to-day for a holiday, and of all kinds of people who, in a university city, draw support from the students, added themselves to the train, and increased the uproar and alarm, with curses and insults, that the students should be suffered to go away. The inhabitants of the city looked down in wonder and curiosity from their windows, roused from their sleep by the noise, and gazed on the motley throng who, with shouts and singing of Burschensongs, swept by. "At length the rear of the train disappeared through the city gate, and a strange silence reigned in the deserted town. The doors opened, and the Philistines stepped out into the streets together, to talk over the fatal story." The students marched into the territory of Rhenish Bavaria, and vapoured about for a day or two, after which the affair ended, like their duels, in smoke. A MarchingForth from Gottingen in 1818, bore for a time a more serious aspect; but of 800 recusants, 600, who were Germans, returned in a few days, and the rest, who were foreigners, were put under bann for two and a half years, which was, of course, virtual expulsion. The students have made little by their Marchings-Forth. Upon one occasion we find them assembling in a noble cause; this was to defend the Jews of Heidelberg from an attack of the artisans, who were not much more enlightened in those times than an Orange nobleman of the present day, or the followers of Lord George Gordon. We wish the students may deserve the high commendation which Mr. Howitt gives them, when, in his preface, he compares them with Oxford men, to the infinite depreciation of the latter. What follows hardly bears him out: "Another cause which often compels the students to quit the university, and indeed in all stillness, is debt. That the young man at the High-school may readily fall into debt, is easy to conceive. Most of them were till this time at schools where they were quite dependent on their parents, and have now for the first time, considerable sums in their hands; and beyond this, the way into debt is made so particularly easy to the student. The landlords, the shopkeepers, and all others, who derive an advantage from the students, freely give credit or pump, as the students term it. They do it the more willingly, since it is a good opportunity to make the account a little larger, (since the English and students, as the student says, generally chop above the ear, that is, suffer themselves to be overcharged;) and moreover, the students look on it as a certain prerogative, of which many are compelled to avail themselves, who, especially in their first year, need more than their remittances. A master tailor who was much in mode amongst the students, once attempted to put an end to this silently acknowledged privilege, but it cost him dear. This man sent round a list amongst his colleagues, by which every one who signed his name, bound himself to give no more credit to any student. But this list had not circulated far, when the students became aware of the fact. They assembled themselves that evening at their kneip, armed with their swords, proceeded thence to the house of the tailor, dashed all the windows in, broke open the doors, and rushed into the work-shops and store-rooms of the tailor; where they cut to pieces, and bored through all his pieces of cloth and ready-made clothes, so that they were totally ruined. The actors, indeed, were punished, and required to pay all the damages, but the tailor had for ever lost the business of the students, and his fellow tradesmen took warning from the transaction. "The academical laws have endeavoured to put a check on this facility of debt-making, by determining that all demands for credited wines and spirituous liquors, excepting the regular choppin of wine or beer set before his guests by the landlord or masters of an ordinary,-all demands of the masters of coffee and billiard rooms, as such, One all play debts, demands for carriage, sledge, or horse-hire for more than one journey, which may be made on students, shall not be recoverable in a court of law; and it is also enacted to what extent credit for all necessaries of life, for books, and such things, may be given so as yet to leave a legal right of recovery. In order to make themselves secure against a student, who, they are afraid, may attempt to quit without discharging his debt, the creditor is accustomed to take the usual and effectual way, that is, to go and lay an arrest on his departure-testimonial, which will then not be handed to the student by the university office, till he has paid his debts, by which means it becomes very difficult to quit the place without a fair settlement with his creditors. way, however, remains for him. In the university cities of interest. These the student pumps, as he calls it,— are people who lend money to the students at a high rate and, as claims for money lent to students, are untenable before the court, these people generally get the loss when a student runs off, as well as all those other creditors who have not protested against the delivery of his testimonial. This burning through, or running through the rags, as starting without paying is called, was formerly times happens, yet the cases are very rare in which they much more frequent than at present. If it now somedo not afterwards pay as soon as they are in circumstances to do it. When these escapes were made, it was generally at midnight; or in this manner,—the youth's companions accompanied him in a Comitat, or student was set in the first carriage, in the place of one of their regular departure processions, but another honour, as though it were he who was leaving. When they had, however, quitted the city, the real departer took the place of honour, and the pretended one then quietly returned to the city. On such occssions was sung the song, of course not till the immediate danger was past Forth from here, the Manichæans watch us. "The Manichæans are the creditors, so called after the old much reprobated sect of the Manichæans, who in the third century held the doctrines of the Persian heretic Manes." We do not mean to accompany the student to the grave, which Dr. Cornelius does with due solemnity; nor yet into the examination by the state, which usually closes Bursch life, and often converts the wild student in a little month into a sedate Philistine. The summary, or the view of the merits and demerits of student-life, contains some sensible remarks. We may state, in brief, that the merits are found to preponderate largely; and, moreover, that the German student is held, by his countryman, Dr. Cornelius, to be very superior, in character and acquirements, to the student of any foreign university. And hereupon follows an eulogium on the universities of the Fatherland. There is, no doubt, a great deal of smoking, quarrelling, fighting, and beer-drinking among the students; but then all the Germans drink and smoke, and duels are becoming less frequent, and are seldom or never fatal; and the beer, according to Mr. Howitt, though quaffed in large quantities, is neither potent in strength nor tempting in flavour. We are aware that it possesses no seductive qualities for Englishmen, and one has certainly more sympathy with the German student, joyous over his very bad beer, than with the luxurious Oxford dandy, regaling himself with iced champagne. There are still a few formal challenges given to a trial of prowess in imbibing; the young lusty student generally challenging some noted toper of the Old School. The Heidelberg beer is not strong, and it is cheap, and is on this account esteemed by the student, who is seldom rich. Amazing quantities of it are swallowed with impunity at these beer combats. Only on high festivals 184 are wine, glee-wine, and punch drunk. When the stu- From the Beer-Comment of Hiedelberg we meant to The Beer-Code really copy a few of the articles, to show to what extent clever young men may run into folly. displays a luxuriant fancy; but we stop short, wishing that Mr. Howitt had preferred giving us a work of his own, when the proper time came, instead of the voluminous compilation of Dr. Cornelius. ANECDOTE OF A GOOSE. A YOUNG lad, whose family lived not far from ours, was in the habit of coming home for the holidays to his father's country place. Like all schoolboys, he took a concern in every thing that was going on; and on one occasion watched with great interest, the progress of a numerous family of goslings who had broken the shell a few weeks before his arrival. They were getting on most prosperously, and growing apace, when all at once a diminution began to appear in their numbers. No disease had attacked them, and no vestige of the missing ones was ever found whereby the manner of their death could be ascertained. The little paddock into which, every morning, they were turned out for the day, was well secured, so that they could not be stolen, and altogether It went on, their disappearance was very mysterious. however, and night after night the parent birds marched up to the fowl-house at the head of a sadly diminished band of young ones. They were almost all gone before the cause of the loss was discovered, and it was the young schoolboy beforementioned who at last found it out. After much diligent searching, he perceived that the paddock was burrowed all over with numerous holes, concealed by the long tufted grass. In these holes rats lay in wait for the goslings as they passed, when they darted out upon their prey, and seizing them by the leg, dragged them down into their subterranean retreats and devoured them. The for each other. The grateful bird deserted her feathered companions as soon as her friend visited his paternal He was of studious home, and followed his steps at an humble distance, whenever it was possible to do so. habits, and used to pass much of his time reading in a summer-house in the garden. Here the poor goose would take up her position under a laurel tree, near the alcove, waiting patiently for hours until her friend came out with his books, when she would settle herself contentedly to rest, quite satisfied and happy that he was near. servants and work-people always knew whether their young master was to be found in the summer-house, by seeing if the goose were at her post under the laurel tree. How long this might have gone on is uncertain-geese You know the story of the are said to be long livers. old woman who was told they would live for a hundred years, and immediately went off and bought one, that In this case she might ascertain whether it was true. the longevity of our poor friend was not destined to be put to the test. The young man, her protector, was seized with a dangerous illness, and for some time his He recovered, however, and the life was despaired of. first day he was taken out into the open air, missing his favourite in her accustomed haunts, he inquired after her. He received an evasive reply. Day after day passed on, and the faithful bird appeared not to greet as usual her benefactor. He insisted at last on knowing what had become of her, and then the sad truth came out. poor bird, it appeared, became restless and pining after he was taken ill, as though she knew something was Guided by some wonderful instinct, she made wrong. her way to his room, a corner of which she had occupied in a basket during the time he tended her wounds in his boyish days. The young man was raving wildly, his malady being then at its height; and the goose, hearing his well-known voice, crept under the bed, and estaShe was soon discovered, and blished herself there. dragged out from her hiding-place. The servants and nurses surrounded her, and all agreed that the illness of their young master was entirely owing to the unfortunate There was something not good about her," they « Who bird. whispered, with wise faces and shaking heads. ever heard of a beast attaching herself that way to any Christian? and how could luck or grace come of it? Yes, it was surely unlucky;' and without the goose was killed at once, the master would never recover; all the doctors in Ireland couldn't save him.” The One evening an extraordinary phenomena presented itself to the eyes of the old woman who was the presiding genius of the poultry-yard. An unfortunate gosling, maimed, crippled, and covered with patches of bloody rag, came hobbling up after its mother. Like Lazarus, it was full of sores; but, unlike him, its wounds had been That bound up and dressed by some friendly hand. He had arrived at the padhand was the schoolboy's. dock just at the moment that the poor bird was struggling Being strong, and nearly in the grasp of a huge rat. fledged, the gosling made a vigorous resistance; but by the time the lad came to the rescue, it had been bitten and wounded so severely, that it must soon have fallen a victim to its antagonist. The youth continued his care of the little animal until it recovered from the injuries, dressing the wounds with skill and tenderness every day. During his long attendance on his patient, a friendship sprang up between them, and the gosling might be seen He departed for And so they seized the poor bird, and dragging her limping after him wherever he went. school, and on his return again, when the holidays came away from the unconscious object of her love, sacrificed round, was joyfully recognized by his old acquaintance, the faithful creature to their absurd and cruel superstition. I can fancy the feelings of the young man when he who testified its delight as evidently as a dog might have done, and attached itself to the young gentleman as before. heard the fate of his favourite. Affection, even that of a Time passed on-the boy became a man, and the gos-poor dumb animal, is so precious a thing, a treasure that ling a goose, but neither of them outlived their regard * This spiced wine is nearly the Bishop or Pope of Oxford. -E. T. M. neither gold nor silver can purchase or win, even in this THE BALANCE OF CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT MIRACLES. From the Spectator. 185 upon her hands, and shortly afterwards made their appearance upon her feet; and to these, at the same THE BALANCE OF CATHOLIC AND PRO- time, was added the wound upon the heart." We TESTANT MIRACLES. are told that "drops of clear blood frequently flow from these wounds on Thursday evenings and FriOr late the balance of miracles has been rather in days; on other days they seem covered with a sort favour of the Protestants. Since the Pope found it of crust of dry blood, without the least appearance expedient to put an end to Prince Hohenlohe's mira- of inflammation, ulceration, or any vestige of lymph." culous cures by getting him appointed to a remote Thus qualified, she soon became an object of the bishopric in Hungary, the gift of tongues, which de- pilgrimages of the faithful. The scene is described scended upon the followers of Isabella Campbell, by Lord Shrewsbury with considerable picturesque has far transcended any thing the Roman Catholics effect. "She is kept excessively neat and clean; have had to show for their church. The latter are, and the whole room is a pattern of neatness, and, as however, fast working up their lee-way. Lord it were, the emblem of innocence. It is furnished Shrewsbury has just published an account of "the with many pious pictures, several of them gifts of saintly virgin of Caldaro," Maria Mörl by name; visiters; and a large crucifix hangs against the wall who fairly throws Isabella Campbell into the shade. at the head of her bed, which is without curtains. This Estatica of Caldaro," as she is called, The windows are double; and between one was a passes the greater part of her life in a state of deep tame rabbit and a dove, and in the other some small abstraction from the material world and its inhabi- singing-birds; and on a table near her were a few tants; living over in her inmost soul the passion of apples, for she takes nothing but a little new fruit her Saviour. The intensity of her thoughts-or and bread, never touching food that has been cooked, some miraculous interposition-has produced upon nor drinking any thing but water: yet, though very her hand, feet, and sides, the marks of the five pale, she has no appearance of emaciation. Within wounds inflicted at the Crucifixion. In 1832, she about six feet of her bed is an altar, at which mass evinced the first symptoms of ecstacy; falling into is celebrated at least twice a week." As for the octhat state every time she received the communion. cupant of the shrine-"We found her in her usual At the festival of Corpus Christi in 1832, it assumed state of ecstacy, kneeling upon her bed, with her a more decided character. "As her confessor was eyes uplifted, and her hands joined in the attitude of aware that she always after communion remained six prayer, as motionless as a statue. She was dressed or eight hours in a state of ecstacy, he thought it in white, with her head uncovered, but with very expedient that she should receive it early, in order long, flowing, black hair; and there was much of to be at rest the remainder of the day. Accordingly, elegance in her figure and grace in her attitude. he carried the blessed sacrament to her at three When this had partially subsided, we might have o'clock in the morning: after which, she fell imme- mistaken her for a waxen image; for it appeared imdiately into a state of ecstacy. Her confessor left possible that any being possessed of a soul could her; and being much occupied that day and the next seem so inanimate-could remain so motionless; morning, he did not return to her till three o'clock in still a closer inspection soon proved that the soul was the afternoon of the following day; when he found at work. Our first feeling was that of awe at finding her kneeling in the exact position in which he had left ourselves in the presence of so favoured a creature. her thirty-six hours before. In great surprise he When in this state, she neither sees nor hears: all questioned the people of the house, and learned from her senses are absorbed in the object of her contemthem that her ecstacy had continued uninterrupted plation: she is entranced; but it is neither the trance during the whole of the time. He perceived from of death nor the suspension of life, but a sort of this how deeply the ecstatic state had penetrated supernatural existence-dead indeed to this world, her whole being, since it was already a state of but most feelingly alive to the other: one might second nature to her; and that it must in future be fancy that the spirit were dwelling in heaven, while her habitual condition, unless he could bring it within the body (without, however, losing its consciouslimits by recalling her to herself: he therefore un-ness) remained expecting its return. She might dertook to regulate this state by virtue of that holy have remained in this state or posture for several obedience which she had vowed upon entering the hours, had not her confessor, by a slight touch, or a third order of St. Francis." He allows her to con-word-we could not exactly say which, so quiet and tinue in the ecstatic condition, it would appear, as as long as she pleases, except when he awakens her to converse (if conversation it can be called) with distinguished visiters. The history of the stigmata is as follows. So early as the autumn of the year 1833, her confessor observed accidentally, that the part of her hands where the wounds afterwards appeared began to sink in, as if under the pressure of some external body, and also that they became painful, and frequently attacked by cramps. He conjectured from these appearances that the stigmata would eventually appear; and the result fulfilled his expectations. On the Purification, on the 2d February, 1834, he found her holding a cloth, with which, from time to time, she wiped her hands, frightened like a child at what she saw there. Perceiving blood upon the cloth, he asked her what it meant? She replied that she did not know herself; that she must have hurt herself so as to draw blood. But in fact, these were the stigmata, which thenceforward continued MUSEUM. FFBRUARY, 1842. 24 imperceptible it was-caused her to fall back upon her pillow; which she did with the most perfect ease, placing herself in a sitting posture with her legs stretched out under the counterpane, without the slightest effort, and without awakening from her ecstacy, remaining with her eyes shut and her hands joined as before in the attitude of prayer, her lips motionless, and her soul transfixed in the same profound meditation." The oracle when awakened was not very communicative. "The assistant [priestthere were two in attendance] then asked her to present us each with a small holy print; of which he took a box-full out of a drawer, and handed them to her for the purpose. She selected them one by one, presenting them to us with great complacency and affability." One thing, however, she did say, and it seems full of meaning-"Amongst other things, the assistant said to her, Maria, this is an easy life;' to which she replied, "Yes!' with her usual sweetness.' 186 THE BALANCE OF CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT MIRACLES. has stiffened. The last is about to escape! then, the face declines; the head, already bearing all the signs of death, droops in complete exhaustion; her appearance is no longer recognized; and this state continues for about two minutes." And had all been as tranquil and free from pain as what Lord Shrewsbury seems to have witnessed, it would have been an easy life; contrasting strongly with the feverish agonies of the sick-bed of poor Isabella Campbell, more than half of whose ecstatic ravings were palpably the effects of the opium And the boobies who behold the poor epileptic sufadministered to her in such quantities-the sighs of fering thus, (for boobies they are, albeit a learned momentary relief from torture. It must be confessed German professor and an English nobleman were of that modern Roman Catholic miracles are generally the number,) instead of seeking medical aid to asless painful than the Protestant are. It would seem suage her sufferings, stand gaping on what they conas if the agonistic period of the Roman Church were ceive to be a pantomimic exhibition of the agony of past: the frantic self-combatants of the wilderness, the Crucifixion! Her spiritual guardians, instead of like those of the arena, are relegated to books of le- calling in a physician to cure the disease, encourage gends: its wonders, now-a-days, are externally calm, it, and make a show of her under its influence. beautiful, and seductive. It is the Protestant sects, There can be little doubt that some of those about her struggling for recognition, who undergo the throes are quite aware she has fallen by natural causes into and tortures of the saints of young Catholicism. that state into which professors of mesmerism throw This, too, may be the reason of the calm dignified their patients. Her father confessor allows her to tone of command assumed by the male Catholic mi- relapse into this state, or awakens her from it, at his racle-workers of these days. Whoever has witnessed pleasure. By his own account, he "undertook to Hohenlohe in full vigour, in Bavaria, must remem- regulate this state by virtue of that holy obedience ber the elastic confidence which spoke out in every which she had received upon entering the third order gesture, so unlike the sneaking air of a Methodist of St. Francis." "It requires no effort, no noise, dispenser of judgments. Edward Irving was the hardly any ostensible agency, to break the spell: á only Protestant dealer in miraculous gifts who ever gentle touch or whisper from her confessor, or any ectrode the world with that lordly air, and he wanted clesiastic with whom she is acquainted, is sufficient to the repose. Yet if we were to seek for a pendant dissolve the charm completely and at once." Some to Lord Shrewsbury's calm moonlight picture of of her exhibitors may be deceiving themselves, but the "Estatica," it would be Edward Irving, in his it is difficult to extend this charitable construction to chapel some winter-morning before day-break, with Madame Chasser; of whom Dr. Weedal saysone solitary lamp at his feet, revealing his colossal" She told me that she had seen Maria Mōrl raised figure amid the gloom, as, with the confidence of a dozen Popes backed by all their Cardinals, his fulltoned voice laid down the law to his disciples. The difference, however, is more external than real. In the case of the "Estatica," for example, as in the case of Isabella Campbell, it is in fact the symptoms of disease which are mistaken for the workings of supernatural power. Poor Maria's was not an easy life. "Her eyes were closed," says the Reverend Henry Weedal, in a letter to Lord Shrewsbury;" and she seemed to be suffering intensely, as if from spasmodic affections of the throat." Görres thus describes her appearance during her intervals of pain-"The action begins as early as the morning of Friday: at first its progress is gentle and regular, but as it becomes more painful and overpowering, the image by which it is represented assumes a deeper and more clearly-defined character in all its features; and when at length the hour of death arrives, and the anguish has penetrated the depths of the soul, the image of death appears in all the lineaments of this woman. She is upon her knees on her bed, her hands crossed on her breast; around her is perfect silence, scarcely broken by the breathing of those present: you would then suppose that for her the sun of life was setting. She is very pale during the whole action, but toward its close this paleness increases: The sighs which seem to struggle from her chest show that the oppression is becoming stronger; large drops gather in her fixed eyes, and steal slowly down her cheeks; the mouth opens more and more, by slight movements. Her sighs now change into a moaning that wrings the heart; a flush of deep red suffuses her cheeks; the swollen tongue seems glued to her parched palate; convulsions become more violent and more intense; the hands, which at first were sinking by degrees, now drop more rapidly; the nails turn blue; the fingers entwine convulsively; the rattle of death is heard in her throat: still, at long intervals, a few sighs seem to have burst from the organs that death up in the air, as far at least as only to touch the bed with the very extremities of her feet. I was not,' the reverend gentleman adds, with that immense and relishing swallow for the marvellous which must make it a real pleasure to exhibit a miracle before its possessor-"I was not privileged to see that, but the very manner in which she kneels seems an unearthly position." And Lord Shrewsbury observes, "Her confessor, by a slight touch or a word, we could not exactly say which, caused her to fall back on her pillow." The whole is neither more nor less than a skillful exhibition of a case of magnetic sleep. The victim herself may know no more of the part she is playing than dancing-dogs or the monkies exhibited some years ago at St. James's Theatre; and the callousness with which her pangs are played off is quite equal to that which is understood to characterize the process by which the unfortunate animals alluded to are sometimes beaten into the performance of their antics. By attributing the phænomena of the case of the "Estatica" to the magnetic possession, it is not removed from the region of the mysterious. It remains still as inexplicable, by any thing experience has taught reason, as before. But it ceases to be of the class of dangerous mysteries. It cannot be denied that we are surrounded on every hand by mystery: there is no danger in admitting this; but there is in interpreting unexplained phænomena into miraculous sanctions of dogmas and rules of action. However narrow the range of human reason may be, it is the only guide given to man for steering his walk through life. Even revelation must be apprehended by its instrumentality. It is probably a feeble enough rushlight after all; but if we blow it out, we are left in the dark. The moment reason is silenced, absurdity, mischief, madness, take their beginning. In whatever way a man strives to picture to himself the unseen and unknown-and imagination is ever yearning after such knowledge by an irresistible law of our nature-in this world he must square his actions to reason. 187 ANECDOTES OF AVARICE.-SUPERSTITION AN ENEMY TO ART. The greatest men among all sections | therefore, now was how to cheat the occulist: he of Christians have recognized this truth. Luther pretended that he had only a glimmering, and flatly refused to listen to the ravings of the Anabap- could see nothing perfectly; for that reason the tists; and St. Augustine wrote sturdily against bandage on his eye was continued a month longer those who made virtue consist in abstinence from than the usual time. By this means he obliged wines and meats. It is to vigorous healthy men Taylor to compound the bargain, and accept of that we ought to look for wisdom, instead of seeking twenty guineas; for a covetous man thinks no it from the victims of deranged bodily functions. method dishonest which he may legally practice The ravings of delirium are not the voice of God. to save his money.-Dr. King's Anecdotes of his These follies are confined to no church and to no own Times. religion; and it is the duty of the rational members of all churches and all religions to discountenance them, instead of taunting each other with their respective fools. ANECDOTES OF AVARICE. 66 SUPERSTITION AN ENEMY TO ART. TACITUS gives a curious account of a proposition, that was made in the Roman Senate, to divert the course of those rivers and lakes which emptied themselves into the Tiber; and which, at certain seasons My Lord Hardwick, the late Lord Chancellor, of the year, causing that river to overflow its banks, who is said to be worth L.800,000, sets the same occasioned great loss to those citizens of Rome, who value on half a crown now as he did when he was possessed houses and lands in its immediate neighonly worth L.100. That great captain, the Duke bourhood. Petitions being presented from the Floof Marlborough, when he was in the last stage of rentines, the Interamnates, and the Rheatines, against life, and very infirm, would walk from the public the proposition, it was abandoned. One of the causes room in Bath to his lodgings, in a cold dark night, of this abandonment arose out of an argument, emto save sixpence in chair hire. If the duke, who ployed by the Rheatines: "Nature," they observed, left at his death more than a million and a half having made the best provision for the convenisterling, could have foreseen that all his wealth ences of mankind in directing the course of rivers, it and honours were to be inherited by a grand- would be highly unbecoming in the Romans to alter son of my Lord Trevor's, who had been one of their direction; and the more so, since their allies his enemies, would he have been so careful to had long been in the habit of consecrating woods, save sixpence for the sake of his heir? Not for the altars, and priests to the rivers of their country.' sake of his heir; but he would always have saved This curious and effective argument will naturally sixpence. Sir James Lowther, after changing a call to recollection a singular anecdote, which was piece of silver in George's Coffee-house, and paying related by Signor Hypolito de Vinci, who afterwards two-pence for his dish of coffee, was helped into his honourably distinguished himself in the service of chariot (for he was then lame and infirm,) and his country, and who fell, covered with wounds and went home; some time after, he returned to the glory, in the battle of Vimeire, a martyr to his ensame coffee house on purpose to acquaint the thusiasm, and an honour to the human race. A celewoman who kept it that she had given him a bad brated engineer, some years previous to the compulhalf-penny, and demanded another in exchange for sory resignation of the late Ferdinand of Spain, proit. Sir James had about £40,000 per annum, and posed to the Spanish Government a plan, which had was at a loss whom to appoint his heir. I knew for its object the rendering of the Tagus navigable one Sir Thomas Colby, who lived at Kensington, to Madrid. After mature deliberation, the ingenuity and was, I think, a commissioner in the Victual- of the engineer, and the advantages derivable from ling-Office; he killed himself by rising in the mid- his project, were acknowledged by the ministry; but dle of the night, when he was in a very profuse the execution they thought proper to decline. On sweat, the effect of a medicine which he had taken the engineer's inquiring the cause of so extraordifor that purpose, and walking down stairs to look nary a refusal, they returned for answer, that if it had for the key of his cellar, which he had inadver- been the intention of Nature that the Tagus should tently left on a table in his parlor: he was appre- be navigable so high into Spain as Madrid, she hensive that his servants might seize the key and would have rendered it so herself; to presume to rob him of a bottle of port wine. This man died improve what nature had left imperfect would be intestate, and left more than 1,200,000 in the funds, scandalous and impious! The plan was, however, which was shared among five or six day-laborers, afterwards adopted; as was that of M. le Maur for who were his nearest relations. Sir William forming a canal from the mountains of Guadarama Smyth, of Bedfordshire, who was my kinsman, to the Tagus, and from that river to the Guadina and when he was near seventy, was wholly deprived the Guadalquiver, thus opening a ready communicaof his sight; he was persuaded to be couched by tion between Madrid, Toledo, Cordova, and Seville. Taylor, the occulist, who, by agreement, was to -Bucke, have sixty guineas if he restored his patient to any degree of sight. Taylor succeeded in his operation, and Sir William was able to read and write without the use of spectacles during the rest of his life; but as soon as the operation was performed, and Sir William seeing the good effects of it, instead PUBLIC OPINION. I KNOW one who is wiser than Voltaire, and has of being overjoyed, as any other person would more understanding than Napoleon himself, and al have been, he began to lament the loss (as he cal-ministers who ever were, are, or will be, and this one led it) of his sixty guineas, His contrivance, is public opinion.-Talleyrand. |