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Can comeliness of form, or shape, or air,
With comeliness of words or deeds compare ;
No-those at first the unwary heart may gain;
But these these only can that heart retain.

DR. JOHNSON.

HERCULEAN strength, and a stentorian voice,
Of wit a fund, of words a countless choice,
In learning, rather various than profound,
In truth intrepid, in religion sound,
A trembling frame, and a distorted sight;
But firm in judgment and in genius bright.
In controversy rarely known to spare :
But humble as the publican in prayer;
To more than merited his kindness, kind,
And though in manners harsh, of friendly mind,
Deep ting'd with melancholy's blackest shade,
And though prepar'd to die, of death afraid.
Such Johnson was-of him with justice vain,
When will this nation see his like again!

Guy.

"I CANNOT imagine," said an alderman, "why my whiskers should turn grey so much sooner than the hair on my head." "Because," observed a wag, "you have worked much harder with your jaws than your brains."

THE DANCE OF JUSTICE.

A CURIOUS incident occurred during the ball given at Cork in honour of the British Association, which exemplified the adroitness of the Irish police. A number of the Swell Mob honoured Cork with a visit for the occasion, some of whom came express from London, and among them several female practitioners. The crowded Ball-room afforded ample field for displaying their skill, and thither of course they repaired. An inspector of police, dressed in ball costume, having observed one of these ladies appropriating a gentleman's purse, procured an introduction to the fair one, and obtained the honour of her hand for the next quadrille. The gentleman of course in the pauses of the dance, did the agreeable to the lady, she on her part, lavishing blandishments on her military looking

admirer. The dance ended, the gentleman's arm was offered for a promenade, and when near the door he quietly resigned. his fair partner into the hands of a brother officer, about whose appearance there could be no mistake.

SHRIMPS.

THE office of shrimps seems to be analogous to that of some insects on land, whose task it is to clear away the remains of dead animal matter after the beasts and birds of prey have been satiated. If a dead small bird or frog be placed where ants can have access to it, those insects will speedily reduce the body to a closely-cleaned skeleton. The shrimp family acting in hosts, as speedily remove all traces of fish or flesh from the bones of any dead animal exposed to their ravages. They are, in short, the principal scavengers of the ocean; and notwithstanding their office, they are deservedly and highly prized as nutritious and delicious food.-Penny Cyclopædia.

SOCIAL SYSTEM IN JAPAN.

THE great characteristic of political society in Japan is, that every appointment and profession is hereditary, whence the absence of all those moving impulses to individual ambition which animate and convulse society in Europe. The population of the country is divided into eight classes, viz., the reigning princes or governors, the nobility, the priesthood,military, civil officers,-merchants,-artisans, and labourers. There is one solitary profession, which seems like the Pariahs of India, to form a caste beyond the pale of society; and this is the profession of a tanner. All intercourse with tanners is avoided as well as forbidden, and they supply the public with executioners.-Meylan's Illustrations of Japan.

DANIEL LAMBERT.

THOUGH Our town could not vie with the Islington Hercules, we have produced the largest and heaviest man in the world. Daniel Lambert and myself were boys together, and as I lived next door to him, I watched his growth for several years. At the age of ten he was a tall, strong lad, of a very quiet disposition, not at all inclined to be jolly; but possessing a fine open countenance. Soon after the age of fourteen he began

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to thicken rapidly; like Milo with the calf, I have often carried him upon my back; but not when he became an ox. He was very fond of bathing, and his corpulency enabled him to perform extraordinary feats in the water. He was the envy of boys who were learning to swim, for while they were struggling to keep their heads above water, he would lie, like a whale, motionless upon the surface. During the summer months he never was so happy as when wallowing for hours in the river, rolling over and over like a hippopotamus; and as his weight increased, this desire increased also. The great use he made of this luxury probably relaxed the skin, and tended to increase his bulk. Mr. Lambert was highly sensitive upon the subject of his huge appearance; and when he ventured out, was aware that it drew upon him the general gaze. With a cultivated mind, I might say above his station in life, he could not bear this exposure, and soon gave up his ordinary walks, remaining constantly at home. A life so sedentary operated to make him still more corpulent. In summer he could only enjoy the fresh air by sitting at his door, and that always without his coat. Dr. Hague, the University professor of music at Cambridge, having called upon me, I took him to see that Roman curiosity, the Jewry wall near St. Nicholas' church; and as we were going to view the room where Richard III. slept the night before the fight in Bosworth field, we had occasion to pass Mr. Lambert's house. He was sitting at the door, and the moment my friend caught a sight of him, in a fit of astonishment he made a full stop, and exclaimed, "Mercy on us, what a sight!" I walked on, knowing how much Mr. Lambert disliked the rude gaze of a stranger, and entered into conversation with him to take off the effect of Hague's astonishment; but Lambert followed the little doctor with his keen eye, and frowned upon him as he passed us, till he was out of sight. On rejoining the professor, I found him so filled with amazement, that the sights I had in store for him claimed none of his attention with what he had unexpectedly seen. The quantity of cloth required to make his clothes was immense. When he walked, there was a lightness in his step that was surprising; he had a voice clear and agreeable, and sung with ease and taste. He was remarkably temperate, and frequently tried the experiment of abstinence, without any apparent diminution of bulk. When unrestrained he would eat an entire leg of mutton. Mr. Lambert was exceedingly fond of the sports of the field, and was curious in the breed of his dogs and game-fowls, which attracted to his house many country gentlemen. This was a delicate way of

satisfying their curiosity, and by the sale of these animals something was contributed to his support. This source of revenue, however, began to decline, and his circumstances at length compelled him to form an alliance with a Mr. Pearson, much against his will; and he first submitted to be shown for a sight in Piccadilly, London; when I visited town, I called upon him as a friend, and soon discovered that he was distressed at my seeing him in a situation so degrading; he got up from his enormous chair (a thing he rarely did), and shook me by the hand. That his sensibility was wounded was evident during my stay, by the rebuff he gave a gentleman he thought too particular in his inquiries. He died, aged 36, at Stamford, on the 21st of June, 1809, and when last weighed he was 52 stones 11 pounds; but he had so much increased since that time, that his attendant told me he probably could not be less than 57 stones at the time of his decease.-Gardiner's Music and Friends.

EDUCATION IN ICELAND.

In the Island of Iceland there is no such thing to be found as a man or woman-not decidedly deficient in mental capacity -who cannot read and write well, while the greater part of all classes of the inhabitants have mastered several of the higher branches of education, including a knowledge of modern languages and an acquaintance with classical literature.-Porter's Progress of the Nation, Vol. III. sec. 7.—Moral Progress.

THE INDIAN APPETITE.

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No people so soon get tired of any particular diet as Indians; and their longings for change are often truly ridiculous. The flexibility of their stomachs is no less surprising. At one time they will gorge themselves with food, and are then prepared to go without any for several days, if necessary. Enter their tents; sit there, if you can, for a whole day, and not for an instant will you find the fire unoccupied by persons of all cooking. When not hunting or travelling, they are in fact always eating. Now it is a little roast, a partridge or rabbit perhaps; now a tit-bit broiled under the ashes; anon, a portly kettle, well filled with venison, swings over the fire; then comes a choice dish of curdled blood, followed by the sinews and marrow-bones of deers' legs singed on the embers. And so the grand business of life goes unceasingly round, interrupted

only by sleep! Another physical singularity of the Northern tribes is, that though capable of resisting with the greatest fortitude the most intense cold, they are wonderfully fond of fire. At an establishment, even when the weather is mild and pleasant out-of-doors, they are to be seen heaping on fuel in the house, and actually sitting cross-legged on the hearth, where a white man would speedily be roasted.-Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America, by T. Simpson.

PRAISE OR CENSURE.

SPEAK not in high commendation of any man to his face, nor censure any man behind his back; but if thou knowest anything good of him, tell it unto others; if anything ill, tell it privately and prudently to himself.-Burkitt.

ALAS! and did my Saviour bleed,
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?

Was it for crimes that I had done,
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut his glories in,

When God, the mighty Maker died,
For man, the creature's sin.

Thus might I hide my blushing face,
While his dear Cross appears,
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt my eyes in tears.

But drops of grief can ne'er repay
The debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away.
'Tis all that I can do.

AWAKE my soul, and with the sun
Thy daily stage of duty run;
Shake off dull sloth and early rise
To pay thy morning sacrifice.

Watts.

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