sonal superintendence of the mayor, who, I was told, was a most zealous antiquary, and possessed of a very valuable collection of curiosities, which have been discovered. About ten years ago, this curious building was so covered up with rubbish as to present a misshapen mound of great magnitude. At present all the south side of it is so cleared away, as to leave the outside walls, more than fifty feet high, quite clear. The inside has been so exposed as to exhibit the dressing-rooms of the actors, and many tiers of benches. The outside is composed of tufa which covers the walls; they are of chalk and Roman brick, cemented together so strongly as to be more like a solid rock than masonry. The road from Havre to Rouen cuts off one end of the amphitheatre, which, when perfect, is calculated to have contained 22,000 persons."

THOMSON, the poet, who exclaims in his Seasons, "Falsely luxurious, will not man awake!" used to lie in bed till noon, because, he said, he had no motive in getting up. He could imagire the good of rising, but he could also imagine the good of lying still.

VOLTAIRE'S RIDDLE.-What is the longest, and yet the shortest thing in the world-the swiftest, and the most slow -the most divisible, and the most extended-the least valued, and the most regretted without which nothing can be done-which devours every thing however small, and yet gives life and spirit to every object however great? (Time.)-History of Zadig.

STRANGE METAMORPHOSIS.

Mr.

whilst engaged one morning in painting a scene at the Theatre, was much annoyed by some gentlemen who, looking on, were giving their opinions very freely, and suggesting to him a variety of extremely injudicious alterations; at length, being completely out of patience with their conceit and impertinence, he observed, "Excuse me

gentlemen, but I make it a rule always to proceed with my painting according to my own notions, and for the following reason; some years ago I had a commission to paint a garden-scene for a provincial theatre; whilst occupied in executing it, I was advised by one person to make such an alteration; importuned by another to put this; entreated by a third to add something else; and being at that period a novice in my profession, I was all submission and complaisance, yielded to the opinion of each new critic, and made whatever alteration was suggested, 'till one morning, stepping back from my canvas to take a general survey of my performance, I perceived, alas! my garden-scene was a street!"

A MAN named "Cæsar," married a girl of the name of "Roma;" (both common names in modern Rome). They lived in the Piazza Navona, close to Pasquin's statue, where, on the day of their marriage, was found the following piece of advice to the bridegroom:-"Cave, Cæsar, ne tua Roma respublica fiat!" The man replied next day, "Cæsar imperat!" but his antagonist rejoined, "Ergo coronabitur!"-Travels in Italy.

A PERSON having an even number of counters in one hand, and an oddnu mber in the other, how to tell in which hand the even numbers are, let the person multiply the number in his right hand by an odd number, and the number in his left hand by an even, and let him then tell you, if the sum of the products together be odd or even. If it be even, the even number is in the right hand; and if it be odd, the even number is in the left hand.-Hooper's Rational Recreations.

SINGULAR FACT.-At the execution of Caraccioli at Naples, his body was thrown into the sea; however, the body three weeks after rose again and floated with the immense load of 250lb. attached to it.-Life of Nelson.

Illustrated Article.

PIERRE LOUVOIS.

(FOR THE OLIO.)

AT the time the French army held possession of Italy the most strict and rigorous measures were put in force by them, to suppress the lawless habits of the inhabitants; which, under a weak form of government, had risen to such a height of crime as to require more than ordinary severity to check. These laws were not alone in force against the natives, for they fell with undiminished rigour on such of the French troops as were caught in the commission of any act contravening the strict code laid down for their observance, and punishment came so swiftly after the offence as to be attended with at least one salutary effect, that of taking place whilst its cause was yet fresh in the remembrance of the shuddering spectators.

In the northern part of Italy was quartered a small division, consisting of a few VOL. IX.

regiments of the line, under the command of a General Duval. He was a man of a morose and stern disposition, a strict martinet, and one but little prone to pardon any offences committed by the soldiery under his comm and; but, on the other hand, he was just, and not slow in rewarding merit, when such fell under his observation. His notice had for a short time been attracted to a lad about eighteen years of age, for whom he began to feel some interest. Pierre Louvois, which was the youth's name, was a general favourite in the regiment to which he belonged, though his manners and dispositions were but little in accord with those of his rank; there was a sort of dignity and lofty bearing not exactly in unison with the situation of a private, but yet it had never been the cause of his creating a single enemy amongst his associates. His mother, who said she was the widow of a soldier, had lived in the neighbourhood of Montpelier, of which part of the country, however, she was not a

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less as the Court about to try him; he was extremely glad that business had drawn his mother to Milan, from whence she would not return until the following day, when it would be too late to feel uneasiness, and they could talk it through together.

When called upon to affirm or deny his guilt, he briefly stated the circumstances, and said the woman could at once prove him innocent.

"Young man," replied the president, your story is well conceived, and told with a semblance of truth, but, unfortunately, there are discrepancies in it; and as the woman died during the night of the injuries she received, you may safely call upon her to assert that innocence, which I must say that for my own part I very much doubt."

The information of the woman's death staggered him; it was upon her evidence his safety entirely rested; the idea of her death had never once entered his imagination, and a cold shudder ran over him as he thought of the overwhelming weight of evidence, that could only be gainsaid by his simple assertion of innocence; the current set too strongly against him to be stemmed, and when proof was adduced that it was impossible, on account of the distance, that the cries of distress could have been heard within the bounds of the camp, he felt that he was a lost man.

The court were unanimous in their opinion of his guilt, and the following day, at noon, was named as that on which he was to close his short career of life. Pierre heard his sentence with out shewing any signs of trepidation; his cheeks blanched not for an instant; a faint smile played around his lips, which would have said, you are deceived, but still I blame you not.

The veterans of the regiment, when told of the result of the inquiry, swore a volley of oaths and insinuated that the officers did not deal justly by them; they could not see that any evidence was sufficient to find Pierre guilty of murder and robbery- Bah! he could'nt do it if he would-a harmless lad like that; it was no use arguing the matter, it was'nt in his nature; spirits like his were not the ones that stooped to the crimes of rapine and bloodshed!'-and their belief in his innocence remained still unshaken.

When Madame Louvois arrived from Milan, the first intelligence that reached her was, that Pierre was waiting with the utmost anxiety to see her, since he was doomed at noonday to die.

"Die!" said she-" to die!-no, no! you are deceiving me. They could not-would not slay a child like that. Crime never yet entered his imagination it must be others that have palmed their deeds of villany upon him. Who is there could look upon his fair face and form, and say it was that of a guilty being ?-none! I will be sworn."

The frantic mother flew to the guardhouse, to gain from his own lips the history of his misfortune; and with breathless anxiety did she listen to his brief recital.

"Truth," said she, when he had finished, whilst her loud sobs almost hindered the words from being heard.

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Truth, indeed! is there not truth stamped on every word and action?-Does it seem like falsehood that he speaks? - No, no! falsehood never spoke thus. But, stay-yes! there is yet hope. Duval must and shall listen to me!-I will force that upon him shall make him feel him innocent, even should he have seen the commission of the deed itself."

General Duval was not a little surprised at finding the door of the room in which he was sitting suddenly burst open, and a half frantic woman rushing in to throw herself at his feet, at the same time exclaiming

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Mercy! mercy! for the love of heaven, grant me mercy!"

"What is the meaning of this, my good woman? - Who, or what are you ?" asked the General.

"I am the mother of the poor boy you have doomed to die. Oh, Sir, but spare his life! On my knees I will pray to you-will worship you—but spare his life!-he is too young to die yet!He is not a fit subject to wreak your cruel laws upon !-Indeed! indeed! he is innocent."

"Woman, it cannot be-he must die!"

'Oh, no! no!-you have but to say the word, and he is spared."

"I say again, it cannot-must not be."

passed, Duval, since that night, when, after many an anxious hour of travelling, you arrived near your chateau in Alsace, indulging in the fond hope of pressing in your arms your wife and infant child. Did your heart not bleed when you found the raging flames had destroyed your noble dwelling, and deprived you of a wife and child you fondly loved?-Ay, it felt then as mine does at this moment. Yes! you look at me now, and strive to bring me to your recollection. I was the foster sister of your wife, and after you married her I still followed her as a servant, and when she became a mother, did I not nurse her child as though it had been mine own-for I loved it as much even as its mother could. Oh! it was a sweet, fair haired child, that all must have loved. On the night the fire burst forth, the boy lay sleeping beside me; its mother was not well. I was watching its calm slumbers when the alarm of fire reached me; scarce knowing what I did, I caught the child in my arms, and, rushing into the open air, flew across the country. Tired and fatigued, I sought shelter where I was not known. I was soon informed that Madame Duval and her child had perished in the flames. The thought then dashed across my mind, that if I would not lose the child I so fondly loved, I must keep its existence a secret from you. The people who gave me shelter had forborne to question me. I told the m some false tale of injuries and op pression, and privately left Alsace, seeking the South of France, where none knew me. I changed my name, and brought up the child as my own. I have toiled and worked for it until"But, the child!" gasped forth Duval; "where is it now?-Is itand he faltered in bringing out the words" Is it the "

cruel laws, and who has been their victim?-your only child. Mercy, indeed! -you would be merciful now, were it in your power."

The orderly gently opened the door to say he was too late-the boy was no more ! J.M.B.

BRITANNY.

A great part of Britanny is heath; indeed, one-third of the department of Ille and Vilaine is computed to be still in that state. When Henry the Fourth saw the uncultivated tracts between Rennes and Nantes, he exclaimed,"Where can the poor Bretons find the money they have promised me?"

An

The present Cathedral of Quimper was built with the produce of indulgences, and finished in 1501. equestrian statue of King Grallon formerly stood over the gateway, which, on every St. Cecilia's eve, one of the bell-ringers used to climb: he presented the king with a glass of wine, and then threw the glass among the crowd; if any one caught it whole, he took it to the chapter-house, where he claimed the reward of a Louis-d'or. The custom seems to have been early abolished. The statue of Grallon was thrown down in the beginning of the French revolution.

The inhabitants of Machecoul made a regulation among themselves, in 1603, that whoever broke the third commandment should receive a slap on the face from such as heard him, without liberty of resenting it. As it produced ill-blood among the neighbours, it was at length dropped. Machecoul was the residence of the brave but profligate and sanguinary Gilles de Retz, commonly called Gilles de Laval, who put several wives to death, and is supposed by some to be the original of Blue Beard. He was accused of dealing with the devil, of murdering above a hundred children; and for these and other crimes he was burned alive at Nantes in 1440. Before the revolution his sabre was shewn in the castle of Machecoul: it was of an extraordinary size. His name was still pronounced with horror when Ogee wrote his description of Britanny.

The coast of Britanny is so dangerous that a former Viscount of Leon used to say, that a certain rock, notorious for shipwreck, was a more valuable stone to him than the most precious jewel.

Gent.'s Mag.