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a fair time, overtook her on horseback, and that when she asked him to take her up, answered gaily, "That I will, Helen, if you can ride an inch behind the tail." The levity of this answer offended her greatly, and from that moment she cast the recreant from her heart, and never, as she confessed, loved again.

a life of unsullied integrity, died in Nov. or Dec. 1791, at the age of nearly fourscore. My respectable friend, Mr. Walker, found her residing as a cottier on the farm of Clouden, when he entered it, upwards of forty years ago, was exceedingly kind to her when she became frail, and even laid her head in the grave. Up to the period of her last illness, she corresponded regularly with her sister, and received every year from her a cheese and “pepper cake," portious of which she took great pleasure in presenting to her friends and neighbours. The exact spot in which she was interred was lately pointed out in Irongray churchyard-a romantic cemetery on the banks of the Cairn—and though, as a country woman said, there was nothing to distinguish it "but a stane ta'en aff the dyke."

This, some of our readers need not be told, is the original JEANIE DEANS: a character too noble to be invented: it belongs to nature and religion; and Sir Walter Scott has done himself great honour in adopting and embellishing it. For the particulars of her story, given above, we are indebted to Mr. M'Diarmid of Dumfries. A few more incidents we may take from the letter of Mrs. Goldie to Sir Walter. The Christian heroism of this poor woman's character had so powerfully struck this lady, that she anonymously com. municated to the Baronet the facts of which he has made such admirable use.

I regret that I am unable to fix the exact date of the principal incident in Helen Walker's life. I believe, however, that it occurred a few years previous to the more lenient law anent child murder, which was passed in 1736. At this time her sister Tibby, who was considerably younger, and a comely girl, resided in the same cottage; and it is not improbable that their father, a worthy man, was also alive. Isabella was courted by a youth of the name of Waugh, who had the character of being rather wild, fell a victim to his snares, and became pregnant, though she obstinately denied the fact to the last. The neighbours, however, suspected that a child had been born, and repeatedly urged her to confess her fault. But she was deaf to their entreaties, and denied all knowledge of a dead infant, which was found shortly after in the Cairn, or Clouden. The circumstance was soon bruited abroad, and by the directions of the Rev. Mr. Guthrie, of Irongray, the suspected person, and corpus delicti, were carried before the authorities for examination. The unnatural mother was committed to prison, and confined in what was called the "thief's hole," in the old jail of Dumfries—a grated room on the ground "I had taken for summer lodgings a cottage near the old floor, whither her seducer sometimes repaired and conversed Abbey of Lincluden. It had formerly been inhabited by a with her through the grating. When the day of trial ar- lady who had pleasure in embellishing cottages, which she rived, Helen was told that "a single word of her mouth found perhaps homely and even poor enough; mine, therewould save her sister, and that she would have time to re-fore, possessed many marks of taste and elegance unusual in pent afterwards;" but trying, as was the ordeal, harassing this species of habitation in Scotland, where a cottage is the alternative, nothing could shake her noble fortitude, literally what its name declares. her enduring and virtuous resolution. Sleep for nights fled from her pillow: most fervently she prayed for help and succour in the time of need; often she wept till the tears refused to flow, and her heart seemed too large for her body; but still no arguments, however subtle no entreaties, however agonizing-could induce her to offend her Maker by swerving from the truth.

Her communication was in these words:

Abbey before mentioned; some of the highest arches were "From my cottage door I had a partial view of the old land which led down to the ruin, and the strange fantastic seen over, and some through, the trees scattered along the shapes of almost all those old ashes accorded wonderfully well with the building they at once shaded and ornamented.

"The Abbey itself from my door was almost on a level with the cottage; but on coming to the end of the lane, it was discovered to be situated on a high perpendicular bank, at the foot of which run the clear waters of the Cluden, where they hasten to join the sweeping Nith,

"Whose distant roaring swells and fa's.”

As my kitchen and parlour were not very far distant, I one day went in to purchase some chickens from a person I heard offering them for sale. It was a little rather stoutlooking woman, who seemed to be between seventy and eighty years of age; she was almost covered with a tartan plaid, and her cap had over it a black silk hood, tied under the chin, a piece of dress still much in use among elderly women of that rank of life in Scotland; her eyes were dark, and remarkably lively and intelligent. I entered into conversation with her, and began by asking how she main

Her sister was tried, condemned, and sentenced to be executed at the termination of the usual period of six weeks. The result is well known, and is truly as powerfully set forth in the novel. Immediately after the conviction, Helen Walker borrowed a sum of money, procured one or more letters of recommendation, and, without any other guide than the public road, began to wend her way to the City of London a journey which was then considered more formidable than a voyage to America is in our day. Over her best attire she threw a plaid and hood, walked bare footed the whole way, and completed the distance in fourteen days. Though her feet were "sorely blistered," her whole frame exhausted, and her spirits sadly jaded, she found it impossible to rest until she had inquired her way to the residence of John, Duke of Argyle. As she arrived at the door, his Grace was just about to step into his carriage, and as the moment was too critical to be lost, the heroic pil-tained herself, &c. grim presented her petition, fell upon her knees, and urged its prayer with a degree of earnestness and natural eloquence, that more than realized the well-known saying of "snatching a grace beyond the reach of art." Here again the result is well known; a pardon was procured and despatched to Scotland, and the pilgrim, after her purse had been replenished, returned home, gladdened and supported by the consoling thought, that she had done her duty without violating her conscience. Touching this great chapter in her history, she was always remarkably shy and reserved; but there is one person still alive who has heard her say, that it was through "the Almighty's strength" that she was enabled to meet the Duke at the most critical moment a moment which, if lost, never might have been recalled in time to save her sister's life.

Tibby Walker, from the stain cast on her good name, retired to England, and afterwards became united to the man that had wronged her, and with whom, as is believed, she lived happily for the greater part of half a century. Her sister resumed her quiet rural employments, and after

"She said that in winter she footed stockings, that is, knit feet to country people's stockings, which bears about the same relation to stocking-knitting that cobbling does to shoemaking, and is of course both less profitable and less dignified; she likewise taught a few children to read, and in summer she whiles reared a few chickens.

"I said I could venture to guess from her face she had never been married. She laughed heartily at this, and said, 'I maun hae the queerest face that ever was seen, that ye could guess that. Now, do tell me, madam, how ye cam to think sae?' I told her it was from her cheerful disengaged countenance. She said, Mem, have ye na far mair reason to be happy than me, wi' a gude husband and a fine family o' bairns, and plenty o' every thing? for me, I'm the puirest o' a' puir bodies, and can hardly contrive to keep mysel' alive in a' the wee bits o' ways I hae tell't ye.' After some more conversation, during which I was more and more pleased with the old woman's sensible conversation, and the naivete of her remarks, she rose to go away, when I asked her name. Her countenance suddenly

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me.

"In the evening I related how much I had been pleased, and inquired what was extraordinary in the history of the poor woman. Mr. said, there were perhaps

few more remarkable people than Helen Walker. She had been left an orphan, with the charge of her sister considerably younger than herself, and who was educated and maintained by her exertions. Attached to her by so many ties, therefore, it will not be easy to conceive her feelings, when she found that this only sister must be tried by the laws of her country for child-murder, and upon being called as principal witness against her. The counsel for the prisoner told Helen, that if she could declare that her sister had made any preparations, however slight, or had given her any intimation on the subject, that such a statement would save her sister's life, as she was the principal witness against her. Helen said, 'It is impossible for me to swear to a falsehood; and, whatever may be the consequence, I will give my oath according to my conscience." " The sequel is already known.

Mrs. Goldie endeavoured to collect further particulars of Helen Walker, particularly concerning her journey to London, but found this nearly impossible; as the natural dignity of her character, and a high sense of family respectability, made her so indissolubly connect her sister's disgrace with her own exertions, that none of her neighbours durst ever question her upon the subject. One old woman, a distant relation of Helen's, and who is still living, says she worked a harvest with her, but that she never ventured to ask her about her sister's trial, or her journey to London; Helen,' she added, was a lofty body, and used a high style o' language.' The same old woman says, that every year Helen received a cheese from her sister, who lived at Whitehaven, and that she always sent a liberal portion of it to herself or to her father's family. This fact, though trivial in itself, strongly marks the affection subsisting between the two sisters, and the complete conviction on the mind of the criminal, that her sister had acted solely from high principle, not from any want of feeling, which another small but characteristic trait will further illustrate. A gentleman, a relation of Mrs. Goldie's, who happened to be travelling in the north of England, on coming to a small inn, was shown into the parlour by a female servant, who, after cautiously shutting the door, said, 'Sir, I'm Nelly Walker's sister !'-thus practically show. ing that she considered her sister as better known by her high conduct, than even herself by a different kind of celebrity.

Mrs. Goldie was extremely anxious to have a tombstone and an inscription upon it, erected in Irongray churchyard. This Sir Walter did before he went abroad.

THE PUIR MAN'S BAIRN.

The pair man's bairn-the puir man's bairn,

She has muckle in her lifetime to thole and to learn;

She maun bruick-she maun cruick-like the larch on the lea;
But God's blessing on the head o' the puir man's bairn.

The pair thing had an e'e, like an angel's, meek and mild,
But when feeling lit it up, it would glisten like the Erne;
When I censured, she was frozen, but I praised her and she
smiled-

Oh, blessings on the head o' the puir man's bairn.

Oh, she had a cheek wad ha'e charm'd even a saint,
And a look wad ha'e softened the hard heart o' airn;
And Virtue, the whole she could spare her, had lent,
And Beauty kiss'd the cheek of the puir man's bairn.

The pair man's bairn bides the scorn and the scaith,

And het WEE BIT PENNY FEE taks a lang time to earn ; She has little to expect frae our cauld hearts aneathThere's a better place aboon for the puir man's bairn.

VERSES FOR THE YOUNG.

THE WOOD MOUSE.

BY MARY HOWITT-A QUAKERESS.

"D'ye know the little wood-mouse?
That pretty little thing,

That sits among the forest leaves,
Or by the forest spring?

Its fur is red, like the red chestnut,
And it is small and slim;
It leads a life most innocent,
Within the forest dim.
"Tis a timid, gentle creature,
And seldom comes in sight;
It has a long and wiry tail,

And eyes both black and bright.
It makes its bed of soft, dry moss,
In a hole that's deep and strong;
And there it sleeps secure and warm,
The dreary winter long.

And though it keeps no calendar,

It knows when flowers are springing;
And it waketh to its summer life,
When the nightingale is singing.
Upon the bows the squirrel plays,

The wood-mouse plays below;
And plenty of food he finds for himself,
Where the beech and chestnut grov.
He sits in the hedge-sparrow's nest,
When its summer brood is fled;
And picks the berries from the bow
Of the hawthorn overhead.
And I saw a little wood mouse once,
Like Oberon, in his hall;

With the green, green moss beneath his feet,
Sit under a mushroom tall.

I saw him sit, and his dinner eat,
All under the forest tree,-
His dinner of chestnut ripe and red;
And he ate it heartily.

I wish you could have seen him there;
It did my spirit good,

To see the small thing God had made
Thus eating in the wood.

I saw that God regardeth them,
Those creatures weak and small:
Their table in the wild is spread
By Him who cares for all."

THE WEAVER'S SONG.

BY BARRY CORNWALL.

Weave, brothers, weave!-Swiftly throw
The shuttle athwart the loom,
And show us how brightly your flowers grow,
That have beauty, but no perfume!
Come, show us the rose, with a hundred dyes,
The lily, that hath no spot;

The violet, deep as your true love's eyes,
And the little Forget-me-not!

Sing, sing, brothers! weave and sing! 'Tis good both to sing and to weave: "Tis better to work than live idle : "Tis better to sing than grieve. Weave, brothers, weave! Weave, and bid The colours of sunset glow!

Let grace in each gliding thread be hid!
Let beauty about you blow!

Let your skein be long, and your silk be fine,
And your hands both firm and sure,

And time nor chance shall your work entwine; But all,-like a truth,-endure !—

So, sing, brothers, &c.

Weave, brothers, weave !-Toil is ours;
But toil is the lot of men;

One gathers the fruit, one gathers the flowers,
One soweth the seed again.

There is not a creature, from England's King, To the peasant that delves the soil,

That knows half the pleasures the seasons bring If he have not his share of toil!

So, sing, brothers, &c.

COLUMN FOR THE LADIES.

STAGNATION OF MARRIAGES.

Previous to the great political convulsion which imposed other duties upon her, life glided happy and cheerfully on, in the midst of youthful pleasures, and those serious studies towards which her taste inclined; but the explosion of the 29th Nov, 1830, disturbed this quiet and uniform existence. Claudia Potocka was then residing in the Grand Duchy of Posen. The first appeal of their native country was received by the youth of this ancient province, with a universal burst of enthusiastic sympathy. Notwithstanding the threats of the King of Prussia, and in defiance of the Ukases of the Muscovites, thousands of courageous citizens passed the frontiers to the support of their brethren in arms. Foremost in the ranks of these patriotic emigrants were Count Bernard and his young spouse. Although, on reaching Warsaw, Claudia Potocka did not join those intrepid heroines who were seen, like true Amazons, with well-poised lances, charging pulks of Cossacks, or seizing the standards of the enemy, yet her services in the national cause were neither less useful nor less perilous. The hospitals of Warsaw were the scene of her heroic devotion; there, accompanied by many distinguished associates, and surrounded by wounded warriors and those stricken with malignant cholera, she sacrificed every thing to the duties she had undertaken.Seated by the couches of the sick, during seven successive months, she was constantly occupied in dressing their wounds and alleviating their sufferings. Neither the sight of hideous gashes, nor the fear of contagion, deterred her from her course of persevering charity. The daughter of Dzialynski and the wife of Potocki became the humble and attentive nurse of Poland's brave sons. Such modest and unostentatious devotion is as truly heroic, and perhaps more profound, than that displayed in the field of battle.

Looking around this town, and recalling days of "auld lang syne," who can fail of being struck with the number of lovely women that year after year have passed through the ordeal of a season without advancing one step towards the hymeneal altar? And who, seeing these things, can fail of being convinced that society, as at present constituted, is not what it ought, or what it was intended to be? In former days our homely ancestors sought the bosom of their families for that recreation which modern youth roam abroad in quest of. Marriage then was a necessary, now it is a luxurious-I might almost say-an artificial state. So in former days, our hardy ancestors took the field, to provide by the precarious toils of the chase, for the maintenance of themselves and families until, by degrees, that which at first was an act of necessity, gradually mellowed down into a luxurious and expensive pastime. If there is one fault more unpardonable than another in a huntsman, it is not allowing the hounds to hunt for themselves; and if there is one that tends more frequently to the marring of matches than another, it is the short-sighted interference of our knowing mothers. I have had much experience in these matters, Mr. Editor-experience that none but men can gain; and if your fair readers will bear with my sporting phraseology, I will endeavour to point out the safest mode of pursuing the biped, as also those errors into which they generally fall. The first chapter is on the "kennel management," the latter of which words is strangely comprehensive of what many old comprehensive mammas doat and pride themselves on not a little. Then comes suggestions on names-a very material point, for what man would fall in love with the barbarously-named Barbara? who would woo the soft, tender, pincushioned Emily? The third was on rounding ears, which might very appropriately be applied for boring them for ear-rings. But what struck my fancy most was, on entering puppies a proceeding so much in favour with the ladies as to require a little eulogy from me, but whereon some useful hints might well be offered." Taking your hounds often by way of making them handy," answers to our balls and rout, which rub off any little rust or gaucherie; and " enticing young hounds to the chase," of course, is the same as young ladies entering life or looking for husbands. "The description of a fox-chase" would do well for the description of a flirtation, and would combine an immensity of information, and give rise to much sub-accompanied her on this sad journey, disguised as a waitingsequent reflection. Placing hounds advantageously is comment ed upon, and very proper information it is; nor ought drafting hounds to be overlooked, for taking too many daughters out to a ball is a very bad thing. "When a huntsman should be after his time," might stand in the place of telling an old Dowager not to come down too early to breakfast, and, "long drags" and "long courtships" are synonimous.-I am, Sir, &c.

BYRON'S OPINION OF BEAUTY.-I do not talk of mere beauty (continued Byron) of feature or complexion, but of expression, that looking out of the soul through the eyes, which, in my opinion, constitutes true beauty. Women have been pointed out to me as beautiful, who never could have interested my feelings, from their want of countenance, or expression, which means countenance; and others, who were little remarked, have struck me as being captivating, from the force of countenance. A woman's face ought to be like an April day-susceptible of change and variety; but sunshine should often gleam over it, to replace the clouds and showers that may obscure its lustre which, poetical description apart, (said Byron), in sober prose, means that good-humoured smiles ought to be ready to chase away the expression of pensiveness or care, that sentiment or earthly ills call forth. Women were meant to be the exciters of all that is finest in our natures, and the soothers of all that is turbulent and harsh.. Of what use, then, can a handsome automaton be, after one has got acquainted with a face that knows no change, though it causes many? This is a style of looks I could not bear the sight of for a week; and yet such are the looks that pass in society for pretty, handsome, and beautiful.

THE POLISH HEROINE.

Claudia Potocka, daughter of the Senator Palatine Count Xavier Dzialynski, was born at Konarzew, in Great Poland, the cradle of the Polish nation, now the Grand Duchy of Posen, in 1808, and was married, in 1824, to Count Bernard Potocki. Descended from one of the most ancient houses of Poland, and bred in the strictest principles of virtue, the young Claudia imbibed the germ of patriotism, hereditary in her family. When she entered into the married state, she found her husband animated by the same sentiments, and the same examples prevailed.

When the day of adversity came, Countess Claudia accompanied the Polish army in its retreat to Modlin ; when, in the midst of general confusion, she once with great difficulty procured a truss of straw, on which to repose her wearied head, but relinquished it in favour of a sick officer who accidentally caught her eye. Having, as a female, more facility in obtaining a passport, she availed herself of it for the purpose of saving, at great risk and peril, several patriota deeply compromised during the revolution. By this means, disguised in the costume of her domestics, Count Vincent Tyzkiewicz, Captain Tanski, young Wladimir Potocki, and others, were enabled to traverse Prussia undiscovered. Her friend Miss Szczaniecka.

maid. On one occasion the proscribed band was placed in imminent danger; at Thorn the Prussian police seemed disposed to imprison some of its members: but the Countess declared that she would be responsible for all; she offered the whole of her possessions as a guarantee, and by this generous act again preserved them.

On quitting Prussia, the Countess Potocka took up her abode at Dresden, there to deplore in solitude the misfortunes of her country. She, however, consented, at the solicitation of her compatriots, to join a ladies' committee, formed in the first instance under the auspices of the late Madame Dobrzycka, and which still continues to watch over the fate of unfortunate refugees. The remains of her fortune, her influence, her care, even her personal exertions, are entirely at the disposal of the unfortunate. A lady of her acquaintance, having one day made inquiries for a person to copy a voluminous manuscript, the Countess offered to provide one; under this pretext she obtained possession of the work, and laboured at it herself day and night, in order to deposit the proceeds of her industry in the funds of the society.

In the month of February last, General Bem arrived in Dresden, from the Prussian frontiers, for the purpose of explaining to the committee the deplorable situation of the Polish soldiers who had sought refuge in the Prussian territory. Without provisions and without clothes, in the depth of a severe winter, these unhappy men resolved rather to perish of cold and huuger, or even to face the fire of the Prussians, than to return to a land henceforth under the despotism of Russia.

The members of the committee were affected even to tears at the recital of such heroism and suffering; but funds were wanting, and they were at a loss how to afford the required assistance, when our young heroine, more ready or more devoted thin the rest, hit upon an expedient for obviating the difficulty. She still possessed some jewels and cachemires which the foreign police had not succeeded in depriving her of; these she instantly pledged, and the following day the sum of 40,000 florins was counted into the hands of General Bem for its pious destination. It was in honour of this noble action, that the Poles assembled at Dresden recently presented to their virtuous countrywoman a bracelet, with an inscription commemorative of the act, and pointing it out for national gratitude.

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The bracelet was closed by a plate of gold, surmounted by the arme of Poland and Lithuania, with the following inscription: Wdzieczni Polacy zgromadzeni w Dreznie, 1882. R: 18 Marea. The grateful Poles assembled at Dresden, 18th March, 1832.

A FAREWELL TO ABBOTSFORD.

BY MRS. HEMANS.

Home of the gifted! fare thee well,

And a blessing on thee rest;
While the heather waves its purple bell
O'er moss and mountain crest;
While stream to stream around thee calls,
And banks with broom are drest,
Glad be the harping in thy halls-

A blessing on thee rest!

While the high voice, from thee sent forth,
Bids rocks and cairn reply.
Wakening the spirits of the North,

Like a chieftain's gathering cry;
While its deep master-tones hold sway,
As a king's, o'er every breast,
Home of the Legend and the Lay!
A blessing on thee rest.

Joy to thy hearth, and board, and bower!
Long honours to thy line!

And hearts of proof, and hands of power,
And bright names worthy thine!
By the merry steps of childhood still
May thy free sward be prest!-
While one proud pulse in the land can thrill,
A blessing on thee rest!

OUR CLUB, AND OUR TOWN.

Our Whist club is going of, Some of the members go on Bo; two of em are perpetuly quareling like anything but double dummies, for one plays like Holye, and the other like Vineger. The young men have interduced Shorts, but I doant think they'le Last long. They are all so verry Sharp at the Pints, and as for drinking, I never se sich Liqvorish Chaps in my life. They are al ways laying ods, even at Super, when they'le Bet about the age of a Roosted foul, wich they cal Chicken hazzard, or about the Wait of a Curran py, wich they cal the Currency question. They al so smoke a grate manny seagars, but they cant Put the old man's pips out, wich it Wood be a Burning shame if they did. I am sorry to say politicks has Crept in; Sum is al for reform, and sum is al for none at al, and the only thing they agre in is, that the land Lord shant bring in no Bil. There is be sides grate dis-cushions as to the new game laws, sum entertaining douts wen sum people go out a shooting wether even acts of Parliament will enable them to shute anny game. The cricket Club is going on uncomon wel. They are 36 members with out reckoning the byes; our best man at Wicket is Captin Batty-he often gets four notches running; and our best boler is Use Ball, tho we Stims get Dr. Bilby to bolus. As for the cricket Bal, it is quit wore out, wich the gals say they are very Sory for it, as they took a grate interest in our matches. My lads are boath of an em marred, wich mayhap you have Herd, -and if the gals are not, I Beleve its no falt of theres. They hope youle cum to the Wake, wich is next Sunday week, for they Say there will be High fun, al tho I think it is Rather Low. The only use of waking that I can See, is to prevent folkes Sleeping, and as for there jumping and throwing up there Heals, I see no Pleasur in it. If they had the Roomatiz as Bad as I have, they woudent be for Dancing there fandangoes at that rat, and Kicking for partners-HOOD.

SCRAPS.

Original and Selected.

TREATMENT OF HORSES.-The learned and benevolent Burbequius, who was ambassador at Constantinople in the 17th century, gives the following account of the Turkish horses. Our grooms, and their masters, too, may learn a lesson of wisdom and humanity from his words :-" There is no creature so gentle as a Turkish horse, nor more respectful to his master, or the groom that dresses him. The reason is, because they treat their horses with great lenity. This makes them great lovers of mankind; and they are so far from kicking, wincing, or growing untractable by this gentle usage, that you will hardly find a masterless horse amongst them. But, alas! our Christian grooms' horses go on at another rate. They never think them rightly curried till they thunder at them with their voices, and let their clubs and horsewhips, as it were, dwell on their sides. This makes some horses even tremble when their keepers come into the stable, so that they hate and fear them too. But the Turks love to have their horses so gentle, that at the word of command they fall on their knees, and in this position receive their riders. They will take up a staff or club upon the road with their teeth, which their rider has let fall, and hold it up to him again. I saw some horses, when their master was fallen from the saddle, stand stock still without wagging a foot, till he got up again. Once I saw some horses, when their master was at dinner with me, prick up their ears to hear his voice, and when they did so, they neighed for joy.

SUBSTITUTE FOR TEA.-A patent was granted in February last to a tea dealer, " for a new mode of preparing the leaf of a British plant for producing a healthy beverage by infusion." According to the specification, the British plant in question is the Hawthorn, from which the leaves may be taken from the month of April to September inclusive; they are first to be carefully picked and cleansed, then to be well rinced in cold water and drained; and whilst in the damp state they are to be put into a common culinary vapour until they change from a green to an olive colour; steamer, where they are to be subjected to the action of the the leaves are then to be taken out and dried upon a "hot plate well heated," and to be continually stirred up and turned over until they are thoroughly dry, in which state they may be preserved for use. When required for that tea, and sugar and cream are to be added to suit the taste of purpose, an infusion is to be made in the same manner as the drinker.

AMERICAN INVENTIONS.-A New York paper gives the following account of a steam coach, recently built at of the kind in other countries :-" This engine, independent Cincinnati, which, it says, promises to surpass every thing of the boiler, is made so compact, that a box two feet long, one foot wide, and one foot deep, would contain it if taken to pieces! and yet such is its power, it will overcome a rise in its velocity. We rode in the carriage propelled by it at of forty-five feet in the mile without any essential variation road: the same force would propel the same weight twenty the rate of fourteen to sixteen miles an hour, on a circular miles an hour, and more, on a straight line, there being so much less friction. Another great improvement consists in the mode of applying the power, and another in the conwhich the consumption of fuel does not exceed one-fourth struction of the boiler, which is perfectly novel. Add to a cord a week, to run from nine in the morning to nine in the evening. It appears, in fact, to have been reserved for a citizen of Cincinnati to bring this great improvement in travelling so near perfection."—Literary Gazette.

has, till very lately, been considered the monarch of Scottish THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN IN SCOTLAND.-Ben Nevis mountains, but it now appears, from the trigonometrical survey lately made by order of government, that he must yield the palm to Ben Macdui, a mountain in Aberdeenof Ben Nevis is 4370 feet; of Ben Macdui, 4390 feet. Thus shire, who o'ertops him by about twenty feet. The height Ben Macdui is the loftiest mountain, not only in Scotland but in Great Britain.

JACK MITFORD, A CHARACTER.—In St. Giles's workhouse, expired some time back the well-known Jack Mitford, perhaps the most eccentric character of his day. He was originally in the navy, and fought under Hood and Nelson; he was born at Mitford Castle, Northumberland; the authoress of "Rienzi," and the author of "The History of Greece," were his cousins: he was also related to Lord Redesdale. His name will be long remembered in connexion with Lady Perceval, in the Blackheath affair, for his share in which he was tried and acquitted. For many years Mitford has lived by chance, and slept three nights in the week in the open air when his finances did not admit of his paying 3d. for a den in St. Giles's Though formerly a nautical fop, for the last fourteen years he was ragged and loathsome; he never thought but of the moment. Having had a handsome pair of Wellington boots presented to him, he sold them for 1s. The fellow who bought them went and put them in pawn for 15s. and came back in triumph with the money. "Ah!" said Jack, He was the author "but you went out in the cold for it." of "Johnny Newcombe in the Navy," the publisher of which gave him a shilling a day until he finished it. Incredible as it may appear, he lived the whole of the time in Bayswater fields, making a bed at night of grass and nettles; two pennyworth of bread and cheese and an onion were his daily food; the rest was expended in gin. He thus passed 43 days, washing his shirt and stockings himA hundred self in a pond, when he required clean linen. efforts were made to reclaim him, but without avail. the time of his death he was editing a penny production. He wrote the popular modern song "the King is a true British sailor," and sold it to seven different publishers. Notwithstanding his habits he was employed by some religious publishers. This miserable man was buried by Mr. Green, of Will's coffee house, Lincoln's Inn Fields, who had formerly been his shipmate. He has left a wife and family, but they were provided for by Lord R. Jack Mitford was a respectable classic, and a man of varied attainments; yet for fourteen years" he had not where to lay his head." He had been heard to say, "if his soul was placed on one table and a bottle of gin on another, he would sell the former to taste the latter."

At

DESCENT OF THE BISHOPS.-The present amiable and respected primate of all England, chances to be the son of a poor country clergyman. The Bishop of London derives his descent from a schoolmaster in Norwich. The father of the Bishop of Durham was nothing more than a shopkeeper in London. The Bishops of Winchester and Chester boast of no nobler lineage than belongs to the sons of an under-master at Harrow. Bishop Burgess, as all the world knows, is the son of that illustrious citizen with whose excellent fish-sauce civilized men are generally well acquainted; while his Lordship of Exeter dates his parentage through a long line of hereditary innkeepers in the town of Gloucester.

esteemed at the present day, such as puppies, and the large white worm found in rotten wood, which is now extensively used, we believe, in New Holland. The snail was another of their dishes which has now lost favour, except in Germany, notwithstanding an attempt to revive it, made by two men of science in Edinburgh half a century ago. The supper of Pliny consisted of a barley cake, lettuce, two eggs, three snails, with a due proportion of wine.

CHRISTIAN FORGIVENESS.-When Mary de Medicis lay on her death-bed, she was asked by her confessor if she freely forgave all her enemies, and in particular Cardinal Richelieu," Madame, as a token, will you send him your bracelet ?" "Nay, that is going too far," said the lady, lying back.

LITERARY PARTIES.-A person who liked the glory of entertaining authors, arranged them at table according to the size and thickness of their published volumes, the folios taking precedence of the quartos, and the 32mos occupying the lowest place.

EPITAPH ON THOMAS MUIR.

By the Author of the Corn Law Rhymes.
THY earth, Chantilly, boasts the grave of Muir,
The wise, the loved, the murdered, and the pure;
While in his native land the murderers sleep,
Where marble forms in mockery o'er them weep.
His sad memorials tell to future times,
How Scotchmen honour worth, and gibbet crimes.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

To several Correspondents we are indebted for valuable hints and advices, and beg to return thanks; to many for good wishes, and an expression of kindness, for our work's sake, which we gratefully feel and acknowledge.

Our monthly notices of books are unavoidably delayed till next week.

Orders for copies and Parts of the SCHOOLMASTER, have in nu. merous cases been delayed from the numbers being out of print. This we are striving to supply; and complete copies may be had soon at all the publishers and salesmen. But many orders for single copies, we are sorry that we cannot execute, as it is impossible to send so small a work every week, or even every month, to places off the line of the towns to which Booksellers' parcels go. When such orders are sent, we beg that specific directions may be given as to the manner in which the work is to be transmitted.

All orders must be addressed to Mr. Anderson, the Publisher, 55, North Bridge Street.

BESIDES appearing in WEEKLY NUMBERS, the SCHOOLMASTER is published in MONTHLY PARTS, which, stitched in a neat cover, contain as much letter-press, of good execution, as any of the large Monthly Periodicals: A Table of Contents will be given at the end of the year; when, at the weekly cost of three-halfpence, a handsome volume of 832 pages, super-royal size, may be bound up, containing much matter worthy of preservation. *

PART II. for September, containing Five Numbers of the SCHOOLMASTER, with JOHNSTONE'S MONTHLY REGISTER, consisting

Besides these, we have the Bishop of Bris- this month of Eight pages, will be published on Monday. Price Nine

tol, the son of a silver-smith in London; the Bishop of Bangor, the son of a schoolmaster in Wallingford; the Bishop of Llandaff, whose father was a country clergyman; with many others, whom it were superfluous to enumerate. Lincoln, St. Asaph, Ely, Peterborough, Gloucester, all spring from the middling classes of society.-Fraser's Magazine.

The

DIALECT-Edinburgh v. Aberdeen.-A gentleman from Aberdeen was awoke one night lately in a Hotel in Prince's Street, Edinburgh, by an alarm of fire. Upon going to the window, he called out "Vautchman, far eist ?" watchman thanked him and went towards the Register Office, where he found he was going in the wrong direction, and returned. On repassing the Hotel, he was again called to by the Aberdonian, who bauled out, "Vautchman, far was't?" On looking up to him the watchman replied, "Ye're a d-d leein scooniril; ye first tell'd me it was far east, an' noo ye say its far wast; but I tell ye it's nither e' tane or e' tither, 'cause its oure i' e' Coogate."

TABLE LUXURIES OF THE ROMANS.-The meats used by the Greeks did not materially differ from those approved by the Romans. Some of the luxuries of the latter are less

pence. It may be had of all the Booksellers and dealers in Cheap Periodicals.

CONTENTS OF NO. IX.

DEATH OF SIR WALTER SCOTT.....

..120

ib.

.133

On the Political Tendency of Sir Walter Scott's Writings.......
Sir Walter Scott's Childhood...

Moral and Physical Condition of the Middle and Lower Classes.. ib.
The Wisdom of our Ancestors....
Statistical Verses...

THE STORY TELLER.-A Female Monster...

Helen Walker...
The Puir Man's Bairn.........
The Wood Mouse...

The Weaver's Song............................

134

........137

...139 ...!!! ib.

.......... ib.

ib.

ib.

ib.

COLUMN FOR THE LADIES.-Stagnation of Marriages............142

The Polish Heroine...
A Farewell to Abbotsford............143
Our Club and our Town............
SCRAPS.-Original and Selected......

EDINBURGH: Printed by and for JOHN JOHNSTONE, 19, St. James's
Square.-Published by JOHN ANDERSON, Jur.., Bookseller, 55, North
Bridge Street, Edinburgh; by Jo HN MACLEOD, and ATKINSON & CO.,
Booksellers, Glasgow; and sold by all Booksellers and Venders of
Cheap Periodicals,

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