along with several heavy articles of luggage, were all projected several yards off into the morass. As the place was rather soft, nobody was much hurt; but, after every thing had again been put to rights, the tall man put some two thirds of himself through the coach window, in his usual manner, and asked the guard if he was sure his trunk was safe in the boot. "Oh, sir!' cried the guard, as if a desperate idea had at that moment rushed into his mind, the trunk was on the top. Has nobody seen it lying about any where?" "If it be a trunk ye're looking after,' cried a rustic, very coolly, 'I saw it sink into that well-ee* of a quarter of an hour syne.' "Faith!" returned Mr. Buckram, "that must be a superb well." At another time, he was walking Broadway, one of those four-footed gentry who enjoy "the freedom of the city" without a gold box, came running furiously down the sidewalk, and taking Mr. Buckram between the legs, bore him off through several squares, until suddenly turning a corner, he landed him plump in the gutter. The merchant got up, stared about most indignantly, wiped the mud from his unmentionables, and exclaimed to the bystanders, "Superb! superb!" Dining one day at a public house, he told the waiter to fetch him a piece of roast beef. "How will you have it? said the waiter. “Oh, superb,” said the merchant. " Superb!" exclaimed the waiter, scratching his head in a quandary. "Oh! exclaimed the distracted owner,'my trunk is gone for ever. Oh my poor dear trunk! -where is the place, show me where it disap-"but fetch me the beef steak, superb." peared.' "Don't stand here scratching." said the merchant, "The place being pointed out, he rushed madly up to it, and seemed as if he would have plunged into the watery profound to search for his fost property, or die in the attempt. Being informed that the bogs in this part of the country were perfectly bottomless, he soon saw how vain every endeavour of that kind would be; and so he was with difficulty induced to resume his place in the coach, loudly threatening, however, to make the proprietors of the vehicle pay sweetly for his loss. "What was in the trunk, I have not been able to learn. Perhaps the title-deeds of an estate were among the contents: perhaps it was only filled with bricks and rags, in order to impose upon the inkeepers. In all likelihood, the mysterious object is still descending and descending, like the angel's hatchet in Rabbinical story, down the groundless abyss; in which case its contents will not probably be revealed till a great many things of more importance and equal mystery are made plain.' THE MAN WITH ONE EPITHET. Benjamin Buckram is a dashing merchant in this city. He deals largely in dry goods, both wholesale and retail, and is thought by many to be growing rich. Like many of his brethren, he does not want for fluency of speech; though he has not, like some others, a very great command of choice epithets for setting off his goods. In fact he has but a single one; and that he applies in all cases: every thing with him is SUPERB. His goods are superb; the materials out of which they are made are superb; the fabric is superb; the colors are superb; the gloss and finish are superb; and finally they will wear superb. But it is not Mr. Buckram's merchandise only that is superb. His house, his carriage, his horses, his wife, his daughters-all are superb. Nor is he so selfish as to confine this epithet to his own property only. Walking along the street with him the other day, he pointed to the entrance of a cellar where certain testaceous dainties were kept to tickle the palate withal, and assured me it was the most superb oystercellar in the city of New York. Proceeding on, we came to where Disbrow was boring for water. "What depth have you got?" asked the merchant. "Five hundred feet," replied the workman. *The orifice of a deep pool in a morass is so called in Scotland. "We havn't any sich, if you please," returned the waiter. "Havn't any sich;" exclaimed the merchant impatiently-" then you must be a most superb set of wretches, indeed." And so taking his hat, he left the house. When the cholera began to prevail here last summer, Mr. Buckram, taking counsel of his fears, like many another of his fellow citizens, cleared out, and never stopped to breathe until he had reached friend's house, forty miles in the country. When still looking blue with sheer affright, he declared that the cholera was "killing people in most superb style." In short, such is Mr. Buckram's fondness for this word, so constantly does he apply it on all occasions, and to the exclusion of all other qualifying terms, whether good, bad, or indifferent, that he may very properly be called THE MAN WITH ONE EPITHET. PROVERBS. A bitter jest is the poison of friendship. ATTACHMENT OF ANIMALS.-There were two Hanoverian horses, which assisted in drawing the same gun during the whole Peninsular war, in the German Brigade of artillery. One of them met his death in an engagement; after which the survivor was picque:ed as usual, and his food was brought to him. He refused to eat and kept constantly turning his head round to look for his companion, and sometimes calling him by a neigh. Every care was taken, and all means that could be thought of were adopted, to make him eat, but without effect. Other horses surrounded him on all sides, but he paid no attention to them; his whole demeanor indicated the deepest sorrow, and he died from hunger, not having tasted a bit from the time his companion fell. A DIALOGUE-A BOASTER. GEORGIA us. DOWN EAST. [Bar room of a tavern.j Nutmeg. (Addressing Cracker, a Georgian.) I say, Mister, you haint seed nothing of no umbrella, no wheres about here, haint you? Cracker. Now, I tell you what, stranger, if you'll just untwist that and say it over agin, I'll gin you an answer. Nut. Now-do tell; I guess you are about as snappish as Deacon Holme's new invented sheep shears; they not only took the wool clean of, but shaved the ears and tail with it! Crack. You're a screamer! Come, figure in with me in a mint julep, if you know what's what. Mint's all the go South-and if you want to git the first chop, go to the grave of any southern nullifier, who mought have recently died, and there you'll find the mint as they say, shooting up spontaneously., 521 "Now cover that," said the owner of the mule, laying down a hundred dollars. The boaster began to be frightened at this. He thought there must be something more about the mule than he was aware of, otherwise his owner wouldn't plank a hundred dollars, to run him against a horse. He began to hitch about uneasily. He put his hand into his pocket; he pulled it out again; and at last said: "I don't know, I swow, about that tarnal mule; he may be the devil and all to run, for what I know." "Do you back out, then?" mule." Nut. No? you don't say so? Well now that's a good one. Howsomdever, mister, I guess you never drinked no black-strap, did vou? Spose you hav'nt. Yes, I back out and treat." So saying, he called Why bless your 'tarnal soul, it's the sweetest drink in the liquor; but declared that his horse could beat that ever streak'd it down a common sized gullet.-any thing which went upon four legs, except the 'Lasses and rum, with a lettle aash o' water-why, do you know when Deacon Snooks died he was buried in farmer Greg's old lot, just behind Major Stakes' grocery and liquor store; you know where it is? Well, ever since he was laid there, which may be, I guess, about twelve years ago, there's been a spring of blackstrap running. Crack. Well, stranger, you can take the rag off the bush about a leetle the cleanest I ever heard tell. I reckon you'll beat our old nigger Coot, who once run again a lawyer, and has never been able to tell the truth since. You can come huckleberry over my priscimmon to-day. Nut. Well, I guess I am not quite as slow as a punkin vine, or as dull as a rainy day. But you appear to be a green one in these parts-how do you like the middings of Maryland? Crack. Why 1 can't zactly say,-I reckon your niggers are about a notch too independish-why, it's a fact, the vile catamounts are so plaguy slow on their trotters when a feller speaks to 'em, that they might run a race with a goard and be distanced arter all. I reckon you had ought to see our Georgy niggersthey're a leetle wurse than the sharp end of nothing whittled down, if they can't dodge a panther at three months old. I sced a nigger strick it on the Savannah river again stream and wind, middle deep in the water, at the rate of ten miles an hour; if I didn't may I be screwed down to a hoe cake in a cider press. Nut. Well now-do tell; you must have a rail handsome climate in Georgia. Crack. I tell you what, stanger, our climate's got no nature at all. In the uplands it mought be the same as this 'ere one day, and another jist hot enough to roast a common sized salamander. Some folks there can't count their children, and don't die until they're so particularly old that they can't step into their coffin. But I reckon you've never bern in the low countries? The fog there is so thick that you have to cut your way through it with a pick axe. A steamboat was once smashed to pieces by running agin a Georgia fog. Nut. I swow! mister, I should like to know what school you got your children in? May be you were brought up in the lying-in-hospital-and fed on razors. I guess if you were put into a cider mill you'd come out a regular built Cholera morbus. Crack. Right, stranger-and yu'd have to pass through all the cotton gins in Georgy afore you'd come out an honest man. Howsomever, you're a screamer, so gin us a shake o' your corn-stealer-and let's paddle canoes together. "Why," said the other, "I've got a jackass that will beat him." "I'll bet a hundred dollars of that," said the boaster. "Done!" said the other. And "done!" said the boaster. "Cover that," said the man, again putting down the hundred dollars. "Cover that!" exclaimed the boaster, "so I will plaguy quick," taking out his pocket-book. "Well, cover it, if you dare-and I'll put another hundred atop of it. Why do you hesitate ? "Down with your dust, I say." "I don't know, faith, I never saw that jackass of yours run," said the boaster, beginning to hesitate, "he may be the devil and all upon a race, for what I know." I think so, faith." Why, if you're not quite certain, I'll bet you something that I've got a nigger that will outrun him.” "A nigger!" Yes, my nigger Tom will beat him." "I'll bet a hundred dollars of that-there aint no nigger that ever breathed, that can beat my horse." "Very well-cover that." As he said this, the man once more put down the hundred dollars. "Bu," said he, "if you back out this time, you shall forfeit ten dollars; and if I back out, I'll do the same." Agreed," said the boaster, "I'm sure my horse can beat a nigger, if he can't a mule or jackass." Well, plank the money, if you please." Plank it! so I will-don't you fear that." Saying this, he once more took out his pocket-book and began to fumble for the money. "Come, man, down with your dust," said the other, taking out more money, "for I'm ready to back my bet with another hundred dollars-or two hundred if you like. Come, why do you hesitate? Here's three hundred dollars I'm ready to stake." "Three hundred dollars!" exclaimed the boaster, staring like a stuck pig-" three hundred dollars upon a nigger! I don't know, I swan.' "What, man! you're not a going to get frightened again?" "Frightened! Oh, no-oh, no; it's no easy matter to frighten me-but really-" "You mean to back out." "I declare, neighbour, I don't know what to think this purpose, in a facetious mood, arising from the sudabout it. It's a kind o' risky business." "You forfeit the ten dollars, then?" 66 "Why, yes, I 'spose I must," said the boaster, handing over the money, with an air of great mortification-"better lose this than more-for there's no knowing how fast these blamed niggers will run. But any thing else you can bring, except the mule, the jackass, and the nigger, I'm ready to run against."N. Y. Constellation. THE SNUFF CALLED "IRISH BLACKGUARD." Lundy Foot, the celebrated snuff manufacturer, some six-and-twenty years ago, had his premises at Essexbridge, in Dublin, where he made the common scented snuffs then in vogue. In preparing the snuffs, it was usual to dry them by a kiln at night, which kiln was always left in strict charge of a man appointed to regulate the heat, and see that the snuffs were not spoiled. The man usually employed in this business, Larey by name, a tight boy of Cork, chanced to get drunk over the "cratur," (i. e. a little whiskey,) that he had gotten to comfort him, and, quite regardless of his watch, fell fast asleep, leaving the snuff drying away. Going his usual round in the morning, Lundy Foot found the kiln still burning, and its guardian lying snoring with the fatal bottle, now empty, in his right hand. Imagining the snuff quite spoiled, and giving way to his rage, he instantly began belabouring the shoulders of the sleeper with the stick he carried. "Och, be quiet wid ye, what the divil's the matter, master, that ye be playing that game?" shouted the astounded Larey, as he sprung up, and capered about under the influence of the other's walking-cane. "You infernal scoundrel, I'll teach you to get drunk, fall asleep, and suffer my property to get spoiled," uttered the enraged manufacturer, as each word was accompanied by a blow across the dancing Mr. La. rey's shoulders. "Stop! stop! wid ye now! sure you wouldn't be afther spaking to ye'r ould sarvant that way-the snuff's only a leetle drier, or so, may be," exclaimed "the boy," trying to soften matters. "You big blackguard, you; didn't you get drunk and fall asleep?" interrogated his master, as he suspended his arm for a moment. "Och, by all the saints, that's a good'un nowwhere can be the harum of slaaping wid a drop or so? besides but hould that shilelah-hear a man spake raison." Just as Lundy Foot's wrath had in some degree subsided in this serio-comic scene, and he had given the negligent watcher his nominal discharge, who should come in but a couple of merchants. They instantly give him a large order for the snuffs they were usually in the habit of purchasing, and requested him to have it ready for shipping by the next day. Not having near so large a quantity at the time by him, in consequence of what had happened, he related the occurrence to them, at the same time, by way of illustration, pointing out the trembling Larey, occupied in rubbing his arms and back, and making all kinds of contortions. Actuated by curiosity, the visitors requested to look at the snuff, although Lundy Foot told them, from the time it had been drying, it must be burnt to a chip.Having taken out the tins, they were observed to emit a burnt flavour any thing but disagreeable, and on one of the gentlemen taking a pinch up and putting it to his nose, he pronounced it the best snuff he had ever tasted. Upon this, the others made a similar trial, and all agreed that chance had brought it to a degree of perfection before unknown. Reserving about a third, Lundy Foot sold the rest to his visitors. The only thing that remained now was to give it a name; for den turn affairs had taken, the master called his man to him who was lingering near, "Come here, you Irish blackguard, and tell these gentlemen what you call this snuff of your own making." Larey, who did not want acuteness, and perceived the aspect of things, affected no trifling degree of sulky indignation, as he replied-"And is it a name ye're in want of, sir? fait I should have thought it was the last thing you couldn't give; without, indeed, you've given all your stock to me already. You may even call it 'Irish Blackguard,' stid of one Michael Larey.” Upon this hint he spake, and as many a true word is spoken in jest, so it was christened on the spot.The snuff was sent to England immediately, and to different places abroad, where it soon became a favorite to so great a degree, that the proprietor took out a patent, and rapidly accumulated a handsome fortune. Such are the particulars connected with the discovery of the far-famed Lundy Foot, or Irish blackguardfor which we are indebted to a member of the Irish bar, who was a resident in Dublin at the time.-Miller's Nicotiana. TOM CRINGLE. AN UNWELCOME VISITOR.-I had rigged my hammock between the foremost and aftermost hoops of the toldo, and as I was fatigued and sleepy, and as it was now getting late, I desired to betake myself to rest; so I was just flirting with a piece of ham, prepa ratory to the cold grog, when I again felt a silent thump and rattle against the side of the canoe. There was a small aperture in the palm thatch, right opposite to where I was sitting, on the outside of which I now heard a rustling noise, and presently a long snout was thrust through, and into the canoe, which kept opening and shutting with a sharp rattling noise. It was more like two splinters of mud covered and half decayed timber, than any thing I can compare it to; but as the lower jaw was opened, like a pair of Brob dignag scissors, a formidable row of teeth was unmasked, the snout from the tip to the eyes being nearly three feet long. The scene of this moment was exceedingly good, as seen by the light of a small, bright silver lamp, fed with spirits of wine, that I always tra. velled with, which hung from one of the hoops of the toldo. First, there was our friend, Peter Mongrove, cowering in a corner under the after part of the awn ing, covered up with a blanket, and shaking as if with an ague fit, with the patron peeping over his shoulder no less alarmed. Sneezer, the dog, was sitting on end, with his black nose resting on the table, waiting pa tiently for his crumbs; and the black boatmen were forward in the bow of the canoe, jabbering and laugh. ing, and munching, as they clustered round a spark. ling fire. When I first saw the apparition of the dia. bolical looking snout, I was in a manner fascinated, and could neither speak not move. Mangrove and the patron were also paralysed with fear, and the others did not see it, so Sneezer was the only creature amongst us aware of the danger, who seemed to have his wits about him; for the instant he noticed it, he calmly lifted his nose off the table, and gave a short startling bark, and then crouched, and drew himself back as if in the act to spring, glancing his eyes from the monstrous jaws to my face, and nuzzling and whining with a laughing expression, and giving a small yelp now and then, and again rivetting his eyes with mtense earnestness on the alligator, telling me as plainly as if he had spoken it-"If you choose it, master, I will attack it, as in duty bound, but really such a customer is not at all in my way;" and not only did he say this, but he showed his intellect was clear, and no way warped through fear, for he now stood on his hind legs, and holding on the hammock with his fore paws, he thrust his snout below the pillow, and pulled DOMINIE SAMPSON-LARGE TREE-LA BELLE STUART-ALROY. out one of my pistols, which always garnished the head of my bed, on such expeditions as the present. My presence of mind returned on witnessing the courage and sagacity of my noble dog. I seized the loaded pistol, and as by this time the eyes of the alligator were inside of the toldo, I clapped the muzzle to the larboard one and fired. The creature jerked back so suddenly and convulsively, that part of the toldo was torn away, and as the dead monster fell off, the canoe rolled as if in a seaway, My crew shouted, "Que es esto?" Peter Mangrove cheered Sneezer barked and yelled at a glorious rate, and could scarcely be held in the canoe and looking overboard, we saw the monster, twelve feet long at least, upturn his white belly to the rising moon, struggle for a moment with his short paws, and after a solitary heavy lash of his scaly tail, he floated away astern of us, dead and still. DOMINIE SAMPSON.-The original of this singular character, as it appears from the Waverley Anecdotes, was Mr. James Sanson, son of a miller in Berwickshire, England. He was partially educated at a country school, and afterwards studied at Edinburgh and Glasgow colleges, where he made great proficiency in the ancient languages and the abstruse sciences. When he became a tutor in a private family, all his leisure was passed in study. He was seldom seen walking without a book in his hand, and was generally so intent upon it as not to notice the appearance or address of another person. He was a preacher after this, and then he took it into his head to travel on foot over England. He also went to the Low Countries, and passed over a large part of Germany, at an expense of less than a third of the £25 which he had carefully amassed to start with. After his return in 1784, he became tutor in the family of Thomas Scott, uncle of the novelist; and at this period, as he occasionally officiated in the parish church, he is supposed to have first received the title of Dominie Sampson. Subsequently he acted as chaplain among the tenants of the earl of Hopetown. Here his labors were required chiefly in the damp and noxious atmosphere of the lead mines, and he conscientiously persisted in them to such an extent that he soon lost his teeth-then his eye-sight-then his life. He died a martyr to the impulses of his own generous heart. The foundation of this worthy man's poetic immortality is based largely upon his personal eccentricities. He was very large and tall, his person coarse, his limbs stout, and his manners exceedingly awkward. In private life he was much beloved, and his discourses from the pulpit are said to have been written with great taste, and much admired by all classes of hearers. Such was Dantinie Sampson. Little did the poor man dream of his posthumus fortune. THE LARGEST TREE IN THE WORLD.-The boabab or monkey-bred (Adansonia digitata) is the most gigantic tree hitherto discovered. The trunk, though frequently eighty feet in circumference, rarely exceeds twelve or fifteen feet in height; but on the summit of this huge pillar is placed a majestic head of innumerable branches fifty or sixty feet long, each resembling an enormous tree, densely clothed with beautiful green leaves. While the central branches are erect the lower series extend in a horizontal direction, often touching the ground at there extremity so that the whole forms a splendid arch of foliage, more like the fragment of a forest than a single tree. The grateful shade of this superb canopy is a favorite retreat for birds and monkeys; the natives resort to it for repose, and the weary traveller in a burning climate gladly flies to it for shelter. The leaves are quinate, smooth, resembling in general form those of the horse chesnut. The flowers are white and very beautiful, eighteen 523 inches in circumference. The fruit, which hangs in a pendant manner, is a woody ground like capsule with a downey surface, about nine inches in length and four in thickness, containing numerous cells, in which brown kidney-shaped seeds are embeded in a pulpy acid substance. The timber is soft and spongy, and we are not aware that it is used for an economical purpose. It is easily perforated, so that, according to Bruce, the bees in Abyssinia construct their nests within it and the honey thus obtained, being supposed to have acquired a superior flavor, is esteemed in preference to any other. A more remarkable excavation is however made by the natives; diseased portions of the trunk are hollowed out and converted into tombs for the reception of the bodies of such individuals as, by the laws or customs of the country, are denied the usual rites of interment. The bodies thus suspended within the cavity, and without any preparation or embalmment, dry into well preserved mummies. The juicy acid pulp is eaten by the natives and is considered beneficial in fevers and other diseases on account of its cooling properties. The duration of the boabab is not the least extraordinary part of its history, and has given rise to much speculation. In it we unquestionably see the most ancient living specimen of vegetation. It is, says the illustrious Humboldt, the oldest organie monument of our planet; and Adanson calculates that trees now alive have weathered the storms of five thousand years.-Edinburgh Cabinet Library. No. XII-Nubia and Abyssinia. LA BELLE STUART, AND BRITANNIA.-King Charles II. was so deeply enamoured with Frances Theresa, grand-daughter of Walter, first Lord Blantyre "la Belle Stuart" of Grammont-as to give rise to the report that he meditated a divorce from his queen, and to raise her to the throne. To escape his importunities, she accepted the honourable proposals of his kinsman, Charles Lennox, sixth and last Duke of Richmond of that family, and was married privately, 1667, to the great wrath of her royal persecutor, which burst on the chancellor's head, whom he unfairly suspected to have conspired against his hopes. The reverse of a gold medal by Philip Rotier, struck by order of the monarch, from a picture of the lady by Sir Peter Lely, is said to be the origin of the figure of Britannia on the copper coin of the realm. She remained a widow thirty years, and died 1702, bequeathing considerable wealth, with the seat of Lennox love, to her great nephew, Alexander, fifth Lord Blantyre.-Sharpe's Peerage. POPPING THE QUESTION.-"Oh, beautiful! oh, more than beautiful! for thou to me art like a dream unbroken," exclaimed the young leader of Israel, "let me breathe my adoration. I offer thee not empire; I offer thee not wealth; I offer thee not all the boundless gratification of magnificent fancy-these may be thine, but all these thou hast proved; but if the passionate af fections of a spirit, which ne'er has yielded to the pow. er of woman, or the might of man-if the deep devo tion of the soul of Alroy be deemed an offering meet for the shrine of thy surpassing loveliness, I worship thee! Since I first gazed upon thee, since thy beauty first rose upon my presence like a star, bright with my des tiny, in the still sanctuary of my secret love, thy idol has ever rested. Then, then, I was a thing whose very touch thy creed might count a contumely, I have avenged the insults of long centuries in the best blood of Asia; I have returned, in glory and in pride, to claim my ancient sceptre ; but sweeter far than vengeance, sweeter far than the quick gatherings of my sacred tribes, the rush of triumph and the blaze of em pire, is this brief moment of adoring love, wherein I pour the passion of my life!"-[Wondrous Tale of Alroy.] |
