the family of Tcheou. This is the same thing as if a man in Europe should pretend to be a descendant of one of the patriarchs. 4. Lastly, in his poems he has again insinuated this descent, using reprehensible expressions, in which he appears to have evil designs. In his defence he observed, that he had abridged the dictionary of Kang-hi, because, consisting of a great number of volumes, it was expensive and inconvenient: that he had inserted the litle names of the emperors in it, to make youth acquainted with them, that they might not use them through ignorance; but that, perceiving his fault, he had omitted them in a second edition : and that his pretended descent was but the momentary whim of poetic vanity. The judges reply, that, being a man of letters of the second class, he could not be considered as of the vulgar, who might have sinned through ignorance; that, consequently, what he had done and written must be deemed offences against his imperial majesty, and high treason, and that, according to the laws of the empire, he must, therefore, be cut in pieces, his goods confiscated, all his relations, above sixteen years old, put to death, his wives, his concubines, and his children, under sixteen, banished, and given as slaves to the nobility. The emperor, who revises every sentence of death, favoured the culprit so far as to direct his head to be cut off only, respited his sons to the grand autumnal execution, and confirmed the rest of the sentence !

INSTANCE OF COURAGE.

During the war in 1750, Count de B, a young nobleman, not twenty years of age, going on horseback from a town in Burgundy to join his regiment, was attacked by a mad wolf of an extraordinary size. The furious animal first seized the horse, and so tore his flesh that M. De B- was presently dismounted. Then the wolf flew at him, and would certainly have torn him to pieces, had he not exercised the greatest presence of mind. With one hand he seized the wolf's foaming tongue, and, with the other hand, one of his paws. After struggling awhile with the terrible creature, the tongue slipped from his fingers, and his right thumb was bitten off-upon which, notwithstanding the pain he was in, he leaped upon the wolf's back, clapped his knees fast to his flanks, and called out for help to some armed peasants who were passing by; but none of those fellows dared to advance. "Well then," said he, "fire; if you kill me, I forgive you." Some of them fired, and three bullets went through the brave officer's coat, but neither he nor the beast was wounded. Another, bolder than his comrades, seeing the cavalier was intrepid, and that he kept firmly upon the the wolf, came very

near, and discharged his piece. The animal was mortally wounded by this shot, and after a few more furious motions expired. In this dreadful conflict, besides the losing of his right thumb, the young Count's left hand was torn, and he got several bites on his legs and thighs. When he arrived at Bon Le Roy, where his regiment lay, he was advised to go down with all speed to the sea; which he accordingly did, and recovered.

MODERATE WISHES THE SOURCE OF HAPPINESS.

The youthful shepherd, Menalcus, being in search of a stray lamb from his flock, discovered, in the recesses of the forest, a hunter stretched at the foot of a tree, exhausted with fatigue and hunger. "Alas! shepherd," he exclaimed, " I came hither yesterday in pursuit of game; and I have been unable to retrace the path by which I entered this frightful solitude; or to discover a single vestige of a human footstep. I faint with hunger -give me relief, or I die!" Menalcus, supporting the stranger in his arms, fed him with bread from his scrip, and afterwards conducted him through the intricate mazes of the forest in safety.

Menalcus being about to take leave of the hunter, Eschinus, was detained by him. "Thou hast preserved my life, shepherd," he said, " and I will make thine happy. Follow me to the city. Thou shalt no longer dwell in a miserable cottage, but inhabit a superb palace, surrounded with lofty columns of marble. Thou shalt drink high-flavoured wines out of golden goblets, and eat the most costly viands from plates of silver."

Menalcus replied, "Why should I go to the city? My little cottage shelters me from the rain and the wind. It is not surrounded with marble columns, but with delicious fruit-trees, from which I gather my repasts; and nothing can be more pure than the water which I draw in my earthen pitcher from the stream that runs by my door. Then on holidays I gather roses and lilies to ornament my little table; and those roses and lilies are more beautiful, and smell sweeter, than vases of gold and silver."

Eschinus.-Come with me, shepherd. I will lead thee through sumptuous gardens, embellished with fountains and statues : thou shalt behold women, whose dazzling beauties the rays of the sun have never tarnished, habited in silks of the richest hues, and sparkling with jewels; and thou shalt hear concerts of musicians, whose transcendent skill will at once astonish and enchant thee.

Menalcus. Our sun-burnt shepherdesses are very handsome. How beautiful they look on holidays, when they put on garlands

of flowers, and we dance under the shade of our trees, or retire to the woods to listen to the song of the birds! Can your musicians sing more melodiously than our nightingale, blackbird, and linnet?-no: I will not go to the city.

Eschinus.-Then take this gold, and with it supply all thy

wants.

Menalcus.-Gold is useless to me. My fruit-trees, my little garden, and the milk of my goats, supply all my wants.

Eschinus. How shall I recompense thy kindness, happy shepherd? What wilt thou accept of me?

Menalcus.-Give me only the horn that hangs to thy belt. Horn is not easily broken; therefore, it will be more useful to me than my earthen pitcher. The hunter, with a smile, took the horn from his belt, and presented it to the shepherd, who hastened back to his cottage, the abode of contentment and happiness. GESNER.

HISTORY OF SUGAR.

Sugar was originally brought from India by the introduction of the plant Saccharum Officinarum.

"Arabia," says Pliny, "produces Saccaron, but the best is in India. It is a honey collected from reeds, a sort of white gum, brittle between the teeth, the largest pieces do not exceed the size of a hazel nut, and it is only used in medicine." This cane was an article of commerce in very early times. The prophets Isaiah xliii. 24, and Jeremiah vi. 10, make mention of it. “Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money," says the first; and the second, "To what purpose cometh there to me the sweet cane from a far country?" brought for the luxury of the juice, either extracted by suction, or by some other means. At first the raw juice was made use of; they afterwards boiled it into a syrup; and, in process of time, an inebriating spirit was prepared therefrom by fermentation. Sugar was first made from the reed in Egypt; and thence the plant was carried into Sicily, which, in the twelfth century, supplied many parts of Europe with that commodity; and thence, at a period unknown, it was, probably, brought into Spain by the Moors. From Spain the reed was planted in the Canary Islands, and in the Madeira by the Portuguese. This happened about the year 1506. In the same year, Ferdinand the Catholic, ordered the cane to be carried from the Canaries to St. Domingo. From those islands the art of making sugar was introduced into the islands of Hispaniola, and, about the year 1623, into the Brazils; the reed itself grow

ing spontaneously in both those countries. Till that time sugar was a most expensive luxury, and used only in feasts, and physical necessities."

Pennant's View of Hindostan.

ASTROP.

TRANSLUMINATION FROM THE CHEMICAL TRANSMUTATION OF DEAD HUMAN BODIES.

(A philosophical reverie.)

An ingenious essayist, burlesquing the modern discovery, "that by a chemical process human bodies may be converted into spermaceti," indulges in a philosophical reverie on the appropriate purposes to which luminaries formed from them might be devoted. The relation, says he, between body and mind, though not particularly understood, is generally admitted; and their reciprocal influence is universally felt. It is clear, therefore, that the previous character which each individual has sustained in life, should regulate the class of luminary in which he should posthumously shine. On this principal, the literary character might hope, that even his earthly part may, hereafter, illumine with grateful flame, the study of those pages which the labours of the mind had composed by the less brilliant glimmerings of the lamp.

Spendthrifts would be candles lighted at both ends; and a miser would continue to die as the snuff of a wick on a save-all. A plain steady man, and a decent mould candle, might agree very well; but a dirty fellow should be a drip tallow; and a mean scoundrel a farthing rushlight.

The hypocrite, the traitor to his friend, the seducer, and the man-of-self, would all be worthy candidates for the honour of illuminating one side of a dark lantern.

Lawyers, according to the use of the legal lights of their "brief candle" in life, would either guide the dark way of the traveller from the friendly beacon, or puzzle him as ignes fatui," in the labyrinth.

Maidens, untimely torn from a world they had just begun to adorn, might still beam the purest ray from the virgin wax taper; and the nuptial torch should be lighted, at the same instant, by the united and "wonted fires" of the happy wedded pair, who had shone an example of the holy flame.

Patriots and heroes would burn in frankincense, and still live grateful to their country; and the man of God might continue to enlighten the people from the watch-tower on high. INDIAN OBSERVER.

SAGACITY OF BIRDS.

Mr. S. Simpson, of New York, recites the following curious anecdote on the sagacity of birds.

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During my residence at Wilton, early one morning, I heard a noise from a couple of martins, who were jumping from tree to tree adjoining my dwelling. They made several attempts to get into a box or cage, fixed against the house, which they had before occupied; but they always appeared to fly from it with the greatest dread, and repeated those loud cries which first drew my attention. Curiosity led me to watch their motions. After some time a small wren came from the box or cage, and perched on a tree near it, when her shrill notes seemed to amaze her antagonists. After some time she flew away. The martins took this opportunity of returning to their cage, but their stay was short; their diminutive adversary returned, and made them fly with the greatest precipitation. They continued manœuvring in this way the whole day, and, I believe, the wren kept possession during the night. The following morning, on the wren's quitting the cage, the martins immediately returned, took possession of their mansion, broke up their own nest, which consisted of twigs of different sizes, went to work, and, with more industry and ingenuity than I supposed they possessed, soon barricaded their doors. The wren returned, but could not re-enter. made attempts to storm the works, but did not succeed. I will not presume to say that the martins followed our modern maxim, and carried with them a sufficiency of food to sustain a siege, or that they made use of the abstinence which necessity sometimes, during long and bad storms, might probably occasion; but they persevered for near two days to defend the entrance within the barricade; and the wren, finding she could not force an entry, raised the siege, quitted her intentions, and left the martins in quiet possession, without further molestation."

She

Mr. Myers, an American gentleman, who lately removed from Wilton to Philadelphia, observed the following singular instance of friendship among birds.

"He sent for a large turkey-cock and hen, and a pair of bantams, which had been a long time in his yard, and which the family wished to preserve. Accordingly, after his departure, he had them brought home, and put with some other poultry that were then running in his yard. Some time after, as he was feeding the poultry from the barn door, a large hawk turned the barn, and suddenly made a pounce at the bantam hen; she immediately gave the alarm, by a noise which they generally make on such occasions, when the large turkey-cock, who was about two yards distance, and who, it is supposed, saw the hawk's intention, and