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THE OLIO.

possessed of infinite natural humour, undertook to discover his countrymen, if they were not involved in everlasting sleep. With a basket over his arm, he sallied forth into the street, and with a well-toned tenor voice, he began to cry out in a musical recitativo, "Fine Oysters! Fresh Carlingford Oysters! Roused and astonished at the wellknown sounds, every emigrant from Dundalk, Newry, Armagh, Richhill, and Portadown, in short, every Hibernian that had enjoyed the flavour of that delicious fish, surrounded him in less than twenty minutes.

OYSTERS.

The art of fattening our oysters in artificial beds was first taught us by the Romans. Feeding pits being first invented about ninety years before Christ, they were first constructed upon the shore of Baiæ; and even as early as the reign of Vespasian, the British oyster was deemed famous among the Romans, and thought worthy to be carried into J. Italy.

SINGULAR TENURE.

By a charter granted to Yarmouth by the third Henry, that town is bound to send to the sheriffs of Norwich one hundred herrings to be made into twentyfour pies, by them to be delivered to the lord of the manor of East Carleton, who is by his tenure obliged to present them to the king, wherever he may be.

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GARRICK'S EYE.

Miss Pope was one evening, in the Green-room of the theatre, commenting on the excellencies of Garrick, when, amongst other things, she said, "He had the most wonderful eye imaginable; an eye, to use the vulgar phrase, that would penetrate through a deal board." "Ay," cried Wewitzer, "I understand -what we call a gimblet-eye!"

ORIGIN OF CINDERELLA.

The following story, which Burton quotes from Elian, is obviously the origin of one of our most popular nursery tales:-Rodophe was the fairest lady, in her days, in all Egypt; she went to wash her, and by chance (her maides, meanwhile, looked but carelessly to her clothes) an eagle stole away one of her shoes, and laid it in Psammeticus, the King of Egypt's lap, at Memphis: he wondered at the excellency of the shoe and pretty foot, but more aquila factum, at the manner of the bringing of it, and caused, forthwith, proclamation to be made, that she that owned that shoe should come presently to his Court; the virgin came, and was forthwith married to the King." Anatomy of Melanp. 404. choly, vol. ii.

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THE SCHOOLMASTER ALL ABROAD.
Sir, I'm a plain pains-taking man,

Inflict, too, pains reciprocal with vigour;
For, ob, my boys arithmetic won't learn.
But always do their best to cut a figure.
Multiplication wins them not;
Addition, thoughtless, is forgot;
Yet the young scamps will by and by
To fast increase and multiply.
Now, for subtraction, they subtract
The finest fruit from off my trees;
And for division, they divide

The spoil, though no spoiled children these; I fog them oft, they heed not me.

Learn three hoies for the rule of three;"
Till, wearied out with such distractions,

I break their heads to teach them fractions.
I know not, sir, what more to do,
So, in despair, apply to you.

Ib.

EPIGRAMMATIC EPITAPH ON A PERSON NAMED MILES.

This tombstone is a Mile-stone, and why so?

A little man he was-a dwarf in size: But now stretch'd out, at least Miles long he lies:

Because beneath lies Miles. He's Miles below,

wide, His grave, though small, contains a space so

There's Miles in length and breadth, and room beside.

Biary and Chronology.

Wednesday, October 27.

St Eleutheran, King and Confessor.-High Water 51m after 9 Morn-29m after 10 After. October 27, 1 02.-Expired at the Hot-Wells, Bristol, to which place he went for the recovery of his health, Dr. Henry Hunter, an eminent presbyterian divine, greatly admired in the metropolis for his pulpit eloquence, and much beloved for his social qualities. His works are numerous, consisting chiefly of translations from the French; and six volumes of sermons entitled "Sacred Biography." He was a native of Culcross, in Perthshire, and was interred in Bunhill-fields, London.

Thursday, October 20.

St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles.-Sun rises 4m after 7—sels 55m after 4. For interesting particulars of these saints, see Vol. II. page 256, and Vol. IV. page 240. October 28, 1787.-Expired in the fifty-second year of his age, Johann August Musæus, a German writer of versatile talent, who shone to advantage as a novellist and satirist; he was a successful imitator of Richardson, and an enemy to the theories of Lavater, whose work upon physiognomy he ridiculed in a witty performance entitled, "Physiognomical Travels," which abounds with genial overflowing humour. When this satire appeared, every thing conspired to give its qualities their full effect; the applause it gained was instant and general; it not only brought our author from the shade, but it caused him to be forthwith enrolled among the lights of his age and generation. As an author the beauties and defects of Musæus are easily discerned. His style sparkles with metaphors, sometimes just and beautiful, often new and surprising; but it is laborious, unnatural, and diffuse.

Friday, October 29.

High Water Oh Om Morn - Oh 6m Afternoon.

October 29, 1618.-On this day ended the mortal career of Sir Walter Raleigh, who fell be neath the axe of the headsman in Old Palace Yard, Westminster. The conspiracy for which this accomplished man suffered is a state riddle, which has never properly been solved. That Raleigh had any share in it, there is not a shadow of proof; but his death was determined, and after a trial perhaps the most disgraceful in our annals, he was condemned to lose his head. He was, however, reprieved by the king; and after suffering a captivity of twelve years, a period the best employed of his life, as in this confinement he composed the greater part of his nume rous and valuable works, he was released, though not formally pardoned. In the hope of repair. ing his misfortunes, he set sail for Guiana; but the enterprize, as is well known, failed: his son was killed, and on his return, himself executed on the old sentence, at the instance of Spain. He suffered the utmost penalty of the law with the same dauntless resolution he had displayed through life Prince Henry, between whom and Raleigh there subsisted an attachment of singular strength, was accustomed to say, "No king but my father would keep such a bird in a cage."

Saturday, October 30.

St. Germanus, Bishop and Confessor.-Sun rises 7m after 7-sets 52m after 4. October 30, 1485 -Anniversary of the coronation of King Henry VII. at Westminster, by Cardinal Thomas Bourchier, the day of the ceremony being Sunday; upon which occasion, Henry first instituted the Yeomen of the Guard.

Sunday, October 31.

TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

Lessons for the Day-2 chapter Habukkah, morning-2 chapter Proverbs, Even.
Vigil of All Hallows-Full Moon, 18m after 5 Even.

This is Nut crack Night, or Hallow Eve, or the Vigil of All Saint's Day; it is customary at this season, in many parts, to crack nuts in large quantities. They are also thrown in pairs into the fire, as a love divination, by young people in Northumberland, anxious to know their future lot in the connubial state. If the nuts lie still and buru together, it prognosticates a happy marriage, or at least a hopeful love: if, on the contrary, they bounce and fly asunder, the sign is unpropitious to matrimony. Burning nuts is also a famous charm in Scotland; in the Hallow-E'en of that inspired son of genius, Burns, mention is made of the practice we have al Juded to in the following words:-

The old guid wife's weel hoardet nits
Are round and round divided,

And monie lads' and lasses' fates
Are there that night decided:

Some kindle couthie, side by side,

An' burn thegither trimly;
Some start awa' wi' saucy pride,
And jump out owre the chimlie.

Monday, November 1.

All Saints.-High Water 12m after 2 Morning-36m after 2 Afternoon. It is remarkable that, whilst the old popish names for the other fasts and festivals, such as Christmas, Candlemas, &c. are generally retained throughout England, the northern counties alone continue the use of the ancient name (All Hallows) for the festival of All Saints. The people of Catalonia, on the eve of All Souls, observe a strange religious practice; they run about from house to house to eat chesnuts, believing that for every chesnut they swallow, with proper froth and unction, they shall deliver a soul out of purgatory.

Tuesday, November 2.

All Souls. Sun rises 13m after 7-sets 46m after 4.

All Souls Day was anciently one of great importance, and kept with much solemnity. Until the Reformation was firmly established in England, it was customary for persons dressed in black to go round the different towns, ringing a loud and dismal toned bell at the corner of each street, every Sunday evening during November, calling upon the inhabitants to remember the deceased, suffering the expiatory flames of purgatory, and to join in prayer for the repose of their souls; but afterwards, Queen Elizabeth passed an edict strictly forbidding the sacrile gious ringing of Bells at All Hallowtide and at All Souls Day, with the two nights next before and after."

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Illustrated Article.

THE STORY OF A LEGACY. For the Olio.

Rest, ill-starred youth! Though in the blaze of noon thy murd'rers live,

Unclaim'd by justice, yet their guilt shall

gnaw

Though cold and comfortless thy weedy grave, Thy woes and wrongs are register'd in heaven!

FREDERICK HENDERSON was a wanderer. Family disasters had clouded his prospects, and reversed the natural equanimity of his temper. He had quitted his home in search of adventure, and to seek a relief to his sorrow by gratifying to the utmost his love of observation. Versed in "men and manners," from the most obvious to the most minute of their characteristics, he had adopted a change of scene as a panacea for the mental disease which warred with his existence; when, after vainly endeavouring to re-establish his almost totally prostrated health and spirits, by local travelling, he bade adieu to the castle-crowned heights of Dover; the VOL. VI.

U

See page 307

rocky eminences of Margate and Ramsgate; the beauteous and enchanting scenery of the Isle of Wight; the fashionable purlieus of Southampton ;to wandering through the woods "where the poet Sidney passed his boyhood;" to dreaming amidst the "storied windows" of our southern cathedrals; to the effeminacy and expenditure of watering-places; to the fluctuating courtesies and accommodations of inns " by the way-side;" to village "surgeries," encircled by bee-hives and brushwood; to steam-boat voyaging by sea, and to stage-coach travelling by land; turned his face once more to the patrimony of his fathers.

and

There is a sympathy in nature for our joys and sorrows; and the cheerfulness or gloom which creation assumes, in turns, has more power, in many instances, to elevate or depress the human mind, than the soothing of friends, or the chiding of enemies; and, as young Henderson pursued his homeward way through the woods and vallies of western Yorkshire, his spirit became unonsciously imbued with the melancholy

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of the scenery. Toiling down the steep of Harewood Castle, he paused midway to look on the gloomy landscape ere evening had quite hid it from his view. Above him, the ruins of that relic of civil commotion lifted their gaunt towers over the hill-seated woods around them, the sable ivy hiding one turret, and the blasted alder topping the other. Below, the bubbling stream crept over its stony bed, crossed by its wide and antique bridge; and, centrally, the comfortable inn, in the old English style of architecture, imparted an imposing aspect to the view. But all was overcast with that gloom which characterises an early spring. The repulsive croaking of the castle rooks fell on the ear; the mist was rising from the brook, and had already bedewed the grass with moisture; the cattle were being driven to their nightly receptacles; and the toil-sick peasant hurried to his fire-side. Frederick ruminated on the altered mien of the prospect. Leaving his home, he had travelled that way when the brilliant morning was mantling the heavens in crimson, and the sky-lark was fluttering over the verdant corn. In the interim of his absence, his father had died, and with him all his hopes; his own aunt and uncle had refused to him the payment of a legacy left him in right of his mother, by a will in which they were executrix and executor; and he was now returning from a vain perambulation in search of mental quietude, moneyless, comfortless, and dejected; and his mourning formed an apt similitude to his own sufferings in a circumstance which he then witnessed. It was that of a solitary cushat, which appeared to have been prematurely overtaken by the evening, and was wheeling its baffled flight round and round the dreary valley, its wings wet with the falling dew; until at length the wearied bird sought shelter amidst the strange and uncongenial branches of a clump of nearly naked firs. The piteous emblem suggested its analogy to Frederick Henderson, and his feelings found a partial relief in tears.

It was at the close of an evening in April, when Frederick entered the small town of Topton, on his way to his uncle Will Yeateley's, where he intended to spend the few months of flattering anxiety and deceiving hope, during the inquiries attendant on the recovery of his legacy. The faint and receding sunbeams fell on the gilded hands of the old clock of St. Columbus, which pointed to the hour of seven. Around him was

the delightful scene of his boyhoodthe grove-hidden mansion of his aged aunt, the deceased Mrs. Smith; the old market cross, fallen into disuse and decay; the elevated and elm-shadowed church-yard; the roaring waterfall by the far-off mill, seated on the majestic Swale; the prolific and spacious meadows skirting that noble stream; and, to back the landscape, the full-grown plantations of Beechwood Park, with its fine deer browsing in the swarded intervals. Crossing the bridge connecting Topton with the Ashby road, he encountered the athletic and commanding figure of an old and esteemed friend, Thomas Walker, an unusually intelligent and industrious tradesman, living in a small cottage at Ashby. After mutual recognition and salutation, they entered into converse.

"Gadslikins, Fred," said Walker, "they tell me you have rambled over half England."

"Why truly, Walker, my way has been a rugged one. The last bough on the blighted tree of my hapless family, I am but a very frail one; and it is surprising, considering the many blasts I have stood the brunt of, that I have not been broken off from the withered trunk, and borne away by the winds."

6 Nay, nay, cheer up, my boy! better days await you: a young man should never despair. Learn my philosophy. Though trampled to the dust by that ignorant and cruel fellow, Rockton, who has deprived me of nearly all my custom, merely because I will not doff my hat to him, I never repine. The proud consciousness that I nightly lay down my unaching head at peace with all good men, consoles me for his malice. It was but the other day, Frederick, that he mounted his horse, and rode,ten miles to tell the trustees of a school into which my little Jane had been admitted, that unless they ejected her, he should stay his subscription; but, thank God! there are some honest men in the world-his request was indignantly refused."

"He is a villain," said Frederick; "but pray how gets on my old crony, Kit Briton, with him-does he still exasperate him by his attention to politics?"

"Just as much; every speech that proceeds from Kit, is pretty well sprinkled with secret news of revolutionary dagger-making and preparations for civil war. He cannot speak without dragging in, 'In 1799, Lord Sidmouth said,' and ending with the

folly of a finance committee.' It's worth a Jew's eye to see him seated in his shop-window, exactly opposite the Squire's drawing-room, turning over a newspaper a twelvemonth old, purposely to vex him; the Squire exclaiming, 'D-n that fellow Briton, there he is again, reading the newspaper instead of cobbling shoes, and providing for his family. Confound these seditious fools, that ever they were taught to read.""

"I am now returning," observed Frederick, "in the hope of obtaining the paltry legacy unjustly withheld from me by my aunt Barking of Dalling, and my uncle Yeateley, of Beechwood Park; and I know that, in my efforts to have justice done to my cause, I shall make Squire Rockton my implacable foe; for his friendship for my uncle is such, that I believe he would engage in any dirty service to maintain it."

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Ay, ay," replied Walker, "and there is your poor uncle, Will Yeateley, the hard-working blacksmith, whose house you are now going to make your head-quarters, would sell his soul to please his rich brother and the Squire. He has Rockton's work; and for that he kisses the very dust on which he treads; though mind ye, Fred, he makes no scruple, privately, to take his rusty old gun, and have a pop now and then at Rockton's pigeons; and so well does he know which are the Squire's, that he can tell them a mile off. But I hoaxed him properly the other day: 'Will,' says I, coming past Rockton's seed fields, down Dishforth lane, I saw about twenty of his pigeons picking the seeds; make haste, man, and you will have a fine shot.' Away he toddles with the old fowling-piece; his leather apron rattling against his legs, and it was half an hour before I saw him come back again. Thomas,' said he, you have taken the sheep's-wool which is stuck on the hedges for pigeons, for I saw none when I got there;' and I had a hearty laugh, you may believe me, Fred, at poor Will's disappointment of a pigeon pie."

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Canvassing other matters which had occurred during Frederick's absence, they had passed the summit of Ashby Bank, when, crossing the pleasureground of Captain Barton, they arrived at Ashby, where, stopping before a neatly thatched cottage, fronted by two fine variegated holly-trees, shading an ancient dial, they shook hands and parted,-Walker promising to see Frederick at his uncle Will Yeateley's, the Three Horse Shoes, in an hour or two.

A few paces further, and Frederick stood before the dwelling of the village aristocrat, Squire Rockton; and verily it was a scene in character. Nearly hidden from the prying eyes of the good and submissive people of Ashby, by laurels and flowering shrubs, its wellguarded walls seemed the stronghold of tyranny. The birds of heaven, in their chartered intrusions in search of food, passed over the Squire's netted garden without deigning to take from it the tribute of even a poor worm. The ironbarred gates creaked on their hinges; the surly house-dogs barked savagely at the slightest passing sound; and the weedy walks of the approach showed that the feet of strangers were seldom permitted there. A painted board stuck on a wall enclosing the grounds, announced the pleasing intelligence, that any intruder "whoever, and on any pretence whatever," would incur the penalty of a few slugs being discharged at his body. Behind the house, a treble row of corn-stacks, of four or five years' produce, flanked the well-stocked foldyard and ample granaries of the Squire. To complete the picture, Rockton himself appeared, with a horse-whip, to drive away some harmless urchins who were playing at marbles at some little distance, and to whom he applied it most unmercifully. The blood of young Henderson boiled in his veins on be holding this, and he held a short parley with his passion, touching whether he should divest the Squire of his whip, and give him a sound flogging with it, or not. Laying hold of one fine little fellow, whose cheek bore the lacerated marks of the lash, Frederick rescued him from his vengeance, and addressed himself to the rufian.

"Pray, sir, desist; so cruel a punishment is quite disproportioned to the offence. Recollect they are but children."

"And pray who are you, sir?" thundered the Squire, eyeing him with a contemptuous squint, not deigning to turn his face to him; "D-n your blood, sir, be off! or I'll give you ten times as much."

"Advance one foot," said Frederick, "and, by heavens, you shall measure your length in the dust!"

On the utterance of this threat, Squire Rockton retreated within the gate, and calling loudly to a ferocious mastiff, the furious animal rushed open-mouthed upon Frederick, and would have seized him by the throat, had not his master, fearful of the consequences redound

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