ment is the bow drawing-room: it is nearly finished, with the exception of the gilding. The cornice is supported by eighteen Corinthian columns of lapis lazuli in scagliola. The stucco work of the dome exhibits the national emblems, and is in effect exceedingly rich, but at the same time light.

From this room the great drawingroom opens, which, from its dimensions, and the style of the ornaments, will be extremely superb and striking, even in this suite of splendid apartments. It is seventy feet in length. The cornice is supported by coupled columns of a rosecoloured scagliola, formed in imitation of a very rare Bohemian mineral granulated with gold, like lapis lazuli.

(To be continued.)

The Selector;

AND

LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS.

THE NETHERLANDS.

OPPORTUNELY enough, the last pub lished volume of the Cabinet Cyclopædia is a History of the Netherlands. The author is Mr. T. C. Grattan, who has written many continental sketches and romances of considerable merit. His present is a task with less scope for exuberant fancy; since, to compress the history of a country, for nearly 1600 years, into 350 pages, as in the volume before us, must have involved much patient and laborious research. Mr. Grattan's name is associated with the Netherlands: if we mistake not, several of his sketches, and the incidents of their narratives are laid in this country, so that he is likely to be somewhat familiar with its history; and this attachment, joined with his graphic neatness as a writer, has enabled him to produce a work in spirit beyond an ordinarily compiled history.

We have mentioned the appearance of this work as very opportune; and any file of newspapers for the last month will support our opinion: of course we allude to the revolutionary events in the Netherlands. The present book, therefore, comes in the nick of time, just when it is wanted, and that is a chance of success which, comparatively, few books have. Of course, there is a "turn of the market" in book-selling as well as elsewhere.

It has often occurred to us that newspapers are stronger inducements to the acquirement of knowledge than they are commonly thought to be. All the poli

tical changes which they detail in their dispatches ought to revive our historical acquaintance with the countries in which these changes are taking place. Thus, a commotion no sooner takes place on the continent, than maps, prints, and plans of the country become of peculiar interest. Hundreds and thousands are not, however, thus satisfied, and they seek for popular histories; and to supply these, so as to be accessible to all, ought to be the aim of the periodical libraries now publishing. The Useful Knowledge Society have set about this labour, by publishing "Greece," and, very lately, "The American Revolution."

The Family Library already contains "The Jews" and "British India," besides historical lives and six of the ten volumes of the Cabinet Cyclopædia now published, consist of Histories. The plan to which we have adverted is thus in progress, and its advantages are too obvious to need further exemplification.

This brings us back to Mr. Grattan's "Netherlands.". Of its actual value, we do not pretend to speak critically. We are glad to see the pages with footnote references, among which it is not difficult to recognise those of sterling character. The reader will probably expect a few extracts :-

Curious Factions.

"We must not omit to notice the existence of two factions, which, for near two centuries, divided and agitated the whole population of Holland and Zealand. One bore the title of Hoeks (fishing-hooks); the other was called Kaabeljauws (cod-fish). The origin of these burlesque denominations was a dispute between two parties at a feast, as to whether the cod-fish took the hook, or the hook the cod-fish? This appa rently frivolous dispute was made the pretext for a serious quarrel; and the partisans of the nobles and those of the towns ranged themselves at either side, and assumed different badges of distinction. The Hoeks, partisans of the towns, wore red caps; the Kaabeljauws wore grey ones. In Jacqueline's quarrel with Philip of Burgundy, she was supported by the former; and it was not till the year 1492 that the extinction of that popular and turbulent faction struck a final blow to the dissensions of both."

Assassination of William, Prince of Orange.

"On the 10th of July, 1584, as he left his dining-room, and while he placed his foot on the first step of the great stair leading to the upper apartments of his

house, a man, named Balthasar Gerard (who, like the former assassin, waited for him at the moment of convivial reJaxation), discharged a pistol at his body: three balls entered it. He fell into the arms of an attendant, and cried out faintly, in the French language, God pity me! I am sadly wounded-God have mercy on my soul, and on this unfortunate nation!' His sister, the Countess of Swartzenberg, who now hastened to his side, asked him in German, if he did not recommend his soul to God? He answered, 'Yes,' in the same language, but with a feeble voice. He was carried into the dining-room, where he immediately expired. His sister closed his eyes his wife too was on the spot, Louisa, daughter of the illustrious Coligny, and widow of the gallant Count of Teligny, both of whom were also murdered almost in her sight, in the frightful massacre of St. Bartholomew. We may not enter on a description of the afflict ing scene which followed; but the mind is pleased in picturing the bold solem nity with which prince Maurice, then eighteen years of age, swore-not vengeance or hatred against his father's murderers-but that he would faithfully and religiously follow the glorious example he had given him.

Whoever would really enjoy the spirit of historical details should never omit an opportunity of seeing places rendered memorable by associations connected with the deeds, and especially with the death, of great men: the spot, for instance, where William was assassinated at Delft; the old staircase he was just on the point of ascending; the narrow pass between that and the dining-hall whence he came out, of scarcely sufficient extent for the murderer to hold forth his arm and his pistol, two feet and a half long. This weapon, and its fellow, are both preserved in the museum of the Hague, together with two of the fatal bullets, and the very clothes which the victim wore. The leathern doublet, pierced by the balls and burned by the powder, lies beside the other parts of the dress, the simple gravity of which, in fashion and colour, irresistibly brings the wise great man before us, and adds a hundred fold to the interest excited by a recital of his murder."

(The title-page contains a vignette of this tragical event.)

Fire-ships at the Siege of Antwerp,1585.

"Early on the night of the 4th of April, the Prince of Parma and his army were amazed by the spectacle of three huge masses of flame floating down the

river, accompanied by numerous lesser appearances of a similar kind, and bearing directly against the prodigious barrier, which had cost months of labour to him and his troops, and immense sums of money to the state. The whole surface of the Scheldt presented one sheet of fire; the country all round was as visible as at noon; the flags, the arms of the soldiers, and every object on the bridge, in the fleet, or the forts, stood out clearly to view; and the pitchy darkness of the sky gave increased effect to the marked distinctness of all. Astonishment was soon succeeded by consternation, when one of the three machines burst with a terrific noise before they reached their intended mark, but time enough to offer a sample of their nature. The Prince of Parma, with numerous officers and soldiers, rushed to the bridge, to witness the effects of this explosion; and just then a second and still larger fire-ship, having burst through the flying bridge of boats, struck against one of the estoccades. Alexander, unmindful of danger, used every exertion of his authority to stimulate the sailors in their attempts to clear away the monstrous machine, which threatened destruction to all within its reach. Happily for him, an ensign who was near, forgetting in his general's peril all rules of discipline and forms of ceremony, actually forced him from the estoccade. He had not put his foot on the river bank when the machine blew up. The effects were such as really baffle description. The bridge was burst through; the estoccade was shattered almost to atoms, and, with all that it supported-men, cannon, and the huge machinery employed in the various works-dispersed in the air. The cruel Marquis of Roubais, many other officers, and eight hundred soldiers, perished, in all varieties of death-by flood, or flame, or the horrid wounds from the missiles with which the terrible machine was overcharged. Fragments of bodies and limbs were flung far and wide; and many gallant soldiers were destroyed, without a vestige of the human form being left to prove that they had ever existed. The river, forced from its bed at either side, rushed into the forts, and drowned numbers of their garrisons; while the ground far beyond shook as in an earthquake. The prince was struck down by a beam, and lay for some time senseless, together with two generals, Delvasto and Gajitani, both more seriously wounded than he; and many of the soldiers were burned and mutilated in the most frightful manner.'

Union of Belgium and Holland. "It has been asked by a profound and sagacious inquirer, or at least the question is put forth on undoubted authority in his name, 'Why did England create for herself a difficulty, and what will be by and by a natural enemy, in uniting Holland and Belgium, in place of ma naging those two immense resources to her commerce by keeping them sepa rate? for Holland, without manufac. tures, was the natural mart for those of England, while Belgium, under an Eng. lish prince, had been the route for constantly inundating France and Ger many.*

So asked Napoleon, and England may answer and justify her conduct so im pugned, on principles consistent with the general wishes and the common good of Europe. The discussion of the ques tion is foreign to our purpose, which is to trace the circumstances, not to argue on the policy, that led to the formation of the Netherlands as they now exist. But it appears that the different integral parts of the nation were amalgamated from deep-formed designs for their mutual benefit. Belgium was not given to Holland, as the already-cited article of the treaty of Paris might at first sight seem to imply; nor was Holland al lotted to Belgium. But they were grafted together, with all the force of legislative wisdom; not that one might be dominant and the other oppressed, but that both should bend to form an arch of common strength, able to resist the weight of such invasions as had perpetually perilled, and often crushed, their separate independence."

The last passage bears upon the very topic of the day, and proves Mr. Grattan's volume to be up to the spirit of

the times.

DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT.

is explained by collectors of such works cherishing their curiosities with more zest than do many book-buyers. Sir Walter Scott is a bibliomaniac in this way, and has a more valuable collection of works on Demonology and Witchcraft than has any other person of his time. Glanville, Reginald Scot, and Sinclair must be familiars in his supernatural stores; nay, the very atmosphere of the apartment or depository of these treasures must resemble that of a sulphur bath.

Our slight notice last week intimated that the work before us contains much that is new and old, to amuse the reader. Looking further into the book we, however, find the new to be considerably less striking than the old, and to bear about the same relation to each other, that the plain manners of the present day do to the startling chivalric characteristics of ages long past. Neither are the old contents so forcibly chosen as the lovers of the supernatural had a right to expect from Sir Walter Scott's ready access to rare materials. The author has, however, already by his own confession, proved himself more skilful in fiction, than he is, or chooses to be, diligent in mere matters of fact; and this concession would afford proof, if such were wanted, of the labour requisite to produce anything like a finished compilation. Thus, in the Letters on Demonology, several important works on the subject are unnoticed, and altogether there is less lore in the book than must have been expected. This lack of rarities will not be extensively acknowledged, especially if we are to judge by the old story of Booty's ghost now appearing in our newspapers, verbatim from the Westminster record.

We quote a few more extracts.

Scottish Customs.

narratives of others. Old books on

witchcraft, and superstitions generally, are somewhat scarce; that is, they are comparatively of greater cost than other

*Las Cases, Journal de la Vie privée et Conversations de Napol ou, t. iii, p. 83.

This custom was universal in Rome, where it was observed as keeping in memory the rape of the Sabines, and that it was by a show of violence towards the females, that the object of peopling the city was attained. On the

same occasion, a sweet cake, baked for

the purpose, is broken above the head of the bride, which is also a rite of classic antiquity.

In like manner, the Scottish, even of the better rank, avoid contracting mar

riage in the month of May, which genial season of flowers and breezes might, in other respects, appear so peculiarly favourable for that purpose. It was specially objected to the marriage of Mary with the profligate Earl of Bothwell, that the union was formed within this interdicted month. This prejudice was so rooted among the Scots, that, in 1684, a set of enthusiasts, called Gibbites, proposed to renounce it, among a long list of stated festivals, fast days, Popish relics, not forgetting the profane names of the days of the week, names of the months, and all sorts of idle and silly practices which their tender consciences took an exception to. This objection to solemnize marriage in the merry month of May, however fit a season for courtship, is also borrowed from the Roman Pagans, which, had these fanatics been aware of it, would have been an additional reason for their anathema against the practice. The ancients have given us a maxim, that it is only bad women who marry in that month.

The custom of saying, God bless you, when a person in company sneezes, is, in like manner, derived from sternutation being considered as a crisis of the

plague at Athens, and the hope that, when it was attained, the patient had a chance of recovery.

The Lancashire Witches. THE celebrated case of "the Lanca

shire Witches," (whose name was, and will be, long remembered, partly from Shadwell's play, but more from the ingenious and well-merited compliment to the beauty of the females of that province, which it was held to contain,) is as follows. Whether the first notice of this sorcery sprung from the idle head of a mischievous boy, is uncertain; but there is no doubt that it was speedily caught up and fostered for the pose of gain. The original story ran thus: These Lancaster trials were at two periods, the one in 1613, before Sir James Altham and Sir Edward Bromley, Barons of Exchequer, when nineteen witches were tried at once at Lancaster, and another of the name of Preston, at

pur

An

York. The report against these people is drawn up by Thomas Potts. obliging correspondent sent me a sight of a copy of this curious and rare book. The chief personage in the drama is Elizabeth Southam, a witch redoubted under the name of Dembdike, an account of whom may be seen in Mr. Roby's Antiquities of Lancaster, as well as a description of Maulkins' Tower,

the witches' place of meeting. It ap pears that this remote county was full of Popish recusants, travelling priests, and so forth; and some of their spells are given, in which the holy names and things alluded to form a strange con trast with the purpose to which they were applied, as to secure a good brewing of ale or the like. The public imputed to the accused parties a long train of murders, conspiracies, charms, mischances, hellish and damnable practices, "apparent," says the editor, "on their own examinations and confessions," and, to speak the truth, visible nowhere else. Mother Dembdike had the good luck to die before conviction. Among other tales, we have one of two female devils, called Fancy and Tib. It is remarkable that some of the unfortunate women endeavoured to transfer the guilt from themselves to others with whom they had old quarrels, which confessions were held good evidence against those who made them, and against the alleged accomplice also. Several of the unhappy women were found Not Guilty, to the great displeasure of the ignorant people of the county.

Last Execution for Witchcraft in Eng

land.

As late as 1682, three unhappy women, named Susan Edwards, Mary Trembles, and Temperance Lloyd, were hanged at Exeter for witchcraft, and, as usual, on their own confession. This is believed to be the last execution of the kind in England, under form of judicial sentence. But the ancient superstition, so interesting to vulgar credulity, sunk down in a deeper shade upon the like sediment clearing itself from water, ignorant and lowest classes of society, in proportion as the higher regions were purified from its influence. The populace, including the ignorant of every class, were more enraged against witches, when their passions were once excited, in proportion to the lenity exercised towards the objects of their indignation, by those who administered

the laws. Several cases occurred in which the mob, impressed with a conviction of the guilt of some destitute old creatures, took the law into their own hands, and, proceeding upon such evidence as Hopkins would have had recourse to, at once, in their own apprehension, ascertained their criminality, and administered the deserved punishment.

Pricking for Witchcraft. ONE celebrated mode of detecting witches, and torturing them at the same

time, to draw forth confession, was, by running pins into their body, on pretence of discovering the devil's stigma, or mark, which was said to be inflicted by him upon all his vassals, and to be insensible to pain. This species of search, the practice of the infamous Hopkins, was in Scotland reduced to a trade; and the young witchfinder was allowed to torture the accused party, as if in exercise of a lawful calling, although Sir George Mackenzie stigmatizes it as a horrid imposture. I observe in the Collections of Mr. Pitcairn, that, at the trial of Janet Peaston, of Dalkeith, the magistrates and ministers of that market town caused John Kincaid, of Tranent, the common pricker, to exercise his craft upon her," who found two marks of what he called the devil's making, and which appeared indeed to be so, for she could not feel the pin when it was put into either of the said marks, nor did they (the marks) bleed when they were taken out again; and when she was asked where she thought the pins were put in, she pointed to a part of her body distant from the real place. They were pins of three inches in length."

Besides the fact, that the persons of old people especially sometimes contain spots void of sensibility, there is also room to believe that the professed prickers used a pin, the point, or lower part of which was, on being pressed down, sheathed in the upper, which was hollow for the purpose, and that which appeared to enter the body did not pierce it at all. But, were it worth while to dwell on a subject so ridiculous, we might recollect, that in so terrible an agony of shame as is likely to convulse a human being under such a trial, and such personal insults, the blood is apt to return to the heart, and a slight wound as with a pin, may be inflicted, without being followed by blood. In the latter end of the seventeenth century, this childish, indecent, and brutal practice, began to be called by its right name. Fountainhall has recorded, that in 1678, the privy council received the complaint of a poor woman, who had been abused by a country magistrate, and one of those impostors called prickers. They expressed high displeasure against the presumption of the parties complained against, and treated the pricker as a common cheat.

Refutation of Apparition Stories.

IT is the same with all those that are called accredited ghost stories usually told at the fireside. They want evi

dence. It is true, that the general wish to believe, rather than power of believing, has given some such stories a certain currency in society. I may mention, as one of the class of tales I mean, that of the late Earl St. Vincent, who watched, with a friend, it is said, a whole night, in order to detect the cause of certain nocturnal disturbances which took place in a certain mansion. The house was under lease to Mrs. Ricketts, his sister. The result of his lordship's vigil is said to have been, that he heard the noises, without being able to detect the causes, and insisted on his sister giving up the house. This is told as a real story, with a thousand different circumstances. But who has heard or seen an authentic account from Earl St. Vincent, or from his "companion of the watch," or from his lordship's sister? And as in any other case, such sure species of direct evidence would be necessary to prove the facts, it seems unreasonable to believe such a story on slighter terms. When the particulars are precisely fixed and known, it might be time to inquire whether Lord St. Vincent, amid the other eminent qualities of a first-rate seaman, might not be in some degree tinged with their tendency to superstition; and still farther, whether, having ascertained the existence of disturbances not immediately or easily detected, his lordship might not advise his sister rather to remove, than to remain in a house so haunted, though he might believe that poachers or smugglers were the worst ghosts by whom it was disturbed.

The story of two highly respectable officers in the British army, who are supposed to have seen the spectre of the brother of one of them in a hut, or barrack, in America, is also one of those accredited ghost tales, which attain a sort of brevet rank as true, from the mention of respectable names as the parties who witnessed the vision. But we are left without a glimpse when, how, and in what terms, this story obtained its currency; as also by whom, and in what manner, it was first circulated; and among the numbers by whom it has been quoted, although all agree in the general event, scarcely two, even of those who pretend to the best information, tell the story in the same way.*

The remarkable circumstance of Thomas, the second Lord Lyttleton,

* Sir Walter, we conclude, refers to the story

of Sir John Sherbroke and Gen. Wynyard,-See "Signs before Death and Authenticated Apparitions." 120. 1825.