and his Comrades,' have since made them familiar to most readers. It appeared that Christian, after having possessed himself of the Bounty, and while sailing away from Tahiti, advisedly selected Pitcairn's Island for his destination on reading Captain Carteret's account of it, which was in the library of the Bounty. On January 1790 he reached it, and landed all the stores from the ship, intending to destroy her, and with her all trace of the whereabouts of himself and his companions. Once established on the island, they felt their condition comfortable even beyond their most sanguine expectation; and everything went on peaceably and prosperously for about two years, when Williams, who had the misfortune to lose his wife about a month after his arrival, by a fall from a precipice while collecting birds'-eggs, became dissatisfied, and threatened to leave the island in one of the boats of the Bounty unless he had another wife-an unreasonable request, which could not be complied with except at the expense of one of his companions; but Williams persisted in his threat, and the Europeans, not willing to part with him, on account of his usefulness as an armourer, constrained one of the blacks to bestow his wife upon the applicant. The rest of the male natives, outrageous at this act of flagrant injustice, made common cause with their companion, and matured a plan of revenge upon their aggressors. Their plot was revealed to the wives of the Europeans, and these ladies naturally, in such a desolate place, set too much value on their husbands not to give warning. The method in which they apprised these men of their danger is very characteristic and primitive, bringing to mind a scene in the Lady of the Lake.' They introduced into one of their songs the following words :Why does black man sharpen axe? To kill white man.' But the warning was unheeded, and all but three of the party were murdered, including Christian. After this things went on pretty smoothly, till M'Coy, who had been employed in a distillery in Scotland, tried an experiment with the tea-root, and succeeded in producing a bottle of ardent spirits. This induced Quintal to alter his kettle into a still,' and the natural consequences ensued. Like the philosopher who destroyed himself with his own gunpowder, M'Coy, intoxicated to frenzy, threw himself from a cliff, and was killed; and Quintal, having lost his wife by accident, demanded the lady of one of his two remaining companions. This modest request having been refused, he attempted to murder his countrymen; but they, having discovered his intention, agreed that as Quintal was no longer a safe member of their community, the sooner he was out of the way the better: accordingly, they split his skull with an axe. Adams and Young were now the sole survivors out of the fifteen males that landed upon the island. They were both, and more particularly Young, of a serious turn of mind; and it would have been wonderful, after the many dreadful scenes at which they had assisted, if the solitude and tranquillity that ensued had not disposed them to repentance. During Christian's lifetime they only once read the church service; but since his decease this had been regularly done every Sunday. They now, however, resolved to have morning and evening family prayers; to add afternoon service to the duty of the Sabbath; and to train up their own children, and those of their late unfortunate companions, in piety and virtue. In the execution of this resolution, Young's education enabled him to be of the greatest assistance; but he was not long suffered to survive his repentance, having died soon after. Adams steadily and successfully continued the good work which he and his late companion had begun. The children acquired such a thirst after Scriptural knowledge, that Adams in a short time had little else to do than answer their interrogatories, and put them in the right way. As they grew up, they acquired fixed *Carteret discovered Pitcairn's Island in the corvette the Swal Low in 1766. An account of his voyage was afterwards drawn up, together with Cook's first voyage, and published by Hawkesworth. habits of morality and piety; their colony improved, intermarriages occurred, and they soon formed a happy and well-regulated society-the merit of which belongs to Adams, and tends to redeem the errors of his former life. He died, honoured and respected, on the 4th March 1829, aged sixty-five. Such was the information obtained by Captain Beechy. He found, on surveying the island, that it was no more than about seven miles in circumference, the abrupt rocky coast rising to about 1050 feet above the sea. The population had then augmented to eighty persons, who, being descendants of Europeans and native women, still form an interesting link in person, intellect, and habits between the European and Polynesian races. They are tall and robust, with black glossy hair. Since Captain Beechy's visit, ships are constantly touching at the island. We now come to the most recent account of the little colony. This, singularly enough, is supplied by the successor of the first ship sent out to seek the Bountynamely, the Pandora, which arrived at Portsmouth only a few months ago. She touched at Pitcairn's Island in July, and found that its population had increased to 149 souls; seventy-five males, and seventy-four females. Of these we have seen the following interesting analysis:The oldest inhabitant' is a Tahitian woman, aged eighty, widow of Edward Young the midshipman. There are also two men of the first generation-one of them a son of John Adams, named Arthur; and the other a son of Mathew Quintal, named George. There are also seven females of the first generation, of whom three are daughters of Adams, and the rest of Fletcher Christian, Young, Mills, and M'Coy. The remainder are children of the second and third generation. There are eight marriageable males, and seven marriageable females. Other information brought by the Pandora reveals that, during the last five years, one-fifth of the population have been born. The healthiness of the climate may be judged of from the low rate of mortality. Since 1831 there have been only sixteen deaths: four of them accidental, four of fever, one of disease of the ear, one of the heart, one of cancer, one of consumption, two of influenza, one in childbirth, and one in infancy. The diseases most prevalent are asthma and catarrh, which prevail mostly among the females; bilious attacks are frequent, but slight, and easily give way to treatment. Influenza had visited the island during the last seven years, and caused two deaths. The inhabitants are industrious, especially the females. They all rise with the sun, and retire to rest very early. The men are occupied chiefly in cultivating the ground and carpentering; several of the young men are good at cabinet-work and as blacksmiths. From August to November they have plenty of employment, digging yams, also planting them, with bananas and potatoes, weeding, &c.; and when not busily employed, they generally meet in the morning, and if the weather is favourable, go fishing; while on Saturdays they go out hunting for the Sunday's dinner. The Sabbath is still kept most strictly. The females usually assist in the cultivation of the ground, preparing thatch for the houses, and, in fact, are more employed than the men; they are generally very strong, many of them being able to carry a barrel of potatoes down to the landing-place, the path to which is very rugged and steep, and in the rainy season very difficult to ascend or descend. The food of the inhabitants is chiefly yams and potatoes, animal food two or three times a week. Fish is becoming scarce. Bedclothes are generally manufactured by the females from a species of mulberry. Wearing apparel they obtain from the whale ships, in exchange for the produce of the island. Cotton cloth is much wanted, and amongst the other scarce articles are blankets, woollens, and soap. The jurisprudence of this primitive community is exceedingly simple. On the first day of each year a chief magistrate and councillor are elected; all persons, male and female, over sixteen years of age, being voters. chief magistrate then chooses his counsellor or secretary. The 6 His duty is to convene meetings, and to preside over courts assembled to settle disputes. These, after the hearing of each side, are referred to a jury of five persons, who return a regular verdict. In criminal cases, the punishments are either labour or fines. If in civil disputes the decision of the jury is not satisfactory to both parties, they are allowed to appeal to the commander of the first of her majesty's ships of war which may touch at the island. A reference made to Captain Beechy while there, less on a judicial matter than on a point of conscience, is a touching instance of the scrupulous regard these people have for a vow, even when inconsiderately made-wives, it may be imagined, are very scarce, as the same restrictions with regard to relationship exist as in England. George Adams, son of the patriarch, in his early days had fallen in love with Polly Young, a girl a little older than himself; but Polly, probably at that time liking some one else, and being at the age when young ladies' expectations are at the highest, had incautiously said she never would' give her hand to George Adams. He nevertheless indulged a hope that she would one day relent, and to this end was unremitting in his endeavours to please her. In this expectation he was not mistaken; his constancy and attentions as he grew into manhood, his handsome form, softened Polly's heart into a regard for him, and had nothing passed before, she would willingly have given him her hand. But the vow of her youth was not to be got over, and the love-sick couple languished on from day to day, victims of the folly of early resolutions. The weighty case was referred for Captain Beechy's consideration; and the fears of the party were in some measure relieved by the result, which was, that it would be much better to marry than to continue unhappy, in consequence of a hasty determination made before the judgment was matured. They could not, however, be prevailed on to yield to this decision, and the Blossom left them unmarried. Love, however, eventually proved too strong for overwrought principle; and a letter from Pitcairn's Island, dated 19th March 1830, stated that George Adams was married to Polly Young, and had two sons. Since Captain Beechy's visit, the average number of ships which anchor off the island has been eight or nine per annum, mostly Americans, who, it is satisfactory to state, are reported to behave well without exception. The last vessel that touched there was an English brig from New Zealand, bound to California with emigrants, there being eight English women amongst them. On the arrival of a ship on the island, no one is allowed to go on board before the pilot, who takes charge of the boats when landing, and provides for the captain when on shore; each family in rotation furnishing a pilot, or providing a substitute, who always expects a small remuneration from visitors for his service. We have also gleaned the following particulars of the soil, culture, and meteorology of Pitcairn's Island:-The soil is very rich, but porous; a great proportion decomposed lava, the other a rich, black earth and clayey ground. The climate is temperate; the thermometer from 59 to 89 degrees in the shade. The spring commences in August, which is harvest-time, and yams and potatoes are dug; and of potatoes there are two crops a year, which are planted in February and July, and dug in June and November. There are no regular tradewinds in the summer months the wind prevails mostly from east-south-east to north. Northerly winds are generally light, often accompanied with rain or fog. When the wind is north, it invariably goes round to the westward, from which quarter, and south-east, the strongest gales prevail. With wind from south-west, it is generally clear weather with moderate breezes. In winter the prevailing winds are south-west to east-south-east. The animal and vegetable productions of the island are-goats, hogs, and poultry; yams, sweet potatoes, the api-root and tano in small quantities; plantains, pines, melons, oranges, bread-fruit, sugar-canes, limes, and the Brazilian plum. The only grain is maize. From its distance from any other of the islands in Polynesia, Pitcairn's Island is perhaps the most isolated place in the world. To this may be ascribed the gratifying tenacity with which the people preserve their simple virtues and modesty. May the day be far distant when the vices of other nations find their way among them! We augur nothing favourable, however, from the visit of the ship on its way to California-to and from which it is not much out of the main track. It is to be hoped that the crimes of the diggings' may never be imported among the descendants of the crew of the Bounty. CAPTAIN THING AM Y. BY PERCY B. ST JOHN. A POET has urged that there is very little in a nameremarking that a rose by any other name would be equally odoriferous. I am sufficiently barbarous in my tastes to differ from the great poetical philosopher, and in defence of my own ideas, narrate the following story, which is strictly historical, and may be found in a few lines in several records of the French navy. It will at all events prove that a name may be a very dangerous thing at times, and place the owner of it in awkward and uncomfortable predicaments. My illustration is not singular, and is selected from many, because it contains certain subsidiary incidents likely to interest. At the very height of the revolutionary fever of 1792, and when nearly all the remnants of old families had emigrated from France to seek refuge in Germany and England from a torrent they had not the heart nor chivalry to stem, there remained some few exceptions. A few, like Rouget de l'Isle, the author of the Marseillaise,' remained in the mother country, and, indifferent to the changes of government which popular feeling had brought about, determined to serve their native land, no matter by what name the central authority might be designated. Among those who did not consult this predilection as to whether it was less proper to serve the Convention than Louis XVI., was a young noble, by name Count Le Roy Louis dé St Cyr-a designation as fitting for the day as would have been Lord King Charles St Peter in the time of Praise-God-Barebones. In 1792 all appellations which relished of the old state of things had vanished. The word citizen' had effaced 'sir;' and Brutus, Scævola, Scipio, Rienzi, and other names celebrated in history, had taken the place of the Jeans and Jacques, and especially the Louises, which were held in abhorrence. Streets and towns to which Saint was affixed had dropped the handle to their names, while inns and trades made prominent by signs had all adopted patriotic designations. Count Le Roy Louis dé St Cyr was a brave and able naval officer. By the descrtion of all the other nobles, who composed almost exclusively the officers of the navy before the Revolution, he found himself at fireand-twenty captain of the magnificent frigate Venus, manned by as terrible a crew as ever volunteered to eat up the English for their country's good. He alone was what was called a ci-devant-that is an ex-, meaning an ex-noble. All his subordinates were young officers who had served before the mast, and who had more experience than manners, more nautical knowledge than theoretical education. The French navy was at this time under a strange discipline. The officers were appointed by the state, but the crew always confirmed or rejected the appointment at their will. The foremast-men and petty officers were hot patriots, wore red caps, and had their clubs on board, those of the extreme revolutionary party being always in the majority. Long discussions were held on all points concerning the service. The amount of respect to be shown to officers was rigorously discussed, as well as the amount of obedience. Of course the superiors were thee and thou'd without mercy, while in few ships was it usual to touch the hat when speaking to them. Moreover, the men freely asked a reason for any order they received, and, until it was given, refused obedience, except in cases of urgency. This extraordinary position of affairs would at any other time have totally disorganised the service, and annihilated the efficiency of Luckily the the navy; but at this moment of brief but wild enthu- On shore the captain was equally clever and popular. He lodged with a saddler named Boutard, and even took his meals with the family, composed of the father, mother, and a very pretty daughter, whose name had been changed from Antoinette to Lucrezia. Lucrezia was a charming innocence, as the French say, of nineteensprightly, handsome, good-hearted, and pure-minded. Her education had been neglected; but Captain St Cyr was so good-natured, that, for the eighteen months he had at long intervals lodged in the house, he had amused himself by making up for this deficiency. The family adored their lodger, as worthy people always do when they have a nice young man under such paternal sway; but, despite the republican severity of the times, and the undoubted civism of Citizen Boutard, they reverenced the noble, and, despite all his advances, had never ventured on familiarity with him. They delighted in his urbanity; they proclaimed his admirable democratic manners everywhere; but they, one and all, remembered the distance which society had placed between them only twenty-four months previously. Old Boutard spoke to the young man with dogged respect; the Citoyenne or Citizeness Boutard with affectionate respect; while Lucrezia addressed him always as a being who was too great and mighty for familiar intercommunion. Nothing that young St Cyr could do altered this state of things. Every morning and every afternoon the young officer took his breakfast and dinner with his landlord, put Lucrezia in the way of her studies, and then retired to his own. The evening he spent partly at a club, and partly at a coffeehouse, where he read the news from Paris, now of a truly tremendous character. Having perused the papers, chatted with the habitual visitors, chiefly naval officers, he returned to the Rue du Dix Août-so called in commemoration of the 10th of August, the date of the overthrow of the monarchy-and supped with his host's family. His visits to his ship were performed at dawn. One day after dinner, Captain Le Roy Louis dé St Cyr sat at the table of the Citoyen Boutard longer than usual. He did not speak. He was in a profound reverie, and his companions religiously respected his silence. The old man smoked away, the mother knitted a stocking, the daughter copied some manuscript music which the naval officer had borrowed from a friend. 'Citoyen Boutard,' suddenly exclaimed the captain, starting from his reverie, have you any objection to take me for a son-in-law ?' The honest saddler let his pipe fall to the ground, and shivered it to atoms; the goodwife dropped some two or three dozen stitches; while Lucrezia turned white and red, and smeared her whole paper with blots. 'Monsieur le Comte!' said Boutard, looking with an air of regret at his favourite pipe. 'I think you said monsieur and count?' observed St Cyr with good-natured irony. I beg pardon, Citoyen Capitaine; but why do you joke with me?' 'Citizen Boutard, or rather Papa Boutard, I am so much in earnest, that if you wont have me, I shall use the right which the law gives me; and taking your daughter by the hand, ask the justice to unite us. But all joking apart, my dear friend, I love your child; if she can find it in her heart to take me, and you to permit our union, this will be the happiest day of my life.' But Monsieur le Comte, this is impossible! Your rank, your family, your ' Ta, la, la!' cried Captain St Cyr, stopping the bewildered saddler: why, you are talking treason by the yard. Recollect that we are under a Republic, that all distinctions are abolished, and that to say what you have just said in public would cost you your head!' 'But, wife,' said Boutard more astonished than ever, do I hear aright? Is it possible? And you, child?' The Citoyenne Boutard made no reply, being too much astonished to speak; while Lucrezia bowed her head almost to the table, as if wiping away the blots on her paper. My dear friend,' continued St Cyr, 'yes or no?' "Yes, yes! proud and happy father that I am! But speak, child: it is for you to answer.' 'I have always been an obedient daughter,' said Lucrezia in a low and almost inaudible tone. That is not enough,' said the honest saddler more calmly. I married your mother because she loved me, and because she wished it, I hope, as much as I did; and we have never repented. My daughter-my only child— shall not marry to please her father. Speak, girl; am I to refuse? I am ready, though a wish I never dared to hope for can now be realised.' Speak, Lucrezia?' put in the captain humbly. 'I never ventured-I couldn't hope,' said the daughter, sobbing in her mother's arms; but I should have died if the captain had married any one else.' This answer of the agitated girl satisfied all parties. The naval officer was enraptured, the parents delighted; and Lucrezia-who had never suspected the longcherished passion of the young count, but who, seeing him every day, had unconsciously entwined her heart round his existence was painfully happy, so much had the scene taken her by surprise. It was late when the captain went to his coffee-house, which he found full. The end of the ex-king's trial was approaching, and the public mind had been worked up to a perfect frenzy of excitement. The Paris papers of the day were actually fought for by the eager quidnuncs. The captain took his seat in a corner, heard all the reports of the day, and then entered into conversation with some of his friends. While talking, he noticed a young man-a provision-merchant of his own street-advance towards him with some companions in loud conversation. Marcus Brutus Cauchard was one of the followers of Marat, and president of the Cordeliers Club at Brest. More from mad and frenzied ardour than cruelty, he denounced all suspicious persons with eager and furious haste, and had sent many a victim to the scaffold. His influence with the mob was great; and though more moderate people were in the majority, by dint of energy and loud talking the minority was generally master. Marcus aspired to the hand of Lucrezia; and though always repelled by the young girl, still looked upon success as certain. The imprudent and proud Boutard had himself undeceived him; and the enraged provision - merchant went in search of his rival, with a treacherous and base scheme in his head. Hast heard, Citizen Pontius Pilate,' said he to a hideous Jew who was his toady, of the festival for tomorrow? It is to celebrate the Age of Reason. We must have a better goddess than the theatre can give us. Who votes for Lucrezia, the beauty of Brest?' All!-all!' cried most of the persons in the café. And what sayest thou, captain?' continued Cauchard. That the excellent citoyenne cannot, and will not, perform the part which requires a bolder and more experienced actress.' He Dost hear the aristoc?' cried Marcus with fury. thinks the young lady too delicate to do honour to the Republic.' Not to serve the Republic as a good daughter and an excellent wife, but too delicate to be made the subject of a coffee-house quarrel.' And the captain quietly left the place. Two hours later, he was arrested under the terrible accusation of being a suspected person, which in most cases was equivalent to condemnation to death. Marcus Brutus Cauchard was a member of the terrible tribunal which at Brest decided on the fitness of its inhabitants for the guillotine or for liberty; and the very next morning the naval captain was brought before the bench of judges, the denouncer sitting apart to guide the process. The captain was calm and firm, though pale with having passed a sleepless night. His colour soon came, however, when he saw his beloved Lucrezia, her father and mother, among the dense crowd which filled the large hall. The judges were seven, and sat at a green-baize table, Marcus being behind them. The public accuser stood at one end, the prisoner at the other. A dozen gensdarmes kept order. Prisoner,' said one of the judges, thou art accused of being an ex-noble, the son of a duke and duchess.' Citizen President, I didn't choose my father and mother.' The audience laughed. The captain was a clever man: he knew very well that in that time of popular omnipotence he must speak to the populace: they were his real judges. "Thy observation is correct, citizen; but except retaining thy pay as an officer, what proof of civism and devotion to the Republic hast thou given?' 'I have offered my sword to my country; and to prove my contempt for the rank you make a crime, I was yesterday accepted as the husband of Lucrezia Boutard, the lovely daughter of an honest, hard-working citizen.' The audience murmured their applause, Marcus ground his teeth, and the judges looked puzzled. Very proper abnegation of pride,' continued the judge, after being refreshed by Marcus. But thou wilt not deny that thou art called Le Roy Louis dé St Cyr?' Certainly not.' Ah, ha' said the president with a look of triumph, while many of the crowd growled forth their dislike, 'thou insultest the nation by such a name!' 'I didn't give myself these names.' But thou wilt not deny, prisoner, that the nation having abolished the title Le Roy (old spelling of Le Roi), thou art guilty of insult in preserving it in thy name.' Citoyen, the truth of thy observation is as plain as thy wisdom. Henceforth I suppress the king.' The audience grinned good-humouredly. The judges looked angry. 'But, citizen--and I recommend thee to be respectful -if thou abolishest the king, thou preservest the hated name of Louis, abhorred by all Frenchmen.' 'Why hated?' said the captain, smothering his indignation, for he respected the misfortunes of Louis XVI. while adhering to the government of his enemies. Why hated thundered the delighted judge; 'because it is the name of a tyrant now being tried for his crimes.' 'Thou speakest of the Citoyen Capet,' observed the naval officer, adopting the popular style. Still,' cried the president, annoyed by another general grin, it is the name he once went by.' Let us then consider it suppressed. Le Roy Louis gone, I remain with an easier name.' 'Prisoner,' continued the judge, again prompted by Marcus, thou art next called de St Cyr; now dé is an aristocratic adjunct.' 'We wont quarrel about particles, Citizen President; I suppress the dé.' Applause greeted this sally. But the St Cyr?' cried the judge. Are not saints abolished also?' Ma foi! I don't know,' replied the captain, not having the honour of these gentlemen's acquaintance, except it be St Barbe (the powder magazine). But I cut off the St, and remain the Citizen Cyr.' 'Not so,' screamed the enraged but indefatigable judge; Cyr is an epithet of royalty.' (Cyr and Sire are pronounced the same in French.) 'Let us then abolish the Cyr,' said the officer quietly, and I remain Captain nothing, or-stay-I must have a name, and I can't think of borrowing one. Henceforth, Citizen President, I take and assume the name of Captain Chose." Roars of laughter, inextinguishable, tumultuous, greeted this assumption of the name of Captain Thingamy or Thingumbob, the only translation of Captain Chose in English; and the judges saw that the populace had given their verdict, which they dared not impugn. Still the irate and vindictive Marcus determined on one last effort, and the president became his organ. Prisoner, certainly the name of Captain Chose, the affianced husband of the Citoyenne Boutard, is civic enough; but I have one more crime to accuse thee of: thou art the captain of a fine frigate, christened by the satellites of the monarchy the Venus. Why hast thou not adopted some more patriotic epithet?' 'Citizen President, I found my frigate with this name, and with a figure-head representing the celebrated lady in question. But I bow to thy objection, Citizen President, and taking into consideration the wants of the times, and the peculiar habiliments of the so-called goddess, I give notice that Captain Chose is henceforth commander of the Sans-culottes!' The delight of the crowd was intense. "Vive le Capitaine Chose!' Vive la République !''Vive la Belle Sans-culottes !' roared the hoarse voices of the people, and in five minutes more the naval officer was carried away in triumph. The sailor's joke about Venus's want of pantaloons, and the happy application of the popular epithet assumed by all extra-warm patriots, excited frenzied enthusiasm, and the chairing only ended at the townhall, where the despotic but good-humoured populace insisted the marriage should take place that day, and at once. The escape of the cool and self-possessed captain was too rare and happy an occurrence not to silence all scruples, and in two hours more the marriage was celebrated, being secretly performed over again by a priest. The minister of marine, informed of the event, sent a brevet of commander-equal to our post-captain, I believe to Captain Chose, and the name remained. Under the Empire the naval officer retired to the wreck of his estates with his wife, while at the Restoration, offended at remarks made about the original rank of his spouse, he never resumed his titles. He proudly preserved his name legalised under the Republic, and which, though not very common, yet frequently to be found. A happy marriage Marcus Cauchard made that day, and all Brest long remembered Captain Thingamy of the Sans-culottes. THE GOTHA ALMANAC. MODERN historians, politicians, and newspaper editors, owe a thousand obligations to a compact pocket-annual, which has been printed and published for the last eightyseven years in Prince Albert's birthplace. For its size -(it is only about 5 inches by 4; and though it contains some 800 pages, is not inconveniently thick)-the Almanach de Gotha' is one of the most remarkable periodicals extant. But being a calendar of states and nations, the volume for 1850, recently imported, is made more remarkable than most of its predecessors, from the changes in principalities and empires which the past year has produced. This is in some measure attested by the fourteen densely-printed pages of additions et changements,' occasioned by events which took place while the edition was passing through the press. The Almanach de Gotha brings the political, statis- can, The next department-the annuaire diplomatique-en- The slippery condition of the political world has evi- 6 certain titles, but can it destroy the historic importance, Having admitted the principle of republics in general, The history of the Almanach de Gotha, since its first |