A sleepless night in feverish fury past,
Kick'd out the hours, and lugg'd in day at last;"
And up got Tristful, just to chew the cud,
And then he had full leisure to devote
To the infernal gods, the d-d bank note;
And in rotation, every separate stud,
And every man that for a horse e'er bid,
Which he, with horrid oaths and curses, did.

While thus engaged, a modest double rap
Usher'd a kind of atomy, or scrap

Of pale mortality, into the room;
A tall and slender youth, as parchment pale,
Who with an accent " very like a wail"

Of one about to go or from-the tomb,
Begg'd to apologize, in some confusion,

And then began to account for his intrusion.

My name is Tristful,"—" Tristful!" echoed Tom, "Why, where in heaven's name did you come from? "Oh! I'm of Trinity-Why this surprise, Sir? My name's Tobias Tristful, eldest son Not of your father, but another one; I'm enter'd in at Trinity, a sizar."

"A sizar!" cried the other, " yes, I see-
It's clear you are a size-he! he he!"

"I've come," rejoin'd Tobias, with great gravity,
Albeit delighted with the other's suavity,
"About a letter, which, by a mistake,
The postman, inadvertently, you see,
Deliver'd wrong to you, instead of me;

I hope, my dear sir, that you did not break
The seal."" To me?" in agonized dismay
Falter'd the other," what-not yesterday?"

"Yes, yesterday it must have been, I rather Expected a remittance from my father."

"Did you?" said Tom, whose fright now knew no bounds; "Then if you did expect it, do not doubt it,

I'll tell you, my dear fellow, all about it.

There was a bank-note sent for fifty pounds;

Which by a strange fatality I took

For mine."-The sizar started-gave a look

Which seem'd to say 66 go on," and he proceeded :
"Yes, fifty pounds were just the thing I needed-
And so"" And so," shriek'd out Tobias, "what?

You didn't spend the money when you'd got it?"
"Why-" and Tom strok'd his chin," why, yes-I-rot it-
I wish, my friend, I could say I had not-
But those infernal sharpers fleeced me out of it,
Or I had had it now, there's not a doubt of it."

Tobias heav'd a groan, and clasp'd his hands
As one who is bereft of house and lands,

By some unsearchable decree of Fate.
At last he murmur'd-" what! of all bereft?"
"Why, pretty nearly, nine and twopence left,"

Replied the other," but, my dear Sir, wait-
We'll jointly settle this affair like men,

You must be paid"-" but," said Tobias, "when ?—
And where's the letter?-that's at all events-"
"Burnt; but I can remember the contents:-

Your aunt is dead-damp sheets the cause-popt off A week before Jemima, who is carried

By Slendergut to Lima, whom she married

Your sister Betsy's troubled with a cough."

:
'My aunt dead!" cried the weeping sizar; "who
Could think Jemima false?"-" Aye, very true,"
Said our note-taker-" but she's gone, you know,
And therefore moderate this useless woe;

And now that I have told you all the news,
Excuse me but pray let me ask you, whether
You're molting just at present, or in feather-
Or if, in short, you can afford to lose
The fifty pounds, for a few months, till I
See whether dad intends to live, or die."

"I lose! God bless your soul!" replied the sizar,
"My father is the most inhuman miser,

And makes me live on fifty pounds a year." "That's rather awkward," replied Tom," because My father's something-" and he made a pause— "But yet he'll let me have it, never fearI'll drop a note to him, and-let me seeNext Thursday-yes-he'll drop a note to me."

"Next Thursday?-well, I'll call next Thursday."-" Do, And then, most likely, I can pay it you;

Or, if not then, most certain the day after.

Old bucks, you know, don't much like being bled"-
And then he most significantly said,

As he plac'd, striving to restrain his laughter,
The wafer on his lying tongue, to wet it,

"Now, mind you come on Thursday-don't forget it."

*

"I don't know how that fellow stands at Trinity,"
Said Tom, when he had gone, "whether divinity,
Or law, or death, or physic, be the goal;
But this I'm sure, he never will get through.
Soft-very soft indeed-he'll never do.

Quite fresh, unfledged, undone, upon my soul;
But howsoe'er that be-I really fear
He will not gain much note by coming here."

H. O.

London. Published by Hunt & Clarke Tavistock Street. May 1. 1826..

ANCIENT ENCAUSTIC PAINTING OF CLEOPATRA,

WITH AN ENGRAVING.

A PAINTING has recently been discovered in the neighbourhood of Rome, and is now brought to this country for sale, attributed to a Greek painter of the school of Apelles. Its picturesque execution, in spite of some imperfections, produces an illusion truly magical. The principal question to be considered, however, is whether it is really a work of antiquity or not? An ancient picture in encaustum, even if it were not a chef d'œuvre, would be a great desideratum in the history of the fine arts, and one which it has hitherto been esteemed hopeless to obtain. If the one in question is authentic, we shall at length have tangible means of resolving a multitude of questions, interesting to the chemist, the antiquarian, the man of letters, and the artist; questions upon which little or no light has been thrown by their long discussion, since, from a total want of materials for observation, we have hitherto been compelled to dwell in conjecture. But if this picture be, after all, only a successful modern fiction, and were received as a genuine work of antiquity, it would become the groundwork and the source of false conclusions of every kind, and would lead to a series of errors, the more important, since it is a specimen of art, perfectly unique in its kind, and cannot therefore be subjected to comparison.

The circumstances of the time and place under which it was discovered are not yet fully known, nor how it found its way to England. These details, however, or the favourable opinions pronounced upon it by learned and acute connoisseurs on the Continent, ought to have weight only in so far as they agree with the results of actual examination, and with the decision of competent judges in this country, which has been selected for its sale, doubtless with the hope of obtaining a higher price for it than elsewhere. A few positive facts and remarks may, without affecting to decide the question of its authenticity, assist the connoisseur in an impartial inquiry.

The painting is executed on a square of slate, which, when discovered, was broken into fourteen pieces; they have, however, been so skillfully joined, that nothing is lost except the upper angle: this would be of no importance, had it not contained a small part of the edge of the cheek, which has necessarily been restored. The possessors of it could distinguish nothing but a dirty medley of colours, till at length, by the careful application of alcohol and potash, they succeeded in removing a sort of crust, probably consisting of the transparent varnish with which the Greeks covered their pictures, become opake and rusty in the course of ages, by the action of moisture, dust, and other extraneous matter, continually adhering to the surface. Every spot has disappeared; and this has been the easier to accomplish, as the colours resisted caustics, and were hardly affected by even acids. Every line and feature of the face have thus come out in a state, not only of preservation, but of admirable freshness, and of a brilliancy and luminousness of colouring, unknown to any other kind of painting.

A small quantity of the paint having been scraped from the surface, MAY, 1826.

F