These acquisitions of learning, however stupendous, were not gained at the expense of any pleasure in which youth generally indulges; or by the omission of any accomplishment, in which it becomes a gentleman to excel. He practised, in great perfection, the art of drawing and painting; he was an eminent performer in both vocal and instrumental music; he danced with uncommon gracefulness; and on the day of his disputation at Paris, exhibited his skill in horsemanship before the court of France: where at a public match at tilting, he bore away the ring upon his lance fifteen times together. He likewise excelled in domestic games of less dignity and reputation; and in the interval between his challenge and disputation at Paris, he spent so much of his time at cards, dice, tennis, that a lampoon was fixed upon the gate of the Sorbonne, directing those who would see this monster of erudition, to look for him at the tavern.

So extensive was his acquaintance with life and manners, that in an Italian comedy, composed by himself, and exhibited before the court of Mantua, he is said to have personated fifteen different characters, in all which he might succeed without great difficulty, since he had so much power of retention, that once hearing an oration of an hour, he would repeat it exactly, and in the recital he would follow the speaker through all his variety of tone and gestulation. Nor was his skill in arms less than in learning, or his courage inferior to his skill there was a prize-fighter at Mantua, who travelling about the world, according to the barbarous custom of that age, as a general challenger, had defeated the most celebrated masters in Europe; and in Mantua, where he then resided, had killed three that appeared against him. The Duke repented that he had granted him his protection; when Crichton, looking on his sanguinary success with indignation, offered to stake fifteen hundred pistoles, and mount the stage against him. The duke with some reluctance consented, and on the day appointed, the combatants appeared: their weapons seem to have been the single rapier, which was then introduced into Italy. The prize-fighter advanced with great violence and fierceness, and Crichton contented himself calmly to ward his passes, and suffered him to exhaust his vigour by his own fury. Crichton then became the assailant, and pressed upon him with such force and agility, that he thrust him thrice through the body, and saw him expire; he then divided the prize among the widows whose husbands had been killed.

The duke of Mantua having received so many proofs of his various merit, made him tutor to his son Vincentio di Gonzago, a prince of loose manners and turbulent disposition.-On this occasion it was that he composed the comedy in which he exhibited so many different characters with exact propriety. But this honour was of short continuance; for as he was one night in the time of the Carnival, rambling about the streets with his guitar in his hand, he was attacked by six men masked; neither his courage nor skill in this exigence deserted him; he opposed them with such activity and spirit, that he soon dispersed them, and disarmed their leader, who throwing off his mask, discovered himself to be the prince, his pupil.--Crichton falling on his knees, took his own sword by the point, and presented it to the prince, who immediately seized it, and, instigated as some say, by jealousy, according to others, only by drunken fury and brutal resentment, thrust him through the heart.

Thus was the admirable Crichton brought into that state, in which he could excel the meanest of mankind only by a few empty honours paid to his memory.

The court. of Mantua testified their esteem by a public mourning.

The contemporary wits were profuse in their encomiums; and the palaces of Italy were adorned with pictures representing him on horseback, with a lance in one hand and a book in the other.

DARING ENTERPRISE.

When Bornholm was obliged to submit to the Swedes, on account of their superiority in the Baltic, Mr. Jens Koefod, and the Rev. Mr. Paul Anker, projected the resolute plan of throwing off the Swedish yoke, and appointed for the accomplishment of their purpose, the day on which Prindsenkiold, the Swedish commander, was to pass from Fort Hammershuus to Hasle and Roenne, to collect the taxes. Mr. Koefod, on horseback, with five followers, went in search of Prindsenkiold, whom he found at the house of the burgomaster of Roenne. Mounting a guard before the door, Mr. Koefod, with his little party, entered the house, and declaring themselves to be Danes, ordered Prindsenkiold, as their enemy, to surrender on pain of death. The Swede obeyed; but having shortly afterwards attempted to escape, a musket shot arrested his progress,

Having thus commenced the glorious task of rescuing their country from a foreign yoke, Mr. Koefod and one of his followers seized two horses belonging to Prindsenkiold, and rode from village to village to raise men. Citizens, clergy, and peasantry, crowded with arms to the churches, and the next morning made their appearance before Hammershuus; when the Swedes, dismayed by their formidable appearance, and the loss of their own leader, surrendered. The inhabitants then took possession of the country, confined their prisoners, and sent to Copenhagen for a commander-in-chief; but no one arriving for some time, Mr. Jens Koefod, with the consent of his countrymen, assumed the office, and discharged it faithfully.

SINCERITY.

A Corsican gentleman who had been taken prisoner by the Genoese, was thrown into a dark dungeon, where he was chained to the ground. While he was in this dismal situation, the Genoese sent a message to him, that if he would accept a commission in their service, he might have it. "No," said he, "were I to accept your offer, it would be with a determined purpose to take the first opportunity of returning to the service of my country. But I would not have my countrymen even suspect that I could be one moment unfaithful."

ALOYS REDING, THE SWISS PATRIOT.

When the French armies entered Switzerland, at the commencement of the revolution, Aloys Reding resumed the sword in favour of his country, and performed many splendid actions. But the armies of his enemies were too numerous, and treachery and cowardice thinned his own ranks. At length the time arrived which was to decide the issue of the contest. Certain death appeared to await the whole band of the heroic Swiss. On the sublime heights of Morgarten, Reding appeared at the head of his troops. Morgarten

had been a theatre for the performance of great actions; and calling to mind the heroic achievements of ancient times, the brave general thus addressed his soldiers. "Comrades and fellow citizens! the decisive moment is arrived. Surrounded by enemies, and deserted by our friends, it only remains to know if we will courageously imitate the example formerly set by our ancestors among these magnificent mountains: indeed upon the spot on which we now stand. An almost instant death awaits us. If any one fear, let him retire : we will not reproach him; but let us not impose upon each other at this solemn hour. I would rather have a hundred men firm and steadfast in their duty, than a large army which, by flight, might occasion confusion; or by precipitous retreat immolate the brave men who would still defend themselves. As to myself, I promise not to abandon you, even in the greatest danger. Death and no retreat! If you participate in my resolution, let two men come out of your ranks, and swear to me, in your name, that you will be faithful to your promises."

When the chieftain had finished his address, his soldiers, who had been leaning on their arms, and listening in reverential silence, instantly hailed its conclusion with loud shouts of " We will never desert you;" "We will never abandon you;" "we will share your fate, whatever it may be." Two men now moved out of each rank, as Reding had desired; and giving their hands to their chief, confirmed the oath their comrades had taken. This treaty of alliance between the chief and his soldiers, was sworn in open day, and in one of the sublimest scenes in all Switzerland; a treaty which, as the historian Zokockle says, bears marks of patriarchal manners worthy the simplicity of the golden age. These brave men fought and bled with the resolution of heroes, and the enthusiasm of patriots; but fate having for a time decreed the subjugation of their country, they fought therefore in vain.

FATE OF CELEBRATED ENGLISH BEAUTIES.

Editha, Daughter of Earl Godwin, was married to King Edward the Confessor, in 1044. She was the most amiable lady of her age, both for beauty and virtue; but as the king, who was of a very timorous disposition, was obliged to marry her in consequence of a promise he had made to her father, the marriage was never consummated. Godwin was hated by the king; he fomented a civil war, and was banished the kingdom; while the king ungenerously stripped his own queen of her effects, and confined her in the nunnery of Werewel, only because she was the daughter of Godwin. However, Godwin was restored to his honours; and his son Harold afterwards ascended his throne: for king Edward died without issue, whereby the male branch of the Cerdic and Egbert line became extinct: though if this prince had not preposterously abstained from conversing with his queen, he might have had children, and thereby prevented a revolution, which involved the English in slavery, and transferred the crown to William, Duke of Normandy.

The Norman and Saxon lines were united in the Princess Maud, daughter of Henry I. by Matilda, daughter to Malcolm, King of Scotland, by Margaret, sister to Edgar Atheling, the right Saxon heir to the crown. She married the emperor of Germany, whose death left her a beautiful widow, and the mistress of an immense fortune while, on the death of her brother, Prince William, who was drowned with his natural sister, the countess of Perche, on the coast

of France, she was the undoubted heiress to the crown of England; and, as such, the parliament of England took an oath to pay their allegiance to her, if the king, who was then married to his second wife Adeliza, daughter to the duke of Lorraine, died without male issue. After this, in 1127, the empress Maud married Geoffry Plantagenet, earl of Anjou, by whom she had a prince named Henry; and the English not only renewed their fealty to the mother, but extended it to the son. Maud succeeded her father in his duchy of Normandy, while the kingdom of England was seized upon by Stephen, earl of Bulloign, third son of the earl of Alois, by Adela, daughter to William the Conqueror, who found little difficulty in obtaining the crown, before Maud could arrive in the kingdom; for the English dreaded that her husband should have any command over them. However Maud gained the discontented clergy and nobility to her interest; took Stephen prisoner, who promised to renounce the crown, and pass the remainder of his life in a monastery, if Maud would grant him his liberty; but this was impolitically refused, and a revolt ensued in favour of Stephen; because the Empress retained that Nouman pride, which made her father, uncle, and grandfather, consider the English subjects as so many slaves. She was besieged in Winchester castle, and with difficulty escaped being taken prisoner; but her son married the divorced queen of Lewis, king of France, and again invaded England; when Stephen agreed, that after his decease, Henry should succeed him as his lawful heir. Thus Maud was precluded from ascending the throne; but it was ascended by Henry II. her son, in whom the Norman and Saxon blood was united.

Henry the II. was an illustrious prince, and had several children by queen Eleanor, daughter of William, duke of Aquitain: but, among his vices, lust was his predominant passion; and he was so greatly enamoured of fair Rosamond, daughter of the Lord Clifford, that he kept her in a labyrinth, built on purpose at Woodstock, to secure her from the rage of the queen, who, it is reported, in 1172, found means to despatch her rival out of the way by poison. Fair Rosamond was certainly the most beautiful lady in England: her beauty won her the love of a great monarch, but it raised the jealousy of a bold-spirited queen, who encouraged her sons to rebel against their father. This occasioned the effusion of much blood, the death of fair Rosamond, and the imprisonment of queen Eleanor; for the greatest beauty, without some virtue, is attended with many calamities.

The princess Joanna, sister of Richard I. was married to William, king of Sicily, whose crown was seized by Tancred, his bastard-brother. Joanna was a very amiable lady; but Tancred, instead of paying her dower, imprisoned the English princess, until she was released by her brother, whom she accompanied with his queen Beaenguella to the holy war, where Richard gained immortal glory, but was shipwrecked on his return, in the gulph of Venice, and was imprisoned several years by the duke of Austria, whom he had affronted in Palestine.

Avisa, the daughter of the great earl of Gloucester, was remarkable for her beauty; she was married nine years to king John, who, in 1200, became so strongly enamoured with the charms of Isabella of Angouleme, that he obtained a divorce from his queen Avisa, and married Isabella, though she was contracted to the earl of Marche, who, in revenge, attempted to dethrone him.

Arthur, duke of Bretagne, was the right heir to the crown of England, which had been seized by his uncle John, whom he also endeavoured to

dethrone, in conjunction with the earl of Marche; but they were defeated by king John near Mirabel, in Poictou, in 1202, who took them prisoners, This lady was together with the Princess Eleanor, sister to the duke. called the beauty of Bretagne; but she was sent to England, where she was confined forty years in the castle of Bristol, and her brother was murdered by his uncle.

Edward the I. unhappily lost his excellent queen Eleanor, in 1291. She had saved her husband's life in Palestine, by sucking the poison out of his wound; but she died of a fever at Grantham, in Lincolnshire, to whose memory Charing-Cross, and several others were erected, wherever the corpse rested in the way to Westminster. This monarch was the scourge of Scotland; he was to have been married to the Scottish princess, but she died in her passage to England: however, in 1299, he married Margaret, sister to the king of France, though she was only eighteen, and Edward was sixty years of age. Edward had three children by Margaret, but none of them succeeded to the crown: this beautiful lady was very unhappy; for her son-in-law, Edward II., married her niece Isabella, daughter of the French monarch, when she was only thirteen years old. Notwithstanding the beauty of his queen, Edward was so fond of his favourite Pierce Gaveston, that Isabella complained to her father of the fondness of her husband for this man, which alienated his affections from her, and made her an entire stranger to his bed. Gaveston was beheaded by the earl of Warwick; but the king became equally fond of Hugh Spencer. Charles the Fair, king of France, was dissatisfied at the illtreatment of his sister Isabella, who went into France, where she formed a conspiracy to dethrone her husband and place her son upon the throne; she succeeded in her designs, but prostituted her charms in the embraces of Roger Mortimer, while her husband was cruelly murdered. Indeed, the Spencers had so far incensed the people against the king, that they called the their deliverer; but she became so very arbitrary, that her son, Edward III. confined her for life to her house at Risings, and her favourite Mortimer was hanged at Tyburn.

Joanna of Kent was cousin to the Black Prince, who married her for her great beauty; but she had the mortification to see her glorious husband cut off in the flower of his age; and though her son, Richard II. succeeded to the throne, he was deposed on account of his favourites, after marrying Anne of Luxemberg, sister to the emperor Wencessus.

Henry the VI. married Margaret, the daughter of Rene, duke of Anjou, titular king of Sicily, and niece of the queen of France. She was a lady great beauty and spirit; but her husband lost the kingdom of France, which his father had won; and shewed us, that England, by endeavouring to conquer that kingdom, ruined itself. William de la Pole, duke of Suffolk, was the favourite of this pacific but unhappy monarch; but the conduct of the duke, like that of Gaveston, and the Spencers, under Edward II. incited a civil war, which occasioned the death of both him and the king. The duke of York was victorious over all the friends of the house of Lancaster; but he was defeated by the queen, and slain at the battle of Wakefield. She afterwards beat the great earl of Warwick, on Bernard's-heath, near St. Albans but was herself defeated by Edward IV. between Caxton and Towton, though she fought with all the spirit of a Zenobia, She then fled into Scotland, where she raised another army, and re-entered England, but was suddenly repulsed by Lord Montague, and obliged to fly again into Scotland. Prince Edward, the son of Henry VI. was married to Anne, daughter of the earl of Warwick,

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