Imatges de pàgina
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mankind. In that case she must of necessity sue for a divorce, or make him faithfully promise future obedience and readiness to devote himself wholly to her will and pleasure. If a divorce is denied, she must then pray devoutly to be unburthened of her husband, and that she may soon become a widow. By artifice and manoeuvering, the spouse may thus be at length induced to say, 'Do love, whatever you please, for I am your dutiful slave."

"With respect to marriage and bridehood, and whatever depends upon them, it is proper, when a woman is engaged, that all conjugal arrangements should be completed at once. They present a lighted candle before her face, and place the Koran near her, and a mirror, and also a tray with ambergris-tapers, different kinds of perfume, some arzen and dried dates, called kyani morad, and cress-seed, aspund, and other articles required by ancient usage. And it is proper also that a person should stand at the head of the bride, and pronounce the Khotbeh of Hazrat Adam; and they should also throw over the head of the bride a sort of veil of a green colour, so that her whole person may be enveloped in its folds. The bride herself must not speak to any one. She must then be undressed, even her gauze chemise taken off, and whilst thus hid from view, a large brass basin must be turned upside down, and a lighted lamp put under it, fed with oil made of ox-fat-Upon this basin they must place a saddle, if they have one, and then a pillow, on which the bride is seated, the attendants singing aloud:

The busband is saddled, the journey begun, Aud the beautiful bride her own race has to run."

"If a girl is of a timid disposition, place a frying pan at the street door, and put fire into it to make it hot.The mother and daughter must then stand on one side of the frying pan, close to each other, and every time they change hands, they must scatter a little salt and water into it. They must then look steadfastly upon the frying-pan, and particularly upon the spot where the salt and water were thrown, and, wonderful to relate, the image of the beast or animal which is the secret cause of fear, will be seen! Again, on a Sunday night, take an unburnt brick, and pour some oil upon it, drop by drop, and with a knife scrape up wherever the oil has fallen, and say, 'This

is the eye of such a one, man or wơ man, mentioning their names. After that, put a piece of cotton and an egg upen the brick, then set fire to the cotton, and place the brick on the road.In returning home be careful not to look back. Kulsum Naneh says, this is an excellent preservative against the evil eye. Again, the claws of the tiger and the wolf are also of great power in destroying the pernicious influence of enchanters. Some of these amulets are bound round the temples, and others over the shoulders, and some again near the heart. With regard to fortunetelling, a variety of stories are related. Take, hot from the oven, a loaf that is joined to another, and throw them both at the head of the girl whose fortune is to be told. If they do not separate she will soon be married. Take some bride-millet seed, called arzen arusi, and when the bride is entering the bridal chamber, throw them backwards after her, pronouncing her name, and by counting the seeds that fall, her future fortune may be ascertained. Upon first seeing the new moon, a girl should look at a crow, that her destiny may be known; if the girl's eyes and the crow's eyes meet each other at the same moment, the omen is propitious. If the palm of the hand itches, rub it on the head of a boy whose father and mother are still living, and a present of money will be the consequence. If a dog catches a fly, take and wrap it up in the corner of a handkerchief, and undoubtedly some good will ensue. Atkinson's Customs, &c. of Persian Women.

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songs, new vols, and new year's gifts, we have been pressed into the service of electioneering. What a heap of waste paper now rises up into our presence! promises, pledges, and pains-taking, have, like a stormy atmosphere, subsided into comparative calm-the due performance remains. We have gone to the " poll." We have done our duty. Our voices are hoarse with stentorian exertion. The booths have been filled, but not with fairings. The serviles of the mob have gone through the radical exercise, but are not satisfied with their superior officers; who, in all honourable mention, descended to their level, and once in the way to answer the purposes of the occasion, called them gentle men!". With a very suitable piece of sophistry, they appealed to their "good sense;" and seemingly inclined to submit to the Roman mob law" of staves and bludgeons, they heard themselves deliver orations within their immediate space, made their bows in defiance, or complaisancy, and are now either the victors of the "proudest day" in their lives, or retired into seclusion to bite their nails, count the cost, and trust to better fortune in fu

ture.

Who is there of us that has not been jostled and pulled by the button for Our "vote and interest" during the past week? And is not the Borough of the Olio represented by an independent spirit? Has any point, pledged in the volumes hitherto printed, not been fulfilled to the very letter? But why should we apply self-adulation to the retrospective? Are we not now the prospective and successfully elected members of that literary, pictorial and scientific parliament, constituted to give the Republic of Letters, enfranchised for all periods, accounts of our proceedings in our hebdomadal session! "You are? you are?"-" Yes, gentlemen; and rely on it we are equally disinterested with the greater portion of our contemporaries." "Hear! hear!"-" But, gentlemen, lest we tire your patience—” "No, no; go on- By fine peroration and climax, antithesis, and classic allusion, we hasten to the most emphatic and satisfactory conclusion, by directing you to the real state of the poll." Should our enemies demand a scrutiny, still we are certain of the result."—" To be sure you are: so you ought to be."

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Well, gentlemen-we thank you for the past, rely on you for the present,

and trust for your future support."Hem!" And you shall have it!When shall the OLIO be chaired?"-"Gentlemen, we are now already in our chair writing, and like modest persons, candidates for popular favour, are not really aware that we have been addressing ourselves. Highly flattered by your suffrages, may we not forget our being elected! But, seriously withal, it is a most singular custom that the popular cause at the Hustings is governed by clamour, just as the cause of the Drama is ruled by the assumed censors of Olympus in the one shilling gallery."

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If such scenes are represented-such professions made such unities re solved into practice in London and the environs-it follows that in other parts ofthe united kingdom similar influences are used. But, we are persuaded, the more widely knowledge is diffused, the greater integrity will prevail; the more the mind is cultivated, the better its fruits will flourish; and the closer the type poll is registered, the less danger there will be of the decline of literature and universal philanthropy. That we may all make our "calling and election sure," is the friendly and titheable desire of the

OLIO.?

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THE Literary Gazette, from which we copy the following account, says :--At a period when the fate of the Duchess of Berry involves not only a story of strong personal interest, but a question of much national importance, we trust that the following narrative, for which we are indebted to a friend, will be acceptable to our readers.

"The Duc de Berry, last prince of the house of Bourbon in the direct line, was, like the first king of the race, the victim of an assassin's blow. On Sunday, the 13th of Feb. 1820, the Duke and the Duchess de Berry went to the opera, to partake in the amusements customary during the season of the carnival. Between the acts of the first piece they went from their own box to that of the Duc d'Orleans, where his good-humoured laughter, and caresses of the young Duc de Chartres, attracted from the audience their repeated notice and applause. In returning to her box, the duchess slightly hurt herself by the opening of a door, at the moment of passing; and feeling fatigued, she ex

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pressed a wish to retire, at about twenty minutes before eleven. The Duc de Berry accompanied her to the carriage, intending to return into the theatre. The duchess's carriage had drawn up to the door, the soldiers on guard were within the lobby, the prince having long waved the etiquette of their attendance under arms; one man remained at the door as a sentinel; and while present ing arms to their royal highnesses, his back was turned to the street, as was that of the Comte de Choiseul; an aidede-camp in waiting. The Comte de Mesnard, senior equerry to the duchess, conducted her to the carriage on the left, while the duke was on her right. The Comte de Clermont Lodeve (gentle man in waiting) was in attendance, to to return to the theatre with the prince, At this moment, a man, coming from the Rue de Richelieu, hastily passed between the sentinel and a servant who was putting up the step of the carriage: pushing him aside, he threw himself on the duke, at the instant when, turning from the carriage to re-enter the theatre, he said, Adien! we shall meet by and by.' The assassin, leaning his left hand on the left shoulder of the royal victim, stabbed him with his right hand in the right side, a little below the breast. Thrown back by the blow on the Comte de Mesnard, the duke pressed his hand to the spot, exclaiming, I am assassinated; this man has killed me; and raising his voice, ice. I am murdered! I am murdered! I hold the poniard !" At the first exclamation of the prince,

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in your arms. Fainmess succeeded.
The young princess threw herself on her
husband's bosom, and in a moment her
splendid attire was steeped in his blood.
Meantime the assassin had been taken,
and with difficulty saved from the sum
mary vengeance sought by the soldiers.”
When lodged in
in the guard-house, he
was searched, and another poniard
found on him, together with the sheath
of the one he had left in the bosom of
his prince. The most immediate sur
gical assistance
stance that could be obtained

W

was that of Drs.Blancheton and Drojard,
who found the wounded prince removed
to the ante-room of his box in the theatre.
On regaining his senses, his first in
quiry was, whether the guilty
man
was a foreigner? and on being answered
in the negative, the son of France ob
served, It was cruel to him to die by
the hand of a Frenchman!" The
duchess earnestly inquired of the sur
geons what was opinion, promis
ing to support it with Brimness, and
they tried to encourage some hope, from
the circumstance of his not having bled
at the month, After cleansing the wound
from the clotted blood, they proceeded to
bleed him in the right a The sufferer
rallied sufficiently to say to the two me
dical men, that he was truly sensible
of their kind efforts;
But that they were
useless as he was beyond cure. "MA
Blancheton sought to persuade his royal®
highness that the wound was not deep:
I do not deceive myself,"
'the poinard was buried
say so positively.

the Comtes de Clermont and de Choi off
her
sash, to
serve a

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alone preserved her presence of mind in these dreadful moments, and evinced a character greatly above the common. The prince, whose sight became more feeble, said, from time to time," wife are you there? Yeste plied the princess, wiping her tears, I am here, and will never quit you. One of the professional men, who had at the earliest intelligence flown to offer his aid, and who was particularly tached to the Duc de Berry, was desirous of sucking the wound, till instru ments for cupping could be got.

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seul, the secretary, the servant, and several other persons, pursued the assassin, who had fled by the Rue de Ri chelieu. The duchess, whose carriage had not yet driven off, heard her husband's voice, and tried to throw herself from the door, resisting every effort to detain her, and scarcely waiting till the step could be let down. Leave me! I command you to let me pass' she franticly cried. The wounded prince made an effort to beg her not to come. Followed by Comtesse Bethizy (the lady in waiting), she flew to him at the moment he had withdrawn the knife dear Bourgon,' observed the from his bosom, and given it the tient, what would you do, my friend? Comte de Mesnard, his friend in exile. my wound is mortal, and probably poiHe was then seated on a bench in the soned!' lobby, his head leaning against the wall, and his clothes were opened to examine the wound: it was bleeding profusely. The prince then repeated, —'I am dying!-let a priest be sent for. Come, my wife! that I may expire

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"The Duc de Berry had most anxiously requested the attendance of minister of the church, and the Bishop of Chartres soon arriving, found him supported in an arm-chair, surrounded by the surgeons, and in full possession

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prince placed his hand in that of M. Dupuytren, and begged that he would give him notice of any change in his pulse thus placing at the post of life a sentinel too vigilant to permit of his being surprised by death. Mors, ubi est victoria tua? During this respite from pain, he addressed these words to the Duchess de Berry: My dear love, do not let grief overpower you; take care of yourself, for the sake of the infant you carry in your bosom.' This declaration afforded the truest satisfaction to all present, while the regrets for that prince were rendered even more bitter; who, at the moment he was, to all appearance, putting an end by his death to the existing monarchy, thus considerately announced its revival. Wherever the Duc de Berry turned his closing eyes, it was to evince some kind and grateful feeling. He was surrounded by weeping servants. My father,' he exclaimed, take charge of these good people of all my household.' Violent retchings followed. The prince continued to assert that the poniard was poisoned. He had previously requested to see his assassin: "What have I done to this man?' he said; 'I may have offended him unintentionally.' 'No, my son,' replied monsieur, 'you never saw, never offended this man; he could have no personal enmity against you.' 'He is then a madman,' observed the duke. He was most anxious for the arrival of the king (Louis IXVIII.): I shall not have time,' he said, to ask for this man's pardon;' and then added, 'promise me, my father, promise me, my brother, that you will solicit his pardon from the king.'

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"Three bulletins had been dispatched to the palace of the Tuileries. At five o'clock, A. M., the king arrived. The true statement of the prince's dan ger had not been made to him. The dying man, hearing the noise of the horses in the street, seemed to rally; and on the king's entrance, rousing himself as for the purpose-'Give me your hand, my uncle,' he said, that I may kiss it for the last time.' The king approached, overwhelmed by his grief, and embraced his nephew; when the Duc de Berry earnestly exclaimed: 'Grant me, my uncle, the life of the man!" 'You are not so ill as you imagine,' answered the king, deeply affected; we will speak of this another time.' "The king does not say yes,' observed the prince, still per

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sisting in his entreaty, pardon for this man, that I may die in peace!' then, after a short interval, 'This man's pardon would, however, have softened my last moments;' and, while his accents became imperfect by the near approach of death, he still murmured, 'At least let me carry with me the hope that a fellow-creature's blood will not be shed for me after my death!' The king inquired, in Latin, of M. Dupuytren, his opinion of the prince. His reply was a gesture that left no hope to his, majesty. Still, there was a return of some strength, and momentary relief from the excitement of the meeting with the king; and the Duc de Berry signified his uneasiness that his rest should have been disturbed, begging him to return to his bed; but his Majesty replied,

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My night is over, my son; it is now five o'clock, and I shall not quit you.' Day, in fact, then dawned on the expiring martyr-about to awake amidst angels, at a moment when he was accustomed on earth to shake off the bonds of sleep. Feeling his end drawing near, It is now over!' he said, and added, on hearing a burst of sorrow from the princess, "Take her bence, my father; her sobs distract me!' Her royal highness was borne forcibly from the room to one adjoining; but on promising to be more calm, she was suffered to return to that in which her dying husband was. Every shadow of hope had fled, and the most alarming symptoms had appeared. The Duc de Berry desired to be turned on the other side. The medical men opposed this, but the royal patient insisted. He was heard to murmur Holy Virgin. have mercy on me!' These were his last words. He was turned on his left side, as he wished. In an instant every faculty had fled. When removed from the sight of her husband, the duchess lost all self-command, and gave herself up to the most frightful despair. To the Comtesse de Gontant she cried,

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Madame, I confide my daughter to you;

my husband is dead, and I also will die! And then, breaking from those who would have prevented her, she flew back to the chamber of death, and, overthrowing every thing that stopped her progress, she flung herself, screaming, on the body of her husband. The Duc de Berry had just expired! In vain the glass of the king's snuff-box was placed on his lips-the breath of life was extinct! It had returned to God! Every one present fell upon his knees; united in tears and prayer,

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