THE TWO GALLEY SLAVES.

An unlucky instance of an error in judgment, a proper lesson to all magistrates in general, happened in February, 1786, in France. The son of a rich Italian merchant had been travelling for a year in the south of France, and was to have embarked at Marseilles to visit Spain, and thence to pass into England. At Nismes he fell in love with a young lady, who promised to marry him at his return. The young man, with a heart full of joy, gratitude, and love, on quitting his mistress, proposed to himself the pleasure of seeing Vaucluse, where the immortal Petrarch receives the passing tribute of a sigh from every traveller as he visits chaste Laura's tomb. As he was going through the Popish territory of Avignon, a murder was committed by a man dressed in a green frock. The young Italian had likewise a green frock, and the guards, who were in search of the murderer, guided by false appearances, seized on him, and two other men not far off; they were all three loaded with irons, and thrown into a gaol, where they were forgotten. Some months after, when the Judge had nothing else to do, it came into his head to examine the man in green, who was supposed to have committed the murder. He was brought before the awful magistrate, and being interrogated, he denied, with a proper and manly assurance, the facts, and persisted in being innocent. The imperious Judge, unaccustomed to receive such bold answers, after loading him with the most execrable expressions, ordered him to be put to the torture. He suffered all those torments invented by the most barbarous and refined cruelty which are practised by some of the nations of Europe, with a surprising fortitude: they could not make him own a crime he had never perpetrated, and the only words he uttered were, "I am innocentforgive them, O Lord, for they know not what they are doing."

The proofs not being quite satisfactory, they did not dare to condemn him to death; but upon these semi proofs they had the conscience (according to the Catholic way of judging) to send him to the gallies for five years; and as there is a kind of compact between his Most Christian Majesty and the Holy See at Avignon, that all culprits should be received at Toulon, he was sent on board one of the gallies in that port. The young man wrote the whole of this unlucky affair to his banker at Paris, begging him not to let his father in Italy know what had happened, for fear of hastening his death, if he thought him culpable; or of invoking him in endless trouble by attempting to annul the fatal sentence of Avignon, irrevocable when once priests, who pretend to act by divine inspiration, (and consequently look upon themselves as infallible) have given the horrid sanction to an illegal deed. Besides, he hoped that his innocence might be clearly proved, as it happened soon after. The money his father allowed him for travelling was punctually remitted to the gallies by the Paris banker, who received from the young man the customary receipts, with a false date from Madrid, London, or Paris.

By the will of Providence, that will never permit the innocent to suffer, the wretch, the real murderer, was condemned to the gallies for another crime, and, as chance would have it, was chained to the same oar with the innocent young Italian. The villain behaved in such a shocking manner, that he was hated by all the slaves, and at length he completed the score of his crimes by killing the sergeant of the guards. Before his execution he declared before M. de Jean, Grand Provost of Toulon habour, that he had committed the murder near Avignon for which another man was sent to the gallies. His testament confirmed the whole of his deposition, and M. de Jean, in order to

deliver the unhappy young man from a punishment he did not deserve, began to act so vigorously, and so earnestly, that the king of France ordered the young Italian to be discharged; and declared by his letters that he was wrongfully condemned for a crime he had not committed; but, however, the court of Avignon was too proud to own their error.

When the young man had received the most flattering hopes from M. de Jean of his delivery, he wrote to his mistress the whole of his sad history, and she, thoroughly convinced of the truth of his doleful tale, acquainted him immediately that his father and mother were dead, and that she should come to Toulon to see him. True love never harbours suspicions; she was sure her lover could not deceive her, and repaired immediately to Toulon-to the very galley, among the slaves. The reader can paint in his own mind this tender interview. Sterne's pen could describe it in the true sentimental style; but it must be left to the reader to imagine what she felt at seeing so many unhappy wretches loaded with irons, and her lover among the rest. The scene affected all the beholders; and it was with difficulty the two lovers were recalled to life, after the mutual shock they were seized with at their first meeting. Two days after, his Majesty's orders were obeyed, and the marriage was celebrated. The young couple were happy in each other, and his innocence was shortly after proclaimed in all parts of France and Italy.

THE GENEROUS RUSSIAN.

If Peter the Great excited the wonder of all Europe when he married Catherine, the relic of a Swedish soldier, all the great families were little less amazed at the alliance formed by Count Muski, who was descended from one of the best families in Russia, with a foreign young woman of low degree, who had for some time been considered as his mistress.-They were amazed, because, though most of them were acquainted with his person, scarcely any could conceive the generosity of his temper, and none knew the particulars of the story.

Elizabeth Petrowna, who succeeded to the empire of Russia, inherited much of her father's sagacity; and besides public embassies, held many private negociations with foreign states; and used often to employ Count Muski on such occasions.

Having some state intrigues to carry on in Poland, the Empress sent this trusty servant, disguised, to execute her purposes. Amongst the various businesses which he had in charge, one was to surprise M. Klonitz (a relation of the Mareschal Apraxin), who was suspected of carrying on certain plots against the Russian government. Muski took with him but one servant, whose fidelity he thought he could depend on, and went cheerfully upon his expedition, having letters to some of his own countrymen then in Poland, who were to assist him in his undertaking. However he soon found himself betrayed; Klonitz was apprized of the design formed against him, and removed to a place of safety; but this was not all, for one day, as he was walking in a lonesome place, he was suddenly attacked by four men, against whom he in vain attempted to defend himself. They disarmed and bound him, then threw him into a pit, where they told him he must wait the arrival of their master M. Klonitz, who would determine what was to be done with him.

It is easy to conceive what a disagreeable situation this of the Count's must have been, when he thus found himself on the very point of being delivered

up to one whom he must naturally consider as his mortal enemy, and whom in a few minutes he expected to arrive, and satiate his revenge.

But in the interim, while he lay thus forlorn and helpless, an old farmer passing by, attracted by his groans, and seeing a person who had the appearance of a gentleman in such distress, with some difficulty helped him out, and took him home to his house, where he presented him to his wife and daughter, the latter of whom was a pretty young girl, about seventeen, with whose person and conversation the Count was much delighted, and where he remained till the next morning.

Having happily executed all his affairs in Poland, except the seizing of Klonitz, this nobleman returned to Russia, and with a grateful heart for his escape from danger and from death, kept an annual fast on the day of his happy deliverance.

Before he quitted Poland he had made many tenders of his service to his preserver; all of which, together with a large sum of money, the wealthy farmer refused; Muski then cast his eyes upon his daughter, and asked him if he would trust him with the care of her future fortune, offering to take her with him to the Russian court; but this also was denied by her father, who expressed some dissatisfaction at the offer.

Nevertheless, this young girl was fated to owe her fortune to the hand of her noble guest; for the Count being again sent, about three years after, to Poland in a public capacity, taking a walk in the fields one day in harvest tiine, as was his usual custom, he perceived a young woman in mean attire, of whose face he thought he had some knowledge, begging most earnestly for a few sheaves of corn, which the reapers churlishly denied her. Beckoning her to approach, in order to bestow an alms upon her, what was his surprise to recollect in her face the features of Theresa, his preserver's daughter! On inquiring how she came to be thus reduced, she informed him that some of her father's neighbours, envying his wealth, had accused him as a partisan of a certain nobleman, who was then in custody for crimes committed against the state; that the farmer, affrighted at that circumstance, fled away by night, and had never been heard of afterwards, but all his property was seized by an order from the government." I was to have followed him," said Theresa," but was arrested on my way, and carried before the magistrate of the district, who, on examination, dismissed me, clear indeed from any imputed crime, but exposed to want and beggary. It is about six months since this event took place, the greatest part of which time I spent with a female relation, who, though in narrow circumstances herself, yet contrived to support me, whilst I in return executed for her the office of a faithful servant. But death having deprived me of this friend a few weeks since, and heaven being pleased to afflict me with a severe illness, from whence I am but just recovered; unable by any means to gain a subsistance, I have been obliged to submit to beg the bread I cannot earn, and have lived to be refused a few sheaves of corn in these fields, of which my father was but a short time since the owner.

Struck with this relation, and remembering the service Theresa's father had done him, the Count bade her follow him, and having provided her with necessaries and refreshment, proposed to her (as he had formerly done to her father,) to take her with him on his return to Russia; to which she consented, but not till he had pledged his honor and his oath not to attempt by any means to violate her chastity; "For, my Lord," said she, "you may

depend I will never give up that which I have already submitted to beggary to preserve."

Theresa being satisfied in this point, Count Muski took her with him to Petersburg, where he hired her a handsome house, at which he often visited her; and thought hese visits were conducted with the greatest decorum, yet the lady was soon reported to be the mistress of his private pleasures, a circumstance which gave her great uneasiness; but the Count quieted her anxiety, by assuring her it should not be long before he would either provide a suitable match for her, or otherwise secure her in an independant state.

All this while that nobleman secretly loved her, and he thought he perceived an inclination of the same kind nourished in her breast; but willing to prove whether she regarded himself, or only his fortune, after having visited her one day dressed and attended in a far more brillaint manner than usual, at parting he slipped a billet into her hand, wherein he declared his passion for her, and proposed to make her his wife. This declaration was received by her with the most delicate sensibility; nevertheless, in the answer she returned him, she wished him to consider how far it would be consistent with his dignity to match himself with one so much below him, and urged many prudential reasons to the contrary, which however Muski, at another visit, removed.

But when the day was fixed on for their marriage, how much was the intended bride surprised to see the Count suddenly enter her house with his sword drawn and bloody, and to hear him beg a shelter there, declaring he had killed a person of the first quality, and was closely pursued by the officers of justice. At first the shock being too much for her, she swooned away; but when she came to herself, her grief did not prevent her assuring him of an asylum with her, if it were possible to conceal him :-" if not," said she, "my Lord, by changing clothes with me, you may perhaps escape the fury of the pursuers."—"What then will become of you" said her lover. "I am content," answered the charming maid, "to leave that to Providence; if I cannot fly with you, I may die for you; or if all these things should fail, at least we can perish together; since I am determined never to survive the loss of him to whose bounty only it is owing that I am alive this day to tell him so."

This generous resolution immediately determined the Count to throw off all disguise;-he clasped her to his breast, confessed the innocent artifice; and after having told her the agreeable news that her father had taken refuge in Denmark, where he was well provided for, he gave orders for the nuptial preparations to proceed, and by the Empress's express consent married her the next day in the face of all Petersburg, whose inhabitants being generally unacquainted with his motives, were struck with astonishment at the extraordinary proceedings.

In the year 1766, this happy couple were yet living, and their house was frequented by persons of the first rank; but domestic duties and domestic pleasure chiefly employed their attention; and the Count, who had relinquished his employments at Court, generally spent his mornings in study and devotion, and his evenings either in agreeable conversation with his Lady, or else in sharing with her in the amusements of music and singing, both of which they were peculiarly fond of, or in recounting the adventures of their earlier years, looking back with pleasure on past toils, and rendering thanks to heaven for their present happiness.

RIGHTS OF HOSPITALITY.

Maan Benzaïde, king of Arabia, having taken a hundred prisoners in battle, had condemned them all to be beheaded;-when one of them prostrating himself at the feet of the prince, requested a little water to allay his thirst. Maan acquiesced, and ordered his cup-bearer to give him what he desired. "My fellow-prisoners," said the young man," are not less thirsty than myself, and if your majesty will permit me to take advantage of this kindness, deign, I entreat you, to grant them the same favor." The king readily consented, and ordered that all the captives should be supplied with

water.

When they had satisfied themselves, the youth said to the monarch, "We are now, by your majesty's great humanity and condescention, become your guests; and I am convinced, Sire, you have too much generosity to let those perish whom you have admitted to such an honor."

The prince was greatly struck with the ingenuity of such a contrivance, and instantly revoked the sentence he had pronounced.

EXTRAORDINARY INSTANCE OF FRIENDSHIP.

At a public sale of negro slaves at Santa Cruz, in the year 1780, among the great numbers that Christian avarice had been either the immediate or secondary means of placing on a level with the cattle daily brought to our Smithfield market, were two, each of them apparently about the age of thirty, whose deportment seemed superior to the rest.-What their rank had really been, they with a sullen dignity seemed resolved to conceal from every one. Yet mingled with a haughty demeanour to all besides, there appeared in every look and action the tenderest affection, and heart-felt attachment to each other.—When the Captain of the vessel, which had brought them thither, entered on the necessary business of distributing these marketable goods into the proper lots for sale, both of them, in the most submissive manner, and with an eagerness that spoke more than common feelings, clung round his knees, and hung about his garments, entreating him only to favor them so far, as to permit them both to be appointed to the same lot, by which means they might serve one master, and at least enjoy the trifling satisfaction of being companions even in slavery.-But, even this poor request itself, either through the brutality of their salesman, or from apprehensions of their combining in some mutinous design, was denied them.

Yet, earnest as they seemed in their desire, the refusal was received with manly resignation by them both, and when upon the point of being delivered to their respective masters, they only begged the leave of a few words with one another, permitted out of hearing, though not of sight, of those they were to serve. This was allowed them; when after a few minutes conversation, and a close embrace, they parted, and were sent to their respective stations. Seven days after this transaction, they both (as it afterwards appeared) were missing at the same hour; nor were they, though the strictest search was made after them, to be found, till at about a week's distance, a planter riding through a thicket, which lay in the mid-way between the two plantations they had been destined to, saw, to his great surprise, two bodies hanging on one tree, locked fast, and folded in each others arms, embracing and embraced;