay, and expenditure for rates and taxes, the interest received was not very remu

nerative, especially as the two years of the Crimean war, by diminishing the number of occupants, caused the receipts to be considerably lessened. Its numerous advantages, however, became so apparent to Government that they determined on offering a price for it; and the Trustees deemed it advisable to close with the offer, feeling convinced that by thus disposing of the lodging-house they secured the best interests of the soldiery by the certitude of the building always being dedicated to the same purpose for which the original subscribers came forward in so ready and laudable a manner. The following memoranda relate to the cost of the site and building, its dimensions, and the accommodation it afforded:

MEMORANDA RELATING TO THE VICTORIA LODGING-HOUSE.

Accommodation.-Fifty tenements, of two rooms, let at 3s. per week; four tenements, of three rooms, let at 4s. 6d. per week.

Gross Revenue for the Year completed 27th July, 1857.-£332 13s. 6d. I have cited this building for two reasons: one, its complete success, as adapted for the purpose for which it was built; the other, that, situated as it is near the Victoria Station, Vauxhall Road, it is accessible to any one interested in these matters who wishes to inspect it, to see how economícally and comfortably the poor can be housed. The admirable arrangement of the open staircase, which reflects so much credit on the architect, Mr... Henry Darbishire, is well worthy of attention; the fact of such construction having been incontrovertibly established as most conducive to the health of the inmates of the Lodging House, in which, at times, were above a hundred children belonging to the soldiers' wives who were lodged in the building.

It was proposed by Lieut.-Colonel Higginson, Grenadier Guards, and Colonel Wigram, late Coldstream Guards-to both of whom, for supervision and assistance, the Victoria Lodging-House was much indebted-to have erected a similar building on a smaller scale at Windsor; but the idea has been abandoned, I should imagine, from their being aware that Government can now copy, if they deem it expedient, the original building.

Having shown by demonstration that it is possible to lead Government from the beaten path of routine, I shall now give the statistics of a building, or rather a block of buildings, which have been partly completed and occupied, and will ere long be quite finished, in Bethnal Green. These dwellings, which have been constructed by order of