about Pooling Mesurs; but the Wetterun Bishop Sincurers and Cloaths borrowers show pourfull Oppisishun and perplix and embrace all his PlansPettyshuns come in from all Parts for Necromancypassion, wich I take to be some new plan for washin the Blackamer wite also for the vote by Ballad which Mr. Hum supports and likewis Mr. Oconl the Hireish mimber wich wants the Onion to be repeeled and oaws all Hireland Watery eyes; but I hop sich Cryses will niver arrive- -I supose youve herd Hunt is returnd for Prestun wherby Im sorry to heer of a incindery sittin in the ows, for he not only first burnt the Corn but sold it after to the pure Peeple-but is Blackin his good Our new lord Canceller Brewem gives us Hops that he will put a end to all the Old Suits without making any New Breeches wich wrong incisions wold show Shear hignoranc but hes no Goos!-Mr. Grant wants to Mancypate the Jews-Porkreetchers! my next Nabor Levy says they are a Pursy cutish Race thogh they hav Numbers of Genesis among them fit for Trusts on Securitys; but let who will be in or out somethin must be done. Winters com and the ole Country wants instand Releafing thoug I hop no Treesunable acts will be manny fisted be the Peeple Nobody now cant sell nothing Goods hangs on hand and Malefactors are dropping in every line-Soverins is scars and Peeples ready to tear each other to peeces for um-We want some change In the Naborhood of Manshister thirty thousn Wafers are in a state of Risibility which is no laughin matter, havin struck for more Wags tho' they get therty shillins a Weak and are always in Labor!-this abolition of feelin shold be checkt, for if it is to go on it will most likly continew--As you observe, the Rag for Chang is grate-as they say The Scullmasters Abroad and the Scull all in confushon-Old Head devices done away with and Hairy Cassles supplyin the place-Aspics on the Continence seem very embracing-tho the Trials in France is over the People are in Truble-I hope the Rising in the Low Kantrys is over-The Poles seem to be makin head again the Rushons in great Armd Bodis -bent on Deth or imprisenment to get Liberty-In short all Eurups in Harms; but nothins so Barberus as Civil comoshins Hopin all is over with You, and restin asshurd Stuck Puggys is not likely to rise again, I conclude remaining Your sincer Frend and well wisher A HUMPHRIES. SOME PASSAGES FROM THE DIARY OF "Aye-there's the rub."-HAMLET. "Tis all one!" said I, laying down the newspaper on the breakfast table, after reading an erroneous representation of myself and the Marquess of Sligo :"I am resolved to remove this stain from my character, and, if hard-rubbing can do it, I may hope to succeed." I had scarcely pronounced these words, when my servant entered the room to inform me that a person had arrived in breathless haste, imploring my assistance for a gentleman in a dying condition. Heedful, as I ever am to attend to the sufferings of others--a pursuit in which I have found ample fee-licity-1 drew on my boots and followed the applicant to the house of the suffering gentleman. This was situated in a picturesque part of the metropolis, and, on knocking, the door was opened to me by a man who might be six and forty years of age. - there, or thereabout. Guessing the purport of my visit, he said nothing, but led me up to his master's room, when a spectacle of the most appalling character met my eyes. A gentleman in the prime of life, lay extended on a bed-his hair dishevelled, his dress disordered, and his complexion a midway hue between the tints of chalk and Cheshire cheese. His tongue hung out of his mouth, loaded with evidence of internal strife. I naturally believed that the present was a confirmed case of phthisis pulmonalis, and I accordingly had recourse to my well known, and, with-few- exceptions - always-successful remedy of inhaling. In this instance, however, it did not answer my expectations. Instead of benefitting the trachea, it produced a sympathetic affection of the stomach and diaphragm, and the esophagus formed the medium of communication between the patient and myself. Having taken a pinch of snuff, I was about to give my other infallible remedy a fair trial, when the patient opened his eyes. But, gracious heaven! what eyes! The visual orb was swoln, blood-shot, troubled and intolerably dull. At the same moment, some incoherent expressions fell from After a the unfortunate gentleman. reference to the kidneys, he seemed to wish for something to be found in the coal-hole, or the cider-cellar; but the search of the servant below stairs was unavailing. I now began to apprehend delirium. To be sure of the state of his mind, I inquired if there were any clergyman whom he would wish to see: that in this case my abstruse remedies had not a fair trial, inasmuch as the patient's state was vulgarly simple. He had been drunk the night before! J. ST. J. L. Fraser's Magazine. HISTORY OF THE PENNY. "She sighs and shakes her empty shoes in vain, cestors. In the time of Ethelred, it was equal in weight to our threepence. Till the time of King Edward Î. the penny was struck with a cross, so deeply indented in it, that it might be easily broken, and parted on occasion into two parts, thence called half-pennies; or into four, thence called fourthings, or farthings; but that prince coined it without indenture, in lieu of which he struck round halfpence and farthings. He exclaimed, "O venerable old Offley!" But when I expressed to the servants a wish that this reverend gentleman might be sent for, they assured me that they had never heard of him! The patient then muttered some inarticulate sounds, and turned on his side. This position being favourable for my original opera- Retrospective Gleanings. tion of rubbing, I slit up the back of his coat, waistcoat, and all other vestmental impediments, and smartly applied a solution of tartarised antimony along the course of the spine. The effect was instantaneous on the alimentary canal, and a griping in the transverse arch of the colon well nigh put a full stop to the patient's sufferings. The ductus communis choledochus again deluged the stomach, and with the customary consequences. The scene now, became almost insupportable. An aged nurse, who had, from the infancy of the patient, been his domestic, declared that she could hold out no longer. Poor creature! the tear of affection glistened in her eye; while her convulsed features betrayed uncontrollable sensations. It was a struggle between the heart and the stomach the heart remained true, but the stomach turned. At this the patient commenced cursing, swearing, and blaspheming, in a way which will be found fully detailed with all due dashes!!! &c. &c. in the last number of a Northern magazine. "Zounds!" cried he, starting up on his séant "Who are you? who sent for you? May the fiends catch you and cleave to you for ever! Give us the hips! a small glass of brandy! ha ha! ha! O my back! D-n all doctors! Here am I stung and tortured with gastritis, hepatitis, splenitis, nephritis, epistaxis, odontalgia, cardialgia, diarhæa, and a whole legion of devils with Latin names ! D-n all doctors again, say I!" And with this exclamation, he hurled a curious crown of crockery at my head, which fitted on so tightly, that only by breaking it, could I disengage myself from the delfic diadem. I hastily ran down stairs, and, meeting the man of six and forty in the passage, I inquired of him very minutely concerning the state of his master. He answered all my questions with perfect candour, and not without a certain archness of look and manner rather unusual among men of six and forty in his rank of life. From all I elicited, and also from certain corroborative proofs, which I do not think it necessary now to specify, I have no hesitation in declaring, for the information of the profession to which I do not belong, and of the public generally, He also reduced the weight of the penny to a standard, ordering that it should weigh thirty-two grains of wheat taken out of the middle of the ear. This penny was called the penny sterling. Twenty of these pence were to weigh an ounce; whence the penny became a weight, as well as a coin. By subsequent acts it has been further reduced." In ancient statutes, the penny was used for all silver money; hence the ward-penny, the avert-penny, the rete-penny, &c. The ward-penny was formerly a customary due paid to the sheriff, or other officer, for maintaining watch and ward. It was payable at the feast of St. Martin; and is still paid within the manor of Sutton Colfield, in Warwickshire, and that with some very singular ceremonies. The aver-penny, or average-penny, was contributed towards the king's averages, or money given to be freed thereof. The rete-penny was an ancient customary due of one penny for every person to the parish priest. The schar-penny was a compensation paid by tenants who neglected to pen up their cattle at night in the pounds or yard of their lord, for the benefit of their dung, or scearn, as the Saxons called it. Peter-pence were an ancient tax of a penny on each house throughout Eng* Derived from pecunia. land, paid to the Pope. It was called Peter-2 -pence because collected on the day of St. Peter ad vincula. By the Saxons it was called Rome-feoh-i. e. the fee of Rome; and also Rome-scot, and Rome-pennying, because collected and sent to Rome. And lastly, it was called hearth-money, because every dwelling-house was liable to it, provided there were thirty pence viva pecuniæ belonging to it-nay, every religious house, the Abbey of St. Alban's alone excepted. It was finally prohibited under Queen Elizabeth. "The money of England (says Chamberlayne) was abused and falsified for a long time; till Queen Elizabeth, in the year 1560, to her great praise, called in all such money; since which time, no base money hath been coined in the Mint of England, but only of pure gold and silver, called sterling money; only of latter time, in relation to the necessity of the poor, and exchange of great money, a small piece of copper, called a farthing, or fourth part of a penny, hath been permitted to be coined; and so likewise an halfpenny of two farthings.' Penny pieces of copper were first issued in England June 26, 1797. N. B. This is a penny article, but it is hoped the reader will not object to pay twopence for it. P. T. W. BAIL. THE system of giving securities, or bail, to answer an accusation, is a custom (says Brewer) which appears to have been coeval with the Saxon nation. This system was, indeed, subsequently carried by the Saxons to a burthensome and degrading height-not being confined to those who were accused of crime, but extending to the whole community, who thus gave surety to answer anticipated criminality. This object was effected by the division of England into counties, hundreds, and tithings, and by the direction that every man should belong to some tithing or hundred; which divisions were pledged to the preservation of the public peace, and were answerable for the conduct of their inhabitants. The system of placing all the people under borh, or bail, the origin of which was attributed to Alfred, is first clearly enforced in the laws of Edgar. P. T. W. The Chinese, who begin their day at midnight, and reckon to the midnight following, divide this interval into twelve hours, each equal to two of ours, and distinguished by a name and particular figure. In Egypt the day was divided into unequal hours. The clock invented by Ctesibius, of Alexandria, 136 years B. c. was so contrived as to lengthen or shorten the hours. The Greeks divided the natural day into twelve hours-a practice derived from the Babylonians. The Romans called the time between the rising and setting sun, the natural day; and the time in the twenty-four hours, the civil day. They began and ended their civil day at midnight, and derived this practice from their ancient jurisprudence and rites of religion, established long before they had any idea of the division into hours. The first sundial seen at Rome was brought from Catania, in Sicily, in the first punic war, as part of the spoils of that city; and after this period, they divided the day called accendus, used to proclaim the into twenty-four hours. An officer, hours; and at the bench of justice (says Kennett) gave notice every three hours what it was o'clock. Throughout the Turkish empire, time is reckoned by certain portions of the natural day, resembling the vigils of the ancient Jews and Romans. Public clocks not being in use, these divisions of time are proclaimed from the minarets. P. T. W. The Topographer. TRAVELLING NOTES IN SOUTH WALES. Voyage up the Bristol Channel. Two steam-packets ply twice every week throughout the year between Bristol and Swansea. The opposition has been so great this season, that the cabin fare is only 5s. and the steerage 2s. 6d. for a distance of seventy-five miles. The voyage down is performed in fine wea ther in about six hours: while, in consequence of the tide being adverse, it requires from nine to ten hours to make the voyage up the Channel. We hardly know any voyage so pleasant of the same length, for the scenery along the shores of the Severn sea, as it is well known, is singularly romantic and beautiful. We will give a rapid description of the voyage to Bristol:-Let us suppose ourselves darting between Swansea pier-heads, in the well-known Palmerston steamer, with her opponent, the Bristol, in her wake. After crossing Swansea Bay, you pass Porthcawl, about fifteen miles from Swansea, where a harbour has been formed, at a great expense, by an extensive new coal company, whose works lie fourteen miles distant. This coast is exposed to all the fury of the Atlantic, the surf against the cliffs appearing very distinct at Swansea; and the task of forming the Breakwater must have been a difficult one. The steamers now keep close along shore, in a channel inside the Nass Sands-an extensive and dangerous bank to seaward. The contrast between the immense and tumultuous masses of breakers over these sands, particularly if the wind is fresh, and the calmness of the narrow channel you are securely traversing, is very impressive. These sands, and another large shoal called the Skerweathers, nearer Swansea, have been fatal to many vessels. In rough weather, however, the steamers go outside, which lengthens the passage considerably. A large West Indiaman, with a cargo of rum, &c., was lost a few years ago on a rock near Porthcawl, called the Tusca, which disappears at high-water; and a dreadful scene of riot occurred amongst the peasantry along shore in consequence. The coast near Porthcawl appears at Swansea to be the eastern extremity of the bay; but the bluff point called the Nass, about eight miles farther, is so in reality. The coast onwards past the Nass point is almost perpendicular, the limestone lying in horizontal strata, so as to closely resemble a very lofty wall. There are several breaks or openings of extreme natural beauty as you proceed, which have a double effect on the mind when contrasted with the stern scenery of this wild coast. St. Donat's Castle, the residence of Mr. T. D. T. Drake, an extensive and antique structure in fine preservation, with its venerable towers partly embosomed in wood, is extremely beautiful. The park, studded with deer, shelves gradually down to the shore; a lofty watch-tower on the heights, and the hanging ter races, must command a splendid view. St. Donat's Castle is said to have been built nearly a thousand years ago, and was very strongly fortified as many Roman coins have been found here, there has probably been a Roman station near. An extensive cave, accessible only at low water, near here, is said to have been the retreat of St. Donat.The steamers still keep close along shore, and pass Aberthaw, celebrated for its limestone, till you near the Flat and Steep Holmes, two conspicuous islands in the middle of the Channel, about three miles distant from each other. From a lofty light-house on the Flat Holme, a magnificent view may be obtained on a clear day of the Channel, with Lundy Island rearing its head above the distant ocean: The Flat Holme, which is nearly ten miles from Cardiff harbour, forms the boundary of the port of Bristol; and every seven years the mayor and corporation of that city visit it, and go through some ceremonies prescribed by ancient custom. There are some remarkable and interest ing rocks on the Flat Holme: its only inhabitants are a man and his wife, the This attendants at the light-house. man is created sole lord of the island by the corporation of Bristol, and has the exclusive right of fishing round its shores. The Steep Holme is a lofty and barren rock, tenanted alone by the cormorant and the sea-mew: it is smaller than the Flat Holme. The following lines are so beautifully descriptive of this lonely and desolate spot, that we cannot resist transcribing them: "The sea-bird claims that solitary spot, Are seldom heard in that deserted isle. And Nature is at holy peace, it has An aspect wild and dreary. N. T. Carrington. But to proceed with our voyage :— Almost opposite the Holmes there is an extensive view on your right of Bridgewater Bay, receding inland; and on the left, Pennarth Roads, with the forest of shipping and town of Cardiff elevated in the distance, present themselves. On this side the Channel there is nothing more to mention-the thriving and very extensive port of Newport on the Uske, in Monmouthshire, about twelve miles above Cardiff, not being visible. This, town has risen almost entirely within the present century. It owes its prosperity partly to the excellent quality and hardness of its coal, which is almost equal to that of Newcastle, and partly to an unjust and exclusive act of parliament, which enacts that all coals shipped eastward of the Holmes shall be free of, duty, to the great injury of Cardiff, Swansea, and other ports to the westward. The annual shipments to the port of Bridgewater alone, in consequence, are 100,000 tons. You now stretch nearer the Somersetshire coast; and after passing that beautiful and much-frequented little watering-place, Weston-supra-mare, clustering on the side of a romantic declivity along shore, the flood-tide reaches you on arriving in the far-famed King-Road at the mouth of the Avon, which, in addition to the natural beauty of the surrounding scenery, generally presents an animating scene of shipping and steamers, lying off till there is sufficient tide up the river. But we have progressed gently amidst a crowd of small craft past Pill, a fishing village at its mouth; and after being entranced for five miles with the magnificent and varied scenery of that lovely river, the classic and palatial buildings of Clifton, cresting the pinnacle of the rocks, come in sight as you near Cumberland Basin, and form a fit termination to such a scene. But we must recur to this subject. VYVYAN. The Gatherer. "A snapper-up of unconsidered trifles." SHAKSPEARE. SIR HUMPHRY DAVY. We all know that Sir Humphry Davy was the creator of electro-chemistry that he was the inventer of the safetylamp; but few are aware that he was also a poet, and that the chemist wrote the prologue to the Honey Moon. We knew that he was skilful in angling, for he was the author of Salmonia; but we did not know that he was the original Green Man, and went a-fishing in a green dress, with a broad-brimmed green hat stuck with artificial flies, and being, in short, all green, down to his boots of Indian rubber. He was also an epicure of the drollest kind, for he was curious in tasting every thing that had never been tasted before, and interfered himself in the composition of dishes intended for his table, thereby encountering the wrath of strange cooks, and running serious risks in inn-kitchens. We have long heard his name coupled with aristocratic parties, but we see how he contrived to reconcile the calls of the laboratory and the invitations of great people. He worked to the last moment; and, when he was too late for dinner, covered his dirty shirt with a clean one, there being no time for changing it. He has been known to wear five strata of shirts at a time, and to have greatly surprised his friends by his rapid transitions from a state of corpulency to hat of considerable leanness. This was ven, at some moment of leisure, he contrived to find time to despoil himself of his exuvia. All Sir Humphry's experience in high circles (and in the plenitude of his fame he commanded any rank) never gave him ease of manner: he lacked the original familiarity with polished society, and his best efforts at pleasing were marred with a disagreeable bearing, which might sometimes be called pertness, sometimes superciliousness.As in his dress he oscillated between a dandy and a sloven, so in his manners he vibrated from familiarity to hauteur. In all personal matters he missed the golden mean.-, -Spectator Newspaper. YOUTHFUL PHILOSOPHY. THE young Princess Esterhazy was a great favourite of George IV. At a ball given in honour of his Majesty's birth-day, the young ladies were each expected to kneel, and present him with a nosegay; but the princess declared, that as she was of royal blood, she would prefer death to such degradation. The King received her graciously, notwithstanding her obstinacy; but her governess sent the child to bed immediately after dinner. "Bon pour la digestion, exclaimed the princess; which so enraged the governess, that she took her out of bed and whipped her soundly. "Bon pour la circulation," said the princess; and the next day the governess resigned.—Atlas. PLAIN SPEAKING. AT St. Augustine's Sessions, in an appeal case, a witness was asked by Sir Edward Knatchbull, to relate what took place between him and his master, which he did as follows:-" I told him he was a liar." Chairman-" Very improper language." Witness-"Can't help that, I am come here to speak the truth, and you have got it.”—Kent and Essex Mer, THE DEAD HAND. Ir is an opinion very prevalent among the "finest pisantry in the world,” that |
