* THE POETRY OF THE PSALMS. Nobly thy song, O minstrel! rushed to meet Th' Eternal on the pathway of the blast, With darkness round him as a mantle cast, And cherubim to waft his flying seat. Amidst the hills that smoked beneath his feet, With trumpet voice thy spirit called aloud, And bade the trembling rocks his name repeat, And the bent cedars, and the bursting cloud; But far more gloriously to earth made known, By that high strain, than by the thunder's tone, Than flashing torrents, or the ocean's roll; Jehovah spoke through the inbreathing fire, Nature's vast realms forever to inspire, With the deep worship of a living soul. HENRIETTA OF ENGLAND, DAUGHTER of the unfortunate Charles I. of England, and grand-daughter of Henry IV. of France, married, in 1661, Philip of France, duke of Orleans, and brother of Louis XIV.; but this marriage was not a happy one. However, she was a great favourite with the king, who often joined in the brilliant assembly of rank and genius which she collected around her. She also had much influence over her brother, Charles II. of England; and negotiated an important treaty with England against Holland, which the most skilful diploma tists had long solicited in vain. This princess died at St. Cloud, in 1670, at the age of twenty-six. There were some suspicions that she was poisoned. She was universally regretted; her sweetness of manners, and her grace and beauty, rendering her a great favourite. Bossuet pronounced her funeral oration. HENDEL-SCHÜTZ, HENRIETTA. THIS celebrated woman, in whom her native country recognises one of its first tragic actresses, and her age the greatest pantomimic artist, was the daughter of the eminent tragedian, Schüler. From her fourth year, she received instruction in declamation and dancing. In the latter art she was so accomplished, even when a child, that she was engaged for the ballet of the Berlin Royal Theatre, of which her father was a member. The celebrated Engel, at that time director of the Berlin Theatre, seems to have duly appreciated her rare talents, for he took her to his house, and instructed her in history, mythology, versification in languages, and declamation. In her sixteenth year, she united herself to the excellent tenorsinger, Eunike (in Berlin), and both were engaged, first at the Prince's Theatre, at Maintz, then at Bonn. There she was undoubtedly prima donna. In the year 1792, they were invited to Amsterdam, where the new German theatre opened for the first time (November 11th, 1793), with Kotzebue's drama, "The Indians in England." She performed the part of Gurli, and the audience was enraptured. The French Revolutionary war, which This and the preceding, are the two last strains, the dying strains of this sweet poetess. Truly her mind seemed breathing inspired notes, while her pure spirit was stealing gently away to join the angelic choir in that "better land," where "sorrow and death may not enter." seemed to threaten Holland, soon put an end to the German theatre. Mrs. Eunike, therefore, left Amsterdam, and went to Frankfurt on the Maine, in October, 1794. There her talent for pantomime was awakened by the celebrated painter, Pfarr. He showed her, among others, Rehberg's plates of the attitudes of Lady Hamilton; also some drawings of William Fischbein (a German), in Naples. After these models she studied the art of pantomime; but she spent twelve years in practising, before she ventured on a public exhibition. It is generally acknowledged, that the Hendel-Schütz has much enlarged and elevated this art; her pantomime representations were a series of fine attitudes, not only in the antique, but also in the modern styles, and in the former as well in the Egyptian and Greek, as in the latter in the Italian and Germanic characters. They were, however, not mere imitations of statues and paintings; she endeavoured, by an instructive succession of interesting images of antique and modern mythology and history, to represent to the eye the most important changes of antique and modern plastic art; so that a critic says, "In representing, in a chronological order, the different styles of plastic art, the principal traits of the history of art pass in moving pictures before the eye of the spectator, which are as instructive to the mind as they are pleasing to the eye." Besides, she possessed the still greater gift of inventing practical poetical attitudes, and representing them in a suitable style, so that the German artist seems vastly to have surpassed her English predecessor (Lady Hamilton). In the mean time, she and her husband accepted an invitation to go to Berlin, where she remained for ten years. Here she separated herself from her first husband, and married Dr. Mayer, whom she accompanied to Stettin; this second union was likewise dissolved; and then (1806) she became the wife of Dr. Hendel. Seven months after, death deprived her of her third husband, who, as chief physician of the French hospitals, died a victim of the typhus fever. Circumstances induced her to appear again on the stage. In October, 1807, she undertook a long artistic journey; and when in Halle, she became acquainted with the son of the celebrated philologer, Schütz; he (the son) was at that time engaged at the University of Halle, as Professor of the Fine Arts. With this gentleman she entered again into the bonds of matrimony, when Napoleon arrested the University, for which reason Professor Schütz exchanged the academical course for the theatrical profession, and acquired, both in tragedy and comedy, an honourable place among the German dramatic artists. Mr. and Mrs. Schütz did not limit themselves to the principal cities of Germany, but visited also Russia, Sweden, and Denmark, and their fame spread far and wide. In the summer of 1819, they went to Paris, where the pantomimic talent of Mrs. S. was acknowledged in the most select circles by competent judges. They settled afterwards in Halle, where Mr. S. was again engaged as professor. The general conclusion is, that Mrs. Hendel-Schütz, as a pantomimic artist, stands unrivalled in Germany. HERBERT, MARY, COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE, MARRIED Henry, Earl of Pembroke, in 1576, and lived in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. She was the sister of Sir Philip Sydney; whose "Arcadia," from being dedicated to her, was always called by the author himself, "The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia." A great encourager of letters, and a careful cultivator of them herself, she translated a tragedy from the French, called "Annius," in 1595; and is also supposed to have made an exact translation of the Psalms of David into English metre; and also wrote "A Pastoral Dialogue in Praise of Astræa." She died at her house in Aldersgate-Street, London, September 25th, 1601. Osborn, in his memoirs of the reign of king James, says, "She was that sister of Sir Philip Sydney to whom he addressed his Arcadia," and of whom he had no other advantage than what he received from the partial benevolence of fortune in making him a man, (which yet she did, in some judgments, recompense in beauty,) her pen being nothing short of his. But, lest I should seem to trespass upon truth, I shall leave the world her epitaph, in which the author doth manifest himself a poet in all things but untruth: "Underneath this sable hearse Lies the subject of all verse; These lines were written by Ben Jonson. HERITIER, MARIE JEANNE L', DE VILLANDON, Was born at Paris in 1664, daughter of Nicholas l'Heritier, a French poet, from whom she inherited a talent for poetry. She was also esteemed for the sweetness of her manners, and the dignity of her sentiments. The academy of the "Jeux Floraux" received her as a member in 1696, and that of the Ricovrati in Padua in 1697. She wrote a translation in verse of sixteen of Ovid's Epistles; an English tale, called "La Tour Tenebreuse;" "Les Caprices de Destin ;" another novel; and a novel in verse, called "L'Avare Puni ;" with a few other poems. She lived a single life, and died at Paris in 1734, aged seventy. We give one specimen of her style. RONDEAU. A une Jeune Demoiselle. C'est grand hazard, si l'on voit deux esprits Avoir chez eux mêmes désirs nourris. Vous n'aimez rien qu'amour et badinage; Mais moy qui hais leur importun bagage, Mon cabinet me tient lieu de réduits.* Là du savoir j'examine le prix, Boudoir. Aussi mon cœur de renom n'est épris, HERON, CECILIA, THE third daughter of Sir Thomas More, was born in 1510, and, with her sisters, received a learned education. She possessed a thorough knowledge of Latin, and corresponded with Eras. mus in that language. She was married very early in life to Giles Heron, Esq. Nothing of he private history is recorded. HERSCHEL, CAROLINE LUCRETIA, SISTER, and, for a long time assistant, of the celebrated astronomer, was born at Hanover on the 16th of March, 1750. She is herself distinguished for her astronomical researches, and particularly for the construction of a selenographical globe, in relief, of the surface of the moon. But it was for her brother, Sir William Herschel, that the activity of her mind was awakened. From the first commencement of his astronomical pursuits, her attendance on both his daily labours and nightly watches was put in requisition; and was found so useful, that on his removal to Datchet, and subsequently to Slough-he being then occu pied with his reviews of the heavens and other researches - she performed the whole of the ar duous and important duties of his astronomical assistant, not only reading the clocks and noting down all the observations from dictation as an amanuensis, but subsequently executing the whole of the extensive and laborious numerical calculations necessary to render them available to science, as well as a multitude of others relative to the various objects of theoretical and experimental inquiry, in which, during his long and active career, he at any time engaged. For the performance of these duties, his majesty king George III. was pleased to place her in the receipt of a salary sufficient for her singularly moderate wants and retired habits. Arduous, however, as these occupations must appear, especially when it is considered that her brother's observations were always carried on (circumstances permitting) till daybreak, without regard to season, and indeed chiefly in the winter, they proved insufficient to exhaust her activity. In their intervals she found time both for actual astronomical observations of her own and for the execution of more than one work of great extent and utility. The observations here alluded to were made with a small Newtonian sweeper constructed for her by her brother; with which, whenever his occasional absences or any interruption to the regular course of his observations permitted, she searched the heavens for comets, and that so effectively as on no less than eight several occasions to be rewarded by their discovery, viz. on August 1, 1786; December 21, 1788; January 9, 1790; April 17, 1790; December 15, 1791; October 7, 1793; November 7, 1795; and August 6, 1797. On five of these occasions (recorded in the pages of the "Philosophical Transactions" of London) her claim to the first discovery is admitted. These sweeps, moreover, proved productive of the detection of several remarkable nebulæ and clusters of stars previously unobserved, among which may be specially mentioned the superb Nebula, No. 1, Class V., of Sir William Herschel's catalogues an object bearing much resemblance to the celebrated nebula in Andromeda, discovered by Simon Inarius-as also the Nebula V., No. 18; the 12th and 27th clusters of Class VII.; and the 45th, 65th, 72d, 77th, and 78th, of Class VIII. of those catalogues. The astronomical works which she found leisure to complete were-1st. "A Catalogue of 561 Stars observed by Flamsteed," but which, having escaped the notice of those who framed the "British Catalogue" from that astronomer's observations, are not therein inserted. 2. "A General Index of Reference to every Observation of every Star inserted in the British Catalogue." These works were published together in one volume by the Royal Society; and to their utility in subsequent researches Mr. Baily, in his "Life of Flamsteed," pp. 388, 390, bears ample testimony. She further completed the reduction and arrangement as a "Zone Catalogue" of all the nebulæ and clusters of stars observed by her brother in his sweeps; a work for which she was honoured with the Gold Medal of the Astronomical Society of London, in 1828; which Society also conferred on her the unusual distinction of electing her an honorary member. On her brother's death, in 1822, she returned to Hanover, which she never again quitted, passing the last twenty-six years of her life in repose enjoying the society and cherished by the regard of her remaining relatives and friends - gratified by the occasional visits of eminent astronomers— and honoured with many marks of favour and distinction on the part of the king of Hanover, the crown prince, and his amiable and illustrious consort. To within a very short period of her death her health continued uninterrupted, her faculties perfect, and her memory (especially of the scenes and circumstances of former days) remarkably clear and distinct. Her end was tranquil and free from suffering — a simple cessation of life. The writer of this very interesting memoir has, however, omitted to state, that besides being an Honorary Member of the Royal Astronomical Society, Miss Herschel was also similarly honoured by the Royal Irish Academy. The accompanying portrait is copied, by permission, from a picture in the possession of Sir John Herschel, believed to be the only portrait of any authenticity. It very strongly recalls Miss Herschel's air and appearance in 1829, when the picture was painted; i. e., when the lady was in her 80th year. We add the following just and eloquent tribute to the merits of Miss Herschel, from Dr. Nichol's "Views of the Architecture of the Heavens :". - "The astronomer, (Sir William Herschel,) during these engrossing nights, was constantly assisted in his labours by a devoted maiden sister, who braved with him the inclemency of the weatherwho heroically shared his privations that she might participate in his delights - whose pen, we are told, committed to paper his notes of observations as they issued from his lips. She it was,' says the best of authorities, who, having passed the nights near the telescope, took the rough manuscripts to her cottage at the dawn of day, and produced a fair copy of the night's work on the ensuing morning; she it was who planned the labour of each succeeding night, who reduced every observation, made every calculation, and kept everything in systematic order.' she it was— Miss Caroline Herschel-who helped our astronomer to gather an imperishable name. This venerable lady has in one respect been more fortunate than her brother; she has lived to reap the full harvest of their joint glory. Some years ago, the gold medal of our Astronomical Society was transmitted to her to her native Hanover, whither she removed after Sir William's death; and the same learned Society has recently inscribed her name upon its roll: but she has been rewarded by yet more, by what she will value beyond all earthly pleasures; she has lived to see her favourite nephew, him who grew up under her eye unto an astronomer, gather around him the highest hopes of scientific Europe, and prove himself fully equal to tread in the footsteps of his father." In 1847, she celebrated the ninety-seventh an niversary of her birth, when the king of Hanover sent to compliment her; the Prince and Princess Royal visited her; and the latter presented her with a magnificent arm-chair embroidered by herself; and the king of Prussia sent her the gold medal awarded for the Extension of the Sciences. Miss Herschel died at the opening of the following year, January 9th, 1848, crowned with the glory which woman's genius may gain, working in the way Divine Providence appointed her, -as the helper of man. HEYWOOD, ELIZA, A MOST Voluminous female writer, was the daughter of a tradesman in London, in 1693. Nothing is known of her early education, but only of her works. She wrote "The Court of Armenia," "The New Utopia," and other similar romances. The looseness of these works was the ostensible reason of Pope for putting her into his Dunciad; but it is more probable that some private provocation was the real motive. She seemed to perceive her error; and, in the numerous volumes she published afterwards, she preserved more purity and delicacy of sentiment. Her later writings are, "The Female Spectator," in four volumes, "Epistles for the Ladies," "Fortunate Foundling," "Adventures of Nature," "History of Betsey Thoughtless," "Jenny and Jemmy Jessamy," "Invisible Spy," "Husband and Wife," and a pamphlet, entitled, "A Present for a Servant Maid." She also wrote dramatic pieces, but none that succeeded. She died in 1756, aged sixty-three. HOFLAND, BARBARA, WAS born at Sheffield, in 1770. Her father, Mr. Robert Wreaks, was an extensive manufacturer, in Sheffield. In 1796, Miss Wreaks married Mr. T. Bradshaw Hoole, a young man connected with a large mercantile house in Sheffield; but he died in two years after their marriage, leaving her with an infant son only four months old; and soon after, she lost the greater part of her property. Mrs. Hoole, in 1805, published a volume of poems, with the proceeds of which she established herself in a small school, at Harrogate, where she continued to write, but principally in prose. In 1808, Mrs. Hoole married Mr. Thomas C. Hofland, a landscape-painter, and went with him to London. She still pursued her writing with great zeal, and in 1812 published five works. In 1833 she lost her son by Mr. Hoole; and her husband died in 1843. She had continued to write till this time, but her health now failed, and she expired the following year, 1844, aged seventyfour. Her principal works are, "The Clergyman's Widow," "The Daughter-in-Law," "Emily," ," "The Son of a Genius," "Beatrice," "Says she to her Neighbour, What?" "Captives in India," "The Unloved One," "Daniel Dennison," &c. &c. All her productions are moral and instructive; she was earnest in her purpose of doing good. And she has done much service to the cause of improvement, though her works are not of that high order of genius which keeps its place in the heart of humanity, because its productions mirror life and not manners. HOHENHAUSER, PHILIPPINE BORN 1790, daughter of the Westphalian General von Ochs, was married, in 1810, to Leopold, Baron von Hohenhauser. In 1816, she wrote her first work, "Spring Flowers;" in 1819, she published "Minden and its Vicinity;" in 1820, "Nature, Art, and Life," and "Recollections of Tra vels;" and afterwards several other novels and tales, and a translation of Byron's Corsair. In 1833, she lost a promising son, who was then a student at the university of Bonn. A peculiar monomania induced him to commit suicide. This unhappy event caused his parents to write a work entitled "Charles von H-," in which much wise counsel is given to parents, guardians, and instructors. HOHENHEIM, FRANCISCA, COUNTESS VON, BORN in 1748, at Adelmansfelden, daughter of the lord of Bernardin. She married, when quite a child, the old and disagreeable lord of Laubrum. She became afterwards acquainted with Charles Eugene, duke of Wurtemberg, who fell violently in love with her, and persuaded her to elope with him. She was afterwards divorced from her first husband, and married to the duke in Morganatic marriage. She became a blessing to the duchy of Wurtemberg, by the happy influence she exercised over her otherwise harsh and cruel husband. She was the foundress of numerous charitable institutions. When her husband died, she withdrew to Kirchheim, where she died, in 1811. 66 HOOPER, LUCY, Was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, in 1816. When she was about fifteen, the death of her father caused the removal of the family to Brooklyn, Long Island. Soon after her arrival in that city she began to write and publish poems, under the initials of L. H. In 1840, she published an Essay on Domestic Happiness," and a work entitled "Scenes from Real Life." She was engaged in preparing a work entitled "The Poetry of Flowers," during the time of her last sickness : the book was published after her decease, which occurred in August, 1841. The following year one of her friends collected and arranged the "Literary Remains of Miss Hooper," which were published, with an affectionate tribute to her genius and the excellence of her private life. Another biographer remarks: "There have been in our literary history few more interesting characters than, Lucy Hooper. She died at an early age, but not until her acquaintances had seen developed in her a nature that was all truth and gentleness, nor until the world had recognised in her writings the signs of a rare and delicate genius, that wrought in modesty, but in repose, in the garden of the affections and in the light of religion." The following will serve as specimens of her style of thought and poesy: THE OLD DAYS WE REMEMBER. The old days we remember, How softly did they glide, While all untouched by worldly care We wandered side by side! In those pleasant days, when the sun's last rays Just lingered on the hill, Or the moon's pale light with the coming night Shone o'er our pathway still. Yea, Faith and Time-and thou that through the hour Kindled the weary heart with sudden fire, Till on the fadeless borders of that land Will not our hearts, when breaks the cloudless morning, Joy that ye led us through the drooping night? HOPTON, SUSANNA, A LADY of Staffordshire, England, who became a Roman Catholic, but afterwards returned to the Protestant faith, and died at Hereford, in 1709, aged eighty-two. She married Richard Hopton, one of the Welsh judges. She wrote "Daily Devotions," "Hexameron, or Meditations on the Six Days of the Creation,” and also corrected the devotions in the ancient way of offices, published by her friend Dr. Hickes. She was a very charitable woman, and was noted for her excessive severity in performing her religious duties. HORTENSE DE BEAUHARNOIS BONAPARTE, EX-QUEEN OF HOLLAND, Was born in 1783, daughter of the vicomte Alexandre de Beauharnois and Josephine, subsequently empress of France. The vicomte married at an early age; his dissipated habits and unjustifiable conduct obliged his wife to separate herself from him for a time; during this period, the education and charge of her children devolved solely upon her. A reconciliation took place, and the married pair seem to have afterwards lived in the utmost domestic peace and happiness. Upon the breaking out of the Revolution, the vicomte rendered himself obnoxious to the existing powers, and after undergoing a sad imprisonment, was executed by the guillotine, July 24th, 1794. The childish days of Hortense were thus clouded by severe afflictions. It would be superfluous, to detail the well-known circumstances of Josephine's marriage with General Bonaparte, who, in his rapid elevation to the imperial throne, bore with him to the highest worldly splendours the family de Beauharnois. Hortense received a brilliant education; and, both from her charms and position in life, was one of the most admired women in Paris. Her marriage was not one of her choice; Napoleon obliged her to give her hand to his brother Louis. This match took place on the 4th of January, 1802; and never was a wedding more gloomy! Louis was an honourable, an amiable, a cultivated man; Hortense, one of the most fascinating women; yet both were averse to the union. Neither could estimate the merits of the other. In 1806, Louis Bonaparte was made king of Holland by Napoleon; but Louis cared little for the show and state of royalty, and after a few years of discontent, having abdicated his nominal |