rying public despatches. D'Almeras, the Postmaster-general, observing the great satisfaction which this permission afforded, established regular post-office couriers, who left Paris for the various provincial capitals on certain days in the week, and returned back from the post-offices in those capitals on subsequent days. This alteration, which proved equally beneficial to the post-office as well as the public, was effected in the year 1629, when Louis XIII. discharged the greater part of the Government messengers; and, in his ordonnance of January in that year, directed his governors, generals, and other servants, for the sake of public economy, to abstain from sending their despatches by official couriers, but to transmit them in future through the ordinary channel of the post-office. We must not omit to make mention of the privileged establishment of couriers connected with the university of Paris; a department which that body had set on foot, at so early a date as the thirteenth century, for its own convenience, and the conveyance of such letters, property, and money as the host of students, who resorted to it from all quarters, might find occasion to transmit, or wish to receive. These couriers or messengers were partly selected from amongst the better classes of the citizens of Paris, with the intent that when the communications with other parts were interrupted by hostilities, or the student did not receive remittances from home in due time, the messengers might assist him with pecuniary advances. This class was called the grands messagers,' or chief messengers. Their number was limited; and they were not required to leave their homes on any other errands than such as were given them by the masters or scholars of the diocese to which they were attached. The lesser or ordinary messengers, who were despatched into the provinces, from whence they returned to Paris, are often styled 'flying messengers' (nuncii volantes) in the national records, as betokening the celerity which was expected to attend their motions. These individuals, whose caste was wholly distinct from that of the King's messengers, took charge of the correspondence of persons unconnected with the University; nor did the government interfere with the revenue which it derived from this source. The earliest documents referring to the privilege of such an establishment are a letter from Philip the Handsome, of the 27th of February, 1296, and Louis X. of the 2d July, 1315. The university-post was not united with the royal post-office until Louis XIV. farmed the revenue of both branches to Lazarus Patin, in 1672. It was conditional on this occasion, that a certain amount should be paid by him to the University; but his successor, Colombier, endeavoured by every pretext he could invent or allege to rid himself of its claim. Louis, however, in 1686, gave his decision in its favour; Colombier was forced to discharge the claim during the whole duration of his contract, and at its close the University received permission to farm its establishment at a higher sum, though it was required to contract with the farmer of the royal post. In 1698, the rate of sale had risen to 49,685 francs, (2,0707.); and, in 1716, the king augmented it to an annual sum of 60,000 francs, or 2,500/. To the enlarged ideas and enlightened example thus early presented to me, I owe the proud satisfaction of being able to affirm, (what few old fellows of my standing can boast,) that, with the exception of a hare which I chanced to espy squatting, and shot, in a hedge-popping excursion I once went in the neighbourhood of Windsor, (for which act of villany I was, to my great surprise and no less indignation, nearly made to abye the penalties of a common poacher,) I never shot, fired, or aimed at any birds whatsoever, otherwise than on the wing, or any four-footed animal otherwise than running. I may, and no doubt have, occasionally felt strongly tempted to fire at birds I have seen basking over a hedge, or running under a ridge of potatoes; but I repeat it proudly and unequivocally, I have never yielded, but have kept my integrity up to the present day, 10th January, 1829. gent's part; for though he was sensible that the and being of course imbued with a contempt for occasion no longer called for the continuance of still-mark-sportsmen' proportionate to his skill, such an establishment, and that it was become he was determined that I should not, as he eleirreconcileable with the altered and costly cha-gantly expressed it, get into any such lubberly' racter of the public post-office, he was unwilling habits. to curtail the University of its indisputable rights. The Duke having listened with attention to the arguments and proposals of the University, and taken the opinion of the Privy Council and Parliament upon them, on the 14th of April, 1719, Louis XV. promulgated a decision, countersigned by the Duke, and subscribed with the words, For such is our pleasure,' by which the messageries of the University were for ever abolished, and a twenty-eighth part of whatever sum the farming of the post-office revenues might produce, was assigned to it in the shape of a compensation." This decision was accompanied by the following express stipulations:- We ordain, that, dating from the 1st of April in the present year, the instruction of youth shall be gratuitously undertaken in all the acting colleges of our said eldest daughter, the aforesaid University; prohibiting the regents of the said college, under any pretence whatever, from requiring any sort or kind of remuneration from their scholars; in defect of which gratuitous instruction, these presents shall be held void and of none effect. It is our will also, that if the said farmer of the posts and messageries shall make default in paying to the said faculty the one twenty-eighth part of the said general contract, the University shall stand repossessed of all its rights, and be entitled to exercise them in the fullest manner, by virtue of the before-recited decrees of our council and letters patent.' If I have allowed myself, on this occasion, to enter more into detail than the object of your inquiry would seem to justify, I hope to stand excused on the score of the entire absence of any specific history of the establishment of posts. Nor can I refrain from flattering myself, that the miscellaneous, though partial notices which I have now furnished, will be found acceptable to every friend to topics connected with the progress of human civilization. HUTTNER, Postmaster-General, LeipzigSPORTING REMINISCENCES. No. II. MY FIRST GROUSE. (Continued from page 968.) The gun which my uncle brought me was a large-bored single barrel, (large in those days, though it would be considered small now,) and he recommended me to employ myself for some time in handling it, and getting accustomed to its 'trim and bearings.' This I was in no danger of neglecting: it was the first time I had ever had a gun in my hands without being liable to be called in question for the same; indeed, the only gun of any sort I had ever fired was a certain old musket, which was the means of my coming into collision with the laws as aforesaid. lock at a chimney, until I had satisfied myself that After practising taking aim, and snapping the I was one of the best marksmen in the kingdom, I returned into the house, where I found my uncle and his attendant completing their arrangements for the following morning. On finding that they did not intend setting off till after breakfast, I remonstrated with all the vehemence of a person who knows nothing in the world about the subject of his remonstrances. In vain the gamekeeper assured me that we should hae walth o' time;' that, by starting earlier, we should only tire the dugs, puir bit beasties,' and render them useless during the afternoon, which was by far the most valuable time of the day. Nothing would convince me that, by beginning three hours earlier, Ar the time I am treating of, shooting flying we should not gain three additional hours' shootas it is technically called, was comparatively little ing; indeed, my own opinion was, as I told the attempted; it was, in fact, considered (notwith-gamekeeper, that we should be on the ground by standing the assertions of Scott+ and others to the the earliest light. Nae doot, nae doot," answered contrary) as a rare and difficult accomplishment, he, laughing; and then, turning to my uncle, he and those who succeeded in it were looked upon added, I'm thinking, Sir, ye'll hae to gie him his ain gate for ance; I'se warrant he'll no be crawing with a degree of wonder approaching to awe. sae crousely by this time the morn's night.' I did not understand the latter part of his speech, nor, as I found it had produced a favourable effect, did I stop to inquire; so, after a little more argument de part et d'autre, it was settled that we should meet half way, by breakfasting an hour earlier than had been intended. I was obliged to agree to this arrangement, though not quite to my satisfaction; and, having completed what else I had to do, I betook myself early to rest, that I might sleep off the fatigues of the journey, and be quite fresh for the bloody deeds I meditated for the morrow; but I was in such a state of feverish excitement, that all attempts to compose myself to sleep were for a long time fruitless; and when, at length, I fell into an uneasy slumber, it was only to be wakened with a start at each succeeding chime of the hall-clock, and to be disappointed again and again, on finding that it still wanted many hours till the time of rising. I was therefore not a little surprised when my uncle informed me, on presenting me with the gun which he and the gamekeeper had selected for me, from the armoury of the establishment (consisting, for the most part, of old, rusty, military pieces, which had been secreted during the search for arms after the rebellion in 1745, and had lain by ever since,) that he did not mean to countenance the practice of shooting sitting.' Having been used to shoot sea-fowl, which, even when on the water, are generally so tossed about as to afford fair practice, he had himself acquired considerable dexterity in bringing down birds from the wing-so much so at least, that he had incurred the odium of the old sportsmen in the neighbourhood, by whom he was jealously regard The University, still discontented with this valuation, submitted a remonstrance in the same year to the Duke of Orleans, who was regent during the minority of Louis XV., complaining of the restrictions which had been put upon them in the exercise of their ancient privileges, and urging him to fix the sum, to be annually paided as one who thein by the farmer-general of the post-office revenues, at 150,000 francs (6,2007.,) unless he would allow them to farm their messageries on their own account. They did not omit to enforce their representations by reminding him that gratuitous instruction was afforded to young persons in all the Colleges of the University. This affair Not he of Waverley, but William Henry Scott, a source of conflicting feelings on the Re-author of a work entitled "British Field Sports.' was 'Ore puer puerique habitu sed corde sagaci Aquabat senium atque astu superaverat annos.' *The produce of this branch of the revenue was at that time 130,000%., and the proportion of it accruing to the University amounted, therefore, to 4,6407. a year. It was enjoyed by the University until the breaking out of the French Revolution. The agreeable author of The Subaltern' describes his feelings on the evening previous (if I * I mean, of course, no game, as I am still school boy enough to have a particular penchant for sparrow, lark, and rat shooting. THE ATHENAU M. found it my best way to keep, as Hajji Baba ex- mistake not) to the storming of St. Sebastian, by likening them to those of a young sportsman on the eve of the 12th of August. Not having had the honour of being present at that memorable storm, and therefore having only tried one side of the question, I cannot venture to dispute the justice of the comparison; but, with all due deference to Mr. Glegg, I cannot help thinking that the advantage is greatly on the side of the sportsman; inasmuch as, in his case, the firing is all on one hill some two thousand feet high, which directly The first step to be taken was to ascend a steep side, which, to any man except a professed fire-fronted us, and from the top of which we were eater, (which I do not pretend to be, although I can put a bullet into a crown-piece as well as most to start. Notwithstanding the gamekeeper's enmen,) must, I should conceive, be rather a desidetreaties that I would tak it easy,' I was so eager ratum than otherwise. to get to work that I began the ascent at a rate ing, would have made the time of my arrival at which, to a person of any experience in hill climbthe top extremely doubtful; the consequence yards, I was seized with a stitch in the side, which was, that before I had proceeded above a hundred compelled me to lie down, and was a lesson to me to take advice in future. The morn, the eventful morn, at length rose, and with it rose I. Every thing which took place on that day is as fresh in my memory as if it had happened but yesterday. It was one of those grey, misty, uncertain-looking mornings which are so common in, Scotland, and which puzzle the predictions of the ablest weather-prophets. My uncle could, as he said, have confidently predicted a day of continued wet, had he been at sea, but did not pretend to be learned in inland weather-signs. The gamekeeper was in doubt, and I in despair. My uncle insisted on waiting till we should see how it would turn out, as it would, he said, (partly, I suspect, to provoke me,) be nothing short of madness to go, if it should set in for a day of rain. However, about six o'clock, the clouds having rather cleared off, I prevailed upon him to despatch his breakfast and start; and much was I rejoiced when we, i. e. my uncle, myself, the gamekeeper, and the two pointers, were once fairly embarked in a nondescript kind of vehicle he termed his dog-cart, and so secure from any change of plans. Our way lay, for a short distance, along the high road; after which, we diverged into a wild and romantic glen, surrounded with mountains, on whose summits the mist still continued to roll heavily. The road itself was such as would have appalled the stout heart of any southern Jehu,rough and stony, with deep ruts, and so narrow as to bring our vehicle frequently on the very verge of the precipitous descent into the stream below, varied occasionally by the deep-worn channels of the mountain-torrents which intersected it in several places, and which we crossed by bridges, narrow as that leading to the Mohammedan paradise, but differing therefrom, inasmuch as we experienced no accession of comforts on the other side, and built, like most Scotch bridges, at a sharp angle from the steep descent that leads to them. forlorn hope, Sir? Mr. Philosopher I.-Pooh! Mr. When we were about half way up, I was is too much startled (being still rather in advance of the on the extensive. What do you think, B—— ? a hundred yards before me, and immediately after-dustry, artificial advantages, in the shape of bounothers) by the rising of an old cock-grouse about Philosopher II-Decidedly. Demand will soon create supply. In all branches of operative inwards the hen, with a covey of six or eight nearly ties, are generally found injurious. Capital will full-grown poults, followed his example. Here naturally flow into those channels in which claimed the gamekeeper, wha ever saw the like was an encouraging prospect. 'Hech, Sirs,' exo' that? the wild de'ils! od, if they're a' like that, we shall gie' but a puir account of the muir-fowl the year. However, as no exclamation could avail us any thing, we continued our ascent of the hill Difficulty, and, after one or two rests, arrived at the top. us. Here a scene of extraordinary splendour awaited there throw many very useful talents out of cultivation. Philosopher I-Besides, facetiousness, if too geThere's, who wrote the papers on Special nerally and too suddenly introduced, will tend to Juries, is quite neglecting his law studies for Joe Miller.' In his new course he is not quite so I was obliged to ask him to explain, and read me happy. He made three puns the other day, which an epigram that seemed wonderfully inconclusive. DEAR Mr. Editor, ther wit nor consumers is tremendous. Perhaps, by a preventive check on the fecundity of intellect in the first instance, we might attain to some selves into, first, withholding of payment-means of counterbalancing the positive check in the other. Now, preventive checks resolve them [Printer's Devil enters with a MS., as if in haste.] Printer's Devil.-Sir! Here is Mr. of the Temple, has sent an article on Mr. Montgomery's Vision of Hell,' as a specimen of the Philosopher I-(takes and reads)-Phoo! Tis jokes sprinkled in between. The rascal has the his old article on prison discipline with a few demand instant payment. impudence to ask twenty guineas for it, and to We will offer him twenty shillings for the wit alone—eh? material and work it up at home. The strength While this continued, I was, I confess, in so unand entered into conversation on the common pleasant a state of mind, by reason of my latter topics which he supposed me to be interested in, end being brought so continually and so obtru- such as the approaching struggle for honours sively before my eyes, that I almost forgot for the moment the object of our journey; and it was here, the pantomimes, the French Theatre, and, only when, on turning into a less frequented but ported The Westminster Review' is about to unthough last not least, the change which it is re-light style. smoother track, that led up among the hills, we got rid of our rock-bound purgatory, that I became dergo, a change as great as that from a grub to suficiently at my ease to express my surprise at a butterfly. On my expressing great curiosity the utter recklessness with which my uncle conti- disposed for a walk, he would show me something about this, the little fellow said, that if I were nued his course, whatever difficulties were opposed worth seeing. I complied, and putting an old to us, and the perfect nonchalance with which he cap and gown on the demon, for fear of meeting and the gamekeeper, who were both sitting on the seat before me, continued their conversation about velled long before we found ourselves in a house the proctors, we sallied forth. We had not trathe probability of the weather holding up, then the vicinity of Queen's-square, Westminster, likelihood of a breeze, the strength of the scent, &c. &c., at times when I should have thought that in a room. Oh, Mr. Editor, how shall I describe occasional ejaculations from the 'Prayers to be used that room! It was nothing in the actual, scarce at Sea' would have been much more to the purlike any thing in the possible, world. It was like the pose. They were much amused at my fears, which secret apartment in Dionysius's ear at Girgenti, were, they said, wholly groundless. As for the central chamber of the Penitentiary at Milbank, as that might formerly have been; or like the road, it was capital, better, indeed, than they had known it for years;' and, as for the rate of travel, haps you can feel what sort of a room it was. as that ought to have been. It was obviously suited for every present and future purpose: perWell, Sir, and in this room were three persons: one a youth; another a pale, tall, melancholy-play-writers; he says absorbed in contemplation; another equally looking man, with a Scotch expression in his face, Scotch in his appearance, but rather more practical. I soon perceived that the first and third of my uncle would never be such a lubber as to take in canvas till he was sure of a squall coming.' As my remonstrances were of non-effect, I I speak Scottice: what they call 'mist,' we call rain; what they call fog, we call moss; and what they call moss, we call bog. theory of poetry will be laid down by us, preDisciple. It is expected, I hear, Sir, that some viously to our passing any censure or praise on living authors. Have you thought at all on the subject? Philosopher I-Thought? 'Gad, yes. I have been reading Horace's agree with him; expediency, the grand principle Art of Poetry; quite here as elsewhere. Mark you, he is speaking of that is, they either aim at increasing the sum of human happiness by the indirect method of su'Aut prodesse volunt, aut delectare poetæ'— perinducing habits of frugality, industry, and mo ral restraint, which, of course, are favourable to the accumulation of capital, and hence to human comfort; or, by the direct method of producing immediate pleasure-taking care, however, that the enjoyment of this pleasure shall not trench upon the enjoyments of others, so as to render person or property insecure.' Disciple. I was in the Editor of The Athenæum's' room the other morning, and while there, happened to cast my eye on a passage in a book that was lying open with a leaf turned down. As well as I can recollect, it ran thus :-" The highest moral purpose aimed at in the highest species of the drama, is the teaching the human heart, through its sympathies and antipathies, the knowledge of itself; in proportion to the possession of which knowledge, every human being is wise, just, sincere, tolerant, and kind." Philosopher I-Pooh! Jacob Behmenite! Philosopher II.-Platonic jargon! Disciple.-Ay, ay, mystical trash, I am quite aware! I only repeated it to manifest the infinite superiority of your definition. Philosopher I-What has been said of the Newtonian system may be said with equal justice of the theory of the Review. Its simplicity is an evidence of its truth. Disciple. So I told S, and he said, "Cutting a knot to pieces is the simplest way of untying it a complete evidence that it is the true method." Philosopher I.—A mere scoffer!-(Philosopher II. during this time is rummaging the bookshelves.)-I would undertake in half an hour to convince any man possessing an ounce of sense of the truth of the selfish system, and to give him through that a key to all human actions-all human thoughts. Disciple.-Oh, Sir, but the mystics themselves confess that there may exist poets lacking the accomplishment of verse.' review will Philosopher I-Egad, the demonstrably be a poetical work. Philosopher II.-Demonstrably! and the maxim which forms the foundation of our oesthetic criticism, seems admirably adapted for a motto: Aut prodesse volunt aut delectare Poetæ, Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit UTILE DULCI. Philosopher L.-Ay, ay; but we must translate; for, thank God, the readers of the Review do not generally waste themselves on the unproductive study of the dead languages. Try the mettle of your ancient Pegasus. Philosopher II-Behold! ; Or to instruct or please his kind, At this effusion, Mr. Editor, there was a sudden apparition of the ghost of Helvetius, much pleasure depicted in his countenance: the phantom, after about five minutes, exploded with a loud crack; and when I recovered from the surprise occasioned by such a phenomenon, I found myself on my own sopha, and just caught a glimpse of Le Diable retreating through the door. Farewell. I am your's (in hopes you will interpret this vision) A DREAMER OF DREAMS. A FIRE IN HOLBORN. THERE was a brightness along the whole line of the south-eastern horizon. It was not that steady blaze that glorifies the rising or the setting sun, or that sometimes is discerned by the traveller after dark, as the illumination sent up by a thousand lights of some great city before him. It was quivering, restless, and unlimited; it was the hell-flame of a hideous conflagration. Philosopher II-Reading to himself.)—Why look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of me. You would play upon me: you would seem to know my stops: you would pluck out I hurried from the room, whose windows comthe heart of my mystery: you would sound me manded a view of this fiery sign, and, following from my lowest note to the top of my compass: its direction, reached, at length, the scene of disand there is much music, excellent music, in this aster. In a nook of the street, half sheltered by a little organ; yet cannot you make it speak.projecting line of buildings in its front, a mass of S'blood, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me. Why, A—, what's this? The Book of Fallacies' used to stand here. I was getting it down to find an answer to Philosopher I.-The Book of Fallacies'? O yes! Why you know, as the character of the review is to be more literary, I thought I had better get a Shakspeare and some of the standards to stand on my shelf. But, B——, we want a motto for the new series: Have you got one? Disciple.-Oh, do you know, Sir, I think, from what you have just said, it necessarily follows that our new review will be a poem, and a first rate one. Philosopher I-A poem? 'Gad, I am glad to hear it. I did not think there was any thing very poetical about me, but I do sometimes feel a sort of a sort of a Philosopher II-Ay? well, I, twenty years ago, wrote an elegy on 'Rent and Wages,' which a young lady thought very funny, and preferred to the Paradise Lost.' Philosopher I.-How do you make the case out, child? Disciple.-Why, Sir, Horace, as you have just quoted him, says, that the aim of a poet is to instruct or please.' Now, the Review has been instructing mankind in the essence of all human knowledge since its first institution, (if they would but open their eyes to their own interest, which Mr. Mill says they always will; therefore I suppose they have;) and now, Sir, it is preparing to please them, which completes the idea of a poet. Philosopher II-Granted so far: but where is the metre? Where are the rhymes ? fire, now condensed, now broken into spires and curves of separate flame, was shooting towards the sky. The ground-floor seemed already overspread. Through its windows and openings, at every instant multiplied, the fire came forth, and blazed and triumphed. There were two figures standing but a little way above its present limits, supplicating aid, but hopelessly. They were saved,-not too soon, for, in another instant, the enemy had gained another bad eminence, lifting its proud head, and roaring with menaces to all above and around it. I saw a boy crawling like a cat upon the summit of the building that was in this jeopardy; he seemed likely to become another Enceladon; but he saved himself by a leap and a minute. There was nothing to check or divert the injury. The house was an old one, and full of combustible stores; and, before a single stream of water was brought to play upon it, down fell the roof between its now tottering walls, and buried for ever were the implements and gains of labour; the inanimate things that were dear to many, the objects whence arose a hundred hopes and pleasant thoughts to their ruined masters. How wonderful a revolution springs up from this falling of a spark! Set aside the whole structure of the whole mind of the immediate sufferers at once levelled and uprooted,-see the commotion of all others, however little involved! Here is a string of neighbours hurrying to and fro, and transporting the goods and moveables of some other tenement that may in time be reached; there are standing one or two of the owners of such goods, doubtful, and in terrible excitement; on the opposite pavement is heaped a wilderness of spectators, gazing, more or less intently, on the one spectacle Now you hear the rattle of iron wheels, and the shouts of bystanders announce a fresh fire-engine. Bravely, boys! No stint ! No fears! It must yield soon. At all those windows, however far removed from the site of the accident, not one,-is it an illiberal presumption?-then, scarcely one human creature is looking out but with personal calculations of the hazard that may yet fall on him. Below, whatever tribes and varieties are there clustered together, you will hear little of true sympathy for the injured; much of self-congratulation and egotistical wisdom. A poor woman stood, in tears, on some house-steps not far off; a man, her husband, was trying to console her. They had been lodgers in the building that was now in ashes, and their all was buried under them. One, more benevolent than the rest, was addressing her from other motives than those of curiosity. She told the circumstances of her escape, as far as she could collect them from the chaos of her recollections, but the narration was broken by tears, and she seemed almost unconscious of the reality. They had been startled in bed by the watchman, but not supposing the danger to be at their door, had delayed to take warning till the flames themselves assured them of their peril. Neither could exactly recount the entire mode of escape. But her thoughts were all bewildered by the severity of their loss. Let us go,' he said to her, let us go to your sister's. We can do no good here.' 'It's all the same,' she answered, sobbing loudly; 'we've no home now!' The words were followed by a movement in the thickly-hedged mass of people, occasioned by the forcible advance of a pie-vender, who bustled through them, right merrily, at the fine opportunity for his speculations. Beef-steak pie, veal-pie, kidneys! All hot! all hot! He jostled against the houseless woman: it was a jubilee to him! The more serious remarks, if any such fell from the spectators, were not more consolatory. One would exclaim against negligent servants; a second against old houses; a third against combustible property, and so on; all very sagacious, but rather too late to afford remedy. 'Will it reach the broker's house, I wonder?' asked a pert voice, with a mongrel feeling, in which was comprised much fear least the exhibition should be soon terminated. Ah! there goes the poor old shop! I'm sorry for it; 'twas a good shop, and kept good liquors; but nothing's sure. I could always almost get a drop there for nothing, and I don't know who'll give me a thimble of gin, now Mr. Smith's had this misfortune.' It was a wretched giggling creature, in dirty rags, whose consciousness of her own loss was scarcely vivid enough to eclipse her enjoyment of the fun and bustle and noise thus created: "The tender for another's woes, Th' unfeeling for his own.' It is not here that disinterested pity can be expected. Then, where else? In those trolloping miserable women, scarce conscious of the blessings of a home, or the curse of its destruction, whose assembling here is a pleasant variation from their long and lonely wanderings in the darkness of night, to whom a crowd must always mean a holiday, and excitement indicate gain? Or in the drunken devil reeling up and down amongst them, and muttering vile jokes upon the terror and misery he contemplates? Or in the rival of him whose cellars and roofs are now commingled,―the publican who sees alone in the disaster an occasion for much immediate gain and future aggrandisement? Or in those lady-bystanders who are angry with the firemen for making the streets so wet? Or in the complement of the crowd, who stare unfeelingly, or with entertainment, or even listen to the brutes about them as they bandy here and there a set of wicked witticisms upon the heat of the tenants and their own cold; and how well the Miss Powells, of the neighbouring straw-bonnet shop, look in their night-caps; and that the burning spirit will soon move the Methodist Chapel in the back ground;' and that Little Turnstile will be the greater of the two before day-break,' &c.? Reader, wander with me through such a crowd, all wondering at the chasm so soon, so terribly made by the hand of the destroyer, and judge by what thou seest if misery have a helpmate. FOREIGN NOTICES. weak wine, or even brandy, into a tea-cup, bring the chamberlains, six grooms of the chamber, five pages, six body physicians and surgeons, and five court-apothecaries! The University of Jena averages about 650 students per annum, and possesses a library of more than 100,000 volumes. RUSSIA.-Mines of the Ural Mountains.—From the report made by M. D'Engelhardt, Professor of Mineralogy at the University of Dorpat, who has very recently returned from a long exploratory journey in these districts, it appears that the Ural mines have yielded the following produce during the year 1827: ...... Pds. lbs. sol. To the Crown,..... . . . . . 89 29 53 45-96 To individuals, 192 10 49 282 0 6 45-96 In all, of pure gold, or 148,375 oz. English; value 579,000%. To the Crown,. . . . 2 7 25 23 23 404 25 30 654 The medical correspondent who supplies the foregoing extract, endeavours to explain the rationale' of the discovery in these terms: The canine venom is an animal poison, and capable of AUSTRIAN NAVAL AND MILITARY FORCES.-being transferred, by inoculation, from one animal substance to another; but it will always conjoin We observe, from the official returns of this itself most readily with that substance with which branch, that the infantry of the Austrian army it stands in closest consanguinity or relation. The consists of twenty battalions of grenadiers, fiftyeight regiments of the line (each of three batta- Poison of the rabies canina has, therefore, a greater lions), seventeen regiments of frontier troops of predisposition to unite with the blood of a dog, or other animal, than with human blood, because it two battalions each, one rifle regiment of three battalions, and twelve battalions of independent Jästands in closer affinity to the bloods of animals gers, and five garrison battalions. Its cavalry the similis simili gaudet. In conformity with this than men. This is but another exemplification of comprises eight regiments of cuirassiers of six squadrons each, six regiments of dragoons of theory, the animal poison flies from human matter so soon as it is offered the more attractive similar strength, seven regiments of light-horse of eight squadrons each, and twelve regiments of it have not had time to inoculate the human submeans of conjunction with animal blood; and, if hussars, and four regiments of Uhlans, of the stance too deeply, it will at once transfer itself to same strength. The artillery, independently of a that with which it possesses a greater degree of afnumerous corps for garrison service, comprehends five regiments of field-artillery, one corps of hom-finity: Our correspondent professes his entire faith in this valuable discovery, if adopted in the bardiers, and one corps of artificers; which last includes a rocket establishment, brought for the incipient state of the disease, and adds his deterfirst time into useful action in the campaign mination to apply it in the first case of hydropho- equivalent to three silver roubles, or about nine against Naples. The corps of engineers is abund-bia which comes under his notice. antly supplied with officers, and composed, of one battalion each, of pioneers, miners, sappers, and pontooneers. Under this head may be placed the battalion of Czaikists. To the preceding catalogue must be added the corps of police, including the regiment of Gens d'Armes in Lombardy, the frontier cordons of Bohemia, Austria, Styria, Moravia, Silesia, and Galicia, and the policecorps of Vienna. All the regiments of the line, with the exception of those of Hungary and Italy, possess two landwehr (militia) battalions, in addition to their regular strength. The naval department, the head quarters of which is placed at Venice, contains, independently of inferior officers, four captains of frigates, and four captains of sloops; and comprises a battalion of marines, a corps of marine artillery, and engineers and sailors. The land forces are commanded by ten fieldmarshals; eighteen attached, and nine unattached, generals of cavalry; sixty-seven attached, and thirty unattached, lieutenant-generals; and one hundred and eighteen attached, and ninety-two unattached, major-generals. CURE OF HYDROPHOBIA.-We consider the following extract from the 3d vol. of The Transactions of the Moscow Physico-Medical Society,' as worthy of the attention and inquiries of our medical friends. After observing that the boils which arise beneath the tongue of a patient stricken with hydrophobia, are not symptoms of so important a character as many practitioners assign to them, Mr. Rittmeister, of Paulofsk, thus proceeds: "Having once ascertained the extraordinary effects of warm blood as a preservative against the usual loathing for water, I have applied these means in thirty different instances, and have not failed in a single one of them. A boy, severely lacerated by the attack of a mad dog, was brought to me, amongst others; for three successive days I administered to him the warm blood of a fowl, diluted with a small quantity of warm wine, and repeated the dose once in each of the three succeeding weeks. When this species of treatment is pursued, the wounds themselves do not stand in need of any particular attention, though, in this case of the boy, 1 kept them open, by means of the powder of cantharides, for the space of four weeks. The boy's health continued, throughout, perfect and unimpaired. It may be necessary to observe, that the blood coagulates when left in a cold vessel. I find it advisable, therefore, to pour a table-spoonful of any NETHERLANDS UNIVERSITIES.-The United Kingdom of the Netherlands contains six of these institutions, the most ancient of which is that of Louvain; and the following is a list of the sums appropriated to their maintenance for the year 1828-1829, by the national exchequer, viz.: Louvain Leyden Fl. 120,000 or £10,000 To each University are attached a library, a bo- The other universities have experienced an increase by no means inferior to that of Louvain, which, as well as the other northern schools, has no faculty for theology. The Collegium Philosophicum,' established in 1825, is, in some respects, a substitute, its object being to prepare young men, destined for the Roman Catholic Church, for admission into the Episcopal seminaries. Though violently opposed by the Pope and Catholic hierarchy, its progress has been extremely gratifying. SAXE-WEIMAR.-This grand-duchy possesses a population of 226,000 souls; of which the town of Eisenach contains 8,200; Ilmenau, 2,400; Jena, 5,200; and Weimar, 9,800. The Protestant clergy are 335 in number, and officiate in 519 churches; and the Catholic in 10 parish-churches, 7 churches of ease, and 6 chapels. The government of this little state is administered by the Grand Duke, with the assistance of three privy councillors; and it will scarcely be credited, that its Court establishment comprises a grand master of the ceremonies, a lord chamberlain, a master of the horse, a grand marshal, forty In all, of platina, or 13,557 oz. English; value 5,700%. Platina Currency.-The great quantity of platina raised from these mines, has induced the Emperor Nicholas to employ it in coining a cur rency, which his subjects are at full liberty to circulate or refuse, as they think proper. The coin issued under these circumstances is to be than the French one-franc_piece, and approxishillings and sixpence, and will be a little larger mating to the size of an English shilling. As this is but an experiment, the first issue will be but trifling in extent. Individual proprietors of mines are allowed to send their platina to be coined at the government mint, and will, consequently, assist in forwarding an experiment, which, if it should succeed, may hereafter form an important branch of Russian revenue. There are six royal copper mines in the same district, and one in the Altai mountains, which together produce about 840 tons of copper annually. The produce of the private mines varies from 1850 to 2560 tons a-year for the whole empire. The royalty on this produce is thirteen per Diamond produced from Carbon.-In the sitting of the Parisian Academy of Sciences, of the 10th of November last, M. Arago submitted a communication from M. Cagnart-Latour, a chemist, in which he affirms that he succeeded in crystallizing portions of carbon, so as to obtain the substance called diamonds;' that his process differs from that pursued by M. Gannal; and that a sealed packet, which was deposited with the secretary in 1824, contains the details of his first operations. M. Arago added, that he knew another party who had obtained similar results; and M. Gay-Lussac asserted that M. Gannal had conversed with hin on the subject of his essays, at various times, for more than eight years past. MR. BUCKINGHAM. MR. BUCKINGHAM is now delivering a course of lectures at Liverpool, which, we observe, from the newspapers published in that town, have attracted, and contiuue to attract, great attention. With the main object of his visit, which is to excite a feeling in the great commercial towns against the continuance of the East India Company's charter, we have no concern-for Indian and English politics lie equally out of our province. We, therefore, shall merely extract a passage from the Liverpool Times,' which gives an account of his lectures upon the literature and manners of the oriental nations. Mr. Buckingham's first Lecture on the Countries of the East.-Mr. Buckingham delivered his first lecture on the Countries of the East, at the Music-Hall, last evening, to an audience of great number, and of the highest respectability. The range of subjects was so extensive that it is impossible for us to comprise, within any moderate compass, more than a mere enumeration of the heads of the discourse. After an introduction, in which Mr. Buckingham stated the motives which led him to this undertaking, and the object he had to accomplish thereby, in awakening the people of England to a sense of the importance of a free intercourse with India and China, he proceeded to describe the geography of Egypt; its extraordinary position, as consisting merely of one long continued valley, whose fertility depended entirely on its being the alluvial deposit of the Nile; its remarkable antiquities, especially at Alexandria, Memphis, Tentyra, and Thebes, with a description of the Pyramids, the great Sphynx, and the colossal statue of Memnon, still erect in the plain of Thebes; the peculiarities of its climate, in its being exempt from rain in the upper provinces of the country, the Etesian winds, the Simoom of the desert, &c. Mr. Buckingham then gave a detailed account of the animal, vegetable, and mineral productions of Egypt; numbering among the first, the camel, the buffalo, the crocodile, and the hippopotamus; among the second, the date, the pomegranate, rice, sugar, cotton, flax, and indigo; and among the third, the emerald and the porphyry of the ancients. The population of Egypt he described as consisting of Arabs, Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Copts, and Jews; of each of which he gave the leading characteristics; and of their religion, government, and commerce, he also gave the outline-features. The most interesting part of the Lecture, in a general point of view, was, however, the detail of the singular manners and customs of the Egyptians, their betrothings, marriages, polygamy, funerals, feasts, pleasures, music, poetry, language, &c., the contrast of which with our own habits and feelings, added much to the impression it was calculated to make. From Egypt Mr. Buckingham passed on to Arabia, following nearly the same course in the division of his subjects, and including in it descriptions of the his limb all but destroyed by the American surgeons; This case we have selected as a preface to our review, The following case is no less striking. A man, aged 27, had his right arm broken across the middle, and was unsuccessfully treated hy Sir Astley Cooper, in Guy's Hospital, for ten months. He still felt the yielding and motion in the fracture, which were evident when the limb was examined. I was now (May 11th, 1822) present when Sir Astley Cooper examined the fracture, and told the man that the only chance left, was for him to submit to an operation. I requested Sir Astley to allow me to try the effect of the apparatus, which I have described, for fractures of the humerus, before he proceeded to operate, to which he politely consented. The apparatus was applied, and the man broken ends of the bone were pressed strongly together was directed to carry the arm in a short sling. The for six weeks; and, at the expiration of this time, the apparatus was taken off, and the bone was found firmly united, and as straight as the other.'-P. 242. Without figures we could not hope to render any description of Mr. Amesbury's apparatus intelligible; but those who are interested in the subject will find ample satisfaction in the author's volume. One of the most remarkable things in the book, is the professional bienscance or rather bienveillance, exhibited towards the Mr. Green, &c., who all recommend Mr. Amesbury, author by Sir Astley Cooper, Mr. Travers, Mr. Brodie, and put unmanageable cases under his care, although his great aim, in the work before us, as well as in the magazines, papers, &c., which he has formerly published, is to demonstrate the inadequacy of their methods of treatment, and the advantage of his own. With this fact before us, independent altogether of the unquestionable success of his apparatus, we must say that Mr. Amesbury appears to be a man of no ordinary talent and address. Red Sea, of Suez, Jedda, Mocha, Mecca, and Medina, FRACTURES CURED WITHOUT LAMENESS. SOME of our readers may recollect, that a few years ago, Mr. Wallack, of Drury Lane Theatre, had his leg severely fractured, in consequence of the upsetting of a coach, between New York and Philadelphia; that he came over to Britain, seven months afterwards, with hardiest plant refuses to grow; if even, as in some extraordinary instances, it should recede after its progress has once commenced. The glaciers perpetually move onward, at the rate of a foot each day, with a motion that commences at the spot where, on the boundaries of perpetual congellation, they are produced by the freezing of the waters which arise from the partial melting of the eternal snows. They drag with theth, from the regions whence they derive their origin, all the ruins of the mountain, enormous rocks, and immense accumulations of sand and stones. These are driven onwards by the irrisistible stream of solid ice; and when they arrive at a declivity of the mountain sufficiently rapid, roll down, scattering ruin. I saw one of these rocks, which had descended in the spring, (winter here is the season of silence and safety,) which measured forty feet in every direction. The verge of a glacier, like that of Boisson, presents the most vivid image of desolation which it is possible English at Florence.-The number of English at Florence is greater this year than usual; but there is little or no union in the society, which is divided into small sets. There are two rival theatres: that of Lord Normauby, which still goes on; and that of Lord Burghersh, got up originally and ostensibly for the purpose of exhibiting an opera of the composition of his Lordship, which has succeeded very well. It is not confined, however, to musical representations, as Lady up The School for Scandal,' in which she herself perBurghersh has availed herself of the opportunity to get forms, with Lord Douro and Mr. Cornwall; this it is expected, is only the commencement of a series of plays, and it is supposed her Ladyship will not be disposed to abandon the amusement after the first experiment. LIST OF BOOKS PUBLISHED DURING THE WEEK. Sailors and Saints, by the author of "The Naval Sketch Book', 3 vols., post 8vo., 16. 118. 6d. The Ellis Correspondence, edited by the Honourable George Agar Ellis, 2 vols., 8vo., 17. 8s. Memoirs of the Empress Josephine, &c., translated from the French, vol. 2, post 8vo., 10s. 6d. Sabbath Meditations for 1829, by the Rev. John East, A. M. 3s. 6d. Christian Souvenir, 32mo., 3s. 6d. Essays on Universal Analogy, 8vo., Essay 1, Section 2, 85, |