Imatges de pàgina
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THE FALLS OF THE NIAGARA.

THE "Falls of the Niagara" have become celebrated by the notices given them in the travels of many of our countrymen, and excited so much interest as to call the talents of artists into requisition. Thus a dioramic representation of considerable effect, showing the heights and depths of this wonderful effort of nature, is in view at the Pantechnicon. A second representation by the now proscribed pencil of Stanfield, is introduced into the new pantomime at Drury; and Mr. Burford, we believe, is producing a picture of extensive character for a future exhibition on the same subject; so that there appears to be a fashion in depicting the Falls of Niagara', which collectively considered, will, doubtless, make the British public thoroughly acquainted with them.

SCRAPS OF INTEREST.

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1. Noli me tangere. Touch me not--This is a sort of canker in the face, especially above the chin; a piece of flesh in the nostrils which often stops the wind, and the more it is touched, the worse it grows; it is also a herb, whose seed spirts away as soon as it is touched.

2. The Lame, or Game Leg. The oval foot pertains to the saddle horse, the hunter and bit of blood kind, whose bold projecting frogs the farriers remove. And these being compelled to perform long and painful journies, ever starting or going off with the same 'leading leg,' and continuing the same throughout, lameness is contracted in that foot. The horse which changes the leading leg with most ease, oftenest, and with least trouble, is ever the best; such an one never acquires this lameness, and is said to possess a real 'game leg.'

3. Pond or Pand.

Pond' was formerly pronounced Pand" (from pandere) to open; and derived of 'bond' to bind, or shut up; or 'Pyndan' to shut in. It was customary to open and shut the Ponds' at certain seasons, for the purpose of taking the fish contained in them, and cleansing the stagnant waters.

4. Miserere,

Miserere derives its title from the 51st Psalm, called the Psalm of Mercy,' and commonly presented by the ordinary to such malefactors as had the benefit of clergy allowed them.

5. Origin of Pell Mell.

'Pale Maille' is a game where a round ball is with a mallet struck through a high arch of iron, standing at either end of an alley, as in St. James's Park-hence Pell Mell.

6. Epitaph for a Bankrupt. The Italian epitaph is no less applicable to the bankrupt than to the defunct, which runs- What I spent, I had-what I gave, I have what I kept, I lost."

THE BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ.

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them. It was a scene of surprise and confusion. The Emperor, however, aided by Katosoff, rallied his men. The Russian guards and other regiments charged, and the French, a moment since victorious, were driven back. Some regiments that had even formed squares were broken into and routed by the impetuosity of the Russians. Napoleon did not see what was taking place, Austerlitz being hidden from him by the heights. His ear, however, caught sounds that did not augur victory and he instantly sent Rapp, his aide-decamp, to see what was the matter. "Rapp gallopped off with some squadrons of the guard, rallied stragglers, as he advanced, and saw, as he came up, the menacing position of affairs, the Russians victorious, sabering the French, who were driven from their broken squares. They were already bringing cannon to play upon Rapp, when the latter crying out to his men," to avenge their comrades and restore the day," charged at full speed amongst the Russians. This gave the routed French time to breathe and rally. They group cd and formed; Rapp returned to the charge. Half an hour's obstinate struggle and carnage took place, which terminated in the rout of the Russian guards before the eyes of the two emperors. This feat achieved, Rapp rode back to acquaint Napoleon that all the foe in the direction of Austerlitz were in flight. On other points victory had been already assured. The left of the allies, on the efforts of which so much had been built, was now cut off it was completely destroyed or taken. The most dreadful feature of its rout was the attempt of the squadron to escape over the lakes; but the ice which supported the tread at first, gave way under the weight, and thousands of brave men perished. Cab. Cyclop.

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existing," he states to be-1, Athelstan's Chair," a turret in the northern wall of the city, from whence that prince is said to have beheld the combat; 2. A representation of the battle, carved in stone, on a part of the wall; 3. Two statues, one of a tall man, and the other much less, apparently engag ed in combat ; 4. "Colbrand's Axe," which was preserved, as late as the reign of James I., in the Cathedral Treasury; and probably disappeared when the sacred edifice was despoiled by the Parliamentarians.

Q. P.

THE TRAVELLING TINKER, The best practical lesson I ever got originated in the following accidental occurrence. Some years ago 1 received private information, that a travelling tinker, who occasionally visited, these mountains to make and repair the tin stills used by the peasantry in illicit distillation, was in the constant habit of destroying fish, and he was represented as being a most successful poacher. I was returning down the river after an unfavourable day, a wearied and disappointed fisherman, and observed, at a short distance, a man chased across the bogs by several others, and eventually overtaken and secured. It was the unfortunate tinker, surprised by the keepers in the very act of landing a splendid salmon; two, recently killed, were discovered in his wallet, and yet that blessed day I could not hook a fish! He was forthwith placed in durauce before "my Honour," to undergo the pains and penalties of his crime. He was a strange, raw-boned, wild-looking animal, and I half suspect Sir Walter Scott had seen him before he sketched Watt Tinlin in the Lay. He was a convicted felon-he had no plea to offer, for he was taken in the very fact. But he made two propositions where-withal to obtain his liberty-" He would never sin again-or he would fight any two of the captors." My heart yearned towards him he was after all a brother-and, admitting that rod and coat were not worth threepence, still he was an adept in the gentle art,' although the most ragged disciple that ever Isaac boasted. I forgave him, dismissed the captors, and ordered him to the lodge for refreshment'My Honour had no sport,' and he locked carelessly at my flies. Would I condescend to try one of his ?" He put a strange-looking combination of wool and feathers on the casting-line. There was a fine pool near us—I tried

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it-, and the second cast I was fast in aed a Hodening, and the figure above twelve-pound salmon. My ragged alluded to a "hoden" or wooden horse. friend remained with me some days, This curious ceremony is also observed and in his sober intervals, 'few and in the Isle of Thanet on Christmas eve, far between, gave me lessons in the art, and is supposed to be an ancient relic that have been more serviceable than of a festival ordained to commemorate any I had hitherto acquired. our Saxon ancestors landing in that island.

Wild Sports of the West. DANGEROUS LUNATIC. I was indulging in a delicious reverie, when something like a bird flitted hastily by

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ORIGINAL ANECDOTE OF THOMAS MOORE. When Moore the poet studies in bed, which is very usual with him, he has acquired the habit of twisting the corners of the sheets' with his fingers; and, when he is walking in his garden absorbed in thought, he unconsciously twirls the thumbs and fingers of his gloves,' till they are not fit to be worn. We may, therefore, infer that to the twists and twirls in the sheets and gloves, we are indebted to the poet for many of his fine drawn sentiments and delightful illustrations of the tender passion. X. J. Z.

JACK FULLER.When honest Jack

again, and there was a heavy plump in the water. I looked up - a wild unearthly-looking creature stood on the eliff above, in the very act of launching a huge stone at me. Just then, a female figure rose beside him, and with threats and blows drove him from the rock. It was my fair friend of the curragh, who seeing me take the lonely path I did, hastened after to warn me of the danger. She told me that the assailant was a dangerous Innatic: he was treacherous beyond description, and his antipathy to women and strangers was remarkable. Many accidents had occurred from his savage disposition. He feared men, and rarely attacked them; but if he saw a female at a distance from the village, "he would lurk with malignant perseverance for hours behind a bank or cliff to attack her unawares. Some of the island women had narrowly escaped death from this turbulent monster, and few of the males but had at some time or other suffered injury from his hands; a stone was his favourite missile, which he threw with wonderful force and precision. To my inquiry, "Whyeing her master, burst into tears. this dangerous being was not removed to some asylum?" my protectress replied with a smile," He was but a poor natural, after all; he was born in the island, and God forbid he should be sent among strangers."

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KENTISH CUSTOMS. At Ramsgate, in Kent, they begin the festivities of Christmas by a curious musical procession. A party of young people procure the head of a dead horse, which is affixed to a pole about four feet in length, a string is tied to the lower jaw, a horse cloth is then attached to the whole, under which one of the party gets, and by frequently pulling the string keeps up a loud snapping noise, and is accompanied by the rest of the party grotes quely habited and ringing hand bells, they thus proceed from house to house sounding their bells and singing carols and songs. They are commonly gratified with beer and cake, or perhaps with money. This is provincially call

Fuller, the member for Sussex, was confined by the vote of the House for insulting the Speaker, he seemed to conceive that he was going to be manacled and locked up in some cell disproportioned perhaps to the large and magnificent scale of his person. To his surprise, he was allowed to send for his old housekeeper, whose mind was equally full of the fears of a more criminal and less aristocratic species of "durance vile." The old woman, on

"Don't be blubbering there, you foolish old woman, but go home and bring me a bottle of rum," roared honest Jack; and the servant was about to depart in joyful surprise that imprisonment could be made so gentlemanly and respectable; but the officers of the House assured their prisoner that he might have rum and all things that he wanted by paying for them at a prisoner's price. "I was to have had a dinner party of twelve or fourteen people tomorrow," said honest Jack. You can have your dinner party here, sir, if you please," was the reply of the officers. "Zounds, can I?" cried the county member, his eyes dilating with surprise and delight; "then I don't care a d-n for the little man in the big wig, or for his warrants and imprisonments."

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nued jumping from stem to stern, and springing from bench to bench. Struck by the oddity of their proceedings, I eased away the sheets and ran down upon them; I was a welcome ally, as the result proved. It turned out, that having espied a seal and her cub sleeping on the sand, they had procured an old musket and rowed over to attack them; they were partially successful, and seized the cub before it could regain its native element, although the dam rendered all assistance possible to relieve the young one. Having placed their prize in the boat, they were returning, followed by the old seal, which kept rising beside them, attracted by the cries of the cub; after many bootless attempts, their gun at last exploded, the ball entered the seal's head and for a moment she appeared dying The captors, seizing her by the tail and fins, with an united exertion dragged her into the boat-but this exploit had nearly ended in a tragedy.-Stunned only by the wound, the animal instantly recovered, and, irritated by pain and maddened by the cries of her cub, attacked her captors fiercely; every exertion they could make was necessary to save them from her tusks, and their oars were too long and clumsy to enable them to strike her with effect. I came most opportunely to the rescue, and by driving a carbine-bullet through the seal's brain brought the battle to a close. Never was the old saw of 'Catching a Tartar' more thoroughly exemplified; and though we laughed at their terror-stricken countenances, the deep incisions made in the oars and gunnels by the tusks of the enraged animal, showed that galopading with an angry seal is any thing but pleasure. ESTIMATION OF A CAT. A PLACARD.

Stolen, or strayed, a very pretty black cat, a white spot on its nose, four white feet and a white tipped tail; whoever will bring the dear bird to the

shall be rewarded with a shilling, a quart of the best ale, and a thousand thanks.

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Illustrated Article.

THE SCARLET WITCH.*

ABOUT the close of autumn 18- Hinton Douglas, after travelling a couple of years abroad, came to London with Lieutenant Bucke, who, from the protracted consequences of severe wounds, had been obliged to quit the service. By the most generous exertions he had saved the life of Douglas in the Bay of Naples, when on the point of perishing in the waters; and from this circumstance a strong mutual attachment had grown up. It was now the lieutenant's intention to stay for some time in London, under the medical care of Dr. B-, who was at the height of his just fame, and then to repair to Scotland, his native country, in quest of an uncle, his only living relative, of whom he had lost all traces for many years. After that, it was his intention to go and spend his days, on half-pay, at his native village, which had this farther recommendation to him Fraser's Mag.

VOL. X.

See page 373

as a final place of sojourn, that it was very near the manor of his friend Hinton Douglas, who eagerly pressed him to this mode of life. In the meantime he was advised, by a friend in London, to take up his quiet residence as a boarder with Mrs. Clement, the widow of a physician, who had left her in rather straitened circumstances, with an only daughter, Miss Diana Clement. This young lady had been abroad, in quality of governess, it was believed, to a French marchioness, and was therefore highly accomplished.

After seeing his friend Bucke thus comfortably settled for the time, Hinton Douglas set out for Scotland, where, after arranging his affairs and gaining the sweet consent of Miss Marjory Maxwell to become his wife next spring, he returned to London to superintend the winding-up of the mercantile affairs of his uncle, who had left him a large accession to his fortune. To avoid the temptations of fashionable life, and apply himself to business -moreover, to be near his friend the lieutenant, he determined to live pri

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