"If Billy was astonished, how much more so was every one of the company into which he was thrown with so little ceremony but, when they heard his story, Father Rooney laid down his knife and fork, and married the young couple out of hand with all speed; and Billy Mac Daniel danced the Rinka at their wedding, and plenty did he drink at it too, which was what he thought more of than dancing."

Extractana;

OR,

Selections from New Books.

ANECDOTES OF MONKEYS.

MORAL MONKEYS.

THE things which most palpably distinguish man from beast are man's exclusive use of clothing and weapons, and management of fire; yet here we see monkeys adopting two of the habits which are supposed to be peculiar to man; and my next anecdote will show monkeys exercising the other.

I was promised a private exhibition of these beasts by a showman in a country village. On approaching the covered cart, I was alarmed at finding it lighted, and reproached the master with having made his exhibition public. In this, however, I did him wrong. He assured me that the light was only to keep his monkeys quiet, who would otherwise disturb the whole village with their cries; and in fact I, on entering, found four monkeys seated round a table, with a farthing candle upon it, as if for the purpose of conversation.

The alarm of these monkeys in the dark is another curious fact, though people, who have studied the habits of animals, know that the young of these are as instinctively subject to causeless fear in darkness as children themselves; and I was once or twice thrown on my face, in crossing a heath at night, by a Newfoundland puppy, who howled and ran between my legs for refuge at the sight of every prominent object, more especially if it were white.

The instinctive alarm of children in the dark is usually attributed, by the lower classes of this country, to the effects of original sin; and this doctrine seems to derive support from the opinions which Dr. Southey has vented in his review of the celebrated Letters of Elia.

I cannot coincide in this doctrine extending (as it necessarily must) to beasts. Monkeys have no doubt many sins to answer for, and many sins that are highly original; but 1 will not believe them so nearly related to us, or of such weight in the scale of nature, as to have inherited the consequences of man's trespass, and to be embued with what is strictly called Original Sin."

A SCOTCH MONKEY.

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In one of the old border peels lived a monkey, who, for a monkey, might be deemed of a very phlegmatic constitution, for his principal gratification was sleeping in the sun on the spacious flat of the tower, in the exclusive possession of which he was however sometimes disturbed. His enemy was a raven, whose petulance would have been intolerable any but a Scottish Monkey. Pug, however, dissembled his rage, and watched his opportunity.

He took some fowl-guts which he found lying in the scullery, and with them made himself a necklace, with a long string hanging down in front, such as that to which ladies often fasten a cross. He strutted about the leads for some time, as if proud of his ornament, with a switch in his hand, which appeared to have been taken up to complete his equipment. At last he seemed tired of this display, laid himself down at full length, and closed his eyes.

He was playing the cat in the fable. The raven approached him, and began nibbling at the fowl-guts. Pug waited till he had a good bite, and then sprang up and seized his ancient tormentor. I regret to say that he was not generous towards his prisoner. He plucked him all over, plume and pinion, and then let him go; but the poor bird, stript of all his sail, could make little way, and indeed was hardly able to balance himself upon his feet.

Now began his tortures. The monkey, who could never fairly catch him before, easily overtook him, armed with his switch, which he exercised upon his unprotected flesh with such cruel perseverance, that, if Ralph's cries had not brought a labourer to his assistance, he would have fallen a victim to the barbarity of his executioner.

I have since heard that Smalyhome Tower, situated not far from Melrose, was the scene of this tragi-comedy, and that there is a curious old picture representing it, in a garret at Merton-house, in that vicinity.

AN IRISH MONKEY.

This monkey lived in the service of a In the same small milliner in Dublin. room with him was a basket of kittens, and his mistress had put upon the fire some sort of soup or porridge with mutton chops. The monkey fished out these and ate them, and put the poor kittens in their place.

Query.-Did this monkey think that the kittens would pass for chops?

A FRENCH MONKEY.

associate, however, suggested a new mode of stimulating the Sultan's curiosity. This was to clothe Buffo in an appropriate fur, and offer to exhibit him as a bear who could play Malbrouk. The proposal was accepted, and the associate undertook to be the leader. The bostangis were accordingly bribed, who have the guard of the royal apartment, bear and leader were introduced, and the supposed beast was immediate

est care.

The post was taken possession of at night, and the men, ambushed in the hollow of an overhanging crag, were there the more easily hidden in, as a Sirocco had just risen, driving wreaths of mist before it, as thick as those which issue from the mouths of a battery.

While they were thus lying under cover, a party of monkeys was seen advancing with an old grey-headed baboon, carefully guarded, in the centre. They arrived, halted, and detached their prisoner at a small distance, where he remained between two monkeys, who had the charge of him. The rest formed a sort of court, before which an advocate evidently accused the prisoner of some offence, he weeping, screaming, and frequently interrupting the attorneygeneral. Indeed, the proceedings seem to have been altogether irregular, for the officer represented judges, advocate, and prisoner, as all chattering together. At length, however, an old monkey, who, the soldiers insisted, was the Chief Justice of the woods, screamed louder than the rest, and the prisoner was instantly hurried off, and precipitated over a projecting rock.

Our people were much scandalized at this proceeding, being convinced that the old baboon was too helpless to have deserved his punishment, and that he was sacrificed, under some false accusation, to prevent his being burthensome to his parish!-Anecdotes of Monkeys.

A MAN THAT WOULD BE A

BEAR..

"AN unfortunate Italian at Pera, who was known by the characteristic name of Buffo, once very nearly fell a sacrifice to the fury of dogs. This man had, in the time of Sultan Selim, (who, as is well known, was passionately fond of every thing European,) levied a considerable tax on this partiality of the Turkish emperor. At length, however, Selim grew weary of his tricks and exhibitions, and poor Buffo did not know which way to turn himself. Au old

unexpected difficulty now occurred. 'I had forgot,' said Buffo, that I should not have the free use of my hands, and I found it almost impossible to finger with

claws.

Making due allowance, however, for my hearer being a Turk and myself a bear, I came off with more honour than I expected, and which ho

our I would have willingly declined.' 'I am content with that bear,' cried Selim; give his conductor 200 sequins, and lead the beast into my menagerie.' Figure to yourself my horror at these

words! I crawled close to my associate, and imitating, as well as I could, the tones of a bear, growled out ‘Oi-mè, nonBut my ven-dermi,-non-ven-dermi !' companion took no notice of my remon strance, and a bostangi was ordered to carry me off. A look, however, which he gave me, instructed me in his dispo sition to favour my escape, and I had no sooner got down stairs, than I broke from him without opposition, and made away for the ferry, which is close to the Seraglio. Here I threw myself into a boat, and was in an instant wafted across the water to Topana. I was no sooner landed than a new danger presented itself; the dogs fell on me, and, during the long gauntlet I had to run, Í am persuaded I should have been torn to pieces by those infuriated brutes, but for a pasteboard cover in which I was encased, and to which my fur coat was attached."

LUTHER'S RING.

CONTINUED FROM No. 100.

Ir needed no great length of time for a mind so gentle and tractable as that which, in Justus Hergott, was united to true greatness and intrepidity of soul, to accommodate itself to any change of habits and society. His talents and assiduity soon rendered him the favourite of the Rector, and Magister Paul Vogel, who, prizing the government of the heart beyond the cultivation of the understanding, presently recommended him as a pattern to all his fellow students; while at the same time his good

nature and urbanity gained him the good will of the junior boys, as his bodily strength, his love of justice, and his almost manly firmness, secured him the esteem of his seniors.

The old library of the Monastery, enriched by the generosity of the Elector Moritz, the long dusky cloisters, and the lofty convent church itself, in which many honourable and memorable monuments erected their gloomy piles in solemn grandeur, became his favourite places of resort, when the hours of his study were over. Accustomed to regularity and method in his amusements no less than his studies, the strict discipline of the college was not irksome to him. Only one darkened his path; this one was the primanus, whose cell he shared, and who, by a gloomy reserve, peculiar to himself, clouded the bright heaven of Justus's happiness.

Oetwin von Altenburgh was the name of this eccentric youth. Descended from one of the most ancient families of the Empire, that even claimed kindred to the imperial house, the young nobleman bore the pride of ancestry strikingly pourtrayed in his otherwise noble countenance; with an almost misanthropic coldness his lack-lustre eye peered from beneath his knit and beet ling brow; while his straight flaxen hair, combed over his forehead, gave an expression of insipidity and boyishness to his whole head. His figure was meagre, though tall and well-proportioned, and would bear no comparison with Justus's manly and well-compacted frame. Not far from Pforta lay the rich possession of his house, and the sumptuous castle towering over the village of Alenerich, which had received its name as the favourite one of his ancestors.

Justus submitted without repining to the arrangement which brought him into close and unavoidable contact with this young and haughty misanthrope, and the more repulsive and sententious the younker's conduct towards him, the greater was the assiduity with which he strove to gain his good-will. Our young noble was slovenly and careless; Justus made it his business every morning, without demur or waste of words, to put their little cell in order, adjusting his partner's clothes, books, and papers, which were usually scattered about, and feeding his favourite starling, which hung in the alcove of the little casement window. Often, too, when Octevin was puzzling himself with a classical theme, Justus, an early proficient in that kind of exercise,

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would give him what he had written, with a modest request that he would correct it, thus assisting his senior out of his difficulty without wounding his pride.

Confidence is awakened by confi dence, and as Octevin became every day more sensible of the delicate and friendly attentions of his new colleague, his haughty demeanour gradually softened into a condescending familiarity, and a secret partiality for Justus grew more and more apparent in his conduct.

There was one mysterious circumstance, however, in Octevin's behaviour, which Justus could not fathom. His mind seemed a prey to perpetual disquietude, which grew upon him daily, giving him no respite nor intermission; he often gazed with a vacant eye upon the floor, or out of the little window, and, during the lectures on divinity especially, his countenance underwent frequent changes, and often expressed opposition, at least, to the doctrines held forth. In addition to this, Justus several times remarked that Octevin would leave their sleeping cell -for large dormitories were not then in use, and the outer doors only were strictly closed at sun-set-with noiseless steps, often returning late in the night, and then throwing himself carelessly on his couch. Justus pitied the youth, for he took these flights to be walks of stolen attachment, having observed a young rosy-cheeked wench, the servant of the rent collector, directing significant glances towards the haughty noble. He abstained, however, from any interference, knowing that an unsolicited adviser generally does but excite animosity; and Octevin had not yet given him the privileges of a friend.

As he was one day engaged, as usual, in reducing to order the scattered books belonging to Octevin, he chanced to lay his hand upon one that he had never before seen there. On opening it, he was shocked to find it one of the most virulent publications of the day, viz. the Controvers yof the famous Dr. Mayer (von Eck so called) against Lutheranism, treating of the sale of indulgences, and the infallibility of Peter's successors in the papal chair; there was also a copy of the Bull of Excommunication issued by Leo X. and a well-finished and neatly-carved figure of the Virgin Mary. He shuddered to behold this work, the utter detestation of all Protestants, in his very sleeping room, and he was undecided what to do with it, for the office of informer was