66

vouring, as is the fashion of that creature, to swing himself from one beam in the roof to another, for the purpose of fixing the line on which he meant to stretch his web. The insect made the attempt again and again without success; and at length Bruce counted that it had tried to carry its point six times, and been as often unable to do so. It came into his head that he had himself fought just six battles against the English and their allies, and that the poor persevering spider was exactly in the same situation with himself, having made as many trials, and been as often disappointed at what it aimed at. Now," thought Bruce, "as I have no means of knowing what is best to be done; I will be guided by the luck which shall attend this spider, if the insect shall make another effort to fix its thread, and shall be successful; I will venture a seventh time to try my fortune in Scotland; but if the spider shall fail, I will go to the wars in Palestine, and never return to my native country again. "While Bruce was forming this resolution, the spider made another exertion, with all the force it could muster, and fairly succeeding in fastening the thread on its beam, which it had so often attempted to reach. Bruce seeing the success of the spider, resolved to try his own fortune, and has he never before gained a victory, so he never afterwards sustained any considerable check or defeat Sir W. adds that he has known many people of the name Bruce, so firm in their belief of the truth of this story, that they would on no account kill a spider, because it was an insect, which had shewn the example of perseverance, and given the signal of good luck, to their great namesake.

EPIGRAM ON THE GOUT
(From the Greek.

Goddess who shunn'st the cottage gate,
Companion of the rich and great;
To feet of strangers you confide,
Your arms a crutch on either side,
Whilst tottering round the gilded room,
You fling the costly rich perfume;
To you the tables' sumptuous fare,
And rose encircled wreath are dear,
For you the mantling bowl shall flow!
(Joys which the poor can never know)
In whose sad path, with thorns o'erspread,
Your pamper'd form shall never tread;
Butto the purple couch shall go,
Where lies in state the great man's toe.

HENRY IV.

Being importuned to allow the prosecution of a person who had written at libel on him, magnanimously replied, "I cannot in conscience do any harm to a man who tells truth, although it may be unpalatable.

FRANCIS THE FIRST AND THE MONK.

Guyon, a French historian, relates that a monk, playing at tennis with Francis I. against several noblemen, struck a blow which decided the match in favour of the king. Francis surprised at his skill, said "that was a fine stroke for a monk." "Sire," replied the monk, it shall be the stroke of an abbe whenever you think fit." The king highly pleased at his reply, gave him an abbe, which fell vacant three days afterwards.

CATO OF UTICA.

It is told of this great man, that in a certain debate in the assembly of the Senate, that he was making a long speech, merely for the purpose of protracting the business, and preventing the adoption of a measure which he disapproved. His intention being evident, Julius Cæsar (then Consul, and friendly to the measure in question,) determined to put an end to his obnoxious harrangue; and with that view, arbitrarily ordered an officer to take him into custody, and conduct him to prison. But no sooner was the order issued, than the entire assembly at once rose from their seats, to accompany him, and partake of his imprisonment; so great was the respect which his countrymen bore towards him. The effect this voluntary movement had upon Cæsar induced him by a sense of shame, to revoke his imperious mandate.

HENRY THE EIGHTH.

Of all the vices that men are addicted

to, perhaps there is none more pernicious, or more baneful in its effects than gaming, for your gamester never has any scruples as to the stakes, he hazards, however disgraceful the act he is about to commit may be to his character and honour. This perhaps may be exemplified by a dis-. graceful transaction related of Henry the Eighth, who was much addicted to deep play, it being told of him, that once playing high with a Sir Miles Partridge, and having a rnn of ill luck, and being at a loss for another venture, he staked Jesus bells, as they were termed, (the stake consisting of four bells hanging in one of the towers of Old St. Paul's church,) which were lost by the dice cast, turning up in favour of his lucky adversary. An old author makes the following remark on Sir Miles's winning the bells, that though by such unworthy means, he did cause he bells to ring in his pocket, yet he could not prevent the ropes twisting about his neck: for he was afterwards hanged, for malpractices in the reign of Edward the Sixth.

QUEEN ELIZABETH AND SIR WALTER

RALEIGH.

The underwritten lines are the effusion of two of the greatest spirits of the time in which they lived, the personages being Queen Elizabeth of immortal memory, and the ill-starred Sir Walter Raleigh.

The first line was written on a window of one of the palaces of Queen Elizabeth. by Sir Walter Raleigh, and runs thus:“Fain would I climb, but that I fear to fall," Which being perceived by the Queen, and perhaps knowing the style of the Knight's hand, she wrote underneath :"If thy heart fail thee, do not climb at all."

QUEEN ELIZABETH AND LORD BUR

LEIGH.

Sir William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, th Lord Treasurer of England, under Queen Elizabeth, enjoyed a large portion of her favour, for we find according to the witty Fuller, that her Majesty, "counted him for his wisdom, not only her Treasurer, but her principal treasure." "And although she had an aversion to her Nobles sitting in her presence, yet she would permit her favourite Lord Treasurer to enjoy the honour of being seated when before her at Court, as he was occasionally troubled with the gout, not forgetting at the same time to tell him. 66 'My Lord, we make much of you not for your bad legs, but for your good head.”

SPANISH ETIQUETTE.

The Etiquette observed in the Royal Palaces of Spain, for keeping order at Court, being still carried to as great excess in the present day as formerly, induces us to give the following anecdote, which plainly shews however fatal the consequences may be, that a Spaniard would sooner fall a martyr to his pride, than give way to the rules of Etiquette, and lessen his grandeur.

Philip the Third being gravely seated as Spaniards generally are-by a chimney where the fire-maker of the court had kindled so great a quantity of wood that the monarch was nearly suffocated with heat, his grandeur would not suffer him to

rise from the chair; and the domestics could not presume to enter the apartment, because it was against the ETIQUETTE.

called

The

At length, the Marquis de Pota appeared, and the king ordered him to damp the fires; but he excused himself; alleging that he was forbidden by the ETIQUETTE to perform such a function, for which the Duke d' Usseda ought to be upon, as it was his business. Duke was gone out; the fire burned fiercer; and the king endured it, rather than derogate from his DIGNITY. But his blood was heated to such a degree that an erysipelas broke out in his head the next day; which being succeeded by a violent fever, carried him off in 1621, and in the twenty-fourth year of his age.

FREDERICK THE GREAT AND ZIMMERMAN.

sician of celebrity, known in England by Dr. Zimmerman, the author and phyhis works on Solitude, and National Pride, went from Hanover to attend Frederick the king said to him, "You have, I prethe Great, in his last illness. One day, another world?" This was rather a bitter sume, sir, helped many a man into pill for the doctor; but the dose he gave the king in return, was a judicious mix ture of truth and flattery." Not so many as your majesty, nor with so much honour to myself."

THE REV. JOHN WESLEY, AND GENERAL OGLETHORPE

During the voyage of Mr. Wesley to the cabin of General Oglethorpe, (the GoAmerica, he hearing an unusual noise in stepped in to enquire the cause of it, of vernor of Georgia, with whom he sailed, which the General immediately addressed him; "Mr. Wesley, you must excuse me, I have met with a provocation too great for man to bear. You know the only wine I drink is Cyprus wine, as it agrees with me the best of any. I therefore provided myself with several dozens of it, and this villain Grimaldi," (his foreign servant who was present, and almost dead with fear,) has drank up the whole of it. But I will be revenged of him. I have ordered him to be tied hand and foot, and to be carried to the man of war that sails with us. The rascal should have taken care how he used me, for I never forgive." "Then, I hope, Sir," said John Wesley, looking calmly at him, "you never sin." The general was quite confounded at the reproof, and putting his hand into his pocket, took out a bunch of keys, which he threw at Grimaldi, saying, "There villian, take my keys, and behave better for the future

RECEIPT FOR MAKING FRIENDSHIP.

IN Pliny's Natural History we find a very curious receipt for making Roman friendship, the principal ingredients of which were union of hearts, a flower that grew in several parts of the empire-sincerity, frankness, disinterestedness, pity, and tenderness, of each an equal quantity. These were all made up together, with two rich oils, which they called perpetual kind wishes, and serenity of temper, and the whole was strongly perfumed with the desire of pleasing, which gave it a most grateful smell, and was a sure restorative against vapours of all sorts. The cordial, thus prepared, was of so durable a nature, that no length of time could waste it; but what is more remarkable, says our author, it increased in its weight and value the longer you kept it.

EPIGRAM.

Philemon Holland, Doctor of Physic, who died in his 85th year, February 9th, 1636; wrote the following epigram on his having written a large folio with a single pen.

With one sole pen I writ this book,
Made of a grey goose quill;
A pen it was when it I took,

And a pen I leave it still,

On which Dr. Fuller observes, that, "he must have leaned very LIGHTLY on the nib thereof, though WEIGHTY enough in another sense.

The practice of using only one pen, was followed by two other celebrated voluminous writers, viz. John Bunyan, and Matthew Henry.

The literary feats of Philemon were only exceeded by Andrew Tóraqueau, who is said to have produced a book and a child every year, till there were twenty of each, or, as some say, thirty. This, with the circumstance of his being a water drinker, was the occasion of the following humorous epitaph :

Here lies a man, who drinking only water, Wrote twenty books, with each had son or daughter;

Had he but used the juice of gen'rous vats, The world would scarce have held his books and brats.

EXTRAORDINARY LENGTH OF A TIGER. MR. RICHARD WILSON, an eminent lawyer, and member of the Beef Steak Club, one day called at the Secretary's office in the India House upon Cobb, author of the Siege of Belgrade, and many other dramatic pieces, who happened for a few minutes to be absent; but, on returning, whom should he see but Dick, earnestly exploring a map of

Asia that was suspended on the wall, measuring the scale of it with a pair of compasses that he found on the table, and then applying them to a large tiger, which the artist had introduced to embellish it. as one of the animals of that country. By heavens, Cobb," exclaimed Dick, "I should never have believed it! Surely, it must be a mistake. Observe nowhere," pointing to the tiger, "here is a tiger that measures two and twenty leagues By G-, it is scarcely credible !"—Clubs of London

THE ORIGIN OF THE BLACK RACE.

The

IN Caldcleugh's Travels in South America, we find the following opinion of the Brazilians, as to the cause and origin of the blackness of the skins of the Negroes, at least as far as tradition goes. lower orders of Brazilians consider the Negroes to be the most inferior in the scale of human beings, and their belief as to their original formation, is not a little singular.

At the time say they, of the creation of Adam, Satan looked on, and formed a man of clay, but becoming disgusted at the blackness of every thing he touched, he determined to wash the being of his creation white in the river Jordan; on his nearing the river, its waters retired, leaving barely time to push the black man on the wet sand, which touching the soles of his feet, and the palms of his hands, accounts for the whiteness of these parts. The devil in a state of irritation struck his creation on the nose, by which the flatness of that organ was accomplished. The Negro then begged for mercy, and humbly represented that no blame could be attached to him, upon which his satannic Majesty, somewhat pacified, patted him on the head, and by the heat of his hands, curled his hair in the way it is seen in the present day. Such is the fanciful idea of the Brazilians, respecting the origin of the Black race.

MAGNANIMITY OF A BLIND AND AGED INDIAN CHIEF.

THE anecdote related is of an ancient patriarch of the Cherokees, who through extreme old age, had become blind, and wishing not to become a burthen to his countrymen, addressed them at their council as follows:- "You yet love me what can I do now to merit your regard? nothing. I am good for nothing; I not see to shoot the buck, or hunt up the sturdy bear; I know I am but a burthen to you; I have lived long enough; now let my spirit go; I want to see the warriors of my youth in the land of spirits,

can

BATTLE OF NAVARINO.

THE sensation created by the late memorable Naval Victory, in the Harbour of Navarino, has made us take a glance at the pages of History, where we find the following curious circumstances relative to the town, and its bay,—where the combined powers of England, France, and Russia, took signal vengeance on the Turks for their late dishonourable conduct. First, we find, according to classic lore, that Navarino, under the ancient name of Pylus, was the birth-place of the venerable cad experienced Nestor, who sailed with ninety ships against Troy. Secondly, we find, that the bay was the scene of action as far back as June, 1246, when a fleet was taken in the harbour belonging to the Turks under Selista Bassa, destined for the Seige of Candia; and again we find, that the Venetians who were masters of the

town of Navarino by conquest, had it retaken from them by their enemy the Turks in 1499. Thirdly, the day of the month on which the above victory was obtained, namely the twenty first of October, was the anniversary of the battle of Salamis, when the invading army of Xerxes was defeated by the Greeks, and on which the celebrated Greek Trajic poet Euripides was born; and lastly, the attack which has added another laurel to the honour of British valour was made on the eve of the anniversary of the glorious Victory of Trafalgar, which closed the eventful career of our beloved countryman Lord Nelson.

SQUARE TOED SHOES.

In the reign of Queen Mary, square toed shoes were in fashion, and worn of such a prodigious breadth, that a proclamation was made, interdicting their being worn by any person above six inches square.

COLUMBUS'S ERITAPH.

READERS must be quite lost in conjecture, when they attempt to form any opinion as to which is the correct Epitaph, that was engraved on the tomb of the celebrated Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of the New World, when they find that Historians and Biographers, record inscriptions so very different, Dr. Robertson from his extensive reading and research we think would have been as likely as any writer to have been near the truth, and we find that he merely observes

PITAPH ON THE LATE MICHAEL KELLY.

MR. THOMAS DIBDIN, the Lopez de Vega of England, in his pleasant Reminiscences, observes, that had he been tempted to have written an Epitaph on his friend Michael Kelly, the eminent composer and vocalist, he should have written as follows:

Here lies (and you seldom have met with his like,

For simple sincerity) good natured Mike: His rich native humours, his purse, heart, and table,

With genuine welcome, he gave you while able;

No sycophant he, as true candour must vouch, Though without any disinclination to Crouch, To those who were "pleased to be pleased,"

few would bring