bridge; and, after pealing forth one of his terrific yells, exclaimed, exultingly as he turned his eye upon his enemy: 'Well, colonel, what think you of this sample of Indian ingenuity? Did I not tell you,' he continued, in mockery, 'that, if my hands were but free, I would give you a specimen of my progress in Indian acquirements? If you would avoid a death more terrible than that of hanging,' shouted the governor, in a voice of mingled rage and terror, ' restore my daughter.' Ha! ha! ha! -excellent!' vociferated the savage. 'You threaten largely, my good governor; but your threats are harmless as those of a weak besieging army before an impregnable fortress. It is for the strongest, however, to propose his terms. If I restore this girl to life, will you pledge yourself to mine?' 'Never!' thundered Colonel de Haldimar, with unusual energy. Men, procure axes; cut the flag-staff down, since this is the only means left of securing yon insolent traitor! Quick to your work; and mark, who first seizes him shall have promotion on the spot.' Axes were instantly procured, and two of the men now lent themselves vigo rously to the task. Wacousta seemed to watch these preparations with evident anxiety; and to all it appeared as if his courage had been paralysed by this unexpected action. No sooner, however, had the axemen reached the heart of the staff, than, holding Clara forth over the edge of the rampart, he shouted. One stroke more, and she perishes!' Instantaneously the work was discontinued. A silence of a few moments ensued. Evey eye was turned upward, every heart beat with terror to see the delicate girl, held by a single arm, and apparently about to be precipitated from that dizzying height. Again Wacousta shouted,-Life for life, de Haldimar! If I yield her shall I live?' 'No terms shall be dictated to me by a rebel, in the heart of my own fort,' returned the governor. Restore my child, and we will then consider what mercy may be extended to you.' 'Well do I know what mercy dwells in such a heart as yours,' gloomily remarked the prisoner ;but I come.

Wacousta began his descent, not as before, by adhering to the staff, but by the rope which he held in his left hand while he still supported the apparently senseless Clara against his right chest with the other. Now, Colonel de

Haldimar, I hope your heart is at rest,' he shouted, as he rapidly glided by the cord, enjoy your triumph as best may suit your pleasure.' Every eye followed his movement with interest; every heart beat lighter at the certainty of Clara being again restored, and without other injury than the terror she must have experienced in such a scene. Each congratulated himself on the favourable termination of the terrible adventure, yet were all ready to spring upon and secure the desperate author of the wrong. Wacousta had now reached the centre of the flag-staff. Pausing for a moment, he grappled it with his strong and nervous feet, on which he apparently rested, to give a momentary relief to the muscles of his left arm. He then abruptly abandoned his hold, swinging himself out a few yards from the staff, and returning again, dashed his feet against it with a force that caused the weakened mass to vibrate to its very foundation. Impelled by his weight, and the violence of his action, the creaking pine gave way; its lofty top gradually bending over the exterior rampart until it finally snapped asunder, and fell with a loud crash across the ditch. 'Open the gate, down with the drawbridge!' exclaimed the excited governor.

Meanwhile the fugitive, assisted in his fall by the gradual rending asunder of the staff, had obeyed the impulsion first given to his active form, until, suddenly checking himself by the rope, he dropped with his feet downwards into the centre of the ditch. For a moment he disappeared, then came again uninjured to the surface; and in the face of more than fifty men, who, lining the rampart with their muskets levelled to take him at advantage the instant he should reappear, seemed to laugh their efforts to scorn. Holding Clara before him as a shield, through which the bullets of his enemies must pass before they could attain him, he impelled his gigantic form with a backward movement towards the opposite bank, which he rapidly ascended; and still fronting his enemies commenced his flight in that manner with a speed which (considering the additional weight of the drenched garinents of both) was inconceivable.

876

Fine Arts.

THE COLOSSEUM.

Few, but can snatch from Time an hour,
For such delights as these;

And bear the memory of their power,
With unrefracted ease.

AMONG the numerous kinds of rational gratification which are offered to the notice of the New Year' sojourn ers to London, not any are more combined with real desert than the attractions contained in the Colosseum.-If there be nothing new under the sun,' improvements and additions are made in this now classic ground, which justify our recommendation; and merit a revisit, by those who have heretofore presented themselves, and to familiar ise their noviciate friends who are willing to do so. For, it is with great pleasure we state, that considerable reductions in the prices of admission to these works of art have taken place, and which are strong incentives why the sight-seeing public should support the very liberal sight-producing pro prietors; particularly so, as the metropolis and its environs may be more agreeably viewed in these comfortably warm recesses than on the outside of St. Paul's, exposed to a catarrhal and rheumatic atmosphere. The more intimately our acquaintance with the 'Panorama' has been cultivated, we are more persuaded of its vraisemblance, and discover some new feature we are delighted with.

We, therefore, entreat our friends, especially the ladies who are curious in detail, to use the glasses in the galleries freely, and they will not be thought the older for it, or suffer by any quizzical imputation. But allons. As we descend (not into Avernus) to the next object of research, the 'Saloon,' many valuable additions by eminent artists of celebrated men are deposited. Here are busts-models-grottos-antiques-medallions and casts. Some of our favourites are- Mercury bearing Pandora to the gods'-' Dislocobus the Coit Player'a 'Horse's head' cast from the Elgin marbles,- a colossal Melpomene'-' Apollo Belvidere' -the 'Graces'-'Nymph of Salmacis' Musidora'' Moses'-'Lorenzo de Medicis' and Our Saviour.' The busts of His Majesty' and his royal brothers, Sir Francis Burdett, the Bishop of Norwich, and many others,

1

SINGULAR SUPERSTITIONS OF

THE RUSSIANS.

WHILE on the subject of fever, I shall take leave to state a few particulars respecting it, which are probably unknown out of Russia. With this disease the Russians associate a most singular superstition. These people in general, not the vulgar only, regard the intermittent fever as a female, who prowls about in the silence of night, seeking the victims of her often very capricious humour. This personage is called Lichoratha, and the same name is given to the disease itself. To show the notions of the Russians concerning this spirit in a clearer light, 1 will repeat the account given me by the late archimandrite (bishop) Israel of Kasan, a man universally respected for his sound understanding and great integrity, in his own words:

"I was twenty years old," said he, "and secretary to the convent of Simbersk, the abbot of which had a particular partiality for me: it was he who decided me to adopt the ecclesiastical profession. One evening in the butterweek (at the commencement of Lent,) I heard the loud sounds of music and dancing in the adjoining house, and though I was strictly forbidden to leave the convent at night, still I found means to get out unobserved, and reach the window of the room where the ball was held. Though this apartment was on the ground-floor, the windows were too high to permit me to see the merry inmates, and to gratify my curiosity. With difficulty and great fear of detection I at length clambered high enough, and to my great delight obtained a view of the joyous party, among which I should so gladly have been.

But my pleasure was not destined to last long: for scarcely had I taken a survey of the gay throng, when all at once a tall, slender female figure, with a very beautiful face, came forth from the midst of it, with her eyes fixed upon me, and advanced towards the window where I was. An inward presentiment immediately told me that this was Lichoratha, who had so often been described to me by others. I went dejectedly to bed, and some time after midnight awoke in a fever. I was ill with it five weeks, during which my good old abbot visited me daily, and treated me with the greatest kindness. At the expiration of that time, I took it into my head to direct my attendant to bring my old wolf-skin pelisse, which I used to wear

on my tours of inspection in winter, from the top of the house, and to spread it for the sake of warmth over my bed. The following night Lichoratha appeared to me in a dream, if, however, it were a dream, and not a real vision, in the very same dress in which I had seen her five weeks before. She entered my room, and slowly approached my bed. When she was quite close to me, she made a threatening motion with her hand, then raising it to her face, said, with a friendly smile, 'Faugh! how ill that pelisse smells! I shall not stay here any longer, but go to Jessipow.' This was the clerk of the convent, a robust young man, who, during my illness, had performed my duty with the abbot. Next morning, when the abbot came to see me, and I related my story, he told me that I was cured. Seeing me smile somewhat incredulously, he was almost angry, and solemnly protested that the fever would not return, adducing a great number of similar stories to confirm the assertion. Being at length convinced, and feeling more tranquil in consequence, I bethought me of poor Jessipow, who had probably been brought into the same scrape through me and my pelisse. The old gentleman cheered me up, and averred that he knew no instance of Lichoratha being so malicious. further confirmation of what he said, he sent my attendant to summon the clerk to my room; but what was the astonishmeut of both, when he came back and told us that Jessipow could not come, because he was confined to his bed with a violent lichoratha! The poor fellow lay ill with it all the autumn, and at the beginning of the winter we buried him.'

In

Hundreds of such stories may be heard in Russia in every family; and I advise foreigners to suppress a smile, or any other token of incredulity, if they would not wish to be taken for free-thinkers or madinen.

Another disease which I have not met with elsewhere, is still more extraordinary: it is called Bjelii Karassehki (white hot fever), but I could never discover the cause of this appellation. I shall here state the individual case of a patient, the late General Serjeew, of Kasan, a highly polished man, of excellent character, whom I had occasion to see almost daily during his illness, as well as several years before and afterwards. The disease began, as usual, with a certain listlessness and languor, which, however, at

first seemed to affect the mind more than the body. The patient, though he has a good appetite, and appears at least to sleep soundly, is overwhelmed with a gloomy melancholy-in which, soon after the first days, the extraordinary notions which he betrays would seem to infer a derangement in the faculty of thought, and in the perception of external objects by the senses, that commonly lasts but for a short time, and often for only a few seconds. In the course of time, these deviations from sound views of things become more frequent and more striking. The body seems now to be affected, as well as the mind, and the functions of sleep and appetite are disturbed, though the patient is not obliged to keep his bed. General Serjeew attended to his usual domestic avocations, and being fond of society, continued to entertain parties of his acquaintance as usual. It was not long, however, before he became so much worse, that his wife strove to keep away all strangers, and admitted merely intimate friends, who knew and could make allowances for his situation. To these latter he made no secret of his complaint, but, on the contrary related to them with the utmost frankness at night all that had befallen him in the day. As, when proper attention is paid to the patient the disorder seldom ends fatally, but subsides in a few months, in many cases in a few weeks, as gradually as it came on, people in general feel little anxiety about it, and await its termination with patience. "I had a long discussion with you this morning," said the General to me one evening, taking me by the hand. I expressed my surprise, as I had not left my house the whole forenoon. "That does not signify," said he smiling; "I have nevertheless had a great deal of talk with you. I was sitting in my library when I heard you coming: I know your step. You rapped at the door, and I had to tell you to come in three times before you heard me and entered. We continued our yesterday's interesting conversation; and though you defended your position so manfully yesterday, you were forced at last to yield. I was tired, I must confess, with the length of our disputation." I said nothing, but the surprise expressed in my looks made him laugh. "Well, well," said he, "I know as well as you do that you were not here, but still we did talk and battle it together stoutly. If the thing would but soon cease, I should not care, for I assure you it is not un

entertaining. I wish you had been in this situation, and then you would perfectly understand me. I can accurately distinguish whether it is yourself that enters my door, or whether it is your, or rather my, apparition. I am quite aware that in the latter case I am under a delusion; but I am forced, by a kind of irresistible impulse, to give way to this delusion; and then, to be sure, matters get so bad that I do not know what I am about."-United Service Jour.

AN IRISH SHROVETIDE.

BESIDES the family, one or two young people had stepped in on this occasion. Mrs. Brady had exerted herself to the utmost of her housewifely skill in preparing the batter for the cakes; and when it was agreed that the first of them should be tried, she went into a remote corner, and mysteriously dropped her wedding ring into the measured bowl-full which was to form it. The magic cake was fried, having been turned with a most skilful toss in the air by Randal Brady; and then it was fairly divided, so that each person should have an equal portion, and of course an equal chance of obtaining the ring. It is scarcely necessary to explain, that he or she to whom the prize might fall was thereby to be doubly benefitted. By simply putting it under his or her pillow that night, a matrimonial partner was sure to be dreamt of; and, moreover, the reality of the vision would certainly, beyond doubt, become one flesh with the happy dreamer before the next Shrovetide. While the wondrous cake was dividing, Randal Brady proposed that his Betty and himself should try their fortunes as well as the younger members of the group, and Mrs. Brady assented, in thoughtless glee. Each individual received a portion; each held up the halftransparent piece of cake before the candle.-Mrs. Brady obtained the ring. The boys and girls hid their disappointment under an affectation of great enjoyment of the unmeaning freak of chance; remarking that the good woman had a husband already, and that, even were she single, fifty-five was rather an advanced age at which to go awooing. Mrs. Brady herself, however, became suddenly grave. An expression of great trouble and anxiety overspread her face. She looked at her husband, who was smiling at the moment, but she thought his smile a sad one, as he said—' Are you goin' to bury me, at

last, vanithee?' His tone was jocular, yet it touched the chord which was, thrilling in the good woman's heart; she cast her bit of the pancake into the fire, and but for the activity of her daughter Rose, her wedding-ring must have been melted down; then, in the almost childish energy of her nature, she fell on her knees before her husband, looking up at him with clasped hands, and weeping abundantly; and in the utter simplicity of her honest soul and uncalculating mind, thus addressed him:-'My humble prayer this night is, that the sod may cover my head long before the grave opens for yon, Randal Brady;' and here she took his hands in hers, and vehemently continued, and if 'twas the will of Heaven that I was left to mourn over you, Randal, in the could churchyard, don't you b'lieve an angel, if he stood fornent you, sayin' id, that mortial man cauld ever make me forget you! No, Randal! If lord, or earl, or juke-if the king himself brought his goulden crown, and his goulden sceptar, and laid them at the threshold o' the dour, and said, 'Betty Brady, it is you I'll make my queen-' my answer to him would be and you know it would, Randal-Randal, ma graw! Go your ways, honest man, Betty Brady will have no call to you!' The self-fancied object of a monarch's devotions in a possible contingency, notwithstanding her reliance on her virtuous affection for her husband, continued so strongly to urge her terror of the prognostic of the pancake and the ring, that she was not restored to self-possession until her smiling spouse undertook, with assumed seriousness, to prove that by refraining from putting the ring under her pillow that night, all evil consequences would be avoided; and Mrs. Brady at last became convinced and comforted. Lent follows Shrovetide; and Lent was one of the seasons of strict religious observances under Randal Brady's roof. During its continuance, all festive amusements were banished from his fireside. But Easter Sunday brought its feast, and, without any feeling of impropriety, its dance also. Upon that auspicious day, as well, indeed, as upon all great festivals, Randal clothed himself in his marriage suit of pearl-coloured broad cloth, and put on his three-cocked hat; and his dinner was the best his circumstances could afford. One of his sons played passably well on the violin; and, after

dinner, he would approach his wife with smiling formality, and lead her out to move a minuet, the tips of his fingers, through respectful gallantry, barely touching the tips of hers, and his cocked hat under his arm; and she would make her distant courtsey to his every bow-the whole gone through (on his part, at least, though not on that of his spouse), for the purpose of exciting the inerriment of their children; for a minuet was beginning to be out of vogue, and the gravity and formality of that piece of old nonsense were duly appreciated by the improved tastes of the younger part of the assembly. A country dance succeeded, performed by the whole family, and any visitors present. The coal bogue,'

or feast of eggs, was not forgotten on Easter Monday. The Christmas holydays were spent in true holyday style in his house; and on Twelfth night he did not fail to provide a sufficient num. ber of loaves, one of which he himself, and, in turn, each member of his family, threw against the door of the dwelling; an Irish couplet, always used on such occasions, being repeated at every bang:

'In God's name, we banish hunger from this house

To-night, and every night until this night twelve months.'

Without the house, as well as within, there were persons interested in the close of the ceremony; ancient beggars, in fact, who, leaning upon their staffs, calculated the quantity of food to which it was to entitle them. Every thump they set down for a loaf; and, as surely as the last was heard, the door opened, and the arithmetic of the expectants proved to be correct.-Lib. of Romance.

QUEEN ELIZABETH AND PHILIP

THE SECOND OF SPAIN.*

He was,

"COUNT FERIA had, it appears, received instructions from Philip, to prepare the way for a proposal of marriage between him and Elizabeth, in case of her sister's death. however, unfortunate in this business, from the beginning. His first letter states that Elizabeth mentioned to him, that Philip had been anxious that she would marry the Duke of Savoy ; but that she knew too well that her sister lost her popularity by marrying a

as translated from "Memorias de la Real *The above is copied from the Athenæum,' Academia de la Historia."