canna say muckle again our house-keeping, for I believe his ain pinches may match ours;--no that we are pinched, thank God,' he added, retracting the admission which he had made in his first burst of joy, but nae doubt we are waur aff than we hae been, or suld be. And for eating,-what signifies telling a lie? there's just the hinder end of the mutton ham that has been but three times on the table, and the nearer the bane the sweeter, as your honours weel ken; and--there's the heel of the ewe milk kebbuck, wi' a bit of nice butter, and--and--and that's a' that's to trust to.' And with great alacrity he produced his slender stock of provisions, and placed them with much formality upon a small round table betwixt the two gentlemen, who were not deterred either by the homely quality or limited quantity of the repast from doing it full justice. Caleb in the mean while waited on them with grave officiousness, as if anxious to make up, by his own respectful assiduity, for the want of all other attendance. But alas! how little on such occasions can form, however anxiously and scrupulously observed, supply the lack of substantial fare! Bucklaw, who had eagerly eat a considerable portion of the thrice sacked mutton ham, now began to demand ale. 'I wadna just presume to recommend our ale,' said Caleb; ' the maut was ill made, and there was awfu' thunner last week; but siccan water as the tower well has, ye'll seldom see, Bucklaw, that I'se engage for.' and 'But if your ale is bad you can let us have some wine,' said Bucklaw, making a grimace at the mention of the pure element which Caleb so earnestly recommended. Wine!' answered Caleb undauntedly, 'eneugh of wine; it was but twa days syne--waes me for the cause-there was as much drunk in this house as would have floated a pinnace. There never was lack of wine at Wolf's Crag.' 'Do fetch us some then,' said his master, instead of talking about it.' And Caleb boldly departed. Every expended butt in the old cellar did he set atilt and shake with the desperate expectation of collecting enough of the grounds of claret to fill the large pewter measure which he carried in his hand. Alas! each had been too devoutly drained; and, with all the squeezing and manœuvring which his craft as a butler suggested, he could only collect about half a quart that seemed presentable. Still, however, Caleh was too good a general to renounce the field without a stratagem to cover his retreat. He undauntedly threw down an empty flagon, as if he had stumbled at the entrance of the apartment; called upon Mysie to wipe up the wine that had never been spilt, and placing the other vessel on the table, hoped there was still enough left for their honours. There was indeed; for even Bucklaw, a sworn friend to the grape, found no encouragement to renew his first attack upon the vintage of Wolf's Crag, but contented himself, however reluctantly, with a draught of fair water. Arrangements were now made for his repose; and as the Π secret chamber was assigned for this purpose, it furnished Caleb with a first-rate and most plausible apology for all deficiencies of furniture, bedding, &c. 'For wha,' said he,' would have thought of the secret chaumer being needed? it has not been used since the time of the Gowrie conspiracy, and I durst never let a woman ken of the entrance to it, or your honour will allow that it wad not hae been a secret chaumer lang.' ART. XIII.-Notoria. Libraries in Gemany.-Germany possesses, in about 150 of her cities, libraries open to the public. We believe it will be gratifying to our readers to present them, from the Ephemerides of Weimar, with an estimate of the number of works contained in some of the principal of these. Vienna has eight public libraries, of which three only contain 438,000 volumes; viz. the imperial library, 300,000 printed books, exclusive of 70,000 tracts and dissertations, and 15,000 manuscripts:-The university library, 108,000 volumes; and the Theresianum, 30,000. The number contained in the other five are not exactly known. The royal library at Munich possesses 400,000 volumes; the library at Gottingen, (one of the most select), presents 280,000 works or numbers, 110,000 academical dissertations, and 5,000 manuscripts; Dresden, 250,000 printed books, 100,000 dissertations, and 4,000 MSS.; Wolfenbuttel, 190,000 printed books, (chiefly ancient) 40,000 dissertations, and 4,000 MSS.; Stuttgard, 170,000 volumes, and 12,000 bibles. Berlin has seven public libraries, of which the royal library contains 160,000 volumes, and that of the academy, 30,000; Prague, 110,000 volumes; Gratz, 105,000 vols.; Frankfort on the Maine, 100,000; Hamburgh, 100,000; Breslau, 100,000; Weimar, 95,000; Mentz, 90,000; Darmstadt, 85,000; Cassel, 60,000; Gotha, 60,000; Marbourg, 55,000; Mell, in Austria, 35,000; Heidelberg, 30,000; Werningerode, 30,000; Newburg, in Austria, 25,000; Kremsmunster, 25,000; Augsburg, 24,000; Meiningen, 24,000; New Strelitz, 22,000; Saltzburg, 20,000; Magdeburgh, 20,000; Halle, 20,000; Landshut, 20,000. Thus it appears that thirty cities of Germany possess in their principal libraries, greatly beyond three millions, either of works or printed volumes, without taking into account the academical dissertations, detached memoirs, pamphlets, or the manuscripts. It is to be observed, likewise, that these numbers are taken at the very lowest estimate. Libraries in France.-A similar aperçu of the state of the public libraries in France, is given at the end of a curious volume, lately published by M. Petit Radel, entitled, Recherches sur les Bibliotheques anciennes et modernes,' &c. In Paris there are five public libraries, besides about forty special ones. The royal library contains about 350,000 volumes of printed books, besides the same number of tracts, collected into volumes, and about 50,000 MSS.; the library of the arsenal, about 150,000 volumes, and 5,000 MSS.; the library of St. Genevieve, about 110,000 volumes, and 2,000 MSS.; the magazine library, about 90,000 volumes, and 3437 MSS.; and the city library, about 15,000 volumes. In the provinces, the most considerable are those of Lyons, 106,000; Bourdeaux, 105,000; Aix, 72,670; Besançon, 53,000; Toulouse, (2) 50,000; Grenoble, 42,000; Tours, 30,000; Metz, 31,000; Arras, 34,000; Le Mans, 41,000; Colmar, 30,000; Versailles, 40,000; Amiens, 40,000. The total number of these libraries in France amounts to 273; of above 80, the quantity of volumes they contain is not known. From the data given in this work, it appears, that the general total of those which are known, amounts to 3,345.287, of which there are 1,125,347 in Paris alone. Several of the libraries in the departments are useless, from not being open to the public, and some others nearly so, from a sufficient time each day not being allowed for their admission. But the time is arrived (says the editor), when all these establishments must cease to be useless; and probably the time is not far distant, when every chief town of a sous-prefecture will have a library really public. Blackwood's Ed. Mag. Criticism on Mr. Leslie's Painting. Sir Roger de Coverly going to Church, accompanied by The Spectator,' and surrounded by his Tenants. C. R. Leslie.-We have already said that this is a clever picture; our second sight gives it a higher title-it is an admirable performance; and we congratulate Mr. Leslie upon having so early and so justly obtained the attention of the public, and the admiration of contemporary artists. But we must pause upon a work which has excited must interest, and offer, what we think our duty bids, some remarks on its execution, and principally on that which concerns the colouring. This we do, not only with a view to Mr. Leslie's future works, but also as attaching to many eminent artists of the present day, whose works are continually before the public. What we mean is, that the colouring, or rather the colours, supersede the effect of the picture, which ought to be produced, not by one medium, but by the various qualities of composition, light and shade, and colour. It is not the only instance in which the chiaro scuro has been sacrificed to the experiments on improved, or, we should say, exaggerated colours. Had the artist painted his yew-tree in its natural tint, he must have toned his back-ground figures and distance to a shade more conformable to the best rules of art. Having stated this, we proceed to the grateful task of pointing out the exquisite skill with which the story is told, the truth of character, and interesting variety of incident, as well as of human nature, which are introduced. The costume reminds us somewhat of Watteau, and is sufficiently removed from our era to throw a charm over the canvass. The old man, the young widow, the children nearest the worthy baronet, and the rustic coquette, are delightful, and excite the highest hopes of the young painter who conceived and executed them. Literary Gazette. PALINDROME. From παλιν and δρομεω, a word, line, or sentence, which is the same, read backward or forward. Thus constructed is an inscription 'round the front of the church of Sandbach, in Cheshire, and in some other places. NIYON ANOMHMA MH MONAN ΟΨΙΝ. Similarly constructed is the Latin verse: Roma tibi subito motibus ibit amor. And the English line: Lewd I did live, evil did I dwel. The word Madam is a palindrome. It is related, that a noble lady, who had been forbidden to appear at the court of queen Elizabeth, on account of a suspicion of two great familiarity with a certain lord high in her majesty's favour, chose for a device upon her seal, the moon partly obscured by a cloud, with this palindrome for a motto: Ablata, at alba. A lawyer is said to have taken for his Air-Shannon Side. THE world is bright before thee, Thy bosom, Pleasure's shrine; To Nature's morning hour, The death-dirge of the gay, And youth's warm promise o'er. Float on a summer sea, Croaker & Co. |