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ANECDOTES OF ILLUSTRIOUS FEMALES.

LADY CARHAMPTON.

ture in her possession belonging to the

ANECDOTE OF MISS RUSSELL.

In the year 1796 this illustrious female, || family. at the advanced age of eighty-four, preserved unimpaired her charming flow of spirits, strength, faculties, and amiability : IN the suite of the late Princess Amelia but what rendered her truly the wonder of there was formerly a lady of the name of her time, was her unexampled fortitude Russell, who was a grandaughter of Oliver and resignation. These qualities had in- Cromwell, and who, it should seem, inhevariably expelled from a heart otherwise rited, without any alloy, much of his unprone to the softest feeling, the "serpent's daunted and ready spirit. One day, it tooth" of the ingratitude of the then Lord happened to be on the thirtieth of January, Carhampton, who never paid her one shil- she was in waiting, and occupied in adjusting of her jointure after the death of his ing some part of the Princess's dress, just father, though she voluntarily, in her Lord's as the then Prince of Wales, the father of life time, resigned to him an estate in her his present Majesty, came into the room. own disposal of £4000 per annum. She|| His Royal Highness accosted Miss Russell would, however, herself have wanted bread rather sportingly, and said to her " For had it not been for another estate in her shame, Miss Russell, why have you not own right of £1000 annual income. She been at church, humbling yourself for the obtained from Chaucery repeated decrees sins on this day committed by your grandin her favour, upon which the young Lord father?"—" Sir," replied Miss Russell, “for filed cross bills; at one time, on pretence a grandaughter of Oliver Cromwell, it is of her having taken away the family jewels,|| humiliation sufficient to be employed as I though she had not a single gem or pic- "am in pinning up your sister's train."

CHARACTERS OF CELEBRATED FRENCH WOMEN.

OLYMPIA DE SEGUR.

THERE are but few historical particulars known of Olympia de Segur: her character, however, may class her amongst the Illustrious of her sex.

At the period of the parliamentary troubles in France, the Marquis de Belair, son of the chief president of Bourdeaux, had been imprisoned in the Chateau-Trompette. He had there groaned for some time in captivity, when his wife resolved to be his deliverer. Olympia de Segur, whose virtues shed a lustre over her birth, united to a solid and ingenious understand ing, that cool fortitude which is so necessary for the support of every difficult enterprize. Conjugal tenderness and an ardent imagination were equally serviceable to her, and both were called in to aid her in this extremity. Heaven assists the virtuous in all their undertakings, and the more the soul is elevated, so much more easy are obstacles overcome by the virtuous

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and persevering.-Olympia was permitted sometimes to see her husband, and she sought, in concurrence with him, to elude the vigilance of his guards. Without any fear of the perils that her devotedness to him might cause her to encounter, and animated by that noble boldness her virtue gave her, she offered to take his place, and let him escape in her clothes. The Marquis hesitated, dreading to expose his wife to the fury of his enemies; he chose rather to brave every danger, and perhaps lose his head on the scaffold, than to leave his Olympia exposed to become the sacrifice to her own heroism.

By dint of tears and supplications, and still more by the loved names of their children, she, at length, wrought on her husband, and stripped herself of those garments that she had providently added to what she usually wore: the Marquis put them on, and with his face partly concealed by a large cap, and hiding the remainder with

his handkerchief, which seemed to be held up to dry his tears, he passed through a file of jailers, and made his escape.

The keepers of the prison, who yet thought they detained their captive in safety, did not visit the apartment wherein Belair was confined til his dinner hour. Their astonishment can be better imagined than described; but Olympia, that pattern of conjugal love, was not perfectly easy on her husband's escape, she trembled least the guards, too soon made acquainted with it, might yet have been able to overtake the fugitive. Forgetting the weakness of her sex, and animated by a courage the most sublime, she fell upon the jailer, who immediately called out for help, held him fast, and made use of all her strength to retain him, not letting go her prize till the noise of this event had drawn together every inhabitant of the prison.

This bold attempt was crowned with success; and she received an ample reward by hearing that her husband was safe, while she accepted with heart-felt joy the punishments that awaited her. They were but slight-what wretches must those judges have been who could have dared to condemn such an action, who could have dared to violate the most holy bond of nature, and make use, against so virtuous a deception, of those laws which were made by man, and imperfect as himself?

After Olympia had remained for some time as an hostage for her husband, she was permitted to quit her confinement; and she lived but a few years longer, leaving to posterity an example worthy of being appreciated by her own sex, the admiration of the other, and a lasting honour to conjugal affection.

HISTORICAL AND SELECT ANECDOTES.

ANECDOTE RELATED BY DR. PEPYS.

A GENTLEMAN one day sending to the learned Doctor, when he was absent from home, to borrow the works of Theocritus and Horace, the maid servant told him on his return, that a gentleman had sent to him to request he would lend him three oxen and a hogshead!

COURAGEOUS INDIFFERENCE.

directly." And now Bob," cried the gallant creature, "look sharp and thou shalt see my brains; and Middleton the surgeon here shall bear witness that I have some."

ANECDOTE OF DR. LEE.

THIS amiable character, whose youthful gaiety of manners at the advanced age of eighty-six, delighted all who were in his society, was dining once with some memAr the battle of Fontenoy, an officer of bers of Baliol College, Oxford, of which the name of Honeywood, was endeavour- he was master; when one of the gentle. ing to cleave down a French soldier, but men, speaking of a dispute that had taken his hanger sticking fast in the shoulder, place amongst the Privy Councillors, rethe fellow gained strength sufficient to marked that the Lord Chancellor had thrust Honey wood through the side with struck the table with such violence that he his bayonet, while another struck him on split it; "No, no," replied Dr. Lee, drily, the head and face with a sabre, so that he" I can hardly persuade myself that he immediately fell. Next day Lord Robert split the table, though I believe he divided Manners looking at the waggons that were carrying off the wounded, beheld Honeywood on one of them, with half a dozen soldiers lying on the top of him.-" Poor fellow!" said his Lordship, "thou art now done for, sure enough."-But what was his surprise when, on arriving at Hannau, he received a message with Mr. Honeywood's compliments, desiring Lord Robert to go and see his wounds dressed. He went

the board!"

ABSENCE OF MIND.

A West India gentleman of large fortune, and greater worth, was so absent that he seldom called upon a friend without occasioning some bizarre incident. One cold morning he came to the house of Dr. E———, The servant informed him his master was dressing; Mr. H——, almost unconsciously,

stepped up stairs, and bolted into the dressing-room. The physician asked him to be seated. Growing too warm, Mr. H— threw off his great coat, and chatted for some time with his old intimate; but a gentleman urgently asking to see the Doctor, he went in his night-gown to a breakfast parlour where the patient waited. Mr. H, as he supposed, put on his great coat, and went off, without waiting to bid the Doctor good morning. His next visit was to a lady, and before he sat down he said "Bless me, Madam, what can be the reason that a train of boys followed me, aud forced me to take refuge here?"-The lady replied by immoderate laughter. Mr. H was a little man, the physician a large man; he had taken that gentleman's upper coat in place of his own great coat, and the house was in an uproar searching for the garment, and all the physician's memorandums for the day, when Mrs. M's servant appeared to restore them.

ANECDOTE OF THE PRINCE OF BAVARIA.

In the month of November of last year, the Prince Royal of Bavaria, who was travelling in Sicily, was reposing himself one day with his attendants, in an orange grove near the little town of Monte Allegro; when suddenly a woman with four young children threw herself at his feet, and entreated him to solicit her husband's pardon, who stood condemned to death for having, in a moment of passion, mortally wounded with a knife a man with whom he had a quarrel. The sister of the woman, with six children, joined her entreaties, and the country people assembled at a respectful distance, anxiously awaiting the issue of the interesting interview. Before the Prince had time to answer, another woman, with her countenance inflamed, and her head covered with a black veil, darted through the crowd, crying out "Vengeance! vengeance!" It was the sister of the man who had been killed in the quarrel. The people, fearing the effect of the latter woman's grief upon the Prince's feelings, all exclaimed with one voice, "Mercy! mercy!" The Prince, greatly moved by this affecting scene, sent oue of his train to the house of the nearest judge. The latter confirmed the statement of the women, and joined with them in entreaties in favour of the

convict. The Prince engaged to ask his pardon at the court of Palermo, and imme diately the air resounded with cries of joy from the multitude, and the news was reechoed by the firing of cannon. Shortly after, the pardon came, and the Prince, on his departure, was saluted with the benedictions of all the inhabitants.

ANECDOTE OF PELISSON.

PELISSON was dreadfully disfigured by the small-pox, and the following incident befel him from his extreme ugliness. A very beautiful lady met him one day in the street, and taking him by the hand, she requested him to let her lead him to a house a few doors off. Delighted at being noticed by so beautiful a female, Pelisson, in spite of his appearance, could not forbear entertaining the most ardent hopes. The lady, speaking to the master of the house, uttered the following sentence,-" Exactly like that, every feature."-Pelisson, recovering his astonishment at the sudden disappearance of the lady, requested the master of the house to explain what all this meant? Who, after refusing for a long while, confessed that he was a painter, adding, "I have some time ago undertook to paint for that lady a picture of the Temptation in the Wilderness, and we have been sadly puzzled to get a good representation of the devil; she therefore brought you to me as a model.”

ANECDOTE OF JOHN LI. KING OF SWEDEN.

THE first dramatic spectacle performed in Sweden, was the death and passion of our blessed Saviour. The actor who performed the part of the soldier who pierced the side of Jesus, whether through awk|| wardness, or too much energy of feeling, buried his spear so deep in the side of the actor on the cross, that it not only killed the man, but threw down the cross; the fall of which crushed the actress to death who was performing the part of Mary, On which John, in a violent rage against him who had enacted that of the soldier, rushed forwards, aud with one stroke of his scymetar cut off his head. The audience, however, who were moved with pity for the actor, whose fault was purely accidental, avenged his death immediately by taking away the life of the monarch.

ANECDOTE OF THE DUKE DE ROHAN.

As the Duke was once travelling through Switzerland, finding himself indisposed, he sent for the most famous physician of the Canton, who was named Dr. Thibaut.— "I think," said the Duke, "I have seen your face before."—" Very likely,” replied the Doctor," for I had the honour to serve you as a farrier."—" How, the deuce, then, is it that you are become a physician? How do you practice upon the sick?"—" As on the horses of your Excellency. It is true that many of them die under my hands, but I also cure a great many. For heaven's sake, Sir, do not betray me, but suffer me to gain my livelihood amongst these honest Swiss."

ANECDOTE OF WEBB, THE PEDESTRIAN.

WEBB, the once celebrated pedestrian, who was remarkable for vigour both of mind and body, lived wholly upon water for his drink, and chiefly upon vegetables for his sustenance. He one day recommended his regimen to one of his patrons, who was extremely fond of brandy. He urged him, with great earnestness, to quit a course of luxury by which his health and his intellects would be equally destroyed. The gentleman appeared convinced, and told him "that he would conform to his counsel, but that he could not change his course of life at once, but would leave off all strong liquors by degrees."-" By degrees!" exclaimed Webb;" if you should unhappily fall into the fire, would you caution your servants not to pull you out but by degrees?"

FORTUNATE SUPERSTITION.

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posed, that he was going to make an offering to his God." This handkerchief," said he, " contains a certain quantity of rice, and all the rupees I am worth; suffer me to attempt to lash it to the mizen-top, and rely upon it, Sir, if I succeed we shall all be preserved."-The Captain was going to order him back again to the pumps, but recollecting that in so doing he might throw both him and his countrymen into a state of despondency, and thereby lose the benefit of their exertions, he acquiesced. The Lascar thanked him, and he soon be held this child of prejudice mount the tottering shrouds without the least apprehension. He soon lashed the handkerchief to the mizen top-mast head, fearless of all danger, and arrived in safety on the deck, confident now that his God was the Captain's friend; he went below to inform his brethren that he had done his duty. All the Lascars seemed transported with joy, embraced their virtuous companion, and then laboured at the pump with increased alacrity and perseverance, as if they had encountered before neither apprehension nor fatigue. To their unceasing labour was owing, in a great measure, the preservation of the people.

ANECDOTE OF THE BISHOP OF MEAUX.

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THIS prelate once asked an old woman how many sacraments there were? which question she replied by saying there were but two." But," replied the Bishop, "there is marriage; what prevents your regarding so holy, delightful, and happy a state as one of the sacraments?"-Ah! ah! Sir," said the old woman, "if it is so very good, what is the reason that you have never partaken of it?"

ANECDOTE OF ROBERT FERGUSON. In the reign of James II. Robert Ferguson, a Presbyterian minister, who had plotted against the government, fled from justice to the city of Edinburgh, when perceiving that he was closely pursued, and that the gates were shut to prevent his escape, he had recourse to a device which men of less cunning would have considered as the certain means of destruction. Instead of secreting himself in a cel

CAPTAIN STOUT, of the American ship Hercules, which was ran on shore on the coast of Caffraria, in 1796, as the only means of saving the lives of the crew, gives the following account of the superstition of the Lascars. At a period when the tempest raged with the utmost violence, the Captain directed most of the crew below, particularly the Lascars, to work the pumps. One of them, however, was perceived coming up the gangway, with a handkerchief in his hand; and on being questioned what he was about, he answered in a tone of voice that discovered a per- lar or garret, and putting confidence in fect confidence in the measure that he pro- "strangers, he went to the town prison, No. 115.-Vol. XVIII.

where he knew an old acquaintance was confined, and there he remained concealed till the search being over and curiosity at an end, he was enabled to go quietly about his business.

reason of his absence. On his return, the conversation fell upon the subject of the fugitive, and the offences with which he stood charged. Ferguson, who knew that too much ardour in condemning, frequently betrays consciousness of guilt, and that an attempt to palliate crime is apt to create suspicion, both which are the errors of little cunning, commended the zeal of the magistrate with that discreet coolness which generally accompanies moderation and honesty, and then deviated, imperceptibly, to topics best calculated for his own security. The evening passed away pleasantly, and Ferguson lay till pretty late in the morning, when he arose confi

The same man, after the unfortunate and melancholy affair in which the Duke of Monmouth perished, with whom he acted as secretary, had a still more narrow escape. Ferguson knew that a proclamation was issued out against him, and his person was so very remarkable, that he could hardly entertain the least hopes of eluding pursuit. Being, however, a man of great presence of mind, he made the best of his way for the coast; but instead of passing along bye-roads, or through vil-dent enough of his being safe while in that lages, he entered the largest towns, and house, but not so sure of getting out of the fearlessly put up at the best inns. At one town to the sea side. In order to obviate place in Dorsetshire, where his danger was this difficulty he called for breakfast, and the greatest, he found that the principal || again desiring the company of his worship, inn was kept by the Mayor, which circum- with whose conversation he affected to be stance made him choose that very house so much pleased, that he promised, if the for his quarters. Here he came towards Mayor would ride to the next town, and the evening, ordered a handsome supper, spend the evening with him, he would stop to which he invited the company of the and take dinner. This flattery won the landlord and his wife. In the middle of affection of the host, who very readily the repast, the Mayor received a message, complied; and thus Ferguson, in the comdesiring him to grant a search-warrant, for pany of the magistrate, passed safely through the apprehension of one Ferguson. The that town, and the neighbourhood, withmagistrate, in consequence, being obliged out being at all suspected. He then got a to retire, for the discharge of his official passage to Holland, and returned from duty, made an apology to his guest, and, thence with the Prince of Orange. at the same time, acquainted him with the

THE GLEANER'S PORTE-FOLIO;

CONSISTING OF INTERESTING ARTICLES FROM RECENT PUBLICATIONS, PUBLIC JOURNALS, &c. &c.

HINTS TO MISSIONARIES.

THE fundamental principles of morality || itself are so firmly implanted in the soul of man, that no vicious practice, and no mistaken code, can change their nature; and that we should look on the historian who should tell us of laws which enacted theft and murder, or punished honesty and benevolence, with as little credit, as on him who should talk of "men, whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders."

Our missionaries are very apt to split upon this rock, and in order to place our

religion in the brightest light, as if it wanted their feeble aid, they lay claim, exclusively, to all the sublime maxims of mo. rality, and tell those they wish to convert, that their own books contain nothing but abominations, the belief of which they must abandon, in order to receive the purer doctrine of Christianity. Mistaken men! Could they desire a better opening to their hopes, than to find already established that morality which says, it is enjoined to man, even at the moment of destruction, to wish to benefit his foes, as

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