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it would be found that the custom originated with some individual pedagogue. It should be put a stop to. Believe, oh Edipus, in a city called "Manlius-four-corners!" If I had any thing to say on the subject, it should hence forth be called Sphinx.

(To be continued.)

A CHAPTER ON OLD COATS.

I LOVE an old coat. By an old coat, I mean not one of last summer's growth, on which the gloss yet lingers, shadowy, and intermittent, like a faint ray of sunlight on the countinghouse desk of a clothier's warehouse in Eastcheap, but a real unquestionable antique, which for some five or six years has withstood the combined assaults of sun, dust, and rain, has lost all pretensions to starch, unsocial formality, and gives the shoulders assurance of ease, and the waist of a holiday.

Old coats are the indices by which a man's peculiar turn of mind may be pointed out, So tenaciously do I hold this opinion, that, in passing down a crowded thoroughfare, the Strand, for instance, I would wager odds, that, in seven out of ten cases, I would. tell a stranger's character and calling by the mere cut of his every-day coat. Who can mistake the staid, formal gravity of the orthodox divine, in the corresponding weight, fulness, and healthy condition of his familiar, easy-natured flaps? Who sees not the necessities-the habitual eccentricities of the poet, significantly developed in his two haggard, shapeless old apologies for skirts, original in their genius as Christabel, uncouth in their build as the New Palace at Pimlico? Who can misapprehend the motions of the spirit, as it slily flutters beneath the Quaker's drab? Thus, too, the sable hue of the lawyer's working coat corresponds most convincingly with the colour of his conscience: while his thrift, dandyism, and close attention to appearances, tell their own tale in the half-pay officer's smart, but somewhat

faded exterior.

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No lover of independence ventures voluntarily on a new coat. This is an axiom not to be overturned, unlike the safety stage-coaches. The man who piques himself on the newness of such an habiliment, is-till time hath "mouldered it into beauty"-its slave. Whereever he goes, he is harassed by an apprehension of damaging it. Hence he loses his scnse of independence, and becomes-a Serf? How degrading! To succumb to one's superiors is bad enough; but to be the martyr of a few yards of cloth; to be the Helot of a tight fit; to be shackled by the ninth fraction of a man; to be made submissive to the sun, the dust, the rain, and the snow; to be panic-stricken by the chimney-sweep; to be scared by the dustman; to shudder at the advent of the baker; to give precedence to the scavenger; to concede the wall to a peripatetic conveyancer of eggs; to palpitate at the irregular salliés of a mercurial cart-horse; to look up with awe at the apparition of a giggling servant girl, with a sloppail thrust half way out of a garret window; to coast a gutter with a horrible anticipation of consequences; to faint at the visitation of a shower of soot down the chimney;-to be compelled to be at the mercy of each and all of these vile contingencies; can any thing in human nature be so preposterous, so effeminate, so disgraceful? A truly great mind spurns the bare idea of such slavery; hence, according to the "Subaltern," Wellington liberated Spain in a red coat, extravagantly over-estimated at sixpence, and Napoleon entered Moscow in a green one out at the elbows.

An old coat is the aptest possible symbol of sociality. An old shoe is not to be despised; an old hat, provided it have a crown, is not amiss; none but a cynic would speak irreverently of an old slipper; but were I called upon to put forward the most unique impersonation of comfort, I should give a plumper in

favour of an old coat. The very mention of
this luxury conjures up a thousand images of
enjoyment. It speaks of warm fire-sides-long
flowing curtains-a downy arm-chair-a nice-
ly-trimmed lamp-a black cat fast asleep on
the hearth-rug-a bottle of old Port (vintage
1812)-a snuff-box-a cigar-a Scotch novel
-and, above all, a social, independent, unem-
barrassed attitude. With a new coat this last

blessing is unattainable. Imprisoned in this
detestable tunic-oh, how unlike the flowing
toga of the ancients!-we are perpetually
haunted with a consciousness of the necessi-
ties of our condition. A sudden pinch in the
waist dispels a philosophic reverie; another in
the elbow withdraws us from the contempla-
tion of the poet to the recollection of the tailor;
Snip's goose vanquishes Anacreon's dove;
while, as regards our position, to lean forward,
is inconvenient; to lean backward, extrava-
gant; to lean sideways, impossible. The great
secret of happiness is the ability to merge
self in the contemplation of nobler objects.
This a new coat, as I have just now hinted,
forbids. It keeps incessantly intruding itself

on our attention. While it flatters our sense
of the becoming, it compromises our freedom
of thought. While it insinuates that we are
the idol of a ball-room, it neutralizes the com-
pliment by a high pressure power on the short
ribs. It bids us be easy, at the expense of
respiration; comfortable, with elbows on the
rack.

There is yet another light in which old
coats may be viewed: I mean as chroniclers
of the past, as vouchers to particular events.
Agesilaus, king of Sparta, always dated from
his last new dress. Following in the wake of
so illustrious a precedent, I date from my last
(save one) new coat, which was first ushered
into being during the memorable period of the
Queen's trial. Do I remember that epoch
from the agitation it called forth? From the
loyalty, the radicalism, the wisdom and the
folly it quickened into life?-Assuredly not. I
gained nothing by the wisdom. I lost as much
by the folly. I was neither the better nor the
worse for the agitation. Why then do I still
remember that period? Simply and selfishly
from the circumstance of its having occasioned

the dismemberment-most calamitous to a
poor annuitant!-of the very coat in which I
have the honour of addressing this essay to the
public. In an olfactory crowd, whom her Ma-
jesty's "wrongs" had congregated at Ham-
mersmith, my now invalid habiliment was trans-
formed after the fashion of an Ovidian meta-
morphosis, where the change is usually from
the better to the worse, from a coat into a
spencer. In a word, some adroit conveyancer
eloped with the hinder flaps, and by so doing,
secured a snuff-box which played two waltz

tunes.

The same coat, on which subsequently, by a sort of Taliacotian process, a pair of artificial skirts were grafted, accompanied me through Wales, among mountains where the eagle dwells alone in his supremacy. It was the sole adjunct who was with me, when I rambled along the banks of the Swathy, when the lark was abroad and singing in the sky, or the shy nightingale flung her song to the winds from among the hushed dells of Keven-gornuth. It was at my back when I climbed the loftiest peak of Cader-Idris, and when with feelings not to be described, I looked down upon sapphire clouds floating in quaint huge masses at an immense distance below me, and saw through their filmy chinks the glittering of thirty lakes, the faint undulating line of a thousand billowy ridges, or the blue expanse of the drowsy ocean, dotted here and there with a passing sail, and bordered far away on the horizon by the dim boundaries of the Irish coast. Moreover, it was at my back when I plunged chin-deep into the isle of Ely bogs, in which picturesque condition I was shot at, (and of course missed) by a Cockney sportsman, who had mistaken me for a rare and handsome species of the wild duck.

TRIUMPHANT MUSIC.

BY MRS. HEMANS.

Tacete, tacete, O suoni triumfanti!
Risvegliate in vano 'l cor che non puo liberarsi.
WHEREFORE and whither bear'st thou up my
spirit,

On eagle-wings, through every plume that
thrill?

It hath no crown of victory to inherit

Be still triumphant Harmony! be still! Thine are no sounds for Earth, thus proudly swelling

Into rich floods of joy:-it is but pain To mount so high, yet find on high no dwelling,

To sink so fast, so heavily again! No sounds for earth?-Yes, to young Chieftain dying

On his own battle-field at set of sun, With his freed Country's Banner o'er him flying,

Well mightst thou speak of Fame's high guerdon won.

No sounds for Earth?-Yes, for the Martyr

leading

Unto victorious Death serenely on,
For Patriot by his rescued Altars bleeding,

Thou hast a voice in each majestic tone." But speak not thus to one whose heart is beating

Against Life's narrow bound, in conflict vain!

For Power, for Joy, high Hope, and rapturous greeting,

Thou wak'st lone thirst-be hush'd exulting strain.

Be hush'd, or breathe of Grief!-of Exileyearnings

Under the willows of the stranger-shore; Breathe of the soul's untold and restless burnings,

For looks, tones, footsteps, that return no

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The Mahor. The mahor, or wild cottontree, grows in Cuba to a vast size. There is one, on an estate called Santa Anna, a hundred feet high. Its trunk, which is forty-six and a half in circumference at the base, rises to sixty-five feet, without a single branch or a single knot on its white bark. The branches are worthy of the stem, and cover a diameter of a hundred and sixty-five feet. This immense tree is in itself a world, and shelters and feeds millions of insects. Several parasitical plants attach themselves to it. Wild pineapples grow at the top, and the vine vegetates on the boughs, and, letting its branches droop to the earth, furnishes rats, mice, and the opossum, which would find it difficult to climb a smooth bark, a ladder, enabling them to reach the pine-cups, which form so many natural reservoirs for the rain water. The wood-louse founds extensive republics in this tree, and establishes its large and black cities at the juncture of some of the branches, whence it descends to the ground by a covered way, which it constructs of mortar, and of which it even provides two-one to ascend, and the other to descend by. This little insect is of the size of a flea, is inoffensive, and is a great treat to the inhabitants of the poultry-yard, to whom it is given in its nest.

BULL-FIGHT EXTRAORDINARY.

solely bestowed on his broken bayonet, which he eyed very ruefully, and on my asking if he THERE are few of the old "Peninsular" gen- would wish to be relieved, in consequence of try who have not at some period of their cam- the shock he must have received, he declined, paigning witnessed a bull-fight, but the cir- merely begging that I would bear witness that cumstance I am about to relate, and to which his arms were injured in, defending his post. I was an eye-witness, exceeds in gratuitous In a few minutes, the owner of the bull arrived daring and cool intrepidity, any performance with ropes and horses to drag it away. From on the arena of "Placa de Toros" by Cabal- him I learnt that the animal had always been lero or Picadore, ever seen or read of by me. remarkably vicious, and had killed its man in In the year 1823, it was my fortune, on a day its time: having been voted a nuisance in its in November, date not recollected, to command neighbourhood, it had been disposed of to the the guard at his Majesty's Castle in Dublin, butcher, who that morning had treated his where I was then quartered; on the following friends to a bull-bait, previous to knocking the morning, about eight o'clock, I was walking in brute on the head; the humane amusement the Castle-yard, awaiting a summons to break- having been concluded, the bull escaped from fast, when the subject of my anecdote occur- its tormentors, when being driven to the red. Every body has seen or heard of the slaughter-house in the rear of the castle. The Castle of Dublin; "not to know it argues one- bayonet had entered the animal's forehead, a self unknown;" it is the tenth wonder of the little below the horns, and had penetrated the world, and as such deserves to be most care- brain to the depth of four inches; a fragment fully watched over. Accordingly, wherever a of the bayonet exceeding that length remained sentinel could be placed, at the time I write of, in the skull, and was extracted in my presence. there was one to be seen pacing the half-dozen The brave "Matador" is still, I believe, living, flags allotted to him, and inhaling the savoury and serving with his regiment in the West Insteam of fat things issuing upwards through dies. Had "reading and writing come by Nathe gratings of the kitchen areas of vice-regalture," he would doubtless have been as learncourtiers. By the by, the duties assigned to many of said sentries were sufficiently ludicrous, and have often overcome the gravity which I ought to have maintained when questioning them as to their orders. One was posted in a gloomy passage, to prevent injury to an old iron lamp, glass-less, and open to the four winds of heaven; another, a sort of moveable "commit no nuisance," protected a certain corner, overlooked from the apartments of the housemaids; but the most ridiculous was the reply made to me by a solitary sentry in a little inclosed grass-plat; "What are your orders, Sir?" To do my duty to all officers, and to watch the air." Not perceiving that the man was a cockney, I concluded that he was placed there for some meteorological purpose; however, the amused corporal explained

to me,

ed as he is strong armed, and might have ob-
tained advancement in the company in which
he supports the genuine character of a British
grenadier.
C. J. T.S.

THE BAYONET.

WHEN the French infantry, have to remain on the defensive in a position, they defend themselves by their fire; but more often, they attack, and then, after an engagement of skirmishes, and a cannonade, they charge the enemy's infantry with sloped arms (l'arme au bras). This manœuvre is executed either deployed or in close columus of divisions; it has often succeeded against the Austrians and other troops, who begin to fire at too great a distance from the enemy, but it has almost al ways failed against the English who do not fire until he is near them.

they are afraid; and it will overturn the bat-
talion which awaits it.

that the man's sole business was to look to the safety of a pet hare;-but this is a digression. The court of the Castle forins an In fact, if two battalions be deployed in oblong square, the principal entrance facing sight of each other, and that one of them the state apartments, and at each extremity charges while the other remains stationary, are arched ways, on which are sentries, as also and does not fire until the former has arrived is one on the King's colour which accompanies within a very short distance of it, the battalion the guard, and is fixed in a stone rest in the which charges, not seeing the fire commence centre of the court. Whilst walking, as I have at the usual distance, will be intimidated, and already said, my attention was suddenly at- when arrived near the other battalion, and tracted by a noise and shouting in the lower after having received, its fire, it will be overyard, through the archway leading from which, turned in consequence of the enormous losses in a few moments, dashed up a furious and fe- which it will have sustained; or it will become rocious-looking bull, bellowing with rage, and. much confused, and halt, in order to return his nostrils almost touching the ground he the fire. If, on the contrary, the battalion spurned; fortunately the sentry at this passage, which awaits the attack, has commenced firing on hearing the noise, stopped short, clear of at a great distance from the other, its fire will the archway, as the monster, glancing its eye have produced little effect, and the cadre of at him, rushed on towards the man at the co- the battalion charging, profiting. by this cirlours, who sprang to the portico of the state cumstance, will accelerate its march, crying apartments, and esconced himself behind a pil-out to the men," Forward, forward; they fire; lar. The bull, irritated at missing his object, ran straight on, with redoubled fury, at my bero, posted at the archway of the opposite extremity of the oblong, who appeared to be de-. voted to destruction, as, with arms supported, he calmly awaited the onset. He was an Irishanan, a grenadier, and an old and good soldier, who always obeyed orders to the letter. On rushed the monster, headlong at him, with a roar which I long, remembered, and just as Pat's life seemed not worth a second's purchase, he carried arms, ported, and came to the charge, half sinking on his knees, whilst he made a lunge at his formidable assailant at the moment of collision. It was a fearful thing, and I closed my eyes, horrified at the only result which I could anticipate; however, a shout of triumph from the rabble rout of the pursuing mob, quickly convinced me that my apprehensions were needless. I beheld the brute, but an instant before so fierce, stretched lifeless on the earth, the black froth pouring from his mouth; whilst the attention of poor Pat, nothing the worse for his encounter, was

of foreigners, came to the outposts of a French regiment, in which were a great number of old soldiers, and said that all their comrades were, like themselves, disposed to desert, if they found opportunity. On the morrow the French regiment found itself opposed to the English regiment, from whence these men had deserted. The troops were deployed on both sides. The French charged in their usual manner l'arme au bras. Arrived at a short distance from the English line which remained immoveable, some hesitation was manifested in the march. The officers and noncommissioned officers cried out to the men, "En avant, marchez, ne tirez pas." Some even called out, "Ils se rendent." The advance was then re-established, and the French had arrived within a very short distance of the English line, when the latter opened a fire of two ranks, which carried destruction into the heart of the French line, checked its movement, and produced some disorder.

While the cadre continued to call out "En avant, ne tirez pas," and the fire was establishing itself in spite of them, the English, suddenly ceasing their fire, charged the French with the bayonet. Every thing was favourable to them; the order, the impulse given, the resolution to fight with the bayonet:-upon the French, on the contrary, a greater impression was made, and the surprise and disorder caused by the unexpected resolution of the enemy, obliged them to fly. This flight was not, however, the result of fear, but of necessity. The French regiment rallied, behind the second line, advanced again, and fought bravely for the remainder of the day.

Similar circumstances will always produce similar results; for the most impetuous courage cannot but give way, if it be not seconded by good methods of making war.

HALIL PACHA.

HALIL PACHA, the Envoy frota Constantinople to St. Petersburgh, has not the appearance

of an Asiatic, but of a weil bred European, acquainted with all the etiquette of our society. A smile which constantly animates his countenance, forms a singular contrast to the gravity we are used to in the Turkish physiognomy: his countenance, as well as that of the second ambassador, Redschif Effendi, corresponds with his manners. Politeness to the ladies is also another remarkable feature in the character of our guests. With respect to their dress, they have two different uniforms, the cut of both is the same, and much resembles the jackets of our Cossacks; the full dress uniform differs from the other in having rich and elegant gold or silver embroidery on the collar, and ornaments of the same material on the breast, as on the jackets of our Hussars. The pantaloons are fuller than those of the Cossacks. The boots are quite in the European fashion; the civil and military officers wear over their uniforms a large cloak with an embroidered collar, those of the two Ambassadors are adorned with embroidery from top to bottom; on their heads they wear velvet or cloth caps with embroidery and a gold or silver tassel. The cap belonging to the ordinary uniform, is a plain red one with a silk tassel. The

The English have also employed during the last war in Spain, and always with success, a manœuvre which consisted in a battalion formed two deep, firing, when the French had arrived within a short distance of it, and im-military are distinguished from the civil by a mediately afterwards charging, without even taking time enough to pull back the cock and shut the pan. We can easily imagine that a body which charges another, and sees itself charged, after having experienced a fire that has carried disorder and destruction into its ranks, must be overthrown.

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The following is a fact which I have selected from many that have been related to me by eye-witnesses; it gives at once an example of the force of discipline, the influence of the cadres, and the excellence of the manœuvre practised by the English against the French, when it is seasonably employed.

On the eve of the battle of Talavera, several deserters from an English regiment, composed

diamond insignia, the size and form of which vary according to the rank of the wearer. The badge which Halil Pacha wears on his neck, has a crescent in the centre; that of the colonels is also composed of jewels, and is worn on the left breast, a little lower than the belt to which the cartouche-box is fastened; that of the captains has only one jewel. The Sultan gives these badges when he confers the commission.-(Preussische Staats Zeitung.)

A WHALE ASHORE. WHILE riding from Cape Town to Simon's Town, I visited the beautiful estate of Constantia, celebrated for its peculiar and delightful wine, from whence it takes its name.

The day had been unusually fine, but loured by degrees, and as evening closed in, the sky assumed a threatening aspect; heavy black clouds gathered in the south-west, and the lightning was seen playing vividly about the horizon, which is a sure indication of the approach of one of those terrible storms so severely felt on the coast of Africa.

We pushed briskly on in hopes of escaping it, but the clouds descended so rapidly that they already capped the tops of the mountains, seeming ready to burst with their burthen; presently a tremendous clap of thunder broke directly over our heads, with such force that it appeared to shake the very earth; vi- . brating and echoing in the mountains around, it rolled solemnly away in the distance, leaving a death-like silence, which for a few seconds remained unbroken, when the rain came down in torrents, and in less than two minutes we were drenched to the skin.

We galloped on at full speed, in order to save the tide (which was flowing) from preventing us rounding the point of Fish Bay, that stretches out into the sea, and at high water is difficult and dangerous to pass. Pitch-darkness had now overtaken us, and the sea broke upon the shore with violence; as the waves receded from the beach, they left behind a strong phosphoric light, which had all the appearance of liquid fire, so that at intervals we could distinctly see each other. Our horses became alarmed at the lightning, and started at every object which met their view; presently we heard a most unusual noise, resembling loud moanings, accompanied with heavy shocks upon the earth, as if a ship was striking on the beach; thinking that such might be the case, we rode in the direction from whence the sounds proceeded, but I soon lost sight of my companion, whose horse ran away with him.

On nearing the sounds, my horse became so timid that I had great difficulty in urging him forward; presently he stopped short and trembled, and by a sudden flash of lightning I distinctly saw the cause of his alarm, which certainly startled myself also; it was an enormous whale that had been driven on shore by the gale. The huge animal was floundering about vainly endeavouring to extricate itself; every slap it gave the shore with its tail sounded like a great gun, and the roaring noise which it made was truly terrific.

My horse was now so frightened that he started off with me, rendering my situation very perilous, for there are deep quick-sands in the bay, where several lives have been lost; on one occasion a dragoon and his horse sunk together in them. However, I succeeded in pulling him in, and then had to dismount and climb over rocks and precipices in order to gain the road, for my horse would not face the sea again. It was midnight before I reached Simon's Town, where the noise of the whale was distinctly heard, although at a distance of three miles. My companion did not arrive until three o'clock in the morning.

On the following day numbers of persons went out to see the monster, which measured seventy-six feet in length. The whalers (there being a fishery established in the bay) soon took possession of the prize.

THE EXHIBITED DWARF.
BY THOMAS HAYNES BAYLY.

I LAY without my father's door,
A wretched dwarfish boy;

I did not dare to lift the latch,-
I heard the voice of joy:

Too well I knew when I was near,
My father never smiled;
And she who bore me turn'd away,
Abhorring her poor child.
A stranger saw me, and he bribed
My parents with his gold;
Oh! deeper shame awaited me-
The dwarfish boy was sold!

C. B.

They never loved me, never claim'd

The love I could have felt; And yet, with bitter tears, I left

The cottage where they dwelt.

The stranger seem'd more kind to ine,
He spoke of brighter days;
He lured each slumb'ring talent forth,
And gave unwonted praise;
Unused to smiles, how ardently
I panted for applause!
And daily he instructed me-
Too soon I learn'd the cause.

I stood upon his native shore;
The secret was explain'd;
I was a vile, degraded slave,
In mind and body chain'd!
Condemn'd to face, day after day,'
The rabble's ruffian gaze;
To shrink before their merriment,
Or blush before their praise!

In anguish I must still perform
The oft-repeated task;
And courteously reply to all
Frivolity may ask!

And bear inhuman scrutiny,

And hear the hateful jest!
And sing the song,-then crawl away
To tears instead of rest!

I know I am diminutive,
Aye, loathsome if you will;
But say, ye hard hearts! am I not
A human being still?
With feelings sensitive as yours,
Perhaps I have been born;

I could not wound a fellow Man
In mockery, or scorn!

But some there are who seem to shrink
Away from me at first,

And then speak kindly; to my heart
That trial is the worst!
Oh, then I long to kneel to them,
Imploring them to save

A hopeless wretch, who only asks
An honourable grave!"

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THE FORSAKEN TO THE FALSE ONE.
BY THOMAS HAYNES BAYLEY.

I DARE thee to forget me!
Go wander where thou wilt,
Thy hand upon the vessel's helm,

Or on the sabre's hilt;

Away! thou'rt free! o'er land and sea,

Go rush to danger's brink!

But oh, thou canst not fly from thought!
Thy curse will be-to think!
Remember me! remember all-
My long enduring love,
That link'd itself to perfidy;
The vulture and the dove!
Remember in thy utmost need,
I never once did shrink,
But clung to thee confidingly;
Thy curse shall be--to think!

Then go! that thought will render thee
A dastard in the fight,

That thought, when thou art tempest-tost,

Will fill thee with affright;

In some vile dungeon mayst thou lie,

And, counting each cold link

That binds thee to captivity,

Thy curse shall be-to think!

Go! seek the merry banquet-hall,

Where younger maidens bloom,

The thought of me shall make thee there
Endure a deeper gloom;

That thought shall turn the festive cup

To poison while you drink,

And while false smiles are on thy cheek,
Thy curse will be-to think!

Forget me! false one, hope it not!
When ininstrels touch the string,
The memory of other days

Will gall thee while they sing;
The airs I used to love will make
Thy coward conscience shrink,
Aye, ev'ry note will have its sting-
Thy curse will be-to think!"
Forget me! No, that shall not be!
I'll haunt thee in thy sleep,
In dreams thou'lt cling to slimy rocks
That overhang the deep;
Thou'lt shriek for aid! my feeble arm'
Shall hurl thee from the brink,
And when thou wak'st in wild dismay,
Thy curse will be--to think!

Literary Port Folio,

Died on the 17th instant, in the 32d year of his age, DR. JOHN D. GODMAN. Dr. Godman came to this city about 8 years ago, without money, and without influential friends, with a determination to claim at some future time the Anatomical chair in the Universi-, ty of Pennsylvania; not by any canvass among those to whom the gift of that highest honour belongs-but by acquiring and displaying a great fund of knowledge and an unusual ability to teach-in a word by deserving it. How chimerical soever such an ambition, in so young a man, might have appeared to the idle young physicians about town, (had our lamented friend been in the habit of speaking to them of his plans,) we are confident that it would not have appeared so to the venerated man who has given to that professorship as much honour as he has received from it. He would have seen that there was united with the brave ambition of the enterprise, an unusual proportion of that industry, which is the greatest of all human talents, of perseverance not to be daunted by the chilling and sickening power of poverty, and of delay. He would have seen the single eye which fixed upon the highest honours of his profession, was turned away from the miserable quarrels, and mean jealousies which at one time disgraced our medical

schools.

Commencing a course of private lectures and dissections, Dr. Godman soon had a class of seventy scholars; but the expenses of the establishment, to say nothing of his increasing family, obliged him to toil night and day, at such labour as the booksellers would give him-a scanty resource in this country. This incessant application, for he was withal at the same time a severe student, had already undermined his health, before he was called to be Professor of Anatomy in the Medical School of New York. To this post he went as an important step toward the object of his life. His labours were continued with an intensity of application, which his friends felt to be destructive. Perhaps this unsparing devotion of himself produced its effects the more rapidly in

the atmosphere of New York-and in a
very short time he was obliged to seek
for restoration to health in a West In-
dia voyage. It was not to be found,
and helpless and hopeless he came
back to Philadelphia; and while he has
been continually sinking, although less
rapidly than his physician anticipated,
he has for many months supported his
family by a degree of labour, at trans-
lations, and original works for the
press, which would have been thought
praiseworthy in a man of sound health.
-With all these there was no despon-
dency, no complaining.

French, and induced them to make an attempt to place the art upon a more respectable footing. For this purpose a society has just been formed by subscription, with a capital of 200,000 francs, to order engravings from promising artists, which are to be disposed of by the society, and to distribute rewards and medals. The King, and other members of the royal family, patronise this institution.

Literary Prize.-The "Revue de Paris" has offered a prize of two thousand francs for the best dissertation in prose on the following question:-"What has been the influence of the representative government, for the last fifteen years, in France, on our literature and on our manners?" The dissertations are to be addressed, before the 1st of March, 1830, to the office of the "Revue de Paris," inscribed with an epigraph, and accompanied by a sealed note inscribed with the same epigraph, and containing the name of the author.

The Irish in London.-We wish we could

add the praise of independence to our notice of

felt rather uncomfortable to hear a man talk

Some years ago, in conversation with us, he said that in a voyage to sea in early life, he had seen a lad who had just begun to be a sailor, going out to some projecting part of the rigthe Irish character in London, but we cannot. ging. His arms were supported by spar, and he was looking below him The Irish labourer submits to what the Engfor a rope which ran across, on which lish labourer would not, and thereby entails a his feet should be. The rope flew degree of contempt upon his class. We heard a shopkeeper in Cheapside asked why he emfrom side to side, and it was evi- ployed an Irishman for his shop porter rather dent that the poor fellow was becom- than a Londoner. "Why," said he, "I can ing dizzy, and in danger of falling, do what I please with Pat, there, and I could'nt when the mate shouted to him with do so with one of our fellows. When he shuts the counter there, and so he does, and there all his force, "LooK ALOFT! you sneak-up the shop, I tell him to make his bed under he lays, and takes care of the shop, and he's ing lubber!" By thus turning away his eyes from the danger, the dizziness quite at hand to open it in the morning. I was prevented, and he found his foot- could'nt get an Englishman to do that." We ing. And this incident, the Dr. said, this way. "Is thy servant a dog," that thou often recurred to his mind in after life, shouldst use him thus? The great difference when his troubles grew heavy upon between the Irish and English, and the great him, and he hardly could find ground superiority of the latter in all mere matters of whereon to tread. At such times he business, seems to consist in this, that they heard the mate's shout in his ears, and possess a methodical steadiness of procedure, arising out of a complete concentration of the turned his eyes" aloft" to the prize mind upon the one idea that occupies it for the upon which he had fastened his hopes. time, which is utterly unknown to our counWe cannot part with this beautiful il- trymen. Send an English servant of a mescheese, he looks neither to the right hand nor lustration, without asking each of our sage, and were it only for a shilling's worth of readers to apply it to a still nobler to the left, but plods steadily on, with cheese purpose: to steady themselves in all in all his thoughts, till he has secured and dethe tempests of adversity by looking posited in your cupboard the wished-for Parstare into every shop window, and listen to toward that life in which there is rest mesan. The Irishman, on the contrary, would and peace evermore-and when our every fiddler and piper on the way, and possiflesh and heart shall fail us, and we bly come back tipsey, with Stilton or Glo'ster. can find no support under our feet, to As for the higher occupations, they say in Lonseek it by "looking aloft," to Him don that we Irish are too much a kind of lite rary Swiss, and will write on any side for pay"who is the strength of our hearts, ment. Perhaps there is something too much and our portion for ever." of this, but it is not confined to the Irish-except that it must be admitted the careless habits of the Irish generally make them the ner of temptations. This, however, is rather poorest class, and poverty is open to all manan uncomfortable part of our subject, and

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therefore here we shall pause for the present. Dublin Literary Gazette.

A Monkey Trick.-In 1818, a vessel that sailed between Whitehaven and Jamaica embarked on her homeward voyage, and, among other passengers, carried a female, who had at the breast a child only a few weeks old. One beautiful afternoon, the captain perceived a distant sail, and after he had gratified his cu

riosity, he politely offered his glass to his passenger, that she might obtain a clear view of the object. Mrs. B. had the baby in her arms; she wrapt her shawl about the little innocent, and placed it on a sofa upon which she had been sitting. Scarcely had she applied her eye to the glass, when the helmsman exclaimed, "Good God! see what the mischievous monkey has done." The reader may judge of the female's feelings, when, on turning round, she beheld the animal in the act of transporting

her beloved child apparently to the very top of the mast! The monkey was a very large one, and so strong and active, that while it grasped the infant firmly with the one arm, it climbed the shrouds nimbly by the other, totally unembarrassed by the weight of its burthen. One look was sufficient for the terrified mother, and that look had well nigh been her last, and had it not been for the assistance of those around her, she would have fallen prostrate on the deck, where she was soon afterwards stretched apparently a lifeless corpse. The sailors could climb as well as the monkey, but the latter watched their motions narrowly; and as it ascended higher up the mast the moment they attempted to put a foot on the shrouds, the captain became afraid that it would drop the child, and endeavour to escape by leaping from one mast to another. In the mean time, the little innocent was heard to cry; and though many thought it was suffering pain, their fears on this point were speedily dissipated when they observed the monkey imitating exactly the motions of a nurse, by dandling, soothing, and caressing its charge, and even endeavouring to hush it asleep. From the deck the lady was conveyed to the cabin, and gradually restored to her senses. In the mean time, the captain ordered every man to conceal himself below, and quietly took his own station on the cabin stair, where he could see all that passed without being seen. This plan happily succeeded: the monkey, on perceiving that the coast was clear, cautiously descended from his lofty perch, and replaced the infant on the sofa, cold, fretful, and perhaps frightened, but in every other respect as free from harm as when he took it up. The humane seaman had now a most grateful task to perform: the babe was restored to its mother's arms, amidst tears, and thanks, and blessings.--Macdiarmid's Sketches from Nature.

Etiquette-When the patriot Roland attended the Tuileries with strings in his shoes, a courtier went up to Dumouriez, who was then Minister, and, with symptoms of excessive astonishment, whispered, "That gentleman has no buckles!" Dumouriez answered, "Ah, sir, all is lost!" The courtier's anxiety about such a trifle was a subject of pleasantry to Dumouriez, who, on this occasion, without intending it, made a reply at once prophetic and philosophical. The barrier of etiquette broken down, the Swiss guards fought in vain.-Italy as it is.

An Italian Practitioner.-It is very much in the style of Italian finesse, to let a deceit work its own way. An English gentleman at Florence had a fall from his horse: besides some slight bruises, he felt great pain in one of his thumbs; the pain was soon attended with inflammation; the surgeon continued to dress this thumb after the other hurts were cured. One day, he being obliged to be absent, his son attended. "Have you visited the Signor Inglese?" said the father to the son in the evening. "Yes, I have drawn out the thorn, and "Blockhead that thou art," said the father, "then there is an end of the shop!"Italy as it is.

Cruelty of a Highland Chieftain, and its Punishment. In the Highland districts, one of those ferocious ketheran Chieftains, against whom the King (James I.) had directed an Act of Parliament, had broken in upon a poor cottager, and carried off two of her cows. Such was the unlicensed state of the country, that the robber walked abroad, and was loudly accused by the aggrieved party, who swore that she would never wear shoes again till she had carried her complaint to the King in person. "It is false," cried he; "I'll have you shod myself before you reach the Court;" and with a brutality scarcely credible the monster carried his threat into execution, by fixing, with nails driven into the flesh, two horse shoes of iron upon her naked feet; after which he thrust her wounded and bleeding on the highway. Some

humane persons took pity on her; and when cured, she retained her original purpose, sought out the King, told her story, and showed her feet, still seamed and scarred by the inhuman treatment she had received. James heard her with that mixture of pity, kindness, and incontrollable indignation which marked his character, and having instantly directed his writ to the Sheriff of the county where the robber Chief resided, had him seized within a very short time, and sent to Perth, where the court was then held. fle was instantly tried and condemned; a linen shirt was thrown over him, upon which was painted a rude representation of his crime, and after being paraded in this ignominious dress through the streets of the town, he was draged at a horse's tail, and hang. ed on a gallows. Tytler's History of Scotland.

The honourable Mr.

being at variance with his father, sometimes speaks very freely in reprehension of his conduct, but plumes himself on allowing no one else to do so. A sprig of fashion, conversing with him on his sire's undutiful conduct, broke out with "That fool of a father!"" Hold!" cried filial piety, "I will allow no man to call Lord a fool of a father."It was a mere slip of the tongue," replied the other, "I only meant to say, that father of a fool."

The election of the reverend gentleman, now parish sexton of St. Giles's, has not yet passed away from the memory of mankind; and the industrious determination of so worthy a personage, to take care of the bodies as well as the souls of men, will, we hope, recommend him to the love of the bishops.

The wits are merciless on the election, and have illustrated the event with several intolerable puns. One of them observes, that though this reverend person's office has excited a good number of enemies in the parish, as well as a good deal of ridicule out of it, he is in the happiest situation to make the laughers grace

men," and is ready to bury all animosities.Another observes, that his having played his game so well is entirely owing to his having spades," in his hand, which gave him the command of king, queen, and knave -Another, that, notwithstanding the contrivances of his canvass, he may be relied on for plain speaking, as no man is more likely to call a "spade a spade."-Another, that if his knowledge of books be but shallow, no man can look more profoundly into human nature. Another, that his humility is worthy of all admiration, for he is the very first of his cloth who voluntarily chose his station six feet below the lowest of living mankind.

The inferiority of the sons of celebrated men to their fathers, has been often remarked, and the comparative obscurity of the sons of Alexander, Cicero, Napoleon, Sheridan, Burke, and other leaders of their times, certainly ar. gues little for the theory of hereditary genius. But it would seem that the degree of talent is much influenced by the mother; for it is a curious fact, that where the mother has been remarkable for intelligence, the son has seldom failed of the possession of ability, even where the father was undistinguished. We give some of the examples:

Lord Bacon-His mother was daughter to Sir Anthony Cooke, she was skilled in many languages, and translated and wrote several works, which displayed learning, acuteness, and taste. Hume, the historian, mentions his mother, daughter of Sir D. Falconer, President of the College of Justice, as a woman of "singular merit," and who, although, in the prime of life, devoted herself entirely to his education. Sheridan.-Mrs. Frances Sheridan was a woman of considerable abilities. It was writing a pamphlet in his defence, that first introduced her to Mr. Sheridan, afterwards her husband, She also wrote a novel highly praised by Jolinson.-Schiller; His mother was an amiable woman-she had a

strong relish for the beauties of nature, and was passionately fond of music and poetry. Schiller was her favourite child-Goethe thus speaks of his parents:-" I inherited from my father a certain sort of eloquence, calculated to enforce my doctrines to my auditors; from my mother I derived the faculty of representing all that the imagination can conceive, with energy and vivacity."—Lord Erskine's mother was a woman of superior talent and discernment; by her advice, her son betook himself to the bar. Thomson; Mrs. Thomson was a woman of uncommon natural endowinents, with a warmth and vivacity of imagination scarcely inferior to her son-Boerhaave's mother acquired a high knowledge of medicine. -Sir Walter Scott; His mother, Elizabeth, daughter of D. Rutherford, W. S., was a woman of accomplishment. She had a good taste for, and wrote poetry, which appeared in print in 1789.-Napoleon's father was a man of ro peculiar mind; but his mother was distinguished for her understanding.-Lord Mornington, the father of the Wellesleys was an excellent musician, and no more, but his lady was remarkable for her intellectual superiority, The father of the Emmette, in Ireland, was a babbler, but the mother was a singularly intelligent person. The fate of two of her sons was unhappy, from their republicanism, but the three were possessed of the most striking abilities. Sheridan's father was a weak creature, as his whole career showed; the genius descended from the mother.-Young Napoleon is the son not of his father's mind, but of Maria Louisa's-he is an Austrian.

The moral to be drawn from all this is, if men desire to have clever sons, let them marry clever women. But the experiment may be perilous for the present time; and if they wish to lead quiet lives, they may perhaps better let it alone.

Mr. Jekyll-Colman, in his Random Records, gives the following anecdote of the witty Barfriends." One day, Jekyll observed a squirrel rister, whom he numbers among his early in Colman's chambers in the usual round cage, performing the same operation as a man in a treadmill, and looking at it for a minute, exclaimed, Ah, poor devil, he is going the Home Circuit!"

March of Intellect- The Perfection of Impudence-A beggar, with an instrument as offensive to the ear as were the bagpipes to the immortal Shakspeare, commenced his grinding exactly beneath the window of a house where a party had just sat down to dinner. Disgusted with the horrible discord they sent a few halfpence to the vagrant, with a hint that "he might go on." The answer was exquisite" I never goes on under sixpence!" For this brilliant witticism the beggar had a shilling!

THE LITERARY PORT FOLIO.

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