ourselves as well as we could for the night. The launch shewed a light for a guide; and thus matters remained until about two hours before dawn. Then the wind died away into a dismal moaning; and the sea heaved and rocked, yet not a single ripple broke into foam. With daylight, the gale again burst forth, though it now came steadily from the South; the first blast carrying away the boat's mast, and sweeping four of our wretched number into the inexorable waves. We saw the launch close upon us, and she appeared to fare as ill as ourselves. In the course of the day, however, she disappeared; and her probable fate increased the apprehensions as to our own. The sea water had so thoroughly saturated the bread, that it was too nauseous even for our famished stomachs, and we cast it aside in disgust. Shivering, wet, and abandoned by hope, the men, at first, murmured at Amber's firm refusal to their repeated demands for liquor, and at length endeavoured to possess themselves of the casks containing it by force. Aware of the fatal consequences that would probably result from such an indulgence, this noble young man (and he deserves the epithet) calling upon a few, on whom he could yet depend, to assist him, started the contents of one cask into the sea, while he declared his determination to defend with his life the remainder for their urgent and necessary wants. Harris would have offered some sulky resistance, but Amber's significant appeal to his pistols silenced him; we had no more murmuring on this head, or if there had been, it was inaudible, and therefore harmless.

On the sixth morning the sun arose with hope inspiring cheerfulness, and a mild easterly breeze just agitated the broad bosom of the deep. Twelve of our number had perished, and so utterly prostrate were the energies of the survivors, that they clung to the wretched planks, callously indifferent as to their fate. Sail, or oar, or compass, we had none, or had we, so wild and irregular had been our course during the gale, that we knew not where we were, save amid the wide extended desarts of the Indian ocean, or in what direction to steer. But as the sun went down, Amber, who had been anxiously on the watch all the day through, touched my arm convulsively, exclaiming, in a hurried whisper, "Look over the quarter, Delmore, is it not a sail ?"

My stagnant blood rushed in torrents

through my veins at his words. I strained my eager eyes, in the hopes of catching the wished for object--alas! nothing could I see but the blue vault of heaven above, and the false and smiling sea beneath, its extreme verge dotted by a few light and feathery clouds. Amber saw the disappointed and dejected expression of my features, and he repeated, louder and more vehemently, "I tell you it is ; I see it now, plainer and plainer?" Harris caught the expression and its import. He eagerly enquired, "Where, where?" To speak truth, the fellow was an admirable seaman, and had a hawk's eye to discover and make out any visible object: he now glanced round the horizon; and the result of his observation was communicated in a manner peculiarly characteristic of the man. He slapped his hand on his thigh, and with a tremendous oath, muttered, "If that's not a sail, I'm no man!"

And now the tumult of dread and apprehension, lest the stranger should not observe, and come to our rescue, was almost as agonizing as our previous sufferings. One, two, three hours passed, and still she remained a speck on the verge of the horizon. We tore away a portion of the boat's planks, and fastening them rudely together, spread thereon a tattered fragment of the sail; but this poor substitute seemed to mock our eager wishes-distant, distant, hopeless, hopeless appeared our chance of succour !

At length she became more and more distinct-we made out her masts-her hull rose upon the water-she saw us -she made sail towards us!

Before nightfall, we were picked up by the schooner Flor del Mar, dispatched from the Isle of France to seek us. The launch, with the Captain and his people, had reached that place on the third day after abandoning the wreck. H. D.

Snatches from Oblivion.
Out of the old fields cometh the new corn.
SIR E. COKE.

[As we have given, in another part of our number, a specimen of the airy and elegant Lyric Effusions of Nicholas Breton, a writer of no inconsiderable capability, and an ornament of the Elizabethan age, we cannot refrain from introducing a spice of his rare and exceedingly humorous prose works, trusting that they will prove far from unacceptable. The portraits chosen by us are from the lack side of our author's book, which bears the quaint title of "The Good and The Badde, or Descriptions of the Worthies and Unworthies of the Age, London, 1616,

410.

THE USURER.

An usurer is a figure of misery, who hath made himself a slave to his money; his eye is closed from pity, and his hand from charity, his ear from compassion, and his heart from pity; while he lives he is the hate of a Christian, and when he dies he goes with horror to perdition; his study is sparing, and his care is getting; his fear is wanting, and his death is losing; his diet is either fast ing, or poor fare, his clothing the hangman's wardrobe, his house the receptacle for thievery, and his music the chinking of his money: he is a kind of canker that, with the teeth of interest, eats the heart of the poor, and a venomous fly, that sucks out the blood of any flesh that he lights on. In sum, he is a servant of dross, a slave to misery, an agent for hell, and a devil in the world.

A BEGGAR.

A beggar is the child of idleness, whose life is a resolution of ease; his travel is most on the highways, and his rendezvous is commonly in an alehouse: his study is to counterfeit impotency, and his practice to couzen simplicity of charity; the juice of the malt is the liquor of his life, and at bed and board a louse is his companion: he fears no such enemy as a constable, and being acquainted with the stocks, must visit them as he goes by them: he is a drone that feeds upon the labours of the bee, and unhappily begotten, that is born for no goodness; his staff and his scrip are his walking furniture, and what he lacks in meat he will have out in drink: he is a kind of caterpillar that spoils much good fruit, and an unprofitable creature to live in a commonwealth: he is seldom handsome, and often noisesome; always troublesome, and never welcome: he prays for all, and preys upon all; begins with blessing, but ends with cursing: if he have a licence, he shews it with a grace, but if he have none, he is submissive to the ground: sometimes he is a thief, but always a rogue, and in the nature of his profession the shame of humanity. In sum, he is commonly begot in a bush, born in a barn, lives in a highway, and dies in a ditch.

Illustrations of History.

THE IRISH HARP. For the Olio.

King John, with the King's head in a triangle, which he supposed represented a harp. Another author versed in the history of coins, says from this triangle, perhaps, proceeded the arms of Ireland. The first harp figured on coins was on those of our eighth Harry, and it has been continued ever since. Mr. Vallancy writes in the preface to his Irish Grammar, "Apollo Grian or Beal was the principal god of the Irish, and from the harp being sacred to him, we may discern why that instrument is the armorial insignia of Ireland." Sir James Ware, speaking of the music of the Irish, says, "Nor can I upon this occasion forbear to mention, that the arms peculiar to Ireland, or which have for some ages at least been attributed to it, are a harp." Drayton, the author of Poly-Olbion, speaks of it thus:

The Irish I admire,

And still cleave to that lyre,
As our musicke's mother;
And thinke, till I expire,
Appollo's such another.

From this it seems as if in the poet's time some tradition had been, that the

Irish were formerly famous for their music; which might have given rise to

the arms.

R. J.

Review of New Books.

The Economy of the Hands, Feet, and Toes. By an old Army Surgeon. Pp. 130. Effingham Wilson.

WE are informed that the whole of the first edition of this little work was

sold in the course of a few weeks. The revised and corrected, and now conpresent impression has been carefully tains a number of useful receipts for the cure of those annoyances to the pedestrian,-corns and bunions, as well as all cutaneous eruptions. The very low price at which it is published prevents our extracting a few of the recipes, many of which we can vouch for; but lowing particulars, which show the auwe cannot refrain from taking the folthor to be a man of some learning and treatment of the hands. It preceds the rules for the

research.

for a man to take off his shoe, and to give it to his neighbour as a token of redeeming or exchanging any thing. We are informed that the word in the two texts, which is usually translated shoe, is by the Chaldee Paraphrast in the latter, rendered glove.

"Casaubon is of opinion that gloves were worn by the Chaldeans, because the word here mentioned is in the Talmud Lexicon explained the clothing of the hand.' But it must be confessed that all these are mere conjectures, and that the Chaldean Paraphrast has taken an unwarrantable liberty with the version.

"Let us then be content to commence the origin of gloves with Xenophon, who gives a clear and distinct account of them. Speaking of the manners of the Persians, he gives as a proof of their effeminacy-that, not satisfied with covering their head and their feet, they also guarded their hands against the cold with thick gloves. Homer, speaking of Laertes at work in his garden, represents him with gloves on his hands, to secure them from the thorns.' Varro, an ancient writer, is an evidence in favour of their antiquity among the Romans. In lib. ii. cap. 35, de Re Rustica, he says, that olives gathered by the naked hand, are preferable to those gathered with gloves. Athenæus speaks of a celebrated glutton, who came to table with gloves on his hands, that he might be able to handle and eat the meat while hot, and devour more than the rest of the company: knives and forks, of course, at that time were not invented.

"These authorities go to prove that the ancients were not strangers to gloves, though, perhaps, their use might not be so common as among us. When the ancient severity of manners declined, the use of gloves prevailed among the Romans, but not without some opposition from the philosophers. Musonius, a philosopher, who lived at the close of the first century of christianity, among other invectives against the corruptions of the age, says, 'it is a shame that persons in perfect health should clothe their hands and feet with soft hairy coverings.' Their convenience, however, soon made their use general. Pliny the younger informs us, in his account of his uncle's journey to Vesuvius, that his secretary sat by him, ready to write down whatever occurred remarkable; and that he had gloves on his hands, that the coldness of the weather might not impede his business. In

the beginning of the ninth century, the use of gloves was become so universal, that even the church thought a regulation in that part of dress necessary. In the reign of Louis le Debonnaire, the Council of Aix ordered that the monks should only wear gloves made of sheepskin. That time has made alterations in the form of this, as in all other apparel, appears from the old pictures and monuments.

"Independent of covering the hand, gloves have been employed on several great and solemn occasions; as in the ceremony of investitures, in bestowing lands, or in conferring dignities.

Giving possession by the delivery of a glove, prevailed in several parts of Christendom in later ages. In the year 1002, the bishops of Paderborn and Moncerco were put into possession of their sees by receiving a glove. This was thought so essential a part of the episcopal habit, that some Abbots in France, presuming to wear gloves, the council of Poictiers interposed in the affair, and forbade them the use of them on the same footing with rings and sandals, as being peculiar to bishops.

"Monsieur Favin observes, that the custom of blessing gloves at the coronation of the kings of France, which still subsists, is a relic of the eastern practice of investiture by the glove. A remarkable instance of this ceremony is recorded in the German history. The unfortunate Conraddin was deprived of his crown and his life by the usurper Mainpoy. When having ascended the scaffold, the injured prince lamented his hard fate, he asserted his right to the crown, and, as a token of investiture, threw his glove among the crowd, begging it might be conveyed to some of his relations, who should revenge his death. It was taken up by a knight, who brought it to Peter, king of Arragon, who was afterwards crowned at Palermo. As the delivery of gloves was once a part of the ceremony of giving possession, so the depriving a person of them was a mark of divesting him of his office, and of degrading him. Andrew Herkley, earl of Carlisle, was, in the reign of Edward the Second, impeached of holding a correspondence with the Scots, and condemned to die as a traitor. Walsingham, relating other circumstances of his degradation, says, his spurs were cut off with a hatchet, and his gloves and shoes were taken off,' &c.

"Another use of gloves was in a duel, on which occasion he who threw one

down was thereby understood to give defiance, and he who took it up to accept the challenge.

"The use of single combats, at first designed only for a trial of innocence, like the ordeal of fire and water, was in succeeding ages practised for deciding right and property. Challenging by the glove was continued down to the reign of Queen Elizabeth, as appears from an account given by Spelman, of a duel appointed to be fought in Tothillfields, in 1571. The dispute was concerning some lands in the county of Kent. The plaintiff appeared in court, and demanded a single combat. One of them threw down his glove, which the other immediately took up, carried it off upon the point of his sword, and the day of fighting was appointed, but the matter was adjusted in an amicable manner by the queen's judicious interference.

"Though such combats are now no longer in use, we have one ceremony still remaining among us in which the challenge is given by a glove, viz., at the coronations of the kings of England; upon which occasion his majesty's champion, completely armed and well mounted, enters Westminster Hall, and proclaims that if any man shall deny the prince's title to the crown, he is ready to maintain and defend it by single combat. After this declaration, he throws down his glove, or gauntlet, as a token of defiance.

"The custom of challenging by the glove is still in use in some parts of the world. It is common in Germany, on receiving an affront, to send a glove to the offending party as a challenge to a

duel.

"Gloves were also used in hawking. In former times princes, and other great men, took so much pleasure in carrying the hawk in their hand, that some of them have chosen to be represented in this attitude. There is a monument of Philip the First, of France, still remaining, in which be is represented at length, on his tomb, holding a glove in his hand.

"Mr. Chambers says, that formerly judges were forbidden to wear gloves on the bench. No reason is assigned for this prohibition. Our judges lie under no such restraint, for both they and the rest of the court make no difficulty of receiving gloves from the sheriffs, whenever the session or assize concludes without any one receiving sentence of death, which is called a maiden assize. This custom is of great antiquity. The

same curions antiquarian has also preserved a very singular anecdote concerning gloves. He informs us that it is not safe, at present, to enter the stables of princes without pulling off the gloves. He does not indeed tell us in what the danger consists. A friend from Germany explains the matter. He says, it is an ancient established custom in that country, that whoever enters the stables of a prince, or great man, with his gloves on his hands, is obliged to forfeit them, or redeem them by a fee to the servants. The same custom is observed in some places at the death of the stag; in which case, the gloves, if not taken off, are redeemed by money given to the huntsmen and keepers. This is practised in France; and Louis XVI. never failed to pull off one of his gloves on that occasion. The reason of this ceremony is not known.

"We meet with this term in our old records, by which is meant, money given to servants to buy gloves. This, no doubt, gave rise to the saying of "giving a pair of gloves," to signify making a present for some favour or service.

"To the honour of the glove, it has more than once been admitted as a term of the tenure, or holding lands. One Bortran, who came over with William the Conqueror, held the manor of Farnham Royal by the service of providing a glove for the king's right hand on the day of his coronation, and supporting the same hand that day while the king held the royal sceptre. In the year 1177, Simon de Mertin gave a grant of his lands in consideration of fifteen shillings, one pair of white gloves at Easter, and one pound of cinnamon.

"At the sale of the Earl of Arran's goods, April 6th, 1759, the gloves given by Henry VIII. to Sir Anthony Denny, were sold for £38 17s. 9d.; those given by James I. to his son, Edward Denny, for £22 4s. ; the mittens given by Queen Elizabeth to Sir Edward Denny's lady, £25 4s.; all which were bought for Sir Thomas Denny, of Ireland, who was descended in a direct line from the great Sir Anthony Denny, one of the executors of the will of Henry VIII."

The Note Book.

WOOLSACKS.

From time immemorial down to the present day, the twelve judges in the House of Lords sit on woolsacks, co

vered with crimson cloth, to remind the legislature, that in all their deliberations it is their most prominent duty to have an especial regard to the prosperity of manufactures, of which wool forms the most essential branch;-and not only does every historical account concur in the importance of this commodity, but it has also been kept in remembrance by many old proverbial sayings to the like import, among which may be particularly noticed the very common one, "that London Bridge was built upon woolsacks," that is, the expence of the fabric, which was intrusted with the care of "Peter," the minister of St. Mary, Colechurch, about the end of the 12th century, was defrayed by an impost, expressly laid for the purpose, upon the wool brought to the metropolis. H.B.A.

BRUNSWICK.

The present Duke of Brunswick, Charles-Frederick, was born in October 1804, and under the guardianship of our recently deceased monarch, succeeded his father on the 16th of July, 1815. He took possession of his inheritance in October, 1823, and two years afterwards ceded the principality of Oels in Silesia to his brother William. He is descended from the House of Este, by the marriage of the Margrave of Este with Cuniza, heiress of the house of Guelph; on which occasion he transferred his residence to Germany. His duchy before the cessation of Oels, contained a population of 336,609 souls; it is at this moment computed at 250,000. The chief towns are Brunswick, 36,200 inhabitants; Wolfenbuttel, 7810; and Helmstadt, 5400. Classed according to their religious tenets, the Duchy of Brunswick contains 239,300 Lutherans, 2300 Catholics, 1200 of the Reformed Church, and 1200 Jews; it has one Lyceum, (high church or university), two seminaries for teachers, four Gymnasia, 63 civic schools, and 369 national, or rural schools. Its revenues amount to £218,000 per annum; its expenditure to £215,000; and its Public Debt to £320,000. Of the military force, one half of whom are usually on furlough, the numbers are 2432. During the minority of Charles, our late sovereign George IV. conferred a constitution on his subjects. This took place on the 19th of January, 1820, and it gave the assembly of the states the right of approving or refusing the taxes and organic laws proposed by the government. The casting of this constitution into the "tub of passive obe

dience," and the substitution of "my will for your law," has been the occasion of the duke's second flight from the roof of his forefathers. The cabinet consists of two ministers, Bulow and Munchausen, and four councillors, who can counsel but not vote,-Messrs. Wachholm, Henneberg, Bosse, and Fricke. The ducal coat of arms has thirteen quarterings. Athenæum.

WATCHES.

The precise period when watches were first used is not known; the earliest on record were invented at Nuremburgh by Peter Hell, in the year 1490, and were called "Nuremburgh Eggs," on account of their oval form; and most of the ancient watches, in the different collections of our antiquaries, are of such figure. In 1500, George Purback, a mathematician of Vienna, possessed a watch that described seconds, which he applied to the purpose of taking astronomical observations, so that they must then have arrived at great perfection. A watch, supposed to have belonged to Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, who reigned from 1305 to 1328, was said to have been dug up at Bruce Castle not many years since.-The Emperor Charles the Fifth is stated to have had several watches, with which he was accustomed, after his abdication, to amuse himself by trying to keep them all in an exact agreement of time; but modern authors state that they were only small table clocks.

H.B.A.

JULY A REVOLUTIONARY MONTH.

On the 9th of this month, in the year 1386, the despotism exercised over Switzerland by the House of Austria was wrecked on the field of Sempach. On the 26th of July, 1581, the Confederation of the Low Countries promulgated an edict by which they renounced their allegiance to Philip II. On the 11th of July, 1690, James II. lost the battle of the Boyne, which for ever excluded both himself and his posterity from the throne of Great Britain. On the 4th of July, 1776, the Congress of the United States declared their country independent of the English crown. On the 14th of July, 1789, the flag of liberty waved over the Bastille. And on the 25th of July, 1830, Charles X. of France, signed the death-warrant of his dynasty.

CORONATIONS.

King Henry II. and King John, were each crowned three times; Henry III. twice; and Henry VI. was crowned once in France and once in England.