with this belief they consider these four streams to be the four heads into which the river that went out of Eden to water the garden was parted,— namely, Pisan, Gihon, fleddekel, and Euphrates. (Gen. ii. 8-11) lers, during their stay here; but at this deep bed between two lofty whither he felt hurt at our not having and close-approaching hills, they dicome to his residence instead of putting vide into four separate streams, and up at the convent, or from whatever diverge off to the eastward and southother cause a jealousy mi ht have been ward, for the supply of the numerous excited, we could not imagine; yet cer- fountains in the city. The natural tain it was, that he received us in the tendency of men to enhance, by every coldest possible manner, and with a artificial charm, the value of that which sullenness that could have arisen from nature has bestowed on the place of no other cause than a most unfavour- their birth or residence, causes the able impression, or some supposed people of Damascus to believe that offence, of which, however, we were this was the place in which stood the unconscious. His residence appeared garden of Eden, or the Paradise of to be extremely beautiful and well our first parents; and in conformity furnished; but we saw only the room in which he received us, from his not pressing us, and we not asking, to see any other part of it. Notwithstanding the evident ill-humour of our receiver, he yet condescended, though one of the wealthiest merchants in the place, to fill and light our pipes himself, in conformity with the affected humility of Asiatic manners, and when the coffee was prepared, to present it to us with his own hands. Even M. BANKES'S Albanian servant, who was seated at the foot of the sopha on which he reclined, was equally honoured with the merchant's attention, while he stood before us to receive the cups after we had emptied them. We thought this a very remarkable trait of manners, as belonging to what is considered hospitality and humility in the Fast, where a combination of these qualities seem to be taken for the perfection of good-breeding; though in the present instance it was performed with a mortification that was but slightly concealed. As these are the principal waters near Damascus, and are in universal esteem for their sweetness and purity, it is highly probable, at least, that they are those spoken of by NAAMAN the Syrian, who, when desired by ELISHA to go and wash himself seven times in the Jordan, in order to cleanse himself of a leprosy, exclaimed, "Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them and be clean?" (2 Kings, v. 8—12.) From Damascus there is an annual caravan of pilgrims for Mecca. The Pacha of the city, for the time being, is always allowed the honour and the privilege of conducting this caravan in person, and from thence derives the title of Emir-el-Hadj, or the Prince of the Pilgrims,--an honour which the In the afternoon we went to see a holder of such a title ever after enjoys, very favourite spot of the Damascenes, he is considered by law as heir to the generally known by the separation of personal property of all who die on the waters. It is situated at a short their way to Mecca, during their residistance to the west of the city, and dence in that city, or on their return not far from the suburbs of Salheyhah. home,-a privilege that produces more We found at this spot many parties of wealth (from the great number of those Turks, enjoying the delicious freshness who die, and the merchandize and of the air in this delightful retreat; beasts of burden taken with them on and certainly nothing could be more romantically beautiful than the picture which the whole scene presented. The waters of the rivers Fege and Barrady, which join near the source of the former, came here from the north-west united in one stream, when, arriving this double errand of devotion and gain) than the surplus revenues of his government at home. The city of Damascus was built, peopled, and numbered among the first civilized settlements of the world, soon after the deluge, the earliest period THE SELECTOR. Come, thou lover, on whose eyes Soaring angel-pinion'd still. Come thou maiden sweet and young, Tales of softness, thoughts sublime, Now to all a fond farewell! By the forests deep that shake ESSAY ON MAGAZINES. “Magazines are of great service to those who are learning to write; they are fishing boats, which the buccauiers of Literature do not condescend to sink, burn, or destroy." Southey. NOTWITHSTANDING SO great an authority, the utility of magazines has sometimes been called into question. We have heard many specious arguments urged against them; and when the soundness of our cause has enabled us to triumph over these, we have, as is usual in such cases, been assailed by the battery of ridicule. There is, indeed, no truth which may not be obscured by sophistry; and the lovers of paradox have made the clearest facts subjects of doubt and quibble. Some men have perverted time and talents to prove that humanity is degraded by civilization; while others persuade themselves that the good order of society can be maintained only by depressing its lower ranks, and riveting their chains of ignorance. No wonder that with such principles, the periodical press, which illustrates this æra of our literature, should come into violent contact and accordingly it is of men such as we have described that it has incurred the censure. It is not the purpose of this essay to arrange and refute the arguments alluded to, which were an easy task. We propose to set forth a few of those claims to public support, which in the name of all periodicals, we consider to be ours. We do not assume much on the pleasing and recreative amusement which the highest intellectual capacities have found in these receptacles of miscellaneous literature when wearied by laborious efforts in Philosophy and Science; though this alone would seal their value. We look for a higher commendation. There is a very extensive class of society, who have neither time nor taste for the more serious pursuits of literature; and who are yet strongly susceptible of the pure emotions which are aroused in the cultivation even of its lighter branches. The appalling folio, the quarto hardly less formidable, and those other volumes of more modest pretensions might lie unopened and unheeded on the shelf, while the varied and inviting pages of the review or magazine will be conned with eagerness and relish. Surely, he has earned no mean praise who catered successfully for the intellectual appetites of this meritorious order of men. They who are disposed to lock up the stores of knowledge in favour of a privileged class, would plunge the rest once more into that half-brutal condition so beautifully referred to by the poetUnknown to them, whom sensual pleasures cloy, To fill the languid panse with finer joy.' Not long ago a multitude of our countrymen might have applied this couplet to themselves. The morning was enployed in field-sports or other engagements of the same description; the bottle claimed the evening. We may say of these things,-" Dulcia sunt in loco," and they are all reasonable enough in moderation; but, when they become, as they seemed to be, the sole aim of existence, their votaries are removed but one degree from the sagacious inmates of the kennel. The change that has since been effected in the organization of society is of very obvious importance; but I have not heard that reviews and magazines are numbered among the agents which co-operated to accomplish this great object. Like small skiffs, they found their way where the water was too shallow to admit vessels of heavier burthen, and thus they gave that impulse which has ripened into a general taste for letters. If this be true, it confers a dignity on that class of writers whose efforts have been dedicated to so honourable a cause. It may, indeed, be thought that I have assumed more than I can support by evidence but it is not so. Let the inhabitant of any populous village observe carefully the progressive steps of its society in improvement, and he will be satisfied with the evidence. The utility of periodical writings has been practically acknowledged since the days of Addison. The measure of utility must not be always estimated by any relation to pounds and shillings. Whatever contributes to the harmless pleasures and comforts of life, is as useful, in its degree, as a good estate, and worthy of all encouragement. There was never a time, perhaps, position which possesses the seeds of immortality will live even in the pages of a provincial magazine; -and those of inferior merit shall prolong their days by being found in good company; even as So om would have been saved, if it had held but five righteous persons. DELTA. in which the enjoyments of society centred so much in the interchange of thought, and sentiment, as at present. The excellence of ordinary conversation requires that just and sensible opinions should be embellished with lively and well-timed sallies of wit and humour. In this respect magazines have done more than any other kind of publication to train the mind in that suppleness and quick perception which have spread so many charms over the evening circle of the fire-side. They are charged with exhibiting subjects of only ephemeral interest, and also with the serious crime of engaging the attention to the exclusion of more important volumes. The charge is doubly unjust.- Many a page of honed sweets, instructive wisdom, and of brilliant wit would have been utterly lost, but for those repositories of scattered gems. They receive the contributions of every kind of talent, and present their offerings to all descriptions of blameless taste. The manner of their preceptive essays is apart from the dull formality, and pedantic arrogance so often met with elsewhere and in most instances they might fairly assume for a motto Delectando lectorem, pariterque monendo. The last, but not least acknowledgment we demand, is that with which we began the opportunity afforded to aspirants after fame to try their powers, and increase their strength. We have heard it remarked that this school is a bad one, leading its di. ciples into a desultory, and careless style-in reply, we scruple not to assert, that he who will commit himself by sending to the press a slovenly composition has not within him the promise of a good writer, and will rarely make one-of such persons we do not speak. But to the industrious and talented individual no exercise can be more profitable than that we recommend, till courage and prudence induce him to send forth his own unpiloted bark. The appeal is here made, particularly to the talent so richly diffesed throughout this county-it is called on to support the literature of its native province. And the encouragement is great-a com TO THE MEMORY OF GEORGE CANNING, ESQ. BY THE ARCHDEACON WRANGHAM. (From the "Amulet” for 1828.) Theme of all tongues, and object of all eyes, Genius of Albion, in what distant dell Born to rebuke the vicions and the vain, These with his light, and those with graver strain; If folly writhed beneath his playful song, r furious faction dyed his scorpion thong A like his hand, his heart, to virtae given, What thongh no longer 'mid the frantic tide His languid grasp thy struggling helm might guide, When fiint with fever'd agony he lay, And burning anguish drank his life away; thee; free Still did he pour the prayer thou might'st be But thou, he felt, would'st mourn his early fate, Yours were his daily, nightly toils. When pain The transient calm of his immortal mind There duly hang the well-earned wreath of fame, name. Facétie. (ext) DEUX amis qui, depuis long.tems, ne s'étoient vus, se rencontrèrent par hasard. Comment te portes.to, dit l'an? pas trop, bien, dit l'antre, et je me suis marié depuis que je t'ai vn.- Bonne nouvelle! pas tout-a-fait, car j'ai épousé une méchante femme-Tant pis! pas trop tant pis! car sa dut étoit de deux mille Louis. Eh bien cela console. Pas absolument, car j'ai employé cette somme en montons, qui sont tous morts de la clavelée.-Cela est envérité bien fâcheux ! Pas si fachenx, car la vente de leurs peanx m'a rapporté an-de-là du prix des moutons;-En ce cas, vous voilà donc indemnisé ?-pas tont-a-fait car ma maison où j'avois déposé mon argent, vient d'être consumée par les flames.-Oh voilà un grand malhenr. Pas si grand non plus, car ina femme et la maison ont brulé ensemble. A. LORD ELLENBOROUGH. AN amateur practitioner wishing upon one occasion, in the court of king'sbench, to convince Lord Ellenborough of his importance, said, "My lord, I sometimes employ myself as a doctor." "Very likely, sir," said his lordship drily; but is any body else fool enough to employ you in that capacity?"-Mems, Maxims, and Memoirs. ANECDOTE. WHOEVER the following story may be fathered on, Sir John Hamilton was certainly its parent. The duke of Rutland, at one of his levees, being at a loss (as probably most kings, princes, and viceroys occasionally are) for something to say to every person he was bound in etiquette to notice, remarked to Sir John Hamilton that there was "a prospect of an excellent crop-the timely rain," observed the duke, "will bring every thing above ground.” “God forbid, your excellency !" exclaimed the courtier. excellency stared, whilst Sir John continued sighing heavily as he spoke"yes, God forbid! for I have got three wives under it. His BIRTHS IN SEPTEMBER. Withiel wife of the Rev. Vyell Vyvyan of a son Launceston, Mrs. W. Derry of a son. Mrs. Wise of a daughter. Truro, Mrs. Tregeiles of a son. Redrath, Mrs. J. Tozer of a daughter. BIRTHS IN OCTOBER. Gwithian, Mrs. R. Hoskin of a daughter. Boscastle, Mrs. Bellamy of a daughter. Falmouth, Mrs. Treleaven of a daughter. Camelford, Mrs. H. locking of a son. Helston, Mrs. J. Ash of a daughter. Bodmin, Mrs. Capt. Wyford of a son. Mrs. W. Hawke of a son. Falmouth, Mrs. T. Molynenx of a son. Chacewater, Mrs. W. H. Pascoe of a daughter MARRIAGES IN OCTOBER Probus, John Vyvyan Esqr. of Gwennap, to St. Ives, Mr. H B. Wall to Miss Williams. St. Levan, Mr. W. Hutchens to Miss M. Rowe St. Agnes, Mr. T. Trevenning to Miss Symons Gwennap, Capt. J. Phillips to Mrs. Hooper Mr. H. Veal to Miss Tregoning Mr. J. Oppey to Miss Webster St. Columb, Mr. W. Coraish to Miss H. Cornish Oxford, Mr. T. Pearce of Newport, to Miss Nicholls of Launceston DEATHS IN SEPTEMBER. Illogan, Capt. T. Garland aged 57. Marazion, Mr. N. Jolins. Mr. J. Polgrain aged 83. Breage, Mr. Johu Blight aged 96. Pill near Lostwithiel Miss Grace Whitley. Fo vey, Sergeant Bennetts R. A. St. Day, Mrs. C. Hawke, aged 83 Mr. W. Cocking, aged 29 Printed and Published by J. PHILP, Falmouth, and sold by most Booksellers in the Courty. |