cent enjoyment, is largely their debtor. They have shed is cast. His poetical reveries have been fed by daily over the humble, sequestered walks of life, the light and grace of poetry, and have connected with some of its commonest pursuits and occupations, images of surpassing beauty and tenderness, and associations of the most elevated and touching character. contemplation of the most striking and magnificent objects in nature, while (in keeping with the landscape) the tenants of his native dales and mountains still retain— sufficiently at least for poetry—a patriarchal antique simplicity of manners and originality of character. Objects like these, however frequently beheld, must have a tendency to elevate and abstract the mind, and hence a certain power in shaping the inspirations of the Muse. Rous Cowper's female cottager, weaving at her own door, and happy in the possession of her Bible—the meek and modest pair who grew not rich with all their thrift, yet were blessed with mutual love and virtuous patience-seau, in a splendid passage of his Confessions, has borne his pictures of the simple holydays and carnivals of the poor, when spring calls the unwonted villagers abroad, with all their little ones, "To gather kingcups on the yellow mead," are all so many proofs of the lively interest and exultation felt by the poet in the joys and virtues of his lowliest neighbours. And perhaps this praise is as emphatically due to Wordsworth as to Cowper. All who have read and felt the "Excursion," must remember the thrilling interest and pathos of the story of the cottagers in the first book-that melancholy tale of the "Last human tenant of the ruin'd walls," which, overgrown with matted weeds and wild flowers, stood undistinguished by the road-side on the common. The narrative of the Vicar, in the same poem, which commemorates the virtues and characters of those who lie interred in the churchyard among the mountains, is marked by the same truth, individuality, and pathos. Cowper's pencil, graphic and inimitable as it was, could not have traced with greater distinctness and fidelity, or light-touched with finer hues, the following soft and beautiful picture: "Of that tall pine, the shadow of whose bare And this deep mountain valley was to him Were all things silent, wheresoe'er he moved." Then We must not stop to finish the portraiture. there is the pastor himself, worthy of Chaucer or Herbert-the patriarch of the tale-the young peasant, beloved and regretted by all, whose eulogy is introduced by a most original and picturesque simile, conceived in the spirit of Spenser or Massinger : "The mountain ash, This is poetry. It is obvious that the bard of Westmoreland has enjoyed a great advantage over the poet of Olney in the solitary grandeur, richness, and sublimity of the scenery amidst which his lot-a happy and dignified one his testimony to the ennobling, inspiring influence of the free air of the mountain tops; Byron drank deeply of this silent luxury, and even the most unimaginative person must have been impressed with the wild, solemn, and contemplative spirit breathed from a lofty range of mountain scenery, with its accompaniments of lake, wood, and waterfall. Lord Bacon said, with a sort of pun, that he loved to study in a small chamber, because it helped him to condense his thoughts. But poets, who read the book of nature, and whose business is with the whole of this visible and material universe, cannot have too wide a horizon for their vision. Amid such scenes, Wordsworth grew up and was matured. What Cowper would have been among the vast mountain solitudes of Westmoreland-whether he could ever have been so effectually subdued and transformed by the genius of the place as Wordsworth—must be left to fancy; but nothing can be imagined more tame and prosaic than his "daily walks and ancient neighbourhood" at Olney. A miserable village, with as miserable inhabitants—a few—very few-friends-and a country flat and unvaried, though rich in cultivation, marked the poet's outward destiny. Yet how much has he not made of his slender, unpromising materials! What gems has he not dug out of a mine, into which no other poetical adventurer would have dreamed of sinking a shaft! The silent windings of the Ouse seem palpably before us-we see the spacious verdant meadows on its banks," with cattle sprinkled o'er" the elm-trees, hedges, styles, church-spire, and cheerful bells, with all the other simple adjuncts of the scene, the meanest of which was consecrated in his sight -and the "Groves, heaths, and smoking villages remote," on which he gazed through the vicissitudes of yearssome of them long, dark, and painful ones-till the light of reason, of memory, and life had fled. The glowing freshness, vigour, and brief fidelity of these delineations, constitute one of the chief glories of Cowper, and distinguish him not only from Wordsworth, but from Thomson, and most other descriptive poets. Nothing is inserted or sacrificed for effect-the scene is placed before us exactly as it is. In his poem of Retirement, there is a happy example of this excellence : "The hedge-row shrubs, a variegated store, 64 This is fact. A literal enumeration of objects which may be seen from hundreds of cottage doors in England, and which we in Scotland, who are somewhat lofty and fastidious on the score of scenery, would, perhaps, consider very flat and commonplace. Yet, who does not own that there is a charm, and even an originality, in the description? Who ever before heard of green balks" in poetry? "Balk," says Johnson, a ridge of land left unploughed between the furrows, or at the end of the field." It is in the latter sense that the term is used by the poet-and a very pleasing feature these balks are in the common country landscape of the midland counties. They are excellent, soft, green, retired walks, often with a brook on one hand, fringed by a row of willow 66 and alder-trees. Many a tranquil happy hour have we spent, pacing them in the fading gleam of twilight, cheered by the song of the blackbird, and dreaming of distant scenes. some o' us; an' then she had lang yellow hair, hangin' doon anent her snub nose–an' a wee short neck—–an'a splae foot; in short, she was the maist ill-faured jade as ever hirpled frae ae end to the ither o' St Mary's Loch. It's no kent whether Jean was quite canny or no; there was something sae unco queer aboot the cratur, an' she leuch like nae mortal in this wide warld. Mony a time hae I heard her, half-a-mile aff-an' an eldritch scream she gied, for it went frae Meggat Foot up to Bourhope Head, and floated ower far aboon the Berry-bush awa to Etterick-water, and settled doon by Thirlestane-lumtap. Though Cowper, in his Task, and Wordsworth, in his Excursion, aimed at the same object," to compose a philosophical poem, containing views of man, nature, and society," they pursued it by widely different means. The former seized upon the follies and vices of society, and lashed them with keen satiric ardour, alternately exhorting, commanding, and contemning; or pouring before his readers, with all the prodigality of genius, the varied knowledge, exuberant fancy, restless curio- They say Jean had neither faither nor mither, but sity, desires, beliefs, and passions, with which his heart was found a' alane up near Bodsbeck, a puir skirlin' bairn; and mind were filled. He made the public his con- and Wat Anderson's colley cam upon her, and wud hae fidants, and in his communings with them used no dis- eaten her up gin it were nae for Wat himsell, who tuik guise. He addressed himself to all classes and degrees the young brat under his plaid, and gied her a soup o' of men, and by all classes and degrees he is read. He is parritch, an' the wee thing thrived; an' Wat, when he strictly a national poet-his strains are part of the wealth died, left it a hantle siller an' a bit o' a hut up the Oxand glory of England, as much as St Paul's or West- cleuch. But never a mortal did she speak to, gin it were minster Abbey. Wordsworth has never aimed at this nae ane of Wat's family an' an auld pedlar that brought extensive popularity, and we may safely prophesy will a' sorts o' flummery gear, for Jean was a dressy lass, and never attain it. His motto is the words of Milton- weel likit to rigg hersell oot in braw colours, an' mony a "Fit audience let me find though few." Happy in time wud she be seen stan'in' ower the loch-edge to luk himself, he goes on weaving his interminable verse-soft, at her ungainly sell in the bonnie and calm water; an' picturesque, diffusely solemn, and often sublime, as if he she gied sic queer smirks, ane wud hae thocht her stark had caught an echo of the harp of Milton, and reasoning mad. high on men and angels. In his retirement, weeds have mingled with the flowers-fungous shoots have crept round and disfigured the stem. A mistaken and ridiculous theory as to what are the fittest objects for poetry, has drawn the poet into numberless puerilities and absurdities; and his fine solemn didactic vein of meditation, thus misapplied, has not unfrequently tended to heighten and point the satire with which he has been assailed. His style of versification also seems “sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought," and wants that brief elegance, sententious force, and elasticity, and those concentrated bursts, unexpectedly kindled up, and lightening all around, which mark the page of Cowper. It is surprising that a writer possessing such high and unquestioned genius should fail to perceive the absurdity of investing the meanest subjects with this factitious importance of rendering his pedlars and villagers philosophers and dialecticians, or of paraphrasing the language and ideas of humble life. Such subjects are not per se fit themes for poetry, and can only be elevated into such communion by the grace and fancy of the bard. To describe them as Wordsworth has, in some of his lyrical and minor poems, attempted to do, with an affectation of strict fidelity, is calculated to excite only our wonder, derision, and regret. But fortunately the poet is a bad observer of his own rules. In the midst of all his perverseness and obstinacy, the genius of the woods ever and anon reclaims his erring steps, and conducts him unconsciously to the true and living waters of inspiration "The intelligible forms of ancient poets, That had their haunts in dale, or piny mountain, Weel, it happened ae forenoon that Jean met in wi' Will Laidlaw, a fine hearty callant, wham the maister at Dryhope had hired to herd his sheep roun' about the Coppercleuch. Will was but a new-comer, an' it was the first time Jean had seen him. "A braw day, lass," quoth he, but no a word did she answer, but she comes straight up to him and luks him in the face like ane o' his ain collies, and she gies him a daut on the showthers, muttering a' the while, "The bonnie mannie -the bonnie mannie." She's a queer ane, thocht Will, and he axed her to stan' aside, but Jean was no sae easy persuaded; but she shoves in her great yellow pow richt anent the callant's face. "Tak that for yer impudence, ye hussy," quoth Will, accompanying his words wi a stounder on Jean's great blowsy hatfits; but the lass was in no way deterred from returning the callant's salute wi' a smack o'a kiss that garred him sputter a' ower his beard. In fact, Jean was in luve wi' Will, and she gaed him chase a lang day roun' about the Meggat hills, but Will got the start, and left the hirplin' body in the lurch. There's a muckle stane down by Coppercleuch, ca'd Kitty Crench's Stane. Kitty Crench was the auld mermaid that swam aboot St Mary's Loch, and mony a time, on the moonlit nichts, is she kent to be gatherin' luckan gowans doon by in the meadow at Meggat Foot, or she gangs up to the grey rocks, and sits kaimin her lang hair, and there she sings queer sangs of hersell and the water-kelpie, that bides by Bourhope, and the hagbrownies, and the puddock fairies, and a' sic queer craturs. Well, what does Jean do, aboot gloamin' time, but she sits hersell doon on Kitty's stane, and just as Will Laidlaw comes by to return to Dryhope, up she springs wi' an unco skirl, and gets haud o' the callant roun' about the neck, and Will thinks he's in the han's o' the deil, an' an awfu' wark he maks to get loose; but Jean was These are the genuine sources of Wordsworth's power a hard-gripper, and, what wi' Will's fricht an' her ain -the key to his strength and greatness. JEAN ANDERSON. A SONSY kimmer was Jean Anderson, an' ill-faured to boot. In troth I never luked upon a mair out-o'-theway piece of flesh. She was round as a hedgehog-baith humph-backit and bandy-legged, and maist awsomely did she squint wi' ane o' her goggle een-an' gaped wi' her muckle mou', as if she wad fain tak a swallow o' strength, she gars the chield stotter doon amang the heather, till baith cam' plump, heid an' heels, ower into the loch. Ain's luve is no sae ill to cool, when there's nae stannin' ground, and the jaud lets quit o' Will in a jiffy, after findin' hersell amaist droonin'. As for the callant, he maks oot in his ain way, and thanks his starns for so unlooked for an escape frae sic an awsome fiend as Kitty Crench. Jean gat hame girnin', an' vowed a pretty revenge for Will's unmannerly behaviour. An' what do ye think the kimmer does? A nicht or twa after, doon she comes to Dryhope whar Will bides, wi' her pled a' rinnin' weet, an' a great muckle sheep's-heid clappit upon her ain, and she gi'es slap slap slap at the byre-door whar Will was sleepin'; an' the callant bangs out wi' a pitchfork, and wud hae stickit her clean through, gin the lassie didna doon wi' the sheep's-heid, and cut her stick up by the loch side, skirlin' an' screamin' like a wild cat. Will was never molested anither time by the jaud; in fact, the pair body died a month or twa after, half through the effects o' fricht, and half o' some lang hame complaint o'a cough. Losh! noo, is'nt that a queer story? Τα σποράδην, Hogg SCATTERED NOTICES OF ANTIQUITY, INCIDENTS, APOPHTHEGMS, Geometry, flying about, and not knowing where to nestle, flew at last into his mouth as he gaped ! Aeschines tells a story of Demosthenes, which, if not exaggerated, or put in a false light, will be sufficient to prove that that celebrated orator was at times liable to be embarrassed and thrown into confusion, even on those occasions when he was desirous of making his best appearance. He seems, indeed, seldom or never to have trusted to the enthusiastic flow of the moment, but to have studied his orations coolly and profoundly in his cave by lamplight, and committed them laboriously to memory for next day's public declamation. Demosthenes was, along with Aeschines, deputed by the Athenians on some special embassy to the court of Philip; he had prepared himself beforehand with a fine speech; he was introduced to Philip and his audience, who stood surrounding him with eager curiosity; he began his address, but had hardly pronounced the prooemium, when his voice began to quiver and show symptoms of timidity; as he advanced a little farther into the business-part of his speech, he on a sudden became silent, and stood confounded in a complete incapacity of farther utterance. Philip, perceiving his embarrassment, encouraged him to take heart and proceed in his discourse as he had at first purposed; "seeing he stood not there," he said, " as in a theatre, to suffer any annoyance from impertinent spectators." The orator, being once thrown into confusion, in vain endeavoured to recollect his sentences and recover himself. Again he attempted to speak, and again stopt in confusion. A disagreeable and rather ludicrous silence ensued, and the herald at last commanded the Athenian ambassadors to withdraw. By William Tennant, Author of " Anster Fair." MICE seem to have been regarded with some sort of superstitious reverence by the ancient people of the earth. In the Egyptian hierography the figure of a mouse was understood to typify some unexpected and complete destruction by divine interposition. Apollo in Crete and the Troad, had the name of SMINTHEUS, as being the patronising deity of these gentle animals, to whom he was supposed to have communicated some of his own talent of divination, so that they are enabled to foresee the destruction of the tenement in which they may happen to be lodged, and to make their escape in good time ere the tenement tumble-a faculty which we have transferred, less classically, to rats, a more unamiable and unpopular quadruped.-Mice have obtained celebrity by being prominent agents in three transactions,-two of profane, the third of divine history:-Ashdod, in consequence of the captivity of the ark, was smitten with multitudes of mice; as a trespass-offering to remove which, five golden mice were presented to the judges of Israel by the lords of Philistia;-Sennacherib's army, when on the point of invading Egypt, was, according to Herodotus, assailed by a countless army of these animals, who, by devouring their bowstrings, shield-straps, baggage, &c. foiled the invader, and incapacitated him from completing | " In silence," was the reply. his object. When Alexander the Great was suing for divine honours, and the Athenians wished to testify their independence by refusing him a place in the skies, “Have a care," said Demades to them, advisingly, "lest, when you seem to guard heaven, you in reality lose earth!" A garrulous barber happening to be called to shave Archelaus, asked him, "How shall I shave you, sir ?”— Devongrove May, 18, 1831. LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES OF SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES. Monday Evening, 9th May, 1831. On another later occasion, when a colony of the Teucri issued from Crete in quest of settlements in Asia Minor, they were encouraged and authorized by an oracular response to make their abode in that place, where the earth-born or Indigenes should emerge from their dens and make an assault upon them. This happened to them near Amaxitus, a town of the Troad, where, as they lay encamped during the night-time, a countless host of fieldmice emerged, swarming from underground, and began to nibble away the leathern part of their armour, their baggage, and eatables. Considering these indigenous creatures as the fulfilment of the oracle, they settled there; and erected a temple in Chrysa to Apollo Smintheus, AFTER several members had been admitted, and a vaor Apollo of the Mouse, with a statue of the god, appro-riety of donations announced, the secretary proceeded to priately having a figure of a mouse under his foot. Some read a letter addressed by Professor Wallace to J. T. geographers have thought that the country called Mysia Gibson Craig, Esq. F.S. A. Scot., pointing out that the had its name from this circumstance of the-mouse. J. GRAHAM DALYELL, Esq., in the Chair. Present,-Drs Hibbert, Borthwick, Keith; Messrs Gibson Craig, Maidment, Sivright, Laing, Dauney, Gregory, &c. &c. commonly received opinion of the great Napier of Merchiston's being interred in St Giles's Church, was errone Antiquity, it seems, did not want its wonderful Crich-ous; and showing, by a quotation from a rare work by tons. Cicero speaks of one Hippias, who rather out. Hume of Godscroft, published very soon after Napier's Crichtoned those of modern times. This man not only death, that his remains lie in the parish church of St boasted that he knew every thing,-geometry, music, Cuthbert. The professor's letter concluded by suggestpoetry, philosophy, history, &c.-but that the very ring ing the raising a monument over Napier's grave; and on his finger, the cloak on his shoulders, the shoes on his certainly there never existed a Scotsman more entitled to feet, were all of his own workmanship. such a tribute of national respect. When the present political excitement has subsided, we trust, for the honour of Scotland, that some progress will be made in erecting a permanent memorial of this illustrious individual, Hipponicus the geometer, though profoundly skilled in the particular art which he professed, was in other matters naturally of an obtuse and unpenetrating genius. He was remarkable for his large gaping mouth, which gave occasion to the witty Arcesilaus to remark of him, that There were then read some curious particulars relative to the conduct of the celebrated Marquis of Montrose, previous to his execution, communicated, from Wod row's Analecta, by James Maidment, Esq. F.S.A. Scot. These details give a very favourable impression of the marquis's conduct in such a trying situation, and have never, we believe, been published. The secretary next made some remarks on a portion of the history of Scotland in the end of the 9th century, as given by George Chalmers, Esq., in his Caledonia, vol. i. pp. 381-2-3. These remarks went to show, what, we believe, is familiar to every student of Scottish history, namely, that the text of Mr Chalmers's valuable work is not always supported by his authorities; and that, whilst his collections on the early history of Scotland are acknowledged to be the most complete ever brought together on that subject, yet his arguments and inferences from isolated facts and meagre quotations, must in many cases be received with extreme caution. In the instance to which Mr Gregory's remarks were applied on the present occasion, a comparison of the text with the authorities produces an impression by no means favourable to Mr Chalmers's character as an unprejudiced historian, as was shown in a very distinct manner by Mr Gregory. In our last notice of the proceedings of this society, page 285, line 24, after the words "Burning of Edinburgh," insert the words, "by the Protector Somerset, in the year 1545." ORIGINAL POETRY. THE WHIRLPOOL. By Thomas Brydson. No eye, save that of wild bird on the wing, Thy mighty arms round many a shrieking crew A solitude of waters round thee lies, Thou speakest, and the distant islands hear Thou speakest ever,-yet the secret deep Vain is conjecture, where we cannot know, Save that thine eddies boil above-below, Save that within thee be, Unfeeling now, those who have felt thy power. Long hast thou reign'd a marvel,—there's an hour All shall be known of thee. Oban, May. THE SEA-GRAVE. By John Malcolm. I WOULD not depart far at sea,- Although o'er its fathomless gloom, Wake the sleeper no more, Yet there to the slumberer clings, Darkly clasping the spoil, And there comes no ray of the morn, Nor gleam of the moon's silver horn,— Nor the eve's rosy light, Nor the pale stars of night, And there balmy breezes ne'er blow- Ten thousand dread fathoms below. The voices of gladness on high, Many ships shall sail over the head I would that my slumbers should be Far away from the deep-moaning sea. LINES. By Thomas Tod Stoddart. OUR heart's own choice! Herself may trace The thought they waken in her fond She hath guess'd at their wild feelings, in In the tears her music brought, when they bade She hath guess'd at welcomes, felt by those Who gave them silent birth At sacred blessings breathed away In the passing hour of mirth ! She hath guess'd at dreams of gladness, on The weary sleeper's eye, At the vigil image of herself, That floated smiling by; At the trembling hope, the quivering fear, But her, the beautiful, the bright, LITERARY CHIT-CHAT AND VARIETIES. THE second volume of the Life of Thomas Ken, deprived Bishop of Bath and Wells, including the period from 1640 to the death of Cromwell, is nearly ready. A new weekly publication, to be called the Anti-Infidel, is announced. In the press, the Life and Times of England's Patriot King, William the Fourth;-Part I. with two Engravings. TEACHERS OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE.-An able and judicious address to professors of the French language is being circulated in London. It urges them to form a society, among other purposes, to ensure the strength and respectability resulting from union; the exclusion of incompetent persons from the occupation of teaching; the sanction, by a diploma, of those who are properly qualified: the gradual formation of a fund for the assistance of such members as have become aged and infirm. LEITH PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY.-The third open meeting of this society, and the first, we believe, at which ladies have been present, was held in the Leith Assembly Room, on Wednesday Evening. Although it is only a few months since the society was formed, the performances were given with much greater spirit and effect than we could have anticipated. The instrumental department consisted of a symphony by Mozart, a national overture by Bishop, and the overture to the Barber of Seville by Rossini, which were loudly and deservedly applauded. An andante by Beethoven, for two violins, two tenors, and violoncello, was played in a very beautiful manner. The glees and choruses were given with great feeling and animation. We were particularly pleased with “The Red Cross Knight," "Raise the loud War Cry," and "Hark! 'tis the Indian Drum." There were also songs by Messrs Macleod, Edmunds, and Muggerland, which gave great pleasure. We were highly delighted with the "Death of Nelson," sung by the latter gentleman. We ought not to omit giving Mr Kenward and Mr Currie due praise for the effective and admirable assistance they afforded in the glees. Mr R. B. Stewart is the leader of this very promising society, and he performed his duty with very great ability. Refreshments were given at this meeting, and with the delightful company of the ladies, it furnished altogether a most pleasant evening's amusement. We have been requested to assist in giving publicity to the fol lowing piece of information: The Medico-Botanical Society of London has offered a gold and a silver medal for the best essays on the question-" What is the vegetable substance which could be employed with success in the cure of hydrophobia ?" and, "On the medicinal qualities and uses of any indigenous plant, which is not yet sufficiently known, or on new uses and applications of any indigenous plants." [Would the Society not have proceeded more regularly, in respect to the POPULATION. In the approaching enumeration of the inhabitsubject matter of the first essay, by propounding the question-ants of every place, on Monday, the 30th May instant, the inten"Whether there were any such disease as hydrophobia?" For tion clearly is, that every person shall be reckoned once, and not our parts, we can see little difference between what is so called, oftener; so that those who happen to be travelling, or absent and many cases of diffuse inflammation.—E. L. J.] from home on business, or for any other purpose on that day, shall be reckoned as if at their usual residence; and if they leave directions at home accordingly, they may assign that as a reason for refusing to be reckoned elsewhere. It is not easy to define in all cases what constitutes residence; generally speaking, the enquirer may reasonably ask at every house for the number of persons who lodged there during the preceding week, or the last night, and proceed to reckon all such as residents there, unless sufficient EDUCATION IN FRANCE.-In no fewer than a hundred and nine cities and towns in France, institutions have already been, or are about to be, established at the public expense, for the instruction, by able professors, of a portion of the industrious classes of the people in the geometrical and mechanical knowledge applicable to the useful arts. The number of pupils is estimated at between LONDON.--The chancellor has been busy dining with the Royal four and five thousand. Academy and the Literary Fund. His speeches at both were such as might have been expected. At the former, Shee's farthing candle looked particularly small beside his flashes of lightning. The only thing uttered by his lordship that the most fastidious could call in bad taste, was a compliment both silly and fulsome to Sir Arthur, whom he was pleased to term at once eminent as a painter and orator. The good man is neither one nor other. Such flattery is disgusting in private public-dinners, but at one so largely attended, it is dishonest. The Academy had a right to make a fool of itself by electing Sir Arthur to the chair, but Brougham should not have worshipped the monkey-god.-A blind man of the name of Werner has attracted crowds by drawing from a German guitar a noise resembling the effect of a whole band of music. He also imitates a whole farm-yard supposed to be disturbed by the music. His success has been rivalled by a lady who manufactures pictures out of fragments of party-coloured cloths. The fine arts are, therefore, evidently flourishing in the metropolis. NEW NAUTICAL ALMANAC.-In a report made to the Geographical Society of Paris on the specimen of the "New Nautical Almanac," sent by Mr Barrow, the most flattering commendations are given to this work. "The different ephemerides published at Paris, Vienna, &c.," says the reporter, "have their peculiar advantages: the English ephemerides unite them all. Even the Connaissance des Temps, which is unquestionably one of the most complete collections of this kind, will, comparatively, be far behind: it contains the indispensable; the 'Nautical Almanac' will give the indispensable and the useful, and sometimes perhaps what will approach to the superfluous." SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS IN POLAND.-The number of students at Warsaw is 589: the provincial colleges contain 8687 pupils: 1624 young artisans frequent the Sunday schools in the capital and the provinces. In the deaf and dumb school, there are 60 individuals; in a Jewish school, founded in 1826, there are 72 pupils; in four other elementary Jewish schools, there are 298 scholars. VOLCANOES IN CENTRAL ASIA.-The discovery of volcanoes, hitherto considered to be always in proximity to the ocean, in the central plains of Asia, is among the most interesting features of the late journey of De Humboldt. This celebrated traveller is about to present an account of these to the Academy of Paris, and we shall notice the results at a future opportunity.-Literary Gazette. ARTISTS' BENEVOLENT FUND.-The anniversary of this excellent Institution took place on Saturday last, Lord Wharncliffe in the chair, supported by the Duke of Somerset, and other noblemen and gentlemen, including Sir M. A. Shee, and many academicians. Considering the all-engrossing interest of the elections, and the necessary absence from town of so many friends and patrons, we have been well pleased to hear the amount of the after-dinner subscription.-Athenæum. reason be given for thinking that they or any of them will be enumerated elsewhere.-It may conduce to accuracy in populous places, to observe, that the larger the number of selected enumerators, the less capable and intelligent some of them must be ; nor is it certain that sheriffs depute will think themselves justified in allowing payment in the accounts of schoolmasters, beyond the day's work of one enumerator to a hundred houses, or six hundred persons, unless in very thinly inhabited districts. Theatrical Gossip.-Pasta is again in London, glorious and triumphant as ever. Fanny Kemble, like a good clever girl as she is, (will she ever be any thing more ?) has been a constant witness of her performances.-A new opera, called the "Revolt of Moscow," has been produced at Drury-Lane.-Leontine Fay has rejoined the French comedians in London, and been received rapturously as ever. The French government having made an attempt to subject theatrical exhibitions to a limited censorship, and the managers of several theatres having expressed an inclination to acquiesce, seventy-five authors have combined to resist the scheme. They bind themselves under a heavy penalty to withdraw from the theatre of any manager who shall submit, all their works over which they have any control, and not to present any new ones till he retract.-Kean informed us on Saturday last that although he expected to appear seldom in London for the future, he hoped frequently to appear before an Edinburgh audience. How does this accord with the confident statements in the London prints, that he is part-proprietor and manager of the new theatre in the city? Miss Turpin takes her benefit to-night. If a sweet and correct style of singing, a modest and amiable appearance, are any recommendations, she will not appeal in vain, |