promise a thousand ducats to whosoever will find out his abode." The Empress's commands were executed next morning, and before the day closed, bills to this effect were stuck up in almost every street of the metropolis. Pancrace, who had gone into the city to get work, observing so many of these bills, which attracted general notice, read one of them, and without going any farther, he returned to his house, and finding his lodger there, said, "You are a pretty fellow! no doubt, some great criminal; if I had known you before, you should never have come into my house." Loudon, who was conscious of no other offence than owing his land lord money, replied, "My dear Pancrace! you know well that I can't pay you just now; I have not even a sous.' 99 "Oh, it is not about the money I am speaking just All I want is for you to quit my house. There is a ducat for you. Begone! If I were malignantly disposed, I might obtain a thousand ducats by denouncing you. But, no! I will not stain my hands with your blood. Away! you have no time to lose." now. Loudon, more astonished than ever, demanded of his host what he meant; and when Pancrace related the fact of his being advertised for in the manner abovementioned, penetrating the whole affair, he cried out," My dear Pancrace, this is the best news for us in the world! They want me for the military service; go to the office of the Minister of War, and say that I am lodging with you, but am too badly clothed to appear myself." After a short interval, the Minister himself arrived at the shoemaker's habitation, gave him the promised reward, and furnished Loudon with means to equip himself properly. He was then presented to the Empress, who gave him the appointment of colonel, and sent him to the army, where he distinguished himself so highly, as to become, at the end of four years, a field-marshal. He lived to beat, repeatedly, Frederick the Great, by whom his services had been refused; and who frequently, when speaking of Loudon to his friends, lamented that he should have committed the egregious blunder of turning such an officer away. Anec. of Foreign Courts. HORNE TOOKE'S COURAGE. MP. TOOKE was by no means a man of courage; although, from his bold writings, one might fancy him a hero; a champion ready to defend his opinions with sword or pistol, or even with his fist. One would think that the man who, in answer to an attack of Junius, could write such words as the following, must be a person of no ordinary nerve. They were these:-"The King, whose actions justify rebellion to his government, deserves death from the hand of every subject; and should such a time arrive, I should be as free to act as any." He made use of a similar remarkable expression in regard to the unfortunate King James, in reference to the desertion of his army. Still Mr. Tooke knew himself to be entirely destitute of real courage; and he confessed to an intimate friend that he was a coward. "I should have made but a bad soldier," said he, one day, laughing, "for I have been all my life a complete coward: bravery is engendered by a long habit of fearlessness of danger, in a heart naturally bold; I never had much of this sort of stamina; and during the restless life which I have led, the little portion of courage I possessed oozed out at my finger ends, from the continual fret and worry in which I have been kept. I will tell you the boldest, the bravest, the most courageous thing I ever did in my whole life. I was at a meeting at Croydon, where, having stood forward to advocate a certain question, I was sharply attacked by a fellow of the name of Phillips; but, however, I gave him such a dressing in reply, that, even whilst I went on tearing him to pieces at every sentence, I was actually afraid that he would horsewhip me when I had done, or send me a challenge to fight him. A pretty thing, by the bye, it would be to see two parsons with a pair of pistols under their arms, saluting each other, at the early hour of five, on a cold frosty morning! O, yes, I gave the Reverend Mr. Phillips such a drubbing, that even I myself was surprised at it.' "Did his Reverence take no notice of it, then?" "Not a word, faith! By G-d! he was as great a coward as I was myself! But, let me tell you, Sir, the affair was no less heroic on my part; for I thought him as brave as a lion, and I dare say my words made him think the same of me. I assure you, Sir, it requires no small degree of pluck-when you have not the law at your back-to beard a stout bullylooking fellow to his very teeth; when, perhaps, the next morning he may send a bullet through your brains."-Lon. Clubs. ROGER WILBRAHAM AND SIR P. FRANCIS. THE late Sir Philip Francis, (to whom the authorship of Junius has been attributed,) during many years of his life was a member of the House of Commons, and spoke on all questions of importance on the side of Opposition. He was the convivial companion of Fox, and, during the short administration of that statesman, was made a Knight of the Bath. Roger Wilbraham, who was also on the same side, came up one evening to the whist table, at Brookes's, where Sir Philip, (who for the first time wore the ribbon of the order) was seriously enand gaged in the middle of a rubber ; thus accosted him. Laying hold of the ribbon, and examining it for some time before he spoke, he said: "So this is the way they have rewarded you at last; they have given you a little bit of red ribbon for your services, Sir Philip, have they? A pretty bit of red ribbon to hang about your neck;-aud that satisfies you, does it?. Now, I wonder what I shall have.What do you think they will give me, Sir Philip?" The newly-made Knight, who had twenty-five guineas depending on the rubber, and who was not very well pleased at the interruption, suddenly turned round, and casting on him a ferocious look, exclaimed, A halter, and be d-d to you!" COUPLET OF LORD ERSKINE. DRINKING. [AN ANCIENT FRAGMENT.] Three cups of wine a prudent man may take, Eight, & the watch patrole breaks ope the door. ORIGIN OF THE USE OF COFFEE. A prior of a monastery, in that part of Arabia where this berry grows, having remarked that the goats who ate of it became extremely brisk and alert, resolved to try the experiment on his monks, of whose lethargic propensities he was continually complaining. The experiment turned out successful; and it is said that it was owing to this circumstance the Arabian berry came to be so universally used and admired for its pleasant refreshing qualities. EPIGRAM. ON the relict of the late Mr. Good THIS talented nobleman, when an advocate, was often in the habit of indulging in pleasantries upon the eccentricities of the heads of the Court. Among the many epigrams that are left of his lordship's writing, is the following little jeu d'esprit; it was circulated about the barrister's marrying a gentleman of fortune of the benches, and afforded considerable amusement at the expence of Mr. Justice Ashurst, who was remarkable for a long lanky This change has made his widow Better. visage, not unlike that which Cervantes sketched as Don Quixote's : Judge Ashurst, with his lanthorn jaws, CERVANTES. AN ambassador from France to Spain, in the time of Cervantes, had an interview with him, and during the visit, he complimented the author of that inimitable work, Don Quixote, by observing to him the great reputation he had acquired by producing so interesting a work, when he was stopped by Cervantes whispering in his ear, That had it not been for the inquisition, I should have made my book much more interesting." Many of the good things written by Cervantes, as well as other authors, are lost to us, through the existence of that abominable tribunal of religion and ignorance. One Aonius Palearius was fully aware of this, and said, "That the inquisition was a poignard aimed at the throat of literature." The image is forcible, and the observation just, but the ingenious observer was in consequence burnt. name of Better : Good in the grave is Nature's debtor; ASTLEY THE EQUESTRIAN. P. ASTLEY, the celebrated equestrian, had an amphitheatre in Dublin, where he often experienced rough usage from the lower orders, on account of his incessant expressions of ultra-loyalty; which loyalty, however, recommended him to the favour of the people in power. On the convalescence of the King, George III, in 1789, Lord Buckinghamshire celebrated the happy event by a splendid display of fire-works on Stephen's Green; the whole to be conducted by Astley. When every thing was duly arranged, our pyrotechnist set off for the castle, to apprise the viceroy; and, on his way stationed an artillery soldier on the leads of a house, at the top of Graftonstreet, who was to let off a signal rocket for the commencement of le feu d'artifice. This arrangement was overheard by some disloyal wags, who moved down the street after Astley. Having allowed as much time to pass as would suffice for him to go to the Castle, probable delays there, and return, out roared one of them in the voice of one in haste, and exactly resembling Astley's, the sound being pitched to the roof of the mouth, and imitating the London cockney dialect"Halloo! you 'tilleryman! let auf that there rocket!" Away went the rocket, and off went the fire-works; of which there was not one scintilla remaining by the time the cortége arrived from the castle; to the extreme joy and amusement of the Dublin wags; but to the great mortification of poor Astley, who stamped and swore like a trooper. He offered twenty guineas reward for the discovery of the delinquent; but this only made the affair more public, for no one would 'peach, and whenever he performed at his theatre, his ears were sure to be saluted, from the gallery, with the ominous words" Halloo! you 'tilleryman! let auf that there rocket!"- - Clubs. SINGULAR WILL. THE following singular will of William Hickington, was proved in the Deanery Court of York, in the year 1789. This is my last will, J insist on it still, So sneer on, and welcome, In the year seventeen seventy. DEMETRIUS AND THE RHODIANS. WHEN Demetrius, the celebrated commander, attacked the Island of Rhodes, and laid siege to the principal and richest town in it, he was preparing to attack and destroy, and consume by fire, some public buildings without the walls of the town, which were protected only by a slight guard. These buildings contained the famous picture of Jalysus, the work of that illustrious painter Protogenes.Enraged against the Rhodians, he envied their possession of so beautiful a work; but the Rhodians sent ambassadors to Demetrius with this message:"What is the reason," say they, that setting fire 66 to the building you would destroy this picture, when, if you conquer us, you will possess the whole town, and by right of victory the picture unhurt will be yours; but if you are unable to subdue us, we desire you to consider whether it is not dishonourable, because you cannot conquer the Rhodians, to make war upon the deceased Protogenes.' Having attentively listened to the message sent by the ambassador, he considered within himself, and resolved to relinquish the siege, and spare at once the picture and the town. The true effigies here you may behold, Of him who, for preventing others ill, Hath gain'd a medicine far exceeding gold, And known to all the world for Lockyer's pills." HIS EPITAPH RECORDS, THAT "His virtues and his pills were so well known, That envy can't confine them under stone, But they'll survive his dust, and not expire, Till all things else, at the universal fire. This verse is lost; his pills embalm him safe, To future times, without an epitaph." Diary and Chronology, DATE. DAYS. DIARY. DATE. CORRESPONDING CHRONOLOGY. Jan. 15. Tues. St. Paul, the first Jan. 15. The life of St. Paul is said to have been written by St. Jerome in 365, who received the account from St. Anthony, St. Paul when twenty-two years of age, filed from the persecutions of Decius to a cavern, and was fed the latter part of his life by a raven, until he was ninety, and then died. Born on this day, B. c. 105, at Arpinum Mar. Tull. Cicero, the illustrious Roman Ora tor. This great man was sacrificed by Augustus to the resentment of Marc Antony, to whom his head and hands were carried in triumph. 1776. Anniversary of the birth of H. R. H. the 16 St. Marcellus succeeded Marcellinus in the Ponifi- 1809.-Died the gallant commander Sir John Moore, 18 This saint is considered to have been the first Catholic Bishop; he is said to have kept the key of Heaven. Hence many churches dedicated to this saint have a vane on their steeples. 1776.-Died on this day, John Baskerville, the celebrated printer and letter founder of Birmingham. The types of Baskerville were famed for the beauty and sharpness which they possessed. 19 St. Martha was married to St. Maris, and with their sons, St. Audifax, and Abachum, were put to death by the orders of Aurelian, A. D. 270. 1729. Died on this day, William Congreve the dramatist and poet, ÆT 57. 20 St. Fabian was the nineteenth bishop of Rome : he was chosen to that office in the year 241, and suffered martyrdom in the Decian persecution. 1779.-On this day died the famed actor and au thor, David Garrick, at his house in the Adelphi. 1790.-Died at Cherson, in Russia on this day, John Howard, the philanthropist. This generous and humane man was born in the parish of Hackney, 1726. 21 St. Agnes. the patroness of purity, was beheaded at the age of 13, by order of Dioclesian, whose cruel edicts were issued March A. D. 303, 1766.-Expired on this day at Bath, James Quin, 22 This saint was born at Ossa, in Grenada. He suf- 1800.-Died at Hampstead on this day, G. Stevens, THE following extracts are from the life of Judge Jeffreys, sometime Lord Chancellor of England, in the reign of James II, which we insert, to show as far as such illustration will allow, the infamous conduct of this inhuman judge, and how justly he deserved the opprobrium cast upon him by his countrymen in his own time, as well as at the present hour. The first extract exhibits his barbarous conduct on the western circuit, where his condemnations were immense. Our next is the severe speech of Lord Delamere against him for his corrupt character as a Judge, while holding the office of Lord Chief Justice of the County Palatine of Chester. The last is a petition against him, when a prisoner in the Tower, after the flight of his once great upholder in iniquity, James the Second, from the widows and fatherless children in the West of England, (who had been deprived of their husbands and parents by his malignant tyranny,) desiring that he might be delivered up to them, as a retaliation for the wrongs they had received from him; the VOL. I. E whole of which may be looked upon as curious memorials, and of sufficient interest to warrant our giving them a place within these pages: CRUELTY OF JUDGE JEFFREYS IN DOR SETSHIRE. Mr. Battiscomb, a man of very tolerable estate and engaging manner, was so ill-fated as to become an inmate of Dorchester Gaol, and so ill-advised as to defend the equity of his cause, which had. liked to have choked Jeffreys, who furiously ordered him to a place of execution, there" to be hung by the neck till he should be dead." All the ladies in Dorchester were interested in the fate of the young man, who, by the way, when the judge's fit was over, had offers of life made him on the condition of his betraying some friends, which he resolutely repelled; and thus, having shut out the last hope of mercy, had become doubly an object of admiration several girls, one especially, went to Jeffreys, and asked his life, but he is said to have repulsed them en brute. There are some lines extant, written upon this unhappy damsei, -SATURDAY, FEB. 2, 1828. |