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POSTS?. . FROM THE ALBION. ECHO SONG. Oh, I’m the fairy Queen of Sound, ’Mid rocks and caves I roam ; Unseen I float the wide world rouihd, And make the sea my home. Upon the distant shore I sleep, Till waked by magic song; Then climbing up the mountain steep, I bear the notes along. I hide me in the silent glade, And rule its trembling air; The winds in whispers woo the glade, While 1 repeat them there. When darkness clothes the lonely lake, And gently flows the wave, My bed ’upon its brow I make, And answer every lave. But in you Heav’n I rest my wing,— Though music fills the skies, No sounds from thence to earth I bring, I love alone to arise. [year, on the 1st of January, 1772, (exactly 155 years? from the present day,) his godfa- | thbr bound him apprentice to a shoemaker. I “ As I hated,” says he, “ ray new profession with a perfect hatred, I made no progress iu I it; and was consequently little regarded in the family, of which I sunk by degrees into , the common drudge: this did not much dis quiet me, for my spirts were row humbled. “ I possessed at this time but one book in | the world; it was a treatise on Algebra, given to me by a young woman, who had , found it in a lodging house. I considered it | as a treasure ; but it was a treasure locked up ; for it supposed the reader to be well | acquainted with simple equation, and I knew I nothing of the matter. My master’s son had purchased Fenning’s introduction : this was precisely what I wanted ; but he care fully concealed it from me, and I was in debted to chance alone for stumbling upon respondent at Oxford, and upon the answer are gate ways which lead to the carriage he received, the kindness to desire that he roads, 9 feet wide, 15 high:—there arc two might be brought to see him upon his coming carriage roads, each 12 feet wide, and a to town. To this circ&mstanco, purely ac- foot path between them 3 feet wide, cidentat on all sides, and to this alone, I “The chains, 16 in number, are owe my introduction to that Nobleman. feet in length, formed of links composed of On my first visit,he asked me what friends i five bars of wrought iron, 10 feet Ion*,, .3 I had, and what were my prespects in life ;! inches deep, and 1.-2 an inch thick ; these and I told him that 1 had no friends, and no ] five bars are.put side by side, and riveted prospects of any kind. He said no more : j by bolts ; forming an almost solid bar, of 10 but when 1 called to take leave, previous to j feet long, 3 indies deep, and 2 1-2 inches my returning to college, I found that this , thick; of these links the chains are formed; simple exposure of my circumstances had sunk deep into his mind. At parting, he informed me that he charged himself with my present support, and future establish ment ; and that till this jast could be effect ed to my wish, 1 should come and reside with him. These were riot words of course -they were more than fulfilled in every four of which chains, form one great chain ; and these four, are so suspended, that the middle of the upper links, fall on the joints of those underneath. This is a description of suc£t links as hang from pillar to pillar, a distance of 653 feet; those from the pillars to the fastenings, are rather shorter and thicker: 1 traced them to the rocks where point. I did go, and reside with him; and ‘ they are fastened, and was truly surprised at capable of the following surprising move ments : there was seen on it a negro, a dog and a shepherd ; when the clock struck, the shepherd played six tunes on his flute, and the dog approached and fawned upon him. This clock was exhibited to the King of Spain, who was delighted with it. “ The gentleness of my dog,’* said Droz, “ Is his least merit; if your majesty touch one of the apples which you see in the shepherd’s basket, you will admire the fidelity of this animal.” The King took an apple, and the dog flew at hjs hand v and ^barked so loud that the king’s dog, which was in the room, be:ran also to bark^aT'this the courtiers not doubting that it was an affair of witch craft, hastily left the room, crossing them selves as they .Went out. The minister of marine was the only one that ventured to stay. The king having desired him to ask the negro what o’clock it was, the minister his hiding-place. I sat up for the greatest I experienced a warm and cordial reception, the amazing strength and apparent security obeyed, but he obtained no reply. Droz /» i • i i *i i i I i i • i i iT* a * x iLni Unn /vf *1- « ...l, 1 _ — J ^...1J — x 1 Inn nAfn*A hoH nnf tror THE BRIGAND LEADER AND HIS WIFE. BY MRS. HEMANS. Dark chieftain of the heath and height! Wild feastcr on the hills by night J Seest thou the stormy sunset’s glow, Flung hack by glancing spears below ? Nov lor one strife of stern despair! The toe hath track’d thee to thy lair. Thou, against whom the voice of blood, Hath risen from feck and lonely wood, And in who -c dreams a moan should be, Not of the wit or, nor the tree; Haply tliine own last hour is nigh,— Yet shaitthou not forsaken die. There’s one that, pale, beside thee stands, More true iban all thy mountain banes! ' She will not shrink in doubt and dread, When the balls whistle rcu.id thy head; Nor leave thee, though thy closing eye, No longer may to her’s reply. Oh! many a soft and quiet grace Hath faded from her soul and face 1 And many a thought, the fitting guest Of woman'.! meek religious breast, / part of several nights successively, and be- : fore he suspected that his treatise was dis covered, had completely mastered it. I could now enter upon my own; and that carried me pretty far into the science. “ This was not done without difficulty. I I had not a farthing on earth, nor a friend to j give me one; pen, ink, and paper, therefore, and kind and affection esteeib, that has known neither diminution nor interruption from that hour fo this—a period of 20 years! u . In his Lordship’s house, I proceeded with Juvenal, till I was called upon to ac company. his son (one of the most amiable and accomplished young noblemen that this country, fertile in such characters, could of the whole, and coqld not help questioning whether Jove’s (despite of the flippant remark of Lord Or- ever boast) to the-Continent. With him, i ford,) were, for the most part, as completely out of mj reach as a crown and sceptre. (There was, indeed, a resource ; but the ut- | most caution and secrecy were necessary in applying to it. I beat out piece? of leather as smooth as possible, and wrought my pro- | blems on them with a blunted awl; for the rest my memory was tenacious, and I could j multiply and divide bv it to a great extent. Hitherto I had not so much os dreamed [ of poetry: indeed, I scarcely knew it by I name; and whatever may be said of the | force of nature, I certainly never ‘ lisp’d in i numbers.’ 1 recollect the occasion of my ( first attempt; it is, like all the rest of my non-adventures, of so unimportant a nature, in two successive tours, 1 spent many years —years of which the remembrance will al ways be dear to me, from the recollection that a friendship was then contracted, which time and a more intimate knowledge of each other mellowed into a regard that forms at once .(fie pride and happiness of my lifd.” ' ‘ For the last five years of his life, Mr. Gifford occupied his leisure hours in pre paring for the press, a new edition of the works of Ford and Shirley. The former is completed in two volumes and ready for publication. Of the latter, five volumes arid one half of the sixth, are printed ; and it is much to be hoped tfiat they will be given to Whose atrong embrace holds heaven, e,arth and main,” were half so well secured. “ In the saddles over w]iich the chains pass on the tops of the pillars, rollers are placed, to prevent any accident happening from the contraction or extension of the iron ork from the heat or cold affecting either side unequally. “ The vertical rods suspended from the chains, are of iron one inch square, and serve to support the sleepers on which the flooring of the road-way is laid, these rods are five feet asunder ; a neat railing of about five feet high, runs along the whole line of the bridge.”—JV. F. Com. Adc. Hath pcrit!i; : il, in her wanderings wide,, through the deep forests, by thy side. . jy*T Yet surviving' ' *> * A fir ■ " a : v A - A fr on ?W* e *hij|j0fwhose lot iscast,' : Ofkr ! /A-^obelast; Sad,., u ^flhKngcd through good and ill, TbiritlgdHr iqnb-A-ropon still/ And, nK^ot wholly lost the heart, YVhZlP^t uudving love hath part; jV^^Vorthless-all, though far and long |j home fe&franged, and guided wrong: Tx, may its* depths by Heav’n be stiir’d, JtB' prayer for thee be pour’d and beard! COMPARISONS. Like crystal drops on roses sleeping, When the eyes of morn are weeping; Like crimson hues in pure skies flashing, When the cheeks of eve are blushing. Like gentle zephyrs, softly stealing Sighs of balmy sweets revealing; Like liquid orbits, brightly beaming, ■ When thro’ nature’s lashes streaming. So thy tears, and such their flowing! So thy blushes, such their glowing! So thy sighs, and such their parting! So thme eyes, and such their darting! that I should blush to call the attention of the world in the precise state in which Mr. [the idlest reader to it, but for the reason J Gifford has left them, alleged in the introductory , aragrapb. A person, whose name esrupes me, had un dertake^ to paint a ign for an ale-house: V to have been a lion, but the-unfortu- - e krh^Jproduced a dog. On this awk- A most curious discovery was. made few days ago at Fornham St. Genevieve, near >this town. Men had been for some days' employed in felling a pollard ash near ward aJiair, one of my acquaintance wrote a I the church, which had the appearance of copy of what we called verse: I liked it, but fancied I could compose something more to the purpose. I made the experi ment, and by the unanimous suffrage of my shopmates, was allowed to have succeeded. Notwithstanding this encouragement^ I thought no more of verse, till another occur rence, as trifling as the former, furnished me with a fresh subject; and thus I went when immediately under the trunk were dis- on, till 1 had got together about a dozen ofj covered alarge quantity of skeletons, or rather WILLIAM GIFFORD, ESQ. Yesterday, December 31, 1826, died, at his house in James-street, Buckingham- gate, (London,) in the 71st year of his age, William Gifford, Esq. author of the Baviad and Mccviad, translator of Juvenal and Perrins, and editor of the Quarterly Review from its commencement down to the beginning of the year just past. To the translation of Juvenal is prefixed a memoir of himself, which is, perhaps, as modest and pleasant a piece of autobiography as ever ■was written. Mr. Gifford was bom at Ashburton, in April, 1756. “ The resources of my mo ther were,” he says, very “ scanty. With these, however, she did what she could for me; and as soon as I was old enough to he trusted out of her sight, sent me to a school mistress of the name of Parret, from whom I learned in due time to read. I cannot boast much of my acquisitions atthis school they consisted merely of the contents of my spelling book; but from my mother, who had stored up the literature of a country town, which, about half a century ago, _ mounted to little more than what was dis . , A geminated by itinerant ballad-singers, or ra ther, readers, I had acquired much curious . know ledge of Catskin and the Golden Bull, and the Bloody-Gardener, and many other histories equally instructive and amusing.” At eight years of age Mr. Gifford was put to the freo school, to learn to read and write and cipher. “ Here I continued about three years,” making, he says, “ a most wretched progress, when my father fell sick and died In somewhat less than a twelve month, my poor mother followed him to the grave She was an excellent woman, bore my fe- V theris infirmities with patience and good hu \ mour. loved her children dearly, and died / at last, exhausted with anxiety and grief, fore on their abcount than her own. I was quite thirteen when this happened ; my brother w as hardly tfro; and we had relation nor a friend in the world, vthinf&that was left was seized by a person of'fit© name of Carl tie. for money to my mother. It may be sup- at l could not disput and as no one them. Certainly, nothing on earth was so deplorable; such as they were, however, they were talked of in my little circle, and I was sometimes invited to repeat them, even out of it I never committed a line to paper for tWo reasons—first, because I had no paper; and secondly—perhaps I might be excused from going further; but, in truth, I was afraid, as my master had already threatened me, for inadvertantly hitching great antiquity, being not less than 18 feet in girth, and very much decayed and stand j ing upon a small hillock, which seemed to (have been left at a very distant period when the rest of the soil around it had been | lowered. On the fall of the tree, the roots I —which were an unusual size and length , tore up the ground to a considerable extent the name of one of his customers into a rhyme.” * * * fragments of skeletons, all lying in a circle with the heads inwards, and piled tier above tier from the depth of about four feet, being probably the remains of several hundred bo dies. The most perfect of the bones was lower jaw, of large dimensions, contninin the whole of the teeth ; all the rest was ve ry much decayed. It is well known both from history and the tradition of names that hi the reign, of Henry U. A. D. 1173 this village was the scene ofa sanguinary and decisive battle. According to Hoveden “ In this humble and obscure state, poor the Lari of Leicester, having made a des beyond the common lot, yet flattering my cent upon Suffold at the head of a great -everlasting chain, Trees.—In the ancient histories in America,and also by Thevet, At the cattle show at Concord, (N. H.) premiums were awarded for the best farms. In relation to one of them, the viewing com mittee in their report, made the following remarks. “ This farm appears to be cultivated with great care, and much good judgment in agri culture ; but the committee are of opinion, that the owner is in fault in one essential particular, and they hope that an indirect al lusion to it will be sufficient for him to cor rect the error. There is no commodity on a farm so useful and so pleasing to the farmer nothing in this life, on which he can so safely rest his hopes of comfort in future years—as a company of healthy, robust and promising boys. A farmer mrely succeeds well without a Wife ! A solitary journey is always a tiresome and cheerless one.” then observed that the negro had pot yet learned Spanish, upon which the minister repeated the question in French, and >the black immediately answered him; at this 1 new prodigy the firmness of the minister also’ forsook him, and he retreated precipitately, declaring that it was the work of the devil. Raining Trees,- of travellers in his 0o9mographia, mention is made of a* tree which attracted the clouds from 1* heavens, and converted theta into rain in dry deserts. These relations have considered as fables. There has been lat ly found in Brazil, a tree, the young branches of which drop water, which fells almost like a shower. This tree, to which Leander has- given the name of Oubea Pluviosa, is transfer red by M. DecandolJe to the genus Cisalpina* J Some of the Princes of Germany/ have a kingdom not more than three miles square. It is related of one of them that his army Consists of a general, two corporals, three privates, and a drummer. The general is the Prince’s.butler and steward; the pri vates after receiving visitors at the p lace gates in front as guards, run round and meet them in the hall as footmen. > The wife ofa shoemaker, residing tholomew Terrace, City (Road, rece even lount of Obliteration of Ideas.—In 1782 a sub ject for dissection was brought to the resi dence of Sir William Blizard in Lime-street. John Haynes, the subject had been by pro- ambition with day-dreams, which, perhaps, bqdy of Flemings, to support the claims of would never have been realized, l w*s | the King’s undutiful son to his father’s do- found, in the 20th year of my age, by Mr. William Cookeslev—a name never to be pronounced by me without veneration. The lamentable doggerel which I have al ready mentioned, and which had passed from mouth to mouth among people of. my own degree, had, by some accident or other, reached his ear, and given him a curiosity to inquire after the author. “ It was my goed fortune to interest his benevolence. My little history was not un tinctured with melancholy, and I laid it fair ly before him. His first care was to con sole ; his second, which he cherished to the last moment of his existence, was to relieve and support me. “ Mr. Cookesley was not rich: his emi nence in his profession, which was that of a surgeon, procured him, indeed, much em- minions, and having been joined by Hugh Bigot Earl of Norfolk, who put the Castle of Framlingham into his hands, was encoun tered here by Richard de Lacy, the guardi an of the realm in the King’s absence with a less numerous but braver army; and the Flemings, being mostly weavers and oth- s er tradesmen, were broke up in an instant fession a thief and housebreaker, and had, in consequence, finished his career at Ty burn. The body showed signs of life, and Sir William perfected its recovery. Anx- “ Lious. t° know the sensations which John ''Haynes had experienced at the moment of his suspension, the surgeon questioned the thief earnestly upon that subject. All the answer he obtained was as follows :—‘‘ The last thing I recollect, was going up Holborn Hill in a cart. I thought then that I was in a beautiful green field—and this is all I re member till I found myself in your Honour’s dissecting-room.”—“ Well, but, my dear Sir,” said Sir William Blizard, in his em phatic manner, “ beautiful greon fields; you must surely mistake ; there are no fields between Holborn Hill and Tyburn, but those in which the church of Saint Giles was built, and they have been brick stone, and mortar intelligence, on Thursday law-suit repecting 1 a iarj ty ; to which she was et»i jpid, m former marriage, had been decide- favour. Overpowered by the unex news, she retired early to bed, soinew disposed, and in the morning her h discovered that she was dead ; thus ?; had appeared, the evening before, th fortunate event of his life, was rende most calamitous. His wife having h a life interest in the property, he will benefited one farthing'by the decisioi — ■ ; Zisca, the Military leader off the sites, lost one eye in his irifancy, romping with his playmates, and the -oi he lost at a siege. Yet his blindness < not stop his activity—he still fought several times against the Bohemians and the Ger mans. When on the bed of derith, his at tendants asked him .how he wished his body ten thousand of th«» put to the sword, \he judgment Day is carved in bronze ; this and the rest were glad to compound for a safe retreat into their own country. It is, therefore, probable, that these were the slain of the victorious party, from the care ful yet singular manner in which the bodies were deposited; and that after the eerth was heaped over them, the ash was planted If this supposition be a striking instance of to mark the spot, correct, it affords the longevity of trees. Single bodies, bones, ployment; but in a country-town, men of and remnants of arms and armour, have science are not the most liberally rewarded: he bad, besides a very numerous family, which left him little for the general benevolence; that little, however, was cheerfully bestowed, and his activity and zeal were always at hand to supply the deficiencies of his fortune.” Through the kindness of Mr. Cookesley, a subscription was raised, “ for purchasing the remainder of the apprenticeship of Wil liam Gifford ; and for enabling him to im prove himself in writing and English gram mar.” In two years and two months from the day of his emancipation, he was pro nounced fit for the University. The place Bib. Lect. was procured for him at Exe ter College, Oxford. On the 15th of Jan. 1781, Mr. Gifford lost his friend and bene factor. ’ > His introduction to the father of the pre sent Earl Grosvenor is thus narrated :— this many a year—and besides, there was Middle Row to pass, and the north-end ot Drury-lane; not to mention the portal, of the church I have alluded to, over which to be disposed oft—“ Throw it,’ “ to the wild beasts, after you have stripped it of its skin ; and with this make a drum to beat for recruits to the war against our*ene- mies : in my life t'me they fled before me —at my death they shall equally tremble at the sound of my relics.’* the justice of interfered, an tic brother was sent to the alm^-housc, arid to the house of the person I iioned, who was also my god- than thirteen Mr. Gifford ard a coaster at Brishnm. In nearly a twelve- t acquainted with not been unfrequcntly found in the same neighbourhood but it is rather remarkable purposes of j that on the present occasion no warlike im plements were discovered.—Bury Post. Description of the Chain Bridge over the Straits of Mmai, North Wales.—“This stupendous structure, this miracle of art, this -ihodera colossus, has alike excited the wonder of the vulgar, and called forth the i admiration of the learned and scientific; and l bids fair to stand for ages an amazing monu ment of British ingenuity—nor could I hut reflect, that when death shalj deprive our country of the man whose consumate skill projected the work-—he will have no need of any monument, for it is already erected over the straits of the Manai:—but I must apologise for this digression, os eulogy is but poor description. The morning being surely must have arrested the attention of a gentleman in your situation.” It was all to no purpose, 41 For still the little maid replied, Indeed but we are seven.” There was no recalling to the mind of John Hayaes any local object beyond the parish church of St. Andrew’s Holborn. The surgeon was sorely puzzled; he had some reading in metaphysics, and more than some in anatomy; but here was a clear case of obliteration of all ideas immediately pre ceding the catastrophe id the cart. They had not merely faded from the man’s mind; they were forcibly driven out of it, and no effort of his brain could suffice to recal them.—New Monthly Magazine. A notoribus rogue being brought to the bar, and knov/ing his case to be desperate, instead of pleading, he to6k to himself the liberty of jesting, and thus said, “ I charge you in the king’s name to seize and take a- way that man (meaning the judge) ip the red gown, for I go in danger of my life:be cause of him.” A country girl, who had come into Aber deen last summer for her education, had during her stay there, fallen in with a young tradesman, and a very close intimacy exist ed between them. At the end of summer, the girl was recalled to the country : there she also procured a sweetheart, Who did not mince matters, but came instantly to terms ; he bade her name the happy day, and at length she did name it: her friends concur^ red, and every thing was going on in aTair way for the consummation. As is usual on these occasions, the bride set' out fer town fine, I resolved to see the Chain Bridge be- {to purchase her “ marriage braws*’ accom- LvAC 1.* Cl A«1 J Oa4 All! j J Vva. _ .1.^ J. a... J ' t _ r “ I had contracted an acquaintance with person of the name of , recom- ..lendeti to my particular notice by a gentle-, . U?U| « ..... j luut* ia jaiui man of Devonshire, whom I was proud of tion, to be one of the under engineers^ and , the country bride, an opportunity to oblige.” This person’s to whom I owe my information, aa to the^der feome preteat . j . j . .1 i , ' n ... . , ^ 1 fore breakfast, and accordingly set out. On j panied by the bridegroom, and posshsh^d 6f , —, recom-1 my way thither, I overtook a very intelligent ! 10/., which she had received from her fa- mended to my pairficularttotice by a gentle- |man, ^bom I. found^after a little conversa- j therv A fatal journey^fetal at least for om ; for, going out un- m her lodgings, she he was suffered to do as he liked, My lit- 1 residence at Oxford was not long, and when principles and admeasurements of j met her former lovir; a few minutes,’ cer- he returned to town, I maintained a correspon- “ On account of the hilly natyugp of the tainly not twtffhottrs, saw them proclaimed dence with him bylefiers. At his particu- ground on eacjhpicfeof the straits, p||rsof gra- j and marriecF # .'i'Witi* aWomshmentand^cha- Inr vnni imef fimen irorn ihaIadaiI ?n aaitaw? ! mio nro Knil'l a*^ ao ^1. J a IUa i ----- — xL ■ lar request, these*w8re inclosed to covers, and sent to Lord Grosvenor. One inadverten nite are b road level wi Lordship, to be meant There was somethin* 1 a love for the hjfc notice ; and when HI gave it to my friend, bed. In his 15th j he had the curiosity to inquire about his cor- each side, which - --- ^ M-n- the country. Thes le direction, and his I bqilt on arches of 52 feet span; supposing the letter | water mark, to the spring of each eel, and lead to the grand pillars fre the chains are sus graceful fes feet above pposmg >pened and read it. it which attracted ake the jgrin of the disappointed swaffi'beggars ers, are description; and he went home in a sad >mliigh state of < Am lency, leaving his faithless 65 i love in the possession of his more fortunate which rival.—Aberdeen JournriL If > ,«'•■<,;r ?e, yet; i ■ ititt • — jr 152 i Magical Clock.—Droz, a ' Genevan me- * them I chanic, once constructed a clock which was Ik?- tcntleman.—It is difficult, precisely to state what is generally comprised in thi s denomination of character. The p$«f * gentleman, or at^east, the nearest appro: to perfection, is distinguished by chat act istics, of which I shall attempt a sketch He is not great in the ordinary sense of f ^ terra.—His attainments are rather numer^ ous than lofty—He has more grace and x beauty of mind than sublimity—The quality ■ in which he is most eminent is refined tasto He is more accomplished than learneid— His attainments, including all the exercises of the age, consist more of the ornamental’’’ than of the positively useful—He has top many refined avocations, to be eminent ther in music or the other refined art is something, and avowedly but little amateur—He possesses vefy polished man uers; a, mingling of grace, ease and dignity —He is acquainted with the classics and the fashionable modem languages—He writes elegantly, and sometimes “ lisps m numbers,” but he is not ambitious of the name of either poet or atithor—He is emi nent in conversatiorialbrillianey ; yet he dis claims the profession of a wit, and the wrangling of a disputant—His honor is as pure, tlwugh n6t as cold,' “ as the icicle of Uian’s temple,* and his bravery, if if has not been proved, has at leas* never been ques-. tioned.—JS'PDtmtotVs Beauties of J\Iodern Literature, LonMn, 1825, i : “ Differences.—It is remarkable that raen * when they differ in any thing considerable, or which they think coftSIdeWble, will be apt to differ in almost every thing else. Their differences beget contradiction. Con tradiction begets heatt. 1 Heat quicker rises into resentment, rhge, and ill will. T* they differ in difitetiov ns they dtffe judgment; and the contention which in pride, ends, fo anger.—Cato r iLetL ML J m