a few little miles above the world he treads upon, his every sense abandons whole face of which he hath inscribed the evidence of his high attributes, in all their might, and in all their mani-him but one; that number, and mofestation. But man has a great deal more to keep him humble of his understanding, than a mere sense of that boundary which skirts, and which terminates the material field of his contemplations. He ought also to feel how, within that boundary, the vast majority of things is mysterious and unknown to him; that even in the inner chamber of his own consciousness, where so much lies hidden from the observation of others, there is also to himself a little world of incomprehensibles; that if, stepping beyond the limits of this familiar home, he looks no farther than to the members of his family, there is much in the cast and the colour of every mind, that is above his powers of divination; that in proportion as he recedes from the centre of his own personal experience, there is a cloud of ignorance and secrecy, which spreads, and thickens, and throws a deep and impenetrable veil over the intricacies of every one department of human contemplation; that of all around him, his knowledge is naked and superficial, and confined to a few of those more conspicuous lineaments which strike upon his senses; that the whole face, both of nature and society, presents him with questions which he cannot unriddle, and tells him how beneath the surface of all that the eye can rest upon, there lies the profoundness of a most unsearchable latency; aye, and should he, in some lofty enterprise of thought, leave this world, and shoot afar into those tracks of speculation which astronomy has opened; should he, baffled by the mysteries which beset his every footstep upon earth, attempt an ambitious flight toward the mysteries of Heaven: let him go, but let the justness of a pious and philosophical modesty go along with him: let him forget not, that from the moment his mind has taken its ascending way for tion, and magnitude, and figure, make up all the barrenness of its elementary informations; that these orbs have sent him scarce another message, than told by their feeble glimmering upon his eye, the simple fact of their existence; that he sees not the landscape of other worlds; that he knows not the moral system of any one of them; nor athwart the long and trackless vacancy which lies between, does there fall upon his listening ear, the hum of their mighty populations. THE SLUTTISH WIFE. As I am to a fault fond of neatness, and even elegance in the dress of the fair sex, I shall not pretend to vindicate altogether their carelessness in this respect; yet I think a little may be said in their favour, and that the fault does not solely rest with them. It is but too often the case with the generality of husbands, when they have gained the heart and affections of a deserving female, and when after the honey-moon is over, that they treat them with so much indifference, and merely as a sort of upper servants, that a woman of any spirit can never brook, and which she conceives to be totally incompatible with the ideas of equality and reciprocity of affection and tenderness: some by this treatment are forced to seek their company and amusements in other pla ces than home; and surely it is no wonder, when they find their tenderness and affection treated with neglect, perhaps disdain. Others of a more serious and domestic turn, are so disheartened, that they grow quite indifferent about society, and careless of themselves and families: ashamed to complain, or let the world know their unhappy situation, (and it must be truly so to a susceptible mind) they court solitude and retirement, brooding over the bitter reflection. Instead of the kind and attentive husband, they find other victim of this insatiate spoiler,perhaps they have got the muddling another trophy of his victory. Ansot, who loiters away his leisure hours other mortal is going to his long in a coffee-house or a tavern, hours home, that dark and narrow house, which a virtuous wife thinks she may the grave; and another spirit has paswithout presumption claim a right to, sed to the mansions of immortality. and only favours his family with his A few days since, and what is now company when all others fail, or when cold and lifeless, was warm and anisatiated with his common routine. mated. What is now so loathsome And now, sir, what a comfortable that the earth must cover it, was flitcompanion. must such a man be to a ting about in the joy of health, de sensible woman! yet these very men lighting and delighted; but the spoiler will not be backward in their animad- came, and where is he? Riches perversions, and may perhaps be joined haps he possessed, but riches could by their pot companions, against a not purchase his ransom; friends, no doubt he had, who would have laid woman, who from ill treatment, has lost all heart to care about her dress down their lives in his defence, but or family concerns, which she other- they could not save him. Hope prowise undoubtedly would do, were she bably cheered, and bid him look forused with kindness. This much may ward to future hours of happiness; be said for the fair sex that if men but hope deceived him. Health, that Heaven born blessing had flown, nor were only as loving, attentive, and could all the efforts of man recal it for solicitious after marriage to retain, as a moment. as they are before to win, the affecThe icy hand of death tion of a virtuous woman, I am convin- passed over him, and while the soul ced, that not one husband in a thou-winged its way to eternity, the frail sand would find any cause to complain. | The fault lies most commonly with themselves let a woman be treated with kindness, attention, and respect, and be assured she will make a most liberal and generous return, leaving no shadow of complaint of being a sluttish wife. THE FUNERAL. How deeply interesting and impressive to the reflecting mind is the passing funeral. The eye is struck by the appearance of a long and mournful train, shrouded in the sad habiliments of grief, moving with a slow and measured step, preceded by the car of death, dressed with the embellishments of funeral ceremony; while the deep and solemn tones of the distant bell fall on the ear at intervals, and cause the blood to recede to the heart. We ask with besitation and awe, why is this? And why is it? It is because death has again triumphed over man. On yonder hearse is an covering it tenanted, returned to the man. Why despond, because he is called from pain and care to the great object of his search, happiness. We shall soon follow him. Mourn not then, nor repine, but trust in God, and lay up thy riches in Heaven; for why should our hopes and wishes centre here, why should we sacrifice our everlasting welfare for the enjoyment of a life so uncertain and transitory as ours? Let us consider that our term is but threescore years and ten. And that the united ages of every being that ever had existence, will amount to nothing in comparison with eternity. Let us consider-and be wise. HENRY IV, OF FRANCE. When Henry IV, of France was advised to attempt taking Paris by an assault, before the king of Spain's troops arrived to succour his leaguers, he absolutely protested against the measure, on the principle of humanity. "I will not," said he, " expose the capital to the miseries and horrors which must follow such an event. I am the father of my people, and will follow the example of the true mother, who presented herself before Solomon. I had much rather not have Paris, than obtain it at the expence of humanity, and by the blood and death of so many innocent persons. Heury reduced the city to obedience without the loss of more than two or three burgesses, who were killed. "If it was in my power," said this humane monarch, "I would give fifty thousand crowns to redeem those citizens, to have the satisfaction of informing posterity, that I had subdued Paris without spilling a drop of blood." EMPEROR FRANCIS II. || lected and loaded with bread, but no one felt hardy enough to risk the passage, which was rendered extremely dangerous by large bodies of ice. Francis the Second, who was then emperor, stood at the water's edge; he begged, exhorted, threatened, and promised the highest recompences, but all in vain; whilst on the other shore, his subjects famishing with hunger stretched forth their hands and supplicated relief. The monarch's sensibility at length got the better of his prudence; he leaped singly into a boat loaded with bread, and applied himself to the oars, exclaiming, "Never shall it be said that I made no effort to save those, who would risk their all for me." The example of the sovereign, sudden as electricity, inflamed the spectators, who threw themselves in crowds into the boats. They encountered the sea successfully, and gained the suburb just when their intrepid monarch, with the tear of pity in his.eye, held out the bread he had conveyed across at the risk of his life. ARCHDUKE CHARLES. When the Archduke Charles was on his way from Bohemia, to take command of the Austrian army, he met near the scene of action a number of wounded soldiers, who had been abandoned by their commander on the road, for want of horses to draw their carriages in the retreat. The prince, who on many occasions has exhibited striking instances of humanity, immediately ordered the horses to be taken from several pieces of cannon, that were already retreating, saying, "the life of one brave man is better worth One arm of the Danube separates the city of Vienna from a large sub-preserving, than fifty pieces of ordurb called Leopoldstadt. A thaw inundated this suburb, and the ice carried away the bridge of communication with the capital. The population of Leopoldstadt began to be in the greatest distress for want of provi sions. A number of boats were col nance. When general Moreau, into whose hands the cannon thus abandoned had fallen, heard of the motive that had prompted the sacrifice, he ordered the whole to be restored, observing, that he should be unworthy of being the opponent of his imperial highness, if he took any advantage of so noble an act of humanity. INSTINCT. A German count had a very valuable dog, a large and noble-looking animal; in some description of fieldsports he was reckoned exceeding useful, and a friend of the count's applied for the loan of the dog for a few weeks' excursion in the country: it was granted; and, in the course of the rambles, the dog, by a fall, either dislocated or gave a severe fracture to one of his legs. The borrower of the dog was in the greatest alarm, knowing well how greatly the count valued him; and, fearing to disclose the fact, brought him secretly to the count's surgeon, a skilful man, to restore the limb. After some weeks' application, the surgeon succeeded, the dog was returned, and all was well. month or six weeks after this period, the surgeon was sitting gravely in his closet, pursuing his studies, when he heard a violent scratching at the bottom of the door; he rose, and, on opening it, to his surprise, he saw the dog, his late patient, before him, in company with another dog, who had broken his leg, and was thus brought by his friend to be cured in the same manner. A I have heard before now a farmer say, that he had a horse in his stable, who always, on losing his shoe, went of his own accord to a farrier's shop, a mile off; but I never yet heard of a horse taking another horse to a farrier for the purpose. In the case of the dogs, there must have been a communication of ideas; they must have come to a conclusion before they set out; they must have reasoned together on the way, discussing the merits of the surgeon, and the nature of the wound. SHEPHERDS OF THE LANDES. The following description of the shepherds of the Landes, in the south of France, is extracted from a letter of Thomas Maynard, Esq. to the editor of the Journal of Arts and Sciences. "This tract of country lies between the mouths of the Adour and the Girone, along the sea coast; and, according to tradition, was once the bed of the sea itself, which flowed in as far as Dax. Through this district the guards marched from Bayonne, at the conclusion of the war in June, 1814, to embark at Bordeaux This afforded us an opportunity of seeing a country seldom visited by travellers. It is a bed of sand, flat, in the strictest sense of the word, and abounding with extensive pine woods. These woods afford turpentine, resin, and charcoal, for trade, as well as a sort of candies, used by the peasantry, made of yarn dipt in the turpentine. This road is through the sand, unaltered by art, except where it is so loose and deep as to require the trunks of the fir-trees to be laid across, to give it firmness. The villages and hamlets stand on spots of fertile ground, scattered like islands among the sands. The appearance of a corn-field on each side of the road, fenced by green hedges, a clump of trees at a little distance, and the spire of a rustic church tapering from among them, gave notice of our approach to an inhabited spot. On entering the villages, we found neat white cottages, scattered along a bit of green, surrounded by well cultivated gardens and orchards, and shaded by fine old oaks and walnuts. Through the centre of the village, a brook of the clearest water was always seen running amongst meadows and hayfields, and forming a most grateful contrast to the heat and dust of the sandy road, It was between the villages of Castel and La Buharre that we first saw these shepherds, mounted on stilts, and striding, like storks, *This is not the only change. The river Adour also has altered its course: the old bed of the river is marked by an extensive lake and morass to the north of the present course, and along the high road to Dax along the flat. These stilts raise them from three to five feet: the foot rests on a surface, adapted to its sole, carved out of the solid wood; a flat part, shaped to the outside of the leg, and reaching to below the bend of the knee, is strapped round the calf and ankle. The foot is covered by a piece of raw sheep's hide. In these stilts they move with perfect freedom, and astonishing rapidity; and they have their balance so completely, that they run, jump, stoop, and even dance, with ease and safety. We made them run races for a piece of money, put on a stone on the ground, to which they pounced down with surprising quickness. They cannot stand quite still, without the aid of a long staff, which they always carry in their hands. This guards them against any accidental trip, and when they wish to be at rest, forms a third leg, that keeps them steady. The habit of using the stilts is acquired early, and it appeared that the smaller the boy was, the longer it was necessary to have his stilts. By means of these odd additions to the natural leg, the feet are kept out of the water, which lies deep during winter on the sands, and from the heated sand during the summer: in addition to which, the sphere of vision over so perfect a flat is materially increased by the elevation, and the shepherd can see his sheep much farther on stilts than he could from the ground. This department of France is little known, and if what I have here related be as new to your readers as it was to me at the time I first saw them, this description may possibly afford them some amusement. I remain, dear sir, &c. &c. PERSEVERANCE. It is not generally known that the extraordinary perseverance, which was the feature most remarkably displayed in Timour's character, during a fifty years continued series of battles, 66 was excited first by a better cause than excouraged Robert Bruce to similar exertions. "I once," said Timour, was forced to take shelter from my enemies in a ruined building, where I sat alone many hours. Desiring to divert my mind from my hopeless condition, I fixed my observation on an ant that was carrying a grain of corn larger than itself up a high wall. I numbered the efforts it made to accomplish this object. The grain fell sixty-nine times to the ground; but the insect still persevered, and the seventieth time it reached the top of the wall. This sight gave me courage at the moment, and I have never forgotten the lesson it conveyed." AUDLEY, THE USURER. A person whose history will serve as a canvas to exhibit some scenes of the arts of the money-trader, was one Audley, a lawyer, and a great practical philosopher, who concentrated his vigorous faculties in the science of the relative value of money. He flourished through the reigns of James I, Charles I, and held a lucrative office in the court of wards,' till that singular court was abolished at the time of the restoration. In his own times he was called the great Audley;' an epithet so often abused, and here applied to the creation of enormous wealth. But there are minds of great capacity, concealed by the nature of their pursuits; and the wealth of Audley may be considered as the cloudy medium through which a bright genius shone, who, had it been thrown into a nobler sphere of action, the 'greatness' would have been less ambiguous. This genius of thirty per cent. first had proved the decided vigour of his mind, by his enthusiastic devotion to his law studies; deprived of his leisure for study through his busy day, he stole the hours from his late nights and his early mornings; and without Ff |