number of separate papers published in Great Britain and Ireland in 1808, was 213. In 1818 there were about 69 printed in London alone; 124 in the country; 50 in Ireland; 27 in and 8 in the British Islands. Scotland; Since that period a still farther increase has doubtless taken place in their numbers. BURLESQUE SONNET, On a Youth who died by overeating Fruit.---Illustrative of the am biguities of our language. Look on this burden that I bear, Great God! what means that struggling gasp? Again---and now 'tis o'er; How chill,--how pale within my grasp,-My infant is no more! Stay, dearest, for thy mother too Is hast'ning to her fate: Currants have check'd the currents of Our sleep of death thy sire shall view, my blood, And weep his crime too late! The Wit's Nunchion. ONE of the Dukes of Bedford (I forget which) was deprived of his title for losing his substance at the gaming table. Were this precedent acted upon in the present day, what an increase of commoners should we gain from the pigeons of St. James's-street! THE present grand Duke of Tuscany, when at Florence, generally honours the theatre with his presence during the early part of the performance, on which occasions, the last act of the play is not unfrequently the first represented. Should such be the pleasure or caprice of the sovereign, I suspect our English Dangles would be apt to stare, were Othello to be advertised by particular desire, and to commence at the catastrophe. AN officer, attached to the British army of occupation, was asked by a friend, who paid him a visit at Cambray, if the soldiers could speak any French? "Oh yes," replied he, they all know one sentence-Eaude-vie toute-suite!" 66 THE French army is still distinguished for its politeness and gallantry, as the following instance will exemplify Colonel Harvey of the Dragoons, the late private secretary to his grace the Duke of Wellington, had the misfortune to lose an arm while serving in the Peninsula. On his recovery, however, he rejoined his regiment, and in a subsequent action led his men to the charge with his accustomed intrepidity. In the heat of the conflict, a French officer, conspicious by his courage, rode up to encounter him, when perceiving his defenceless condition, he dropped the suspended sabre, made a polite apology, and passed on. Ir appears by the following letter received by Mr. Dibdin during his management of the Circus, that dramatic compositions were by no means scarce at that period. "Sir, I send you two operas. If neither of them should meet with your approbation, I'll send you Two MORE! continually supplied him, his profu sion not unfrequently left him with out a ducat in his purse. Thus situated, his charity was implored by a mendicant, whose squalid appearance at once proclaimed his misery, and secured the compassion of his auditor, who, anxious to relieve, though without the immediate power, bade the suppliant follow to a coffee-house, where, pulling a sheet of music paper from his pocket, he composed a waltz on the instant, delivered it to the beggar with a letter, and told him to take them both to his publisher, who, on the receipt, gave the astonished and delighted bearer, thirteen golden ducats for his trouble. This was indeed a glorious way of turning NOTES into cash! A general officer passing through St. James's palace after twelve o'clock, the centinel on duty of course challenged him with "Who goes there?" "The devil," replied the officer. Pass, devil, and go to hell!" returned the witty soldier. 66 THE Cossacks have always been remarkable for the celerity of their movements. In the war between Russia and Turkey they crossed the Boristhenes with their usual dispatch, and cut to pieces a number of their Turkish enemies. The following curious version of the newspaper-account of that transaction was given by an illiterate Lothian farmer, who, on his return from Edinburgh, was asked what were the news? News! bad But twenty boast of not producing you. news indeed!" said he: "the cursed Goshawks have crossed over to Barrowstonness, and killed all the Turkeys." 66 Wa Ir is said that his majesty, when EPIGRAM TO TALLEYRAND. Sev'n cities boasted Homer's birth 'tis true, TO CORRESPONDENTS. The correspondent who criticises "NoBODY" should recollect the fable of the Old Man and his Ass, and moreover purchase a spelling book: he says he dislikes the plan " persued " by us; --offers some "desections" of our articles, and talks about "a most appropriate epiteth." "Let those teach others, who themselves excel." Two of H. H's. pieces shall appear. The Epitaphs sent by Veritas are droll, but may be met with in every collection of such things. Anecdotes by T. Young and R. L. are stale. We cannot insert Enigmas, &c. till we have the solu tions ERRATUM. will correct a strange blunder at page We request our readers 100. column 2, line 10; for "trees made of ships," read "horses made of trees.” We are obliged to B. who pointed out this error. Ir is well known that Mozart, like many other great geniuses, was by no means of an economical habit. Notwithstanding the large sums with which the sale of his compositions Published also by Fairburn, Broad-way, Ludgate Hill. Printed and Published by T. WALLIS, Camden Town; and Sold by all Booksellers and Newsmen, in Town and Country.Price One Fenny. No. 16. OR, ORACLE OF KNOWLEDGE. SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 1823. 66 "Praise us as we are tasted; allow us as we prove Our head shall go bare til Merit crown it."SHAKSPEARE, EGYPTIAN CAVERNS. THE following interesting relation is extracted from Legh's Journey in Egypt and the Country beyond the Cataracts." In March, 1813, Mr. Legh (accompanied by a Mr. Smelt and an American, named Barthow) was on his voyage down the Nile, when between Siout and Miniet the incident occurred which is the subject of the annexed narrative. A Greek named Demetrio, had reported to them the existence, near Manfalout, of certain pits or caverns, containing the mummies of crocodiles, of which they had hitherto seen no specimens in Egypt.-Desiring to examine these, they quitted the banks of the river, and at the village of Amabdi engaged four Arabs to be their guides to the caverns, which they found at a short distance, but within the confines of the desert. A circular pit, about 18 feet in depth, brought them down to the level of the excavations; three of the Arabs descended with them, and with lighted torches they made their way through various winding passages, without finding more than a few fragments of the crocodile mummies. The following part of the narrative we may best give in Mr. Legh's own words: "Our curiosity was still unsatisfied: we had been wandering for more than an hour in low subterranean passages, and felt considerably fatigued by the irksomeness of the posture in which we had been obliged to move, and the heat of our torches in those narrow and low galleries. But the Arabs spoke so confidently of succeeding in this second trial, that we were induced once more to attend them. We found the opening of the chamber which we now approached, guarded by a trench of unknown depth, and wide enough to require a good leap. The first Arab jumped the ditch, and PRICE Id we all followed him. The passage we entered was extremely small, and so low in some places as to oblige us to crawl flat on the ground, and almost always on our hands and knees. The intricacies of its windings resembled a labyrinth; and it terminated at length in a chamber much smaller than that we had left; but, like it, containing nothing to satisfy our curiosity. Our search hitherto had been fruitless: but the mummies might not be far distant; another effort, and we might still be successful. "The Arab whom I followed, and who led the way, now entered another gallery, and we all continued to move in the same manner as before, each preceded by a guide. We had not gone far before the heat became excessive;-for my own part, I found my breathing extremely difficult; my head began to ache most violently, and I had a most distressing sensation of fulness about the breast. We felt we had gone too far, and yet were almost deprived of the power of returning. At this moment the torch of the first Arab went out. I was close to him, and saw him fall on his side: he uttered a groan-his legs were strongly convulsed, and I heard a ratling noise in his throat-he was dead. The Arab behind me, seeing the torch of his companion extinguished, and conceiving he had stumbled, passed me, advanced to his assistance, and stooped. I observed him appear faint, totter, and fall in a moment:-he also was dead. The third Arab came forward, and made an effort to approach the bodies, but stopped short. We looked at each other in silent horror. The danger increased every instant: our torches burnt faintly; our breathing became more difficult; our knees tottered under us, and we felt our strength nearly gone. "There was no time to be lost. R The American, Barthow, cried to us to take courage, and we began to move back as fast as we could. We heard the remaining Arab shouting after us, calling us Caffres, imploring our assistance, and upbraiding us with deserting him. But we were obliged to leave him to his fate, expecting every moment to share it with him. The windings of the passages through which we had come, increased the difficulty of our escape; we might take a wrong turn, and never reach the great chamber we had first entered. Even supposing we took the shortest road,it was but too probable our strength would fail us before we arrived. We had each of us, separately and unknown to one another, observed attentively the different shapes of the stones which projected into the galleries we had passed, so that each had an imperfect elue to the labyrinth we had now to retrace. We compared notes, and only on one occasion had a dispute, the American differing from my friend and myself:-in this dilemma, we were determined by the majority, and for tunately were right. Exhausted with fatigue and terror, we reached the edge of the deep trench, which remained to be crossed before we got into the great chamber. Mustering all my strength, I leaped, and was followed by the American. Smelt stood on the brink, ready to drop with fatigue. He called to us-"for God's sake to help him over the fosse, or at Feast to stop, if only for five minutes, to allow him to recover his strength." It was impossible-to stay was death, and we could not resist the desire to push on, and reach the open air. We encouraged him to summon all his force, and he cleared the trench. When we reached the open air, it was one o'clock, and the heat in the sun 1600. Our sailors, who were waiting for us, had luckily a BARDAK full of water, which they sprinkled upon us; but though a little refreshed, it was not possible to climb the sides of the pit: they unfolded their turbans, and slinging them round our bodies, drew us to the top. "Our appearance alone, without our guides, naturally astonished the Arab, who had remained at the entrance of the cavern; and he anxiously enquired for his friends. To have confessed they were dead, would have excited suspicion: he would have supposed we had murdered them, and have alarmed the inhabitants of Amabdi, to pursue us, and to revenge the death of their friends. We re plied, therefore, they were coming, and were employed in bringing out the mummies we had found, which was the cause of their delay. We lost no time in mounting our asses, recrossed the Desert, and passed hastily by the village, to regain the ferry at Manfalout." PEVERIL OF THE PEAK. AFTER Some farther conversation, the tread of horses was heard on the road on which they held this singular dialogue. Bridgenorth listened a moment, and then said, "Forget that you have seen me-name not my name to your nearest or dearest-lock my counsel in your breast-profit by it, and it shall be well with you." So saying, he turned from her, and plunging through a gap in the fence, regained the cover of his own wood, along which the path still led. One or two of the foremost made towards her at increased speed; challenged her as they advanced with the cry of "Stand! Who goes there?" The foremost who came up, however, exclaimed, "Merey on us, if it be not my lady!" and Lady Peveril, at the same moment, recognized one of her own servants. Her husband rode up immediately afterwards, with, "How now, dame Margaret? What makes you abroad so far from home, and at an hour so late?" Lady Peveril mentioned her visit at the cottage, but did not think it necessary to say aught of having seen Major Bridgenorth; afraid, it may be, that her husband might be displeased with that incident. "Charity is a fine thing, and a fair," answered Sir Geoffrey; "but I must tell you, you do ill, dame, to wander about the country like a quacksalver, at the call of every old woman who has a cholic-fit; and at this time of night especially, and when the land is so unsettled besides." "I am sorry to hear that it is so," said the lady. "I had heard no such news. 46 "News!" repeated Sir Geoffrey; Why here has a new plot broken out among the Roundheads, worse than Venner's by a butt's length; and who should be so deep in it as our old neighbour Bridgenorth? There is search for him every where; and I promise you, if he is found, he is like to pay old scores." Then I am sure, I trust he will not be found," said Lady Peveril. "Do you so?" replied Sir Geoffrey. "Now I, on my part, hope that he will; and it shall not be my fault if he be not; for which effect I will presently ride down to Moultrassie, and make striet search, according to my duty; there shall neither rebel nor traiter earth so near Martindale Castle, that I will assure them. And you, my lady, be pleased for once to dispense with a pillion, and get up, as you have done before, behind Saunders, who shall convey you safe home." She accordingly rode behind the groom to the castle; and when Sir Geoffrey came back, to her great reHief, he was without any prisoner. He then explained more fully than his haste had before permitted, that an express had come down to Chesterfield, with news from Court of a purposed insurrection amongst the old Commonwealth-men; and that Bridge north, said to be lurking in Derbyshire, was one of the principal conspirators. After some time, this report of a conspiracy seemed to die away like many others of that period. The warrants were recalled, but nothing more was seen or heard of Major Bridgenorth. About this time also, Lady Peveril, with many tears, took a temporary leave of her son Julian, who was sent, as had long been intended, for the purpose of sharing the education of the young Earl of Derby. Although the boding words of Bridgenorth sometimes occurred to Lady Peveril's mind, she did not suffer them to weigh with her in opposition to the advantages, which the patronage of Countess of Derby secured to her son. The plan seemed to be in every respect successful; and when, from time to time, Julian visited the house of his father, Lady Peveril had the satisfaction to see him, on every occa sion, improved in person and in manper, as well as ardent in the pursuit of more solid acquirements. În process of time, he became a gallant and accomplished youth, and travelled for some time upon the continent with the young Earl. This was the more especially necessary for the enlarging of their acquaintance with the world; because the Countess had never appeared in London, or at the court of King Charles, since her flight to the Isle of Man in 1660; but had resided in solitary and aristocratic state, alternately on her estates in England and in that island. This had given to the education of both the young men, otherwise as excellent as the best teachers could ren der it, something of a narrow and restricted character; but though the disposition of the young Earl was lighter and more volatile than that of Julian, both the one and the other had profited, in a considerable degree, by the opportunities afforded them. It was Lady Derby's strict injunction to her son, now returning from the continent, that he should not appear at the court of Charles. But having been for some time of age, he did not think it absolutely necessary to obey her in this particular; and had remained for some time in London, partaking the pleasures of the gay court there, with all the ardour of a young man bred up in comparative seclusion. In order to reconcile the Countess to this transgression of her authority (for he continued to entertain for her the profound respect in which he had been educated), Lord Derby agreed to make a long sojourn with her in her favourite island, which he abandoned almost entirely to her management.(Continued on page 138.) |