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THE UNIFORM ROTATION OF THE
EARTH.

about 26 miles.

ways dividing between them the surface of the
earth; and the day as incessantly rousing into
activity that half of the inhabitants over whom
the light of the sun is passing. Thus many
millions of human beings are incessantly per-

many

THE earth which we inhabit is not precisely a
spherical body, but a spheroid flattened at its
poles, similar in shape to an orange. Its
shortest diameter is about 7940 miles, its long-forming some mechanical action or other; and
many thousand of animals, and thousand
est about 7966 miles; their difference being of machines of different kinds, are as inces-
santly performing mechanical operations under
This body passes through its orbit, which is their superintendence; and this with an incon-
nearly a circle of 190 millions of miles in di-ceivable variety of effort, of direction, and of
ameter, in a solar year; it also revolves uni- place, over the entire habitable surface of the
formly upon its shorter diameter as an axis, so
globe.
In all these actions, except those
as to make a complete rotation in 23h 56m 4s;
which are so regulated by refined knowledge
and that without the slightest variation, in all and skill as to produce a maximum of effect
seasons of the year, and in all ages of the with a given effort (not one in ten thousand
world. Laplace, from a comparison of numer-
ous observations, ancient and modern, affirms probably), there is a positive loss of mechanical
that this is decidedly and unquestionably the power. WHAT BECOMES OF IT? Since action
and re-action are equal and opposite, the
most uniform motion which the universe pre-amount of these losses of power is expended
sents to observation: for, although the planet-
ary rotations probably present the same positive upon the earth, the necessary fulcrum of all
our movements. Now, either all these millions
uniformity, it is not accompanied with equally of losses of power, incessantly occurring, must

decisive evidence.

Now, to the same time of rotation, there are two widely different forms, each of which is equally consistent with stability. Thus, if the earth were a homogeneous body, the ratio of the polar to the equatorial axis might be either that of 1 to 680, or that of 229 to 130; the latter of these is the one which actually exists; its adoption is a proof of design, by which many inconveniences to the inhabitants are avoided, which, however, cannot now be de

ILL-POLICY OF SLAVE LABOUR.

IN a recent number of the Antigua Register, is the following notice of Jamaica:

"Twenty-five years ago, this fine colony produced from 130,000 to 150,000 casks of sugar annually in the last seven years its average produce has not amounted to 100,000." The injurious operation of slavery on the produce of the soil is thus illustrated in the "Working Man's Companion."

slave went forward to the complete enjoyment of "It was by a very slow process that the English the legal rights of a free exchanger. The transition exhibits very many years of gross injustice, of bitter suffering, of absurd and ineffectual violations of the natural rights of man; and of struggles between the capitalist and the labourer, for exclusive advantages, perpetuated by ignorant lawgivers, who could not see that the interest of all classes of producers is one and the same. We may not improperly devote a little space to the description of this dark and evil period, to which we have alluded in the last chapter. We shall see, that while such a struggle goes forward,-that is, while security of property, and freedom of industry, are not held as the interchangeable rights of the capitalist and the labourer-there can be little production and less accumulation. Wherever positive slavery exists-wherever the labourers are utterly deprived of their property in their labour, and are compelled to dispose of it, without retaining any part of the character of voluntary exchangers, there are found idleness, ignorance, and unskilfulness; industry is enfeebled-the oppressor and the oppressed are both poor-there is no national accumulation. antiquity, was a great impediment to their progress in the arts of life. The community, in such na

be directed towards the centre of the earth
which is infinitely improbable; or they must
so occur, as every moment just to counter-
balance and annihilate each other, which is
also infinitely improbable; or they must con-
stantly tend to change the velocity and dura-
tion of the earth's rotation, and thus to produce
the evils which we have shown would result
from such a change. It is, indeed, quite im-
possible to estimate the accumulation of mis-
from ignorance in the application of human,
animal, and mechanical agency; but a bare
reference to the facts may serve to excite a
tions, was divided into a caste of nobles called ci-
train of devotional meditation upon "thetizens, and a caste of labourers called slaves. The
goodness and mercy" that are constantly en- Romans were rich, in the common sense of the
gaged in a wide field of providential operation
which is thus laid open, and which is not the
less real for being shut to the ken of our
senses, since it is open to the enraptured view
of intellect and science.

tailed, without deviating from the immediate chief that would thus accrue, in one month, The existence of slavery amongst the nations of

purpose of this article.

The earth is constituted partly of solid, partly of liquid matter, known under the general distinctions of land and water. If the solid matter had been formed into a precise sphere, and then the water created, that water, as soon as the earth received its rotation, would, by reason of the centrifugal force, have disposed itself about the equatorial regions, so as to cover them entirely with water. To prevent this, a protuberance has been given to the equatorial regions; and the forms, shapes, depths, contour, &c., of the land and water respectively, have been so mutually adjusted, not only there, but in every habitable part of the earth, as to promote, most exquisitely, the well-being of the inhabitants; so long as the period of rotation remains what it at first was. There could be but one time of rotation that would thus allow the waters just to fill certain cavities, and yet not to overflow the hills; that is, that would compel the general surface of the liquid parts to harmonize with that of the solid parts: and to produce that time of rotation about a given axis, a given force must act at a given point, and in a given direction. What but intelligence and design, operating for a benevolent purpose, could cause the union of these three independent circumstances?

cause more of the waters to flow towards the But farther, a more rapid rotation would equatorial regions, and thus, if carried beyond a certain limit, to inundate the whole land there, and leave others dry; while a slower rotation would cause the waters to recede from the equatorial regions, and leave them dry, at the same time inundating the land in the temperate and other regions. So that the uniformity of rotation is essential to the wellbeing of the inhabitants of the earth; and yet there is a constant tendency to destroy that uniformity, which is as constantly prevented by the benevolent operation of divine energy.

CHINESE TOMBS.

THE tombs and monuments of China exhibit a variety of architecture, except those of the common people, which are nothing more than small cones of earth, on the summits of which they frequently plant dwarf trees. These simple graves are occasionally visited by the family, who are particularly careful to trim and keep them in neat order.. The coffins of this country are made of very thick boards, plentifully pitched within, and varnished without; which makes them durable, and prevents them from emitting putrid exhalations: this process being absolutely necessary, where the coffins of the lower class often lie scattered among the tombs, totally uncovered with earth. The rich spare no expense in having coffins of the most precious wood, which are death of the persons intended to occupy them. frequently provided several years before the A deceased parent is oftentimes preserved in the house by an affectionate family for months, and even years; yet, either from their knowledge of embalming, or from the practice of securing the joints of the coffin with bitumen, no contagious effluvia proceeds from it.

word, because they plundered other nations; but they could not produce largely, when the individual spirit to industry was wanting. The industry of the freemen was rapine: the slaves were the producers. No man will work willingly, when he is to be utterly deprived of the power of disposing at his own will of the fruits of his labour; no man will work skilfully when the same scanty pittance is doled out to each and all, whatever be the difference in their talents and knowledge. Wherever the freedom of industry is thus violated, property cannot be secure. If Rome had encouraged free labourers, instead of breeding menial slaves, it could not have happened that the thieves who were constantly hovering round the suburbs of the city, like vultures looking out for carrion, should have been so numerous, that, during the insurrection of Catiline, they formed a large accession to his army.

But Rome had to encounter a worse evil than that of the swarms of highwaymen, who were ready to plunder whatever had been produced. Production itself was so feeble, when carried on by the labour of slaves, that Columella, a writer on rural affairs, says, the crops continued so gradually to fall off, that there was a general opinion that the earth was growing old and losing its duction and national weakness. Poland, the most power of productiveness. Wherever slavery exists at the present day, there we find feeble proprolific corn-country in Europe, is unquestionably the poorest country; and at this moment it lies prostrate at the feet of an invader, when, if its people were animated by the spirit which always enables freemen successfully to defend their property, the armies of Russia would be swept at once from the soil. Poland has been partitioned, over and over again, by governments that knew her weakness; and she has been said to have

The duty of the widow or children is not finished here; even after the corpse is deposited in the sepulchre of its ancestors, the disfallen without a crime.' That is not correct. consolate relatives (clad in coarse canvas) still Her 'crime' was, and is, the slavery of her lareside with the body, and continue their labourers. There is no powerful class between the mentation for some months. Epitaphs, extol-noble and the serf, or slave; and whilst this state To understand the reason of this, let the fol- ling the virtues of the deceased, are inscribed of things endures, Poland can never be indelowing facts be considered. In consequence on tablets of marble at the entrance of the pendent, because she can never be industrious, and therefore never wealthy." of the rotatory motion, night and day are al-vaults.-Alexander's China.

MEXICAN BANDITTI.

Narrative of an Attack on Messrs. Dickson and Neville, by Robbers, at Puebla, in Mexico, as taken by Dr. Jenkins, from Mr. Dickson's Dictation.

OUR party, consisting of three coaches, left Puebla for Vera Cruz, on Saturday morning, the 15th Nov. 1828. The two first coaches, having better mules, soon left us behind, and we remained separate for the rest of the day. At about half-past three o'clock in the afternoon, as we entered a small barranca, between Acajete and Amosoque, six or seven leagues from Puebla, Mr. Neville and myself had the front seats in the coach; the back seats were occupied by Don Juan Rodreguez and his family, consisting of his sister, a nurse, and three children. Overcome by the sultriness of the afternoon, I had fallen asleep in my corner of the coach, when loud shouts from the front suddenly awoke me, and immediately five or six figures on horseback, and masked, appeared round the coach, two of whom, at Mr. Neville's side, demanded, with loud threats, our surrender. My pistols were lying on the cushion; and, taking aim at one of the figures, I shot him dead on the spot. In an instant his companion was at the front, and shared a similar fate from my other pistol. A pause of about one minute succeeded, which I suppose arose from surprise at the sudden repulse. Another loud shout was however raised, and about twenty or thirty horsemen, similarly masked, in a few moments surrounded the carriage. Three successive volleys were then fired into it; after which, when the smoke cleared away, I found that Mr. Neville had been shot through the head, and Don Juan Rodreguez through the heart. I cannot myself say whether Mr. Neville fired his pistols or not: he might have done so during the volleys that were fired by the second and larger party of robbers; and the sister of Don Juan Rodreguez has since informed me that he actually did so, and killed or wounded one or two of them. When the robbers had ceased firing, they demanded delivery of our arms. I had scarcely complied with this demand, when I received a shot in my side, and fell. The brigands then drove the carriage, with shut curtains, for about the space of an hour; but, whether it was in the right road, or in any by-path, I was unable to determine. All this time I was bleeding profusely, though endeavouring, as much as possible, to stop the orifices of my wounds, by pressing my clothes against them. At length we arrived at a plain, where the robbers caused the carriage to be stopped, and dragged out our bodies, threw them on the ground, and proceeded forthwith to ransack our equipage. Nothing appeared to attract their attention, except money or jewellery. Having obtained all that could be found, they commenced searching our persons for ounces. All my endeavours failed in concealing I was still alive. One man, in particular, asked the nurse who it was that fired, and I was pointed out as the person. Notwithstanding the entreaties of his comrades, this fellow dragged me from beneath the dead bodies, and I had scarcely time to cover my chest with shoulder and hand, when I received a number of successive stabs directed towards the heart. At this moment, however, the cry of people, who appeared at a short distance, caused the banditti to mount their horses and gallop off; but they left two of their number behind, for what purpose I know not. These fellows searched our bodies a second time, but discovered nothing at all, except that

I was still alive. They then consulted whether to spare my life or not, seeing that they had not found the money of the English heretics. He inquired of the women where it was placed, to which the latter answered they did not know. I thought it high time to inform them where mine was to be found, upon the condition of their sparing my life; and they, having obtained the money, and the strangers appearing close in sight, mounted their horses and rode off. We remained upon the spot two hours, waiting the arrival of the Alcaldo of Acajete, who took an inventory of all the papers and articles found upon the person of Mr. Neville. I do not know in what manner the bodies were conveyed to Acajete. I have since heard that Mr. Neville's body was interred near the village, and that a cross is, or is about to be, placed, to mark the spot. As the articles of Mr. Neville, Don Juan Rodreguez, and my own, were mixed and packed in different boxes, Don Emanuel Espinoza, belonging to one of the other coaches, took charge of the whole until their arrival at Vera Cruz, where I requested he would separate each, and deliver Mr. Neville's to the house of Messrs. Tayleur and Co., as the most proper persons, having heard Mr. Neville mention that firm in some business he had to do there. The reason of their not being left with me was, that the family of Don Juan Rodreguez insisted on their being taken along with them, on account of the mixing of the articles.

Mexico, 25th Nov. 1828.

This is the interesting narrative dictated by Mr. Dickson, ten days after his miraculous escape from the hands of these ferocious brigands. It appears from a letter by his amiable and accomplished sister, that, after the banditti had left him desperately wounded, as above described, he was carefully conveyed to the house of his friend, Don Juan Palazza Trueva, a Spaniard, where every attention kindness could dictate was shown him, and the best medical assistance procured. An express was immediately dispatched to Mr. Robertson, an eminent British merchant at Mexico, and he lost no time in sending Dr. Jenkins, an English surgeon, with instructions not to leave Mr. Dickson till he was out of danger. Dr. Jenkins found that the Mexican surgeons had treated their patient properly, but nevertheless he remained with him, and took down from his lips the preceding narrative. Mr. Dickson owes his preservation to the providential intervention of his Bible, which, being in his pocket, intercepted the dagger of the assassin, and prevented it reaching his heart. Indeed, nothing was talked of throughout the country, but the miracle of the heretical prayer-book, as the Bible is called; and the people say that Mr. Dickson is safe from all similar attempts in future; which, we trust, will prove true in a different sense from that of those ignorant and superstitious creatures. Few lives have been so wonderfully preserved.-London Morning Journal.

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THE above is a very picturesque view of the ancient castle of Hertford. It was built according to the most approved testimony about the year 905. It was given by William the Conqueror into the custody of one of his barons, and frequently changed its masters under his successors. It has occasionally been a royal residence. Henry the Sixth spent a part of his time here, and granted it to his queen, who from time to time held her courts here. Charles the First gave the castle with various privileges to William Cecil, second Earl of Salisbury, and it has remained the property of that family ever since. An ancient historian of the antiquities of Hertford, relates rather a singular coincidence in connexion with this place.

John, King of France, who was taken prisoner by the Black Prince, at the battle of Poictiers, and David, King of Scots, were both confined here at the same time; the former for five years and the latter for nine. "What is very odd," says he, " in the history of these royal captives is, that, about seven years after, they both came hither again and met here the King of Cyprus, whose errand was to solicit assistance in the holy war. These two had been here in disgrace, and methinks it should seem a mortification to them to be seen again; and yet it is reported that the King of France came to show himself in the state of a king. He fell sick and died in England."

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THE interest excited by men of genius seldom confines itself to their writings. The curiosity no less than the social character of the human mind inspires a wish to know something of the history and habits, and even of the person and features, of those writers from whose productions we have derived much instruction or amusement; and any legendary scraps and anecdotes respecting them are consecrated and cherished with an almost superstitious veneration. No man perhaps ever existed who has excited among posterity more of the feeling referred to than Shakspeare; and there are but few of whose private history so little is known. Indeed, the only notice we have of his person is from Aubrey, who says, "He was a handsome well-shaped man, very good company, and of a very ready and pleasant and smooth wit."

Under these disadvantages we must tax the faith of our readers to believe that the above is an accurate likeness of his person, and present them with the principal facts of his history that are well-authenticated in the following brief

memoir.

William, the son of John Shakspeare, was born at Stratford-upon-Avon, on the 23d of April, 1564. His father was a considerable dealer in wool, and appears to have been at one time a man of some property and influence, having held an honourable situation in the corporation of Stratford, though, in his latter years, he was much reduced in circumstances. His mother was the daughter and heiress of Robert Arden, of Wellingcote, in the county of Warwick. William was the eldest of their ten children. He received

SHAKSPEARE.

his early education at a free-school, sup-
posed to be that founded at Stratford.

Here, however, he enjoyed but few ad-
vantages, being removed from it when
very young, and placed, as it is thought,
in the office of some country attorney.

At the age of eighteen he married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a yeoman in the neighbourhood of Stratford. Nothing is known of the occupation he followed at this time; but we have reason to believe that his affairs were not in a very flourishing condition, from the fact of his connexion with a gang of deerstealers, with whom he was detected in robbing the park of Sir Thomas Lucy, of Charlecot, near Stratford. This gentleman prosecuted him so rigorously, that he was obliged to leave his family and business, and betake himself to London for concealment, where he arrived in the year 1586, at the age of twenty-two.

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There are various opinions as to which was the first play he wrote, or when he first began to write; but there is reason to believe that he commenced writing in 1592; it has been found that Romeo and Juliet, and Richard II. and III. were printed in 1597, when he was thirtythree years of age. His plays were not only very popular, but much approved by persons of the higher order, as he is known to have been in high favour with Queen Elizabeth, and also with the Earl of Southampton, to whom he dedicated two of his poems. How long he acted is not known, but he continued to write till the year 1614. He retired some years before his death to a house in Stratford, where he spent his time in ease and retirement, and in the enjoyment of the society of his Here he first became connected with friends. Considerable property appears to the theatre, where his poverty obliged him have been amassed by him during his drato accept the office of call-boy, or promp-matic career: indeed it is stated to have ter's attendant. amounted to £300 per annum, a sum equal to about £1000 at this time. He died on his birth-day, Tuesday, April 23, 1616, when he had completed his fifty-second year, and was buried on the north side of the chancel, in the great church at Stratford, where a monument has been erected to his memory. His family consisted of two daughters, and a son named Hamnet, who died in 1596, in the twelfth year of his age. Susannah, his eldest daughter, married Dr. John Hall, a physician, and Judith, his youngest daughter, married a Mr. Thomas Linney. In the year 1741, a monument was erected to his memory, in Westminster Abbey, by order of the Earl

It has been asserted, that his first employment was to hold the horses of those persons who had no servants, at the door of the theatre; but there are many reasons for doubting the authenticity of this statement. Whatever might have been his first employment at the theatre, he appears very soon to have given proofs of his splendid talents. His first distinction was probably acquired as an actor, in which his best character is supposed to have been the ghost in Hamlet. He does not, however, appear to have acquired much celebrity in this department; though in the instructions given to the players in

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the dawn of his existence, stealing, at intervals, from the laborious and incessant occupations of the stocking-frame, a glimpse only at his tory and the productions of other men, broke, the author of the "Destinies of Man." at once, from the trammels of his condition, as

The limits of the Tourist will not allow us to enlarge, or it were gratifying to dilate on the many beauties of the poem. The following stanza, speaking of the sea, combines power and originality of thought, with sublimity and grace of diction, evidencing also Mr. Millhouse's versatility. The last two lines are ex

MR. MILLHOUSE'S POEM, THE DESTINIES OF tremely effective. MAN.

WE hail the appearance of this Poem with feelings of no ordinary kind. In the politics of the world, extraordinary events often occur; the passions of men, their fruitful source, are easily roused; and amidst the conflict of hostile interests, circumstances and traits of an astonishing character present themselves to view. It is not so, however, in the world of

philosophy and imagination. The great results of the former are but occasionally marked out, and the real sublime of poetic genius is a rare visitant of earth. It would seem to require the conjoined strength and fertility of several planets, frequently to produce such men as Locke and Newton, while the poetic sublimity of Milton has placed him single and alone in the world of genius. Shakspeare and Byron are perhaps equally great; but we shall search in vain, through the many centuries of our literary existence, for any other names of equal grandeur with these.

We may, therefore, be allowed to exult in the poetry of the "Destinies of Man." The muses have again asserted their empire; and spite of poverty and the loom, the Nottingham Millhouse has captivated all lovers of verse by the truth and reality of his inspiration.

It has been truly said, that the classics may aid, but cannot form, a genuine English style. Our author has proved, that "the heavenly gift of poesy" waits not for learning; but that, surrounded by creations of its own, it goes forth to give them form and substance, independently of the derived helps which weaker and uninspired spirits so manifestly need. It cannot, however, be denied, that Millhouse, although truly a poet, is well acquainted with the world's history. He has read the page of man, and has penetrated into the recesses of that inner temple, whence emanate the gifts and the imaginings of mind and spirit. It is peculiarly delightful amidst the teeming productions of "pseudo-poets" to touch even the hem of the garment enveloping real genius. But our thanks are doubly won by Mr. Millhouse: he has not only permitted us to enter the vestibule, he has at once, conscious of his endowments, laid open the noblest apartments of his mind, and with perfect safety he may court the presence and the scrutiny of the most highly-gifted guests. He has not presented us, timidly and doubtfully, with a few isolated stanzas, asserting his claim to poetic talent; but he has thrown upon the world, as a first attempt, the "Destinies of Man." The clevation of the theme, itself denotes poetic aspiration and daring; but, handled as it is by Mr. Millhouse, it secures for him at once, and for ever, the highest poetic fame. Milton, in the zenith of his greatness, his mind richly fraught with varied learning and attainment, and his spirit mellowed and disciplined by trial, immortalized his name and his age by his Paradise Lost. Millhouse, on the contrary, totally uneducated, the child of poverty from

"Thou art not of the things that feel decay!
We look upon thee in our youthful morn,
When the glad hours flee joyfully away,
And buoyant smiles our careless brows adorn.
Again we mark thee, when old age forlorn
Bears deep-trench'd wrinkles and the frost of

time,

When life hath shed its fruit, but kept the

thorn

And thou art rolling on thy course sublime,

Unshrinking in thy strength, unbounding in thy

prime!"

Another quotation will evidence Mr. Millhouse's information and his poetical facility.

The overflowing Nile is rolling still;
The crocodile is there, but not adored;
There other tribes obey a tyrant's will,
Tho' gone the wealth with which that land was
stored.

Sunk is the nurse of science, for the sword
Has chased her arts and sciences away:
Yet, in despite of each succeeding horde
That bore destruction in its fierce array,
Wrecks of gigantic skill still wrestle with decay."

PAGODA, OR TOWER.

THESE buildings are a striking feature on the face of the country. The Chinese name for them is Ta; but Europeans have improperly denominated them Pagodas, a term used in some oriental countries for a temple of religious worship. It seems the Ta of China is not intended for sacred purposes, but erected occasionally by viceroys or rich mandarines, either for the gratification of personal vanity, or with the idea of transmitting a name to terity ; or, perhaps, built by the magistracy, merely as objects to enrich the landscape.

ICHNEUMON FLY.
Ir must have occurred to the least attentive

observers of the very common cabbage-caterpillar
(Pontia Brassica), that when it ceases to feed, and
leaves its native cabbage to creep up walls and
palings, it is often transformed into a group of
little balls of silk, of a fine texture, and a beau -
tiful canary yellow colour; from each of which
there issues, in process of time, a small four-
winged fly (Microgaster glomeratus, SPINOLA), of
a black colour, except the legs, which are yellow.
By breeding these flies in a state of confinement,
and introducing them to some cabbage-caterpillars,
their proceedings in depositing their eggs may be
observed. We have more than once seen one of
these little flies select a caterpillar, and perch
upon its back, holding her ovipositor ready brand-
ished to plunge between the rings which she
seems to prefer. When she has thus begun laying
her eggs, she does not readily take alarm; but, as
approach her with a magnifying glass of a very
Réamur justly remarks, will permit an observer to
draws her ovipositor, and again plunges it, with
short focus. Having deposited one egg, she with -
another egg, into a different part of the body of
eggs. It is not a little remarkable that the poor
the caterpillar, till she has laid in all about thirty
caterpillar, whose body is thus pierced with so
many wounds, seems to bear it very patiently,
and does not turn upon the fly, as he would be
certain to do upon another caterpillar, should it
venture to pinch him, a circumstance by no means
unusual. Sometimes, indeed, he gives a slight
jerk, but the fly does not appear to be at all in-
commoded by the intimation that her presence is
disagreeable.

The eggs, it may be remarked, are thrust suf ficiently deep to prevent their being thrown off when the caterpillar casts its skin; and, being in due time hatched, the grubs feed in concert on the living body of the caterpillar. The most wonderful circumstance, indeed, of the whole phenomenon, is the instinct with which the grubs are evidently guided to avoid devouring any vital part, so that they may not kill the caterpillar, as in that case it would be useless to them for food. When full grown, they even eat their way through the skin of the caterpillar without killing it; though it generally dies in a few days, without moving far from the place where the grubs have spun their group of silken cocoons in which to pass the winter.-Insect Transformations.

DUKE OF ORMONDE AND BISHOP ATTERBURY.
IN 1715, I dined with the Duke of Ormonde

at Richmond. We were fourteen at table. There Arran, my Lord Lansdown, Sir William Wyndwas my Lord Marr, my Lord Jersey, my Lord pos-ham, Sir Redmond Everard, and Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester. The rest of the company I do not exactly remember. During the dinner there was a jocular dispute (1 forget how it was introduced) concerning short prayers. Sir William Wyndham told us, that the shortest prayer he had ever heard was the prayer of a common soldier, just before the battle of Blenheim," O God, if there be a God, save my soul, if I have a soul! This was followed by a general laugh. I immediately reflected that such a treatment of the subject was too ludicrous, at least very improper, where a learned and religious prelate was one of making a different reflection. Atterbury seeming company. But I had soon an opportunity of

They are generally built of brick, and sometimes cased with porcelain, and chiefly consist of nine, though some have only five or seven, stories, each having a gallery, which may be entered from the windows, and a projecting roof, covered with tiles of a rich yellow colour, highly glazed, which receive from the sun a splendour equal to burnished gold. At each angle of the roof a light bell is suspended, which is rung by the force of the wind, and produces a jingling not altogether unpleasant. These buildings are for the most part octagonal, though some few are hexagonal, and round. They diminish gradually in circumference from the foundation to the summit, and have a staircase within, by which they ascend to the upper story. In height they are generally from 100 to 150 feet, and are situated indiscriminately on eminences or plains, or oftener in cities.

Those of a more ancient

date are in a mutilated state, and the roofs covered with grey tiles, overgrown with moss, while others have a cornice only, instead of a projecting roof.—Alexander's China.

the

to Sir William Wyndham, said, “ Youn prayer, to join in the conversation, and applying himself Sir William, is indeed very short; but I remember another as short, but a much better, offered up likewise by a poor soldier in the same circumstances, O God, if in the day of battle, I forget thee, do thou not forget me!" This, as Atterbury pronounced it with his usual grace and dignity, was a very gentle and polite reproof, and was immediately felt by the whole company: and the his age, suddenly turned the discourse to another Duke of Ormonde, who was the best bred man of subject.-Dr. William King, Anecdotes of His Own Times.

DR. ADAM CLARKE ON THE POPU-
LOUSNESS OF ANCIENT CITIES, &c.

THE following extract from Dr. Clarke's Appendix to Fleury's Manners of the Ancient Israelites, will show the futility of the objection preferred against revelation on account of the populousness which it attributes to Judea:

"The free citizens of Sybaris, able to bear arms, and actually drawn out in battle, were 300,000; they encountered at Siagara with 100,000 of Crotona, a neighbouring Greek city, and were defeated.-Diod. Sicul. lib. xii. Strabo confirms this account, lib. vi.

"The citizens of Agrigentum, when it was destroyed by the Carthaginians, amounted, according to Diodorus Siculus (lib. xiii.), to 20,000, besides 200,000 strangers; but neither the slaves, nor women and children, are included in this account. On the whole, this city must have contained nearly 2,000,000 of

inhabitants.

"Polybius says (lib. ii.), that when the Romans were threatened with an invasion from the Gauls, between the first and second Punic war, on a muster of their own forces, and those of their allies, they were found to amount to 700,000 men able to bear arms. The country that supplied this number was not one-third of Italy; viz., the Pope's dominions, Tuscany, and a part of the kingdom of Naples. But Diodorus Siculus (lib. ii.) makes

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Still fancy will picture her melting blue eye;
And, oh! every smile to my heart was so dear,
I could not believe my loved Mary would die.
Oh, my Mary! thou dear little angel of light;
On earth thou wert all that an angel could be;
The last thoughts of my bosom thou art every
night;

The sigh of the morning is prompted by thee.
When the still lapse of time shall have softened
the woe,

That rends the fond heart of a mother for thee,
From my lips the warm praise of thy beauties
shall flow;

For, oh! they will ne'er be forgotten by me.
When the father, whom Mary so sweetly re-
Can hear her dear name without wounding his

sembled,

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from Yorkshire: in fact, a little town of Babel group in dress, appearance, and language. I placed all the people at the end of the rope, and ordered them to pull till the Cayman appeared on the surface of the water; while I knelt on one knee, about four yards from the water's edge, with the mast of the canoe in my hand, determined to thrust it down his throat in case he gave me an opportunity. The people pulled, and out he came; by the time he came within two yards of me, I saw he was in a state of fear and perturbation: I instantly dropped the mast, sprung up, and jumped on his back, turning half round as I vaulted, so that I gained my seat with my face towards his head. I immediately seized his fore legs, and by main force twisted them on his back thus they served me for a bridle. He now recovered from his surprise, and began to plunge furiously, and lashed the sand with his long and powerful tail. The people dragged us about forty yards on the sand; it was the. first and last time I was ever on a Cayman's back. Should it be asked how I managed to keep my seat, I would answer, I hunted some years with Lord Darlington's fox-hounds. After repeated attempts to regain his liberty, the Cayman gave in, and became tranquil through exhaustion. I cut his throat, and commenced his dissection. The back of the Cayman is almost impenetrable to a musketball, but his sides are easily pierced with an arrow. He has no grinders, his teeth are en

the same enumeration amount to nearly Thou wert the bright sunshine that chased away tirely made for snatch and swallow; there are

1,000,000.

sadness;

Thou wert the fair spirit of peace and of love;

thirty-two in each jaw. Perhaps no animal in

"Julius Cæsar, according to Appian (Cel- And thine was the laughter of innocent gladness existence bears more decided marks in his tica), encountered 4,000,000 of Gauls, killed one million, and took another million pri

soners.

"Athenæus says (lib. vi., c. 20), that, by the enumeration of Demetrius Phalereus, there were in Athens 21,000 citizens, 13,000 strangers, and 400,000 slaves.

"The same author says, that Corinth had once 460,000 slaves; and Égina 470,000.

"The Spartans, says Plutarch (in Vit. Lycurg.), were 9000 in the town, 30,000 in the country; the male slaves must have been 78,000-the whole, more than 3,120,000.

"In the time of Diodorus Siculus, there lived in Alexandria 300,000 free people; and this number does not seem to comprehend either the slaves (who must have been double the number of grown persons), or the women and children. Lib. xvii.

An angel in beauty-in softness a dove.
And do I then weep that my Mary possesses

Transcendently more than to angels are given?
Oh! could I but soothe the wild throb that op-

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BATTLE WITH A CROCODILE.
EVERY now and then a huge fish would
plunge and strike in the water; the Cayman
was now upon the stir, the noise they made
was a singular and awful sound; it was like a
suppressed sigh bursting forth all of a sudden,
and so loud that you might hear it above a
mile off; first one emitted this horrible noise,
and then another answered him. The Indian
made an instrument to take the Cayman; it
was very simple. There were four pieces of
tough, hard wood, a foot long, and about as
thick as my little finger, and barbed at both
ends; they were tied round the end of a rope
near one of their ends, the other ends pro-
jecting a small distance from the rope, which
was thirty yards long and was fastened to a
tree, and the instrument was well baited, and
suspended about a foot over the water.
is evident that if the Cayman swallowed this,
the more he pulled, the more the baits would

It

"Appian says, (Celt. pars. 1), that there were 400 nations in Gaul; and Diodorus Siculus says (lib. v.), that the largest of these nations consisted of 200,000 men, besides women and children, and the least of 50,000. Calculating, therefore, at a medium, we must admit of nearly 200,000,000 of people in that country; the population of which does not now amount to 30,000,000. The latter historian tells us, that the army of Ninus was composed of 1,700,000 foot, and 200,000 horse (lib. ii.). There were exact bills of mor- stick into his stomach. He then took the tality kept at Rome; but no ancient author has empty shell of a land tortoise, and gave it given us the number of burials, except Sueto- some heavy blows with an axe. I asked him nius, who tells us, that in one season 30,000 why he did that; he said it was to let the names were carried to the temple of Libitina Cayman hear that something was going on. In (the goddess of death), but it appears that a fact, the Indian meant it as the Cayman's plague raged at that time. Suet. in Vit. Ne-dinner-bell. In the morning, the Indian stole ronis. off silently to look at the bait. On arriving at the place, he set up a tremendous shout. We all jumped out of our hammocks and ran to him. We found a Cayman ten feet and a half long fast to the end of the rope. I then mustered all hands; there were four South American savages, two negroes from Africa, a Crede from Trinidad, and myself, a white man,

"Diodorus Siculus (lib. ii.), says, that Dionysius the elder had a standing army of 100,000 foot and 10,000 horse, and a fleet of 400 galleys.

"If the preceding statements be correct, what desolations must have taken place in the earth in the course of the last 2000 years!”

countenance of cruelty and malice than the
Cayman. He is the scourge and terror of all
the large rivers in South America, near the
Line. One Sunday evening, some years ago,
as I was walking with the Governor of Angus-
tura, on the bank of the Oroonoque, "Stop here
a minute or two," said he to me,
"while I re-
count a sad accident. One fine evening last
year, as the people of Angustura were saun-
tering up and down here in the Alameda, I
was within twenty yards of this place, when I
saw a large Cayman rush out of the river,
seize a man, and carry him down, before any
one had power to assist him. The screams of
the poor fellow were terrible as the Cayman
was running off with him. He plunged into
the river with his prey; we instantly lost sight
of him, and we never saw or heard of him
more. I was a day and a half in dissecting
our Cayman, but succeeded in my object of
preserving his skin in a perfect state, and
thought myself fortunate in procuring an ad-
dition to my collection, so rare is his skin.-
Waterton's Travels in Demerara.

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THE EARL OF NORTHAMPTON AND KING JAMES.

THE Earl of Northampton, then lord privy seal, was asked by King James I., openly at the table, where commonly he entertained the king with discourse, "My lord, have you not a desire to see Rome?" My lord privy seal answered, Yes, indeed, Sir." The king said, "And why?" My lord answered, "Because, if it please your majesty, it was the seat of the greatest monarchy, and the seminary of the bravest men in the world, whilst it was heathen; and then, secondly, because afterwards it was the see of so many holy bishops in the primitive church, most of them martyrs." The king said, "And for nothing else?" My lord answered, "Yes, if it please your majesty, for two things more; the one, to see him who they say hath so great a his own sins upon his knees before a chaplain or power to forgive other men their sins, to confess priest; and, the other, to hear Antichrist say his creed."

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