Shall mar thy musings, as the cold, wet sheet Flaps in thy face abrupt. Woe to the friend Whose evil stars have urged him forth to claim, On such a day, the hospitable rites! Looks blank at best, and stinted courtesy, Shall he receive. Vainly he feeds his hopes With dinner of roast chickens, savory pie, Or tart, or pudding: pudding he nor tart That day shall eat; nor, though the husband try, Mending what can't be helped, to kindle mirth From cheer deficient, shall his consort's brow, Clear up propitious;--the unlucky guest In silence dines, and early shrinks away. I well remember, when a child, the awe This day struck into me; for then the maids-- I scarce knew why--looked cross, and drove me from them; Nor soft caress could I obtain, nor hope Usual indulgences--jelly or creams, Relic of costly suppers, and set by For me, their petted one; or buttered toast, When butter was forbid; or thrilling tale Of ghost, or witch, or murder: so I went And sheltered me beside the parlor fire: There my dear grandmother, eldest of forms, Tended the little ones, and watched from harm, Anxiously fond, though oft her spectacles With elfin cunning hid, and oft the pins Drawn from her ravelled stockings, might have soured One less indulgent. At intervals my mother's voice was heard, Urging despatch: briskly the work went on, All hands employed to wash, to rinse, to wring, To fold, and starch, and clap, and iron, and plait. Then would I sit me down, and ponder much Why washings were. Sometimes through hollow bowl Of pipe amused we blew, and sent aloft The floating bubbles; little dreaming then To see, Montgolfier, thy silken ball Ride buoyant through the clouds--so near approach The sports of children and the toils of men. Earth, air, and sky, and ocean, hath its bubbles, And verse is one of them--this most of all." MADAME DE GENLIS. This celebrated writer, whose maiden name was Stephanie Felicite Ducrest de St. Aubin, has left a voluminous memoir of her life and times, written at the age of eighty, which is interesting for the portraits of celebrated characters, in which it abounds, as well as the delineations it affords of her education, her feelings, and her experience. Of this we have made the following abstract, generally in her own words, which will present the leading incidents of her eventful career:--