trousers. This is supposed to indicate the scanty supply of his favourite macaroni, on which he is forced to subsist. Could he only obtain the quantity he could eat, he would take as much as the capacity of his shirt would contain. Mr. Galiffe says, that, like harlequin, "he wears on the upper part of his face a black half-mask, of which I could never guess the origin. His character is a strange mixture of the deepest ignorance and natural wit; malice and simplicity; keen repartees, cunning, and stupidity. He is always a thief and a pickpocket; but, at the same time, is himself the easiest of dupes-a great braggadocio, but a complete coward. Whenever questions are put to him to which he cannot reply without danger, he affects downright idiocy, and pretends not to understand a word. He does not bear ill-will to others, but he has a particular fondness for himself; and he has an enormous appetite, without the means of feeding it. In short, he is like Caliban in some things, like Sancho in others, like Falstaff in many, but yet different from them all."

This is a slight picture of the town, people, and vicinity of Tivoli, which, like every other hive in which a multitude of human beings are congregated, presents us with scenes of gravity and gaiety, as the disposition inclines, on every day of the year.

TO TEMPERANCE.

O TEMPERANCE! chaste goddess of the mind,
Most sweet inspirer of religious thought!
Thy unstained life leaves no remorse behind,
But yields us joy: Intemperance does not.
Hear, O! a suppliant; one who never sought-

Being fraught with shame-to kneel before thy shrine,
And beg what riches never yet have bought—

A calm, untroubled character of mind,
Which, to confer, the privilege is thine!
Let me not wander from thy spotless path,
But still pursue thee in thy ways divine;
Nor feel again the power bad passion hath,
When nursed by thee, High, soul-destroying Wine,

Man's mocking tyrant!-so thou art designed.

THE civil war of the days of Charles I. took its rise from the desire of that sovereign to extend the prerogative beyond the limits defined by the constitution; and this was, perhaps, most prominently shown in his invasion of the privileges, and attempt to destroy the power, and even the existence, of parliament. For twelve years he governed the kingdom without its assistance, and exacted from his people money in various illegal ways, particularly under the titles of ship money and loans. The former was raised by a writ, in form of a law, and directed to every county in England, to provide a ship of war, which, by a certain day, was to be sent to an appointed place, completely manned and equipped. Writs of this sort were accompanied with instructions to the sheriff of a county, which might not be able to send a ship, to levy a given sum of money instead; and its effect was such that, for several years, it supplied the coffers of the king with the annual amount of £200,000. Another mode which the king adopted to raise money without the aid of parliament, was by letters under his privy seal, which were sent into various counties, addressed to those who were supposed to be able to lend it, as the sums with which each was taxed were asked by way of a loan. Those who went upon this ungrateful mission were accompanied by one of his majesty's servants, and carried letters desiring immediate attention to the royal requisition, under the pain of being summoned before him in person. "The terrors held forth in these requisitions," says a local historian of Taunton, "were not meant to raise vain fears, but were actually productive of severe evils to those who opposed this measure. In London, some aldermen who refused to deliver a list of those who, in their wards, might be judged able to lend, were committed to prison; and divers gentlemen throughout the kingdom, who denied the loan, were thrown into gaols, where many of them contracted such diseases that cost them their

lives." Such measures could hardly fail to rouse the indignation of a free people; and the consequence was that the whole kingdom rose in arms—some joining the parliament, others the King—and so commencing a war which deluged the country with much of the best blood of its people. Among the different cities which went with the King was Chester, which, for twenty weeks, in the face of many disadvantages, held out against the parliamentary forces. The individual who commanded the garrison throughout its varying fortunes, was Lord Byron, an ancestor of the noble poet of that name, and a soldier of no inconsiderable talent and address. The commander of the parliamentary forces in these parts was Sir William Brereton, who, in the July of 1643, advanced with his troops to the city, making an assault upon its walls and works, which were defended with great spirit. His reception was such that he was forced to retire; and, for the present, did not make any further attempt against the city. In November of the same year, however, he obtained possession of the castle of Hawarden, six miles from Chester; which, commanding the town of the same name, enabled him to prevent any supplies of coals, corn, or provisions of any kind from being taken to Chester from anywhere about that neighbourhood. Although Sir William was in possession of Hawarden, he was not allowed to remain there entirely at his ease. In the same month, a party of the King's troops, who had been employed against the rebels in Ireland, summoned him to surrender; but they being too weak to force him to do so, he returned an answer in the puritanical style of those times, concluding with the following resolution :-" We fear the loss of our religion more than the loss of our dearest blood; and being resolved to make good our trust, we put our lives into the hands of that God who can, and we hope will, secure them more than our walls or weapons." This may be taken as a specimen of the usual strain of sentiment which generally animated the breasts of the parliamentary forces; and it presents a striking contrast to the following letter, sent by Captain Sandford, who had arrived from Ireland, and had brought some troops to assist the King's forces against the garrison commanded by Sir William in Hawarden. We insert it for the sake of contrast, and as being a singular specimen of military spirit:

"GENTLEMEN,-I presume you very well know, or have heard of, my condition and disposition, and that I neither give nor take quarter. I am now with my firelocks, who never yet neglected opportunity to correct rebels, ready to use you as I have done the Irish; but loth I am to spill my countrymen's blood; wherefore I advise you, by these, to your fealty and obedience to his majesty, and to show yourself faithful subjects by delivering the castle into my hands for his majesty's use. In so doing, you shall be received into mercy; or otherwise, if you put me to the least trouble or loss of blood to force you, expect no quarter for man, woman, or child. I hear