The Sun. — London, England, 1834-09-11 00:00:00

FASITIONA LIGENCU. ARRIVALS. The Ea r l an d Countess of Litchfield, at their seat, Shughorough Park, Staffordshire, from the Isle of Wight; Lady Rivers, in Grosvenorllace, from her seat, Eltham Lodge, Kent ; Lady Ann Beresfod, in Upper Brook -street, from her seat, in Surrey ; Lord Faulkland, at Fenton 's Hotel, St. James's-street, from Windsor ; General and Mrs. Hippurn a n d f am il y, at di tto, from Brighton ; P. S. Blunt, Esq., at dito from his sat, in Sussex; Mr. and rs. Collin s , at Bett's Hotel, t Dover-street, e from Manchester ; Mr. a M nd Mrs, and Miss Green, at ditto, from the Continent; A. Brabazon, - N., at ditto, from Ireland; Robert Harvey, Esq., at ditto, from a tour ; Peters, Esq , at ditto ; General Seebeck, Esq., in Re gent-street, from his seat, in Berks ; the Rev. Ewd. Osborne, at the Royal Hotel, Jermyn-street, from Hants; ; J. C. Coghlan, Esq. at ditto, from Brighton. ARURES. The Alarchio ness of W DE est P meath, T from the Royal Hotel, Jermyn street, for Shrewsbury • J. S , nott, Esq , and family, from ditto, for W ilts; Hon. General Finch, from Warren's Hotel, Regent !:eet, for his seat, near Coventry ; Mrs. Hyde, from ditto, for ;ith ; the Earl and Countess of Jersey, for Eaton House, Lanca re ; Sir William and Lady Lumley, for their seat, in Berks ; ir and Mrs. Harding, from Batt's Hotel, Dover-street, for Don- N ter ; M rs. Bennett, from ditto, for the Continent ; Mr. and Sfrs. Montague, from Brook-street, for their scat, in Norfolk. LIMNER TO EARL GREY.—Although no further applications for tickets to this festival should be made, 500 in must necessarily be disappointed. It is now too late, an Dose, to e x t en d t h e d i mens i ons of the dining pavilion. L pet h - nugn had it been formed to accommodate 3,000, it would e been fill e d . Deputations, we observe, are coming from 'pe r been corper of S co tl an d to d o h onour to our distinguished ttlest.--Caledonian Mercury. ,THE EARL GREY PAVILION, CALTON-HILL. his great is ettin rapidl M y on to compl. ` 'P ith a laudable care ructure for the g safety g of his ajesty's lieges, etion the Dean of Guild assembled his Court, and having taken a careful a 'J S lttv eY of the building, and its supports, were satisfied that v c thing was su b stantial and safe. The walls and floorings " composed of three. inch planks, and the sides and roof are 10 PPorted by rows of large wooden pillars. There will be a Pa!atrm at each end of the centre row of tables, raised a little their the flooring, where the chairman and croupier, with 1 supporters, will be placed, so that they will be in full !ew of the whole company. The President's chair is to be laced at the west end. The great gas lustre of the Theatre 4 93 7 .1 will be suspended from the middle of the roof, and sup -I),o'tv from the main pipe of the Royal terrace. This, with segas jets issuing in proper positions, will make the festal as bright as day and give a splendid effect to the whole deco rated The walls 'a , nd pillars being covered with cloth and ..neeorated with various devices, the interior of the pavilion will O.ot only look as well, but be felt as comfortable as a palace. 413 0ut 80 workmen are busily employed at the erection.—lbid. •th,,,P,..! Ig XER TO E ARL GREY.—W e h ave j ust l earne d - urs. Ja co b son and Vlastos have applied for tickets of ad °n to this splendid festival, and that it is the intention of de committee to invite the Delegates of the Societ6 Francais Statistique Universelle, and M. Arago, to honour the corn l'a4Y with their presence.—Scots Times. theREGALIA OF SCOTLAND.—III 9 Majesty's gift to •'egalia in the Crown Room of the Castle, has been de of saiten.flithere by the Officers of State in Scotland. It consists re e lle., ( nuen collar of the Garter, with rose diamonds and ena- Q-°u George," worn by James VI. (the present of his nee n ) , an ancient rose diamond badge of St. Andrew, and a t l i t all e l i ll at ir e ring. York..eli were presented to George IV., by utreh e Cardinal The good taste of our present Mo- .. th e this appropriation of these valuable remembrances of ancient Kings of SCotland, is very sensibly appreciated. .r}, GRAND FESTIVAL IN HONOUR OF TIIE 11:. 1 '*3 OP AGE or LORD MILTON.—This festival will take o'7 ne xt month a t W en t wort h , R ot h er h am- A l l t h e ne i g h - T e rn :,g nobility and gentry will be invited to a splendid, fish Ibe thrown open to the peasantry . ; and old E I,eef" spitality will be displayed by the distribution of roast g- f our and plum pudding to all corners ; provision will be made for and .thousand persons at different tables, placed on the lawn of th e the woods. The Earl of Liverpool, the father-in-law Viscount, leaves his seat at Buxtead, in Sussex, in a few i daYT to assi s t i n the superintendence. 'nain it 5 t, L ATE THOMAS T ELFORD , ESQ.—The re in Nl , of this great engineer and excellent man were interred wi t h e,stolinster Abbey yesterday morning. In compliance oti l 's wish the funeral was quite private, being attended dee'e by the members of his own profession intimate with the ol, se al ed, and a few other personal friends ; among whom we rved Sir Henry Parnell, Captain Beaufort, Mr. Milne, ceunire Missioner of Woods and Forests, &e. The mournful -he r : 11°11 y was conducted in a plain and unostentatious man consonant with the whole tenour of the long and valuable uf which it was the close. 'with out ;RIDGE WELLS, SEPT. 10.—We may assert of ra s h. ' e ar of contradiction, that this place was never so full of Kent 'enable company as at the present time. The Duchess Nens.and , the Princess Victoria continue to enliven the the recent wt tn their presence, and are daily in public. Among Peniarnarrivals are the Countess Chichester and the Ladies ,I nd "I'd Ormond, the Hon. Mrs. Basil Cochrane, Mr. Ste Lin'Y Mary Dundas, Lady Matilda Bruce, Baron Woolff, r 1- \ : 4 a uf Chester and family, the Hon. General Bligh, fore . I,fan,,,cis Vincent, M.P., the Hon. G. Byng, Mr. Craw , and family. Carr T LE HOWARD.-011 Wednesday week Lady p ree t s c l i e Passed through York for Castle Howard ; and on the tin gi e r 'g day Lord Morpeth, accompanied by Count Euge aalte ao Italian nobleman, passed through on their way to the of , nn eoble mansion. Castle Howard is at present the scene are much festivity, where the Earl and Countess of Carlisle if t plet - s tainin g a distinguished party of fashionable visitors.— LI erver. IeftCOWES) SEPT. 9.—The Lord Bishop of Ossory ena:tus to-day. His Lordship has been sojourning here for the onweet.ek. d Yesterday being t d he h ir er M e Most a G s r a a l c u i t o e us he M in a t iest . ies' fired Coon a t yachts e the Royal Squa r battery and by the Vice th_nodore's brig Water Witch, and the squadron and mar .l,,,7trnen in the roads were all dressed out in colours. The th`p earthquake was felt on several parts of the island, but - re has been no damage done. kneWbeolvrni G.—This . place . is quite animated, the . k a aquatic parties embarking and disembarking adding 4 1 411 t° the - ordinary bustle at this season of the year. te,;°egst our recent arrivals are—Lord and Lady Grey and I , Dowager Lady Dacon, Hon. Mr. Stanhope, Colonel :,' l g, Lord Quin and Miss Quin, Sir R. Otway and family, Lord and Mrs Goldsmid, Captain and Mrs. Hanisley,. &c. to; (1 ' ~.,\V• Lenno . x has left the Sea-hcuse Hotel for Brighton ; " L'• Beauclerk has left for the Isle of Wight. Ctup, 'leo", —l-.TEI-TAM, SEPT. 8.--Lord and Lady Ra kip O a r tb, with their accomplished daughters, are . amongst (th e 1" I trrivals, as also Viscount and Viscountess Barrington . 4 4 0 titter Lord Ravensworth's eldest daughter) and family r , Co ta ., th e Hon• W. L. Bathurst, Lady Seymour, Hon. IV. JohnneY, Lady M'Gregor, Sir R. and Lady Pattison, Sir ,1441, y tt l , n(l , Lady Broughton, Sir Edward Miles, Sir T. and `41,,. "mnington &c. The season is now at its height, and ~ yr % .... - ` l ead ed ttages and places of public resort are very numerously t by fashionable parties. krti i ' 141 ,,, T ° 1 ‘ 7 , SEPT. 10.—The Earl of Pembroke . 1 , -- td; 4 ;- the Bedford Hotel on Monday evening. Mr. L. and ; 4 4 j t il i t r e .I,Peel returned on Monday to Kemp Town from cl-1 : ri '' `) R . Yv ells Lady Wilmot is daily expected at her resi 1ii04141"4 i .,""lmp . T own from by NVells. Lady Rodney was Major Rodney, the Rev. H. I ts 4ey, 4714 the heri z arrival , b t Rodney. The Spanish Ambassador 14 0 ; 3` s e t b. a houes -nevi3 S. Brunswick-square. Mr. Roebuck, M. P., P tet tla k- a, ti thl Ross, e 1 M P run returned on Monday by the General -°l4;4l,7talgation k Company's " packet the Mountaineer from a b , tour. tr4 t °B,v;, Sari. 9. We have had a great, musical 1::4r. l'''B In°llling Mr. and Mrs. Bishop, 1%1. Bochsa, and :4, l ° ery lktrY t „jun., is . ive a concert in Bachelor's Library, which 1, 01 , f - ge t Is ,Inerously attended by an elegant company. The la ,tis 4 44 been very showery for several days back. . ' l4 ' 4e iin 1 full of company, and the bathing machines 8 Stisit' g Y th 0t 11 , 4 ion, 'Pe e ei ‘‘°l l, 44 PToN, SEPT. 4.—As an illustration of Dei, 41 . 1 , ell the rallltY of the age," we may mention as a pretty ‘i .1-14, b 0 4 note delivere to Mr. Guy, the landlord of the St, ,e Ti tr , L r a o f the inscription of her grace's name thus -41144'874 Sent Talbones :" Anglice, the Duchess of 1 C AN' ' esrd 4. rEit,,.. ..- ti nm itl at ~--•ultY MUSICAL MEETING.—We have a: " fro ti the Meeting, for the performance of selec :lp,,,te d„ A " works of Handel and other sacred authors, on f?, ta . li ehT c lea_ l :, will take place at Canterbury at the corn th The choir will comprise upwards R . ev iritt._ rnocristtimon___. ieZ e d 1-j a " l rleo, a and vocal performers, in addition to the le ft% 1 '4 4 i n ~ne Society. The whole . of the professional kenos '14.1, will Lee neighbourhood, with the choristers of occasion._ hr, render their services upon tect.ridaY last, Ilto.--A Il t , '' a Zette. ET Iv Re a ps itis_ of a successor . General Sessions vas Samuelwas held here th e .ruan airman f the western division of the county, that There were present .11,.. tart ofT,"ng resigned his office. e a `rtell, tt -'''grernont, the Duke of Richmond, Sir_ C. M. ko ci tt i: M. P art ., an(l l4 . P., Sir J. M. Lloyd, Bart., F H a . rl ll o . f G E or g iu r g e.: ~ AN,. _ a full Court. President, the , 4,lg a' th e boirme preliminary remarks from the Noble Chair lickl)eraon wh oe f Richmond proposed Mr. Sergeant D'Oyley led Circuit, had performed the duty of a Judge on the - tof th t, and who was eminently qualified by his kno bet e tow t e e , l s aw, and as a gentleman-, to fill the office. The 1 11..., /notion was seconded by Sir J. M. Lloyd, and C ot '''' Sergeant was unanimous] elected Chairman. itlim'l.l'l' C° 3: Middlesex retpeevat weir urt.T.—..-At a meeting of the . N e ,_ ~,,1 , , h j : S. Lillie brought forward a special motion iic iv -104-14cwet is termed the waste ground of Westminster 3,260. p. fo ti . It necessary to state that Rigby Wason, ui) „. for •a __r IPswich, in the early part of the year offered * lta 'ultig a ti_waste piece of land in the rear of the prison for the :t once accepted'ystre The offer appeared so eligible that it *Nave:Not ,_ by the Westminster Magistrates ; but tootr_s, t,,ho7s contingent on the approval of the Middlesex lo t :2 tha t t he co ounty Court, held last month, negatived a aside ./. Ni.: tract should be agreed to by a majority of de de but th-equently that decision was sought to be set t o wito,l Aft e e r ma j o rity adhered to their former opinion and should azibbrish:e_graeuit:whid,riwalveaurbdsisciahotnhSeir J. S• Lillie was pressed the e ag ex r t ee c d ou t rt o, d i a n y ti . mating he o'clock yes. and Ai r ' invervier Den's h° 1193 :!nbigh, ber, ras ple ased an add ress nidon. putation ar rtly after- , n rec eive dAldennee I nd Sir C. a nd Mr' the Cbara e Rea 3°l- ChsP' er, s an a tbe ,y her Mt Leed s, Master tu. B a Eo , t a rolo: jn the (1) . amber' s/Il i titers; anof yeome ll 'ir W lthe l d Colour boue bold m a jesty' s led V t heir Dot ()f theoratulati° c, rhe Lo rd 10.- mod ate me r._ cep& i l l ie as Ql eerfs the la i e sty uo cl. st y's I, s terdal Viscou4r. ce, 3'CIOC k le to ft r retaril witTh , f GoffO r e t count 31 Sd the t he "Da rDeP add res e ; Alde rr° '• ve in r) o r st c or• " t pPY. 4 sb' [P°l.tl°:4oo !rill be fa tioo e d e g the 04 sell° io co/ p te, 4 :00 e' be nel e , r o st e brW re . ised t° !.. r CA S 0 Ord 0 1 Floe fis' , , 1 „, fro ° vi ll bl° ite ' 0 11 ,ctol l / aniipil. i sv.- th filo gifto-i e ft PUrY Olt ,hor , Lre • $ , rook ,F,e. r f umir rbii die rs;oli LITURATURE LARDNER'S CABINET CYCLORZEDIA Var.. IV. -LONG MAN AND CO., 1834. EUROPE DURING THE MIDDLE AGES The compiler of this history is one of those sincere and eloquent enthusiasts, who seldom fail in commu nicating to others a portion of their own ardour. It may be that in the outset the reader is inclined to quarrel with him for not sufficiently discriminating be tween that which is only curious, and that which is really useful ; but this disposition wears off; and the judgment begins to slumber, as we get more and more warmed by the fascinating details, till at length, if we do not quite imagine the author of Beowulfh to be a Homer, or Bede a Thucydides, we are at least willing to allow they have hitherto been abandoned to unmerited ne glect. It is time to sweep off, if possible, the accu mulated dust and cobwebs from the old Anglo-Saxon poet, and place him on our libraries by the side of the no less romantic Niebelungen. With the preceding volumes, three in number, it is to be presumed the reader is acquainted. Most of the so called histories are nothing more than the annals of monarchs, their wars, and their crimes ; but this is pre-eminently the history of a people, their arts, their sciences, and their literature. The present volume, to speak of it under its most. comprehensive title, contains the intellectual history of the Anglo-Saxons, with the religious and intellectual history of England from the Norman Conquest to the ascension of Henry the Se venth ; this again naturally branches out. into the se condary divisions of arts, literature, and science ; nor do we know where else the same quantity of informa tion relative to these topics could be found in the same space, and so pleasantly conveyed. It is truly a de lighful production. When the Saxons first landed in England, they found in the Britons a race of barbarians to the full as savage and as worthless as themselves. With the in troduction of Christianity a new light broke in upon them ; the Roman missionaries, so often the subject of ignorant censure, brought with'them the arts'and know ledge of more civilized life, and quickly opened a new path to that spirit of ambition, which, till then, had neither found nor sought any road to fame but in the " strife of spears." In less than two centuries Eng land, by the acknowledgment of the best foreign critics, was superior in mental cultivation to the rest of Eu rope, though in some arts she was undoubtedly sur passed both by Gaul and Italy. It is a part of the rash, unreflecting, ignorance of the present day to talk of the monks as being the drones of the social hive, consuming much and producing nothing. Never has prejudice mocked itself by a greater fallacy. To the monks we owe the first attempts, rude as they might be, to do any thing deserving of the name of husbandry : while the serf, having no part or portion in the soil, laboured with slave-like reluctance for his task-master—the monks, doubly impelled by interest and religious obli gation, devoted themselves with unflinched zeal to agriculture, and made harvests start from the fens of Lincolnshire, and the waste of Northumberland. To them we are indebted for the first seeds of that knowledge, which is now hour by hour ripening into so glorious a harvest ; amidst the wild deserts of savage ignorance the monasteries stood alone, the fa voured Goshens of art and science ; and whatever we wish to learn of our earlier history, must be gathered from their labours. But for then, what woul have become of those classic treasures, which have been to literature what the polar star was to the seaman ? At a time when printing was unknown, and copies could be multipled only by the laborious use of the pen, these drones devoted the leisure hours of their solitude to the unceasing and wearisome task of transcription, and, by keeping alive the knowledge of the Roman language, ren dered its authors intelligible from generation to genera tion. It is perfectly true that this praise does not apply to the whole body; but the general fact is not altered by the consideration of less or greater numbers. If barba rism must be allowed to have prevailed to no small ex tent even among the ecclesiastics, it is no less true that their more enlightened members raised the coun try in literary fame, beyond all the nations of the same period, and maintained it there, so long as it con tinued undisturbed by foreign invasion. Hence we may easily infer, how general ignorance might co-exist with individual pre-eminence, and how, in a land, justly priding itself in the venerable names of Bede and Bridferth, the mass might yet remain brutal and un enlightened. It was the same with architecture. The first buildings that merit any notice, were the churches, and these undoubtedly were raised by the ecclesiastics ; who not only designed them, but most probably as. sisted in their execution, holding out by their ex• ample the best lessons of instruction to their ignoran workmen. In considering the learning of the period, we shall not pause upon the Latin productions, though they form so large a portion of the literary mass, and amongst them are the volumes of the venerable Bede, who will always command the respect of scholars. A more general topic will be found in the poets, or ra ther in one poet, the author of " Beowulf 11," whom some have not hesitated to call the Homer of the Anglo-Saxons. This is the earliest known attempt in any vernacular dialect of modern Europe to produce an epic poem. It consists of forty-three cantos, pre ceded by an introduction, and has the merit, which does not belong to epics of our own times, of being anything rather than a dull imitation of Greek and Roman models. It is a purely Gothic crea tion. Yet the characters are drawn with fidelity and force, the descriptions are vivid, and the style remarkable for its simple energy. There is per haps to be objected to it, that the story ends and be gins again, the poem consisting of two distinct adven tures, connected only by the person of the hero. The double fable is briefly this :—ln the prime of his life, Boewulfh combats with Grendel and his mother, two goblins, the foes of Hrothgar, King of Denmark; in his old age he fights with Steore-heort, the fiery dra gon, that during a thousand ,years had brooded over unprofitable gold, by which last encounter he loses his life, though lie has the good fortune to slay his enemy. The classical scholar may, in the narrowness of his taste, be inclined to smile at Epoem with dragons and goblins for its supernatural machinery ; but we may be permitted to doubt whether the monsters of Beo wulfh are a whit more absurd.than the gods and god desses of the Iliad. We regret, with our auth6r, that the " IVletrical Chronicle of Britain" has not yet been published. It is supposed to have been wilito4bs . 7 Layaman, a priest on the Severn, ear l y in the., Ahirteenth century. A learned Dane, Dr. Grundtrig, would have presented us with this and other treasures of a similar nature ; hut, to the eternal disgrace of our literary character, his proposals could not secure even eighty subscribers. At such a period, it will readily be conceived that popular superstitions must have abounded. A single fable, relative to the celebrated Merlin, may s erve as a specimen of the current credulity of the time s :....._ When the Saxons were in possession of the southern and western coasts, and too powerful to be expelled, Vortigern, says the abbot, convoked his nobles, and asked them what he should do They advised him to build a fortress where he might defy the assaults of the enemy. Accompanied by his magicians, he hastened into the west to discover a suitable site for his fortress. None seemed so well adapted as Snowdon, which his magicians assured him would be impregnable to the end of all time. With extreme diligence he caused workmen THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1834 to be brought, wood, stones, and other materials to be col lected ; but in the morning, what was his astonishment to see that the materials had vanished ! The same prodigy was re peated three times. On demanding what this meant, he was gravely informed that unless he could find a boy unbegotten by father, sacrifice him on the spot, and sprinkle the founda tions of the citadel with the blood, he might build till Dooms day, but never would he raise a wall an inch high. Such a boy, he thought, was not easily to be found, but as he was as sured one existed somewhere in his dominions, he despatched messengers in every direction in search of the prodigy. Hay ving passed from province to province, the messengers one day reached a rural village, where some boys were at play. One of the boys being the constant winner, another in anger said to him, " No good will ever happen to thee, thou unbe gotten knave !" These words naturally arrested the attention of the royal messengers, who went to the boy's mother, and enquired whether he was really unbegotten ; the woman affirmed that he was—that though she had never known man, her womb had risen in the usual way, and the boy came at the usual time. The abbot, however, intimates that the woman very well knew who was the father, but that she would not confess it lest she should be put to death. This requires ex planation. There was a law, we arc told, among the ancient Britons, if an unmarried woman were once frail, she should be thrown from a precipice, and her paramour beheaded-- among the Saxons that she should be buried alive, and her accomplice hanged over her grave ; or she should else turn common prostitute, and be compelled to submit to every one's will ; in other words, to be degraded to the lowest depths of infamy, and thereby banished from all reputable society. To such a law, allusion is evidently made by Nennius ; its exist ence is positively affirmed by Josceline, the biographer of St. Kentigern, who intimates that the Saint himself had some such origin as the boy, and that the case was by no means rare. Audivimus frequenter sumptis transfigiis puellarum pndictitiam expugnatam esse, ipsamque defloratam sui minime nosse. To escape the penalty of her transgression, the woman, if shrewd, might naturally convert the credulity of the age to her purpose. The boy was taken to the king, and in a convention of the no bles, it was decreed that he should be put to death. wh y am I brought hither?" demanded the youth. "To be killed" was the consoling answer, " that thy blood may sprinkle the foundation, and that the citadel may be built !" " Who has suggested this notable contrivance ?" enquired the intended victim of Vortigern." " My magicians." Not satisfied with this authority, the boy asked them who had taught them that his blood was necessary for the construction of the fortress ? No answer. " I will unfold the mystery," said the boy. Then turning to the magicians, he asked them what lay under the ground on which they were standing. They could not tell. " There is a pool of water beneath," said he ; " dig and see." A pool was found. " What is in the pool ?" Still the ma gicians could not answer. " I know," said the boy, " there are two vases in the pool." The vases were found. " What is there between these vases ?" The same silence. " I will tell you—there is a tent between them." The tent was found. " What does the tent contain ?" The magicians are silent as before. " Two serpents : the one white ; the other red." The serpents were found asleep. " Wait !" cried the youth, " and see what they will do when they awake." No sooner were they roused than they furiously assailed each other, and in their successive struggles, though the white dragon had at first the advantage, the red expelled it from the tent ; the victor pursued the other beyond the pool, when tent and all vanished. Of course the magicians could make nothing of this mystery, but the boy declared that the two dragons were the two nations ; that the white one was the Saxon, the red the British ; that the pool was the world ; that though the former serpent had the advantage for some time, the native one was ultimately victorious ; so, in the present conflicts, the Saxons might temporarily triumph, but the Britons would in the end drive them beyond the sea. The reader has no doubt already divined that this beardless prophet was Merlin." • Amidst these, and a multitude of kindred follies, the torch of learning, 'as we have already seen, still burnt broadly over the land, though with a lurid, flickering flame, when the invasion of the Northmen threatened to extinguish it altogether. That the con quest might have infused fresh health into a body, which was fast degenerating into barbarism, is hardly to be disputed, but both our author and Dr. Lingard have tco highly coloured their pictures of Anglo- Saxon depravity. The tyrannical rule of the Saxon -- ---- Lords was in no respect harsher than that of the Nor mans ; their laws were infinitely more mild and equi table, nor is the historian at all warranted in styling those an " abominable people," to whom we owe the invaluable institution of the trial by jury. The chief, if not the only advantage of the victors was in their higher military skill, and in the greater refinement of their luxury. If their invasion cleared up for a time and purified the social atmosphere, it should also be recollected, on the other hand, that it was the North men who brought upon us the curse of feudalism, and that it is the throes and struggles of the country to cast off the incumbent relics of this system, which are threatening England daily, nay hourly, with a moral earthquake. We must not be deceived into the vain notion of assimilating the Norman conquest with the descent of the Romans, who always began by subju. gating, an d en d e d w i t h c i v ili za ti on . Thi s truly great and enlightened people might not unaptly be compared in their progress to the settler on some wild land, who first clears away the obstructions of the forest with his axe, and then proceeds to the more genial task of cul tivation. If we retrace our steps a little over the bygone years, and look a t th e s t a t e o f science, we find it developing itself much more slowly than either arts or literature. We put no great faith in our author's metaphysical reasoning on this tardiness, which may be sufficiently accounted for, as regard s the arts, by their more immediate necessity, and as regards literature, by its being essential to the p urposes of Churchmen, who for a long time were th e only class of people in the country that had the will or the oppor tunity to study any thing.' The science of numbers made little progress, nor could it well be otherwise when the Arabian figures were not introduced into England till late in the tenth century, and every ope ration was to be carried on by the help of the Roman letters, I. V. X. L. C. D. M. To shorten the labours of this clumsy machinery, recourse was had to a sort of manual and digital arithmetic, but of what avail could it be in the working of complicated problem s ? It is wonderful how they contrived, as they actually did, to apply so cumbrous a system to position, or the rule of false, for that they did so is plain from the examples given by Bcde, ad anzendos juvenes, to quicken the wits of his young pupils. On the ancient systems of the universe, our author, with much shame, professes himself to be little acquainted with his subject. We plead guilty of the same ignorance, but take no shame for the matter, for of what earthly use are the reveries of an unscientific race upon a difficult topic, of which they could know nothing ? It is quite enough for the memory to re tain acknowledged truths, without tasking it to the unprofitable labour of keeping a catalogue of ab surdities. This, then, brings us to the time when the Conqueror, being firmly seated on his throne, began, both from resentment of the past, and policy as re spected the future, to expel the Saxon clergy from the higher offices of the Church, as h e h a d a lready dis estated the temporal barons, the thanes, and even the more considerable of the freeholders. So sweeping was this measure, that St. Wulstan was the only Englishman who at William's death held the episcopal dignity. The historian attempts to justify this ex tensive spoliation by the " rights of conquest." We should like to know on what principle of reason or reli gion those " rights" are founded, and must ask what plea could be advanced to excuse the atrocities of conquest, which would not in an equal degree apply to individual violence ? Setting aside this fatal objec tion to rapine in all its forms, whether kingly or only private, it must he allowed that the conqueror showed much wisdom in the exercise of his power, and seldom conferred a benefice on an improper person. The con duct of his Norman clergy appears to have been frank, and even bold, towards the monarch, as it was often beneficial towards the people. It speaks volumes in their favour that they were infinitely preferred for land lords to the lay-proprietors, and an instance is given us of the excessive joy of the tenantry at returning under their former vassalage, when the Primate re gained five-and-twenty manors from Odo, a bastard brother of William's, who had seized them from the church of Canterbury. For a length of time the leading ecclesiastics are found in opposition, with more or less success, to the crimes and the vices of subse quent monarchs, till at length, corrupted by wealth and the continued enjoyment of irresponsible power, which are always fatal to the best natures, they seem themselves to have stood in need of the castigation they had so freely administered to others. Our au thor endeavours, vainly we think, to deny this charge in the case of a great offender, and labours with much sophistry to free the character of Thomas a Becket from the deep stains that time has left upon it ; his ingratitude to the King he calls patriotism, and he obstinately refuses to believe that ambition could have had any share in actuating the conduct of a man who voluntarily laid down the Chancellor's mace to take up the episcopal crosier. When, however, he gravely asks, would any one renounce, for the sake of mere posthumous fame, the solid advantages of the present hour, we must ask, in our turn, if he really is so simple as he affects to be ?—is it possible be does not know that such is the condition of all aspirants after glory ?—not that we would for a moment deny or defend the weakness, which flings away present enjoyment for the hope of that after-fame, which in no principle of belief can be worth the having ; if, as the wise and the good have ever been willing to receive, there is a life beyond the grave, of what avail will be the blazon of earthly fame to an immortal spirit ? And if, for the moment, we adopt the dark and cheerless creed of annihilation, the moul dering body will have no ear for the voices that are paying homage at the shrine of their entombment. But we may spare ourselves all such nice considerations ; the fact is, that the chief dignity of the Church pro mised more substantial power and more immediate fame to its possessor than the highest lay-office of the State. As Chancellor, he was no more than the first of the King's servants ; as the primate of all England, he could in a great measure controul the Monarch, while he himself owned but a distant and scarcely-felt obe dience to the supremacy of the Pope. It is mere folly then to talk of Becket's having descended to the level of other bishops, or to fancy that he meant by the change to pass his life in "comparative obscurity," and this no one knows better than our author ; how, in deed, eould he be ignorant of such a fact, after having dwelt for so many pages on the preponderating in fluence of the 'Church ? The first actions of Becket showed no particular desire for the retirement of the cloister. Through right and wrong—and so much the candor of our author compels him to allow—the new made primate set himself in vexatious opposition to his benefactor, ungratefully wielding the crosier with all his might against the head of the very man from whom he had received it, and almost before it was warm within his grasp. Neither does his continued wavering between absolute rejection and hypocritical acceptance of the "customs" say much in favour of his heart or his understanding. It is very easy, in reply to these plain facts, to call the high-minded Henry a tyrant, for slander drops as readily from the pen as from the mouth ; but more substantial proofs must be offered than are found in these pages, before any reasonable mind will receive the accusation. If we look at the monarch, his private life, his long en durance of the shrewish Eleanor, and his reputed for giveness of his rebellious children, we shall be forced to allow that he exhibits no signs of that harder metal, of which tyrants usually are composed. That Becket, having once resolved upon his part, eventually played it with fitting dignity, is true enough ; nor can we re fuse our admiration of the quiet grandeur of his death scene ; but all this is no more than the gilding of a bad cause, which remains as foul and corrupt in its princi ples as ever. It may be the historian has come to the conclusion fairly,—surely not " unwillingly,"—that the murder of' Becket seas deliberately planned, and that the guilt must rest on Henry Plantagenet ; but his conclusion is final only as regards himself ; others may require more satisfactory proofs, and a very differ ent train of reasoning. Taking self-interest, as he does, to be the main-spring of the monarch's actions, it seems absurd to imagine that a politic prince, like Henry, could have be en so bli n d to t h e probable con sequences as to have hazarded such a measure, how ever he might desire the removal of the obnoxious prelate. In the passion of the moment he is likely enough to have uttered the words attributed to him, and which undoubtedly led to the fatal catastrophe, and why, with so natural a solution of all difficul ties at hand, should we have recourse to a supposi tion involving all manlier of absurdities ? Unless we imagine him to have been struck with judicial blindness on the sudden, nothing can be more improbable than that the wise and prudent Henry should have coldly and deliberately ventured upon a crime, which could by no possibility bring good to himself, and might, ac cording to all reasonable expectation, cost him his sceptre, if not his life. the succeeding reigns, as the authority of the Popes became more consolidated at home, they en creased their exactions upon England, and, from having hitherto contented themselves with chiefly rob bing the laity, they now pressed their demands upon the church. The result of this impolitic extortion was, that they lost the best support of their usurped power in alienating the ecclesiastics, who, to save their own property from spoilation, made common cause with the rest of the nation, while the Kings alternately fa voured the side of the Pope or of the people, as best suited, or might seem to suit, their own immediate in terest. It may almost be supposed, though it has escaped the notice of historians, that in these quarrels were sown the Cadmus teeth, which afterwards ripened into an iron harvest, to the total overthrow of the Papal authority in England. The learning of the middle ages was unable to put an end to the working of miracles ; or rather, it should be said, that learning combined in an unholy and un natural alliance with craft and profligacy to cheat the simple vulgar, and raise up phantoms in the night of ignorance. A single specimen will suffice to show the nature of these wonders. " As he was one day walking along, he was joined by a youth ful companion, who at length told him that an evil spirit was near. " Friend," said Bartholomew, " I should like to see this demon I" The Norwegian told him to stand on his (the Nor wegian's) feet, so as not to touch the ground, and that he would not only see the spirit, but would ever afterwards have the power to see it. Whether he was afraid of making the experiment, or, as his biograph er i n ti mates , was unw il l i ng to comm i t sin by this magical right, he left at once the sorcerer's company, the demon, the fair maid, and Norway itself. Ar riving in Northumberland, he attached himself as presbyter to one of the churches. His former vision now rushed on his memory, and he resolved to forsake the world. Having as sumed the habit in the monastery of Durham, the first time he entered the church he proceeded, like the rest, to adore the huge crucifix ; as he bent before it, the crucifix, with equal courtesy, returned the salutation--a fact, says the biographer, vouched b y t h e pr i or Germanus, and many others. The mo• tion of the crucifix is likely enough to be true ; for there was scarcely any knavery of which the monks of Durham were in capable. In another vision, St. Cuthbert appeared to him, led him to the island of Fame, showed him the oratory and hermitage, and told him that was the place reserved for him. The next morning, full of this heavenly manifestation, he communicated it to Lawrence the prior, who praised, indeed, his zeal, b ut a d v i sed h i m to remain where he was. He per sisted, and at length obtained permission to commence the eremetical lif e . O n arr i v i ng at Fame, however, he found it occupied by another hermit, who received him somewhat gruffly, and end eavoure d, by th e most contumelious treat ment, to expel him from that desert rock. But it was his good fortune to expel his predecessor. Here he commenced a rigorous course of life, which grew more rigorous the longer it continu e d. F or some years he indulged himself with fish, which he caught on the coast ; but that he subsequently aban doned as a luxury, and confined himself to bread, roots, and water. At length he relinquished even water. In recording this fact, his biograph er canno t w ithh o ld hi s admiration : " Oh ! man truly admirable 1 If we could find thine equal in other things, certainly in this we could not." He now lite rally fulfilled the idea which ought to be entertained of hermits, " Prayer all his business, all his pleasure praise." In such reverence was he held, that the mariners would at any time embark, if he assured them the passage would be pros perous! Such sanctity and such fame, the devil might well envy. Many were the freaks of the tempter, who appeared before him in every shape—monkey or lion, bull or mouse ; sometimes leaping on him, sometimes seizing bim by the throat, at other times, while before the altar, pulling him backwards on the floor. The saint procured a rod, and often struck at the demon, but the stroke fell on the yielding air." But we now come to a more important period, when the efforts of Robert Grossetete, Bishop of Lincoln, to stay the spreading corruption of the Church, opened a way, in conjunction with popular discontent and the satire of the poets, to the subsequent reform of Wycliffe. In attacking the temporal power of the Pope, the reformer made no enemy of his own Mo narch, or of the nobles, all of whom were by this time weary of Roman supremacy and Roman exaction ; and consequently his first measures, though accompanied by some clamours from the rude multitude, yet incur red no serious censure or interruption. The case was materially altered for the worse, when he ventured to insinuate that after the consecration of the bread and wine, the elements still retained their nature, and that consequently there was no such thing as transubstan tiation. This denial revolted the feelings of the time, and neither his former patron, the Duke of Lancaster, nor the Parliament, which had hitherto supported him, would lend their countenance to this novel heresy. For a time he escaped by a confession 'so subtly worded that it might pass either for a recantation or a vindica tion of his doctrines ; but the blow at length fell upon him, though the seeds lie had sown were_not, in due season, without their fruit, and a fruit that none had contemplated. So intimately were religion and the social order blended, that it was impossible to assail the one without mischief to the other, and the subse quent rebellion of' Wat Tyler may, in great measure, be ascribed to the doctrines of the first reformer. We decline speaking of the Latin literature of the middle ages, as being much too voluminous for notice. Yet we should hardly be justified in passing over the historians in total silence. Our author truly observes, that, " there is no other country in Europe, France and Italy excepted, which possesses so many, and, on the whole, so useful recorders of events ; from Ingulf of Croydon, to Harding and Ross, there is a list of names of which any people might be proud." This praise is not exaggerated ; yet it is not to be expected that, much as they rose above the level of the times, they altogether freed themselves from its prejudices and superstitions ; on the contrary, we find legends abun dantly mixed up with reality, but it is seldom difficult to discriminate the false from the true, and this fault, from which Livy and Herodotus were not exempt, is well atoned for by their graphic descriptions, so superior to the barren and meagre records of foreign chronicles. We are much pleased, too, to fii►d in our historian a strenuous defender of Geoffrey of Monmouth, who has been most unfairly treated by men, utterly incapable of appreciating his merits. The discussion respecting the fabulous part of Geoffrey's work, however alluring it may be, we shall for certain reasons leave untouched ; it affords a large field for inquiry, but there may occur a fitter place for it than the narrow limits of a review ; in the mean time we earnestly recommend our readers to give this subject their attention, and they may per haps, find in chivalric fiction a charm at least equal to the most brilliant pictures of modern romance. The Arch-deacon was a poet, as well as an histo rian, and has written a life of Merlin in hexameter verse, which in its way is a curiosity. But a yet more valuable .author is Giraldus Cambrensis. The work, by which he is principally known to modern readers is the Itinerarium Cambrim, recording the progress of Archbishop Baldwin, through Wales, for the purpose of preaching up the Crusade. He, too, deals pro fusely in legends, some of which are not a little cha racteristic of his times. Thus he relates How a man, " in these our days," had shot a fair doe with horns of twelve years' growth, and had immediately lost the use of his eyes. This event, however, is scarcely so won derful as one which happened just before the death of Henry 11. : the fish of a certain pool fought so furiously with each other, both in the water and out of it, that the following morn ing scarcely one remained alive. Crossing the river Wye,the crusaders proceeded towards Brecknock. At Lhanvaes he tells its of a boy who, venturing to take a pigeon's nest in the church of that place, incurred the miraculous vengeance of the patron Saint, by adhering so firmly to the stone, that it required three days' solemn supplication at the altar before he was released. And this anecdote leads him to relate another. A poor woman, very devout in appearance, constantly visited the shrine of a saint, but her object was neither more nor less than to plunder it. By a curious kind of theft, she licked up from the altar the small bits of gold and silver which had been offered there; but she was not long suffered to do this with impunity : one day her tongue and lips adhered so to the altar, that she could not move, and was of course instantly detected : but in a few hours the saint was appeased. In ano ther place we have an account of the patriarch's horn, which, if any one blew, woe be to him ; but safely might the wider end be placed to the ear ; and when it was, delightful was the music heard within just like the gentle tones of the harp." If this legend exhibits the superstition of the age, the following is no less illustrative of its barbarism : " A famous robber, confined in one of the dungeons of Haver ford castle, was sometimes visited by three boys---one the son of Lord Clare, the other two being the son and grandson of the Lord of the castle--for whom he made arrows. One day he fastened the door of his dungeon—the youths being with him—and seizing a battle-axe, protested to the terrified do mestics outside that be would instantly murder all the three, unless his life and liberty were guaranteed. His object was gained. The Lord of another castle had long maintained a man whose eyes he had put out. The latter, however, per fectly remembered the difficult staircases and passages of the fortress, and could easily pass from one part to another. One day he seized the only son and heir of the Baron, and, fasten ing all the doors behind him, ascended to the top of a high tower. The father and the domestics hastened to the foot of the tower, and any ransom was offered for the youth's life. The man sturdily refused, and declared, that unless the father inflicted on himself the punishment which had been laid on him, viz. the mutilation of the lower members, the boy should instantly be precipitated from the summit. Seeing that other terms could not be procured, the Baron pretended to comply with the condition, and both he and his domestics raised a loud cry, as if the mutilation had really taken place. " Where is your pain ?" demanded the man. "In my loins," was the reply. " You are deceiving me 1" cried the miii, who pre pared to put his threat into execution. A second time the Baron permitted himself to be struck with a heavy blow; and, on being asked where he felt the greatest pain, replied,--" In the heart 1" The blind man again cried out that it was false, and again was preparing to consummate his threat; when the unhappy father, to save his beloved son, really suffered the mutilation. To the third demand,—" Where now is your chief pain ?" he replied,—." In my teeth !"—" That is true 1" said the man : " experience only could enable you to speak thus 1 I shall now die with the greater satisfaction, as thou canst neither beget another son, nor receive comfort from this 1" In an instant he sprang with the youth from the battle ments of the tower." Amongst other curious things we find that the modern custom of bundling —a custom more honoured in the breach than the observance—is of very ancient, though it can not be called of very honourable origin : " There is," says Giraldus, " an ancient custom of men taking young girls on trial, engaging, if they do not marry their mistresses, to allow a certain pecuniary compensation for the loss of chastity to the parents." The paucity of books must have been great indeed at this time, when we find that the library of the Bishop of Winchester consisted only of seven teen volumes. So valuable were they that a single folio was often entailed with as much solemnity as the most valuable estate ; or bequeathed with the condition, " that the receiver should pray for the soul of the donor, and that, on the death of the former, it should either revert to the family of the original owner, or pass to some other person." The price of books, as from this statement may be easily supposed, was enormous, and were often pledged to learned bodies, to be forfeited, if not redeemed within a certain period. Yet it - appears that the monks laboured hard to multiply their copies. In every monastery that had the means, there was an apart men, called the scriptorium, wherein books were tran scribed or composed, and in the maintenance of these, the monks evinced a liberality, which we shall in vain look for in the ecclesiastical establishments of modern times. Which of our co ll eges e mployes any part of its rich endowment s in the propagation of useful knowledge ? or which of them has given an hour to literary labour, unless with the sordid idea of profit ? But the monks did both ; while they liberally sup ported their hired transcribers, they themselves laboured in the same vocation, without the slightest possibility of remuneration. A few pages of this highly-interesting volume alone remain to be considered ; but, few as they are, they are so full of matter that to do them anything like adequate justice, would require as many columns as we have been able to devote to the whole work. We must, therefore, take our leave of our historian with lingering regret, and an earnest hope that this delight ful theme, begun with so much ability, may be resumed at no distant period. THE ARMY. SEVENTY-SECOND ; DUKE 01ALBAN Y'S OWN HIGHLANDERS. —.On Tuesday last the depot companies of this regiment, under the command of Major Hall, were reviewed in the Bar rack-square by their Colonel Lieutenant-General Sir John Hope, G. C. H. After a minute inspection the Gallant Gene ral was pleased to express his entire approbation of the appear ance, discipline, and interior economy of the troops. After dining with the officers, Sir John returned to Blythswood, where he is on a visit.—Paisley Advertiser. (From the Limerick Chronicle of Saturday. ) A General Court-martial assembled yesterday at the Castle Barracks for trial of four of the 60th Rifles, on charge of it:- subordination. Yesterday morning, Lieutenants Bingham, Lowe, and 50 privates of the depot Ist battalion 60th rifles, marched hence to embark at Dublin to join the service companies in Gibraltar. The 47th regiment embark in a few days at Dublin for Gibraltar. The 27th (Enniskilliners) from Mullingar, to replace the 47th in Dublin. Lieut.-Colonel Bunbury, on leave some time, proceeds next week to join the Ist battalion 60th Rifles at Gibraltar. By accounts received yesterday at our office, we learn that Lieut.-Colonel Clarke, 76th regiment, died on passage from St. Lucia to Barbadoes, the 15th July last, while on leave of absence. The head-quarters and right wing of the 76th, in the West Indies, are now commanded by Captain Grubbe, the senior Captain of the regiment. Lieut.-Colonel Clarke had only been in command of the 76th since June of last year, when he succeeded the late Lieut.-Colonel Gillman, who died at Tunbridge Wells ; and on Major Clarke's promotion Capt. Clarke, of the 76th, attained the rank of second Major in the regiment. The 76th immediately after went on foreign ser vice. Two commanding officers of this regiment ha ve di e d within little more than a year of each other. The senior Major Hutchinson is in command of the depot companies of' the 76th, encamped near Eyrecourt, county Galway. Captain Heathcote, 59th regiment, will remain with the depot companies in England, on head-quarters embarking for the Mediterranean. The Hussar and Lancer Regiments in the service are now brought to the restriction of one Major each, with the excep tion of the 16th Lancers, upon the India establishment, and the 15th Hussars, several years on the home station. Thursday, Surgeon James Orr, of the Ist Royals, appeared before the Magistrates of Arran-quay, Dublin, to complain of a clothes-broker, named Patrick Hamilton, for purchasing two regimental great coats and a pair of boots, having on them the usual marks by which military necessaries are distinguished. The fact yeas fully proved by evidence, and Hamilton was fined Si. The sth regiment are supposed to wear white plumes, from taking prisoners the grenadiers of France at the passage of Dymel, at Warburg, under the command of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick and the Marquis of Granby, on the 24th of June, 1762. The French were commanded by the Prince de Conde. The 31st got the name of the Young Buffs at the battle of Dettingen, the 3d and 31st were both engaged. The Buffs were, at that period, the crack corps of the day. The English King, George 11., was so pleased at the repeated gallant con. duct of the 31st, that riding up to them, he exclaimed, " Well done Buffs," mistaking them, from the similarity of the facings, for the 3d. " No," exclaimed a veteran, "We are not the Buffs, we are the 31st." " Well," replied the King, " You sal den be my young Buffs,"—hence the name. On Friday week, whilst the Earl of Durham was standing upon Pallion-quay, near the spot where his elegant yacht is at present fitting out, a person of the name of Parkin unceremoniously attempted to go on board. His Lordship per ceiving his design, mildly asked him where he was going, when Parkin immediately came from the vessel towards his Lordship, and brandishing a large stick in a furious manner, accompanying his action with much coarse and violent lan guage, threatened to attack him, which he subsequently at tempted to do, but was prevented by the prompt interposition of the persons on board the yacht. After being requested re peatedly to go away, which he refused, and finding that he was determined upon mischief, a constable was sent for, and he was eventually consigned to the lock-up at Bishop's Wear mouth. On being afterwards visited, it was ascertained :hat he had, during the short period of his incarceration, demolished the bedstead, and by using one of the poles as a lever or hand spike, had completely torn up the boards from the sleepers. Previous to the door being opened, he threatened with dread ful imprecation, to kill the first man that entered ; and, ac cordingly, the door had scarcely turned upon its hinges when he rushed out, and with a long clasp-knife, the blade of which is five inches long, aimed a blow at Mr. Bailes. It penetrated the breast of his waistcoat, without fortunately doing any other injury. It would, however, inevitably have proved fatal, but from the circumstance of its coming in a lateral direction. Before the ruffian could inflict any further injury, he was effec tually secured. On Monday he was brought before the sitting magistrates, John Davison and Thomas Wilkinson, Esqrs., who, after examining into the circumstances of the case, com mitted him to take his trial at the next quarter sessions, for the assault upon Mr. Bailes.—Sunderland Herald. In Mr. Henry Lytton Bulwer's work on France, wherein are discussed all the characteristics, political, literary, social, and domestic of the people of that country--a discussion which alternates from subjects of the most grave, and even ter rible import, to those of lightness and gaiety—from their fearful and sanguinary revolutions, to their gallantry, wit, and amuse ments—from their statistics, to the reckless excesses of their gaming -houses—the reader will be forcibly struck by the in vestigation into the nature of their crimes, in which are exhi bited the influences of climate, seasons, age, and sex on offences against the law. This inquiry is illustrated by a se ries of tables and calculations, founded on a record of remark able facts. COMING IT STRONG.—The Philadelphia Gazette gives the following description of the western superlative : " A Kentucky steam-boat captain, dilating in a strain of exu berant commendation on the excellence of his craft, says— She trots off like a horse • all boiler ; f u ll p ressure • hard work to hold her in a t the wharves and landings. I could run her up a cataract. She draws eight inches of water —goes at three knots a minute—and jumps all the snags and sand-banks.'" RELICS OF A NTIQUITY. As some men were lately digging in an enclorsure, belonging to Mr. Moray of Abercairney, on the site of the Roman Camp in Glenalmond, they came upon a very large pot, which broke into pieces on being handled; within it were found two smaller vessels, in the form of goblets, with a long handle attached to each. Along with these were lying three spear ends, three horse branks of a very strong make, two pairs of irons, a pair of hinges mounted with silver, and two parcels of buckles tied together. Several antiquaries have seen the relics, but they are divided in opinion whether they are most likely to have belonged to a Roman commander, or to one of our own coun trymen engaged in the battle fought at the same place, in which King Constantine was slain.—Perth Courier. Mr. Bentley is turning to industrious account the lately awakened interest in the writings of the accomplished author of " Vathek." Besides the " Italy," and " Vathek" itself (the latter in the Standard Novels) he has now repub lished Mr. Beckford's " Biographical Memoirs of Extraordi nary Painters." It is a capital satire upon the want of imagi nation and Sentiment in the Flemish and Dutch painters, and a quiz up on the sol emn an d s t ate l y tone of their biographies. The initiated will relish the racy humour of the style, the happy vein of irony that runs through the narratives, and the masterly touches of ridicule with which they are heightened. EXTRAORDINARY EFFECTS OF MUSIC.—A Paris paper contains the following extraordinary story :—A woman, twenty-eight years of age, residing at a village in Piedmont, where she was born, had never heard any music until a short time since, when she was taken to a ball, at which there was a very excellent orchestra. During the whole of the performance she remained in a sort of stupor, and when the concert was over, she appeared to be suffering under great emotion. From that time, waking or sleeping, the melodious sounds were continually heard by her, and eventually she could not sleep at all. A state of apathy ensued, which led to a total derangement of the vital functions. Several physicians were called in, who prescribed all sorts of remedies, but with out success. Weakness and consumption ensued. The pulse became irregular, and the general effect was the same as that caused by sudden fright. She became at length extremely nervous and weak, and died in about a month from the time when she first heard the music. She never ceased, however, to hear the airs, and they seemingly became louder and more powerful as she gradually declined. On one occasion during her illness a violin was purposely played to her out of tune, and she discovered the circumstance immediately, and, putting her head between her hands, asked what unmusical sound e oe i n n a g d: _d rather re„ssYe de h h b ni er horse for SWOPPING A HORSE.-011 Monday last, as a tradesman of Bristol was passing through the horse fair, on the back of a very fine horse, worth about 401., but which he s h t a a d r t i n i s o b o , b b j e e c o t b i o s ne observed d exchanaccountge 4l n offer offering a i nf t oa s enst sale, which he praised as a thorough-going hunter, and valued at 40 guineas. A bystander offered pounds, which the holder ght a gid I till'e fashion I'll do of the horse refused, and on the other , p a a n ss d i s th ee e i tr d a i d d e n sTa b r o l ik s e om s, e f t e h l izg w , s a l f b te o r ks t , he an f d ol t lo h l a v r i t i n ig h g e moi the fine points of the hunter, Lad mon e y; but l eg l n v t a sht n e ts th,o a oi n nr o se t e, her ho s s a cl i o : c il' e ss , e": I ' s : h erid o ln r e e ixn m : a u r sa k ign e d that it t a o nd a s. to hoot." The g t e h e ird i Party--an acquaint tradesman being captivated by He e as very thin, by declaring that b li y un a t hunters p w e e e r t e ab a l l e w b ay er s known his purchase,stehdinealer of this city, to whom he made and who in w f a o s rm s e u d bs h eq hn ue , n t t o ly hi u s n as de to c n e i iv sh ed_ b m e c t n te t r , tthbaatnidtehga,ds m be e e a n t. sol T d h at a late fair for 305., and was little day for 2/. Bath Journal. e hunter was re-sold the following