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>can have so grossly slandered my excellent
friend Williams ? He cannot help his late
hours, poor fellow. That may safely be call
ed his misfortune, but not his fault!” and the
good lady warmed as she spoke, till she had
to untie her bonnet and fan her glowing face
with her handkerchief.
“His misfortune!” murmured Mrs. Bray
brooke. “How can that be called a misfor
tune, which a man can help any day he
pleases ?”
“But he cannot help it, poor soul! He
would be too happy to spend his evenings at
home with his dear little wife, but you know
his business begins when other people’s is
over.”
“Then whatinHeaven’s name, is his busi
ness ?”
“ Why, didn’t you know ? “ He’s the Ed
itor of a Morning Newspaper !”
(Eclectic of tOit.
THE CONJUGATING DUTCHMAN.
Two English gentlemen once stepped into
a coffee house in Paris, where they observed
a tall, odd-looking man, who appeared not
to be a native, sitting at one of the tables,
and looking around with the most stone-like
gravity of countenance upon every object,
boon after the two Englishmen entered, one
of them told the other that a certain dwarf
had arrived at Paris. At this the grave-look
ing personage above mentioned opened his
mouth and spake :
“ I arrive,” said he, “ thou arrivest, he ar
rives, we arrive you arrive, they arrive.”
The Englishman whose remark seemed to
have suggested this mysterious speech, step
ped up to the stranger and asked, “ did you
•peak to me, sir?”
“ l speak,” replied the stranger, “ thou
peakest, he speaks, we speak, you speak,
hey speak.”
“ How is this?” said the Englishman, “do
you mean to insult me ?”
The other replied, “ I insult, thou insultest,
he insults, we insult, you insult, they in
sult.”
“ This is too much,” said the Englishman :
“I wall have satisfaction: if you have any
spirit with your rudeness, come along with
me.”
To this defiance the impertubable stranger
replied :
“ I come, thou comest, he comes, we come,
you come they come and thereupon he
arose with great coolness, and followed his
challenger. In those days, when every gen
tleman wore a sword, duels were speedily dis
patched. They went into a neighboring al
ey, and the Englishman unsheathing his
yeapon, said to his antagonist:
“Now, sir, you must fight me.”
The other replied, drawing his sword —
“ I fight, thou fightest, he fights, we fight,
here he made a thrust) you fight, they fight,”
nd here he disarmed his adversary.”
“ Well,” said the Englishman, “ you have
le best of it, and I hope you are satisfied.”
“I am satisfied,” said the original, sheath
g his sword, “ thou art satisfied, he is sat
hed, w r e are satisfied, you are satisfied, they
• ’e satisfied.”
“ I am glad every body is satisfied,” said
‘i e Englishman; “but pray leave off quiz
/ ig me in this strange manner, and tell me
hat is your object, if you have any, in do
g so ?”
The grave gentleman, now for the first
le became intelligible.
“ I am a Dutchman,” said he, and am learn
-5 your language. I find it very difficult to
member the peculiarities of the verbs, and
y tutor has advised me, in order to fix them
my mind, to conjugate every English verb
at I hear spoken. This I have made it a
le to do. I don’t like to have my plans
oken in upon while they are in operation,
• I would have told you of this before.”
The Englishman laughed heartily at this
vplanation, and invited the conjugating
‘utchman to dine with him.
“I will dine,” replied he, “thou wilt dine,
e will dine, we will dine, you will dine,
hey will dine, we will all dine together.”
This they accordingly did, and it was dif
.icult to say whether the Dutchman ate or
conjugated with the most perseverance.
A GOOD JOKE.
Col. S. married Mrs. G., of Mississippi.
He was traveling with the widowed sister of
his wife, Mrs. YV., who was young, beauti
ful, rich, and without children. On the cars
between New York and Boston, was an Eng
lish gentleman to whom Mrs. W., had been
introduced, and with whom her friend thought
she was much pleased. She often spoke
very kindly of him after they had separated.
£®® If ffl 3IS 53 lh 11 ‘ff gIEA IE ¥ ®AUSIf If S ♦
The following winter found Col. S, and and
his sister-in-law in this city ; one at the St.
Charles, theother at a private house. Mrs.
W., sent for Col. S. to go with her toa mask
ed ball. He declined going with her, but
| went afterwards masked himself. He said
;to Mrs. W., —“ a gentleman with a mask
has a right to address a lady without an in
i troduction.”
“ Certainly,” said she.
“ I have come,” said he, “ from Liverpool,
‘on purpose to see you. I called at your plan
tation near Natchez, was very sorry you were
mot at home. I was told by every one there
that you would marry no one. Yet under all
these discouragements have I followed you
here. lam not altogether unknown to you;
Do you not remember traveling from New
York to Boston, on the cars, with an English
gentleman ?”
“ Yes,” said Mrs. W., her hand trembling
on the arm of Col. S.
“ Since then,” said he “ your image has
haunted me. In the day it has been ever be
fore me. fn the night, it is conjured up in
my dreams. My fate hangs upon your
breath. If you are yet determined never to
marry, we part at once, to meet no more.”
“ You are cruel,” said Mrs. W., with in
creased trembling, “ I shall return in a few
days to my plantation, where I hope I shall
see you. Will you not come ?”
In the midst of this scene, Col. S. broke
out in a loud laugh, and Mrs. W. recognized
—not her accomplished English compagnion
de voyage —but her plain every day brother
in-law.
©nural ,2lrtulcs.
MR. REMINGTON IN THE DEN!
Our readers (says the Literary World) will
remember the narrative of Mr. Remington,
which we re-published, in a late number,
from Hunt’s Merchants’ Magazine. It has
since found its way into the English papers,
in one of which—at least, Douglas Jerrold's
Weekly Newspaper —its statements of the in
ventor’s London experiences have called
forth some comment. The merit or success
of the invention of the “Bridge” does not
seem to be at all questioned, only certain in
ferences easily drawn, prejudicial to the
keeper of the Surrey Gardens, where the in
vention was first exhibited. Jerrold’s News
paper, it will be seen, deals ruthlessly with
the De Foe picture of Life in London, and
the “pursuit of knowledge under difficulties”
presented in Mr. Remington’s Letter, and
which undoubtedly gave wings to the report
of his invention throughout the United States.
From Jerrold’s Weekly Newspaper, Dec. 23, 1848.
In the first instance, we invite the New
York Literary World to favor us with a no
tice of the following contradiction to a state
ment which would not have appeared in our
columns, had we not found it in those of our
much-respected contemporary. We have
since seen it in many other American papers
of repute, and invite their attention, also, to
the matter. Last week, we did not give all
Mr. Remington’s letter, because it read to us
like the bitter effusion of a disappointed and
worried man, an unreasonable bitterness : it
was, therefore, that we omitted much fault
; finding of Mr. Bancroft, the American ambas
sador. Os Mr. Tyler, the proprietor of the
Surrey Gardens, Mr. Remington, on the
whole, spoke without disrespect; but, from
the entire letter, an inference might be drawn
that Mr. lyler had not behaved very gener
ously. From a belief that Mr. Bancroft was
I not a man to behave as Mr. Remington said,
j and from aknowledge in which all who knew
Mr. Tyler will bear us out, that he was not,
! we omitted the reflections upon those two
: gentlemen, attributing them to the discolor
ment of gall and bitterness. Mr. Remington
asserts that he was starving when he got ad
mittance to Mr. Tyler’s establishment—that
he was living, at least, on 3d. a day—that he
was in rags, (‘‘clotheshad I none”)—that he
slept in a lion’s den, whilst the model of his
most ingenious bridge was being prepared—
and took charitable crusts from the carpen
ters’ dinners. We should have disbelieved
all about the lion’s den, had we not thought
that his lodging therein was unknown to Mr.
Tyler, and was a sort of carpenter’s bed
made up, in the summer, too, for an impover
ished man of great engineering ability. The
circumstantial account, allowing for prejudice
and bitterness, seemed unquestionable as to
its facts, (facts!) and all the United States
I now admire Remington for his genius, and
pity him for his 3d. a day! He said that he
never received a farthing from Mr. Tyler,
(admitting, at the same time, that lie was not
entitled to one,) and that the bridge cost £B.
I Now, mark the following statements, in a
i letter written by Mr. Tyler, which that gen
tleman has shown us, by written documents —
unnecessarily, for his word was sufficient—
to be perfectly correct:
“My first introduction to Mr. Remington
was to inspect anew light for the table,
which he said he had invented. Upon his
telling me that he had no funds to complete
the apparatus, I—in concert with Mr. Jones,
gas-fitter, of Covent-garden—guaranteed to
Mr. Ladd the payment of £lO, if successful;
all expenses of patent and bringing it before
the public were to be paid by Mr. Jones and
myself, Mr. Remington receiving one-half.
This experiment turned out a complete fail
ure. Mr. Remington also had £4 to redeem
a one-wheel velocipede, which, after weeks’
gratuitous aid of my carpenters and black
smith, also proved a failure. The bridge, he
said, having been repeatedly erected in Ame
rica, he attached no importance to; all he
wanted was an opportunity of bringing his
name before the public, for he had other in
ventions he relied on to remunerate himself.
During the whole time he was superintend
ing the construction of the bridge, he board
ed and lodged at Mr. Ladd’s, mathematical
instrument maker, Amelia street, Penton
Place, to whom I paid £23 for such board
and lodging, and other expenses, which sum
I never asked Mr. Remington for. In addi
tion to which, 1 hold a note of hand for £l9
for money advanced. He never slept in the
gardens! —he never partook of the carpen
ters’ meals!—he dined frequently at my ta
ble. He had free access to the gardens when
he chose, and I should much like to possess
the instrument by which a Yankee bound
himself to pay $lO for the advance of Is.!
Previous to lodging at Mr. Ladd’s, I under
stand he boarded and lodged at an hotel in
Leicester-square for four months. He told
me, also, that he had been residing at Mor
ley’s Hotel, Strand!”
We have italicised the lines in Mr. Ty
ler’s letter as an instructive commentary on
the 3d. a day story. Mr. Remington’s letter
was not addressed, we believe, to any Ameri
can paper. It purports to be a private letter
to a friend in Alabama. Let us hope it is a
forgery or a hoax: if it be neither one nor
the other, then, why, then, we say, our read
ers on both sides the Atlantic may draw con
clusions for themselves.
i i
BANKING IN GREECE.
The rate of interest at Athens was usually
12 per cent, per annum, or rather one per
cent, for every new moon. People who were
about to goon a journey left their money
with their bankers upon interest, to receive it
‘on their return.’ In most of these bargains
there were no witnesses, and sometimes a
banker would deny having received the mon
ey ; but, if he did this more than once, he
lost the confidence of the public. These
bankers were, of course, money-lenders—
otherwise, they would have no use for the
money they had borrowed. The business of
a banker consists in borrowing of one party
and lending to another ; and the difference in
the rates of interest which he gives and re
ceives forms the source of profit. The bank
ers of Greece did not lend their money by dis
counting bills of exchange, as bills did not
then exist; but they lent it chiefly on per
sonal security to persons who were engaged
in trade, or who wanted it for other purpo
ses. They often lent it to merchants, who
were fitting out a cargo fora foreign port.
In this case, the banker would send a person
in the ship to receive payment of the loan as
soon as the cargo was sold. At other limes,
the banker would wait for payment until the
return of the ship. As the banker thus shar
ed in the risks of the voyage, the rate of in
terest paid to him was sometimes so high as
30 per cent. But though a banker might
lend to a merchant ior the purpose of fitting
out a cargo, neither he nor any other citizen
could send his money abroad, except in ex
change for corn, or for some commodity al
lowable by law. He who suffered his money
to be exported for other purposes was to be
prosecuted—to have no writs or warrants is
sued against the persons to whom he had lent
the money—and the archons were not to per
mit him to institute any trial in the judicial
court.
There were no usury laws at Athens.—
Every banker could charge or allow what
rate of interest he pleased; but if he agreed
1q one rate, he could not afterwards charge a
higher rate. Among individuals usury was
practised to a great extent. The failure of a
banker always caused a great sensation, and
sometimes he was obliged to hide himself, in
order to escape the popular indignation. A
similar feeling appears, in after times, to be
excited on such occasions in the Italian Stales.
You are aware that the word “bankrupt”
arises from the practice of breaking the bench
es or seats in the market-place of those Ital
ian hankers who were unable to dischak
the,r obligations Hunt's MerC.cn,,
l , W* > >.#v ■sf £"• j
THE ENGLISH SOLDIER.
In no other country in the world is
soldier so heartily despised as in K n J‘ r
and in none is he more cordially admired J.
Men look down upon him witfi unbounded
contempt: women look up to him withZ?
sionate adoration. He is ridiculed on
one side; he la worshipped on the other
He is at once a lobster and a hero u,;
insulted in the streets; he is courted (mm
the areas. The butcher’s boy shoulder, Z
empty tray with a face full 0 f impudence
and the cook-maid, as she retires with ihl
joint, looks back at him with a face f„n %
love His red coat, his erect carriage hi!
handsome person, the halo of bravery whirh
surrounds him, gladden the eyes, posses,
the imaginations, and fill the hearts of tb!
gentler sex; whilst men think him a poor
creature, indeed, because he may not put hk
hands in his pockets, stay out after nightfall
or get drunk at discretion. They see he is
at the mercy of the driU-sergeant-that he
has sold his liberty for a shilling adav—
that he is turned into a mere machine, with
out an opinion of his own, without even the
ordinary privilege of a free and enlightened
citizen to wear as much dirt upon his person
as he pleases. For all this they heartily de
spise him ; and because he is adored by the
women, they, moreover, cordially detest him
Besides, he is mixed up in their minds with
some undefined notions of taxation— and that
is enough in itself to render him the most
unpopular animal in the world.— North Brit
ish Review.
BOOKS AND LIBRARIES,
To give some idea of the multiplicity of
books, is one object of the following brief
notice of celebrated libraries. Pisistratus
first founded a library among the Greeks at
Athens, about 550 B. C.; and the first large
library in Rome was of Macedon, 167 B. C.
But the most celebrated library of ancient
times, was that of Alexandria, in
founded, 283 B. C. by Ptolemy Philadelphus;
who obtained for it the books which had be
longed to Aiistotle. It had increased so much
as to number 500,000 volumes, when it was
mostly burnt 47 B. C. during the siege of
Alexandria by Julius Caeasar. It was part
ly replaced by the library of Pergamos, which
was afterwards transported thither; but this,
with additional collections, was burnt by the
Saracens under Caliph Omar, A. D. 654.
Ihe Saracens themselves afterwards collect
ed large libraries, particularly at Tripolis,
Svria, and Cordova in Spain ; which latter
contained at one time 250,000 volumes.
modern libraries, that of the Vatican or
1 apal palace at Rome, is said to contain 400,-
000 printed volumes, and 50,000 manuscripts,
lhere are, also, large libraries in Naples,
Florence, and Milan. The Royal library at
Madrid contains about 200,000 printed vol
umes, which are kept in the Escurial palace.
J he Royal library of Munich, in Bavaria, the
largest in Germany, contains 540,000 printed
volumes, and 16,0C0 manuscripts. The Im
perial library of Vienna and Royal libraries
of Berlin and Dresden contain each nearly
300,000 volumes. The Universities of Got
tengen, Breslau, and Munich, have, also,
large libraries. The Imperial library at St.
Petersburg, contains 430,000 printed volumes
and 15,000 manuscripts; and the Royal li
brary of Copenhagen contains a like number
of manuscripts, and 410,000 printed volumes.
1 lie Bodleian library, at Oxford, the larg
est in Great Britain, named from Sir Thomas
Bodly, who enlarged it about A. D. 1600, is
said to contain 420,000 printed volumes, and
30,000 manuscripts. The British Museum, in
London, contains nearly 300,000 volumes,
besides 22,000 manuscripts; and there are
also large libraries at Cambridge, Edinburgh,
and Dublin.—The Royal library in Paris
[La Bibliotheque du Roi,] is said to contain
700,000 printed volumes, 100,000 manu
scripts, and as many medals; besides one
million ol historical documents, and two mil
lions of maps and engravings. Its annul in
crease is not less than 10,000 volumes. The
public libraries of Europe are said to be up
wards of 700 in number, and to contain in
all about 20,000,000 volumes.
Ihe largest libraries in the United State?
are those of Harvard Uniuersity, containing
about 45,000 volumes ; the Boston Athe
naeum, 82.000; the New York city library,
85,000; Ihc Philadelphia library, including
the Loganian, 52,000; the National library,
or library of Congress, 25,000 ; and the
Charleston library, S. C., about 15,000 vol
umes. The total number of books in all the
public libraries of the United States, has been