tence. the earnest application of Don Vincenzo Gonzaga, son of the Duke of Mantua, he was released from his long imprisonment. He spent the close of that year at Mantua; but he then resumed his wandering habits, and, although he never again visited Ferrara, his old disposition to flit about from place to place seems to have clung to him like a disease. In this singular mode of existence he met with the strangest vicissitudes of fortune. One day he would be the most conspicuous object at a splendid court, crowned with lavish honors by the prince, and basking in the admiration of all beholders; another, he would be travelling alone on the highway, with weary steps and empty purse, and reduced to the necessity of borrowing, or rather begging, by the humblest suit, the means of sustaining exisSuch was his life for six or seven years. At last, in November, 1594, he made his appearance at Rome. It was resolved that the greatest living poet of Italy should be crowned with the laurel in the imperial city, as Petrarch had been more than two hundred and fifty years before. The decree to that effect was passed by the Pope and the Senate; but ere the day of triumph came, Tasso was seized with an illness, which he instantly felt would be mortal. At his own request, he was conveyed to the neighboring monastery of St. Onofrio, the same retreat in which, twenty years before, his father had breathed his last; and here, surrounded by the consolations of that faith, which had been through life his constant support, he patiently awaited what he firmly believed would be the issue of his malady. He expired in the arms of Cardinal Cinthio Aldobrandini, on the 25th of April, 1595, having just entered upon his fifty-second year. The Cardinal had brought him the Pope's benedic tion, on receiving which he exclaimed, "This is the crown with which I hope to be crowned, not as a poet in the Capitol, but with the glory of the blessed in heaven." DAVID HUME AND HIS MOTHER. Hume, the historian, received a religious education from his mother, and, early in life, was the subject of strong and hopeful religious impressions; but, as he approached manhood, they were effaced, and confirmed infidelity succeeded. Maternal partiality, however alarmed at first, came at length to look with less and less pain upon this declension, and filial love and reverence seem to have been absorbed in the pride of philosophical skepticism; for Hume now applied himself with unwearied, and, unhappily, with successful efforts, to sap the foundation of his mother's faith. Having succeeded in this dreadful work, he went abroad into foreign countries; and as he was returning, an express met him in London, with a letter from his mother, informing him that she was in a deep decline, and could not long survive; she said she found herself without any support in her distress; that he had taken away that source of comfort upon which, in all cases of affliction, she used to rely, and that she now found her mind sinking into despair: she did not doubt that her son would afford her some substitute for her religion; and she conjured him to hasten to her, or at least to send her a letter, containing such consolations as philosophy can afford to a dying mortal. Hume was overwhelmed with anguish on receiving this letter, and hastened to Scotland, travelling day and night; but before he arrived his mother expired. No permanent impression seems, however, to have been made on his mind by this most trying event; and whatever remorse he might have felt at the moment, he soon relapsed into his wonted obduracy of heart.- -SILLIMAN'S Travels in England. A story like this requires no comment. it is that false philosophy restores the sting to death, and gives again the victory to the grave! Thus HORNS OF CATTLE. Amongst the causes which tend to the cheap production of any article, and which require additional capital, may be mentioned, the care which is taken to allow no part of the raw produce, out of which it is formed, to be absolutely wasted. An attention to this circumstance sometimes causes the union of two trades in one factory, which otherwise would naturally have been separated. An enumeration of the arts to which the horns of cattle are applicable, furnishes a striking example of this kind of economy. The tanner, who has purchased the hides, separates the horns, and sells them to the makers of combs and lanterns. The horn consists of two parts; an outward horny case, and an inward conical-shaped substance, somewhat between hardened hair and bone. The first process consists in separating these two parts, by means of a blow against a block of wood. The horny outside is then cut into three portions, by means of a frame-saw. 1. The lowest of these, next the root of the horn, after undergoing several processes, by which it is rendered flat, is made into combs. 2. The middle of the horn, after being flattened by heat, and its transparency improved by oil, is split into thin layers, and forms a substitute for glass in lanterns of the commonest kind. 3. The tip of the horn is used by the makers of knife-handles and of the tops of whips, and similar purposes. 4. The interior, or core of the horn, is boiled down in water. A large quantity of fat rises to the surface: this is put aside, and sold to the makers of yellow soap. 5. The liquid itself is used as a kind of glue, and is purchased by the cloth-dressers for stiffening. 6. The bony substance, which remains behind, is ground down, and sold to the farmers for manure. Besides these various purposes to which the different parts of the horn are applied, the chippings which arise in comb-making are sold to the farmer for manure. In the first year after they are spread over the soil, they have comparatively little effect; but during the next four or five, their efficiency is considerable. The shavings, which form the refuse of the lantern-maker, are of a much thinner texture. A few of them are cut into various figures, and painted and used as toys; for they curl up when placed in the palm of a warm hand. But the greater part of these shavings are sold also for manure, which, from their extremely thin and divided form, produces its full effect upon the first crop. GAMING HOUSES OF LONDON. The gaming-houses of London-at least those on a great scale-are all situate in the modern and elegant quarter of the town, and are among the greatest wonders of this world of houses and human beings. In the slang of the town, such dens of vice and plunder are designated Hells,-a name too applicable to the nature of the business transacted within them. We are credibly informed by the author of Life in the West-a recent production, that these houses are fitted up in a style of extraordinary splendor, and that their expenses are enormous, though nothing in comparison to the profits realized. One house is supported at an expense of a thousands pounds a week. The next in eminence costs a hundred and fifty pounds a week, and the minor ones vary from fifty to eighty pounds. Each house nas a regular compliment of officials, who are paid extravagant salaries. The inspectors or overlookers, are paid from six to eight pounds a week each; the "croupiers," or dealers, three to six pounds; the waiters and porters, two pounds; and a person who keeps a look out after the police officers, to give warning of their approach, two pounds. The money disbursed for secret information, wines, &c., cannot be easily ascertained, but must be very large. Every thing in the interior of these mansions is elegant; but certain things betoken the dreadful and hazardous nature of the establishment. The doors and window shutters are fortified with strong iron plates, so that an ingress by violence is a tardy and difficult matter. There is one of these iron doors at the bottom of the stairs, one near the top, and a third at the entrance into the gaming room. These are opened and closed one after the other, as the person ascends or descends. In each of the doors there is a little round glass peep hole, for the porters to take a deliberate view of all persons desirous of admittance, in order to keep out or let in whom they choose. An unsophisticated person would naturally enough suppose, from this account, that none but those of great courage would dare to penetrate into the heart of these establishments; but it must be explained that there is nothing like gruffness or jailorism in the keepers of the mansion. The whole is placed on an easy genteel footing. No civility can equal that of the waiters, while the condescension of the proprietors, or bankers, the refreshments and wine, all combined, have an interesting and deceptive influence upon the inexperienced and unreflecting mind. But what kind of people are they who keep such houses? are they born a par |