ly extirpated, have rendered the Spanish name detestable on that vast continent. One of the generals of Spain, however, not insensible to the dictates of humanity, was desirous to spare the effusion of blood, and to owe his conquest to the more innocent arts of stratagem. With this view, he proposed to the chiefs of certain nations who adored the sun, that either of the two contending parties which appeared to be visibly protected by heaven should reign over the other-who, moreover, should embrace their religion: that the Americans, therefore, should implore the assistance of the sun, while the Spaniards should beseech the protection of the invisible, but supreme Being, whom they adored as Lord of the sun,

and of the whole world. This being consented to, the next day the Spanish general assured the American chiefs, that he had been praying to the true God to obscure the splendour of that great luminary which his enemies worshipped, that by such a signal miracle he might subdue them to his laws, and to the dominion of the king of Spain. In two hours, added the Spaniard, this will certainly be. He knew that there would be an eclipse precisely at that time; and the poor Indians, not having the least idea of astronomy, were so astonished to find the prediction of the Spaniard fulfilled, that, from that moment, they hesitated not to submit themselves to the religion and government of Spain.

NELSON. When earl St. Vincent commanded in the Mediterranean, the island of Corsica was obliged to be evacuated. The squadron then consisted of 13 sail of the line, laying at single anchor in the bay of St. Florenzo.-Captain Nelson, in the Agamemnon, was sent out to reconnoitre; he fell in with the enemy's combined fleets (French and Spanish), amounting to 36 sail of the line, before whom he retreated, exchanging broadsides, and making signals. Upon the heights of Martello, earl St. Vincent observed the scene, and the hon. G. Gray, his flag-captain also. "What ship is it?" said the admiral. "'Tis Nelson!" said

captain Gray, "fighting and running." ning." "Nelson running!" replied the veteran-" then by G-d, it is time for us all to run;" and without waiting for further information, he hastened on board, slipped his cable and went to sea that night. The following morning the combined fleets entered St. Florenzo, but the birds were flown in safety. Earl St. Vincent knew the force must be great from which Nelson fled, and decided upon his actions without even making a signal. Thus the character of Nelson saved the British fleet; for had they waited till signals could have been exchanged, the enemy would have been upon them before day

break; but St. Vincent knew well that Nelson would never run without reason.

OATH OF A JUDGE.-The oath

of a deemster, or judge, in the Isle of Man, runs thus ;—“ By this book, and by the holy contents thereof, and by the wonderful works that God hath miraculously wrought in heaven above, and in the earth beneath, in six days and seven nights, I, do swear, that I will, without respect of favour or friendship, love or gain, consanguinity or affinity, envy or malice, execute the laws of this isle, justly, betwixt our sovereign lord the king and his subjects within the isle, and betwixt party and party, as indifferently as the herring's backbone doth lie in the middle of the fish."

DUKE OF SOMERSET, IN THE REIGNS OF ANNE AND GEORGE I. --On a quarrel with George I. the duke threw up his appointment of master of the horse, in a manner which sufficiently evinces the littleness of pride. Having commanded his servants to strip off the royal and put on the family livery, he sent for a common dust cart, and directed that all the badges of his office should be thrown into it; he then, followed by his retinue and the aforesaid vehicle, proceeded to the court-yard of St. James's palace, and, after ordering the driver to shoot the rubbish, he stalked back, indignantly, to Northumberland-house, accompanied by the same cavalcade in which he had left it. This petty and petulant spitefulness would have accorded far better with the spirit of some retail demagogue, than a nobleman, the lustre of

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whose aristocratical honours depended solely upon the preservation of the majesty of that throne which he degraded himself by insulting. That his pride had little accordance with English humour, we need not be told. "Get out of the way," said one of his people to a countryman who was driving a hog along the path by which the duke had to pass. Why?" inquired the boor. "Because my lord duke is coming, and he does not like to be looked at," rejoined the man. The clown, enraged at the imperious manner in which the mandate was urged, exclaimed-" But I will see him, and my pig shall see him too!" and seizing the animal by his ears, held it up before him till his grace and retinue were gone by. Lady Charlotte Finch, his second wife, once tapped him playfully on the shoulder with her fan: he turned to her with marked displeasure, and observed-" My first wife, madam, never took that liberty, and she was a Percy.” His two youngest daughters were accustomed to watch him, standing, while he slept in the afternoon; one of them, overcome with fatigue, sat down. The duke awoke, unexpectedly-he assured her that he would remember her disobedience; and, accordingly, left her £20,000 less than her sister.

USE OF A DEAD WIFE.-A German journal contains the following paragraph :-"The wife of a labouring man, in the neighbourhood of Stockholm, died some days ago, and the husband made the necessary preparations for her interment. He, however, deposited a block of wood in the coffin, instead of the corpse

which he conveyed, during the night, into a forest, that it might serve as a bait for wild beasts! By this horrible expedient he succeeded in catching a wolf and two foxes. On the circumstance being made known, the man was arrested, and carried before a court of justice; but far from being intimidated, he claimed the reward for destroying ferocious animals. CUPID'S TELEGRAPH.-At a provincial town, we learn, that a new system of signals has been introduced, which are rendered subservient to the affections of the heart and the obligation of the parties. For example-if a gentleman wants a wife, he wears a ring or diamond on the first finger of his left hand; if he is engaged, on the second finger; if married, on the third; and on the fourth, if he never intends to be married. When a lady is not engaged, she wears a hoop or diamond on the first finger; if engaged, on the second finger if married, on the third; on the fourth, if she intends not to marry. When a gentleman presents a flower, a fan, or a trinket, to a lady, with the left hand, it is, on his part an overture of regard; if she receives it with the left hand, it is an acceptance of his esteem; but, if with the right hand, it is a refusal of his offer. Thus, by a few simple tokens, explained by the above rules, the passion of love is expressed; and, through the medium of Cupid's telegraph, kindred hearts communicate information. LAWYERS.-According to the Asiatic Researches, a very curious mode of trying the title of land is practised in Hindostan. Two holes are dug in the dis

puted spot, in each of which the plaintiff and defendant's lawyers put one of their legs, and remain there until one of them is tired, or complains of being stung by the insects; in which case his client is defeated. In this country it is the client, and not the lawyer, who puts his foot into it.

GEORGE FOX's COMMANDMENTS. -Thou shalt not pay tithes. Thou shalt not marry with a priest. Thou shalt not put off thy hat in respect to thy superior. Thou shalt not shut thy shop on the world's holidays. Thou shalt not pay towards the repair of parish churches, nor toward the trained band. Thou shalt not carry guns in thy ship. Thou shalt not wear lace, nor ribbons, nor skimming dish hats, nor short aprons, nor slits on the waistcoat, nor unnecessary buttons. Thou shalt call the days of the week first day, second day, third day; and the months, first month, second month, third month.

THE WORLD.-There are three ways of treating the world-by abusing its views and follies, lamenting them both, or laughing at them. Juvenal did the first, with all the tribe of satirists ; Heraclitus, the philosopher, wept at the ways of the world Democritus laughed at them.

KISSING, &c.-John Bunyan, though a married man, had no great esteem for the fair sex. He says of himself" It is a rare thing to see me carry it pleasant towards women. The common salutation of women I abhor. It is odious to me in whomsoever I see it. Their company alone I cannot away with. I seldom so much as touch a woman's hand; for I think

these things not so becoming me. When I have seen good men salute those women that they have visited, or that have visited them, I have at times made my objections against it; and when they have answered that it was a piece of civility, I have told them it was not a comely sight. Some, indeed, have urged the holy kiss; but I have asked why they have made baulks? Why they have saluted the most handsome, and let the ill-favoured pass? Kisses, how laudable soever such things may be in the eyes of others, they have been unseemly in my sight."

CALUMNY.-Fielding has given the following admirable character of dealers in calumny.-"Vice hath not," says he, " a more abject slave; society produces not a more odious vermin; nor can the devil receive a guest more worthy of him, nor possibly more welcome to him, than a slanderer. The world, I am afraid, regards not this monster with half the abhorrence which he deserves; and I am more afraid to assign the cause of this criminal lenity shewn towards him; yet, it is certain, that the thief looks innocent in the comparison; nay, the murderer himself, can seldom stand in competition with his guilt for slander is a more cruel weapon than the sword, as the wounds which the former gives are always incurable. One method, indeed, there is of killing, and that, the basest and most execrable of all, which bears an exact analogy to the vice here declaimed against, and that is poison: a means of revenge so base, and yet so horrible, that it was once wisely distinguished by our laws from all

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other murders, in the peculiar severity of the punishment."

It has been said, that there are three sorts of marriages:-1. Of God's making, when two young folks are united:-2. Of Man's making, when one is old and the other is young :-and 3. Of the Devil's making, when two old folks wed.

How To HUMOUR THE World. No man can make other men accommodate to him, or alter their modes of acting; so if he is a prudent man, he accommodates himself to the humours of those around him. The prophet of Mecca was very wise, when on observing that a hill which he had called on to approach him continued immoveable, he exclaimed

"Well, if the mountain will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet must go to the mountain."

HUMAN SYMPATHY. Among common accidents, standing on the brink of a precipice, or walking over a narrow bridge, and looking down on the water, or other objects below, often make us tremble and grow giddy. The seeing a person eat austere or crabbed fruit, will cause a kind of stupor in the teeth; or the beholding another feeding on delicacies of which we are fond, will occasion a real flux of the saliva. The sight of a person in affliction, in misery, or in torture, will induce the compassionate to fancy he feels a pain like that of the unhappy sufferer and nothing is more frequent than for a grating jarring noise, to set the teeth on edge; or the sight of a person yawning, to occasion in us the action.

PRESS FOR THE BLIND.-A journal, printed at Geneva, thus announces a very interesting inven

tion." A lady, deprived of sight from her birth, but distinguished for her wit, her talents, and good temper, conceived that it might be possible to communicate her thoughts to her family and friends by means of printing, if some skilful mechanic would invent for her a press, and give her the necessary instructions to make use of it-the application and patience for its accomplishment becoming afterwards entirely her own. She addressed herself to our countryman, Mons. Francois Huber, the celebrated historian of the bees, to whom she had the advantage of being related; in addition to which, a community of misfortune (for he also is blind) increased the interest he had in gratifying her request;

thereupon his own genius, and that of his servant, Claude Lachet, a man endowed with the highest degree of natural talent for mechanics, were strongly excited. They went to work, and the press was invented; and being finished by Claude, was sent, with a collection of type, to the amiable suggestor of the plan, who soon made herself mistress, most completely, of this invaluable means of communicating her ideas. We have seen a letter of thirty-three lines addressed to her happy benefactor, composed and printed by herself with common ink, without a literal error, or a single typographical irregularity."-From the Courier de Londres of April 5, 1822.

MISERY.

Bow STREET.-Late on Tuesday evening, June 18, the parish constables of St. Martin's brought a poor creature before the sitting magistrate, upon a charge of having cruelly ill-treated a child which she carried in her arms. She is a tall, meagre young woman, miserably clad, but it was evident from her address that she had seen better days. At the same time there was a melancholy wildness in her manner, and in the tone of her voice, which savoured of" crazed wits," and reminded us strongly of Madge Wildfire in the Scottish novel. The child, she still clasped in her wretched arms, had its little chin bathing in blood, and, like its miserable mother, seemed

half famished. It was a female child, apparently about three years old.

It appeared from the evidence of several respectable persons, that she was observed about four that afternoon, beating the child's head against the wall in Parliament-street, though not with any great violence. The circumstance, however, induced some persons to watch her; and in her walk from thence to Charing-cross, she was seen sometimes beating the poor little innocent without any apparent cause, and at other times straining it franticly in her arms till it shrieked aloud with the pressure. One of the witnesses, a decent, elderly woman, at length interfered, and asked her why she used the child so cruelly? She