We may view with comparative apathy distant relatives borne to the tomb-cousins, uncles and aunts may die without causing any long duration of sorrow; nay, even in the event of the death of a brother or a sister, though it may cause in us at first strong emotions of grief, yet where their place in our esteem can be supplied by the survivors, our affliction may easily be surmounted. But surely the grim tyrant becomes most truly the King of Terrors when his unwelcome visit deprives a family of their father or a husband of his wife: here he cuts asunder the nearest and dearest ties-here he dashes to the ground the sweetest cup of human life. What in the world can be a more gratifying sight to a mind of true sensibility, than that of an amiable matron surrounded by her blooming family, instilling into their young minds the seeds of knowledge and of virtue, and by her own bright example encouraging them hereafter to become the ornaments of society-what more appalling than to see this parent stem cut down by the remorseless hand of death, leaving the saplings destitute of their natural support, and ready to wither with the over burthening heats of prosperity or the keen frosts of adversity? Though the grief that may be felt by children for the loss of the parent may be overpowering, yet who can paint or who describe the agonies of the doting husband, the widowed father. Words cannot express them, nor can an idea be formed of the feelings at such a moment but by those whom sad experience has taught. "Have you felt a spouse expiring From her eyes that broke on you? Kiss the lips that felt no kiss?" Deprived of the object most dear to him in life, to whom his every wish was law-the being who added to every joy, and lightened every woe with whom his life passed gently on unruffled by the storms of passion, loving and beloved-where can the husband look for comfort? He turns towards his family-but they, alas! are inadequate to the task, and look to him for support. Say, sceptic, is reason now to grant its aid, sunk as it is by this afflicting shock! Or is your natural philosophy to bear him through? No-learn that he looks beyond the world for comfort, and trusting on his Saviour's promise, views through the dark mist of sorrow which encircles him, the brightening period when he shall be again united to her he loves in the regions of unspeakable bliss, where joy shall ever reign and grief shall be no more. "Let those deplore their doom, THE MENDICANT. FOUNDED ON FACT. A. W. G. "In the name of God have compassion upon one who is fast sinking under the pressure of misfortune!"-This earnest appeal, uttered in a tone of desperation and despair, suddenly arrested my progress.-I turned round to survey the object from whom the sound proceeded. Before me stood a pale and emaciated being ime had traced her furrow on his brow, and eatures that evidently once possessed the glow f animation, and manly beauty, were now | sickly and woe-begone-a prey to famine and disease. His was indeed a most heart-rending tale, one continued recital of human suffering and unabated sorrow-such as are often related, but which too frequently remain unpitied and unregarded. Misfortune, and the numberless evils which attend in her train, are become too familiar to the public ear to claim much sympathy or commiseration, and the numerous impostors which pervade our streets have hardened the heart to the claims of true charity. But there was something in the appearance, the manner of this unfortunate, which denoted his having seen better days,-been witness to more prosperous hours! Of a manly deportment, and seemingly endowed with an excess of sensibility, it appeared as though "his poverty and not his will" had urged him to this last necessity. On the mention of all that was near and dear to him in life his disconsolate wife and wretched family, his feelings overpowered him and he burst into a flood of tears-the heavy throbs succeeded quickly from his bosom-and it was long ere he could regain his former composure.-I could not but participate in his emotion-neither could I avoid feeling in some degree as he felt. Could I be a dupe or was he an impostor? Impossible! His voice had a slight touch of the Northern accent. I had heard of the general integrity of these people and such I had every reason to believe belonged to him. By the time he had finished his story he was already master of the little I could afford-I regretted it was not more!-Never shall I forget that look of gratitude!-never will that silent thankfulness with which he regarded me be obliterated from my memory! There is a chord in the human breast which, if strung by the hand of sensibility, produces the most delightful symphonies--and he who has journeyed through the sterile waste of affliction, will be the first to sympathize with its melodious thrill;-whilst the devotee to pleasure, or child of passion, unheeding listen to its strains, the son of misfortune takes a melancholy delight in their cadence, as yielding ideas which assimilate with his own wayward fate! Liverpool. DUELLING. "A moral, sensible, and well bred man Will not affront me, and no other can.' J*. N*. COWPER. A few weeks since I saw a humourous proposition in the Iris, that the Legislature should enact a law that all duellists should stand back to back, then stooping down discharge their pistols between their legs, in hopes that by the ridiculous figure each would present to the other, the risible faculties might be excited, and thus an end would be put to the affair. ire of these knights of the pistol, and place a man, who perhaps did not intend to offend, in the disagreeable predicament of either exposing his person to the almost unerring aim of these madmen, or of forcing himself to apologize to a compound of pride, ignorance, and vulgarity. I am fully aware that Dr. Johnson has advocated the practice of duelling, on the ground that all men are by this means placed on an equality, that the man of diminutive stature and weak frame of body finds himself at least equal to the strong and athletic. If we were to live in constant expectation of an affair of this nature, the argument might stand good; we should then of course by frequent practice endeavour to obtain an expertness in the use of the pistol, but this, happily, not being the case, the inequa lity continues as great as ever. I am acquainted with a naval officer who can extinguish a lighted candle, or kill a sparrow at the distance usual amongst duellists, whilst I myself could not make sure of hitting a full grown oak at the same distance. Let us in conclusion examine what the passions are that urge a man to send a fellow mortal to his last account (Shakespear is too hacknied) boiling over with the worst feelings that human nature is capable of, and to expose himself in a similar manner to the like sudden exit from life. Pride, thou fiend incarnate, thou fell enemy to man, I here again detect thee stalking in all thy native majesty, surrounded by thy constant attendants, envy, jealousy, and revenge ; "from pride alone cometh contention." Manchester, July, 1823. THE STORY OF NINETTE.. (From the Literary Gazette.) L. M. IN the time of the Regents there lived, or rather flourished, at Yvetot, a sweet little girl named Ninette. nothing so gracious, so ravishing, had yet appeared in If the portrait which I have now before me be faithful, the kingdom, which does not measure less than a league and a half in circumference, and the name of which must ever recall to recollection that bon petit Roi immortalized by our Horace. In the earliest spring of her life, Ninette had an elegant and flexible figure, a beautiful face, a bewitching smile, and eyes so full of tender expression, that one look alone, even when a child, revealed her destiny. She was an orphan; the rich Prior of a neighbouring abbey adopted her from infancy, and when she had attained her fourteenth year, called her his niece. The Prior was seized by a dangerous malady, and for reasons which I shall not inves tigate, sent away his niece before the arrival of a crowd of cousins, attracted by the hope of sharing his wealth. Ninette arrived at Paris, with the little baggage and the little purse which she had received from her uncle, who died a few days after her departure. The manuscript from which I extract my information, says nothing of Ninette during the first four months of It is however probable that, her residence at Paris. in some obscure retreat, she concealed her sorrow and indulged her affectionate regret; for when she presented herself to the persons to whom she had been re-commended by the Prior, and who refused to receive her, the roses had faded from her cheeks, and the bril With the writer of the above I perfectly agree as to ridicule being the most likely weapon wherewith to assail and reform the honorableliancy of her beauty had quite disappeared. world; legislative enactments being in a cause of this nature worse than nugatory, it being perfectly accordant with the principles of the professed duellist that the more laws he violates, either divine or human, the more he displays his independent spirit. What can we imagine more truly absurd than two hot headed simpletons standing to be mutually shot at? and how generally do we ind the cause of dispute and contention to be insignificant in the extreme, and sometimes even imaginary. An unguarded word, aye, even a look will call forth the ready Ninette had exhausted her feeble resources, and began to feel the pressure of want and despair, when one fine evening a lady, who had followed her some time under the arcades of the Place Royale, addressed her in the most affable manner, and so insinuated herself from her all her history. The lady pressed her to go into the confidence of the poor child, that she obtained home with her, and Ninette cheerfully complied with the ardent request of her generous protector. They monated an elegant carriage, which was in waiting on the Boulevard, and alighted at a very fine hotel in Rue Culture Sainte Catherine. Ninette passed some weeks in a pavillion from which 232 she witnessed the promenades and amusements of other | " Ninhas arrived most fortunately," said the dame : ette, just from her village, is ignorant of every thing; but I can assure you she is worthy of your high protection." Ninette justified the recommendation; and as a shrewd woman has more wit than a prime minister, she succeeded in inspiring a passion as sincere as a man of the Prince's character could experience, and he placed her virtue under the safeguard of La Fillon, who was personally responsible. He pre hend. The night advanced; he asked for paper to In tumult and despair Ninette awoke her protector, tress. The greater number of women know no other perfidy but that which love suggests. The Cardinal determined to recompense Ninette for the service she had rendered the Government, but she refused the reward of a treason which her heart disavowed; and when she learnt that she had been the innocent cause of the ruin of Don Velasquez, whom she passionately loved, she resolved to abandon her present course, and return to privacy and to virtue. From the very bosom of corruption she rose, and retired to find, in the sentiment of her shame, the energy to escape from infamy. The very day on which she had been presented by the Cardinal Dubois to the Regent, she left the harem of La Fillon by the garden gate, of which Don Velasquez had left the key, and took refuge in the Penitentiary which Mad.'de Beauharnais Miramont had founded at the close of the seventeenth century, under the name of Sainte Pelagie. Cardinal Dubois had followed the advice of Horace, and his establishment united l'utile, et l'agreable. It was at once an agency of pleasure and of police. tended that the femmes galantes, by their habit of deceit, had a great advantage over the most expert politicians; and that in the company of certain nightly witnesses, the most profound diplomates committed important indiscretions. This idea induced the Cardinal to give a degree of vogue to the boudoir of La Fillon, and to attract there, especially, the diplomatic corps. The female agents had orders to re-double their zeal and activity on the occasion of a plot which was on foot against legitimacy, since known as the conspiracy of the Marquis de Cellamere. In spite, however, of every precaution, the Abbé Porto Carréro, nephew of the Portuguese Ambassador, succeeded in deceiving the vigilance of the Regent and of his ministers. Every thing was prepared for the triumph of the cause of the Duc de Maine; and Don Velasquez, secretary of the embassy, was to set off in the night for Madrid, with the Abbé Porto Carréro, and the definitive arrangements of the conspirators who were to put the reins, now held by the Regent, into the hands of a bastard of Louis XIV. So much it has been necessary to say of politics, to give the key to what remains of the adventures of Ninette. Cardinal Dubois, in order to amuse Ninette in the separate and select part of the Harem to which she was confined, ordered her to have masters in all the fashion-wished to take the veil; he dissuaded her from a parable accomplishments, and to enjoy every gratification consistent with his political plans in the administration of his establishment. It so happened that the same drawing-master had the honour of instructing the lovely Ninette and the intriguing Don Velasquez; and the terms in which the instructor spoke of the young lady so excited the curiosity of the Secretary, that he was determined to see the treasure so carefully concealed in the house where he was an assiduous visitor. The praises of Don Velasquez, in which the old master often indulged Ninette, produced on her a similar effect; and, as curiosity easily triumphs over feebleness, the desire of seeing each other was soon equally felt by both the young scholars. The desire of the young admirers was not long opposed. La Fillon demanded-only, as the price of her compliance with the wishes of the demoiselle, that she should be informed of all the movements of the young diplomate. Ninette, who knew not the importance of The inthe stipulation, promised and kept her word. timacy continued regular and ardent during two months. Don Velasquez, increasingly charmed by his fair captive, seldom missed his opportunity; he arrived about midnight, and departed Lefore daylight by a door in the garden, of which he possessed the key. "One evening he arrived as early as nine o'clock, and without being less tender, he had a melancholy and distracted air. Ninette was alarmed; her inquiries were answered by caresses and by mysterions words, which she remembered without being able to compre The venerable Ecclesiastic who superintended that pose conceived by a troubled, and not a calm and en- A young descendant of the Lord of the country loved men of letters; and it is within its walls that this his- Fair Venus, who oft amongst mortals goes ambling, C. T. At the return of spring, the Lettonian peasant takes care not to expose himself to hear the cuckoo the first time, either when he is fasting or has no money in his pocket. If this should happen to him, he would believe bimself in danger of famine and want for the rest of the year. This is what he calls being bewitched by the cuckoo; he therefore is very guarded to have money about him, and to eat something very early in the He has the same morning before he leaves his house. fears, and takes the same precautions, on the first arrival of the lapwing. When a hare or a fox crosses his path, he considers it as a bad omen; but if it is a wolf, the omen is favourable. When the Lettonian peasant has taken his fowling he meets is a woman or a girl, it is a bad sign, and he piece, and on going out of his house the first person will have no sport; he therefore returns, and does not proceed till, on going out again, the first he meets is a man or a boy. If he goes out fishing alone, he does not communicate his intention to any body, or that would bring him ill luck. It is only when he wants an assistant that another person, besides the latter, may be informed of it without doing any harm. If he is angling, and having laid his line on the ground somecatch any thing with that line. body treads upon it, he is convinced that he shall never The peasant does not allow any person to admire or praise any thing he possesses, especially his flocks, his poultry, his corn, &c.; he is convinced that every thing so praised will perish. If his cattle are affected by any disease, he does not fail to attribute it to the witchcraft and malevolence of bles with assafoetida. some neighbour: he then takes care to perfume his sta Their hives are usually placed on the largest trees in bees have settled of themselves. They always take a the forest, or they make holes in those trees where the companion to gather the honey, and they divide the honey and wax with the most scrupulous equality, bebees to emigrate or to die. ing convinced that the slightest fraud would cause the They ascribe a particular virtue to all plants gathered on Midsummer Eve, for which reason they carefully ness. Before Midsummer they pluck up all the grass preserve them, to give to their cattle in case of sickwhich they give to their cattle in the stable: they are make the cows lose their milk. After Midsummer Eve persuaded that if it were cat with a-scythe it would they use the scythe without fear or scruple. On this same Eve, which is more important to them than the holiday itself, no family neglects to bring from the garden and the fields a stock of pot-herbs for the winter. When they happen to find in a field ripe ears of corn crossed in a particular manner, or united in bunches, they ascribe it to the malevolence of some envious person, who has endeavoured to draw some sorcery upon their crop. The reaper takes care not to touch such bewitched ears, and passes without cutting them. A great number of the peasants, unfortunately, still entertain the superstitious notion that fire kindled by lightning is not to be extinguished. When such au accident happens they are discouraged, and do hardly any thing to check the progress of the flames. A funeral must never pass through a tilled field, not even in winter, though it might considerably shorten the way. The peasant is fully persuaded that a field through which a funeral has passed becomes barren. Except on extraordinary occasions, no funerals are allowed on Mondays and Fridays. A peasant who is in search of a wife, never goes, except on a Thursday or Sunday, into the house where he expects to make his choice. The bride and bridegroom are not to give their bare hand to any body, on the day of their marriage, except to each other at the altar; otherwise they are threatened with poverty during the whole of their union. It is also a very bad sign if, when the bride retorns from church, she finds any body on the threshold of her door. When a young girl finds a leaf of trefoil divided into four instead of three parts, it is a sign that she will be married within the year; at all events she carefully preserves this leaf till her wedding-day. If on the 1st of February the sun shines only so long as is necessary to saddle a horse, they expect fine weather for bay-making. On Christmas Eve the countrymen are accustomed to drive about a great deal in sledges: they think that this will cause their hemp to be more abundant, and higher they do not fail to visit the alehouse, and to drink heartily, the same evening, being convinced that this is a way to make them look well till the following Christmas. In summers when flies are abundant, they expect an ample crop of buck wheat; and if the prunus padus is thickly covered with blossoms, they expect a very rainy summer. The Lettonians never destroy crickets by fire, being persuaded that those which escape will destroy their linen and clothes. When a peasant loses his way in a wood after sunset, be avoids calling any person to show him the way, being convinced that in that case the evil spirit of the forest would cause him to plunge still deeper into its recesses, When the peasants intend to build a house, they carefully observe what species of ant first appears on the spot, or seems to be common in the neighbourhood: if it is the common large ant (formica rufa, Linn,) or the black ant (formica rubra, Linn.) they choose another place. NATIONAL MANNERS. John Bull is accused of a strong national prejudice, yet, let him see other countries, and you will find no one so impartial, so little addicted to this imperfection. A Briton travels (in general) more than his neighbours; if nobility or wealth be his lot, he goes abroad as a matter of polished necessity; if a mercantile character, his interest leads him thither, money is no impediment. Economy, and a narrow policy keep our neighbours more at home; and when they travel they are apt to measure their road and researches by the purse, and (being circumscribed in all) fail not to be equally limited in liberality. I have known a thousand persons of different nations abroad, some in their own, some in contiguous countries, but how few have I found divested of blind partiality, or generally informed as to the manners, customs, virtues, and rooted defects of other states; even those who had passed thrice seven years on English ground, and had tasted both its freedom and hospitality, turned jealousy to ungrateful home, (I speak of emigrants) and spoke lightly of the benefits of constitutional greatness, and of firm yet tolerant power. Count the second time expatriated, on account of the unfashionableness of immutable fidelity to one unaltered family and cause, met me at Naples, after seven years separation. He was evidently disgusted with revolutionized France, and found that he returned to a country, but not to a home, yet was he so much a Frenchman at heart, that neither grey hairs, vicissitudes, disappointments, nor the third of a century having rolled over bis head, could divest him of superanuated nationality, and (to my utter astonishment) he began (in an evening walk) to blame certain English customs, which led me to place those of the Continent in comparison therewith. He insisted on that our single women enjoy too much freedom; that they mingle too much, and at too early a period, with the world; that they were allowed to walk arm in arm with a cousin, or with a friend of the family of the other sex; or to parade the streets and parks alone, followed only by an overgrown laquais and a long cane, which was a mere matter of form; for (added he) this automaton may be stopped for whole hours at a circulating library, a music se ler's, or a lace merchant's, or a dress maker's, or even dismissed at a relation's door, and ordered to return in an bour." Hon y soit qui mal y pense,” replied I. "But it is so," triumphantly resumed he :" and then again a single woman may ride on horseback in an independent masculine style, through town.and country, with a groom a quarter of a mile behind her; and she may pick up as many beaux as she pleases, without the least scandal, Now what facilities these custoras afford for seducing the young mind, what favourable opportunities for forming weak, not to have weighed the probability of detection dangerous connexions, for a bad match, an unfortunate in a company in which there were three men of distincattachment, nay, even for intrigue itself! Whereas a- tion and experience, one a laurelled and travelled vebroad the unmarried lady is all circumspection, she teran, and other two gentlemen of age and talent, long never goes shopping unattended by some relation or acquainted with the Continent, and one of whom had governess, she has no access to these convenient hous-been attached to different embassies: the rest of the es for rendezvous, and is seldom from under a parent's party, it is true, were gosling university men and milieye; no taking the carriage all alone to make calls, or tary recruit exquisites; so that our loquacious puppy for a breath of air.' Even at church she must not go expected to have had the majority in his favour. alone; and if she is not at a convent or at some semiAfter the backnied coxcombical tricks of sporting nary for education, her pleasures are moderate, rare, rings, seals, snuff-boxes, antiques, cameons, and immoand never so public as to make her familiar to the vul-dest paintings, to prove the extent of his Continental gar eve. It is not until she enters the wedded state that she is perfectly her own mistress, then (concluded the count) I allow that she makes up for lost time; her flirtings then begin, and I do not approve of all the habits in married life, in France and in warmer climates: your's are more domesticated in general; but, in the highest classes, you are not much behind your neighbours." Such was the amount of his remarks, which I counterbalanced by a few instances of what had passed under my own eyes; my readers will decide between us. The greatest reserve is imposed upon young unmarried ladies abroad; they come timidly into society. Mamma, (a word pronounced ostentatiously by high and low with an infantine air of simplicity) tires the listener's ear with “* my daughter is so yonng;-at her age late hours are fatal ;-she never tasted wine-she is a stranger in the world" (le monde), by which in public life is meant. Yet governesses and femmes de campagnie in France, duennas in Spain, and even beguines in Flanders, prevent not attachments being formed. The old and incorruptible have neither ears nor eyes, and the young, servile, and indifferent, may be gained, and as easily pat off their guard as the long footman and long cane, or the groom at a quarter of a mile's distance from Lady Mary. I knew a certain princess who had all her widow she is, at their parish church. first interviews with the noble but ruined prince, whose At Florence, I years of age, pale, dejected, and withering (as I thought) could not help admiring a lovely creature about sixteen from a decline; I enquired the cause. "Mal d'amore." replied her mother, with a shrug of her shoulders. "Love-sick?" thought I, and I looked uncertain as it were. Si," added she, in order to convince me, la natura e sempre la natura," (nature is always natnre.) This was animal in the superlative degree, and such a thing could not be named in England. So much for the great delicacy of unmarried life, in which state caution seems to be all, sentiment a nominal part only the wedded fair on the continent are charming, but custom effects strange things amongst them. I should have offered my arm, or rode on horseback, tête a téte, a thousand times with any of my unmarried country women, without a doubtful or stray thought, at Naples, Rome, Florence, Milan, Pisa, &c. I should have obeyed the orders of any unmarried dame, but the idea of a cavaliere servente cannot be explained in English; yet take things as they are, weigh them in the scale of propriety, value, and comparison, and it is difficult to say where the preponderance may fall. A most attractive and amiable Marchesa, allowed me to conduct her in an open carriage from Naples to Gaeta, the day became oppressively hot, on her arrival, she went to bed, and summoned me to read English poetry to her. And here, candid reader, I pledge my veracity, idea beyond friendship, and the complaisance which that nei her the Marchesa nor her reader, cherished any well bred men owes to commanding beauty accustomed to charm and to rule; nevertheless, there is but one opinion in the mind of THE HERMIT ABROAD. tour, he rang the changes where he had been, by adding some adventure, in order to bring in the thing with more eclat, and to shew his consequence, his success, and the high company which he kept. At Florence, he had the good fortune to gain the affections of a principessa, who offered him her fortune, which he rejected; but accepted of her person, until attracted by a French. duchess, at Venice. At Naples, he lost two houses worth five hundred guineas each; and, at Rome, had been stabbed by a jealous husband, whose wife eloped with him. In the march of Ancona, he was over-turned in a Russian princess's barouche; in the Tyrol he was pursued by another jealous rival, a man of the highest birth; was obliged to exchange shots with him, and to "wing the cursed fellow !"-Here he swallowed a bumper of hock. Then at Florence, he was en famille with Burghersh; band and glove with the Duchess of Albany; had a cover at all the foreign ministers; Cockburn, at Stutgard, was his chief crony; he knew Cambridge quite intimately at Hanover; and Prussia (meaning the king of that country) at Aix-la-Chappelle. The young people stared, the elderly smiled contempt.. He now proceeded to show a long lock of auburn hair, which he said belonged to an English lady of high birth, naming her at full length and offered to read a love letter from another titled lady then residing at Paris. After a couple of glasses of Champagne, he produced a second love letter, from a general officer's unmarried neighbour observing to me in a whisper) that he knew daughter, and circulated it round the table, (my next the band writing to be the fellow's own. As the wine circulated, he began to lose recollection, and confounded name, place, and time, committing himself more and more as he went on, and giving himself the lie at each fresh adventure. He concluded, by informing us of an intrigue he had commenced the day before; and giving us the name of a lady with whom he had an appointment at ten o'clock, but whom he meant to cut, as he had a serious notion of seducing a poor navy officer's daughter under promise of marriage, and then (the old story,' said he) putting her off for fear of incurring my rich uncle's displeasure." Every man of sense was now indignant, but the general could bear it no longer. Young man," said he, "I have a doubt which preponderates in your characblended."-" Do you know, sir" cried the boastter, scoundrel or the liar; but they are both closely. er, in a rage, but I held him in his chair, that he might, honourable friend had done speaking. hear all, and advised bim to make his reply when my "The first of, your culpable fooleries this day," continued the general, "was to show us a naked figure on a snuff- ox, which you asserted to be that of a princess in Italy, (your cast-off mistress!) Now, sir, I was asked to purchase that very box yesterday, in Rue de Riehlieu, but I thought it too dear and too, indecent. The French duchess, whose favours you boasted of at Venice, happened to be at the same time you name at Lausanne; for I was. there myself. The lock of auburn hair you bought of Aspasie, an unfortunate paphian, for a Napoleon, and I saw you receive the bargain in the arcade. The English lady of high birth who smiled upon you, as you pretend, might have smiled as in scorn' on you, when you, yesterday, impertinently tried to get acquainted with her at the Opera. The great people whom you › I had the misfortune to dine at Beauviller's, what is mention as your intimates abroad, are only known to called en comité, one day, and, was amazed beyond, mea- you by name. The first lefter which you offered to. sure at the conceit, stander, and garrulity of a beard-produce, is your tailor's unpaid bill, and here it is, as less youth, spoiled, like many others, by travelling. The you let it fall; and the second is known by one in comthing was self-sufficient as if he had been a man of the pany, to be your own band writing. Your adventure highest importance; loquacious about his travels, as if of yesterday, I take to be another falsehood; and your no one had visited the Continent but himself; and his serious intentions of seducing my friend's daughter, I, breath was a blight and mildew on every female name shall prevent, by informing him of it, and by procuring his foul lips attered. He must have been as wicked as for you some corporeal chastisement, such as your base A COXCOMB PUNISHED.. IN crossing La Rue de la Paix, I was stopped at the corner of the Boulevard by a gentleman, who; with all imaginable politeness, held out his hat to me, and requested alms, inquiring at the same time after my health. The novelty of this proceeding surprised me. I threw a glance at the civil mendicant, from whom my suspicion forced a smile. He was dressed in a green great coat, nankeen pantaloons, and a blue and white striped waistcoat. A large cravat sustained his double chin, which had just been shaved; his shoes were fastened by silver clasps; his hair was powdered; and he held in his hand a stick that reminded me of the gold-headed canes carried by footmen. At first I fancied that I was the dupe of a mischievous jest; and I was beginning to be angry, when my petitioner again extended his hat, and begged that I would not "terminate the happiness of his day." gations it commands; without attachment, with "I seldom rise early. However, when that "About nine o'clock I watch for those young fine day. If you did but know the value to me "Before the close of the morning, I stop at the doors of several of the gaming houses. I salute with respect, mingled with sympathy, the unfortunate man who descends with measured steps, and in whose face the disastrous state of his finances are easily read. I address almost laughingly the gambler whom chance favours with good fortune which he did not expect. His gifts are generally beyond my hopes; but, alas! they are too often loans rather than gifts. Fre quently have I been asked at night for the half crown which has been bestowed on me in the morning; and in the hope of a change of luck, I have not hesitated to return it. "I dine in that part of the town in which I find myself at the dinner hour; but I take care to dine alone, lest it should happen to me to sit at table with one of my customers, whom such a little accident might cause me to lose. "In the evening I wander about the Palais Royal, or the Champs-Elysees. I have in reserve a store of misfortunes, of which I avail myself according to the rank or probable sentiments of the person to whom I speak. I ruin myself as I choose; sometimes by the ingratitude of my "I return slowly, laughing inwardly at the family, sometimes by the treachery of my friend. idle clerk and the self-important master who are I carefully examine my listners, that I may make going to their offices. I see the author who no mistake in my history, should they have the racks his brains for a rhime or a couplet, and patience to hear me a second time. It is seldom the actor who repeats his parts in an under tone that my eloquence is not crowned with happy and without gesture, that he may not incom-results; for while I apply for compassion, I never mode passengers. Seldom do I interrupt these forget self-love."-"Nevertheless, you may fail honest people. Nevertheless, last week I ven- sometimes; and you will allow me to believe that tured to implore the aid of a performer at a at the moment when you were entrusting to me minor theatre, to whom I bethought myself to the secret of your mode of life" "I adoptlend for a moment the name of our most cele- ed the only proper course with you. brated tragedian. His countenance sparkled, fession is a new proof of my skill. he made me repeat my request, and paid me for quently heard your name; I know that one of my mistake like a man who was more pleased your chief employments is to collect remarks on than surprised at it. I meet, on my way, the the manners of the capital; and I thought you advocate who is going coldly to plead the cause would not be displeased at having the materials of a client whose pretensions he has himself furnished you for one of your next dissertations." condemned; the bailiff who hurries to the lodgings of a young man of fashion against whom he has for six months had a warrant of arrest, the execution of which, in virtue of certain gratuities, he has repeatedly postponed. I have never dared to solicit the pity of this last. To be successful, it would be necessary to attack his weak side, and I am always afraid of mistaking it. The tone of his voice, the affectation of his expressions, the singularity and neatness of his dress, all inspired me with a feeling of curiosity which I could with difficulty resist. Slipping my hand slowly into my pocket, in the hope of exciting his expectation, I kept chinking a few pieces of money, while I asked him what were the causes that could have reduced him to practice a profession which so ill accorded with his language and his habit ? Charmed with the sound of a few crowns, which in his own mind he already appropriated to himself, our beggar meditated for an instant, and then declared that he merely followed his judgment and taste. "What!" answered I, "at your age (he appeared to be at most 50 years old), when there are so many ways which would lead you to a peaceful and happy life!" "I have travelled them all," he replied, "and I never tasted a tranquillity, a happiness, equal to that which I have enjoyed during the few last months. I have proved all conditions-none suited me. Driven from one post by intrigue, I entered on another, through patronage, which I left from caprice. I lost my fortune in trade, my health in the army. When I was rich, exciting envy; when poor, calling forth pity; obliged to bend to the wishes of great men; dreading the treachery of little ones; tormented by the desire of adding to what I possessed, or by the fear of loosing what I had acquired; compelled to shew respect to those whom I hated; employing disreputable stratagems to obtain preferment, and ambiguous means to retain it; continually occupied with anxiety for the future;-I passed the greater part of my life in a perpetual agitation; in a "At ten o'clock see me near the Tortoni, or mixture of hope and suspense; of short snatches the Café Anglais. I continue my moral obserof happiness, and vexations the end of which I vations; and I find that the cries of misery must could scarcely ever discover. One luck day, not be poured into the ears of a man who has braving prejudice, which has only the strength just risen from table. There I am never served that one gives it oneself, scorning shame, which until after the waiter, whose eyes dispute with ought not to attach to the beggar on foot more me the remainder of the small change which he than the beggar in a coach, I did that which has just given, and which is thrown to me with most men do I turned to account the self-love, a disdain that relieves me from the necessity of and pride of my fellow ereatures; I levied a con- acknowledgment. tribution on all the human passions. Free from "I then generally visit the garden of the the duties which society imposes, from the obli- Thuilleries. It affords we a rich harvest on a My conI have fre I had nothing to reply; so I drew my hand from my pocket, and took my leave of my interlocutor, who followed, overwhelming me with his thanks. ARTS AND SCIENCES. ANIMAL ELECTRICITY. Mr. Glover has published the following method of receiving the electrical shock from a cat.-Place the left hand under the throat, with the middle finger, and the thumb slightly pressing the bones of the animal's shoulder, then gently passing the right hand along the back, sensible electrical shocks will be felt in the left hand.— Phil. Mag. found some fresh reasons for believing, with M. Thenard, that it is a peculiar substance. Mr. Phillips has discovered a ready method of detecting the articles with which ultramarine is sometimes fraudulently adulterated. If the suspected specimen contain blue verditer, (carbonate of copper), it may be ascertained by heating the specimen on a piece of silver or platina foil in a spirit lamp, when the compound will become first greenish and eventually black. The presence of prussian blue causes the ultramarine to be much darkened by heat; and to become browner, and not brighter, on being boiled in a solution of potash. digo is detected by the purple vapour which rises on the application of heat, and by its retaining its colour while under the action of sulphuric acid. Smalts is also detected by its refusing to yield its colour to any acid. The colour prepared from oxide of cobalt and alumina is discovered in the same manner as smalts. and fuel for nearly four years; with a commander ex- BELZONI. Interesting extracts of a letter from this The above processes are very simple, and, to the dealer in ultramarine, must be very important. The results obtained by Mr. Phillips, though not altogether satisfactory, are certainly curious. They present a stimulus to farther inquiry, which may, perhaps, open some new views in relation to the arts in which ultramarine has been employed. CAPTAIN PARRY'S EXPEDITION. Two summers have now passed over, and it is pretty clear that they have not carried him into the Pacific, In the short letter I wrote to you from Tangier, dated the 10th of April, I informed you that I had gained permission from his Majesty the Emperor of Morocco, to enter his country as far as Fez, and that I had great hopes of obtaining his permission to penetrate further south. I have now great pleasure in acquainting yon, my dear friend, of my safe arrival at Fez, after having been detained at Tangier till a letter had been forwarded from Mr. Douglas, his Britannic Majesty's Consul at Tangier, to the Minister at Fez, to obtain permission from the Emperor for me to approach his capital. As soon as a favourable answer was received, we started for this place, and in ten days arrived here in safety with my better half, who, baving succeeded in persuading me to take her as far as Tan SHAWL MANUFACTORY AT CASHMEER. The most remarkable production of Cashmeer is its shawls, which supply the whole world, and which are said to be manufactured at sixteen thousand looms, each of which gives employment to three men. The following is an extract from the report drawn up by Mr. Strachey, who made many enquiries on this subject, and who had some shawl stuffs made under his own inspection, of wool procured at Umritsir. The manufacturers were pioneers belonging to the embassy, and they worked in a cominon tent; yet they appeared to find no difficulty in their employment. A shop may be occupied with one shawl, provided it be a remarkably fine one, above a year, while other shops make six or eight in the course of that period. Of the best and most worked kinds, not so much as a quarter of an inch is completed in one day by three people, which is the usual number employed at most of the shops. Shawls containing much work are made in separate pieces at different shops, and it may be observed that it very rarely happens that the pieces when completed, correspond in size. unless indeed, which is merely in the chances, he gier, has also inforced her influence to proceed to Fez; the persons employed sit on a bench; their num may have taken the route of China and the Cape of Good Hope, which, from his ample supply of provisions remaining, is not quite improbable. Had he run for Kamtskatka, or along the coast of America in the Pa cific, we should, before this time, have heard of him. We know he calculated upon three summers, and only wished that, if not heard of in the beginning of 1824, a vessel with provisions might be sent into Behring's Strait in the autumn of that year. He was last seen near the Upper savage Islands, on the 22d of July, 1821, steering with a fair wind and through an open sea, direct for Repulse bay; and as Captain Franklin left Cape Turnagain on the 25th of August of the same year, the latter was on his return before Captain Parry could have reached that point.* In the event, however, of his having done so in the course of that season, it is not improbable that he would enter that deep gulf of which the Cape forms the eastern and northern extremity; the less so, from its being situated in the same longitude nearly as the Copper-mine River is laid down on Arrowsmith's chart; a point which he would, undoubtedly, deem it expedient to visit; and if so, he would meet with the flag-staff and letter left by Captain Franklin, and, probably, pass the winter in one of the many snug harbours which the Arctic gulf affords. The second season would, with ease, bring him to that point of the coast which is terminated by the Rocky Mountains, a little beyond Mackenzie's River, the only spot where we can conceive any difficulty to occur; here Captain Parry would, probably, pass the second winter; and, if so, the third summer would, without difficulty, carry him through Behring's Strait. And when we consider the commander, who would leave nothing behind him unexamined, (and from the indented nature of the coast, there is much to examine), we are not in the least surprised at his taking three seasons, which, indeed, he always calenlated upon to accomplish his task; and which, if not possible, he may, therefore, be expected to do in the course of the present summer. With regard to risk, we apprehend none beyond that to which all navigation in the icy seas is liable, and which the long frequented whale fishery, conducted in vessels not half so strong nor half so well manned, has proved to be little more than common sea risk. Indeed, with ships as strong as wood and iron can make them; stored with provisions • Among the number of idle conjectures which appear, from time to time, in the public prints, (and which are productive of no other effect than awakening the anxiety of the friends of those employed on the expedition,) one writer is surprised that Captain Franklin met with no traces of Captain Parry, though. it was impossible; a Frenchman has discovered him on the Coast of Siberia; and an English journalist announces the two ships to have been seen off Icy Cape by some fishing-boats of the Aleutian islands, which is just the same as if the pilchard fishermen of the coast of Cornwall had discovered them off the North Cape of Norway, the distance in each case being about the same. but this, though much against her will, must be her Non plus ultra.' "Yesterday I had the honour to be presented to his Majesty the Emperor, and was highly gratified with his reception of me. He was acquainted that I had letters Tangier, from whom I received indeed the greatest of introduction from Mr. Wilmot, to the Consul in hospitality, and who did all in his power to promote my wishes. The fortunate circumstance of my having known the Prime Minister of his Majesty, whilst in Cairo, on his return from Mecca to this country, is also said against my project by the commercial party, partimuch in my favour; and though a great deal has been cularly from the Jews of this country, who monopolize permission to join the caravan, which will set out for all the traffic of the interior, I obtained his Majesty's Timbuctoo, within one month. "If nothing should happen, and if promises are kept, I shall from this place cross the Mountains of Atlas to Taflet, where we shall join other parties from various quarters, and from thence, with the help of God, we shall enter the great Sahara to Timbuctoo. Should I succeed in my attempt, I shall add another ' votive-tablet' to the Temple of Fortune; and if, on the contrary, my project should fail, one more name will be added to the many others which have fallen into the River of Oblivion. Mrs. Belzoni will remain at Fez, till she bears of my departure from Taflet, which place is eighteen or twenty days' journey from hence, and as soon as that fact is ascertained she will return to England." PHILOSOPHER'S STONE.-A letter from New York, pher's stone, by which baser substances could be transdated June 9, says," If the long-sought-for philosomuted into gold, has not yet been found, an invention of still greater importance has at length crowned the efforts of American chymists. It has long been known that the diamond, the most precious of all substances, the powers of chymical analysis have been sufficient by is composed of carbon in its pure state. But although repeated experiments clearly to establish this fact, yet the knowledge of it was of no practical importance to the world, because the powers of synthesis failed, and the constituents of this precious gem. no mode had been devised of imitating nature by uniting In other words, the philosopher was able to convert diamonds into carbon, but he was ignorant of the art of converting carbon into diamonds. If the experiments of Professor Silliman can be relied on, this desideratum has in part been supplied. The last number of his Journal of Science contains an article on the philosophical instrument call ed the deflagrator invented by Professor Hare, of Philadelphia by which it appears that charcoal, plumbago, and anthracite, have been fused by the power of that instrument, and transmuted into diamonds." The shops consist of a frame work, at which ber is from two to four. On plain shawls two people alone are employed, and a long, narrow, but heavy shuttle is used: those of which the pattern is variegated are worked with wooden thread of each colour: for the latter no shuttle needles, their being a separate needle for the is required. The operation of their manufacture is of course slow, proportionate to the quantity of work which their patterns may require. The Oostaud, or head workman, superintends immediately under his directions. If they have while his journeymen are employed near him, any new pattern in hand, or one with which they are not familiar, he describes to them the figures, colours, and threads which they are to use, while he keeps before him the pattern on which they happen to be employed, drawn upon paper. During the operation of making, the rough. side of the shawl is uppermost on the frame, notwithstanding which the Oostaud never mistakes the regularity of the most figured patterns. The wages of the Oostaud (the employer furnishing materials) are from six to eight pice per day; of the common workmen, from one to four (a pice in Cashmeer may be about three halfpence.) A merchant entering largely into the shawl trade frequently engages a number of shops, which he collects in a spot under his eye; or he supplies the head workmen with thread, which has been previously spun by women, and afterwards coloured; and they carry on the manufacture at their own houses, having previously received instructions from the merchant respecting the quality of the goods he may require, their colours, patterns, &c. After the goods are completed, the merchant carries them to the custom-office, where each shawl is stamped, and he pays a certain duty, the amount of which is settled according to the quality and value of the piece. The officer of the government generally fixes the value beyond what the goods are really worth. The duty is at the rate of one-fifth of the price. from the loom. In India there is no market for Most shawls are exported unwashed, and fresh unwashed shawls, and at Umritsir they are better washed and packed than in Cashmeer. Of those sent to the westward, many are worn unwashed. The wool of which the shawls are made is imported from Tibet and Tartary, in which coun |