CHAMOIS HUNTERS. LIKE all mountaineers, the Tyrolese are an active and brave people; in their pursuit of the Chamois goat, they scorn all danger and all hardships, and are such admirable marksmen, that their services as sharpshooters in the French revolutionary war, were rewarded with the temporary liberty of hunting with impunity. The value of this liberty can only be estimated by those who know the passion of the Tyrolese for the chase; a passion, says Kotzebue, more violent than that of the gamester. Neither threats nor punishments can deter them from the pursuit of it; gain is not the object, for the goat, flesh and skin, does not sell for above ten or twelve florins, and yet a man who had been many times caught in the fact declared, that if he knew the next tree would be his gallows he would nevertheless hunt. M. De Saussure records an interesting anecdote of a Chamois hunter whom he knew; he was a tall well-made man, and had just married a beautiful woman : "My grandfather," said he, "lost his life in the chase, so did my father, and I am so well assured that one day or other I shall also lose mine, that this bag, which I always carry with me in the hunt, I call my winding sheet, for I shall certainly never have any other; nevertheless, sir, if you were to offer me a fortune immediately, on condition that I must relinquish the chase, I would not accept it." De Saussure says, that he took several excursions among the Alps with this man; his strength and agility were astonishing, but his courage, or rather his temerity, was still greater than either: about two years afterwards his foot slipped on the edge of a precipice, and he met the fate he had so calmly anticipated! THE CHARACTER OF A DRUNKARD. Written by John Stephens, in 1615. “A DRUNKARD is in opinion a good fellow; in practice, a living conduit; his vices are like errata in the latter end of a false coppie, they point the way to vertue by setting down the contrary. There is some affinity betwixt him and a chamelion. He feeds upon ayre, for he dothe cat his words familiarly. He cannot run fast enough to prove a good footman; for ale and beer (the heaviest element next earth) will overtake him. His nose, the most innocent, bears the corruption of his other senses' folly; from it may be gathered the emblem of one falsely scandaled, for it not offending is colourably punished." BURNS. ROBERT BURNS called one day to see some friends in Dumfries, at a time when a young lady of the family was rather indisposed. "Well Jessy," said he, as he entered the room where she was sitting, "how do you do to-day?"" Very poorly, Mr. Burns, I want you to write my epitaph."—"Oh! you're not likely to die yet, Jessy"-" Well! be that as it may, Mr. Burns, you must write my epitaph," so she quickly brought him pen, ink, and paper, and he immediately wrote the following lines: Say, sages, what's the charm on earth Can turn Death's dart aside? It is na' purity nor worth, Else, Jessie ha' na' died. ESSAY ON FRIENDSHIP. Friendship, peculiar boon of heaven, To men and angels only given, To all the lower world denied. DR. JOHNSON. Nihil est naturæ hominis gratior Amicitiâ. CICERO.. VERY few, who have experienced in any degree the joys of Friendship, will be inclined to doubt the truth of the Roman Orator's assertion, which I have chosen for my motto. There is so pure a delight, and so retined a pleasure in true Friendship, that we cannot be surprised that he has classed its possession among the first blessings of humanity. But the Friendship which ensures this delight is not very readily obtained; virtue, and virtue only, is the basis on which it can be formed with any hope of success, and however powerfully engaged our affections may be, without her restraining hand, we can never hope continually to enjoy the esteem of the person upon whom they are bestowed. Dr. Blair informs us that "in young minds there is commonly a strong propensity to particular intimacies, and friendships. Youth, indeed," he continues, "is the season when friendships are sometimes formed, which not only continue through succeeding life, but which glow to the last with a tenderness unknown to the connexions begun in cooler years." Admitting this to be the case, (and we have no reason to deny it) we may imagine that the learned rhetori cian alludes to that period when the youth is yet at some distance from manhood, but when he has acquired enough worldly wisdom to discriminate between right and wrong, and has arrived at that age, when his actions and passions mark the future man. In our earlier years friendships---intimacies, I should say are easily contracted, and as easily dissolved. Very frequently a trifling quarrel annihilates the slender basis upon which they are constructed, and without any regret we form another connexion as fragile as the former :-- "And such the change the heart displays, LORD BYRON. In maturer age, indeed, our intimacies assume a stronger and more lasting complexion. If we meet with one whose interests, and pleasures, whose sentiments and pursuits coincide with our own, it is hardly possible but a friendship ensues, which imparts plea sure to both, and glows to the last with mutual and unabated ardour. But what is denominated "worldly pleasure," is far different from the pure and disinterested affection which exists between true friends: "Friends who participate in all we feel, Who aid our pleasures, and our sorrows heal!" Sterling regard, and implicit confidence distinguish the one---selfishness and hypocrisy the other. Hence Friendship is decried by some as not worthy to be called a virtue; being formed only for interested motives, by those who want the assistance and support of others; and to this also we may impute the blighting of many a heart, and the existence of that forbidding object---Misanthropy. To be fortunate in our friendships, we should exhibit the utmost caution in contracting them. A neglect of this has caused the man of sensibility many an aching pang; and has given rise to all that has been advanced in opposition to it as a virtue: to this circumstance, perhaps, we may attribute the following beautiful description of worldly pleasure: "And what is friendship but a name, A shade that follows wealth or fame, GOLDSMITH. And too faithful is the portrait--there are a set of beings in the world, who, while a person is in prosperity, are to be seen basking in the rays emitted by his misplaced generosity; and appear to be the most faithful and sincere creatures in existence; but let the same person be unfortunate; let his situation, by the caprice of Fortune, be reversed,---and they are the first to shun, the first to insult him. For these despicable parasites Friendship has no charms, beyond the gratification of the passing moments; and they fly to seek pleasure from the bounty of another. Love is but friendship of a larger growth! It is, if I may use the expression, the superlative degree of friendship. Although the affection we entertain for an amiable and beloved friend, differs in many respects, from the love we feel for an amiable and beautiful woman, yet both have their share of pleasure; and although the affection for the friend" passeth the love of woman," yet the delightful sensations arising from it, are of a far different nature to those which love would excite. As it is not, however, my intention, in the present instauce, to draw a com parison between these two passions, (for we may call them so) I shall leave it to the imagination of those who have experienced their pains and pleasures, to form their own opinion on the subject, and conclude these unconnected hints with another quotation from Dr. Blair: "Remember," he writes, " that by the character of those whom you choose for your friends, your own is likely to be formed, and will certainly be judged of by the world. Be slow, therefore, and cautious in contracting intimacy, but when a virtuous friendship is once established, consider it as a sacred engagement. Expose not yourself to the reproach of lightness and inconstancy, which always bespeak either a trifling or a base mind. Reveal none of the secrets of your friend. Be faithful to his interests. Forsake him not in danger. Abhor the thought of acquiring any advantage by his prejudice or hurt." February 3d, 1819. FOR THE POCKET MAGAZINE. T. R. A DESCRIPTION OF HIGH-DOWN HILL IN "Thy hills and dales, and flowery meads, IN my perambulation about the county of Sussex, I no where found the soil sterile, but on the contrary, extremely luxuriant. So much fertility cannot fail to afford the eye an agreeable landscape, when viewed from the uplands. The hill I am about to describe is situated a short walk from the village of Angmering, and, although of a considerable elevation, does not appear so, owing to its gentle ascent. On its side some young sheep were grazing; and its summit is crowned with a mill. The fame of this spot is spread abroad with a double attraction, in being the burial place of John Oliver, its late proprietor, who died at the advanced age of eighty-four. I understand he was an eccentric, but devout man. For many years previous to his death, |